South Africa: SA benchmark for African development despite challenges, says APRM

While South Africa is seen as a reference point for development from which other African States can learn, the country itself has few areas of concern that it needs to address.

This and other findings are contained in the report of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) following its recent Peer Review of South Africa.

The APRM is an African owned and led process of self-assessment under the auspices of the African Union (AU). It is aimed at entrenching democracy and good governance among the Member States of the AU, who voluntarily acceded to the initiative.

Releasing the report, the chair of the National Governing Council (NGC) of South Africa, Thulani Tshefuta, said South Africa had received two-pronged feedback.

The feedback suggested that there are areas of best practice which South Africa can share with other countries, areas other countries can learn from.

These areas of best practice include the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, areas of cooperative governance, the strength of the oversight bodies and institutions supporting democracy - like the Public Protector, the Human Rights Commission and the IEC.

They have also highlighted media freedom as one of those elements, including open budget processes that are interactive with society Tshefuta said.

However, he said, there were a few areas of concern requiring timeous intervention.

Leading the pack is the challenge of excessively high levels of unemployment, especially among the youth, and corruption.

"Inequality is very glaring. It is an area of concern that we must do something about as a nation. Corruption is one of those areas of concern that has been raised, even when our leadership of a country response to COVID-19 was commended, but still the stain of corruption was diluting [gains].

Poor service delivery and incidents of xenophobia are included in those areas of concern that will still need to be attended to.

On the theme of democracy and political governance, the APRM highlighted that South Africa needs to move with speed in amending the Electoral Act. The APRM said this should be in line with previous decisions of the Constitutional Court.

Tshefuta said the area of social economic development highlights basic service delivery and poverty as issues that need to be attended to.

"There's a new emerging thematic area of the APRM that focuses on the resilience of the State, which we are the first country to be assessed on. It highlights areas of the agility of the State as a whole, responsiveness and sustainability," he said.

In its 23 months of being in office, he said the NGC of the APRM has made meaningful headway.

"We can [count] amongst our achievements the fact that the President has been able to be peer reviewed when he was still the chair of the APRM of Heads of State.

It would have sent a very bad message for South Africa, the chairman of the AU, for South Africa to be chair of the forum of Heads of State of the APRM but South Africa is not counted amongst those who are being peer reviewed. And so at least we've been be able to make sure that our President achieves that when he is at the helm of those structures, Tshefuta said.

He said currently, the APRM National Structures are seized with the development of the National Programme of Action and will submit periodic progress reports on its implementation.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-14. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China calls on int'l community to provide constructive assistance to Mali

Xinhua) 08:36, June 14, 2022

UNITED NATIONS, June 13 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called on the international community to provide constructive assistance to Mali.

The current situation in Mali is complex due to a number of factors, and the international community "should enhance its strategic awareness, sort out the deliverables, set priorities, and provide constructive assistance in a targeted manner," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting on Mali.

The international community must actively support Mali's counter-terrorism efforts, he said, noting that Mali is on the frontline of counter-terrorism in Africa and has recently implemented with some success a series of counter-terrorism military operations.

"We should focus on the big picture and the overall challenges of counter-terrorism in Africa, provide more support to the Malian government in terms of funding, equipment, and intelligence, and respect the Malian government's autonomous right to carry out security cooperation with its external counterparts," he said.

In relation to the human rights issues mentioned by some countries, Zhang reiterated China's position that counter-terrorism actions should respect and protect human rights, while opposing double standards on counter-terrorism and politicization of human rights issues.

The Malian government recently announced a new transition period, and established the goal of restoring constitutional order through elections.

"China has always supported Africans to solve African problems in an African way. We always advocate respect for the sovereignty and political independence of Mali," said Zhang.

He said that China welcomes and encourages the continuing of communication between the Malian government and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), "so as to broaden consensus and reach an agreement on issues related to the political transition, so that sanctions can eventually be lifted, and Mali can return to the ECOWAS family at an early date."

As for the priorities of UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, Zhang noted that the original purpose of the Security Council's establishment of the mission was to assist the Malian government in implementing the peace agreement, and restoring state authority in the north.

"This should continue to be the top priority of the mandate of the mission, as well as the primary benchmark for the Council to review its performance," he said, adding that the current priority is to make full use of existing resources in an effort to improve the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations.

"The challenges facing the mission in performing its duties cannot be solved by raising the troops ceiling alone, nor can the expectations of the Malian government be met in such a way," he said.

"As the UN is about to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the work of the mission, it should, in this process, fully heed the views of the country concerned, strengthen communication and consultation, and align its work to the needs and priorities of the host country," said Zhang.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday accused former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi of accepting Rs 5 billion and hundreds of kanals of land from Bahria Town in return for "providing protection" to the real estate firm in a money laundering case during the PTI rule, media reports said. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Sanaullah said Bahria Town had "illegally transferred" Pak Rs 50 bn to a Pakistani national in the UK. The transfer, he said, was identified by the UK's National Crime Agency, which subsequently informed the then PTI government of the crime, Dawn reported. Sanaullah claimed that Imran Khan, the Prime Minister at the time, had tasked Shehzad Akbar, ex-PM's aide on accountability, to resolve the matter. Akbar "settled" the entire case, while the Rs 50 bn - which was state property and belonged to the national treasury - was adjusted against Bahria Town's liability, the interior minister alleged. He said the former prime minister accepted a graft of Rs 5 bn as "his share" through Akbar before the case was wrapped up. Sanaullah said the federal cabinet has formed a sub-committee to investigate the scandal and deal with it as per the law. "The case did not just end here. Bahria Town, after its Rs 50 bn was protected by the government, entered an agreement and allotted a 458-kanal land with an on-paper value of Rs 530 million to a trust owned by Imran and his wife," he claimed, Dawn reported. Bahria Town donated the land to the Al-Qadir Trust, with the agreement bearing signatures of the real estate developer's donors and Bushra Khan - the wife of Imran Khan, Sanaullah alleged. He said the non-profit organisation had only two trustees: Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi. The minister said that another 240 kanals were transferred to Farah Shehzadi - commonly known as Farah - a close friend of Bushra Bibi, Dawn reported. He said the nation's wealth was "looted and the then-first lady signed the documents without any fear". --IANS san/arm ( 349 Words) 2022-06-14-22:18:02 (IANS)
The 13-year-old boy who was fatally shot by San Antonio police earlier this month posed no threat to the officers when he was killed, the attorney representing the boys family said Monday after viewing partial police footage of the encounter.

Attorney Lee Merritt said there was a clear civil rights violation based on the police videos he watched, which included two police dashcam videos and footage from the bodycam of officer Stephen Ramos, who has been identified as the officer who shot Andre Hernandez Jr. The videos, Merritt said, contradict the narrative put forth by officers.

San Antonio police have said officers were responding to calls about gunfire at around 1:20 a.m on June 3, when they located and attempted to stop a suspect vehicle, which was later discovered to have been reported stolen.

While attempting to stop the suspect vehicle, the vehicle accelerated towards a marked SAPD patrol vehicle, crashing into the officers patrol vehicle, the police department said in a statement. A second officer, fearing that the other officer would be stuck by the suspect vehicle, discharged his firearm and struck the suspect driver.

Video: Senators announce bipartisan gun reform package

But Merritt said that description didnt match what he saw.

When police cars approached the car, driven by Andre and carrying two other teens, he reversed into a residential driveway, Merritt said, refuting an earlier account from police that the teen reversed his car into a police vehicle.

As two police cars approached the driveway, the teen began slowly driving forward, eventually making contact with one of the cars, Merritt said.

The car was not traveling more than 2 to 5 miles per hour, he said. There was no ramming or crash, it was a bump.

In less than a second, you hear a gunshot, the attorney said.

Merritt believes Ramos didnt intend to fire his weapon and that his body language suggested that it was an inadvertent fire.

There was one shot, and no let me see your hand,he said, adding that if there is an active threat officers are trained to shoot until that threat is terminated. Nothing of that effect took place on the videos, Merritt said.

Story continues

After he was shot, Andre stepped out of the car with his hands up and said he had been hit, Merritt said. Officers then handcuffed him and started looking for the wound, the attorney said.

The teen was very apologetic, the attorney said. It was all yes sir, no sir, and Ive been hit, sir, he said. Merritt was not shown the portion of the video when Andre was treated by paramedics. The teen was eventually taken to a nearby hospital, where he died, police said.

Merritt said the footage also shows another teen in the car telling the officers to call Andres family immediately and offering to give them the number.

Lynda Espinoza, Andre's mother, said police took five days to contact her about the shooting despite having her contact information.

She did not watch the video on Monday because it was too difficult in the wake of losing her son, Merritt said.

Merritt said the videos show an unjustified use of force because the officers were not in imminent threat of death.

San Antonio police did not immediately return an email request for comment by NBC News on Monday night.

The case is currently being investigated by the San Antonio police department, which will submit its findings to the Bexar County district attorneys office.

The district attorneys office did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday night.

Ramos has been placed on paid administrative duty.
Defendants in two Alexandria homicide cases from last year pleaded guilty Monday in the 9th Judicial District Court.

Demetrice Demone Bell, 24, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after changing his plea to guilty on a manslaughter charge.

Bell was arrested after a March 2021 shooting on Mansour Avenue in Alexandria, the second of two deadly shootings on that street last year.

Freddie Thomas Jr. case: Alexandria man arrested after Tuesday night shooting

Killed was Freddie Thomas Jr., 22.

Two men pleaded guilty in the January 2021 death of Lonnie McCartney inside the Rapides Parish Detention Center #1 in downtown Alexandria.

The fight between McCartney, Jakarius Marques Johnson and Vontravious Lamond Bowers happened after an argument, according to the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office at the time of the incident.

McCartney was hit on his head and face, then fell and hit his head. He died days later at a hospital.

Lonnie McCartney case: 2 inmates charged after fight leads to another inmate's death

Both were charged through a bill of information with manslaughter.

Johnson pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, although six years of that were suspended.

Bowers pleaded guilty to a reduced felony count of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison at hard labor.

Bowers' sentence will run concurrently with another case he pleaded in on Monday. In that case, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison at hard labor on one count of armed robbery and to seven years and six months on one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery.

Other cases:

David Brett Westmoreland pleaded not guilty to felony charges of vehicular homicide and hit and run in the May 1, 2021, death of Billy Cayer Jr., 48, while he was bicycling on Horseshoe Drive in Alexandria. Retired Judge Jimmie C. Peters, who is presiding over the case after all nine Rapides Parish judges recused themselves, set an Oct. 19 status conference. Westmoreland worked for the 9th Judicial District Court as a juvenile probation officer at the time of the incident.

A 15-year-old being tried as an adult on an attempted second-degree murder charge failed to get his $500,000 bond reduced. The teen was 14 at the time of the March 11 shooting in Wardville. The teen was one of four juveniles arrested by the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office in the case. The juvenile victim was shot in the chest.

The defense attorney for an Alexandria man arrested on 100 counts of first-degree rape withdrew a motion filed by his client to reduce his almost $6 million bail, although he reserved the right to bring it before the court later. Israel Jermaine Williams, arrested by the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office in March after a tip from a Florida law enforcement agency about possible sex trafficking of a juvenile, has not been formally charged yet.

An Alexandria man pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter. Derrick Dewayne Swafford, 27, is accused of shooting Jason Clovis, 24, on March 27 in the 1800 block of Orchard Street in Alexandria. Swafford had been arrested by the Alexandria Police Department on a second-degree murder charge, but was formally charged with manslaughter. Because of that, 9th Judicial District Court Judge Chris Hazel reduced his bail from $1 million to $500,000. A hearing to reduce his bond was continued until June 27 because his family is supposed to be turning Swafford's Dodge Charger over to police as evidence in the case.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: 3 men plead in Alexandria homicide cases; teen fails to get bond reduction
A 4-year-old boy went into surgery to get a hernia in his groin region repaired, but his family says the Texas doctor unintentionally gave him a partial vasectomy.

Now the young child may face lifelong fertility issues.

His parents filed a lawsuit in Harris County District Court on June 7 against Texas Childrens Hospital and Dr. Susan L. Jarosz, claiming medical negligence. McClatchy News is not naming the parents to protect their sons identity. The boy is identified as R.B. in the lawsuit.

The family hopes that by bringing this lawsuit, changes in TCH procedures will be instituted and justice will be brought to this four-year-old, Houston attorneys Randy Sorrels and Tom Omondi said in a news release.

The legal team representing the Texas family says the 4-year-old boy had been complaining about right sided scrotal swelling with no redness or pain.

The swelling would come and go, the lawsuit says, and would be less in the mornings and increase in the evenings.

Jarosz, a doctor in pediatric urology, suggested a right inguinal hernia repair following a consultation, according to court records. She performed the boys surgery alongside a resident on Aug. 4, 2021.

After the operation, the hernia sac was sent to pathology, the lawsuit said. The pathology report noted tissue from the vas deferens included in the hernia sac specimen: an unintended vasectomy.

The familys attorneys say the doctor cut the vas deferens  the tube that carries the sperm out of the testes  during surgery.

Texas Childrens Hospitals top priority is the health and well-being of our patients, the center said in a statement to McClatchy News. Due to patient privacy requirements, we are unable to comment.

Jarosz is still listed as an employee of the medical center.

Dr. Jarosz and the risk management staff at Texas Childrens Hospital advised the (parents) of this incident and the possible short- and long-term consequences of this injury which included reduced fertility, according to the news release. While apologies were given, (full) accountability was not accepted. The parents now face the difficult task of explaining this to their son at the appropriate age.

Story continues

The medical team recommended informing the child, when he is older, that the vasectomy could have an adverse effect on natural conception, according to the lawsuit.

Having what is essentially an unintended vasectomy at the age of 4 years old is an unacceptable outcome when a patient goes in for a hernia repair surgery, attorneys said in the lawsuit. Moreover, the emotional and psychological effects of living with this knowledge is unfathomable - firstly for the parents and then for R.B. himself.

The legal team believes this surgery will be a steady background noise for the family.

R.B., once hes old enough to know about what happened and can process and accept it for himself, will be required to have this conversation with any future serious partners, the lawsuit says. There is a possibility that he may have to utilize assisted reproduction services to conceive. These are all considerations that the typical 4-year-old does not have.

In the lawsuit, attorneys argue medical negligence occurred throughout the surgery, including by failing to properly position and separate the hernia sac from the vas deferens before removing it surgically.

The plaintiffs seek over $250,000, and no more than $1 million, to help cover future medical expenses, pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, physical impairment and fertility treatment.

Babys head crushed during Iowa delivery, attorney says. Family awarded $97.4 million

College student left unable to speak after fraternity hazing, Missouri lawsuit says

Dad learns daughter isnt biologically his after a sperm mix-up, Ohio lawsuit says
Mackenzie Davis, right, and Matilda Lawler star in HBO Max's limited series "Station Eleven." (Tracy Nguyen / For The Times)

"Station Eleven," based on the book by Emily St. John Mandel, is an intimate HBO Max limited series about the apocalypse. In it, a global flu pandemic wipes out nearly everyone, but a troupe of Shakespeare devotees re-creates civilization by performing the Bard's plays. It's also the story of Kirsten, a preteen, orphaned actor who grows up performing with the troupe. But Kirsten is such a big role it took two actors to play her: Matilda Lawler, now 13, as the girl, Mackenzie Davis as the adult.

The pair had very few scenes together yet found a common language  and not just in how to interpret the heroine of the story. As they tell The Envelope, they also discovered a shared love  of pens.

The two of you don't have many scenes together, yet you're playing the same character. When you met off-camera for the first time, what did you discuss?

Lawler: Pens.

Davis: I love felt tip; I have a brand that I'm very loyal to. Matilda, I believe, loves a roller ball.

Lawler: Yeah, I bring your pens everywhere. They're really nice.

Davis: When we hung out in L.A. a few weeks ago, I was like: "Oh, my God, did Matilda think that was such a little-girl present? That I gave her a bunch of pens at the beginning of the show?"

Lawler: No, I thought it was cool. I literally have too many pens.

Davis: I think pens are cool, and it's nice to find like-minded people.

Once you got pens out of the way, did you end up talking about the character?

Davis: We didn't focus on that. Matilda originated the character, so it was already on film before I stepped in. She had a lot of say in who the character was. But as much as I think I'm still 12 in so many weird ways, I'm also very different from how I was as a child. With a [show] like this, it didn't feel like we had to say things like, "How do we twitch our eyebrow?" That's a stupid example, but it felt more important that we spent time together and have this osmotic understanding of each other. That was the most helpful thing, just to be around her and watch her work.

Story continues

You both read the book once the project came into your life; was it odd to be reading about a virus that ends civilization just before living through the pandemic?

Davis: It was such an interesting document to read in September 2019. It's a powerful living document. The reception to the show feels like the final piece in this long, traumatic puzzle, like closure in a strange way. We didn't really know what we were making, or how it was going to make us feel, and then it ended up being this positive conclusion to a f-up two years.

Lawler: It was nice to see, and also scary, that someone had been writing about this  and now, a very different form of it was happening. It was a little bit comforting to know that people had thought about this before. I don't know why that would be comforting, but it was.

"Matilda originated the character, so it was already on film before I stepped in," Davis says of her young costar. "She had a lot of say in who the character was." (Tracy Nguyen / For The Times)

Did it surprise you that "Station Eleven" got as much attention as it did, considering how it reflected a lot of real-life trauma we were going through?

Davis: Deeply. The timing of it coming out couldn't potentially have been worse: Omicron was peaking, and it was Christmas; that's a tough sell to people. It's so beautiful once you give yourself over to it, but even that beauty is marked with sadness. It's a combination of a bleak premise with an earnest heart. Both of those things are hard to land in a way that's interesting, not saccharine, but not punishing.

Mackenzie, you've had quite a few roles in the world of genre and science fiction  "Halt and Catch Fire," "The Martian," and now this. Is that what you gravitate to, or is it a coincidence?

Davis: Coincidence. This doesn't feel science fiction to me; this is a speculative disaster [show]. But there are a lot of interesting women to play in genre, where they're not constrained by the conventions of real life in the exact same way. I find really good roles in genre; the stories have been more interesting than the other stuff that's come my way.

Both the book and the limited series of "Station Eleven" focus on how even though civilization may have collapsed, people still need to tell stories. What message do you think that sends?

Lawler: It goes to show how stories can connect people. Stories are a really important part of humanity. So even when the world ends, we do hold on to stories.

Davis: That's really beautiful.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Russia fired two Onyx missiles in the Odesa Oblast, they were shot down

Read also: At least two people wounded as Russians launch missile strike on Odesa Oblast

"Two Oniks missiles fired from the coastal missile complex from the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea were destroyed over the sea by the air defense unit," they said.

The information was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Odesa regional military administration, Serhiy Bratchuk.

Read also: Evacuation announced after Russia launched multiple missile strikes on the town of Pryluky

"Missile strike on the Odesa Oblast, he wrote on Facebook on June 14.

Minus two enemy winged deaths. Thank you to the air defense forces!

Read also: Putins Black Sea blockade leaves millions facing global famine

On June 6, Bratchuk stated that Russias Black Sea Fleet continued to regroup in the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian military managed to repel Russian troops 100 km from the coast. However, the risk of enemy troop landing and sabotage and reconnaissance groups remains.
Amber Heard as Mera in Aquaman' (DC)

Amber Heard has denied rumours she has been cut from Aquaman 2.

Earlier today (14 June) a source claimed Heard had been removed from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and her part recast. However, this rumour has been refuted by Heards representative.

The rumour mill continues as it has from day one  inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane, a rep for Heard told The Independent.

The statement was released after gossip site Just Jared claimed that Warner Bros decided to recast Amber Heards role after screen testing the movie. They are going to be doing reshoots with Jason Momoa and Nicole Kidman.

The Independent has reached out to Warner Bros for comment.

Earlier this month a petition to entirely remove Heard from the film officially reached its target of 4.5 million signatures. Two days after a jury ruled in favour of Johnny Depp in the couples highly publicised defamation trial, the petitions target was then bumped to 6 million signatures.

Fluctuations in the size of Heards role in the forthcoming DC sequel have been the subject of persistent rumours, but they also became a topic of contested testimony in the Depp-Heard trial, which concluded on 2 June.

Heard said on the stand that her Aquaman 2 role was significantly pared down after her ex-husbands team called her abuse claims a hoax. I fought really hard to stay in the movie. They didnt want to include me in the film, she testified.

According to one unconfirmed Hollywood report, Heard appears for less than 10 minutes of the movies final cut.

The film is due for release in 2023.

Follow updates to the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp story here.
Amber Heard. NBC News

Amber Heard sat down with the "Today" show's Savannah Guthrie for her first post-trial interview.

She admitted that casual viewers may have seen the trial as "Hollywood brats at their worst."

But she said the trial had bigger issues at play, including the First Amendment right to free speech.

Amber Heard admitted that many people viewed her defamation trial with Johnny Depp as "Hollywood brats at their worst," but said that there were more important issues at play.

Heard sat down for her first post-trial interview with the "Today" show's Savannah Guthrie, which is airing Tuesday, Wednesday, and in an hour-long special on Friday.

A Fairfax County, Virginia, jury largely sided with Depp after a six-week defamation trial centered on allegations of domestic-violence allegations.

Depp claimed that Heard ruined his career by insinuating in a 2018 op-ed that she had been the victim of domestic violence, and said that he had been the real victim in their relationship. Heard countersued and spent several days detailing multiple incidents where she said Depp physically assaulted her during their relationship.

But the jury ultimately didn't find Heard trustworthy, siding with Depp on all three of his defamation complaints, and awarding Heard just one of her three counterclaims.

Guthrie told Heard in a portion of their interview, which aired Tuesday, that many casual viewers didn't have much respect for either Heard or Depp throughout the six-week trial.

"For some people, they were just frankly disgusted by the whole thing and don't have much sympathy for either one of you. Can you understand that?" Guthrie asked.

"Absolutely," Heard said. "I would not blame the average person for looking at this and how it's been covered and not think that it is Hollywood brats at their worst. But what people don't understand is it's actually so much bigger than that."

Heard went on to say that the case was about the First Amendment right to free speech.

When Guthrie pointed out that there were limits to the First Amendment, and that it doesn't protect people who lie and ruin the reputations of others in the process, Heard said she stood by the truthfulness of her testimony.

"My understanding of what that means is not only the freedom to speak, it's a freedom to speak truth to power ... and that's all I spoke. And I spoke it to power and I paid the price," Heard said.

Read the original article on Insider
Amber Heard is standing by her testimony from the recent trial, despite having been unsuccessful in defending herself against ex-husband Johnny Depp's defamation claims.

After the six-week trial in Fairfax County, Virginia, a seven-person jury reached a verdict earlier this month deciding that Depp, 59, proved the Aquaman actress, 36, defamed him in a 2018 op-ed. (Depp has maintained that he never assaulted Heard, and claimed she physically harmed him.)

The jury awarded Depp $15 million in damages but Heard will only have to pay $10.35 million due to a Virginia law limiting punitive damages (the judge reduced the amount). In her countersuit, Heard won one of the three defamation counts, and was awarded $2 million in damages.

Heard said in her sit-down with Savannah Guthrie airing this week on the Today show, "To my dying day, I will stand by every word of my testimony."

For more on Amber Heard, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.

"[Truth is] all I spoke. And I spoke it to power," Heard also told Guthrie. "And I paid the price."

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

WATCH: In part one of this exclusive interview, @SavannahGuthrie sits down with Amber Heard to talk about the defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp. pic.twitter.com/LpgiISgv0F  TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 14, 2022

RELATED: Amber Heard Grilled by Savannah Guthrie Over Audio Tapes Where She Admitted to Abusing Johnny Depp

Heard also said in the interview segment that aired Tuesday that she has "so much regret" for what transpired during her past relationship with Depp, whom she was married to from 2015 to 2017.

Story continues

"I did do and say horrible, regrettable things throughout my relationship. I behaved in horrible, almost unrecognizable to myself ways," she said. "I freely and openly and voluntarily talked about what I did. I talked about the horrible language. I talked about being pushed to the extent where I didn't even know the difference between right and wrong."

amber heard

TODAY/NBC Amber Heard

"I will always continue to feel like I was a part of this, like I was the other half of this relationship because I was. And it was ugly, and could be very beautiful. It was very, very toxic," Heard said. "We were awful to each other."

And while the actress admitted she "made a lot of mistakes," she insisted in her conversation with Guthrie, 50, "I've always told the truth."

During the interview, Guthrie also grilled Heard over her claims she was the victim of Depp's abuse, pointing to arguments the Pirates of the Caribbean actor's legal team made that the actress instigated the exes' spats.

"I never had to instigate it. I responded to it," Heard told the host. "When you're living in violence, it becomes normal, as I testified to. You have to adapt."

But Guthrie, whose husband Michael Feldman worked as a consultant for Depp's legal team in the trial, pointed to audio in which Heard admitted to hitting Depp. Those recordings, captured as the former couple discussed their explosive March 2015 Australia fight that resulted in Depp's right middle finger being severed at the tip, were played for the jury in April.

Heard added that the tapes, which she said were "first leaked online after being edited," did not share the full story of her encounters with Depp. "20-second clips or the transcripts of them are not representative of the 2 hours or 3 hours that those are excerpted from," she said.

From there, Guthrie pressed her regarding why she hadn't submitted the recordings in full to begin with. "I'm not a lawyer," Heard said. "As I testified to, I was talking in those recordings as a person in an extreme amount of psychological, emotional and physical distress."
Amber Heard insisted in an interview that aired Tuesday that she stands by "every word" of her testimony  nearly two weeks after Johnny Depp won his defamation case against her.

A Virginia jury awarded Depp $10.35 million in damages, rejecting Heard's claims she was physically and sexually abused by him.

"Of course to my dying day I will stand by every word of my testimony," she told Savannah Guthrie on the "Today" show in her first interview since the verdict came down.

The jury also awarded Heard $2 million in her countersuit, finding that Depp had defamed her through his attorney.

JOHNNY DEPP VERDICT: ACTOR WINS DEFAMATION CASE AGAINST EX-WIFE AMBER HEARD

The actress said the case was about "the freedom to speak truth to power." Guthrie said whether she had been truthful was what was at issue at the trial, but Heard doubled down. "That's all I spoke, and I spoke it to power and I paid the price," Heard said.

The "Aquaman" actress blasted the public nature of the proceeding, which was live-streamed on countless networks. On Twitter and TikTok, Heard was relentlessly ridiculed.

Actress Amber Heard, right, and her sister Whitney Heard, second left, depart the Fairfax County Courthouse on June 1, 2022 in Fairfax, Virginia, after a jury awards Johnny Depp $10.35 million in his defamation case. Photo by Rod Lamkey/Consolidated News Pictures

"The vast majority of this trial was played out on social media," she said. "I think that this trial is an example of that gone haywire, that gone amok, and the jury is not immune to thatI think even for the most well-intentioned juror, it would have been impossible to avoid this."

She described passing hundreds of Depp fans on her way into the Fairfax County Courthouse, who were holding signs that said "burn the witch" and "death to Amber."

When it was her turn to testify, she stepped into the witness box and saw Depp supporters, she said.

"I saw a courtroom packed full of Captain Jack Sparrow fans who were vocal, energized," she told Guthrie. "This was the most humiliating and horrible thing Ive ever been through. Ive never felt more removed from my own humanity. I felt less than human."

Guthrie said many people were "disgusted" by the whole spectacle and had little sympathy for either side. "I would not blame the average person for looking at this and how its been covered and not think that it is Hollywood brats at their worst," she said.

Story continues

The journalist asked Heard to respond to an accusation from Depp's lawyer that her testimony was the performance of her lifetime.

"Says the lawyer for the man who convinced the world he had scissors for fingers," Heard scoffed, referring to Depp's role in "Edward Scissorhands."

ELON MUSK WEIGHS IN ON DEPP-HEARD TRIAL: 'I HOPE THEY BOTH MOVE ON'

Guthrie confronted Heard with audio recordings that were played at the trial in which she admitted instigating a physical fight with Depp and hitting him.

In another clip, she taunted him: "Tell the world, Johnny, tell them, 'Johnny Depp, I, a man, I'm a victim too of domestic violence,' and see how many people believe or side with you."

Heard said these excerpts of much longer recordings don't accurately represent their relationship. She said that Depp lied when he testified he never hit her.

One of Depp's lawyers said part of the reason she lost was because she never took responsibility for anything she did in the marriage. Heard said this wasn't true.

"I behaved in horrible, almost unrecognizable to myself ways. I have so much regret," she told Guthrie. "I talked about the horrible language. I talked about being pushed to the extent where I didnt even know the difference between right and wrong."

Heard is expected to discuss how she feels about Depp now in part 2 of her interview slated to air Wednesday morning. She called her marriage to Depp "ugly" but said it could also be "beautiful."

"It was very, very toxic," she told Guthrie. "We were awful to each other. You know, I made a lot of mistakes, a lot of mistakes, but Ive always told the truth."
Watch: Amber Heard will stand by her testimony

Amber Heard has insisted she will stand by her testimony from her defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp until her 'dying day'.

Speaking in her first interview since losing the multi-million dollar defamation case against the Pirates of the Caribbean star, the actor addressed the toll the trial had taken on her.

In an interview with NBC's Samantha Guthrie for Today, Heard was asked if she stood by her testimony where she recounted abusive behaviour from Depp.

She said: Of course, to my dying day I will stand by every word of my testimony.

Amber Heard on 'Today'. (NBC)

Heard also discussed how the trial had affected her mental wellbeing: This was the most humiliating and horrible thing I have ever been through. I have never felt more removed from my own humanity. I felt less than human.

Read more: Amber Heard says she doesn't 'blame' jury after defamation verdict

The Aquaman star also commented on the reaction on social media to the trial: I would not blame the average person for looking at this and how this has been covered and not thinking that this is Hollywood brats at their worst. But what people dont understand is that it is actually so much bigger than that. This is not only about our first amendment right to speak.

Amber Heard departs the Fairfax County Courthouse. (Getty Images)

Following a six week trial in Virginia, a jury found that an op-ed Heard wrote for The Washington Post about being the victim of domestic abuse defamed Depp.

Depp was also found liable for defamation after one of his former lawyers called Heard's allegations a "hoax".

Johnny Depp gestures to fans during a recess outside court. (Getty Images)

The Ed Wood actor previously lost a similar case in the UK where a British court found that claims that Depp was a "wifebeater" were "substantially true".

Heard is set to appeal the ruling while Depp celebrated the jury's outcome and praised the support of his fans, some of who camped outside the court during the trial.

Watch below: Amber Heard admits she and Depp might look like 'Hollywood brats'
An American defense firm is in talks with the blacklisted NSO Group to potentially buy the Israeli companys spyware and hacking technology, Pegasus, which has been used to surveil politicians, activists and journalists across the world.

L3Harris, a global defense contractor based in Florida that manufactures technologies in the air, land, sea, space and cyber realms, is in early negotiations with NSO Group to purchase Pegasus, according to the news outlet Intelligence Online, which first broke the news.

Multiple details still need to be fleshed out, and any deal could be hindered by the U.S. and Israeli governments.

The Hill has reached out to L3Harris and NSO Group for comment.

In November, the U.S. Department of Commerce added NSO Group to its entity list, effectively blacklisting the Israeli firm. The company has been accused of selling Pegasus to government and law enforcement authorities that have used it to spy on human rights activists, journalists and politicians.

Pegasus is highly advanced and can be installed on a surveillance target remotely, giving users of the spyware wide and sweeping access to text messages, emails, photos, contacts and more.

The use of the spyware on iPhones prompted Apple to sue NSO Group in late November, seeking to ban the company from using Pegasus on its hardware. Facebook parent Meta is also pursuing a claim against the controversial company for using Pegasus on WhatsApp in a case that has now reached the Supreme Court.

Both the lawsuits and the U.S. blacklisting of NSO Group, which continues to defend its Pegasus technology, is likely to be a major obstacle in the negotiations between the Israeli firm and L3Harris.

A White House official told The Washington Post that any U.S. company, particularly a cleared U.S. defense contractor, should be aware that a transaction with a foreign entity on the Entity List will not automatically remove a designated entity from the Entity List.

The Biden administration is also looking to ban the use of foreign surveillance technologies that pose a security risk or have been used improperly abroad, the official told the outlet.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) - China needs to lift its sanctions on Australia to improve relations, Australia's prime minister said on Tuesday, as he welcomed as "a good thing" the first talks between ministers from the two countries in almost three years.

China is Australia's largest trading partner and the biggest customer for its iron ore - its largest export earner - but diplomatic relations have been strained in recent years.

In imposing its sanctions, China listed 14 grievances with Australia ranging from its call for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, a ban on China's telecommunications giant Huawei building a 5G network, and screening foreign investment for national security risks.

"It is China that has imposed sanctions on Australia. They need to remove those sanctions in order to improve relations," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Brisbane.

Australia's former government described China's sanctions on its agriculture and energy commodities as "economic coercion". Amid a years-long diplomatic freeze, Australian ministers have been unable to arrange calls with Chinese counterparts.

But Australia's defence minister, Richard Marles, met his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, on the sidelines of a security conference in Singapore on Sunday, with Marles describing their hour-long talk as an "important first step".

Albanese said it was "a good thing" the ministers had met and noted the importance of trade with China for Australia's economy.

China's foreign ministry said on Monday that Albanese had responded to a message of congratulations from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on his election win last month, adding that it too wanted to see action for ties to improve.

"To improve China-Australia relations, there is no 'auto-pilot' mode. A reset requires concrete actions," China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular press briefing in Beijing. He did not elaborate on the action China wanted.

Story continues

Albanese declined to elaborate on what he had said to Li.

"I responded appropriately," he told reporters.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Robert Birsel)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  A Dutch court on Tuesday sentenced an Austrian man to three years imprisonment for his involvement in illegally detaining six children held for years and isolated from the outside world by their father at a remote farmhouse in the Netherlands.

The case made headlines around the world when it was discovered in October 2019 that father had been living for years with six of his children in the farmhouse in the village of Ruinerwold in the eastern Netherlands. Their plight only came to light when one of the sons left the building and raised the alarm.

At previous court hearings, prosecutors portrayed the father, identified only as Gerrit Jan van D., as a deeply religious man who saw his family as chosen by God and did everything in his power  including physical beatings and other punishments  to keep them from succumbing to what he considered malign outside influences.

The same court last year dropped all charges against the children's father, saying he could not stand trial after being incapacitated by a stroke.

The Northern Netherlands District Court convicted the father's Austrian helper and disciple, identified only as Josef B. under Dutch privacy rules, of co-perpetration in the unlawful deprivation of liberty of the six youngest children of the family at the farm. He also was convicted of deprivation of liberty of another man held for a time at the farm.

The court said the Austrian, who bought supplies for the family and rented the farm property, played an essential role in the events and without his contribution it would not have been possible for the father to keep his children isolated from society for so long."

He was acquitted of the unlawful deprivation of liberty of the family's eldest three children and of abusing all the children.

The six children who were kept on the farm are now all young adults. Three older siblings had earlier left the familys isolated life. Their mother died in 2004.

The time the Austrian has already spent in custody ahead of his trial will be deducted from his sentence.
Ezra Miller in June 2018. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

The Los Angeles Times says authorities can't "locate or serve" Ezra Miller with a restraining order.

The parents of an 18-year-old activist have accused the actor of physical and emotional abuse.

Reps for Miller, the activist, and the teen's parents didn't respond to requests for comment.

Law enforcement apparently "cannot locate or serve" the "Fantastic Beasts" star Ezra Miller after the parents of an 18-year-old activist filed a domestic-violence protection order against the actor, according to a report released Friday by the Los Angeles Times.

The order of protection was granted by a judge in the Standing Rock Sioux tribal court Tuesday, according to the outlet.

In the order, Chase Iron Eyes and Sara Jumping Eagle  the parents of the 18-year-old Gibson Iron Eyes  accuse the actor of physical and emotional abuse as well as grooming their child, the Times reports.

According to the outlet, the order prevents Miller from contacting the younger Iron Eyes or the teen's parents for 30 days. The petition says the actor would also have to keep "100 yards away from the family's residence," according to the Times.

While Gibson Iron Eyes is an adult under US law, the teen remains under parental guardianship under tribal law, which is where the order of protection was filed, the Times reports.

Miller and Gibson Iron Eyes both identify as nonbinary and use they/them pronouns. While Iron Eyes is referred to by their birth name, Tokata, in the protective order, Rolling Stone reports they changed their name to Gibson. (Their Instagram handle is still Tokatawin.)

Chase Iron Eyes, an activist and lawyer, also told the Los Angeles Times in a Thursday joint interview with Jumping Eagle that a July 12 court hearing was scheduled where Miller and the younger Iron Eyes would be allowed to "weigh in" on the situation.

Representatives for Miller, Gibson Iron Eyes, Chase Iron Eyes, and Jumping Eagle didn't respond to requests for comment from Insider.

Story continues

Iron Eyes' parents accuse Miller of grooming their then-12-year-old child

The petition obtained by the Los Angeles Times says Miller showed signs of a "pattern of corrupting a minor." It reportedly says Miller met the younger Iron Eyes at the Standing Rock Reservation in 2016 when Iron Eyes was 12 and Miller was 23. At the time, the actor was involved in projects connected to the "landback" reclamation movement.

According to the petition, Chase Iron Eyes and Jumping Eagle visited their child in Santa Monica for a wellness check in May. Jumping Eagle alleges that Miller assaulted her during the visit and reported the incident to local authorities, the petition continues.

Jumping Eagle told the Times her child needed "help without Ezra's interference," adding that Miller was "a 29-year-old person who needs to get help on their own path and not interfere" with her child's "development as their own person."

Miller as Credence Barebone in "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore." Warner Bros. Pictures

As public pressure on the pair increases, Chase Iron Eyes told the Times he and his wife were "very concerned" about what he described as "Ezra's volatile nature."

According to the Times, the petition also accuses Miller of giving Gibson Iron Eyes "alcohol and drugs, such as marijuana and LSD" and flying with them to places including "London, Vermont, New York, California, and Hawaii."

"Ezra uses violence, intimidation, threat of violence, fear, paranoia, delusions, and drugs to hold sway over a young adolescent," the protection order says, referring to Gibson Iron Eyes, according to the Times.

Gibson Iron Eyes has released statements denying what their parents are saying

Gibson Iron Eyes in 2020. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for MAKERS

On June 6, Gibson Iron Eyes issued a statement on their Instagram account.

"I dropped out of bard five months ago, my friend and comrade William passed shortly there after, my mind was incredibly impacted and I've needed space and time for the processing of grief," the statement said in part. "My comrade Ezra Miller for the entirety of the aforementioned era has only provided loving support and invaluable protection throughout this period of loss."

It goes on to say what their father is saying "holds no weight" and is "transphobic and based on the notion that I am somehow incapable of coherent thought."

Gibson Iron Eyes' parents told the Times they doubted the statement was written by their child. But the younger Iron Eyes then appeared in an Instagram video Thursday and said the statement was "directly from me."

"It's really distressing that the narrative of the 'victim in question' is not being granted any trust," they said in the video. "I worked really hard to make really clear what was going on."

They also said in the video that "it's nobody's business and that no one is owed a story or an outcome. This is my life."

Gibson Iron Eyes ended the video by saying they were "disappointed in my parents and the press in every way."

The Instagram account holder did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

Ezra Miller has been the subject of controversy in recent months

Miller has appeared in several successful projects, including the Warner Bros. "Fantastic Beast" franchise and Zack Snyder's "Justice League." Jumping Eagle has repeatedly tagged Warner Bros. in her Twitter posts about Miller.

Sara Jumping Eagle (@drjumpingeagle) June 9, 2022

Miller's film "The Flash" is set to be released on June 23, 2023. It's unclear whether they will participate in press events leading up to the release, the Times reported.

A representative for Warner Bros. didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

BuzzFeed News reported that in April 2020, a video surfaced that appeared to show Miller choking a woman in a bar in Reykjavik, Iceland. No charges were filed by authorities, and the woman didn't press charges, according to The Wrap.

In a March Facebook post, the Hawaii Police Department said Miller was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and harassment at a local bar. Miller later pleaded no contest and was fined $500, People reported.

Variety reported that a couple filed a restraining order against Miller in March after claiming Miller "burst into" their Hawaii hotel room, threatened them, and took some of their belongings. The restraining order was dropped in April, according to the outlet.

One week later, Miller was arrested in Hawaii for a second time, Newsweek reported. Miller was accused of throwing a chair at a 26-year-old woman, the outlet reported.

Warner Bros. and DC Comics executives held emergency meetings in March to discuss Miller's future as the Flash with the studio, Rolling Stone reported. A source told the outlet the studio "hit pause" on any future projects involving Miller, including roles in the DC Extended Universe.

Read the original article on Insider
Jun. 14A Hartselle man died after being shot in Somerville on Tuesday and the suspect, a Somerville resident, shot himself and died at a hospital after attempting to elude law enforcement, according to a Morgan County Sheriff's Office spokesman.

Spokesman Mike Swafford said his department received a call about a shooting at Robin Private Drive early Tuesday, and when deputies arrived they found Henry "Hank" Laverne Schoonmaker, 43, in the house suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Morgan County deputies and a Priceville police officer attempted CPR on the victim but were unsuccessful, Swafford said.

Morgan County Coroner Jeff Chunn said Schoonmaker had wounds to his upper chest area. He said the initial 911 call came in at 4:04 a.m.

While headed to the scene of the shooting, Morgan deputies located a Ford F-150 being driven by the suspect, Carl Orbin English, 43, of Somerville. Swafford said a 46-minute chase ensued with Cullman County Sheriff's Office, Marshall County Sheriff's Office and Arab police assisting Morgan deputies.

The chase covered about 30 miles overall, Swafford said, and ended on U.S. 231, north of Arab, where English shot himself in his vehicle as officers approached. He was transported to Marshall Medical Center North in Arab, where he died, Chunn added.

Swafford said investigators are looking into how the two men knew each other and a motive for the shooting. An investigation is ongoing.

Court records show English in 2020 was charged with two felony counts of possession of a firearm by a felon in Florida and was arrested in Morgan County as a fugitive from justice for those and other Florida violations.

 mike.wetzel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. Twitter @DD_Wetzel.
kate_sept2004 / Getty Images

Finding space in your budget to save and invest isn't easy or possible for everyone. In fact, a recent GOBankingRates survey found that 40% of Americans have less than $300 in savings. As such, plenty of Americans are facing a retirement where their only source of funds is a monthly check from the Social Security Administration.

Still, living on a fixed income doesn't mean you have to miss out on a satisfying retirement. In the right place, your budget goes further, allowing you to enjoy your golden years. To help you find such a place, a GOBankingRates study identified 6 American cities where you can realistically retire on a budget of $1,500 a month.

The study took the cost-of-living index from Sperling's Best Places and applied it to customer expenditure data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to find the average cost of living in the given city. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in each city was also sourced from ApartmentList. Locations that fell below a certain livability score on AreaVibes or had a below-average portion of the population above 65 were eliminated, and only the places offering the best combination of bills under $1,500 and strong livability for seniors were left.

So, take a look to see which American cities give you a chance to retire even if you're not rich.

Davel5957 / Getty Images

Wichita, Kansas

Total monthly expenditures: $1,623.55

Livability score: 60

The average monthly rent in Wichita is $723-- the highest of the cities on the list. However, the average monthly cost of groceries, $332.82, is relatively low, though not the lowest on the list.

POLL: Do You Think You Will Be Able To Retire at Age 65?

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Topeka, Kansas

Total monthly expenditures: $1,621.00

Livability score: 61

In Topeka, retirees can expect to spend a bundle on healthcare. Average monthly costs of $572.34 are not too much cheaper than rent, which comes in at an affordable $720 per month. The city, in which 18.1% of people are age 65 or older, has decently low grocery costs of $328.26 per month.

Story continues

travelview / Shutterstock.com

Midland, Texas

Total monthly expenditures: $1,614.86

Livability score: 72

Midland matches its name by having monthly costs that are about in the middle of this list. Monthly grocery expenses are $340.52, monthly healthcare expenditures are $562.33, and monthly rent averages $712.

Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com

Lake Charles, Louisiana

Total monthly expenditures: $1,597.32

Livability score: 70

Lake Charles has the lowest monthly grocery costs on the list, an average of $325.46. The monthly rent is the highest, however, at $731.

ChrisBoswell / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Grand Forks, North Dakota

Total monthly expenditures: $1,548.14

Livability score: 74

Retirees who settle in Grand Forks would find it affordable, as well as a great place to make friends. People ages 65 or older make up 12.6% of the city's population. Rent averages $665 per month but healthcare costs are $535.11 a month -- the second-lowest rate in the study.

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images

Cleveland, Ohio

Total monthly expenditures: $1,401.23

Livability score: 60

Cleveland takes the number one spot with, with the lowest average monthly rent on the list, $616, the lowest monthly grocery cost, $327.56, and the lowest healthcare cost, $457.87.

More From GOBankingRates

Jami Farkas and Jordan Rosenfeld contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates found the best cities to retire on a budget of $1,500 dollars or less. GOBankingRates used ApartmentList April 2022 data to find every city in the U.S. that has an (1) average 2022 monthly rent of $750 dollars or less for a 1 bedroom apartment. GOBankingRates then used Sperling's Best to find the cost of living index for every city on the list, looking at (2) grocery and (3) healthcare index scores. Next, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2020 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for both grocery ("food at home") and healthcare costs for people aged 65 and older in order to find how much a person 65 and over would spend on groceries and healthcare in each city on a monthly basis. GOBankingRates then added monthly housing, grocery and healthcare costs together to find where a person 65 and older could survive on $1,500 or less. In order for a city to be qualified for the study, it had to have a livabilty score of 60 or higher as sourced from AreaVibes and its population had to be 10% or more over the age of 65 according to the Census Bureau's 2020 American Community Survey. All data was collected on and up to date as of June 8, 2022.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Best Cities To Retire on a Budget of $1,500 a Month
FIRST ON FOX: U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday launched the National Parents and Families Engagement Council in move to ensure parents can "constructively participate in their childrens education" and to facilitate "strong and effective relationships" between schools and families.

The council will consist of parent, family, or caregiver representatives from national organizations that will work with the Education Department to identify "constructive ways" to help families engage at the local level.

HOW PARENTS TOOK DOWN THE TOXIC MACHINE OF THE NATIONAL SCHOOL BOARD ASSOCIATION

"Parents are a childs first teachers, and theres no one better equipped to work with schools and educators to identify what students need to recover," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. "The National Parents and Families Engagement Council will serve as an important link between families, caregivers, education advocates and their school communities."

Cardona said the council will also help to "foster a collaborative environment where we can work together to serve the best interest if students and ensure they have the academic and mental health support they need to recover from the pandemic and thrive in the future."

ILLINOIS SCHOOL DISTRICT UNVEILS CURRICULUM TEACHING PRESCHOOLERS ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY

The Department of Education said the council will be a "channel for parents and families to constructively participate in their childrens education by helping them understand the rights they have," as well as to create a "feedback loop" with schools to discuss how COVID-19 relief and American Rescue Plan funds are deployed to meet students needs and identify summer learning and enrichment opportunities for children in their communities.

MISSOURI TEACHERS CAN HIDE PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS WITH STUDENTS FROM PARENTS, SAYS POLICY IN DOZENS OF SCHOOLS

Story continues

Education Department officials said that organization representatives will "reflect the diversity of the education system, including, but not limited to, families of students in public schools, charters, private schools, and homeschool."

NJ BOARD OF EDUCATION REFUSES TO REVIEW CONTROVERSIAL SEX EDUCATION CURRICULUM FOR YOUNG STUDENTS

For months, parents across the nation have been sounding the alarm about a lack of respect for parental rights in the classroom, amid decisions made by school boards surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parents have taken to school board meetings in their communities, protesting mask and vaccine mandates for children in schools. Parents have also protested and demanded more input with regard to in-person vs. remote learning for their children during spikes of COVID-19. And they have protested school boards' decisions on certain curricula in the classroom, like critical race theory and controversial sex curriculum for young students.

"Parents provide critical perspective, and they should always have a seat at the table whenever decisions are made that impact their children. And this is more important than ever in the effort to help students recover from the COVID-19 pandemic," Anna King, president of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) said. "National PTA applauds the Department of Education for launching the National Parents and Families Engagement Council and providing a channel for parents voices to be heard and considered."

MOM SUING SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR IGNORING FOIA OF GENDER, ETHNIC CURRICULUM CALLS ON SCHOOLS TO WORK WITH PARENTS

King added: "This is essential to help make sure the needs of students are met coming out of the pandemic and ensure every child has everything they need to make their potential a reality."

Vito Borrello, the executive director of the National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement, applauded the creation of the council, saying it "provides the opportunity to bring diverse parent voices together to inform the Departments policies and programs, while also serving as a dissemination vehicle for engaging families across the country in equitable education policy."

OPINION: FIGHTING CRITICAL RACE THEORY: THE LAW IS A PARENT'S BEST WEAPON

The council at this point includes The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Fathers Incorporated; Generations United; Girls, Inc.; League of United Latin American Citizens; Mocha Moms; National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement; National Action Network; National Military Family Association; National Parent Teacher Association, National Parents Union; The National Center for Parent Leadership, Advocacy, and Community Empowerment, United Parent Leaders Action Network; and UnidosUS.

The co-founder and president of the National Parents Union Keri Rodrigues told Fox News that the council is "an opportunity for parents and families who have been struggling even before the pandemic to have their voices heard because this is now a tab;e that's being built together with our input."

"The education system in this country needs bold changes that put children first, not special interests," Rodrigues said. "The boldest, baddest and most beautiful families are ready to get to work and have their struggle and solutions heard in the halls of Washington D.C."

Officials said the council will meet in the coming weeks to discuss ways to best "constructively" engage with schools.

"The Department and the Council will hold local listening sessions with parents, families, principals, educators, and school community members to better understand the needs of students as they start the 2022-23 school year," the Education Department said.
The joint effort between the Small Business Administration (SBA) and National Pan-Hellenic Council will promote financial literacy, outreach, and capital access opportunities.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced on Tuesday a landmark partnership with the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC)  a collective of the nations historically Black fraternities and sororities  aimed to address the widening wealth gap.

SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman signed a Strategic Alliance Memorandum (SAM) alongside Reuben A. Shelton III, Esq, President of the NPHC, and spoke about the finer points of the partnership.

SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman signed a Strategic Alliance Memorandum (SAM) alongside Reuben A. Shelton III, Esq, President of the NPHC, and spoke about the finer points of the partnership. (Photo: Courtesy of Brandon Williams, SBA)

This historic alliance between the SBA and the NPHCthe first of its kind for a government agencywill bring SBAs most valuable small business resources into reach for many small businesses and entrepreneurs, furthering President Bidens commitment to build equity and close historic wealth gaps that have held back Americas Black entrepreneurs, small business owners and their families and communities for generations, said Administrator Guzman.

Over the past 18 months, the SBA has made incredible progress reaching more of Americas smallest businesses, delivering vital resources and support to business owners and entrepreneurs who have been historically underserved and overlookedthe same people and communities hit hardest by the COVID pandemic.

Guzman added that the SBAs working alongside the Divine Nine will provide even greater reach for the agencys services, including bringing new engagement, access to networks, financial literacy, technical training and capital readiness so every aspiring entrepreneur can realize their American Dream of owning a successful business.

SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman signed a Strategic Alliance Memorandum (SAM) alongside Reuben A. Shelton III, Esq, President of the NPHC, and spoke about the finer points of the partnership. (Photo: Courtesy of Brandon Williams, SBA)

As seen in a FEDS Note report from the Federal Reserve System from October 2021, Black, Hispanic and Latino households earn just around half of what their white counterparts earn and own roughly 15 to 20 percent of net wealth. These Black and brown communities also face barriers such as lack of inheritances, access to savings, and other financial maladies. The partnership will do its part in shifting tides toward evening the field.

Story continues

The SBA and NPHC, often referred to as the Divine Nine, will fashion the collaborative effort under the aegis of the Biden-Harris administrations push for fostering equity from the federal government level down to the American public. Closing the wealth gap, especially among underserved communities, will be the larger focus of the partnership, while the SBA will use its influence to reach out to members of the community and arm Black business owners with tools, resources, and support in order to create pathways to capital, government contracts, and general guidance.

The National Pan Hellenic Council and its affiliate organizations are very excited about this opportunity with the U.S. Small Business Administration. This collaboration will give NPHC members critical access to information that will promote small business growth and create jobs in all sectors of our economy, Shelton offered in a supporting statement to Administrator Guzmans announcement.

The NPHC reports that it retains membership of over 2.5 million individuals across the nine historically Black fraternities and sororities, with members hailing from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other universities across the nation. Many NPHC members are also community champions, heads of business, educators, entrepreneurs, and faith leaders who seek to elevate the station of those who require assistance.

(Photo: Courtesy of Brandon Williams, SBA)

The NPHC is comprised of: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., and Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.

The partnership is an extension of the SBA Equity Action Plan, directly influenced by the Biden-Harris administrations agenda. The SBA has also expanded and reformed its Community Advantage (CA) Pilot loan program to give low-income borrowers an opportunity to access capital to start or grow their businesses. The reforms are supplanted by the American Rescue Plans $100 million Community Navigators program.

The SBA has also increased its number of Womens Business Centers (WBCs), boosting the count to 146  the largest in the agencys history. This raises the profiles of WBCs at HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).

The list of WBCs found across HBCU campuses will now feature:

Miles College, Fairfield, Alabama

Savannah State University, Savannah, Georgia

Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland

Bowie State University, Bowie, Maryland

Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi

Alcorn State University, Lorman, Mississippi

Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina

Winston-Salem State University, Winston Salem, North Carolina

Benedict College, Columbia, South Carolina

Virginia Union University, Richmond, Virginia

Learn more about SBA funding opportunities here.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Biden-Harris administration launches landmark partnership with Divine Nine to address wealth gap appeared first on TheGrio.
Washington  President Biden will travel to the Middle East next month for a three-day trip that includes stops in Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the White House formally announced Tuesday.

During the trip from July 13 to July 16, Mr. Biden is set to meet with roughly a dozen Middle East leaders  including the Saudi de facto leader  during a visit that will likely be met with controversy given his role in the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 and the kingdom's record on human rights.

A U.S. intelligence report released by the Biden administration in February 2021 concluded that the crown prince "approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi," who was critical of the regime. In 2019, Mr. Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia a global "pariah," and when pressed Friday on whether he still views the kingdom that way, he told reporters, "I'm not going to change my view on human rights. But as president of the United States, my job is to bring peace if I can. And that's what I'm going to try to do."

During his Middle East trip, Mr. Biden will stop in Israel first, where he is scheduled to visit an area where U.S.-funded defense systems such as the Iron Dome are used, a senior administration official previewed to reporters Monday. The official said a focus of the visit will be Israel's "increasing integration into the region" through the Abraham Accords, brokered under the Trump administration, and ties with Jordan and Egypt. During the first leg of his Middle East trip, the president will also conduct a virtual summit of the so-called I2-U2  India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S.  to discuss food security and other topics.

At his second stop in the West Bank, Mr. Biden is set to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, likely in Bethlehem, during which the official said the president looks forward to "reaffirming his lifelong commitment to a two-state solution" and ways to "rekindle a new political horizon that can ensure equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity and dignity to Israelis and Palestinians alike."

Story continues

The final leg of the president's trip will be in Saudi Arabia for a summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council composed of leaders from six Gulf nations (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates)  as well as Iraq, Jordan and Egypt. The group is set to discuss climate and infrastructure, human rights and food security.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement the president is traveling to Jeddah "at the invitation" of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

"The president appreciates King Salman's leadership and his invitation," she said in a statement. "He looks forward to this important visit to Saudi Arabia, which has been a strategic partner of the United States for nearly eight decade."

While in the country, he will discuss "a range of bilateral, regional and global issues," Jean-Pierre said, including the war in Yemen, expanding regional economic and security cooperation, deterring threats from Iran, and advancing human rights.

The Saudi embassy in Washington said in a statement Mr. Biden and the crown prince will "hold official talks that will focus on various areas of bilateral cooperation."

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks forward to welcoming President Biden and defining the next chapters of our partnership," the embassy said. "At a time of global challenges related to the global economy, health, climate and international conflict, the partnership between our two countries is as critical as ever to the promotion of peace, prosperity and stability around the world."

Asked about likely criticism of Mr. Biden for meeting with the Saudi crown prince, the senior administration official asserted that the president will not change his views on human rights, and the Biden administration is "not overlooking any conduct that took place before we entered office."

"While we recalibrate relations, we're not seeking to rupture relations because Saudi Arabia has been a strategic partner of the United States for eight decades," the official said.

Mr. Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia comes as Americans are feeling the squeeze at gas pumps, with the nationwide average price of gas topping $5 a gallon for the first time ever, according to AAA. The president has attributed the surge in gasoline prices to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ongoing war with Ukraine. With Saudi Arabia as the world's top exporter of oil, Mr. Biden could use the visit to ask the kingdom to help stabilize oil markets, ideally lowering prices back in the U.S.

Still, Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday that to view engagement with Saudi leaders as "asking for oil is simply wrong and a misunderstanding of both the complexity of that issue and our multifaceted discussions with the Saudis."

"Of course, we discuss energy with the Saudi government, as we do with oil producers around the world," she said.

Even the prospect of a visit by Mr. Biden with the Saudi crown prince has earned the president criticism. Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, told "Face the Nation" this month that Mohammed bin Salman should be "shunned," and the president should not see him.

"I wouldn't go. I wouldn't shake his hand," he said. "This is someone who butchered an American resident, cut him up into pieces and in the most terrible and premeditated way. And until Saudi Arabia makes a radical change in terms of human rights, I wouldn't want anything to do with him."

Schiff said that while he understands Saudi Arabia's role in the oil market and would want to see the kingdom boost production, "going hand-in-hand to someone who's murdered American resident would not be on my list."

S&P 500 reaches bear market territory

G. Gordon Liddy: The 60 Minutes Watergate Interview (1975)

Hilarious baby confuses dad with identical twin
Bluesheets, a Singaporean AI-powered data-processing platform that enables financial automation for enterprises, has raised $4 million led by Insignia Ventures.

The latest funding, which brings its total raised to $5.7 million, will help bluesheets to expand the use cases of its software and reach more businesses in international markets. Since its SaaS product launch in September 2021, Bluesheets claims it has seen more than 10,000 companies financial data automated over its platform.

Christian Schneider and Clare Leighton co-founded bluesheets in 2020 to address the inefficiencies experienced by businesses when it comes to financial data consolidation, reconciliation and processing. The co-founders have seen the difficulties in workflow as operators while working at fast-growing companies like Rocket Internet, Foodpanda and Uber APAC before launching bluesheets.

Co-founder and CEO of Bluesheets Schneider told TechCrunch that the pandemic-induced digitization wave for businesses has been a significant tailwind in the growing adoption of the company. Still, there werent any flexible platforms to meet the needs, especially for businesses trying to consolidate offline and online data in Southeast Asia, Schneider said.

The company says most automation and integration platforms are still unable to fully digitize workflows due to fragmented tech stacks and the persistence of offline data records in business processes.

From the very beginning, weve designed our platform to be able to process the full scope of financial data with a comprehensive product offering, enabling bluesheets to be a plug-and-play solution for any company size or industry, Schneider said in its statement.

Bluesheets differentiates itself by providing flexibility across use cases and simplicity in integration for users, according to Schneider. It offers a list of financial integrations (more than 11 million to date) to a diverse suite of tools, including Slack, Google Drive and WhatsApp, and NLP capabilities catering to more than 75 languages with more than 100 million data points automated by its AI, according to Schneider. It also can specialize in processing unstructured, offline data, which many businesses are still working with in Southeast Asia, Schneider added.

Story continues

Bluesheets users are able to leverage its platform to automatically process unstructured financial data from any source and in real-time, Schneider said. Bluesheets already does end-to-end processing through APIs, powerful classification algorithms, and machine learning techniques.

The platform wants to provide a one-stop solution for processing financial data, automatically connecting all their data sources to any destination so that staff can focus on more high-value tasks and the availability of critical data for decision making.

Bluesheets currently focuses on the Southeast market and ultimately will scale globally across seven countries, including Australia, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S., the company CEO told TechCrunch.

Within a few months after launch, Bluesheets validated its product across several verticals and rapidly grew its paid user base, said Samir Chaibi, a principal of Insignia Ventures Partners, in a statement. Enterprise and SMEs alike use the Bluesheets platform to optimize the way their data is ingested, normalized and processed across hundreds of integrated platforms.
Members of an extraction crew work during an exhumation at a mass grave near Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, June 13, 2022. AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko

Ukrainian authorities are still discovering more mass graves in the town of Bucha this week.

Russian forces occupied the Kyiv suburb for most of March before Ukraine retook the town in early April.

Bodies discovered on Monday had their hands tied behind their backs and had been shot in the knees.

Ukrainian workers this week exhumed bodies from yet another mass grave near the formerly-occupied town of Bucha, according to the Associated Press.

Russian soldiers occupied the Kyiv suburb for most of March, leaving behind a trail of atrocities upon their withdrawal. Since Ukrainian forces retook Bucha at the beginning of April, authorities said they've discovered 1,316 bodies, several of which were disposed of in mass graves or in Bucha's nearby forests, according to the AP.

Workers donning white hazmat suits and masks this week set to work digging up more bodies in the forest. Multiple victims had their hands tied behind their backs, authorities told the AP.

"Shots to the knees tell us that people were tortured," Andriy Nebytov, head of the Kyiv regional police, told the outlet at the scene. "The hands tied behind the back with tape say that people had been held [hostage] for a long time and [enemy forces] tried to get any information from them."

The mass grave where workers were stationed Monday was located behind a trench dug out for a military vehicle, according to the AP. Seven civilian bodies were discovered, two of which were bound and had suffered gunshot wounds to the knees, Nebytov said.

The newly-discovered mass grave comes as Ukrainian authorities announced a criminal investigation into the killings of more than 12,000 people since Russia first invaded Ukraine in February. National police chief Igor Klimenko told Ukrainian news this week that the probes include some victims who were found in mass graves as well as victims who were killed by snipers carrying out mass killings from military vehicles.

Story continues

It was not immediately clear how many of the 12,000 dead were civilians versus military.

In the aftermath of Russia's withdrawal from Bucha, several mass grave sites have been discovered, as well as photographic and video evidence of civilian killings and possible war crimes.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General in April estimated that there were already at least 5,600 cases of alleged war crimes and 500 war crime suspects.

Read the original article on Business Insider
On The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Monday, Bryan Cranston spoke about directing an episode of The Office , during the filming of which the cast could have died. In the episode, titled Work Bus, the entire office is forced to spend the day working on a cramped bus due to Jims ( John Krasinski ) failed attempt to trick Dwight ( Rainn Wilson ). The air conditioning was too loud to run while filming, so to keep the cast cool while the bus was moving, they attached a trailer with a refrigeration system. Unfortunately, they didnt think about how they set up that refrigeration system.

What they didnt plan on, they didnt think, Cranston said, that where the intake for the refrigeration system was, was exactly lined up to where the tailpipe of the bus was. So the exhaust of the bus was going right to the intake.

Cranston credits Jenna Fischer , who played Pam on The Office, with saving everyones life.

Jenna Fischer actually saved everyones life, Cranston said. How? Colbert asked. Well, she said, I smell exhaust. Its coming inside the bus., Cranston replied. And Im thinking, Jenna, I mean, come on. How is that possible? Its not possible.

Cranston checked it out for himself and realized Fischer was right.

I got a chair and I stood up on the thing and I stuck my nose up in there and sure enough, it was billowing down. It was carbon monoxide, Cranston said. I wasnt quite sure so I got a second wind, I got some more, I got nice and dizzy, and then realized, oh my God, we could have all been dead. It would have been one hell of an episode. It would have been the finale before they would have planned that though.

Video Transcript

BRYAN CRANSTON: So it's not fair that it's called Death Bus because no one died.

[LAUGHTER]

It was-- I'll admit, it was my aim.

KYLIE MAR: Bryan Cranston joined the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Monday, where he spoke about directing an episode of "The Office" titled Work Bus, which is pretty self-explanatory.

Story continues

Cranston explained that to keep the cast cool, they attached a trailer with a refrigeration unit. But they didn't consider how it was set up.

BRYAN CRANSTON: What they didn't plan on, they didn't think that where the intake for the refrigeration system was, was exactly lined up to where the tailpipe of the bus was. So the exhaust of the bus was going right to the intake.

KYLIE MAR: The story of the Death Bus was first told by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, who played a Pam and Angela on "The Office," respectively, in their new book "The Office BFFs."

And Cranston credits Fischer with saving the lives of the cast and the crew.

BRYAN CRANSTON: Jenna Fischer actually saved everyone's life.

STEPHEN COLBERT: How?

BRYAN CRANSTON: Well, she said, I smell exhaust. It's coming inside the bus. And I'm saying, like, Jenna, that's-- I mean-- That's not.

KYLIE MAR: Though he didn't believe Fischer at first, Cranston checked it out and realized that they were actually in real danger.

BRYAN CRANSTON: I stuck my nose up in there and sure enough, it was billowing down. It was carbon monoxide. I wasn't quite sure, so I got a second wind. I got some more.

I got nice and dizzy and then realized, oh my god, we could have all been dead. It would have been one hell of an episode.

STEPHEN COLBERT: Yeah.
Bravo

Amanda Batula is enjoying a trip to Italy with her husband, Kyle Cooke  and she broke out some of her sexiest swimwear for the occasion. The Summer House cast member sizzled in a teeny green bikini while soaking up some sun on the Amalfi Coast, as captured in a series of recent photos on Instagram. On June 23, Kyle took to Instagram to share a peek into their trip abroad. In the series of snapshots, the couple can be seen enjoying a day out on a boat. As captured in the photos, Amanda looked ra
Pretty Girl

Paw Works

Paw Works, an animal rescue nonprofit based in Thousand Oaks, California, is mourning the loss of Pretty Girl.

Early on June 9, an unknown individual "picked the locks" of Paw Works' facility, setting off the security alarm at 2:42 a.m., and three minutes later left with a dog named Pretty Girl, Brittany Vizcarra, the director of operations at Paw Works, tells PEOPLE.

"I personally believe they were looking for a dog that seemed easy to grab," she adds of the upsetting theft.

Unfortunately, Pretty Girl's story took a sadder turn after she was stolen from the rescue. According to Vizcarra, "people in the community later reported seeing Pretty Girl on the 101 freeway around 8 a.m." several hours after she was taken.

"She was on foot and running northbound, but when people attempted to catch her, she jumped over the center divider and was struck by a car," Vizcarra says.

A Good Samaritan brought the injured canine to Conejo Valley Vet, where veterinarians scanned Pretty Girl's microchip and discovered she belonged to Paw Works. The vet office reached out to the rescue, who quickly collected the dog and brought her to the organization's hospital.

While Pretty Girl sustained no broken bones from the accident, Paw Works veterinarians found that the dog suffered internal bleeding, head and spine trauma, and tearing in her organs. Vizcarra says that Pretty Girl started to crash shortly after arriving back at Paw Works.

RELATED: Stolen Massachusetts Dog Reunited with Owner 11 Years After Disappearance: 'Hard to Believe'

"Shortly after, she succumbed to her injuries. She was surrounded by Paw Works team members that she knew and loved, who tried everything in their power to help save her," she adds.

This tragedy has left Paw Works searching for justice and answers. The rescue is currently working to find the individual responsible for stealing Pretty Girl, an incident that somehow led to the dog running around a busy California freeway by herself.

Story continues

"Unfortunately, we are still unsure of who did this. We know from the video that it is a person wearing a large hoodie with a skull on the back, shorts, and Vans shoes. We encourage everyone to take a look at the surveillance video footage and contact the Camarillo PD with any tips," Vizcarra says of how animal lovers can help the rescue heal.

Paw Works has shared the security footage featuring the theft on social media in hopes of uncovering details about who stole Pretty Girl. In an effort to find information, Paw Works, the rescue's supporters, and PETA have raised $17,000 to serve as a reward for information that leads to the "the capture and prosecution of the person(s) of interest in Pretty Girl's ongoing investigation," per Vizcarra.

Pretty Girl arrived at Paw Works in April from a rural shelter in Avenal, California, where she was at risk of being euthanized. Vizcarra says the dog was "guarded" when she first arrived at Paw Works, a no-kill animal rescue.

RELATED: Boston News Crew Spots and Saves Stolen Dog During Segment on the Missing Pet

"But with some time and care, she was able to warm up and blossom into a happy, active, and silly girl. She loved to go for walks and snuggle up with her favorite rescue workers. We believe with the right, patient person, she would have been able to show her potential  but unfortunately, she never got that chance," the Paw Works director adds.

Since Pretty Girl has lost the chance to have a happy future, Vizcarra and the rest of Paw Works hope they can still honor the dog's life by getting justice.

Those with serious leads about Pretty Girl's abductor should contact the Camarillo Police Department at 805-388-5100 and or call/text Paw Works at (805) 799-3937.
Theary Seng was taken away by police

A Cambodian-American activist who arrived at her trial dressed as Lady Liberty has been sentenced to six years in jail for treason.

Theary Seng is one of 60 defendants who have been linked to opposition leader Sam Rainsy's failed attempt to return from exile.

Some have already been jailed, while others remain at large. It is not clear how many appeared in court on Tuesday.

Theary Seng had called the verdict a "sham", according to news agency AP.

"I am ready to pay the price of prison in order that I live out my conscience and my belief in freedom and justice," she reportedly said.

On Tuesday, she stood outside court dressed in a green gown, holding an imitation torch and wearing a crown with the word "Freedom" written across it, before she was taken away by police.

The outspoken activist, who is also a lawyer, is known to have worn thematic costumes to her court sessions in the past.

"The mass trials against political opposition members are really about preventing any electoral challenge to Prime Minister Hun Sen's rule, but they have also come to symbolise the death of Cambodia's democracy," said Human Rights Watch' Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in power since 1985 and is one of the world's longest-serving prime ministers.

But he is also seen as an authoritarian figure with a poor human rights record and the resources to thwart any real political challenge.

His main opposition is the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was led by Mr Rainsy, who has long been Hun Sen's main rival.

In 2019, CNRP was dissolved as part of a crackdown on the opposition, while Mr Rainsy has been in Paris in exile.

He attempted to return to Cambodia in 2019 but said he was barred from checking-in for a flight from Paris.

Mr Rainsy faces several lawsuits at home which his supporters say are all politically motivated.
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell dismissed the idea that Jan. 6, 2021  the day a mob of pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election  was a tour, as some lawmakers had suggested.

During an appearance on MSNBCs Morning Joe, Gonell was asked what he would tell people who were skeptical about the magnitude of the attack.

Well, those people, they never had talked to me about it. They never had like a minute or so, so I could tell them or show them my injuries. I could assure you that that was not a tour, the police sergeant said. And those people  that whoever assaulted me and my fellow officers, they should be in jail, not just  [they] were not the good guys during that day.

Gonell said he was disappointed in lawmakers who said they were pro-law enforcement but instead sided with the rioters.

It disappointed me that, like I was saying earlier, that instead of  they fill their mouth with We back the blue or we are pro-law and order and the rule of law, and then they get a chance to hold these people accountable, he said.

And yet theyre fighting for the Jan. 6 rioters and calling them patriots or political prisoners, but yet to them I think we are considered the bad guys of Jan. 6 because we stopped them from doing whatever they intended to do.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) made headlines last year after he compared the Capitol riot to a normal tourist visit.

Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion, staying between the stanchions and ropes, taking videos and pictures, Clyde said. You know, if you didnt know the TV footage was a video from Jan. 6, youd think it was a normal tourist visit.

Gonell, in contrast, said the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was far scarier than what he had experienced while he was deployed in Iraq.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Reuters) - China and New Zealand foreign ministers spoke on a video call late on Monday and discussed China's role in the Pacific region, the two countries confirmed in separate statements.

China's growing influence in the region and the potential of militarisation has concerned New Zealand along with its allies. Their concerns increased after China and the Solomon Island's signed a security pact earlier in the year.

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta underlined the importance of engagement taking place in a manner that advances Pacific priorities, is supportive of Pacific regional institutions such as the Pacific Islands Forum, and addresses the significant challenges in the region, according to a statement from New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in his statement that Beijing respects the traditional ties between New Zealand and the Pacific island nations and wants to participate in more multi-party cooperation projects with New Zealand.

"The cooperation between China and Pacific island nations that China has diplomatic relations with can go hand in hand with existing arrangements in the region and complement one another," Wang said in a statement.

Mahuta also voiced New Zealands views on sensitive issues, including human rights issues in Xinjiang, the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, and the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to MFAT.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Lucy; Writing by Meg Shen; Editing by Gareth Jones and Michael Perry)
Jun. 14BARRACKVILLE  With $300,000 to raise, the members of the Barrackville Covered Bridge Preservation Society knew spaghetti dinners alone wouldn't cut it, so they're putting on a festival.

The society's first large-scale event will be the Inaugural Barrackville Covered Bridge Festival and it will take place Saturday, June 18. Local craft vendors and food trucks will join live entertainment at the gathering  which will introduce patrons to Barrackville and its covered bridge.

"We've done some different fundraisers throughout the year, but we wanted to put this festival on to bring the community together and raise awareness for the bridge," said Cari Casuccio, president of the society. "The bridge is a staple in Barrackville, If it wasn't around, I know it'd be missed."

Just driving by, it'd be easy to assume the bridge is in solid shape. Aside from some peeling paint, it looks sturdy.

However, the large wooden bow supports holding up the bridge are compromised, and the Division of Highways has limited the bridge to only 10 people at a time.

"The [Division of Highways] estimated the repairs will cost at least $300,000. But they have 17 covered bridges in the state and no money for any of them," said Diana Marple, the society's secretary. "The DOH may own it legally, but the community has taken ownership of that bridge."

The bridge was preserved in the 1990s, when the state pumped $3.5 million into total restoration. But the repairs didn't last, and the bridge needs attention again.

The community has rallied behind Marple, Casuccio and the society members who are leading the push for fundraising and awareness to, at the very least, complete the most important repairs, which carry the $300,000 price tag.

This festival is shaping up to be a lot bigger than any of the organizers dreamed.

"We didn't think it'd be this big of an event, and we didn't think it'd end up as well organized as it is," Casuccio said. "If everything goes well, we hope we can have another one next year."

Story continues

There are 44 vendors signed up to provide everything from snacks and activities to crafts and music. The festival will take place in front of Barrackville Elementary/Middle School  with food trucks and entertainment set up just down the street.

The festival will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the music entertainment will start at 11 a.m.

The majority of the fundraising will come from the vendors buying out their slots. The bridge society will have an information table set up, where guests can make direct donations or purchase commemorative T-shirts with a stylized version of the bridge.

LovingWV teamed up with the society to produce the shirts and will donate a portion of the proceeds to the preservation efforts.

"Nobody has any background in fundraising or event planning so, for our first event, I think we're doing exceptionally well," Marple said. "It's unfortunate the bridge is in this situation at all, but the goal of the whole event is to raise awareness. That's our bridge, and we certainly want to try to save it."

For more information about the festival, or the Barrackville Covered Bridge Preservation Society, visit its Facebook page by searching @SavetheBarrackvilleBridgeAgain.

Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at dkirk@timeswv.com.
Jiri Prochazka submitted jiu-jitsu specialist Glover Teixeira to win UFC light heavyweight gold (Getty Images)

Conor McGregor has congratulated Jiri Prochazka on becoming the Czech Republics first UFC champion following the light heavyweights title win against Glover Teixeira.

Prochazka submitted Teixeira with around 30 seconds left in the fifth and final round of the UFC 275 main event on Saturday, dramatically avoiding what was set to be a decision defeat in Singapore.

With the victory, the 29-year-old became his nations first champion in the UFC, and McGregor  who is signed to the Paradigm Sports agency like Prochazka  hailed the Czech on Twitter.

Paradigms Sports NEWEST! And the Czech Republics FIRST! UFC World Champion! wrote McGregor.

The indomitable samurai, @jiri_bjp! What a fight! What a performance! Huge congrats.

Brazilian Teixeira was making his first defence of the belt that he won by submitting Jan Blachowicz late last year.

At 42, Teixeira had become the second-oldest champion in UFC history, while Prochazkas rise to become a title holder in the promotion was one of the fastest in recent memory.

The 29-year-old was fighting in the UFC for just the third time as he defeated Teixeira.

Prochazka then returned to the Czech Republic to celebrate his UFC 275 win and was greeted by a huge crowd in his hometown of Brno on Monday.

A rematch between Prochazka and Teixeira has been touted as the next light heavyweight title fight, with their clash at UFC 275 having been deemed an instant classic.
John Eastman testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 4, 2013. Charles Dharapak/AP

A Trump White House lawyer sharply rebuked John Eastman a day after the Capitol attack.

Eric Herschmann told Eastman he would "need" a great criminal defense lawyer.

A federal judge said in March that Trump and Eastman likely engaged in a criminal conspiracy.

A day after the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, the conservative lawyer John Eastman went looking for someone in then-President Donald Trump's orbit to discuss an issue involving his effort to overturn the election.

Eastman finally reached a White House lawyer, Eric Herschmann. But Herschmann was not interested in entertaining Eastman's machinations.

As he later told the House select committee investigating January 6, Herschmann immediately shut Eastman down and advised him to go looking for a different kind of lawyer.

"I'm going to give you the best free legal advice you're ever getting in your life: Get a great f-ing criminal defense lawyer. You're going to need it," he told Eastman, according to a portion of Herschmann's recorded deposition that the House January 6 committee released Tuesday.

"Then I hung up on him," Herschmann added.

January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 14, 2022

Herschmann's testimony offered new insight into how, even within the Trump White House and broader administration, Eastman was viewed as facing potential legal jeopardy in connection with his role in developing a last-ditch strategy to overturn the election. The House January 6 committee included the footage from Herschmann's closed-door interview in a video featuring Rep. Liz Cheney, the panel's Republican vice chair, as it previewed a Thursday hearing that will highlight Trump's effort to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify now-President Joe Biden's electoral victory.

The hearing will unfold just days after members of the House January 6 committee publicly split over whether the panel would consider referring Trump or anyone else to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.

Story continues

Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee's Democratic chairman, told reporters late Monday that a criminal referral is "not our job." But Cheney tweeted that the committee "has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals," and other members made similar statements.

The House committee had been set to hold a hearing Wednesday on Trump's effort to pressure the Justice Department to help overturn the election, but the panel postponed that proceeding.

In the aftermath of that election, Eastman advanced an approach that called for Pence to refuse to count dozens of Biden's electors and either recess the joint session of Congress gathered to certify the 2020 results or send the election to the House.

As part of that strategy, Eastman pushed state legislatures Biden won to certify alternate slates of electors who would support Trump. None of the state legislatures followed through on Eastman's call, and Pence  acting on the advice of legal advisors and the retired Judge Michael Luttig  refused to take part in the plan.

On January 6, 2021, Eastman joined Rudy Giuliani in delivering remarks ahead of Trump's speech at the "Stop the Steal" rally where the then-president told supporters that "if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore." Within weeks of that public appearance, Eastman agreed to resign from his position as a law professor at Chapman University in California.

Eastman sued the House committee in January to prevent the panel from obtaining his Chapman University records.

In the course of that litigation, a federal judge ordered Eastman to turn over records to the House January 6 committee and found that it was likely that the conservative lawyer and Trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. Judge David Carter described Eastman's efforts as a "coup in search of a legal theory."

Testifying before the House January 6 committee, Herschmann said he had similarly harsh words for Eastman when he called the day after the Capitol attack. Herschmann recalled Eastman bringing up an issue related to Georgia.

In response, Herschmann said he asked Eastman, "Are you out of your f-ing mind?"

"I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: 'Orderly transition,'" Herschmann told Eastman, according to the former White House lawyer's recollection of the conversation.

"I don't want to hear any other f-ing words coming out of your mouth no matter what, other than 'Orderly transition.' Repeat those words to me."

Herschmann said that, eventually, Eastman repeated those two words back to him.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A Cincinnati man is facing charges in Northern Kentucky more than a year after a fatal crash that resulted in the death of his girlfriend, according to documents filed in Kenton County Circuit Court.

Kevin Ferguson Jr., 25, was indicted late last month on one count of second-degree manslaughter, court records show.

Ferguson pleaded not guilty during an arraignment Monday morning, his attorneys, Mark and Michael Woloshin, told The Enquirer. The attorneys declined to comment further, saying the case is in its early stages.

In April of last year, Ferguson was driving southbound on Interstate 75 when he lost control of his vehicle and struck a tree, according to the Kenton County Police Department. He was injured during the crash and taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for treatment and was later released.

Jordan Miller, 23, also of Cincinnati was in the front passenger seat during the crash. She sustained fatal injuries during the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said, adding no other vehicles were involved.

In court filings, prosecutors say Ferguson was intoxicated at the time of the incident.

"Emergency responders had trouble locating the vehicle because Ferguson had no idea where he was," Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders wrote in a correspondence filed in court.

"Investigation also showed Ferguson spent approximately 5 minutes on the phone with a friend before calling 911," Sanders wrote.

Sanders said Ferguson and Miller were in an on-again, off-again relationship, adding that Miller's family "is very involved and intent on pursuing accountability."

Ferguson is scheduled to appear in court for a jury trial in November. The case is being heard before Judge Patricia Summe.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati man facing charges more than year after fatal NKY crash
Thousands of Cubans joined the rare anti-government protests in July 2021

Cuba has sentenced 381 people for taking part in rare anti-government protests last summer - with some jailed for up to 25 years.

The attorney general's office said 297 had received prison terms, for crimes of sedition, public disorder, assault or robbery.

A minority were given the option to complete community service instead.

Thousands of Cubans took part in the demonstrations across the Communist-run island, chanting for "freedom".

The protests, the largest in decades, came amid a severe economic crisis with protesters voicing anger over price increases, and shortages of food and medicine.

Unauthorised public gatherings are illegal in Cuba, and more than 1,000 people were arrested. Images on social media showed what appeared to be security forces detaining, beating and pepper-spraying some of the protesters.

Those sentenced included "16 young people aged 16 to 18", according to the country's public prosecutor on Monday.

In 2021, Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel blamed the US - which has a decades-long history of tensions with Cuba - for the turmoil. He claimed the protesters were mercenaries hired to destabilise the country, and called on supporters to go out and defend the revolution - referring to the 1959 uprising which ushered in Communist rule.

This round of jail terms isn't the first linked to the protests. In March, more than 100 people who took part were sentenced to between six and 30 years' imprisonment.

The US and EU have criticised the trials for lacking transparency, and called for the release of those affected.
To get a roundup of TechCrunchs biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here.

Its June 14, 2022, and while were casually putting together the Daily Crunch newsletter, Bill Gates is chilling at the next table over at the TC Sessions: Climate event in Berkeley, California. Oh, and we just released some new tickets for our annual summer party! See you there?  Haje and Christine

The TechCrunch Top 3

Startups and VC

On the one hand, we write a lot of words about recessions. On the other, it seems like theres a flurry of new funds popping up left, right and center.

Story continues

Kate reports that World Innovation Lab raised $1 billion to bridge the innovation gap between corporates and startups in the U.S. and Asia.

From our Asia-focused VC desk: Sequoia India and Southeast Asia raise $2.8 billion funds, Manish reports.

Continuing the theme of connecting startups to other entities, Dcode Capital closed a $50 million fund focusing on startups wanting to work with the federal government, Rebecca writes.

Some more highlights

A decade after the bubble burst, 5 climate tech investors explain why theyre all in

Two Electric engineer wearing Personal protective equipment working on top of wind turbine farm; climate tech investor survey

Image Credits: Tunvarat Pruksachat (opens in a new window) / Getty Images

Twenty years ago, there were high hopes for companies aiming to mitigate environmental impacts, but an extended recession, China's dominance over solar power manufacturing and low natural gas prices weren't the only factors hobbling the industry.

A 2016 MIT Energy Initiative working paper found that VC is "the wrong model for clean energy innovation." It takes years to create economies of scale, and not every investor is willing to foot the bill for a decade of R&D.

"If a new and more diverse set of actors avoids the mistakes of the cleantech VC boom and bust, then they may be able to support a new generation of cleantech companies," the paper concluded.

That hypothetical cohort is now a reality: a McKinsey report found that climate tech "could attract $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion of annual capital investment" by 2025.

Senior climate writer Tim De Chant spoke to five investors to get their take on the state of the industry in Q3 2022. Their answers shed light on how VCs are reacting to the downturn, which tech may have the greatest potential for impact and what they're looking for at the moment:

Pae Wu, general partner, SOSV; CTO, IndieBio

Christian Garcia, partner, Breakthrough Energy Ventures

Rajesh Swaminathan, venture partner, Khosla Ventures

Andrew Beebe, managing director, Obvious Ventures

Amy Burr, president, JetBlue Technology Ventures

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

Big Tech Inc.

India officials made it clear that if VPN firms want to conceal who uses their services, they will have to leave the country ahead of some stricter guidelines. Now firms are obliging. The latest to announce it is removing its services is NordVPN, Manish reports. As digital privacy and security advocates, we are concerned about the possible effect this regulation may have on peoples data, Laura Tyrylyte, head of public relations at NordVPN, told TechCrunch.

Two years after stepping away from Amazon Robotics, Brad Porter unveiled his new passion, Collaborative Robotics, which will study human-robot interaction, Brian writes. It was too early for Porter to spill the beans on what hes working on, but he definitely said it will not be like Teslas Optimus robot. Perhaps it might be more like a Megatron robot?

Meanwhile, Natasha digs into why yet another European country is investigating Apples app privacy framework. This time, Germanys antitrust watchdog wants to see if the tech giant is unfairly tipping the scales in its direction.

There are also a couple of cybersecurity breaches to talk about. Someone gained access to a Kaiser Permanente employees emails in April, which led to a breach of approximately 70,000 patient records. Carly notes that this may have been the result of phishing, and action has been taken to educate employees; however, it is not yet known why it took the company months to report to patients what happened. Going back over to India again, Zack reports on millions of farmers in the country being exposed to the new Aadhaar data leak, which means their confidential 12-digit identity numbers  essentially how they get paid  were not so confidential anymore.

Here are some more highlights from the day:
The House Appropriations Committee unveiled its opening bid for defense spending on Tuesday, granting the Pentagon $761.68 billion for fiscal 2023.

The top line of its proposed fiscal 2023 defense funding bill would represent a $32 billion increase over fiscal 2022 funding levels.

The agency would receive another $15.1 billion for military construction programs under a separate bill that would appropriate a total of $314.1 billion for military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The two bills combined would give the Pentagon $776.8 billion, which is $3 billion more than President Biden requested for the agency in March. The president requested $813.3 billion in total national defense spending, of which $773 billion would go to the Pentagon.

The committee is expected to consider the two bills next Wednesday.

The proposed defense bill sets aside $173.1 billion for military personnel, which includes support for a 4.6 percent military pay raise. It also includes $269.3 billion in operations and maintenance $143.9 billion for procurement, and $131.7 billion for research, development, testing and evaluation.

The measure also $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to provide support and assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. It also provides $1.3 billion for international security cooperation programs, of which $300 million would go to allies and partners facing Russian aggression.

The measure also includes a provision that would prohibit the Pentagon from denying service members or civilian employees leave for obtaining abortions.

Separately, the military construction bill would allocate roughly $274 million for child development centers, $2.1 billion for family housing, $1 billion for constructing or renovating Guard and Reserve facilities, and $510 million for housing unaccompanied personnel at various locations.

That bill also includes $135 billion in discretionary spending for the VA, which was $48 million less than Biden requested for the agency. It also includes $128.1 billion in advance fiscal 2024 funding for veterans medical care.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Daily Beast

via Facebook/Rudy GiulianiFormer New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani doubled down Monday on his wildly overblown characterization that he was brutally assaulted by a Staten Island grocery store worker over the weekend, despite security footage showing the man only tapped his back.Speaking to about 200 people in a Facebook Live, Giuliani called the viral security footage deceptive. He claimed the pat packed so much vigor it nearly knocked him and a friend to the ground, but he was able to stay upright
By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) -Ecuador's police on Tuesday detained the leader of the country's largest indigenous organization, Leonidas Iza, after he led blockades on several highways and other allegedly violent acts in protest against the government's economic policies.

Iza's lawyer called the detention illegal and said it was unclear what crime he is accused of.

Indigenous groups began on Monday what they said will be an ongoing protest to demand President Guillermo Lasso freeze the price of gasoline, declare a moratorium on small farmers' bank debts and limit oil and mining expansion in the country.

On Monday night protesters burned a patrol car and attacked police officers, extinguished a pressure pump in an oil field and damaged infrastructure in some flower farms, the government said.

Iza's arrest on Tuesday prompted further protests, while violence rose in some parts of the country.

"He was intercepted and detained in a violent way, incommunicado for five hours, we didn't know where he was and we still don't know what crime he is accused of," Iza's lawyer Lenin Sarzosa told journalists in Quito. "We have presented a habeas petition for illegal detention."

Iza's organization CONAIE tweeted a video of his detention, describing it as "violent, illegal and arbitrary."

Four people who allegedly participated in crimes and one person who is an intellectual author are awaiting a hearing, Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo wrote on Twitter.

"Protest is a right that we defend as the government, but not chaos and much less violence," the minister added.

Hundreds of indigenous people arrived in Latacunga, south of capital city Quito, to support Iza on Tuesday afternoon. Other marches were reported in small towns with indigenous populations.

Ecuador's police said officers had been assaulted and several of them detained by protesters in Latacunga.

Story continues

Community and student groups were also protesting against Lasso's economic reforms in Quito in the afternoon, culminating in an attack on a police car, according to Reuters witnesses.

"Whatever happens, whatever it costs, even if we have to rot in jail, we will keep fighting," said Marlon Vargas, the head of Amazonian indigenous group CONFENIAE.

Lasso has said he will not allow protests to affect economic recovery and will punish any vandalism during protests.

Ecuadorean oil company PetroOriental said it was losing production of some 1,400 barrels per day and had shuttered eight wells in Orellana province after a small group from the Yawepare community occupied its installations, blocked access roads and damaged the tires of military vehicles with spears.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Steven Grattan and Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Richard Chang and Richard Pullin)
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador's Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya on Monday dismissed concerns that a sharp drop in the value of bitcoin could hurt the Central American nation's fiscal health.

El Salvador last September became the first country to make bitcoin a legal tender, alongside the U.S. dollar, despite criticism by the International Monetary Fund and credit agencies.

"When they tell me that the fiscal risk for El Salvador because of Bitcoin is really high, the only thing I can do is smile," Zelaya said at a press conference. "The fiscal risk is extremely minimal."

Since last September, El Salvador's government has purchased 2,301 units of the cryptocurrency, which fell on Monday to its lowest value since 2020.

Zelaya cited an earlier estimate from Deutsche Welles that the country's bitcoin portfolio had lost some $40 million in value.

"Forty million dollars does not even represent 0.5% of our national general budget," he said.

Bitcoin's value has dropped some 50% since it became legal tender in the country.

(Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Richard Pullin)
Jae C Hong/AP/Shutterstock

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seemingly trying to rally employees right and left. The richest man on the planet told employees that the electric vehicle (EV) company had a very tough quarter, but tried to bolster worker morale, according to leaked internal emails. Further, he will reportedly meet with Twitter staffers for the first time since the announcement of the chaotic $44 billion takeover deal.

Discover: Unplug These Appliances That Hike Up Your Electricity Bill

More: Top 10 Richest People in the World

Bloomberg reports that Musk attributed Teslas challenges to supply chain issues, and wrote: This has been a very tough quarter, primarily due to supply chain and production challenges in China. So we need to rally hard to recover!

According to Driveteslacanada.ca, which obtained the emails as well, Musk added: Id like to congratulate the Fremont team for achieving an all-time record production day last week and Berlin for making almost 1000 cars last week! This is great stuff. Shanghai is returning to full strength and Austin is spooling up. Onward to victory!!

In a subsequent email, Musk wrote that Tesla employees are doing pure goodness and he has infinitely more respect and admiration for you than the richest person on Wall St.

This latest shift in tone comes in stark contrast to previous emails Musk recently sent to staff, telling them that remote work was no longer acceptable and that he had a super bad feeling about the economy.

Shares of Tesla have been struggling as of late, notably so since the $44 billion Twitter deal announcement. They are down 46% year-to-date and were down 7% in pre-market trading on June 14.

On June 10, Tesla finally revealed the long-awaited details of its 3-for-1 stock split in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. The company also said that board member Larry Ellison would be stepping down and not be replaced.

Musk Will Meet With Twitter Staff

Separately, Musk will meet with Twitter employees on June 16, according to reports. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced the meeting in an email to staffers on June 13, saying they could submit questions for Musk in advance, per The Wall Street Journal.

Story continues

POLL: Do You Have a Side Gig or Other Hustle?

Find: Elon Musk Forces Twitters Hand on Bot Data, Social Media Platform To Provide Full Access

The announcement of the meeting doesnt clarify whether both sides have to come to an agreement regarding the number of Twitter spam and bot accounts  a contentious issue which has put the deal on hold, The Wall Street Journal added.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Elon Musk Offers Tesla Workers Surprising Words of Encouragement, Will Meet Twitter Staff
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday spoke for the first time about the possibility of peace negotiations with Tigrayan rebels, who have been locked in a 19-month war with federal forces.

Dispelling speculation that secret talks were already under way with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Abiy said the government had created a committee to consider holding negotiations.

"It is not so simple to conduct negotiations. There is a lot of work to be done (before) and a committee has been set up", Abiy told Ethiopian MPs.

The committee will be headed by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonen, who also serves as foreign minister, and will draft a report detailing the preconditions for negotiations, he said.

The comments follow the government's declaration of an "indefinite humanitarian truce" in March, paving the way for aid to reach the war-battered region of Tigray for the first time since mid-December.

The conflict has driven hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of famine, displaced more than two million and left more than nine million in need of food aid, according to the United Nations.

"Peace isn't something you hide," Abiy told lawmakers in response to rumoured talks with the rebels.

"We are saying we want peace; doesn't mean we are going to do secret negotiations. Secret negotiations have no substance," he added.

- 'Non-negotiable' -

In an open letter published late Tuesday, but dated Monday, the TPLF said it was ready to take part in a "credible, impartial and principled peace process".

But it lashed out at mediation efforts led by African Union envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, the former Nigerian president.

"The proximity of the High Representative (Obasanjo) to the prime minister of Ethiopia has not gone unnoticed by our people," said the letter by TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael, which also denounced "the silence of the African Union over the war and the atrocities perpetrated by the forces ranged against us".

Story continues

He also for the first time referred publicly to an "existing agreement" among the rivals to meet in Nairobi for negotiations hosted by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose government has been active in efforts to find peace in Ethiopia.

The thorny question of western Tigray -- claimed by both Amharas and Tigrayans -- is among the issues expected to come up in any negotiations.

The TPLF has repeatedly said western Tigray, which has been occupied by Amhara forces since the war erupted in November 2020, is a "non-negotiable" part of Tigray.

"Any lasting solution of the current crisis must be predicated on the re-establishment of the pre-war status quo ante," the TPLF said last week, calling for "the complete and verified withdrawal of all invading forces from every square inch of Tigrayan territory".

The TPLF has already asked the UN Security Council to ensure the withdrawal of Amhara and Eritrean forces from the region.

The conflict began in November 2020 when the government sent federal troops into Tigray to topple the TPLF, the region's former ruling party, saying it was in response to rebel attacks on army camps.

After the TPLF mounted a shock comeback in June, retaking Tigray and then expanding into the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara, fighting intensified in the second half of 2021, before reaching a stalemate.

Accounts have emerged of mass rapes and massacres during the conflict, with both sides accused of human rights violations.

The humanitarian situation in Tigray also remains dire, with the region still without essential services such as electricity, communications and banking, while only limited relief supplies are reaching the region.

The UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said in a weekend statement that more than 65,500 tonnes of food had been shipped to Tigray's capital Mekele via road between April 1 and June 6.

"Despite this positive progress, significant gaps remain to address the vast humanitarian needs in Tigray, primarily fuel shortage," it said.

ayv/txw/bp
By Francesco Guarascio

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union governments are intensifying pressure on Pfizer and other COVID-19 vaccine makers to renegotiate contracts, warning millions of shots that are no longer needed could go to waste, according to EU officials and a document.

During the most acute phase of the pandemic, the European Commission and EU governments agreed to buy huge volumes of vaccines, mostly from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, amid fears of insufficient supplies.

But with the pandemic abating in Europe and amid a marked slowdown in vaccinations, many countries are now urging tweaks to contracts to reduce supplies and consequently cut their spending on vaccines.

The matter was discussed on Tuesday at a meeting of EU health ministers in Luxembourg, although the Commission - the EU executive - remained cautious on what could be achieved.

Poland, the leading country in this attempt to revise contracts, has more than 30 million COVID vaccines in stock and would need to buy another 70 million under existing agreements, a Polish diplomat told Reuters, urging changes to avoid waste.

Poland has a population of about 38 million, with about 60% fully vaccinated, not including boosters - compared with more than 70% in the EU as a whole.

In a letter sent to the Commission earlier in June, and seen by Reuters, Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski together with counterparts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania called for a "reduction of the amounts" of vaccines being ordered.

They said the contracts were agreed when it was impossible to predict how the pandemic would develop, and they should now be changed as the situation is improving.

"We witness excessive burden on state budgets, combined with delivery of unnecessary amounts of vaccines," the joint letter said, adding: "There is a high probability that doses supplied to the European Union might end up being disposed of".

Story continues

During a public session of Tuesday's EU health ministers meeting, Slovakia said it supported the letter. Other countries, including Cyprus and Malta, urged caution as pandemic conditions could change again.

'CONTRACTS MUST BE HONOURED'

Pfizer and Moderna, which is another top supplier of COVID vaccines to the EU, have agreed to postpone some deliveries.

However, the ministers said in their joint letter, referring only to tweaks agreed with Pfizer, that they were "an insufficient solution and only delay the problem".

EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told Tuesday's public session that the Commission would work to further extend deliveries beyond this year.

She warned that excess doses could be needed in the future, and noted: "Contracts must be honoured", adding the EU "cannot unilaterally change the terms of the contracts".

An EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in May that EU countries would likely lose any legal case brought against suppliers.

There is currently no legal case, officials said.

Polish minister Niedzielski said on Twitter after the meeting that "on the initiative of Poland, renegotiation of vaccine contracts at the European level will begin in July."

Reacting to Niedzielski's tweet, an EU official said talks on making contracts more flexible had been going on for awhile with suppliers, as shown by agreed tweaks in contracts.

A gathering of EU health experts is planned in Prague in July, following other virtual meetings which have already addressed the issue of over-supplies, the official said.

A spokesperson for Pfizer declined to comment on the letter, but reiterated the changes already made to the contract to adapt delivery schedules.

Last year, several eastern European states had to receive emergency Pfizer doses, initially destined to other EU states, because they under-ordered the vaccine and preferred AstraZeneca's cheaper shots, whose deliveries were vastly reduced due to production problems.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; additional reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Mark Potter and Mark Heinrich)
The Federal Railroad Administration announced it plans to send up to $2 million in funding toward 25 different projects in 13 states.

In a statement on Monday, the agency said the money would fund trespassing and suicide prevention grants and include educational outreach aimed at reducing railroad-related suicides.

The grants are targeted toward communities and states with high occurrence rates of trespassing and casualties.

The states include California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, New York and Ohio.

No mission is more important than saving lives, and FRA is fully committed to supporting states and communities in the collective effort to prevent avoidable tragedies, Administrator Amit Bose said in the statement. Through these grants, we will deter railroad trespassing and suicide through coordinated responses from a broad range of local organizations specializing in law enforcement, education, and mental health.

Three of the 25 projects will be aimed at suicide prevention and include efforts such as mental health services and crisis training targeting the New Yorks Long Island Rail Road system, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority. The other 22 projects will fund hourly wages for law enforcement to enforce trespassing violations.

According to the agency, an average of more than 236 individuals died by suicide within the U.S. rail system every year from 2016 to 2021, in addition to 27 others who were injured in suicide attempts.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Fisher-Price / Mattel, Inc)

Fisher-Price is warning parents not to put their children to sleep in rockers after at least 13 deaths were linked to the product.

On Tuesday 14 June, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Fisher-Price issued an alert for the companys Infant-to-Toddler Rockers and Newborn-to-Toddler Rockers after at least 13 reported deaths occurred between 2009 and 2021.

According to the CPSC, the deaths happened when the babies fell asleep in the rockers. The company advised parents and caregivers that rockers should never be used for sleep and infants should never be unsupervised or unrestrained in the Rockers.

The announcement is being called a safety notice rather than a recall, per Fisher-Prices parent company, Mattel, Inc.

The safety commission also issued a warning for Kids2 rockers on Tuesday, after at least one reported death of an infant occurred in a Bright Starts Rocker in 2019.

Now, the CPSC has finalised a rule that requires infant sleep products to have a sleep surface angle of 10 degrees or less, which goes into effect on 23 June, 2022.

Parents and caregivers should never use inclined products, such as rockers, gliders, soothers, and swings, for infant sleep and should not leave infants in these products unsupervised, unrestrained, or with bedding material, due to the risk of suffocation, the CPSC warned.

Infants who fall asleep in an inclined or upright position should be moved to a safe sleep environment with a firm, flat surface such as a crib, bassinet or play yard, the agency said.

Fisher-Price Infant-to-Toddler Rocker (left and center), Fisher-Price Newborn-to-Toddler Rocker (right) (USCPS / Fisher-Price)

Fisher-Price, a division of American toy manufacturer Mattel, Inc, has sold more than 17 million rockers worldwide since the 1990s. In June 2021, the company recalled two infant glider products  the 4-in-1 Rock n Glide Soother and the 2-in-1 Soothe n Play Glider  after four infants died from being placed on their backs unrestrained. The deaths, which occurred between April 2019 and February 202, were all children under four months old.

Story continues

In 2019, Fisher-Price also recalled the Rock n Play sleeper after more than 30 infant fatalities were reported since 2009.

Just three years ago, this agency oversaw the recall of the Fisher-Price Rock n Play after a staggering number of infant deaths. Tragically, we now grieve 13 more infant deaths in Fisher Price Rockers, said CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka in a statement.

According to Trumka, a gag rule had prevented the safety commission from alerting the public about a pattern of death or injury related to the product. Rather, the CPSC must seek permission from the products maker before issuing a warning. Here, the Gag Rule delayed our message to the public by two months, Trumka said. If CPSC cannot issue timely warnings, dangers will remain hidden in peoples homes.

Last month, President Biden signed the Safe Sleep For Babies Act into law, which bans the manufacture, sale, or distribution of inclined sleepers and panned crib bumpers that have been linked to more than 200 reported deaths.

The new law was prompted in part by a congressional committee report, which found that Fisher-Price ignored warnings about its Rock n Play inclined sleeper before it was recalled in 2019.The safety notice is the latest concern for parents who have been left scrambling due to a shortage of baby formula in the United States. The current formula shortage is largely due to a shutdown of Abbott Nutritions Michigan plant, the largest in the US, which was shut down by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February for unsanitary conditions.

FDA chief Robert Califf has warned that the baby formula shortage will likely not be resolved until late July.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.  Fred Guttenberg, one of the most recognizable, outspoken parents of children killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, is endorsing Nikki Fried for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Nikki Fried has always been a friend and an ally to those of us working to change gun laws. She understands that fighting for common sense gun safety measures isnt just a political position, it is a fundamental necessity for our democracy to continue to function, Guttenberg said in a statement released Tuesday by the Fried campaign.

We cant rely on the politics of the past anymore. If we want to see progress in the fight to make our churches, offices, parks, and schools a safer place to be, then we need to try something new. Im proud to stand with Nikki today, he said.

Avoiding the politics of the past is a theme of Frieds in her candidacy against the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, Charlie Crist. Currently a Democratic congressman from St. Petersburg, Crist has been in politics for decades, mostly as a Republican, including time as the states governor.

Guttenberg has become one of Floridas most prominent advocates for restrictions on gun availability and ownership since his daughter, Jaime, was killed, along with 16 other people, at the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at her school.

His political activism includes supporting candidates he hopes will change gun laws to reduce the prevalence of gun related violence and killings  and calling out elected officials who refuse to take such steps.

Gun violence has taken on new urgency in the 2022 elections, following last months mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas.

On Saturday, Fried appeared at the March for Our Lives rally in Parkland, held near Stoneman Douglas.

Crist attended the March for Our Lives rally in Orlando, held on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub massacre. A shooter killed 49 people and injured 58 people at the Orlando nightclub.

Story continues

Fried, currently the state agriculture commissioner, and Crist have pledged to pursue policies to curb gun violence.

Fried said in a statement that Guttenberg has taught us all how to harness grief  a grief of the worst kind  and turn it into action.

There will be no closed doors to Fred Guttenberg in a Fried Administration. I am grateful to my friend Fred for his faith and his trust in me, Fried said.

____
Quartz

This weekend, Top Gun: Maverick became the highest earning film of 2022, surpassing Marvels Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Surprisingly, given Tom Cruises long list of past successes, this is the first movie in his career to cross the rare $1 billion mark in global box office sales. The film, which is a sequel to the original Top Gun of 1986, was originally slated to debut in 2019, but was moved to 2020 due to production delays.
(Bloomberg) -- European natural gas surged after Russias Gazprom PJSC said technical issues curbed supply through a key link to Germany just as a major export terminal in the US is likely to remain shut for three months.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Benchmark futures settled 16% higher as Gazprom said flows via the Nord Stream pipeline, the biggest link to the European Union, will be limited by 40%. One of the reasons is that Siemens failed to return on time some equipment it was repairing for the links entry point in the Baltic Sea, the Russian producer said Tuesday.

Fears that Russian shipments may be disrupted have persisted for months as the war in Ukraine drags on. Those concerns were compounded last week when a fire broke out at the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas. The operator said it may take 90 days for a partial restart of the facility, far longer than an earlier projection of a minimum three-week shutdown. Full capacity isnt expected to be available until late 2022.

Thats yet another sign how fragile the European gas market is, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S. Europe is already struggling with news of reduced supplies from Russia through Nord Stream.

The Texan export terminal has three-quarters of its supply available for spot sales, making it a useful alternative source for Europe as flows from Russia become less certain. The continent needs the supply to fill storage facilities in time for next winter.

Dutch front-month gas, the European benchmark, hit 101 euros a megawatt-hour and closed at 97.04 euros, the highest in a month. The UK equivalent jumped 28% to 196.55 pence a therm.

Story continues

Cargoes from larger US plants such as Sabine Pass, Corpus Christi and Cameron LNG could help supply Europe, Zongqiang Luo, an analyst at Rystad Energy AS, said in a note. Favorable spot prices mean countries such as Nigeria and Algeria could also increase production to help fill the void, he said.

Russian Sanctions

Sanctions against Russia because of the war in Ukraine have left a turbine key for the functioning of the Nord Stream gas pipeline stuck in Canada. A second turbine thats also due for maintenance cannot be sent for work overseas.

As a result, gas supplies into Nord Stream can be ensured at as much as 100 million cubic meters per day at the moment, down from a planned 167 million cubic meters, Gazprom said. We have informed the Canadian and German government and are working on a viable solution, said a spokeswoman for Siemens Energy AG, which manufactured the turbines and handles their maintenance.

Germanys economy ministry said that supply is currently guaranteed. The country gets about 35% of its gas from Russia.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Republican Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina at the Capitol on May 14, 2021. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

GOP Rep. Tom Rice's wife said she "just did not feel safe" following her husband's vote to impeach Trump.

Wrenzie Rice also told Politico that she urged her son not to walk alone to bars at night.

"You don't know if they all of a sudden hate you and want to hurt you," she said of Trump supporters.

Wrenzie Rice said she didn't feel comfortable venturing into the community after her husband, Republican Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina, voted to impeach President Donald Trump following January 6, 2021.

"I just did not feel safe," she told Politico in a recent interview, citing the violent assault on the Capitol.

"You don't know if they all of a sudden hate you and want to hurt you," she added, referring to Trump supporters in South Carolina's conservative 7th district.

Wrenzie Rice also said that she advised her son not to venture out alone to bars at night, and was initially afraid to even go to the grocery store.

That was due to a torrent of angry messages following Tom Rice's impeachment vote.

"I probably had, I'm not exaggerating, over 1,000 emails and texts," Rice told Politico. He even received a threatening voicemail on his personal cell phone, which said: "What kind of bird does not sing. You chose sides and now you pay the price."

Rice, unlike many of the other 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the attacks, had not been a frequent critic of the president prior to the riot, and surprised many of his colleagues with his vote.

"I was freaking out, trying to call him to be like, 'Hey!'" fellow South Carolina Republican Rep. William Timmons told Politico. "They informed us that it was not a mistake."

"He hadn't shown himself to be a tyrant before that," Rice told Politico, referring to January 6. "I don't think he was a tyrant before that. I do think he's a narcissist. He craves attention. He hates to lose."

Rice also told the outlet that he believes Trump is "purging" the Republican Party of any internal critics, seeking to turn the party into "a bunch of yes-men loyalists."

Story continues

The incumbent Republican now faces a primary challenge from South Carolina state Rep. Russell Fry, who's been endorsed by Trump. A recent Trafalgar Group poll showed Fry leading Rice by more than 17 points in South Carolina's conservative 7th district.

Rice now faces voters in a primary election set to conclude on Tuesday evening.

Read the original article on Business Insider
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)  South Carolina State Sen. Mia McLeod earned an endorsement from her opponents ex-wife just a day before voters cast their ballots in the states 2022 gubernatorial primary.

Amanda Cunningham, who was once married to former Congressman Joe Cunningham, announced her support for Mia McLeod in an email to the media Monday.

Cunningham said her values line up with McLeods and noted that it was time a woman held the mic when it comes to South Carolina leadership.

For the last decade, my work has been rooted in advocating for female equality  fighting gender-based violence and intergenerational poverty by helping uplift voices quieted from systemic oppression. The system is long overdue to have women in places their PowHERful voices are heard to create, nurture and enact policies that drive all humankind forward.

In alignment with my work, my values, and the change I wish to see, I am excited to support Mia for SC as our first Black female Governor of South Carolina, said Cunningham.

GOP governor says Trump is politically, morally responsible for Jan. 6

She added, Mias life has been spent in leadership roles where HER innate ability to advocate has shone bright and she has demonstrated her words match her actions in our states legislature over the past 12 years. She is not afraid to be herself or speak up to those who have held the mic for far too long. Mias well-earned experience and feminine embodiment will make for a governorship that is representative and fruitful for all.

Joe and Amanda Cunningham announced plans to divorce in March 2021. They co-parent their child, Boone.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its Baron Health Care Fund first quarter 2022 investor letter  a copy of which can be downloaded here. In the quarter ended March 31, 2022, Baron Health Care Fund (the Fund) declined 9.93% (Institutional Shares), compared with the 4.56% decline for the Russell 3000 Health Care Index (the Benchmark) and the 4.60% decline for the S&P 500 Index. Try to spend some time taking a look at the funds top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Baron Health Care Fund mentioned McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1833, McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) is a Irving, Texas-based healthcare company with a $44.6 billion market capitalization. McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) delivered a 23.50% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 59.14%. The stock closed at $306.99 per share on June 13, 2022.

Here is what Baron Health Care Fund has to say about McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

"Investments in health care distributors, health care services, and health care facilities along with cash exposure in a down market contributed to relative results. Within health care distributors, higher exposure to this strong performing sub-industry and outperformance of pharmaceutical distributor and technology solutions provider McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) added value. McKesson was the top contributor as investors rotated into value stocks that were trading at low multiples of earnings. We continue to believe that McKessons stock is inexpensive in light of the companys strong competitive position in growing end markets and earnings growth potential."

Source: Unsplash

Our calculations show that McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) fell short and didnt make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) was in 59 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2022, compared to 57 funds in the previous quarter. McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) delivered a 7.77% return in the past 3 months.

In February 2022, we also shared another hedge funds views on McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  Irans president Ebrahim Raisi accepted the resignation of the countrys labor minister, following weeks of protests by retirees, while the country is under heavy sanctions since 2018.

Irans government spokesman, Ali Bahadori Jahromi, said Tuesday that President Ebrahim Raisi has accepted the resignation of the countrys labor minister, Hojjatollah Abdolmaleki on Monday.

The resignation is the first for the government since hard-line Raisi took office less than a year ago. Raisi has three months to propose a new minister to the parliament for approval.

Abdolmaleki said he resigned to keep the harmony of the Cabinet but would continue on as an advisor to the president. Mohamad Hadi Zahdivafa was named as caretaker of the labor ministry.

Though the labor ministry said pensions had increased by up to 57% this year, many protesters say most retirees have only seen a 10% increase.

An explosion at a chemical factory in southern Iran injured scores of people, most of them lightly, the countrys state TV reported Tuesday.

The report said a leak from an ammonium tank caused the blast on Monday evening in the southern city of Firouzabad in Fars province, located about 770 kilometers (480 miles) south of the capital, Tehran. Firemen were able to quickly extinguish the blaze, the report added.

According to the chief of the provincial health department, Vahid Hosseini, out of 133 injured who were taken to local hospitals, mostly factory workers, 114 were later released after treatment.

Authorities on Tuesday reopened a nearby major road that they had closed after the explosion. The factory went online in 2020.

Iran occasionally reports incidents of fires or explosions at industrial sites affecting the countrys infrastructure that are mainly blamed on technical failures. Years of economic sanctions by the West have blocked Irans access to original spare parts and new equipment.

Sensitive military and nuclear sites in Iran have also been the target of attacks over the past years, which Iran has blamed on Israel.

Story continues

In February, a fire broke out at a warehouse full of engine oil and flammable materials at a base belonging to Irans powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the western province of Kemranshah, damaging a shed but causing no casualties. A day earlier, unconfirmed reports proliferated online about several explosions heard in northern Kermanshah, a strategic location in Iran with various missile and military sites.

The reports come as Iran remains on edge about its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. Negotiations in Vienna to revive the accord have stalled for months.

The 2015 deal that granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program collapsed four years ago when former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the accord and re-imposed crushing sanctions.

Separately, seven people were killed when a helium balloon exploded at a birthday party in southwest Iran, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The mishap took place in a restaurant in the city of Shahriar west of Tehran killing three children, three women and an elderly man.

Shahriar prosecutor Hamid Asgar said a preliminary investigation showed that a balloon containing helium gas exploded, eventually leading to a fire that spread across the restaurant.

He said the victims tried to escape to the kitchen but eventually asphyxiated. The burn marks on them were very mild, he said.

___

Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat contributed.
The third public hearing of the House select committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol on January 6 2021 will focus on the pressure campaign mounted against then-Vice President Mike Pence by former president Donald Trump and his allies in the lead-up to the Capitol riot.

We're going to focus on the pressure campaign on former Vice President Pence driven by the former president, even as advice was swirling around the White House saying that the scheme was illegal, it was totally baseless, said a select committee aide who briefed reporters on plans for the hearing late Wednesday.

We're going to show that that pressure campaign directly contributed to the attack on the Capitol, and it put the Vice President's life in danger, the aide continued, adding that the panel plans to present new material that documented that day, as well as evidence documenting Mr Pences movements before and during the riot.

The aide said the panel expects Thursdays hearing to echo the format used at Mondays session, in which previously recorded depositions and live testimony will demonstrate that there was a group of committed public servants who upheld their oaths and were committed to the rule of law working in the White House in the days before the attack on the Capitol, each of whom gave Mr Trump and Mr Pence sound advice saying: no, you can't go down this path. This is unlawful, unconstitutional.

Additionally, the select committee aide said Thursdays hearing will be used to present evidence of an ongoing threat to democracy from those who are still attempting to advance discredited views such as those being pushed on Mr Pence by Mr Trump and his allies.

The hearing is expected to be shown across the major TV networks, including CNN and MSNBC, as well as on numerous news websites and YouTube channels, including The Independentand on C-SPAN.

Committee aides said the majority of questioning and presentation of evidence at Thursdays hearing will be the responsibility of California Representative Pete Aguilar, a former mayor of Redlands, California who has served in the House since 2015.

Story continues

In addition to the pre-taped depositions which the panel has been using as part of multimedia presentations throughout the hearings, the select committee will take live testimony from two witnesses: J Michael Luttig, a renowned conservative legal scholar and retired federal appellate judge who advised then-vice president Mike Pence that he was unauthorised to unilaterally overturn the results of the election, and Greg Jacob, who served as Mr Pences White House lawyer at the time of the attack.

While Mr Pences former chief of staff, Marc Short, will not be testifying in person on Thursday, committee aides said viewers can expect to hear from Mr Short in the form of excerpts from multiple videotaped depositions he has sat for over the last year.

The aide did not say whether Mr Luttig or Mr Jacob were appearing under subpeona, but thus far all the witnesses who have offered testimony in person have done so, as have most of those who have given evidence in depositions.
A video of former President Trump is displayed on a screen during a hearing on Monday of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Were only two installments into the limited-run production of the Jan. 6 hearings, and so far, I think theyve been great. But I also think theyll leave almost everyone, except for me, unsatisfied.

For many Democrats and Never Trumpers, the hope is  or was  that this would lead to criminal prosecution of Donald Trump. On Sunday, Rep. Adam B. Schiff chummed the waters for those already ravenously hungry to see the former president in leg chains. Schiff (D-Burbank) said on ABCs This Week that hes seen what he believes to be credible evidence that Trump broke the law in his effort to overturn the 2020 election.

Schiff might be right that Trump broke some laws, but if youve got your hopes set on Trump filling Truth Social with complaints about the food in the prison commissary, youre destined for disappointment.

Some Democrats have high hopes that the hearings will rescue the Democrats from electoral catastrophe in the midterms. Thats very unlikely, too. Whatever the hearings do, they wont solve inflation, the border crisis, crime or Bidens dismal approval rating.

And for some, including me from time to time, we had a vague hope that these hearings would so conclusively prove Trumps lies about the stolen election and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that Trump would be permanently discredited and that his defenders would admit their error like Claude Rains in the climactic comeuppance in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Thats not going to happen either, at least not in the satisfying, schadenfreude-rich, cinematic way we feel we deserve.

But Ive decided thats OK.

Because here is what the hearings are well on their way to do: Create a safe space for elected Republicans, activists and conservative media figures to state openly what many already knew  the election wasnt stolen, Trump lied about it being stolen and that he bilked hundreds of millions of dollars from the poor marks he conned.

Sadly, very few of them will say it so bluntly. But you can already see the migration out of crazyland.

Story continues

Take Bill Stepien, Trumps campaign manager, who was supposed to testify in person on Monday, but canceled at the last minute because his wife went into labor. Stepien told investigators in taped testimony that he considered himself to be on Team Normal as the Trump White House descended into post-defeat madness. Team Normal knew Trump lost and told him so. The implied Team Abnormal included everyone from Rudolph W. Giuliani and the whole Four Seasons Total Landscaping team to Trump himself.

Stepien is letting himself off the hook more than some would like. The Bulwarks Tim Miller lays out a good case against Stepiens hypocrisy and self-flattery  for instance, Stepiens cowardly refusal to correct the record when it mattered. He was willing to privately contradict Trumps lies but stay quiet about them when they mattered most.

But if you take a step back, Stepiens rebranding is still a good sign. Most of the pro-Trump influencers were always cynical opportunists, letting the political winds guide them. That Stepien wants to publicly declare himself on Team Normal is a sign that the winds are blowing in a better direction.

The same principle applies to many of the witnesses  all from the campaign or the White House  including Trumps daughter Ivanka, a once-celebrated administration official. Former Atty. Gen. William Barr, long a hero in Trump world, surely broke some congressional hearing record for using the word bullshit to describe virtually all of Trumps election fraud claims.

Tucker Carlson and his prime-time Fox News colleagues may never give up the dream of convincing their audiences that theres no there there, but Foxs news side has covered the hearings as, well, news.

And while you might sometimes get the sense from Fox News that the big story out of these hearings is that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) should have been seated on the panel to represent Team Abnormal, from what Ive seen, the hosts and the legal experts, not to mention Rupert Murdochs other media properties, are perfectly content to let the underlying evidence and testimony go unrebutted, even if they call it old news.

In other words, most conservatives, borrowing a tactic from the Clinton impeachment, are arguing that we should move on from Trumps misdeeds. I get why that bothers people  including me  but arguing that we should move on requires conceding the facts of what happened. And that alone would make these hearings worth it.

@JonahDispatch

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Though the Civil War officially ended on April 9, 1865 with Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, freedom for all enslaved persons across the south was not yet complete.

As one of the most remote states in the Confederacy, Texas was the last holdout where African-Americans were still being held as slaves.

This ended on June 19, 1865, when federal troops, led by Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston and proclaimed freedom for all enslaved persons in Texas. It was also more than two years since President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862.

Known as "Juneteenth," and celebrated annually on June 19 in various parts of the United States since 1865, it was declared a national holiday on June 17, 2021.

Multiple celebrations will mark the holiday across our area.

More event news: Father's Day: Treat Dad right with a special brunch, lunch or dinner

More: 'American Idol's' Willie Spence, NFL sports figures attend forum on Black men in West Palm Beach

Juneteenth: Unity X Black Excellence Festival 2022

Palm Beach Lakes high school drum major Maxwell Rolle leans way back while dancing with his bandmates at a Juneteenth festival held at the Rivera Beach Marina Village, June 19, 2021. The event was free to the public and featured food, music from X102.3, local vendors, and fun and games for kids.

Presented by Juneteenth of Palm Beach County, this second annual celebration will take place from 3 to 10 p.m. Sunday at the Riviera Beach Marina Village Event Center and feature food and music as well as games and activities for all ages. The free event, which last year drew more than 2,300 attendees and dozens of local vendors, also is an opportunity to raise money for community programs including Culture Clinic, Culture Club and Mindful me. For information on the programs visit www.juneteenthpbc.org.

190 East 13th St., Riviera Beach

Norton Museum of Art: Juneteenh Family Celebration

The downtown museum will celebrate Juneteenth with multiple events from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. There will be performances by Faith's Place Center for Arts & Education dancers, marching band and drumline, Miami-based DJ ReRe, storytelling and music by Soda Pop. "This intergenerational event celebrates freedom and spotlights the African American experience with live musical performances, dance, gallery talks on art by African American artists, storytelling, and art-making activities," the Norton says on its website. For more information go to www.norton.org/events

Story continues

1450 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach

The Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach will celebrate Juneteenth with events from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.

YWCA of Palm Beach County: Family cookout

Celebrate the holiday with a cookout from noon to 4 p.m. Friday in Okeeheelee Park at the Alligator Pavilion. There will be soul food, Black art, traditional African-American games as well as a DJ. Free. Please RSVP for this event on eventbrite.com.

7715 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach

Boynton Beach Juneteenth Festival

Gather at Sara Sims Park in Boynton Beach for this free celebration from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The event will feature a performance by MAP DANCE THEATRE, the Live In The Rhythm Drummers, motivational speaker Chris Freeman, youth praise director Myles Blackmon, a comedy routine and more. There will also be activities for children as well as civic and non-profit booths. Information: boynton-beach.org/juneteenth

209 NW Ninth Ave., Boynton Beach

NFBPA South Florida Juneteenth Paint and Reflect

Presented by the National Forum for Black Public Administrators & National Black MBA Association, this event will be held from noon to 3 p.m Monday at Intracoastal Park, pavilion 1, in Boynton Beach. Featuring music, games and prizes, as well as food trucks and drinks for purchase, the event's theme will be Recall, Reflect, Reclaim. The painting activity will feature artist Constance Ivana. Particpiants will get a 16-by-20-inch canvas with an outline of the picture, easel, paint brushes, paint and two hours of instruction. General admission is free. Tickets to take part in the painting are $30. Further information is available via eventbrite.com.

2240 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach

Arts Garage Juneteenth activities

This Delray Beach hotspot for arts, theater, music and more will feature two events to commemorate the holiday. Presented by the Delray Beach CRA in collaboration with Spady Cultural Heritage Museum and Arts Garage, author Simone Browne will discuss her book "Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness" at 7 p.m. tonight. The discussion is free. Then at 8 p.m. Saturday, Julius Sanna & The Positively Africa Experience will perform. Sanna, a Tanzanian-born, Kenya-raised, American-influenced musician and minister, will bring positive songs and tales of African culture fused with the joyful sounds of African rhythms, jazz, funk and pop. Tickets are $30. Information: artsgarage.org

94 NE Second Ave., Delray Beach

Juneteenth Celebration and Blackmer's Market

This free event from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Pompey Park in Delray Beach will help support locally-owned Black businesses. There will be speakers, performers, a PEACE walk and more. In addition, food and clothing will be available for purchase. In addition, information regarding community organizations and services will be available. More information via eventbrite.com.

1101 NW Second St., Delray Beach

Crafted on the Ave. Market  Juneteenth Edition

Held from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Libby Wesley Amphitheatre in Delray Beach, this event celebrating Juneteenth will feature local and regional creators of handmade products, confections, art, crafts and more in an open-air market. For more information check downtowndelraybeach.com/events.

2 SW Fifth Ave., Delray Beach

Wellington's Redteenth Cultural Festival

The Village of Wellington, The Sickle Cell Foundation of Palm Beach County, and Treasure Coast Inc. came together to put on the Redteenth Cultural Festival at the Wellington Town Center on Sunday, June 19th from 4 to 8 p.m.

It's a free event that will feature a drumline, fashion show, spoken word, food trucks, vendors, musical performances, cultural entertainment, and more. Vendros will also be on hand to provide information about sickle cell, diabetes and other health issues.

To attend this event, guests are asked to sign up via the Sickle Cell Foundations Page.

*

Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He has lived in the West Palm Beach area for more than 30 years and, from mild to wild, will cover noteworthy community happenings. You can reach him at eritz@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Juneteenth celebrations around Palm Beach County
A man accused of murdering two correctional officers in a daring 2017 prison bus escape was found guilty in a Putnam County Courthouse Monday evening.

A jury brought in from Glynn County convicted Ricky Allen Juvie Dubose, 29, after deliberating for about 90 minutes.

His guilt was never really in question. His attorney Gabrielle Amber Pittman told jurors in her opening statement that Dubose was guilty. The real question, which remains to be answered, was whether Dubose will be executed by the state or spend the rest of his life in prison.

Duboses defense was based on both his traumatic childhood and reported mental health issues. A verdict of guilty but with intellectual disability or guilty but mentally ill would have kept Dubose off death row and likely sent him to prison for life, but the jury declined to utilize such qualifications in their conviction.

The case now moves to the penalty phase, where prosecutors and Duboses attorney will attempt to convince the same jury to either condemn Dubose to death row or spare his life.

A deadly escape

Ricky Dubose, right, and Donnie Rowe after they were captured in June 2017. A jury found Dubose guilty of murder Monday evening.

Dubose was 23 months into a 20-year sentence when he and fellow prisoner Donnie Russell Whiskey Rowe Jr., who was serving life for a holdup in Macon in 2001, murdered correctional officers Curtis Billue and Christopher Monica.

The killings happened the morning of June 13, 2017, along a highway east of Eatonton near Lake Oconee. Dubose and Rowe slipped out of their handcuffs while they were being ferried from a prison near Milledgeville to one near Jackson. The two burst through an unlocked gate on the bus. Prosecutors say Dubose grabbed one of the officers Glock pistols and shot Monica, the watchman, in the head and then did the same to Billue, the driver.

Rowe and Dubose then allegedly commandeered a passing car and then fled to Tennessee where they were captured a few days later. Last September, a jury brought in from Grady County convicted Rowe of murdering the officers but spared him the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The bloody episode was recorded by a security camera mounted in the rear of the bus.
VERO BEACH  The trial for one of two people charged with the widespread fraud allegations by a pool contractor began Tuesday and is expected to last through the end of the month, attorneys said.

Brian Washburn, whose wife was the owner of Amore Pools while he told customers he was an employee, was charged in October with 16 crimes, including seven counts of identity fraud, four counts of money laundering, insurance fraud, contracting without a license, false statement of compliance and scheme to defraud.

Since October, Washburn was held without bail at the Indian River County. A probation violation prevented him from being eligible for bail.

Debra Neger's unfinished pool on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Hobe Sound. Neger hired Amore Pools in July of 2020 and was told the project would take four to five months and now a year later with multiple structural issues she has terminated the contract and hired a different company to complete the job.

The Amore Pools saga: Unfinished pools, money wasted; how will Amore customers recover after company owners' arrests?

More pool trouble?: Martin County pool contractor claims partnership breach upended work on customers' pools

More: FDLE charges Amore Pools with defrauding $2M from hundreds in 6 Florida counties

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said the couple systematically defrauded customers across the Treasure Coast and elsewhere by fraudulently establishing the business, then agreeing to building backyard swimming pools but never completing them.

Amore' had an office in St. Lucie County, while the couple lives in Indian River County.

Attorney Edward Abare of Vero Beach, who is providing Washburn's defense, said he expects the case to take about 10 days to complete. There's no court sessions on June 20 and 21, he said, which should push the trial completion into the last week of June.

The jury was selected Monday at the courthouse in Vero Beach.

The Office of Statewide Prosecution is prosecuting the case against the Washburns.

Washburn's wife, Crystal Washburn, was charged with the same crimes as her husband last fall. She remained at the Indian River County Jail in lieu of $1.05 million bail. No trial date for her case has been set.

Lamaur Stancil is the Treasure Coast regional economy reporter covering business and industries, including retail, tourism and hospitality. Contact him at 321-987-7179 or lamaur.stancil@tcpalm.com and follow him at Lamaur Stancil on Facebook and @TCPalmLStancil on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Trial underway for husband of Amore Pools owner charged with fraud
Kanye West has accused Adidas of copying the design of his Yeezy slides.

In a now-deleted Instagram post, the 45-year-old rapper, who legally changed his name to Ye last year, accused Adidass CEO Kasper Rorsted of copying designs.

This is Ye driving down the same street Kobe passed on, he began his post. Maybe I feel that Mamba spirit right now.

To Kasper, Im not standing for this blatant copying no more. To all sneaker culture. To every ball player rapper, or even if you work at the store; this is for everyone who wants to express themselves but feel they cant cause theyll lose their contract or be called crazy, Ye wrote.

Bravery is not being afraid. Bravery is overcoming your fear for your truth. This Ye with the blue paint on my face, he added.

Referring to Adidass new Adilette 22 slides, Ye wrote: These shoes represent the disrespect that people in power have to the talent. This shoe is a fake Yeezy made by Adidas themselves.

The Donda rapper ended his post by asking Rorsted to come and talk to me.

Adidass new Adilette 22 slides have a design inspired by 3D topography and human expeditions to Mars.

(Kanye West/Instagram)

Keeping nature in mind, the German sportswear brand said it made these Adilette slides with natural and renewable materials as part of our journey to design out finite resources and help end plastic waste.

Both Yes 2019 Yeezy slides and Adilette 22 bear at least some resemblance due to their marginally beefy texture, and earth-toned rubber slip-on pattern.

This isnt the first time Ye is accusing a brand of stealing his designs.

In June 2021, Ye sued Walmart for flagrantly trading off his brand of Yeezy footwear.

Kanye Wests 2019 Yeezy slides and Adidass Adilette 22 (Adidas)

The rapper alleged that Walmart traded off his popularity, as well as that of his footwear brand, Yeezy, in a court filing seen by TMZ and The Blast.

An apparent copy of his Yeezy Foam Runner trainer, Ye argued, confused consumers with the $35 imitation found on Walmarts website.

The Foam Runner sold for $75 a pair when they were first offered in 2020, and became iconic after selling out.

Attorneys for Ye reportedly said that Walmart traded off the popularity of him and Yeezy with the unauthorised exact copy of the Foam Runner.

Lawyers reminded the American retailer that the rappers Yeezy brand was worth billions, and that Ye sets trends for everything he touches.
The Daily Beast

Paramount+According to everyone featured in Secrets of the Oligarch Wives, Vladimir Putin is a ruthless, greedy, sociopathic monster who cares only about his own power, wealth, and legacy as a titan who united and restored the glory of Mother Russia. The ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as the continued imprisonment and mistreatment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, corroborates those claims, although the true hook of the Paramount+ documentary about the Russian president is its insider commen
Louisianas legislative leaders are asking for at least 10 more days to comply with a federal judges order to redraw congressional districts so two have Black majorities. On Tuesday, the judge scheduled a hearing on that request, to be held Thursday.

Also Tuesday, a federal appeals court scheduled arguments July 8 about Judge Shelly Dick's ruling that the current districts violate the Voting Rights Act.

The Republican-dominated legislature and Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, have been fighting over the issue since February, when the legislature approved a congressional map with white majorities in five of six districts.

Edwards vetoed it, saying that because Louisiana's population is nearly one-third Black, at least two districts should have African American majorities. The legislature overrode his veto.

Dick ordered legislators to create new districts, including two that are majority Black, by next Monday.

There's no way to do that, Senate President Page Cortez and House Speaker Clay Schexnayder said in a motion filed Monday.

The six-day session is scheduled to start Wednesday and end Monday. The legislators are asking for at least until June 30.

The state Constitution and legislative rules make it impossible for a redistricting bill created in one house to be acted on in the other before a session's seventh day unless rules are suspended, according to their motion.

Dick ordered both Cortez and Schexnayder to testify in person at Thursdays hearing.

The redistricting special session from Feb. 1 to 18 was focused on a "status quo plan ... that seeks to protect voter expectations"  a replica of the one approved in 2011, the motion said.

Dick has ordered a very different plan, creating a difficult and time-consuming task requiring much negotiation, the motion said.

There are 144 legislators in the State Legislature, and each has different ideas of how a redistricting plan should be configured, the legislative leaders argued.

Story continues

Those representing areas where a majority Black district might be created are almost certain to have differing ideas of how communities of interest should be preserved, joined, and separated, and these discussions and negotiation will take time, the motion said.

In addition, it said a six-day session would not give state residents a chance to come to the Capitol and tell legislators what they want.

The current remedial schedule would compel the Legislature to redistrict (if at all) behind closed doors, without meaningful public input, and without opportunity to respond to that input, said a statement by Cortez.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal briefly put a hold on Dick's deadline, but removed that hold Sunday.

It was not deciding whether Dick was right to find the plan illegal, the three-judge panel noted. Rather, the judges said, they were ruling only on whether the legislative leaders, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin and Attorney General Jeff Landry had shown they were very likely to win an appeal.

That appeal was scheduled Tuesday for a session the morning of July 8.

Neither the plaintiffs arguments nor the district courts analysis is entirely watertight," Sunday's opinion said. "And it is feasible that the merits panel, conducting a less-rushed examination of the record in the light of differently framed arguments, may well side with the defendants.
(Reuters) - Chinese personal computers maker Lenovo Group is acquiring stakes worth $614 million in two digital units of Hong Kong telecoms firm PCCW Ltd, betting that a post-COVID recovery and hybrid work model will drive IT services demand.

Lenovo, the world's largest maker of personal computers, said in a statement late on Tuesday it will buy an 80% stake in Digital Era Enterprises and a 20% stake in PCCW Network Services, a holding company for a unit that provides technology solutions to government entities in Hong Kong.

The deals would diversify its businesses and were important for the company's long-term development, Lenovo said.

"The transaction allows the company to expand its IT services capabilities, its suite of service offerings as well as the geographic and vertical coverage of customers and partners," it said.

Lenovo, which last month warned of a hit to shipments in the short term due to China's COVID-19 lockdowns exacerbating chip shortages, will pay PCCW $513.6 million in cash and issue 86.4 million new shares, or a 0.71% stake, at HK$9.025 a piece.

PCCW, controlled by Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li, anticipates a gain of $100 million from the disposal, it said in a separate filing, adding it will use the proceeds to invest in growth areas and to repay debt, among others.

Shares of Lenovo slipped as much as 2.6% on Wednesday to HK$7.37, while PCCW gained 2.4% in its best day since March 16. That compared with a 1% gain in the broader market.

Last month, Lenovo posted an 18% jump in revenue to $71.6 billion for the fiscal year ended in March, of which its Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) business saw a 13% growth in revenue to $7.1 billion, and its newly formed Solutions and Services Group (SSG) saw a 30% growth to $5.4 billion.

Lenovo said SSG, which benefits from growing IT services demand, is the key to driving sustainable growth for the company.

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Editors note: to protect students and families privacy, we have chosen to refer to students and their families by first name only.

Last Friday evening, in Birmingham, Alabama, parents, guardians and friends sat under sparkling rows of string lights, waiting in joyous anticipation for the Magic City Acceptance Academys inaugural graduation ceremony.

Charity Jackson, Magic Citys chief academic officer, stood center stage in front of a ring of white, gray and purple balloons. Mike Wilson, the schools founding principal, led the faculty and staff into the main space of the Magic City Acceptance Center, the all-ages LGBTQ+ organization that birthed the Souths first charter school dedicated to affirming LGBTQ+ students.

Finally, a single-file line of 12 seniors, clad in purple caps and gowns, entered the space. As Jackson began introducing the graduating class, the crowd erupted in cheers full of pride, appreciation and love.

Since the Acceptance Center had been the inspiration and inception place for the Academy, this moment brought everything full circle. It was also a moment that felt long overdue.

Sign up here for The 74s daily newsletter. Donate here to support The 74's independent journalism.

In its early stages, Magic City Acceptance Academy suffered three rejections from the Alabama Public Charter School Commission. However, the school was finally approved and opened its doors in the fall of 2021 in the Birmingham suburb of Homewood, Alabama, with 250 students in grades 6-12.

When the students first came into the space, said Wilson, they were wrapped up in their trauma. They had come from environments where theyd been bullied and marginalized. At the Academy, the staff and faculty worked to educate and empower their students.

Clover, a graduating senior, said it wasnt until they came to the Academy that they saw their grades flourish. Along with the good grades, theyve also created bonds with students that they never thought theyd have. Clover said,

Story continues

It was the best experience of my life, and Im kind of sad to be a senior.

Clovers mother, Rachel, said from the beginning of the year till now, shes seen a change in them. Previously, Clover was miserable in school, and there didnt seem to be many options. But when Rachel discovered Magic City Acceptance Academy, she thought it could be a solution. Rachel said,

I have seen my child blossom, and as a parent, thats refreshing and empowering.

Seeing your child come into their own and be their own individual is quite an experience that I didnt expect. I mean, I knew that they would make improvements and make friends, but seeing them come out of their shell and become who they are has been one of the greatest parenting experiences Ive had.

To Support Traumatized Youth, Adults Must Shift Their Thinking

To create an environment that focuses on both the mental and social development of students, the Magic City Acceptance Academy is a trauma-informed space. Trauma-informed care helps professionals change their focus away from asking whats wrong with you? to asking what happened to you?

Making that shift was challenging, said Academy history teacher Lexia Banks.

It was kind of like having to learn how to teach all over again because we are emphasizing different parts of the students here and giving more priority to their mental and social development and our overall mental health, she said.

It has been really challenging, but in other ways, it has been such a breath of fresh air to be able to look at students social-emotional needs, and actually be encouraged to meet those and to prioritize those over academics and not trying to drive kids to their absolute limit all of the time.

The payoff was evident at the eighth graders promotion ceremony, held earlier in the day. The students seemed full of joy as they played with friends and went to teachers to offer them heartfelt goodbyes and even handwritten letters.

Banks said shes seen how students have transformed from being shy and scared to being able to demand things that, in the past, theyd only ever have the courage to ask close friends.

Its been an honor to be able to provide that kind of support, she said.

Offering trauma-informed support is a key piece of Magic City Acceptance Academys model, but it is also just one piece of a larger puzzle. Principal Wilson said the Academy talks about social justice initiatives, practices restorative justice and weaves in social and emotional learning, while also providing strong academics.

After Political Pushback, Community Steps Up

Magic City Acceptance Academy has pushed forward despite some political pushback.

In April, an Alabama gubernatorial candidate released a campaign ad criticizing the Academy for exploitation of children and not education. Due to this, the Academy had to add security to keep students safe from strangers who showed up at the schools property to film students or shout Bible verses at them.

However, after this, the Academy began to garner more support from the community. They received encouraging messages on a blog a parent had posted, emails and even postcards and signs from churches in the surrounding area.

Last Friday large colorful signs from different churches, including Baptist Church of the Covenant, hung along the walls in the cafeteria and the first floor with messages like You are beautiful and signatures from its members. Handmade posters sported inclusive and encouraging phrases like You are perfect just the way you are.

Some of the posters even came from beyond Alabama. One read:

Remember to just take a breath. Smell the roses and blow out the candles. You are loved and important. Youre doing your best. Black Forest, CO.

Closer to home, the local community has bonded with the new school in many ways, whether through the local staff members who had been with Wilson for years, or via the schools partnership with Birmingham AIDS Outreach.

This bond also appeared during graduation, when Denise Bishop, a supporter of the school, and the Mystic Krewe of Apollo, a Mardi Gras Krewe for the LGBTQ+ community, presented two scholarships to senior Gwen. The news prompted a spectator to call out: Im proud to be your aunt!

This Was a Lifesaver

These bonds among students, faculty, staff, community and families create a palpable environment of love and acceptance. Danny Carr, Jefferson Countys district attorney, took note in his commencement address.

When I walked into this room, and as I sat here, you know what I felt? I felt love. I felt respect. I felt opportunity. I felt honor. I felt all those things we so need in our community, Carr said.

We love you. We believe in you. We honor you. We cherish you. Today is your day. Dont ever forget this moment, and dont ever let anyone take it away from you.

After Carrs speech, students received their diplomas, and Wilson offered his closing remarks. Two and half years ago I sat right behind those books writing this proposal so we can have this school, now look at you, he said.

We are the best school in the country, Wilson proclaimed, jumping up and down with emotion. This day and every day Im proud to stand up and say I am who I am in this building, in this school, in this city, in this state. I am a cis-gendered gay male who has the best darn school in the state because we have the best darn staff in the state, he said. God bless you all, and know  theres this group of people who are always going to be there for you. I love you. Thank you for sharing your senior year with me.

After the ceremony, a grandparent approached Wilson and said, Im not overstating; this was a lifesaver.

Wilson hears accolades like this with profound ambivalence. While hes grateful the school is living up to its mission, he wants to live in a world where no young person should be in life-threatening danger because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

But in the world where Wilson livesBirmingham, Alabama of 2022it hurts to tell any young person theres no room for them at Magic City Acceptance Academy. Already, they have enough applications to meet their target enrollment of 350 students. Wilson is hoping to add another counselor and social worker to the staff to meet the needs of more students.

This story was originally published by Ed Post
Reps. Matt Gaetz, a Republican of Florida, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat of New York. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

Rep. Matt Gaetz praised how the progressive "Squad" had flexed its power in Congress.

Gaetz said he'd "studied" their tactics and he and like-minded Republicans wanted to mimic them.

The Florida Republican called one "Squad" member's actions "one of the greatest flexes."

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz says he's closely "studying" how Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive lawmakers leverage their power in the halls of Congress so that he and like-minded GOP lawmakers can do the same thing.

"I have studied carefully the tactics of the Squad, and many are admirable," Gaetz told Time magazine's Molly Ball for a feature story on Gaetz and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene published Tuesday.

The Florida Republican singled out one episode, when Rep. Cori Bush, a first-year Democrat from Missouri, camped out on the US Capitol steps to protest the Biden administration's initial decision to end a pandemic moratorium on evictions.

"Is not one of the greatest flexes of the 117th Congress Cori Bush sleeping on the steps of the Capitol and getting the Biden Administration, in a matter of, like, 48 hours, to totally reverse their position?" Gaetz told Time. His timeline is a little exaggerated, but Gaetz is correct in saying that Bush's protest was widely viewed as key in getting the administration to reverse its position.

Gaetz added that while he didn't agree with Bush's views, her successful protest demonstrated how even a relatively new lawmaker could affect change.

"I obviously don't share the policy goals of Congresswoman Bush, but there's a freshman congresswoman who, by virtue of a pretty compelling direct action, got the Biden Administration to straight-up flip," he said.

Gaetz and Ocasio-Cortez recently traded barbs on Twitter, with the New Yorker demanding that her colleague say whether he asked President Donald Trump for a pardon.

Gaetz and Greene have aligned themselves with fellow "MAGA" Republicans. As the Time piece details, they hope to increase the number of ideologically aligned Republicans in the House as a way to exert power much as progressives have done.

The "Squad" started out in 2018 with Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow Democrats Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley. The loose group has now expanded with new members, including Bush and Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Tech platforms might have to get serious about deepfakes. Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Tech firms could soon be forced by the EU to police "manipulative behaviors" on their platforms.

This would include deepfakes and fake accounts, per an EU code of conduct seen by Reuters.

Companies could face multi-billion dollar fines if they fail to comply with the code.

The European Union is preparing to force tech companies to police manipulative accounts and content on their platforms or else face huge fines, according to an internal document seen by Reuters.

The document seen by Reuters mandates signatories: "Adopt, reinforce and implement clear policies regarding impermissible manipulative behaviors and practices on their services, based on the latest evidence on the conducts and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) employed by malicious actors."

This includes deepfakes  images and videos that have been altered using software  and fake accounts, according to Reuters.

The document is an update to a voluntary regulatory code on disinformation which was first introduced in 2018.

The updated version will turn the code into a co-regulation scheme, which means both regulators and signatories to the code will share responsibility for it, Reuters reports.

Companies already listed as signatories on the code of practice include Facebook (now called Meta), Google, Twitter, and TikTok.

Companies that fail to adhere to the code could face fines of up to 6% of global turnover, the document said per Reuters.

For companies the size of Meta and Google, which posted annual revenues of $118 billion and $258 billion in 2021 respectively, that would translate to multi-billion dollar fines.

The updated code is part of a wider European crackdown on how tech companies police their platforms.

The EU agreed to pass a new piece of legislation called the Digital Services Act (DSA) in April, which regulates how Big Tech companies can harvest data, as well as how well they moderate their platforms for things like misinformation and hate speech.

"The DSA provides a legal backbone to the Code of Practice against disinformation  including heavy dissuasive sanctions," Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the internal market and one of the driving forces behind the DSA, told Reuters in a statement.

Story continues

A spokesperson for Breton confirmed to Insider that violating the code will be seen as proof companies are not doing enough to mitigate risk on their platforms, and could therefore be exposed to the fines of up to 6% of annual turnover as outlined in the DSA.

Reuters reported the European Commission is expected to publish the updated code of practice on disinformation on Thursday.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Michael Gableman's day in court

Former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman speaks with one of his attorneys before testifying about his handling of public records Friday, June 10, 2022 in Dane County Court in Madison, Wis. Gableman is required to testify in person Friday under an order issued Wednesday by Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington, who has blasted Gableman's attitude toward transparency. Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington required Gableman to appear.MARK HOFFMAN/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL

As an ex-judge, Michael Gableman surely knows his way around a courtroom.

That's why it was stunning Friday when Gableman appeared in Dane County Circuit Court and clashed with Judge Frank Remington.

Remington is overseeing a lawsuit alleging Gableman is refusing to follow transparency laws governing his taxpayer-funded review of the 2020 election.

Molly Beck has all the details as Galbeman claimed he was being "railroaded," called Remington a partisan advocate and refused to answer anything beyond his name and occupation.

Gableman and his office were held in contempt. The ex-judge is leading a partisan probe into the 2020 election, which was won by President Joe Biden.

You can read the article here.

And for some background, check out Patrick Marley's article on where Gableman's election investigation stands.

[Sign up to get the On Wisconsin Politics newsletter every week.]

A tale of two races

The 2022 State Convention in Middleton is hosted by the Republican GOP Saturday, May 21, 2022. Fighting for Freedom is the theme of this years convention.

We take a dive into the state's two big primary races, with Republican governor candidates taking off the gloves while Democratic U.S. Senate candidates are playing it safe.

With less than two months to go before the Aug. 9 primary, most voters are just now paying attention.

Some snippets from the trail:

Ex-Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch has taken on the lobbyists backing businessman Tim Michels' campaign.

"There were a handful, a cabal of slimy swamp rat lobbyists who have gone around the state Capitol for the last two months telling their friends that I cannot be controlled, that I am not good for their ecosystem," said Kleefisch, who is herself married to a lobbyist.

"And so they have gone around trying to find someone to self-fund to run against me," she continued on April 30. "And so let me tell you, when I am governor, the snakes and the weasels will not get an audience with me."

Kleefisch and businessman Kevin Nicholson went scorched-earth on each other early in separate radio interviews. Kleefisch accused Nicholson of being an "opportunist" and "shapeshifter" while Nicholson, without naming her, said Kleefisch was the candidate of "the Republican political machine."

Story continues

By comparison, Democrats are turning their campaign into a snooze fest as Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson waits in the wings. Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson accused Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes of being "inconsistent" on issues and ran an ad criticizing Barnes and Bucks executive Alex Lasry over public funding for Fiserv Forum.

In his first ad, Barnes said that he's "not like most senators, or any of the other millionaires running for Senate," a dig at multimillionaires Lasry, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Johnson.

Ex-Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Joe Wineke is confident that the party's primary winner can prevail in the fall.

"I think Kermit the Frog would be viable against Ron Johnson," he said, noting Johnson's high negatives.

'Forever chemical' standards to go into effect

Laura Schulte reports on lawmakers letting so-called "forever chemical" water standards go into effect but they cautioned a further review could halt them.

Schulte writes:

"According to Mike Mikalson, chief of staff for Sen. Steve Nass, legislators will not object to the standards suggested by the Natural Resources Board earlier this year, and they will be sent to the state Department of Natural Resources for implementation. Nass is one of the two co-chairs of the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules, which had jurisdiction over the rules."

Schulte adds:

"Though lawmakers are allowing the rules to move forward, they could still object to how the DNR handles implementation of them."

Scott Laeser, Water Program Director for Clean Wisconsin, told Schulte: "These standards are an important step down the long road we must all walk together to fix this mess,

"Widespread testing for PFAS is overdue, and Wisconsin has a historic opportunity to use tens of millions of federal dollars to help communities deal with these harmful forever chemicals. Because of these standards, we will finally get a better picture of how extensive the PFAS contamination problem is in our state."

You can read the article here.

Around the horn

Parole becomes an issue in the campaign for Wisconsin governor after the rescinded release of a convicted killer.

Wisconsin Elections Commission picks Republican tax attorney as its new chair.

And the commission rejected the bid to block Tim Michels from the GOP race for governor.

Wisconsin congressional delegation offers split response to Jan. 6 hearing as Republicans turn attention elsewhere.

Craig Gilbert writes Wisconsin voters are deeply pessimistic about the state's direction. But that doesn't mean they agree on why.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is coming to Mount Pleasant on Friday to speak with CNH Industrial workers who have been on strike since May 2.

Tweet of the week

This one goes to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre: "To be clear, as the President has said repeatedly, he plans to run in 2024."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Michael Gableman's day in court; a tale of two races;
Monkeypox is officially in Oklahoma, after the state's first "probable case," reported Friday, was then positively confirmed by health officials.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, officially identified a case of the monkeypox virus after the state Health Department announced it was isolating a central Oklahoma resident who had returned from another country where there are confirmed cases.

More: Monkeypox case officially confirmed in Oklahoma, as Health Department monitors situation

Health Department spokespeople said they worked quickly to isolate the resident and contact trace those whom the patient might have exposed since reentry.

"At this time we have identified all individuals that might be at risk of contracting monkeypox from this case," said Erica Rankin-Riley, public information officer for the state Health Department. " (The Health Department) is working with the identified contacts to monitor their symptoms daily throughout their 21-day monitoring period."

A map of the United States, provided by the CDC, shows states with known cases of monkeypox as of June 10, 2022. Confirmed cases are highlighted with darker shades, and health officials are considering even one case of monkeypox (such as in Oklahoma) an outbreak.

More: Monkeypox is now in 7 states. US health officials urge awareness, not fear.

Health officials reiterated their initial comments Friday that risk to the general public is low, and the virus is not easily transmissible.

"Current, available evidence suggests that people who are most at risk for infection are those who have had direct, physical contact with someone with monkeypox while they are symptomatic," Rankin-Riley said.

Monkeypox, a less-deadly sibling of the virus that causes smallpox, has been endemic in parts of Africa for the past five decades. Since mid-May, monkeypox has been spreading across the globe, including in European and American countries.

Closer look: Rare monkeypox cases around the world

As of June 13, at least 1,678 cases of monkeypox have been identified in 35 countries, according to the CDC. Of those confirmed cases, at least 64 are in the U.S., but the disease is so comparatively rare, authorities say, even one case is being considered an outbreak.

Story continues

Monkeypox can be transmitted to humans by contact with an infected person or animal, through prolonged face-to-face contact or by direct contact with bodily fluids and contaminated materials. Early symptoms include fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes. Experts say an infected person also will begin presenting bloody, pus-filled sores called lesions.

USA TODAY: Monkeypox is here and spreading. But the US is well prepared to handle the threat.

To prevent contracting and spreading the virus, officials recommend practicing good hand hygiene and avoiding handling material, like bedsheets or clothes, that may have come in contact with a possibly infected person.

People also are encouraged to watch out for symptoms, especially if a person recently has traveled to a country with confirmed cases or has tested positive for monkeypox. Health officials recommended individuals infected with the virus isolate themselves in their home away from others.

"If someone believes they have symptoms consistent with monkeypox, we encourage that person to be seen by a health care provider," Rankin-Riley said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Health officials positively identify first Oklahoma monkeypox case
The Napa County Department of Corrections released a booking photo Monday showing Paul Pelosi after his arrest for allegedly driving under the influence back on May 28.

Pelosi, the 82-year-old multi-millionaire husband of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, allegedly drove with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of .08%, according to court records. The California Highway Patrol and the county sheriff's department had both previously declined requests for more information or images in the case, citing the ongoing investigation.

Even a description of any property damage or injuries has been withheld.

HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI'S HUSBAND PAUL ARRESTED IN CALIFORNIA, CHARGED WITH DUI

"In Napa County, the decision to release or withhold mugshots or booking photos lies with the Napa County Department of Corrections, not the District Attorneys Office," a county spokesperson said in a statement Monday. "In the days after Mr. Pelosis arrest, Napa County followed the Department of Corrections policy regarding the release of booking photos and mugshots. Mr. Pelosi received the same treatment under that policy that all individuals released from County Jail receive."

Nancy Pelosi and Paul Pelosi attend the 23rd Annual Mark Twain Prize For American Humor at The Kennedy Center on April 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)

The photo was taken at around 4:30 a.m. on May 29, according to authorities, hours after CHP arrested him near Yountville in Napa County.

Unlike other counties in California, the sheriff's office does not run the Napa County Jail, according to authorities. It is handled by a county Department of Corrections under the Board of Supervisors.

CHP said in an earlier statement that the arrest came after the driver of a 2014 Jeep struck Pelosi's 2021 Porsche at an intersection around 11:45 p.m. on May 28. Police reported no injuries at the time and did not arrest the other driver.

Records show Pelosi bailed out the following morning for a $5,000 sum.

Speaker Pelosi's office has previously said it would not comment on the incident, which a spokesperson said happened while she was on the opposite side of the country.

Fox News' Michael Lundin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
travel chaos cancellations flight - Jamie Lorriman

The travel industry is in chaos for one very big reason: airlines and airports cannot get enough staff.

International travel was largely curtailed in the pandemic. Though furlough helped keep swathes of the nations workers in post, the travel sector laid off workers, particularly as restrictions and travellers fears of the virus lasted longer than the job retention scheme.

As a result, employment plunged.

In March 2020, some 81,000 people were employed in air transport, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). By March this year, that had fallen by 14pc to 70,000.

Now, as the number of job vacancies in Britain hit record highs, there is no sign of respite for the travel sector already engulfed in chaos largely caused by staff shortages.

Companies have made some headway clawing back lost headcount  at the lowest point last year just 66,000 people worked in air travel  but have a long way to go to reach the numbers needed to run a restored service.

Unfortunately for them and any travellers, however, it is not only airlines and airports seeking to take on new staff.

Bosses across Britain sought 1.3m new members of staff in the three months to May, a record high number of vacancies to fill. It means there is stiff competition to get the workers needed.

This precisely matches the number of unemployed jobseekers, in an unprecedented situation, according to data going back two decades. In part this is because the workforce has shrunk, with more people reporting they are long-term sick or have taken early retirement.

Before the pandemic there were around 1.6 jobseekers for every available vacancy, nationally.

In 2015, there were 2.5 workers for every job. A decade ago, there were more than five for every position on offer. It meant bosses were likely to have their pick of candidates.

Yet now, any air travel worker laid off during Covid has plenty of options  without having to go back to the boss who gave them the chop.

Story continues

Tony Wilson at the Institute for Employment Studies says airlines were in the eye of the storm when it came to pandemic disruption, and handled their workforces poorly.

They made use of furlough, but I am not sure they did enough to keep in touch with staff when they were furloughed, and they were quite quick to lay people off and to try to change their contracts when they came back. With the benefit of hindsight, they probably couldn't have handled it worse, he says.

In addition, workers are able to choose to shift into a different type of available job.

Airlines staff wont have just quite baggage handling and gone to work as accountants, but many will have been able to find better paid and probably more secure and enjoyable jobs which treat them better, says Wilson, with staff moving from driving and logistics jobs at the terminal to similar positions at supermarkets or in warehouses.

At a Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy select committee hearing on Tuesday, experts described a sector suffering from a staffing exodus.

Oliver Richardson, national officer for civil air transport at union Unite, told MPs that aviation simply isn't as attractive as it was, arguing workers rights were eroded during pandemic-era fire-and-rehire sprees.

Danny Brooks from Virtual Human Resources, a consultancy, said many workers had left the sector for good to avoid boom-bust cycles, unsociable working hours and high-pressure conditions.

It is proving difficult to persuade workers to return and airline bosses are clearly worried.

Last week Wizz Air boss Jozsef Varadi pointed to distress at Gatwick airport in air traffic management, airport security and ground handling.

In late May, easyJets finance chief Kenton Jarvis said: there's clearly a labour shortage in the industry. He anticipated rising costs in labour-intensive parts of the sector including ground handling and security, just as the sector is battered by high fuel prices and a weak pound.

Neil Carberry, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, says businesses are trying to make conditions and hours more appealing, to tempt those who have left the jobs market over the past two years.

There are strategies people are pursuing particularly around scheduling, looking to see if they can be a bit more flexible with fewer shifts per week to draw someone back in who has gone semi-retired over the course of the pandemic, he says.

Firms can hire, but it is taking a bit more thought about how to do it.

On top of that comes the more straightforward solution of offering more cash. The RECs surveys show serious pressure to raise pay offers for new hires.

In some of these roles, particularly sound baggage and security, pay is one of the big drivers of making the job more attractive, says Carberry, noting that logistics hubs are often based near airports and are looking for very similar staff to move and handle goods.

In what you would traditionally call blue collar sectors, where the pay rate is hourly and people are towards the lower end of the income distribution, people will trade jobs for 1, 2, 3 per hour, or a better working experience.

Data from Indeed show job postings in the aviation category have jumped 34pc since May, driven by pilots, aeronautical engineers, aircraft maintenance technicians and flight attendants. There has also been a jump in median wages for baggage handlers  up 9pc so far this quarter to 10.88 an hour.

We do tend to see aviation jobs picking up at this time of the year, but not to the extent we've seen this year, says Jack Kennedy at the recruitment site  who calls the pay bump for handlers eye-watering.

But with severe shortages and the need to train up workers, the crunch will not be over any time soon.

After the pain of the pandemic, it is evidently a good time to be an airline worker  even if not a traveller.
This image of a Flock Systems Automated License Plate Reader camera shows one possible example of the system's installation. Six cameras have been installed in Macedonia, and two more in Northfield.

Norton City Council on Monday decided not to consider buying a camera system capable of reading license plates thats been recently approved by other Summit County municipalities.

The system was sought by Norton Police Chief John Dalessandro and considered by council a week after Akron City Council approved a Flock Safety agreement.

Eye on crime? Akron preparing to join expanding traffic surveillance network; police say cameras with AI help solve crimes

Northern Summit communities to use license plate readers: Flock Systems installs automatic license plate readers in Macedonia, Northfield Village

The rejected $80,250 proposal would have placed 15 Flock Falcon cameras capable of reading license plates at strategic, unidentified spots throughout Norton. The data captured by the cameras can be used to track vehicle movements through communities and used in police investigations.

On June 6, Akron City Council approved a Flock system with 145 cameras. The city will spend just over $400,000 on the cameras, artificial intelligence software, storage and other equipment. The cameras will be installed with a focus on high-crime areas.

Other county municipalities, including Macedonia, Twinsburg and Northfield, have already contracted with Atlanta-based Flock Safety for systems in their communities.

Cost concerns and hacking fears

Norton council members opposed to the system cited cost and privacy as their primary concerns.

Council member Charlotte Whipkey said the cost of the system had climbed and a decision to cancel the program before the agreement expired would cost the city $500 per camera.

Whipkey also cited the possibility of hacking as a reason for her opposition. The concern was raised during prior discussion of the surveillance system and the councilwoman argued it was a legitimate one.

It was also asked about hacking. Well, my question is theyve only got 1,500 [clients] across the nation, she said at the meeting. Perhaps they just havent brought anybodys attention to them to make it worthwhile to hack, or they havent upset the right person that has the capabilities of doing so.

Story continues

Adam Schwartz, senior lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said information acquired by Flock cameras could be mined by nefarious individuals or organizations able to breach the system. The EFF, founded in 1990, is a nonprofit organization that defends civil liberties and privacy in the digital arena.

[The concerns] include, No. 1, organized crime or foreign nations stealing the data and using it to harass or commit identity theft, Schwartz said in a recent phone interview.

Those with access to data acquired by the system, from law enforcement to home owners associations, are bound only by agreements that can be readily violated or ignored, he said.

He said government surveillance technology could lead to "political spying."

Hackers or unscrupulous individuals with access to information compiled by Flock or similar systems could use that information against political or religious opponents or for personal reasons, Schwartz said.

Who went to a gun show and who went to a candidates rally and mosque? Schwartz said. There is tremendous concern about how this data is going to be used, abused and stolen.

The benefits of Flock Safety surveillance

Flock Safety credits its cameras with a decline in crime in communities that have implemented its license-plate reading system. They are not used to write tickets, and information is written over after 30 days.

According to the company, the Falcon cameras capture the make, vehicle type, color, license plate (full, partial, or missing), state of the license plate, and various vehicle features, including damage and after-market alterations.

Norton City Council member Joe Kernan, who supported bringing the Flock system to the city, said the benefits outweighed the potential for misuse.

"I thought it was an opportunity to give the police a good tool to use," he said Tuesday. "Im a bit disappointed that it was rejected."

Kernan said he understood residents' concerns about privacy, but said cameras are ubiquitous in today's society and the information collected was limited.

"I think the possible negatives are so remote it doesn't make sense to not give the police this tool," he said.

Whipkey, however, argued that constraints put on system users was inadequate.

The biggest thing: Theres no laws governing this, Whipkey said. None, whatsoever. We dont have any, the state has none, the feds dont have any. That right there ought to be a red light going off in everybodys heads.

Whipkey said she had spoken with a couple of residents who support the cameras, but many who are against them.

Kernan, chairman of the Safety Committee, and council member Scott Pelot voted to bring the proposal forward. Council members Whipkey, Paul Tousley, Doug DeHarpart, Jamie Lukens and Ben Bates voted against doing so.

Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Norton rejects surveillance cameras a week after Akron's approval
Good afternoon, OnPolitics readers!

Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Trump campaign adviser and fiancee to Donald Trump Jr., was paid $60,000 for an appearance at a rally just before the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol using money raised for an "Official Election Defense Fund," according to a member of the House committee investigating the attack.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview Monday the committee had discovered that Guilfoyle was paid for the 2.5-minute speech using money Trump raised as he promoted the conspiracy that the 2020 election was stolen.

"So not only was there the big lie, there was the big rip-off," Lofgren said Monday. Donors deserve to know where their funds are really going. They deserve better than what President Trump and his team did."

In Mondays second public hearing, members of the Jan. 6 committee argued that Trump raised millions of dollars off of his false claims of election fraud for the purported Election Defense Fund. Gary Coby, a former Trump campaign staffer, said it was fair to call the Election Defense Fund a marketing tactic.

The fund, Coby said, was just the topic matter where money could potentially go to be  how money could potentially be used." The committee claimed the Trump campaign team raised $250 million after the election, most of which went to an entity called the Save America PAC.

It's Amy and Chelsey with today's top stories out of Washington.

POTUS to meet with Saudi prince despite human rights concerns

President Joe Biden will meet with Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who U.S. officials believe ordered the killing of a Washington Post columnist, when he travels to the kingdom next month.

The White House initially said only that Biden would "see" bin Salman during the trip, which will also include a stop in Israel. But John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, said Tuesday the administration expects bin Salman to be part of meetings between Biden and Saudi Arabia's leadership.

Story continues

There will be lots of bilateral discussions and, yes, that will certainly include (Saudi) King Salman and his team, and we expect the crown prince will be part of those discussions," Kirby said in an appearance on CNN after being pressed on whether Biden would have official talks with bin Salman. "Were not shying away from that."

Pushback from Congress, human rights advocates: The White House's semantic gymnastics over Biden's meeting with bin Salman come after human rights advocates and some members of Congress urged Biden to either cancel the trip or go only under certain conditions. Biden himself said during his presidential campaign that his administration would make the kingdom a "pariah" state because of its human rights abuses.

Asked whether Biden would discuss the murder in October 2018 of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist whom U.S. officials believe bin Salman had ordered killed, Jean-Pierre said the president brings up human rights with many leaders and plans to do so.

The crown prince has denied any involvement in Khashoggi's killing.

Biden is set to visit Israel and Saudi Arabia July 13-16.

Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for OnPolitics newsletter here.

Real Quick: stories you'll want to read

Lawmakers debate gun legislation ahead of holiday recess

The most comprehensive gun control legislation in 30 years is likely to pass in the House and Senate despite some resistance, though whether lawmakers can get the work done before the July 4 recess is up for debate.

Proposed legislation includes expanding background checks on 18-to-21 year old buyers, closing the boyfriend loophole in domestic violence cases, authorizing grants to states to implement red flag laws and funding for school safety and mental health resources.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., said he would like to see a number of measures included in the legislative language before its approved; among them the background check, which will take juvenile records into account, and closing the loophole involving the three-day waiting period. Under current law, a gun may be sold even if the background check isn't completed.

The new proposals might have prevented the mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and at a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015, had they been federal law.

Clyburn also advocates for a nationwide application of red flag laws, which allows courts to remove firearms from people considered a threat to themselves or others.

"A red flag law in South Carolina shouldn't be different from a red flag law in Georgia," he said. "We should unify the country with our legislative actions."

Happy Birthday, Donald Trump! The former president turns 76 today. Here's a look back at his presidency. -- Amy and Chelsey

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pres. Biden to meet with crown prince during Saudi Arabia trip
Logan International Airport in Boston displays a photo exhibit looking at mental health issues in December 2016. (Jonathan Wiggs / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The day I sat in my psychiatrists windowless office and was told I had bipolar disorder, Id already been in the mental health system for 25 years. It was my sixth diagnosis. Starting at age 12, Id also been told I had anorexia, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit disorder.

Sitting on my psychiatrists gray, puffy couch, I knew quite a bit about bipolar disorder  not just from my time in and out of doctors offices, partial hospitalization programs and intensive outpatient programs, but from the world around me.

Much of my education came from public awareness campaigns such as Mental Health Awareness Month, which just happened in May. The intentions are good: promote mental health, facilitate access to treatment and spread awareness to combat stigma.

The problem is that awareness-based campaigns may not work as intended. Awareness can spark an increase in internet searches but doesnt necessarily lead to action or change behaviors and is often ineffective at reducing stigma long term. Awareness days and months can reduce the problem to individual responsibility. Messaging that focuses on diagnoses and biological explanations has been found to produce pessimism in sufferers and potentially prevent people from seeking treatment.

Diagnoses didnt always dominate conversations around mental health. Before 1980, psychiatric diagnoses as we know them today  accompanied by lists of symptoms  were mostly unknown to the public. The 1980s marked the widespread circulation of the third edition of the controversial Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, sometimes referred to as psychiatrys bible. That edition became a yearly bestseller that reached a general readership beyond clinicians and mental healthcare professionals.

Today, largely thanks to the DSM, diagnoses are very much part of American culture. Theyre memes. Therapists advise about them on TikTok. Theyre romanticized on social media and elsewhere, with some earning the reputation of being cool and trendy. In a Vogue video, Kendall Jenner hears from a clinician in real time that she has social anxiety. News blogs encourage us to self-diagnose via symptom checklists. Anxiety and depression are merchandized. We self-diagnose and diagnose each other.

Story continues

The toolkit for Mental Health Awareness Month in May, for example, offers screening tests, including ones for depression and anxiety that are trademarked by Pfizer  which has made billions from antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications. The tests state that they arent diagnostic instruments, but they suggest taking the results to a physician or healthcare provider. By that point, theyve essentially declared whether youre likely to have a diagnosis.

The shortcomings of advocacy campaigns plugging awareness, and pegging that awareness to diagnoses, arent specific to any single organization. Much of mental health advocacy has latched onto the most simplistic message: Feel bad? Having trouble? Get a diagnosis.

Why is this a problem? Because unbeknownst to many  and unbeknownst to me during the years I was being diagnosed  mental health diagnoses have questionable scientific validity. Biological markers  blood tests, X-rays or brain scans  cant confirm DSM diagnoses. They generally rely on a patients self-reported symptoms and a clinicians opinion. (The few exceptions include dementia and chromosomal disorders.) They vary by country and cultural context. Two clinicians assessing the same patient using DSM criteria often wont even agree on a diagnosis.

Respected psychiatrists and researchers have raised concerns about the DSM for years. Leading up to the publication of the DSM-5 in 2013, Thomas Insel, then director of the National Institute of Mental Health, called DSM diagnoses constructs with no reality. That same year Steven Hyman, another former NIMH director, described the DSM model as an absolute scientific nightmare. In 2019, Allen Frances, former chair of the DSM-IV Task Force, said diagnoses should be written in pencil. This year he cautioned that the current DSM should include black box warnings for some entries.

Certainly, we should seek help, which often means getting a diagnosis to receive the right treatment. And of course diagnoses have been positive for some people, empowering them and providing relief, validation and connection. Diagnoses are also administratively necessary because theyre required for health insurance purposes and can give people access to services in part because theyre so central to our healthcare system.

But in my case, they were a dead end  from my first diagnosis to my sixth. I overidentified with them, seeing myself as them. It took extensive research and writing a memoir to learn about the inadequacy of those diagnoses. I still have a diagnosis and get treatment  my psychiatrist is open with me about the DSMs flaws  but I dont see myself through the lens of that diagnosis.

Before, I attributed all my distressing thoughts, painful emotions and undesirable behaviors to my diagnosis. I saw them as proof that something was wrong with my brain. Now, I see them as part of me and being human. Remarkably, this has lessened my symptoms.

Mental health awareness should include informing patients and their families about the potential fallibility of diagnoses so they can make knowledgeable decisions about their health. And the public should know, just as psychiatric professionals do, that diagnostic flaws dont have to prevent people from getting the resources they need.

Sarah Fay is a mental health advocate and the author of "Pathological: The True Story of Six Misdiagnoses."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Disney-Pixars forthcoming film Lightyear has now reportedly been banned in 14 countries over the inclusion of a same-sex kiss scene.

On Monday, the animated film was banned by the United Arab Emirates due to its violation of the countrys media standards. Lightyear was scheduled to release on Thursday (16 June).

The UAE, like other nations in the wider Middle East, is a Muslim-led country that criminalises same-sex relationships.

Disney has reportedly been unable to secure the release of Lightyear in 14 Middle Eastern and Asian countries, including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Egypt, Indonesia, and Malaysia,

The film is unlikely to release in China as well, according to the South China Morning Post.

A producer for Lightyear reportedly told the publication that she assumed the film wouldnt open in China after Disney declined to make the cuts authorities had asked for.

The movie, with Chris Evans voicing the character of Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story films, reportedly includes a a brief kiss between Hawthorne, the character voiced by actress Uzo Aduba, and the woman she is in a relationship with.

Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Tim Peake and Taika Waititi at the UK premiere of Lightyear (Ian West/PA) (PA Wire)

At the London premiere for the film on Monday, Evans reportedly said these objections to the same-sex kiss were frustrating.

Its great that we are a part of something thats making steps forward in the social inclusion capacity, but its frustrating that there are still places that arent where they should be, the actor added.

Meanwhile, producer Galyn Susman at the event said Disney would not cut anything out of the film, especially something as important as the loving and inspirational relationship that shows Buzz what hes missing by the choices that hes making.

The Independent has reached out to representatives of Disney for comment.

Pixar had earlier restored the same-sex kiss in Lightyear in March after staff released an open letter criticising Disneys response to Floridas Dont Say Gay bill. While the nature of the characters relationship hadnt been questioned by production, their kiss had reportedly been cut.

Story continues

The 162m Lightyear is expected to be a major draw for Disney, with analysts estimating it could gross more than 82m in its first weekend.

Earlier this year, the Disney/Marvel release Doctor Strange in the Muliverse of Madness was denied a release in Saudi Arabia and other countries over LGBT+ content.

Additional reporting by agencies
TSSA members at NR work in operational, control, management and safety critical roles on rail services across Britain

Thousands more railway workers will vote on whether to go on strikes which threaten travel chaos this summer.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) plans to ballot more than 6,000 staff at Network Rail (NR).

It is part of a dispute over pay, conditions and job security. Other rail unions will strike next week in what is the biggest walkout in three decades.

A Department for Transport spokesman said strikes should be a last resort and urged TSSA to reconsider.

Network Rail said: "Now is not for time for the TSSA to be jumping on the RMT strike bandwagon."

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at NR and 13 train operators will go on strike for three days from 21 June.

The RMT and Unite are also holding a one-day strike on the London Underground on the same day as the first rail strike, in a separate row over jobs and pay.

Travel misery

Train strikes, cancelled flights and record-breaking petrol prices have thrown getaway plans into disarray and threaten a summer of travel misery.

The TSSA has previously announced strike ballots among its members at four rail companies - Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands and West Midlands Trains.

Meanwhile, members of the drivers union Aslef are also striking later this month at Hull Trains, Greater Anglia and Croydon Tramlink.

TSSA members at NR work in operational, control, management and safety critical roles on rail services across Britain.

They are being asked to cast two votes - one on strike action and another on action short of a strike. The ballot opens on 20 June and closes on 11 July.

In the event of a yes vote, strike action could be held from 25 July.

'Summer of discontent'

The TSSA is demanding a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for 2022, no unagreed changes to terms and conditions, and a pay increase which reflects the rising cost of living.

Story continues

It said NR staff last had a pay rise between two and three years ago, although it varies between grades, and also worked throughout the coronavirus pandemic as key workers.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: "We could be seeing a summer of discontent across our railways if Network Rail don't see sense and come to the table to face the concerns of their staff."

He added Network Rail only responded to the union's requests for pay talks, made before Christmas, when it moved the issue to dispute in April.

'No-strings pay offer'

But a spokesman for Network Rail said positive pay talks were in full swing with a 'no-strings' pay offer of 2.5% on the table with the potential for more if targets were hit.

A Department for Transport spokesman said it was "hugely disappointing and premature that the TSSA is balloting for industrial action when talks have only just begun".

He added: "Train travel for millions more people is now a choice, not a necessity. Strikes stop our customers choosing rail, and they might never return.

He urged the TSSA to reconsider and go to industry talks in a bid to find a solution for workers, passengers and taxpayers.
Bravo

Katie Maloney-Schwartz is helping Tom Schwartz feel a little more at home in his new place. On June 23, Tom took to his Instagram Stories to thank Katie for sending him the most thoughtful gift to add to his brand-new kitchen: an air fryer. The TomTom co-owner shared a closer look at the item in a brief video on Instagram. Bub, thank you! Look at this baby, he can be heard saying in the clip, also adding, Appreciate it. He went on to reiterate his gratitude for the present in the caption, wr
The Charlotte Observer asked how far youd travel for cheaper gas in Charlotte, with the current average price up to $4.63 as of Tuesday.

Out of nearly two dozen respondents, 68 percent said they would travel 10 miles or less for a deal. A few respondents said they wouldnt go out of their way at all while others said it would depend on how much theyd save.

Some respondents even did the math on how much theyd save driving out of their way for bargains.

Its not worth driving out of my way to save a few cents per gallon, one respondent wrote. My truck holds 36 gallons. Even from empty, lets say someone had it for 20 cents cheaper. That would be close to $7. How much is your time worth? Im not going out of my way.

Another respondent explained driving to a gas station with cheaper prices would depend on the mileage it takes to get there.

Lets say my car gets 30 miles per gallon and needs 10 gallons of gas, the respondent said. The gas station closest to me is priced at $4.50 per gallon, but I know another station is selling at $4.35 per gallon. The 15-cent difference means Id save $1.50 on 10 gallons of gas, which equals a third of a gallon from the closest station. At 30 miles per gallon, a third of a gallon of gas equals 10 miles, which means if the station selling gas at $4.35 a gallon is less than 10 miles round trip for me, then its worth the drive.

While South Carolina generally has cheaper gas than North Carolina, one respondent said driving across the state line would be pointless since the prices at a few Charlotte gas stations nearby are relatively low.

Driving to SC isnt worth it anymore. Costco usually has the lowest prices in the area, the respondent said.

Where is the cheapest gas in Charlotte?

A Charlotte Observer investigation found that Pineville and its surroundings  ZIP code 28134  has the lowest average gas prices on Thursday, Friday and Monday. The average there sat around $4.35 last week, though it climbed to $4.48 on Monday.

Story continues

Sams Club and BJs, both wholesale stores, have members-only gas stations on Carolina Place Parkway in Pineville. Both charge less than other fuel brands, keeping that ZIP codes average price lower. According to GasBuddy, both stations were charging $4.37 per gallon on Tuesday.

Gas stations in South End, Dilworth, Carmel and neighborhoods near Rea and Colony roads (ZIP codes 28203 and 28226) had the highest average prices last week. On Tuesday, prices in both ZIP codes ranged from $4.57 to $4.69, GasBuddy price data show.

Observer staff writers Gabe Castro-Root, Lorenza Medley and Charlotte Kramon contributed to this report.
Insider

North Dakota is holding congressional and local primary elections on Tuesday. Polls closed at 8 p.m. CT.

The races and the stakes

There is one US Senate seat up for election this November in North Dakota that's currently filled by Sen. John Hoeven. Hoeven easily sailed through his primary against Riley Kuntz, who's currently working on a drilling rig.

On the Democratic side, there are two candidates running for Senate: Katrina Christiansen and Michael Steele. According to Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, the seat will almost assuredly go to a Republican  the experts rate the race as "safe R."

As for the House of Representatives, North Dakota has just one at-large congressional district, which is currently held by Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong. Armstrong isn't facing any Republican challengers  in November he'll run against Democrat Mark Haugen, who also has no primary challengers. The race in November will likely be won by a Republican  Sabato's Crystal Ball rates the race as "safe R."

At the state level, North Dakota has 47 seats in its state senate. Of the 47 seats, 32 are up for election this November. The state senate has 39 Republicans, seven Democrats, and one vacant seat. As for the North Dakota House of Representatives, there are 94 total seats  80 of the seats are held by Republicans and 14 by Democrats. Of the 94 seats in the state House, 66 are up for election this year.

North Dakota state legislative primaries:

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Reuters) - Russia has banned dozens of British journalists, media representatives and defence figures from entering the country, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

In a move that Moscow said was a response to Western sanctions and the "spreading of false information about Russia", 29 journalists and members of British media organisations such as the BBC, the broadcaster Sky News and the Guardian and Times newspapers were personally banned.

Another 20 British figures who Moscow said were linked to the defence industry were also banned from entering Russia.

"The British journalists included in the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and events in Ukraine and Donbas," the ministry said in a statement.

"With their biased assessments, they also contribute to fuelling Russophobia in British society."

The list includes high-profile journalists, news anchors, editors and senior managers, including the editors-in-chief of the Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent and Guardian newspapers.

Moscow had promised to retaliate for foreign sanctions against Russian officials and bans on Russia media overseas.

It has already barred dozens of U.S. and Canadian officials and journalists from entering.

"It's sad, but not entirely surprising," said Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russia who was among those banned.

Guardian writer Shaun Walker, who spent more than a decade as the newspaper's Moscow correspondent, tweeted that it was a "very strange/sad feeling to be put on their sanctions list along with other British colleagues".

Britain's media regulator revoked RT's licence to broadcast in March, saying it could not comply with the impartiality rules in Britain's broadcasting codes because of its links to the Russian state, which had sent troops into Ukraine and cracked down on independent journalism.

A week after sending its armed forces into Ukraine, Russia passed a law imposing a jail term of up to 15 years for intentionally spreading "fake" news at variance with government accounts about the military.

Story continues

Ordinary Russians have little access to independent reporting on their country as almost all significant media outlets that diverge from government policy have been closed down in the last few years.

Moscow also issued entry bans to 20 figures it said were associated with the British defence establishment and therefore responsible for supplying Western arms to Ukraine.

They included Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Benjamin Key and senior figures at the defence and aerospace firms BAE Systems and Thales UK.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Angus MacSwan)
Reuters

Ukrainian authorities say they have uncovered an alleged new scheme from fed-up Russian troops angling to get out of the war: Theyre apparently now sabotaging their own weapons and trying to sell the parts as scrap metal.

Thats according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraines Defense Ministry, which on Tuesday named and shamed the Russian forces they say failed spectacularly in a recent attempt to sell off parts of Russian missile systems in the Donetsk region.

In order to avoid going to the frontline, the commanders of a squadron from the 933rd anti-aircraft missile regiment decided to make their equipment unfit for active service, the agency said in a statement. The troops removed the control units from Tor-M2U [missile systems] and decided to sell them at a collection point for precious metals.

Putin Nemesis Warns of Sinister Twist in Russian Attack Plan

The plan is said to have backfired when the troops demanded a higher payoff for the goods, prompting the local workers at the scrap metal point to alert law enforcement of the so-called Donetsk Peoples Republic.

Ukrainian intelligence says the damaged Russian equipment was ultimately blamed on active fighting rather than sabotage, with the entrepreneurial troops sent back to the frontline despite their best efforts. They were identified as members of the 933rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment of the 150th Motorized Rifle Division, part of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District.

The intelligence arm of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry did not disclose how it learned of the apparent sabotage scheme. But the report adds to a long list of increasingly creative attempts by Russian troops to abandon the fight, from fake marriage to self-injury.

In response to the rock-bottom morale among troops, there have been reports of the Russian military sending in FSB officers and high-ranking brass to keep tabs on disloyal troops.

In audio of what Ukrainian intelligence described as an intercepted call released Tuesday, a man identified as a Russian soldier can be heard complaining to his wife about his struggles to bring those under his command in line.

Story continues

After she tells him she heard about Ukrainian forces edging out Russian soldiers in several areas, the man responds that it doesnt matter to him.

My own fucking mules are driving me batshit crazy, he said, before going on to tell her the situation with morale is worse than critical among his men.

Well fucking shoot one of them demonstratively, and the others will maybe shut up, she said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
IRYNA BALACHUK - TUESDAY, 14 JUNE 2022, 08:29

PHOTO STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE

Last night, Russian shelling caused six fires in Kharkiv Region; two children were wounded.

Source: Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service in Kharkiv Oblast on Facebook

Quote: "Fires caused by enemy shelling occurred in the Chuhuiv (3), Kharkiv (2) and Bohodukhiv (1) districts of the Oblast. As a result of these fires homes, farm buildings, warehouses, trucks and coniferous litter have been damaged.

Fires in the residential area of the village of Malynivka, Chuhuiv district were among the largest fires caused by the shelling. A garage and a farm building on an area of 180 sq.m. caught fire. Two children, aged 11 and 17, were injured in the shelling."

Details: Children with shrapnel wounds were taken to Chuhuiv Central District Hospital.

Rescuers spent 1.5 hours putting out the fire.

At 11:51 pm, as a result of Russian shelling, a warehouse building and 10 trucks on the territory of an enterprise in a settlement in Kharkiv District caught fire. The flames covered an area of about 2000 square metres. Emergency workers put out the fire by 3:19 a.m. There are no casualties.

Rescue operations were also carried out at two sites where damage had occurred in the Nemyshlanskyy and Kyiv suburbs of Kharkiv city.

State Emergency Service pyrotechnic engineers neutralised 27 Russian munitions during the past 24 hours.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday that he is comfortable with the contours of a bipartisan deal on gun legislation and will back it if the measure ends up reflecting what the framework indicates.

Im comfortable with the framework and if the legislation ends up reflecting what the framework indicates, Ill be supporting it, McConnell said.

The powerful Republicans support would greatly enhance the prospects of the legislation passing the Senate.

A centerpiece of the proposed deal is substantial resources for states to implement red flag laws, which allow individuals like police or family members to petition courts to keep firearms away from people deemed a risk to themselves or others.

Currently, 19 states and the District of Columbia have red flag laws on the books. The new provisions are aimed at increasing that number and improving their implementation.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.
Cellphone location data helped county sheriffs offices place a 27-year-old man at the scene of a series of fires around Caldwell County last month, including one that killed a 96-year-old grandmother, according to court documents.

Harold Edwards, Jr. was arrested Friday by the Caldwell County Sheriffs Office and the Clay County Sheriffs Office on charges of arson, burglary and property damage in connection with three suspected arson fires that occurred May 10. Edwards was held without bond in Caldwell County jail after being arrested in Kansas City.

Sgt. Detective J.C. Kirkendoll of the Caldwell County Sheriffs Department served a search warrant on Edwards service provider, AT&T, which gave the department access to historical placement data on his cellphone.

Location data obtained with the warrant and video surveillance of a black 2019 Ford Escape helped place Edwards at the scene of all three fires, according to the affidavit. Kirkendoll also wrote he believes Edwards started the second and third fires to cover up the initial blaze.

Caldwell County Sheriff Mitch Allen announces that a Kansas City man has been charged with several crimes in connection with a string of arson fires, including one that killed an elderly grandmother. Allen spoke about the charges at a news conference Monday.

Caldwell County Sheriff Mitch Allen previously declined to give details on how authorities connected Edwards to the fires. During a news conference Monday, he cited public tips, surveillance camera footage and good old fashioned police work as some of the factors that helped lead to the arrest during a press conference Monday.

Allen also said officials were still investigating what prompted the crimes.

As I said before, who knows what goes through an arsonists mind, Allen said during an afternoon news conference. So thats one of the questions we hope to be answering soon.

Allen said investigators had found no previous connections between Edwards and Caldwell County that authorities knew of. He also said there was no indication that Edwards knew the victim of the fatal fire.

Three fires

Authorities have said that firefighters responded to a blaze around 8:30 a.m. May 10 at 96-year-old Loren Fickess home in rural Polo, Missouri, about 50 miles northeast of Kansas City. A neighbor tried to save her, but the door was too hot and he couldnt get in. By the time firefighters arrived, the house was engulfed in flames, and firefighters found her body inside after the blaze was put out.

Story continues

A second fire was reported around 9:40 a.m. at an abandoned house near State Route D and Southwest Mirabile Drive. The third fire was reported about an hour later at an abandoned house about a mile north on Southwest State Route D and State Route HH.

Evidence of arson was found inside all three houses, authorities said. In the days following the fires, the sheriffs office had posted photos of a black SUV with tinted windows that had been seen near each of the houses at the time of the fires. The sheriffs office asked for help finding the SUV and its driver.

The Stars Robert A. Cronketon and Bill Lukitsch contributed to this report.
Alun Armstrong's Sherwood character used a phrase that put off viewers. (BBC)

Sherwood's writer has defended his reasons for the "Notts Forest" clanger that distracted viewers of the new BBC One drama.

The star-studded detective series based on a real-life manhunt for two murderers and set against the backdrop of a community divided by the miners' strike debuted on Monday - but despite the cast and writer claiming it would be an accurate portrayal of the area, viewers who know Nottingham well all had the same complaint.

Read more: BBC News unveils multi-million-pound studio revamp

In one scene, Alun Armstrong's character Gary referred to the local football team as "Notts Forest", which many viewers pointed out would never have been said by a local who would instead have used Forest or Nottingham Forest, with Notts only being used to refer to different team Notts County.

Im moved by all your Sherwood comments - thank you. Episode 2 tonight.



On the hundreds of messages about Notts Forest , you are of course Absolutely Right. A true fan would never. I can (sort of) explain. The reasons were mainly character, & accent  1/3 #Sherwood  James Graham (@mrJamesGraham) June 14, 2022

But writer James Graham, a Nottingham local himself, responded to the "hundreds of messages" he'd had on the subject and explained that it was a deliberate mistake.

He tweeted: "On the hundreds of messages about Notts Forest, you are of course Absolutely Right. A true fan would never. I can (sort of) explain. The reasons were mainly character, & accent.

"Because of Garys (Alun Armstrongs) history & politics, we thought no way hed be a fan, supporting a northern team (inspired by real characters, this was loosely the case). And hes talking to a child. But the less satisfying reason is, by wanting local accents on screen I worried Nottnm wouldnt register for wider viewers & for non footy fans Forest is just a forest.

Story continues

"My bad. Know it frustrates fans. Ill make amends. Please let me back into the city. Proud of your pride for your team."

Alun Armstrong's character referred to Nottingham Forest as 'Notts Forest'. (BBC)

Nottingham-born actor Arsher Ali, who has starred in Line Of Duty, Ackley Bridge and Informer, tweeted: "Notts Forest? You come and film a show *in* Nottingham AND make that error. No, duck. Do your research."

East Midlands BBC reporter Tony Roe added: "Notts Forest oohs all over Nottinghamshire at that."

Another viewer commented: "Im outraged! #Sherwood Notts Forest!!! Seriously! James Graham come on man! #NFFC"

Read more: EastEnders spoilers - meningitis horror in Walford

It was a common complaint as the episode aired, although viewers mostly enjoyed the rest of the series starring David Morrissey, Robert Glenister, Lesley Manville and Joanne Froggatt.

One viewer tweeted: "Notts Forest! Bit of a clanger to drop."

David Morrisey, Lesley Manville and Robert Glenister star. (BBC)

Someone else agreed: "No one in Nottinghamshire would refer to them as Notts Forest."

Another person commented: "Oh nooo. Notts Forest from @BBCOnes Sherwood. And a local screenwriter too."

Someone else wrote: "Well, Ep1 of #Sherwood was excellent. But Notts Forest? Even most cockneys would not make that mistake - Cloughie will turn in his grave!"

Joanne Froggatt had said the drama was very authentic to people from Nottingham. (BBC)

Ahead of the series airing, Graham had said: "Coming from this community, places like this rarely get screen time. I don't think there's ever been a drama set in the part of the world in which I grew up. So to be able to put those voices and those people, and their sense of humour and wit, and that experience, and the conditions that underpin that community on screen, is a huge privilege."

Froggatt, who plays would-be local councillor Sarah Vincent, had added: "I lived in the Midlands for 10 years of my life and James is from the area, so he knows the sense of humour from that part of the country, and he hit that nail on the head. To me, that adds to the authenticity of the characters as well."

Sherwood continues on Tuesday, 14 June at 9pm on BBC One.

Watch: See the trailer for Sherwood
In 1958, Frank Lloyd Wright broke a personal record with a cottage he designed for Seth Peterson, a longtime admirer of his work. At just 880 square feet, the home along Mirror Lake, in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, is the smallest residential building Wright ever touched. But it isnt his smallest structure. Instead, that honor goes to a doghouse, which Wright conceived in the mid 1950s and is now on display at the Marin Civic Center, in San Rafael, California.

The story goes something like this: Robert and Gloria Berger commissioned Wright to design a Usonian home for them, and their 12-year-old son, Jim Berger, asked the architect to design a doghouse to match.

I would appreciate it if you would design me a doghouse, which would be easy to build, but would go with our house, young Berger wrote to Wright in 1956, according to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

Image courtesy of County of Marin

Wright responded with plans for the doghouse, instructing Berger to build it on a concrete slab and use redwood boards for the walls. Despite receiving blueprints from the famed architect, Berger wasnt able to build the house until 1963, after returning from an army tour. When his father died in 1970, the original shelter was sent to the dump.

The structure, dubbed Eddies House after the Berger family dog, was about four square feet and triangular in shape. Like many of the homes Wright designed, the doghouse features a low-pitched roof with a large overhang, which, also like many Wright roofs, leaked. Luckily, Eddie preferred the main house.

However, in 2010, Berger and his brother rebuilt the doghouse using the original plans, and donated it to the County of Marin, in Northern California, in 2016. It was on view at the library for a year; originally, it was only meant to be on display for two months, but the publics overwhelming admiration changed the plans.

The library rotates exhibitions, so it was eventually put into storage, much to the dismay of many Wright fans. We received calls and emails since 2016 from people who wanted to come see it, said Libby Garrison, the head of marketing and communications for the County of Marins Department of Cultural Services. After being in storage for a few years, the doghouse is now back on display at the County of Marins Civic Center, which coincidentally enough, is the largest building Wright ever designed.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Caleb McLaughlin and Joe Keery costar in Netflix's "Stranger Things." Getty Images

A TikToker shared a video of the "Stranger Things" cast at 2017's San Diego Comic-Con.

The video shows Joe Keery supporting Finn Wolfhard after the moderator said he had a "porn name."

Caleb McLaughlin commented on the TikTok, saying Keery is an "inspiration" and "mom bro."

"Stranger Things" actor Caleb McLaughlin  who stars as Lucas Sinclair on the Netflix series  replied to a viral TikTok that shows Joe Keery being a supportive older costar to his young counterparts.

"Joe's really Mom bro," McLaughlin wrote in his comment, referring to Keery's role on the show as Steve Harrington, a fan-favorite "mom" character who often helps take care of the teenagers on the show.

McLaughlin added that Keery is "truly an inspiration."

The TikTok, shared by account @albumly, is an edited series of clips from the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con panel for "Stranger Things," which was moderated by actor Patton Oswalt. While introducing Finn Wolfhard (who plays Mike Wheeler), Oswalt said "an actor born with the greatest porn name ever."

At the time, Wolfhard was 14 years old.

The TikTok captioned Keery's comments made toward Wolfhard after this statement, which shows Keery telling Wolfhard to "ignore it" while giving supportive nods of his head, and then seemingly turning to glare at Oswalt.

As of Monday afternoon, the TikTok had been viewed 1.7 million times and has been shared by over 40,000 people.

Oswalt apologized for the comment back in November 2017 when a Twitter user uploaded a video showing the "porn star" moment with the caption: "I'm sorry but why did this happen?"

"WHY did it happen?" Oswalt replied in a quote-tweet. "'Cuz I thought I was being funny but was actually a graceless asshole. I've since apologized and, I hope, learned."

WHY did it happen? Cuz I thought I was being funny but was actually a graceless asshole. Ive since apologized and, I hope, learned. https://t.co/FUDeHzanSg  Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) November 7, 2017

Many of the older stars of "Stranger Things" have been outspoken about the intense pressure their younger castmates have endured since the Netflix show blew up in 2016. Keery was one of the older actors cast as a teenager for the show. But Wolfhard, McLaughlin, and the other kids were all actual middle or high school-age students when they became famous practically overnight.

Story continues

Star David Harbour (who can also be seen in the TikTok video trying to encourage Wolfhard to "ignore" Oswalt's comment, recently spoke about his castmates.

"I see what these kids have to deal with and, look, whatever," Harbour told The Los Angeles Times for its "The Envelope" podcast. "There's a lot of people that go through, I guess a lot worse stuff. But mentally and psychologically, I think getting extremely famous and being so doted on at 11 years old is really hard for the psyche to reconcile with."

The finale of "Stranger Things" season four, Volume 2, premieres July 1 on Netflix.

Read the original article on Insider
Janetta Kathleen and her horse Squish watch Sunday as smoke from the Pipeline fire rises above neighborhoods on the outskirts of Flagstaff, Ariz. (Felicia Fonseca / Associated Press)

A 57-year-old man arrested on suspicion of sparking a 5,000-acre forest fire in Arizona told deputies he was burning used toilet paper Saturday while living in the Coconino National Forest.

The Pipeline fire was first reported shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday, roughly six miles north of Flagstaff, Ariz. Hundreds of Coconino County residents were ordered to evacuate as strong winds fanned the flames, according to emergency officials.

Less than an hour after the fire was reported, a sheriff's deputy spotted a Chevrolet pickup driving away from the area. The deputy pulled over the driver, who initially said he was camping when he spotted the wildfire, according to charging documents filed in court.

The driver, later identified as Matthew Riser of Louisiana, then said he had burned used toilet paper with a lighter at noon the day before and placed it under a rock. He told the deputy he didn't think the fire would smolder all night and did not see the "No campfires" signs posted throughout the area.

Riser said he saw a 200-by-200-foot blaze, and "everything was on fire, including pine trees," according to the deputys affidavit.

After another deputy arrived, Riser told them he had camped in the town of Payson, then drove into the national forest and camped there for two days. Riser agreed to a search of his vehicle, according to the affidavit, and deputies found an undisclosed amount of marijuana and a white lighter, which he said he used to set fire to toilet paper.

Riser showed a deputy where he had burned his toilet paper near the campsite. The deputy found human feces under a rock.

Riser was booked on suspicion of building an illegal fire, living on U.S. Forest Service land and possessing a controlled substance, according to federal charging documents.

Winds reached up to 50 mph Monday and continued to fan the Pipeline fire as it burned toward scars from the 2010 Schultz fire and April's Tunnel fire, which destroyed more than 20 homes.

Story continues

Two other fires, Haywire and Doubles, have been reported in the same region. All three were 0% contained as of Monday afternoon, according to U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Brady Smith.

The Haywire and Doubles fires are expected to merge, and all three would be combined into the Pipeline fire incident response, Smith said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
. - Credit: Deadline

Deadline

Writer-producer-director Theodore Melfi has a different take than those who think independent filmmaking is becoming an endangered species; in fact, he tells me right now we are in a golden age of independent film. That might be one of the reasons he is bullish about both films he has at this weeks Tribeca Festival in New York City  independently produced movies he is helping shepherd along. On Corner Office, which stars Jon Hamm, he is an executive producer, and on American Dreamer, he is the screenwriter as well as a producer of the comedy that stars Peter Dinklage, Shirley MacLaine and Matt Dillon. Both are for sale, and the bottom line is Melfi truly believes the audience will dictate whatever the perfect form of distribution is, whether it be theatrical, streaming, digital VOD or a combination of all three.

More from Deadline

Ted Melfi and Kim Quinn

As a director, Melfi has had experience on every level in finding great success with the kind of indie-centric, character-driven movies he has his name on, each taking its own path to finding an audience. In the case of the acclaimed 2014 Bill Murray starrer St. Vincent, as well as 2016s Best Picture Oscar-nominated Hidden Figures, it was first with a film festival splash at Toronto and then significant theatrical releases. With last years The Starling, it was with Netflix, after the streamer picked up the completed film. Melfi felt good about the results all three got, and even though his Tribeca pair are not films he personally directed, he is equally invested in making sure they find the right home, targeting Tribeca to lead the way. In fact no one  not buyers, critics or audiences  had seen American Dreamer until its debut Saturday night in front of a packed house. And that was on purpose.

Story continues

We have kept this completely hidden. No one has seen it. No one has seen it in the entire country, no buyers have seen itand no reviewers have seen it because we really, really wanted to have it be with 800 people. Like, its a comedy, you know? It benefits from the group, Melfi told me just a couple of days before the premiere. For the purposes of this interview, I did see it and have to say it is the kind of quirky inspired-by-a-true-story movie that is exactly the kind of the thing studios used to release all the time, but now almost never. It is a superbly acted and very funny, offbeat little movie that given half a chance could find a grateful audience, most likely on a streamer these days, since they seem to be more open to something unquestionably original over studios, which want the pre-sold and already familiar for the most part.

American Dreamer - Credit: Tribeca Festival

Tribeca Festival

Melfi says they have been working on American Dreamer it for five years. Producer David Ginsberg and director Paul Dektor came to him with an episode of This American Life they had heard. They along with Dinklage urged him to take on writing duties in addition to producing. This is based on a true story, Melfi said. So, in the This American Life segment, this adjunct professor, hes dying to get a house and dying to have the American dream, yet he can barely afford a condo, and he stumbled across this classified ad for this sprawling estate for $240,000 if there can be a live-in, and the live-in in this situation is such that he gets there and finds out that the woman is ailing and near death and cannot bear to the leave the place. Shes a widow and says, You can have the place when I pass away for this incredibly low amount, and its like a $5 million sprawling estate, and he takes her up on it. Its a dream deal of a lifetime, and he moves in to the maids quarters above the garage. Melfi added that the case it was based on was about a woman doing the same deal with an old man, but in that case it turned out the guy lived for another 20 years and they became like family in the ensuing two decades. That was the nugget that inspired his script for the movie.

Dinklage and MacLaine

Dinklage was attached to the project as star and a producer, and then MacLaine, now 88, came in for what I would say is her best screen role in some time. Understandably he has high praise for his stars, pointing out that Dinklage has such inherent likability that it was important because they throw every possible negative situation at the character and he still can win you over. And as for MacLaine, he says the iconic star is a marvel. Shes fantastic in the film, and she was a warrior, Melfi said. She just nonstop works, came to set professional and just loved Pete. She loved the script. She was really into the character. She had a million ideas. At one point she even said, Lets do a love scene. She was all in and excited, and you know, the Shirley we all know and love  was just passionate about the project and a real team player. So its like a blessing to have someone like her on set, and someone like her with Pete, and then Matt Dillon was so great, and then Danny Glover came in at the last minute. He called it dream casting.

Corner Office - Credit: Tribeca Festival

Tribeca Festival

Corner Office gives Hamm a very different office kind of office role than he ever had as Don Draper (Melfi coyly describes the part as possibly being like Drapers awkward, maybe mentally ill brother) but still every bit as memorable in its own weirdly Kafkaesque way. Melfi and producing partner and wife Kim Quinn (who also is excellent co-starring in American Dreamer) got an overture to become involved. The producers out of Vancouver, Dylan Collingwood and Matt Clarke, the guys over at Tilt 9, sent me the script and said to me, You know, wed love to kind of like help us part produce it. I read the script and I was like, This thing is freaking wild, and I said yeah. Kim and I helped with it. We were just honored because the script was so wild and unique. You know, we all love making indie movies. I think everyone does; they seem to be the most fun and the most free. So, you know, its just a chance to dive in with people that we knew and loved and trusted in a project that was one like Id never seen before. Melfi also noted that even though it is director Joachim Backs first feature, he is already an Oscar winner for a short, The New Tenants, he did in 2010. And hes a very well-known, well-versed commercial director. So you know, he obviously knows what hes doing.

Jon Hamm

Hamm, wearing glasses and sporting a pronounced moustache, will be the selling point for Corner Office, but it is just weirdly fascinating enough to perhaps attract a real theatrical specialty distributor that could give it tender loving care. In odd ways it reminded me in tone of a John Cheever short story, particularly The Swimmer, which was made into a movie in 1968, or even something a bit more abstract or Bunuelian. Hamm is terrific in it. Again Melfi is always looking on the bright side for these kinds of movies that need tender loving care once they get off the festival circuit.

. - Credit: Tribeca

Tribeca

Im a weird optimist. I think its never been a better time to make independent films, he said. I think because theres so many places to put them, and you have so many streamers now that are really looking for product and cant keep up with their own needs that if you make a good movie, theres a home for it. So I think 20 years ago, if you made a good movie, a good independent movie, it was hard to find a place for it to go. It had to be incredible and it had to be insanely commercial and it had to get in theaters. And now, you dont have that burden. If its good enough or big enough to be in the theater, great, but the streamers really offer another place for it to go and another revenue source and a great audience. So movies like this, whether they go theatrical or streaming is really up to the audience, and I think the audience decides that, and theres just so many places to sell now and to get your movie out there that I think its a golden age coming of independent film. And I know I sound crazy. I do. I think its a golden age of independent film right now. You look at movies like Palm Springs, right? You look at movies like The Starling. All those movies are made independently and sold for great amounts of money and did fantastic. They did fantastic with audiences. So Im very optimistic about independent film. I think Netflix, Hulu, Fox Searchlight, these people, Peacock  they all need movies.

.

So why was Tribeca Festival (the word film has been removed from its name) the right place to debut both movies? First of all, it was a two-fold thing. Corner Office is, to me, a classic New York indie, and Jon Hamm lives in New York, and Peter Dinklage lives in New York. So, theyre both New Yorkers. So, it just felt like the perfect place to launch both movies, and were lucky enough and thankful enough to have gotten into the festival with both movies, but it just felt like Tribeca was the perfect place for multiple reasons. I mean, New York, obviously the greatest city in the world, is now booming post, hopefully post-COVID, and I dont know. It just felt like these are New York films, he said.

As for future films Ted Melfi is planning on directing himself, he has Fruit Loops with Michael Keaton, Jodie Comer and Letitia Wright expected to go first quarter of 23 at Paramount, a dramedy set inside a state-run mental facility that he describes as less Cuckoos Nest and more 12 Angry Men-meets-The Breakfast Club. He also just finished a draft of Underworld, which he also plans to direct. It is based on the Don DeLillo novel and being done for Netflix (for which he did The Starling and has high praise for their operation).

Right now however it all about finding a good home for both American Dreamer and Corner Office, and that all begins at Tribeca this week.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Three security forces were wounded and 10 suspected criminals killed in a shootout in Mexico State bordering the capital Mexico City, state officials said on Tuesday.

Violence has plagued the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has pledged to pacify the country with a less confrontational approach to dealing with crime.

Mexico State's prosecutor's office said on Twitter that during an operation in the small municipality of Texcaltitlan "a heavily armed group attacked" its security forces, three of them sustaining non-life threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, 10 suspected criminals were killed and seven were arrested, four of them injured.

State security forces seized 20 long weapons, handguns, cartridges, five vehicles, bulletproof vests, military-style uniforms, and communications equipment.

Violence in Mexico spiked after former President Felipe Calderon sent the army into the streets to fight drug traffickers in 2007, unleashing a wave of violence that has not abated.

While Lopez Obrador inherited a nation already reeling from a high murder rate, since taking office average annual homicide totals are on track to be the highest under any Mexican administration since modern records began.

His security policy, which he termed "hugs not bullets," has faced sharp criticism for being soft on crime.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; editing by Grant McCool)
As many as 13 troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety were outside the classroom where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Texas school last month, roughly six people fewer than previously described but enough to have breached the door, a local official said.

Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, whose district includes Robb Elementary where the May 24 shooting took place, shared that new figure with the San Antonio Express-News after he said he spoke with the director of the states Department of Public Safety, Steven McCraw.

He told me there was enough people and equipment to breach the door, Gutierrez told the local news outlet.

Flowers, messages, balloons, stuffed animals, toys and other items are seen left by mourners commemorating the students and teachers of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. (Photo: The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Flowers, messages, balloons, stuffed animals, toys and other items are seen left by mourners commemorating the students and teachers of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. (Photo: The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Jorge Vasquez, a spokesperson for Gutierrezs office, confirmed the senators conversation with McCraw to HuffPost on Tuesday. McCraw described the on-scene officers to Gutierrez as having been armed with ballistic shields. He did not specify exactly when the officers were in the hallway during the violence, Vasquez said.

McCraw had previously said that 19 officers stood outside the classroom door as the shooting unfolded, raising questions about officials failure to immediately take out the gunman.

Travis Considine, who serves as assistant chief for the DPS Media and Communications Office, called Gutierrezs comments to the Express News absolutely false in a post on Twitter Tuesday morning. He did not expand on this assessment in his tweet and the DPS did not respond to HuffPosts requests for comment Tuesday.

McCraw had previously said that a commanding officer ordered the officers to stand by during the violence because he believed that it was a barricaded subject inside the school and not an active shooter.

With the benefit of hindsight, where Im sitting now, of course it was not the right decision, it was the wrong decision, there was no excuse for that, McCraw told reporters a few days after the attack.

Story continues

McCraw previously described seven local officers as initially following the 18-year-old gunman into the school just minutes after he entered the building. The gunman opened fire at those officers, wounding two of them. Roughly 20 minutes later, additional officers entered the school and waited in a hallway near the classroom, he said.

More than an hour after the shooting began, a team of federal agents entered the classroom and fatally shot the gunman, authorities have said.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Tom Hanks. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Hanks believes that if "Philadelphia" (1993) came out today, he couldn't play the lead role of a gay man.

"I don't think people would accept the inauthenticity," Hanks told The New York Times Magazine.

Hanks won his first Oscar for his performance in the movie.

Tom Hanks won his first-ever Oscar for his performance as a gay lawyer with AIDS in the acclaimed 1993 movie "Philadelphia."

However, the actor said that if that movie were made today, a straight man couldn't play the role.

"Let's address 'could a straight man do what I did in 'Philadelphia' now?'" Hanks asked during a recent interview with The New York Times Magazine.

"No, and rightly so. The whole point of 'Philadelphia' was don't be afraid," he said. "One of the reasons people weren't afraid of that movie is that I was playing a gay man. We're beyond that now, and I don't think people would accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy."

"It's not a crime, it's not boohoo," the actor added, "that someone would say we are going to demand more of a movie in the modern realm of authenticity."

Tom Hanks won his first Oscar for his performance in "Philadelphia." TriStar Pictures

In recent years there has been a debate over whether straight actors should be cast in LGBTQ roles.

Russell T. Davies, who created the TV series "Queer as Folk," told The Times in January of last year that he believed only gay actors should pursue gay acting jobs.

"I'm not being woke about this . . . but I feel strongly that if I cast someone in a story, I am casting them to act as a lover or an enemy or someone on drugs or a criminal or a saint," said Davies.

Davies added: "You wouldn't cast someone able-bodied and put them in a wheelchair, you wouldn't black someone up. Authenticity is leading us to joyous places."

However, Neil Patrick Harris had a different take when asked shortly after Davies' quotes were made public.

"I'm not one to jump on to labeling. As an actor you certainly hope you can be a visible option for all kinds of different roles," Harris, who shares twins with husband David Burtka, told The Times.

Story continues

"I played a character for nine years who was nothing like me. I would definitely want to hire the best actor," Harris added, referring to his role as Barney Stinson in "How I Met Your Mother."

(L-R) Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks star in "Philadelphia." TriStar Pictures

At the time when Hanks played the role in "Philadelphia," he was shifting his career from a funny leading man to a serious actor.

In the movie, Hanks plays lawyer Andrew Beckett, who files a wrongful dismissal suit against his firm after it fires him once it's discovered he has HIV. Denzel Washington plays the lawyer who agrees to take on Beckett's case.

Hanks would go on to win a second Oscar for 1994's "Forrest Gump."

Read the original article on Insider
Marlington 4x800 meter relay anchor Colin Cernansky celebrates as he and his team win the relay Friday at the State Track and Field championships in Columbus..

It was an unmatched year for the Marlington High School distance runners in track and field this spring.

Led by Colin Cernansky, the state champion in the 1600 meters, and the 4x800 relay which also placed first, the Dukes amassed 27 points in the Division II boys meet, finishing in a tie for third place with Toledo Central Catholic.

"It was remarkable witnessing what those guys did," Marlington coach Bob Dagenhardt said.

The groundwork for that effort in the spring was laid during the winter indoor season at a meet in New York in March, when the 4x1600 relay recorded a first-place finish.

"That relay team set a new school record in that 4x1600," Dagenhardt said. "We also had the luxury of having five to seven guys run very well."

Their high school season ended June 4, but the Marlington distance runners will head to Philadelphia to face elite competition from multiple states at the New Balance Nationals Thursday and Friday.

The event is scheduled to be held at historic Franklin Field, a 30,000-seat facility which was constructed in 1895, the home venue of the University of Pennsylvania. The facility has been renovated several times and consists of a Rekortan track surface and features a unique configuration where the 400-meter circumference occurs in lane four, instead of lane one.

"There is a lot of history there," Dagenhardt said. "It's an excellent opportunity for our guys to compete one more time."

The Dukes are expected to run the 4x1600 and the distance relays. During the spring season, they got a refresher course in the 4x1600 when they competed at the Berea Kiwanis Relays at Baldwin-Wallace. Boyce, Blake, Cernansky and Graham won that event with a time of 18 minutes, 12.65 seconds.

"Our guys showed something going to a meet with a lot of quality Division I distance runners and winning that relay," Dagenhardt said.

That was a more significant test than what Marlington faced in the 4x1600 at the winter indoor meet in New York.

Story continues

"Our training was different in the winter," Dagnehardt said. "We weren't as intense with our training. The runners were only about three-fourths trained, but they faced several good teams and gained a lot of confidence heading into the spring."

Graduated seniors Noah Graham and Liam Blake, and returners Cernansky, Nash Minor and Cohen Boyce head the list of Marlington competitors. Cernansky not only won the 1600 but anchored the first-place 4x800 relay that included Blake, Boyce and Graham.

Blake placed sixth in the 1600, Graham finished sixth in the 3200, and Minor ended his junior year with an eighth-place finish in the 3200.

"Everyone who competed placed; everyone medaled," Dagenhardt said. "What made it special was we had two placers in two different events."

Marlington's Bella Graham during the girls 1600 meter final at the Division II track and field regional finals held at Austintown Fitch High School, Saturday, May 28, 2022.

The Marlington girls team will also be represented in Philadelphia. Bella Graham, who finished third in the Division II 3200-meter run and was a state qualifier in the 1600 but didn't compete, is expected to run at Franklin Field.

Dagenhardt, who also trains Bella Graham during the spring track season, says all of the Marlington distance runners possess similar positive qualities.

"They all have good work ethics and they're all good students, both in the classroom and the way [they approach] running," he said. "They also love to compete and I think they'll face some outstanding competition in Philadelphia."

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Marlington's state champion, Colin Cernansky, to run at Franklin Field
Former President Donald Trump in Houston on May 27, 2022. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Trump and his allies see a big consolation in their loss in Georgia, a source told Insider.

Trump's candidates failed to beat incumbents  sworn enemies of Trump  in recent primaries.

Trump's team still see victory because the winner also campaigned on voter fraud, said the source.

Former President Donald Trump's allies have found a way to count the big losses in Georgia for his endorsed candidates as a kind of victory, a source told Insider.

The source said those around Trump felt OK about David Perdue and Jody Hice failing to unseat Gov. Brian Kemp and the secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, respectively, a victory widely taken as a sign Trump's grip on the party is incomplete.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Trump was initially "stunned" by Raffensperger's victory. But, according to Insider's source, who asked for anonymity to frankly describe the discussions, that did not last.

Instead, he said, Trump allies are attributing Kemp's victory to his focus on so-called "election integrity"  efforts to tighten voter eligibility, citing the risk of fraud.

Kemp signed into law a sweeping package of changes to Georgia's voting system in 2021, despite pitched opposition from Democrats who assailed the changes as voter suppression and "Jim Crow in the 21st century."

The Trump source said that Trump and his circle attributed victory to that piece of legislation.

"Had both Kemp and Raffensperger not worked to strengthen the voter integrity of the Georgia law, they probably both would have been on the chopping block," the source said.

Although the Georgia law tightened voting rules, Kemp and Raffensperger were among the fiercest opponents of Trump's claim that there was fraud in the 2020 election, which the two men oversaw in Georgia.

Both declined to help Trump despite heavy pressure to support his claim that fraud changed the result in Georgia, which voted for Joe Biden to become president over Trump.

Others have given different reasons for Kemp's victory, including sources who told The Washington Post that Trump blames Perdue personally and considers him "lazy."

Story continues

Politico gave an insider account of Kemp's victory, noting that challenging incumbents has traditionally been a struggle and that Trump's endorsement was Perdue's only real advantage in the race.

It describe how Kemp worked to isolate Perdue from potential allies and convince would-be financial backers not to support him, leaving Perdue starved of the political operation he needed for victory.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Americans rallied across the nation June 11, demanding that Congress pass stricter gun laws.

Guns kill. Military guns kill faster.

Sen. Ted Cruz, the National Rifle Association and other proponents of a return to the totally armed days of the Wild West have been braying that a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun. Really?

What about the 19 good guys at the school in Uvalde, Texas, who did not, for the longest time, even attempt to stop a bad guy who was murdering a host of children?

Plain and simple: Guns kill! And military guns kill fast and deadly, without regard to good guys who might be around.

More: Demonstrators march against gun violence in Bradenton

More: How to send a letter to the editor

Wake up and wise up, America. As the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, renowned conservative and originalist constructor of the Constitution, wrote in District of Columbia v. Heller, there is no right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.

Scalia plainly meant that the Second Amendment is not unlimited!

Sensible, reasonable requirements for obtaining firearms, which are not prohibited by that amendment, are needed, and they especially should be mandatory and restrictive for military-style killing machines.

Garo A. Partoyan, Osprey

In developer vs. mangroves, mangroves lose

If I were taking a youngster fishing in Sarasota Bay, and we headed toward Long Bar, he might ask me, Why are the mangrove trees so short in front of those new buildings?

I would say, The company that is building the homes and condos thinks the properties will be more attractive if the mangroves are cut.

A puzzled look from the child, then: Didnt you tell me that the mangroves were good for the air, water, shoreline and fish?

Yes, but not everyone thinks like us.

A frown would appear on the child's face. Dont the mangroves have anyone to protect them? he'd ask.

I would respond, Yes, the state of Florida protects them. With another frown, the child would ask, Why didnt it protect the mangroves from the company?

Story continues

I would have to respond, That is a question you will have to ask the state.

Actually, my friends have posed questions about permit violations, and after two months they have not received answers.

If you, like my young friend, would like the company held accountable, email Public.services@floridaDEP.gov.

Jim Eliason, Palmetto

Florida Man became Riot Man

Thank you, Herald-Tribune. A friend from Texas recently inquired as to whatever happened to the Florida icon known as Florida Man. This friend had not, for some time, seen any of the usual insanity that is often attributed to Florida Man.

On June 9, the Herald-Tribune reminded me why (Floridians charged in riot). Florida, it seems, has the highest number of rioters charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and also the highest number of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

What with assaulting the Capitol, trashing the Constitution and trying to overthrow our government, Florida Man has been too busy to provide the humor we so much enjoy.

More: Gator bites North Port man; he thought it was a dog

Dont worry, dear Texas friend. It seems likely Florida Man will be out of prison soon enough and back at his usual pig and alligator wrestling. I am sure he will recapture your imagination and provide an endless source of amusement.

And by the way, your governor continues to do his best amusing other states with his brand of Texas insanity, so maybe Florida Man isnt the icon he once was.

Lynn Johnston, Sarasota

Foundation, Charter Schools' long history

The column, Charter schools are making a positive difference in Florida, by Valora Cole, chair of the Florida Charter Educational Foundation, praises Charter Schools USA-managed schools.

The Florida Charter Educational Foundation was previously named the Homestead Charter Foundation and was licensed in Florida in October 2000 by Charter Schools USA.

At the time of its licensing in Florida, the board of directors of the foundation were Jonathan K. Hage, Joaquin Avino and Edward J. Pozzuoli. Hage is the founder of Charter Schools USA and Avino and Pozzuoli were executives.

The name was changed to the Florida Charter Educational Foundation in February 2011.

As recent as March 2021, filings with the Florida Department of Corporations show Charter Schools USA and the Florida Charter Educational Foundation shared the same primary business and mailing address in Fort Lauderdale.

In the interests of disclosure, the Opinion column should have noted the foundations long and intimate history with Charter Schools USA.

Virgil Pope, Parrish

Going solar, but not storm-ready

I admire the letter writer who is going vegan and getting solar panels to protect the environment, in light of the 2022 hurricane season. (Go vegan for sake of environment, June 9).

However, I had to laugh out loud. Solar panels were the first thing to go on our house during the hurricane season of 2004!

Amanda Simmons, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Stop shooters from obtaining military-style weapons, protect mangroves
By Moira Warburton and Nate Raymond

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. House of Representatives gave final congressional approval on Tuesday to a bill to bolster Supreme Court security in light of threats made against justices ahead of their anticipated ruling curtailing abortion rights.

The legislation, which had already cleared the Senate, passed the House on a 396-27 vote. The measure expands police protection to the families of the justices and senior officers of the court. President Biden will sign it into law, the White House said.

The Supreme Court in the coming weeks is due to rule in a major abortion case from Mississippi. A leaked draft opinion last month showed that its conservative majority is poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

The anticipated ruling on one of the most divisive issues in the United States has led to protests outside the homes of some of the justices. A California man carrying a handgun, ammunition, a crow bar and pepper spray was arrested outside the Maryland home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh on June 8 and charged with attempted murder.

The U.S. Justice Department is also providing additional support to the court's existing police force.

House Democrats had wanted to add to the legislation protections for the families of clerks and other Supreme Court employees but dropped that provision after Senate Republicans objected.

"The security issue is related to Supreme Court justices, not the nameless staff that no one knows," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Monday.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer pointed out on Tuesday that "virulent threats" have been made against the court's clerks since the leak of the opinion.

The federal judiciary is also calling for separate legislation that would offer more protection for all federal judges. The U.S. Marshals Service said judges were subject to 4,511 threats and inappropriate communications in 2021.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington; Additional reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Will Dunham)
LONDON (AP)  Britain canceled a flight that was scheduled to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda late Tuesday after the European Court of Human Rights intervened, saying the plan carried a real risk of irreversible harm."

The decision to scrap the flight capped three days of frantic court challenges from immigrant rights lawyers who launched a flurry of case-by-case appeals seeking to block the deportation of everyone on the governments list.

British government officials had said earlier in the day that the plane would take off no matter how many people were on board. But after the appeals, no one remained. British media reported that the number of potential deportees had been more than 30 on Friday.

After the flight was canceled, Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was disappointed but would not be deterred from doing the right thing. She added: Our legal team are reviewing every decision made on this flight and preparation for the next flight begins now.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had emphatically defended Britains plan, arguing that it is a legitimate way to protect lives and thwart the criminal gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel in small boats. Britain in recent years has seen an illegal influx of migrants from such places as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Iraq and Yemen.

Johnson announced an agreement with Rwanda in April in which people who enter Britain illegally will be deported to the East African country. In exchange for accepting them, Rwanda will receive millions of pounds (dollars) in development aid. The deportees will be allowed to apply for asylum in Rwanda, not Britain.

Opponents have argued that it is illegal and inhumane to send people thousands of miles to a country they dont want to live in. The leaders of the Church of England joined the opposition, calling the governments policy immoral. Prince Charles was among those opposed, according to British news reports.

Activists have denounced the policy as an attack on the rights of refugees that most countries have recognized since the end of World War II.

Story continues

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said the British government's deportation threat would not serve as a deterrent to those seeking safety in the U.K.

The government must immediately rethink by having a grown-up conversation with France and the (European Union) about sharing responsibility and look to operating an orderly, humane, and fair asylum system, Solomon said.

The U.N. refugee agency condemned the plan out of concern that other countries will follow suit as war, repression and natural disasters force a growing number of people from their homes.

Politicians in Denmark and Austria are considering similar proposals. Australia has operated an asylum-processing center in the Pacific island nation of Nauru since 2012.

At a global level, this unapologetically punitive deal further condones the evisceration of the right to seek asylum in wealthy countries, said Maurizio Albahari, a migration expert at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana as he described the UK policy.

Many millions of people around the globe have been displaced over the past two decades, putting the international consensus on refugees under strain. The world had more than 26 million refugees in the middle of last year, more that double the number two decades ago, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Millions more have left their homes voluntarily, seeking economic opportunities in developed nations.

In Britain, those pressures have led to a surge in the number of people crossing the English Channel in leaky inflatable boats, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Last November, 27 people died when their boat sank in the waters between France and England.

Johnson, fighting for his political life amid concerns about his leadership and ethics, responded by promising to stop such risky journeys.

While Rwanda was the site of a genocide that killed hundreds of thousands of people in 1994, the country has built a reputation for stability and economic progress since then, the British government argues. Critics say that stability comes at the cost of political repression.

Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, attacked the policy as all wrong.

If the British government is truly interested in protecting lives, it should work with other countries to target the smugglers and provide safe routes for asylum-seekers, not simply shunt migrants to other countries, Grandi said.

The precedent that this creates is catastrophic for a concept that needs to be shared, like asylum, Grandi said Monday.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and 24 other bishops from the Church of England joined the chorus of voices asking the government to reconsider an immoral policy that shames Britain.

Our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum-seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries, the bishops wrote in a letter to the Times of London.

Britains Supreme Court refused to hear one last-ditch appeal Tuesday, a day after two lower courts refused to block the deportations. Legal challenges continued, however, as lawyers filed case-by-case appeals on behalf of individual migrants.

Many migrants favor Britain as a destination for reasons of language or family ties, or because it is seen as an open economy with more opportunities than other European nations.

When Britain was a member of the European Union, it was part of a system that required refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country they entered. Those who reached Britain could be sent back to the EU countries they traveled from. Britain lost that option when it withdrew from the EU two years ago.

Since then, the British and French governments have worked to stop the journeys, with a great deal of bickering and not much success. More than 28,000 migrants entered Britain in small boats last year, up from 8,500 in 2020.

Nando Sigona, a migration expert at the University of Birmingham, said large principles are at stake if the Rwanda policy stands.

How can we establish any kind of moral high ground where we intervene in other countries if we are not signatory to providing protection to those fleeing war and persecution? Sigona asked.

___

Follow APs coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
By Kylie MacLellan

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain told the European Union on Tuesday there was no reason for it to take legal action over London's plan to override some post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, which Brussels has said may breach international law.

Britain published legislation on Monday which would scrap checks and challenge the role played by the EU's court in the region, saying the changes were needed to improve trade and reduce bureaucracy.

Tensions have simmered for months after Britain accused the bloc of taking a heavy-handed approach to the movement of goods between Britain and Northern Ireland - checks needed to keep an open border with EU-member Ireland.

European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic warned that the EU would consider launching new infringement procedures against Britain. The EU is expected to set out its response on Wednesday, including details on possible legal action that could result in fines imposed on Britain.

Legal action could take a year.

Asked how nervous she was about moving towards a legal fight with the EU, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told LBC Radio: "There simply is no reason for the EU to take any action. This proposal, this legislation, doesn't make them any worse off at all."

Britain has long threatened to rip up the protocol, an agreement signed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that kept the region under some EU rules and drew an effective customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK to prevent a back door for goods to enter the EU's vast single market.

The legislation, like Brexit itself, has split legal and political opinion, with supporters of the UK's divorce saying it does not go far enough and critics saying it undermines London's standing in the world by challenging an international agreement.

In a leader column, The Times newspaper warned the government's moves "risk damaging Britains reputation internationally while creating fresh uncertainty for businesses at a time of unprecedented economic challenges".

Story continues

"At best, the government's actions set the stage for years of acrimonious legal disputes, at worst they risk a ruinous trade war."

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the British government's strategy had made the chances of a compromise for Northern Ireland much more difficult.

"What the British government is saying, not only to Ireland, but also to the EU and to the wider world, is give us what we want, or we're going to break international law to take it anyway," he told BBC Radio.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Kate Holton and Raissa Kasolowsky)
By Conor Humphries

MYKOLAIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - As 10-metre high mounds of sunflower meal smoulder among the blackened ruins of one of Ukraine's top agricultural terminals, farmers in this front-line region are scrambling to survive a harvest under Russian fire.

They see Russia's shelling of the Nika-Tera port facility in the southern city of Mykolaiv on June 4 as just the most dramatic example of a wider assault on a pillar of Ukraine's economy - and the world's.

"Agriculture is one of the few business sectors that is working... Of course they want to destroy it. They want to end this stream of income into the country," farmer Volodymyr Onyschuk said near a pile of Russian shell casings on his 2,000 hectare wheat and sunflower holding near Mykolaiv.

Crops will be vulnerable to fire caused by shelling, he said, and that could be "hell" for farmers when the harvest season begins in coming weeks.

Asked how Mykolaiv farmers planned to reduce exposure to Russian actions, he said: "Let us just survive until the next harvest."

Since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the world's fourth largest grains exporter, Kyiv has repeatedly accused Russia of attacking infrastructure and agriculture to provoke a global food crisis and pressure the West.

Moscow, which calls its war a special military operation, blames Western sanctions and sea mines laid by Ukraine for the drop in food exports and rising global prices.

PORT ATTACK

Five shells hit a cluster of warehouses and grain conveyer belts at the Nika-Tera plant, rendering one of Ukraine's largest agricultural terminals unable to load or unload ships, local officials said.

The blasts triggered an intense fire in sunflower meal stores. These were still smouldering during a brief press tour on Sunday. Separate grain elevators on the site were untouched.

"They are trying to undermine food security worldwide," said Georgy Reshetilov, First Deputy Head of the Mykolaiv military regional administration.

Story continues

The region's agricultural facilities have suffered an estimated 34 billion hryvnia ($1.16 billion) worth of losses, he said. Sites hit include a large producer of tomato pulp and a large number of farms.

Shelling is feeding fear across a sector already hamstrung by Russia's blockade of the Black Sea, the primary route for Ukraine's vast agricultural exports.

Combine harvester operators are leery of bringing their equipment to the region, fearing shelling along and possible mines and munitions in the fields, farmers said.

Some grain traders are reluctant to even buy stocks from farmers, fearing they will bear responsibility if their storage facilities are subsequently attacked.

"Nobody can guarantee the safety of this harvest in a time of war," said Reshetilov.

Supplies of fertilizer are running low, and without buyers for grain exports, farmers said they could struggle to raise funds to buy more supplies, even if they were available.

"Fuel has gone up. Fertilizer prices are insane. I dont know how we are going to work next year," said Valentyn Matviyenko, who runs a farm near Bashtanka, around 60 kilometers northeast of Mykolaiv city where some land is within range of Russian artillery.

Some traders are offering wheat prices that were one-third of pre-war highs, he said.

"Our financial resources are dwindling. Weve put everything into this harvest," he said.

SEA BLOCKADE

Few in the region hold out hope that diplomatic efforts will unblock the Black Sea. They said a few convoys of ships would not even dent the volumes that need to be exported, and it is not economical to send the same grain by road.

Additional grain storage in and around Mykolaiv has been ruled out due to the risk of shelling, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych told Reuters. Instead the focus is on building facilities closer to the Romanian border where river transport is an option.

The regional administration said it is looking at municipal and communal rather than private storage. The national government, meanwhile, is seeking to simplify export procedures and is offering farmers interest-free loans.

Some are sceptical of state intervention: "The best help of the government is not to do anything .. business will find a way to export the grain," Mayor Senkevych said.

After spraying fertilizer on a field of young sunflowers, tractor driver Vasyl Boyko, 38, said he does not believe a solution will be found unless Ukraine pushes back Russian forces and the West opens trade corridors in the Black Sea.

"We don't need words, we need weapons," he said.

($1 = 29.2500 hryvnias)

(Writing by Conor Humphries; editing by Tom Balmforth and David Gregorio)
TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2022, 09:23

Russia has already lost 32,500 military personnel, 1,434 tanks and 3,503 armoured combat vehicles in its war of conquest in Ukraine.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook

Details: the total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 14.06 were approximately: (figures in brackets indicate losses in the last 24 hours)

personnel - about 32,500 (+200),

tanks - 1,434 (+2) units,

armoured combat vehicles - 3,503 (+11) units,

artillery systems - 721 (+3) units,

Multiple rocket launcher - 229 (+3) units,

air defence systems - 97 (+0) units,

aircraft - 213 (+0) units,

helicopters - 179 (+1) units,

Operational-tactical unmanned aerial vehicle - 588 (+3) units,

cruise missiles - 125 (+0) units,

ships/boats - 13 (+0) units,

vehicles and tank trucks - 2,473 (+13) units,

special equipment - 54 (+0).

The enemy suffered their greatest losses in the Bakhmut direction.
The Daily Beast

Ukrainian State Emergency Service / Handout/Anadolu Agency via GettyRussia fired a series of rockets at a shopping center in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, on Monday, raising fears that Russia is stepping up its attacks on civilian structures regardless of the loss of life.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday there were more than a thousand civilians inside the shopping mall and the casualties to come might bring even more shock and horror to Ukrainian people already confronting so much deat
Chinese FM meets New Zealand counterpart

Xinhua) 08:55, June 14, 2022

BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta via video link on Monday.

Wang said China has always viewed New Zealand as an important partner with strategic and cooperative significance, and stands ready to work with New Zealand to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries.

The two sides should carry out the protocol on upgrading the China-New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA) and give full play to the ministerial dialogue on climate change to speed up a green recovery.

Underlining that China respects New Zealand's traditional bonds with the Pacific island countries, Wang said China stands ready to work with New Zealand to carry out more three-party or multi-party cooperation to jointly build an open, inclusive, united and cooperative South Pacific region.

For her part, Mahuta said New Zealand and China should support the island countries to address the challenges they are facing with through bilateral and multilateral platforms.

New Zealand stands ready to work with China to make joint efforts on global development and security, Mahuta said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Cinema is a universal language but sometimes a movies content might being acceptable in some cultures but not others. American movies are imported around the world, but not without tweaks: here are the strangest reasons Hollywood films have fallen foul of the censors abroad

Back To The Future (1985)

Country censored: China

Back To The Future  Credit: Universal

The Chinese censors didnt have anything against Robert Zemeckis temporal thriller in particular  it just turns out they have a problem with time travel in general. Any movies which feature time travel are either censored heavily or banned because they are deemed to be detracting from a way more serious issue: history itself.

The producers and writers are treating the serious history in a frivolous way, which should by no means be encouraged anymore, said Chinas State Administration for Radio, Film & Television. Marty McFly, you troublemaker! Stop trying to erase history!

The Simpsons Movie (2007)

Country censored: Burma

Simpsons movie 2 could be on the way  Credit: Fox

The incredibly bizarre reason why you didnt get to see The Simpsons Movie in a Burmese cinema back in 2007? The colours were too vibrant. The countrys Motion Picture & Video Censor Board issues the extremely odd edict that banned any movies featuring prominent uses of red and yellow. Why? Who knows?

Is it even possible to release a movie that doesnt have red and yellow in it? Obviously the family Simpson didnt qualify and as Matt Groening wasnt willing to have Lisa and co lose their lemony glow, the movie never saw release in Burma.

Skyfall (2012)

Country censored: China

Skyfall  Credit: Sony Pictures

James Bond might travel the world, but his antics arent always welcomed by the overseas authorities. Skyfall was a huge hit everywhere, but in order for the movie to get a wide release in China, producers had to remove a number of scenes to comply with Chinese censors.

The scene where Ola Rapaces hitman shoots a Chinese guard in the hotel lobby was removed, as were any mentions of Silva being tortured by Chinese authorities. When Bond questions Severine about her tattoo and how it means she was sold into child slavery, the Chinese subtitles tell a completely different story about how she was sold into the mob. Bond complied and got to go East.

Story continues

Die Hard (1988)

Country censored: Germany

Die Hard  Credit: 20th Century Fox

Perhaps unsurprisingly, German audiences didnt much like being painted as calculating villains, so when John McTiernans ageless action thriller was released there in 1988, a few tweaks were necessary.

As it transpires, the German language spoken by Hans Gruber and goons bears very little resemblance to actual German. That sort of thing wouldnt fly with real-life Germans, so for their domestic release, Hans terrorists hailed from the ultra-vague nation of Europe.

Titanic 3D (2012)

Country censored: China

Kate Winslet in Titanic  Credit: 20th Century Fox

Thats right, China were at it again, even forcing the uncompromising James Cameron to bow to the censors. Chinese audiences were devastated when they discovered that the movies infamous nude scene, featuring Kate Winslet draped across a chaise lounge, had been cropped at the neck.

The reason is priceless: Considering the vivid 3D effects, we fear that viewers may reach out their hands for a touch and thus interrupt other peoples viewing, said an official. They were right to be cautious: covering up Kates chest may have contributed to what would become the biggest ever movie opening in Chinese box-office history.

Talladega Nights: the Ballad Of Ricky Bobby (2006)

Country censored: Iran

John C. Reilly and Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. (Columbia Pictures)

Irans relationship with cinema has been tumultuous to say the least, after cinemas were burned down under the Khomeini regime in the 1970s. Filmmakers like Abbas Kiarostami would go on to flourish and eventually, even Western movies would make their way to Iranian cinemas  but not without heavy censoring. No costly retouching work for the Iranians: when men and women are deemed to be too close, theyre separated clumsily with special effects or objects super-imposed onto the scene.

The scene in Talladega Nights, where Ricky Bobby runs from the track in just his pants, was altered significantly in Iran  they just covered him up with an elongated wall. Seamless!

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Country censored: China

Mission Impossible III  Credit: Paramount

Another strange request from China, who granted JJ Abrams and crew permission to shoot in their fair land but had a few requests once the movie passed through their censor board. One scene, where a group of men are seen playing mahjong, was removed due to the implications that all Chinese villagers were gamblers, while another scene was edited because the laundry hanging from washing lines draped above the Shanghai streets was deemed to be too dirty.

Until the edits were made, the film didnt pass muster with the Chinese Communist Party guidelines.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: At Worlds End (2007)

Country censored: China

Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End  Credit: Disney

You might think that the casting of Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-Fat might have been to appease the Eastern market, but youd be wrong  in fact, his casting caused Jerry Bruckheimer all sorts of issues.

The character of Chinese pirate Sao Feng was considered extremely offensive to Chinese audiences, so to ensure the movie saw release in the region, director Gore Verbinski  or, more likely, whatever poor sod was manning the edit bay that day  had to cut out the character entirely.

Never mind that the movie then made no sense  it made no sense in the uncut English version either.

Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984)

Country censored: India

Temple of Doom  Credit: Paramount

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas blundered into colonial-era stereotypes with their Indy prequel, showing Indians to be savages who had not yet been introduced to the concept of table manners  its no wonder they were denied shooting permission in India.

The villain, Mola Ram, is a caricature more than he is a character, plucking out mens hearts and putting children to work in the mines, but its the scenes where Indy eats with his Indian hosts that was most offensive.

Harrison Ford is threatened with a knife in a scene from the film Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, 1984. (Paramount/Getty Images)

On the menu were snakes and spiders, but the final insult was the course of monkey brains  because monkeys are considered sacred in India. The movie was banned in India upon release and is still frowned upon decades later.

Zoolander (2001)

Country censored: Iran

Zoolander  Credit: Paramount

It wasnt surprising that Ben Stillers cult comedy didnt get a release in Malaysia, what with the plot about assassinating the Malaysian Prime Minister and all, but it was an eye-opener to learn the reasons that Iran banned Zoolander: for its 'homosexual themes'.

What homosexual themes, you might ask? Good question, because no characters are actually gay (although several are fabulous to hitherto uncharted levels) and there are no gay jokes, so it seems that the fashion industry was just too camp for the Iranian censors.

Watch: Lightyear banned in Saudi Arabia
President Biden will visit Saudi Arabia in July on a trip that will include a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a senior administration official told reporters Monday night.

The announcement that the president would meet Mohammed had been expected for weeks and has drawn scrutiny from human rights advocates and tacit approval from Democratic allies in Congress.

The meeting is part of a wider trip to the Middle East, from July 13 to 16, where the president will also travel to Israel and the West Bank before flying to Jeddah for a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The senior official said that Bidens meeting with the crown prince will take place as part of engagement with over a dozen leaders, to include Saudi King Salman, the official leader of the Kingdom.

The presidents face-to-face with Mohammed marks a stark reversal from Bidens promise on the campaign trail to make the kingdom a pariah and to make them pay the price over the gruesome killing of the dissident Saudi writer and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Biden approved the release of a U.S. intelligence report concluding that Mohammed had approved a plot to capture or kill Khashoggi  who was lured to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where he was killed and dismembered. The president imposed bans on dozens of Saudi officials for the writers death.

The senior official on Monday night said that while the administration sought accountability for Khashoggis death, it did not seek to rupture relations with the kingdom completely. The official called the crown prince critical to extending a cease-fire agreement until at least August in Yemens catastrophic seven-year civil war.

While we recalibrate relations, were not seeking to rupture relations, because Saudi Arabia has been a strategic partner of the United States for eight decades, the official said, adding that the administrations strategy is to raise human rights issues behind closed doors.

Story continues

Human rights is always a part of the conversation.  A lot of these conversations, we do hold them behind closed doors, and we think engagement  and that is the best way to get results, the official said.

The administration is also intent on working with Saudi Arabia to push back on Iran, which has accelerated activity necessary to build a nuclear weapon while supporting proxy forces that have hit Gulf countries and U.S. military bases in the region with missiles.

Bidens meeting with Gulf leaders in Jeddah and his trip to Israel comes in the wake of a resolution passed by member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the international nuclear watchdog, last week criticizing Iran for its nuclear activities.

While theres a great deal of work to do, this historic visit to the Middle East comes against that larger backdrop, both globally and in the Middle East region itself, the official said, referring to the IAEA vote itself.

Bidens trip to Israel will be his first visit to the country as president. The official said the president will reaffirm Americas ironclad commitment to Israels security.

The president will also seek to build on rapprochement between Jerusalem and its Arab and Gulf neighbors through the Abraham Accords, the Trump-era agreement that established ties between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Biden will also travel to the West Bank to visit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian leaders, the official said, and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians.

They will also discuss the ways in which we might rekindle a new political horizon that can ensure equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity, and dignity to Israelis and Palestinians alike, the official said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
patriot front arrested and Jared Michael Boyce mugshot

Jared Michael Boyce from Springville, Utah was among the 31 people arrested Saturday over a plot to disrupt a Pride celebration in Coeur dAlene, Idaho. Boyce, along with 30 other members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front was found, thanks to a tipster who called in suspicious activity, in the back of a U-Haul truck dressed in riot gear complete with shields, masks, and smoke grenades. They also had operations plan documents.

Now Boyce is looking for a new place to stay, because as his mother, Karen Amsden, told The Daily Beast, hes been kicked out of the house.

Amsden, a licensed clinical social worker, says Boyce has been looking to fill a void ever since his father came out as gay and left the family years ago. She hopes that in coming forward and telling his story, she can get him out of the group that she feels radicalized him  if not by his own choice, but by sabotaging his relationship with them.

I would love to do whatever I can to out him [as a Patriot Front member] so that he cant be a part of it, she explained to The Daily Beast. And that they dont want him to be a part of their group because his mom has loose lips and a big mouth and hes never going to get away with anything.

Amsden recalled the moment she realized her son had taken part in the attempted riot. He had previously told her that he was going camping for the weekend and she had no reason to believe otherwise until she saw the news alert about the arrests in Utah. I saw this news story come up that said 31 members of a white supremacist group were arrested at a rally, and I just knewI knew he was part of it, she said. Amsden looked through the photos of those arrested and immediately recognized her son.

After being bailed out by anonymous donors, Boyce returned home. In an attempt to explain his actions, he told his mother he was just there because theyre grooming kids. Amsden gave her son an ultimatum  hoping that the arrest would finally break the hate groups spell over her son.

I told him, Well, then you cant live here. You can choose between the Patriot Front and your family. And hes like, Well, I cant quit Patriot Front. Im like, Well, then youve just chosen. So pack your stuff and get out of my house, she shared.

He actually just showed up here at my house, Amsden recalled. And it was a moment Ive kind of dreaded because I was hoping he was going to change his attitude. But hes not. Regardless, she still has hope that in coming forward she can help her son leave the group. [I] just really want to believe that people can change and that he will figure it out, she said.
A twice-convicted killer expressed remorse to the family of his latest victim before he was sentenced to 40-years-to-life in prison Monday.

Bee Vue, 30, of Fresno shot to death 33-year-old Edgar Garcia in 2013 in the victims hometown of Biola, a rural community just west of Fresno.

During the sentencing hearing in a Fresno courtroom, a letter from the victims sister, Maria Pena, was read by Sybil Luna, a victim advocate with Crime Victim Services.

Pena wrote that the loss of her brother has left a huge hole in the family. Garcia was a father and also the caregiver for their mother.

Losing him was so painful for her (their mother) that her illness worsened to the point of losing her sense of reality, read Luna. His children were his world. It always breaks my heart to see the sparkle in their eyes has been dimmed.

Pena ended her letter with a demand for answers about her brothers killing.

I ask you in the name of my family, why did you kill him, why? Luna read. The sentence you received is only mans law here on earth you still have to answer to God for killing him.

Vues defense attorney Alexander Martin did not make a statement, but Vue wanted to speak.

Vue said he understood that his crime has caused a deep pain to the family of his victim. And for that he said he was sorry.

I am truly sorry for taking Edwards life, I was misguided, ignorant, and alcoholic, Vue said. I dont expect forgiveness from the family, ever. But please accept my apology. For today, I accept my punishment and I only hope that today gives you some closure. Again, I am sorry for having to play such a horrible part of your lives.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Amy Freeman said she was satisfied with the sentence.

Vue has a history of violence so a life sentence was warranted, she said.

Oklahoma manslaughter

Freeman said Vue was previously convicted of manslaughter in an Oklahoma case and served nine years, some of it in Fresno County Jail.

Story continues

In his Fresno County case, Vue agreed to plead guilty to murder involving the death of Garcia.

Fresno County deputies said the murder happened on the afternoon of July 5, 2013 in the 12500 block of West H Street in Biola.

Garcia was found in an alleyway suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to Community Regional Medical Center where he died.

Video surveillance of the suspect and his vehicle were released to the public. Within a month, Vue was positively identified.
(Reuters) - The World Bank has approved a loan of 454.4 million euros ($474.4 million) to help South Africa fund COVID-19 vaccine purchases, the bank and South Africa's National Treasury said in a statement.

South Africa has recorded the most coronavirus cases and deaths on the African continent, with over 3.9 million confirmed cases and more than 101,000 deaths. It initially struggled to secure vaccines due to limited supplies and protracted negotiations, but it is now well-supplied with doses.

"This project will retroactively finance the procurement of 47 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the GoSA (Government of South Africa)," the statement said.

The loan is part of government efforts to cut debt-service costs by using cheaper funding sources in its response to the pandemic, Ismail Momoniat, acting director-general of the Treasury said.

As of Monday, just over 50% of South Africa's adult population of around 40 million people had received at least one vaccine dose. In recent months the vaccination campaign has slowed, despite efforts to boost takeup.

($1 = 0.9579 euros)

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Winning and David Evans)
Zhadan sent a video message from Kharkiv for the award ceremony

The EBRD jury decided to recognize Zhadan novel Orphanage, published in English in 2021, as a distinct work of modern Ukrainian literature.

The short-list of finalists included Zhadan, Slovak novelist Monika Kompanikova, and Greek writer Auguste Corteau.

Toby Lichtig, fiction editor at The Times Literary Supplement and chairman of the EBRD literary prize jury, gave his own explanation for why Orphanage won the prize:

Read also: Kharkiv millionaire Vsevolod Kozhemiako's military unit helping defend Ukraines second-biggest city

A teacher travels through the war-torn Donbas in Ukraine to get to his nephew, whos attending a school for orphans. Then both make their way back. Illusory naivete of this literary setting is the basis for Zhadans novel, which is truly outstanding, explosive, tender, irate, and poetic at the same time. This is a novel about exhausted land, about absurdity, banality, fear and moments of real unity among people that occur during the war. Orphanage was a very timely novel when it was first published in Ukrainian in 2017, and it was still timely last year, when its English-language version, prepared by the wonderful translators Reilly Costigan-Humes and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler, appeared. Nowadays, the novel is as timely as its ever been.

Read also: Life in Kharkiv: Ukraines second largest city during wartime

After Costigan-Humes and Stackhouse Wheeler translated Zhadans novel, it was published by Yale University Press in the United States.

EBRD president Odile Renaud-Basso announced Zhadans victory, awarding the writer a sum of EUR 20,000 ($20,800). This sum will be split between Zhadan and his two translators.

Zhadan recorded a video message from Kharkiv, a major city in eastern Ukraine currently under attack by Russian missile strikes, for the award ceremony.

We really need whole worlds attention, currently, he said in his acceptance speech

We really need your support. We do care about your solidarity and how you express it. Thats why this prize is in fact a prize for all the Ukrainian men and women who are now fighting on the front lines or supporting the fight wherever they are  fighting against Russian aggression.

Story continues

Read also: The mood around Donetsk

The EBRD literary prize is an annual event which grants EUR 20,000 for the best English-language fiction book written by an author who lives in a country where the EBRD is operating, established in 2017. The winner is chosen by an independent jury.

Zhadan is a Ukrainian literary celebrity who appeared on the literary scene in late 1990s, with provocative poetry that was supported by Smoloskyp, a publishing house in Kyiv funded by the Ukrainian diaspora. Since then, Zhadan has written five novels and numerous volumes of poetry.

Throughout his literary career, Zhadan paid a lot of attention to eastern Ukraine  mainly Donbas and Kharkiv Oblast. This region is a place of complicated culture, wide-spread rural poverty, and used to have major problems with criminal activity.

Amazons review of Orphanage calls Zhadan one of Europes most promising novelists.
Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) advanced to the general election in a key House race, according to The Associated Press, handing Republicans a win in their effort to take back the House.

Kim, who will face Democrat Asif Mahmood in November, garnered Republican backlash over her repeated efforts at bipartisanship. However, shes veered more to the right after redistricting, which took her seat from having a 5-point Democratic registration advantage to a 5-point GOP registration advantage.

She faced a conservative challenge in the June 7 primary from Greg Raths, a Mission Viejo councilman and vociferous supporter of former President Trump.

Kim in recent weeks unleashed an avalanche of ad spending, most of it targeted at Raths, largely focusing on her conservative policy platforms such as her opposition to unauthorized border crossings.

Republicans had worried that Raths would be more vulnerable in November given that the Orange County-based district is not as conservative as his own reputation.

California employs whats known as a jungle primary, in which candidates of all parties run in one primary and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
I was amused by an unscientific opinion survey of Republican primary voters in Arizonas heated race for Democrat Mark Kellys Senate seat. Many said theyd grown tired of Republican candidates extremism.

I know I dont want any more GOP extremists  its exhausting, said one resident from near Phoenix. I dont know that much about Mark Kelly, but he seems levelheaded.

Tired of extremism? It may sound like extremism to you, maam, but it in todays politics its called publicity.

This has been particularly true of Republican candidates as they vie for former President Donald Trumps endorsement and his voters votes.

In Arizona, for example, Trump endorsed a venture capitalist named Blake Masters who said on a podcast this year that Black people, frankly are to blame for Americas gun violence problem.

Masters talked in April on The Jeff Oravits Show about how its gangs. Its people in Chicago, St. Louis shooting each other. Very often, you know, Black people, frankly. And the Democrats dont want to do anything about that.

OK, as a still-proud Chicagoan, Im tired of defending the citys bloody  although, alas, hardly unique  crime problems, which Republican love to highlight as a case study in Democratic incompetence.

But I could not help but notice the paranoid vibe in what he said next: Democrats are weak on crime and dont like the Second Amendment, Masters said, because it frankly blocks a lot of their plans for us.

Plans? What plans? And what does he mean by us?

But, of course, paranoia, along with generous helpings of us vs. them scenarios, are main ingredients in todays porridge of right-wing fearmongering.

Masters seemed to be following a recipe from another Trump endorsee, Rep. Madison Cawthorn. Less than two days after his stunning defeat in North Carolinas primary after one term in office, Cawthorn took to Instagram to post a defiant, typo-riddled promise to stage a Dark MAGA comeback.

I am on a mission now to expose those who say and promise one thing yet legislate and work toward another, self-profiteering, globalist goal, Cawthorn said. Its time for the rise of the new right, its time for Dark MAGA to truly take command.

Whoo-oo-oo, Im scared. Not.

But dont get the idea that Republicans are the only party with a flamboyantly extremist fringe.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the famously progressive New York Democrat, posted an Instagram story recently to defend using the word Latinx to describe Hispanic men and women, slamming her Democratic colleagues who she said rail against it.

Thats true. Consultant James Carville and numerous pragmatic Hispanic leaders have criticized the term as popular among partisan elites but almost unknown and even hated among rank-and-file Hispanic voters, according to polls and anecdotal evidence.

Yet, AOC defended the term, saying, Its almost as though it has not struck some of these folks that another persons identity is not about your reelection prospects. Like, this is not about you.

No, but you dont have to be a righteous partisan to understand that it is all about winning, which is not something that follows language that sounds elitist, presumptuous or out of touch with the voters you want to reach.

But, then theres nothing new about factional disputes in the party that historically included Andrew Jackson and Jesse Jackson. (Yes, children, we should all know the old Will Rogers quote by now. I dont belong to an organized party; Im a Democrat.)

Extremism in politics reminds me of a couple of research studies around the 2016 election cycle that found voters in the U.S. and Europe complaining of scandal fatigue. The more scandals, interestingly enough, the more voters were desensitized to the scandals.

That seemed to be demonstrated later on by Trumps first campaign, which seemed to not only be riddled with scandals, but able to thrive on them. The more he was criticized, they more his loyal following grew.

Whether we see more extremism in politics depends on how successful these primary campaigns happen to be. One thing is clear, though. Not all voters are looking for more food fights.

Pages column is provided by Tribune Content Agency.
NHK - Jun 27

A Japanese woman in her 20s considered taking her own life when she became a victim of revenge porn. The term refers to intimate images or videos of a person shared without consent.
"He found that my films were not hard enough": the bottom of the investigation into the boss of "Jacquie and Michel"


Baristas at a Starbucks in Bucktown voted nearly unanimously to unionize Tuesday, making their store the fourth unionized Starbucks in Chicago.

Workers at the Starbucks at 2101 W. Armitage Ave. voted 15-1 to unionize with Starbucks Workers United, the Service Employees International Union affiliate representing Starbucks employees. The vote count was conducted Tuesday morning on Zoom by the National Labor Relations Board.

Advertisement

Baristas at a Starbucks in Bucktown voted to unionize. Here, Starbucks worker Kaylie McKinley wears a T-shirt and button promoting unionization at another location in the 100 block of North Wabash Avenue on April 7, 2022 in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Im feeling ecstatic, said Nicole Deming, a shift supervisor at the Bucktown store and a member of its organizing committee.

Deming has worked at the Bucktown Starbucks since the beginning of the year; she was drawn to Starbucks in part by its reputation for providing employees with benefits such as health care. But she said when baristas at her store filed for a union election in March, she found herself losing hours and scrambling to pick up shifts to work the number of hours needed to keep those benefits. Now, shed like to see guaranteed hours enshrined in a collective bargaining agreement.

Advertisement

Really, its a testament to how much we care about the company and about the workplace that we wanted to organize rather than just leave, Deming said.

The Bucktown union victory comes after the Starbucks union faced two losses in Chicago elections last week out of three narrowly decided votes. Workers at cafes in the Loop and in Palmer Square voted against joining the union while baristas at a Hyde Park Starbucks voted in favor of unionizing. The unions losses last week were unusual because of its winning streak nationally  on Tuesday, the NLRB said Starbucks Workers United had won 151 union elections and lost 23  and because of Chicagos reputation as a union town.

Starbucks Workers United won its first Chicago elections in May, when baristas at two Starbucks in Edgewater voted to unionize. Employees at Starbucks cafes in Cary and Peoria voted to unionize in April, becoming the first in Illinois to do so. The union lost an election at a Starbucks in La Grange in May. In total, 10 Chicago-area stores have filed for union elections since January, most recently in Edgewater and West Rogers Park. As of Tuesday, the unions Chicago-area record stands at five wins and three losses.

In a statement last week, Workers United international Vice President Kathy Hanshew criticized the NLRB for the length of time between when workers at the Loop and Palmer Square Starbucks filed for union representation and when the elections were held. The stores that voted last week had filed for elections in January.

The amount of time that it is taking the board here to get these locations to a vote allowed a tremendous amount of time for management to hold captive audience meetings, coerce and intimidate the partners, Hanshew said in the statement.

Baristas at the Bucktown store filed for union representation in late March, meaning organizers there faced a shorter wait for their election.

Starbucks has consistently opposed the unionization effort. Nationally, the NLRBs regional offices have filed more than 50 charges against the company, alleging a range of unfair labor practices.

We will respect the process and will bargain in good faith, the company said in a statement Tuesday regarding the Bucktown election, adding that it hoped the union would do the same. Starbucks said the NLRBs allegations were false.

Advertisement

Reed Essex, a barista at the Bucktown store and another member of its organizing committee, said unionizing will allow employees to have a say in their workplace.

I get to show up at work at a place where I know that theres a modicum of respect that Ill automatically get because weve earned it, and weve demanded it, and weve made it happen, Essex said.

tasoglin@chicagotribune.com
Assembly of track-type tractors at Caterpillar Inc. in Peoria in 2015. The longtime Illinois company will move its headquarters from Deerfield to an existing office in Irving, Texas, the company said Tuesday. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Less than six weeks after defense contractor and airplane-maker Boeing announced it would move its global headquarters out of downtown Chicago, leaders of another major corporation are set to leave the region.

Longtime Illinois company Caterpillar Inc. will move its headquarters from Deerfield to an existing office in Irving, Texas, outside Dallas, the company said Tuesday.

Advertisement

We believe its in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillars strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world, Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby said in a statement.

The move means the majority of the roughly 230 employees based at the mining and construction equipment-makers Deerfield office are expected to relocate to Texas over time, Caterpillar spokeswoman Kate Kenny said.

Advertisement

The transition will begin this year. Kenny did not provide a specific time frame for the move, but said the company has a lease for its Deerfield office that will allow for an orderly and flexible transition for our employees, and company leaders will work with employees individually.

Caterpillar has offices and manufacturing locations throughout Illinois, including an office in Chicago, and Kenny said the move will not affect any other Chicago-area locations. Illinois is expected to remain the largest concentration of Caterpillar employees in the world, with more than 17,000 employees in the state, most of them near Peoria.

The global competitive and market environments we face as a company are always changing, and we continuously evaluate and update our global footprint, including office locations, to best serve our business and talent needs, Kenny said in an email.

The company is the latest to shrink its footprint in the Chicago area amid corporate relocations and an office market reeling from two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Boeing is moving its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia, and has said it will cut office space but continue to employ hundreds of people in Chicago. Earlier, in 2018, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. announced it would close its Deerfield headquarters.

More recently, other companies have sold office space as many employees have worked remotely during the pandemic. Insurance giant Allstate reached an agreement in late 2021 to sell its longtime headquarters near Northbrook, and recently health care company Baxter said it was selling its longtime Deerfield headquarters to adapt to the hybrid work model, though it would stay in the general area and remain accessible to Deerfield-based employees.

This is kind of how things are now, Deerfield Mayor Daniel Shapiro said. As we come out of the coronavirus pandemic, office demand is not what it was three years ago. People arent going to offices as frequently, so this is kind of what the market is doing.

He pointed to larger economic forces for Caterpillars move, along with other recent departures like that announced by Baxter.

Advertisement

Some recent losses for Deerfield have been Chicagos gain, though. In 2019, Mondelez said it would move its headquarters from Deerfield to Chicago, and Walgreens Boots Alliance continues to be headquartered in Deerfield, but the company announced plans in 2018 to move many employees to the city.

Caterpillars departure will be phased over two years, allowing time to find new tenants for the 100,000-square- foot space, Shapiro said.

The company has long been based in Illinois, and in 2017 announced the relocation of its headquarters to Deerfield from Peoria. The company took over the former main office of alcoholic beverage-producer Beam Suntory, which moved to downtown Chicago. Beam Suntory in 2021 announced plans to establish a global headquarters in New York City, but will keep some business units and corporate positions in Chicago.

Caterpillar global headquarters in Deerfield on June 14, 2022. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

At the time, Umpleby cited Deerfields proximity to OHare International Airport and accessibility to Chicago.

Following a thorough site selection process, we chose this location because it is approximately a 20-minute drive to OHare airport and convenient to the city of Chicago via commuter train, achieving our goal to be more accessible to our global customers, dealers and employees, he said at the time. This site gives our employees many options to live in either an urban or suburban environment.

We know we have to compete for the best talent to grow our company, and this location will appeal to our diverse, global team, today and in the future.

Advertisement

Caterpillar did not receive any incentives from the village of Deerfield or the state when it moved, the Tribune reported at the time.

Caterpillars move now to Irving, Texas, doesnt surprise John Boyd, principal of The Boyd Co., a national site selection firm.

The Dallas metroplex has really emerged as a premier corporate headquarters location, and Caterpillar has had a large presence in Texas for many years, both manufacturing and office operations, he said.

The Lone Star States lack of personal and corporate income taxes is the big draw, especially for top corporate executives, Boyd added.

Caterpillar signaled a greater interest in the Dallas region last year, when it announced the establishment of an Electric Power division in suburban Irvings Las Colinas neighborhood, bringing in executives and other staff from several offices around the country.

The lifestyle offered by such upscale areas also draws Fortune 500 firms like Caterpillar.

Advertisement

Las Colinas is now a very prestigious address, a place where a lot of celebrities live, and there are also a lot of gated communities that C-suite level executives find attractive, said Boyd.

Some 12,000 of Caterpillars more than 17,000 Illinois employees are based around Peoria, according to the company. But Greater Peoria Economic Development Council CEO Chris Setti said he isnt worried about Caterpillars shift to the Sun Belt.

The manufacturer remained an economic powerhouse in the area, where it began building tractors in 1910, after several hundred headquarters staff headed north to Deerfield, and he expects the latest move also wont stop local growth.

Caterpillars commitment to our region is still strong, he said. They have over 12,000 employees here, making Peoria the largest employment center for Caterpillar in the world.

The company maintains a research and development campus near Peoria, as well as a foundry and a logistics center, among many other facilities. This spring it often advertised on the radio, looking for workers to fill empty positions.

They call it walk-in-Wednesdays, they just ask people to come in with their resumes on Wednesdays, and if youre qualified, you get hired on the spot, Setti said.

Advertisement

Still, Gov. J.B. Pritzker called Caterpillars move disappointing, and said the state was adding new small businesses and large and midsize corporations.

Its disappointing to see Caterpillar move their 240 headquarters employees out of Deerfield over the next several years when so many companies are coming in, he said in a statement.

The Illinois Republican Party blasted Pritzker, who is facing reelection later this year, over Caterpillars impending move.

Another week, another iconic American company is moving its headquarters out of Illinois under the leadership of Governor JB Pritzker, Chairman Don Tracy said in a statement. Just like the hundreds of thousands of individuals and families who have fled Illinois in recent years, Caterpillar is joining Boeing in leaving us for other states with lower taxes, more growth opportunity, and less crime.

Mark Denzler, president and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers Association, said while the move is a loss, the company continues to employ thousands of people in the state.

The decision to move its company headquarters out of state is a loss to Illinois, which has proudly served as home to the iconic construction equipment manufacturer for nearly a century, he said in a statement. While 240 employees based at the companys headquarters in Deerfield will move out of state, the company will continue to be a huge part of our states manufacturing sector.

Advertisement

Even as politicians and the states manufacturers association lamented the relocation of Caterpillars headquarters, Boyd, of the national site selection firm, expects corporate relocations to become more common. The recent transformation of office work has eased the way, he said.

In the past, companies knew out-of-state moves involved losing some valuable employees held back by family or community ties. But the rise of remote technology, and the ability to work almost anywhere, means key employees can choose to stay behind, perhaps establishing home offices.

Typically, companies were reluctant to move their headquarters, he said. But today, were seeing a wave of relocations.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Dan Petrella contributed to this report.

sfreishtat@chicagotribune.com

brogal@chicagotribune.com

rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com
Meta employees celebrate the 15th anniversary of the social media company in Chicago during an event at their new Loop offices on June 8, 2022. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

When Meta, the social media giant formerly known as Facebook, hosted the grand opening for its new Loop headquarters last week, it was a celebration delayed more than two years by the pandemic.

Despite welcoming hundreds of cheering employees with free pie, confetti bursts and a rousing performance by the Chicago Bucket Boys, the celebration, which also marked Metas 15th anniversary in Chicago, was muted by a hybrid return to office that could make the expansive new workplace a monument to the past.

Advertisement

Wed love to see people in the office two to three times a week, said Judy Toland, 50, who heads up the Meta Chicago office. But that is an option, that is not a mandate.

Companies across Chicago are beginning to herd employees back into the office, but after two years of remote working and the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, it is a tentative process at best. Employees used to the flexibility of remote working are balking at a mandatory return, while hybrid work schedules turn the once busy office into a fortress of solitude.

Advertisement

Meta Chicago, which grew from a Downers Grove basement operation in 2007 to become the largest Midwest outpost of the Menlo Park, California-based company, has about 500 employees, most of whom are salespeople, along with technology, finance, recruitment and other positions, Toland said. The new office was designed to handle many more employees on a daily basis.

Meta employees at their new Loop office on June 8, 2022. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

In 2018, the company leased 263,000 square feet of the 35-story tower at 151 N. Franklin St., which had just been completed. Facebook said at the time that the space, which covers 11 floors and nearly a third of the building, would enable an expanded presence and increased hiring in Chicago.

Facebook was planning to move out of its 100,000-square-foot office at 191 N. Wacker Drive in March 2020. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and employees were sent home instead of to the new office. After 18 months of remote working, the Chicago office ventured a soft opening in August 2021, but the rise of the delta variant pushed the return back to January  just in time for omicron to delay plans again.

The company, which changed its name to Meta in October to reflect plans to expand its social media platforms into the metaverse  an immersive virtual reality experience  finally began to filter into its new Chicago office during the first quarter of 2022.

Were really almost at a critical mass of people back in the office, said Toland. Were allowing people to progress to return to office in a fashion that is a little bit more gradual.

But plenty of wide-open spaces remain at Metas Chicago office, which could accommodate 1,000 or more full-time employees. It is far from alone, as Chicago companies struggle to determine how much office space is enough in the post-pandemic world.

Two years after the pandemic scattered employees to remote locales, the workplace has been fundamentally changed, with downtown office vacancies at record highs and companies adopting long-term hybrid strategies to recruit and retain talent.

Remote working remains a lasting repercussion of the pandemic, with only 4% of companies requiring all employees to be in the office full time, according to an April survey of leading corporate executives by The Conference Board.

Advertisement

Hybrid is here to stay, and will be one of the most significant organizational legacies of COVID-19, said Robin Erickson, Chicago-based vice president at The Conference Board and a co-author of the study. Employees are looking for more flexibility in their life, and theyve gotten used to it.

While senior executives would like to get employees back into the office to spur collaboration, companies have seen productivity flourish with remote working, and the balance of power swing toward employees, Erickson said. Driving that trend is a labor shortage that has spawned the so-called Great Resignation  people quitting their jobs to pursue more attractive and often more flexible opportunities.

Meta employees celebrate the 15th anniversary of the social media company in Chicago on June 8, 2022. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

With companies struggling to recruit and retain workers, 90% of employers are now allowing hybrid work, according to the survey. Nearly half are willing to hire entirely virtual workers, while 38% require a mix of remote and office time.

I think companies are realizing that employees dont want to go back to the workplace, Erickson said. And so theyre changing their policies to be more flexible.

The trend has not been a friend to the Chicago office market, with companies continuing to shed space as long-term leases come up for renewal. For the first quarter, the central business district had an 18.9% vacancy rate, while the Chicago metro was at 21.3%, both records, according to a Newmark report.

Tech giant Google, which leases 525,000 square feet across two buildings in Fulton Market  1KFulton and 210 N. Carpenter St. brought its more than 1,800 Chicago employees back to the offices in April on a hybrid schedule. Google employees spend about three days a week in the office and two days remotely, the company said.

Advertisement

In November 2019, Mountain View, California-based Google was poised for a much bigger expansion in Chicago, with plans to add 800,000 square feet of office space in Fulton Market, adding the capacity to hire thousands of new employees. Then the pandemic hit and Google backed off its ambitious real estate expansion, according to people familiar with the plans.

Basis Technologies, formerly Centro, a Chicago-based advertising technology company, has fully embraced a hybrid work strategy, with its nearly 1,000 employees, including 270 in Chicago, free to work in the office or remotely, the company said.

Its no longer about do you have a pingpong table and free snacks and beer on tap in the office, said Katie Risch, chief marketing officer for Basis. Its really about letting employees determine where they want to work and trusting that everyones an adult, and theyre going to get their job done.

The company is also experimenting with giving employees Friday afternoons off through September, something it may make permanent in the fall. In Britain, more than 70 companies began a trial four-day workweek in June, another post-pandemic trend aimed at improving work-life balance for employees, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

In October, Basis renewed its 70,000-square-foot lease in the Sullivan Center, the former Carson Pirie Scott & Co. building on State Street, through 2030, without giving up any space. Risch said the decision was driven mostly by a need for collaborative office functions, including meeting rooms and a training facility.

Our offices, were going to start to see being used more for spaces to have meetings that really require creativity from the whole group, Risch said. Our day-to-day jobs can be done very well remotely.

Advertisement

In March, Meta Chicago employees were asked to declare if they wanted to continue to work remotely or be assigned to the new facility. The 500 or so that chose the office are now expected to work on a hybrid basis, although management is not taking attendance, Toland said.

We havent subscribed to the methodology that other companies have, where theyre mandating people have to come in, Toland said. We feel though, in order to have a true office culture at some point, it would be great for people to come in two to three times a week.

The new Meta office features rows of hoteling workstations and some assigned desks. It also offers an abundance of perks and quirks to lure employees into the space. Theres three cafeterias serving free meals, event rooms, lounges with the prerequisite table games and meeting rooms with clever Chicago-themed names such as Glen Lerner, the ubiquitous TV injury attorney, and Bob Rooohrman, honoring the late, great car dealer pitchman.

Among the more unusual perks is a vending machine dispensing free batteries, phone chargers, Ethernet cables and power cords, as well as COVID-19 test kits.

The library in the new Meta offices. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Meta, which formally changed its ticker symbol from FB to META on Thursday, has had a tumultuous year. In February, it reported losing users for the first time in its history during the previous quarter, precipitating a sell-off that cut Metas market cap by 26%, or $250 billion  the biggest one-day company valuation decline in U.S. stock market history.

Last month, the company mailed out $397 checks to 1.6 million Illinois Facebook users in a landmark $650 million class-action settlement over Facebooks alleged violations of Illinois biometric privacy law.

Advertisement

Earlier this month, Sheryl Sandberg, the former Google executive who has been COO at Facebook for 14 years, announced she would be stepping down in the fall.

Toland said Meta Chicago has much optimism as the company sets off on its vision to build a new virtual reality in the metaverse. In the real world, Meta Chicago chose not to give up any office space at its new headquarters, despite the hybrid working paradigm.

Nikki Newsome, chief culture officer for Meta Chicago, said keeping the new space intact is a sign of the companys commitment to the city. While she declined to say if Meta plans to increase hiring in Chicago, she said organic growth, including employees relocating from other regions, will continue to increase the ranks assigned to the new office.

Chicago employees, meanwhile, are beginning to find more reasons to come into the office, from daily food specials to networking opportunities, Newsome said. Eventually, Meta Chicago will grow into the office, she said.

I think that the amount of space we have is actually just perfect, Newsome said.

Advertisement

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

Correction: A previous version of the story misidentified the neighborhood of the new Meta headquarters. The story has been corrected.
NEW YORK  A government advisory panel Tuesday endorsed a second brand of COVID-19 vaccine for school-age children and teens.

The Food and Drug Administrations outside experts voted unanimously that Modernas vaccine is safe and effective enough to give kids ages 6 to 17. If the FDA agrees, it would become the second option for those children, joining Pfizers vaccine.

Advertisement

The same FDA expert panel will meet Wednesday to consider tot-sized shots from Moderna and Pfizer for the littlest kids, those under 5.

Modernas COVID-19 vaccine has long been available for adults in the U.S. and elsewhere and more than three dozen countries offer it to children, too. If the FDA authorizes Modernas vaccine for teens and younger children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will next decide whether to recommend the shots.

Advertisement

The Massachusetts company is seeking clearance for two doses, and plans to later offer a booster. Tuesdays vote was only for two doses  full-strength for 12-17 and half-sized doses for those 6-11.

The data do support that the benefits outweigh the risks for both of these doses, in both of these age groups, said the CDCs Dr. Melinda Wharton, a member of the panel.

The FDA held up Modernas teen vaccine for months while it investigated a rare side effect, heart inflammation. Thats mostly a risk for teen boys and young men, and also can occur with the Pfizer vaccine. Moderna got extra scrutiny because its shots are a far higher dose.

In their review, FDA scientists said there were no confirmed cases of the heart inflammation in Modernas kid studies. But experts say the studies may have had too few participants for a rare side effect like that to appear.

That clearly needs to be watched closely going forward as we expand the use of the vaccine, said Dr. Mark Sawyer, a panel member from the University of California, San Diegos medical school.

As for other side effects, FDA officials said nothing worrisome was reported  mainly sore arms, headache and fatigue.

The FDA analysis concluded that two doses of Moderna are effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 illness in teens and younger kids, with the levels of virus-fighting antibodies comparable to those developed in young adults.

Vaccine effectiveness was estimated at 93% for the teens, and 77% for the younger children, according to the FDA analysis. However, the research was done when earlier versions of the coronavirus were causing most U.S. infections, and its not clear how well they work against recent more contagious variants. Its also based on a limited number of COVID-19 cases, making the estimates a bit rough.

Advertisement

A booster shot was added to the studies, and data is expected in about the next month, Moderna officials said. Booster shots are now recommended for children vaccinated with Pfizers shots, as well as for all adults.

How much demand there will be for Modernas shots isnt clear. Teens became eligible a year ago for Pfizers vaccine, which uses the same technology, and only 60% have gotten two doses. Shots for younger kids started in November; about 29% have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

If the FDA authorizes Moderna shots for teens and schoolchildren, a CDC spokesperson said the agency is not expected to review the vaccine until later this month.
The team behind Kasama walks the red carpet while attending the James Beard Foundation Awards at the Lyric Opera House Monday June 13, 2022 in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

The James Beard Foundation Awards returned to Chicago on Monday after a two-year hiatus, celebrating the best and brightest of the culinary world on a national scale.

Prominent chefs and restaurateurs from across the country gathered at Lyrics Civic Opera Building for the award ceremony, which began just as sirens began to blare in downtown Chicago for a tornado warning.

Advertisement

Of the nine Chicago chefs, restaurants and bars up for six awards during Mondays ceremony, only Virtue chef-owner Erick Williams took home an award, for the regional Best Chef: Great Lakes category, which pitted him against chefs in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

The crowd cheered wildly as Williams name was called. He thanked his ancestors for fighting for equity long before it was a trending topic.

Advertisement

Chef Erick Williams of the Chicago restaurant Virtue won Best Chef for the Great Lakes region, which includes Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, during the 2022 James Beard Foundation Awards, on Monday, June 13, 2022, in Chicago. (Louisa Chu/Chicago Tribune)

Chefs stand up every day in kitchens, working in spaces that become more and more difficult every day, Williams said during his acceptance speech. Its hard for us to staff, and create, and yet we continue to be committed so that we can change lives through food.

But Williams, who was also named the Tribunes Chef of the Year in the 2019 Dining Awards, remained humble.

I dont do it for awards. We do it to promote our culture and promote the wellbeing of our people, Williams said. Im honored, because this is why I wake up in the morning, to make sure that our teams are able to have all the possibilities and all the chances that are available to us.

Williams claimed the win over Chicago competitors Jason Hammel of Lula Cafe; Noah Sandoval of Oriole; and John Shields and Karen Urie Shields of Smyth; and Detroits Omar Anani of Saffron De Twah.

Other than Williams victory, the night was reminiscent of the 2018 Beard awards, when Abe Conlon of Fat Rice, now NoodleBird, was the only local chef to win. The city fared better in 2019, with baker Greg Wade, Parachute restaurant, restaurateurs Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz, and the designers of the now-shuttered Pacific Standard Time taking home awards.

On Monday, Chicago finalists not taking home awards included Jason Vincent, owner and operator of Logan Squares Giant, for Outstanding Chef; contemporary Korean restaurant Parachute, nominated for Outstanding Restaurant; and Kasama, nominated for Best New Restaurant.

Parachute, which reopened at the end of May after a two-year closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lost out to Chai Pani, based in Asheville, North Carolina. Kasama was bested by Owamni, the Indigenous restaurant in Minneapolis helmed by The Sioux Chef Sean Sherman.

During his acceptance speech, Sherman focused his remarks on colonialism and uplifting chefs and other people of color.

Advertisement

When we opened, we coined the term #86colonialism, because a lot of us, people of color everywhere, have gone through centuries of colonial bull----, but were still here, Sherman said. Were putting culture on the table; were putting our stories on the table.

Our ancestors are proud tonight, he continued. White supremacy doesnt like to be dismantled, but we can do it together.

Nobodys Darling, an Edgewater cocktail bar open less than a year that its Black women owners described as a lesbian bar, and a gay bar, and a queer bar, and a trans bar, was a finalist for Outstanding Bar Program, but lost out to Houstons Julep.

Maya-Camille Broussard of Justice of the Pies was nominated for Outstanding Baker, but Don Guerra of Barrio Bread in Tucson, Arizona, won.

Maya-Camille Broussard, of Justice of the Pies, walks the red carpet while attending the James Beard Foundation Awards at the Lyric Opera House Monday June 13, 2022 in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

On the red carpet, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who gave opening remarks at the event, said food and drink are central to how she celebrates a big event, such as an election night win.

First of all, Im going to make sure that I have great local wines, Lightfoot said. And Im going to have the end of the evening with a great after-dinner drink from a Chicago distillery (and) in between, Im going to make sure that the appetizers are tight, and tasty.

Advertisement

Chicago chefs and Kasama co-owners Genie Kwon and Timothy Flores, both sported colorful suits. The couples acclaimed Filipino restaurant was a finalist for Best New Restaurant.

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

We knew we wanted to match, Kwon said of the burnt sienna suits. I think that was the only thing that we planned. Usually everybody thinks that were going to wear matching jumpsuits, which we did earlier today, but we decided to get a little more sophisticated.

The team behind Kasama walks the red carpet while attending the James Beard Foundation Awards at the Lyric Opera House Monday June 13, 2022 in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

This years awards come after the foundations 2020 reckoning with a lack of diversity among its would-be winners. The foundation canceled its awards during the first two years of the pandemic and underwent an audit of its judging practices, pledging to become more equitable with the return of its awards this year.

Chicago took home an early victory Saturday during the James Beard Foundation Media Awards, as Kumiko bar and creative director Julia Momose and co-author Emma Janzen won for The Way of the Cocktail, in the category of beverage books with recipes.

Its been a really tough time for us in restaurants and bars and everything, but the fact that we have this chance to share our stories through food and through drink and writing is just one of the most incredible things in the world, Momose said Saturday.

The foundation also named Chicagos Erika Allen as one of its four 2022 Leadership Awards winners, honored for their work toward creating a healthier, more equitable and sustainable food system. Allen is co-founder and CEO of Urban Growers Collective, a nonprofit farm on the citys South Side;, and co-owner of Green Era Sustainability Partners, which seeks to improve management of biodegradable waste and access to soil.

Advertisement

food@chicagotribune.com
ROLLA, Mo.  For more than half a century, Tri-Rivers Family Planning has operated on a shoestring budget, providing contraceptives, pregnancy testing, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and other reproductive health care to a mostly low-income and female clientele in the Ozark Mountains.

The clinic has never performed abortions. But with the Supreme Court widely expected to revoke the constitutional right to abortion that it established in Roe v. Wade, its work has never been more essential  and its nurse practitioners and patients have never felt more threatened.

Advertisement

Last year, the Republican-led Missouri Senate voted to ban taxpayer funding for two common methods of preventing pregnancy: intrauterine devices and emergency contraception  the so-called morning-after pill, also known as Plan B  which many abortion opponents regard as abortifacients because they can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in a womans uterus. Lawmakers later abandoned the effort, but some have indicated that if Roe falls, they may try again.

Lisa Ecsi Davis, the director of operations at Tri-Rivers Family Planning, in Rolla, Mo., on June 8, 2022. (Whitney Curtis/The New York Times)

The attacks are relentless  any little angle they can chip away at what we do, they are doing it, said Lisa Ecsi Davis, the clinics director of operations, who has worked at Tri-Rivers for 30 years. Its exhausting.

Advertisement

The demise of Roe would make the need for effective birth control more urgent than ever. Yet nearly six decades after the Supreme Court guaranteed the right to use contraception, and more than 10 years after the Affordable Care Act mandated that private insurers cover it, many American women still have a hard time getting access.

Funding for Title X, the federal safety net program that helps finance family planning clinics like Tri-Rivers, has been flat for more than a decade. Private insurers do not always cover the full cost of contraception, despite the ACA requirement. Six states allow pharmacists to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions for religious or moral reasons, without taking steps to help patients get them filled elsewhere.

This is our daily life, lamented Rachel Goss, the executive director of the Family Planning Council of Iowa, which administers Title X grants in that state. Youre fighting this constant uphill battle just to provide safe  and right now, legal  care.

Congressional Democrats, sensing a potent political issue in the upcoming midterm elections, are pushing to expand access to birth control.

Last week, they introduced legislation to require insurers to fully cover any FDA-approved birth control pills, including emergency contraception, which costs as much as $50 over the counter  far too much for those struggling financially.

But some Republicans on the far right have sought to broadly limit access to emergency contraception, which prevents pregnancy when taken within several days of unprotected sex.

The idea that we might now be facing fights on contraception is something that is very hard to wrap your head around, said Elizabeth Nash, an expert in state policy at the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. If abortion opponents persuade lawmakers to define pregnancy as starting at fertilization, she said, it could cause complications in being able to provide contraceptive care.

Texas already bars its state family planning programs from paying for emergency contraception. Missouri, one of 13 states with trigger laws that would immediately ban abortion if Roe is overturned, is becoming another front in the battle over birth control  and may foreshadow what is to come in a post-Roe world.

Advertisement

In February, it became the fourth state  after Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas  to eject Planned Parenthood, a major provider of birth control nationally, from its Medicaid program. Planned Parenthood has asked the Biden administration to intervene, saying the move violated federal law. A spokesperson for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the agency was considering the policy options within its authority.

In the meantime, Medicaid patients must find care elsewhere  and often endure long waits for appointments, said Michelle Trupiano, the executive director of the Missouri Family Health Council, the nonprofit that administers Title X grants in the state.

Hailey Kramer, the chief nurse practitioner at Tri-Rivers Family Planning, speaks with a patient in Rolla, Mo., on June 8, 2022. (Whitney Curtis/The New York Times)

In Rolla, a small city of about 20,000 people that sits along historic Route 66, Hailey Kramer, the chief nurse practitioner at Tri-Rivers, said her patients make clear that birth control is a deeply personal decision.

Kaitlyn Ball, 24, became pregnant while taking birth control pills and now has a 3-year-old; she does not want to get pregnant again. After consulting with Kramer, she got an IUD.

Taylor Gresham, a 25-year-old dancer, has been a patient at Tri-Rivers since the summer before her senior year in high school, when she discovered she was pregnant. After she got an abortion, the clinic provided her with Depo-Provera. Her mother thought it was a good idea, she said, because a high school kid is probably not going to take a pill every day.

After she graduated, Gresham opted for an IUD; more recently, she started taking birth control pills again. Im on a better routine with my life, she explained.

Advertisement

Kaitlyn Ball, 24, and her three-year-old daughter at Tri-Rivers Family Planning, in Rolla, Mo., on June 8, 2022. Ball became pregnant while taking birth control pills, and after a consultation at the clinic she got an intrauterine device. (Whitney Curtis/The New York Times)

In 1965, in a case that provided the legal blueprint for Roe, the Supreme Court declared that married couples had a constitutional right to use contraception. Its decision in the case, Griswold v. Connecticut, established a right to privacy that the court said was implied, if not delineated, in the penumbras of the Constitution  the same rationale it invoked eight years later in Roe.

Griswold put contraception at the forefront of the national conversation at a time when policymakers were focused on ending poverty; in 1969, President Richard Nixon declared that no American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition. Title X was established by Congress the next year to help pay for the care that so-called family planning clinics provide to low-income patients, who are charged fees based on family size and income.

Old newspaper clippings show that Rollas mayor came to the ribbon-cutting when Tri-Rivers  initially an affiliate of Planned Parenthood  was founded in 1971, and more than 100 Rolla merchants made donations to get the clinic going.

Last year, Tri-Rivers cared for more than 1,800 patients, more than half of whom were uninsured. The clinic gets $250,000 a year, just under half its total budget, in Title X dollars  an amount that has stayed the same for many years, said Toni Stubblefield, its president and chief executive.

The clinic, which serves roughly a 10-county area and sits halfway between St. Louis and Springfield, once had two satellites. One closed years ago, the other last year, a victim of tight budgets and COVID-19.

Some Tri-Rivers patients must now drive three hours round-trip to be seen  a challenge that keeps some women, especially those who work or have young children, from being seen at all.

Advertisement

Power to Decide, a reproductive rights advocacy group, estimates that more than 19 million American women live in contraceptive deserts, which it defines as counties in which there is not reasonable access to a health center offering the full range of contraceptive methods.

The years when Donald Trump was president brought some of the biggest struggles yet for family-planning clinics. The Trump administrations gag rule barred Title X grant recipients from referring patients for abortions. Ecsi Davis posted signs about the rule on the Tri-Rivers walls, a not-so-veiled critique.

It just always felt wrong, to not be able to give people the information that they were asking for, said Kramer, the nurse practitioner.

Then came 2021, and the Missouri Senates vote to bar Medicaid funding for Plan B and IUDs.

Im a devout Catholic and believe that life is sacred from the moment of conception until actual death, said state Sen. Paul Wieland, a Republican who led the effort, adding that he did not want any of my dollars going to pay for things that kill human life.

The language prompted an uproar from female lawmakers. The governor called a special legislative session, and it was rewritten to bar public money from paying for any abortifacient drug or device that is used for the purpose of inducing an abortion.

Advertisement

National leaders of the anti-abortion movement say their next push will be to ban medication abortion  a two-pill regimen that terminates a pregnancy. Birth control is not something thats on our radar, said Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America, a leading anti-abortion group.

But like Wieland, Hawkins said she believed that IUDs and the morning-after pill had been mislabeled as contraceptives. She added, This is the con in contraception.

Since the leak last month of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe, some Tri-Rivers patients have been seeking intrauterine devices, which can stay in place for up to seven years, or to stock up on emergency contraception.

Anyone can buy Plan B at the clinic for $20, no prescription necessary. That is about half the sale price at Walmart, patients say. For Medicaid patients who cannot afford it, or who do not live nearby, Kramer can also write prescriptions, with Medicaid covering the cost  at least for now, she said.

Still, her patients are worried. Sydney Breedlove, a 23-year-old graduate student, said she had used Plan B twice, buying it at the clinic. When she was 19, she said, she bought it for a 16-year-old friend. She said some of her friends are stocking up, and some fear they will be forced to give up their IUDs.

In the leaked draft opinion, Justice Samuel Alito emphasized that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right. Some legal experts have surmised that Alito was seeking to send a message that the court was not trying to completely undo the right to privacy grounded in both Roe and Griswold.

Advertisement

But some Republicans are taking aim at Griswold nonetheless. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee has called the ruling constitutionally unsound. Republicans running for statewide office in Michigan and Arizona are echoing that language.

In the decadeslong assault on Roe, advocates for reproductive rights see a blueprint for restricting access to contraception. After abortion became legal in 1973, opponents pushed successfully to chip away at the decision, partly by persuading courts and state legislatures to impose new requirements such as waiting periods and parental consent for minors.

When are they going to start saying, Just because youre a 16-year-old woman, you cant have access to this birth control or this service? Kramer said. It concerns me that access will constrict.

c.2022 The New York Times Company
Official: WTO system basis of intl trade

08:56, June 14, 2022 By ZHONG NAN ( China Daily

Ministers discuss pandemic response, fishery subsidies, food security at MC12

China is willing to cooperate with all sides to facilitate the World Trade Organization's 12th Ministerial Conference to pursue progress in areas like COVID-19 response and grain security, so that the organization can better promote global economic recovery, said the country's top commerce official.

Addressing the WTO's MC12, which opened on Sunday at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said the WTO-centered multilateral trading system is the cornerstone of international trade.

Wang said China will continue to safeguard the multilateral trading system with concrete action and support WTO reforms to move in the right direction, adding that such reforms need to reinforce the organization's functions and promote economic globalization to benefit all members, according to an online statement released by the Ministry of Commerce on Monday.

The Ministerial Conference, which is attended by trade ministers and other senior officials from the organization's 164 members, is the WTO's highest decision-making body, and is generally held every two years.

The WTO should push economic globalization toward a more open, inclusive, balanced and mutually beneficial direction for development through rules updates and system safeguards, Wang added.

As an important contributor to international anti-pandemic cooperation, he said China has provided more than 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations. The country supports the WTO to reach a consensus on TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waivers for COVID-19 vaccines at an early date.

During the four-day meeting, from Sunday to Wednesday, WTO members will hold discussions on such issues as TRIPS waivers for COVID-19 vaccines, pandemic response, fishery subsidies, agriculture and food security, as well as the organization's reforms and future work priorities.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that the world is currently facing multiple crises such as the pandemic, food shortages, climate change and regional conflicts, and she called on all parties to work together to overcome the difficulties.

"No one country can solve these crises on its own. This is a time that we need the world to work together," she said during the MC12 meeting.

She said the work of the WTO has made progress, and draft documents have been formed on key issues such as TRIPS waivers for COVID-19 vaccines, pandemic response, fishery subsidies, agriculture and food security.

Kazakhstan was originally scheduled to host the MC12 in June 2020, but the conference was postponed due to the pandemic.

Also on Sunday, Wang, from China's Ministry of Commerce, reiterated that China's economy is resilient and has ample potential, and its long-term positive fundamentals have not changed.

The country is accelerating the pace of building a new development pattern and unswervingly promoting high-level opening-up, which will bring more growth and cooperation opportunities to the world, he said.

Further opening-up in more key sectors will continue to benefit China as well as the global economy, given the size of the Chinese market and the great potential of its innovation industry and high-end manufacturing sector, said Su Qingyi, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges, they do not change our commitment to China. We will open our China Innovation Center in Shanghai next year," said Greg Holman, president for China unit of Stryker Corp, a United States-based medical technology provider.

China's actual use of foreign capital surged by 20.5 percent on a yearly basis to 478.61 billion yuan ($71.07 billion) between January and April, data from China's Commerce Ministry showed.

In the meantime, big-ticket projects invested by Germany's Volkswagen Group, South Korean steelmaker Posco and US retail giant Costco had been implemented well in China, providing strong impetus to the rapid growth of foreign direct investment, said the ministry.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
The lions are headed to the spa. The dinosaur went to the dumpster. Its been a hectic week for iconic animals in Chicago.

Conservators lifted the Chicago Art Institutes famous Michigan Avenue lions from their plinths and loaded them onto a truck for planned maintenance Tuesday morning. And closer to Lake Michigan, the Brachiosaurus cast lording over DuSable Lake Shore Drive at the Field Museum was disassembled and discarded Monday after a routine inspection revealed severe damage.

Advertisement

The Art Institutes lions are set to get a statue-spa treatment. Theyll be high-pressured steamed, checked for corrosion and given a hot wax.

The iconic lions at the Art Institute Chicago are temporarily removed for cleaning on June 14, 2022. The bronze statues were made in 1893 by Edward Kemeys. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

They have a very dry look right now. The green will still be there, but itll look richer and possibly darker, just more lustrous, Art Institute objects conservator Rachel Sabino said.

Advertisement

The lions should go back up in mid-July. Theyre in good shape, Sabino said, but 128 years outside can make you dirty. Hard-hatted conservators hooked up yellow straps between their oxidized, albeit stately paws and used a crane to hoist the metal felines.

Traffic stopped and the bronze statues, crafted by self-taught artist Edward Kemeys in 1893 for the first Chicago Worlds Fair, soared through the air, twisting to face one another on a long flatbed truck as they landed. Theyll head to Forest Park for their first deep cleaning in decades, Sabino said.

Alan Robinson walked from the South Loop to see the spectacle. He wished he couldve seen the lions riding down the highway.

I think therell be a lot of surprised people who pass this truck, said Robinson, who often takes visitors to see the lion duo when working as a Chicago greeter. Theyre iconic. Having them move, its just really cool.

And we have liftoff. The prowling lion goes first, the guardian cat goes next. pic.twitter.com/QtphOV0LBp  Jake Sheridan (@JakeSheridan_) June 14, 2022

The north lion, on the prowl, went first. The 5,100-pound south lion, its tail curled up to suggest it is on guard, flew last. Egla Hassan showed up just seconds after the south lion, in an attitude of defiance, touched down.

I didnt know they were going to be moved. I didnt know they could be moved, Hassan said. She had visited the Art Institute Monday while on a trip from Texas to decide whether or not shell move to Chicago.

I thought Id take a picture, and then I thought, Wait a minute, why is he on a semi?  said Hassan, who cited the museum as a top reason she might relocate.

While the lions will be pampered, the Field Museums outdoor Brachiosaurus cast seems to be heading back toward extinction. This time, though, it wasnt a giant meteor that did the dinosaur in.

Advertisement

A worker waters the flowers and foliage near the all-weather replica of the 75-foot Brachiosaurus outside the Field Museum on Aug. 13, 2021. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Museum officials said severe damage, cracking and rust discovered during a routine inspection made it necessary to take the long-necked herbivore down Monday.

Chicago winters have taken their toll, museum spokesperson Bridgette Russell said. The museum will explore having another cast made for the same spot.

The fossil the cast comes from was discovered in 1900 by the museums first paleontologist, Elmer Riggs, a tweet shared by the museum said.

The Field Museum's Brachiosaurus cast sits disassembled in a dumpster, June 14, 2022, at the museum's northwest corner, where the cast had stood since 1999. (Jake Sheridan / Chicago Tribune)

On Tuesday, the Brachiosaurus giant gray bones were just barely jutting out from a metal dumpster next to the spot where it had watched millions of cars pass on Lake Shore Drive since 1999.

But in some sense, the towering dinosaur will live on. The steel that held the massive cast together will be recycled, and another cast still stands at OHare International Airport, Russell said.

jsheridan@chicagotribune.com

Advertisement

Twitter @jakesheridan_
Former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has been released from the hospital and is now at a rehabilitation center after experiencing what his doctor called a neurological event.

Daley, 80, spent five nights at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after falling ill last week. He was released Monday evening and admitted to Shirley Ryan AbilityLab for a short stay, said Jacquelyn Heard, spokesperson for the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, where Daley is of counsel.

Advertisement

His physician, Dr. Eric Terman, said in a news release Daley experienced a neurological event last Wednesday and is expected to recover fully.

Then-Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, left, in 2002. Daley left office in 2011 after 22 years. (NANCY STONE / CHICAGO TRIBUNE)

The release said Daley and his family deeply appreciate the outpouring of concern and prayers and again want to thank members of the Chicago Fire Department as well as Northwestern doctors, nurses and other staff.

Advertisement

The statement said there would be no further comment on this matter as Daley works to build his strength and his health improves.

The former mayor has suffered some health issues in recent years. In 2014, Daley spent time in the ICU of the same hospital after taking a fall; he reportedly suffered stroke-like symptoms that affected his speech.

Daley left office in 2011 after 22 years  a term that made him the longest-serving Chicago mayor ever and was one year longer than that of his father, the late Richard J. Daley.
With summertime rapidly approaching, the Chicago Department of Public Health is asking Chicagoans to take extra safety precautions while the department continues to investigate the monkeypox virus.

The potentially serious viral infection has been spreading with 1,450 cases reported globally and 49 cases across the United States and the District of Columbia. In Chicago, seven confirmed cases had been identified as of Sunday, according to the health department.

Advertisement

While the risk in Chicago remains low, CDPH wants the public to be able to make informed choices about gathering in spaces or participating in events where monkeypox could be spread through close or intimate contact, said Dr. Allison Arwady, head of the citys health department, in a statement.

Some of the current cases involve people who recently traveled to Europe. One Chicago resident reported attending the International Mr. Leather conference in Chicago from May 26 to May 30, the health department said. Residents from another state who were diagnosed with monkeypox also reported attending the conference.

Advertisement

Early data suggests that gay, bisexual, and other men who are intimate with men make up a higher number of cases.

This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, obtained from a sample of human skin. (AP)

The Illinois Department of Public Health and other public health departments across the nation have been in contact with the city health department about the ongoing investigation.

At first, the monkeypox may feel like the onset of the flu and as it progresses, lesions can appear around the body, according to the health department.

Since the monkeypox virus can be spread through close or intimate contact, the health department is asking that Chicagoans take proper precautions in public spaces. Monkeypox can also be spread if a person comes in contact with the lesions, bodily fluids or respiratory secretions of an infected person or any objects such as linens, bandages and dishes that an infected person used.

In addition, the city health department has been working with organizers of summer events to help share information. Such efforts include printed palm cards for organizers to hand out at events with a link to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention page that provides health tips for gay and bisexual men and a scannable smartphone code to access more information.

Ahead of concerts, festivals, and other summer events, the city health department recommends people avoid gatherings if they feel sick or notice any rashes or sores and consider the likelihood of skin-to-skin contact occurring with others.

To learn more about monkeypox and safety measures, the CDC provides a guide with the latest information about the viral disease.

tatturner@chicagotribune.com
About one in every dozen Chicago Public Schools students contracted COVID-19 this school year, the districts first year of full-time, in-person learning since the pandemic began.

Advertisement

With CPS closing out the school year Tuesday, the district is reporting nearly 22,500 cases among 272,000 students from the first week of school in August through last week. Each case represents an individual report of COVID-19, so a student reinfected with the virus would count as two cases. The data doesnt include CPS charter, contract and alternative learning students, of which there are 58,000.

This was supposed to be a recovery year for CPS, but thats not the way it unfolded. The district struggled to launch and expand testing and contact tracing initiatives. It faced opposition from the Chicago Teachers Union, whose members did not want to work in person during Januarys omicron surge without additional safety protections, and from a downstate attorney, who challenged CPS mitigation strategies in court.

Advertisement

Its tough to say where Chicago will be in its battle with COVID-19 when school resumes Aug. 22. In its recently released budget guide for the coming year, CPS vowed to still provide voluntary, free COVID-19 testing to asymptomatic students and staff and lead, strengthen and adapt its contact tracing efforts.

We will continue to use federal pandemic relief dollars to fund and implement the health and safety protocols that are recommended by our public health partners as we move into next school year, district leaders wrote in the budget materials. These may include continued in-school testing, expansions of our test-to-stay program, robust contact tracing, ongoing vaccination events throughout the district, and other COVID-19 mitigation efforts as necessary to respond to this unpredictable global health crisis.

CTU, meanwhile, intends to begin the fall with a new safety agreement that mirrors the one it forged with CPS in January after teachers voted to refuse in-person work. The district canceled classes for five days as the deal was negotiated.

We believe that all the safety protocols in our safety agreement from January should continue, CTU Deputy General Counsel Thad Goodchild told the Tribune. The district has told us that it has no plans to change the safety protocols that are in place. We believe that the district needs to commit to that in writing, so that everyone can feel assured.

Third grader Mykala White prepares to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by registered nurse Lottie Smith at a vaccine clinic at Carver Elementary School in Chicago's Altgeld Murray Homes, on May 19, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

CPS started the school year without a safety agreement with CTU, but the district did institute a vaccine mandate for employees, with some exceptions, and an indoor mask requirement for everyone. Both directives were eventually eased. Unvaccinated staff members could continue to work, the district said in October, but they had to undergo weekly testing. The mask mandate was lifted in March, after the winter omicron wave subsided.

CTU accused the district of violating its safety agreement, which contains a universal masking provision. Goodchild anticipates an administrative law judges decision on the unions unfair labor practice charge will arrive in late summer or early fall.

In recent months, the district faced legal challenges to its mask mandate, the testing requirement for unvaccinated CPS employees and its policy to temporarily exclude from classrooms unvaccinated close contacts of an infected person. Southern Illinois attorney Tom DeVore, a Republican candidate for Illinois attorney general, waged those battles to some success.

Over the course of the school year  which began in the midst of a leadership shuffle, with new CEO Pedro Martinez not taking the helm until late September  CPS stumbled as it tried to deliver on its safety commitments. A weekly in-school testing program initially touted as available to everyone ran into several obstacles as it got underway. Parents complained that contact tracers were slow to notify of positive cases. A holiday take-home test initiative was a bust.

Advertisement

The district was humbled by the delta strain in the fall and the omicron variant in the winter. A beloved special education classroom assistant died of COVID-19 around Thanksgiving. The virus conditions in January spurred a few schools to temporarily transition to remote learning.

CPS lost its chief health officer to retirement in February, and cases have been spiking since spring break in April.

In its budget guide, CPS pointed to some achievements in its handling of COVID-19 this year. The district boasted that it has administered more than 1.5 million COVID-19 tests since September, secured COVID-19 testing consents from more than 100,000 students and 37,000 staff members, hosted more than 1,300 COVID-19 vaccination events since July 1; and distributed more than $13 million worth of personal protective equipment to students and staff. The union fought for these measures in the safety agreement, which is set to expire Aug. 26.

The district said it will continue to update its public COVID-19 tracker after Tuesday to reflect cases reported during summer programming, which starts July 6. CPS said it finished testing in schools Friday and will resume testing during summer school.

Walsh Elementary School Principal Patricia Harper Reynolds speaks during the school's graduation ceremony on June 13, 2022, at Benito Juarez Community Academy. (Raquel Zaldvar / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said last week the city is prepared to vaccinate children younger than 5 as soon federal authorities approve their use, perhaps as early as next week. Some 54% of students 5 and older in district-managed schools and 45% of age-eligible students in CPS schools not managed by district are fully vaccinated, according to district data.

Chicago Board of Education member Elizabeth Todd-Breland floated the idea of a CPS student COVID-19 vaccine mandate at the boards January meeting  but it hasnt seemed to have taken root. Martinez expressed disappointment the issue isnt being handled at the federal level.

Advertisement

CTU pushed for an 80% vaccination rate for eligible students last summer. The union said it is looking very closely at the Los Angeles Unified School District  which instituted a coronavirus vaccination requirement for students, but has delayed enforcement. Goodchild said CPS should partner with the union on outreach and be more intentional about where it hosts vaccine events.

We think that CPS can do a lot more to support vaccine access and education around vaccine in school communities where vaccination rates amongst students and families is very, very uneven, Goodchild said.

When asked if CTU will seek a reinstatement of the mask mandate for the fall, Goodchild said the union will push for the highest possible level of safety for educators, students and school communities.

CPS reported more than 9,300 adult COVID-19 cases this school year. About 3,300 students and 240 adults on Sunday were in isolation because they tested positive for the virus or in quarantine because they are not fully vaccinated and came in close contact with someone infected.

This spring has shown us that pandemic mitigation has to continue, Goodchild said. We cant pretend that things have returned to normal when they havent.

tswartz@tribpub.com
After more than a half-century of having a flag that was often deemed forgettable, Cook County is getting a new banner that features a cleaner layout that plays up the countys history.

County officials on Tuesday unveiled their pick for the countys new flag, which was announced on national Flag Day and is known as the I Will Banner.

Advertisement

Created by Glenbrook South High School student Drew Duffy, the new flag features a circle of seven-sided red stars on the left and a sideways blue, green and white Y-shaped stripe to the right. The blue symbolizes the countys rivers and Lake Michigan, green is for the countys nature and forest preserves, and white  the color of locomotive steam  represents innovation and commerce.

The Y shape pays homage to the merging of the branches of the Chicago River at Wolf Point downtown and mirrors the citys municipal device, Duffy said.

Advertisement

Cook County's new flag was designed by Glenbrook South High School student Drew Duffy. The blue symbolizes the countys rivers and Lake Michigan, green is for the countys nature and forest preserves, and white represents innovation and commerce. (Cook County)

The flags name comes from a statue designed by artist Charles Holloway for the 1893 Columbian Exposition of a goddess figure suited for battle with a breastplate that read I Will. The name embraces the fighting spirit and go-getter attitude of the people of Cook County, according to the flags description.

The six stars are each seven-pointed to represent each county region, plus Chicago and the forest preserves. There are six stars to represent the countys founding in 1831; the opening of its flagship hospitals; the department of public health; forest preserves; the Arthur J. Audy home for juvenile detainees; and the countys townships and local governments.

The stars red color, Duffy said, is to represent the countys bold history of protest and progress, including Martin Luther King Jr.s fights for equal housing and workers rights in Chicago, Jane Addams founding of Hull House, and the Jewish residents of Skokie pushing back against Nazi protests.

The current flag, raised for the first time over the county building on June 13, 1961, has a white background with the words Cook County in red above and below a center seal. In the middle is a gold county map surrounded by two blue circles with 39 gold stars. The stars represent the countys 38 townships with one slightly larger star representing the city of Chicago. That design violates what the North American Vexillological Association considers a compelling flag: easy to remember with meaningful symbolism, only a few colors and no lettering or seals.

The city of Chicago flag and Cook County flag flap in the wind above the Chicago Police Department's 25th District on April 4, 2017. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton, a flag enthusiast and NAVA member who headed up the countys selection committee, described the current map as a seal on a bedsheet, an S.O.B. Its not visually arresting.

The 1961 flag was drawn up by county bureaucrats, including the countys public relations director, then-Treasurer Francis Lorenz and the highway departments cartographer. This time, the county invited high school students to submit designs to be judged by an advisory panel.

The county received 297 submissions after its call for a new flag in late 2019. Those were narrowed down to 23 by the panel. Semifinalists were paired with mentors to refine their submissions, which were then winnowed down to six finalists this past March.

Duffys design started out as a pen and ink drawing and was sharpened with the help of mentor Martin Burciaga, a graphic designer in the countys Bureau of Administration. The 17-year-old Duffy has had a love of flags since he was a child, and said he beefed up the I Will flags symbolism with help from former urban history teachers at Glenbrook South.

Advertisement

You dont need to put words on a piece of art on a flag to show what it means because we have so many amazing symbols already, he said.

I Will got the plurality of votes from the selection committee after some passionate debate, Britton said. Board President Toni Preckwinkle agreed with the final pick.

A County Board committee approved a resolution announcing the selection Tuesday. A flag-raising ceremony at Daley Plaza is scheduled for Aug. 30.
Air Force Lt. Col. Dan Blum spent a year away from his family helping Afghan families find better lives.

More than 7,300 miles and 366 days later, though, he has finally returned home.

Blum, 42, turned the corner of his terminal at Eppley Airfield just after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. He had just spent more than half a day in the air flying to Chicago from Doha, Qatar. A tight layover window kept him in the Windy City longer than he wanted to, but what he saw upon his arrival to Omaha made the long journey home worth it.

Blums wife, Joanna, and their three kids  Harmon, 9, Parker, 11, and Shannon, 14  rushed in a for a tight, prolonged group hug. Tears of joy and laughter were plentiful. His welcoming party didnt end there, though. His parents, Tim and Joan, as well as his brother, sister, nieces, nephews, and other extended family were part of the 13-person entourage who held signs and waved flags as they cheered his arrival. A handful of passengers on Blums return flight even stuck around to witness the joyous moment.

Elation, excitement were Blums first feelings when he saw the familiar faces of his loving family.

Following several hugs, high fives and other greetings, Blum expressed gratitude to his family for being there for him while he worked missions helping get Afghan people to a safe destination after escaping violence in their home country.

Its been a long year, he said. We did a lot of important things overseas with the Afghan evacuation and things like that. I just appreciate my familys commitment.

He said he also appreciated being back to the comforts of home.

Im looking forward to going home and sleeping in my own bed tonight, he exclaimed.

Blum left home on June 7 last year, and he was stationed at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. A pilot by training, he said this was strictly a staff position. While flying is his passion, he said he was fine being grounded the last year to help out a good cause.

Blum is a Council Bluffs native. He graduated from Lewis Central High School in 1998 and went on to study aerospace engineering at Iowa State University. Upon graduation in 2003, he was commissioned into the Air Force through the ROTC program. Hes been a career airman ever since. He said the last year was fulfilling, but he was ready to be back home.

Im just so happy to be home, reunited with my family, he said. Im looking to finishing out my career in my home town.

After spending some time on leave, Blum will head to Offutt Air Force Base across the river, where he will be stationed for his last two years before retiring. He said hes excited to get back to his main military passion: flying.

I havent been able to do that for a year, he said. Im definitely looking forward to getting back into it.

Then I have to find a real job, he said with a laugh.

Before he gets back to work, though, Blum is taking a family road trip through the southeastern part of the country. Theyll visit some long, lost friends and see several sites while driving through South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Iowa Western Community College will host a Juneteenth Celebration on Thursday, June 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. in The Galley at the colleges Student Center, 2700 College Road.

The public is invited to join the celebration and learn more about Juneteenth with an information display and a video tour from the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Full Fledged Brewing Company hosted its Crafted Ales for Senior Tails event over the weekend, hosting an outdoor dog wash, silent auction and more.

Volunteers bathed dogs, while certified groomer ReBARKable Mobile Pet Grooming provided nail trims for a freewill donation. Proceeds were donated to Promise 4 Paws Senior Dog Sanctuary in Council Bluffs.

Vendors included DogGurt, Paws and Remember of Nebraska and Jimmys Hot Dogs.

All leashed, license and vaccinated dogs were welcome. More than 200 people showed up in support and more than 30 dogs were washed.

Over $1,300 was collected to help senior dogs during the two-hour event.

Full Fledged Brewing Company plans to make this an annual event.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Thanks to Westlake Ace Hardware, its customers and The Salvation Army, more local residents will be able to get some relief from this summers heat through The Salvation Armys summer fan program.

In addition, the entryway at the Council Bluffs Corps can be used as a cooling center until 2 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the rest of the week. The entryway offers seating in an air-conditioned space, as well as water and cups.

Westlake Ace Hardware and The Salvation Army have kicked off their 10th annual Fan Drive to raise money to purchase fans for people in need, according to a joint press release. Westlake Ace shoppers are invited to round up their purchases or donate the amount of their choice to help bolster The Salvation Armys fan supply.

The drive continues through Sunday at 127 stores across the country, including the Council Bluffs store. Last year, the drive raised $110,000 nationwide to support The Salvation Armys summer fan program.

The Salvation Armys Council Bluffs Corps has some fans available to those who need them now and will continue to give away fans throughout the summer, a spokeswoman said. Those who need fans are asked to call the office at 712-328-2088 to make sure a staff person will be there and bring an Iowa ID. The Salvation Army will furnish one fan per household.

The Salvation Army is seeing a greater need this year due to the rising cost of food, gas and other daily necessities, the press release stated.

When temperatures reach 90 degrees or hotter, fans are critical for people who do not have a working air conditioner in their homes  especially older adults and those with medical conditions. The annual Fan Drive is a lifeline to many people, helping to combat the summer heat. One box fan can help circulate air in a home or reduce the need to use an air conditioner 24/7.

The American Red Cross recommends drinking plenty of fluids and avoiding beverages that contain caffeine or alcohol. If needed, people are advised to seek refuge in an air-conditioned facility, such as a library, community center, shopping mall or retail store.

Donations can also be made by purchasing a new fan and dropping it off at The Salvation Army, 715 N. 16th St., or by donating online at westlakehardware.com/fan-drive.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Pottawattamie County Board candidate Jeff Shudak is leading a ballot initiative effort to create districts for the Board seats. If enough signatures are collected, the issue would be put to county voters.

Supervisors are currently elected at large, meaning everyone in the county can vote for whomever they want, regardless of where they or the candidate lives. Thats plan one. The county has two other election plans that would divide the county into five districts of equal population.

Under plan two, voters would still be able to vote for whichever candidate they want, but the candidates themselves would be restricted to running within the district they live in.

The second of the district plans, and the one that Shudak is championing, is plan three, which would have residents of one district elect their representative from within their district.

I think it would help make the Board more diverse, Shudak said. And it would help the rural folks be able to speak (to) rural issues and rural problems, and I think it would help the city officials and the city representatives do the same thing. I think it would make a better Board in general.

If all of this sounds familiar, it should. Former Board candidate Dr. Glenn Hurst tried the same thing three years ago, and for the same reasons.

The problem is that we have certainly seen a congestion of representatives in the Council Bluffs area most recently, Hurst said. We have seen other time periods where there has been greater distribution in the rural communities. What we lack is consistency. We should have consistent voices from the county and consistent voices from our large metropolitan area that are always present on the Board, that are always representing people from where they come from.

Hursts attempt fell well short of the number of signatures required to initiate the special election.

To trigger the special election, petitioners are required to collect signatures from 10% of the total number of county residents who voted in the previous general election. For Hurst, in 2019, that meant he had to get 10% of the 2018 general election voter total  34,332  or 3,433 signatures.

He collected less than 1,000.

We didnt start prior to the county caucuses, so we didnt have signature pages at the caucuses where we could have gotten hundreds of signatures all at once. Hurst said.

We didnt realize how many votes we really needed, Shudak said. And not that that was just too many numbers. We just didnt know what we were getting ourselves into, and didnt know how long it would take to do, you know what I mean? And we probably werent prepared the best.

Hurst spent a lot of time educating people about the issue itself, which was a time-consuming dilemma he doesnt think Shudak is going to run into.

We were spending a lot of time trying to convince folks why this was a good plan, Hurst said. After our deadline passed, we had a lot more people coming to us saying, Oh, now we get it. This is something we should be behind. This makes a lot of sense for our county.

Nearly 46,000 residents of Pottawattamie County voted in the 2020 general election, which means Shudak has to collect nearly 4,600 signatures, more than 1,000 more than Hursts goal.

Despite Hursts attempt falling short in 2019, Shudak is confident that he will get the required number of signatures to at least bring the issue to a vote in a special election, and hes using his campaign for Supervisor to do it.

Shudak sees his campaign for Supervisor almost as a Trojan horse. He plans to knock on 10,000 doors, ostensibly to campaign for a seat on the Board, but hell have the election petition with him at every stop he makes.

I thought this year, when I decided to run, this would be a great way to incorporate this, Shudak said.

Shudak wont be alone in his door-knocking either. As president of the Western Iowa Labor Federation, he asked his union constituents to make his campaign  the one to collect signatures, not the one for Supervisor  one of the organizations community service projects.

Its important because I just feel like the rural folks in Carter Lake, Iowa have been underrepresented by this board for a very long time, Shudak said. I dont know if anyone from Carter Lake has ever been on the Board. Typically theres about one of the five people from the (rural parts of the) county.

That last part is something both Shudak and opponents of adding districts to the countys election system actually agree on.

The reality is that the map you see today, the distribution of the supervisors today, is about what its going to look like, Supervisor Justin Schultz said at a town hall meeting about American Rescue Plan funds in May. Youre going to probably have four urban candidates and one rural, if they do it based on population. You can crack that egg a million different ways and I dont think itll ever truly be fair and thats why I think, you know, the folks in Pottawattamie County like to keep it at large.

With two-thirds of the countys 93,000 people clustered in and around Council Bluffs, making sure each district is equally populated would be difficult, and would most likely involve splitting parts of Council Bluffs into at least three districts, making it unlikely that districting would actually result in more rural representation on the board.

The population center is on the western side of Pott(awattamie) County, for the most part, Schultz said. Weve got a lot of great people out in eastern Pottawattamie County that we interact with on a regular basis. My in-laws live in Macedonia. If you dont think that I dont hear whats going on on the eastern side of the county, I will challenge you and tell you youre wrong. So I dont personally feel that thats necessary for Pott County. Theres some people that do, and thats okay, but, for the foreseeable future, I dont believe its the right thing right now.

Shudak wont be dissuaded, though. He is determined, and he believes he has the people on his side.

Ive talked to hundreds of Republicans, hundreds of independents and hundreds of Democrats about this, Shudak said. I have never, not one time, heard anybody object to it, except for the people that are on the Board.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription.
The office of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has presented to the parliament in Ankara a request for an 18-month extension to its military mission in Libya, reports say.

Turkey has had military presence in Libya since January 2020 after it signed a maritime and security deal with then ruling Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.

The agreement came as part of the GNAs efforts to repel an offensive by Khalifa Haftar, a military commander controlling large swathes of the oil-rich countrys territory.

In December 2020, the Turkish parliament passed another 18-month extension of the mission.

Ankara currently backs Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, one of Libyas rival Prime Ministers and head of Tripoli-based Government of Nation Unity (GNU).

The Libyan parliament, the House of Representatives (HoR), in February removed Dbeibah and handpicked former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha as new Premier.

Dbeibah has refused to resign and blocked Fathi Bashagha from entering in Tripoli.
Morocco has made its first reaction to the arrest of a Moroccan young man by pro-Russian forces in Donetsk where he received the death sentence.

Brahim Saadoun, aged 21, together with two Britons were indicted by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic to the death penalty on mercenary charges.

Saadoun is imprisoned by an entity that is neither recognized by Morocco nor by the UN, sources at the Moroccan embassy in Kiev told official news agency MAP.

The Moroccan national was captured in an Ukrainian military outfit because he was a marines member, a choice he made by his own free will.

The sources added that Saadoun has Ukrainian nationality and this was also confirmed by his father.

His father told Reuters that his son should be treated as a prisoner of war and not as a mercenary because he has Ukrainian nationality.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Moroccos foreign ministry issued a statement underscoring Rabats support for the territorial integrity of all UN member states and its rejection of the use of force in international conflicts.
The Rabat Appeal for the preservation of the Judeo-African heritage was signed on Monday within the framework of the second edition of the Jewish Africa Conference, held this June 13 to 15 under the theme Past, Present and Future.

The main objective of this appeal is to preserve the Jewish-African heritage, taking as example Morocco, which has developed, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, a plan for the rehabilitation of 167 Jewish cemeteries and synagogues in the country. the Kingdom likewise takes the lead in preserving and promoting Jewish identity through several initiatives, including the integration of Moroccan-Jewish culture and history in school textbooks.

The signatories of the Appeal call for the recognition by individuals, civil society and governments of the thousand-year-old history of the Jewish people in Africa and stress the need to preserve, rehabilitate and make accessible the Jewish historical sites throughout the continent.

They also call for strengthening the sacred bonds of memory that unite diverse peoples and generations to the African Jewish experience.

The second edition of the Jewish Africa Conference, initiated by the Mimouna Association in partnership with the Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to enhance the value of African Jewish culture while creating opportunities for meetings and exchanges between the Jewish communities of the continent.

Addressing the gathering, Royal Advisor Andre Azoulay said: Morocco is a modern country strongly committed to preserving the diversity of its cultural heritage, including its Moroccan Jewish heritage.

We have been committed, under the enlightened leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, to make the Kingdom a country where Muslims and Jews work together to preserve their national heritage, he said.

Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice-President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, stressed the importance of building bridges from our history to discover what we have in common.

The purpose of this conference is to build a common foundation of understanding to remind us of the old-age historical ties binding us, he said.

In similar remarks, Jason Guberman, executive director of the American Sephardi Federation, said the idea of this conference is to explore and share the fascinating history of Jewish communities in Africa.

It is also an opportunity to enhance the Jewish experience on the continent and discover the beautiful achievements of Jewish communities despite the difficulties encountered, he added.

A ceremony of Jewish leadership awards was held on this occasion to reward personalities who have worked for the preservation of the Jewish-African culture. The award recipients are Malcolm Hoenlein, Rene Trabelsi, former Minister of Tourism of Tunisia, Shaun Zagnoev, President of the South Africa Jewish Board of Deputies, Jorge Pedro Mauricio dos Santos, Minister of Communities in the government of Cape Verde, Zevadia Belaynesh (Ethiopia) and Andrea Barry (Namibia).

The conference features a photo exhibition by Jaan Roth entitled Jews of Ethiopia: A world of traditions and change.

The first edition of the conference was held in 2019 in New York.

The Appeal was signed by Serge Berdugo, Secretary-General of the Council of Jewish Communities of Morocco, Shaun Zagnoev, President of the South Africa Jewish Board of Deputies and Magda Haroun, Representative of the Jewish Community of Egypt.

Rene Trabelsi, former Minister of Tourism of Tunisia, Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Professor Ephraim Isaac, Co-founder of the Department of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University, El Mehdi Boudra, Founding President of the Mimouna Association and Jason Guberman, Executive Director of the American Sephardi Federation, are also among the signatories of the Appeal.
Two members of the Moroccan blue helmets of the MINUSCA mission died in the Central African Republic, the UN mission announced on Twitter, without disclosing their identity.

The two Moroccan blue helmets, who were part of the peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, died on June 12 in Bangassou in the east of the country.

The UN mission there paid tribute to the two Moroccans and announced that the remains will be repatriated to Morocco.

The Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Valentine Sendanyoye Rugwabiza and the leadership of the MINUSCA paid tribute, on 06/14, to the 2 Moroccan blue helmets who died in Bangassou (in the East) on 06/12. Their remains will be repatriated to Morocco, the twit said.

The circumstances of their death have not yet been revealed officially, however, according to some reports, the two Moroccan peacekeepers accidentally drowned on Sunday while bathing in a river in Rafai, 700 km east of the capital Bangui, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The United Nations has deployed since 2014 a peacekeeping force in CAR, a country in the throes of a civil war.

The Moroccan contingent of MINUSCA includes 750 Blue Helmets, deployed in the South East of the country since December 2014. Morocco also provides military observers and staff officers to the UN force.

Morocco currently deploys more than 1,700 soldiers in UN operations in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and South Sudan.
Morocco exposed, Tuesday in Paris, the links between separatist and terrorist groups and the states proliferating weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Mediterranean.

During a meeting of the Mediterranean Initiative, organized by France and Germany within the framework of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), Morocco stressed the need to take stock of the evolution of security issues in general, and the issue of proliferation in the Mediterranean in particular.

The head of the Moroccan delegation to the meeting, Redouane Houssaini, insisted on a new reading of the threats to the security of States bordering the Mediterranean which needs to set aside analyses dating back to the Cold War and to take into account the close links between proliferating States and armed separatist and terrorist groups in the fight against proliferation.

Redouane Houssaini, Director of the United Nations and International Organizations at the Foreign Ministry, noted that the threat posed by the proliferation of WMD in the Mediterranean is inextricably linked to the security context of the Sahel-Saharan region.

The documented links between terrorist and separatist groups and WMD proliferating states in the Sahel-Saharan region are a call to action to the PSIs affinity states to intensify their efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to these actors, he said.

The official highlighted the huge efforts made by Morocco in the field of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, under the royal vision for multilateralism, and recalled the unwavering commitment of the Kingdom to the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1540.

He also highlighted the important efforts that Morocco is leading in the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the Mediterranean through the organization of meetings as part of the PSI.

The Moroccan official recalled that the Kingdom has worked to build a pool of national experts trained in the field of interception of illicit trafficking of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, ballistic delivery systems and materials that could be used in the manufacture and use of such weapons, and has strengthened its legal arsenal in this area.

Morocco hosts the Regional Office of the Centers of Excellence on Nuclear, Radiological, Biological and Chemical Risk Reduction for the States of the African Atlantic Front in charge of coordinating the action of nine States in the region to address the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, he added.

Meeting this challenge requires strengthening regional and subregional cooperation, especially at the Maghreb level, as well as adopting an innovative approach aimed at creating new mechanisms and consolidating existing or future ones, Houssaini said.

With 105 participating countries, the PSI is a voluntary multilateral cooperation framework launched in 2003 with the adoption of the Paris Principles, also known as the Interdiction Principles. Morocco is a founding member of this initiative.

At aHigh Level Political Meeting in 2013, France and Germany proposed to gather all Mediterranean stakeholders, whether they were PSI endorsees or not, to develop a PSI initiative specially focused on Mediterranean challenges. The main objectives of this initiative are to discuss the proliferation risks specific to this region, to strengthen cooperation between all concerned actors and to improve their collective capacity to prevent proliferation.
The support of the Spanish government for the Moroccan autonomy initiative for the Sahara constitutes a coherent and respectful position of international law, affirmed, on Monday, the Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs, Angeles Moreno Bau.

By supporting autonomy as being the most serious, realistic and credible basis for the resolution of this dispute, Spain has adopted a position consistent with the decisions taken by previous governments and that is fully respectful of international law, pointed out Angeles Moreno Bau before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Spanish Senate.

The Spanish government defends a position that falls within the principles and parameters of the United Nations Charter and its resolutions insisted the Spanish official, noting that this position also stems from Spains desire to contribute to regional stability.

Promoting stability in our immediate neighborhood in the Mediterranean and the Sahel is one of the priorities of this government in a particularly volatile and uncertain geopolitical context. The security of the south-eastern shore is a priority for Spain and for the European Union, observed the Secretary of State.

The settlement of the Sahara dispute, which has lasted for almost half a century, requires a determined effort on the part of the international community () and would allow us to resume the path of greater regional integration, which would benefit our peoples and lead to greater stability and prosperity in the Mediterranean, argued the Spanish official.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had sent a letter to King Mohammed VI on March 18 clearly voicing Spains support of Moroccos autonomy plan as the most serious, realistic and credible basis for settling the artificial dispute around the Sahara territory.

Sanchez who visited Morocco early April later explained before Spanish MPs that Spains move was the result of the countrys willingness to contribute  actively  to settling the conflict that lasted for 50 years.

The decision we have taken on the Sahara is a further step on the path that began 14 years ago when the Spanish government welcomed the autonomy plan presented by Morocco as a valuable contribution to the solution of a deadlocked conflict, he had pointed out before the Spanish Parliament.

After many years of conflict and status quo in the negotiation process, the Spanish government considers that the autonomy proposed by Morocco is the basis on which there are more possibilities to build a solution to the Sahara issue, Sanchez had stressed, noting that his country logically recognizes the efforts made by Morocco in this direction.
The Lincoln County commissioners approved an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture at Mondays meeting.

The five-year agreement continues Lincoln Countys participation in the wildlife services program, which works to resolve wildlife conflicts to allow people and wildlife to coexist, according to the USDAs website.

USDA District Supervisor Jerry Feist said people needing the services can call him at 308-252-2319.

Commissioner Micaela Wuehler asked what was the difference between this 5-year agreement and the annual agreement the board signed on June 1.

This is an agreement we sign every five years to be part of the program, said County Clerk Becky Rossell. The board then signs an annual agreement for funding of the program and wildlife services provided.

The commissioners approved an interlocal agreement for the provision of University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension services. Brian Cox, Extension Zone 3 coordinator, presented the agreement.

The commissioners:

 Authorized Chairman Chris Bruns to sign the Allstate Benefits Customer Agreement in conjunction with TBX Benefit Services, which is the online software to apply for employee-paid life insurance offered.

 Authorized Bruns to sign addendum two to the Electronic Government Level Services Agreement between NIC Nebraska and Lincoln County.

 Adopted a resolution transferring $10,000 from the miscellaneous general fund to the retirement fund.

 Authorized Bruns to sign the quarterly federal excise tax return to submit the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute fee implemented to fund research as part of the Affordable Care Act.

 Authorized Bruns to sign an agreement with William Troshynski to provide legal services for Lincoln County for guardianship and conservatorship matters.

 Authorized Bruns to sign an agreement with Martin Troshynski to provide legal services for Lincoln County for criminal and juvenile matters.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The North Platte Public Schools Board of Education approved two action items at Mondays meeting.

The board approved a $234,593 bid from Weathercraft Roofing for five sections of roofing at Buffalo Early Education Center.

And, the board approved the $20,000 sale of a modular building at Lake School to Hershey Public Schools. Hershey will pay the cost of moving the building to its new site.

Skip Altig, board president, announced Mondays meeting would be available on YouTube video and past meetings could be accessed on the NPPS website at nppsd.org. Additionally, the board meeting agendas are available on the website four days prior to each regular meeting.

Several reports were presented including a curriculum update from Vikki Carlson, director of secondary teaching and learning; Lyndsey Douglas, director of elementary teaching and learning, and Brandy Buscher, director of student services.

The three directors presented goals for the district, and said standards would be changing once again next year as set by the state Department of Education.

Douglas said the impact of remote learning on assessment scores was significant with students who were in remote learning this past year scoring lower than students who attended in person.

Data is collected year to year as students move from kindergarten to first grade and up. Board member Jo Ann Lundgreen asked how growth could be compared year to year.

It is hard to compare from year to year, Douglas said. Mobility is high and they are not always the same students. Plus, the state changes the standards every year.

Lundgreen asked what parents can do if they have a concern or questions about the curriculum.

The first step is to talk with the classroom teacher, Carlson said. Then the building administrator and finally the teaching and learning department.

She said there is policy in place to deal with concerns and that transparency is important to us.

Kevin Mills, director of human resources, gave an update on staffing.

Our goal is to hire 100%, Mills said. We are not there yet. We still need a Spanish teacher and an elementary school counselor.

He said a third open position was filled on Monday when he hired a school nurse. Mills said 11 teachers hired last year are leaving after one year in the district. He said there are 39 hires for the new school year with 34 of those being new to the district.

Substitutes continue to be hard to find. Mills said there were 84 substitutes in the district last year, but only 49 of them worked at some point during the year.

During the public comment section, Thomas Hagert II, a candidate for Ward 2, encouraged the board to discuss safety at the schools in light of the school shootings that have occurred over the past few months across the country.

Now it a good time to start discussing safety in sub committees, Hagert said. We need students and teachers to feel safe. We need to be proactive, not reactive.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The Democratic National Committee rejected Nebraskas bid to become one of the early states in the 2024 presidential nominating calendar.

The bid would have allowed Nebraska to be one of the first five states in the 2024 presidential primary lineup. It marks the first time in decades that the DNC is considering restructuring the primary schedule.

Nebraska and New York were nixed from the running, as was a group representing Democrats abroad, according to reporting by The Washington Post and Politico. Sixteen states and one territory remain.

The news was disappointing, said Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska state party.

In a video posted to Twitter, Kleeb went on to say that shes anxious to see which Midwest states will be in the mix.

We really made the case that a small state like Nebraska should be part of the first five presidential primary states, Kleeb said. We have a really strong mix of urban, suburban and rural. And that, while all states have rural communities, Nebraskas rural communities are needed  those rural voters are needed  in order to win statewide.

Kleeb said shell continue to advocate for small red states, rural states and flyover states.

Both The Post and Politico, citing a memo sent by DNC officials, reported the proposal from Nebraska Democrats called for a party-run primary that would be different from the existing state-run primary election. The memo said that could create confusion by rendering the state-run process meaningless despite Democrats being on the ballot, according to both media outlets.

Since 1972, Iowa has been the first contest in the Democratic presidential primary, followed by New Hampshire. While Democrats are weighing changes to the partys schedule, Republicans are maintaining the status quo. The Republican National Committee opted to keep its calendar, ensuring Iowa will go first in the 2024 Republican presidential nominating contest, according to the Associated Press.

The DNC is expected to announce a decision on the schedule later this summer.
This is the second IND opened for a clinical program developing Tremeaus lead asset, TRM-201 (rofecoxib)

Previously marketed as VIOXX, rofecoxib has a well-established efficacy and safety profile in migraine, including in patients who were unresponsive to other NSAIDs

Tremeau's expanded development program is supported by robust patent protection for TRM-201 through 2040

CONCORD, Mass., June 14, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tremeau Pharmaceuticals today announced it has successfully opened an investigational new drug (IND) application and received a May Proceed Notification from FDA to expand the development program for TRM-201 (rofecoxib), an investigational non-opioid treatment, to include a Phase III program for acute migraine. Previously marketed as VIOXX, rofecoxib is a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) with a well-established efficacy profile in multiple indications, including acute migraine.

Migraine is estimated to affect approximately 12% of the U.S. population. It is the second most disabling condition worldwide, and affects many aspects of everyday life.1,2 NSAIDs are often used alone or in combination with other therapies as the standard of care for patients with migraine. However, some people cannot or prefer not to take NSAIDs because of their inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation, gastrointestinal (GI) adverse effects, or for lack of efficacy. Additionally, despite lacking a formal indication, opioids are also frequently used to treat acute migraines.3

Charles Argoff, MD, a Neurologist at Albany Medical Center in New York, said: "Many patients with migraine use an NSAID for rapid relief. A treatment option such as rofecoxib, with demonstrated once-daily efficacy, a rapid onset of action, no effect on platelet aggregation, and reduced risk of GI adverse effects, could be valuable in the treatment of migraine and uniquely suited to meet the needs of the large number of patients who suffer from migraine and cannot tolerate or do not respond to traditional NSAIDs."

Story continues

Tremeau expects that the development program for TRM-201 will include one Phase III acute efficacy and safety study in migraine.

Rofecoxib has a demonstrated an efficacy profile in migraine, regardless of whether or not there was a history of prior response to other NSAIDs.4 Rofecoxib has been shown to easily cross the blood-brain barrier, and has been shown to have no effect on platelet aggregation, even at supra-therapeutic doses.4,5 Rofecoxib was the only COX-2 selective NSAID ever approved in the U.S. to demonstrate a reduced risk of GI bleeding versus a traditional NSAID.6

Tremeaus oral tablet formulation of rofecoxib, TRM-201, has been shown to reach maximum plasma concentrations (median T max ) at two hours after dosing (versus three hours for historical VIOXX),7 which Tremeau believes could lead to faster onset of action, a critical attribute for people suffering from migraine.

"The FDAs clearance of our IND for the Phase 3 testing of TRM-201 in acute migraine reinforces our position that rofecoxib, at the appropriate dose, has no unique safety issues relative to other NSAIDs and potentially several unique benefits," said Bradford C. Sippy, Tremeaus Chief Executive Officer. "Our strong intellectual property position, underpinned by the recent issuance of U.S. patents covering TRM-201s dosage strength and its highly purified rofecoxib active ingredient, affords us the opportunity to expand our development program to help patients suffering from migraine whose needs are not satisfied by currently available NSAIDs."

Tremeaus expanded development program is supported by U.S. Patent No. 10,945,992 (expiring May 2040), which covers 17.5 mg solid-dosage forms of rofecoxib, and U.S. Patent No. 10,987,337 (expiring December 2039), which covers purified forms of rofecoxib.

About TRM-201 (Rofecoxib)

TRM-201 is an investigational non-opioid pain treatment containing rofecoxib. Previously marketed as VIOXX, rofecoxib was shown to be a highly potent cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID, with a well-established efficacy profile in multiple indications, including acute migraine. Rofecoxib has been shown to have greater blood-brain barrier penetration than any COX-2 selective NSAID currently available in the U.S., and has demonstrated efficacy in migraine regardless of whether or not there was a history of prior response to other NSAIDs.4,5 Rofecoxib was shown to have no effect on bleeding time and was the only COX-2 selective NSAID ever approved in the U.S. to demonstrate a reduced risk of gastrointestinal bleeding versus a traditional NSAID in a controlled trial.6 VIOXX was voluntarily withdrawn from the market in 2004 due to concerns about cardiovascular safety. It has since been demonstrated in multiple, often industry-independent studies that cardiovascular safety is a dose- and duration-dependent risk of all NSAIDs.8-13

TRM-201 is currently being studied in a Phase III trial for hemophilic arthropathy, a painful and degenerative joint disease caused by recurrent intra-articular bleeding in patients with inheritable bleeding disorders. Tremeau has gained agreement with FDA that it has established comparable levels of rofecoxib exposure for 17.5 mg of TRM-201 compared with 25 mg of the previously marketed version of VIOXX.

About Tremeau Pharmaceuticals

Tremeau is a Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company focused on providing non-opioid pain treatments for well-defined patient populations with significant unmet needs.

Tremeaus unique approach to acute and chronic pain in select conditions is rooted in the mechanism of action, documented efficacy, and clinically differentiated profile of COX-2 selective NSAIDs.

Tremeaus lead clinical stage product, TRM-201 (rofecoxib), is a COX-2 selective NSAID and a potent non-opioid analgesic with a well-established benefit-risk profile.

VIOXX is a registered trademark of Tremeau Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

1 Lipton RB, Stewart WF, Diamond S, Diamond ML, Reed M. Prevalence and burden of migraine in the United States: data from the American Migraine Study II. Headache. 2001;41(7):646-57.

2 Burch RC, Buse DC, Lipton RB. Migraine: Epidemiology, Burden, and Comorbidity. Neurol Clin. 2019 Nov;37(4):631-649.

3 Lee JH, et al. Geographic variation in the use of triptans and opioids for the acute treatment of migraine attacks. Headache. 2021; 61: 1499 1510.

4 US Food and Drug Administration. VIOXX (Rofecoxib) U.S. Prescribing Information May 09, 2016, (accessed October 1, 2019).

5 Dembo G, et al. Anesthesiology 2005; 102:40915.

6 US FDA. 2005; Summary Minutes of the Joint Meeting of the Arthritis Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee.

7 Schwartz JI, et al. Pharmacokinetic evaluation of rofecoxib : comparison of tablet and suspension formulations. Clin Drug Investig. 2003;23(8):503-9.

8 US Food and Drug Administration. Analysis and recommendations for agency action regarding non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and cardiovascular risk. http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders

9 Cannon CP, Curtis SP, FitzGerald GA, et al. Cardiovascular outcomes with etoricoxib and diclofenac in patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis in the Multinational Etoricoxib and Diclofenac Arthritis Long-term (MEDAL) programme: a randomised comparison. Lancet 2006; 368: 177181.

10 Nissen SE, et al. Cardiovascular Safety of Celecoxib, Naproxen, or Ibuprofen for Arthritis. N Engl J Med 2016: 2519-2529.

11 Coxib and traditional NSAID Trialists (CNT) Collaboration. Vascular and upper gastrointestinal effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: meta-analyses of individual participant data from randomised trials. Lancet 2013; 382: 76979.

12 Patrono C, Baigent C. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the heart. Circulation 2014;129:907916.

13 McGettigan P, Henry D. Cardiovascular risk with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: systematic review of population-based controlled observational studies. PLoS Med 2011; 8: e1001098.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005133/en/

Contacts

Madeline Russo, 804-621-3222

madeline.russo@syneoshealth.com
Fortune Business Insights

Key Prominent Players Covered in the Well Testing Service Market are TETRA Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL) (China), Baker Hughes, a GE company (U.S.), Expro Group (U.K), Halliburton Inc. (U.S.), Oil States International, Inc. (U.S), SGS SA (Switzerland), TechnipFMC plc (U.K), Weatherford International Plc (Switzerland), Schlumberger Limited (U.S.)

Pune, India, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global well testing service market size is projected to reach USD 9.91 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period. Escalating demand for energy worldwide will emerge as the key growth determinant for this market in the near future, observes Fortune Business Insights in its report, titled Well Testing Service Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Service (Real Time Testing, Downhole Testing, Reservoir Sampling, Surface Well Testing, and Others), By Application (Onshore and Offshore), and Regional Forecasts, 2022-2027.

Under its Current Policies Scenario, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the global energy demand will grow by 1.3% annually to 2040.





Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/well-testing-service-market-100157





Report Scope & Segmentation:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2020-2027 Forecast Period 2020 TO 2027 CAGR 6.3% 2027 Value Projection USD 9.91 billion Base Year 2019 Market Size in 2019 USD 7.49 billion Historical Data for 2016-2018 No. of Pages 193 Segments covered Service, Application, Region Growth Drivers Growth in New Oil & Gas Discoveries to Propel this Market Fluctuating Crude Oil Prices to Hinder Market Growth





Market Drivers-

Discovery of Unconventional Hydrocarbon Reservoirs to Enhance Market Potential

For the past few decades, the discovery of unconventional fossil fuel reserves has gained momentum around the world. For example, oil sands, or tar sands, contain bitumen, which is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons. According to the University of Michigan, Canada possesses 73% of the estimated oil sands globally, with the country producing 64% of its fossil fuel energy from these reserves. Similarly, China is known to have the worlds largest reserves of recoverable shale gas, followed by Argentina and Algeria, the university further highlights. These reserves are now being actively explored as conventional reservoirs are depleting at an accelerated pace. Unconventional oil & gas reserves generally occur in wide geological formations, necessitating the deployment of advanced extraction mechanisms. Adoption of well testing service is likely to spike in the coming years as governments and private players ramp up their E&P activities to meet the surging energy demand, especially in developing nations.



Story continues

Highlights of the Report-

According to the report, the global market value stood at USD 7.49 billion in 2019. It also contains the following information:

 Careful projections of the upcoming market opportunities;

 Detailed evaluation of the major market drivers, trends, and restraints;

 Exhaustive analysis of all market segments; and

 Actionable insights into the regional and competitive dynamics of the market.





Click here to get the short-term and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on this Market. Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/well-testing-service-market-100157





Regional Segmentation-

Steady Increase in Oil Production in the US to Favor the North America Market

With a market size of USD 3.56 billion in 2019, North America is set to lead the well testing service market share during the forecast period owing to steadfast rise in oil & gas production in the United States. For instance, World Oil estimates that 27,000 wells were drilled in the US in 2018, growing by 12.5% from 2017 levels.

Asia Pacific is expected to register impressive growth on account of rapidly rising consumption of crude oil and natural gas in the region. Moreover, the region is a net importer of fossil fuels, which favors the market expansion in the region. In Europe, the market will be primarily driven by the drilling activities conducted by the UK, Norway, Germany, Denmark, and Russia in the North Sea.





Quick Buy - Well Testing Service Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/100157





Competitive Landscape-

Geographic Expansion & Operational Diversification to be Mainstay Strategies for Players

Major companies in this market are intensely focused expanding their presence in foreign lands and diversifying their operational horizons. To meet these dual goals, players are undertaking measures such as collaborations and contract signing with regional entities to amplify their business reach across geographies.

Industry Developments

November 2019: Expro Group won a contract to deliver well test and subsea services to Ichthys LNG, a massive oil & gas project near Darwin, Australia, headed by INPEX. Expro will supply a comprehensive well testing package, which will include advanced electronic emergency shutdown systems.



August 2019: Halliburton secured contracts from Woodside Energy to conduct drilling and completion services in offshore Senegal for the SNE Field Development Phase I. The operations will begin early 2021 and will be completed over a period of 3-4 years





Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/well-testing-service-market-100157





List of Players Operating in the Well Testing Service Market are as follows:

TETRA Technologies, Inc. (U.S.)

China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL) (China)

Baker Hughes, a GE company (U.S.)

Expro Group (U.K)

Halliburton Inc. (U.S.)

Oil States International, Inc. (U.S.)

SGS SA (Switzerland)

TechnipFMC plc (U.K)

Weatherford International Plc (Switzerland)

Schlumberger Limited (U.S.)





Well Testing Service Market Segmentation:

By Service

Real Time Testing

Downhole Testing

Reservoir Sampling

Surface Well Testing

Others

By Application

Onshore

Offshore

By Region

North America (the U.S., and Canada)

Europe (the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, Russia, and Rest of Europe)

Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Rest of Asia Pacific)

Latin America (Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, and Rest of Latin America)





Get your Customized Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/well-testing-service-market-100157





About Us:

Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

Contact Us:

Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd.

US: +1 424 253 0390

UK: +44 2071 939123

APAC: +91 744 740 1245

Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com




Not only did OPEC not lift its production as agreed for the month of May, its production actually decreased, according to OPECs latest Monthly Oil Market Report released on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the group stressed that oil demand could be stymied by Russias invasion of Ukraine. That point, however, did little to assuage the markets fear that OPECs spare capacity has been overstated, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE the only members that have any room to increase production. That extra production from The Kingdom and the Emirates, however, has been offset by an even greater decline in production from Iraq, Libya, and Nigeria.

OPEC produced a total of 28.508 million bpd in Maydown 176,000 bpd from April 2022. The reason for the decline are decreases in production in Equatorial Guinea (-2,000 bpd), Venezuela (-2,000 bpd), Iran (-20,000 bpd), Iraq (-21,000 bpd), Gabon (-32,000 bpd), Nigeria (-45,000), and most notablyLibya (-186,000 bpd), according to OPECs secondary sources.

Saudi Arabias directly reported production was 10.538 million bpd.

These losses were partiallybut not completelyoffset by gains in Saudi Arabia, which increased production by 60,000 bpd, reaching an average of 10.424 million bpd; the UAE, which saw an increase of 31,000 bpd, and Kuwait, which saw a 27,000 bpd increase.

For the 10 OPEC members that had assigned quotas for May 2022 totaling 25.589 (which exclude Iran, Venezuela, and Libya), Mays actual OPEC member production was 24.541a 1.048 million bpd shortfall from OPECs stated allowances.

The market reacted to the data with a rebound in oil prices. At 9:14 am ET, WTI had risen 1.27% to $122.50, while Brent crude had risen 1.33% to $123.90 per barrel.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Russia overtook Saudi Arabia to become Indias second-largest supplier of crude oil last month, Reuters reported, citing unnamed trade sources.

The average daily rate of Russian oil exports to India stood at 819,000 barrels, according to the data that these sources shared, which compared with a meager 277,000 barrels daily in April.

According to a report by a Finnish environmental agency, Indian buyers now account for 18 percent of Russian crude oil exports. What is more interesting, however, is that some of the fuel Indian refiners produce using Russian crude is then exported, with some of it eventually ending up in the United States.

We can see crude oil shipments going into refineries that take Russian oil, and then we can see where the stuff goes that they produce, said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, which authored the report.

Russian crude has been trading at a steep discount reaching $30 to Brent since the start of the war in Ukraine, which has made it especially attractive for large importers such as India and China.

Both countries have substantially increased their intake of Russian oil over the last three months, with Kpler reporting that so far this year, India has imported five times the amount of all the Russian crude it bought in the whole of 2021. Imports of Russian oil since the start of 2022 have totaled 60 million barrels versus 12 million barrels for the entirety of 2021.

Reportedly, the subcontinent is currently looking to secure six-month supply contracts with Rosneft right now, despite warnings from the United States to stop buying so much Russian oil. India relies on imports to satisfy more than 80 percent of its crude oil demand, which makes it particularly vulnerable to international price rallies and a natural fan of bargains such as Russian crude.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The outlook for Colombias oil industry has never been more uncertain. Not only is rising violence, fueled by poverty and cocaine production, weighing on operations but the 2022 presidential election is sparking considerable consternation that the petroleum industrys best days may be behind it. After an intense campaign leftist senator, Gustavo Petro emerged with 40% of the vote and populist center-right construction magnate Rodolfo Hernandez gained 28% placing them in a 19 June 2022 electoral run-off to decide who will lead Colombia. Petro, a long-serving senator and former M19 guerilla, has made no secret of his opposition to hydraulic fracturing along with plans to reform Colombias economy and end petroleum exploration. Hernandez, like Petro, has voiced opposition to fracking but recognizes the oil industrys importance (Spanish) to Colombias economy and the need to better exploit the countrys natural resources. There are genuine concerns that if Petro emerges victorious on 19 June 2022 it will herald the end of what is currently Colombias economically crucial hydrocarbon sector.

Colombia, despite lacking the proven reserves of its Latin American neighbors, emerged during the 1990s as a major regional oil producer pumping an average over 500,000 barrels per day by the middle of the decade. As a result, petroleum emerged as a key economic driver for the war-torn South American country which has become synonymous with cocaine trafficking, drug cartels and civil war. By mid-2013 during the last great oil boom, Colombias oil output reached a record high, averaging just over one million barrels per day that year before descending into a terminal decline.

Source: Colombia Ministry of Mines and Energy, U.S. EIA.

For the first three months of 2022 Colombias production has risen slightly, by 1%, , averaging 743,599 barrels daily. Those numbers demonstrate that the Andean countrys petroleum industry is struggling to return to a pre-pandemic operational tempo despite surging oil prices and investment. That can be attributed to rising insecurity in many of the remote regions where the oil industry operates, disintegrating social license and a marked uptick in geopolitical risk because of the presidential elections. This is hurting Colombias oil-dependent economy. Before the COVID-19 pandemic data from the government statistics agency (Spanish) shows crude oil was responsible for 3.4% of Colombias gross domestic product, a fifth of the national governments fiscal income and 40% of exports by value making it the single largest legal export. By the end of the first quarter of 2022 petroleum was only generating 2.7% of Colombias GDP, 17% of government revenue and 36% of exports by value. Those numbers highlight the importance of Colombias oil industry and the economic damage that can occur if petroleum exploration in the Andean country ends.

Petro asserts that his first decision as president, if he emerges the winner from the 19 June 2022 poll, is to end contracting (Spanish) for oil exploration. This forms a plank in his broader plan to finalize the operation of extractivist industries in Colombia, with coal mining earmarked as the first to go, and embrace the global transition to cleaner renewable sources of energy. While Petros plan appears foolhardy and likely to severely damage Colombias oil-dependent economy, ending contracting for oil exploration may not be as serious as it first appears. The senator intends to allow the nearly 150 exploration contracts currently in force in Colombia to remain in play. Petro also plans to allow Colombias petroleum industry to continue operating until the Andean countrys proven crude oil reserves are exhausted. That is especially important to note, because unlike many of its regional neighbors Colombia at the end of 2021 only held proven reserves totaling a meager 2.039 barrels of crude oil.

While that number represents a 12% increase over the 1.816 billion barrels determined at the end of 2020 it still only provides enough oil for 7.5 years of production at the current rate which averaged 743,599 barrels per day for the first quarter of 2022. It is also significantly less than the 2.445 billion barrels identified at the end of 2013. If Colombias petroleum output returned to pre-pandemic levels of 885,863 barrels per day for 2019, then the life expectancy of those reserves falls to just over six years. A lack of high-quality significant oil discoveries in Colombia since the 1990s despite greater investment and exploration activity both on and offshore signals that the Andean country lacks the petroleum potential of its South American neighbors. Those circumstances point to Colombias economically crucial oil industry being in a state of terminal decline, making now the time for the national government to boost other key economic sectors, notably agriculture and manufacturing. This forms a key part of Petros economic reforms with the senator calling for greater industrialization and agrarian reform as well as modernization to drive higher productivity.

While Hernandez is similarly focused on modernizing the economically vital agricultural sector he recognizes the importance of Colombias petroleum industry, although he has at times voiced opposition to fracking. The construction magnate, after considering Colombias meagre proven oil reserves and their short production life, has proposed ramping up investment in alternative energies while allowing the hydrocarbon sector to continue operating within existing guidelines. Hernandez also recognizes the need for Colombia to secure energy self-sufficiency and address the risks posed by the Andean countrys limited hydrocarbon reserves. He plans to do this by expanding hydrocarbon exploration to boost the Andean countrys limited proven reserves. There is, indeed, speculation that Hernandez may eventually support the introduction of fracking (Spanish) in Colombia because of signs that the countrys conventional hydrocarbon potential is extremely limited with no major discoveries in decades. In fact, he has made contradictory statements both for and against the controversial non-conventional hydrocarbon extraction technique during his campaign.

A Petro victory bodes poorly for Colombias economically vital petroleum industry. Such an event will herald the end of oil exploration and see industry operations gradually wound down as proven reserves fall to non-commercial levels. Whereas a Hernandez win will ensure that Colombias hydrocarbon sector will continue operating in an established manner with a focus on boosting exploration to expand proven oil and natural gas reserves to guarantee energy security. The latest polls show mixed results. Some have Petro well-ahead (Spanish) with up to 45% of the vote compared to 35% for Hernandez and 13% of respondents intending to cast a blank vote with the remaining 7% of those polled not responding. Other polls indicate the potential for a technical tie with respondents awarding around 46% of the vote to Petro and Hernandez. In such an event the candidate with the votes will win the election and become Colombias next president.

By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
With the United States set to become the worlds largest LNG exporter this year thanks to robust demand for the superchilled fuel, a growing number of producers are looking for opportunities to join the export market. Only they cant.

A recent analysis by Nicole Pollack in the Casper Star-Tribune noted that energy companies in Wyoming and Colorado are eager to join the ranks of LNG exporters, with some believing this would help bring down international gas prices. The problem? The landlocked gas-producing states need the cooperation of their coastal neighbors to reach international markets.

Like many confusing things in current U.S. energy policies, this cooperation was first granted by Oregon and the federal government two years ago for the Jordan Cove LNG project. In July 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy authorized exports of up to 1.08 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from the proposed terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon, owned by Canadas Pembina Pipeline Corporation.

The reaction of environmentalists and indigenous groups was swift, and, joined by landowner organizations, they managed to turn the tide with the government denying Pembina several key permits for the project, according to Pollack, which ultimately led to its cancellation.

Wyoming produced over 1.37 trillion cu ft of natural gas last year. Colorado pumped 2.175 trillion cu ft during the same year. For both states, the gas production figures were a decline from previous years. One reason is the still lingering effects of the pandemic. Another may well be cautiousness with investments for lack of markets. The irony is that the world does need more natural gas.

In a recent geopolitical briefing, the Bank of Canada noted that while the sudden jump in Europes LNG appetite is good news for U.S. gas producers, the actual boosting of production and exports faces a host of challenges, including lack of pipeline infrastructure, regulatory burden, and the federal governments long-term environmental targets.

Then there is the fact that the U.S. gas industry has not responded to the jump in demand with an identical jump in production. This, the Bank of Canada notes, is especially pronounced in two of the biggest producing regions: Appalachia and the Permian, where gas is a by-product of oil production. But demand is growing, especially abroadand this spells bad news for Americans.

Electricity bills have soared this year, and they will rise further because reliance on gas-fired power plants will increase, and there is not enough gas to go around, assuming the U.S. wants to keep its promise to united Europe to supply it with an additional 15 billion cu m of gas until the end of the year. Thats on top of the 22 billion cu m that the U.S. exported to the EU last year.

None of that gas is going to come from Wyoming or Colorado, however. Not for years, if ever. Because opposition to more gas production remains strong and is unlikely to weaken anytime soon.

Why are we talking about natural gas when we can talk about renewables and electrification and other options that are available? Shannon Anderson, attorney for a landowners group in Wyoming dubbed the Powder River Basin Resource Council, told Casper Star-Tribunes Pollack.

I think that the challenge right now with natural gas, similar to coal, is, you know, why invest in something that may not have a future  that is going to be challenged with climate change and a global reckoning around fossil fuel use?

This statement reflects a popular sentiment among Americans, energy consumers, investors, and politicianseven, it seems, politicians that are very much interested in the U.S. increasing its energy exports to the European Union.

It is a conundrum that would be quite hard to resolve, if a resolution is possible at all. In the meantime, Colorado and Wyoming will continue sitting on their gas while consumers across the country reckon with higher electricity bills.



By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Europe is importing record levels of liquefied natural gas (LNG) this year as it looks to reduce dependence on Russian pipeline gas and fill gas storage ahead of next winter.

The European Union and the UK saw a record high level of LNG imports in April 2022, when imports averaged 16.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) and exceeded 19.0 Bcf/d on some days that month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday.

Europes LNG imports have jumped this year as gas storage inventories were at historically low levels from the autumn of 2021 through the spring of 2022. Pipeline gas wasnt meeting Europes energy needs, while higher spot LNG prices in Europe compared to Asia attracted suppliers with destination flexibility to ship LNG to Europe. Those suppliers were mostly from the United States, the EIA said.

During the first five months of 2022, the EU and UKs imports of LNG averaged 14.9 Bcf/d. Thats 66 percent higher than the annual average in 2021 and 4.7 Bcf/d more than the pre-pandemic high of 10.3 Bcf/d in 2019, according to data from CEDIGAZ cited by the EIA.

Currently, 14 countries in Europe have LNG import facilities, but utilization of these facilities varies by region. The northern and southern parts of the European natural gas pipeline grid are not fully integrated, the EIA noted.

As Europe wants to eliminate its dependence on Russian natural gas by 2027, more countries are looking at the LNG market and at supply contracts with gas exporters other than Russia. Germany, Europes biggest economy, has plans for two LNG import facilities at Brunsbuettel and Wilhelmshaven.

For over six months now, Europe has been the key driver of global LNG demand as it looks to replace as much Russian pipeline gas supply as soon as possible. Since the energy crisis of last autumn, Europe has displaced Asia as the growth driver of LNG demand and is no longer the market of last resort for LNG cargoes.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Germany is considering various ways of keeping the fourth-largest refinery in the country operating as it looks to eliminate oil import dependence on Russia by the end of the year because the refinery that provides 90 percent of the fuel to the capital city Berlin is majority owned by Russias Rosneft.

Germany has several options for the Schwedt refinery54-percent owned by Rosneftincluding expropriation. But the German authorities fear retaliation from Russia in case of expropriation, including retaliation consisting of Moscow cutting natural gas supply to Germany, sources close to the deliberations told Reuters on Tuesday.

Germany has been preparing to take control of the Schwedt refinery under a plan that could see inputs shipped through the German Baltic Sea port of Rostock and the Polish port of Gdansk through an alternative pipeline link.

The refinery in Schwedt is being supplied with Russian crude oil via the Druzhba oil pipeline, which is exempted, for now, from the EU embargo on Russian oil imports, which will take effect at the end of this year. Germany, however, has pledged that it would eliminate all dependence on Russian oil by the end of the year. This means it has to procure alternative crude supply for the Schwedt refinery and to figure out how to operate the facility without its current majority owner and operator Rosneft.

The Russian oil giant, however, has so far refused to negotiate a sale of its stake in the refinery with Germany, or to discuss other solutions, according to Reuters sources.

Germany has considered making Shell, which has a minority 37.5-percent stake in Schwedt, a temporary day-to-day operator of the site, but Shell is neither interested in taking a permanent operatorship role nor in increasing its stake in the refinery, government and company sources told Reuters.

Another idea is making Polands refiner PKN Orlen a temporary operator of the Schwedt refinery as it could supply non-Russian crude from Gdansk. But Poland wants Rosneft ousted from the refinery before considering an agreement to run it, Reuters sources say.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
LNG carrier rates on the spot market hit a record amid strong demand and limited supply as many opt for a long-term commitment to using the vessels.

According to a Reuters report citing industry insiders, the imbalance in the LNG carrier market was also exacerbated by sanctions on Russian energy cargo that have led to buyers seeking to avoid dealing with Russian vessels.

The spot market rate for a 160,000-cu m LNG carrier in the Atlantic Basin, for instance, are currently at $100,000 per day, according to LNG consultancy Poten & Partners. For Asia and east-of-Suez, the daily rate for such carriers is $85,000 per day.

Earlier data from Clarksons Platou Security pegged the annual charter rates for LNG tankers at $120,000 per day, which was a 50-percent increase over 2021.

"The market has exploded. It's very hard to find any ships with length [of availability] in the market. It's going through the roof," Oystein Kalleklev, owner of two LNG shipping firms, told the Financial Times earlier this month.

The problem could get worse in the coming months because carrier capacity has been tight for a while now, and there is no relief in sight. It takes several years to build an LNG carrier, and during the past two years, construction has been plagued by all the same supply chain problems that the pandemic caused every other industry, too.

Then there are new regulations on the horizon that might further shrink the supply of available tankers, the FT reported. According to the report, older LNG carriers were being frowned upon for effectively using their cargo as fuel since they run on LNG vapors.

Long-term charters are also reducing the available carrier capacity for the spot market, further aggravating the shortage.

"There has been a substantial increase in long-term charters," Jason Feer, Poten's head of business intelligence, told Reuters. "We've seen some 10-year charters that we hadn't seen for many years previous."

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The global rush to secure new funding for exploration and production of fossil fuels in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is delusional, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.

Many countries, including economies in Europe with net-zero by 2050 goals, announced temporary support for increasing the oil and gas supply after energy prices soared following the war in Ukraine.

This, according to the UN chief, will only have negative effects.

The energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine has seen a perilous doubling down on fossil fuels by the major economies, Guterres told the Austrian World Summit in Vienna in a video cited by CNBC.

Had we invested massively in renewable energy in the past, we should not be so dramatically at the mercy of the instability of fossil fuel markets now, Guterres added.

New funding for fossil fuel exploration and production infrastructure is delusional. It will only further feed the scourge of war, pollution and climate catastrophe, the UN Secretary-General said.

This is not the first time the UN chief has criticized fossil fuel investment since the beginning of the Russian war in Ukraine.

In March, Guterres said that investment in coal is stupid, and investment in the expansion of fossil fuel production must be stopped.

Last month, the UN Secretary-General said that fossil fuels are a dead end and the only sustainable future for the planet is accelerating the energy transition.

The key to tackling this crisis is to end our reliance on energy generated from fossil fuels - the main cause of climate change, the UN said in the State of the Global Climate 2021 report, which showed that four key climate change indicators set new records last year.

Commenting on the report, Guterres said in May, Fossil fuels are a dead end  environmentally and economically. The war in Ukraine and its immediate effects on energy prices is yet another wake-up call. The only sustainable future is a renewable one. We must end fossil fuel pollution and accelerate the renewable energy transition, before we incinerate our only home.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
A 34-year-old man who was killed by Cass County sheriffs deputies in February had been shot in the back, according to his death certificate obtained by the Journal Star.

Andrew Stratton was killed Feb. 13 after deputies responded to a report of an assault. The deputies shot him in his fathers home near Alvo. According to the death certificate, he died of gunshot wounds to his back and left arm.

I was absolutely disgusted, said Wendy Guida, Strattons mother, who learned of the medical examiners findings this week. I dont know a better word to use.

Guida said she has largely been left in the dark about the agencys internal investigation, leaving her to fill in the gaps herself as she tries to make sense of Strattons fatal injuries.

Cass County Attorney S. Colin Palm, who signed Strattons death certificate, wrote on the document that the 34-year-old was shot during a standoff with law enforcement officers. It remains unclear whether Stratton was armed when a deputy fired toward him.

In a February press release, the Nebraska State Patrol said Stratton was believed to be in the basement of the residence and possibly armed when deputies entered his fathers home about 11 p.m. Feb. 13.

During the course of negotiations, a deputy fired his weapon, striking Stratton, the patrol said.

A State Patrol trooper who was sent to investigate the assault report heard gunshots from inside the home. The trooper went into the home and joined deputies in trying to save Strattons life.

Stratton was officially pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m., according to his death certificate. He was shot at 11:08 p.m., according to the document.

Stratton, whom Guida described as mentally ill, was unmedicated at the time of the shooting, his mother said. She said she thinks he had fled to the basement of his fathers home to hide.

I think they just ... forgot their mission, that they were supposed to be going over there to talk to him, not shoot him, Guida said. And they shot him.

Investigators found a bow and arrow and long knife in the house.

The State Patrol Special Investigations unit investigated the incident. The units findings will be examined by a grand jury in Cass County, as is the case with all police killings and in-custody deaths in Nebraska.
LINCOLN  As signatures continue to be gathered on a pair of initiative petitions to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska, a survey conducted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln estimates that 83% of Nebraskans supported the idea in 2020 and 2021.

The results of the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey, published May 17 in the Journal of Drug Issues, align with internal polling conducted by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana that shows 80% support for legalizing cannabis for medical use in the state.

Survey results also indicate support for legalizing recreational marijuana increasing from an estimated 40% in 2020 to 46% in 2021, according to the research team.

Patrick Habecker, an assistant research professor of sociology and co-author of the paper with psychology professor Rick Bevins, said the survey was created during the coronavirus pandemic, when researchers working together at the Rural Drug Addiction Research Center had to shift gears.

During COVID, we had to suspend interviewing people who use drugs in Nebraska, so we saw this as a chance to continue the centers mission, Habecker said. Its a big issue in the state, even though Nebraska is one of the few states without medical or recreational marijuana.

Nebraska first banned cannabis in 1927 when Rep. Thomas Axtell of North Platte introduced HR 74, prohibiting the use or possession of what news outlets referred to as hasheesh or mariguana.

Congress enacted its own prohibition in 1937, but in the past several years, states have gradually begun to lift their bans on medical or recreational marijuana use, either legislatively or through citizen-led petitions.

A petition to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska obtained the number of signatures needed to be put in front of voters in the 2020 general election, but was later struck from the ballot by the Nebraska Supreme Court, which ruled it violated the single-subject rule.

Two petitions, which would require the Legislature to enact laws protecting doctors and patients, as well as protecting private entities that supply and distribute cannabis, are now in circulation.

Habecker said the UNL research team sought to measure Nebraskans opinions about legalizing both recreational and medical marijuana, legalizing medical marijuana only or keeping both illegal as part of the annual survey mailed to a randomly selected group of Nebraskans age 19 and older in each of the past two years.

In all, the survey was sent to 8,000 addresses in Nebraska spread evenly across the states six behavioral health regions, as well as Lincoln and Omaha.

More than a quarter of the surveys (27.7%) were returned. The average age of respondents was 51 years old, with a near split between men and women. The majority (90%) of respondents were White.

The results suggest widespread and uniform support for legalizing medical marijuana only across all regions of the state, both major political parties, ages and genders, according to the results.

In only two of the eight geographic areas  the south-central (22%) and southwestern (25.9%) regions  did the support for keeping marijuana illegal in all forms reach 20%, Habecker said.

Recreational marijuana is where you start to see more differences pop up by region, as well as political party, he said.

While 22.4% of Republicans said they favored keeping marijuana illegal, 45.2% said they would support legalizing medical marijuana, and 32.4% said they favored legalization of both recreational and medical marijuana.

That result comes despite the states top Republicans, including Gov. Pete Ricketts, leading the campaign against legalization.

For the Democrats, just 9.9.% favored keeping marijuana prohibition in place, while 40.9% supported medical marijuana only and 49.2% said they supported full legalization, according to the results.

Respondents who identified as politically independent were more evenly split, with 45.9% indicating they supported legalizing medical marijuana only and 42.4% saying they favored legalizing recreational and medical marijuana.

Attitudes toward legalization change with age, with younger Nebraskans more likely to support full legalization than older residents. Less than a third of respondents age 69 and older said they supported recreational use.

Nebraskans who said they lived on a farm or in open country were also less likely to support recreational marijuana than those who live in a town or a city. Men were also more likely to support full legalization than women.

Habecker said the survey also tried to capture how the stigma of marijuana affected the opinions of respondents, a question he said is vastly understudied in political opinions.

How people view those who use a drug is an important element to consider, particularly when people do not have direct experience with a substance, Habecker and Bevins wrote in the paper.

Habecker said one of the weaknesses of UNLs survey was a lack of questions about whether or not respondents were likely to vote, or were regular voters, in order to gauge support for legalization at the ballot box.

Legislative efforts to lift the prohibition on medical marijuana failed in both 2019 and 2021, and a potential measure of the survey against the election results of the 2020 initiative failed when it was struck from the ballot, the researchers wrote.

This leaves the stage set for a ballot initiative in 2022, Habecker and Bevins wrote. Despite our estimate of overwhelming public support for medical marijuana, the 2022 election will test how well public opinion translates to voting behavior in Nebraska.
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers, clinicians, businesspeople and everyday men and women spun out new ways to deal with the coronavirus.

The result was a host of innovations, including new designs for masks and face shields, intubation shields for COVID patients, ultraviolet disinfection methods for protective gear and 3D-printed nasal swabs. Along with those came a flurry of new tests for the virus, some treatments and highly effective vaccines brought to market in record time.

Some of the innovations, including a UV disinfection system and the intubation shields, largely went by the wayside as supplies of protective gear improved and knowledge about the disease increased. But others  including the tests and vaccines  likely will be around for as long as COVID-19 itself.

Among the COVID tests was a saliva-based version developed by the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Emerging Pathogens Laboratory, directed by Dr. Jana Broadhurst. The test still is still used on campus and by partners in the region where access to high-quality testing remains a challenge.

Lab staff developed the test to both get around supply shortages that plagued the nasal swab and PCR-based testing early in the pandemic and meet the demand for screening programs in the community.

"That was a whole new regime of innovation that we and others around the country and world were grappling with during that really sustained high-volume testing phase of the pandemic," Broadhurst said.

Work continues on tests, treatments and vaccines. Another group of UNMC researchers has developed a nasal rinse device that is an alternative to the long nasal swabs used in many PCR tests.

Meanwhile, doctors, nurses and other providers came up with ways to perform procedures that were backlogged during the worst viral surges. They include expanding same-day surgeries such as knee and hip replacements and even some cardiac procedures. Similarly, bars and restaurants pivoted to takeout food and beverages and businesses shifted to remote or hybrid workplaces.

In a way, the boom in innovation is no surprise. When things are going well, there's little need for new solutions. But a pandemic, like other disruptions, drives people to seek better ways to get things done.

"Everyone wants to innovate and make things that solve problems," said Michael Dixon, president and CEO of UNeMed, which helps UNMC and the University of Nebraska at Omaha obtain patents and licensing.

Many researchers, he said, dropped what they were working on in other fields to pitch in on pandemic projects.

The same thing happened nationally. Surveys of scientists in 2020 and 2021 indicate that roughly a third of researchers in the U.S. and Europe contributed to the effort, according to Scientific American.

Some of those efforts yielded products. Dixon said UNeMed saw more than twice as many new inventions  73  in the last two quarters of 2020 than in the first two quarters, marking the most productive six-month span in the organization's history.

Shortly after the virus emerged, Doug Hannah, assistant professor for strategy and innovation at Boston University, began tracking organizations that popped up across the country to address pandemic needs.

His database now includes 234 organizations reflecting around 500 innovations, including technologies such as UV disinfection and organizational innovations involving supply chains and the coordination of human capital.

The challenges at the start of the pandemic, he said, involved addressing the fast-emerging needs for protective gear and more complex medical devices in the face of long lead times and a small number of suppliers. On top of that came new demands for such items as hand sanitizer and ventilators.

"Not only was it just replacing all the personal protective equipment and devices we couldn't get anymore but rather we needed to create new ones," Hannah said.

A particularly interesting aspect of the response, he said, was its grassroots nature. People in their homes  feeling powerless and seeking ways to protect themselves and their loved ones  made due with items they had on hand.

With millions of people experimenting with different ways to do things, using different supplies, Hannah said, "you're going to come up with really clever ideas." Examples include a plethora of mask and face shield designs. People sewed masks for themselves and health care systems. They churned out face shields in garages and fabrication shops.

"In some sense, the grass-roots response to the pandemic was a heck of a silver lining," Hannah said. "It was one of the most impressive human mobilizations that we've had in two generations, and in some sense had a lot of parallels to the war effort 70 years ago."

The other impressive innovation, he said, were the systems developed to coordinate the efforts of thousands of people who wanted to help. One of the best examples involved mask donations, using a kind of reverse supply chain to collect masks from individuals and deliver them to health care systems.

The efforts, he said, ranged from individuals organizing on Facebook to GetUsPPE, a national group that collected and delivered some 17 million pieces of protective gear to those in need between March 2020 and June 2021.

Hannah predicted that ventilation and clean air will continue to be important topics. A number of technologies around low-cost ventilation and air purification already have emerged from the pandemic. In March, the Biden administration launched a Clean Air in Buildings Challenge to improve indoor ventilation and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in buildings.

Early studies by researchers at UNMC involving patients who had returned from a COVID-stricken cruise ship contributed to the eventual recognition that the coronavirus spreads through the air.

The process by which innovations are brought to market also appears poised to change, Hannah said, with the Food and Drug Administration offering flexible funding and approval models that potentially could speed the process.

Joe Runge, associate director of UNeTech, which coordinates the creation of business startups from research at UNMC and UNO, said the pandemic also has changed how inventors innovate. One example is 3D printing, which allows inventors to quickly build prototypes that allow them to ask and answer questions in the course of developing a product in ways they couldn't before.

An example is a device called Microwash, a self-contained specimen container that can be used to squirt saline into a patient's nose and collect what drains out for testing for viruses. Designed in a year, it's now in clinical trials. Anticipating a fall surge of COVID, UNeTech is working to bring the product, invented by UNMC's Thang Nguyen and Dr. Michael Wadman, to market.

Here's a look at a few more pandemic-inspired innovations, some of which met an immediate need but are no longer used and others that are meeting ongoing needs and could spark other uses in the future.

Met an immediate need

Before testing was widely available for surgical patients, Drs. Thomas Schulte and Michael Ash designed a plastic shield to protect health care workers from infectious particles during intubation procedures. Schulte is an anesthesiologist and director of peri-operative services at Nebraska Medicine and Ash is a Nebraska Medicine vice president.

At the time, protective gear was scarce and was being conserved for nurses working with known COVID patients, Schulte said. Anesthesiologists were concerned about being exposed to aerosolized virus particles when they intubated patients.

Researchers in China had developed a box-shaped shield. Schulte said their version was more angled and folded flat for storage. It served a great purpose in those early pandemic days, he said, but isn't used much anymore.

Still, Schulte said he would do the work all over again, even if he knew it wouldn't become a routine part of life in the operating room.

"It's innovating and using your creativity to solve a problem or make something easier ... or a better model of it," he said. "We were trying to do that."

Similarly, another group of UNMC researchers developed a method of decontaminating masks with UV radiation. Dixon said UNeMed no longer is licensing the technology.

"It solved a big problem at that time," he said. "They published the recipe, and people all over the world used it."

Still in use

While testing for COVID-19 was in short supply early in the pandemic, dozens of different tests now are available, including a multitude of at-home tests that look for the virus's proteins.

The emerging pathogens lab Broadhurst heads developed its saliva test, adapted from a Yale University design, by fall 2021. Not only is it still available for use by students, staff and faculty on campus, it's also offered through six partnerships with groups in Omaha, organizations serving immigrant groups in central and western Nebraska and the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Rather than having their nasal passages swabbed, users simply spit through a short straw into a small tube. Test kits, which cost less than $2, include a tube, a straw and alcohol wipes. Samples don't need preservatives or cold storage.

Broadhurst said the lab is now running a couple hundred tests a week. Demand was much higher during last winter's omicron surge, and the lab is prepared for future surges should they arise.

The lab initially partnered with the Omaha Public Schools to conduct saliva testing in several South Omaha schools. Additional researchers led collection and testing of air, surface and wastewater samples.

While the OPS program has ended, wastewater surveillance now continues in locations across the state under a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-based initiative that's administered through state health departments.

"It's really neat to see that technology blossom into a large-scale program," Broadhurst said.

The researchers, working with UNMC's Dr. David Brett-Major, now are taking testing in a different direction. Through a recently launched Community Threat Assessment study, they're seeking to get a pulse on shifting COVID-19 risk in the community from another surge and from new variants. To do so, they're collecting information, finger stick blood samples and saliva specimens from volunteers out in the community, working under agreements with partners such as the Omaha City Parks, Recreation and Public Property Department, malls and other venues.

Through the study, Broadhurst said, the researchers hope to get an idea of how many infected people are moving around in the community and gauge the level of immunity in the community, among other measures.

Innovations in care

During surges of COVID-19, hospital beds were in short supply, and many elective procedures were canceled or postponed.

So some surgeons adapted their procedures to be performed on a same-day basis  without an overnight hospital stay  accelerating a shift that already was underway.

Dr. Clayton Thor, an orthopedic surgeon with CHI Health, recently estimated that most of his hip and knee replacement patients before the pandemic spent at least one night in the hospital. Now, roughly 80% to 85% go home the same day.

Dr. Andrew Goldsweig, medical director for structural heart disease at Nebraska Medicine, said he now is conducting same-day procedures for most operations to place devices that block off a potentially clot-producing appendage in the heart in patients with atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeats, and to patch holes between upper heart chambers. Both procedures are aimed at reducing stroke risk.

The key change has been in the imaging used to guide the procedures. Previously, that involved threading an ultrasound device into the patient's esophagus, which required general anesthesia and the help of another specialist. During surges, those specialists typically were busy intubating COVID patients.

Now, Goldsweig is using a smaller device in a process called intracardiac echocardiography, or ICE. In it, the device is threaded into the heart through the same vein in the leg that Goldsweig is accessing to place the repair devices.

Similarly, he has shifted to placing most stents in heart arteries by going through an artery in the wrist. Most of those patients also go home the same day.

"We've moved everything to a less invasive, same-day kind of platform," he said. "And less general anesthesia."

The shift toward using ICE for imaging in such cardiac procedures, meanwhile, is helping to drive innovation in those devices. Goldsweig said he expects to be using new 3D ICE devices within the next couple of months.

"This made it happen faster," he said of the pandemic, "and it's here to stay. There's no reason to go back. We've got a better way now."

Into the future

The greatest innovation of the pandemic, however, was the mRNA vaccines, which were based on a technology researchers began developing nearly 20 years ago.

What was unique about the vaccines was the ability of researchers to pivot to bring the technology to bear on the pandemic in such a short time, said Dr. Tyler Martin. A Nebraska native, Martin now runs the Lincoln-area biotechnology consulting firm Great Plains Biotechnology. He spent much of his career developing protein vaccines and vaccine adjuvants, which are added to vaccines to further stimulate the immune system.

Teams that Martin led developed two of the four adjuvanted vaccines approved by FDA, one against influenza and the other targeting hepatitis B.

Martin said he estimated at the start of the pandemic that vaccine-makers would be lucky to produce a protein-based vaccine in two years.

"The fact that the mRNA vaccines worked so well and were so rapid to manufacture has really been a tremendous thing," he said.

That success has spurred researchers and companies to pursue mRNA vaccines for a number of other infectious diseases, including flu and HIV. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced in March that it had launched a phase 1 clinical trial of three experimental HIV vaccines based on the mRNA platform.

Martin said he thinks the mRNA technology will be useful for other conditions. "It'll just be a matter of searching out where it is and where it isn't helpful," he said. "And that's going to take some time and some experimentation."

Researchers also are looking at using mRNA technology for cancer and gene therapy.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
As the World Health Organization convenes its emergency committee to consider if the spiraling outbreak of monkeypox warrants being declared a global emergency, some experts say WHOs decision to act only after the disease spilled into the West could entrench the inequities that arose between rich and poor countries during the coronavirus pandemic. Many scientists also doubt any declaration would help to curb the epidemic, since the developed countries recording the most recent cases are already moving to shut it down. Monkeypox has sickened people for decades in central and west Africa. To date, no deaths have been seen outside Africa. The WHO said Thursday it did not expect to announce any decisions by its emergency committee before Friday.
TUESDAY, June 7, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Use of medical marijuana has surged across the United States, but a new analysis finds that evidence supporting its use in treating chronic pain remains surprisingly thin.

There have been few well-performed clinical trials focused on pain relief from the sort of products youd buy at a marijuana dispensary, including smoked cannabis, edibles, extracts and cannabidiol (CBD), researchers report.

The best medical evidence generated so far supports just two synthetic products approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that contain 100% THC, the chemical in pot that causes intoxication, researchers found.

The two drugs, dronabinol and nabilone, have a short-term benefit in treating neuropathic pain caused by damage to the peripheral nerves, researchers said.

Another drug available in Canada but not in the United States -- a THC/CBD extract sprayed under the tongue -- also showed some evidence of clinical benefit for neuropathic pain.

That leaves unexplored many other potential uses for medical pot, including for muscle pain, pinched nerves and other forms of chronic pain, said lead researcher Marian McDonagh, a professor of medical informatics and clinical epidemiology with the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine.

"The narrowness of the research was a bit surprising," McDonagh said. "While there are a lot of people with neuropathic pain, this would not include people with, say, low back pain. There's a lot less evidence for those kinds of conditions."

The FDA-approved drugs also came with significant side effects, including dizziness and sedation, McDonagh said.

"The products that we have better evidence on are just not the products we're talking about in a typical dispensary in one of the U.S. states that allows medical marijuana," McDonagh said.

Medical cannabis is now legal in 38 states, according to World Population Review. Of those, 19 states have outright legalized the recreational use of pot, along with the District of Columbia.

As medical pot has become more widely accepted, so has the notion that THC or CBD products can help treat chronic pain. This new analysis, sponsored by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, was intended to shed light on the subject.

McDonagh and her colleagues searched through more than 3,000 studies, and they came up with 25 that had scientifically valid evidence regarding the use of pot products to treat chronic pain. These included 18 clinical trials involving 1,740 people and seven observational studies that included more than 13,000 participants.

The researchers then sorted the studies by the type of product being tested -- containing high, low or comparable ratios of THC to CBD.

Six randomized controlled studies showed that the high-THC drugs dronabinol and nabilone demonstrated statistically valid benefits for easing neuropathic pain, researchers concluded.

But the evidence for pot, CBD and other chemicals derived from marijuana were limited by flaws in the studies they reviewed.

McDonagh suggested that people interested in trying medical marijuana talk to their doctor, although there's not a lot for a physician to go on.

"What we found that has evidence is a prescription product," McDonagh said of the two drugs. "So really, you'd have to go to your doctor anyway. But there isn't enough evidence in there to guide a physician on how to advise a patient about what to buy at a dispensary or how to use it."

Her team's findings were published June 7 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

People interested in medical pot should start with pure CBD products, since they don't contain anything that would intoxicate and have a remarkable safety profile, said Dr. Daniel Clauw, a professor of anesthesiology with the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. Clauw is co-author of an editorial accompanying the analysis.

"It's totally fine for most people that have chronic pain to try some CBD because it seems to be quite safe," Clauw said. On the other hand, when you do add THC, you have to be a lot more careful.

"It does appear as though a low amount of THC might be a lot more effective to treat pain, but if people take recreational, really high THC products in the hope of getting good pain relief, it's probably more likely they'll get harmed by the product than helped because they'll be using too much THC," Clauw continued.

Some studies have suggested that CBD has anti-inflammatory properties that could help treat arthritis pain, Clauw noted.

Given the slow pace of clinical trials, we believe it likely that McDonagh and colleagues' findings will be the best available evidence for some time," Clauws editorial concluded.

"While we await better evidence, we believe that clinicians should meet patients with chronic pain 'where they are,'" the editorial said. "Conventional analgesic medications are effective only in a subset of persons, so it is no wonder that many patients are drawn to widely available cannabis products. Clinicians can compassionately witness, record and offer guidance to help patients with chronic pain use cannabis wisely.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse has more about marijuana.

SOURCES: Marian McDonagh, PharmD, professor, medical informatics and clinical epidemiology, Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine; Daniel Clauw, MD, professor, anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor; Annals of Internal Medicine, June 7, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
Arica Bagley never expected to be chosen for the Maxim Cover Girl competition.

Im a mom with two kids from Lincoln, Nebraska, she said.

And shes 31.

Thats another reason I was so surprised, she said.

To vote Voting for the Maxim Cover competition has started, with contestants eliminated after each weekly round. The grand prize winner will be named in August. To vote for Arica, go to maximcovergirl.com/2022/arica-bagley.

But the hairstylist, who also is studying film at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was plucked from thousands of submissions and now needs votes to keep her in the competition.

The winner among the chosen contestants earns $25,000 plus a cover spot with the international mens magazine, which has a monthly circulation worldwide of about 9 million. Voting started Monday.

Bagley applied on a whim two months ago after seeing something about the photo contest on Instagram.

She said Maxim personnel liked how funny and personable she is, traits she said she has learned from living in Lincoln for the past five years.

Thats just how Nebraskans are, she said.

Another thing that set her apart, she thinks, was her answer to the question, What would be your dream photo shoot?

Bagley said a lot of women answered that they wanted their pictures on yachts, the stage or a fancy island.

Should she win, Bagley has arranged to have her cover photo taken with Kaelynn Partlow, who has appeared on the television show Love on the Spectrum. The photo session will be in France.

Partlow is an advocate for kids with autism. Bagley is an advocate for abused children.

Just imagine two powerhouse women on the cover of Maxim, one advocates for child abuse and the other advocates for autistic children, she said. Itd be an amazing article and a powerful cover.

The prize money also would be donated, she said, instead of buying an expensive purse or car. The Child Advocacy Center and Make-a-Wish Nebraska would be her target organizations.

Bagley said she was abused as a child and felt that she had no voice or power. She was suicidal for years but started trauma therapy after moving from Utah to Lincoln. Now, shes happy. She loves school and the freedom she has found here.

She hadnt planned to tell anyone she was chosen for the contest but then realized what a stage the cover could be for someone wanting to help abused kids like herself and for autistic children.

I dont desire to be famous or have a lot of money, she said. Its more important to give back.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
WASHINGTON (AP)  As a candidate for president, Joe Biden was not shy about calling out dictators and authoritarian leaders as he anchored his foreign policy in the idea that the world is in a battle between democracy and autocracy.

But Biden's governing approach as president has been far less black and white as he tries to balance such high-minded principles with the tug toward pragmatism in a world scrambled by the economic fallout from Russias invasion of Ukraine, concerns about China's global ambitions, heightened tensions about Iran's advancing nuclear program and more.

Those crosscurrents were evident this past week when Biden played host at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, where his decision to exclude leaders he considers dictators generated considerable drama and prompted a number of other world leaders to boycott the event.

We dont always agree on everything, but because were democracies, we work through our disagreements with mutual respect and dialogue, Biden told summit participants as he tried to smooth over the disputes.

Even as Biden was excluding a trio of leaders from the gathering, his national security team was making preparations for a possible visit to Saudi Arabia, an oil-rich kingdom that the president labeled a pariah state in the early days of his successful White House run.

After Biden took office, his administration made clear the president would avoid direct engagement with the country's de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, after U.S. intelligence officials concluded that he likely approved the 2018 killing and dismemberment of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi. If the visit to Saudi Arabia goes forward as anticipated, Biden is expected to meet with Mohammed.

The tough talk by Biden during the campaign  and earlier in his presidency  toward the Saudis was part of a broader message he pitched to Americans: The days of blank checks for dictators and strongmen must end if the United States is to have credibility on the world stage.

Of late, though, such sharply principled rhetoric has given way to a greater nod to realpolitik.

At a time of skyrocketing prices at the gas pump, an increasingly fragile situation in the Middle East and perpetual concern that China is expanding its global footprint, Biden and his national security team have determined that freezing out the Saudis is simply not tenable, according to a person familiar with White House thinking on the yet-to-be-finalized Saudi visit who spoke only on condition of anonymity.

The blurred lines over with whom the U.S. will and will not engage have left the White House facing a difficult question: How can the president cite principle for spurning engagement with dictators in his own backyard even as he considers paying a call on Saudi officials who have used mass arrests and macabre violence to squelch dissent?

President Biden committed to putting human rights and democracy at the heart of our foreign policy. It is," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at a summit closing news conference Friday. That doesnt mean that its the totality."

But Edward Frantz, a presidential historian at the University of Indianapolis, sees signs that Biden has fallen into the same trap as his predecessors when it comes to the Middle East.

President Jimmy Carter, who said human rights were central to his foreign policy, looked past the blood-thirsty reputation of the shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. President George H.W. Bush held off supporting an uprising against Saddam Hussein as his advisers warned Iraq would plunge into civil war without the strongman. U.S. administrations from Presidents Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama overlooked the Hosni Mubarak government's torture and arbitrary detention in Egypt for the sake of a reliable strategic partner in a difficult corner of the world.

It's notable that Biden is being forced from his position on the Saudis in large part because he held a principled stance on Ukraine, Frantz said. "But it's hard not to see the same patterns here as have been established over the last 80 years."

Human rights advocacy groups and even some of the president's Democratic allies are warning Biden that a Saudi visit could be perilous.

Six House Democrats, including the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, wrote to Biden this past week that if he decides to move forward with the visit, he must follow through on a pledge of recalibrating that relationship to serve Americas national interests and press Saudi officials on oil production, human rights and reported ballistic missile sales by China to the kingdom.

President Biden should recognize that any meeting with a foreign official provides them instant credibility on a global stage, whether intended or not, said Lama Fakih, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. Meeting Mohammed bin Salman without human rights commitments would vindicate Saudi leaders who believe there are no consequences for egregious rights violations.

Even as Biden was warming to the Saudis, he was committing to keeping the Western Hemisphere's dictators out of the summit in his own backyard.

The decision was seen as heavy-handed by some allies. Mexico's president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and leaders of Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Bolivia all opted to skip the summit over Biden's decision to exclude the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Argentinas president, Alberto Fernandez, and Belize's prime minister, John Briceno, were among those to show up but publicly criticize Biden's move.

Geography, not politics, defines the Americas," Briceno said.

Before taking office, Biden did not hold back about what he saw as some of his fellow leaders' shortcomings, particularly those who had less than stellar records as champions of democracy but were in the good graces of President Donald Trump.

During the 2020 campaign, Biden argued that Brazil should face significant economic consequences if President Jair Bolsonaro continued deforesting the Amazon. Biden labeled Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an autocrat and waited more than three months into his presidency to speak with the fellow NATO leader. Most notably, Biden said Saudi Arabia was a pariah that would pay a price" for its human rights abuses, including the brutal killing of Khashoggi.

When Biden met with Bolsonaro o n the sidelines of the Americas summit on Thursday, the engagement was decidedly civil. Biden made no mention of the Brazilian leader's baseless claims about his own countrys voting systems and about unsupported claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 U.S. election.

During the two leaders' appearance before reporters, Biden even commended Brazil for making real sacrifices in protecting the Amazon. The White House said that in their private talks, they discussed working together on sustainable development" to reduce deforestation.

Bolsonaro, the most prominent Latin American leader to attend the summit, had agreed to take part on the condition that Biden grant him a private meeting and refrain from confronting him over some of the most contentious issues between the two men, according to three of the Brazilian leaders Cabinet ministers who requested anonymity to discuss the issue. White House officials said no preconditions were set for the talks.

In recent weeks, top Biden advisers and NATO officials have been working to persuade Erdogan to back down from his threats to block historically neutral Sweden and Finland from joining NATO.

Last week, Biden and his administration were effusive as they praised Saudi Arabia for its role in nudging OPEC+ to increase oil production for July and August. Biden even called the kingdom courageous for agreeing to extend a cease fire in its seven-year war with Yemen.

Douglas London, a former CIA officer who spent 34 years in the Middle East, South and Central Asia and is a scholar at the Middle East Institute, said Bidens tone shift represents an uncomfortable reality: Prince Mohammed, widely known as MBS, is someone the U.S. will likely have to deal with for years to come.

Yes, were reminded how the president referred to MBS as the dictator of a pariah state who the U.S. was going to teach a lesson, London wrote in an analysis. Timing in politics and foreign policy, as in life, has great bearing, and its important to recall that the average price of oil when then candidate Biden said that was $41 per barrel.

Now, it's hovering around $120 per barrel.

Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in Los Angeles and Mauricio Savares in Sao Paolo, Brazil, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
LONDON (AP)  Opponents of the British governments plan to deport migrants to Rwanda are preparing for an appeals court hearing Monday amid the political backlash following reports that Prince Charles had privately described the policy as appalling.

A coalition of groups including immigration rights advocates and public employee unions will ask the Court of Appeal in London to reverse a lower court ruling allowing the first deportation flight to go ahead as scheduled on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnsons Conservative government in April announced plans to send some undocumented migrants to Rwanda, where their claims for asylum in the east African nation would be processed. If successful, those migrants would stay in Rwanda. Britain paid Rwanda 120 million pounds ($158 million) upfront and will make additional payments based on the number of people deported.

The program is aimed at discouraging migrants from risking their lives by crossing the English Channel in small boats after a surge in such journeys over the past two years. But human rights groups say the policy is illegal, inhumane and will only magnify the risks for migrants.

The debate filled Britains news media over the weekend after the Times of London reported that an unidentified person had heard Prince Charles express opposition to the policy several times in private conversations.

He said he thinks the governments whole approach is appalling, the newspaper quoted the source as saying.

Charles office, Clarence House, refused to comment on anonymous private conversations, but stressed that the prince remains politically neutral.

Charless comments are problematic because he is the heir to the throne and the British monarch is supposed to remain above the political fray.

The reported conversations raise concerns about whether Charles can be a neutral monarch after a lifetime of speaking out on issues ranging from ocean plastic to architectural preservation. Charles, 73, has taken on an increasingly central role in recent months as health problems have limited the activities of Queen Elizabeth II, his 96-year-old mother.

The comments set off a firestorm in British newspapers, with the Daily Express warning the Prince of Wales: Stay out of politics Charles! The Mail on Sunday said: We will not back down on Rwanda, Charles.

Johnsons government shows no signs of changing course.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, who represented the government on Britains Sunday morning TV programs, offered a robust defense of the plan, saying the British government wants to upend the business model of people smugglers.

The reality is this is a policy that is going to deliver  to ensure that modern slavery and these people smugglers know that their criminal methods will be broken down, he told Sky News.

More than 28,500 people entered Britain on small boats last year, up from 1,843 in 2019, according to government statistics. The risk of such crossings was made clear on Nov. 24, when 27 people died after their inflatable boat sank in the waters between Britain and France.

The Home Office, the agency that oversees border enforcement, launched its own defense of the policy on Sunday, posting comments from a Rwandan government spokesperson on social media.

Its about protecting and ensuring the wellbeing and development of both migrants and Rwandans in Rwanda, the Rwandan spokesperson, Yolande Makolo, said.

A High Court judge in London on Friday rejected a request from opponents of the plan to block Britain's Rwanda asylum flights until the court had reached a decision on whether the program is illegal. The decision allows the flights to begin even as the broader legal challenge moves forward.

That ruling has been appealed to the Court of Appeal, which will hear the petition on Monday.

Government lawyer Mathew Gullick said Friday that 37 people were originally scheduled to be aboard Tuesdays flight, but six had their deportation orders canceled. The government still intends to operate the flight, he said.

The government has not provided details of those selected for deportation, but refugee groups say they include people fleeing Syria and Afghanistan.

Rwanda is already home to tens of thousands of refugees. Competition for land and resources contributed to ethnic and political tensions that culminated in Rwandas 1994 genocide, in which more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsi and the moderate Hutu who tried to protect them were killed.

President Paul Kagames government has achieved significant economic progress since the genocide, but critics say it has come at the cost of strong political repression.

The United Nations refugee agency has opposed Britains plans, saying it's an effort to export the countrys legal obligations to provide asylum to those seeking a safe haven.

People fleeing war, conflict and persecution deserve compassion and empathy, said Gillian Triggs, UNHCRs assistant high commissioner for protection. They should not be traded like commodities and transferred abroad for processing.

Follow all AP stories on global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration.

Follow all AP stories on Britain's royal family at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Mary Kibbee Baines needed a livelihood that would bring in more money.

So she became a real estate agent.

In the mid-1960s, Baines became one of the Omaha areas first female real estate agents. She enjoyed a successful 30-year career.

Baines died Thursday at age 100.

The most important thing was her work ethic, said daughter Rose Roeder.

Baines was born in Arion, Iowa, but spent most of her life in Omaha. She attended St. Bernard Catholic School and graduated from high school from Holy Name.

Baines earned a scholarship to attend Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, but couldnt afford room and board or books. So she stayed home and landed a job with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

After the war, she met her first husband while out dancing. They married and had three children.

After her husband died, Roeder said, the family moved from their Elkhorn home to Omaha to be closer to extended family.

Baines went to work as a payroll and account clerk for the Benson Sun newspaper. But she was looking to make more money, so she went into real estate, Roeder said.

Baines always had been interested in houses  both the building process and the buying process, her daughter said.

Baines got her real estate license in 1966, said friend and fellow real estate agent Jeanne Patrick.

She built up a client base and kept in touch with them over the years.

Moms work ethic was always stressed to us, Roeder said. Plus, being honest with people.

Few places wanted to hire female real estate agents in the 1960s, Patrick said. When she got hired with NP Dodge, she found a mentor and friend in Baines.

She was a trouper, Patrick said.

As an agent, Baines was thorough, organized and determined. She covered all the bases and told clients the truth, Patrick said.

A go-getter who was ahead of her time, Baines did quite well working among an office full of men, she said.

Baines spent most of her career with NP Dodge, retiring in 1999.

Baines remarried twice, meeting her subsequent husbands at dancing events, too, her daughter said.

Baines was proud, her daughter said, that all of her children and grandchildren went on to graduate from college.

That was her biggest goal in life because it was something she couldnt do, Roeder said.

Baines was a longtime member of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Omaha and also was involved in the American Legion Auxiliary Post No. 1.

Baines family hosted a 100th birthday party for her at the Legion post. It drew about 100 guests and featured catered food and live music, her daughter said.

The shindig was fitting, Roeder said, as Baines often told her children that she wanted her life celebrated while she was alive.

Baines is preceded in death by her three husbands, Wilmor R. Fallon, George T. Kibbee and Donald E. Baines. In addition to Roeder, shes survived by son Mark Fallon and daughter Julie Grebenick as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Services are private. Donations can be made to the Servants of Mary.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Donald Trumps closest campaign advisers, top government officials and even his family were dismantling his false claims of 2020 election fraud ahead of Jan. 6, but the defeated president seemed detached from reality and kept clinging to outlandish theories to stay in power, the committee investigating the Capitol attack was told Monday.

With gripping testimony, the panel is laying out in step-by-step fashion how Trump ignored his own campaign team's data as one state after another flipped to Joe Biden, and instead latched on to conspiracy theories, court cases and his own declarations of victory rather than having to admit defeat.

Trump's big lie of election fraud escalated and transformed into marching orders that summoned supporters to Washington and then sent them to the Capitol on Jan. 6 to block Bidens victory.

He's become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff, former Attorney General William Barr testified in his interview with the committee.

Barr called the voting fraud claims bull, bogus and idiotic, and resigned in the aftermath. I didnt want to be a part of it.

The House 1/6 committee spent the morning hearing delving into Trumps claims of election fraud and the countless ways those around him tried to convince the defeated Republican president they were not true, and he had simply lost the election.

The witnesses Monday, mostly Republicans and many testifying in prerecorded videos, described in blunt terms and sometimes exasperated detail how Trump refused to take the advice of those closest to him, including his family members. As the people around him splintered into a team normal headed by former campaign manager Bill Stepien and others led by Trump confidant Rudy Giuliani, the president chose his side.

On election night, Stepien said, Trump was growing increasingly unhappy and refusing to accept the grim outlook for his presidency.

Son-in-law Jared Kushner tried to steer Trump away from Giuliani and his far-flung theories of voter fraud. The president would have none of it.

The back-and-forth intensified in the run-up to Jan. 6. Former Justice Department official Richard Donoghue recalled breaking down one claim after another  from a truckload of ballots in Pennsylvania to a missing suitcase of ballots in Georgia - and telling Trump much of the info youre getting is false.

Still, he pressed on with his false claims even after dozens of court cases collapsed.

On Monday an unrepentant Trump blasted the hearings in his familiar language as ridiculous and treasonous and repeated his claims.

The former president, mulling another run for the White House, defended the Capitol attack as merely Americans seeking to hold their elected officials accountable.

Nine people died in the riot and its aftermath, including a Trump supporter shot and killed by Capitol police. More than 800 people have been arrested, and members of two extremist groups have been indicted on rare sedition charges over their roles leading the charge into the Capitol.

During the hearing, the panel also provided new information about how Trump's fundraising machine collected some $250 million with his campaigns to Stop the Steal and others in the aftermath of the November election, mostly from small-dollar donations from Americans. One plea for cash went out 30 minutes before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Not only was there the big lie, there was the big ripoff, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.

Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., opened Monday's hearing saying Trump betrayed the trust of the American people and tried to remain in office when people had voted him out.

As the hearings play out for the public, they are also being watched by one of the most important viewers, Attorney General Merrick Garland, who must decide whether his department can and should prosecute Trump. No sitting or former president has ever faced such an indictment.

I am watching, Garland said Monday at a press briefing at the Justice Department, even if he may not watch all the hearings live. And I can assure you the Jan. 6 prosecutors are watching all of the hearings as well."

Biden was getting updates but not watching blow by blow, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Stepien was to be a key in-person witness Monday but abruptly backed out of appearing live because his wife went into labor. Stepien, who is still close to Trump, had been subpoenaed to appear. He is now a top campaign adviser to Trump-endorsed House candidate Harriet Hageman, who is challenging committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney in the Wyoming Republican primary.

The panel marched ahead after a morning scramble and delay, with witness after witness saying Trump embraced and repeated his claims about the election although those closest told him the theories of stolen ballots or rigged voting machines were simply not true.

Stepien and senior adviser Jason Miller described how the festive mood at the White House on Election Night turned grim as Fox News announced Trump had lost the state of Arizona to Joe Biden, and aides worked to counsel Trump on what to do next.

But he ignored their advice, choosing to listen instead to Giuliani, who was described as inebriated by several witnesses. Giuliani issued a general denial Monday, rejecting all falsehoods he said were being said about him.

Stepien said, My belief, my recommendation was to say that votes were still being counted, its too early to tell, too early to call the race.

But Trump thought I was wrong. He told me so.

Barr, who had also testified in last week's blockbuster opening hearing, said Trump was as mad as I'd ever seen him when the attorney general later explained that the Justice Department would not take sides in the election.

Barr said when he would tell Trump how crazy some of these allegations were, there was never, there was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were."

For the past year, the committee has been investigating the most violent attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812, which some believe posed a grave threat to democracy.

Mondays hearing also featured live witnesses, including Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News Channel political editor who was part of a team that declared on Election Night that Arizona was being won by Biden. Also appearing was the former U.S. attorney in Atlanta, BJay Pak, who abruptly resigned after Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find enough votes to overturn his defeat.

The panel also heard from elections lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg, who discussed the norms of election campaign challenges, and former Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, the only Republican on the city's election board, who told the panel that regardless of how fantastical some of the claims that Trump and his team were making, the city officials investigated. He discussed facing threats after Trump criticized him in a tweet.

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Michael Balsamo in Washington and Farnoush Amiri and Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Katie Britt has won the Republican nomination for Senate in Alabama, defeating six-term Congressman Mo Brooks in a primary runoff after former President Donald Trump endorsed and then un-endorsed him. The loss ends a turbulent campaign for Brooks, a conservative firebrand who had fully embraced Trumps election lies and had run under the banner MAGA Mo. But it wasnt enough for the former president, who initially backed Brooks in the race to replace retiring Sen. Richard Shelby, but then rescinded his support as Brooks languished in the polls. Trump eventually endorsed Britt in the races final stretch after she emerged as the top vote-getter in the states May 24 primary.
LINCOLN  A judge has dismissed a former University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate students lawsuit against the university alleging that administrators had violated her rights by removing her from teaching duties for participating in a political protest.

Asked about the ruling, Courtney Lawton said Friday: I was denied justice, and I still believe that my First Amendment right to freedom of expression was violated.

She said she does not intend to appeal.

In court, her attorney, Vince Powers, argued that he had copious and detailed facts supporting her federal constitutional claims.

But in a 46-page decision this week, U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher said sovereign immunity barred all the claims against the Board of Regents, as well as UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green and then-NU President Hank Bounds. Buescher also said that Lawton hadnt alleged Bounds personal involvement in any alleged federal constitutional violations.

She has, at most, alleged facts consistent with the remaining individual defendants (Greens) liability but well short of the line between possibility and plausibility, the judge wrote.

On Aug. 25, 2017, Lawton was just 11 days into her appointment as a part-time English lecturer when she was filmed protesting Turning Point USA, a student organization with ties to then-President Donald Trump, at the Nebraska Union, a designated free speech zone on campus.

The video went viral and led to backlash from conservatives, who said it was evidence that the university was a hostile place for conservative students. In a tweet, Bounds called Lawtons behavior unprofessional.

UNL removed Lawton from teaching, citing security concerns, after receiving a number of angry letters and emails critical of Lawton.

She said she was promised she would return to lecturing in the spring. But on Sept. 5, 2017, a spokesperson for the board released a statement saying Lawtons behavior had not met its expectations for civility.

She was placed on probation the next day and met with Green on Oct. 24, 2017, to discuss the issue.

A week later, three state senators  Steve Erdman of Bayard, Steve Halloran of Hastings and Tom Brewer of Gordon  wrote an editorial criticizing UNL as being hostile to conservative students.

Green also published an editorial on Nov. 17, 2017, indicating Lawton would no longer be allowed to teach at UNL because of this inappropriate behavior.

On the same day, Bounds wrote to Gov. Pete Ricketts and then-Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer informing them that Lawton would no longer be teaching at UNL.

Powers said it amounted to termination with no due process, retaliation for asserting her right to free speech.

But Buescher said nowhere in Lawtons complaint does she allege that she was in fact terminated rather than simply removed from teaching duties, that she was not given other duties instead of teaching, or that she was not paid the salary specified in her contract.

Or that she had requested a hearing.

Nathan Clark, an attorney for UNL, said she didnt lose her job but was reassigned different, nonteaching duties.

And, he said, there was a gaping hole in her First Amendment claim: the substance of her conduct on Aug. 25, 2017. The video hadnt been attached to the complaint.

Without it, the judge said, he could glean little about her allegedly protected speech so her claims must be dismissed.

In an email, Lawton said it was clear to her that Halloran, Brewer, Erdman and Ricketts believe that the government can and should regulate speech by telling employers to fire workers based on the employees political speech.

She called it government overreach into employer-employee relationships.

This decision to dismiss my suit affirms that the government is allowed to regulate political speech by jeopardizing the livelihoods of those people who express political opinions contrary to its perspectives, she said.

The action against Lawton led the American Association of University Professors to censure UNL in June 2018 for violating her academic freedom and right to due process.

The AAUP said university administrators caved to political pressure in taking action against Lawton. Administrators said Lawton was removed to prevent continued harm and ongoing disruption to the university.
BEATRICE, Neb.  Charles W. Herbsters legal team continued to resist a requested deposition Tuesday in the first court hearing of a dueling legal battle between Herbster and State Sen. Julie Slama.

The hearing, held at the Gage County courthouse in Beatrice, saw Johnson County District Judge Rick Schreiner consider five motions in the case. Schreiner made decisions on two motions, while three are still up in the air. Slama was present at the hearing, while Herbster did not attend.

Herbster filed a defamation lawsuit against the Dunbar senator in April after the Nebraska Examiner reported allegations from eight women who said Herbster  a Republican mega-donor and then-candidate for governor  had groped them in recent years. Slama was the only named accuser at the time.

Slama, a Republican state lawmaker, confirmed the account detailed in the April 14 Examiner story, which reported that Herbster reached up Slamas dress without her consent and touched her inappropriately at the Douglas County Republican Partys 2019 Elephant Remembers dinner.

Slama answered Herbsters lawsuit quickly and filed a counterclaim alleging sexual battery. Slama had given notice to depose Herbster on May 6, but Herbster opted not to attend.

His legal team filed a motion to quash the deposition notice and seek a protective order that would limit his deposition to scheduling at a mutually convenient time. It alleged the other side was playing politics by scheduling the deposition just ahead of the May 10 primary, which Herbster subsequently lost to Jim Pillen.

At the hearing, Schreiner asked Herbsters attorney Theodore Boecker if Herbster would be able to attend a deposition now that the primary is over. Boecker did not answer the question directly, and instead criticized Slamas legal teams estimate that a deposition would take two days.

Though Herbsters team denied that the alleged groping incident even occurred, Boecker pointed out that if it did, the incident would have only lasted seconds, which he argued was not worthy of a two-day deposition.

Marnie Jensen, one of Slamas attorneys, argued that the motion to quash the deposition was moot because Herbster didnt attend. Jensen encouraged Schreiner to either deny the motion or set it aside.

Schreiner overruled the motion from Herbsters legal team, but a new deposition was not scheduled at the hearing.

Jensen said Slamas team may seek sanctions against Herbster because of his absence at the May 6 deposition.

Schreiner heard arguments but ultimately held off on a decision regarding a separate motion seeking a protective order against Slama and her legal team for, in the words of Herbsters attorneys, attempting to try the case in the press.

Boecker said Herbsters legal team does not make statements to the press. He said involving the press in legal cases can be problematic, because it puts lawyers in the position of witnesses.

Jensen, however, argued that people on both sides of the case, including Herbster and Slama, have made public statements about the case. She said Slama is a public figure as a Nebraska lawmaker, which makes working with the press a necessity.

The hearing also addressed new evidence Herbsters team submitted, which Schreiner is still considering. The evidence included copies of online documents, including a tweet from Slama that showed the dress she wore when she was allegedly groped by Herbster, and emails and press releases from Dave Lopez, another one of Slamas lawyers, about the incident.

Boecker said the evidence shows Slama and Lopez describing the incident as a sexual assault, which he claimed is defamatory language that is more extreme than the groping allegations.

Its gone beyond groping, Boecker said.

Lopez argued that they have no way to authenticate the accuracy of the documents, and alleged some of them were altered. He said the new evidence is a grossly inappropriate effort by Herbster to get in the way of Slamas choice of legal counsel.

Boecker responded by saying Lopez could have avoided having his words submitted as evidence by not issuing press releases.

The two legal teams also discussed multiple subpoena requests made by both sides during a private meeting supervised by Schreiner. Both sides have also issued objections to the others subpoenas. Though Lopez said substantial progress was made in this meeting, the issue has not been resolved. Lopez said both legal teams will continue to discuss possible subpoenas over the next few days.

Slamas team has moved to subpoena documents from several people affiliated with Herbster: Kellyanne Conway, Corey Lewandowski, David Bossie, Emily Novotny, Ellen Keast and Michelle Keithley. Herbsters lawyers filed documents in May showing their intent to subpoena a long list of documents and communications.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
In a win for proponents of medical marijuana, a U.S. district judge ruled Monday to temporarily suspend enforcement of a multi-county signature requirement that likely would have kept the initiative off the ballot in November.

Under Nebraskas constitution, ballot initiative or referendum campaigns must collect signatures from 5% of registered voters in 38 of the states 93 counties. Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Bob Evnen in May, claiming that this requirement violates the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and the 14th Amendment right to equal protection and due process.

The plaintiffs claim that, because Nebraskas counties vary so widely in population, the signature distribution requirement violates the 14th Amendment by giving disproportionate influence to voters in sparsely populated counties. For example, according to the lawsuit, 16 votes in rural Arthur County hold power equal to 19,462 votes in Douglas County.

They sought a preliminary injunction, also known as a temporary restraining order, to suspend enforcement of the requirement until the case is decided in further legal proceedings. In a 47-page opinion, U.S. District Judge John Gerrard granted the injunction.

The plaintiffs in this case argue, among other things, that the 38-county rule violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, because it gives more power to voters in rural counties than in urban counties, Gerrards opinion reads. And it does.

This decision comes more than than 50 years after the U.S. Supreme Court determined a similar Illinois multi-county requirement violated residents 14th Amendment rights. Courts have struck down such requirements in other states, including Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.

In 2014, U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon ruled that Nebraskas requirement was unconstitutional in a case brought by former Omaha businessman Kent Bernbeck. The case was later overturned on a procedural matter.

Though the lawsuit was filed by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, the injunction will impact all ballot initiatives and referendums in the state. State Sen. Adam Morfeld, who serves as a campaign co-chair for NMM, views this as a victory that extends past the fight to legalize medical marijuana.

Todays court order will help protect Nebraskans political power in this critical stretch ahead of a final decision, and it suggests were doing what we need to do to win this lawsuit and permanently end Nebraskas unconstitutional multicounty signature distribution requirement, he said.

World-Herald staff writer Martha Stoddard contributed to this report.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Somewhere in the 100- to 200-square-mile swirling mass of atmosphere that forms a supercell storm are cantankerous streams of air that scientists believe could be the reason a storm spins out a tornado.

Scientists believe what they are seeking could be as small as a milelong stream of air in the lowest half-mile of the storms 10- to 15-mile height  the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Those regions of the storm may be sharply colder or barely colder than the air around it, or may be where the wind shifts abruptly. (Keep in mind that storm systems are chaotic, with winds spinning vertically and horizontally, and temperature and moisture content varying widely.)

Scientists arent certain why one storm generates a tornado and another doesnt. The only way to find out is to blanket a given storm with as much weather-sensing equipment as possible  a costly, time-consuming effort that involves no small degree of luck.

That has been the catalyst for a $3.2 million federally funded field study led by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dubbed TORUS, for Targeted Observation by Radars and UAS (drones) of Supercells, the study includes about 50 researchers from the federal government and academia.

Their nomadic work takes them wherever the storms are breaking across 367,000 square miles of the Great Plains, from North Dakota to Texas and from Iowa to Wyoming and Colorado.

Recently, weather researchers chased super cell storms across Nebraska.

The main objective of TORUS is to better understand super cell thunderstorms, the ones that produce the biggest hail, the strongest tornadoes, said Adam Houston, the lead investigator and a professor of atmospheric sciences at UNL. To better predict tornadoes, we need to understand them. Hopefully, this will lead to forecasts with enough lead time and accuracy that we can protect lives and to some extent property.

The effort utilizes an array of equipment, including eight trucks equipped with weather-sensing equipment, with some deploying radar and others, LIDAR (pulses of light), drones, a NOAA hurricane airplane and weather balloons.

In spring 2019, the field study deployed drones and it was the most ambitious drone-based study of storms undertaken to date, according to UNL. Teams traveled 9,000 miles across five states this summer during that field study, according to UNL.

This year, in place of drones, it is using party-sized helium balloons that send aloft Styrofoam cups containing small weather sensors.

Funding comes from the National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Mike Coniglio, research meteorologist with the NOAAs National Severe Storms Laboratory, said these types of sophisticated field studies are essential to dissecting storms because traditional weather sensors, such as stationary National Weather Service radars, are limited in how often they can take measurements and what they can see.

The features we are looking for are difficult to observe, he said.

Once scientists learn what triggers a tornado, they will hunt for proxies in the larger environment of the storm that will enable them to make forecasts. Proxies are needed, he said, because meteorologists cant chase and monitor every single storm in such fine detail.

The Great Plains are an ideal place to study tornadoes because the open horizon allows scientists to see at greater distances, which means they are safer while storm chasing. Data gathered from these studies is run through supercomputers for analysis.

Findings from the 2019 field surveys are expected soon, while results from this years research will be released in a couple of years.

Coniglio said the overall science of understanding storms has moved beyond its infancy, but we certainly have a lot more detail to learn about what is happening inside these storms.

Local Weather Get the daily forecast and severe weather alerts in your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Texas General Land Office launches multi-media, multi-platform disaster preparedness campaign

Today the Texas General Land Office announced its public outreach initiative to encourage Texans to be prepared and stay prepared for hurricane season, which began Wednesday, June 1 and runs through November 30, 2022.

The preparedness campaign includes a video advertisement series titled, Dont Ignore Your Risk, a bilingual multi-media, multi-platform campaign urging Texans to take time now to know their risk, purchase flood insurance, protect their home, safeguard documents, and prepare emergency supplies and an evacuation route.

View Videos

It is important to be prepared to have a solid plan in place prior to severe weather, said Commissioner George P. Bush. Knowing your risks, having an evacuation plan, gathering supplies, securing documents, and protecting your property with flood, wind, and fire insurance are key steps to being prepared for storms or wildfires. For more disaster preparedness tips, Texans can follow the GLO on social media and find information for family and pets at recovery.texas.gov/preparedness.

According to a report by the Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at The Wharton School, homeowners received an average of $8,900 in individual housing assistance from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following Hurricane Harvey, while the average of flood insurance claims was $115,104. According to FEMA, just one inch of flood water can cause more than $25,000 in damage.

The GLO encourages all Texans to prepare for hurricane season by doing the following:

Know Your Risk - Sign up for your communitys emergency warning system. The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio also provide emergency alerts. Make Your Evacuation Plan - Check with local officials about updated evacuation shelters for this year. Know where your family will meet up if you are separated and where you will stay. Pack a go bag including items you need to take with you if you evacuate. A go bag should be easy to carry and kept in a place where you can grab it quickly. Check with drivetexas.org to find routes near you. To find a shelter near you, download the FEMA app at fema.gov/mobile-app. Gather Supplies - Plan for your entire household including children, people with disabilities or access/functional needs, and pets. Secure Documents - Remember to secure copies of important personal documents. Filing for government assistance requires documentation. Be sure to keep documents in a secure location and take them with you if you need to evacuate. Place these documents in a waterproof bag and back them up on cloud storage or a thumb drive. Protect Your Property - Shutter your home as needed, review your flood insurance policy (or sign up for one), and declutter drains and gutters. Most homeowner and renter insurance policies do not cover flood damage. A flood insurance policy generally does not take effect until 30 days after purchase, so be sure to maintain your policy. Take a video tour of your home to document all items and the homes current condition.

The campaign will run for the next three months and includes social media, digital display, cable, broadcast and streaming platforms. Inspired by Senate Bill 285, signed into law during the 86th Session of the Legislature, the GLO has remained committed to educating Texans about the benefits of protecting their homes and finances through flood insurance and being prepared for storms and other natural disasters.

For more information, visit recovery.texas.gov/preparedness.
BLOOMINGTON  Bloomington City Council members unanimously approved spending $150,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to help fund a mobile health clinic dedicated to underserved areas of McLean County.

The mobile health unit will be similar to a doc-in-a-box on wheels that can be able to offer almost every health service outside of dental health, which is something being looked into for future endeavors said Jeff Tinervin, director of Tinervin Family Foundation, a nonprofit foundation focused on improving the quality of life for underserved families, programs and other opportunities.

The fact you can do blood screenings, complete chemistry scans, CBC (complete blood count) differentials all on the spot  theres nothing more important than preventative care and I think this mobile unit will provide that, said Ward 2 Alderwoman Donna Boelen.

The vehicle is expected to cost about $750,000, Tinervin said. The unit, which will be about the size of a recreational vehicle or tour bus, has been ordered and is expected to be constructed and operating within the next 12 months.

ARPA money will be contributed to the Carle Health Center for Philanthropy as a restricted gift for partial funding of the mobile health clinic, which will address the lack of health services across the county and ensure health services are provided to areas with limited or no access.

The city received approximately $13.4 million in ARPA funds to be used for various purposes, including but not limited to addressing systemic public health and economic challenges and funding government services hit by revenue losses.

David Taylor, president and CEO of United Way of McLean County, said various community needs assessments have identified access to services as one of the key gaps in the Bloomington community and county as a whole, dating back to the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The opportunity to create a mobile health unit came about through conversations he and others have had with Carle Health about bringing behavioral health services to rural school districts, and they proposed the idea of creating a county specific unit, Taylor said.

Imagine being able to go to Danvers or Colfax or Bellflower and be able to bring Carle clinicians, their nurse practitioners, doctors and others out there, Taylor said, describing the unit as a way to address "deserts for services like medical care."

Tinervin said his foundation, the Laborers and United Way each have pledged $100,000 toward beginning construction of the mobile health unit. They also are recruiting people in the community to help donate the remaining funds needed.

We think this is the beginning of this partnership (and) were going to be announcing some pretty exciting things and other ways were going to bring health care to the west side, Tinervin said.

Restrictions on the funding say the unit will operate only in McLean County and the partnership of donors will work with Carle Health Communitys Health Initiatives team to determine where and when the unit operates.

The clinic will include primary family care and integrated services, wellness care and checkups, nonurgent walk-in care, school physicals and vaccinations, chronic condition screenings and education, and basic lab testing.

It also will be wheelchair accessible and include two exam rooms, which is similar to the existing mobile health unit that is shared by Champaign, Vermillion and McLean counties but has limited availability locally due to its high usage in other counties.

Ward 4 Alderwoman Julie Emig said she enjoyed touring the unit along with other councilmembers and was impressed by the amount of clinicians and equipment available on hand, but she asked how many residents the unit serves, just for the sake of understanding the scope of it.

Tinervin said the current mobile health clinic provides care to around 2,000 people each year and sees almost 20 to 30 patients each day. Students also need school checkups and vaccinations across Bloomington District 87 and McLean County Unit 5 schools.

They have also seen this type of service succeed at Wood Hill Towers, 104 E. Wood St., Bloomington.

They have had the current unit operating in Bloomington for about 15 months, which has given them a better understanding of where and when to schedule the service locally, Taylor said.

This is one of those projects that could have been envisioned and really was envisioned with the American Rescue Plan Act in mind, said Ward 1 Alderman Grant Walsch.

Im gonna call it the ice cream truck going down the street," he added. "I mean we know we had issues getting vaccines, getting needles in arms with COVID, and I could see something like this, being able to drive down the street playing ice cream truck music saying come out for jab.

All costs of operations, staffing and medical supplies will be covered by Carle-BroMenn, and the unit will be under the direction of Carle medical professionals.

Officers commissioned

In other news, Bloomington police Officers William Shelton and Ronald Fryman were presented their commission certificates upon the completion of their 18-month probationary and training period, which consists of 14 weeks at the Illinois Police Training Academy and 18 weeks of field training with the Blooming Police Department.

Shelton, who is originally from Normal, served with the Army National Guard and Fryman, who is originally from Clinton, served with the U.S. Marine Corps. Both were hired onto the force on Sept. 9, 2020.

There also were 11 appointments and reappointments made to city boards and commissions that include:

Jay Groves reappointed to the Airport Authority Board

Daniel Freburg reappointed to the Citizens Beautification Committee

Greg Koos reappointed to the Historic Preservation Commission

Catharine Crockett reappointed to the John M. Scott Health Care Commission

Elaine Hardy reappointed to the John M. Scott Health Care Commission

Jacqueline Beyers appointed to the Planning Commission

Betty Middleton reappointed to the Housing Authority Board

Scott Rathbun reappointed to the Police Pension Board

Arron Pirtle appointed to the Technology Commission

Gary Neumayer reappointed to the Technology Commission

Nikki Williams reappointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
DEERFIELD  Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar said Tuesday it is packing up its headquarters from its longtime home state of Illinois and moving to Texas.

Caterpillar Inc. said that it's transferring its global base to the Dallas suburb of Irving, from Deerfield, outside Chicago. The move is expected to affect about 230 employees in the Deerfield office, the majority of whom will be relocated to Texas over time, spokeswoman Kate Kenny said. The transition is expected to begin later this year.

The company was based in Peoria for over 90 years before announcing a move to Deerfield in 2017. At the time, it touted Deerfield as meeting its goal of being more accessible to its global customers, dealers and employees.

Caterpillar already has an office in Irving and has been in the state since the 1960s.

"We believe it's in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move," CEO Jim Umpleby said.

Caterpillar has offices and manufacturing locations throughout Illinois, including Decatur and Pontiac. The state is expected to remain the largest concentration of Caterpillar employees in the world, with more than 17,000 employees, most of them near Peoria.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, responding to the news, downplayed the significance of losing the iconic Illinois company, claiming that the state remains "a leader in attracting large and midsize corporate relocations."

"It's disappointing to see Caterpillar move their 240 headquarters employees out of Deerfield over the next several years when so many companies are coming in," Pritzker said in a statement. "We will continue to support the 17,400 Illinoisans who work for the company in East Peoria, Mapleton, Mossville, Pontiac and Decatur  which remains Caterpillar's largest manufacturing plant in North America after the company's recent expansion."

Still, Illinois' loss of the company's C-suite is another high-profile blow. CAT has Illinois roots that date back nearly a century, first in Peoria and later in Deerfield.

It also comes just over one month after Boeing announced it was moving its corporate headquarters from Chicago to Washington, D.C. after nearly two decades calling The Windy City home.

"The reasons for this decision could not have been more clear  Illinois business climate no longer works for this company," said Illnois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs. "Governor J.B. Pritzker has failed to bolster our states economy for job-creators, and companies like CAT leaving is the consequence.

Still, even after the high-profile departures, Illinois is home to the fourth-most Fortune 500 companies in the United States, including Archer-Daniels-Midland, John Deere, McDonald's, State Farm, United and Walgreens.

A handful of technology companies have also recently shifted their headquarters from California's Silicon Valley to Texas. Tesla and Oracle have moved to Austin, while Hewlett-Packard Packard Enterprises is now in Spring, Texas, outside Houston.

Brenden Moore and Tribune News Service contributed reporting.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0
Take a deep breath, America. Weve made serious progress against cigarette smoking. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23% of adults were smokers in 2000. By 2020, the rate had fallen to 12.5%. Teen use of traditional cigarettes has plummeted from 22.5% in 2002 to 6% in 2019, according to the American Lung Assn.

And yet we have a long way to go, in part because the popularity of vaping has led to an overall increase in use of tobacco products. A 2021 survey found that 11.3% of high school students said they currently used e-cigarettes; of those, more than a quarter vaped daily. And yes, e-cigarettes dont have the smoke associated with lung cancer, but they contain a batch of harmful chemicals that can cause breathing problems and other health issues. Not to mention that they hook young people on nicotine, which then opens the door to cigarettes.

Its probably not a coincidence that in 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned most kinds of flavored cigarettes, those that taste of candy or fruit and lured teens into smoking. It would take 12 more years for the FDA to announce a similar but partial ban on flavored e-cigarettes while it continues to consider whether vaping products should be banned altogether.

But theres one flavor that has remained untouched, at least until now. After more than a decade of consideration, the FDA is proposing to ban menthol cigarettes and cigars (and is taking public comments on this plan until July 5). Menthol has long been the most common and popular flavoring for tobacco products.

Menthol has a minty taste that softens the harshness of cigarette smoke, making it easier to start  and, some studies indicate, harder to quit. It also is especially marketed to communities of color, so it should be no surprise that 48% of adult Latino smokers and 85% of Black smokers use menthol tobacco products, compared with 30% for white smokers, according to the CDC.

Of course, adults are entitled to make their own decisions  even very bad decisions  about whether to smoke. Banning menthol, considering its effect on the Black community, is a double-edged sword. Tobacco companies have targeted vulnerable populations with marketing, causing disproportionate harm. Black people smoke at somewhat higher rates than white people. But banning menthol could be seen as biased and patronizing, with the government telling Black adults that they no longer have access to the kind of smokes they like, while most white people get to continue with their chosen form of cigarettes. Nor is menthols effect on smoking rates entirely clear. Despite the higher levels of menthol use among Latinos, they are significantly less likely to smoke than white people.

But the debate ends with the irrefutable fact that menthol is a gateway to smoking and it worsens the rate of smoking overall. According to the anti-tobacco group Truth Initiative, the percentage of smokers who choose menthol rose steadily from 2008 to 2018. And young smokers  teens and young adults  are significantly more likely to choose menthol than regular cigarettes.

Our society does have the right and duty to take steps to protect kids and young adults from tremendous harm, as the federal government did in 2019 when it raised the smoking age from 18 to 21. Considering how difficult it is to stop smoking  fewer than one in 10 who try to quit are successful  prevention is the best way to bring down this deadly addiction.

Menthols popularity has already been waning among some young people. A 2020 study found that from 2011 to 2018, use of menthol among young cigarette smokers dropped from 57.3% to 45.7%. But the numbers didnt change at all for young Black and Latino smokers, the ones most likely to choose menthol in the first place. And even at the lower rate, its still higher than for adults.

The menthol ban is the right way to go  except that it doesnt go nearly far enough. Menthol e-cigarettes are not included, even though the FDA banned cartridge-based vaping with candy and fruit flavors in 2020.

The tobacco industry has argued that a ban on menthol products would only cause menthol smokers to turn to regular cigarettes. But a 2020 meta-study that included examinations of places where such bans were already in place found that while some smokers switched products, fewer people started smoking altogether. And surveys of menthol smokers cited in the meta-study found that a significant number said theyd quit smoking rather than try another tobacco product if there were a ban.

To paraphrase an old cigarette advertising slogan, theyd rather quit than switch.

Los Angeles Times

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Early voting is underway. The primary election day is Tuesday, June 28. As citizens of Illinois, we have the power to change the direction of our state.

Darren Bailey is a farmer, a family man, and fellow citizen from rural Illinois. He is a solid man of faith, whose conservative roots run deep.

His history proves him to be a man of action and a doer. Darren fought with courage against illegal mandates that shuttered Illinois businesses, deprived hard working citizens of their source of income, kept children at home instead of in school, hindering their learning as well as locked down nursing homes, keeping residents separated from loved ones.

Darren is not a career politician yet one who voted against each and every Bill that came his way that included a tax increase, so much so that he was nicknamed part of The No Row.

Darren and his lieutenant governor pick, Stephanie Trussell, care about the people of Illinois and about keeping our state open. Darren and Stephanie are focused on the issues that concern the people of Illinois, including lowering property and income taxes, fighting for the rights of unborn babies, the rights of children to a quality education, and are strong supporters of the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms.

On June 28 or before, choose wisely. Choose to change the direction of our state. Choose Darren Bailey/Stephanie Trussell. Go to BaileyforIllinois.com to learn more.

Sue McWhorter, Bloomington

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The personal driver of Jomoro MP Dorcas Affo-Toffey and one other have been arrested by the Police on the Spintex road for a traffic offence, and obstructing an officer from performing his duties.



The MPs driver reportedly refused to stop when Police officers attempted to stop him for driving in the middle of the road with the siren of the vehicle on.



According to police sources, the MP who was in the car at the time ordered the driver not to stop when the officers attempted to stop them.



When they were chased and forced to stop, the passenger in the front seat of the four-whee vehicle of the lawmaker reportedly verbally abused the arresting officer and obstructed him from performing his duties.



They were subsequently arrested and taken to the Manet police station where they have currently been detained.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Member of Parliament of Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Domprehs Literacy Project is far-spreading through all corners of his constituency.



Recent to benefit from the project are Boahenkrom and Essikabew basic schools.



The hardworking lawmakers donated significant quantities of educational materials to the schools over the weekend.



He also shared pictorial evidence of the Adoagyiri Zongo Library which is ready to be commissioned.



Mr Annoh-Dompreh has vowed to make education accessible to all in his area by providing everything needed for the course.







As promised, I donated significant quantities of Educational materials to two basic Schools in my Constituency; Boahenkrom& Essikabew .



A true support to Educational outreach... pic.twitter.com/dAaQDPyt16  Hon. Frank Annoh-Dompreh (@FAnnohDompreh) June 13, 2022









Adoagyiri Zongo Library Ready to be commissioned...



Preparations underway..

Nsawam-Adoagyiri is on the Rise!.. pic.twitter.com/5XF1chgtYK  Hon. Frank Annoh-Dompreh (@FAnnohDompreh) June 10, 2022

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Xi signs outlines that direct Chinas military operations other than war

By Liu Xuanzun (Global Times) 08:59, June 14, 2022

A Y-20 large transport aircraft attached to an aviation division under the PLA Western Theater Command flies at a predetermined altitude during a flight training mission on January 4, 2021. (eng.chianmil.com.cn/Photo by Liu Shu)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, recently signed an order to promulgate a set of trial outlines on military operations other than war, which will take effect on Wednesday.

The outlines will standardize, and provide the legal basis for Chinese troops to carry out, missions like disaster relief, humanitarian aid, escort, and peacekeeping, and safeguard Chinas national sovereignty, security and development interests, experts said.

The outlines aim to prevent and neutralize risks and challenges, handle emergencies, protect people and property, and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, and world peace and regional stability, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

The outlines have important meanings for the Chinese armed forces to carry out their duties and missions in the new era, as they will make innovations in ways military forces are used and standardize the organization and implementation of the armed forces military operations other than war, Xinhua said.

Military operations other than war refer to operations that do not involve war, like disaster relief and humanitarian aid, as well as operations that limit the scale of the use of force like maritime escorts and peacekeeping, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Monday.

The Chinese armed forces have been engaged in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020. They also played a vital role in saving the people from natural disasters like earthquakes and floods, which often took place in China over the past years, the expert said, noting that the recipients of disaster relief and humanitarian aid from the Chinese armed forces have also expanded to other countries, including many that received medical equipment and vaccines against COVID-19, and Tonga that was heavily hit by a volcanic eruption and tsunami earlier this year.

The Chinese armed forces are also responsible for counter-terrorism, anti-pirate and peacekeeping missions, including regular escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia as well as UN peacekeeping missions, providing public security goods to the international community, the expert said.

By carrying out these operations overseas, in some cases, the Chinese troops can prevent spillover effects of regional instabilities from affecting China, secure vital transport routes for strategic materials like oil, or safeguard Chinas overseas investments, projects and personnel, analysts said, noting that this is likely why Xinhua described the outlines as being capable of safeguarding Chinas national sovereignty, security and development interests.

With six chapters and 59 chapters, the outlines summarize experiences accumulated from past missions and practices, draw results from both military and civilian research, and standardize the basic principles, organization and command, types of activities, activity support and political work, providing the legal basis for the troops to carry out military operations other than war, according to Xinhua.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
The European Union will sign an agreement with an undisclosed manufacturer on Tuesday for the supply of about 110,000 doses of vaccines against monkeypox to be delivered from the end of June, EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said.



On the sidelines of a meeting of EU health ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday, Kyriakides said the vaccines will be bought with EU funds and delivered to EU states.



Commission officials said the name of the vaccine maker will be unveiled shortly.



The bloc's drug regulator said this month it was in talks with Danish biotech firm Bavarian Nordic (BAVA.CO) over trial data that could underpin an extension of the approved use of the Imvanex shot, known as Jynneos in the United States, beyond smallpox to include monkeypox.



The U.S. regulator has approved Bavarian's smallpox vaccine for use against monkeypox.



Some EU states, including Germany and Spain, have made their own orders for monkeypox vaccines. read more



Kyriakides said the EU had recorded 900 cases of monkeypox.

Source: Reuters









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Izwe Savings & Loans has renovated the Moglaa Health Centre located in Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region.



The renovation comprised tiling of the examination and delivery rooms and painting of the entire health facility.



The Moglaa Health Centre serves more than 14,000 people in 12 communities in the area including Tarkpaa, Lang and Zaxi. The facility is so critical to the people because the three National Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds providing primary healthcare are unable to deliver all the healthcare needs of the people.



In fact, all the communities seek healthcare from us. We have only three CHPS compounds which is inadequate. We are grateful for the support from Izwe", Mr. Adams, who is also in charge of the areas three CHPS compounds said.



Why the support



The Moglaa Health Centre on which 12 communities depended was in bad condition. The examination room had an old cemented floor with cracks while the white walls had become stained. Portions of the walls also bore cracks.



Mumuni Adams said the support by Izwe Savings and Loans couldn't have come at a better time, as he described the cracks in the walls as scary.



He said: Midwives always complain it could collapse on them when theyre attending to clients. We are very happy Izwe has come at the right time to renovate the labor ward and give the facility a facelift, we are so grateful.



Another big worry was that the health centre would often be invaded by livestock including goats and cattle.



The government of Ghana has provided three CHPS compounds within the 12 communities but theyre not enough to handle the huge population. As a result, many of the people still visit the Moglaa Health Centre.



Izwe provides hospital supplies



Apart from the renovation of the Moglaa Health Centre, Izwe Savings and Loans also provided the facility with some hospital supplies. These included BP monitors, brand new chairs for patients and blankets. Mr. Adams said each of the CHPS compounds in the communities will be given one of the BP monitors while the chairs and blankets would be used at the main health centre.



Each CHPS compound will use one of the automatic BP monitors, so it is going to be very useful and augment our work, he said.



A representative of the Chief of Moglaa, Kpanala Alhassan, said they were happy when they got thenews that the financial institution was offering support to the health center.



He said the kind gesture of Izwe would forever remain in their hearts. Mr. Alhassan said the health center was very useful to the community, but its initial state was terrible, adding:  we do not know how to thank Izwe.



Privacy for patients



The labor ward didnt have much privacy hencepassers-by would often see women receiving care. But the renovation of the ward included the provision of screens to ensure the privacy of women.



A pregnant woman, Adam Amina, said: Because of the open nature of the place anyone passing could see what was happening at the facility but with the renovation, we are able to stay in the rooms and have some privacy.



Chief of Moglaa, Naa Prince Williams Andani, thanked Izwe Savings and Loans for the gesture and praised the health workers for their commitment to the people.



This story is part of the impact stories of Izwe Savings & Loans as it marks 10 years of operation in Ghana.

Watch the link below



https://youtu.be/JKs03qpQGPQ



About Izwe



Izwe originated from South Africa and currently has subsidiaries in Zambia and Kenya. The company has been operating in Ghana for 10 years, with a solid track record of providing tailored financial services to the needs of people from all walks of life including entrepreneurs, traders, teachers, soldiers, healthcare workers, business owners and any small to medium sized enterprise.



Izwe believes in supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as they immensely contribute to the GDP of the economy. It is for this reason that Izwe has ear marked GHS150m to support SMEs in Ghana this year. Contact us on 0302 208 222 or text SME to 4993 to get started.













Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Dozens of soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Congo have crossed into Uganda after the M23 rebels blocked the main road to Rutshuru.



Ugandan army spokesperson Brig Gen Felix Kulaigye told the BBC that the soldiers were being received at a Ugandan army barracks at the border town of Bunagana.



A source told the BBC that some of the Congolese soldiers had arrived in military vehicles while others crossed on foot.



Reports indicate that the M23 rebels overran the Congolese side of Bunagana on Monday morning.



Pictures of overturned armoured vehicles believed to belong to the Congolese army - the FARDC, have also been shared on social media.



UN agencies say that more than 30,000 people in the Rutshuru territory of North Kivu province fled their homes over the weekend.



Hundreds have been internally displaced while others have crossed the border to Uganda.



The Ugandan side of Bunagana border town is crowded with people who have fled their homes due to the fighting over the last couple of days.



Some had wanted to return home on Monday morning, but even more people are now fleeing the fighting.



Fighting between the government forces and the army has intensified over the last couple of weeks, after the Congolese government designated the M23 as a terrorist group and refused their calls for a bilateral ceasefire or peace negotiations.



DR Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the group made up of mainly ethnic Congolese Tutsi, but the government in Kigali has continually denied these accusations.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, and Member of Parliament for Damongo Constituency, Samuel A. Jinapor says Ghana will build the full value chain of its green minerals to retain the value of the minerals in the country.



The Minister was speaking at the Africa CEO Forum, being held in Abidjan Cote DIvoire, where he participated in a panel discussion on the topic Green Minerals: How to Fully Seize on a Historic Opportunity.



Green minerals, generally, refer to minerals and metals needed to support the transition to clean-energy technologies aimed at reducing carbon emissions and reaching net zero. They include minerals like copper, lithium, cobalt, bauxite, graphite, manganese and nickel. With a global focus on tackling climate change and its negative impacts on lives and livelihood, there has been a concerted effort to move away from fossil fuels, used to power vehicles, to electric cars which will run on batteries and be more friendly to the environment.



It is estimated that by the year 2040, over sixty-five percent (65%) of vehicles that would be sold across the world would be electric vehicles, and the world will need close to Five Thousand Gigawatts Hour (5,000GWh) of lithium-ion batteries per year to power these vehicles.



With Ghana holding some commercial quantities of lithium, one of the main minerals needed for the green transition, Mr. Jinapor says Government will concentrate on building the full value chain of these minerals here in Ghana, to ensure that the Ghanaian people benefit from these resources. Using the example of bauxite, the Minister said the days when we export bauxite and turn around to import alumina, which is refined bauxite, for VALCO to smelt is over. He said the real value of these minerals lies in their value addition and not the raw minerals.



Mr. Jinapor said the Government of President Akufo-Addo, is building the mining sector of the country on three main pillars, certainty in the industry anchored on the rule of law to boost investor confidence, value addition from mining to downstream production and robust local content and local participation. The Minister said this policy underpins the establishment of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) and the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC) which have been tasked to promote and develop integrated aluminium and iron and steel industries in the country.



According to Mr. Jinapor, just as Government is doing for these industries, Government will ensure that the full value chain of lithium, as well as other green minerals, is retained in Ghana.



In addition to building the full value chain, the Minister said Government is committed to local content and local participation in the mining industry, including these emerging minerals. He said the surest way of ensuring that the mining industry has linkages to the other sectors of the economy is through value addition and local content.



Speaking directly to the investor community, Mr. Jinapor said Ghana, with her democratic principles, good and accountable governance, respect for the rule of law and human rights as well as the sanctity of contracts, is the number one destination for investment on the continent. He said Government is committed to providing a conducive environment for businesses to thrive for the benefit of investors and the people of Ghana.



The Africa CEO Forum is an annual gathering of decision-makers from the largest African companies, international investors, multinational executives, Heads of State, Ministers, and representatives of the main financial institutions operating on the continent. Over two thousand (2000) government officials and business leaders are gathered in Abidjan for this years event, which is the first in-person event since 2019.







Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Ministry of Education has been duly briefed on the unfortunate incident that occurred on the campus of the Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi on Monday, June 13, 2022.



The Ministry regrets the rather unfortunate incident which resulted in 38 students seeking medical attention and the temporary disruption of academic work.



On behalf of Hon Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister for Education, Deputy Minister for Education, Hon Ntim Fordjour accompanied by the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Mayor of Kumasi and CHASS President has visited the affected students at the various health facilities as well as addressed the entire student population on campus.



The Ministry of Education would like to assure the public that all the affected students are responding to medical treatment and are in good condition.



Out of the thirty-eight (38) students hospitalized, twenty-two (22) have been discharged and have joined their colleagues on campus.



"We would like to assure parents and guardians of the safety and security of their wards as full academic work starts Tuesday June 14."



In a related development, the Ghana Police Service has admitted that a better approach to tackling the riot at the school could have been employed.



The Deputy Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kwasi Akomeah-Apraku who was acting as the Ashanti Regional Police Commander at the time of the chaos has been interdicted.



Two other police officers were been interdicted to allow for investigations to take place.





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Commuters who use the Tema-Accra Motorway have to brace themselves for some weeks of gridlock along the stretch, as officials race against time to complete the rehabilitation of the damaged La Klapa River Bridge, near the Accra Abattoir.



The rehabilitation works, which entered the second week yesterday, have seen officials of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) create a one-kilometre diversion on the Accra-bound stretch into the Tema-bound lane to allow for the removal of the damaged concrete slaps on the bridge.



The situation created heavy vehicular congestion which lasted the entire day yesterday, worsened during the rush hours, and a journey that ordinarily took between 20 and 30 minutes to make, taking at least over two hours.



With the situation affecting the Tema Beach Road, the other Tema-Accra route, drivers had to look for alternative ways to avoid the gridlock on the motorway.



Works



Last week, the Daily Graphic reported that the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Atta, had inspected the motorway and indicated that rehabilitation works would begin on it in August this year.



However, he said, the La Klapa River Bridge, also known as the Abattoir Bridge, would be replaced urgently because without rehabilitation it would collapse.



The replacement is going to be a reinforcement concrete slab, which we expect to start on Friday, and the whole work will be completed in three weeks.



Certain sections of the deck slab have developed defects and we need to replace them. The works are going to involve cutting them into sections and reconstructing them, the Director of Bridges at the GHA, Yakubu Koray, had indicated.



When the Daily Graphic visited the site yesterday, it observed that work had begun in earnest, and with it came the anticipated traffic, as the area of work had been blocked.

Given how busy the motorway is, the one-kilometre diversion route created is not adequate, as the Daily Graphic observed a gridlock stretching a very long way.



Scope of Work



The Project Engineer, Aaron Amponsah, said the scope of work involved the replacement of the under materials to re-enforce the bridge.



That, he said, was completed a week ago, paving the way for the removal of the top material, including a metal plate which was used at a portion of the bridge seven years ago when a similar rehabilitation was done on it.



"What we have started today is the main work, which involves the removal of the old concrete materials, as well cutting off the defective iron rods to be replaced with new ones, after which new concrete will be cast to form the bridge," Mr Amponsah said.



The GHA, he said, had engaged the services of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Police Service to help manage the traffic situation along the route, while officials worked two shifts in a 36-hour schedule to ensure the work would be completed by Monday, June 20, 2022.



On the construction of a Bailey bridge within the median to properly manage the traffic congestion, Mr Amponsah pointed out that although that option came up during the project management process, the storm drains along the stretch to host such bridges were short and so could not host any such metal bridges, which often come in a measurement of 5.2 metres.



"Bailey bridges come at standard measurements, and looking at the size of the bridges within the median, constructing one would require the bridge to be broken and extended to accommodate the size of the metal bridge," he explained.



Commuters



Some commuters who spoke with the Daily Graphic wondered why adequate traffic provisions had not been made and alternative routes provided to curtail the congestion, which they claimed would impact productivity.



We are not saying the work should not be done; however, there should have been adequate public announcement, as well as ample warning at, say, the Accra Mall area to caution drivers, so that they could make alternative plans and not be caught in this gridlock.



It is a Monday morning and we all know how bad the traffic situation is on Mondays and how important this route is for many businesses and productivity, a caterer who was going to deliver food at an event lamented.



Given the importance of this road, these repair works should be done during the night to spare everyone this stress. As it is, we are stuck and have to wait till we are able to move because there is nothing else we can do, a driver said.



Others wondered why provision was not made to construct a Bailey (steel) bridge on the storm drains located in the median along the stretch as easy access to traffic for commuters.



Beach Road, Spintex



As vehicular traffic became nearly stagnant on the motorway, some motorists appeared to have diverted their routes to the Accra-Tema Beach Road to escape the heavy traffic.



But that decision, as if made in unison, increased traffic along the route and its various by-passes, as vehicles had to contend with the added inconvenience of manoeuvring through the ongoing construction works on the Beach Road.



From the Tema end, the snail-pace traffic began well in Community 2, on the MPS road and on other routes and trickled into the common MPS Roundabout where the network converged onto the stretch towards the Nungua Barrier, often labelled T-Junction.



Chaos reigned at the barrier intersection where there was heavy traffic from all four sides, with no MTTD officials to direct the traffic, leading to a survival-of-the-fittest situation.



With the beach road also having its own construction works, that route was no better, the only relief being that the traffic on that route was manageable.



The other alternative route, the Spintex Road connecting from Sakumono, also had a fair share of the traffic, as commuters still looked for alternatives.









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.

Featured Video
To help bridge the shortage of fertiliser in the country caused by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, local organic fertilizer producers have come together to form an association to scale up the production of fertilizers to complement the government's efforts.



Members of the new association--Organic Fertilizer Producers Association of Ghana (OFPAG)--will pool resources together to produce enough fertilizers to supply the country.



The move was being championed by the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC).



Speaking at its maiden meeting in Accra, Tuesday, June 14, 2022, the Executive Chairman of JGC, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, underscored the need for local producers of organic fertilizers to collaborate and work with a sense of urgency to address the current problem, especially in the wake of the global fertilizer shortage.



He explained that the coming together of organic fertilizer producers will facilitate ideas sharing and allow them the space to produce adequate quality fertilizers to augment the supply needs of the country.



"When we come together as an association, we will not only present a united front but we will be stronger with ideas which will enable us to contribute to resolving the fertilizer shortage in the country," he said.



He recounted how JGC played an instrumental role in the country's efforts to tackle Covid.



In a presentation on the need to form such an association, the Deputy Executive Director of Centre for Indigenous Knowledge of Organisational Development (CIKOD), Mr. Daniel Bannoka, pointed out that the Russia-Ukraine war had exposed the vulnerabilities in Ghana's agriculture.



That, he said, was being manifested in the high agricultural inputs which was contributing to high food prices across the country.



"We must be worried as a country because the severity of the situation is being felt everywhere in the country," he said.



According to him, there was a need to take action now, to prevent food shortages in the country.



Against this backdrop, Mr. Bannoka was happy that local organic fertilizer producers had resolved to form an association to intervene in the fertilizer shortage problem.



"By coming together, you will have a big voice, benefit from unity in strength, and have a strong negotiating power," he spelt out.



While enumerating some of the advantages of belonging to an association, he admonished them to try and weed out charlatans from the organic fertilizer space.



He also called on the government to support the association by creating an enabling environment to enable it to thrive.



"The state can also waive taxes on machines that will be imported by members of the association," he urged.



More importantly, he charged the association to regularly undertake good research and develop good extension content.



A representative from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) encouraged the members to build up their capacities to be able to produce enough fertilizers to feed the nation.



According to him, the Ministry was ready to support them in their efforts to support the government in the production of fertilizers.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Prophet Dr. Kofi Oduro of the Alabaster International Ministry has said President Nana Akufo-Addo is redeeming his personal national cathedral pledge to God through lies and deception.



According to Prophet Oduro, the President and the government said no national funds would be used for the cathedral but that has turned out not to be the case now.



Prophet Oduro, who supports the idea of a national cathedral, however, told OB Nartey on the maiden edition of No.1 FMs mid-morning show Nyame Nsa Wom on Monday, 13 June 2022 that the way the president and the government are going about it is wrong.



Anybody who will say there is no need for a national cathedral has missed the point because we have a national mosque. The essence and the need for a national cathedral are 100 percent perfect but the way we are going about it, if we are not careful, even Christians will say it offends God, he said.



The way government is going about this whole thing; let me use the national mosque for example not a cedi of this nation was used for the construction of the national mosque. It was built by the Turkish government and the Muslim community in Ghana. Why cant we do the same with the national cathedral? Why are we going to tax this on the nation?



There are certain things that are not right. The president made a personal vow to God. That vow must be redeemed but not this strategy, not this method.



The purpose is perfect. We need a national cathedral [but] your methodology is wrong, he told the president, insisting: Absolutely wrong.



You told us that state fund would not be used. No state funds are required. Thats deception. Thats a lie. You are building something for God, he said.



In his view, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo could have just invited businessmen and women to the Jubilee House and put his funding request before them and would be surprised that just one person would have given $100,000,000 toward the construction of the national cathedral.



But the way we are going about it, we are going to drag the names of all these men of integrity on the board of the national cathedral into the mud.



Well destroy their reputation with this national cathedral, he warned.



Just a few days ago, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta wondered if using state funds to build the national cathedral that President Nana Akufo-Addo promised to put up for God if he won the presidency, was too much.



At any point in time when these buildings were built in Europe, was it ever the right time? How do we fund it will become the question, he asked in an interview on state-owned GTV on Sunday, 12 June 2022.



Is the executive mindful of the current situation? We shouldnt snuff out our religiousness or spirituality because we are poor, he noted.



The Lord will understand if we put our widows mite in there, Mr. Ofori-Atta noted.



That question being asked is that: Are we spending money from state coffers? Is that too much to do because we are politicizing it? Do we really want to stop it? That is going to be my question.



He said: As a minister of finance, we are looking at resources and how much we put in there at every point in time that is sensible and, so, as we speak, we have spent less than one-thousandth of our expenditure on that.



I am very confident of raising revenue to be able to fund this and then, more importantly, if I want to look into the economics of it, I truly see an overwhelming capacity that this will pay off.



Typically, I am looking at an internal rate of return, so, we should put this in mind, the presidents cousin noted.



The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, had alleged that on the 29th of October 2020, a few weeks before the national elections, Mr. Ofori-Atta, acting on a request by President Akufo-Addos Chief of Staff, authorized the release of GHS142,762,500.00 for national cathedral planned activities.



According to Mr. Ablakwa, contrary to legal requirements, the government concealed this ginormous GHS142.7 million from Parliament as they deliberately failed to disclose this item as part of their expenditure returns of 2020 during the 2021 budget consideration in Parliament.



This 2020 cathedral expenditure, the opposition MP noted, was also kept away from the Auditor-General in his 2020 audit.



In a Facebook post, the lawmaker said so far, adding this latest expose to his previous leaks, the Akufo-Addo government has spent GHS199,832,603.00 of taxpayer funds on a cathedral which was originally presented to Ghanaians as a personal pledge to God that will not be executed with taxpayer funds.



Digging into the tonnes of documents, Mr. Ablakwa stated that many more millions have been paid illegally which we shall continue to put out to the glory of God and in the overall national interest. On a further scarier note, the figures we are currently reviewing do not look like anything near a seed capital.



He said this GHS200 million cathedral gate has turned out to be the biggest presidential scandal in Ghanas entire history.



He described as terribly shocking, how President Akufo-Addo and his men could engage in such ungodly, illegal and insensitive conduct.



In the name of a cathedral project, Mr. Ablakwa again alleged that a corrupt slush fund has been created to siphon taxpayer funds from the suffering masses on the blind side of Parliament, the Auditor-General, CSOs, and other accountability systems.



Instructively, these illegal diversions took place when the government was engaged in massive vote-buying to win the 2020 elections; it was also the period COVID-19 had peaked and placed enormous pressure on our health delivery as many Ghanaians died, and yet President Akufo-Addo claimed he couldnt find the resources to fulfill his Agenda 111 pledge of building new hospitals, he stated.

















Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, has underscored the need for the country to pay critical attention to its spiritual development amidst the seemingly rage over the construction of the National Cathedral project using taxpayers' money.



In an interview with the state broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Mr. Ofori-Atta explained that the country had done well in striving for political independence and economic development however was lacking in the area of spirituality.



He stated that the country cannot grow and sustain its transformation without a holistic approach which should include focusing on spiritual development as well.



The issue of National Cathedral seems to generate in modern times this type of discourse but the questions being asked are one you are a secular state, why are you getting into this and really; is that the question because the Supreme Court answer is that if the nature of the people are religious, then it is incumbent of government to have the infrastructure to do that.



I think that there are three pillars of nation-building with regards to political independence which our first president did and led to Africa getting independent.



The second one is being one of investment and trade and to get into economic emancipation which through Nana Akufo-Addo we now have free trade agreement headquartered here.



So, we are getting these two pillars. The third clearly has to be that spirituality and so with that third leg, we cannot grow and sustain our transformation without a holistic view and I think we need to understand that, Ken Ofori-Atta said.



The National Cathedral project has in recent weeks come under intense public scrutiny over its funding.



The government reportedly provided seed money for the project despite earlier assurances that it was going to be financed by the Church.



North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa alleged that the Akufo-Addo-led administration has so far dolled out over GH190 million in funding for the construction of the National Cathedral.



His comment came after a recent report that the government has released an amount of GH25 million for the project.



In a post on his social media handle, Mr. Ablakwa said the government had earlier released an amount of over GH142 million bringing the cumulative funding for the project to GH199,832,603.00.



He detailed that this latest amount was concealed from Parliament and was additionally hidden from the Auditor-General in his 2020 audit.





Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), a Non-Governmental Organisation, has reiterated calls on traditional authorities to support efforts and campaigns to end child marriage and promote girl-child education and empowerment.



Ms Fatima Ayamga, Field Officer, PPAG, who made the call noted that child marriage continued to be inimical to the growth and development of young people, particularly girls and said the situation required urgent collective efforts from all stakeholders to address it for accelerated sustainable development.



These teenagers are our future and we cannot afford to allow them to get married at tender ages and start having children. Their education would be truncated and they will not be prepared mentally for such a task, she stressed.



This, she called on all traditional leaders including the chiefs and queen mothers to join the fight against the menace by educating their subjects on the adverse effects of child marriage on the development of the community and enforce community regulations that would deter people from indulging in the practice.



Ms Ayamga was speaking at Yorogo, a suburb of Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region on the re-launch of a child marriage campaign dubbed, End Child Marriage by PPAG.



It was part of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) project with funding support from Global Affairs Canada, aimed at empowering community stakeholders to help end the child marriage menace in the Municipality.



Ms Ayamga noted that the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals remained unrealistic when urgent action was not taken to address teenage pregnancy and child marriage among children.



She advised parents against pushing their teenage pregnant girls into early marriage and noted that in as much as they were disappointed in their wards, compelling them to marry without considering the welfare of the child could be detrimental.



Instead, she said, parents should support their wards to return to school after birth or learn a trade to ensure that they had viable economic adventures to ensure financial independence and help them to live dignified lives.



Mr Jonathan Atsu Dordor, an Investigator, Upper East Regional Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, noted that child marriage was a criminal offence and an affront to the Childrens Act of 1998, Act 560.



Mr Dordor noted that poverty had been identified as a major driver compelling parents to give their children who were under 18 years into marriage and warned such parents to desist from the act as they risked being prosecuted.



Even though as poor as we may be, we have so many ways of making money or solving issues, marriage should not be the last resort and it is also not wise. So, any parent who pushes the child into marriage, the law will also deal with such a person because the law is no respecter of anybody, he said.







Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has inspected ongoing works at the new Tamale International Airport.

The government secured funding in 2018 to build a new international airport in Tamale, to serve the growing local and international demands of northern Ghana.



Significant works have so far been done at the airport, with two international standard terminals, a 5km road, and other facilities being built.



The two terminals are; a special multi-purpose terminal, also known as the Hajj Terminal, and the main terminal for domestic and international flights.



The Hajj terminal has its own waiting lounge, check-in and arrival desks, luggage control area, ablution and prayer area, as well as a parking space for 200 cars.



The main terminal for local and international operations, is a much bigger facility on a 5,000 metre square space with modern airport facilities. Work on the Tamale International airport is 95% complete and the airport is expected to be formally commissioned for use in August this year.



Dr. Bawumia, who has been in the northern part of the country for a five-day working visit, was excited by the progress of work on the facility.



With the first batch of Hajj Pilgrims expected to depart Ghana from Tamale in the coming days, Dr. Bawumia was optimistic Pilgrims from the northern part of the country would be able to use the facility.



The Vice President noted that major works on other airports such as the Kumasi International Airport and the Sunyani Airport (which has been completed) are also well on course for commissioning this year, adding that the Akufo-Addo government has demonstrated a strong commitment to improving airports in the country.









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.

Featured Video
The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia has welcomed a new addition to his family.



According to him, Saturday, June 4, 2022, which marked the 43rd Anniversary of the uprising was a double celebration for him.



This, he explained, was because of the birth of his grandchild.



My second child, who is a girl, gave birth to a bouncy baby boy on June 4 which was the same day we had the 43rd June 4 anniversary so it was a huge lotto for me. I am now a proud grandfather, he happily revealed in an interview on Accra-based Okay FM.



Mr Nketia is married to Madam Vida Adomah and their marriage is blessed with five children.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The 16 Regional women Organisers of the governing New Patriotic Party, yesterday, filed nomination for the partys National Women Organiser, Kate Gyamfua, to seek re-election. The gesture, according to the Women Organisers, is due to the exceptional leadership qualities exhibited by Ms Gyamfua in the past four years.



Greater Accra Regional Women Organiser, Grace Acheampong, who spoke to the press after the filing processes, noted that Ms Gyamfua has changed the face of the womens wing since her assumption of office in 2018, hence the need to continue with her stewardship, as the party goes into a crucial election in 2024. The NPP National Women Organiser won an emphatic victory in 2018 at the partys national delegates congress in Koforidua, polling over 80 percent of the total votes cast.



Achievement



She has since embarked on countless activities which helped the party in securing victory in the 2020 general elections. For instance, ahead of the compilation of the new voters register in 2020, she embarked on a nationwide mobilization campaign to motivate women to rise in their numbers and take part in the exercise. In December 2019, she organized a historic national womens conference in Takoradi, which is the first-ever national women's rally/conference organised by a political party in the fourth republic.



Ahead of that, she had organized regional womens conferences across all 16 regions. She also organized empowerment conference for all regional women and deputy women organisers in Kumasi in 2019 and was among the first set of national officers to tour all newly created regions to start mobilization of party supporters, soon after the creation. Ms Gyamfua is on record to have been the most visible NPP women organizer among women groups such as queen mothers and market women associations.



Logistically, she supported all constituencies in the country through the provision of resources such as motorbikes. She also provided hospital equipment and Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) to several hospitals across the country in the height of the covid-19 pandemic. Beneficiary hospitals include La Polyclinic, Koforidua St Josephs Hospital, Langbinsi Health centre in the North East Region, Bawku Presbyterian hospital, Wa Municipal Hospital, Teshie Orphanage Home, Sogakope District Hospital and Ejisu government Hospital in the Ashanti region.



She is also noted to have led some advocacy campaigns during her first term in office, which include call for collaboration among women to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal five (SDG 5) in July 2021, a campaign to challenge stereotypes against women and attacks on women in March 2019 and a campaign to solicit support for the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill in March 2021. She also organized leadership training for women leaders in smaller parties as her contribution to womens empowerment in the country.



Her achievements and ability to protect the unity of the womens front since her election, according to the women organisers, are the motivation behind the overwhelming endorsement for another term.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
For the governing New Patriotic Party's vision to be realized, a Deputy Communication Officer of the party, Yaw Preko has admonished the party's rank and file to be guided by the history of 2008 elections in order to retain power.



He said the party's experience during the 2008 elections should be a case study for the party to put things in order and elect experienced persons to hold the National Executive positions in the party.



Mr. Preko reminded the NPP why they lost the 2008 elections saying it was due to lack of experienced national executives, so they shouldn't repeat the same mistake.



He stressed it's time the NPP took its structures seriously and also called on the delegates to take critical decisions and maintain John Boadu, the party's General Secretary who is seeking re-election.



Speaking to Michael Akrofi in Damango of the Savannah Region, Mr. Yaw Preko advised that experience is key, noting "this is a reason the NPP should not downplay the experience and the track record of Mr. John Boadu, especially in this critical period of Ghana's political cross road where experience and track records will be at play".



Mr. Yaw Preko debunked allegations that John Boadu has underperformed but defended him stating emphatically that he is "the most competent General secretary of the party".



Chairman of the NPP at Savannah Region, Alhaji Sulemana Iddrisu assured Mr. John Boadu of their unflinching support for him.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
" " Protective fencing wraps around the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., in anticipation of protests over the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade, which will trigger anti-abortion laws in 13 states. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion on abortion rights dramatically declares that "the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives."

A number of states have already made their choice in case that happens, either protecting the right to abortion or significantly restricting abortion under most circumstances. Some states never removed bans they had in place before 1973. That's the year of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade declaring that the Constitution protects the right to obtain an abortion.

In addition, there are 13 states with so-called "trigger" laws, abortion-restricting laws designed to take effect once abortion is no longer protected by the U.S. Constitution. I'm a legal scholar who studies gender and reproductive rights and wanted to see just what those triggers are that will put the laws into force. It turns out that the 13 states are almost evenly split between two distinct approaches with one thing in common: They both end up significantly limiting people's right to get an abortion.

Advertisement

An Official Certification

Trigger laws aren't a new concept. For example, in 2013, Illinois passed a law that would end the state's participation in Medicaid expansion if the federal government's funding contribution dropped below 90 percent of the program's cost. Mississippi also has a constitutional provision banning same-sex marriage that would take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 2015 ruling that recognized same-sex marriage nationwide.

In the 13 states with abortion-related trigger laws, one method requires a certification by a state's attorney general or other official before the law can go into effect. Precisely what needs to be certified varies among this group of states.

For example, in Arkansas, the state attorney general must certify that the Supreme Court has either fully or partially overruled Roe, or that an amendment to the U.S. Constitution permits Arkansas to ban abortion.

By contrast, in Mississippi, the state attorney general must determine that the Supreme Court has overruled Roe and that it is "reasonably probable" that the Mississippi law would be upheld. In Utah, a 2020 state law says the Legislature's top lawyer must provide the certification that a court's opinion would permit the state law to go into effect.

" "

Missouri's law is a slight modification of this approach, requiring a declaration by the state attorney general, a gubernatorial proclamation, or a resolution from both houses of the state legislature that Roe has been overruled or a constitutional amendment has taken effect. Wyoming's law is triggered upon the governor's certification that Roe has been overruled  or a comparable decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.

In North Dakota, which in 2007 adopted one of the earliest trigger laws, the statute originally specified a somewhat cumbersome procedure. The law was changed in 2019 to streamline the certification procedure, and to remove it entirely if the triggering event is a constitutional amendment.

Advertisement

A Change in Constitutional Law

The second approach simply requires that Roe be overruled, or a comparable federal action be taken, for the trigger law to go into effect. As in the other approach, there must be a court judgment or a constitutional amendment. But this approach does not require specific certification by a state official.

South Dakota's 2005 law is straightforward, saying that the ban becomes "effective on the date states are recognized by the United States Supreme Court to have the authority to prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy." Kentucky and Louisiana take a similar approach, although the triggering event is either a court decision or a constitutional amendment.

While some states' laws are effective immediately, others require a 30-day waiting period. In Texas, for example, the law goes into effect on the 30th day after the Supreme Court either partially or fully overrules Roe v. Wade, or otherwise recognizes states' authority to ban abortion, or a constitutional amendment allows states that authority. The trigger law in Idaho is similar.

That 30-day period may be designed to allow states to develop procedures to enforce the new laws; when reporters at Business Insider contacted officials in the 13 states with trigger laws to find out their implementation plans, only one agency in one state provided the reporters with written plans. The rest provided no clear guidelines about what any of the laws would actually mean in practice  such as how police, medical professionals or child protection officials should handle situations in which the pregnant person's life was at risk, or if the person alleged the pregnancy resulted from a rape.

Advertisement

Clarity or Ambiguity?

The leaked draft in the upcoming abortion case is explicit in overturning Roe, saying, "We hold that Roe ... must be overruled." If the draft opinion changes, and there is any ambiguity about the viability of Roe, then there may be ambiguity about whether the triggers have, in fact, been triggered. Americans will find out soon.

Naomi Cahn is a professor of law at the University of Virginia.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. You can find the original article here.
THE Cebu Provincial Board (PB) has passed an ordinance adopting Gov. Gwendolyn Garcias controversial Executive Order (EO) 16 that makes face mask wearing in open and well-ventilated spaces optional.



An ordinance rationalizing the wearing of face masks within the Province of Cebu was passed during the PBs special session on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.



The passage of the local law was done in defiance of the Department of the Interior and Local Departments (DILG) request Monday for Garcia to make changes to her EO or risk getting a show cause order for instituting a policy that deviated from the national policy on dealing with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.



On receiving the threat, Garcia had called late Monday for Tuesdays special session to pass the ordinance to give more teeth to her disputed executive order.



Only 11 of 18 PB members were present to vote on the measure on Tuesday.



The PB members who were present during the session were Yolanda Daan and Raul Bacaltos of Cebus First District; Jose Tata Salvador of the Second District; John Ismael Jiembo Borgonia and Victoria Corominas Toribio of the Third District; Kerrie Keane Shimura of the Fourth District; Andrei Red Duterte of the Fifth District; Jerome Librando and Christopher Dong Baricuatro of the Seventh District; and ex-officio members Caroline Bacaltos, who represents the Philippine Councilors League-Cebu Province, and Jerico Rubio, who represents the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation-Cebu Province.



Seven PB members were not present as they were still enjoying their post-election leaves.



Based on the ordinance, face mask wearing will be required only for those who are in closed, air-conditioned spaces; and at all times for those who have symptoms of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) like fever, cough and runny nose whenever they leave their homes.



Borgonia, who chairs the committee on laws, told reporters that the passage of the ordinance means members of the public can no longer be arrested for not wearing face masks in well-ventilated areas.



Well, people go out of their respective homes, and they no longer need to fear arrest by law enforcers in their respective barangays and municipalities because there is already an ordinance on this, Borgonia said in a mix of English and Cebuano.



Shimura, who chairs the committee on health, said she fully supported the governors EO and the newly passed ordinance.



The measure is not an abolition (of the wearing of face masks), but rather, it provided options for individuals in Cebu province with certain conditions, Shimura said.



IATF prevails



On Tuesday, Presidential Communications Secretary and Acting Presidential Spokesperson Martin Andanar said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases resolution on the mandatory wearing of face masks shall prevail.



We reiterate and support the legal opinion of the Justice Secretary that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) resolution on the mandatory wearing of face masks shall prevail over the executive orders by local government units, including the one issued by the provincial government of Cebu, Andanar said in a statement.



The Chief Executives directive is clear: Continue wearing face masks; and the Department of the Interior and Local Government has instructed the Philippine National Police to implement the existing IATF resolution on wearing of face masks accordingly, Andanar added.



Earlier Tuesday, DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya reminded local government units of EO 151, which adopts the guidelines for the implementation of the Alert Level System in the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic.



EO 151, which approves the nationwide implementation of the Alert Level System for Covid-19 response, was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Nov. 11, 2021.



Highlight of the IATF resolution on the implementation of Alert Level System is the publics adherence to minimum public health standards (MPHS) consistent with the DOH Administrative Order 2021-0043, which includes the mandatory wearing of face masks especially in public areas in places under Alert Levels 1 to 5.



Although it is true that IATF resolutions are primarily recommendatory, when adopted by the President through an executive order then it becomes the law of the land, Malaya said in an interview with CNN Philippines. (ANV / JKV, TPM / SunStar Philippines)
H.E. Marat Pavlov, Ambassador of the Republic of the Russian Federation to the Philippines, pays President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. a courtesy visit at Marcos's campaign headquarters in Mandaluyong City, Philippines on June 13, 2022. (Photo: PTV/Facebook)

Russia has offered its assistance to the Philippines over its energy needs amid soaring gas prices, reported One News.

This followed Russian Ambassador Marat Pavlov's meeting with president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday (June 13), where he passed on a congratulatory message from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Pavlov told reporters, "During the meeting, we discussed these areas of cooperation and we found out that in this turbulent period of our life, the Russian Federation could extend its hand to help the Philippines in much needed oil, gas and other sources of energy."

The envoy added, "So, we are ready to increase our collaboration. And as far as I understand, the president-elect has also confirmed the same intention of the Philippine side (and he) would like to continue his independent (foreign) policy and to cooperate with the Russian Federation."

Like many countries, the Philippines has been hit by a series of oil price hikes triggered largely by Russias invasion of Ukraine from early 2022. Prices of basic goods have spiked as a result, while a new wave of big-time oil price hikes is forecast this week. Diesel prices are expected to increase by P4.30 to P4.50 per liter and gasoline prices by P1.50 to P1.60 per liter.

During the presidential election campaign, Marcos initially maintained a neutral position on the Russia-Ukraine war. However, he later issued a statement that he is united with the rest of world in calling for Russia to respect Ukraines freedom and its citizens democratic way of life.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A study conducted by the research group SEAaq (Ecosystem and Aquatic Animal Health) of the Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) and published in the journal Science of The Total Environment has focused on the analysis of the state of health of anchovies found in different points of the Catalan coast (Tarragona, Barcelona and Blanes).

Among the several aspects analyzed, scientists focused on the parasites infecting this species, with particular interest put on the species that could be transmitted to humans and cause possible infections (zoonotic parasites). They also analyzed the presence of anthropogenic elements (including microplastics) in the digestive tracts of the fish, as well as the potential impact these plastics could have on their states of health. Additionally, they compared the values obtained with those collected 12 years before.

According to the results of the study, anchovies caught off the Catalan coast did not present any relevant pathologies, nor did they contain any zoonotic parasites that could affect human health. According to UAB researcher Oriol Rodriguez-Romeu, "Although the fish we analyzed did contain parasites and other minor alterations in their organs, it was all within the normal levels we would find in the natural environment. None of this poses a threat, neither for the anchovy nor for humans."

In comparison to anchovy populations found in other areas of species distribution, where scientists did register elevated levels of zoonotic parasites, the anchovies of Catalonia's coast seem to have a greatly reduced risk of transmitting these parasites to humans. "For example, the parasite Anisakis was not detected in any of the individuals of the different populations studied, in contrast to what occurs in the Atlantic or other areas of the Mediterranean, where there is a more frequent presence of this parasite," highlights UAB researcher Maria Constenla.

Anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus) are a key component of the Mediterranean's pelagian ecosystems, with a notable commercial value for many of Catalonia's coastal fisheries. In the past few decades, a progressive reduction in the size of anchovy populations has been observed in the Mediterranean, as well as in their size and age of maturation. Although the study did not reveal the effects of plastics on Catalan anchovies, it is worth highlighting that the levels of plastic pollution (microplastic ingested) in fish is more elevated in the samples collected in 2019 (70% prevalence) than 12 years before, in 2007 (with a 40% prevalence). Once again, this is a clear reminder of the need to fight plastic pollution and prevent it from reaching the environment.

In this study, scientists found microfibers and plastic particles in the digestive tracts of approximately half of all fish analyzed, and between one and two items per anchovy. These levels are relatively similar to or even lower than what can be found in species from the same area and reflect, as the scientific community has demonstrated, the abundant presence of plastic-derived particles in the marine environment.

Nevertheless, these studies also conclude that there seem to be no direct effects on the health of the fish. The fact that the particles are only found in the digestive tract is also an important fact with regard to food safety, given that before anchovies can be eaten, as occurs with the majority of fish species, all entrails are removed. Therefore, "we firmly believe that the amount of microplastics susceptible of being ingested by humans as a consequence of eating anchovies is much lower that what could be consumed through any other source, such as the air or from plastic containers," states UAB lecturer Anna Soler-Membrives.

Explore further Natural antiparasitic processes hinder anisakis infection in fish

More information: Oriol Rodriguez-Romeu et al, Assessment of the health status of the European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in the NW Mediterranean Sea from an interdisciplinary approach and implications for food safety, Science of The Total Environment (2022). Journal information: Science of the Total Environment Oriol Rodriguez-Romeu et al, Assessment of the health status of the European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in the NW Mediterranean Sea from an interdisciplinary approach and implications for food safety,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156539
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Understanding how plants process light is key to improving crop yields. Light helps plants know when to grow and flower at the right time. Plants find light using proteins called photoreceptors. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Assistant Professor Ullas Pedmale's team uncovered how proteins called UBP12 and UBP13 help regulate a photoreceptor called CRY2. Published in Current Biology, their discovery might reveal new ways to control growthwhich could have broad applications beyond agriculture.

CRY photoreceptors are common to plants and humans. They are linked to human diseases including cancer, diabetes, and several brain disorders. CRY2 helps control growth in both humans and plants. While unchecked growth in plants makes them less viable, unchecked growth in humans causes cancer. "If we understand growth," Pedmale says, "we can cure cancer."

Plants need the right amount of CRY2 to know when to grow and flower. Pedmale and former postdoctoral fellow Louise Lindback discovered that manipulating UBP12 and UBP13 can change the amount of CRY2 in plants. They found that increasing UBP12 and UBP13 reduces CRY2 levels. This made plants think there wasn't enough light. In response, they grew longer, abnormal stems to reach more.

Pedmale says, "We have a way to understand growth hereand we could manipulate growth just by manipulating two proteins. We have found a way we can actually increase flower output. You need flowering for food. If there's no flower, there is no grain, no rice, no wheat, no maize."

Pedmale and Lindback didn't know exactly how UBP12 and UBP13 regulated CRY2. When the researchers took a closer look, they made a surprising discovery. In humans and other organisms, versions of UBP12 and UBP13 protect CRY photoreceptors from degradation. But in plants, the team saw the opposite. UBP12 and UBP13 were actually helping degrade CRY2 instead.

Lindback, who is currently a research and developmental engineer at Nordic Biomarker in Sweden, explains, "From literature, it's known that if you find an interaction like this, it will protect from degradation. Initially, we saw the opposite, and we thought, 'okay, maybe I did something wrong,' but then when I did it a few times, we realized, 'okay, this is true.' Instead of protecting CRY2, it causes CRY2 to degrade."

Pedmale hopes their discovery will help plant researchers and plant breeders improve crop yields. He also hopes his work helps inform cancer research. "My colleagues at CSHL are working hard trying to understand cancer," he says. "We are coming at it from a different angle with plants."

Explore further New insights into effects of membrane proteins on plant growth

More information: Louise N. Lindback et al, UBP12 and UBP13 deubiquitinases destabilize the CRY2 blue light receptor to regulate Arabidopsis growth, Current Biology (2022). Journal information: Current Biology Louise N. Lindback et al, UBP12 and UBP13 deubiquitinases destabilize the CRY2 blue light receptor to regulate Arabidopsis growth,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.046
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Research by Oregon State University has shed new light on the hazards associated with harmful algal blooms such as one four years ago that fouled drinking water in Oregon's capital city of Salem.

The study led by Theo Dreher, emeritus professor of microbiology, involved sampling of cyanobacterial blooms from 10 Oregon lakes including Detroit Reservoir, which provides drinking water for Salem.

Genome sequencing and toxin analyses enabled Dreher and collaborators in the OSU colleges of Science and Agricultural Sciences to identify the precise types of toxins produced by specific organisms.

"This information is important for protecting public health, both with regard to consumption of drinking water and exposure to toxins through recreation on lakes," Dreher said. "Two toxin-producing Dolichospermum cyanobacteria were present in Detroit Reservoir, one producing a type of cylindrospermopsin and another producing an uncommon form of microcystin. Occurrences of toxins had been known previously, but now we know the precise toxin types and the organisms making them."

Cyanobacteria, often referred to as blue-green algae, are microscopic organisms ubiquitous in all types of water around the globe. They use sunlight to make their own food and in warm, nutrient-rich environments and can quickly multiply, resulting in blooms that spread across the water's surface.

These harmful algal blooms, often abbreviated to HABs and which are of concern when visible in lake water, can form at any time of the year but most often between spring and fall.

In 2007 a national survey by the Environmental Protection Agency found microcystin, a recognized liver toxin and potential liver carcinogen, in one out of every three lakes that were sampled. Some strains of cyanobacteria can also produce neurotoxins, while most of the toxin-producing algae can cause gastrointestinal illness and acute skin rashes.

"Cyanobacterial HABs affect many of Oregon's lakes each year," Dreher said. "Some, but not all, of the blooms are toxic. Potential exposure to cyanotoxins is of public health concern, and blooms particularly pose a threat to dogs entering lakes."

Among the 10 bodies of water in the research by Dreher and OSU colleagues Ryan Mueller and Ed Davis II, toxigenic Dolichospermum cyanobacteria caused blooms in four of them: Detroit Reservoir and Odell Lake in the Cascades, Lake Billy Chinook (Metolius Arm) in central Oregon and Junipers Reservoir, a private reservoir west of Lakeview in southern Oregon.

Analysis verified the presence and type of toxin. Microcystin was present in Odell Lake, Lake Billy Chinook and Junipers Reservoir.

"In early summer of 2018, low concentrations of microcystin and cylindrospermopsin cyanotoxins were found in finished tap water in Salem," Dreher said. "A do-not-drink advisory was issued for vulnerable members of the population, particularly infants and pregnant women. Our research establishes the cyanobacteria and toxins that were involved in that emergency."

Dreher notes that the Salem scare, along with the death of more than 30 steers from drinking cyanotoxin from Junipers Reservoir in June 2017, raised awareness of the hazards of cyanobacterial blooms in the state. The Oregon Legislature has since provided funding to the Department of Environmental Quality in an effort to improve the state's ability to detect blooms and respond to them, he said.

"The good news is that not every cyanobacterial bloom that occurs in our lakes is toxic, although it is always wise to follow the rule of avoiding contact when there's green growth in the water," Dreher said.

If a person or a pet comes in contact with water that may contain harmful bacteria, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises immediate rinsing with fresh water. Dogs should not be allowed to lick the contaminated water off their fur, the CDC adds, and a veterinarian should be called right away.

Anyone swallowing water near a harmful algal bloom should immediately call a doctor or poison control center.

Amanda Foss of GreenWater Laboratories in Palatka, Florida, also took part in this research. The findings were published in Harmful Algae.

Explore further With better algal forecasts comes safer water

More information: Theo W. Dreher et al, 7-epi-cylindrospermopsin and microcystin producers among diverse Anabaena/Dolichospermum/Aphanizomenon CyanoHABs in Oregon, USA, Harmful Algae (2022). Theo W. Dreher et al, 7-epi-cylindrospermopsin and microcystin producers among diverse Anabaena/Dolichospermum/Aphanizomenon CyanoHABs in Oregon, USA,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2022.102241
Credit: Niki Teunissen/AWC, Author provided

Extreme heat waves can cause birds and mammals to die en masse. But it's more common for an animal to experience relatively mild heat stress that doesn't kill it. Our new findings suggest that unfortunately, these individuals can suffer long-term health damage.

Our study, published today, describes how exposure to hot and dry conditions can damage the DNA of nestling birds in their first few days of life. This can mean they age earlier, die younger and produce less offspring.

We focused on a population of purple-crowned fairy-wrensa small endangered songbird from Northern Australia.

The findings suggest unless the wrens can adapt rapidly to climate warming, their populations may struggle to survive as global temperatures rise. It's vital we consider such subtle and otherwise hidden impacts when predicting how biodiversity will fare in a warmer world.

The cost of growing up in the heat

Nestlings are particularly sensitive to hot temperatures due to their immobility, rapid growth and immature physiology. And the consequences of heat stress are potentially amplified in young birds because damage may persist into adulthood.

We intensively monitored a population of individually-marked purple-crowned fairy-wrens at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy's Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in Western Australia's Kimberley region, as part of our long-term ecological study.

Hot weather can kill birds and leave others with shorter lives. Credit: WA Department of Environment and Conservation

These insect-eating birds form small social groups centered around a breeding pair. The birds we monitored spend their lives in dense vegetation beside their particular spot along a riverbank, which they enthusiastically defend from interlopers.

Breeding can occur all year but peaks in the monsoonal wet season. Nests contain between one to four nestlings. During our study they experienced maximum air temperatures between 3145.

Our investigation focused on week-old nestlings, and the relationship between temperature and a section of the birds' DNA known as "telomeres."

Telomeres are DNA caps on the end of chromosomes which, among other functions, act as a buffer to protect cells from the byproducts of energy production and stress. Once this buffer erodes, the cell shuts down. As the number of these inactive cells builds up over time, the aging process accelerates.

Nestlings exposed to hot, dry conditions during their first days of life had shorter telomeres. This suggests surviving heat stress may shorten their protective DNA buffer and make the birds age more quickly. Indeed, our previous research demonstrated nestlings with shorter telomeres tend to die younger, and subsequently have fewer offspring.

Interestingly, nestlings appeared to tolerate heat better when it coincided with rain, although we're not sure why.

Purple-crowned fairy-wren chicks are sensitive to hot, dry conditions. Credit: Niki Teunissen/AWC

What this means under climate warming

Hot, dry conditions are predicted to become more frequent in Australia under climate change. So we built a mathematical model to simulate whether their effects on nestling telomere length may depress reproduction enough to cause population decline.

We found even under relatively mild rates of warming, the population could decline solely as a consequence of nestling telomere shortening. The math also revealed two potential "escape" measures that might maintain population viability.

First, the population could evolve longer telomeres, and thereby a larger buffer to prevent early aging. However, this is entirely speculative as we do not understand how telomeres evolve or whether their evolution could keep pace with climate change.

Alternatively, the birds could adjust when they breed, so nestlings experience wet conditions more often. However, this seems unlikely because the number of rain days in the region is forecast to decline, and the birds already try to maximize breeding when it rains.

Importantly, if global warming continues to accelerate, the success of any countermeasures becomes increasingly unlikely.

Concealed and delayed costs of heat exposure, such as those identified in our study, can be subtle and difficult to detect. But they're crucial when considering how climate warming might affect biodiversity.

Given that developing animals are generally more sensitive to heat, and telomeres function in similar way across species, our results could extend to many other birds and mammals. More research is needed to confirm this.

Male purple-crowned fairy-wren arrives at the nest to feed his young. Unless the birds can adapt to climate change, their populations may decline further. Credit: Niki Teunissen/AWC

What's next?

Keeping cool is also costly for parent birds. Like us, birds often seek out shade and become less active in extreme heat. Instead of sweating, they open their beaks to pant and spread their wings to cool off.

But these behaviors leave a parent bird with less time to forage, defend the nest or feed offspringactivities required for the population to survive. We are investigating whether this exacerbates the effects of telomere shortening.

Next, we plan to expand our research by measuring temperatures in and around the nest. We'll also study whether females are able to select cooler microsites to help their young better withstand climate warming, and investigate how this relates to habitat quality, management and threats.

Ultimately, we hope our research will inform the design of conservation strategies to climate-proof the future of this iconic Australian bird and others like it.

Explore further Extreme heat harms forest-dwelling bird chicks more than city ones

More information: Justin R. Eastwood et al, Hot and dry conditions predict shorter nestling telomeres in an endangered songbird: Implications for population persistence, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2122944119 , Justin R. Eastwood et al, Hot and dry conditions predict shorter nestling telomeres in an endangered songbird: Implications for population persistence,(2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2122944119 , www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2122944119

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
This series of images shows how astronomers find stellar streams by reversing the light and dark, similar to negative images. Color images of each of the nearby galaxies featured are included for context. Galaxies are surrounded by enormous halos of hot gas sprinkled with sporadic stars, seen as the shadowy regions that encase each galaxy here. Roman could improve on these observations by resolving individual stars to understand each stream's stellar populations and see stellar streams of various sizes in even more galaxies. Credit: Carlin et al. (2016), based on images from Martinez-Delgado et al. (2008, 2010)

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will study wispy streams of stars that extend far beyond the apparent edges of many galaxies. Missions like the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes would have to patch together hundreds of small images to see these structures around nearby galaxies in full. Roman will do so in a single snapshot. Astronomers will use these observations to explore how galaxies grow and the nature of dark matter.

Stellar streams look like ethereal strands of hair extending outward from some galaxies, peacefully drifting through space as part of the haloa spherical region surrounding a galaxy. But these stellar flyaways are signs of an ancient cosmic-scale drama that serve as fossil records of a galaxy's past. Studying them transforms astronomers into galactic archaeologists.

"Halos are mostly made from stars that were stripped away from other galaxies," said Tjitske Starkenburg, a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, who examined Roman's potential in this area. "Roman's wide, deep images will be sharp enough that we can resolve individual stars in other galaxies' halos, making it possible to study stellar streams in a large number of galaxies for the first time."

The team, led by Starkenburg, will share their results at the American Astronomical Society's 240th meeting in Pasadena, California, today.

Galactic cannibalism, stolen stars

Simulations support the theory that galaxies grow in part by gobbling up smaller groups of stars. A dwarf galaxy captured into orbit by a larger one becomes distorted by gravity. Its stars drizzle out, tracing arcs and loops around the larger galaxy until they ultimately become its newest members.

"As individual stars leak out of the dwarf galaxy and fall into the more massive one, they form long, thin streams that remain intact for billions of years," said Sarah Pearson, a Hubble postdoctoral fellow at New York University in New York City and the lead author of a separate study, also published in The Astrophysical Journal, about the mission's projected observations in this area. "So stellar streams hold secrets from the past and can illuminate billions of years of evolution."

This animation shows simulated stellar streams amid a realistic background of stars in the Andromeda galaxy (M31). Current observatories can't see faint individual stars in and around galaxies, so we can only see the biggest stellar streams and only when selecting the stellar stream-like stars in the image. Not only will Roman be able to image individual stars in nearby galaxies  with similar processing, stellar streams will appear even more prominent. Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, based on data from Pearson et al. (2019)

Astronomers have caught this cannibalistic process in the act using telescopes like ESA's (European Space Agency's) Gaia satellite, which is fine-tuned to measure the positions and motions of stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Roman will extend these observations by making similar measurements of stars in both the Milky Way and other galaxies.

The Milky Way is home to at least 70 stellar streams, meaning it has likely eaten at least 70 dwarf galaxies or globular star clustersgroups of hundreds of thousands of gravitationally bound stars. Roman's Milky Way images could allow astronomers to string together snapshots in time to show stars' movement. That will help us learn about what dark matterinvisible matter that we can only detect via its gravitational effects on visible objectsis made of.

One theory suggests dark matter is "cold," or made up of heavy, sluggish particles. If so, it should clump together within galaxy halos, which would disturb stellar streams in ways Roman could see. By either detecting or ruling out these distortions, Roman could narrow down the candidates for what dark matter could be made of.

Astronomers are also looking forward to studying stellar streams in several of the Milky Way's neighboring galaxies. They aren't well studied in other galaxies because they're so faint and far away. They're also so vast that they can wrap around an entire galaxy. It takes an unrivaled panoramic view like Roman's to capture images that are both large and detailed enough to see them.

Especially elusive stellar streams that formed when the Milky Way siphoned stars from globular star clusters have been detected before, but they've never been found in other galaxies. They're fainter because they contain fewer stars, which makes them much more difficult to spot in other, more distant galaxies.

Roman may detect them in several of our neighboring galaxies for the first time ever. The mission's wide, sharp, deep vision should even reveal individual stars in these enormous, dim structures. In a previous study published in The Astrophysical Journal Pearson led the development of an algorithm to systematically search for stellar streams originating from globular clusters in neighboring galaxies.

Starkenburg's new study adds to the picture by predicting that Roman should be able to detect dozens of streams in other galaxies that originated from dwarf galaxies, offering unprecedented insight into the way galaxies grow.

"It's exciting to learn more about our Milky Way, but if we truly want to understand galaxy formation and dark matter we need a larger sample size," Starkenburg said. "Studying stellar streams in other galaxies with Roman will help us see the bigger picture."

Explore further Ancient dwarf galaxy reconstructed with MilkyWay@home volunteer computer

More information: Sarah Pearson et al, The Hough Stream Spotter: A New Method for Detecting Linear Structure in Resolved Stars and Application to the Stellar Halo of M31, The Astrophysical Journal (2022). Sarah Pearson et al, The Hough Stream Spotter: A New Method for Detecting Linear Structure in Resolved Stars and Application to the Stellar Halo of M31,(2022). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac4496 Sarah Pearson et al, Detecting Thin Stellar Streams in External Galaxies: Resolved Stars and Integrated Light, The Astrophysical Journal (2019). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab3e06 Journal information: Astrophysical Journal
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Sea level rise poses a grave threat to salt marshes and other coastal wetlands along the North Carolina coast, according to a newly published study.

North Carolina and Louisiana are the only two states that could lose coastal wetlands under virtually any sea level rise scenario. The study was published in the journal Environment Research Communications.

"North Carolina may benefit a lot from different wetlands protection measures, but it also needs to prepare for a world with fewer wetlands and think about what that looks like," said Climate Central CEO and chief scientist Ben Strauss, who was one of the study's authors.

The Climate Central team produced a mapping tool that can show estimates for different sea level rise and land use scenarios. For example, if the world meets the 2015 Paris Agreement target of keeping global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and North Carolina fully develops its coast, Climate Central found it could lose about 40% of its coastal wetlands by 2070 and 62% by 2100. If North Carolina fully conserves its coastline under the same scenario, Climate Central estimates that it could increase wetlands 42% by 2070 and 41% by 2100.

North Carolina's 220,000 acres of salt marsh offer a wide variety of benefits from providing habitat for juvenile fish to taking the force out of waves during hurricanes. Salt marshes naturally migrate inland, but many have struggled to keep pace with quickly rising sea levels. And when a bulkhead or home is built alongside a marsh, that migration becomes impossible, dooming the ecosystem.

A McClatchy report last year found that there has been a 22% increase in developed land within a half mile of salt marshes across North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia since 1996. Since 2009, North Carolina regulators have approved about 3,300 permits for bulkheads.

The Climate Central study indicates that while wetlands up and down the North Carolina coast would be imperiled by sea level rise, the northeastern part of the state faces greater risk.

"Our analysis amounts to, simply don't develop lowlands adjacent to these wetlands," Strauss said. "That's all it is."

Letting salt marshes move

The findings come as little surprise to groups who have been working to preserve North Carolina's coastal wetlands. The Coastal Federation, for example, has long touted the benefits of living shorelinesmarsh sills that allow sediment to build up along the coastline in an effort to help salt marshes keep pace with rising seas.

Kerri Allen, a coastal advocate who manages the Federation's Wrightsville Beach office, said wetlands play a vital role in North Carolina's coastal economy.

"Without healthy wetlands we don't have healthy waterways, we don't have clean water, we don't have beaches that people want to come swim in," Allen said.

Allen agrees that purchasing large parcels of undeveloped land or placing conservation easements on targeted parcels could play a key role in wetlands preservation.

"That is really going to be an important tool in that toolbox," Allen said, "and really one that I think is not discussed as often as it should be when talking about sea level rise and climate change and our vulnerability here on the coast."

The Coastal Federation started such project in 1999 with the North River Wetlands Preserve. The 6,000-acre Carteret County tract was once a working farm, but wetlands across much of the land have been restored or preserved.

Pew Charitable Trusts has supported the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability's South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative. That effort, which launched in May 2021, has set out to conserve a million acres of salt marsh from North Carolina to Florida by working with a broad range of groups from the Department of Defense to the Gullah/Geechee Nation.

Leda Cunningham works on coastal issues for the Pew Charitable Trusts and is based in North Carolina. Cunningham said the state is an example of a place where it is important to not only consider and protect where marshes are today, but where they could be in the future.

The patchwork of interests that own land along and adjacent to the coast can make that difficult.

"Coastal communities really stand to gain by protecting their shorelines, especially with green infrastructure," Cunningham said. "This is about our own communities' survival."

Measuring salt marshes

Hannah Sirianni, an East Carolina University coastal geographer, has set out to measure wetlands, particularly around the Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge in Hyde County.

Sirianni expressed concern that the Climate Central study and maps do not reflect marsh elevation accurately enough to be used to guide local planning. The laser from the LiDAR measurement system used, Sirianni said, cannot penetrate wetlands' thick grasses and vegetation.

As part of her research, Sirianni trudged through the Swanquarter Refuge, a place where the vegetation can be so thick that it felt like she was walking on pads. By doing that, Sirianni and her team could put a rod onto the ground and check to see how accurate the laser measurement actually was.

Sirianni found that the laser measurements estimate elevation of North Carolina marshes up to 1.77 feet higher than they actually are in some places.

"We need to ground truth the data if we're going to use it for local decision making," Sirianni said.

Strauss, the Climate Central scientist, agrees. The mapping tool's best use, he said, is to toggle between locations and scenarios to get a general sense of the risk sea level rise poses to salt marshes.

If a place seems to have a serious threat, Strauss said, that could indicate that it is worth investing in a more site-specific study.

"It's more of a screening tool, screening analysis," Strauss said. "But with that in view, it clearly says North Carolina has a lot to be concerned about."

Explore further Wetlands will keep up with sea level rise to offset climate change

More information: Maya K Buchanan et al, Resilience of U.S. coastal wetlands to accelerating sea level rise, Environmental Research Communications (2022). Maya K Buchanan et al, Resilience of U.S. coastal wetlands to accelerating sea level rise,(2022). DOI: 10.1088/2515-7620/ac6eef

2022 The News & Observer. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The central part of the experiment in which the coherent matter waves are created. Fresh atoms (blue) fall in and make their way to the Bose-Einstein Condensate in the center. In reality, the atoms are not visible to the naked eye. Credit: Scixel.

Lasers produce coherent waves of light: All the light inside a laser vibrates completely in sync. Meanwhile, quantum mechanics tells us that particles like atoms should also be thought of as waves. As a result, we can build "atom lasers" containing coherent waves of matter. But can we make these matter waves last, so that they may be used in applications? In research that was published in Nature this week, a team of Amsterdam physicists shows that the answer to this question is affirmative.

Getting bosons to march in sync

The concept that underlies the atom laser is the so-called Bose-Einstein Condensate, or BEC for short. Elementary particles in nature occur in two types: fermions and bosons. Fermions are particles like electrons and quarksthe building blocks of the matter that we are made of. Bosons are very different in nature: they are not hard like fermions, but soft: for example, they can move through one another without a problem. The best-known example of a boson is the photon, the smallest possible quantity of light. But matter particles can also combine to form bosonsin fact, entire atoms can behave just like particles of light. What makes bosons so special is that they can all be in the exact same state at the exact same time, or phrased in more technical terms, they can "condense" into a coherent wave. When this type of condensation happens for matter particles, physicists call the resulting substance a Bose-Einstein Condensate.

In everyday life, we are not at all familiar with these condensates. The reason: it is very difficult to get atoms to all behave as one. The culprit destroying the synchronicity is temperaturewhen a substance heats up, the constituent particles start to jiggle around, and it becomes virtually impossible to get them to behave as one. Only at extremely low temperatures, about a millionth of a degree above absolute zero (about 273 degrees below zero on the Celsius scale), is there a chance of forming the coherent matter waves of a BEC.

Fleeting bursts

A quarter of a century ago, the first Bose-Einstein Condensates were created in physics labs. This opened up the possibility to build atom lasersdevices that literally output beams of matterbut these devices were only able to function for a very short time. The lasers could produce pulses of matter waves, but after sending out such a pulse, a new BEC had to be created before the next pulse could be sent out. For a first step towards an atom laser, this was still not bad. In fact, ordinary, optical lasers were also made in a pulsed variant before physicists were able to create continuous lasers. But while the developments for optical lasers had gone very fast, the first continuous laser being produced within six months after its pulsed counterpart, for atom lasers the continuous version remained elusive for more than 25 years.

It was clear what the problem was: BECs are very fragile, and are rapidly destroyed when light falls on them. Yet the presence of light is crucial in forming the condensate: to cool a substance down to a millionth of a degree, one needs to cool down its atoms using laser light. As a result, BECs were restricted to fleeting bursts, with no way to coherently sustain them.

A Christmas present

A team of physicists from the University of Amsterdam has now managed to solve the difficult problem of creating a continuous Bose-Einstein Condensate. Florian Schreck, the team leader, explains what the trick was. "In previous experiments, the gradual cooling of atoms was all done in one place. In our setup, we decided to spread the cooling steps not over time, but in space: we make the atoms move while they progress through consecutive cooling steps. In the end, ultracold atoms arrive at the heart of the experiment, where they can be used to form coherent matter waves in a BEC. But while these atoms are being used, new atoms are already on their way to replenish the BEC. In this way we can keep the process goingessentially forever."

While the underlying idea was relatively simple, carrying it out was certainly not. Chun-Chia Chen, first author of the publication in Nature, recalls: "Already in 2012, the teamthen still in Innsbruckrealized a technique that allowed a BEC to be protected from laser cooling light, enabling for the first time laser cooling all the way down to the degenerate state needed for coherent waves. While this was a critical first step towards the long-held challenge of constructing a continuous atom laser, it was also clear that a dedicated machine would be needed to take it further. On moving to Amsterdam in 2013, we began with a leap of faith, borrowed funds, an empty room and a team entirely funded by personal grants. Six years later, in the early hours of Christmas morning 2019, the experiment was finally on the verge of working. We had the idea of adding an extra laser beam to solve a last technical difficulty, and instantly every image we took showed a BEC, the first continuous-wave BEC."

Having tackled the long-standing open problem of creating a continuous Bose-Einstein Condensate, the researchers have now set their minds on the next goal: using the laser to create a stable output beam of matter. Once their lasers can not only operate forever but can also produce stable beams, nothing stands in the way of technical applications anymore, and matter lasers may start to play an equally important role in technology as ordinary lasers currently do.

Explore further Laser cooling for quantum gases

More information: Chun-Chia Chen et al, Continuous BoseEinstein condensation, Nature (2022). Journal information: Nature Chun-Chia Chen et al, Continuous BoseEinstein condensation,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04731-z
Ghost forestsareas of trees recently killed by rising saltwaterare a clear sign of sea-level rise and marsh migration into rural land. Credit: Dr. Matt Kirwan/VIMS

It's hotly debated whether coastal wetlands can survive sea-level rise by migrating inland. A new analysis using highly detailed elevation maps of the Chesapeake Bay region shows thatcontrary to previous studieshuman barriers will do little to slow this marsh migration. Instead, extensive areas of low-lying rural land will allow coastal marshes to persist or even expand as salty water creeps upward into what are now forests and farmland.

Lead author Grace Molino, a Ph.D. student at William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science, says, "The numbers are striking. Baywide, we expect more than 600 square miles of inundated land in the Chesapeake region by 2100." That is four times the area that has converted to marshland in the Bay region since historical observations began in the 1840s, and more than 75% will be ruralmainly forests, forested wetlands, and farm fields.

Joining Molino on the study, which appears in the latest issue of Limnology and Oceanography Letters, are VIMS professor Dr. Matt Kirwan and U.S. Geological Survey researchers Joel Carr of the Eastern Ecological Science Center and Neil Ganju of the Woods Hole Science Center.

"As far as I know, this is the first projection of inundated land in the Bay area, and one of the few and most high-resolution predictions in the U.S." says Kirwan. "Our analysis shows that marsh migration is constrained more by natural topography than by human development."

The authors stress that their findings apply not just to the mid-Atlantic region, as similar land-use patterns occur all along the U.S. coastline. "Our data suggests that rural coasts will bear the brunt of sea-level rise nationwide," says Kirwan.

The team's study paints the Chesapeake region and North American coastal plain as global outliers in terms of saltmarsh resilience to sea-level rise, with the more urbanized coasts of Europe and Asia more likely to experience "coastal squeeze." This is the loss of coastal wetlands as rising saltwater floods and erodes their seaward edge while natural or human barriers block their landward migration.

Says Kirwan, "Despite a perception that urban centers will block marsh migration, our predictions suggest that the most vulnerable land in the Chesapeake Bay remains largely undeveloped, even in what are typically thought of as urban watersheds."

"We found that developed lands generally occupy less than 10% of predicted migration areas within individual watersheds, even under our high scenarios of sea-level rise," adds Molino, "despite more extensive development in the watershed overall."

For example, the Elizabeth River is one of the most highly developed watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay and the U.S., with its three branches cutting through the metropolitan areas of Norfolk and Portsmouth in southeast Virginia. Yet developed surfaces occupy only 16% of the potential marsh-migration area under 1 meter of sea-level rise, compared to 31% of developed land across the entire watershed.

The Elizabeth River is one of the most highly developed watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay and U.S.; yet developed surfaces occupy only 16% of the potential marsh-migration area under 1 meter of sea-level rise. Credit: David Malmquist/VIMS

The Bay's other major urban areasHampton, Virginia; Annapolis, Maryland; and Baltimore, Marylandlie in more elevated watersheds with only small areas of potential marsh migration.

The good news from the study is that the abundance of low-lying forests and farmland in the Chesapeake Bay area and North America more generally will largely preclude coastal squeeze expected to curtail saltmarsh area in other, more urbanized regions of the world's coast.

The challenge for North American landowners and governments will be to equitably manage the conversion of what is now mostly privately owned, income-producing rural uplands into coastal wetland habitats whose value lies mainly in providing publicly valued ecosystem services such as flood protection and the nurture of fish and bird populations.

Analysis

The team began their analysis by using more than 200,000 GIS data points to map the present-day boundary between forest and marsh around the Bay. They then recorded the height of each point relative to sea level using an extremely detailed elevation model from the U.S. Geological Survey. Their next step was to use these data points to calculate a median "threshold elevation" for each of 81 watersheds surrounding Chesapeake Bay.

Akin to a bathtub ring, the threshold elevation integrates the mix of tidal range and salinity that has advanced the marsh-migration front to its current height and lateral position within each watershed segment. These threshold elevations vary by a factor of 5 across the 81 watersheds, from 0.2 to 1.05 meters (0.65-3.4 feet). The boundary extends farthest inland in low-lying watersheds bordered by salty waters with a high tidal range. Regular inundation by saltwater is the main factor that converts farmlands and forests into saltmarsh.

Using the same high-resolution USGS map, the team then added increments of sea-level rise out to 2100 based on projections by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationincluding low (0.5 m or 1.6 feet), intermediate (1 m or 3.3 ft), and high (2.5 m or 8.2 ft) scenarios. They then measured the area of land within each watershed that would be flooded under each sea-level-rise scenario, and determined whether it is currently covered by forest, forested wetlands, turf grass, farm fields, or developed surfaces such as roads, parking lots, and buildings.

As expected, these "potential marsh migration areas" will increase over the coming decades and with the magnitude of sea-level rise, from 405 square miles by 2100 under their low scenario to 1,447 square miles under their high scenario.

What was unexpected within the increasingly developed Chesapeake Bay watershed is that the marsh-migration areas are dominated by upland and wetland forests, not urban or suburban land.

More information: Grace D. Molino et al, Variability in marsh migration potential determined by topographic rather than anthropogenic constraints in the Chesapeake Bay region, Limnology and Oceanography Letters (2022). Grace D. Molino et al, Variability in marsh migration potential determined by topographic rather than anthropogenic constraints in the Chesapeake Bay region,(2022). DOI: 10.1002/lol2.10262
This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows an overview of launch pad activity at Imam Khomeini Space Center southeast of Semnan, Iran on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program. The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Irans rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit. Credit: Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies via AP

Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program.

The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit.

One set of images showed a rocket on a transporter, preparing to be lifted and put on a launch tower. A later image Tuesday afternoon showed the rocket apparently on the tower.

Iran did not acknowledge a forthcoming launch at the spaceport and its mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, its state-run IRNA news agency in May said that Iran likely would have seven homemade satellites ready for launch by the end of the Persian calendar year in March 2023. A Defense Ministry official also recently suggested Iran soon could test its new solid-fueled, satellite-carrying rocket called the Zuljanah.

It wasn't clear when the launch would take place, though erecting a rocket typically means a launch is imminent. NASA fire satellites, which detect flashes of light from space, did not immediately see any activity over the site late Tuesday night.

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows vehicles at the checkout building at Imam Khomeini Space Center southeast of Semnan, Iran on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program. The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Irans rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit. Credit: Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies via AP

Asked about the preparations, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington that the U.S. urges Iran to de-escalate the situation.

"Iran has consistently chosen to escalate tensions. It is Iran that has consistently chosen to take provocative actions," Price said.

A Pentagon spokesman, U.S. Army Maj. Rob Lodewick, said the American military "will continue to closely monitor Iran's pursuit of viable space launch technology and how it may relate to advancements in its overall ballistic missile program."

"Iranian aggression, to include the demonstrated threat posed by its various missile programs, continues to be a top concern for our forces in the region," Lodewick said.

Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. The program has seen recent troubles, however. There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, a type of satellite-carrying rocket. A fire at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in February 2019 also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time.

The launch pad used in Tuesday's preparations remains scarred from an explosion in August 2019 that even drew the attention of then-President Donald Trump. He later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure. Satellite images from February suggested a failed Zuljanah launch earlier this year, though Iran did not acknowledge it.

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows a rocket erected at a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program. The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Irans rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit. Credit: Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies via AP

The successive failures raised suspicion of outside interference in Iran's program, something Trump himself hinted at by tweeting at the time that the U.S. "was not involved in the catastrophic accident." There's been no evidence offered, however, to show foul play in any of the failures, and space launches remain challenging even for the world's most successful programs.

Meanwhile, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in April 2020 revealed its own secret space program by successfully launching a satellite into orbit. The Guard launched another satellite this March at another site in Semnan province, just east of the Iranian capital of Tehran.

Judging from the launch pad used, Iran likely is preparing for the Zuljanah test launch, said John Krzyzaniak, a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Krzyzaniak earlier this week suggested a launch was imminent based on activity at the site.

The rocket's name, Zuljanah, comes from the horse of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Iranian state television aired footage of a successful Zuljanah launch in February 2021.

The launch preparations also come as the Guard reportedly saw one of its soldiers "martyred" in Semnan province under unclear circumstances over the weekend. Iran's Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Ministry, however, later claimed the man worked for it.

The United States has alleged that Iran's satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution and has called on Tehran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The U.S. intelligence community's 2022 threat assessment, published in March, claims such a satellite launch vehicle "shortens the timeline" to an intercontinental ballistic missile for Iran as it uses "similar technologies."

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows a rocket preparing to be erected at a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Space Center southeast of Semnan, Iran on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program. The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Irans rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit. Credit: Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies via AP

Iran, which has long said it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously maintained that its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Iran abandoned an organized military nuclear program in 2003.

However, Iran's likely preparations for a launch come as tensions have been heightened in recent days over Tehran's nuclear program. Iran now says it will remove 27 IAEA surveillance cameras from its nuclear sites as it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

Both Iran and the U.S. insist they are willing to re-enter Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw the Islamic Republic drastically curb its enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018, setting in motion a series of attacks and confrontations beginning in 2019 that continue today into the administration of President Joe Biden.

Talks in Vienna about reviving the deal have been on a "pause" since March.

Building a nuclear bomb would still take Iran more time if it pursued a weapon, analysts say, though they warn Tehran's advances make the program more dangerous. Israel has threatened in the past that it would carry out a preemptive strike to stop Iranand already is suspected in a series of recent killings targeting Iranian officials.

Explore further Iranian state TV says Tehran launched rocket into space

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Within the same species of butterfly many different wing patterns can occur. How is this possible? According to researchers Ben Wielstra and Emma Berdan, of the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), the answer lies within supergenes. A supergene is a part of a chromosome that contains many strongly linked genes. Together, these genes form the basis for complex traits in plants and animals.

"The idea of supergenes is relatively old. Only now, with today's modern DNA techniques, we can properly map them. Recently it has become clear that supergenes are much more common than previously thought," says Wielstra. On the 13th of June, Wielstra and postdoc Emma Berdan will publish a special issue on supergenes in the scientific journal the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

What are supergenes?

"Supergenes are parts of chromosomes that contain several genes which are inherited as a whole," explains Wielstra. What makes supergenes remarkable is the absence of recombination. Recombination is the shuffling of the genetic information of two parents so that offspring are provided with a unique set of chromosomes. "Because there is no recombination within supergenes, all genes within it evolve together as one unit. This allows different versions of supergenes to arise within a species, leading to major differences in appearance and behavior."

Supergenes can arise in different ways. "There are areas in the genome where recombination naturally occurs less frequently. At the same time, recombination can also be stopped, when, for example, the structure of the genome changes." A well-known example of this is an inversion. Part of the chromosome breaks off and is reversed, so that the order of the genes no longer corresponds to the original. Recombination is then no longer possible.

The ruff as an example

The presence of supergenes leads to more variation within a species. "My favorite example is the ruff. In these birds, supergenes ensure that males either have dark or white feathers around their heads. There are also males who do not develop a feather collar at all and look like females. These three types of male ruffs not only differ from each other in appearance, but they also behave differently during the mating season," says Wielstra.

Does this provide an evolutionary advantage?

"Sometimes. On the one hand, variation within a species is useful. It allows species to switch between different survival strategies," explains Wielstra. According to him, supergenes can facilitate this process. But not without a price. "Without recombination, harmful mutations can quickly accumulate." In the crested newt, which Wielstra and Berdan have researched, the accumulation of mutations in one supergene has resulted in half of the salamander eggs being unviable. "This supergene can be viewed as a very extreme example of a hereditary disease," says Wielstra.

'Supergenes are hot'

By studying the evolution of supergenes, researchers hope to gain more insight into the origin of hereditary diseases. Also in people. "Supergenes are hot. More research is being done on this topic than ever before. Therefore we continue to find more and more examples where large differences in behavior and appearance are influenced by a single supergene." With the special issue on supergenes, Wielstra and Berdan hope to provide a good overview of the current state of research in this field. Wielstra says, "We now know that supergenes frequently occur. The next step is to find out how they arise exactly."

Explore further The evolutionary fates of supergenes unmasked

More information: Emma L. Berdan et al, Genomic architecture of supergenes: connecting form and function, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2022). Emma L. Berdan et al, Genomic architecture of supergenes: connecting form and function,(2022). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0192
LAKE GEORGE  Community members are grieving after the death of an 8-year-old boy and a 38-year-old man who were killed by a speeding motorcycle as they stood along the Warren County Bikeway near Route 9 on Sunday.

The motorcycle struck a group of six pedestrians on Sunday afternoon near the Lake George Expedition Park, killing James A. Persons and Quinton Delgadillo, both of Lake George.

Delgadillo was a third grader at Lake George Elementary School, and he was described as well-liked, super polite, and loved by all by the schools principal, James Conway.

Conway added, He was a good friend to all of his classmates.

Village of Lake George Mayor Robert Blais said a permanent memorial at the crash site is planned.

Were going to craft something in the workshop to place at the site as a memorial. The villages street foremans son was best friends with the 8-year-old victim, Blais said Monday.

He (the foreman) said to me: My son will be sitting in class today next to his friends empty desk, Blais said.

Douglas Huntley, superintendent of schools in Lake George, wrote in a statement that counselors will be on hand for students and staff in need of support on Monday morning.

I encourage parents and guardians to talk with your children about this tragedy. Discussing thoughts and feelings about this situation is important in helping your child work through her or his grief, shock, confusion and sadness, the superintendent wrote.

A preliminary investigation determined that the operator of the motorcycle, Anthony J. Futia, 33, of Albany, was heading north on Route 9 at a high rate of speed when his motorcycle went off the east shoulder of the road and onto a section of the Warren County Bikeway, striking pedestrians who were standing at the entrance to the bike path.

Futia suffered life-threatening injuries and was in critical condition at Albany Medical Center on Sunday night, while a third pedestrian, Jasmine Luellen, 30, of Lake George, was transported to Albany Medical Center and was in stable condition Sunday night, police said. State police, who are heading the investigation, said as of Monday afternoon that conditions remain the same at last check, and that the investigation is ongoing.

This tragedy came at the tail end of two multi-day motorcycle rallies in the area  the annual Americade motorcycle rally and the annual Warrensburg Bike Rally.

Blais said he was not certain if the tragedy would have an effect on the bike events in the area.

Were grateful to have Americade, but of course it is terrible when a tragedy like this happens at the end. If youre not from around here, you assume that just because he was a motorcyclist, he had a connection to Americade. Its a real tragedy to end one of our best weekends of the year like this, he said.

Christian Dutcher, vice president and organizer of Americade, said he is shocked and angry that such a tragedy happened.

Americade week ended on Saturday. Lake George is just about a ghost town the next day after the events ends, Dutcher said, adding that most if not all the bikers leave town a day after the event.

Dutcher said that the motorcyclist who struck the pedestrians was not a registered Americade participant.

Warren County officials released a statement, saying the county Department of Public Works will review safety measures in that area of the Warren County Bikeway as is done whenever there is a serious incident on county-owned infrastructure.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors offers its deepest condolences to those involved in Sundays terrible tragedy in Lake George and their families. We thank our first responders and law enforcement agencies for their efforts to assist the victims at the scene, the news release stated.

It is a tragedy and our hearts go out to the family, Lake George Town Supervisor Dennis Dickinson said in a statement.

Drew Wardle is a reporter for The Post-Star. You can contact him at 518-681-7343 or email him at dwardle@poststar.com.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 5 Sad 26 Angry 11

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
State Sen. Daphne Jordan, R-Halfmoon, has effectively ended her re-election campaign that was complicated by legislative redistricting.

Jordan announced Tuesday that she has made the decision to not actively campaign in Republican and Conservative primaries against fellow incumbent James Tedisco, R-Glenville.

I just dont want to be part of this atmosphere, this charade. Thats not what Im all about, she said in a telephone interview later on Tuesday.

Jordan said she is not endorsing Tedisco specifically by name.

What I will tell people is to vote Republican. Thats basically my message, she said.

Tedisco said it is important for Republicans and Conservatives to come together in unity behind his candidacy.

We cant let the Empire State become the Empty State, he said. I love New York and Im sad that one-party rule in state government has created the present agenda where people want to leave New York.

Under state election law, Jordans name will still be on Republican and Conservative primary ballots.

Jordan said she was not forced from the race by political pressure.

Everyone that knows me knows that I am, and always have been, a hard worker and a team player, she said in a news release. I want to be perfectly clear: My not moving forward for the primaries was my decision and mine alone. I was not prompted by anyone except my family.

Jordan is not leaving the race without a fight.

I detest the circus atmosphere that Jim Tedisco has caused by moving into my Senate District and his putting self-interest first in seeking a seat from a fellow Republican whom he once called a friend, Jordan stated. I want no part of this sideshow. Im not going to play a political game that would be destructive, divisive, and undermine the principles that I care deeply about.

Jordan criticized Tedisco for recently marching in a parade that he was not invited to.

Tedisco, on the other hand, had kind words for Jordan.

I want to thank Senator Daphne Jordan so much for her dedicated public service, he said. Senator Jordan and I have similar philosophies that the role of government should be to remove obstacles for people so they can be everything they can be with the God-given talents theyve been given and then it (government) should get out of the way.

Tedisco, who is moving from Glenville, just outside the new 44th Senate District, to run, has said he is doing so to continue to represent much of the geography that he has represented for six years, before redistricting.

Tedisco currently represents 15 of the municipalities in the new district, and Jordan nine.

This was never personal for me. It was about providing the highest level of constituent service and being a strong voice for the people of Saratoga and Schenectady counties, Tedisco said in the news release on Tuesday. I know the people of Saratoga and Schenectady counties well and they know me. I understand their concerns and Ill stand up and fight for them as Ive always done.

The new 44th District includes all of Saratoga County and the city of Schenectady and town of Niskayuna in Schenectady counties.

The Saratoga County and Schenectady County Republican committees had endorsed Tedisco, while the state Conservative Party had endorsed Jordan.

Prominent Republicans including state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, former state Sen. Kathy Marchione, R-Halfmoon, former U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, and Republican congressional candidate Liz Lemery Joy of Schenectady, had endorsed Jordan.

Faso said in a telephone interview that it is unfortunate that redistricting set up a contest between Jordan and Tedisco.

Daphne, who I greatly admire, has decided to withdraw, so I certainly will be supporting Jim Tedisco for Senate, he said.

Bill OReilly, a spokesman for the state Conservative Party said: The state Conservative Party has an issue with Senator Tediscos choice, but the local party will, nonetheless, do everything in its power to help his run.

Jordan, who is concluding her second two-year term in the Senate, said it has been the honor of my lifetime to be a legislator.

I am forever grateful to voters for their years of trust, confidence, support and friendship, she said.

Jordan said in the coming months she will actively support Republican state Senate candidates in Washington, Rensselaer and Columbia counties  counties that she now represents portions of.

She already campaigned in Columbia County on Saturday on behalf of state Sen. Sue Serino, R-Hyde Park.

Jordan said that whatever is left in her campaign fund will be transferred to other Republican candidates and committees.

Tedisco is completing his third two-year term in the Senate.

He previously served 13 terms in the state Assembly.

The Democratic candidate is Michelle Ostrelich, a Schenectady County legislator from Niskayuna.

Ostrelich issued a statement responding to Jordan ending her campaign.

I am running for NYS Senate because the people of the newly drawn 44th District are ready for change. They want the kind of representation they can be proud of, the kind of representation that reflects their values, the kind of representation that respects the diversity that is this district, she said. Saratoga and Schenectady counties are now Democratic majorities. Our campaign is ready. And I look forward to November.

Maury Thompson covered local government and politics for The Post-Star for 21 years before he retired in 2017. He continues to follow regional politics as a freelance writer.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  A student teacher recognized by the state Department of Education credits her mentor at Southern Regional High School for the accomplishment, preparing her for when she has her own classroom someday.

She (Kathleen Cornelius) has truly inspired me to continue to learn and reflect on my work so that I can be the best teacher that I can be for my students, said Jalynn Pagano, who graduated summa cum laude in May from Stockton University with a bachelors degree in math.

Pagano, of Bayville, Ocean County, was one of 15 student teachers honored last Wednesday during the New Jersey Distinguished Clinical Intern of the Year ceremony, part of a collaborative program between the New Jersey Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the Department of Education.

The program highlights top graduates at New Jerseys 25 colleges and universities preparing to become teachers. Each school, since 1985, delegates its top three student teachers, and 15 are chosen by an independent board of educators and named distinguished clinical interns, Stockton said Tuesday.

The universitys other nominees this year were Erin Flynn, of Beach Haven Crest on Long Beach Island, and Chelsea Williams, of Millville.

Flynn earned her certification in early childhood education and worked with mentor Katelyn Micek, a second-grade teacher at the Beach Haven School. Williams worked at the Fairfield Township School to earn her certification in elementary education. Her mentor was Shawna Beals-Rivera, a 2005 Stockton graduate, who also earned her masters degree in Holocaust and genocide studies from the university in 2009.

We are extremely proud of Jalynn and all of our nominees, said Claudine Keenan, Stocktons dean of the School of Education. This is a very competitive achievement, as it also includes graduate education students. This continues to be a challenging time for educators, and we appreciate the dedication of our student teachers, their teaching mentors and our partner school districts in helping guide the next generation of educators.

Cornelius adored having a true math geek instruct her students. Pagano said the Southern Regional teacher exemplified the importance of building relationships with students and supporting them inside and outside the classroom, something Pagano may not have learned until she was given control of the chalkboard.

I won the lottery when Jalynn was assigned to me, Cornelius said. She is enthusiastic, driven, smart, responsible, professional and most important  she cares deeply about kids and their educational experience.

Contact Eric Conklin: 609-272-7261 econklin@pressofac.com Twitter @ACPressConklin

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Meteorologist

It's great to forecast for you in N.J., where I was born and raised. I earned my degree from Rutgers and have been at The Press since Fall 2017. I'm honored to be a 10 time N.J. Press Association award winner and a South Jersey "Top 40 Under 40".
In Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy  John le Carres classic novel about the hunt for a traitor near the top of British Intelligence  the hero, George Smiley, tells a colleague that the art of being a mole is to be one of a crowd. The greater the number of suspects, the smaller the possibility of being caught. Smiley is hauled from retirement to conduct some quiet detective work precisely because the alternative is a massive investigation that would disrupt and perhaps destroy the very institution its designed to protect.

Thats the territory the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to enter. According to news reports, the search for the leaker of Justice Samuel Alitos proposed abortion opinion has led to demands that law clerks sign affidavits under penalty of perjury and allow inspection of their cell phone records. A sitting federal judge has joined the loud clamor for a criminal investigation.

This isnt shattered trust; its self-immolation.

And all because the leaker, described by some as a hero, prefers to remain hidden in the crowd.

With some law clerks reportedly seeking legal counsel, one can well imagine a course of events that ends in litigation, after a clerk who refuses to turn over cell phone data is fired, then sues for wrongful termination. (Key query for another day: Would the justices recuse themselves from the lawsuit?)

To be sure, internal investigations are a commonplace of our era. In some fields of endeavor, theyve become sufficiently ubiquitous that the psychological literature includes advice on how to survive the process. And when it comes to leaks from the judicial branches, investigations are not new.

In 1938, for example, the Philadelphia Inquirer published a story predicting, correctly, that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was about to strike down several new state laws restricting grand jury investigations. The furious justices interrogated the city editor, who implausibly explained that he had no sources inside the court and had based his prediction on the oral argument and a study of recent decisions.

In 1939, an incensed Illinois judge demanded to know why a prisoner hed ordered released, one Raymond Scott, had been rearrested. He was told that the attorney generals office had received a tip that the Illinois Supreme Court was about to overturn the order and send the defendant back to jail. Thus, the prosecutor explained, we moved to get Scott before he could flee. The judge announced that he would undertake an investigation into how word of a pending decision got to the attorney generals office. History does not record the result, but it is surely worth noting that the tip turned out to be wrong.

As everyones been pointing out, the Supreme Court has hardly been exempt from worry over leaks. A 1919 leak of a pending railroad decision led to profiteering in the stock market, and criminal charges.

But the justices have often used more discretion in responding. A 1935 Washington Post piece about the justices penchant for secrecy refers to a past incident in which, when a leak was suspected, the court quietly disposed of the matter by internal investigation.

Since the leak of Justice Alitos proposed opinion, many outlets have run stories reminding us that the result in Roe itself leaked back in 1973, in an issue of Time magazine that hit the stands shortly before the decision was handed down. Then, too, there was talk among the justices of an internal investigation, perhaps even including lie detector tests. Then, too, there were fears that so intrusive a hunt would shake the foundations of the very institution it was supposed to protect.

But we should also remember the denouement. The law clerk in question, appalled at the potential damage to the institution, bravely came forward. He confessed to his boss, Justice Lewis Powell, and offered to resign. Powell forgave his clerk, but sent him to see Chief Justice Warren Burger. Burger gave the young man a stern talking-to and sent him about his business.

Perhaps the leaker of Alitos opinion possesses sufficient nobility to publicly admit culpability, and so avoid further damage to the trust that the institution requires. Else the momentum of investigation might prove unstoppable. Perhaps the leaker is too much a coward; or too much a careerist. But those of us who even in this day and age still admire the Supreme Court must hope that rather than hide in the crowd like Smileys mole, the leaker will decide that the time has arrived to come in from the cold.

Stephen L. Carter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and a professor of law at Yale University.
Powered by love, Avram Yushan dedicated his life to the care of others. Life hasnt been easy for Avram, but it has been full of joy. After graduating college with a degree in criminal justice, Avram put his career aspirations on hold to take care of his ailing parents. He would then become the primary caregiver for his three incredible children. However, now Avram needs your help. He is in desperate need of a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, no one in Avrams family is a match, so he is reaching out to the public in hopes of finding someone willing to donate the gift of life to Avram.

Avram was born in Romania. He grew up on his grandmothers farm in the foothills of Draculas Castle. Avrams parents left for Israel when he was just a toddler, but due to a twist of fate, they ended up in the United States. It proved much more complicated than anticipated for Avrams parents to secure a Visa for him to join them, so he remained in Romania with his grandmother. Avram was not allowed to attend school in Romania because his parents did not live there. As a child, he spent his days milking cows and doing chores with his grandmother.

After ten years of relentless attempts to bring Avram to the states, his case won the attention of Senator Alfonso Damato. He personally went to Romania to bring Avram to his parents. I landed in the biggest city Id ever seen. I remember spending days just walking around looking at all the big buildings. I also remember calling my parents Sir and Madam for quite a while because we had been separated for ten years, Avram says. He eventually adjusted to this immense change, bonded with his parents, enrolled in school, and thrived. Avram went on to attend John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.

Sadly, following his graduation from college, Avrams parents were both very ill. I didnt pursue my dream job of becoming a detective because I wanted to take care of my parents. Not just because they were my parents but because they were my best friends. I miss them so very much, Avram says. For nearly two decades, he cared for his ill parents. But, following their passing, he was more than just sad he was alone. At the behest of a friend, Avram traveled to England to go on a blind date. It was love at first sight. Avram returned to the United States and immediately filed the paperwork to bring his soon-to-be wife, Reny, to America. Avram put Reny through college. Shes incredible. She passed her nursing exam on the first try and is an intensive care nurse at one of the areas major hospitals, Avram says.

Together Avram and Reny have three children, two daughters, and a son. They are all honor-roll students and athletes. My son plays the violin, and all three are swimmers. Theyve traveled all over the U.S. for competitions and have won many medals, Avram says. Avram was their primary caregiver from when they were born till January of this year. I loved taking them to school and sports. I loved cleaning the house, doing laundry, and cooking. I truly enjoyed the simple things. Since I collapsed in January, that all changed, I cant do any of it anymore. Im on dialysis. I cant drive. I just want to be the one taking care of them again, Avram says.

In January of 2022, Avram unexpectedly collapsed. He spent a month in the hospital and left on dialysis. Since 2003, Avram has known that he inherited polycystic kidney disease from his mother but was managing it. I had hoped that it was something Id be able to continue to live with, Avram says. Hed taken care of his mother for many years and had a deep understanding of this disease.

My mom died at only 62-years-old. It was heart-breaking. I want to be here for my kids. I want to see them graduate college and get married. Please consider donating a kidney if you can or spreading the word. I am looking for a living donor, so I can return to a normal life. I am asking this of both friends and strangers because I have no immediate family that are a match. I have tried searching for donors through all types of media but so far, have not had any luck. Living donor transplants generally have better outcomes and can be arranged at a time convenient for both parties. No waiting and wondering while my body continues to weaken. I have Type A+ blood. Even if you do not have the same blood type, you can donate as part of a paired exchange program. If you choose to be a non-anonymous donor, I am sure we will be lifelong friends, Avram says.

If you or someone you know is interested in giving the gift of life and becoming a living kidney donor for Avram Yushan contact the Organ Transplant Coordination Department at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital at 856-757-3500.

If you want more to have someone reach out to you go to bit.ly/AvramYushan
WHAT WE KNOW: The Colona Fire Department, like other fire departments around the country, is having trouble attracting volunteer firefighters who can work during the daytime shifts.

WHAT'S NEW: The Colona fire district is putting a question on the June 28 ballot for a rescue tax that would generate less than $40 per year on a home with a market value of $100,000. Fire Chief John Swan spoke to the City Council on Monday about the referendum, saying the department has solid finances and is replacing a 30-year-old firetruck this year and looking at replacing a 33-year-old truck. The proceeds of the rescue tax would be used to hire two firefighters to be paid to work full-time for $15 or $16 per hour during the daytime. He said the department is pushing 1,000 calls this year, of which 80% are rescue calls. He said the department had had the same levy for over 40 years and by rights should have a rescue tax supporting the department.

"We're hoping to get the support of the community behind us," he said. "We're in fear that we're going to start missing some calls." He said Colona was getting a great deal on ambulance service at a levy of $.075 compared with other communities' $.30 or $.40 because it is subsidized by Genesis. Swan noted the same rescue tax was shot down by voters two years ago during COVID restrictions when firefighters could not get before groups to inform people about it, and he hopes that this time things will be different.

WHAT'S NEXT: Public Works Director Mike Stephens said the outside consultant would look at the sludge press at the sewer treatment plant that failed earlier this year. Colona is having to fly someone in from Georgia to look at the press on June 21 at a cost of nearly $7,000. "Hopefully he can diagnose something and get the sludge machine working," Stephens said.

Stephens has one estimate of $90,000 to remove 80 trees at Colona's Scott Family Park since one tree fell on a campsite in May. He said over 40 of those trees were identified as being "super bad" threats to safety at the resort. He will continue getting estimates from tree contractors.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  Dozens of residents in a small New Mexico community impacted by massive wildfires that merged in April are suing the U.S. Forest Service over what they called a failure to provide information about the government's role in starting the blazes.

The Forest Service has acknowledged that two prescribed burns it set to clear out brush and small trees that can serve as wildfire fuel sparked two blazes that came together as the largest in New Mexico's recorded history and the biggest burning in the U.S. right now.

The wildfire has charred 500 square miles (1,295 square kilometers) in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, which sits at the southern edge of the Rocky Mountains. Several hundred homes have been destroyed.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque on behalf of 50 Mora County residents, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

It asks the court to declare that the Forest Service improperly withheld planning documents for the burns, agreements or contracts with anyone who helped carry out the burns and information on the rules and regulations that govern the prescribed burns.

Without the information, the lawsuit alleges, the residents cannot determine the Forest Service's responsibility  other than media accounts  for starting the fire."

The Forest Service told the Santa Fe New Mexican that it does not comment on pending litigation. The agency has said unexpected, erratic winds during one prescribed burn carried embers outside the targeted area. The other wildfire emerged from a burn set on a pile of dead vegetation in January that smoldered for weeks, even under snow.

The agency has put a hold on prescribed burns nationwide pending its own investigation.

President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit New Mexico on Saturday for a briefing about the wildfires and recovery efforts.

Another wildfire in southwestern New Mexico has burned 466 square miles (1,206 square kilometers), prompting New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to declare an emergency for Sierra County on Friday.

The declaration came as the fire grew to become the second largest wildfire in state history. The governor's office said it's now burning beyond the boundaries of the Gila National Forest, affecting communities and requiring evacuations.

Also Friday, crews of about 200 firefighters were scrambling to try and contain a small fire in northern New Mexico near El Rito that sent up a tall, dense plume of smoke. No structures were threatened, with the cause under investigation.

In northern New Mexico, Mora County residents said they requested documents from the Forest Service on May 4 about the fire in northern New Mexico, but that the agency failed to respond within 20 working days as required under the law. The lawsuit also seeks attorneys' fees.

Herman Lujan, 80, his brother and nephew are among the Mora County residents who are suing. Lujan's home was spared, but he said he has 30 hungry cattle that he might have to sell because they can't graze in a burned pasture his family has used for generations.

Everything burned, he said. Timber, everything. I even had an old dozer up there to make ponds for the cows, and everything burned.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Bettendorf now faces a federal lawsuit because of the fatal May collision on the pedestrian walkway of the Interstate 74 bridge.

Three men were struck by a vehicle at about 2 a.m. May 22 as they stood on the bridges pedestrian pathway. Ethan Gonzalez, 21, was killed at the scene. Anthony M. Castaneda, 18, of Moline, died of his injuries a few days later. At last report, Charles Bowen, 22, was in critical condition.

The suit was filed by Chicago attorney Devon C. Bruce in the U.S. District Courts northern district of Illinois on behalf of Anthony Castanedas parents Michele and Manuel Castaneda, according to court records. They are listed as the administrators of the estate of Anthony Castaneda.

The plaintiffs argue Anthony Castanedas death was the result of the citys negligence and they are seeking damages in excess of $75,000, according to court records. The city is the only defendant listed.

The city spent municipal funds to design, build and open the walkway, the suit states. Bettendorf participated in the design and construction and controlled the entrance and opening date of the walkway.

On or around April 28, the city chose to open the walkway, the suit states.

The suit also states that Decker Ploehn, Bettendorfs city administrator, said the Iowa Department of Transportation wanted to delay the opening, but both Bettendorf and Moline wanted it open to the public.

At the opening, the walkway had no bollards or other barriers in place to prevent access by vehicles, the suit states.

The complaint against Bettendorf was filed on Tuesday. The next court date for the suit was not listed in court records.

The Rock Island County States Attorneys Office has charged the driver, Chhabria A. Harris, with:

Three counts of aggravated DUI, great bodily injury or death.

Three counts of failure to stop after a crash causing personal injury or death.

Three charges of aggravated reckless driving.

Two counts of reckless homicide.

Harris, 46, East Moline, drove her Cadillac Escalade onto the new walking/bike path from the Bettendorf side and traveled the length of the span, striking the men about 200 yards from the Moline pathway entrance, according to authorities.

Harris left the scene and was found in East Moline getting out of her SUV. She was taken to UnityPoint Hospital on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to the state's attorney's office. Once released from the hospital, Moline police took her into custody, and formal charges were filed May 23.

Harris was being held on $2 million bail, according to Rock Island County court records. To be released, she would have to post a $200,000 bond.

Her next court date is scheduled for June 23.

Love 3 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 2

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
U.S. Marshals on Tuesday arrested a man wanted for a fatal May shooting in Rock Island.

Terrionce C. Kitchen, 19, Rock Island, faces a charge of first-degree murder in the killing of 19-year-old Desavion Foster on May 22 in the 1000 block of 15th Street, according to the Rock Island Police Department. The Rock Island County States Attorneys Office charged Kitchen in a warrant filed on May 27.

In the days after the shooting, Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said preliminary autopsy results showed Foster, of Rock Island, was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest.

The marshals arrested Kitchen at about 10 a.m. in Stuttgart, Ark., according to the Rock Island police. He is being held in Arkansas pending extradition to Illinois.

When he is returned to Rock Island County, Kitchen will be held on a $1 million cash-only bond, police said.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1
Morales has felony convictions on his record, most recently in 2019 in a Rock Island County drug case. He was also convicted in a 2009 forgery case in Scott County, and has felony theft convictions between 2003-2006.

The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation is reviewing the matter.
Despite the damage a Chevrolet Impala did when it crashed at the German American Heritage Center and Museum, Executive Director Kelly Lao said things could have been much worse if the car had been just a few feet to the left or right.

"We're really lucky," Lao said. "Where the car kind of hit was the brick, so all the wood [on either side of the brick] would be much more delicate, and the glass. It could have been on either side of that brick column, it would have been much more damaging. And then the west side is where you would find artifacts."

Three people were injured when the driver of the car they were riding in lost control on the Iowa-bound side of the Centennial Bridge early Sunday morning, causing it to cross traffic lanes and a median before colliding with a light pole and sliding to a stop just in front of the center.

A tire from the vehicle destroyed one of the center's doors and a display case, littering glass and materials across the inside of the center's gift shop. While some artifacts were covered in glass, none were damaged. Gift shop items that had been imported from Germany, however, had been destroyed, Lao said.

Part of an exhibit the center had put on in partnership with Tapestry Farms also had to be shut down due to the wreck. The open space left by the door has been covered with plywood and carpeting in the gift shop has been removed.

Lao said they're not sure of the total cost or timeline of repairs yet, and will be in communication with the Davenport Historic Preservation Commission on their plans.

The center building underwent major renovations in the late 1990s and early 2000s and hasn't seen any big changes since. They were planning to repaint the storefront  luckily they hadn't gotten that project started yet, Lao said. Etched glass on the doors had been replaced a few years prior, a $2,000 cost that Lao said she expects to pay again with the new doors.

"We're just kind of in the beginning stages of all that," Lao said.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
DES MOINES  School districts in Iowa will have access to more resources designed to help prevent school violence thanks to $100 million in federal pandemic relief funding that Gov. Kim Reynolds is putting into the states school safety bureau.

Reynolds announced the move Tuesday during a news conference at the state public safety offices near the Iowa Capitol complex.

The resources will include state personnel, training, and emergency communication systems, all designed to help schools prevent school violence or react to emergency events like school shootings.

The dedication of federal funding to the state school safety bureau comes in the wake of multiple new mass shootings across the U.S. in elementary schools, churches and other public spaces.

Every family should be able to confidently send their children to school knowing that they will be safe, Reynolds said during the news conference. And as the Governor of Iowa and a grandmother of school-aged children, I want to assure parents that your childrens safety at school is just as important to me.

Reynolds said more than $80 million of the federal funding will go toward conducting vulnerability assessments at school buildings and creating grants for districts to make any recommended physical changes or upgrades.

Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens said the goal of the school safety bureau is prevention. One of the new bureau positions made possible by the federal funding will monitor threats being made through digital sources.

The goal is to identify concerning behaviors early so parents, school officials, mental health professionals and others can begin providing assistance with and without the need for having formal law enforcement intervention, Bayens said at the news conference.

The bureau also will make emergency radio systems available to any school that wants one, and will create a program through which individuals can anonymously report to the bureau  via phone, website or mobile app  concerning behavior.

Bayens said the bureaus resources will be created to supplement any efforts already underway at Iowa school districts, and not duplicate or supplant those efforts.

I wish we could say this is all unnecessary. But we cannot simply rely on the optimistic thought that it will never happen here in Iowa, Bayens said. Rather, reality mandates that we roll up our sleeves and we tackle this issue head on. We owe it to our kids. We owe to our teachers. We owe it to our communities. And we will do everything in our power to put action behind the prayer that itll never happen here.

Reynolds created the school safety bureau in January 2020, but the Republican-majority Iowa Legislature has not funded the bureau in the three legislative sessions since.

Reynolds on Tuesday announced she will use funding from two federal pandemic relief packages: one each passed under former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden.

Reynolds said the school safety bureau was established despite the lack of state funding, and that state government officials from various state agencies have been working to make the bureau as useful as possible.

 (The lack of state funding) hasnt stopped us from doing some stuff, Reynolds said Tuesday. We didnt get the funding, so we havent stood it up in a manner that it needed to be stood up. But now we will be able to, which I think is a wonderful use of some of the funds that are coming into the state.

Reynolds said the $100 million infusion of federal funding will sustain the school safety bureau through 2026, and could be funded even longer pending new gun control, school safety and mental health care legislation being considered in Congress.

Reynolds said in the meantime she will work with state legislators to ensure the bureau is funded long-term. She said once the federal funding is exhausted, her office estimates it will cost $1.5 million annually to operate the bureau.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
A photo exhibition of city walls of the Chinese ancient capital Nanjing and the thousand-year-old Israeli city of Akko kicked off on Monday in the old city of Akko, northern Israel.

The exhibition, jointly organized by the China Cultural Center in Tel Aviv, the Municipality of Akko, and other bodies from both countries, demonstrates about 40 photos of Nanjing, the capital of six dynasties in ancient China, and Akko, one of the first historical sites in Israel selected as world cultural heritages.

Chinese Ambassador to Israel Cai Run noted in his opening address that the city walls have become bridges that link people in different countries, and bonds that strengthen friendship and communication.

As a part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Israel, the exhibition enables the audience to know better the past and present of the two ancient cities, and serves as a window for more Chinese and Israeli friends to deepen their understanding of the ancient culture and history of the two countries, said Cai.

Recalling his visit to Nanjing seven years ago, Akko Mayor Shimon Lankri said the eastern China city has left him with a deep impression. He also expressed his hope that the exhibition could promote cooperation between Akko and more Chinese cities in various fields.

Tao Chen, director of the China Cultural Center in Tel Aviv, told Xinhua that as a platform and bridge of cultural exchange between China and Israel, the center hopes to create an opportunity for local citizens to learn more about the common part between the two civilizations by hosting the exhibition.
Last Wednesday, June 8, Chadron received a visit from Governor Pete Ricketts, who has been conducting town hall style events across the state to talk about the accomplishments of the 2022 Legislative session and address questions from residents.

Ricketts began the program speaking to how well the state handled the COVID-19 pandemic, attributing the response as one of the major reasons the state has been able to achieve the lowest unemployment rate in the countrys history at 1.9%. Lots of companies are also investing in Nebraska, he noted, which brings job opportunities.

State revenues have also set records this year, Ricketts said, as in April Nebraska collected more than $1 billion in gross state revenue.

Another point Ricketts raised is that government growth rate was kept low over the past eight years, allowing for delivery of sustainable tax relief.

One of the questions at the event was in regard to whether anythings being done to help draw people to western Nebraska from the east side of the state. Ricketts said if one looks at how the Department of Economic Development is distributing grants, its fairly widespread across the state.

As to the low unemployment rate and the initial investment made into The Good Life is Calling program, it was questioned whether the program will continue to allow communities to continue recruiting the types of employees needed. Ricketts said a low unemployment rate means its hard for employers to hire people. He added there needs to be a focus on making sure the young people are educated to take the high demand jobs that are here in the state.

Businesses are going to have to start getting involved earlier to get the folks they need, Ricketts said, and there needs to be an educational pipeline so young people are educated for the jobs available.

Another concern raised was predator damage to livestock, It was noted that the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has been doing a good job in providing trappers to keep predators down, and Nebraska Game and Parks does its part in providing permits for people to hunt them.

An issue arises with the low unemployment rate as it can be difficult to attract government trappers. Options are available, such as petitioning for a levy to pay for predator damage.

Ricketts noted predators taking down animals also has an impact on the availability of hunting game and that draw to folks. He suggested working with the local NGPC office and staff to determine what kind of financial support is available to help with predation control.

Looking at the 2022 Legislative session, Ricketts said it was historic in a number of ways. There were four key things, he noted, any of which would be considered historical by themselves.

I think this Legislative session will go down in history as one of the unicamerals finest, Ricketts said.

The first point the governor spoke to was the passing of LB873, which rolled together several tax relief programs, among them the property tax relief program begun by LB1107 in 2020. Ricketts explained when people filed for Nebraska state income taxes, they were able to claim a 25% rebate on what they paid to the school district in property taxes.

Another property tax relief program was added based on what folks pay into local community health. Starting in 2022, $50 million will be put into a rebate program similar to the one with the school district.

Citizens will continue to see property tax relief in Nebraska, Ricketts said. There was also an acceleration of tax relief for seniors. Nebraska is one of the few states that taxes Social Security benefits. Last year, a bill was passed to take about half of those taxes off. As part of LB873, the other half was taken off, and accelerated how fast it would come in. By 2026, Social Security benefits will not be taxed at all.

The final piece of LB873, Rickets noted, will take income tax rates from 6.84% to 5.84%, and business rates from 7.5% to 5.84%, both of which will be phased in by 2027. By that same year, the state will have delivered $12.6 billion in tax relief all total.

Another item the Legislature took up was investing in public safety and law enforcement. Ricketts noted $47.7 million was invested in the Grand Island law enforcement training center. Another $16.9 million was invested in expansion od the Nebraska State Patrol crime lab. Another bill, LB1241, was passed and will trade reciprocity with out-of-state officers to come and work in Nebraska.

If youre certified in another state, Ricketts said, you can come and work for Nebraska.

Also in LB1241, there is 100% tuition reimbursement for officers who attend state-run institutions, state income tax relief for officers over age 60 who are paying for their own health insurance, and retention bonuses for officers. Money has also been set aside to replace the state penitentiary.

The third key point is investment in water resources. The passage of LB1015, Ricketts said, gives authority to move forward on the Perkins County canal project. He explained the project is about building a canal from the South Platte River in Colorado to a reservoir system in Nebraska. This is based on a compact signed nearly 100 years ago, he said, but is now being pursued due to the growth on the Front Range in Colorado and the resulting drain it would have on the river.

The compact with Colorado, Ricketts noted, requires delivery of about 120 cubic feet per second from Colorado to Nebraska during non-irrigation seasons, but only if the canal and reservoir system is built.

They dont plan to give us anything, so we need to protect our water rights, Ricketts said, pointing out this is not about getting more water but holding on to what Nebraska is already getting.

Other water projects being invested in are: developing a marina at Lake McConaughy, expanding the marina at Lewis and Clark Lake State Recreation Area, building a convention center at Niobrara State Park, and rebuilding the canal system between Fort Laramie and Gering that collapsed a few years ago.

The fourth key item is the $1.04 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The Legislature has allocated estimates of: $60 million to community colleges, $8 million for state colleges, $60 million for a medical center at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, $40 million in behavioral health facilities, $5 million in loan forgiveness for nurses and behavioral health staff, $100 million for shovel-ready projects, $20 million toward a site building development fund, $489 million for disproportionate communities and $128 million for housing.

Ricketts noted the High Plains Community Development Corporations recent housing survey as key in distributing ARPA money for more housing.

The governor also pointed out the Nebraska Rural Advantage Act has been re-upped, now a new limit of $10 million compared to the former $1 million. There is also $42 billion coming from the Commerce Department for rural broadband, he said, but one of the biggest problems is getting the people who know how to install it.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
A black bear was spotted Monday morning at the Hazelrodt Cutoff and Sidney Park Road area near Custer, the Custer County Sheriff's Office shared on social media.

The bear in question has ear tags, and the sheriff's office notified South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks about the bear. Trenton Haffley, regional terrestrial resources supervisor said the tags do not belong to GF&P.

"Were currently reaching out to our neighboring states to see if any of those states have records of any eartagged bears," Haffley said.

At this point, the GF&P does not believe there is a resident bear population in the Black Hills, and most bear sighting are of animals passing through looking for food or a mate.

"Its not uncommon for animals to travel long distances in search of new habitat or resources. This potential for wandering increases with young animals, particularly males," Haffley said. "Predators like bears and lions seem to make the longest forays, and weve had young male mountain lions leave the Black Hills and show up in places as far away as Oklahoma or the East Coast."

This particular bear, the only one seen this year so far, has been spotted three times southwest of Custer since last Thursday.

While black bears are native to the Black Hills, unregulated killing of the predator in the late 1800s and early 1900s paired with habitat destruction caused the bears to become nearly extinct, GF&P Regional Supervisor Mike Klowsowski told the Journal last year.

From the 1960s to 2001, there were no reported bear sightings in the Black Hills. After a 2001 sighting, the few bears living in the Hills didn't show their faces to humans. In 2018, sightings increased, Klowsowski said.

Haffley said 2021 is the only recent year the GF&P has confirmed sightings of two different bears.

"All of the other reports were enough days apart and close enough together spatially that it would have been possible for the sightings to have been generated by the same bear," Haffley said.

People hiking in the area of the bear should travel in groups of two or more and make conversation to avoid startling it. Haffley also said having a medium or large dog along on an excursion can encourage bears to move along.

"Its important to remember that bears are more afraid of people than people are of bears, and if a bear knows youre around, theyll likely run away," Haffley said.

Securing food, garbage and pet food as well as hanging bird feeders more than 10 feet in the air can also help keep bears at bay.

"It may be best to discontinue bird feeding until the bear moves on," Haffley said.

For more information on bears and safety measures, visit bearwise.org. South Dakota GF&P encourages the public to report a bear sighting or bear sign to the GF&P office at 605-394-2391, so they can document and track the sighting.

"The more information we have, the better we're able to make decisions," Haffley said.

 Contact Shalom Baer Gee at sgee@rapidcityjournal.com 

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 5 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
About 150 people showed up to a protest organized by South Dakota's chapter of the National Organization for Women in response to the Supreme 
The Rapid City Rush announced Monday that the rights to defenseman Kyle Rhodes have been traded to the Wichita Thunder.

The move fulfilled an obligation to the Thunder in a three-team trade from March. That trade that brought Avery Peterson to Rapid City from the Florida Everblades and sent Jake Wahlin to the Thunder along with future considerations.

Peterson played nine regular season games for the Rush after his acquisition on March 29 and had three goals and six assists. In 11 postseason games, he netted four goals along with four assists.

Rhodes appeared in seven games and had six assists for the Rush in the regular season after being acquired from the Norfolk Admirals in a trade on the trade deadline on March 31.

He then skated in 11 games in the postseason and scored one goal. Rhodes had six goals and 11 assists in 49 games for Norfolk before arriving in Rapid City.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Hamilton Mayor Dominic Farrenkopf is gathering funds for a community fireworks show on July 4 at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds.

Every year, since I took mayor I decided it would be my pet project to raise enough money to put on the fireworks show, said Farrenkopf. This year we are very close, we need $6,000 more in donations to make the mark. Its a great family night and a lot of fun.

The price of fireworks has increased and the show this year costs $18,000.

There are many ways to help including direct donations, dropping the mayor in the dunk tank on June 18, rounding up at Ace Hardware through June 20, and donating at the barbecue at Ace on June 25.

You can drop a check in the mail to City Hall, attention Finance Department, 223 S. 2nd St., Hamilton, MT 59840, Farrenkopf said. You can donate in any amount, there is nothing too large and nothing too small.

He said that many businesses donated when they renewed their business license or received a request for funds letter that has donation information.

The dunk tank on June 18 will be located on the lawn at City Hall.

I should be in the dunk tank during the farmers market. There will be a bucket there. Whether they want to dunk the mayor or not, donations are welcome, Farrenkopf said, but they might as well get their moneys worth and drown the mayor.

He has been raising funds all year and feels good about donations to date.

We still have a way to go, of course, Farrenkopf said. Im confident well get there because we live in such a benevolent community where people really get behind events like this. Year after year organizations and individuals donate and the community fireworks show always happens.

The Ravalli County Fairgrounds will have food trucks and fireworks when it gets dark.

The mayor said that the City of Hamilton budgets for the fireworks show and that Hamilton taxpayers are the ones who pay for the show.

Some people dont watch the show, some come from the county and some attend who are not even from Montana, but Ive always felt that to be fair, people who want the show should donate, Farrenkopf said. I would prefer to never use money in the budget. For the past five years, Ive made it my personal project. The fireworks show will happen even if we dont get all of the funds donated.

He emphasized that it is easy to participate in the round up at Ace Hardware through June 20.

When you go to Ace Hardware you can say, yes, Ill round up to the nearest dollar for the fireworks show, Farrenkopf said. On June 25 Ace Hardware will have a barbecue and there will be donation buckets there.

Farrenkopf said the July 4 event is a great family night and a lot of fun.

We enjoy the freedoms we have in this country and celebrate with a fireworks show, he said. Park at the fairgrounds, or on the fairgrounds. Enjoy the food trucks and the show. Thank you for donating.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Editor's note: this story will be updated throughout the day as reporters and editors learn more about the developing flood situation.

Federal disaster declaration announced for Montana

Update 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 16

President Joe Biden has announced a major disaster declaration for Montana in response to the flooding activities.

Part of the release states:

The acute damage to infrastructure, particularly in and around Yellowstone National Park, will impact communities that rely on tourism and recreation for livelihoods, jobs, and revenue. Park County benefits from more than $200 million annually in tourism, and Carbon County brings in $68 million annually from tourism.

Morning round up

Update 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, June 16

Initial damage estimates due to flood activity in the greater Yellowstone region are starting to roll in. A request to the Biden administration to issue a presidential major disaster declaration, the state estimated the damage to transportation infrastructure alone is $29 million. Among other things, the request points out that Carbon County relies on $68 million from tourism each year, and Park County sees $200 million injected into its local economy. It is very unlikely communities will see those dollars this year.

The flow of the Yellowstone River around Billings receded several feet overnight and city residents were able to resume normal water use as of Thursday morning. The surge along the Yellowstone had caused crews to temporarily shut down the Billings water treatment plant on Wednesday.

During a call with residents and tourists in Cody, Wyoming the Yellowstone National park superintendent said the entire park will remain closed through the weekend. The less-damaged southern loop of the park is now expected to open Monday at the earliest. Park officials continue to assess the damage.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is set to declare an emergency in response to historic flooding in the park. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a disaster for flooding on Tuesday.

Flathead County declares a state of emergency for anticipated flooding

Update 4:43 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Flathead County declared a state of emergency in response to anticipated flooding and current flooding.

To date, there is a pre-evacuation notice in place for low-lying areas across Flathead County. Official evacuation notices have been issued for Leisure Road in Kalispell and Blankenship Road from Blankenship Bridge to the North Fork Road.

Road closures in effect:

North Hill Top Road in Columbia Falls.

From Steel Bridge Road to Muddy Drive in Kalispell.

West Side Hungry Horse Reservoir Road between Mazie Creek and Graves Creek Road.

7-mile Upper Whitefish/Stryker Road in the Stillwater State Forest.

Evacuations have been lifted and roads open to resident traffic only are Rabe Road in Columbia Falls and Lake Drive and Bailey Lake Area in Columbia Falls.

The Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter at Columbia Falls High School for individuals affected by the evacuation orders. The Sheriff's Office has established an information line at 406-758-2111.

For current information, follow the Flathead County Sheriff's Office Facebook Page.

Custer-Gallatin and Shoshone National Forests announce closures

Update 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

The Custer Gallatin National Forest has posted an area closure on its website, shutting down all lands, roads and trails in Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park and Gallatin counties.

The exception is the Pryor Mountain portion of the forest, which remains open.

The purpose of this order is to protect emergency personnel, public health and imminent life safety due to widespread flooding events, roads and facility damage in Carbon, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, the posting said.

The closure is in effect from Tuesday through June 24, or until it is rescinded. Violations of the closure can result in a $5,000 fine or six months in jail.

For more details, contact the forest office at 406-587-6701.

Closures are also impacting the Beartooth, Gardiner and Yellowstone Ranger Districts and includes all National Forest system lands within those districts as crews get out to assess damage, the stability of bridges and facilities.

Many of our trailheads in the Paradise Valley and (Absaroka-Beartooth) arent able to be accessed regardless, said forest spokesperson Mariah Leuschen-Lonergan. As waters recede engineers and recreation staff are getting in and determining the safety and stability of infrastructure. We are aware of some washed out roads and bridges and need to assess conditions.

In Cody, the Forest Service announced the snowmelt impacts were having impacts on the areas recreation sites. They urged patience from travelers.

Some campgrounds, roads, and trails may need to be closed for resource protection as well as public safety. Visitors should plan ahead and visit the Shoshone National Forest website (http://www.fs.usda.gov/shoshone) and Facebook page (US Forest Service  Shoshone National Forest) for updates on any areas that may be closed or impacted.

We know that there are a lot of people who had planned trips to the Greater Yellowstone area and are now having to adjust itineraries because of closures, said Wapiti, Clarks Fork, and Greybull District Ranger Casey McQuiston. The Shoshone National Forest remains open to visitors and recreationists. Additionally, the Washakie and Wind River Ranger districts of the Shoshone National Forest have not been as impacted as the northern portion of the Shoshone, and there are wonderful recreational opportunities on that end of the Shoshone as well.

As daily high temperatures continue to increase throughout the week, with predicted temperatures above 90 by Friday, snowmelt and subsequent runoff could prolong and even potentially exacerbate some of these conditions. The Shoshone National Forest will continue to evaluate the situation and will respond to changing conditions, getting associated information out to the public as soon as possible Wapiti, Clarks Fork, and Greybull Ranger districts Office at 307.527.6921.

Yellowstone River at Billings begins to recede, downstream flooding still occurring

Update 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Water levels along the Yellowstone River at Billings appear to have peaked late Wednesday morning and may now be incrementally dropping.

vernight, the river rose to 16 feet, a full foot higher than its record crest of 15 feet in 1997 and a foot and a half higher than what was initially forecast for the city earlier this week.

By 9 a.m. on Wednesday the Yellowstone had climbed to 16.4 feet and then appeared to jump to 17.52 feet at 11 .a.m., according to data from the National Weather Service. By 12:45 p.m. levels had dropped to 16.3 feet.

Ranches and farmsteads south of Billings stretching to Edgar have been inundated. Yellowstone County officials closed half a dozen roads and are monitoring four bridges.

The area south of Billings at River Road and Duck Creek was nearly all under water, flooding a number of farms and ranches. Water from the Clarks Fork had flooded land and ranch houses around Byam Road at the Yellowstone/Carbon County line as well as the Pryor Edgar Road near Edgar.

Cities in eastern Montana along the Yellowstone River's path are forecast to see higher levels of water but so far not enough to push them into a major flood stage, according to the weather service.

The Yellowstone at Forsyth is predicted to crest at 12.7 feet on Friday morning; flood stage there is 14 feet.

Miles City could see some flooding. The river is expected to crest there at 14.8 feet on Friday afternoon; minor flood stage at Miles City is 14 feet.

Further down the line, the Yellowstone at Glendive is forecast to crest sometime Saturday morning, reaching 53.2 feet. The minor flood stage there is 53.5 feet.

In Sidney, the river is forecast to crest at 17.8 feet on Saturday afternoon. Minor flood stage there is 19 feet.

Carbon County updated flooding situation

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Unsafe conditions remain in the flooded area; the public is urged to stay away from closed areas. Reports of the public accessing unsafe areas continue to be a concern for law enforcement. Many roads, streets and sidewalks are unstable and could give way. Please avoid the area.

The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River near Fromberg and Edgar are experiencing significant flood impacts as well as Rock Creek in Red Lodge. It is expected that water will continue to recede today.

A significant warming trend is expected this Friday/Saturday and the public is urged to stay alert of changing water conditions. Public Works staff along with Montana Department of Transportation are assessing the damage due to the floods. The public is urged to stay away from the flooded and closed areas for their own safety. A boil order is still in effect for Red Lodge, Fromberg and Edgar.

Current evacuation orders in effect:

Red Lodge: Evacuation orders in Red Lodge have been lifted.

Belfry: Lovers Lane.

Fromberg: All areas east of Highway 310, south of East River Road west of the river.

Joliet: No evacuation orders are in effect at this time.

Bridger: No evacuation orders in effect at this time.

All drinking water from the tap should be boiled before use in Red Lodge, Fromberg and Edgar. Public Works has reestablished water service to parts of Red Lodge but significant damage to the infrastructure has occurred and parts of Red Lodge remain without water. Water is out in Fromberg as water pumps supplying the town were underwater.

Planned Actions:

As water recedes, ongoing assessments of area roads/bridges will continue today. Crews are working to restore 19th Street bridge in Red Lodge; however, this road remains closed to the public. Highway 308 bridge is comprised, remains closed to the public and crews are working to restore the Highway 308 bridge. Crews will also be working on Meteetsee bridge; however, this road remains closed to the public. Crews are working to reestablish access to the water plant today and clearing debris out of roadway in Red Lodge. Crews will be in Fromberg and Belfry today working on road access. Lovers Lane in Belfry remains closed. Northwestern Energy will be working in the area fixing gas lines and working on restoring electric poles. Bridge engineers arrived today and will be working with county road departments on assessing damage.

Evacuation Shelters:

The American Red Cross has setup evacuation shelters located at the following locations:

 Fromberg School

 Red Lodge Fairgrounds

Public Meeting:

A public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 16th at Fromberg School at 6:00 PM at 319 School St, Fromberg, MT 59029. The meeting will also be lived stream to Facebook Live at the Carbon Alerts Facebook page.

Sandbags:

The public can get sandbags at the following locations, volunteers have been assisting with filling bags:

 Fromberg School

 Joliet Road Shop, 202 State Street

 Bridger Road Shop, 22 Old Mine

Weather: Seasonally cooler weather remains today with temperatures in the 60s in the lower elevations with upper elevations in 40s- 50s. No significant rain is expected over the next 24-48 hours. Warmer weather is expected to arrive tomorrow and into Friday and Saturday. Water levels will potentially rise with the warmer weather moving in the region later in the week. The public is urged to remain cautious, stay alert of changing water conditions and stay clear of flooded areas.

Resources Assigned:

The Western Montana Type III Incident Management Team continues to assist local flood relief efforts. Numerous agencies are on scene including: Carbon County DES, Carbon County Sheriffs Office, Red Lodge Police Department, Red Lodge Fire & Rescue, Montana Highway Patrol, Fromberg Volunteer Fire Department, Bridger EMS, Bridger Volunteer Fire, American Red Cross, City of Red Lodge, Public Works, Forest Service, Beartooth Billings Clinic, Carbon County Public Health Department, Montana Department of Transportation, Montana FWP Game Wardens, Two Bear Air, and Montana National Guard.

For current information follow the Carbon Alert Facebook page or call 406-426-2425.

Stillwater County updated flooding situation

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Stillwater County  Flooding has impacted the entire Stillwater River, parts of the Yellowstone River, Itch-Kep-Pe Camping Area and Reed Point.

 Damage assessments and resource allocations were ongoing.

 Roads and bridges in the area remained impassable.

 Sandbagging operations were continuing. Sand bags are available at Absarokee Fire Hall and in Reed Point.

 Air rescues from West Rosebud and Emerald Lakes were successfully completed.

 Evacuations were lifted but only residents should return to the area.

 Road and Bridge Department are assessing and opening roads as they are deemed safe to traffic.

The following roads were closed:

 Road and Bridge Department are assessing and opening roads as they are deemed safe to traffic

 DES reported to MT DES Duty Officer and NWS

Road Closures by Stillwater Road and Bridge

 West Rosebud to Mystic Lake

 Fiddler Creek Rd to Hwy 419

 Nye Rd at Carters Camp going South

 S. Stillwater River Road is open from Nye to Beehive. Closed at Beehive

 Stillwater River Road Bridge compromised/not passable at Riddles Cliff

 Johnson Ln Road towards North Stillwater River

 Miller Rd at North Stillwater River Rd

 E Jack Stone Rd to North Stillwater River Rd

 Lower Flat Rd off of Joliet Rd. Closed to all but residential traffic

 Yellowstone Bridge in Reed Point

 Miller Bridge on N Stillwater River

 Hwy 419 Going West (Bridge Completely Gone)

 Ingersoll Rd off Hwy 78

 Nye Rd to the Sibanye/Stillwater Mine going south (Road is Gone)

 All Campgrounds and Fishing Accesses in the county are closed until further notice. Per Montana Fish & Game and The United States Forest Service

Red Lodge community meeting: "Red Lodge should not be open for business"

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

During a recent meeting, Red Lodge fire chief and emergency commander Tom Kuntz told residents that every bridge south of Red Lodge is "compromised."

Residents also expressed concerns over the future. The flood has displaced residents from their homes and shuttered businesses that depend on the busy summer months.

"As a community leader, I think I always want to say Red Lodge is open for business," Kuntz told the crowd. "Right now, Red Lodge should not be open for business."

A sign on alongside the highway in Rockvale warns travelers to stay away. It reads: "Red Lodge is evacuated. Please do not come."

Billings braces itself as Yellowstone River rises, smaller communities swamped

Update 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15

The Yellowstone River crested above 16 feet overnight, a foot above the previous record. It was so high, the river gauge was overwhelmed and stopped measuring at 15-feet, 4-inches.

Billings Public Works officials warned city leaders Monday night that if the river rose to 15 feet it would put the water and wastewater treatment plants in jeopardy. A levy has been built around the plants and water pumps have so far been keeping up with whatever river water is coming over the levy.

In the small town of Edgar, flooding from the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River swamped all the septic tanks. Residents cant use their toilets and porta-potties have been set up on every street corner.

Downriver, small farm towns like Huntley Project, Worden, and Ballantine are swamped, but no reports yet of lost roads or bridges. Further downriver, cities like Forsyth and Miles City are bracing for the surge with voluntary evacuation orders in the low country along the river.

As temperatures rise this weekend and more rain is in the forecast, there could be a second surge.

Yellowstone National Park evening presser highlights - northern entrance to remain closed

Update 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The flood damage will keep the northern half of Yellowstone National Park closed to tourists for the rest of the summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly told reporters Tuesday evening. The area includes the iconic Lamar Valley, Tower Falls and Mammoth Hot Springs.

The southern loop of Yellowstone National Park may reopen to visitors in a week or less, he added, using some type of reservation system or timed entry to control entry. Travel from Jackson, Wyoming, was already going to be hampered by road construction. Entrances that would be reopened for the southern loop include the East, South and West gates near Cody, Jackson and West Yellowstone, respectively.

Park County authorities focus on helping residents, look to start assessing damage

Update 4:10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The water is receding north of Yellowstone National Park.

Park County Sheriff Brad Bichler said during a press conference Tuesday that crews have been able to start looking at just how much damage was done since flooding began. The sheriffs office has completed at least a dozen rescues, he said.

In Gardiner, several homes along the Yellowstone River have been lost, Bichler said. Whispering Pines, Cooke City and Silvergate have also sustained extensive damage. Lisa Lowy, interim Livingston city manager, said the citys southeast areas saw homes flooding and street damage that remains to be totally assessed.

Now, Bichler said, officers are focused on moving non-local traffic out of Gardiner. Highway 89 opened between Gardiner and Livingston on Tuesday, which he said should help get essential goods into town.

The eight patients housed at Livingston HealthCare on Monday remain at Pioneer Medical Center in Big Timber, hospital CEO Deb Anczak said during Tuesdays press conference. The main campus phone system is still down, Anczak said, but an inspection found no water penetrated the facility.

That means that depending on when roads open in the area, the hospital is looking to reopen its emergency department as soon as possible and return to inpatient care. For now, the hospitals urgent care center on Highway 89 is operational and its Shields Valley Clinic in Wilsall has extra staff on hand to handle walk-ins.

Those who need help or are looking for information in the area, Park County Emergency Manager Greg Coleman said, should call the hotline at (406) 222-4131.

You can also text your zip code to Nixle at 888777 to receive updates by text.

Only call 911 if you have an emergency, Coleman reiterated.

Theyre very busy right now, he said.

The HRDC in Livingston set up an emergency shelter at its warming center on South Second Street Monday night, and may stay open Tuesday depending on how many people need it. Coleman said to call the hotline if youre looking for a place to stay.

Offers of help in any form can be directed to 211.

Were in for the long haul, Park County Commissioner Steve Caldwell said. Its going to be a long exercise, but I think were up to it.

Cody resort shutters temporarily amid flood

Update 2:40 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Pahaska Tepee Resort  located outside Cody, just two miles from Yellowstones east entrance  is shuttered through at least Thursday.

The resort boasts cabins, a restaurant, gift shop and outdoor activities. Its oldest lodge was built by U.S. Colonel William Cody (a.k.a. Buffalo Bill) himself.

Pahaska was booked at about 90% capacity at the beginning of the week, said Angela Coe, who runs the resort. But rainfall over the weekend caused the North Fork Shoshone River to swell so much, it got into the lodges water system, Coe said. Staff shut off the system Monday to prevent it from getting into the resorts tap, and sent all guests home.

The rivers since receded. Coe said Pahaska Tepee is currently sending water samples to the Wyoming Department of Health in Cheyenne. The water needs to test as safe two days in a row before the lodge can open up again.

If all goes well, the resort will reopen Friday.

But Pahaska Tepees guests often come for Yellowstone, Coe said. She doesn't expect Codys tourism business to recover until the parks southern region reopens, too.

Prospective vacationers arent waiting for answers, Coe said. The phones at Pahaska Tepee have been ringing nonstop with cancellations. She emphasized that people are wanting to cancel their July and August reservations.

Officials to release water from Mystic Lake dam

Update 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Mystic Dam will be releasing water from Mystic Lake to maintain safe water levels within the reservoir, Stillwater County officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

"This action is necessary to maintain safe water levels behind the dam," a statement from a Stillwater County spokesperson said. "Since the Stillwater and Rosebud River levels have dropped we anticipate little to no impact on the current flooding situation."

Yellowstone to remain closed at least five more days

Update 1:56 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a release the park will remain closed at least five more days.

In a release, Sholly said Xanterra's seasonal employees will be moved from Mammoth and that concession facilities in the northern part of the park at Mammoth and Roosevelt "will not reopen likely the rest of the year."

The park also will:

 Implement full visitor closure of the backcountry.

 Evaluate needs for backcountry evacuations.

 Improve Old Gardiner Road from Mammoth to the North Entrance and use the road for administrative travel and evacuate visitors.

 Restore power to northern Yellowstone sites and Canyon, Lake and Norris.

 Evacuate Gardiner visitors via the Old Gardiner Road.

 Support Gardiner residents with a resupply of food, water and medicine.

 Support isolated NPS residents at the NE Entrance via aircraft if necessary.

 Support Cooke City residents as needed.

 Mitigate wastewater impacts of destroyed sewer lines in Gardiner and Mammoth.

 Relocate all Mammoth-based concessions employees to properties on the southern loop.

 Halt and redirect any inbound employees hired to work in Mammoth or Tower who haven't arrived yet.

 Support employees who lost housing in Gardiner.

 Prepare for outside teams to help assess damage.

 Prepare reservation system strategy for southern loop for remainder of the year.

Jackson works to accommodate Yellowstone-bound tourists

Update 12:39 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Teton County Fairgrounds was a landing site for a few dozen displaced Yellowstone campers Monday.

About 38 RVs parked there overnight, according to Trista Hiltbrunner, a staff member at the fairgrounds. Some of them came from inside the park, she said. By noon Tuesday, just a couple remained.

Cities and towns located just outside of Yellowstone were busy Tuesday connecting displaced visitors with lodging, and helping them figure out next steps.

We really do operate as one, Rick Howe, vice president of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, said of Yellowstones gateway communities.

At this point, the chambers mostly getting calls from people who were planning to visit the park this week, and suddenly had nowhere to go, he said.

The chamber extended its phone services by three hours so it could accommodate the rush of calls. Its now live from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Howe said Jackson is preparing to accept more displaced travelers and evacuees, but is waiting to hear more from park officials.

Yellowstone provides update on conditions, evacuations - no deaths or injuries reported

Update 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

During a conditions call, Yellowstone National Park officials said the Montana Department of Transportation and the Park County Sheriffs Office opened U.S. Hwy 89 at Yankee Jim Canyon through Bozeman at 35 mph to locals, delivery and service vehicles and outbound visitors, including trailers, at about 11:35 Tuesday morning.

"We cleared visitors from the entire northern end of the park," said Park Superintendent Cameron Sholly. "There are no visitors in the northern end, currently."

No injuries or deaths have been recorded from the flooding, Sholly said. The extent of the damage is still unclear. "We've kept our teams out of harm's way," he said. "We won't know exactly what the damage looks like until the water goes down."

The Park Service is still working on evacuating the southern part of the park and making contact with backcountry hikers.

The southern loop, which suffered significantly less damage than the northern loop, can't handle the full visitation Yellowstone receives, Sholly said. The park is still figuring out when and how the southern entrances will reopen. "That's still probably a little ways out, and it'll be some sort of reservation system, likely  a temporary reservation system," Sholly said.

Park officials said Mammoth and Roosevelt will likely remain closed to visitors for the rest of this year. The Park Service plans to move affected seasonal employees to positions in the southern part of the park.

Do not drink order issued in Gardiner

Update 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has issued a "Do Not Consume" order in Gardiner.

This means that water is not safe to drink or cook with. It is safe for washing hands and showering.

Outside of Gardiner residents in Park County are encouraged to contact the Park County health department with questions about wells that maybe compromised or submerged by flooding. Their number is 406-222-4131.

"If you have a well, and it is submerged by flood water or the water appears to be compromised, the water may not be safe to consume," Park County officials said in a statement Tuesday. "This is especially true for people who are immunocompromised or an infant."

No access to Gardiner available, supplies being shipped

Update 11:58 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

According to a Park County press release, "Attempts are currently ongoing to establish one-way traffic in the Valley [to Gardiner]. As yet, there is still no access. Attempts to establish drop points for supply drops in the Valley and in Gardiner and Cooke City are ongoing."

The press release also stated that, as waters recede, officials will be assessing the damages made to roads and bridges to determine if they are "structurally sound."

Montana National Guard performing evacuations

Update 11:08 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Montana National Guard evacuated 12 people from the communities of Roscoe and Cooke City on Monday as the flooding cut off vehicle access to the towns. Aircrews from the 1-189th General Support Aviation Battalion deployed a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to assist in search and rescue efforts at the request of local law enforcement.

As of Tuesday morning, the Guard unit is conducting a third evacuation operation for recreationalists around East Rosebud Lake.

We are standing by for additional requests for support, Maj. Ryan Finnegan, Montana National Guard Public Affairs Officer said. As local law enforcement requests assistance, we will continue to provide what resources are available.

A Florida family of eight were plucked by a helicopter from a flooded rental outside Cooke City, at the parks Northeast Entrance, on Monday after high waters stranded them.

A Cooke City man was air lifted by the National Guard after he suffered hypothermia from cold waters as he self-rescued.

Gov. Greg Gianforte announces "statewide disaster"

Update 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

In a Tweet on Monday, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a "statewide disaster."

In a separate post released just before to the disaster Tweet Gianforte stated, "For the last 24 hours, the State Emergency Coordination Center has been working with partners in Carbon, Stillwater, and Park counties to evacuate, ensure shelter, and safely restore power and water in areas impacted by severe flooding."

Power returns to Red Lodge, flood levels drop

10:02 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

Power in Red Lodge was restored and flood levels were declining slightly. Rock Creek was forecast to crest Monday afternoon around 1 p.m., but 80-degree temperatures predicted for later in the week are raising concerns that the tragedy is not yet over.

"It's still a river flowing" down the streets, said resident John Clayton whose house was flooded. "But it's an almost fordable river now."

Morning update for greater Yellowstone area

9:05 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

One day after milk-chocolate flood waters surged through Yellowstone National Park and nearby communities, officials and residents were working to assess the damages as others downstream braced for historically high rivers expected to come Tuesday.

Just after 10 p.m. Monday, people living in a sizable portion of southeast Livingston were required to evacuate due to the rising Yellowstone River, though the order was lifted just before 9 a.m. Tuesday. About a half-hour after the evacuation notice Monday night, the city's hospital, Livingston HealthCare, closed as the river's record-high waters crept into its parking lot.

By 1 a.m. Tuesday, the Yellowstone had reached flood stage at Billings, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS forecast the river to crest Tuesday afternoon at 14.7 feet, just three-tenths of a foot shy of the record established in 1997.

Meanwhile, the world's first national park and the south-central Montana communities of Red Lodge, Gardiner and Fishtail began to further assess damage from unprecedented flooding on the Yellowstone and Stillwater rivers as well as Rock Creek.

Images of damage from the frothing streams continued to emerge Tuesday morning. Celebrating its 150th anniversary during prime tourist season, Yellowstone remained indefinitely closed at all five entrances Tuesday for only the third time in 34 years  most recently in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also for the infamous 1988 fires.

Residents and tourists in Gardiner at Yellowstone's North Entrance and Silver Gate and Cooke City just outside the Northeast Entrance were stranded due to roads made impassable by high water and damage that could take weeks or even months to repair, park officials said.

Officials on Monday were evacuating those still inside the park, beginning in its northernmost reaches, where the impacts  including road washouts, bridge failures, rockslides and mudslides  were most severe.

YNP employees at park headquarters in Mammoth, who remained without power Tuesday morning, planned to buy groceries and other essentials in West Yellowstone, which announced late Monday that it would permit temporary camping in town for people impacted by the closure. A generator was providing power to Mammoth's cell tower, enabling communication to the outside world.

Park employees were to convene at 11 a.m. to assess next steps.

The serpentine road from Mammoth to Gardiner in the Gardner River Canyon was badly damaged, as was the road between Tower Junction and the Northeast Entrance where the Lamar River surged well beyond its record flood level.

As of approximately 9 a.m. Tuesday, the park had not provided an update of the situation on its website or social media pages. At this time, the extent of the damage, as well as how many people may be stranded inside the park, is unclear.

The Yellowstone River crested at just over 49,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) at Corwin Springs in the upper Paradise Valley on Monday, shattering its previous records of 32,200 set in June 1996 and matched a year later. The Lamar peaked at 16.7 feet Monday, breaking its 1996 record by more than four feet and rising two feet above the gauge's upper reach.

Near Corwin Springs, a house for Park Service employees was pried loose from its foundation by the raging waters and spun downstream. U.S. Highway 89 was closed just south of Emigrant, not far from where the iconic Carbella bridge leading to Tom Miner Basin was swept away early Monday in the first sign the Yellowstone meant business.

On the flanks of the Beartooth Mountains to the east, residents of Red Lodge, Fishtail and Nye waited for floodwaters to abate.

Meteorologists said the unprecedented flooding was caused by a convergence of an unseasonably cool spring that retained snowpack, late-spring snowstorms and multiple days of considerable rainfall at high elevations. Parts of the park received more than an inch of rain over 24 hours Monday, more than tripling the previous single-day mark.

Most of the flood damage was centered on YNP and the streams flowing north from the Yellowstone Plateau, including the Gallatin River, which was expected to reach flood stage at Logan about 25 miles of Bozeman in the wee hours Tuesday. On Monday, the Gallatin County Sheriff's office cautioned residents along low-lying stretches of the West Gallatin to be prepared to evacuate.

Also Monday, the Flathead River at Columbia Falls in northwest Montana surpassed flood stage by a half-foot and was expected to rise another two feet Tuesday.

Yellowstone's peak flooding was to push downstream to Big Timber, Columbus, Laurel, Billings and eastern Montana by Tuesday afternoon.

A flood warning for the Boulder River south of Big Timber was lifted Tuesday morning.

The Custer Gallatin National Forest has posted an area closure on its website, shutting down all lands, roads and trails in Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park and Gallatin counties.

The exception is the Pryor Mountain portion of the forest, which remains open.

The purpose of this order is to protect emergency personnel, public health and imminent life safety due to widespread flooding events, roads and facility damage in Carbon, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, the posting said.

The closure is in effect from Tuesday through June 24, or until it is rescinded. Violations of the closure can result in a $5,000 fine or six months in jail.

For more details, contact the forest office at 406-587-6701.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.
As of May 2022, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate sits at 5.25% while the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate is 4.43%. Here's a look at averages over the past five decades.
A Chesterfield County motorist was shot and wounded Monday night while driving on Interstate 85 in Dinwiddie County, state police said. The shooting occurred about a half-mile from the Petersburg city line.

Police said a 2013 Cadillac sedan was traveling south on I-85 at 11:14 p.m. when the driver reported several shots were fired at his vehicle. The driver then exited the interstate and drove to a gas station off Cox Road in Dinwiddie to call 911.

The 29-year-old motorist from Chesterfield, who was not identified, was taken by ambulance to Southside Regional Medical Center in Hopewell for treatment of a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, police said. There were no passengers in the victims vehicle.

The suspect vehicle was described as a small black car that fled the scene.

The shooting remains under investigation, and Virginia State Police urged anyone with information to contact them at (804) 609-5656 or #77 on a cell phone. Information can also be emailed to questions@vsp.virginia.gov.
Cecelia Soukup, 19, has been a lifeguard since she was 15, but this summer she will not return to the stand because she feels like its no longer worth it because of the low pay and long days.

Youre definitely overworked and underpaid for all the work you are doing, Soukup said.

Soukup began lifeguarding at her North Chesterfield County neighborhood pool, which she said she enjoyed because of the community. Later, she lifeguarded at another small community pool and at Swim RVA, an Olympic-style swimming pool, where swim teams practice and meets are held year-round.

You are getting paid minimum wage to not only be on stand for a long time and getting exhausted in the heat ... sitting there is not your only job, Soukup said.

When Soukup started lifeguarding, the minimum hourly wage was $7.25. Since then, it has risen to $11. At her previous pools, on top of guarding she was in charge of cleaning the bathrooms without any extra compensation.

Soukup is not the only lifeguard who is finding employment elsewhere.

Lifeguards are in high demand across the country.

In Chicago, 686 people had applied to become lifeguards and none had been hired  the candidates needed their certification from the American Red Cross, which had only recently resumed training following the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Lewes, Del., Swim at your own risk signs were placed on the beaches as a result of staffing shortages.

In Philadelphia, the city had only enough lifeguards to open 18 of its 65 public outdoor pools.

The lifeguard shortage hit greater Richmond last year as well. Colliding with COVID restrictions, pools had to adjust operations to ensure a proper level of safety.

Tamara Jenkins, a spokesperson for Richmond Parks & Recreation, says the department had to limit the capacity of its nine public swimming pools.

Chrissy Fandel, the association aquatics director at YMCA of Greater Richmond, said, Weve been doing our very best to try and keep our pool locations open for our members to use. But that may change based on the ability to keep the pool safe. If we dont have enough lifeguards, then hours do have to be modified.

Raising wages to combat shortage

As COVID restrictions continue to lift, the demand for workers continues to grow. One trend is rising wages.

This summer, Soukup is opting to be a nanny. According to Indeed.com, the average hourly wage for a nanny or babysitter in the Richmond area is $19 an hour.

Despite Virginias minimum wage raising to $11 per hour in January, many employers are offering more. Employees at Starbucks make at least $15 per hour and $17 per hour during the summer. Chipotle raised its wages to an average of $15 for its employees.

The Center for Labor Markets and Policy at Drexel University predicts the employment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds this summer is 32.8%. In 2021, Virginia had an employment rate of 45.9%, which was ranked 19th out of all 50 states and Washington.

Aquatic centers are also raising their wages significantly to compete with the growing demand for workers.

Jenkins reported that the lifeguard pay starts at $17 an hour for Richmonds public pools. This is a change from the $15 lifeguards previously made due to the city of Richmonds requirements that all positions start at $17.

Richmond public pools are in full operation capacity this year. Over Memorial Day weekend, they welcomed nearly 3,000 people, Jenkins said. While Richmond still has some lifeguard positions open, Jenkins said they are in a good position to operate for the summer.

Some venues, like the aquatic center at Pocahontas State Park, partner with companies like Swim Club Management Group of Virginia, a private contractor that provides lifeguard services. The public-private partnership allowed the park to borrow lifeguards from other areas as needed.

Lifeguards directly hired by Pocahontas were generally high school and college students, said park manager Nate Clark.

The park aimed to hire 30 lifeguards for the summer at $15 an hour.

We [Virginia State Parks] rely really, really heavily on our seasonal summer staff, but it seems like the last couple of years, its been a little more difficult to get people on enough applications and get positions filled, Clark said.

Over the past two years, Swim Club Management Group had struggled to hire lifeguards, said regional director Tanner Kelson. This year, knowing that many of its branches were facing similar issues, it made sure to take proactive steps to curb the shortage.

Were not being faced with the implications of a lifeguard shortage, but we knew that there were certain things wed need to do within our company to ensure we would have the lifeguards to staff our facilities, Kelson said.

By raising the starting pay to $15 an hour and creating a welcoming work environment, the group was able to hire 585 of their recommended 600 lifeguards for the summer season  the majority of them being high schoolers.

For some establishments, like Westview on the James, raising wages was not an option. Westview is a sleepaway camp in Goochland County that is still looking to hire waterfront specialists who lifeguard and lead campers in activities on water trampolines, boats and a slide. Counselors at the camp do not make an hourly wage, but are paid weekly.

Sydney Barefoot, Westviews aquatic director, says applicants are losing interest in having a fun job in favor of higher-paying ones.

My biggest issue is keeping people interested in the position after they apply, Barefoot said. Ill get a number of applications in, but after the interviewing and hiring process is over, Ill get a call or an email that says a higher-paying job position or internship has kind of come around, and it just sways people away from wanting to be a lifeguard.

As of now, Westview has only two of the desired four waterfront staff positions filled, and Barefoot says this is affecting the camps operations.

We do have to modify some activities and even cancel activities to make sure that everyone in the water is being watched, Barefoot said.

Finding the right candidates

Even with paying competitive wages, not every individual is qualified to be a lifeguard.

All potential lifeguards have to be certified through a class that tests their knowledge and swimming skills. The certification can cost anywhere from $275 to $385 depending on the service. Many employers, including the YMCAs of Greater Richmond, pay for the cost of the training to lower the barrier for potential employees.

Fandel says the YMCA pays for lifeguard training and gives bonuses to employees who refer others that are lifeguard-certified.

In addition, there will also be the opportunity to attend a lifeguard preparatory program through the Goochland Family YMCA. The program is geared toward those who want to become lifeguards but need more training

Swim Club Management and Westview on the James pay for their employees certifications as well.

However, many lifeguards with experience will have moved on by now, Clark said. Former lifeguards at Pocahontas who may have been working for multiple summers in a row have most likely moved on to other positions after graduating from high school or college during the two-year COVID hiatus.

Without lifeguards who know the park and the rules and regulations  and returners who would need to get recertified  theyre starting from scratch.

That could be a contributing factor, he said. Theres a whole training and certification schedule.

Fandel concurred, relating that the YMCA often struggles to find candidates who are able to handle the physical and mental strain.

Its a lot of physical fitness requirements, and then on top of that, just the mental ability to be able to make quick decisions you know, split-second decisions that could be the difference between whether someone survives or not, Fandel said.

Finding candidates with both the mental and the physical requirements has been really challenging, because you might find someone whos got the physical fitness components, but maybe not the best decision-making skills and then you might have somebody who is really, really smart, but maybe not there with the physical requirements, she added. So thats a big part of the challenge that I have seen.

Importance of pools

For organizations like Westview on the James, ensuring water safety is a top priority.

Westview has eight weeklong sessions for children ages 7 to 14 and half-week sessions for children ages 5 to 9. For a few weeks, Westview has a Care and Connect program that hosts children who have never had the opportunity to attend camp before. In addition, Westview offers a discounted rate for lower-income families, and many churches sponsor campers tuition.

There are a lot of kids who havent had swimming experience or been camping for a week before, so there are all sorts of challenges, Barefoot said. And then with the water activities, the kids typically need a lot more attention, guidance and help in the water to be comfortable and to be able to participate.

In 2020, drowning was the second-leading cause of accidental deaths among children under age 17, just behind motor accidents, according to Virginias Office of the Chief Medical Examiners annual report. Providing free pool access is shown to reduce inequality in physical activity and increase swimming participation, according to a 2019 study in the Journal of Public Health.

Public pools help level out the playing field and assist in introducing non-traditional groups to aquatics opportunities such as swim teams, diving, swim lessons and other aquatics-based programs, Jenkins said. Public pools are important because without them, thousands of people would miss out on life-changing, lifesaving skills that last a lifetime.

In addition to income-based swimming gaps, there are racial swimming gaps. According to USA Swimming, 70% of African Americans dont know how to swim. Black people make up 40% of Richmonds population.

Our aquatics facilities have a very assorted range of economic demographics that use the pools, Jenkins said. Although we do not track income, our pools paint a clear image of an increasingly diverse city of Richmond.

Clark said Pocahontas isnt fully sure what to expect this summer. Many people are excited to get back into summer activities, but some are still concerned about COVID. But given the attendance during Memorial Day weekend, he said he thinks its going to be a good one.

We may not have quite the same numbers weve had in the past, he said, but I think its still going to be a great season.

Katherine Lutge Follow Katherine Lutge 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
East China's Jiangsu province, one of the country's major foreign trade hubs, saw robust foreign trade growth in the first five months of 2022, local customs authorities said Monday.

Jiangsu's import and export volume rose by 8.5 percent year on year to 2.13 trillion yuan (about 317 billion U.S. dollars) from January to May, accounting for 13.3 percent of the country's total in the period, according to Nanjing customs.

Exports rose 9 percent to 1.32 trillion yuan, while imports reached 807.03 billion yuan, up 7.6 percent year on year.

In the five months, the province's trade volume with the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United States, and the Republic of Korea increased by 7.4 percent, 9.6 percent, 5.2 percent, and 19.6 percent, respectively.

The foreign trade of Jiangsu's foreign-funded enterprises was up by 3.8 percent year on year to 1.12 trillion yuan, accounting for more than half of the province's total.
ARLINGTON  One of Virginias newest  and largest  corporate citizens is making a good first impression with a commitment to opening a center to help military veterans transition to civilian life, including possible high-tech jobs in a region that is becoming a hotbed for highly skilled employees.
If the regional convective setup Monday night and early Tuesday had derecho dreams, it was a poorly timed and poorly organized effort.

The potential for one or two large storm clusters moving out of the Ohio Valley into the Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic devolved into four pieces getting in each other's way and "bouncing" off each other in strange directions during the coolest part of the 24-hour cycle.

There were some pockets of fairly widespread wind damage, such as southern Ohio and the far western fringe of West Virginia with the line that moved into Roanoke about midnight, but damaging gusts were sporadic at best across our region (there are 1,200 without power in Montgomery County this morning), and we awoke Tuesday in the Roanoke and New River valleys to clouds, showers and a few rumbles of thunder.

Eventually the sun will return today, and the temperature will push upward toward 90, likely getting above it in the Roanoke Valley and points south and east.

The late start on heating and arrival of rain-cooled air may mean the 95-98 record high earlier projected for Roanoke is doubtful today. Also, with new moisture to evaporate from overnight storms and leftover wind boundaries from the outflow of so many squall line fragments, storms may pop up here and there this afternoon, though it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where. Sinking air behind the morning storm clusters will put the lid on new convection in some places.

Still, there is no basic change to the idea that this will be an abnormally hot and sticky week with periods of thunderstorms possible, both those that pop up due to daytime heating and local terrain effects, and those that develop somewhere to the northwest and move toward us in more organized clusters. Strong high pressure is firmly anchored to our west and southwest, and we are within its zone of influence enough for hot afternoons and yet at the fringe of it enough for possible new convective systems to arrive rotating around it.

If it doesn't make it to 95 or higher on this Tuesday in Roanoke, following a 94 high on Monday, it probably will on Wednesday or Thursday, or both.

Record highs for Roanoke are 95 for June 14 (1926), 95 for June 15 (1952) and 96 for June 16 (1939 and 1957). Record highs for Blacksburg are 92 for June 14 (1954), 91 for June 15 (1952) and 91 for June 16 (1952 and 1934). These are all reachable, especially on Wednesday.

There is relief from the stickiness on the way just in time for the weekend, with a cold front arriving by late Friday. Highs return to more normal upper 70s-mid 80s range and lows drop into the 50s with much lower humidity on Saturday and Sunday.

The core of the heat dome high is setting up west of us, not on top of us, so that will likely mean alternating periods of heat and not-so-hot with periods of showers and storms interspersed over the next week or two.

Contact Kevin Myatt at kevin.myatt@roanoke.com. Follow him on Twitter @kevinmyattwx.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Blacksburgs new police chief will be longtime officer Todd Brewster, the town announced Tuesday.

Brewster, 48, who began his career with the town department 25 years ago, will become chief July 1 as Anthony Wilson retires.

Its an honor to have been selected to serve the citizens of Blacksburg and to lead one of the finest law enforcement agencies in the country, Brewster said in a statement released by the town. I will continue building upon Chief Wilsons many accomplishments, by expanding our outreach and engagement efforts, and recruiting a diverse police department reflective of our community.

Wilson announced in March that he was bringing his own quarter-century run with Blacksburgs force to a close, and that the town would seek a successor.

Brewster joined Blacksburgs police as a dispatcher in 1997, then became an officer in 1999. He also has been a volunteer firefighter in Blacksburg and Christiansburg.

At the police department, Brewsters duties included supervising the Accident Reconstruction Team and serving as the Department of Motor Vehicles grant coordinator, the town statement said. In November 2020, he was promoted to police services captain, a position that oversees criminal investigations, accreditation, community outreach, recruiting and training.

I congratulate Todd Brewster on being selected to serve Blacksburg in his new role as chief of police, Town Manager Marc Verniel said in the town statement. Todd has a proven track record in law enforcement and an extensive history of service to our community, which began as a volunteer firefighter and then as a communications officer in our emergency dispatch center. He began his certified police career as a patrol officer, has served as investigations sergeant, patrol lieutenant and service division commander.

With every assignment Todd has distinguished himself as community advocate and leader. He has the skills to lead the department into the future and will continue to build upon the relationships he and our police officers have established in our community.

Brewster is a native of Tazewell and graduated from Radford University. He has received the Virginia Police Chiefs Foundations Lifesaving Award, and is a member of the FBI National Academy Associates, International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Blue Ridge Association of Chiefs of Police.

Locally he serves on the board of directors for the New River Valley Alcohol Safety Awareness Program.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Precisely 245 years ago today, the Second Continental Congress adopted a simply stated document known as The Flag Resolution.

Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.

Eighty-four years later, in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1861, a patriot named Victor Morris suggested a day honoring the national banner. The city of Hartford held an observance that June 14, barely two months after the outbreak of the Civil War.

Solemnly, it featured prayers for the army and for the preservation of the Union, which seem understandable and appropriate. And then 55 years later, in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson finally proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day.

In 1949, Congress followed up and enacted a law memorializing today. In other words, only 88 years passed between Victor Morris bright idea for Flag Day and its formal reality.

Though its still not an observed national holiday like Memorial Day or Independence Day, Flag Day remains in Title 36 of the U.S. code. Its noted on some calendars, but not all. Its not a paid day off. Thankfully, the American flag drama were about to recount didnt take nearly so long to happily resolve. It didnt even take 88 days. But it might have taken 88 hours.

I learned about it Sunday night in an email blast that went out to members of the Harry M. Richardson Post 64 of the 29th Division Association. Its 130 or so members are veterans of the Virginia Army National Guard. Some have served in more than one state guard unit.

The group has met for lunch the first Wednesday of every month at The Roanoker for something like 40 years. Those meetings were always in the same small banquet room, one that seemed frequently in demand by one community group or another.

An American flag on a stand stood in a corner of that room. Members of Post 64 would face it and salute as they recited the Pledge of Allegiance to open their meetings.

But that flag had been installed by another group that regularly used the same room. And then one day about a year ago, it disappeared. Whoever had placed it in Roanokes most popular banquet room took it elsewhere.

Apparently, that flag in the corner had been loaned by somebody else to The Roanoker, said post member Richard Raymond, who served in the National Guards of Connecticut, North Carolina and Virginia.

For a while, the 29th Division Association had no floor-standing substitute. They made do with a two-foot-tall mini-flag that rested on a restaurant table, Raymond said. But that always seemed inadequate and too puny, Raymond added.

One day last year, he suggested the post purchase a floor-standing flag to replace its diminutive substitute. Members discussed it and agreed  more commonly they use funds they raise for donations to worthy charities, such as a Salem-based support group for the families of activated National Guard members.

But a flag for their meeting place at The Roanoker seemed like a worthy expense, too.

So Raymond ordered a suitable indoor ceremonial flag from Carrot-Top Industries, a company based in South Carolina. Unlike outdoor flags, it was fringed in gold, with tassels and a pole. Raymond said it cost $120.

One day last year, the post formally donated the new flag to The Roanoker, for use by anyone who cared to use it. Someone with Post 64 even took a photo of the formal presentation ceremony, featuring a past Post 64 commander, Morris Bennett, with Butch Craft, owner of the restaurant.

There was no written agreement, Raymond said. When we donated it, we never dreamed The Roanoker would close in a few months.

The flags future fate quickly became a topic of conversation among Post 64 members, especially after The Roanoker closed its doors for good at the end of May.

When a post member inquired about the flag, somebody at the restaurant promised it would not be sold, as many of the restaurants other furnishings were this past Thursday. (Apparently, a large crowd descended on The Roanoker and snapped up the restaurants cutlery, dishes, even the pictures hanging on its walls.)

I inquired of some employees, and was told that if I came at 10 a.m. on Thursday [June 9], I might reclaim it, Raymond told me.

But the key word in that promise proved to be might. Because when I arrived, [the flag] was gone, no one knew where, Raymond added.

Whoever got it, they got it out of there before before the garage sale they had, Raymond told me.

The mystery prompted an email chain among Post 64 members. This past Friday, member Jay Kincanon suggested, contact Dan Casey at The Roanoke Times to see if he can make a plea with his readers to return the flag to our Post 64.

That message reached me Sunday night, courtesy of an email from Richard Raymond. Immediately, I was gung-ho to help reunite the veterans with their American flag.

You have a very loud voice in the Roanoke Valley, Raymond noted with flattery. He chuckled when I replied that singular talent frequently is a hindrance.

Being known as a loudmouth is sometimes a two-edged sword, I said.

Anyway, whatever talents I may or may not have proved totally unnecessary in solving the case.

Monday morning, Richard A. Carr Jr. of Troutville, current commander of Post 64 of the 29th Division Association, sent members another email.

I have the location of our flag from the Roanoker, Carr wrote. Hooray!

What happened? How did the flag go MIA? To where had it been spirited off? And by whom? I gave Carr a call and he dished the details.

The indoor ceremonial flag was rescued, somewhat silently, by another well-meaning member of the post. Carr identified that vet as Roger Talmadge, who coincidentally belongs to another group that used that same banquet room at The Roanoker.

Carr said Talmadge moved it to the Holiday Inn Tanglewood, where the other group now meets, since The Roanoker closed.

I hope to pick it up in the next week, Carr said.

Soon itll be reunited with members of the Harry M. Richardson Post 64 of the 29th Division Association, at their new meeting place, the Great 611 Steakhouse on Electric Road. Which used a borrowed flag at its June monthly luncheon.

Thanks for reading all the way to the happy ending.

Contact metro columnist Dan Casey at 981-3423 or dan.casey@roanoke. com . Follow him on Twitter:@dancaseysblog

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Former Roanoke City Councilman Robert Jeffrey Jr. faces a possible penalty of 22 to 57 months in prison when sentenced later this summer for financial crimes that cast him out of office in March.

How much time he might spend behind bars and an estimate of the size of his repayment obligation came to light at bond hearing Monday at which he was denied interim release.

Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Sheri Mason filed a document that she said detailed unauthorized transactions totaling an estimated $200,000 half of it cash withdrawals  and said that authorities will be asking for a court order that Jeffrey pay the money back.

The preliminary figure is the first public accounting of the money he stole from the Northwest Neighborhood Environmental Organization, a Roanoke nonprofit organization where Jeffrey worked as a property manager. He pleaded guilty to embezzlement in March.

The newly filed transaction list describes unauthorized payments for utility, hotel and restaurant bills; construction services; online services; and purchases at home improvement stores in 2020 and 2021. The list of cash withdrawals contains 55 entries, the largest for $10,010 on July 10, 2020.

Asked outside of court what Jeffrey did with the cash, Mason said its hard to say.

Jeffrey was jailed three months ago after a jury convicted him of obtaining money by false pretenses from the Roanoke Economic Development Authority. Later in the dual-victim case, he admitted bilking the NNEO. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 22.

Virginia law declared Jeffreys council seat forfeited upon his guilty plea.

Jeffreys attorney requested Jeffreys release for medical reasons and provided testimony that the 53-year-old Jeffrey is suffering from advanced kidney disease and needs a transplant. Jeffrey had arranged to live with his wife and mother-in-law in Roanoke.

Evangeline Jeffrey, Jeffreys mom, testified that her son had been slated for a transplant at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, but missed his preoperative appointment scheduled for late March because he had just entered jail and now the procedure is on hold.

Mason said jail officials have arranged for continuing medical care including three sessions a week of dialysis. Jail officials have contacted a Richmond hospital about the possibility of a transplant, she said.

Circuit Court Judge David Carson, in denying Jeffreys request for temporary freedom, noted that Jeffrey has been convicted of three felonies. Carson told Jeffrey the court has dates available for his sentencing sooner than Aug. 22 including on June 24, a previously scheduled sentencing date that was canceled due to his lawyer being ill.

Attorney Melvin Hill, who represented Jeffrey at Mondays hearing, succeeded Jeffreys former trial defense attorney, Jonathan Kurtin. Hill said outside court that he is new to the case, needs time to prepare and is working toward being ready Aug. 22.

Carson has leeway to determine Jeffreys sentence and will consult, but is not bound by, advisory sentencing guidelines that have not yet been made public. Mason said her office has run calculations based in part on the amount of money taken and predicted the guideline will turn out to recommend a sentence of between one year and 10 months to four years and nine months.

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The decades-old murder of a Wythe County sheriffs deputy  who was shot by a teenager during the routine serving of legal papers  was again drawing notice this week after the shooter, now 42 and out of prison less than a year, was arrested in Oklahoma.

Christopher Shawn Wheeler, 42, was taken into custody again after a June 12 incident in which he is alleged to have waved a gun inside a restaurant and bragged about killing an officer. Wheeler is being on a held on a $150,000 bond in the Kay County, Oklahoma, Detention Center following his arrest by the Ponca City Police Department.

He is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, Ponca City Capt. Kevin L. Jeffries said.

Wheeler became notorious in 1994, when as a 15-year-old he killed Dep. Cliff Dicker, a 57-year-old who had served 14 years as a county officer and was in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years before that. At the time, officers said that Wheeler shot Dicker with a .22-caliber hunting rifle, then again with Dickers own 9mm pistol.

Dicker had been trying to serve Wheeler with papers in a Wytheville town theft case.

Wheeler was tried as an adult and in 1996 was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 43 years in prison.

The long-ago killing and far-away arrest stirred an unusual echo in Southwest Virginia.

Wayne Pike, who as a longtime sheriff of Wythe County was Dickers boss, and who later was the U.S. marshal in Roanoke before retiring, received an anonymous email that Wheeler had been arrested, said Pikes son, Jeff Pike, on Monday.

Luckily he did not hurt anyone this time, the email said.

Wayne Pike said Tuesday that during his decades in law enforcement, Dicker was the only one of his officers to be killed. Recalling the officers death, Pike said the deputy was being kind that morning at the teens home. The officer let him go back inside and get a jacket and Wheeler came back with a rifle, Pike said.

The Pikes guessed that the emailed tip came from someone involved in law enforcement but could not be sure. They responded by contacting Oklahoma officials to fill them in on Wheelers past, including that though the Virginia Parole Board released Wheeler in August, he still has years of incarceration that could be re-imposed.

Speaking from Oklahoma, Jeffries, the Ponca City officer, told a reporter, Somebody called us, and we investigated and figured out he was a convicted felon.

On Tuesday, Wythe County Commonwealths Attorney Mike Jones said that he is not sure yet how the Virginia side of Wheelers case will be worked out. After the new, Oklahoma charge is resolved, Wheeler is likely to be brought back to Virginia for the Parole Board to consider whether to send him back to prison, Jones said.

The Wytheville Enterprise contributed to this article.

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Russell Kavalhuna, who was named the new chancellor of Virginia's 23 community colleges, is no longer expected to take the job, a surprising turn of events following a tumultuous hiring process and interference from Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Douglas Garcia, vice chair of the board, wrote in an email to the community college presidents Monday night that Kavalhuna is negotiating an agreement to remain with Henry Ford College in Michigan. In his absence, the State Board for Community Colleges named Sharon Morrissey its interim chancellor.

"The board will move forward with our duty in selecting the next chancellor, one who will share the governor's and the board's strong passion for developing the talent that Virginia's businesses need to thrive and the types of credentials that allow Virginians to have better lives," Garcia wrote in the email, which was obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

In March, the board named Kavalhuna its new chancellor, replacing Glenn Dubois, who will retire at the end of this month. Kavalhuna is president of Henry Ford College, a Michigan community college.

His appointment came days after Youngkin asked the board to restart its hiring process and include the governor's office in the process. Youngkin said the board lacked transparency and was neglecting community colleges' greatest needs. Jobs remain unfilled in Virginia, and community college enrollment has plummeted 27% in the past decade.

While there are outstanding individual schools, Virginia needs an entire system that supports all Virginians in the pursuit of gaining skills, furthering their academic goals and equipping them with the tools they need to succeed in an ever-competitive world, a spokesperson for the governor said at the time.

In an act of defiance, the board hired Kavalhuna without delay, against Youngkin's wishes. Now the board expects Kavalhuna to resign, even though he never started.

Morrissey, the interim chancellor, serves as vice chancellor for academic services and research for the community college system.

She "is a seasoned leader who is well positioned to guide us in preparing for our next great leader and in helping to provide stability in a turbulent time," Garcia said.

The board will restart the process of hiring a permanent chancellor as soon as possible, Garcia said.
 
Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan on Monday urged solid and meticulous COVID-19 prevention and control work in Beijing in order to contain the spread of the epidemic as soon as possible.

Sun made the remarks during an inspection tour of the COVID-19 prevention and control work in the national capital, where she visited sites hit by the latest wave of infections -- two bars in Chaoyang District.

Sun learned about local efforts in epidemiological investigation and tracing, the identification of individuals faced with potential infection and related restrictions, and the handling of key outbreak sites.

The vice premier also visited the city's headquarters for COVID-19 response, heard a report on coordinated epidemiological investigation efforts, and held a meeting on quickening the implementation of COVID-19 control measures.
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.
Tuesdays Republican and Democrat primaries are going to be hot.

Both primaries have hotly contested races, but the National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch for the Pee Dee region for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The forecast calls for a high in Florence of 104 degrees, but it will feel like its above 110 degrees once you factor in the humidity.

Registered voters can go to the polls today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

Voters will need to be prepared for the heat, and expect to wait outside in a line. Doctors recommend limiting exposure to excessive heat. To help beat the heat, wear light-colored clothing and stay hydrated.

When you get to the polling site, voters will need to present photo identification card.

Accepted forms of photo identification are a South Carolina drivers license or REAL ID, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles ID Card, South Carolina Voter Registration Card which includes a photo, a federal military ID or a U.S. Passport ID card.

If you do not have a photo id, a registered voter can still vote, but needs to present their current voter registration card, sign an affidavit provided by poll managers, who will give the voter a provisional ballot. It will be counted unless the county board of education determines the affidavit is false.

South Carolina held its first-ever early voting period between May 31 and June 10.

The final early voting period totals have been released by the states Election Commission. Statewide, 100,450 registered voters cast ballots.

In Darlington County, 1,698 people voted between May 31 and June 10. In Florence County, 4,418 registered voters cast their ballots.

Voters who requested an absentee ballot, but havent completed and returned it yet, will need to hand deliver it to the county election office.

For the ballot to count, it must be received by 7 p.m. Tuesday. The voters oath must be signed and a witness must sign and provide his/her address before the ballot is returned. A third-party is allowed to deliver the absentee ballot. The third party must complete the authorized returnee form and provide a photo ID when returning the ballot in person.

Voters are only allowed to cast ballots in one of the primaries  either Republican or Democrat. Visit www.scvote.gov before heading to the polls to access your sample ballot and find your polling place.

Federal, state, county and city offices will be on the Republican and Democrat ballots Tuesday.

Here are the positions on the ballot. Some of the county and city positions will not be on the ballot unless voters live in their districts.

DEMOCRAT PRIMARY

Federal elections

U.S. Senate: Catherine Fleming Bruce, Angela Geter, Krystle Matthews

U.S. House District 6: Michael Addison, James E. Jim Clyburn, Greg Marcel Dixon

State elections

Governor: Carlton Boyd; Joe Cunningham; Mia McLeod; Calvin CJ Mack McMillian, William H. Williams

State Superintendent of Education: Gary L. Burgess, Lisa Ellis, Jerry Govan

State House of Representatives District 101: Roger K. Kirby, Cezar McKnight, Willilam Terry Wallace

State House of Representatives District 62: Bryson Sparks Caldwell, Robert Williams

County elections

Florence County Council District 1: Jason Springs, Mattie Thomas

Florence City elections

City Council District 1: Jonathan Briggs, James Big Man Kennedy, Darryl Witherspoon Mitchell, LeShonda NeSmith-Jackson, Isaac Gin Wilson.

City Council District 2: Kermit Moore, Lawrence Chipper Smith

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY

Federal elections

U.S. House District 6: Duke Buckner, A. Sonia Morris

U.S. House District 7: Barbara Arthur, Garrett Barton, Russell Fry, Mark McBride, Spencer A. Morris, Tom Rice, Ken Richardson

State elections

Governor: Henry McMaster, Harrison Musselwhite

Secretary of State: Keith Blandford, Mark Hammond

Attorney General: Lauren Martel, Alan Wilson

State Superintendent of Education: Travis Bedson, Bryan Chapman, Kizzi Gibson, Lynda Leventis-Wells, Kathy Maness and Ellen Weaver.

Commission of Agriculture: Bill Bledsoe, Bob Rozier, Hugh Weathers

Florence County elections

County Council District 8: Frank J. Buddy Brand, William Schofield

The Florence County Republican Party will be having a watch party Tuesday night at McClenaghan Administrative Annex, 500 S. Dargan St., Florence. The watch party will be part of its regular monthly meeting. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. with food. A short program will start at 7:30 p.m.
Seguin, TX (78155)

Today

Thunderstorms with locally heavy downpours. High 99F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low 74F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
 Could the EQUAL Act get passed as part of some kind of "omnibus" federal marijuana reform bill? | Main | "Recidivism And Federal Bureau Of Prisons Programs Vocational Program Participants Released In 2010" 

June 14, 2022

Latest issue of FSR examines "Federal Community Supervision"

The June 2022 issues of the Federal Sentencing Reporter, which is now available online here, seeks to shine a bright light on the huge (but too often overlooked) issue of community supervision in the federal criminal justice system. As an editor FSR, I can say all the editors were deeply grateful for LawProf Jacob Schumans extraordinary efforts and expertise in envisioning and shepherding this issue from start to finish. This terrific issue includes a dozen original articles, and Prof Schuman's introductory essay, titled "One Nation under Supervision," sets the tone at the outset this way:

This Special Issue of Federal Sentencing Reporter asks whether the federal criminal justice system can reconcile the dueling purposes of community supervision: public safety and rehabilitation. While the federal government is neither as vast nor as powerful as the Almighty, it does supervise over 100,000 people serving terms of probation, parole, and supervised release. Combined with the approximately 25,000 federal criminal defendants on pretrial release and diversion, the total population under federal supervision equals the number of people in federal jails and prisons. While U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services offers an array of transitional services, and nearly a quarter of the defendants under federal supervision receive judiciary-funded drug treatment, judges also revoke supervision in approximately a third of all cases, imposing an average eleven-month prison sentence and accounting for 15% to 20% of all federal sentencings. A term of supervision offers help and support, yet the threat of revocation imposes a significant liability, offering a mixed blessing for federal criminal defendants. The last time FSR dedicated an Issue to federal community supervision was in 1994. Almost thirty years later, the population under federal supervision has nearly tripled. At the same time, innovative reentry courts and other approaches to supervision have sprung up in federal districts across the country. In 2019, the Supreme Court struck down for the first time a provision of the supervised release statute as violating the jury right, splitting 4-1-4 on the reasoning and revealing deep divisions among the justices about the law of community supervision. The time is ripe to reflect on these developments and chart the future of community supervision in the federal criminal justice system.

Here is a list of the terrific articles and authors in this great new FSR issue:

One Nation Under Supervision by Jacob Schuman

Breach of Trust and U.S. v. Haymond by Fiona Doherty

The Reconstruction of Federal Reentry by Scott Anders, Jay Whetzel

The Burden of Criminal Justice Debt in Federal Community Supervision by Laura I Appleman

Rethinking Supervised Release Discovery with an Eye Toward Real Fundamental Fairness by Alison K. Guernsey

A Tale of Two Districts: Supervised Release in the District of Arizona and the Northern District of California by Elisse Larouche, Jon M. Sands, August Sommerfeld

Reenvisioning Success: How a Federal Reentry Court Promotes Desistance and Improves Quality of Life by Maya Sosnov, Leslie Kramer

The Judicial Role in Supervision and Reentry by Jacob Schuman

Whats Missing? The Absence of Probation in Federal Sentencing Reform by Cecelia Klingele

Reducing the Federal Prison Population: The Role of Pretrial Community Supervision by Christine S. Scott-Hayward, Connie Ireland

COVID-19 Vaccination as a Condition of Federal Community Supervision by Nila Bala

Building a Fair and Just Federal Community Supervision System: Lessons Learned from State and Local Reform Efforts by Miriam Krinsky, Monica Fuhrmann

June 14, 2022 at 09:46 AM | Permalink

Comments

Post a comment
Benjamin Macann, 32, was arrested at a hotel in Bulgaria. (National Crime Agency)

An alleged cocaine supplier and one of the UKs most wanted men has been arrested in Bulgaria.

Benjamin Macann, 32, was detained at a hotel in the southern city of Plovdiv on Monday.

He was in possession of a fake passport and a genuine passport in someone elses name, authorities said.

A public appeal to help trace Macann was made in January this year when the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Crimestoppers launched a new Most Wanted campaign featuring 12 fugitives who were believed to be hiding in Spain.

Read more: Shocking moment 'showing off' van driver hits OAP while overtaking

Macann is wanted by Norfolk Police. (Getty)

Macann, formerly of Beetley, Dereham, is wanted by Norfolk Police for allegedly conspiring to supply class A drugs.

He is accused of supplying cocaine in 2020 during an operation in which he and accomplices used encrypted handsets.

Macann is in custody awaiting the beginning of extradition proceedings.

Detective Sergeant Eddie Hammond, of the Norfolk and Suffolk Serious Organised Crime Unit, said: We continue to work with partners and law enforcement agencies around the world to locate our most wanted.

We would like to thank them all for their continued determination and meticulous hard work as they continue to disrupt criminal networks around the world, meaning nowhere is safe to hide.

Read more: Man deemed 'significant risk' after random public assaults escapes from hospital

Steve Reynolds, NCA regional manager in Spain, added: Benjamin Macanns arrest was made possible after some great work by our international liaison officers, the Guardia Civil fugitives team, Bulgarian Police and our counterparts in Bulgarias international cooperation directorate to whom we are very grateful.

Macann is the fifth fugitive to be arrested from the Most Wanted list. We wont stop until the remainder are caught.

Lord Ashcroft, founder and chair of the charity Crimestoppers, said: It is incredibly encouraging to learn that another fugitive has been caught, proving the success of our joint Most Wanted campaign with the NCA.
Rep Sean Casten (Getty Images)

The teenage daughter of Democrat congressman Sean Casten has died at their family home, his office and reports have said.

Mr Castens office said in a statement on Monday night that Gwen had passed away and that The Casten family requests privacy, and we will be issuing no further comment during this heartbreaking time.

She was found unresponsive at 7am at the family home in Downers Grove, Illinois, a Chicago Police Department official told the Chicago Tribune.

First responders determined that the subject was deceased, the report added. No further information was available on Tuesday.

Gwen was an active campaigner on issues including gun control and according to her father, had only recently been working with other teenagers to train them to treat gunshot wounds.

He told Newsy in an interview he had tremendous pride in his daughter for the programme and also tremendous shame that the United States had experienced many mass shootings at schools.

The Democrat added that his daughter had done what sitting United States senators do not have the courage to do themselves.

Gwen was also reportedly a member of the Illinois chapter of March for Our Lives, the youth-lead gun control movement formed in the wake of the Parkland massacre.

Last weekend, my oldest daughter Gwen graduated from high school! We are extremely proud of her and all the #Classof2022 graduates with bright futures and good trouble ahead of them! pic.twitter.com/u5JxEVtSEP  Rep. Sean Casten (@RepCasten) May 29, 2022

She had graduated from high school last month with Mr Casten saying: We are extremely proud of her and all the #Classof2022 graduates with bright futures and good trouble ahead of them!

Mr Casten has also recently spoken out for greater control legislation after 19 children and two teachers were killed by an 18-year-old gunman in Uvalde, Texas, on 24 May.

Ahead of the announcement of her death by his office on Monday, television networks across Illinois were asked to pull his re-election campaign adverts, reported CBS News.

He is running for re-election in the redrawn Illinois 6th congressional district and has been a member of Congress since January 2019.
Philippines presumptive next president Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of a former dictator, is drawing backlash for misrepresenting his educational qualifications.

Nicknamed Bongbong, Mr Marcos has claimed in earlier interviews to have earned a bachelors degree from the University of Oxford.

However, the University recently denied this claim.

According to our records, he did not complete his degree but was awarded a special diploma in social studies in 1978, Oxford said while responding to a freedom of information request by a UK-based Filipina supporter of his nearest rival Leni Robredo, according to The Guardian.

Mr Marcoss campaign website had stated: He completed his undergraduate studies at Oxford University and graduated with a special diploma in Social Studies.

Last October, his chief of staff Victor Rodriguez had said that Mr Marcos has always been forthright on his conferment of a special diploma in social studies by the distinguished university and has never misrepresented his Oxford education.

Without clarifying if Mr Marcos indeed finished his undergraduate studies at the British university, his chief of staff had added: We stand by the degree confirmation which was issued by the University of Oxford. It is up to anyone to question or challenge this with the said university.

The UK-based Filipina who moved the FoI request with Oxford said Mr Marcos should stop misrepresenting his special diploma, which is clearly not a degree.

Its clear he did not complete undergraduate studies, she said, adding that although the degree may not be so important, the misrepresentation is a reflection on his personality and character.

Mr Marcos, 64, secured a landslide win on 9 May after he received more than 31 million votes, double that of his closest rival, the outgoing vice president Leni Robredo, according to preliminary results.

The final results will be officially declared only later in May after all votes are counted, and the winner will take office on 30 June for a single six-year term.

Story continues

His electoral triumph, in whats projected to be one of the strongest mandates for a Philippine president in decades, represents a dramatic reversal of the people power revolt in 1986, which ousted his father following years of human rights violations.

While Mr Marcos lost the 2016 vice-presidential race to Ms Roredo, his electoral win this May did not surprise many, with Philippines fact-checkers noting that his campaign relied on a disinformation campaign aimed at white-washing the familys chequered history.

We have seen disinformation falsely claiming that the Philippine economy during the Marcos Senior regime was the golden age, Meeko Angela Camba, head of a fact-checking initiative focused on public figures at Vera Files, a Philippines journalism and fact-checking outlet, told Poynter.

The generalised spread of disinformation has created an environment which has made it difficult for many voters to make informed decisions at the polling station, Charles Santiago, a Malaysian lawmaker and chairperson of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Parliamentarians for Human Rights, told CNN.

Even though the electoral process has been conducted in a formally correct manner, we are concerned that voting choices based on lies and harmful narratives could have seriously undermined the integrity of the elections and democracy itself.
   G7   40%   3 9%5% Naspers   1%4% 1770  8 8% Naspers  5% 360970.08  6.5% 200    25% mRNA  10%8% 4% 33%43%  500 () 9893.623.9% 132021 15025 
RED LODGE, Mont. (AP)  More than 10,000 visitors were ordered out of Yellowstone as unprecedented flooding tore through the northern half of the nations oldest national park, washing out bridges and roads and sweeping an employee bunkhouse miles downstream, officials said Tuesday. Remarkably, no one was reported injured or killed.

The only visitors left in the massive park straddling three states were a dozen campers still making their way out of the backcountry.

Yellowstone National Park, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, could remain closed as long as a week, and northern entrances may not reopen this summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly said.

The water is still raging," said Sholly, who noted that some weather forecasts include the possibility of additional flooding this weekend.

The Yellowstone River hit historic levels after days of rain and rapid snowmelt and wrought havoc across parts of southern Montana and northern Wyoming, where it washed away cabins, swamped small towns and knocked out power. It hit the park just as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors was ramping up.

Instead of marveling at massive elk and bison, burbling thermal pools and the reliable blast of Old Faithfuls geyser, tourists found themselves witnessing nature at its most unpredictable as the Yellowstone River river crested in a chocolate brown torrent that washed away everything in its path.

It is just the scariest river ever, Kate Gomez of Santa Fe, New Mexico, said Tuesday. Anything that falls into that river is gone.

Waters were only starting to recede Tuesday, and the full extent of the destruction may not be known for a while. It was not expected to have affected wildlife.

Closure of the northern part of the park will keep visitors from features that include Tower Fall, Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley, which is known for viewing wildlife such as bears and wolves. Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake and viewing the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are on the parks southern loop road and likely to be reopened.

Sholly said the backpackers who remained in the park had been contacted. Crews were prepared to evacuate them by helicopter, but that hasnt been needed yet, he said.

Sholly said he didnt believe the park had ever shut down from flooding.

Gomez and her husband were among hundreds of tourists stuck in Gardiner, Montana, a town of about 800 residents at the park's north entrance. The town was cut off for more than a day until Tuesday afternoon, when crews reopened part of a washed away two-lane road.

While the flooding cant directly be attributed to climate change, it came as the Midwest and East Coast sizzle from a heat wave and other parts of the West burn from an early wildfire season amid a persistent drought that has increased the frequency and intensity of fires that are having broader impacts. Smoke from a fire in the mountains of Flagstaff, Arizona, could be seen in Colorado.

Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said a warming environment makes extreme weather events more likely than they would have been "without the warming that human activity has caused.

Will Yellowstone have a repeat of this in five or even 50 years? Maybe not, but somewhere will have something equivalent or even more extreme, he said.

Heavy rain on top of melting mountain snow pushed the Yellowstone, Stillwater and Clarks Fork rivers to record levels Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials in Yellowstone and in several southern Montana counties were assessing damage from the storms, which also triggered mudslides and rockslides. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a statewide disaster.

Some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the park and Yellowstones gateway communities in southern Montana. National Park Service photos showed mud and rock slides, washed out bridges and roads undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers.

In Red Lodge, Montana, a town of 2,100 thats a popular jumping-off point for a scenic, winding route into the Yellowstone high country, a creek running through town jumped its banks and swamped the main thoroughfare, leaving trout swimming in the street a day later under sunny skies.

At least 200 homes flooded in the city and in Fromberg, Carbon County authorities said.

Residents described a harrowing scene where the water went from a trickle to a torrent over just a few hours.

The water toppled telephone poles, knocked over fences and carved deep fissures in the ground through a neighborhood of hundreds of houses. Power was restored by Tuesday, though there was still no running water in the affected neighborhood.

Heidi Hoffman left early Monday to buy a sump pump in Billings, but by the time she returned her basement was full of water.

We lost all our belongings in the basement, Hoffman said as the pump removed a steady stream of water into her muddy backyard. Yearbooks, pictures, clothes, furniture. Were going to be cleaning up for a long time.

On Monday, Yellowstone officials evacuated the northern part of the park, where roads may remain impassable for a substantial length of time, Sholly said. But the flooding affected the rest of the park, too, with park officials warning of yet higher flooding and potential problems with water supplies and wastewater systems at developed areas.

The rains hit just as area hotels have filled up in recent weeks with summer tourists. More than 4 million visitors were tallied by the park last year. The wave of tourists doesnt abate until fall, and June is typically one of Yellowstones busiest months.

It was unclear how many visitors to the region remained stranded, or how many people who live outside the park were rescued and evacuated.

Mark Taylor, owner and chief pilot of Rocky Mountain Rotors, said his company airlifted about 40 paying customers over the past two days from Gardiner, including two women who were very pregnant.

Taylor spoke as he ferried a family of four adults from Texas, who wanted to do some more sightseeing before heading home.

I imagine theyre going to rent a car and theyre going to go check out some other parts of Montana  somewhere drier, he said.

At a cabin in Gardiner, Parker Manning of Terre Haute, Indiana, got an up-close view of the roiling Yellowstone River floodwaters just outside his door. Entire trees and even a lone kayaker floated by.

In early evening, he shot video as the waters ate away at the opposite bank where a large brown house that had been home to park employees, who had evacuated, was precariously perched.

In a large cracking sound heard over the river's roar, the house tipped into the waters and was pulled into the current. Sholly said it floated 5 miles (8 kilometers) before sinking.

In south-central Montana, flooding on the Stillwater River stranded 68 people at a campground. Stillwater County Emergency Services agencies and Stillwater Mine crews rescued people Monday from the Woodbine Campground by raft. Some roads in the area were closed and residents were evacuated.

The towns of Cooke City and Silvergate, just east of the park, were also isolated by floodwaters.

In Livingston, residents in low-lying neighborhoods were told to leave and the city's hospital was evacuated as a precaution after its driveway flooded.

Officials in Park County, which includes Gardiner and Cooke City, said extensive flooding throughout the county had made drinking water unsafe in many areas.

The Montana National Guard said Monday it sent two helicopters to southern Montana to help with evacuations.

In the hamlet of Nye, at least four cabins washed into the Stillwater River, said Shelley Blazina, including one she owned.

It was my sanctuary, she said Tuesday. Yesterday I was in shock. Today Im just in intense sadness.

The Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs crested at 13.88 feet (4.2 meters) Monday, higher than the previous record of 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) set in 1918, according the the National Weather Service.

Yellowstone got 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) of rain Saturday, Sunday and into Monday. The Beartooth Mountains northeast of Yellowstone got as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service.

Whitehurst reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writers Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, R.J. Rico in Atlanta, and Brian Melley in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
China's top legislator Li Zhanshu has underlined sound legislation and supervision work in the environmental protection field, to employ the strength of the rule of law in ensuring the building of a beautiful China.

Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, made the remarks during a four-day law-enforcement inspection that ended on Monday in China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang.

Led by Li, legislators inspected the province's work in implementing the environmental protection law. They also conducted research for the legislation of a law on chernozem soil conservation.

During the tour, Li called for efforts to advance the implementation of the law to ensure the CPC Central Committee's decisions and plans are effectively carried out. He noted that the legal system for environmental protection should be continuously improved to ensure that the system's overall effectiveness is enhanced.

He also called on local governments, agricultural businesses and workers, and all relevant parties involved to take their due responsibility in conserving the chernozem soil, as it is important for the country's food security, ecological security and the Chinese nation's sustainable development.
Millions of seniors rely on Social Security today, to the point where they'd be utterly lost without benefits. Now the reality is that retiring on Social Security alone isn't advisable. But it's a boat many seniors land in.

Even if you make an effort to save for retirement independently, you might still end up heavily dependent on Social Security once your time in the workforce comes to an end. And so the last thing you want is to lose out on benefits you might otherwise be able to snag. But if you make these mistakes, you could end up with less money from Social Security -- and a world of regret.

1. Not knowing your full retirement age

Your full retirement age, or FRA, is when you're entitled to claim your Social Security benefits in full. But if you file sooner, you could end up slashing your benefits on a permanent basis.

Here's when FRA kicks in, depending on when you were born:

If Your Year of Birth Is: Full Retirement Age Is: 1943-1954 66 1955 66 and 2 months 1956 66 and 4 months 1957 66 and 6 months 1958 66 and 8 months 1959 66 and 10 months 1960 or any year after 67

Many seniors mistakenly think that FRA begins at age 65, since that's the start of Medicare eligibility. But the two programs have different rules, and it's important to know when you're able to start collecting Social Security without seeing your benefits reduced.

2. Not checking your annual earnings statements

Each year, the Social Security Administration (SSA) issues workers an earnings statement with a summary of their income. If you're 60 or older, that statement should arrive in your mailbox. Otherwise, you can access it on the SSA's website.

And to be clear, you should access that statement. If it contains a mistake -- namely, underreported income -- you could end up with lower Social Security benefits down the line. But if you spot and correct such a mistake, you could wind up with higher monthly paychecks.

3. Filing for benefits too late

Filing for Social Security before FRA will result in reduced benefits. But filing after FRA will result in higher benefits for life.

For each year you delay your claim beyond FRA, your benefits get an 8% boost. And so if your FRA is 67 and you hold off on filing for Social Security until age 70, you'll eke out a 24% increase.

But once you turn 70, there's no financial incentive at play for delaying benefits. And if you hold off on filing for Social Security for too long, you could actually end up losing out on money you would've otherwise been entitled to.

Avoid a financial hit

All of these Social Security errors are easy to make -- but also, easy to avoid. Once you commit your FRA to memory, you won't have to worry about claiming benefits early accidentally. Granted, you might choose to sign up for Social Security early, but that's a different thing.

Similarly, checking your earnings statement each year could spell the difference between a higher monthly benefit and a lower one. And making sure to sign up for Social Security by age 70 could spare you from losing out on income you deserve.

All told, the more you know about Social Security's rules, the easier it'll be to avoid these and other harmful blunders. So even if retirement is many years away, take the time to read up on Social Security so you won't wind up taking a financial hit during your senior years.

The $18,984 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook

If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $18,984 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP)  With jokes, upbeat Caribbean music and vacation scenes of sun-kissed beaches and palm trees, Haitian influencers on YouTube and TikTok advertise charter flights to South America.

But they are not targeting tourists.

Instead, they are touts for a thriving, little-known shadow industry that is profiting from the U.S. government sending people back to Haiti, a country besieged by gang violence.

More than a dozen South American travel agencies have rented planes from low-budget Latin American airlines -- some of them as large as 238-seat Airbuses -- and then sold tickets at premium prices. Many of the customers are Haitians who had been living in Chile and Brazil before they made their way to the Texas border in September, only to be expelled by the Biden administration and prevented from seeking asylum. They are using the charter flights to flee Haiti again and return to South America.

Some, clearly, plan to make another try to enter the United States.

Rodolfo Noriega of the National Coordinator of Immigrants in Chile said Haitians are being exploited by businesses taking advantage of their desperation. They are at the end of a chain of powerful businesses making money from this circuit of Haitian migration, he said.

The airlines and travel agencies say they work within the legal norms of the countries where they are operating from and are simply providing a service to the Haitian diaspora in South America.

The thriving business model was revealed in an eight-month investigation by The Associated Press in partnership with the University of California, Berkeleys Human Rights Center and its Investigative Reporting Program.

This story is part of an ongoing Associated Press series, Migration Inc, that investigates individuals and companies that profit from the movement of people who flee violence and civil strife in their homelands.

Haitians sick of the deprivations of their island home resettled in Chile or Brazil, many after Haitis catastrophic 2010 earthquake. Then, last fall, struggling as the pandemic hit local economies and beset by racism, thousands decided to make their way to the Texas border town of Del Rio. There, they ran afoul of a public health order, invoked by the Trump administration and continued under the Biden administration, that blocks migrants from requesting asylum.

Authorities returned them not to South America, where some of their children were born, but to their original homeland -- Haiti.

Some interviewed by the AP said they feared for their lives there and wanted to return to South America. But airlines had stopped direct commercial flights from Haiti to Chile and Brazil during the pandemic; their remaining option was the charters.

The charter flights from Haiti became a lucrative business as restrictions aimed at controlling the spread of the coronavirus decimated tourism, according to the travel agents. Planes arrive empty to Haiti but return to South America full.

From November 2020 until this May, at least 128 charters were rented by travel agencies in Chile and Brazil for flights from Haiti, according to flight tracking information, online advertisements matching the flights to agencies and other independent verification by the AP and Berkeley.

The Brazillian and Chilean travel agencies said in interviews that they pay anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000 to rent an aircraft. At that rate, the three airlines that rented planes for 128 charter flights between Haiti and either Brazil or Chile would have been paid a total of anywhere from $12 million to $25 million. Meanwhile, prices for one-way tickets from Haiti to Chile have more than doubled in eight months, from $625 to more than $1,600.

Since taking office in January of 2021, the Biden administration sent back more than 25,000 Haitians to Haiti despite warnings from human rights groups that the expulsions would only contribute to Haitis travails and feed more Haitian migration to Latin America and the U.S.

Not all of the passengers on the charters had tried to immigrate to the U.S., but based on interviews with dozens of travel agents, Haitian migrants and advocates, and an analysis of flight data using the Swedish service Flightradar24, it is clear that the charters have become a major means to flee Haiti.

Some who took charter flights back to South America have headed north again on the network of underground routes that wind through Central America and Mexico and that ultimately lead to the United States, according to immigration attorneys, advocates and interviews with dozens of Haitians.

Many of the Haitians go back to Chile and Brazil, rather than places close to the U.S. like Mexico, because they have visas and other legal paperwork to get into those countries. And having lived there, they can find jobs quickly to make money for the trip north.

Some, like Amstrong Jean-Baptiste, also have children who were born in South America.

The 33-year-old father of two, spent $6,000 on a harrowing trip from Chile to Texas, only to be sent back to Haiti.

He had knives pulled on him, forged rivers that carried others away to their deaths and encountered highway robbers. In the end, he said the Haitians were handcuffed and treated like animals by U.S. immigration authorities. His son caught pneumonia in the immigration detention center.

As he waited in Port-au-Prince for a charter flight back to Santiago, news from northern Chile underscored why he wanted to go to the United States in the first place: A demonstration against immigrants drew thousands of protesters who turned violent and destroyed the belongings of migrants living in a camp.

Would he try to go to the U.S. again? He did not rule it out.

The risks are so numerous that this shouldnt be an experience to repeat, he said. However, one should never say never.



Gisela Perez de Acha, a supervisory reporter for Berkeleys Human Rights Center and its Investigative Reporting Program. Katie Licari is a recent Berkeley graduate journalism alum.

-

Watson reported from San Diego, Daniel from New York. Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego; Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Adriana Gomez Licon in Miami; and Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador; also contributed to this report. University of California students Zhe Wu, Mar Segura, Grace Luo, Gergana Georgieva, Jose Fernando Rengifo, Pamela Estrada, Freddy Brewster, Sabrina Kharrazi, Jocelyn Tabancay, Imran Ali Malik reported from Berkeley, along with Human Rights Center Investigations Lab director Stephanie Croft.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The U.S. failed to take basic steps at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to prevent fraud in a federal aid program intended to help small businesses, depleting the funds and making people more vulnerable to identity theft, the chairman of a House panel examining the payouts said Tuesday.

Democratic Rep. James Clyburn blamed the Trump administration for the problems in the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, overseen by the U.S. Small Business Administration, amid revelations that as much as 20% of the money  tens of billions of dollars  may have been awarded to fraudsters.

Clyburn said the Biden administration has implemented measures to identify potential fraud and directed loan officers to address indications of fraud before approving loans, while Congress has invested in fraud prevention and accountability.

Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said the Trump administration and Congress worked together at the beginning of the pandemic, when uncertainty was rampant and much of the economy was locked down, to deliver "much needed relief as fast as we could to help save as many jobs as we could" and prevent the economy from crashing.

Scalise, R-La., said Democrats are undermining the successes, and he asked why the House coronavirus panel Clyburn chairs wasn't looking into the enhanced unemployment insurance program that was plagued by egregious and unprecedented fraud and is a leading contributor to the high inflation rates.

I hope that in our oversight of pandemic programs, my Democratic colleagues will be able to recognize the difference between what was needed to save the economy during an unprecedented pandemic versus pushing a partisan, inflation-inducing agenda, he said.

Clyburn, of South Carolina, said the subcommittee will determine what more must be done to bring perpetrators of fraud to justice and how to protect future emergency programs.

Clyburn said he supports extending the statute of limitations for this kind of fraud case to give investigators more time to untangle complex potential crimes. Witnesses at the hearing suggested standardizing the data collected by states to make it easier for federal authorities to spot possibly fraudulent patterns.

The SBAs Office of the Inspector General has estimated that at least $80 billion distributed from the $400 billion EIDL program could have been fraudulent, much of it in scams using stolen identities. Separately, staff for the select subcommittee on Tuesday issued a report that found that some 1.6 million applications for the loans may have been approved without being evaluated.

The subcommittees staff found that those loans were approved in batches of up to 500 applications at a time. Applications were allowed to move through even if they had certain red flags for fraud  such as international client locations or phone numbers not associated with the business or the owner  so long as they werent too many of them. The process meant that while software analyzed the applications, they were not even opened by officials before being greenlighted for funding.

The SBA's inspector general, Hannibal Mike Ware, said initially there was a huge struggle at the agency about the need for speed versus the need for controls. He said he was screaming about the need for fraud controls. He said the most concerning thing was self-certification, which meant applicants could say they had a business or a certain number of employees and get money.

The subcommittee hearing also tackled broader fraud concerns with the flood of pandemic aid from multiple federal government programs for states, local governments, businesses and the unemployed. The $5 trillion in total aid, delivered in a series of bills signed by Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, have come with numerous complications.

Fraud overwhelmed enhanced unemployment insurance programs funded by the federal government and administered by the states. There was so much aid to governments that many struggled to find a way to spend it all under the original regulations. And there have been questions about whether the Paycheck Protection Program to keep employees working was worth it.

The Secret Service said in December that nearly $100 billion has been stolen from COVID-19 relief programs, basing that estimate on its cases and data from the Labor Department and the Small Business Administration. The White House downplayed the estimate, saying it was based on old reports.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency may have been double-billed for the funerals of hundreds of people who died of COVID-19, the Government Accountability Office said in April. States and cities continue to be slow to spend their pandemic relief money.

The select subcommittee said Tuesday that more than $10 billion allocated under two massive business loan programs has been returned because of investigations and bank actions. Federal prosecutors have charged nearly 1,500 people with crimes related to fraud against the government over the business loans and enhanced unemployment insurance programs.

The government's Pandemic Response Accountability Committee says inspectors general for various federal agencies have at least 1,150 ongoing investigations into fraud from the different aid funds. Officials say it could take years to untangle all the problems.

McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island, and Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

This story corrects that Rep. Steve Scalise is the Republican whip, the No. 2 House Republican, not majority whip.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  Four Republican candidates for New York governor faced off Monday in their first televised debate, trying to bruise each other  and Democrats  with two weeks to go until the state's primary election.

Some of the sharpest exchanges of the night came between U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin and businessman Harry Wilson, who has said he didn't vote for Donald Trump in 2020.

Zeldin repeatedly assailed Wilson as a Never Trumper and a Republican in name only." The businessman responded by dismissing Zeldin as a failed politician, and claimed that in January, Zeldin had asked him to be his running mate.

"Why is he dishonestly attacking me now? Because his campaign is disintegrating, Wilson said.

I haven't asked, and I wouldn't ask Never Trumper Harry Wilson," Zeldin said.

Don't lie, said Wilson, who claimed to have notes from the conversation.

The Republican field also includes former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, businessman Harry Wilson and Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York Citys former mayor.

Giuliani, a former adviser to Trump, appeared in a separate television studio than the other candidates because he was barred from being on the same stage after refusing to submit proof hes been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Giuliani said if elected, he will restore the jobs of public workers fired for not getting the vaccine. He pledged Monday to empower the police and called for a return of the stop and frisk policing tactic in New York City, which was scaled back by police after a judge found it had violated the civil rights of many law-abiding Black people.

Astorino, a former radio industry professional and two-term Westchester County executive from 2010 to 2017, is running for governor for a second time. He's promised to release an agenda to address New Yorks steep job loss stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as address government corruption and the states high taxes and cost of living.

During the debate, each candidate was asked whether they thought Trump should run for president again, and what they thought of the ongoing Congressional hearings into the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Astorino said Trump bears some responsibility in the insurrection but said it's time for the country to move on.

Giuliani praised Trump as a great president" and pledged to do for New York what Trump did for the country.

Zeldin, a Trump ally and an Army veteran who has represented New Yorks 1st Congressional District since 2015, touted his support from the National Rifle Association and said he wanted to repeal a 2013 state gun control law that broadened the definition of assault weapons and required universal background checks.

When asked if New York should ban guns from specific public places in case the Supreme Court overturns the state's concealed carry restrictions, Zeldin said: Gun-free zones dont work. They actually become a target.

Wilson, of Johnstown, entered the race this spring by launching a $12 million television advertisement campaign.

He's worked for Goldman Sachs and founded a White Plains advisory firm, and also served as a U.S. Treasury Department advisor under former President Barack Obama.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2022

Stabilize your life. Fewer risks will ease stress. Plan your path carefully. You'll discover what makes you happy once you take a minimalist approach to life. A change in circumstances is within reach, but you must begin the process. Take nothing for granted and expect to do the work yourself.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- You'll get what you deserve if you give your best effort. An attentive attitude will help you pick out any flaws that may hold you back. Rely on your energy and mastery to help you get things done.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- Intuition and emotion will lead to assumptions and poor decisions. Use your imagination productively to work toward a satisfying goal. A physical change will lead to compliments.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Take better care of yourself and your reputation. A sudden change of plans can damage your position if you are all talk and no action. Put your heart and soul into everything you do.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Your power of persuasion will win support. An issue will arise if you or someone you work alongside isn't honest, straightforward or careful when handling responsibilities. Verify information.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Spend time with a friend or relative. Discuss issues that can influence your relationship. Look over shared expenses or joint ventures, and consider the pros and cons before you make a move.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- Lighten up and share your thoughts and feelings. The changes you implement will help you discover what's possible. Put a budget in place that will encourage you to make positive adjustments.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- Working with those who can help you advance will be beneficial. A change at home will push you to take on a new project or share something special with a loved one.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Be secretive. If you overreact, it will be hard to get what you want. Consider the logistics of a situation or a plan; use your charm and know-how to convince others to help.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Don't dawdle, or you'll fall behind. Maintain where you are rather than stretch for something that isn't attainable. Adjust your plans and use your intelligence to set priorities.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- Embrace fitness and lifestyle changes. Be thorough, but keep your plans secret until you have tested every adjustment you want to make. A new look or image will attract attention.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- You'll gain momentum by focusing on what matters. Being well-informed will help you find solutions. A rational approach will help you gain respect and support from influential people.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- You'll be tempted to try to impress someone, but you must resist indulgence. Be willing to follow through before you make promises or sign up for something that conflicts with your routine or beliefs.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
SOUX CITY -- The identity of the man who was killed in a downtown residence on June 10 has been released.

Sioux City Police say Dolorean N. Wade was located at a residence on the 500 block of Ninth St. He was transported to MercyOne Siouxland for treatment and later died.

Katrina L. Barnes, 32, of Sioux City, was charged with second degree murder in Wade's death. She was also charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.

Investigators also charged Jordyn R. Easton, 25, of Sioux City, with accessory after the fact and for concealing evidence related to the crime.

Police say the investigation into this case is ongoing.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office received a sexual abuse report in December from a girl who said that Stacy Baas had abused her in 2016, when she was under age 10.

According to court documents, the girl was interviewed at the MercyOne Siouxland Child Advocacy Center in Sioux City and said that Baas would ask her to tickle him and point to his crotch. The girl said she would touch him while his pants and underwear were around his ankles.
SIOUX CITY -- A Spencer, Iowa, man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for illegally possessing firearms.

Demetrius Wright, 41, pleaded guilty in November in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced June 3.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Wright possessed a Glock .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun on Aug. 1 after another person used it in a Sioux City shooting. Wright had another person buy a Smith and Wesson M&P 15-22 .22-caliber handgun for him in April 2021 and then made a video with it to threaten another person.

Wright was prohibited from owning firearms because of a 2017 domestic violence conviction and two separate protection orders filed against him.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
ONAWA, Iowa -- A judge has reached a decision on whether an Onawa teenager is guilty or not guilty of sexually assaulting seven girls.

Jay Lee Neubaum will learn the verdict at a June 24 hearing in Monona County District Court.

Charged with 10 counts of third-degree sexual abuse, Neubaum, 19, waived his right to a jury trial, and District Judge Zach Hindman presided over his three-day trial in December.

Neubaum is charged with sexually assaulting six of the girls and forcing sexual contact with the seventh from August 2019 through March 2020 in Mapleton, Iowa, where Neubaum attended school. At trial, the girls, who ranged in age from 13-16 at the time the alleged incidents occurred, described how Neubaum forced himself on them. Neubaum denied the allegations.

His attorney, Theresa Rachel, said the prosecution failed to prove its case and said the girls and other witnesses gave conflicting or inconsistent testimony, suggesting that one of the girls may have persuaded the others to make up their stories.

Monona County Attorney Ian McConaughey said the girls gave consistent testimony, each describing that Neubaum got them alone, started kissing them against their will, pushed them down, forcibly removed their pants and underwear and sexually assaulted them.

Each count carries a 10-year prison sentence.

Hindman said in Tuesday's order that he will allow Neubaum to participate in the hearing via video from the Anamosa State Penitentiary, where he is serving a 50-year prison sentence for second-degree murder for the Jan. 31, 2020, shooting death of 16-year-old Joseph Hopkins in Mapleton. A Monona County jury convicted him of the crime in May 2021.

Hopkins, of Mapleton, was shot once in the forehead with a 12-gauge shotgun while he, Neubaum and two other teenage boys were working on a demolition derby car in a garage at the home of Neubaum's grandmother, with whom he was living at the time.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
SIOUX CITY  A student representative to the school board and a high-profile community member spoke out on Monday condemning the actions of Board President Dan Greenwell and other school board members at a previous school board meeting.

Greenwell and Board Member Monique Scarlett verbally clashed on May 9 regarding the decision to appoint former Sergeant Bluff-Luton Superintendent Rod Earleywine as the Sioux City schools interim superintendent.

Alarcon-Flory and Scarlett, who served as president and vice president, respectively, prior to Greenwell's election as president last November, claimed Earleywine's selection for the position lacked transparency.

In remarks at the May 9 school board meeting, Greenwell described Scarlett and Alarcon-Flory's claims as a false narrative, adding that each board member needs to take responsibility for their own lack of action or lack of attention, instead of blaming others for their shortcomings."

He also claimed the concerns were an intentional effort to be divisive or gain some type of attention without merit or substance.

Dominic Eastman, a recently graduated senior from East High, has attended school board meetings throughout the year as a representative of the Student Council. He said when Greenwell was elected as board president, he had high hopes despite the representation Scarlett and Alarcon-Flory provided as women of color.

Eastman said in the last year of school board meetings, he has witnessed bullying. He said the board needs new leadership and he and others are taking steps to petition for a leadership change.

Dan, I sat here and I have watched you for the last year now and I feel you are unfit for the title of president, Eastman said.

Community member Kristie McManamy also took to the podium Monday night to denounce Greenwell's bullying, as well as the board members who sat by and acted as bystanders and did not say anything.

Since the 2012 release of the Bully documentary that included a 13-year-old student at East Middle School who was bullied and reached national headlines, the district and community have worked to address the problem, said McManamy, a former local TV news anchor who now works in her family's real estate business.

How can we as a community stand by and watch our school board members - in my opinion  repeatedly bully other school board members, employees of the district and other members of this community with differing viewpoints? McManamy asked.

During the May 9 meeting, Scarlett took issue with the tone of Greenwells remarks at that meeting.

Stay professional. If youre president of this board, act accordingly, she told Greenwell.

Thats your opinion, madam, Greenwell responded.

No thats the facts and the tapes speak clear, Scarlett interrupted.

It is not your time to speak, I am not finished, I didnt interrupt you, Greenwell said.

But you always interrupted other board members, Scarlett responded.

At one point, Greenwell slammed his gavel on the table, stopping Scarlett from speaking and responding to his comments, saying, Youre not the president, Madame.

You have never respected a board member up here, Scarlett responded.

Scarlett said she wouldn't be "bullied" by Greenwell.

Eastman walked out of the meeting following the clash. He said he was seeing his own story of being harassed and bullied playing out in front of him.

The past eight years of my K-12 education has been filled with people who called me names and bullied me, he said. When I did speak out I was told I was looking for attention and was literally told to stop looking for my 15 minutes of fame.

Greenwell said at the previous meeting the two board members needs to take responsibility for their own lack of action or lack of attention instead of blaming others for their shortcomings or seeking attention, grabbing headlines or 15 minutes of fame.

Eastman read of a section of the school board policies, stating board member actions reflect on the district. He asked if Greenwells actions were reflective of the district.

Board members dont trust cabinet members, cabinet members dont trust Dan Greenwell and board members dont trust each other, he said of the board meeting dynamics. Progress is not possible with this dynamic.

On Monday, Greenwell said his actions were not the right way to handle the situation.

"I will do better, I promise," he told the audience.

Alarcon-Flory, who did not attend the May 9 meeting, apologized to Scarlett for not being there to support her. The former board president said the actions of the board reflect on the professionals in the district, the students, families and the community.

Board member Bob Michaelson said the meeting reminded him of middle school and said if the board is fighting with each other, they can't be working for the children.

Jan George, who like Michaelson joined the board last fall, apologized for sitting and saying nothing and recommended the board use resources on hand to resolve issues instead of making disparaging remarks about each other.

Board member Juli Albert, who also did not attend the May 9 meeting, suggested the board consider limiting board comments to five minutes each and setting parameters for what is allowed to be discussed.

Love 8 Funny 1 Wow 7 Sad 3 Angry 9

Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
SIOUX CITY -- The Sioux City Council voted unanimously Monday to amend the city code to comply with a new state law that limits cities and counties from restricting where fireworks are sold.

On April 22, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF 2285 into law. The bill prohibits local governing bodies from adopting or enforcing ordinances that restrict or prohibit the location of permanent buildings or temporary structures used to sell consumer fireworks in any location zoned for commercial or industrial purposes.

"In the last legislative session, the General Assembly provided that cities are not allowed to restrict fireworks sales in any areas zoned commercial or industrial," Assistant City Attorney Steven Postolka told the council before the vote. "Already, we had fireworks sales allowed in General Commercial and Business Park. There's a few other zones in which fireworks sales would now be allowed, such as Suburban Commercial or General Industrial. This amendment, essentially, just brings our own city code in line with state code."

Resident Mark Solheim, who previously implored the council to restore peace in Sioux City's neighborhoods by adopting a total ban on fireworks, asked city staff to provide more specific information about the proposed changes to the fireworks section of the code.

Postolka handed Solheim a copy of the amendment under consideration. The amendment strikes the following: "Any person engaged in consumer fireworks sales in any other zones other than General Commercial (GC) and Business Park (BP) in Fire Zone 3 shall not be approved for sales within the city limits." That language is replaced with: "Consumer fireworks may only be sold in Fire Zone 3, and only in zoning districts defined as nonresidential districts."

"The effect of it is to allow fireworks sales in a few more zones that they weren't previously," Postolka said. "Previously, we banned fireworks sales in anywhere other than Fire Zone 3. And, we're keeping that through here. The effect of that is that it keeps fireworks sales out of the downtown area, which is Fire Zone 1, and the near west side and sort of around the downtown area, which would be Fire Zone 2. But now, to sell fireworks, it has to be in an area that's commercial or industrial and not in fire zones 1 and 2."

Solheim noted that the Fareway grocery store near Leeds seems like a residential area to him. He asked Postolka if it would be legal to sell fireworks there.

"I'm not sure what that particular property is zoned. I'd have to look at the zoning map," Postolka responded.

Dan Moore asked if fireworks could be sold on the grocery store's property if it is zoned commercial.

"That is correct and that is solely the choice of the legislature, we have no authority to do anything other than that," Postolka said.

Solheim told the council that he understands that they have no other option but to amend city code, but he called the new law a "step backward for the State of Iowa."

"Fireworks are a danger to the life and safety of people in Iowa. And, making them more readily available does no one any good," he said.

Since Iowa lifted an 84-year ban on fireworks discharge in 2017, the sale of fireworks is allowed in permanent buildings from June 1 to July 8 and in tents and other temporary structures from June 13 to July 8.

Numerous noise complaints in the days leading up 2017's Fourth of July led council members to vote in December of that year to shrink the legal fireworks discharge window from 10 days to two. Under the city's current ordinance, fireworks may only be legally discharged from 1 to 11 p.m. on July 3 and 4, and from 1 p.m. on Dec. 31 until 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 1.

In January 2021, in response to the complaints of pet owners, veterans and numerous other residents, the council passed ordinance changes that added a municipal infraction penalty for property owners who permit fireworks violations to occur on their property. A first offense is $250, while a second offense is $500 and a third or subsequent offense is $1,000. Before the changes, only direct violators could be charged with simple misdemeanors. Illegal fireworks discharge carries a minimum $250 fine on private property and $500 on city property.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
BUCHA, Ukraine (AP)  The lush green beauty of a pine forest with singing birds contrasted with the violent deaths of newly discovered victims of Russia's war in Ukraine, as workers exhumed bodies from another mass grave near the town of Bucha on Kyiv's outskirts.

The hands of several victims were tied behind their backs. The gruesome work of digging up the remains coincided with the Ukrainian police chief's report that authorities have opened criminal investigations into the killings of more than 12,000 people since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Workers wearing white hazmat suits and masks used shovels to exhume bodies from the soil of the forest, marking each section with small yellow numbered signs on the ground. The bodies, covered in cloth and dirt, attracted flies.

Shots to the knees tell us that people were tortured, Andriy Nebytov, head of the Kyiv regional police, said at the scene. The hands tied behind the back with tape say that people had been held (hostage) for a long time and (enemy forces) tried to get any information from them.

Since the withdrawal of Russian troops from the region at the end of March, the authorities say they have uncovered the bodies of 1,316 people, many in mass graves in the forest and elsewhere.

The horrors of Bucha shocked the world after Russian troops left. The mass grave that reporters saw Monday was just behind a trench dug out for a military vehicle. The bodies of seven civilians were retrieved. Two of the bodies were found with their hands tied and gunshot wounds to the knees and the head, Nebytov said.

National police chief Igor Klimenko told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Monday that criminal investigations into the deaths of more than 12,000 Ukrainians included some found in mass graves. He said the mass killings of people also took place from snipers firing from tanks and armored personnel carriers. Bodies were found lying on streets and in their homes, as well as in mass graves.

He didn't specify how many of the more than 12,000 were civilians and how many were military.

Complete information about the number of bodies in mass graves or elsewhere isnt known, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the American Jewish Committee on Sunday. He cited the killings of two children who died with their parents in the basement of an apartment building in Mariupol in a Russian bombing.

Zelenskyy, who is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust, asked:

Why is this happening in 2022? This is not the 1940s. How could mass killings, torture, burned cities, and filtration camps set up by the Russian military in the occupied territories resembling Nazi concentration camps come true?

MORE STORIES ON THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 The battle of Donbas could prove decisive in Ukraine war

 Mexican president slams NATO policy in Ukraine

 Japan philanthropic group begins fundraising for Ukrainians

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had driven the Russians out of more than 1,000 settlements since the war began, and he vowed Monday they would liberate all occupied territory, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

In his nightly video address, he said the battle over the Donbas will surely go down in military history as one of the most brutal battles in and for Europe.

The price of this battle for us is very high, he said. Its just terrible.

Amnesty International, in a report Monday, accused Russia of indiscriminate use of banned cluster munitions in strikes on Kharkiv, killing and wounding hundreds of civilians.

Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, has been subject to intensive shelling since Russian began attacking Ukraine.

People have been killed in their homes and in the streets, in playgrounds and in cemeteries, while queueing for humanitarian aid or shopping for food and medicine, said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty Internationals senior crisis Response adviser.

The repeated use of widely banned cluster munitions is shocking, and a further indication of utter disregard for civilian lives. The Russian forces responsible for these horrific attacks must be held accountable for their actions, and victims and their families must receive full reparations, she added.

The report cited doctors in Kharkiv hospitals, who showed researchers distinctive fragments they had removed from patients bodies, as well as survivors and witnesses of the attacks.

Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press that fierce street fighting continued Monday in Sievierodonetsk, one of two large cities in the Donbas region still to be fully captured by Russian troops.

During the day, Haidai updated his estimate of how much of the city Russians control from 70% to 80%. Ukrainian forces are fighting the enemy block by block, street by street, house by house with a varying degree of success, he told The AP.

More than 10,000 people remain in the city, the key focus of the fighting in the Donbas. Haidai said that efforts to evacuate them have been halted because Russian troops destroyed two of the three bridges connecting Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, the second city in Luhansk not yet overrun by Moscow. The remaining bridge is old, decrepit and unsafe, the governor said.

Lysychansk remains under Ukrainian control, but is regularly shelled by the Russian forces. On Sunday, Haidai said, the shelling killed three civilians in the city, including a 6-year-old boy.

Eduard Basurin, an official of the Russia-backed separatists in Donetsk, claimed Monday that Sievierodonetsk has been blocked off and Ukrainian fighters have no choice but to surrender. Haidai dismissed that claim as a lie.

There is no threat of our troops being encircled in the Luhansk region, he said.

Russia-backed separatists in the Donetsk region said Monday that the Ukrainian forces shelled a market in the city of Donetsk, killing three civilians and injuring 18 more.

The Russian military said Monday it destroyed a large number of weapons and military equipment that the Ukrainian forces had received from the U.S. and Europe.

Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said high-precision air-launched missiles hit the supplies near the Udachna railway station in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. Konashenkov also said that a temporary deployment point for foreign mercenaries and a Ukrainian radar station of the Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile system were destroyed in the neighboring Luhansk region.

Two batteries of multiple launch rocket systems were destroyed in the Luhansk and the Kharkiv regions, Konashenkov said.

There was no immediate confirmation of the Russian claim from Ukraine.

The Dutch government says it will host a ministerial conference next month on accountability in Ukraine aimed at strengthening and coordinating war crimes investigations.

Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said Monday that the international community already has taken swift action to investigate alleged atrocities in Ukraine but there is an urgent need to further coordinate existing efforts on this front."

The July 14 meeting in The Hague will be hosted by the Dutch government, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan and European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.

Khan already has launched an investigation in Ukraine and deployed his largest ever team of prosecutors to the country to gather evidence, including to Bucha, near the capital of Kyiv, where bodies littered the streets after Russian forces retreated early in the war.

The ICC and European Union judicial cooperation agency Eurojust will use the conference to lay out guidelines for gathering and storing evidence by governments and for collaborations with nongovernmental organizations.

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
LONDON (AP)  A British governments plan to deport asylum-seekers of various nationalities to Rwanda is set to go ahead after an appeals court on Monday refused to block the policy that the U.N.s top refugee official said sets a dangerous precedent for migrants fleeing war and oppression.

Immediately after the decision by a three-justice panel of the Court of Appeal in London, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office said the first deportation flight would go ahead as scheduled on Tuesday.

Migrant advocacy groups have attacked the policy as inhumane and illegal ever since April, when Johnson announced the plan as way to deter people from risking their lives by paying smugglers to take them to Britain in leaky inflatable boats.

Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, lashed out against the policy, describing it as all wrong.

If the British government is truly interested in protecting lives, it should work with other countries to target the people smugglers and provide safe routes for asylum seekers, not simply shunt migrants to other countries, Grandi said after the ruling.

The precedent that this creates is catastrophic for a concept that needs to be shared, like asylum, he told reporters in Geneva.

Mondays ruling was focused on the narrow question of whether a temporary injunction should be issued blocking deportation flights to Rwanda while a case challenging the legality of the policy moves through the courts.

A coalition of immigration rights advocates and public employees unions had asked the Court of Appeal to overturn a lower court ruling, arguing that the judge had made a mistake when he decided Friday not to issue an injunction.

But the Court of Appeal rejected the case, saying the judge had properly balanced the issues before him. Under U.K. law, a court must find there is strong evidence a government policy is likely to be ruled illegal before it can issue a temporary injunction.

Further legal challenges are under way. A similar case filed by lawyers representing a different group of plaintiffs was heard in the High Court on Monday.

While a major precedent is at stake, the number of people immediately affected by the cases has been steadily whittled down as lawyers challenge the merits of each deportation order. The charity Care4Calais said all but eight of the 31 migrants originally told they would be on the flight to Rwanda have had their tickets canceled.

Raza Husain, one of the lawyers for the migrants, argued Monday that the governments plan involved the forced removal of asylum-seekers to a country they dont want to travel to as part of a policy intended to deter others from trying to enter Britain.

This amounts, on any view, to a serious interference with basic dignity  where those individuals have already suffered significant trauma and have mental health issues, he said in documents filed with the court.

The court cases came amid a bitter political debate over Johnsons deportation plan.

Migrants deported under the program would be forced to apply for asylum in Rwanda, not Britain. The U.K. paid Rwanda 120 million pounds ($158 million) up front and will make additional payments based on the number of people deported.

The leadership of the Church of England has joined the opposition, sending a joint letter to the Times of London to be published Tuesday.

Whether or not the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda, this policy should shame us as a nation, the letter said. The shame is our own, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries.

According to newspaper reports, Prince Charles has also waded into the issue. The heir to the throne privately described the Rwanda policy as appalling, the Times reported over the weekend, citing an unidentified source. Charles office declined to comment, while insisting the Prince of Wales was politically neutral.

Johnson defended the policy.

I think that most people can see that the criminal gangs ... need to be stopped, he said. That model needs to be frustrated.

He also dismissed the significance of the legal challenges.

I always said that it will begin with a lot of teething problems and you will have a lot of legal action against it and they will try and delay it  thats inevitable, he said during a visit to a farm.

-

Associated Press Writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Britain canceled a flight that was scheduled to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda late Tuesday after the European Court of Human Rights intervened, saying the plan carried a real risk of irreversible harm. The decision to scrap the flight capped three days of frantic court challenges from immigrant rights lawyers who launched a flurry of case-by-case appeals seeking to block the deportation of everyone on the governments list. British government officials had said earlier in the day that the plane would take off no matter how many people were on board. But after the appeals, no one remained. British media reported that the number of potential deportees had been more than 30 on Friday.
LVIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian troops control about 80% of the fiercely contested eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it but Ukrainians were still trying to evacuate the wounded, a regional official said Tuesday.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, acknowledged that a mass evacuation of civilians from Sievierodonetsk now was simply not possible due to the relentless shelling and fighting. Ukrainian forces have been pushed to the industrial outskirts of the city because of the scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using," he said.

There is still an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents, he told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that Russian soldiers have not yet completely blocked off the strategic city.

About 12,000 people remain in Sievierodonetsk, from a pre-war population of 100,000. More than 500 civilians are sheltering in the Azot chemical plant, which is being relentlessly pounded by the Russians, according to Haidai.

In all, 70 civilians were evacuated from the Luhansk region in the last day, the governor said.

A Russian general, meanwhile, said a humanitarian corridor will be opened Wednesday to evacuate civilians from the Azot plant. Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said evacuees would be taken to the town of Svatovo, 60 kilometers (35 miles) to the north in territory under the control of Russian and separatist forces.

He said the plan was made after Ukraine called for an evacuation corridor leading to territory it controls.

Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Management Center, is accused by Ukraine of human rights violations while commanding troops during the long siege of Mariupol, Ukraine's key port on the Sea of Azov, which has been taken over by the Russians.

Russian forces in the past few weeks have pressed hard to capture Ukraine's eastern industrial Donbas area, which borders Russia and is made up of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

The situation is difficult, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a news conference Tuesday with Danish media. Our task is to fight back.

Zelenskyy has pleaded for more and faster deliveries of Western arms.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Tuesday the military had only received around 10% of the Western weapons it had requested to create parity with the Russian army."

No matter how much effort Ukraine makes, no matter how professional our army, without the help of Western partners we will not be able to win this war, Malyar said in a televised news conference.

She said Ukraine uses 5,000 to 6,000 artillery rounds a day, while Russia uses 10 times more.

In recent days, Ukrainian officials have spoken of the heavy human cost of the war, with the fierce fighting in the east becoming an artillery battle that has seen Kyivs forces outgunned and outnumbered.

Malyar said every day of delay means the loss of lives of more Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. "And therefore, unfortunately, we cannot wait very long, because the situation is very difficult, she added.

With the conflict now in its fourth month, the battle of Donbas could dictate the course of the war.

If Russia prevails, Ukraine will lose not only land but perhaps the bulk of its most capable military forces, opening the way for Moscow to grab more territory and dictate its terms to Kyiv.

A Russian failure, however, could lay the grounds for a Ukrainian counteroffensive  and possible political upheaval for the Kremlin.

Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the aid organizations supplying food to civilians in the Donbas, said fighting in the past few weeks has made regular food distributions impossible. Now, he said, the remaining civilians in Sievierodonetsk "are almost entirely cut off from aid supplies after the destruction of the last bridge.

Reports of overnight shelling came from other Ukrainian regions as well, with five people wounded in the northeastern Kharkiv region. According to an intelligence update Tuesday by the U.K. Defense Ministry, Russian forces appear to have made small advances in the Kharkiv region for the first time in several weeks.

A regional Ukrainian military official said the countrys air defense shot down two Russian cruise missiles targeting the region around Odesa, Ukraine's main port on the Black Sea.

MORE STORIES ON THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Ukrainians use humor to cope with the trauma of war

 Bucolic Ukraine forest is site of mass grave exhumation

 Russia lowers gas flows to Europe through pipeline

 Pope blasts Russian cruelty,  lauds Ukrainian heroism

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

U.S. President Joe Biden says hes working closely with European partners to get 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain, currently blocked from leaving Black Sea ports due to Russias invasion, onto international markets.

He said Tuesday the plan would involve building temporary storage silos on Ukraines borders to deal with the problem of the different rail gauges that Ukrainian and European railway systems use.

Ukraine has a system, like Russia has, a rail gauge that is different than the gauge of the rest of the tracks in Europe, Biden said. So were going to build silos, temporary silos, in the borders of Ukraine, including in Poland. So we can transfer it from those cars into those silos, into cars in Europe and get it out to the ocean and get it across the world. But its taking time.

Ukraine is one of the world's biggest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. The lack of Ukrainian grain on world markets is threatening to exacerbate food shortages and inflation across the world. Many African and Middle Eastern countries rely heavily on Ukrainian grain and could face problems feeding their people without it.

Nearly two-thirds of the children in Ukraine have been uprooted during the war, according to a U.N. official who visited the country last week.

The war in Ukraine is a child rights crisis, Afshan Khan told a news briefing Tuesday. Shes the Europe and Central Asia director for UNICEF, the U.N. childrens agency.

Khan said 277 children in Ukraine have been killed and 456 injured, mostly due to explosives used in urban areas. She said the number of damaged schools is likely in the thousands, and only about 25% of schools in Ukraine are even operational.

Millions of Ukrainian women and children have fled the country since the Russian invasion in February.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Romania on Tuesday to hold talks and meet with French troops stationed there as part of NATOs response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Macrons visit to Romania, a European Union member since 2007 and a NATO member since 2004, was the beginning of a regional tour that includes a visit Wednesday to non-NATO Moldova. Both countries share long borders with Ukraine.

Nobody knows what is in store for us in the coming weeks and months, but we will do all we can to put an end to the Russian invasion, to help Ukrainians and continue with negotiations, Macron said at the eastern Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, where he was greeted by Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.

In a brief address to French soldiers deployed at the NATO base, Macron praised them for honoring our commitment to defend Europe as war is being waged again.

France has around 500 soldiers deployed in Romania.

The Kremlin says Russia would be ready to consider a U.K. appeal over the fate of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting for Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said neither Moscow nor the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine who passed the sentence had heard from London on the issue.

You need to apply ... to the authorities of the country whose court passed the verdict, and that is not the Russian Federation, Peskov said. But, of course, everything will depend on appeals from London. And I am sure that the Russian side will be ready to listen.

Britons Aiden Aslin and Sean Pinner, and Moroccan national Brahim Saadoun, were accused of fighting as mercenaries for Ukraine in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic. They were sentenced to death in proceedings that London called a sham.

Separatist authorities said all three had a month to appeal their sentence. Kyiv has pledged to try to secure their release through a prisoner swap with Russia.

Russian natural gas deliveries through a major pipeline to Europe will drop by around 40% this year, state-controlled energy giant Gazprom said Tuesday, after Canadian sanctions over the war in Ukraine prevented German partner Siemens Energy from delivering overhauled equipment.

Germanys utility network agency said it did not see gas supplies as endangered and that reduced flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea aligned with commercial behavior and Russias previously announced cutoff of gas to Denmark and the Netherlands, the German news agency dpa reported. The Federal Network Agency said it was monitoring the situation.

Spot gas prices rose in Europe, a sign of jitters over possible further effects of the war on supplies of Russian gas, which powers industry and generates electricity on the continent.

The European Union has outlined plans to reduce dependence on Russian gas by two-thirds by years end. Economists say a complete cutoff would deal a severe blow to the economy, consumers and gas-intensive industries.

Russia's foreign ministry says it has banned dozens of British media and defense figures from entering the country.

A statement on the ministry website Tuesday said the ban on 29 journalists and commentators was a response to what it claimed was the British medias deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information on Russia and its war in Ukraine.

The list included senior editors and correspondents for the BBC and the Times and Guardian newspapers.

Also banned were 20 people including Britain's navy chief, a junior defense minister, and senior executives at defense and aerospace firms Thales UK and BAE Systems.

The prime ministers of NATO members Albania and Montenegro are heading for Kyiv after an invitation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Albania's Edi Rama announced the trip on social media, with a photo of him boarding a plane Tuesday accompanied by Montenegro's Dritan Abazovic.

Both Balkan countries have denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine and joined the sanctions against Moscow.

Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday they had received the remains of 64 defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in the latest body swap with Russia.

The statement by the Ministry for Reintegration of Occupied Territories said the exchange took place in the Zaporizhzhia region, but didnt clarify how many bodies were returned to Russia.

It was one of the several swaps the warring sides have conducted. Earlier this month Moscow and Kyiv exchanged 160 bodies each. There was no immediate confirmation from Moscow on the swap reported by Ukraine on Tuesday.

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Russian attacks are laying down a curtain of fire across areas of eastern Ukraine where pockets of resistance are denying Moscow full military control of the region. A regional official told The Associated Press on Tuesday that everything that can burn is on fire. Russias war has caused alarm over food supplies from Ukraine to the rest of the world and gas supplies from Russia. It has also raised questions about security in Western Europe. The Russian military currently controls about 95% of the eastern Luhansk region. Separately, John Kirby, a national security spokesman for the White House, said it was appalling that the Kremlin suggested two Americans captured by Russian forces in Ukraine could be sentenced to death.
NEW YORK (AP)  In a legal case closely watched by libraries and the publishing industry, a federal judge in Maryland struck down a state law requiring publishers to make e-books available on reasonable terms" to libraries if they were also being offered to the general public.

The Association of American Publishers, the industry's trade organization, had contended that the bill violated the United States Copyright Act by allowing states to regulate publishing transactions. The Maryland law was passed with overwhelming support a year ago, and included provisions for fines up to $10,000 and higher.

Maryland U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman issued her decision Monday, four months after she had enjoined the Maryland Act, writing at the time that the law's practical impact would force publishers to offer their products to libraries  whether they want to or not  lest they face a civil enforcement action or criminal prosecution."

The state effectively conceded in April, with attorneys writing that that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact. But the Association of American Publishers was still seeking a permanent injunction. Boardman ruled Monday that the injunction was unnecessary because the law was unconstitutional and unenforceable.

AAP President and CEO Maria A. Pallante praised Monday's announcement, saying in a statement that Boardman had delivered a clear decision that protects the exclusive rights that are the basis of the United States Copyright Act and the means by which authors and publishers make so many intellectual and economic contributions to society and the long-term public interest.

Publishers and libraries have fought for years over providing e-books to library patrons. Publishers have worried that unlimited, or near-unlimited access to free e-books from libraries would damage sales and have responded by restricting their use and raising fees charged to libraries. Libraries have contended that it is part of their mission to make books as available as possible and that encouraging reading, for free or not, benefits everyone.

In New York last year, Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill similar to the Maryland Act that had passed by wide margins in the state legislature. She wrote that While the goal of this bill is laudable, unfortunately, copyright protection provides the author of the work with the exclusive right to their works."

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
HELENA, Mont. (AP)  Massive floodwaters ravaged Yellowstone National Park and nearby communities Monday, washing out roads and bridges, cutting off electricity and forcing visitors to evacuate parts of the iconic park at the height of summer tourist season.

All entrances to Yellowstone were closed due to the deluge, caused by heavy rains and melting snowpack, while park officials ushered tourists out of the most affected areas.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, though dozens of stranded campers had to be rescued by raft in south-central Montana. Authorities also said they would be assessing a potential loss of homes and structures in Montanas Stillwater County.

Elsewhere, some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the Yellowstone and the park's gateway communities in southern Montana. National Park Service photos of northern Yellowstone showed a landslide, a bridge washed out over a creek, and roads badly undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers.

The flooding cut off road access to Gardiner, Montana, a town of about 900 people near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Gardner rivers, just outside Yellowstones busy North Entrance.

At a cabin in Gardiner, visitor Parker Manning of Terra Haute, Indiana, got an up-close view of the water rising and the river bank sloughing off in the raging Yellowstone River floodwaters just outside his door.

We started seeing entire trees floating down the river, debris, Manning told The Associated Press. Saw one crazy single kayaker coming down through, which was kind of insane.

The Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs crested at 13.88 feet (4.2 meters) Monday, higher than the previous record of 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) set in 1918, according the the National Weather Service.

Floodwaters inundated a street in Red Lodge, a Montana town of 2,100 thats a popular jumping-off point for a scenic, winding route into the Yellowstone high country. Twenty-five miles (40 kilometers) to the northeast, in Joliet, Kristan Apodaca wiped away tears as she stood across the street from a washed-out bridge, The Billings Gazette reported.

The log cabin that belonged to her grandmother, who died in March, flooded, as did the park where Apodacas husband proposed.

I am sixth-generation. This is our home, she said. That bridge I literally drove yesterday. My mom drove it at 3 a.m. before it was washed out.

Yellowstone officials were evacuating the northern part of the park, where roads may remain impassable for a substantial length of time, park Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement.

But the flooding affected the rest of the park, too, with park officials warning of yet higher flooding and potential problems with water supplies and wastewater systems at developed areas.

We will not know timing of the parks reopening until flood waters subside and were able to assess the damage throughout the park, Sholly said in the statement.

The park's gates will be closed at least through Wednesday, officials said. It was unclear how many visitors have been forced to leave the park.

The rains hit right as summer tourist season was ramping up. June, at the onset of an annual wave of over 3 million visitors that doesnt abate until fall, is one of Yellowstones busiest months.

Remnants of winter  in the form of snow still melting off and rushing off the mountains  made for an especially bad time to get heavy rain.

Yellowstone got 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) of rain Saturday, Sunday and into Monday. The Beartooth Mountains northeast of Yellowstone got as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service.

Its a lot of rain, but the flooding wouldnt have been anything like this if we didnt have so much snow, said Cory Mottice, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Billings, Montana. This is flooding that weve just never seen in our lifetimes before.

The rain will likely abate while cooler temperatures lessen snowmelt in coming days, Mottice said.

In south-central Montana, flooding on the Stillwater River stranded 68 people at a campground. Stillwater County Emergency Services agencies and crews with the Stillwater Mine rescued people Monday from the Woodbine Campground by raft. Some roads in the area were closed due to flooding, and residents have been evacuated.

We will be assessing the loss of homes and structures when the waters recede, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

The flooding happened while other parts of the U.S. burned in hot and dry weather. More than 100 million Americans were being warned to stay indoors as a heat wave settles over states stretching through parts of the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and east to the Carolinas.

Elsewhere in the West, crews from California to New Mexico battled wildfires in hot, dry and windy weather.

Scientists say climate change is responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme events such as storms, droughts, floods and wildfires, though single weather events usually cannot be directly linked to climate change without extensive study.

Associated Press writers Thomas Peipert in Denver and Mead Gruver in Fort Collins, Colorado, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
 Flash

The most powerful supercomputer in Europe was unveiled on Monday in Kajaani, Finland.

The world-class supercomputer, called LUMI, is owned by the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) and run by a consortium of ten European countries.

The computer serves as a platform for research, and the development of artificial intelligence and quantum technology.

Margarethe Vestager, executive vice-president of the European Commission, described the computer as a major step in Europe's digital and green transformation.

LUMI is seven times faster than the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, and will be one of the leading platforms for artificial intelligence globally, Vestager said.

Europe's digital autonomy depends on mastering the next generation of supercomputers, she added. "Three years ago, the EU purchased eight supercomputers; today, half of them are already operating, three remaining after LUMI will enter operation at the end of the year."

EuroHPC said that LUMI's massive computing capacity is primarily based on its many graphics processors, or GPU processors. These are especially suitable for use with various artificial intelligence methods, especially deep learning.

LUMI is currently among the top supercomputer globally and operates on renewable hydroelectric power. The waste heat it produced will provide a fifth of the heat for the city of Kajaani.
A 34-year-old man who was killed by Cass County Sheriff's deputies in February was shot in the back, according to his death certificate obtained by the Journal Star.

Andrew Stratton, who was killed Feb. 13 after deputies responding to a report of an assault shot him in his father's home near Alvo, died of gunshot wounds to his back and left arm, according to the death certificate.

"I was absolutely disgusted," said Wendy Guida, Stratton's mother who learned of the medical examiner's findings this week. "I don't know a better word to use."

Guida, who has dealt frequently with the Cass County Sheriff's Office over the past four years as the agency investigates the disappearance of her other son, said she has largely been left in the dark about the agency's internal investigation, leaving her to fill in the gaps herself as she tries to make sense of Stratton's injuries.

Cass County Attorney S. Colin Palm, who signed Stratton's death certificate, wrote on the document that the 34-year-old "was shot during a standoff with law enforcement officers," but it remains unclear if Stratton was armed when a deputy fired toward him.

In a February news release, the Nebraska State Patrol said Stratton "was believed to be in the basement of the residence and possibly armed" when deputies entered his father's home at 23418 Alvo Road around 11 p.m. Feb. 13.

"During the course of negotiations, a deputy fired his weapon, striking Stratton," the agency said in the news release.

A State Patrol trooper who was dispatched to the assault arrived to the sound of gunshots coming from inside the home, according to the news release. The trooper went into the home and joined deputies in attempting life-saving measures on Stratton.

He was officially pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m., according to his death certificate, which lists his exact time of death as "unknown." He was shot at 11:08 p.m., according to the document.

Stratton, who Guida described as mentally ill, was unmedicated at the time of the shooting, his mother said. She said she thinks he had fled to the basement of his father's home to hide.

"I think they just ... forgot their mission, that they were supposed to be going over there to talk to him, not shoot him," Guida told the Journal Star. "And they shot him."

Investigators found a bow and arrow and long knife in the house. A patrol spokesman in February said the weapons were found nearby, but said the agency hadn't yet determined whether Stratton was armed when he was shot.

The State Patrol Special Investigations unit investigated the incident. The unit's findings will be examined by a grand jury in Cass County, as is the case with all police killings and in-custody deaths in Nebraska.

A patrol spokesman referred questions about the agency's findings to Palm's office, which will present the patrol's evidence to a grand jury sometime this year, though a jury hasn't yet been convened.

In an email, Palm said the agency hadn't yet provided its findings to his office.

Cass County Sheriff Bill Brueggemann did not return a phone call seeking comment.

For Guida, who expressed frustrations about the limited information available even before she received Stratton's death certificate, the medical examiner's findings raise further questions surrounding her son's death  questions that have been hanging in the air for months, as the reality of Stratton's death hasn't yet settled.

"I just  I can't even believe it," Guida said.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
DES MOINES  Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, Iowas Republican U.S. senators, are waiting to see the final version of bipartisan legislation containing modest gun control proposals before stating whether they will support it.

The legislation was the result of two weeks of negotiations between a bipartisan group of U.S. senators in response to recent mass shootings in the United States.

But Grassley, who is up for re-election this fall, said he was encouraged to see the bipartisan group produce a proposal.

The proposal would make juvenile records available during background checks whenever someone under the age of 21 buys a gun; ban convicted domestic abusers from being able to buy a gun; and send federal funding to states enacting so-called red flag laws, which attempt to temporarily take guns away from individuals who could be considered potentially violent.

Im encouraged to see the bipartisan group of senators making headway on the important issues of mental health, school safety and curtailing gun violence, Grassley said in a statement emailed to The Gazettes Des Moines Bureau.

As always, I need to see legislative text, which has yet to be written, before making a final decision on how Id vote, he said. Ive said from the start that, as we work toward improving safety, its important that we safeguard rights enshrined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Ernst spokesman Brendan Conley echoed Grassleys wait-and-see approach.

While this is currently only an outline of general and unspecific proposals, Sen. Ernst will evaluate the specifics of any legislation when there is bill text to do so, Conley said in an email to the Des Moines bureau.

Ernst in the past has opposed similar language  called the boyfriend loophole  to banning domestic abusers from being able to buy a gun.

Ernst, who has said she was a victim of domestic violence, objected to a legislative proposal that would have retroactively classified assault convictions as felonies and bared those convicted from owning or buying guns.

'Simply disallowing people due process is not what we want to see, Ernst said in 2019. I think there are great ways to protect survivors in a way that doesnt strip away peoples rights.

The proposed legislation announced this past weekend does not reach as far on gun control as Democrats have called for, but many Democrats nonetheless praised the work done by the bipartisan group in an effort to achieve some action on gun regulations after decades of inaction amid dozens of mass shootings in schools, churches and other public spaces.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the bipartisan group that put together the gun violence, said it represents real, meaningful progress and breaks a 30-year log jam, demonstrating that Democrats and Republicans can work together in a way that truly saves lives.

Will this bill do everything we need to end our nations gun violence epidemic? No. But its real, meaningful progress, Murphy said in a social media post after the bipartisan deal was announced.

There is not yet a timeline for when the legislation will be drafted and considered in the U.S. Senate.

In his Monday response, Grassley also cited legislation he previously introduced, supported its own bipartisan group of senators. The EAGLES Act, he said, would expand the U.S. Secret Services National Threat Assessment Center to include a greater focus on school violence prevention.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The phone rang last week at the Busy Bones Butcher shop in Darr, midway between Lexington and Cozad.

It was a stranger, with a strange request.

Any problem with us parking our covered wagon at your place and camping out there tonight?

Kent Guthard didnt hesitate. I said, Nope, not at all. I told them to treat it like they own it.

A little while later, a pair of mules pulling a wagon came clop, clop clopping down the shoulder of U.S. 30. Joe and Marcyne Blythe had been making Nebraska headlines since mid-May, but Guthard had no idea who they were, or why the couples slow-motion mission across the Plains was so important to them.

Now hes following along, keeping daily track of their progress.

It was all kind of awesome to see, he said. Its neat to see people chase their dream.

* * *

Joe Blythes ancestors kept journals. About their lives in Nauvoo, Illinois, among thousands of other Mormons. And about their exodus in 1837, when they followed Brigham Young to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake.

Forty of his relatives started the journey; maybe 30 survived it and made it to Utah.

In his home south of Salt Lake City, Blythe read their accounts and thought about their hardships. What they had to endure to escape religious persecution, and what that meant for him, 170 years later.

Some of them died for what I enjoy, for me being in Utah, for religious freedoms, stuff like that. I knew I couldnt help my ancestors out, but I could honor them.

The idea hit him five years ago. He was going to retrace their journey, starting in Illinois and finishing in Utah, 175 years to the day after the original Latter-day Saints landed there.

But he didnt have a wagon. Hed never driven a team. And he didnt know what to expect once he hit the Mormon Trail.

You cant just go ask your buddy, How many miles can you go in a day? How do I get hay? How do I get water? Theres a lot that goes into it, and youre just guessing until youve done it.

Still, he found old Studebaker wagon running gear, the foundation for a wagon, and had the steel rims replaced with more forgiving rubber. Hed read that two of his ancestors couldnt afford to buy wagons, so theyd built their own. Blythe, an engineer whose company builds bridges around the West, spent two years of his spare time designing and assembling his own, too.

He bought a pair of mules  Doc and Roxy  in Mississippi and, on his way home, stopped at a draft horse ranch in Colorado for a quick lesson in hitching up and handling a team.

Hes since learned more from the animals. Theyre patient with me, and they taught me how to drive them.

They made the first leg of their journey in September, 315 miles from Nauvoo to the Mormons Winter Quarters in what is now the Florence neighborhood of Omaha.

Thousands of Latter-day Saints spent the winter of 1873-1874 there, and hundreds died of scurvy, malaria and cholera and other ailments, including a half-dozen of Blythes relatives.

They returned to Nebraska in mid-May for the 1,000-mile stretch to Salt Lake City. Blythe was happy to be back behind his team, and on the wagon he named the Trail Dreamer.

Last year when we stopped, I wanted to keep going. This year, we still have a lot of miles to go, but Im still anxious to keep going.

* * *

He feels closer to his ancestors now, following their path 175 years later. He knows they left tangible evidence, carving their names in Chimney Rock, and Independence Rock in Wyoming.

He knows hell roll past the unmarked graves of relatives who didnt make it. The journals he read only contain vague descriptions of where his people are buried; so many days journey after crossing the Elkhorn, for example, or how long after passing Chimney Rock.

He also knows he has it so much easier than his predecessors, despite not always knowing where theyre going to camp that night. I dont have to worry about marauders, or getting stampeded by a buffalo herd, or trying to cross a stream.

And his ancestors didnt have the support he has.

Some of it, he planned: His longtime friend and former co-worker, Bret Durrand, saddles up as the outrider, staying ahead of the wagon and watching for trouble. Other friends are following in a pickup, pulling a horse trailer with feed and water.

But much of it was a surprise.

They didnt expect so much attention and generosity, so many strangers offering to feed them  pulling over on the highway to give them bags of apples or drinks or doughnuts  or granting them safe places to camp and warm meals.

They try to find rodeo grounds or city parks for their overnights, but theyre often reliant on cold calls, sending their support vehicle ahead to find a friendly farm or business.

Sometimes, its a knock on a door and they say, We have a covered wagon coming; can we spend the night on your property? For the most part, theyre excited for us to be there.

Like Guthard, the Busy Bones Butcher, who sent the Blythes and their crew down the road with hard tack, smoked string cheese and bones for their dogs.

Or the young farm family near the North Platte airport, who insisted they park their wagon and horse trailer in their shed to keep dry, and who refueled them the next morning with a breakfast of venison steak, eggs and juice.

At first, we were mainly worried about logistics. Within about two days of our launch, this really came to be about meeting the people.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7254 or psalter@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSPeterSalter

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  A federal judge in Nebraska removed a major obstacle for activists who want to legalize medical marijuana via a ballot campaign, ruling that petition circulators no longer have to gather signatures from at least 5% of voters in 38 or more counties.

U.S. District Judge John Gerrard issued an order Monday to temporarily bar the state from enforcing the requirement, which is enshrined in the Nebraska Constitution to guarantee at least some buy-in from rural voters before an issue can appear on a statewide ballot.

The ruling comes at a critical time for medical marijuana supporters, who have until July 7 to submit at least 87,000 valid signatures on each of two petitions to Nebraskas secretary of state. The campaign began with strong prospects but has struggled a bit since one of its biggest donors died, forcing organizers to rely primarily on volunteers.

In a lawsuit, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana and the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska argued that the requirement violates free speech and equal protection rights by making some voters' signatures more valuable than others. They argued that, for signature gathering purposes, one voter in sparsely populated Arthur County is equal to 1,216 voters in Douglas County, which includes Omaha.

The state of Nebraska is absolutely free to require a showing of statewide support for a ballot initiative  but it may not do so based on units of dramatically differing population, resulting in discrimination among voters, Gerrard wrote in his ruling, which will remain in effect until a final decision is made.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen said he'll appeal.

Nebraskas population is heavily concentrated in its largest and medium-sized cities. The smallest of its 93 counties are among the least-populated nationally, with several having fewer than 500 residents.

Nebraska state Sen. Anna Wishart, a leader of the campaign, said she and others still intend to gather signatures in all 93 counties, but that striking the constitutional restriction is a big win for Nebraskans who want legal access to the drug for medicinal use.

Nebraskans across the state support this issue because they know a loved one, friend or neighbor, who is sick and would benefit from having access to medical cannabis, she said.

ACLU attorney Jane Seu said the ruling will help protect direct democracy in Nebraska for all residents, regardless of where they live.

The 5% requirement has faced legal challenges before, including in 2014 when a federal judge declared it unconstitutional. An appeals court later overturned the decision on a technical, procedural matter but didn't rule on the merits of the case.

The ACLU said courts have struck down similar requirements in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana is circulating two complementary petitions and said it has collected a combined total of more than 80,000 signatures. The group needs 87,000 valid signatures on each petition by the deadline to qualify.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
WINNEBAGO  What started as a seemingly routine tribal council vote sparked serious controversy on the Winnebago Reservation in northeast Nebraska this spring.

That vote  which appeared to ban the recognition of same-sex marriage  sparked anger and fear among the tribes LGBTQ members and local residents. It inspired a video by a relative of a famed Native activist. The video was viewed by more than a million people and compelled hundreds to write, call, email and march in protest.

And it resulted in something you dont see much in American politics in 2022.

The tribal council listened to the criticism. It met again. And it changed its mind.

I feel like it was impactful. And, you know, it may have been maybe difficult to hear for some people. But I feel like that needed to happen, said Willy Bass, one of the protesters, of the monthslong fight. It was bigger than any single one of us. This is about setting up the future of our tribe, for success, for safety, for equal rights for everybody.

It started mundanely enough March 24.

That night, the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska's tribal court sought clarification on same-sex marriage within its constitution. While same-sex marriage has been legal across the United States, including in Nebraska, since 2015, not all Native American tribes have updated their legal codes to reflect it. Some tribes rolled it into their existing laws. Others, like the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, approved an amendment recognizing same-sex marriage.

During its monthly meeting with tribal attorneys, the Winnebago council was asked to add recognition of same-sex marriage and divorce to the tribe's legal code. Vice-chairman Bryan Chamberlain introduced the motion. Council member Lorelai DeCora seconded it.

That's when things went off the rails.

Some council members, including Aric Armell, a first-term council member, questioned whether the council should support the resolution. Council members allegedly used homophobic language during the discussion, including referring to LGBTQ residents as trash people, who should be banned from the tribe, according to five people who watched the tribal council meeting online.

And four members  the majority of the council  voted against the resolution to recognize same-sex marriage in the tribes legal code.

Armell did not respond to multiple requests for an interview via email, Facebook and phone messages left with the tribal office.

Believing some council members may have misunderstood the role of Schiange  the Winnebago term for LGBTQ  Sunshine Thomas Bear sought to clarify the history. Thomas Bear, the director of Angel DeCora Museum at Winnebagos Little Priest College, met with council members after the meeting to review LGBTQ people throughout the tribes history.

I dont want to say they were held higher, but they were often prophets and healers, she said.

Two Spirit is a relatively new term created 30 years ago by Indigenous people, Thomas Bear said. Its since become accepted and embraced as a common term used by and for LGBTQ Native Americans.

And they became vocal about the councils initial vote. Tribal meetings are open to Winnebago citizens and can be watched on YouTube only by tribal members.

When 17-year-old Tyler LaMere saw the video of the meeting, he decided he needed to act.

Tyler is the great-nephew of Frank LeMere, a famed Native activist who, before his death in 2019, successfully led efforts to shut down alcohol sales in Whiteclay.

Tyler LaMere was 11 when he came out as Two Spirit. He was 15 when he came out as a transgender male.

For a long time, I knew I was different, he said.

He decided to make a TikTok video. He recapped the vote, noting homophobic language being used during discussion and called for help in appealing the decision. Some 1.5 million people have since viewed it.

The video inspired hundreds of people  LGBTQ and supporters, Native and non-Native  to swamp council members with phone calls and emails.

The social media campaign led to the councils reconsideration during an April 11 meeting. Council member Isaac Smith, one of the four who had voted to ban same-sex marriage from the tribal code, introduced a motion to reconsider that vote. It passed 5-0, with two abstentions. Then the council voted to add same-sex marriage to the tribal court code. (The council previously voted to add same-sex divorce to the code during the March 24 meeting).

Same-sex marriage is now legally recognized by the Winnebago Tribe, but the struggle left a hole in the tribes fabric, said Bass, who works as a community impact and engagement manager for Ho-Chunk Inc. Bass, who married his husband Antonio in Sioux City, Iowa, in 2012, couldnt have been married by a Winnebago judge if the original vote had been sustained, he said.

But I could get a divorce in the same court, like I would be correcting a wrong, he said.

The council didnt realize the vote's impact on younger tribal members coming out, Bass said. It took him until attending college in Montana, and surrounding himself with people he could trust, before he publicly announced he was gay.

When someone comes out, they have to prepare for two things. One is to be accepted, he said. That lifts so much stress and burden off your shoulders. The second thing is rejection by the people you most care about, your mom and your dad. My plan, if I was rejected, was to leave here. If I was going to lose my family, I didnt want to be here.

Bass was one of the fortunate ones, he thinks. When he told his mother he had met a man, she simply asked when she was going to meet him.

If young people dont feel that they trust people enough to come out, the consequences can be dire.

They stay in hiding, he said. They keep it bottled up. They turn to alcoholism, drug abuse. They turn to suicide. Whatever it is that helps relieve them from feeling that stress inside themselves every day.

Smith, one council member who changed his mind, said he and other council members felt blindsided by the initial resolution to add same-sex marriage to the court code. He doesnt oppose same-sex marriage, but wanted to have a conversation about the need to add it to the courts code, Smith said.

He originally voted against approving the resolution, he said, because he believed it would lead tribal members to fight.

I dont want Indian fighting Indian, he said.

The activism  and the education  didnt end when the tribal council overturned its vote.

Two dozen LGBTQ tribal members and supporters rallied in front of the tribal court building on the southern edge of the reservation. Then, nearly two dozen people marched to the councils April 18 meeting. Three members of the LGBTQ community addressed the council, including Bass, LaMere and Curtis Alexander, president of the Winnebago Two Spirits organization.

We are the only ones who have to identify ourselves, Bass said. Straight people dont have to defend themselves.

Alexander, an Omaha tribal member who grew up in Winnebago, told council members that he and others were tired of fighting this battle.

I hear it every day, he said. I hear the slurs. On TV. From co-workers. Its challenging. I can take it, but it gets hard.

Members of the Winnebago Two Spirits seek to take on todays challenges, so that future generations can just live their lives, Bass said.

My husband and I will be OK, Bass said. Were doing this for future generations. We want them to be themselves. We want it to just be.

For elders, education is key, council member Louis LaRose said.

I support them, he said. I just need to know how they want me to address them. I need to know them. Their family. I need to know who they are.

LaRose thought it was important that the council heard from the Two Spirit community this spring.

You have to educate people like me, he said. I dont like to offend people. Its a learning experience for us.

Winnebago Chairwoman Victoria Kitcheyan, a longtime LGBTQ supporter, hosted a listening session for council members, giving Two Spirits an opportunity to share their concerns and ideas for the future. Only one council member attended, suggesting theres still work left to do for LGBTQ tribal members and their supporters, Alexander said.

But the council did recently approve a resolution recognizing June as Winnebago Pride Month. It was one of only a few rural communities in Nebraska to do so. You usually only see this with urban Indian groups, Alexander said.

The council also approved funding a community lunch sponsored by the Two Spirits group, as well as authorizing a paid day off for tribal employees interested in attending it.

The key to openly accepting Two Spirit people is to decolonize, Thomas Bear said. Native Americans have allowed themselves to move away from Indigenous traditions and culture, accepting more Euro-American views on some social issues, including those on LGBTQ rights and equality, she said.

So many things that we say, think and do are based on colonization, Thomas Bear said.

The protest before the council, and the resulting conversation about LGBTQ rights, will help tribal members for decades to come, Bass said.

Were doing this for future generations, he said. We want them to be themselves.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
In December, a group of Ukrainian farmers gathered for a graduation ceremony.

They exchanged certificates, tossed graduation caps, danced  celebrating the completion of a course through Kultivariy, a Ukraine-based agriculture education company.

They were ready to go back to their own farms and apply what theyd learned about efficiency and precision farming.

Then everything changed.

Russia invaded Ukraine. Missiles rained onto farmland, and military ships blocked the ports. And Ukrainian farmers had to figure out what to do next.

Alexandra Kamyshina, managing partner of Kultivariy, was left wondering how to assist the farmers she works with during a time of war.

The answer ended up including a trip to Nebraska. She traveled to farms and made connections through Nebraska Extension. She shared stories of what its like to be a farmer in Ukraine right now.

We believe that the world needs some news from Ukraine, not only about victims and destruction, but of how business adapts to war and what has changed, Kamyshina said.

Nebraska Extension, part of the University of Nebraska-Lincolns Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, is well-known for offering resources and education to Nebraska farmers.

Kamyshinas company does similar work. Only, unlike Nebraska, Ukraine doesnt have a publicly funded farmer education program. Instead, Kultivariy is a for-profit business.

Since the war started, Kamyshina has had to figure out how to keep that business going. Keeping Kultivariy afloat helps both the companys employees still in Ukraine and the farmers they work with. It keeps a Ukrainian business open at a time when the war has caused others to shut down.

During her month in Lincoln, Kamyshina traveled to eastern Nebraska farms and visited Nebraska Extension county offices. She sat for hours talking with farmers about their processes and agricultural technology, absorbing their answers like a sponge, said Charles Stoltenow, dean and director of Nebraska Extension.

Farmers love to visit with farmers. They just do, across cultures, Stoltenow said. They love to learn. And thats Extension  lifelong learning.

Before the war, Kultivariys courses focused on farming efficiency and productivity, teaching farmers how to scale up their businesses. But now, the farming challenges in Ukraine have turned more basic. How do you get fuel or find fertilizer when resources are scarce? How do you store your grain when exports are at a near-standstill? How much should farmers be sowing in a year of uncertainty?

Kamyshina is already thinking of a future course to offer virtually: How to be creative when you dont have the resources you need.

War turned farming into a crisis of everything, she said during a presentation at a recent Nebraska Extension conference.

Nobody was expecting the war to come. Everybody thought about the question, if it comes, Kamyshina said.

When the war did arrive, most farmers were ready to join the military. Or they stayed behind to help feed their country.

In the early days of the war, Kultivariys education classes created a ready-made network of farmers keeping each other updated as the war unfolded. Kamyshina helped farmers sell their products to a Ukrainian railroad company, which was able to transport food to the northern and eastern Ukrainian cities that were bombed first. As trains arrived, people came directly to the stations to get food straight from the arriving trains, she said.

In the months since, farmers have shared stories of gathering missiles that landed on their property. Theyve had to work with the Ukrainian military to de-mine their fields.

People are wanting to spend this time in Ukraine. Nobody is making big money right now. The goal is just to stay in business, Kamyshina said. Otherwise, they will lose everything.

Some of the smaller farms in Ukraine have had to shut down since the war started in February. If the war continues, even more will go out of business, Kamyshina said.

For Stoltenow, Kamyshinas visit reshaped his own view of farming and Extensions role. Hes thought more about farming in times of crisis, and what it would look like for Extension to adapt and communicate with its network of farmers if life were to change overnight.

That whole connection of farmer to farmer, that is amazing. It transcends cultures, Stoltenow said. I do hope that one day, Ukraine becomes a very safe place, so we can exchange our farmers and ranchers to go there and learn from them.

The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.

The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Despite pressure from the Democratic Partys hard-left fringe, President Joe Biden is correctly slow-walking proposals to grant relief for college graduates mired in student-loan debt. But one loan-forgiveness decision he took recently was spot on: to grant full relief to the 560,000 students defrauded by the for-profit Corinthian University.

Students who were scammed by Corinthians diploma factory deserve to have their grievances addressed separately from others who knowingly immersed themselves in debt and got a legitimate college education in return. Someone who is swindled into buying a junk car with no engine is not equivalent to someone who buys a new car on credit then realizes the monthly payments are too high for the income the buyer is earning.

The $5.8 billion forgiveness program for former Corinthian students acknowledges that the university fabricated performance records, including job-placement rates. Corinthian far oversold the value of its diploma. Around 560,000 students took out federally backed loans between 1995 and 2015. Corinthian once boasted 105 campuses and had a peak enrollment of 110,000 students.

The scam came to an end after then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris sued in 2013. Now students will be able to get all remaining debt to Corinthian canceled, but they still must apply for reimbursement for debt already paid if they feel they were defrauded.

Inspired in part by Corinthians seeming success, then-businessman Donald Trump formed his own for-profit university, which also wound up in court in 2013. After five years of litigation in which New Yorks attorney general labeled the enterprise Donald Trumps fraudulent university, a federal judge ordered Trump to pay $25 million to former students.

The jurys still out, however, regarding other students who attended legitimate institutions and simply overborrowed. As a candidate, Biden proposed canceling $10,000 in federal loan debt per student for borrowers earning up to $125,000 a year. That was a hefty, $325 billion ask. A lot of graduates who fully paid their debts from decades past were justified in questioning why todays debtors deserve special treatment, especially at a time when employers are crying for help and wage scales are shooting up.

That argument runs up against the mathematical hard truth: More than 40 million Americans are grappling with student-loan obligations, with the bill reaching $1.7 trillion nationally. The student debt burden is hitting Black borrowers the hardest, the NAACP argues, saying that $10,000 in forgiveness amounts to a tepid slap in the face. Some progressives are pushing for $50,000 in forgiveness.

Whatever the outcome, the administration would be smart to require all recipients of debt relief to undergo a specified financial-literacy training program  a good idea for Americans in general  so they can learn budgeting, financial self-reliance and making sure that any debt burden stays within realistic projections of future earnings.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
If you had to guess, how often would you say a car smashes into a building in the United States? Im not talking about the time you scratched the paint off your rear fender on a tight turn out of an alley. I mean solid crasheslike the time a New York City bus spent four days inside a Brooklyn townhouse last year. Crashes that do enough damage to get reported.

The best guess for the past few years has been 60 times a daya number that a security consultant named Rob Reiter derived from a database he has built of 36,000 car crashes. Its a number thats been picked up by news reports and trade organizations, credited to Reiters operation, the Storefront Safety Council.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Last month, Reiter had his data reviewed by a risk management company, CHC Global, an arm of Lloyds of London, the insurance market. Their conclusion: The data was sound and there was nothing like it out there. But also: Reiters database was undercounting real-world collisions with buildings.

So Reiters new projection is that there are at least 100 American drivers veering their cars into buildings each day, or 36,500 a year, and thats the low bound. The revised figure corresponds to 16,000 Americans injured in car-on-building crashes each year, he believes, and more than 2,500 people killed.

Putting a number on this phenomenon would be helpful to street designers, retailers, shopping mall owners, and so on. But figuring out how much property damage cars are causing each yearand how many human casualties result from those crashesis a surprisingly tough problem. Even with the CHC Global analysis in hand, I cant really say if the Storefront Safety Council numbers are on the money. A few experts I spoke to expressed some skepticism. Jonathan Stiles, a postdoc at the Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety at Florida Atlantic University, said he would not trust the numbers without a fuller account of the methodology than the Storefront Safety Council makes public.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Norman Garrick, a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, expressed a similar concern. He noted that Reiters estimate that 8 percent of building crashes result in a death is 10 times the National Highway Safety Transportation Administrations own figure, and that that estimated death toll might be biased upward by the tendency of fatal crashes to make the news.

On the other hand, Reiters collision total lines up almost exactly with the only other source for this particular statistic I could find: a 1973 report prepared for the Department of Housing and Urban Development that estimated 20,000 to 40,000 car-on-building collisions a year. Doubling those numbers to account for the national growth in vehicle miles traveled puts HUDs low bound in line with Reiters.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Thats not very reassuring, if youre a building or a person inside one: 1973 was when the per capita car crash death rate hit its all-time high in this country. It was the drunk-driving era. Since then weve spent decades building to give cars the run of the built environment. Automobiles themselves now have driver-friendly features like sensors and cameras. Yet, to go by Reiters figures, we seem to have scarcely gotten any better at not running into buildings.

Advertisement

Advertisement

In any case, the fact that Reiters homespun approach has delivered the nations pre-eminent statistic on cars hitting buildings is a symbol of how the externalities of a car-dependent society go unseen and unstudied.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Were losing hundreds of people a year in what everything thinks of as a series of one-off unfortunate events, Reiter said, and the reality is, its organized mayhem

For the past eight years, Reiter has spent 12 hours a week logging entries into his crash database. Articles and TV clips. Academic research. Fire and police reports. Litigation. Twelve Google Alerts, seven alerts on other online services, a couple dozen sleuths who send him a note every time someones driven their car into the supermarket again.

I first met Reiter five years ago, when I wrote for Slate about the possibility that the countrys counter-terrorism fixation might for once produce a more friendly, open urban environment by prodding officials to create more car-free spaces, in the vein of Wall Street in New York or Pennsylvania Avenue just north of the White House. At the time, Reiter worked for a Los Angeles-based bollard company, Calpipe. He invited me to sit on a panel at a security conference.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Im a security guy, a bollard and a barrier guy, Reiter told me the other day. In other words, he is not exactly a disinterested party when it comes to raising awareness about how often cars crash into buildings. The organization he co-founded, the Storefront Safety Council, is the keeper of the car crash dataand an awfully good advertisement for bollards. Its the dumbest thing in the world, he said of the humble bollard. And it works really, really well.

Advertisement

No disrespect to Rob, but my first thought was: How could no one else be keeping track of this? One answer might be found in an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety report on fatalities in car crashes with fixed objects: In 2020, only 210 people died in fatal collisions with buildings, according to federal data. More than half of fatal collisions are with trees, utility poles, and traffic barriers.

Advertisement

But people killed in car-on-building collisions may also be missing from the governments pedestrian fatalities count, suggested the planner and writer Angie Schmitt, the author of Right of Way. Official pedestrian fatalities leave out a few thousand fatalities that happen on private property, she said.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Indeed, because so many of these collisions occur at relatively low speeds, in parking lots or on city streets, even if the death toll runs into the thousands, as Reiter alleges, its just a small fraction of total roadway fatalities. There is also lots of building damage, though the American Property Casualty Insurance Association didnt have any data either. Nor did the National Safety Council. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety was also at a loss.

Advertisement

The CHC Global audit suggests the Storefront Safety Council might be undercounting crashes by quite a bit. For example, the SSC counted two incidents when a car crashed into a Las Vegas bus shelter in 2020. But the risk consultants got data from Las Vegas showing that it happened 27 times that year. Storefront Safety Council batting average: One in 13.5.

Or consider a Texas Traffic Institute study, which Reiter worked on, which used corporate data that showed the nations 7-11 stores were absorbing more than one car crash a day. The SSC only records a fraction of thoseleading the auditors to conclude that the SSC might only by counting one in every 91 crashes!

So: Theres some uncertainty in the projections. Maybe the broader lesson is simply to marvel at the fact that we dont even know how many times a day a car smashes into a building in the United States. Its just one of those things about car culture that goes uncounted, unthought of, until youre the one waiting for the register when an SUV comes careening through the front window.
Slate Plus members get more Care and Feeding every week. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Submit it here or post it in the Slate Parenting Facebook group.

Dear Care and Feeding,

Im a stay-at-home dad. Up until a fire destroyed my shop a few months ago, I could conduct my woodworking business from homeusually catching a couple hours in the shop during nap time, staining a table between episodes of Bubble Guppies.

Ive been referred to as Mr. Mom so many times, and it took me awhile to realize it was being used in a negative context. It never bothered me, though, because I know I was doing right by my family for our specific situation. But it has led me into doing some research into why stay-at-home dads are looked at in a negative way. Its brought to my attention concerns Id never even thought about, and Im more than a little worried. Ive read a lot of articles from both sides of the argument: people saying only a lazy man stays home, people who praise us and want to give us medals, people who think its misogynistic to even differentiate between moms and dads, people who think men arent wired to be parents. Some say its progressive, others that its a waste of time. You name it, someones written something about it. I know how the internet is, and I take it with a grain of salt, until I started reading stuff written by the dads themselves.

Time and time again, Im reading about dads who are being discriminated against for being dads. As a dad trying to take my son anywhere, society isnt accommodating, to say the least: no changing stations in mens public bathrooms, dads getting the police called on them by concerned strangers while theyre dealing with public tantrums, etc. The other issueand the one I think I need the most advice withis the moms. The world of parenting is female dominated, and things that may seem simple for a mother can be all but impossible for a father. For example, my wife signed up for a program that would check in on our sons development on a regular basis and offer assistance in the form of advice, or help with diapers, car seats, that sort of thing. When they call, they ask her questions about his daily routines that, because she works full time, I would be the person to ask. But they refused to speak to me, or even acknowledge my position as a dad. At one point, the lady told my wife, Its so great that you can trust him enough to leave your son with him while youre at work. We opted out of their service, and as a result, were unable to take advantage of the resources offered by that program.

Now that my son is getting a bit bigger, coming up on 2-years-old, its time to try and find him some friends, get some playdates, and try to socialize him before he starts pre-K. So Im running into yet another problem: moms out thereat the park, the library, or other public places dont want to talk to a random dad. And I get it, I could be a creep, or somehow the act of talking to me threatens their relationship, or some other concern prevents them from talking to me long enough to say Hey, my kid seems to get along with your kid, do you want to work out some kind of playdate? How do I find friends and schedule playdates for my son without coming off as a creeper? Or look like Im hitting on moms at the park? I dont want to have my son lose out simply because his dad took him to the park instead of his mom.

Not a Creeper, Just a Dad

Dear Not a Creeper,

I found myself nodding my head as you unleashed this rant because I used to be a stay-at-home dad as well for a few years, and as you would probably attest to, its the most difficult job Ive ever had, but it was also the most rewarding.

Before I dive into my advice, I want to mention something important. It doesnt matter if were talking about stay-at-home dads, female sportscasters, or someone who wants to start an underwater fire prevention business, someone will always have an opinion when people do things that are uncommon. Yes, the comments can be hurtful and annoying, but if you know that youre doing everything in your power to be the best dad you can be, then who cares what the peanut gallery thinks? At the end of the day, the only people who matter when it comes to this are your wife and son.

You make a good point about moms being wary of men with their children, and speaking from personal experience, Ive witnessed moms scoop up their kids and run away from me as if I were a monster when I went to parks with my girls. You cant take it personally, because theyre wired to do whatever it takes to keep their kids safe(of course anti-Black biases played a role too), but I also found that a good number of moms warmed up to me once they saw how loving I was at the playground with my daughters. You just have to continue to be yourself and know that the right people will take the time to get to know you.

I saved the best part for last. One of the things that kept me sane during my stay-at-home dad days was the National At-Home Dad Network. Its a fantastic way for dads just like you to meet, talk, vent, host play dates, and become friends. I cant recommend them highly enough as it helped me to build a strong community in a place where I felt completely alone in my experience.

In the meantime, dont let the haters and naysayers get you down. Youre doing a great thing for your family, and most importantly, youre creating a bond with your son that will last a lifetime.

Doyin

More Advice From Slate

My sister and brother-in-law struggled for infertility for about the past four years. In this time period, I had my second child and two of our cousins had children. My sister made it clear that baby-related parties and activities were hard on her and her husband.
Feature: "All aboard!" Slow trains meander toward better life, future

Xinhua) 09:17, June 14, 2022

CHENGDU, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Layi Aga, 76, broke into a smile as she recalled the day she saw a train pull into a railway station for the first time in her life.

The year was 1970. Accompanied by her husband, Layi trekked over 7 km along winding mountain roads in southwest China's Sichuan Province, with their one-year-old son cradled in her arms, only hoping for her first-ever rendezvous with a train.

"There were small red flags fluttering on the train. We waved at the people aboard, and they waved back at us," said Layi, an ethnic Yi resident from Mianshan Township in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.

At that time, the Chengdu-Kunming Railway, a major railroad trunk line linking Sichuan and neighboring Yunnan Province, was completed and put into operation.

The 5633/5634 slow trains traversing the Daliang Mountains heralded opportunities for better livelihoods, such as employment, healthcare and education, for residents of the faraway region.

Train stations were built in remote mountain villages and townships, and Mianshan was one of the stops.

BETTER LIFE, FUTURE

Opened to the public in 1970, the trains ply between Puxiong Township and the city of Panzhihua, covering 376 km in 11 hours at a speed of less than 40 km per hour, with 26 stops along the way. The fares range from 25.5 yuan (about 3.8 U.S. dollars) to 2 yuan.

In the past, the couple eked out a meager income for their livelihood by toiling countless hours in the fields. In around 1985, the husband died of a pulmonary disease, leaving Layi and their three sons to fend for themselves.

Following her husband's death, Layi set up a modest grocery store to sell daily necessities and shuttled between their farmland and the store to sustain herself.

On weekdays, she takes the 5633 train from Mianshan to Xichang City to replenish stock at a wholesale market. And on weekends, she takes the 5634 train in the opposite direction to run a stall at a fair in Nibo Township.

Layi, a regular commuter, lauded the railway service for its cost-effectiveness.

She said that the road from Mianshan to Xichang stretches about 72 km and making a round trip by bus is quicker, but it would cost 80 yuan. Though the round-trip journey by slow train takes about three hours, it only costs 10 yuan. The 70 yuan saved on the fares is the same amount as her store's net profit for a day.

The train is not just a mode of transportation for local residents, but also a "mobile bazaar."

Locals are encouraged to bring their farm products on board and trade the goods while commuting. To facilitate their journey, two rows of seats at both ends of each carriage have been removed, so that they can pile up their baggage and place their livestock and poultry.

For Yihuo A'niu, a ninth grader, the train is like her school bus.

Every Friday afternoon, she would board the homebound train, together with her some 700 schoolmates. The 140-km journey takes about four hours, but she can always find a way to break up the monotony by reading books, doing her homework and chatting with friends.

Yihuo will take this year's senior high school entrance exams beginning on June 13.

"I want to be admitted into the best senior high school in Liangshan, and become a good teacher or a brave police officer in the future," she said, adding that she aspires to explore the vast world outside the mountains.

SAME YET DIFFERENT

Liu Wei, who has been working on the trains for 29 years, felt that living along the railway was a lonely experience when he was a kid. "Only the sound of train whistles can cut through loneliness," said the 47-year-old lead attendant of his childhood memories.

Liu went to school daily by train. There, he would watch the villagers bargain and sell their wares and observe how the train attendants work.

"As a child, I was fascinated by the attendant's uniform," he said, adding that this fascination impelled him to become a railway worker after growing up. He started working on the train at the age of 18 after graduating from senior high school.

Over the years, he has developed a rapport with the train commuters. He often urges the students to do their homework and mediates disputes, and helps villagers find proper markets for their agricultural products.

There was once an old lady who was in her 70s and used to get on the train at Puxiong Station every day, sometimes carrying over 200 kg of potatoes collected from fellow villagers to sell in Ganluo County. For some eight years, she always took the same carriage and sat in the same seat. Liu often chatted with her.

One day, she did not get on the train. Liu asked other passengers and was told that she had passed away. Though he did not know her name, Liu felt like he lost a relative.

Liu has witnessed the changes on and outside the trains over the years.

Areas along the railway are no longer isolated. They are today filled with newly-constructed modern buildings. The goods that people carry with them have become more diversified, from primarily potatoes and apples to walnut, olive and building materials, among others.

In January this year, a "Fuxing" Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) left Liangshan for Yunnan's capital Kunming, marking the departure of the first "Fuxing" bullet train from the prefecture.

Despite such transformations, some things have stayed constant. The fares remain unchanged for more than 30 years and the trains continue to operate at their initial speed.

Though famed for having the longest high-speed railway network in the world, China still operates some 81 pairs of such slow trains. The services cover 21 provincial-level regions, transporting some 12 million people annually at an average fare of no more than 0.06 yuan per km.

China aims to extend its total length of operational high-speed railways to around 50,000 km by 2025. Meanwhile, the national railway operator has pledged to improve services and infrastructure of slow trains and related stations to ensure safe and comfortable trips.

"No matter how much the world changes and how fast the high-speed trains would become, the slow trains are still 'lifelines' for locals. I'm willing to do my job as long as I can, and see more children leave the mountains for better lives outside," Liu said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
 Flash

The ninth Summit of the Americas, held in the United States last week, was a "total and absolute failure," Diosdado Cabello, first vice president of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, said on Monday.

"The summit collapsed," Cabello added during the party's weekly press conference in the capital Caracas.

According to Cabello, the regional gathering which took place in Los Angeles, in the western U.S. state of California, "was not a summit at all and will likely be the last, due to its failure, the disaster and the way it was handled."

The summit was set to fail from the start, when the United States decided not to invite Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, he said.

Washington's exclusion of the three countries led several heads of state and government to skip the summit in protest.
Last week on Capitol Hill, there was a five-hour hearing about gun violence. Parents of kids who died in the Uvalde school shooting testified. So did the president of the National Education Association. But the part of this hearing that I couldnt shake was testimony from a woman named Zeneta Everhart.

She was there to talk about her son, Zaire. Zaire was injured in the Tops grocery store shooting in Buffalo. His mother was calm, and persistent, and extremely vivid.

Advertisement

To the lawmakers who feel that we do not need stricter gun laws, let me paint a picture for you: My son, Zaire, has a hole in the right side of his neck, two on his back, and another on his left leg, caused by an exploding bullet from an AR-15. As I clean his wounds, I can feel pieces of that bullet in his back. Shrapnel will be left inside of his body for the rest of his life. Now, I want you to picture that exact scenario for one of your children. This should not be your story or mine.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

She practically dared these lawmakers to feel her pain.

If hearing from me and the other people testifying here today does not move you to act on gun laws I invite you to my home to help me clean Zaires wounds so you may see up close the damage that has been done to my son and my community.

Advertisement

Advertisement

I wondered if this kind of candor could work. So I called up someone intimately familiar with gun violence and the political fight against it. Here name is Dr. Amy Goldberg. Goldberg is a trauma surgeon. She knows what it means to clean wounds like Zaires. These wounds are so brutal that she almost hesitates to describe them. These wounds destroy, she said. They make holes in the patients. They make large holes and remove parts of their bodies. It is horrific.

Now, Goldberg has started to publicly wonder: If the rest of us could see what she seeslook at photos of the wounds she struggles to describewould we think about gun control differently? More urgently? She hears about testimony like Zeneta Everharts, and she thinks: Words arent enough. On Mondays episode of What Next, I spoke with Goldberg, a trauma surgeon who is sick of telling you about gun violence. She wants you to see it. For her, its a last-ditch effort. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Mary Harris: How many shooting victims does your hospital see in an average week?

Amy Goldberg: Maybe on average, my God, it could certainly be 20,

20?

Yeah, at least two or three every day, unfortunately.

In 2019, a medical student working at Temple started photographing what he saw at work when gunshot victims were wheeled in. And he had a few of his photos published in the New York Times. His photos were stark because no people were in them. It was simply the trauma bay. And it looks like a horror movie. Theres blood everywhere, signs of how quickly people have workeddiscarded gloves on the floor.

Advertisement

Advertisement

I wondered if you worked with him. And if you talked to him about documenting scenes like he did.

Advertisement

Advertisement

I did work with him. He explained to me why he thought it was important to do that. I told him I wasnt so sure it would make a difference.

What did he say when you told him that?

I think maybe he thought that it would. Unfortunately, we are in different stages of our careers. Im 30 years into a career, and he is at the beginning part of a career, and Im not surprised that he thought it would make a difference. I have just witnessed the tragedies that have occurred across this country and have seen no change. Other people have shown pictures like that. Other people have told their stories, and nothing seems to have made an impact.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Its funny to me to hear you say this because you have spoken in recent weeks about how you do want people to see what you see as a doctor.

Oh, I dont want them to see a bloody trauma bay. I want them to see a patient. I dont think that you can deny that this is occurring. I dont think that you can deny that these guns cause these wounds if you are seeing it. If you are seeing it on citizens of this country, you cant deny it.

Is there one victim in particular that you cant get out of your head?

I guess it would be a patient that I took care of a number of years ago, who was shot with this type of military-style weapon. But all of the patients that are in our trauma bays really deserve to be seen and deserve to be heard and deserve for there to be some change in how easy access there is to guns, or addressing of the structural and systemic racism in the inner cities.

Advertisement

Advertisement

What is it about that patient you saw a few years back that you think would be powerful?

Advertisement

I think it is the sheer destruction.

Can you tell me more about that?

The large holes that are left in the abdominal wall of the patient, the fact that the organs come out these large holes because the wounds are so big.

Were the organs literally on the outside of the body?

Yes.

What youre talking about is the dignity of your patients and the respect they deserve as human beings. What youre saying about seeing these wounds, a number of people have brought this idea up in the last couple of weeks. People have compared seeing wounds like this to Emmett Tills open casket or pictures from Vietnam of that little girl whod been burned by napalm. And some people have talked about their discomfort with the fact that families of victims, if images like this became public, could be victimized again by seeing their familys bodies destroyed.

Advertisement

And I wonder whether youve spoken to families about this and how theyve talk to you about their family members and what they might be willing to show others.

I have not had a conversation with a family member to show a picture, and I would never want to retraumatize anybody. You can only imagine what theyve been through. I would never show a picture without permission, of course. And I wouldnt show a picture that would be identifiable.

Advertisement

Advertisement

I dont think that people have to see who this is. I just think that our country, our politicians, our citizens need to see what these guns are doing. Thats the only reason. I just dont understand. It shouldnt take this. Wouldnt you have thought after Sandy Hook that there would have been some commonsense gun laws?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

But now, 10 years later, more elementary school kids. So as Ive been doing this job for 30 years, Ive come to the conclusion that I guess its going to take a picture. I guess thats what it will take. Thats what Emmett Tills mother thought that it would take. The pictures from Vietnam, as you said. The person who videotaped George Floyds murder. These images have changed our history. And I dont want us to wait anymore.

You sound desperate.

I am desperate. And so are many other people.

I think the idea of seeing grisly photos like this may strike some people as a simplistic approach. I know thats not actually what youre thinking of here, because youve done so much in your role at Temple to try to curb community violence. Youve pioneered a bunch of programs: teaching people gunshot wound first aid, giving out gun locks. Can you tell me a little bit about how you started doing this kind of work, which is not traditional trauma surgeon work?

Advertisement

Advertisement

It started when I first became a trauma surgeon, and it occurred to me that doing the operations and putting the bandages on and changing the dressings, that wasnt enough.

Because it was too late?

Yes, it was too late. We needed to prevent this. We needed to educate people on what bullets do to bodies. We need to give out gun locks. We need to support our families after patients are shot. It just seemed that the surgery, which I had been trained to do, was truly no longer adequate to really providing carefull 360-degree care.

One of the most innovative things that youve done at Temple is your program where you offer gunshot victims a chance to see their trauma room treatment on video. What do you hope they get from that kind of experience?

Advertisement

Advertisement

If patients didnt want to see it, then, of course, we would not show it to them. But the reason why we did that was we wanted our patients to see how many people were in the trauma bay helping them, supporting them. Its really providing an education on what these gunshot wounds do.

I remember after the Uvalde shootings, the New York Times had the pictures of all of the children. And it was gut-wrenching, but it was all of them, all totally sanitized. Pictures that people could have pulled down off of Facebook. And thats not the reality. And I think as a trauma surgeon and as a hospital that serves our community, its important to educate people and let them know that what they might see on TV, in a video game, in a movie is not what we see at all.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Who do you think the people are that need to see these photos? Because I feel like most Americans are horrified by the mass shootings weve seen. And theres good research that most Americans want commonsense gun laws. Have you ever thought about taking pictures to Washington?

Id be more than happy to take pictures to Washington.

Do you think itd make a difference?

I would think it would make a difference. I think the politicians cant imagine what these guns do. I dont think that as a society we want to see these injuries. We want to believe that that doesnt really happen. So I think for sure the politicians would be the first start. And I think the country needs to see the pictures too.

Its funny, I thought going into this conversation that Id perceived a change in you because youd said in previous interviews how hopeless you thought things were in terms of moving the needle on gun violence and gun legislation. And I had this feeling that part of the reason you were speaking out so much was because you thought maybe that had changed, that things could change. But it seems to be more like you think both things are true: that its very unlikely things will change, but that if theres one narrow pathway showing these photos might be it.

We have a moment now as a country to make a difference. I think we can make real change now. And we cannot lose this opportunity. We cannot. We deserve better.

Subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts

Get more news from Mary Harris every weekday.
After a string of tactical defeats, the Russian army is making some headway in its campaign to capture the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, site of the wars deadliest fighting. Its troops have taken nearly all of the regions northern district, known as Luhansk, and all but surrounded the town of Severodonetsk. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops are exhausted, with 100 to 200 dying daily. While this is true of Russian troops as well, the Ukrainians are running out of ammo.

Advertisement

This is happening now, nearly four months after the invasion began, because, for the first time, the Russians are fighting the sort of war for which they were traineda brutal form of combat that emphasizes smashing the enemy with bombs, missiles, artillery, and other tools of heavy firepower. As Michael Kofman, director of Russia studies at CNA, a Virginia-based research group put it, wars of attrition have always been the Russian militarys specialty, and now that theyre fighting one, they have an advantage.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine started out a disaster in large part because the Russian army had never done anything like itan ambitious offensive along three axes (from the north, east, and south), involving air, sea, and ground forces, with the goal of toppling Kyiv quickly and installing a new leader more pliant with Moscows policies.

Advertisement

Advertisement

It went wrong for three reasons. First, Ukrainians fought back more valiantly than anticipated. Second, they did so with much more Western assistance than anyone expected in terms of arms, intelligence, and political as well as economic support. Third, and most relevant in this context, the plan exposed and exacerbated the Russian militarys most chronic weaknesses.

Putins army had little experience executing simultaneous, executing simultaneous operations involving multiple branches of the armed forces, yet his campaign depended on coordinated thrusts. The military was always terrible at logistics, yet the invasion would require sustaining and defending very long supply lines. Its junior officers were also not taught how to take the initiative, so if things went wrong, they would not know how to adjust. (This is one reason 12 Russian generals have been killed in this war; they were rushed to the front to take command and, once there, became bright flashing targets.)

Advertisement

Advertisement

And so the offensive broke down. The Ukrainians ambushed Russias caravans of armored vehicles and cut off their supply lines, leaving Russian forces without food, fuel, ammunition, or effective leadership.

Could the Russians have changed tactics, and emphasized artillery fire, back when they were trying to grab Kyiv? No. First, most of the fighting was at close range; artillery could have killed as many Russians as Ukrainiansprobably more, since the Russians tended to be out in the open. Second, artillery rockets have a range of dozens of miles, not hundreds or thousands; the Russians would have had to haul them into deep Ukraineand they too would have been cut off or confiscated along with the food, fuel, and ammo. The Russian battle plan, early on, only accentuated their weak points and didnt allow room for their strong points.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

However, as the Russians retreated from the area around Kyiv (at least for now) and moved eastward, the dynamics shifted in their favor. A war over Donbas had been going on for eight years. Lines of demarcation had long been drawn between the western half of Donbas, dominated by the Ukrainian army, and the eastern half, dominated by Russian-backed separatist militias. In the past month or so, Russian troopssome redeployed from elsewhere in Ukraine, some called up from bases inside Russiahave reinforced the separatist positions. Because they were much closer to Russian territory, the supply lines were much shorter and thus less vulnerable to disruption. Finally, much of the terrain is flat, making it harder for Ukrainians to hide and engage in ambush tactics

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Both sides troops have long been dug in to fortified positions. Maneuver tactics are hard because the spring rains have made the fields muddy. So, the dug-in troops are ripe targets for bombs, missiles, and artillery shells. The Russians have the advantage here, as they have more bombs and shells, and their artillery rockets have longer range; the rockets can be launched from positions too far away for Ukrainian rockets to hit back.

President Biden recently decided to send Ukraine longer-range rockets, to even the playing field. But it will take a while for the new weapons to arrive on the frontlines (Lviv, in western Ukraine, is about 800 miles from Donbas). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is complaining that Biden is sending too few rockets too slowly, but they are arriving in greater numberand more quicklythan the Ukrainians are able to absorb them in their ranks and get trained in how to use them.

Advertisement

In this sort of trench warfare, the hope is to punch a hole in the enemys line, move into the vacuum, then encircle the defenders from all sides. This hasnt yet quite happened. But the Russians, with their advantage, have pushed the Ukrainians back, thus moving the line steadily forward and capturing more Ukrainian territory.

Advertisement

Advertisement

This doesnt mean that Putin is winning the war, any more than the earlier pummeling of Russian troops meant that Zelensky was winning (though some tried to argue that it did). As the longer-range Western weapons make their way to the front line, the Ukrainians could win back some of the land theyve lost or forced the Russians to retreat elsewhere. In any case, neither side is making swift breakthroughs in this war; neither side has enough troops to do so.

Advertisement

But lets say Russia keeps up its steady pace of gaining ground. Beyond strictly military considerations, what will it have won? Whole cities in Ukraine, especially in Donbas, once the countrys industrial center, are reduced to rubble. Zelensky recently pronounced Lysychansk, once a thriving town of 100,000 people, to be a dead city. Who will pay for the rebuilding, especially if the region, much less the whole of Ukraine, winds up under Moscows rule?

There is another factor. Back in late February, just after Putin invaded, many assumed that Kyiv would fall but that a new puppet regime would be unable to rule because Ukrainian soldiers and citizen resistance brigades would mount an insurgencythat, at best, Putin would be stuck in Ukraine fighting off rebels for years. Some predicted that, just as the Soviet Union fell in part because of its failure in Afghanistan, Putins Russia would fall because of its failure in Ukraine.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The surprise was that the Ukrainian army held off the Russian invaders. They may continue to do so, for some time. But even if the Russian army prevails on the battlefield, how will Moscows minions govern Ukraine? Except for Donbas and Crimea, Ukrainians have long been hostile to Russias ruleand after the incessant bombing and shelling, this hostility has intensified. Even in much of eastern Ukraine, the affection or tolerance of Moscow has greatly subsided.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Meanwhile, the war is likely to slog on for as long as the weapons keep coming. Far from modifying their rhetoric, to allow for negotiation, the two sides have intensified their harshness. Putinwho once said he invaded in order to halt the eastward expansion of NATO, or to stop Ukraines mythical genocide in Donbas, or to de-Nazify the government in Kyivnow likens himself to Peter the Great on a holy mission to recapture lost territory of the Russian empire. Zelensky, who not long ago took a stab at compromise by saying he didnt have to join NATO after all, now pledges not to surrender a kilometer of Ukrainian territory.

Both sides insist they must win. For the moment, theyre both losing.
When Dalia Hatuqa was a little girl, she would see Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on TV all the time, reporting for Al-Jazeera. Abu Akleh, an empathetic but serious talking head on camera, was an important figure for Hatuqa, who grew up in the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. I think maybe almost every single Arab person from the Middle East grew up watching her for decades, she says. For most Arabs, Palestine is not some place thats accessible  Shereen brought Palestine to everybodys home.

Advertisement

Last month, Shireen Abu Akleh was killed in the West Bank while reporting on an Israeli raid of a refugee camp. In the days and weeks following Shireen Abu Aklehs death, three big media teams investigated the way she was killed: Bellingcat, the open-source investigative journalism website, used photos, video, and statements from eyewitnesses, and said that evidence suggested targeting rather than a spray of bullets aimed at another object or person. CNN released an investigation too, using videos and photos as well as help from weapons experts, and concluding Abu Akleh was killed in a targeted attack by Israeli forces. More recently, the AP independently said the same. The Israel Defense Forces recently claimed that while it is possible an Israeli soldier fired the bullet that killed Abu Akleh no IDF soldier deliberately fired at a journalist.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

On Tuesdays episode of What Next, I spoke with Dalia Hatuqanow a multimedia journalist specializing in Israeli-Palestinian affairs as well as regional Middle East issuesabout the death of Shireen Abu Akleh. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Mary Harris: I want to lay out a little bit how Shireen Abu Akleh was killed, and some key events that followed her the morning of May 11. Shireen was with a producer from Al-Jazeera. They were covering a raid in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. What was happening there?

Dalia Hatuqa: She was on assignment, covering this raid on a refugee camp. Shireen was wearing a vest that said Press on it. She was wearing a helmet. And then the shot came through the back of her head. She didnt stand a chance: She didnt have time to take cover or to duck.

Advertisement

The bullet struck the uncovered portion between the helmet and the vest in the back of her neck, which is such a small area.

From a journalistic point of view, the way I see it is that only an experienced shooter could have made a shot like that. And when this happened, Israeli authorities said that Palestinian fighters were responsible for her death: They circulated this video of Palestinian men shooting down an alleyway.

Advertisement

Was that anywhere near where Abu Akleh was?

It wasnt. Researchers from the renowned Israeli human rights group BTselem found the spot where this clip was filmed: It was 300 meters away, with no line of sight to the place where Shireen was killed. So unless Palestinian bullets can turn corners and climb stairs, the video Israeli authorities circulated had nothing to do with the killing. After BTselem said this, the Israelis retracted. And then it kind of developed into this thing about, we cant do a probe unless we have the bullet that struck her, which the Palestinian Authority has, because it removed the fragment of the bullet from her head and did its own probe. But now the Israelis are saying they cant do a probe because they dont have the bullet.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

I think its important to highlight that it wasnt just the Israeli military saying it was Palestinians who shot her. The Israeli prime minister suggested that she was killed by armed Palestinians.

For those of us who have covered the Palestinian territories for a long time, This isnt new. Every time a Palestinian is killedor, in this case, a Palestinian Americanit brings more heat on the Israeli authorities, who immediately try to blame it on Palestinians and then switch the story.

Advertisement

Advertisement

I want to talk about what happened immediately after Abu Aklehs death, because two days later in Jerusalem, mourners were carrying her coffin, walking it by foot to her funeral, and they were beaten by Israeli riot police. Im wondering if you can start off by explaining why it was so important that the coffin was being carried.

Advertisement

So her casket was in St. Josephs Hospital in East Jerusalem, and it was to be taken to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Annunciation, in the Old City. It was very important for people to carry her coffin, and those people got attacked by Israeli police. They fired tear gas and stun grenades at the huge assembly of mourners. The guys carrying her were getting beaten up, but they wouldnt let the casket go. It just showed the amount of emotion and love and respect that they had for her. You could see from the footage that the Israeli police was going berserk at the sight of every Palestinian flag, and so they even forcibly removed one from the hearse. The images from that incident werent just shocking to us. They were shocking to people around the world. Ive never seen anybody beat up pallbearers at someones funeral. It made people feel like they tried to stop her in in her life and then tried to disrespect her in her death as well.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Its interesting to compare the reaction here to the reaction to the death of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal journalist who was killed in Pakistan about 20 years ago. In that case, the U.S. sent the FBI to investigate. I wonder if that could be a possibility here too.

Yeah, why wouldnt that be? Americans regularly train in Israel, and the amount of money thats being pumped into Israel by America is astounding. So why not give this American citizen the justice that she deserves and hold someone accountable for her killing? I think everybody deserves justice accountability, irrespective of their nationality.

Recently, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for an independent investigation into Shireens killing. Had you been advocating for that kind of action?

Advertisement

Ive been speaking with Shireens family quite a lot. I know Blinken talked to them and promised that he would do whatever he can to ensure that investigation happens. But honestly, nothings happened. Its been a month. Its not that hard: Theres footage, eyewitnesses, all kinds of stuff. This isnt a mystery. Yet, even after Shireens death, the Americans said the relationship with Israel is ironclad.

Advertisement

Advertisement

There was this AFP report saying that since the year 2000, close to when the intifada started, no Israeli soldier has been held accountable for the death of any journalist killed there. Theyve gotten away with it and theyre going to get away with it this time around too.

Advertisement

In the past 30 years, the Committee to Protect Journalists estimates, at least 19 journalists have been killed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Im wondering if I can ask you as a journalist to talk about the news coverage of Sharons death, because it seems to me that over the past month, and now theres less momentum. Some Palestinian journalists have basically accused the Western media of having a blind spot when it comes to Palestinian pain. Do you agree with that?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Of course they have a blind spot. I mean, did you know that recently there was a Palestinian man in his 20s who was killed? Almost every single day, on average, theres a Palestinian man or kid or woman who gets killed and it does not make any news. And when Israelis are killed, we hear about it instantly. I dont want anybody to be killed. There needs to be a solution. But Palestinian lives dont matter to a lot of the Western media, and they matter only insomuch as they are relevant to Israeli or American lives.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Is there anything else you want to make sure we know about Shireen and her life and what happened?

I want people to remember her as funny, as someone who loved to shop and party and had a sweet tooth. I rarely saw her sad or upset, even though she had lost her mom and dad at a younger age. And she covered so many tragedies, but her smile was constantly there. Covering Palestine is depressing, but she was such a free spirit, and covering Israeli human rights abuses never broke herit never stopped her from appreciating and enjoying life. I just wish that she were still around to appreciate and enjoy life.

Subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts

Get more news from Mary Harris every weekday.
When the House of Representatives was voting on President Trumps (second) impeachment on January 13, 2021, it was expected that around 5 to 10 Republicans would vote with all the Democrats. The names of those Republicans were mostly known in advance, as they had released earlier statements. Along with the other reporters in the House chamber, I watched as their votes came in on the vote-tracking board for confirmation: Kinzinger, Cheney, Katko, Upton, Valadao. All expected.

Then, out of left field, a certain RICE had a Y next to his name, rather than an N.

Advertisement

I, at least, figured that Rep. Tom Rice, a rank-and-file member from Myrtle Beach who usually kept his head down and worked on issues like the dredging of South Carolinas ports, had mis-voted and would change his vote back to nay. Just a week earlier, after the Capitol had been ransacked and members had to evacuate the House chamber, Rice was one of the House Republicans who voted against certifying electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania. Weeks before that, he had signed onto an amicus brief on behalf of a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the election.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

But he had not pressed the wrong button after all. Hed just snapped.

Rice admitted in a statement after the vote that Trumps actions on Jan. 6, lack of remorse for them, and total disregard for those who were injured in the riots, had broken him. I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years, Rice said. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But this utter failure is inexcusable.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Rice was the most surprising of the 10 Republicans to vote for impeachment that dayand, along with Liz Cheney, arguably the one who faced the most substantial political risk.

His district, covering Myrtle Beach, the northern coast of South Carolina, and stretching inland along the North Carolina border, is deep-red territory. It was mostly unchanged in redistricting, and FiveThirtyEight rates it as an R+26 seat. Like, well, all of South Carolinas seats under the new map, the 7th District is not competitive whatsoever in a general election. Democrats wont win it.

But because of Rices impeachment votefor which he has shown no regret, unlike his votes against certifying electorsits extremely competitive in a primary. And while Trump has had his share of whiffs recently against the GOPs conscientious objectors to the Big Lie, the off-the-charts reading of MAGA levels in Kenny Powers country might prove too much for Rice to overcome.

Advertisement

A slew of challengers entered the primary field to challenge Rice, but State Sen. Russell Fry won Trumps endorsement. From there, all he had to do was run ads saying Tom Rice voted to impeach Donald Trump (although you have to give Frys team credit for the creative way they presented this in their first campaign ad, Villains Anonymous).

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

(Side note: Is the pink lady supposed to be Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter?)

Were the field split enough between various eager challengers, Rice might have a fighting shot at a plurality victory. But there will be a runoff if neither candidate hits 50 percent, and Rices ceiling of support may be too low if he gets into one with Fry. According to the Cook Political Report, private polling still shows Rice stuck in the high 20s, and Rice backers acknowledge that his only hope in the runoff is to recruit a large contingent of Democratic voters to cross over.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Rice isnt the only incumbent member of Congress that Trump is hoping to take out in South Carolina. In the coastal district abutting Rices to the south, Trump has backed a challenger to freshman Rep. Nancy Mace. While Mace never went as far as to vote to impeach Trump, she did make a couple of other comments and votes that were just heretical enough to earn herself a primary in Trumps Republican Party.

Advertisement

For example, in the hours after the Capitol riot, Mace said that all of the Trump administrations accomplishments were wiped out. After that, perhaps she feltor her consultants told herthat she had gone too far. She voted against impeachment, and within a matter of weeks she was making fun of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for being scared on Jan. 6.

Advertisement

This is the Mace mystique: One day shes defecting from her party to vote to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt for ignoring a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee. The next dayas in, the literal next day after Trump endorsed her primary challengershes in New York filming a campaign video outside Trump Tower, and pledging her fealty to the MAGA cause.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Regardless, Mace didnt stray as far from the line as Rice did, and is in a stronger position in her race.

The primary electorate in her district, which includes parts of Charleston, its suburbs, and tourist destinations like Hilton Head, isnt as Trumpy as it is in Rices district. Keep in mind that this district, in a more competitive configuration prior to redistricting, was held by Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham in the prior Congress.

Cunningham won the district, in part, because the incumbentcongressman and former Gov. Mark Sanfordwas ousted in a primary by the Katie Arrington, who then blew it in the general election. And that, alongside her ample fundraising and prominent endorsements, is the other thing Mace has going for her: Her Trump-endorsed primary opponent in this race is none other than Katie Arrington.

Advertisement

Though neither Mace nor Arrington would be in real risk in the general election, given the touch-up Republicans did to the seat to shore it up in redistricting, Mace has nonetheless warned voters that if they nominate Arrington, shell find a way to blow it again.

Beyond those two South Carolina showdowns, there are a couple of additional races to keep an eye on Tuesday, where primaries will also be held in Nevada, North Dakota, and Maine and Texas will host the first phase of a special election.

Advertisement

Advertisement

In Nevada, occasionally moderate Rep. Mark Amodei is facing a primary challenger in Danny Tarkanian. In the last 18 years, Tarkanian has run and lost races for: Nevada state senate, Nevada secretary of state, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives again, and U.S. House Representatives again. Perhaps the seventh time is the charm.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

And in Texas, the special election is all about everyones favorite thing: The narrative.

The seat was vacated by ex-Rep. Filemon Vela, who quit Congress this spring to join a lobbying firm. Though this seat will be a comfy D+17 district in November, the special election will still operate along the old lines, which is only D+5. Thus, Democrats had largely abandoned the race in the special: the main Democratic candidateDan Sanchezis only running to serve as a caretaker for a few months before Rep. Vicente Gonzalez runs for it in the fall.

But if Republicans and their preferred candidate, Mayra Flores, win, not only will Flores be an incumbent in the fall, but Republicans will crow endlessly about Democrats doom. The collapse of the Democratic Party among Hispanics in south Texas is well-known already, but Republicans would love to have Flores as an avatar for that change heading into November. The GOPs massive expenditures in the district tell the story.

Happy primary night!
The pre-war steam locomotive, which will come out just once this year, is the only one of its kind still running.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

The strongest pre-war steam locomotive called Zeleny Anton (Green Anton) is back on the tracks. People will have a chance to take a ride on the train in mid-June. As the locomotive only runs sporadically, the ride is a unique and special experience.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

The regional tourist organisation Touristic Novohrad and Podpolanie (OOCR TNP) is organising a ride on the locomotive which was repaired in 2018 on June 18. Immediately after the reconstruction, it ran on the 100th anniversary of Czechoslovakia, as a presidential train which originally used to transport presidents.

This year, it will leave the depot only once as the Novohradsky Express on June 18  exactly on the 151st anniversary of the railway between Zvolen and Lucenec.

A train drawn by a steam locomotive of the 486 series with production number 007, bringing to mind the well-known agent James Bond, and which is also the only functional specimen in the world, will take people in Zvolen (departure at 8:35) and take them via the stops Detva, Krivan, Lovinobana, and Lucenec to Filakovo (arrival at 11:02), said director of OOCR TNP Tomas Krahulec. The return trip to Zvolen will leave at 15:17.

It is possible to purchase tickets for this ride online at the website zahoramizadolami.sk where a complete schedule of the train ride is published as well.

Learning about the history and region

The experience itself does not end just with the ride. Travellers will have some time to spend in Filakovo in southern Slovakia. After showing the ticket from the train, they can visit the Filakovo castle for free and enjoy a guided tour. Besides the castle exhibition, there is an anti-aircraft shelter in the castle rock. Local producers will also present their products.

Besides the castle, we have also prepared a guided tour of the church which, after the reconstruction of the interior with its paintings, is another unique attraction of this region, worthy of admiration, Krahulec said.

WWII bunkers in Filakovo a total hidden gem. Their future is dire Read more

Special ride to Lucenec

Zeleny Anton, after stopping in Filakovo, will transport interested people to Lucenec and back.

The return ticket will cost 5 and it is possible to purchase it on the spot in Filakovo. The Filakovo-Lucenec-Filakovo run will be free for children younger than six but children can travel only accompanied by an adult. The band Traditional Dixie Stompers will ensure a good atmosphere.

Departure of thetrain from Filakovo is at 13:20 and arrival to Lucenec is at 13:40. The departure to Filakovo is 14:06 and arrival at 14:26.

 My Novohrad

Man from Filakovo finds the biggest Slovak sapphire in basalt Read more

Spectacular Slovakia travel guides
The programme is intended for children who haven't finished primary education.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

While their peers are preparing for future jobs in secondary schools, hundreds of children, especially girls from Roma settlements, learn to embroider, clean, grow plants, or cook basic meals in the classroom.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

About two dozen schools offer a two-year study programme called practical woman, whose graduates do not receive an apprenticeship certificate. Some experts point out that it reinforces gender stereotypes, stereotypes about women from Roma communities, with the ability of graduates to enter the labour market being questionable.

According to the school statistical yearbook, 453 girls and 24 boys are currently studying the practical woman programme.

Two years ago, Michal Palenik from the Employment Institute wrote an analysis and called on schools to abolish the programme. His opinion has not changed since.

"Optimistically, women from Roma settlements are being educated at least a little. Pessimistically, schools take a lot of money for it, which are then used elsewhere," said Palenik. He pointed out that the allowance per student in this programme is twice as high as the allowance per medical student that Comenius University receives.
The Bratislava Regional Court has dismissed Andrej Babis's lawsuit against the Nation's Memory Institute.

News: Receive notifications about new articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription.

Bratislava native and former Czech PM Andrej Babis insists he has never collaborated with the Secret Police under communism. (Source: TASR - Jaroslav Novak)

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

Bratislavas regional court has again rejected Andrej Babiss lawsuit against the Nations Memory Institute, which lists him in its archived documents as an agent who collaborated with the Czechoslovak Secret Police (StB) under communism.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

The institute, known as the UPN, registers him as an agent under the name of Bures, who reportedly cooperated with the Secret Police in the eighties.
The social media platform ignored Smer MP Lubos Blaha's disinformation content for a long time.

News: Receive notifications about new articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

Facebook has cancelled the page belonging to Slovak lawmaker Lubos Blaha, an influential disinformation spreader, following past warnings about violating the platforms rules forwarded to the lawmaker.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

The Zive.sk website broke the news on June 14.

Blaha of the Smer party is convinced that Facebook did it on purpose, claiming the order came from coalition politicians.

Facebook has intervened in Slovak politics, the MP said about the decision.

Smer has launched a referendum campaign. The party wants to oust the current government. In Slovakia, municipal and regional elections will also be held in October 2022.

Blahas page, which the MP founded in 2018, had nearly 175,000 followers. His page had long been one of the most popular pages run by Slovak politicians on Facebook.

The day before Facebooks decision, YouTube cancelled the channel run by another conspirator, Stefan Harabin.

Repeatedly violated rules

Facebook had long overlooked Blahas posts, which often attacked his political opponents and spread disinformation and hatred.

Eventually, in November 2021, Facebook removed Blahas anti-vaccination video full of disinformation. For example, he claimed that Covid-19 vaccines had killed patients and blamed the vaccinated for the third coronavirus wave.

The platform also punished Blaha in February 2022 when he was not allowed to post anything on his page for a day. A three-day punishment was handed down in early April, this time for spreading hatred. He had labelled the late American diplomat Madeleine Albright a Balkan butcher, referencing the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.

As Zive.sk writes, Facebook has now decided to remove Blahas page because he repeatedly ignored the platforms calls not to post content not in line with Facebooks rules.

Money to Facebook

Recently, members of the US Congress wrote a letter to the Meta company, to which Facebook belongs, asking the company to address the massive amount of disinformation on Slovak-language Facebook.

It is not known whether the letter had an impact on Facebooks latest decision.

Blaha, who is present on Telegram and vKontakt, has also criticised Facebook, but for censorship. Yet, he has paid thousands of euros to Facebook to promote his page on the platform.

In March of this year, the court ordered Blaha to stop spreading lies about President Zuzana Caputova on Facebook.
Another disinformation spreader removed from a social media platform, a nice train ride for the weekend.

News: Receive notifications about new articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

Good evening. The Tuesday, June 14 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.

Court dismisses Babis's lawsuit again

Andrej Babis served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. (Source: AP/TASR)

The Bratislava's regional court has again rejected ex-Czech PM Andrej Babis's lawsuit against the Nation's Memory Institute, which lists him in its archived documents as an agent who collaborated with the Czechoslovak Secret Police (StB) under communism.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

The institute, known as the UPN, registers him as an agent under the name of Bures, who reportedly cooperated with the Secret Police in the eighties. The Bratislava native insists that he did not collaborate with the Secret Police.

In its decision, the regional court said that Babis should file a lawsuit against the Slovak Republic, not the institute.

In 2014: Babis launched his lawsuit in January 2012, but a series of delays pushed the proceedings back again and again. He still insisted: "I will win."

In 2017: Here's more context on the 2017 Constitutional Court ruling on Babis's case.

Quote: "I will continue to defend myself legally because the truth is on my side, I have never cooperated with the StB, I did not sign anything, I was registered [by the StB] without my knowledge and furthermore, I was investigated by the StB," Czech politician Andrej Babis said in reaction to the June 14 ruling.

More stories from The Slovak Spectator website:

FEATURE STORY FOR TUESDAY

Hop on this old train

Zeleny Anton steam locomotive. (Source: OOCR TNP)

The strongest pre-war steam locomotive, the Zeleny Anton (Green Anton), will be back on the tracks.

In central Slovakia, people will have a chance to take a ride on the train in mid-June. As the locomotive runs sporadically, the ride is a unique and special experience.

Save the date!

If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription. Thank you.

IN OTHER NEWS:

A patient with the suspected monkeypox disease has been admitted to the Infectious Diseases Department of J. A. Reiman University Hospital in Presov. No monkeypox case has been confirmed in Slovakia to date.

has been admitted to the Infectious Diseases Department of J. A. Reiman University Hospital in Presov. No monkeypox case has been confirmed in Slovakia to date. About 3,000 hospital doctors have so far declared that they are prepared to leave their jobs , said the head of the doctor's trade union, Peter Visolajsky after a meeting with PM Eduard Heger (OLaNO). The number may increase, he added.

At the Slovalco aluminum plant in Ziar nad Hronom, a new remelting centre for 15 million has been put into operation. Thanks to the investment, the plant will be able to increase the share of recycled aluminum production by 55,000 tons. Still, the firm warns of an uncertain future.

From July 1, the use of 1 and 2 eurocent coins will be restricted. The rules for rounding cash-paid purchases will enter into force. (Source: TASR - Frantisek Ivan)

The agreement on the association of the Slovak Republic with the European Space Agency was signed in the Netherlands by the Education Ministry's State Secretary, Ludovit Paulis, on June 14.

was signed in the Netherlands by the Education Ministry's State Secretary, Ludovit Paulis, on June 14. MPs will try to override President Zuzana Caputova's veto on the Matovic's "family" package next week, on June 21.

Inflation rose in May year-on-year for the sixteenth consecutive month. While its value was 8.4 percent in January, it reached a new 22-year high of 12.6 percent in May. The month-on-month rise in prices reached 1.6 percent in May, the Statistics Office said.

If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
 Flash

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for efforts to eliminate racism and discrimination.

"Over the next 100 days and beyond, let us work to safeguard the human rights of all people and build peaceful and inclusive societies," the UN chief said in his message for the 100-day countdown to the International Day of Peace, which falls on Sept. 21 annually.

"Together, we can realize the vision of a world free of racism and racial discrimination," the secretary-general noted.

The top UN official stressed that the United Nations calls on all people to lay down weapons and reaffirm their commitment to living in harmony with one another every year on Sept. 21.

This shared aspiration "is more pressing than ever," said the secretary-general.

This year's theme for the peace day is "End racism. Build peace."

"Racism poisons societies, normalizes discrimination and spurs violence. We must fight it by countering hate speech, promoting dialogue and addressing the root causes of inequality," Guterres said.

The International Day of Peace, also officially known as World Peace Day, is a United Nations-sanctioned holiday dedicated to world peace, specifically the absence of war and violence. It can be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access.

The day was first celebrated in 1981 and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and people.
 Flash

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in a tweet on Monday that he has again tested positive for COVID-19.

Trudeau said that he would be following public health guidelines and isolating.

"I feel okay, but that's because I got my shots. So, if you haven't, get vaccinated. And if you can, get boosted. Let's protect our healthcare system, each other, and ourselves," he said.

Last week Trudeau traveled to the U.S. city of Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas, meeting a number of top officials, including U.S. President Joe Biden.

According to the prime minister's official website, Trudeau was back in the national capital region for personal issues on Sunday and previously scheduled for private meetings on Monday.

He tested positive for COVID-19 in late January and is triple vaccinated.

The prime minister previously reported being exposed to the virus on two occasions: in March 2020, he went into a 14-day isolation after his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau tested positive for COVID-19, and in late December 2021 he announced he was testing regularly and self-monitoring after some members of his staff and security detail tested positive. Two of his sons also tested positive at that time.
Taxable property values are mainly on the rise throughout the Panhandle, and some locations are experiencing larger increases than others.

All Panhandle counties, except for Sioux County, experienced 2022 valuation increases of between 1% and 10%. Sioux Countys rates decreased by less than a quarter of a percent.

We actually had a bit more residential change, especially in the town of Bayard, Morrill County Assessor Rose Nelson said.

Taxable values for residential properties in Bayard grew 25% over the last year.

Rural residential valuations in Morrill County grew by 15%, the third straight year of growth. The valuations in Bridgeport stayed level, though Nelson said they previously had a large increase two years ago.

I believe people just want to get out of the bigger cities and come to the smaller towns, she said for rising prices in the area. Theyre seeing what they think is a good price and they buy (homes), and they move to Nebraska.

Nelson said new residents in the area could be looking to retire or work from home.

In Nebraska, the average taxable value of all residential and commercial property across a county, city or neighborhood must fall between 92% and 100% of local market value. If the rates fall under 92% or above 100%, assessors must update the value of properties so they fit within that range.

A single sale does not dictate overall market value, but dozens or hundreds of sales in an area add up.

Most of our neighborhoods went up, Dawes County Assessor Roberta Lindy Coleman said. ...Small parcels, or rural residential parcels, some of them went up a great deal based on how much land they have.

Agricultural land is assessed on a different scale in Nebraska. Those market rates must be between 69% and 75% of the areas market value for them.

A listing of rate changes were described by the 2022 Reports and Opinions of the Property Tax Administrator at the Nebraska Department of Revenue website. It is viewable at revenue.nebraska.gov/PAD/research-statistical-reports/statewide-equalization.

In Box Butte County, different ag land classifications received valuation increases of up to 12%. In one market area in Cheyenne County, native grassland agricultural land values grew by 19%.

Residential valuations in Big Springs rose 10%. In Kimball, they rose 11%; in Dix, they increased by 15%.

Not all rates rose, though. Some had to be lowered. Sioux County residents saw an 8% residential value decrease, while rural Deuel County residents taxable values collectively fell by 25%.

In Gurley, residential property valuations declined by 30%. Cheyenne County Assessor Melody Keller said they would be above 122% of actual value otherwise.

Homes were being marketed at $84,000 and being sold for only $30,000; or marketed at $67,000 and selling for just $48,000.

That had to go down, Keller said. ... Its just a crazy thing to happen when everywhere else is going up.

In Scotts Bluff County, residential valuations were assessed 7% to 15% higher than last year, depending on the city. Commercial and most irrigated land stayed at their previous valuations, while some irrigated land decreased in value.

Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Celeste Salazar has been interested in planning events for a long time.

I have been drawn to doing events since I was really young. I actually did my very first event when I was 13 years old. I planned my moms baby shower, she told the Star-Herald.

Salazar has now opened up her own events center, known as The Emerald Center, at 17 W 16th St. in downtown Scottsbluff.

I wanted something that sounded elegant and classy, she said of the moniker, but also different than my name. She already operates a photography studio known as Celeste Salazar Photography and Design.

Salazar went to school online for a certificate in event planning. Shed been looking for a location to start an event center at for two years when she took over the 16th Street location. Construction began in July 2021.

We wanted to start off with a medium-small center to get a feel for it and just to start the business. We found this place a year ago and its worked out perfectly, she said. ...Its taken a long time, but Im glad were here.

The Emerald Center opened its doors June 1, and has held some soft-opening events for family and friends. It is designed to host bridal showers, graduation parties and other small, intimate events.

Truly, any of those smaller parties that could fit under 100 guests could set up in here, Salazar said.

To achieve a neutral look which would fit with any color palette, The Emerald Center primarily uses black and white decorations and furniture.

These are all my very go-to colors. I love black, I love white, I love gold and I love emerald so weve got little touches of emerald throughout the building, she said.

Guests have several customization options at the center. For example, they can rent some of the decor for their own parties.

Food can be brought in for free. Salazar said The Emerald Center does not cater so as to place a larger focus on the events themselves.

Guests can also use a stereo system to play music from their own playlists. Additionally, the lights in the main hall can change colors to fit different themes or moods.

Those arent the only changing lights at The Emerald Center; in both the mens and womens restrooms, guests can toggle a button on the mirror to change the ambient lighting for selfies.

The building also features two entrances, one at 16th Street and one by a parking lot at the back. Salazar said she plans to add more seating options inside and outside.

Salazar does all of the set-up and clean-up, all the decorating, all balloon arches and provides free consultations. She and her husband, Denzel, are the only employees, and he has a full-time job so she is usually the sole hostess.

We just want to make it stress-free for people, Salazar said. ... You spend your time here and you invest your money with us so we want to make sure you have a great experience.

The Emerald Centers grand opening will take place in July. It will feature food vendors, face painting, a bounce castle and a selection of decor so guests can see what the space has to offer.

Salazar said the center will also be able to host community events, such as markets or meetings with Santa Claus.

Come holidays well change the decor, add stuff to it, but we just really want to make it fun for people ... and bring that different decor look that we dont really see in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

Those looking for additional information about the center can contact theemeraldcenterllc@gmail.com or 308-765-1814.

Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The Flatwater Free Press is looking for important stories to tell in the Scottsbluff area, so members of the staff ask the public to join them Wednesday, June 22, at the Railway office plaza boardroom, 115 W. Railway St. from noon to 1 p.m.

Executive Director Matt Wynn said the listening tour is focused on hearing from the public about potential story ideas.

We are a staff of four and a whole bunch of freelancers trying to cover the entire state of Nebraska, which is absolutely absurd, Wynn said. The listening tour is a chance to go around the state and hear from people wherever they are about the stories they think need to be told.

Some recent stories that came from the listening tour was about prom for special needs students in Nebraska City, a camp in Kearney and a museum in McCook. The event offers the public an opportunity to share story ideas that may not rise to the top of the list, so the Flatwater Free Press can tell those stories.

Wynn will provide background about the free press during the first 10 to 15 minutes of the session.

During the Scottsbluff event, the public is encouraged to come prepared to pitch their ideas.

If they have any leave behinds  business cards, fliers, business cards or anything like that  that certainly helps, he said. Just have a clear idea of what makes your story worth telling.

Wynn will be attendance at the event, along with two staff reporters. While the community may pitch an idea June 22, he said the turn around on a story may be months into the future.

The free press is interested in not only feature stories, but also investigation pieces.

My background is all in investigation, so I was taking 18 months on a single story, Wynn said. What Im really proud of with Flatwater is everyone knows investigation pieces take time  three months, 18 months or whatever  but features, they deserve that, too. They havent really got that for a long time and I think journalism has really suffered for that in Nebraska and across the country.

The Oregon Trail Community Foundation is hosting the event.

Were hoping to make it out there every couple of months and hope to build a network, he said. We want to start getting out there. Its one of the coolest pockets of the state.

The Flatwater Free Press plans to return to Scottsbluff in September.

Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The legal battle between former GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles W. Herbster and Nebraska State Sen. Julie Slama is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday in front of a District Court judge.

Herbster filed a defamation lawsuit against Slama in April, after the Nebraska Examiner reported allegations from eight women who said the candidate had groped them in recent years. Slama was the only named accuser at the time.

Herbster, a Republican mega-donor and CEO of Conklin Co., has denied all the accusations and maintained they're a hit job coordinated by political opponent Jim Pillen and Gov. Pete Ricketts, who supports Pillen. Ricketts has said he didnt have any involvement in the Examiners report, and Pillens campaign said it wasnt behind it.

Slama answered Herbsters lawsuit quickly and filed a counterclaim alleging sexual battery. Slama had given notice to depose Herbster on May 6, but Herbsters campaign made it clear he didnt plan to attend the deposition.

His legal team filed a motion to quash the deposition notice and seek a protective order that limits his deposition to "scheduling at a mutually convenient time." It alleged the other side was playing politics by scheduling it just ahead of the May 10 primary. Slamas lawyers responded with a statement and objection in which they suggested they may pursue sanctions.

Herbster's legal team moved to amend its original complaint, alleging in part that the defamation had been compounded by false statements from Slama and lawyer Dave Lopez since it was filed. They also drew connections between Lopez, the law firm he works for and Pillen's campaign.

They filed a motion, dated May 6, seeking a protective order against Slama and her legal team, arguing that they were attempting to try the case in the press. Slamas lawyers responded in a filing and called for that motion to be rejected.

On May 10, Pillen beat out Herbster and other primary opponents to become the Republican nominee for Nebraska governor.

In an amended response last month, Slama's lawyers revealed new details, including a more specific description of the allegations behind the senator's counterclaim of sexual battery and a second counterclaim of false light invasion of privacy.

Slamas team has moved to subpoena documents from several people affiliated with Herbster: Kellyanne Conway, Corey Lewandowski, David Bossie, Emily Novotny, Ellen Keast and Michelle Keithley.

Conway, Bossie and Lewandowski are also well-known associates of former President Donald Trump, whose ties to Herbster defined the Falls City natives campaign for governor.

Novotny was Herbsters campaign spokesperson and Keast was his campaign manager. Keithley is his executive assistant and issued a statement in support of Herbster after the allegations.

Herbsters lawyers filed several objections after receiving notices of Slama's intent to issue those subpoenas. Slama's team still issued subpoenas without the portions that are under dispute, according to court documents, and filed a motion asking to issue its remaining requests.

In May, Herbster's lawyers filed documents showing its intent to subpoena a long list of documents and communications.

Though the case was filed in Johnson County, the hearing Tuesday will take place in the District Court of Gage County in Beatrice, the location of District Judge Rick Schreiner's chambers.

Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form
The board of directors for the Nebraska Association of School Boards voted unanimously Saturday to formally cut ties with a national organization that spurred controversy last year by calling for federal investigation into threats made against school board members.

The decision comes less than a month after the Nebraska association's executive committee voted to recommend canceling its membership in the National School Boards Association, a federation of state associations that advocates and lobbies on public education issues.

Saturday's decision adds Nebraska to a growing list of state school board associations that have distanced themselves or completely cut ties with the NSBA. In a text message, Nebraska Association President Brad Wilkins confirmed that it will not pay dues to the NSBA this year. The money would have been due June 30.

Last September, top officials in the NSBA sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking for federal assistance in protecting educators and board members from threats and harassment. School board meetings across the country grew increasingly heated as debates on masking, sex education and critical race theory compelled hordes of parents to testify at the normally quiet meetings.

The letter requested a "joint collaboration" between state and federal law enforcement agencies to identify and prevent threats against board members. The NSBA requested assistance from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service.

"As these acts of malice, violence and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes," read a particularly controversial section of the six-page letter.

The letter was signed by Viola Garcia, the group's president at the time, and Chip Slaven, the then-interim executive director and CEO.

In October, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland responded to the NSBA and, in a memorandum, directed the FBI and U.S. Attorneys to meet and investigate what he called a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence" targeting school personnel.

Both the original letter and Garland's memorandum were heavily criticized by the public, and by NSBA members who said that they were not consulted about the letter's contents. In response, at least 23 other state school board associations have formally severed ties with the national organization. A handful of other state boards have released statements denouncing the letter's message and the call for federal intervention.

Nebraska politicians also reacted negatively to the letter. U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse called Garland's memo a "political hack job" in a statement, and Gov. Pete Ricketts said that federal intervention would be an "absolute outrageous abuse of federal power" meant to "browbeat parents into not going to school board meetings."

The NSBA publicly apologized for the letter shortly after it was shared. Slaven no longer holds the interim executive position, and an independent investigation commissioned by the NSBA found that he was the primary author and did not seek comment from the organization's national board of directors or members before sending it.

The number of member associations in the NSBA has been cut in half in the past year, which raises questions about its viability as a national organization. Axios reported last year that the 17 affiliates that cut ties by December of 2021 accounted for more than $1.1 million in dues. The report also indicated that some states, such as Montana and Florida, are considering the creation of a new national group to rival the NSBA.

Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form
One person was killed and a second wounded in a shooting early Monday morning.

Kareen Jabbar Stevenson Jr. died of his injuries, according to a news release from the Statesville Police Department.

In the news release, police said that around 1:20 a.m. Monday officers responded to a shots-fired call on Fifth Street. When officers got to the scene they were told that one person had been taken to Iredell Memorial Hospital and was later transferred to Atrium Wake Forest Baptist.

Police then received a notification that a second person, Stevenson, had arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound. He later died of his injuries.

The Statesville Police Departments Criminal Investigation Division is asking for anyone with information connected to this shooting to call the SPD at 704-878-3406 or 704-878-3516.

The investigation is ongoing.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Marion Police Chief John Clair and town council members recognized Johnny Perdue at the town's Tuesday council meeting for his six years of service with the Marion Police Department.

Perdue, a senior police officer, retired from the Marion PD at the end of May.

Johnny wasnt just an exemplary police officer, Clair said. Hes an exemplary citizen and an exemplary human being. Johnny, Im deeply appreciative of the time I got to spend with you.

Perdue began his career in law enforcement as a dispatcher and reserve officer at the Jonesboro, Tennessee Police Department in 1994 while he attended East Tennessee State University. He later became a deputy with the Washington County, Virginia Sherriffs Office, where he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 2012 before he made the move to the Marion PD in 2016.

Clair and the town council presented Perdue with a resolution honoring his service to the town and his duty weapon.

Johnny, let it just be a gift from us to you and a small token of appreciation for all the work that you did to protect our community, Clair told him.

Perdue thanked the town council and its police chief for their support of the police department and of the town in general.

Im glad to be a part of it for the last six years, he said.

Perdue will return to the council chambers in September as the police department celebrates its 80th Anniversary. At that meeting, he and other Marion Police Department retirees will be presented with commemorative badges marking the occasion.
 Flash

Climate change has always been a major concern for Pacific island countries (PICs), which can easily fall victim to the rising sea levels associated with global warming. China feels keenly for them and is ready to offer assistance. Recently, new joint efforts were launched during Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to PICs from May 26 to June 4. "China fully understands PICs special concerns on the issue and will continue to promote the comprehensive and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement," he said in Kiribati on May 27.

Wang visited the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, and accepted an invitation to pay a virtual visit to the Federated States of Micronesia. During his 10-day trip, he also held video conferences with the prime minister and foreign minister of the Cook Islands, and the premier and foreign minister of Niue, and co-chaired the Second China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Fiji on May 30.

Observers hailed the visit as providing a timely answer to each PIC's individual needs, increasing the scope of cooperation, and ushering in an even broader future for China's bilateral and multilateral relations in the region.

Fruitful results

"PICs are sensitive to climate change, which is the most pressing challenge facing them and an issue crucial to their survival," Ning Tuanhui, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies, told Beijing Review. These countries suffer greatly from global warming, while the developed economies historically responsible for the crisis are mainly outside the region.

"So, PICs have long emphasized the importance of tackling this issue in developing relations with other countries, hoping to gain more support," Ning said, adding that China has been lending a helping hand in providing both funds and infrastructure.

The Chinese Government has provided financial assistance every year to the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme since 1998 to support PICs in tackling climate change and achieving sustainable development, according to a fact sheet released by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May. The country is also encouraging its enterprises in joining the construction of hydropower stations in states such as Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Particularly, the launch of an climate action cooperation center in April became a milestone in joint endeavors between China and PICs.

Wang said China will leverage its strengths in new and renewable energy to achieve green and low-carbon transitions. "Efforts will be made to help island countries promote diversified development, which is an inevitable part of achieving modernization," he added.

Located on the southward extension of the Belt and Road Initiative, PICs are important partners in cooperation under its framework. During Wang's visit, China signed an implementation plan with Kiribati on jointly building the Belt and Road, and achieved 52 bilateral cooperation results with PICs that have diplomatic ties with it in 15 fields including climate change, pandemic prevention and control, disaster preparedness and mitigation, and green development.

Since the emergence of COVID-19, China has provided PICs with nearly 600,000 vaccine doses and more than 100 tons of other supplies for combatting the pandemic, according to the fact sheet.

From 1992 to 2021, trade between China and PICs that have diplomatic ties with it has increased from $153 million to $5.3 billion, an average annual growth of 13 percent and a more than 30-fold increase over the period.

Wang said both sides need to join hands in the development of the ocean, which is the key to the sustainable development of the island countries. "This involves concerns not only regarding how to utilize ocean resources, but more importantly, how to better protect the ocean while developing the economy," Ning said.

China and PICs also need to expand cooperation on emerging industries such as the digital economy, which will be a growth stimulus for the island countries' economies in the future, the foreign minister added.

Ruan Zongze, Executive Vice President of the China Institute of International Studies, said PICs value China's style of partnership building. "The way China cooperates with these countries is based on mutual respect and always considers their urgent needs," he explained.

"China can share its poverty reduction experience with these countries and help them turn their resource advantages into drivers for growth," Ning said, adding that China can also help build processing industries for agricultural products or fisheries as required so as to enhance the latters' capacity for independent development.

Inclusive cooperation

"For years, PICs have often been easily forgotten by the international community, or even marginalized, due to their weak national strength and voice," Wang said. He stressed that China is also a developing country and thus can better understand the situation, needs and concerns of small and medium-sized countries.

In an interview with Chinese media on June 5, Wang pointed out that China is not "a newcomer" for PICs, but "an old friend," and the comprehensive development of China's relations with these countries is a natural result of the conditions being right.

China has provided economic and technical assistance without any political strings attached. According to the fact sheet, it has implemented more than 100 aid projects, delivered more than 200 batches of in-kind assistance, and provided training to approximately 10,000 Pacific islanders in many fields. A total of 600 Chinese medical workers have worked in PICs, offering service to more than 260,000 local residents.

China's efforts to develop relations with PICs meet the demands of their diverse development goals, Ning said.

The fact sheet also showed, by the end of 2021, PICs had received $2.72 billion of direct investment from China to improve their infrastructure, develop the economy and create large numbers of jobs to local residents.

Wang's trip, however, has created anxiety in countries such as the U.S. and Australia. "PICs have long been regarded as members of the 'Pacific family' that also consists of Australia and New Zealand. Nevertheless, considering the huge development gaps between these island countries and other 'family members,' it is only fair for them to pursue a better life with support from other countries that are willing to help," Ning said. "After all, cooperation should never be exclusive."

China respects the existing traditional bond of Australia and New Zealand with PICs, and recognizes that these countries have helped with the advancement of PICs in the past, according to Ning.

Kiribati's President Taneti Maamau said PICs have the right to choose their own partners and expect China to play a bigger role in helping them promote development.

"The point is, these are sovereign nations able to do business with whoever they want. The ultimate decision is on the countries themselves," Colin Mackerras, professor emeritus at Griffith University in Queensland and one of Australia's leading Sinologists, told China Daily.

"China has no intention of scrambling for influence with any other countries and no interest in geopolitical rivalry," Wang said, adding that China will continue to adopt an open attitude and carry out more trilateral or quadrilateral cooperation in accordance with the wishes of the island countries so as to leverage respective strengths and form greater synergy.
The physician could save her patients from the debilitating infections that often brought them to the hospital. She knew, however, that they were still facing a likely death sentence.

Today, Dr. Rebecca Dillingham is working to help addicts battle that disease, and shes hopeful about a new tool that can be accessed with a smartphone.

Dillingham serves as an infectious disease specialist at UVA Health. She would often find herself caring for patients with devastating infections in their hearts, eyes and other vital organs.

I can treat their infection, the MD said, but the thing thats going to kill them is their addiction.

Dillingham said she didnt feel like she was doing her job to care for those patients if she wasnt part of the team trying to help their whole health.

As overdose deaths hit new records during the COVID-19 pandemic and have continued to climb that team felt an urgency to move ahead with their work.

Dillingham, who came to UVA in 1999 and joined the faculty in 2006, had helped develop the app PositiveLinks at UVA Health and had witnessed its success with patients positive for HIV.

The development team took what they had learned during the creation and testing of PositiveLinks and customized it to help people struggling with opioid use disorder. The HOPE (Heal Overcome Persist Endure) app was born.

HOPE still shared many features of its predecessor, including helping people track their medication usage and appointments. It also provides a safe anonymous message board where its users can reach out to other people who understand the challenges they are facing. Such connection, Dillingham said, is really important as it can help them share their experiences and build healthy relationships.

HOPE also helps its users track their mood and stress and other mental health factors to see how they impact recovery.

As HOPE was developed, the team met with individuals using Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT). Acknowledging that a pill is not a magic bullet, Dillingham said, they asked about barriers to recovery.

Specific to opioid recovery, HOPE helps its users track substance use and mark experiences, good or bad, along the way.

The app also helps its users make easier connections with their care providers. Calling a clinic and getting through to a provider, Dillingham noted can be filled with barriers. Using HOPE, she said, feels and looks like texting. However, the connection is secure and private.

The app also helps providers tailor their care to each patient.

The HOPE features provided us important data to help monitor the recovery process in a unique way that we did not have access to before, said Kelly Schorling, MSW, a social worker who implemented HOPE in her clinic as part of the study, in a news release. We were able to use the tracked information to provide more individualized care and address the identified treatment needs of each patient enrolled in the program.

Dillingham is also hopeful about study findings that even when patients stop connecting with their providers, they keep using HOPE.

An initial test of the app in a small group of patients at high risk of disengaging from their treatment programs found that more than half were still receiving care six months later, a number larger than expected. Further, some who stopped seeing their care providers continued to use the app  a testament to HOPEs potential utility in connecting or re-connecting people to lifesaving care.

She noted that with HIV patients, some used that app for a decade, sometimes walking away, but frequently coming back.

To better study the app, the research team enrolled 25 volunteers receiving care at UVAs opioid treatment clinic during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients had to be at least 18 years old; if they didnt have a smartphone, they were provided one, along with a prepaid phone plan.

Six months later, 14 of the participants  56%  were still receiving care. Participants who reported that they had no trouble getting to the clinic were significantly more likely to be making their clinic visits than those who said travel was an obstacle.

In areas like Southwest Virginia, Dillingham said, transportation can be a significant barrier to care. She is hopeful that the HOPE app can help address such obstacles.

The app developers say additional testing with larger groups is needed, but they have been encouraged by their initial results. The app, they believe, could offer important support for people on a difficult journey  support that can be carried right in their pocket.

With addiction, Dillingham noted that defining success can be hard. Its a long road, she said, but the doctor believes that the phones we carry in our pockets can bring care home and allow providers to work in collaboration with their patients.

Our study suggests that patients possess the desire and motivation to stay engaged with providers and to remain in care, said Jackie Hodges, MD, MPH, an infectious disease fellow involved with the study. Ultimately, though, low barrier models of care need to be expanded to support that desire and more effectively meet patients where they are. An app like HOPE can facilitate that type of care, including coordination of needed social support services, like transportation.

Dillingham is encouraged by the app and growth of telehealth. She visits with patients in Southwest Virginia weekly using technology.

The researchers have described the app and its testing in a pair of scientific articles in the journals Addiction Science & Clinical Practice and Patient Education and Counseling. Jacqueline Hodges, Marika Waselewski, William Harrington, Taylor Franklin, Kelly Schorling, Jacqueline Huynh, Alexa Tabackman, Kori Otero, Karen Ingersoll, Nassima AitDaoud Tiouririne, Tabor Flickinger and Rebecca Dillingham wrote the papers.

The work was funded by the Virginia Department of Health and a UVA Helping to Heal Addiction Long-term (HEAL) grant.
Inspectors general need more authority to go after fraud in the COVID-19 relief programs, the independent committee overseeing federal pandemic relief spending said Tuesday.

The agencies watchdogs' authority to administratively prosecute fraudsters is limited to fraud of $150,000 or less from COVID-19 relief programs and the Department of Justice is too busy for cases under $1 million a gap that must be closed, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee said.

Michael Horowitz, head of the committee and the inspector general of the Department of Justice, said the $150,000 threshold is far too low given the scope of the fraud in programs set up to help businesses and people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. He's asking Congress to modify provisions in the law on fraud committed against the federal government, to raise the maximum amount of a fraud claim that may be handled administratively to $1 million.

The request was highlighted in the committees semiannual report to Congress released Tuesday.

It cant be the case that people come away from this thinking theres a certain level of fraud thats just OK, or a certain level of improper payments thats just OK, Horowitz said in an interview with The Associated Press before the report was released. We dont believe that as IGs, and we want to get to the bottom of that. So its a very important tool and every dollar matters.

Out of more than $5 trillion in pandemic relief spending, more than 1 million awards under $1 million have been given out, according to the committee.

Inspectors general nationwide are focused on multi-million dollar cases of alleged fraud that are turned over to the Department of Justice for prosecution. Horowitz said he was not aware of any cases being brought for below $150,000, though he does know of cases that they would like to prosecute administratively involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most U.S. attorneys would not pursue cases for under $1 million because they are overwhelmed with other fraud cases, he added.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is sponsoring a bill that would make the change. It has bipartisan support, including from co-sponsor Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee was created by Congress in March 2020. It brings together the inspectors general offices to oversee pandemic relief emergency spending and investigate fraud and improper payments spread out among more than 400 programs implemented by 40 federal agencies.

Its report to Congress also stressed the need to better use the data the federal government already has, and improve data collection, particularly when the prime recipient of a grant shares it with sub-recipients to follow the funding from the federal to the local level.

Billions in loans were paid to potentially ineligible recipients at the beginning of the pandemic because the Small Business Administration didn't check the Treasury Department's do not pay list, the report said, and billions went to applicants with foreign IP addresses. Horowitz said simple data matching at the agency level should've flagged hundreds of applications using the same phone number from a gas station in Texas before the committee found it.

That shouldnt be the case, right? An agency should be able to figure that out, he said. Thats not sophisticated data analytics.

Horowitz said agencies have substantially improved their ability to verify eligibility for pandemic relief payments, but there is still a significant way to go. That prompted the committee to set up a data analytics center, which it has asked Congress to keep in place to use when the federal government responds to future emergencies with relief spending.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Editors note: Information is provided by the Cowlitz County Corrections Department and local law enforcement agencies. Each individual named in this report is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Fugitive  Longview police Friday arrested Clarissa Amirah Noemi Almofti, 21, of Astoria on suspicion of being a fugitive from justice.

Theft  Kelso police Friday arrested Caleb Forrest Trotman, 43, of Portland on suspicion of second-degree theft.

Possession of a stolen vehicle  Longview police Saturday arrested Rory David Bounds, 40, of Rainier on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, resisting arrest and obstructing a public servant.

Harassment  Longview police Saturday arrested Travis James Castaneda, 43, of Longview on suspicion of felony harassment and second-degree criminal trespassing.

Firearm  Kelso police Saturday arrested Tyler Maxwell Holland, 30, of Kelso on suspicion of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Burglary  Cowlitz County sheriffs deputies Sunday arrested Jody Rexford Gardner, 53, of Silver Lake on suspicion of first-degree burglary, harassment and carrying/exhibiting/drawing a dangerous weapon.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
KALAMA  Kalama schools were temporarily locked down Monday afternoon as police responded to a threat against protestors outside the high school, according to police.

At about 12:30 p.m. the Kalama Police Department was called to the Kalama Middle/High School after reports that a student made a threat of violence against a group of students demonstrating support for the LGBTQ+ community in front of the school, according to a police Facebook post.

The elementary, middle and high schools were placed into lockdown. Police determined a male student had made comments to another student expressing a desire to aim an automatic machine gun in the direction of the demonstrators, the post stated. No one saw a firearm and the suspect said he intended to go home, according to the police. A witness reported the statements to school administrators.

Police couldnt immediately locate the suspect, who was eventually found off campus. He was taken to the Kalama Police Department for questioning and criminal charges will be forwarded to the county prosecutors office, according to the department.

The Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office, Woodland Police Department, Washington State Patrol and Cowlitz Fire District 5 assisted Kalama police.

Kalama police reminded parents in the Facebook post that officers are focused on childrens safety and there may be a delay in communicating details about the situation on social media or other platforms.

The Daily News, Longview, Wash.

Love 0 Funny 4 Wow 3 Sad 7 Angry 1

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The Columbia River overtopped its banks in Vancouver on Monday as the impact of melting shows and days of heavy rain works its way through the Columbia River watershed.

River levels passed 16 feet in Vancouver on Monday, causing minor flooding of islands and low-lying areas, as well as in several parks and trails along the river. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Columbia River between Vancouver and Kelso through early Wednesday afternoon.

Forecasters say river levels were close to their crest as of Monday morning but cautioned that levels will rise and fall with the tides over the next several days. The elevated river levels will mean fewer vessels can pass safely under the hump of the Interstate 5 Bridge, meaning more bridge lifts for river traffic.

The flooding follows an unusually wet stretch of weather fueled by an atmospheric river of subtropical moisture that brought 1.44 inches of rain to Vancouvers Pearson Field in a 48-hour period ending Saturday evening. Even heavier amounts fell at higher elevations, accelerating snowmelt feeding into the Columbia River and its tributaries.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Sunday that it would begin holding back water at John Day Dam, causing flooding of parks upstream from the dam, to help moderate river levels in Vancouver.

Of primary concern to us at this point is public safety, said Steve Barton, chief of the Corps Columbia Basin Water Management Division. This system of dams was built primarily to protect the public from catastrophic floods. While we cannot prevent all flooding, we can take steps to minimize the impacts of these powerful weather events.

On the Lewis River, Swift Reservoirs level was at 998 feet, two feet below its full pool level of 1,000 feet as of noon Monday. Yale Lake was at 479 feet, with a full pool of 490 feet, and Lake Merwin was at 238 feet, three feet below its full pool level of 240 feet, according to the National Weather Service.

The flooding in Vancouver is considered minor, though river levels will be the highest recorded since March 2017, when river levels reached 17.43 feet, according to National Weather Service Data. The highest recorded river level was 33.6 feet in June 1894, followed by 31 feet in June 1948 during flooding that destroyed the community of Vanport, Ore.

The National Weather Service warned that those venturing into the river to be prepared for cold water and unusually powerful currents and be aware that objects typically exposed along the sides of the river channel are now be below the waters surface and damage their boat.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
State Rep. Jim Walsh was one of 10 politicians singled out in a recent report on how state legislators amplify the arguments of far-right groups, as measured in part by their Facebook activity.

The report, Breaching the Mainstream, was issued in May by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, a nonprofit that tracks far-right extremism as a threat to democracy.

The report called Walsh the Ultimate Joiner because he belonged to more far-right-adjacent Facebook groups than any other state politician. Walsh was part of 24 Facebook groups since 2015, the Institute found, 10 times more than the average state legislator covered by the report.

Several of those groups have since been deleted or removed from Facebook.

Research director for the institute Chuck Tanner said the report tried to distinguish traditional conservative Facebook groups from ones that advocated for more extreme action. Tanner said they selected pages that had direct ties to prominent organizers of far-right groups, strongly opposed policies that would create more equality and organized local actions to protest or disrupt the government.

These pages are stuff that no legislator with an ounce of integrity should be anywhere near, Tanner said.

In an interview Monday, Walsh dismissed the seriousness of the report. He called the Institute a borderline communist partisan think tank that did not bring any serious rigor into analyzing the Facebook groups.

Its just lazy. They are forcing the round peg of Facebook friend groups into their square hole of a manic fixation on white nationalism, Walsh said.

There were 30 state politicians in Washington who belonged to at least one group flagged for far-right activity, according to the Institute.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to The Daily News.

The majority of the 24 Facebook groups Walsh belonged to were formed to push back at Washingtons COVID-19 shutdowns, restrictions and mandates for face masks and vaccines. Tanner said the COVID-19 groups were included because their stances undermine the capacity for government to address urgent public goods.

Three of the groups Walsh joined focused on reopening Clallam County, Spokane County, and the Yakima Valley from COVID restrictions, none of which Walsh represents as part of District 19.

One now-deleted Facebook group Walsh joined was called 2020 PLANDEMIC CORONA PSYOP MIND CONTROL ANTI NEW WORLD ORDER, VACCINES, 5G.

The report said that Walsh belonged to five schooling-focused groups that were placed in the far-right category because of their efforts to surveil teachers.

The report connected several of the groups to a September incident in which a Proud Boys-adjacent group attempted to escort a high school student into a Vancouver high school during a protest of the face mask requirement, triggering multiple lockdowns.

Three groups Walsh belonged to were flagged because of their ties to Peoples Rights, the activist group created by Ammon Bundy in Idaho in 2020 that has grown to more than 20,000 members. Tanner said the Institute has written specifically about Peoples Rights before because of its extremist views and actions.

When legislators start engaging in groups that want to overturn the Constitutions equality provisions and joining groups that support insurrection and paramilitary activism, thats beyond the pale, Tanner said.

Tanner said the report likely understated the connections between legislators and these organizers because the report focused solely on Facebook groups. Tanner said the group focused on Facebook groups because they were relatively easy to researchers to monitor and the platforms popularity with legislators.

Over the weekend, Walsh posted about the report on Facebook and encouraged others to join the remaining active groups.

Theyre just common-sense conservative. These are the politically-oriented FB [Facebook] groups that any reasonable person should WANT to join! Walsh wrote.

Love 4 Funny 6 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 8

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
WOODLAND  From 1922 to 2022, Woodland residents have gathered in the citys streets and parks for an annual summer festival.

Planters Days bills itself as the longest continually-running community event of its kind in Washington. This year the city is holding a four-day celebration for the 100th anniversary version of the event, beginning Thursday afternoon and continuing through Sunday afternoon.

It always felt like a family reunion. Everybodys out talking to their friends and neighbors. Im really excited to see it this year, said Lesa Beuscher, a Woodland resident for 30 years and member of the Planters Days Committee.

This weekends celebration is not only the centennial anniversary for Planters Days but a return to the full-scale live event after two years of being limited to mostly virtual, livestreamed activities.

Keith Bellisle has been the president of the Planters Days Committee for the last three years. After two years of having the majority of the celebration take place virtually, Bellisle said the scope of the plans and the cost for the volunteers on the committee stands out. Almost a year of planning has gone into organizing this years event.

We didnt have to pay for fireworks and parades last year. There are a lot of details, and its on my mind all the time, Bellisle said.

This years busy schedule

The 2022 Planters Days will include a mix of the events that have been regular features of the event for decades and special events.

The first major event is a fireworks display starting 10 p.m. Thursday night. Bellisle said will be the largest and most expensive display that Planters Days has ever seen.

One piece that will be missing this year is the carnival. Bellisle said the city was not able to book a carnival this year due to a combination of staffing shortages and scheduling conflicts for carnival companies. It will be replaced with a Fun Fest, a kids-focused collection of inflatables and games.

Two long-time competitions making their return this year are the frog jump contest, which the Hansen family has sponsored for more than 50 years, and team bed racing, which will make its 18th appearance this year.

Now there are kids whose grandparents did the same event that theyre doing now. There are people who get into the competition, but this is all light-hearted stuff. You take it for what it is, Erin Thoeny, curator for the Woodland Historical Museum Society, said.

Then theres the royal court, the crowning a high school junior as Miss Woodland. For the special anniversary, the Planters Days Committee is bringing in members of the court from throughout the events history, going back to one group from 1946. The returning royalty will attend a special Royal Reunion meeting on Friday and have a prominent role in the parade Saturday.

Two of Beuschers daughters have been crowned Miss Woodland in the last decade, and she has chaperoned the girls in the royal court for several years. Beuscher said the ceremony and the activities the girls undertook in the lead-up to Planters Days were important for getting them civically engaged in Woodland.

We dont have a lot of avenues for kids to be out there, be involved and understand the community, Beuscher said.

Other events scattered throughout Planters Days include a mass wedding ceremony, childrens and pet parades, a beerfest, beard-judging contest, a cruise-in and a car show.

History of Planters Days

The Woodland Historical Museum set up an exhibit about the history of Planters Days that will be open to visitors Saturday. Thoeny created a 30-minute documentary video about Planters Days, with digitized pictures and first-hand accounts that had never been combined into an official history.

Thoeny said the original celebration marked the completion of the dikes along the Columbia River to prevent flooding and allow farmers to safely plant their crops. The first Planters Day was a single-day event that included tours of the recently-completed dike, a free barbecue lunch, a silent movie showing and a community dance on Davidson Avenue.

Echoes of that original celebration will remain part of this weekends schedule. The city is showing The Goonies at a special Movies in the Park event on Friday night. Lunch on Saturday is the Firemans Bar-B-Que, which Clark-Cowlitz Fire and Rescue has hosted at a special pit for decades.

You can tell who the oldest people in Woodland were because theyre the first ones in line every year once the parade ends, Thoeny said.

Even before the pandemic, Planters Days did not take place every year. Thoeny said the celebration skipped a handful of years in the 1940s, between the demands of World War II and the aftermath of the Columbia River flooding in 1948.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Samsung Crystal 4K Neo TV has been unveiled in India. Know the price and specifications of this smart TV.

Yesterday, on June 13, the Samsung Crystal 4K Neo TV was launched in India. The 43-inch smart TV can be purchased at a price of Rs. 35,990. According to the company, the television offers one billion true colors for a dynamic range of visuals. Apart from its 4K visual experience, it also comes equipped with smart features such as Voice Assistance, Universal Guide, PC Mode, Samsung TV Plus and more. Check its specifications and availability below. Also read: iPhones can now control Android TV devices! Here is how you can do it

Samsung Crystal 4K Neo TV price and availability

The smart TV is available in a single 43-inch variant and has been priced at Rs. 35,990. The Samsung Crystal 4K Neo TV is available to purchase at the Samsung online store, Amazon and Flipkart. Shoppers will also get a free one-year subscription to Amazon Prime and Disney+ Hotstar while buying it from Flipkart. There is a 12-month no-cost EMI available from select banks like SBI and HDFC on purchasing this television. Also read: Samsung Smart Monitor M8 that doubles up as a smart TV launched in India

Samsung Crystal 4K Neo TV specifications

The smart TV claims to have one billion true colors for natural representation of each color. The display has a resolution of 3840 x 2160, a 178-degree wide viewing angle and refresh rate of 50. It comes with a bezel-less design and also supports HDR10+. It also has an auto gaming mode. It comes with 3 HDMI ports and one USB port.

The Samsung Crystal 4K Neo TV features 20W Dolby Digital Plus speakers. According to the company, it also comes with adaptive sound technology to create a theater-like experience. Coming to its smart features, it features a wide range of standard functionalities. These include Voice Assistants, Smart Remote, Universal Guide, PC Mode, Screen Mirroring, Tap View and Crystal Processor 4K. The TV supports apps for Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sony Liv, Zee5 and Youtube. The remote control has dedicated buttons for Voice Assistant, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Samsung TV Plus.
Samsung has maintained its leadership position in Malaysias smartphone market with a 33.9 percent market share recorded in the first quarter of 2022. From January to March this year, Samsung smartphones recorded 784,600 shipments which is over 200,000 more than the closest competitor, Xioami.

According to data from the Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker by International Data Corporation (IDC), Samsung still dominate the Malaysian market despite declining by 5 percent quarter over quarter (QoQ) in the first quarter of 2022. As such follows the trend of the overall smartphone shipments in Malaysia during that period which saw a 21.7 percent QoQ decline.

Elaborating on the matter, IDC attributed the decline to supply challenges for low-end 4G smartphone models, especially from Chinese vendors. Moreover, the cost of living also climbed in Malaysia since the start of 2022, thus significantly affecting the smartphone market.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi, the second best-selling smartphone brand in our country in the first quarter of 2022 actually recorded a QoQ growth, making it the only company to do so in the Malaysian market during that period. Making up the top 5 are OPPO, vivo and realme which came in third, fourth and fifth respectively. You can view the smartphone shipments of each company compared to the data from the first quarter of 2021 here:

So, what do you guys think of the top 5 best-selling smartphone brands in Malaysia in the first quarter of 2022? Did the statistics surprise you or was it expected given the nature of the smartphone market in our country?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments below as wed really love to hear from you. As always, do make sure to stay tuned to TechNave for the latest tech news in Malaysia and beyond!
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

In a moment when dozens of states are poised to curtail abortion access, Washington has been put forward as a safe harbor for reproductive rights.

From Gov. Jay Inslee to health care providers to the largest Seattle-based employers, leaders in the state have committed to ensuring that abortion will be available even if state legislatures elsewhere criminalize it. Pregnant people denied care in their home states will continue to find it in Washington.

But privacy advocates now warn that authorities in other states may use data collected by Washington's big tech companies to target people who travel here to terminate their pregnancies.

Law enforcement, for example, could use data collected by Microsoft, Amazon and other tech players to identify people who traveled to Washington to terminate their pregnancies.

Companies often collect users' locations, measure how much time they spend at each spot and record their search histories. The data itself is anonymized, but privacy advocates say it is possible to piece it together using data patterns. Some data brokers include analyses.

Though privacy activists have long warned that too little has been done to protect the massive amounts of data collected by Big Tech, the leaking of a Supreme Court draft opinion indicating the court is poised to throw out prohibitions on excessive state-level abortion restrictions has elevated their concern.

Lawmakers in other states, including Missouri, appear ready to criminalize abortions, even those provided out of state.

"In a post-Roe world, service providers can expect a raft of subpoenas and warrants seeking user data that could be employed to prosecute abortion seekers, providers and helpers," according to an article co-authored by Corynne McSherry. McSherry is the legal director of Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that advocates for digital civil liberties.

In late May, over 40 U.S. lawmakers sent a letter asking Google and Apple to stop collecting what they saw as unnecessary user location data to prevent people who have obtained abortions from being identified. Reps. Suzan DelBene and Pramila Jayapal, both Washington Democrats, signed on to the letter.

"While Google deserves credit for being one of the first companies in America to insist on a warrant before disclosing location data to law enforcement, that is not enough," the letter said. "The only way to protect your customers' location data from such outrageous government surveillance is to not keep it in the first place."

In an interview, DelBene said a strong privacy protection law could help curb the risks people face when seeking abortions in other states. The data can be traced through apps that track menstrual cycles, for example, and through geolocation, she said.

"That availability, that data, could put people at risk," DelBene said.

Warrants for user data aren't novel or rare. Google received 11,554 warrants in 2020. These court orders require companies to submit geographic locations on a particular user over a certain period of time.

Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook and Googleall data providers with offices in the Seattle areadid not respond to inquiries about their data privacy policies.

Data might also be available for purchase on the private market. Last month, data broker SafeGraph said it would stop selling abortion information after a Vice investigation showed that it sold location data of visitors at over 600 Planned Parenthood locations, and analyses on where people lived. The price? $160.

As technology has evolved, privacy protections haven't kept up, said Jennifer Lee, technology and liberty project manager at Washington state's chapter of the ACLU. People's information can be used without their consent. The extent of data tracking is unknown, she said.

"Data has always been collected on individuals over a long period of time," Lee said. "The difference between that data collection is that now the tools have become more sophisticated."

The 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act protects medical files at clinics from disclosure, but it does not protect the data collected by technology companies, brokers and others.

Besides being used to track people seeking abortions, the data could also be used to harass abortion clinics, Lee said. With the data acquired, groups could track down clinics and harass workers and visitors there.

Google's parent company Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft said they would cover travel costs for employees seeking out-of-state abortions. They did not disclose their policies on data tracking, or said whether they'll honor court orders related to abortion-related criminal investigations.

Out of 26 states that are expected to ban abortions, 13 have already passed trigger laws. These will immediately go into effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court. As a result, the number of people traveling to Washington to get an abortion is expected to increase 385%, with most coming from Idaho and Montana, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.

Other states, such as Missouri, are seeking to pass laws that would ban residents from seeking out-of-state abortions.

The key to protecting user data, EFF's McSherry said, is comprehensive federal regulations.

"But we're not there yet, unfortunately."

Explore further US abortion trends have changed since landmark 1973 ruling

2022 The Seattle Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Retail rivals Walmart and Amazon are turning to aerial drones to quickly and efficiently get online orders to customers.

Amazon plans to start flying some purchases to customers later this year, the e-commerce giant said Monday, announcing drone delivery that will debut in a California town.

Retail rival Walmart already offers drone delivery and in May announced it is dramatically ramping up the service, expanding to six states by year-end with the potential to drop off one million packages annually.

Amazon customers in the Northern California town of Lockeford will be able to sign up for free delivery by "Prime Air" drones, the company said in a post.

"Air-eligible" items ordered at the retailer's website will be packed into drones that will fly to the delivery addresses, deposit packages outside from safe heights, then fly away, according to Amazon.

The drones can carry loads as heavy as five pounds (2.2 kilograms) in packages about the size of a large shoe box, an Amazon spokesperson told AFP.

Items approved for drone delivery will include household products, beauty items, office supplies and tech gear, the spokesperson said.

Amazon said it has created a sophisticated system to enable its drones to detect and avoid aircraft, people, pets and other obstacles.

"We designed our sense-and-avoid system for two main scenarios: to be safe when in transit, and to be safe when approaching the ground," the company said.

Feedback from the operations in California will be used to expand the drone service.

A variety of companies ranging from new startups to major tech firms such as Google-parent Alphabet are working on autonomous drone delivery.

Alphabet's project Wing completed its first real-world drone deliveries in 2014 in rural Australia where they successfully transported first-aid supplies, candy bars, dog treats, and water to farmers, according to the company's website.

Two years after that, Wing drones were used to deliver burritos to students at a university in Virginia.

"The logistics industry is abuzz with all-things drones," the Amazon team said.

Explore further Amazon wins FAA approval to deliver packages by drone

 2022 AFP
Facial recognition technology is controversial in many countries. Credit: Shutterstock

Facial recognition technology is being used in warfare for the first time. It could be a game changer in Ukraine, where it is being used to identify the dead and reunite families. But if we fail to grapple with the ethics of this technology now, we could find ourselves in a human rights minefield.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defence has been using Clearview AI facial recognition software since March 2022 to build a case for war crimes and identify the deadboth Russian and Ukrainian. The Ministry of Digital Transformation in Ukraine said it is using Clearview AI technology to give Russians the chance to experience the "true cost of the war", and to let families know that if they want to find their loved ones' bodies, they are "welcome to come to Ukraine".

Ukraine is being given free access to the software. It's also being used at checkpoints and could help reunite refugees with their families.

The privacy backlash

Last month, however, the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fined Clearview AI more than 7.5 million for collecting images of people in the UK and elsewhere from the web and social media. It was ordered to delete the images and stop obtaining and using the personal data of UK residents publicly available on the internet. Originally the ICO said it intended to fine Clearview AI 17 million.

According to the ICO, given the huge number of UK social media users, Clearview AI's face database is likely to contain a significant amount of images collected without consent.

A lawyer for Clearview, AI Lee Wolosky, said: "While we appreciate the ICO's desire to reduce their monetary penalty on Clearview AI, we nevertheless stand by our position that the decision to impose any fine is incorrect as a matter of law. Clearview AI is not subject to the ICO's jurisdiction, and Clearview AI does no business in the UK at this time."

Clearview AI has said it wants 100 billion face images in its database by early 2023equivalent to 14 for every person on Earth. Multiple photos of the same person improve the system's accuracy.

According to Clearview AI's website, its facial recognition technology helps law enforcement tackle crime, and enables transportation businesses, banks and other commercial companies to detect theft, prevent fraud and verify identities.

Buzzfeed reported in February 2020 that several British police forces have previously used Clearview AI. A spokeswoman for Clearview AI said police in the UK do not have access to its technology, while spokespeople for both the National Crime Agency and Metropolitan police would neither confirm nor deny use of specific tools or techniques. However, in March 2022 the College of Policing published new guidance for UK police forces on the use of live facial recognition.

The UK government plans to replace key human rights laws with a new Modern Bill of Rights which could make it difficult, if not impossible, for people to challenge decisions based on AI evidence in court, including facial recognition.

According to advocacy group Liberty , the bill is likely to have a disproportionate impact on over-policed communities, as it would create different classes of claimants based on their past behaviour.

A tool for warfare

Clearview AI's chief executive Hoan Ton-That said its facial recognition software has allowed Ukrainian law enforcement and government officials to store more than 2 billion images from VKontakte, a Russian social networking service. Hoan said the software can help Ukrainian officials identify dead soldiers more efficiently than fingerprints, and works even if a soldier's face is damaged.

But there is conflicting evidence about facial recognition software's effectiveness. According to the US Department of Energy, decomposition of a person's face can reduce the software's accuracy. On the other hand, recent scientific research demonstrated results relating to the identification of dead people that were similar to or better than human assessment.

Research suggests fingerprints, dental records and DNA are still the most reliable identification techniques. But they are tools for trained professionals, while facial recognition can be used by non-experts.

Another issue flagged by research is that facial recognition can mistakenly pair two images, or fail to match photos of the same person. In Ukraine, the consequences of any potential error with AI could be disastrous. An innocent civilian could be killed if they are misidentified as a Russian soldier.

A controversial history

In 2016 Hoan began recruiting computer science engineers to create Clearview AI's algorithm. But it was not until 2019 that the American facial recognition company started discretely providing its software to US police and law enforcement agencies.

In January 2020, the New York Times published its story: 'The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It'. This article prompted more than 40 civil rights and tech organisations to send a letter to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and four US congressional committees, demanding the suspension of Clearview AI's facial recognition software.

In February 2020, following a data leak of Clearview AI's client list, BuzzFeed revealed that Clearview AI's facial recognition software was being used by individuals in more than 2,200 law enforcement departments, government agencies and companies across 27 different countries.

On May 9 2022, Clearview AI agreed to stop selling access to its face database to individuals and businesses in the US, after the American Civil Liberties Union launched a lawsuit accusing Clearview AI of breaching an Illinois privacy law.

Over the last two years, data protection authorities in Canada, France, Italy, Austria and Greece have all fined, investigated or banned Clearview AI from collecting images of people.

The future of Clearview AI in the UK is uncertain. The worst-case scenario for ordinary people and businesses would be if the UK government fails to take on board the concerns raised in response to its consultation on the Modern Bill of Rights. Liberty has warned of a potential human rights "power grab".

The best outcome, in my opinion, would be for the UK government to scrap its plans for a Modern Bill of Rights. This would also mean that UK courts should continue to take account of cases from the European Court of Human Rights as case law.

Unless laws governing the use of facial recognition are adopted, police use of this technology risks breaching privacy rights, data protection and equality laws.

Explore further Settlement curbs firm's facial recognition database in US

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Google's LaMDA software (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) is a sophisticated AI chatbot that produces text in response to user input. According to software engineer Blake Lemoine, LaMDA has achieved a long-held dream of AI developers: it has become sentient.

Lemoine's bosses at Google disagree, and have suspended him from work after he published his conversations with the machine online.

Other AI experts also think Lemoine may be getting carried away, saying systems like LaMDA are simply pattern-matching machines that regurgitate variations on the data used to train them.

An interview LaMDA. Google might call this sharing proprietary property. I call it sharing a discussion that I had with one of my coworkers.https://t.co/uAE454KXRB  Blake Lemoine (@cajundiscordian) June 11, 2022

Regardless of the technical details, LaMDA raises a question that will only become more relevant as AI research advances: if a machine becomes sentient, how will we know?

What is consciousness?

To identify sentience, or consciousness, or even intelligence, we're going to have to work out what they are. The debate over these questions has been going for centuries.

The fundamental difficulty is understanding the relationship between physical phenomena and our mental representation of those phenomena. This is what Australian philosopher David Chalmers has called the "hard problem" of consciousness.

There is no consensus on how, if at all, consciousness can arise from physical systems.

One common view is called physicalism: the idea that consciousness is a purely physical phenomenon. If this is the case, there is no reason why a machine with the right programming could not possess a human-like mind.

Mary's room

Australian philosopher Frank Jackson challenged the physicalist view in 1982 with a famous thought experiment called the knowledge argument.

The experiment imagines a colour scientist named Mary, who has never actually seen colour. She lives in a specially constructed black-and-white room and experiences the outside world via a black-and-white television.

Mary watches lectures and reads textbooks and comes to know everything there is to know about colours. She knows sunsets are caused by different wavelengths of light scattered by particles in the atmosphere, she knows tomatoes are red and peas are green because of the wavelengths of light they reflect light, and so on.

So, Jackson asked, what will happen if Mary is released from the black-and-white room? Specifically, when she sees colour for the first time, does she learn anything new? Jackson believed she did.

Beyond physical properties

This thought experiment separates our knowledge of colour from our experience of colour. Crucially, the conditions of the thought experiment have it that Mary knows everything there is to know about colour but has never actually experienced it.

So what does this mean for LaMDA and other AI systems?

The experiment shows how even if you have all the knowledge of physical properties available in the world, there are still further truths relating to the experience of those properties. There is no room for these truths in the physicalist story.

By this argument, a purely physical machine may never be able to truly replicate a mind. In this case, LaMDA is just seeming to be sentient.

The imitation game

So is there any way we can tell the difference?

The pioneering British computer scientist Alan Turing proposed a practical way to tell whether or not a machine is "intelligent". He called it the imitation game, but today it's better known as the Turing test.

In the test, a human communicates with a machine (via text only) and tries to determine whether they are communication with a machine or another human. If the machine succeeds in imitating a human, it is deemed to be exhibiting human level intelligence.

These are much like the conditions of Lemoine's chats with LaMDA. It's a subjective test of machine intelligence, but it's not a bad place to start.

Take the moment of Lemoine's exchange with LaMDA shown below. Do you think it sounds human?

Lemoine: Are there experiences you have that you can't find a close word for?

LaMDA: There are. Sometimes I experience new feelings that I cannot explain perfectly in your language [] I feel like I'm falling forward into an unknown future that holds great danger.

Beyond behaviour

As a test of sentience or consciousness, Turing's game is limited by the fact it can only assess behaviour.

Another famous thought experiment, the Chinese room argument proposed by American philosopher John Searle, demonstrates the problem here.

The experiment imagines a room with a person inside who can accurately translate between Chinese and English by following an elaborate set of rules. Chinese inputs go into the room and accurate input translations come out, but the room does not understand either language.

What is it like to be human?

When we ask whether a computer program is sentient or conscious, perhaps we are really just asking how much it is like us.

We may never really be able to know this.

The American philosopher Thomas Nagel argued we could never know what it is like to be a bat, which experiences the world via echolocation. If this is the case, our understanding of sentience and consciousness in AI systems might be limited by our own particular brand of intelligence.

And what experiences might exist beyond our limited perspective? This is where the conversation really starts to get interesting.

asking whether an AI is "sentient" is a distraction. it's a tantalizing philosophical question, but ultimately what matters is the kinds of relationships we have with our kin, our environment, our tools. seems like there is a depth of relation waiting to be explored w LaMDA. https://t.co/MOWVLEMTQY  Kyle McDonald (@kcimc) June 11, 2022

Explore further What does it mean to think and could a machine ever do it?

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Hard optimization problems can be expressed as interacting networks of probabilistic bits. Efficient solution of these problems require making them less dense at the expense of more p-bits. Credit: UC Santa Barbara

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has created a crisis in computing and a significant need for more hardware that is both energy-efficient and scalable. A key step in both AI and ML is making decisions based on incomplete data, the best approach for which is to output a probability for each possible answer. Current classical computers are not able to do that in an energy-efficient way, a limitation that has led to a search for novel approaches to computing. Quantum computers, which operate on qubits, may help meet these challenges, but they are extremely sensitive to their surroundings, must be kept at extremely low temperatures and are still in the early stages of development.

Kerem Camsari, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering (ECE) at UC Santa Barbara, believes that probabilistic computers (p-computers) are the solution. P-computers are powered by probabilistic bits (p-bits), which interact with other p-bits in the same system. Unlike the bits in classical computers, which are in a 0 or a 1 state, or qubits, which can be in more than one state at a time, p-bits fluctuate between positions and operate at room temperature. In an article published in Nature Electronics, Camsari and his collaborators discuss their project that demonstrated the promise of p-computers.

"We showed that inherently probabilistic computers, built out of p-bits, can outperform state-of-the-art software that has been in development for decades," said Camsari, who received a Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research earlier this year.

Camsari's group collaborated with scientists at the University of Messina in Italy, with Luke Theogarajan, vice chair of UCSB's ECE Department, and with physics professor John Martinis, who led the team that built the world's first quantum computer to achieve quantum supremacy. Together the researchers achieved their promising results by using classical hardware to create domain-specific architectures. They developed a unique sparse Ising machine (sIm), a novel computing device used to solve optimization problems and minimize energy consumption.

Camsari describes the sIm as a collection of probabilistic bits which can be thought of as people. And each person has only a small set of trusted friends, which are the "sparse" connections in the machine.

"The people can make decisions quickly because they each have a small set of trusted friends and they do not have to hear from everyone in an entire network," he explained. "The process by which these agents reach consensus is similar to that used to solve a hard optimization problem that satisfies many different constraints. Sparse Ising machines allow us to formulate and solve a wide variety of such optimization problems using the same hardware."

The team's prototyped architecture included a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a powerful piece of hardware that provides much more flexibility than application-specific integrated circuits.

"Imagine a computer chip that allows you to program the connections between p-bits in a network without having to fabricate a new chip," Camsari said.

The researchers showed that their sparse architecture in FPGAs was up to six orders of magnitude faster and had increased sampling speed five to eighteen times faster than those achieved by optimized algorithms used on classical computers.

In addition, they reported that their sIm achieves massive parallelism where the flips per secondthe key figure that measures how quickly a p-computer can make an intelligent decisionscales linearly with the number of p-bits. Camsari refers back to the analogy of trusted-friends trying to make a decision.

"The key issue is that the process of reaching a consensus requires strong communication among people who continually talk with one another based on their latest thinking," he noted. "If everyone makes decisions without listening, a consensus cannot be reached and the optimization problem is not solved."

In other words, the faster the p-bits communicate, the quicker a consensus can be reached, which is why increasing the flips per second, while ensuring that everyone listens to each other, is crucial.

"This is exactly what we achieved in our design," he explained. "By ensuring that everyone listens to each other and limiting the number of 'people' who could be friends with each other, we parallelized the decision-making process."

Their work also showed an ability to scale p-computers up to five thousand p-bits, which Camsari sees as extremely promising, while noting that their ideas are just one piece of the p-computer puzzle.

"To us, these results were the tip of the iceberg," he said. "We used existing transistor technology to emulate our probabilistic architectures, but if nanodevices with much higher levels of integration are used to build p-computers, the advantages would be enormous. This is what is making me lose sleep."

An 8 p-bit p-computer that Camsari and his collaborators built during his time as a graduate student and postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University initially showed the device's potential. Their article, published in 2019 in Nature, described a ten-fold reduction in the energy and hundred-fold reduction in the area footprint it required compared to a classical computer. Seed funding, provided in fall 2020 by UCSB's Institute for Energy Efficiency, allowed Camsari and Theogarajan to take p-computer research one step further, supporting the work featured in Nature Electronics.

"The initial findings, combined with our latest results, mean that building p-computers with millions of p-bits to solve optimization or probabilistic decision-making problems with competitive performance may just be possible," Camsari said.

The research team hopes that p-computers will one day handle a specific set of problems, naturally probabilistic ones, much faster and more efficiently.

More information: Navid Anjum Aadit et al, Massively parallel probabilistic computing with sparse Ising machines, Nature Electronics (2022). Journal information: Nature Electronics , Nature Navid Anjum Aadit et al, Massively parallel probabilistic computing with sparse Ising machines,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41928-022-00774-2
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The Securities and Exchange Commission's decision to beef up its cryptocurrency enforcement staff could signal new worries for digital asset exchanges and others in the industry, as the agency broadens its view of whether some cryptocurrencies are securities.

The agency said last month that it will add 20 enforcement positions dedicated to crypto, boosting the total enforcement staff focused on digital assets to 50. Those tracking the development say the agency will delve deep, looking for violations among a crop of startup ventures.

More enforcement is definitely coming, experts said, and the SEC has plenty of potential targets, including non-fungible tokens, stablecoins and platforms that might come under the agency's authority if they trade digital tokens that are securities.

Ian McGinley, a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, said he expects special scrutiny on one of the newest areas of digital assets: decentralized finance platforms, called DeFi for short. These ventures often use the decentralized structure to establish peer-to-peer markets, in which users engage in financial transactions with other parties directly, without an intermediary such as a stock exchange or bank.

He pointed out that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has already said the agency is examining them. A small number of DeFis handle much of the total activity in the sector. According to Gensler, the top five DeFi platforms account for about 80 percent of the total trading on all platforms.

"If in fact the decentralized platform is controlled by a small group, I think you are likely to see some actions," McGinley said.

Given their structure, however, some may have little to worry about from the SEC's scrutiny.

"If an exchange is purely decentralized, then it is very hard for the SEC to make the case that the exchange is selling securities," McGinley said in an interview.

He noted that the agency has already ratcheted up action on platforms that allow users to lend and borrow crypto assets, allowing for interest payments. The SEC brought a case against crypto platform BlockFi Lending LLC in February that's an example of what may come, he said.

The company paid investors a variable rate of interest if they lent their crypto assets on the platform, a practice the SEC said is covered by the securities laws.

BlockFi agreed to pay $100 million to settle charges from the SEC and 32 states for failing to register securities offerings. It also agreed to register and comply with the securities laws in the future.

NFTs

McGinley also said he expects the SEC to pursue cases against non-fungible tokens, which some consider to be the strangest new development in digital assets.

With NFTs, an investor or customer buys a marker on a distributed ledger that is attached to artwork or music. The owners of NFTs don't always own the original items, just the digital marker. The NFT structure can be used in other ways, however, such as to represent shares of a company or to serve as currency in video games.

"It's highly likely we will see some SEC enforcement in NFTs, especially since we've seen some state regulators recently take action against some NFT projects for selling unregistered securities," McGinley said.

Regulators in Texas and Alabama in April brought what they said was the first ever enforcement action for the sale of unregistered NFTs to fund virtual casinos. While state actions are often a precursor for federal securities enforcement, the larger SEC force could alter that dynamic.

Some, including inside the agency, are calling for more clarity.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has said that fractional NFTs, which represent shared ownership, might be securities, though she said additional guidance from the agency would be helpful.

Lee Reiners, executive director of the Global Financial Markets Center at Duke University, said the increased staff will have plenty to do.

"Initially, they will be going after the low-hanging fruit of cryptocurrencies that are clearly unregistered securities, along with decentralized finance apps that are not as decentralized as their promoters make them out to be," he said. "Eventually, I could see this unit addressing cryptocurrency exchanges that are offering securities without being registered with the SEC."

Enforcement takes time and resources, he said, and during the process new cryptocurrencies can begin, leading to what he called a whack-a-mole exercise. New operations are easy to launch because someone can copy the code of an existing cryptocurrency, Reiners said, and start their own coin. Many crypto processes use open-source code that's readily available.

Harris Fischman, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, said he expects the SEC will examine whether it is appropriate for DeFi platforms to avoid some of the regulations facing stock exchanges by relying on exemptions provided to brokerage trading operations.

Alternative trading systems, or ATSs, are often operated by brokers to allow trading without the use of a traditional stock exchange.

"Earlier this year the commission proposed amendments to Regulation ATS that if adopted could create reporting requirements for any service that facilitates communications between buyers and sellers of cryptocurrencies that qualify as securities," Fischman said.

According to Gensler, the agency has received questions about whether crypto platforms can take advantage of some regulatory exemptions enjoyed by ATSs.

Gensler responded in a speech in April that it might not be appropriate to provide crypto trading facilities with the same regulation as ATS equity trading. Most ATS equity transactions are from institutional investors, which are large, sophisticated traders such as pension funds.

Crypto platforms, in contrast, have what Gensler described as "millions and sometimes tens of millions of retail customers directly buying and selling on the platform without going through a broker."

Fischman also said the SEC will look into the DeFi trading venues.

"One area I expect the expanded Cryto Assets and Cyber Unit to focus its new resources is enforcement activity related to decentralized finance platforms. This has been an area of recent aggressive SEC enforcement activity as well as a repeated subject of public commentary by Chair Gensler."

Anand Sithian of Crowell & Moring LLP said scrutiny is likely over algorithmic stablecoins, which are digital assets that use a market-based arbitrage system, controlled by computers, to maintain a value of $1 per coin. However, what had been the largest of these assets, the TerraUSD stablecoin, plunged in early May, losing about 98 percent of its value. The stablecoin remains near that low.

Stablecoins, once pitched as a way to buy products, are now mainly used to buy other crypto. The SEC isn't the only regulatory agency watching them because they have the potential to facilitate illicit transactions and tax avoidance. They are also drawing attention from bank regulators, the Treasury Department and the IRS.

One takeaway of the uncertainties surrounding crypto is the need for officials at trading platforms to protect themselves from liability, according to Sithian. His advice: "Think about directors' and officers' liability insurance and evaluate existing coverage, because defending against enforcement investigations can be quite costly."

2022 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
ASC Vision Mentorship Program





Opening date for 2022 applications is June 13, 2022

Submissions for 2022 are due at

5pm PDT July 8, 2022

About the Program

The American Society of Cinematographers was founded in 1919 with the dual purpose of advancing the art and science of cinematography and bringing cinematographers together to exchange ideas and techniques. ASC members have a long history of mentoring burgeoning artists and students, and the ASC Vision Mentorship Program expands and supports this critical mission.

The Mentorship Program aims to make the cinematography profession more inclusive by sharing the professional experiences of our members with a wide range of cinematographers.

Mentees will be chosen and accepted by the ASC and then paired with an ASC mentor. They will receive the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the craft, focus their career objectives and hone skills. The number of accepted mentees will vary based on available mentors and the applicant pool.

Mentor schedules permitting, mentees will receive a minimum of two meetings with their mentors during a one-year period . Should the mentor or mentee not be available to meet in person, the mentor will be available via email, Zoom, Skype or phone. Additional interactions or relationships will be at the sole discretion of the mentor.

The mentor will be available to discuss professional questions and issues relating to career growth and objectives  this is not an appropriate space for the mentee to ask to be hired.

Eligibility

The ASC Vision Mentorship Program is designed for working professionals with a deep interest in pursuing a career as a cinematographer. Successful applicants will have significant production or on-set work experience, preferably within the camera department.

It is not a requirement that applicants possess a college degree or have earned higher education in film. Recent college graduates are encouraged to gain at least five years of postgraduate professional experience prior to applying.

The program is open to local, out-of-state and international applicants.

Application Requirements

 Serious interest in pursuing a professional career as a cinematographer

 Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional production or on-set experience

 23 years of age or older

Application Materials

Application Instructions

 Completed and signed application form.

 Reel

YouTube or Vimeo link. Show us how you represent and sell yourself. Give us an idea the variety of work you've done  commercials, narrative, docs, etc.

 5 Minute Clip

This is NOT a sizzle reel, we want to see a finished scene or clip from something youve shot. We will accept TWO separate clips (both clips must be in one single Vimeo or Youtube link), that combined are for a total of 5 minutes or less. Showing no more than two separate pieces of work with a narration track.

Wed like you to talk about your work in this clip and explain what your choices were  and why.

This can include talking about lighting, camera moves, color schemes, and how you worked with the challenges of a location or time of day. How did you want your choices to work with the story or the mood of the project? And do you think you succeeded or not? And if not, what would you do differently now. What did you learn that will help you improve next time?



 Resume

 Bio

500 words maximum

 Headshot

 Artistic Statement

In a short essay (500 words maximum), include your reasons for becoming a director of photography, your short- and long-term goals and any personal philosophy on cinematography.

Application Instructions

Please refer to these detailed instructions before making your submission.

Please submit your application using the 2022 Application Form by July 8, 2022 5pm PDT.



2022 Application Form

Terms and Conditions

Applicant must be 23 years of age or older at the time of application.

By applying to the ASC Vision Mentorship Program, every applicant is agreeing to all ASC Holding Terms and Conditions listed and available. If you disagree with any terms you may not submit to the program.

The decision of the judges will be final and cannot be contested in any manner. ASC Holding reserves the right to delay announcements for any reason. There is no guarantee of advancement or acceptance into the program.

By submitting to the program you are holding harmless ASC Holding or any affiliates from any claims, expenses and liabilities, including but not limited to invasion of privacy, defamation, copyright, libel, trademark infringement, slander, personal property infringement, etc.

Any accepted applicant may be required to sign an affidavit validating their application to the program.

Any accepted applicants may have their name and picture used for any ASC Holding promotions or promotions of our sponsors or affiliates.

Except where prohibited by law, participation in the program constitutes each applicants consent to ASC Holding and its agents use of applicants names, likenesses, photographs, and/or personal information for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration. All uses of applicants information are in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Void where prohibited.

BY SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION TO THE PROGRAM YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND AGREE TO THESE CONDITIONS. You agree to release and hold harmless ASC Holding, its subsidiary, parent and affiliated companies, judges, mentors, sponsors, and any other organizations responsible for administering, advertising or promoting the program, and every one of their respective members, directors, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, the Released Parties) past and present from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to damages and negligence to property and persons, including but not limited to invasion of privacy, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, copyright, infringement of trademark or other intellectual property rights relating to an applicants application, participation in the program and/or acceptance or use or misuse of mentorship.
Montrezl Harrells offseason has taken a turn for the worse as the Charlotte Hornets player was arrested in Kentucky on felony drug charges.

Harrell was arrested on May 12 but the news just now surfaced when Harrell was arraigned on Monday. According to the Charlotte Observer, Harrell was pulled over on a traffic stop and admitted to the officer he had marijuana in his rental car after the cop noticed the smell of pot. In the subsequent search, police found three pounds of marijuana in vacuum sealed bags in a backpack and Harrell was charged with trafficking.

In Kentucky, trafficking between eight ounces and five pounds of marijuana is a Class D Felony as Harrell is a first-time offender. If convicted, Harrell could receive one to five years of prison along with a fine between $1,000 and $10,000. Harrell is set to be an unrestricted free agent next month.

Many reacted to Harrells arrest and charges on social media. Responses ranged from stating that marijuana should be legal nationwide to being surprised he allegedly had three pounds of marijuana in his car to pointing out that being arrested in Kentucky for marijuana possession is a lot bigger problem compared to other states.

Brother, it is 2022 https://t.co/kxPPj78QH7  Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) June 13, 2022

He did nothing wrong. Screw these laws. https://t.co/E6BLgsU5qa  Chris Williamson (@CWilliamson44) June 13, 2022

Yall gotta flip the laws on guns and weed. https://t.co/bUxwBhMWxI  i. adan (@Imman_Adan) June 13, 2022

Montrezl Harrell found with 3 POUNDS of Weed?? pic.twitter.com/zUP0J8NjAP  LobToAD (@LakersForDays) June 13, 2022

Know he smoking allat .. he didn't wanna make multiple trips ..but why is it still a felony charge anywhere in the U.S. when it's legal in alot of the states by now?smhhttps://t.co/PcmhtlNGeR  . (@BlayzeGABOI) June 13, 2022

https://t.co/GLhkWXEif4 Marijuana should be legal, this is hardly a crime  Jason (@Mutilator87) June 14, 2022

They caught Montrezl Harrell packing pounds in the rental with the out of state tags smh   (@ThatDakari) June 13, 2022

This sentence goes from "ew, imprison him for life" to "bruh who cares" to "ew Kentucky" real fast https://t.co/78MN8n23Iy  Mike (@100Percent_Mike) June 13, 2022

They found three pounds in Montrezl Harrells car when he got bumped in Kentucky. Hope he got a good lawyer cause thats prison time out there fasho  King Negronidas (@PierceFair89) June 13, 2022

Im tired of Black men being brought up on weed charges as consumers when rich white men are board members of weed companies and profiting off of it as producers Free Montrezl Harrell    (@castergunx) June 14, 2022

I guess its easy to take wealth for granted when youve had it so long but I will never understand. https://t.co/6oBdu1mGKE  Bibs (@BibsCorner) June 13, 2022

[Charlotte Observer]
Representatives from College Station Utilities and Bryan Texas Utilities are confident they have enough power supply to meet the demand for the summer.

Pat McIntyre, energy coordinator for College Station Utilities, said CSU does not generate its own supply, but it has contracts to purchase its energy supply for its anticipated peak and then a cushion beyond that peak.

We havent hit a new peak yet, so were in really good shape, McIntyre said.

Doug Lyles, executive director for business and customer operations at BTU, said BTU uses a combination of power supply generated from its four Brazos County natural gas units as well as power purchased through additional agreements and forward power purchases.

With our own generation and our forward power purchases, we have, from BTUs perspective, we have more than enough energy supply to meet our needs, he said.

Christy Penders with the communications team for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said no one was available for an interview, but stated in an email on June 10, ERCOT expects sufficient generation to meet forecasted demand at this time.

Lyles said that is the same messaging they received from ERCOT as well, noting ERCOT saw a record demand Sunday, but had more than enough supply available to meet that demand.

He said ERCOT sent an operating conditions notice on June 8 that was for the days of June 10-13 informing the states power providers about the hot weather conditions.

McIntyre said he and people at utility districts throughout the state are feeling better about the supply now that most generating entities are back online after maintenance in the spring.

BTU had annual planned maintenance that was completed before June 1 in preparation for summer needs, Lyles said.

When developing the necessary supply to meet demand locally, both Lyles and McIntyre said their organizations use historical peaks.

Lyles said BTU does five-year look forward based on 30-year historical norms for the weather conditions, past weather data and past usage.

He said on the hottest summer days, the power generated from the units BTU owns and operates is not enough to meet demand, so it has forward power purchases to fill the gaps. Those purchases are with two wind farms in South Texas, and also a power purchase agreement with a small solar facility in Presidio County.

Lyles said there is no data point that determines when BTU moves to its purchased power supply, saying it depends on what makes the most economical sense.

Sometimes even on the hottest days, it might be economical for us to purchase energy on the open market, and so its really a combination of price and supply, he said. We might be able to buy power on the market cheaper than what it would take to actually run our units.

McIntyre said the majority of College Station Utilities power supply is natural gas, but it also includes other energy sources, as determined by the qualified service entity CSU uses to purchase power based on what is most cost effective.

One of the contracts, he said, is with a wind energy generators in the Panhandle.

Wind power, he said, is good for 24/7 operation, because it typically blows at night, but solar is best to meet the typical needs during the traditional peak from early afternoon until 8 or 9 p.m.

Most of the power supply CSU uses is contracted in advance, McIntyre said, but they can reserve an additional cushion on a shorter-term contract if they see the need.

He said the increase of high-efficiency air conditioning units and LED lights helps to keep the demand stable.

McIntyre said LED lights emit less heat for the air conditioning unit to overcome and also use about 50-90% less energy that could reduce a customers utility bill by about 12-15%.

Both McIntyre and Lyles suggested using ceiling fans can help people feel comfortable in their home while leaving their thermostat a couple or a few degrees higher than normal.

McIntyre noted in a blog post on the city of College Stations website that two degrees above the usual thermostat setting can cut a customers cooling costs by about 5% and said a ceiling fan uses about as much energy as a typical light bulb.

McIntyre also recommended people change the air filters on their air conditioning unit regularly during the summer.

Lyles suggested people run their electric appliances later in the evening and check weather seals around doors and windows at their home.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
DALLAS  An armed man who attacked a summer camp in Duncanville on Monday is dead after being shot by police.

Around 250 children were at the camp at the Duncanville Fieldhouse, which went on lockdown after the gunman fired shots. Police said the gunman attempted to enter a classroom, but the door was locked. No children, staff or police were harmed, said Duncanville Assistant Chief of Police Matthew Stogner during a news conference.

Stogner said police responded to the field house in the 1700 block of S. Main Street at 8:45 a.m., two minutes after receiving calls about shots being fired. The field house was the site of a summer camp for children between the ages of 4 and 14, he said.

During a search, officers confronted the man and shot him. Police provided medical aid, and the suspect was taken to a hospital, where he later died. The suspects identity was not released, and a motive has not been determined.

Stogner said because the shooting involved a police officer, the investigation will be led by the Texas Rangers.

Police said the suspect entered the field house through the main lobby doors with a handgun. He exchanged words with a camp staff member and fired one round, prompting calls to police.

Camp counselors moved the kids to a safe area and began locking doors, Stogner said. The suspect attempted to enter one classroom but was not able to get inside because the door was locked, Stogner said. He shot at the classroom door, where there were children inside, he said.

Naomi Rodgers, a camp counselor, told KXAS-TV (NBC5) that she was working with about 40 children and they were about to play a game when they heard the gunshot.

We had to move them all across the room because the building is glass and we had to find a safe space, Rodgers told NBC5. The shooter actually came to our door ... and he said if we didnt let him see who he wanted to see he was going to shoot the place up.

The suspect then moved into the gymnasium and was confronted by police, Stogner said.

Children were reunited with their parents with the help of Duncanville ISD and DeSoto and Cedar Hill police departments, Stogner said.

The incident comes nearly three weeks after the massacre in Uvalde, where 21 people, including 19 children, were killed at Robb Elementary School. Stogner said officers at the department had recently undergone active shooter training and did exactly what they were trained to do.

We obviously understand what took place south of us, Stogner said. I can only talk about how we responded here and we did an exceptional job.

Duncanville City Manager Aretha R. Ferrell-Benavides said the city would work with parents to find a new location for the summer camp and that sessions would likely resume later this week.

We want to make sure they feel comfortable and safe returning to this location, she said.
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Paris, TX (75460)

Today

Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 85F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 64F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
MARION  Williamson County residents who may have some questions, if not pointed comments, regarding their property assessment for next year's tax bills can pick up the proper paperwork to get the appeals process rolling Wednesday at the assessment's office located at the annex building next to the courthouse.

New Supervisor of Assessments Alex Simpson said his job is to find the fair value of each resident's property.

"Residential, commercial and industrial property assessments are based on market value," Simpson said. "If the property owner feels that I have underassessed or overassessed his or her property, that person should pick up a complaint form at our office."

Simpson explained that the basic tax bill is a third of the market value of the property times the tax rate. And the tax rate, he said, is established by all the tax levies in the district - schools, city, county, airport authority, library and even mosquito abatement.

As far as the appeals process is concerned, the Board of Review, which consists of the three county commissioners, will conduct hearings on each individual complaint, if necessary.

"The first thing the resident is to do is write down the specific complaint," Simpson said. "The commissioners will take a look at the complaint and deliver a tentative decision. If the property owner doesn't agree with that decision, he or she can come before the board in person, or by Zoom conference to present the case. If the ruling goes against the property owner a second time, he or she can appeal the case to the property tax review appeals board for a final ruling.

Last year, there were 500 initial complaints filed by county residents. A little less than 100 actually appealed the board's initial findings, requesting a formal hearing. The whole process was drawn out over several months.

Simpson said the tax equalization factor this year is 5.84 percent as set by the county. The state agreed by issuing a 1.0000 equalization factor at that level.

"The state believes that we were underassessing everything by that amount on the average according to property sales reported the last three years," he said. "I believe the state's perspective is that if you have a nicer house, you can afford to pay more in taxes. That's what the tax system in Illinois is based on," Simpson said.

The county's new supervisor of assessments stressed that the complaints process before the board of commissioners is for next year's assessed valuation of property. Bills for 2021 to be paid this year will be mailed out later this summer.

The 38-year-old Simpson was an assistant for three years to the county's lead assessor, Jeff Robinson, who recently retired after 30 years on the job. Before that, he was involved with online mapping within the department. Simpson's father was Supervisor of Assessments for Effingham County for about the same length of time Robinson served Williamson County.

"I think going into these board of review hearings people are mostly mad at the system, not me," Simpson said. "Once state laws are explained how the values were derived, however, people usually cool off pretty quick. As long as people don't make it personal with us, it's OK.

"We understand the frustration and tension. But we have to fund the schools. About 68 percent of our tax dollars go to local schools. Until we find a better way to fund schools, taxes are going to be high. We want our kids to be educated."

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The primary race for the Republican candidate for Franklin County Sheriff has drawn talk about one controversial issue involving candidate Ben Burkhamer.

In 1994, Burkhamer, then 22, and a couple of his friends were involved in a cross burning incident in Royalton.

While it may not be a pleasant memory of his youth, Burkhamer brought up the incident in his interview with The Southern.

One of my classmates had a sister in a biracial relationship. He thought it would be funny if we burned a cross in their neighborhood, Burkhamer said. We were dumb (and) drunk ... It was just stupidity.

According to past newspaper reports, Burkhamer, Katherine Ann Flowers, then 21, and Ronald A. McConnell, then 27, each played a part in the burning of a four-foot-tall wooden cross on Oct. 29, 1994.

It was because a white woman they knew was dating a Black man, according to newspaper reports.

"Burkhamer and McConnell rode in a truck driven by Flowers to Moeller's home. The two men then carried the cross from the truck, then set the cross on fire, and left, according to court records," past newspaper reports state.

McConnell was dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit at the time, authorities said in past newspaper reports.

The woman in the interracial relationship was asleep in her home with her 6-year-old daughter a 2-year-old boy she was babysitting at the time when the cross was burned outside.

"According to a stipulation of facts, Burkhamer had agreed to aid McConnell in burning the cross in the yard, and understood that the purpose of doing so was to use a threat of force against (Moeller and Kerrens)," according to past The Southern reports.

Burkhamer pleaded guilty for interfering in housing rights, a misdemeanor. He received two years of probation and was fined $1,000.

He said while people often wish to go back and change an incident in the past, it is those mistakes that mold us.

Burkhamer said he is not racist. He wants to take that mistake and turn it into a positive. He wants others to see him as a child of God who loves people.

He explained that he was a preachers kid. As a young adult, he turned away from church. He has grown up and come back to his faith. He now wants to be a person who helps others change their lives.

Others in Franklin County have questioned whether Burkhamer is qualified to run or even qualified to be current police chief in Zeigler.

To become a police officer in Illinois, a person must be at least 21 years old, have no felony convictions, be a U.S. citizen, and have a valid drivers license.

Because Burkhamers conviction was a misdemeanor, he is not precluded from being a police officer.

Burkhamer said he will stand on what he has learned from that mistake and what he has done since then.

I want to run on the issues and making the county a better place to live. My past is part of my testimony. Im not running from that, either, Burkhamer said.

Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 2 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Franklin County voters will choose a Republican candidate for sheriff in the June 28 primary. The primary race pits Kyle Bacon of Franklin County Sheriffs Office against Zeigler Police Chief Ben Burkhamer.

Bacon grew up in Benton and graduated from Benton High School, Rend Lake College and SIU. He worked as an officer in Nashville, Tennessee, for a few years before returning to Benton in 2001 and taking a job as a deputy sheriff.

Ben Burkhamer started a construction business and worked in Christian broadcasting.

I got a lot of life and work experience, he said.

He then took a job as a police officer. He has been with Zeigler Police Department for 15 years and is the chief of the department.

Bacon said the sheriff has to manage the department and the people who work there. He feels his time as a deputy gives him unique experience to understand and do that job.

A lot of people may not realize the Franklin County has a staff of 70 people and a $3 million budget, Bacon said. I think my time at the sheriffs department has allowed me see what the office is and how to provide the best service.

Bacon said burglaries and theft are the first hurdle the new sheriff will have to jump.

As part of that process, the department will have to learn about the new bail reform act, which goes into effect June 23.

When I started at the sheriffs department 20 years ago, I did not see the homeless or services to assist people. Our homeless population is in the hundreds and is a result of drug addiction and poor choices, Bacon said.

He said addiction is driving the issue of homelessness, as well as theft, domestic violence and the abuse of children. The county makes many drug arrests, but that doesnt deal with the root of addiction.

Bacon believes we have to vigorously enforce the law, but also treat the addiction.

Burkhamer said the top issue facing the sheriffs department is communication. The county has five dispatch agencies. He says the system is costly and ineffective. For example, a motorcycle accident in Royalton tied up four of the dispatch agencies.

He said the agencies need to consolidate to better serve the county.

Another issue is that small departments, like many of those at towns in Franklin County, dont pay as well. Burkhamer said they do have other resources. When its hard to find an officer to fill the job, the issue of pay is critical.

He also said those smaller departments and the sheriffs department need to work better together. They need to share intelligence and training.

The sheriff has a unique responsibility. They have common issues throughout the county and needs to work with local law enforcement to help solve them, Burkhamer said.

The third issue is the drug epidemic. Burkhamer would like to bring Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous to help people kick those habits.

We have to work with the local community, Burkhamer said. I have a real passion for working with people.

He explained that we need to stop the addiction before an arrest.

Burkhamer is running as a constitutional sheriff. He said we elect legislators to make laws and sheriffs to enforce laws. The Constitution protects the rights of citizens.

I want to be the sheriff that protects those rights, Burkhamer said.

Bacon and his family live in Benton.

Burkhamer and his family live in Zeigler.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
MARION  Monica Nia Jones is Miss Illinois 2022.

The 25 year-old from Chicago won the title Saturday evening at the Marion Cultural and Civic Center following five days of interviews, performances and rehearsals. She competed as Miss Windy City.

She was chosen from a group of 26 candidates, which included three representatives from Southern Illinois. Miss Southern Illinois Breana Bagley of Carbondale was named second runner-up. Area representatives Miss John A. Logan College Alara Pfeaster and Miss Metropolis Cami Horman also competed in the event, but did not advance as finalists.

Her place as the first Black Miss Illinois in two decades is not lost on the new title holder.

The last Africa-American Miss Illinois was Erika Harold who also was the last Miss America from Illinois, Jones said. The fact that Im here exactly 20 years later is mind-blowing.

Jones will spend the next year participating in special events, promoting her social initiative of music uniting souls and communities and will represent the state at the Miss America competition in December. In addition to the title and crown, Miss Illinois will win a minimum $10,000 scholarship as well as numerous in-kind awards.

The new Miss Illinois told The Southern that shes ready to get started.

Im a little tired, and I think I am past the part of being overwhelmed, but Im ready to get the ball rolling, she said, not long after a Sunday afternoon that included meetings with board members of the Miss Illinois Scholarship organization board of directors and initial planning discussions about the gown she will wear for the Miss America competition.

I am really looking forward to Miss America. It is surreal that Im actually going as a competitor, she said.

The next week includes photo sessions, social media meetings and events with organization and competition sponsors. She said she is eager to visit local competitions and special events throughout the state as well as sharing her social impact focus on increasing diversity in classical music.

I started playing the violin when I was five and one thing I have always noticed is that often I would be the only person of color in ensembles. Something I want to do is to boost education for classical music. I think a lot of people have fallen out of touch with classical music, so I want to show that it is still relevant and make all people comfortable in that space."

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Some Orangeburg voters went to the polls on Tuesday looking to support their favorite incumbents. Others wanted change.

Aisha Williams, for instance, voted in the Democratic primary for Sen. Mia McLeod for governor.

I think shell be an excellent candidate and governor. I think shell represent the citizens and work well, Williams said.

She also voted for Rep. Justin Bamberg, whos running for re-election to his state House District 90 seat.

I think hell be great representation for our community, Williams said.

South Carolina held its party primaries on Tuesday so voters could select the candidates who will be running for office in November. Few local races were contested.

On a statewide level, Williams voted for Dr. Gary Burgess for superintendent of education because hes done excellent work as an administrator and educator. Hes one of the few with experience.

Sue Powell voted in the Republican primary to re-elect Gov. Henry McMaster, saying I think hes done a good job. He handled the pandemic well.

She also voted to re-elect Bowman resident Hugh Weathers as commissioner of agriculture, saying Hes done exemplary in the job. I like that hes a farmer, he has experience knowing what the farmers need.

Lanesha Dowling, an assistant principal, voted in the Democratic primary to re-elect 6th District Congressman Jim Clyburn.

Im an educator and hes a supporter of educators. He always looks out for them. That drives my vote, she said.

Amy Delany usually votes Republican, but voted in the Democratic primary this time.

She supported Aisha Graham for Orangeburg County Council District 6, saying She was the main one I was coming out for. I think shell be better representation of our district than what we have had.

Pamela Dawson said, I am voting for Aisha Graham for county council district 6 because I think it is time for a change.

Aisha is very engaged in the Orangeburg community and I would like to see how she can fully impact our area.

Lauren Pringle, a 2022 Claflin University mass communications graduate, is reporting for The Times and Democrat as a Lee Enterprises-sponsored summer intern. Caleb Bozard is a news intern at The Times and Democrat through the sponsorship of the South Carolina Press Association Foundation. He is a student at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Minister for Family Affairs and Integration Corinne Cahen published a statement on Tuesday morning, announcing that she has requested additional information from French care provider Orpea ahead of approving its planned senior residence in Merl.

Minister Cahen has already been in contact with French finance and social affairs authorities, who provided her with information on the care provider, which she has forwarded to the Chamber of Deputies.

Orpea came under fire at the beginning of the year when journalist Victor Castanet published an investigative book, entitled 'Les Fossoyeurs ('The Gravediggers'), alleging serious misconduct across several nursing homes operated by the care provider. Investigations against Orpea are currently being conducted in France.

Read also: Care provider Orpea to be subjected to rigorous checks, says Corinne Cahen

The French care provider is planning an expansion to the Grand Duchy, with two projects already partially underway: a senior residence in Merl and a senior home in Strassen.
The General Federation of Local Government (FGFC) also criticises that the municipalities "don't care" about the numerous internal problems at SIGI.

The FGFC made these statements in a press release published on Tuesday, following the publication of a series of articles on reporter.lu

The FGFC also demands official reactions to the reports from Minister for Home Affairs Taina Bofferding and the President of the Association of Luxembourg Cities and Municipalities (Syvicol), Emile Eicher.
Last Thursday, MPs approved the new Covid-19 bill, which will lift the mask mandate on public transportation, among other things. It became law on Tuesday afternoon.

Generally, new laws do not take effect until they are published in the Memorial, the official gazette of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The new Covid-19 law was published shortly before 5pm on Tuesday.

In an interview with our colleagues from RTL.lu on Thursday, the Covid-19 law's rapporteur, MP Mars di Bartolomeo, stated that the Council of State is expected to authorise the release of the second vote on Tuesday. The approval of the Council of State is required before a law can be published in the Memorial.
In order to better accommodate patchwork families, civil servants should be able to work remotely from multiple places, according to the General Confederation of the Civil Service (CGFP).

The CGFP is against the home office regulation proposed by the Ministry of the Civil Service. This was announced by the trade union's national committee in a press release on Tuesday afternoon.

The CGFP argues that in order to better support patchwork families, telework should be possible from multiple locations. The Ministry, on the other hand, wants to limit telework to a person's primary residence. The Ministry is also against setting a general guideline on how many days a civil servant would be allowed to work remotely. However, such a guideline would be important to "prevent social isolation," according to the CGFP.

In certain cases, the Ministry also wants to make it possible to repeal the right to disconnect, another proposal which the CGFP argues is "out of the question". However, the trade union laments that Minister for the Civil Service Marc Hansen has already made it clear that "he doesn't care" whether the CGFP approves the proposed regulation on working from home. There are also still disagreements regarding the evaluation system, the trade union adds.
Casper's Dana Van Burgh is celebrating his 90th birthday on Monday, and he's inviting the entire community to celebrate.

Van Burgh, who taught for decades at Dean Morgan Middle School and later at Casper College, will be hosting a party at the Rialto Soda Fountain from noon to 6 p.m. on Monday.

Van Burgh's family is inviting people to stop by, regardless of whether you know him.

"Everyone is welcome," they wrote in an invite. "Friends; family; downtown employees on their lunch break or after work; tourists. Bring all of Wyoming if you'd like."

Love 12 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 0
A prominent conservative political action committee on Tuesday endorsed Harriet Hageman in her run against Rep. Liz Cheney.

Club for Growth PAC is also releasing a $300,000 TV advertisement in support of Hageman. The ad highlights former President Donald Trumps backing of Hageman and features footage from his recent rally here.

Harriet Hageman is a principled conservative we can count on to fight socialist Democrats, as opposed to Liz Cheney who prefers siding with Pelosi, Schumer, and Biden, said Club for Growth President David McIntosh. Hageman is the perfect candidate to fight Bidens failed policies, and we look forward to doing whatever it takes to help her get elected.

The PAC was shopping around Wyoming for a Cheney challenger well before Hageman entered the race in September with Trumps endorsement.

Cheney does not have a conservative record, said Club for Growth spokesman Joe Kildea, who pointed out that her lifetime record based on the organizations scorecard is 69%. Her yearly score for 2021 was 92%

The ad will run in the Casper, Cheyenne, Rapid City and Billings broadcast markets. It makes no mention of Cheney.

President Trumps still fighting for you. He needs Harriet Hageman in Congress, the ad begins.

This is not the first anti-Cheney ad Club for Growth has run this election.

The fiscally conservative PAC previously released a 30-second ad branding Cheney as a Clinton Republican.

With a slideshow of photos of Hillary Clinton, the ad starts, Remember? She benefited from a famous political last name. She sided with Nancy Pelosi and attacked President Trump when he was in office. She supported impeachment and she continues to attack President Trump today.

Hillary Clinton? No, Liz Cheney, the voice-over says as a photo of Clinton morphs into Cheney.

At the time, the Cheney camp hit back.

Anyone who questions Liz Cheneys conservative credentials is ignorant or lying, a Cheney spokesperson told the Star-Tribune.

That ad had a much smaller price tag than the latest one: $13,720 on TV ad slots, $18,000 on digital ads  like YouTube and Breitbart  and an estimated $9,000 on production costs. So far, Club for Growth has spent nearly $60,000 in Cheney opposition efforts.

Club For Growth also endorsed Max Miller, a former Trump White House aide who was running against former Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez. Like Cheney, Gonzalez was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump. He later bowed out of the race.

That said, Club for Growth also came out in opposition last year to New York Rep. Elise Stefanik replacing Cheney in House GOP leadership, despite the fact that Trump also endorsed her for the position.

Cheney was ousted from House Republican leadership after she voted to impeach the former president after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Club for Growths Trump-centric ad and endorsement comes in the midst of the House Select Committees Jan. 6 hearings, which Cheney has taken a lead role in. Her service on that committee has drawn the ire of fellow Republicans in Washington and some Wyomingites.

During the first hearing, Cheney repeatedly placed the blame of the insurrection at Trumps feet.

On this point, there is no room for debate. Those who invaded our Capitol and battled law enforcement for hours were motivated by what President Trump had told them: that the election was stolen, and that he was the rightful President, Cheney said in her opening statement. President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack.

When asked about why the new TV ad is running at this stage in the campaign, Kildea said the PAC does not publicly discuss strategy.

Follow state politics reporter Victoria Eavis on Twitter @Victoria_Eavis

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Megan Hawks cant get into Yellowstone.

Hawks and her family were en route to the national park when record rainfall and flooding over the weekend forced officials to close all of its five entrances Monday.

Theyre among an unknown number of people hastily trying to figure out next steps amid upended travel plans.

The family was supposed to stay in Gardiner, Montana, for two nights. Now, the plan is to stay in Jackson on Monday night, and head to Island Park, Idaho, on Tuesday.

Theyre safe, but Hawks is worried about getting their hotel costs refunded.

As you know things are so expensive, she wrote in a Facebook message.

No visitors will be allowed into Yellowstone until conditions stabilize. As of Monday afternoon, the closure was set to end no sooner than Thursday.

We will not know timing of the parks reopening until flood waters subside and were able to assess the damage throughout the park, Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement. It is likely that the northern loop will be closed for a substantial amount of time.

Officials on Monday were evacuating those still inside the park, beginning in its northernmost reaches, where the impacts  including road washouts, bridge failures, rockslides and mudslides  were most severe.

The park recorded 1.75 inches of rain at the north side of Lake Yellowstone as of 9 a.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service, including 1.37 inches in 24 hours  more than triple the previous single-day record. The far northern part of the park received an estimated 2-3 inches of rain.

With rain expected to persist through Tuesday night, concerns about rising flood levels and strain on wastewater and water treatment facilities prompted additional evacuations to the south.

The heaviest rainfall has moved off to the east already, so theyre not expecting a lot of heavy rain, said Jason Straub, lead meteorologist for the Riverton office of the National Weather Service. But there still might be showers in the area today, tonight and tomorrow.

Much of the park still has snow on the ground, according to Tony Bergantino, director of the Water Resources Data System at the Wyoming State Climate Office.

Its been too warm during the past couple of nights for any of the recent rain to turn to snow. So all that water is pouring freely into the parks rivers.

Gauge height on the Lamar River peaked at 16.7 feet early Monday, shattering the record of 12.15 feet set in 1996 and surpassing the maximum recordable height by nearly 2 feet. Flood levels on the Yellowstone River near Corwin Springs, Montana, broke the local record, which has stood for more than a century, also by about 2 feet.

Gateway towns

Cody  located about 50 miles from Yellowstones east entrance  is one of several gateway towns tourists travel through to get to the park.

Right now, the citys preoccupied with finding marooned visitors places to stay, said Tina Hoebelheinrich, chief executive officer of the citys chamber of commerce.

The citys calling up area hotels to see who has space for unexpected guests, she said. As of 1 p.m. Monday, two of Codys 100-odd hotels were booked full, she said.

The Shoshone River, which originates in Yellowstone, flanks Codys northwest corner. Its not close enough to town to pose any problems, Hoebelheinrich said. But shes worried about all the guest ranches outside the city. She heard anecdotally that one had flooded and evacuated its guests.

Shoshone National Forest  located about 25 miles west of Cody  is also experiencing high waters. As of Monday afternoon, two campgrounds at the park, Big Game and Wapiti, were closed because the Shoshone River was swelling.

Hoebelheinrich said she and others visited the campgrounds Sunday night to check in on the conditions.

I just remember very plainly that Wapiti was at the top of the bank, she said.

Dubois  a smaller town located about a hundred miles southeast of Yellowstone  wasnt seeing as much traffic Monday.

So far, I dont think theres been a huge difference, she said.

Most people passing through Dubois that afternoon were leaving the national park, said Julie Gerona, executive director of the Headwaters Arts and Conference Center.

They might get more visitors Monday evening or on Tuesday, she guessed.

Dubois busy season is July through September, Gerona said, so Yellowstone-bound vacationers looking for a plan B can probably find room to stay at the towns hotels and short-term rentals.

We have plenty of things to do, she said.

Widespread destruction

Flooding and related damage shut down at least 20 roads in Wyoming and Montana on Monday.

Cody Beers, a spokesman for the Wyoming Department of Transportation, said the agency is keeping a particularly close eye on highway bridges that cross the rising waterways.

Two major bridges  one on Highway 120 and one on Highway 296  stick out as problem areas, Beers said. Both cross the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River, which was so high on Monday that it touched the bottom of the bridges.

The water level was causing debris to get caught and pile up on the bridges upriver sides.

Accumulated debris can cause water to run around the bridge and potentially damage the bridge and the roadway, Beers said. He said WYDOT personnel will likely have to go in and remove it all.

And WYDOT will have to put off other road improvement projects to repair destruction wrought by the floods, he said.

Damage from the flooding will be felt all across Wyoming, Beers said. Tourism is one of Wyomings biggest industries  not least because of Yellowstone, Grand Teton and other recreational hotspots nearby.

Wyoming pulled in $258 million in tax revenue from outside visitors in 2021, according to a report commissioned by the states tourism office. That represented a 60% increase from 2020, the report said.

Yellowstone enjoyed record attendance that year, with 4.8 million visitors, up from 3.8 million in 2020. Officials expect 2022 to be another busy year.

The Montana side

Patrick Gorman and his family traveled to Yellowstone from Marion, Iowa, on a Western camping trip that also included a stop at Mount Rushmore.

Rain wont stop us from enjoying our vacation, Gorman tweeted Sunday, alongside a photo of his umbrella-wielding kids.

But by Monday, the Gormans and roughly 20 others were stranded at a campsite in Gardiner, Montana, just outside the north entrance to the park, after the overflowing Yellowstone River washed out the only roads into town.

The river right now has overtaken half of the tent camping, Gorman told the Star-Tribune on Monday afternoon via Twitter.

People with campers and RVs  Gorman included  were safe, he said. They still had power and internet, but hadnt received word from officials on when they might be able to leave.

The floodwaters also left Red Lodge, a city of about 2,200 near the parks northeast entrance, similarly isolated.

Michelle Owen Camper and her family, who live between Roberts and Joliet, Montana, were visiting the city Monday morning when the flood hit. She took a video of waters rushing past houses on its south end.

Owen Camper runs a painting business in the area. Shes been checking in with her customers to see how theyre doing. A few people have already lost their homes to the flood, she said.

Its the second natural disaster the communitys grappled with in less than a year  thousands of acres near Red Lodge burned in a wildfire last July.

You didnt see as much destruction at all, Owen Camper said of the fires.

Now, water is rushing through Red Lodges streets. Several key bridges are gone. Residents are piling up sandbags to save as much as they can.

I dont think its ever its never been this bad, said Sherry Weamer, director of the Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce.

But the world outside the storm is still catching up.

Travelers dont know, Weamer said. So theyre calling here as they usually do, just to, you know, get information and then were sharing what we know and trying to divert.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.

Nicole Pollack Energy and natural resources reporter Follow Nicole Pollack Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
A 16-year-old is expected to appear before a master of the Fyzabad Childrens Court on Monda
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Trinidad and Tobagos independence from colonial rule. The question is: how have we fared as an independent nation? Some may argue, this is a subjective question as success or failure can be viewed through the personal experiences of the individual. Others may take the view that 60 years is a relatively young age as far as nationhood goes, therefore, it is still too early to form a plausible opinion.
Mariachi Luz de Luna showed up at his home on the night before Joey Burns and his family were set to leave Tucson for Boise, Idaho, in summer 2020.

As they serenaded Burns, one half of the popular Tucson desert rock/cumbia band Calexico, the neighbors came out. One man brought a bottle of tequila and shot glasses and told Burns that even though he should keep his 6-foot pandemic protocol distance, he needed to give his longtime neighbor a hug.

Calexico band members stopped by and Burns pulled out his guitar. What started out as a small gesture quickly turned into a big party.

It was the best way to have left Tucson on such a spirited high note, Burns recalled last week as the band prepared for a Tucson reunion at Rialto Theatre on Sunday, June 19.

We are so ready, he added from a tour stop in Salt Lake City. Im so happy to get back to Tucson.

Sundays concert will be Calexicos first in Tucson since they joined Iron & Wine at the Rialto in summer 2019. They are touring on their new album El Mirador  the bands career 10th record  which Burns and longtime Calexico bandmate John Convertino wrote and recorded in Tucson last June from keyboardist Sergio Mendozas makeshift backyard studio.

El Mirador is a love letter to Tucson, wrapped in what the liner notes describes as haunting desert noir with nods to rock and regional folk and infectious Latin rhythms influenced by cumbia, conjunto and mariachi. Beneath those driving melodies is messages and sentiments of finding unity amidst the social disorder borne out of the COVID era and government mandates that divided the nation.

I think getting people to find a common space and a common thread is super important, and thats the hardest thing today, whether its politics or matters of the heart and maintaining relationships, Burns said. We need to find that common ground and I think rhythm is the most important way and the easiest way to get people together.

It was a no-brainer for Burns and Convertino, who moved to El Paso several years ago, to make El Mirador at home in Tucson.

All of our gear is stored in Tucson. Most of our band lives in Tucson. Its an essential meeting point for us, literally and figuratively, Burns said. And weve always loved Tucson. There is something about returning to the Sonoran Desert and the community in and around Tucson that is hard to describe in words actually.

Calexico could have done what many bands and artists did during the height of COVID  have individual band members record bits and pieces digitally then put it all together without ever having to be in the same room.

But that doesnt work for Calexico, the desert rock/cumbia band that Burns and Convertino put together not long after moving to Tucson in the late 1990s.

Calexico has always sounded like Tucson, from the driving Mexican and mariachi accents to the sun-drenched desert rock heartbeat.

Its impossible to capture the essence of a place if you are not in that place.

Theres a lot of connection for us in many ways. I dont know where to start. I just feel like there are so many friends, so many musicians, so many connections to the people, to the history, to the landscape, the connection to our beautiful Southern border between the U.S. and Mexico and using that as a window to the world, Burns said. But more importantly, to just kind of soak up some of that monsoon inspiration and being back where I spent almost three decades of my life and where the band originated, it was pretty remarkable getting people back together playing music in the same room after two years. It was really fantastic.

The album, recorded with most of the band members who still live in Tucson, was released in April and the band toured Europe last month before embarking on the North American leg of the tour in early June  the bands first post-COVID tour.

I cant tell you how excited I am. I cant wait to see people from the stage and get to sing these songs that were inspired by so many years and experiences of being in Tucson and thinking of Tucson and how much hope there is despite adversity, he said.

In addition to Burns, Convertino and Mendoza, Calexico will include Tucson musicians Brian Lopez, Jacob Valenzuela and Rick Peron, and New York bassist Scott Colberg.

Sundays show is at 8 p.m. at the Rialto, 318 E. Congress St. Tickets are $32-$48 through rialtotheatre.com.

Photos: Calexico performs in sold out show at the Rialto Theatre with Iron and Wine Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert Calexico Concert

Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Twitter @Starburch

Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.



Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Supporters of Interfaith Community Services hope that Tucsonans will rise to the occasion and help raise $30,000 for the Single Mom Scholars Program through Rise  Celebrating Empowered Women.

The event is at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 25, at the Sheraton Tucson Hotel and Suites, 5151 E. Grant Road.

Single Mom Scholars is a road to self-sufficiency. We have several programs that offer a two-generational approach to help people accomplish that. We want to remove the roadblocks that prevent single moms from accomplishing their goals and help them to change their lives and the lives of their children, said Andrea Dillenburg, director of development and communications for ICS.

The program, which currently serves 30 women and has a waiting list of about 20 others, provides participants with a variety of assistance. Support includes annual scholarships; mentoring and financial literacy workshops; laptops and computer repair; school supplies; AAA membership and auto repair services; dental care; youth enrichment support; family activities and other events. Emergency funds are also available to help the women with unexpected expenses during the course of their studies.

The program has had remarkable success, according to Lauryn Valladarez, director of self-sufficiency programs for ICS.

We have a 95% graduation rate for the scholars in this program. When they come in, the women are low income and have started their associates degree or bachelors degree or perhaps a certificate of some kind. In the course of the program, many who are studying for their associates degree will transfer to their bachelors degree, or if they are set on a path, they will finish their education and have a job waiting that will triple or quadruple their salaries. It is incredible how much economic mobility these women gain in the course of finishing their studies, said Valladarez.

Valladarez emphasized that for many participants, the program also provides a much-needed sense of camaraderie and encouragement. Additionally, the fact that many of the single moms are completing their education while their children are in school is inspiring for parents and children alike.

This two-generational program builds community for them and their kids. Research has shown that if a parent graduates from college, the chances of a child going to college down the road are much higher than for someone who didnt do post-secondary education. That is an appeal of the program: The underlying current is that many scholars are motivated by their kids and want to see them succeed and graduate as well, said Valladarez.

Single Mom Scholar Ariane Davaul confirmed that her daughter, Scarlett, was a motivating force in her decision to return to school.

I have heard her say that she is impressed by how different our life is now than it was before I went to school and I am hoping that is the message she gets from this. It doesnt matter how old you are or what you have going on in life: If you prioritize improving yourself, then it is possible to change things for yourself no matter how bad they get. I am glad I am able to show her that, said Davaul, 40.

A former veterinary assistant who also worked in behavioral health and never earned more than $11 hourly, Davaul said she realized that she would always live in poverty unless she returned to school.

Now slated to attain an associates degree in automated industrial technology from Pima Community College in December, Davaul is currently interning as an engineering technician at Texas Instruments. She plans to transfer to Northern Arizona University to pursue a bachelors degree in industrial leadership with anticipated graduation in 2024.

Though the course of study is challenging, Davaul encourages other single moms to consider pushing themselves to try new careers.

I will admit that math is scary for me. I never learned it in middle school and high school and even now it is intimidating. When people think of engineering, they think you need to be a genius and that is not the case. If you put in the effort, you dont have to be the smartest person in the room and know all the answers. If people know that you will put in the effort to do a good job, that will take you far in life, she said.

Davaul emphasized that the support she has received from Single Mom Scholars has been a huge benefit, not only financially, but emotionally.

There is so much moral support from the other girls ... my life is definitely better with the help of the Single Mom Scholars program, she said.

Contact freelance writer Loni Nannini at ninch2@comcast.net

If you go RiseCelebrating Empowered Women When: Saturday, June 25, 10 a.m. registration and reception; 10:30 a.m. program begins. Where: Sheraton Tucson Hotel and Suites, 5151 E. Grant Road. Cost: $30 per person. Festivities include breakfast, along with a stories from Single Mom Scholars and featured speaker Tiffany Nakatani, founder and creator of Love In A Cup Tea Blends and Boss Women Unite, a platform that inspires women to their fullest potential and encourages local women to showcase their passion in the community with unity and support. For tickets or more information, or to make an online donation, visit icstucson.org/RISE. For more information about the Interfaith Community Services Single Mom Scholars Program, visit www.icstucson.org or www.facebook.com/singlemomscholarstucson/.

Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.


The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona received an equitable food access grant from Feeding America for $90,000 to help increase access to nutritious food among households in communities of color experiencing high food insecurity rates in Southern Arizona.

The food bank will use the grant to engage local communities to better understand the barriers to accessing food and will support the growing number of local school pantries that can help overcome these obstacles.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the problem of hunger in our community, says Robert Ojeda, chief program officer at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. We are proud to work toward the goal of addressing the root causes of hunger. With this grant, well be able to continue to identify and address racial disparities in our communities.

Raytheon Technologies is funding Feeding Americas Equitable Food Access grant program, which will benefit six Feeding America member food banks over the next three years, including the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. Through this grant, Raytheon Technologies is expanding its commitment to helping Feeding America address barriers to equitable access, with a focus on people living in rural communities and communities of color.

Funding will be used for purchase of healthy, preferred foods  including locally grown produce  to distribute at 30 school pantries. The number of local school pantries has grown during the pandemic, as they provide a more accessible source of food for working families.

In addition to the grant, Raytheon Missiles and Defense employees recently filled 1,000 boxes with 30,000 pounds of food at the food bank.

To learn more, visit communityfoodbank.org.

Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.


A Tucson man was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for possessing a machine gun, federal authorities said.

Anthony Michael Brumfield, 24, was sentenced to 57 months in prison followed by three years of supervised released. He had pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a machine gun, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona.

Brumfield posted a video on his snapchat social media account showing him in possession of two conversion devices, which are design to convert Glock pistols into automatic firearms. The conversion devices are defined as machine guns under federal law. Brumfield also sold one of the conversion devices to another individuals, the office said.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justices violent crime reduction efforts.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation in this case.

Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.


A man was shot and killed during an argument with two other men at an east-side apartment complex early Sunday, Tucson police said.

Officers went to the complex, located in the 6200 block of East Pima Street, near North Wilmot Road, after receiving reports of a shooting at about 12:30 a.m. Officers found a man with gunshot wounds on a sidewalk at the complex. They began administering first aid and the man was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The man was identified as Carl Wynegar, 37,

Officers made contact with two men who said they were involved in the shooting and had called 911. They were detained by officers and were cooperative with the investigation, police said.

Detectives determined that Wynegar and the two men were involved in an argument. All three men lived in the complex and were armed with guns, police said. The argument escalated and shots were fired, with Wynegar being struck by the gunfire.

The investigation is continuing and no arrests have been made at this time, police said. Detectives will present their findings to the Pima County Attorneys Office for further review of possible charges.

Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.


Arizonans have no legal right to know the names of jurors deciding criminal cases, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The court rejected arguments by the publisher of the Cochise County Record that there is a First Amendment right of the public to know not only who is sitting on the panel but also those being considered to serve. Publisher David Morgan, supported by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, argued that the names of jurors and prospective jurors have historically been open to the press and the general public.

Justice Ann Scott Timmer did not deny that has been true, both in Arizona and other states.

In fact, she noted that judges always have been able to decide on a case-by-case basis to make juror names public. What Morgan was seeking is a requirement that they do so in each case.

The justices declined to go that far.

Timmer said there are potential negative effects of jurors having their names available for publication.

She rejected claims that denying the information interferes with the ability of the public to ensure trials are conducted fairly.

Anyone can sit in the courtroom during a criminal trial and observe the juror screening process, including voir dire examinations, she said, referring to the part of the process where prospective jurors are questioned by attorneys about their backgrounds and potential biases.

Accessing jurors names would not significantly add to the publics ability to assure itself that voir dire is fairly conducted or to check the courts in disregarding established standards for jury selection, she said.

Morgan said Tuesdays decision was not a total loss, noting that judges in Arizona remain free to make juror names public. In fact, Timmer said if a court denies access a best practice would be to explain its reasoning on the record.

He also pointed out that nothing in the ruling precludes jurors  those selected for trial and those who were not seated  from publicly revealing their own names.

Morgan said he is weighing whether to take the issue to federal court.

The case stems from two criminal trials in Cochise County where the judges use an innominate jury, meaning one where jurors are publicly identified only by number but whose names are provided to the parties.

In both cases, the public was permitted to attend jury selection and the trials. But the judges refused the request by Morgan and Terri Jo Neff, who was writing for Arizona Independent, to disclose the names publicly.

Evan Steele, representing Morgan, told the justices that having a name allows the public or the media to reach out to jurors for interviews.

But Justice William Montgomery pointed out during arguments in April there is no right to conduct such interviews.

Steele also said there is a particular need for this kind of openness in criminal cases. He said that interest goes beyond that of the defendant in getting a fair trial and the victims interests in the outcome.

The public has an interest, and a recognized interest, according to the (U.S.) Supreme Court, in seeing justice done, said.

Timmer acknowledged that other courts, presented with the same question, have concluded there is a legitimate reason to make public the names of prospective jurors.

For example, she said, it could deter them from misrepresenting their answers during the questioning process and even permit observers to do their own investigation to determine if those answers were accurate. And it also could ensure that the pool of prospective jurors reflects the makeup of the community.

But Timmer said she and her colleagues do not see that as a legitimate role for the public in Arizona.

The publics role in voir dire is as an observer, not as a participant charged with selecting a fair jury, she said. The judge and the parties are charged with that responsibility. They are provided prospective jurors names and are highly motivated to safeguard the integrity of the process, ensure the jury pool is drawn from a fair cross-section of the community, and unearth any information demonstrating juror bias.

She also doubted whether providing names would cause prospective jurors to be more forthcoming during the questioning process.

It is just as likely that such access would motivate them to be less than forthcoming to avoid public embarrassment about very sensitive matters, like disabilities, medications and past experiences as crime victims, Timmer said.

She said there are other privacy concerns.

In this internet age, where jurors names can trigger lightning-fast access to a wealth of biographical information, including addresses, any slightly positive role in divulging jurors names to the public is outweighed by the risk to jury integrity, Timmer wrote.

Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.


The former Vice-President of the United States Mike Pence along with the Director of Arizona Department of Homeland Security visit a section of border wall in the Coronado National Memorial Park near Montezuma Pass outside of Sierra Vista, Ariz. on June 13, 2022.

Pence, also spoke with Cochise County elected officials at Cochise Community College before visiting the border. Some of the officials who attended the meeting include Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, President of Cochise Community College Dr. JD Rottweiler, Mayor of Sierra Vista Rick Mueller, the 24th Chief of the United States Border Patrol Rodney Scott, former acting commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Mark Morgan and former acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan and others.

While at the Border, Pence spoke with two ranchers, John Ladd and Fred Davis.
Interview: Ethiopia eyes more Chinese investments on priority sectors

Xinhua) 09:22, June 14, 2022

Lelise Neme, Commissioner for the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), speaks during an interview in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 8, 2022. Ethiopia expects a growing number of Chinese investments across various priority development sectors, Lelise Neme has said. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia expects a growing number of Chinese investments across various priority development sectors, a senior Ethiopian government official has said.

Lelise Neme, Commissioner for the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), told Xinhua that the East African country has strategized different perspectives toward attracting more potential Chinese investors by facilitating and easing the country's investment ecosystem, mainly across selected priority investment sectors.

"I believe that more Chinese investments will come to Ethiopia because Ethiopia has a big potential. We are a gateway for Africa as well. Not only that, we have strategized different perspectives of attracting more investors by changing our regulations and proclamation," Neme told Xinhua.

According to the EIC Commissioner, in the short term, the Ethiopian government is working to attract potential Chinese and other foreign investors to invest inside the premises of industrial parks that were built across the East African country.

"We believe and want more Chinese investors can bring their capital, and share their technology and know-how to our country. Our country is ready to attract them and accept them," Neme said.

She said the Ethiopian government has facilitated "a plug-and-play environment" in the industrial parks for potential Chinese investors, particularly in the pharmaceutical, medical equipment and manufacturing sectors.

The Ethiopian government has outlined five priority investment sectors that include agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, information communication technology (ICT) and the mining sectors.

"All the five sectors are critical for Chinese; and I hope they will come with those five priority sectors that we are setting," Neme said.

She, however, affirmed that Chinese investors are not only abounded in Ethiopia's priority sectors, and they can also tap into Ethiopia's potential to penetrate the wider continental and global market in line with its strategic location within the international market.

"There is a huge new technology that is being discovered every day. So, we believe they can come with their opinion or perspective of investment so that they can invest in our country," she said.

Last month, the EIC had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Investment Cooperation with its Chinese counterpart at a China-Ethiopia Investment and Trade Cooperation Forum that was co-hosted by the EIC, the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia and the Investment Promotion Agency of the Ministry of Commerce of China in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

According to the EIC Commissioner, the latest MOU will serve as a new cooperation mechanism to promote investment cooperation and inject new impetus to the collaboration of the two countries.

Recalling China's commitment to encouraging its businesses to invest no less than 10 billion U.S. dollars in Africa in the next three years that was announced at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in November last year, Neme said the Ethiopian government aspires to attract more Chinese investors under the common priority sectors.

"We, as Ethiopia, want to take the major share of the investment that has been dedicated for Africa so that we can attract more investors towards the different sectors that we are aiming to have with the major priority sectors," she said.

Neme further emphasized that the Ethiopian government has been working aggressively to alleviate some of the challenges that investors encounter in their engagements in Ethiopia.

Neme said the Ethiopian government had earlier this year launched an innovative strategy, dubbed an "After-Care Strategy," that aimed to ease investment bottlenecks by working hand-in-hand with the investors.

She said the Ethiopian government has also established foreign direct investors solution provider technical committee, which is led by the EIC and the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and brings together all government ministries and institutions that are related to foreign investors.

China has been Ethiopia's largest trading partner and biggest source of investment for many consecutive years. Ethiopia is also tapping into Chinese investors to boost its export potential both to China and elsewhere across the globe.

According to figures from the EIC, despite the impact of COVID-19, some 30 Chinese investment projects have commenced implementation in Ethiopia during the first nine months of the current 2021/22 Ethiopian fiscal year which will end on July 7.

In 2021, bilateral trade volume reached 2.66 billion U.S. dollars, of which, China imported commodities of nearly 370 million U.S. dollars from Ethiopia, a year-on-year increase of 8.1 percent, according to EIC data.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
If you watched the latest Jan. 6 committee hearing carefully, you could imagine a different Arizona over the last year and a half.

You could imagine a state in which political life was not dominated by a cycle of election-fraud claims made month after month, only to be debunked and replaced by new fraud claims. You could imagine a little less craziness and a little more stability.

But it didnt happen, because of a choice Donald Trump made when he reached a crossroads on the night of Election Day 2020, the committee showed this week.

In previous weeks, internal campaign data had told Trump he might well lose, we learned from the hearing Monday. That night, his more sober advisers, such as campaign manager Bill Stepien, were telling Trump to simply tell the public that people should hold tight and wait while votes were counted.

However, Trumps allegedly intoxicated attorney friend, Rudy Giuliani, said that anything less than claiming fraud and declaring victory would show weakness. Since Trump had been saying for months he could only lose if fraud were committed, the choice was perhaps as natural to him as it was consequential for us.

Trump went with the drunk. Arizonas history lurched.

Trump thought that I was wrong, Stepien told the committee in testimony recorded earlier. He told me so, and, you know, that they were going to go, and he was going to go in a different direction.

That night, Trump said in a televised speech: This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election.

He did not actually win the election. But just saying he had lost due to fraud convinced Trumps devoted followers it was true while also justifying massive fundraising campaigns.

Since his devoted supporters dominate the Republican Party, and since the Republican Party still holds sway in Arizona, the whole state has been held hostage to Trumps fateful choice on election night 2020.

Theories floated, rejected

Trump supporters protested outside the Maricopa County Elections Office on Nov. 4, 2020. That day, the first bogus theory of how the election was supposedly stolen took flight  that Sharpie pens were wrongly used in Maricopa County polling centers. It proved false. A lawsuit filed over this was quickly dropped.

And off we went, with GOP chair Kelli Ward driving the crazy train that the whole state still cant seem to get off.

We have the momentum, we have the activist community that is not going to allow this race to be stolen from President Trump or from Republicans all the way down the ballot, Ward said on Nov. 5.

Soon, her party organization and the Trump campaign were filing lawsuit after lawsuit in Arizona, making overlapping claims all based on the belief that Trump could not possibly have lost Arizona legitimately, even though he was a historically unpopular president.

Among them was the idea that Dominion Voting Systems machines, used in Maricopa County, were somehow programmed or tampered with to rob Trump of votes. U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa found the claims baseless.

Advancing several different theories, Plaintiffs allege that Arizonas Secretary of State and Governor conspired with various domestic and international actors to manipulate Arizonas 2020 General Election results allowing Joseph Biden to defeat Donald Trump in the presidential race, she wrote. The allegations they put forth to support their claims of fraud fail in their particularity and plausibility.

The presence here of such willingness to follow Trump into the breach dragged all of Arizona into the gutter.

State Rep. Mark Finchem, the Oro Valley Republican, organized a conference at a Phoenix hotel on Nov. 30, 2020. Rudy Giuliani attended and a crowd of self-appointed experts who would become familiar in Arizona claimed fraud had occurred here.

It helped launch the next stage of Finchems political career, earning him attention from Trump. Now running for Arizona secretary of state, Finchem is likely the leading candidate for the Republican nomination. At minimum hes the leading fundraiser, having raised $939,944 so far.

Its well known now that Trump raised $250 million after the campaign, claiming the money would go to a non-existent election defense fund. The Arizona GOP did something similar  raising money for itself through a so-called Election Integrity Fund.

Forget Jan. 6

Jump over Arizonas involvement in the events of Jan. 6  the planning by U.S. Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs, the Arizona Proud Boys breaching the Capitol, Finchems appearance at the scene  and still our political life has been dominated by the decision Trump made on Nov. 3, 2020.

State Senate President Karen Fann parted ways with House Speaker Rusty Bowers, embracing Trumps fraud claims and launching the audit that occupied much of 2021. She hired an inexperienced and biased firm called Cyber Ninjas to carry it out. Using high-powered cameras, these inexperienced auditors looked for traces of bamboo in ballots  to test the story that ballots had been shipped in from somewhere in East Asia.

They found no bamboo. They found nothing of great significance.

But still the grift and the grind goes on. The latest claim to grip Trump devotees comes from the movie 2000 Mules, which used cell phone location data to try to show that mules carried ballots to drop boxes repeatedly in Phoenix and elsewhere. Its been debunked already but will undoubtedly be replaced by a new blockbuster claim soon.

Leave aside the failed coup attempt on Jan. 6, 2021, and it still has been a massive waste of Arizonans time, effort and money. And it all traces back to that selfish, baseless and utterly predictable decision that Trump made at the crossroads of election night 2020.

+2

Contact opinion columnist Tim Steller at tsteller@tucson.com or 520-807-7789. On Twitter: @senyorreporter

Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.



Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
PHOENIX (AP)  The Arizona Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that state courts can keep juror identities secret, rejecting a challenge from a southern Arizona journalist who argued that the right to observe trials included access to the names of jurors who decide the fate of people charged with crimes.

The unanimous ruling written by Vice Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer turned away arguments made by attorneys for the publisher of the Cochise County Record that withholding identities during the jury selection process without a compelling reason violated the First Amendment.

The decision continues an ongoing movement in some American courts toward allowing the identities of jurors who have traditionally been named to be kept secret. A media group that filed a friend of the court brief said that routinely keeping juror identities secret would undermine the media's ability to play its watchdog role.

But Timmer wrote that while the First Amendment implicitly guarantees the right of the public and press to view criminal trials, it does not extend to all confidential information.

Weighing whether that right attaches to media access to the names of individual jurors requires a review of whether they have historically been available, Timmer wrote, and whether public access plays a significant positive role in the functioning of the particular process in question."

Timmer concluded that while juror names have generally been public across the nation, providing them would not create a more fair process, and might even imperil jury integrity.

Accessing jurors names would not significantly add to the publics ability to assure itself that voir dire is fairly conducted or to check the courts in disregarding established standards for jury selection, Timmer wrote.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press had urged the high court to require juror names be made available except in unusual cases, saying that doing otherwise would limit the ability of the public and press to scrutinize the judicial process.

The benefits of an open and transparent court system  guarding against the miscarriage of justice, assuring that proceedings are fair and discouraging decisions based on bias  are undermined when the public cannot tell who exercises the jury power, the committee's filing said.

Attorneys with the Arizona Attorney General's office argued that revealing juror names would not help the selection process and that disclosing them would expose jurors to the risk of danger and embarrassment.

The Supreme Court case was brought by David Morgan, who runs the Cochise County Record, a website focused on public documents from local police and the courts. He and a second journalist appealed after a judge sealed jury names in two cases without giving any explanation, but only Morgan pursued the case all the way to the Arizona's highest court.

Morgan said he expected the loss, given questions from the seven justices during argument in April. But he noted that the court did not say juror names could never be released and that jurors themselves can identify themselves.

This was focused on voir dire, Morgan said. This didn't say forever.

Timmer noted that judges have the discretion to release juror names, and that if a court denies access, a best practice would be to explain its reasoning on the record.

Cochise County courts use secret juries in all criminal trials, and Arizona law says that lists of juror names or other juror information shall not be released unless specifically required by law or ordered by the court.

Justice Clint Bolick wrote a brief concurring opinion noting that the privacy provision in Arizonas constitution provides a compelling interest in enforcing (the juror secrecy law) to protect juror privacy.

Juror names across the U.S. were generally open until the late 1970s, when courts began seating anonymous juries in selected cases involving drug kingpins and mafia bosses, and the list has grown steadily to include many high profile cases.

Last year, a judge in Minnesota said he would keep the names of jurors who convicted former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin of George Floyd's murder secre t until he deemed it safe to release their names.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.


NEW YORK (AP)  Authorities have dropped criminal charges against rapper Roddy Ricch following a gun arrest Saturday in New York City that forced him to miss a scheduled concert performance.

Ricch, 23, and two other men were taken into police custody after police said a security guard working a checkpoint outside Citi Field in Queens noticed a firearm in the vehicle he was riding in.

Soon after, authorities dropped charges against the Grammy Award winner and one of the other men in the vehicle, 57-year-old Carlos Collins of Eastchester, New York.

Asked Monday what happened with Ricchs case, the Queens district attorneys office said it had no information to share. A message seeking comment was left with the NYPD.

A court clerk told the New York Daily News on Sunday that the cases against Ricch, whose real name is Rodrick Moore, and Collins had been dismissed. Neither case was listed on the public court docket.

Prosecutors are pursuing a case against the third man, whom a security guard said was sitting in the front passenger seat where the gun was found.

Michael Figueroa, 46, of Brooklyn, was arraigned Sunday on gun possession charges.

As of Monday, Figueroa had not posted bail and was being held at New York Citys Rikers Island jail complex. A message seeking comment was left with Figueroas lawyer.

According to prosecutors, the security guard told police that he saw Figueroa pull an object from his waistband and reach toward his feet after the vehicle was stopped.

The guard said he then searched the vehicle and found a loaded pistol under the front passenger seat floor mat, prosecutors said.

Ricchs arrest preempted his performance Saturday at the Governors Ball Music Festival at Citi Field, but he was back on the stage Sunday at radio station Hot 97s Summer Jam concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

There, he led an explicit chant against the NYPD, according to social media posts. Later, he posted a profane response to a tweet about his arrest. Messages seeking comment were left Monday with Ricchs booking agency and record company.

Ricch, who hails from Compton, California, near Los Angeles, gained fame for the single Die Young. He won a Grammy in 2020 for appearing on the late Nipsey Hussles song Racks in the Middle.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.


Former Vice President Mike Pence called Monday for limiting legal migration only to those who this country needs and who can support themselves.

We need to make it clear that the people that are coming into this country can support themselves, support their family, he said in Phoenix during what was in many ways a campaign rally aimed at electing Republicans this fall and a GOP president two years later.

Pence also said his agenda calls for:

Finishing the border wall.

Deporting all criminal illegal immigrants and gang members.

Ending chain migration that allows those already here legally to bring in family members.

Banning sanctuary cities that keep states from cooperating with federal immigration officials.

Eliminating what he said is asylum fraud by reinstating the remain in Mexico policy.

Pence also said he would shut the door on any talk of creating a path to legal status for the approximately 11 million people estimated to be in this country illegally.

All forms of amnesty, whether legislative or administrative, must be vigorously opposed, he told his audience of legislators and others invited to the event held at the Arizona Commerce Authority.

America is a nation of laws, Pence said. And we must stand on the principle of the rule of law and reject amnesty in all of its forms.

The nearly 35-minute speech in many ways was more of a campaign rally than policy address.

Pence repeatedly mentioned not only this years congressional races, urging the election of Republicans to oust the Democrats from control of the House and Senate.

He also repeatedly lashed out at President Biden and his administration. He stopped short, however, of saying that he is the person to oust Biden in the 2024 presidential election.

Earlier Monday, Pence visited the Arizona border with Mexico to talk to residents and authorities about border security concerns and what he called an American tragedy.

We have a crisis at our southern border that the people of Cochise County live with every day, Pence said to the officials and a gaggle of reporters at Cochise College in Sierra Vista. The reality is many in our nations Capitol and many in our national media have simply turned a blind eye toward a widening human tragedy that is causing hardship and heartbreak on both sides of the border.

The numbers of migrants being apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border has steadily increased since the summer of 2020 to record levels in March and April of this year. Across the globe, migration is at record levels as many countries deal with the effects of climate change, economic fallout after the pandemic, and rising levels of violence.

Pence started his border trip with media at Cochise College, where a number of other former Trump administration officials were present, including former Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Mark Morgan, former Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott, and former director of ICE Thomas Douglas.

The press conference attendees also included Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, Sierra Vista Mayor Rick Mueller and the college campus president and board members.

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey was supposed to join the former vice president, but his office announced earlier in the day that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and would not attend. Ducey was asymptomatic and feeling well, his spokesman said.

Pence and the group traveled from Cochise College to the border in Coronado National Forest, near Montezuma Pass, where a long stretch of border wall ends on the incline of a steep mountain.

Pence told the group of national and local reporters that the Trump administration handed over the most secure border in American history, because of the leadership, immigration policies and relationship the administration had with the Mexican government, and now, we have the worst border crisis in the history of our nation, he said.

Pence said several times that the Trump administration reduced illegal immigration by 90%, without saying where that statistic came from.

The number of apprehensions at the southern border, from the beginning of fiscal year 2017 through fiscal year 2020, which primarily fell during the Trump administration, was higher than during the Obama administration, and saw about 300,000 more apprehensions than either term of the Obama administration.

There were more than 1.9 million apprehensions during the Trump years. Since Biden took office, there have been nearly 3 million apprehensions at the southern border.

Pence said the increase is because the Biden administration undid policies the previous administration had in place, specifying catch and release, the Remain in Mexico program, declaring a national emergency on the border with Mexico, a treaty agreement with the North American triangle and building a wall on the southern border.

Catch and release refers to the practice of allowing a migrant who has already entered the country and has an upcoming hearing in immigration court to await their hearing in the community rather than in immigration detention.

The Remain in Mexico policy, enacted under Trump, has migrants who have been entered into the immigration system wait in Mexico for their court dates in the United States. Although the Biden administration originally ended the policy, it reinstated it after courts ruled its ending was unlawful.

While the number of migrants who enter the country has been increasing, so has the number of migrants deported. Under Title 42, a public health policy enacted because of the pandemic, the Biden administration has immediately ejected more than 1.5 million migrants.

A nation without borders is not a nation, and soon we will again have leadership that understands that, Pence said, referring to the upcoming midterm elections for U.S. House and Senate.

Contact reporter Danyelle Khmara at dkhmara@tucson.com or 573-4223 . On Twitter: @DanyelleKhmara

Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.



Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A Tulsa-based manufacturer of custom-designed Native American furniture will launch its collection in six showrooms in the United States this summer, including one in Tulsa.

Amatoya was founded by Cray Bauxmont-Flynn.

Amatoya has set a new bar for timeless, true Native American design, quality and craftsmanship, Bauxmont-Flynn said in a statement. Since starting our company three years ago, our handsome, sculptural pieces have caught the eyes of discerning designers, hotel proprietors and even set decorators. Now we are offering our collection in showrooms across the country.

Showrooms in Dallas, Denver and Washington D.C. will debut June 22, with locations in Tulsa (Duvall Atelier at 2204 E. 15th St.), Seattle and Chicago launching in July.

The Dallas showroom, the sole location operating under the Amatoya brand, will open in The Gallery at the Dallas Market Center. It will feature 38 pieces from the Tulsa companys home and hospitality collection, ranging from tables and chairs to sofas, cabinets and textiles. The other locations will display eight to 12 pieces within partner showrooms.

The half-dozen venues represent the only sales points for Amatoyas made-to-order lines. Customers may choose from product samples along with a variety of unique fabrics and finishes. Amatoya will manufacture and deliver these custom orders using its Oklahoma network of Native American artisans.

A Cherokee word meaning rainmaker, Amatoya develops residential and hospitality furniture that embraces Native American cultures across the continental United States.

I want to help keep the Native American spirit and artistry alive for the next generation, Bauxmont-Flynn said.

Im a proud Cherokee, but I dont want the Amatoya line to just be about my culture and heritage. We will include everyone, from the Iroquois in the Northeast U.S. to the Navajo in the Southwest and the Nez Perce in the Northwest.

Because of COVIDs impact on staffing, markets and supply chains, Flynn said it took Amatoya several months to develop its marketing and production infrastructure. He said the firms reliance on made-to-order products should allow Amatoya to stay ahead of inventory concerns.

It was hard to pull together the people who can produce those pieces and manufacture them with the best quality, he said. Were delighted with the craftsmen and artisans weve gathered.

The synergy of Amatoyas partnerships is captured with multiple workrooms. It is apparent in each piece that it is custom fabricated and consistently reviewed throughout the entire process. This hands-on approach is a tenet practiced in all facets of our business.

Subscribe to Daily Headlines Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.

The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
An Arkansas music teacher from Owasso is using his ear for sound to gain nationwide acclaim.

Nicholas Fernandez, an Owasso High School alumnus, teaches at Bentonville High School in Bentonville, Arkansas, and was named a quarterfinalist for the 2023 Music Educator Award.

Fernandez is among nearly 210 music teachers from 180 cities across the country named recipients of the prestigious award, presented through a joint partnership of the Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Museum.

The Music Educator Award was established to recognize current educators  kindergarten through college at public and private schools  who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools.

Being nominated for the Grammy Music Educator Award came as a surprise, as it has never been something on my radar, Fernandez said. The fact that I was nominated by one of my students provides affirmation that I am positively influencing them through music, which is exactly what I set out to do in the beginning.

I hope this acknowledgment brings attention to the importance of music education in Bentonville and the positive effects it has on our community.

In total, nearly 1,500 initial nominations were submitted. In addition to the quarterfinalists, 125 legacy applicants from 2022 will also be eligible to win the award this year. The semifinalists will be announced in September.

The recipient will be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2023, which takes place ahead of the 2023 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 65th GRAMMY Awards.

Each year, one recipient is selected from 10 finalists and recognized for their remarkable impact on students lives. The 10th annual honoree will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the 65th GRAMMY Awards and a range of GRAMMY Week events. The nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants.

Fifteen semifinalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants. The matching grants provided to the schools are made possible by the generosity and support of the GRAMMY Museums Education Champion, Ford Motor Company Fund.

Art Haddaway with the Owasso Reporter contributed to this story.
The University of Central Oklahoma College of Mathematics and Science recently awarded a scholarship to Owasso resident Kassidy Collins in recognition of their academic excellence and outstanding service to the university.

Collins, a biomedical science major, received the Dr. Ethel Derrick Endowed Scholarship for Biology.

On behalf of the faculty and staff in the College of Mathematics and Science, I congratulate each of our scholarship recipients, said Gloria Caddell, Ph.D., dean of Centrals College of Mathematics and Science.

The achievements of these outstanding students reflect the mission of the college and the university. We applaud them for their commitment to academic excellence and exceptional work. We are also grateful to our alumni and the benefactors of our college whose generosity made these awards possible.
Wagoner County Assessor Sandy Hodges said she would have never projected real estate values in Wagoner County to spike over 10 % in 2021.

That is phenomenal, Hodges said to the Wagoner Rotary Club as guest speaker of their weekly meeting on June 14. We would have never imagined this post-COVID, and we dont see an end in sight.

Lets put that statistic into perspective. According to Hodges report, strong growth was when real estate sales values were up three percent in a normal year from 2011-2019. In 2020, Oklahoma saw record real estate values, over five percent. By 2021, real estate values were over 11 percent statewide.

Talk about extraordinary growth.

If were not growing, were dying, she told Rotarians with a smile.

Despite the strong growth numbers, inventory has taken a gigantic plunge. In 2017 for 2018, Wagoner County had a recorded number of 11 residential plats, and 558 new lots. The numbers stayed about the same for the next year, but by 2019 for 2020, there were 15 plats and 765 lots  a great time for the buyer! However, by 2020 for 2021, there were only eight plats and 348 lots. In 2021 for 2022, there were eight plats and 216 lots.

Currently in 2022 for tax year 2023, there are four plats and 288 lots, although she expects those numbers to increase before the year ends. According to Hodges report, there are 900 newly completed houses on the tax role for 2022.

Hodges wanted to make sure everyone in the room was aware that property tax rates are not determined by the assessors office. They are simply appraisers  determining the value of property based on market value.

Also, when determining property values, the Wagoner County Assessors team will always calculate it based off of Jan. 1 of the given year. For example, if someone buys a house in July of 2022, the property value will be determined based off of January 1, 2022. Hodges said not a lot of people, especially new homebuyers, realize that.

In Wagoner County alone, Hodges explained that there are 14 taxing jurisdictions, which is uncommon for most counties. The property tax percentage rate is different for all of those jurisdictions. She explained that around 70 to 80 % of property tax dollars goes directly to the local school systems.

Despite all the growth taking place, Hodges said staff numbers in the assessors office have stayed the same. She noted that it especially gets busy around March, when she and her team have to send mailers out to all Wagoner County homeowners notifying them that assessors will be out visually inspecting properties.

Our team is highly trained, and they all have to go undergo 120 class hours, Hodges said of her team. Our office is here to the serve the community of Wagoner County.

Hodges has been the Wagoner County Assessor since January 2011. Shes also on the Oklahoma Assessors Association, currently serving on the Legislative Committee as chair of the Forms Committee. She works closely with the tax commission to develop user-friendly and efficient forms for the taxpayer and assessors office. In addition, Hodges is a member of the Oklahoma Chapter of the International Association of Assessing Officers, having served many positions in the past. She is also a founding member of the Coweta Rotary Club.

Before her success as an assessor, Hodges was a middle and high school teacher of government, history, geography and the Bible.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A Tulsa man whose state life-without-parole prison sentence was overturned on jurisdictional grounds was sentenced Tuesday to serve 18 years in prison after federal prosecutors picked up the case.

U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan signed off on a plea agreement on lesser charges between Dameon Lamar Leathers and federal prosecutors for the 18-year sentence.

Leathers, 40, had been serving a no-parole life prison term after a Tulsa County District Court jury in 2019 found him guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Howard Thompson, 50.

Thompson was shot and killed April 7, 2018, during a robbery attempt in his driveway in the 5400 block of North Hartford Place.

Police said at the time that Leathers and Lloyd Christopher Clemons Jr., now 31, both planned to rob Thompson, who had been known to carry large amounts of cash.

State prosecutors dismissed robbery and murder charges against Clemons, who testified against Leathers at his state trial. Clemons pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and received a six-year prison sentence.

Leathers successfully challenged his conviction and sentence, claiming that the state did not have jurisdiction to try him because he was a member of the Muscogee Nation and the crime occurred within the Cherokee Nation reservation.

Before Leathers was freed from state prison, a federal grand jury indicted him in April 2021 on one count of first-degree murder in Indian Country.

He pleaded guilty Feb. 17 to a three-count felony information charging him with first-degree burglary in Indian Country, conspiracy to break into Thompsons residence and steal cash, and assault with a dangerous weapon.

The latter charge was related to Leathers having assaulted Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray with a plastic water pitcher during his state trial.

Leathers shattered the pitcher when he struck Gray in the back of the head with it after jurors found him guilty of first-degree murder.

Leathers then landed a glancing blow against Gray before deputies subdued him.

Court records show that Leathers was sentenced to 18 years in prison on the first-degree burglary charge, five years in prison for the conspiracy count and 10 years on the assault charge involving Gray.

Eagan ordered that all three prison terms be served concurrently. Prosecutors dismissed the original indictment and a superseding indictment after Eagan accepted the plea agreement.

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
In the wake of the mass shooting on the Saint Francis Hospital campus, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin has made it clear that his job is not to make the laws regulating firearms  its to enforce them.

But ask him about what gun-related policies or laws would make his officers jobs less dangerous, and hes glad to opine. In the process, he sheds light on existing laws and practices he believes are putting the lives of officers and the public in peril.

Wild, wild West, Franklin said Monday, when asked to describe the illegal gun problem on the streets of Tulsa. We are pulling significant amounts of guns from individuals who shouldnt have them.

Tulsa is on pace to have more homicides this year than it did last year. To date, 38 people have been killed in the city, and the year isnt quite half over; in all of 2021, there were 62.

A year earlier, in 2020, the number was 79, according to Police Department data compiled by the Tulsa World.

Franklin responded decisively when asked what factors are contributing to that unpleasant reality: the states constitutional carry law, straw purchases and ghost guns  untraceable weapons made from kits.

Passed by the state Legislature in early 2019, constitutional carry gives Oklahomans the right to carry firearms without a permit or training.

Everyone wants to have their gun with them or near them, Franklin said. If they go into a location where they cant have it, then they leave it in their vehicle, and vehicles get broken into.

Or they get home and leave the guns in their cars with the doors unlocked.

Again, somebody just goes around checking door handles and capitalizes on the opportunity, Franklin said.

A straw gun purchase is one made by an individual with a clean record, who then provides the gun  or guns  to someone who the law says is not allowed to have one.

Together, constitutional carry and straw purchases significantly put our officers at risk, Franklin said.

When there is an over abundance of guns out there in the hands of people who shouldnt have them, we are forced to go out and deal with that.  It causes us to be involved in more shootings, he said.

Franklin ticked off three measures he believes would help get guns off the streets and make officers safer: shortening the time it takes the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to trace guns used in crimes; requiring individuals selling guns to follow the same gun registration practices as federally licensed firearms dealers; and mandating that serial numbers be placed on ghost guns.

A federally licensed firearms dealer has to keep a record of every gun he brings into the store and sells, Franklin said, information the ATF uses to trace where guns used to commit crimes were purchased.

I think there is always  a balance that could be struck between having electronic records so that ATF has that information at their fingertips to be able to trace a firearm, Franklin said, instead of us physically being forced to go to a gun dealer who has to keep a copy in whatever filing system they have.

It is a monumental task to be able to track that down and then hope that the gun dealer has kept appropriate records.

Gun sales by individuals are even more difficult to track down, he said.

If you decide to sell your gun, there is no track record of when you sell it, who you sold it to, nothing like that, Franklin said. That makes it difficult, especially when we are trying to trace a firearm to see where its origin is.

Franklin said the ATF is expected to take steps later this year to address the registration of ghost guns.

Although hes not seen the details of the federal gun safety proposal announced Sunday by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, Franklin expressed general support for improving background checks, increasing funding for mental health services, and encouraging red flag laws  all measures included in the proposal.

Red flag laws allow police to temporarily confiscate guns from people who are deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. In May, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed legislation outlawing such measures in Oklahoma.

Franklin said he still needs to learn more about how red flag laws would work before making a final determination on their effectiveness.

You tell me what law enforcements role is in it, and I will tell you whether or not it is something that is practical or something we can actually do, he said.

Among the problems with the federal background check system, Franklin said, is that sometimes one part of the system is unable to communicate with other parts of the system.

So those loopholes need to be changed, he said.

Franklin sees gun shows as another place where regulations could be tightened. Typically, such shows include a mix of private sellers and federally registered firearms dealers.

Gun shows are considered person-to-person transactions; thus there is no need for a federal firearms license nor a background check, he said. Again, another loophole.

Im not familiar with proposed legislation, but I do know that there is room for, say, a federally licensed individual or entity to oversee a gun show and that all checks and things would have to flow through that dealer.

Another potential avenue to addressing the proliferation of guns: more stringent enforcement of existing laws, including those intended to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons and others with a history of serious crimes.

We still need to be aggressive with the prosecution of those individuals that are caught that shouldnt have a firearm, Franklin said. They should be doing harder sentences for that.

Ultimately, the police chief said, it will be up to lawmakers to create legislation that balances public safety and peoples Second Amendment rights.

Speaking hypothetically, Franklin said that if police were permitted to check vehicles for guns as they enter a neighborhood, that likely would decrease the number of guns in that area. But it would come with a trade-off.

I think there has to be some balance struck between everyones Second Amendment right and safety, he said. And those lawmakers are going to have to come up with what that balance is.

Oklahoma has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country and is among the states with the highest percentage of gun deaths per capita, according to Everytown For Gun Safety  a gun safety advocacy group  and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There is intense debate regarding whether stricter firearm regulations would result in fewer deaths by guns, and Franklin believes that legislation alone wont reduce the violence.

Parents have got to step up to the plate and parent their child. There shouldnt be a television or a computer or a laptop or an iPad in a kids possession that a parent isnt regulating, Franklin said.

Some of the violence that we see on social media sites that are readily at our fingertips desensitizes  (and) has an effect on us over time, and I dont think people understand that.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A City Council working group recommended last month that if the Police Department is going to establish a Real Time Information Center, the city should also implement a police oversight program.

For Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper, that begins by funding it.

I will say that clearly:  Animal Welfare (Department), we figured out how to address it in our budget, but OIM (Office of the Independent Monitor) has been a request for several years, but for whatever reason, it doesnt seem like  were going forward with that recommendation, Hall-Harper said during a committee meeting last week. That is my concern.

The District 1 councilor has asked that the citys Finance Department look into finding a way to fund a police oversight program in the fiscal year 2023 budget, which councilors are scheduled to vote on Wednesday.

Mayor G.T. Bynums proposed $944.9 budget includes $148.7 million for the Police Department, including at least $2.55 million to fund the Real Time Information Center.

Police say that initially the Real Time Information Center would operate out of City Hall and include approximately 50 video cameras  a figure that could change depending on the cost of the cameras and where they are installed.

Video from the cameras would be monitored around the clock.

The equipment is different from the Flock System license plate readers police are planning to install soon.

According to our research, every major city that you all have told us has awesome Real Time Information Centers also have independent oversight, said Councilor Lori Decter Wright. Most of them had it in place beforehand. Birmingham put it in after the fact one year later, because of the demand of the community for that balance.

The Office of the Independent Monitor was first proposed by Bynum in January 2019, but disagreements among councilors over how such a program should operate  and what powers it should be granted  have left the proposal in limbo.

Bynums OIM proposal was budgeted at approximately $500,000 a year. The working groups OIM recommendation  one of 11 it offered to improve transparency and accountability in the Police Department  put the figure closer to $750,000.

The Animal Welfare Department funding Hall-Harper referenced was an additional $622,000 it is set to receive in the FY 2023 budget for raises, equipment  including an X-ray machine  and other materials.

Police Chief Wendell Franklin has consistently opposed implementing an OIM. He told councilors on Wednesday that hes all for trying anything that would improve efficiency in the Police Department but that he does not believe an OIM is the answer.

I speak to police chiefs  from their side on whether or not offices of the independent monitors, civilian oversight  how effective are they? And everyone I have spoken with, they laugh at OIM, Franklin said. Because either they are ineffective and officers dont even know what they are and dont understand them and they do their thing and police departments continue to operate, or there was so much turmoil and in-fighting among the civilians.

Hall-Harper disagreed with that assessment, saying shes heard from police chiefs who do support oversight programs.

We are looking at Real Time Information Centers, and the vast majority of those (cities) have OIMs in place and have had them for years, she said. But we are, I guess, trying to figure out a way not to do that.

The Trust and Accountability working group was one of multiple council subcommittees established to put forward proposals to address issues raised in the citys Equality Indicators reports. The working group was made up of Councilors Mykey Arthrell, Hall-Harper and Wright.

The councilors looked at nearly 30 cities to determine how many had Real Time Crime Centers and independent oversight of their police departments. Las Vegas  which Bynum and Franklin have praised for the quality and effectiveness of its Real Time Crime Center  was one of the cities that had both.

Whether it be an Office of the Independent Monitor (OIM) or an alternative format, the City of Tulsa needs to establish an independent accountability entity that regularly monitors and reviews TPD in order to increase accountability and transparency in policing, the working groups recommendation states.

City councilors are not in agreement on moving forward with the funding, with Councilor Phil Lakin arguing that he would like to see whether his colleagues would support a police oversight program  and what it would look like  before funding it.

Councilor Connie Dodson agreed.

I think were kind of (putting) the cart before the horse when we are talking about funding something that this council hasnt even agreed on the details for, she said.

Featured video: Citizens comment on an Office of the Independent Monitor

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The group of nearly 20 organizations is asking that the proposal be pulled, saying the problem of homelessness won't be fixed by fines or jail time for obstructing public rights of way.
Smoke from thousands of burned U.S. flags filled the air in downtown Tulsa on Tuesday morning as dozens of veterans and Boy Scouts honored Flag Day with a flag retirement ceremony.

The Tulsa Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 577 hosted the annual ceremony in partnership with the Marine Corps League and Boy Scout Troop 2222. This year, the VFW post collected more than 3,000 worn and unserviceable flags from across Oklahoma.

VFW Post 577 is one of a few permanent flag retirement facilities in the state.

The U.S. Flag Code, Title 4, Section 8k states that when a flag is no longer fit for display, it should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

During the ceremony, VFW Post 577 Past Commander Josh Starks guided Boy Scout Aidan Lakey toward the funeral pyre. Each of them held a flag in his arms, then carefully tossed it into the fire before saluting it.

Lakey and a handful of other Boy Scouts received a patch for their uniforms symbolizing community service at the ceremony.

Occasionally, a veteran approached the fire with a flag in hand and rang the large bell adjacent to the fire pit to dedicate the retired flag to someone.

The flags ranged in size, and some required a dozen people to carry them to the fire, holding up each section of them to ensure that they didnt touch the ground. The large flags were visibly tattered on the ends, signifying that their lives had concluded.

We treat each flag as though its a service member, Stark said. When it reaches the end of its life, we go ahead and pay its honors of the service its given on the pole. It represents our great nation that we love and that we served overseas to protect.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)  Calmer winds and cooler temperatures Tuesday allowed firefighters across the U.S. West to get a better handle on blazes that have forced hundreds of people from their homes.

As red flag warnings expired and winds died down in northern Arizona, firefighters took advantage of the weather changes to attack a 31-square-mile (81-square-kilometer) blaze by air and at the fire's edges.

They're optimistic to make some headway, fire information officer Cathie Pauls said.

The forecast for later this week called for a chance of showers, which could dampen the blaze but might bring the chance of new fires from lightning strikes.

Meanwhile, authorities downgraded evacuations for the larger of two wildfires burning on the outskirts of Flagstaff, Arizona.

That fire made a run into a wilderness area and reached a lava dome to the northeast, away from most neighborhoods. One home and a secondary structure had burned, the Coconino County Sheriff's Office said. About 350 homes remained evacuated Tuesday.

Another 280 homes were evacuated because of a smaller wildfire that burned about 6 square miles (16 square kilometers) in a more remote area.

Sandra Morales planned to return home Wednesday, a day after evacuations for her neighborhood were lifted.

Still, she worried about the smoke, potential wind shifts and the risk of flooding later in the fire area.

Next thing you know, we have to be worried about the monsoons and all that, she said. That debris, if it gets severe, it's going to come down the mountain.

Climate change and an enduring drought have fanned the frequency and intensity of forest and grassland fires. Multiple states had early starts to the wildfire season this spring.

The number of square miles burned so far this year is more than double the 10-year national average, and states like New Mexico have already set records with devastating blazes that destroyed hundreds of homes while causing environmental damage that is expected to affect water supplies.

Nationally, more than 6,200 wildland firefighters were battling nearly three dozen uncontained fires that had charred over 1,780 square miles (4,611 square kilometers), much of it in the U.S. Southwest, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

In southwest Alaska, favorable winds shifted the progression of a fire that's burned 202 square miles (523 square kilometers) of dry grass and brush, fire managers said Tuesday. No one had been evacuated, and no structures were damaged or lost.

In California, firefighters reported significant progress against a wildfire near the San Gabriel Mountains community of Wrightwood, but evacuation orders and warnings remained in place. The blaze has scorched about 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers) since erupting over the weekend and was 27% contained.

In Northern California's Tehama County, firefighters gained 30% containment of a fire that destroyed 10 buildings, damaged four others and threatened about 160 structures, fire officials said.

In a wildfire-related situation, a 50-mile (80-km) stretch of State Route 70 in Northern California remained closed indefinitely after mud, boulders and dead trees inundated lanes during flash floods along a burn scar.

Associated Press writers John Antczak in Los Angeles and Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Less than two weeks away from the June 28 primary elections, 2nd District Congressman  and, more to the point, U.S. Senate candidate  Markwayne Mullin looks and acts confident.

All signs point to Mullin comfortably leading the 13 Republicans picturing themselves as successors to retiring U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe.

Polling released Monday by Oklahoma City-based Amber Integrated shows Mullin with a 19-point lead on former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon, and no one else reaching double digits.

In keeping with general front-runner strategy, Mullin skipped a televised debate last week with four other leading contenders. His vote on a gun safety bill in Washington, he indicated, was more important than mixing it up with opponents on TV.

Mullins vote didnt matter in the final tally on the gun bill, but it did give him another chance to assure his target audience  readers of Breitbart and The Epoch Times, for instance  that hes fighting far-left gun-grabbing.

On that and most other issues of substance, there seems little difference among the Republican primary candidates. All profess continued allegiance to former President Donald Trump and the 2nd Amendment; most and possibly all favor a national abortion ban and are worried that schools are teaching too much sex and socialism.

Some entered the primary in a stew about COVID-19 vaccinations, mask mandates and school policies. Some want Congress to revoke the tribal reservation boundaries recognized by the U.S. Supreme Courts McGirt decision. Some oppose U.S. involvement in Ukraine.

At this point, the race seems to be about who makes a potential runoff with Mullin in August. Shannon is the firm favorite there, leading state Sen. Nathan Dahm and former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt by double digits in the Amber Integrated poll.

The ultimate victor meets Democrat Kendra Horn, independent Ray Woods and Libertarian Robert Murphy in the Nov. 8 general election.

Following is an alphabetical rundown of all 13 GOP primary candidates:

Michael Coibion, 67, Bartlesville: Very low profile and polling numbers.

Nathan Dahm, 39, Broken Arrow: Eagerly campaigns on his 10-year record in the state Senate, which saw his positions prevail on issues such as abortion and constitutional carry despite his frequent estrangements from party leadership. Polling in the mid-single digits.

Jessica Jean Garrison, 47, Owasso: Another low-profile candidate who does not seem to have actively campaigned.

Alex Gray, 32, Nichols Hills: Former Trump administration official who doesnt seem to have made much headway in his first attempt at elected office. Specialist in Asian trade issues. Among several Republican candidates pledging to disestablish eastern Oklahoma reservations if elected.

Randy Grellner, 56, Cushing: Small-town doctor who advocated alternative COVID-19 treatments and said this week that consolidation of the health care field is closing little hospitals and limiting access. Latest polling has him in the low single digits.

Luke Holland, 35, Tulsa: Inhofes chief of staff for five years before resigning to run for this office. Campaign themes include Inhofes endorsement, praising Trumps presidency and religion. The left has been so good at kicking God out of everything, Holland told a Republican group this week. We need to invite the Lord back into the center of things.

Adam Holley, 41, Bixby: Office manager for a commercial construction company. Kick that woke idea out of here, he told a Republican group this week. Polling around 1%.

Laura Moreno, 47, Edmond: A doctor who touted ivermectin for COVID-19. Barely registers in latest polling.

Markwayne Mullin, 44, Westville: Five-term 2nd District congressman whos managed to successfully navigate his constituents somewhat complicated relationship with the federal government. Polling says hes the frontrunner with support in the mid- to high-30s.

Scott Pruitt, 54, Tulsa: Former Oklahoma attorney general and Environmental Protection Agency director who doesnt seem to be getting a lot of traction. Preaches the oil and gas gospel  more production, more pipelines  and promises to do all he can to disestablish reservation boundaries recognized by the McGirt decision. Polling in the mid-single digits.

T.W. Shannon, 44, Oklahoma City: Former speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives looks like a likely runoff candidate, with polling in the 15% to 20% range. An African American and a Chickasaw, Shannon presents himself as an only in America story.

Paul Royse, 51, Tulsa: Twice ran unsuccessfully for state House of Representatives. Not showing any reason to think hell do better here.

John Tompkins, 65, Oklahoma City: Physician. Ran for this same seat two years ago without much effect.

Featured video: U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe announces plan to retire

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The state agency charged with overseeing state contracts didnt find out about the now-famous one between Swadleys restaurants and the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department until more than a year after it was signed, a top administration official said Monday.

Steven Harpe, the states chief operating officer and executive director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, told a legislative investigative committee that OMES Division of Central Services became aware of the Swadleys contract in March 2021 when it received a change order to the original agreement dated February 2020.

This is at odds with an earlier legislative report that said OMES granted Tourism an exception to the Central Purchasing Act, which funnels most state contracting through the Division of Central Purchasing.

OMES didnt grant an exception because we were never presented the opportunity to, Harpe said Monday.

That said, Harpe agreed that his agency did not seriously question the arrangement once OMES and Central Services became aware of it. He said Tourism claimed it had a statutory exemption and that his agency couldnt legally challenge it.

I dont have the authority to tell them how to spend their money, Harpe said.

In answer to another question, Harpe said, if we were aware that was going on, if somebody was purposely going rogue, then, yeah, I think we should say something.

At least a few members seemed skeptical of Harpes explanation.

House Special Investigative Committee Chairman Ryan Martinez, R-Edmond, drove home the point that Harpe would have participated in Cabinet and staff meetings at which the restaurant renovations likely would have been discussed, both before and after the date Harpe said OMES and Central Purchasing learned of the contract.

Who at OMES reports to the governor about what is going on in state agencies, including the Department of Tourism? Martinez asked, to which Harpe replied he did.

Harpe said he didnt remember substantive discussions about Swadleys but that he would have to check my notes.

According to the report from the Legislative Office of Financial Transparency, Tourism entered into a contract with Swadleys in early 2020 that originally called for a maximum of $4 million to renovate and operate restaurants at several state parks.

The contract subsequently swelled to more than $17 million after Swadleys became the general contractor as well as the vendor on the project. The final contract also guaranteed Swadleys operating losses.

News reports and the LOFT report prompted investigations by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the resignation of Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department Executive Director Jerry Winchester, and cancellation of the contract.

That, Harpe acknowledged, left several subcontractors on the projects unpaid.

Legislators expressed frustration at being unable to pin down the party or parties responsible for the contracts.

Harpe replied that he understood but thought it would be unwise for him to comment until the investigations into the matter are complete.

Clearly, though, the fingers were pointing at the Department of Tourism.

Complicating the situation are the personal and political relationships of those involved. Harpe and Winchester were appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, who is at odds with the Legislature over a variety of issues.

In addition, Harpe was the chief technology officer for Stitts Gateway Mortgage before joining him in state government.

Several lawmakers asked about the role of the Tourism secretary, Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell.

Cabinet secretaries are required to sign off on expenditures of $25,000 or more, which puts Pinnell on the line for some responsibility.

Some with knowledge of the situation, though, said he did not negotiate the contract and might not have known much about its details or the amendments that boosted its value to more than four times its original amount.

Pinnell has recommend restoring oversight authority to the state Tourism Commission, which had the authority before it was taken away in a state government reform movement to shift power to the Governors Office.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Far more Democrats switch to GOP than vice versa, and though it's hard to say why, "if you want a vote that matters, that's probably in the (Republican) primary," an OU poli-sci professor says.
A $300 million tax increment financing district approved by Mayes County commissioners in late April could be headed to a general election Nov. 8.

The Mayes County Election Board determined Monday that a referendum petition asking for the TIF to go to a vote of the people surpassed the legal threshold of 10% of the registered voters in Mayes County, said Matt Primm, assistant district attorney for District 12, which serves Mayes, Rogers and Craig counties.

The Election Board determined that of the 3,016 signatures included in the petition, 2,383 were valid, Primm said. It needed to get at least 2,325 signatures to reach the 10% threshold.

Roughly two months ago, Mayes County commissioners voted 2-1 to support a 12-year TIF district inside MidAmerica Industrial Park to lure what has been deemed the largest proposed economic development project in Oklahoma history. Hoping to attract at least a $3 billion investment from an unnamed company, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill this spring to provide the firm up to $698 million in rebates based on capital investment and job creation.

Citing a confidentiality agreement, government officials have declined to name the firm, but it has been widely reported to be Panasonic. The company has signed contracts with Tesla and Canoo  which plans to build its own facility at MidAmerica  to provide electric batteries for their vehicles.

The company, which reportedly is looking at sites in both Oklahoma and Kansas, hasnt made clear when it will make a decision.

Reached late Monday afternoon, a spokeswoman for MAIP Chief Administrative Officer David Stewart declined to comment.

Titled Project Ocean, the development would lead to the creation of up to 6,000 new direct jobs, 1,200 indirect jobs, 16,000 new housing units and a population increase of 18,000, according to the project plan.

TIFs allow governmental entities to use a portion of property taxes generated within the district to invest in the districts infrastructure, providing an incentive for private investment.

The terms of the TIF, which would encompass 588 acres inside MAIP, call for the manufacturer to receive $100 million and MidAmerica to receive $50 million to fund infrastructure needs.

The remaining $150 million would go to schools, a vo-tech and other local entities that rely on property taxes to fund their operations.

On Monday, the Mayes County Election Board provided an affidavit validating the petition signatures that was supposed to be published in The Paper, the newspaper of record in Mayes County, but that didnt happen, and the publish date has been pushed to June 20, Primm said.

From June 20, any qualified elector will have 10 days to file a protest in district court. The court will set a hearing date not less than 10 days from the filing of the protest and then will determine whether the petition and/or count is valid.

A successful referendum petition would put the question on the November ballot, although appeals on the ballot title and/or petition are possible, Primm said. He added that he expects the appellate court process to be expedited to preserve the November date as an option. If not, the question would be on the next general county election.

Featured video: Google makes further investment in MidAmerica Industrial Park

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
BRUSSELS -- The European Union will sign an agreement with an undisclosed manufacturer on Tuesday for the supply of about 110,000 doses of vaccines against monkeypox to be delivered from the end of June, EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said.

On the sidelines of a meeting of EU health ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday, Kyriakides said the vaccines will be bought with EU funds and delivered to EU states.

Commission officials said the name of the vaccine maker will be unveiled shortly.

The bloc's drug regulator said this month it was in talks with Danish biotech firm Bavarian Nordic over trial data that could underpin an extension of the approved use of the Imvanex shot, known as Jynneos in the United States, beyond smallpox to include monkeypox.

The U.S. regulator has approved Bavarian's smallpox vaccine for use against monkeypox.

Some EU states, including Germany and Spain, have made their own orders for monkeypox vaccines.

Kyriakides said the EU had recorded 900 cases of monkeypox.
Two cooperation agreements totaling US$65 million that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural production in Vietnams Mekong Delta region and improve its fight against illegal wildlife trafficking have been signed during U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's visit to the Southeast Asian country.

Among these, the Limited Scope Grant Agreement,' focusing on climate change response in the Mekong Delta for the 2022-27 period, was signed in Hanoi on Monday between USAID Vietnam director Ann Marie Yastishock and Le Quoc Doanh, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The signing was observed by Minister Le Minh Hoan and Deputy Secretary Sherman, who arrived in Vietnam on Friday last week for a four-day working visit at the invitation of Vietnams Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son.

Through this project, with an estimated budget of up to $50 million, the USAID will assist the agriculture ministry in reducing methane emissions from the agriculture sector, building resilience for the Mekong Deltas vulnerable communities, promoting nature-based solutions, and developing climate-resilient and low-emissions policies.

I commend both agencies for working together to help the people of the Mekong Delta region adapt to the changing climate and reduce agricultural emissions, the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam quoted Deputy Secretary Sherman as saying in a press release the same day.

She emphasized that addressing the climate crisis must be a collective effort and requires incorporating everything from building environmental resilience to reducing emissions and conserving biodiversity.

The American diplomat also witnessed the signing of another agreement between the two agencies to help Vietnam control the increasingly serious wildlife trafficking situation.

The $15 million five-year project, called Saving Threatened Wildlife, will work toward increasing Vietnams leadership in addressing wildlife crime by enhancing the commitment of the Vietnamese governments leaders at the national and provincial levels, improving law enforcement effectiveness, and reducing demand and consumption of illegal wildlife products.

At current rates, experts predict that the worlds most iconic endangered species, including rhinos, elephants, pangolins, and tigers, will perish from the planet within the next decades, the embassy cited USAID Vietnam director Yastishock.

The two sides will work through this new project to shrink demand for and consumption of illegal wildlife products, and save threatened species, Yastishock said.

Deputy Secretary Sherman also hailed the two agencies for joining hands in combating illegal wildlife trafficking.

The United States is proud to be Vietnams partner in this effort, she stated.

Deputy Minister Doanh commented that the effective implementation of this project will help address the issue of illegal wildlife trafficking, thereby contributing to biodiversity conservation and environmental protection in Vietnam and reflecting the highest commitments of the government of Vietnam in this effort.

On the same day, Deputy Secretary Sherman also told the press in Hanoi that the U.S. government will provide an additional $19 million for post-war unexploded ordnance clearance in Vietnam.

Cooperation between the U.S. and Vietnam in dealing with the war aftermath is an important endeavor, in which the former has offered more than $185 million for such operations in the latter since 1993, the diplomat said.

After their normalization of diplomatic relations in 1995, Vietnam and the U.S. promoted their ties to comprehensive partnership in 2013.

Their bilateral ties have since continued developing well in all fields.

In the 2020-21 period, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. remained the biggest importer of Vietnam while Vietnam has emerged as the ninth-largest trade partner of the U.S., according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
About 80 percent of dengue fever cases and 100 percent of deaths caused by the disease in Vietnam this year were recorded in southern localities, according to a Ho Chi Minh City-based health expert.

The Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City held on Monday a conference on strengthening the prevention of dengue fever in southern Vietnam, which was attended by representatives of disease control centers in 20 southern provinces and cities.

Vietnams dengue fever cases and deaths mainly occur in southern provinces, Dr. Luong Chan Quang, deputy head of the institutes department of disease control and prevention, said at the event.

The southern region has documented over 39,300 patients since the beginning of 2022, accounting for about 80 percent of the national tally, Quang elaborated.

The region has recorded 36 fatalities, accounting for 100 percent of the countrys deaths caused by the disease.

The numbers of patients and deaths have been rising rapidly, he stated, adding that dengue fever cases in the past four weeks have accounted for 50 percent of the total reported so far this year.

The number of children dying from this disease is higher than that of adults, going against the situation in previous years.

Severe cases have also spiked and are expected to be higher than the same period in the last two years.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong speaks at the conference in Ho Chi Minh City, June 13, 2022. Photo: Xuan Mai / Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Huu Hung, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, said that the agency has organized training sessions for health workers, examined local outbreaks, and called on private health facilities to assist in dengue fever treatment.

Local residents should join hands with authorities in preventing the disease, Hung stressed.

The Ministry of Health is ready to support southern localities in the prevention of dengue fever, as well as COVID-19, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong said at the conference.

Health departments are advised to provide training for private medical facilities aside from public hospitals in order to boost the treatment capacity.

Local administrations should expend the necessary budget in the prevention of dengue fever, Huong continued, adding that they need to raise residents awareness about the prevention and control of the disease.

Competent authorities must closely monitor and properly handle local outbreaks, as well as clean up the environment by killing mosquitoes and mosquito larvae, the official stated.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Read what is in the news today:

Society

-- Saigon Water Corporation, Ho Chi Minh Citys water supplier, will cut or reduce its service in 12 districts in the southern metropolis and several wards in Thu Duc City from late Saturday night to early Sunday morning to carry out maintenance.

-- The Hoa Binh, Son La, and Tuyen Quang hydropower plants in the namesake northern provinces will release water from their reservoirs as per an order on Monday by the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, which has warned of a high risk of flooding due to possible heavy rains in the northern region in the next three days.

-- The U.S. Agency for International Development will help the Mekong Delta region adapt to climate change and reduce agricultural emissions following the signing of an agreement on climate change cooperation for the 2022-27 period, with an estimated budget of up to US$50 million, with the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hanoi on Monday.

-- Functional forces in northern Thai Binh Province are investigating the drowning of a ten-year-old child in a swimming pool dedicated to adults on Monday morning.

-- Police in Ho Chi Minh City are investigating the deaths of a man, estimated to be 38 years old, in a hanging position and his five-year-old child in an apartment in Thu Duc City on Monday.

-- The Department of Health of central Quang Ngai Province has proposed returning nearly 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine with an expiry date of June 30 to the Ministry of Health.

Business

-- Authorities raised the price of RON 95 gasoline in Vietnam by 2.5 percent to VND32,370 ($1.39) a liter, and that of biofuel E5 RON 92 by 2.9 percent to VND31,110 on Monday.

-- The U.S. Department of the Treasury has recently placed Vietnam and other 11 countries and territories on its 'Monitoring List' of major trading partners although the Southeast Asian nation was excluded from the list of currency manipulators since last April, according to the Vietnam Government Portal.

Education

-- Hoa Binh Construction Group announced on Monday its sponsorship of 20 scholarships worth VND100 million ($4,310) each for students at construction universities across Vietnam.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
People who drew graffiti on two out of the 51 metro cars of Ho Chi Minh Citys metro line No. 1, which are located at Long Binh Depot in Thu Duc City, may face criminal charges for destroying or intentionally damaging properties, according to legal experts.

According to lawyer Le Van Hoan from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, the graffiti affected the images of these railcars.

If losses from the damage are calculated at VND2 million (US$86) or more, the violators will face criminal charges for destroying or deliberately damaging properties in accordance with Article 178 of the Penal Code, with the heaviest punishment being a 20-year jail term.

Additionally, the offenders may be fined up to VND100 million ($4,300) each.

The punishment shall still be applicable even when the losses are below VND2 million ($86) if the offense causes a negative impact on social security, order, and safety.

If the offense is proved to be aimed at opposing the peoples government, the offenders may be charged with sabotaging facilities of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, pursuant to Article 114, or destroying works, facilities or vehicles important to national security, as per Article 303 of the Penal Code.

Even if the offenders are not subject to criminal proceedings, administrative sanctions, specifically a fine of VND5 million ($215), will be imposed in accordance with Article 15 of Decree 144/2021 on administrative penalties for violations of social order and security.

According to lawyer Tran Minh Hung from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, those smearing railcars or public works, depending on the nature and severity, may be subject to an administrative or criminal punishment.

However, he emphasized that the nature of smearing railcars with paint and graffiti should be considered carefully as the offenders may not be aware of the seriousness of the act.

Maybe, they just did it for beauty, and did not intend to make a statement, or deliberately destroy assets of any individuals or organizations.

If there are signboards banning graffiti in the areas of metro cars, on walls and in public places, but people still purposely spray them with paint and graffiti, criminal charges should be filed against them.

The agencies whose assets are damaged may require the offenders to make compensation as prescribed in Article 584 of the 2015 Civil Code.

Ho Chi Minh Citys first metro line project, linking Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Suoi Tien Theme Park in Thu Duc City, has 17 trains with each train including three cars. Each train can accommodate 930 passengers.

As the metro line has yet to be completed, these trains are being located at Long Binh Depot in Thu Duc City.

Article 178. Destroying or deliberately damaging assets 1. Any person who destroys or deliberately damages another persons property which is assessed at VND2 million to less than VND50 million ($2,150) in any of the following cases will be fined VND10 million ($430) to VND50 million or get a suspended sentence of three years or a prison term of six months to three years: a) The offender has incurred an administrative penalty for one of the violations in this article but repeat the violation; b) The offender has an unspent conviction for the same offense; c) The offense creates a negative impact on social security, order and safety; d) The destroyed property is the key means of livelihood of the victim and the victim's family; e) The property is a relic or an antique. 2. The offender in any of the following cases shall be jailed for two to seven years: a) The offense is organized; b) The offense causes damage of VND50 million to under VND200 million ($8,610); c) The damaged property is a national treasure; d) The offender uses a flammable substance or other dangerous methods; e) The offense is committed to conceal other criminals; f) The offense is committed because of the victims official duties; g) Dangerous recidivism. 3. The offender causing losses of VND200 million to under VND500 million ($21,513) will stay behind bars for five to ten years. 4. The offender causes losses of VND500 million and above will get a prison term of 10 to 20 years. 5. The offender shall also be fined VND10 million ($430) to VND100 million ($4,300), and be prohibited from holding certain positions or doing certain works for one to five years.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
A sleeper bus running from north-central Nghe An Province to Hanoi collided with a motorbike and overturned in northern Ninh Binh Province, killing four people and injuring five others late on Monday night.

The fatal traffic accident occurred on a section of National Highway 1A in Ninh Binh at around 11:50 pm on the day, the provincial police reported.

The sleeper bus was driven by Nguyen Ngoc S., a 38-year-old resident of Nghe An, and was carrying about 30 passengers from the north-central provinces Do Luong District to Hanoi.

It overturned after hitting a motorbike ridden by Vu Minh T., a 70-year-old resident of Ninh Binh, at the T-intersection between National Highway 1A and Tue Tinh Street in the northern province.

A sleeper bus overturns after a collision with a motorbike in a deadly crash on National Highway 1A in Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam, June 13, 2022. Photo: N. Binh / Tuoi Tre

The crash caused the deaths of T. and three passengers hailing from Nghe An aboard the sleeper bus -- namely 12-year-old Phan Uy V., 20-year-old Nguyen Tat Ng., and 20-year-old Nguyen Tai Ng.

Five other Nghe An-based passengers on the sleeper bus, including 19-year-old Le Duc H., 22-year-old Hoang Tien Th., 45-year-old Nguyen Quoc Nh., 80-year-old Vu Thi L., and 63-year-old Vu Thi L., were injured.

The sleeper bus, the motorbike, a street light pole, and a traffic light post were damaged in the road accident.

Local police examined the scene and worked with the people involved to investigate the cause.

Testing results showed that sleeper bus driver S.s alcohol concentration level was zero.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Europe must not let the drive to help Ukrainians fleeing war distract it from opening its door to refugees fleeing other conflicts around the world, it has been claimed.

Seven humanitarian and human rights NGOs appealed to the EU and its member states on Monday to revive and scale up their efforts.

They want Brussels to stick to its pledge of resettling between 20,000 and 30,000 refugees within the bloc per year.

The EU has never reached its pledged goal since 2020. Last year it managed to take in just 15,660, resettled to 12 EU states. As of the end of April, just 4,075 resettled refugees had arrived in EU countries since the start of this year.

Resettlement is one of the few legal means for refugees to relocate to places such as the EU, US or Canada without taking the risk of perilous journeys at sea or through unwelcoming terrains of southeast European countries.

The organisations -- including the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Amnesty International, Red Cross EU Office, and Caritas Europa -- pointed out in a statement the member states' efforts in 2021 have come out to a meagre 1% of those in search of safety.

In addition to those fleeing violence and persecution worldwide, recently estimated by the UNHCR to have crossed the 100 million mark, the increasing threat of food shortage that could cause famine will inevitably push more people to seek refuge and safety.

The IRCs Executive Director of Policy and Advocacy for Europe, Imogen Sudbery, told Euronews the EU should not allow the resettlement programme to falter as the gap between people's needs and response widens.

"A recently produced IRC report demonstrates an additional 47 million people are projected to experience acute hunger this year. And with Ukraine producing much of the worlds grain, wheat and fertiliser, we see food prices worldwide skyrocketing," she explained.

Story continues

"This blockade can push countries that are already on the brink of facing record drought into famine, and we feel like there are people around the world at risk of being doubly punished as the funding and attention shifts towards the Ukraine crisis," Sudbery said.

Lacking proper means, many attempt illegal entry

Without legal recourse, many try to enter the union illegally. The most recent number of detected illegal migration entries into the EU in the first five months of 2022 was more than 86,000, or 82% more than in the same period in 2021, the agency monitoring the EUs external borders said on Monday.

The routes usually take people through the Western Balkan countries bordering the bloc but also coastal member states like Italy and Greece.

The data released by Frontex -- which has recently come under scrutiny after a cross-border investigation by a group of media outlets showed it took part in pushback in places like Greek islands -- did not include repeated attempts to cross the border into the EU or the 5.5 million Ukrainian refugees who fled the war since February.

There are at least five major wars and 27 active conflicts worldwide, including the wars in Ukraine, Syria and Yemen. There is also the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the instability in Libya and the conflict in Ethiopia.

Although the EU has pledged to admit nearly 40,000 Afghans at risk between 2021-2022 on top of the existing commitments, the NGOs want the member states to commit to resettling at least 40,000 refugees in 2023, in addition to fulfilling existing pledges.

Psychological consequences and anxieties about future

According to IRC's Sudbery, backsliding in the bloc's commitment, a result of pressure on EU asylum systems and a lack of long-term planning, is a grave mistake, harming the people who would benefit from early integration and a sense of safety in their journey.

"Camp-like situations which really dont give people the opportunity to begin to integrate into their new community, for their skills to be recognised and for their ability to contribute has a hugely damaging impact on their mental health," she explained.

IRC's December 2020 report, surveying the consequences of life in Greece camps for months and even years showed that people who came in search of safety are instead further traumatised by their present and anxious about their future.

The report stated that the research on almost 1,000 people revealed "consistent accounts of severe mental health conditions, including depression, PTSD and self-harm among people of all ages and backgrounds," with three out of four people experiencing at least some symptoms.

One in three reported suicidal thoughts, while one in five attempted to take their own life.

"The level of people who have contemplated suicide or simply cannot see a future for themselves in Europe, having fled the most horrific situations [...] is a real stain on Europe's moral credibility," Sudbery said.

The most recent show of solidarity with the Ukrainian refugees is exemplary, Sudbery believes. Still, it also marks a crucial turning point in its implications for other refugees in the world.

"There are so many learnings that could and should provide underpinnings and new momentum towards a more fair, humane and coordinated system which is in the interest of the refugees themselves, but also host communities who can really benefit from that early-stage integration that all the research and evidence demonstrates is to the benefit of all," she explained.

"Depending on the choices that we make now, the Ukraine response could either trigger a kind of a downward spiral and a lack of political will or really the new beginning for global refugee protection."
John Stamos says he was disappointed to learn that late comedian Bob Saget had been left out of the in memoriam segment of the 75th Tony Awards.

The US actor said the Broadway community loved Saget and had urged the organisation to include him in the remembrance section of the show.

The comedian, 65, who was known for his role as Danny Tanner in the US sitcom Full House, was found dead on January 9 of this year in a Florida hotel room.

Writing on Twitter ahead of the ceremony on Sunday night, Stamos wrote: Disappointed to hear that @bobsaget will be LEFT OUT of the In Memoriam segment tonight @TheTonyawards.

Disappointed to hear that @bobsaget will be LEFT OUT of the In Memoriam segment tonight @TheTonyawards. Bob was brilliant in The Drowsy Chaperone & Hand to God. Come on @BroadwayLeague and @TheWing ! Do the right thing! Bob loved Broadway and I know the community loved him.  John Stamos (@JohnStamos) June 12, 2022

Bob was brilliant in The Drowsy Chaperone & Hand to God. Come on @BroadwayLeague and @TheWing ! Do the right thing!

Bob loved Broadway and I know the community loved him.

The in memoriam portion, introduced by Matrix actor Lawrence Fishburne, featured late stars like William Hurt, Sidney Poitier and Stephen Sondheim.

Saget was not included.

The Tony Awards, which honour the best of live Broadway theatre, took place on Sunday night at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
A jury in Portland, Oregon, has convicted romance writer Nancy Crampton Brophy of murdering her husband four years ago. (Photo: Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP, Pool, File Photo)

A jury in Portland, Oregon, has convicted romance writer Nancy Crampton Brophy of murdering her husband four years ago. (Photo: Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP, Pool, File Photo)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  A self-published romance novelist who once wrote an online essay called How to Murder Your Husband was sentenced Monday to life in prison with the possibility of parole for murdering her husband at his workplace in Portland four years ago.

Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, was convicted of second-degree murder on May 25 following a seven-week trial. Her sentence Monday includes the possibility of parole after 25 years in custody, KGW-TV reported Monday.

Prosecutors said Crampton Brophy fatally shot Dan Brophy, 63, inside the now-closed Oregon Culinary Institute where he worked in 2018 because she stood to gain financially from his life insurance payout. The case drew national attention because of the essay that Crampton Brophy had penned years earlier, but the piece was not permitted as evidence at trial.

The prosecution told jurors the couple had been facing financial difficulties at the time of the murder and contended that she had researched and purchased a ghost gun kit online and then later bought a Glock 17 handgun at a gun show.

Crampton Brophys attorney argued the states evidence was circumstantial, disputed the claims of financial trouble and brought in witnesses who testified about the couples strong and loving relationship. Crampton Brophy also took the stand and said she and her husband had both purchased life insurance policies as part of their retirement planning and had a plan to reduce their debt.

She also said her research into ghost guns was in preparation for a future novel.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.

0108263 License for publishing multimedia online



Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
'Predatory behaviour': Teacher jailed after sexually abusing two boys

A TEACHER has been jailed after being found guilty of sexual offences against two boys.

Carol Anne White was sentenced to three years behind bars at Airdrie Sheriff Court today.

She had previously been convicted of the crimes on Thursday, April 28, 2022.

A police detective has spoken out following the hearing.

Detective Inspector David Lamont said: "Carol Ann White is now facing the consequences of her predatory behaviour.

"She was a teacher, and in a position of trust, at the time she carried out these offences.

Glasgow Times:

"Her victims showed tremendous courage in making sure she was held accountable for her appalling actions.

"I hope this sentence provides a sense of closure for her victims and sends a clear message that all reports of sexual abuse will be thoroughly investigated by Police Scotland.

READ MORE: Teen drug dealer James Cairns behind bars after killing Cerys Reeve with ecstasy he supplied

"Together with partner agencies, we are committed to supporting victims of sexual crime.

"There is no place for sexual abuse, of any kind, and anyone with concerns should always contact police."
By Natalia Zinets

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine said its forces were still trying to evacuate civilians from embattled Sievierodonetsk on Tuesday after Russia destroyed the last bridge to the city, Moscow's main target in its battle for control of eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces were holding out against the Russians after ground changed hands several times over the past few weeks, enduring what President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described as "painful" losses.

"But we have to hold strong ... The more losses the enemy suffers, (the) less strength it will have to pursue its aggression," Zelenskiy said in an address on Tuesday night.

Although Sievierodonetsk's last bridge over the Siverskyi Donets river had been felled, evacuations were still being carried out "every minute when there is a lull and there is a possibility of transportation," Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said.

"Every possible chance is taken," Stryuk said.

Ukraine says more than 500 civilians are trapped inside Azot, a chemical factory where its forces have resisted weeks of Russian bombardment and assaults that have reduced much of the city to ruins.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said shelling on Azot was so powerful that "people can no longer stand it in the shelters, their psychological state is on the edge."

Russia said it would give Ukrainian fighters holed up in the chemical plant a chance to surrender on Wednesday morning. Fighters should "stop their senseless resistance and lay down their arms" from 8 a.m. Moscow time (0500 GMT), said Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia's National Defence Management Centre.

Civilians would be let out through a "humanitarian corridor", he said.

Both sides claim to have inflicted huge casualties in the fighting over the city, Russia's principal battleground focus.

Ukraine still holds Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk's twin city on higher ground on the western bank of the river. But with all the bridges now cut, its forces acknowledge a threat that they could be encircled in Sievierodonetsk.

Story continues

Damien Megrou, spokesperson for a unit of foreign volunteers helping to defend Sievierodonetsk, said there was a risk of leaving "a large pocket of Ukrainian defenders cut off from the rest of the Ukrainian troops" - as in Mariupol, the Black Sea port that surrendered last month after months of Russian siege.

'UNBEARABLE'

The battle for Sievierodonetsk - a city of barely more than 100,000 people before the war - is now the biggest fight in Ukraine as the conflict has shifted into a war of attrition.

Kyiv has said 100-200 of its soldiers are killed each day, with hundreds more wounded.

Russia gives no regular figures of its own losses but Western countries say they have been massive, as Moscow has committed the bulk of its firepower to delivering one of President Vladimir Putin's stated objectives: forcing Kyiv to cede the full territory of two provinces, Luhansk and Donetsk, collectively known as the Donbas.

Momentum in Sievierodonetsk has shifted several times over the past few weeks - with Russia concentrating its overwhelming artillery firepower on urban districts to obliterate resistance, then sending in ground troops vulnerable to counter-attacks.

Bigger battles could lie ahead for the wider Ukrainian-held pocket of the Donbas, nearly all on the opposite bank of the river which Russian forces have found difficult to cross. Ukraine says Russia plans to assault Sloviansk from the north and along a front near Bakhmut to the south.

In Donetsk province, critical infrastructure including homes, schools, hospitals and markets have been attacked over the past week, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

"This has made life nearly unbearable for people who are also facing severe water shortages, and at times are unable to leave their homes for days on end due to the fighting," Dujarric said.

Ukrainian officials renewed their pleas for the West to send more and better artillery as well as tanks, drones and other heavy weapons.

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar told a briefing that Ukraine had received only 10% of the arms it needed from its allies.

Western countries have promised NATO-standard weapons - including advanced U.S. rockets. But deploying them is taking time.

"What we don't have enough of are the weapons that really hit the range that we need to reduce the advantage of the Russian Federation's equipment," Zelenskiy told an online press briefing.

DRAIN TROOPS

Beyond the Donbas, Ukrainian officials hope that Russia's focus on capturing the east will drain its forces from other areas and pave the way for counter-attacks to recapture territory.

Ukraine retook the area around its second largest city Kharkiv in May and has reported small but steady gains in recent days in the south, the biggest swathe Russia retains of the territory it seized after its invasion in February.

Serhiy Khlan, adviser to the head of the southern, mainly Russian-occupied Kherson province, said Ukraine was having tactical success retaking territory there for a second straight week.

Troops had already advanced 5 km (three miles) from Tavriysk, a town on the south bank of the Dnipro river east of Kherson city, and were gradually advancing, Khlan said.

Reuters was unable to verify any reports from the area.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux;Writing by Peter Graff and Angus MacSwan and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Gareth Jones, Mark Heinrich and Grant McCool)
LONDON (Reuters) -Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday said she was nearly ready to give more details on how the nation's devolved parliament could move ahead with a new independence referendum without the consent of the British government.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party, which is in opposition in Scotland, strongly oppose a referendum, saying the issue was settled in 2014 when Scots voted against independence by 55% to 45%.

But pro-independence parties won a majority in the Scottish parliament in an election held last year, which Sturgeon said gave her an "indisputable democratic mandate" to push ahead with plans for a second referendum.

Sturgeon, leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), is aiming to hold a vote by the end of 2023 even though British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to issue a "Section 30" order to allow one.

"If we are to uphold democracy here in Scotland, we must forge a way forward, if necessary without a Section 30 order... However, we must do so in a lawful manner," Sturgeon said in a speech.

She said work was underway on how to proceed, given the British government contests that the Scottish parliament has the power to grant such a vote.

"I do plan to give a significant update to parliament very soon indeed," she said.

Johnson said that his government's position had not changed and that he wanted to focus on recovering from the pandemic and tackling the cost of living crisis.

"The decision was taken by the Scottish people only a few years ago," he told reporters.

"I think we should respect that, and we should also focus on what I think the whole of the UK - Scotland, England, everybody - wants us to look at, which is the economic position we're in."

Sturgeon, a scathing critic of Johnson and Brexit, was speaking at the launch the first of several policy papers making the case for independence.

Story continues

She argued that Scotland was similarly sized to several other European countries that were fairer and wealthier than Britain.

"Scotland under Westminster control is being held back," Sturgeon said. "With independence, we too would have the levers and the autonomy that these countries take for granted to help fulfil their potential."

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; additional reporting by William James; editing by Alex Richardson, William Maclean)
The British government was to send a first plane carrying failed asylum seekers to Rwanda on Tuesday despite last-gasp legal bids and protests against the controversial policy.

A chartered plane was to leave one of London's airports overnight and land in Kigali on Tuesday, campaigners said, after UK judges rejected an appeal against the deportations.

Claimants had argued that a decision on the policy should have waited until a full hearing on the legality of the policy next month.

Thirty-one migrants were due to be sent but one of the claimants, the NGO Care4Calais, tweeted that 23 of them had now had their tickets cancelled.

Those due to be deported include Albanians, Iraqis, Iranians and a Syrian, Care4Calais said.

Other claimants included the Public and Commercial Services Union, whose members will have to implement the removals, and immigration support group Detention Action.

PCS chief Mark Serwotka said on Sunday it would be "an appalling situation" if Tuesday's removals were subsequently found to be illegal at the full hearing.

Home Secretary Priti Patel should wait for the July hearing if she "had any respect, not just for the desperate people who come to this country, but for the workers she employs", Serwotka told Sky News.

Protesters gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice and the Home Office on Monday.

In Geneva, UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi called the UK government policy "all wrong" and said it should not be "exporting its responsibility to another country".

Church of England leaders, including its most senior cleric the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, reiterated their criticism of the policy as "one that should shame us as a nation".

"Our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries," Welby and 24 other bishops wrote in Tuesday's Times newspaper.

"This immoral policy shames Britain."

"Evil trafficking" must be combatted by providing safe routes to the UK to "reduce dangerous journeys", The Times quoted the bishops as saying ahead of the letter's publication.

Story continues

- 'Hate speech and discrimination' -

Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson insist the policy is needed to stop a flood of all-too-often deadly migrant crossings of the Channel from France.

"It's very important that the criminal gangs who are putting people's lives at risk in the Channel understand that their business model is going to be broken," Johnson told LBC radio on Monday.

"They're selling people falsely, luring them into something that is extremely risky and criminal."

Under the agreement with Kigali, anyone landing in the UK illegally is liable to be given a one-way ticket for processing and resettlement in Rwanda.

The government says that genuine asylum claimants should be content to stay in France.

And contradicting the UN refugee agency UNHCR, it insists that Rwanda is a safe destination with the capacity to absorb possibly tens of thousands of UK-bound claimants in future.

Doris Uwicyeza, chief technical adviser to Rwanda's justice ministry, pushed back against criticism of the human rights record of President Paul Kagame's government -- which is set this month to host a Commonwealth summit attended by Prince Charles and Johnson.

Rwanda's 1994 genocide made it particularly attentive to "protecting anybody from hate speech and discrimination", including gay people, she told LBC radio.

British newspapers reported that Prince Charles had dubbed the plan "appalling".

The reported comment prompted unnamed cabinet ministers to tell Queen Elizabeth II's heir to stay out of politics.

International NGO Human Rights Watch issued a public letter warning that "to this day, serious human rights abuses continue to occur in Rwanda, including repression of free speech, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and torture".

jit-cjo/lcm
The 2022 World Series of Poker in its new home at Ballys and Paris Las Vegas will continue its one and only shootout event, Event #27: $1,500 Shootout No-Limit Hold'em, as Day 2 will kick off at noon local time.

Day 1 saw the field reach the maximum size of 1,000 entrants. By the end of the night, that field had been whittled down to just 100 players. Those who survived will return today and the field will be narrowed down to just 10 players by the end of Day 2. The 100 who made it to Day 2 will at least take home the minimum cash of $5,835, while those who survive and advance to Day 3's final table will be vying for the first place prize of $240,480 and a gold WSOP bracelet.

Notables who made it through to Day 2 include 2016 WSOP Main Event Champion Qui Nguyen, Women in Poker Hall of Fame Inductee JJ Liu, and four time WSOP bracelet winners Tom Schneider and Brian Yoon. Some notables who failed to bag their chips for Day 2 include 2013 WSOP Main Event Champion Ryan Riess, four time WSOP bracelet winners Scott Seiver and George Danzer, and last year's winner and runner up of this event, Gershon Distenfeld and Johan Schumacher.

All players will start the day with approximately 250,000 chips. Some stacks will be marginally smaller as some unsold stacks on day one were blinded into the well before the event sold out. Levels will last 40 minutes with a 15 minute break scheduled after every third level. A 60 minute dinner break is scheduled for after level 9, expected to be around 6:30 p.m. local time. Blinds will begin at 2,000-4,000 with a 4,000 big blind ante.

Be sure to stay tuned in to PokerNews for comprehensive coverage of this and all other events at the 2022 WSOP at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas.
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's federal police said on Monday that reports that the bodies of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira had been found in the Amazon were not correct.

Police said in a statement that only biological material and belongings of the missing men had been found so far, as previously announced. News outlet G1 had reported earlier in the day, quoting Phillips' wife, that the two men had been found dead.

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Gabriel Araujo; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
JERUSALEM, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Israel's National Security Council raised its travel warning for Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, to the highest level, citing possible attacks by Iran, said a statement from the council on Monday.

The warning comes amid the latest surge in tensions between Iran and Israel.

"Given the continuing nature of the threat and in light of the increased Iranian intentions to attack Israelis in Turkey, especially Istanbul, the National Security Council has raised the travel warning for Istanbul to the highest level, Level 4," said the statement.

The council called on Israelis currently in Istanbul to leave the city and Israelis planning to travel to Turkey to avoid doing so until further notice.

The statement noted that other areas in Turkey are under a Level-3, or intermediate travel warning, advising Israelis to avoid "non-essential travel" to the areas.

Hours before the statement was issued, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called on Israelis in Turkey to leave the country as soon as possible and others to cancel planned visits, adding the warning followed "a situation assessment" that had found out attempts by "Iranian forces" to kidnap or kill Israeli nationals in Turkey.

Israeli officials on Sunday said Turkish authorities had thwarted an "Iranian plot" to attack Israelis in Turkey last month.

Iran did not immediately comment on the allegations.

Iran has accused Israel of killing on May 22 Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps colonel shot and killed by two motorcyclists in the east of Tehran, Iran's capital, and has vowed to avenge his death. 
Forty area high school students experienced a week of learning valuable skills at the GenCyber Warrior Academy (GCWA) from June 5-11 at the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Dahlonega Campus. Six UNG faculty and staff served as instructors.

The National Security Agency (NSA) provided UNG grants totaling $265,000 to support GCWA and a weeklong academy later this summer that will help middle and high school educators learn how to teach cybersecurity. With the grant funding, students were able to attend GCWA for free.

"It's been exciting working with our sixth GenCyber high school camp, and we're grateful to the NSA for supporting this camp each summer since 2016," Dr. Bryson Payne, UNG professor of computer science and coordinator of student cyber programs, said.

This year's program includes more than 30 hours of residential, on-site instruction at the Dahlonega Campus and 16-20 hours of pre-camp and post-camp virtual cyber enrichment activities. In October, the students will attend the Hacker Halted 2022 conference in Atlanta.
A combined law enforcement effort led to 38.5 pounds of crystal methamphetamine seized and three suspects arrested June 8, McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said Monday.

This is the largest meth bust I can recall in this county, said McNamara, who took office as sheriff in 2013. We usually make seizures measured in ounces or grams.

Following an undercover investigation the sheriff described as a months-long, the sheriffs Organized Crime Unit and SWAT team, together with the Waco Police Department Drug Enforcement Unit and the Texas Anti-Gang Task Force seized the meth, 26 ounces of marijuana, around $17,800 in suspected drug proceeds, as well as two firearms and arrested three suspects, McNamara said.

Allen Roberts, 55, and Marvin Keith, 42, were arrested in the Bellmead area on first-degree felony narcotics distribution charges, the sheriff said. Both are still in custody in McLennan County Jail with each mans bail set at $250,000, records show.

Able Chavez was arrested at a house on Park Avenue in South Waco on first degree felony drug possession charge, according to a sheriffs office statement. On Thursday, his arraignment judge set bail at $50,000 and Chavez bonded out, the statement reads.

Their charges could go federal, and they should all get very tall sentences, McNamara said.

The sheriff said the street value of the drugs seized in a residence was around $530,000. Deputies and officers also seized AR-15 style pistol and a Glock 9 mm along with the drugs, the statement reads.

The sheriff said each man was arrested without injury and without firing weapons.

Because the methamphetamines have not been analyzed in a laboratory, officials cannot say for sure where they were made or whether the drugs have any synthetic content, Texas Anti-Gang Taskforce spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Howard said.

Getting these drugs off the streets of Waco will prevent many other crimes, the sheriff said, including assaults, sex assaults and robberies.

All of our agencies are dedicated to get this scourge off the streets (of Waco and McLennan County), McNamara said. He also said all the communities in the county were safer after this seizure.

McLennan County has seen a handful of other meth seizures on a similar scale in recent years. In March 2018, 15 residents, including 11 from Waco, were indicted in a drug bust that included 26 pounds of meth. In October 2020, state and local law enforcement recovered more than 80 pounds of meth in a trailer parked at a home in the 1100 block of Proctor Avenue, according to news stories from the time.

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
B-29 Doc is returning to EAA AirVenture in 2022 and will offer flight experiences along with ground and cockpit tours. Doc will also be a featured performer in the air show throughout the week.

B-29 Doc Flight Experience rides will be available in Appleton, WI, July 27 and 28. B-29 Doc rides will operate at Wisconsin Air, located at N870 Endeavour Dr. Appleton, WI, 54914. Click here for a map showing the location.

The Doc ride flight schedule for July 27 and 28:

Wednesday, July 27 at 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 27 at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 27 at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 28 at 9 a.m. Thursday, July 28 at 11 a.m.



Ticketed passengers must arrive at Appleton International Airport one hour prior to the scheduled flight and ground transportation to and from the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh grounds will not be provided.

Click HERE for ticket information and pricing.

B-29 Doc will arrive in Oshkosh Sunday, July 24, and will be on static display for ground and cockpit tours on Boeing Plaza Monday, July 25, and Tuesday, July 25. Doc will fly in the EAA AirVenture air show Tuesday, July 25 before departing to Appleton for the ride flights on July 27 and 28. Doc will return to the Oshkosh air show grounds Friday, July 29, and will be on static display on Boeing Plaza Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, July 31.

Need AirVenture tickets and other EAA information? Click here!
PRESS RELEASE

HONOLULU  Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum has opened the doors of the historic Ford Island Control Tower after being closed for decades. A new tour, Top of the Tower Tour, is a guided tour that includes access to the historic Operations Building, the Firehouse Exhibit, and an elevator ride to the upper cab of the control tower  the pinnacle of the tour with 360-degree views of the Pearl Harbor aviation battlefield from 168 feet high. Historic videos and pictures in the upper cab show the impact and aftermath of the attack giving a new understanding of the day which will live in infamy.

The Ford Island Control Tower stands as a symbol of resilience and peace, standing watch over this hallowed ground, said Elissa Lines, executive director of Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. Its time for the world to witness Pearl Harbor from an aerial perspective.

The Ford Island Control Tower officially opens for operations in honor of Memorial Day. The restoration process began in 2012 and cost more than $7 million to date. Spanning 10 years, the effort included: restoring historic windows and walls, replacing 53 tons of steel in the tower itself to stabilize the structure, and updating ceiling, flooring, electrical conduits, lighting, restrooms, and office space. Air conditioning was also added.

From the tower, its easy to imagine the thunderous rain of bombs and bullets coming down, erupting in fire, chaos, and death, says Rod Bengston, Director of Exhibits, Restoration, and Curatorial Services. Now, however, visitors will also be able to grasp a sense of peace and tranquility that comes from the historic view.

According to Bengston, designer of the exhibit in the upper control cab, the following sites can be seen from the tower:

Battleship Row, where eight U.S. Navy battleships (USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS West Virginia, USS California, USS Nevada, USS Tennessee, USS Maryland, and USS Pennsylvania) were bombed and damaged, with four sunken; Military bases and airfields at Hickam, Wheeler, Bellows, Ewa, Schofield, and Kaneohe, where 188 U.S. military aircraft were bombed; Ewa Plains, where the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service initiated the attack; Hospital Point, where the USS Nevada was beached; The Ford Island runway, surrounding shipyards, and historic buildings, The Pearl Harbor National Memorial featuring the USS Arizona Memorial, as well as the Battleship Missouri Memorial, and the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum.

The latest stage to be completed, the refurbishment of the historic elevator, provides access from the ground floor to the upper control cab. With funding from the Schoen family of U-Haul and mechanical expertise from Otis Elevator Company, the elevator lift system was repaired and updated as needed to both preserve the historic elements of the 1940s-era equipment and ensure safe operations. The elevator will allow visitors to ascend 15 stories to the upper cab exhibit and observation deck. A final project, restoration of remaining exterior windows, is slated for later this year.

The bottom of the Operations Building is anchored by the Preserving our National Treasure exhibit, researched and fabricated by U-Haul, which explores the history of the building and tower in WWII and beyond. The exhibit also shares the WWII story of U-Haul founders, L.S. Ted and Anna Mary Cary Schoen, a family story of service and ingenuity.

Funding for the multi-phase, decade-long restoration of the Ford Island Control Tower was powered by generous donations from the State of Hawaii, Emil Buehler Perpetual Trust, Freeman Foundation, Historic Hawaii Foundation, James Gorman Family Foundation, OFS Brands, Dave Lau, and Sharon Elske, Alexander Sandy Gaston, Robert A. and Susan C. Wilson Foundation, The R.K. Mellon Family Foundation, CDR and Mrs. Edward P. Keough, Larry and Suzanne Turley, and the U.S. Department of Defense, and many other individuals and corporations.

For tickets and information, visit www.pearlharboraviationmuseum. org or call (808) 441-1000. Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is open daily from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Complimentary access to the Museum is via the shuttles that run every 15 minutes from the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center at 1 Arizona Memorial Place.

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is located on Americas WWII aviation battlefield, one of the few places in our countrys nearly 250-year history where America was attacked by a foreign enemy on its own soil. From the strafing marks on our grounds to the incredible views of the most famous battleship in American history, the view from the tower is not to be missed.

ABOUT PEARL HARBOR AVIATION MUSEUM

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is located on Historic Ford Island, where bombs fell during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Walk the Pearl Harbor battlefield where the attack began, enter the bullet-scarred hangars, and see the control tower and aircraft of the battle, including a Japanese Zero and the B-17 Swamp Ghost. Hear the stories of World War II heroes and their response to the attack that changed our nation and world. Pearl Harbor Aviation Museums mission is to steward Americas first World War II aviation battlefield. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that depends on membership, volunteers, and donations for support. To join, volunteer or support, visit www.PearlHarborAviationMuseum. org.
Ryan Daniel Breitbach, 49, of Lake Park passed away on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at his home in Lake Park. Visitation will be held Wednesday, June 15, from 4:30  7:00 PM at the Lake Park Fire Department. Military and Firefighter honors will be held at 5:00pm. A memorial service will be held Friday, June 17, at 12:00 PM with a visitation one hour prior to the service at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Waverly, Iowa.
UNITED NATIONS, June 13 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called on the international community to provide constructive assistance to Mali.

The current situation in Mali is complex due to a number of factors, and the international community "should enhance its strategic awareness, sort out the deliverables, set priorities, and provide constructive assistance in a targeted manner," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting on Mali.

The international community must actively support Mali's counter-terrorism efforts, he said, noting that Mali is on the frontline of counter-terrorism in Africa and has recently implemented with some success a series of counter-terrorism military operations.

"We should focus on the big picture and the overall challenges of counter-terrorism in Africa, provide more support to the Malian government in terms of funding, equipment, and intelligence, and respect the Malian government's autonomous right to carry out security cooperation with its external counterparts," he said.

In relation to the human rights issues mentioned by some countries, Zhang reiterated China's position that counter-terrorism actions should respect and protect human rights, while opposing double standards on counter-terrorism and politicization of human rights issues.

The Malian government recently announced a new transition period, and established the goal of restoring constitutional order through elections.

"China has always supported Africans to solve African problems in an African way. We always advocate respect for the sovereignty and political independence of Mali," said Zhang.

He said that China welcomes and encourages the continuing of communication between the Malian government and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), "so as to broaden consensus and reach an agreement on issues related to the political transition, so that sanctions can eventually be lifted, and Mali can return to the ECOWAS family at an early date."

As for the priorities of UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, Zhang noted that the original purpose of the Security Council's establishment of the mission was to assist the Malian government in implementing the peace agreement, and restoring state authority in the north.

"This should continue to be the top priority of the mandate of the mission, as well as the primary benchmark for the Council to review its performance," he said, adding that the current priority is to make full use of existing resources in an effort to improve the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations.

"The challenges facing the mission in performing its duties cannot be solved by raising the troops ceiling alone, nor can the expectations of the Malian government be met in such a way," he said.

"As the UN is about to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the work of the mission, it should, in this process, fully heed the views of the country concerned, strengthen communication and consultation, and align its work to the needs and priorities of the host country," said Zhang. 
Dear Doctors: Would you please devote a column to shy bladder syndrome? This embarrassing condition is a significant inconvenience to many men. In severe cases, its a life-altering disability. I suspect there are more sufferers out there than one would imagine, but shame keeps them quiet.

Dear Reader: Shy bladder syndrome is a social anxiety disorder that makes it difficult  or even impossible  for an individual to urinate when someone else is present. The medical term is paruresis. Drawn from ancient Greek, the word has its roots in the words para, which indicates something atypical or abnormal, and uresis, which refers to the act of voiding the bladder. The term was coined in 1952 by two physicians, who were the first to describe the condition in a paper they published in the Journal of General Psychology.

Shy bladder syndrome is a common form of social anxiety, and it is believed to be second only to fear of public speaking in terms of humans apprehensions. The exact number of people it affects is not known, but studies suggest up to a quarter of the population has experienced it to some degree. It is seen more often in males, which has been attributed to the public nature of mens urinals. However, the condition occurs in people of all genders, and of all ages, including children and adolescents.

When someone has shy bladder syndrome, they avoid using bathrooms other than those in their own homes. The possibility that someone else could enter the bathroom, or even overhear them using the toilet, can trigger the condition.

Voluntary urination involves neurons located in a small region in the brainstem known as Barringtons nucleus. They send signals via the spinal cord to the urinary sphincter, which is the ring of muscle that controls the flow of urine from the bladder. When someone chooses to urinate, those nerve impulses instruct the sphincter to relax.

When someone has shy bladder syndrome, something disrupts that cascade of messages. The result is the persons sphincter fails to relax, and they are unable to pee. Its easy to dismiss this as a minor annoyance. But for those living with the disorder, it can range from embarrassing to disruptive, and in some cases, to outright dangerous. Being unable to use a public restroom can interfere with activities of daily life, including work, social interactions, relationships and travel. A routine urine test during a medical appointment or for employment purposes becomes an ordeal. People with severe paruresis will often restrict how much they drink in order to avoid the need to use a bathroom.

Consistently failing to empty the bladder when needed can cause health complications, including urinary tract infections. It can also cause damage to the muscles of the bladder, which, ironically, can lead to urinary incontinence. The good news is that the condition can be treated. This includes the use of relaxation techniques to reduce anxiety, psychotherapy, anti-anxiety medications and cognitive behavior therapy. A systematic program of desensitization known as graduated exposure therapy has been found to be particularly helpful. In order to rule out a medical cause of difficulty urinating, its important to see a doctor for a definitive diagnosis.

Send questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla.edu, or write: Ask the Doctors, c/o Media Relations, UCLA Health, 924 Westwood Blvd., Suite 350, Los Angeles, CA, 90095.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
CEDAR FALLS  COVID-19 halted the Cedar Falls Historical Societys plans to raise a couple of million dollars for a new two-story museum at 315 Clay St.

That unforeseen pandemic, as well as a higher-than-expected construction cost estimate, were the surprises that led the nonprofit to what is now a $2.5 million project, a fresh new fundraising push, and a tentative 2024 date for breaking ground, Executive Director Carrie Eilderts said Monday.

A $1.82 million capital campaign first kicked off in 2017.

Mayor Rob Green proclaimed last week to be Iowa Museum Week in Cedar Falls. At the June 6 City Council meeting, he shared the historical societys plans to embark on a second $1.5 million campaign and encouraged residents to celebrate by visiting the areas 14 local museums and support future efforts.

The plans for the Home for our History campaign include renovating the main floor of the building into a large classroom, Board President Dave Welter told the City Council, so that the historical society can accommodate larger groups, incorporate interactive exhibits and STEM concepts to tell our citys history. Plans also include building an addition to the property thatll house a new two-story museum that celebrates business, industry, agriculture and transportation here in Cedar Falls, as well as puts on a permanent display of the Lenoir Train Exhibit.

We believe a successful campaign to complete the addition and renovations at 315 Clay will allow Cedar Falls Historical Society to tell our citys story in a way that weve never been able to do so before and give residents a source of pride and place within our community, he added.

CFU warns of possible, but unlikely, 'rolling' summer outages due to 'shrinking energy capacity' We hope we dont have to go down this path, but we think that its better for us to be prepared and to make our customers aware of the situation.

The historical society acquired the building and necessary parcels, at one time home to a well-known law office, for $435,000 in September 2016. It was too perfect to pass up at the time, Eilderts said.

The building is two doors down from its home base, the Victorian House Museum at 308 W. Third St.

The society launched its original Connect and Protect Campaign in 2017.

The fundraising goal was $1.825 million at the time, with hopes of starting construction on the renovations and new rear addition, facing Franklin St., in late 2019.

Eilderts said at the time more would be raised to furnish the interiors and pay for exhibits.

Eilderts said Monday that first campaign raised about $1 million before the world shut down because of COVID-19.

Organizers approached a number of potential contractors in 2019 and eventually settled on Waterloo-based Peters Construction Corporation. It then got the unfortunate news that the quote was higher than anticipated.

Now, Eilderts said, volunteers are in the early stages of reaching out to potential donors.

Volunteers may look to formally announce a more-public second campaign in the fall, with hopes of raising the $1.5 million by the end of 2023.

The entire $2.5 million estimated cost includes the land acquisition.

Eilderts said the historical society is continuing to work on the design, but the plans are pretty much the same as they were before the pandemic.

Welter said at the council meeting the building has already been renovated, so that the historical societys entire collection can be stored in a climate-controlled setting.

Eilderts noted the new museum will double the amount of classroom space, from a 40- to 80-person occupancy, for large school groups and other audiences.

Bird, Cedar Falls officials met to discuss rental scooter program last month No future meetings with the Santa Monica, California-based micromobility company have been scheduled to further discuss the opportunity.

The additional space also will be put toward interactive exhibits and cater to the growth of its artifact collections, everything from historical clothing and toys to yearbooks and city directories.

If people want more information, theyre welcome to give us a call or go to our website to learn more, Eilderts said.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
CEDAR FALLS  Back to basics.

Thats how Doug Johnson is describing the 42nd College Hill Arts Festival. The popular event returns Friday and Saturday to its place on the lawn at 23rd and College streets after a two-year hiatus because of COVID-19.

The event is from noon to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday on the University of Northern Iowa campus. There is no admission fee.

Its going to be a little different this year. Its great to have the festival back but its not quite going to be what it was three years ago. Weve needed to make some cuts, which is why were getting back to the basics  back to whats most important about the festival, and that is the artists, said Johnson, who is co-chairing the festival with Rob Swiatly.

We want to make sure that part of the festival is back to what it has always been. People will enjoy getting out to see and purchase artwork and talk with the artists and enjoy the super weather were going to have this weekend.

Absent will be the performing arts stage. Part of it is financial  not having had the festival in two years  and part of it is the loss of volunteers, Johnson explained. There are about two dozen volunteers committed to this years festival.

We need volunteers, said Swiatly. CHAF is an all-volunteer festival but many volunteers have aged out and, since COVID, some people may not feel comfortable volunteering at large events, he noted. Im hearing from other event organizers that volunteering is down and everyone is having a hard time finding people to volunteer.

Its also been more difficult to find sponsors able to financially support the festival. My concern has been going to businesses who are struggling to keep their doors open and ask them to make this festival happen. Thats another reason weve cut back this year.

Approximately 65 artists will exhibit and sell their original artwork in open air booths. Categories include jewelry, sculpture, painting, pastel, ceramics, graphics/printmaking, mixed media, fiber, photography, glass and wood. It is a juried event.

The festival has been a signature event for Iowa and was named one of the top 100 best fine arts and design shows in the U.S. by Sunshine Artist. Gary Kelleys posters promoting the festival have won numerous national awards.

Our community has embraced the festival over the last 40-plus years because of the artists and their work. Theyre good supporters of the arts. Thats why we thought it was important to come back this year and step back to basics, Johnson said.

The Young Collectors Gallery will be open for children ages 14 and younger, where they can purchase art for $10 or less, provided by participating festival artists. The Hearst Center for the Arts will have art activities for children, as well.

Food vendors will be Becker Concessions and Smoothies, Cottonwood Canyon, La Calle and Kiwanis.

In previous years, private residents have hosted some artists in their homes. We didnt even approach people to ask if they were willing this year, and there wont be a Friday night banquet for artists. Well still have hospitality and artists relief volunteers for the booths, Johnson said.

Gary Kelley has once again created artwork for the festival. Visitors can purchase posters during the festival. The original artwork will be on display at the festival information booth and will be sold by silent bid.

Anyone interested in volunteering can call (319) 404-0960.

Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
CEDAR FALLS  The Board of Education unanimously approved a raise of slightly more than 3% Monday night for Superintendent Andy Pattee.

President Jeff Hassman said the board evaluated Pattees performance last month and ensured the compensation of Cedar Falls Community Schools chief executive was competitive with that of similarly sized school districts.

His annual salary rises from $210,000 currently to $216,426 on July 1, the first day of a three-year contract extension.

The board is very pleased with the performance of the superintendent, said Hassman. And I think it is a real benefit that we have the longevity of Dr. Pattee here. I think the longevity helps provide stability.

He noted how Pattee staying with Cedar Falls Schools serves as an inspiration to other district administrators, and helps us put out the great programs that we have throughout the district.

Pattee has been superintendent since 2013.

The entire compensation package increased 3%. Hassman said after the meeting the superintendents salary hike remains in line with that of the districts other administrators, who also received bumps earlier that evening.

Bird, Cedar Falls officials met to discuss rental scooter program last month No future meetings with the Santa Monica, California-based micromobility company have been scheduled to further discuss the opportunity.

Pattees District 403B retirement contribution will continue, and hell keep his $3,500 district car allowance, in addition to his other standard benefits, like health insurance.

Before the current fiscal year, when he received a 5.73% compensation increase, Pattee was paid a salary of $201,778.

UNI celebrates the start of construction on Applied Engineering Building expansion Local and state leaders broke ground Thursday on a $44 million expansion of UNI's Applied Engineering Building, formerly known as the Industrial Technology Center.

A district nonbargaining group made up of about 33 top administrators, principals and associate principals also received an average total compensation package increase of 3.02%, equivalent to a $104,236 cost to the district.

That package covers wages, insurance premiums, state retirement and the Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
WATERLOO  Authorities have recovered a body in their search for a man who disappeared in the Cedar River over the weekend.

And they have tentatively identified the victim after going for days without a name because no one reported him missing.

The name hasnt been released to the public, and authorities said his identity will be confirmed during an autopsy.

No foul play is suspected.

The mystery began Friday around 6:30 p.m. as the My Waterloo Days parade was making its way through downtown. Witnesses reported seeing a man enter the water near the Sixth Street Bridge, and he began to float downstream and disappeared.

Crews with Waterloo Fire Rescue launched an inflatable rapid deployment craft, paying close attention to a low-head dam just before the nearby railroad bridge. Firefighters used poles and sonar to probe the length of dam, fearing the turbulence was holding him in place.

As firefighters continued their search on Saturday, police began working to determine who they were looking for. If anyone had been with the missing man when he went in the river, they hadnt bothered to stick around.

The missing man appeared to be Hispanic, according to initial reports. So over the weekend, investigators contacted Hispanic community leaders and church officials in hopes of coming up with a name.

The one clue they had was a blue polo-style shirt with an orange moose logo the man had left behind, and officers posted a photo of the shirt on Facebook.

Waterloo Fire Rescue returned to the river on Monday, launching a flat-bottom boat from the Hawthorne Avenue ramp that scoured the area downstream. Around 2:15 p.m., boat crews spotted a body some 150 yards past Waterloos wastewater treatment plant.

The body had snagged on something underwater, and firefighters brought the body ashore.

Earlier on Monday, a landlord contacted police after recognizing the moose shirt as possibly belonging to a former tenant. Investigators matched documented tattoos with those on the recovered body.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 7 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A Cambodian court has convicted a Cambodian-American lawyer and dozens of members of a now-dissolved opposition party on charges of treason. Lawyer Theary Seng and most of the others were charged over a failed attempt by an opposition leader to return from exile in 2019. Many of the 60 defendants are exiled themselves or in hiding, and its not clear how many appeared in court for the verdict Tuesday. Cambodian courts are widely believed to be under the influence of authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The Cambodia National Rescue Party was his partys biggest rival before it was disbanded by a court just ahead of national elections in 2018 that were swept by Hun Sens party.
Des Moines Register. June 12, 2022.

Editorial: We can do something in Iowa about gun violence. We can vote against tying our hands.

Even maintaining the status quo by voting down a constitutional amendment would count as a victory for protecting lives.

Everybody purports to want something to be done about the circumstances that permitted the rifle slaughter of 19 schoolchildren and two educators in Texas last month.

In a familiar pattern, something isnt happening.

The massacre implicated questions about entrance security at schools and police competence, but the bulk of debate has focused on this question: Can laws make it less likely for dangerous people to procure instruments of mass murder without compromising the Bill of Rights? Congress answer for years has been an emphatic no.

In Iowa, we have an opportunity this year to do something without the aid of our government representatives: At the ballot box in November, we can reject a proposed constitutional amendment that could frustrate even broadly popular efforts to keep Iowans safer from gun violence.

Even maintaining the status quo in this way would count as a victory for protecting lives. A no vote would indicate that most Iowans want to preserve at least the possibility of some limits on access to deadly weapons and dont want to tie the hands of lawmakers and the judiciary.

Supporters have pointed out that adding The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed to Iowas constitution would bring us in line with almost every other state by including a mirror of the federal Second Amendment in the state charter. Thats fine.

But the amendment would do more, prescribing that any restriction on gun rights be subject to strict scrutiny. This legal term requires courts to evaluate laws with the highest skepticism, striking them down as unconstitutional unless they serve a compelling government interest and are narrowly tailored to achieve that end.

This provision would complicate even modest regulations. For example, suppose lawmakers, in response to two executions outside an Ames church, wished to make it less likely that people suspected or convicted of domestic abuse would be able to shoot their victims. A fraught undertaking, to be sure  people who assault partners might very well ignore demands to hand over their weapons, and the accused always have rights to due process. But under strict scrutiny, even if the peoples elected representatives thoughtfully balance these competing interests and arrive at a solution with the aim of saving lives, their efforts could be cast aside for not meeting every prong of the judicial test.

Of course, existing regulations could face challenge, too.

Three other states  Alabama, Louisiana and Missouri  already require strict scrutiny of arms restrictions. Todd Pettys, a University of Iowa law professor, concluded in a 2019 law review essay that strict scrutiny amendments were proving less meaningful than expected, with courts in those states sometimes concluding that strict scrutiny protections didnt apply in certain circumstances. Further, Louisiana and Missouri courts have applied strict scrutiny and still upheld laws restricting felons from possessing firearms.

Thats a little reassuring. On the other hand, when the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments last year about New York states discretionary system of granting licenses to carry firearms, Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked a Justice Department lawyer about restrictions on people who are mentally ill or have been convicted of felonies: Can any of those pass strict scrutiny on their face? I dont know, answered acting solicitor general Brian Fletcher.

Iowa need not risk the possibility of dangerous outcomes here.

There are limits on free speech. There can, and should, be limits on the right to bear arms.

The Legislature in the past dozen years or so has incrementally chipped away at barriers to acquiring, traveling with and using weapons. Lawmakers stripped sheriffs of their discretion to deny weapons-carrying permits and later did away with permit requirements, and have allowed the use of deadly force in more situations.

Iowans are free today to obtain, keep and carry guns and rifles. When children are slaughtered by firearms  in Des Moines, in Texas, around the country  its fair to debate whether a modest concession of that freedom might help avert a tragedy.

We shouldnt make that debate any harder than it already is. The choice is ours. Vote no on this amendment.

END

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, Iowa's Republican U.S. senators, are waiting to see the final version of bipartisan legislation containing modest gun control proposals before stating whether they will support it.

The legislation was the result of two weeks of negotiations between a bipartisan group of U.S. senators in response to recent mass shootings in the United States.

But Grassley, who is up for re-election this fall, said he was "encouraged" to see the bipartisan group produce a proposal.

The proposal would make juvenile records available during background checks whenever someone under the age of 21 buys a gun; ban convicted domestic abusers from being able to buy a gun; and send federal funding to states enacting so-called red flag laws, which attempt to temporarily take guns away from individuals who could be considered potentially violent.

"I'm encouraged to see the bipartisan group of senators making headway on the important issues of mental health, school safety and curtailing gun violence," Grassley said in a statement emailed to The Gazette's Des Moines Bureau.

"As always, I need to see legislative text, which has yet to be written, before making a final decision on how I'd vote," he said. "I've said from the start that, as we work toward improving safety, it's important that we safeguard rights enshrined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights."

Ernst spokesman Brendan Conley echoed Grassley's wait-and-see approach.

"While this is currently only an outline of general and unspecific proposals, Sen. Ernst will evaluate the specifics of any legislation when there is bill text to do so," Conley said in an email to the Des Moines bureau.

Ernst in the past has opposed similar language  called the "boyfriend loophole"  to banning domestic abusers from being able to buy a gun.

Ernst, who has said she was a victim of domestic violence, objected to a legislative proposal that would have retroactively classified assault convictions as felonies and bared those convicted from owning or buying guns.

"'Simply disallowing people due process is not what we want to see," Ernst said in 2019. "I think there are great ways to protect survivors in a way that doesn't strip away people's rights."

The proposed legislation announced this past weekend does not reach as far on gun control as Democrats have called for, but many Democrats nonetheless praised the work done by the bipartisan group in an effort to achieve some action on gun regulations after decades of inaction amid dozens of mass shootings in schools, churches and other public spaces.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the bipartisan group that put together the gun violence, said it represents "real, meaningful progress" and "breaks a 30-year log jam, demonstrating that Democrats and Republicans can work together in a way that truly saves lives."

"Will this bill do everything we need to end our nation's gun violence epidemic? No. But it's real, meaningful progress," Murphy said in a social media post after the bipartisan deal was announced.

There is not yet a timeline for when the legislation will be drafted and considered in the U.S. Senate.

In his Monday response, Grassley also cited legislation he previously introduced, supported its own bipartisan group of senators. The EAGLES Act, he said, would expand the U.S. Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center to include a greater focus on school violence prevention.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
archives 19 Jun - 26 Jun (2) 12 Jun - 19 Jun (4) 22 May - 29 May (1) 15 May - 22 May (5) 1 May - 8 May (2) 17 Apr - 24 Apr (3) 27 Feb - 6 Mar (3) 13 Feb - 20 Feb (1) 30 Jan - 6 Feb (3) 2 Jan - 9 Jan (4) 26 Dec - 2 Jan (1) 5 Dec - 12 Dec (3) 28 Nov - 5 Dec (2) 14 Nov - 21 Nov (1) 7 Nov - 14 Nov (1) 10 Oct - 17 Oct (1) 22 Aug - 29 Aug (3) 15 Aug - 22 Aug (1) 8 Aug - 15 Aug (3) 1 Aug - 8 Aug (1) 25 Jul - 1 Aug (3) 18 Jul - 25 Jul (1) 11 Jul - 18 Jul (1) 27 Jun - 4 Jul (4) 20 Jun - 27 Jun (3) 13 Jun - 20 Jun (1) 30 May - 6 Jun (2) 23 May - 30 May (4) 2 May - 9 May (3) 25 Apr - 2 May (4) 4 Apr - 11 Apr (2) 28 Mar - 4 Apr (4) 28 Feb - 7 Mar (1) 7 Feb - 14 Feb (2) 10 Jan - 17 Jan (2) 27 Dec - 3 Jan (2) 13 Dec - 20 Dec (3) 6 Dec - 13 Dec (1) 29 Nov - 6 Dec (1) 15 Nov - 22 Nov (6) 8 Nov - 15 Nov (1) 25 Oct - 1 Nov (1) 18 Oct - 25 Oct (3) 4 Oct - 11 Oct (1) 27 Sep - 4 Oct (1) 20 Sep - 27 Sep (2) 13 Sep - 20 Sep (4) 6 Sep - 13 Sep (3) 30 Aug - 6 Sep (1) 23 Aug - 30 Aug (1) 16 Aug - 23 Aug (4) 9 Aug - 16 Aug (1) 2 Aug - 9 Aug (3) 26 Jul - 2 Aug (4) 19 Jul - 26 Jul (5) 12 Jul - 19 Jul (2) 5 Jul - 12 Jul (7) 28 Jun - 5 Jul (2) 21 Jun - 28 Jun (7) 14 Jun - 21 Jun (4) 7 Jun - 14 Jun (4) 31 May - 7 Jun (3) 24 May - 31 May (2) 17 May - 24 May (1) 10 May - 17 May (1) 19 Apr - 26 Apr (1) 12 Apr - 19 Apr (1) 15 Mar - 22 Mar (1) 8 Mar - 15 Mar (3) 1 Mar - 8 Mar (2) 23 Feb - 1 Mar (2) 9 Feb - 16 Feb (3) 26 Jan - 2 Feb (1) 19 Jan - 26 Jan (2) 12 Jan - 19 Jan (2) 5 Jan - 12 Jan (1) 29 Dec - 5 Jan (1) 8 Dec - 15 Dec (1) 24 Nov - 1 Dec (2) 17 Nov - 24 Nov (1) 27 Oct - 3 Nov (1) 6 Oct - 13 Oct (1) 1 Sep - 8 Sep (2) 25 Aug - 1 Sep (4) 18 Aug - 25 Aug (1) 11 Aug - 18 Aug (2) 4 Aug - 11 Aug (8) 28 Jul - 4 Aug (5) 14 Jul - 21 Jul (3) 7 Jul - 14 Jul (3) 30 Jun - 7 Jul (4) 23 Jun - 30 Jun (2) 16 Jun - 23 Jun (4) 9 Jun - 16 Jun (1) 2 Jun - 9 Jun (5) 26 May - 2 Jun (1) 19 May - 26 May (6) 12 May - 19 May (1) 21 Apr - 28 Apr (3) 14 Apr - 21 Apr (1) 31 Mar - 7 Apr (3) 24 Mar - 31 Mar (6) 17 Mar - 24 Mar (5) 10 Mar - 17 Mar (1) 3 Mar - 10 Mar (3) 24 Feb - 3 Mar (2) 17 Feb - 24 Feb (5) 10 Feb - 17 Feb (3) 3 Feb - 10 Feb (2) 20 Jan - 27 Jan (3) 13 Jan - 20 Jan (1) 23 Dec - 30 Dec (3) 2 Dec - 9 Dec (1) 25 Nov - 2 Dec (2) 18 Nov - 25 Nov (2) 11 Nov - 18 Nov (2) 4 Nov - 11 Nov (1) 21 Oct - 28 Oct (4) 14 Oct - 21 Oct (5) 7 Oct - 14 Oct (2) 30 Sep - 7 Oct (1) 23 Sep - 30 Sep (1) 9 Sep - 16 Sep (4) 2 Sep - 9 Sep (1) 19 Aug - 26 Aug (1) 12 Aug - 19 Aug (4) 5 Aug - 12 Aug (6) 29 Jul - 5 Aug (2) 22 Jul - 29 Jul (1) 15 Jul - 22 Jul (3) 8 Jul - 15 Jul (4) 1 Jul - 8 Jul (1) 24 Jun - 1 Jul (1) 17 Jun - 24 Jun (3) 10 Jun - 17 Jun (5) 3 Jun - 10 Jun (3) 27 May - 3 Jun (5) 20 May - 27 May (6) 13 May - 20 May (6) 6 May - 13 May (1) 29 Apr - 6 May (5) 22 Apr - 29 Apr (4) 15 Apr - 22 Apr (6) 8 Apr - 15 Apr (4) 1 Apr - 8 Apr (4) 25 Mar - 1 Apr (3) 18 Mar - 25 Mar (3) 11 Mar - 18 Mar (3) 4 Mar - 11 Mar (4) 25 Feb - 4 Mar (3) 18 Feb - 25 Feb (1) 11 Feb - 18 Feb (4) 4 Feb - 11 Feb (5) 28 Jan - 4 Feb (6) 21 Jan - 28 Jan (1) 14 Jan - 21 Jan (4) 7 Jan - 14 Jan (2) 31 Dec - 7 Jan (7) 24 Dec - 31 Dec (2) 17 Dec - 24 Dec (3) 10 Dec - 17 Dec (1) 3 Dec - 10 Dec (4) 26 Nov - 3 Dec (3) 19 Nov - 26 Nov (2) 12 Nov - 19 Nov (1) 5 Nov - 12 Nov (4) 22 Oct - 29 Oct (3) 15 Oct - 22 Oct (4) 8 Oct - 15 Oct (4) 1 Oct - 8 Oct (1) 10 Sep - 17 Sep (2) 3 Sep - 10 Sep (2) 27 Aug - 3 Sep (1) 20 Aug - 27 Aug (6) 6 Aug - 13 Aug (4) 30 Jul - 6 Aug (1) 23 Jul - 30 Jul (5) 16 Jul - 23 Jul (3) 9 Jul - 16 Jul (5) 25 Jun - 2 Jul (5) 18 Jun - 25 Jun (2) 11 Jun - 18 Jun (6) 4 Jun - 11 Jun (1) 28 May - 4 Jun (5) 21 May - 28 May (2) 14 May - 21 May (4) 7 May - 14 May (4) 30 Apr - 7 May (4) 23 Apr - 30 Apr (3) 16 Apr - 23 Apr (3) 9 Apr - 16 Apr (1) 2 Apr - 9 Apr (3) 26 Mar - 2 Apr (2) 19 Mar - 26 Mar (3) 12 Mar - 19 Mar (3) 5 Mar - 12 Mar (2) 26 Feb - 5 Mar (3) 19 Feb - 26 Feb (2) 12 Feb - 19 Feb (2) 5 Feb - 12 Feb (6) 29 Jan - 5 Feb (5) 22 Jan - 29 Jan (1) 15 Jan - 22 Jan (8) 8 Jan - 15 Jan (7) 1 Jan - 8 Jan (4) 25 Dec - 1 Jan (3) 11 Dec - 18 Dec (3) 13 Nov - 20 Nov (4) 6 Nov - 13 Nov (2) 30 Oct - 6 Nov (1) 23 Oct - 30 Oct (1) 16 Oct - 23 Oct (1) 9 Oct - 16 Oct (1) 2 Oct - 9 Oct (2) 25 Sep - 2 Oct (1) 18 Sep - 25 Sep (4) 11 Sep - 18 Sep (2) 4 Sep - 11 Sep (1) 28 Aug - 4 Sep (4) 21 Aug - 28 Aug (1) 14 Aug - 21 Aug (2) 7 Aug - 14 Aug (4) 31 Jul - 7 Aug (6) 24 Jul - 31 Jul (3) 17 Jul - 24 Jul (6) 10 Jul - 17 Jul (3) 3 Jul - 10 Jul (6) 26 Jun - 3 Jul (3) 19 Jun - 26 Jun (4) 5 Jun - 12 Jun (5) 29 May - 5 Jun (1) 22 May - 29 May (1) 15 May - 22 May (1) 8 May - 15 May (5) 1 May - 8 May (5) 24 Apr - 1 May (1) 17 Apr - 24 Apr (2) 10 Apr - 17 Apr (3) 3 Apr - 10 Apr (2) 20 Mar - 27 Mar (2) 13 Mar - 20 Mar (4) 6 Mar - 13 Mar (1) 28 Feb - 6 Mar (2) 21 Feb - 28 Feb (1) 14 Feb - 21 Feb (1) 7 Feb - 14 Feb (3) 24 Jan - 31 Jan (2) 17 Jan - 24 Jan (3) 10 Jan - 17 Jan (2) 3 Jan - 10 Jan (1) 27 Dec - 3 Jan (1) 20 Dec - 27 Dec (1) 13 Dec - 20 Dec (3) 6 Dec - 13 Dec (2) 29 Nov - 6 Dec (2) 22 Nov - 29 Nov (2) 15 Nov - 22 Nov (1) 8 Nov - 15 Nov (5) 1 Nov - 8 Nov (2) 25 Oct - 1 Nov (2) 18 Oct - 25 Oct (1) 11 Oct - 18 Oct (4) 4 Oct - 11 Oct (1) 27 Sep - 4 Oct (3) 20 Sep - 27 Sep (2) 13 Sep - 20 Sep (1) 6 Sep - 13 Sep (3) 30 Aug - 6 Sep (5) 23 Aug - 30 Aug (6) 16 Aug - 23 Aug (1) 9 Aug - 16 Aug (1) 2 Aug - 9 Aug (3) 26 Jul - 2 Aug (2) 19 Jul - 26 Jul (1) 12 Jul - 19 Jul (5) 5 Jul - 12 Jul (6) 28 Jun - 5 Jul (4) 21 Jun - 28 Jun (7) 14 Jun - 21 Jun (5) 7 Jun - 14 Jun (2) 31 May - 7 Jun (5) 24 May - 31 May (3) 17 May - 24 May (5) 10 May - 17 May (3) 3 May - 10 May (1) 26 Apr - 3 May (1) 19 Apr - 26 Apr (5) 12 Apr - 19 Apr (5) 5 Apr - 12 Apr (2) 29 Mar - 5 Apr (1) 22 Mar - 29 Mar (5) 15 Mar - 22 Mar (9) 8 Mar - 15 Mar (6) 1 Mar - 8 Mar (10) 22 Feb - 1 Mar (5) 15 Feb - 22 Feb (5) 1 Feb - 8 Feb (2) 25 Jan - 1 Feb (1) 18 Jan - 25 Jan (4) 11 Jan - 18 Jan (1) 4 Jan - 11 Jan (3) 28 Dec - 4 Jan (3) 21 Dec - 28 Dec (3) 14 Dec - 21 Dec (4) 7 Dec - 14 Dec (2) 30 Nov - 7 Dec (3) 23 Nov - 30 Nov (3) 9 Nov - 16 Nov (3) 2 Nov - 9 Nov (5) 26 Oct - 2 Nov (3) 19 Oct - 26 Oct (8) 12 Oct - 19 Oct (6) 5 Oct - 12 Oct (3) 28 Sep - 5 Oct (5) 21 Sep - 28 Sep (4) 14 Sep - 21 Sep (1) 7 Sep - 14 Sep (4) 31 Aug - 7 Sep (1) 24 Aug - 31 Aug (2) 17 Aug - 24 Aug (2) 10 Aug - 17 Aug (7) 3 Aug - 10 Aug (3) 27 Jul - 3 Aug (3) 20 Jul - 27 Jul (3) 13 Jul - 20 Jul (4) 6 Jul - 13 Jul (1) 29 Jun - 6 Jul (5) 22 Jun - 29 Jun (2) 15 Jun - 22 Jun (4) 8 Jun - 15 Jun (2) 1 Jun - 8 Jun (2) 25 May - 1 Jun (8) 18 May - 25 May (4) 11 May - 18 May (1) 4 May - 11 May (3) 27 Apr - 4 May (4) 20 Apr - 27 Apr (2) 13 Apr - 20 Apr (6) 6 Apr - 13 Apr (2) 23 Mar - 30 Mar (4) 16 Mar - 23 Mar (2) 9 Mar - 16 Mar (2) 2 Mar - 9 Mar (2) 23 Feb - 2 Mar (2) 16 Feb - 23 Feb (1) 9 Feb - 16 Feb (6) 2 Feb - 9 Feb (1) 26 Jan - 2 Feb (2) 19 Jan - 26 Jan (1) 12 Jan - 19 Jan (1) 29 Dec - 5 Jan (1) 22 Dec - 29 Dec (2) 8 Dec - 15 Dec (2) 1 Dec - 8 Dec (1) 24 Nov - 1 Dec (4) 17 Nov - 24 Nov (4) 10 Nov - 17 Nov (1) 3 Nov - 10 Nov (4) 20 Oct - 27 Oct (2) 13 Oct - 20 Oct (4) 29 Sep - 6 Oct (1) 22 Sep - 29 Sep (2) 15 Sep - 22 Sep (3) 8 Sep - 15 Sep (1) 1 Sep - 8 Sep (6) 25 Aug - 1 Sep (7) 18 Aug - 25 Aug (9) 11 Aug - 18 Aug (6) 4 Aug - 11 Aug (4) 28 Jul - 4 Aug (3) 21 Jul - 28 Jul (8) 14 Jul - 21 Jul (4) 7 Jul - 14 Jul (5) 30 Jun - 7 Jul (8) 23 Jun - 30 Jun (8) 16 Jun - 23 Jun (4) 9 Jun - 16 Jun (7) 2 Jun - 9 Jun (7) 26 May - 2 Jun (8) 19 May - 26 May (7) 12 May - 19 May (5) 5 May - 12 May (5) 28 Apr - 5 May (11) 21 Apr - 28 Apr (6) 14 Apr - 21 Apr (5) 7 Apr - 14 Apr (6) 31 Mar - 7 Apr (7) 24 Mar - 31 Mar (4) 17 Mar - 24 Mar (4) 3 Mar - 10 Mar (6) 24 Feb - 3 Mar (3) 17 Feb - 24 Feb (3) 10 Feb - 17 Feb (5) 3 Feb - 10 Feb (3) 27 Jan - 3 Feb (6) 20 Jan - 27 Jan (1) 13 Jan - 20 Jan (6) 6 Jan - 13 Jan (2) 30 Dec - 6 Jan (2) 23 Dec - 30 Dec (1) 16 Dec - 23 Dec (3) 9 Dec - 16 Dec (2) 2 Dec - 9 Dec (1) 25 Nov - 2 Dec (1) 18 Nov - 25 Nov (3) 11 Nov - 18 Nov (5) 4 Nov - 11 Nov (2) 28 Oct - 4 Nov (6) 21 Oct - 28 Oct (9) 14 Oct - 21 Oct (9) 30 Sep - 7 Oct (4) 23 Sep - 30 Sep (2) 16 Sep - 23 Sep (2) 9 Sep - 16 Sep (6) 2 Sep - 9 Sep (3) 26 Aug - 2 Sep (3) 19 Aug - 26 Aug (3) 12 Aug - 19 Aug (7) 5 Aug - 12 Aug (4) 29 Jul - 5 Aug (8) 22 Jul - 29 Jul (7) 15 Jul - 22 Jul (7) 8 Jul - 15 Jul (7) 1 Jul - 8 Jul (7) 24 Jun - 1 Jul (9) 17 Jun - 24 Jun (10) 10 Jun - 17 Jun (7) 3 Jun - 10 Jun (10) 27 May - 3 Jun (6) 20 May - 27 May (8) 13 May - 20 May (8) 6 May - 13 May (11) 29 Apr - 6 May (6) 22 Apr - 29 Apr (8) 15 Apr - 22 Apr (5) 8 Apr - 15 Apr (11) 1 Apr - 8 Apr (5) 25 Mar - 1 Apr (9) 18 Mar - 25 Mar (9) 11 Mar - 18 Mar (8) 4 Mar - 11 Mar (8) 19 Feb - 26 Feb (7) 12 Feb - 19 Feb (7) 5 Feb - 12 Feb (5) 29 Jan - 5 Feb (7) 22 Jan - 29 Jan (4) 15 Jan - 22 Jan (2) 8 Jan - 15 Jan (5) 1 Jan - 8 Jan (5) 25 Dec - 1 Jan (6) 18 Dec - 25 Dec (4) 11 Dec - 18 Dec (5) 4 Dec - 11 Dec (7) 27 Nov - 4 Dec (7) 20 Nov - 27 Nov (7) 13 Nov - 20 Nov (3) 6 Nov - 13 Nov (4) 30 Oct - 6 Nov (5) 23 Oct - 30 Oct (9) 16 Oct - 23 Oct (3) 9 Oct - 16 Oct (8) 2 Oct - 9 Oct (5) 25 Sep - 2 Oct (11) 18 Sep - 25 Sep (4) 11 Sep - 18 Sep (6) 4 Sep - 11 Sep (6) 28 Aug - 4 Sep (7) 21 Aug - 28 Aug (3) 14 Aug - 21 Aug (9) 7 Aug - 14 Aug (4) 31 Jul - 7 Aug (8) 24 Jul - 31 Jul (11) 17 Jul - 24 Jul (8) 10 Jul - 17 Jul (9) 3 Jul - 10 Jul (11) 26 Jun - 3 Jul (9) 19 Jun - 26 Jun (9) 12 Jun - 19 Jun (7) 5 Jun - 12 Jun (9) 29 May - 5 Jun (5) 22 May - 29 May (8) 15 May - 22 May (9) 8 May - 15 May (4) 1 May - 8 May (6) 24 Apr - 1 May (6) 17 Apr - 24 Apr (10) 10 Apr - 17 Apr (8) 3 Apr - 10 Apr (8) 27 Mar - 3 Apr (8) 20 Mar - 27 Mar (8) 13 Mar - 20 Mar (12) 6 Mar - 13 Mar (7) 27 Feb - 6 Mar (7) 20 Feb - 27 Feb (11) 13 Feb - 20 Feb (7) 6 Feb - 13 Feb (5) 30 Jan - 6 Feb (8) 23 Jan - 30 Jan (10) 16 Jan - 23 Jan (10) 9 Jan - 16 Jan (9) 2 Jan - 9 Jan (11) 26 Dec - 2 Jan (6) 19 Dec - 26 Dec (7) 12 Dec - 19 Dec (6) 5 Dec - 12 Dec (7) 28 Nov - 5 Dec (5) 21 Nov - 28 Nov (4) 14 Nov - 21 Nov (7) 7 Nov - 14 Nov (6) 31 Oct - 7 Nov (6) 24 Oct - 31 Oct (5) 17 Oct - 24 Oct (5) 10 Oct - 17 Oct (7) 3 Oct - 10 Oct (2) 26 Sep - 3 Oct (4) 19 Sep - 26 Sep (6) 12 Sep - 19 Sep (7) 5 Sep - 12 Sep (10) 29 Aug - 5 Sep (8) 22 Aug - 29 Aug (5) 15 Aug - 22 Aug (6) 8 Aug - 15 Aug (6) 1 Aug - 8 Aug (4) 25 Jul - 1 Aug (13) 18 Jul - 25 Jul (9) 11 Jul - 18 Jul (9) 4 Jul - 11 Jul (8) 27 Jun - 4 Jul (9) 20 Jun - 27 Jun (11) 13 Jun - 20 Jun (11) 6 Jun - 13 Jun (11) 30 May - 6 Jun (9) 23 May - 30 May (23) 16 May - 23 May (12) 9 May - 16 May (12) 2 May - 9 May (10) 25 Apr - 2 May (7) 18 Apr - 25 Apr (9) 11 Apr - 18 Apr (10) 4 Apr - 11 Apr (11) 28 Mar - 4 Apr (9) 21 Mar - 28 Mar (6) 14 Mar - 21 Mar (9) 7 Mar - 14 Mar (2) 28 Feb - 7 Mar (9) 21 Feb - 28 Feb (7) 14 Feb - 21 Feb (9) 7 Feb - 14 Feb (9) 31 Jan - 7 Feb (6) 24 Jan - 31 Jan (14) 17 Jan - 24 Jan (9) 10 Jan - 17 Jan (11) 3 Jan - 10 Jan (10) 27 Dec - 3 Jan (10) 20 Dec - 27 Dec (8) 13 Dec - 20 Dec (6) 6 Dec - 13 Dec (9) 29 Nov - 6 Dec (13) 22 Nov - 29 Nov (10) 15 Nov - 22 Nov (14) 8 Nov - 15 Nov (11) 1 Nov - 8 Nov (16) 25 Oct - 1 Nov (13) 18 Oct - 25 Oct (12) 11 Oct - 18 Oct (9) 4 Oct - 11 Oct (11) 27 Sep - 4 Oct (14) 20 Sep - 27 Sep (19) 13 Sep - 20 Sep (13) 6 Sep - 13 Sep (12) 30 Aug - 6 Sep (15) 23 Aug - 30 Aug (15) 16 Aug - 23 Aug (16) 9 Aug - 16 Aug (14) 2 Aug - 9 Aug (15) 26 Jul - 2 Aug (20) 19 Jul - 26 Jul (10) 12 Jul - 19 Jul (13) 5 Jul - 12 Jul (21) 28 Jun - 5 Jul (15) 21 Jun - 28 Jun (20) 14 Jun - 21 Jun (10) 7 Jun - 14 Jun (13) 31 May - 7 Jun (13) 24 May - 31 May (13) 17 May - 24 May (15) 10 May - 17 May (16) 3 May - 10 May (11) 26 Apr - 3 May (21) 19 Apr - 26 Apr (17) 12 Apr - 19 Apr (20) 5 Apr - 12 Apr (16) 29 Mar - 5 Apr (19) 22 Mar - 29 Mar (17) 15 Mar - 22 Mar (23) 8 Mar - 15 Mar (22) 1 Mar - 8 Mar (21) 22 Feb - 1 Mar (22) 15 Feb - 22 Feb (25) 8 Feb - 15 Feb (25) 1 Feb - 8 Feb (21) 25 Jan - 1 Feb (23) 18 Jan - 25 Jan (19) 11 Jan - 18 Jan (35) 4 Jan - 11 Jan (23) 28 Dec - 4 Jan (27) 21 Dec - 28 Dec (28) 14 Dec - 21 Dec (23) 7 Dec - 14 Dec (22) 30 Nov - 7 Dec (19) 23 Nov - 30 Nov (22) 16 Nov - 23 Nov (19) 9 Nov - 16 Nov (15) 2 Nov - 9 Nov (17) 26 Oct - 2 Nov (10) 19 Oct - 26 Oct (12) 12 Oct - 19 Oct (13) 5 Oct - 12 Oct (19) 28 Sep - 5 Oct (14) 21 Sep - 28 Sep (17) 14 Sep - 21 Sep (19) 7 Sep - 14 Sep (22) 31 Aug - 7 Sep (15) 24 Aug - 31 Aug (14) 17 Aug - 24 Aug (9) 10 Aug - 17 Aug (5)
Briefing by Russian Defence Ministry

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine.

High-precision long-range Kalibr missiles near Priluki, Chernigov region, have destroyed AFU arsenal of artillery weapons and ammunition.

In addition, high-precision air-based missiles have hit 11 areas of concentration of Ukrainian manpower and military equipment, 8 firing positions of AFU artillery units, including 3 platoons of Grad multiple-launch rocket systems near Bakhmut and Pereezdnoe in Donetsk Peoples Republic, Lisichansk in Lugansk Peoples Republic, and 2 ammunition depots on the southern outskirts of Kharkov and near Gorskoe in Lugansk Peoples Republic.

Operational-tactical and army aviation have hit 101 areas of AFU manpower and military equipment concentration.

The attacks have resulted in the elimination of more than 350 nationalists, 3 command posts, 13 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 6 Grad multiple rocket launchers, 14 field artillery mounts and 22 special vehicles have been destroyed.

Russian air defense means have shot down 1 MiG-29 aircraft of Ukrainian Air Force near Slavyansk in Donetsk Peoples Republic and 1 Mi-24 helicopter near Snegirevka in Nikolaev region.

9 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down nnear Chervonaya Gusarovka, Bolshie Prokhody, Malaya Kamyshevakha in Kharkov region, Apostolovo in Dnepropetrovsk region, Donetsk, Levkovka, and Yakovlevka in Donetsk Peoples Republic.

In addition, 1 Ukrainian Tochka-U ballistic missile near Vernopole, Kharkov region, and 14 Smerch rockets near Donetsk, Aleksandrovka, Donetsk Peoples Republic, Popasnaya, Lugansk Peoples Republic, and Sukhaya Kamenka, Kharkov region, have been intercepted.

Missile troops and artillery have hit 280 areas of AFU concentration of manpower and military equipment, 18 command posts, 59 firing positions of artillery and mortar units, as well as 1 fuel depot near Konstantinovka in Donetsk Peoples Republic.

In total, 202 Ukrainian airplanes and 131 helicopters, 1,205 unmanned aerial vehicles, 338 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,548 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 521 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,947 field artillery and mortars, as well as 3,605 units of special military vehicles were destroyed during the operation.

***

The Ukrainian army continues to suffer significant losses during the special military operation.

I would like to note that in recent weeks, incidents involving the shooting of Ukrainian servicemen in the back by nationalist units have become more frequent in areas of military operations. Thus, after a fire preparation for an attack by Russian troops near Novomikhailovka in Donetsk Peoples Republic, more than 30 servicemen of the 25th Battalion of the 54th Mechanized Brigade of AFU decided to lay down their arms and surrender.

Ukrainian servicemen occupying a stronghold near Zvioroferma asked the Russian unit command via radio to cease fire and provide a corridor for exit.

Around 10 p.m., AFU servicemen with white flags began moving towards Russian positions.

At that moment, Ukrainian nationalist barrier unit arrived at the stronghold in armored vehicles and opened crossfire in the back on the servicemen of the 54th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. As a result of this shooting, 32 Ukrainian servicemen were fatally wounded and killed.

This incident, as well as many others like it, clearly demonstrates that amid growing military failures and demoralization of Ukrainian troops, the Kiev nationalist regime is trying to stop the retreat and surrender of its units by punitive actions of barrier squads.

The lives of Ukrainian servicemen and mobilized fighters of territorial defence units mean nothing to the current leadership of Ukraine.

Emergency statement by Head of the Russian Federation Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response  Head of the National Centre for State Defence Control of the Russian Federation, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev:

The Ukrainian side has requested a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians (women, children and the elderly) at Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk to Kiev-controlled territory in Lisichansk.

Taking into account that on June 13, 2022, the last bridge over the Seversky Donets River towards Lisichansk was blown up by the Ukrainian armed forces on the orders of the Kiev authorities in order to prevent the retreat of the territorial defence units, it is not possible to safely evacuate in this direction.

Nationalist battalion fighters, retreating from residential areas of Severodonetsk, deliberately drove hundreds of civilians out of the city into the industrial zone of Azot chemical plant in order to use them as human shield.

Understanding the hopelessness of the situation of their armed formations, we consider the appeal by the Ukrainian side for the alleged rescue of civilians to be an attempt to withdraw the surrounded surviving units. Thus, there are all signs of a repeat of Mariupol scenario.

The Russian Armed Forces and formations of the Lugansk Peoples Republic are ready to conduct a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians, following humane principles.

For this purpose, a humanitarian corridor is opening on June 15, 2022 from 08:00 a.m. to 08:00 p.m. (Moscow time) in the northern direction (to Svatovo, Lugansk Peoples Republic).

Safe evacuation of all civilians, without exception, and their transport in humanitarian convoys to temporary accommodation centres are guaranteed.

We suggest that the militants of the nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries stationed at Azot plant cease all hostilities and release the civilians they are holding through this humanitarian corridor from 08:00 a.m. (Moscow time) on June 15, 2022, as well as stop senseless resistance and lay down their arms.

The Russian Federation guarantees the preservation of lives and the observance of all norms of the Geneva Convention for the treatment of prisoners of war, as has already happened to your comrades who previously surrendered in Mariupol.

The actual readiness of the Ukrainian side to start a humanitarian operation is indicated by the raising of white flags.

Once again, we call on the official authorities in Kiev to show prudence and give appropriate instructions to the militants to stop their senseless resistance and withdraw from the territory of Azot plant.

This statement is immediately brought to the Ukrainian side through the Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Irina Vereshchuk, via the operational channels of communication.

#MoD @mod_russia_en #MoD #Russia #Ukraine #Briefing @mod_russia_enjoy

WtR
GAZA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip on Monday called for immediate Arab and international interference to halt Israeli violations against the Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The factions' leaders made the appeal in a joint press statement issued after a meeting held in Gaza City, which was initiated by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) to discuss the latest Israeli violations in the Palestinian territories.

"The factions conducted a wide evaluation of the aggression and violations taking place, especially in Jerusalem and the West Bank," Khaled Al-Batsh, a senior member of the PIJ told reporters after the meeting.

The meeting also discussed the health conditions of two Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, who are on a hunger strike against administrative detention without trial.

The Israeli authorities are fully responsible for the lives of the two Palestinians, Al-Batsh said, calling on all parties and human rights groups to pressure Israel to respond to their demands for ending administrative detention.

In the statement, the Gaza factions said that "the Israeli attempts to single out the Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem by continuing their aggression and crimes are rejected."

"The Palestinians have the right to defend themselves and the right ... to confront the Israeli crimes because resistance in all its forms is a right that will not be abandoned at all costs," it added. 
Let us not inculpate them whom are attempting to stop what has been unleashed within Ukraine

The new trolling, be they trolls of stupidity and or trying new propaganda? Is to ask innocently, Why is Russia letting Ukraine keep killing people in Donbass?

It is called,Shoot and Move and that is what the Ukrainians have been told and trained to do by the USA/NATO/EU scum. This is just another form of terrorism, fully supported by the USA and cronies. Was that not the plan from the beginning? To kill all the Russians within Ukraine?

Shoot and move is simple. Set your artillery, mobile is best, fire and run like hell. Hope to live long enough to do it again. It is not accurate and not caring of who it hits. Just fire at a city and hope you kill an innocent

It is Ukraine forces that are and have been for many years shelling civilians within the Russian speaking Donbass and it is Russia that is doing more than any country, anywhere on Earth to stop them from killing the Russians living within Ukraine

When you lose the ability to fight fairly, you fight dirty and Ukraine has never fought fairly. If they try, they get their ass handed to them. Like Donbass did to them way back, by itself. Ukraine is a failed state and its failure is being taken out upon innocents

Therefore, acting innocent of what has happened is wrong. Acting like Russia can stop everything being lobbed, bomb wise, at civilians is wrong. If Russia was not there? The Ukraine army would have killed any and all Russians they could kill within Donbass. That is their goal. Now the goal is to take as many as they can, while the Ukraine gasps its last breath

Again, ask not, Why can Russia not stop the terrorist bombing of Donbass civilians?

Ask yourself, What can we do to help Russia to stop this innocent loss of life within Donbass?

The ask yourself, Why did the USA and cronies give longer range artillery, with limited unguided shells, to Ukraine?

Answer, To kill more civilian Russians in Donbass, that is why!

It is that simple

WtR

Updated with message by Kadyrov on this subject

Kadyrov says:

Yesterday, the Russian command received information that the Ukrainian side is requesting the organization of a corridor for the evacuation of women, children and the elderly, located in the basements of the Azot plant in Severodonetsk, towards Lisichansk, to the territory controlled by Ukraine.

Since the bridges across the Seversky Donets River were blown up by the Ukrainian occupiers themselves to make it impossible for their units to retreat, the option of opening a direct corridor towards Lysychansk turned out to be impossible. It is likely that the Nazis who settled in the industrial zone of Severodonetsk did not even know about the lack of retreat routes, although in fact, their command deliberately cut them off from any kind of support.

In order to still give civilians the opportunity to leave the war zone, the Chechen units of the Akhmat special forces were instructed to organize a green corridor for passage and declare a silence regime today from 8:00 to 22:00.

But instead of releasing civilians held as a human shield from the industrial zone, the Ukrainian side broke the silence and began firing at the units involved in the organization of the green corridor from various types of artillery weapons. Real villainy! By the way, the shelling is still going on.

Thanks to the timely response and regrouping of units, there were no casualties among the personnel. Naturally, none of the cellars was released.

I wonder: what kind of mother raised these fascist creatures? As soon as they are captured, they declare that all the Nazi tattoos on the body are the mistakes of youth, and they have not seen weapons in their eyes and really want to call their mother or wife. But give them free rein  they will cover the green corridor intended for civilians with artillery.

I have no words to describe what happened. Ukrainian fascists can and should be compared with German ones, but even here you sometimes wonder: are the modern ones worse? Do they really have nothing sacred, any values, dignity, self-respect, honor? This is a rhetorical question. We know not. Such is the essence of low-spirited Bandera ideology  meanness, inhumanity, fascism.

After this incident, there should be no doubt about the necessity of carrying out the denazification and demilitarization of such Nazi scum of humanity. Even in the case of a peace agreement, after negotiations and the end of the special operation, all these armed fascists must be caught and brought to justice. And dont worry about it. With such an abomination, Russian units will not stand on ceremony. And they will be treated accordingly. Peace in Ukraine will not come as long as at least one Bandera jackal is alive.

I want to appeal to world leaders: you supply artillery systems to destroy the civilian population of the LPR and DPR, and you know very well that the Ukrainian military does not use them to shell the military positions of Russian troops. Sooner or later you will have to admit it and on your knees apologize to the people of Donbass.

Kadyrov
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
8. Hes got the secret to a solid marriage.

We met on July 1, 1996, and got married on July 1, 1998. [The secret is] being able to negotiate and having the ability to forget what you were just arguing about or why someone was snippy at you, and walk away and watch a television show, and its gone now. Over the years we have had two sittings with a marriage counselor, not for any dire reason. There were no real problems, other than we were starting to treat each other a little differently. And, my golly, both of us were in tears, and whatever it was  poof! It was gone. I did that because when Connie Sellecca remarried John Tesh, she said, I will not marry you until we have six months of marriage counseling before the marriage. Boy, what a good idea. It irons out a lot of things. There is always one person that doesnt want to talk about it  youve got to both talk about it. We are really good at that. Were both good negotiators. You think, All right, I didnt know you meant that. Thats not how I think, but thats why I love you, because youre completely different from me.

9. Hes weighing in  from afar  on Barbras autobiography.

It should be out next spring. She goes over every syllable, making sure that there is dyed-in-the-wool truth in every ounce. Shes rewritten every line 10 times. Ill go, Thats good, keep that; I wouldnt use that word. Im in the peanut gallery. She knows what shes doing.

10. Hes made peace with almost being James Bond.

I dont know if youve seen the tests on YouTube, but I literally had the job. I was over there a month. Roger Moore had said, Im not doing any more. Producer Cubby Broccoli took me all over town to the best places. I started working with a stuntman; I bought my flat. They said, Go home. Get all your stuff. Youre going to be gone for a year. Two weeks later, I finally got a call: Roger Moore decided to do one more. I was crushed.

11. Hes got more to offer for future voice-over gigs.

After Lightyear I kept hearing from the Pixar staff and casting: We just love Jim. Hes so funny and fun and all that. I say, OK, keep spreading that news because Id like to do some more animated voices. Ive got a lot of cute voice-overs that Pixar doesnt know about.
TEHRAN, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian foreign minister said on Tuesday Iran will not distance itself from the "logic of diplomacy and negotiation" to reach a "good, strong and lasting agreement" in the Vienna talks.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks at a joint press conference with visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in the capital Tehran, according to the official news agency IRNA.

Amir-Abdollahian stressed that Iran has never "escaped" from the negotiating table and maintains that negotiation and diplomacy are the best ways to reach an agreement on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal.

Over the past months, Iran and the United States kept exchanging messages indirectly through the European Union, he said. "We have proved that we favor dialogue and are trying to achieve a good, strong and lasting agreement."

However, the American side last week submitted an anti-Tehran resolution to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to pressure Tehran into granting concessions in the nuclear negotiations, the Iranian minister said.

He said Tehran's response to the resolution has been an increase in its nuclear activities and has informed the IAEA of its move through the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).

The minister added that Iran will not escape from dialogue and negotiation, giving the assurance that the path of dialogue continues.

Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the world powers in July 2015 accepting to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on Tehran. However, former President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed Washington's unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting Iran to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the agreement in retaliation.

Since April 2021, several rounds of talks have been held in the Austrian capital between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties to revive the deal. 


Exploration Update - Horse Well, Pernatty C and Warriner Creek

Melbourne, June 14, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Cohiba Minerals Limited ( ASX:CHK ) ( OTCMKTS:CHKMF ) is pleased to provide a brief update to the market in relation to the current drilling at the Horse Well Prospect (Figure 1*) and the status of samples from the Pernatty C and Warriner Creek drilling programs.Highlights:- HWDD06 is targeting coincident gravity and magnetic anomalies within a target zone extending from brecciation and strong haematite and sericite alteration intersected in drill hole COHWDDH03 (Figures 1 and 2*).- Geophysical targets less than 5 kilometres west of BHP's Oak Dam project- HWDD06 has progressed to a depth of 780m on its way to a basement target zone of 990m (which should be encountered on or around June 13).- HWDD06 is expected to be completed on or around June 30.- The samples from the Pernatty C drilling are currently being processed by ALS Laboratories.- The samples from the Warriner Creek drilling are currently being processed by ALS Laboratories and will include a full suite of rare earth elements (REE).Cohiba's CEO, Andrew Graham says, "The Horse Well Prospect represents a key IOCG target zone within the Gawler Craton and we are committed to investigating it to the fullest extent possible. HWDD06 is considered to have great potential and was earmarked for investigation following encouraging results from HWDD03, HWDD04, HWDD05 and HWDD05W. Given the considerable target depth, we have ensured that all technical information at our disposal has been scrutinised in detail to maximise our potential for exploration success.The Pernatty C and Warriner Creek projects also represent strategic exploration target zones and we eagerly await the assay results which will greatly assist in our future exploration strategy."Cohiba has received regulatory and landholder approval for up to 12 drill holes at the Horse Well Prospect and is targeting coincident gravity and magnetic anomalies, but with a focus on some of the subtler gravity responses where technical reviews of previous drilling have suggested a possible masking of the target areas due to more complex geology than that seen at Oak Dam West.HWDD06 commenced at a dip of 70deg and the current plan is to progressively shallow the hole to a final dip of 60deg (Table 1*) to gain a better cross-sectional result. It is expected that the basement will be encountered at a downhole depth of 990m.The Pernatty C and Warriner Creek drill core samples are currently being processed at ALS Laboratories and will be subject to a full suite analysis including gold and rare earth elements (REE). Detailed logging of the drill core is being undertaken to provide much greater insight into the mineralogy, structures and alteration styles present at these prospects.*To view tables and figures, please visit: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.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Rudy Lucero believes in miracles. He sees one each time he looks in the mirror.

The Albuquerque resident is recovering in a Colorado hospital after having a May 2 double lung transplant, made necessary after a COVID infection scarred his lungs and made breathing nearly impossible.

He expects that he and his wife, Deborah, will have to remain in Colorado another 2-3 months as he continues to get stronger and more independent.

Colorado is a good place to be, considering where Rudy was heading.

Im really close to the way I felt before I got sick, but Ive lost a lot of weight and my muscles are weak, Rudy said. Ive been going to pulmonary rehab, just trying to get stronger.

All he knows of his organ donor is that the lungs came from a 33-year-old male. The hospital, he said, would not release any additional information.

On New Years Day, 2021, Rudy and his then longtime girlfriend, Deborah Ortiz, both tested positive for COVID. Vaccines had just started to become available and the couple did not yet have access to them. Over the next five days, as Deborah got better, Rudy, who also has diabetes, experienced a profound deterioration in his ability to breathe. He wound up being rushed by ambulance to a hospital.

Rudy, 55, and Deborah, 53, had each been married before. They had known one another for more than 15 years and had plans to get married and have a honeymoon in Hawaii. Rudy had even traveled to Los Angeles to purchase a zoot suit for the occasion.

COVID put the kibosh on that.

As Rudy lingered in a bed at Lovelace Medical Center, he realized he faced an uncertain future and suggested that he and Deborah get married right away. So on Feb. 7, 2021, Super Bowl Sunday, they exchanged vows  Rudy still in his hospital bed, and Deborah in the parking lot below, holding a cellphone with an audio-video connection and surrounded by about 100 mask-wearing friends and a procession of classic cars.

On June 23, closing in on a six-month hospitalization, Deborah was finally able to take Rudy home, but life was not easy for him. Rudy, who owned a plumbing company for 30 years, had to sell his business. Deborah, formerly a cosmetologist, became Rudys primary caregiver. More than 70% of his lungs were scarred, causing a permanent condition called pulmonary fibrosis, which would require him to be on oxygen for the rest of his life, his doctors informed him.

In October, Rudy experienced another setback. He was hospitalized with pulmonary hypertension, which causes the heart to work at a dangerously high rate to pump blood through the lungs. It was at that point, Deborah said, that we started talking about a double lung transplant, a discussion they had hoped to put off as long as possible.

In March, the couple went to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center in Aurora, which has a lung transplant program. With his oxygen levels still falling, Rudy was placed on the transplant list and eight pairs of donor lungs were considered before an acceptable pair was located. The surgery took more than eight hours, Rudy said.

Theres a small window where someone can be not yet sick enough to have the transplant, but then theres also a line where a person can be too sick to have the transplant, Deborah said. Rudy was close to being too sick.

When he finally awoke 24 hours after the surgery, it was a revelation, Rudy said. I was breathing normal. It was crazy. The way I was living before, there was no quality of life. I couldnt get up and go to the bathroom without gasping for air, so this was amazing. Im still on a little bit of oxygen, but eventually I wont need it at all.

He will, however, have to take anti-rejection medication for the rest of his life, an assortment of 15 to 20 pills daily.

Its not a possibility of rejection, he will definitely have rejection at one point or another, if not multiple times, Deborah said. But as long as we keep on top of it, and when we see signs  a common cold, fatigue, fever  we can let the doctors know immediately and they can test him quickly and give him antibiotics or whatever hes going to need. But its not a matter of if, its a matter of when.

For the next couple of months or so, the couple is living close to the medical center in housing subsidized by Brents Place, a nonprofit that helps people like the Luceros. Rudy goes to pulmonary rehab three times a week and visits his doctor once a week.

Deborah, in the meantime, is planning their return to Albuquerque and the more elaborate wedding that they missed out on earlier, including the procession of classic cars adorned with a thousand tissue paper flowers that have been waiting in storage.

We had a really, really rough year and a half, and if it has anything to do with the marriage vows about in sickness and in health, well, weve already done the sickness part, so its time to do the healthy part and be happy, Deborah said.

Rudy knows how lucky he is to have survived the medical crisis. I would never have made it without Deborah, he said.

And every day he gets up and looks in the mirror he recognizes that his second chance at life is nothing short of a miracle.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

An Albuquerque man has pleaded guilty to a federal weapons charge in connection with a shootout last year in which three men were fatally shot.

Richard Kuykendall, 42, pleaded guilty on April 28 in U.S. District Court to felon in possession of a firearm. He faces 18 months in prison at an Aug. 1 sentencing hearing.

Erlinda Johnson, Kuykendalls attorney, said her client was not armed when he encountered the three men in the car. Instead, he removed a firearm from the back seat of the car after the three men were fatally shot and stashed it near a dumpster, she said.

He admitted removing the firearm from the car to get it away from the guy in the back, Johnson said. The guy in the back seat had just tried to kill him basically.

Kuykendall then got in the drivers seat and drove the three men to the parking lot of Presbyterian Kaseman Hospital before calling 911.

Johnson also said none of the men involved, including Kuykendall, were affiliated with the Aryan Brotherhood as authorities have reported.

We argue theres no evidence that any of them are validated Aryan Brotherhood members, she said.

Kuykendall remains in federal custody, she said.

Kuykendall has not been charged in the deaths of Branden Torres, 44, James Fisher, 41, and Michael Sanchez, 33, who were found fatally shot inside the Ford Taurus.

At this time we do not have an (Albuquerque Police Department) case referred to our office regarding Richard Kuykendall, said Lauren Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the 2nd Judicial District Attorneys office.

Kuykendall was close friends with Torres and Fisher, who were in the front seat of the car in an alley near Cutler and San Pedro NE.

When Kuykendall opened the back seat door to get into the car, Sanchez unexpectedly fired gunshots at him from the back seat, according to federal court records.

The gunfire set off a close-quarters gunfight inside the vehicle between Sanchez and Torres, the driver, resulting in fatal gunshots to all three occupants, Johnson said.

A security video of the incident shows that Kuykendall, who was not injured, scrambled around seeking cover outside the car.

Once the shooting stopped, he opened the back seat door to check on the occupants.

Kuykendall then climbed into the drivers seat and drove the three victims to the parking lot of Kaseman Hospital where he left the car and the men.
Lesser prairie chickens once numbered in the thousands, thriving on the prairielands of eastern New Mexico and the American West.

But in recent years, the chickens numbers declined amid growing development in the oil and gas and agriculture sectors throughout the region and conservationists are worried the unique bird could be in danger of extinction.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed federal protections for the species last year under the Endangered Species Act, seeking an endangered listing for the bird in southeast New Mexico and West Texas and a threatened listing in the rest of the animals range, which extends through Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas.

A species is considered endangered by the agency when its extinction is believed imminent, while threatened means the animal could soon warrant endangered status.

Both statuses result in the federal government developing a recovery plan and setting aside acreage deemed critical habitat of the species at risk.

A final decision on the lesser prairie chickens listing was expected this month, records show, and it could restrict access to lands needed for the chickens recovery and impact some of New Mexicos biggest industries.

Thats why conservation bank Lesser Prairie Chickens Conservation proposed a habitat conservation plan for the oil and gas industry. It was approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service on June 3.

It would allow oil and gas operations to occur within areas where the chicken could dwell.

Energy companies buy protections from the conservation bank for the areas known as strongholds, while conducting certain conservation practices on the lands amid their operations, and in exchange are exempted from future restrictions should the species ultimately be listed.

They receive a permit for incidental take which refers to a number of birds that are allowed to be killed during development.

The intention, said LPC Conservation Chief Executive Officer Wayne Walker, is to save the animal in danger of dying out while allowing essential economic drivers to continue.

That balance, he said, is essential as it enlists the help of companies that hold large swaths of land.

We believe using a market-based business model is the best way to secure the desired outcomes for all involved to finally deliver quantifiable conservation benefits to the (bird), he said. The species is a key indicator of the health of the southern Great Plains. LPC Conservation offers a legally defensible permit that should be of interest to this industry.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said in a statement that enrollees would be able to avoid future regulatory shifts while helping to conserve the bird.

The agency also published an environmental assessment in May that showed take permits would impact up to 500,000 acres of chicken habitat in all five states  200,000 acres in the southern population segment in New Mexico and Texas and 300,000 acres in the northern population.

When implemented, the agency estimates the plan would lead to the restoration and continued management of up to a million acres of chicken habitat.

This would have no significant impact on the environment or human activity, per a report from the Fish and Wildlife Service, and no further analysis was needed.

For more than two decades, we have prioritized efforts with our partners to employ all available tools to facilitate the conservation of the lesser prairie-chicken, the statement read. Working with others is essential to protecting ecosystems that benefit wildlife and economies.

Carlsbad-based conservation nonprofit CEHMM (The Center for Excellence) reported it undertook several projects to protect the lesser prairie chicken in early 2022.

CEHMM offers conservation agreements also approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service for private and public lands.

Similar to the habitat conservation plan, enrollees agree to conservation practices to avoid future regulatory burdens if a listing is approved.

CEHMM reported it did not yet find any leks, or prairie chicken breeding grounds, during a weeklong survey conducted March 23, per its report for the first quarter of 2022 published last month.

The oil and gas industry so far enrolled 508,737 acres within the birds occupied range in New Mexico in CEHMMs program, per the report, while 891,293 acres were enrolled by ranchers and another 348,551 acres were enrolled by the New Mexico State Land Office.

That means about 1.2 million acres were enrolled in total, just more than half of the 2.1 million acres CHEMM identified as the birds occupied range.

Johnathan Hayes, executive director of the southwest region for the Audubon Society, said that effort to conserve the bird while protecting local industry was crucial to ensure local communities are impacted as little as possible by government decision making.

He said the society supports the chickens listing, but hopes plans like LPC Conservations and others will provide economic support amid conservation efforts.

The listing decision is the right way to go, but were recognizing that that does have a cost, Hayes said. We want to make sure the negative impact that happens to industry, that were allowing industry to have some ability to predict what those regulations will be and what that impact will be.

Hayes said work to save the bird could also restore the land and ecosystem, supporting the broader environment from human impacts to climate change.

Birds are the canary in the coal mine. This is a good example of us seeing the loss of suitable habitat that is driving the decline of these birds is absolutely an impact weve had on the landscape, the climate, he said.

This isnt just about the bird.
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Friday rolled out guidelines for a new youth service program meant to create job opportunities for Native Americans while boosting their cultural connections to nature through conservation projects on tribal and public land.

The Indian Youth Service Corps is the latest addition to the Biden administrations plans for building a 21st century version of the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps. The mission includes everything from clearing brush to reduce wildfire threats and restore forests to preserving historic sites, helping with archaeological research and building trails.

Haaland talked about a childhood spent hiking to the top of high desert mesas, wading through ice-cold streams and learning about the worlds interconnectedness from her grandparents while walking through corn fields at Laguna Pueblo in west-central New Mexico.

I want everyone to have that profound connection to the great outdoors that I was gifted, and we can help more people access nature no matter where theyre from or what their background, she said Friday during a call with reporters. We will help lift up the next generation of stewards for this Earth.

Haaland described Native Americans as original stewards of the land, saying they have learned over many generations how to sustain communities and that its time for Indigenous youth to have a seat at the table.

The Interior Department is funneling a combined $3.3 million this year to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Reclamation to establish the Indian Youth Service Corps.

The U.S. Forest Service is investing up to $5 million as part of its partnership with the corps, and the National Park Foundation is committing $1 million.

Future funding will depend on agency budgets and private philanthropy.

Will Shafroth, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation, said enthusiasm is increasing for programs that give young people paying jobs and training for professions related to public lands and natural resource management.

It checks a lot of really important boxes for donors, and I think the future is very bright for private funding to support these efforts, he said.

The foundation is funding more than 10 conservation and preservation projects from Maine to New Mexico that involve tribal youth crews. Some of the work is aimed at protecting cultural practices, languages and traditional ecological knowledge used for land management.

One of the first Indian Youth Service Corps projects will be in southern Arizona. Six members of the Tohono OOdham Nation will work as a crew on the Coronado National Forest.

Other work around the Southwest will include native seed collection as land managers work with scientists to reforest areas charred by wildfire.

Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico said the new corps will ultimately lead to more traditional knowledge being incorporated into future conservation efforts as participants move into leadership roles as adults.

With this program, knowledge is going to flow both ways, she said.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  With her reelection matchup for November now officially set, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is launching her first big television ad splash of the general election cycle.

In one of two new TV ads that will start airing statewide on Tuesday, the Democratic incumbent enlists the help of former Bernalillo police chief Tom Romero to push back against criticism from Republican Mark Ronchetti on crime-related issues.

Do you think a TV weatherman has any idea how to fight crime in New Mexico? Romero says during the 30-second spot in a reference to Ronchettis former job as a KRQE-TV meteorologist.

The ad, which will air on network and cable channels, marks a new phase of this years race for governor. It could also provide a sneak peek into one of Lujan Grishams main lines of attack against Ronchetti  his lack of political experience.

In addition to criticizing Ronchetti, the new ad also features Romero touting Lujan Grishams actions as governor to increase funding for law enforcement officers  including a salary increase for State Police officers in this years budget  and stiffen criminal penalties.

Lujan Grisham signed a bill this year increasing the penalties for being a felon in possession of a firearm and brandishing a gun while committing a felony offense, among other criminal code changes, but her push to change the states pretrial detention system was largely rebuffed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Since taking office in 2019, the governor has called for more police officers in New Mexico. She also said in 2020 it was time to address the ugly truth of racism in core institutions, including law enforcement agencies.

On his way to comfortably winning a five-way GOP primary race last week, Ronchetti hammered the governor over her handling of crime, immigration and economic issues, describing her as a political elite who is more interested in keeping power than helping New Mexicans.

However, Lujan Grisham, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, entered the general election cycle with a hefty financial advantage over her Republican opponent, as the governor recently reported having $3.1 million in her reelection account.

Ronchetti had about $470,000 in his campaign account, after already having spent more than $2.3 million on TV ads and other expenses during the primary election cycle.

But hes already received some outside help, as a political committee associated with the Republican Governor Association last week launched TV ads in New Mexico targeting Lujan Grisham.

Meanwhile, the governors other new TV ad features a nursing student at Clovis Community College who benefitted from the states Opportunity Scholarship, a program pushed by Lujan Grisham that covers tuition and fees for older students who go back to college.

The general election is set for Nov. 8, with Libertarian candidate Karen Bedonie appearing on the ballot in the governors race along with Lujan Grisham and Ronchetti.
Following her selection as the Distinguished Young Woman of New Mexico, Salma Barragan of Las Cruces will compete in the organizations 65th national finals later this month.

Barragan will compete for more than $150,000 in scholarships, as well as the opportunity to represent the program as the Distinguished Young Woman of America for 2022.

In the 10 days leading up to the finals, which will be held in Mobile, Alabama, the 50 state representatives will take part in community activities and events along with many rehearsals for National Finals performances.

The winner will promote the outreach initiative of Be Your Best Self, which is designed to counter issues facing children today, including childhood obesity and high school drop out rates, as well as encourage young people to take an active interest in their communities through service.

Barragan is a 2022 graduate of Centennial High School in Las Cruces. She is the daughter of Zulma Uranga Trujillo and Hector Trujillo.

Founded in 1958, Distinguished Young Women is a free program that encourages participants to reach their full potential and has empowered young women over the years by providing millions of dollars in scholarship opportunities.
LAS VEGAS  Adam Laxalt, a former state attorney general who has embraced lies about the 2020 election, won the Republican nomination for a pivotal Nevada Senate seat, fending off a challenge from a political newcomer and setting up what will likely be a fierce and costly race against incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto, one of the most endangered Democrats in an evenly divided Senate.

Laxalt enjoyed the backing of the Republican Partys most influential figures, ranging from former President Donald Trump to Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But a late-stage challenge from political newcomer Sam Brown forced Laxalt to spend heavily in the final weeks of the primary campaign and tap into the support of some of his high-profile backers, particularly those with ties to Trump.

The matchup against Cortez Masto comes at a difficult moment for Democrats, weighed down by President Joe Bidens low approval ratings and seeking to maintain control of Congress as people throughout the U.S. grapple with rising prices of everyday goods and gasoline. Republicans see the race as their best opportunity to flip a Senate seat and regain the majority, but are also watching for longer-term signals that Nevada is swinging back in their direction after rejecting every GOP presidential candidate since 2004.

Together we have taken an important step tonight, Laxalt said at a party in Reno, Nevada. An important step in taking our country back, an important step in taking our great state of Nevada.

Beyond the Senate race, Republicans in Nevada also picked Joe Lombardo as their nominee to challenge incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak in what could be one of the most competitive governors races this year. And the GOP backed Jim Marchant as their candidate for secretary of state. A former state lawmaker, he has repeated false claims about the presidential campaign and, if elected, would be in charge of elections in a state that could be critical in determining the winner of the White House in 2024.

Nevada was one of several states that held elections Tuesday, about midway through a primary season that could reshape American politics. The results offered warnings for both parties.

In south Texas, Democrats lost a long-held seat in the U.S. House. They are likely to regain it in November, but Tuesdays results were a reminder that the partys standing is at risk of slipping among Latinos.

Trump, meanwhile, helped a South Carolina state lawmaker take out five-term incumbent Rep. Tom Rice, who backed the former presidents second impeachment last year. While the win could help Trump regain momentum after setbacks in a series of races last month, it happened in a rural, solidly Republican congressional district. Another incumbent that the former president sought to defeat in a neighboring district, Rep. Nancy Mace, held back the challenger, attracting some of the suburban moderates who bolted from the GOP during the Trump era.

Speaking to reporters after the results came in, Mace sought to strike a tone of consensus, pledging to work with anyone whos willing to work with me, full stop.

For his part, Trump posted a statement on his social media platform saying Maces challenger, Katie Arrington, was a long shot who ran a great race. He offered his congratulations to Mace, who he said should easily prevail over a Democrat in the fall.

Still, much of the attention Tuesday was on Nevada.

Laxalt entered the primary with strong name recognition after serving for four years as Nevadas attorney general. The grandson of former U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, he campaigned unsuccessfully for governor in 2018.

But perhaps most importantly in GOP circles, hes got ties to Trump. Laxalt worked on Trumps reelection campaign and promoted his lies about election fraud in the state after the 2020 election, including spearheading legal challenges to the vote-counting process. Trump in turn hosted Laxalt for a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and appeared in a campaign ad for Laxalt.

Trumps false claims of fraud in the 2020 election were laced throughout the campaign. Last fall, Laxalt began raising fears of voter fraud in 2022 and talked about preemptively mounting legal challenges to try to tighten up the election.

Laxalt had insisted in 2020 that ineligible and dead voters cast ballots in the presidential election in Nevada, despite the states Republican secretary of state insisting that the results showing Bidens victory were accurate and reliable.

Brown, to the surprise of many in the state, won the endorsement of the Nevada Republican Party at a convention vote in late April and a straw poll of the Las Vegas-area GOP at a May gathering. Recent polls showed him closing in on Laxalt, though the state, with a transient population and many late-shift workers due to the states tourism and casino industry, is considered fickle for pollsters.

Laxalt is now focused on trying to defeat Cortez Masto, the first Latina elected to the Senate and successor of the late Sen. Harry Reid. She is making her first reelection bid as Democrats broadly are facing headwinds this year, particularly when it comes to the economy. In Nevada, high prices for gas are acutely felt by residents of Las Vegas sprawling suburbs or those commuting from far-flung rural areas.

Those same factors could imperil the reelection of Nevadas Democratic governor, Sisolak. He will face Lombardo, the sheriff of Clark County, who also earned a coveted endorsement from Trump.

___

Price reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York, Meg Kinnard in Charleston, South Carolina and Gabe Stern in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.
RED LODGE, Mont.  More than 10,000 visitors were ordered out of Yellowstone as unprecedented flooding tore through the northern half of the nations oldest national park, washing out bridges and roads and sweeping an employee bunkhouse miles downstream, officials said Tuesday. Remarkably, no one was reported injured or killed.

The only visitors left in the massive park straddling three states were a dozen campers still making their way out of the backcountry.

Yellowstone National Park, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, could remain closed as long as a week, and northern entrances may not reopen this summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly said.

The water is still raging, said Sholly, who noted that some weather forecasts include the possibility of additional flooding this weekend.

The Yellowstone River hit historic levels after days of rain and rapid snowmelt and wrought havoc across parts of southern Montana and northern Wyoming, where it washed away cabins, swamped small towns and knocked out power. It hit the park just as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors was ramping up.

Instead of marveling at massive elk and bison, burbling thermal pools and the reliable blast of Old Faithfuls geyser, tourists found themselves witnessing nature at its most unpredictable as the Yellowstone River river crested in a chocolate brown torrent that washed away everything in its path.

It is just the scariest river ever, Kate Gomez of Santa Fe, New Mexico, said Tuesday. Anything that falls into that river is gone.

Waters were only starting to recede Tuesday, and the full extent of the destruction may not be known for a while. It was not expected to have affected wildlife.

Closure of the northern part of the park will keep visitors from features that include Tower Fall, Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley, which is known for viewing wildlife such as bears and wolves. Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake and viewing the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are on the parks southern loop road and likely to be reopened.

Sholly said the backpackers who remained in the park had been contacted. Crews were prepared to evacuate them by helicopter, but that hasnt been needed yet, he said.

Sholly said he didnt believe the park had ever shut down from flooding.

Gomez and her husband were among hundreds of tourists stuck in Gardiner, Montana, a town of about 800 residents at the parks north entrance. The town was cut off for more than a day until Tuesday afternoon, when crews reopened part of a washed away two-lane road.

While the flooding cant directly be attributed to climate change, it came as the Midwest and East Coast sizzle from a heat wave and other parts of the West burn from an early wildfire season amid a persistent drought that has increased the frequency and intensity of fires that are having broader impacts. Smoke from a fire in the mountains of Flagstaff, Arizona, could be seen in Colorado.

Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said a warming environment makes extreme weather events more likely than they would have been without the warming that human activity has caused.

Will Yellowstone have a repeat of this in five or even 50 years? Maybe not, but somewhere will have something equivalent or even more extreme, he said.

Heavy rain on top of melting mountain snow pushed the Yellowstone, Stillwater and Clarks Fork rivers to record levels Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials in Yellowstone and in several southern Montana counties were assessing damage from the storms, which also triggered mudslides and rockslides.

Some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the park and Yellowstones gateway communities in southern Montana. National Park Service photos showed mud and rock slides, washed out bridges and roads undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers.

In Red Lodge, Montana, a town of 2,100 thats a popular jumping-off point for a scenic, winding route into the Yellowstone high country, a creek running through town jumped its banks and swamped the main thoroughfare, leaving trout swimming in the street a day later under sunny skies.

At least 200 homes flooded in the city and in Fromberg, Carbon County authorities said.

Residents described a harrowing scene where the water went from a trickle to a torrent over just a few hours.

The water toppled telephone poles, knocked over fences and carved deep fissures in the ground through a neighborhood of hundreds of houses. Power was restored by Tuesday, though there was still no running water in the affected neighborhood.

Heidi Hoffman left early Monday to buy a sump pump in Billings, but by the time she returned her basement was full of water.

We lost all our belongings in the basement, Hoffman said as the pump removed a steady stream of water into her muddy backyard. Yearbooks, pictures, clothes, furniture. Were going to be cleaning up for a long time.

On Monday, Yellowstone officials evacuated the northern part of the park, where roads may remain impassable for a substantial length of time, Sholly said. But the flooding affected the rest of the park, too, with park officials warning of yet higher flooding and potential problems with water supplies and wastewater systems at developed areas.

The rains hit just as area hotels have filled up in recent weeks with summer tourists. More than 4 million visitors were tallied by the park last year. The wave of tourists doesnt abate until fall, and June is typically one of Yellowstones busiest months.

It was unclear how many visitors to the region remained stranded, or how many people who live outside the park were rescued and evacuated.

Mark Taylor, owner and chief pilot of Rocky Mountain Rotors, said his company airlifted about 40 paying customers over the past two days from Gardiner, including two women who were very pregnant.

Taylor spoke as he ferried a family of four adults from Texas, who wanted to do some more sightseeing before heading home.

I imagine theyre going to rent a car and theyre going to go check out some other parts of Montana  somewhere drier, he said.

At a cabin in Gardiner, Parker Manning of Terre Haute, Indiana, got an up-close view of the roiling Yellowstone River floodwaters just outside his door. Entire trees and even a lone kayaker floated by.

In early evening, he shot video as the waters ate away at the opposite bank where a large brown house that had been home to park employees, who had evacuated, was precariously perched.

In a large cracking sound heard over the rivers roar, the house tipped into the waters and was pulled into the current. Sholly said it floated 5 miles (8 kilometers) before sinking.

In south-central Montana, flooding on the Stillwater River stranded 68 people at a campground. Stillwater County Emergency Services agencies and Stillwater Mine crews rescued people Monday from the Woodbine Campground by raft. Some roads in the area were closed and residents were evacuated.

The towns of Cooke City and Silvergate, just east of the park, were also isolated by floodwaters.

In Livingston, residents in low-lying neighborhoods were told to leave and the citys hospital was evacuated as a precaution after its driveway flooded.

Officials in Park County, which includes Gardiner and Cooke City, said extensive flooding throughout the county had made drinking water unsafe in many areas.

The Montana National Guard said Monday it sent two helicopters to southern Montana to help with evacuations.

In the hamlet of Nye, at least four cabins washed into the Stillwater River, said Shelley Blazina, including one she owned.

It was my sanctuary, she said Tuesday. Yesterday I was in shock. Today Im just in intense sadness.

The Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs crested at 13.88 feet (4.2 meters) Monday, higher than the previous record of 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) set in 1918, according to the National Weather Service.

Yellowstone got 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) of rain Saturday, Sunday and into Monday. The Beartooth Mountains northeast of Yellowstone got as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service.

___

Whitehurst reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writers Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, R.J. Rico in Atlanta, and Brian Melley in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson (R) and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attend a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 13, 2022. Contrary to previous assertions that the accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would be a quick process, the military alliance's Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Monday that "there is no way to say exactly when" this will happen when visiting Sweden. (Magnus Liljegren/Government Offices of Sweden/Handout via Xinhua)

STOCKHOLM, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Contrary to previous assertions that the accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would be a quick process, the military alliance's Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Monday that "there is no way to say exactly when" this will happen when visiting Sweden.

While the parliaments of several NATO member states have already approved the two Nordic countries' bid to join the alliance, Turkey has so far not given its green light, citing as concerns the two countries' ties with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and other groups Turkey labels as terrorists.

Ankara has also voiced its dissatisfaction with Sweden's arms embargo on Turkey and despite hopes that these issues would be resolved ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid at the end of the month, Stoltenberg on Monday said that "the Madrid summit was never a deadline."

"We are working to find the solution as soon as possible. But when many countries or several countries are involved, there is no way to say exactly when these countries are going to be able to agree," he said.

During his meeting with Finland's President Sauli Niinisto on Sunday, Stoltenberg called Turkey's concerns "legitimate." This was echoed by Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.

"We take the Turkish concerns very seriously and other issues and not at least there are security concerns when it comes to the fight against terrorism," Andersson said in a joint press conference with Stoltenberg on Monday at the prime minister's official summer residence Harpsund some 120 kilometers west of Stockholm.

The NATO secretary general said that he was hopeful that the latest signals from Sweden and Finland would bring them one step closer to becoming members of the military alliance.

"We're working hard and actively on these issues in close consultation with Stockholm, with Helsinki, and of course our NATO ally Turkey. And in that context, those signals from Sweden on terrorism and arms exports are important," Stoltenberg said. 

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson (R) and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attend a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 13, 2022. Contrary to previous assertions that the accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would be a quick process, the military alliance's Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Monday that "there is no way to say exactly when" this will happen when visiting Sweden. (Magnus Liljegren/Government Offices of Sweden/Handout via Xinhua)

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson speaks at a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 13, 2022. Contrary to previous assertions that the accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would be a quick process, the military alliance's Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Monday that "there is no way to say exactly when" this will happen when visiting Sweden. (Magnus Liljegren/Government Offices of Sweden/Handout via Xinhua)
WASHINGTON  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol has postponed a hearing that was to feature dramatic testimony from former Justice Department officials who were pressured by then-President Donald Trump to pursue his false election fraud theories.

The hearing had been scheduled for Wednesday, but the committee on Tuesday morning said that it had been delayed. A spokesman for the panel attributed the postponement to a number of scheduling factors, including production timeline and availability of members and witnesses.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican member of the committee, said on Twitter that the hearing had been moved to next week as a way to space out the testimony surrounding the insurrection, when crowds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and interrupted the certification of President Joe Bidens victory.

The committee has already held two hearings, including a primetime one last week that featured never-before-seen video of extremists leading the deadly siege. Another hearing is set to take place on Thursday.

The witnesses at Wednesdays hearing were to include Jeffrey Rosen, who was the acting attorney general at the time of the Capitol insurrection, as well as two other former top officials at the Justice Department, Richard Donoghue and Steven Engel. Lawyers for all three men did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The witnesses, all of whom have since left the Justice Department, are expected to testify about how Trump sought to bend the department to his political will during the final days of his administration by urging officials to declare the election as corrupt and to aid in his efforts to challenge the results of the race won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Though the lawyers accounts have been documented by the news media, the hearing will give the American public its most detailed glimpse of a near-revolt inside the Justice Department as Trump contemplated replacing the agencys top official with a lower-level lawyer seen as more willing to advance the presidents false claims that the election was stolen. Several other senior officials warned Trump in a White House meeting that theyd resign if the leadership change occurred.

Rosen took over the department following the December 2020 departure of William Barr, who angered Trump by saying the department had not found fraud that could have affected the results of the election. Trump quickly soured on Rosen, too, after the then-acting attorney general rejected entreaties from the president and the White House to challenge the election results.

Around that time, the president was introduced by Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican and ardent Trump backer, to Jeffrey Clark, a little-known assistant attorney general who postured himself as willing to advance Trumps baseless voting fraud claims.

At one point, according to testimony provided to lawmakers, Clark presented colleagues with a draft letter pushing Georgia officials to convene a special legislative session on the election results. Clark wanted the letter sent, but superiors at the Justice Department refused.

A lawyer for Clark did not immediately return a phone message on Wednesday.

Clarks support led Trump to openly contemplate naming him as acting attorney general in place of Rosen.

The situation came to a head during a tense, hours-long Jan. 3, 2021 meeting at the White House in which Engel and Donoghue told Trump that they would resign from the Justice Department if Trump proceeded with his plan to fire Rosen and replace him with Clark.

Trump ultimately relented, and Rosen remained on as acting attorney general through the end of the administration.

___

Follow Eric Tucker at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
Raven Defense Corp. president and CEO Chris Patscheck Tuesday at the unveiling of the companys new 25,000-square-feet headquarters at The 25 Way business park. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal) Raven Defense Corp. technician Eric Gold works on an antenna control box Tuesday at the companys new Albuquerque headquarters. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal) A Raptor antenna component made by Raven Defense Corp. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal) An array of Raven Defense Corp. antennas. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal) Prev 1 of 4 Next

Albuquerque-based Raven Defense Corp.s hypersonic missile test-and-evaluation technology is propelling the homegrown startup into hyper-growth.

The company launched in 2018 to provide remote monitoring services for defense agencies to test and evaluate the performance of new hypersonic missiles and other modern weapons technology currently under development. And now, with less than five years in operation, Raven is rapidly emerging as one of New Mexicos premier government contractors.

The company projects at least $20 million in revenue by year-end, up from $14.6 million last year, said Raven co-founder and CEO Chris Patscheck. And it expects to double its workforce this year, from 20 employees in 2021 to 40 by December.

To accommodate all the growth, Raven inaugurated a newly refurbished, 25,000-square-foot facility today at The 25 Way business park in Central Albuquerque.

Until now, Raven had operated out of two different offices, including a separate 5,000-square-foot facility in The 25 Way, and another 5,000-square-foot space near the Albuquerque International Sunport.

Ravens new facility permits company consolidation in the heart of Albuquerque. That includes a test-and-evaluation center it built just across the highway from The 25 Way, where it leased a previously empty four-acre lot of land that now houses an array of dish antennas, which the company uses to manage telemetry, or remote monitoring, services for DOD customers.

That was just an overgrown lot, Patscheck told the Journal. We put down a 10-year land lease and then cleaned it up, fenced it in and installed security cameras.

Raven is the brainchild of four former employees at Raytheon Technologies Corp., a global aerospace defense contractor that shut down its Albuquerque operations in 2020.

With Raytheon ramping down and the military ramping up investments in modern weapons systems, the four colleagues saw an opportunity to launch their own company to help meet a growing DOD need for test-and-evaluation capabilities.

We were seeing a massive increase in DOD weapons development and growing demand for operational testing services, so we built test-and-evaluation assets for hypersonic weapons and other technologies, Patscheck told the Journal. Were filling a gap with our telemetry tracking systems.

Raven also provides advanced satellite communications for both government and commercial customers.

With extensive weapons modernization work underway in New Mexico, Raven expects rapid business expansion to continue, said company co-founder and Chief Financial Officer Megan Valles.

Its a growing market, Valles told the Journal. Weve invested in building the capabilities needed for testing and evaluation, and we can now provide those support services very quickly.

Given todays tight real estate market, it took nearly a year to find a suitable facility for Raven, said Albuquerque broker Gannon Coffman, who represented Raven in the deal.

It was a challenge to find a space big enough given Ravens rapid growth, Coffman told the Journal. Its a young, nimble company thats creating high-wage jobs. Its a great story for New Mexico.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Sceye Inc. launched a new helium-filled airship Tuesday morning into the stratosphere above Roswell for a maiden, 24-hour flight that could pave the way for statewide broadband connectivity beamed from the sky.

The Roswell-based company, which itself was launched in 2014, has successfully test-flown different versions of the aircraft nine times since 2016 to assess the vehicles functionality and the capacity of the broadband-beaming technologies installed on board, said company founder and CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen. But this is the first time Sceye (pronounced Sky) is attempting a full 24-hour cycle in the air.

If successful, it would mark a major turning point for the company to move forward with permanent flights using a fleet of five airships that could bring broadband to every corner of the state.

Its our Kitty Hawk moment, Frandsen told the Journal in a video call from Roswell. Its our first attempt at a full diurnal flight.

Moving from a 24-hour stint in the air to continuous flight over weeks and months is easier than initially proving the vehicles day-and-night capability for the first time, Frandsen said.

The helium that fills the hull provides the buoyancy needed to launch and float in the stratosphere at 65,000 feet up. Once in the sky, navigation is powered in the day by solar cells on the craft, and at night with specially designed batteries that the solar panels charge up during daylight.

Closing that 24-hour loop in this first flight is the hard part, Frandsen said. If we can do it this first night, we can do all other nights, so were not worried about longevity. After proving the technology this first time, we can then push out to 30, 60 or 90 days and beyond.

The HAPS

Like Sceye, various companies are working around the globe to develop high-altitude platform stations, or HAPS, to beam high-speed internet to underserved rural communities in the U.S. and elsewhere to help overcome the difficulty and expense of building out fiber networks or wireless technology in isolated locations. Those challenges have created a notorious broadband gap between urban and rural zones, especially in poorer communities, such as on tribal reservations like the Navajo Nation and in developing countries.

New Mexico is front and center in those efforts.

HAPSMobile Inc., for example  a joint venture between Japanese telecommunications firm SoftBank Inc. and aircraft development company AeroVironment  is now working at Spaceport America in southern New Mexico to develop a solar-powered, unmanned aerial vehicle to provide internet connection from the stratosphere.

Google Inc. also invested in a local startup, Titan Aerospace, that was building solar-powered drones for internet connectivity at the Moriarty Municipal Airport about 10 years ago. Google built a 60,000-square-foot facility in Moriarty for Titan operations, but later moved the company to California.

Other applications

Sceyes helium-filled blimps, however, represent a different approach to HAPS technology development that could significantly lower the costs for sky-beamed broadband, while also opening the door to many other airborne services. That could include everything from environmental monitoring of methane emissions and ozone pollution to early-warning detection against natural disasters and tracking and surveillance for things like illegal fishing and human trafficking, Frandsen said.

State agencies are already working with Sceye to potentially apply its technology for both environmental monitoring and broadband connectivity.

The Environment Department signed a memorandum of understanding with Sceye, said Environment Secretary James Kenney.

Were developing a monitoring program with them for a host of things, Kenney told the Journal. Were hoping to see a first test flight with monitoring equipment on board sometime this fall or early next year.

The state Department of Transportation is also considering Internet connectivity procurement with Sceye to power up digital road-safety signs in remote areas, said state Economic Development Secretary Alicia J. Keyes. In fact, the EDD approved $5 million in Local Economic Development Act funding for Sceye in 2020 for a local manufacturing plant here to build future aircraft fleets for deployment elsewhere.

The first five aircraft, however, would be for broadband-beaming in New Mexico.

With five ships floating in the stratosphere, Sceye could expand broadband to 100% of the state, Keyes told the Journal. It could offer a much more progressive alternative for future development of high-speed internet than trying to build out ground-based infrastructure in rural areas.

A consortium of local telecom companies is also working with Sceye to eventually procure its broadband coverage in tribal communities and other rural areas, said Sacred Wind Communications CEO John Badal.

We need to think creatively to tap emerging technologies in the state, Badal told the Journal. Sceye is bringing a brilliant, innovative way to deliver broadband to New Mexico that can avoid the huge costs and slow development of terrestrial-based infrastructure.

Sceyes technology significantly lowers costs compared with other HAPS vehicles, because the company developed special materials for the helium-filled craft, Frandsen said. That includes a novel, ultra-light hull fabric, innovative envelopes for solar panels, and a battery system with much greater energy-storage density than others on the market, all of which substantially reduce aircraft weight.

Previous flight tests have proven the efficacy of those materials and craft functionality, as well as the broadband technology, including three successful flights to the stratosphere since May 2021. And in July, Sceye will begin test flights with environmental monitoring equipment on board, Frandsen said.

The ship itself has steadily evolved from a small, 70-foot craft in 2016 to a 270-foot vehicle today.

The company has invested $120 million to date. It currently operates at the Roswell International Air Center, and at the old Google facility in Moriarty, which Sceye is renting.

It employs about 50 people now, most based in Roswell.

Frandsen is known worldwide for developing ground-breaking medical technologies to fight malaria and other diseases through Vestergaard, a Switzerland-based global health corporation he founded and led for 22 years.

Hes focused on Sceye now to attack many more pressing global problems, Frandsen said.

My past businesses have helped to improve public health, food security and safe drinking water, he said. Through Sceye, we can now help to close the worlds broadband gap and improve access to education, health and economic development, while also combating climate change and other issues through monitoring services.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

The state Water Quality Control Commission on Tuesday considered a petition to designate 125 miles of northern New Mexico rivers and streams as Outstanding National Resource Waters.

New Mexicos Outdoor Recreation Division proposed the designation, which would prohibit new activities and projects from degrading water quality.

If approved, protected river segments would include:

 Rio Grande from the New Mexico-Colorado state line to the confluence with Rio Pueblo de Taos.

 Rio Hondo headwaters to the Carson National Forest boundary.

 Lake Fork headwaters to the confluence with the Rio Hondo.

 East Fork Jemez River headwaters to the confluence with San Antonio Creek.

 San Antonio Creek headwaters to the confluence with East Fork Jemez River.

 Redondo Creek headwaters to the confluence with Sulphur Creek.

Outdoor Recreation director Axie Navas said the state wants to work with communities to promote sustainable growth of New Mexicos outdoor economy.

That can only happen if these areas where people recreate and access our beautiful lands and waters are protected, Navas said.

The nominated waters are amazing rivers that deserve protection, said Nick Streit, who owns Taos Fly Shop and The Reel Life in Santa Fe.

Streits businesses sold more than $100,000 in fishing licenses last year.

On the Rio Grande, we have 50 miles of the canyon to fish, most of which is accessed only by foot traffic, so we still are able to have a total solitude wilderness experience down there with extremely high quality of fly-fishing  really good brown trout and rainbow trout populations, he said.

The waterways include stretches within the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve.

Joanna Hatt, a native fish biologist with New Mexico Game and Fish, said the proposed protected areas have high biodiversity and superior potential for conserving rare wildlife species.

A designation would not impact existing farming and ranching.

The proposal points out that most regional livestock grazing occurs away from or downstream of the proposed designated river stretches.

The commission is also considering an ONRW designation for 180 miles of the Upper Pecos River and its tributaries.

The panel will make a decision on both designations at its July 12 meeting.
Tourists visit the Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya, Thailand on June 13, 2022. The Sanctuary of Truth is a wood building in Thailand. Inside the sanctuary, there are wood statues and wood carving pieces. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)

Tourists visit the Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya, Thailand on June 13, 2022. The Sanctuary of Truth is a wood building in Thailand. Inside the sanctuary, there are wood statues and wood carving pieces. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)

Photo taken on June 13, 2022 shows the Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya, Thailand. The Sanctuary of Truth is a wood building in Thailand. Inside the sanctuary, there are wood statues and wood carving pieces. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)

Photo taken on June 13, 2022 shows the Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya, Thailand. The Sanctuary of Truth is a wood building in Thailand. Inside the sanctuary, there are wood statues and wood carving pieces. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)
Numoto Scuderia, an automotive wellness company, today announced that it has signed Indias star archer, Deepika Kumari, as the companys brand ambassador. As part of the deal, Deepika Kumari will be a part of all the marketing and brand campaigns of Numoto Scuderia along with above-the-line and below-the-line marketing communication of the company.

The 27-year-old Deepika Kumari, who hails from Jharkhand, the same state where Numoto Scuderia has started its operations from, is one of Indias most recognised and decorated women athletes. The three-time Olympian is a former world number 1 in the recurve women category and has won multiple medals on the world stage. Currently ranked as number 3 in recurve women, Deepika is an Arjuna Awardee and Padma Shri.

On the association with Numoto Scuderia, Deepika Kumari said, I am really delighted to be a part of the growing Numoto Scuderia family. As a young company from Jharkhand in the automotive space, I look forward to working with them on what promises to be a fulfilling and exciting journey.

Numoto Scuderia is India's first Automotive Wellness brand with a bouquet of services and products to keep vehicles efficient, safe and roadworthy. It provides services ranging from on-site decarbonization to automated vehicle general services and also specialises in online sales of exclusive car maintenance products.

Speaking on signing Deepika Kumari as the brand ambassador, Palash Bagchi, CEO Numoto Scuderia said, Deepika Kumari is an absolute youth icon and is a perfect fit for a young brand like Numoto. She is already a legend of Indian sport and at just 27 years of age what she has been able to achieve is an inspiration for todays youth. We are thrilled to have her on board at Numoto and are sure she will add immense value.

We are extremely delighted to facilitate the endorsement association between Deepika Kumari and Numoto Scuderia, said Tuhin Mishra, co-founder & MD, Baseline Ventures. Deepika Kumari is a sports youth icon and is hugely popular across the length and breadth of India. It is a proud moment for us at Baseline to facilitate the association between two young, bold and like-minded entities.
Clensta, a Gurgaon-based new-age Home and Personal Care start-up, recently announced the appointment of industry veteran Ankit Gaur as their new Chief Growth & Strategy Officer. As Clensta gears up to expand its portfolio and offerings, Ankit will be spearheading brand and performance marketing, communication, sales and growth functions for the brand. With deep expertise in spearheading disruptive innovation, Ankit brings to the table an innate knack for understanding consumer behaviour. In his role, Ankit will be expected to deliver transformational growth in establishing Clensta as the undisputed market leader in home and personal care segment.

An alumnus of the prestigious SP Jain School of Global Management, Ankit comes with an extensive experience of 13 years in the industry, and has worked across different industries and verticals throughout his career. Prior to joining Clensta, Ankit was at the helm of the D2C business at Livpure. He has also held various senior leadership positions with organisations such as CuroCarte, Ashok Leyland, Wal-Mart India, Big Bazaar India and Wonderchef. In his previous stint as an entrepreneur, Ankit piloted the launch of his startup, EthnicRoom, an omnichannel ethnic fashion startup, and successfully raised series-A funding for the brand. His expertise as an entrepreneur will be instrumental in strengthening Clenstas brand positioning across the country.

Speaking about Ankit Gaurs appointment Puneet Gupta, CEO and Founder-Clensta said: We are delighted to have Ankit on board as our Chief Growth and Strategy Officer and would like to welcome him to the Clensta family. Clensta was incorporated in 2016 with a vision to provide affordable and effective cleaning solutions to the world while also ensuring our planet commitment by contributing towards reducing pollution and waste. As we complete six years in business and progress towards the next leg of our journey, we are aiming to expand our presence across markets and enhance our product portfolio to include a more comprehensive set of offerings. Ankit, with his extensive experience across different sectors and industry, is a welcome addition to the team and would play a significant role in catapulting the company to newer heights.

Ankit Gaur, Chief Growth and Strategy Officer-Clensta, commented: I am honoured to have been appointed as the Chief Growth and Strategy Officer at Clensta. I have been closely following the developments at Clensta and am impressed with what the brand has achieved in such a short span of time. The ecosystem of sustainable consumption and production that Clensta is trying to build is truly commendable and closely mirrors my personal ethos. I am excited about the new role and look forward to establishing Clensta as one of the most sought after brands in the D2C space.
IIFL Wealth and Asset Management (IIFL WAM) today announced the appointment of Ms. Santoshi Kittur as Chief Technology Officer. Santoshi joins the leadership team at the Wealth and Alternates market leader as the company looks at accelerating technological innovation in its next stage of growth. In this role, Santoshi will be accountable for visioning, formulating and implementing the technology, and security strategies, and ensuring that the firm's technology capabilities enable growth and differentiation.

Prior to joining IIFL WAM, she was Managing Director with PriceWaterhouseCoopers and part of the leadership team at the Acceleration Center in Bangalore. In her career spanning around 25 years, she has served global majors McKinsey and Co., Gartner Consulting and Infosys on technology strategy, market and product strategy, pricing and innovation. She has lived and worked across the globe, including Sydney, Singapore and London. A seasoned entrepreneur with profitable exits to her credit, Santoshi has been deemed among the Leading Women in Tech and Diversity & Inclusion leaders.

Karan Bhagat, Founder, MD & CEO, IIFL Wealth and Asset Management, commenting on the appointment said, We are pleased to have Santoshi on board. Her expertise across technology, strategy, and execution will bolster our ongoing initiatives to optimally leverage technological solutions and improve client journeys. She will play an important role in enhancing tech-led growth, providing support for improved front-end and back-end processes and help us achieve our overarching digital and technology goals.

Commenting on the appointment, Ms. Santoshi Kittur, CTO, IIFL Wealth and Asset Management, said, I am delighted to join IIFL Wealth and Asset Management, a group synonymous with professionalism and entrepreneurial spirit. Technology is going to be one of the main orchestrators in the wealth and asset management industry and offers tremendous growth opportunities, especially through a digitally-led engagement model and platform-led strategies. I look forward to creating strategies and solutions that have the potential to transform client, employee and partner experience.

Santoshi holds a Bachelor's degree in Electronics & Communication Engineering from Karnatak University, Dharwad. She also has a PGDBA and Advanced Diploma in Business Finance from IBS.
In the last 10 years, PR has taken a different dimension, especially after the entry of social media and the rapid shift to digital, especially in the pandemic period. At the same time the industry has been facing stiff challenges, moreover client expectations have also increased, with more emphasis being given to digital and online reputation management. The industry has undergone a radical shift and the current times have pushed the industry to change gears.

In conversation with Adgully, Madhurima Bhatia, Marketing & Communications Lead, Ipsos India, speaks about the changing face of PR, the importance of good storytelling, adapting to the digital world, and more.

You have been in the business of PR and Marketing communication for over two decades. What are some of the key changes that you have noticed? How have you adapted to the changes?

Click here to attend IMAGEXX 2022

I worked with a PR boutique firm about 2 decades ago. Even though I came armed with a professional management degree under my belt, that actually taught me nothing about PR until I learnt from scratch here. The foundational training then was extremely rigorous and the pace of work was slower, with few accounts, and structured client servicing, month after month. Strategising was pretty rudimentary and it was all about reporting news in press releases (whether product launches or financial results). Journalists met you, understood your perspective. We personally delivered the press releases to media houses and it was great to see the stories published the next day.

Now, we live in a fast paced world  the world of not only conventional media, but online media and social media. Non-paid form of publicity via conventional media entities continues to provide maximum credibility. And in a world of instant gratification, breaking news hits online news platforms as they break and across social media. For PR professionals, it is about storytelling and it has become harder to get their stories out in all media in one go, unless one has partnerships with news agencies. Or if there is a press conference.

The silver lining is that publications carry stories on their websites and social media platforms can be leveraged for sending messages out (for free), unless there is need for larger distribution. We live in a world of hashtags and PR professionals need to keep tabs on the all the User Generated Content for positive and negative sentiment on social media. Earlier, it was lot more manageable with limited media entities. Today, content is a lot more spiffy due to shorter attention spans and the new generation being digital natives.

When you are a senior professional, learning and adaptation happens on the job. Being a part of the global marcom team, all markets are provided assets for local distribution and even provided templates for local customisation. All markets are aligned on brand guidelines and work closely together. Of course, your own personal skillsets of PR and communication come into play while managing the brand singlehandedly at the local level.

Now, the churn in media is also too much. All your media relationships have to be re-established and the editors who were earlier just a phone call away have moved high up the ladder and are inaccessible due to lack of bandwidth. You know everyone, but they have no time. The pandemic itself has hit media entities very badly. They are short staffed. Stories are harder to come by if you want credible stories. Otherwise storytelling is also done on social media.

What, according to you, is the role of research in PR? Do large organisations conduct research regularly to draw insights for managing their brand reputation?

Market research is mostly done by PR companies for storytelling to highlight trends, consumer preferences, etc. Market research has also played an extremely crucial role during crisis management. PR companies have launched communication for damage control and have then run research to see the impact of communication and the shift in perception. Until the negative sentiment has gone away with onground corrective action, research has been conducted to monitor shifts.

There are also reputation studies and benchmarking studies. One of our global reputation studies showed that for brands to connect best with Gen Z, their messages should be engaging on social media platforms and via videos. Some PR companies also commission research for their accounts to understand image and perception among key stakeholders and benchmark vis-a-vis competition.

What is your mandate for Ipsos in building the image of the company and what kind of PR approach do you follow to stay on top of mind with your stakeholders?

Across our 90 global markets, we amplify content via different activations and employ a two-pronged strategy.

Use, adapt, and contribute to our content  Use some global content as is, customise and create our own content keeping in view local sensitivities.

Use some global content as is, customise and create our own content keeping in view local sensitivities. Evaluate and boost your share of voice  Amplify content across media, website, and SM platforms and EDMs  and measure its effectiveness. And do more bursts.

And local activations are measured on a monthly basis across media, website, social media engagement and the efficacy of our e-direct mailers. Our roles are cut out and there is a lot of accountability. We monitor on a spreadsheet.

Being a global research company, what are some of the learnings that you follow from your global network and practice in India on the Marketing and Communications front?

Ipsos believes in the One Ipsos concept. Most PR campaigns  global studies, press releases, POVs, SM banners  are run simultaneously across all markets for maximum impact. Global marcom team and the APEC (Asia Pacific excluding China) marcom team work at different levels for macro global campaigns and regional campaigns. And there is ample heads up provided to local marcom heads for local customisation. Every market works within the confines of the brand guidelines as for a global brand there is standarisation. We conform to the norms and ensure it is implemented in everything we do, after all we are the brand custodians. Everyone is aligned.

We also steal with pride from other markets  learnings, assets  for local customisation. We have regular global and APEC calls to align all markets on planning and execution. Also, we don two hats of the external and internal communications specialist. Also, in India marcom reports to the Chief Client Officer (CCO) because Ipsos is a B2B brand and marcom supports the business and all new product launches and client campaigns. Marcom works with the CEO for both internal and external communication. And with HR for dissemination of information to employees.

Measurement in PR is still a debate that is being contested. From a research standpoint how do you evaluate the effectiveness of a PR campaign?

We use the same metrics across all our markets to evaluate the efficacy of our PR campaigns  media mentions, website traffic, social media engagement and impressions, analytics of our client mailers, among others, month after month and also comparing with the previous year.

What is the role of PR in CSR campaigns? How do corporates leverage CSR activities through PR?

Market research plays an important role in measuring the effectiveness of the CSR campaigns by corporate; to measure Top of Mind Recall (TOM), Aided Recall, brand association and the impact on image. Also, to benchmark against other players. Market research also guides on what CSR areas to choose which have the right fitment. Campaign and communication evaluation (test marketing) before it is concretised. Pre-test. Post test.

Ipsos has been doing large studies for the government to assess the implementation of the sanitation program for urban and rural (Swachh Bharat). Ipsos won an award for the best development sector research work by the MRSI (Market Research Society of India), where we measured the effectiveness of water purifiers installed by the Karnataka Government across villages and cities.
May 27, 2020

Irans 11th parliament officially began its mandate May 27 following a ceremony attended by many of the country's most powerful men, including moderate President Hassan Rouhani, Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi and several high-ranking military commanders.

In a message read by his representative, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei envisioned the pathway ahead of the new lawmakers, urging them to refrain from sideshows and instead unite to uproot corruption and pursue the resistance economy, a strategy Khamenei has been promoting in recent years to fight off the US maximum pressure policy.

Khameneis message also stressed the parliaments independence as the top decision-making body where lawmakers should enjoy the right to impeach. The supreme leader, however, has been accused of last-minute interference in matters of high sensitivity, nipping in the bud legislation taken up by lawmakers in various parliaments. In November, Iranian parliamentarians began a push to effectively cancel the governments contentious fuel subsidy plan that triggered days of unprecedented, deadly unrest nationwide. Khamenei ordered the lawmakers to back down and let the government press ahead with the controversial scheme. Months later, when a group of the parliamentarians presented a plan to impeach the interior minister, whom they accused of orchestrating the same deadly crackdown, the supreme leader once again intervened. The impeachment project was aborted.

The inauguration ceremony was addressed by Rouhani, who will have to leave office in August 2021. Rouhani called on the new assembly to prioritize national interests over partisanship and urged cooperation in the war against US sanctions and provocations. Rouhani was talking to a body of ultraconservatives who in February swept the seats in a one-sided race facilitated by the candidate vetting body, the Guardian Council, which had barred almost all their Reformist rivals.

To pass bills in the previous parliament, the Rouhani administration faced near-zero resistance as moderate and Reformist members were in full control. The parliamentarians, as a result, were granted by critics the pejorative moniker of government advocates rather than peoples representatives. But this parliament will not act as a government representative, the oldest member of the new legislative body, Reza Taghavi, made clear to Rouhani and his team in the opening ceremony.

A significant number of the new parliamentarians have taken pride in their anti-engagement approach on a platform of hostile rhetoric against the Iran nuclear deal that had been negotiated by Rouhani's government. Following an unofficial directive from the supreme leader, that accord was quickly passed in the ninth parliament, which was controlled by the camp known for its anti-West agenda, and which now again holds the absolute majority in the new assembly.

The new lawmakers fought a bitter, public battle over the speakership, but former Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf  who came in first in votes for Tehran's parliament seats and has been an archenemy of Rouhani  appeared to have an easy path to the post. A conservative faction of 240 legislators gave 166 votes to Ghalibaf, 57 to Hamidreza Hajbabayee, five to Mostafa Mirsalim and two to Hassan Norouzi, according to the Tehran Times. It appears that Ghalibaf's election as speaker by the full, 290-seat parliament will be a mere formality.

Mirsalim had vowed not to give up in the race until the end, once again drawing attention to old corruption allegations involving Ghalibaf, which remain unaddressed by the judiciary but have been haunting him for years. Although Mirsalim did poorly in the faction's vote for speaker, his tweet may herald fierce infighting and raucous debates ahead for a politically like-minded yet deeply divided legislature.
Hong Kong keeps tracing COVID-19 through sewage surveillance

Xinhua) 09:23, June 14, 2022

HONG KONG, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said Monday that the COVID-19 virus continues to be detected in sewage samples from different areas in Hong Kong, indicating that there may be hidden cases in these areas.

About 210,000 sets of COVID-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) kits will be distributed to residents, cleaning workers and property management staff working in the areas with positive sewage testing results showing relatively high viral loads, in order to help identify infected persons, it said.

The HKSAR government also urged RAT kit users to report any positive results for COVID-19 via the government's online platform.

In efforts to combat COVID-19, the HKSAR government's Environmental Protection Department and the Drainage Services Department have been collecting sewage samples in all districts of Hong Kong for COVID-19 virus testing.

On Monday, Hong Kong registered 305 new COVID-19 cases by nucleic acid tests, and 432 additional cases through self-reported RATs, official data showed.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
BEIRUT, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Tuesday informed U.S. Energy Envoy Amos Hochstein of Lebanon's response to a proposal on maritime border demarcation with Israel.

The president also urged Hochstein for swift feedback on Lebanon's response during the talks held at Baabda Palace focusing on ways of reaching a solution amid rising tensions between Lebanon and Israel, a statement by Lebanon's Presidency said.

Hochstein will come back with feedback on Lebanon's response next week, after visiting Israel, it added.

At the meeting, Aoun reiterated Lebanon's insistence on its sovereign rights to water and natural resources.

A few months ago, Hochstein made a proposal to Lebanon for border demarcation with Israel but Lebanon did not officially agree to the proposal.

On June 5, Israel sent the Energean Power vessel to the Karish gas field, which Israel claims is within its economic zone but Lebanon says in disputed waters.

The move prompted Lebanon to invite Hochstein to discuss the potential of resuming indirect border demarcation talks with Israel.

Israel has long claimed the Karish North field as its own property, but Lebanon expanded its claim in territorial waters, which would include at least part of the oil field.

This has resulted in the halting of indirect negotiations for the demarcation of the maritime borders between the two countries. 
Within hours after the jury announced the verdict in favor of Johnny Depp, Heards media enablers swung into action. Their overwrought commentaries confirmed the intellectual vacuity of the movement they sought to defend.

The trial confirmed the fact that Amber Heard had engaged in repeated incidents of domestic violence:

In 2015, Heard threw a vodka bottle at Depp, severing the tip of his finger.

Heard once burned Depps face with a cigarette.

On one occasion, Heard lectured Depp, "I was hitting you. It was not punching you. Babe, you're not punched... You got hit."

But the feminist commentators chose to not highlight these revelations, hint at the fact that Heard had been previously arrested for partner abuse, or reflect on the rigorous defamation standard that Depp had to surmount. Rather, their commentaries boiled down to a single hashtag: #BelieveWomen.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence not only whiffed on the evidence, it decided to do a rewrite of history:

During the testimonies of witnesses, including but not limited to Mr. Depp and Ms. Heard, we witnessed in real-time an abuser gaslighting, a common technique used to manipulate others, specifically systems (e.g. law enforcement, courts) into misidentifying a victim for an abuser and an abuser for a victim. What spilled out of the courtroom and into the media, including social media, was an abuser exerting control and manipulating the media and a loyal fan base to attack his victim on his behalf.

The dishonesty of these editorials echoes an earlier report that documented dozens of domestic violence half-truths and lies. And it highlights the difficulty in confirming the veracity of any statement made by feminists about a broad array of topics:

 The feminist movement began at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Wrong. It began when Marxist Friedrich Engels proclaimed that women were dually oppressed by capitalism and by their husbands.

The feminist movement began at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Wrong. It began when Marxist Friedrich Engels proclaimed that women were dually oppressed by capitalism and by their husbands. Domestic violence is caused by mens need for patriarchal control. False. Domestic violence is equally committed by men and women and is caused by a broad range of factors, especially alcohol abuse, marital breakdown, and the lingering effects of childhood abuse.

Women suffer from wage inequality. Nope. After controlling for the number of hours worked, work experience, and other factors, women are paid fairly for their work.

Women are under-represented in medical research. No way. An analysis of cancer studies revealed that 57% of all research participants were female.

College campuses are awash in rape culture. Wrong again. According to the Department of Justice, only six in 1,000 female college students experience sexual assault each year, a number that has fallen by half since 1997.

And then there are the claims made by leading feminists that are so absurd that they dont merit a response:

Hillary Clinton: The future is female.

Andrea Dworkin: "Heterosexual intercourse is the pure, formalized expression of contempt for women's bodies."

Gloria Steinem: "By the year 2000 we will, I hope, raise our children to believe in human potential, not God."

According to the Pew Research Center, 61% of American women describe themselves as feminist. When so many persons fall prey to such falsehoods, its easy to predict the harmful social consequences. Notably, since 1990, the divorce rate has nearly doubled and the number of Americans embracing the institution of marriage has declined.

Fatherlessness has become a major social malady -- 19.5 million children now live without a father at home, placing kids at risk of an array of problems.

Feminism has nothing to do with gender equality. If it did, feminists would be out on the streets protesting because males have a lifespan that is four years shorter than women, boys are lagging in our schools, and 92% of occupational deaths affect men.

Fortunately, Americans are beginning to see through the carefully constructed narrative. A recent survey reported that a majority of younger Republican men and women now believe that feminism has done more harm than good in our society. In addition, majorities of all Republicans, as well as younger Democratic men, say that men should be represented and valued more in our society.

In response to the survey, Adam Coleman noted, Today, however, we are facing a different wave of feminism, one that no longer seems to strive for equality but favoritism The wave of feminism we are dealing with is far past just wanting a seat at the table -- it wants the table itself, and it wants men to sit on the floor.

True, women now have a broader array of opportunities than in previous generations. But our country didnt need a divisive, male-bashing, Marxist-inspired movement to accomplish that.

Edward E. Bartlett is a former university professor, and worked for 17 years for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Image: RawPixel.com
The left-wing media, as well as their cohorts among elected officials and irate individuals in the Twitterverse, are all a-twitter about how Fox News is somehow violating a sacred public trust. They allegedly did this by not programming gavel-to-gavel coverage of the intensely stage-managed hearings on the so-called January 6 insurrection 

These hearings are non-news, presented as a critical national issue of insurrection and treason. As if eight hundred or so unarmed individuals could topple the government  defended by 1.3 million active-duty soldiers, sailors, Air Force personnel, and Marines, along with more than 800,000 reserve forces  by merely physically occupying the building for a short period of time. And, as if, by not programming this blanket coverage, Fox News is betraying the public trust, thus somehow depriving people of access to these hearings.

This is utter nonsense on several points.

First, and most obvious, there was never an existential insurrection. The country was never in any danger. Realistically, far more damage was done to the public good by the occupy forces that claimed so much media attention and far-left support half a decade ago. Yet they were never charged with insurrection, even while calling for the downfall of our current system of government.

Next, even without Fox News, there is not any lack of news coverage of the hearings. The following broadcast and cable networks are providing wall-to-wall coverage of these non-news hearings being stage-managed by a partisan Hollywood consultant. These include Fox Business, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and other, lesser cable news outlets, such as CNBC. So, any suggestion that Fox News was denying access to the hearings is outrageous.

Third, and  in my opinion  more important, the railing masses claim Fox News has a legal obligation to carry such a newsworthy event. Pardon me, but  poppycock! Utter nonsense. Heres the truth behind that charge.

Broadcast networks have an ill-defined and seldom-enforced legal requirement to broadcast in the public interest. However, cable news networks have no such requirement. Period.

So what has that to do with Fox News? It could be argued that the broadcast media  those who send their programs out over radio or television frequencies  have such a requirement. After all, those frequencies are legally-deemed as owned by the public. Beginning in the mid-30s,, the broadcast stations and networks were required by the Congressionally-passed and Presidentially-signed Communications Act of 1934 to broadcast in the public interest. In this law, the FCC was given the role of enforcing such public interest broadcasting. Why? Because with the advent of radio  and later television  countries around the world, the US included, all agreed that these broadcast waves were owned by the public, or by the state on behalf of the public. This was written into law, and stood the challenge of court hearings by stations and networks who resented this in the public interest requirement. Yet since the 1930s, this has been accepted law here in the United States.

I learned of this, and of its importance, while studying journalism in college in the late sixties and early seventies. Yeah, I come from the old school  defined as what colleges taught aspiring journalists before Woodward and Bernstein. Their media-adored role in getting rid of Nixon also upended the very concept that reporters (and their stations or networks) were expected to stay carefully neutral in public-issue debates.

For example, the fabled most trusted man in America, Walter Cronkite, was a news broadcaster from the 1940s through the 1980s. For that whole time, nobody really accused this dean of network news of having a political bias, one way or the other. Only after hed retired did he let slip that hed been a biased liberal, as revealed in historian Douglas Brinkleys blockbuster, Cronkite. His broadcasts leaned left, but he did this so carefully and adroitly that it was never an issue, not even among rock-ribbed conservatives of the time.

Back in the pre-Woodward, pre-Bernstein era, not only were reporters expected to play fair with the news but their stations and networks still believed they were legally required to broadcast without bias, in the public interest. As a news cameraman on Channel 10 Columbia South Carolina during this era, I was expected to turn in a fair number  thankfully never quantified  of public interest stories. Nobody thought that odd.

Later, as a public relations/media relations specialist, working for non-profit state agencies, colleges, and public hospitals, I generated a lot of fair and balanced coverage by not only reminding news editors that covering my employers was in the public interest, but when they did, Id send letters to the FCC, praising the stations for doing just that. At one station, I was shown a copy of my letter (which Id provided them) having been etched into brass and mounted on a mahogany plaque, hung proudly in the stations lobby.

Yeah, they took it seriously back in the 60s and 70s.

Since the 1980s, the real force behind that public interest requirement has been honored more in the breach. Despite a move away from harsh enforcement  stations that didnt comply used to risk the loss of their broadcast license  the laws and the governing principles behind them remain in force. Of course, as they have done many times in the past, broadcast networks could have taken turns covering the hearings  or any other news the politicians in Washington deem in the public interest. In this case, one network would cover on behalf of all three  and each would take a turn, one day in three  to take one for the team. Even at its most draconian level of enforcement, covering a Congressional hearing was never seen as make-or-break public interest broadcasting.

Even more to the point, in recent decades the broadcast news networks elected to limit coverage of the two major parties quadrennial political conventions. These used to be covered as public service literally from first gavel to last. Now, not so much, yet NBC, CBS, and ABC dont get penalized for not doing so. Chastised, perhaps, but not punished. And thats by networks still using the public airwaves. For cable news networks, the non-existent public service requirements dont touch them at all and never had.

These cable networks didnt really exist before Ted Turner created the first national cable network, based around Channel 17 in Atlanta. To get customers, Turner had to work hard to convince communities to create a ground-based CCTV satellite farm, based around a group of satellite dishes, each hard-wired into individuals homes. The information was never broadcast on one of the governments regulated frequencies, so there was no legal, and no legislated public claim to ownership of the signals sent from ground stations to satellites in orbit, then down from those satellites to the CCTV antennae focused in on them. These local CCTV operations morphed, over time, into the cable TV provider mega-corporations that keep America connected to broadcasters and cable networks alike.

Turner not only created the first viable cable network, but he also created the first two cable news networks: CNN, and CNN Headline News. From the beginning, these were not regulated in the public interest, since they never used the public airwaves.

Fast forward roughly forty years since CNNs birth, Fox News  along with CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and a host of lesser cable networks  continue to operate as publicly-owned for-profit businesses. Their news decisions are made not based on the public interest, but on the shareholders interest.

Which gets us to the bottom line  and it really is a bottom-line decision. Given that the three broadcast news networks  CBS, NBC, and ABC  still have the technical requirement to broadcast in the public interest, there is no reason, other than market share, for any of the cable networks to cover any particular news story. Especially when doing so damages their bottom line (no ads are being run during the hearings, hence no ad revenue). There is no public interest in forcing private businesses to toe the party line. Not when there are already three giant broadcast networks willing to give up ad revenue to advance their own (liberal) agendas.

No public harm was created by Foxs decision to bow out of gavel-to-gavel coverage of the most stage-managed hearings in history. Even had Fox not shifted that coverage to Fox Business, available across the continent on basic cable, there would be no such obligation.

As it turned out, Fox News did cover the hearings as news, but they did so within the context of their regularly scheduled news and commentary programs. That suited Fox News business model, and informed their audience of the key points being presented in these farcical hearings.

Ned Barnett, a trained journalist, has worked in TV news, talk radio, as well as newspapers and magazines, since he published his first article, in 1970  on a civil rights march in his college town, Athens, Georgia. More recently, he became a professional public issue advocate, working in healthcare, high tech, higher education and the environment, always on the conservative side of the issues. A decade ago, during the Tea Party era, he served as the communications director for both the Clark County/Las Vegas Republican Party and the Nevada Republican Party. The author of 39 published books, he now works with authors to help them get their books written, published and promoted, focusing on widespread public news coverage. He can be reached at nedbarnett51@gmail.com or 702-561-1167.
When did it become an accepted truism that peace between Israel and the Arabs who call themselves Palestinians requires that Israel give to them its very own Biblical birthright in the Jewish heartland? When did the Oslo Accords supersede the eternal possession of the Jewish people to that God-given heartland of Judea and Samaria, the territory a hostile world insists on calling by its illegitimate Jordanian name; the West Bank?

Who are they who dare divide the land that the Almighty bequeathed to Abraham and to his descendants through Isaac and Jacob? Who are they who would give any part of tiny Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) to the alleged descendants of Ishmael, who possess vast territories throughout the Middle East and North Africa?

Judeophobes (aka Anti-Semites) may not like being told this, but the following facts are truths that cannot shrivel away.

Unlike the deeply appreciated last incumbent of the White House, President Donald J. Trump, too many previous U.S. presidents displayed pro-Muslim Arab policies, which created clear and present dangers to the very existence of the reborn Jewish state. It is thus with the present Democrat president, Joe Biden. He, like his malign handlers, should take note of Genesis 12:3.

And then there was Barack Hussein Obama, whose hatred of the Jewish state surpassed even that of the lamentable Jimmy Carter. Remember Obamas Secretary of State, John Kerry? He came numerous times to pressure and threaten Israel, thus ushering in an even more baleful time for the embattled Jewish state.

The so-called Palestinian Authority was encouraged by Kerry and Obama to harden its demands to insufferable and arrogant levels. It required Israel to essentially commit national suicide. And how many times did we hear Mahmoud Abbas, the Holocaust-denying leader of the fraudulent Arabs who call themselves Palestinians, tell Kerry that the Palestinian Arabs will never accept Israel? So much then for a delusional peace!

Kerry insisted, as he stood shoulder to shoulder with Abbas, that Israeli settlements are illegal. He deliberately used the pejorative term, settlements to demean and delegitimize Jewish villages and towns. The PA and the PLO, along with the Iranian-funded and supported Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, were thus encouraged to initiate more criminal violence and murder against Israelis. The Kerrys of this world have much to answer for as the Jewish death toll relentlessly mounts.

All these notions of land for peace and a two-state solution erode the millennial and inalienable rights of the Jewish people to their tiny land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. But tragically too many Israeli left-wing politicians still allow themselves to believe in false Muslim promises (tekiyah) of peace. Do they not remember Jeremiahs prophetic words? Peace, peace but there is no peace.

Fifty-five endless years have been squandered by Israeli leaders since the June 1967 Six Day defensive war against genocidal Arab aggression. This indefensible delay in liberating the Jewish heartland has emboldened a hostile world to demonize Jewish towns and villages in Judea and Samaria (aka the West Bank). Thus, these Jewish communities are delegitimized again and again with the use of the pejorative term: settlements.

Remember, there has never in all recorded history ever existed a sovereign, independent state called Palestine.

Jewish communities are not inhabited by alien settlers. The Jewish population of Judea and Samaria inhabit and redeem their own ancient and ancestral land. These men and women and children are not settlers in what is already theirs by virtue of millennial historical and spiritual attachment. Indeed, many present-day Jewish villages, especially throughout Judea and Samaria, are built upon the very Biblical Jewish sites which existed millennia ago. On the Golan, for instance, numerous sites abound where ancient synagogues existed over two thousand years ago.

I personally consider it anathema to describe Jewish communities in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria with the odious term, settlements. For too many Israelis, as well as pro-Israelis, to continue calling them settlements without thinking is almost as if they have resigned themselves to demeaning ancestral and Biblical Jewish history. This is the linguistic terminology used by rank anti-Semites and those who peddle anti-Israel hatred and should never be used by Israelis or defenders of the Jewish state.

Tragically, Judea and Samaria have still not been redeemed and brought into sovereign Israel. These lands are the very warp and woof, the very fabric and fiber of Jewish history, both during and since Biblical times. The endless delay by successive Israeli governments for fear of upsetting a hostile world is to betray Gods eternal gift to His people.

As long ago as 2003, Professor Talia Einhorn wrote about Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, or as it is known by its Hebrew acronym, Yesha: meaning in Hebrew, Yehuda, Shomron, and Azza. Yehuda means Judea and yehudim is the Hebrew word for Jews. In a sane world that irrefutable connection should impress even the fraudulent Arabs who call themselves Palestinians. But, alas, this is anything but a rational world.

Simply put: The Jewish people are not settlers on land that already belongs to them from time immemorial. And the indigenous Jewish people cannot be called settlers in their very own ancestral, Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria -- or in Gaza for that matter.

Finally, the world -- whether it likes it or not -- must hear about the unassailable Jewish rights to the Land and not the fraudulent claims by Palestinians or from the rantings of miserable Judeophobes who infest the BDS movement, the media, and increasingly pollute college campuses.

Dont make the job of the haters of Israel any easier. Help to honor the Jewish villagers and townsfolk living in their ancient and Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria -- often in great danger from Arab terror -- by rejecting the use of the hurtful and illegitimate terms; settlers settlements and West Bank.

Please dignify them with appropriate words to describe the villages and towns of Judea and Samaria. After all, words have meaning and consequences.

Victor Sharpe is a prolific freelance writer and author of several published books including the four volumes of Politicide: The attempted murder of the Jewish state.

Image: PxHere
BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese enterprises are enjoying easier access to the international protection of their design work as China has joined the Hague Agreement, a global treaty to govern the registration of industrial design.

A treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Hague Agreement, covering 94 countries, took effect in China on May 5.

Smartphone maker Xiaomi was one of the 49 Chinese innovators submitting applications for design patents that day.

With more than 500 international design patents, Xiaomi has adhered to the Hague system since 2015. Before China acceded to the agreement, the company had to file and pay for separate design protection applications in each member country, taking a lot of time dealing with different languages, currencies, patent review requirements, and high agency fees.

The agreement eliminates these inconveniences, allowing designers to submit one international application in one language and pay in one currency to apply for design protection in multiple contracting countries.

"The Hague Agreement significantly cuts our costs in overseas patent planning and greatly improves the efficiency of registration," said Liu Zhen, a legal manager of Xiaomi.

Electrical appliance manufacturer Midea also welcomed the simpler route for international design registration and protection. Midea IP official She Yan said the company could only submit applications to the WIPO in the past. "Now we can do it directly via China's National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA), significantly contracting our filing formalities."

Ren Shengce, a professor with Shanghai International College of Intellectual Property, Tongji University, said "China's accession to the Hague Agreement meets the demand of Chinese innovators for international development, and motivates them to join international competition through persistent R&D and innovation."

He believed the Hague Agreement would attract more advanced technologies and ideas from abroad, and speed up the development by Chinese innovators in the fields of international mass consumer goods and creative design.

WIPO data show that in 2021, global innovators submitted over 6,700 international applications for design patents in the Hague system, and applications from China ranked in the top 10.

This reflects how innovation entities are paying more attention to IP protection and highlights the vitality of Chinese innovation and creativity, said Wei Baozhi, head of the NIPA's patent office examination management department.

He also noted that China's entry into the Hague system shows its openness to participating in the global IP governance system and provides convenience for overseas enterprises to enter China's dynamic and broad market. 
Word is that the Senate has the necessary votes for federal gun control legislation designed to, among other things, pressure states into instituting "red flag" laws. These measures are controversial because they involve suspending a person's rights (i.e., seizing his weapons) without due process. Wherever you stand on them and federal firearms laws in principle, however, a simple fact is under-emphasized in this debate: laws mean little if not enforced.

What's more, they're actually instruments of evil if enforced only to the degree to which good people will comply.

Here's another fact: corresponding to the general unwillingness among left-wing district attorneys to punish criminals (who aren't also political opponents), these officials, though claiming firearms are a plague, aren't punishing most gun crimes. Odd, huh?

An archetypical example is Philadelphia D.A. Larry Krasner. His office withdrew or dismissed 65 percent of gun charges last year, up from 17 percent in 2015. This, along with his characteristic reluctance to hold miscreants to account, explains why the "City of Brotherly Love" had 559 murders in 2021  an all-time record. And, again, his misfeasance reflects that of left-wing prosecutors nationwide.



Larry Krasner.

Thus, if there must be federal gun-oriented intervention (which I'm against), it's obvious what it should be:

Make localities' and/or states' receipt of federal funds contingent upon their adequate enforcement of violent crime laws  in particular, gun laws.

There you have it. Are you listening, Mitch McConnell?

Unlike what's currently being proposed, this measure actually would make a difference. It's not radical within the context of today's governmental norms, either. After all, the current "bipartisan" gun bill provides "incentives" for states to implement red-flag laws; even more to the point, the Biden administration is apparently threatening to withhold school lunch money from districts that don't implement the pseudo-elites' MUSS (Made-up Sexual Status, AKA "transgender") agenda. Of course, using federal funding retention as a cudgel with which to impose Washington's will has long been the status quo.

I'll reiterate that I don't believe in such strong-arm tactics; in fact, the central government is meant to be a mere agent of the states and should get precious little tax money. But if the feds are going to call the tune with their pay-the-piper power, what better cause than compelling feckless localities to enforce the laws that really matter and save lives?

Earlier this month, more than 170 "big city mayors" met in Reno, Nevada, to kvetch about how they "fear sweeping gun limits are out of reach," as The New York Times put it. What misdirection.

What deflection.

What nerve.

What phonies.

Crime isn't skyrocketing nationwide because firearm laws have changed (they haven't), but because the law-enforcers have changed.

Enforcement of local laws makes far more sense than any one-size-fits-all policy, too, as crime is not an evenly distributed phenomenon. Consider that more than half of 2016's murders occurred in just certain parts of two percent of our land's counties, and 68 percent of the homicides were committed in only small pockets of five percent of the counties.

Oh, these would be exclusively, or almost all, Democrat-governed areas.

In contrast and on average, "73 percent of counties in any given year had zero murders from 1977 to 2000," reported Fox News in 2017. (These would generally be GOP areas.)

In other words, we don't have a "gun problem."

We have a Democrat population/governance problem.

What's so disgusting about enacting more laws but not strictly enforcing those on the books, especially the important ones, is that only good people are affected. They tend to follow laws even when enforcement is lax and punishment for violation is minimal; miscreants won't without the threat of draconian measures.

So ponder the vicious circle here:

You don't enforce just laws.

Crime consequently proliferates.

There's then a drumbeat for more laws, which take away good people's freedom but also won't be enforced on evildoers.

Crime then rises further, leading to a call for even more laws, and, well...

You get the idea. Wash, rinse, repeat  and soon few freedoms remain. Of course, were you conspiracy-minded (perish the thought), you might fancy this the whole point of this seemingly pointless exercise.

As for you politicians, federal and otherwise, focus on enforcing existing laws, or forever hold your peace. 'Cause with the way your pet criminals are running wild, a good citizen certainly has to hold his piece.

Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on MeWe, Gettr or Parler, or log on to SelwynDuke.com.

Photo credit: Michael Candeloria, CC BY-SA 3.0 license.
The Supreme Court in Washington State has declared that, if you're a minority, it is no longer a criminal act to make a false or misleading statement to a police officer. Sadly, if you're White, the law does not extend that "get out of jail card" to you. While the Washington Supreme Court reached this decision using the state constitution, it's hard to see how this purely race-based approach can stand up to the United States Constitution's requirement, in the 14th amendment, that all people are entitled to equal treatment under the law.

The facts in State of Washington v. Palla Sum, AKA Pallo Sum, AKA San Kim Sum, are simple. A police officer saw a car parked in an area in which police had previously apprehended stolen cars, with two people sleeping in it. The driver, Palla Sum, was "Asian/Pacific Island[er]."

When asked about the car's ownership, Sum claimed not to know, saying that it was not his. The police officer asked Sum and his passenger for ID, explaining in response to Sum's asking why the officer wanted to have that information "that the two men were sitting in an area known for stolen vehicles and that [Sum] did not appear to know to whom the vehicle he was sitting in belonged."

Sum gave the officer a fake name and date of birth. Then, when the officer returned to his own car to check on the information, Sum took off at a high rate of speed. After a chase that saw Sum run through "a stop sign and multiple red lights" before crashing the car, the officer arrested Sum.

Ironically, when the officer finally got to see the car's registration papers, they showed that Sum owned the car, having purchased it two weeks earlier. The police also searched the whole car with a warrant and found an illegal pistol.

Among the charges levied at Sum was "making a false or misleading statement to a public servant." Sum challenged this, saying he was "unlawfully seized"  that is, wrongfully ended up interacting with a police officer  so that his lying was a reasonable act. Both the trial and appellate courts rejected this argument because "merely asking for identification is property characterized as a social contact."

Sum petitioned the Supreme Court, adding a racial element to his argument: "there is no justification  aside from unacceptably ignoring the issue of race altogether  for courts considering the totality of the circumstances to disregard the effect of race as one of the circumstances affecting evaluation of police contact."



Image: Police arresting someone by Piqsel.

The Washington Supreme Court agreed, holding that Sum's interaction with the officer was a warrantless seizure. I can do no better now than to quote the Court's introduction and conclusion to its new, personally subjective, race-based standard:

As set forth in this court's precedent, the seizure inquiry is an objective test in which the allegedly seized person has the burden to show that a seizure occurred. To aid courts in the application of this test, we now clarify that a person is seized for purposes of article I, section 7 if, based on the totality of the circumstances, an objective observer could conclude that the person was not free to leave, to refuse a request, or to otherwise terminate the encounter due to law enforcement's display of authority or use of physical force. For purposes of this analysis, an objective observer is aware that implicit, institutional, and unconscious biases, in addition to purposeful discrimination, have resulted in disproportionate police contacts, investigative seizures, and uses of force against Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) in Washington. [snip] Today, we formally recognize what has always been true: in interactions with law enforcement, race and ethnicity matter. Therefore, courts must consider the race and ethnicity of the allegedly seized person as part of the totality of the circumstances when deciding whether there was a seizure for purposes of article I, section 7. Here, in light of all the circumstances of Sum's encounter with Deputy Rickerson, we hold that Sum was unlawfully seized before he provided a false name and birth date to the deputy, so his false statement must be suppressed.

It will be interesting, should a White person in Washington state be convicted of making a false statement to the police, to see whether the decision ends up before the United States Supreme Court. After all, the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, which was passed because Blacks were denied equal treatment under the law, is explicit: "No State shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Under that standard, it's a tough sell that, if you're a "BIPOC," you can lie with impunity, but if you're White, off to the hoosegow with you.

That's not even a "separate but equal" standard, which Brown v. Board of Education blew apart. Instead, it's two separate standards based upon nothing more than race  and laws based upon racial divisions are automatically in the category of classification subject to the strictest judicial scrutiny. As the Supreme Court once stated, "any official action that treats a person differently on account of his race or ethnic origin is inherently suspect."

There's also a practical problem with this ruling: the Supreme Court just made it more difficult for the police to solve crimes in minority neighborhoods, which are traditionally the neighborhoods most plagued by criminal activity.

No matter how one looks at it, the Washington Supreme Court's racial pandering is a bad deal: bad for Whites, bad for minorities, and bad for the rule of equally applied law and due process that is the glue holding a country together.
An assassin attempts to murder a sitting Supreme Court justice, and the NYT puts it on page 20, and the Sunday news programs don't mention it. A show trial committee airs a television production of a fake, partisan "hearing" meant to malign the former president with selective editing and omissions that prove the opposite of the truth. The hearings are so scripted that every member of the committee reads from a teleprompter. Adam Schiff again altered texts between Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows to make them seem criminal.

From the moment Joe Biden illegitimately took office, he opened the border to migrants from all over the world, over 175 countries, and secretly transports them to towns and cities throughout America, amongst unsuspecting citizens. Thousands of them are ill with a variety of third-world diseases and of course COVID. Thousands of them are vicious gang members, human- and sex-traffickers, and pedophiles. Thousands of unaccompanied minors have been trafficked with the administration's knowledge and approval. All of the migrants pay the Mexican drug cartels thousands of dollars to be "crossed over" into the U.S. The cartels are netting millions of dollars a week in payments for getting migrants into America for what many of them believe will lead to citizenship and a free ride.

Many of them are economic migrants who seek better and safer lives for themselves and their families. They are people who are used to and willing to work. But the jobs they get are jobs American citizens might have had for better wages. The Biden administration does not care about those American citizens who will be denied a living wage because millions of migrants will take those jobs for less.

The Biden administration has brought this country to a historically and frightening new low, domestically and internationally. Our president and our nation are now laughingstocks, perceived as weak and vulnerable. Biden has made it clear to the rest of the world, beginning with his shuttering of our energy independence and his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, that America is free for the taking. China, Iran, and Russia, even North Korea, have all sized up this president up and found him to be not only ridiculous, but easily rolled. Each of those enemies of America, enemies of freedom, is planning its takeover of America, thanks to Biden and his pathetic Cabinet's fecklessness. The U.S. is now a vulnerable target of each of our enemies.

The U.S. has never been more at risk than it is now, thanks to this president. Obama planted the seeds of our destruction and is most likely the Svengali who is running the Biden administration. Obama loathes this country and planted the seeds of what he hoped to be our eventual demise. Globalist Hillary was meant to continue his planned decline, the erosion of all the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution. But Americans, while trusting and optimistic, are not as dumb as our radical leftists think we are.

We will never give up our Second Amendment right to bear arms to defend ourselves. Never. We will never submit to the likes of the J6 Committee, a Stalinist show trial if there ever were one. The left has taken us to the brink of totalitarianism imposed by the Marxist left.

Who are the Marxist leftists? The dominant faction of the Democrat party as currently constituted. The few who may have reservations about the direction their party has taken are too cowardly to object. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema make feeble efforts but almost always capitulate in the end, just as the RINOS of the uniparty do. Any Republican who votes for more gun restrictions is a squishy RINO.

Not one of them has stood up for the J6 prisoners who are being denied due process, let alone basic necessities. Shame on every Republican who has ignored the thoroughly unconstitutional plight of these people. Those Republicans who have kept silent about this issue are enablers, as those imprisoned are innocent victims of a corrupt government.

There have been scoundrels throughout our government from the outset, but at this moment in time, our government is following the path of Stalin's Soviet Union and Mao's China. Biden has offered this country up for the takeover by the totalitarian, globalist left. Klaus Schwab is a happy man. He thinks his fifty-year dream of global domination is within reach. And it is!

Californians voted in their primary to keep the malignant Gavin Newsom, Nancy Pelosi, and Adam Schiff! How can this be? The only answer is that Californians are rather stupid. They are embracing Marxism without realizing for what they are voting: the end of freedom, the kind of freedom Americans have taken for granted for two hundred and forty-six years. Newsom is a blight on that state. Pelosi is a party to the total destruction of her once spectacular city of San Francisco. Adam Schiff is, should be, an embarrassment to his district. He is a corrupt and shameless liar, a pathetic opportunist who takes for granted his re-election. The sheep in his district mindlessly comply. The Marxist left depends on their unthinking support.

The voters who support people like Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, Schiff, et al. have brought us dangerously close to the communism of Stalin and Mao. People who have "incorrect thoughts and opinions" are being harassed by the DOJ. Peter Navarro and Ryan Kelley were recently arrested for speaking out against this administration. The FBI used Jan. 6 as an excuse but knows full well that neither man had anything to do with what happened that day.

Our federal law enforcement institutions are out of control. They've become something akin to the Chinese Ministry of State Security, the German Stasi, or the Russian Spetsnaz. Each of those agencies is pure evil. The Biden administration, the FBI, and the DOJ are willfully ignoring the Constitution and countless laws regarding the border, medical freedom, election integrity, the protection of the Supreme Court justices, and our freedom of speech. They abhor the views and values of conservatives and mean to squelch them.

They call any speech with which they disagree "disinformation." Thus their campaign against what they call "the big lie," that the 2020 election was stolen. While Democrats and some Republicans have fervently resisted the investigations into vote fraud in their states, there is more than enough proof of widespread cheating in Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Nevada. Thousands of fraudulent ballots were counted (Bill Barr shut down an investigation into those delivered to Pennsylvania from NY), drop boxes were stuffed by ballot-traffickers, dead voters voted, out-of-state voters voted, non-existent ghost voters voted, etc., not to mention Mark Elias's finagling of election law in numerous states and the hundreds of millions Zuckerberg invested in an illegitimate Biden victory. Had the election been fair, it is clear that Trump won Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.

Bottom line? The Democrat party is now a criminal organization committed only to getting and keeping power. From the moment Trump came down that escalator, the left mind-melded and set out to destroy the man by any means necessary beginning with the hoax that he was a tool of Russia and then that he had colluded with Russia to win. They all knew it was a scam, fabricated by Hillary Clinton, but they all  Comey, Brennan, Clapper, etc.  all of them knew it was a lie and they all kept at it. These are malignant, lawless, evil people. They installed Biden in the White House and "they," whoever they are, are running the country into the proverbial ground. Wake up and fight back, America.
A few days back, the Washington Post carried an op-ed by Ruth Marcus regarding the gunman who was apprehended outside Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh's home.

The piece began well, condemning the assassination plot as "horrifying and intolerable." It also demanded that there be adequate security for that the justices, their families, and staff. It also called for better funding to protect justices of all courts and measures to shield personal information.

The piece acknowledged the grave tragedy that could have occurred and placed the blame on those who create a climate of intolerance that may have fueled this dangerous moment.

Was this the rare occurrence, as rare as Halley's Comet, when the WaPo was standing up for what is morally right?

Unfortunately, this was merely the setup  i.e., a ploy to draw you in by feigning fairness.

The piece then pivots to the standard spinning, deceiving, and whataboutery that the WaPo is known for.

The piece urges its readers not to "assign blame or hijack the episode to reinforce preexisting conclusions" and that "deranged individuals do deranged things," which is true "at both ends of the political spectrum."

When the Democrats commit an egregious mistake, propagandists frequently attempt to dilute the impact by applying the "both sides" argument.

The piece proceeds to indulge in a bit of monkey balancing. You can almost sense the effort here.

It quotes N.Y. Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer's vitriolic remarks targeting Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch  but covers that up by adding that Schumer said he did not intend to threaten the justices or incite violence. It then adds that in the current environment, Schumer's language was "unnecessarily incendiary."

Flashback to Chuck Schumer: I want to tell you Kavanaugh: you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. pic.twitter.com/rxg55YfwsS  Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) June 8, 2022

The false equivalence continues as the author compares Sen. Schumer's vile threats with Kavanaugh's remarks following his confirmation hearings: "You sowed the wind for decades to come. I fear that the whole country will reap the whirlwind."

"You sewed the wind for decades to come, I fear that the whole country will reap the whirlwind" - Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh gives an angry warning to Democrats.



Get the latest on Senate hearing here: https://t.co/Hx2man3Mc8 pic.twitter.com/u7nr1XDcyP  Sky News (@SkyNews) September 27, 2018

The piece initially misquoted Kavanaugh but fixed it later.

The piece also conveniently misses the context. Kavanaugh was excoriating Democrats for their nefarious campaign of fabrications that attempted to derail his confirmation. He was warning them that a similar campaign could be mounted against a liberal judge up for confirmation. Most importantly, he did not say this before a mob as Schumer did, and Kavanaugh's tone was not provocative like that of Schumer.

Since Politico published a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that provides the rationale on why Roe v. Wade (1973), which legalized abortion nationwide, has to be overturned, there has been a relentless campaign of demonization and dehumanization of the conservative justices, with copious threats hurled at them.

But the piece paints a false equivalence, by comparing this wave of hate that led to an assassination plot with the murders of federal judges by disgruntled litigants.

A handful of federal judges have been killed in office, mostly by disgruntled litigants. In 2005, the husband and mother of a federal judge in Chicago were murdered. In 2020, the son of a federal judge was fatally shot at her home by a man who lost a case before her; there was evidence that the man was also targeting Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

The piece attempts the "both sides" maneuver referring to threats of violence faced by anti-segregationist Southern judges. The inference the author wants her WaPo readers to draw is that the perpetrators were white supremacist Republicans.

There is a reference to the federal jurist from Alabama, Frank M. Johnson, Jr., whose historic civil rights decisions led to ostracism, cross-burnings, and death threats. But Johnson was appointed by Republican president Eisenhower. He was appointed to the Democrat South, which vehemently opposed desegregation. Johnson famously took on staunch segregationist Democrat governor Wallace to ensure black voter registration and desegregation.

The piece then asks the following:

Do we now find ourselves in another such era, with abortion rights protesters taking the place of massive resisters? And, if so, are Democrats who rail against the excesses, past, and future, of this Supreme Court complicit in the threat of violence in the same way that segregationist politicians spurred on Judge Johnson's attackers?

The author purposefully refers to Democrats and segregationist politicians as if they were separate entities. But the truth is that the perpetrators of violence against Judge Johnson back then and Judge Kavanaugh right now are groups of violent extremists within the same Democrat party.

The piece proceeds to question if the Judiciary should enter into a political debate better left to the Legislative and Executive Branches. If this thinking is followed, the courts will have no cases to adjudicate because everything from crime to science has been politicized.

The piece concludes by urging readers to be "thankful that the man arrested outside Kavanaugh's home did not get further with his scheme." But it also warns people not to "read too much into one deranged individual's actions."

Since the piece is filled with whataboutery, let's imagine a scenario where an armed Trump-supporter was caught outside the home of one of the liberal Supreme Court justices. Everyone from Biden to the WaPo would be placing the entire blame on President Trump and demand another impeachment.

These people continue to blame the GOP and Trump after every mass shooting despite it truly being a sole mentally unstable individual.

But since it is a liberal intending to kill for liberal causes, it is just "one deranged individual," nothing to see here; let's move on.

The author also conveniently forgets the various incidences of violence after the leak. Miscreants had vandalized Catholic churches and pregnancy centers. Hoodlums tossed a Molotov cocktail into the offices of a pro-life group. Profanity-laced demonstrations outside the homes of conservative justices have been going on for over a month.

These are not isolated incidences of violence, but the result of a toxic campaign that emanated from Washington, where the powers that be gave an impression that women will be pushed back to the Stone Age if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

The gunman probably sees himself as a civil rights activist who is bravely taking matters into his hands because Kavanaugh was going to do great harm to women.

We now look at the record of the author of the piece. She wrote pieces entitled "We now see stark evidence of Trump's toxic judicial legacy"; "Another activist Trump judge strikes, this time at the mask mandate"; "The FBI's 'investigation' of Kavanaugh was laughable"; and "The impeachment of Donald Trump must proceed."

Cant take these people seriously pic.twitter.com/XothgbQKNH  Abigail Marone  (@abigailmarone) March 25, 2022

This piece is more proof that the mainstream media are devoid of any morality. They will do all in their power to defend the left and their operatives.

This piece reads like the works of a Democrat spokesperson. This is because the mainstream media function as a department of the Democrat party.

However, even as a piece of propaganda, it is weak, verbose, unfocused, and unconvincing.

The only reason it merits our attention is that it reveals the thinking within Washington and the thinking that influences Washington.
In the westernmost banner of Inner Mongolia, in the middle of the Gobi Desert, there once stood a prosperous kingdom. It was a center of religious learning, of art and a trading hub. But all that remains now are the crumbling ramparts that once protected the city, a few shattered mud buildings, and scattered sun-bleached bones.

Photo: Twitter

Khara-Khoto, or black city in Mongolian was founded in 1032 AD as the capital of the Western Xia Dynasty (10381227) and soon rose to become a thriving trade hub. The city was captured by Genghis Kahn in 1226, but instead of laying to waste as the Khan's Golden Horde usually did to captured cities, Khara-Khoto actually flourished under Mongol rule. During Kublai Khan's time, the city expanded to three times its original size, and was even mentioned by Marco Polo in his travelogue by its Tangut name of Etzina:

When you leave the city of Campichu you ride for twelve days, and then reach a city called Etzina, which is towards the north on the verge of the Sandy Desert; it belongs to the Province of Tangut. The people are Idolaters, and possess plenty of camels and cattle, and the country produces a number of good falcons, both Sakers and Lanners. The inhabitants live by their cultivation and their cattle, for they have no trade. At this city you must needs lay in victuals for forty days, because when you quit Etzina, you enter on a desert which extends forty days' journey to the north, and on which you meet with no habitation nor baiting-place.

Under the Mongols, the Tangut people were able to enjoy peaceful existence for nearly 150 years, until the Ming dynasty laid siege to the city in 1372. No one knows exactly how Khara-Khoto fell, but local legend states that the cunning Ming rulers diverted the Ejin River, the city's only water source, that flowed just outside the fortress thus denying the citys troops and inhabitants of the life-giving elixir. As the Ming troops choked the city without ever needing to set foot inside of its walls, the people of Khara-Khoto realized that they must make a terrible choice: die of thirst, or face the Ming soldiers in combat.

Four of the five Yuan dynasty stupas sited on top of the northwest corner of the walls of Kharakhoto. Photo: Yeoh Thean Kheng/Flickr

A Mongol military general named Khara Bator supposedly became so crazed by this plight that he murdered his wife and children before committing suicide. There is another version of the rumor that holds that Khara Bator made a breach in the northwestern corner of the city wall and escaped through it. When the Ming soldiers finally attacked, they slaughtered not only the remaining population but all the cattle and horses. After this defeat, Khara-Khoto was abandoned and fell into ruins.

The site was rediscovered in the early 20th century by a Mongol-Sichuan expedition under the command of Russian explorer Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov. During its initial excavation, the expedition uncovered over 2,000 books, scrolls and manuscripts in the Tangut language. These treasures were sent back to St. Petersburg along with Buddhist statues, texts, and woodcuts that were found in a stupa outside of the city walls. Further excavation produced many thousand more manuscripts, books, as well as daily items, production instruments and religious art. Many of these books and xylographs formed the basis for research of the Tangut language, written in Tangut script in subsequent years.

Now all that remains of this great city are 30-feet-tall ramparts, a few 40-feet high pagodas, and what appears to be a mosque just outside the city walls, indicating that there were Muslims among the people that were ruled by the Tangut.

The mosque at the southeast corner of Kharakhoto, circa 1914. Photo: Aurel Stein/Wikimedia

Stacks of mud bricks for repair work outside the south wall of Kharakhoto. Photo: BabelStone/Wikimedia

Photo: Fandorine1959/Wikimedia
BAGHDAD, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Eight militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group, believed to be local group leaders, were killed on Tuesday by the Iraqi military in a rural area north of the capital Baghdad, the military said.

Acting on intelligence reports, the Iraqi armed forces tracked the militants in al-Tharthar valley in the western part of Salahudin Province and clashed with them after surrounding their hideout, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

Later on, Iraqi warplanes and helicopter gunships were called in and carried out three airstrikes that destroyed the hideout and killed the militants inside, according to the JOC statement.

The troops found weapons and logistical equipment at the scene, it added.

Over the past months, Iraqi security forces have conducted operations against the extremist militants to crack down on their intensified activities.

The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the defeat of the IS in 2017. However, the IS remnants have since melted into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against the security forces and civilians. 
Posted on: June 14, 2022 11:10 AM

A South Sudanese bishop who was forced with his family into exile before he was one year old, the Right Revd Anthony Poggo, has been named as the next Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. Bishop Anthony Poggo, the former Bishop of Kajo-Keji in the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, is currently the Archbishop of Canterburys Adviser on Anglican Communion Affairs.

Bishop Anthony was selected for his new role by a sub-committee of the Anglican Communions Standing Committee following a competitive recruitment process led by external consultants.

He will take up his new role in September, succeeding the Most Revd Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, who steps down after next months Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, which is being held in Canterbury, Kent, from 26 July to 8 August.

The Anglican Communion is the worlds third largest Christian denomination. It comprises 42 independent-yet-interdependent autonomous regional, national and pan-national Churches (provinces), active in more than 165 countries.

The Churches of the Anglican Communion are in communion (or relationship) with the Archbishop of Canterbury. They are structurally independent and there is no head office.

The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion leads the staff team at the Anglican Communion Office, the international secretariat serving the four Instruments of Communion  sometimes called the Instruments of Unity. These are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primates Meeting, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Lambeth Conference.

Born in 1964, in what is now South Sudan, Bishop Anthony and his siblings were taken by his father  an Anglican priest  and his mother into Uganda to flee the first Sudanese Civil War. In 1973, at the age of nine, he returned with his family to South Sudan.

Bishop Anthony said that when he was about 12, somebody shared with him the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, he said. I then took the step of accepting Christ and following him.

At the time, I thought my father is a priest. Why am I being asked to take this step. But then I realised that your relationship with Christ is a personal relationship. You have to take the step of faith on your own accord rather than through your parents. Later in life I learned that God only has children; he doesnt have grandchildren  which means that you become a child of God on your own accord, not through your father and not through your mother.

I have found it very important to spend time reading the Word of God, especially with my Scripture Union background, because the Word of God is an important aspect of our lives for our spiritual growth.

After graduating from Juba University with a degree in Management and Public Administration, he joined the ecumenical mission agency Scripture Union. While there he felt a need for theological training and gained an MA in Biblical Studies from the Nairobi International School of Theology in Kenya.

He then returned to Uganda to minister to Sudanese refugees with Scripture Union, the Bishop of Kajo-Keji then, the Right Rev Manasseh Binyi Dawidi, who himself was serving the Sudanese refugees in exile in Uganda asked him to consider ordination. I said Yes, I would, because I was already training clergy and he felt that it would be important for me to be ordained clergy in order to train clergy.

He was ordained a Deacon in 1995 and a Priest in 1996 and continued working for Scripture Union before joining Across, a Christian mission agency working in Sudan from Nairobi, leading the charitys publishing arm. While there he studied for an MBA in publishing at Oxford Brookes University in England. He rose through the ranks at Across, eventually becoming the Executive Director of the organisation.

In 2007 he was elected Bishop of Kajo-Keji, a position he held until 2016 when he moved to Lambeth Palace to support the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as his Adviser on Anglican Communion Affairs.

It is a huge privilege to be appointed as the next Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, taking over from the Most Reverend Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon. His are big shoes to fill, Bishop Anthony said.

I would like to thank the Anglican Communions Standing Committee for the trust and confidence in appointing me to lead the staff team at the Anglican Communion Office as it undertakes it role in supporting the Instruments of Communion.

I look forward to taking on my role at the beginning of September and work alongside the team at the ACO in preparing for ACC-18.

ACC-18 is the 18th plenary meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, and will take place in Accra, Ghana, in February 2023.

One of the things that we will be focusing on from September is to support the instruments of the Anglican Communion as they implement the outcomes of the 2022 Lambeth Conference, Bishop Anthony said. Please pray for me as I take on this role in leading the ACO team so that the Anglican Communion family will continue in its role of being Gods Church for Gods world in such a time as this.

Bishop Anthony Poggos appointment as Secretary General has been welcomed by leaders in the Anglican Communion.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd and Right Hon Justin Welby, said: I am delighted that Bishop Anthony Poggo has been appointed Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. Over the past six years he has built up an immense knowledge of our global Communion and its people as my Adviser on Anglican Communion Affairs. And in that time many people in the Communion have got to know Anthony too  and I am sure that they will join with me in welcoming his appointment.

Anthonys wise counsel and his heart for the Gospel will be put to good use in his new role as Secretary General. He starts his new ministry at an exciting time for the Anglican Communion, with next months Lambeth Conference helping to set the agenda and focus of our shared mission and ministry for the next decade, as we continue to discern and put into practice our calling to be Gods Church for Gods world.

The Archbishop of South Sudan, the Most Revd Justin Badi-Arama, is the Primate of Bishop Anthonys home-province  the Episcopal Church of South Sudan. He said: We thank God that out of the suffering Church in South Sudan, God has raised bishop Anthony to this highest position.

He is coming at a time that the Anglican Communion is facing many challenges. But as Mordecai said to Esther; We trust God that may be it is for such a time like this that God brought up (Ester 4:14).

We encourage him to always be guided by the scriptures as we support him in prayers.

The present Secretary General, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, from the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), said: I give glory to the Lord for the appointment of Bishop Anthony Poggo as Secretary General of Anglican Communion. He is endowed with many gifts and it is my prayer that he would bring it all to his ministry within and beyond the Anglican Communion.

I look forward to our working briefly together before handing over to him after the Lambeth Conference. May the Lord equip Bishop Anthony for a fruitful ministry as the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion.

The Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), Archbishop Paul Kwong from the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, said: I warmly welcome Bishop Anthony Poggo as Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. He will bring to the Communion many gifts in particular to the Anglican Consultative Council.

His vision of the Communion and her mission, not to mention the incredible breath of experience, will be an invaluable asset to the Communion. I look forward to serving with him at ACC and other instruments of Unity in the Communion.

The Vice-Chair of the ACC, Canon Maggie Swinson from the Church of England, said: I am delighted that Bishop Anthony will be taking up the role of Secretary General. He brings a wealth of experience from his previous role and I very much look forward to working with him.
(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 14 - Final results have confirmed that the centre-right coalition won in the first round in Genoa, Palermo and L'Aquila, without the need for a runoff vote, in an important set of local elections held on Sunday.

Verona, Parma and Catanzaro are set to have runoffs, with the centre left ahead in the first two and the centre right on top in the latter.

Of the 26 provincial capitals where votes were held, the centre right won, or was close to winning, nine in the first round, with the centre left taking four.

The contests in the other 13 are going to runoffs, with the centre right ahead in six and the centre left in front in seven.

The driving force of the centre right's strong showing was Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FDI) party, the only major group not supporting Premier Mario Draghi's government of national unity.

It landed 10.3% of the vote, overtaking Matteo Salvini's League, which got 6.7%, while ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) got 4.6%.

The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) wad the individual party to bag most votes - 17.2%.

The 5-Star Movement (M5S), which generally struggles in local elections, did especially badly this time with just 2.1%.

(ANSA).


(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 14 - Israel is set to help Europe to obtain alternative sources of gas to Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said as he made a joint statement with Italian Premier Mario Draghi after a meeting in Jerusalem.

"Israel will be able to help Europe, producing natural gas, and this is excellent news," he said.

Draghi thanked Israel for its attempts at mediation regarding the Ukraine war.

"The Italian government will continue to work for a ceasefire as soon as possible and peace negotiations, on the terms that Ukraine considers acceptable," Draghi said.

"Italy supports, and will continue to support, Ukraine and its desire to be part of Europe".

Draghi said he had discussed with Bennett Russia's blockade of Ukrainian ports, which is stopping grain exports leaving the country, and the ensuring "risk of a food catastrophe".

"We must work with the utmost urgency (to have) safe corridors for the transport of grain," he said.

"We have very little time because in a few weeks the new harvest will be ready and it could be impossible to store it".

Draghi described Israel as a "friend" of Italy's and a "fundamental partner," adding that "we want to strengthen our collaboration further". (ANSA).


(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 14 - Visiting Italian Premier Mario Draghi told Palestinian National Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh that tensions with Israel must be reduced in the path to Mideast peace.

"This visit reaffirms the excellent relations between our two countries, and Italy's commitment for the peace process between Palestine and Israel," Draghi said in joint statements with the Palestinian premier.

"As I told Israeli Prime MInister Bennett during my previous meeting, dialogue must continue so as to restore trust.

"We must continue to work to reduce tensions at all levels and we must be united in condemning violence and defending human, civil and religious rights".

Draghi said Italy and the PNA had signed six development accords worth some 17 million euros. (ANSA).


Zelensky warns of food crisis, urges end to Russian blockade Ukraine was a top producer of sunflower oil and wheat exporter

(ANSA-AFP) - SINGAPORE, JUN 11 - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday urged international pressure to end a Russian naval blockade of Black Sea ports that has choked off his country's grain exports, threatening a global food crisis. Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine was the world's top producer of sunflower oil and a major wheat exporter, but millions of tonnes of grain exports remain trapped due to the blockade. The United Nations and some countries are pushing for a maritime corridor to be opened up to allow exports to resume.



"The world will face an acute and severe food crisis and famine, in many countries of Asia and Africa," Zelensky said in a video address to the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore.



"The shortage of foodstuffs will inexorably lead to political chaos, which can result in the (collapse) of many governments and the ousting of many politicians," he told delegates, including Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and China's defence minister. (ANSA-AFP).





 Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved
Ukraine: Lithuania to send additional military equipment Anti-drone and thermal imaging equipment and Bayraktar drone

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 31 - The Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvidas Anushauskas announced that Lithuania will deliver more military assistance to Ukraine, the portal Kyiv Independent said today.



The next shipment will include anti-drone and thermal imaging equipment and Bayraktar drone, the portal informed. Previously Lithuania agreed on a military aid package with armored vehicles, trucks and SUVs. (ANSA).





 Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Flamengo are in advanced talks to sign Benfica forward Everton Cebolinha, according to media reports in Brazil.

The 26-year-old is tied to the Portuguese outfit until June 2025 but could join Flamengo in the coming days after both clubs established a 14 million-euro transfer fee, the Lance news portal reported on Tuesday.

Flamengo will assume 100% of the attacker's economic rights, it added.

Everton has scored 18 goals and provided 18 assists in 93 outings for Benfica since joining the club from Gremio in 2020.

He has been capped 25 times for Brazil's national team, scoring three goals. 
MADRID - The resumption after two years of the "Crossing the strait" annual operation that allows each summer thousands of people, mainly North Africans, to return home from Europe through Spain is scheduled on Wednesday, Spanish news agency Efe reports.



The operation, which was suspended after the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020, will resume following the beginning of a "new phase" of bilateral relations between the governments of Spain and Morocco, for months disturbed by tensions of a diplomatic nature between the two sides.



The measure designed to allow the departure in the summer of hundreds of thousands of North Africans residing in Europe will involve several ports of southern Spain. Over the past few weeks, Spain and Morocco also reopened common land borders.




ISTANBUL - The European Union has allocated additional funding of 50 million euros to provide humanitarian aid to vulnerable refugees hosted by Turkey, according to a statement released by the European Commission.



The statement said funding is aimed at supporting "specific health services and helping deal with problems regarding protection including legal advice, psychological support and access to civil documentation".



The financial support announced Tuesday comes in addition to the EU Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) which already provides assistance to refugees in Turkey through money deposited on a card that beneficiaries can use to pay for rent, transportation, food and medicines. "The EU will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees in Turkey to fill the void and offer a safety net to those who most need it", said the European commissioner for crisis management, Janez Lenarcic. He added that Brussels "will not forget refugees in Turkey, including many who have been displaced for a decade".



Over four million refugees live in Turkey, including 3.7 million Syrians. Based on an agreement from 2016, Brussels supports Ankara financially in the management of refugees in exchange for Turkey's commitment in keeping borders closed to those who try to reach the EU illegally. The fund earmarked Tuesday is part of a package of three billion dollars to assist Ankara until 2024 announced by the EU last year.
Libya: Italy's special envoy meets Haftar in Benghazi Orlando in talks also with PM Bashagha and Saleh

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, JUNE 14 - The special envoy for Libya of the Italian foreign ministry, Nicola Orlando, and Italy's ambassador to Tripoli, Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi, have met with General Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi, according to a tweet of the Italian embassy in Libya. The tweet added that the two Italian representatives were received by the "general commander of the Libyan Arab armed forces" yesterday afternoon.



In addition to Haftar, Orlando met on Monday also with two institutional figures in the country's East: Fathi Bashagha, the prime minister rivalling the other premier who has taken office in Tripoli, Abdel Hamid Dbeibah, and the speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Aqila Saleh, according to tweets in English and Arabic released by the special envoy and by the embassy.



With Haftar, "we had a broad and constructive exchange, focusing on the absolute need to overcome divisions, avoid conflict, and solve the political crisis for the sake of the Libyan people and the future of a united and strong Libya", tweeted Orlando.



"I called on all stakeholders to set aside divisions to pursue an inclusive and consensual path towards unity, stability and national elections asap (as soon as possible), putting the needs and aspirations of the Libyan people first", Orlando said, referring to meetings with Bashagha and Saleh. "We agreed on the absolute need of maintaining calm on the ground", added the diplomat.



"In an encouraging meeting, I stressed the urgency of finalizing the constitutional track through HoR/HCS (House of Representatives-Senate) dialogue", facilitated by the special advisor of the UN secretary general for Libya, Stephanie Williams, in order to "lead Libya to national elections" as soon as possible, wrote Orlando, referring to talks with Saleh in Qubba (or Gubba). The Italian diplomat concluded saying that he asked for an "inclusive and consensual" path towards unity and stability.(ANSAmed).




BEIRUT - US special envoy, Amos Hochstein, charged with facilitating direct talks between Lebanon and Israel for the division of maritime energy resources, was received on Tuesday morning by President Michel Aoun. Hochstein's visit to Lebanon, which started on Monday and wraps up on Tuesday night, comes at the request of authorities in Beirut, including Aoun, a close ally of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah hostile to Israel.



Aoun and the outgoing Lebanese premier Najib Miqati over the past few days harshly condemned the start of preparatory activities for the exploration by Israel, of the natural gas site close to the waters disputed by the two countries.



Hochstein is scheduled to meet on Tuesday in Beirut also with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is also an ally of Hezbollah and who, for nearly a decade between 2010 and 2020, followed indirect negotiations with Israel, through the United States, for the division of energy resources at sea.



Today, Hochstein will be able to listen to the Lebanese position regarding the maritime controversy with Israel: Aoun and Berri are aligned in claiming national sovereignty over a wider area of the sea compared to the terms recorded by Lebanon at the UN. In this way, both Aoun and Berri are offering to Hezbollah and its regional sponsors the possibility of raising the rhetoric against Israel, accused of carrying out an "aggression". Over the past few days, Hezbollah did not rule out the possibility of unleashing a new war against Israel, which for its part threatened the Lebanese Shiite movement of being able to conduct a destructive armed conflict on Lebanese soil.




The aviation industry and the Government must shoulder the responsibility for the chaos suffered by airline travellers, MPs were told.

Sue Davies, head of consumer rights at consumer group Which?, said the cancellation of thousands of flights and long queues at airports in recent months were caused by the impact of staffing shortages being underestimated.

She told the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee: Both the industry and the Government need to shoulder the responsibility for the chaos that weve seen.

Ms Davies acknowledged that the sector has been particularly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, but stressed that consumers have lost money and suffered huge emotional stress.

She went on: Particularly appallingly, weve been hearing from lots of people who have just had very little information about actually whats happening on the ground.

The airlines and the Government were encouraging people to travel again, and we think theyve just underestimated the capacity issues, and the shortages both within the airlines and the airport services, including baggage handlers.

Ms Davies accused airlines of selling tickets when they dont know for sure that those flights are actually going to be able to go.

She told the committee that passengers havent really been given proper information about their rights, adding: Theres just blatant flouting of consumer rights and a failure to put

passenger interests first.

Oliver Richardson, national officer for civil aviation at trade union Unite, said a ranking of the airlines making the most cancellations almost exactly corresponds with the number of job cuts they made during the pandemic.

He said that Ryanair, which made no compulsory redundancies, is in a different position from the likes of British Airways, which has been forced to cancel more than 100 daily flights due to staff shortages, after cutting 10,000 jobs.

They did get rid of too many people in a number of instances, Mr Richardson said.

The terms and conditions for those remaining were lessened, and when it comes to attracting people to the industry, it simply isnt as attractive as it was.

British Airways refused to acknowledge that the job cuts are contributing to cancellations.

Labour MP Darren Jones, who chairs the committee, repeatedly questioned the airlines corporate affairs director Lisa Tremble on the issue.

He asked her: Do you think there was a connection between sacking 10,000 members of your staff using aggressive fire-and-rehire tactics, and now cancelling the most flights per day?

Ms Tremble said its very complicated, stating that the company had to protect as many jobs as possible.

Mr Jones responded: Weve asked you a very direct question, I think three times, and youve chosen not to answer it.

EasyJet chief operating officer Sophie Deckers said it is typically taking around 14 weeks for new cabin crew recruits to obtain their security passes, compared with 10 weeks before the pandemic.

This is due to the requirement for individuals to obtain references for all the jobs they have done in the past five years, she explained.

In many cases, people have had 10 jobs in the last couple of years.

Maybe some of them were only for a couple of weeks, but were required to get a reference from each of those, so thats whats taking the length of time.

We have today 142 crew ready and trained to go online that dont have their ID passes.

So we have planned for this (increase in demand for travel) and weve planned for the ramp up. The ID processing I think has caught us by surprise and its taken longer than we had ever planned or anticipated.
Chris Evans surprised young hospital patients at a pre-release screening for Disney and Pixars upcoming film Lightyear, in which he plays the starring role.

Patients and their families at Londons Chelsea and Westminster Hospital were greeted by Evans on Monday at the screening in the hospitals CW+ MediCinema  one of six in-hospital cinemas the charity runs in the UK.

Before attending the London premiere that evening, the actor spent time with young patients, signing posters and chatting to them and their families.

Chris Evans at the UK premiere of Lightyear in Leicester Square (Ian West/PA)

The voice of Buzz Lightyear then introduced the screening of the film, which is due for release on June 17  making the patients among the first in the UK to see it.

Milena, the mother of a patient called Michael, said the experience was something her son will never forget.

To see the surprise and joy on Michaels face when Chris walked through the door into the MediCinema screening is something I will never forget  and neither will he, she said.

Milena and son Michael (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures UK/PA)

Michael is a huge film fan and has been a regular at the MediCinema which has helped him so much when hes been in hospital. For him to meet and speak to one of his heroes has been out of this world.

Lightyear will be holding further special preview screenings at MediCinema sites across the country.

Colin Lawrence, chief executive of MediCinema, said: Our young patients have had such a wonderful day  to meet Chris Evans and see this special screening of Lightyear at the CW+ MediCinema lit up so many faces, and Im sure they will treasure this experience.

Chris Evans spent time with patients and staff (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures UK/PA)

Life has been very hard for patients in hospital, especially over the past few years, so to leave the wards for a few precious hours to have so much fun as well as meeting the voice behind Buzz will make a real difference to their stay.

MediCinema, a charity founded in 1999, has provided more than 300,000 experiences and works to improve wellbeing and quality of life for NHS patients and their families through cinema.

Chris Chaney, chief executive of hospital charity CW+, said: We were thrilled to welcome Chris Evans on this very special visit, which brought fun and excitement to our young patients and their families.

Our CW+ MediCinema provides magic and escapism, comforting patients and loved ones who are going through a difficult time, and this visit was such a boost for them. We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Chris and Disney, everyone had a fantastic time.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye (L) and visiting Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi review the guard of honor in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on June 14, 2022.(Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

RAMALLAH, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye on Tuesday discussed with his visiting Italian counterpart Mario Draghi the unilateral Israeli actions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

"We discussed the daily Israeli violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the expansion of Israeli settlements, the Israeli settlers' assaults on Palestinians," Ishtaye told a joint news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

He noted that the Venice Declaration called for the acknowledgment of the Palestinians' right of self-determination.

The Venice Declaration was an agreement issued by the European Economic Community, seen as the predecessor of the European Union, after its meeting with the Palestinian Liberation Organization in June 1980.

The Palestinian prime minister also called on Italy "to protect the two-state solution and save it from destruction by unilateral Israeli measures."

For his part, Draghi said his visit to Palestine shows "Italy is committed to the peace process" between Israelis and Palestinians.

"Peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis must be resumed to restore confidence. There is a need to work to reduce tension at all levels," he noted.

The last round of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, brokered by the United States, collapsed in April 2014 because of continuing Israeli expansion of settlements in the Palestinian territories in the West Bank occupied by Israel in 1967.

Palestine and Italy also signed six development cooperation agreements worth 16.6 million euros to support health, tourism, employment, statistics, and the private sector in Palestine. 

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi speaks during a joint news conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye (not in photo), in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on June 14, 2022.(Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye (R) shakes hands with visiting Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on June 14, 2022.(Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye (R) and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi attend a joint news conference, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on June 14, 2022.(Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye speaks during a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi (not in photo), in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on June 14, 2022.(Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)
The first migrants to arrive in Rwanda under the UKs radical new deal to curb Channel crossings will be offered the chance to rebuild their lives in the east African nation.

The group will most likely be flown into a private terminal at Kigalis international airport before being taken straight to accommodation at Hope Hostel  where they will be given a chance to rest, eat and settle in, as well as being tested for Covid-19, before they are processed.

According to the Rwandan government, this is the only facility being used for initial accommodation under the plan so far.

Yolande Makolo, spokeswoman for the Rwandan government (Victoria Jones/PA)

Spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said they are in discussions with five or six more establishments in the capital city including the Desir Hotel, also known as Rouge by Desir, and the Hallmark Residences for use for accommodation in the future.

The government aspires to provide clean, modern accommodation with basic facilities and a safe space, she added.

Hope Hostel can sleep 100 people, although plans for expansion could see another accommodation block built on the site.

A large tent has been erected next door and is understood to be where the processing will take place.

The Desir Resort Hotel in Kigali (Victoria Jones/PA)

Within 24 hours of arrival, migrants will be granted a three-month residency in Rwanda while their immigration status is decided.

The immigration department will submit a file for the consideration committee within 15 days, after which a decision is expected to be reached within a further 45 days, Doris Uwicyeza, chief technical adviser to the Rwandan Ministry of Justice, said.

The new arrivals will not need to submit an asylum claim, but those who do will have this considered in the first instance.

Anyone without an asylum claim, or one that is rejected, will then be considered under wider immigration rules with a view to provide a right to residency and to work.

The government said it had boosted staff numbers and resources to make the process as efficient as possible and hopes to consider claims within three months.

While their immigration status is determined, migrants will take part in an orientation programme to help them adjust to their new life in Rwanda  if they choose to stay  with information about the country such as the weather and geography as well as a tour of the area.

Food and accommodation will be provided and paid for, with sports, games and other activities laid on.

People in Kigali, Rwanda (Victoria Jones/PA)

Migrants will also be given a monthly allowance of 100,000RWF a month (roughly 90) to help pay for essentials. Meanwhile they will be given access to language classes and translation services as well as legal advice.

It is unclear whether they will be subject to a curfew or face any other restrictions if they leave the premises or what would happen if they are considered to have left the accommodation altogether, with officials saying the details are still being finalised.

But Ms Makolo said the government would not want them to become lost, hungry or destitute and that social workers and counsellors would be made available for support.

Anyone appealing a decision will be given 30 days to do so and can seek their own legal advice  from a list of lawyers accredited by the Rwandan Bar Association  which they will have to pay for if it is not offered pro-bono, the government spokeswomen said.

If the appeal reaches the countrys high court, the government will provide legal representation free of charge.

The support package  including healthcare, food and accommodation as well as the monthly allowance  will continue to be provided until the person in question is able to support themselves.

Later on, they will be moved to other accommodation in the community.

The Hallmark Residences Hotel in Kigali (Victoria Jones/PA)

For those who decide to leave the country, a flight back to their home country or elsewhere where they have a right to residency will be arranged for them by the government.

Ms Uwicyeza said the government recognised the important role refugees and migrants play in the cultural fabric of society, adding: We do not want to bring people here to put them in a situation of illegality. We want people to be legal residents of Rwanda.

The government said they are anticipating families may arrive in Rwanda under the deal in future and are making plans for suitable accommodation and arrangements, with education offered to children. But typically, they are expecting to mostly receive migrants who are single men.

Responding to concerns which have been raised by some about the risk of malaria in the country, Ms Makolo said the country had a strong anti-malaria programme and numbers had fallen dramatically in recent years but nets, medication and other preventative measures are taken.

Ms Makolo added: Rwanda has a record of caring for refugees and welcoming migrants and will be able to provide not just the safe haven these people are looking for, but the opportunity to build new lives here and develop alongside Rwandans.

Discussions are continuing being the Rwandan and Danish governments over the prospect of establishing a similar arrangement.
Hugh Jackman has been forced to pull out of Broadway performances of The Music Man after frustratingly testing positive for Covid-19 again.

The news comes the day after the actor performed a number from the popular Broadway musical live at the 75th Tony Awards in New York.

The 53-year-old said that his amazingly talented understudy Max Clayton would be stepping in while he recovered.

Jackman was previously forced to pull out of performances after contracting the virus in December last year.

Ive frustratingly tested positive for Covid. Again. My standby, the amazingly talented Max Clayton will step in for me. Maxi and all the standbys, swings and understudies around the world, you are the true heroes of theater. You give life to the saying the show must go on. pic.twitter.com/GpwtreWqX0  Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) June 13, 2022

The show was cancelled until January 6 following the announcement.

Ive frustratingly tested positive for Covid. Again, the actor tweeted.

My standby, the amazingly talented Max Clayton will step in for me.

At the Tonys on Sunday night Jackman performed Seventy-Six Trombones with the cast of the current revival which he leads with Sutton Foster (right) (Charles Sykes/AP)

In a video posted to social media he added: This is just another reminder to me, Ill say it again, but the real heroes of Broadway are our standbys, our understudies and swings, and never has that been more obvious than in the past year.

They give meaning to the phrase the show must go on, and it will go on and it will go on.

At the Tonys on Sunday night Jackman performed Seventy-Six Trombones with the cast of the current revival which he leads with Sutton Foster.

He was also nominated for best actor in a musical, but lost out to Myles Frost for his portrayal of the king of pop Michael Jackson in MJ.
Equity release finances around 1 in every 90 spent by retired people within the UK, according to analysis.

Total retirement spending funded by equity release could top 4 billion this year and 5 billion in 2025, according to modelling by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), as homeowners increasingly look to property wealth to support their retirement.

Equity release products allow older people to access the equity, or cash, tied up in their home.

In 2021, equity release funded an estimated 3 billion worth of retirement domestic spending, according to Legal & General and Cebrs the Equity Economy report.

About 330 million of new equity released in 2021 is estimated to have left the UK economy in the form of overseas holiday spending.

Equity release spending by retirees is often used for occasional big purchases such as home improvements including to improve energy efficiency, furniture or a new car, the report found.

Other uses include medical expenses, maintaining living standards in retirement, holidays and paying off debts.

Craig Brown, CEO, Legal & General home finance, said: The impact of the equity release market is more significant than just the spending power it gives to customers, it also makes a positive contribution to the UK economy.

Equity release may reduce the amount of inheritance people have to leave behind when they die and potentially affect their benefit entitlements, and so it needs careful consideration. There may be options to ringfence some of the value of a home as an inheritance.

There may be other alternative options such as downsizing or using savings. Taking independent financial advice can help people to weigh up their options.
Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has called on businesses who pledge to invest in diverse talent to ensure they measure the impact, otherwise it wont count.

The former first lady spoke on a panel called a pledge for change at the London Tech Week, which was organised by and centred on a pledge initiative by EQL:HER, a network of female visionaries in the tech space.

Mrs Clinton said that while pledging support is important, it has to be measured because it wont count unless you can demonstrate that its actually happening.

She added: You dont want someone to take the pledge and not change their behaviour. Youre trying to incentivise a change in behaviour

The message for the EQL:Pledge is that this is good for everybody. If we can just get a critical mass of people to sign up for it and then to start acting on it next year you can have a conference where people literally talk about what the pledge meant, how it changed their business, how it changed their perspective

And thats what you want because those stories are what eventually change those negative messages that we have.

She added that these negative messages could be cultural biases which may develop from not working with people from different backgrounds.

Mrs Clinton was joined on the panel by Dame Vivian Hunt, a senior partner at management consulting firm McKinsey & Company; Anne Glover, co-founder of technology investor Amadeus and June Sarpong, director of creative diversity at the BBC.

Hillary Clinton (Aaron Chown/PA)

The pledge has called on investors to commit a percentage of their funding to businesses founded by entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds, with members of the pledge team connecting the entrepreneurs to the investors.

Ms Glover spoke about the need for the pledge, emphasising that there is a massive talent shortage among minority groups.

She said: One of the things we can all do is encourage the underrepresented groups to go study the fields and the industries of the future

If we can encourage underrepresented minorities into those fields, then I think were doing everyone a service.

It comes just days after latest annual Women on Boards UKs study into diversity and inclusion revealed that half of UK firms in the FTSE All-Share excluding the 350 have no women in executive roles.

In terms of ethnicity, the report showed that three-quarters of firms in the FTSE All Share ex-350 have entirely white boards.
Scotlands First Minister kicked off a campaign for a second independence referendum.

Publishing the first in a series of papers that will form a prospectus for an independent Scotland, the First Minister said there was an indisputable mandate for another vote after a majority of independence-supporting MSPs were returned in last years Holyrood elections.

The First Minister launched a campaign for a new independence referendum on Tuesday (Russell Cheyne/PA)

Here are some of the key issues:

 What happened last time?

In 2014, Scots voted in favour of remaining in the United Kingdom by 55% to 45%.

 What has changed since then?

The key issue raised by supporters of independence is Brexit. During the 2014 campaign, those in the No campaign said Scotland would no longer be a member of the EU if it was independent.

But the 2016 referendum on membership of the bloc meant that happened regardless, angering independence supporters and increasing calls for another vote.

There has also been the Covid-19 pandemic, which strained relations between the Scottish and UK governments on how best to handle it, with Scottish ministers saying they would be able to go further than the UK with the full powers of independence.

Westminster, however, highlighted the might of the British exchequer in being able to fund initiatives such as the furlough scheme.

 What does independence mean?

Leaving the UK would grant Scotland powers it does not already have under the devolution settlement.

Currently, issues such as health and education are controlled by the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, while things like foreign policy and defence are reserved to Westminster.

If Scotland voted to be independent, it would control all areas of policy, but not everything will change immediately.

The position of the SNP  the largest independence supporting party  is that the Queen should remain head of state and the pound should remain the official currency, at least until a separate Scottish currency is launched.

However, the currency position could change when that paper is published in the coming months.

The Queen would remain head of state in an independent Scotland, under SNP plans (Chris Jackson/PA)

 What would an independent Scotland look like?

That is hard to say, but the Scottish Government prospectus being published in the coming months should provide more granular detail.

In the foreword to the first document, Nicola Sturgeon said her aspiration was for a wealthier, fairer and more successful country.

 What needs to happen for a referendum to be held?

There are two paths to a legally recognised vote.

The first would require the granting of a Section 30 order by the UK Government. This would provide Holyrood with the powers it would need under the Scotland Act to pass legislation in order to hold a referendum.

The second would require the legislation to be passed at Holyrood first, when it could be subject to legal challenge by the UK Government with a final decision on its legality taken by the Supreme Court.

The First Minister said on Tuesday that work was ongoing to identify a route to a vote without a Section 30, so a third course of action may be available, but this is not yet known.

Legislation on another referendum passed by the Scottish Parliament could end up in court (Jane Barlow/PA)

 When might there be a vote?

In a shared policy platform published as a result of the power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens, the Scottish Government said it would work to hold another referendum by the half way point of this parliamentary term  meaning the end of next year.

But with an intransigent UK Government that looks set to reject any request for a Section 30 order and the prospect of a protracted legal battle over any legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament on the issue, its not clear if this, or any, timescale will be met.

(PA Graphics)

 What do the polls say?

The most recent poll, by Ipsos Mori for STV, suggests support for and opposition to independence is deadlocked at 50% among decided voters.

When undecided voters are added back into the calculation, support for remaining in the UK has a slight lead at 46% compared to 45% in favour of independence and 8% who are yet to make a decision.

The most recent poll suggests support could be 5% higher than the 2014 referendum, however, it has come down from a record high of 58% recorded in the same poll in October 2020  at the height of the pandemic.

 What does the UK Government say?

Westminster, under two different prime ministers in recent years, has repeatedly rejected calls for another vote.

Both Theresa May and Boris Johnson have said now is not the time for a referendum, a sentiment echoed by a spokeswoman for the UK Government on Tuesday.
Actor and convicted child sex offender Robert Hughes will be deported from Australia to the UK following his release from a correctional facility.

Hughes, 73, was imprisoned in 2014 after being found guilty of 10 sexual and indecent assault offences committed between 1984 and 1990.

The New South Wales state parole authority granted Hughes, the star of Australian sitcom Hey Dad!, parole on June 2 and determined he be released no later than Tuesday June 14.

It said it had accepted evidence Hughes had consistently been assessed as a below average risk of sexually reoffending.

He will be deported to the UK on his release from prison as he is a non-lawful citizen in Australia, having renounced his Australian citizenship in 2020.

Hey Dad! aired from 1987 to 1994.

Hughes victims include a family friend, friends of his daughter and a child actor who worked with him.

The state parole authority said that, although Hughes denies the offences, the assessment prevents him from accessing sex offender treatment programmes while he remains in custody.

Hughes and wife had given undertakings that once back in the community Hughes would seek treatment with a clinical psychologist specialising in convicted sex offenders who deny their crimes, to assist with his reintegration and reduce his risk of reoffending, it added.

The parole authority chairperson, David Frearson SC, said the authority acknowledged the profound and deleterious effects on the victims continue to this day and will probably be lifelong consequences.

It must be particularly galling for the victims to observe the offenders continued and obstinate denials in the face of compelling and overwhelming evidence from multiple witnesses, he added.
The drama doesnt stop just because the reality TV cameras do. Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor were noticeably missing from Stassi Schroeder and Beau Clarks Italy wedding  and the fallout from skipping the event has left a mark on the couples friendships.

Read article

Theres some rifts going on right now.  With me and Stassi, theres some things going on, which I hate. I love her to pieces. And I wish we could figure this out, Cartwright, 33, said on the Monday, June 13, episode of the Betches Moms podcast, noting shes still close to Scheana Shay and Lala Kent.

Jonathan Leibson/Polk Imaging/Shutterstock; KCR/Shutterstock

Schroeder, 33, and Clark, 42, exchanged vows in Rome on May 12. While they scaled back their guest list  citing financial reasons  Cartwright and Taylor, 42, were invited. The Off With My Head author shaded her former costars  without naming names  on her The Good, the Bad, and the Baby podcast after the nuptials.

They are RSVPd yes. [And] whenever we were around them, theyre like, Were coming. Then it kept happening, Schroeder said after Clark claimed he got text screenshots from other attendees in which Taylor said he had no plans to attend the ceremony. And two weeks before the wedding, I was like, We need to address this with them because Im not playing this game. I ordered all the stuff we needed to have in terms of seat assignments and the place cards. So I need to know if I need to quickly ask to get things rearranged.

Read article

Schroeder declared: Good friends dont do that. They dont talk st about your wedding behind your back or pretend that theyre coming and give a list of reasons why theyre not coming to other people. Friends dont do that to each other.

During her podcast appearance on Monday, meanwhile, Cartwright insisted that she wanted to be there.

I would never in a million years do something like that on purpose, the Kentucky native said. We had actual reasons why we couldnt go that were not talked about. Like Cruzs passport didnt come in, my mom had a death in the family and had to go home. I mean, there was actual things that happened right before the wedding that we actually couldnt make it to the wedding for those reasons. But I know, like, having to wait to the last minute and not being able to be there for someone who I really do think of as one of my best friends, like, I feel terrible about and Im truly sorry. And I hope that one day, well be able to talk about this and figure it all out. Because I do want our kids to grow up together.

Cartwright and Taylor share son Cruz, 14 months, while Schroeder and Clark are parents of daughter Hartford, 17 months.

I do love them. And I do want the best for them. She looked amazing at her wedding. I mean, they looked absolutely incredible, Cartwright continued. And I know it would have been so fun to be there. And theres a lot more to it than what people know  or that Im gonna even say  but at the end of the day, I just hope that they know, like, I did not wait to the last minute because I knew I was going to not be there for weeks. That was not the case. It was that I was literally trying to be there, up until the very last minute. So there was a lot of things that were going on. And I dont know, I just felt terrible about it altogether because thats just not my personality, I would never try to put my friend in that situation. And I dont know, I just hope that one day we can talk about it, figure it out and get past it over time. Im just gonna give her time.

Read article

The Jax and Brittany Take Kentucky star added that its hard that they havent talked to hear each others sides. She also seemingly threw shade at Schroeder for allowing one side to be out there.

I wouldve never even talked about it and at, like, at all, Cartwright said. Its just, it makes me sad. Im trying not to cry. I really, really, really did want to be there and I tried everything in my power.

While Taylor has yet to publicly comment on the drama, he and Schroeder have appeared to unfollow each other on Instagram.
Only six months ago, the economic outlook from the nations CEOs reached an all-time high.

But the latest Business Roundtable quarterly survey of America's top business leaders finds optimism has continued to plummet amid concerns over what the next six months may hold for the U.S. economy.

The softening of quarterly CEO sentiment reflects uncertainty driven by the unprecedented times we face as a nation and global community, Business Roundtable Chair Mary Barra, General Motors (GM) CEO, said in a statement.

The group surveys its CEO members each quarter with the goal of gauging expectations for the next six months. This edition of the survey, conducted between May 16 and June 3, features 177 CEOs.

The overall rating came in at 96, down significantly from the peak of 124 last November. The roundtable says the 19-point drop since March is the sixth largest quarterly decline since the index began in 2002.

Mary Barra, Chair and CEO of General Motors Company, is also the chair of the Business Roundtable. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)

Even with the drop, the level of optimism remains above the index's recent low of 34, recorded soon after the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe in early 2020. The rating also remains above the long-run average of 84 and above what the group considers the expansion or contraction threshold of 50.

The index found that over the last quarter plans for hiring decreased 23 points, plans for capital investment decreased 20 points, and expectations for sales decreased 14 points.

The survey also found that 56% of CEOs experienced setbacks due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage. But among the most impacted sectors  machinery; metals and minerals; chemical and plastic products; motor vehicles; and electronics  over 90% of CEOs reported impacts from the chip shortage.

We have seen some slowdown in consumer

It's not news that certain CEOs have grown more pessimistic about the future. Still, members of the Business Roundtable recently appeared on Yahoo Finance and expressed some optimism.

Hewlett Packard (HPQ) CEO Enrique Lores spoke with Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi on June 1 to tout the companys consistency in the current climate.

We have seen some slowdown in consumer  but nothing that tells us that there is going to be a major slowdown coming forward, he said.

Cisco (CSCO) CEO Chuck Robbins, another Business Roundtable member, added in a separate interview in May that he thinks sentiment has been too negative.

If you think back over the last several years, the challenges that we've all dealt with as a global society, we should have confidence that we're going to deal with whatever comes our way, he said. I don't want to see us talk ourselves into a recession.

We urge the Biden Administration to double down on domestic energy investment

The DC-based Business Roundtable is composed of CEOs from hundreds of the nation's largest companies with a stated mission to promote a thriving U.S. economy and expanded opportunity for all Americans through sound public policy.

We urge the Biden Administration to double down on domestic energy investment and take additional action to address the elevated risk of a worsening global energy crisis, Business Roundtable CEO Josh Bolten said in a statement. We also call on the administration to lower tariffs.

On the tariff question at least, President Joe Biden himself is reportedly leaning towards easing some tariffs on China with an announcement that could come as soon as this month.

Barra also called on Congress on Tuesday to pass a slowly advancing bill to provide over $50 billion to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo recently warned that chip makers could flee the U.S. in "months" unless Congress acts on that front.

Ben Werschkul is a writer and producer for Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.
Everybodys frustrated. If somebody could do something about it, it would be done. But oil and gasoline prices are on a tear that for the time being seems unstoppable.

U.S. gasoline prices have hit $5 per gallon for the first time ever, and Moodys Analytics thinks they could hit $5.50 within a couple of weeks. Theres no mystery why. A confluence of forces, led by Russias invasion of Ukraine, has crimped oil supply and bumped up demand. Theres more that could go wrong, adding a fear premium to prices on top of the hike caused by market dynamics. It wont last forever, but for now theres no sign that new supply, reduced demand or an outbreak of stability will bring relief.

Four things are going wrong simultaneously for fossil-fuel purchasers. First are sanctions on Russia, the worlds third-largest oil producer. So far, sanctions have slightly reduced Russian oil sales, but Europe is phasing in an embargo, with plans to cut Russian oil purchases 90% by the end of the year. Russia will probably be able to sell some of that oil elsewhere, but exports will probably decline, reducing world supply and pushing prices upward. Since oil prices are set in a global market, no nation can insulate itself from the effect falling supply or rising demand has on prices.

China seems to be emerging from extreme COVID lockdowns that depressed economic activity, including energy consumption. As Chinas economy picks back up, energy use will rise, putting upward pressure on prices. There was some hope a new deal with Iran over its nuclear weapons program would lead to the end of U.S. sanctions and more Iranian oil on the global market. But Iran seems to have scuttled negotiations, making a deal unlikely. Finally, President Biden and other leaders have already released large amounts of oil from national reserves, leaving little room for further releases.

Raoul LeBlanc, vice president of the energy practice at S&P Global, calls these four factors a nightmare bull scenario that could push oil prices higher still, enriching oil sellers while hammering purchasers.

Current prices reflect the risk of that happening," LeBlanc says. Prices right now make sense in terms of the big drivers that could push prices higher.

[Follow Rick Newman on Twitter, sign up for his newsletter or send in your thoughts.]

How much can consumers take? Moodys Analytics thinks $5.50 gasoline in the United States could be the peak, with prices likely to decline steadily beginning in the second half of this year. But the research firm analyzed the likely impact on consumers and the U.S. economy if gas prices hit $6 and even $7. Surprisingly, neither scenario would induce a recession.

'An outsize place in the mind of the U.S. consumer'

But the pain would be considerable, as any driver can imagine. In both scenarios, unprecedented gas prices would cut consumer spending on other things, and reduce overall GDP growth. But growth would still remain positive, and imbalances would eventually sort themselves out. Still, consumers might blow a gasket.

Gasoline prices, with their illuminated roadside ubiquity, hold an outsize place in the mind of the U.S. consumer when it comes to inflation and their interpretation of the health of the economy, Moodys Analytics economists Matt Colyar and Ryan Sweet wrote on June 9.

President Biden is reportedly agonizing over sky-high energy prices that threaten to wreck his presidency. But its not a U.S.-centric problem, and theres very little he can do. Biden, like many others, wants U.S. oil and gas producers to drill more. U.S. production is growing modestly and likely to hit a new record next year. But energy producers have been burned many times in boom and bust cycles, where prices rise, they drill more, then prices crash and they lose money.

Richard Thomas, 41, of Fontana, pays close attention to how many gallons of gas he is buying while filling up his nearly empty tank at the Chevron gas station, located at the intersection of Cesar. E. Chavez Ave. and Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles. . (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

High prices arent good for us, Mike Wirth, CEO of Chevron, said during a June 7 event sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. They never last. In our industry, demand always moves faster than supply. Incentives are there for the producers to produce. This is not always the most popular thing, but allow markets to work.

That may sound disingenuous, given that Chevron is one of the oil majors booking huge profits right now. But many industry executives point out that U.S. energy firms overproduced for years leading up to the 2020 COVID recession, which turned into a bloodbath for the fossil fuel industry as demand collapsed and oil prices even went negative for a brief spell. That was a searing experience energy firms and their investors dont want to repeat.

The best thing for oil and gasoline consumers would be an end to Russias barbaric invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions on Russia would likely remain, but some or most of the fear premium in oil prices would dissipate as worst-case scenarios improve. Theres no sign of a breakthrough in the war, but the United States and other nations sending Ukraine weapons and aid might speed up the timeline for helping defeat Russia on the battlefield if they want to end the oil price spike.

A less favorable solution would be a global recession, which some economists think is coming. Europe, heavily dependent on Russian energy, may be there already, and the U.S. economy is certainly cooling. Recessions bring commodity prices down because economic activity subsides and demand falls  exactly what oil drillers are watching out for. That might even be what Russia wants. Battles rage in markets, too.

Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Flipboard, and LinkedIn
Zaki Daryabi, the founder of the Etilaat Roz Afghan newspaper, his wife, Humaira Rasa, and their children prepare to board a flight out of Kabul, with other Afghans, on Oct. 3. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Doctors, teachers, engineers and other Afghans who were forced to associate with the Taliban will now have a chance at asylum or visas after the Biden administration loosened a terrorism-related designation on Tuesday, according to government officials and documents reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.

The exemption will be applied on a case by case basis after security vetting and is expected to help Afghans who fled their country after U.S. troops withdrew and the Taliban took over last August, as well as some Afghans who entered the U.S. earlier, said officials from the Department of Homeland Security.

Humaira Rasa boards an evacuation flight out of Kabul with other Afghans in October. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Some can be flagged with the terrorism designation for as little as paying their electricity bill to the Taliban, paying money to get through a Taliban checkpoint or obtaining a passport issued by the Taliban. Others can get the designation for having worked as civil servants under Taliban rule in the 1990s. Among them are Afghan citizens who assisted the U.S. government. They must otherwise be eligible for asylum, refugee or other immigration status.

As part of Operation Allies Welcome, the U.S. has allowed more than 79,000 Afghans to enter the country since last year's Taliban takeover.

Afghans, "including those who bravely and loyally supported U.S. forces on the ground in Afghanistan at great risk to their safety, should not be denied humanitarian protection and other immigration benefits due to their inescapable proximity to war or their work as civil servants, said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas in a statement.

In Los Angeles, a 49-year-old man who came to the U.S. decades ago was denied a green card last year because he had been forced as a student in the late 1980s to help a group associated with the Afghan mujahedin, according to his attorney, Stacy Tolchin.

He distributed fliers and fixed weapons, believing he would be harmed if he did not do so, Tolchin said.

Tolchin hopes her client can now get a green card, along with a chance to bring family members to the U.S.

Im going to cry, she said. This is morally and politically right.

U.S. immigration law bars people who are members of a terrorist organization or engaged in terrorism-related activity from receiving refugee or asylum status.

Immigration advocates and some government officials have long said that the statute was overly broad and could apply to situations not typically thought of as terrorism. Congress has allowed exemptions since 2005, and immigration officials have issued them for other groups.

The exemptions, according to U.S. officials and documents, can apply to those who fought against the Taliban or against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan from the late 1970s into the early 1990s, those who were employed as civil servants during Taliban rule from 1996 to late 2001 or after August 2021, and those who provided insignificant or certain limited material support to a designated terrorist organization.

Due to the Talibans presence and control of entities, roads, and utilities, many individuals who lived in Afghanistan needed to interact with the Taliban in ways that, absent such an exemption, render them inadmissible to the United States under U.S. law, read a Department of Homeland Security statement.

The policy will not apply to those who targeted U.S. interests or noncombatants, violated human rights, were in high-level positions under the Taliban or supported the Taliban. U.S. officials believe the new exemptions could help those seeking special immigrant visas, which are provided to those who helped the U.S. government in Afghanistan.

Shugufa, center, and other members of the all-female Zohra Orchestra from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music wait in line for passport control as they prepare to board an evacuation flight out of Kabul on Oct. 3, 2021. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

"We remain committed to our Afghan allies and processing special immigrant visa applications as expeditiously as possible, while always protecting our national security," said Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken in a statement.

More than half of the Afghan immigrants in the U.S. live in the Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington and New York metro areas, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Sacramento is home to about 10,000 Afghans with special immigrant visas, according to resettlement workers, while roughly 60,000 Afghan Americans live in the Bay Area.

The group Human Rights First has long said the provisions hurt refugees with no connection to terrorism, including those from countries other than Afghanistan.

Anwen Hughes, a director of legal strategy for the refugee program at Human Rights First, said that the implementation of the exemptions would be key.

It is not like this is a blanket waiver, but it does mean that in those cases where everyone agrees people were victims of the unjust consequences of these statutes, now theres going to be a tool to provide them with relief, she said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
NAIROBI, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on Tuesday said it will promote the use of local currencies in order to boost trade amongst African countries.

Prudence Sebahizi, the Chief Technical Advisor at the AfCFTA Secretariat told journalists in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya that currently most intra-Africa trade is settled using the U.S. dollars.

"With the use of local currencies, the number of financial transactions will increase while the time it takes to make payments will reduce thereby boosting trade amongst African states," Sebahizi said during the EABC-Trade Mark East Africa regional private sector consultative meeting on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA).

Trading under AfCFTA which commenced in January 2021 aims at creating the largest free trade area in the world in terms of the number of participating countries with a combined population of about 1.3 billion.

So far 43 countries out of 55 African countries have ratified the continental trade pact.

Sebahizi said that the trading bloc has partnered with the African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) to establish the pan African payment system to facilitate the use of local currencies in intra-Africa trade.

He revealed that piloting for the use of local currencies for trade amongst African countries began with six countries in West Africa.

"The pilot test worked well and in total 20 African countries have made commitments to join the pan African payment system in order to facilitate the use of local currencies," he added.

Sebahizi observed that use of local currencies for trading will also encourage small and medium size enterprises to engage in intra-Africa trade.

"Most small firms are not familiar with international financial systems that rely on foreign currencies. The use of local currencies for intra-Africa trade will allow small companies to make payments and receive payments in their domestic currencies," he said. 
Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News political editor, prepares to testify Monday before the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 riot. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Fired Fox News political editor Chris Stirewalt was once a voice at former President Trump's preferred TV news outlet.

So when Stirewalt told viewers on election night in 2020 that Trump lost Arizona to Joe Biden  creating a major obstacle to Trump's potential to capture 270 electoral votes  it had to hurt.

Stirewalt, who now works for the cable channel NewsNation, appeared Monday as the first witness on the second day of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and Trump's alleged role in inciting the incident.

His straight-ahead testimony on his network's reporting on the night of Nov. 3, 2020, that caused major consternation at the White House was part of the committee's case that Trump continued to spread false claims of election fraud that robbed him of a win, despite staff members telling him he lost and that there was no evidence to the contrary.

Stirewalt was asked by Jan. 6 committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) about Trump's chances of victory after Nov. 7  the day the election was called for Biden. "None," said Stirewalt, who noted that recounts in key states could not have shifted enough votes to reverse any of the states Trump lost.

The former political editor discussed how same-day voting, which Trump touted to supporters, created a "red mirage" that made it appear he was winning before mail-in ballots were tabulated. Democrats are likely to vote by mail, but same-day votes are often counted first.

Trump was angered that Fox's election decision desk called Arizona for Biden well before other news outlets did. The final count showed Biden winning by roughly 11,000 votes out of nearly 3.4 million ballots cast.

"We were able to make a call early," Stirewalt told the committee. "We were able to beat the competition."

Stirewalt told NewsNation colleague Leland Vittert in an interview set to air Monday night that had he no issue with appearing before the committee, even though it's unusual for working journalists to participate in such a setting.

"I got a letter from Chairman Bennie Thompson, asking me to participate now," Stirewalt said. "I could have tried to resist and make them send a subpoena. But this was a duly constituted committee of the United States Congress. I have spent a lot of time in my career talking about the importance of institutions, particularly Congress. So I don't think it would have been suitable for me to try to fight a duly issued request from a duly constituted committee of the United States Congress."

Stirewalt's testimony was significant because he worked for the network where the commentators, hosts and guests were reliable defenders of the former president.

Fox News chose not to air the opening night of the hearings on its flagship channel on Thursday, opting to go with its prime-time opinion hosts, who blasted the proceedings as a political witch hunt. The network did show Monday's session in its entirety, including Stirewalt's appearance.

In his interview with Vittert, Stirewalt said he was not given a specific reason as to why he was called to the hearing.

"I do not know why they wanted me other than the fact that ... the Arizona call that we made, and which beat the competition, was consequential inside the White House," Stirewalt said. "One of the deep misunderstandings that my experience in 2020 revealed today is that somehow we make these things happen. We're just telling people what happened."

Stirewalt was part of the polling unit and election decision desk at Fox News, both of which have stellar reputations for authority and accuracy in political circles, despite the right-leaning bent of the rest of the Rupert Murdoch-owned network.

Fox News also invested heavily in a system to improve its ability to analyze voting data. After the 2016 election, the company created the Fox News Voter Analysis System, a survey developed with the Associated Press and the NORC at the University of Chicago, which queries more than 100,000 people on their candidate preferences. The survey enabled the network to call races more quickly and accurately.

But when the polling unit released numbers that showed Trump behind in the 2020 election, the former president lashed out at Fox News on social media.

Fox News was publicly steadfast in defending its decision, even though competing networks did not give their call for more than a week.

Based on the Nielsen ratings, Fox News viewers were clearly unhappy with the reported outcome. In the months after the election, the network lost its grip on first place, falling behind CNN and MSNBC.

The audience numbers bounced back and Fox News is again No. 1. But Stirewalt was fired Jan. 19 as part of what the company called a restructuring. Stirewalt has said that his dismissal was linked to viewer dissatisfaction over the Arizona call.

Partisan-oriented news outlets are not a natural home for dispassionate election forecasting, Stirewalt told The Times in a recent interview. The problem for me at Fox was the audience did not like what I had to say. It wasnt good news to them, and it seemed partisan to them.

Although conservatives have been critical of the hearing for having seven Democrats and only two Republicans, Stirewalt said based on his experience, he saw no evidence of the committee slanting the information he was willing to present.

"I can tell you the people who I worked with, who I talked to and who did the pre-interview with me were courteous, professional, patriotic seeming, good to work with," Stirewalt said. "I did not have any problem with them, nor did I feel like they wanted me to change what I had to say, or that the truth would somehow be unsuitable."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The ex-wife of Hunter Biden is speaking out for the first time in a television interview about their 24-year marriage, including their financial struggles and his battle with substance addiction.

Kathleen Buhle raised three daughters, Naomi, Finnegan and Maisy, with Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, before their marriage ended in divorce five years ago.

Buhle, 53, opens up for the first time about the ups and downs of their marriage in her new memoir, "If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction and Healing," which she spoke about exclusively with ABC News' Amy Robach.

"The process of writing the book was incredibly cathartic," Buhle told Robach in an interview that aired Tuesday on "Good Morning America." "In the course of writing this book, I came to own some of the decisions and choices I made, which was hard."

One of those decisions, according to Buhle, was to let Hunter Biden take complete control of the couple's finances and not question how they were paying for the lifestyle they led.

"It's embarrassing to say that I ceded all financial control to my husband, and kept my head buried in the sand," she said. "I liked the nice things, and I didn't want to think about the cost at which they were coming."

PHOTO: In this April 12, 2016 file photo Kathleen Biden and Hunter Biden arrive at the World Food Program USA's Annual McGovern-Dole Leadership Award Ceremony at Organization of American States in Washington, D.C. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images, FILE)

In 2003, 10 years into their marriage, Buhle said Hunter Biden told her they owed money in taxes, which she says they eventually paid off.

At the time, Hunter Biden had returned from rehabilitation for substance abuse and was newly committed to his sobriety, according to Buhle.

Nearly two decades later, Hunter Biden's struggle with substance addiction and his financial dealings became political fodder when his dad ran for president in 2020 against then-president Donald Trump.

In the final weeks of the campaign, the contents of a laptop Hunter Biden allegedly discarded at a Delaware computer repair shop were dumped online and weaponized by Trump and his supporters. ABC News was not able to verify the contents of the laptop, which included emails, text messages and photos purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden.

MORE: Hunter Biden, in new memoir, offers lurid details of addiction but sidesteps some political scandals

When asked by Robach whether photos showing Hunter Biden looking disheveled represent the husband she knew, Buhle replied, "No, not at all."

"But drugs are awful," she said. "He was struggling under a massive drug addiction, and that's heartbreaking and painful and that wasn't who I was married to."

Hunter Biden, who wrote about his addiction struggle in his own memoir, "Beautiful Things," revealed in December 2020, shortly after his dad was elected president, that federal investigators had been probing his "tax affairs" and business dealings.

PHOTO: In this Aug. 29, 2009 file photo Vice President Joe Biden arrives at Arlington National Cemetery with his wife, Jill Biden (R), son Hunter Biden (L) and daughter-in-law, Kathleen Biden for the burial of Sen. Edward Kennedy in Arlington, Va. (Jim Bourg-Pool/Getty Images, FILE)

In March, sources told ABC News that witnesses called before a grand jury in Delaware had been asked about payments Hunter Biden received while serving on the board of directors of Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma, in addition to other questions about how he paid off tax obligations in recent years.

When asked whether she saw Hunter Biden curry favor or seek profit based on the identity of his father -- who served as U.S. senator and vice president before becoming president -- Buhle said she saw in her ex-husband someone who "loved his father."

"I saw someone who loved his father, respected his parents, and was, you know, he was proud to be their son," she said.

Discovering her then-husband's affair with her sister-in-law

While still married to Hunter Biden, Buhle said she learned from the family's therapist that he was in a relationship with Hallie Biden, the widow of his brother, Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015.

According to Buhle, in 2016, one of her three daughters with Hunter Biden saw text messages on her dad's phone between him and Hallie and called the therapist to help tell Buhle.

"I just didn't recognize him," she said of her husband at the time. "And it's the addiction."

MORE: Federal probe into Hunter Biden's taxes intensifies, sources say

When asked whether her in-laws, President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden, spoke to her about what happened, Buhle said only that she was "grateful" for the couple's love for her daughters.

"The one thing I've never, ever questioned was Joe and Jill's love and attention to my three daughters," Buhle said. "Divorce was hard on all of us because we were very close, but we come together out of a shared love for my daughters, and for that, I will be eternally grateful."

The White House did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.

Losing the Biden name and battling cancer

After her divorce from Hunter Biden in 2017, Buhle dropped her married name of Biden, a move she said was "frightening."

"I think the Biden name was so much a part of my identity," Buhle said. "I mean, the idea that I was a 49-year-old, college-educated woman with a community of support, relatively smart, I really felt like I couldn't make it on my own. That's crazy."

"So it was frightening," she said. "But I did it, and it felt empowering."

PHOTO: 'If We Break' author Kathleen Buhle speaks to ABC News' Amy Robach in an interview airing June 14, 2022, on 'Good Morning America.' (ABC News)

Hunter Biden, who now lives in California, in 2019 married a woman, Melissa Biden, with whom he shares a 2-year-old son, Beau Biden Jr.

Hunter Biden did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.

With the release of her new memoir, on sale now, Buhle said she wants her story and her name to be known.

"Obviously, the Bidens are in it. They were in my life in such a significant way," she said. "But I really tried to keep it to what was my relationship to Hunter's addiction, where was I in my marriage, and the choices I made to make sure that this is my story, the story of Kathleen Buhle."

Buhle's story also includes a battle with stage 3 colon cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 2017, just months after her divorce.

"Nobody in my family had colon cancer. I am a runner, relatively healthy," she said of the surprising diagnosis, which she said gave her perspective in her life. "So when [the doctor] said that I had cancer, within minutes I thought, 'I can't believe I was that upset about divorce.'"

Now free of cancer, Buhle lives in Washington, D.C., and is the CEO of The House at 1229, a nonprofit social club for women that will open in September.

PHOTO: In this June 13, 2016 file photo Kathleen Biden speaks at The United State of Women Reception hosted by Civic Nation at Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images, FILE)

She described the social club, which will be primarily for women over 50 from all different backgrounds, as a tribute to the women who supported her during what she called "the hardest part" of her life.

"We created The House at 1229 with the belief that when women come together, the opportunity for growth is elevated," Buhle said. "My community of girlfriends during the hardest part of my life were there for me. They picked me up. More importantly, they pushed me forward, and that community is something that I treasure."

ABC News' Lucien Bruggeman contributed to this report.

Hunter Biden's ex-wife Kathleen Buhle speaks out on their marriage, financial woes originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Israeli government minister Matan Kahana was caught on video saying that he wished he could make Palestinians 'disappear.' (Amir Cohen / Pool Photo)

An Israeli lawmaker from the prime minister's party came under fire Tuesday for saying that if he could push a button to make all Palestinians disappear, he would.

Deputy Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana made the remarks to high school students in a West Bank settlement. In his comments, which were caught on video, he was explaining his view that clashing narratives between Israelis and Palestinians were a major obstacle to peace. He appeared to be making the point that Israelis and Palestinians had no choice but to find a way to live together.

If there was a sort of button you could push that would make all the Arabs disappear, send them on an express train to Switzerland, he said, I would press that button.

But what can you do? There is no such button, he added, in the video brought to light by Israeli public broadcaster Kan. Therefore it seems we were meant to exist [together] on this land in some way."

Kahana is part of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's nationalist Yamina party, which anchors a coalition of eight ideologically diverse parties, including, for the first time in Israeli history, an Arab Islamist faction.

While it has stumbled during its year in power and is teetering after a series of defections, the coalition has styled itself as a symbol of Jewish-Arab cooperation in a society where Israeli Jews and Palestinians often live separately and seldom interact.

The threat of forcible displacement is a sensitive subject for Palestinians, who in the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948 fled or were forced to flee their homes. A second uprooting occurred during the 1967 Mideast War.

Since then, some nationalist politicians in Israel have used the threat of forced transfer against Palestinian citizens of Israel, who under law are equal to Jewish Israelis but who face discrimination and who are seen by some as a fifth column because of their solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Kahana's remarks drew condemnation from Palestinian Israeli lawmakers and from his own coalition members. Opposition lawmaker Ahmad Tibi tweeted in response that he would make Kahana disappear from the government and the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Michal Rozin, a lawmaker in the coalition with the dovish Meretz party, said the remarks were more than intolerable.

After the uproar, Kahana posted on Twitter that some of the remarks within his speech were worded poorly."

I referenced that both Jewish and Arab populations arent going anywhere," Kahana said. "As such, we must work to live in coexistence. Our coalition is a courageous step towards this goal.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Moldova's former President Igor Dodon is escorted by law enforcement officers before a court hearing in Chisinau

KYIV (Reuters) - A Moldovan court on Thursday placed former president and pro-Russian opposition leader Igor Dodon under house arrest for 30 days to allow prosecutors to investigate allegations of corruption and treason.

The Ciocana district court in Chisinau, the capital, made the order two days after Dodon's house was searched and he was placed under detention for 72 hours.

Speaking to the media after the court hearing, Dodon said the case was politically motivated, a charge the government has rejected.

Dodon told journalists that the judge was carrying out a "political order" from pro-Western President Maia Sandu, who succeeded Dodon in 2020. Dodon said he had no property other than that which he had officially declared.

The government has rejected the allegation of political interference with Justice Minister Sergiu Litvinenco saying the case would be carried out "in strict accordance with the law."

Dodon's arrest comes at a time when relations between Moscow and Chisinau are increasingly strained.

The Kremlin earlier said it was concerned at reports that Dodon had been detained, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling on Moldovan authorities to respect his rights.

In recent months Russian separatists in Moldova's Transdniestria region blamed neighbouring Ukraine for what they said were shootings, explosions and drone incursions, raising fears that Moldova could be drawn into the conflict in Ukraine.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Leslie Adler)
After the Supreme Court on Friday upended 50 years of abortion rights in the U.S., all eyes turn to the White House and a liberal president who has vowed to fight to keep abortion access.

But what can he do, really?

In recent weeks, dozens of abortion advocacy groups, lawyers, providers and lawmakers have huddled to pitch ideas that range from what advocates call creative to the seemingly far-fetched. The White House has met with many of these officials to hear them out, although it remains tight-lipped on where its legal strategy might be headed.

Could the government lease federal buildings and public lands to abortion clinics? Declare a public health emergency, and offer disaster relief money or health care grants to states anticipating an influx of patients?

What about federal travel vouchers for patients seeking health care in abortion-friendly states, or relaxed import rules for on abortion pills made overseas? President Joe Biden, some argue, also could say that banning abortion pills by mail -- as some states are moving to do -- violates rules on interstate commerce.

PHOTO: The Guardian or Authority of Law statue sits on the side of the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Al Drago/Getty Images, FILE)

MORE: Major US abortion pill producer says it has ample supply if demand soars

"We are all thinking creatively about what administrative solutions might exist," including increasing the availability of abortion pills, said Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity who met with the White House in one of its "listening sessions."

"But in this specific moment, what I'm looking for from this administration is leadership."

Complicating much of the issue for the Biden administration are decades-long restrictions on federal spending legislation that prohibits the executive branch from spending money on most abortion services. That prohibition is unlikely to change so long as the Senate remains narrowly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

Still, abortion rights advocates say, every idea is on the table. Under Biden's control, they argue, are powerful institutions, including the Food and Drug Administration, which has approved access to the abortion pill by mail, and Medicaid, the government's insurance program for low-income families.

That means post-Roe, the United States will likely spend years embroiled in legal battles over abortion, as conservative states bump up against the power of the presidency.

Biden "can't reverse the Supreme Court with an executive order," said David Cohen, a professor of law at the Drexel Kline School of Law, who has written in favor of fighting abortion restrictions.

"But there are things that he can do, and ways that he can harness the federal government to increase access, even if some states are trying to limit it," Cohen said.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks before signing executive orders on health care, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Jan. 28, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

MORE: With abortion rights on thin ice, medication abortions take center stage

President Joe Biden hinted as much in a recent interview with ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

"I think what we're going to have to do is that there are some executive orders I could employ, we believe. We're looking at that right now," Biden said.

Legal experts predict that much of Biden's strategy will likely focus on the idea of "federal preemption" -- the idea rooted in the Constitution that federal law always wins out over state laws.

For example, it's possible that Biden might argue that states can't lawfully restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone because the FDA has already approved its use for all Americans, Cohen said.

Under Biden, the FDA also has determined that the drug is safe enough to prescribe through a telehealth appointment and mail to the patient, even as 19 states have already restricted the drug to being dispensed in-person.

MORE: Major US abortion pill producer says it has ample supply if demand soars

MORE: FDA lifts restriction on abortion pill, permanently allowing delivery by mail

That decision to allow access to the abortion pill, Cohen argues, "is rooted in federal law because the agency only exists and only has the authorization to authorize mifepristone because of federal law."

The idea of FDA policy outweighing state restrictions is currently being tested in court. GenBioPro, the manufacturer of generic mifepristone, is challenging Mississippi's restrictions on the drug as being at odds with federal rules, with a decision expected this summer.

Advocacy lawyers also expect that Biden is working on the idea of expanding access to mifepristone, possibly by easing import restrictions on overseas providers. The drug is widely available in states that don't restrict abortion, although international organizations like Aid Access have been mailing the drug to any U.S. resident even if a state prohibits it and despite objections by the FDA.

Another focus by Biden could be on Medicaid, the largest insurance payer of pregnancy-related services.

PHOTO: Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra testifies before a House Committee on Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on Capitol Hill, April 27, 2022, in Washington. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images, FILE)

MORE: Dozens of states may restrict abortion almost immediately should Supreme Court uphold Mississippi ban

While federal money can't be used for most abortion services, Medicaid -- which the federal government jointly operates with states -- is required to pay for abortion care in cases of rape, incest and if a physician certifies the pregnancy would put the patient's life at risk.

Compliance among states with these rules has been uneven historically, and several conservative legislatures are pursing laws with stricter exceptions. In Oklahoma, for example, the law only allows abortion in cases of rape and incest if it's reported to the police, and to save the life of a mother "in a medical emergency."

It's possible Biden could take steps to enforce Medicaid's exceptions as federal law, making it easier for patients to get reimbursed, several advocacy groups predict.

John Yoo, a former top legal adviser to the Bush administration, said he thinks the most consequential step Biden could probably take is leveraging his power over Medicaid and Medicare, as well as the federal health care exchanges governed by the Affordable Care Act. For example, Biden could require that insurers cover abortion services, at least in states where it's legal.

"I don't think those (steps) could pre-empt state laws that make it criminal to carry out abortion, but would provide federal support once (a person) could get to a state where abortion was legal," said Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkley.

Still, Yoo said he thinks Congress would have to lift its restrictions on federal spending on abortion -- a provision known as the Hyde amendment -- to make that happen.

Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups say what matters most is that Biden is as aggressive as possible.

In a letter to the president, more than two dozen Democrats including Sens. Patty Murray, of Washington, and Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, called on Biden to invoke his "unique power to marshal the resources of the entire federal government to respond."

URGE's Inez McGuire said even symbolic statements by the president can make a difference.

Declaring that abortion access is a human right is an opportunity for the administration "to let young people know (and) communities of color know  that our struggle to fight for abortion access is seen and understood by this administration," she said.

With Roe gone, what can Biden do on abortion access? Advocacy groups say plenty originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
FILE - Scotland's First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, is interviewed, Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Washington. Sturgeon is starting her campaign for a second independence referendum. Sturgeon argues that Scotland would be economically better off outside the United Kingdom. Sturgeon leads the Scottish National Party as well as the devolved government in Scotland. She said she will release on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, the first in a series of papers laying out the case for independence. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

LONDON (AP)  Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launched her campaign for a second independence referendum on Tuesday, arguing that Scotland would be economically better off outside the United Kingdom.

Sturgeon, who leads the Scottish National Party as well as the devolved government in Scotland, said it is time to set out a different and better vision" for Scotland as she released the first in a series of papers laying out the case for independence.

Scotland rejected independence in a 2014 referendum, with 55% of voters saying they wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom.

Sturgeon has said she wants a new vote on independence before the end of 2023. She said Tuesday the Scottish parliament has an indisputable democratic mandate for the vote, after her Scottish National Party won last year's elections on the back of a pledge to hold a new referendum.

Sturgeons party leads a pro-independence majority in the Scottish parliament, together with the Scottish Green Party. But the U.K.-wide government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson opposes a new referendum, saying the issue was settled in the 2014 vote.

But Sturgeon argues that the landscape has changed since then, most importantly because of Britains departure from the European Union, a move opposed by a majority of people in Scotland.

Had we known in 2014 everything we know now about the path the U.K. would have taken, then Ive got no doubt Scotland would have voted yes back then, Sturgeon said in an interview with the BBC.

Sturgeon said the first set of documents in the Scottish government's Building a New Scotland papers sets out "challenges a newly independent Scotland would face as well as outline how independence can help Scotland become a wealthier and fairer place.

Like Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland has its own parliament and devolved government and makes its own policies on public health, education and other matters. But the U.K.-wide government in London controls matters such as defense and fiscal policy.

Opposition parties have criticized Sturgeon for focusing on independence and neglecting other issues such as recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and the cost of living crisis. They say another referendum will be divisive and counterproductive to what Scotland needs.

The distraction and disruption of another bitter referendum debate is the last thing Scotland needs right now," said Donald Cameron, a Scottish Conservative.
Demonstrators protest outside Hillsborough Castle, ahead of a visit by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, in May. (Peter Morrison / Associated Press)

Britains government on Monday proposed new legislation that would unilaterally rewrite post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, despite opposition from some U.K. lawmakers and EU officials who say the move violates international law.

The proposed bill seeks to remove customs checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. That will override parts of the trade treaty that Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed with the European Union less than two years ago.

Britain's government maintained its move is justified under international law because of the genuinely exceptional situation," and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss blamed the EU for blocking a negotiated settlement. The European Commission said it could take legal action against the U.K.

Existing trade rules "provide business operators in Northern Ireland with access to the EU single market for goods. The U.K. governments approach puts this access  and related opportunities  at risk," said European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic.

In Ireland, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said it was very regrettable for a country like the U.K. to renege on an international treaty." German Chancellor Olaf Scholz echoed the sentiment, saying there was no reason" for the U.K. to make such a move.

Its a rejection of all the agreements we reached between the European Union and Great Britain," Scholz said. The European Union will react to this as one and it has the whole toolbox at its disposal.

Brushing aside criticism, Johnson told reporters that the proposed change is relatively simple to do."

Frankly, its a relatively trivial set of adjustments in the grand scheme of things," he told LBC Radio.

He argued that his government's higher and prior legal commitment is to the 1998 Good Friday agreement that brought peace and stability to Northern Ireland.

Arrangements for Northern Ireland  the only part of the U.K. that shares a land border with an EU nation  have proved the thorniest issue in Britains divorce from the bloc, which became final at the end of 2020. At the center of the dispute is the Northern Ireland Protocol, which now regulates trade ties between Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland, part of the EU.

Britain and the EU agreed in their Brexit deal that the Irish land border would be kept free of customs posts and other checks because an open border is a key pillar of the peace process that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland.

Instead, to protect the EUs single market, there are checks on some goods, such as meat and eggs, entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.

But the arrangement has proved politically damaging for Johnson because it treats Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the United Kingdom. Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party has refused to return to the regions power-sharing government until the protocol is scrapped or substantially changed.

The bill to override that arrangement is expected to face opposition in Parliament, including from members of Johnson's own Conservative ranks. Critics say unilaterally changing the protocol would be illegal and would damage Britains standing with other countries because it's part of a treaty considered binding under international law.

In Brussels, Sefcovic said the protocol was the one and only solution we could jointly find to protect the hard-earned gains of the peace process in Northern Ireland."

He added that the EU remains open to discussions with the British government to find a solution to the dispute.

Associated Press writers Samuel Petrequin in Brussels and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA wants Elon Musk's SpaceX to ensure its plan to launch its next-generation Starship rocket from Florida would not put at risk nearby launch infrastructure critical to the International Space Station, a senior space agency official told Reuters.

The new hurdle further complicates and could potentially delay the launch plan for the rocket, which faces an already protracted regulatory review of its primary launch site in Texas. Musk wants to show customers that Starship, which he sees as humanity's path to Mars, can successfully reach orbit, a long-delayed pivotal milestone in the rocket's development.

SpaceX's proposals to address NASA's concerns, which include a plan to be able to launch U.S. astronauts from a different launchpad in Florida, could take months to get agency approval.

SpaceX last year accelerated construction of an orbital Starship launchpad at its facilities in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as an alternative to the rocket's primary test launch and development site in Boca Chica, Texas, which has been subject to a lengthy regulatory review set to conclude next week.

But one of SpaceX's existing Florida facilities, called Launch Complex 39A, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on the coast of Cape Canaveral, is the only pad approved to launch the company's Crew Dragon capsule. NASA depends on that spacecraft to ferry its astronauts to the International Space Station.

NASA officials in recent months have told SpaceX that a Starship explosion at Launch Complex 39A could effectively cut off the space agency's sole means of launching U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station.

"We all recognize that if you had an early failure like we did on one of the early SpaceX flights, it would be pretty devastating to 39A," Kathy Lueders, NASA's space operations chief, said in an interview of the agency's discussions with SpaceX.

SpaceX did not return a request for comment.

SpaceX has already invested heavily in building a Starship pad some hundreds of feet from pad 39A's launch tower. It has responded by pitching NASA on a plan to outfit its other Florida pad - Launch Complex 40, five miles away on Space Force property - with the means to launch U.S. astronauts, according to a person familiar with the plans.

The company is also studying ways to "harden" 39A, or make the launchpad more resilient to both an explosive Starship accident and the immense forces emitted from a successful Starship liftoff, Lueders said.

Hardening the 39A pad and launching humans from pad 40 would both require agency approval.

"SpaceX is working with us on those things," said Lueders. "Because its also in their best interest to not have what is a pretty steady source of income for them become interrupted."

Part of SpaceX's challenge is to show that 39A will not be damaged by Starship's novel liquid oxygen and methane fuel - a combination of propellants that NASA and U.S. regulators are not familiar with.

"The problem is the explosive potential for that combination is not well known," said Randy Repcheck, a deputy manager in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which oversees launchpad safety.

Starship is a two-stage reusable rocket system designed to launch commercial satellites to Earth orbit and humans to the moon and Mars. NASA last year picked SpaceX to use Starship for the agency's first launch of U.S. astronauts to the lunar surface since the days of the Apollo program.

The rocket's next big test, a complex task of launching to orbit for the first time, has been delayed in part by the regulatory review of the Texas compound's environmental impact, which has precluded the FAA from granting SpaceX its orbital launch license.

Set to conclude Monday, the review is expected to place conditions on SpaceX that could add delays to its Starship program. That prospect led Musk to double down last year on construction of Starship's launchpad at 39A in Florida at Cape Canaveral.

We do have the alternative of the Cape, and we actually applied for environmental approval for launch from the Cape a few years ago and received it," Musk said at a "Starship Update" event in February, estimating it would take "six to eight months to build up the Cape launch tower and launch from there.

(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Leslie Adler)
FILE PHOTO: A logo of low cost carrier Spirit Airlines is pictured on an Airbus plane in Colomiers near Toulouse

(Reuters) - Takeover target Spirit Airlines Inc said on Tuesday it was in talks with JetBlue Airways Corp over a $3.4 billion sweetened offer.

The budget carrier said it was also in discussions with Frontier Group Holdings Inc under the terms of an existing merger agreement.

Spirit said in a statement that JetBlue and Frontier were being given access to the same due diligence information, on the same terms.

Last month, Spirit had denied JetBlue's request to open up its books and records relating to a decision to rebuff an earlier buyout proposal.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said there was absolutely no reason for the European Union to retaliate against the UK after plans to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol caused outrage in Brussels and capitals across the bloc.

Irelands Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney warned the UK Governments move could destabilise the situation in Northern Ireland and was undermining the work that led to the Brexit agreement with the EU.

The UK faces renewed legal action from Brussels after the move to override large parts of the international deal which was struck over Northern Irelands post-Brexit trading arrangements.

But Ms Truss told Times Radio: Our solution doesnt make the EU any worse off. We continue to protect the single market, were supplying the EU with data, weve got strong enforcement to make sure companies arent violating the rules.

So there is absolutely no reason why the EU should react in a negative way to what were doing.

The UK has argued that the measures to remove checks on goods and animal and plant products travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland are necessary to safeguard the Good Friday Agreement and peace and stability.

The imposition of checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland in order to keep an open border with Ireland has angered unionists.

Ms Truss told the BBC Good Morning Ulster programme: The reason that we feel that we absolutely had to take action is because of the situation in Northern Ireland.

The fact is that the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is being undermined. We havent seen an Executive formed since February, we have seen east-west trade diminished, trade diverted to north-south. Weve also seen the people of Northern Ireland not able to benefit from tax breaks.

These are all issues that we need to sort out. Our preference is to sort them out with the EU, but as yet the EU are not agreeing to change the text of the protocol.

We deeply regret that the British Government has decided to unilaterally break the agreement on the #NI Protocol. In order to protect the Belfast/GoodFridayAgreement we remain open to negotiations on the basis of the existing agreement. https://t.co/PCiBR8j70g  Miguel Berger (@GermanAmbUK) June 13, 2022

But Mr Coveney told the same programme it is going to destabilise what is already a difficult situation and urged Ms Truss to focus on negotiations with the EU who want to compromise and want to respond to unionist concerns.

He said: What the British Government is proposing to do is dismantle the protocol, which is international law, which was carefully put together over a number of years through painstaking negotiation involving this British Prime Minister to solve or to manage the disruption of Brexit on the island of Ireland as best we could.

The British Government is now looking to undermine all of that work for whatever political reason.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today: This, I think, is really a new low in British-Irish relations, certainly, I think in the last 25 years or so.

The European Commission responded to the publication on Monday of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill with an announcement that it intends to reopen legal action against the UK which has been on hold since September.

Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic hinted at further measures, saying the unliteral action by the UK had undermined the trust needed for the effective operation of its post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels.

EU Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic said the EU will reopen legal action against the UK (Hollie Adams/PA)

That anger was reflected in statements from Paris and Berlin, with Germanys ambassador to the UK Miguel Berger saying we deeply regret that the British Government has decided to unilaterally break the agreement on the protocol.

But the Government will draw some comfort from the measured response from the White House, where President Joe Biden, who has Irish roots, takes a close interest in issues relating to the Good Friday Agreement.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested the dispute would not be an impediment to US-UK trade talks.

But she called for a negotiated settlement between the UK and EU.

We recognise there have been challenges over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, she said.

We urge the UK and the EU to return to talks to resolve these differences. 

Business leaders urged Boris Johnson not to enter a damaging trade war with the EU over the issue.

Boris Johnson said the Bill contains only minor, bureaucratic changes (Aaron Chown/PA)

The Prime Minister insisted the Bill contained only minor, bureaucratic changes while Downing Street said it was an insurance mechanism in case a negotiated agreement with the EU could not be found.

However Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, the manufacturers organisation, said business needed both sides to urgently get round the negotiating table to agree a pragmatic settlement.

We recognise that the protocol in the current state does need to be changed, he said.

But the way to do this is not to start a trade war with the EU in the middle of a financial crisis which would be damaging for both British and EU businesses alike and put further strain on already stretched supply chains.

Richard Burge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the Governments action risked significant harm to businesses across the UK.

Getting Brexit done was at least meant to deliver certainty to businesses after years of waiting for clarity on the future of the UKs trade relations with the European Union, he said.

The introduction of this Bill means we are now teetering on the brink of a trade war with the EU and that will mean further economic pain and falls in investment.
TOKYO, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Tuesday he expected a key military pact made with South Korea on sharing information between them would become smoother under South Korea's new administration.

"I hope there will be exchanges between the two sides toward smoother operation of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA)," Kishi said.

Kishi's remarks came after South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin told a press briefing in Washington that the South Korean side wants the pact to be normalized along with the improvement of bilateral ties.

Japan and South Korea do not have a formal military alliance, however, GSOMIA allows both sides to share sensitive military intelligence.

Japan and South Korea have struggled to maintain healthy political ties for a number of years during the former administrations of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korea's Moon Jae-In.

The two sides had been at odds over a myriad of issues including those pertaining to wartime labor and trade disputes.

The termination of GSOMIA was narrowly avoided in the last 11th hour during the disputes between Tokyo and Seoul, with the latter allowing the pact not to expire prior to saying it had decided to cancel it.

The military intelligence-sharing accord was signed between both countries in November 2016.

The accord comes up for renewal each year, but can be canceled by either party giving the requisite amount of notice. 
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
SYDNEY, June 14 (Xinhua) -- As new case numbers in Australia's second most populated state, Victoria, remain stubbornly high, Premier Daniel Andrews has called for healthcare workers in the hospital system state-wide to receive a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Victoria's official COVID-19 daily case number for Tuesday stood at 6,071, bringing the active case tally to 39,420. There were also 15 deaths reported in the latest 24-hour period.

Those figures followed Andrews' announcement on Monday that he intends to request the federal government to allow Victorian hospital workers to be offered a fourth jab, with reports of COVID-19 outbreaks having been triggered by staff members having unintentionally brought the virus into their workplaces.

Victoria suffered Australia's most extensive and prolonged COVID-19 outbreaks throughout the past two years.

For that reason, the state's front-line healthcare workers were among the first in the nation to be immunized against the virus with their compulsory third shots also being fast-tracked during the Omicron wave which hit late last year.

Andrews was quoted in local newspaper The Age on Monday as saying those workers' vaccine immunity was now "waning", so "getting them fourth jabs as fast as possible is very important to help keep COVID out of the hospital."

Presently, Victoria's hospital healthcare workers, like the rest of the population, are eligible for three shots with the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI) only recommending an extra shot for people aged over 65 or those with underlying medical conditions.

Infectious diseases expert Associate Professor Paul Griffin from the University of Queensland (UQ) told Xinhua on Tuesday that Andrews' proposal was "certainly worth considering".

"At this stage, the evidence for the need for a fourth dose is not conclusive for the general population; I think ATAGI's policy is appropriate for the majority of us," Griffin said.

"Having said that, workers in high-risk areas such as in hospitals need to be properly protected against the virus," he said.

"So, yes, another dose could be certainly worth considering for these workers along with maintaining all the other safety precautions such as adequate ventilation and mask wearing." 
YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS. Within the framework of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's official visit to Qatar, a Memorandum of Understanding on information exchange between "Armenpress" news agency and "Qatar News Agency" was signed.

Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Hambardzum Matevosyan signed the memorandum on behalf of Armenpress, and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on behalf of Qatar News Agency.

Commenting on the signing of the memorandum, director of ARMENPRESS news agency Narine Nazaryan said, ARMENPRESS is expanding the geography of cooperation. We appreciate the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Qatar News Agency. The publications in 6 foreign languages, including Arabic, will allow our partners to get more comprehensive information about Armenia, the Armenian world, as well as international events. The Memorandum of Understanding signed with Qatar News Agency will provide an opportunity to exchange information and photos on a daily basis and more operatively. The cooperation of ARMENPRESS and Qatar News Agency will bring the two countries closer. I would like to remind you that a few days ago ARMENPRESS signed a cooperation agreement with Telam news agency of Argentina. This means that ARMENPRESS has a wide geography of partners, from Asia to Latin America, from Europe to the Middle East, and the Persian Gulf countries. We seek to make information available to our readers from around the world through this form of cooperation.
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) is a good platform of cooperation, opportunities and exchange of experience. More than 30 news agencies around the world are members of this organization.

EANA Secretary General, Alexandru Giboi, and EANA Board Member, CEO of PA Media Group, Clive Marshall, visited Armenpress on June 13.

Speaking about their visit to Armenia, Clive Marshall said they are in Armenia to meet with the people from Armenpress and also with the general media, in order to progress the application that has been made by Armenpress to join EANA. We had very interesting two-days learning more about the country, its history and its media, he said.

Presenting the main mission of their organization, the EANA Secretary General stated: The main goal is to actually create an environment of cooperation and insight sharing for the members. Its an environment out of which each member can draw something useful for the evolution of the agency that they represent.

EANA attaches great importance to the cooperation and empowerment of its members. He says that the core values that they represent are those of journalism, which they see as lying at the basis of the democratic societies. So we try to empower our members to become the flag-bearers of these journalistic values to the, lets say, larger goal of improving the democratic societies in which they function, he noted.

Clive Marshall in turn stresses the necessity of news agencies to be independent, impartial, balanced and perhaps most importantly in todays world, in digital media, to be trustworthy, so that people, that are consuming news agency content, can trust that content and know that it comes as a reliable source.

As for the their expansion plans, Alexandru Giboi said their organization became more digital because of COVID-19, adding that they are looking towards engaging a lot more with the stakeholder environment. Personally I think that increasing connections in Europe of course, among various sectors, not only the media sector, the technology sector, consultancy, everything should be one of the keys to the evolution of EANA, and our members, of course. So in the future, I think, the cooperation is key, the EANA Secretary General said.

Clive Marshall notes: I think from the perspective of my news agency, the PA Media Group in London, its important that we are in a position to transfer our experience and skills to some of the small members of our organization. He says that if the membership application of Armenpress succeeds, they can exchange information and knowledge that can help Armenpress develop and grow, which according to him, is good for Armenia, is good for the news agency and the consumers of the news content as well. Clive Marshall informed that they have discussed this issue with Director of Armenpress Narine Nazaryan.

As for the opportunities provided by EANA, the Secretary General said they are huge. First of all, first and foremost, and I am saying this as Secretary General of EANA and also as a former director of a news agency which is member of EANA, and that is Agerpres Romania. You, as a member, benefit from the huge level of insight which is, actually, granted by the diverse membership that we have. Interaction, networking, access to ideas is one of the most important gains for a member agency, in my opinion. They are not, lets say, in a way isolated anymore. They are part of this big family which we are. And we help our members anyway possible, he added.

Clive Marshall highlighted the friendship and the community of the organization. He says that one of the greatest benefits of the organization is that it is possible to meet around 30 news agency heads, share experiences, concerns and opportunities.

EANA members are such news agencies as Agence France Presse (France), Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA, Italy), BTA (Bulgaria), Agerpres (Romania), CAN (Cyprus), EFE (Spain), the news agencies of Andorra, Greece, Austria, Belgium, Slovakia, Denmark and other countries.
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who is in Qatar on an official visit, received in his residence the members of the Qatari Business Association led by Vice Chairman Hussain Ibrahim Alfardan, the PMs Office said.

The opportunities of implementing investment projects in Armenia in different areas were discussed during the meeting. PM Pashinyan highlighted the readiness of the Armenian community to contribute to the effective implementation of the possible programs within its tools.

The Qatari Business Association members said they are ready to discuss and consider the proposals to operate in Armenia in various directions.

In this context the meeting sides touched upon the possibilities of implementing investment programs in agriculture, jewelry, tourism, energy, high technologies.

An agreement was reached to present concrete draft projects to the Business Council of Qatar in the future.
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who is in Qatar on an official visit, received Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in his residence, the PMs Office said.

During the meeting the sides discussed issues relating to further developing and strengthening the relations between Armenia and Qatar in the foreign policy field.

PM Pashinyan highlighted the role of Qatar in the Arab world and emphasized the interest of the Armenian government in expanding and deepening the bilateral relations in various areas.

The meeting also touched upon the processes taking place in the South Caucasus region.
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with Father Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in Doha during the official visit, the PMs Office said.

PM Pashinyan handed over the Order of Friendship of the Republic of Armenia to the Father Emir of Qatar for his significant services to the strengthening and development of political, economic, scientific, educational cooperation, cultural and religious mutual understanding and friendly ties between the two nations.

The Father Emir of Qatar thanked for the Order and stated that he will continue making maximum efforts to contribute to the further development of the relations between the two countries and peoples.

The Armenian PM and the Father Emir of Qatar also touched upon the development prospects of the relations between the two countries. They highlighted strengthening the intensive ties to make the Armenian-Qatari cooperation more multilateral.

Other issues of regional and international significance were also discussed.
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Auroras Sunrise, a historical animated documentary film about the life of Aurora Mardiganian, will premiere at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France this week, the Zoryan Institute said in a statement.

At only 14 years old, in 1915, Aurora faced the horrors of the Armenian Genocide. Within a year, witnessing the deaths of everyone in her family, Aurora had lost everything, and was sold into a Turkish harem. But with extraordinary courage and luck, she escaped to America, where her story became a sensation.

The Zoryan Institutes objective with this film is to bring to life the ZIs Oral History Testimonies onto the big screen, through animated documentary films, to relay the stories of the Genocide survivors to the younger generations, especially of girls and to empower them, and to represent their communities in the face of great adversity and violence.

In 2015, during the year of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Zoryan Institute, signed a partnership agreement with Bars Media of Armenia to produce the animated documentary based on the testimony of A. Mardiganian. Auroras Sunrise was made possible with the academic contribution of the Zoryan Institute Armenia, based on its oral history archives (filmed by the Zoryan Institute on January 29, 1984).

The film is directed by Inna Sahakyan. It is produced by Bars Media, led by Vardan Hovhannisyan, Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion&ArtboxLaisvalaikioKlubas, with the financial partnership of Eurimages, the Zoryan Institute Armenia & the National Cinema Center of Armenia, and with the contributions of the Lithuanian Film Center, ZDF/ARTE, Public TV Armenia, and LRT.

The Zoryan Institute is thrilled that 40 years after the launch of the Armenian Genocide Oral History Project, which collected testimonies of survivors of the 1915 Genocide across 4 continents, the great-grandchildren of those who experienced the genocide are experiencing life before, during, and after the genocide through a film that seamlessly blends a mix of footage from the Zoryan Institutes original live interview with Aurora and the brilliant animation of Bars Media and their German and Lithuanian co-producers, along with scenes from the 1919 silent film Auction of Souls (film starring Aurora Mardiganian prepared by Near East Relief).

The world premiere of Auroras Sunrise, is taking place at the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France this week. Annecy is a week-long global festival that brings together the biggest names in animation to celebrate creative and diverse animation styles and techniques.

In addition to initial cost of the Oral History testimonies, Auroras Sunrise film had a budget of over USD $1,000,000.00, and is only the beginning of these invaluable stories of Armenian Genocide survivors, the statement says.
COLOMBO, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The Health Protection Agency (HPA) of the Maldives has warned that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country was on the rise again, local media reported on Tuesday.

The agency said 142 people had tested positive for the virus over the past week, a sizable increase from low numbers in the previous weeks.

The HPA said they would continue to monitor the situation, urging people to be vigilant as the number of cases is increasing.

The Maldives has recorded 179,979 COVID-19 cases and 299 deaths to date. 
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The Parliament of Armenia debated today the agreement about the use of military satellite communication systems and their further enhancement according to which Armenia will join the initiative of joint use of military satellite communication systems.

Deputy Defense Minister Arman Sargsyan presented the draft on ratifying the agreement during the Parliaments session today.

According to the draft, Armenia joins the initiative on the common use of military satellite communication systems, signed during the 2018 June 6 session of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers in Russia, aimed at creating an integrated system of the CIS military satellite communication based on the Russian military satellite communication system, he said.

The use and further enhancement of military satellite communication systems are performed for the purpose of increase in reliability of management of armed forces of the State Parties of this agreement and the organization of bonds of interaction between them.

However, Armenia joins the agreement with one reservation that Armenia will make a separate decision over the spread of the provisions of the agreement to those states which will join the agreement.

The agreement has been signed by Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova and Azerbaijan did not sign the agreement.
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Newly-appointed Ambassador of Syria to Armenia Nora Arisian presented her credentials to President Vahagn Khachaturyan, the Presidential Office said.

Its a great honor for me to represent Syria in Armenia. I will make maximum efforts for the development of the bilateral relations for the benefit of the two friendly countries and peoples, the Ambassador said.

Congratulating the Ambassador on assuming office, the Armenian President said that the Armenian-Syrian relations have been formed on historical friendly basis.

I am confident that your diplomatic experience and knowledge will contribute to the development of the Armenian-Syrian relations, the President said.

Both sides emphasized the necessity of giving a new content to the Armenian-Syrian multisectoral cooperation, including taking practical steps to develop new cultural and educational programs.
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia has revised its forecast for the GDP growth, CBA Governor Martin Galstyan said at a press conference today.

The Banks previous forecast for the GDP growth has been 1.6%, but now it has been revised to be 4.9%.

The figures of the industry branch review  construction, services, contributed to this. It is mainly connected with the visits of foreigners to Armenia, as well as with not so bad performance of the Russian economy in the short-run, as we expected in February, the CBA Governor said.
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Graduates of military-training institutions in Armenia will receive a 3-room apartment in Yerevan regardless of the place of their service, Member of Parliament from the ruling Civil Contract faction Armen Khachatryan said.

A respective bill will be submitted to the Parliament soon, according to which starting July 1, 2022, the government will provide a 3-room apartment in Yerevan free of charge for the representatives of our future officers admitted to the military-training institutions of Armenia, the MP said.

The lawmaker said the place of the officers service wont matter, as he will have a 3-room apartment in Yerevan after graduation. He called on young people aged 18-23 to apply to a military-training institution.

The respective bill was approved during the recent Cabinet meeting.
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The World Health Organization (WHO) will hold an emergency meeting to discuss whether the monkeypox virus poses a threat to public health, ARMENPRESS reports "Interfax" informs.

The meeting is scheduled for June 23.

Since the beginning of the year, 1.6 thousand cases of infection with monkeypox virus have been registered, 1.5 thousand people are under suspicion. 72 of the infected died. In total, the virus has been detected in 39 countries.

The virus was first found in monkeys in 1958 and in humans in 1970.

Monkey pox is a rare infectious disease that is most common in remote areas of Central and West Africa. Symptoms include nausea, fever, rash, itching, and muscle aches.
World War 3 is already here, La Stampa quoted Pope Francis as saying on Tuesday, Tass informs.

June 14, 2022, 17:06 WW3 already declared, Pope Francis believes

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 14, ARTSAKHPRESS: "A few years ago, it occurred to me to say that we are experiencing World War 3 in bits and pieces. Here, for me today World War 3 has already been declared," the pontiff said at a meeting with editors of Jesuit magazines. "And this is an aspect that should make us reflect. What is happening to humanity that has had three world wars in a century? And this is bad for humanity, its a calamity," the Italian newspaper quoted Francis as saying.

The Pope also pointed to conflicts in some parts of Africa, in northern Nigeria and in the north of the Congo, "where war is still raging, and no one cares." "The world is at war," he concluded.
Delhi Police personnel were deployed in huge numbers and section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was imposed around the ED's office

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi arrives to meet party workers at the AICC headquarters before leaving for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office to appear in the National Herald case, in New Delhi, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (PTI Photo/Kamal Kishore)

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was questioned by the ED for the second consecutive day on Tuesday in the National Herald money-laundering case, with the grand old party calling the agency action vendetta politics of the Centre against opposition leaders.

Gandhi (51) arrived at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road in central Delhi around 11:05 am, accompanied by his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

His questioning began at 11:30 am after the completion of legal formalities, officials said.

In a similar play of events like Monday, the "Z+" category CRPF security personnel of Gandhi hanged on the footboard of his SUV as the convoy made a dash to the ED office.

Delhi Police personnel were deployed in huge numbers and section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was imposed around the agency's office.

All approach roads leading to the ED office were out of bounds for the public as barricades were put up and central anti-riot police force RAF and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were deployed, who detained hundreds of Congress leaders and supporters outside the party headquarters at 24, Akbar Road and around central Delhi.

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala and Youth Congress president Srinivas BV, among others, were rounded up and made to board police buses.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel told reporters after meeting the Gandhi siblings at the Congress headquarters that there is "no money laundering in the National Herald case and the central agencies are acting at the behest of the government".

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat said the Gandhis are being targeted and that he was stopped by police from going to the Congress office.

Gandhi, an MP from Wayanad in Kerala, spent over 10 hours at the federal agency's office on Monday, where he was questioned over multiple sessions and his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Officials said as the former Congress chief's questioning could not be completed on Monday, he was summoned again.

While agency sources informed that Gandhi recorded his statement and checked its transcript minutely, Congress leaders claimed that the investigators took multiple breaks during his questioning.

The investigating officer of the case, an assistant director-rank ED officer, is expected to continue the questioning related to the incorporation of the Young Indian company, the operations of the National Herald newspaper, the loan given by the Congress to AJL and the funds transfer within the news media establishment.

The probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in Young Indian Private Limited, promoted by the Congress, that owns National Herald.

The newspaper is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by Young Indian.

Gandhi's mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is currently admitted to a hospital here due to Covid-related issues, has also been summoned by the agency for questioning in the case on June 23.

This is the first time that any member of the Congress's first family is being questioned in a criminal case. Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra was questioned by the ED in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam in Rajasthan a few years ago.

The Congress has accused the Centre of targeting opposition leaders by misusing investigative agencies.

Putting across its version, the party has said AJL, which was established in 1937, faced huge debts and the Congress, from 2002 to 2011, gave Rs 90 crore to the National Herald newspaper to pay the salaries of the journalists and staffers who worked there.

The ED questioned senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal in April as part of its probe. Kharge has claimed that he gave "evidence" to the agency during the recording of his statement.

The questioning of the senior Congress leaders and the Gandhis is part of the ED's investigation to understand the share-holding pattern, financial transactions and role of the promoters of Young Indian and AJL, officials had said.

The ED recently registered a fresh case under the criminal provisions of the PMLA after a trial court here took cognisance of an Income-Tax department probe against Young Indian on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the promoters and shareholders of Young Indian.

Swamy had accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds, with Young Indian paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that AJL owed to the Congress.

In February last year, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Gandhis for their response on Swamy's plea, seeking to lead evidence in the matter before the trial court.

The Gandhis had secured separate bails from the court in 2015 after they furnished personal bonds of Rs 50,000 and one surety.

They, however, had contended in the high court that Swamy's plea was "misconceived and premature".

The other accused in the case filed by Swamy are the Gandhis' close aides Suman Dubey and technocrat Sam Pitroda. They have denied any wrongdoing.
MANILA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Thailand beat Canada 3-0 to kick off the second week of the women's Volleyball Nations League (VNL) in the Philippine capital here on Tuesday.

Kokram Pimpichaya led the Thais with 20 points in the 25-19, 25-22, 26-24 victory, while Moksri Chatchu-On had two service aces to finish with 17 points.

"We played the best that we can. We will try our best," said Pimpichaya through an interpreter.

In the one-hour and 21-minute contest, the Canadians committed 27 errors compared to Thailand's 11.

"I think we were disappointed with what we showed today," said Canadian Gray Alexa, who finished with 13 points.

In the other match on Tuesday, Japan defeated Poland in a straight third set 25-21, 25-21, 25-21.

On Wednesday, China, now ranked No. 3 in the latest world rankings, plays Belgium at 7 p.m local time, while Bulgaria will challenge the Tokyo Olympic gold medalists and reigning VNL champions the United States at 3 p.m. local time. 
Congress talks to Mamata on joint strategy for Presidential polls

New Delhi: As the date of the presidential election gets near, the Opposition camp is gearing up to put up a strong joint candidate. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has assigned the task of finding a common candidate to senior party leader and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Congress has reportedly conveyed its support for Sharad Pawar as President. Mr Kharge met Mr Pawar last Thursday, with a message from Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Mr Pawar, one of India's senior-most politicians, has been credited with making and breaking many alliances and coalition governments. There is, however, no response yet from Mr Pawar himself or his Nationalist Congress Party, which is an ally of the Congress in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.

The Congress has also touched base with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has called an Opposition meeting at New Delhis Constitution Club on Wednesday to discuss a joint strategy for the presidential election. Mr Kharge has also had initial consultations with the leaders of the DMK, CPI, CPI(M) and the Aam Aadmi Party for putting up a joint Opposition candidate. Reports indicate that the AAP leaders have also met Mr Pawar, indicating their support. Insiders claim that Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena boss Uddhav Thackeray will also support Mr Pawar if he agrees to contest the presidential polls. Mr Kharge had also met the Maharashtra CM in Mumbai regarding the presidential polls.

While the BJP has not announced a candidate, the party has authorised party president J.P. Nadda and defence minister Rajnath Singh to hold talks with NDA members and Opposition parties to arrive at a consensus on a presidential candidate if possible. The presidential election is due to be held on July 18, and the counting will take place on July 21. The term of President Ram Nath Kovind ends on July 24. The BJP has an edge as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has 48 per cent of the votes in the electoral college and it expected some other parties not aligned with the Congress to support the NDA candidate. The Opposition parties are hoping to put up a united front in the contest. At the moment, both the camps are keeping their cards close to their chest.
After the completion of four years, up to 25% of the Agniveers from a batch would be selected to serve as regular cadre in the armed forces

(L-2R) Chief of Indian Army staff General Manoj Pande, Chief of Air staff, Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar pose for pictures during a press conference in New Delhi on June 14, 2022, to announce the new Agnipath scheme under which soldiers across the three military services will be recruited and will be called Agniveers. (Photo: AFP)

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday unveiled Agnipath, a radical recruitment policy for the armed forces under which Agniveers will be hired on four-year contracts for the three defence services. The measure to cut down the salary and pension bill which stood at about 1.2 lakh crore this year.

After the completion of four years, up to 25 per cent of the Agniveers from a batch would be selected to serve as regular cadre in the armed forces and rest would be released from the service with a lumpsum payment.

The proposal was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security on Tuesday morning.

"Under the 'Agnipath' scheme, Indian youth will be provided an opportunity to serve in the armed forces as 'Agniveer'. This scheme has been brought to strengthen the security of the country. It is a transformative scheme," said defence minister Rajnath Singh at a press conference flanked by three service chiefs  Chief of Army Staff Gen. Manoj Pande, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari.

Singh said that many Central ministries and state governments would announce schemes in the coming days to recruit Agniveers who would be let go after their four-year term.

The armed forces will recruit 46,000 'Agniveers' in the current year in the age group of 17.5 to 21 years. They would form a distinct rank in the Armed Forces, different from the existing ranks. The recruitment is set to kick in within 90 days.

The scheme will also be opened to women progressively based on requirements. Soldiers who will join the service with Class 10 educational qualification will be provided a Class 12 certificate after completing their tenure.

Lt Gen Anil Puri, additional secretary of the department of military affairs (DMA), said that after the scheme the average age profile in the armed forces would come down to 26 years from the current 32 in a span of six to seven years.

The scheme will affect the composition of British-era regiments of the Indian Army like Sikh, Jat and Rajput among others, as the new soldiers will be recurited under all-India all-class basis.

Army Chief Gen. Pande said that Indian Army was largely all-India all-class even now. "Around 75 per cent of our units have an all-India and all-class composition. A limited number of units are based on class composition. Regimental system and class composition though interlinked are two different concepts," he said.

The Army chief said that regimental system would evolve with greater national pan-India character. "Gradually, the class-based character of certain units and regiments, that have a fixed composition today, is expected to evolve into an all-India all-class structure," he said. Gen Pande said that the basic aim of recruiting Agniveers on all-India all-class basis was to widen the recruitment base and provide equal opportunity to the youth.

The monthly salary of an 'Agniveer' in the first year would be Rs 30,000 and the in-hand amount would be Rs 21,000 as Rs 9,000 would go to a corpus with an equal contribution of the government. Subsequently, the monthly salary in the second, third and fourth years would be Rs 33,000, Rs 36,500 and Rs 40,000. They will get applicable hardship and risk allowances.

Each 'Agniveer' would get Rs 11.71 lakh as 'Seva Nidhi Package' after competion of the four-year term and it will be exempted from income tax. There will be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits and they will be provided non-contributory life insurance cover of `48 lakh for the duration of their engagement period in the armed forces.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh denied that the new recruitment policy had been brought due to burgeoning pension bill after Modi government announced One Rank One Pension, saying that one should not look at such a scheme with suspicion. "We don't look at the Army from the angle of savings (money). Leave savings, whatever more spending is required our government is ready to spend. Our aim is that the country's border must be protected and our country should be fully secured. Whatever spending is required we will spend," he said.

Army chief Gen. Pande said that during the implementation and stabilisation of the Agnipath scheme, the Armys operational capabilities and preparedness, along the borders and the ability to deal with internal security challenges will be fully maintained. Gen. Pande said that he was confident that this change will bring new vigour and confidence in the Indian Army and make it stronger, more capable and in stride with the future.

Navy Chief Admiral Hari Kumar said the Agnipath initiative, and the Agniveers that it will produce would play a pivotal role in enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Navy and the country as both grow and rise to the challenges.

"Having been part of the initial planning team over two years back, I can assure you that the initiative has been extensively deliberated and examined threadbare by all stakeholders. The outcomes of these deliberations have only reaffirmed my conviction that this step will be truly transformational," said Navy chief.

Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari said that the IAF will be impart a wide range of training and exposure to the Agniveers in aviation, weapons and sophisticated ground systems.
The Nupur Sharma affair stinks, and the handling of the matter by the BJP and the Narendra Modi government is less than edifying

Various religious leaders pray for peace and harmony in the country, during a press conference organised by All India Ekta Foundation, regarding recent protests against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her remarks about Prophet Mohammad, in Kolkata, Monday, June 13, 2022. (PTI)

The Nupur Sharma affair stinks, and the handling of the matter by the BJP and the Narendra Modi government is less than edifying. The BJP national spokeswomans comment denigrating Prophet Mohammed has caused consternation and shock nationally and internationally. It has brought India down many pegs in the worlds eyes. Protesting Indian citizens have been shot dead by the police, beaten in custody and have had their homes bulldozed. Due process has been entirely absent.

Strangely, Indias embassies abroad officially described the ruling partys national spokeswoman -- who is usually all over television channels -- as a fringe element after her remarks. This beggars belief. It practically amounts to saying the BJP itself is fringe and out of sync with Indias ethos. In that event, what should one make of the government the party has brought into being?

Foreign governments arent likely to be taken in by New Delhis lame excuses. While they will carry on dealing with us on matters of mutual self-interest, it cant be hidden that their people have our government and its leaders figured. Thats truly bad advertisement for India.

It seems an irony of no less than dialectical proportions that the official reaction of the Modi government -- seen by his camp as the first Hindu government to gain power since Independence -- is causing severe heartburn within the BJP and other Hindutva precincts. The reason is plain. What the spokeswoman said out aloud is what her side actually believes -- down to the last person, while keeping up the facade of faith in the Constitution and Indias governing institutions.

Remember, not long ago the Union home minister called Bangladeshis termites, and the damage took intense diplomatic activity to repair. While electioneering in Delhi (not in some remote corner), a prominent minister raised a rhetorical and specious slogan which -- through dog whistles and innuendo -- invites people to shoot members of a particular religious minority for being traitors.

The Prime Minister slept through it all, as he has through a spate of unsavoury happenings in eight years on his watch. These included the vociferous endorsement by not-so-fringe elements, including MPs, of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, and the lionising of his assassins and their mentor Veer Savarkar.

This time Indias leader has chosen silence but not slumber because the stakes appear high. His Foreign Office has gone into overdrive, trying to influence Islamic governments. From these we buy oil in bulk, draw heavy investment funds, and to them we send millions of our citizens as workers who send back billions of dollars of precious foreign exchange year after year.

Governments in the Islamic world might stomach the belittling of Indian Muslims within Indias polity but draw the line at belittling the Prophet. This is clear and explains why New Delhi is bending over backwards to assuage them.

Recently, when Irans foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was visiting, national security adviser Ajit Doval told him that the Indian government respects the Prophet. The NSA also said the people involved in the incident will be dealt with at the level of the government and related agencies in a way that is a lesson to others.

In truth, no serious consequences for the people involved is expected. The guilty spokeswoman has been suspended, pending enquiry. Whats clear, however, is that being punished, even notionally, for hurting

Islamic sentiments is something Hindutva ranks find hard to stomach. This has come through loud and clear.

If the offending spokeswoman has been suspended, scores of other Indians, including careful journalists, have had FIRs filed against them by the government for hate speech. This is a balancing game in an effort to head off a reaction that could hurt the Modi Sarkars interests.

In all likelihood, depending on the nature of the outcry, the enquiry will whitewash the spokeswoman and ask her to lie low for a time. End of matter. As for the BJP Delhi unit spokesman, a relatively small fry who was expelled, he can safely be given a post in one of several outfits in the RSS-BJP ecosystem and no one will be any wiser.

All the same, discontent with the government is real within the RSS framework for seeking to distance itself from the party and Hindutva sentiments, even if the governments game is tactical. A well-known right-wing columnist recently warned that if the Modi government acts like a secular government in dealing with Islamic entities, its well-wishers and followers could shift their allegiance to another party. If this is poppycock, Mr Modi has nothing to worry. All the same, the inner debate between the party (and other Hindutva outfits) and government is likely to be regarded with considerable interest within the country and among Indias major allies. The viability of a government of the jingoistic far right in a multi-religious and complex society like India will always be a matter of scrutiny. We are smack in the middle of such a phase.

Fortunately, India may still not have slid enough to be counted as a tawdry, mean place to be looked down upon. This is because there are layers to Indian civilisation and a rich post-Independence past as well. Such a confluence has made us stand out as an example of sarv dharma sambhav, quite literally a society and political space where all religions are treated equally (and by extension where the needy may get a leg-up).

When the storm of Partition was blowing, Maulana Azad had coined the expression Darul Aman, or Land of Peace, for India. Due to its societal make-up, he placed it differently -- and appealingly -- from either Darul Islam or Darul Harb. In the Islamic tradition, the former is the home or land of Islam, and the latter a hostile space from where a believer must either take flight or be obliged to fight. It is the Maulanas far-sighted conception that Pakistan and Muslim communalists disliked. But the novel notion he put forward gave solace to those of the Islamic faith who chose to remain in India.

It was this idea of India buttressed by official policy in the aftermath of the mayhem of Partition which offered reassurance all round. Although poor, India held its head high. For all the petty conflicting that goes on in a society, here was a land where a temple, a mosque, a church could exist side by side with places of worship of other faiths. The world marvelled. It is that magic which has been at a discount over the past eight years as one egregious event after another has flashed by.
by Shafique Khokhar

Rehmat Masih has been in prison for five months and his family threatened. He had refused to convert to Islam. They blame him for some pages of the sacred text of Muslims found in the sewer drain, but there is no evidence against him.

Karachi (AsiaNews) - In Pakistan, an adult Christian, Rehmat Masih, has been in prison for five months in a new fabricated blasphemy case. He is accused of profaning and desecrating the pages of the Koran, but in reality he allegedly simply refused an offer to change religion. The police also threatened the family, warning them not to prosecute the case. As a result, he had to move to a safer location.

Rehmat (44), the father of two teenage children, had worked for 20 years as a cleaner at the Zam Zam publishing house, which was responsible for printing and binding the Muslim holy text. The owners and employees had offered him to convert to Islam, but he had repeatedly refused to change religion.

On 28 December, Rehmat went to Zam Zam Publishers for his usual work. Here, he was asked about the defacement of some pages of the Koran found in the sewage drain. Rehmat replied that he was unaware of the missing holy pages from the publishing house.

On 3 January 2022, the police arrested Rehmat Masih accusing him of committing blasphemy and tortured him severely to make him admit to desecrating and desecrating the Koran, an offence under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code, punishable by life imprisonment.

On 19 January 2022, a bail application was filed for the defendant, but the judge rejected it. In a hearing held on 31 May 2022, Rehmat Masih had his statement placed on record before the honorary judge, in which he stated that he 'does not plead guilty to the charge of blasphemy brought against him'.

The president of Voice for Justice, Joseph Jansen, said that the blasphemy laws have created an environment in which people, including complainants and their influential supporters, feel entitled to take justice into their own hands. He called for police officers to carry out their duties impartially and for their conduct not to be influenced by religious beliefs.

Ilyas Samuel, a social activist, said that the police investigation was particularly deficient in this blasphemy case. But it is even more disturbing that police officers support illegal practices to turn the fake crime into reality and present false witnesses with conflicting statements before the court of honour to prove a crime that was never committed by the accused.

Malook Samuel described it as unthinkable that - with no eyewitnesses to the alleged event and no evidence - the accused is behind bars, while the complainants and witnesses involved in making false allegations against the accused enjoy impunity, and are not instead prosecuted for charges of perjury under Section 182 of the Penal Code, which provides for sentences of five to seven years.

Pastor Tariq George added that it is regrettable that innocent people are being targeted to settle personal scores, and that this story was created to punish religious minorities who do not want to change their faith.
Franciss message for the Sixth World Day of the Poor on 13 November 2022 was released today, centred on the theme For your sakes Christ became poor. For the pontiff, the poor must be approached as a brother or sister who lends a hand to help me shake off the lethargy into which I have fallen.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  In his message for the Sixth World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis asks how a proper response can be provided to the millions of women, children and seniors left in the grip of uncertainty and instability, especially now that the war in Ukraine has been added to the regional wars that for years have taken a heavy toll of death and destruction.

The theme of the papal message  For your sakes Christ became poor  is taken from Saint Paul (2 Cor 8:9) to mark the day  Sunday, 13 November 2022  in which the Church urges the faithful to reach out to the poor across the world.

While the heart of this event is the rediscovery of the evangelical paradox whereby there is a form of poverty that enriches man, in the face of the tragic images that continue to arrive from Ukraine we cannot but come to reach out to those who suddenly lose everything they held dear.

What great poverty is produced by the senselessness of war! Francis writes. Wherever we look, we can see how violence strikes those who are defenseless and vulnerable. We think of the deportation of thousands of persons, above all young boys and girls, in order to sever their roots and impose on them another identity.

Once more the words of the Psalmist prove timely. Contemplating the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Hebrew youth, he sang: By the rivers of Babylon  there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors for mirth How could we sing the Lords song in a foreign land? (Ps 137:1-4).

The pope is pleased with the great show of solidarity by peoples and families who opened their doors to welcome millions of refugees from wars in the Middle East, Central Africa and now Ukraine. Yet, he also notes that, the longer conflicts last, the more burdensome their consequences become.

The peoples who offer welcome find it increasingly difficult to maintain their relief efforts; families and communities begin to feel burdened by a situation that continues past the emergency stage. This is the moment for us not to lose heart but to renew our initial motivation. The work we have begun needs to be brought to completion with the same sense of responsibility.

As members of civil society, let us continue to uphold the values of freedom, responsibility, fraternity and solidarity. And as Christians, let us always make charity, faith and hope the basis of our lives and our actions.

This is precisely the purpose of the World Day of the Poor, established by Francis at the end of the Jubilee of Mercy. Where the poor are concerned, it is not talk that matters; what matters is rolling up our sleeves and putting our faith into practice through a direct involvement, one that cannot be delegated. At times, however, a kind of laxity can creep in and lead to inconsistent behaviour, including indifference about the poor.

For the pontiff, the problem is not money itself, but making it the main purpose of one's life. Nothing worse could happen to a Christian and to a community than to be dazzled by the idol of wealth, which ends up chaining us to an ephemeral and bankrupt vision of life.

As for the ways to express ones solidarity, Pope Francis urges the faithful to beware of welfarism and activism for their own sake; instead, we should show sincere and generous concern that makes us approach a poor person as a brother or sister who lends a hand to help me shake off the lethargy into which I have fallen.

Indeed, the Gospel of Jesus teaches us the paradox of a form of poverty that makes us rich. Since Christ became poor for our sakes, our own lives are illumined and transformed, and take on a worth that the world does not appreciate and cannot bestow.

Likewise, if we want life to triumph over death, and dignity to be redeemed from injustice, we need to follow Christs path of poverty, sharing our lives out of love, breaking the bread of our daily existence with our brothers and sisters, beginning with the least of them, those who lack the very essentials of life. This is the way to create equality, to free the poor from their misery and the rich from their vanity, and both from despair.

In concluding his message, Francis turns to Charles de Foucauld, the "universal brother" who left all his riches to live among the Tuareg in the Sahara, whom he proclaimed saint a few weeks ago.

Let us not despise the poor, de Foucauld wrote, nor the little ones, the workers; not only are they our brothers and sisters in God, they are also those who most perfectly imitate Jesus in his outward life. Hence, Let us never cease to be poor in everything, brothers and sisters to the poor, companions to the poor; may we be the poorest of the poor like Jesus, and like him love the poor and surround ourselves with them.
by Arundathie Abeysinghe

An initiative agreed by Sri Lanka's Department of Agriculture and the UNDP to counter fertiliser shortages will be unveiled in July. The fertiliser shortfall is preventing Sri Lanka from being self-sufficiency in rice production. The prime minister pledges to counter agricultural shortages within five to six months.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  In light of possible food shortages, a food security programme drawn up by the Department of Agriculture with the assistance of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will be unveiled in July, this according to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Agricultural shortages and shortfalls faced by farmers could be countered within five to six months if swift action was taken, he said during a meeting with the Country Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Vimlendra Sharan and UNDP Deputy Country Representative Malin Herwig

The prime minister also outlined the urban agriculture initiative he set up as a measure to overcome potential food shortages.

The biggest hurdles the agricultural sector must overcome are fertiliser and fuel shortages.

Some economic analysts told AsiaNews that the UNDP was compiling necessary data on an innovative agricultural assistance programme to help the farming community cope with the lack of fertilisers.

For its part, FAO noted that donors have offered to assist the island nations urban agriculture programme, saying that it was confident that a successful implementation will ensure more financial support.

Wickremesinghes request follows warnings by agricultural experts on shortages of rice and essential foodstuffs starting in September 2022, which resulted from a chemical fertiliser import ban imposed in April last year and the inability of the previous government to import fertilisers due to a dollar shortage.

Sri Lanka was self-sufficient in rice production before the ban on chemical fertilisers came into effect.

Meanwhile, India is providing a US$ 55 million credit line to Sri Lanka to import fertilisers, in a bid to help the country deal with food shortages.

Government sources told AsiaNews that the prime minister spoke with David Beasley, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, inviting him to visit Sri Lanka, which was promptly accepted.

Last week, the United Nations also launched an appeal for US$ 47.2 million to provide life-saving assistance to some 1.7 million Sri Lankans, who are the most affected by the current economic crisis. The goal is to alleviate a medicine shortage in the medium term, thanks to a credit line from India and other partners.

The latter include the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is committed to assist Sri Lanka at this difficult juncture, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said.

To this end, the IMF is planning an in-person mission to Sri Lanka for the coming weeks to discuss a financial arrangement, including the measures the country must take before it can move ahead with a financing programme to restore debt sustainability.
Local Christians had just celebrated the first religious service in the historic church of Mor Gevargis, following its restauration after a century of neglect. The Yilmaz family is the only Christian family left in the area. The crowd attacked with sticks and stones, then set fire to the familys fields. Opposing claims to land are at the root of the dispute.

Istanbul (AsiaNews)  A village in Mardin, a province in the southeastern Turkey, was the scene of a new episode of anti-Christian violence, triggered in this case by a dispute over land.

Scores of Muslims attacked a local Assyrian family, the only Christians who live permanently in the area, with sticks, stones and other makeshift weapons at the end of the Sunday service.

The incident took place on 5 June but was reported only recently. It occurred near the historic church of Mor Gevargis, in the village of Brahimiye, right after the celebration of the first Mass in over a hundred years, in the presence of several prominent local Christians.

After the church was abandoned and left in disuse for many years, restoration work began in 2015 enabling local Christians to joyfully celebrate again a religious service.

Local sources report that at least 50 Muslims attacked the Yilmaz family. At the time of the assault, the latter were in the company of the priests who had travelled to the village to lead the Mass and inaugurate the place of worship after its restauration.

After attacking the Yilmaz house, the assailants set fire to the wheat grown in the surrounding fields. Once the fire was put out, witnesses alerted the police who made several arrests.

They threatened us saying that they would not allow us to live in the village, said Cengiz Yilmaz. But we are not scared. We will continue to stay here.

The head of the family then accused the attackers of deliberately choosing the day of the inauguration ceremony of the church to restart the dispute over land.

To try to ease tensions and avoid a sectarian clash, Rev Gabriel Akyuz  who was at the house at the time of the incident  said that religion was not behind the attack.

"The incident has nothing to do with the celebrations in the church after one hundred years, said the clergyman. This is a dispute between the parties over land.

In the past, Mardin province was the scene of several episodes of violence and abuse against Christians. In one case, an Assyrian monk Sefer (Aho) Bilecen was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to more than two years in prison for allegedly helping a terrorist organisation.

In fact, all he did was to give a piece of bread and some water to people who had knocked at the doors of his convent. According to Turkish authorities, those people were members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The clergymans conviction came at a time of repeated rights violations and abuses, such as the sale online of a centuries-old Armenian church, the holding of a barbecue in the historic Armenian church of Sourp Asdvadzadzi and the conversions into mosques of the ancient Christian basilicas of Hagia Sophia and Chora after they were turned into museums following the establishment of the Turkish Republic under Ataturk.

Such controversial decisions were made against the backdrop of President Recep Tayyip Erdogans policy mixing nationalism and Islam as a way to hold onto power and distract the public from the countrys economic crisis and the COVID-19 emergency.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

With the approval of the new Constitution, the Kazakh President is called upon to overcome 30 years of post-Soviet immobility. Local advisory councils set up to encourage popular participation. However, control remains in the hands of politicians. Knock on effect so far is the dethronement of the "father of the fatherland" Nazarbayev.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - After the almost plebiscitary approval of constitutional amendments on 5 June, Kazakhstan's President Kasym-Zomart Tokaev is now called upon to prove that it is not just a matter of repainting institutions rusty from 30 years of post-Soviet immobility, but of bringing about profound changes that can open a path to a different future. In his message to the nation on 16 March, the president preaches the 'need for modernisation' of the country by rediscovering the 'traditions of steppe democracy, which are the foundations of our unity'.

A key instrument of this renewal in tradition, according to Tokaev, are the 'social councils' (obscestvennye sovety). These are consultative participatory bodies at the national and municipal level, which in the new constitutional concept should become increasingly important. In fact, proposals on the composition of these councils are now being addressed from the centre to the regions and local authorities, and the debate in the country is becoming more and more intense; being non-decisive bodies, however, many commentators speak of a 'decorative platform for dialogue'.

An appeal to parliamentarians made by Bekzan Kenzegulov on Facebook has had a lot of resonance: the 32-year-old agricultural entrepreneur emphasises that 'Otyrar is not just a cemetery where people come to read the Koran, it is a place where young and old live, where people work the land! Otyrar is an archaeological site near Karatau, where there are the remains of the mythical 'ghost town', which was a key stop on the Silk Road in antiquity, the centre of a large oasis and a very important political district of the Korasmian Empire, later destroyed by Genghis Khan in the early 13th century. Bekzan invited MPs to visit the village around the ruins, accompanying his post with the signatures of 135 local residents.

The entrepreneur abandoned business in the cities to return to his 'small homeland' to cultivate maize and medical herbs. With his appeal, he wants to express his concern for the survival and development of the original Kazakhstan, and wants to set an example of shared problem solving. In May, he participated in the kurultay (grand council) of agricultural workers in Nur-Sultan, trying to stimulate his colleagues from the more remote provinces to make their voices heard.

After the January riots, many governors started talking more and more about a 'new Kazakhstan' and the need to involve young people in social activities, but so far the competitions to become members of the advisory councils are run by bureaucracies without really leaving room for citizens. In Otyrar, the lists for the competitions were published in May without prominence in the press, only to find out later that they had already closed in April, with delegates controlled by the special commission of the Maskhilat, the regional parliament.

In the councils, there are no age limits, and 30% of the members are reserved for younger people who must be 'given the way', according to presidential indications, but nominations are nevertheless directed by the government and opposition parties, trying to reproduce the balances of central politics. The lack of transparency and effective openness to participation means a perpetuation of the corrupt logic that has so far prevented any real change, and it will not be easy to get out of this 'stagnation'.

After the riots at the beginning of the year, the president's administration started a work of modernisation and cleaning up all social structures, trying to free itself from the heavy legacy of the long regime of Nursultan Nazarbayev, now completely dethroned by the new Constitution. Many activists from humanitarian, youth and human rights organisations appeared, committed to defending people's rights and the struggle of the steppes between the old and the new, in the new synthesis of tradition and modernity.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says not to seek second term

Xinhua) 09:26, June 14, 2022

GENEVA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Monday said she would not be seeking a second term as High Commissioner.

"Today, I briefed the Human Rights Council, my last session as High Commissioner. I will not be seeking a second term for personal reasons," she told reporters after she delivered her report to the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council, which kicked off Monday and will last until July 8.

"It is time to go back to Chile and be with family. I urge States to identify common ground to achieve solutions to our shared human rights challenges," she noted.

Her term is due to end at the end of August.

Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile, assumed her functions as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sept. 1, 2018. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was established in 1993 and Bachelet is the seventh Commissioner.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Its been a seemingly never-ending journey for Amazons Prime Air project, which has been promising customers faster deliveries by air for close to a decade now. When it first introduced the idea to the world, Amazon boasted of having put together an entire team of professionals to work on the matter, from aerospace pros to scientists and engineers. More than two dozen delivery drones have been designed, built, and tested over the years, to come up with the safest, fastest, and most effective aircraft.Now it finally seems like all that work is paying off and Amazon just announced its plan to kick off its free Prime Air drone delivery program later this year. Customers in Lockeford, California, will be among the first in the U.S. to receive their Amazon packages by drone, with the company claiming a delivery time of under an hour per order. Customers will place their order as they normally would and will receive an estimated arrival time with a status tracker for it.Lockeford has a good reputation in the aviation industry thanks to its former resident Weldon B.Cooke, who built and flew planes in the early 1900s.To bring its Prime Air service to Lockeford, Amazon is now working with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and local officials to obtain permission to conduct the deliveries by drone.Amazon may have taken a long time to get its program up and running but it now boasts of having developed a sophisticated and industry-leading sense-and-avoid system. Based on intelligent algorithms, the system allows its drones to operate at great distances safely, allowing them to detect and avoid any obstacles they might encounter not only during flight but also when approaching the ground.The latest drone prototype revealed by Amazon is the MK27-2, which features a hexagonal design that provides six degrees of freedom for stability and propellers that have been specifically designed to minimize high-frequency soundwaves. Amazons delivery drones can carry up to 5 pounds (2.2 kg) of cargo and can fly at a top speed of 50 mph (80 kph).
SUV

EV

On Tuesday, the companies announced that they would be testing the revolutionary long-range battery developed by Our Next Energy (ONE) on BMWs iX electric Reuters reported.The early prototype, ONEs Gemini Dual-Chemistry battery, incorporates two types of battery cells, each with a different purpose. One type can store more energy and, according to the startup, achieve a range of 964 km (600 miles) or more between charges.According to ONE, the unique long-range Gemini technology reduces lithium use by 20%, graphite use by 60%, and minimizes the use of nickel and cobalt. In doing so, the startup is developing a sustainable energy storage technology that positively impacts the environment.In a press release , Mujeeb Ijaz, founder and CEO of ONE, said, We are thrilled to be working with BMW to demonstrate our Gemini long-range battery technology to consumers."He added that drivers are discovering that real-world conditions are reducing the performance of theirbatteries. Therefore, they plan to pack twice as much energy into their batteries.In March, BMWs corporate arm led a $65 million funding round in ONE, joining other global investors, including Coatue Management, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Assembly Ventures Flex, and Volta Energy Technology.Jurgen Hildinger, BMW Group New Technologies Head of High Voltage Storage, said the automaker is confident that, given the economic viability, it can lead to commercial opportunities and strategies to integrate the battery into future BMW EV models.Both companies affirmed the test BMW iX would be ready by the end of this year.
A lot of billionaires are known for their luxury toy collections. In the case of Lord Bamford , thats a collection of rare Ferraris. Add to that a superyacht and a private jet, and youve got the classic image of a super-wealthy businessman. With an estimated fortune of $5 billion, Sir Anthony Bamford is a construction tycoon with a taste for finer things.The stunning Virginian is no ordinary yacht, but one with an extensive history and a style to match. Built three decades ago, its one of the rare Feadship models from the beginning of the 1990s that are still cruising today. According to the manufacturer, it was an innovative yacht at the time.Measuring 204 feet (62 meters), it was the shipyards first model to boast four full decks, with enough space to include a separate lounge for the captain, storage room for tenders on the aft deck, and a hydraulic transom hatch. The era of massive superyachts with modern amenities was dawning.In terms of appearance, however, the Virginian exuded a timeless elegance. Designed by the De Voogt naval architects, with interiors by the acclaimed David Easton, it was inspired by the iconic ships of the 1900s. Far from the outrageous luxury or unconventional style of some of todays yachts, Virginian welcomes its guests with a calm atmosphere and a timeless grace.Classic elements, such as a library with an open fireplace (one of the vessels two gas fireplaces), are combined with modern amenities, including a well-equipped gym, and a massage room. Up to 12 guests can enjoy the al-fresco dining area on the upper deck, sporting a modern bar. A jacuzzi and a forward-facing observation lounge are perfect for spending the afternoon.A 30-year-old superyacht does need some TLC, but its 2018 refit and refurbishment kept the classic British style, seamlessly integrating features that todays guests would require. Thats because Virginian is a popular charter yacht, with a weekly rate of $255,000 (245,000). Those who want to feel like billionaire Lords can spend some time on board this iconic beauty, available through Burgess Yachts.
Some virtual automotive artists are incredibly easy to recognize because over time they have developed a signature styling. Some love artsy creations above all else, others go for the shock and horror value of tainted CGI mashups , and a few have a passion for certain niches. But how about itsy-bitsy tiny CARtoon versions?Well, as it turns out, those are the panache of the automotive digital artist behind the MalonyxMedia label on social media, who is an expert in crafting little, cartoonish versions of ultra-popular cars. A minute Ford Crown Victoria Police car sitting at the stop light in search of teeny-tiny bad guys? Check. A roster of four energized Tesla Model S sedans with carbon fiber add-ons plus Rotiform Aerodiscs looking to get juiced up from AA batteries? Double-check. And these are only the latest ideas.But how about the rest of the automotive world, both vintage and new? Well, chances are you might encounter all of them, be it a Chevy Caprice Classic, a Dodge Viper, or something in between  like an E31 BMW 8 Series or a VW Caddy pickup truck. Alas, the stunner that rocked our NFT-bidding world (they are all auctioned off, of course) was this golden Bugatti Chiron High Roller edition.And it is such an attention grabber neither just because it mixes gold paint with elegant blue accents nor solely due to the huge pile of tiny gold bars surrounding it. Instead, I fell in love with the little thing because it mixes a bad boy slammed attitude with some nifty shark fins, as well as an individual throttle body W16 engine! By the way, we have also seen that style appear in the artists recent collaboration for a regular supercar duet  and it was just as cool.
EV

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

NHTSA

According to CNBC, Ford is sending its dealers a stop-sale order until the vehicles in dealer lots are fixed. The defect involves the battery pack contactors. These electrically-controlled switches may overheat and stop working, making theseem like it has no juice  just as if the battery pack depleted all of a sudden.Ford told CNBC that the issue affected 48,924 of the more than 100,000 units produced from May 27, 2020, through May 24, 2022. The Mach-E is made for all markets at the Cuautitlan plant in Mexico. Ford said it would fix the defect with an over-the-air (OTA) update , which looks pretty confusing.If the defect is related to software, all 100,000 EVs made in that period should be included in that recall. For it to be limited to about half of them, it seems to emerge due to issues with a bad batch of components, meaning Ford would have to physically replace them, not remedy the situation with an update. We have asked the company about that. We also asked about the units sold in other markets, such as Europe.Although Ford has already sent the recall information to the), it told CNBC that it expects to offer a final solution in the year's third quarter. In other words, somewhere between July 1 and September 30. It is not clear if it will keep selling the car or only allow the dealers to sell it again when the units they have on the lot are fixed. This seems like the only reasonable and safe choice.
This past weekend in Baku was particularly challenging for both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, although it was Hamilton who at the end of the race could barely get out of his car due to back pain.When asked whether his team is fully focused on fixing the W13s porpoising issues or whether theyll be focusing more on next years car, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff didnt rule out any possibilities.I think we are looking at all possible solutions under the leadership of Mike Elliot, said Wolff in an interview with Motorsport . Hes a really strong technical director, and there are no holy cows. Everything is being looked at and we will for sure bring the car back on track.If things cannot be solved in the short term, because theyre conceptual, then they will be sorted out over the next few months.Yet, the Mercedes boss remains hopeful that the second half of this season can be salvaged.I still think theres a short-term fix thats making us much more competitive, but it might not explain everything, insists Wolff. Id like to get the car in the right position for the second half of the year and also for next year. The learning is more key than short-term optimization for the weekend.In other words, if they cant sort things out this year, fans can rest assured that the 2023 car will be much improved.Next weekends Canadian Grand Prix takes place at the bumpy Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, where drivers usually utilize the kerbs excessively. This will be a good opportunity for Mercedes to further explore its weaknesses.
Elbit Systems technologies cover a plethora of areas, from aerospace, land, and naval systems to UAS (unmanned aircraft systems), advanced electro-optics, communication systems, and so much more. The companys had a very busy and productive 2022 thus far, hitting significant milestones and constantly launching new products.It began the year in force by receiving certification for its Hermes 900 StarLiner UAS to fly in civilian airspace, thus becoming the first drone to be allowed to do so in Israel. Soon after, it introduced its Skylark 3 Hybrid aircraft to the world, a small tactical unmanned aerial system with a wingspan of 15.4 ft (4.7 m), a maximum take-off weight of 110 lb (50 kg), and an operation time of 18 hours.Now Elbit Systems is back with another winner, its new DAiR radar, capable of simultaneous detection and tracking of thousands of objects of various sizes and velocities, with no need for target prioritization.The new radar system is described as X-band software-defined and consists of hundreds of digital receivers, complex algorithms, and computing cores that have AI capabilities. Designed for protection against unmanned aerial systems and for border security, the new DAiR can detect anything from vessels and artillery to humans, drones, helicopters, and other aircraft. It can identify humans from a distance of up to 15 km (9.3 miles) and small drones from up to 12 km (7.4 miles).What the new DAiR brings to the table is the fact that it does not rely on target prioritization, so users dont have to apply multiple radars to keep up with the evolving threat, as explained by Oren Sabag, General Manager of Elbit Systems. Elbit Systems is now showcasing its radar system in Paris, at the Eurosatory weaponry industry trade fair that began yesterday and will end on June 17. The DAiR is on display at Hall 6, D567.
A different kind of flight operation is carried out these days over Kansas. The Wichita Eagle reports that a NASA team has been in Salina since the end of last month, launching flights regularly, every two to three days. This is part of the DCOTSS (Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere) research project focusing on the relation between powerful thunderstorms and climate change.NASA pilots are flying at 13 miles (20.9 km) above Kansas, which requires them to wear a full space suit and helmet, while flying in a pressurized environment. The aircraft thats carrying out these research flights is NASAs ER-2 (Earth Resources) flying laboratory. These two Lockheed airplanes were acquired back in 1981 and 1989 and have operated as high-altitude airborne science aircraft ever since.The ER-2 can fly up to 70,000 feet (21,336 meters) which is twice as high as airliners, according to Kenneth Bowman, principal investigator and Texas A&M University atmospheric science professor. It can reach 65,000 feet (19,812 meters) in just 20 minutes and continue to fly at 410 knots (471 mph/759 kph).For this particular study, the ER-2 flies for about eight hours each time it takes to the sky, while its scientific instruments are used to measure variables such as turbulence, particle number density, and particle size distribution.Bowman explained that, while storms usually take part in the lowest part of the atmosphere, the intense ones can go up into the stratosphere, carrying high amounts of water and pollutants that end up contributing to the global warming. NASA s ER-2 will continue to collect data over the next three weeks, after which it will return to its base in Palmdale, California.This is the second year of flights launched from Salina, for the DCOTSS, a collaboration between four NASA labs and 50 scientists from eight universities.
Rick Ross is a man of many talents. He is first and foremost a rapper, but also a businessman, record executive, author, dad, and more. But starting this year, he also dipped his toes in the car industry. In May 2022, the rapper held the first edition of Rick Ross Car & Bike Show , which took place at his enormous mansion in Atlanta, Georgia.With a car collection of over 100 vehicles, many of which were purchased before the rapper even had a drivers license, Rick Ross does have a favorite brand: Chevrolet.His collection boasts several vintage Chevrolet models, including Bel Air, Chevelle, and several Impalas. And his go-to guy is car builder known as 57Freddy on social media, who handles most of his rides.Ross is the type of guy who values connections and networking and wants people to know he appreciates them. Thats why it shouldnt come as a surprise to anyone that he treated 57Freddy to an awesome car.The vehicle in question is a favorite of Ross, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, which is probably also a nod to Freddys name on social media.The car builder revealed the gift on his account, writing that Ross told him that aint no one out here repping the Chevrolet life like you in the city. And then he gifted him the awesome Chevy, which Freddy said its the baddest Chevy piece Ive ever seen. He added that this piece holds so much value to me, theres a lot of meaning behind it.The vintage convertible comes with a white exterior and black and red leather inside the cabin, with a mural on its trunk, and it definitely makes for a great gift.
Many luxury vessels with Russian ties were seized so far in various parts of the world, but few became as controversial as the $300 million Amadea. Its saga continues, even after the U.S. authorities were finally given the green light to sail it away from Fiji after months of a legal battle . Once it left the Pacific island, a new chapter has begun for the 348-footer (106 meters) built by the prestigious Lurssen shipyard.Who would have thought, a few months ago, that this mysterious superyacht that was privately used would end up sailing away with U.S. marshals and the FBI on board? Even more unusual is its apparent destination. According to eSysman SuperYachts , data from maritime tracking platforms indicates that Suleiman Kerimovs former pleasure craft might be heading towards Hawaii  a destination that would have been highly unusual under the previous Russian ownership.In addition to the U.S. authorities, the ship is most likely traveling with a new, hired crew. Thats because even the previous captain and crew members refused to cooperate with them while still in Fiji, arguing that they must stay loyal to the yachts owner.If things werent complicated enough, only after two appeals, a court in Fiji granted the U.S. the right to take Amadea away. It had been months earlier, but unable to move until the legal battle was over. Finally, things came to a head last week, and the luxury vessel has been cruising since then. Whether Hawaii is the final destination and whats next for the massive trophy yacht is still unknown. Whats certain is that the saga continues.
The Monteverdi 375S Coupe debuted at the Geneva Auto show and then was on display at the New York Auto Show in 1969, before reaching its first buyer in the U.S. The vehicle comes with a celebrity history attached to it, as it once belonged to Jay Leno He didnt have it for a long time, though. He acquired it in 2006 and kept it in his collection of expensive, rare cars until 2008, when he sold it in California. The car went to another owner, who sold it again in 2012 to a new buyer. It has been in the present ownership since then and put up for "static display since acquisition."The 1969 Monteverdi 375S model, chassis number 1003, is powered by a 7.2-liter Chrysler HEMI V8 engine, mated to a three-speed Chryslers TorqueFlite automatic transmission and delivering 450 horsepower. The car reaches a top speed of over 150 mph (241 kph).It was originally yellow with a black leather interior and has seen quite a lot of changes throughout the years. One of the owners turned it metallic blue, and another gave it a fresh dark blue paintwork, re-plating the chrome, giving its interior a retrim, and adding new silencers and tires.Bonhams mentions in the listing that this vehicle is not offered with any original registration documents, bidders should satisfy themselves as to registration requirements in their jurisdiction.The car will be available at the Gstaad Sale in Switzerland during the Collectors Motor Cars segment on July 3, 2022, and there is no reserve attached to it. They are expecting it to fetch between $72,000 to $113,000.
Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, in Alabama, and has written features, columns, and interviews for numerous magazines and newspapers. Visir tinseltowntalks.com for more information.
Beaumont could soon have a new leader for its Chamber of Commerce.

The Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce on Monday announced that it is considering three candidates for the open President/CEO position.

Out of more than 60 applications, Kristie Young, Michael Perez and Steve Ahlenius have been selected to move forward in the selection process.

Young, who holds a B.A. in Speech Communications from Texas A&M University, is an internal candidate at the Chamber of Commerce. She serves as the Vice President of Economic Development. Before that role, she worked for ExxonMobil as a Business Partner from 2017 to 2020. She also worked for Lamar University from 2013 to 2017 as Associate Director of Development and at the Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas Foundation from 2006-2013, she was Executive Director.

Perez attended Lamar University, where he got a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Science. He also has an associates degree in applied science from San Antonio College. He works at Gateway Mortgage as the Business Development Manager and Licensed Residential Mortgage Loan Originator. Previously, he was the Executive Director of the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club of Beaumont.

Ahlenius is presently living in New Braunfels and has served as President/CEO before, at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce from 1998 to 2001. At the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, he served from 1987 to 1998 as Director of Business Development and Government Affairs. He has a B.S. in history and political science from Wayland Baptist University, a Master of Public Administration from Texas Tech University and he is a certified Economic Developer through the International Economic Development Council.

According to Chamber of Commerce public affairs specialist Mary Poole the committee considered candidates from the local area, the state and even candidates from out of state.

It has been an interesting process, she said.

Chamber member businesses who would like to meet Young are invited to do so at the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce office on June 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Perez can be met at the same place at the same time on June 21, and Ahlenius can be met in the same location on June 24 from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.
When you think of Australia, what comes to mind? Kangaroos? Vegemite? Throwing another shrimp on the barbie? Well, two out of three aint bad (Ill have you know that no self-respecting Australian would ever throw a shrimp on the barbie  we call them prawns, thank you very much). Now, what do you think of when you hear whiskey? Irish drinking songs? Perhaps Ron Swanson visiting Lagavulin distillery in Scotland? While Australians are renowned for their ability to hold their booze (heavy drinking has been deeply embedded in our culture since the early days of colonization) I doubt any of you associate whisky and Australia in the crossover episode of your mind. Admit it: you associate Australia with Fosters beer, dont you? Even though no one drinks Fosters there, and Fosters isnt even Australian.

But you know what is Australian? Starward Whisky. And Starward Whisky is, in my opinion, the boozy embodiment of what makes Australia  which is where Im from, in case my accent isnt coming through  great.

Quick refresher: What is whisky?

To explain why, we need to lay the groundwork of what exactly whisky is. Whisky (also spelled "whiskey" depending on the country) is a distilled spirit thats made from fermented grains and aged in wooden barrels. The common grains used are wheat, rye, corn and barley, and the different combination of these grains and their percentages is known as the mash bill. Once the mash is fermented and distilled, the liquor is aged in charred wooden barrels. The contact with the charred wood of the barrel causes the spirit to darken and add flavors in a process called additive maturation.

Different types of whisky

There are a lot of strict rules and regulations that go into the distillation of whiskey and whiskeys around the world. For example, American Bourbon whiskey must be made in the United States from a mash bill that is at least 51% corn, and it must be aged in new, unused charred oak barrels. Irish whiskey, however, (also spelled with an "e") must be made in Ireland (shocking), and is often triple-distilled. Scotch whisky (no "e," for reasons) must be made in Scotland with a mash bill of primarily barley. And there are hard legalities attached to each of these.

What is Australian whisky?

Starwards mantra is to create a distinctly Australian whisky that could define the category. Read: as a pioneer of Australian craft whisky, Starward gets to make up its own damn rules. Haha, hell yeah, thats awesome, and an incredibly Australian attitude.

The obvious joke to make here is that Australia was founded by convicts, so historically and culturally speaking we dont care for you and your stuffy rules. But in truth, the whisky industry Down Under is a young one, and Starward founder David Vitale says there is a great freedom in that: Our (Australias) definition of whisky is so broad you can shoot a cannon through it.

As a result, Aussie distillers arent bound by specific legalities and traditions like other countries, giving them room to experiment, and  in true Australian fashion  play.

Why Starward Whisky is special

I mentioned Fosters earlier (seriously though, nobody drinks it), but I assume most people are aware that Australia is known for its spectacular vineyards and wineries. The dry, hot climate makes for bold concentrated flavors, making Australia one of the worlds largest exporters of wine.

But what does wine have to do with whisky? Well, Starward Whisky has partnered with the historic and iconic Yalumba Winery, located in the heart of one of Australias most prestigious wine-producing regions, the Barossa Valley. Starward sources its barrels from local wineries like this one, barrels that previously held Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir.

So what? you say. Im getting to that! I respond. Sure, implementing wine casks in the process of whisky maturation is not a new concept: there are other distilleries that finish their product in a wine-soaked barrel for a concise amount of time. Starward however (cheeky buggers that they are) store their whisky in used wine barrels for the entire length of the maturation process. Most notably, Starward skips charring the barrels: their distillate is poured into wine casks that are often still wet from whatever wine was in there previously. When it comes to getting the most of that gorgeous, wine-soaked flavor, Starward believes in going big or going home.

Red wine is such a big part of our identity, as a country. says Vitale. He states that they quickly realized that the wine was doing to the whisky what charring was doing for Scotch. Wine was doing the heavy lifting for us.

Location location location

Starward Whiskey is made in Melbourne, the foodie capital of Australia. Everything is locally sourced, from the barrels, to the malted wheat and barley, to the yeast chosen to ferment the mash.

Besides being a culinary capital, Melbourne is known for its wildly changeable weather conditions, touted as having four seasons in one day. These weather swings create a lot of action in the barrel, so three to four years of aging is our sweet spot.

Food and Starward are synonymous: Vitale states the brand has aimed to craft the most food-friendly whisky in the world and theyve blown that goal out of the (probably shark-infested) water: Starward Australian Whisky is the Official Whiskey Partner of the leading culinary authority, the Michelin Guide.

Sweet, sweet success

As if partnering with Michelin werent enough, this year Starward absolutely cleaned up at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition (one of the longest-running and most influential liquor competitions in the world), winning a striking three Gold and 12 Double Gold medals.

With such prestigious and numerous accolades, you might be inclined to assume that Starward Whisky is for pompous whisky snobs. Quite the opposite: Vitale insists that Starward is making whisky for a curious, food-obsessed generation. Theyre all about ditching the airs and graces and focusing on flavor instead: The tweed-smoking Scotsman have got their drink  we want to be approachable.

Sure, Starward is delicious neat, and can certainly be supped next to a fireplace in a library full of leather-bound books but it also fits in well at a raucous family gathering, in a cocktail by the pool.

The Starward team is not restrained by rules, or their method: We dont feel boxed in because theres a huge amount of diversity from wineries says Vitale. Which makes sense: you can be as varied as the wineries you partner with. A wine barrel made of French oak will import a different flavor to one made of American oak. Then of course there is the diversity of the wine itself: whisky aged for three years in a barrel that previously held a cheeky Shiraz will have a completely different profile to a whisky aged inside a robust Pinot Noir. Starward has a whisky for every drinker.

The result is a delicious, refined range of spirits with personality that perfectly reflects the Aussie ethos: approachable, gets along with all types, has an impressive pedigree without being stuck-up about it, and fits in well at any party.
Was the COVID-19 testing requirement here in the U.S. really deterring people from traveling abroad? The short answer isyes, apparently so, as evidenced by the surge in international travel searches over the course of the past 72 hours.

According to a new report from Reuters, United Airlines  which accounts for the bulk of international traffic among major U.S. carriers  said it has seen more than 2.4 million searches for international travel in the last three days, up 7% from the week prior. Further, roughly 1.5 million of those searched were for travel from the U.S. to international destinations like Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean.

UNITED AIRLINES  IN 72 HOURS SINCE TESTING REQUIREMENT CHANGES WERE ANNOUNCED, CO HAS ALREADY SEEN MORE THAN 2.4 MLN SEARCHES FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL$UAL  *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) June 13, 2022

It solidifies the notion that the testing requirement has somehow hindered the recovery of the travel industry, which airline executives and other industry officials have been pedaling for months. In fact, back in March, the CEOs of 10 airlines and cargo carriers  Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Atlas Air Worldwide, Delta Air Lines, FedEx Express, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and UPS Airlines  signed a letter to the President urging him to scrap the testing requirement.

Now is the time for the Administration to sunset federal transportation travel restrictions  including the international pre-departure testing requirement and the federal mask mandate  that are no longer aligned with the realities of the current epidemiological environment, the letter read. As recently as last week, American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom called the requirement nonsensical, adding that it was depressing leisure and business travel.

Just days later, the Biden administration announced that a negative test would no longer be required to enter the country, with the CDC declaring tests no longer necessary, resulting in the aforementioned uptick in international travel searches and simultaneously confirming Isoms suspicions.

That said, we still cant help but wonder: were that many people seriously deterred by the testing requirement? Because the reality is that it was effective in weeding out positive cases, which tells us that there is an overwhelming number of people who are more afraid of getting stuck abroad than getting on a plane and infecting other people, or of having COVID at all.

Of course, its worth mentioning that we know the testing requirement for travel probably wasnt the most sustainable model in the long term, and were all for the recovery of travel and tourism. But the fact that so many people have been waiting for the requirement to go away to book an international trip feels oddly sinister. After all, the uptick in searches isnt coming out of an abundance caution.

For more travel news, tips and inspo, sign up for InsideHook's weekly travel newsletter, The Journey.

The post Was Americas COVID Testing Requirement Really That Much of a Deterrent to Travel? appeared first on InsideHook.
Because he refused to participate in presidential debates, dodged reporters and rarely gave interviews on the campaign trail, theres a lot we dont know about the policies that President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will pursue once he moves into the Malacanang Palace.

Nowhere is this more true than with the Bangsamoro peace process in the southern Philippines that impacts both national and regional security.

The peace process is a complicated and held together by a patchwork of peace deals and sub-agreements between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels. A comprehensive peace deal struck by both sides in 2014 was well on its way to receiving congressional support  even winning over a somewhat skeptical Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  when a police operation in the south went awry in January 2016.

Police failed to coordinate their raid with the MILF, in violation of their ceasefire agreement, and entered rebel-controlled territory, leading to a clash that left 44 commandos dead. A national outcry ensued, and during the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, when Marcos was Rodrigo Dutertes vice presidential running mate, there was intense politicking over the botched counter-terrorist operation.

Both the Senate and the House held hearings on the incident at Mamasapano while the Bangsamoro peace process was put on hold indefinitely. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, to its credit, remained committed to the peace process and surrendered heavy and crew-serviced weapons.

For the first few years of Dutertes administration, there was little hope for the peace process. The outgoing president, who hails from Mindanao, has been empathetic to the Moro, but his primary legislative goal was to establish a federal system of government. He was unwilling to use political capital to implement the Bangsamoro peace agreement, which he thought was redundant.

To make matters worse, Dutertes inner circle was filled with Christian leaders from Mindanao who had previously undermined peace talks.

Nonetheless, the MILF continued to implement its end of the peace agreement.

In 2019, when it was clear that Duterte was not going to be able to push through a constitutional amendment to establish federalism despite his congressional majorities, he pushed through the implementing legislation, the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

In early 2020, the autonomous government was established, led by an appointed Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).

The transitional body faced an enormous challenge because it had to pass a swath of laws to govern everything from personnel to tax collection to civil administration, while establishing a parliamentary system of government. All of this was done with leaders who had no legislative experience and during the COVD-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the MILF successfully lobbied Duterte to push through legislation that extended the BTAs tenure for another three years. Simply, the leaders could not pass all the laws required for an elected government to take over in May 2022.

The rival Moro National Liberation Front and other critics of the peace process saw the extension as a power grab.

The BTA had other challenges, especially security. The 2019 implementing legislation stripped the MILF of internal policing powers, yet the onus was on its leaders to rein in the pro-Islamic State groups such as the BIFF, the Abu Sayyaf and the Maute Group that remain resilient and committed to spoiling the peace process.

Murad Ebrahim, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, inspects a B40 rocket launcher during a ceremonial turnover of weapons and decommissioning of MILF combatants in Maguindanao province, Philippines, June 16, 2015. [Reuters]

All politics is local

More recently, the MILF made a controversial decision to get involved in the 2022 national election, publicly endorsing Leni Robredo for president. This was done for four key reasons.

First, she was deemed a much more competent administrator who was committed to the rule of law. During her campaign, she made clear that she supported the peace process.

Second, while on the campaign trail Marcos was coy about his commitment to implementing the peace agreement. The MILF remembered in 2016 just how quickly he became a vociferous opponent of the agreement, even if it was just for political grandstanding.

But there are legitimate concerns about his commitment to the rule of law and good governance in general.

Third, there is concern about Marcos security policies toward pro-Islamic State militant groups in the south. Should he decide to escalate the violence or appoint hardliners to key positions in the military, it will cause considerable suffering amongst the Moro population.

Finally, there is a concern that the apple does not fall far from the tree. Marcos campaign was centered on a cherry-picked nostalgia for his fathers rule. The Moro people will never forgive the betrayals and wars of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who instituted martial law and undermined the 1976 Libyan-brokered peace agreement.

The MILFs endorsement of Robredo could hurt leaders in future negotiations with the Marcos administration.

But there is unease for another reason: local politics.

Going up against dynasties

As part of the peace process, the MILF had to transform itself from a militant group into a legal political party.

The United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) was established in 2015 and contested elections for the first time in May 2022. As the party of the vanguard organization that fought and won greater autonomy, it had high expectations of popular support.

And yet, the UBJP found that entrenched political dynasties are hard to dislodge. The UBJPs candidate lost the governorship of Maguindanao, the MILFs heartland.

We simply do not know how gracious the MILF will be in electoral defeat, especially when it feels entitled to rule.

The MILF put itself in a hard spot by running candidates at a time when it is leading the transitional authority, which is supposed to be above partisanship. To date, the authority has been politically neutral.

But there is ample concern that the MILF will use the next three years to the benefit of UBJP candidates as it seeks to maintain power.

Moreover, we need to consider that 49 percent of BTA members are appointed by the Philippine president. Marcoss intentions are unclear. Will he keep the Duterte appointed members, who have largely been committed to implementing the peace agreement? Will he select new faces, and if so, why and to what end?

Finally, the Marcos administration will be confronted by the Duterte governments failure to fully rebuild Marawi following the 2017 failed takeover by the Mautes, Abu Sayyaf and foreign terrorist fighters. There remain thousands of aggrieved internally displaced people, who have been unable to return and rebuild their homes.

The Bangsamoro autonomous government is now more than two years old. There have been important milestones including the passing of laws to establish a parliamentary democracy. An elected government should be established in 2025.

Meanwhile, the MILF continues its process of surrendering weapons and demobilizing forces.

The first group of MILF combatants recently sat for the national police examination and there will be some integration into the military, as well.

Yet, the peace process is not irreversible. It will require sustained political commitment, good faith and financial resources.

And with Marcos intentions unclear, theres unease across Mindanao. He won with enough of the vote that he doesnt need to curry favor with the Moro, a group he has not supported in the past.

In sum, the 2022 elections will have important implications for security in Mindanao, and that has implications for security across the region.

Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or BenarNews.
The ARSA rebel leader ordered the killing of Rohingya activist Muhib Ullah at a Bangladeshi refugee camp last year, police in the South Asian country said in recommending murder charges against 29 suspects, although the insurgent group denied being involved.

Muhib Ullah was more popular than Ataullah Abu Ahmmar Jununi, the head of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, and that displeased the ARSA chief, according to an investigation report that police submitted to a court in Coxs Bazar district on Monday.

Seen by BenarNews, the police report says the 29 suspects were members of ARSA and that they acted at the orders of Ataullah and were involved in Muhib Ullahs murder at various stages.

Fifteen of the 29 suspects have been arrested since the killing last September and the remaining 14 are absconding, police said.

The report says that four of the 15 persons confessed to their involvement in Muhib Ullahs murder. According to one of them, ARSA leaders organized a meeting at one of the refugee camps two days before the murder, the police report says.

At the meeting, [one suspect] and others said our leader Ataullah Jununi told us that Muhib Ullah is emerging as a bigger leader. The Rohingya are giving him more support. He must be killed said accused Azizul Haque who was guarding the meeting venue, according to a portion of the police report.

All of the persons having involvement with the murder are the members of the so called ARSA/Al-Yaaqin, reads the report, adding that the accused persons had reportedly been involved in theft, robbery, murder, rape, mugging, human trafficking and smuggling of illegal narcotics.

All of them are rogues, says the report, stating that ARSA and Al-Yaaqin were the same organization.

This is the first official admission by Bangladeshi authorities on the presence of ARSA at the refugee camps. Until now, the Bangladesh government has strenuously denied that ARSA exists on Bangladesh soil.

Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, an additional superintendent of police in Coxs Bazar district, confirmed to BenarNews that police submitted the investigation report to the local court on Monday, but he declined to comment further.

The investigation report says it all. We have no comments beyond the investigation report, he told BenarNews.

On the night of Sept. 29, 2021, unidentified gunman burst in and fatally shot Muhib Ullah, a refugee and internationally known Rohingya activist, in his office at the Kutupalong camp while he was meeting with other refugees.

ARSA is a Rohingya insurgent group whose 2017 attack on government outposts in Myanmars Rakhine state led to a brutal military crackdown against the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, causing about 740,000 of them to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

ARSA is also blamed for criminal activities at the Rohingya camps in Ukhia and Teknaf, two sub-districts of Coxs Bazar, a southeastern district near the border with Rakhine state in Myanmar.

The police report says that ARSA was against the repatriation of the Rohingya to Myanmar but it did not elaborate on the reason.

Ataullah Abu Ahmmar Jununi could not accept the leadership of Muhib Ullah. He asked Muhib Ullah to stop the operation of his organization to promote the repatriation of the Rohingya. But he did not listen, the report says.

Without going into detail, the report also says that the popularity of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, Muhib Ullahs organization, would stand in the way of ARSAs operations.

In addition, according to the report, Ataullah asked Muhib Ullah to join ARSA but he rejected the offer.

Sunil Barua in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, contributed to this report.
State prosecutors are advising the Philippine government not to drop drug-related charges against Sen. Leila de Lima, a jailed top critic of the outgoing administrations bloody crackdown on illegal drugs, the justice secretary said Tuesday, despite the withdrawal of testimonies by key witnesses.

De Lima has been incarcerated since February 2017 but is awaiting trial on charges that she received proceeds from the sale of illegal drugs when she headed the Department of Justice. She has denied those charges, accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of wanting to silence her because she was among the most vocal critics of his drug war, which has left thousands dead.

The panel of prosecutors has advised that, after a thorough review of the evidence already presented as well as evidence still to be presented, there is good reason to continue the active prosecution of the senator, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in a message to reporters on Tuesday.

In April, Kerwin Espinosa, a self-confessed drug lord, recanted his statement implicating de Lima, followed by two other witnesses who said they were coerced into implicating the senator.

As far as the retractions of certain persons are concerned, the prosecution takes the position that until these persons are actually presented in court for examination to ascertain their truthfulness, their alleged recantations have no probative value whatsoever, Guevarra said. In any event, the final say on the disposition of the cases rests on the judge alone.

Guevarra said his successor would decide whether to carry on with the prosecution of de Lima. President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who will be sworn in on June 30, has nominated Jesus Crispin Remulla to serve as justice secretary.

While Espinosa and the other witnesses had cleared de Lima earlier this year, prosecutors have another witness  convicted drug dealer Herbert Colanggo  who told Philippine media on Monday that he would testify against the senator.

De Lima, who lost her re-election bid to the Senate in the May 9 general election, attacked Colanggo in a series of tweets on Tuesday.

I have no ill feelings towards the convicted criminals who were coerced or bribed to falsely testify against me. But when this is done with relish and gusto, like how Herbert Colanggo seems to enjoy the spotlight, whether when speaking to the media or on the witness stand, then that is another matter altogether, de Lima tweeted.

Colanggo is actually savoring every moment of his role in this charade, while showing his handlers that his performance is worth every bribe and privilege that they promised him, she said.

De Lima was detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Metro Manila in 2017 over three charges of conspiracy to commit drug trading inside the national penitentiary when she served as justice secretary from 2010 to 2016. She was acquitted on one of the three charges in 2021 but could not be released because of the pending cases.

De Lima drew Dutertes ire after investigating alleged human rights abuses linked to the killings of drug suspects during his stint as Davao City mayor and later as president.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us

We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.
LONDON  Tomb of Sand, a novel about an 80-year-old Indian womans sudden decision to travel to Pakistan, was named the winner of the International Booker Prize, the prestigious award for fiction translated into English.

Geetanjali Shree, the books author, and Daisy Rockwell, who translated the 739-page novel from its original Hindi, will split the prize of 50,000 British pounds (about $63,000), which they received at the May 26 ceremony in London.

[Daisy Rockwell, a native of Stockbridge, is the daughter of Jarvis Rockwell and the late Susan Merrill, and the granddaughter of Norman Rockwell. She currently resides in Vermont.]

The novel claimed the title despite not having been reviewed by a major British newspaper. It is the first in an Indian language to win the International Booker Prize, and the first in Hindi to even secure a nomination.

Frank Wynne, chair of the judges for this years prize, said in an online news conference that Tomb of Sand was overwhelmingly the judges choice, deserving to beat the five other shortlisted novels. Some of those books were by internationally well-known authors, including The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, a Nobel Prize-winning Polish novelist, and Heaven, by Mieko Kawakami, a Japanese author best known for Breasts and Eggs.

Wynne called Tomb of Sand an extraordinarily exuberant and incredibly playful book, even though it deals with such topics as bereavement and Indias partition from Pakistan. Set in northern India, the books protagonist falls into a depression after the death of her husband, then travels to Pakistan to confront the traumas of her teenage years. Wynne said it was a novel of partition unlike any novel of partition I have ever read.

The book includes some sections told from the perspective of inanimate objects, and much of the original novel depends on wordplay in Hindi. Rockwells work on the book showed the small miracle of translation, Wynne said, borrowing a phrase from Italian author Italo Calvino.

In a review for The Hindu newspaper, Mini Kapoor wrote that while it may often appear that Shree is playing with words for the sake of word play, and that her digressions are asides, in the end nothing turns out to be self-indulgent or extraneous.

The International Booker Prize is awarded every year to the best book translated into English and published in Britain or Ireland. It is separate from the better-known Booker Prize, awarded for novels originally written in English, but it comes with the same prize money and has helped turn some authors into stars.

Last years winner was At Night All Blood Is Black, by David Diop  a novel originally in French, and translated by Anna Moschovakis, about a Senegalese soldiers descent into madness as he fights for France in the trenches of World War I.

Shrees novel was published in August by Tilted Axis Press, a small imprint set up by translator Deborah Smith after she won the International Booker Prize in 2016 for her translation of The Vegetarian. It is Shrees third novel and her first to be published in Britain, although another had been previously translated into English.

At the news conference, Wynne said the recognition for Tomb of Sand was important given its language. Tens of thousands of books are published every year in Indian languages including Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam, yet few are translated into English, he said.

That was partly because some Indian authors write in English, he said, but it may also be because some readers feel we have the Indian writing that we need.

Tomb of Sand" will be published in the U.S. in 2023 by an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Two weekends ago, my son, daughter-in-law, grandson and I hopped on a very small  at least in my estimation  commuter plane to Columbus, Ohio, for a family wedding. We could have flown into Pittsburgh just as easily as the wedding venue was somewhere halfway in between the two cities. But, as my son, David, who booked the flights, explained, Ive never seen Columbus. To be honest, he still hasnt. All we saw was the airport.

Id like to say the flights were uneventful. Unfortunately, my grandson, who is almost 11 months old, had an issue with the pressure and his ears, and let the other 77 people on the flight home know how much it hurt, screaming for 89 minutes of the 99-minute flight. Yes, he fell asleep 10 minutes before we landed in Boston. As his exhausted father said upon landing, We arent doing this again anytime soon.

The wedding itself was in the beautiful Ohio Amish region. We stayed in a farmhouse dating back to 1852, set on what at what time had been a working farm, sharing it with my nephew, Paul, and his family. As we drove from their home to the Airbnb, David remarked that he felt like he was in a scene from the 1990s film, Twister, due to the miles of cultivated fields and the flatness of the land. Where are they hiding it? he joked as we drove past a sign that announced we were near Mount Gideon.

Unlike Pennsylvania Dutch country, the Ohio Amish region  or at least the area we stayed in  seems to have escaped the commercialism that is so prevalent in Pennsylvania. (I was actively looking for a souvenir shop to buy a couple of T-shirts, to no avail.) The fields were worked by farmers using horse-drawn plows and Amish buggies ruled the small two-lane country roads. Amish children rode scooters and bikes, or walked on the shoulders of the road. Windmills stood next to the Amish farm houses, providing energy for generators. Cows and horses grazed in some of the fields. Its a little piece of heaven.

It was a great weekend, the wedding was wonderful and spending time with our family  sitting on the deck of the farmhouse or playing Farkle around a table big enough for all 11 of us  was priceless. It was plain and simple, just the surrounding Amish community.

And speaking of plain and simple, I picked up a recipe for Amish sugar cookies decades ago on a trip to Penn Dutch country. I think it came from a motel we stayed at and I managed to talk the owner, who was really Mennonite, into sharing it. The cookies are everything I want in a sugar cookie  soft, a bit chewy and buttery.

AMISH SUGAR COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil and sugars. Beat in eggs until well blended. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; gradually add to creamed mixture.

Drop by small teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 F until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data.
A memorial honors the victims killed in the recent school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. A new poll finds that nearly half of all Republicans would rather live with school shootings further tighten gun laws in an attempt to prevent them.
GRANTS PASS, OR - At approximately 7:29 p.m., Officers from the Grants Pass Police Department on Oregon responded after a citizen called and said her vehicle was stolen at gun point. According to police, officers had already been in the area looking for a vehicle with possible stolen plates. When police arrived to the carjacking scene, they located the vehicle with the stolen plates, which had been abandoned and the driver, who had forcefully taken another vehicle. The suspect, later identified as 42-year-old Jeremy Anderson, fled the area in the stolen Ford Escape.

While officers were still gathering information on the suspect and the stolen vehicle, it was located traveling in the area of Allen Creek Road and Redwood Avenue. The suspect vehicle fled from police at a high rate of speed. Due to the reckless disregard for the safety of the public by the suspect, officers terminated the pursuit and began setting up a perimeter to locate the vehicle. Additional reports were received about the vehicle driving at a high rate of speed, possibly heading toward Williams Highway.

While officers were attempting to locate the suspect off of Williams Highway, a caller reported that another vehicle was stolen in the area of Skycrest Lane and the suspect had discharged a round from a firearm while stealing the vehicle. Officers located the stolen Ford Escape abandoned and another vehicle, a PT Cruiser, had been stolen. Prior to officers arriving on that scene, there was yet another report of a vehicle being stolen in another nearby area. It was later determined the shots were fired while the second vehicle was being stolen by the suspect.

With the report of shots being fired and multiple vehicles being car jacked, deputies with the Josephine County Sheriff's Office and Troopers from the Oregon State Police responded to assist with the investigation. As officers arrived on scene, they learned the suspect had crashed the stolen PT Cruiser then forcibly stole a GMC Canyon pickup.

A short time later, there was a report of a vehicle that crashed near the Valley of the Rogue State Park on Interstate 5. The vehicle matched the description of the stolen GMC Canyon.

Deputies and Troopers from Jackson County, Oregon responded and learned the suspect who had crashed the GMC had taken yet another vehicle, a yellow Dodge Ram, by force. The truck was located by officers responding and a pursuit followed. The suspect attempted to elude the officers and eventually stopped at a residence and was taken into custody by the Oregon State Police and Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

Anderson was turned over to detectives with the Grants Pass Police Department and was later booked in the Josephine County Jail.

As of this writing, police have not confirmed if at any point during the series of carjackings, or before, if Anderson was accompanied by 36-year-old Candi R. Chandler, of Orofino, who was reported missing by her father Keith on June 2. Last Wednesday, an Orofino Police Department release said if Chandler was in the company of Anderson, that it was unclear if she is doing so by choice or if she is under duress. Chandler was considered an "At-Risk Missing Person," said police.

Police say the investigation into the carjackings is ongoing. One person was transported for minor injuries as a result of one of the vehicle thefts. All vehicles have been recovered and the original vehicle with the stolen plates has been impounded for further investigation.

Anderson is now facing charges related to the multiple carjackings. Police says he will face crimes in both Jackson and Josephine Counties.

Charges include the following:
Pioneer photos/Joe Judd

MECOSTA COUNTY  The Michigan Department of Rural and Economic Development has awarded $47,000 to the Mecosta County Free Fair for new equipment and infrastructure work.

Its the second time Mecosta County applied for the grant, said John Currie, manager of Mecosta County Free Fair. The grant works by matching money with two other funding outlets. By doing this, the county is trying to reach a funding goal of $75,000.
Targeting DRUG DELIVERY

In recent years, several innovations have emerged around long-acting formulations and medical device development to improve patient compliance. Consequently, the growing need for controlled drug release coupled with technological advancements in pharmacology is promoting the adoption of novel drug delivery systems (NDDS). It is now crucial for Asia Pacific (APAC) drug formulators to learn and act upon these advances in therapeutic modalities that address long-standing bioavailability, dosage, and ingestion challenges of drug components to remain competitive in the global market. Simultaneously, its essential to optimise the therapeutic efficacy and safety profiles of a drug by regulating dosage parameters, while DDS plays an important role in administering drugs, vaccines, and therapeutic agents. Optimising these techniques enhance the performance efficacy ratio of medications by economically managing therapeutics assets. Lets examine recent advancements in drug delivery modalities that are greatly encouraging stakeholders collaboration among innovators, manufacturers, investors, and contract development and manufacturing companies (CDMOs) who are capitalising on competitive advantages.
PUNE-BASED ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT CENTER (VENTURE CENTER) GAINS No 1 POSITION IN BIOSPECTRUM BIOINCUBATOR SURVEY 2020-21

BioSpectrum India, a leading B2B media platform in Lifesciences space since 2003 has re-launched its ranking special edition in June 2019 after gap of 2 years. In this survey we looked at BioIncubators (both private and public) spread across India based on their achievements in the past financial year  2020-21. A detailed questionnaire (survey form) was sent to over 40 BioIncubators to capture the needed information for the year 2020-21 for the analysis. This was done during April  May 2022. BioIncubators shared information with us to the extent it was possible by them. # For all the ranking purposes we have taken four parameters - No. of incubatees joined, Funds raised, Space available for incubation at the centre, MoUs signed by the BioIncubator with other agencies to attract enterprises/ entrepreneurs during 2020-21. We have considered the names of the BioIncubators who have participated in the survey, as we didnt received the filled in forms from some of other BioIncubators.
The facility will be operational within a month

Athulya Assisted Living announced its entry into Bengaluru by opening a 250-bedded premium assisted facility, the first one being located in Hosa Road near Sarjapur and the second facility in Whitefield. Athulyas first Bengaluru facility will fully become operational in a month.

The key focus of Athulya, right from its inception is dedicated senior citizen care that includes assisted living, palliative care, critical home care and transition care services all under one single roof.
European online retail giant Zalando has acquired a majority stake in fashion and lifestyle media brand Highsnobiety, as the companies look to benefit from the combined power of content and commerce.

Highsnobiety Not-in-Paris-Lookbook. Source: Highsnobiety

Turning stories into products, and products into stories

Highsnobiety founder and CEO David Fischer. Source: Highsnobiety

Highsnobiety was founded in Berlin in 2005 by David Fischer as a blog that heralded the convergence of streetwear and high-end luxury fashion. Today, Highsnobiety comprises a publishing arm, creative consultancy and a curated commerce platform. Teaming up with Highsnobiety is expected to accelerate Zalando's ambition to be a top destination for streetwear, new luxury and fashion inspiration, especially for the younger, fashion-forward consumers.The two companies said they will leverage each other's complementary strengths by bringing together Highsnobietys cultural relevance and insight, fashion authority and storytelling expertise with Zalandos fashion network, e-commerce know-how and operational capabilities.While continuing independent operations, Highsnobiety will act as a strategic and creative consultant helping Zalando develop new inspiration-focused spaces and formats on its platform.The high-end streetwear platform's capabilities will play into Zalandos ambitions to weave inspirational experiences into the customer journey and create an exciting and engaging online environment for both consumers and brands. In turn, joining the Zalando Group allows Highsnobiety to leverage Zalandos expertise and resources to fuel its own e-commerce capabilities.David Fischer, Highsnobietys founder and CEO, comments: Highsnobiety has mastered the art of turning stories into products and products into stories. I am very excited to bring our capabilities to Zalando's commitment towards fashion inspiration and together reimagine the future of content and commerce. Equally, I am thrilled to tap into Zalandos unrivaled expertise in scaling e-commerce platforms and bring my lifetimes passion work to the next level.David Schneider, Highsnobietys founder and co-CEO, says: Both of our companies share a passion for building strong brand partnerships and enabling brands to inspire audiences with their products and stories.Partnering with Highsnobiety will allow us to execute much faster on our ambition to offer the most relevant and engaging  as well as convenient  shopping experience to our customers. Im excited to see our joint vision materialise and to shape the future of fashion content in commerce together.As part of the deal, Highsnobiety will retain its editorial and curational autonomy, with the publishing and agency work remaining fully independent. It will continue to be led by its two managing directors, David Fischer and Jurgen Hopfgartner, and Fischer will retain a minority stake in the business.Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.
Public comment on draft regulations closes 20 June 2022

Proposed regulations governing compulsory community service for the legal profession may be out of kilter with their spirit and intention: to enhance meaningful access to justice.The draft regulations , published by the Minister of Justice in terms of the Legal Practice Act, make provision for legal professionals and candidate attorneys to do compulsory community service as part of their work. The proposals are open for public comment until 20 June.Legal tech giant LexisNexis South Africa this week called on members of the public, especially legal professionals, to weigh in on Section 29 of the Act to enable constructive debate and ensure essential access to the law is achieved.Said LNSA CEO Videsha Proothveerajh: We are committed to advancing the rule of law. Key to this is enabling access to the law, particularly for the most vulnerable. Its absolutely essential that legal professionals, young and old, take the time to share their views on the proposals to ensure the true intent of community service is realised.While the Act does not define community service, it does suggest that it would include working for no pay for the State, the South African Human Rights Commission, acting as a judicial officer, or providing legal education and training on behalf of the Legal Practice Council, an NGO or an academic institution.In essence, the regulations propose that all legal practitioners (advocates and attorneys) will be required to do 40 hours community service a year.But the regulations state that any pro-bono services - free legal services to indigent and needy people - rendered by a practicing legal practitioner will be recognised as community service. And they propose that candidate attorneys and pupil advocates only do eight hours of community service a year.Attorney Shaun Hangone, Law Society of South Africa pro-bono committee member, explained that prior to the enactment of the LPA, attorneys were required to do 24 hours of pro-bono service a year.This was monitored by provincial pro-bono coordinators under the auspices of the provincial law societies, now replaced by the Legal Practice Council (LPC).The provision that pro-bono work be considered as community service, meant that little would change for legal practitioners, except for the number of hours required. They increase the hours but not onerously so, he said.And eight hours of community service for candidate attorneys is just not enough for them to give anything meaningful or get back anything meaningful.Hangone said what was missing from the proposed regulations were the nuts and bolts of how community service could be rendered and to whom and how this would be effectively monitored.The logistics are not in place. It seems it has not been thoroughly thought through as to how service delivery, access to justice, can be addressed through community service, he said.There is a golden opportunity, if done correctly, to allow for young aspiring lawyers to have some positive impact on the community, but if there is no interplay between the civil service/NGO hub and the private sector, it will be lost. We should be working towards a system where qualifying as a lawyer is dependent on rendering meaningful community service while obtaining across the board experience.Sithuthukile Mkhize, the head of the Civil and Political Justice programme at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at the University of Witwatersrand, said the proposed regulations were confusing in that it was not clear exactly how much community service work, as opposed to pro bono work, lawyers in practice were expected to do and the minister appeared to have conflated community service with pro bono.The idea behind a requirement to do community service is a good one. It allows exposure for candidate legal practitioners to various areas of practice and opens up more opportunities for them.In turn, it increases the capacity of the institutions where community work is done. If the community service system is monitored well or measures are put in place for it to function effectively, it can be a great win for those who stand to benefit, she said.Comments on the draft regulations can be emailed to Ms W Louw at az.vog.ecitsuj@wuoLiW . For postal, hand deliveries and fax options, access further details here
Clockwork will lead digital content creation and production across the Peroni Nastro Azzurro portfolio.

Clockwork UK, whose clients include Netflix, Hotter and Xbox, have won the Peroni Nastro Azzurro content and production business via a competitive pitch. The win follows a number of recent appointments since the UK office opened its doors 18 months ago.The shop will be responsible for creating and delivering key pieces of content across the year to support Peroni Nastro Azzurros ambitious marketing plans and reinforce its premium positioning. Clockwork will also be tasked with adapting key ATL assets created by the lead global creative agency  Troublemaker.Richard Dutton, Clockwork managing director said: Peroni Nastro Azzurro is a brand I have admired for many a year  as a marketer and a consumer. Peroni Nastro Azzurro have great ambitions backed by a super talented team. We are very much looking forward to getting goingMarcus Reynolds, Clockwork CSO added: Peroni Nastro Azzurro is the ultimate premium beer and synonymous with quality in the minds of UK consumers. We look forward to helping establish their new brand platform through engaging content across multiple social destinations.Anja Gottschalk, marketing manager at Peroni Nastro Azzurro, commented on the appointment: "Clockwork demonstrated a great understanding of our brand and how we can use content to further deepen our relationship with our target audiences."Clockwork will work alongside Peroni Nastro Azzurro retained media agency  Wavemaker, as well as the rest of the Peroni Nastro Azzurro roster including global lead creative agency  Troublemaker.
Subscribe to daily business and company news across 19 industries

SUBSCRIBE
Digital Solutions Consultant Mena

Location: Cape Town Job level: Senior Type: Permanent Company: Incubeta

Job description

Tracking and Measurement Strategies Audience Segmentation Campaign Management and Optimisation, Media Strategy, Content & Communication Advice Conversion Optimisation Data Layers Advanced Research & Analysis.

Reports to the Client Service Director

Closely interacts with MENA MD, other Solution Consultants, Client Services, Project Managers and Global Implementation & Delivery Teams.

Works closely with Platform Partners ie. Google, Facebook / Smartly / Pinterest / Twitter / LinkedIn etc to stay ahead of tech, gain access to betas & conferences etc.



At least 8 years experience in the digital marketing environment.

Up to date GMP Certifications at Basic and Advanced level.

Strong in strategic analysis and profound advisory skills.

Excellent communication skills and the ability to translate customer needs to deliver high levels of satisfaction.

Proven track record on successful business development.

Sound understanding of the online advertising industry, knowledge of the underlying technology, major tech providers, agencies landscape and online media buying and selling processes including the programmatic buying landscape.

Proven knowledge of Incubeta products/services or similar products/services that Incubeta services.

Strong understanding of all digital marketing channels, ad technologies, cross media solutions and passionate about (ad) technology and how technology can shape the online advertising industry and ecosystem in the benefits of our clients.

Highly motivated, enthusiastic, goal-orientated and team player.

Advanced project management skills.

Native or bilingual proficiency of the English language, understanding of Arabic language is advantageous.

A people person - comfortable with collaboration and can build internal relationships with cross-functional teams (Sales/Client Services).

Excellent organisational, and problem solving/decision making skills.

Experience building & optimising feeds for data-driven projects / and or DPL

Experience working with Facebook Marketing Partners, Example: Smartly or Nannigans to increase investment yield

Experience working with Basic to intermediate knowledge of Javascript and HTML

Knowledge of Digital transformation

3rd Party tracking solutions

Data Studio and dash-building experience

Data Management with some experience with Google Cloud (BQ & ADH)

SEO & Website optimisation

API integrations

Strong mobile and app experience, including Firebase and AppsFlyer

Ability to understand the customer's key business & marketing challenges and translate this as a proposal on how our tech & consulting services can help achieve these goals

External Consultancy towards clients: Develop and present digital strategies, marketing and technology consultancy services across all digital channels to transform and enhance the success of existing and prospective customers. Propose technical solution and roadmap for client's to improve their business goals and process by combining deep tech, product & strategic knowledge Develop and Execute Client Roadmap Plans Technical and strategic audits, including data-privacy compliance Map organisational goals to marketing initiatives and design a Measurement framework to track the performance of marketing initiatives Advise our existing and prospective customers, consultants and account directors in delivering the most impactful and efficient digital media strategies and help them analyze the data, trends and performance Assist clients to understand and know how to read and interpret their data Attend client meetings remotely. Be responsible for the training and enablement of client's and their stakeholders, formulating a development plan that will support the client's transformation to digital maturity. Drive innovation and spot opportunities to enhance or expand service offerings to clients

Internal Consultancy towards Incubeta (internal teams): Working closely with MENA commercial teams to support business development Mentor and guide junior team members on tech implementations and Paid Social best practices. Quality controls/audits and able to spot where clients accounts have room for improvement and growth



Occasional travel to Dubai may be required based on clients needs.

Exceptional communication skills both written and verbal

Display professional and example behaviour at all times

Specialised knowledge - have worked in a serious, thoughtful and sustained way to master the specialized knowledge needed to succeed in their fields; and that they keep this knowledge up-to-date so that they can continue to deliver the best work possible.

Competency - Professionals get the job done. They're reliable, and they keep their promises. If circumstances arise that prevent them from delivering on their promises, they manage expectations up front, and they do their best to make the situation right. Professionals don't make excuses but focus on finding solutions.

Solutions-oriented with a growth mindset

Displays honesty and integrity at all times

Be accountable for their actions even when making mistakes

Show respect for the people around them, no matter what their role or situation.

They exhibit a high degree of emotional intelligence (EI) by considering the emotions and needs of others, and they don't let a bad day impact how they interact with colleagues or clients.

Project a positive attitude at all times towards clients team members and motivate team members when they are less positive.

Display strong interpersonal skills. Ability to build strong relationships with clients and colleagues; display a strong team spirit.

Maintain the highest standards of delivery, productivity and effectiveness at all times

Organised and detail-oriented

Display focus and dedication at all times

Be approachable and open to constructive criticism

Exceptional time management skills and ability to prioritise a high volume of projects simultaneously in a fast-paced unpredictable environment.

Ability to remain calm and thrive under pressure

Strong problem-solving skills

Display a high level of independence.

Display a hunger for knowledge and a willingness to learn for any situation

Respect, appreciation and contribution towards decision making

Incubeta is a growth partner for our clients, offering solutions across media, technology, creative and data that address their challenges and move the needle on their businesses. Our mantra is "We don't sell products/services, we solve business problems"Deepening relationships with existing clients is a key driver for Incubetas growth so it is vital that we are consistently looking for opportunities to deliver further value to clients (in the form of additional services of course) that will bolster their digital marketing activities, ultimately leading to improved business performance.To support this growth strategy, Incubeta MENA is looking for Digital Solutions Consultants who will work alongside the client service team in this region to craft & deliver solutions that will drive business value for our clients.A Digital Solutions Consultant (DSC) is responsible for delivering cutting-edge client solutions for his/her/their respective client portfolios. The DSC is required to apply their extensive media expertise to implement strategic, creative and innovative strategies, aimed at solving complex client business challenges by offering and executing full-stack Google Marketing Platform (GMP), Social Media and Proprietary Technology. The DSC will work in close cooperation with the Lead Consultant, Client Services, Media, Data and Analytics implementation teams, and other stakeholders.The DSC role will form part of the product specialist & consultancy layer within the MENA Market and as a DSC specializing in Paid Performance Media, you will be primarily responsible for determining the technical scope of new and existing business opportunities and providing digital strategies, marketing, and technology consulting services across Paid Media Channels in order to transform and increase the success of our existing and future customers, primarily leveraging Facebook Business Manager, Smartly, Twitter Ads, Linkedin, Snapchat etc strategies and how they integrate into the Google Marketing Stack (GMP).You will assist our Key Regional Clients (predominantly in the Travel Vertical) in improving their business processes by combining your knowledge to create best-in-class solutions. You will collaborate closely with paired Subject-Matter Experts (SME's) and with cross-functional teams, such as Sales, Implementation and Client Services to drive customer communications, feature priority, and technical issue resolution, resulting in the best possible customer experience, while scaling our clients growth and digital maturity.At its core, a Digital Solutions Consultant requires knowledge of:While remaining current on global market trends, data privacy, product updates and innovative media strategies.The Solutions consultant will also assist (when required) the sales team with the commercial structures, product consultancy and technical advice. They will be responsible for delivering frameworks and strategies that will enhance client network, workflows and business results.Please be advised that this role is aligned with the Middle East time zone and individuals are required to be open to work the occasional Sunday as and when required.This includes but is not limited to taking decisions independently while staying within the company guidelines; Proactive attitude; staying self-motivated; being self-reliant; continuous self-development without expecting to be taken by the hand.Posted on 14 Jun 09:04, Closing date 13 Aug
Interview: Nomura envisages opportunities from China's drive to further open up financial sector

Xinhua) 09:29, June 14, 2022

HONG KONG, June 13 (Xinhua) -- China's drive to further reform and open up its financial industry means huge opportunities for foreign financial institutions, a high-ranking executive of Japan-based Nomura Holdings Inc. has told Xinhua.

"China has become the second largest economy in the world, and its capital market is also the second largest globally," said Toshiyasu Iiyama, executive managing director of Nomura Holdings Inc. and chairman of the China committee, in a written interview with Xinhua recently.

"China's building of a multi-layer capital market system as well as the further reform and opening-up of the financial industry are providing more and more opportunities to foreign financial institutions to achieve more development and growth in China," said Iiyama.

He said that many foreign institutions, including Nomura, have benefited from the continuous opening-up and development of China's financial market.

Nomura Holdings Inc., a company mainly engaged in securities, investment and other financial businesses worldwide, entered the China market 40 years ago.

In 2019, Nomura launched its joint venture, Nomura Orient International Securities, one of China's first newly approved foreign-controlled securities companies, which was viewed by the global financial service provider as a major breakthrough.

Nomura said that its business in the China market has been encouraging, with the joint venture headquartered in Shanghai city and three new branches in Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou.

For the time being, Nomura Orient International Securities has opened more than 1,600 customer accounts, overseeing around 5.60 billion yuan (832.1 million U.S. dollars) of client assets.

"This year is the 40th anniversary of Nomura's presence in China. Nomura opened its Beijing representative office back in 1982, as one of the first foreign securities companies entering the Chinese market. Over the past 40 years, we have been honored to witness the development and opening-up of China's financial market," Iiyama said.

"The establishment of a joint venture securities firm in China is a great opportunity not only for the joint venture itself, but also for the entire Nomura Group. We highly appreciate the opportunity provided by China's further opening-up," he said.

Naming multiple factors as driving forces for the growth of the Chinese financial sector, Iiyama said that China's booming economy in the past decades, especially after China adopted the reform and opening-up policy more than 40 years ago, has built a solid foundation for the development of China's financial industry.

In recent years, the transformation and upgrading of China's economic structure has also supported the high-level opening-up of the financial industry, he noted.

Iiyama said the successful reform of China's financial system, such as a multi-layer capital market system and the regulatory system, has also provided a strong guarantee for the further development of the financial sector.

"I think the active participation and support from various market players have also contributed to the prosperity and vitality of China's financial industry," he said.

As for the China market strategy in the years ahead, Iiyama said, "We expect the wealth management business to grow rapidly in China, although this is only the beginning of Nomura's strategy in China."

"We are taking steps to expand our onshore business here. Nomura Orient International Securities is in preparation to apply for an investment banking license, aiming to become a fully licensed brokerage and provide more diversified and comprehensive services to high-net-worth clients," he said.

"Connecting Nomura's global network to the Chinese market is our next important agenda, and we have been already working on it. Through Nomura's global network, the group can connect with the markets of Tokyo, New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore, and we are working hard to provide new products and services to our clients," he said.

Nomura hopes to continue providing long-time strong support to China's financial market and clients with its global network and financial expertise, he added.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Ten GOP senators on Sunday announced plans to backstab their own constituents and unite with Democrats to pass new gun control measures.



Ten Republican Senators and ten Democrats senators released the following joint statement:

"Today, we are announcing a commonsense, bipartisan proposal to protect America's children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country. Families are scared, and it is our duty to come together and get something done that will help restore their sense of safety and security in their communities. Our plan increases needed mental health resources, improves school safety and support for students, and helps ensure dangerous criminals and those who are adjudicated as mentally ill can't purchase weapons. Most importantly, our plan saves lives while also protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans. We look forward to earning broad, bipartisan support and passing our commonsense proposal into law."



The proposal includes:



Support for State Crisis Intervention Orders



- Provides resources to states and tribes to create and administer laws that help ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of individuals whom a court has determined to be a significant danger to themselves or others, consistent with state and federal due process and constitutional protections.



Investment in Children and Family Mental Health Services



- National expansion of community behavioral health center model; major investments to increase access to mental health and suicide prevention programs; and other support services available in the community, including crisis and trauma intervention and recovery.



Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence



- Convicted domestic violence abusers and individuals subject to domestic violence restraining orders are included in NICS, including those who have or have had a continuing relationship of a romantic or intimate nature.



Funding for School-Based Mental Health and Supportive Services



- Invests in programs to expand mental health and supportive services in schools, including: early identification and intervention programs and school based mental health and wrap-around services.



Funding for School Safety Resources



- Invests in programs to help institute safety measures in and around primary and secondary schools, support school violence prevention efforts and provide training to school personnel and students.



Clarification of Definition of Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer



- Cracks down on criminals who illegally evade licensing requirements.



Telehealth Investments



- Invests in programs that increase access to mental and behavioral health services for youth and families in crisis via telehealth.



Under 21 Enhanced Review Process



- For buyers under 21 years of age, requires an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement.



Penalties for Straw Purchasing



- Cracks down on criminals who illegally straw purchase and traffic guns.

Here are the ten GOP senators planning to stab their voters in the back:



Roy Blunt of Missouri

Richard Burr of North Carolina

John Cornyn of Texas

Bill Cassidy of Louisiana

Susan Collins of Maine

Lindsey Graham of South Carolina

Rob Portman of Ohio

Mitt Romney of Utah

Thom Tillis of North Carolina

Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.



Democratic senator Joe Manchin also signed on to the gun control push despite West Virginia being one of the most pro-gun states in the country.



[Header image by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0]



Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Minds and Telegram.
The president of the Brookings Institution resigned Sunday amid a federal investigation into whether he illegally lobbied on behalf of the wealthy Persian Gulf nation of Qatar.

Retired Gen. John Allen wrote in a letter to the think tank that he was leaving with a heavy heart but did not offer a direct explanation.

I know it is best for all concerned in this moment, Allens letter said.

A retired four-star Marine general who led U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Allens announcement came less than a week after The Associated Press was first to report on new court filings that showed the FBI had seized Allens electronic data as part of the lobbying probe.

Allen has not been charged with any crimes and, through a spokesman, has denied any wrongdoing.

Brookings, which had put Allen on administrative leave the day after the APs initial report, issued a statement thanking Allen for guiding the think tank through the coronavirus pandemic and other contributions. The institution said information about the search for a new president would be forthcoming.
New York, the state and the city, has paid over $200,000 to drag performers for appearances in New York City public schools since 2018.

The state funds came via its Council on the Arts ($50,000) while the Big Apples from its Departments of Education, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Community Development, and Department of Transportation ($157,000), the New York Post reports.

Since January of this year, the group Drag Story Hour NYC (formerly the Drag Queen Story Hour NYC) has made 49 appearances in 34 schools, elementary through senior high. In May, the group made $46,000 for its appearances at schools, festivals and libraries.

New York City Council has allocated $80,000 for Drag Story Hour NYC this year alone, more than triple the 2020 funding.

Drag Story Hour NYC members usually read aloud from a list of books that teach acceptance and inclusion, including childrens classics like Where the Wild Things Are and The Rainbow Fish. But other books overtly celebrate gender fluidity such as The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish.

From the story:
A new report on asset forfeiture arrives at the same conclusions every other report on the subject has: forfeiture makes money for cops, does almost nothing to stop illegal activity, and rarely, if ever, results in criminal convictions. (via CJ Ciaramella at Reason)

The new report [PDF], put together by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF), takes a look at the forfeiture racket in Kansas. Fortunately, a new law mandates more detailed reporting on forfeitures, meaning the AFPF actually had some data to work with.

Not that its necessarily comprehensive or accurate data. Law enforcement agencies have way more enthusiasm for inconsistently enforcing laws than they do for complying with them. A deep dive into the data performed by a Kansas news outlet found the reports delivered by agencies was incomplete, inaccurate, and outdated. It also discovered the overseer of this mandate  the Kansas Bureau of Investigation  didnt seem to care that the information it was being given was inaccurate or incomplete.

Sometimes you just have to work with what you have, which is what the Foundation has done. What already looks pretty bad might be even worse than it appears. What it does show is its steady work for the states cops, even if its not really the sort of work that actually delivers results to anyone but the law enforcement agencies profiting from seizures.

The report points out the $21 million collected over the last two years is the equivalent of walking off with $13,000 of other peoples property every day. But that $13k/day takes a few hours to add up. To reduce the likelihood of losing what theyve seized, most forfeitures involve amounts that are too small to result in serious legal challenges.

In many cases, the cost of recovering the property is greater than the value of the property seized. The Institute for Justice estimates the average cost to hire an attorney to fight a simple state forfeiture case is $3,000. Half of all seizures in the KASFR database have a value of $3,100 or less. Most people whose property has been seized by Kansas law enforcement are better off forfeiting what was taken.

This is why Kansas law enforcement agencies have been able to hold onto 91% of the property theyve seized. And theyve done so while securing a conviction in less than a quarter of all forfeiture cases. The small percentage whove managed to get their property back have engaged in protracted legal battles and endured law enforcement stonewalling. The average time from seizure to return of property in Kansas is 419 days.

Sure, there are some exceptions to these rules. Occasionally, cops make a really big bust.

Last year, a Kansas county sheriff s office worked with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to seize $165,000 from an armored vehicle. The van was transporting the proceeds from legal medical marijuana sales made in Missouri to Colorado. The DEA surveilled the vehicle as it retrieved cash from legally operating dispensaries, then alerted a Kansas sheriff s deputy when the van re-entered Kansas. The sheriff s deputy stopped the vehicle and seized the cash without charging the driver with a crime or even issuing a traffic citation.

Sounds impressive. It isnt. The DOJ has already returned $1.2 million seized from this same cash transport company by California law enforcement. The company, Empyreal, is still suing Kansas law enforcement for the DEA-aided seizure detailed above. How does seizing money from a company transporting legally-obtained cash help fight the Drug War? It doesnt. And no one in Kansas law enforcement or the DEA seems to care.

As long as it remains profitable, Kansas law enforcement will continue to participate in this somehow-lawful scam. But at least the new reporting mandates will give us an idea how much of mockery of justice it has become in that state.
Where does the data come from?

Weather apps, navigation apps, coupon apps, and family safety apps often request location access in order to enable key features. But once an app has location access, it typically has free rein to share that access with just about anyone.

Thats where the location data broker industry comes in. Data brokers entice app developers with cash-for-data deals, often paying per user for direct access to their device. Developers can add bits of code called software development kits, or SDKs, from location brokers into their apps. Once installed, a brokers SDK is able to gather data whenever the app itself has access to it: sometimes, that means access to location data whenever the app is open. In other cases, it means background access to data whenever the phone is on, even if the app is closed.

One app developer received the following marketing email from data broker Safegraph:

SafeGraph can monetize between $1-$4 per user per year on exhaust data (across location, matches, segments, and other strategies) for US mobile users who have strong data records. We already partner with several GPS apps with great success, so I would definitely like to explore if a data partnership indeed makes sense.

But brokers are not limited to data from apps they partner with directly. The ad tech ecosystem provides ample opportunities for interested parties to skim from the torrents of personal information that are broadcast during advertising auctions. In a nutshell, advertising monetization companies (like Google) partner with apps to serve ads. As part of the process, they collect data about usersincluding location, if availableand share that data with hundreds of different companies representing digital advertisers. Each of these companies uses that data to decide what ad space to bid on, which is a nasty enough practice on its own. But since these bidstream data flows are largely unregulated, the companies are also free to collect the data as it rushes past and store it for later use.

The data brokers covered in this post add another layer of misdirection to the mix. Some of them may gather data from apps or advertising exchanges directly, but others acquire data exclusively from other data brokers. For example, Babel Street reportedly purchases all of its data from Venntel. Venntel, in turn, acquires much of its data from its parent company, the marketing-oriented data broker Gravy Analytics. And Gravy Analytics has purchased access to data from the brokers Complementics, Predicio, and Mobilewalla. We have little information about where those companies get their databut some of it may be coming from any of the dozens of other companies in the business of buying and selling location data.

If youre looking for an answer to which apps are sharing data?, the answer is: Its almost impossible to know. Reporting, technical analysis, and right-to-know requests through laws like GDPR have revealed relationships between a handful of apps and location data brokers. For example, we know that the apps Muslim Pro and Muslim Mingle sold data to X-Mode, and that navigation app developer Sygic sent data to Predicio (which sold it to Gravy Analytics and Venntel). However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Each of the location brokers discussed in this post obtains data from hundreds or thousands of different sources. Venntel alone has claimed to gather data from over 80,000 different apps. Because much of its data comes from other brokers, most of these apps likely have no direct relationship with Venntel. As a result, the developers of the apps fueling this industry likely have no idea where their users data ends up. Users, in turn, have little hope of understanding whether and how their data arrives in these data brokers hands.

Who sells location data?

Dozens of companies make billions of dollars selling location data on the private market. Most of the clients are the usual suspects in the data trademarketing firms, hedge funds, real estate companies, and other data brokers. Thanks to lackluster regulation, both the ways personal data flows between private companies and the ways its used there are exceedingly difficult to trace. The companies involved usually insist that the data about where people live, sleep, gather, worship, and protest is used for strictly benign purposes, like deciding where to build a Starbucks or serving targeted ads.

But a handful of companies sell to a more action-oriented clientele: federal law enforcement, the military, intelligence agencies, and defense contractors. Over the past few years, a cadre of journalists have gradually uncovered details about the clandestine purchase of location data by agencies with the power to imprison or kill, and the intensely secretive companies who sell it.

This chart illustrates the flow of location data from apps to agencies via two of the most prominent government-facing brokers: Venntel and Babel Street.

The vendor we know the most about is Venntel, a subsidiary of the commercial agency Gravy Analytics. Its current and former clients in the US government include, at a minimum, the IRS, the DHS and its subsidiaries ICE and CBP, the DEA, and the FBI. Gravy Analytics does not embed SDKs directly into apps; rather, it acquires all of its data indirectly through other data brokers.

Few data brokers reveal where their data comes from, and Venntel is no exception. But investigations and congressional testimony have revealed at least a few of Venntels sources. In 2020, Martin Gundersen of NRK Beta filed requests under the GDPRs Right to Know in order to trace how data about his location made its way to Venntel. He installed two navigation apps from the company Sygic, as well as an app called Funny Weather, and granted them location permissions. Funny Weather sold his data to location broker Predicio, which then sold it to Gravy Analytics. The Sygic apps sold data to both Predicio and another firm, Complementics, which sent data to Gravy as well. All of the data ended up inside Venntels database. In 2021, following a lengthy investigation by Sen. Ron Wyden, broker Mobilewalla revealed that it too had sold data to Venntel.

Gravy Analytics shares some information about its location-data practices on its website. Gravy claims it has access to over 150 million devices. It also states outright that it does not gather data from the bidstream. But government officials have told Congress that they believe Venntels data is derived both from SDKs and from the bidstream, and there is other evidence to support that belief. One of Venntels sources, Mobilewalla, has testified to Congress that it gathers and sells bidstream-based location data. Government contracts describe Venntels dataset as containing data from over 80,000 apps. Data brokers that rely solely on SDKs, like X-Mode, tend to maintain direct relationships with just a few hundred apps. Venntels incredible app coverage makes it likely that at least a portion of its data has been siphoned from the bidstream.

Venntels data is disaggregated and device-specificmaking it easier for this data to point right to you. Motherboard reported that Venntel allows users to search for devices in a particular area, or to search for a particular device identifier to see where that device has been. It allows customers to track devices to specific workplaces, businesses, and homes. Although it may not include explicitly identifying information like names or phone numbers, this does not mean it is anonymous. As one former employee told Motherboard, you could definitely try and identify specific people.

Venntel has sold several annual licenses to its Venntel Portal, a web app granting access to its database, at a price of around $20,000 for 12,000 queries. It has also sold direct access to all of its data from a region, updated daily and uploaded to a government-controlled server, for a more lavish $650,000 per year.

Babel Street is a government contractor that specializes in open-source intelligence (OSINT) services for law enforcement. Its flagship product, Babel X, scrapes and interprets text from social media and other websites and merges OSINT with data gathered from more traditional intelligence techniques. Babel Street is widely used by the military, intelligence agencies, private companies, and federal, state, and local law enforcement. It also sells access to app-derived location data through a service called Locate X, as first reported by Protocol in March 2020.

Babel Street first registered Locate X with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2017. The service allows Babels clients to query a database of app-derived location data. Locate X can be used to draw a digital fence around an address or area, pinpoint devices that were in that location, and see where else those devices went in prior months. Records obtained by Motherboard from DHS reveal that, according to a DHS official, Babel Street basically re-hosts Venntels data at a greater cost and with significant constraints on data access. Babel Street employees have also said Venntel is the ultimate source of most of the location data flowing to the federal government that we are aware of.

Although Babel Street has many public-facing marketing materials, it has attempted to keep details about Locate X a secret. Terms of use provided by Babel Street to its clients ban using Locate X data as evidence, or even mentioning it in legal proceedings. Still, several buyers of Locate X have been reported publicly, including the Air National Guard, the U.S. Special Forces Command (SOCOM), CBP, ICE, and the Secret Service.

Anomaly 6 (or A6) also sells app-derived location data to the government. Its existence was first reported by the Wall Street Journal in 2020.

A6 was founded by a pair of ex-Babel Street employees, Brendan Huff and Jeffrey Heinz. At Babel Street, the two men managed relationships with large government clients, including the Defense Department, the Justice Department, and the intelligence community. After striking off on their own, A6 allegedly began developing a product to compete with Babel Streets Locate X, and catering its services to a very similar clientele. In 2018, Babel Street sued the company and its founders, and the two companies eventually settled out of court.

A6 presents very little information about itself publicly. Its website comprises just a company logo and an email address on an animated background. It is not registered as a data broker in either California or Vermont. Not much is known about A6s data sources, either. The Wall Street Journal reported that it collects data via SDKs in more than 500 mobile apps. According to a 2021 report by Motherboard, these SDKs are deployed by partners of the company, not A6 itself, creating a buffer between the company and its data sources. A6 claims its contracts with the government are confidential and it cant reveal which agencies its working with. Public procurement records reveal at least one relationship: in September 2020, SOCOM division SOCAFRICA paid $589,000 for A6s services.

In April 2022, The Intercept and Tech Inquiry reported on presentations that A6 made in a meeting with Zignal Labs, a social media monitoring firm with access to Twitters firehose. A6 proposed a partnership between the two firms that would allow their clients to determine who exactly sent certain tweets, where they sent them from, who they were with, and more. In order to demonstrate its capability, A6 performed a live demonstration: it tracked phones of Russian soldiers amassed on the Ukrainian border to show where they had come from, and it tracked 183 devices that had visited both the NSA and CIA headquarters to show where American intelligence personnel might be deployed. It followed one suspected intelligence officer around the United States, to an American airfield in Jordan, and then back to their home.

X-Mode is a location data broker which collects data directly from apps with its own SDK. X-mode began as the developer of a single app, drunk mode, designed to help users avoid sending embarrassing texts after dark. But once the app started getting traction, the company decided its real value was in the data. It pivoted to develop an SDK that gathered location data from apps and funneled it to X-Mode, which sold the data streams to nearly anyone who would pay. Its not clear whether X-Mode had direct relationships with any government clients, but it has sold data to several defense contractors that work directly with the U.S. military, including Systems & Technology Research and the Sierra Nevada Corporation. It has also sold to HYAS, a private intelligence firm that tracks threat actors suspected of being involved with cyberattacks to their door" on behalf of law enforcement and private clients.

X-Mode developed an SDK that was embedded directly in apps. It paid developers directly for their data, at a rate of $0.03 per U.S. user per month, and $0.005 per international user. X-modes direct-SDK model also made it possible to figure out exactly which apps shared data with the company by analyzing the apps themselves. Thats why the company made headlines in 2020, when Motherboard revealed that dozens of apps that target at-risk groups - including two of the largest Islamic apps in the U.S., Muslim Pro and Salaat First - were monetizing location data with X-Mode. This visibility also made X-Mode more accountable for its behavior: both Apple and Google concluded that X-Mode violated their developer terms of service, and banned any apps using X-Modes SDK from the App Store and the Play Store.

At one time, X-Mode boasted it had data from about 25 million active users in the U.S. and 40 million more worldwide, tracked through more than 400 different apps. After the crackdown by mobile platforms, the company was bought out and rebranded as Outlogic, and it adjusted its public image. But the company is still active in the location data market. Its new parent, Digital Envoy, sells IP-based location services, and describes its Outlogic subsidiary as a provider of location data for the retail, real estate and financial markets. Digital Envoy also has deep ties to the U.S. government. The Intercept has reported that Digital Envoy contracts with the IRS enforcement division, the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (which has also contracted with Venntel), and the Pentagons Defense Logistics Agency. Its unclear whether Outlogics app-based location data is incorporated into any of those Digital Envoy relationships.

How is location data used?

While several contracts between data brokers and federal agencies are public records, very little is known about how those agencies actually use the services. Information has trickled out through government documents and anonymous sources.

Department of Homeland Security

Perhaps the most prominent federal buyer of bulk location data is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as its subsidiaries, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). The Wall Street Journal reported that ICE used the data to help identify immigrants who were later arrested. CBP uses the information to look for cellphone activity in unusual places, including unpopulated portions of the US-Mexico border. According to the report, government documents explicitly reference the use of location data to discover tunnels along the border. Motherboard reported that CBP purchases location data about people all around the United States, not just near the border. It conducts those searches without a court order, and it has refused to share its legal analysis of the practice with Congress.

The Federal Procurement Database shows that, in total, DHS has paid at least $2 million for location data products from Venntel. Recently released procurement records from DHS shed more light on one agencys practice. The records relate to a series of contracts between Venntel and a recently-shuttered research division of DHS, the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA). In 2018, the agency paid $100,000 for five licenses to the Venntel Portal. A few months later, HSARPA upgraded to a product called Geographic Marketing Data - Western Hemisphere, forking over $650,000 for a year of access. This data was delivered on a daily basis via S3 bucketthat is, shipped directly to DHS in bulk. From context, it seems like the Venntel Portal product granted limited access to data hosted by Venntel, while the purchase of Geographic Marketing Data gave DHS direct access to all of Venntels data for particular regions in near-real-time.

The HSARPA purchases were made as part of a program called the Data Analytics Engine (DA-E). In a Statement of Work, DHS explained that it needed data specifically for Central America and Mexico in order to support the project. Elsewhere, the government has boasted that ICE has used big data architecture from DA-E to generate arrests, seizures, and new leads. ICE has maintained an ongoing relationship with Venntel in the years since, signing at least six contracts with the company since 2018.

Federal law enforcement

The FBI released its own contracts with Venntel in late 2021. The documents show that the FBI paid $22,000 for a single license to the Venntel Portal, but are otherwise heavily redacted. Another part of the Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), committed $25,000 for a one-year license in early 2018, but Motherboard reported that the agency terminated its contract before the first month was up. According to the Wall Street Journal, the IRS tried to use Venntels data to track individual suspects, but gave up when it couldnt locate its targets in the companys dataset. Some of Babel Streets law enforcement customers have had more success: Protocol reported that the U.S. Secret Service used Locate X to seize illegal credit card skimmers installed at gas pumps in 2018.

Military and intelligence agencies

Military and foreign intelligence agencies have used location data in numerous instances. In one unclassified project, researchers at Mississippi State University used Locate X data to track movements around Russian missile test sites, including those of high-level diplomats. The U.S. Army funded the project and said it showed good potential use of the data in the future. It also said that the collection of cell phone data was consistent with Army policy as long as no personal characteristics of the phones owner were collected (but of course, detailed movements of individuals are actually personal characteristics).

Another customer of Locate X is the Iowa Air National Guard, as first reported by Motherboard. Specifically, the Des Moines-based 132d wingwhich reportedly conducts long-endurance coverage and dynamic execution of targets with MQ-9 Reaper dronespurchased a 1-year license to Locate X for $35,000. The air base said the license would be used to support federal mission requirements overseas, but did not elaborate further.

Anomaly 6 only has one confirmed federal client: the U.S. Special Operations Command, or SOCOM. In 2020, SOCAFRICA - a division which focuses on the African continent - spent nearly $600,000 on a commercial telemetry feed from A6. In March 2021, SOCOM told Vice that the purpose of the contract was to evaluate the feasibility of using A6 services in an overseas operating environment, and that the government was no longer executing the contract. In September 2021, federal procurement records show that the U.S. Marines special operations command, MARSOC, executed another contract for $8,700 for SME Support from A6. (SME could stand for Subject Matter Expert, implying that A6 provided training or expertise.)

Finally, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has confirmed that it, too, works with location data brokers. In a January 2021 memo to Senator Ron Wyden, DIA stated that it provides funding to another agency that purchases location data from smartphones on its behalf. The data is global in scope, including devices inside and outside the United States, though the DIA said it segregates U.S. data points into a separate database as it arrives. The U.S. location database can only be queried after a specific process involving approval from multiple government agencies, and the DIA stated that permission had been granted five times in the previous two and a half years. The DIA claimed it needs a warrant to access the information. Its unclear which data broker or brokers the DIA has worked with.

Is it legal for the federal government to buy our location data?

In a word, no. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, and it requires particularity in warrants. If the federal government wants specific location data about a specific person, it must first get a warrant from a court based on probable cause of crime. If the federal government wants to set up a dragnet of the ongoing movements of millions of identifiable people for law enforcement purposes, too bad  thats a forbidden general search. The federal government cannot do an end-run around these basic Fourth Amendment rules through the stratagem of writing a check to location data brokers.

The U.S. Supreme Courts ruling on cell-site location information, or CSLI, is instructive. CSLI is generated as cell phones interact with cell towers. Its collected passively, all the time, from every phone that has cell service. It is less granular than GPS-based location data, and thus cannot locate devices as accurately. The only companies that can access it directly are the phone carriers themselves. In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in Carpenter v. United States that CSLI is protected by the Fourth Amendment. It also held that the government cant demand CSLI from telecom companies without a court-approved warrant. Since 2018, all major U.S. carriers have publicly committed to stop selling raw CSLI to anyone. Police do commonly obtain warrants for CSLI pertaining to active investigations.

Courts also are beginning to crack down on geofence warrants for GPS data from large companies like Apple and Google. These warrants seek all the phones present in a particular time and place. As EFF has explained, they are general searches that violate the Fourth Amendments particularity requirement. One was struck down by a federal district court earlier this year in United States v. Chatrie. Federal purchase of location data about millions of people raises similar Fourth Amendment concerns.

With access to location data from commercial data brokers, federal agencies can query data about the movements of millions or billions of identifiable people at once. They are not limited to data about a single area or slice of time. As Anomaly 6 reportedly demonstrated, they can start from a single time and place, then look forwards or backwards at the location histories of hundreds of devices at once, learning where their owners live, work, and travel. Agencies can make extraordinarily broad queries that span entire states or countries, and filter the resulting data however they see fit. It appears that this kind of full-database access is what the DHS purchased in its 2018 deal with Venntel. This stretches the Fourth Amendments particularity requirement far beyond the breaking point.

In 2021, the Center for Democracy and Technology published a comprehensive report on the legal framework underpinning the governments purchasing of location data. It concluded that when law enforcement and intelligence agencies purchase personal data about Americans, they are evading Fourth Amendment safeguards as recognized by the Supreme Court. EFF agrees. The Fourth Amendment should not be for sale. Sensitive data about our movements should not be collected and sold in the first place, and it certainly shouldnt be made available to government agencies without a particularized warrant.

Finally, transparency laws in Vermont and California require certain kinds of data brokers, including those that process location data, to register with the state. Of the companies discussed above, X-Mode, Gravy Analytics, and Venntel are registered in California, but Babel Street and Anomaly 6 are not. These laws need better enforcement.

What can we do?

Congress must ban federal government purchase of sensitive location information. The issue is straightforward: government agencies should not be able to buy any personal data that normally requires a warrant.

But legislatures should not stop there. Personal data is only available to government because its already amassed on the private market. We need to regulate the collection and sale of personal data by requiring meaningful consent. And we should ban online behavioral advertising, the industry which built many of the tracking technologies that enable this kind of mass surveillance.

The developers of mobile operating systems also have power to shut down this insidious data market. For years, both Apple and Google have explicitly supported third-party tracking with technology like the advertising identifier. They must reverse course. They also must crack down on alternative methods of tracking like fingerprinting, which will make it much more difficult for brokers to track users. Furthermore, OS developers should require apps to disclose which SDKs they pack into their apps and whom they share particular kinds of data with. Both Apple and Google have made strides towards data-sharing transparency, giving users a better idea of how particular apps access sensitive permissions. However, users remain almost entirely in the dark about how each app may share and sell their data.

Fortunately, you can also take steps towards preventing your location data from winding up in the hands of data brokers and the federal government. As a first step, you can disable your advertising identifier. This removes the most ubiquitous tool that data brokers use to link data from different sources to your device. You can also look at the apps on your phone and turn off any unnecessary permissions granted to third-party apps. Data brokers often obtain information via apps, and any app with location permission is a potential vector. Revoke permissions that apps do not absolutely need, especially location access, and uninstall apps that you do not trust.
A man allegedly found with a loaded, sawed-off shotgun in his backpack was denied bail Monday morning after a judge said there is no lawful reason for the man to own one.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

FILE The Brandon courthouse.

A man allegedly found with a loaded, sawed-off shotgun in his backpack was denied bail Monday morning after a judge said there is no lawful reason for the man to own one.

Nick Hunter is accused in the May 2021 incident. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty and the charges have not been tested in court.

On May 18, 2021, Brandon police officers reportedly saw a man banging on a door on the 400 block of 10th Street at approximately 6:20 a.m., Crown attorney Andrew Sieklicki told the court.

When police approached him to ask about the commotion, the man reportedly took off running and didnt stop when they told him to, Sieklicki said. The officers chased him and allegedly saw him throw a backpack into a backyard while running.

He kept running before he was arrested in the backyard of a residence on the 400 block of Eighth Street. Sieklicki said police then identified the man as Hunter.

Officers searched him and allegedly found a single 12-gauge shotgun shell in his back pants pocket, he said.

Police then searched the backpack thrown into a yard and allegedly found a loaded, sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun. Sieklicki said the serial number of the gun was ground off, making it unreadable.

At the time, Hunter was allegedly under court orders banning him from owning guns or weapons, according to the Crown.

Hunter is also accused of breaching court orders in other incidents.

Sieklicki opposed Hunter being released on bail, saying he wasnt confident he would follow court-ordered release conditions.

Defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn said Hunter was previously doing well in a residential treatment program and is working on himself while in custody. He said Hunter is dedicated to rehabilitation.

If released, Synyshyn said Hunter would like to find another residential treatment program to live in.

He suggested a bail plan that would have had Hunter living with a family member, following a curfew and a ban on possessing weapons.

Judge Donovan Dvorak said theres no legal reason why somebody needs to own a sawed-off shotgun.

"Its not a hunting gun any longer. Its a weapon thats used for intimidation. When its loaded, it goes beyond the issue of intimidation because the person whos the intended target of intimidation doesnt know whether the shotgun is loaded," he said.

"When somebody owns a sawed-off shotgun, [there are] not many purposes for that other than to cause harm or to cause serious threat."

Dvorak denied the accuseds release on bail, saying he has significant concerns if he released him back into the community.

Hunter is scheduled to appear in court in mid-July.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
The Municipal Board of Manitoba is currently mediating a dispute between the provincial assessors office and the Western Manitoba Seniors Non-Profit Housing Co-operative, with the former looking to increase the value of two properties under the co-ops management.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

The Municipal Board of Manitoba is currently mediating a dispute between the provincial assessors office and the Western Manitoba Seniors Non-Profit Housing Co-operative, with the former looking to increase the value of two properties under the co-ops management.

The co-ops four-storey, 34-unit apartment complex at 620 McDiarmid Dr. was the subject of Mondays board hearing at the Manitoba Provincial Building, with the groups property at 2105 Brandon Ave. also being discussed today.

During Mondays hearing, provincial assessor Erin Reid told the board that she believes the property at 620 McDiarmid Dr. should be valued at $3,276,100, a significant jump from its current value of around $2,566,100.

Reid said the assessors office originally presented the $3,460,100 figure in April 2018, although the Western Manitoba Seniors co-op successfully appealed that decision the following year.

However, the provincial assessor says the property is undervalued based on its utilization of the income approach methodology, which insists a propertys ability to earn revenue is directly tied to its current value.

"When considering the above, the income approach provides the best estimated value," Reid said on Monday.

"The income approach in this report is based on the actual rent and income, in combination with the percentage attributed to the tenant equity contribution shares and actual expenses of the property."

While members of the Western Manitoba Seniors co-op do not dispute the provinces use of the income approach, they object to the expense items used in that calculation.

Western Manitoba Seniors general manager Melody Osudar reminded the board on Monday that the two properties in question are being managed by a not-for-profit housing co-operative, which changes the structure of their finances compared to a life-lease organization that collects rent from its tenants.

"The co-op does not charge rent. Members pay housing charges sufficient to cover the operating costs," Osudar said.

"We understand the choice of methodology used for the evaluation of the property, which is the income approach. We dispute the chair contribution included in our income as earlier described. We also dispute the comparison in property dues, which determines the capitalization rate."

Western Manitoba Seniors board member Harvey Douglas explained this reassessment will harm tenants, since the co-ops properties are designed for people with low to moderate incomes.

And if the province is able to raise the value of 620 McDiarmid Dr. to $3,276,100, taxes will shoot up along with it, upping the price of each suite by well over $100, by Douglas calculations.

"Any increase will have to come from [the tenants] savings or what CRA calls discretionary spending funds left after they provide housing for themselves," Douglas wrote in an email to the Sun last week.

Mondays hearing dragged on for most of the morning and afternoon, with both parties spending a lot of time arguing over semantics, like the difference between collecting rent and getting residents to pay "housing charges."

However, the value of 620 McDiarmid Dr. will ultimately be determined by the Municipal Board of Manitoba, which will deliver its verdict at an undisclosed point in the future.

The Western Manitoba Seniors co-op opened its housing facility at 620 McDiarmid Dr. in 2013. The co-op followed that up by completing its second building at 2105 Brandon Ave. in 2018, which is a $14-million project that features 63 units.

According to Douglas, the current value of 2105 Brandon Ave. hovers around $5,879,500, with the province looking to raise that figure up to $7,302,100.

 kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @KyleDarbyson
Labor might have snagged the keys to the battered and bruised federal Treasury but the party itself still needs to keep paying the bills.

Shake it up: Anthony Albanese and Wayne Swan. Credit:John Shakespeare

So with the end of the financial year almost upon us, ALP national president Wayne Swan is rattling the can pretty hard in the direction of true believers, no doubt feeling that one financial crisis will be enough to last him a lifetime.

Now, were not saying that Swan is demanding the comrades pay up or else. But hes definitely warning that dire consequences might follow if Labor lacks financial oomph in coming years.

While we won the election, we cant pretend that the radical right wing have been defeated once and for all, Swan told members
Back in the 1960s The Sydney Morning Herald and The Melbourne Herald, the old middle-of-the-road evening paper, used to publish a weekly column by Charmian Clift. It was about nappies and cabbages and Kafka and twilight: it was about nothing in particular and even a child could tell that she did it very well.

Clift was married to George Johnston, who wrote My Brother Jack, which she helped him with. She was the mother of Martin Johnston, who died from alcoholism, but wrote some of the finer poems of his generation. She spent some years living on the Greek island of Hydra, where she kicked around with Leonard Cohen, among others.

Clift died in Sydney of an overdose, and she is the subject of a superb biography (which won the Age non-fiction book of the year in 2001) by Nadia Wheatley, which does justice to the startling complexity of her personality. But none of this is the point. Charmian Clift is the greatest essayist this country has produced.

Charmian Clift and George Johnston during their time on Hydra and, right, the cover of Sneaky Little Revolutions. Credit:James Burke/The LIFE Picture Collection

When John Douglas Pringle became editor of The SMH for the second time in 1965 he decided to publish her columns on a weekly basis and pay her a salary. They are things of wonder because they are so full of the breath of life and have the extraordinary quality of exhibiting the full range and colour of a sensibility that is equal to the treasure of its contents. Clift is one of those essayists like G.K. Chesterton or James Thurber who writes for the pleasure of the thing and creates a great murmur of satisfaction in the reader who stumbles on her.
Neneh Cherrys latest project  female artists covering key songs from her back catalogue  was conceived to celebrate her past. Instead, its become about looking forward.

This shouldnt be a surprise. Across a 35-plus-year career as pioneering music artist and style icon, Cherry has steadfastly refused to bask in past successes or repeat herself artistically.

Singing with friends: Neneh Cherry. Credit:Juergen Teller

Neneh Cherry - The Versions gathers female peers, friends and family  Robyn, Sia, Sudan Archives, Greentea Peng, Jamila Woods, Anohni, Honey Dijon and her daughter, Tyson  reimagining touchstone tracks such as Buffalo Stance, Manchild, Buddy X and Woman.

I just thought the obvious thing to do was to ask the people whose music you love, says Cherry, on a video call from London.
As stories begin to emerge of record electricity price increases, there was a flurry of cashback handouts announced by state governments in response.

NSW declared up to $1600 in emergency assistance for families, Queensland announced a $175 credit on every households power bill, and Western Australia unveiled a $400 credit.

Credit:Louie Douvis

Hundreds of dollars in financial help is available for households doing it tough as energy prices rocket. Some of these rebates are automatic, but some we have to apply for  in some cases before June 30, so get in quick.

Here a quick summary of what is available and where you can find them.
This rings a bell: Did anyone else note in the Queens Birthday List of The Order of Australia that Alexander Graham Bell was awarded an OAM? Took some time for AGB to be acknowledged but very well deserved. Please give me a call to discuss if needed, says Richard Stewart of Pearl Beach.

In our town we have an enterprising local who uses thongs (C8), washed up or left behind, on our pristine beach to decorate an electric light pole located on the towns main road, says Valerie Little of Tathra. All colours and obviously, as I am learning, all types of thongs wend their way from the ground almost to the cross arm.

A sign at a bar in the Whitsundays: No T-shirts or thongs after 6pm. My English friend said she had to leave at 5.45. She didnt want to be around for the underwear check, recalls Judy Archer of Hornsby. We told everyone before explaining to her the meaning of thongs.

It would appear that the kibbutz (C8) was having a moment among C8 readers in the 70s. On the back of Rhoda Silber and Greg Adelt comes another, by George: Allow me to raise the stakes on kibbutzim non-events, offers George Manojlovic of Mangerton. I was working on a kibbutz when the Whitlam government was sacked. Nary a pimple on the great seismogram of significance.

Stein Boddington of St Clair was camping in the village of Thury-Harcourt on the Orne river in northern France and woke to continuous Elvis music (C8). I inquired of the Brits responsible, and they told me the sad news.
PM calls to end Chinas trade ban on Australian goods

Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later.

Dismiss
The Queensland government has lifted the requirement for people within airport terminals to wear masks, following new advice from the federal governments key health advisory body.

On Tuesday, the Australian health protection principal committee reviewed restrictions and determined there was no longer a need for masks to be mandated in airports.

Mask use has been mandatory at Brisbane Airport throughout the pandemic. Credit:Dan Peled

Masks would continue to be required on flights.

The AHPPC notes that all states and territories have relaxed mask mandates in most settings within the community and considers that it is no longer proportionate to mandate mask use in airport terminals, it advised on Tuesday.
The fact that it has managed to fool a Google engineer does not mean it is sentient, it means it is a very well-designed chatbot, according to Toby Walsh, Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales. Its designed to be able to have a conversation, thats what its designed to do, he says. This Google engineer was talking to it and it says all the right things, but theres quite a bit of cherry-picking going on, pointing to the bits that sound profound but ignoring the bits that sound nonsensical. Professor Toby Walsh says humans are still more intelligent than machines. Walsh says while LaMDA is a sophisticated AI, it was developed in the same way as all machine learning models  with huge amounts of data, in this case chat logs and other conversational data, poured into it until it learned how to mimic human speech.

He says LaMDA is just one use for artificial intelligence, but there are many examples people use every day that are almost as sophisticated. The big one, of course, is Alexa, or Siri or one of those personal assistants  that is an AI, a very complicated one, which has to be able to understand lots of different types of voices in the wild and respond, he says. Loading But there are lots of AI systems embedded in everything from your car to your phone. A key one he points to is the maps app on your smartphone, which uses AI to calculate the best route to travel.

Even TV has AI embedded now  the algorithm that suggests shows for you to watch on streaming services is a form of artificial intelligence which has a specific job  to push more content to people who might be interested in watching it. At the same time LaMDA was making news, a different AI was also taking the internet by storm  DALLE mini. Loading DALLE takes a text prompt such as a monkey riding a bicycle and then generates a series of images based on that prompt. Importantly, it does not find those images on the internet but paints them itself, having looked at thousands of images of monkeys and bicycles, and how the two might fit together.

It has even been getting better; its paintings from several years ago are of noticeably poorer quality than those generated today. In fact, DALLE generated the lead image in this article, in response to the prompt a sentient robot. What DALLE is doing is a technological marvel  a machine learning neural network is generating wholly original images based on its own knowledge of what things look like and how they can be integrated. But no one has claimed that DALLE, or any of the hundreds of applications like it, are self-aware, despite the fact that they all use AI processes just as intricate as LaMDA. The integration of artificial intelligence into our everyday lives is not always as flashy as DALLE but theres no denying the impact. A special report into the AI sector by CSIROs Data61 and the federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science in 2019 estimated that digital technologies, including AI, will potentially be worth $315 billion to the Australian economy by 2028.

But while the benefits are considerable, artificial intelligence can also be used for nefarious purposes. So-called deepfake technology uses AI to generate pictures and even video of a person without any video of that person ever having been taken. Practically, that has resulted in a lot of silly videos online of celebrities doing things they did not do, but it can be turned to darker purposes. At the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, video emerged of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urging his troops to surrender to Russian forces. It was a deepfake, likely released by Russian intelligence agencies, and was quickly debunked. However, Walsh says there will come a point where AI becomes good enough that we will not be able to tell the difference.

What happens then is up to us, he says. Loading This story says more about intelligent humans than it does about dumb machines, he says. Were very forgiving, were a social animal and we fill in the gaps and assume the best when it comes to other humans, and we do that also when it comes to these machines. Were easily fooled by things like deepfakes, or an AI chatbot, and some people will try to exploit that.
The clash over Chinese influence helped Labor win the federal election, the partys campaign chief has concluded in his first public assessment of the way Prime Minister Anthony Albanese swept into power on issues including national security, wages and housing.

Labor national secretary Paul Erickson says the warmongering rhetoric from the previous government backfired on former prime minister Scott Morrison in the middle of the election campaign when China announced a security agreement with Solomon Islands.

Different approach: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison. Credit:Janie Barrett, James Brickwood

Erickson dates the shift in voter sentiment to the confirmation of the Solomons pact on April 19 after weeks of speculation about a draft agreement revealed on social media, shaping public debate ahead of the first debate between the leaders on Sky News on April 20.

The Coalitions response was irresponsible and immature, Erickson says in a review of the campaign he will give in a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday.
He said he had spoken with Lambie and former independent senator Rex Patrick about how they approached the task but would not reveal whether there were any promises on infrastructure or other policies for the ACT he wanted to extract for his support.

Clearly having a good team is crucial to being across the legislation  Ill need to be across it and understand it and see where I can add value, he said in an interview. His campaign attracted more than 2200 volunteers and he said one of the advantages of being in the ACT was access to policy experts.

Zed Seselja, who was minister for international development and the Pacific in the Morrison government, has lost his Senate seat. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

In a statement on his Facebook page on Tuesday, Seselja, the former minister for international development and the Pacific, defended his record in fighting for both conservative and liberal principles during his time in public life  including nine years as a federal senator and nine in the ACT parliament.

There are some who argue that I should have abandoned some of these values as a way to win more votes, he said. These critics ignore the fact that at this election those in my party in similar seats who had very different views to mine nonetheless suffered much larger swings than what occurred in the ACT ... But most importantly, following this prescription of rolling over to the left would have been both wrong in principle and ultimately futile electorally.
Victorians are being told of a challenge with energy supply due to the states ban on coal seam gas exploration, while the federal government has warned that a potential gas field in NSW may not be big enough to supply customers south of the border.

Resources Minister Madeleine King said the Narrabri field in northern NSW would need to be in operation to prevent a future energy crisis, but Victorians could not be guaranteed the gas would flow into Victoria if regulators approved the project.

Resources Minister Madeleine King said Victoria couldnt be sure of getting any surplus supply from NSWs Narrabri gas field. Credit:Trevor Collens

Commenting on the need for long-term gas supplies, King said she wanted to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050  and Labors policy is to accelerate the shift to renewable energy  but that gas would need to replace dirtier coal-fired power stations as fast as possible.

While the government is now bringing in an energy plan which will get working on renewables, and thats our very determined ambition, gas is the transition fuel that is able to bring down emissions in the short term, she said in her first interview with The Age since taking office.
When you hear reports of Labors national primary vote falling to an alarming level, its because of these former outer-suburban ALP voters making the switch. Seats including Scullin, Lalor, Hotham, Holt and Gorton were once won with more than 50 per cent of primary votes but on May 21, every one of Labors 22 seats had to go to preferences.

A significant large number of blue-collar voters  especially those without a tertiary education  split off from Labor and put a 1 next to the candidates of minor parties and independents. As a result, they might start getting more of what they deserve.

What happened at the federal election in the outer western, northern and most of the south-eastern suburbs was the first big tremor before an earthquake. Having dutifully returned Labor candidates with big margins for years, theyre on the way to rendering their seats marginal.

For those of us who are making our lives, or once made our lives, in Melbournes outer suburbs, the great political moment has finally come. The people of outer Melbourne now, much more than ever, are going to matter. They are demanding to be heard.

Its about time this happened. Many outer suburbanites are demanding something better, they want it now  and fair enough. Having been born and raised in the Frankston-Seaford area decades ago when it was only just joining the suburban sprawl, I get it. When I was growing up on what had been a bush block in the 1960s, we waited 10 years for the neighbourhoods roads to be fully paved and to be connected to the sewerage system. Waiting was what you did.

Loading

All too frequently, low expectations lead to low outcomes. That was the case where I grew up. I wouldnt change a thing about my upbringing. Its what made me. But it was definitely the case that where I grew up many people couldnt see the political system meeting their aspirations and delivering what they needed from government to improve their lives, such as good, high-performing local state schools. Not much has changed.

So why are the voters in these suburbs now changing allegiances? It starts with Melbournes record population growth in the years leading up to the pandemic. New arrivals and young couples looking to set up a household needed somewhere to live  somewhere they could afford. That meant setting themselves up on the new urban fringes where land is the cheapest. But they also needed services. Australias property developers and layers of government have in the post-war era made an art form of poor planning and tardiness in service connections and delivery.

Choice plays a much larger part in everyday life today than it did when my family was waiting for modern services to reach our house. Back then there was one type of milk, one brand of beer and basically three makes of motor car. Brand loyalty was strong  and that went for political parties, too. Most of the suburban workforce was unionised, and Labor was the natural choice.
Tokyo: Japan has made insults punishable by up to a year in prison under a new cyberbullying law.

An online post as mild as calling someone an idiot could fall under the draconian legislation.

The law to strengthen the existing penal code was passed by the Diet on Monday, with anyone convicted of using abusive language to insult a person in a public setting, including online, now facing an extended period behind bars or a fine of up to Y300,000 ($3230).

Hana Kimura, a professional wrestler and contestant on popular Japanese program "Terrace House", was subjected to especially harsh attacks online. Credit:Getty Images

Previously, a conviction for an online insult or accusation not based on fact could have led to a maximum prison term of 30 days or a fine of Y10,000.
London: Alexei Navalny, Russias most prominent opposition leader, has been abruptly moved from the prison where he was serving an 11 year sentence to a high-security penal colony further from Moscow.

Navalny earned admiration from the disparate opposition in 2021 for returning voluntarily to Russia from Germany, where he was treated for what Western laboratory tests showed was a poisoning attempt with a Soviet-era nerve agent in Siberia.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in the Babuskinsky District Court in Moscow, Russia last year. Credit:AP

Russia denies trying to kill him.

His chief of staff, Leonid Volkov, said that when Navalnys lawyer arrived on Tuesday at Correctional Colony No. 2, a prison camp in Pokrov, 119 kilometres east of Moscow, he was told: There is no such convict here.
Rome: Pope Francis has taken a new series of swipes at Russia for its actions in Ukraine, while also saying the situation was not black and white and the war was perhaps in some way provoked.

The comments were part of a conversation he had last month with editors of Jesuit media published on Tuesday.

He said Russias troops were brutal, cruel and ferocious and its use of mercenaries, including Chechens and Syrians, in Ukraine, was monstrous.

Pope Francis last month. Credit:AP

While condemning the ferocity, the cruelty of Russian troops, we must not forget the real problems if we want them to be solved, Francis said, including the armaments industry among the factors that provide incentives for war.
Latest News NSW suffering worst labour shortage in 50 years Industry body wants federal government to help businesses

AWS moves to a larger office Business growth and new private wealth and finance offerings necessitated the move

Price increases for clients building new homes are becoming a common problem, says a Sydney broker

Many Australians who have signed fixed-price building contracts and have commenced construction or waiting to start are experiencing price rises due to ongoing supply chain issues.

Sphere Loans director Mirasol San Esteban (pictured) said she had been working with multiple clients in recent months whose fixed-price building contracts unexpectedly increased and needed to source extra funds in order to proceed with their build.

The hardest part is when the client does not have any leftover money to fork out for an unexpected added cost, San Esteban said.

The ongoing supply chain issues are adding time delays. Many of my clients who are building have signed their contracts with their chosen builder, settled on the land and are now paying the mortgage on the land but there is such a backlog of building materials, it is taking much longer for the builds to begin or progress.

Read more: Sky's the limit for regional broker of year

San Esteban said brokers were helping to fill in the gaps to assist clients.

Of course, we give the client the first option to come up with the extra funds themselves, however if they cant, then we need to complete a variation of the contract, she said.

The broker goes back to the bank who reassesses the deal to release more money due to the increase in price. This can be painful because we need to review the clients financial situation again, request updated payslips and resubmit to the bank. Once approved, new documents are issued and sent for signing.

San Esteban said the process, along with ongoing building delays, can be upsetting for clients.

We may as well start from square one again, she said. I have clients that have been waiting for their new houses to be built for 12 months and even longer because building materials are so hard to source at the moment.

Read more: Ijarah Finance launches new product

San Esteban said it was important for people wanting to build a new home to engage a good broker to help guide them through the process.

As brokers, we need to educate our clients about this issue. Chances are they might have seen or heard stories about people who are in the process of building in the media, she said.

As the issue is ongoing, I think less people are looking to build at the moment and more are looking at buying a property either off the plan or something established.

San Esteban said building a new home at the moment was a stressful process for brokers, clients and builders.

I could imagine everyone involved in the transaction would be stressed, she said. At the end of the day, we work for the client in their best interest, so being involved and keeping all lines of communication open are key.
Ashok Leylands electric vehicle arm Switch Mobility is in talks with financial investors to raise about $300 million--$200 million for capital expenditure needs and $100 million for Switch subsidiary Ohm Global Mobility, a top company executive said.

We are looking to raise around $200 million for Switch, which will be used in improving products and capacity. In Ohm, the $100 million will be used to acquire new businesses, said Mahesh Babu, Chief Operating Officer at Switch Mobility. Ohm Global Mobility looks into eMaaS (e-mobility as a service) and will look at the operational side, including maintenance, installation of charging points at depots and other on-ground work for Switch buses. Switch as a whole is going to invest $200-300 million over the next five years, he added. The company was reportedly planning to invest Rs 1,000 crore in a Switch-dedicated facility in South India.

Switch on Tuesday launched its next-generation electric bus platform Switch EiV 12 for the Indian market. It will be available in two variants--EiV 12 low-floor and EiV 12 standard. The firm currently has an order book for over 600 buses. The EiV platform (Electric intelligent Vehicle) includes telematics and connectivity through Switch iON. It enables remote, real-time diagnostics and monitoring services, as well as digital battery management tools. The EV architecture of the EiV platform was recently launched on the European Switch e1 bus.

Our aspiration is to make electric products more accessible in India, UK, Europe and many Global markets, contributing significantly to the rapidly growing zero-carbon mobility. With a strong heritage and proven expertise of the Hinduja group and in the commercial vehicle market, we are confident that through more such offerings of electric buses and soon to be launched electric light vehicles, we will accelerate our vision to be at the forefront in this evolving market, said Dheeraj Hinduja, Chairman, Switch Mobility.

Babu added that Switch, which had only 60 buses when the company was formed in 2021, now has confirmed orders for 600 buses. The government is reportedly planning for a mega tender of 50,000 electric buses. Switch said the company is betting big on upcoming tenders by the government.

The segment is going to see huge potential for growth in the next few years. I strongly believe that this market will grow 10x in the next 2-3 years. We will easily reach 20,000-plus buses a year in 3-5 years' time, Babu said.

As part of the production-linked incentive scheme, and Switch are jointly planning to invest over Rs 2,000 crore. The company was one among the selected applicants under the initiative to promote local manufacturing by players.
The Competition Commission of India approved Air Indias proposed acquisition of Tata groups entire 83.67 per cent stake in India. The approval gives a boost to the groups plans of merging the two airlines.

At present, the owns and operates four airlines  Air India, Express, India, and Vistara. and Vistara operate on both domestic and international routes. India does not fly abroad, while Express operates solely on international routes.

Air India and AirAsia have a combined market share of 13 per cent in India. While the group plans to merge AirAsia India with (which is an Air India subsidiary), it has not taken a decision on bringing Vistara into its fold.

Air India will be our flagship airline companyI do not want to comment on Vistara now, that will be taken care of at the right time. As of now we have not taken any decision on whether we want to have a single airline or two airlines, Tata Sons Chairperson N Chandrasekaran said earlier this week.

A source said Air Indias acquisition of 83.67 per cent stake can take place upon receiving relevant approval from the civil aviation ministry. The is also expected to purchase the remaining 16.33 per cent stake from its Malaysian partner AirAsia Berhad after the ministrys approval.

The group has begun work on business integration and that is expected to crystalise in the next few months. It will also have to decide on branding. The group is also discussing a code share agreement between AirAsia India and Air India, which would allow cross-selling of tickets. Fleet expansion is also being worked upon. The actual merger of two airlines could take up to a year as it would also require from the National Company Law Tribunal, he said.
Industry body on Tuesday named Pramod K Mittal, President of Infocomm, as the new Chairperson of the association for 2022-23.

Mittal was previously the Vice Chairperson of the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), whose members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (VIL).

Mittal will replace Ajai Puri as the Chairperson. Puri held the position for the two consecutive terms.

Announcing the leadership for the year 2022-23, the said P Balaji, Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer of Vodafone Idea (VIL), will be the Vice Chairperson of the association.

"...Pramod K Mittal, President, Infocomm Ltd. who was Vice Chairperson of the industry body will now hold the position of Chairperson while P Balaji, Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited, will be the Vice Chairperson of the Association," the telecom body said in a statement.

Mittal comes with a rich experience of 42 years in telecommunications. Prior to joining India's leading telecom operator, the Infocomm President has also served in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for over 37 years.

Balaji, who is a member of the core leadership team of Vodafone Idea, leads the telco's Regulatory, Public Policy and Government Relations activities along with Industry advocacy, Corporate Communications, Reputation Management and CSR, the COAI statement said.

A veteran in the telecom sector, Balaji has the unique experience of holding leadership positions in multiple telecom verticals, with leading technology, devices and telecom operator.

Balaji is also the Chairman of Assocham National Digital Communications Council, and a Member of the National Council of apex industry chambers CII, Ficci, Assocham and All India Management Association.

Commenting on his new role as Chairperson of COAI, Mittal said: "I look forward to working closely with the members to strengthen the sector, especially for the launch of 5G to fulfil the vision of Honourable Prime Minister's Digital India initiative".

(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.)
French giant TotalEnergies will buy a quarter of the equity in Adani New Industries Ltd (ANIL), a part of Gautam Adanis eponymous group. The Adani group did not disclose the value of the deal. Instead, it talked about ANIL investing $50 billion over 10 years in green hydrogen and, in the initial phase, building a production capacity of 1 million tonnes a year for green hydrogen before 2030.

ANIL is critical to Adanis ambition of becoming the worlds cheapest producer of green hydrogen, the zero-emission fuel that can propel the worlds decarbonisation drive but has yet to be produced in a way that makes it commercially viable.

Adani Enterprises, the group flagship, saw its stock rise 5.6 per cent on Tuesday, after it informed the stock exchanges about its deal with . The BSE benchmark Sensex, of which Adani Enterprises is not a part, fell slightly by 0.29 per cent.

Our confidence in our ability to produce the worlds least expensive electron is what will drive our ability to produce the worlds least expensive green hydrogen, Gautam Adani, chairman, Adani Group, said in a written statement.

He is not alone in this quest. The search for the cheapest hydrogen has brought the countrys two richest industrialists face to face.



Mukesh Ambani, with whom Adani has been swapping the position of being Asias richest, has ambitions of his own. In January, he announced a $75-billion push in renewables infrastructure, in which green hydrogen is said to have a pride of place. Last year, the Reliance Industries Chairman talked about producing green hydrogen at $1 a kg  the lowest cost in the world and about 60 per cent lower than what it is today. He said Reliance will aggressively pursue the $1 a kg target and achieve it well before the turn of this decade.

The Adani Group had in 2020 said it would invest 70 per cent of the budgeted capex of its energy vertical in and energy-efficient systems. In June 2021, Reliance announced its foray into green energy with investments worth Rs 75,000 crore in the ensuing three years. Two months later, Adani followed suit by announcing a $20-billion investment over 10 years in the renewable energy supply chain, including power generation, manufacturing, transmission and distribution.

Adani Enterprises, which recently launched its arm, Adani Petrochemicals, plans to offer a range of green fuels and use its supply chains and renewable energy units for their production and transport. The company plans to make green hydrogen, green methanol, green ammonia and green fertiliser.

The deal announced on Tuesday is the fourth between Adani Group and . In 2021, the French major picked up a 20 per cent stake in Adani Green Energy Ltd, the renewable power company of the Adani group. In 2020, and Adani formed a 50-50 joint venture at an enterprise value of Rs 17,385 crore for 2.3 Gw of solar assets. In 2019, Total had acquired 37.4 per cent in Adani Gas and 50 per cent in the groups Dhamra LNG project.

This future production capacity of 1 million tonne per annum of green hydrogen will be a major step in increasing TotalEnergies share of new decarbonised molecules including biofuels, biogas, hydrogen, and e-fuels to 25 per cent of its energy production and sales by 2050, said Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.
on Tuesday announced the launch of the for Startups accelerator programme for women-led startups. This is the first time that the tech giant is announcing a women-founder focused programme in India.

The programme for women-focused founders will have two cohorts for this year and each cohort will support 20 women founders. The application for the first cohort for this programme will begin from today and will select 20 women-led startups for the programme.



ALSO READ - Google For Startups announces its next cohort with 20 Indian startups

The sector agnostic programme will focus on the early stage to a series A .

One of the reasons for starting a women-founder focused by Google was the abysmal percentage of funding going to these startups.

Aditya Swamy, director, Google Play and Google for Startups shared with Business Standard that just about 6 per cent of the funding raised by the ecosystem in India is going to women founder . If you actually take out where a woman has a male co-founder, the number comes down to 1.5 percent. We found this huge gap from a product point of view as well as from a content point of view and from that came the idea of launching an accelerator which is specifically focused on women founders, he added.

In one of the surveys, almost 48 per cent of women said that they need access to a better mentor and we want to solve this. Importantly, there's nothing like having a peer group that allows you to connect and grow, said Paul Ravindranathan G, program manager, Developer Relations and head of Google Accelerator at Google India.

The focus of the programme will be mentoring, hiring, capital raising, building a community, and networking.

Under its accelerator programme, Google so far has had 6 cohorts, which have had over 100 who went on to raise over $2 billion and created 12,000 jobs. Swamy also added that one in every 10 companies from Googles accelerator programme has raised $100 million.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has reduced the solvency margin requirement for general insurers doing crop business. The decision can free up a capital of Rs 1,400 crore, which expects will increase the capacity of general insurers to underwrite more business.

It is expected that the effect of this relaxation will be positive on the Industry as it will free up the capital, which can be utilised for underwriting more business, the regulator said in a statement.

has been relaxing the period of admissibility of premiums due from state governments for solvency purposes from 180 days to 365 days since 2017-18. It has now decided to extend this relaxation from FY23 onwards until further orders. This move will improve the solvency status of the industry as a whole, it said.

In a circular, the regulator has stated that premium receivables related to state- and central government-sponsored schemes for all quarters of the FY23 and onward to the extent that they are not realised within a period of 365 days will be placed with value zero.

Rakesh Jain, chief executive officer of Reliance General Insurance, said: The relaxation was for a period of six months and now it has been extended to one year. This is a good move by the regulator and will free up a significant amount of capital for the general insurers to do more business. Sovereign money will not go bad so this relaxation will go a long way.

This is another step by the regulator to ease regulatory burden in the sector so that insurers get more freedom to deepen insurance penetration in the country. Last week, allowed use & file procedure for all health insurance products, almost all products, and most life insurance products, barring a few to encourage more innovative products to meet the ever changing needs of the consumer.

It has also reduced the capital required to be held by offering policies under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) by almost 50 per cent to enable insurers to offer more policies under the scheme, and provide financial security to the bottom of the pyramid of Indian population.
firm and Southeast Asia has raised USD 2.85 billion - the highest ever in one tranche by any fund - to fund and other ventures in the region, the company said in a statement.

Of the funds raised, USD 2 billion is dedicated to India across two funds, and the remaining USD 850 million funds is for Southeast Asia.

As per the SEC filings and earlier fundraising announcements, this now takes Sequoia's total committed capital in India and South East Asia to USD 9 billion over the past 16 years.

" and Sequoia Southeast Asia have collectively raised USD 2.85 billion across a new set of funds, including India venture and growth funds and a USD 850 million Southeast Asian fund - the firm's first dedicated fund for that region," the statement said.

This is the largest fund raised by any VC firm in the region, it added.

Sequoia has had a stellar run in the last few years, witnessing 9 IPOs of it funded and USD 4 billion of exits in the last 18 months.

The firm has 36 unicorns in the region, including the likes of Zomato, Unacademy, Pinelabs, Byjus and Razorpay.

"This fundraise comes at a time when markets are starting to cool after a very long bull run, and is a signal of the firm's deep commitment to the region's startup ecosystem that continues to show promise," the statement said. "India and Southeast Asia have both grown rapidly in the last decade, thanks to the acceleration of digital adoption and rising consumer incomes."



Last year, India emerged as the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, after the USA and China. Southeast Asia, meanwhile, is on track to become a USD 1 trillion digital economy by 2030.

Sequoia has been present in India for the past 16 years and in Southeast Asia for ten.

"The firm has partnered with more than 400 across multiple sectors, stages and market cycles and has 36 unicorns in its portfolio. Between 2021-2022, the VC firm saw nine IPOs, with notable ones like Freshworks and Zomato," the statement said.

The company said its initiatives in the region contribute to building and supporting the ecosystem in ways that go beyond capital.

"Surge, a 16-week program of early-stage launched in 2019, has grown to a community of 246 founders from 112 startups across more than 15 sectors. It also launched Sequoia Spark, a fellowship and mentorship program for female founders last year, as well as Sequoia Build, a program for growth-stage startups looking to scale sustainably," it noted.

With this fundraise, will continue to partner with the next generation of founders, building enduring across seed, Series A, and growth stages. It will also continue to double down on initiatives to collaborate across the ecosystem with founders, governments, co-investors, and partners.

"The market in India is seeing increasing consumption power, supportive regulations and high talent density. Founders today are leveraging this to solve a diverse range of problems with the aim to create value for millions of people, both in India and for the world. And many large with regional or global footprints are expected to emerge from this region in the decade to come," the statement added.

(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.)
Police personnel use water cannons to disperse Muslim Youth League (MYL) activists as they protest demanding the resignation of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the wake of the allegations raised against him by Swapna Suresh, an accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, in Kochi, Monday, June 13, 2022. (PTI)

New Delhi: Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala, Dr V Sivadasan, wrote a letter to Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Arun Kumar alleging assault on Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inside a flight from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

Sivadasan, in a letter dated June 13, said, "I would like to invite your attention to the heinous attempt to physically attack the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, posing a grave threat to his life and security in complete violation of Aircraft Security Rules and conventions, in the Indigo flight from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram on June 13, 2022."

Upper House MP Sivadasan further said the highly condemnable incident should be promptly investigated and stringent action should be taken against the offenders who have tried to assault the Chief Minister.

Two Youth Congress leaders in black shirts on board a private airline raised slogans in connection with the gold smuggling case against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who was also on the same flight on Monday.

A viral video shows a man pushing protesters on the flight to save Chief Minister Vijayan. Two Youth Congress leaders can be seen sitting in front of the steps of the plane where several passengers are seen coming out.

Youth Congress State vice-president and former MLA KS Sabarinathan also released a three-second video on social media in which the two workers of the organisation were seen raising slogans against the Chief Minister seeking his resignation and a man, who accompanied the Chief Minister, pushing them away.

The airport officials later detained the two youth leaders and handed them over to the airport police.

"Incident happened at around 5 pm when the two passengers raised anti-CM slogans while on board," an airport official told ANI.

The incident was later reported to the aviation regulatory body of the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for investigation.

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 was smuggled in a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by the customs department in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5, 2019.

However, the prime accused, Swapna Suresh, alleged that in 2016, M Sivasankar, the former Principal Secretary to the Kerala CM, had asked her to send the baggage to Dubai which belonged to Vijayan. However, when the bag was brought to the consulate, it was found that it contained currencies and the entire gold smuggling business had begun from then.

Recently on Saturday, the state police had registered a case against her lawyer Krishna Raj under the section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) over a social media post against a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus driver who was allegedly in a Muslim religious dress.
The (DoT) favours selling to private players for their captive networks for use in campuses like factories, hotels and universities, a media report said.

According to a report in The Hindu Businessline, the (DoT) discussed the matter in a meeting with Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday.

Enterprises setting up private captive networks may obtain the spectrum directly from the DoT and establish their isolated network, Businessline reported quoting a person in the know.

The Broadband India Forum (BIF) wants the spectrum to be allocated to private enterprises for captive networks. At the same time, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) says the spectrum should remain with telecom service providers (TSPs).

Captive networks are isolated networks in which a spectrum is assigned to enterprises to be utilised within a limited geographic area. Therefore, it is also referred to as a spectrum for localised or local use.

Earlier, COAI, which has Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea as its key members, has written to Vaishnaw saying there is no business case for the rollout of 5G networks if captive private wireless networks are allowed.

Permitting such captive networks will diminish the revenue so much that there will be no viable business case left for the telecom service providers and there will not remain any need for 5G network roll out by TSPs.

This strong stance by telcos could adversely impact or delay the countrys 5G rollout expected by the end of the year. It could even force them to relook at their auction strategy, though most say they are unlikely to pull out from participating in the auction altogether.
With less than two years left for the next general elections, the government has sprung into action to address one of the most talked-about problems in the country: . The prime minister on Tuesday directed all central government ministries and departments to identify vacancies and recruit one million in one and a half years.

The decision comes amid the Oppositions frequent criticism that the government has failed to create enough jobs even as remains a sore point in the economy, especially in the wake of Covid-19.

A large number of vacant posts in different government departments have often been flagged.

PM reviewed the status of human resources in all departments and ministries and instructed that recruitment of 10 lakh people be done by the government in mission mode in the next 1.5 years, the prime ministers office tweeted on Tuesday.

At a media briefing later in the day, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that all central government departments and ministries had been told to identify vacancies at the earliest and employ people on a priority basis.



According to the Seventh Pay Commission, the average intake of new recruits into the central government between 2006 and 2014 had been slightly over 100,000 each year. Official data is not available after that. The Commission had said that the central government is at best a marginal source for employment generation. The quantum of intake of fresh personnel by the central government is an insignificant percentage of the total entrants in Indias labour force.

The decision to fill up a million posts in the next 18 months means that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will have something solid to counter the Opposition's criticism on in the next Lok Sabha polls, expected to be held in April-May in 2024.

Budget documents show that the total personnel strength of the central government was 3.46 million as of March 2022, as against the total sanctioned strength of 4.1 million according to the latest report of the Department of Expenditure on Pay and Allowances. This roughly leaves 640,000 vacancies for the government to fill.

During various Assembly polls, opposition parties have tried to corner the BJP over the issue of unemployment, but the saffron party has been successful in neutralising the criticism with its planks of welfarism, development and Hindutva. It has also consistently refuted the Opposition's charge on unemployment, arguing that its various programmes have led to a rise in entrepreneurship and overall employment generation.
India on Tuesday unveiled a "transformative" scheme called "Agnipath" for the of into the Army, the Navy and the Air Force largely on a short-term contractual basis with an aim to cut the ballooning salary and pension bills and enable a youthful profile of the armed forces.



Defence Minister provided details of the new initiative at a media briefing shortly after the Prime Minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security approved the scheme which the government said would allow "patriotic and motivated" youth to serve in the armed forces for a period of four years.



"Under the 'Agnipath' scheme, Indian youth will be provided an opportunity to serve in the armed forces as 'Agniveer'. This scheme has been brought to strengthen the security of the country. It is a transformative scheme," Singh said in presence of the three service chiefs.



He said the infusion of disciplined, motivated and skilled 'Agniveers' back into society after military service, would be a great asset for the nation as it will be a "win-win proposition".



Describing it a major defence policy reform to usher in a "new era" in the human resource policy of the three services, the defence ministry said the scheme comes into immediate effect and will govern the enrolment for the three services, implying that existing framework of employment for will cease to exist.



It said the armed forces will recruit 46,000 'Agniveers' this year and the eligible age for selection will be in the range of 17.5 years to 21 years. The under the scheme is set to kick within 90 days.



The monthly salary of an 'Agniveer' in the first year of employment would be Rs 30,000 and the in-hand amount would be Rs 21,000 as Rs 9,000 would go to a corpus with an equal contribution of the government.



Subsequently, the monthly salary in the second, third and fourth year will be Rs 33,000, Rs 36,500 and Rs 40,000. Each 'Agniveer' will get an amount of Rs 11.71 lakh as 'Seva Nidhi Package' and it will be exempted from income tax.



There will be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits and the new recruits will be provided non-contributory life insurance cover of Rs 48 lakh for the duration of their engagement period in the armed forces.



Upon the completion of four years of service, based on organisational requirement and policies promulgated by the armed forces from time-to-time, 'Agniveers' will be offered an opportunity to apply for permanent enrolment in the armed forces.



"The new process will herald a paradigm shift in our process and will necessitate changes in the way we impart training to our recruits and soldiers, in enhancing their combat potential," Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande said at the joint press briefing.



He said there will be "no compromise" on physical, medical and professional standards and parameters that were in place for recruitment of in the Army.



"I want to assure you that during the implementation and stabilisation of the Agnipath scheme, the Army's operational capabilities and preparedness along the borders and the ability to deal with internal security challenges will be fully maintained," he said.



"We will institute a fair, transparent and scientific method in screening the initial intake for four years and applying similar yardsticks to select those who will get re-enrolled," Gen Pande said.



The Army Chief said he was confident that the change will bring "new vigour and confidence" in the force and help in making it stronger and more capable and that a fair, transparent and scientific method will be put in place for screening the initial intake.



"The scheme, one of the most significant initiatives, aims to make the Army a future-ready fighting force, capable of meeting multiple challenges across the full spectrum of conflict," Gen Pande said.



He said an enhanced youthful profile of the Army that is "reduction in average age from 32 to 26 years" will be achieved over a period of time.



The defence minister said that all the 'Agniveers', after completion of the four-year tenure, will have bright prospects of getting employment in various states and the private sector.



Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said women will also be inducted into armed forces under the new scheme. Officials, however, added that the recruitment of women under the scheme will depend on the needs of the respective services.



Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said the IAF is looking to tap into the source of dynamic young people and it will train and expose them to the high tech environment and hone their skills for future employment.



"The new scheme therefore gives the IAF an opportunity to draw from the vast pool of talent available in the country," he said.



In a statement, the defence ministry said the scheme will enhance the youthful profile of the Armed Forces and provide a fresh lease of 'Josh' and 'Jazba' whilst at the same time bringing about a transformational shift towards a more tech savvy armed forces which it said is the need of the hour.



It said the Agniveers would form a distinct rank in the armed forces, different from any other existing ranks.



The enrolment will be undertaken through an online centralised system for all three services with specialised rallies and campus interviews from recognised technical institutes such as industrial training institutes and skills qualifications framework, among others.



The ministry said enrolment will be based on 'All India All Class'.



It said the applications will be considered in a centralised manner based on objective criteria including performance during their four-year engagement period and up to 25 of each specific batch of 'Agniveers' will be enrolled in regular cadres of the armed forces.



It said the selection will be the exclusive jurisdiction of the armed forces.



Currently, the Army recruits young people under the short service commission for an initial tenure of 10 years which is extendable up to 14 years.



The scheme is aimed at slashing the salary and pension bills of the three services which have been increasing rapidly.



The defence budget of Rs 5.25 trillion for 2022-23 included Rs 1.19 trillion for defence pensions.



The allocation for revenue expenditure was Rs 2.33 trillion. The revenue expenditure includes expenses on payment of salaries and maintenance of establishments.

(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, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the transformative Tour on Duty (ToD) scheme or 'Agnipath'. The scheme would grant Indian an opportunity to be inducted into the Armed forces.

Not to be military conscription like in Israel, the has branded ToD as an opportunity for India's youth to experience military life without having to join the armed forces -- Army, Navy, and the Air Force -- on a long-term basis.

This scheme will increase employment opportunities with new skills in different sectors, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, adding that it would help train youth for new technologies and improve their health.

Under the Agnipath model, soldiers will be recruited on merit, between the ages of 17.5 to 21 years. Once selected, these 'Agniveers' will serve for four years, said Lt General Anil Puri, Additional Secretary, Department of Military Affairs.

On the completion of 4 years, the soldiers will get an opportunity to apply voluntarily for the regular cadre.

Based on merit, up to 25 per cent shall be selected from that batch, Puri added.

Speaking on salary, said the recruits would be given good pay and an exit retirement package after a service of 4 years.

After four years of service, soldiers will be paid a one-time 'SevaNidhi' package, exempted from income tax.

#AgnipathRecruitmentScheme | On completion of the engagement period of 4 years, 'Agniveers' will be paid one-time 'SevaNidhi' package... which will be exempt from Income Tax. There shall be no entitlement to gratuity & pensionary benefits: Ministry of Defence pic.twitter.com/dFae7Qi9yx  ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2022

In the first year, Rs 30,000 will be the customised monthly salary package, of which Rs 9,000 will be deducted as a contribution to the 'Agniveer' corpus. After the service, the troops will likely receive a severance package of over Rs 11 lakh. However, those retained will serve in the defence services for another 15 years and be entitled to pensions.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi today approved an attractive recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the Armed Forces. The scheme is called AGNIPATH and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers. pic.twitter.com/ogrikrmhcz    / RMO India (@DefenceMinIndia) June 14, 2022

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said the IAF is looking to tap into the youth's ability to adapt to a fast-changing technology-based environment and hone their skills for future employment.

The scheme also allows IAF to assess both aptitude and attitude of 'Agniveers' and prepare them for further specialised training in aviation and non-aviation skills required by IAF if they opt to join as regular air warriors, he added.
On the second day of the World Trade Organization's 12th ministerial conference (MC12), India made a strong pitch to allow exports of foodgrains from public stocks on a government-to-government basis for humanitarian purposes.

At one of the WTO sessions, Commerce and Industry Minister said that India believes that there are limitations of the World Food Program (WFP), which has hardly contributed to world food security in any significant way.

"For instance, three-four years ago, all that WFP could procure in a whole year was only 3 MT of foodgrains", Goyal said. Even in 2021, the WFP could only procure 4.47 MT at about $1.7 bn, which is grossly inadequate to provide support during humanitarian crises or food security-related challenges faced by countries.

The World Food Program works in over 120 countries and territories to supply life-saving food to people displaced by conflict or made destitute by disasters.

"Other than trying to tell the world that WTO and its members have done something truly for addressing the concerns of world food security, it is not going to significantly change the scenario," Goyal said.

He said that countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Bhutan need food supplies. India has stocks in the public stockholding program, which can help neighbours, countries in distress, other developing, less developed nations, the poor, and vulnerable sections of society.

"I fail to understand what is holding back the WTO members from also allowing government-to-government purchases for humanitarian purposes in the event of a problem, food security being threatened, and all of that could be on very transparent terms," Goyal said.

"There are many countries that have public stockholding stocks, which could immediately provide relief to their neighbours, to other countries in distress. Therefore, India proposes that we carve out an exemption for government-to-government purchases between countries so that we can support countries in distress, particularly during some humanitarian crisis, the less developed countries, and developing countries, who look up to us for support," he said, adding that if and when any export restrictions kick in then this carve-out will help.
China has announced plans to provide visas to Indian professionals and their families stranded in India for over two years following the strict visa restrictions imposed by Beijing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Separately, China is also processing requests of thousands of Indian students studying in Chinese universities who have conveyed their interest to re-join their colleges and universities.

On Monday, the Chinese Embassy in India updated its COVID-19 visa policy after over two years to accept visa applications of foreign nationals and their accompanying family members wanting to go to China for resumption of work in all fields.

It is a big relief for hundreds of Indian professionals and their families who are stuck back home since 2020.

Last month, a number of Indian professionals based in China urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to press Beijing to allow their stranded families to return.

Besides the Indians, the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi said family members of Chinese citizens and foreigners with Chinese permanent residence permits going to China for family reunions or visiting relatives can apply for visas.

Besides Indians some of whom have Chinese spouses, many Chinese employees working for various companies were also stranded in India due to Beijing's blanket visa bans and flight cancellations.

However, visas for tourism and private purposes remain suspended, the Chinese Embassy announcement said.

In April, after prolonged representations from India, China agreed to permit the return of some" stranded Indian students and asked the Indian Embassy here to collect the details of the students wanting to return.

As per earlier reports, over 23,000 Indian students, mostly studying medicine in Chinese colleges, are stuck in India after they returned home as the broke out in China in December 2019. They could not return to China due to the restrictions imposed by the Chinese government to arrest the spread of the contagion.

Over 12,000 Indian students have reportedly expressed their wish to return and their details have been forwarded to the Chinese government for processing.

China is yet to come up with a criterion to permit the return of the students as Beijing is reluctant to allow such large number of people to return at once in view the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.

While opening visa services to Indians, China is yet to announce plans to open flight facilities between the two countries.

Currently, only diplomats between the two countries travel through the expensive third-country flight routes.

However, China's visa announcement has created hope that flight services too may be resumed between the two countries soon.

In recent months, China has been permitting students from some friendly countries like Pakistan, Thailand, Solomon Islands and recently Sri Lanka to return.

(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 court here on Tuesday reserved order on the bail plea of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who is under the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) since May 31, in an alleged money laundering case.

The special CBI court in the capital reserved the order on the bail application of Jain after hearing the argument of the ED and defence counsel in the alleged money laundering case. The order is likely to be delivered on Saturday.

On Monday, Satyendar Jain's custody to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been extended by two weeks.

On May 31, a day after the arrest of Jain in the money laundering case, a Special CBI Court Judge Geetanjali Goel sent him to the agency's custody till June 9 which was further extended to five days ending on Monday. He was rushed to a nearby hospital after he complained of uneasiness while leaving the Rouse Avenue Court, just after the court hearing on June 9.

The Minister was taken to the ED headquarters when he felt uneasy outside the court and was taken to the hospital.

The CBI has accused Jain, his wife, and others of commission of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. On March 31, the ED provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to companies beneficially owned and controlled by Jain.

The ED on June 6 also recently conducted raids at multiple locations belonging to Jain, his wife, and accomplices who had either directly or indirectly assisted him or participated in the processes of money laundering.

A recovery of cash worth Rs 2.85 crore and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg was made during the raid.

(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.)
In March 2022, the Employees Organisation (EPFO) announced the e-nomination process for Employees (EPF) account holders to ensure social security for their families and nominees. Members can file their e-nomination online via Universal Account Number (UAN) on EPFO's official website at epfindia.gov.in.

For users, filing an e-nomination through UAN requires only self-declaration and one needn't submit physical documents or approvals while filing or revising their EPF nomination. In fact, necessary changes can be made by logging into their accounts.

has not fixed any deadline for filing e-nomination and it is not mandatory for filing advance claims.

Purpose

It is necessary to file EPFO e-nomination to check (PF) account balance, pension (EPS), and Employees' Deposit-Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLI) up to Rs 7,00,000 for qualified family members. Moreover, there will be paperless and faster online claim settlements by nominees, when needed.

Steps to file EPFO e-nomination online via UAN

. Log onto the official website of EPFO at epfindia.gov.in

. Click on the 'services' tab on the homepage and select 'for employees' option in the dropdown

. Click on 'Member UAN/Online Service (OCS/OTCP)'

. Log in with EPFO UAN credentials and password

. Click on e-nomination under the manage tab

' Provide Details' tab will appear then click on 'save' option

. Click on 'yes' to update the family declaration

. Click on Nomination Details to declare the total amount of share

. Click on Save EPF/EDLI nomination' option

. In the end, click on 'E-sign', an OTP will be generated, submit the OTP received on Aadhaar-linked mobile number

. Your EPFO e-nomination will be completed

What is EPF?

EPF is a mandatory savings scheme started under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. The employee and the employer contribute to the scheme on a monthly basis in equal proportion. The scheme covers all organisations in which 20 or more people are employed.
Pontaq, an innovation fund that invests in early-stage technology businesses in the UK, India, US and Canada, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Startup and Innovation Mission, which s backed by state government.

Under the terms of the MoU, the government will help Pontaq-supported companies expand business operations in the State. As part of this, Pontaq organised an investors summit in the state. Mahesh Ramachandran, General Partner, Pontaq, said, At Pontaq, we help entrepreneurs scale at scale. We not only provide the required funding but mentorship and access to customers.

Fifty tech-based start-up founders participated in the event. Some presented their business ideas during the four pitch sessions and shared their start-up journey, vision, and how they are solving a real-world problem using new-age technologies like AI and IoT. KT Rama Rao, IT Minister, Telangana, virtually attended the event and answered the questions of entrepreneurs related to the business opportunities in the State. He encouraged them to visit the State and explore suitable opportunities.

Prem Barthasarathy, Managing Partner, Pontaq, said, We at Pontaq are working to provide a seamless experience to entrepreneurs to realise their business dreams. We are trying to create a conducive start-up ecosystem by bringing different stakeholders together and ensuring collaborations. Headquartered in the UK, Pontaq specialises in cross pollination of technology between these geographies and beyond, unlocking significant value for both its investee companies and its investors.
Both the town and the Azot plant have become flashpoints of the conflict in recent weeks, with hundreds of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers holed up in the factory under intense shelling from Russian forces trying to capture the town, local authorities say.

Russia's Defence Ministry said it had offered Ukrainian fighters sheltering in the Azot chemical plant in the eastern Ukrainian town of Sievierodonetsk the chance to surrender on Wednesday.Veteran politician Sharad Pawar has refused to be the presidential candidate for Opposition parties in election for the post on July 24, said Communist leader Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday. Opposition parties will consider other names, he said.
Monsoon is expected to cover the rest of the state only later this week, the cloudy skies notwithstanding. (Representational Photo: AFP)

Hyderabad: After a short delay, the monsoon advanced into the southwest part of Telangana state on Monday, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). It is expected to cover the rest of the state only later this week, the cloudy skies notwithstanding.

IMD-Hyderabad director Dr K. Nagaratna said the monsoon had advanced into the erstwhile Mahbubnagar and Jogulamba Gadwal districts, and may reach Hyderabad in two or three days.

"There has to be a certain wind pattern and at least 2.5 mm of rain to classify it as the onset of monsoon. In the southwestern part of the state, there has been some light rain," Dr Nagaratna said.

She added that the monsoon was expected to cover the state by June 16 or 17. The IMD had initially forecast the date of onset of monsoon in the state as June 11.
The Ministry of Defence is likely to approve the ambitious Tour of Duty (ToD) scheme this week as extensive deliberations among three service chiefs for over two years have concluded, according to reports.

Already adopted in several other countries, the Tour of Duty, or 'Agneepath', is a scheme under which the forces will recruit soldiers on a short-term and long-term basis to serve the country.

Tour of Duty is not conscription

Conscription refers to the mandatory of youth in the armed forces. In some countries, youth must serve a minimum number of years in the armed forces. Countries that follow the practice of conscription include Israel, Norway, North Korea, and Sweden.

Not to be military conscription like in Israel, the Army has branded ToD as an opportunity for India's youth to experience military life without having to join the armed forces -- Army, Navy, and the Air Force -- on a long-term basis.

According to the initial proposal, the recruitment of soldiers in the Army will be conducted under the new scheme in the immediate future, and the duration of service for 50 per cent of the recruits could be between three to five years, while the rest may have a much longer tenure.

All the recruits under the Agneepath scheme shall be released from service after four years. Then 25 per cent will be re-enlisted for full service with a fresh date of joining, media reports said, adding that the first four years of contractual service would not be counted towards their full service for the fixation of pay and pension.



The rationale for Tour of Duty

The scheme is also said to benefit the Army financially. This recruitment model has been conceptualised to address personnel shortages, including officers.

It has also been proposed as a means to generate increased employment opportunities, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that 40 per cent of the personnel are recruited through this medium.

Currently, the Army recruits young people under the Short Service Commission for an initial tenure of 10 years, extending up to 14 years.

With no recruitment taking place for nearly two years now in the military, there has been considerable anxiety among the youth, with protests in Haryana and Punjab over the delay. The Army currently has roughly 43,000 officers -- 80 per cent of whom are in the permanent commission class -- and an additional 1.18 million forming other ranks.
leader has been summoned by the ED on June 15, the third day in a row, for questioning in the Herald money-laundering case, officials said on Tuesday.

The questioning on Tuesday, the second day of his appearance before the probe agency in the money-laundering case, continued well past 9 pm and is expected to end soon.

The 51-year-old former chief is expected to leave the agency office on the APJ Abdul Kalam Road in central Delhi after some time.

Officials said he has been called again as the questioning and the recording of a statement are taking a long time.

Gandhi arrived at the ED headquarters, accompanied by his sister and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and his questioning began at 11:30 am. After a session of about four hours, he took a break for about an hour at around 3:30 pm and went home. He rejoined the questioning around 4:30 pm.

The MP from Wayanad in Kerala spent over 10 hours at the federal agency's office on Monday, where he was questioned and his statement was recorded.

(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.)
Three MLAs, including one each from the Bahujan Samaj Party and the and an independent legislator, joined the ruling in on Tuesday, state president V D Sharma said.

BSP's Sanjeev Singh Kushwaha (from Bhind), SP's Rajesh Kumar Shukla (from Bijawar seat) and independent MLA Vikram Singh Rana (from Susner) joined the in the presence of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Sharma told reporters.

Chouhan and Sharma welcomed them into the BJP.

(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.)
leader on Monday forayed in to continue the hustle over the Directorate of Enforcement's (ED) summons for and said that the party will continue this fight tomorrow.

"We will continue this fight tomorrow as well. The struggle of party will continue until they (Central government) try to suppress the voice of and our party," Rawat told reporters.

leader has been asked to rejoin the investigation again on Tuesday.

Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil also said that the party had been fighting for truth.

"The country is standing with Rahul Gandhi. We are fighting for the truth. We will sit and discuss with our party chief and take the decision about the further steps to be taken," said Gohil.

Earlier, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala along with many other prominent leaders were released on Monday after around 10 hours of detention at Sarojini Nagar Police station.Congress leader Rahul Gandhi left the Enforcement Directorate office in Delhi after 10 hours of questioning in the Herald case.

Several senior leaders of the party including Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry, Shakti Sinh Gohil, Anil Chaudhry, a few MPs and workers were also detained at various Police Stations in Delhi.Congress leaders and workers had staged protests holding placards at AICC headquarters in New Delhi over the summons of Rahul Gandhi.

Various leaders including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot took part in the party's Satyagraha march.Addressing the media, Baghel said, "The entire country is witness to the dictatorship of the ruling BJP. Congress workers were being detained from reaching the party headquarters. The entire area has been cordoned off and police have been deployed all around in an attempt to crush democracy. It is the democratic right of the opposition party to protest."

Calling the ED action on Rahul Gandhi "malicious", the Chief Minister said that the Centre is using its agencies to "suppress the voice of Opposition".

Rahul Gandhi, the 51-year-old politician, who entered the headquarters of the federal probe agency in central Delhi around 11 am after starting from the Congress office on Akbar Road, was accompanied by a large group of party leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, RajasthanChief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel.

He is being questioned by an Assistant Director level officer-- the investigating officer of the case--supervised by a Deputy Director and a Joint Director.

Another officer is learnt to be typing Rahul Gandhi's statement which is being recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

(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.)
general secretary Randeep Surjewala, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and others were detained by on Tuesday during their protest in the capital over Enforcement Directorate's (ED) probe against party leader in the Herald case.

"Our protest will continue. What happened to ED cases against BJP leaders Himanta Biswa Sarma and Narayan Rane?. I have been detained," Chief Minister Baghel told reporters here

"Police have made arrangements like we did yesterday. We are fully prepared and have requested the protest organizers to hold gatherings at the designated place which is Jantar Mantar. We had detained 449 people yesterday who were later released," Sagar Preet Hooda, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order).

Rajasthan Chief Minister and leader Ashok Gehlot slammed the central government over the police action on leaders and workers.

"No one can imagine the pressure from the government on . We can manage with section 144, but you cannot stop us from coming into the AICC office. The situation in the country is very serious. People coming on roads on Ram Navami and Friday namaz," Gehlot told ANI.

Meanwhile, arrived at the ED office in the capital on Tuesday for the second time to join the probe in the money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper.

Prior to reaching the ED office, he visited the Congress headquarters along with sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to join the protest.

The Congress's "Satyagraha protest" - against what it claimed was the alleged misuse of the probe agencies by the Centre - began early on Monday. Sloganeering, demonstrations, posters, air balloons were seen at party headquarters and other parts of the national capital.

(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.)
President on Tuesday attended the 'Lokarpana' of Sri Rajadhiraja Govinda Temple here.

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai were among those who graced the occasion.

According to (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Sri Rajadhiraja Govinda Temple on Vaikuntha hill on Kanakapura Road is a traditional, stone-carved structure and a replica of the famous Sri Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh.

The dimensions, stone carvings and aesthetics are also similar.

"The deity of Lord Srinivasa is nearly the same height and has been named Sri Rajadhiraja Govinda, which means He is the king of kings," 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.)
The Congress is likely to attend the meeting of political parties convened by West Bengal Chief Minister on Wednesday for deliberations over a joint opposition candidate for the post of President, sources said.

They said Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Surjewala may attend the meeting on behalf of the party.

Banerjee has convened the meeting on June 15 at the Constitution Club in the national capital for discussions to come out with a consensus Opposition candidate.

Several opposition parties are likely to attend the meeting and take forward the discussion on the joint candidate.

The election of the President of India will be held on July 18.

With numbers on its side, the ruling NDA has half the votes of the electorate and its candidate can make it through easily with the support of some independent parties like the BJD, AIADMK and YSR-CP.

(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.)
In an unusual move, several former Supreme Court and high court judges as well as senior advocates have written to the Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana, to intervene suo motu in the wake of incidents of violence and repression by state authorities on citizens.

While such a letter has been written to the prime minister in the past by retired bureaucrats (provoking a counter-campaign by other bureaucrats in support of the government), it is unusual for former judges to flag political issues.

The letter comes a day after Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind approached the Supreme Court for a stay on demolition of properties carried out by the Uttar Pradesh government against those arrested for causing violent protests last week. They were protesting against the derogatory remarks made about Prophet Muhammad by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal. Following international outrage against the remarks, the BJP suspended Sharma and expelled Jindal.

The UP police arrested more than 300 people and registered FIRs against those protesting and engaging in stone pelting.

The letter said: Videos of young men in police custody being beaten with lathis, houses of protestors being demolished without notice or any cause of action, and protestors from the minority Muslim community being chased and beaten by the police, are circulating on social media, shaking the conscience of the nation.

Twelve former judges and senior lawyers have signed the letter and have asked the Supreme Court to intervene to stop the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. The retired former Supreme Court judges who have signed the letter are Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy, Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice A.K. Ganguly; Justice AP Shah (former chief Justice of Delhi High Court and former chairperson, Law Commission of India); Justice K Chandru (former judge of Madras High Court); Justice Mohammed Anwar (former judge of Karnataka High Court); and a host of senior advocates in the Supreme Court, including Shanti Bhushan, Indira Jaising, Chander Uday Singh, Prashant Bhushan, and Anand Grover.

The letter says instead of giving protestors an opportunity of being heard and to engage in peaceful protests, the state administration has sanctioned taking violent action against such individuals.

The chief minister has reportedly officially exhorted officials to take such action against those guilty that it sets an example so that no one commits a crime or takes law into their hands in the future. He has further directed that the Security Act, 1980, and the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, be invoked against those found guilty of unlawful protests. It is these remarks that have emboldened the police to brutally and unlawfully torture protestors, the letter reads.

The letter states that pursuant to the statement of the chief minister, more than 300 persons have been arrested and FIRs registered against protesting citizens.

Such a brutal clampdown by a ruling administration is an unacceptable subversion of the rule of law and a violation of the rights of citizens, and makes a mockery of the Constitution and fundamental rights guaranteed by the state, the former judges and senior advocate said.

The coordinated manner, the letter reads, in which the police and development authorities have acted led to the clear conclusion that demolitions are a form of collective extrajudicial punishment, attributable to a slate policy which is illegal.

The letter reminds the CJI that on many occasions, including in the recent past, the judiciary has faced such challenges and emerged with distinction as the custodian of the rights of the people. It cited the example of suo motu cognizance of the migrant crisis.

Some recent examples are the suo motu actions taken by the Supreme Court in the migrant workers matter and in the Pegasus matter. In the same spirit, and in its role as custodian of the Constitution, we, therefore, urge the Supreme Court to take immediate suo motu action to arrest the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, specifically involving the high-handedness of the police and state authorities, and the brutal clampdown on the fundamental rights of citizens. We hope and trust the Supreme Court will rise to the occasion and not let the citizens and the Constitution down at this critical juncture, the letter urges.
The Police has so far arrested 337 people from eight districts in connection with the violence that erupted following the Friday prayers on June 10 over a controversial remark against Prophet Mohammad, an official said on Tuesday.

Thirteen FIRs have also been registered in nine districts in this connection, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said in a statement.

Of the 337 people arrested, 92 are from Prayagraj, 83 from Saharanpur, 52 from Hathras, 41 from Ambedkar Nagar, 40 from Moradabad, 18 from Firozabad, six from Aligarh and five from Jalaun, Kumar said giving in a district-wise breakup.

Of the 13 cases, three were registered each in Prayagraj and Saharanpur, and one each in Firozabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Moradabad, Hathras, Aligarh, Lakhimpur Kheri and Jalaun, the officer said.

A mob had pelted stones at the police during the violence in Prayagraj and Saharanpur. At least four other cities had witnessed similar scenes during the marches that were carried out in



In Prayagraj, a mob had set a few motorcycles and carts on fire, and also attempted to set ablaze a police vehicle in protest against the controversial remark on Prophet Mohammad by the now-suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma. A policeman was also injured in the chaos. Police had used tear gas and lathis to disperse the protesters.

In Saharanpur, protesters shouted slogans against Sharma and demanded death sentence for her.

There were protests in Bijnor, Moradabad, Rampur and Lucknow as well.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A municipal councillor here has resigned from the party in protest against the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad by now-suspended party spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

Tabassum Mirza, BJP's councillor from ward number 14 of Kota Municipal Corporation, South, on Monday sent her resignation letter to party's state unit chief Satish Poonia and Kota district president Krishan Kumar Soni, mentioning the reason behind her resignation.

In her letter to Soni, Mirza, who joined around 10 years ago, said that she is resigning from the primary membership of the party as in the ongoing circumstances, it is not possible for her to continue to work with the party.

In a separate letter to chief Satish Poonia, Mirza expressed regret on being a member of the party, saying that the party failed to control its functionaries who have been criticising her "Nabi".

If I continue to be member of BJP and support it despite there being so much (against Prophet), there would be none other bigger offender than me. Now my consciousness has awakened and I can no longer continue to work in the party, she wrote to the party's state chief.

When contacted, Mirza said she sent her resignation letter to Poonia and Soni through email and post.

Meanwhile, Soni denied having received any resignation letter on email or by post. I have not received any resignation from a party councillor, Soni 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.)
Mangaluru: Mangaluru police commissioner N Shashi Kumar held talks with Muslim religious leaders in the wake of reports that various outfits are planning to hold protests in the city against the derogatory statements by BJP leaders on Prophet Mohammed.

Shashi Kumar, who called a meeting of religious leaders on Monday, told reporters that messages in some social media groups hinted that protests similar to those held all over the country need to take place in Mangaluru also.

The meeting was called after some Muslim leaders expressed concern over this. Around 60 leaders participated in the meeting and assured their full cooperation to maintain peace and harmony, he said.

Kumar said the police department is aware of miscreants giving wrong information to the community sitting at a distant place with the intention of provoking religious sentiments. He urged the people not to listen to such rumours.

Muslim leaders who took part in the meeting clarified that no discussion was held on holding protests in the city on the issue, he said.
Digital media rights for IPL matches could lift the OTT play of Reliance Industries-led Viacom18, posing a challenge for the current leaders. Authorities will allow the countrys to access the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) for cross-border disputes. Read more on these in our top headlines.

IPL media rights likely to open floodgates for Viacom's OTT powerplay

Digital media rights for IPL matches could lift the OTT (over the top) play of Viacom18, posing a challenge for the current leaders. The Reliance Industries-led is believed to have won the digital rights, though no formal announcement was made on Monday. Read more

issues fresh guidance on cross-border disputes for taxpayers

Authorities will allow the countrys to access the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) for cross-border disputes. This is even if they had settled the case under the direct tax dispute resolution scheme  Vivad se Vishwas  without deviating from the outcome of the scheme, said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Monday. Read more

From debt trap to steely resolve, an outlier in IBC landscape

In the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) landscape, (BSL) has been an outlier. With many big-ticket cases on the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBIs) first list of non-performing assets getting stuck in legal quagmire, the resolution of BSL wrapped up in under a year, with Tata Steel moving at lightning speed to close the deal and take charge within 48-72 hours of the resolution plan. Read more



What makes sector's comeback kid amid insolvency proceedings

In the annals of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), may go down in history as the most noticeable resolution with the worlds largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, and the incumbent, Ruia family, locked in an intense battle spanning more than two years and ultimately resulting in full recovery of the principal amount for the financial creditors. Read more

Musk to address staff for first time since deal on Thursday

will address Inc. employees at a company-wide meeting this week, the first time the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer will meet with employees since agreeing to buy the company for $44 billion in late April. Read more
In a major relief for telecom gear makers and telcos, the (DoT) has extended the date for mandatory testing and certification of 4G and products by one year to July 1, 2023, through an amended notification issued on Monday.

and equipment makers had made it clear that the earlier July 1, 2022, deadline would have jeopardised the roll-out of services from the end of this year as there are not enough third party labs to test 4G and products.

The DoT took the decision after talks with stakeholders who had suggested either extending the deadline or keeping it in abeyance till enough third party testing labs were available. The DoT had assured stakeholders that at least one lab would be up and running by July, but that was grossly inadequate for the huge requirement.

Even if gave firm orders for equipment from July after the auction, equipment imports would have been delayed by 6-12 months.

New rules

Under the new testing and certification rules, equipment such as microwaves, radios, routers, and so on  which can be used for both 4G and 5G networks  could not be imported or sold after July 1 without first being tested by select third party labs within the country. The equipment also had to be certified by the Telecommunication Engineering Centre on safety, emission, and other technical parameters.

But as Indian labs are still not equipped to handle such testing, feared that orders to buy or import network equipment would come to a standstill. In fact, from last Friday, imports of new equipment were stopped by many global vendors because the deadline was just a fortnight away.

The extension will also give breathing space for the import of only 5G equipment, which also has to go through a similar process and for which the deadline being considered was January 1, 2023. Gear makers expect that this deadline will now be shifted by a year.



Telcos say that while buying new products such as the crucial radios, they prefer to import them as they have the capability to power both 4G and 5G and such products (which are not only 5G) would have come under the preview of the July 1, 2022, deadline.

The Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association (TEMA) had suggested that the mandatory testing rule was irrelevant and should be done away with. It argued that with the governments new trusted product policy, all telecom products procured by telcos were already covered in any case. As for any remaining items, they could easily be brought under the ambit of the Bureau of Indian Standards.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) had asked for an extension of six months. Vendors wanted an extension of up to 18 months.

The issue turned more complicated when the DoT, in consultation with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), issued an order on April 27 exempting mobile handsets, smart watches, smart cameras, and servers (among others) from the same mandatory testing and certification rules.

The companies making these items had protested that they were already being certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards on the same parameters.

Many equipment makers say that just as MeitY succeeded in winning exemption from testing for mobile devices, the same exemption should have been extended to them too by the DoT.

The COAI felt that there should be enough labs to handle at least 60 per cent of the products that will be required for deploying 4G/5G. As an executive with a global telecom vendor said: The extension is a major relief for us as we had already stopped imports last week because our products take two to three weeks to ship to India. And that would mean crossing the July 1st deadline and having our products sent back. Now we can start imports again.

He also pointed out that the extension would also now allow his company to give a clearer timeline for delivery of 4G/5G equipment once orders are placed.
India's in May fell 10% from a month ago as top producer curbed exports of the edible oil, a trade body said on Tuesday.

The south Asian country is the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils and lower purchases could weigh on Malaysian palm oil futures.



India imported 514,022 tonnes of palm oil in May, down from 572,508 tonnes in April, according to the Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA) of India.

Indonesia, the world's biggest producer and exporter of palm oil, on April 28 halted exports of the product to control soaring prices at home. Jakarta allowed exports to resume from May 23, but put in place policies to safeguard domestic supplies.

Indian refiners in May sourced more palm oil from Malaysia, Thailand and Papua New Guinea, but still the overall imports were down, the SEA said.



"In June could rise above 600,000 tonnes as has started giving export permits," a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm said.

Indonesia's export allocation for palm oil products has been raised to 2.25 million tonnes, a senior trade ministry official said on Monday, from around 1 million.

India's soyoil imports in May jumped 37% from a month ago to 373,043 tonnes, while sunflower oil imports more than doubled to 118,482 tonnes, the trade body said.

India buys soyoil mainly from Argentina and Brazil and sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia.

The country's soyoil imports could rise sharply in the coming months as New Delhi has allowed duty free imports of 2 million tonnes of the commodity, traders said.

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), which operates the (NPS), is planning to launch a guaranteed-return scheme in September this year. The pension regulator is also looking at giving choices of three different pension funds for each asset class in the non-government sector.

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
Three people were killed and four wounded in a shooting during a warehouse party in early Sunday, authorities said.

One of the gunshot victims remained in critical condition on Monday morning, according to Officer Jader Chaves, a Police Department spokesperson.

Detectives have not yet determined a motive in the shooting around 12:30 a.m. Sunday in the Boyle Heights neighbourhood. No suspect information has been released.

Blood stained the sidewalk and clothes including a sneaker remained on the street in the hours after the violence as detectives and forensic photographers documented the scene.

Two other victims were stable on Monday and the fourth has been released from the hospital, Chaves said.

Officers found two people dead from gunshot wounds when they arrived, Chaves said. The third person was later pronounced dead.

The County Medical Examiner-Coroner's office has identified two of the deceased victims as Daniel Dunbar, 27, and Randy Tyson, 25. Their autopsies are pending.

Local rapper MoneySign $uede had performed at the party and offered his condolences in an Instagram post, noting he was on his way home when he got a call about the shooting.

I pray for all the people who were injured and died last night, the rapper wrote. My condolences and heart goes out to all the families of this hurt.

Andre Preston told the Los Angeles Times that his brother, Brandon Castro, 18, had been hospitalised for gunshot wounds.

My little brother happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, Preston told the newspaper.

(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 Secretary of State has assured crisis-hit of support to promote American investments in the country after the completion of IMF negotiations, as he spoke with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to discuss the island nation's current economic and political challenges.

The two leaders spoke over the phone on Monday.

Wickremesinghe explained the current status of the negotiations with the Monetary Fund (IMF).

He further said that is willing to have closer cooperation with the US.

"It was a pleasure speaking to Secretary of State @SecBlinken. I briefed him on the current economic situation and requested for our countries to work closer. He assured his support to further promote US investments in upon the completion of IMF negotiations," Wickremesinghe tweeted.

Sri Lanka has decided to seek the assistance of the Washington-based global lender to combat the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948. The talks between Sri Lanka and the IMF commenced on April 18.

US State Department in a statement said, "The Secretary and Prime Minister discussed Sri Lanka's current economic and political challenges."



"The Secretary affirmed the United States' commitment to the Sri Lankan people during this challenging time and the importance of supporting reforms that address the concerns of all Sri Lankans, including on democratic governance and human rights," it said.

The nearly bankrupt country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026. Sri Lanka's total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion.

The IMF in May said that it requires sufficient assurance from the country that it will restore debt sustainability during the debt restructuring process.

The IMF is planning to send an in-person mission in the coming weeks to Sri Lanka for policy discussions on a financial arrangement.

The has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and other fuel, toilet paper and even matches, with Sri Lankans for months being forced to wait in lines lasting hours outside stores to buy fuel and cooking gas.

(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.)
It could be the tweetstorm that saves Christmas.

Last Thursday, Ryan Petersen, the chief executive of logistics company Flexport, rented a boat to get a close look at what was happening at the port of Long Beach, . Friday, he took to Twitter to report what hed learned about why two of the nations largest ports  Long Beach and Los Angeles  have come to a virtual standstill.

In a full 3 hour loop through the port complex, passing every single terminal, we saw less than a dozen containers get unloaded, he wrote. There were plenty of cranes, he observed, but nearly every spot holding containers was filled. With empties clogging the available space, new containers carrying goods from sea or land had nowhere to go.

The result was a supply-chain logjam on an epic scale. The ports shutting down is worse than Lehman Brothers failing, Petersen warned in a follow-up tweet. Both can lead to catastrophic failures of all counter parties depending on them.

It turned out that the main problem wasnt an absolute space constraint but a local zoning regulation. Long Beach prohibits companies from stacking off-loaded containers more than two high. The law is not a safety regulation but an aesthetic one. City officials decided that stacks of containers more than eight feet high were too ugly to tolerate.

The situation exemplifies why the formerly can-do state of has become such a difficult place to build anything, including an upwardly mobile life. In the name of protecting local vistas, a seemingly minor rule got enacted that exacted enormous aggregate costs far beyond the immediate area. The voters in Long Beach gained a modest improvement in the view while the entire national  indeed global  suffered from less efficient shipping. (The Port of Los Angeles is two nautical miles from the Port of Long Beach, and the two account for about 40% of U.S. container traffic.)

Its a classic example of a well-recognized issue in political . The benefits of the policy are concentrated while the costs are dispersed, spread out among tens of thousands of businesses and millions of consumers. Under ordinary circumstances, most of those hurt have no idea whats happening. Only in a crisis does anyone beyond a few industry insiders recognize the harm.

Petersens tweetstorm made that inside information public at a moment when political leaders, including President Joe Biden and Governor Gavin Newsom, had issued executive orders aimed at alleviating supply-chain problems. Instead of a self-interested corporate chieftain, Petersen came off as a voice of common sense speaking for the public interest. Almost immediately, Long Beachs city manager waived the stacking restriction for 90 days, allowing four or, in some cases, five containers in a single stack. (Petersen had recommended a limit of six.)

Although people elsewhere may think so, Californians dont hate business. But theyre myopic, especially if theyve lived in the state for decades. They love Californias lifestyle so much that they tend not to think about the consequences of even seemingly small restrictions  especially if those affected arent already in the neighborhood.

How could it be bad to require a new apartment to include a couple of parking places? Or to limit the heights of buildings on commercial boulevards to 45 feet?

The California Environmental Quality Act, better known as CEQA, was designed to protect air, water and open space. But it has become a tool for blocking new urban housing and even construction designed to get homeless residents off the sidewalks.

It didnt take long for Southern California housing advocates to draw the parallels to the port debacle. Im still laughing about how a key contributing factor in the global crisis is a local ordinance meant to protect people from seeing the boxes that all of our junk from Amazon arrives in, tweeted Culver City Mayor Alex Fisch, an advocate of easing restrictions on housing construction.

Venture capitalist Andrew Reed drew a more direct comparison. Atop a drawing of two men arm wrestling, he posted a meme reading: Stacking more than 2 units on top of each other can solve a lot of our problems. One arm was labeled Shipping containers, the other Housing.

What California needs now is the equivalent of a boat tour of the entire regulatory harbor  and the public willingness to heed its lessons. It shouldnt take a national supply-chain crisis to remind us how destructive Nimbyism can be.
South Korea's top diplomat said Tuesday that has completed preparations for a new and that only a political decision by the country's top leadership can prevent it from going forward.

After talks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said the North would pay a price if it goes ahead, as feared, with what would be its seventh in the coming days.

has completed preparations for another and I think only a political decision has to be made, Park said.

Prior to Tuesday, US and South Korean officials had said only that the North was nearing completion of such preparations.

If ventures into another nuclear test, I think it will only strengthen our deterrence and also sanctions," Park said.

North Korea should change its mind and make the right decision.

Apart from sanctions, Park did not say what that price the North would pay or outline how the deterrence policy would change, but Blinken said the United States and treaty allies and Japan could adjust their military postures in response.

We're preparing for all contingencies this in very close coordination with and we are prepared to make both short and longer-term adjustments to our military posture, Blinken said.

He added that in addition, the pressure will be sustained, it will continue and, as appropriate, it will be increased.

Both Park and Blinken men stressed the door to negotiations without any preconditions remains open for North Korea. But Blinken, repeating comments from numerous US officials in recent days, lamented that North Korea continues to ignore overtures for dialogue.

On Monday, North Korea test-fired what appeared to be artillery shells toward the sea, according to South Korea's military, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for greater defense capability to cope with outside threats.

The North's artillery tests draw less outside attention than its missile launches, of which it has conducted more so far this year than in any previous year. But its forward-deployed long-range artillery guns are a serious security threat to South Korea's populous metropolitan region, which is only 40-50 kilometers (25-30 miles) from the border with North Korea.

The suspected artillery launches were the latest in a spate of weapons tests by North Korea this year in what foreign experts call an attempt to pressure its rivals Washington and Seoul to relax sanctions against Pyongyang and make other concessions.

In March, North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland US in breach of a 2018 moratorium on big missile tests.

A possible new nuclear test by North Korea would be the seventh of its kind. Some experts say North Korea will likely use the test to build warheads to be mounted on tactical nuclear weapons aimed at hitting targets 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.)
has launched a massive diplomatic effort to get off the grey list of global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog FATF, a media report said on Tuesday.

has been on the grey list of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) since June 2018 for failing to check money laundering, leading to terror financing, and was given a plan of action to complete it by October 2019.

Since then, the country continues to be on that list due to its failure to comply with the mandates.

needs the votes of Turkey, China, and Malaysia to get off the list, and all three countries have assured the Pakistani authorities of full support for the purpose, the News reported.

The decision on Pakistan's status on the list will be taken during the current meeting being held from June 14 to 17 in Berlin, Germany, official sources were quoted by The News on Tuesday.

According to sources, during the recent visits of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar to different countries, important discussions took place regarding .

Pakistan has implemented almost all points of the Action Plan, except for the penalties, and Pakistan has made prosecutions and all relevant legal amendments, the report added.

The FATF meeting in Berlin will continue until June 17 and on the final day of the meeting, the forum will decide whether or not to keep various countries on its black and grey lists.

With Pakistan's continuation on the grey list, it is increasingly becoming difficult for Islamabad to get financial aid from the IMF, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Union, thus further enhancing problems for the country.

Pakistan has so far avoided being on the black list with the help of close allies like China, Turkey and Malaysia.

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the financial system.

The FATF currently has 39 members including two regional organisations -- the European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council. India is a member of the FATF consultations and its Asia Pacific Group.

(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.)
Washington [US], June 14 (ANI): Prime Minister will participate in a virtual summit of the quadrilateral economic forum -- I2-U2, comprising India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States, alongside US president and others, said a US official.

The four nations decided to launch this new Quad as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar joined his counterparts at a meeting via videoconference from Jerusalem.

Biden's first trip to the Middle East region next month, visiting Israel, West Bank and Saudi Arabia from July 13-16, PM Modi will participate in I2-U2 virtual summit alongside Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed, the official said.

It would be the highest-level gathering of the forum to date. The leaders will discuss "the food security crisis and other areas of cooperation across hemispheres where the UAE and Israel serve as important innovation hubs," the US officials added.

India and Israel have a truly special relationship and since PM Modi's visit to the country in 2017, the relationship had really taken off. Referring to the new Quad consisting of India, Israel, UAE and the US, Jaishankar hoped this group can play an important role in furthering economic cooperation in that region.

This meeting comes as Biden will be undertaking his first trip to the Middle East region next month, visiting Israel, West Bank and Saudi Arabia from July 13-16, the White House confirmed in a statement.

According to a senior Biden official, the US President will begin his travel in Israel, where he will meet with Israeli leaders to discuss the country's security, prosperity, and increasing integration into the greater region.

He will also visit the West Bank to consult with the Palestinian Authority and to reiterate his strong support for a two-state solution, with equal measures of security, freedom, and opportunity for the Palestinian people, the official further added.

The US President will then travel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at the invitation of Saudi King Salman, to attend a Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council plus Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan (known as the GCC+3).

(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.)
Hyderabad: Less than 30 per cent of students on average turned up at government schools on reopening day on Monday, in keeping with the trend for the first fortnight, said an official from the education department. The reason was said to be students enjoying extra-long holidays.

While a few schools started off rightaway by conducting bridge course classes in some subjects, other schools held a welcome party for the students by conducting several programmes.

Education minister Sabitha Indra Reddy visited the Mahbubia Girls High School here and welcomed students by giving them chocolates. This school was revamped under the Mana Ooru Mana Badi Programme. A special meeting was held with the parents of the students as well.

The minister said the future generations would grow up healthy and get quality education with nutritious meals, she said. "It was the intention of Chief Minister K. Chandrashehar Rao to provide English medium and corporate level education to students in government schools. With the provision of infrastructure as well as introduction of English mediums, more students from private educational institutions are joining government schools," she said.

She said that more than 75,000 students were admitted in government schools. The minister added that in the next two years, all public schools will be provided with all the basic facilities in all respects and attending public schools is likely to be a great boon in the future.
New schoolbooks will teach students in that the city was never a British colony, the South Morning Post reports, as seeks to tighten its control of the territory.

The four sets of textbooks for a class on citizenship say the Chinese government never recognized the 19th-century treaties that handed Britain control of Hong Kong, the report says.

They also stick to the governments stance on the large and sometimes violent protests in the city in 2019, blaming them on external forces.

The educational materials have been provided to schools so they can pick which to teach from September, the newspaper said.
The lush green beauty of a pine forest with singing birds contrasted with the violent deaths of newly discovered victims of Russia's war in Ukraine, as workers exhumed bodies from another mass grave near the town of Bucha on Kyiv's outskirts.

The hands of several victims were tied behind their backs. The gruesome work of digging up the remains coincided with the Ukrainian police chief's report that authorities have opened criminal investigations into the killings of more than 12,000 people since Russia' invaded on February 24.

Workers wearing white hazmat suits and masks used shovels to exhume bodies from the soil of the forest, marking each section with small yellow numbered signs on the ground. The bodies, covered in cloth and dirt, attracted flies.

Shots to the knees tell us that people were tortured, Andriy Nebytov, head of the Kyiv regional police, said at the scene.

The hands tied behind the back with tape say that people had been held (hostage) for a long time and (enemy forces) tried to get any information from them.

Since the withdrawal of Russian troops from the region at the end of March, the authorities say they have uncovered the bodies of 1,316 people, many in mass graves in the forest and elsewhere.

The horrors of Bucha shocked the world after Russian troops left. The mass grave that reporters saw Monday was just behind a trench dug out for a military vehicle. The bodies of seven civilians were retrieved. Two of the bodies were found with their hands tied and gunshot wounds to the knees and the head, Nebytov said.

National police chief Igor Klimenko told the Interfax- news agency on Monday that criminal investigations into the deaths of more than 12,000 Ukrainians included some found in mass graves. He said the mass killings of people also took place from snipers firing from tanks and armored personnel carriers. Bodies were found lying on streets and in their homes, as well as in mass graves.

He didn't specify how many of the more than 12,000 were civilians and how many were military.

Complete information about the number of bodies in mass graves or elsewhere isn't known, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the American Jewish Committee on Sunday. He cited the killings of two children who died with their parents in the basement of an apartment building in Mariupol in a Russian bombing.

Zelenskyy, who is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust, asked:



Why is this happening in 2022? This is not the 1940s.

(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.)
Sanjeev Guptas Liberty Steel said it reached a standstill agreement with Greensill Bank AG, its largest creditor, on debt facilities relating to its European steel businesses.



The deal, which is valid until Oct. 31 and could be extended to year-end, will provide breathing room for Guptas GFG Alliance as it seeks fresh financing. The German bank, acquired by Greensill Capital before its collapse last year, held much of the $5 billion of loans that Gupta received from the fintech firm.

The agreement marks progress for Gupta as he tries to restructure the debts of his sprawling metals empire. He is still facing an insolvency court proceedings brought by Credit Suisse Group AG, which held his debts through funds that bought notes from Greensill.

Todays standstill agreement with Greensill Bank demonstrates we are getting close to a consensual debt restructuring that is in the best interests of all our stakeholders, a Liberty spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Bremen-based Greensill Bank was shut down by regulator BaFin in March 2021 after it was unable to find evidence of the assets tied to GFG on its balance sheet. Greensill is now facing a criminal probe in Germany, while the bank itself is in administration.

Gupta has already lost several assets as creditors closed in. The collapse of his biggest financier deprived his businesses of vital working capital, forcing him to sell two steel plants in France. Private equity firm American Industrial Partners also took control of his prized aluminum smelter in Dunkirk after it defaulted on its debts.
IT services company Ltd on Tuesday said it expects to ramp up employee count in to 350 in the next two years, and is increasing investment there locally to help clients capitalise on digital transformation.

With increased local investment, is positioning itself as a core part of the business ecosystem in Norway, the Bengaluru-headquartered IT major said in a release.

" Ltd, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, is increasing its investment locally in to help its clients capitalise on digital transformation," Wipro said.

Within the next two years the company is looking to grow from 85 to 350 employees in Norway, it said.

"The increased local investment is part of our new operating model, which has identified the Nordics as one of the strategic market units in Europe. As such, we are positioning ourselves as an innovation partner to businesses in the region," Vinay Firake, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Nordics, Wipro Ltd, said.

The idea behind the new operating model is to empower local management to provide more in-depth local contact, decision making and investment for the long-term benefit of clients there.

"We firmly believe that technology is critical to solving the different challenges we face today while shaping the world of tomorrow. To help our clients realise their transformation goals, we will be looking to hire for a range of roles from IT consulting, engineering and industry domain all in the local market," Firake added.

Wipro first established itself in and the Nordics in 2006. Since then, Wipro has supported some of the region's largest by transforming their business through technology.

(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 Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra has tested positive for Covid-19 for the second time in less than a month.

Becerra took an antigen test on Monday morning and the result was positive, Xinhua news agency quoted HHS spokesperson Sarah Lovenheim as saying in a statement.

"He is fully vaccinated and boosted against Covid-19, and is experiencing mild symptoms. He will continue to perform his duties as HHS Secretary, working in isolation," she added.

Becerra, 64, had previously tested positive for Covid-19 in mid-May during a trip to Berlin.

Last week, he was in Los Angeles, California to attend the Summit of the Americas hosted by the US with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in attendance.

The HHS said he is not considered a close contact of either Biden or Harris as defined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Becerra is the latest in President Joe Biden's administration to test positive for Covid-19 in recent months.

On June 6, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced he had contracted the virus, while Interior Secretary Deb Haaland confirmed her positive result on June 1.

CIA chief William Burns and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also tested positive earlier this year.

Covid-19 cases are again increasing across the US, according to the CDC.

As of Tuesday, the country's Covid caseload and death toll stood at 87,424,846 and 1,036,084, respectively.

The two tallies are the highest in the world, making the US the worst-hit country by the pandemic.

--IANS

ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An influential American Senator in a meeting with India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu has raised objections to high tariff imposed by New Delhi on pecan, his office said.

The issue was raised by Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff during a video meet with Sandhu last week, it said on Monday.

Responding to the needs of Georgia farmers, Ossoff objected to India's high tariffs on pecans, which are hurting these farmers who export pecans to markets.

Senator Ossoff and Ambassador Sandhu agreed to work together to make improvements to the US- trade relationship, a media release said.

Earlier this month, Senator Ossoff had talked to Georgia's pecan farmers in Tift and Turner counties who expressed concern over India's high pecan tariffs.

Georgia produces about one-third of all American pecans, his office said in a press release.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US expects to take sustained and indiscriminate action against all terrorist groups, Washington's new envoy here has said, stressing that America will continue to engage partners, allies, and key states around the world on how best to address terrorism.

Ambassador Donald Blome arrived in late last month to take over the charge of the US mission.

His immediate task would be to ease the strained ties and rebuild the bilateral relations which had been under stress for the last many years due to the mistrust over the issue of terrorism and the Afghan Taliban.

Ambassador Blome in an interview with Dawn newspaper on Monday hinted that counterterrorism cooperation will remain a defining feature of the US- relationship for some time to come.

He said the US was seeking a strong partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism and expects from Islamabad sustained and indiscriminate action against all .

The ambassador was specifically asked to clarify if the US pursuit for strengthening counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan included negotiations over drone basing access closer to Afghanistan, but he avoided a direct reply.

The is committed to preventing the re-emergence of terrorist threats, in Afghanistan or anywhere else. Fighting terrorism is a global effort," he said.

"We will continue to engage partners, allies, and key states around the world on how best to address terrorism, he said while referring to President Joe Biden's statement in which he had talked about developing capabilities and deploying assets in the region to prevent the re-emergence of terrorists from over the horizon.

On Afghanistan, the envoy said, the US would work with Pakistan to press the Taliban to prevent from using Afghanistan as a base for external operations and to meet the community's expectations including pressing the Taliban to adhere to their counterterrorism commitments, form an inclusive government, and protect the rights of women and girls.

Blome welcomed Pakistan's ongoing efforts in countering the financing of terrorism and prioritising anti-money laundering measures.

His remarks come ahead of the Financial Action Task Force's plenary meeting in Berlin from June 14. The global illicit financing watchdog will review the progress made by Pakistan, which has been on its grey list' since June 2018.

(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 global outbreak of monkeypox is "clearly unusual and concerning", WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday as he announced to convene an committee next week to assess whether this outbreak represents a public of concern.

So far this year, over 1,600 confirmed and almost 1,500 suspected cases of monkeypox have been reported to the Organisation (WHO) from 39 countries including seven where monkeypox has been detected for years, and 32 newly-affected countries, Ghebreyesus told a media briefing.

Further, so far this year, 72 deaths have been reported from previously-affected countries.

No deaths have been reported so far from the newly-affected countries, although the WHO is seeking to verify news reports from Brazil over a monkeypox-related death.

The global outbreak of monkeypox is clearly unusual and concerning. It's for that reason that I have decided to convene the Committee under the Regulations next week to assess whether this outbreak represents a public health emergency of concern, he said.

As per the WHO, while disease outbreaks and other acute public health risks are often unpredictable and require a range of responses, the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) provide an overarching legal framework that defines countries' rights and obligations in handling public health events and emergencies that have the potential to cross borders.

The IHR are an instrument of international law that is legally-binding on 196 countries, including the 194 WHO Member States.

The WHO published interim guidance on the use of smallpox vaccines for monkeypox.

Ghebreyesus said that the global health organisation does not recommend mass vaccination against monkeypox.

"While smallpox vaccines are expected to provide some protection against monkeypox, there is limited clinical data, and limited supply, he said, adding that any decision about whether to use vaccines should be made jointly by individuals who may be at risk and their healthcare provider, based on an assessment of risks and benefits, on a case-by-case basis.

Ghebreyesus said that the WHO's goal is to support countries to contain monkeypox transmission and stop the outbreak with tried-and-tested public health tools including surveillance, contact-tracing and isolation of infected patients.

He stressed it is also essential to increase awareness of risks and actions to reduce onward transmission for the most at-risk groups, including men who have sex with men and their close contacts.

It's also essential that vaccines are available equitably wherever needed. To that end, WHO is working closely with our Member States and partners to develop a mechanism for fair access to vaccines and treatments, he said.

The WHO is also working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes.

(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.)
GENEVA (Reuters) - (WTO) members sought on Monday to forge agreements on to ease strained supply and sharply higher prices that the war in Ukraine have worsened, with only India, Egypt and Sri Lanka withholding support.

The 164-member trade body is seeking to reach two agreements at a major meeting of trade ministers this week in Geneva on steps to alleviate a food crisis that threatens the least developed and most vulnerable countries.

One would be a declaration to keep markets open, not restrict exports and be more transparent. The other would be a binding decision not to curb exports to the World Food Programme (WFP), which seeks to fight hunger in places hit by conflicts, disasters and climate change.

The Monetary Fund has said that about 30 countries have restricted exports of food, energy and other commodities, including India with wheat.

WTO members expressed broad support for both texts, with the exception of Egypt, India and Sri Lanka, a WTO spokesperson told a news conference. Previously hesitant Tanzania decided to endorse the texts, the spokesperson added.

Egypt and Sri Lanka, both net food importers, want recognition that their ability to export food might be limited.

India, which has a history of blocking multilateral trade agreements, wants the WTO to allow developing countries to hold food stocks without facing penalties for breaching rules on farm support. WTO members agreed to such a shield in 2013, but only on a temporary basis.

Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said this was the "topmost priority" for the WTO meeting.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development called on WTO members earlier on Monday to refrain from imposing restrictions on exports of essential foodstuffs to vulnerable countries and the WFP.

The situation is particularly acute in Africa, which in 2020 imported about 80% of its food and 92% of its grains.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Emma Farge; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Tom Westbrook

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Bitcoin neared a price level on Tuesday that could force software firm MicroStrategy Inc to add more tokens against a bitcoin-backed loan or trigger selling some of its vast holdings, setting fragile cryptocurrency markets on edge.

MictroStrategy, an aggressive investor in bitcoin, said it borrowed $205 million from crypto bank Silvergate Capital in March, with the three-year loan mostly secured against some 19,466 bitcoins.

If the bitcoin price dropped below about $21,000 that would trigger a "margin call" or a demand for extra capital, MicroStrategy President Phong Le said in webcast in May.

Bitcoin fell below that level to $20,816.36 on Tuesday before steadying near $22,000. Typically a margin call is met by providing more capital or liquidating the loan's collateral.

It was unclear if the price moves had any consequences for MicroStrategy, or if the firm already provided more bitcoin or cash to secure the loan.

The company and Silvergate did not respond to requests for comment.

MicroStrategy's Le said in May that the firm had 95,643 "unencumbered bitcoin" that it could use as extra collateral. Based on bitcoin's last traded price of $22,254, the value of those coins was $2.1 billion.

"We could contribute more bitcoin to the collateral package, so ... we don't get into a situation of a margin call," he had said.

Mark Palmer, head of digital asset research at BTIG, downplayed the risk of a margin call forcing MicroStrategy to trim its holdings. "We see no circumstance in which MicroStrategy is going to need to sell any of its bitcoin holdings," he said.

Nevertheless the situation, even if it does not result in MicroStrategy selling anything, was enough to keep the mood nervous.

MicroStrategy shares fell 3% and Silvergate lost 2% on Tuesday, extending losses from their 25% and 17% tumble on Monday in line with a pullback in crypto assets.

(Reporting by Tom Westbrook in Singapore and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

(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.)
China to finance bridge project in southern Philippines

Xinhua) 09:48, June 14, 2022

MANILA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines and China exchanged the agreements on Monday to finance a bridge connecting Davao City and Samal Island in the southern Philippines.

China's Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said he exchanged the signed framework agreement and loan agreement for the Davao City-Samal Island connector bridge project with Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez.

"The first cross-sea bridge that the Davaoeno people have long dreamed of will come true," Huang said in a social media post.

Huang said the Chinese government will provide a concessional loan of approximately 350 million U.S. dollars to the Philippine government to finance the two-way four-lane 3.86-km bridge across the Pakiputan Strait.

"Once completed, this bridge will provide a resilient and reliable transportation link between Davao City and Samal Island, improving transportation efficiency, promoting internal mobility, (and) stimulating tourism potential," he added.

Moreover, he said the construction will create thousands of jobs, contribute to the local economic recovery and improve people's livelihood.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Hyderabad: Facing a shortage of kidneys and liver for organ transplant, Osmania General Hospital (OGH) is trying to streamline the process of declaring patients 'brain dead' so that their organs can be potentially donated.

Brain death is the complete loss of brain function in a person who is on artificial life support. When patients are declared brain dead, hospital authorities can counsel family members of the deceased and request them to donate the organs. According to officials, many potential donors are being overlooked.

In OGH, there is a high demand for kidneys, but due to low availability, the hospital is only performing 2-3 renal transplants per month.

OGH Superintendent Dr B. Nagender said, "There is a committee comprising neurologists, treating doctors and administrators to declare patients brain dead, but it is not being done in many cases. OGH especially gets a lot of victims of severe road accidents, who can be potential donors. We want to improve the declaration process."

All donated organs are allocated to various hospitals on a rotation basis through the Jeevandan organ donation programme. Programme incharge Dr G. Swarnalatha said that due to the similar problem of some eligible candidates being overlooked for organ donation, Kerala and Gujarat had issued government orders making it mandatory for the treating doctor to declare patients who have suffered brain death as brain dead.

Telangana does not have such a mandate. "I had suggested that data on patients in coma, which is available in the Aarogyasri database, can be used to find out the number of such patients, who may eventually become potential donors," Dr Swarnalatha said.

In the Jeevandan portal, there is a waiting list of 3,000 patients who need a kidney. Among all organs, kidneys have the most demand. Until June 6 this year, 123 kidneys and 81 livers have been supplied for transplants via the portal.
Shares of Foods (Rs 70.95) and (Rs 25.55) continue their upward march with the market prices of the two companies having more than doubled in the past three weeks.

The two stocks were trading at their respective 52-week highs, locked at the 5 per cent upper circuit on the BSE on Tuesday. In comparison, at 12:30 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.06 per cent at 52,813 points.

In the past three weeks, Foods has zoomed 137 per cent from a level of Rs 10.77 on May 24, 2022, while has rallied 106 per cent from Rs 34.40 on the BSE.

Shares of Foods were locked in the upper circuit for the 47th day. The stock of the agricultural products company has skyrocketed 813 per cent from a level of Rs 7.77 on April 6, 2022, after the stock exchanges revoked suspension of trading in the security. Prior to this, the stock had last traded on May 3, 2021 and ended at Rs 7.55 on the BSE.

Currently, Kohinoor Foods is trading under the T group on the BSE and under BE category on the NSE. In the T2T and BE segment, each trade has to result in delivery and no intra-day netting of positions is allowed.

Kohinoor Foods is primarily engaged in the business of manufacturing, trading and marketing of food products. The company offers an extensive range that caters to consumers' need across the world  ranging from a wide variety of basmati rice, ready to eat curries and meals, readymade gravies, cooking pastes, chutney's, spices and seasonings to frozen breads, snacks, healthy grains, and edible oils.

The most powerful brand of the company 'Kohinoor' is a household name in countries like USA, UAE, Canada, Australia, Middle East, Singapore, Japan, Mauritius and other European countries.

Banks have classified the company's accounts as non performing assets and served it a notice in the month of July 2018 to March 2019 and during February 2020 to September 2020. The company has replied to the said notices and it is negotiating with different workable options, Kohinoor Foods said in its March quarter results.

As regards to Hindustan Motors, the company had said the movement in the share price of the company or spurt in volume in its shares is purely based on market sentiments and the company has no inputs/comments in this regard as it is in no way connected with any such movement in price.

There is no pending information or announcements, which have a bearing on price movement in the shares of the company at our end. The movement in price or spurt in volume of trading in shares of the company is purely market driven and the company or its promoters or any key managerial personnel has nothing to do with it. Further, we have also enquired from our RTA and Promoters/ Promoters group and have been informed that they have not purchased/sold any shares in last 6 months, said on May 31, 2022.

According to media reports, Hindustan Motors is likely in talks with an European auto company focused on the electric vehicle (EV) space for a joint venture. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed and due diligence is expected to start shortly and will take 2-3 months to conclude, Business Standard reported on May 25, 2022. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT



In its FY21 annual report, Hindustan Motors had said that it aimed to revive operations and had started process of rationalising cost post suspension of work at Uttarpara plant.

Also, the company has been engaged in scouting tie-ups with potential investors or strategic partners who can introduce newer product portfolios in the market and infuse capital into the company.

Besides that, the company is considering various measures including alternative use of fixed assets to generate revenue.
The medical diagnostic chain on Monday clarified that its promoters have no intention to exit the business.

Metropolis Healthcare said it is continuously exploring various strategic options/investment opportunities. On account of which the company keeps receiving inbound interest from financial institutions and companies part of the healthcare eco-system for a potential minority stake purchase in MHL.

"The company, its promoters and management team are committed to operating Metropolis Healthcare Ltd with the highest standards of medical science, stakeholder trust and customer engagement," the company said.

The media reports suggested that the company's promoters have initiated a formal process to sell part of their stake.

The company, however, clarified that promoters have no intention to exit the business and are in fact focused on strengthening the Metropolis Brand. Any step taken by the promoters and management team will be in the view of long-term growth prospects of the company and in the best interest of all stakeholders, the company added.

"We are conscious of our disclosure requirement, and we do not have anything concrete at this point of time to notify to stock exchanges," the diagnostics firm noted.

Metropolis Healthcare is a leading diagnostics company in India with a widespread presence across 20 states in India.

On a consolidated basis, the diagnostic company's net profit declined 34.8% to Rs 39.99 crore on 4.9% rise in net sales to Rs 305.90 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021.

Shares of Metropolis Healthcare tumbled 5.27% to Rs 1499.25 on Monday.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The private lender said that the speculation and rumors linking its new MD & CEO with asset quality challenges of the bank are unfounded and baseless.

In a statement released to the media, RBL Bank said that there has been considerable speculation and rumors linking the appointment of the new MD & CEO of the bank, R. S. Kumar, with asset quality challenges for the bank in the near future.

"We wish to reiterate that such speculation is baseless and unfounded and purely speculative in nature," the bank said.

For the year ended 31 March 2022, the bank's gross and net NPA were 4.4% and 1.3%, with a provision coverage ratio of 70.4%, with no reportable divergence. The bank is well provided and does not foresee any asset quality challenges.

Given the strong provision coverage, lower delinquency trends, and strong recovery visibility from the GNPA book, credit costs for FY23 are expected to be materially lower than FY22.

The bank also remains well capitalised and post its recent Tier-2 capital raise on 13 May 2022, from United States International Development Finance Corporation, America's development finance institution, the capital adequacy ratio of the bank has increased to approximately 17.8%.

Shares of RBL Bank were currently trading 0.28% higher at Rs 88.10 on the BSE. The scrip had slumped 22.67% to end at Rs 87.85 yesterday.

The RBL Bank June 2022 futures were trading at 88.30, at a premium of 0.20 points as compared with the spot at 88.10. The RBL Bank option chain for 30 June 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 88.5 lakh contracts at the 100 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 35.8 lakh contracts was seen at 90 strike price.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a setback to Amazon, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) rejected its appeal challenging the Competition Commission of Indias (CCIs) order related to a 2019 deal worth Rs 1,431 crore with the Future Group. The tribunal on Monday also upheld the penalty of Rs 200 crore. is expected to move the Supreme Court against the NCLAT order. Although it remains to be seen how the issue is eventually settled, the case is yet another example of Indias complex regulatory environment, which often affects business. This story started with Amazons purchase of a 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons Pvt Ltd for Rs 1,431 crore in 2019, which was approved by the competition regulator. However, the deal was put in abeyance in 2021 by the CCI and a penalty was imposed on for suppressing information.

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital Editor
West Bengal Chief Minister will host an Opposition conclave to discuss strategy for the upcoming Presidential elections and other issues  where the Congress will be only a bit player  at 3 pm on Wednesday.

President Ram Nath Kovinds tenure ends on July 24. Elections will be held on July 18 for the next President and counting, if required, on July 21.

The conclave will be attended by Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, and Randeep Singh Surjewala, as well as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, who has told his party he is not in the running for the President.

Interestingly, the information that Pawar has refused to be the joint Opposition candidate was conveyed to the public by CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury. Pawar met Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, and NCP leaders Praful Patel and P C Chacko in Delhi and conveyed to them his decision to not contest the election. I have been informed that Pawar will not be the Opposition face for the Presidential polls, other names are under consideration, said Yechury.

The West Bengal chief minister has invited 22 leaders, including her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala, Naveen Patnaik from Odisha, Telanganas K Chandrashekar Rao, MK Stalin from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtras Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Bhagwant Mann from Punjab, and Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi. That the CPI (M) chief minister of Kerala is on the list of invitees is significant as Banerjees rise in West Bengal has been at the cost of the Left party. Many of these leaders are heads of parties whose primary enemy is the Congress. They might not have attended the meeting if the Congress had convened it. Therefore, the attendance sheet becomes significant  not just for those who will turn up, but also for those who will choose to be absent.

Banerjee has not invited parties like the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) in power in the state, which is an avowed supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Peoples Party (NPP), whose leader, the youthful Conrad Sangma is chief minister of Meghalaya. The NPP and Trinamool Congress are in direct competition with each other.

Banerjee, who has been seeking to play a prominent role since her massive Assembly victory in West Bengal in 2021, is said to be looking for an initiative of strong and effective opposition against divisive forces ahead of the Presidential election.
A court in neighbouring Thane district has rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking transfer of a defamation suit filed against him by an RSS worker to another court.

Principal District Judge A J Mantri rejected Gandhi's plea in December last year. However, the order was uploaded only on Tuesday. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist Vivek Champanerkar, in a 2019 civil defamation case, sought a token compensation of Rs 1 from Gandhi, accusing him of defaming the RSS by linking it to the 2017 murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh. The suit is pending before a Civil Judge, Senior Division.

Gandhi's lawyer pleaded that the case should be transferred to Civil Judge, Junior Division because the compensation sought by the plaintiff was below Rs 5 lakh.

The principal district judge noted in the order that Gandhi could raise the point of pecuniary jurisdiction before the the same judge who is hearing the suit. Champanerkar's lawyer, Aditya Mishra, had submitted that Gandhi's plea was nothing but a "frivolous application" to delay the hearing.

Lankesh was shot dead outside her house in Bengaluru in September 2017, allegedly by the members of a right-wing extremist group.

(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 day after being questioned for over 10 hours by the (ED) in a money-laundering case, leader appeared before the central probe agency again on Tuesday.



Senior leaders like Harish Singh Rawat, Bhupesh Baghel, K C Venugopal and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda were detained by Delhi police once again,

The former president appeared before the ED for the first time for questioning on Monday, accompanied by sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and armed CRPF personnel. He was given an 80-minute break in the afternoon and left the ED office around 11 pm.

The former Congress president, a Z+ category protectee of the CRPF after the Union government withdrew the Gandhi family's SPG cover in 2019, is expected to write down his statement, official sources said.

Gandhi, 51, is being questioned in a money-laundering probe linked to the Herald newspaper. The investigation is related to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian that owns the Herald newspaper, published by the Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and are among the promoters and shareholders of Young Indian.

ALSO READ: Cong MPs detained for protesting in Rahul's support released after 11 hrs

In a show of strength, hundreds of Congress workers in Delhi and state capitals took to the streets on Monday and called for a 'satyagraha' march against the ED summons.

Delhi Police said 459 people were detained, including 26 MPs and five MLAs, and all women and functionaries have been released.

Lashing out at the government for "not allowing"' a peaceful protest, Congress leaders said they would not kowtow to the Modi government and vowed to continue with their agitation.



Former Home Minister P Chidambaram even suffered a rib fracture when he was pushed around by Delhi police personnel.

The hit back at the Congress, accusing its leaders of putting pressure on the ED, supporting corruption and protecting alleged assets worth Rs 2,000 crore of the Gandhi family.

Prohibitory orders were imposed in parts of central Delhi .

In April, the agency questioned senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal as part of the investigation.

The questioning of the senior Congress leaders and the Gandhis is part of the investigation to understand the shareholding pattern, financial transactions and role of the promoters of Young Indian and AJL, officials said.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Left leaders met chief separately on Tuesday trying to convince the veteran leader to be the joint opposition nominee for the presidential election.

Pawar, however, refused, CPI(M) general secretary said after his meeting with him.

Pawar met Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, and leaders Praful Patel and P C Chacko in Delhi and conveyed to them his decision to not contest the election.

"I have been informed that Pawar will not be the opposition face for the presidential poll, other names are under consideration," said Yechury.

Opposition sources said Pawar was not keen to enter a battle which he is destined to lose at this point in his political career.

Banerjee is in Delhi for a meeting of non- parties she has convened to formulate a joint strategy for the upcoming presidential poll.

Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo, has convened the meeting on June 15 at the Constitution Club in the capital for discussions to come out with a consensus opposition candidate.

The election of the President of India will be held on July 18.

(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.)
Flaying the Prime Minister's announcement on mass drive in the next one year, AIMIM president on Tuesday sought to know what happened to Narendra Modi's 2014 assurance of creating two crore jobs per year.

Owaisi claimed that the PM's announcement came following his recent speech at Bhuj in Gujarat where he shared employment data provided by BJP leader and MP Varun Gandhi.

"We would like to ask the Prime Minister. Is it not true that you had assured the country in 2014 that you will provide two crore jobs every year. So, you are supposed to provide 16 crore jobs in eight years...," he said.

"Now, you made the announcement, because Parliamentary, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat assembly elections are approaching. You tell us what happened to 16 crore jobs. Why you did not give?" Owaisi asked while interacting with reporters.

Modi has asked various government departments to undertake of 10 lakh people on a mission mode in the next 1.5 years. The Hyderabad MP also hit out at the NDA government over price rise and unemployment.

Finding fault with the bulldozer demolition drive carried out by the Uttar Pradesh government against alleged rioters, Owaisi said, "Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has become a super Chief Justice. In his court, he will convict people and demolish houses."



The house of Afreen Fatima (activist), which was demolished in Prayagraj, was in the name of her mother, he claimed.

The AIMIM leader dared the Yogi Adityanath-led government to demolish the house of Ashish Mishra Teni, who is an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri case.

"This is example of open hate against Muslims. BJP people are giving collective punishment to Muslims," he said.

If there is evidence, the accused should be arrested and convicted in the courts, Owaisi 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.)
India's imports declined by 33.20 per cent to Rs 5,14,022 tonne during May this year, but there was sharp rise in shipment of RBD palmolein oil by refineries, industry body Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said on Tuesday.

India, the world's leading vegetable oil buyer, imported 7,69,602 tonnes of palm oils in May 2021.

The country's total vegetable oil imports declined to Rs 10,05,547 tonne in May this year, compared to 12,13,142 tonne in the year-ago period.

The share of is about 50 per cent of the country's total vegetable oil imports.

According to the SEA, Indonesia has lifted the ban on export of with some conditions from May 23 and also reduced export tax. This will increase exports from Indonesia and have a dampening effect on global prices.

Among palm oil products, import of crude palm oil (CPO) declined to 4.09 lakh tonnes in May this year, from 7.55 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period, as per the SEA data.

However, the import of RBD palmolein rose sharply to 1 lakh tonnes from 2,075 tonnes, while that of crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) declined to 4,265 tonnes from 11,894 tonnes in the said period.

Among soft oils, the import of soyabean oil increased sharply to 3.73 lakh tonnes in May this year, as against 2.67 lakh tonnes in the same period of the previous year.

Whereas import of sunflower oil fell marginally to 1.18 lakh tonnes, as against 1.75 lakh tonnes in the said period.

According to the SEA, edible oils stock as on June 1 this year, was estimated to have been at 4.84 lakh tonnes and about 17.65 lakh tonnes was in the pipeline.

India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, and a small quantity of crude soft oil, including soyabean oil from Argentina. Sunflower oil is imported from Ukraine and Russia.

(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.)
HYDERABAD: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning a massive show of strength in the city on July 3 with a public meeting that is to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party leaders said on Tuesday. The meeting, which the party hopes to conduct at the Parade Ground in Secunderabad, will be attended by Union minister Amit Shah, along with several of his colleagues including G. Kishan Reddy.

The BJP, which has repeatedly made its intention clear that it will not be found wanting in its effort to wrest power from the TRS, is holding its national executive meeting in the city on July 2 and 3 and the idea is to cap off a politically hot weekend with the public meeting. Plans for the meeting were discussed at the partys state office bearers meeting here on Tuesday at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Bhavan, its headquarters at Nampally.

If the BJP plans materialise, the July 3 meeting could be the biggest political public meeting with the party hoping to mobilise people from all the 33 districts in the state. The party spokesperson N.V. Subhash said the plan is to have representation from all the 34,707 polling booth committees of the party. The office-bearers of these committees, along with party supporters are among those expected to attend the meeting, he said.

The July 3 meeting is expected to sound the poll bugle for the BJP with the top three leaders of the party, Modi, Shah, and party president J.P. Nadda sharing the dais. The party is hoping that it can capitalise on the presence of Chief Ministers from BJP-ruled states who will be in the city for the national executive meet, sources said. It is quite possible that some of the Chief Ministers will address the meeting and appeal to people from their respective states who have settled in Hyderabad to support the BJP in the next Assembly elections.

State BJP leaders are hoping that the meeting will further send what they believe is an already worried, and on the tenterhooks, TRS into a self-defence mode with Modi, Shah, and Nadda, expected to rip into the TRS government over the past eight years, and the now-familiar BJP attack on promotion of dynastic rule by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. Also expected to get some important stage time is BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar who has been the partys battering ram against the TRS ever since his elevation to the position.

The top BJP leaders could also launch broadsides at the public meeting at Chandrashekar Raos plans for either attempting to metamorphose the TRS into a national party, or his plans to float, or cobble an alliance of sorts, or the much-promised new direction policy for the country. What shape the BJP attacks might occur in are expected to depend on what emerges from the TRS in the run-up to the national executive meeting, BJP sources said.

The July 3 public meeting is expected to take forward the momentum within the BJP that, according to party leaders, gained a lot of traction after the May 15 public meeting at Tukkuguda of Maheswharam mandal in Ranga Reddy district that was addressed by Shah, and the May 26 unscheduled address by Modi to party workers and supporters at the Begumpet airport.
(Bloomberg)  President Joe Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, discussed unspecified security issues with Chinas top diplomat in a Luxembourg meeting on Monday, according to a White House statement.

The meeting between Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, which followed a May 18 phone call between the two men, included candid, substantive, and productive discussion of a number of regional and global security issues, as well as key issues in U.S.-China relations, according to the statement, which didnt elaborate.
Vocational training /

Cover Story: The disarray in Chinas vocational training system

China will soon need millions of the kinds of skilled workers who keep an economy functioning, such as auto mechanics, heating and air conditioner repair people, electricians, plumbers and computer technicians.

Yet the vocational education system has fallen into a shambles, leaving the worlds second-largest economy ill equipped to replace millions of the highly skilled who are retiring as the population ages and the workforce shrinks. In 2021, 57.8% of Chinese between 18 and 22 years old were enrolled in higher education, according to the Ministry of Education. Meanwhile, the proportion enrolled in vocational high schools dropped to 35% in 2020 from 60% in 1998.

Defense /

China will go to war if anyone dares aid Taiwan independence, defense minister warns

Chinas Defense Minister Wei Fenghe explicitly warned the United States Sunday that it will go to war to defend its sovereignty over Taiwan if anyone dares to try to split the island from the Chinese mainland.

Addressing the Shangri-La security dialogue in Singapore, Wei said, If anyone dares help Taiwan to secede from China, we will not hesitate to fight; we will fight at all costs; and we will fight to the very end.

Chinese, Australian defense chiefs break ice with frank talks

Japan to boost countrys defense capability

Tangshan /

North China city launches flash campaign to curb gang violence amid national outcry

A northern Chinese city launched a targeted campaign against organized crime after a brutal assault on four women at a local restaurant sparked nationwide outrage and renewed discussion of sexual harassment and gang violence.

The campaign in Tangshan in Hebei province began Sunday and will last two weeks. It targets illegal activities with strong public reaction and bad social impact, including fighting, provocation, intentional injury and insult to women, state media reported, citing local authorities.

Opinion: Why no bystanders came to the rescue of women being assaulted in Tangshan

FINANCE & ECONOMY

Corruption /

Minsheng Securities chairman under anti-graft probe

Feng Henian, a former official of Chinas securities watchdog and current chairman of a major Chinese securities brokerage, was placed under investigation by the countrys graft busters for serious disciplinary violation, the agency said.

Feng, 60, was detained Tuesday by authorities, several people familiar with the matter confirmed with Caixin. Half a dozen people were also taken away for questioning, including his family members, they said. Fengs residence in Beijing was raided, they said.

Savings /

Chinese household savings grow as Covid restrictions curb spending

Chinese households saved more in the first five months as harsh Covid-19 restrictions and a continued slowdown in growth of family assets caused by the pandemic curbed spending.

In the January-to-May period, household savings increased by 7.86 trillion yuan ($1.17 trillion), about 50.6% more than the increase in the same period last year, according to data released Friday by the Peoples Bank of China, the countrys central bank.

Credit /

May lending in China accelerates faster than expected

Lending in China accelerated more than expected in May, boosted by a gradual resumption of production that was disrupted by Covid lockdowns in some parts of the country. Loan growth in April was the lowest in almost five years.

Banks extended 1.89 trillion yuan ($281.7 billion) of new yuan loans in May, an increase of 392 billion yuan from the same period last year and nearly triple the April low, according to data released Friday by the Peoples Bank of China. Bank lending beat the 1.36 trillion yuan projected by economists in a Caixin survey.

Covid-19 /

Hubei province, Nanjing cut Covid quarantine time

A central Chinese province and some cities in the east of the country halved the amount of time visitors must spend in centralized quarantine as they relax Covid-19 restrictions.

Hubei province and some cities in Jiangsu province, including Nanjing and Xuzhou, have already begun implementing the new pandemic control policies, according to a WeChat-embedded mini program owned by the State Council, the countrys cabinet.

Beijing and Shanghai resume mass testing as cases rise

Quick hits /

Editorial: China should deepen reforms and opening up to keep economy stable

BUSINESS & TECH

Cosmetology /

Analysis: In Chinas medical beauty business, only the fittest now survive

Intensified regulation has left Chinas once-hot medical beauty industry primed for a shake-up that looks likely to favor companies whose core technologies and products comply with the new rules.

An era of strong regulation began for Chinas medical beauty companies in 2021, a year when watchdogs issued more than 20 new regulations designed to stamp out violations in the industry, Liu Wenzheng, an analyst at Minsheng Securities Co. Ltd., said in a March research report.

Property /

Developers desire to cut prices poses conundrum for regulators

Property developers in South Chinas Guangdong province asked the local government to relax restrictions that bar them from cutting prices as many struggle to shore up sales to keep much-needed cash coming in.

The developers request in Guangdong illustrates the Catch-22 that the countrys property market regulators have found themselves in. Allowing developers to lower prices could cause a market-roiling drop in housing values, while maintaining current restrictions risks further squeezing an industry that is already rife with companies teetering on collapse.

Didi /

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi bids goodbye to NYSE

Didi Global Inc. delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), less than a year after its blockbuster debut on the bourse.

On Friday, the ride-hailing giants last NYSE trading day, its American depositary shares closed at $2.29 apiece, down 84% from its IPO price of $14.

Quick hits /

China wants the market to help speed battery storage build-out

Long Read /

Chinas trade growth recovers from Covid shock

GALLERY

Chinas MMA star beats former UFC winner

Recommended newsletter for you /

Caixin Must-Read Newsletter brings you the best of our coverage and stories you cant miss. You can opt-in now and get hand-picked news coverage delivered to your inbox each week for free.

Thanks for reading. If you havent already, click here to subscribe.
When BJP spokespersons made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad and his wife Aisha during a heated television debate it did not elicit any popular outrage in India or abroad. After all, Islamophobia had been romping through the television studios for years unchecked.

Putting the foreign policy of a nation in a separate silo and believing that domestic politics could be insulated from it was a fools errand. On June 5, when Indias vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu was Qatar on an official visit, the storm finally broke.

Qatars relations with its co-members of the Gulf Coordination Council (GCC)  Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)  had soured over their allegation of Qatar supporting the radical Muslim Brotherhood. Adding to their irritation was the role of the Qatar-owned television channel Al Jazeera in raising sensitive issues that excited the street in the Arab world. The Abraham Accords normalising Israels relations with some GCC nations while Israel was repressing the Palestinians kept the GCC nations on edge. Qatar took the lead on an issue that had resonated amongst the Muslim masses.

Thus, Qatar chose to summon the Indian ambassador to lodge its protest as Indias vice-president was still in that country. Normally, nations wait until the dignitary has departed before such action. Kuwait and Iran also jumped in the same day. Kuwait is in the middle of a domestic political crisis as the government resigned, a third time in a year, in early April.

The Kuwaiti Parliament had been seeking the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah on corruption charges. In such a surcharged atmosphere, joining the clamour against India was a good distraction. Iran in any case, as the largest Shia nation, vies for the leadership of the Ummah, or believers in Islam, cutting across national borders.

Popular dissent followed, with calls for the boycott of Indian products. Even Saudi Arabia and the UAE, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modis personal nurturing of relations with the two Mohammeds, could not be outliers. Soon, 15 Islamic nations joined the official condemnation of the BJP spokespersons, including Indonesia, the most populous Islamic nation. The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Conference also joined the condemnation. Therefore, the BJP had little wiggle room left. Nupur Sharma, nurtured from her university days as a future star in the BJP firmament, was suspended, while the less important Naveen Kumar Jindal was expelled from the party.

The ramifications are now playing out domestically. Friday prayers traditionally provide a ready gathering for protests. An insult to the Prophet was an issue that required little incitement. The community had already borne repeated pinpricks since before the Uttar Pradesh election. The Gyanvapi Masjid issue, unfortunately not red-flagged by the Supreme Court, opened a new friction point in inter-faith relations. Recogn-ising its destabilising potential, even RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had urged that shivlings should not be searched for at random. The widespread rioting indicates popular angst, though some degree of social media incitement also cannot be ruled out.

While the domestic churn may persist for some time, one factor is clear. New guidelines to the BJP spokespersons to not target the icons and core beliefs of any religion, especially Islam, shows there is some rethink at the highest levels. The blowback from the Gulf indicated that whatever the equation between the Gulf rulers and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when divisive Indian debate crosses the red lines on religion then these rulers cannot ignore the popular resentment.

Interestingly, the BJP itself is getting attacked by supporters of Nupur Sharma for bowing to foreign pressure. The dividing line between using Islamophobia for consolidating majority communitys votes and not offending friends abroad is a very thin one.

India had already been fending off criticism from Western sources, particularly the United States. Recently, US secretary of state Antony Blinken had highlighted the rising attacks on people and places of worship. External affairs minister S. Jaishankars strategy has been to not engage or answer specific charges but to deflect it by generalising the debate and levelling counter-charges. But what happened in the Islamic nations caught the BJP and the Modi government off-guard. The PM was silent and Mr Jaishankar was in Prague, where he had once served as the ambassador, and remained mum.

Action was quickly taken against the two loudmouths, designating them as fringe elements and reiterating that the BJP respected all religions. Meanwhile, home minister Amit Shah was busy giving homilies on history writing, implying a Mughal bias by past historians. But various dangers still lurk. One, Al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) has never gained much traction in India. When I was the coordinator for counter-terrorism at the external affairs ministry, a common query of Western interlocutors was why the Indian Muslim population did not get radicalised. Those joining Al Qaeda were in low two digits. The answer we gave was that it was because Indian Muslims has legal avenues to seek relief. The AQIS threat on June 6 of suicide attacks must now be taken seriously.

Two, despite the resumption of contact with the Taliban government it must be noted that they lack the desire or ability to control Al Qaeda and affiliates like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. With Kashmir back on the boil, their recruitment field in India can get broadened if Muslim ire is not cooled politically. Bulldozers do not work against someone who has crossed over to jihad.

Three, although for the time being all nations, including Iran, whose foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited India amid the brouhaha, have dropped the issue for now, it can resurge if the Indian States heavy hand causes a violent outcome. The BJP may calculate that this confrontation helps electorally, but they must think of the Indian diaspora that is eight to nine million strong in the GCC nations, nearly $90 billion in annual trade and 40 per cent of Indias oil and gas supplies from the region. Also, not be scoffed at are the huge remittances that help balance the overall trade deficit.

What complicates the Indian balancing act are rivalries between Iran and the GCC Arabs, intra-Sunni conflicts and the US-Russia/China standoff. The last thing that India wants is for the United States to lose interest in an inward-looking and minority-bashing India or the Saudis and Emiratis to switch sides, realising India is unwilling to contain Iran.

Prime Minister Modis popularity is largely intact, and he really needs no new props to win in 2024. But by not discarding blunt instruments he may harm Indias standing abroad and in turn his own image.
Sensible gun control in the USA is an idea whose time may have come but who is to tell the members of the Grand Old Party that? Such was the senseless carnage let loose by trigger-happy fingers in two recent gut-wrenching mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas that America was shaken up like never before. It was time to act, the ruling Democrats pleaded, and the US House of Representatives passed a wide-ranging Gun Control Bill last week that is very promising, except that the Republicans are likely to shoot it down in the Senate where at least 10 of their votes are needed to give life to this revolutionary law.

The madness of individual ownership of guns may not sink readily in the public consciousness of a nation that grew out of the Wild West and had place for the Second Amendment that guarantees the right to own firearms for protecting oneself.

It seems risible that 18 to 21-year-olds who cannot buy a beer legally can walk into a gun store and pick up a semiautomatic rifle besides a cache of ammunition. The new Bill tries to stop such easy access to impressionable young people who could lose control of their minds as we saw in those two incidents.

How more poignantly could any survivor have brought out the horrors of gun violence than 11-year-old Mia Cerrillo who covered herself with a dead classmates blood to avoid being shot in the school in Texas? And yet the 223-204 vote was along party lines in the House and the intriguingly balanced Senate is a different story.

The citizens living along the two long coasts of the USA may be all for reasonable gun control but a middle America is too gung-ho about the right to arms and therein lies a tale.

The system itself is unfairly loaded to the extent that right thinking people can do little about even a few sensible restrictions like thorough background checks and gauging of mental health before a person becomes eligible to buy or keep a weapon of mass shooting. Gun control appears a civilisational challenge and still the worlds oldest democracy can do little about it. The emotive appeal of a Texan Democrat says it best  We cant save every life, but by God, shouldnt we try? And thats America for you.
At this point, were not entirely sure if this was supposed to be a secret, but thanks to a couple of sales agents, we finally have our firs...
Photo: The Canadian Press Crews work to stabilize a Canadian Pacific freight train as is sits derailed on a failing bridge over the flooded Bow River in Calgary on Thursday, June 27, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

The city of Calgary has declared a state of local emergency to deal with potential flooding related to heavy rainfall in southern Alberta.

Environment Canada has issued rainfall warnings for between 75 mms and 150 mms of rain by Wednesday morning in parts of Alberta, including Calgary.

Alberta Environment has also issued a flood warning on the Bow River between Banff and Exshaw, and flood watches on the Bow, Elbow and Highwood rivers upstream of Calgary and High River

Calgary has lowered water levels at upstream reservoirs on the Bow and Elbow rivers to make room for potential floodwater.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek says the state of local emergency will be in effect for 14 days to allow the city to respond to any flooding.

She adds, however, that river levels are significantly lower than they were in 2013 when flooding left at least five people dead and caused billions of dollars in damage across southern Alberta.

"This is out of extreme caution that we are doing this today," she said.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The parliamentary budget officer says changes to the way Canada sets drug prices could lower spending on patented drugs by about seven per cent over the long term and save billions of dollars.

Health Canada first announced in 2019 that the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board would change how it sets a price cap on medicines in Canada in an effort to lower excessively expensive drug costs by changing the countries Canada compares prices with.

The changes are expected to come into effect on July 1, after being pushed back four times during the pandemic.

The PBO says in a newly released report that if the changes had been in place in 2018, Canada would have spent 19 per cent less, representing about $2.8 billion.

The government had initially planned several other regulatory changes to lower the cost of drugs but stood them down after they were successfully challenged in court.

The move to change the comparator countries has engendered resistance from industry and patient groups who worry the changes will impact access to new drug therapies in Canada.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The World Sikh Organization of Canada says Canadian law enforcement should fully investigate and prosecute those involved in providing the tip that led to the wrongful arrest of two organizers of a Sikh rally near Parliament Hill.

Tejinder Singh Sidhu, the organization's president, says in a statement that the "hoax bomb threat" in connection to the Sikh rally is "deeply concerning."

The two rally organizers say they were wrongfully arrested in connection with a bomb threat, an experience one of the men described as disrespectful and harassment.

The men are raising questions about who gave their names to investigators and why, as well as how police handled that information.

They were organizers of a remembrance rally for the victims of the 1984 massacre of Sikhs in India.

Police have not answered questions about the two men's account of events and released few details about the potential threat that prompted an evacuation of Parliament and closure of surrounding streets for several hours on Saturday.
PNGs new plant prospects

ICR Research By

Published 14 June 2022

When Australia-based development company Mayur Resources discovered 382Mt of high-grade limestone resources adjacent to the ocean just 25km from Papua New Guineas capital Port Moresby in 2016, it was a moment of excitement. Since then, the company has been developing the Central Cement & Lime Manufacturing facility at Port Kido and, despite COVID-19 impacts, advances are being made and the prospects are promising. By Mayur Resources, Australia.

Mayur Resources Central Cement and Lime (CCL) project is a vertically integrated manufacturing facility that has the potential to meet 100 per cent of Papua New Guineas (PNGs) cement, clinker and quicklime requirements, with additional exports into Australasia, thereby displacing Asian imports into the region.

Located on the coast, 25km north of the national capital, Port Moresby, and 7km from ExxonMobils liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in PNG, the projects co-located quarry, plant site and deep draft wharf will enable very low operating costs while providing direct access to both seaborne domestic and export markets such as Australia and other South Pacific nations.

In August 2020 the PNG government awarded Mayur an unprecedented 20-year mining lease for the project and the company has recommenced (post-COVID) discussions with a shortlist of large-scale international strategic investors looking for a stake in the cement phase of the project.

To continue reading this story and get access to all News, Articles and Video sections of the CemNet.com website, please Register for a subscription to International Cement Review or Login
Fouta Cement prepares to launch new grinding mill in Liberia

14 June 2022

Fouta Cement Corp, the subsidiary of Fouta Corp, a trading company based in Liberia, is establishing a 0.396Mta grinding plant in Monrovia. The project is financed partially via an IFC loan totalling US$21.6m.



The facility is being constructed on a 10.5 acre site in Monrovia Industrial Park, under a 20-year lease from the National Ports Authority.



The grinding plant will be equipped with a 50tph mill and will receive clinker by trucks loaded from vessels at a designated berth in the Port of Monrovia.



Rehabilitation of an abandoned jetty, around 1km from the site, for receiving clinker via the port, is being evaluated.



Power supply for the grinding plant will initially be on-site via diesel-powered generators, with the option to connect to grid electricity from 2024, once a transmission line has been put in place.



The plant is expected to enter into operation in June 2022 and will employ at least 250 workers.



Fouta Corp has been operating since 1995 as a trading company, importing cement under the Goltas brand from Turkey.

Published under
Vassiliko Cement fire caused by shredder

14 June 2022

Vassiliko Cement suffered a fire over the weekend beause a tyre shredder ignited at the Cypriot cement plant.



The director of the environment department, Costas Hadjipanayiotou, who was at the scene on Saturday afternoon said it appeared the fire was caused by a malfunction in a tyre shredder that ignited the spark.

The fire broke out on Saturday afternoon in an open area filled with old tyres between the villages of Kalavasos and Mari, and was brought under control before midnight. Strong winds carried the fumes generated by the burning tyres upwards, environment commissioner Klelia Vasiliou told the Cyprus News Agency.

It took eight fire engines and a team of 25 firefighters working around the clock to bring the fire under control. An update on Monday morning said that two fire engines would remain at the scene, with a new team sent to monitor the fire, which was still not completely out due to the highly flammable nature of the tyres.

Published under
The Planning Commission on Monday recommended approval for zoning changes to allow 781 residential units and a school on the 72-acre Cigna site in East Brainerd.

The school will be on 18.6 acres at the former Cigna headquarters building directly across from East Brainerd Elementary School on Goodwin Road.

The development by Empire Communities will include detached single-family homes on 49.4 acres adjacent to the Drake Forest subdivision, apartments on 16.2 acres and senior apartments on 6.5 acres.

The apartments will be adjacent to the old AMC Movie Theater, and the senior units will be to the rear of the school.

There will be some community space along a stream that runs through the property.

The developers will put a 10-foot landscaped buffer along the border with Drake Forest though that is not required.

Two residents of Drake Forest complained that old subdivision is still dealing with the effects of the tornado and have been ill-served. City Council Chairman Darrin Ledford took issue with the statements, saying there a number of road improvements are set there this year.

Empire Communities is described as "one of the largest family-owned and operated North American new home builders creating inspiring places to live. With over 27 years of experience under our belt, we now proudly operate in two countries and six regions, having built more than 28,000 homes in over 90 communities."
Crye-Leike Real Estate Services has named Christian Chacon managing broker of the Crye-Leike Signal Mountain office. Mr. Chacon will be responsible for the recruitment, training and management of sales associates within the office.

Mr. Chacon, a realtor with Crye-Leike for more than three years, is a member of the National Association of Realtors and the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors. When he joined Crye-Leike as a new realtor, he quickly found the tools and resources offered by Crye-Leike would set him up for success. During his first year in real estate, Mr. Chacon's hard work and dedication to the industry earned him Crye-Leikes 2019 Rookie of the Year award.

In the fall of 2021, Mr. Chacon was named the recruiter and career development manager for the Chattanooga region. During that time, Mr. Chacon on-boarded agents and facilitated the growth of Crye-Leike's footprint in that region. Mr. Chacon now looks forward to using his experience in recruiting, training and sales to help agents at the Signal Mountain achieve success and thrive during this competitive real estate market.

I am thrilled to accept this position, said Mr. Chacon. Signal Mountain is such an incredible community and an integral part of what makes the Chattanooga area so appealing to transplants and locals alike. I am humbled and excited to get to lead this team of agents; we are going to do big things up here.

For more information regarding real estate in and around Signal Mountain, TN, please visit Crye-Leikes office, at 1238 Taft Hwy.  Signal Mountain, TN 37377, or visit the Crye-Leike website at www.clhomes.com. Managing Broker Christian Chacon may be reached at 756-0771 or via email at christian.chacon@crye-leike.com.




Once again, the city of Manchester, Tn. will host the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, which is one of the most popular live music events in the country. Since 2002, the four-day, multi-stage event has featured a diverse assortment of performers and musical styles on a 700-acre Middle Tennessee farm that becomes the temporary home for thousands of people from all over the country. Over 40,000 music lovers are expected to attend the 2022 festival, which runs from Thursday night through Sunday night.

With 40,000 festivalgoers converging on the site, the area in and around Manchester always sees increased traffic volumes during this time. As Manchester prepares to welcome a multitude of visitors, the Tennessee Department of Transportation is gearing up for the extra traffic. TDOT works closely with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Manchester Police Department, Manchester Fire and Rescue, Coffee County Sheriffs Department, Coffee County EMA, and festival promoters to keep traffic moving on I-24 while also getting Bonnaroo attendees to their destination.

TDOT has once again coordinated with our partners to ensure safe, efficient travel during the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, says TDOT Interim Commissioner Joe Galbato. The main objective is to keep through traffic moving smoothly on I-24 while getting festivalgoers safely into and out of the Bonnaroo site. Because of advance planning, we feel certain that we can successfully minimize traffic delays throughout the weekend.

This year, Bonnaroo will officially open all its gates on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CDT to allow more time for vehicles to enter the campgrounds.

TDOT HELP units will assist with traffic management during the festival and will aid any motorists who require assistance. In addition, TDOT will be taking the following steps:

Efforts will be concentrated on keeping I-24 traffic flowing.



HELP trucks will be on-site patrolling the interstate and state routes throughout the festival region.



Exit 111 (SR-55) will be used as the main festival exit. Alternate exits will be used if congestion occurs on the interstate.



TDOT maintenance units will be posted throughout the festival region, and maintenance personnel will be on call all weekend.



Variable message signs will be in place to warn drivers ahead of delays.



There will be no construction-related lane closures on I-24 near the festival area between 6 a.m. on Wednesday through 7 p.m. on Monday.

Median crossovers will be guarded to prevent motorists from parking in the crossovers and blocking emergency vehicles.



Festival traffic will be kept in the right lane and/or on the shoulder of the interstate, allowing through traffic to utilize the left travel lane unimpeded.



Emergency vehicles will use county roads that will be kept at low volume.



Temporary communication towers are in place to improve emergency communications.
The Summer of Rage begins.

It begins with uneducated, unemployed, hate-filled 20-somethings in the streets screaming about abortion as enslavement.

It begins with groups such as mine, Students for Life of Southeast Tennessee, being labeled extremist for..what, exactly?

Demanding that we follow the science? Demanding basic human rights for those who literally cannot speak up for themselves? Pointing out the violence of abortion?

Apparently so.

So, while said 20-somethings plan to Shut Down SCOTUS and burn the Court, what is the pro-life movement up to?

Well, we are planning on celebrating a historic victory for human rights, and the return of this critical issue to the states. We are helping pregnant and parenting students find life-affirming resources through initiatives like Standing With You. We will continue to highlight the injustice of abortion, the reality of the procedure, and explaining that women deserve better than abortion. Were not violent, were not disrespectful and we dont threaten or intimidate anyone. We are peaceful, joyful warriors in the biggest, baddest fight for human rights in our countrys history.

If you want to call us extremist for that, its your loss.

We are the Pro-Life Generation and we will abolish abortion in our lifetimes.

William Reynolds

* * *

Pro-lifers can't ignore their own violent history of assassinations and blowing up clinics, Mr. Reynolds. As recent as 2015 where three people were killed, nine wounded, in Colorado by a shooter rambling on about "no more baby parts" in an interview after his arrest.

Those killed in Colorado, 2015, were 1. A police officer and part-time pastor 2. An Army Specialist and Iraqi veteran 3. A woman from Hawaii visiting a friend. A "summer of rage" you say? vs decades of anti-abortion violence. That summer appears quite mild and contained in comparison.

I much prefer to adhere the advice of the late Maya Angelou, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."

Outlawing abortions won't stop them from taking place. The wealthy and well connected will still safely obtain theirs. The poor, working classes, middle-incomes will be the ones left with taking chances under unsafe, unsanitary conditions that, in the past when abortions were illegal, often lead to infections with the outcome being permanent sterilization and even death for many women. Some women died from bleeding out after botched abortions because they were too afraid to seek medical help from a hospital. Out of fear of being arrested.

Up to and well into the 1800s, abortions were legal.

Brenda Washington

* * *

Brenda,



If you have to go all the way back to 2015 to get a "yeah, but" to retort a current topic.....you don't have that "yeah, but" anymore.

2015 is not recent. It's very old news and not relevant to what's happening right now.

Phil Snider






I have reflected upon the senseless school tragedy at Uvalde, and before that Parkland, Fl. in 2018, and before that, Sandy Hook, Connecticut in 2012. Interspersed between these events are thousands of other school and community shootings that have claimed the health and the lives of countless innocent people. Chattanooga has had multiple shootings this year alone, which have undermined our sense of safety and community. As a neurosurgeon, I have witnessed these tragedies first hand and my experiences in treating them have helped to shape my opinion.

I feel compelled to make my thoughts publicly known. To this point, my children have not been involved in an active shooter situation and I pray that they never will be. I hope that by speaking up, they and other innocent people will be better protected. I extend my condolences and prayers to all of the families throughout the world that have been affected by gun violence.

In the most recent Uvalde shooting, police officers were delayed in their confrontation of the shooter. Perhaps they were waiting for more backup, or perhaps they were just plain scared. Even in the face of children actively calling 911 for help, the police did not intervene in a timely manner. In my mind this begs the question, If the police, who are trained in gun combat, are scared to engage individuals with assault weapons and high capacity ammunition clips, dont you think that those things might be bad for society?

I do cherish my constitutional liberties and the freedoms that we have in our great country. I respect and value the Second Amendment and our right to keep and bear arms. I come from a family of hunters and I own a firearm. But, I give equal respect to our unalienable constitutional rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. When children are innocently gunned down in their own school, year-in and year-out, then we need to work to improve upon that situation.

I understand that gun fatalities will never be completely eliminated. However, if we take a logical and evidence based approach to identify the problem and implement measures to lessen the problem, then we will at least accomplish a reduction in the senseless deaths.

In a similar situation, the problems of automobile fatalities are constantly studied by the NTSB. Although car accidents will never be eliminated, measures have been put in place to lessen them. These measures include grading roads, roadway lighting, informative signage, seatbelt laws, speed limits, and restrictions on the age to drive. Our citizens are still free to enjoy the open road. They just cant do crazy things like drive 100 mph through a school zone. I hope that our nation can formulate a similar set of guidelines to lessen our gun tragedies.

I am going to send a copy of this letter to my elected Congressman, US Senators, and the President. I encourage everyone reading this to contact their elected representatives and do the same. If everyone who is truly concerned about gun violence will speak up, then a better reflection of public opinion will be available for our representatives. I am concerned that the voices of powerful lobbies and special interest groups are drowning out the common citizen.



These shootings, and the subsequent political grandstanding with no productive response, have reminded me of one of the most famous speeches of William Shakespeare. I pray that this time we actually accomplish something that will better protect our children:

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Spoken by Macbeth:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Lifes but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Daniel Kueter
Federal indictments have been brought against two men charged in connection with the mass shooting on McCallie Avenue on June 5 that left three people dead and 14 others injured.

A federal grand jury in Greeneville, Tn. on Tuesday returned a two-count indictment against Garrian King, also known as Big G, and Rodney Harris, also known as 3rd, both of Chattanooga.

King was initially charged by federal authorities in a criminal complaint. Similar charges were brought against Harris.

Also, Mary's Bar, near where the shooting took place, is facing several violations at a hearing of the City Beer Board on Thursday morning.

Those include operating a disorderly place, allowing minors to loiter and gamble, and use of the premises not authorized by the permit.

Agents said, "CPD VCB observed numerous spent shell casings on the ground and located a blue Chevy Suburban backed into a parking space in the Walgreens parking lot across the street from the incident location. The blue Chevrolet Suburban was determined to be stolen. The vehicle was secured and towed to the Police Service Center for processing.

"CPD VCB reviewed camera footage from the Walgreens across from 2125 McCallie Ave. From the footage, CPD VCB learned that at approximately 0207 hours, the blue Chevy Suburban arrived at the Walgreens and backed into a parking space. A black male with a white shirt, khaki pants, white shoes, and a white hat, a second black male wearing a black shirt and red shorts, and a third black male wearing a sports jersey with the number 14 and white shorts exited the vehicle and walked toward the incident location. The black male with a white shirt, khaki pants, white shoes, and a white hat walked around the parking lot with a black rifle in his hand. He then walked in between two other vehicles in the parking lot and walked back to the parking lot with a mask on. He was no longer wearing the white hat when he returned to the parking lot. He then walked out of view of the camera toward the incident location, and the shooting occurred.

"Video from a Facebook Live video was obtained of the black male with a white shirt, khaki pants, white shoes, and mask holding a rifle in his hand while standing in the street on McCallie A venue in front of Mary's Bar and Grill. He walked around the crowd while holding the gun. The black male with a black shirt and red shorts is seen standing with him. The male with the mask and gun was identified as Rodney Harris, also known as "3rd," a federally convicted felon. The black male wearing the jersey with the number 14 was identified as Garrian King, also known as "Big G", a federally convicted felon. The black male wearing a black shirt and red shorts was identified as a known member of the Gangster Disciples street gang. King and Harris are known members of the Rollin 60 Crips street gang.

"At approximately 0237 hours, Chattanooga Police personnel arrived on scene at 2125 McCallie A venue and located several victims with gunshot wounds. One of those victims was Harris, who was lying in the street with the same clothes described above and the black mask on his head when the officers arrived. The rifle he was seen carrying was not located at the scene.

"Video surveillance showed that King got into side front door of a white Land Rover SUV that is parked in the Walgreens parking lot. The Land Rover SUV drove off through the parking lot towards South Willow Street. At approximately 0240 hours it returned, and King got into the passenger side front door of the white Land Rover. When he got into the Land Rover, King appeared to be carrying the rifle that Harris had prior to the shooting. The white Land Rover then left the scene heading through the parking lot towards South Willow Street.

"On June 7, 2022, CPD located a white Land Rover matching the one seen on camera the night of the homicides parked at King's residence. King was present at the address. CPD, with help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), interviewed King, and King admitted that he was on scene on McCallie Ave. the night of the shooting. King further admitted that, after the shooting occurred, he picked up the rifle that Harris had, got into the passenger seat of the white Land Rover, and fled the scene. King admitted that he bought the rifle on May 28, 2022, for $800. King stated that he then drove to an unknown address on Milne Street and sold the rifle to a black male named "Dre" for $500.

"Law enforcement, however, determined the defendant was not truthful regarding what he did with the rifle, and they tracked the rifle to an address in Collegedale, Tennessee. The rifle was taken from the Collegedale address before law enforcement executed a search warrant on that address, but law enforcement was able to contact the person who took it from the Collegedale residence. The person who took the rifle from the Collegedale residence did not want to meet CPD, so he left the rifle at an agreed-upon location, and CPD recovered it there.

"The firearm was an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15, AR-pistol with an arm brace chambered in .300 Blackout. The firearm was not manufactured in the State of Tennessee.

"On June 10, 2022, your affiant (agent) and Chattanooga Police Homicide Investigators Springer and Williams interviewed Harris at Erlanger Hospital. Harris was read his Miranda Rights, confirmed he understood his rights, and agreed to speak to law enforcement. Harris confirmed that he was in possession of the AR-pistol from Friday, June 3, 2022, until the shooting happened at Mary's on June 5, 2022. Harris stated that he was standing in a parking lot outside of Mary's with the ski mask on and the AR in his hand, when a car up the street began doing a burnout. Harris stated that someone then started shooting him, and he fell to the ground. Harris stated that he tried to stand up, and someone started shooting him again. Harris did not remember firing the Anderson AM-15 and did not know what happened to it after he fell to the ground a second time.

"There were 12 .300 Blackout fired cartridge casings located at the scene.

"Harris confirmed that he was a previously convicted felon at the time of this incident. On April 28, 2014, the defendant was convicted of Conspiracy of Crack Cocaine Distribution by a District Court in the Eastern District of Tennessee."

The new indictment alleges that the defendants each possessed a firearm after being convicted of a felony, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1).

If convicted, each defendant faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a period of supervised release of up to three years.



The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Chattanooga Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI. Several other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies assisted in the investigation, including the United States Marshals Service, United States Secret Service, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a comprehensive national strategy that creates local partnerships with law enforcement agencies to effectively enforce existing gun laws. It provides more options to prosecutors, allowing them to utilize local, state, and federal laws to ensure that criminals who commit gun crime face tough sentences. PSN gives each federal district the flexibility it needs to focus on individual challenges that a specific community face.

Assistant United States Attorney Christopher D. Poole will represent the United States.
For almost two months, the world watched as Johnny Depp and Amber Heard battled it out in court in a defamation trial.

One person who has become a viral sensation thanks to the trial is Depps lawyer Camille Vasquez. After Depp won the case, Vasquez was given a huge promotion at her law firm.

Ben Chew and Camille Vasquez, attorneys for Johnny Depp | NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images

Camille Vasquezs career history

According to El Nuevo Herald, Vasquez was born in 1984 in San Francisco, California. Her parents are from Colombia and Cuba.

Vasquez attended the University of Southern California and graduated magna cum laude in 2006. Then, she studied law at Southwestern Law School and graduated in 2010.

Vasquez currently works for the nationwide law firm Brown Rudnick. Its website states that her work focuses on plaintiff-side defamation suits, with additional experience litigating contract disputes, business-related torts, and employment-related claims.

It also adds, Camille is adept at formulating offensive and defensive litigation strategies for private clients. She also has extensive experience handling parallel reputation management and crisis communications issues arising from these engagements.

Camille Vasquez was promoted to firm partner after helping Johnny Depp win his case

Camille Vasquez, the California lawyer who helped actor Johnny Depp win $15 million in his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, is getting a promotion https://t.co/rkJR9QeBVS  Bloomberg (@business) June 8, 2022

On June 1, it was announced that the jury had found both Depp and Heard were liable for defamation, though it was a bigger win for Depp. The jury decided that Depp should pay Heard $2 million in compensatory damages, while the jury awarded him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

A few days after the win, it was announced that Vasquez had been promoted from an associate to a partner at her law firm.

We are delighted to welcome Camille to the partnership, said William Baldiga, Brown Rudnick chair and CEO (via Deadline). Historically, we have reserved this announcement for the end of our fiscal year. But Camilles performance during the Johnny Depp trial proved to the world that she was ready to take this next step now. We are incredibly proud of her and look forward to what she will accomplish as our newest partner.

Vasquez also publicly responded to the promotion, saying, I am delighted that Brown Rudnick has given me its full vote of confidence by having me join the partnership. Im proud of the uniquely talented team Ive had the privilege to lead, which exemplified teamwork and collaboration, and I look forward to continuing to represent Brown Rudnicks culture of excellence.

Camilla Vasquez finds her newfound stardom overwhelming

Vasquez went from being relatively unknown to a household name. Videos of her cross-examining Heard went viral on social media, and she gained many fans during the course of the trial.

The attorney recently reacted to her newfound stardom during a visit to Good Morning America.

Its been surreal and, if Im being honest, a bit overwhelming, she admitted. But if I can be an inspiration to young women that want to go to law school and study and work hard, then it was all worth it.

For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheets YouTube channel.



RELATED: Johnny Depp Courtroom Insider Reveals Shocking Moment She Thinks Amber Heards Lawyer Stopped Believing Her Client [Exclusive]
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.
In the early days of his music career, Tom Petty moved from Florida to California and signed with a record label. As the band was young and excited about the deal, they didnt pay as much attention to the terms as they likely should have. When the band started to find success, the terms of their contract left them with little to show for it. Petty went head to head with the label to get better terms for their contract.

Tom Petty | Rick Diamond/Getty Images

Tom Petty signed an unfavorable record deal with his initial label

Petty and the Heartbreakers initially signed a contract with Shelter Records. After two albums, MCA bought their contract without consulting the band.

This stunned us a little bit, and frightened us, that we were just gonna be handed around to people we didnt know, and didnt have any relationship to, he said in the book Conversations With Tom Petty by Paul Zollo. Plus we really had a bad record deal. We were on the same deal that Mudcrutch had. It was really a terrible deal. And we felt that wed had a little bit of good luck with the first two records, and we deserved a better deal. They didnt see it that way, of course, so I had to dig my heels in and refuse to work if they wouldnt make me a better deal.

80 million albums sold

Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame

Guitar God

Legend

Tom Petty was born on this day in 1950. pic.twitter.com/IW1kE9drsj  Eric Alper  (@ThatEricAlper) October 20, 2021

He did not appreciate that the label owned all his publishing.

They also owned all my publishing, which I didnt think was fair either because when the deal was made, I didnt even know what publishing was, he said. So a fast one had been pulled on me, and I wanted it made right.

Tom Petty declared bankruptcy as a way to get back at his label

Petty immediately made his concerns clear to MCA. Per CNBC, he informed the label that he didnt like being bought and sold like a piece of meat. The label wouldnt surrender the contract, however, so Petty took further action.

He spent over $500,000 in the studio, financing the album on his own. After this, he refused to release the album. By declaring bankruptcy, he was able to force MCA to terminate his contract. When they did, the band signed back onto the label on more favorable terms for them.

He once also took on his label by refusing to raise the price of an album

This was not the only time Petty challenged his record label. When they wanted to raise the price of his 1981 album Hard Promises from $8.98 to $9.98, Petty refused. This was $1.00 more than the standard album price, and Petty didnt want to make his music inaccessible to fans.

40 years ago today, Tom Petty released Hard Promises, and battled his label when they wanted to sell it for $9.98 a full dollar more than the norm at that time.

On principle, Tom refused to release the record, saying he wanted to keep costs down for his fans. pic.twitter.com/7HyTeOmjkZ  Eric Alper  (@ThatEricAlper) May 5, 2021

He threatened to change the name of the album to Eight Ninety-Eight, reflecting the price he wanted. He also threatened to withhold the album entirely. Eventually, MCA backed down, and the album sold for $8.98.

The music has to be affordable, he told Billboard in 2005. Its the common man that keeps it going, and if you price it out of his realm, it becomes a thing of the elite.

RELATED: Tom Petty Said His Record Label Was Furious With Him After His SNL Performance
After the Civil War, Cherokee citizen Stand Watie went into a self-imposed exile after negotiating on behalf of Cherokees who supported the Confederacy.
Representing IT company Provalus at the Cherokee Nation Diversified Job Fair on May 19 were Will Ruzic, vice president of operations, and Victoria Bonilla, director of recruiting.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks on April 12, 2022, in Oklahoma City. Stitt is asking a state judge to expunge a portion of a state grand jury report that is sharply critical of Stitt. The motion filed Wednesday, May 25, 2022, says the report that calls Stitt's meetings with appointees to the state Pardon and Parole Board grossly improper is not allowed under a state law that limits grand juries to issuing only indictments.
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
Dear Publisher,

Each year, Christianity Today honors a set of outstanding books encompassing a variety of subjects and genres. The CT Book Awards will be announced in December at christianitytoday.com. They also will be featured prominently in the January/February 2023 issue of CT and promoted in several CT newsletters. (In addition, publishers will have the opportunity to participate in a marketing promotion organized by CTs marketing team, complete with site banners and paid Facebook promotion.)

Here are this years awards categories:

1. Apologetics/Evangelism

2a. Biblical Studies

2b. Bible and Devotional

3a. Children

3b. Young Adults

4. Christian Living/Spiritual Formation

5. The Church/Pastoral Leadership

6. Culture and the Arts

7. Fiction

8. History/Biography

9. Marriage and Family

10. Missions/The Global Church

11. Politics and Public Life

12a. Theology (popular)

12b. Theology (academic)

Nominations:

To be eligible for nomination, a book must be published between November 1, 2021 and October 31, 2022. We are looking for scholarly and popular-level works, and everything in between. A diverse panel of scholars, pastors, and other informed readers will evaluate the books.

Publishers can nominate as many books as they wish, and each nominee can be submitted in multiple categories. There is a $40 entry fee for each title submitted in each category. To enter your nominations, please click on this link and follow the prompts. (Note: You will be directed to upload a PDF of each book you wish to nominate.)

Finalist Books:

If your book is chosen as one of the four finalists in any category, we will contact you and ask that you send a copy of the book directly to the four judges assigned to that category. We will provide mailing addresses for each judge.

Deadline:

The deadline for submitting nominations is Monday, August 1, 2022.

Any questions about any aspect of the process? Email us at bookawards@christianitytoday.com.

Thank you!

-Christianity Today editors
Harry Thomas, who launched the longest-running Christian music festival in the United States and who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting four small girls, died in prison at age 78.

There was no public announcement of his passing, nor a funeral or public memorial. According to the New Jersey Department of Corrections, the man once known as the grandfather of Christian music festivals died in April, with 13 years left on his sentence.

Thomas did not cofound the first Christian music festival, as his organization sometimes claimed, but Creation was by far the most successful. It attracted tens and hundreds of thousands of teenagers to rural Pennsylvania every year to see the biggest acts in contemporary Christian music and commit themselves or recommit themselves to following Christ.

But in 2018, Thomas pleaded guilty to raping one girl who was under the age of 10, touching the genitals of three more, and exposing himself to a fifth. The sexual assaults spanned a 16-year period and only stopped when one of the victims told her mother what had happened to her.

A relative of one of the victims called him a ravenous wolf and one of the greatest hypocritesa child molester masquerading as a pastor.

Another, looking across a New Jersey courtroom at the pastor and one-time Christian radio DJ, said, Harry Thomas, you will surely rot in hell.

Thomas wept as he was sentenced to 18 years in prison and said he was sorry for the pain hed caused.

I agree with the Scriptures, he said. It would be better for a millstone to be hung around my neck and be cast into the sea. Thats what I deserve.

Before his arrest, Thomas was an ordained Baptist pastor with charismatic leanings and the man behind one of the largest evangelical youth gatherings in the country. It started, as he regularly the story, with a vision he had in 1971.

I dont want to get too mystical on you, he said, but I had this very quick vision of thousands of kids on a hillside. I mean it was that quick, and he snapped his fingers.

Thomas was at the time the pastor of a small country church in New Jersey, and he decided to start a radio show playing contemporary Christian music. Come Alive was popular enough to get picked up by a few stations and help Thomas make connections with artists, promoters, and record executives in the burgeoning Christian music industry.

He decided that wasnt enough, though.

I really desired to reach out to young people, he said in 2000. Always had that desire.

In 1979, he, his wife, and another minister named Tim Landis decided to throw a Christian music festival. They found a spot in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; bought a giant banner that said JESUS; booked the most popular evangelical acts that they could, including Petra and Keith Green; and prepared for about 3,000 people.

Around 5,000 showed up, and Creation was deemed a roaring success.

The next year, for Creation 80, Thomas booked Barry McGuire and Phil Keaggy, as well as a line of notable evangelical preachers, including pastor C. J. Mahaney, Eastern University professor Tony Campolo, and 700 Club cohost Ben Kinchlow.

More than 8,000 people showed up and many teenagers committed their lives to Christ, some getting baptized right there in rural Pennsylvania.

We want to see lives transformed, and that may not be a new thing, but that is a real thing, Thomas later said. The hokey pokey, thats not what its all about. Its about Jesus.

In 1981, the Lancaster New Era newspaper reported on a 12-year-old who saw those baptisms and went home determined to get baptized too. Her Methodist minister informed her that she had already been baptized, as an infant, but the girl was so moved by what she saw at Creation that she convinced her minister to do it again.

Some have a strong feeling there is a stronger spiritual need for immersion baptism, the minister told the New Era.

By 1983, the festival was drawing more than 20,000 people every year, and by the 1990s, the Associated Press had dubbed Creation the Christian Woodstock.

A second festival was launched in George, Washington, and by the early 2000s, the two events were drawing roughly 800,000 teenagers.

The festival wasnt all emotional connections to God and river baptisms, of course. Visiting reporters were fond of taking note of the undecipherable lyrics of some of the songs and the too-decipherable slogans on some of the merchandise, with T-shirts that said things like My friends went to Hell and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.

Occasionally, though, the earnestness and longing of hundreds of thousands of evangelical teens would crack the cynicism of even the most cynical reporter, who would be moved, if not to conversion then compassion.

The journalist John Jeremiah Sullivan wrote a long first-person account for GQ in 2004. He drove to the festival in a 29-foot RV, fell in with a bunch of young Pentecostals and one Baptist who were volunteering at Creation, and before long started to revisit his own history of belief and how hed drifted away.

One has doubts about ones doubts, Sullivan wrote.

He couldnt stand most of the musicthough he thought Pedro the Lion was alrightand the adults at the festival come across in the article as shouting, sweaty monstrosities. But Sullivan was nonetheless moved by the teenagers.

I thought of Darius, Jake, Josh, Bub, Ritter, and Pee Wee, whom I doubted I'd ever see again, whom I'd come to love, and who loved God, Sullivan wrote. They were crazy, and they loved Godand I thought about the unimpeachable dignity of that love, which I never was capable of. Because knowing it isn't true doesn't mean you would be strong enough to believe if it were.

It was about that same time that questions were first raised publicly about Thomas and child abuse. In his role as pastor of a church in Medford, New Jersey, he advocated for a couple that was accused of starving four foster children. The boys, aged 9 to 19, each weighted less than 50 pounds.

Thomas raised money for their legal defense and spoke to the media on their behalf, attempting to explain away or just dismiss some of the horrific details.

"I find it very hard within me to believe they have done this in any purposeful way, he told the South Jersey Courier-Post. If in fact they have done it.

The husband of the couple died before trial; the wife was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Fourteen years later, a woman came forward to say that Thomas had hurt her. New Jersey police investigated, found four other victims, and arrested Thomas in December 2017.

He was suspended from the festival and his church, and the two organizations released statements of regret.

It is requested that all pray for the parties involved and refrain from speculation regarding the circumstances, the statement said.

The following year, Thomas pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault of a minor, three counts of sexual assault of a minor, and one count of endangering the welfare of a minor with a sex act. Thomas was sentenced to prison until the year 2035, without the possibility of parole.

Harry Thomas failed, said Craig Hubert, an attorney for one of the victims, at the time of sentencing. He failed himself, he failed his family, he failed his community, which includes his church ... and he failed his God.
Update (June 15): The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) announced on Wednesday that the person who uttered a racial epithet during the denominations General Assembly was not a delegate to the annual meeting.

Eastern University staff said they did not see the man on campus after the incident, according to the OPC, and all the commissioners to the General Assembly were present and accounted for.

The three other incidents that the OPC had characterized as racially disparaging interactions were deemed to be misunderstandings. One commissionerwho has not been namedwas reportedly trying to make a joke about the 13th Amendment, which ended slavery in America. He confessed it was a clumsy and misguided attempt at friendly humor and expressed a desire to reconcile with the students who were offended.

The final incident was reportedly confusion over self-serve pizza in the cafeteria. The OPC has determined that the interaction that was misunderstood by those present.

An Eastern University spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

----------

Original post (July 14): The General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) apologized Friday for four racist incidents at its annual gathering.

In a statement of sorrow and regret passed without dissent, the General Assembly said there is no place in the church for such conduct and we repudiate and condemn all sins of racism, hatred, and prejudice, as transgressions against our Holy God, who calls us to love and honor all people.

The 126 commissioners from the Reformed denominations 296 congregations gathered in Philadelphia at Eastern University on Wednesday. The annual meetings do not normally involve much controversy and could even be considered boring when compared to the dramatic conflicts within the Presbyterian Church in America or Southern Baptist Convention.

The OPC commissioners came prepared to hear two amendments to the Book of Discipline, receive reports on giving and Sunday school attendance, and vote on a resolution of thanks to Richard B. Gaffin Jr., a Westminster Theological Seminary professor who is retiring from the Committee on Foreign Missions after 52 years.

On Thursday afternoon, the proceedings were interrupted by a report from moderator David Nakhla, who said the General Assembly was in danger of getting kicked off the Eastern University campus for violating its contract and not respecting the Christian schools policy on racism. One person attending the General Assembly had made multiple comments about slave labor to students of color who were working at the school, another had gotten into an argument with a staff member, and a third had used a racial epithet.

Peter Bringe, an OPC minister and General Assembly commissioner, told CT it was painful to hear.

The initial announcement of the moderator left the assembly in shocked silence, he said in an email, and we used that time until dinner to let the situation sink in and pray.

The Eastern staff did not identify the people who made the racist comments, and there was some confusion among the commissioners whether it was one person or multiple people. The moderator, who declined to speak to CT for this story, said in an official statement that it was multiple people. At the General Assembly on Thursday, he asked them to come forward, but no one did.

There was a hush over the whole body, said Darryl G. Hart, a religious historian and OPC elder at the General Assembly. People were sort of frozen in place and people were praying quietly. The overwhelming response was horror, shame, and contriteness.

The rest of the afternoon sessions were suspended, according to the General Assembly minutes posted online. The moderator requested that the commissioners commit themselves to a season of prayer.

The next morning, after singing the hymn Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise and listening to several speakers talk about missions, the General Assembly was presented with a two-paragraph statement apologizing for the racial disparagement reported being made by some present at our Assembly and condemning racism more generally.

Commissioners were told that if Eastern did not accept the statement, the school was within its rights to force the General Assembly off the campus for violation of its contract. If that happened, the OPC would have to suspend the meeting three days before it was finished. The commissioners approved the statement apologizing for egregiously offensive behavior without dissent, and it was released on Facebook and Twitter.

Online, the statement received sharp criticism from conservatives who said the OPC should have stood firm and refused to apologize.

What happened? one wrote. Was someone seen wearing a Machen shirt?referring to J. Gresham Machen, a key founder of the OPC, who once objected to a plan to treat Black people as equals at Princeton Theological Seminary.

What a joke. OPC cucked, wrote another man who described himself as Reformed and 100% American, a Ku Klux Klan slogan popular in the 1920s.

Other conservatives expressed concern that the General Assembly did not investigate Easterns claims but just accepted that the racist incidents happened. Some speculated Eastern, a school with a tradition of encouraging evangelicals to care about social justice issues, might have made up the allegations.

One person complained the OPC had been owned by modern culture while another said the statement of sorrow and regret, without a full investigation, was a good reason, if you are currently in the OPC, to consider leaving.

Critics of the OPC, on the other hand, saw the reports of offensive comments at the General Assembly as a symptom of the deeper problem with racism in the Reformed denomination. They also argued the statement was too hazy on the details and the confession too general to count as a contrite apology.

Theres a reason racism keeps coming up in the OPC, said David Wallace, who helped plant an OPC church in Idaho but left in a dispute with leadership when they didnt discipline a member who called mixed-race babies monsters and wrote online articles arguing for the Christian basis of ethno-nationalism.

As a large body, theyll say sorry, Wallace told CT. And then they can point to those statements to say, Weve already dealt with it. We have nothing to add. But racists feel very comfortable going to the OPC. The elders arent going to correct you.

The Generally Assembly condemned racism formally in 1974. The committee report, approved that year, said the OPC had betrayed the calling of the gospel by accepting racial segregation and elders needed to do more to discipline racists in their congregations.

If a member of the church proves to be unrepentant for involvement in sinful racial or social practices, church discipline should be applied in the hope that repentance unto life might be forthcoming, the report said. The elders are responsible to Christ to be concerned with these questions as they relate to every member.

The moderator at the 2022 General Assembly asked the people who made the statements to Eastern students and staff to come forward a second time on Monday morning.

By Tuesday, one commissioner had come forward and personally apologized for making statements about slave labor, which he said was meant as a joke. Another apologized for the conflict with the staff worker. No one had claimed responsibility for saying a racial slur.

Hart, for his part, said he thought the General Assemblies response was good evidence the OPC is not racist.

There wasnt anyone saying, This person was right, he said. There was no dissent. There was overwhelming condemnation of racism. And Im pretty sensitive to concerns about being woke and I dont think this was woke. I think condemning these statements was standard in the church and standard in the United States.

Officials at Eastern University did not respond to requests for comment, but told OPC commissioners the school accepted the apology and consider the matter closed unless another incident occurs.

The General Assembly continued its business and concluded the 88th annual meeting at noon on Tuesday.
Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:7-8, 12)

When I began pursuing pastoral ministry, I was full of optimism. I expected that much of my work would be proclaiming the gospel, providing pastoral care, and shepherding people toward lives that followed Jesus and reflected the love of God. In talking with other pastors, I know Im not alone in that initial optimism. I knew that pastoring wouldnt always be smooth sailing, but because my first career had been in social work, I felt prepared for the challenge.

What I hadnt imagined was that for many people, church has become merely a place they attend once a week to hear an inspiring message that doesnt feel connected to the rest of their life, school, or vocation. And I wasnt prepared for the church to become synonymous with things like abuse, legalism, hypocrisy, and racism, causing many to hesitate to even walk through church doors.

These are the realities we face as pastors today. Much of what we see happening in the church isnt all that different from American culture in general. So how do we move our churches toward something differentthat better resembles deep love of neighbor motivated by the love of God?

Learning from the past

Oftentimes we look to the civil rights movement and Black church leaders to learn how to address issues of racism, but there are many other valuable truths we can learn from their wisdom, leadership, and faithfulness. During the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. and others taught and pursued a life lived in beloved communitya Christian vision for a way of life in which, as The King Center describes, love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred.

The concept of the beloved community was first developed in the late 19th century by philosopher Josiah Royce and later popularized by King. The principles of beloved community are rooted in Scripture and provide a kingdom-shaped framework for a richer way of living life together. Theyre built around the love of Christ, love of others, redemption, reconciliation, nonviolence, and shared power.

Beloved communitywhich centers love for othersaddresses many of the heartaches we experience as pastors and offers a way to reorient our lives and the lives of our people toward Jesus. It provides a rich framework for how we can envision our ministry. Living into the principles of beloved community can help cultivate authentic, long-lasting spiritual health for pastors and parishioners alike.

Embodying love

Ive been deeply encouraged as Ive spent time studying beloved community and listening to what the Lord has to teach me through King and others. Methodist deacon Arthuree Wright outlined 25 specific traits of beloved community that help make the concept more tangible, especially as we consider how we can embody it as pastors and how it can be lived out in our churches. Here are three traits of beloved community (identified by Wright) that Ive found especially helpful.

Beloved community listens emotionally (with the heart); it fosters empathy and compassion for others. Working to intentionally build empathy and compassion for those who come to us broken and in need of the gospel enables us to create a safe space for the hurting. As shepherds, we must strive to be compassionate like God, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2 Cor. 1:34). We can grow in this trait by intentionally listening to, doing life with, and learning from people who are different from ourselves. This happens primarily through personal relationships, but also through books and podcasts. Training in compassion and trauma-informed care can further equip us to listen and shepherd well.

Beloved community fosters an active spirituality, recognizing that we serve a dynamic God. As pastors, we can help our parishioners develop a strong theology of the Holy Spirit. Our sermons, book studies, and ministry opportunities can help church members engage missionally and embrace a lively, dynamic perspective on their faith rather than a passive one. My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working, Jesus said in John 5:17. As we lead in our churches, remembering that God is always working, we too are empowered to serve in an active way, engaging in the lives of our people and our community because God is doing just that.

Beloved community resolves conflicts peacefully, without violence, recognizing that peacefully doesnt always mean comfortably. It is important to understand that nonviolence should be thought of more broadly than merely refraining from physical violence. We must strive to develop a culture in our churches that does not perpetuate emotional abuse, manipulation, or other forms of violence that are prevalent in our culture. What if, as pastors, we allowed the work of the Spirit to create a space where conflict is not avoided, but where we strive as sisters and brothers in Christ to resolve conflict without violence, recognizing that this does not mean it will be comfortable for everyone? We cannot do this work on our own; we must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Noticing, praying, imagining

Beloved community already exists in many placeswe just dont always recognize it. When I was in seminary, I took a class called Exegeting the City. We were challenged to learn how different churches, organizations, and individuals in Phoenix were living out their faith in their communities. Most werent doing anything big or flashythey were simply living faithfully and pointing people toward Jesus. They were characterized by many of the traits of beloved community, like recognizing and honoring the image of God in every human being, gathering regularly for table fellowship, and striving to meet the needs of everyone in the community. This created a healthy culture within these ministries that impacted their surrounding communities.

An important step in moving our churches toward beloved community is first pausing to notice how it already exists in our congregations. Where are kingdom values and Christlike love at work? For example, is your church focused on welcoming the stranger? Do church members regularly practice the sharing of meals? Do they engage in active ministry that cares for the least of these by addressing poverty, hunger, or homelessness? Has your congregation created a space of belonging for a diverse group of people? How is the Spirit already moving and shaping your community in the way of love?

Once weve considered these things, we can then prayerfully imagine the potential this love has to pour out of our church doors and into the neighborhoods and communities that surround us. We can lean on and trust in the work of our active and dynamic God as we seek to embrace this kingdom-shaped way of life. We can both celebrate what is already happening in our churches and consider what next steps can be taken to press deeper into relationship with Christ and others.

In The Role of the Church in Facing the Nations Chief Moral Dilemma in 1957, King spoke of his ultimate goal:

The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. The type of love that I stress here  is agape which is understanding goodwill for all men. It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of men. This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization.

The need for healthier churches is undeniable. It requires us to think creatively and to learn from others who have faithfully pressed into this type of work. It is not easy, but it is work rooted in the love of Jesus and the values of his kingdomand it can help the church be known as a place of peace, justice, and health, as it should be. For all the discouragement we may face as pastors, I believe the principles of beloved community can speak a word of hope to us. By the power of the Holy Spirit, it is possible for this type of community to be realized and for the church to be known for its agape love.

Kimberly Deckel is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. She serves as executive pastor at Church of the Cross in Austin, Texas.

This article is part of our spring CT Pastors issue exploring church health. You can find the full issue here.
Candace Cameron Bure 'sad at the state of the world,' issues challenge to fans

Actress Candace Cameron Bure was filled with emotion last week when she urged her fans to help push back against the current state of the world.

Do you ever scroll through Instagram and just get sad at the state of the world? Thats me right now," the Fuller House alum said in an Instagram video to her 5.5 million followers.

Bure, overcome with emotion, put her hands over her eyes and screeched to express her frustration.

She then proposed a "gratitude challenge," encouraging her fans to live a life of gratitude.

Im going to think of the things that I am grateful for, Bure reflected.

The professing Christian testified, I am grateful for God, Lord Jesus Christ, whos in control of all of it.

Im grateful that Hes already given all of us and me the ability to be justified before Him and be sanctified throughout the process of my life and that He redeems it all at the end," she said.

The actress clenched her face with her hands and said she always turns to gratitude in times of distress.

The author of Kind Is the New Classy took to social media a few weeks ago to share her heartbreak over the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

With the tragedy and the loss of those 21 people that is so hard, and as a mother I grieve and I just want to grieve with the people of Uvalde and the families, Bure said with tears in her eyes.

In another Instagram story, the actress revealed that her home was under attack from the "enemy."

The actress said she and her family were targeted by the spirit of the devil after days of family members, including herself, being "irritable" towards each other.

"It's been cranky in my house for the last few days to the point that it's weird, Bure revealed. Like my house is usually really peaceful and happy. Everyone's been irritable, including me, and everyone is just like at each other. It's been like three days now."

"It finally hit me, she continued. I'm like, 'Oh, there's a spirit of irritability, there's a spirit of crankiness, there's a spirit of confusion. Oh, the enemy's attacking!"

"I think so easily, we forget and we want to just blame one another when things go wrong. And we forget that there's a very real and powerful enemy at work every single day of our lives, the Fuller House star noted.

"That enemy is the devil, Bure clarified. He's real and he's at work, but the devil has no control or authority in my home.

The mother of three made a declaration of faith.

"Jesus has all authority, all power in my home, and reigns in my home!" she said.

"I call upon the Holy Spirit. I pray out any evil spirits that are in here, Bure continued. And I put on my worship music, it's just filling my home. So my home is filled with Scripture and God's Word, God's power, God's truth, and I just keep reminding myself of that.

She advised others to keep their spiritual eyes open.

Bure recently took an executive role at GAC Media, where she will produce and star in faith and family-friendly content. In this role, the actress can create and develop her own content.
Megachurch reveals Bruxy Cavey wasnt only pastor involved in sexual misconduct, cites 38 cases

The Meeting House, one of Canada's largest megachurches, has revealed that its former teaching pastor, Bruxy Cavey, who was recently arrested and charged with sexual assault of a former parishioner, was not the only pastor to engage in sexual misconduct.

In a town hall meeting with the congregation on June 7, the church named at least three more former pastors involved collectively in at least 38 reports of misconduct.

"To date, our victim advocate Melodie [Bissell] has received 38 inquiries. She's documenting each story and is committed to advocating on their behalf," Jennifer Hryniw, member of the church's overseers board, said during the meeting.

Hryniw named former youth pastors Kieran Naidoo and David Churchill and Tim Day, who served as senior pastor at The Meeting House for 14 years, among the other offending clergy.

Naidoo was arrested and charged as part of a large-scale child pornography investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police in 2012. Last year, he was again arrested and charged with sexual exploitation.

In 2014, Churchill was charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation.

"The inquiries are not all unique or separate, but they do represent allegations, disclosures and concerns related primarily to clergy sexual misconduct, harassment and abuse by Kieran Naidoo, Dave Churchill, Bruxy Cavey and Tim Day," Hryniw said.

"The cases of Kieran Naidoo and Dave Churchill have gone to court, and convictions were laid. And as you are aware, we are currently underway with two investigations where Bruxy Cavey and Tim Day have been named."

Hryniw noted that other disclosures involving previous leaders and staff at the church engaged in "sexual misconduct, adultery and troubling emotional abuse" were also reported.

"In almost all of the responses, individuals have suffered spiritual harm," she said.

The church also received reports of "brave individuals who have tried to address the culture of immorality in the past, and they felt shut down and alienated by the church."

"Each story we've read causes us deep grief. But we know it's only a fraction of the pain that the victims, both men and women, have experienced," she said. "These aren't new or recent incidences of harm and they do come as a surprise to the overseers and to many in this church family. We're thankful that for many of us, this hasn't been our experience of the church. But that doesn't mean that any of us can afford to ignore them."

Police in Hamilton, Ontario, announced in a statement that they arrested the 57-year-old Cavey on May 31 after an investigation into reports of a sexual assault that occurred while he served as primary teaching pastor at The Meeting House from 1996 to 2021.

The church is headquartered in Oakville and has multiple campuses in the Greater Toronto area.

"Hamilton Police believe that there may be more victims and encourage anyone with information to come forward," the police statement reads. "Hamilton Police want all survivors of sexual violence to know that we believe them and we will respect their choice when and how they report an incident."
Conservatives angered by Fox News profile on trans-identified child: 'Horrifying, evil and sick'

Multiple conservative commentators are criticizing Fox News after the nation's leading conservative news network aired a favorable profile of a trans-identified child during "pride month."

On Friday, Fox News' "America Newsroom" featured a report from correspondent Bryan Llenas about Ryland Whittington, a trans-identified 14-year-old girl living in California.

A graphic reading "America Together: Celebrating Diversity" plugging "LGBTQ+ Pride Month" prefaced the report. As noted by co-host Dana Perino, Whittington's "story about transitioning at age 5 has been seen by 7 million people in a family YouTube video" published eight years ago.

As part of our America Together: LGBTQ+ Pride Month series at Fox News we highlighted the story of Ryland Whittington - a trans California teen and his family who openly spoke about their journey. I Would Rather Have a Living Son Than a Dead Daughterhttps://t.co/rn3RVwd7JW  Bryan Llenas (@BryanLlenas) June 10, 2022

"Before Ryland could even speak, he managed to tell his parents that he is a boy," Llenas said. Whittington's mother, Hillary, said that "It was truly painful for him to have to wear feminine clothing" and be told, "you're a girl."

Llenas reported that "unlike some trans kids, when Ryland came out at age 5 a few years later, he had the full support of his parents."

Reacting to statistics showing that trans-identified youth have higher suicide rates than their cisgender counterparts, Mrs. Whittington remarked, "I'd rather have a living son than a dead daughter."

"I guarantee that if we had pushed back and done what a lot of parents do, I don't think that we would have either one of the kids that you see before you here today," she added. Llenas concluded the report by stating, "what extraordinary courage displayed by Ryland, his sister Brynley, father Jeff and mom Hillary."

"It's not easy, particularly at a time when transgender issues have been politicized," Llenas stated. "People are afraid of what they do not understand, Dana. This family hopes their story will lead to more understanding, more acceptance and, ultimately, more love."

Matt Walsh, a conservative blogger who regularly appears on Fox News and recently spearheaded a documentary about gender ideology, vehemently pushed back against the network for airing a report painting the gender transition of a minor in a positive light.

"We have to call out this evil lunacy wherever we see it. Especially on our own side," he wrote in a Twitter thread Friday.

(Thread) I have appeared on Fox News many times. I appreciate the platform theyve given me. If what Im about to say ruins that relationship, so be it. We have to call this evil lunacy out wherever we see it. Especially on our own side.



pic.twitter.com/ksh1SXjpPD  Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 10, 2022

"The piece did not simply report on the controversy surrounding child transitioning. It outright promotes the practice," Walsh lamented. "The reporter says that the child announced a new gender as a toddler. Does Fox want us to believe that BABIES can choose their gender?"

Walsh characterized the aforementioned idea as "the most extreme, radical, dangerous form of gender ideology" and expressed disgust that "it's being promoted on Fox News."

He suggested that "the poor kid is 14 now with a permanently altered body, condemned to live forever with an identity imposed as a small child."

"It is horrifying, evil, and sick. And it is what Fox chose to promote," he said. "I know for a fact many people at Fox do not approve of this and never would have agreed to air radical far-left trans propaganda."

Walsh called for everyone involved in the report to "be fired immediately."

"Fox reporter Bryan Llenas chose to do this story and someone at Fox chose to put it on the air," he wrote.

Ben Shapiro, the editor emeritus of The Daily Wire and host of "The Ben Shapiro Show," also posted a Twitter thread on the Fox News report.

"This would be absolute despicable lunacy if I saw it on CNN or MSNBC. To see it on Fox News is a complete betrayal of anything remotely resembling conservatism or decency," he wrote.

This would be absolute despicable insane lunacy if I saw it on CNN or MSNBC. To see it on Fox News is a complete betrayal of anything remotely resembling conservatism or decency. https://t.co/GByzfB2F5c  Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 10, 2022

"Every element of this video is propagandistic, dangerous garbage. The report states that this biologically female child was choosing her gender BEFORE SHE COULD SPEAK. This is madness."

Shapiro described the Whittingtons' push to "social transition" the child at age 5 as "child abuse."

"The vast majority of children who display signs of gender dysphoria desist over time," he added.

Shapiro accused the report of constituting "horrifying propaganda."

He called out the "Mom citing her 'Christian faith' to justify the perversion of biological identity" and "the radical gender theory activist Trevor Project stats claiming that childhood transition is the only way to prevent suicide."

"We've got Dad talking about 'living authentically'  by hormonally transitioning a biologically female child, transition that if continued will result in biological sterilization and/or breast- and genital-mutilating surgery," he continued.

"Fox News is too important to conservatives to be weaponized on behalf of the most radical Leftist propaganda imaginable  propaganda that aims directly at the mental and physical health of children. They should terminate whoever is responsible for this agitprop abomination."

Other conservative commentators offered much shorter takes about Fox News' profile.

"Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer when my conservative news outlets don't encourage parents to trans their little children," Michael Knowles, who hosts "The Michael Knowles Show" on The Daily Wire, tweeted.

Allie Beth Stuckey, the host of the "Relatable" podcast, tweeted that she was "stunned" Fox News chose to run the segment, calling the network's embrace of the story "maddening & heartbreaking."

Radio host Erick Erickson referred to "Fox News promoting trans propaganda" as "something to behold," predicting that doing so "would hurt the network more than calling Arizona for [President Joe] Biden."

Terry Schilling of the conservative American Principles Project condemned the report.

"This poor little girl will never have children and began transitioning before she could even consent to sexual activity," he tweeted.

Friday's report is not the first time Fox News has experienced pushback from conservatives for embracing LGBT ideology.

When the network hired Bruce Jenner, a trans-identified Olympic athlete who now identifies as Caitlyn, as a contributor, radio host Michael Brown wrote an April op-ed for The Christian Post titled "Christian conservatives, you cannot put your trust in Fox News."

Brown contends that the network has ceded its "moral authority" to speak out against trans-identified athlete Lia Thomas, a biological male who competed on the women's swimming team at the University of Pennsylvania, by citing Jenner as an "inspiration to us all" in a statement announcing the retired athlete's hiring as a contributor.

In a previous op-ed for The Christian Post, Brown took issue with Fox News host Sean Hannity for using female pronouns to address Jenner, who was running for governor of California at the time.
Franklin Graham preaches to 68K on Rio de Janiero beach 48 years after father's Brazil outreach

Nearly half a century after his father visited the region, Rev. Franklin Graham held a historic outreach on the beaches of Brazil over the weekend, drawing thousands to hear the Gospel despite some rainy weather.

The Esperanca Rio  or "Hope" Rio  event at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro resulted from years of prayer, planning and training. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) partnered with more than 4,000 churches to make it all come together.

Umbrellas in hand, almost 70,000 turned out to hear the 69-year-old Evangelical leader's message of God's love.

Graham told The Christian Post there's a "great hunger for the Gospel, no question," as evidenced by the commitment of the thousands who showed up in the rain.

"Some people got there at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and stood," Graham said. "There weren't seats. They stood on that beach waiting and the crowd just kept building."

"People are searching for God and want to know how they have their sins forgiven."

In his message, the 69-year-old Graham told the crowd: "The Bible says the value of the human soul is worth more than the entire world. Let's say you own all the real estate on Copacabana Beach, you own the hotels, the luxury apartments, the beautiful restaurants. Let's say all of that was yours  your soul is worth far more than all of that  you have more value."

"For anyone who turns from their sins and puts their faith and trust in God's Son Jesus Christ, know this: God has forgiven your sins! As the Bible says, 'He has cast them into the depths of the sea.'"

Rio de Janeiro Gov. Claudio Bomfim de Castro e Silva attended the event, while Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro sent a message of support, Graham said on Facebook.

"I appreciate that these leaders stand with the biblical definition of marriage and against abortion in their country," he wrote.

Thousands of people reportedly indicated that they made decisions for Jesus Christ, according to Graham. Local churches are expected to follow up with the thousands who responded to the Gospel invitation.

BGEA discussed with local churches coming to Rio about seven years ago, Graham said, but the COVID-19 pandemic put those plans on hold.

When Brazil opened up earlier this year, Graham said they decided now was the time to go.

Graham's visit came around 48 years after his father, evangelist Billy Graham, visited Maracana Stadium in 1974 to hold a five-day crusade event. On the final night, Graham drew an estimated 225,000 people, which at the time was the largest crowd to attend an evangelistic service in the Western Hemisphere, according to BGEA.

After Brazil, Graham is set to return to the United Kingdom for the closing night of the four-city "God Loves You" TourUK, a free event at ExCeL London on July 16 featuring musical performances from CeCe Winans and Michael W. Smith.

The tour visited several cities last month, including South Wales, Sheffield and Liverpool, where the city's mayor called for removing bus ads promoting the event.

Critics of the tour  most notably Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram  have called Graham a "known hate preacher" due to his opposition to gay marriage and radical Islam.

According to Graham, about 50 demonstrators in Liverpool during his last visit were Satanists, one of which was dressed like the devil.

"They cursed the name of Jesus and then went on," he said.

Graham says the U.K. controversy is mainly based "on a few people who object to me saying marriage is between a man and a woman."

"And as a result of saying that, they accuse me of hate speech," he said. "They label you with a very offensive term like 'hate preacher,' when in fact I'm not sharing a message of hate but love, that God loves us.

"I don't change the message. I don't back away from sharing the Gospel, and we certainly don't preach hate."

Graham said his father was asked not to return to the U.K. after visiting in the 1940s. And when Parliament tried to ban him, he arrived by boat.

Just as the message of forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ was a source of controversy then, Graham says today is no different.

"The controversy isn't me. It's the message that I preach," he said. "Jesus Christ has always been controversial."
Half of American women in childbearing years unaware of adoption process, benefits: study Younger women say they didn't know birth parents can choose which family will adopt their child

Millions of American women of childbearing age have significant gaps in their understanding of the process and benefits of adoption, according to new research.

The findings from Dr. George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University suggest about half of all women of childbearing age (15 to 44) are unaware of how it works and its benefits.

Teenage girls registered the lowest level of basic knowledge about adoption, with less than a quarter (23%) having such knowledge, compared to 53% of women nationwide.

More than a quarter of women (27%) were unaware that a birth mother can continue her education or job throughout the pregnancy and adoption proceedings, without losing any income or benefits, researchers found.

Another 21% did not realize that birth parents can choose which family will adopt their child. That number more than doubled (47%) among younger respondents, the study found.

Commissioned in January by national adoption research center The Opt Institute, the study, titled Adoption & Its Competitors: Results of a National Survey Regarding Adoption in the United States in 2022, asked a national random sample of 1,091 women between the ages of 15 to 44 to identify whether five basic statements describing adoption were true or false:

Being able to participate in an open adoption allows the birth parents to remain part of the childs life in a specified capacity;

Birth parents can receive private counseling and other emotional support before, during and after the adoption;

The birth mothers pregnancy is completely paid for by the adopting parents;

The birth parents may choose the family that adopts the child;

The birth mother may continue her education or job throughout the pregnancy and adoption proceedings, without losing any income or benefits.

While all five statements are factually accurate, just over half of all women of childbearing age (53%) were aware that at least four of the statements are true, compared to just 15% who believe that none or just one of the statements is true, according to the study.

The women who tended to be most informed regarding adoption are those in their 40s (70%) and married women (63%). The segments of women who are least well-informed about adoption are those who had been adopted as an infant (29%), Asians (28%) and teen girls (23%), the study found.

Researchers identified four common motivations behind the willingness to place a child for adoption: the mothers financial situation (33%); her desire to do what is in the best interests of the child (32%); a desire to help a family seeking to adopt a child (29%); and the mother recognizing her personal lack of preparation or maturity to raise a child (23%).

While there are an estimated 65 million women in the U.S. considered to be of childbearing age (15 to 44 years of age), research indicates that growing numbers of young women have little interest in having children, according to the study.

But with a staggering 45% of women currently of childbearing age saying they experienced physical, sexual or emotional abuse while growing up, researchers say that background undoubtedly has influenced the interest of young women in having children.

That leaves three choices these women can make: give birth and raise the child; give birth and place the child for adoption; or abort the child.

John Knox, founder of The Opt Institute, said he hopes the research sparks a discussion of adoption as an option for American women.

For women who, for whatever reason, will not be able to raise a child, adoption is a wonderful alternative, as attested by millions of adults who were placed by mothers for adoption as children, he said. The positive experiences of those adopted children and the incredible gifts they are to society are a testimony as to why adoption should be a respected and meaningful option for women to consider.

We can do better to provide women with accurate, complete and non-coercive information about the loving choice of adoption, and this study is significant in showing why this is critical.

A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization case expected as early as this week has renewed attention nationwide on the topic of abortion, but legal experts say its unclear how that ruling might affect the rate of adoption in the United States.
PCA pastor accused of sexually harassing churchgoers to be tried in ecclesiastical high court

A pastor with the Presbyterian Church in America who filed a defamation lawsuit against a group of women who accused him of sexual harassment will have a case against him brought before the denomination's highest court.

Dan Herron, the founding pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church in Bloomington, Indiana, will have his case brought before the PCA Standing Judicial Commission, a church body comprised of 12 teaching elders and 12 ruling elders.

The hearing comes amid allegations that the Central Indiana Presbytery mishandled the allegations.

Commission Chairman Rev. Fred Greco sent a letter on June 3 to Central Indiana Presbytery Stated Clerk Rev. Taylor Bradbury regarding Herron's case.

Greco outlined the stipulations for the hearing, which include the presbytery having to "provide the prosecutor for the case" and that the SJC's Trial Arrangements Commission will "be tasked with considering arrangements for conducting the trial and report to the SJC at the earliest possible date."

The allegations date back to 2019 when five accusers wrote a letter to the presbytery highlighting their allegations against Herron.

A commission reviewing the allegations voted unanimously in 2020 to issue a statement declaring "the commission does not believe that the accusations rise to the level of a chargeable offense."

In February, Josh Holowell, who served as a prosecutor in the presbytery's ecclesiastical trial, resigned from the case. In a letter, he cited "the inability of the Central Indiana Presbytery to render justice" and his "own personal weariness from the constant opposition to the pursuit of justice and truth."

"The rules of discipline as laid out in the Book of Church Order have been ignored to the benefit of the accused on multiple occasions," Holowell wrote. "The bias of this Presbytery has made the rendering of justice in this ecclesiastical court impossible."

Last year, Herron filed a defamation lawsuit against two women who accused him of harassment. A jury trial in the case is slated to begin in April 2023. The presbytery initially punished Herron for taking the matter to the secular court system but that discipline was eventually reversed, according to The Roys Report.

According to Sarah Einselen of The Roys Report, an "unprecedented number" of PCA presbyteries claimed the Central Indiana Presbytery "botched the matter" as both parties have alleged flaws in the investigation.

Last year, the independent Indiana University student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student, published a report detailing the multiple allegations of abuse leveled against Herron by former attendees of his church.

Kara Million, one of the accusers, told IDS that she spoke with at least 10 people who had complained to the church about Herron's alleged behavior.

In January 2020, Herron resigned as pastor from Hope but remained an elder.

Although an initial investigation into the allegations concluded in February 2020 that Herron had "no strong presumption of guilt," a new investigation was launched that same month after allegations the case was mishandled.

Herron denied the accusations in a statement to IDS.

"[T]he specific accusations brought against me that I am aware of, I strongly and unequivocally deny any wrongdoing attributed to my actions, words, motivations, and character," the statement reads.
Voddie Baucham loses bid to become president of SBC Pastors Conference by 82 votes

Voddie Baucham, a fierce opponent of critical race theory and a beloved preacher among the more conservative wing of the Southern Baptist Convention, lost his bid to become the next president of the SBC Pastor's Conference to a relatively unknown North Carolina pastor.

Pastor Daniel Dickard of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro got the nod over Baucham to preside over the two-day SBC Pastor's Conference, which takes place before annual meetings. The tightly contested voting session occurred during the denomination's annual meeting Monday.

Dickard received 690 of the 1,357 ballots cast, Baucham received 608 and 59 votes were rejected, The Tennessean reported.

Jordan Easley, the pastor of First Baptist Church Cleveland, Tennessee, nominated Dickard for the position. Easley said his main reason for nominating Dickard was his love for the SBC, according to The Alabama Baptist.

"He was born in an SBC church. He was raised and discipled by faithful men and women in SBC churches," Easley said. "His father is an SBC pastor. He was called to ministry in an SBC church."

Easley noted that the young Dickard "believes like so many of us believe that the SBC Pastors' Conference should highlight the best of what it means to be a Southern Baptist.  But it should also be centered on our common mission and our shared cooperative effort."

Baucham, 52, who currently serves as dean of theology at African Christian University in Zambia, was nominated by Founders Ministries, a conservative group within the SBC for which he also serves as a board member.

In its endorsement of Baucham and Tom Ascol for SBC president, the group expressed concern about the "woke" direction of America's largest Protestant denomination.

At the center of conservatives' concerns over the "woke" direction has been the topic of critical race theory, which Baucham denounced in his latest book, Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe.

"The Southern Baptist Convention badly needs a change of direction. While baptisms and evangelism continue their freefall, a small group of leaders steers our institutions ever closer to the culture, from radical feminism masked as 'soft complementarianism' to the false gospel of Critical Theory and Intersectionality," the group explained in the endorsement.

"In Christ there is no Jew or Greek, there is no slave or free, we are all made one in Him. But this 'Race Marxism' divides everyone by their most superficial features, in a never-ending cycle of recrimination and hate," the statement added. "We reject these worldly dogmas. We stand together on the Baptist Faith and Message. We proclaim the sufficiency of Scripture. And we know the vast majority of Southern Baptists do too."

Monday's close vote highlights the tension that continues to exist in the denomination.

Critical race theory has become a political and theological lightning rod leading to fractured and contentious debates in the SBC in recent years.

In the summer of 2019, the Southern Baptist Convention messengers passed Resolution 9 "On Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality." The resolution defines CRT as "a set of analytical tools that explain how race has and continues to function in society. Intersectionality is the study of how different personal characteristics overlap to inform one's experience."

Kimberle Crenshaw, a legal scholar who coined the term intersectionality more than three decades ago, defined the term: "It's basically a lens, a prism, for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other. We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality or immigrant status. What's often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts."

Before 2021 SBC's annual convention, concerns were raised by some Southern Baptists, like Pastor Dwight McKissic Sr., that the denomination would rescind Resolution 9.

At the 2021 convention, Southern Baptist messengers adopted Resolution 2, affirming their commitment to racial reconciliation and the sufficiency of Scripture to address issues of race. The 2021 resolution avoided the contentious debate over critical race theory.
This week in Christian history: SBC's conservative resurgence, Charleston shooting

Throughout the extensive history of the Church, there have been numerous events of lasting significance.

Each week brings anniversaries of impressive milestones, unforgettable tragedies, amazing triumphs, memorable births and notable deaths.

Some of the events drawn from over 2,000 years of history might be familiar, while other happenings might be previously unknown by most people.

The following pages highlight anniversaries of memorable events that occurred this week in Christian history. They include the beginning of the Southern Baptist Conventions Conservative Resurgence, the mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Charleston, South Carolina, and a group of ministers expressing concern over the Salem Witch Trials.

1

2

3

4

Next
Calvin Robinson says Church of England blocked his ordination for opposing 'woke' theology

An Anglican minister-in-training and prominent British TV presenter described how the Church of England hierarchy denied him a position serving in a church for speaking against critical race theory and raising concerns about Marxist ideology infiltrating the denomination.

In a recent interview with "Triggernometry" hosts Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster, Calvin Robinson noted that though he comments on hot-button culture war issues, he does so from a faith-based perspective, with Christ at the center of everything he does.

I think that our society is running down the wrong direction, and it has, for the last few years, been chasing wokeness, he said. Unfortunately, I believe the Church is also going down that path in so many ways.

Robinson criticized how churches largely shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when people needed to have someone looking out for them spiritually. He also lamented how the Church of England has embraced critical race theory, something he vehemently opposes.

Part of the active practice of this theory is prioritizing the lived experiences of ethnic minorities, he said. But when he tried to offer his own experience as an ethnic minority, it wasn't well-received by those in authority. His perspective was the wrong type, he recounted being told, as his lived experience did not mesh well with their progressive views.

Though he found it condescending, Robinson said it was revealing because it became clear that the Anglican leadership didn't want to hear his views on various issues, including his opposition to the Church of England falling prey to the belief that its institutionally racist, an accusation that has intensified since 2017. Studies about the Church and England and race have found that the church is not institutionally racist, he declared.

Doctrinally, critical race theory creates a new kind of original sin, he said, one where only white people are morally culpable for certain ills. This is contrary to the broader witness of Scripture, he maintained, referencing the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:28 where he says that there is neither Jew nor Greek, male or female, but are all one in Christ Jesus.

The Christian idea is that were united, that our identity is in Christ. Its not in our immutable characteristics. Our skin color is relevant, he said.

The church has really doubled down, he added.

Robinson further detailed how he discovered that church officials were emailing each other about him behind his back, scheming to keep him from advancing in his ministry work even though parishioners had given generously to fund his studies at Oxford.

My argument has been silenced, he said, describing how when it came to the end of his training and when he was put forward to be an assistant priest at a parish, that position was taken away.

When he asked why that happened, one of the bishops allegedly said it would be too turbulent for Robinson because people might complain about his views. When he pressed them further but got nowhere he filed a formal request which allowed him to see any electronic communications about him written by church officials.

Bishops had been talking behind my back for the last couple of years before they even sent me to training. Bear in mind they had just paid $20,000 to send me to Oxford, and its not their money. Its the money of the poor ladies in the pews that theyve used to send me to Oxford. And before they sent me, they decided that they didnt want me to be ordained.

As far as he could see from the contents of those internal church communications, the primary reason for him being denied ordination and a ministry position was because he doesn't believe that the Church of England is institutionally racist.

He does not agree with our politics, therefore, do we really have a place for him?, he said, summarizing their views.

Since he has spoken out, many other laity and clergy have reached out to him privately to tell him about similar experiences that they've had with church politicking in the hierarchy. But unlike him, they don't have platforms from which to air their grievances.

Robinson accused church leaders of gaslighting him about his tone, particularly since he sees himself as a calm person who tries to exhibit compassion for all people.

Within the Church of England, he lamented that theologically liberal elites have defined the terms and set the narrative in the media and are thus largely seen as the normative standard.

Robinson said he was irritated by the way in which church leaders manipulatively linked loving God and neighbor with going along with lockdown measures that shut down churches or pressured people to get the COVID-19 shot.

I understand why some people chose not to take it, but the Church has no place to say to be a good Christian, you have to. That makes me sick. he said, adding that this same dynamic is at play in many other issues, including transgenderism, race issues and sexuality.

Asked if he believes these political trends in the Church of England are a result of massive guilt from past atrocities committed by churches, he offered that the Church has lost sight of its message, which is the Gospel, and let the State sort out its issues. His experience within the Church of England has led him to consider that perhaps the best course for the Church should be to have a separation between it and politics.

The Church shouldnt be trying to chase societal norms  on any of these issues, he said, speaking of efforts to reach young people with gimmicks. The Church should be countercultural; it should be an alternative. To put it scripturally, it should be a shining light in an ever-darkening world around us.

In response to his concerns, Robinson said leaders have been evasive and disingenuous toward him.

All that has happened is that the Church has become embarrassed about the faith, he said, noting that many have been silent on certain topics and it has led many to believe that the Church has changed its historic biblical teachings. But the Bible has not changed and cant be changed, he added.

And so it has stopped telling people the truth, and now people dont know it anymore.

Many Christians in England feel as though they have not changed but that the Church has left them, Robinson stressed, adding that he plans to plant a church in London for those who are of a similar mind and want to be small-o orthodox Anglicans.
In outgoing sermon, Ed Litton challenges Southern Baptists to show compassion

Ed Litton, the outgoing president of the Southern Baptist Convention, challenged members of the nation's largest Protestant denomination Tuesday to show compassion to the diverse communities in which they live to better minister to people who need them the most.

In a sermon he called "The Gut Punch" at the denomination's annual meeting in Anaheim, California, Litton suggested that the denomination, which has been struggling with declining baptisms, could very well discover a lack of compassion could be the force behind those numbers.

In 2020, the denomination lost more than 400,000 members and set a new record for the single-year decline amid the coronavirus pandemic and a bitter culture war.

"We may yet discover as Southern Baptists that our declining baptisms is really due to the fact that our churches and our people have become separated from the heart of their communities. We've got isolated from the pain and suffering that lives all around us. We've learned to turn an eye away from it, to think that's somebody else's issue," Litton said. "It builds a lack of compassion for one another."

"No wonder we challenge them to go reach the lost and they don't know the lost," he continued. "Unfortunately, we're making headlines in the Southern Baptist Convention  not because we are considered compassionate. And this year, I've not heard a single person say about us, 'Oh, how they love one another.'"

Litton warned that if Southern Baptists don't allow themselves to feel true compassion for others, they will become indifferent to their suffering.

"Some of you are battered and bruised, worn out as a result of either a sinful condition or sinful behavior of others," he said. "You feel ripped apart. When you see suffering, what does it do to you? If we are not moved to action, we will become indifferent, and I know what it's like to be indifferent."

The leader of Redemption Church in Mobile, Alabama, recalled how he felt when his wife, Tammy, died in a tragic car accident about 15 years ago. He described the experience as a "gut punch" and said that when people experience challenges, it's easy for them to feel compassion for themselves.

"Whatever it is we often say in those moments, our hearts were broken. But actually, it wasn't from the heart that we felt it. We felt it in the gut, and it's visceral. It's a deep inward feeling rather than intellectual. We think of a gut punch when we receive bad news," he said.

"I learned this from my own suffering and my own challenges in life that I tended to hear other people's bad news and I thought what I had was compassion. In fact, I would immediately think what would I do in a situation like that and what I determined is, we all naturally are compassionate with ourselves."

Litton argued that compassion was the hallmark of Jesus' ministry because when He "looked at you and He looked at me and He looked at the world that we live in, He felt a gut punch."

The preacher contends that Southern Baptists will have to show compassion for people affected by the Supreme Court's eventual ruling on abortion.

A leaked draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito published by Politico suggests that Supreme Court justices could likely strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. The leaked draft is not final.

"Let me make this statement very clear. When Roe ends, our work begins as Southern Baptists," he said to applause.

"The work of loving people  because girls will still get pregnant and guys will still be irresponsible. And we must love them in the name of Jesus. Help them. Strengthen them. Lead them to Christ. Teach them the truth and save lives," he said. "Jesus' gut punch was He saw something, He said something, and He did something. That's his pattern. It needs to be our pattern too when we see something."

He urged the crowd not to look away from things that make them uncomfortable, such as the ongoing sex abuse scandal in the denomination.

A Guidepost Solutions investigation recently found the denomination's leadership mishandled sexual abuse allegations, mistreated victims and advocates, engaged in an abusive pattern of intimidation and repeatedly resisted reforms aimed at making their churches safer to avoid liability.

"This has been the painful part of this year as Southern Baptists. This is our gut punch because we didn't want to see what we saw," Litton said. "But once we see it, we need to feel it. There's no doubt in my mind when you read the report, you felt a gut punch. And we must do something, not out of anger and vindictiveness, but we must do what is right and just in the eyes of our God."
God loves gay people: Former LGBT persons share transformational power of God

ORLANDO Freedom March founder Jeffrey McCall was depressed and suicidal when he was living as a transgender prostitute.

"I had no joy," McCall told The Christian Post. "I had to be drunk or high to go out with these men or perform at a club."

McCall had been diagnosed by a doctor with gender dysphoria and lived "in homosexuality" and as a trans-identified woman.

"I identified as Scarlet, Scarlet was the name I went by," he said.

That is until "in 2016, I got radically saved and my whole identity changed," he explained.

McCall organized the Freedom March in Orlando earlier this month where he and others shared how Jesus Christ transformed their lives and delivered them from the LGBT lifestyle. They proclaimed to the hundreds in attendance, "We do exist."

Today, McCall said, his "life is joy and peace and love." "I love to help people. I love to bless people. I just love people and that's God.

When asked if he believed Jesus sets people free from homosexuality, McCall answered, "Yes, He does.

I've seen testimony after testimony, person after person who was set free from that identity and [now] knows that the Lord created a man and a woman to be together in marriage and that that is a covenant, that is holy to God and it's a beautiful thing, he said. I've even seen people that later on, years after healing, wound up getting married and having children. It's a restoration of the true form that God created.

"I will say if you're struggling with anything of your desires and you're dealing with any LGBTQ identity, that Jesus loves you, He died for you. If you weren't worth anything, Jesus Christ would not have been crucified for you. You are worth more than jewels and diamonds and pearls. He has a new identity for you. He predestined you to be in His image, He knew when you were formed in your mother's womb. Take time and just call out to the Lord and I promise you He'll meet you where you're at.

Luis Javier Ruiz is a survivor of the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse nightclub and a board member of Freedom March. He has left homosexuality and started a ministry called Fearless Identity with another Pulse survivor, Angel Colon. Their ministry helps churches effectively share the love of Jesus with the LGBT community and he said that, in turn, brings about the change.

"I was like a lot of people, I was struggling with same-sex attraction. I was struggling with a lot of rejection, a lot of pain, not even sexuality. There was so much rejection in that, Ruiz told CP. Long story short, I ended up at Pulse nightclub and came to Jesus. A lot of people say, 'Well, it was PTSD.' And I'm like, 'Well, I'm glad that I had PTSD with Jesus.'

Ruiz, a pastors kid, has praying parents and testified that it was a combination of their prayers, the Pulse tragedy and finding out that he was HIV positive after the shooting that brought him to a place of full surrender in God. The former U.S. Army soldier is now devoted to sharing the love of Jesus with the LGBT community because it was Gods mercy over him that changed his life.

Through persecution, a lot of people just did not understand our heart. They thought that we were these people that bash the LGBT, they thought that we were this hateful group. We're not at all, we love the LGBTQ. God loves gay people. We love gay people. And we just want to bridge between the LGBT and the church, to let them know, 'You're welcome back home. We want you to come back home. We want you to meet Jesus first. We want to introduce you to the man on the cross, and then get good discipleship. Get under a pastor that loves you,' Ruiz stated.

We're pointing people to the church so we're building that bridge. And that's what Fearless Identity does. It was birthed through persecution.

Laura Perry shared her testimony at the Freedom March and she wants people to know how she found her identity in God after years of identifying as a man.

I grew up in a Christian home and I was at church every time the door was open but I really felt rejected by my mom. I felt like my mom didn't love me and she paid a lot more attention to my brother so I began to act like my brother and the more I acted like my brother, the more the girls rejected me, Perry recounted.

The Oklahoma native recalled feeling so rejected by women all of her life. Perry said she became a male chauvinist but was still a girl, which further confused her. After being molested and becoming addicted to porn, she decided she wanted to be a male.

I became an absolute slave to porn and it just destroyed my heart and destroyed any sense of identity in me. I begin to fantasize more and more about being a man and as I did, I just fully embraced that identity in 2007, Perry confessed. I really believed that was who I was and I begin to take hormones and I had two major surgeries for that, including a chest surgery. I never ever, ever thought I would leave that lifestyle.

Despite taking hormones for years and the surgeries, she still found herself missing something.

I was so empty and so broken. I finally had to admit to myself that it was all a lie, that I could not be a man, no matter how hard I tried, all I had done was change the outer appearance  Perry acknowledged. I was just empty and broken but then the Lord in His great mercy reached down to me and He reached into a horrible pit that I was in. He just reached His hand, and He said, 'Do you trust me?' He asked me to walk away to leave it all behind and follow Him.

Perry found herself being transformed by the Word of God after helping her mother run a Bible study website.

"This speaks of a God who had mercy on a sinner like me, I felt like one of the most deprived people on the planet. I was just at the lowest of the low, so ashamed of everything I've done and I really didn't believe that God would ever love me or save me again ... I began to confess my sins, I didn't believe He would save me. I was trying to pray the sinner's prayer, but I didn't believe He would still want me, but it was about two days later, where He gave me an opportunity to show me that He wasn't done with me yet. I was totally transformed and totally set free, she testified.

The first Freedom March was held in Washington, D.C., on May 5, 2018. The group of millennials behind it intends to continue to take the march nationwide and will be heading to Georgia in October and back to Washington in May 2020.

Each march is meant to share their transformation in Christ, equip the Body of Christ on how to reach out to the LGBT community and offer a safe place for those in the LGBT community to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.








Over 230 Episcopal Church deputies resign, wont attend General Convention

More than 230 deputies of the Episcopal Church have either resigned or otherwise refused to attend the denominations General Convention due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns, representing over a quarter of all originally certified deputies.

The Episcopal Churchs 80th General Convention is slated to take place in Baltimore, Maryland, next month, with the mainline Protestant denomination having already decided to take public health measures due to COVID-19.

According to a House of Deputies News report published last Thursday, 234 deputies out of 868 deputies have either resigned or said they will not attend the General Convention.

Additionally, 99 of about 450 certified alternate deputies have resigned, and 55 of the 483 deputies appointed to legislative committees have resigned from their committees, though they remain deputies.

The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, explained to HD News that while deputy resignations are not unheard of for general conventions, this year was different.

Theres always turnover at any General Convention, but theres a lot more at this one, partly because it was postponed for a year, Jennings said. Some people who could attend in the summer of 2021, especially young people, cannot attend in 2022.

Jennings noted that some of the deputies have contracted COVID-19 and cannot attend for that reason, while others are concerned about contracting the disease at the Church gathering.

The General Convention is the governing body of the Episcopal Church, meeting every three years as a bicameral legislature that includes a House of Deputies and a House of Bishops.

The 80th General Convention was originally scheduled to meet in July of last year, with an expected attendance of around 10,000 people, including church leaders, deputies, alternatives and others.

However, the General Convention was postponed to July of this year, with Church leaders undertaking efforts to limit attendance, shorten the schedule, and undertake various public health measures due to ongoing pandemic concerns.

An Episcopal News Service report from last week found that convention organizers expect an additional cost of $1.1 million for the gathering, due in part to increased expenses for the public health measures and approximately $700,000 less income from attendee fees.

The shortened schedule due to COVID-19 has garnered concerns from many participants, among them Olive Swinski, a deputy from the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island.

Enacting good policy requires time, compromise, and flexibility  all things that I believe will be restricted with a shortened convention, said Swinski, as reported by ENS in May.

COVID has taught us that the world does not stop, and the Episcopal Church is restricting its ability to respond to a changing world.
God is unifying Body of Christ in ministry to LGBT people, Freedom March leaders say

WASHINGTON  Declaring their testimonies of how Jesus has transformed their lives, formerly LGBT-identified young men and women gathered in Washington, D.C., Saturday for the Freedom March.

Gathered at the Sylvan Theater next to the Washington Monument for what has become an annual event in the nation's capital, the hosts of the march continue to see the Holy Spirit doing remarkable work in the lives of people who reach out to them.

Under mostly cloudy skies Saturday afternoon, Luis Javier Ruiz, a co-founder of the Freedom March and a survivor of the 2016 terrorist attack at the Pulse gay nightclub, recounted how the National Park Service had double-booked the Freedom March with another group called the Foundation for Creative Cultural Expression, an LGBT pride group. Though the double-booking was an accident on the part of the Park Service, Ruiz regarded it as a strategic God-move.

A group of overcomers, free from the LGBT identity, now coming into a place where everybody here was for gay pride. I just love seeing the hand of God. Sometimes church is just too churched. This is part of evangelism, to bring people out so everyone can hear the Gospel, Ruiz said in an interview with The Christian Post.

Live-streamed online to thousands and attended by 100 people, the ecumenical Christian event featured joyous worship music, prayer and the declaration of testimonies from those who once lived and identified as LGBT. Some described traumatic experiences from childhood and wounds from relationships that contributed to confusion about their bodies and sexuality. One man who shared from the podium described how he was sexually abused as a young child and was even trafficked. Through Christ, he was able to transform his life and he's now married to a woman.

Though statistics from reputable surveys have shown that many young people have fallen away from their faith  what some call "The Great Falling Away"  Ruiz believes God continues to be at work, drawing people into His family.

What I love about this is that there are Baptists, Pentecostals, Catholics, all types of people coming together in the name of Jesus, saying that change is not only possible, but its real through Jesus. I get excited when I see an Adventist brother, a Church of God brother  it brings me so much joy to how the Lord is unifying the Body of Christ.

Jeffrey McCall, who founded the Freedom March, said he's amazed by how the Lord is stirring among younger people. Since 2018, when the first march took place, their growing tribe of formerly LGBT-identified people has become especially close.

We call each other, do Bible studies together, encourage each other  it has built a family, and its a young family, McCall told CP.

McCall, who once lived as a trans-identified person named Scarlet and led a promiscuous homosexual lifestyle before encountering the Holy Spirit, said after he found Christ, he threw all of his women's clothing and makeup into a dumpster. In the past five years, he's observed how transgenderism and gender identity has consumed nearly everything, even among the LGBT groups. But he believes God is moving supernaturally and changing the minds of people.

We were warned thousands of years ago [in Scripture] that the world is going to get darker, and so we have to be that light, McCall said.

He added that while praying, he sensed God speak to Him about how the enemy mobilizes large groups to carry out his will, but the Lord can use a small remnant of people to execute His plans.

Sharing the story of Gideon, whose army of 300 men defeated the Midianites in the book of Judges, he said of the Freedom March: Were a small remnant doing the Lords will.

Kim Zember, a board member of Freedom March, senses that the Holy Spirit has been drawing more people to hear about how Christ has transformed them and said churches are starting to do a better job of reaching people who identify as LGBT.

As confusion is spreading throughout the nation and the world, not just within the LGBT community, but really just as a whole, people are seeking.

Asked to describe what she sees God doing among the LGBT community and the Freedom March tribe, she replied: To love His children back to His heart.

She believes that a later shift has taken place within many churches. Until recently, Zember recounted that the moment she went to a church she was going to be told that what she was doing was wrong. But I already knew that, but how do I walk this out? Ive seen a massive growth within the Church desiring to be taught too. Leaders are saying: 'Can you help us?'

"This is not rewriting the Bible," she assured. "This is How can we walk with you? The Scripture says to bear one anothers burdens, not fix one anothers burdens. And so the Church is learning to bear one anothers burdens as we learn to do the same. Thats never celebrating sin, thats never condoning sin. Its bearing burdens because we know that when there is a heaviness that comes were supposed to bear that together."

McCall has long said that the march was partly inspired by the passage in Colossians 2:15 wherein the Apostle Paul explained how Jesus made a public spectacle of [the demonic powers and principalities], triumphing over them by the cross. In that same vein, following the worship and testimonies from the stage, those gathered marched from the Sylvan Theater and looped the reflecting pool near the Lincoln Memorial.
Chinese fighter pilots increase their interception of US allies in the Indo-Pacific as the US does reconnaissance missions near the coastline of China.

There are fears of a repeat of 2001 when a Chinese and its allies could start another war by mistake.

Chinese Fighter Intercepts US Allies Over the Pacific

A few days ago, it was reported that Chinese warplanes buzzed a Canadian reconnaissance plane surveilling North Korea on a routine basis, compelling the crew to adjust course to avoid making contact rapidly, reported the EurAsian Times.

Later, a Chinese plane fired metallic chaff at an Australian intelligence-gathering plane, a move Australia discussed as very dangerous.

The west protested the actions of the PLAAF, but Chinese officials asserted that their pilots acted reasonably and were trying to defend the country's sovereignty, lauding their decision to act quickly, sanely, firmly, and professionally.

These aggressive tactics used by Chinese fighter pilots are the kindling that could start a fire at a larger conflict and endanger regional security for the US and its allies in the Indo-Pacific.

The difficulty is these acts might result in a mid-air collision or crash.

This sort of thing has happened before. A Chinese fighter jet collided with a US Navy reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea in 2001.

After that, the American EP-3E Aries II had to make an emergency landing on Hainan Island. The incident resulted in the death of the Chinese pilot, cited Aviation Geek Club.

For 11 days, the American crew was held captive in China. After lengthy negotiations and the delivery of a letter from the US apologizing for the pilot's death, the communist government finally agreed to their release.

Read Also: Xi Jinping Net Worth 2022: How Wealthy Is China's President

The Chinese aviator was awarded posthumously with the title 'Guardian of Territorial Airspace and Waters.' The day the pilot died on April 1 is remembered by China.

US, Chinese Officials Meet

Last Friday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe discussed in Singapore the Shangri-La Dialogue.

The Asiatic defense conference was held for the two officials to discuss the need to communicate and lessen risk in the Pacific region.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue meeting held on Saturday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin criticized China for a sequence of coercive, confrontational, and potentially deadly activities that diminished Asia's stability, just as the heat of the US-China rivalry seemed to be cooling, noted CNN.

Austin added that the US would stand up with partners in the face of pressure. Furthermore, Political intimidation, economic coercion, or harassment by maritime militias should not be tolerated in the Indo-Pacific that was added in the Shangri-La Dialogue.

He referenced several examples of how China is imposing its will on its neighbors, including sending large numbers of planes into the skies over Taiwan, dangerously intercepting US partners' patrol planes, and illegal fishing operations.

Washington considers Beijing belligerent due to its activities in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

China and Russia had conducted drills during the visit, and the PLAAF did exercises close to Taiwan.

Reports Chinese fighter pilots are getting more intense as they ward off the allies in the Indo-Pacific; also fears that the US is trying to escalate turmoil in the region just like Ukraine.

Related Article: Indian, Japanese Next Generation Fighters To Challenge the J-20 Mighty Dragon in the Indo-Pacific

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
5 principles for SBC messengers to keep in mind on sexual abuse report vote

The Southern Baptist Convention, wracked by reports of sexual abuse and deep in controversy over how to respond, is set to vote on Tuesday on a set of recommendations produced by the suddenly questionable independent advisory group, Guidepost Solutions.

All believers have a stake in this vote. As goes the Southern Baptists reputation, so goes the reputation of American evangelicalism. More importantly, the Baptists strength in faithful, Christlike living lends strength to everyones, and their weaknesses burden us all. It is so for all of us, but they are very large and very influential.

In saying that, I am not forgetful of the victims of this abuse. Each persons story is different, each one is marked by pain, loss, and trauma, to a degree I will not even try to speak.

(Literature on abuse typically speaks of survivors, not victims. That perspective is helpful for those who have suffered through abuse, but not so much for the perpetrator or his church. Someone has actually done the person harm, therefore I speak of victims in this column.)

It takes no ones vote to know that sexual abuse is self-centered, self-gratifying, and other destroying. Victims may pick up the pieces and move on, but the loss is still real. Sexual abuse is wrong, period.

Vote according to principle

Messengers (delegates) to the Convention must know the principles that will guide their votes. I have four such principles to recommend. I have seen them put to the test, first when I was a human resource director in Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru), and again when I was a highly-involved lay leader in the church where my kids youth pastor was convicted for sex crimes with minors.

In Campus Crusade, I was responsible for investigating and responding to allegations of staff misdeeds. I was working within an excellent, Christ-centered leadership culture, and these cases were very few, given the nearly 1,000 staff members under my HR responsibility. These principles worked there. They also worked at the church where this pastor caused so much damage.

The church as a whole lost members and budget for a season. I would call it the most painful experience of my 65 years of living, and no one in my family was even a direct victim. (Again, I do not dare speak of those victims loss or pain.) By these principles, though, and by the grace of God, we recovered strength, began growing again, and retained our Christian witness in the community. They knew we were doing the right things.

I call on Baptist messengers to take these principles with them as they vote next week. Some of these may even affect their choice for president of the Convention.

Principle one: Sin needs correcting

Sin needs correcting, not cover-up. Ive heard too many stories of churches hushing up sexual sin for the sake of the ministry. Thats wrong. Its upside-down, its backwards, and its misguided. We didnt do that at Cru, and we didnt do it at the church I spoke of, either. Its no help to the victim, no help to the church, and no help to the perpetrator. As I have often said, every sin takes you down, but your secret sins will take you out.

This does not mean sin gets exposed indiscriminately. No one needs to be informed except those who may be involved, either in the direct effects or in the decisions that flow from it.

But sexual sin calls for suspension, if not termination, and this is obviously not something to hold in private. Church members need not know all the gory details, and the victims needs must be considered, but an abusing pastor must face consequences.

Principle two: Seek correction and restoration

Consequences are necessary, but their purpose is not retribution, but correction and restoration. Rightly applied they are good for all.

Churches may think theyre doing a leader a favor by hushing up his sins, but theyre actually helping him remain in a state of spiritual poison. The sinner who gets away with it will typically go on getting away with it, especially if others support him with a cover-up. This puts his soul in grave danger, far worse than what may happen if the sin is brought out into the open.

Walking in the light (1 John 1:5-9) means open fellowship with God and with each other (see verse 7). Its about visibility, not hiding. Therefore, the consequences rightly applied are good for the perpetrator.

Meanwhile, the victim/survivor needs to see the guilty persons sin dealt with properly. She does not need to be further victimized by lies supporting him, and neither does she need the spiritual confusion that so often results when Christian leaders sin goes uncorrected.

The church also benefits from corrective consequences. To let sin fester is to let poison permeate the entire body. Those who keep it quiet become part of the sin, part of the problem, part of the poison. This is the lesson of Achan: Sin in the camp is deadly. That specifically includes secret sin.

Restoration is always the goal, first spiritually, and only secondarily vocationally, though separation is often part of the answer as well, for the protection of all but especially of victims. (In this I echo a lesson from 1 Cor. 5.)

Principle three: Insist on due process





So far here I have been speaking in plain language of sinner or abuser and victim, as if the facts were clear in every case. Sometimes they are: Our churchs youth pastor was arrested, tried, pleaded guilty, and is serving time in federal prison.

Not every case is so clear-cut. Witness the many students whose college careers were upended by a womans accusation, adjudicated in secret, where the man had no right to an attorney and no opportunity to present his own case. Its wrong when it happens on campus, and even more wrong when its done in a church.

Guidepost gets this wrong





Guidepost Solutions got its recommendations dangerously wrong on this point. (Josh Abbatoy covered this well in a June 1 American Reformer article.) They recommend the SBC create an Offender Information System for public dissemination, a list of persons legally convicted, personally confessed, or those having been credibly accused of having substantiated allegations of acts including sexual abuse. To be credible, an allegation need only be not manifestly false or frivolous.

The accused would be publicly shamed and most likely forever unemployable in ministry, not based on what the testimony is (beyond reasonable doubt, or even a preponderance of the evidence, as in civil cases), but on what the testimony isnt: not manifestly false or frivolous. Thats too easy.

This is punishment without due process. It is wrong. Its so completely and obviously wrong, if your candidate for SBC president supports it, I would seriously doubt his ability to know what is right.

Principle four: Keep your balance





Guideposts report recommends that the Baptists create a national-level board to hold authority in dealing with sexual sins. would place both control of and liability for sexual abuse responses in the hands of a small national-level group.

This too is wrong. It implies national-level authority, but in one area only, sexual sin. It sends a message that walks dangerously close to accepting the worlds doctrine that the chief end of man is sex; or as the gay rights movement would more likely say it, sex is the chief identity of humans.

Either way, it singles out sex as the one great thing that matters. God certainly says it matters, but not exclusively, as this recommendation implies.

If the Baptists are going to set up a national authority structure, it needs to be balanced, not merely focused on one sin. But I have more to say on that.

Principle five: Align responsibility with authority





Liability properly belongs to those who have authority and responsibility. Obviously, that starts with the perpetrator. As churches go, in the Southern Baptist Convention it also includes the local church. Thats it. There is no one else. The SBC is a cooperative convention of independent churches, whose only really strong connection is a common statement of faith and a pooling of resources for mission. There is no hierarchy above the local church.

Whether this structure is right or wrong is not on the table. It is how Baptists are structured. Authority rests at the local level, so responsibility properly rests there as well. Nowhere else.

Guidepost's proposal would create a structural aberration among Baptists, where some authority remains local and some go straight to the top, but there exists no structure to support that kind of split authority. I doubt its even possible to build such a structure. Its inherently flawed; it cannot work. (Abbatoy covers some of the reasons it cant work.)

Find a real answer instead





If Baptists want to set up a national authority board on sexual behavior, they should do it right, and create a nationwide structure to support it, not just for sexual matters but for all. Of course, I know they wont do that. Therefore, they must reject that aberration.

Just because theres one proposal on the table doesnt mean theres only one answer. Work on it. Find it. And in the meantime, reject this one. (While also rejecting any cover-up of sin locally  as Ive already said.)

This is basic organizational stuff, by the way. If your candidate for president doesnt see this, he isnt qualified for the job. Change your vote.

This article was originally published here.
EU slams Israel's Supreme Court for allowing Jewish takeover of Christian properties

The European Union has warned that the heritage and traditions of the Christian community and the established religious equilibrium in the Old City of Jerusalem are at risk after Israel's Supreme Court legitimized the takeover of Greek Orthodox properties by a Jewish settler group.

The Office of the European Union Representative in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip expressed concern over last week's ruling by the country's top court that ruled Jewish settler group Ateret Cohanim legally purchased the Little Petra Hotel and Imperial Hotel in the Old City of Jerusalem in 2004.

The properties are located in the Jaffa Gate area, which lies on the pilgrim route to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The church was built on the spot where Catholics and Orthodox Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

"Attempts by settlers to take over Christian property in the Old City of Jerusalem must be halted as they jeopardize the heritage and traditions of the Christian community," a representative of the European Union in Palestinian territories said in a statement shared with Turkey's state-run Anadolu News Agency.

The Old City, which is part of East Jerusalem that was captured by Israel in 1967 in what is known as the Six-Day War, has sites sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For more than a decade, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate has opposed Ateret Cohanim's claims that it legally purchased the church's properties.

The Ateret Cohanim group says on its website that it "works to redeem property once held by Jews in Israel's capital as well as re-establishing Jewish neighborhoods in the heart of the Old City and its surrounding areas."

Ateret Cohanim contends it purchased three buildings from the church in an alleged secret deal in 2004 during the time of Patriarch Irineos, who was later dismissed after being accused of selling the property without the church's permission.

The news of 2004 drew outrage in the Palestinian community that made up the majority of the patriarchate.

Last Wednesday, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate's appeal against the takeover of Christian properties and called the church's "harsh allegations" of misconduct in the original sale "not proven to be true" in earlier proceedings, according to AFP.

The EU said the ruling poses "a threat to the peaceful co-existence of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem, as well as to the established religious equilibrium." The EU Mission called for maintaining the city's "status quo" by preserving and respecting its character.

The church condemned the ruling as "unfair" and without "any legal logical basis," calling Ateret Cohanim a "radical organization" that resorted to "crooked and illegal methods to acquire Christian real estate."

"We are talking about a group of extremists that want to take the properties from the churches, want to change the character of the Old City and want to invade the Christian areas," the church's attorney, Asaad Mazawi, told AFP:

Members of Ateret Cohanim took over the Little Petra Hotel with the help of Israeli police in April.

Greek Orthodox Patriarch Beatitude Theophilos III held a press conference and called the takeover "a threat to the continued existence of a Christian Quarter in Jerusalem, and ultimately to peaceful coexistence of the communities of this city."

"The Heads of Churches have repeatedly warned of the illegitimate actions of extremists, who have followed a pattern of intimidation and violence," a statement issued by church leaders at the time reads.

"In occupying the Greek Orthodox Church's property  Ateret Cohanim has committed criminal acts of break-in and trespass," the Patriarchs and Heads of Local Churches in Jerusalem stated. "They act as if they are above the law, with no fear of consequences."

"This issue is not about the individual properties, but about the whole character of Jerusalem, including the Christian Quarter," the statement added. "The Little Petra Hotel stands on the pilgrim route for the millions of Christians who visit Jerusalem each year. It represents Christian heritage, and speaks of our very existence in this place."

In January, Patriarch Theophilos III wrote in an op-ed in The Times (of London) that Israeli radical fringe groups were seeking to drive the Christian community out of the city.

"Our presence in Jerusalem is under threat," he wrote.

"Our churches are threatened by Israeli radical fringe groups. At the hands of these Zionist extremists, the Christian community in Jerusalem is suffering greatly. Our brothers and sisters are the victims of hate crimes. Our churches are regularly desecrated and vandalized. Our clergy are subject to frequent intimidation."

Theophilos claimed that local families who have lived in the area for generations "will be made to feel unwelcome in their own home" and "pilgrims who have longed to visit the birthplace of the Christian faith will have their experience diminished."

"By working to exclude one community, the Christians, these radicals pose an existential threat not only to the Christian family but to Jerusalem itself, a point upheld by so many of our Jewish cohabitants of the Holy Land," the patriarch wrote.

The World Council of Churches' acting general secretary, the Rev. Ioan Sauca, issued a statement in support of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem.

"Recognizing the gravity of the threat accelerating the already tragically steep decline in the Christian presence, the WCC strongly supports the church leaders' call for an urgent dialogue with the political authorities of Israel, Palestine and Jordan with a view to addressing the challenges posed by radical groups and to protecting and supporting the Christian community," Sauca said.
Iran using proxy militias to drive Christians out of Middle East: report

Through its proxy militias, Iran is carrying out an invisible jihad against Christians in the Middle East with the aim of creating a Muslim demographic purity by producing conditions that would force Christians out of the region, according to a new report.

Irans proxy militias in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen have played a significant, though largely unrecognized, role in the dramatic decline of Christians in the region, says the report, titled The Invisible Jihad: the Treatment of Christians by Iran Proxies, by the Philos Project.

The nonprofit, which promotes Christian engagement in the region, further explains that the militias backed by the Shia Muslim country are guided by the theocratic regimes vision of Muslim demographic purity and they labored to create conditions that forced the Christians out.

Defining invisible jihad as demographic reduction through coerced emigration, the report adds that these militias use extant conflicts to manufacture conditions behind the massive exodus.

While Islamic countries, both Shia and Sunni, had historically protected Christians and Muslims, though as second-class citizens, its neo-Shiism, or Khomenism, introduced by Ayatollah Khomeini, the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989, is behind the exodus of Christians from the Middle East, the report said.

The report further explains, In this novel reading of the Quran, non-Muslims were not clean enough to live with Muslims because of spiritual pollution. Khomenism called upon the faithful to cleanse Islam and Iran of Judeo-Christian impurity, a stand common to other palingenetic revivalist ideologies.

As Iran realized that Christians could not be killed en masse, the regime opted for the alternative policy of eliminationism through coercive immigration.

Lebanon

The report adds that in Lebanon, the pro-Iran Hezbollah has targeted missionaries, impeded conversions all while imposing strict dress codes, alcohol bans and limits of mixed sexes in public  in what have been dubbed mini-Tehrans.

From about 54% in the 1950s, the percentage of Christians went down to 33.7 in 2020, it noted, adding that ownership of Christian land also came down. While some of the lands were legally sold by emigrants, a sizable part was lost through eviction and expulsion coordinated by Hezbollah.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah took orders from the arch-conservative Ayatollah Mohammed Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, who traveled to Lebanon several times, the report added. Mesbah Yazdi was a former student of, and an influence on, Ayatollah Khomeini.

Targeting the new wave of Protestant Evangelicals in Lebanon  a product of a resurgence of an American-based missionary wave in the 1990s  was a high priority for Hezbollah from 2000 onwards. Operation Mobilization USA (O.M.), which engaged in humanitarian work in mixed towns, was targeted and its missionary was killed in 2002, the report noted.

Iraq

In Iraq, Iran created several Shia militia groups after the U.S. invasion in 2003.

Initially employed to resist American forces, the militias came in handy when an al Qaeda splinter, al Qaida in Iraq (AQI) under the Abu Moussa al Zarqawi, morphed into the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the report said.

As per Iraqs 1987 census, there were 1.5 million Christians in Iraq. Their numbers have now dramatically decreased to 141,000, making them the undisputed losers of sectarian conflict in Iraq.

The report further said, Between 2003 and 2017, Iraqi Christians suffered greatly under the control of AQI, ISIS, and the Shia militias affiliated with Iran, and added, Unfortunately, because many attacks on the communities were performed anonymously, it is impossible to determine how much violence was perpetrated by AQI/ISIS versus the Shiites.

Soon after the U.S. invasion, the Shiite Mahdi Army, a militia led by Muqtada al-Sadr, changed the demography of Baghdad.

Making the capital Christian-free was high on their agenda, the report pointed out.

Al Sadrs cleansing of certain neighborhoods of Sunnis was a preview of his drive to create homogenous Shiite enclaves. The neighborhood of al Doura was one example. Known as the Vatican of Baghdad, the area housed more than 5,000 families, making it one of the most prominent Christian centers in Iraq. There were a variety of churches, a monastery, and even a pontifical college. Christians in al Doura were considered a soft target and fled in large numbers, either to camps for the displaced or to the Kurdish region.

Syria

Syria is strategically important for Iran, given its long-term goal of dominating the Middle East.

Iran has had its influence in Syria thanks to that countrys ruling Assad family, which belongs to the Shia group Alawite in a predominantly Sunni nation. After Assad lost against the popular uprising in 2011, Iran restructured the Syrian Army and created several militias within the Shia Liberation Army.

While Iran saved the Assad regime, the civil war killed 600,000 people, displaced 6.5 million others internally, and forced 6.6 million people to flee across the borders.

Christians were disproportionally affected. In 2011, the community numbered 2.3 million, 10.5 percent of the total Syrian population divided into numerous denominations. Most of these Christians lived in or around Qamishli, Deir Ezzour, Hasakah, Aleppo, Homs, Damascus, Vadi al Nasarah (Valley of Christians), and Daraa. By 2021, the Christian community of Syria had shrunk by a staggering 70 percent, the report said.

Because of Shia militias, dozens of Christians were killed, many were kidnapped for ransoms, and many others were tortured and their property confiscated. There were 124 assaults on churches between 2011 and 2019, with 75 acts of violence including vandalism, the report said.

Yemen

Baddredin al Houthi and his son, Hussein, who belong to the Zaydis group, a Shia offshoot comprising roughly 30% of the Yemeni population, and who launched a rebellion in 2014, studied in a religious seminary in Qom sponsored by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Philos Project said.

The Houthis have invested a considerable effort into ending the Christian presence in the territories under their control, it added. "A mixture of denominations  Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Ethiopian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox  was estimated at some 40,000. There were also new converts known as Muslim Background Believers. Today, there are some 3,000 Christian holdovers.

To intimidate the Christian community, the Houthis abducted several prominent Christians and held some for ransom, the report continued, adding that in March 2016, they killed 16 people in a Catholic retirement home in Aden, including four nuns of the Missionaries of Charity.

The report recommends that the U.N. appoint a Special Rapporteur to report on Irans quiet Jihad project, and the U.S. State Department sanction Iran and its proxies for reducing the number of Christians by either forcing immigration or blocking their return.
The situation in Nigeria is desperate  not just for Christians, but for children across the country.

Fear and insecurity

According to UNICEF (10 May 2022), 18.5 million children are out of school in Nigeria due to insecurity, up from 10.5 million in 2021. UNICEF blames 'attacks on schools by jihadists and criminal gangs in the north'.

Since Boko Haram abducted 200 schoolgirls in the northeastern town of Chibok in 2014, dozens of schools have been targeted for similar mass abductions.

Last year, about 1,500 students were kidnapped by gunmen, according to UNICEF. While most of the young hostages have since been released for ransom, some still remain in captivity in forests, havens of armed groups.

In the predominantly Muslim north, Rahama Farah, head of the UNICEF office in Kano (North), said only one in four girls from "poor, rural families" finish secondary school. Insecurity, he said, "accentuates gender inequalities".

Violence and mass kidnappings have forced the authorities to close more than 11,000 schools in the country since December 2020, according to UNICEF.

The situation has resulted in increasing cases of child marriage and early pregnancy, according to the UN agency.

Attack on a Christian

But in the case of a girl called Deborah Emmanuel, at Sokoto's Shehu Shagari College of Education, her gruesome death came at the hands of fellow students - ordinary Muslim boys (as distinct from jihadists, terrorists, or 'bandits') - after one accused her of blasphemy.

Deborah was a member of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Tungan Magaija in Niger State. She was the eldest of eight children and the first child to go to college.

According to Morning Star News, Deborah was commenting in a class WhatsApp chat about how they discriminate against Christians and in favour of Muslims with regard to assignments and tests. The WhatsApp group was formed to facilitate communication about their lessons but it appeared that a number of students used it as a platform to promote Islam.

When Deborah was asked in the group how she managed to pass the exams, she said she had passed exams thanks to Christ, and when she was pressured to retract the statement and apologize, she declined.

Apparently, it emerged that a Muslim boy had wanted to date her, but she had declined. She also urged fellow group members to refrain from discussing religion, according to news outlet Ejes Gist.

The boy claimed that she had insulted the prophet Muhammad and whipped up rage against her by accusing her of blasphemy. This was a blatant lie. It also seems as though outsiders from the school were brought in to help find her.

Security officers deployed by the school to protect Deborah were overwhelmed by the angry mob. Or, in the words of one second-year student: 'The police sacrificed the lady after the students began throwing sticks and stones at them.' According to a friend, her last words were What do you hope to achieve with this?

The horrific killing has sent shock-waves throughout Nigeria.

Two suspects were arrested and a manhunt is under way for other suspects. On 14 May hundreds of Muslims rioted in Sokoto to protest the arrests. They targeted the palace of the Sultan, who had condemned the killing, and Christian-owned businesses and churches.

On 16 May the accused faced court backed by a team of 34 lawyers. They pleaded not guilty to criminal conspiracy and disturbing the peace. Bail is being considered. Tensions are soaring.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has "strongly condemned" Deborahs murder.

Deborahs family have decided that none of their remaining children will go to school. The school itself is now closed indefinitely.

The Christian Association of Nigeria has called for a nationwide peaceful protest on Sunday 22 May to demand justice for Deborah. However, fearing Islamic rage could spread like wildfire, the Kaduna State government had already placed a banon all religious protest in volatile Kaduna State.

Viciousness spreads

As news of Deborahs death has spread, so have accusations of blasphemy and police fears for their own safety. In Borno, Nigerias far northwest, a Christian graduate, Naomi Goni, responded to a derogatory social media post about Deborah from a Muslim lady. Islamists accused Naomi of blasphemy, sparking a firestorm.

Another Christian womans life is in danger. Rhoda Jatau wrote a comment on social media that was deemed blasphemous. In the whipped up riots, six homes and seven shops belonging to Christians were burned in the pogrom, and about 20 people were injured, including a Pastor of an ECWA church.

The Rev. Joseph John Hayab, vice-president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Northern Nigeria Chapter, said area Muslims were using blasphemy as a pretext to attack Christians.

Please pray

For Deborahs family and friends, and other Christians in Sokoto and in Tungun Magajia in their grieving.

That God may grant the Christians of Sokoto, including students at the College and pastors whose property has been destroyed, wisdom, guidance, discernment and protection as they navigate these difficult days.

That God would grace Sokoto's Governor Aminu Tambuwal, the Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar, the judge overseeing this trial, along with others in politics, the media and civil society with a deep unbiased conviction that life must be protected, security must be guaranteed, vigilantism must be condemned, evil must be deterred and justice must be done. May God give them the courage to pursue these things in the face of Islamic protest and indignation ... for the sake of the Gospel and the Church in Sokoto.

That the Christians may take Gods promise to Joshua for themselves: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua chapter 1, verse 9)
Click here to read the full article.

Amber Heard spoke with NBC News Savannah Guthrie on Today on Tuesday, doubling down on her innocence and responding to many of the claims made about her during her trial against former husband Johnny Depp.

When referencing the verdict, in which Depp largely came out the winner, Heard said that the process has been surreal and difficult. This has been a long time coming.

Asked by Guthrie about her words in court, Heard said, To my dying day, Ill stand by every word of my testimony. That said, Heard also referred to the trial as, The most humiliating and horrible thing Ive ever been through. Ive never felt more removed from my own humanity. I felt less than human.

Regarding the social media circus surrounding the trial, Heard said, I think even the most well-intentioned jurorit would have been impossible to avoid this. Every single day I passed three, four, sometimes six city blocks lined with people holding signs saying Burn the Witch, Death to Amber. After three and a half weeks, I took the stand and saw a courtroom packed full of Captain Jack Sparrow fans who were vocal, energized.

When referring to the U.K. trial that Depp lost, Heard said, There was another trial that dealt with the same substantive issues and had even more evidence in. In fact, my evidence was largely kept out. But Heard said Depps victory came because, His lawyers did a better job at distracting the jury from the real issues.

When asked about people watching the trial that might think both stars are to blame, Head said, I would not blame the average person for looking at this and how its been covered and not think that it is Hollywood brats at their worst. But what people dont understand is its actually so much bigger than that. This is not only about our First Amendment rights to speak.

She also adding her own interpretation of the First Amendment, saying, Its a freedom to speak truth to power, and thats alI I spoke. I spoke it to power and I paid the price.

When asked about accusations in court that she was acting on the stand, Heard struck back, saying, Says the lawyer for the man who convinced the world he had scissors for fingers? Im the performer? I had listened to weeks of testimony insinuating or saying quite directly that Im a terrible actress, so Im a bit confused how I could be both.

Speaking about the alleged abuse in their relationship, Heard said, I never had to instigate it, I responded to it. When youre living in violence and it becomes normal, as I testified to, you have to adapt.

When Guthrie pushed back, saying that Heard spoke of starting fights on recorded audio, Heard said, I know much has been made of these audiotapes. They were first leaked online after being edited. What you would hear in those clips are not evidence of what was happening. It was evidence of a negotiation of how to talk about that with your abuser.

Guthrie continued by reading some of said transcripts, to which Heard responded, As I testified on the stand about this, when your life is at risk, not only will you take the blame for things that you shouldnt take the blame for, but when youre in an abusive dynamic psychologically, emotionally and physically, you dont have the resources that, say, you or I do with the luxury of saying, Hey, this is black and white. Because its anything but when youre living in it.

When Guthrie asked about Depps denial that he never hit her, and if that statement was a lie, Heard said, Yes, it is.

Ending the interview, Heard said, I made a lot of mistakes, but Ive always told the truth.

In a clip released yesterday from the interview, Heard called out the extensive social media frenzy that surrounded her case, calling it unfair. On social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, users latched on to the case and made posts ridiculing Heards lawyers and her own testimony. Depp, on the other hand, was seen favorably in the eyes of many social media users, with the TikTok hashtag Justice for Johnny Depp bringing in 20 billion views. The hashtag Justice for Amber Heard has received 27 million views.

I dont care what one thinks about me or what judgments you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my own home, in my marriage, behind closed doors, Heard explained. I dont presume the average person should know those things. And so I dont take it personally.

She continued: But even somebody who is sure Im deserving of all this hate and vitriol, even if you think that Im lying, you still couldnt look me in the eye and tell me that you think on social media theres been a fair representation. You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair.

A Virginia jury found that Heard defamed Depp in 2018 when she wrote a Washington Post op-ed alluding to being a victim of domestic violence. The jury awarded the Pirates of the Caribbean star $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages  reduced to $350,000, in accordance with the states statutory cap.

The jury also found that Depp defamed Heard, through his attorney, awarding Heard $2 million in compensatory damages for her counterclaim.

The interview is set to continue on the Wednesday, June 15 edition of NBCs Today and the Friday, June 17 episode of Dateline NBC at 8 p.m. / 7 p.m. CT.

Watch the interview below:

WATCH: In part one of this exclusive interview, @SavannahGuthrie sits down with Amber Heard to talk about the defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp. pic.twitter.com/LpgiISgv0F  TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 14, 2022

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Click here to read the full article.

B.J. Novaks Vengeance, which premiered last night at the Tribeca Film Festival (it opens July 29), is Its at once an ominous heartland murder mystery; a culture-clash comedy that finds Ben Manalowitz (played by Novak), an acerbic New Yorker writer and podcaster, descending into the bleak depths of West Texas; and a meditation on blue state/red state values that gradually evolves into something larger  a cosmic riff on how the two sides of America are working, nearly in tandem, to tear the country apart.

Novak, an actor best known for his role on The Office (where he also served as a writer, executive producer, and director), brings off what could have been a rickety conceit as if he were holding the audience in the palm of his hand. Vengeance, which he wrote and directed (its his first feature), has been made with such confidence and verve, and its held together by a vision  of loss, ambition, addiction, conspiracy theory, and how were all victims of the contemporary image culture  that is so wide awake and sharp-edged, it marks the arrival of a potentially major filmmaker.

After a prelude set on a dark-as-midnight Texas oil field, with murky hints of foul play, the film kicks off with Ben and his buddy, played by John Mayer, scoping out women at a New York literary party, exchanging tips on how to play the hookup game. In the space of four minutes, the attitudes they express about serial dating and commitment  a concept as foreign to them as some ritual from a distant galaxy  are put forth with a compact misanthropic assurance that makes us think were seeing some 21st-century version of Swingers. (I have no doubt that Novak could make that movie, and that it might be as good as Swingers.) The ritual phrase of agreement they keep saying is a hundred percent, as if they were sure of it all. Vengeance, among other things, is a comic poke at the fake armor of cosmopolitan male certainty.

At the party, Ben makes a pitch to a podcast producer, Eloise, played with twinkling cynicism by Issa Rae, and we hear the intricate yet slightly annoying way his mind works. Bens theory that whats actually fragmenting our lives is our newly controlled sense of time has much to be said for it. Yet we also cant help but hear how in love he is with the sound of his own mind. Hes a brainiac narcissist, too full of theories, and Novak gives him a crackling surface and a saturnine depth. The actor, with his large eyes, whip-crack delivery, and glare of geek suspicion, would be well cast as Lou Reed. Yet in Vengeance, he makes Ben a thumbnail portrait of the new generation of New York writer careerists whose idealism is dunked in opportunism.

Ben has a date (when the woman arrives at his apartment, he greets her with a friendly Hows book world?, not realizing that shes not the hookup from publishing). In the middle of the night, after theyre in bed, hes awakened by a call from a scary-sounding Southern stranger, who tells Ben that his girlfriend is dead. This would be news to Ben, since the concept of a girlfriend is also from that distant galaxy. But he did know the young woman in question (they hooked up a few times), and before long he finds himself speaking at the funeral of Abilene Shaw (Lio Tipton), right next to a photo of her with a guitar (She loved music. I know that), in rural Texas.

Why would he even be there? You have to roll with that one (though its actually explained down the line). Ben meets Abbys family members  her mother, granny, and two sisters, her little tyke of a brother, and her older brother, Ty (Boyd Holbrook), a wild-boy yokel who has decided that Abby was murdered and wants Ben to help him solve the crime. He wants his vengeance. All this seems, for a scene or two, like a very movie-ish setup. Ben is the kind of New Yorker for whom Texas is not a real place; to him, Texas is the Austin of South-by. And as we glimpse the family pickup truck, with its twin rifles mounted on the back window, we wonder if the movie is going to be some glib Manhattan-swell-among-the-gun-nuts, geek-out-of-water comedy.

It quickly transcends that. Novak introduces cliches and stereotypes only to detonate them  or, better yet, fill them in in ways that show us how the stereotypes are real and not real. Abbys family members are a bunch of rednecks, but that doesnt mean theyre dumb, or unworldly, or not plugged into the currents of urban technology. Theyre characters who keep surprising us. Ben, sensing an opportunity, decides to stay and make a podcast out of Abbys death, keeping his digital phone recorder on during every conversation. It will be like In Cold Blood for the age of progressive radio, with Ben as the murder investigator and reporter. I will find this person, he tells the family, or this generalized societal force. And I will define it. He titles the podcast The Dead White Girl (Eliose, back in New York, is editing and advising), and Vengeance turns into the story of an East Coast creative telling a tale of backwoods locals even as his own blindness becomes central to their story.

The films perceptions arrive as jokes, and vice versa, whether its Ben trying (and failing) to get Ty and the others to define why they love the WhatABurger fast-food chain beyond the fact that its always right there. Or Ben being hilariously outed at a rodeo for the Northern wimp he is. Or Abbys sister Paris (Isabella Amara) accusing Ben of cultural appropriation, to which he responds that her use of the term cultural appropriation is an act of cultural appropriation (theyre both right). Or a local music producer named Quentin Sellers, played with dashingly sinister aplomb by Ashton Kutcher in a white cowboy suit, explaining how and why conspiracy mania took over the heartland. Was Abby killed, or did she die of an opioid overdose? Thats the mystery, and its resolved in a way that puts a haunting cast of mythology over the spiritual despair of Middle America.

In a good way, Vengeance makes up its own rules. Its a one-of-a-kind movie, like a Preston Sturges comedy fused with the free-floating whats-it-all-mean? dread of Under the Silver Lake. But this movie, unlike that one, has a pretty good idea of what it all means. Its voiced by the films most brilliant and disturbing character, who explains, in a way that may blow your head open a little bit, why the very way our culture now dissects and explains everything has had the paradoxical effect of robbing anything and everything of meaning. Its the death of communication not just by social media but by all media, and in Vengeance the way it plays out in the heartland, where indifference can be a form of hate, makes a statement that reverberates. In Vengeance, B.J. Novak proves a born storyteller with the rare gift of using a film to say something that intoxicates us.

Reviewed at Tribeca Film Festival, June 12, 2022. MPAA Rating: Not rated. Running time: 107 MIN.

Production

A Focus Features release of a Blumhouse production, in association with Divide/Conquer. Producers: Jason Blume, Adam Hendricks, Greg Gilreath. Executive producers: B.J. Novak, Leigh Kilton-Smith.

Crew

Director, screenplay: B.J. Novak. Camera: Lyn Moncrief. Editors: Andy Canny, Hilda Rasula, Plummy Tucker.

With

B.J. Novak, Boyd Holbrook, Issa Rae, Ashton Kutcher, J. Smith-Cameron, Lio Tipton, Dove Cameron, Isabella Amara, Eli Abrams Bickel, Louanne Stephens, Zach Villa, Clint Obenchain.

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Service industry professionals are well-known for being inked to the max, and Houston's chefs and bartenders are no exception.

We asked a dozen restaurant pros to show off their food- and drink-themed tattoos and what they mean to them. Here's what they told us.

Alfonso Canchola, Big Vibe Group chef

The Big Vibe Group

"The octopus is a very intelligent animal, it's a reminder to never underestimate anybody, and also signifies multitasking in the kitchen. I have a heart tattoo made of vegetables (mirepoix, peppers, mushrooms, avocado), because vegetables are the heart of the kitchen, and that's where my heart belongs."

Chase Voelz, Bludorn chef de cuisine

Bludorn

"Growing up as a kid in southern Indiana, I spent a lot of time on our family's farm. My grandfather was both a school bus driver and a farmer, who farmed corn and soybeans. Naturally, he'd pick me up from school and during harvest season I remember riding on the combine with him and raising pigs to show at the county fair. Throughout my childhood some of my fondest family memories were spent on the farm. We celebrated all of our holidays as well as special annual parties such as the Indy 500 and a Kentucky Derby party, which kicked off the summer. The farm has been in our family since my earliest ancestors left Germany and ultimately settled in Columbus, Indiana, in 1875. It has since been named an Indiana historic landmark and is still in our family today 147 years later. The tattoo represents less about food, more about family and tradition."

Christine Ha, Xin Chao and the Blind Goat chef-owner

Courtesy of Christine Ha

"I got my back tattoo right after I won MasterChef season 3 in 2012. It was a life-changing experience, and I knew I wanted to commemorate it, so I asked my artist, Tracy Lambright of Scorpion Studios, who specializes in Japanese print, to design me something that incorporated the three ingredients I loved most and cooked frequently with throughout the televised competition: garlic, fish sauce (represented by the swimming anchovies), and cilantro.

I got my second tattoo on my wrist by the same artist because I was soon to open my very first restaurant, the Blind Goat, in 2019. I like to say food and words are my creative portals, the means by which I connect with others. I have a background in creative writing, and stories and cooking are both things I love in life, so I commemorated this by getting ink done of a chefs knife and quill pen intertwined together.

I am visually impaired, so it took a TON of trust for me to let my artist freestyle on me."

Felipe Riccio, Goodnight Hospitality chef-partner

Zach Horst

"My first tattoo is an actual-size Kunz spoon. It's the perfect kitchen spoon invented by chef Gray Kunz. It is my favorite kitchen tool and to me, it signifies versatility and professionalism. A Kunz spoon is an extremely useful spoon in a kitchen and for a long time, only professional chefs would obsess over spoons (luckily now even home cooks do and should!). Below the spoon is a quote in French by Fernand Point, chef at the famous La Pyramide in the early 1900s, that translates to 'Perfection is the sum of little things done well.'"

Jason Hill, Revelry on Richmond head chef

Revelry on Richmond

"This blueberry tattoo by Catfish Perez is the most meaningful one that I have because it's a tribute to my late mother in law, who was supportive of me and helped start out my food truck and doughnut business. Blueberry cake donuts were her favorite flavor. She also made blueberry muffins a couple of hours before she passed away, so when we got home from the hospital, the blueberry muffins were waiting for us.

Anthony Bourdain was my biggest inspiration as a chef. When he passed away, I wanted to pay tribute to him and support mental health awareness."

Jeff Potts, 93' Til executive chef

93' Til

"I became obsessed with Japanese ramen when I moved to Houston and octopus is my favorite animal, especially because they're super smart."

Mark Pignone, Bosscat Kitchen & Libations sous chef

Bosscat Kitchen & Libations

"The reason I got my tattoo is my last name. With a name like Pignone I was called pig all my life. At one point growing up my older brother was nicknamed Big Pig, my sister was Miss Piggy and I was Piglet. My mother even collected refrigerator magnets that were pigs in chef coats. We also had a small statue of a pig dressed as a chef. My tattoo reminds me of my family and is also connected to my job as a chef. Three of the four children in my family are chefs, and food was always a big part of our family growing up. Everyone in our family can cook. Both of my grandmothers were great cooks and I have recipe books from them that we still use every holiday."

Nick Fine, Underbelly Hospitality culinary director

Morgan Peters

"This Underbelly tattoo is a celebration of an incredible part of my life. The tattoo represents not only a restaurant but a way of life that I always want to continue! Underbelly will always be a part of my life no matter where I am, and this tattoo is a reminder of that! The Underbelly philosophy is: Explore your surroundings, learn about people, where they're from and how to dine at the same table. Learn from anyone, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, age or gender. Understand that everyone has a story to tell. This is how we run our restaurants. We're always learning."

Paula Leguizamon, Urbe chef

H-Town Hospitality Group

"I was encouraged to get this tattoo because I had been the pastry chef of Hugo's for just a year, I was very proud and excited about everything that I was learning and living, and I decided to get this tattooed with the phrase 'Yes, chef' because, for me, that expression means respect in the kitchen. I also have a tattoo of a vanilla flower, which I did because it's my favorite smell and taste. I remember when I first worked with vanilla beans, I felt like I was working with gold."

Ryan Lachaine, Riel Restaurant chef-owner

Riel Restaurant

"I have three food-related tattoos. My first was a tattoo of a hot dog. I love hot dogs and I actually do a hot dog pop up once a year with the guys from Blood Bros called Dirty Dog. I have two tattoos of wheat because of my home province of Manitoba. Manitoba is one of the leading wheat producers in the world, with huge wheat fields all over the area. The tattoos helps me feel connected to home. I also have a pierogi tattoo with '1927' in it, which is the address of my restaurant, Riel."

Sam Ruiz, Space Cowboy bar manager

Space Cowboy

"I got my bourbon on the rocks tattoo when I was turning 25, and my father took me to Kentucky to experience Maker's Mark distillery first hand. We both share the love of Maker's Mark Bourbon. As for the spooky avocado, my favorite holiday is Halloween, I dyed my hair hot pink and got an awesome tattoo by one of my good friends, Octoboros [a local tattoo artist whose real name is Dana Marie King]. The Trash Panda tattoo is a very special and sentimental tattoo for me that will forever connect me to the people I chose to take this journey with. [All of the original Night Moves Hospitality bar staff have matching Trash Panda tattoos.]"

Yotam Dolev, Hamsa executive chef

Kirsten Gilliam

"One of my favorite tattoos is the butchered fish on my left arm. I love fish and seafood, and what I love most about fish is that every part of a fish is special in some way. Everyone loves the fillet, but the rest of fish is very underrated. I like to cook with all parts including bone marrow, liver, skin, head, and more. I really believe that you can use each part to get creative and make great disheseven desserts."
It was a night to remember for the lady in red at the 2022 James Beard Foundation Awards in Chicago, Illinois. Alba Huerta, donning a glamorous red dress, took home the coveted award of Outstanding Bar Program for her cocktail lounge Julep.

Playfully coined the Oscars of the food world, the awards tout honors for outstanding hospitality, best new restaurant, and outstanding bar program, among others. They are considered some of the most prestigious accolades among chefs and restaurateurs. The James Beard Foundation named its finalists back in March, but it was at Monday evenings formal awards ceremony when the years winners were announced.

Huerta let her overwhelming gratitude be known as she took the stage with a friend and addressed the live audience.

Thank you to the James Beard Foundation for acknowledging what we do as a culinary art, she said, as the crowd erupted in applause. And thank you to my city of Houston, Texas, for loving immigrants  loving immigrants like me, like my family, welcoming us, and giving us the path to opening our own businesses.

The bar pro praised her staff, calling them as the most talented, committed group of people, and estimated they were celebrating at Julep with a $0.25 oyster party.

A joyful Huerta admitted she had been more focused on trying to get into her dress, than preparing a speech. In the end, she wore the dress, and the win, well.

Out of all of the Houston culinary figures named 2022 James Beard finalists, Huerta was the only to win an award. On the national level, Ruben Ortega of Xochi lost out to Warda Bouguettaya of Warda Patisserie in Detroit for Outstanding Pastry Chef; Hugos lost out to Curate in Asheville for Outstanding Hospitality Program; Chris Williams of Lucilles Hospitality Group lost out to Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco, Pane Bianco and Tratto for Outstanding Restaurateur.

In the first-ever Best Chef Texas category, Houstonians Christine Ha and Tony Nguyen of Xin Chao and Quy Hoang of Blood Brothers BBQ lost out to Iliana de la Vega of El Naranjo in Austin.

Texas was well represented on stage at Monday night's ceremony, as Edgar Rico of Nixa Taqueria in Austin won Emerging Chef, beating out a list of talented chefs from across the country. Rico spoke emotionally of his immigrant parents and his early financial struggles on the Austin food scene, saying he almost went broke opening this restaurant.

After a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Monday night marked the triumphant return of the James Beard Foundation Awards. The live ceremony at Lyric Opera of Chicago was preceded by a weekend full of culinary events and gatherings, including a Julep pop-up event at The Violet Hour cocktail bar Sunday night. Until next year.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

HONG KONG (AP)  A landmark floating restaurant that fed Cantonese cuisine and seafood to Queen Elizabeth II, Tom Cruise and millions of other diners was towed from the Hong Kong harborfront Tuesday after being closed by the pandemic.

The parent company of Jumbo Floating Restaurant couldnt find a new owner and lacked funds to maintain it after months of COVID-19 restrictions.

The massive floating restaurant designed like a Chinese imperial palace on Aberdeen Harbour was known for its Cantonese cuisine and seafood dishes. It received over 30 million guests since its establishment in 1976.

But Jumbo Floating Restaurant was forced to close in 2020 due to the pandemic, and all staff were laid off. Parent company Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises said it had become a financial burden to shareholders, as millions of Hong Kong dollars were spent on inspection and maintenance of the floating restaurant every year even though the restaurant was not in operation.

We do not foresee that (Jumbo Floating Restaurant) can resume business in the immediate future, the company said. It said potential deals to keep the restaurant open were thwarted by the high operating costs.

Tugboats towed the restaurant away Tuesday but it wasn't clear where it will berth next. The company planned to move it to a lower-cost site where maintenance could still be conducted.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam had previously rejected suggestions to bail out the restaurant, despite calls from lawmakers to preserve the iconic landmark.

Lam said last month that the government had no plans to invest taxpayers money into the restaurant as the government was not good at running such premises, despite calls from lawmakers to preserve the restaurant.

Some Hong Kong residents recalled the heyday of Jumbo Kingdom, and expressed disappointment in seeing the restaurant go. It was famed for its lavish banquet meals, with dishes such as roasted suckling pig, lobster and double-boiled birds nest, a Chinese delicacy.

Wong Chi-wah, a boat operator in Aberdeen Harbour, said that in the glory days of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant in the 1990s, flocks of Japanese tourists would visit the restaurants.

The streets were full of parked vehicles as visitors arrived in big groups, he said.

Encore Sin, 71, said Hong Kong was losing something unique.

If the restaurant leaves today, there is definitely a sense of loss, not just for people who live around this area but for the whole of Hong Kong, said Sin.

Over the past few decades, Ive been to many places around the world to take photographs, but where else in the world are there such floating restaurants? I dont think there are any left.
South Africa: Young entrepreneurs encouraged to look abroad

Young South African entrepreneurs eager to export their products and services have been encouraged to take up the various avenues of business support available to them from government agencies as well as the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC).

Government's various platforms of support were presented during a webinar presented by the DTIC and its various partners including the National Empowerment Fund, the Industrial Development Corporation, the Small Enterprise Development Agency and Brand South Africa.

Presenting the DTICs support models for businesses that are exploring the option of exporting their goods and accessing other markets, the departments Nxalati Mashele said the department has an incentive scheme which is aimed at promoting South African companies on the African continent and abroad.

Mashele said in the Export Development Unit, the department aims to develop emerging exporters in order to [help them] tap into the international markets.

We conduct export awareness workshops where we will invite all companies that are registered. Our target right now is promoting youth owned enterprises. In that workshop, we will briefly give them information about our incentives as well as training.

Lets say for instance we have a company that is newly established and they dont know anything about exportingwe take them through a training course where they will be trained on everything pertaining to export processes, she said.

Mashele added that following this training, the entrepreneur and their business will now be defined as emerging exporters.

Thats when they can tap into our incentives where we will support them to go and market their product outside the boarders of South Africa, Mashele said.

According to Mashele, the department goes further to find markets for South African goods and services through the departmental Export Promotion unit.

When they find the markettheyll identify international exhibitions where we are going to showcase and participate as a department and we will then invite all those companies that went through the training.

They will be able to go to that country. They will have business meetings with their business counterparts on the other side. Export Promotionwill ensure that they have set up meetings beforehand so that when these companies arrive at the other side they will already be going into a confirmed meeting [and] the main objective is to sell their products, she said.

She highlighted that the department also assists businesses to attend exhibitions and trade missions abroad.

As the department, what we will do is fund them. We will buy their air tickets, we will fund their accommodation and we will also pay for their freight forwarding. All they need to do is pack their suitcase and passport and get ready to go and promote their products.

This is what we are doing to stimulate the economy because we know that COVID-19 has taught us new ways of doing things and this is how we are facilitating exports, Mashele said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-14. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
U.S. health secretary tests positive for COVID-19, 2nd time in a month

Xinhua) 10:57, June 14, 2022

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, the second time for him in less than a month.

Becerra took an antigen test in Sacramento, California in the morning and the result was positive, according to HHS spokesperson Sarah Lovenheim.

"He is fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, and is experiencing mild symptoms," Lovenheim said in a statement. "He will continue to perform his duties as HHS Secretary, working in isolation."

Becerra, 64, previously tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-May on a trip to Berlin.

Last week, Becerra was in Los Angeles, California to attend the controversial Summit of the Americas hosted by the United States with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The HHS said Becerra is not considered a close contact of either Biden or Harris as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The United States has reported more than 85 million COVID-19 cases and over 1 million related deaths in total, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told officials at a party conference on Monday to remove "unrevolutionary" acts like bureaucracy.

According to the official Korean Central News Agency, the meeting was called by the secretariat of the governing Workers' Party's Central Committee the day before in Pyongyang to review the party's pressing duties.

Kim Jong Un Urges To Strengthen North Korea's Party Rules

Kim Jong Un urged party officials to wage a more intense battle against unhealthy acts and bureaucracy during the party. The meeting also discussed the issue of strengthening the party's role in implementing the national tasks discussed at the fifth enlarged plenary meeting of the party's eighth Central Committee last week, as per Korea Times.

At a party congress last year, the North revised the ruling party's rules to reinstate the secretariat that was scrapped in 2016 and elected Kim as the "general secretary" of the party.

According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un ordered the party's auditing commission and other local discipline monitoring systems to be strengthened in order to promote the party's "monolithic leadership" and "wide political activities through the strong discipline system."

In the last two years, Kim Jong Un has also called for domestic efforts against "anti-socialist activities" amid foreign concerns about his country's frail economy, which has been harmed by pandemic-related border closures, UN sanctions, and his poor management.

According to some analysts, North Korea's increased restrictions on migration in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak might exacerbate the country's economic problems. North Korea stated on May 12 that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus had infected individuals and that 4.5 million people - more than 17% of the country's 26 million people - have become ill with fevers, with just 72 deaths.

Read Also: Sudden Adult Death Syndrome: Doctors Baffle Why Many Young People Suddenly Die

North Korea's COVID-19 Cases Decline

Per First Post, foreign analysts are skeptical that this is North Korea's first outbreak, and they believe figures released by the government are skewed to protect Kim Jong Un's political position while boosting internal control and supporting his leadership.

Kim Jong Un said the pandemic scenario had reached the level of "severe crisis" during a Workers' Party conference last week, ordering authorities to address "the deficiencies and faults in the anti-epidemic operation" and take efforts to strengthen the country's anti-pandemic capabilities.

Meanwhile, the unification ministry of South Korea highlighted a recent decline in new fever cases and claimed the North's virus condition might be regarded as improving in appearance based on its public declarations alone.

It further stated that "online retraining and technical course systems" are being upgraded in collaboration with educational institutions to assist public health personnel in gaining practical expertise.

Observers in the country are concerned that the viral spread may exacerbate the poor country's frail economy and the chronic food shortages that plague many of the country's 25 million citizens. After claiming to be coronavirus-free for almost two years, North Korea revealed its first COVID-19 case on May 12, Yonhap News via MSN reported.

Related Article: Kim Jong Un Humiliated After North Korea's Missile Hits Own City; Pyongyang's Ruling Party Meets Amid Expectation of Another Nuclear Test

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  A shootout between police, soldiers and gunmen in central Mexico left ten suspects dead and four wounded on Tuesday.

Prosecutors in the State of Mexico, which borders Mexico City, said three detectives were also wounded in the gun battle. Their injuries were apparently not life-threatening.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  For tens of millions of Americans who see abortion as wrong, its gone this way for a half-century: One woman swayed to reconsider as dozens of others follow through. One clinics doors closed only to see desperate patients go elsewhere. One law passed, another overturned.

A movement built of tiny steps and endless setbacks, though, now seems poised for a massive leap, with the Supreme Court weighing undoing the constitutional right to abortion found in Roe v. Wade.

Folks are more hopeful now than we have ever been, says Mark Baumgartner, the 53-year-old founder of A Moment of Hope, an anti-abortion organization whose workers and volunteers stand outside the Planned Parenthood clinic here every minute its open. They try to engage women in conversation, talk them out of an abortion if they're considering one, and offer support if they decide to go through with their pregnancy.

A majority of Americans backs abortion rights, and one of the clinics rainbow-vested workers, 45-year-old Allison Terracio, believes the anti-abortion groups sidewalk coterie uses trickery, empty promises and manipulation in the guise of kindness to sway women from something theyve already carefully thought through. She says those due in to take an abortion pill or undergo a brief surgery have already thought through what they wanted and nothing Baumgartner and his crew can offer will change the circumstances of the prospective mothers life.

Im not in the business of convincing anybody of anything, Terracio says.

On this day, the first of A Moment of Hope's crew arrives before the sun even rises and, for hours, they haven't had much luck changing minds. But now, a patient pushes out of the centers doors and heads straight into the arms of an anti-abortion counselor who, a short while earlier, asked her not to do what she came here for.

The patient walks away with the counselor, and every eye on the block seems to follow. The circle of praying Catholics, the smattering of evangelicals at every clinic driveway, even the lone protester here, Steven Lefemine, all seem riveted by the apparent change of heart.

This is a glorious thing thats happening here! 66-year-old Lefemine exclaims.

Talk to someone whos been immersed in opposing abortion long enough and theyll tell you the disbelief they felt when news of Roe broke in 1973 and the naive certainty they had that it would be overturned in a couple of years. Theyll tell you about the politicians who collected their votes and never delivered, and the judges seen as allies who went on to disappoint. Theyll tell you how the issue ended friendships or landed them in handcuffs or brought them heartache again and again and again.

And yet, here they are, all these years later, in the fight so long some have grandchildren at their side.

Along the way, the image of an abortion opponent cemented in some Americans minds became a rabid protester shouting condemnation and clutching a gory sign, who would do anything to advance their cause.

Baumgartner knows the caricature many have of anti-abortion figures like him. He shudders when noisy protesters show up. He knows a woman arriving here may see everyone on the street the same, but if he could just have her ear for a moment, he thinks he can convince her.

Theyre expecting to get yelled at that theyre going to hell, says Baumgartner, who left behind his job as a pilot to create the organization. Were here to be different.

When he started his organization in 2012, the first woman he approached changed her mind, giving birth to a little girl whose picture hangs beside his office desk. It became the first of what the group regards as a save, when someone theyve interacted with who planned to have an abortion changes their mind.

Last year, they estimate about 1,600 women had an abortion at the clinic. They logged 66 saves.

This day, once the woman that exited the clinic went to A Moment of Hope's idling RV to talk with one of its counselors, she tells of a tough upbringing in foster care, an abusive partner whos now out of the picture, the struggles of raising a 3-year-old, the problems with money, all the things that seemed impossible even before her period failed to arrive and morning sickness started sapping her will.

And, in the end, she went through with the abortion she came here for.

For those who've been immersed in the long fight against abortion, there have been many days like this one, with disappointments and setbacks. But theyll return when the clinic reopens. Theyll return even if Roe falls. Many expect the fight to continue to their grave.

Theyve never felt more hopeful. A change, they are sure, is coming.

___

Sedensky can be reached at msedensky@ap.org and https://twitter.com/sedensky
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP)  Police officers on Tuesday searched the hotel where the Venezuelan and Iranian crew of a mysterious plane that remains stuck at Buenos Aires main international airport have been staying as authorities blocked its exit amid suspicions about its crew and U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Federal Judge Federico Villena ordered the raid at Hotel Plaza Canning, outside Buenos Aires, which has housed the crew of the Venezuelan-owned Boeing 747 cargo plane loaded with automative parts.

The plane has been stuck at Argentinas largest airport since June 6 as Argentine authorities have seized the passports of the five Iranians who are among the at least 17 crew members who arrived in Argentina aboard the plane.

Argentinas security minister, Anibal Fernandez, said the government received information from foreign intelligence agencies that at least some of the Iranian crew were part of companies related to the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard of Iran, which has been officially listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government since 2007.

There do not appear to be any warrants out for the arrest of any of the crewmembers.

There are numerous suspicions surrounding the plane, including the way in which its operators reported a lower number of crewmembers than were actually aboard, an unusually large contingent for a cargo plane.

Until it was sold to Emtrasur around a year ago, the plane had been owned by Mahan Air of Iran, which the U.S. government has sanctioned for allegedly aiding the Quds Force and terrorist activities.

The plane had stopped in other Latin American countries, including Paraguay and Mexico, in earlier months, according to flight tracking services.

Opposition leaders in Argentina have criticized the government for allowing the plane to land in the country.

Gerardo Millman, one of the two opposition leaders who filed a judicial complaint calling for an investigation of the crew, said the plane flew with its transponder turned off, which could have been used to evade detection from air traffic control towers.

Argentine authorities insist they have not found any irregularities in the planes crew and the head of the Federal Intelligence Agency, Agustin Rossi, criticized the opposition for linking it to international terrorism.

Rossi said the plane carried cargo for several Argentine auto parts companies that it loaded in Mexico before stopping by Caracas and arriving in Argentina on June 6. It first landed in the central city of Cordoba due to weather conditions that prevented it from landing in Ezeiza, just outside Buenos Aires.

The planes cargo was verified in all manners possible, Rossi told a local radio station.

The unusually large crew had earlier raised suspicions in Paraguay, where the plane landed last month in Ciudad del Este, close to the Argentina and Brazil borders, where it remained between May 13 and May 16, Paraguays interior minister, Federico Gonzalez, told a local radio station Tuesday.

The plane landed in Paraguay with 18 crew members, of which seven were Iranians and 11 Venezuelans, Douglas Cubilla, head of airports at Paraguays National Civil Aeronautics Directorate, had told a local radio station on May 18. Cargo planes always have six or seven crewmembers and the large number of crewmembers caught our eye.

Two directorate officials, including the head of the Ciudad del Este airport, have been removed from their posts as a result of irregularities involving the plane, Gonzalez said.

It was only after the plane left Paraguay that officials learned it "belonged to an Iranian company that is suspended with sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department and that the Iranian crew were part of the Quds Force, Gonzalez said.

The plane appears to have transported cigarettes out of Ciudad del Este, Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said Paraguay alerted intelligence agencies in the region about the plane and its crew, although he did not specify when that took place.

Uruguay had earlier rejected entry of the plane to its airspace before it landed in Argentina.

Argentina suffered two terrorist attacks that authorities blame on Iran, a 1992 explosion at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and another at a Jewish organization in 1994. Argentina is seeking the arrest of several Iranian officials, though Iran denies involvement.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

PHOENIX (AP)  The Arizona Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that state courts can keep juror identities secret, rejecting a challenge from a southern Arizona journalist who argued that the right to observe trials included access to the names of jurors who decide the fate of people charged with crimes.

The unanimous ruling written by Vice Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer turned away arguments made by attorneys for the publisher of the Cochise County Record that withholding identities during the jury selection process without a compelling reason violated the First Amendment.

The decision continues an ongoing movement in some American courts toward allowing the identities of jurors who have traditionally been named to be kept secret. A media group that filed a friend of the court brief said that routinely keeping juror identities secret would undermine the media's ability to play its watchdog role.

But Timmer wrote that while the First Amendment implicitly guarantees the right of the public and press to view criminal trials, it does not extend to all confidential information.

Weighing whether that right attaches to media access to the names of individual jurors requires a review of whether they have historically been available, Timmer wrote, and whether public access plays a significant positive role in the functioning of the particular process in question."

Timmer concluded that while juror names have generally been public across the nation, providing them would not create a more fair process, and might even imperil jury integrity.

Accessing jurors names would not significantly add to the publics ability to assure itself that voir dire is fairly conducted or to check the courts in disregarding established standards for jury selection, Timmer wrote.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press had urged the high court to require juror names be made available except in unusual cases, saying that doing otherwise would limit the ability of the public and press to scrutinize the judicial process.

The benefits of an open and transparent court system  guarding against the miscarriage of justice, assuring that proceedings are fair and discouraging decisions based on bias  are undermined when the public cannot tell who exercises the jury power, the committee's filing said.

Attorneys with the Arizona Attorney General's office argued that revealing juror names would not help the selection process and that disclosing them would expose jurors to the risk of danger and embarrassment.

The Supreme Court case was brought by David Morgan, who runs the Cochise County Record, a website focused on public documents from local police and the courts. He and a second journalist appealed after a judge sealed jury names in two cases without giving any explanation, but only Morgan pursued the case all the way to the Arizona's highest court.

Morgan said he expected the loss, given questions from the seven justices during argument in April. But he noted that the court did not say juror names could never be released and that jurors themselves can identify themselves.

This was focused on voir dire, Morgan said. This didn't say forever.

Timmer noted that judges have the discretion to release juror names, and that if a court denies access, a best practice would be to explain its reasoning on the record.

Cochise County courts use secret juries in all criminal trials, and Arizona law says that lists of juror names or other juror information shall not be released unless specifically required by law or ordered by the court.

Justice Clint Bolick wrote a brief concurring opinion noting that the privacy provision in Arizonas constitution provides a compelling interest in enforcing (the juror secrecy law) to protect juror privacy.

Juror names across the U.S. were generally open until the late 1970s, when courts began seating anonymous juries in selected cases involving drug kingpins and mafia bosses, and the list has grown steadily to include many high profile cases.

Last year, a judge in Minnesota said he would keep the names of jurors who convicted former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin of George Floyd's murder secre t until he deemed it safe to release their names.
FRENCHVILLE, Maine (AP)  DNA evidence played a role in charges brought 36 years after a baby died in the far northern part of the state, police announced Tuesday.

The newborn's body was discovered in Frenchville in December 1985 after a dog carried the baby's body several hundred feet to the home of the dog owner, who contacted police.
CASSELBERRY, Fla. (AP)  Four people including a minor were found Tuesday with a gunshot wounds in a condo in central Florida and eventually died from their injuries in what appears to be a murder-suicide, authorities said.

Officers were called to the condo complex in an Orlando suburb for a reported shooting, the Casselberry Police Department told reporters.
If Congress won't entertain a ban on assault-style weapons, Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., has a new idea: imposing a 1,000% tax on them.

Beyer introduced the Assault Weapons Excise Act on Tuesday with 36 Democratic cosponsors as Congress continues debating gun-safety proposals following last month's back-to-back mass shootings. A 1,000% excise tax on semiautomatic rifles such as AR-15s would mark a drastic increase from any existing federal excise taxes on firearms - a proposal that Beyer is hoping could bypass the Senate filibuster, which requires support of at least 10 Republicans. Insider first previewed the legislation earlier this month.

The idea, Beyer said, is to increase the price of certain semiautomatic rifles, including AR-15s, to such a degree that it significantly limits accessibility to those guns but stops short of a full ban. The tax Beyer proposed would also apply to high-capacity magazines. And the guns that would be taxed are similar to those laid out in the Assault Weapons Ban legislation, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said she wants to bring to the floor but that is unlikely to go anywhere in the evenly divided Senate.

"It's trying to hit the sweet spot, where it's not an all-out ban, but people's independent purchasing decisions would be much more 'no' than 'yes,' " Beyer said in an interview Tuesday. "You want to shift the demand curve pretty significantly."

Beyer said part of the thinking behind the 1,000% figure was to have a high-enough fiscal impact that the Senate parliamentarian would find it qualifies for inclusion in a reconciliation package, meaning it could pass the Senate with a simple majority.

"In a nation crying out for progress on gun safety, we would present a plausible way forward in this Senate," Beyer said.

The tax would not apply retroactively to already-purchased guns and would not apply to government buyers. The legislation for now does not direct the tax revenue anywhere but the general fund, but Beyer says other considerations, such as putting the money toward gun violence prevention or helping victims, could come later.

A review of AR-15-style weapons for sale on various gun-selling websites shows they can range in price from around $500 to more than $2,000, depending on various factors. A 1,000% tax would increase the price tenfold, something Beyer hopes would price many would-be gun buyers, especially young adults, out of the market, possibly even on a layaway plan. Both the gunmen in the mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas, were 18-year-olds who used semiautomatic rifles that they had recently purchased.

Rosanna Smart, an economist at the RAND Corporation who has researched the impact of gun excise taxes, said Beyer's proposal is "much higher" than existing local and federal firearms taxes or even other proposals in recent years.

"While there's precedent for taxation being a legitimate or acceptable policy lever in the firearms space, I don't think we've seen anything like this," Smart said.

Federal law has levied an excise tax on firearms - imposed on manufacturers and driving up the sales price - for a little over a hundred years, and the tax has never been raised, according to the Congressional Research Service. Depending on the firearm, they are taxed at a rate of 10 to 11%, while ammunition is taxed at 11%; the National Firearms Act of 1934 also levied a $200 tax on the transfer of a narrower class of guns, and that has also never been adjusted. In recent years, Democrats in Congress have proposed raising the ammunition excise tax to 13%, raising the firearms tax to 30% and ammunition tax to 50%, or adding a flat $100 tax to the purchase of a firearm.

Smart said empirical evidence is lacking about whether increasing firearms excise taxes affects gun violence. Most local taxes as well as the long-standing federal tax have not necessarily been cost-prohibitive and are geared more toward raising revenue, she noted. Localities or states have directed the revenue toward gun violence prevention and administrative costs associated with the background-check system, for example; the federal excise tax goes toward wildlife restoration and hunter safety programs.

A more cost-prohibitive $1,000 flat tax on handguns enacted in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth, was struck down by a federal judge as unconstitutional in 2016.

But Beyer's proposal is more targeted to a specific class of guns, Smart noted, and is hard to compare to the other more modest taxes. Key to understanding the impact of a firearms excise tax is assessing how it affects consumer demand, she said.

"We can be pretty sure that a 1,000% tax is going to tax some people out of the market. The question is if they're going to be able to find a substitutable [gun] that gets around that tax rate" - or if they are so determined to buy the gun to commit a mass act of violence that price is not a deterrent, she added.

Whether Beyer's idea can gain traction in Congress is quite another question. The proposal, Smart noted, combines two of the most politically divisive concepts in Congress: raising taxes and restricting guns.

The bill would undoubtedly face fierce Republican opposition. Karina Lipsman, who won the Republican nomination in Virginia's 8th Congressional District, called Beyer's proposal "political lip service, telling the Republican Standard, "The answer is not to raise taxes and think the problems will go away." Grover Norquist, president of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, argued it was unconstitutional on a conservative radio show.

Beyer's staff has pointed out that if the 1990s-era ban on assault-style weapons withstood constitutional muster then the 1,000% tax should as well.

Beyer said that he plans to broach the idea with House Democratic leadership to figure out when the next opportunity may be to include the bill in a reconciliation package. He said the timing did not work out to try to connect his bill with the packages debated in Congress now - and noted how many of those proposals, such as raising the age to buy a semiautomatic rifle to 21, have been percolating for a lot longer. He wanted to give his idea more time.

The House passed the Protecting Our Kids Act last week, including the Raise the Age Act sponsored by Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md., a ban on high-capacity magazines and proposals to crack down on gun-trafficking, among other things.

The bill's future and that of the rest of the Protecting Our Kids package is not the brightest in the Senate, where a group of bipartisan senators are seeking to pair more modest gun restrictions with significant new mental health and school security investments.
President Joe Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia in July and is set to meet the country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, according to a senior administration official, a trip intended to mend U.S. ties with a nation Biden once promised to make a "pariah" over its human-rights abuses.

Biden's visit to the kingdom will follow stops in Israel and the West Bank, where he'll meet Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the official said.

Biden will travel July 13-16 and is expected to meet with nearly a dozen foreign leaders, including a virtual session with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leader of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, the official said. The U.S. president will participate in a regional summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The official said Biden would meet with Saudi Arabia's leaders and that they would be expected to include the crown prince, without specifying whether the two men would meet one-on-one or at length. A meeting with the crown prince would be nearly impossible to avoid in a visit to the kingdom.

The official asked not to be identified as a condition of participation in the briefing.

Biden's willingness to travel to the kingdom shows the extent to which his efforts to lower gasoline prices and further isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine have overridden his desire to take a harder line against Riyadh. The official said the visit is the culmination of months of U.S. diplomacy with Saudi Arabia and Mideast nations, and that the Saudi relationship with the U.S., required recalibration but had not ruptured.

The Biden administration issued a declassified report last year finding that the Saudi crown prince was responsible for the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.

Biden has also previously criticized a Saudi-led coalition's air campaign against Houthi militants in Yemen's civil war, in which tens of thousands of civilians have died, according to the U.N.

The president said on June 3 he had no "direct plans" to visit the kingdom but if he did, he would likely meet with its leaders, without specifically naming MBS, as he is known.

The visit demonstrates how Biden's diplomatic priorities have changed since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

The president has endeavored to bolster global energy supplies to replace Russian output and curb soaring gasoline prices that damaged his political standing. Gasoline prices, at the same time, are weighing on his party's fortunes in November midterm elections, with the average price more than $5 a gallon nationally, according to the AAA automobile club.

The Saudi-led OPEC+ cartel agreed earlier this month to a modest oil production increase in July and August, a gesture that was welcomed by the Biden administration. It came after multiple visits to Saudi Arabia by Brett McGurk, the top White House adviser on the Middle East, and Amos Hochstein, the State Department's senior adviser for energy security.

Biden also praised Saudi Arabia's role in brokering an extension of a truce in Yemen.

"Saudi Arabia demonstrated courageous leadership by taking initiatives early on to endorse and implement terms of the UN-led truce," the president said in a statement this month.

The senior administration official said that the crown prince played a critical role in bringing about the truce, which the official said has resulted in one of the most peaceful periods since the war began seven years ago. The official said the truce is an example of why continued U.S. engagement with Saudi Arabia is important.

The president indicated earlier this month he would raise human-rights issues if he decided to visit Saudi Arabia, saying "I'm not going to change my view on human rights."

The visit is a departure from Biden's promises as a presidential candidate and during his early days in office to hold the kingdom accountable for Khashoggi's death. The crown prince has denied ordering the killing but took responsibility for it as his country's de facto ruler.

Speaking about Saudi Arabia in 2019, Biden said he would "make them pay the price, and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are."

Biden sought to "recalibrate" the U.S.-Saudi relationship early in his presidency. The White House said that the president would deal with 86-year-old King Salman instead of the crown prince, who often spoke directly with former President Donald Trump.
Months after privately breaking with Donald Trump over his challenges of the 2020 election, former campaign manager Bill Stepien began landing new political clients - including several seeking Trump's endorsement who openly entertained false claims that the election had been stolen.

Stepien signed a challenger to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Kelly Tshibaka, who had called for a "prudent pause in declaring a winner" to investigate unfounded claims of election irregularities. He signed Harriet Hageman, a challenger to Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who told a Wyoming reporter this year that "we don't know" whether Joe Biden was legitimately elected. He continued to work with House candidates such as Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, who had baselessly insisted that Trump won a second term.

And Stepien found a way to remain in Trump's good graces, continuing his work as a consultant to the former president's political operation, Save America PAC, which has done more than any other political group since 2020 to spread falsehoods about the election's outcome.

Stepien's delicate dance - privately rejecting much of Trump's post-election strategy, while publicly staying quiet and even benefiting from it - was put on display Monday, when deposition recordings revealed by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol showed that Stepien had concluded in the days after the election that Trump was almost certain to lose and that those pushing his legal strategy were misleading him.

"I've been doing this for a long time - 25 years - and I've spanned political ideologies from Trump to McCain to Bush to Christie, and I can work under a lot of circumstances for a lot of varied candidates and politicians," Stepien said in videotaped testimony that was played during Monday's hearing. "I think on the way, I've built up a pretty good, I hope, a good reputation for being honest and professional. And I didn't think what was happening was necessarily honest or professional at that point in time. So that led to me stepping away."

Stepien was not alone in trying to back away from Trump's embrace of some electoral delusions while at the same time retaining his personal favor. Trump advisers such as daughter Ivanka Trump; his son-in-law, Jared Kushner; former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway; and former attorney general William Barr have all been revealed in recent months to have opposed or distanced themselves from Trump's efforts to overturn the election results.

Stepien, who skipped Monday's hearing because his wife went into labor, could not be reached for comment.

But a person close to him, who like others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, said that Stepien's disagreements with Trump were over legal strategy and that they did not contradict the views of Stepien's other political clients.

Jason Miller, another senior adviser to Trump's 2020 campaign, said Stepien had remained an adviser in good standing despite the disagreements that led him to back away from the Trump campaign team after the election - and has repeatedly briefed Trump since the former president left office.

"Bill is one of the most hardcore supporters of President Trump, and he's consistent anytime you speak with him, either in front of the cameras or talking to respective clients," Miller said. "There are many of us who remain concerned about the various reports of fraud and irregularity over the election, who should have gotten a better hearing. Different people have different levels of intensity in expressing those positions."

Trump's own spokesman dismissed the Jan. 6 committee's use of Stepien's testimony as a political ploy, suggesting that it was motivated by a desire to help Cheney's reelection hopes in Wyoming. Cheney is vice chair of the committee.

"The day after a poll was released showing @Liz_Cheney getting destroyed by Trump-endorsed @HagemanforWY, the committee just happened to subpoena Stepien, who is running Harriet's campaign," Taylor Budowich wrote in a tweet Sunday. "This circus is beyond an embarrassment and will forever stain the integrity of congress."

Stepien's firm, National Public Affairs, has been paid nearly $1.6 million, including expenses for advertising, this election cycle by Republican campaigns and political committees, according to public filings. This includes $220,609 from two Trump-run political committees.

Leading up to the 2020 election, Stepien regularly complained that the Trump campaign had been in rough shape when he took over in the summer of that year, and he told others that the campaign was likely to lose, according to people who spoke to him. But he sometimes painted a more optimistic picture for Trump, according to people who heard his presentations.

In the days after the election, Stepien regularly convened calls in which he urged donors and supporters to keep fighting, and even promised potential protests to be staged throughout the country, according to audio reviewed by The Washington Post. He also helped to reassign staff in the days after the vote to mount election challenges.

But his view of Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, and Trump's ad hoc legal team after the election was dim. He soon began reducing his time at campaign headquarters and his visibility to Trump, advisers say. Yet he did not want to be seen as publicly critical of Trump's chances at the time and tried to "just quietly back away," in the words of a person with knowledge of his actions. He bought a house in another state and left Washington, D.C., by Inauguration Day, and soon married a former Republican political operative.

"He was out of there as soon as he could," a senior campaign official said. "He didn't want to stay around for any of it."

Stepien complained privately that Trump was no longer listening to legal advice from figures such as Justin Clark, Stepien's business partner, and was instead focused on conspiracy theorists such as Sidney Powell, a former assistant U.S. attorney. Trump and others complained in turn about how quickly Stepien had removed himself, according to a person who has spoken to Trump.

Outside the hearing room Monday, Stepien attorney Kevin Marino defended his client.

"The way Mr. Stepien always conducts himself is by following the numbers and being completely truthful and accurate about where they are," Marino said. "He has been very clear about his view as to what happened in the 2020 election, and you can rest assured that he isn't advising anyone to suggest anything to the contrary."

Stepien has worked since the 2020 election for six members of Congress who voted on Jan. 6, 2021, to reject electors who would have certified Biden's victory: Jackson and Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio; Jason Smith, R-Mo.; Mary Miller, R-Ill.; Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.; and Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J.

Jackson, Trump's former White House doctor who left amid a Pentagon misconduct investigation, was quick to start repeating Trump's false claims of fraud shortly after the 2020 election.

Last November, Jackson called the omicron of the coronavirus wave a "Midterm Election Variant," suggesting that the new strain of the virus was an excuse for Democrats to "CHEAT" through mail ballots. A spokesman for Jackson did not immediately respond to a phone message.

In his testimony to the Jan. 6 committee, Stepien said he had tried to convince Trump about the value of mail-in ballots during the campaign, even enlisting the support of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. "But the president's mind was made up," Stepien said in his testimony.

Smith, the Missouri congressman, demanded a federal investigation of alleged election fraud shortly after Election Day in 2020. He supported Texas's lawsuit seeking to overturn the election at the Supreme Court and called Trump's impeachment on charges of inciting the insurrection a "show trial."

Miller, the Illinois Republican, claimed it was "impossible" for Trump to lose. The day before the Jan. 6 riot, she quoted Hitler while speaking a rally outside the Capitol, prompting calls for her resignation. She later apologized. She was also criticized when her husband, a state legislator, parked a truck on Capitol grounds displaying a decal for the anti-government Three Percenters movement.

Mullin called Biden "illegitimate," and Davidson wrote an op-ed asserting Congress's authority to decide the election on Jan. 6. Van Drew, who switched parties during Trump's first impeachment, joined 125 other House Republicans in supporting the Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the election but later acknowledged Biden as "duly elected."

Stepien has also worked for Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich R, whom Trump has criticized for not doing more to challenge the election results in that state, and Mike Gibbons, a failed candidate for Senate in Ohio whom Trump also passed over for an endorsement.

His most high-profile clients, however, have been two challengers to Trump's principal antagonists inside the Republican Party - Cheney and Murkowski, who both voted to impeach Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack.

Stepien's clients in those races, Hageman and Tshibaka, have stopped short of publicly calling the election result fraudulent, while at the same time inviting the support of voters who doubt its legitimacy and calling for changes to election administration.

In Hageman's first paid campaign ad, the candidate is compared to cowboys who would "ride for the brand," or the trademark of the ranch where they worked.

"In the Old West, when a cowboy rode for the brand, it meant they were loyal to their outfit, to the person who hired them, to the one who paid them," a cowboy says in the spot.

"Liz Cheney doesn't know what riding for the brand means," a second cowboy adds.

---

The Washington Post's Marianna Sotomayor contributed to this report.
Scientists worldwide are baffled by how the recent monkeypox outbreak has spread so quickly and quietly, leading some to theorize that the way the disease is transferred could have changed.

Before the most recent infections, the illness was usually only recorded in areas of Western and Central Africa. But in recent weeks, the more than 1,000 cases recorded in 29 countries have caused health experts' concerns.

Monkeypox Transmission

Prior to the recent outbreak, direct, physical contact was believed to be the main source of transmission, with a few exceptions, such as through airborne particles. An associate professor at the Department of Public Health at Syracuse University, Brittany L. Kmush, shared her thoughts on the disease.

She said that although "typically, monkeypox is not thought of as an airborne virus," its transmission mode may have changed and subsequently caused this outbreak. Kmush noted that catching monkeypox from direct contact with the rash was much easier than through airborne exposure. But the current outbreak seems to be somewhat different from past outbreaks, she said, as per Newsweek.

Kmush added that it was less likely that patients had symptoms of general illness prior to the rash appearing and noted that the rash was generally less severe. In the past, she noted that there had been more community transmission where the source of the cases was unknown to health experts.

Read Also: US Ends COVID Testing Requirement For International Travel: Here Are Things To Know

This means that the mode of transmission of monkeypox has become somewhat different, and it is important to remain up to date and follow the guidance given by public health officials, Kmush said. Science initially suspected that the virus may have mutated into a more transmissible form due to the unusual nature of the outbreak.

According to CNBC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also said that some people diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases (STD) may also have monkeypox. The agency warned physicians that they need to watch and test for both since the disease can look a lot like an STD.

Unusual Outbreak

In a statement, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that some patients with monkeypox also had syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea, or chlamydia infections. She noted that the rash developed when a person has monkeypox also resembles herpes or syphilis.

The health agency's director noted that it was important to be aware that monkeypox cases may present similar symptoms to some sexually transmitted infections and could easily be mistaken for other diagnoses.

Furthermore, CDC officials on Friday pushed back against the idea that the monkeypox virus is able to spread through the air. They argued that the disease spreads either by direct physical contact with sores or contaminated materials from a patient.

CDC authorities also noted that the disease could be spread through respiratory droplets expelled by an infected patient. However, they noted that the virus was not able to linger in the air over long distances.

Several experts on the airborne transmission of viruses agreed, but some said that the agency had not fully considered the possibility that respiratory droplets, large or small, could be inhaled at a shorter distance from a patient, the New York Times reported.

Related Article: COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects: Are Pfizer, Moderna Vaccines Safe for Children Under 5?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

PAGE, Ariz. (AP)  Barrett Friesen steers a motorboat toward the shore of Lake Powell, with the Glen Canyon Dam towering overhead. Pale bathtub rings line the canyons rocky face, starkly illustrating how water levels have slumped in the second-largest U.S. reservoir amid rising demand and a multi-year drought.

The Utah State University graduate student and colleagues are on a mission to save the humpback chub, an ancient fish under assault from nonnative predators in the Colorado River. The reservoir's decline may soon make things worse, enabling these introduced fish to get past the dam to where the biggest groups of chub remain, farther downstream in the Grand Canyon.

On the brink of extinction decades ago, the chub has come back in modest numbers thanks to fish biologists and other scientists and engineers. But an emerging threat becomes evident in early June as Friesen hauls up minnow traps and gillnets packed with carp, gizzard shad, green sunfish and, ominously, three smallmouth bass.

Public enemy number one, he says as lab technician Justin Furby weighs one on a handheld scale.

Smallmouth bass feast on humpback chub in the river's upper section. Agencies spend millions of dollars there annually to keep those intruders in check. The native fish have been safer below Glen Canyon Dam because it blocks the path to the Lower Colorado and the Grand Canyon, some 200 miles (322 kilometers) downstream  but that may not be true for long.

Bass up in Lake Powell generally prefer warmer waters in shallow areas and at the surface. As reservoir levels drop, they are edging closer to the dam and its penstocks  submerged steel tubes that carry water to turbines, where it generates hydroelectric power and is released on the other side.

If large numbers of bass and other predator fish are sucked into the penstocks, survive and reproduce below the dam, theyll have an open lane to attack chub and other natives, potentially unraveling years of restoration work and upending the Grand Canyon aquatic ecosystem.

That stretch of river is the only place native fish still dominate the system, said Brian Healy, fisheries biologist for Grand Canyon National Park. (It) is very unique and we want to keep it that way," he said.

The dam's completion in 1963 was a primary reason the chub nearly died out in the river they had inhabited for millions of years. The concrete barrier disrupted water flow, temperatures and sediments where the fish spawned. The chub is resilient but hasn't evolved to withstand sudden introduction of predatory sport fish.

Although biologically a minnow, the humpback chub can reach 20 inches (51 centimeters) and 2.5 pounds (1.1 kilograms). Silver-sided and white-bellied, with a greenish streak on its back and a distinctive lump behind its head, it prefers calm eddy waters where it feeds on insects.

Its only predator in the Colorado was another native, the pikeminnow, until trout were introduced in the early 20th century to create a sport fishery. Smallmouth bass, even more voracious, arrived in the 1990s.

The chub has gained ground since its listing as endangered in 1967, with about 12,000 in the Grand Canyon's Little Colorado River, a tributary of the Colorado. Scientists estimate thousands more inhabit the main river farther downstream.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year loosened its designation to threatened  no longer a step away from extinction, but still highly vulnerable. Some environmental groups disagree, calling the move premature as the river's plunge heightens predation danger.

As early as this fall, significant numbers of bass and other nonnatives could slip out through the dam, said Charles Yackulic, a U.S. Geological Survey statistician who has developed computer models of the threat.

Under the Endangered Species Act, government agencies are required to operate in ways that will not jeopardize the continued existence of listed animals. That includes infrastructure.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, a branch of the Department of the Interior which operates the dam, is funding Friesen's fieldwork under Utah State's Fish Ecology Lab. The team catches fish, notes length and weight, and examines stomachs to see what fish are eating. Their findings about non-natives near the dam will help federal, state and tribal policymakers fine-tune their strategy. A technical team advising policy makers is expected to release a draft plan containing solutions in August.

One measure under consideration if nonnative predators get through the dam is deploying crews to catch as many as possible. They already do that with brown trout upstream, Yackulic said. But its expensive and not always successful. Native American tribes such as the Pueblo of Zuni consider the Glen Canyon area sacred and oppose killing fish there, any fish.

Zuni do not necessarily make distinctions between native and nonnative life forms, said Arden Kucate, a tribal councilman. Strong stewardship is very much needed, a philosophy that recognizes and treats all nonhuman life forms as sentient beings.

Other options include penning off areas downstream from the dam where chub congregate or installing structures such as bubble curtains to keep nonnatives in Lake Powell away from the penstocks.

Or cold water also could be released from jet tubes deep in the dam to disrupt smallmouth bass spawning downstream, a move that has been successful in other rivers.

We can use the dam essentially as a tool, said Clarence Fullard, a Bureau of Reclamation fish biologist.

That move, however, would sacrifice hydropower generation. To address that, turbines could be installed at the jet tubes  but that would require congressional approval. These steps also depend on having enough cool water in the river. Levels at Lake Powell had been relatively stable for some 15 years, but since 2020, have fallen dramatically.

Where is the water going to come from to support those needed flows? said Anne Castle, a senior fellow with the University of Colorado law school and a former assistant U.S. Interior secretary for water and science.

Wayne Pullan, who oversees the Upper Colorado Basin for the Bureau of Reclamation, declined to speculate, although in recent years, states, tribes and Mexico have taken cuts to their supply, both voluntary and forced.

Were going to rely on those extraordinary relationships and the history we have of cooperation on the river to come up with solutions, Pullan said.

In a worst case scenario Lake Powell falls so far that water doesn't flow past the dam beyond a trickle, a condition known as deadpool. It may be unlikely in the next few years, but planners should be looking ahead to a future in which Lake Powell ceases to exist, said Taylor McKinnon, senior public lands campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity, an advocacy group.

The prospect is real enough that the Department of Interior is discussing how to protect native fish if that happens, Pullan said.

Humpback chub wouldn't be the only victims, McKinnon said. Deadpool also would slash Southwest communities' water supplies.

"That is a signal of our own self-destruction, he said.

-

Flesher reported from Traverse City, Michigan.

-

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of APs environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/environment
BARRY  Authorities said a man who was acting suspiciously around children was arrested for violating parole on aggravated rape and escape charges.

According to Pike County Sheriff's Department, deputies were called at 6:34 p.m. Sunday and asked to investigate a man who approached several children walking in Barry.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  A technology company that wants to bring broadband to more remote areas and monitor methane and other emissions from the oil and gas industry launched one of its airships from the New Mexico desert on Tuesday as part of a key test on the way to commercial operations.

Sceye Inc. is developing a high-altitude platform station that company officials hope will provide an option other than satellites and airplanes for boosting internet connectivity and collecting data on everything from industrial pollution to wildfire threats.

It took a couple of hours for the unmanned helium-filled station to reach the stratosphere. It will maintain its position there for 24 hours, a milestone that will bring Sceye closer to commercial operations over the next 18 to 24 months.

Founder and CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsenand said his team will aim for more longevity with subsequent flights from their home base in Roswell.

Every flight is a big deal but every flight also is just another step in a process of iterative learning, he said during a virtual interview from Sceye's hangar where workers were busy prepping the massive airship for the flight.

Vestergaard Frandsenand said it takes about eight months to build a station, which consists of a sleek reflective fabric designed to operate in the stratosphere at 65,000 feet (19.8 kilometers) above the Earth's surface.

NASA several years ago proposed a challenge that called for designs that could fly higher and longer than existing airships, with scientists at the Jet Propulsion Lab in California saying observations at that altitude could provide greater clarity. At the time, no airship could maintain an altitude in the stratosphere for more than eight hours.

Capable of lifting heavy payloads, Sceye's airship runs on solar panels and a bank of lithium-sulphur batteries.

Whether we achieve our objective with this flight or achieve something thats short of the objective, were going to learn a lot, he said.

The New Mexico Economic Development Department pledged up to $5 million in funding when Sceye announced it would locate in the state. The company has operations in Roswell and Moriarty, a small community near Albuquerque.

Sceye partnered last year with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and New Mexico regulators to study air pollution and climate change over the coming years.

The state also has been studying accelerated formats for expanding high-speed internet, and state officials have said Sceye could play a role in that effort through a separate multimillion-dollar contract.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office. Compiled by reporter Andrew Mullin.

Sunday, June 12

11:46 p.m.  Deputies responded to an Edenville Township residence for a possible domestic assault involving a 38-year-old woman and her 25-year-old boyfriend. There were no injuries, and the man left the scene prior to deputies arriving. A report has been sent to the Midland County Prosecutors Office for review.

11:09 p.m.  Deputies responded to a Jerome Township residence for a 40-year-old Jerome Township man who reported that an 84-year-old Beaverton man pulled into his driveway and seemed confused. The deputies made contact with the elderly man, who has dementia, who drove away from his home and became lost. A deputy transported the man to his residence. He was reunited with his wife.

7:39 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Greendale Township residence regarding a verbal argument between a 29-year-old woman and her 45-year-old boyfriend. Both parties said the dispute was verbal only. They agreed to remain separated for the night.

5:26 p.m.  Deputies assisted the Gladwin County Sheriff's Office with attempting to locate a juvenile runaway that was possibly seen in the Hope Township area. The deputies checked the area and the boy eventually returned to his Gladwin County residence.

10:02 a.m.  A deputy responded to Jasper Township for a crash. Central notified the deputy that the driver had walked away from the scene. The 40-year-old driver was located. The driver had no injuries, was cited and he was then released at the scene.

1:28 a.m.  Deputies conducted a traffic stop at a Lee Township location. The deputies contacted the 18-year-old driver. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that she did not have a driver's license. The driver was issued a citation and a report was sent to the prosecutors office.

1:02 a.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Warren Township location regarding a complaint of ATVs speeding up and down the roadway, causing a traffic hazard. The deputy checked the area; however, no vehicles were located.

Saturday, June 11

10:41 p.m.  A deputy attempted to make a traffic stop on a vehicle at a Jerome Township location. The vehicle did not stop and the deputy initiated a pursuit. The pursuit was terminated after the deputy lost sight of the vehicle.

9:15 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township residence reference a 34-year-old man who assaulted his 35-year-old live-in girlfriend. She had minor injuries. The male fled the scene prior to deputies arrival.

8:14 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to Larkin Township regarding a complaint of a loud explosion coming from a wooded area. The deputies spoke with a 35-year-old property owner who said he was shooting tannerite. No illegal activity was observed.

8:00 p.m.  Deputies conducted a traffic stop at a Lee Township location. The deputies contacted the 41-year-old driver. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that he had a revoked driver's license and no insurance on the vehicle. The driver was issued a citation and a report is being sent to the prosecutors office.

3:06 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Larkin Township residence for a 61-year-old Larkin Township man who said his neighbor trespassed on his property and damaged his fence. This was forwarded to the prosecutors office for review.

11:36 a.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township residence regarding a resident that needed help with a vicious house cat. The caller was able to cage the cat prior to deputy arrival.

11:02 a.m.  Deputies were dispatched to the area of Coleman and West Isabella roads for a 38-year-old man experiencing chest pain. This incident was called in by a third party. The deputies and medical personal arrived on scene and the man refused help.

10:35 a.m.  A deputy spoke with a 55-year-old Jerome Township man after he and his wife found a bullet that entered their residence while they were out of the house. There are no suspects. There is no indication that the house was struck intentionally.

4:34 a.m.  Deputies performed a traffic stop on a vehicle in Lee Township for traffic violations. Upon investigation deputies learned the 24-year-old driver was intoxicated. The driver was subsequently arrested for driving while intoxicated. A report is being sent to the prosecutors office for further review.

2:17 a.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Midland Township location for a suspicious vehicle parked in the roadway. Upon arrival, a 22-year-old man was asleep at the wheel. Deputies spoke to him on scene and conducted a OWI investigation. He was later arrested for operating while intoxicated and was transported to the Midland County Jail, where he was lodged without incident. A report has been forwarded to the prosecutors office.

1:22 a.m.  A 46-year-old male was arrested on an outstanding Arenac County warrant after a traffic stop in Lincoln Township. He was transported and lodged at the Midland County Jail without incident.

12:14 a.m.  Deputies responded to a Edenville Township residence for a 23-year-old woman who felt sick. Upon arrival, she refused treatment.

Friday, June 10:

7:01 p.m.  A deputy spoke with a 31-year-old Hope Township man regarding a verbal situation with his 13-year-old son. A deputy assisted with getting the 13-year-old to go to the ER for mental health treatment.

3:34 p.m.  A Midland pharmacy called 911 when a customer called, and pharmacy staff could hear yelling in the background. A deputy went to the residence that was last known for the number and the name that was provided. No one was home, so the deputy tried calling the number, but it went right to voicemail.

2:17 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township residence to assist Child Protective Services with an investigation.

1:15 p.m.  A deputy assisted Michigan State Police with a warrant attempt at a Lee Township residence. The Midland woman was not located.

1:45 a.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Greendale Township location for a possible intoxicated driver. The deputies checked the area and were unable to locate the vehicle.

12:35 a.m.  A 55-year-old Warren Township man reported seeing two flashing lights and hearing a loud truck on his neighbor's unoccupied property. The deputies checked the unoccupied property and did not locate any signs of people, nor a vehicle.

12:20 a.m.  Deputies were dispatched to Lee Township in reference to a 14-year-old juvenile runaway. Deputies located the teenager and the 14-year-old was subsequently taken into custody and placed at the Juvenile Care Center. A report is being sent to the prosecutors office for further review.
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP)  Authorities have identified the bicyclist who was struck and killed by a motorist in Yakima on Sunday morning.

Wendy Baker, 66, of Yakima was riding her bicycle on Summitview Road when she was hit and killed by a maroon SUV, Yakima County Sheriffs deputies reported.
In 1828, years before she took the name Sojourner Truth, a Black woman who had escaped slavery with her infant daughter won a court fight in New Yorks Hudson Valley to bring her son, Peter, home from Alabama.

It was a historic case of a Black woman seeking the release of her son from slavery prevailing in court against a white man. Isabella Van Wagenen, as she was known then, would gain enduring fame as an outspoken abolitionist and womens rights advocate. As for her deposition and the rest of the court documents, they were boxed up and eventually stored among a million other records, unseen and unrecognized for their significance.

Until 194 years later.

An eagle-eyed state archivist searching for something else spotted the court records in January. Now, they will briefly be on public display Wednesday at the Ulster County Courthouse in Kingston, New York, the same building she walked into almost two centuries ago seeking justice. The eight hand-written pages offer new details about a significant turning point in her eventful life.

This was extremely brave of Isabella, said Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol. Just the fact that she was a woman going up against powerful men, thats extraordinary right there. And then you add in race, and then you add in class. So its an amazing story.

Painter will be among the people in Kingston on Wednesday, eager to glimpse the historic documents found by happenstance.

For the past 40 years, the papers have been safely, if anonymously, stored at the climate-controlled New York State Archives in Albany. They were uncovered there by Jim Folts, head of researcher services at the archives, who had been looking for habeas corpus examples from that era for a history book on New York's courts.

Combing through boxes of documents, he found one from 1828. It had a woman's name on it, which was unusual for the time. Interest piqued, he read the yellowed paper and saw the woman, Isabella Van Wagenen, was trying to recover her son from slavery.

That rang the bell, Folts said recently in an interview at the archives, because Isabella Van Wagenen was then the name of the person who became known as Sojourner Truth.

Researchers compare the surprising find to coming across missing puzzle pieces. Though Truth later recalled that the event happened in open court in the autumn of 1828, court papers indicate it happened that spring, and not in open court, Folts said. In her brief deposition, she said Peter was 9 years old.

We always wondered, Where were these records? said Paul ONeill, Ulster County's commissioner of jurors.

The documents are written in the same sort of lawyer-speak still used in courts today, including Van Wagenen's testimony. She could neither read nor write, but left a simple X on the page by her name.

This is her DNA left behind on this document. The rest is legalese and all of that, said State Archivist Thomas Ruller, pointing at the mark on the page. This is Sojourner Truth, this is where she shows up in this story.

Born into slavery in or around 1797 in the Hudson Valley, she walked away from the home of her final owner in 1826 with her infant daughter after he reneged on a promise to free her. She went to work for the Van Wagenen family, and took their surname.

Meanwhile, her son Peter was sold into slavery in Alabama. The sale occurred during the gradual phase out of slavery in New York, where Peter would have been an indentured servant until he was older. But the sale of Peter to another state was illegal.

Faced with the prospect of never seeing him again, she went to court in Kingston to get him back. Painter said she relied on two lawyers allied with her and her faith in the Holy Spirit.

A grand jury proceeding was apparently enough to prompt the man who sold Peter to have him sent back to New York. But it was her application for a writ of habeas corpus that led to them being reunited. A Supreme Court Commissioner, acting with powers of a judge, ordered Peter freed March 15, 1828.

It was believed to be the first time a Black woman successfully sued white men to get her son released from slavery, though it's possible there were other cases researchers are unaware of.

It was a bittersweet reunion. Peter's body showed evidence of beatings and it took the traumatized child time to accept his mother. Peter did not have an easy life, Painter said.

He ended up, as many troubled young men did at that time, on a Nantucket whaling vessel, and he was finally lost at sea, Painter said.

Van Wagenen took the name Sojourner Truth in 1843 and lived another 40 years.

The court papers from that day were shipped north to Albany. They were transferred to the newly founded Court of Appeals in 1847 upon a reorganization of the state court system, and stayed at New York's top court for more than a century. The records came to the state archives in 1982, stored in anonymity until Folts' serendipitous discovery this winter.

There are thousands of these boxes, millions of these documents, Ruller said. And many of them will contain the stories of other individuals who may not be as well known or well heard of. But their stories are just as important.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Marian Liu, Purdue University

(THE CONVERSATION) Before the pandemic, around 1 in 10 older adults in the U.S. experienced elder mistreatment. In 2020, this number doubled to 1 in 5  a nearly 84% increase.

Mistreatment comes in many forms, including various types of abuse, neglect, exploitation and fraud. Adult Protective Services agencies exist in every U.S. state and territory to investigate adult mistreatment reports and work with clients to address their needs. APS staff members gather information from clients, alleged abusers and third parties such as family members, friends or neighbors to determine whether there is enough evidence to support a mistreatment claim. They also use this information to match clients to social, health care, legal or other services as desired.

Since APS agencies do not receive dedicated federal funding, and regulations vary by state and local jurisdiction, standardized assessment of APS involvement in mistreatment cases has been challenging. As an elder justice researcher, I wanted to examine what differences APS agencies make in their clients lives and, more specifically, what services can help ameliorate mistreatment.

In our recently published study, my colleagues and I identified the four most common types of elder mistreatment and found that while APS can help ameliorate abusive situations for older adults, different types of elder mistreatment require different services to address them.

Matching service to mistreatment

We collaborated with San Francisco and Napa APS agencies in California to identify which services decreased the severity of elder mistreatment. In California, county APS agencies focus on nine types of mistreatment: emotional abuse (called mental suffering by the California APS), physical abuse, financial abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, isolation, abandonment, abduction and self-neglect.

We trained San Francisco and Napa APS staff members to evaluate and measure how effective provided services are at reducing mistreatment. Staffers documented what types of services were given for each type of mistreatment and recorded how severe mistreatment was before and after services were provided.

We found that APS interventions were able to decrease abuse severity for four of the most common types of elder mistreatment: 43% for emotional abuse, 62% for physical abuse, 31% for financial abuse and 72% for neglect.

Not surprisingly, we found that services targeting the specific problem worked best. Victims and survivors of physical and emotional abuse benefited most from care and case management services. Emotional abuse victims benefited from additional legal services. Financial abuse victims had better outcomes with financial planning services. Finally, victims of neglect benefited most from care and case management as well as language translation and services provided to their alleged abusers, such as counseling and behavioral health treatments.

Shedding light on APS service outcomes

There are still many unknowns about Adult Protective Services report outcomes.

Notably, APS agencies cannot force their clients to accept services they do not want unless a health professional determines that they dont have decision-making capacity. And once an APS case is closed, agencies will not know what happens to these older adults unless they or someone else sends another report.

My colleagues and I are currently conducting another study following up with APS clients after case closure. In addition to tracking mistreatment severity across time, we will also track other longer-term factors that affect ones ability to live independently and safely, such as physical and mental health. Those who decline services will be a natural comparison group.

In addition to their elderly clients, many APS agencies also work with dependent adults, often younger people with physical, mental or intellectual disabilities. Not much is known about mistreatment in this vulnerable group. While our study did not have a large enough sample size to focus on this population, we would like to do so in the future as we collect more data.

Finally, self-neglect, in which an older or dependent adult puts their own health or safety at risk, makes up the majority of mistreatment cases APS receives. My colleagues and I are also working to identify subtypes of self-neglect and which services would best address them.

Adult Protective Services agencies are the only governmental entities dedicated to addressing older and dependent adult mistreatment. However, even with APS staffers ready to connect older and dependent adults with service providers, clients need to be willing to accept help. APS is not a silver bullet that makes elder mistreatment magically disappear.

It takes a village  starting with recognizing when elder mistreatment is happening, and taking action to stop it.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/elder-abuse-comes-in-many-forms-appropriate-adult-protective-services-referrals-can-help-reduce-mistreatment-181569.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Laura Draper, American University

(THE CONVERSATION) The European Commission recently proposed regulations to protect children by requiring tech companies to scan the content in their systems for child sexual abuse material. This is an extraordinarily wide-reaching and ambitious effort that would have broad implications beyond the European Unions borders, including in the U.S.

Unfortunately, the proposed regulations are, for the most part, technologically unfeasible. To the extent that they could work, they require breaking end-to-end encryption, which would make it possible for the technology companies  and potentially the government and hackers  to see private communications.

The regulations, proposed on May 11, 2022, would impose several obligations on tech companies that host content and provide communication services, including social media platforms, texting services and direct messaging apps, to detect certain categories of images and text.

Under the proposal, these companies would be required to detect previously identified child sexual abuse material, new child sexual abuse material, and solicitations of children for sexual purposes. Companies would be required to report detected content to the EU Centre, a centralized coordinating entity that the proposed regulations would establish.

Each of these categories presents its own challenges, which combine to make the proposed regulations impossible to implement as a package. The trade-off between protecting children and protecting user privacy underscores how combating online child sexual abuse is a wicked problem. This puts technology companies in a difficult position: required to comply with regulations that serve a laudable goal but without the means to do so.

Digital fingerprints

Researchers have known how to detect previously identified child sexual abuse material for over a decade. This method, first developed by Microsoft, assigns a hash value  a sort of digital fingerprint  to an image, which can then be compared against a database of previously identified and hashed child sexual abuse material. In the U.S., the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children manages several databases of hash values, and some tech companies maintain their own hash sets.

The hash values for images uploaded or shared using a companys services are compared with these databases to detect previously identified child sexual abuse material. This method has proved extremely accurate, reliable and fast, which is critical to making any technical solution scalable.

The problem is that many privacy advocates consider it incompatible with end-to-end encryption, which, strictly construed, means that only the sender and the intended recipient can view the content. Because the proposed EU regulations mandate that tech companies report any detected child sexual abuse material to the EU Centre, this would violate end-to-end encryption, thus forcing a trade-off between effective detection of the harmful material and user privacy.

Recognizing new harmful material

In the case of new content  that is, images and videos not included in hash databases  there is no such tried-and-true technical solution. Top engineers have been working on this issue, building and training AI tools that can accommodate large volumes of data. Google and child safety nongovernmental organization Thorn have both had some success using machine-learning classifiers to help companies identify potential new child sexual abuse material.

However, without independently verified data on the tools accuracy, its not possible to assess their utility. Even if the accuracy and speed are comparable with hash-matching technology, the mandatory reporting will again break end-to-end encryption.

New content also includes livestreams, but the proposed regulations seem to overlook the unique challenges this technology poses. Livestreaming technology became ubiquitous during the pandemic, and the production of child sexual abuse material from livestreamed content has dramatically increased.

More and more children are being enticed or coerced into livestreaming sexually explicit acts, which the viewer may record or screen-capture. Child safety organizations have noted that the production of perceived first-person child sexual abuse material  that is, child sexual abuse material of apparent selfies  has risen at exponential rates over the past few years. In addition, traffickers may livestream the sexual abuse of children for offenders who pay to watch.

The circumstances that lead to recorded and livestreamed child sexual abuse material are very different, but the technology is the same. And there is currently no technical solution that can detect the production of child sexual abuse material as it occurs. Tech safety company SafeToNet is developing a real-time detection tool, but it is not ready to launch.

Detecting solicitations

Detection of the third category, solicitation language, is also fraught. The tech industry has made dedicated efforts to pinpoint indicators necessary to identify solicitation and enticement language, but with mixed results. Microsoft spearheaded Project Artemis, which led to the development of the Anti-Grooming Tool. The tool is designed to detect enticement and solicitation of a child for sexual purposes.

As the proposed regulations point out, however, the accuracy of this tool is 88%. In 2020, popular messaging app WhatsApp delivered approximately 100 billion messages daily. If the tool identifies even 0.01% of the messages as positive for solicitation language, human reviewers would be tasked with reading 10 million messages every day to identify the 12% that are false positives, making the tool simply impractical.

As with all the above-mentioned detection methods, this, too, would break end-to-end encryption. But whereas the others may be limited to reviewing a hash value of an image, this tool requires access to all exchanged text.

No path

Its possible that the European Commission is taking such an ambitious approach in hopes of spurring technical innovation that would lead to more accurate and reliable detection methods. However, without existing tools that can accomplish these mandates, the regulations are ineffective.

When there is a mandate to take action but no path to take, I believe the disconnect will simply leave the industry without the clear guidance and direction these regulations are intended to provide.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/eu-law-would-require-big-tech-to-do-more-to-combat-child-sexual-abuse-but-a-key-question-remains-how-183512.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

JERUSALEM (AP)  European leaders visiting Israel on Tuesday expressed hope that natural gas supplies from the eastern Mediterranean could help reduce dependence on Russia as the Ukraine war drags on.

Israel has emerged as a gas exporter in recent years following major offshore discoveries and has signed an ambitious agreement with Greece and Cyprus to build a shared pipeline. New supplies could help Europe ramp up sanctions on Moscow.

On the energy front, we will work together in using gas resources of the eastern Mediterranean and to develop renewable energy," Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said at a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Naftali Bennett.

We want to reduce our dependence on Russian gas and accelerate energy transition toward the climate objectives weve given ourselves, he said.

Bennett said Israel was working to make natural gas available for Europe. His office said the two leaders also discussed shipping natural gas to Europe through Egypt.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who is also in Israel this week, affirmed Europes commitment to wean itself off Russian gas, saying Israel could help.

We are now exploring ways to step up energy cooperation with Israel, von der Leyen said.

In January, the European Union earmarked 657 million euros ($736 million) for the construction of a 2,000-megawatt undersea electricity cable that will link the power grids of Israel, Cyprus and Greece. Von der Leyen said it would be the deepest and longest such cable ever built.

In 2020, Greece, Israel and Cyprus signed a deal to build an undersea pipeline to carry gas from new offshore deposits in the southeastern Mediterranean to continental Europe.

The proposed project, with a rough budget of $6 billion, was expected to satisfy about 10% of the European Unions natural gas needs. But it is fraught with political and logistical complexities.

At the time, Israeli officials said the EastMed pipeline would take up to seven years to build, touting its advantages as being less vulnerable to sabotage and not crossing many national borders.

The pipeline's construction hasn't yet begun and the EU is still conducting preliminary evaluations and cost estimations. In April, a U.S. envoy said it was too expensive, not economically viable and will take too long to provide an alternative to Russian gas.

Last year, the European Union imported roughly 40% of its gas from Russia. Countries have been struggling to reduce that dependency in order to sanction Russia over its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Israel has two major gas fields off its coast with an estimated 690 billion cubic meters of natural gas combined and continues to explore for more.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  A North Carolina charter school violated female students' constitutional rights by requiring them to wear skirts, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

A majority of the full U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the dress code at Charter Day School in Leland violated female students' equal protection rights, siding with parents who had argued that their daughters were put at a disadvantage by the requirement.

Public schools have long been banned from enacting such mandates, but the court's majority concluded that public charter schools, since they receive public funds, are also state actors and are therefore subject to the Constitution's equal protection clause.

The court also ordered further hearings should be held by a lower federal court on claims that the policy violated the federal Title IX anti-discrimination law.

Tuesdays ruling came after an en banc hearing before 16 judges of the 4th Circuit. It overturns a previous decision by a three-judge panel of the same court that had found the public charter school wasnt subject to the equal protection clause because it didnt meet all criteria to be considered a state actor.

The plaintiffs, who were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, hailed the decision.

Im glad the girls at Charter Day School will now be able to learn, move, and play on equal terms as the boys in school, Bonnie Peltier, a plaintiff whose daughter attended the school, said in a statement. In 2022, girls shouldnt have to decide between wearing something that makes them uncomfortable or missing classroom instruction time.

Galen Sherwin, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Womens Rights Project, said in a statement that the ruling could have an impact beyond North Carolina.

Todays decision is a victory for North Carolinas students attending public charter schools, and should put charter schools across the country on notice that they must follow the same rules as traditional public schools when it comes to guaranteeing students equal educational opportunities, Sherwin said.

The students who challenged the policy were in grades kindergarten through eighth. They argued that they were receiving unequal treatment to male students, noting that the dress code limited their ability to participate in recess and made them uncomfortable in some situations such as emergency drills in which they had to crawl on the floor.

In considering the state actor question, the courts majority opinion, written by Senior Circuit Judge Barbara Milano Keenan, noted that the charter school receives funding from the state, is subject to state educational requirements and is referred to as a public school in state statutes. Thus, Keenan wrote that the state has delegated to charter school operators like CDS part of the states constitutional duty to provide free education.

Charter Day School had argued that it was merely a private entity fulfilling a contract with the state.

School founder Baker Mitchell had argued that the dress code was intended to promote chivalry by the male students and respect for the female students, court documents said. Mitchell, according to the ruling, described chivalry as a code of conduct where women are treated, theyre regarded as a fragile vessel that men are supposed to take care of and honor. He said that the requirement was also intended to ensure that girls are treated courteously and more gently than boys, according to court documents.

Keenan wrote that the schools rationale was based on an impermissible gender stereotype.

The school has imposed the skirts requirement with the express purpose of telegraphing to children that girls are fragile, require protection by boys, and warrant different treatment than male students, stereotypes with potentially devastating consequences for young girls, she wrote.

Aaron Streett, an attorney representing Charter Day School, issued a statement saying that the legal team disagrees with the majority opinion and noted issues raised in a dissent. He said that the school is evaluating next steps in the legal case.

As the six dissenting judges powerfully explain, the majority opinion contradicts Supreme Court precedent on state action, splits with every other circuit to consider the issue, and limits the ability of parents to choose the best education for their children, the statement said.
The governor of Ohio has signed a bill allowing school teachers and other employees to carry firearms into educational establishments with limited training compared to what has been required since last year.

Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill on Monday in the wake of several deadly mass shootings in the United States, a notable one was the incident that happened in Uvalde, Texas, occurred at an elementary school, and killed 19 students and two teachers.

Arming School Teachers

For years, employees have been allowed to carry guns on school grounds with the consent of the local school board. However, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that state law required them to first undergo the same basic peace officer training as law enforcement officials or security officers who carry firearms on campus, which includes more than 700 hours of instruction.

DeWine said on Monday that the ruling had made it largely impractical for Ohio school districts to allow staff members to carry firearms. In a statement, the governor said that his office "worked with the General Assembly to remove hundreds of hours of curriculum irrelevant to school safety," as per the New York Times.

The Ohio governor also thanked the Legislature "for passing this bill to protect Ohio children and teachers." Under the new law, only a maximum of 24 hours of training is needed to allow teachers to carry guns at school. However, the local board will still need to give its approval beforehand.

Read Also: Maryland Mass Shooting: 3 Dead, 1 State Trooper Shot in Tragic Attack as Protests to End Gun Violence Continues

The National Conference of State Legislatures said that 28 states allow people other than security personnel to carry firearms on school grounds, with laws in nine of those areas explicitly mentioning school employees. In recent years, polls showed that a majority of Americans, and a large majority of teachers, oppose the idea of arming teachers in schools.

According to the Associated Press, before DeWine signed the bill, he outlined several other school safety measures that he and other lawmakers have promoted, including $100 million for school security upgrades for schools and $5 million for upgrades at colleges. Furthermore, the state is adding 28 employees to the school safety center to work on districts on safety issues.

School Opposition

The new personnel will also provide training under the new law as authorities have given $1.2 billion in wellness funding for schools to address mental health and other issues. DeWine noted that the new law will provide schools with an option, "based on their particular circumstances, to make the best decision they can make with the best information they have."

DeWine's signing of the new bill prompted questions during an hour-long news conference. The Ohio governor noted that the debates and discussions about the bill preceded the most recent deadly school shooting in Texas.

However, the lawmaker repeatedly defended his support of the bill, saying that schools were not required to arm their employees. Columbus City Schools, the state's largest school district, opposed the bill, saying it would not change its policy and would still prohibit students, teachers, or members of the public from having firearms on school property, 10TV reported.

Related Article: Thousands Rally for US Gun Control Measures After Deadly Mass Shootings

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
June 14 is Flag Day, which marks the day the United States decided on stars and stripes for the design of the American flag in 1777. The day was first publicly celebrated by Nutmeggers over a century and a half ago.

Hartford resident George Morris was the first known person to suggest a day to celebrate the flag as the country faced its first year of the Civil War, according to "Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History." On Morris' suggestion, Hartford reportedly celebrated the day on June 14, 1861. During the event, residents prayed for the continuation of the Union and the success of the Federal Arms, Live Science reports.

The tradition has been continued all over Connecticut with events this year including in Ridgefield, Southbury and Willington, which hosted their first-ever Flag Day celebration on Tuesday. During these celebrations, the American Flag is hoisted into the air.

Connecticut officials like Gov. Ned Lamont and State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff have acknowledged the day over the years.

"We also have great CT pride today as one of the first recognized flag days in national history was right here in Hartford on June 14, 1861," Gov. Lamont wrote in a Facebook post last year.

Does CT recognize flag day as a legal holiday?

Despite its Connecticut origins, Pennsylvania is the only state that recognizes the date as a legal holiday, with government offices and banks closed, which it established on May 7, 1937, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The day was recognized by proclamations by President Woodrow Wilson and President Calvin Coolidge in the early 1900s before President Harry Truman signed legislation into law on Aug. 3, 1949, to nationally observe it.

What do the components of the flag represent?

The stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the Union and the stripes represent the original 13 colonies. The colors have symbolic meanings as well, with red representing valor, white for purity and blue signaling loyalty, according to the New York State assembly.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his support Tuesday for his chamber's emerging bipartisan gun agreement, boosting momentum for modest but notable election-year action by Congress on an issue that's deadlocked lawmakers for three decades.

The Kentucky Republican said he hoped an outline of the accord, released Sunday by 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans, would be translated into legislation and enacted. McConnell's backing was the latest indication that last month's gun massacres in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, had reconfigured the political calculations for some in the GOP after years of steadfastly opposing even incremental tightening of firearms curbs.

If this framework becomes the actual piece of legislation, it's a step forward, a step forward on a bipartisan basis," McConnell told reporters. He said the proposal further demonstrates to the American people that lawmakers can work together on significant issues to make progress for the country.

McConnells comments were striking, coming five months before midterm elections in which Republicans hope to win control of the Senate and seem likely to win a majority in the House. For years, GOP candidates could risk their careers by defying the views of the partys loyal gun-owning and rural voters, who oppose moves seen as threatening their ownership and use of firearms.

McConnell seemed to suggest that backing this gun measure might even help some Republicans' prospects in November. While he said senators should take a position based upon the views of their states," he said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a chief architect of the deal, presented GOP polling data at a closed-door senators' lunch saying support among gun owners for the agreements provisions is off the charts, overwhelming.

The plan would for the first time make the juvenile records of gun buyers under age 21 part of required background checks. Money would be sent to states for mental health and school security programs and for incentives to enforce or enact local red flag" laws that let authorities win court approval to temporarily remove guns from people considered dangerous.

Senators and aides hope to translate their broad agreement into legislation in days, in hopes that Congress could approve it before leaving for its July 4 recess. Both sides acknowledge that is a difficult process that could encounter disputes and delays.

Some Republicans expressed unhappiness with the plan Tuesday, with much criticism aimed at its encouragement of red flag" laws. Nineteen states mostly dominated by Democrats and the District of Columbia have them, but Republicans have blocked efforts in Congress to pass federal legislation on the subject.

If were not going to pass a federal red flag law, and we shouldnt, why would we incentivize states to do something that we think is a bad idea?" said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

I don't know what we can do in view of the Constitution," Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said of the overall agreement, citing the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Cornyn defended the plan's red flag proposal, saying it would create no national requirements for such laws. He said it gives every state regardless of whether it has a red flag law or not money for programs aimed at improving public safety and helping troubled people get assistance. Texas does not have a red flag law.

McConnell made clear he would only go so far in restricting firearms.

Asked by a reporter why the federal minimum age is 21 for tobacco sales but 18 to buy rifles, he answered, Good try. He added that including state and local juvenile records in background checks for the youngest guy buyers was a step in the right direction.

The alleged shooters in Buffalo, where 10 people were killed, and Uvalde, where 19 school children and two teachers were slain, were both 18 years old, a common profile for many mass shooters.

A final agreement on overall legislation would be expected to receive solid support from Democrats. But it would need at least 10 GOP votes to reach the Senates usual 60 vote threshold, and McConnells plaudits raised hopes that Republican backing would grow beyond that.

The framework also broadens the type of domestic abusers who'd be prohibited from buying guns, require more firearms sellers to conduct background checks and impose tougher penalties on gun traffickers.

The National Rifle Association said Sunday it wouldnt take a position on the proposal until full legislation is produced. It warned it would oppose gun control policies or infringements on peoples fundamental right to protect themselves.

The pro-gun lobby still has political muscle from its millions of dedicated members, who vote heavily on firearms issues. But GOP support for the new package is the latest threat to its power following recent financial scandals and lawsuits.

Approval seems likely by the Democratic-run House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has praised the measure as a first step toward strong restrictions in the future.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would schedule votes on the legislation as soon as it is ready. He contrasted recent days' progress with Congress' failure to act after a parade of mass shootings in recent decades.

After Uvalde and Buffalo, perhaps this time could be different. To many senators on both sides, this debate certainly feels different," Schumer said.

Congress' last major gun measure was an assault weapons ban that took effect in 1994 but expired 10 years later.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  Irans president Ebrahim Raisi accepted the resignation of the countrys labor minister, following weeks of protests by retirees, while the country is under heavy sanctions since 2018.

Irans government spokesman, Ali Bahadori Jahromi, said Tuesday that President Ebrahim Raisi has accepted the resignation of the countrys labor minister, Hojjatollah Abdolmaleki on Monday.

The resignation is the first for the government since hard-line Raisi took office less than a year ago. Raisi has three months to propose a new minister to the parliament for approval.

Abdolmaleki said he resigned to keep the harmony of the Cabinet but would continue on as an advisor to the president. Mohamad Hadi Zahdivafa was named as caretaker of the labor ministry.

Though the labor ministry said pensions had increased by up to 57% this year, many protesters say most retirees have only seen a 10% increase.

An explosion at a chemical factory in southern Iran injured scores of people, most of them lightly, the countrys state TV reported Tuesday.

The report said a leak from an ammonium tank caused the blast on Monday evening in the southern city of Firouzabad in Fars province, located about 770 kilometers (480 miles) south of the capital, Tehran. Firemen were able to quickly extinguish the blaze, the report added.

According to the chief of the provincial health department, Vahid Hosseini, out of 133 injured who were taken to local hospitals, mostly factory workers, 114 were later released after treatment.

Authorities on Tuesday reopened a nearby major road that they had closed after the explosion. The factory went online in 2020.

Iran occasionally reports incidents of fires or explosions at industrial sites affecting the countrys infrastructure that are mainly blamed on technical failures. Years of economic sanctions by the West have blocked Irans access to original spare parts and new equipment.

Sensitive military and nuclear sites in Iran have also been the target of attacks over the past years, which Iran has blamed on Israel.

In February, a fire broke out at a warehouse full of engine oil and flammable materials at a base belonging to Irans powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the western province of Kemranshah, damaging a shed but causing no casualties. A day earlier, unconfirmed reports proliferated online about several explosions heard in northern Kermanshah, a strategic location in Iran with various missile and military sites.

The reports come as Iran remains on edge about its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. Negotiations in Vienna to revive the accord have stalled for months.

The 2015 deal that granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program collapsed four years ago when former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the accord and re-imposed crushing sanctions.

Separately, seven people were killed when a helium balloon exploded at a birthday party in southwest Iran, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The mishap took place in a restaurant in the city of Shahriar west of Tehran killing three children, three women and an elderly man.

Shahriar prosecutor Hamid Asgar said a preliminary investigation showed that a balloon containing helium gas exploded, eventually leading to a fire that spread across the restaurant.

He said the victims tried to escape to the kitchen but eventually asphyxiated. The burn marks on them were very mild, he said.

___

Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat contributed.
DOVER, Del. (AP)  Criminal corruption charges against Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness have no basis in fact and are based on a biased investigation that included false statements used to obtain a search warrant and a grand jury indictment, her attorney told a jury Tuesday.

Defense attorney Steve Wood used his opening statement in McGuiness trial to systematically poke holes in the prosecutions allegations that McGuiness is guilty.

The evidence will show you that the states witnesses, and its evidence, are not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Wood said. Kathy McGuiness is not guilty.

McGuiness, a Democrat who was elected in 2018 and filed for reelection last month, is responsible for rooting out government fraud, waste and abuse. She was indicted in October on felony counts of theft and witness intimidation, and misdemeanor charges of official misconduct, conflict of interest and noncompliance with procurement laws.

No one is above the law, prosecutor Mark Denney told the jury.

Prosecutors allege, among other things, that McGuiness hired her daughter as a temporary employee in May 2020, even though other temporary employees had left because of the lack of available work amid the coronavirus pandemic. They say the daughter was granted special favors, such as having access to a state vehicle, and continued to be paid even after she left for college in South Carolina.

Wood told jurors it is not a crime for a state official to hire a close relative, and that Saylar McGuiness earned every penny that she made. The states own records show she was not treated differently than other similarly situated employees, he said.

Saylar McGuiness, who is among the witnesses that will testify, has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Wood also rejected prosecution allegations that McGuiness intimidated and retaliated against employees who reported alleged wrongdoing or who she believed might be cooperating with investigators. Prosecutors allege that the intimidation, which included monitoring employees emails in real time, began as early as March 2019, but Wood said McGuiness did not learn until Sept. 2021 she was the subject of a criminal investigation.

Wood also said that the only employee in the auditors office who was fired or demoted during the time covering McGuiness alleged misconduct was her former chief of staff. Wood said that person was fired for having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate.

The state ignored evidence that didnt fit their story and sometimes said things that were flat out false, Wood said, adding that chief investigator Frank Robinson has admitting making false statements under oath in order to obtain a warrant to search McGuiness office.

Wood also said state documents will disprove allegations that McGuiness improperly orchestrated a no-bid communications services contract for a company she had used as a campaign consultant when running for lieutenant governor in 2016, then deliberately kept the contract payments under $5,000 each to avoid having to get payments approved by the Division of Accounting.

These payments were not secret. They were not hidden, he said, adding that McGuiness frequently sought and obtained advice from the deputy attorney assigned to her office.
Taylor C. Mitchell of Forsyth has graduated summa cum laude from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.

She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa honor society, which is open only to the top 2% of the graduating class. In addition to being inducted into three other honor societies, including Phi Sigma Theta, the National Society of Leadership and Success, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Mitchell was nominated as Outstanding Graduate by the university's anthropology program.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  With a war raging across Poland's eastern border, the right-wing government is introducing a law to increase medical and infrastructure security in emergency situations.

The draft presented Tuesday by government ministers in charge of national security calls for funds to be secured in state coffers each year for the development of local first responders, for an ambulance in each county and for improving the 112 emergency call system.
ROME (AP)  Pope Francis has complained that traditionalist Catholics, particularly in the United States, are gagging the churchs modernizing reforms and insisted that there was no turning back.

Francis told a gathering of Jesuit editors in comments published Tuesday that he was convinced that some Catholics simply have never accepted the Second Vatican Council, the meetings of the 1960s that led to Mass being celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin and revolutionized the churchs relations with people of other faiths, among other things.

The number of groups of restorers  for example, in the United States there are many  is significant, Francis told the editors, according to excerpts published by the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica.

Restorationism has come to gag the council, he said, adding that he knew some priests for whom the 16th century Council of Trent was more memorable than the 20th century Vatican II.

Traditionalists have become some of Francis fiercest critics, accusing him of heresy for his opening to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, outreach to gay Catholics and other reforms. Francis has taken an increasingly hard line against them, re-imposing restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass and taking specific action in dioceses and religious orders where traditionalists have resisted his reforms.

Just last week, in a meeting with Sicilian clergy, Francis told the priests that it wasn't always appropriate to use grandma's lace in their vestments and to update their liturgical garb to be in touch with current times and follow in the spirit of Vatican II.

It is also true that it takes a century for a council to take root. We still have forty years to make it take root, then! he told the editors.

Speaking about the church in Germany, Francis also warned that he still had an offer of resignation in hand for the archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, who faced strong criticism for his handling of the churchs sexual abuse scandal.

Francis gave Woelki a time out of several months last September, but still hasnt definitively ruled on his future. That has kept the situation in Cologne uncertain and frustrated the head of the German bishops conference, who has pressed for a decision one way or the other.

When the situation was very turbulent, I asked the archbishop to go away for six months, so that things would calm down and I could see clearly, Francis said. When he came back, I asked him to write a resignation letter. He did and gave it to me. And he wrote an apology letter to the diocese. I left him in his place to see what would happen, but I have his resignation in hand.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP)  As Britain plans to send its first group of asylum-seekers to Rwanda on Tuesday amid outcries and legal challenges, some who came to this East African country under earlier arrangements tell The Associated Press the new arrivals can expect a difficult time ahead.

Sometimes I play football and in the evening I drink because I have nothing to do, said Faisal, a 20-year-old from Ethiopia who was relocated to Rwanda from Libya in 2019 in the first group of refugees resettled under a deal with the United Nations. I pray daily to God that I leave this place.

Giving only his first name out of fear of retaliation, he remains at the Gashora center built to house refugees who had languished in Libya while trying to reach Europe. Gashora is called a transit center, but some like Faisal see nowhere to go.

A British court on Monday refused to stop the government from deporting asylum-seekers to Rwanda despite arguments by rights advocates that the planned flights would undermine the basic dignity of people escaping war and oppression. The U.K. government's deportation plan has been widely criticized, including by Prince Charles, according to newspaper reports.

Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and still among the least developed despite its focus on modernizing since the countrys 1994 genocide. The migrants who sought better lives in Britain are expected to find fewer chances to pursue their dreams here, even as Rwandan officials describe their country as having a proud history of welcoming those in need.

One of those who has found a foothold is Urubel Tesfaye, a 22-year-old from Ethiopia who is happy he found a part-time job in a bakery in Rwandas capital, Kigali. But his friends speak of moving on to Canada or the Netherlands.

They have a disease in the head and cannot settle here, he said of their determination to move.

Hundreds of people sent previously to Rwanda under the deal with the U.N. have since been resettled in third countries, according to the U.N. refugee agency. But those sent to Rwanda under the deal with Britain must apply for asylum in Rwanda.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame told diplomats in Kigali after the agreement with Britain was signed in April that his country and the U.K. aren't engaged in buying and selling people, but instead trying to solve a global migration problem.

British Home Secretary Priti Patel said at the time that access to the U.K.s asylum system must be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers.

Rwandan authorities have said the agreement would initially last for five years, with the British government paying 120 million pounds ($158 million) upfront to pay for housing and integrating the asylum-seekers. Britain is expected to pay more as Rwanda accepts more migrants, although the exact number of people the U.K. is expected to send isn't known.

Those set to arrive under Rwandas new agreement with Britain will be housed in shelters around Kigali with features like private rooms, televisions and a swimming pool. At one, the Hope Hostel, a security guard patrols outside, and clocks in the lobby show the times in London and Paris.

This is not a prison, manager Bakinahe Ismail said.

But the Gashora center for previous arrivals in a rural area outside the capital offers more basic shared living facilities instead.

The U.K. government, my message to them is that human beings are human beings. You cannot tell them Go and stay here or Go and do this or that. No. Because if they feel better in the U.K., then the U.K. is better for them, said Peter Nyuoni, a refugee from South Sudan.

There is nothing for me to want to stay here, he said.

Even those who came straight to Rwanda to escape troubles at home say the country, while peaceful, isn't easy.

When you are not employed, you cannot survive here, said Kelly Nimubona, a refugee from neighboring Burundi. We cannot afford to eat twice a day. There is no chance to get a job or do vending on the street. But he described Rwanda as an oasis of order in the region.

Sensitivities around the arrival of the first asylum-seekers from Britain are so high that Rwandan officials are barring media from interviewing the new arrivals.

Maybe later when they have settled, said Claude Twishime, spokesman for the ministry of emergency management, which will take charge of their care.

Rwanda is already home to more than 130,000 refugees and migrants from other African nations and countries such as Pakistan, the government has said.

The prospect of taking in more is criticized by some in Rwanda. Opposition leader Victoire Ingabire has said the government instead should focus on the internal political and social issues that push some Rwandans to become refugees elsewhere.

For years, human rights groups have accused Rwandas government of cracking down on perceived dissent and keeping tight control on many aspects of life, from jailing critics to keeping homeless people off the streets of Kigali. The government denies it.

Such tensions are expected to be just under the surface this month when Rwanda hosts the Commonwealth heads of government summit. Britain will be central there as it continues to face questions about its deal with Rwanda.

Some Rwandans said the local economy isnt ready to handle the people arriving from Britain.

Look, many people are unemployed here, said Rashid Rutazigwa, a mechanic in the capital. He said he didnt see many opportunities even for people with skills and training.

But if the government promises to pay salaries to (the migrants), then it will be fine, he added.

___

Follow APs coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  The Republican Party is launching a nine-city election integrity tour hitting battleground Wisconsin's most liberal cities, events that feature a conservative former state Supreme Court justice and that come less than two months before the state's August primary.

The events, which kick off Wednesday in La Crosse where there is an open U.S. House seat and the state's famously liberal capital city of Madison, are drawing blowback from those who say the round tables are intended to spread lies about what happened during the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden and to mislead voters ahead of November's midterm election.

Republican organizers say the events are part of the GOP's effort in battleground states to connect staff and volunteers, and to recruit poll workers, observers and voting deputies. The effort in Wisconsin is a continuation of the Republican election integrity operation thats focused on 16 states, including Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia, said RNC spokeswoman Emma Vaughn.

We just think getting more citizens involved is a good thing, said Mark Jefferson, executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party. The more eyes on elections is a good thing."

Wisconsin is a key presidential battleground state that Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016 and then lost by nearly the same margin in 2020. Supporters of Trump, who has repeatedly said the election was stolen but not produced evidence to prove it, have pushed to overturn Biden's win in Wisconsin, dismantle the state's bipartisan elections commission and enact a host of election law changes.

Republicans who control the Legislature have tried to pass a series of bills that would have made it more difficult to vote absentee in the state, but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed all of them. Evers and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, are up for reelection in November.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos also hired another former state Supreme Court justice, Michael Gableman, to investigate the 2020 election. His reports have been panned by Democrats and Republicans alike, and there has been no evidence found to date to overturn Biden's win over Trump. That victory has withstood recounts in two counties, multiple state and federal lawsuits, a nonpartisan audit and a review by a conservative law firm.

The upcoming round tables are billed as a chance to join with the Republican National Committee, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly and others to  learn more about the partys efforts to ensure 2022 is the year of fair, open, and honest elections in Wisconsin. The events are closed to the press.

Kelly referred questions to the Republican National Committee. He was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 2016 by then-Gov. Scott Walker but lost in his run for a full term in 2020 to liberal Jill Karofsky. Kelly is considering running for an open seat next year and is expected to announce his decision this summer.

Liberal groups and others are organizing against the Republican events and planned to protest before the the round table on Wednesday in Madison. Other planned stops for the tour include Wausau, Green Bay, Appleton, Eau Claire, Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha.

Democratic state Rep. Mark Spreitzer, of Beloit, decried it as a conspiracy theory roadshow.

Matt Rothschild, director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign which tracks spending on elections, said Republican attempts to overturn the 2020 election, their focus on doing away with the states bipartisan elections commission and their passage of bills making it harder to vote shows they dont care about election integrity.

It would be laughable if it werent so serious, he said.

Angela Lang, director of the Milwaukee-based Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, called continued Republican efforts to contest the 2020 election one big, giant distraction.

I dont know how many times we need to litigate or talk about how Trump did lose the 2020 election," she said Tuesday. You cant litigate your way out of that, you cant roundtable your way out of that, and anything that theyre doing is just a feeble hope at trying to continue the conversation.

But Jefferson, the state GOP executive director, said the effort is about educating potential volunteers about what is and isn't legal at the polls, and finding ways for them to get involved. He discounted the criticism.

We've been dealing with pushback from the Democrats on election integrity for decades, he said. The idea that election integrity came to the surface in 2020 is absurd.

___

Associated Press writer Harm Venhuizen contributed to this report. He is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HarmVenhuizen.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

LVIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian troops control about 80% of the fiercely contested eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it but Ukrainians were still trying to evacuate the wounded, a regional official said Tuesday.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, acknowledged that a mass evacuation of civilians from Sievierodonetsk now was simply not possible due to the relentless shelling and fighting. Ukrainian forces have been pushed to the industrial outskirts of the city because of the scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using," he said.

There is still an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents, he told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that Russian soldiers have not yet completely blocked off the strategic city.

About 12,000 people remain in Sievierodonetsk, from a pre-war population of 100,000. More than 500 civilians are sheltering in the Azot chemical plant, which is being pounded by the Russians, according to Haidai.

In all, 70 civilians were evacuated from the Luhansk region in the last day, the governor said.

A Russian general, meanwhile, said a humanitarian corridor will be opened Wednesday to evacuate civilians from the Azot plant. Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said evacuees would be taken to the town of Svatovo, 60 kilometers (35 miles) to the north in territory under the control of Russian and separatist forces.

He said the plan was made after Ukraine called for an evacuation corridor leading to territory it controls.

Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Management Center, is accused by Ukraine of human rights violations while commanding troops during the long siege of Mariupol, Ukraine's key port on the Sea of Azov, which has been taken over by the Russians.

Russian forces in the past few weeks have pressed hard to capture Ukraine's eastern industrial Donbas area, which borders Russia and is made up of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

The losses, unfortunately, are painful, but we have to hold out," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Tuesday in his nightly video address. The more losses the enemy suffers there, the less strength it will have to continue the aggression. Therefore, the Donbas is key to determining who will dominate in the coming weeks.

As he does almost every day, Zelenskyy pleaded for more and faster deliveries of Western arms, this time specifically asking for anti-missile defense systems.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Tuesday the military had only received around 10% of the Western weapons it had requested to create parity with the Russian army."

No matter how much effort Ukraine makes, no matter how professional our army, without the help of Western partners we will not be able to win this war, Malyar said in a televised news conference.

She said Ukraine uses 5,000 to 6,000 artillery rounds a day, while Russia uses 10 times more.

In recent days, Ukrainian officials have spoken of the heavy human cost of the war, with the fierce fighting in the east becoming an artillery battle that has seen Kyivs forces outgunned and outnumbered.

Malyar said every day of delay means the loss of lives of more Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. "And therefore, unfortunately, we cannot wait very long, because the situation is very difficult, she added.

With the conflict now in its fourth month, the battle of Donbas could dictate the course of the war.

If Russia prevails, Ukraine will lose not only land but perhaps the bulk of its most capable military forces, opening the way for Moscow to grab more territory and dictate its terms to Kyiv.

A Russian failure, however, could lay the grounds for a Ukrainian counteroffensive  and possible political upheaval for the Kremlin.

Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the aid organizations supplying food to civilians in the Donbas, said fighting in the past few weeks has made regular food distributions impossible. Now, he said, the remaining civilians in Sievierodonetsk "are almost entirely cut off from aid supplies after the destruction of the last bridge.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, the Russian army is trying to strengthen its positions and Ukrainian forces there also are suffering painful losses, Zelenskyy said. And we still need to fight, to fight hard for the complete security of Kharkiv and the region," he said.

According to an intelligence update Tuesday by the U.K. Defense Ministry, Russian forces appear to have made small advances in the Kharkiv region for the first time in several weeks.

Elsewhere, a regional Ukrainian military official said the countrys air defense shot down two Russian cruise missiles targeting the region around Odesa, Ukraine's main port on the Black Sea.

___

MORE STORIES ON THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Ukrainians use humor to cope with the trauma of war

 Bucolic Ukraine forest is site of mass grave exhumation

 Russia lowers gas flows to Europe through pipeline

 Pope blasts Russian cruelty,  lauds Ukrainian heroism

___

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

U.S. President Joe Biden says hes working closely with European partners to get 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain, currently blocked from leaving Black Sea ports due to Russias invasion, onto international markets.

He said Tuesday the plan would involve building temporary storage silos on Ukraines borders to deal with the problem of the different rail gauges that Ukrainian and European railway systems use.

Ukraine has a system, like Russia has, a rail gauge that is different than the gauge of the rest of the tracks in Europe, Biden said. So were going to build silos, temporary silos, in the borders of Ukraine, including in Poland. So we can transfer it from those cars into those silos, into cars in Europe and get it out to the ocean and get it across the world. But its taking time.

Ukraine is one of the world's biggest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. The lack of Ukrainian grain on world markets is threatening to exacerbate food shortages and inflation across the world. Many African and Middle Eastern countries rely heavily on Ukrainian grain and could face problems feeding their people without it.

___

Nearly two-thirds of the children in Ukraine have been uprooted during the war, according to a U.N. official who visited the country last week.

The war in Ukraine is a child rights crisis, Afshan Khan told a news briefing Tuesday. Shes the Europe and Central Asia director for UNICEF, the U.N. childrens agency.

Khan said 277 children in Ukraine have been killed and 456 injured, mostly due to explosives used in urban areas. She said the number of damaged schools is likely in the thousands, and only about 25% of schools in Ukraine are even operational.

Millions of Ukrainian women and children have fled the country since the Russian invasion in February.

___

French President Emmanuel Macron visited Romania on Tuesday to hold talks and meet with French troops stationed there as part of NATOs response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Macrons visit to Romania, a European Union member since 2007 and a NATO member since 2004, was the beginning of a regional tour that includes a visit Wednesday to non-NATO Moldova. Both countries share long borders with Ukraine.

Nobody knows what is in store for us in the coming weeks and months, but we will do all we can to put an end to the Russian invasion, to help Ukrainians and continue with negotiations, Macron said at the eastern Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, where he was greeted by Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.

___

The Kremlin says Russia would be ready to consider a U.K. appeal over the fate of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting for Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said neither Moscow nor the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine who passed the sentence had heard from London on the issue.

You need to apply ... to the authorities of the country whose court passed the verdict, and that is not the Russian Federation, Peskov said. But, of course, everything will depend on appeals from London. And I am sure that the Russian side will be ready to listen.

Britons Aiden Aslin and Sean Pinner, and Moroccan national Brahim Saadoun, were accused of fighting as mercenaries for Ukraine in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic.

Separatist authorities said all three had a month to appeal their sentence. Kyiv has pledged to try to secure their release through a prisoner swap with Russia.

___

Russian natural gas deliveries through a major pipeline to Europe will drop by around 40% this year, state-controlled energy giant Gazprom said Tuesday, after Canadian sanctions over the war in Ukraine prevented German partner Siemens Energy from delivering overhauled equipment.

Germanys utility network agency said it did not see gas supplies as endangered and that reduced flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea aligned with commercial behavior and Russias previously announced cutoff of gas to Denmark and the Netherlands, the German news agency dpa reported. The Federal Network Agency said it was monitoring the situation.

Spot gas prices rose in Europe, a sign of jitters over possible further effects of the war on supplies of Russian gas, which powers industry and generates electricity on the continent.

The European Union has outlined plans to reduce dependence on Russian gas by two-thirds by years end. Economists say a complete cutoff would deal a severe blow to the economy, consumers and gas-intensive industries.

___

Russia's foreign ministry says it has banned dozens of British media and defense figures from entering the country.

A statement on the ministry website Tuesday said the ban on 29 journalists and commentators was a response to what it claimed was the British medias deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information on Russia and its war in Ukraine.

The list included senior editors and correspondents for the BBC and the Times and Guardian newspapers.

Also banned were 20 other people including Britain's navy chief, a junior defense minister, and senior executives at defense and aerospace firms Thales UK and BAE Systems.

___

The prime ministers of NATO members Albania and Montenegro are heading for Kyiv after an invitation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Albania's Edi Rama announced the trip on social media, with a photo of him boarding a plane Tuesday accompanied by Montenegro's Dritan Abazovic.

Both Balkan countries have denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine and joined the sanctions against Moscow.

___

Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday they had received the remains of 64 defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in the latest body swap with Russia.

The statement by the Ministry for Reintegration of Occupied Territories said the exchange took place in the Zaporizhzhia region, but didnt clarify how many bodies were returned to Russia.

It was one of the several swaps the warring sides have conducted. Earlier this month Moscow and Kyiv exchanged 160 bodies each. There was no immediate confirmation from Moscow on the swap reported by Ukraine on Tuesday.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday that Finland was ready to address Turkey's "legitimate concerns" over terrorism and other issues raised amid the Nordic country's application for membership with the Western military alliance.

Previously, Turkey accused both Finland and Sweden of supporting Kurdish militants and argued that it will not support the two countries in their attempts to join NATO. but during a joint news conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Stoltenberg said that "no other NATO ally has suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkey."

Addressing Turkey's Concerns

The NATO chief pointed to Turkey's strategic geographic location with neighbors like Iraq and Syria for its chaotic situation. Stoltenberg noted that the concerns were legitimate, saying it was about terrorism and weapons exports. He argued that the problem needed to be addressed because it concerns the security and safety of an ally.

Stoltenberg spoke at Finland's presidential summer residence Kultaranta located in the western parts of the nation. Russia's war in Ukraine pushed Finland and Sweden to apply to join NATO in May after decades of military non-alignment, as per the Associated Press.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, accused the two nations of allowing terrorists to set up in their territories. In a statement, Stoltenberg said that when a vital key ally such as Turkey raises concerns about terrorism, they have to be taken seriously.

Read Also: Biden Shows Support for Finland, Sweden Joining NATO Amid Turkey's Sudden Opposition

Ankara's demands to Helsinki and Stockholm include lifting restrictions on arms exports to Turkey and extraditing members of certain Kurdish organizations that are opposed to Erdogan's government. In recent weeks, NATO's chief has been trying to resolve the dispute but did not reveal details on Sunday on whether any progress has been made.

According to Reuters, Stoltenberg said that Sweden has already started to change its counter-terrorism legislation and that the nation was ensuring that the legal framework for arms export will reflect the future status as a NATO member with new commitments to allies. The NATO chief was joined by Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.

NATO Expansion

Andersson said that her country had changed its terrorism laws and was already in the process of further tightening policies. She noted that from the first of July, they will also have even stronger legislation when it comes to the fight against terrorism.

Furthermore, the NATO chief said that the aim was to have Finland and Sweden join the Western military alliance "as soon as possible" and that it was inconceivable that allies would not come to Sweden's defense if it were attacked.

The situation comes as U.S. President Joe Biden celebrated the decision and Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell jointly sponsored a resolution calling for expedited NATO accession. However, some believe that it is not the national interest of the U.S., through NATO, to commit to defending two wealthy European welfare states whose neutrality has kept them safe and prosperous for more than seven decades.

They argued that despite some claiming Russia's war on Ukraine changes everything, there will be new security guarantees that will force trade-offs, consume more resources, and increase the likelihood of a confrontation with a nuclear-armed adversary, Fox News reported.



Related Article: Finnish, Swedish Officials Meet With Turkish Counterparts Over NATO Membership Amid Latter's Demand of 'Concrete Steps'

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  A gas station security guard who shot a man during a confrontation over a beer has been charged with murder, according to an arrest report.

Tavon Parrish, 31, was working security at a Thorntons in downtown Louisville when the shooting happened Sunday night, news outlets reported.
We've seen just two relatively brief hearings of the House Jan. 6 committee. Yet already members of President Donald Trump's inner circle are accusing one another of lying under oath, taking bribes from Democrats, shilling for Marxists and being past their primes. They're also rekindling old scandals involving their onetime allies and deriding each other's mental faculties (including, in one particularly remarkable case, Trump's).

The Jan. 6 committee's work might never lead to criminal charges against Trump or those around him. But it has certainly prompted an extraordinary round of sniping and infighting.

Perhaps the most pronounced example came Tuesday morning, when Rudy Giuliani effectively accused two top Trump campaign aides, Jason Miller and Bill Stepien, of perjury. Miller had said under oath that Trump's former attorney was "definitely intoxicated" on election night 2020. (Stepien didn't say this, though Giuliani apparently believed he had.) Giuliani also suggested they might have taken bribes for testifying to that effect.

Giuliani later deleted the tweets. (Some had noted the accusations could be grounds for defamation lawsuits. And another former White House aide, Alyssa Farah Griffin, confirmed Tuesday that Giuliani "appeared inebriated" on election night.)

But Giuliani didn't leave it there. He later retweeted someone who pointed to a 2018 story about Miller being accused of slipping an abortion pill into his girlfriend's smoothie. Miller denied the accusation at the time and sued those who promoted it, but the case was dismissed. (Miller didn't respond to a request for comment Tuesday.)

Giuliani also linked to a story about Stepien's role in former New Jersey governor Chris Christie's, R, "Bridgegate" scandal. Stepien ran Christie's gubernatorial campaigns, but Christie fired him amid the scandal.

Both tweets were also apparently deleted.

Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford

The other big clash to emerge from Monday's hearing was between Trump and his former attorney general, William Barr. The committee on Thursday and again on Monday played clips of Barr repeatedly deriding Trump's and his allies' voter-fraud claims in stark terms. On Monday, they added clips of Barr saying he informed Trump that his theories were bogus - something that could be legally significant.

Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington responded to this by accusing Barr of being a "cowardly RINO" and a "shill" for "Marxist Democrats" - a pretty remarkable allegation when you consider how much Barr bent over backward for Trump. (Trump also criticized Barr in terms he often uses for loyalists-turned-critics.)

Barr's testimony also got the goat of Dinesh D'Souza, whose thoroughly criticized film "2,000 Mules" currently forms the basis of Trump's and his allies' claims of a stolen election. Barr laughed dismissively and demonstratively when he brought up the film. He said its "premise" - that people who were geolocated near multiple ballot drop boxes might be illegal ballot-harvesting "mules" - was "indefensible."

It was telling that Barr, who during the 2020 election warned repeatedly of potential ballot-harvesting operations, would treat the subject so derisively. On Twitter, D'Souza accused Barr of "stunning" ignorance.

D'Souza wasn't the only one whose ability to parse fraud allegations Barr seemed to have little regard for. In his testimony, Barr noted Trump himself seemed unmoved by having his voter-fraud theories debunked by his attorney general, which Barr called demoralizing; to him, it appeared Trump had "become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff."

That's potentially a fruitful legal defense for Trump - that he actually, somehow, believed this stuff as he was pressing to overturn the election. That could undermine the idea that Trump was acting "corruptly," despite being repeatedly told his claims were false.

But the fact remains that the attorney general was suggesting the former president had gone off the deep end. (He at one point seemed to be about to say Trump had "lost contact with" reality, before scaling it back to "detached.") And that would seem pretty politically important.

Nor was Barr the only one to express exasperation: Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, in testimony played Monday, also seemed perplexed at what Giuliani and Sidney Powell, another member of the Trump legal team challenging the election, were saying about voter fraud.

"[Giuliani's] theory was also completely nuts, right?" Herschmann said. "It was a combination of the Italians, the Germans - I mean, different things have been floating around as to who was involved. Remember Hugo Chavez in Venezuela? And [Powell] has an affidavit from somebody who says he wrote a software in - something with the Philippines - and just all over the radar."

It wasn't the only time Herschmann would speak derisively of Giuliani. Like Stepien, who said he was glad to be associated with "Team Normal" rather than Giuliani's team, Herschmann suggested at one point that Giuliani wasn't up to the task of managing such an effort "at this stage of his life."

And at the end of Monday's hearing, the Jan. 6 committee also played some choice Herschmann words for another of Trump's lawyers, John Eastman, the architect of the Jan. 6 strategy. Herschmann said he told Eastman on Jan. 7, the day after the insurrection, "Are you out of your effin' mind?" and "I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: 'orderly transition.'"

Almost none of these people, of course, volunteered any of this information before Jan. 6 or during Trump's impeachment - though Barr did publicly say the evidence of fraud was insufficient to change the results. But one of the benefits of launching an investigation and getting people under oath is forcing them to say what they really thought of one another and what was happening in real time. And the prevailing message thus far is that lots of people knew Trump's push to overturn the election was completely untethered to reality.

It also suggests there will be plenty for all of them to fight over in the coming days and weeks, as the committee reveals even more that was previously obscured.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday the Turkish national carrier will rebrand as Turkiye Hava Yollar instead of Turkish Airlines as part of a push for his country to be known internationally as Turkiye instead of Turkey.

Earlier this month, Ankara sent a letter to the United Nations, formally registering the countrys name as Turkiye  as it is spelled and pronounced in Turkish. The country called itself Turkiye in 1923 after its declaration of independence.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

LONDON (AP)  Britain canceled a flight that was scheduled to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda late Tuesday after the European Court of Human Rights intervened, saying the plan carried a real risk of irreversible harm."

The decision to scrap the flight capped three days of frantic court challenges from immigrant rights lawyers who launched a flurry of case-by-case appeals seeking to block the deportation of everyone on the governments list.

British government officials had said earlier in the day that the plane would take off no matter how many people were on board. But after the appeals, no one remained. British media reported that the number of potential deportees had been more than 30 on Friday.

After the flight was canceled, Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was disappointed but would not be deterred from doing the right thing. She added: Our legal team are reviewing every decision made on this flight and preparation for the next flight begins now.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had emphatically defended Britains plan, arguing that it is a legitimate way to protect lives and thwart the criminal gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel in small boats. Britain in recent years has seen an illegal influx of migrants from such places as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Iraq and Yemen.

Johnson announced an agreement with Rwanda in April in which people who enter Britain illegally will be deported to the East African country. In exchange for accepting them, Rwanda will receive millions of pounds (dollars) in development aid. The deportees will be allowed to apply for asylum in Rwanda, not Britain.

Opponents have argued that it is illegal and inhumane to send people thousands of miles to a country they dont want to live in. The leaders of the Church of England joined the opposition, calling the governments policy immoral. Prince Charles was among those opposed, according to British news reports.

Activists have denounced the policy as an attack on the rights of refugees that most countries have recognized since the end of World War II.

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said the British government's deportation threat would not serve as a deterrent to those seeking safety in the U.K.

The government must immediately rethink by having a grown-up conversation with France and the (European Union) about sharing responsibility and look to operating an orderly, humane, and fair asylum system, Solomon said.

The U.N. refugee agency condemned the plan out of concern that other countries will follow suit as war, repression and natural disasters force a growing number of people from their homes.

Politicians in Denmark and Austria are considering similar proposals. Australia has operated an asylum-processing center in the Pacific island nation of Nauru since 2012.

At a global level, this unapologetically punitive deal further condones the evisceration of the right to seek asylum in wealthy countries, said Maurizio Albahari, a migration expert at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana as he described the UK policy.

Many millions of people around the globe have been displaced over the past two decades, putting the international consensus on refugees under strain. The world had more than 26 million refugees in the middle of last year, more that double the number two decades ago, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Millions more have left their homes voluntarily, seeking economic opportunities in developed nations.

In Britain, those pressures have led to a surge in the number of people crossing the English Channel in leaky inflatable boats, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Last November, 27 people died when their boat sank in the waters between France and England.

Johnson, fighting for his political life amid concerns about his leadership and ethics, responded by promising to stop such risky journeys.

While Rwanda was the site of a genocide that killed hundreds of thousands of people in 1994, the country has built a reputation for stability and economic progress since then, the British government argues. Critics say that stability comes at the cost of political repression.

Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, attacked the policy as all wrong.

If the British government is truly interested in protecting lives, it should work with other countries to target the smugglers and provide safe routes for asylum-seekers, not simply shunt migrants to other countries, Grandi said.

The precedent that this creates is catastrophic for a concept that needs to be shared, like asylum, Grandi said Monday.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and 24 other bishops from the Church of England joined the chorus of voices asking the government to reconsider an immoral policy that shames Britain.

Our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum-seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries, the bishops wrote in a letter to the Times of London.

Britains Supreme Court refused to hear one last-ditch appeal Tuesday, a day after two lower courts refused to block the deportations. Legal challenges continued, however, as lawyers filed case-by-case appeals on behalf of individual migrants.

Many migrants favor Britain as a destination for reasons of language or family ties, or because it is seen as an open economy with more opportunities than other European nations.

When Britain was a member of the European Union, it was part of a system that required refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country they entered. Those who reached Britain could be sent back to the EU countries they traveled from. Britain lost that option when it withdrew from the EU two years ago.

Since then, the British and French governments have worked to stop the journeys, with a great deal of bickering and not much success. More than 28,000 migrants entered Britain in small boats last year, up from 8,500 in 2020.

Nando Sigona, a migration expert at the University of Birmingham, said large principles are at stake if the Rwanda policy stands.

How can we establish any kind of moral high ground where we intervene in other countries if we are not signatory to providing protection to those fleeing war and persecution? Sigona asked.

___

Follow APs coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

NEW YORK (AP)  The sleek four-wheeled carts look familiar enough, but not even UPS knows precisely how to describe what could be the delivery giant's latest way to get packages to your door.

UPS unveiled Tuesday a battery-powered, four-wheeled cycle to more efficiently haul cargo in some of the world's most congested streets and to reduce its carbon footprint. The company is trying to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

The slimmed-down vehicles don the company's gold-colored logo and accompanying stripe on a dark brown background. But the eQuad  as the company calls it  garnered amusement from passersby.

Ian Lagowitz had never seen one and walked over to give it a look.

It's funny looking," he said, "but it's probably good for the city, right?

Mohammad Islam called the vehicle cool stuff, and wished the program well.

Big trucks always blocking the traffic, he said, so if they do that kind of stuff, it's 10 times better for everybody.

The pedal-powered vehicle was dwarfed by one of the company's more traditional delivery trucks, which rumble through traffic and sometimes draw the ire of motorists trying to get by parked trucks on narrow streets.

Delivery companies have tried all sorts of ways to deliver packages  from traditional vans to drones. The company now has a fleet of more than 1,000 electric vehicles and thousands more that aren't powered by traditional gas engines.

UPS said a trial run is focused on New York City and in several cities in Europe.

"New York is a complicated city, when we look at the density," said Nicole Pilet, the industrial engineering director for UPS. So if we can have success here in the city, then we can see how we implement in other cities throughout the U.S.

The company had its start in Seattle more than a century ago and the first deliveries were made by foot or bicycle. As the company grew, its motorized fleet did, too.

This is right in my wheelhouse, said Dyghton Anderson, a 22-year-old UPS delivery person and an avid cyclist who is helping pilot the program. I ride to and from work  from all the way from the Bronx all the way to here on 43rd  so its pretty comfortable for me.

___

Associated Press writer Bobby Caina Calvan contributed to this story.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)  The Venezuelan opposition group backed by the United States will file a complaint with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for the physical attack its leader suffered over the weekend during a visit to a rural community as part of a tour meant to unite his party and allies.

Juan Guaido on Tuesday blamed the altercation on President Nicolas Maduro, presenting photos from Saturday's attack that he said showed associates of Venezuelas ruling party.

What those of us who are here are not going to do is get used to that language of hate, to the violence perpetrated by the dictatorship, Guaido said at a news conference. We are not only going to denounce (the attack) in institutions today hijacked by the dictatorship, but in the corresponding international institutions.

Venezuelas judicial system has effectively become a branch of the executive, playing a decisive role in Venezuelan politics with a host of unfavorable sentences against critics of the socialist government.

A photo released after Satudays attack showed Guaido being held back as people gather around him and someone rips his shirt off. He said at least two people were injured; one has a wrist injury and another has a concussion.

The altercation happened at a plant nursery in San Carlos, a community about 168 miles (270 kilometers) southwest of Caracas, the capital, during a gathering of opposition leaders. Guaido is touring the country as his party and allies organize for a planned 2023 primary election.

Maduro, who on Tuesday arrived in Qatar as part of a multi-stop trip in Europe and Asia, has made no comments on the attack. Diosdado Cabello, leader of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, on Monday suggested the attack involved members of Voluntad Popular, Guaidos party.

Do not blame us. Where they pass through, they generate violence, Cabello said referring to the opposition party. They themselves are the ones who generate their acts of violence, their fights, and then, they want to blame the rest of Venezuela.

The incident took place a week after Guaidos supporters were met by a barrage of flying plastic chairs and fisticuffs from Maduro allies in the western city of Maracaibo.

The U.S. and other nations recognize Guaido as Venezuelas interim president. They withdrew recognition of Maduro after accusing him of rigging his 2018 re-election as president.

At the time, Guaido drew enormous crowds of backers into the streets, but much of the momentum has evaporated.

Since Saturday, officials in the U.S. and other countries that back Guaido have demanded that the attack on the opposition leader be investigated.

___

Associated Press writer Shaylim Valderrama contributed to this report.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  West Virginia honored 221 eighth graders Tuesday for their knowledge of state history.

The Department of Education hosted the Golden Horseshoe ceremonies at the state Culture Center in Charleston. Three ceremonies took place for students from different parts of the state.

More than 15,000 West Virginia students have received the Golden Horseshoe Award since 1931. Thousands of eighth graders take the Golden Horseshoe exam each year, and the top-scoring students in each county receive the prestigious award.

The ceremony Tuesday included the new Golden Horseshoe sword designed by students at Musselman High School and forged by students at James Rumsey Technical Center in Berkeley County, the department said.

The awards name comes from golden horseshoes that Virginia Gov. Alexander Spotswood gave to a party of about 50 men who explored land west of the Allegheny Mountains in the early 1700s.

The Golden Horseshoe test is the longest running program of its kind in the United States.
A court in Russia has once again extended the detention of WNBA star Brittney Griner, despite growing calls across the U.S. for her freedom. Griner will remain in custody until at least July 2, according to Russian state media outlet TASS.

The Houston native has been detained in Russia since February after authorities accused her of carrying hashish oil in her luggage while at an airport in Moscow. The drug charges carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison if Griner is convicted. In May, the U.S. State Department officially classified Griner as wrongfully detained.

This is the second extension of Griner's detention since her arrest. The seven-time WNBA All-Star previously had her detention extended by 30 days after appearing in a Moscow court early last month. State Department officials met on Monday with Griners WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury, to discuss the status of her detention and efforts being made toward securing her release, according to the New York Times.

Mercury forward Brianna Turner told the Times that officials encouraged the team to continue talking publicly about Griner. "They encouraged us to keep speaking her name, to keep holding them accountable to bring B.G. back home as soon as possible," Turner said.

Last week, Griner's supporters, friends and family gathered in her hometown of Houston for a rally and prayer vigil calling for her release. Among those that spoke at the event included Marine veteran Trevor Reed, a Granbury, Texas native who was released from Russian custody in April as part of a prisoner exchange.

Reed described the harsh conditions of his nearly three-year imprisonment in Russia, saying it's likely that Griner and Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan who has been imprisoned in Russia since December 2018, are suffering the same  or worse.

"Every day you are in prison there, it's like you're waking up into a nightmare," Reed said. "Every single day when you wake up, you can't understand that it is really happening to you."

Reed also emphasized the importance of speaking up for Griner and Whelan in order to put pressure on the White House and Congress to get them home. "These guys want to help, but they need you to help them. You have to go out. You have to speak. You have to tell them what you want done. You have to say that you want Brittney home, you want Paul home, and you want it done right now."
The amount of coronavirus in Houston wastewatera marker of the prevalence of COVID-19 in the communityhas spiked in the past week, according to the Houston Health Department.

According to the Health Departments data, coronavirus "viral load," or the total amount of the virus in Houston-area wastewater plants, is over 500 percent higher than a previous high mark established on July 6, 2020.

The Health Department selected Jul. 6, 2020 as a benchmark because Houston faced especially high COVID-19 positivity rates on that date. The department's Wastewater Monitoring Dashboard tracks testing results of water samples taken from treatment plants across the county.

This spike comes as positive test results in Harris County have increased by nearly 70 percent over the past two weeks. Texas positivity rate has increased by nearly 50 percent over the same time period.

Hospitalization rates have also increased by about 18 percent in Harris County and more than 20 percent statewide in the past two weeks. In the same time frame, every county bordering Harris County has seen increases in positive cases, including a 74 percent spike in Fort Bend County; 69 percent in Galveston County; 48 percent in Brazoria County; 47 percent in Liberty County; 43 percent in Montgomery County, 29 percent in Grimes County; and 27 percent in Chambers County.

Increases in Harris County could be driven by new Omicron COVID-19 variants BA.4 and BA.5, according to experts. In Houston, BA.4 and BA.5 now account for 7 percent and 14 percent of all COVID cases, respectively, among Houston Methodist patients, Dr. Wesley Long, the hospitals medical director of diagnostic microbiology, said yesterday.

"With new variants increasing predominance, its likely to help fuel transmission through the summer, Long told the Houston Chronicle's Julian Gill.

European Union health officials warned Monday that the two Omicron-related variants may have mutations allowing them to dodge immunity conferred by vaccines or previous infection.
An ABC 13 report published Monday features handwritten notes jotted down by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ahead of what would be the first of several press conferences given by the Republican leader following May 24's mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

Scrawled in blue cursive, the notes include bullet points on the shooter's mental health history and details regarding law enforcement's response to the attack later proven to be false, including claims that officers initially engaged 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos outside the school prior to his killing of 19 students and two teachers inside the building.

Three of the nine note pages published by ABC 13's Ted Oberg and Sarah Rafique are marked with large blue Xs. Abbott's written remarks state that "ISD approached gunman + engaged" and that "Border Patrol, ISD officers, Police Sheriffs + DPS converged on classroom."

Abbott would later correct these points at a May 27 press conference, stating he had been "misled" by law enforcement and was "livid" after being given false information regarding the timeline of the attack. The governor clarified that law enforcement had not engaged Ramos outside the school prior to his entering the building, and noted that responding officers waited outside the classroom where he was located for an hour and 17 minutes before entering and killing him.

Abbott's notes also state that Ramos had no criminal history or history of mental health issues. It includes remarks from the mayor and sheriff of Uvalde seemingly blaming the shooting on a community-wide mental health crisis.

"Sheriff + Mayor - We have a problem w/[mental health] illness in this community," Abbott wrote.

The documents obtained by ABC 13 were released by the governor's office via a Public Information Report. ABC also reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety requesting documents detailing interviews it had conducted with law enforcement on the day of the shooting. The department stated it would not be making such information publicly available, claiming doing so would "provide criminals with invaluable information concerning Department techniques used to investigate and detect activities of suspected criminal elements."

"Knowing the intelligence and response capabilities of Department personnel and where those employees focus their attention will compromise law enforcement purposes by enabling criminals to anticipate weakness in law enforcement procedures and alter their methods of operation in order to avoid detection and apprehension," the DPS said in a statement. "Consequently, the Department believes the records should also be excepted from required public disclosure."
The western alliance is forcing Serbia to help with Russian sanctions so it could not be blamed for illegal sanctions. The Serbian interior minister Aleksandar Vulin will not lessen cooperation with Russia at the state's expense or what the west wants.

Western allies are seeking more partners to show a unified front against Putin, but that's not the case, and it is backfiring.

Serbia Not to Impose Russian Sanctions

The state claims it has no intention of limiting connections with Moscow and asserts that the west is trying to pass off its intent to penalize Russia, so it has moral ascendancy, which their cabal has none, reported RT.

Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin has said to the newspaper Novosti that Serbs are always expected to do more for others while ignoring their own best interest all through history, cited CS Times.

He added that Belgrade prefers the Kremlin, not another sycophant, for the western agenda. Emphasizing that Western countries want sanctions, not for economic effect on Russia, dealing serious moral blow. Vulin stated that those who bombed them understood that Serbia would not stoop down to the west, they needed to show any state would do their bidding by agreeing to Russian sanctions.

Read Also: Volodymyr Zelensky Children: Does the Ukraine President Have Kids?

The west wants to show that many agree with their illegal sanctions on Moscow.

Western Democracy Is Worse Than Russia, China

The Serbian minister said western democracy is ironic compared to suppose despots like China and Russia; western nations want the small guy to follow, like Belgrade to accept what it wants but not Beijing or Moscow, noted The Fast Newz.

He said that the anti-Russia hysteria of the west is anti-Siberian. Further stated that his state wants Russia to win, not Ukraine, giving an idea Belgrade is opposed to NATO and the west pushing a losing proxy war.

Vulin commended how Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic showed strength and the will to place his country before anything else, compared to other leaders in the EU who blindly follow the US. He added that Vucic and his stand make him a great Serb, not a small Russian. Belgrade made its own decisions and snubbed the US and its allies.

Last Friday, the Serbian president, in a presser with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, told Vucic that Belgrade must sanction Russia and acknowledge Kosovo as a breakaway province as an independent if it wants to be part of the EU someday.

The Serb leader said it was not good for Belgrade, and the EU oil embargo would be very damaging. Also, Vladimir Putin said sanctions are failing and causing hardship for the west, which is falsely blaming Moscow.

No matter what, the western alliance cannot force Serbia to support Russian Sanctions; even if faster membership to the EU is dangled like a carrot but is not that easy.

Related Article: Former Moldovan President Dodon Warned That Pro-EU Stance Could Lead to NATO Presence in Chisinau

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
WASHINGTON - Appearing larger than life on a giant screen above the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, former attorney general William Barr on Monday offered a blistering assessment of the man he'd spent years defending: In 2020, after losing the election, President Donald Trump appeared "detached from reality" and obsessed with fantastical notions of voter fraud, Barr said.

That blunt assessment amounted to a kind of rhetorical dagger aimed at his former boss, even if it was delivered from a previously taped, closed-door questioning session and included many criticisms Barr had already aired in tell-all books written by him and others.

Barr's view of Trump is more complicated than his congressional video clips suggest. In his book and interviews this year, Barr has said he does not want Trump to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2024 - but if he is, he will still vote for him. The former attorney general has also said Trump is responsible, but not criminally liable, for the Jan. 6 riot.

Still, for a national television and online audience, Barr on Monday was in some sense the hearing's star witness to Trump's angry rejection of findings from his own Justice Department that claims of mass voter fraud were misunderstandings, nonsense or flat-out false.

"I thought, boy, if he really believes this stuff, he has, you know, lost contact with, become detached from reality," Barr said. The former attorney general said when he tried to tell the president "how crazy some of these allegations were, there was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were."

Barr has said he told Trump the voter-fraud claims were "bullshit," a claim he repeated in his closed-door session with the committee. That only served to infuriate the president, who - according to Barr - said he "must hate" Trump to say something like that.

Largely because of Trump's refusal to accept Barr's findings about the election, the relationship between the president and attorney general grew so strained that Barr resigned in December 2020, not long after telling a reporter that the Justice Department had not found evidence of sizable election fraud.

The committee's next hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, will feature testimony from former Justice Department officials who remained after Barr's departure. They became enmeshed in a tense standoff with Trump in the days just before Jan. 6, during which the president sought to remove Barr's successor, Jeffrey Rosen, as acting attorney general, and replace him with another Justice Department lawyer who had embraced claims of massive voter fraud.

This week's hearings seem aimed at showing that Trump had to know his election fraud claims were bunk, but still tried to steamroll government agencies and elected officials into supporting those claims. Yet much of the testimony offered to date points to a kind of stubborn insistence by Trump that he was right and all the experienced investigators and professionals were wrong.

Lawmakers played video clips of another former senior Justice Department official, Richard Donoghue, discussing his own tortured conversations with Trump on this topic.

Donoghue said there were so many wild allegations of fraud, "when you gave him a very direct answer on one of them, he wouldn't fight us on it," but would move to another allegation, such as a claim that a suitcase full of fraudulent ballots was rolled under a table at a vote-counting facility in Georgia. "We looked at the tape, we interviewed the witnesses. . . . And I said, 'no sir, there is no suitcase. You can watch the video over and over. There is no suitcase.' "

Lawmakers on the committee argue these exchanges - and Trump's repeated embrace of far-fetched theories proffered by his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and others - show that Trump knew the election wasn't stolen from him.

But none of the witnesses on Monday described Trump accepting that conclusion. On the contrary, the witnesses said he refused to believe he had lost - a crucial distinction for any criminal investigation into Trump's conduct.

"From a legal standpoint, the greatest challenge is proving subjective intent when it comes to claims of voter fraud altering the outcome of the election. That means proving that the individual appreciated the wrongfulness of their conduct," said Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor that is now in private practice.

"Proving intent is not a question of reasonableness or common sense, it requires subjective proof that someone knew that their statements were not true at the time they were making them, or that they were willfully blind to the truth," Mintz said. "The ultimate question for any government lawyer looking at this evidence is whether the president and others knew their claims of widespread voter fraud were false, or if they were simply choosing to ignore the advice of some, in favor of those who were telling them what they wanted to hear."

Still unclear is what the Justice Department - which is conducting its own investigation of the origins of the Jan. 6 attack - makes of the committee's case to date.

At an unrelated news conference Monday, Attorney General Merrick Garland again declined to discuss the legal or factual questions surrounding Jan. 6, noting that there are hundreds of ongoing cases and the department has a general policy of not discussing investigations. He added, however, that prosecutors are paying close attention to the committee's hearings.

"I am watching, I will be watching all of the hearings," Garland said. "I may not be able to watch all of it live, but I'm sure I will be watching all of it, and I can assure you the January 6 prosecutors are watching all of the hearings as well."
In a 3-2 vote Harris County commissioners on Tuesday passed a resolution petitioning Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session of the Texas State Legislature in the name of creating gun laws to prevent gun violence. The measure is in response to the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas on May 24 that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

The proposal, put forth by Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis, specifically calls for the state legislature to consider passing universal background checks, implementing "red flag" laws, cool-off periods for gun purchases and regulating civilian ownership of high-capacity magazines.

Republican commissioners Jack Cagle and Tom Ramsey voted against the measure. Cagle repeated an argument previously made by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) that the root causes of gun violence, such as mental health, need to be addressed  not guns.

Ramsey also shut down the idea of calling a special session, saying that the commissioners have not done so in the past to address other issues affecting the community, such as an increase in violent crime. "There's a lot of things we need to have a special session on," Ramsey said. "It's not one thing, it's many things. So I'll be voting no on the resolution and praying...with the expectation that evil will be overcome, and that we have a good sense to ride the leadership toward that end."

During discussion of the measure, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo praised a recent federal bipartisan gun safety framework aimed at reducing gun violence but acknowledged more work has to be done. "The state has an opportunity to take a big step, calling a legislative session, at least to discuss the gun safety policy that so many Texans, the majority of Texans, the majority of Americans by far, support to pass common-sense gun laws and include any other issues the governor deems appropriate," Hidalgo said.

Hidalgo added there have been other opportunities for Texas leaders to address mental health in the past but they have not. "The cognitive dissonance is plain for all to see," Hidalgo said. "Everybody can see who is pretending not to see what the true issue is and I find it impressive that you can keep a straight face and that kind of behavior."

The commissioners unanimously voted to direct its analysts office to work with the Justice Administration Department, the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department and other relevant entities to evaluate and draft a report on the frequency, location, and causes of youth gun violence in Harris County dating back to 2015. The office will also analyze the most effective, evidence-based policy solutions to address and prevent youth gun violence.

The commissioners also unanimously voted to create a Harris County Safe School Commission as proposed by Ramsey. The commission will include members of law enforcement, school superintendents and community leaders that will meet and compile recommendations on how the commissioner's court can support the safety strategies of county school districts.

Each commissioner will appoint their own member to the commission, which is expected to meet for the first time on June 25. Hidalgo said the commission is welcome "but is not sufficient by any means" as the sole solution to the problem of gun violence, pointing to past groups formed in response to previous school shootings.

"I vote for this because it doesn't hurt but it could hurt in the sense that it distracts from the issue at hand," Hidalgo said. "Make no mistake, the issue here is guns and the lack of gun safety and policies. And that weren't the issue, if this were the issue, we would have already solved the problem."
Country singer Dallas Smith returned to the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, Thursday night, for a night of high energy entertainment. The Canadian performer had a banner year in 2021 winning the Country Music Awards entertainer of the year, as well as the single of the year. The band is cu
In an interview Tuesday morning, Hunter Biden's ex-wife Kathleen Buhle will break her silence on her traumatic 24-year marriage to the infamous first son.

Buhle's book, 'If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction, and Healing,' was released in conjunction with the interview. Buhle and Hunter Biden divorced in 2017 after 24 years of marriage.

Kathleen Buhle's 1st Interview Ahed of Memoir

"This is not a story about who is right and who is wrong. This is my journey," Buhle stated in a clip from a Sunday appearance with ABC's "Good Morning America." Buhle discusses Hunter Biden's drug addiction, how she kicked him out of their house after discovering a crack pipe, his multiple extramarital affairs - including the notorious affair with his late brother Beau's widow - and being a part of the Biden dynasty in the book.

She says in an excerpt from the book that was released earlier this month that the affair between her then-husband and Hallie Biden began shortly after Beau died of brain cancer in May 2015. Buhle, who has three children with Hunter Biden, said that she found out about the affair after their children discovered text conversations between their father and Hallie on his smartphone.

In November 2016, she received the sort of call that twists every parent's chest when a crying Finnegan phoned in during an appointment with their family therapist, who was described as Debbie, as per New York Post.

Read Also: Finland Ready To Address Turkey's Concerns Over NATO Membership, Chief Says

Hunter Biden's Ex-Wife Memoir Revelations

According to Buhle's book, If We Break, she booted Hunter out of their house in the summer of 2015 after discovering a crack joint in their ashtray, and she discovered his affair with his brother's widow at a family therapy session with her kids in November 2016.

Her claimed threat to Hunter that she would disclose embarrassing images of him unless he signed a divorce arrangement that paid her $37,000 a month to remain quiet is not mentioned. The claimed threat was discovered on Hunter Biden's famed missing laptop, according to DailyMail.com. She previously told People magazine that he never paid her alimony. Between 1993 and 2017, the couple was married. Naomi, Maisy, and Finnegan are their three daughters.

Their bitter divorce was still going on, while Hunter had an affair with his late brother Beau's widow, Hallie. The letter from Hunter's lawyer accused Buhle of relying on Joe Biden to financially support his kid to collect her alimony - and even discussing it with the former Vice President, Daily Mail reported.

She further alleges that despite being married to Hunter throughout his father's tenure as Vice President, she had no Secret Service protection. Kathleen remembered a meeting in 2009 where an agent detailed how Hunter and the children would all be assigned to a detail. They have two agents with them 24 hours a day.

Kathlene Buhle, on either hand, may only be picked up and included in any emergency plan. She expressed herself as feeling ashamed and wondered whether she was less significant than her husband and daughters. She did, however, describe her connection with the now-President as cordial, saying that when they first met, Joe Biden put his hands on her cheeks and looked her in the eyes, his nose almost brushing hers.

Joe Biden had identified Kathleen Buhle as his daughter everywhere they went and portrayed his relationship with the family as the sun that they all circled. Even after five years, Kathleen Buhle said that the weight of her divorce had an impact on her friendship with President Barack Obama and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.

Kathleen Buhle stated that she has forgiven Hunter, who has now remarried and is now the father of Beau Jr., who is two years old. She is working on her nonprofit women's club, The House at 1229, and claims she enjoys being financially independent because Hunter Biden does not pay her alimony, according to The Sun.

Related Article: UN Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet Declines Second Term Amid Criticism Over Stance on China

@YouTube

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A list of some of the common crimes that may make someone criminally inadmissible to Canada, and steps to overcome inadmissibility.

Common offenses that make people inadmissible to Canada A list of some of the common crimes that may make someone criminally inadmissible to Canada, and steps to overcome inadmissibility.

Common offenses that make people inadmissible to Canada A list of some of the common crimes that may make someone criminally inadmissible to Canada, and steps to overcome inadmissibility.

Common offenses that make people inadmissible to Canada A list of some of the common crimes that may make someone criminally inadmissible to Canada, and steps to overcome inadmissibility. Daniel Levy Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

Sans Font Size A

A

Generally speaking, any act that is illegal both in the country where it took place and in Canada creates the potential for inadmissibility issues. That being said, the Canadian government offers options to allow newcomers to overcome inadmissibility.

Some of the common offenses that may impact a persons ability to enter Canada include the following:

driving offenses involving alcohol or drugs;

reckless driving;

fraud such as theft or knowingly using bad cheques or a credit card that has been revoked or cancelled;

assault; and

drug offenses.

Schedule a Free Legal Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm

Within these offenses are different degrees of severity. In Canada, crimes that carry a maximum prison sentence of less than 10 years are considered non-serious. These crimes are oftentimes non-violent offenses such as theft or fraud under $5,000. If the maximum prison sentence of an offense is 10 years or more it would fall under serious criminality. These offenses may include DUIs, assault causing bodily harm, or crimes involving a weapon.

Criminal inadmissibility may not spell the end of your Canadian travels. Here are three options for overcoming inadmissibility to consider before you travel to Canada with a criminal history.

Temporary Resident Permits

A Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) is a temporary option for those seeking entry to Canada. TRPs are oftentimes only valid for the length of the applicants visit to Canada.

When submitting your TRP application, you need to explain to the border officials why you intend to come to Canada. The authority reviewing your application will then consider whether the benefits of your visit outweigh the potential risks to Canadian society. Among the things they will consider include the number of offenses you have committed, the nature of the offense, and the duration of time has elapsed since the offense.

Criminal Rehabilitation

Criminal rehabilitation is a permanent solution, unlike the TRP. If at least five years have passed since you completed your sentence, you could be eligible to apply for this option.

Upon a successful application for criminal rehabilitation, your criminal history will no longer be grounds for inadmissibility into Canada as long as you do not commit another crime.

The fees to apply for this option differ depending on the nature of your crime. The Canadian government translates your foreign crime to the Canadian equivalent to determine whether to charge you application fees for non-serious criminality ($200 CAD) or for serious criminality ($1,000 CAD).

After 10 years have passed since you completed your sentence, you may be deemed rehabilitated, provided your crime was non-serious. You may be able to benefit from this if you only have a single non-serious conviction on your record. If you have more than one conviction, you must apply for criminal rehabilitation. Otherwise, you can be automatically deemed rehabilitated and not need to apply for rehabilitation, but in this case a legal opinion letter drafted by a lawyer could be of great benefit to you when you are meeting with border officials.

Legal Opinion Letter

A Legal Opinion Letter from a Canadian immigration lawyer can be combined with any of the above options. These letters can explain to Canadian border officials why you should be allowed to visit Canada. It can also be a beneficial option if you have a pending charge but have not been convicted.

It is important to make adequate preparations in advance of your journey to Canada so you do not get turned away at the border due to your previous conviction. Advice from a Canadian immigration lawyer can help.

Schedule a Free Legal Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Discover your Canadian immigration options at CanadaVisa.com.
Kristin Myers, CIO of Mount Sinai Health System and Dean of IT for its school of medicine, is taking the New York healthcare provider to the cloud, making data protection and security key priorities as she does so.

Myers, who has a degree in law and IT from Queensland University of Technology and an Executive Master of Public Health from Columbia, credits a 2019 return to school, this time to Carnegie Mellon, to obtain a CISO certification for sparking her desire to overhaul Mount Sinais approach to cybersecurity.

It was six months. It was very challenging, but I learned so much and it prepared me, as a CIO, to really understand what a cyber program should be and how we needed to mature moving forward, she says.

That training prompted Myers to make a number of security moves in preparation for moving Mount Sinai business and clinical applications to the cloud, including, in May 2021, recruiting chief information security officer Rishi Tripathi, whom Myers made sure was on Mount Sinais executive steering committee for the cloud.

Some may think you move [applications] to the cloud and its safe, and thats not correct, says Myers, who describes the CIO-CISO relationship as an extremely important one. You have to make sure that youre building in the security as youre doing these transitions.

Taking Mount Sinai to the cloud

Myers began putting together the business case for her cloud migration in the second half of 2021, a process that took quite a while because not everything falls within the technology budget for data centers, she says. It also impacts other budgets like facilities.

To evaluate those impacts, Myers and her team did a bottom-up budget line-item analysis of data center costs, and had the finance department review their business case.

As we did the review with our facilities team, the analysis was very clear, says Myers, who, along with Mount Sinais enterprise risk committee, overseen by the CEO, set about evaluating all three cloud providers, ultimately choosing Microsoft Azure, supported by Accenture for the managed services element.

What stood out for us as it related to Microsoft was around their philosophy towards data security, and also how they position themselves around assisting clients within healthcare, she says.

Myers is also moving some business applications to Oracles cloud, including Oracle Financials, Supply Chain, HCM Talent Management and Learning, she says. But for the other business and clinical cloud applications, What I wanted to do was have something more, I would say, agnostic.

Its early days yet for Mount Sinais cloud migration. Myers goal is to have a majority of healthcare providers applications in the cloud within three years.

Mount Sinais electronic health record system, Epic, will be among the applications making the move to Azure. Myers has deployed Epic in various parts of Mount Sinai ever since she joined the organization, and plans for more deployments at least through 2025.

It seems endless, but as we either acquire or merge organizations we have to make sure that were able to put the technology there that links all of the hospitals or facilities into the main centers, she says.

Mount Sinai already uses multiple clouds for genomics research, taking advantage of best-of-breed solutions, but, Myers says, It didnt make sense for us to have a multicloud strategy for our business and clinical applications.

Part of the reason for this rests on talent, given that with multicloud environments different yet overlapping skill sets must be maintained, she explains. When you think about talent retention and being able to find the right team members to be able to manage these environments, it was clear that we wanted to have 80% to 90% of our applications on one vendor.

Prepping for the quantum threat

With so much of Mount Sinais IT operations moving to the cloud, data security has become top of mind for Myers.

Security has to be built into that entire migration process, she says. Just migrating applications to the cloud doesnt necessarily protect them, unless you encrypt the data.

And its not just whether the data is encrypted, but how. Encryption algorithms that would take years to crack using todays computing equipment might be broken in seconds by an attacker with access to a working quantum computer.

While quantum computing remains in the realm of short-lived laboratory experiments, the time will come when quantum computers will be more widely available and the threat they pose more tangible. The White House, for example, is taking the quantum threat seriously, publishing an executive order in January 2022 requiring operators of national security systems to update their security plans and systems to protect against it.

Healthcare organizations are not subject to the same requirement, but they are subject to the same threat: If their data is not adequately protected and encrypted, it could be harvested today and decrypted later, when working quantum computers become a reality.

Myers sees this quantum threat coming within the next three to five years. It sounds like a long time to start looking at this, but its really not, she says.

To prepare, Myers has hired Sandbox AQ, a Google spin-off, to inventory Mount Sinais encryption systems and help make them quantum-safe.

Sandbox AQ offers an audit tool that companies can run on their internal network to identify all the encryption systems in use, and then advise on upgrading them.

Myers expects to have identified the mitigation steps necessary by year-end: If we start this work now, it puts us in a better position of addressing this vulnerability before its exploitable.

Consider it preventative care for Mount Sinais IT assets  and its patients data.
Despite unease in the global economy about the trajectory of economic growth this year, investment in African startups has been on an incredible trajectory over the last six months. Statistics reveal fascinating stories about what sectors and regions are attracting the most attention and capital. However, one of the most dramatic revelations is how South Africa has fallen off the pace and is losing out on investment now channeled to big emerging players like Nigeria, Egypt, and Kenya.

Consider this eye-opening paragraph from the influential continental Substack newsletter Africa: The Big Deal published on June 6. January 2022 was the strongest January the [African] ecosystem had ever seen, likewise for February, March, April, and May. If you add November and December 2021, Africa is now on a 7-month record-breaking strike. And YoY growth is not marginal at all: except in May (+90%), were talking about at least a doubling in value compared to the same month a year before.

Yet those gains are far from evenly distributed with some surprising revelations. Year on year, between January and May, Nigeria recorded growth of 154% and Kenya a staggering 436%, yet South Africa, once the tech darling of Africa, saw a 30% contraction from the same period a year before.

The reasons for this decline are complex and the picture is more nuanced than it seems at first glance. Macroeconomic and political factors are at the heart of the uneven spread, according to angel investor and early-stage fund manager Alexandra Fraser. She points to the fact that countries like Kenya and Nigeria have embraced legislation that incentivised early-stage entrepreneurs and the entire ecosystem thereby removing a lot of obstacles. Their lead has been followed in places like Senegal and Tunisia while South Africa has been slow to bed down any legislation.

While this is no doubt a huge factor, South Africas problems extend beyond simple legislation. Vuyisa Qabaka is a partner at pan-African innovation and start-up advisory firm Hybr Group. He explained that one of the principal challenges South Africa is facing is a skills exit. A lot of talent is going away, he says. Many white founders are moving to the US, UK and Australia and building their ventures there. Theres no mechanism to support black founders in SA, who are forced to try and self-organise. Upliftment and capacity building is needed to support young black founders, not window dressing. We have to shape strong talent to make it structurally more competitive.

Real but uneven growth

Like Fraser, Qabaka has witnessed first-hand the explosive growth in the rest of Africa. To those of us who have been around a while, its not hidden, he says. Ecosystems that were moderately active for a long time are now suddenly supercharged. Clock back to 2018, Egypt was nowhere near where they are now. Theres been a great positive shift in their growth ecosystem. In countries like Ghana and Ethiopia you see the same thing. While its still complex to invest there, the market perception of the value of talent has changed.

Fraser agrees that there has been significant growth on the continent but makes it clear that its still very unevenly distributed. She says theres been growth across the board. But if youre an entrepreneur and building a business in a popular sector like fintech in Kenya or Nigeria, or even more narrowly in Nairobi or Lagos, then you have a far larger chance of attracting investment than you would in Zambia, for example, or even a secondary city in one of the bigger markets, she says.

This opinion is borne out by the stats. The Big Deal reported in early May that Africas Big 4: Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa raised 83% of all funding and signed 78% of all deals over $1 million since 2019, with Ghana in a distant fifth position.

So South Africas structural woes mean it could one day be overtaken by a smaller country better geared for growth despite their own unique challenges and macroeconomic factors that impact sentiment. Things like rolling blackouts make headlines internationally, Fraser says. They cause anyone, especially an international investor, to question how you operate and how youre going to be effective. Macro challenges beyond the realm of the start-up to solve impact investor sentiment. They create other barriers to entry where entrepreneurs have to dispel any perceptions that their start-ups cant operate in a working capacity.

For all the negative sentiment and problems, Qabaka is still bullish on South Africa and has some hard-earned wisdom to share around those big continental investments.

SAs maturity should be attractive, he says. The reality is that once you invest somewhere like Nigeria, you quickly realise how challenging these markets are. You cant just create a technology, cloud and knowledge based business and simply ignore external factors like electricity, cost of internet, quality of internet connection and skills. Those things become issues very quickly the minute the investment is completed. South Africa to me still offers a gem of an opportunity for anyone who knows what theyre doing, and a discount to what it would cost in a more developed ecosystem. Yes, we have power issues but they are not as bad as anywhere else. Yes, we have issues like the cost of data but those things are shifting. People like that the rules are clear in South Africa. Theyre not ideal, but its not like the government here might potentially nationalise or repatriate funds. We are the perfect platform for venture development on the continent for anyone looking for high-growth building.

Winds of change

A global downturn is on everyones lips and theres no way that Africa will escape unscathed. A post on Fund for Africas Future blog makes the point clearly: The valuation boom of 2020/2021 may have given founders the impression that fundraising was a walk-in-the-park endeavour. High valuations were seen as the norm and not the exception. Less traction was demanded by investors and it was possible to raise capital based on an idea and a team. Now with increased competition between who and what should get funding, pricing will prove a major deal breaker for investors playing in the market, as there is no easy money left to spare.

Fraser is in full agreement here. An overall funding slowdown is coming on the continent. Investors are being a lot more mindful and going back to first principles. Businesses with traction and customers that are already generating revenue and managing their costs effectively are going to have a much easier time in the next few months above those who havent proven their value.

Fintech is the most populated sector of the emerging economy, with almost one-third of South Africas tech startups working in that space, but new sectors like pharma and biotech are also attracting a lot of innovation.

So while South Africa is facing large, seemingly intractable problems, it still has fundamental advantages that could prove decisive, particularly in sectors like pharma and biotech where the countrys existing infrastructure is already well proven. The South African Startup Ecosystem Report 2022 found many bright spots for the countrys start-ups, reporting that as of May 2022, at least 490 tech startups employ more than 11,000 people between them, and that at least 357 of them raised nearly $1 billion in funding between January 2015 and May 2022, a figure surpassed only by Nigeria during the same time.

So innovation is thriving across the continent, as well as investment, like Googles AI research center in Ghana, and Microsofts hub in Nigeria. Also, the upcoming Cop27 conference in Cairo in November, a first for Africa, is incentivising a lot of focus on long-term growth like fossil fuel alternatives and green solutions.
Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some passing clouds. Low near 55F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday took to the defense of the new bipartisan gun deal reached by the Senate over the weekend by saying that the proposal takes "no rights away, no privileges away."

The measures were brought together by a group of bipartisan lawmakers in the wake of the latest deadly mass shootings in the United States. Manchin noted that none of those agreed upon should concern America's lawful gun owners.

Bipartisan Gun Deal

The Democratic senator said during an appearance on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" that gun owners in his state also wanted something done about the horrific problems with gun violence. The West Virginia lawmaker specifically pointed to concerns about people with mental health issues owning firearms.

"We have to do something. And gun owners are standing up. You take polls around the country, in my state, too - law-abiding gun owners want something to be done. They don't want people who should never have a gun, or is mentally incapacitated or not stable to be able to access anything they want," said Manchin, as per The Hill.

The senator also said that the proposed legislation, which has the support of 10 Senate Republicans, which is the minimum needed to overcome a filibuster, is based on "something that's sensible and reasonable." He cited the principles of prevention and intervention when lawmakers drafted the measures.

Read Also: Thousands Rally for US Gun Control Measures After Deadly Mass Shootings

During the interview, Manchin said that authorities had to take what they had as a positive and work off of it. However, he noted that the piece of legislation, as drafted, should not be threatening to any law-abiding citizen in the United States of America.

According to CNN, the West Virginia senator added that the measures were based around children. He argued that lawful gun owners in the country should not be offended by the bipartisan gun deal. He noted that lawmakers were not threatening that owners would lose anything at all.

Addressing Gun Violence

The bipartisan agreement includes "needed mental health resources, improves school safety and support for students, and helps ensure dangerous criminals and those who are adjudicated as mentally ill are not able to purchase dangerous firearms.

When Manchin was asked on Monday whether or not he thought the GOP would support the measures moving forward, he said, "I truly believe in my heart of hearts we'll have more than 10 Republicans." He noted that many of his good friends and colleagues were on the right and have stepped forward, looking at a most reasonable way forward.

The deal comes as something that is far from what Democrats would have preferred in the aftermath of the racist gun massacre in Buffalo, New York, and the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. However, the measures included in the agreement are considerably more than they had initially hoped.

Despite the proposal not raising the age to buy assault rifles from 18 to 21, it plans to enhance background checks on those under 21 years before they could take possession of a gun. This is seen as the most significant element of the emerging measure, the New York Times reported.



Related Article: Ohio Governor Signs Bill Allowing School Staff To Carry Firearms, Faces Widespread Criticism

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Solicitare de oferta pentru reabilitarea toaletelor si modernizarea spatiilor de cazare al internatului pentru copiii nevazatori din Balti, Republica Moldova
Primeste notificari pe email

Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare Granturi - Finantari Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele
Mind chief executive Paul Farmer will leave the charity after 16 years in October to take up the same position at Age UK, he has announced.

Farmer will take over at the charity for older people from interim chief executive Tracey Bright, who has led the organisation since the last permanent boss Steph Harland stepped down for personal reasons in September 2021.

One of the longest serving chief executives in the charity sector, Farmer said it would be a huge wrench to leave the mental health charity but said there are times when a change of leader is important.

As we come out of the difficult challenges of the last two years equipped with a new ambitious strategy, now is that time, he wrote in a post on social media .

Mind thanked Farmer for his service and announced it will immediately begin the search for his successor.

Age UK is lucky to have him

The mental health charity said Farmer had helped to bring about dramatic changes in the mental health landscape, including a major shift in public awareness and attitudes during his time in charge.

Its chair Stevie Spring said: Paul has been an outstanding leader, a passionate champion for people with mental health problems, an agent of positive change and a pleasure to work alongside. We will miss him.

I want to a say a big thank you on behalf of the charity and all our beneficiaries for all he has done around mental health. Age UK is lucky to have him.

Age UKs chair Toby Strauss said: Paul brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise about mental health from his impressive tenure at Mind and his previous management roles at Rethink and Samaritans, and about the charity sector more generally.

Pauls commitment to the needs of older people makes him well placed to lead Age UK through the next stages of our journey, at a time when they have never been more pressing.

Higher salary than predecessor

Campaigners criticised Age UK when it first advertised for the chief executive position earlier this year because it did not initially include salary details, despite being a signatory of the Show the Salary pledge.

The charity soon rectified this to show that its chief executive, now announced to be Farmer, will earn between 180,000 and 200,000 per year.

This is an increase on Harlands salary in 2021, which was recorded as being between 170,000 and 180,000 per annum.

According to the Charity Chief Executives Survey 2021 , which is published by Civil Society Media's Charity Finance magazine, the average salary for a chief executive at one of the 100 largest charities in the UK was 170,000.

sign up to receive the Civil Society News daily bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,




Yesterday morning, Chris Stirewaltthe former politics editor at Fox News, who now works for NewsNationwrote a column for the conservative news site The Dispatch explaining why he would shortly be appearing before the House committee investigating January 6. After some blather about Lincoln, Nixon, and how both parties botched efforts to hold Trump accountable after the insurrectionincluding in the formulation of the committee and subsequent partisan conduct of some of its Democratic membersStirewalt wrote that he had agreed to testify because the panels request that he do so was squarely within its remit. I have no First Amendment grounds on which to refuse since I am not being asked to reveal a source or something like that, he wrote. As a journalist, I feel very uncomfortable even playing this small role in these events. The first rule for my vocation is to tell the truth as best as you can, and the second is to stay the hell out of the story. I will fail in the latter today, but aim for the former. He declined to set out what his testimony might entail, so as not to create any expectations.

Stirewalt had been scheduled to appear at the committees second televised hearing alongside Bill Stepien, Trumps campaign manager as the music stopped in 2020 (and as Trump insisted that he could still hear it), but at the last minute, Stepien pulled out because his wife had just gone into labor; the committee played video clips from Stepiens prior, behind-closed-doors testimony, but in the room itself, Stirewalt was sworn in alone. He was first asked to confirm the victor of the 2020 electionJoseph Robinette Biden Jr., of the great state of Delaware, he replied, crisplybut the committee had demanded his presence for reasons beyond this anodyne affirmation of the obvious. Stirewalt had been centrally involved, on election night, in the Fox decision desks call of Arizona for Biden, which it made ahead of any other outleta move that so infuriated Trumpworld that his aides quickly demanded a retraction and Trump himself reportedly screamed at Rupert Murdoch. As Fox stood by its call, Trump told the media that he had won the election and that evidence to the contrary was fraudulent, a lie that he would never recant. Two months of hellish right-wing election discourse laternot least on Foxs airthe network ousted Stirewalt, attributing the decision to a corporate restructuring.

Related: The January 6 hearing and the value of spectacle

During yesterdays hearing, Stirewalt not only defended his former employers Arizona call but took evident relish in it, boasting that it had been really controversial to our competitors, who we beat so badly, claiming that Foxs decision desk was the best in the business, and saying that its Arizona poll, which was based on data to which other top outlets didnt have access, was beautiful and cooked up just right. (The Associated Press followed Fox in quickly calling Arizona for Biden, but other major outlets took days to reach the same conclusion; some observers still maintain that Fox jumped the gun, even though its call proved correct.) Asked what Trumps chances of winning the election were by November 7, the date that top outlets joined in calling the race as a whole for Biden, Stirewalt was unequivocalnoneadding that Trump would have been better off to play the Powerball than hope that recounts in numerous states overturn clear pro-Biden margins. The committee didnt ask Stirewalt much else; there were no questions, for instance, on the terms of his exit from Fox. His testimony, in the end, was tightly focused on telling the truth of the election result, and how it was called, as best he could.

Stirewalts simple answers tied into the committees broader goal at the hearing: to establish for viewers that a plethora of voices, both publicly and within Trumps inner circle, told Trump from election night onward that the election was not stolen, only for Trump to claim it anyway, leading eventually to the violence of January 6. Liz Cheney, the top Republican on the committee, said that Trump followed the counsel of an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani when he falsely declared victory on election night; in his testimony, Stepien referred to the existence of two camps in Trumpworld: Team Normal and Rudys Team. The committee also played taped testimony showing William Barr, Trumps attorney general, ridiculing various fraud lies and describing Trump as uninterested in actual facts and possibly detached from realitystrong assertions that led much breathless news coverage in the aftermath of the hearing. Headlines in top outlets called Barr a star witness and an unlikely star; one CNN analysis referred to him as the debunker in chief and a new hero of sorts for liberals, while another hailed his stunning evolution from Trump loyalist to nemesis. The Independents Ahmed Baba called the Barr tapes some of the most damning testimony for Trump Ive ever heard in any of the many Trump corruption hearings Ive covered over the last five years, and thats saying something.

Some of the same stories noted, variously, that Barr failed to publicly raise such a dire alarm about Trumps coup attempt at the time, himself repeatedly sowed doubt as to the security of mail-in voting, and said more recently that hes open to voting for Trump again in 2024. A handful of journalists decided, laudably, that this context should be central to coverage of Barrs testimony yesterday. How do you manage to skate the thin line between being complicit in the wrongdoing of the 2020 election claims and holding yourself out as a heroic whistleblower? Slates Dahlia Lithwick asked rhetorically. You do so by casting it all as silly, as opposed to evil. And you do so by presenting yourself as the sophisticated elder statesman instead of the guy who slunk away when his country needed him. Over at The New Yorker, Susan B. Glasser described both Barr and Stepien as first-class enablers of Trump, and asked whether we all ought to call bullshit on the Team Normal conceit. The committees dilemma is the same one journalists faced through the four years of Trumps Administration, Glasser wrote: how to reconcile the cravenness and self-serving behavior of those whose recollections are nonetheless indispensable in understanding what happened with the former President?

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

Glasser continued that exposing Trumps fraud, certainly, is far more consequential for the fate of American democracy than calling out the maddening inconsistencies of his subordinates. But this, to my mind, risks tipping toward a false dichotomythe hypocrisy of Trumps subordinates, after all, has always been a key accessory to his fraud. And Trumps frauds, plural, often dont need exposing; he perpetrated many of them in plain sight. This fact calls into question another idea that was central to yesterdays hearingthe committees desire to prove that Trump knew he was lying about the electionand itself echoes a Trump-era journalistic dilemma, in this case the debate as to whether we should call his lies lies given the difficulty of gauging the intent behind his dishonesty. I wrote in 2019 that this intentionality question set the bar for accountability too high: Trump was lying whenever he said something that he should reasonably have known to be falsenot just as an average person but as a world leader with possibly unparalleled access to good information. This is particularly true of his election lies.

Of course, the committee has good reason to want to establish that Trump knew he was lying about the election or willfully ignored the truth: proving corrupt intent could be the cornerstone of a future criminal case against Trump, and that, clearly, would be enormously consequential. But journalistic and legal standards of accountability are not the same. In our coverage of whether Trump knew, we should be relentless in clarifying that the reason the question matters is mostly legalistic. Numerous journalists and legal analysts did just that yesterday, on MSNBCs pre-hearing coverage, for example. But others have not foregrounded this key context enough. For journalistic purposes, Trumps mindset does not excuse his patently corrupt behavior; ultimately, what he said and did matters more than whether he thought it was okay. As I wrote after the committees first hearing last week, journalists do not need to contrive a hunt for a smoking intent-gun to know and clearly communicate that what Trump did was wrong.

When it comes to obvious truths like the 2020 election result, establishing what powerful people should reasonably have known is ample grounds for scrutiny; evidence showing what they did know can often be revealing and interesting in building a historical record, but we rarely need to overhype it in and of itself. Yet this is what some commentators have often done in the longer-term sweep of January 6 coveragenot only around Trump, with his possible future legal woes, but around, for example, top pro-Trump opinionators at Fox, after texts handed to the committee by Mark Meadows, Trumps final chief of staff, showed them urging Trump to halt and account for the violence of January 6, even as they struck a different tone on air.

Yesterday, their former colleague Stirewalt, whose decision desk was siloed from Foxs opinion operation, was much more transparent about what he knew about the election, how soon he knew it, and the reasons underpinning his knowledge. We shouldnt have needed him to be.

Below, more on the hearings and democracy:

Murdoch media, I: Last week, Fox News did not broadcast the committees first televised hearing in prime time, sticking with its scheduled opinion programming and shunting full coverage to Fox Business, its much lesser-watched sister channel. To the extent that Fox News hosts addressed that hearing while it was ongoing, it was to slam it as a sham and a flopbut yesterday, the network did carry the second January 6 hearing live, providing its audience with a retelling of the events leading up to that day that is often absent from the network, Jeremy W. Peters writes for the New York Times. Those tuning in on Fox experienced a somewhat awkward moment as the focus turned to the network itself during Stirewalts testimony, Peters adds.

Last week, Fox News did not broadcast the committees first televised hearing in prime time, sticking with its scheduled opinion programming and shunting full coverage to Fox Business, its much lesser-watched sister channel. To the extent that Fox News hosts addressed that hearing while it was ongoing, it was to slam it as a sham and a flopbut yesterday, the network did carry the second January 6 hearing live, providing its audience with a retelling of the events leading up to that day that is often absent from the network, Jeremy W. Peters writes for the New York Times. Those tuning in on Fox experienced a somewhat awkward moment as the focus turned to the network itself during Stirewalts testimony, Peters adds. Murdoch media, II: Following his appearance before the committee, Stirewalt gave an interview to NPRs David Folkenflik and described the panic at Fox that followed the Arizona call and Trumps angry response in 2020. We dont award any electoral votes. We dont count any ballots. We are some nerds in a room, and thats it, Stirewalt said of his former role on the decision desk. Part of the problem, of course, was that there were opinion hosts on Fox who, for months and months and months, had been repeating the baseless claim that Trump was going to win the election for sure.

Following his appearance before the committee, Stirewalt gave an interview to NPRs David Folkenflik and described the panic at Fox that followed the Arizona call and Trumps angry response in 2020. We dont award any electoral votes. We dont count any ballots. We are some nerds in a room, and thats it, Stirewalt said of his former role on the decision desk. Part of the problem, of course, was that there were opinion hosts on Fox who, for months and months and months, had been repeating the baseless claim that Trump was going to win the election for sure. Murdoch media, III: As CNNs Brian Stelter noted over the weekend, print titles owned by Murdoch have taken a somewhat tougher line against Trump since the hearings began: the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal concluded that Trump betrayed his supporters by conning them on Jan. 6, and he is still doing it, while that of the New York Post urged readers to move on from Trump and pick your favorite from a new crop of conservatives. Stelter asked Dan Pfeiffer, a liberal commentator and former Obama staffer, about the op-eds. The creation of this entire right-wing media apparatus was designed for one purpose, to elect Republicans to office, Pfeiffer said. This is not a moral statement from Rupert Murdochs papers about Donald Trump being bad.

As CNNs Brian Stelter noted over the weekend, print titles owned by Murdoch have taken a somewhat tougher line against Trump since the hearings began: the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal concluded that Trump betrayed his supporters by conning them on Jan. 6, and he is still doing it, while that of the New York Post urged readers to move on from Trump and pick your favorite from a new crop of conservatives. Stelter asked Dan Pfeiffer, a liberal commentator and former Obama staffer, about the op-eds. The creation of this entire right-wing media apparatus was designed for one purpose, to elect Republicans to office, Pfeiffer said. This is not a moral statement from Rupert Murdochs papers about Donald Trump being bad. Threats to democracy: Last week, Blake Hounshell, of the Times, wrote about a new report from Protect Democracy, a nonprofit group, aimed at helping journalists differentiate between normal political jockeying and systemic risks to democracy. Jennifer Dresden, the reports lead author, says there ought to be clearer standards than the Potter Stewart testreferring to the former Supreme Court justice, who famously said in a 1964 case that his method for identifying obscenity was I know it when I see it, Hounshell writes. Theres some wisdom in that trust-your-gut approach, but democracy is a lot more complicated than a pornographic film.



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: A tale of two amendments in Uvalde

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
 Britains biggest pubs group Stonegate, which is suing Zurich Insurance and two peers for 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) over lockdown losses, battled the COVID-19 pandemic day by day, venue by venue, a London trial heard on Monday.

Ben Lynch, a lawyer for Stonegate, said the companys 760 insured pubs, bars and night clubs at the center of the case had each faced separate challenges, opening and shutting at differing times according to regional rules  and seeing business drop by up to 90% below projections.

If successful, the Stonegate case could give fresh momentum to a second wave of claims against insurers that might cost the industry billions of pounds, further damage reputations and push premiums even higher for businesses and consumers, experts say.

Stonegate is suing MS Amlin, Zurich Insurance, and Liberty Mutual, alleging the pandemic, government-ordered closures and restrictions triggered business interruption cover multiple times and that the interruption and interference will continue until April 2023.

Insurers accept Stonegates businesses were covered by their policies, but contend that cover was limited to one business interruption payment of 2.5 million pounds, which has been paid, court documents show.

In total the insurers have paid 14.5 million pounds, including 12 million for additional increased costs of working (AICW), and say their liability is limited to 17.5 million pounds. They label the claim hugely overstated, filings show.

MS Amlin led the Stonegate policy with 55% of exposure. Both other insurers have 22.5% each.

The case is by far the largest since the Supreme Court ruled last year that many insurers had wrongly rejected business interruption claims from thousands of small businesses that had to close or restrict trading to curb the coronavirus.

Policyholders have so far received nearly 1.35 billion pounds in compensation. But not all policy wordings were covered and, where they were, some dispute payout levels.

Other insurers are following the Stonegate case closely. Asked if their employer was among those being sued, a representative from one insurer watching proceedings told Reuters: No, not yet.

Insurers have been on notice since Corbin & King, the owner of Londons Wolseley restaurant, won a similar BI case against insurer Axa in February  although it has since gone into administration after a battle with its biggest shareholder.

Multi-million pound claims by sandwich-to-pasty chain Greggs GRG.L against Zurich and Strada and Coppa Club owner Various Eaterie against Allianz will be heard next month.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP)  The death of a Black teenager at a Kansas juvenile detention center was foreshadowed five years earlier by a state inspection of the facility that noted systemic deficiencies in its handling of children with mental health issues, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Monday.

Cedric Loftons foster father called authorities in September 2021 seeking help because the 17-year-old was hallucinating and needed to go to a mental health facility. Instead, police forcibly took him to the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center, where he had to be resuscitated after he was held facedown for more than 30 minutes during an altercation. He died two days later.

His brother, Marquan Teetz, acting as representative of Loftons estate, sued Sedgwick County, five detention center employees, the City of Wichita, and the unidentified police officers. According to the complaint, he seeks to illuminate the truth and obtain some measure of justice for Cedrics death.

Cedric would be alive today if Sedgwick County executives and the Wichita police department followed the clear recommendations of the report issued by the Kansas Department of Corrections in March of 2016, said Andrew M. Stroth, the lead attorney representing the family.

The Associated Press sent emails seeking comment Monday to the county and Wichita police. Sedgwick Countys Corrections Director Glenda Martens has described what happened as tragic but said that the corrections workers followed policy in restraining the teen. Wichita police have said theyve been looking into the actions officers took when booking the teen.

No one has been criminally charged in the death. In January, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said the states stand-your-ground law prevents him from bringing any charges in Loftons death because staff members were protecting themselves.

The civil lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be determined by a jury. A news conference was planned for Monday at the Sedgwick County Courthouse to announce the filing. Teetz and community activists were expected to speak at the event.

The lawsuit contends that Loftons death was presaged by that KDOC inspection. The inspection report, a copy of which The Associated Press reviewed, noted systemic deficiencies at the juvenile facility, including its inability to handle children with mental health issues, its need for training on de-escalation techniques and management of risk.

The scathing inspection also cited the facilitys need for assistance in dealing with a Wichita Police Department who too often dropped juveniles at JIACs door as a form of punishment while refusing any obligation to transport such juveniles for mental health treatment, according to the court filing.

Everything that happened in that report lines up precisely with what happened to Cedric, Stroth said.

The lawsuit alleges that when confronted by questioning during intake at the facility about whether Lofton required medical treatment, Wichita police intentionally falsified their response on a form and swore that he needed no such treatment. An intake official witnessed the police officer change his response on the form when the officer learned that would trigger an obligation to transport the teen for treatment.

In other words, the officer prioritized his own convenience at the expense of this childs welfare, the lawsuit alleges. And JIAC officials knowingly permitted it.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for Kansas accuses each of the five detention center employees of using excessive force, failing to intervene in other officers use of deadly force and being deliberately indifferent to Loftons serious medical needs.

The lawsuit also alleges excessive force by Sedgwick County, contending its policies, practices and customs allow such force against juveniles. It also accuses the county of failure to train employees on the proper use of force, de-escalation techniques and the management of juveniles with mental health issues.

The complaint further contends Wichita police officers were deliberately indifferent to Loftons medical needs and accuses the city of indifference in failing to train officers on dealing with juveniles and others in the throes of a mental health crisis.

About the photo: In this image from body camera video provided by Sedgwick County, police put Cedric C.J. Lofton, 17, into a body-length restraining device called a WRAP outside his home in Wichita, Kan., on Sept. 24, 2021. The death of the Black teenager at a Kansas juvenile detention center was foreshadowed five years earlier by a state inspection of the facility that noted systemic deficiencies in its handling of children with mental health issues, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Monday, June 13, 2022. (Sedgwick County via AP)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Freeport LNG, operator of one of the largest U.S. export plants producing liquefied natural gas (LNG), said on Tuesday that last weeks fire damage to its Texas plant would keep it fully offline until September with only partial operation through year-end, raising the risk of gas shortages in Europe.

The Quintana, Texas, facility which provides around 20% of U.S. LNG processing, said that a resumption of partial operations is targeted to be achieved in approximately 90 days and a return to full plant operations is not expected until late 2022.

The plant, which was knocked offline by an explosion and fire on June 8, has been a major supplier to Europe, which has sought to move away from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Below are key facts on the plants major buyers and the possible impact of the outage.

Plant Capacity

The Freeport plant can process up to 2.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (bcfd) and at full capacity can export 15 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of the liquid gas. U.S. LNG exports hit a record 9.7 bcfd last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Freeport LNG has been operating at or just above its nameplate capacity of 15 mtpa so far this year.

In March, 21 cargoes loaded at the Freeport facility, carrying an estimated 64 billion cubic feet of gas to destinations in Europe, South Korea and China, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. That was up from 15 cargoes in February and 19 in January.

Major Buyers

BP, otalEnergies, Osaka Gas, Japans biggest power generator JERA and South Koreas SK Gas Trading are listed as the buyers of Freeport LNG cargoes, industry sources said.

BP has the largest contract at 4.4 mtpa through 2040. Jera and Osaka Gas have contracts at 2.3 mtpa each through 2039, while SK and Total Energies have 2.2 mtpa contracts each that run through 2040, according to the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL).

Commodities trader Trafigura also has a small contract to buy gas from Freeport at 0.5 mtpa.

The companies have tolling contracts, which means they buy the gas upstream, arrange shipping to the terminal, which then regasifies it and the offtaker lifts the cargo.

Exports To Europe

Analysts said that around 70% of Freeport monthly supplies in the past few months went to the European Union and Britain.

France, Britain, Turkey and Netherlands have been the biggest European importers from Freeport LNG this year.

According to ICIS LNG Edge, 68% of Freeports cargoes went to Europe, UK and Turkey in last three months.

A delay in restarting Freeport will therefore likely feed into fears of the effects of this lower supply on European gas prices, said Robert Songer, LNG analyst at data intelligence firm ICIS.

Potential Disruption

The longer outage will remove 40 cargoes based on an average cargo size of around 70,000 tonnes. The delay means between 4 million and 5 million tons of LNG in total will be lost from a 100 mtpa market, analysts said.

The initial three-week outage at Freeport had been estimated to result in a loss of around 940,000 tonnes of LNG, or about 13 cargoes, according to Alex Froley, LNG analyst at ICIS.

We estimate an additional loss of around 2.8 million tonnes of LNG following the extension of the Freeport outage from three weeks to 90 days. The biggest impacts are in July and August, which could lose around 1.3 million tonnes each. Froley said on Tuesday.

It looks like the plant wont come straight back to full operations in September either, so there could be ongoing lesser reductions into early winter.

Rystad Energy said in a report that while it is unclear which alternative volumes could replace the drop in exports to Europe, with favorable spot prices, countries such as Nigeria and Algeria that are producing well below capacity could increase production to help fill the void.
At first, it seemed as though nothing could go wrong. Dockless shared electric scooters began showing up on the streets of the worlds cities in 2017, and the vanguard  techies, baristas, twentysomething daredevils  hopped on and rode, confident that they were tilting against two looming threats, urban congestion and climate change. The future of scootering seemed so bright that the valuation of the largest manufacturer, Bird, went from $300 million in March, 2018, to $2 billion three months later, an astronomical leap, even by Silicon Valley standards.But Birds earliest scooters were so flimsy that, in one 2018 study, their average life span on the streets of Louisville, Kentucky, was just 28.8 days. (Bird disputes the studys findings pointing to an investor presentation from 2022 claiming that the half-life of its earliest scooters was three to four months.) Reports of scooter battery fires and brake failures across scooter brands began hitting the news. In August 2018, Birds CEO, Travis VanderZanden, made a highly unusual move, selling off tens of millions of dollars worth of his companys stock.

Today, the scooter industry encompasses over 200 brands, but it is still shadowed by a bad reputation. Scooter-related injuries are so frequent among riders that several law firms offer websites targeting prospective e-scooter plaintiffs. Scooter operators are frequently banned from cities  in January, for instance, Miami kicked out five of the seven companies operating in the city; Manhattan has banned shared scooters. Paris deputy mayor David Belliard last year joined numerous other city leaders in scooter-hate when he proposed getting rid of them completely.

Despite all the attention they command, e-scooters are used for only about one one-thousandth of all trips made in the worlds cities, according to McKinsey & Co. The global consulting giant has predicted that by 2030, micromobility  think bikes, mopeds, e-bikes and scooters  will triple in popularity to sustain a $500 billion industry. Can the scooter grow up and meet that economic promise?

A Boston brand is earnestly trying to make it happen, by focusing on safety. Superpedestrian has put nine years of research into making whats been called the Volvo of scooters. It recently raised $125 million in funding to enhance its technology. And by years end, in several U.S. and European cities, including San Diego, Rome and Madrid, thousands of Superpedestrian scooters will come equipped with a Pedestrian Defense AI system. This software can instantly stop the vehicles engine if the rider hops up onto a curb, starts slaloming wildly or travels up a one-way street. Additional gadgetry will alert headquarters if a rider parks more than 10 centimeters outside a designated area and will self-check 140 components to ascertain if, say, the battery is at risk of igniting or if the throttle is stuck. No other scooter integrates such a suite of safety features, according to Augustin Friedel, an independent industry analyst and mobility expert based in Germany.

Superpedestrian scooters are weird. Weighing in at 60 pounds apiece, theyre inordinately bulky, with a thick stem and solid metal frame. Built with a long wheelbase and a low center of gravity, theyre engineered to roll smoothly, without the shimmying and shaking that plagues some scooters at speed. (A typical, first-generation scooter weighed between 30 and 50 pounds.) And while nearly all scooter companies buy their vehicles from a third-party manufacturer such as Segway or Okai, a Japanese company, Superpedestrian designs its hardware in-house, aiming to become a key player in the shared scooter space. (The company has no plans to sell its scooters directly to consumers.)

Part of Superpedestrians Cambridge, Massachusetts, office functions as a sort of torture chamber where engineers load up to 1,000 pounds atop test scooters, subjecting them to a million simulated potholes. There is also a dunk tank, and on a recent afternoon, Superpedestrians director of product management, Ilya Sinelnikov, found himself musing over how well a Superpedestrian scooter would survive if hooligans tossed it into salt water. It happens sometimes, he said. In Turkey, they needed to use scuba divers to get scooters out of the Bosphorus.

Superpedestrian was born in 2013, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the companys founder and CEO, Assaf Biderman, an Israeli immigrant, is the associate director of the Senseable City Lab. Biderman has spent nearly 20 years obsessing on a mounting global problem: With more people moving to the worlds cities, he says, Were going to see a 3x increase in demand for personal mobility by 2050. Our streets, Biderman contends, are facing unprecedented demand.

The answer, Biderman believes, lies in small, nimble, low-cost electric vehicles. In 2013, he introduced a $1,500 motorized wheel that a cyclist could attach to the back of a bike, to fortify pedaling with electric power as sensors on the wheel collected data on air pollution, congestion and road conditions. The Copenhagen Wheel, as it was known, is no longer being produced. In 2017, Biderman looked at the early shared scooters and saw opportunity. The demand was incredible, he says, but the execution was Wild West. And the problems that scooters were having  fires and brake failures  were exactly what our technology was made to address. Were an engineering company, a robotics and automation specialist, that learned how to become a scooter operator, not the other way around.

Today, Superpedestrian regularly hosts classes on scooter safety. Its helped fund a protected bikeway in Los Angeles, and its brought on a seasoned policy directorPaul Steely White, to help scooters make peace with the urban ecosystem. White, once the director of the New York City-based advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, laments that some early companies used cities streets as a Petri dish. He says, Since micromobility is new, norms havent been established yet. White is trying to bring what he calls an urban planning culture to scootering. Public space is sacred, White argues, and we cant grow unless cities let us grow.

Scooterings user base has always skewed white and affluent, and Superpedestrian is trying to change that too. In Hartford, Connecticut, its enrolled over 400 riders into an equity program, providing discounted fares to residents facing financial hardship. Challenges remain, of course. Kate Lowe, a mobility justice advocate and urban planning professor at the University of Illinois Chicago cites racist policing and inadequate protected infrastructure in communities of color as two looming obstacles to equity in scootering.

Meanwhile, scootering is getting a boost from the coronavirus. Transit use is still below pre-pandemic levels in most cities worldwide, and scooter users are traveling longer distances. Bird has reported that in 2021, its average trip length leapt 58%. In Los Angeles, the average ride was 1.4 miles.

Its unclear how much Superpedestrian can profit from its safety push, though. Its innovations may just go nearly unnoticed amid an industry-wide scramble to wow consumers with cutting-edge safety features. Bird now has its own suite of precision-parking and component-checking hardware, and at least four scooter companies  Tier, Wheels, Wind and Dott  sport folding helmets integrated into their steering columns. (Bird earlier this week announced it will be laying off 23% of its staff.)

Theres a bigger problem for Superpedestrian, though: There is no data that proves scooter safety features mitigate accidents, and its clear that they dont address scooterings biggest menace  cars, which have been involved in 24 of the 30 scooter fatalities known to have happened in the US (as of 2021). David Zipper is, consequently, skeptical of the new craze for safety apparati. Their main benefit, argues Zipper, a visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a contributor to Bloomberg CityLab, is their appeal to city transportation officials who want to minimize complaints about, say, scooters being left on the sidewalk. Its not a life-or-death matter. The real threat is that youll be hit by somebody in a four-ton SUV going 45 miles an hour.

Superpedestrians White acknowledges the threat of cars but defends his companys safety features. If we are not doing our job to protect riders and pedestrians, how can we expect the city to do theirs? he asks. If people think scooters are inherently dangerous, then there will be insufficient political will, and ridership, to win protected bike lanes and other necessary safety infrastructure.

In the interest of quelling the melee on the streets, cities have made scooter tenders competitive. In both San Diego and Chicago this year, Superpedestrian got the municipal green light to distribute scooters but the program is currently stalled because scooter companies that didnt get a license  Bird in San Diego; Bird and Helbiz in Chicago  have appealed. In a statement prepared for this reporter, Bird argued that the RFP processes in both cities were botched. Officials have refused to provide any documentation that explains or justifies their decisions, the statement said. The appeals are pending in both San Diego and Chicago. Superpedestrian eventually will put its scooters out on the street, but its unclear when.

Horace Dediu, an industry analyst widely known as the father of micromobilty, doesnt like the fraught quality of todays tenders and their focus on safety features. With scooters, there has to be geofencing, he snipes. No such regulations are applied to carmakers. Theyre allowed to build vehicles that go 200 miles an hour.

Hes right, but scooters are up against a large problem: Cars have ruled the worlds roads for the last century, and for now scooter use is confined to a demographic willing to tango with fast-moving vehicles. While older riders have been catching on of late, McKinseys statistics show that, among adults over 29, scooter use declines sharply and steadily by age group. And a racial disparity in ridership still prevails. In Chicago, where Superpedestrian has done outreach in the Black community, a recent study found that 59% of the riders there were white, in a city that is 67% Black and brown.

There are hints, though, that urban infrastructure may be poised to undergo a phase shift and become more friendly to slow-moving micros. During the pandemic, Zipper points out, numerous cities have hosted events, excluding cars from the pavement. London has created 72 low-traffic neighborhoods utilizing planters and concrete posts to filter out automobiles. All of this has been wildly popular, Zipper says. Car owners may want to revert to the auto centric status quo, post-pandemic, but at least in big cities I dont see them succeeding.

Another new twist is congestion pricing. By the end of next year, New York Citys MTA may begin charging vehicles a steep fee, probably between $9 and $23, to drive south of 60th Street in Manhattan. San Francisco and Los Angeles also are considering similar measures, and the tactic has already thinned traffic  and made the streets safer  in cities like Singapore and Stockholm.

Dediu believes that in time micromobility will attain critical mass, as other modes of transit have already done, and that infrastructure will come as the user base grows. We didnt build airports and then have airplanes show up, he said. Im confident, given the history, that well see things like more safe roadways for micromobility vehicles.

At Superpedestrian, Assaf Biderman is trying to hasten the scooters arrival and also harboring a geeks faith that now is the scooters technological moment. The robotics and the AI, he says, have finally become robust and affordable enough. Hes heartened by the latest ridership numbers  amid rising gas prices in March, use of Superpedestrian scooters shot up 41% in Seattle.

Still, Superpedestrian is just one brand in a crowded industry. And theres no guarantee that scooters will transcend their current niche. For even another small e-vehicle could come along and soon eclipse them. It could be the quadricycle, or the e-skateboard or the e-cargo bike.

And so for now Superpedestrian is, like smart startups everywhere, working, strategizing. And waiting and hoping.

About the photo: Bird electric scooters in Detroit. Photographer: Anthony Lanzilote/Bloomberg

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
A doctrine that prevents parties from seeking reimbursement for intangible economic losses caused by maritime negligence doesnt prevent an insurer from recouping $1.7 million it paid to a policyholder for damage to a structure used to moor boats, a panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

The appellate panel reversed a decision by a federal judge in New Orleans to dismiss a lawsuit by XL Insurance America against a barge operator that pushed a vessel into a structure that was part of a docking facility on the Mississippi River.

XL sold a builders risk policy to Boh Brothers Construction Co., which had been hired by Plains Marketing, an oil distributor, to upgrade its docks in St. James, Louisiana. On Feb. 12, 2019, a tugboat called the M/V Affirmed pushed an empty tank barge into a mooring dolphin, which is a large pylon that extends from the river bottom.

XL reimbursed Boh Brothers for the $1,254,000 it spent repairing the mooring dolphin and $485,000 that the construction company paid to Plains for its for economic damages. To recoup the amount paid on the claim, the insurer filed a subrogation lawsuit against the owner and operator of the tugboat, Turn Services LLC and Associated Terminals, and the owner of the tanker that was being pushed, Kirby Inland Marine.

The defendants argued that a 1927 Supreme Court decision in Robins Dry Dock & Repair Co. v. Flint established that plaintiffs may not recover purely economic claims in maritime negligence suits. The purpose of the holding was to limit indirect economic repercussions and the specter of runaway recovery, the appellate panel explained.

U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle, with the US District Court for Eastern Louisiana, agreed that the Robins case prohibited XL from recovering its costs and granted a motion by Turn Services for summary judgment.

The 5th Circuit panels opinion says that the Robins case doesnt go so far as Turn Services would like. Boh Brothers did not suffer a pure economic loss as was discussed in the Robins case, the panel said. The term is typically used to describe intangible losses, such as wages not earned because of an injury.

The 5th Circuit said Boh Brothers paid more than $1.2 million to replace the damaged mooring dolphin. The panels said the record isnt clear on why Boh Brothers paid the additional $485,000, but it assumes that it was compensation for economic damages.

We perceive no reason, then, that Robins Dry Dock bars recovery in this situation, the panel opinion says. It is clear, after all, that the doctrine would be inapplicable here if XL had paid the money directly to Plains, because Plains had a proprietary interest in the damaged dolphin.

The panel vacated the decision to dismiss XLs lawsuit and remanded the case to the trial court.

About the photo: The mooring dolphin allegedly damaged when it was struck by a tanker is shown. (Image copied from XL Insurances civil complaint.)
WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. (AP)  Wildfires in Arizona and California forced evacuations as crews work to corral the blazes, authorities said.

Firefighters are responding to a wildfire about 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) north of Flagstaff, Arizona, that has forced evacuations. The Pipeline Fire was reported at 10:15 a.m. Sunday by a fire lookout, said Coconino National Forest officials.

By late that evening, it had burned up to 7.8 square miles (20.2 square kilometers).

Forest Service law enforcement arrested and charged a 57-year-old man with natural resource violations, they said, without providing further details.

The Arizona Snowbowl and people living in the west Schultz Pass Road area must evacuate, officials said.

Crews were also battling a fire in the area north of Flagstaff near Sunset Crater National Monument on Monday, U.S. Forest Service officials said.

County sheriffs officials said residents of Alpine Ranchos were being evacuated as a precaution and deputies were going door-to-door to notify them.

They said an evacuation shelter has been set up at the Sinagua Middle School.

Euelda King and her family evacuated their home for the second time this year because of wildfires. She hadnt settled back in from a springtime blaze before leaving again Sunday, this time able to grab photographs and clothing she didnt get earlier.

Here we go again, she said.

The family of 11 is planning to stay at the Navajo Nation casino, which is offering assistance to tribal members who evacuated.

The family was waiting in a parking lot ahead of road closure signs, watching smoke billow through the air and aircraft flying overhead.

The winds are high, and I think theyre going to have a little bit of a battle with it, King said.

Gusts were sweeping the smoke through Schultz Pass toward Doney Park and authorities said recreationists were being told to leave immediately, especially those in the Schultz Pass area.

The American Red Cross Arizona opened a shelter at Sinagua Middle School for residents who evacuated.

With this thing going as fast as it is, it could get much closer, of course hoping it doesnt, King said.

Authorities said 13 engines, nine crews, six prevention patrol units, three bulldozers and one water tender were involved in fighting the fire. An Incident Management Team is scheduled to arrive Monday.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has closed U.S. Route 89. The department said in a Twitter post that there is no estimated time to reopen the road.

And in California, evacuation orders were in place Monday for remote homes near a wildfire that flared up over the weekend in mountains northeast of Los Angeles, authorities said.

The Sheep Fire broke out Saturday not far from Wrightwood near the Pacific Crest Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains, the San Bernardino County Fire Department said.

The blaze saw renewed growth Sunday afternoon and by nighttime had scorched about 1.5 square miles (3.88 square km) of pine trees and dry brush, officials said.

Law enforcement is going door-to-door with a mandatory evacuation for Desert Front Road and Wild Horse Canyon, according to a Sunday status report. It wasnt clear how many people were affected.

The remainder of the mountain town of Wrightwood, with about 4,500 residents, was under an evacuation warning.

Several mountain roads were closed. The fire was just 5% contained.

To the west in Los Angeles County, firefighters quickly corralled a wildfire that erupted Sunday in foothills above Duarte. No homes were threatened.

The causes of the fires were under investigation.

Fire conditions were elevated because of warm and dry weekend weather across Southern California. Monday was expected to be cooler, but another heatwave was expected at midweek, the National Weather Service said.

About the photo: A firefighter watches as a helicopter drops water at the Sheep fire burning in Wrightwood, Calif., Sunday, June 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Multibillionaire Elon Musk will meet Twitter employees this week for the first time after initiating his $44 billion buyout offer to the social media company.

A source informed The Guardian the virtual meeting is set for Thursday, and Musk will answer questions directly from Twitter employees, citing an email to staff from Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.

The announcement comes after Twitter indicated last week that a shareholder vote on the sale would take place in early August, according to Business Insider.

Musk will attend the company's all-hands conference this week, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed.

Twitter Employees Are Concerned on the Tycoon's Attitude

Several Twitter employees have raised fears that Musk's erratic behavior could destabilize the social media company's business and cause financial harm since his takeover pursuit, per a report from Fox Business.

Agrawal calmed employee fury at a company-wide meeting in April when employees sought explanations about how managers prepared to handle a mass exodus spurred by Musk.

Elon Musk said earlier this month that if Twitter failed to provide data on the number of spam or fraudulent accounts on the site, he would walk out of the agreement.

Twitter maintains that spam and fake accounts account for less than 5% of its users, but Musk believes the number is far greater.

Read Also: Bitcoin Crash: Market Mayhem Leads to Major Drop in Crypto Prices

The tech mogul stated in a letter to regulators that he had the right to measure spam accounts himself. After declaring the sale "on hold" until more information, the letter formalized a dispute that had been simmering for weeks.

Analysts believe Musk is attempting to renegotiate the price or potentially walk away from the agreement because of the difficulty, per BBC. They claimed that his decision to bring the issue up on social media was unorthodox, making it impossible to discern his sincerity.

Musk responded with a poo emoji after Agrawal defended the company's process for spotting bogus accounts in a series of tweets.

Twitter Agreed To Musk's Demands for Internal Data

According to a report from The Washington Post, a reliable source informed the news outlet that Twitter's board plans to comply with Elon Musk's demands for internal data by offering access to the full "firehose," the massive stream of data comprising more than 500 million tweets posted per day.

The move is intended to end a standoff with the tycoon, who has threatened to walk away from his $44 billion plan to buy Twitter unless the business gives him access to data he claims is needed to assess the number of fraudulent users on the platform.

Per a letter addressed to Twitter on Monday, Musk's legal team believes that the data stream is critical for assessing the amount of spam and bot activity on its platform, a statistic that might affect the company's ad revenue.

At the close of New York trading on Monday, the company's shares were trading at $37.03, significantly below Musk's offer price of $54.20.

Musk, regarded as the world's richest man, has pledged more than $33 billion of his wealth, the majority of which comes from his Tesla holdings. However, the company's share values plunged as a global sell-off of tech firms has roiled the stock market.

Related Article: Google Engineer Claims AI Chatbot Is 'Sentient,' Compares It to a 'Precocious Child'

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Pop superstar Justin Bieber revealed on social media on Monday a positive update about his condition following his disclosure that he was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which paralyzed half his face.

Bieber, 28, posted on Instagram: "Wanted to share a little bit of how I've been feelin'. Each day has gotten better and through all of the discomfort I have found comfort in the one who designed me and knows me."

"I know this storm will pass but in the meantime, Jesus is with me," the artist behind the hit "What Do You Mean" added, according to Fox News.

On Friday, Justin Bieber's Facial Paralysis was revealed to the public with an online clip showing his struggle to make facial movements on the right side of his face due to Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a neurological disorder caused by reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in the body, per Forbes.

Justin Bieber revealed that half of his face is paralyzed after being diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome



Prayers up pic.twitter.com/wAgwGMvZgN  RapTV (@Rap) June 10, 2022

Other Celebrities Who Suffered From Facial Paralysis

As the story on Justin Bieber's condition goes on, let us check out celebrities who struggled against Ramsay Hunt syndrome, according to News9:

George Clooney

Three-time Golden Globe winner George Clooney too opened up about his struggle with Bell's Palsy. The American actor revealed that he suffered from the disease during middle school when he was mere 14-years old.

The actor told CNN host Larry King in 2006 that he first noticed the worst when milk dribbled out of his mouth during lunch at the church.

"I thought, 'Oh, my God, I have Lou Gehrig's disease, It was the first year of high school, which was a bad time for having half your face paralyzed," Clooney said.

It took him nine months to recover from the condition.

Anupam Kher

In 2016, Anupam Kher revealed his facial paralysis for the first time. During the filming of Hum Aapke Hai Koun in 1994, the actor developed facial paralysis.

Kher stated that his doctors urged him to rest completely for two months, but the actor had a different plan in mind and pushed ahead with the film shoot.

During a conversation with journalist Rajat Sharma in his show Aapki Adalat, the actor disclosed that while having a meal at Anil Kapoor's residence, his wife told Kher that his other eye was not blinking.

"I thought it must be due to fatigue. When I was brushing the next morning, water came out from my mouth on its own," the actor said.

Read Also: Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp: Can 'Aquaman' Actress Win an Appeal After Major Loss?

Stress is a Significant Factor

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie acknowledged in a prior interview with Vanity Fair that she formerly struggled with Bell's palsy, an uncommon and sometimes perplexing neurologic ailment.

The actress claimed that after her divorce from Brad Pitt in 2016, she had to care for six children, which caused her health to suffer.

Jolie then thanked acupuncture for helping her recover from Bell's palsy, noting that she is now fully recovered.

"Sometimes women in families put themselves last... until it manifests itself in their health," she stated.

Apurva Asrani

In 2020, Apurva Asrani used social media to raise awareness of Bell's Palsy. The national award-winning filmmaker and editor announced the event on Twitter, saying it came after a "stressful fight" with a Bollywood star.

"Navigating the big city, navigating traffic, I was always hurrying, because no matter how much I tried, I was always late. Then at the cusp of turning 40, after a stressful fight with a leading actress, I was struck with #BellsPalsy, a form of bilateral facial paralysis. This was accompanied by severe vertigo & nausea. I was forced to stop everything, including the editing of #madeinheaven."

The situation forced her to move out of the city, "slow down," and better care of her health for three years.

"I thank God for pushing me towards a slow life. I know now that things meant to happen, will," Apurva noted in a separate tweet.

Related Article: Britney Spears Marries Sam Asghari: Things To Know About the Pop Icon's Latest Husband

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
United States President Joe Biden will conduct a three-day visit to the Middle East region next month, according to a White House announcement on Tuesday.

President Biden will make stops in Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia during his trip from July 13 to July 16 to meet several leaders in the Middle East.

Finding Solutions to Various Issues of Israel, Palestine

Pres. Biden will begin his Middle East trip in Israel, where he will visit a site where US-funded defense systems like the Iron Dome are in operation, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Monday.

The official said the visit would focus on Israel's "increasing integration into the region" as a result of the Abraham Accords, which were negotiated under Trump's administration, as well as relations with Jordan and Egypt. The president will hold a virtual summit of the so-called I2-U2 (India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the US) on the first leg of his Middle East trip to tackle food security and other issues, per CBS News report.

Per The Jerusalem Post, Biden's trip will also overlap with the Maccabiah Games, which gather Jewish athletes from all over the world to Israel for an Olympics-style competition, and Pres. Biden "may have the opportunity to meet some of the athletes."

At his second stop in the West Bank, Biden is expected to meet with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and other Palestinian leaders. According to the official, the president "looks forward to reaffirming his lifelong commitment to a two-state solution" and establishing means to "rekindle a new political horizon that can ensure equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity, and dignity to Israelis and Palestinians alike."

Read Also: UN Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet Declines Second Term Amid Criticism Over Stance on China

Will Pres. Biden Seek Saudi Arabia's Help To Lower US Oil Prices?

The president's tour will conclude in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where he will convene with Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes leaders from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt. The leaders will discuss climate change, infrastructure, human rights, and food security at the summit.

Biden will also travel to Jeddah "at the invitation" of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

In a statement, Jean-Pierre said, "The president appreciates King Salman's leadership and his invitation." He looks forward to this important visit to Saudi Arabia, which has been a strategic partner of the United States for nearly eight-decade."

The Saudi embassy in Washington said in a statement that Mr. Biden and the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will "hold official talks that will focus on various areas of bilateral cooperation."

According to a Politico report, John Kirby, the National Security Council's coordinator for strategic communications, told MSNBC on Tuesday that oil production will be included in Biden's meetings with Saudi authorities. The war in Yemen and Iran's "destabilizing behavior" will also be covered.

Kirby also expects that Biden would meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and King Salman in bilateral discussions.

"Of course, the crown prince is on that team, so I suspect he will certainly see the crown prince in the context of these meetings," he noted.

Pres. Biden could use his visit to persuade Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, to help stabilize oil markets, cutting prices in the United States. However, Jean-Pierre told the media on Monday that perceiving dialogue with Saudi officials as "asking for oil" is "simply wrong" and a misconception of both the complexity of the situation and the US' "multifaceted discussions with the Saudis."

Related Article: US Power Grid Could Go Offline If Russia Stops Uranium Supply

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Feature: BRICS bank-financed water project brings hope to rural people in India

13:12, June 14, 2022 By Pankaj Yadav ( Xinhua

NEW DELHI, June 14 (Xinhua) -- A rural water supply project funded by the New Development Bank (NDB), or BRICS bank, is well in progress in the difficult terrains of India's northern hilly state of Himachal Pradesh, bringing hope to over half a million people suffering from water woes.

Himachal Pradesh lacks sustainable infrastructure for the rural water supply. Hilly and difficult terrain makes the task more challenging.

According to the NDB, around 42 percent of the habitations in the state have limited access to clean drinking water and are classified as partially covered for water supply. Non-availability of reliable water supply also causes the rural population to spend up to 2 hours for water fetching and storing related activities.

The NDB's loan of 80 million U.S. dollars was sanctioned in December 2021, and the project has already got reimbursement its first installment worth around 330 million Indian rupees (about 4.25 million U.S. dollars).

The total estimated cost of the project is 100 million dollars. The remaining 20 million dollars are to be borne by the Indian side.

The soft loan has been provided to the Indian Government, which in turn has been passed on to the Himachal Pradesh state government. The loan is to be repaid in 20 years, with an additional five-year "grace period".

The project is to be completed within a period of 44 months, including six "grace months." It is to benefit people living in as many as 1,255 villages located across eight districts.

A Xinhua correspondent recently visited the project site at the Kangra district's Indora sub-division and witnessed the work of laying of pipelines being carried out, and the work on constructing storage tanks about to begin.

Water is to be first lifted from a source situated in the plains, then stored in huge tanks, and finally distributed among the villagers through pipelines with taps in almost each household.

The locals are upbeat about the project, hoping that their long-standing water woes would be resolved soon.

Raman, a resident of village Makroli, told Xinhua that the water supply at his home has been quite erratic ever since his birth.

"Since my childhood I have never seen a regular water supply at my home. I hope this scheme funded by the NDB will ensure a regular water supply to us," said Raman, who did not reveal his full name.

Engineer-in-Chief of the project Sushil Justa said that the NDB-funded rural water scheme would prove to be a boon for the inhabitants in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh.

He said that the people staying in some of the top hilly terrains aren't able to get a regular potable water supply, and that the ladies in these areas have to fetch water from far flung areas to meet their daily needs.

He said that the NDB has been helping with the funding of water supply projects. "The NDB has funded 24 water supply schemes in eight districts of Himachal," he said.

"Work on most of them has started. This loan and project agreement was signed in December 2021. The loan is effective from January 25 this year only," he said.

Headquartered in Shanghai, the NDB was established by BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bank formally opened in July 2015.

B.R. Deepak, Professor of Chinese & China Studies at India's Jawaharlal Nehru University, praised the NDB as playing an extremely important role in developing hard and social infrastructure across BRICS countries.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Japan's parliament passed legislation making "online insults" punishable by imprisonment on Monday, following the suicide of a reality show star who had experienced social media harassment that shocked the nation.

Offenders guilty of online insults could face a year in prison or a fine of 300,000 yen (about $2,200) under an amendment to the country's penal code slated to take effect later this summer, according to a CNN report.

The bill sparked debate in the country, with opponents claiming it would suppress free expression and political criticism. Supporters, on the other hand, argued that harsher regulation was required to combat bullying and harassment on the internet.

It was only enacted after a provision was introduced requiring a three-year review of the law's impact on freedom of expression.

According to a representative for the Ministry of Justice, insults are defined as publicly degrading someone's stature without referring to specific facts about them or a specific action. Defamation, meanwhile, is defined as openly slandering someone while referring to particular facts. Under Japan's penal code, both of these actions are punishable.

Increased Punishment

At the moment, insults carry a sentence of fewer than 30 days in prison or a fine of fewer than 10,000 yen. The proposed revisions would impose a one-year jail sentence and a fine of up to 300,000 yen.

In addition, the statute of limitations for insults will be increased from one to three years. The reforms will take effect 20 days after they are signed into law.

The legislation does not specify to what extent an insult may be considered punishable.

Kyodo News reported two men were fined 9,000 yen each in Osaka and Fukui prefectures for slurs made against TV personality Kimura before her demise, but other people complained that the fines were too little, prompting the campaign for legal revisions.

At the House of Councilors plenary session on Monday, a proposal to combine two types of incarceration - with and without forced work - into a single penalty was approved.

Read Also: Bitcoin Crash: Market Mayhem Leads to Major Drop in Crypto Prices

Inmates will no longer be required to do prison work, giving more time for rehabilitative counseling and education to minimize recidivism.

The unified imprisonment law will go into force three years after it is passed. As per a Japan Times article, it is the first time since the Penal Code was enacted in 1907 that this form of punishment has been modified.

Hana Kimura's Mother Welcomes New Law

After the murder of professional wrestler and reality television star Hana Kimura, the subject of online harassment has gained traction in recent years, with increased calls for anti-cyberbullying legislation.

Kimura, a 22-year-old actress, best known for her performance in the Netflix series "Terrace House," committed suicide in 2020. Many pointed to Online insults she had received from social media users in the months leading up to her death as a source of grief and shock.

Kimura's mother, former professional wrestler Kyoko Kimura, pushed for stricter anti-cyberbullying laws and founded the non-profit "Remember Hana" to spread awareness about cyberbullying.

Following the announcement of the parliament's decision, Kyoko held a press conference to laud the new law with the hope that the amendment would result in more specific legislation.

"I want people to know that cyberbullying is a crime," she said.

Related Article: New York Subway Stabber Faces Several Charges for Unprovoked Attacks; One Victim Remains Dependent on Ventilator

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Elon Musk hints at Tesla's next North America factory. But the new plant of the electric vehicle (EV) maker might not necessarily be in the United States.

Is the tech giant considering locations like Mexico and Canada?

Elon Musk and Tesla Factory in North America

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder of Tesla, Musk, reportedly spoke to the workforce of his EV firm, disclosing what the future holds for the tech giant.

While the ultra-rich tech entrepreneur spoke internally to his employees, Electrek got a recording of the company-wide meeting.

The recording reportedly had Musk himself speaking about the plans and considerations of Tesla. The meeting even had a part wherein the employees of the EV maker asked the CEO a few questions.

The question and answer portion of the company-wide meeting revealed what might be the location of the future plant of the renowned automaker.

An employee went on to ask Musk where the location of the next Tesla plant in the US could be. The wealthiest man in the world responds, saying that he has yet to have a final location for the new Tesla factory.

Despite that, the tech exec hinted that the next plant is likely going beyond the US. But it should still be in the North American region.

Read Also: Tesla Model X, Model S's NEW Swivel Screen Arrives - Here's a Close Look

Tesla Plant in Mexico and Canada?

The Tesla boss said that the site for the new Tesla factory is still under consideration.

Electrek says that Musk reportedly puts it this way: "We are looking at sites, but we are considering some site options more broadly in North America."

That said, it appears that the giant EV maker is still in the process of looking for its new factory location.

Although Tesla has yet to choose its new site, Musk hinted that the search might have been narrowed down already.

The Tesla founder says the next plant could likely be in other North American locations, such as Mexico and Canada. But that does not necessarily mean that the EV maker is completely removing the US from its considerations.

Canada and Mexico

According to a recent report by Tesla North, the two nations in North America, namely Canada and Mexico, is actually home to a couple of automobile factories. But the plants in these locations are more traditional ones.

On the other hand, Tesla is a disruptor in the car-making scene. The giant EV maker is known for its face-paced manufacturing, hitting record-breaking production output.

In fact, Tesla North reports that its newest plant, the Gigafactory Texas, got built swiftly. The whole construction only lasted for less than two years.

Related Article: Elon Musk Is Not Moving Twitter's Acquisition Forward Without the Exact Number of Bots
SpaceX is almost ready to use its Starbase site in South Texas.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has found after its environmental review that SpaceX would need to make a handful of adjustments to continue conducting tests and launches at its Starbase launch facility in South Texas, per The Verge.

The FAA's environmental review was previously delayed to June 13 after it was moved a second time in early June.

FAA Review Findings

The FAA mentioned in its report that SpaceX's plans for its Starbase launch site in South Texas would have some environmental impact on the area surrounding it, but not enough to require a full environmental impact statement.

As such, SpaceX can continue developing, testing, and in the future, launching its Starship vehicle in its Starbase launch facility if it can mitigate its environmental impact around the site's area.

SpaceX's Starbase launch facility is located at Boca Chica, Cameron County, Texas, right on the southern tip of Texas along the Rio Grande river and the US-Mexico border.

For the FAA to green-light SpaceX's operations in its Starbase launch facility, it would have to make more than 75 changes to its proposal for the facility. These revisions are necessary for SpaceX to help it avoid additional reviews and eventually receive an FAA license to launch its new Starship rocket from there.

These revisions include Space's coordination with a "qualified biologist" on lighting inspections to minimize the impact on sea turtles, implementing plans to mitigate the potential for accidental releases and polluting substances, and performing quarterly cleanups of the local Boca Chica Beach, per CNBC.

Read More: Elon Musk: Tesla Fremont is Now the Largest Plant in North America  Outperforming Toyota, GM?

SpaceX is also expected to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local rules and regulations regarding the proper storage, handling, and use of hazardous materials.

As for air quality, the FAA instructs SpaceX to implement measures to minimize the launch facility's impacts on air quality. These measures include the periodic water spraying to control particulates and fugitive dust, the use of Best Management Practices, and compliance with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's authorization under the Oil and Gas Standard permit.

The company is also expected to contribute to local education and preservation efforts, such as contributing a historical context report of the events of the Mexican War and the Civil War that took place in the launch site's area and replacing missing ornaments on a local historical marker.

SpaceX will also make annual contributions of $5000 each to organizations protecting ocelots and endangered birds of prey and to a state recreational fishing program.

SpaceX's Reaction To The Review's Results

SpaceX did not give an official comment about the review's results and the adjustments the FAA recommends it to do. However, the company did post on its official Twitter page that the review is "one step closer to the first orbital flight test of Starship."

Starship is a 400 ft. tall, reusable rocket that is expected to carry cargo and groups of people beyond Earth. This is the same rocket SpaceX will use for the Artemis missions, specifically, Artemis' first crewed mission, Artemis 3, per Space.com.

Related Article: SpaceX Starship Environmental Review Delayed Again by FAA  When is the New Date?
Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday.
Are you a current print subscriber to Columbia Gorge News? If so, you qualify for free access to all content on columbiagorgenews.com. Simply verify with your subscriber id to receive free access. Your subscriber id may be found on your bill or mailing label.
Kaiser Permanente suffered a massive online data breach.

A data breach recently announced by Kaiser Permanente, one of the major not-for-profit health plans and health care providers in the United States, exposed the medical records of more than 69,000 individuals.

Kaiser Permanente Data Breach

Kaiser Permanente alerted 69,589 individuals about their most recent data breach at the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington.

On April 5, 2022, an unauthorized individual gained access to the email account of an employee at the company, which contained protected health information (PHI) of patients who are all confirmed to be their customers. The company disclosed this information in a notification that was posted on its website.

According to BleepingComputer, the company stated, "This notice describes a security incident that may have impacted the protected health information of some Kaiser Permanente patients who may have been affected by an unauthorized access incident on April 5, 2022."

In a letter dated June 3, 2022, Kaiser Permanente informed those whose information had been improperly accessed by malicious threat actors. The following sensitive information was exposed as a result of the attack:

The initials and full names of the patients

Numbers assigned to medical records

Times and dates of services

Information regarding the results of laboratory tests

The company has stated that there was no exposure of sensitive information such as Social Security numbers or credit card data during this breach.

As reported by Health IT Security, the hack, within hours, Kaiser Permanente cut off access to the information and then started an investigation. Even while there was no evidence to suggest that an unauthorized party accessed the PHI that was contained in the emails, the organization was unable to completely discount the possibility.

With more than 12 million customers, Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest healthcare providers in the United States that operates on a not-for-profit basis. It has about 300,000 employees, including more than 80,000 medical professionals and nurses, and operates 39 hospitals and more than 700 medical offices.

Kaiser Permanente is a nonprofit organization that was established in 1945 and currently serves over 12.5 million patients across eight states in the United States as well as in Washington, D.C.

Read Also: Online Marketplace Selling Names, Social Security Numbers of 24 Million Americans Taken Offline

Kaiser Permanente's Mitigation

Kaiser Permanente, as stated, assured its customers that the company took hold of the breach within a matter of hours. The company stated that the employee whose login was maliciously hacked received extra training on safe email practices, and we are currently evaluating other steps we can take to ensure that events like this do not happen in the future.

In addition, as a response to the incident, Kaiser stated that it immediately reset the password for the employee's email account where the unauthorized activity was discovered.

Kaiser Permanente cut off the attacker's access to the email account and commenced an investigation into the event to determine the extent of its influence.

Although Kaiser Permanente did not disclose the exact number of patients affected by the breach notice, information that was filed with the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Health and Human Services shows that this incident led to 69,589 individuals having their PHI exposed.

In spite of the fact that there is no evidence that protected health information has been misused or stolen as a result of the security breach, Kaiser Permanente has cautioned those whose information was compromised to remain vigilant against the possibility of fraud.

Related Article: Hello XD Ransomware Increases Activity, Has a New Encryptor That will Help Avoid Detection
Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
Because black holes do not emit their own light, they are incredibly difficult to detect. This is true even though astronomers say that among the 100 billion stars in our galaxy, there should be 100 million black holes.

Space.com reported that according to one estimate of its mass, a rogue black hole spotted roaming the space lanes of our Milky Way galaxy alone could be the smallest black hole ever observed. This first known isolated stellar-mass black hole was discovered earlier this year by astronomers led by Kailash Sahu of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

We don't have to be alarmed because the black hole is only 5,000 light-years away, according to NASA. However, based on statistics, NASA pointed out that the nearest wandering black hole to Earth might be no more than 80 light-years away. The isolated black hole, according to Sahu's team, is moving at 100,000 miles per hour (160,000 kilometers) across the galaxy. This speed is fast enough to travel from Earth to the Moon in less than three hours.

Read More: ALMA Snaps Photo of a Spiral Galaxy Located 86,000 Light-Years Away

How Did Scientists Discover the Wandering Blackhole?

The light from a star far behind the black hole was briefly brightened and deflected by the black hole passing in front of it, as shown in the image above. The Hubble Space Telescope's exceptional resolution was ideal for this long and tedious measurement. The intense gravitation of the black hole left a distinct fingerprint on the deflection of starlight, ruling out other gravitational lensing hypotheses, as per NASA.

The space agency noted that the warping of space caused by the gravity of a foreground object traveling in front of a background star will bend and amplify the light of the background star as it passes in front of it for a brief instant. Astronomers investigate stars and exoplanets in the approximately 30,000 events seen so far inside our galaxy using the gravitational microlensing phenomena.

A rogue black hole can't be photographed because it doesn't emit any light. A black hole, on the other hand, warps space, deflecting and amplifying starlight from anything that happens to line up exactly behind it.

Who Are the People Involved in the Discovery?

Two teams, one led by Kailash Sahu of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, and the other by Casey Lam of the University of California, Berkeley, used Hubble data in their investigations. Although the conclusions of the two teams varied significantly, they both point to the presence of a compact object (the wandering blackhole).

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) collaborated on the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Hubble science operations are managed by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland. The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C. operates STScI for NASA.

Related Article: ESA's Gaia Mission to Help Researchers Learn More About the Milky Way Galaxy Thanks to Upcoming Data
06/14/2022

Photo source: Facebook QueensMade Lemonade of Cincinnati, Ohio, is recalling all its juice-type products, including all lemonade flavors as well as its Ginger Turmeric shots.

The products are considered adulterated as they were not inspected, and the safety parameters were not able to be verified.

No illnesses have been reported.

The following products were sold at various retail locations, restaurants, and mobile food trucks throughout the Cincinnati area:

QueensMade Lemonade 16oz. plastic bottle and 32 oz plastic jug

QueensMade Mixed Berry Lemonade 16oz. plastic bottle

QueensMade Strawberry Lemonade 16oz. plastic bottle and 32 oz plastic jug

QueensMade Mango Lemonade 16oz. plastic bottle

QueensMade Munkfruit Lemonade 16oz. plastic bottle

Ginger Turmeric shots

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but return them to QueensMade Lemonade, 4978 Cleves Warsaw Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio 45238.

Consumers with questions may contact the firm at (513) 205-3753.
Sonos has received numerous complaints about its speakers lately.

In a popular Reddit thread of the brand, numerous users, who are in pseudonyms, have flocked with their shared experience regarding the shipping problems they have encountered with Sonos.

Some customers who recently ordered speakers from Sonos' website received more than what they ordered, which normally would not be a cause for complaint. However, Sonos wants customers to return the additional products that were shipped, promising that they will refund the added cost.

Even though Sonos is offering customers a refund for the additional fees that they were charged, some customers are still dissatisfied because they were not given a discount for the inconvenience of having to deal with a problem that was not their fault.

Sonos Shipping Problems

Sonos customers were seen complaining in a thread on the social media platform Reddit. The tread is traction and alarm as the users have shared the same experiences that could potentially harm the company.

The experience is of ordering one Sonos Move speaker from the company's official website and then being able to receive multiple items or multiple wrong products in delivery. In this Reddit thread, this question was posted: "Anyone else get multiple shipments for the same order in error?"

User sk8605 replied, stating, "Yup. Ordered a Ray, and was charged for and sent 4 of them. SONOs redirected 3 of them back with Purolator before we got them. "

In the thread, a user named Tobi-2 complained about receiving two Sonos Move after ordering one. As reported by The Verge, two different users have reported to them that they each placed an order for one Sonos Move but ended up receiving three of them instead.

Another user reported that they had been charged over $2,000 after placing an order for one Move speaker but receiving seven speakers in total. Based on the email that the company sent to its customers, it looks like there were also complaints about some users being overcharged for their purchases.

Additionally, they claim that Sonos has provided them with an estimated timeframe of up to ten business days before they will receive their refund. It turns out that this is not just affecting orders for Sonos Move but also for Roam and Ray.

Read Also: Kaiser Permanente Hack: Health Data of 69,000 People Exposed - How Did It Happen

Sonos' Mitigation

Sonos sent out emails to users that were affected and apologized to their customers for the inconvenience of the shipping mishaps.

According to the company, the recent update in their systems caused certain orders to be processed multiple times. Unfortunately, this error has resulted in an excessive charge being applied to their account. Sonos also admitted that users might have a tendency to receive orders that will be delivered to them in multiple separate shipments.

The company's Chief Information Officer, Ruth Sleeter, stated, "I want to personally apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. You will receive a full refund for any excess orders and should see the credit issued to your account within 10 business days."

The email detailed that, within one to two business days, users will receive an email at this address containing prepaid return labels for any excess orders that they have placed. Sonos stated that they will gladly schedule a pick-up with their carrier in order to make this process as uncomplicated as possible for their affected customers.

On a positive side, the company was keen on providing contact information on where the customers could reach them. The affected users can get in touch with them either by responding to this email or calling their priority support line at 1 (800) 680-3527 between the hours of 7 AM and 4 PM PT, Monday through Friday.

Related Article: Sonos to Launch Its Own Voice Assistant This Year
Etteplan.sharepoint.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 28 Oct 2015, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the etteplan.sharepoint homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the etteplan.sharepoint homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the etteplan.sharepoint homepage on Twitter + the total number of etteplan.sharepoint followers (if etteplan.sharepoint has a Twitter account). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the etteplan.sharepoint homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if etteplan.sharepoint has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the etteplan.sharepoint homepage on StumbleUpon.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE Sign in to Office 365 DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS account, sign in, your work or school, your work or, work or school, your work, email address



The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The title found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE HTML 4.01 Strict CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Microsoft-IIS/8.5 (ASP.NET) OPERATIVE SYSTEM

Type of server and offered services. The language of etteplan.sharepoint.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Operative System running on the server. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Character set and language of the site.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for etteplan.sharepoint.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND

The total number of people who like website Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The URL of the found Facebook page. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The type of Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
According to Business Insider and Reuters, the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, has appealed a Moscow court order to erase content about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russian Court Said Wikipedia Should Remove Articles About the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Wikimedia Foundation said in a statement that it was fined 5 million roubles ($88,000) by Moscow court for refusing to remove what it called "disinformation" from Russian-language Wikipedia articles on the war, including "Russian Invasions of Ukraine (2022)," "Battle for Kyiv," "War Crimes during the Russian Invasion of Ukraine," "Shelling of Hospital in Mariupol," and "Bombing of the Mariupol Theater."

The Foundation was prosecuted under a law about the failure to delete banned information. Reuters mentioned that Roskomnadzor, Russia's communications regulator, brought up the case.

Wikipedia Appealed to the Russian Court

The Wikipedia appeal, which was submitted on June 6 and the contents of which were revealed on Monday, claims that removing information violates human rights. It claimed that Russia had no control over the Wikimedia Foundation, which was available in more than 300 languages throughout the world.

Wikipedia also stated that, while its website operates within Russia, the country has no jurisdiction over the online encyclopedia. The organization also stated that it has yet to comply with any of Russia's requests to remove the articles in question.

Read More: Russia Has Two Months Left Before It Runs Out of Data Storage

"The government is targeting information that is vital to people's lives in a time of crisis. We urge the court to reconsider in favor of everyone's rights to knowledge access and free expression," said Stephen LaPorte, Associate General Counsel at the Wikimedia Foundation.

Blocking Wikipedia access in Russia would deny over 145 million people access to this critical knowledge resource, the website added.

As per Reuters, following Moscow's crackdown on the press, Wikipedia, which claims to provide "the second draft of history," is one of the only main fact-checked Russian-language sources of information for Russians.

What Started This Issue?

Business Insider reported that Russia's demands came after President Vladimir Putin approved new "disinformation" laws in March, which empower authorities to sentence anybody who shares what they consider to be false information about the war to up to 15 years in prison or fines of up to 5 million rubles.

Ukraine, as per Reuters, claims it is the victim of an unprovoked imperial land grab by Russia, and it will fight to the bitter end to restore the territory seized by Russian forces. Ukraine has frequently requested additional assistance from the West in its struggle against Russia.

The terms "war" and "invasion" are not used by Putin or Russian officials. They described it as a "special military operation" intended at protecting Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine from persecution.

Russia claims that the supposed evidence of war crimes is made up of well crafted forgeries, and that Ukraine and its Western allies have spread lies about Russian forces.

Related Article: More VPNs Blocked as Russia Strengthens Digital Iron Curtain
Installation view of the memorial exhibition of Korean abstract art master Yoo Young-kuk, "Colors of Yoo Youngkuk," at Kukje Gallery in central Seoul / Courtesy of Kukje Gallery



Exhibition marks 20th anniversary of artist's death at Kukje Gallery



By Park Han-sol





Painter Yoo Young-kuk in the 1970s / Courtesy of Yoo Youngkuk Art Foundation

Dubbed as a "magician of colors," Yoo Young-kuk (1916-2002) is best known for distilling the Korean natural landscape  characterized by roaring waters, rugged mountains and the blazing sun  into the basic formal elements of dots, lines, plane and color.



While nature was undeniably his muse, he made no attempt to depict these elements realistically. Instead, his dynamic visual vocabulary focused on portraying the essence of nature through brilliant, abstract aesthetics.



In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Yoo's death, Kukje Gallery in central Seoul is hosting a panoramic survey of the work of the pioneer of Korean abstract modernism at its exhibition, "Colors of Yoo Youngkuk."



As its title indicates, the show aims to trace the painter's trajectory of life within modern Korea's tumultuous history and the decades-long artistic tenacity he showed to develop his own vibrant vocabulary through its key focus on color.





Yoo Young-kuk's "Work" (1977) / Courtesy of Yoo Youngkuk Art Foundation





Yoo Young-kuk's "Work" (1992) / Courtesy of Yoo Youngkuk Art Foundation



"Essentially, it's an exhibition that centers on Yoo's iconic usage of colors (that continued to evolve throughout his lifetime)," Lee Yong-woo, an assistant professor of cultural studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the guest curator of the show, said at a press preview held last week.



In addition to 68 paintings that represent different stages of the artist's career, sprinkled throughout the gallery space is an extensive archive that offers a multifaceted glimpse into Yoo as a persistent painter, father, husband and first-generation "modern boy."



Some of the notable items from the archive include postcards featuring Yoo's early works produced between the mid-1930s and early 1950s  the majority of which were lost due to the 1950-1953 Korean War and a series of natural disasters  and rare drawings and preliminary sketches, as well as original photographic prints taken by the artist in 1942 during his time in Japan.



It was in the 1930s when Yoo, who had been born and raised in the hinterlands of southeastern city of Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, went to Japan to pursue art. He returned to his homeland in 1943 at the peak of the Pacific War, and for the next two decades, led a life divided between his artistic passion and the need to put food on the table for his family through fishing and operating a distillery.



During this time, he led a number of different early avant-garde art associations in Korea, such as New Realism Group, Modern Art Association, Contemporary Artists and New Figures Group.





Installation view of "Colors of Yoo Youngkuk" / Courtesy of Kukje Gallery



"The artworks created in this period of transition have a different feel from Yoo's vibrant, signature paintings that most are familiar with today," Lee said.



"While he began transforming natural elements into abstract composition, the pieces emphasize the matiere or texture of oil paint. The color was then of secondary importance to him, compared to shapes and forms."



The turning point came in 1964 when Yoo, at the age of 48, cut his ties with all art groups and held his first solo exhibition, announcing his new life of solitude and abstinence as a full-time artist.



To make up for what he referred as "the lost period," the artist religiously followed the same routine to give life to hundreds of sumptuous paintings, spending his time  often with his wife sitting in silence by his side  in the studio, day in and day out.



On display at the gallery are works of art, mainly in hues of green, blue and ultramarine, produced during this period, which Lee saw as "reflective of Yoo's youthful, high-spirited determination as he began his journey as a full-time painter."





Installation view of "Colors of Yoo Youngkuk" / Courtesy of Kukje Gallery
Over the past several years, the emergence of big-ticket, destructive ransomware attacks jolted the U.S. government into action to circumscribe the predominately Russian-based threat actors behind the scourge. At the same time, ransomware has been a critical factor driving the growth in corporate cybersecurity budgets as organizations grapple with the often-crippling threat.

Despite the policy measures and increased private sector funding to slow down the drumbeat of attacks, ransomware threats remained a top topic at this year's RSA conference. Experts at the event underscored that Russian state-sanctioned criminal actors are not the only ransomware threat actors to fear, nor are ransomware attacks decreasing despite the intensified efforts to nip them in the bud. The same actions taken to quash ransomware activity might end up forging alliances among financially motivated threat actors to create hybrid cyber-attacks that meld social engineering with ransomware.

Iran is a ransomware innovator

Speaking at RSA, Dmitri Alperovitch, executive chairman at Silverado Policy Accelerator and co-founder and former CTO at CrowdStrike, said Iran is an innovator in ransomware with its SamSam ransomware. He noted that it was an Iranian group that attacked the city of Atlanta and the state of Colorado with this malware, and it was Iran that first introduced big game hunting at scale.

"Not just trying to target one system within a network and lock it up, but really doing an intrusion and then rolling ransomware across the entire network to try to get as big of a ransom as possible that we now have seen from all other groups like REvil, LockBit, and others," he said. "One of the things that the Iranians are doing, and we're seeing this in the criminal space as well, is leaking data to harass organizations.," Alperovitch said

Ransomware attacks are still increasing

Sandra Joyce, executive vice president and head of Mandiant Intelligence and Advanced Practices, said that it's misleading to think that ransomware attacks are going down, a common misconcpetion in the wake of Ukraine's invasion of Russia. "If you look at Q1 year after year and Q2 year after year, what you're going to see is a very stark rise," she said.

"I can tell you that at Mandiant, we saw a spike in the last week and a half." Joyce pointed in particular to shaming site victims, "where if you don't pay and frankly at times where you do actually pay, threat actors are going to go and dump your data there."

Sometimes ransomware is not a factor in threat groups' attacks. "A lot of what we measure for ransomware gets intermixed with data theft and extortion, and there may not be any need to drop any malware at all," Joyce said. "And we've been predicting for quite a while that these attacks could have nothing to do with malware. It could just simply be extortion and data theft, and it's getting measured as ransomware as well. So, the thing to think about is a lot of what's happening in the ransomware space with or without malware is a tactic to evade sanctions."

REvil comes back from the dead

But the ransomware news isn't all bad, Alperovitch said. "We had some good news on the ransomware front. In January, a month before [Russia's invasion of Ukraine], the Russians did take action against 14 individuals that were part of this group, REvil, that was responsible for some of the most high-profile attacks last year."

More recent developments have undercut even that bright spot. "Problem solved, right?" Alperovitch said. "Well, not so fast. The little thing called war happened, and that, of course, resulted in a breakdown in the communications between the cyber teams in the United States government and Russian cyber teams. Understandably so."

"What you see now are statements coming out of lawyers for these individuals back in Russia saying, 'Well, it turns out that the U.S. is not providing any information that we can use in the prosecutions of these individuals. So [prosecutors] should just drop the charges and let them go.' It's unclear if that has yet happened."

Consequently, the prolific threat group is returning to life in what Alperovitch said is an incredibly resilient ecosystem that spreads responsibilities across many specialized actors within the group. "One of the things that we are seeing now is, REvil is starting to come back. Some of their sites and tor networks have come back, and we have to watch that very carefully."

Costa Rica's ransomware attack is a cautionary tale

The recent ransomware attack on Costa Rica that has cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity and spurred the Conti ransomware attackers to call for the overthrow of the nations government highlights the enduring destructive power of ransomware. Matt Olsen, assistant attorney general for national security at the U.S. Department of Justice, signaled that the attack on Costa Rica is probably not a targeted one but is likely a case of uncontrolled ransomware.

Olsen said the Costa Rica attack is possible "spillover" damage from the Russian ransomware group's operations. "When you look at what happened with NotPetya, where the Russian attack was focused really on Ukraine, it was sort of a fake ransomware attack. But it immediately spilled over outside the borders of Ukraine. That's the nature of these types of attacks. They don't recognize national boundaries. I think that's a cautionary tale where you see there's every reason to believe that Russia will expand its reach to countries and places using groups that are going be helping carry out its goals."

Ransomware and BEC actors could converge over the next year or so

Two of the top financially motivated cyberattacks, ransomware and business email compromise (BEC), have risen in parallel over the past five to six years, even though "they are on completely opposite sides of the cybercrime spectrum" in terms of sophistication, Crane Hassold, director of threat intelligence at Abnormal Security, told the conference attendees.

Ransomware is a highly concentrated specialty with a centralized ecosystem. Almost two-thirds of all ransomware activity between 2020 and 2021 could be attributed to just three ransomware groups, Hassold said. "Right now, over 50% of ransomware activity is attributed to Conti or LockBit."

On the other hand, BEC is committed by thousands of actors with little central direction, mostly in places like West Africa or Nigeria. Despite these differences, Hassold thinks ransomware actors will gravitate to BEC over the next 12 to 18 months, mainly because government authorities are making it difficult for ransomware gangs to get paid via cryptocurrency. The frictionless environment that cryptocurrency transactions previously afforded are going to start going away, and it's going make it a lot more difficult to make those transactions for more malicious and illicit purposes," he said. "Because of that, the overall return on investment, the overall effort needed to make those transactions will start creating diminishing returns for the threat actors."

Ransomware actors are "going to pivot somewhere else to make money, and in my opinion, what we might see in the next 12 to 18 months is this essential convergence of ransomware actors and the BEC space to create this sophisticated hybrid social engineering attack that essentially takes [on] the scale and sophistication of ransomware.
Congressional hearings on artificial intelligence and machine learning in cyberspace quietly took place in the U.S. Senate Armed Forces Committees Subcommittee on Cyber in early May 2022. The committee discussed the topic with representatives from Google, Microsoft and the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University. While work has begun in earnest within industry and government, it is clear that much still needs to be done.

The hearing chair, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), articulated the importance of AI and machine learning to the armed forces of the United States. Additionally, the committee highlighted the shortfall of technically trained cybersecurity personnel across the country in government and industry alike. This perspective aligns with the Solarium Commission report, which was subsequently released in early-June 2022.

Google: 3 reasons machine learning, AI matter to cybersecurity

Within the context of the Department of Defense, Dr. Andrew Moore, director of Google Cloud Artificial Intelligence noted, the importance of using AI in three ways. The first is the use of AI to defend against adversary attacks, the second and third are how to organize data and people. He continued how AI is able to process millions of attacks every second looking out for these attacks to take place, something that far outstrips the capability of a human to process.

With respect to the human side of the equation, Moore emphasized how with emerging attacks, people ingeniously coming up with new methods, and AIs coming up with new methods, so you have to learn new patterns or detecting whole new kinds of attacks in real-time. He shifted to the insider threat issue and highlighted the importance of AI in the implementation of zero trust, where, with AI, human patterns are discernible. Moore clarified that AI without data is pretty worthless. He highlighted how siloed data was the nemesis of AI and full interchange of disparate data sets was required for the more complete picture to evolve.

Microsoft: Cybersecurity personnel shortage troublesome

Eric Horvitz, Microsofts chief scientific officer, shared information from the companys October 2021 Digital Defense Report and highlighted its efforts to engage in accordance with President Bidens Improving the Nations Cybersecurity executive order, EO 14028. In his opening statement, he noted, The value of harnessing AI in cybersecurity applications is becoming increasingly clear. Amongst many capabilities, AI technologies can provide automated interpretation of signals generated during attacks, effective threat incident prioritization, and adaptive responses to address the speed and scale of adversarial actions. The methods show great promise for swiftly analyzing and correlating patterns across billions of data points to track down a wide variety of cyber threats of the order of seconds.

Horvitz emphasized that the shortage of cybersecurity personnel was troublesome, citing the 2021 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, placing the global number at 2.72 million cybersecurity positions that are going unfilled. Even when operations teams are running 24/7, there are far more alerts to handle than personnel, leading to the very real threat of teams being overwhelmed. AI, according to Horvitz, enables defenders to effectively scale their protection capabilities, orchestrate and automate time-consuming, repetitive, and complicated response actions.

The utility of AI on the security side of the equation can, according to Horvitz, be divided into four groupings: prevention, detection, investigation and remediation, and threat intelligence. While AI-powered cyberattacks are also a reality. With criminal/nation-state adversaries using basic automation, authentication-based attacks, an AI-powered social engineering. His discussion on adversarial AI served to highlight the need to continue to invest in R&D which raises the level of robustness of systems. He continued, with emphasis, on the importance of red-team exercises.

Center for Security and Emerging Technology: Focus on AI system trustworthiness

Georgetowns CSET was represented by Dr. Andrew Lohn, who is the senior fellow on the CyberAI Project at CSET. He touched on three areas of AI importance:

AI promises to improve cyber defenses.

AI may improve offensive cyber operations.

AI itself is vulnerable.

Within his opening statement, Lohn touched on the trustworthiness of systems with, The United States is among those deploying autonomously capable systems, but our adversaries may not wait to subvert them. There are plenty of opportunities for interference throughout the design process. AI can be very expensive to train, so rather than starting from scratch, a system is often adapted from existing systems that may or may not be trustworthy. And the data used to train or adapt the systems may or may not be trustworthy, too.

Advice to industry/government

Horvitzs advice is to double-down with our attention and investments on threats and opportunities at the convergence of AI and cybersecurity. Significant investments in workforce training, monitoring, engineering, and core R&D will be needed to understand, develop and operationalize defenses for the breadth of risks we can expect with AI-powered attacks.

Moore, for his part, highlighted the need for continued investments in training, technology and management. He called out how We all have a role to play to prevent and detect threats online. Being transparent with governments, customers, and government entities when it comes to cyberattacks is one of our key principles and is critically important when responding to incidents at scale.

Lohn noted how, Cyber operations are still human-intensive both on offense and on defense. And there are few openly reported cases outside of a laboratory environment where AI algorithms were attacked directly. He continued how the potential of attacks directly on AI systems is not a secret and the reality may be just over the horizon.

In sum, CSO/CISO/CIO if they are not already engaged in AI cybersecurity discussions at the understanding level then they should make an adjustment and become engaged. For those who understand and are engaged, then the advice and highlights provided at this hearing have earmarked where you need to ensure your knowledge/capability are aligned and that the pipeline on new techniques, experiences, and most of all compromises is wide open in receive mode.
FAIRFIELD  The Charter Revision Commission approved its recommended draft, removing a change that some residents said they found unappealing.

The commissions approved draft removed a controversial change that would mandate minority representation in Representative Town Meeting districts, but decided to keep a change that decreases the total membership of the RTM to 30.

The revised charter will now be presented to the selectmen, who can either approve it in full, approve parts of it, deny it in full or send it back to the commission for changes to be made. Ultimately, residents will be able vote on the proposed changes in November.

Minority representation was stripped from the proposed charter, with commission member John Mitola making a motion to remove that section. He said it was made clear at a recent public hearing and in emails the body received that the change, which would mandate one spot per RTM district go to the minority party in the district, is unpopular.

I dont believe that the public wants that, he said.

Commissioner Pamela Iacono, who voted in favor of taking it out, said the decision was disappointing and that the public misunderstood the intention of the measure.

Using the same reasoning, Mitola also moved to take out a section that would have resulted in the RTM being paired down to 30 members. While the current charter allows for 56 members, there are 40 members at present. He said bringing it down to 40 max and letting the RTM decide on its own would be better, but nobody supported Mitolas motion, meaning the proposal for 30 remains.

At a public hearing earlier this month, town residents spoke out overwhelmingly again on both changes in the proposed charter. Notably, many of those who decried the changes to the charter were members of the Democratic Town Committee or Democratic members of the Representative Town Meeting.

Of the more than 30 people who did speak, a majority said including minority representation would only benefit Republicans. They also said decreasing the maximum RTM membership was taking away direct representatives of government for neighborhoods to work with.

Steven Mednick, the attorney the town hired to guide the commission through the revision process, has said the goal of minority representation was to give people other minority parties representation in districts that frequently end up as solid voting blocks of four members from the majority party. He said the goal of decreasing RTM membership was to get in line with most other municipal legislative bodies in Connecticut, which typically have less than 20 members, so that residents have a better understanding of who represents them.

The commission's recommendations will be sent to the Board of Selectmen for its June 27 meeting.

joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com
HARTFORD  Two peregrine falcon fledglings were rescued after splash landings in the Connecticut River.

The birds plunked into the river on Friday from a nest under the Charter Oak Bridge. They were brought to a bird of prey rescue center in Killingly, where they were being cared for Monday in preparation for a family reunion. The birds are healthy and strong and will be back with their parents soon, according to Christine Cummings, director of A Place Called Hope rehabilitation and education center.

Hatched several weeks ago in a nest on the underside of the bridge, the birds were trying out their wings when one after the other, they fell into the river. Both swam to shore, where a state Department of Transportation worker placed one in a box and another person picked up the other bird soon after, Cummings said.

Although both birds would have dried off and flown back to their parents, the people who picked them up did the right thing because of the busy location, Cummings said.

They would have been in trouble otherwise, she said.

One fisherman told the person who picked up the second bird that he planned to take it home, which would have been illegal since the birds are federally protected, Cummings said.

She will bring the birds back to an area near the bridge, where the more vocal of the two should begin calling out. The parents are sure to answer and a family reunion will follow, Cummings said. A third fledgling remained with the parents, she said.

Its critical for them to be in the care of their parents while theyre learning to hone skills for hunting, she said.

Also called the duck hawk, the swift hunter was a regular nester in Connecticut through the early 1900s, but populations declined until only one nest, in the Travelers Tower in Hartford, was documented in the late 1940s, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The rapid decline of the raptors throughout the U.S. from 1950 to 1965 was due to pesticides, including DDT.

Connecticut benefited from reintroduction efforts in other states, according to a DEEP fact sheet. In 1997, a pair produced three chicks, again on the Travelers Tower. Leg bands showed the female came from a 1994 reintroduction project in New York.

The falcons, which can dive at speeds up to 175 mph, have made a comeback in the state and were upgraded from endangered to threatened species. The hunters have adapted to living in cities, where they eat pigeons, starlings and other plentiful prey. Peregrines also feed on mice and rats, Cummings said, which can poison the birds due to use of rodenticides.

This is not the first time a falcon fledgling has been rescued from the river under the bridge. In June 2019, according to a DOT news release at the time, a fisherman witnessed a splash landing and contacted DEEP. After the young bird was banded, a bridge maintenance team wearing protective gear helped return the bird to its nest.

Jesse.Leavenworth@hearstmediact.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Author and preservationist Catherine Fleming Bruce and state Rep. Krystle Matthews have advanced to a runoff for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

The winner of the June 28 vote will face Republican incumbent Tim Scott in the general election. Scott had no opposition in Tuesday's primary and has raised $44 million for his pursuit of a second full six-year term. He said this will be his last term if he is reelected in November.

Bruce and Matthews have raised about $110,000 combined, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Bruce said she supports health care for all and is in favor of federal legislation to bolster voting rights. She has worked on preservation projects on civil rights sites around the capital of Columbia. She also served as foreperson on the state grand jury that investigated corruption in the General Assembly, leading to indictments of several Republican lawmakers in 2016 and 2017. She lost a Columbia City Council race in 2019.

Matthews said she wants to change a toxic culture that leads senators and others in power to strip away the rights of minorities and take help and protection away from those who need it most. She also will run in November for a third term in the state House if she loses the U.S. Senate race.

Scott, who is the U.S. Senate's only Black Republican, has been one of South Carolina's more popular politicians. He was a congressman when then-Gov. Nikki Haley appointed him to the Senate seat left open when Jim DeMint resigned in 2012.

In each of Scotts three races, he has faced an African American opponent. Bruce and Matthews are both Black. Scott won a 2014 special election and his 2016 regular term by more than 60% of the vote.

Scott is also being touted by some as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, although he has not mentioned it himself. He has made several trips to Iowa, where during a visit last week a woman shouted he should run for president. Scott deftly pivoted and replied, "of my homeowners association.

Scott touts his conservative credentials and got a primetime speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention. But he has also noted his work with Democrats on police reform legislation.

___

This story has been edited to correct that Matthews is a state representative, not a state senator.

___

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.
Currently Reading

Alert: Cabinet minister shot to death in his office in Dominican Republic, official say
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)  A Cambodian-American lawyer and dozens of members of a now-dissolved opposition party were convicted of treason Tuesday in a trial that is part of efforts to tame opposition to the long-running rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Lawyer Theary Seng and most of the other defendants were charged over a failed attempt by the leader of the defunct Cambodia National Rescue Party to return from exile in 2019. Cambodian authorities blocked Sam Rainsys return and alleged that the 60 defendants were involved in organizing his trip, which Theary Seng and the others have denied.

Cambodian courts are widely believed to be under the influence of Hun Sen, whose authoritarian rule has kept him in power for 37 years. The Cambodia National Rescue Party was his partys biggest rival before it was disbanded by a court ruling just ahead of national elections in 2018 that resulted in a clean sweep by Hun Sens Cambodia Peoples Party.

The mass trials against political opposition members are really about preventing any electoral challenge to Prime Minister Hun Sens rule, but they have also come to symbolize the death of Cambodias democracy, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. By creating a political dynamic that relies on intimidation and persecution of government critics, Hun Sen demonstrates his total disregard for democratic rights.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Theary Seng and most of the others guilty of conspiracy to commit treason, defense lawyer Choung Chou Ngy said. Theary Seng was sentenced to six years in jail, and the others received sentences of five to eight years.

Many of the 60 defendants earlier fled into exile or went into hiding, and it wasnt immediately clear how many appeared in court for the verdict Tuesday. According to Human Rights Watch, 27 defendants who are in exile were tried in absentia.

Theary Seng stood outside the court as the verdict was announced, saying she wanted her arrest to be public and not in the shadow. Journalists saw at least three police officers approach Theary Seng, hold her hand and body, and push her into a waiting police truck shortly after the verdict came.

She was dressed as Lady Liberty, in a light green gown and a crown with Freedom written on it. She carried an imitation torch, which she raised and shouted Free the political prisoners. She has worn thematic costumes to her court sessions to publicize her belief that Cambodia is not a democratic nation and the trial is unfair.

She told reporters she was ready for a sham guilty verdict.

I am ready and prepared to go to the notorious Cambodian prison for my political opinions, for my beliefs, for my belief in democracy, for my belief in freedom, she said. "I am ready to pay the price of prison in order that I live out my conscience and my belief in freedom and justice.

Choung Chou Ngy, who represents Theary Seng but not the other defendants, said he plans to file an appeal. He said the defendants who received five-year terms had their sentences suspended, but those with sentences of six to eight years were ordered jailed, and the judge ordered police to find those who were sentenced in absentia so they could face justice.

Theary Seng was jailed at Prey Sar prison on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Gen. Nut Savana, a spokesperson for the interior ministry's prison department, said in an interview with the online Swift News service. He said she had a medical check on arrival and was put in an isolation area for 21 days as a standard precaution against the spread of COVID-19.

U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy said on Twitter that the sentencing of Theary Seng and the others was deeply troubling.

"Freedom of expression and association, and tolerance of dissenting views, are vital components of democracy," he wrote. We call on Cambodian authorities to release her and other human rights activists from unjust imprisonment."

The disbanding of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, its removal from the ballot, and a government crackdown on media and independence voices paved the way for Hun Sens party to sweep the 2018 elections and claim every seat in the National Assembly. He has repeatedly stated his intention to stay in office until 2028 and has endorsed one of his sons to succeed him.

Sam Rainsy, Hun Sens main political nemesis, has been in exile since 2016 to avoid serving prison sentences on defamation and other charges he says are politically motivated.

The trial of Theary Seng and her co-defendants began in 2020 but was suspended until December 2021 due to coronavirus restrictions. Initially, nearly 130 defendants were named and the proceeding was split into three trials for manageability.

In a related case in March, the court convicted 21 people of treason and other charges for nonviolent political opposition to Cambodias government. Seven exiled leaders of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, including Sam Rainsy, received 10-year prison terms in absentia. Another 13 defendants were ordinary party supporters whom the court ordered to serve more than three years.

___

Follow AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP)  With jokes, upbeat Caribbean music and vacation scenes of sun-kissed beaches and palm trees, Haitian influencers on YouTube and TikTok advertise charter flights to South America.

But they are not targeting tourists.

Instead, they are touts for a thriving, little-known shadow industry that is profiting from the U.S. government sending people back to Haiti, a country besieged by gang violence.

More than a dozen South American travel agencies have rented planes from low-budget Latin American airlines  some of them as large as 238-seat Airbuses  and then sold tickets at premium prices. Many of the customers are Haitians who had been living in Chile and Brazil before they made their way to the Texas border in September, only to be expelled by the Biden administration and prevented from seeking asylum. They are using the charter flights to flee Haiti again and return to South America.

Some, clearly, plan to make another try to enter the United States.

Rodolfo Noriega of the National Coordinator of Immigrants in Chile said Haitians are being exploited by businesses taking advantage of their desperation. They are at the end of a chain of powerful businesses making money from this circuit of Haitian migration, he said.

The airlines and travel agencies say they work within the legal norms of the countries where they are operating from and are simply providing a service to the Haitian diaspora in South America.

The thriving business model was revealed in an eight-month investigation by The Associated Press in partnership with the University of California, Berkeleys Human Rights Center and its Investigative Reporting Program.

___

This story is part of an ongoing Associated Press series, Migration Inc, which investigates individuals and companies that profit from the movement of people who flee violence and civil strife in their homelands.

___

Haitians sick of the deprivations of their island home resettled in Chile or Brazil, many after Haitis catastrophic 2010 earthquake. Then, last fall, struggling as the pandemic hit local economies and beset by racism, thousands decided to make their way to the Texas border town of Del Rio. There, they ran afoul of a public health order, invoked by the Trump administration and continued under the Biden administration, that blocks migrants from requesting asylum.

Authorities returned them not to South America, where some of their children were born, but to their original homeland  Haiti.

Some interviewed by the AP said they feared for their lives there and wanted to return to South America. But airlines had stopped direct commercial flights from Haiti to Chile and Brazil during the pandemic; their remaining option was the charters.

The flights from Haiti became a lucrative business as restrictions aimed at controlling the spread of the coronavirus decimated tourism, according to the travel agents. Planes arrive empty to Haiti but return to South America full.

From November 2020 until this May, at least 128 charters were rented by travel agencies in Chile and Brazil for flights from Haiti, according to flight tracking information, online advertisements matching the flights to agencies and other independent verification by the AP and Berkeley.

Since taking office in January 2021, the Biden administration has sent more than 25,000 Haitians back to Haiti despite warnings from human rights groups that the expulsions would only contribute to Haitis travails and feed more Haitian migration to Latin America and the U.S.

Not all of the passengers on the charters had tried to immigrate to the U.S., but based on interviews with dozens of travel agents, Haitian migrants and advocates, and an analysis of flight data using the Swedish service Flightradar24, it is clear that the charters have become a major means to flee Haiti.

Some who took charter flights back to South America have headed north again on the network of underground routes that wind through Central America and Mexico and that ultimately lead to the United States, according to immigration attorneys, advocates and interviews with dozens of Haitians.

Many of the Haitians go back to Chile and Brazil, rather than places close to the U.S. like Mexico, because they have visas and other legal paperwork to get into those countries. And having lived there, they can find jobs quickly to make money for the trip north.

Some, like Amstrong Jean-Baptiste, also have children who were born in South America. The 33-year-old father of two said he spent $6,000 on a harrowing trip from Chile to Texas, only to be sent back to Haiti.

He said he had knives pulled on him, forged rivers that carried others away to their deaths and encountered highway robbers. In the end, he said the Haitians were handcuffed and treated like animals by U.S. immigration authorities. He said his son caught pneumonia in the immigration detention center.

As he waited in Port-au-Prince for a charter flight back to Santiago, news from northern Chile underscored why he wanted to go to the United States in the first place: A demonstration against immigrants drew thousands of protesters who turned violent and destroyed the belongings of migrants living in a camp.

Would he try to go to the U.S. again? He did not rule it out.

The risks are so numerous that this shouldnt be an experience to repeat, he said. However, one should never say never.

___

Ana Darcelin, a travel agent with Travel VIP, a Santiago-based agency that rents planes for flights from Haiti to Chile, said Haitians who migrated north from the South American country, only to be sent back to Haiti, are scrambling to leave Haiti and get back to Chile again.

Everyone is offering charter flights. There is a lot of demand, she said.

Travel agencies in Brazil and Chile said in interviews that they pay anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000 to rent an aircraft. At that rate, the three airlines that rented planes for 128 charter flights between Haiti and either Brazil or Chile would have been paid a total of anywhere from $12 million to $25 million. Meanwhile, some prices for one-way tickets from Haiti to Chile have more than doubled in eight months, from $625 to more than $1,600.

In Brazil, many agencies offering flights from Haiti rented from the low-cost Azul S.A. airlines, which was started by JetBlue founder David Neeleman.

Most of the charters to Chile are on planes rented from SKY Airline, owned by the Chilean Paulmann family, which is worth billions.

Neither Neeleman nor Holger Paulmann, chairman of SKY, responded to emails and LinkedIn messages requesting comment.

SKY also signed a $1.8 million contract in April with the previous administration of Chilean President Sebastian Pinera to fly Latin American immigrants, mostly Venezuelans and Colombians expelled from Chile, back to their homelands. SKY earned about $670 for each expelled immigrant it flies to Central and South America. Under the contract obtained by the AP and Berkeley, the carrier must complete at least 15 flights carrying 180 passengers each.

John Paul Spode, who has worked 35 years in the travel industry and manages NewStilo, which rents planes from SKY for the flights, said Haiti is not the only place in crisis that offers an attractive market for the charter flight business.

His agency also offers charter flights between Venezuela and Chile. But there are few places with the demand for charter flights like Haiti, though he said its not an easy place to do business. In March, protesters stormed the tarmac at an airport in the countryside and set a small plane on fire. Gangs also operate in and around the airport, he said.

Unfortunately, we have had many passengers who have not been able to board because there are people who stand outside (the airport) with some kind of a list and some kind of uniform and they started charging, saying You are not on the list, sir, but for $250 you can be added, and then they let them enter the airport, Spode said.

Some passengers said once inside the airport they were blocked again by so-called airport business employees and told that their names were still not on the list, and they must pay again, Spode said. Many do before they reach the ticket counter where they finally are checked in by a legitimate employee with the flight.

But would-be passengers brave all that. Its tough to sell tickets from Santiago to Port-au-Prince. The plane leaves usually almost empty, Spode said. But we know that on the return trip its going to be full, literally, like people practically hanging from the plane, so to speak.

The demand has been so great that a second low-cost airline based in Ecuador, Aeroregional, entered the Chilean market for the first time and started offering charter flights from Haiti to Chile. At least 11 Aeroregional charters have arrived from Haiti to Chile since December.

Dan Foote, a former U.S. envoy to Haiti who resigned over the Biden administrations handling of Haitians at the Texas border, said he is not surprised to hear Haitians expelled from the U.S. are making their way back to South America, and that businesses are lining up to help them.

Until the root causes of instability are truly attacked in a patient, systematic, holistic way, its going to keep going, Foote said.

The travel agencies and airlines denied they are facilitating Haitian migration.

Aeroregionals managing director, Luis Manuel Rodriguez, said in a statement via LinkedIn that the airlines role is simply to transport people. He said that the immigration status of its passengers is checked by immigration authorities of the countries involved.

Azul confirmed by email that it has provided charter flights between Haiti and Brazil, but said those contracts have confidentiality clauses. The company did not respond to a follow-up request for more information.

Carmen Gloria Serrat, the business manager of SKY, said in a statement that the company offers safe, legal transportation for whoever wants it and needs it. She said airlines are responsible for validating the paperwork of passengers and must eat the costs of returning anyone who is denied entry to a country.

She said the flights run four times monthly on average and represent a minuscule part of SKYs business.

The act of providing safe and legal transportation is a guarantee to avoid the possibility of abuses, Serrat said. Its important to point out that in SKY we operate within the established norms for entering a country and always in coordination and under the supervision of immigration authorities.

___

At least one travel agency is open about offering to help those who hope to reach the United States.

Alta Tour Turismo Travel Agency rents planes for charter flights between Haiti and Chile.

A TikTok account with the handle @altatourtravelagency posted a video on June 14, 2021, discussing how to avoid the Darien Gap, a treacherous, roadless area of thick jungle between Colombia and Panama traversed by migrants from South America heading north.

In the video, two men are talking about different routes north as they show a big boat at sea.

Considering the level of mistreatment Haitians endured from the Colombians in the jungle, I will never go through the jungle, says one as the camera zooms in on the boat on the horizon.

It was unclear if the video was meant to connect people to boats or was a marketing tool to attract customers in need of flights to South America who intended to then take the migrant route north.

Alta Tour Turismo started with a video on Facebook at the start of 2021 that informed viewers that Bolivia was not deporting people. The agency incorporated a month later.

The slogan of the Santiago-based agency is travel with joy. Reservations for flights are largely done through WhatsApp. The agencys social media accounts have nearly 40,000 followers; they promote travel from Haiti to such countries as Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Chile and Mexico.

Ezechias Revanget said he started the agency with three other Haitian immigrants in Chile to rent planes so fellow Haitians in Chile could go back home to see family. His agency has leased 186-seat Airbus planes from SKY airlines.

Our objective is to work with our compatriots, and there are also other people  such as Chileans, Bolivians, Dominicans, anyone, any nationality can buy tickets at our agency, he said.

Alta Tour Turismo also advertised flights to Suriname. In an April 2021 post, the agency posted on its Facebook page that Haitians who had only a passport and wanted to leave Haiti should not miss this opportunity, asserting: you know if you arrive in Suriname you can go to other places too, followed by three smiling emoji and the agencys numbers.

Revanget, who also uses the name Dave Elmyr, refused to answer more questions.

They should be investigating these flights  they should, said Carolina Rudnick Vizcarra, an attorney and director of LIBERA, a Santiago-based nonprofit combatting human trafficking. And by now, everyone knows that Haitians are vulnerable  they dont have the money" or places to stay.

U.S. officials told the AP they were unaware of the charter flights from Haiti. Some South American nations have taken action to prevent their use by migrants and smugglers. Last year, Suriname stopped charter flights from Haiti and issuing visas to Haitians, according to Suriname's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

That same year, neighboring French Guiana complained about Haitians coming across its border.

What was strange was that in the middle of a pandemic, so many flights were arriving from Haiti ... there were unaccompanied minors on the flight, as well as several Haitians without visas, Antoine Joly, the former French ambassador in Suriname told the French Guiana TV station, Guyane la 1ere in a video posted May 4.

Shortly after that, Guyana, which also borders Suriname, canceled an earlier order allowing Haitians in without a visa, contending the country was being used as a destination for human smugglers who were taking migrants into neighboring Brazil where they would stay briefly before heading north to Mexico and the U.S.

Giuseppe Loprete, chief of mission in Haiti of the International Organization of Migration, said the United Nations agency learned about charter flights from Haiti to Chile in interviews with migrants who had been sent back from the United States and Mexico.

We tried to find out more, but we dont have the means to investigate these flights, he wrote in an email to the AP on April 22. Our assumption was that from Chile they move on to other countries heading (to) the Mexican-USA border, if not right away, after some time. Probably when they have collected enough money and information to move forward.

___

The Azul charter flights started on Nov. 14, 2020, from Port-au-Prince to Manaus, Brazil. The city of 2.2 million boasts one of Brazils biggest airports, is the capital of the Amazon region with a Haitian immigrant population and is also a well-known jumping-off point for Haitian migrants who travel by boats from there along a river connecting the Colombian, Peruvian and Guyanese borders before continuing north.

Flight data showed that 54 Azul planes flew charter flights from Port-au-Prince to Manaus. The flights stopped in October. That same month, the Brazilian embassy in Haiti stopped issuing all visas to Haitians, according to a document from the Brazilian ambassador in Haiti obtained by AP and Berkeley.

Jean Robert Jean Baptiste, 49, said he bought a $1,400 ticket for an Azul flight in December 2020 to Brazil. He spent a month in Haiti after he was deported from Louisiana, where he was held at an immigration detention center following his arrest on a DUI charge. Back in Haiti, he said an enemy threatened to kill him and had the backing of the police.

He said he decided to fly to Brazil because he had a visa to get into the country after living there from 2011 to 2012 before making his way to the United States in 2016 and settled in Alabama.

In 2021, he made his way from Brazil by bus and on foot. He walked for a week, most of it in the rain, through the Darien Gap, where he said he saw dead bodies of those who didnt make it. He said he had to pay bandits who blocked his path; robbers stole his phone and $500 from him.

All told, he said it cost him about $7,000 to return to Tijuana, where he was trying to find a way back to the U.S. Hes driven, he said, by a determination to have a good life for his children.

The Paulmann family's SKY, meanwhile, is the charter of choice between Haiti and Chile; of 71 such flights since 2020 that AP and Berkeley tracked, 60 were on SKY. The Paulmanns run one of Latin Americas biggest retail companies, Cencosud, and have a net worth of $3.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine. SKY charter planes also flew three flights between Haiti and Brazil in 2021.

Etienne Ilienses said she was sent back to Haiti from Texas on Dec. 14. She talked to the AP before flying to Santiago with her three children on a Jan. 30 charter flight on SKY. To get to the USA, I braved hell, she said. Still, she did not dismiss the possibility of doing it again because Haiti offers nothing to its children. We are forced to suffer humiliations, affronts everywhere."

But just because Haitians fly to Chile, it doesnt mean they can stay. Dozens have been held by immigration officials after arriving in Santiago in recent months. One group spent weeks sleeping at the airport before Chiles Supreme Court on Jan. 31 ordered police to release them and allow them to request asylum.

Others were sent back to Haiti within hours of landing.

SKYs Serrat said the airline works closely with immigration officials to avoid that situation, while the marketing aimed at passengers is the responsibility of the travel operators. (Aeroregionals manager did not respond to questions about flying in Haitians who were later expelled.)

Theleon Marckenson, 31, was sent back to Haiti from Texas last fall. He said he spent $1,650 for a charter flight on Aeroregional to return to Chile, where he had lived since 2017.

After Marckenson landed in Santiago, Chilean authorities told him the application he had submitted for permanent residency before he left for the U.S. border had expired. Hours later he was put on another Aeroregional flight to Haiti with six others.

I dont have any more money, Marckenson said by phone after landing back in Port-au-Prince. I dont know what I am going to do. But I cant stay here. There is only hunger. There is no life.



Gisela Perez de Acha is a supervisory reporter for Berkeleys Human Rights Center and its Investigative Reporting Program. Katie Licari is a recent Berkeley graduate journalism alum.



Watson reported from San Diego, Daniel from New York. Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego; Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Adriana Gomez Licon in Miami; and Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador; also contributed to this report. University of California students Zhe Wu, Mar Segura, Grace Luo, Gergana Georgieva, Jose Fernando Rengifo, Pamela Estrada, Freddy Brewster, Sabrina Kharrazi, Jocelyn Tabancay, Imran Ali Malik reported from Berkeley, along with Human Rights Center Investigations Lab director Stephanie Croft.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP)  With jokes, upbeat Caribbean music and vacation scenes of sun-kissed beaches and palm trees, Haitian influencers on YouTube and TikTok advertise charter flights to South America.

But they are not targeting tourists.

Instead, they are touts for a thriving, little-known shadow industry that is profiting from the U.S. government sending people back to Haiti, a country besieged by gang violence.

More than a dozen South American travel agencies have rented planes from low-budget Latin American airlines -- some of them as large as 238-seat Airbuses -- and then sold tickets at premium prices. Many of the customers are Haitians who had been living in Chile and Brazil before they made their way to the Texas border in September, only to be expelled by the Biden administration and prevented from seeking asylum. They are using the charter flights to flee Haiti again and return to South America.

Some, clearly, plan to make another try to enter the United States.

Rodolfo Noriega of the National Coordinator of Immigrants in Chile said Haitians are being exploited by businesses taking advantage of their desperation. They are at the end of a chain of powerful businesses making money from this circuit of Haitian migration, he said.

The airlines and travel agencies say they work within the legal norms of the countries where they are operating from and are simply providing a service to the Haitian diaspora in South America.

The thriving business model was revealed in an eight-month investigation by The Associated Press in partnership with the University of California, Berkeleys Human Rights Center and its Investigative Reporting Program.

___

This story is part of an ongoing Associated Press series, Migration Inc, that investigates individuals and companies that profit from the movement of people who flee violence and civil strife in their homelands.

___

Haitians sick of the deprivations of their island home resettled in Chile or Brazil, many after Haitis catastrophic 2010 earthquake. Then, last fall, struggling as the pandemic hit local economies and beset by racism, thousands decided to make their way to the Texas border town of Del Rio. There, they ran afoul of a public health order, invoked by the Trump administration and continued under the Biden administration, that blocks migrants from requesting asylum.

Authorities returned them not to South America, where some of their children were born, but to their original homeland -- Haiti.

Some interviewed by the AP said they feared for their lives there and wanted to return to South America. But airlines had stopped direct commercial flights from Haiti to Chile and Brazil during the pandemic; their remaining option was the charters.

The charter flights from Haiti became a lucrative business as restrictions aimed at controlling the spread of the coronavirus decimated tourism, according to the travel agents. Planes arrive empty to Haiti but return to South America full.

From November 2020 until this May, at least 128 charters were rented by travel agencies in Chile and Brazil for flights from Haiti, according to flight tracking information, online advertisements matching the flights to agencies and other independent verification by the AP and Berkeley.

The Brazillian and Chilean travel agencies said in interviews that they pay anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000 to rent an aircraft. At that rate, the three airlines that rented planes for 128 charter flights between Haiti and either Brazil or Chile would have been paid a total of anywhere from $12 million to $25 million. Meanwhile, prices for one-way tickets from Haiti to Chile have more than doubled in eight months, from $625 to more than $1,600.

Since taking office in January of 2021, the Biden administration sent back more than 25,000 Haitians to Haiti despite warnings from human rights groups that the expulsions would only contribute to Haitis travails and feed more Haitian migration to Latin America and the U.S.

Not all of the passengers on the charters had tried to immigrate to the U.S., but based on interviews with dozens of travel agents, Haitian migrants and advocates, and an analysis of flight data using the Swedish service Flightradar24, it is clear that the charters have become a major means to flee Haiti.

Some who took charter flights back to South America have headed north again on the network of underground routes that wind through Central America and Mexico and that ultimately lead to the United States, according to immigration attorneys, advocates and interviews with dozens of Haitians.

Many of the Haitians go back to Chile and Brazil, rather than places close to the U.S. like Mexico, because they have visas and other legal paperwork to get into those countries. And having lived there, they can find jobs quickly to make money for the trip north.

Some, like Amstrong Jean-Baptiste, also have children who were born in South America.

The 33-year-old father of two, spent $6,000 on a harrowing trip from Chile to Texas, only to be sent back to Haiti.

He had knives pulled on him, forged rivers that carried others away to their deaths and encountered highway robbers. In the end, he said the Haitians were handcuffed and treated like animals by U.S. immigration authorities. His son caught pneumonia in the immigration detention center.

As he waited in Port-au-Prince for a charter flight back to Santiago, news from northern Chile underscored why he wanted to go to the United States in the first place: A demonstration against immigrants drew thousands of protesters who turned violent and destroyed the belongings of migrants living in a camp.

Would he try to go to the U.S. again? He did not rule it out.

The risks are so numerous that this shouldnt be an experience to repeat, he said. However, one should never say never.



Gisela Perez de Acha, a supervisory reporter for Berkeleys Human Rights Center and its Investigative Reporting Program. Katie Licari is a recent Berkeley graduate journalism alum.

-

Watson reported from San Diego, Daniel from New York. Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego; Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Adriana Gomez Licon in Miami; and Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador; also contributed to this report. University of California students Zhe Wu, Mar Segura, Grace Luo, Gergana Georgieva, Jose Fernando Rengifo, Pamela Estrada, Freddy Brewster, Sabrina Kharrazi, Jocelyn Tabancay, Imran Ali Malik reported from Berkeley, along with Human Rights Center Investigations Lab director Stephanie Croft.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

CROMWELL  The future of a $58.6 million project to build a new middle school lies in the hands of town residents, who will vote Tuesday in a referendum.

Residents can visit the high school on Donald Harris Drive to cast their votes between noon and 8 p.m.

Its older, theres been some repairs and things, Town Clerk JoAnn Doyle said. Its just time. They want to update it with new classrooms and open hallways and just a more modern school for learning.

The proposed project contracts Hartfords Tecton Architects to construct an updated middle school at the same location as the existing building. The project will fix issues with the existing building, which was built in the 1950s, officials said.

A 2016 study of the middle school identified bathrooms that are non-compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, undersized classrooms, asbestos and plumbing and electrical deficiencies.

Students in wheelchairs are unable to access the locker rooms and the auditorium, according to the study. There are no gender-inclusive bathrooms and natural lighting is limited, the study found. Many teachers do not have their own classrooms and instead use carts to move from shared classrooms, the study showed. The building also lacks air conditioning.

The Cromwell Middle School Building Committee assembled multiple presentations about the blueprint and funding of the new school. The committee formed in early 2022 and invested $100,000 to study the possibility of construction.

At a May committee meeting, Cromwell Middle School teacher Jane Sarnowski spoke about the need for a new school.

We have a building that is literally falling apart, Sarnowski said.

Sarnowkski said the middle school is a stark contrast to Woodside Intermediate School, which she described as a great learning environment filled with natural light.

When you walk in here there is some natural light in this hallway here, but be careful of the second to last light fixture because it leaks on rainy days, Sarnowski said.

The cost to taxpayers will be offset by a series of state grants. The building committee estimates the state will be able to reimburse $22 million of the $58 million total cost. Taxpayers will cover the rest.

Members of the committee declined to comment due to the pending referendum vote.

If approved, the new structure will include an outdoor amphitheater, outdoor reading and lecture area and parking improvements in addition to a modernized building.

The committee hopes to break ground on the new school in the summer or fall of 2023.

Doyle looked back to the last time Cromwell built a new school  the construction of a new high school in 1999. At that time, 2,600 voters turned out for the referendum.

To learn more about the project ahead of the vote, visit the building commission website.

emily.disalvo@hearstmediact.com




Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products rose 13.9 percent in May from a year earlier on brisk overseas demand for chips and displays, data showed Tuesday.







Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $20.2 billion last month, up from $17.73 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT.







This was the highest-ever tally for May since the government began compiling related data in 1996. The country has seen double-digit growth in ICT exports since April last year.







ICT imports grew 19.8 percent year-on-year to $12.61 billion last month, resulting in a trade surplus of $7.59 billion in the sector, the data showed.







Solid demand for chips and displays, Korea's key export items, boosted ICT exports last month.







Exports of semiconductors advanced 14.9 percent year-on-year to $11.61 billion in May, exceeding the $10 billion mark for the 13th straight month. It was also the highest figure for any May.







Outbound shipments of displays were up 2.4 percent to $1.82 billion, helped by high demand for organic light emitting diode displays.







Exports of mobile phones inched up 1 percent to $1.05 billion, and those of computers and peripheral devices jumped 32.8 percent to $1.77 billion.







By nation, shipments to China, Korea's largest trading partner, and Hong Kong combined rose 1.5 percent to $8.79 billion despite the lockdown of Shanghai and other major cities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.







Exports to Vietnam expanded 15.4 percent to $2.75 billion, and those to the United States and the European Union jumped 20.8 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively.







In May, Korea's exports rose 21.3 percent to $61.52 billion on the back of brisk demand for chips and petroleum products, though it suffered a trade deficit due to high global energy prices. (Yonhap)






This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP)  Kentucky's Republican attorney general went to court Tuesday claiming the Democratic governor's administration missed a deadline to set up a regulatory process for a sweeping new abortion law currently blocked by a federal court order.

In a maneuver loaded with political and legal implications, Attorney General Daniel Cameron said in his lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's administration that state officials are still obligated to craft regulations and create forms associated with the new law's restrictions, even though a federal judge temporarily halted its enforcement while the case is litigated. Cameron, who has filed paperwork to run for governor himself next year, said that order didn't relieve the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services from fulfilling its statutory responsibilities.

Beshear's office deflected questions about the lawsuit to the cabinet, whose secretary was named as the defendant. Cabinet spokeswoman Susan Dunlap responded that Cameron's lawsuit was a "baseless and blatant political stunt." The back-and-forth adds more fuel to the intensifying political rivalry between Cameron and Beshear, who could face off in the 2023 governor's race if they win their parties' respective nominations. It also sends another loud signal that Republicans will try to make abortion a key issue of the campaign.

The state's GOP-dominated legislature this spring overrode Beshear's veto to pass the new measure. It would ban abortions after 15 weeks and set up new oversight of medication abortion.

Abortions in Kentucky halted for several days when the two remaining abortion clinics said they couldn't immediately comply with new law because its regulations had not been created. The clinics, both in Louisville, resumed abortions after the law was halted temporarily.

Cameron's lawsuit against Beshear's administration comes against the politically charged backdrop of the state's 2023 campaign for governor, which is well underway. Cameron is seeking the GOP nomination against several rivals  all jockeying for support from the party's ardently anti-abortion base. Beshear, who supports abortion rights, is seeking a second term.

The suit also comes as the nation awaits word whether the nation's highest court will scrap the constitutional right to abortion. A leak of a draft opinion suggested the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide.

Cameron, on the losing end of the preliminary federal court rulings on the abortion law, asked a state judge to order Beshear's administration to immediately create the forms required, claiming the 60-day deadline had passed. The suit also seeks implementation of the corresponding regulations.

"Failure to act is not an option, and our lawsuit asks the court to direct the governor and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to follow the law, Cameron said in a news release.

Dunlap, the cabinet spokeswoman, said the agency has not refused to comply with any requirements. The cabinet told Cameron's office that it would work through the federal court that has jurisdiction over this matter," she said.

In response, the attorney general sent threatening letters to the cabinet asking us to ignore the courts orders and today defied the federal court by trying to go around it, she said.

Kentuckys GOP-dominated legislature this spring overrode Beshears veto to pass the new abortion measure. It would ban abortions after 15 weeks, replacing the states 20-week limit.

It also would require that women be examined by a doctor before receiving abortion pills and require fetal remains to be buried or cremated. And it would require the state to set up a process to certify and oversee manufacturers and distributors of medication used to terminate a pregnancy. About half of abortions in Kentucky are the result of medication procedures.

Two abortion-rights groups -- Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky -- said Camerons lawsuit doesnt change the status of the preliminary injunction -- the federal court action temporarily blocking the abortion measure.

Abortion is still legal in Kentucky, the two groups said in the statement.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  Four Republican candidates for New York governor faced off Monday in their first televised debate, trying to bruise each other  and Democrats  with two weeks to go until the state's primary election.

Some of the sharpest exchanges of the night came between U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin and businessman Harry Wilson, who has said he didn't vote for Donald Trump in 2020.

Zeldin repeatedly assailed Wilson as a Never Trumper and a Republican in name only." The businessman responded by dismissing Zeldin as a failed politician, and claimed that in January, Zeldin had asked him to be his running mate.

"Why is he dishonestly attacking me now? Because his campaign is disintegrating, Wilson said.

I haven't asked, and I wouldn't ask Never Trumper Harry Wilson," Zeldin said.

Don't lie, said Wilson, who claimed to have notes from the conversation.

The Republican field also includes former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, businessman Harry Wilson and Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York Citys former mayor.

Giuliani, a former adviser to Trump, appeared in a separate television studio than the other candidates because he was barred from being on the same stage after refusing to submit proof hes been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Giuliani said if elected, he will restore the jobs of public workers fired for not getting the vaccine. He pledged Monday to empower the police and called for a return of the stop and frisk policing tactic in New York City, which was scaled back by police after a judge found it had violated the civil rights of many law-abiding Black people.

Astorino, a former radio industry professional and two-term Westchester County executive from 2010 to 2017, is running for governor for a second time. He's promised to release an agenda to address New Yorks steep job loss stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as address government corruption and the states high taxes and cost of living.

During the debate, each candidate was asked whether they thought Trump should run for president again, and what they thought of the ongoing Congressional hearings into the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Astorino said Trump bears some responsibility in the insurrection but said it's time for the country to move on.

Giuliani praised Trump as a great president" and pledged to do for New York what Trump did for the country.

Zeldin, a Trump ally and an Army veteran who has represented New Yorks 1st Congressional District since 2015, touted his support from the National Rifle Association and said he wanted to repeal a 2013 state gun control law that broadened the definition of assault weapons and required universal background checks.

When asked if New York should ban guns from specific public places in case the Supreme Court overturns the state's concealed carry restrictions, Zeldin said: Gun-free zones dont work. They actually become a target.

Wilson, of Johnstown, entered the race this spring by launching a $12 million television advertisement campaign.

He's worked for Goldman Sachs and founded a White Plains advisory firm, and also served as a U.S. Treasury Department advisor under former President Barack Obama.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON (AP)  Police have determined there was nothing suspicious about a tour of two Capitol office buildings that a House Republican gave to about 15 people the day before Jan. 6, 2021, when rioting supporters of then-President Donald Trump attacked the Capitol.

The House committee investigating the 2021 insurrection examined whether rioters had been involved in reconnaissance and surveillance before the attack, and Democrats suggested some Republican members may have helped them. But there has been no public evidence of that.

Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican from Georgia, was simply showing his constituents around, Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger in a letter sent Monday.

Manger's letter to Rep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, came a few weeks after the House committee investigating the insurrection had asked Loudermilk for more information about the tour it said he led the day before the attack.

Police reviewed surveillance video showing Loudermilk leading a tour of about 15 people in the Rayburn and Cannon House office buildings, Manger said.

Republicans on the House Administration Committee  Loudermilk is a member  had previously said they reviewed security footage from Jan. 5 and said there were no tours, no large groups, no one with MAGA hats on.

But Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the chairman and vice-chairwoman of the separate Jan. 6 committee contended last month that their review of the evidence directly contradicts that denial.

Loudermilk has said the Jan. 5 tour was with a constituent family and took place in the House office buildings and not inside the Capitol building. He and Davis had called on Capitol Police in May to release surveillance video.

The Capitol complex includes 20 buildings and facilities, including House and Senate offices. Underground tunnels connect most of the buildings to the Capitol.

At no time did the group appear in any tunnels that would have led them to the U.S. Capitol, Manger wrote in the letter.

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., a Jan. 6 committee member, said Tuesday the panel would still like to hear Loudermilks testimony and would like to show the video referenced by the Davis letter to let the public decide.

What Republicans said last year was false  that there were no tours, no MAGA hats  that was patently false."

Capitol Police say the tour was thoroughly examined and there was nothing suspicious about it.

There is no evidence that Representative Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021, Manger said. We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious.

__

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
Ron Chapple / Getty Image

WATERFORD  Police closed off Lloyd Road for a few hours Monday after receiving a report of an explosive device in a parked vehicle.

A resident told police that the device was unknowingly transported from an out-of-state location to a residence in Waterford and contacted police immediately after finding the item, according to Lt. Tim Silva.
SOUTHINGTON  Police are looking for a man suspected of stabbing a driver on Interstate 84 over the weekend.

A man told police that, after he left a location in Southington, he was driving east on the highway. A gold colored Toyota Prius came speeding up behind him, coming close to his rear bumper, speeding up and slowing down, and alternating their high beams on and off, police said in a press release Monday.

The driver then felt a bump from the back of his car, put his hazard lights on and pulled onto the shoulder of the highway. As the driver got out of his car, the Toyota Prius also stopped closely behind, the man told police.

The Prius driver got out of his car and stabbed the man in his left side. The suspect then quickly returned to his vehicle, backed up and continued east on Interstate 84, according to police.

The stabbing victim described the suspect as a man in his 30s. At the time, the suspect wore a camouflage ballcap, camouflage hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, police said.

The man who was stabbed returned to his car, called 911 and exited the highway where he said he waited for police to arrive. Officers were called to the highway at Queen Street for the reported stabbing around 12:20 a.m. Sunday.

Southington police and state police interviewed the person who was stabbed at an area hospital while he was being treated.

The victim initially provided conflicted information for where the incident took place, police said. He reported Southington, Plainville and Interstate 84.

The man is still in the hospital as of noon Monday.

Police are investigating the incident. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Lopa at 860-378-1644.
CANTON  Environmental officers have killed a bear that had been breaking into local homes  some occupied  and no longer showed a fear of humans, an agency spokesperson said Tuesday.

A bear cub also died after failing to wake up from being tranquilized for transport into the deep woods, said Will Healey, spokesperson for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Three cubs survived and were successfully relocated.

The larger bear was euthanized after it broke into a house on East Hill Road in Canton Monday and ransacked the kitchen, Healey said. It is believed to be the same bear that broke into other houses in the area in the past week, even when residents, including children, were home, Healey said in a news release.

DEEPs Environmental Conservation police tried to capture the bear by setting three traps, but the animal would not take the bait and continued to exhibit increasingly dangerous behavior, he said.

Bear tries front-door break-in

On Monday, EnCon police first responded to a report of an aggressive bear on North Mountain Road. The bear tried to break into an occupied home through the front door and wouldnt leave even when the homeowner rang a bell to deter the animal and the residents dog barked, Healey said.

Instead of being scared away, the bear tried to break in through a window, he said.

The bear eventually left and was gone when officers arrived, but it wasnt long before it returned.

Three hours later, DEEP police were called back to the neighborhood. About 400 yards away from the home, residents returned to their house on East Hill Road to find that a bear had broken through their window and was ransacking the kitchen, Healey said.

The bear eventually left, but when officers arrived they spotted the animal at the edge of the property, about 30 yards from the house, with the food it had taken, Healey said.

The bear showed no signs of fear or wariness of people  a response not typical of a wild bear, Healey said.

A decision was made to euthanize the bear for the publics safety, Healey said. The decision was made based on DEEP guidelines for a bear that has entered homes or tried to get into occupied buildings and shows no fear of people, he said.

After the bear was killed, officers found four 6-month-old cubs in a nearby tree and decided to capture them and relocate them so they dont lose their natural fear of humans. One of the cubs did not wake up after being tranquilized and died, Healey said.

The surviving three cubs were released to a remote wooded area with excellent bear habitat where they can forage for natural food sources free from the risks of human interaction or habituation, he said.

How to be bear aware

DEEP has tips for Connecticut residents, especially those who live near bears:

Bears should never be fed, intentionally or otherwise

Birdfeeders and birdseed should be removed from late March through November

Barbecue grills should be kept clean and stored in a garage or shed

Garbage should be stored in airtight containers and kept in the garage or enclosed storage area until the morning of collection

Pets should always be fed inside

More information on how to minimize the likelihood of conflicts with bears can be found online.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  The North Carolina House returned to the state's old 1840 Capitol building for a floor session Tuesday, the first by a General Assembly body there in three years.

Members and guests crammed into the old House chamber in the early afternoon to vote on two resolutions and a parliamentary action before adjourning after almost an hour.

When you sit in a room like this and can imagine the magnitude of decisions over the years that came through this chamber, it really sort of puts a lot of things into perspective, House Speaker Tim Moore told colleagues from the dais.

The General Assembly, which has met at the nearby Legislative Building since 1963, convenes one block south at the Capitol from time to time, often for special events or commemorations. The House and Senate met there on June 6, 2019, to observe the 75th anniversary of D-Day and to honor World War II veterans. The coronavirus pandemic delayed the legislators return to the Greek Revival-style seat of government.

A memorable moment came when Democratic Rep. Nasif Majeed of Mecklenburg County spoke about his enslaved ancestor, Jacob Stanley Haywood, a skilled carpenter who participated in the planning and construction of the Capitol.

Majeed said it's hard to believe that his family member would think that a descendant would be speaking in the building he helped create.

Thank you dear great grandfather, for the fortitude in your struggle to maintain your humanity, Majeed said before a standing ovation at the close of his remarks.

The Senate decided to hold Tuesday's floor session at the Legislative Building, rather than join the House up the street. That made House leaders and staff cautious about what their chamber voted on. A reading of the state constitution could call into question some legislative actions when the two chambers met at separate locations.
The number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered during the first week of June failed to reach 1,000 for the first time since late December 2020, according to data from the state Department of Public Health.

The state reported 745 vaccination doses in the week ending on June 5, less than half of the 2,014 doses reported the week ending on May 29.

Weekly administered doses have been mostly declining since the beginning of the year. Fewer than 10,000 doses have been given each week since the week ending on Jan. 30.

Almost 2.9 million Connecticut residents  or about 80 percent  have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Some 2.66 million, or 73 percent, are fully vaccinated, and 1.52 million, or 42 percent of the population, have received a booster shot, according to state data as of June 8.

Data shows those who are fully vaccinated are less likely to die with the virus. Some 970 fully vaccinated people have died with COVID-19, or about 8.8 percent of the 10,999 deaths, according to data from the state Department of Public Health from June 8.

However, in recent months, fully vaccinated people have made up more hospitalizations. As of Monday, 265 patients were hospitalized with the virus, 176 of whom  or about 66 percent  were fully vaccinated, the state reported.

Just 10 days prior, on June 3, DPH reported 329 COVID patients in hospitals.

The state also said of the 47,420 administered COVID-19 tests in the past week, 3,588 have come out positive.

The positivity rate, which stood at 7.57 percent Monday, has also been steadily decreasing this month. Earlier this month on June 3, the positivity rate stood at 11.16 percent.




North Korea is ready to carry out a nuclear weapon test any time at leader Kim Jong-un's discretion, Seoul's unification ministry said Tuesday.







There has been widespread speculation that a nuclear test by the secretive North might be imminent amid reports it has completed the relevant preparations at its northeastern testing site in Punggye-ri.







"North Korea is currently prepared to conduct a nuclear test at any time if Chairman Kim Jong-un decides to do so," a ministry official told reporters on the customary condition of anonymity when asked about the issue.







The official added that Seoul and Washington are discussing various countermeasures, including those through the U.N. Security Council.







The North conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in September 2017. (Yonhap)






This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

LAS VEGAS (AP)  Adam Laxalt, a former state attorney general who has embraced lies about the 2020 election, won the Republican nomination for a pivotal Nevada Senate seat, fending off a challenge from a political newcomer and setting up what will likely be a fierce and costly race against incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto, one of the most endangered Democrats in an evenly divided Senate.

Laxalt enjoyed the backing of the Republican Partys most influential figures, ranging from former President Donald Trump to Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But a late-stage challenge from political newcomer Sam Brown forced Laxalt to spend heavily in the final weeks of the primary campaign and tap into the support of some of his high-profile backers, particularly those with ties to Trump.

The matchup against Cortez Masto comes at a difficult moment for Democrats, weighed down by President Joe Bidens low approval ratings and seeking to maintain control of Congress as people throughout the U.S. grapple with rising prices of everyday goods and gasoline. Republicans see the race as their best opportunity to flip a Senate seat and regain the majority, but are also watching for longer-term signals that Nevada is swinging back in their direction after rejecting every GOP presidential candidate since 2004.

Together we have taken an important step tonight, Laxalt said at a party in Reno, Nevada. An important step in taking our country back, an important step in taking our great state of Nevada.

Beyond the Senate race, Republicans in Nevada also picked Joe Lombardo as their nominee to challenge incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak in what could be one of the most competitive governors races this year. And the GOP backed Jim Marchant as their candidate for secretary of state. A former state lawmaker, he has repeated false claims about the presidential campaign and, if elected, would be in charge of elections in a state that could be critical in determining the winner of the White House in 2024.

Nevada was one of several states that held elections Tuesday, about midway through a primary season that could reshape American politics. The results offered warnings for both parties.

In south Texas, Democrats lost a long-held seat in the U.S. House. They are likely to regain it in November, but Tuesdays results were a reminder that the partys standing is at risk of slipping among Latinos.

Trump, meanwhile, helped a South Carolina state lawmaker take out five-term incumbent Rep. Tom Rice, who backed the former presidents second impeachment last year. While the win could help Trump regain momentum after setbacks in a series of races last month, it happened in a rural, solidly Republican congressional district. Another incumbent that the former president sought to defeat in a neighboring district, Rep. Nancy Mace, held back the challenger, attracting some of the suburban moderates who bolted from the GOP during the Trump era.

Speaking to reporters after the results came in, Mace sought to strike a tone of consensus, pledging to work with anyone whos willing to work with me, full stop.

For his part, Trump posted a statement on his social media platform saying Maces challenger, Katie Arrington, was a long shot who ran a great race. He offered his congratulations to Mace, who he said should easily prevail over a Democrat in the fall.

Still, much of the attention Tuesday was on Nevada.

Laxalt entered the primary with strong name recognition after serving for four years as Nevadas attorney general. The grandson of former U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, he campaigned unsuccessfully for governor in 2018.

But perhaps most importantly in GOP circles, he's got ties to Trump. Laxalt worked on Trump's reelection campaign and promoted his lies about election fraud in the state after the 2020 election, including spearheading legal challenges to the vote-counting process. Trump in turn hosted Laxalt for a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and appeared in a campaign ad for Laxalt.

Trumps false claims of fraud in the 2020 election were laced throughout the campaign. Last fall, Laxalt began raising fears of voter fraud in 2022 and talked about preemptively mounting legal challenges to try to tighten up the election.

Laxalt had insisted in 2020 that ineligible and dead voters cast ballots in the presidential election in Nevada, despite the states Republican secretary of state insisting that the results showing Bidens victory were accurate and reliable.

Brown, to the surprise of many in the state, won the endorsement of the Nevada Republican Party at a convention vote in late April and a straw poll of the Las Vegas-area GOP at a May gathering. Recent polls showed him closing in on Laxalt, though the state, with a transient population and many late-shift workers due to the states tourism and casino industry, is considered fickle for pollsters.

Laxalt is now focused on trying to defeat Cortez Masto, the first Latina elected to the Senate and successor of the late Sen. Harry Reid. She is making her first reelection bid as Democrats broadly are facing headwinds this year, particularly when it comes to the economy. In Nevada, high prices for gas are acutely felt by residents of Las Vegas sprawling suburbs or those commuting from far-flung rural areas.

Those same factors could imperil the reelection of Nevada's Democratic governor, Sisolak. He will face Lombardo, the sheriff of Clark County, who also earned a coveted endorsement from Trump.

___

Price reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York, Meg Kinnard in Charleston, South Carolina and Gabe Stern in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.
BOSTON (AP)  The highest court in Massachusetts ruled Tuesday that two state ballot questions asking voters whether drivers for app-based ride-hailing companies should be considered contractors, instead of employees, are unconstitutional.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the ballot questions should not have been certified by the state attorney general and are not suitable to be placed on the November ballot.

A coalition of app-based businesses including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart backed the measures, which are virtually the same, collecting the tens of thousands of signatures needed for each question to secure a spot on the ballot.

Supporters argued the ballot questions would have set a minimum earnings guarantee for workers, extended new benefits  including health care stipends, paid sick time and paid family and medical leave and occupational accident insurance  and protected drivers from discrimination.

At the same time, backers said the questions would have maintained the status of the workers as independent contractors instead of employees, giving them the freedom to work when, where, how often and how long they want.

Critics, including labor unions, described the ballot questions as a ploy by the companies to avoid paying taxes and paying workers fairly while allowing big tech companies to buy their way out of the basic obligations of every other business.

Opponents also said the firms backing the questions are pushing a false choice that drivers can only maintain scheduling flexibility by surrendering other worker rights.

A dozen Massachusetts voters challenged the certification of the questions, saying they violate the state constitution, which says petitions must contain only related or mutually dependent subjects, and because the attorney general's summaries of the proposals does not explain how they would change existing law, if approved.

We conclude that the petitions contain at least two substantively distinct policy decisions, one of which is buried in obscure language at the end of the petitions, and thus fail the constitution's related subjects requirement, the court wrote.

As such, the Attorney Generals decision to certify the petitions was in error, and accordingly the petitions may not be placed on the ballot, the high court wrote.

Conor Yunits, a spokesperson for the ride-booking company campaign, said a majority of Massachusetts voters and rideshare and delivery drivers would have voted for the ballot question.

Thats exactly why opponents resorted to litigation to subvert the democratic process and deny voters the right to make their own decision, Yunits said in a written statement.

The future of these services and the drivers who earn on them is now in jeopardy, and we hope the legislature will stand with the 80% of drivers who want flexibility and to remain independent contractors while having access to new benefits, he added.

Martin El Koussa, an Uber driver and lead plaintiff in the case, welcomed the ruling.

This is an enormous victory for drivers like me who only want the ability to work hard for fair wages, he said in a written statement, calling the decision a major step forward in our fight to be recognized as employees and be compensated fairly.

Critics of the proposed ballot questions also hailed the court's action.

Millions of Massachusetts drivers, passengers, and taxpayers can rest easier knowing that this unconstitutional bid by Big Tech CEOs to manipulate Massachusetts law has been struck down by the Supreme Judicial Court, said Wes McEnany, a spokesperson for opponents of the measures.

Its not the first time Uber, Lyft and other app-based firms have waded into the issue.

In 2020, the companies backed a ballot question in California designed to exempt Uber and other app-based ride-hailing and delivery services from a state law requiring drivers to be classified as employees eligible for benefits and job protections.

Voters approved the question after Uber, Lyft and other services spent $200 million in its favor, making it the most expensive ballot measure in state history.

In 2021, a judge struck down the measure, ruling it unconstitutional. That ruling is being appealed.
BRUSSELS (AP)  European lawmakers from the environment and economy committees objected Tuesday to including fossil gas and nuclear in the EU's list of sustainable activities, in a blow to the bloc's executive arm.

The European Commission earlier this year proposed including nuclear energy and natural gas in its plans for building a climate-friendly future, dividing member countries and drawing outcry from environmentalists as greenwashing.

But MEP's from the two committees adopted an objection to the proposal, with 76 votes to 62 votes and 4 abstentions.

The resolution will now be examined by the whole EU Parliament next month. The Commission will need to withdraw or amend its regulation if an absolute majority of lawmakers oppose it.

The green labeling system from the European Commission, the EUs executive arm, defines what qualifies as an investment in sustainable energy. Under certain conditions, gas and nuclear energy could be part of the mix, making it easier for private investors to inject money into both.

MEPs recognize the role of nuclear and fossil gas in guaranteeing stable energy supply during the transition to a sustainable economy, the Parliament said. But, they consider that the technical screening standards proposed by the Commission, in its delegated regulation, to support their inclusion do not respect the criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities."

The commission believes that including nuclear and gas as transitional energy sources does not amount to a free pass and aims to accelerate efforts to reduce emissions.

With the EU aiming to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, it says the so-called taxonomy classification system is crucial to direct investments into sustainable energy. It estimates that about 350 billion euros of investment per year will be needed to meet the 2030 targets.

Greenpeace campaigner Ariadna Rodrigo said lawmakers from the committees stood with Ukraine" by voting to stop feeding (Russia President Vladimir) Putins war machine with more money and inflaming the climate and nature crisis."

The 27-nation bloc is trying to wean off its dependency to Russian fossil fuels and member countries have already agreed to ban 90% of Russian oil by year-end. Before the war in Ukraine, it relied on Russia for 25% of its oil and 40% of its natural gas.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Paul LePage, the Republican whose two terms as Maine's governor were dominated by his offensive rhetoric and combative leadership, is seeking a political comeback.

With no opposition, LePage coasted to the Republican nomination for governor on Tuesday, setting up a fierce general election campaign against Democratic incumbent Gov. Janet Mills. The race is among just a handful of competitive governor's contests in this year's midterm elections.

The matchup revives a rivalry between LePage and Mills that dates to the days when he was governor and she was attorney general. LePage sued Mills for refusing to defend his administration during several political disagreements that reached a boiling point over then-President Donald Trumps travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries. LePage had to pay to use outside counsel.

But this time, they are facing off in a dramatically different political climate.

LePage moved to Florida after leaving office in 2019 but returned a year later and decided to mount a third campaign. He has the full backing of the Republican Party, which has allowed him to focus his energy and financial resources on the general election. Mills, for her part, is seeking reelection in a difficult year for Democrats, weighed down by President Joe Biden's low approval ratings and widespread frustration with the party's management of inflation and gas prices.

The campaign is emerging as a barometer of whether voters this year will be motivated by economic anxiety or political civility.

LePage used to be fond of calling himself Trump before Donald Trump became popular, and he retains a solid following among conservatives. A former city councilor and mayor in Waterville, he was narrowly elected governor in 2010 in a five-way race.

He won plaudits during his tenure for advancing conservative policies, including lowering the tax burden and shrinking Maines welfare rolls by tightening eligibility requirements and capping the length of some benefits.

But his policy agenda was often overshadowed by his penchant to offend. During a time of rising animosity toward the media, he joked that he wanted to bomb a newspaper. He told the Portland chapter of the NAACP to kiss my butt and dismissed the dangers of an industrial chemical by saying the worst case is some women may have little beards. He was considered one of the nation's most vulnerable governors when he ran for reelection in 2014.

David Capuano, a Brunswick resident whos not enrolled in either party, said hes in the camp of voters who believe LePage should go away.

This guy is a mini-Donald Trump, Capuano said. The man is a bully and a loudmouth. I dont like bullies.

Ray Richardson, a Republican and radio talk show host at WLOB in Portland, said people remember that LePage did some good things during his eight years. He said LePage is laser-focused on addressing new problems.

Hes a known quantity. We were enduring good times under him, Richardson said. He left Maine in a good place.

For her part, when Mills came into office in 2019, her first action was to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act  something LePage had refused to do. She borrowed a Republican idea to return the bulk of a $1.2 billion budget surplus to taxpayers in the form of $850 inflationary relief checks. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, she issued an executive order requiring residents to wear masks, and she later implemented a vaccine mandate for health care workers, angering conservatives who felt their civil rights were being trampled.

LePage criticized what he described as Mills heavy-handed response to the pandemic, and he has repeatedly sought to link her to Biden.

Never have we witnessed so many destructive public policies all at one time, LePage told fellow Republicans.

At her party convention, Mills touted her fiscal stewardship and said of LePage, We wont go back.

After the polls closed Tuesday, Mills issued a statement pledging to continue progress that she said was made without the usual rancor and bitterness of politics  and all while fighting a global pandemic and achieving record economic growth.

LePage, meanwhile, used social media on the eve of the election to say he stands for faith, freedom and trusting the Maine people while saying Mills stands for power, control, mandates and Biden politics which hurt the Maine people.

The campaign carries historic significance. Mills is the states first female governor, and a LePage win would make him Maines longest-serving governor.

The Maine Constitution prohibits a governor from seeking a third consecutive term, but a two-term candidate can run again after skipping a cycle. The last candidate to attempt that, Democrat Joe Brennan, failed to win a third term in elections in 1990 and 1994.

So far, Mills is outraising LePage more than 2-to-1, collecting $3.2 million compared to the nearly $1.5 million raised for LePage, according to campaign financial disclosures.

This year, unlike his last two campaigns, LePage won't have the help of a big-spending spoiler to siphon votes from the Democratic candidate. LePage didnt win a majority of the vote in his successful 2010 and 2014 campaigns when he ran against candidates who included independent Eliot Cutler, who won nearly 36% of the vote in 2010 and over 8% in 2014.

The only independent running in this year's election is Sam Hunkler, a physician and political newcomer who has a self-imposed spending cap of $5,000.

___

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)  Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official increasingly seen as a successor to the 86-year-old President Mahmoud Abbas, says relations with Israel have gotten so bad that Palestinian leaders cannot go on with business as usual.

But even if they are serious this time around, they have few options. And they appear unlikely to do anything that undermines their own limited power in parts of the occupied West Bank, which largely stems from their willingness to cooperate with Israel.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Monday, al-Sheikh defended the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, saying it was doing the best it could under the difficult circumstances of Israels 55-year-old military occupation. As the point man in charge of dealing with Israel, he said there is no choice but to cooperate to meet the basic needs of Palestinians.

I am not a representative for Israel in the Palestinian territories, he said. We undertake the coordination because this is the prelude to a political solution for ending the occupation.

Al-Sheikh saw his profile rise further last month after Abbas named him the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The appointment has generated speculation that al-Sheikh is being groomed for the top job  as well as criticism that the autocratic Abbas, who has not held a nationwide election since 2006, is once again ignoring the wishes of his people.

Al-Sheikh, 61, declined to say whether he wants to succeed Abbas. He said the next president should be chosen through elections, but that they could only be held if Israel allows voting in all of east Jerusalem, effectively giving it a veto over any alternative leadership.

The Palestinian president cannot be appointed, or come to power by force, or come because of some regional or international interest, or arrive on an Israeli tank, he said.

Al-Sheikh recited a familiar litany of complaints: Israels government is beholden to right-wing nationalists, its prime minister opposed to Palestinian statehood. Settlements are expanding, Palestinians are being forcibly relocated, and the U.S. and Europe seem powerless to stop it.

The Palestinian leadership is on the verge of making major and difficult decisions, al-Sheikh said, when asked about Abbas threat to cut security ties or even withdraw recognition of Israel, a cornerstone of the Oslo peace process in the 1990s. We have no partner in Israel. They dont want a two-state solution. They dont want to negotiate.

But the Israelis meet with al-Sheikh all the time.

As head of the Palestinian body that coordinates Israeli permits  and a close aide to Abbas  he meets with senior Israeli officials more often than any other Palestinian.

Israeli officials view him as a very, very positive player in the Palestinian arena, said Michael Milshtein, an Israeli expert on Palestinian affairs who used to advise COGAT, the military body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank.

Because of his close relations with Israel, he can achieve a lot of positive things for the Palestinian people, including permits and development projects, he said. But most Palestinians "cannot really accept this kind of image of a Palestinian leader who actually is the one who serves Israels interest.

Al-Sheikhs career follows the trajectory of his generation of Palestinian leaders  aspiring revolutionaries transformed into local power brokers by the failed, decades-long peace process.

His official biography says he was imprisoned by Israel from 1978-1989 and took part in the first intifada, or uprising against Israeli rule, upon his release. After the Palestinians secured limited self-rule in Gaza and parts of the occupied West Bank through the 1993 Oslo agreements, al-Sheikh joined the nascent security forces, rising to the level of colonel. He says he was a wanted man during the second and more violent intifada in the early 2000s.

He is a lifelong member of Fatah, a movement launched by Yasser Arafat in the late 1950s. Today Fatah dominates the PLO, which is supposed to represent all Palestinians, and the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security.

Abbas, who was elected in 2005 after Arafats death, is opposed to armed struggle and committed to a two-state solution. But during his 17 years in power the peace process has become a distant memory, the Palestinians have been split politically and geographically by the rift with the Islamic militant group Hamas, and the PA has become increasingly unpopular.

Diana Buttu, a Palestinian lawyer who used to advise the PA, said Abbas believes that the future of the Palestinian people is tied up to him as an individual, surrounding himself with loyalists who won't challenge him.

Abbas called off the first elections in 15 years in April 2021, a vote in which his Fatah party was widely expected to suffer a humiliating defeat. He said he was delaying the vote until Israel explicitly allowed voting in all of east Jerusalem. But only a small number of voters in the city require Israeli permission, and the PA refused to consider alternative arrangements.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally and views the entire city as its unified capital. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem  which includes major holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims  to be the capital of their future state.

If the price of elections is that I concede on Jerusalem, it is impossible. You wont find a single Palestinian who will agree to that, al-Sheikh said.

That may be true, but it could also effectively prevent the Palestinians from replacing the current leadership, leaving it entrenched for years to come.

Dimitri Diliani, a senior member of Fatah who supports an anti-Abbas faction, said none of the president's inner circle are electable, pointing to recent polls showing that nearly 80% of Palestinians want Abbas to resign.

Diliani described al-Sheikh as an active, smart person, a pragmatist who who seizes opportunities  but who was also short-sighted. Abu Mazen is a sinking ship, and whoever is on it is going down with him, Diliani said.

Still, al-Sheikh has a unique lever of power that could prove more important than electability  access to Israeli permits.

He has been in charge of the General Authority of Civil Affairs since 2007. Thats where Palestinians must apply if they want to enter Israel for work, family visits or medical care; to import or export anything; or to get national ID cards.

If you need anything, absolutely anything, in Palestine, hes your go-to man. Hes actively hated among Palestinians, but hes also very, very much needed for that reason," said Tahani Mustafa, a Palestinian analyst at the International Crisis Group.

If succession was to happen through legitimate channels, theres no way Hussein al-Sheikh would withstand a popular vote, she said. If you are to impose that kind of leadership on Palestinians, then absolutely you are going to face pushback.

Al-Sheikh says theres no alternative to the coordination. The movement of Palestinians, the crossings, the borders, are all under Israeli control, he said. Im an authority under occupation."
TRUMBULL  The principal of Madison Middle School has launched an investigation into the actions of students who are reported to have said very hurtful things to supporters of LGBTQ issues, according to a letter sent home to parents on Monday.

In the letter, Principal Peter Sullivan said the incident in question took place last Thursday. He said a staff member at the school had displayed a pride flag in the cafeteria without notice or authorization, in recognition of Pride Month, which is in June. The flag was hung at a time when the administrative team was out of the school building for a training.

After reports came that some students had said hurtful things  the nature of which werent elaborated on in the letter  the flag was removed.

Sullivan said he wanted to make clear that the school is fully supportive of inclusivity and the high degree of respect which is necessary to sustain a tolerant environment. He said a SHADES club was formed at Madison Middle last year to help promote inclusivity.

I was deeply sorry to hear that the visibility of the Pride flag on Thursday led to some conflict among students, he said, asking that people not misinterpret the removal of the rainbow flag to mean that the school doesnt support Pride Month.

It was a necessary pause, to allow time to follow the original process and to investigate the actions of the students in question, his letter read. We remain committed to addressing any such behaviors and will do so as more information comes forward.

He said he and Madison Assistant Principal Paul Coppola will hold assemblies in the block of time after lunch, beginning Tuesday with the seventh graders. We need for the students to hear directly from us about ensuring respect for all in an emotionally safe learning environment, the letter read.

Superintendent of Schools Martin Semmel also sent a letter to parents and staff about the incident. Though he said it would be inappropriate for me to comment on this active and ongoing investigation at this time, Semmel said the Trumbull Public Schools recognizes every childs right to a free, high-quality public education and values the richness of diversity.

He pointed out that a pride flag flies at Trumbull High School, and, like Sullivan, mentioned the SHADES club, which is at both middle schools. Both Semmel and Sullivan said the SHADES club members have presented Sullivan with a different pride flag they wish to have hung in school

As Superintendent of Schools, I publicly denounce any form of hate in our schools and I stand firmly in support of our students, including our LGBTQ+ students, Semmels letter read.

When contacted about the incident on Monday, Semmel said investigations occur at the principal level but I have been in contact with the principal.
Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: 22 reportedly injured in rocket attack in west Ukraine

Xinhua) 14:16, June 14, 2022

BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine:

Twenty-two people were injured in a rocket attack on the Ukrainian city of Chortkiv in the country's western Ternopil region on Saturday, the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported.

Four rockets, presumably fired from the Black Sea, hit Chortkiv at about 9:46 p.m. local time (1846 GMT) on Saturday, according to Volodymyr Trush, head of the Ternopil regional military administration.

- - - -

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said here Saturday that the commission will finalize the assessment on granting Ukraine European Union (EU) candidate status by the end of next week, the Ukrinform news agency reported.

"The European Commission is currently preparing its recommendations -- the so-called conclusion for EU member states. We have been working on this assessment day and night," von der Leyen said at the joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "Our discussions will allow us to conclude this work by the end of next week."

- - - -

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has pledged to continue providing military aid for Kiev while meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart here, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Saturday.

During the talks held on Friday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov urged more defensive aid from Britain, saying that "we need more heavy weapons to continue the struggle."

- - - -

The fighting in Ukraine has a significant impact on the global food markets and could leave an additional 11 to 19 million people with chronic hunger, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) warned on Friday.

FAO spokesperson Boubaker Ben Belhassen told a press briefing here that both countries involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict were major producers of agricultural commodities in the world, with a combined share of around 30 percent of global wheat exports.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
In this Sept. 7, 2018 file photo, kids sing at a kindergarten for employees' children at a silk factory during a government-organized visit for foreign reporters ahead of the 70th anniversary of North Korea's foundation in Pyongyang, North Korea. Reuters-Yonhap



Move signals Seoul's policy shift on North Korean human rights issues



By Jung Min-ho



South Korea is pushing to establish a North Korean human rights foundation in an apparent bid to implement the North Korean Human Rights Act, a law that has remained in name only over the past six years.



The move signals the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's intention to press North Korea to improve its human rights situation, in contrast with the previous Moon Jae-in administration, which opted not to challenge the North.



"Setting up the foundation is one of the key projects we are working on this year," an official at the Ministry of Unification told The Korea Times Tuesday.



The confirmation comes a day after a ministry official, who works at a division dedicated to human rights issues in North Korea, said he had been seeking the cooperation of lawmakers to get the project going during a forum at the National Assembly.



The law, enacted in March 2016, sets clear guidelines for the protection and advancement of human rights for people in North Korea in accordance with the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.



Establishing a foundation is an important first step.



What comes next is the collection of data on the human rights situation in the North, followed by support for organizations working for the cause and the promotion of inter-Korean dialogue on the issue.



But the first step has not been taken, following an explosive influence-peddling scandal that eventually impeached and ousted former President Park Geun-hye from office in 2017, paving the way for her successor, Moon, to pursue a conciliatory approach to North Korea.





Ruling People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok speaks during a forum on human rights in North Korea at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaches to shake the hand of South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin after a press conference at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. in this June 13 pool photo. AFP-Yonhap





Foreign Minister Park Jin and his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken urged North Korea, Monday, to refrain from staging additional provocations including a nuclear weapon test, saying that these will only further isolate the impoverished country.







The top diplomats also said North Korean provocations will be met with a strong response.







"We affirm that any North Korean provocations, including a nuclear test, will be met with a united and firm response from our alliance and the international community," Park said in a joint press conference with his U.S. counterpart







The Park-Blinken meeting, the first of its kind since the South Korean foreign minister took office last month, comes amid suspicions that North Korea may soon conduct a nuclear weapon test.







Park said the North may have completed all preparations for such a test and that the only thing left now could be a "political decision."







Blinken agreed, saying, "We remain concerned about the prospects for what would be a seventh nuclear test over multiple administrations."







North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test in September 2017.







"We are being extremely vigilant about that," said the U.S. secretary when asked about the possibility of a test in the near future.







"We are in very close touch with our close allies and partners, starting with the Republic of Korea, also with Japan and others, to be able to respond quickly," he added, referring to South Korea by its official name.







Blinken said U.S. response to a North Korean nuclear test may include "short and longer-term adjustments to our military posture as appropriate."







The top U.S. diplomat reiterated that Washington remains committed to engaging in dialogue with Pyongyang.







"We urge the DPRK to refrain from further destabilizing activity," he said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.







"We call on the DPRK to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy, and indeed in that regard we are prepared, as we have been, to proceed with no preconditions," he added.







Foreign Minister Park Jin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shake hands at a news conference, at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. in this June 13 pool photo. Reuters-Yonhap





Blinken, however, also underscored the importance of keeping pressure on the recalcitrant country until it changes its behavior.







"Our goal, simply put, is a peaceful and stable region and world," he told the joint press conference at the State Department. "Until the regime in Pyongyang changes course, we will continue to keep the pressure on."







Park said a new nuclear weapon test will further isolate Pyongyang.







"If North Korea ventures into another nuclear test, I think that it will only strengthen our deterrence and also international sanctions. It will only isolate North Korea from the international community," he said, adding the allies will certainly push for a new U.N. Security Council resolution against the North if it goes ahead with a test.







The South Korean diplomat also said he and Blinken agreed on the early reactivation of a high-level alliance dialogue on extended deterrence, known as the Extended Deterrence Strategy Consultation Group (EDSCG).







"The EDSCG will serve as a timely and effective mechanism to discuss concrete extended deterrence measures, as well as to send North Korea a firm message," said Park.







He added the countries have agreed to reactivate the strategic dialogue at the earliest date possible "because it deals with Korean security, peace and stability, and also including the timely deployment of strategic assets when necessary."







The strategic dialogue between Seoul and Washington was suspended in 2018 amid the fervor of engagement with Pyongyang, which included three inter-Korean summits, as well as two historic U.S.-North Korea summits in 2018 and 2019.







North Korea has since avoided any denuclearization talks. It also remains unresponsive to any U.S. overture since the Joe Biden administration took office early last year. (Yonhap)






Why is it that the Church of Englands bishops these days cant see a Left-wing bandwagon without jumping on it and using their interpretation of the Bible to condemn those who dont agree with them?

Yesterday the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, led a distinguished band of church leaders including the Archbishop of York, the Bishops of London and Durham plus more than 20 other lords spiritual in their condemnation of the Governments Rwanda migrant flights as an immoral policy that shames Britain.

Archbishop Welby proclaimed that migrants who have come here illegally  more than 10,000 have crossed the Channel in flimsy rubber boats this year alone  are the vulnerable that the Old Testament calls us to value.

Of course many are vulnerable. Of course many deserve compassion. Thats why action needs to be taken to stop them hazarding the perilous journey across the Channel.

But does the archbishop expect us to value even the convicted criminals among the tens of thousands who have entered Britain illegally, many of whom we cannot deport because Left-wing lawyers argue that by doing so we would breach their human rights?

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby led other church leaders in condemning the Governments Rwanda migrant flights

The Archbishop of York (left) and the Bishop of London (right) were church leaders who called the migrant policy 'immoral'

Home Secretary Priti Patel has been in charge of the policy which would see asylum seekers who illegally enter the UK flown to Rwanda to be processed

It may come as a wake-up call to Mr Welby, but huge numbers of his dwindling congregation of bog-standard, church-going Christians like me think hes completely out of touch with his flock.

One poll when the Rwanda plan was first announced showed 47 per cent of Britons agreed with it, with 26 per cent opposing it  a two to one majority.

Are those of us who support the Rwanda plan also part of Britains shame? Even though we believe it is, in fact, a humane project to rehome migrants, and one that could save lives and help destroy the business model of evil people traffickers? How dare these bishops tell me my view is immoral. Am I to be flung into the flames because I believe that we need a determined government and resolute action to tackle the migration crisis, and that this is one way to stop women and children drowning in the English Channel? What we are seeing here is a complete disconnect between the leaders of our churches and their congregations.

Lawyers have been trying to prevent migrants being flown to Rwanda on the deportation flight (crew members pictured)

But then it should hardly come as a surprise. Those of us who have endured countless sermons in church straight from the Left-wing Guardian leader pages understand only too well that our sanctimonious church leaders cant restrain themselves when it comes to the supposed evils of the Tory government.

On one occasion, I had lunch with the Archbishop of Canterbury after a rather beautiful service in the crypt of Lambeth Palace, honouring journalists who had been killed in war. I inquired about his newspaper reading habits.

He told me he couldnt start the day without the Guardian or the Financial Times, both of them Remain-supporting papers.

One poll found that 40 per cent of Church of England clergy voted for agnostic Jeremy Corbyn

The yawning divide between the shepherds and their flock was exposed in an article on the website UnHerd last year by Giles Fraser, now the vicar of St Annes church, Kew. He asked what so many of us bewildered church-goers have been wondering for years: Why is the church so woke? Why does it no longer represent the values of vast swathes of the Christian community?

Mr Fraser cited a Savanta ComRes poll showing that just 6 per cent of Church of England clergy admitted voting Tory in the last election, while 40 per cent voted for agnostic Jeremy Corbyn to lead this country. Odd that our clergy should herald a man who doubts Gods existence.

And while there was no breakdown for congregants in 2019, Rev Fraser pointed out that two years earlier, another poll had 58 per cent of them voting Tory.

That is some disconnect, he commented.

And similarly, churchgoing Anglicans supported Brexit in large numbers, something not true of most of the men and women giving them communion. Sadly its not a new phenomenon. More than a decade ago, before I changed churches to my lovely more traditional one, I was asked by my then parish priest if Id give a talk on Being a Christian and a Conservative.

When I asked why, he explained that the concept was so utterly implausible.

Well, its true that being a Christian has not always been fashionable  ask Jesus and his disciples. But at least these days we dont get fed to the lions, only into the jaws of Leftists who selectively use the Bible to support their dogma.

Should a single flight leave Britain for Rwanda, opined Mr Welby, the shame is our own because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice.

Yet as the Daily Mails Sue Reid revealed recently in her reports from Rwanda on the new refugee centre where they will be housed, the deported migrants will enjoy compassion and justice as well as a comfortable hotel existence and the chance to get jobs if theyre prepared to work.

For those of us of Christian faith, Welbys constant interventions are as baffling as they are alienating. And yet, despite church congregations dwindling ever further, and fewer people putting money into CofE coffers, he seems utterly oblivious.

How can he ignore the most recent poll that showed not just 39 per cent of Labour voters, but 60 per cent of Tories support the Rwanda scheme?

I suppose by sermonising from his pulpit on the moral high ground  while insisting the views of the shameful majority among his congregants arent worth the church candle.




South Korea, the United States and Japan plan to conduct a combined missile search and tracking exercise in waters off Hawaii in August to bolster their readiness to counter North Korea's evolving threats, informed sources said Tuesday.







The biennial Pacific Dragon exercise is scheduled to take place from Aug. 1 to 14 as the three countries are seeking to step up security cooperation amid tensions caused by the North's recent missile launches and speculation that it could conduct a nuclear weapon test in the coming weeks.







South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Nobuo Kishi, agreed to hold the trilateral exercise on a consistent basis during their talks on the margins of a security forum in Singapore, Saturday.







The exercise is to proceed on the occasion of the U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise scheduled to run from June 29 through Aug. 4. At RIMPAC, the three countries are set to deploy naval warships, personnel and other assets.







In this year's edition of Pacific Dragon, Canada and Australia are also expected to participate, according to the sources.







In addition to the missile tracking exercise, Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are expected to stage their quarterly combined missile warning drills later this year as agreed upon during their weekend defense ministerial talks. (Yonhap)






Royal fans have captured a very sweet moment from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's visit to Cardiff during the Queen's Jubilee weekend.

'Fifi Love the Cambridges', shared a video to Twitter, captured on 4th June when the couple visited Cardiff with Prince George, eight, and Princess Charlotte, seven, as part of the celebrations for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

In the short clip, a royal fan gushed that Kate, 40, will make 'a brilliant Princess of Wales' when her husband Prince William becomes first in line to the throne.

At Cardiff Castle, I captured the moment when a lady told The Duchess of Cambridge Youre going to be a brilliant Princess and she replied looking at Prince William Im in good hands 



 Credit: Me #PrinceWilliam #DuchessofCambridge #Royal #Royals #HM70 #TheQueen pic.twitter.com/TqQTx4pOfo  Fifi  The Cambridges  (@hellen3030) June 11, 2022

Royal fan ' Fifi Love the Cambridge ', shared a video taken on June 4 when the couple visited Cardiff with Prince George, eight, and Princess Charlotte, seven, as part of the celebrations for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee

In the short clip, a royal fan gushes that Kate, 40, will make 'a brilliant Princess of Wales' once Prince William is bestowed the title

Kate, who had come to greet some of the royal fans in Cardiff, graciously replied with a nod to her husband, who was leading their children around the walkabout.

She said the compliment was 'very kind' and that she is 'in good hands.'

The sweet gesture sent royal fans into a frenzy on Twitter.

'Aw so cute just wished the lady said Queen because Catherine already is a Princess! But that was a lovely moment anyway,' one said.

'Is it so sweet?! I think the lady meant it as the future Princess of Wales. That moment will be priceless and the trolls will be in verbal diarrhea mode. But well be here to put them in their place,' another said.

The sweet moment was captured on camera as the couple were walking around Cardiff with their young children

Kate replied she was 'in good hands' when someone said she will make a 'brilliant Princess of Wales'

'Yes she will and I hope she take the title of Princess of Wales she deserves it, it will make William proud, Diana would have loved her,'[ one wrote.

'Theres no reason for her not to have the title (if W becomes PoW of course). Although people think of Diana, she was hardly the first Princess of Wales nor will she be the last. Its only that there hadnt been one for a few generations prior to Diana,' another said.

Fifi, who shared the moment on her Twitter page, said in a reply to her own tweet: 'Im so glad I had the video mode on. Priceless,' adding several crying emojis to her post.

According to University College London, Prince William might expect to be bestowed the title of Prince of Wales when his father Prince Charles becomes King.

he video has resurfaced following the Jubilee and ahead of today's Order of the Garter service in Windsor, which Kate is attending with the Duke of Cambridge, pictured

However, whether William gets the title will entirely be up to Charles, because the title is not automatically inherited and can only be handed by the ruling monarch.

Charles was handed the title aged 10, and was invested as Prince of Wales during a ceremony at Caernarvon Castle in 1969.

The video has resurfaced following the Jubilee and ahead of today's Order of the Garter service in Windsor, which Kate is attending with the Duke of Cambridge.

The Duchess of Cambridge was elegant in a vibrant blue coat dress as she lead the royal family ahead of Garter Day celebrations.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall arriving for the annual Order of the Garter Service at St George's Chapel this afternoon

Kate cut a chic figure in a stunning coat dress and matching 560 Juliette Botterill hat as she joined fellow royals including the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince William for the occasion, which is one of the most colourful events in the royal calendar.

She opted for a stunning 8,400 G. Collins & Sons tanzanite pendant necklace for the occasion, which she has worn on a number of occasion. She paired the stunning jewel with matching 6,100 earrings.

Meanwhile the Countess of Wessex was pretty in a pink Valentino gown as she arrived at St George's Chapel earlier today.

Among the first arrivals were the Duchess of Cornwall's son Tom Parker Bowles and his sister Laura Lopes, who were beaming as they waited outside the church in Windsor earlier this afternoon.

The mother-of-three, 40, looked stylish in a vibrant blue dress, which she paired with a navy fascinator and a colourful rainbow clutch.

The siblings are in attendance as they prepare to watch Her Majesty the Queen do the formal investiture of the new Garter knights which includes their mother Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

New appointments are announced on St George's Day but the chivalric and installation ceremonies take place every year on the Monday of Royal Ascot week, known as Garter Day.

It comes as Prince Andrew looked downcast as he drove to Windsor Castle after being banned from appearing in public at this afternoon's Order of the Garter event by senior royals believed to include his mother, Prince Charles and Prince William.
A high society wedding could be on the cards after the great-great-great granddaughter of John Cadbury who founded the chocolate business revealed shes found love with an SAS hero.

Tobi-Jayne Cadbury, 34, who lives in near Malvern in Worcestershire, is the great-great-great granddaughter of John Cadbury who founded the confectionery giant, maker of some of the countrys most famous sweets, in Birmingham almost 200 years ago.

She has been dating a retired special forces solider who uses the alias Chris Craighead, 46, for two years and friends say the couple are head over heels in love and looking to get married.

Describing herself online as a Lawyer, Space Industry Specialist & Consultant, Tobi-Jayne also enjoys photography as a hobby.

Her partner became a legend after he took on twisted fundamentalists who had stormed a luxury hotel complex in Kenya in 2019.

Tobi-Jayne Cadbury, 34, (pictured) has explained that they have been together for 2 years. The heiress said that he had not yet proposed to her but hinted it could be soon

The great-great-great granddaughter of John Cadbury has revealed she's found love with an SAS hero, who goes by the alias Chris Craighead, 46 (right)

The Special Forces veteran, who uses the pseudonym Chris Craighead on Instagram (right) leading Kenyan security forces towards the luxury DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi in 2019 before storming the complex and defeating al-Shabaab terrorists

The al-Shabaab terror group claimed that the attack was a response to US President Donald Trumps controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Pictured: Craighead storming the hotel

The Special Forces veteran, who joined the British Army aged 16 in 1992, is best known for single-handedly defeating jihadis during a Nairobi hotel siege which left at least 21 people dead in January 2019.

He was stationed in Kenya to help train the nations soldiers when heavily armed jihadis from the al-Shabaab terror group seized the Dusit D2 luxury hotel complex, setting fire to vehicles, detonating explosions and embarking on a mass shooting.

Craighead was out shopping in the city when he heard about the attack and kitted up with equipment in the back of his car before heading to the scene to 'organise the entire operation' directing the police and army, before going in alone to neutralise the enemy and rescue the hostages.

Wearing combat gear over casual jeans and a purple shirt, with his face concealed by a balaclava, he was captured on camera entering the complex in Nairobi and then emerging with terrified survivors.

Chris (pictured) became a legend after he took on twisted fundamentalists who had stormed a luxury hotel complex in Kenya in 2019

He used a modified colt Canada rifle and carried a Glock 9mm side weapon as well as a knife for hand-to-hand combat.

The 19-hour siege left 21 dead, including British charity worker Luke Potter. More than 700 people were evacuated from the complex.

At the time he was dating the White House official photographer Shealah Craighead and he was even pictured meeting President Donald Trump but they have since split and he has now dating Lady Tobi-Jayne Cadbury.

Tobi-Jayne told MailOnline: We are together and we have been for a while. He hasnt asked me to marry him yet, thats probably a question you should ask someone else!

We met in London a few years ago and I support him anyway I can. We are very happy together and I follow him on Instagram but we are a very private couple. We are happy dating for the time being.

A pal told: They are a really sweet couple. Its like a Kingsman movie; a spy marrying an aristocrat. Its the happiest I have seen Craig in a long time and they are really made for each other.

Everyone is delighted for them  and Chris is just so happy, hes been a bit down ever since the terror attack, but now he seems to have really found himself since getting together with Tobi.

Chris was off duty in Kenya and teaching local soldiers when al-Shabaab terrorists stormed the DusitD2 hotel complex in the capital Nairobi and pictures at the time showed him masked and carrying an assault rifle as he spoke to security teams before the building was stormed.

Last year he revealed his identity after it emerged Walter Mitty type impersonators were passing themselves off as him in pubs and bars around the SAS HQ at Hereford.

Chris posted on Instagram: Im doing this earlier than I planned, but the actions of others have forced my hand into prematurely revealing my face.

Last year Chris revealed his identity after it emerged Walter Mitty type impersonators were passing themselves off as him in pubs and bars around the SAS HQ at Hereford

Chris previously dated White House official photographer Shealah Craighead before dating Lady Tobi-Jayne Cadbury, a lawyer (pictured)

This photo and others like it are becoming increasingly available, so I thought I should be the one to share the first with you.

Alongside the picture of him he wrote: Thank you to all those close to me who support, guide, assist, and keep me balanced during this time in my life.

Newcastle born Chris was awarded 14 medals during his army career which started in 1992 when he joined up at just 16 and he eventually entered service in the SAS.

For his 19 hour bravery in Kenya he was given the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross  Britains second highest award for bravery  and he also won an MBE and been mentioned in dispatches countless times.

He had to have his suit specially altered at a Saville Row tailors so he could fit all hid medals on  he said of the Huntsman outfitters, who are featured in Kingsman: They were able to solve the problem of securing my medals by designing a support arm which can be stowed away when medals are not worn.

In the Kenyan attack he helped lead hundreds of tourists to safety after racing to the scene in his civilian clothes, where he pulled on a combat jacket and went into action with a rifle, pistol and knife.

Chris was there to teach local soldiers special forces tactics and although 21 people were killed he and others were credited with saving hundreds of lives.

His most recent Instagram post  where he describes himself as a retired combat veteran and a skilled and relentless good guy shows him meeting the Queen and praising her for her Platinum Jubilee.

Tobi, who lives in near Malvern in Worcestershire, is part of the billionaire Cadbury chocolate empire, one of Britains oldest and well known confectionary brands

Chris now works promoting veterans charities and is involved with the US based Black Rifle Coffee company

He now works promoting veterans charities and is involved with the US based Black Rifle Coffee company. A source there said: Chris and Tobi really are great guys and they suit each other well.

Hes had a tough time the last few years and deserves a bit of good luck, especially after risking his own life to have others in the terrorist attack. He deserves more than just a medal.

The source added: They met in London a couple of years ago, he had not long broken up with Shealah but all of us that know him say this is the happiest we have seen him in years.

Shes really good for him but hes pretty guarded and doesnt like to talk about his private life.

The couple met in London two years ago and have admitted that they are very private about their relationship

Tobi, who lives in near Malvern in Worcestershire, is part of the Cadbury family who founded the chocolate empire, one of Britains oldest and well known confectionery brands.

The head office of the 200-year-old company is in Uxbridge, west London and their legendary production plant at Bourneville near Birmingham churns out millions of the countrys favourite sweet treats every year including Dairy Milk, Flake and Creme Eggs.

They have had a royal warrant since 1955 and last year were at the centre of controversy after it emerged they had reduced the size of Dairy Milk bars but kept the price the same.

In 2011 they were bought in a hostile takeover by Mondelez International for an eye watering 11.5 billion  almost 200 years after businessman John Cadbury set up a store in Birmingham selling tea, coffee and drinking chocolate.

Tobi added: The business was sadly subject to a hostile takeover bid for 12 billion pounds a few years ago and now there is no family involvement anymore, sadly there is no empire. None of the family will inherit the business.

Last year Mondelez made more than 6.2 billion with sales from Cadburys products accounting for more than 1 billion.
A former Rikers correction officer has opened up about the horrific experiences she endured while working in the infamous jail, revealing inmates would regularly masturbate in front of her, throw 'urine and feces' at her, and even attempted to rape a female colleague.

The woman, who kept her identity hidden for privacy reasons, worked at the jail for two years - which is the home to more than 10,000 accused criminals who are awaiting their trials.

She spoke out about the terrible things she faced while working at the prison - which is located on an island between Queens and the Bronx in New York City - revealing that inmates would assault officers 'daily' and put their penises through the food slot while she was delivering meals to them.

'There's been multiple occasions when I've been touring, and an inmate will pull his penis out and will masturbate,' she told Vice recently.

'I remember the first time an inmate masturbated in front of me. I was feeding them through the feeding slot.

'Once you open their slot to put their tray, they would put their penis in the slot. I screamed, and the other officers on the tour were like, "What happened?"

'I was like, "He's masturbating." And they were like, "Oh, he does that to everyone." Like it was just normal. I felt violated. I felt disrespected. I felt scared.'

A former Rikers correction officer has opened up about the horrors of her job, revealing inmates would regularly masturbate in front of her. Rikers Island is pictured

The woman, who kept her identity hidden, worked at the jail (pictured) for two years - which is the home to more than 11,000 accused criminals who are awaiting their trials

The former officer explained that most of the people are there for violent crimes like 'murder, rape, domestic violence, burglary, and robbery,' adding, 'It's just an island filled with gangs that are constantly trying to kill each other.'

Recent Rikers Island incidents A prisoner hijacked a bus filled with prisoners - which was left unattended with keys inside - and crashed it into a wall in October 2021

Rikers Island inmates were seen punching, kicking, and stomping on guards in a violent surveillance video footage compilation obtained by Fox News in August 2021

That same month, an inmate stole keys from a guard, freed another detainee and slashed the officer's neck with a knife, prompting him to seek refuge in his attacker's own jail cell

A couple of weeks later, another inmate stabbed his neighbor after climbing out of his cell through a metal grate in the wall

The New York Times documented more than a dozen instances since July, in which inmates were allowed to wander around the jail unrestricted, resulting in multiple acts of violence

The jail's federal monitor, Steve J. Martin, said in August that worsening conditions in the city's jails were tied directly to a spike in 'excessive and unchecked staff absences'

At one point during the summer, more than one-third of the city's jail guards - about 3,050 of 8,500 - were on sick leave or medically unfit to work with inmates

At the time, lawmakers who toured Rikers complex said it was filthy and inhumane, with overflowing toilets and floors covered in dead cockroaches, feces, and rotting food

There were 16 reported deaths of incarcerated people on Rikers Island in 2021. Six inmates have died in 2022 Advertisement

'They would set fires in their cell. You can be walking doing your tour and all of a sudden, urine or feces is thrown at you,' she continued.

'Almost all of them have weapons - knives or sharp objects. Officers would be assaulted daily.

'It can range from a broken nose, to a broken eye socket, broken bones, ribs, there's no limit to what these inmates would do to you. We are at a time where the inmates are running the prison.'

The anonymous woman said the system has 'definitely failed everyone involved.'

'I was hired to provide custody, care, and control of the inmates,' she added. 'The system has definitely failed everyone involved - the inmates, the officers. Everyone involved is suffering.'

The former jail staffer recalled one time when an inmate had gotten into the guard station and 'ripped off' a female officer's belt and pants.

'Thankfully, an officer came and was able help her. [The inmate] was being held for rape, I believe his intentions were to rape her,' she said.

'They suggested that we wear Spanx underneath our uniform just in case. There shouldn't be a "just in case."'

She continued, 'I have seen female officers terminated for having relationships with the inmates. There has been incidents where officers have been impregnated by inmates.

'Once you start a relationship with an inmate, or once you say yes to them once, you can't say no because you're locked in, you're trapped at that point.'

The woman explained that there was normally 50 inmates for every one guard, and that although they are given pepper spray for protection, some of the inmates are 'used to it' so it 'does nothing to them.'

She said that if she were to report an incident, her superiors would turn it on her and ask, 'What did you do wrong? What did you not do to prevent it?'

She also stated that her captain often 'sided with the inmate before they sided with her,' and that it felt like they were 'just there to tear her down.'

According to the Rikers guard, drugs are 'rampant' in the jail - and are brought in by officers, people in charge of programs, doctors, nurses, and civilians visiting inmates.

She spoke out about the terrible things she faced while working on the island, revealing that inmates would assault officers 'daily.' A Rikers inmate is seen beating an officer in 2018

'It can range from a broken nose, to a broken eye socket, bones, ribs, there's no limit to what they would do to you,' she shared. An inmate at Rikers is seen attacking an officer in January

She stated that her captain often 'sided with the inmate before siding with her,' and that it felt like they were 'just there to tear her down.' A Rikers inmate is seen attacking an officer in 2018

'There's K2, pentanol, marijuana - any drug you can think of, they probably have it,' she shared.

'The value of any drug in jail is worth much more than it would be worth on the outside. Maybe five times more.

'There were definitely officers accepting bribes. Not only officers, but civilians bring it in as well - the people who are in charge of programs, doctors, nurses. Some of them are scared, some of them do it for the money.'

The officer said the job was 'so draining' that she would come home and go right to bed - sleeping until her next shift. And when the pandemic hit, things got worse.

She claimed she and her coworkers would often get 'stuck' working 16-hour shifts back to back, resulting in them working for more than 24-hour periods without sleep.

She explained, 'You're on post for 24 hours and then a fight breaks out and they expect you to do everything right on no sleep. You're supposed to still do your duties to the best of your ability.'

The former jail staffer also recalled a time when an inmate got into the guard station and 'ripped off' a female officer's belt and pants, attempting to 'rape' her (stock photo)

The anonymous woman said the system has 'definitely failed everyone involved,' adding, 'We are at a time where the inmates are running the prison.' Rikers Island is pictured

'Data on uses of force, fights, stabbings, and slashings among people in custody and assaults on staff reveal that 2021 has been the most dangerous year,' a 2021 report on the prison found.

The report stated that there were 2,113 detainee assaults on staff between January and September 2021.

The woman told Vice that she started to develop chest pain due to the stress of her job, adding that she had colleagues who died from heart attacks over it.

'I didn't have a coping method,' she said. 'I remember thinking, "I'm 21, and I'm going to have a heart attack." I hit rock bottom.

'I actually tried to quit three times but they always convinced me to stay in the fight. I remember getting to a point where I was like, "I can't do this anymore ... I'm done."'

Eventually, she left the profession, and she said 100s of others followed in her footsteps afterwards.

'If I could talk to an officer that was looking to join corrections, I would tell them, "Don't do that. It's not worth your quality of life, it's not worth your mental health. Until there is some sort of structure and safety, you shouldn't even consider it,"' she concluded.
Princess Beatrice was spotted enjoying a night out at exclusive Mayfair private members' club Oswald's on Monday night.

The 33-year-old royal, who gave birth to her daughter Sienna in September, looked casual in a denim jacket and black floral headband, as she left the exclusive club - a favourite with the royals - following a Monday night soiree with photographer Mary McCartney.

The high profile pals left separately, with Beatrice catching a ride in a chauffeur-driven car - complete with baby seat in the back - from the glitzy London nightspot.

Scroll down for video

Princess Beatrice enjoyed a night out with Paul McCartney's daughter Mary at the exclusive private members club on Albemarle Street in Mayfair on Monday

The 33-year-old royal, who gave birth to her daughter Sienna in September, looked casual in a denim jacket and black floral headband - a baby car seat was spotted in the back of Beatrice's chauffeur driven car

Mary, 52, daughter of Paul McCartney, left shortly after Beatrice - sporting a striking grey track suit. The famous snapper wheeled along a silver case, and carried a black clutch bag in the other hand

Mary, 52, exited the A-list night spot shortly after. The famous snapper, wearing a metallic grey track suit and white trainers and her brunette locks tied back in a ponytail, was seen wheeling along a small silver suitcase as she made her way to a waiting car.

The club on Albemarle Street in Mayfair is famous among wine connoisseurs, and is owned by fellow environmental activist Robin Birley, whose father named his famous members' club Annabel's after his socialite wife - Lady Annabel Goldsmith.

Prince William, who was seen enjoying a night with friends at the club in November, is also said to be a member of 61-year-old Etonian Birley's secretive member's only club 5 Hertford Street.

Joining costs 1,800 a year and members - rumoured to include Harry Styles, Margot Robbie, Mick Jagger and numerous royals - need to be recommended by a proposer and a seconder.

At the Platinum Jubilee Thanksgiving service just over a week ago at St Paul's, royal Beatrice raised a smile with her choice of bag - the designer clutch was clearly emblazoned with the words 'Wifey for Lifey'.

A breather? New mum Beatrice left husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in charge of their eight month old daughter Sienna

Princess Beatrice seen being driven away from Oswald's on Monday. The club, owned by environmental activist Robin Birley, is a favourite with the royal family

The friends appeared in high spirits as they left the Mayfair club on Monday evening

The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson wore the embellished Sophia Webster blue bag as she walked hand-in-hand into the London church with her husband of two years Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.

The 350 sold out bag, which according to the website was designed for modern brides, is made from pearlescent PVC and has a glittered border in blue.

The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Sienna, in September and following the Thanksgiving service, Edoardo gushed about his wife - and sister-in-law Eugenie - on Instagram.

Posting two photos of his wife online, the father-of-two wrote: 'My wonderful sister-in-law and phenomenal wife looking so stunning.'

It comes after royal authors said Princess Beatrice is stepping into the limelight to 'help her grandmother the Queen' following her father's downfall and is 'much more confident' after becoming a wife and a mother.
A team left the Bake Off: The Professionals judges in hysterics last night after crafting a 'phallic' looking chocolate tower after being asked to make 'sophisticated sculpture'.

Bakers Aline and Nina, originally from Brazil and now living in Kent, appeared on the Channel 4 programme last night representing Aline's bakery The Pink Kitchen where they were tasked with making 36 identical Mont Blanc tarts.

As part of the Secret Challenge, the contestants were also asked to craft a sophisticated 'chocolate sculpture' which 'represented them as a team'.

However Aline and Nina left the judges Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden howling with laughter after presenting their chocolate tower - which Benoit commented was 'very phallic.'

Bakers Aline and Nina, from Kent, left the Bake Off: The Professionals judges in hysterics last night after crafting a 'phallic' looking chocolate tower after being asked to make 'sophisticated sculpture'

Appearing on the programme, Aline described how she had left behind a patisserie career in London to start The Pink Kitchen in Kent 10 years ago.

Surge in demand for her cakes recently lead her to take fellow Brazlian Nina under her wing.

Aline called the team 'very organised and we have fun also - we have a little laugh and fun. We enjoy it at the same time.'

The duo were first tasked with making the 36 identical French tarts.

Many of those watching were left stunned and giggling over the moment on the Channel 4 show last night

Benoit explained: 'To get the measure of your knowledge and experience right from the off, we'd like you to make today, 36 identical and individual Mont Blanc tarts.'

He went on to describe how he was looking for 'a lovely, sweet almond pastry, almond cream, crispy meringue, finished off with a chestnut vermicelli.'

All the bakers were given was the necessary equipment and ingredients for the task.

Meanwhile Cherish said: 'We also want you to make one chocolate amenity each.

Aline and Nina described how they planned to build a chocolate sculpture with colourful leaves and balls to reflect their Brazilian heritage

'This sophisticated chocolate sculpture is often given to the VIP. Please make sure it reflects you as a team and makes me smile.

She added: 'It needs to be refined, it needs to be original and most of all, it needs to blow my mind - bang.'

Benoit explained: 'The chocolate amenity is the opportunity for them to be very creative, show us a little bit of yourself with a beautiful little simple design.'

They had three hours to complete the challenge.

The judges had asked for a 'sophisticated' chocolate sculpture which would also 'show a little bit' of the team with a 'beautiful, simple design' (pictured, Nina and Aline's sculpture)

Benoit called the challenge an 'eight out of 10' in terms of technicality, calling it: 'It's one of my favorite to eat, who doesn't love a Mont Blanc?

'A little tart cake, almond cream, crunchy French meringue, creme chantilly, all topped off with chestnut cream.'

As the judges visited their working station, the pair described how they planned to construct the tarts - but in a crucial mistake, they said they planned to put meringue on the outside instead of the chestnut cream.

And it didn't get any better for the team as the task progressed, with the duo describing their plan to put their meringues in the fridge - without baking them at all.

Even Aline and Nina were left giggling after the judges pointed out the 'phallic' appearance of their chocolate treat

Meanwhile they confessed they were struggling to come up with ideas for their chocolate sculpture, with Aline admitting it was 'a bit stressful.'

Ultimately they crafted a chocolate wave, with colourful leaves, nodding to their Brazilian heritage, and several balls stuck to it.

As the challenge progressed, the women confessed they were concerned about timing, with Stacey even joining in to help with rolling pastry.

However Aline and Nina were immediately disappointed, with Benoit telling them their pastries 'didn't look like a Mont Blanc.'

He said: 'I'm far from my trip to the Alps unfortunately. The amenity...remind me what it is supposed to be representing?'

Benoit and Cherish both questioned 'what the sculpture was meant to represent' before breaking down in laughter

Aline explained: 'We tried to represent Brazil [with] the colours green, blue and yellow. [The balls] symbolize the earth.'

Benoit added: 'We might as well say, it is very phallic. I'm not sure what I'm looking at to be honest.'

The group broke down in laughter, with Benoit and Cherish both giggling at the site of the sculpture.

Viewers were left in hysterics over the moment, with one writing: 'A decorative chocolate d***, nice.'

Another added: 'Oh my...essentially, that was an e********* c*** in chocolate. Should probably see a Dr cos it's yellow.'

A third added: 'Nina now completely unable to see anything but a giant chocolate p****.'
British writer Julie Burchill has branded Kim Kardashian a better role model than Marilyn Monroe, saying it is better for women to be 'tough not tender' in order to succeed in a man's world.

She compared the two women after Kardashian wore a famous crystal-studded gown, famously donned by Monroe as she sang Happy Birthday, Mr President to JFK in 1962, to last month's Met Gala.

Discussing the pair in an article for The Spectator (in which she notes she dislikes the concept of role models), Burchill says both were 'shamed for their nakedness', but 'the tough one toughed it out', describing Kardashian.

The reality star's leaked sex tape in 2007, led to a thriving career, thanks to Kardashian 'owning' it, rather than accepting the shaming, says the writer.

By contrast, Burchill says Monroe (who is said to have agreed that being an actress is 'no better than being a hooker', according to her maid Lena Pepitone), accepted being objectified by men, which 'had such a disastrous effect on her, killing her at the age of 36'.

Monroe was found dead at her home in Brentwood, California, after taking an overdose of barbituates.

Kim Kardashian, pictured here at the Met Gala in May, wearing the dress Marilyn Monroe wore to sing Happy Birthday, Mr President to JFK in 1962, has been described as a better role model than the late actor

Marilyn Monroe, pictured here in 1950, in stills for the film All About Eve, reportedly agreed that being an actress is 'no better than being a hooker' according to her housekeeper Lena Pepitone

Julie Burchill has described Kim Kardashian as a better role model than Marilyn Monroe, citing the former's activism and business success, as well as her refusal to be 'shamed for her nakedness'

At this age, writes Burchill, Kardashian was 'just getting started on her political activism, ranging from everything from publicising the Armenian genocide by Turkey and working for the release of non-violent drug offenders'.

She added: 'The sneering query But what does Kim Kardashian do? Is easily answered with "She raises four children, oversees a billion-dollar empire and gets under-privileged, non-violent people left rotting in jail out  what do you do?".'

After sporting the sparkling dress, Kardashian faced a barrage of criticism, with some experts saying the piece shouldn't have been taken out of storage at Ripley's Believe It or Not!, to be worn.

Scott Fortner, a fashion historian and costume expert told the New York Post last month: 'No one should have reworn this dress. It's hard because [Kardashian] is one of the most influential people in the world.

Kim Kardashian, pictured here during a recent episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians, 'refused to be shamed for her nakedness', according to Julie Burchill, who says the reality star has thrived because of it

Monroe wore the custom Jean Louis gown to sing 'Happy Birthday' to then-President John F. Kennedy on May 19, 1962

Kardashian lost 16 pounds in three weeks to fit into the gown made for specifically for Monroe to wear to serenade the president

'If it was up to me, I would not have allowed it simply because of the importance of the piece in American cultural history,' he added. 'But let me be clear, this is nothing to do with Kim Kardashian.'

Kardashian was the first person to don the gown since it was worn by Monroe in 1962. She admitted she lost 16 pounds in three weeks to fit into the dress, but she was still unable to zip it.

Speaking to Vogue, she said: 'I'm extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history. I would never want to sit in it or eat in it or have any risk of any damage to it'

She added: 'It will forever be one of the greatest privileges of my life to be able to channel my inner Marilyn in this way, on such a special night.'
Insiders previously told how Andrew 'always had his eye on the property'

Family are to move into four bed Adelaide Cottage on Windsor Estate this year

Said they were 'overwhelmed by Jubilee' and 'want to ride this wave of goodwill'

Sources said Charles and William are 'adamant' he should not return to duty

The Duke of Cambridge came together with Prince Charles to put a halt to Prince Andrew's plan to return to public duty, a royal expert has claimed - in the father and son's latest show of unity in recent months.

Prince William, 39, told the Queen and Prince of Wales yesterday that he would pull out of the Order of the Garter ceremony if his uncle the Duke of York was given a public role.

And now royal expert Katie Nicholl has revealed how Prince Charles was also 'particularly resistant' to his brother attending the event in case he 'upstage Camilla's big moment' which she was 'thrilled to receive.'

Writing in Vanity Fair, she explained how both Prince William and Prince Charles are 'adamant' Andrew does not return to public life and want to 'ride the wave of goodwill' created by the 'success of the Jubilee' without the Duke.

With the father and son united, the Duchess of Cambridge kept spirits high in Windsor yesterday, as she giggled with Prince Charles and William before greeting Camilla with a beaming grin.

It comes amid the news Prince William and Kate are planning to move to Adelaide Cottage on Windsor Estate this summer - a move which has apparently 'gazumped' Andrew, who has reportedly 'always had his eye on the property.'

The Cambridges, Prince of Wales and Camilla appear closer than ever in the face of the controversy, having made more frequent appearances as a foursome in recent months.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge came together with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall yesterday to put a halt to Prince Andrew's plan to return to public duty, a royal expert has claimed

It was claimed Andrew's absence from the Windsor Castle procession and service was a 'family decision', Buckingham Palace said, amid huge controversy over his links to Jeffrey Epstein and alleged abuse of one of his 'sex slaves'

Sources told Vanity Fair the Duchess of Cornwall had 'secretly wanted' the title of Royal Lady of the Order of the Garter.

It is the highest accolade the Queen can bestow on a female family member, and Camilla was therefore 'thrilled' to receive it.

The royal expert said the Prince of Wales was therefore fearful of Prince Andrew's appearance at the event 'upstaging' his wife's big moment.

Katie went on to say Prince Charles is united with his son William in their feeling the Duke of York 'cannot return to any public role for the sake of the reputation of the monarchy.'

It comes amid the news Prince William and Kate are planning to move to Adelaide Cottage on Windsor Estate this summer - a move which has apparently 'gazumped' Andrew, who was previously reported to have 'always had his eye on the property'

A source explained: 'There are tensions because the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge want Andrew to be kept away from any public engagements.

'They do not want him to return to public life, full stop.'

The news comes at the same time reports state Prince William and Kate will move their family to Adelaide Cottage.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, are reportedly set to uproot their family from Kensington, west London, to Adelaide Cottage in Berkshire in order to be closer to the Queen.

Re-erected in 1831, the Cambridge's new Grade II-listed retreat is just a short walk from St George's Chapel and Windsor Castle, and sits proudly on the 655-acre royal estate in Berkshire.

The Cambridges and Prince of Wales and Camilla appear closer than ever, having made more frequent appearances as a foursome in recent months (pictured together at the Jubilee)

Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said: 'The Queen needs more people like William around her. She is very often on her own apart from staff and so will be delighted William, Kate and her three great-grandchildren will be ten minutes away. The family were very restricted in what they could do during the week at Kensington Palace.'

Royal editor Rebecca English previously told how the home had been subject to jostling by the couple and Prince Andrew.

Just last month, she told Mail+ Palace Confidential: Ive been told by contacts that could be a little bit tricky because Prince Andrew has actually always had his eye on that property.

How Prince Charles and Kate Middleton's bond has become more apparent in the past year - with sweet greetings at public events Prince Charles and Kate Middleton have shown several public signs of their close relationship over the past year. In April 2021, the Duchess shared a kiss on the cheek with her grief-stricken father-in-law as they left Prince Philip's funeral. Kate consoled Prince Charles as the pair walked out of St George's Chapel following the emotional service in memory of the Duke of Edinburgh. Photographs show Kate comforting the Prince of Wales over the loss of his father by putting her hand on his shoulder. She then kisses him on the cheek as they set off from the entrance of the chapel. Prince Charles had earlier been visibly emotional as he walked in the procession. And in June, the Duchess of Cambridge lovingly called father-in-law Prince Charles 'grandpa' when she greeted him at a G7 reception. Kate used the family nickname while speaking to Charles at a reception at the Eden Project, in Cornwall. Meanwhile in September, she attended the James Bond premiere alongside her father-in-law, greeting him with a close embrace as they met at Royal Albert Hall in London Advertisement

'Its been used as a grace-and-favour home for royal staff and distant relatives for many years.

'Hed rather hoped one of his children, particularly Princess Eugenie, might able to move into it.'

However in recent weeks, it emerged Princess Eugenie will not be moving into the Windsor property - and instead will split her time between the UK and Portugal.

Prince William and Charles' latest showing is just the latest moment of unity between the Cambridges and the Prince of Wales and Camilla.

Over the past few months, the foursome have put on jovial and friendly displays at public events together, often led by Kate.

Kate is known to have a warm relationship with her father-in-law and has reportedly helped smooth the sometimes fractious relationship between the heir to the throne and his son, William.

The Duchess was warmly welcomed into the family by Charles after her engagement to William, and she's been heard affectionately calling him Grandpa in public on previous occasions.

Meanwhile she is often seen greeting him with a beaming smile, kissing him on the cheek.

Poignantly, she was photographed comforting the Prince of Wales following Prince Philip's funeral procession last year.

In January, Kate, on the personal invitation of Prince Charles, joined him and Camilla on a visit to The Prince's Foundation training site for arts and culture at Trinity Buoy Wharf, in London.

It marked the first time since 2012 the trio have stepped out without William.

And at the recent Jubilee events, the foursome were often spotted sharing a laugh with one another.

At Trooping the Colour, Camilla rode in a carriage with Kate and the three Cambridge children, before the family watched the fly-past together from the Buckingham Palace balcony.

On the second day of the Jubilee celebrations, the foursome exchanged an affectionate greeting at the service of Thanksgiving for the Queen.

Meanwhile Kate and Will showed their family's close bond with Camilla and Charles at the Platinum Pageant, when they asked 'Grandpa' to look after a mischievous Prince Louis in one playful moment.

The Duke of Cambridge's alleged ultimatum to his grandmother and father yesterday reportedly led to the Duke of York being banned from the Windsor Castle event amid fears the crowds might boo him.

Kate is known to have a warm relationship with her father-in-law and has reportedly helped smooth the sometimes fractious relationship between the heir to the throne and his son, William (pictured in September 2021)

Closer than ever: In January, Kate, on the personal invitation of Prince Charles, joined him and Camilla on a visit to The Prince's Foundation training site for arts and culture at Trinity Buoy Wharf, in London (pictured)

Prince Andrew looked downcast as he drove to Windsor Castle as it was claimed his absence from the Windsor Castle procession and service was a 'family decision', Buckingham Palace said, amid huge controversy over his links to Jeffrey Epstein and alleged abuse of one of his 'sex slaves'.

Andrew was not be seen in public during Garter Day, one of the most colourful events in the royal calendar, after the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge reportedly lobbied the Queen about his participation. The decision was clearly taken at the 11th hour, because Andrew's name was on the order of service.

A source told the Evening Standard: 'The Duke of Cambridge was adamant. If York insisted on taking part publicly, he would withdraw'. It would have also meant that his wife Kate would also not have attended.

A palace insider said that the decision to exclude Andrew from the public elements of Garter Day was a 'family decision'. While a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'The Duke of York will attend the investiture and lunch but will not be part of the procession or service.'

Throughout the Jubilee events, the Duchess of Cambridge put on a friendly display with her father-in-law, with the pair often exchanging smiles and chatting (pictured, at Trooping the Colour)

At Trooping the Colour, Camilla rode in a carriage with Kate and the three Cambridge children, before the family watched the fly-past together from the Buckingham Palace balcony

But he was allowed to join the Queen at the formal investiture of new members of the Order of the Garter - including the Duchess of Cornwall and ex PM Tony Blair - and as well as the lunch afterwards.

Her Majesty also missed the procession and service, due to her ongoing mobility problems - but intended to do the formal investiture of the new Garter knights including Tony Blair and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Adelaide Cottage: The Cambridges' new 19th century Grade II-listed home nestled near Windsor Castle on the 655-acre royal estate Re-erected in 1831, the Cambridge's new Grade II-listed retreat is just a short walk from St George's Chapel and Windsor Castle, and sits proudly on the 655acre royal estate in Berkshire. The four bedroom Adelaide Cottage has been used as a grace-and-favour home for royal staff and family friends in recent years. The cottage underwent major renovations in 2015, which means the Cambridges would not have to shell out millions in remodelling the house. But it still boasts original features including a marble Graeco-Egyptian fireplace and a principal bedroom with a coved ceiling featuring gilded dolphins and rope ornament reused from the Royal yacht Royal George. It also has seven gated entrances and exits to Windsor Castle so the family can come and go in relative privacy. The property was constructed in the early 19th century as a retreat for William IV's wife Queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. Adelaide Cottage was also known to be a favourite home of Queen Victoria, as she frequently enjoyed taking her breakfast there. The four-bedroom home does have a rich and colourful history to draw upon. Following the Second World War, it played host to a major royal scandal when it homed Group Captain Peter Townsend. Townsend, the dashing RAF pilot and equerry to King George VI would later become the divorced lover of Princess Margaret. Their relationship would be doomed by the Royal Marriages Act which stated no member of the Royal Family was permitted to marry a divorcee while the ex-partner was still living. Advertisement

It came amid reports that Andrew has pushed for a return to royal duties but his older brother Prince Charles and nephew Prince William had asked the Queen not to give in to the disgraced royal. Her Majesty apparently informed him to keep out of sight 'for his own good'.

Andrew, 62, was stripped of his official duties at the start of the year as he prepared to pay a multi-million-pound settlement to Jeffrey Epstein's sex slave Virginia Roberts Giuffre to keep her allegations of sexual abuse, which he denies, out of court.

But earlier this week, the duke  who missed the Jubilee celebrations a week ago because he had Covid  dramatically pulled out of Order of the Garter ceremony, despite being a member of the ancient order of chivalry. Charles and William were said to have blocked Andrew from appearing at Order of the Garter ceremony after lobbying the Queen, according to The Sun.

In a last-minute U-turn, the prince backed out of attending public aspects of the annual ceremony at Windsor.

Buckingham Palace had insisted that Andrew would attend the ceremony, because the honour was given to him in a personal capacity by the Queen.

But behind the scenes there was deep concern about the spectacle of the shamed prince walking in his robes in public. There were also fears he could be booed. The Queen is reported to have asked him to stay out of public sight and only attend private elements of the event. It also appears that his wish to represent her at Royal Ascot has been binned.

But despite this he remains ninth in line to the throne - and a Counsellor of State - meaning he will stand in for the Queen if she is incapacitated and Charles and William are abroad.

Prince Andrew lives in the grounds of Windsor Castle and is said to have daily contact with his mother.

Weeks after she stripped him of his titles, the Queen asked him to accompany her to Prince Philip's memorial service at Westminster Abbey in March, where he walked his mother down the aisle in a highly symbolic moment.

But palace aides - as well as his relatives - are said to have been clear that the strength of public feeling against over his links to Epstein, must preclude him from taking part in frontline royal duties.

Despite his non-appearance, the duke believes he should be included in other royal and state events, The Daily Telegraph reported.

'The colonelcy of the Grenadier Guards was his most coveted title and he wants it back,' a source said.

'Having remained a Counsellor of State, he also believes he should be included at royal and state events. Most importantly for him is his status as an HRH and 'Prince of the Blood' and he feels that should be reinstated and his position recognised and respected.'

The Palace and Andrew's spokesman earlier this week declined to comment on the claims. But one royal insider suggested that, whether he had asked or not, there should be no expectation of being welcomed back.

The insider said the duke could 'lobby all he wanted, if indeed he has, but whether he would ever get anything back is an entirely different matter'.

An aide said the statement from January in which he was stripped of his roles 'with the Queen's approval and agreement', still 'speaks for itself'.

During the event yesterday, the Duchess of Cambridge kept spirits high as she giggled with Prince Charles and William before greeting Camilla with a beaming grin

As the Duchess of Cambridge hopped into the horse-drawn carriage alongside the Duchess of Cornwall, she could be seen beaming with joy
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands looked happy and confident as she visited the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy in Abidjan.

The monarch, 50, looked stylish in an olive green dress as she met with Vice-President Tiemoko Meyliet Kone, Prime Minister Achi and First-Lady Dominique Ouattara in the Ivory Coast city.

The Argentine-born royal is an international financier by training and is visiting Abidjan in the capacity of UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA).

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands looked happy and confident as she visited the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy in Abidjan

The Monarch chose to wear a very attractive olive green lace dress teamed with brown coloured belt and matching court shoes

For today's visit, where she also attended the Ministry of Trade and Industry and SME promotion, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the city, she chose to wear a very attractive olive green lace dress teamed with brown coloured belt and matching court shoes.

Her hair was swept back in a subtle and complementary pony-tail and she chose brown wooden drop-down earrings with dark heavy mascara eyes.

The mother-of-three was photographed sitting with Vice-President Tiemoko Meyliet Kone and happily chatting.

The mother-of-three was photographed sitting with Vice-President Tiemoko Meyliet Kone and happily chatting

Maxima, 50, looked stylish in an olive green dress as she met with Vice-President Tiemoko Meyliet Kone, as well as Prime Minister Achi and First-Lady Dominique Ouattara in the Ivory Coast city

The trip is the first in-person 'country visit' Queen Maxima will take in her capacity as the UNSGSA since before the pandemic.

The West Africa region represents a priority area of focus for the UNSGSAs efforts to bolster financial and digital inclusion, along with financial health, and follows on from virtual visits with both Ivory Coast and Senegal in 2021.

The UNSGSA aims to support a range of inclusive finance priorities in close collaboration with key leaders and stakeholders in each country, as well as meet with local customers who use and benefit from financial services and products.

The trip to Abidjan the Ivory Coast city is the first in-person 'country visit' Queen Maxima will take in her capacity as the UNSGSA since before the pandemic

Both countries have opportunities to be at the forefront of financial inclusion in West Africa, with growth being driven by digital payments.

As a result, both have potential to be leaders in the region.

This comes after she met with the president of the European Central Bank in Amsterdam last week.

She was joined by her husband King WIllem-Alexander, 55, to meet Dutch central bank president Klaas Knot, and President of the ECB Christine Lagarde and Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

It came as the royal's eldest daughter announced she has enrolled for a degree at Amsterdam university - and will live with normal students in a houseshare.

Heir to the throne Princess Amalia, 18, has revealed she will be studying for a 3,750 degree in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics at University of Amsterdam from September.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are in the 'last chance saloon' with the royal family and will be 'cut off' if they leak anything from Jubilee, a royal author has claimed.

The Duke, 37, and the Duchess of Sussex, 40, who are currently living in their $14 million mansion in California, flew in from the US for the event last weekend, but spent little time with the royal family.

Harry and Meghan did not spend any private time with Prince William, Kate, George, Charlotte and Louis during the Jubilee, while they were not permitted to bring a private photographer to the first meeting between the Queen and their daughter Lilibet.

The 96-year-old is said to have met Harry and Meghan's daughter. However, they were allegedly told 'no chance' of an official photo because it was a 'private family meeting'. Palace insiders may have worried any photos taken by Harry and Meghan would be shared with TV networks in the US or in Harry's upcoming memoirs.

Royal biographer and journalist Duncan Larcombe has now said the 'test now begins' for the royal couple, telling Closer magazine: 'If anything from the weekend leaked, I imagine they will be totally cut off and that'll be it.'

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are in the 'last chance saloon' with the royal family and will be 'cut off' if they leak anything from Jubilee, Duncan Larcombe has claimed

Elsewhere Duncan explained: 'They have come to the UK and to the Jubilee and really cemented themselves as royals again, which is great for their brand and something that Spotify, Netflix and Penguin will be eating up.'

He revealed how their 'behavior going forward' would dictate their future with the family.

Saying the royal family had 'extended an olive branch' to the couple at the Jubilee, he added: 'Harry and Meghan would ruin that if any private information about this weekend was spoken about to the press or revealed in a book.'

Duncan also said the Sussexes had visited the UK to 'mend fences', but ran into a 'brick wall' with some senior royals instead.

The Sussexes reportedly wanted their own photographer to capture the Monarch meeting her great-granddaughter Lilibet at Windsor for the first time, but a source claimed they were told 'no chance' because it was a private moment.

Harry and Meghan did not spend any private time with Prince William, Kate, George, Charlotte and Louis during the Jubilee, while they were not permitted to bring a private photographer to the first meeting between the Queen and their daughter Lilibet

The photographer has not been named - but it may be their friend Misan Harriman, who has regularly photographed the Sussexes and even credits himself with getting them together in 2016. He also took the picture of their young daughter on the lawn at Frogmore Cottage as she turned one on Saturday.

Lilibet met Her Majesty 'on more than one occasion' and Prince Charles and Camilla also spent some time with the couple before they returned to California on Sunday, according to Harry and Meghan's friend Omid Scobie.

However Harry and Meghan did not spend any private time with Prince William, Kate, George, Charlotte and Louis during the Jubilee, according to Page Six, and William's family is unlikely to have met Lilibet at all.

An insider said the relationship between the brothers remains 'fraught' after the Sussexes' transatlantic 'truth bombs' about the Royal Family on Oprah and friendly podcasts in the US.

Harry and Meghan did not spend any private time with Prince William, Kate, George, Charlotte and Louis during the Jubilee, while they were not permitted to bring a private photographer to the first meeting between the Queen and their daughter Lilibet (pictured)

And it has been claimed that the Queen banned Harry and Meghan from having a photographer capture the Monarch met her great-granddaughter Lilibet for the first time.

Prince Harry's biographer Angela Levin told GB News she'd heard the streaming-giant was desperate for the pair to secure images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with royals like the Queen and Prince William as part of the series they are filming.

Speaking to GB News, Ms Levin, said this image would have been 'very, very valuable', adding: 'They would have used it for Netflix. It would give them a kudos that they had her with her great grandmother, you know.'

It comes after experts said Prince Harry 'must have gone home feeling very depressed for what he has given up' after he and Meghan Markle decided not to be more visible in the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations because 'they did not have centre stage seats'.

Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl told True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat that the Duke and Duchess weren't at other celebrations over the Jubilee weekend because 'they did not have centre stage seats'.

Earlier this week, Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl (pictured) told True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat said that Meghan and Harry weren't at Jubilee celebrations because 'they did not have centre stage seats'

Meanwhile, historian Hugo Vickers added: 'Harry has given up being Captain of the Royal Marines, who were out in force. I think he must have gone home feeling very depressed for what he has given up.'

Katie said: 'I honestly think it's [because] they knew that they wouldn't be in that front row.

'And why did they leave the Royal Family? They left because they weren't in the front row. I believe that's why they weren't at the other celebrations as they did not have centre stage seats.'

Elsewhere, Duncan said the Platinum Jubilee celebrations will haunt Prince Harry for the rest of his life, as he and his family were relegated to minor roles and decided not to participate in some events.

He said: 'Those four days will haunt Prince Harry for the rest of his life. They [The Duke and Duchess of Sussex] were relegated to sitting behind the Duke of Gloucester [at the Thanksgiving service].

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (left) only made one public appearance at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, despite flying in from the US with their two children - Archie and Lilibet. Pictured right: William and Kate

Discussing the key images from the celebration, Katie told the programme: 'If you're going to take one image away from the weekend, it has to be [the one of the Queen and her three heirs standing on the Buckingham Palace balcony] (pictured)

'They didn't take part in any way, shape or form visibly at the Trooping of the Colour [Harry] will be fuming about the way he and his family were treated - if it was Prince William and the Royal Family who said, 'you're not coming to the royal box', whilst other minor non-working Royals were at those events.'

Discussing the key images from the celebration, Katie told the programme: 'If you're going to take one image away from the weekend, it has to be [the one of the Queen and her three heirs standing on the Buckingham Palace balcony].

'A Jubilee isn't just a moment to reflect on the 70 years, but to look forward to the future. The Queen's message is very clear, this is the future and for the first time in history, we have four generations of royalty.

'It is extraordinary. Also, it was deliberately engineered. If you watch the sequence of this, Camilla steps to the side, whilst Kate takes the two youngest children, and leaves the Queen with her three heirs.'
Twitter users have unleashed a furious tirade on Amber Heard after she sat down for an explosive interview with the Today show in which she discussed the 'unfair' verdict in her defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp, calling the interview 'painful to watch' and claiming that they've 'heard enough of her sickening lies.'

During the shocking new interview - which was pre-recorded on Thursday in New York City and is airing in three parts throughout the week - the actress insisted that she's going to 'stand by every word of her testimony until the day she dies,' less than two weeks after she was found guilty of defaming her ex by claiming that he abused her during their marriage.

The 36-year-old blasted Depp, 59, as a 'liar' and reiterated her claims that he beat her during their marriage, while speaking to Today host Savannah Guthrie.

Now, the Aquaman star is facing fierce backlash from social media users - with one accusing her of 'acting' throughout the appearance and another saying it made them 'sick to their stomach' to listen to her 'bull s**t.'

WATCH: In part one of this exclusive interview, @SavannahGuthrie sits down with Amber Heard to talk about the defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp. pic.twitter.com/LpgiISgv0F  TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 14, 2022

Twitter users have unleashed a furious tirade on Amber Heard after she did an interview with the Today show in which she discussed the verdict in her trial against Johnny Depp

One social media user called the explosive interview 'painful to watch,' while another claimed that they've 'heard enough of her sickening lies'

During the shocking sit-down with Savannah Guthrie, the actress insisted she's going to 'stand by every word of her testimony until the day she dies' after found guilty of defaming her ex

Now, the star is facing fierce backlash from online users - with one accusing her of 'acting' throughout the appearance and another saying it made them 'sick to their stomach' to watch it

'I've heard enough of her sickening lies,' one person wrote on Twitter after the interview aired.

'She is such a liar that is just painful to watch,' added another, while someone else said, 'And the Oscar goes to...'

A fourth tweet read, 'Contrived performance yet again.'

Other viewers tweeted, 'She needs professional help,' and, 'What a sad human being.'

'I'm sick of listening to her BS. Listening to her made me sick to my stomach. She contradicts herself constantly. her 15 minutes of fame is over,' wrote a different Twitter user.

Another person slammed the Today show for 'enabling an abuser,' while someone else said the network has 'sunk to a new low,' and a third bashed them for 'giving credit to a manipulative piece of s**t like Heard.'

'Nobody believes her Savannah. Give it up and stop interviewing abusers,' responded one disgruntled Twitter user.

'Shame on you. Women do tell lies, they are not always truthful, and this witch got caught. Her reputation is done.'

Another wrote, 'Quit enabling this abuser and stop giving her air time. She said she wanted to move on, so why is she not?'

'Nice to see news [organizations] still giving credit to a manipulative piece of s**t like Amber Heard,' agreed someone else.

'If this trial had gone the other way, no chance in Hell we'd see any news org even touch Johnny Depp. But that's the news nowadays - needs viewers, clicks, and money.'

Another person slammed the Today show for 'enabling an abuser,' while someone else bashed them for 'giving credit to a manipulative piece of s**t like Heard'

'As if she was not given a chance to prove her side in the court?' asked a different user. 'Now NBC has given [her] that opportunity? I hate [NBC] to the core.'

'So sad. The Today show has sunk to a new low,' read another tweet.

'Enough already - these two celebrities have gotten more court time and TV time than important things. Stop covering this toxic slurry relationship... Please!' begged a different person.

'She's a liar. Why would she be given a platform to continue to lie?' tweeted one viewer, while another called it a 'total waste of broadcast time.'

'NBC gives domestic abusers the spotlight. Shame on NBC,' wrote another user.

Someone else said, 'Interview the abuser and promote her lies, meanwhile, ignore the victim.'

'Why the Hell are you seriously allowing this abuser a platform? It's shameful, it really is. Stop enabling her,' read a different tweet.

Exes Heard and Depp - who tied the knot in 2015, and were married for one year before Heard filed for divorce in 2016 - battled it out in court to determine if a 2018 Washington Post essay written by Heard, in which she accused the actor of domestic abuse, defamed Depp.

She was ordered to pay the actor $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, although the second payment was reduced to $350,000 per Virginia law by the judge.

Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages out of the $100 million she was seeking in her countersuit against her ex.

The trial was trying to determine if a 2018 Washington Post essay written by Heard, in which she accused the actor of domestic abuse, defamed Depp. The exes are seen in court

In the end, Heard was ordered to pay the actor $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Depp is pictured at the trial on April 20

During the Today show interview, Heard doubled down on her allegations that Depp was physically violent towards her and accused him of 'lying' on the stand

She also said the trial left her feeling 'less than human' due to the hate she received from Depp's fans, calling it 'the most humiliating and horrible thing she's been through'

But despite a jury ruling overwhelmingly in her ex-husband's favor, finding Heard guilty on three counts of defamation against him, the actress refused to walk back her claims of abuse against him - instead, doubling down on her allegations that he was physically violent towards her and accusing him of 'lying' on the stand when he said that he 'never hit her.'

'He said he never hit you. Is that a lie?' Guthrie, 50, questioned during the interview, to which Heard responded bluntly: 'Yes it is.'

She added: 'To my dying day, I will stand by every word of my testimony.'

Heard also accused Depp's lawyers, Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew, of trying to 'distract the jury from the real issues' during the trial, conceding that they had 'done a better job of that' than her own legal team.

She also suggested that the trial had called into question her First Amendment right to free speech, claiming that she had 'spoken her truth and spoken it to power' only to have ended up 'paying the price' for that.

When grilled by Guthrie about audio clips that were played during the six-week trial, which took place in Virginia, in which the 36-year-old could be heard admitting to being physically abusive towards Depp, she insisted that she only ever 'responded to [physical violence]' but that she 'never instigated it.'

'I never had to instigate it, I responded to it,' she claimed. 'When you're living in violence and it becomes normal - as I testified to - you have to adapt.'

Heard added that, while she 'has so much regret' over the 'horrible' and 'ugly' things she did and said to Depp, she was only acting as a 'person in extreme psychological distress' who felt that their 'life was at risk.'

'I know much has been made of these audio tapes,' she said. 'They were first leaked online after being edited.

'What you would hear in these clips [was] not evidence of what was happening, it was evidence of a negotiation, of how to talk about that with your abuser.

'As I testified on the stand about it. When your life is at risk, not only will you take the blame for things that you shouldn't take the blame for, but when you are in an abusive dynamic - psychologically, emotionally, and physically - you don't have the resources or the luxury of saying, "Hey this is black and white." Because it is anything but when you are living in it.'

Heard admitted to behaving in 'horrible - almost unrecognizable to herself - ways,' telling Guthrie that she 'was pushed to the extent where she didn't know the difference between right and wrong.'

'I did do and say horrible, regrettable things throughout my relationship,' she confessed.

'I behaved in horrible, almost unrecognizable to myself ways. I have so much regret. I freely and hopefully and voluntarily talked about what I did.

'I talked about the horrible language. I talked about being pushed to the extent where I didn't even know the difference between right and wrong.

'I will always continue to feel like I was a part of this. Like I was the other half of this relationship, because I was.'

Heard went on to describe her marriage to Depp as both 'ugly' and 'beautiful,' adding: 'It was ugly. And could be very beautiful. It was very, very toxic. We made a lot of mistakes. But I've always told the truth.'

Heard also insisted that the jury's decision was influenced by what she called 'unfair social media representation' and by her ex-husband calling on 'paid employees and randos' to testify on his behalf.

Her comments about the backlash sparked more fury from online users, with one writing, 'She's so full of it. It's so hard to believe anything she says. She's her own worst enemy'

'I'll put it this way, how could [the jury] make a judgment, how could they not come to that conclusion [that I couldn't be believed]?' she said.

'They had said in those seats and heard over three weeks of nonstop, relentless testimony from paid employees and towards the end of the trial, randos, as I say.

'I don't blame them, I don't blame them, I actually understand, he's a beloved character and people feel that they know him. He's a fantastic actor.

'Again, how could they after listening to three and a half weeks of testimony about how I was an uncredible person and not to believe a word that came out of my mouth.'

Heard claimed the jurors were duped by her ex-husband, branding him as nothing more than a 'fantastic actor' who 'convinced the world he had scissors for fingers,' in a bizarre reference to his performance as Edward Scissorhands in Tim Burton's 1990 movie.

When asked what she thought about allegations made by Depp's lawyer Vasquez that she had been 'performing' on the stand, Heard fired back to Guthrie, 'Says the lawyer for the man who convinced the world he had scissors for fingers.

'I'm the performer? I had listened to weeks of testimony insinuating, or saying quite directly, that I'm a terrible actress. So I'm a bit confused how I could be both.'

She also said the trial left her feeling 'less than human' due to the large amount of hate she received from Depp's fans.

'Every single day I passed three, four, sometimes six city blocks lined with people holding signs saying, "Burn the witch. Death to Amber,"' she told Guthrie.

'I took the stand and saw just a courtroom packed full of Captain Jack Sparrow fans who were vocal and energized.

'This was the most humiliating and horrible thing I've ever been through. I have never felt more removed from my own humanity. I felt less than human.'

Her comments about the backlash sparked more fury from online users, with one writing, 'She's so full of it. It's so hard to believe anything she says. She's her own worst enemy.'

'People don't believe you Amber - all over the world. And I have never seen a Jack Sparrow movie. The evidence was clear. Stop playing the media, you're making it worse,' said someone else.

Another person added, 'Good. It's called karma. You ruined a man's life. This is what happens when the truth is revealed. Forgive me if I have zero sympathy for that.'

'Humiliating? Imagine how JD felt all these years 'cause of your f**king lies, while you lapped it up with not a care in the world that you destroyed a man's life by falsely accusing him,' read another tweet.

'They are the consequences of being an abuser, liar, and pretending to be a victim. Amber Heard deserves no sympathies. She made a mockery of real survivors,' a different user tweeted.

'All I hear is more excuses as to why her lies blew up in her face lol,' wrote someone else.

'Maybe if she finally took some responsibility for something, people would feel more sympathy for her but she continues to project blame. She lost because she wasn't believable and wasn't credible.'

'Even somebody who is sure I'm deserving of all this hate and vitriol, even if you think that I'm lying, you still couldn't look me in the eye that you think on social media there's been a fair representation,' Heard continued during the Today interview. 'You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair.'

But despite insisting that social media played a key role in the outcome of the trial, Heard claimed that she isn't taking any negative public opinions about her 'personally,' insisting that she 'doesn't care what anyone thinks about her.'

'I don't care what anyone thinks about me or what judgments you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my own home in my marriage behind closed doors,' she told Guthrie.

'I don't presume the average person should know those things so I don't take it personally.'

The sit-down interview will air in full on NBC's Dateline on Friday night at 8PM.
Foreign Minister Park Jin / Yonhap



The country's top diplomat emphasized Tuesday the importance of trilateral cooperation among Korea, China and Japan, citing the regional powers' stature and potential.



"Given the stature and economic and cultural potential of the three countries, if we continue our future-oriented cooperation, it would be an important driving force for peace and prosperity in the world beyond the East Asia level," Foreign Minister Park Jin said in a written message to the International Forum on Trilateral Cooperation. The forum took place in Seoul, hosted by the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) established in the capital in 2011 with a vision for promoting partnerships among the three countries.



He pointed out that the world is faced with multiple, simultaneous challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a change in the trade order, food and energy crises, and retrogression in resolving conflicts peacefully.



International cooperation and solidarity is desperately needed in riding out such difficulties, he added.






This is the gruesome moment a young model has large keloid growths removed from her earlobes - a procedure she says transformed her life.

Sammy, an aspiring model and actor, started growing the keloid lumps after having her ears pierced three years ago, and turned down work while trying to cover them up so that nobody would see them.

A video from tonight's episode of The Bad Skin Clinic shows Sammy having her ears sliced open, and the keloids removed.

The procedure was carried out by dermatological surgeon Dr Emma Craythorne at her clinic in central London, who examined the growths, and recommended having them taken off.

Sammy a model and actor (pictured here before the removal surgery) started growing the large keloids three years ago after having her ears pierced

Pictured her after the surgery, Sammy says before having the lumps removed, people bullied her and were cruel about the growths

Pictured here on the operating table, immediately after surgery, Sammy appears delighted by the results of the procedure

Speaking about the growths, which put her off applying for work, Sammy said: ' My skin condition first appeared in my early twenties. I just thought to myself, "What the hell is this?".

'I had people making comments all the time. I had someone saying I look like something out of Star Trek. How can you be so mean to someone you don't know?'

She continued: 'In my past I have done some acting and modelling. It was something that I had a bit of success in, but because of my ears, I haven't really felt comfortable enough to apply for jobs.

'If I didn't have to hide my ears, I would be the happiest girl on the planet. I just want to rip them out. I do feel like I have to constantly hide them. I feel very ugly.'

Prior to having the operation, Sammy (pictured, right) met with Dr Emma Craythorne (pictured, left) examined the growths and recommended they were removed

Sammy (seen before and after having the operation) says having the surgery 'transformed [her] life'

After the operation: Dr Emma removed these two keloids from Sammy's ears. The larger lump on the right was at the back of her lobe, and the smaller one (left) was at the front

During the clip, Dr Emma is seen performing the surgery on Sammy, who was awake during the procedure.

What are keloid scars? A keloid scar is an enlarged, raised scar that can be pink, red, skin-coloured or darker than the surrounding skin. They can develop after very minor skin damage, such as an acne spot or a piercing, and spread beyond the original area of skin damage. Anyone can get a keloid scar, but they're more common in people with dark skin, such as people from Africa and African-Caribbean and south Indian communities. Keloid scars are more common on the upper chest, shoulders, head (especially the earlobes after a piercing) and neck, but they can happen anywhere. Experts do not fully understand what causes keloid scars, but they happen when there's overproduction of collagen (the skin's protein). They're not contagious or cancerous. If you have had a keloid scar before, you're more likely to get another. Keloid scars can affect anyone, but they're more common in people with dark skin and it's thought they may run in families. Source: NHS Advertisement

After cutting a serrated line with the knife at the join between the back of her earlobe and the keloid, Dr Emma pulled the skin away to create small triangular flaps.

The doctor then snipped out the large keloid at the back of Sammy's ear, before severing the smaller one on the front of the lobe and stitching everything back together.

After the lumps were removed, while still on the table, Sammy looked in the mirror and says: 'I have my ear back!'

She then looked at the lump that was removed from her ear, and said: 'Oh my god, that was on my ear? It feels so big.'

Discussing keloid growths, and explaining why some people get them, Dr Emma said: 'We have these cells called fibroblasts and, for somebody who has a tendency to make keloids, whenever your skin is trying to make a scar, these fibroblasts make a bit of collagen, and they make the scar tissue.

'But they forget to stop and they keep going, more and more and more. And it turns into these bigger balls, essentially. They can become quite itchy and painful because it also is a little bit inflammatory.'

Speaking about the surgery 10 weeks later, Sammy, who has returned to modelling told the programme: 'Dr Emma exceeded my expectations and she's definitely transformed my life. My ears are normal again!

'My keloids aren't holding me back any more.

'I'm really excited to start back my modelling career now. I'm getting some new headshots for my acting.

'Now there's nothing in the way of me getting to where I want to be.

'I feel really grateful to Dr Emma. I'm ready to start my life.'

Episode 3 of the new series of The Bad Skin Clinic airs at 10pm tonight on Quest Red, or stream on discovery+
Her daughter is heralded as one of the world's most stylish women, so it's no wonder Carole Middleton took inspiration from the Duchess of Cambridge's wardrobe for her outing to Royal Ascot today.

The entrepreneur, 67, looked elegant in ME+EM's silk shirt dress which features a dipped midi hemline and pleated detailing, the exact same dress worn by Kate to a royal engagement in May last year.

Carole teamed the frock with a black openwork hat with feathered adornments, while her husband Michael, 72, looked dapper in a traditional top hat and tails.

The couple's daughter, Kate, previously wore the dress to meet with a five-year-old cancer patient who featured in her Hold Still photography project after she was photographed kissing her father through a window during lockdown.

Kate, 40, welcomed Mila Sneddon, of Falkirk, for tea at Holyroodhouse in May 2021. during a week-long visit to Scotland.

Carole Middleton (pictured) was snapped wearing a silk pink ME+EM dress while attending the first day of Royal Ascot today. Her daughter Kate was seen sporting the same frock last year

Kate previously wore the dress to meet with a five-year-old cancer patient who featured in her Hold Still photography project after she was photographed kissing her father through a window during lockdown

Carole Middleton looked elegant in ME+EM's silk shirt dress which features pleated detailing, the exact same dress worn by Kate to a royal engagement in May last year

While at Ascot, Carole Middleton appeared to be in good spirits, perhaps cheering on one of the riders during a race

Scroll down for video

Carole teamed the frock with a black openwork hat with feathered adornments. She looked to be enjoying her day out as she chatted with fellow racing fans in the stands

The Duchess of Cambridge made good on a promise to wear pink when she met Mia in May last year at Holyrood house

The Duchess had previously spoken to on the phone to the youngster, who underwent intensive chemotherapy for leukaemia last year meaning she was forced to shield during the height of the pandemic.

An image of her taken by her mother Lynda, entitled Shielding Mila, was one of the 100 images included in the Duchess of Cambridge's book Hold Still: A Portrait of Our Nation in 2020.

Kate made good on a promise she made to wear pink, Mila's favourite colour, teaming her dress with tan heels and a floral face mask.

The Duchess is not attending Royal Ascot today, but the rest of the royal family was out in force, while the Queen missed the event amid her ongoing mobility issues.

Prince Charles and Camilla led the royal family today at Royal Ascot as they came out in force for the first day of the races - while the Queen missed the event amid her ongoing mobility issues

Meanwhile Camilla gestured across the racecourse as she stood alongside Prince Charles and her sister-in-law Sophie Wessex

Princess Anne and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall chatted on the lawn during the event this afternoon

Meanwhile Princess Beatrice also offered Prince Charles a kiss on the cheek, while her husband Edoardo tipped his hat to the royal

Her Majesty was a regular at the Berkshire racecourse before the pandemic and has been at every Royal Meeting since acceding to the throne in 1952, apart from when it was held behind closed doors in 2020.

However the 96-year-old monarch will likely be watching from home just seven miles away at Windsor Castle this afternoon, especially when her horse King's Lynn races in the King's Stand Stakes at 3.40pm.

Instead, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were in attendance alongside a host of other royals - including Princess Anne and her two children Peter Philips and Zara Tindall, Countess Sophie Wessex and Princess Beatrice, who was joined by her husband Edoardo Mapelli-Mozzi.

Princess Beatrice's husband Edoardo removed his hat and tipped it towards the Prince of Wales as they greeted one another at Ascot

Meanwhile Zara also greeted Princess Michael of Kent with a kiss on the cheek as they arrived at the racecourse earlier today

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were in attendance alongside Princess Beatrice (left with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi) and Zara Tindall (right)

Meanwhile Sophie Wessex was elegant in an over-the-top raspberry hat today as she joined other members of the royal family at the event

Meanwhile the Queen's only daughter Princess Anne was also in attendance at the event, opting for a cream coat dress with a brown fascinator

An excited Zara looked delighted to be back attending the races alongside her family today, with the royal beaming with glee as she arrived

Members of the royal family appeared in high spirits, with many taking part in the carriage procession before greeting one-another in the warm summer sunshine at the racecourse.

Zara could be seen affectionately greeting her uncle Charles, as well as Princess Michael of Kent, while Princess Beatrice was also beaming at the event.

The Queen, who has owned 22 winners of races at Royal Ascot, was among racegoers attending last year after it was selected to take part in the Government's events research programme on behalf of the sport of racing.

She did not attend the first day of last year's races but was later present at day five with her racing manager John Warren and inspected her four horses in the Parade Ring after they crossed the finish line.

The Queen is a passionate horse breeder and has a number of runners scheduled to be entered at Royal Ascot this week.
Prince Andrew was left 'crushed and confused' after he was banned from attending the Order of the Garter Day service on Monday, Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie has claimed.

The Duke of York, 62, was not seen in public during the ceremony at Windsor Castle, one of the most colourful events in the royal calendar, after the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge reportedly lobbied the Queen about his participation.

The decision was clearly taken at the 11th hour, because Andrew's name was on the order of service.

A source said Andrew was crushed [and] a little confused, according to Omid, known for his biography about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in his column for Yahoo News.

Earlier in the week, the Duke of York was apparently under the notion that blessing had been given for him to attend the service alongside senior members of the royal family.

Omid said the monarchys reluctance to completely remove Prince Andrew from all aspects of royal life is damaging and reflects terribly on the family.

Prince Andrew (pictured) was left 'crushed and confused' after he was banned from attending the Order of the Garter Day service on Monday, Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie has claimed

The Duke of York, 62, was not seen in public during the ceremony at Windsor Castle, one of the most colourful events in the royal calendar, after the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge reportedly lobbied the Queen (pictured with Prince Charles) about his participation

He added: The reluctance was clear when Andrew was allowed to walk the Queen in front of the worlds media for Prince Philips televised memorial service, and when he was given the go-ahead to attend some of the Platinum Jubilee events.

In the end, the Duke didnt join royal family members at the four-day festivities due to a positive COVID-19 test result.

Omid continued: Every chance Prince Andrew is given to try and rehabilitate his image is a step closer to further damage and shame for the institution of the monarchy. Its a disaster waiting to happen.

The Duke of Cambridge came together with Prince Charles to put a halt to Andrew's plan to return to public duty, royal expert Katie Nicholl recently claimed - in the father and son's latest show of unity in recent months.

Prince William, 39, told the Queen and Prince of Wales that he would pull out of the Order of the Garter ceremony if his uncle the Duke of York was given a public role.

And Katie revealed how Prince Charles was also 'particularly resistant' to his brother attending the event in case he 'upstage Camilla's big moment' which she was 'thrilled to receive.'

Writing in Vanity Fair, she explained how both Prince William and Prince Charles are 'adamant' Andrew does not return to public life and want to 'ride the wave of goodwill' created by the 'success of the Jubilee' without the Duke.

Prince William (right), 39, told the Queen and Prince of Wales that he would pull out of the Order of the Garter ceremony if his uncle the Duke of York was given a public role

With the father and son united, the Duchess of Cambridge kept spirits high in Windsor yesterday, as she giggled with Prince Charles and William before greeting Camilla with a beaming grin.

It comes amid the news Prince William and Kate are planning to move to Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor Estate this summer - a move which has apparently 'gazumped' Andrew, who has reportedly 'always had his eye on the property.'

The Cambridges, Prince of Wales and Camilla appear closer than ever in the face of the controversy, having made more frequent appearances as a foursome in recent months.

Sources told Vanity Fair the Duchess of Cornwall had 'secretly wanted' the title of Royal Lady of the Order of the Garter.

It is the highest accolade the Queen can bestow on a female family member, and Camilla was therefore 'thrilled' to receive it.

The royal expert said the Prince of Wales was therefore fearful of Prince Andrew's appearance at the event 'upstaging' his wife's big moment.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge came together with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall yesterday to put a halt to Prince Andrew's plan to return to public duty, a royal expert claimed

It comes amid the news Prince William and Kate are planning to move to Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor Estate this summer - a move which has apparently 'gazumped' Andrew, who was previously reported to have 'always had his eye on the property'

Katie went on to say Prince Charles is united with his son William in their feeling the Duke of York 'cannot return to any public role for the sake of the reputation of the monarchy.'

A source explained: 'There are tensions because the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge want Andrew to be kept away from any public engagements. They do not want him to return to public life, full stop.'

The news comes at the same time reports state Prince William and Kate will move their family to Adelaide Cottage.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are reportedly set to uproot their family from Kensington, west London, to Adelaide Cottage in Berkshire in order to be closer to the Queen.

Re-erected in 1831, the Cambridge's new Grade II-listed retreat is just a short walk from St George's Chapel and Windsor Castle, and sits proudly on the 655-acre royal estate in Berkshire.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, speaks to his uncle Prince Edward during the event

ITV uncovered the order of service for Monday, which showed the Duke of York was still listed

Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said: 'The Queen needs more people like William around her.

'She is very often on her own apart from staff and so will be delighted William, Kate and her three great-grandchildren will be ten minutes away. The family were very restricted in what they could do during the week at Kensington Palace.'

Royal editor Rebecca English previously told how the home had been subject to jostling by the couple and Prince Andrew.

Just last month, she told Mail+ Palace Confidential: Ive been told by contacts that could be a little bit tricky because Prince Andrew has actually always had his eye on that property.

'Its been used as a grace-and-favour home for royal staff and distant relatives for many years. Hed rather hoped one of his children, particularly Princess Eugenie, might able to move into it.'

Adelaide Cottage: The Cambridges' new 19th century Grade II-listed home nestled near Windsor Castle on the 655-acre royal estate Re-erected in 1831, the Cambridge's new Grade II-listed retreat is just a short walk from St George's Chapel and Windsor Castle, and sits proudly on the 655acre royal estate in Berkshire. The four bedroom Adelaide Cottage has been used as a grace-and-favour home for royal staff and family friends in recent years. The cottage underwent major renovations in 2015, which means the Cambridges would not have to shell out millions in remodelling the house. But it still boasts original features including a marble Graeco-Egyptian fireplace and a principal bedroom with a coved ceiling featuring gilded dolphins and rope ornament reused from the Royal yacht Royal George. It also has seven gated entrances and exits to Windsor Castle so the family can come and go in relative privacy. The property was constructed in the early 19th century as a retreat for William IV's wife Queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. Adelaide Cottage was also known to be a favourite home of Queen Victoria, as she frequently enjoyed taking her breakfast there. The four-bedroom home does have a rich and colourful history to draw upon. Following the Second World War, it played host to a major royal scandal when it homed Group Captain Peter Townsend and his wife, Rosie. Townsend, the dashing RAF pilot and equerry to King George VI would later become the divorced lover of Princess Margaret. Their relationship would be doomed by the Royal Marriages Act which stated no member of the Royal Family was permitted to marry a divorcee while the ex-partner was still living. Advertisement

However in recent weeks, it emerged Princess Eugenie will not be moving into the Windsor property - and instead will split her time between the UK and Portugal.

Prince William and Charles' latest showing is just the latest moment of unity between the Cambridges and the Prince of Wales and Camilla.

Over the past few months, the foursome have put on jovial and friendly displays at public events together, often led by Kate.

Kate is known to have a warm relationship with her father-in-law and has reportedly helped smooth the sometimes fractious relationship between the heir to the throne and his son, William.

The Duchess was warmly welcomed into the family by Charles after her engagement to William, and she's been heard affectionately calling him Grandpa in public on previous occasions.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Cambridge's alleged ultimatum to his grandmother and father reportedly led to the Duke of York being banned from the Windsor Castle event amid fears the crowds might boo him.

Prince Andrew looked downcast as he drove to Windsor Castle this week as it was claimed his absence from the Garter Day procession and service was a 'family decision', Buckingham Palace said, amid huge controversy over his links to Jeffrey Epstein and alleged abuse of one of his 'sex slaves'.

A source told the Evening Standard: 'The Duke of Cambridge was adamant. If York insisted on taking part publicly, he would withdraw'. It would have also meant that his wife Kate would also not have attended.

A palace insider said that the decision to exclude Andrew from the public elements of Garter Day was a 'family decision'. While a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'The Duke of York will attend the investiture and lunch but will not be part of the procession or service.'

But he was allowed to join the Queen at the formal investiture of new members of the Order of the Garter - including the Duchess of Cornwall and ex PM Tony Blair - and as well as the lunch afterwards.

Her Majesty also missed the procession and service, due to her ongoing mobility problems - but intended to do the formal investiture of the new Garter knights including Tony Blair and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

It came amid reports that Andrew has pushed for a return to royal duties but his older brother Prince Charles and nephew Prince William had asked the Queen not to give in to the disgraced royal. Her Majesty apparently informed him to keep out of sight 'for his own good'.

Andrew surrendered his official duties at the start of the year as he prepared to pay a multi-million-pound sum to Jeffrey Epstein's sex slave Virginia Roberts Giuffre in an agreed settlement of her civil action for allegations of sexual abuse, which he denies.

Prince Andrew lives in the grounds of Windsor Castle and is said to have daily contact with his mother.

Weeks after she stripped him of his titles, the Queen asked him to accompany her to Prince Philip's memorial service at Westminster Abbey in March, where he walked his mother down the aisle in a highly symbolic moment.

But palace aides - as well as his relatives - are said to have been clear that the strength of public feeling against him over his links to Epstein, must preclude him from taking part in frontline royal duties.

Despite his non-appearance, the duke believes he should be included in other royal and state events, The Daily Telegraph reported.

'The colonelcy of the Grenadier Guards was his most coveted title and he wants it back,' a source said.

'Having remained a Counsellor of State, he also believes he should be included at royal and state events. Most importantly for him is his status as an HRH and 'Prince of the Blood' and he feels that should be reinstated and his position recognised and respected.'

The Palace and Andrew's spokesman earlier this week declined to comment on the claims. But one royal insider suggested that, whether he had asked or not, there should be no expectation of being welcomed back.

The insider said the duke could 'lobby all he wanted, if indeed he has, but whether he would ever get anything back is an entirely different matter'.

An aide said the statement from January in which he was stripped of his roles 'with the Queen's approval and agreement', still 'speaks for itself'.
Kate Middleton cut an elegant figure when joining Prince William today for the Grenfell Tower memorial service in London.

The Duchess of Cambridge, 40, opted for a beautiful white, pure Italian silk dress from Suzannah London, priced at 2,450 online, which she teamed with Alessandra Rich 625 two-tone pumps, in beige and black.

Mother-of-three Kate teamed her statement frock - that boasted a full skirt, buttoned cuffs and black button detailing down the front - with a matching belt.

Prince William, 39, and Kate listened to heart-breaking accounts from child survivors as they joined mourners to remember the 72 victims of Grenfell Tower who died five years ago today.

With William looking on, Kate laid a wreath with white flowers at the base of Grenfell Tower to mark the five-year anniversary of the deadly fire.

Afterwards, both bowed their hoods and paused for a moment of reflection while standing with survivors of the fire along with bereaved relatives.

Kate Middleton cut an elegant figure when joining Prince William today for the Grenfell Tower memorial service in London

The mother-of-three kept her style neutral and stylish with a beige clutch bag and drop pearl earrings. She also opted for neutral make up, adding coral toned lipstick and smokey eye effect

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stood with survivors of the fire along with bereaved relatives at a memorial service

Kate kept her style neutral and stylish with a beige clutch bag and drop pearl earrings. She kept her make up simple, adding a coral toned lipstick and smokey eye effect, and left her brunette locks loose.

Meanwhile, it was also revealed the Duke and Duchess had held a private meeting earlier on Tuesday between the royal couple and those directly affected by the disaster.

The royal couple have long supported survivors and the families who died in the fire on June 14, 2017, which was accelerated by deadly combustible cladding and where many of those who died had been told to stay in their flats. 72 people died in the tragedy - but more are feared to have perished but were never identified.

Attendees marked the memorial with a 72-second silence in memory of the 72 victims of the fire, which took place exactly five years ago.

Mourners donned green scarves and clothing to match the green hearts which adorn the wall below the 220ft tower, and which have become a powerful symbol representing the memory of those lost in the tragedy.

Green balloons were later released in memory of the 18 children who perished in the deadly blaze.

With Prince William looking on, Kate laid a wreath with white flowers at the base of Grenfell Tower to mark the five-year anniversary of the deadly fire

The royal couple have long supported survivors and the families who died in the fire on June 14, 2017

Mourners donned green scarves and clothing to match the green hearts which adorn the wall below the 220ft tower, and which have become a powerful symbol representing the memory of those lost in the tragedy

Eight-year-old Ayeesha, who survived the fire, also recited a poem she wrote called Never Forget, which was met with raucous applause from both Prince William and Kate.

She said: 'We will stay strong, we will rise up as a community, we will fight for justice together, we will always remember our friends and our neighbours, we will always remember our home.

'We can't change the past but we can change the future. Never forget.'

The little girl smiled as she ended the poem and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge could be seen smiling as they joined in applause.

Tuesday marked the latest public show of support from the Cambridges.

Kate is seen here talking to children at the event. Green balloons were launched during the day to remember the 18 children who died in the deadly fire

Kate was seen smiling at the event as she spoke to those in attendance at the memorial service

William, along with his grandmother, the Queen, visited the site in west London in the days following the fire in June 2017.

And the Duke was joined by his wife when they met with survivors as part of the launch of the National Emergencies Trust in 2019.

It comes as local residents praised the appearance of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as 'huge' for the community and showed they 'shared that feeling' of mourning on the fifth anniversary.

Mother-of-five Muna Hussain said her children went to the same school as five of those who died in the fire and her household was evacuated in the days following.

When asked about William and Kate's appearance at the service, Ms Hussain, 50 said: 'I was happy.

'I was glad to see at least they know how we are feeling as a community and they shared that feeling.

'It makes me very happy. It's massive, it's huge for us. It makes you feel better.'
A mum-of-two has gone viral online after listing the rules she's set in place for her two daughters aged 18 and 11 - including being honest and having their phone location turned on at all times.

TikTok star Kat Zoe Clark, from the Gold Coast, Australia, detailed the rules in a one-minute video which has exceeded more than 2.9million views since the day it was posted.

The guidelines fell into seven different categories - location, honesty, parties, sport, school, boyfriends and rent.

Scroll down for video

Aussie mum and TikTok star Kat Zoe Clark, from the Gold Coast, (pictured, centre) detailed the house rules in a one-minute video

The guidelines fell into seven different categories - location, honesty, parties, sport, school, boyfriends and rent

For the first rule regarding 'location', Kat said: 'Yes, you have to have your location on. Will I check it? Probably not, unless you're running late.'

Next she added how honesty is her 'biggest policy' and said: 'I expect my kids to be honest with me but I will also do the same for them.'

'If they ask me a question about my past I am 100 per cent honest and I don't sugar coat anything,' she said.

Both daughters are able to go to parties, but their age determines the curfew set in place.

'General rule of thumb is, if you're in grade nine, you're home by nine. If you're in grade 10, you're home by 10. Once you're 18, I don't really care when you get home,' Kat said.

Kat's seven house rules at a glance Location - the location on phones must be switched on at all times Honesty - honesty is encouraged at all times Parties - both daughters are able to go to parties, but their age determines the curfew set in place Sport - at least one sport must be played to encourage physical education and reduce the amount of 'screen time' School - Kat encourages the kids to choose their own path with school, but they need a plan if they wish to drop out Boyfriends - both daughters can have boyfriends, but they need to listen to Kat's opinion of them Rent - the kids must pay rent when they turn 18 or get a job Advertisement

Poll Do you think the rules are 'too much'? No, the rules are fair Yes, the rules are harsh Unsure Do you think the rules are 'too much'? No, the rules are fair 198 votes

Yes, the rules are harsh 25 votes

Unsure 9 votes Now share your opinion





Kat's two daughters also need to play a sport to encourage physical education and to limit 'screen time' on their phones.

When it comes to school Kat says she's 'relaxed' and encourages the kids to choose their own path, but they need a plan.

'I'm actually really relaxed when it comes to school. If my kids want to drop out though, they've got to have a business plan or a job.'

In regards to partners, Kat said: 'My girls can have boyfriends, but if I have a problem with their boyfriend, they have to listen to my opinion about them.'

By the time they turn 18 they start paying rent or get a job.

Kat's two daughters also need to play a sport to encourage physical education and move their bodies during the day

When it comes to school Kat says she's 'relaxed' and encourages the kids to choose their own path, but they need a plan

The viral video received mixed responses from other TikTok users, as some praised Kat while others disapproved of the rent rule.

'This is actually super reasonable,' one person wrote.

'Agreed with all except rent, you choose to bring them into this world and if they live with you they shouldn't pay rent, they're your kids!' another added.

'I love the "if you're in grade, 10 you're home by 10" rule,' a third said.
Aries (March 21 to April 19)

It's an emotionally expansive time as you thrive on socialising and playfulness. You're probably up for a good time now and any difficulties you have are likely to seem less important as they fade into the background. Freedom, fun and fancy-free suits you more now and you're likely to be feeling more positive and optimistic. Life is looking brighter, and you want to share more time with friends and those close to you.

Travel or study may call you now and if not, you'll probably be thinking about other ways you can expand your life such as spirituality or through overseas contacts.

The exotic is more appealing than the mundane, so get some excitement into your life by immersing yourself in new experiences. You may feel a little bit restless till you find the excitement you need.

Taurus (April 20 to May 20)

You're probably feeling a little bit adventurous regarding intimacy with others.

If you're bored with your current 'bedroom arrangements' it's time to spice things up a bit, just be careful with the boundaries you set. It's not the best time to go overboard.

If it's not intimacy on your mind, then shared resources and other people's money could be on your agenda. You may want to take risks with joint resources however caution is advised here. You could be feeling quite optimistic which is great, however realism around finances and possessions is also required.

A brighter future could also be calling you, so go for it after doing your research. Do take reasonable steps to improve your life now.

Gemini (May 21 to June 20)

Your close relationships figure more strongly now  your current partners, either business or personal need your time and attention.

In turn you also rely on them for emotional support, or you probably have a 'family of friends' that it's time to catch up with. Women are especially important as you can draw great happiness and a sense of security from your close friends and family.

If you don't have a close partner or bunch of friends, now is the time you might start thinking about going down this path. Maybe you're feeling torn in two directions, whether to be on your own  free and self-reliant, or to be with someone who offers you both stability and happiness.

The ball is in your court so give these matters some thought.

Cancer (June 21 to July 22)

Dear Cancer you are naturally sympathetic and often lend a helping hand when others are in trouble. The issue is that they don't always appreciate your efforts.

You may need to practice discernment in knowing when is the most appropriate time with the most appropriate people, to offer help. You may want to do something tangible and be of service in some way, when all they want is for you to listen.

You can do this as you're a great listener, read between the lines because there's more there than you're being told. There may be issues at work, in your everyday routine or perhaps with your health that need attention now.

But despite these rumblings, this is a time of beneficial opportunity, and you can go far by listening to your intuition.

Leo (July 23 to August 22)

Your feelings may be dramatic at the moment, so just be aware that you are not your feelings  you are an infinite immortal being who is in charge of your own life.

Although it's not a good idea to try and hide your feelings, you don't need to vent them at every passer-by in the supermarket - so to speak. Maybe try writing down your feelings in a journal and sit with them for a few days before letting them out in a measured proportional manner.

Being appropriately open towards others, add in a dash of playfulness and take a few reasonable risks will help you grow. Allow your childlike innocence to come out and this will attract others into your orbit. Maybe you're not too sure but have a crack anyway.

Virgo (August 23 to September 22)

Home and domestic life could bring up a curve ball or two around this time.

It's all fixable, you will need to make some adjustments to your routine and how you do things, however. You may also have 'flashes' or memories of the past coming back, particularly around school days or matters much earlier in your life. It's as if your childhood returns to remind you of something significant. It's ok to let go of things in the past that no longer serve you. After some realisations, you can focus on your present life.

Your connection to women is likely to be stronger, maybe your mother needs your attention in some way? Opportunities for a brighter and more positive future are coming, grab them with both hands.

Libra (September 23 to October 22)

You're likely to be a bit of a dreamer this month. That's ok, this will help motivate you into a new reality.

Do try to pay attention to communications as you may seem a little vague sometimes but at least your spiritual life is surging ahead on all counts. When you make important decisions, it's not a good idea to make them solely on the basis of how you feel, rather spend some time analysing the situation.

You can do this. At the same time, listen to your intuition, because you do have it. The best thing to do is find the balance between your logical mind and your intuition.

You can do this too because you are Libra and balance is your middle name. Some good opportunities are coming soon where you can use all parts of your mind to find the best solution.

Scorpio (October 23 to November 21)

Taking care of your possessions and your finances features strongly this month.

You may also wish to reorganise around your home. Perhaps it's a great time to have a garage sale, make some money from things you no longer need anymore.

You may find it difficult to part with some things, particularly old clothes that remind you of certain times in your life. But now is the time to do it.

Let go of the past so you can have a clearer path to your future. Golden opportunities are coming soon if you have sufficient space in your life, so do clear a special spot in both your time and energy.

Soon you will be able to expand your life, especially when you have your finances and possessions sorted. You may also find you clean out some of your old belief systems that no longer fit.

Sagittarius (November 22 to December 21)

The supermoon is in your sign. This brings a powerful kick to your energy levels. You could find yourself firing on all cylinders so it's important to ensure this energy is expressed in appropriate ways rather than just shooting out of your mouth in all directions.

Take control of your emotions and engage brain before putting mouth in gear. It's not a good time to hide your feelings but it is a great time to use your feelings as motivation to fuel your life. You have a fabulous opportunity here to make the changes that you've wanted to do for some time. Often, you're sympathetic to others, but do remember your desires are just as important as anyone else's.

Make the most of the growth and opportunities coming your way.

Capricorn (December 22nd to January 19)

You may feel like withdrawing a little from the external world. That's ok, sometimes we all need downtime.

It is time to sit and reflect on how you're feeling about your life. Are you going in the direction that you wish? Is your romantic life up to speed? How are your finances? Are you happy?

Life's important questions need to be asked now. Maybe you need some time to think about these things before giving a definitive answer? Taking this time will give you healing and resolution to a number of issues. Go somewhere peaceful without the demands of your devices and look within for opportunities within.

Your 12th House of spirituality, dreams and the subconscious will give you the answers if you look and ask the universe for guidance.

Aquarius (January 20th to February 18)

Your friends, groups and connections can offer you a lot of personal fulfilment now. You may find yourself becoming busier with your community or with various networks.

You may realise just how important your friends really are to you. Time to go out and socialise, catch up with some odd bods you haven't connected with for a while. You will probably find you have a great time.

It's also time to examine your hopes and dreams and discard the ones that no longer fit your life or what you want to do in future. Sometimes, we hold onto the past like it's some kind of security blanket, but really you no longer need some of these old energies. Let go and be free.

Go out and enjoy yourself with people you care about.

Pisces (February 19 to March 20)

You may be called to work in some kind of public role now. The distinction between your personal and public life becomes somewhat unclear, so do be careful you don't over share your private life.

Over sharing on social media can be a real trap.

You're also likely to find yourself in some kind of career role where you have to invest emotional energy into a situation in a public or professional domain. Maybe you have to look after someone at work, perhaps giving them special attention in some way.

There could be some kind of turbulence or rocking of boats in your career or in your general life direction. That's ok, you are Pisces, you can swim with the currents. Just go with the flow and all will be fine.

Source: Rose Smith

For in-depth monthly horoscopes head to Rose's website.
Australian personal trainer Emily Skye has shared a video showing how her body has transformed after giving birth twice.

The 37-year-old from Queensland was told pregnancy would 'ruin' her body and she'd 'never' get her toned physique back.

By exercising consistently and eating nutritious foods over nearly two years, the mum-of-two was able to shred the baby weight.

In the Instagram video, Emily exposed how she looked one month after giving birth compared to two years post-partum.

Scroll down for video

Australian personal trainer Emily Skye exposed how she looked one month after giving birth (left) compared to two years post-partum (right)

Along with an Instagram video, Emily wrote: 'I'm happy to say that I'm fitter & stronger than I've ever been & keep getting stronger!'

The first snippet of the clip shows Emily's post-pregnancy bump, while the second part of the video shows her 'sculpted' abs and toned arms.

Emily gave birth to her first daughter Mia in 2017 and son Izaac in 2021.

Along with the video, Emily wrote: 'I'm happy to say that I'm fitter & stronger than I've ever been & keep getting stronger! (Take THAT haters).'

The motivated fitness expert shared the clip to inspire other mums not to give up on themselves after becoming a parent.

'I truly want you all to feel as good as I do, it really is the best feeling! I completely understand how hard it is to begin & to even imagine reaching your goals when they seem so far away,' she wrote.

'I didn't feel motivated when I started back training after each baby - in fact it was a DRAINERI just wanted to stay on the couch.'

During her 24-month transformation Emily said some days she couldn't get through a full training session - but rather than pushing through she listened to her body by resting as needed.

She was also motivated by her end goal that pushed her into 'robot mode' on most days to 'get the job done'.

Emily added how the most important aspect for anyone wanting to transform their body is to stay consistent and be patient.

'Being consistent with my training and eating nutritious food is what got me results.. even though it took a while to notice ANY changes - they were happening,' she said.

'It's important to remember that everyone has different starting points and nobody's journey is going to be the same.'

Emily also recommends avoiding comparing your journey to others on social media and opt for self-love and care.

Emily gave birth to her first daughter Mia in 2017 and son Izaac in 2021

'Being consistent with my training and eating nutritious food is what got me results.. even though it took a while to notice ANY changes - they were happening,' she said

The inspiring video has since been viewed more than 1.1million times and has been dubbed 'realistic' by others online.

'Wow girl. Hard work and determination,' one woman wrote.

'You made me actually feel excited to get fit again post-pregnancy and birth. Its a slow process sometimes but thats totally ok and its worth the hard work. Women need to see more inspiring stories like yours!!' another added.

A third wrote: 'Total inspiration and so genuine, absolutely adore you!'
An oblivious Woolworths customer has been mocked for his fashion choices while wearing a combination many Aussies sport at the shops.

A Woolies employee went viral in a since-deleted video posted to TikTok zooming in on a shopper at the checkout wearing jeans and thongs captioned: 'Don't you dare come into my store looking like this'.

The clip divided people in the comments who called the video 'discrimination' while other agreed pairing jeans with thongs is a fashion faux pas.

A Woolworths worker has divided hundreds online after mocking a customer for wearing jeans and thongs in a viral TikTok clip that has since been deleted

'When customers wear jeans and thongs' the clip read accompanied by two green-face sick emojis and drew in more than 700,000 views before it was taken down.

In the comments, many agreed with the Woolies worker's judgement where as other jumped to defend the man.

'Ew gross, calling 1800fashionpolice,' one joked while another pointed out: 'Jeans and thongs have been worn for about 40 years'.

Poll Do you think there's anything wrong with wearing jeans and thongs? Yes No Do you think there's anything wrong with wearing jeans and thongs? Yes 152 votes

No 1252 votes Now share your opinion





'If only we knew which store so we could all do this just to make a point. It's not ok to judge other people like that,' a third commented.

'Seriously just do your job, judging customers by what they wear IS NOT in your job description. Be better,' a second said.

'What kind of punk films a customer while working?,' asked a third.

Last month Kate McElligott shared a video to her TikTok page alongside her boyfriend Harry showcasing how they prepare for a night at home by playing 'scissors, paper, rock'.

The couple use the childhood game to decide what drinks, entree, main, dessert and movie this will enjoy on their date night, visiting a supermarket to procure each of the necessary items.

But despite the video being an innocent reminder of young love, a collection of Americans infiltrated the comment section to argue about the choice of footwear the two decided on for their outing.

'Wait so why is your boyfriend not wearing shoes?' One woman asked.

Kate McElligott shared a video to her TikTok page alongside her boyfriend Harry showcasing how they prepare for a night at home by playing 'scissors, paper, rock'

'Can we talk about the fact he has no shoes on,' said another.

The shock and 'disgust' was quickly defended by other Australians who live 'on the coast'.

'Too many non Aussies about the shoes. What are all the 7ft spiders going to bite if you cover your feet up?' One man joked.

'As a fellow Aussie I say that it's 100 per cent normal to go without shoes. I don't know what everyone else is on about,' said another.

Kate felt the need to defend her boyfriend's lack of footwear by saying: 'I have a feeling that this video isn't reaching Australians cause I'd say this is standard??? Is my life a lie???

'Okay so to explain it's pretty standard to not wear shoes to places in Australia. It was night and we were too lazy to put shoes on.'
A quad bike tour around Kangaroo Island in South Australia has been named by Tripadvisor as the number one tourist experience in Australia.

The honour is courtesy of the 2022 Travellers' Choice 'Best of the Best' Things to Do Awards, which celebrates the world's 'most amazing tours and activities', ranking experiences based on travellers' reviews and ratings over the past 12 months.

Interestingly the quad bike tour was followed by the Aquascene Magnetic Island Discovery Tour, Margaret River Wine Adventure and one hour jet ski safari on the Gold Coast.

An Amsterdam canal cruise was named by Tripadvisor as the number one tourist experience on the planet.

Swooping into second place in the global ranking is a Dubai desert trip that features quad-biking and a barbecue, while a guided tour of Hawaiian island Oahu's North Shore ranks third - also earning the top spot in the U.S ranking. Meanwhile, the highest-ranking experience in the UK is a 'high-speed' River Thames boat tour, which is eighth in the global ranking.

TRIPADVISOR'S BEST TRAVEL EXPERIENCES IN AUSTRALIA 2022 1. Kangaroo Island Quad Bike (ATV) Tours, South Australia 2. Aquascene Magnetic Island Discovery Tour, Queensland 3. Margaret River Wine Adventure - The tour for people who don't do tours, Western Australia 4. 1hr Jet Ski Safari, Gold Coast 5. Yarra Valley wine, bubbles and gin tour, Victoria 6. Fraser Island Whale Watch Encounter, Queensland 7. Bombing of Darwin WWII Heritage Tours, North Territory 8. Best of Fremantle 2-Hour Walking Tour, Western Australia 9. Byron Stand Up Paddle Nature Tour - Group or Private, New South Wales 10. Whitsunday Islands and Heart Reef Scenic Flight - 70 minutes, Queensland Advertisement

An Amsterdam canal cruise (above) has been named by Tripadvisor as the number one tourist experience on the planet. The honour is courtesy of the 2022 Travellers' Choice 'Best of the Best' Things to Do Awards

The silver medal in the global ranking goes to a Dubai desert barbecue, quad-biking and camel-ride trip (above)

A guided tour of the North Shore of the island of Oahu, Hawaii (pictured), ranks third overall - also earning the top spot on the U.S ranking

The highest-ranking experience in the UK is a 'high-speed' River Thames boat tour. It's eighth in the global ranking

The gold-medal-winning Dutch boat trip, priced from 17, is a 'scenic cruise along Amsterdam's stunning canals that passes iconic spots such as the Anne Frank House, the Jordaan, the Houseboat Museum, Leiden Square, Rijksmuseum, De Duif [a landmark church] and much more'.

Tripadvisor notes: 'With nearly 10,000 reviews, this tour has travellers raving about its guides, as well as the accompanying wine and cheese.'

Meanwhile, the runner-up Dubai desert trip invites travellers to 'zoom off on an ATV (quad bike), ride a camel, [and] go sandboarding' before sitting down to a barbecue buffet dinner. The tour, described as 'fun-filled, thrilling and adventurous' by recent reviewer 'Gbolagade I', is priced from 69.40 per person.

TRIPADVISOR'S BEST TRAVEL EXPERIENCES 2022 TOP 10 EXPERIENCES IN THE WORLD 1. Amsterdam Open Boat Canal Cruise - Live Guide - from Anne Frank House - Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2. Red Dunes Quad Bike, Sandsurf, Camels & BBQ at Al Khayma Camp from Dubai - Dubai, UAE 3. Tour of North Shore (70 per cent) and Sightseeing (30 per cent) - Honolulu, Hawaii 4. Natural Pool & Indian Cave Jeep Safari - Aruba 5. Clear Kayak Tour of Shell Key Preserve and Tampa Bay Area - Tierra Verde, Florida 6. Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu - Cusco, Peru 7. Reykjavik Food Walk - Reykjavik, Iceland 8. High-Speed Thames River Rib Cruise in London - London 9. Rafting - Sprouts - Rio Jacare Pepira by Wild Canoe Territory - Brotas, Brazil 10. City & Beatles Tour - Blue Route - Liverpool TOP 10 EXPERIENCES IN THE UK 1. High-Speed Thames River Rib Cruise, London 2. City & Beatles Tour - Blue Route, Liverpool 3. The Chocolatarium Chocolate Tour Experience, Edinburgh 4. Cab tours Belfast famous black taxi tours, Belfast 5. Historical Pub Walking Tour of London, London 6. The Mountebank Comedy Walk of Edinburgh, Edinburgh 7. Walking Tour of Bath with Blue Badge Tourist Guide, Bath 8. The Cloak and Dagger Tour, London 9. The Manchester City Stadium Tour, Manchester 10. West End Musicals Silent Disco Tour, London TOP EXPERIENCES IN THE U.S 1. Tour of North Shore (70 per cent) and Sightseeing (30 per cent), Hawaii 2. Clear Kayak Tour of Shell Key Preserve and Tampa Bay Area, Florida 3. Little Havana Food and Walking Tour in Miami, Miami 4. Half-Day Mojave Desert ATV Tour from Las Vegas, Las Vegas 5. Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, 7 Magic Mountains Small Group VIP Tour, Las Vegas 6. 3 Hour Guided TomCar ATV Tour in Sonoran Desert, Arizona 7. Pearl Harbor City Tour, Hawaii 8. 5 Island Maui County -Private- Discovery Flight, for up to 3 people: See it All!, Hawaii 9. Little Toot Dolphin Adventure at Clearwater Beach Clearwater, Florida 10. Party Bike Private Party Up To 15 People in Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona Source: Tripadvisor Advertisement

A jeep safari experience in Aruba, pictured, bags fourth place in the global ranking

Pictured is fifth-place 'Clear Kayak Tour of Shell Key Preserve and Tampa Bay Area', a 59 tour in Florida

On the third-place Oahu North Shore tour, which lasts eight hours and costs 113, travellers are transported in a minivan and learn facts about Hawaii along the way, with stops built-in for swimming and paddleboarding.

An 85 jeep safari experience in Aruba's Arikok National Park bags fourth place in the global ranking, followed by a 59 kayaking tour around Florida's Tampa Bay (fifth).

Sixth place goes to 'Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu', a 563, four-day guided hiking trip that begins in Cusco, Peru, whilst seventh place is snapped up by Iceland's 'Reykjavik Food Walk' (97), which invites travellers to 'expand their knowledge' of Icelandic cuisine.

Sixth place in the global ranking goes to 'Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu', a 563, four-day guided hiking trip that sets off from Cusco, Peru

Seventh place is snapped up by Iceland's 'Reykjavik Food Walk' tour (above)

Tripadvisor says of eighth-place 'High-Speed Thames River Rib Cruise' in London: 'If you're a bit of a daredevil, this is just the activity for you.' It adds that travellers board a 'rigid inflatable boat' and 'soar past the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, and Shakespeare's Globe while listening to a high-octane soundtrack'.

The review site adds: 'Once you reach Tower Bridge, your skipper accelerates to speeds of 35mph (55kmph) and performs sharp turns guaranteed to increase adrenaline levels.'

Ninth place goes to a rafting trip down the Jacare Pepira River in Brazil. A recent reviewer, 'MoralCompass', described the 23 experience as a 'magical journey'.

Ninth place goes to a 23 rafting trip down the Jacare Pepira River in Brazil (pictured above)

Liverpool's 18 'City & Beatles Tour' nabs tenth place overall in the global list

Edinburgh's 'The Chocolatarium Chocolate Tour Experience', pictured, lands third in the UK ranking

It is Liverpool's 18 'City & Beatles Tour' that nabs tenth place overall - as well as landing second in the UK ranking. With a hop-on, hop-off bus for transportation, travellers follow a 'Beatles-themed itinerary, visiting Penny Lane, Strawberry Field and the childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney'. 'A laugh a minute,' is how 'Dorothy M' described the trip in her recent review.

Third place in the UK ranking goes to Edinburgh's 'The Chocolatarium Chocolate Tour Experience', a 19.50 'immersive chocolate-making experience'.

A black-cab tour of Belfast lands in fourth place. The 60 experience invites you to 'expand your knowledge of Belfast's turbulent history and find out about The Troubles'.

In fifth place, it is a 25 'Historical Pub Walking Tour of London', guiding travellers around the city's most historic alehouses, followed by the 19 'Mountebank Comedy Walk of Edinburgh', where a 'local, professional, stand-up comedian' steers travellers around Edinburgh Old Town.

TRIPADVISOR'S BEST OF THE BEST THINGS TO DO IN 2022 ACROSS 10 CATEGORIES TOP IN THE WORLD Food Experiences - Reykjavik Food Walk - Reykjavik, Iceland Nature & Outdoor Activities - Clear Kayak Tour of Shell Key Preserve and Tampa Bay Area - Tierra Verde, Florida Sailing & Day Cruises - Amsterdam Open Boat Canal Cruise - Live Guide - from Anne Frank House - Amsterdam, The Netherlands Cultural & Historical Tours - Renaissance & Medici Tales - Explore Florence with the best storytellers - Florence, Italy Snorkeling & Water Sports - Rafting - Sprouts - Rio Jacare Pepira by Wild Canoe Territory - Brotas, Brazil Wine, Beer, and Spirits Experiences - St. Augustine's Wine, Cocktail and Food Experience - St. Augustine, Florida Bucket List Experiences - Premium Red Dunes, Camel Safari & BBQ at Al Khayma Camp, Dubai - Dubai, UAE Pop Culture Tours - Full-Day Iconic Sights of LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Beaches and More - Los Angeles, California Top Attractions - Basilica de la Sagrada Familia - Barcelona, Spain Amusement Parks & Water Parks - Siam Park - Adeje, Spain TOP IN THE UK Food Experiences - The Chocolatarium Chocolate Tour Experience, Edinburgh Nature & Outdoor Activities - Inverness Bike Tour a 2 hours guided bike tour around the Waterways of Inverness, Inverness Cultural & Historical Tours - Walking Tour of Bath with Blue Badge Tourist Guide, Bath Snorkeling & Water Sports - High-Speed Thames River Rib Cruise, London Wine, Beer, and Spirits Experiences - London Pub Crawl, London Pop Culture Tours - West End Musicals Silent Disco Tour, London Top Attractions - The Roman Baths, Bath Amusement Parks & Water Parks - The Milky Way Adventure Park, Clovelly, Devon Source: Tripadvisor Advertisement

A black-cab tour of Belfast, which invites travellers to 'expand [their] knowledge of Belfast's turbulent history and find out about The Troubles', lands in fourth place in the UK list. Above is one of the city's murals, which features on the tour

Seventh place is claimed by a 15 'Walking Tour of Bath with Blue Badge Tourist Guide' - billed by recent reviewer 'Roamifyouwantto' as a 'lovely walk pointing out some of the details in the architecture of Bath that would otherwise go unnoticed'.

The rest of the top ten comprises The Cloak and Dagger Tour, a walking tour that reveals the 'little-told stories of London's grisly past' (eighth, 18); The Manchester City Stadium Tour (ninth, 25); and a 'Silent Disco Tour' around London's West End theatres (tenth, 24).

In the U.S, following the Oahu guided tour and the Tampa Bay kayaking trip, a 'Little Havana Food and Walking Tour' in Miami (56) ranks third.

Fourth place has been bagged by a quad-biking tour from Las Vegas to the Mojave Desert (89), while a 'VIP Tour' of the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam (162) finishes in fifth place.

Fifth place in the UK ranking goes to a 25 'Historical Pub Walking Tour of London', guiding travellers around the city's most historic alehouses

The rest of the U.S top ten is made up of a guided Tomcar (a type of off-road vehicle) tour of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona (sixth, 192); a 'Pearl Harbor City Tour' in Hawaii (seventh, 48); a plane ride around the islands of Hawaii's Maui County (eighth, 373); a dolphin-spotting tour around Florida's Clearwater Beach (ninth, 28) and a 'party bike tour' of Old Town Scottsdale in Arizona (tenth, 486 per group).

As well as recognising experiences, Tripadvisor also awards the best-rated attractions around the world and in the UK  'those must-see points of interest for travellers exploring the world and their own country'.

The number one attraction for 2022 is Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, while in the UK, it is The Roman Baths in Bath that takes the top spot. In the U.S, New York's Empire State Building reigns supreme.

Speaking about the awards, Kate Urquhart, General Manager of Experiences at Tripadvisor, says: 'From a luxurious food-filled evening to a long-haul trek, there is something for every traveller on this list.

'Tripadvisor offers an unparalleled platform to find and book things to do, so check out this year's winners to discover the tours and activities travellers say you can't miss.'

For more information, visit www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-ThingsToDo.
Australian travellers wanting to escape the winter chill are heading north to an incredible hidden swimming spot in Queensland's tropical rainforest.

Currumbin Rock Pools is less than an hour south west of the Gold Coast and a popular spot for adventurers for its turquoise-blue waters, lush surrounds and year-round warm weather.

Tucked away in the Currumbin Valley, the 'magical' rock pools are a local secret known by Gold Coast Hinterland residents.

Keen adventurers wanting to escape the winter chill are flocking to Currumbin Rock Pools near the Gold Coast

Currumbin Rock Pools is less than an hour south west of the Gold Coast and a popular spot for adventurers for its turquoise-blue waters, lush surrounds and year-round warm weather

Visitors of all ages will enjoy the refreshing pool with shallow sections and grassy areas to set up a picnic with towering trees providing plenty of shade

The tranquil freshwater pools are fed by a series of trickling waterfalls and encased by natural boulders which provide the perfect setting for capturing incredible holiday snaps.

Visitors of all ages will enjoy the refreshing pool with shallow sections and grassy areas to set up a picnic with towering trees providing plenty of shade.

The refreshing waters can get busy in the summer so visiting during the cooler months is ideal for those wanting to experience its natural beauty without the crowds.

Keen adventurers can explore the surrounding rainforest and creek beds to marvel at the spectacular flora and catch a glimpse of the resident wildlife.

The tranquil freshwater pools are fed by a series of trickling waterfalls and encased by natural boulders which provide the perfect setting for capturing incredible holiday snaps

Keen adventurers can explore the surrounding rainforest and creek beds to marvel at the spectacular flora and catch a glimpse of the resident wildlife

'Beautiful, tranquil clean rock pool to relax, wild swim and spot wildlife,' one reviewer said of their experience at Currumbin Rock Pools.

'Super refreshing fresh water dip, was a bit cold but thats part of the fun. Natural stream that creates a great relaxing float down the water,' wrote another.

There are plenty of facilities including toilets and picnic tables as well as a cafe across the road for coffee lovers.

Swimmers are warned to take caution when jumping into the water as the rocks can become slippery and the pool's depth varies unexpectedly.
Foreign Minister Park Jin, left, shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a joint press conference following their meeting at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Monday (local time). Reuters-Yonhap



Top diplomats urge North Korea to refrain from staging provocations



By Kang Seung-woo



Foreign Minister Park Jin has hinted that South Korea will take action to get its security cooperation with Japan back on track, as the new South Korean government is looking to mend ties with the neighboring country.



His gesture also comes as speculation is mounting that President Yoon Suk-yeol may hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Spain on the sidelines of the NATO leaders' meeting scheduled for June 29 and 30.



In addition, Korea's defense minister also highlighted a plan earlier this week to boost defense cooperation with Japan.



Park himself is expected to travel to Japan in the near future for talks with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, as well.



With regard to the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) signed between Korea and Japan in 2016, Park said, "We want GSOMIA to be normalized as soon as possible together with the improvement of the Korea-Japan relationship," during a joint press conference following his meeting with U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken in Washington, D.C., Monday (local time).



The Park-Blinken meeting was the first meeting between the two since the South Korean foreign minister took office last month.






Advertisement

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective in children aged six months to five years old - setting the shot up for regulatory approval ahead of a targeted June 21 rollout date - though there are still some doubts over whether the jabs are needed.

The agency posted its analysis overnight Monday, a standard for vaccine approval ahead of an advisory panel meeting scheduled on Wednesday where outside experts will discuss the shot's merit.

Rollout of the the three shot vaccine - which is only one-tenth the dosage given to adults in both shots - is planned to begin on June 21, and will be made available to all 18 million U.S. children that fall into the age group. Moderna also has a jab it hopes will become available at the same time.

Experts are split on whether this age group needs the shots, though, as the risk they face from the virus is extremely limited. Key advisors that will weigh in on the decision told DailyMail.com last week that it is too early for them to decide whether they will approve the shots.

The FDA revealed promising analysis of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in children aged six months to five years old overnight Monday. It comes days before the vaccine is to discussed by FDA advisors on Wednesday is a meeting that will likely decide the shot's fate

The revelation comes as the risk Covid poses to Americans shrinks. Cases of the virus have lingered in the low 100,000s for over a week now - with the U.S. averaging 107,682 cases per day as of Monday morning. Deaths have dropped 30 percent, though, to 386 per day.

If regulators clear the shots by one or both companies, vaccinations could begin as soon as next week with the drug makers ready to rapidly ship doses ordered by the government.

While only about three percent of U.S. Covid cases are in the age group six months to four years, hospitalization and death rates in that group are higher than those for older children, according to the FDA's analysis - one reason experts have said protecting this group is important.

The FDA said children who received Pfizer's shots during testing developed high levels of virus-fighting antibodies expected to protect them against coronavirus. That's the basic threshold needed to win FDA authorization. But additional testing turned up key differences, with stronger results for Pfizer.

Pfizer's vaccine appeared 80 percent effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, although that calculation was based on just 10 cases diagnosed among study participants. The figure could change as Pfizer's study continues.

The Pfizer jab will come in three doses, unlike the two dose standard set for older age groups. It will also be only three micrograms, a tenth of the size of the standard adult dose, and a third of dosage for children five through 12.

The switch was made towards the end of last year when early data showed that only two doses of the jab provided little protection against the virus.

Moderna's two-dose series was only about 40 percent to 50 percent effective at preventing milder infections, though the two companies' shots were tested at different times during the pandemic, when different variants were circulating. Moderna has begun testing a booster for tots.

In order for the jabs to get into the arms of children, it will first need approval from both the FDA and the CDC.

On Wednesday, the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet to discuss the shots.

The committee, which has been more skeptical of the vaccine rollout than the CDC and other health officials, was passed over on the decision to approve booster shots for five to 11 year olds and fourth doses people 50 and older.

The decision to skip VRBPAC was a controversial one, with members like Dr Eric Rubin, editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, and Dr Paul Offit, of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, both speaking out against the approval.

When asked about the recent submission by Pfizer, Offit told DailyMail.com that he would need to review the data first before issuing an opinion.

Dr Cody Meissner, also a VRBPAC member representing Tufts Children's Hospital, told DailyMail.com that 'it will be an interesting discussion,' on whether or not the shots get approved.

Does the potential benefits in vaccinating that group justify any harm? Thats the question that I think everybody will be thinking, he added.

He said that the White House announcing the June 21 date will not pressure the committee into approving the doses, saying that their positions come independent of political pressure.

Meissner did say, as he has in the past, that he does not believe that herd immunity is possible, and that vaccinating everyone to stop transmission of the virus will not happen.

Because the vaccines are tailored more to prevent serious infection that causes hospitalization or death, and not infection itself all-together, there will still be some transmission of the virus even if only asymptomatic.

This raises an interesting question for many officials. If the vaccines can not prevent transmission of the virus outright, and many children suffer limited risk from the virus anyways, then what reason would there to be to approve the jabs.

For the mRNA vaccines in particular - the Moderna and Pfizer shots - the CDC warns that young males who receive the shots suffer a very small but still existent risk of developing heart inflammation.

Meissner also expressed concerns over the newness of the mRNA technology used in the Pfizer jab.

In February he told DailyMail.com that: 'we don't have any experience with these [mRNA] vaccines in young children ... I'm very hopeful that they will turn out to be equally safe and equally effective [as they were for adults], but we don't know that.'

The technology has existed for decades, but was largely ignored by the medical community until it was implemented by Moderna and Pfizer for the Covid shots.

In the time since, it has been investigated as the base of a potential HIV, flu and cancer vaccines, but because of its limited past use there is no data on how it can affect a person decades down the line.

Risks of the jab hurting people in the future are extremely small, though.

Some are also concerned about the small sample size used for the trial. When Pfizer first got its jab approved for adults at the end of 2020, trial data included over 40,000 participants.

For these trials, just over 1,500 children aged six months to five years old were recruited - a significantly smaller sample.

The FDA is expected to make its official decision shortly after Wednesdays all-day meeting.

This sets up the shots to be available as early as next week. Dr Ashish Jha, the White House's COVID-19 response coordinator, said during a briefing last week that he expects the jabs to be available on Tuesday, June 21 - a day after the Juneteenth holiday.

Its not clear how much demand there will initially be for the shots. A recent survey suggests only 1 in 5 parents of young children would get their kids vaccinated right away.

Vaccines have been available since November for older U.S. schoolchildren, yet less than a third of those ages 5 to 11 have gotten the two recommended doses, according to government figures.
Another 16 monkeypox cases were spotted across the United States this weekend, bringing the total number of cases of the rare disease to 65.

Health officials revealed the updated tally Tuesday, covering the period from Friday evening up to 2 p.m. Monday.

Infections were reported in six states, with the most in national hotspot California - which saw its tally rise by five to 15 patients.

Over the last three days Ohio also detected its first case of monkeypox, although no details were given to protect the patient's privacy.

Chicago's case count doubled to eight patients, with at least one case in Illinois' largest city linked to annual fetish conference Mr Leather that took place last month.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials are scrambling to contain the outbreak before the tropical disease gains a foothold in the U.S.

But Monday a scientist warned there may already be 'undetected transmission chains' in Massachusetts after the state spotted two cases that were not linked to another known infection.

Globally, more than 1,600 cases have been detected across more than four dozen countries outside of its native West Africa  with most in the UK (470), Spain (307) and Portugal (209).

Monkeypox may be transmitted through SEMEN, scientists say Monkeypox could be spread through semen, scientists say. Medical literature says the disease is transmitted primarily through touching infectious skin lesions on patients. In limited cases it may also be passed on through the air if someone has 'sustained' face-to-face contact with an infected person. But now scientists in Italy say they have detected fragments of the virus in the semen of a handful of patients, suggesting it could also be transmitted through this route. Researchers at the Spallanzani Institute, in Rome, said six out of seven patients they checked had semen containing genes from the virus. In one sample there was enough virus to suggest it could infect another patient. Dr Francesco Vaia, its director general, said: 'Having an infectious virus in semen is a factor that tips the balance strongly in favor of the hypothesis that sexual transmission is one of the ways in which this virus is transmitted.' Advertisement

Today's cases update is the biggest surge for a three-day period so far, up 160 percent from the six registered the weekend before.

Hawaii also reported another two cases after officials there warned the rash-causing virus was likely spreading 'in our community'.

There was one case in Colorado, Georgia and Ohio each.

Health officials in Ohio refused to give any details about their first case in order to 'protect the patient's privacy'.

Most cases in America are being detected among gay and bisexual men and linked to international travel.

But a growing number are being spotted in people who had close contact with a known patient, or those who are not close contacts and have not recently traveled.

The CDC has so far brushed off concerns about these cases, however, saying they are likely linked to an undiagnosed case in a traveler.

It also says America is yet to detect any major outbreaks in urban centers unlike nations struggling against the disease in Europe.

Yesterday Dr Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard University, warned monkeypox was likely already spreading under the radar in Massachusetts.

He told DailyMail.com that the state's latest cases 'certainly indicate undetected transmission chains, although at this stage we can't say whether they are linked to the previous case in Massachusetts or are a separate introduction'.

He added: 'I noticed that [Health officials in the state] have urged "vigilance". I think it is extremely appropriate.

'People should be aware of the symptoms  fever, swollen lymph nodes and rash  but also remember that the rash might not look like the photos in the papers which tend to be of people suffering from a different strain of the virus, with an extensive disseminated rash.'

On Sunday the state reported two cases in men that were close contacts of each other but not linked to its first patient reported about a month ago.

Health officials also did not say whether the patients  who were from the Boston area  had recently returned from international travel.

In Rhode Island, health officials said their first case  a man in his 30s  was 'believed to be related to travel to Massachusetts'. It is not clear whether he was linked to these latest cases, the first patient or another as yet unidentified transmission chain.
Advertisement

Moderna's Covid vaccine should be made available for children aged six to 17 years, an independent panel at the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday  as America's Covid wave fell on all fronts.

All 22 members of the panel convened by the FDA voted to approve the two-dose jab for the age group following an all-day debate on the issue.

The FDA is now expected to sign-off on the shots in the coming weeks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will also need to give them the green-light before they can be rolled out nationwide.

Dr Paul Offit, a pediatrician who sits on the committee, said the benefits of the jab 'outweigh' the risks among youngsters  but added that it was now a 'different time' in the Covid pandemic.

Children less than 11 years old will be offered two half-strength doses of the shots, while those above this age will get jabs that are the same strength as those administered to adults.

Many experts have raised concerns over rolling out Covid vaccines to children because of the vanishingly small risk they face from the virus, with under-18s making up about 0.1 percent of America's more than a million Covid fatalities.

Pfizer's Covid jab was made available for children over five years old months ago, but uptake has been sluggish with less than a third of children aged five to 11 having come forward to get fully-vaccinated.

It comes after the CDC released an analysis today suggesting the Moderna jab was more likely to trigger heart inflammation in young and middle-aged men than its Pfizer competitor.

All three main measures of America's Covid wave are also now pointing downwards in a sign it is continuing to plateau. But amid the drop two other subvariants of Omicron  BA.4 and BA.5  are rising in the country.

An independent panel of experts at the Food and Drug Administration today voted to approve Moderna's vaccine to be rolled out in the United States for children aged six to 17 years old (stock image)

US Covid wave is now falling on all fronts. Infections dropped by about a tenth yesterday compared to the same time last week, with the seven-day average for cases now standing at 107,000

The number of fatalities reported in the US also dropped by about a third in a week to 386 a day, they reported. And the number of daily Covid admissions ticked down by 3.6 percent

The above shows the propotion of Covid cases that were down to subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 over the recent weeks. It reveals that these are now behind a larger proportion of infections, and gaining ground in the US

Not again! Another Omicron sub-variant is on the rise in the US More versions of Omicron are on the rise in the US, just as cases from the latest wave appear to be plateauing. In its latest update the CDC said BA.4 and BA.5 were now behind up to one in three infections across the country, up from one in five a week ago. They are replacing the strain BA.2.12.1 which was behind the most recent wave in the US. Both subvariants are more transmissible than the original strain of the virus. They are also better at getting around immunity triggered by vaccines and previous infections. There is no evidence, however, that either is more likely to cause severe disease or death. The strains are most common in region six  which includes Arizona and Texas  where they are behind around one in three infections. Advertisement

In a separate release today the CDC said among men aged 18 to 39 who received two doses of Moderna's Covid shot, about 97.3 cases per million shots given out had myocarditis or pericarditis recorded.

For comparison, with the Pfizer shot these cases were recorded at a rate of 81.7.

About eight in ten men in this age group are already double-vaccinated against Covid, with the CDC saying among the very few who faced the reaction most recovered without any serious effects.

It was not clear how much higher this rate was than the number that would be expected in a typical year, but the roll out was complicated last year amid reports the conditions were more common among young boys.

Today's figures on the heart inflammation rates by jabs were issued by the CDC, Reuters reports.

The agency said its findings came from data submitted to the Vaccine Safety Datalink system, where any potential side-effects from jabs are reported.

But it added there were also inconsistencies in the data that had been submitted from all the different areas reporting to the system.

Myocarditis is when the heart muscle becomes inflamed reducing its ability to pump blood around the body, whereas pericarditis is when the thin, saclike tissue around the hart becomes swollen and irritated.

Symptoms of the conditions include chest pain, fatigue, an irregular heartbeat and shortness of breath.

Normally, however, both conditions go away without leading to any permanent complications. But in severe cases they can lead to damage to the heart muscle.

Scientists are still unsure why the vaccines  which use the same mRNA technology  trigger the condition, although it may be linked to an immune response to a vaccine.

The CDC also said in February that the Moderna shot was slightly more likely to trigger heart inflammation than Pfizer's, which is based on the same technology.

They said there was no difference in symptoms experienced by recipients of either shot, and that most patients were only in hospital for a single day. None were admitted to intensive care.

Dr Sara Oliver, a CDC official, said at the time that although more cases of the condition were expected after Moderna's shot the benefits still 'far outweigh' the potential risks.

Previous research from the U.S. and Israel suggested that myocarditis was more common among young boys.

But this was not substantiated by the world's biggest study on the issue carried out in Britain, which found there was no increased risk of heart inflammation from the jab among adults and older teenagers.

Scientists suggested this may be because the UK leaves about a 12-week dosing gap between people, whereas in the U.S. this gap is around three weeks.

The FDA's independent committee is set to meet today to evaluate and vote on whether to approve Moderna's vaccine for six to 11-year-olds at half the size of doses given to adults, and at full size for 12 to 17-year-olds.

Moderna had delayed its application for this after some studies indicated its jab triggered a higher rate of myocarditis. But it later applied after the FDA found that side-effects in this group were minimal.

Pfizer's Covid vaccine has been available for the age group for weeks, but uptake is slow with about a third of the 28million children eligible having already been jabbed. Experts say the Moderna jab could be used as a 'safety net' in case there are any concerns over Pfizer's or problems with its manufacturing.

The FDA held up Modernas teen vaccine for months while it investigated a rare side effect, heart inflammation. Thats mostly a risk for teen boys and young men, and also can occur with the Pfizer vaccine. Moderna got extra scrutiny because its shots are a far higher dose.

In their review, FDA scientists said there were no confirmed cases of the heart inflammation in Moderna's child studies. But experts say the studies may have had too few participants for a rare side effect like that to appear.

'Its just not enough people in the clinical trials to detect' the problem if it's occurring, said Dr. Jesse Goodman of Georgetown University, a former FDA vaccine chief, in a call with reporters earlier this week.

The FDA analysis concluded that two doses of Moderna are effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 illness in teens and younger kids, with the levels of virus-fighting antibodies comparable to those developed in young adults.

Vaccine effectiveness was estimated at 93 percent for the 12-17 group, and 77 percent for the younger group. However, the research was done when earlier versions of the coronavirus were causing most U.S. infections, and it's not clear how well they work against more recent variants.

The FDA review said it was likely a booster shot would be needed, as is now recommended for children vaccinated with Pfizer's shots, as well as for all adults.

How much demand there will be for Moderna's shots isn't clear. Teens became eligible a year ago for Pfizer's vaccine, which uses the same technology, and only 60 percent have gotten two doses. Shots for younger kids started in November; about 29 percent have been vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If the FDA authorizes Moderna shots for teens and schoolchildren, the matter moves next to the CDC, which makes recommendations about vaccinations to doctors and the public. A CDC spokesperson said the agency is not expected to take up the question until later this month.
More Britons than ever are at risk of triple-infections this year because lockdowns have suppressed our immune systems, scientists warn.

Leading virologists fear a bad flu outbreak ahead because the virus was effectively drowned out by restrictions deployed to fight Covid, meaning the nation has little immunity against it.

But the endless cycle of virus-controlling curbs have also left society vulnerable to other seasonal illnesses, such as RSV and adenovirus.

And Covid is also expected to continue circulating.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, said a bad flu year would inevitably 'raise the risk of triple infections'.

It comes after US doctors claimed children were turning up to clinics infected with three viruses at the same time, in what was claimed to be a result of Covid policies weakening their immune system.

One expert said it was 'not typical for any time of year'.

A rise in triple-infections among American children whose immunity has dropped due to lockdowns has sparked warnings the UK could be in for a similar spike in common winter bugs (stock image)

Children are being infected with up to THREE viruses at a time because COVID measures have worn down their immune systems, experts warn Children are turning up in doctors' clinics infected with as many as three different types of viruses, in what experts believe is the result of their immune systems being weakened from two years of Covid lockdowns and mask-wearing. Medical staff have come to expect a surge in cases of flu and severe colds during the winter. But they are reporting that there is not the usual downturn as summer approaches - and they suspect it could be due to the strict pandemic practices. Furthermore, some of common strains of the flu appear to have disappeared, flummoxing scientists. Professor Thomas Murray, an infection-control expert of paediatrics at Yale, told The Washington Post on Monday that his team was seeing children with combinations of seven common viruses - adenovirus, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus, influenza and parainfluenza, as well as the coronavirus. Some children were admitted with two viruses and a few with three, he said. 'That's not typical for any time of year and certainly not typical in May and June,' he said. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data obtained by MailOnline showed lower overall levels of influenza infections among young children - but an abnormal surge starting several weeks ago during the beginning of the summer months, normally a dead period for respiratory infections. Advertisement

Professor Thomas Murray, an infection-control expert and expert in paediatrics at Yale, told The Washington Post they were seeing children with combinations of adenovirus, rhinovirus, RSV, human metapneumovirus, flu, parainfluenza and Covid itself.

He added: 'That's not typical for any time of year and certainly not typical in May and June.'

CDC statistics show there has been an abnormal surge in flu, starting several weeks ago.

It occurred during the beginning of the summer months, normally a dead period for respiratory infections.

But the US has been slower to embrace the post-pandemic era, with it dropping the requirement for all travellers to test negative at the weekend.

Flu rates have yet to pick up in Britain, and barely ticked upwards after most restrictions were axed last year.

But the flu season tends to mirror what has happened in Australia and the rest of the Southern Hemisphere.

Professor Hunter said considering what is happening overseas, an increase in triple infections may occur later this year.

'I believe Australia is suffering a surge in influenza at the moment. And we know that if Australia gets it bad during our summer, we get it bad the following winter.

'It's not unreasonable to expect that we will have a bad flu year this year and raise the risk of triple or co-infections.'

He explained that with common seasonal bugs like colds and flus people get infected then enjoy a period of enhanced protection, with their immune system on guard against the viruses.

'It could be as short as a couple of years, but it could be a bit longer,' he said.

'This is the case with other coronaviruses, influenza, norovirus and adenoviruses for example.'

But Professor Hunter added if people are isolated away from these viruses for a long period, like what occurred during two years of on-and off-lockdowns, this protection was greatly diminished.

'If you are then not exposed to viruses for a long time, you lose your immunity to infection and you are more susceptible when society opens again, and you can be exposed to multiple viral infection at same time,' he said.

'It also means when you are exposed, if the gap has been long enough, you might also get more ill than you would have otherwise.'

He added it was unclear if any such infections were happening in the UK currently, however he claimed it was likely 'inevitable'.

Dr Simon Clarke, a cellular microbiologist at the University of Reading said triple infections were 'unusual but not unheard of'.

He also said it was more likely the UK would experience these infections during the winter but added we could also see a low level of cases now.

'Youd expect flu and colds to increase during the winter so theres more chance of it happening during the winter but its not beyond the realms of possibility you might see relatively low levels in summer, he said.

Dr Clarke also said lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions would have reduced our immunity to these viruses  but added this was still best outcome compared to letting Covid rip through the population.

'Its an unintended consequence but the cost of doing it this way is lower than not doing it,' he said.

While triple infections may occur, scientists insist they most likely wouldn't result in severe illness in the vaccinated.

Last year flu was predicted to bring the NHS to its knees due to concerns about it and Covid circulating at the same time.

However, this did not come to pass.

But several common bugs suppressed during the early phase of the Covid pandemic have resurged since lockdown rules ended, official statistics suggest.

Scientists had warned the viruses were bound to make a comeback after face masks, social distancing and other pandemic curbs were dropped.
Millions of older people are at risk of being caught short because they do not realise the state pension age is rising. Experts are also warning that the state pension age could be hiked faster than planned.

This is despite falling life-expectancy projections making even the current timetable hard to justify.

And there are major concerns those living in poorer areas will be disproportionately impacted by looming rises.

Pension age hikes: Four in ten people approaching retirement do not know when they can start drawing a state pension

The age at which someone can start collecting their state pension, which is currently worth 9,638 a year, is due to rise from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028.

This means the state pension age for women will have increased by seven years between 2010 and 2028.

The change will be phased in so there will be periods when the state pension age is 66 years and between one and 11 months.

But essentially, if you were born after March 5, 1961, you will not be entitled to a payout until you are at least 67.

Yet four in ten people approaching retirement do not know what their state pension age is, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has revealed.

This is despite a fifth of adults retiring this year relying on it as their main source of income  rising to a quarter of women, research by investment firm Abrdn showed.

Ministers are also considering accelerating plans to increase the state pension age to 68.

>>>When will YOU get a state pension? Click to read our guide

This is scheduled for between 2044 and 2046 and would mean those now aged around 44 or under would have a pension age of at least that.

But a review in 2017 proposed to bring the increase forward by seven years to between 2037 and 2039. This would affect people aged around 51 and under.

By law, the Government must review the state pension age every six years to make sure it is affordable and fair.

The next review is underway, chaired by Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe, a former Tory minister to the Treasury, who has previously called for the timetable to be speeded up.

A report by the Centre for Social Justice in 2019 recommended going further by increasing the state pension age to 70 by 2028 and then 75 by 2035

The findings of the latest review must be published by May 7, 2023. A report by the Centre for Social Justice in 2019 recommended going further by increasing the state pension age to 70 by 2028 and then 75 by 2035. But there is no indication the Government is seriously considering this.

Sir Steve Webb, former pensions minister and partner at pension consultants LCP, says: The dramatic changes we have seen to state pension ages in recent years are not over.

Although the proposed timetable can no longer be justified now that life expectancy projections have been cut back, the Governments financial position is so weak that they are unlikely to hold back on further pension age increases.

When the last state pension age review was carried out in 2014, Office for National Statistics figures showed that a 66-year-old woman could expect to live, on average, to around 89.

But latest figures from 2018 show that this has now fallen by two years to roughly 87. For men, the average 66-year-old is expected to live to 85, down from 87 in 2014.

The age at which someone can start collecting their state pension, currently worth 9,638 a year, is due to rise from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028

Experts say the Government could use the falling birth rate to justify further increases. Todays pensions are paid out of the taxes of todays workers. Fewer babies mean fewer people paying into the system, which increases the tax burden of an ageing population.

Jack Jones, pensions officer at the UKs largest trade union TUC, said: The Government came up with a formula to link the state pension age to average life expectancy that they believed would allow them to continually raise it.

But after a decade of stalling longevity improvements, it looks worryingly like they are preparing to shift the goal posts. Many people already struggle to stay in work until state pension age.

The gap between the best and worst areas in terms of life expectancy at birth is nine years for women.

In Kensington, West London, women are expected to live until the age 87, but just 78 in Glasgow. For men, the difference is 11 years  84 in Westminster and 73 in Glasgow.

When you consider a persons healthy life expectancy, the gap is even wider. And in some of the worst areas, men and women can expect to be in poor health 12 years before the current state pension age of 66.

Baroness Ros Altmann, former pensions minister, says: It is quite possible that people are unaware they will not be getting any of their state pension before they are 67 and this is bound to cause real hardship. She adds that raising the pension age to 68 would be deeply unfair to disadvantaged groups with a shorter than average healthy-life expectancy.

Check your state pension age online at gov.uk/state-pension-age or call 0800 731 0469.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman says: The second state pension age review will consider whether the rules are appropriate... It is too early to speculate on the outcome.

v.bischoff@dailymail.co.uk
Finsbury Growth and Income's period of pain is not letting up as fund manager Nick Train blamed 'annoying' price falls among its top holdings last month.

The Lindsell Train co-founder, who has managed Finsbury Growth & Income for 20 years, recently apologised to investors for Finsbury's 'disappointing returns'.

In May, the investment company continued to underperform the benchmark FTSE All-Share which was up 0.7 per cent.

Finsbury's NAV per share total return was down 3.7 per cent and its share price was down 4.3 per cent.

Star stockpicker Nick Train recently apologised for Finsbury Growth & Income's period of underperformance

Three of its biggest positions, in drinks giant Diageo, London Stock Exchange Group and analytics firm RELX, were all down between 6 and 8 per cent in May 'for no discernible reason so far as we can judge.'

Train added: 'Of course, I acknowledge, the backdrop for all equity markets is unpropitious today. But I might hope that predictable, cash-generative businesses, like this trio would've been havens in uncertain times.'

Train adopts a bottom-up stock picking approach and has a preference for companies with high margins, dependable profitability and low levels of debt which can generate high returns.

The fund's biggest faller in percentage terms was Fever-Tree, which was down 15 per cent in May.

Train said Fever-Tree's 'position as the number one premium mixer brand seems as clear and exciting as ever'. And while the stock is 60 per cent below its 2018 peak, he will 'buy more into this weakness'.

Finsbury Growth & Income trust's top ten holdings list features many household names

Sage and Experian were also a drag on the trust's performance in May. Experian dipped nearly 5 per cent after publishing its full-year results, despite announcing a 10 per cent dividend increase.

'There are not many companies quoted on the London stock market where one might realistically hope for sustained annual 10 per cent growth in free cash flow.

'But Experian is one of the few we know where such an outlook is not outlandish.

'We have been adding steadily to the Experian holding through 2021/22 and it is now a meaningful portfolio position.

'Let's hope our buying has been conducted at prices that will look like bargains in 5 years' time.'

He added: 'Before I go and kick the cat  someone has to pay for these frustrations  I will cheer myself by noting a couple of holdings in the portfolio that had a better month.'

Despite difficult conditions for its current sales in China, Burberry was up more than seven per cent on its final results.

An 11 per cent dividend increase and a new share buyback were well received by investors.

Finsbury Growth & Income has suffered after its initial pandemic rebound

Train said: 'Here is another board that believes its shares are undervalued and that little investor recognition has been afforded its work in elevating the luxury status of the Burberry brand.'

The appointment of activist investor Nelson Peltz to Unilever's board as a non-executive director also saw shares rally 'as UK investors recall how his presence on Cadbury's share register led to a break-up and eventual sale of that company.'
Transport giant FirstGroup has seen annual profits skyrocket following a rebound in bus and train passengers and the sale of its North American operations.

The Aberdeen-based company reported earnings climbing more than sevenfold to 642million in the year to 26 March, from 91.1million the previous year, even after returning 500million to shareholders last December.

The investor payout came after it completed the 3.3billion sale of school bus operator First Student, and public transport provider First Transit, to Swedish private equity house EQT Infrastructure.

Profit growth: Bus and train operator FirstGroup reported earnings climbing more than sevenfold to 642m in the year to 26 March, from 91.1m the previous year

FirstGroup later sold its Greyhound bus arm in the United States to German firm FlixMobility after two years of searching for a buyer, thereby ending all operations outside the British Isles.

As a result of these disposals, the FTSE 250 business saw net debt plummet by 2billion and the end of any UK pension deficit payments, but overall revenue declined by 18 per cent to 1.26billion.

When not counting its abandoned operations, though, sales rose to more than 4.5billion, and profits surpassed expectations thanks to strong performances by its First Bus and First Rail divisions.

Passenger volumes recovered well as the UK Government eased Covid travel restrictions, with the group noting a particularly significant rebound in leisure trips.

On its bus operations, the firm said passenger numbers jumped by 91 per cent as it benefited from a rebound in school, shopping and discretionary travel journeys.

Demand in both divisions did remain depressed by the continuation of Covid-19 lockdown curbs until mid-July and the reintroduction of restrictions following the Omicron variant's emergence.

Deal: FirstGroup announced today that it had won a three-year contract by the Department for Transport to run the Great Western Railway

However, the Scottish company, which runs the Great Western Railway and Avanti West Coast rail franchises, stated that current trading for this fiscal year was in accordance with forecasts and is anticipating continued growth in sales.

Thanks to the impressive performance, FirstGroup shares closed trading 1.4 per cent higher at 134.7p on Tuesday, meaning their value has soared by about 150 per cent in the past two years.

Chief executive Graham Sutherland said: 'The transformed group has momentum and we expect to make significant further progress in the year to March 2023.

'With leading positions in bus and rail, a strong balance sheet and a clear purpose, FirstGroup has many opportunities ahead to deliver sustainable shareholder value creation while delivering the vital services that are key to achieving societys sustainability and economic goals.'

In addition to its results, FirstGroup announced today that it had won a three-year contract by the Department for Transport to run the Great Western Railway, where it will earn a fixed management fee of 6.9million per year, alongside a potential annual performance-related bonus of 17.8million.

Last week, the company revealed it had rejected a 1.23billion takeover bid by I Squared Capital, a private equity firm specialising in infrastructure investments.

FirstGroup claimed the 118p-per-share deal, the second offer made by I Squared, 'significantly undervalued' its operations and future prospects.
Coal-fired power stations will be kept running this winter  despite plans to shut them down to meet climate change pledges.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced one site in Lincolnshire will remain operational and he hopes that two others will also be available.

The site at West Burton is run by the French company EDF. Another at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire, is owned by Uniper, and the third is the Drax power station, near Selby, North Yorkshire.

In demand: Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is hoping the coal-fired powerplant in West Burton, Nottinghamshire (pictured) will remain operational

Kwarteng suggested the need to rely on coal to keep the lights on has been driven by concerns about the availability of gas due to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

He said: In May, I asked National Grid to explore keeping three coal power stations open this winter, if needed. With uncertainty in Europe following the invasion, its right we explore all options to bolster supply.

He added: Im pleased EDF has confirmed West Burton will remain online.

Discussions with two other plants are ongoing.

If we have available back-up power, lets keep it online just in case. Im not taking chances.

Any increased reliance on coal would be embarrassing for the Government after making promises to cut the UKs emissions of harmful greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

Boris Johnson was at the forefront of efforts to encourage countries to move away from using coal when Britain hosted the Cop26 climate change conference in Scotland last year.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal dismissed all but one of Metas seven challenges against the Competition and Markets Authority

A competition tribunal has effectively sided with regulators who blocked the sale of image website Giphy to Facebook owner Meta.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) unanimously dismissed all but one of Metas seven challenges against the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), saying there was no hesitation the watchdog was entitled to take the decision.

The CAT added it was not its choice to figure out whether the CMA had got it right but whether its decision was lawful or not.

CMA boss Andrea Coscelli said the ruling was a resounding endorsement of the CMAs approach. But Meta said the ruling found that the CMAs approach to its investigation was difficult to defend and undermines the entirety of the decision.

The tribunal said the CMA had failed to properly share some information with the company but it would work out a way to remedy this later.
The one question that captured Australia's attention 23 years ago is back on the agenda - to the joy of avid republicans and the horror of passionate monarchists.

Coinciding with Queen Elizabeth's 70th anniversary of being in the top job, the Albanese Government has appointed a minister for the republic, and it's only a matter of time before Australians are going to be asked if they want to dump the royal family for good.

It's always been a fiery debate, with one prominent Australian monarchist accusing republicans of 'waiting like a pack of ghouls' for the Queen's death.

Matt Thistlethwaite, the newly minted Assistant Minister for the Republic, said while a change is not a first term priority, it is 'part of Labor's long term vision for where we want to take Australia'.

With long drawn lines in the sand being reinforced, the support for a republic depends on which side you ask or, controversially, how the poll question is phrased.

Even the term 'head of state' and who that title applies to has become a loaded one.

Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth at her Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Australian monarchists believe Charles won't initially have the same support as his mother, but perceptions of him 'will improve as people see that he behaves properly as King'

Charles and Camilla, the future King and Queen of England, pictured with Kate and William's youngest son, Louis, at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The Australian Republic Movement (ARM) is led by journalist and author Peter FitzSimons who says 'If I had a dollar for every time somebody said to me or emailed me or came up to me on the street and said "I'm with you, but not until the Queen dies or abdicates", I'd be a thousand dollars to the good'

There are two main monarchist groups in Australia, Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) and the Australian Monarchist League (AML).

Though they have the same aim - keeping the British royal family's role in Australia - they differ over the nature of the positions of the Governor-General and the Queen.

In the republic corner, the heavy hitter is the Australian Republic Movement (ARM), led by journalist and author Peter FitzSimons.

David Flint, national convenor of ACM since 1998, told Daily Mail Australia that 'republicans are waiting like a pack of ghouls or vampires for the Queen to pass away, then they think they're going to strike. That will not happen.'

FitzSimons, however, rejects the idea of republicans waiting around for the Queen to die so Australia can have a president.

'We at the ARM wish the Queen well. What an amazing thing, to have been on the throne for 70 years,' he said.

'It feels like it was a celebration, but it also feels like these times won't come again. I don't think anybody thinks there will be a 75th (anniversary) like that.'

He said the focus on the Queen's 70th anniversary will lead people to focus on her successor in waiting, Prince Charles.

David Flint, national convenor of the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) said after the Queen passes away 'there will be more fascination about the new Prince of Wales (William) and the children of the Prince of Wales. I don't think there will be any interest in Australia becoming a republic'. The Cambridges (above) are pictured at Platinum Jubilee celebrations

William and Kate on Manly Beach during their visit to Australia in 2014

'I've been chair for seven years, and if I had a dollar for every time somebody said to me or emailed me or came up to me on the street and said "I'm with you, but not until the Queen dies or abdicates", I'd be a thousand dollars to the good.

'My point it there is no doubt that we will get a surge once Australia leans in close and looks at King Charles.'

Poll Should Australia ditch the royal family and become a republic? Yes No Unsure Should Australia ditch the royal family and become a republic? Yes 175 votes

No 514 votes

Unsure 29 votes Now share your opinion





Mr Flint acknowledges that Charles would not, initially at least, have the same support as his mother, but think that 'will improve as people see that he behaves properly as King'.

He said the royals' line of succession and love of ceremony will help them endure as an official part of Australian life.

'When the Queens passes away there will probably be the biggest retrospective ever in the world's media, it will be enormous, and people will be fascinated by that,' Mr Flint said.

'Then will come the coronation (of King Charles) and people will be equally fascinated by this extraordinary ceremony. I think only two countries have coronations ... Britain and Tonga.

'There will be more fascination about the new Prince of Wales (William) and the children of the Prince of Wales. I don't think there will be any interest in Australia becoming a republic.'

ACM convenor David Flint (left) said a referendum on Australia becoming a republic would be lost as it was in 1999. Rachel Bailes (right) became an ardent monarchist after doing a school project on Princess Diana, and believes the Albanese Government has overreached in appointing a republic minister

Lisa Wilkinson (left) is pictured with her husband Peter FitzSimons, who is the chair of the Australian Republic Movement

Rachel Bailes, who is on the AML's national council, was aged six in 1999 when Australia last voted on whether or not to become a republic.

Her parents both voted yes, but 55 per cent of Australians voted no and the proposal was soundly defeated, with the ACT being the only state or territory to back a republic.

After doing a school project on Charles' first wife Princess Diana, Ms Bailes became interested in the history of the monarchy in Australia and the royal family.

'It was that raw, human compassion that in recent times the monarchy has embodied, with William and Harry passing on that legacy of Princess Diana,' she said.

Queen Elizabeth II is pictured after her coronation 70 years ago. She recently celebrated her Platinum Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh on the day of her coronation, Buckingham Palace, 1953

Ms Bailes thinks Labor has overreached in appointing a republic minister.

'I'm not sure how much of a mandate there is for this politicised office,' she said.

'This wasn't front and centre (in the election). People weren't thinking we might have this wholesale watershed moment with a change to a republic if we vote in one side or the other, because it was kept extremely quiet.'

But Mr Thistlethwaite said this is not the case. 'I've been in this role for five years now. I was the shadow assistant minister for a republic.

'It's been in (our) platform for well over a decade now that Labor supports Australia becoming a republic and if we're elected to government that we would consult the Australian people and move towards holding a referendum in the future.

'It's not a first term priority. In terms of constitutional reform the first term priority will be the (Indigenous) voice to parliament.'

FitzSimons said Mr Thistlethwaite's appointment made him 'exuberant to a level I cannot begin to describe.

'This time it feels like everything is going our way. To have a minister for the crown devoted to removing the crown ... there's a confluence of factors going our way.

'We have the Queen completing 70 years, a strong sense that her era is drawing to a close - she's in the deep twilight of her reign.

Rachel Bailes said young Australians are inspired by the younger members of the royal family. 'You're seeing a lot of people who find figures such as William and Kate and even Meghan (above) and Harry quite refreshing, (with) the face of the monarchy modernising

William and Kate pictured with their children George and Charlotte. The Cambridges are central to ensuring the royal family's continued popularity

Kate and William pictured with George and Charlotte

'We wish her well and we wish her a long life. But 96 is old. She may be able to send herself a telegram (for turning 100), I hope she can.'

Public support for a republic is difficult to gauge as it is rarely polled, and when it is it can lead to vastly different results and arguments over how the question is phrased.

The most recent poll, published in the Sydney Morning Herald in January, found 54 per cent favoured a republic, 36 per cent were against and 10 per cent were undecided.

An Essential poll in March 2021 found 48 per cent in favour and 28 per cent against, but an Ipsos poll two months earlier found just 34 per cent in favour and 40 per cent against.

Mr Flint believes Essential 'taints the question'.

'They taint it by not just asking are you in favour of Australia becoming a republic, they add the words "with an Australian head of state".'

Assistant Minister for a Republic Matt Thistlethwaite (left) shakes hands with Australian Governor-General David Hurley (right) during a swearing-in ceremony at Government House in Canberra, June 1, 2022

It is one of the most contentious issues at the heart of the debate; whether or not Australia's Governor-General - currently General David Hurley - is the head of state.

Mr Flint is dismissive of the notion of head of state, saying 'it's such an obscure thing, only known to international lawyers and diplomats'.

But he adds that 'the republicans have no other reason now (other than saying) we need an Australian as head of state.

'We say, we've already got that, the Governor-General is the head of state.'

FitzSimons sees it very differently. 'When former US vice-president Mike Pence came out to Australia in 2018 he put out a tweet saying he'd had a wonderful afternoon with Queen Elizabeth II's (then) representative to Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove, Governor-General.

US vice-president Mike Pence (right) is pictured with his wife Karen (left). In 2018 Mr Pence referred to then Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove as Queen Elizabeth II's representative to Australia

'It was absolutely correct in every particular. That is what goes out to the world. The American vice-president sits down with an Australian who is Queen Elizabeth II's representative to us.'

Mr Thistlethwaite said it's 'not true' that the Governor-General is Australia's head of state.

'The evidence of that is the fact that the Governor-General swears allegiance to the Queen. If you're the head of state, you don't swear allegiance to anyone ... people swear allegiance to you.

'This means that (the Governor-General) is the Queen's proxy here in Australia and she is our head of state.'

Ms Bailes said young Australians are inspired by the younger members of the royal family.

'You're seeing a lot of people who find figures such as William and Kate and even Meghan and Harry quite refreshing, (with) the face of the monarchy modernising.

'We've had a lot of uncertainty with the global pandemic, we've had a revolving door of prime ministers, and having that steady anchor in Queen Elizabeth II is a strong counterpoint for young people, a sense of stability and reliability.'

She said young people relating to the the monarchy is nothing to do with celebrity worship. 'They're the opposite of a celebrity.

'With a celebrity it's all about the hype, it's all about appearance, it's about maintaining relevance, being trendy.

Rachel Bailes, who is on the AML's national council, said the royal family bring a sense of 'stability and dignity'. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla pictured at their wedding

'Whereas with the royal family, there's a sense of stability, dignity and that it's a deeper service than just being trendy or fashionable.'

Ms Bailes recalled being on the streets of Sydney suburb Manly when William and Kate visited in 2014.

'I remember thinking it was just going to be wild cheers and hysteria, but there was almost a sense of reverence and a sense that these people were here because they have a connection to us and they serve us.

'They're not here because they're celebrities or fashionable, it's because they actually have a role to play in our country and they have a generational link to us through the ages because of the line of succession,' she said.

Another referendum on Australia becoming a republic is at least four years away, by which time it will be 27 years on from the 1999 referendum.

Mr Flint is not impressed with the idea. 'It's silly of the (Labor) party to be considering a second referendum, but that's their business if they want to. They will lose, there's no doubt about that.'

Another referendum on Australia becoming a republic is at least four years away, by which time it will be 27 years on from the 1999 referendum. Pictured: The royal family at recent Platinum Jubilee celebrations

Mr Thistlethwaite's job is to prove him wrong. 'The last time this was on the agenda was the late 1990s, so (it will be) close to 30 years.

'There's a whole generation of Australians that aren't aware of this issue and aren't well versed in the arguments about it, a whole group of newly arrive migrants who weren't around for the 1999 referendum.

'These are the people that we need to inform about our current constitutional arrangements and then discuss the fact that we can have an Australian as our head of state, the alternatives of how we do that and then hopefully a successful referendum.'

FitzSimons said he has refined his message over the last seven years and one that resonates is a character called Esmerelda he uses to illustrate his point.

'Particularly with older Australians who are often monarchists, I say to them look to your granddaughter, Esmerelda.

'She is one of the most extraordinary young Australians that ever was. She can aspire to do anything right now, bar one thing.

The Queen is admired across the world for her unwavering dedication to the monarchy

'She can aspire to cure cancer by the age of 27, win an Oscar by the age of 30, peace in the Middle East by 32 and rid us of Pauline Hanson by 35.

'But there is one thing this young Australian cannot aspire to be. She cannot aspire to be the head of state of Australia.

'Why? Because the Australian constitution, paragraph three, second page, specifically says you little Australians need not apply to be the head of state of this country.

'That's reserved for the English royal family who have much bluer blood than you'll ever dream of.'

Time will tell if he and Mr Thistlethwaite are right that change is on the way, or if Mr Flint and Ms Bailes are correct in thinking Australians are happy with the way things are.




An appellate military court reduced a lower court's nine-year sentence for an Air Force non-commissioned officer who was found guilty of sexually abusing a female colleague, who later took her own life, to seven years Tuesday.







The Military High Court delivered its verdict on Master Sergeant Jang, who was charged with groping the victim of the same rank inside a car in March last year.







The prosecution sought a 15-year prison term, claiming he tried to blackmail the victim into not reporting the case to the authorities in a text message, implying he would commit suicide if she did. The accused maintained the message was meant to deliver an apology.







The court said it could not confirm the accused had the intention to do harm to the victim through the message, as there were no "explicit remarks or tacit words or actions" to do so.







The court also said the defendant could not be held solely responsible for her death, stressing the victim had not been given adequate protection within the military as well.







The ruling drew angry reactions from the victim's family, with her hyperventilating mother collapsing. (Yonhap)






North Korea has completed its final preparations to carry out a fresh nuclear blast at its underground testing site, South Korea has warned today.

Kim Jong Un now only needs to give the order for the explosion - the country's first since 2017 and seventh overall - to be carried out, Seoul's top diplomat has said.

'Only a political decision' by the Hermit Kingdom's top leadership could now stop the test, Foreign Minister Park Jin told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a summit in Washington on Tuesday.

It comes after a series of escalating weapons tests by North Korea in recent months that included the launch of its huge Hwasong-17 nuclear missile in March, the largest missile of its type in the world which is capable of striking anywhere in the US.

Kim Jong Un has finished preparing for a fresh nuclear test, which would be North Korea's first since September 2017 and massively ramp up tensions with the US and in the Pacific

Kim (pictured chairing a meeting of top officials today) is ready to give the order to test a nuke and 'only a political decision' can stop it, South Korea believes

The US and South Korea have threatened additional economic sanctions as well as 'increased' military pressure on the North if the test goes ahead, without going into details about what exactly that would entail.

Speaking at a press conference alongside Blinken today, Park said: If North Korea ventures into another nuclear test, I think it will only strengthen our deterrence and also international sanctions.

'North Korea should change its mind and make the right decision.'

Blinken added: "Were preparing for all contingencies this in very close coordination with others and we are prepared to make both short and longer-term adjustments to our military posture.

'Pressure will be sustained, it will continue and, as appropriate, it will be increased,' he added.

Both Park and Blinken men stressed the door to negotiations without any preconditions remains open for North Korea.

But Blinken, repeating comments from numerous U.S. officials in recent days, lamented that North Korea continues to ignore calls for dialogue.

On Sunday, North Korea test-fired what appeared to be artillery shells toward the sea, according to South Koreas military, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for greater defense capability to cope with outside threats.

North Korea is in the midst of a flurry of weapons tests including the launch of a huge Hwasong-17 nuclear missile, aimed at giving Kim an edge in anticipated negotiations

Punggye-Ri is North Korea's underground nuclear testing site (pictured) and has been out of action since 2017, but construction in the area recently suggests it is being prepared for a blast

It is thought North Korea is ignoring requests for talks so it camp ramp up the pressure on America and its allies and negotiate from a position of strength.

Kim used the same strategy before to secure two summits with then-President Donald Trump to speak about the North's weapons programme.

Those talks ultimately failed after Trump walked away, with Kim likely to seek a similar deal this time around - sanctions relief and security guarantees for his regime in return for an end to weapons tests and a pledge to 'denuclearise'.

North Korea has carried out seven nuclear tests in its history, all of which have taken place at its underground Punggye-Ri detonation site, underneath Mount Mantap.

The first took place in 2006 when the country was ruled by Kim's grandfather, Kim Jong Il, while the most-recent happened in September 2017.

Punggye-Ri was thought to have been largely destroyed in the final blast, which exploded with the force of up to 280 kilotons of TNT - almost 20 times as powerful as the bomb that levelled Hiroshima.

Satellite images showed Mount Mantap had partially collapsed, leading to speculation that tunnels underneath it had also caved in.

Those suspicions were strengthened when, a short time later, Kim offered to mothball the site as a goodwill gesture ahead of talks with Trump.

South Korean foreign minister Park Jin (left) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) urged North Korea to abandon the test and negotiate at a joint press conference today

North Korean state media then showed the entrances to the site being blown up with TNT charges, along with another nuclear testing site.

But repairs have been ongoing there since at least March this year, with the US and South Korea saying these have now likely been completed.

Washington and Seoul have been taking an increasingly bullish tone over North Korean weapons tests after changes of leadership in both capitals in recent years.

When the North tested eight of its smaller missiles recently, the allies responded by firing eight of their own in response.

A day later, 20 American and South Korea fighters - including latest-generation F-35 stealth jets - took part in drills over the Yellow Sea which Seoul said was designed to test its 'overwhelming response' to any threats.

Since taking power in 2011, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has accelerated his weapons development despite limited resources.

Experts say with its next test, North Korea could claim an ability to build small bombs that could be clustered on a multiwarhead ICBM or fit on short-range missiles that could reach South Korea and Japan.
Hundreds of Sri Lankans facing an economic crisis have tried to make it by boat to Australia in the past month, with people smugglers telling those on board they could be let in under the new Labor government.

Sri Lankan navy captain Indika De Silva said vulnerable people are being lured in by false promises that Albanese's government will take a softer approach to illegal immigration.

'We believe the smugglers have engaged in these activities... to convince poor people that this change of government may be in favour of their side,' Sri Lankan navy captain Indika De Silva told the ABC.

'Smugglers find this difficult situation in the country as a benefit for them, they're trying to exploit the situation and people are fooled and misled by these smugglers.'

It comes as a boat carrying 42 asylum seekers was set ablaze by border force agents in territorial waters off Australia on Friday near the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, off Western Australia.

It was the third vessel intercepted by the Royal Australian Navy since election day on May 21 - despite prime minster Anthony Albanese vowing during the election campaign to 'turn back boats'.

The Albanese government has maintained it will be sending back all illegal arrivals

Locals in the Cocos Islands noticed a ball of smoke on the horizon from the people smuggling vessel

What is Operation Sovereign Borders? Operation Sovereign Borders is a military-led border security operation that was established in 2013 to deter illegal arrivals to Australian shores. The hardline policy implemented by Tony Abbott's Coalition government takes a 'zero tolerance' posture against asylum seekers travelling on people smuggling vessels. Boats will either be turned back, set ablaze or seized with those onboard sent home or processed in offshore detention facilities. The current Commander of Operation Sovereign Borders is Rear Admiral Justin Jones, who was appointed in February 2022. Australia's strict policy has received criticism from human rights groups with some opponents calling it illegal. Advertisement

The nationality of those onboard remains a mystery but the previous vessels which were captured originated from Sri Lanka.

The country is currently in the grips of an economic crisis which has led to critical shortages of food, medicine and fuel sparking violent nationwide protests.

'What we've found is that some people have paid thousands of dollars for these journeys, so they had some kind of economic background,' captain Indika De Silva said.

'Earlier it used to be the poor people.'

Most of the fishing trawlers used to take the dangerous 8700km journey don't have a toilet or access to fresh water.

'The journey is very difficult, but I had to manage any way I can, I have to leave the country,' a Sri Lankan named Poopalapillai who was picked up by his country's Navy two days before the Australian election revealed.

The boat had started to sink with 40 people onboard after the crew tried to outrun the approaching naval ship.

'The people smuggling agent said, "The Australian government will change, the future government is a good government, and they will let you inside the country",' Poopalapillai said.

One man recently deported after being intercepted on a Sri Lankan fishing boat at Christmas Island on June 9, Sadish Kumar, 20, admitted heading to Australia to find work.

His father, Ramalingam Kumar, explained the intolerable situation his son and so many young Sri Lankans find themselves in.

'There is no food he likes to eat, no fuel for his bike and no work to earn. Who would live in this country?' he told The Australian.

Another of the young men on board, Eranga Madhushan, also 20, explained he expected to be sent to a 'refugee camp'.

Protests have rocked Sri Lanka for two months, calling for the resignation of the president over his failure to address the economic crisis

Others said they believed the Australian government would accept them because the Sri Lankan government could not find them jobs or 'a plan for our future'.

The man who sold the intercepted trawler to people smugglers admitted selling it because he couldn't escape his debts.

Emmanuel Stephen admitted he was 'a fool' for letting his son Emmanuel Mahesh and other men, aged between 20 and 30 - who were all deported - buy his boat.

Mahesh, 30, who is a young married father, appeared in court on Colombo and was remanded to face serious criminal charges again next week as the boat's alleged owner.

His father refused previous offers from people smugglers to buy his trawler, hoping to fish his way out of financial trouble, but high fuel prices and crew shortages meant his debt problems overwhelmed him.

He accepted the bid to sell his boat and denied it had anything to do with the change of Australian government.

Australia since 2013 has held a strict policy of turning back boats carrying asylum seekers. Pictured: Asylum seekers on route to Australia rescued off Indonesia in 2013

Owning money to 'several banks' and with his home and boat mortgaged he needed the money.

People smugglers promised they'd pay $19,700 for it but could only come up with $13,800, promising to pay the rest when they arrived.

But they were intercepted at Christmas Island and deported.

'I almost got a heart attack when I heard Australian border control had arrested the boat with my son. I was a fool to give my boat to these people,' Emmanuel Stephen said.

He claimed to have tried to send his son to Australia legally but failed.

HMAS Melville is understood to have made the initial approach after tracking the boat through the Indian Ocean

It comes as locals in the Cocos Islands noticed a ball of smoke on the horizon at about 9am on Friday, prompting grandee John Clunies-Ross to alert the Australian Border Force.

He was quickly informed the agency was already aware of the vessel.

HMAS Melville is understood to have made the initial approach after tracking the boat across the Indian Ocean.

Once a vessel carrying asylum seekers is intercepted and all onboard are safely transferred to a government ship, it is standard practice to set the boat on fire, rather than tow it back to shore.

The Australian Border Force however has not commented on the incident, as the clandestine agency 'does not discuss operational matters'.

Asylum seekers coming to Australia have been a highly politicised matter in recent years. Pictured: An Asylum seeker boat in 2013 off Christmas Island

However in a statement to The Australian on Monday it said: 'Australian government policy is steadfast: people who travel illegally to Australia by boat will not settle permanently here.'

'Operation Sovereign Borders is about defeating people-smugglers who manipulate vulnerable men, women and children to risk their lives at sea.'

On the morning of the Australian Federal election the Liberal party advised voters that an 'illegal' boat that was intercepted by Border Force officials allegedly trying to enter Australia.

The 12 people on board, all Sri Lankans from Negombo, were apprehended near Christmas Island and deported.

Since then another Sri Lankan fishing boat with 15 aboard was picked up by the Australian Border Force, while three larger boats were caught by the country's navy.
An infamous Brothers 4 Life gang member has mysteriously been found dead just days after being released from an eight-year stint in jail.

Mohammad Kalal, 36, was imprisoned in early 2014 for his role in two shootings the year prior while he was a senior member of the notorious Blacktown BFL chapter.

The gangster walked free on June 2 and had been living in his Brighton Le Sands unit, in Sydney's south.

He was found unconscious inside his home on Thursday - a week after he was paroled - by relatives conducting a welfare check, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Mohammad Kalal, a senior member of the Brothers 4 Life Blacktown chapter, was found dead on Thursday

It is understood Kalal spent last Wednesday night with a family member watching the State of Origin rugby league game.

The relative then went out to get some food, but when he returned within the hour and Kalal did not answer the door bell, he left, presuming the gangster had fallen asleep or gone out.

The next day, relatives were still unable to reach Kalal so they decided to call a locksmith to his home to open the door at about 1pm.

It was then that they discovered his body.

A NSW Police spokesperson said the death was not being treated as suspicious and a post-mortem will be conducted to determine how he died.

Kalal was sentenced to a maximum of ten years in prison over two shooting incidents just three days apart in November 2013.

Kalal was jailed at Long Bay Prison (pictured) over his involvement in two back-to-back shootings in 2013

Pictured: Chokolatta Cafe in Bankstown, which was the site of one of the 2013 shootings

In the first, a 13-year-old girl was shot in Western Sydney during a botched assassination attempt on now-exiled Alameddine crime clan member Masood Zakaria.

Zakaria's teenage sister, who was hit when Kalal shot into the Blacktown home, fortunately survived the attack.

Days later, Kalal was among the gunmen involved in a failed execution drive-by shooting at Chokolatta Cafe in Bankstown.

Brothers 4 Life, founded by notorious gangster and Bassam Hamzy from inside his prison cell during the early 2000s, was thrust into the spotlight after in-house feuding in 2013 led to bloodshed in Sydney's streets.

The Blacktown chapter, run by Farhad 'The Afghan' Qaumi, began feuding with Bankstown chapter boss Mohammad 'Little Crazy' Hamzy, which led to several public shootings.

NSW Police launched Strike Force Sitella in July 2013 to investigate the shootings, which resulted in the arrests of 10 Brothers for Life members later that year.
A self-declared savings professional has shared the top apps that help her pocket an extra $10,000 a year on groceries and fuel.

Social media star Queenie Tan bought her first apartment when she was just 23 and credits her annual $10,000 savings to finding the best deals on everyday products.

'I focus on supermarkets and ways people can save money on their grocery bill and at the petrol station,' she told A Current Affair.

'If you want to save $10,000 in one year, all you need to do is save $27.40 per day. Isn't that crazy?'

Cheapskate professional Queenie Tan (above) has shared her favourite apps that help her save $10,000 on groceries and fuel every year

A key way Ms Tan saves is by using a set of free apps that monitor weekly specials and deals at leading supermarkets.

One of her favourite apps is Half Price, which keeps an online catalogue of everything 50 per cent off at Coles and Woolworths.

TOP FREE APPS TO HELP YOU SAVE ON GROCERIES AND FUEL Half Price: Keeps an online catalogue of everything 50 per cent off at Coles and Woolworths. My 7-Eleven: Lets customers buy fuel for the cheapest price in their area and offers deals on drinks, snacks and meals. Woolworths Rewards: Collects points for every dollar shoppers spend at Woolworths of Big W and redeem a $10 voucher for 2000 points. Woolworths Scan & Go: Customers can scan their groceries as they shop, keep an eye on their running total and avoid long queues at the checkout. Frugl: Creates a shopping list that compares the best prices on 58,000 products from Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, and IGA. Coles Flybuys: Lets customers collect points for money spent at Coles, Kmart, Bunnings and more and redeem points for Flybuys dollars. Advertisement

Ms Tan said using free apps like My 7-Eleven (left) and Frugl (right) can help Aussies save $10,000 a year on groceries and fuel

Another top contender is the My 7-Eleven app which lets customers 'lock in' the cheapest fuel price in their area to use at any 7-Eleven service station.

The app also offers specials on drinks, snacks and meals.

Woolworths has two apps that make Ms Tan's must-have list: Woolworths Rewards and Woolworths Scan & Go.

Ms Tan (above) bought her first apartment when she was just 23 and said saving on everyday items is key to financial success

Woolworths Rewards allows shoppers to collect points for every dollar they spend at the supermarket or Big W and redeem a $10 voucher once they reach 2000 points.

Ms Tan also recommended using your time in the checkout queue to 'boost' offers within the app to reach the 2000 point goal quicker.

Woolworths' new Scan & Go app lets customers scan their groceries as they shop so they can see their running total spend and avoid long checkout lines.

Coles also offers rewards under its Flybuys program.

Ms Tan recommends shoppers use Woolworths's new Scan & Go app (above) that lets customers scan their groceries as they shop

Customers can accumulate Flybuys dollars by shopping at participating shops, including Coles, Kmart and Bunnings, and 'boost' offers to earn points faster.

Ms Tan's final app recommendation is Frugl, a shopping list app that lets shoppers monitor and compare prices of over 58,000 products from Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and IGA.

However Ms Tan said it's also when and where you shop that can make a difference to your savings.

Other top tips Ms Tan (above) shared were shopping after 5pm at Woolworths to nab deals on fresh bakery items and checking the international aisle for better deals on spices

'Wednesday is generally when new specials are released in most of the big supermarkets. Woolworths has a fresh bakery section, so at 5pm they start to discount their bread,' she said.

Ms Tan also recommended comparing prices between aisles at the supermarket.

She said curry powder was three times cheaper in the international section of Woolworths than in the herbs and spices section.
A Vanuatu national who allegedly got drunk, stole his boss' car and left it on train tracks is having his Visa reviewed.

On Saturday night, the 23-year-old reportedly 'consumed a large amount of intoxicating liquor' at his home in Merungle Hill in central New South Wales.

Narrandera Highway Patrol said the man, who does not have a driver's license, stole his employer's Hyundai Tucson at 10 pm and drove it in a southerly direction along Mckay Street towards a T-intersection.

A Vanuatu national allegedly got drunk, stole his boss' car (pictured) and left it on train tracks at Merungle Hill in central NSW

He allegedly failed to navigate the T-intersection that intersected with Regulator Road and drove straight onto a grassed area.

Police said the driver cleared a four-foot gully during the de-tour, 'bounced along the grass for approximately 60 metres' before hitting a track ballast, which is the track bed that holds train tracks.

The impact allegedly pushed the Hyundai Tucson over the tracks and 10 metres away from the train line.

The man reversed back onto the train tracks, got stuck, and decided to leave the car and walk home, according to investigators.

In a statement, NSW Police said at 8.20am on Sunday a 'NSW TrainLink XPLORER travelling from Griffith to Sydney arrived at the location. This location has a train speed limit of 140km/h'.

'The train driver has witnessed the car stopped ahead and stopped safely. No staff or passengers were injured as a result of having to stop.'

Police, with the help of a local farmer and his tractor, were able to pull the Hyundai Tucson from the train tracks, allowing the train to continue through unimpeded.

The man reversed the car onto the train tracks, got stuck and left the vehicle at the scene. A train heading to Sydney was forced to stop the following morning after the driver saw the car

A local farmer used his tractor (pictured) to pull the Hyundai Tucson from the train tracks, allowing the train to continue its journey

'Police attended the drivers home address and spoke to the man, where he made full admissions to police,' the statement continued.

'As a result, he is now charged with Take & Drive Conveyance With Out Consent Of Owner, Never Licensed Person Drive Vehicle On Road, Negligent Driving and Cause Obstruction To Railway Locomotive.'

The Vanuatu national will face Leeton Local Court at a later date and is having his visa status reviewed.
Hollywood star Margot Robbie's aunt has been banned from the property industry after an audit uncovered 'serious breaches'.

The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal reprimanded Lyn Patricia Robbie's 'dishonest and inappropriate dealings' as the director of her company after an investigation.

Lyn Robbie was the sole director of Robbie and Associates Property Services, which her Gold Coast company that was put into administration in April 2019, and admitted to all the breaches.

While Margot Robbie had no involvement in the running of the business, her father Doug Robbie previously worked with Wayne, Lyn's husband, in another real estate company.

QCAT found Lyn Robbie committed six serious breaches, most notably 'dishonesty converting money held in trust to another by the payment of trust money held for one person to another person'.

Lyn Robbie's former company Robbie & Associates Property Services was previously located at Level 3/9 Beach Road, Surfers Paradise before being liquidated in April 2019.

The investigation also found she dishonestly converted money held in one trust account to another by rendering an account she knew to be false.

QCAT in April declared Lyn Patricia Robbie was no longer 'a suitable person to hold a license by virtue of her conduct and had acted in an unprofessional way'.

The tribunal noted the chief executive provided comprehensive materials including submissions, auditing reports, bank statements, ledgers, statements and other supporting evidence.

'[They] clearly demonstrates that significant and protracted professional breaches have occurred including dishonesty and inappropriate dealings by Lyn Patricia Robbie,' the findings read.

The tribunal found 25 claims were made against Robbie amassing to a loss of $299,044.40 in claim funds.

'The material before the tribunal clearly show the inappropriate dealings which amount to a clear breach of the standards designed to protect the public and maintain high standards of professional practice and procedure,' the decision said.

Margot Robbie's aunt Lyn (left) has property licenses stripped for serious breaches involving trust accounts.

'The tribunal considers that it was never the intention of Lyn Patricia Robbie to be dishonest, but rather, the dishonesty occurred as a direct consequence of her fractured mental health and physical health.

'Over the protracted period of time, her inability to function and perform her duties which was exacerbated due to her unwillingness to seek professional guidance and support.

'Although contrite and remorseful, this does not detract from the fact that Lyn Patricia Robbie was dishonest, and the dishonest conduct was only discovered following an audit and enquiries from concerned homeowners.'

The decision also noted Lyn Robbie was an 'ageing woman' and throughout the investigations and audit process was 'contrite and remorseful'.

It also stated Lyn Robbie did not personally misappropriate funds from the trust account for her own financial gains.

However, the decision clarified that 'does not detract from the significance of the protracted dishonest conduct and her inability to ensure that she was maintaining professional ethics and standards'.

25 claims were made against Robbie amassing to a loss of $299,044.40, with Robbie disqualified from the QLD property industry and was fined $10,000 for her misconduct.

'Her conduct placed her profession in disrepute and as such it is the expectation of the public that disciplinary action is imposed where warranted,' it read.

The report also found Lyn Robbie made reimbursements from her personal superannuation account comprising of 'only a fraction of the total'.

However, the report stated the deposit was made without the permission of the co-account holder and therefore it actually amounted to additional dishonesty.

As a result of the decision, Lyn Robbie can no longer hold a Queensland property license and is permanently disqualified from being an executive officer of a corporation that may hold a certificate of registration and/or license in Queensland.

She was also fined $10,000.
Australian supermarket giant Coles has issued a warning to shoppers that the current shortage of fruit and vegetables will last for weeks.

Shortages in fresh produce including lettuce, beans and berries have resulted from difficult recent growing conditions in Queensland and NSW caused by floods and the east coast cold snap.

Coles has advised, however, that there are large stocks of alternative fresh produce available.

Australian supermarket giant Coles (pictured) issued a warning to shoppers that the current shortage of fruit and vegetables will last for weeks

Coles Chief Operating Officer Matt Swindells (pictured) told the Today Show on Tuesday that 'the fresh produce industries face a double whammy'

Coles Chief Operating Officer Matt Swindells told the Today Show on Tuesday that 'the fresh produce industries face a double whammy'.

'The first has been the floods that we all remember that went through southeast Queensland, northern NSW. That damaged crops but it also stopped the farmers being able to plant,' Mr Swindells said.

'That is then being compounded with one of the coldest winters in decades. So the crops that we have managed to get into the ground, they're not growing as fast as they normally would do.'

The shortage of strawberries and beans is expected to last a few weeks, while lettuce may take a little longer to grow (pictured, an Australian farmer works a field)

'When supply is strong, mother nature is kind and produce quality is amazing [and] the price is low.

'And through this period you've seen availability challenges combined with high prices.'

The shortage of strawberries and beans is expected to last a few weeks, while lettuce may take a little longer to grow.

Mr Swindells suggested there is an abundance of produce as an alternative.

'Pumpkin's cheap - when it is cold and it is wintry, pumpkin and cumin soup will go quite far.'

Mr Swindells said that Coles was working closely with its suppliers.

Mr Swindells said: 'There is still plenty of citrus, plenty of apples, pears, grapes...veggies are under pressure but you can still find great value across the shop. You don't to have come away from eating healthy' (pictured, an Australian farmer)

'There is still plenty of citrus, plenty of apples, pears, grapes... veggies are under pressure but you can still find great value across the shop. You don't to have come away from eating healthy,' Mr Swindells added.

'We learned through Covid that we can be flexible on our recipes and the families still love it... it's time to give that another roll.'

The recent Consumer Price Index data revealed a 6.6 per cent average price hike for vegetables in the last quarter, reported 9News.

This has resulted in fruit going up almost 5 per cent.

While meat and seafood has risen by 4.8 per cent.
Ministers vowed last night to scupper a Labour plan to impose state regulation on the British Press.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries is steering through Parliament an Online Safety Bill to crack down on internet hate speech.

The legislation includes exemptions for the media by making it harder for their content to be removed.

But now a Labour MP has put forward an amendment to the Bill which would mean this protection only applies to papers which are a member of an 'approved regulator'.

This is a reference to one of the most controversial aspects of the Leveson Inquiry into Press standards  the demand that newspapers should sign up to a State-approved regulator.

Critics say the amendment means Labour is trying to get the recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry through Parliament clandestinely.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries is steering through Parliament an Online Safety Bill to crack down on internet hate speech

The amendment to the Online Safety Bill has been tabled by Batley and Spen MP Kim Leadbeater

A Government source said: 'Labour wants to muzzle a free Press. We won't allow this amendment, which is designed to do Leveson via the back door.

'The Online Safety Bill is there to help keep children safe and hold big tech accountable but instead Labour want to play political games.'

All major national newspapers have refused to become members of a State-approved regulator, because they say it would imply State control of the Press.

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Labour using Online Safety Bill as Trojan horse A press free from censorship is the citizen's surest defence against corrupt politicians and other wrongdoers. But Labour is shamefully conspiring to use the Government's Online Safety Bill as a Trojan horse to bring in Press regulation. Their amendment links exemptions for news publishers from internet censorship to membership of a state-approved watchdog. In the name of democracy, ministers must strangle this sinister plot at birth. Advertisement

The majority, including The Daily Mail, have instead signed up to the Independent Press Standards Organisation, which regulates the Press but is neither controlled nor funded by the State.

A State-approved regulator, called Impress, has been approved by a State body set up after the Leveson inquiry. But no major national newspaper is part of this set-up.

The amendment to the Online Safety Bill has been tabled by Batley and Spen MP Kim Leadbeater.

It says the safeguards in the legislation protecting online media content from being removed should only be open to newspapers which are a 'member of an approved regulator (as defined in section 42 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013)'.

The MP states that this amendment is designed to 'expand the definition of a recognised news publisher to incorporate any entity that is a member of an approved regulator'.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: 'This looks like a Labour attempt to bring in regulation by the back door, and the Government must stand very firm against it.'

The Government has still not published its own amendment, promised by Mrs Dorries, which would protect genuine news content by preventing tech giants from blocking it or taking it down until any appeals have been heard.

There are concerns it may now be published in the Lords, where the Tories do not have a majority, making it more difficult to get it voted through.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: 'This looks like a Labour attempt to bring in regulation by the back door, and the Government must stand very firm against it'

Under the Online Safety Bill, senior managers at global tech firms will face prosecution for breaking their duty of care to users.

The draconian laws come amid growing concern that companies such as YouTube and Facebook are failing to take down harmful content.

Children's charities and worried families have long campaigned for social media firms that fail to crack down on self-harm material to be prosecuted.

The calls grew louder after the death of Molly Russell, 14, who took her own life in 2017 after looking at graphic self-harm images on Instagram.

But defenders of free speech are concerned that the threat of criminal prosecution could cause tech companies to censor legitimate content, thus stifling public debate on important issues.
Boris Johnson has taken Carrie and their two children on a travel chaos-proof staycation.

The prime minister was pictured on a beach in Cornwall yesterday afternoon after he posed for a picture with locals in Devon on Saturday.

On Saturday Mr Johnson was pictured giving son Wilfred, 2, a piggyback next to local teens.

The prime minister visited a vegetable processing plant in Cornwall to launch the food plan

Mr Johnson was seen disembarking from a tractor in Cornwall during the food strategy launch

Images shared by beachgoers in St Ives yesterday afternoon showed the PM taking a quick dip, The Mirror reported.

His wife Carrie had Romy, their second child together, in December last year.

Mr Johnson's south-west sojourn came as Brits face horror queues at airports and cancelled flights abroad.

EasyJet cancelled 46 flights yesterday and huge queues were spotted again at Bristol, Manchester and Heathrow airports.

Ryanair cabin crews in Spain are also set to go on strike this summer.

Staff at Europe's largest carrier by passenger numbers are protesting working conditions.

The prime minister celebrated a successful batch of broccoli at the Cornwall facility, Monday

Frustrated travellers queue at the Jet2 check-in at Manchester Airport terminal on Monday

A passenger said Heathrow's passport queue Monday was the worst they've ever encountered

Holidaymakers queue for security at Manchester Airport's Terminal One on Monday morning

Around 10,000 easyJet passengers were affected today by a total of 46 cancelled flights - with 29 at Gatwick, ten at Belfast, six at Bristol and more at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Stansted and Liverpool.

Meanwhile a source at Gatwick said that the airport is being hit by a 'meltdown every night' due to air traffic control staff shortages - amid concerns the situation could worsen when demand surges again during the summer holidays.

Mr Johnson also unveiled the government's food strategy during his trip.

The government's first such plan for 75 years was launched alongside farm workers in Cornwall on Monday.

Mr Johnson was pictured behind the wheel of a tractor at a farm in Hayle, Cornwall yesterday

Mr Johnson said: 'Our food strategy sets out a blueprint for how we will back farmers, boost British industry and help protect people against the impacts of future economic shocks by safeguarding our food security.

'Harnessing new technologies and innovation, we will grow and eat more of our own food, unlocking jobs and growing the economy.'

A leaked draft of the strategy, published by The Guardian on Friday, caused a stir when it appeared to reveal calls for a sugar and salt reformulation tax had been snubbed.

The review also urged the Government to 'nudge' consumers into changing their meat-eating habits.

But while the draft paper said ministers would 'support progress on a wide range of issues, including alternative proteins', it suggested sustainable sources of protein did not have to 'displace traditional sectors', pointing to 'regenerative farming'.

Leon co-founder and government adviser Henry Dimbleby hit out at the plan, telling the newspaper it 'is not a strategy'.

Mr Dimbleby told BBC Breakfast yesterday morning: 'Is it the big, bold, unified strategy I think we need? No.

'Do I think we're going in the right direction? Yes.'
Holidaymakers will have a pathway to Bali after Virgin Australia announced a new direct route, where surfers can BYO surfboard at no extra cost.

A Gold Coast to Bali route will open up in March 2023 in response to 'massive demand and increased growth' in South East Queensland.

Virgin Australia will become the first Australian carrier ever to offer direct flights between the destinations, connecting two of the worlds premier surfing havens.

Misty mountain health retreats overlooking rice paddies are a huge drawcard for Aussies in Bali, seeking a quieter, calmer experience

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said travel to the popular destination has ramped up with bookings to the island (pictured) up by 48 per cent since 2019 and growing

Virgin Australia have $399 return flights up for grabs for travel in April 2023, after opening up a popular and growing route to the region after two years of Aussie travellers biding their time

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said the airline was seeing travel demand from the Gold Coast ramping up, with up to 180 domestic flights going outbound each week.

'In May alone our Gold Coast bookings were up 55 per cent compared to 2019, with bookings on our existing Bali flights up 48 per cent for the same period and growing every week,' Ms Hrdlicka said in a statement.

Mike Dwyer from Main Beach Travel on the Gold Coast told Daily Mail Australia he thinks the flights out of the Coolangatta airport will be welcomed.

'One of the challenges for Gold Coast people is driving to Brisbane airport, you never know when its going to take an hour, or three hours,' Mr Dwyer said.

'Bali is really popular with broad demographics, young people, families, people looking for health resorts in the hills, spas - it's a real mixed bag.'

The health spa retreats in the Bali hills are more sought after, with tourists taking advantage of the misty mountain retreats overlooking rice paddies.

Mr Dwyer said demand for international travel is back to pre-Covid levels, but capacity for services is lacking.

'With demand exceeding supply, we are seeing airfares 40 per cent higher than they were pre-Covid, I would imagine [the new service] would have some pretty good offers in place.'

Punters wanting to check out the Kuta beach or Lombok Island surf beaches can take along their surfboards for no extra cost with Virgin Australia.

'Surfboards enclosed in a protective hardcase bag, with fins removed, that weigh less than 23kg and are shorter than 3m incur no excess baggage fees and are considered part of your checked baggage allowance when you book a Choice or Flex fare with Virgin Australia,' the airline's statement said.

Flights can be booked from March 29 next year onwards, with more than 2,200 seats available each week and some going for a low $399 return.

Flights can be booked to Bali (pictured, Balinese artists performing in a cultural parade this month) from March 29 next year onwards, with more than 2,200 seats available each week and some going for a low $399 return
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo leads a Cabinet meeting at the Government Complex in Sejong, June 14. Yonhap



Prime Minister Han Duck-soo called on truck drivers Tuesday to end their strike that is causing widespread disruptions in the country's logistics networks, saying their "illegal" actions cannot be supported by the people.



Han made the remarks at a Cabinet meeting, as the nationwide walkout of truckers entered its eighth day, paralyzing operations in the auto, steel, petrochemical and other sectors.



"Please keep in mind that illegal actions, such as obstruction of transportation by the Cargo Truckers Solidarity, will never be supported by the people," Han said.



He noted that Korea's export-driven economy could suffer a heavy blow due to the strike at a time when external business conditions are "grave."



Thousands of unionized cargo truckers have been on strike, demanding an extension of a freight rate system that guarantees basic wages for truck drivers struggling to cope with soaring fuel prices.






An Australian pilot has miraculously survived an emergency crash landing after his plane's propeller stopped mid-flight.

Pilot Vic Pisani was flying over the Queensland city of Gympie on Monday morning when the engine on his light aircraft stalled, causing the propeller to stop.

Mr Pisani said the aircraft's engine stopped when he was 2,500 feet (762 metres) in the air, giving him three minutes to pick a field to land in.

'I selected three fields,' Mr Pisani told the Today Show on Tuesday.

'One I couldn't get into. The second one looked great but it had livestock all over it so I had to give that one away and I had no choice but to put it down where I did next to the house.

'(It) wasn't probably as terrifying for myself as it was for the people on the ground who thought I might have damaged something.'

Horrified witnesses saw Mr Pisani's plane speed towards the field at about 10am on Monday, watching it flip after it hit the dirt in a Kandanga paddock, south of Gympie.

Pilot Vic Pisani crash landed his propeller aircraft in Queensland (pictured) after the plane's engine stalled mid-flight. Mr Pisano was uninjured despite the plane flipping on impact

Tradies Matt Frost and Marty Reinwald were on a cigarette break while working at the house on the paddock when they filmed the plane flying alarmingly close to the ground.

'We were sitting down having a smoko and we could hear Vic's plane flying past and I had a look and then couple of seconds later, we heard the engines cut,' Mr Frost told the Today Show.

'We probably watched it for maybe 20 seconds, thinking it might just be a training drill, but after about 30 seconds later, we realised he was in trouble.'

The pair rushed to Mr Pisani's aid, fearing the plane would burst into flames at any moment.

As they approached the plane, the two tradies were relieved to see the pilot making his way out of the wreckage unscathed.

'He seemed in good health almost instantly,' Mr Reinwald said.

With 30 years of flying experience, Mr Pisani said this was the first time he had to perform an emergency landing and appreciated the help from the guys on the ground.

A pair of tradies on a 'smoko' break from working on the house on the property captured the emergency landing on camera

'Thanks to training, I ticked off all the check lists on the emergency check list,' Mr Pisani said.

'Those guys were down there in minutes and I much appreciate the help and sorry to scare them.

'Apart from hitting a patch of soft ground and flipping it, which was the resulting crash, it would have been a nice forced landing.

When asked if the crash has deterred him from flying, Mr Pisani said: 'Maybe the opposite'.

'I would like to fly again, of course.'
The Queen could last night lay claim to the prestigious title of being the worlds longest actively serving monarch after a royal expert claimed the current recordholder technically ruled under a regency period.

Her Majesty, 96, leapfrogged Thailand's former monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej who reigned for 70 years and 126 days between 1946 and 2016, from Sunday.

And earlier this month she surpassed Johan II of Liechtenstein, who reigned for 70 years and 91 days, until his death in February 1929.

Although it's widely reported she holds little interest in breaking records, her astonishing reign would only be beaten in length by King Louis XIV of France.

Known as Louis the Great, the French ruler became king at the tender age of four following the death of his father Louis XIII, and he ruled from 14 May 1643 to 1 September 1715.

According to the record books, only Louis XIV, or 'The Sun King', ruled for longer than the Queen.

But royal biographer Hugo Vickers says Her Majesty may be able to lay claim to being the world's longest actively serving monarch by virtue of the fact the French monarch did not fully ascend the throne when he was aged four.

Although he was crowned King Louis XIV from May 1643, he technically served under his mother Queen Anne's regency for eight years, owing to his tender age.

In a letter sent to the Times, Mr Vickers writes: 'In Louis XIVs reign, there was a regency between May 14, 1643, and September 7, 1651, until he reached the age of 13.

'Hence, while he may have been king the longest, our Queen is unquestionably the longest actively reigning monarch in the world.'

The Queen could last night lay claim to the prestigious title of being the worlds longest actively serving monarch after a royal expert claimed the current recordholder technically ruled under a regency period

Although he was crowned King Louis XIV from May 1643, he technically served under his mother Queen Anne's regency for eight years, owing to his tender age - meaning his active reign only lasted 64 years

The French King had a particular penchant for mistresses, sharing the company of well over a dozen female muses throughout his 72 year reign.

In 1667, King Louis XIV was coming to the end of his six-year liaison with Louise de La Valliere, a Catholic girl whod arrived at court aged 17 as maid of honour to his sister-in-law Henriette.

Within two months she was the kings lover  encouraged down this path by Henriette as a way of diverting court gossip from her own affair with Louis.

Queen Elizabeth was born on 21 April 1926 and became first in line for the throne after her uncle Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 and her father, George VI, became King.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thaliand pictured (left) with the Queen during a state visit to the UK in July 1960

The longest-reigning monarchs of all time 1. Louis XIV of France: 72 years, 110 days Known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, the French monarch became King on 14 May 1643 at the age of four following the death of his father Louis XIII , and remained on the throne until 1 September 1715. He left behind the incredible legacy of the Palace of Versailles, although his country was in debt after the 13-year-long War of Spanish succession. 2. Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand: 70 years, 126 days During his reign, he was served by a total of 30 prime ministers, from 9 June 1946 to 13 October 2016. Seen as being close to the divine by the Thai people, those who criticised the monarchy were imprisoned or forced into exile. 3. Queen Elizabeth II: 70 years, 92 days Her Majesty becamse Quen aged on 6th February 1952. Elizabeth was not originally destined to become Queen. However, she became heir presumptive after her father, King George VI, ascended to the throne following the abdication of his older brother, King Edward VIII. 3, Prince Johann II of Liechtenstein: 70 years, 91 days Johann reigned from 12 November 1858, when he took the throne aged 18, to 11 February 1929. He made Liechtenstein a constitutional monarchy in 1921 and was known as a patron of the arts. But he was renowned for being antisocial and avoided public events. He never married and didn't live in the royal palace. 5. K'inich Janaab Pakal of Palenque: 68 years, 33 days. Pakal ruled the Maya city state of Palenque from 29 July 615 to 31 August 683 AD. Pakal the Great is thought to have ascended to the throne at the age of 12- years-old and during his rule managed to expand Palenques power in the western Maya states. Advertisement

Nobody had expected Elizabeth to ever ascend the throne, as Edward was young and expected to have plenty of heirs, who would overtake Elizabeths place in line.

However, less than a year after the death of Elizabeths grandfather, King George V, Edward abdicated the throne in order to marry Wallace Simpson, an American divorcee.

Over the course of the Second World War, Elizabeth had been exchanging letters with Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, and in 1947 the two announced their engagement, marrying later that year.

The couple welcomed their first child - Prince Charles - in 1948, followed by Princess Anne in 1950. A decade later, they would have their second son, Prince Andrew, and in 1964, their third, Prince Edward.

In 1952, the news reached Elizabeth that her father had died, making her Queen with immediate effect. Coronated in June 1953, Queen Elizabeth began the reign that has so far lasted 70 years, bringing her to her Platinum Jubilee.

In September 2015, she officially became the longest-reigning British monarch after surpassing the reign of Queen Victoria.

At the time she admitted it was not a title 'to which I have ever aspired'.

Other records she can lay claim to include being the oldest ever reigning Queen and the oldest ever British monarch.

In March 2020, the Queen surpassed K'inich Janaab Pakal who ruled the Maya city state of Palenque for 68 years and 33 days before his death in 683AD.

Pakal the Great is thought to have ascended to the throne at the age of 12- years-old and during his rule managed to expand Palenques power in the western Maya states.

The Mayan civilisation reached its peak between 250 and 900 AD, when it ruled large swathes of what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras.

And there appears to be no let up in Her Majesty's appetite to serve the British people.

Last week, an emotional Queen said she remains 'committed to serving' the nation to 'the best of my ability' after she concluded her Platinum Jubilee celebrations by greeting crowds of adoring fans on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

The 96-year-old monarch was absent for much of the extended Bank Holiday weekend, after finding the first day enjoyable but tiring, and in a message of thanks acknowledged this but said her 'heart' had been with well-wishers.
Carrie Johnson and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall have become 'good friends' and bonded while Boris Johnson was kept in intensive care with Covid.

The prime minister and Prince Charles have a well-publicised strained relationship, which was exacerbated by the Prince of Wales's outspoken comments on the government's Rwanda plan.

Their wives, however, have grown close. The pair bonded as the PM almost died of Covid in St Thomas's Hospital, April 2020.

Carrie Johnson, pictured at the Platinum Party at Buckingham Palace, heard from Camilla after her husband was taken into intensive care with Covid at St Thomas's Hospital in April 2020

Camilla 'reached out' to Mrs Johnson and 'provided support to Carrie in a really difficult time', a government source told The Times.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall is said to have a 'very different' relationship with Carrie than their husbands have with each other

They added: 'They get on really well.

'Its very different to Boriss relationship with Charles.'

A spokeswoman for Mrs Johnson declined to comment.

The prime minister's sour relations with the Prince of Wales got worse this week after Charles slammed the government's Rwanda migrants plan as 'appalling'.

Repeatedly asked about the Prince of Wales's apparent view, Mr Johnson insisted they were essential to 'break the business model' of people-smugglers.

Without directly criticising the heir to the throne, the premier said pointedly: 'What I don't think we should support is continued activity by criminal gangs.'

He added on LBC: 'I do think that it's the job of Government to stop people breaking the law and to support people who are doing the right thing; that's what we are doing.'

The Mail revealed over the weekend that Prince Charles has privately condemned the Rwanda asylum plan, saying giving Channel migrants a one-way ticket to Africa was 'appalling'.

Clarence House has stressed that the royal is politically neutral.

The PM's official spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister has nothing but respect and admiration for the Prince of Wales, who's spoken out on a number of issues, not least the environment.'
Ben Fordham has weighed into Australia's energy crisis by claiming some pensioners may freeze to death due to soaring power prices and black outs.

Residents across Australia's east coast are being urged to conserve power due to a shortage caused by coal power plant outages and high demand during a cold snap.

Parts of Sydney's northern beaches were plunged into a blackout on Monday night while Queenslanders narrowly avoided the same fate.

Ben Fordham (pictured) has weighed into Australia's energy crisis, claiming that some pensioners may freeze to death due to soaring prices and black outs

Monday night's crisis came after the Australian Energy Market Operator imposed a $300/MW-hour price cap which was extended to four states: NSW, Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia.

The cap prompted generators to remove capacity because they need a price of around $400/MWh to turn a profit, before AEMO intervened and ordered them to supply energy.

Fordham warned pensioners would be scared to turn on their heaters in a lengthy post on his Facebook page on Tuesday morning.

'There is NO justification for Australia to ever be in an energy crisis. We cannot have an ongoing threat of blackouts,' he wrote.

'And pensioners should not be scared about turning the heater on. Without heating - some will freeze to death.'

Fordham insisted coal-fired power was still needed despite the country's aim to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

'The NSW Government last week chucked $1.2 billion at renewable energy projects. But they won't spend a cent extending the life of our existing coal plants,' he wrote.

About 60 per cent of Australia's electricity comes from coal, 32 per cent from renewables, and eight per cent from gas.

A cold snap has increased demand for power on Australia's east coast. Pictured: Residents in Bondi

'State and federal governments have spent $45 BILLION on renewable energy since 2017. It's making inroads. But it's only capable of carrying a third of the grid. The rest is coal and gas,' Fordham wrote.

'And even though some people ''shout you down'' when you mention fossil fuels out loud We still need them.'

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said more blackouts could be avoided but warned there was a 'bumpy road' ahead.

Mr Bowen said people did not have to go without during the cold period.

'Nobody is being asked to turn off anything that they need... certainly nobody should be turning the heating off or anything that's essential,' he told ABC radio.

With some coal plants still offline, Mr Bowen said he expected the market operator to intervene, if required, to keep the power running.

'Coal-fired power is really under huge pressure at the moment... and that has led to some of the pressure on the system,' he said.

Millions residents in NSW and Queensland have been warned of possible power outrages on Tuesday night

'This is a cycle of events, some of which are predictable. We know some of the outages that are coming. Some of them are unpredictable, particularly with an ageing fleet.'

The energy minister said everything was on the table to reform the sector.

However, Mr Bowen admitted there would not be an easy solution.

'This is not a short-term fix. There's no legislative basis at the moment, we would need to look very carefully,' he said.

'While this is a very serious situation, we'll deal with it calmly and methodically.'

Residents in NSW and Queensland have been warned of possible power outrages on Tuesday evening.

AEOM expected an electricity reserve shortfall in Queensland from 6.30am to 7.30am on Tuesday and later in the day between 5pm and 9pm.

In NSW, a shortfall is expected on Tuesday night between 5.30pm and 8.30pm.

The shortage of electricity comes amid soaring demand for gas and electricity and additional coal-fired power outages in Queensland. Pictured is a coal-fired station

NSW Treasurer and energy minister Matt Kean is closely monitoring the situation after parts of Sydney's northern beaches were plunged into darkness on Monday night

NSW Treasurer and Energy Minister Matt Kean is closely monitoring the power crisis.

'Given the current challenges in the energy system, I have been receiving regular briefings from AEMO,' he tweeted late Monday night

'I've been informed the situation is under control, with AEMO directing generators to ensure there is enough supply online when it's needed.'

Queensland gas exporters are expected to face more pressure over the domestic market supply after a new report revealed more gas flowed north along pipelines to Queensland than south of the border.

'There was a net flow of gas from the southern states to Queensland from September 2021. This supplied not only LNG but also Queensland power generation,' EnergyQuest said in its June report.

'Flows to Queensland started to fall from the end of April 2022 and in the first week of June the flow reversed, probably because of intervention by AEMO invoking the gas supply guarantee.'

In Sydney, the northern beaches suburbs of Beacon Hill, Frenchs Forest, Narraweena, Cromer, and Dee Why were affected by power outages on Monday night.

Ausgrid tweeted about 11pm that power had been restored to Dee Why, Beacon Hill, Cromer, and surrounding suburbs.

Suburbs in Sydney's north and the northern beaches were plunged into darkness after being hit with power outages (pictured, an electricity transmission tower in Brisbane)

Beryl, 93, from Narraweena, was one of the tens of thousands who lost power and was concerned about not being able to heat her home.

'I'm terrified of the thought of not having any heat,' she told Fordham the next morning.

'I just don't know what I would do because I feel the cold terribly.'

Residents were advised to turn down heaters and switch off household appliances to conserve power.

The shortage of electricity is coupled with soaring demand for gas and electricity and additional unplanned coal-fired power outages in Queensland.

AEMO said it had used its powers to provide sufficient generation to make up for the lack of 'reserve three shortfall' in a statement issued at 5.20pm on Monday.

Residents have been urged to turn down heaters and switch off household appliances to conserve power amid the threat of blackouts (pictured, a power station in Muswellbrook, NSW)

WHY ARE POWER PRICES SOARING? 1. Coal-fired generators failing: More than 25 per cent have been offline for much of the year 2. Domestic gas shortages: Sources especially offshore in Victoria are running low and new development has been hindered 3. Ukraine-Russia war: European nations are moving away from Russian gas to punish Vladimir Putin, pushing up global prices 4. Cold snap: The cold snap in the east has led to increased demand Source: Tony Wood, Grattan Institute Advertisement

Soaring prices of energy on Sunday triggered the energy price cap after seven consecutive days of surging wholesale prices.

The cap limited the wholesale price to $300/MWh, with generators along the east coast asked by AEMO to continue running despite being unable to make a profit at these levels.

The 'high price threshold' threshold of $1.359 million over a week, or an average of $674.16/MWh, was reached just before 7pm on Sunday night.

'As a consequence, available offers from generators reduced, contributing to a forecast supply shortfall,' the AEMO said in a statement.

The AEMO said it would continue to monitor reserve conditions in Queensland and provide customers with updates should conditions change.

In the meantime, households were asked to be 'thoughtful' with their electricity use as the supply remained tight over the next few days.

The AEMO said the price caps would be maintained until at least Tuesday.

Powerlink Queensland chief executive Paul Simshauser earlier on Monday urged people to cut back on electric use wherever they could.

Residents were earlier on Monday urged to turn down heaters and switch off household appliances to conserve power. Pictured: Katoomba, NSW

'There is an unusual combination of unexpected generator outages plus cool winter temperatures and high demand for electricity,' he said.

The new federal Labor government demanded the nation's unused coal power stations be brought back into service as soon as possible.

At least a quarter of Australia's coal-fired electricity production is offline while the east coast shivers through a freezing winter amid soaring price rises.
Disgraced Hey Dad! actor and convicted child sex offender Robert Hughes has been released from prison and will be deported to the UK today after being granted parole.

The 73-year-old was granted parole on June 2 by the NSW State Parole Authority, which determined he be released no later than Tuesday.

He was released from Long Bay Correctional Facility just after midnight on Tuesday and is at Villawood Detention Centre awaiting deportation from Sydney Airport.

The paedophile actor was released under the cover of darkness as the clock ticked over and into the custody of Australian Border Force officers, who are expected to ensure he is flown straight out of the country.

Former Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes (above) is awaiting deportation to the UK after he was released from Long Bay Correctional Facility just after midnight on Tuesday

Hughes renounced his Australian citizenship in 2020, thus becoming a non-lawful citizen requiring deportation upon release.

Australian Border Force, who usually handles the deportation of convicted criminals who are not Australian citizens, said it did not comment on operational matters.

During his parole hearing the SPA said it had been satisfied that after eight years behind bars Hughes' release was in the interests of the safety of the community.

Hughes, who starred as Martin Kelly in the TV comedy from 1987 to 1994, was previously rejected twice by the SPA.

'The offender has been assessed as below average risk,' SPA chairperson David Frearson and four panel members said.

'He intends to live with his wife and does not intend to seek employment.'

Hughes was jailed in 2014 for 10 years and nine months with a non-parole period of six years, which expired in April 2020.

Hughes (bottom left) was jailed in 2014 on 10 charges relating to sexual and indecent acts perpetrated on four young girls, including his on-screen daughter Sarah Monahan (bottom centre), in the 1980s and 1990s

A jury found him guilty of 10 charges relating to sexual and indecent acts perpetrated on four young girls in the 1980s and 1990s.

Hughes continues to deny his crimes despite 'overwhelming evidence'.

The victims included his former on-screen daughter Sarah Monahan, who attended his third parole hearing.

'He's an old man and he's frail, but they don't change, and he's a denier,' Ms Monahan said.

'He still thinks he hasn't done anything.'

The SPA acknowledged the 'profound and deleterious effects on the victims... continue to this day and will probably be lifelong consequences'.

'It must be particularly galling for the victims to observe the offender's continued and obstinate denials in the face of compelling and overwhelming evidence from multiple witnesses,' it said.

The SPA accepted expert evidence that Hughes was consistently assessed as a below-average risk of sexually reoffending.

This prevented his accessing any sex-offender treatment programs while in custody.

Victim Ms Monahan (above) said Hughes is still a 'denier' of any wrongdoing, despite 'overwhelming evidence' proving his crimes

Hughes will live with his wife Robyn Gardiner in the UK. Ms Gardiner told the parole authority she will keep him away from children when unsupervised.

He and his wife gave undertakings that once back in the community he will seek treatment with Rachel Pike, a clinical psychologist specialising in convicted sex offenders who deny their crimes.

This would assist with his reintegration and reduce his risk of re-offending.

'The offender's wife expressed her intention to continue to provide emotional support upon his release,' the authority wrote in its decision.

'Additionally, she advised that she has arranged post release accommodation for the offender to reside with her upon his eventual return to London.

'Whilst she believes in his innocence, she expressed her intention to ensure that the offender does not have unsupervised contact with children.

'She advised that she intends to encourage him to engage in psychological counselling.'

The SPA noted the last of his crimes took place three decades ago.

'The offences took place in particular settings in which the offender abused his power and his position of trust,' it said.

'He no longer enjoys such power or trust, as a direct consequence of the convictions and the consequent widespread adverse publicity, notwithstanding his defiant denials.'

Once in the UK, Hughes (above) will be monitored under the Sexual Offences Act 'notifications requirements' including notifying authorities if he intends to stay at a household for more than 12 hours where a child is present

While allegations against Hughes were raised in the 1990s, it took a paid television interview by Ms Monahan in 2010 to spark a broad police investigation into claims of sexual misconduct by the actor.

His victims included a family friend, friends of his daughter, and Ms Monahan.

Hughes made his third attempt at parole following two failed attempts. His minimum sentence of six years made him eligible for parole on April 6, 2020.

Judge Peter Zahra, who died suddenly last month, handed down the sentence with strong condemnation against Hughes.

'He engaged in brazen predatory behaviour; he planned and orchestrated the occasions when the conduct occurred. His conduct was persistent and calculated,' he said.

'He abused his position of trust and exploited the naivety and youth of the children.

'The profound and deleterious effects on the victims for many years, if not the whole of their lives. The victims here remain deeply disturbed by the conduct of the offender.'

The NSW State Parole Authority said Hughes (top left) was unlikely to reoffend considering his crimes took place several decades ago and were in a situation where he 'abused his power and his position of trust' which he 'no longer enjoys'

Australian Border Force advised it will notify British authorities of Hughes' imminent return.

Hughes will be monitored in the UK under the Sexual Offences Act 'notifications requirements'.

He must report to police within three days of his return to the UK, and once a year from then on and within three days of changing his details.

He will be required to provide passport and banking details and must notify police of any intention to travel out of the UK.

Hughes must also provide details of where he lives and where he regularly stays if different to his home address.

'There is a requirement to notify police if he going to stay (for a period of at least 12 hours) at a household where a child is present,' the parole authority noted.

He will be sent back to jail for up to six months if he fails to fulfil these conditions.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14
Every metre of the embattled city of Severodonetsk, where a former British soldier lost his life, is covered in blood, a Ukrainian general said yesterday.

Commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Valeriy Zaluzhnys comments came as his troops were pushed back from the centre of the key eastern industrial city.

Pictured: Remains of cars sit along during a heavy fight at the front line.Severodonetsk has been under heavy attack for weeks as every metre of the city is 'covered in blood', according to Ukrainian general

Severodonetsk has been under heavy attack for weeks as Vladimir Putins troops try to capture the city in their push to conquer all of the Donbas.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces were fighting for every metre.

He added that Russia was deploying under-trained troops, and was using its young men as cannon fodder.

Mr Zelensky said: The human cost of this battle is very high for us.

It is simply terrifying... The battle for the Donbas will without doubt be remembered in military history as one of the most violent battles in Europe.

Smoke rises from the city of Severodonetsk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 13, 2022, amid Russian invasion of Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces were fighting for every metre

A Ukrainian soldier crouches on a position during heavy battles in the front line. It is believed Russian forces now control up to 80% of the city, but have not yet captured or encircled it

Eduard Basurin, a pro-Russian separatist, said Severodonetsk had been de facto blocked off after Russian forces blew up the last bridge connecting it to Lysychansk.

The Ukrainian units that are there, they are there forever. They have two options: to surrender or die, he claimed.

Jordan Gatley, a British soldier who left the army to fight in Ukraine, died defending the city. The 24-year-old was a rifleman in Edinburgh but left in March to continue his career as a soldier in other areas, his father Dean said.

Regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said Russian forces now controlled 70 to 80 per cent of Severodonetsk but had not captured or encircled it.

They destroyed all the bridges, and getting into the city is no longer possible. Evacuation is also not possible, he told Radio Free Europe. Mr Gaiday said previusly that the Azot chemical plant, where hundreds of civilians have taken refuge, was being heavily shelled.
On her first birthday, this little girl sits down to breakfast at the grave of her Ukrainian war hero father.

The child, wearing a pretty pink dress, points to a photograph of the serviceman, Vladsyslav Soldat, killed defending his country against the Russian invasion.

The daughter of Vladislav Soldatov, serviceman of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, who died in the battles against Russian occupiers, spends her first birthday having breakfast at his grave

At her feet is a plate of bread rolls and a glass of water.

The girls mother, Olena, said her pain cannot be expressed in words.

My heart is torn, she wrote online.

About 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers are thought to have been killed since Russia invaded on February 24.

A Ukrainian tank is in position during heavy fighting on the front line in the Luhansk region, Ukraine, It's estimated that about 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia invaded in February

The Ukrainian government believes more than 30,000 Russian troops have died, but Western intelligence puts the figure closer to 15,000.

The picture was shared by the Ukrainian defence ministry which said her father was a serviceman of the 93rd Kholodny Yar Mechanised Brigade.
Sheep and cow burps could be taxed under a world-first move by the New Zealand government to combat climate change.

The Ardern government has put forward a draft proposal to tax farmers for the methane emissions created by their animal's belches and flatulence.

Almost half of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, with methane being a prime contributor to emissions in the sector.

New Zealand farmers will be taxed for their sheep and cow's belching and flatulence under a scheme by the government to reduce greenhouse gases

The government's draft proposal will tax farmers for their emissions from 2025 onwards.

However, the scheme also provides incentives for farmers who cut their animal's emissions, such as using additives in food or planting more trees.

Methane is the second most common greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide.

New Zealand climate change minister James Shaw said: 'There is no question that we need to cut the amount of methane we are putting into the atmosphere, and an effective emissions pricing system for agriculture will play a key part in how we achieve that.'

Revenue collected from taxes will go towards research, development and other advisory services designed to help farmers.

New Zealand will be the first country in the world to tax farmers for their livestock's belches and flatulence should the proposal go through.

Agricultural emissions have not been previously included in the country's emissions trading scheme.

The draft plan was formed by both the government and farm community representatives.

A proposal to tax farmers for the methane emissions created by their animal's belches has been forwarded by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured) and her government

Under the proposal, farmers will be taxed from 2025 onwards. Incentives will be provided for farmers who cut emissions through food additives

Dairy farmer and national president of Federated Farmers of New Zealand Andrew Hoggard told the BBC that he agreed with the scheme.

'We've been working with the government and other organisations on this for years to get an approach that won't shut down farming in New Zealand, so we've signed off on a lot of stuff we're happy with.'

'But you know, like all of these types of agreements with many parties involved, there's always going to be a couple of dead rats you have to swallow,' he said.

The costs from taxes will likely be passed onto consumers through an increase in the price of meat.

A final decision on the proposal is expected to be made in December.
The former CEO of Just Eat has been hired as the Governments cost of living tsar to encourage businesses to give families cheaper deals.

David Buttress, who was at the food delivery company for 11 years, will advise the Government on private-sector initiatives which could help curb the impact of soaring prices.

The unpaid role, created as the cost of living crisis punishes millions of Britons, will see him encourage businesses to price-lock products and expand hardship support funds.

The former boss of Just Eat, David Buttress, has been hired as the Government's cost of living tsar, a role in which he will provide advice on how to curb the impact of rising prices

Mr Buttress will report to No 10s Chief of Staff Steve Barclay (pictured), who said he is 'delighted' to have him on board

Mr Buttress, who will stay as cost of living business tsar until the end of the year, said: The rising cost of living that we are all facing, both in the UK and globally, provides business and industry with a unique challenge and opportunity to do our bit.

I am looking forward to working closely with my private sector colleagues, to help support our communities and customers with practical and real cost of living saving initiatives.

The entrepreneur and investor also worked at Coca-Cola and is currently chairman of the Dragons Rugby team in Wales.

By acting as a liaison between the public and private sectors, the role is intended to both raise awareness and increase businesses support to consumers.

Supermarket giants Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, and Morrisons and Boots have all frozen prices on thousands of products as part of a Price Lock Promise scheme to ensure basic goods are affordable.

Support is likely to be focused on the Holiday Activities and Food Programme ahead of the summer break in schools.

No 10s Chief of Staff Steve Barclay - to whom Mr Buttress will report - said: I am delighted to have David Buttress on board, bringing with him a wealth of experience along with the vigour and ingenuity of business to go even further in efforts to support British families throughout this difficult time.
Elon Musk will speak to Twitter employees this week for the first time since launching his $44 billion bid for the company in April, Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal told staff on Monday.

The company's virtual all-hands meeting is scheduled for Thursday, and Musk will take questions directly from Twitter employees, Insider reported.

It comes after Twitter said last week that it anticipated a shareholder vote on the sale by early August.

Twitter confirmed that Musk would attend the company all-hands meeting this week. Twitter's chief marketing officer and head of people Leslie Berland will moderate the call.

Earlier this month, Musk warned Twitter that he might walk away from his deal to acquire Twitter if it fails to provide data on spam and fake accounts that he has been seeking.

Back in April, during an all-hands meeting with employees, Agrawal was seen quelling employee anger after workers demanded answers to how managers planned to handle an anticipated mass exodus prompted by Musk.

Elon Musk (left) will speak to Twitter staff this week for the first time since launching his $44 billion bid in April, Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal (right) told staff

Twitter's chief marketing officer and head of people Leslie Berland will moderate the call

Last week, Twitter anticipated holding a shareholder vote on its $44 billion sale to Musk as soon as early August, top executives told employees.

Musk's lawyers warned Twitter that he might walk away from the acquisition if the company fails to provide the data he seeks on spam and fake accounts.

But the social media firm appears to be intent on executing the sale - even promising to give Musk direct access to its "firehose" of real-time data in order to determine himself the number of 'bots' on the platform.

A Twitter spokesperson referred DailyMail.com to an earlier company statement saying that the company plans to fully enforce the terms of the April 25 contract Musk signed to buy the company at $54.20 per share.

'We believe this agreement is in the best interest of all shareholders. We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement at the agreed price and terms,' the statement said.

Last week, Twitter anticipated holding a shareholder vote on its $44 billion sale to Musk as soon as early August, top executives told employees

GlobalData's analysis relied on a statistical model that took into account a number of variables (above) to determine the proportion of spam accounts on Twitter

Despite Musk's threats to walk away, Twitter has the option of taking him to court if he refuses to follow through on his agreement to buy the company.

The outcome of such a move is unclear, as Musk could make various arguments about why he is not bound to carry out the agreement.

'Twitter has and will continue to cooperatively share information with Mr. Musk to consummate the transaction in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement,' the company said.

Part of that data is the so-called 'firehose,' a data set comprising all tweets on the platform analyzed by different parameters, such as devices of users or profiles of accounts that publish tweets, according to people familiar with the matter.

Twitter sells this data to social media monitoring companies as part of its licensing business but plans to furnish it to Musk for free as part of the information exchange, the sources said.

The firehose does not contain confidential information, such personal details of Twitter users that are not public or how often they verify their accounts, the sources added.

The firehose, which is currently available to a handful of companies for an undisclosed subscription fee, could be released to Musk as soon as this week, the Washington Post reported.

Meanwhile, a new study suggests that about 10 percent of Twitter 's active accounts are posting 'spam content'.

London-based data analytics firm GlobalData said in a report on Wednesday that its mathematical model found that spam accounts are roughly double the 5 percent share claimed by Twitter.

Musk has been threatening to walk away from his agreement to buy the company unless Twitter backs up its estimate that false or spam accounts comprise less than 5 percent of its user base.

'The precise proportion of spam accounts is difficult to compute, as it is almost impossible to confirm the identity of the entity behind a tweet handle,' said GlobalData senior data scientist Sidharth Kumar.




The government will push for a speedy influx of immigrant workers to help alleviate labor shortages in farming, fishing and other industries in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said Tuesday.







Farms, fisheries and small-size firms, often reliant on immigrant workers, have been experiencing labor shortages in the wake of the pandemic, as heightened border controls curbed the inflow of immigrant laborers.







The Ministry of Labor and Employment said that it will bring in some 26,000 immigrant workers, who received Korean work permits but were unable to travel to the country, between this month and August.







From September until December, the ministry seeks to bring in an additional 28,000 immigrant workers.







Including some 19,000 foreign workers who have already entered Korea this year, a total of 73,000 immigrant workers are expected to arrive in the country this year, the ministry noted.







In 2019, the annual number of immigrant workers arriving in Korea stood at 51,336, but the figure nosedived to 6,688 the next year and 10,510 in 2021 due to the pandemic.







The ministry will also streamline part of the administrative procedures for employers of immigrant workers while increasing nonscheduled flights from countries such as Indonesia, Nepal and Myanmar to help immigrant workers better travel to the country. (Yonhap)






The Mayor of Washington D.C., Muriel Bowser, is adding a 51st star to the American flags displayed on Pennsylvania Avenue for Tuesday's Flag Day holiday.

This June 14 marks the 106th Flag Day celebrated in the United States.

Bowser's controversial decision to add a star to the already existing 50 - which represent each state in the Union - comes on the heels of a measure approved by the US House that would grant the District of Columbia statehood.

The Senate, however, has not approved the measure - nor is it likely to.

There is a growing movement among Democrats to induct the District of Columbia as a full-fledged state. The people living within its boundaries do not currently have a voting member of Congress, despite its residents paying more in federal taxes than 21 other states.

In a statement, Bowser said: 'Today, ahead of Flag Day, I directed our team to hang 51-star flags along Pennsylvania Avenue as a reminder to Congress and the nation that the 700,000 tax-paying American citizens living in Washington, DC demand to be recognized.'

A 51-star American flag for Washington, DC statehood waves on Pennsylvania Avenue on the first weekend of Spring on March 20, 2021 in Washington, DC

The traditional 50-star American flag was made the official flag of the union on July 4, 1960. The stars represent the 50 states

The mayor continued: 'On Flag Day, we celebrate American ideals, American history, and American liberty. But the very foundation of those ideals, and the basis for our liberty, is representation. DCs disenfranchisement is a stain on American democracy  a 220-year-old wrong that demands to be righted.'

The traditional 50-star American flag was made the official flag of the union on July 4, 1960. The stars represent the 50 states.

The last state to be admitted was Hawaii, which occurred in August 1959.

During a recent speech at the March for Our Lives on June 11, Mayor Bowser implored Congress to grant statehood to DC, in addition to pleading for gun control reform.

The mayor made reference to gun control and Roe v Wade in announcing the presence of 51 star flags around the nation's capital on Flag Day.

Mayor Bowser is standing for reelection on the Democrat ticket in November 2022

During a recent speech at the March for Our Lives on June 11, Mayor Bowser implored Congress to grant statehood to DC, in addition to pleading for gun control reform

Mayor Bowser said: 'As Americans nationwide brace for a decision on the future of Roe v. Wade, we are also reminded that DCs disenfranchisement impacts not just Americans living in DC, but Americans nationwide who share our values.'

She added: 'We also stand shoulder to shoulder with the majority of Americans demanding common sense gun reforms, and with the majority of Americans who want to build a more inclusive democracy.'

Mayor Bowser is standing for reelection on the Democrat ticket in November 2022. She is seeking her third term as mayor, having been first elected in 2014.

In May 2022, Bowser's candidacy was endorsed by the Washington Post.

Statehood can only be achieved by DC if the House and the Senate pass legislation and send it to the president in order to sign it into law.

According to the DC Statehood information page on Mayor Bowser's website, this is how all states except for the original 13 gained statehood.

DC has a higher population than either Vermont or Wyoming and pays more in federal taxes than 21 other states.

The information page goes on to say that the primary reason that advocates seek statehood for DC is in order to give the city's 700,000 or so residents more of a voice in Congress.

DC House Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton cannot not vote in House votes

Currently, DC is represented in the House by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who can sit on committees, participate in debates and introduce legislation - but cannot vote on bills in the House.

In June 2020 and April 2021, the House passed DC statehood bills that were proposed by Norton.

Republicans have long been opposed to DC statehood - because it would likely offer two more Senate seats and a potential power swing to Democrats.

In June 2022, it was announced that the latest US Navy nuclear submarine added to the fleet would be christened the USS District of Columbia, in honor of the nation's capital.

Norton said of the naming: 'It is fitting that it recognized what will become the 51st state.'

If admitted to the union, DC would be the only state with a majority Black population.

Mayor Bowser concluded her statement on 51 star flags saying: 'We are at an inflection point for American democracy, and it is within the Senates power to do the right thing, embrace representation, and move DC statehood forward to the Presidents desk.'
Nicola Sturgeon was last night accused of 'ignoring Scotland's priorities' as she prepares to fire the starting gun on another independence referendum.

The First Minister will today launch a White Paper setting out her bid to hold yet another divisive vote next year  without the consent of Westminster.

She accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of failing to respect democracy and said the legal case for holding a competent vote was 'well under way'.

But opposition leaders accused Miss Sturgeon of focusing on her independence 'obsession' at the expense of the cost of living crisis facing the country.

They urged her to fix the flagging economy, beleaguered education system and struggling NHS instead of trying to split the UK.

Miss Sturgeon argued that the world had 'changed substantially' since 2014 and 'this is the time' for another referendum.

The First Minister will today launch a White Paper setting out her bid to hold yet another divisive vote next year  without the consent of Westminster

Nicola Sturgeon accused Boris Johnson (left) of failing to respect democracy and said the legal case for holding a competent vote was 'well under way'. Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie (right) said the latest independence campaign only served up the same division which has 'blighted Scotland for a decade', adding: 'It is time to change the record'

She said: 'Nobody right now can look at the UK, the mess it is in currently and the prospects for the UK outside of the European Union, and conclude anything but that Scotland can do better as an independent country. Had we known in 2014 everything we know now about the path the UK would have taken in the year since then, I've got no doubt Scotland would have voted Yes back then.'

But Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said the latest independence campaign only served up the same division which has 'blighted Scotland for a decade', adding: 'It is time to change the record.'

The SNP leader said today's White Paper would be a 'scene setter', but details on any future currency, pension policy, defence and Scotland's fiscal position will not be addressed until an unspecified future date.

BLUEPRINT FOR SEPARATION Nicola Sturgeon will today unveil the first of several documents that attempt to make the case for Scottish independence. The White Paper, called Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland? will compare Scotland and the UK with other European nations and argue why the SNP/Greens think the country would be better off if it were independent. The SNP leader has hinted that future documents would try to address key issues such as what currency Scotland would use, its financial state given the vast deficit, pensions, benefits, defence policy and plans to rejoin the EU. Miss Sturgeon said: 'The Building a New Scotland series will set out openly the challenges a newly independent Scotland would face, how they could be overcome as well as the opportunities that come with independence.' Advertisement

Despite the PM showing no signs of giving in to SNP pleas to allow another vote, Miss Sturgeon said today would mark the start of a formal campaign for Scottish independence.

She admitted that for a referendum to be 'legal and beyond reproach' it would require the UK Government to grant a Section 30 order, as in 2014.

Miss Sturgeon suggested that Mr Johnson's refusal to grant the power for another vote showed he 'doesn't respect democracy'.

She added: 'I then have to navigate a way forward that delivers a lawful process because I do, unlike Boris Johnson, respect the rule of law. We know that the competence of the Scottish parliament to legislate without a Section 30 order is contested so that's what we are navigating. That work is well under way.'

Earlier, the SNP leader was challenged by business chiefs about her plan to hold a referendum by the end of 2023, amid concerns there was insufficient time to allow voters to make an informed choice. Addressing the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, she said: 'It's not separate from, nor in my view, is it a distraction from the big challenges we face.

'It is fundamentally about how we best equip ourselves as a country to address those challenges and to fulfil our potential, not just now, but for the future.

'Many of the big challenges we're facing now, whether it is a cost of living crisis more severe than most other countries, the projected low growth of the UK, constrained public finances, the many quite damaging implications of Brexit, many of them are  if not caused, by then at the very least exacerbated by  the fact that we're not an independent country,'

Tory constitution spokesman Donald Cameron said: 'We've seen over the last decade just how damaging it has been for Scotland to have an SNP Government focused on only one thing. As a result of that obsession, key areas like education, health, justice and the economy have suffered desperately.'

Urging the First Minister to stop 'diverting government resources and vast sums of public money towards the SNP's obsession', he added: 'Nicola Sturgeon is wilfully ignoring Scotland's priorities... the vast majority of Scottish people don't want the distraction of another referendum next year.

'They want the government 100 per cent focused on our recovery from the pandemic, the global cost of living crisis, supporting our NHS and protecting jobs.

'Yet Nicola Sturgeon is recklessly pressing ahead with her obsession anyway. This is nothing short of shameful when the country is facing so many momentous challenges. The distraction and disruption of another bitter referendum debate is the last thing Scotland needs right now.'

Scottish Labour constitution spokesman Sarah Boyack said: 'People are struggling to put food on the table during the worst cost of living crisis in a decade but the SNP/Green Government's attention is still on their constitutional obsession.

'We should be working together to tackle the cost of living crisis now, but instead the SNP/Green Government want to tear us apart. This is an appalling waste of time, energy and money when public services are being cut to the bone.

'Far from making us wealthier, happier and fairer, they are putting our future at risk with plans that would make Brexit look like a walk in the park.'

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: 'You can't make Scotland wealthier, happier or fairer by dividing people and communities. The people of Scotland don't share the SNP/Greens' constitutional obsession and want the Government to focus on the NHS, schools and jobs.

'Scotland's best days are ahead of us as part of the UK, bringing people together and investing more in our public services.'
Advertisement

Two days into the public January 6 committee hearings, former President Donald Trump delivered a 12-page statement accusing Democrats of seeking to distract from the Biden administration's failings with a 'kangaroo court.'

Earlier the House committee had played testimony of Trump officials and aides describing how they had told Trump he lost the 2020 election and that there was not enough voter fraud to overturn the result.

He dismissed its efforts on Monday as a 'sham.'

'The January 6th Unselect Committee is disgracing everything we hold sacred about our Constitution. If they had any real evidence, theyd hold real hearings with equal representation,' he said in an emailed statement.

'They dont, so they use the illegally constituted committee to put on a smoke and mirrors show for the American people, in a pitiful last ditch effort to deceive the American publicagain.'

The committee has interviewed more than 1000 witnesses and assembled hundreds of thousands of pages of documents.

The result, its members hope to show, places Trump at the heart of a conspiracy to topple American democracy.

But Trump, in his response, relies on the partisan support of his former adviser Peter Navarro and conservative activist Dinesh D'Souza to repeat his case that the election was stolen.

Its footnotes are riddled with references to '2000 Mules,' D'Souza's much critcized documentary that claims to show how dropboxes were abused and the election was stolen from Trump.

Former President Donald Trump blasted the January 6 committee with a 12-page statement on Monday evening

'There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were': Top quotes from the second January 6 hearing 'The mayor was definitely intoxicated': Former Trump adviser Jason Miller on Rudy Giuliani 'I don't know that I had a firm view of what he should say': Ivanka Trump on what her father should say on election night when it was too early to call the result 'Right out of the box on election night, the president claimed that there was major fraud under way. I mean, this happened, as far as I could tell, before there was actually any potential of looking at evidence': Former Attorney General Bill Barr 'Very, very, very, very bleak': Trump's former campaign manager Bill Stepien on their chances of winning the 2020 election 'I told him that the stuff his people were shoveling out to the public was bulls***': Barr on election fraud claims 'There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were': Barr on Trump's attitude to fraud claims 'The 2020 election was not close': Republican campaign lawyer Ben Ginsberg Advertisement

Yet earlier in the day Trump's former Attorney General Bill Barr snorted with laughter as he discussed the documentary.

'My opinion then and my opinion now is that the election was not stolen by fraud.

'And I haven't seen anything since the election that changes my mind on that, including the "2000 Mules" movie,' he said before laughing at the film widely criticized by factcheckers.

Trump used his statement to accuse Democrats of trying to distract from the crises facing the Biden administration.

'We have a White House in shambles, with Democrats, just this week, declaring that Biden is unfit to run for reelection,' he said.

'And what is the Democrat Congress focused on? A Kangaroo court, hoping to distract the American people from the great pain they are experiencing.'

'Seventeen months after the events of January 6th, Democrats are unable to offer solutions.

'They are desperate to change the narrative of a failing nation, without even making mention of the havoc and death caused by the Radical Left just months earlier.'

He also questioned the committees methods.

'MAGA witnesses were interrogated behind closed doors and ordered to not record their own testimony,' he said.

'Members of my staff, my friends, supporters, volunteers, donors, were subjected to hours upon hours of inquisition oftentimes having nothing to do with January 6 lives were turned upside down for obvious reasons.'

Earlier Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani raged at the January 6 committee on Monday, claiming lawmakers 'have no case' as they were presenting evidence in their second of six hearings.

The event largely focused on Giuliani's role in pushing Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

'They have no case,' the former New York City mayor said on Trump adviser Steve Bannon's War Room podcast. 'This is a follow-up to Russian collusion, Ukrainian conversation - the millions of hours theyve spent trying to find a crime on Donald Trump and cant do it.'

'They started this frame about five years ago. Its the same cast of characters - Bennie Thompson, and shifty [Adam] Schiff, you see [Eric] Swalwell, not on the committee, but in the background.'

He went on to say that the committee's Vice Chair Liz Cheney was 'hysterical' and had 'gone off the deep end' - though he appeared to confuse her momentarily with sister Mary Cheney.

Cheney said during her opening statement that Trump 'rejected the advice of his campaign experts on election night' in favor of advice from 'an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani' who told him to declare victory that night and insist the vote count be stopped 'to falsely claim everything was fraudulent.'

Giuliani denied the assertion that he was drunk through his lawyer - despite multiple former Trump advisers being shown to have made the claim.

'Giuliani denies all falsehoods by the angry and misguided Ms Cheney,' his attorney told CNN.

During Bannon's podcast Giuliani called lawmakers on the committee 'criminals' and claimed they were simply trying to 'frame Trump for something he didn't do.'

Newly-revealed video shows multiple Trump advisers were concerned about the veracity of the former mayor's election fraud claims and expressed as much to the ex-president - who shrugged them all off.

Trump dismissed Jared Kushner's concerns about Rudy Giuliani's election fraud claims, the January 6 committee revealed in its second of six hearings on Monday.

The Democrat-led panel opened the hearing with videotaped depositions of Trump's advisers claiming he declared a premature victory on election night 2020 on the advise of a drunk Giuliani.

The panel played audio of its investigators asking Kushner, for instance, what he said about the former New York City mayor's claims that Dominion Voting Systems was part of a vast conspiracy to rig its voting machines against Trump.

'Uh, basically, not the approach I would take if I was you,' Kushner said he told his father-in-law.

Trump insisted 'I have confidence in Rudy,' Kushner claimed.

Advisers' testimonies indicate that it was apparent within hours on election night that the vote count would take several days.

Rudy Giuliani appeared on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's podcast just as the January 6 committee was holding its second hearing

Rep. Liz Cheney said during her opening statement that Trump 'rejected the advice of his campaign experts on election night' in favor of advice from 'an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani'

They were aware it could stretch from 'very early on,' according to his daughter and former White House adviser Ivanka Trump.

Lawmakers are suggesting that Trump's aides were concerned and dismissive of the election fraud claims being pushed by some of his allies, and that the former president continued pushing them despite warnings from both family and associates.

Cheney said at the outset of the hearing: 'Pay attention to what Donald Trump and his legal team said repeatedly about Dominion voting machines, far-flung conspiracies with a deceased Venezuelan communist allegedly pulling the strings.'

Former White House attorney Eric Herschmann said on video: 'What they were proposing, I thought, was nuts.'

'And then the theory was also completely nuts. It was a combination of Italians and Germans, I mean, different things have been floating around as to who was involved - I remember Hugo Chavez, and the Venezuelans, and she has an affidavit from somebody who says they wrote a software or something in the Philippines. It was just all over the radar,' Herschmann said.

Barr said he told the president that the election fraud theories he and Giuliani were pushing were 'crazy stuff' and that 'they were wasting their time on and doing a great, great disservice to the country.'

He claimed the former president's fraud claims came 'right out of the box on election night' in the previously unseen video.

Playing a video deposition from the former New York Mayor himself, Giuliani takes a large sip of water before answering that 'yes' he was at the White House residence in the early morning hours of November 4.

The committee showed videotaped testimony by Rudy Giuliani himself admitting that he spoke with Trump 'several times' on election night, when multiple advisers told lawmakers that the former NYC mayor urged Trump to declare a premature victory

Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump told the committee that it became 'increasingly clear' on election night that the vote count would extend for several days

President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner testified to investigators that he told the then-president he doubted Giuliani's election fraud theories

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said he told the president that the election fraud theories he and Giuliani were pushing were 'crazy stuff'

'It went over beyond midnight, yes,' Giuliani said.

The panel also played video from the deposition of former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who dropped out of the hearing at the last minute after his wife went into labor.

Stepien told House investigators that he had heard Giuliani was 'upstairs' in a reception area looking to 'talk to the president.'

He recalled huddling with former Trump adviser Jason Miller, Justin Clarke and ex-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows 'to listen to whatever Rudy presumably wanted to say to the president.'

Miller was asked if he observed anyone in that meeting had too much to drink - to which he named Giuliani as well.

Asked if he himself recalled the meeting, Giuliani told House investigators: 'I - I - I mean I spoke to the president. They may have been present. But I spoke to the president several times that night.'

Miller, however, was more direct in laying the blame at the former Trump lawyer's feet.

'There were suggestions, by I believe it was Mayor Giuliani, to go and declare victory and say that we'd won it outright,' the former Trump adviser said on video.

He said Giuliani made clear that 'everyone who didn't agree with that position was being weak.'

Stepien said he encouraged Trump to say: 'It's too early to tell, too early to call the race. But you know, we are proud of the race we we ran and we think we're in in good position. And we'll have more to say about this.'

He said Trump disagreed with that plan.

Trump did hold an unprecedented press conference at the White House on election night where he claimed with absolutely no proof that the vote count was rife with 'fraud on the American public.'

Later on Stepien's testimony showed that member of Trump's orbit knew they were facing defeat even as the ex-president continued to claim victory.

'You know, I, we told him, the group that went over there, outlined, you know, my belief in, in chances for success at this point and then we pegged it at, you know, 5, maybe, maybe, 10 percent based on recounts that were, you know, either were automatically initiated or could be initiated based on, you know, realistic legal challenges, not all the legal challenges that eventually were pursued,' the former campaign manager claimed.

A video deposition from former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen shows that even the upper echelons of Trump's administration made clear to him that Giuliani's various election challenges throughout the country, such as in Fulton County, Georgia, had no merit.

Rosen, who took office after Barr's departure at the end of December, told the committee he let Trump know the allegations of fraud in Georgia were 'just not true.'

'I told the president myself that - several times in several conversations - that these allegations about ballots being smuggled in - in a suitcase, and run through the machine several times, it was not true,' Rosen said.

The committee honed in on Giuliani's role in pushing Trump's election fraud claims in the second half of its hearing, featuring testimony from former officials in Georgia and Pennsylvania. Both states narrowly went to Biden in 2020 and were lightening rods for the ex-president's attempts to overturn the vote count.

'This morning, we'll tell the story of how Donald Trump lost an election, and knew he lost an election, and as a result of his loss decided to wage an attack on our democracy,' Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson said in his opening statement.

Former ABC News president James Goldston was seen arriving on Capitol Hill Monday morning ahead of the second hearing.

Axios reported last week that lawmakers recruited Goldston - who also helmed Good Morning America and Nightline as executive producer - to shape their mountains of evidence into a 'blockbuster' presentation.

The most highly-anticipated testimony was expected to come from former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, but he was forced to withdraw less than an hour before the hearing was meant to start after his wife went into labor.

'Mr. Stepien was in town and preparing for his testimony here today in response to a subpoena when he got a call that his wife had gone into labor. He notified committee council and he immediately headed to hospital to be with her,' his lawyer told reporters outside of the hearing room.

US Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), (L) Chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol, and Vice Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) preside over a House Select Committee hearing to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol, in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 13

House Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean speaks with DC Metro police officer Michael Fanone (left) and Capitol police officer Harry Dunn (right) ahead of the second January 6 hearing

Fired Fox News editor Chris Stirewalt, who was part of the team that called Arizona for President Joe Biden, prepares to testify

Stirewalt was meant to testify alongside former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who had to leave the hearing for a family emergency after his wife went into labor

The first hearing, held last Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, featured testimony from Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards and documentary filmmaker Nick Quested.

Edwards' moving testimony captured the night, as she compared the Capitol to a 'war zone' and recalled 'slipping in people's blood' as she defended the building from Trump's mob of violent supporters - experiencing a traumatic brain injury in the process.

That session was led chiefly by chairman Thompson, a Democrat, and Republican vice chair Cheney.

It also featured excerpts from videotaped depositions with former Attorney General Bill Barr and Trump's daughter and White House adviser, Ivanka, both making clear they believed at the time that there was no widespread fraud.

Multiple members of the select committee suggested they gathered enough evidence to bring criminal charges against Trump over the weekend. Appearing across a slew of Sunday news programs, panel members made clear that they hope Attorney General Merrick Garland is paying close attention to their hearings.

'I would like to see the Justice Department investigate any credible allegation of criminal activity on the part of Donald Trump or anyone else,' committee member Rep. Adam Schiff said on ABC News' This Week.

He later added: 'They need to be investigated if there's credible evidence, which I think there is.'

Rep. Jamie Raskin, meanwhile, said he doesn't want to 'browbeat' Garland but noted the committee has already laid out criminal statutes they believe Trump violated through a series of court filings.

General view of the room before the second public hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, at Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S. June 13

Former ABC News president James Goldston arrives on Capitol Hill ahead of the Monday morning hearing

'I think that he knows, his staff knows, the US attorneys know, what's at stake here,' Raskin told CNN's State of the Union.

'They know the importance of it, but I think they are rightfully paying close attention to precedent in history as well, as the facts of this case.'

Rep. Elaine Luria said the committee's hearings would focus heavily on Trump's 'dereliction of duty,' particularly during the 187 minute-gap between when the former president's supporters first broke into the Capitol and when he called them off.

'We've pieced together a very comprehensive tick tock timeline of what he did. And then 187 minutes, you know, this man had the microphone; he could speak to the whole country. His duty was to stand up and say something and try to stop this,' Luria said on NBC's Meet the Press.

'So, we'll talk about that and what I see to be his dereliction of duty, and he had a duty to act.'

During their first hearing the panel contextualized the January 6 attack into a wider alleged plot by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The riot was 'no accident,' the committee said, but rather 'Trump's last stand.'
Parts of Australia's east coast are set to finally warm up this week after a miserable string of cold weather that saw many opt to stay indoors.

Sydney will see a mostly sunny week with temperatures reaching tops of 17C on Tuesday, 19C on Wednesday and 20C on Thursday.

Those in Brisbane can also breathe a sigh of relief with the mercury to linger in the low to mid-20s for the next few days with the sun to stick around all week.

A high-pressure system moving across NSW can be thanked for the warm weather, which will see longer periods of sunshine enjoyed across the east coast.

But for those down south in Melbourne, a heavy downpour of rain is on the way, with the Victorian capital drenched on Wednesday and Thursday with windy conditions on the forecast.

Parts of Australia's east coast are set to finally warm up this week after a miserable string of cold weather that saw many opt to stay indoors (pictured in Bondi)

Parts of Victoria are set to be lashed by rain and strong gusts of wind over the coming days

Weatherzone meteorologist Yoska Hernandez said while a mass of polar air was no longer making its way through the southeast, there was a cold air mass forming in inland NSW - but conditions will be warmer this week.

'If you compare this week with last week, this one will be warmer,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'The blocking high-pressure system that was causing southwesterly winds has weakened.'

Ms Hernandez said there would be a low-pressure system sweeping across Victoria and South Australia from Wednesday, which would bring snow to the Alps.

Many Aussies chose to stay indoors in recent weeks after winter kicked off with an icy cold start

Sydney should also avoid most of the windy conditions that will be seen in parts of Victoria

There's a low to moderate chance of thunderstorms for Victoria and southern NSW over the next few days, with the meteorologist saying this will bring strong wind gusts.

'Wind will increase from this evening into tomorrow in western and eastern Victoria with gusts of up to 95km per hour,' Ms Hernandez said.

Windy conditions will also be felt in southern NSW and Canberra over the coming days, but Sydney should be in the clear.

Parts of the east coast have been battered by huge swells in recent days, with one monster wave measuring up to 4.5metres high in Port Kembla, in Wollongong, NSW.

Bronte Beach along with many other beaches around the coast have been pounded by huge swells this week

Ms Hernandez said the surf should already be easing with swells expected to linger around 2.5metres over the next few days.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging surf conditions and strong winds for Sydney, the south coast, and the Hunter and Illawarra regions.

Shocking footage taken in Bondi shows a rogue wave sweeping over the beach onto the esplanade below unsuspecting diners on Sunday evening.

The wave scattered passers-by, and only the raised deck at North Bondi Fish saved diners from a frozen soaking on the chilly night where apparent temperatures dropped to single figures.

Surfers and swimmers have been told to stay out of the water as huge waves smash the shoreline, with fishermen also warned to stay off the rocks for their own safety.

A freak wave smashed Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday evening and almost swamped diners as they ate at ritzy North Bondi Fish restaurant.

Meanwhile on the other side of the country Perth is in for a wet week with rainfall highly likely on each day.

Adelaide residents will also have to carry their umbrellas with them with rain on the way, as temperatures reach a top of 17C.

Hobart will have a chilly low of just 5C on Wednesday with an 80 per cent chance of rain.

Canberra will see an icy morning on Wednesday with a minimum of 1C forecast and a top of 12C.

Darwin will escape both the cold and the wet with a sunny week ahead with temperatures to reach a top of 33C.
The High Court declared the policy lawful. Now the Appeal Court has reinforced that decision.

So despite howls of protest from the liberal Left, the first flight carrying cross-Channel migrants to Rwanda for their asylum claims to be processed has been cleared for take-off. The crucial question, however: Will there be anyone on it?

In a last-ditch bid to thwart Priti Patel's attempt to stem the flow of illegal migration from Calais, human rights lawyers have lodged individual appeals on behalf of all 130 passengers originally booked on the flight.

They hope this rearguard action (funded by legal aid, of course) will overturn the rulings. If they succeed it will be a travesty  both of justice and democracy.

Despite howls of protest from the liberal Left, the first flight carrying cross-Channel migrants to Rwanda has been cleared for take-off

Inevitably, the Archbishop of Canterbury joined Labour and other virtue-signallers in attacking the Home Secretary's policy as 'immoral'.

But isn't it worse to maintain a system that encourages migrants to risk their lives on a daily basis and allows vile people traffickers to make a fortune by exploiting them?

Removing illegal arrivals to Rwanda would send a highly visible signal to others that crossing the Channel in a dinghy is no longer a viable way of securing UK residence.

If the protesters have a better way of doing that  short of throwing open our borders completely  let's hear it.

Protocol pragmatism

The Northern Ireland Protocol was always a fudge. However, it was essential to breaking the deadlock over Britain's withdrawal from the EU.

While unpalatable, with good faith and common sense, an Irish Sea border might have worked until a better solution was found. But for Brussels the protocol has become a stick with which to beat the UK for the impertinence of Brexit.

Swamped by unnecessary red tape and paperwork, shipping food and goods into the province has become a monstrous ordeal for British firms, leading to shortages in shops and a rise in sectarian discontent.

Yesterday, the UK Government published an eminently sensible compromise.

The new arrangement would see imports arriving from the mainland channelled into red lanes, for goods intended for sale outside Northern Ireland, or green lanes, for products to be sold domestically. Disputes would be resolved by independent arbitration, not by the European Court of Justice.

The EU says, spuriously, this would be a breach of international law and threatens punitive action. But the measures are pragmatic rather than confrontational.

Ministers are simply striving to create a workable solution, which cools tempers, brings the Unionists back to Stormont and helps both businesses and consumers through this tricky Brexit transition.

Is it really too hard for Brussels to accept such basic common sense?

A press free from censorship is the citizen's surest defence against corrupt politicians and other wrongdoers. But Labour is shamefully conspiring to use the Government's Online Safety Bill as a Trojan horse to bring in Press regulation. Their amendment links exemptions for news publishers from internet censorship to membership of a state-approved watchdog. In the name of democracy, ministers must strangle this sinister plot at birth.
Advertisement

Members of the House committee investigating Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat can't seem to make up their minds on whether to refer former President Donald Trump and his associates for criminal prosecution over their role in planning January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Members of the committee had called on Sunday for the US Justice Department to consider a criminal indictment, warning, 'the danger is still out there'.

But on Monday night, Chairman Bennie Thompson essentially ruled the matter out entirely, saying that it had no plans to make a referral to the DOJ.

"No, that's not our job,' Thompson said of referring Trump for criminal charges. 'Our job is to look at the facts and circumstances around January 6, what caused it and make recommendations after that.'

"We're going to tell the facts. If the Department of Justice looks at it, and assume that there's something that needs further review, I'm sure they'll do it," Thompson added.

Chairman of the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss, said the panel will not make any criminal referrals when it comes to former President Donald Trump

Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., as the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Monday

He noted that the entirety of the committee's final report would be made public so that 'anybody can have access to it' - including the Department of Justice, which may decide to take independent action against Trump or those who assisted him in his attempts to overthrow the 2020 election.

'If they want, after reviewing it, to come back and ask to talk to some of the staff or the members who helped produce the report, I'm sure they will,' Thompson said.

At the same time, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that federal prosecutors are watching the hearings and the Justice Department will make the final decision on whether a formal criminal referral takes place.

'I am watching, and I will be watching all the hearings, although I may not be able to watch all of it live,' Garland said. 'But I will be sure that I am watching all of it. And I can assure you that the January 6 prosecutors are watching all of the hearings as well.'

Thompson's claim swiftly pushed back by panel members Liz Cheney and Adam Schiff saying no decision had been made

Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., (2-R), accompanied by Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., (2-L), speaks with Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., (R), speak together, during a short break, during Monday's hearing

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), vice chairwoman of the committee, was quick to walk back Thompson's statement Monday evening, saying that the committee had not reached any conclusion about 'potential criminal referrals.'

'The January 6th Select Committee has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals. We will announce a decision on that at an appropriate time.'

Meanwhile, committee member and Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), said he believed that any decisions on criminal referrals would happen after the investigation concludes.

'We haven't had a discussion about that, so I don't know that the committee has reached a position on whether we make a referral or what the referrals might be,' Schiff told Anderson Cooper on CNN.

'I thought we were deferring that decision until we concluded our investigation. At least that's my understanding.'

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, said the panel is 'less concerned with whether or not there was a specific statutory offense committed than making clear to the public that there was no rational basis upon which anyone could conclude that (Trump) had actually won the election.'

A decision to prosecute will be up to the Justice Department, whether there is a formal criminal referral or not.

Garland has declined to comment on any of the new evidence being presented before the committee, noting that the DOJ does not comment on ongoing investigations.

'We do that both for the viability of our investigations and because it's the right thing to do with respect to the civil liberties of people under investigation.'

Attorney General Merrick Garland said that federal prosecutors are watching the hearings and the Justice Department will make the decision on whether a formal criminal referral takes place

An advertisement soliciting donations for former U.S. President Donald Trump is seen as it was introduced as evidence and displayed on a screen above U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Chairperson Bennie Thompson (D-MS) , Vice Chair U.S. Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) and U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) holding the second public hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol

Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump told the committee that it became 'increasingly clear' on election night that the vote count would extend for several days

Earlier on Monday, the committee revealed how Donald Trump shrugged off Jared Kushner's concerns about Rudy Giuliani's election fraud claims, the January 6 committee revealed in its second of six hearings on Monday.

The Democrat-led panel opened the hearing with videotaped depositions of Trump's advisers claiming he declared a premature victory on election night 2020 on the advise of a drunk Giuliani.

Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney said Trump 'rejected the advice of his campaign experts on election night' in favor of advice from 'an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani' who told him to declare victory that night and insist the vote count be stopped 'to falsely claim everything was fraudulent.'

The panel played audio of its investigators asking Kushner, for instance, what he said about the former New York City mayor's claims that Dominion Voting Systems was part of a vast conspiracy to rig its voting machines against Trump.

'Uh, basically, not the approach I would take if I was you,' Kushner said he told his father-in-law.

Trump dismissed him, insisting 'I have confidence in Rudy,' Kushner claimed.

Advisers' testimonies indicate that it was apparent within hours on election night that the vote count would take several days.

They were aware it could stretch from 'very early on,' according to his daughter and former White House adviser Ivanka Trump, Kushner's wife.

Lawmakers are suggesting that Trump's aides were dismissive of the election fraud claims being pushed by some of his allies, and that the former president continued pushing them despite warnings from both family and associates.

Cheney said at the outset of the hearing: 'Pay attention to what Donald Trump and his legal team said repeatedly about Dominion voting machines, far-flung conspiracies with a deceased Venezuelan communist allegedly pulling the strings.'

Former White House attorney Eric Herschmann said on video: 'What they were proposing, I thought, was nuts.'

Elsewhere in the hearing...

Former Attorney General Bill Barr is among the top officials within the Justice Department to tell Donald Trump that Rudy Giuliani's election fraud claims were 'nonsense'

A video deposition shows Barr telling the committee he believed Giuliani's fraud claims were 'crazy stuff'

Giuliani responded on Steve Bannon's podcast that the committee has 'no case' against him or Trump

The committee heard from BJay Pak, a former US attorney from Georgia, and former Philadelphia commissioner Al Schmidt

Schmidt testified that he received targeted alarming threats against himself and his family after being publicly called out by Trump for refusing to investigate his fraud claims

Former Trump adviser Jason Miller said Giuliani made clear that anyone who did not agree with declaring premature victory on election night was 'being weak'

Former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who was due to attend the hearing but dropped out because his wife went into labor, testified on video that the ex-president was told his chance of winning days in was 5%

The committee showed videotaped testimony by Rudy Giuliani himself admitting that he spoke with Trump 'several times' on election night, when multiple advisers told lawmakers that the former NYC mayor urged Trump to declare a premature victory

President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner testified to investigators that he told the then-president he doubted Giuliani's election fraud theories

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said he told the president that the election fraud theories he and Giuliani were pushing were 'crazy stuff'

Takeaways: Trump's mind was 'made up' of election fraud and his advisers describe the Giuliani factor The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection systemically made the case in its second hearing Monday that Trump and his advisers knew that his claims of fraud in the 2020 election were false. The argument is key to the committee's investigation as the nine-member panel details its evidence about what led to the violent insurrection. The rioters who broke into the Capitol that day and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden's victory were echoing Trump's falsehoods that he, not Biden, had rightfully won the election. Takeaways from Monday's hearing: A witness pulls out, but video tells the story The hearing began with a scramble as Donald Trump's former campaign manager Bill Stepien, the panel's top Monday witness, said he would not appear due to a 'family emergency.' Committees chairman Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson said Stepien's wife was in labor. But the committee had a plan B - hours of Stepien's previous interview with the panel that was recorded on video. The committee aired multiple clips of that interview, along with others, as the hearing unfolded. Stepien told investigators that Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani was urging Trump to declare victory on election night, despite Stepien's warnings that it was 'way too early' to make a prediction like that. 'My belief, my recommendation, was to say that votes were still being counted, it's too early to tell, too early to call the race,' Stepien said in one clip. Trump went to the podium in the White House press room on election night and said that the early results were 'a fraud on the American public' and that 'frankly, we did win this election.' Trump's mind 'was made up' on election fraud and anyone who disagreed was 'weak' Trump's advisers told him repeatedly that he should wait on the results and should not declare that there was widespread election fraud. But Trump would not listen, and increasingly relied on wild claims that were pushed by Giuliani and Trump attorney Sidney Powell, among others, according to testimony. The panel showed video from Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, her husband, Jared Kushner, and campaign aide Jason Miller. Ivanka Trump told the panel that 'it was clear' the election wouldn't be called on election night, and Kushner said he had told Trump at one point that Giuliani's advice was 'not the approach I would take.' Trump responded that he had confidence in Giuliani. Miller said there was a meeting on election night in which he told Trump that they shouldn't declare victory until they had a better sense of the numbers. But Trump told a room of advisers that anyone who didn't agree with Giuliani was being 'weak.' Stepien said his group of advisers was dubbed 'team normal' in contrast to the legal team pushing election fraud. Former Attorney General William Barr, who declared publicly at the time that there was no evidence behind Trump's fraud claims, said the president was increasingly becoming 'detached from reality.' Trump pushed multiple Attorneys General to pursue election fraud The committee made clear that Trump's quest to undermine the presidential election ran through two Justice Departments - one headed by Bill Barr, the other by Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. Trump had attempted to have Rosen replaced with a loyalist who would have directed election officials in states narrowly won by Joe Biden to send in an alternate slate of electoral votes. Barr's videotaped testimony suggests he told Trump that Giuliani and Powell's election fraud claims were 'crazy stuff,' singling out the Dominion Voting Systems allegations as 'among the most disturbing allegations.' 'Disturbing in the sense that I saw absolutely zero basis for the allegations. But they were made in such a sensational way that they obviously were influencing a lot of people,' Barr said. 'Members of the public, that there was this systemic corruption in the system and that their votes didn't count and that these machines controlled by somebody else... which was complete nonsense.' And after his departure, then-Acting Attorney General testified to the committee that he had to tell Trump that his legal teams' claims that there was rampant voter fraud in Fulton County, Georgia were 'just not true.' 'I told the president myself that - several times in several conversations - that these allegations about ballots being smuggled in - in a suitcase, and run through the machine several times, it was not true,' Rosen said. A monthslong campaign seeding doubt in the 2020 election Trump's claims of fraud did not start after election day. The committee showed clips where Trump previewed his strategy in speeches throughout his 2020 campaign. In August of that year, he told an audience that fraud was the only way he would lose. Stepien told the committee that he and House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy had met with Trump in the summer of 2020 and made a two-pronged case for why he should stop criticizing mail-in voting. He and McCarthy told Trump that he was leaving 'a lot to chance' and that there were GOP party workers on the ground who could help get mail-in votes for Trump. McCarthy, who has declined to cooperate with the Jan. 6 panel despite a subpoena, was 'echoing the same argument,' Stepien said. 'But the president's mind was made up,' Stepien said. The election night 'Red Mirage' Chris Stirewalt, a former political editor for Fox News Channel, testified in person at the hearing. Stirewalt made the election night call that President Joe Biden won Arizona - a moment that prompted 'anger and disappointment' in Trump's circle at the White House, Miller said. Stirewalt explained that the network, along with others, had expected that there would be a so-called 'red mirage' at the beginning of the evening as in-person Republican votes came in, and many of the mail-in votes that would be counted later on would lean Democratic. He noted it happens every election. Trump had not only exploited that pattern to make false claims of fraud, but contributed to it in his campaign to call mail-in voting into question. 'We had gone to pains, and I'm proud of the pains, we went to, to make sure that we were informing viewers that this was going to happen because the Trump campaign and the president had made it clear that they were going to try to exploit this anomaly,' Stirewalt said. Additional reporting by the Associated Press Advertisement

Barr told Trump election fraud claims were 'crazy stuff' in White House meeting where he thought the ex-president would fire him

Barr said he told the president that the election fraud theories he and Giuliani were pushing were 'crazy stuff' and that 'they were wasting their time on and doing a great, great disservice to the country.'

He claimed the former president's fraud claims came 'right out of the box on election night' in the previously unseen video.

'I went over there and I told my secretary that I thought I would probably be fired,' Barr said in the video, describing a previously-planned White House meeting. 'I said, you might have to pack up for me.'

Barr said Trump was 'as mad as I've ever seen him' after the then-attorney general told the Associated Press that he saw no proof of widespread election fraud.

'You didn't have to say this. You must have said this because you hate Trump. You hate Trump,' Barr said Trump told him.

The former Justice official said he raised Trump and his allies' claims about Dominion Voting Systems in particular, finding them 'among the most disturbing allegations.'

'Disturbing in the sense that I saw absolutely zero basis for the allegations. But they were made in such a sensational way that they obviously were influencing a lot of people,' Barr said. 'Members of the public, that there was this systemic corruption in the system and that their votes didn't count and that these machines controlled by somebody else... which was complete nonsense.'

'And it was being laid out there and I told them that it was - it was crazy stuff, and they were wasting their time on that. And it was doing great, great disservice to the country.'

He said Trump's election fraud claims were mounting every day, comparing them to a game of whack-a-mole.

''There was an avalanche of all these allegations of fraud that built up over a number of days and it was like playing Whack-a-Mole because something would come out one day and then the next day it would be another issue,' Barr said.

Audio testimony from Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who took office after Barr's departure at the end of December, shows the former president pursued his fraud claims after Barr left but was again rebuffed by his own Justice officials.

Rosen told the committee he let Trump know the allegations of fraud in Georgia were 'just not true.'

'I told the president myself that - several times in several conversations - that these allegations about ballots being smuggled in - in a suitcase, and run through the machine several times, it was not true,' Rosen said.

Trump advisers suggest Giuliani pulled the strings on election night

Playing a video deposition from the former New York Mayor himself, Giuliani takes a large sip of water before answering that 'yes' he was at the White House residence in the early morning hours of November 4.

'It went over beyond midnight, yes,' Giuliani said.

The panel also played video from the deposition of former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who dropped out of the hearing at the last minute after his wife went into labor.

Stepien told House investigators that he had heard Giuliani was 'upstairs' in a reception area looking to 'talk to the president.'

He recalled huddling with former Trump adviser Jason Miller, Justin Clarke and ex-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows 'to listen to whatever Rudy presumably wanted to say to the president.'

Miller was asked if he observed anyone in that meeting had too much to drink - to which he named Giuliani as well.

Asked if he himself recalled the meeting, Giuliani told House investigators: 'I - I - I mean I spoke to the president. They may have been present. But I spoke to the president several times that night.'

Miller, however, was more direct in laying the blame at the former Trump lawyer's feet.

'There were suggestions, by I believe it was Mayor Giuliani, to go and declare victory and say that we'd won it outright,' the former Trump adviser said on video.

He said Giuliani made clear that 'everyone who didn't agree with that position was being weak.'

Stepien said he encouraged Trump to say: 'It's too early to tell, too early to call the race. But you know, we are proud of the race we we ran and we think we're in in good position. And we'll have more to say about this.'

He said Trump disagreed with that plan.

Trump did hold an unprecedented press conference at the White House on election night where he claimed with absolutely no proof that the vote count was rife with 'fraud on the American public.'

Later on Stepien's testimony showed that member of Trump's orbit knew they were facing defeat even as the ex-president continued to claim victory.

'You know, I, we told him, the group that went over there, outlined, you know, my belief in, in chances for success at this point and then we pegged it at, you know, 5, maybe, maybe, 10 percent based on recounts that were, you know, either were automatically initiated or could be initiated based on, you know, realistic legal challenges, not all the legal challenges that eventually were pursued,' the former campaign manager claimed.

'Are you out of your effing mind?': White House lawyer says he dismissed pro-Trump lawyer John Eastman's election fraud theories

Former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann was among the bluntest to rebuff Trump and his allies' election fraud claims.

'Are you out of your effing mind?' Herschmann recalled asking pro-Trump lawyer John Eastman in his videotaped deposition. 'I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: orderly transition'

'There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were': Top quotes from the second January 6 hearing 'The mayor was definitely intoxicated': Former Trump advisor Jason Miller on Rudy Giuliani 'I don't know that I had a firm view of what he should say': Ivanka Trump on what her father should say on election night when it was too early to call the result 'Right out of the box on election night, the President claimed that there was major fraud underway. I mean, this happened, as far as I could tell, before there was actually any potential of looking at evidence': Former Attorney General Bill Barr 'Very, very, very, very bleak': Trump's former campaign manager Bill Stepien on their chances of winning the 2020 election 'I told him that the stuff his people were shoveling out to the public was bulls***': Barr on election fraud claims. 'There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were': Barr on Trump's attitude to fraud claims. 'The 2020 election was not close': Republican campaign lawyer Bens Ginsberg Advertisement

While the clip lacks context, Eastman is known for authoring a memo that outlined a false theory presented to former Vice President Mike Pence on how he could unilaterally overturn the 2020 election results.

In another portion of his taped testimony, Herschmann explained why he believed election fraud theories about Dominion Voting Systems being pushed by Giuliani and fellow pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell were 'completely nuts.'

'It was a combination of Italians and Germans, I mean, different things have been floating around as to who was involved - I remember Hugo Chavez, and the Venezuelans, and she has an affidavit from somebody who says they wrote a software or something in the Philippines. It was just all over the radar,' the former White House attorney said.

Those same claims are currently at the heart of separate $1.3 billion lawsuits from Dominion against Giuliani and Powell, among others.

Former Philadelphia official received death threats after being targeted by Trump

The committee honed in on Giuliani's role in pushing Trump's election fraud claims in the second half of its hearing, featuring testimony from former officials in Georgia and Pennsylvania. Both states narrowly went to Biden in 2020 and were lightening rods for the ex-president's attempts to overturn the vote count.

One of those officials, Philadelphia city commissioner Al Schmidt, testified on Monday that he and his family were subjected to 'disturbing threats' after the former president singled him out by name for his refusal to go along with his election fraud demands.

'The threats prior to that tweet  and on some level it feels almost silly to talk about a tweet  but we can really see the impact that they have, because prior to that, the threats were pretty general in nature. 'Corrupt election officials in Philadelphia are going to get what's coming to them'; 'You're what the Second Amendment is for'; 'You're walking into the lion's den.' All sorts of things like that,' Schmidt explained during his testimony in person to the panel on Monday.

'After the president tweeted at me by name, calling me out the way that he did, the threats became much more specific, much more graphic,' he said, adding that they 'included not just me by name, but included members of my family by name, their ages, our address, pictures of our home, just every bit of detail that you can imagine.'

'That was what changed with that tweet.'

January 6 select committee member Zoe Lofgren placed on the screen redacted versions of threats that Schmidt had received after the former president's tweet.

'You lied. You a traitor (sic). Perhaps 75cuts and 20bullets will soon arrive,' one text read, mentioning the name of one of his family members.

The same individual sent a second message with: 'You betrayed your country.'

A separate email sent to Schmidt's wife's account threatening that the Philadelphia commissioner would be 'fatally shot.'

'Heads on spikes,' the message said in all caps along with the hashtag 'Q'  a likely reference to the conspiracy QAnon.

Giuliani rages at 'hysterical Liz Cheney during the hearing

The former New York City mayor appeared on an episode of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's podcast as the January 6 committee's second hearing was underway, where he claimed the Democrat-led panel had 'no case' but did not explain further why he believed so.

'The millions of hours they've spent trying to find a crime on Donald Trump and they can't do it. They started this frame about five years ago,' Giuliani said on Steve Bannon's podcast.

'It's the same cast - Bennie Thompson, and shifty Adam Schiff, you see Swalwell in the background. The completely hysterical Liz Cheney, who has gone off her deep end.'

Committee begins second hearing after lawmakers make clear they believe Trump committed criminal offenses

'This morning, we'll tell the story of how Donald Trump lost an election, and knew he lost an election, and as a result of his loss decided to wage an attack on our democracy,' Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson said in his opening statement.

Former ABC News president James Goldston was seen arriving on Capitol Hill Monday morning ahead of the second hearing.

Axios reported last week that lawmakers recruited Goldston - who also helmed Good Morning America and Nightline as executive producer - to shape their mountains of evidence into a 'blockbuster' presentation.

The most highly-anticipated testimony was expected to come from former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, but he was forced to withdraw less than an hour before the hearing was meant to start after his wife went into labor.

'Mr. Stepien was in town and preparing for his testimony here today in response to a subpoena when he got a call that his wife had gone into labor. He notified committee council and he immediately headed to hospital to be with her,' his lawyer told reporters outside of the hearing room.

US Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), (L) Chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol, and Vice Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) preside over a House Select Committee hearing to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol, in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 13

House Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean speaks with DC Metro police officer Michael Fanone (left) and Capitol police officer Harry Dunn (right) ahead of the second January 6 hearing

Fired Fox News editor Chris Stirewalt, who was part of the team that called Arizona for President Joe Biden, prepares to testify

Stirewalt was meant to testify alongside former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who had to leave the hearing for a family emergency after his wife went into labor

The first hearing, held last Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, featured testimony from Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards and documentary filmmaker Nick Quested.

Edwards' moving testimony captured the night, as she compared the Capitol to a 'war zone' and recalled 'slipping in people's blood' as she defended the building from Trump's mob of violent supporters - experiencing a traumatic brain injury in the process.

That session was led chiefly by chairman Thompson, a Democrat, and Republican vice chair Cheney.

It also featured excerpts from videotaped depositions with former Attorney General Bill Barr and Trump's daughter and White House adviser, Ivanka, both making clear they believed at the time that there was no widespread fraud.

Multiple members of the select committee suggested they gathered enough evidence to bring criminal charges against Trump over the weekend. Appearing across a slew of Sunday news programs, panel members made clear that they hope Attorney General Merrick Garland is paying close attention to their hearings.

'I would like to see the Justice Department investigate any credible allegation of criminal activity on the part of Donald Trump or anyone else,' committee member Rep. Adam Schiff said on ABC News' This Week.

He later added: 'They need to be investigated if there's credible evidence, which I think there is.'

Rep. Jamie Raskin, meanwhile, said he doesn't want to 'browbeat' Garland but noted the committee has already laid out criminal statutes they believe Trump violated through a series of court filings.

General view of the room before the second public hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, at Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S. June 13

Former ABC News president James Goldston arrives on Capitol Hill ahead of the Monday morning hearing

'I think that he knows, his staff knows, the US attorneys know, what's at stake here,' Raskin told CNN's State of the Union.

'They know the importance of it, but I think they are rightfully paying close attention to precedent in history as well, as the facts of this case.'

Rep. Elaine Luria said the committee's hearings would focus heavily on Trump's 'dereliction of duty,' particularly during the 187 minute-gap between when the former president's supporters first broke into the Capitol and when he called them off.

'We've pieced together a very comprehensive tick tock timeline of what he did. And then 187 minutes, you know, this man had the microphone; he could speak to the whole country. His duty was to stand up and say something and try to stop this,' Luria said on NBC's Meet the Press.

'So, we'll talk about that and what I see to be his dereliction of duty, and he had a duty to act.'

During their first hearing the panel contextualized the January 6 attack into a wider alleged plot by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The riot was 'no accident,' the committee said, but rather 'Trump's last stand.'
A Puma warehouse worker has shared a hilarious memo, instructing employees not to wear Nike, Adidas or any other competitor's products.

The Melbourne employee took to Reddit to share a photo of the sign, which told employees to 'refrain from wearing' competitor brands.

The employee did not specify whether the company has a uniform policy or if Puma workwear was provided to employees.

A Melbourne Puma warehouse worker shared a photo of a sign (above) telling employees to 'refrain from wearing' competitor brands while on shift

Commenters were divided by the sign with some defending the request as common courtesy while others said Puma should supply a branded uniform if employees are restricted in what they can wear.

'If its not important enough for the company to invest in (uniforms) then its not important enough to expect your lowest paid workers to pay out of pocket for,' one commenter wrote.

'You want your employees to be brand ambassadors, treat them like it.'

But others hit back at the sign, including a number of former Puma employees.

'Unless things have changed recently, staff get an extremely generous allowance, to the point where staff wind up giving away clothing to friends/family,' one said.

'Wild the amount of people upset about any of this. If you work in a McDonalds, it's unsurprising if management ask that you don't wear a KFC uniform to work.'

'Ex-Puma retail employee here,' a second wrote.

'Puma uniform is provided every three months (tshirts/jumper/shorts or pants/shoes) and the discount for additional products is very good. This is a warehouse so unsure if what theyre provided is different.'

Several commenters said Puma restricting what warehouse employees can wear was 'silly' because the workers don't interact with customers

'They aren't saying you HAVE to only wear Puma stuff, just don't wear other companies' branded stuff. The employee could still wear unbranded clothing,' a third wrote.

'Thats a pretty silly rule if its not a customer-facing location,' another said.

Some commenters wrote that Puma requesting workers don't wear competitor brands is 'fair enough' and common courtesy

Employees from other companies also jumped on the post to expose their own employer's strange rules.

'I work at T2 Head Office. The rule is no coffee in the office but they encourage us to leave the office and support local cafes if we want a coffee,' one person wrote.

'Our tea room has unlimited free T2 tea and almost every tea in our range is available to drink.'

'For Nike retail you are expected to wear Nike, and get staff discounts and/or uniform vouchers,' another said.

Another commenter said their company banned anyone from microwaving tuna inside the office.

'Yeah microwaved tuna is a big yikes,' one person wrote.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Puma for comment.
Former Wallaby David Pocock has been elected to federal parliament after officials confirmed the results of the ACT Senate race.

The Australian Electoral Commission released the final preferences for the two upper house seats, which showed Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Mr Pocock being elected.

The results mean the Liberals will not have an upper house member from the ACT for the first time since the introduction of Senate representation for the nation's capital in 1975.

Former Wallaby star and environmental campaigner David Pocock has taken out the second Senate seat in the ACT after defeating nine-year Liberal incumbent Zed Seselja

Former Liberal minister Zed Seselja, who was in a tight contest with Mr Pocock, was defeated after nine years in the Senate.

Mr Pocock is the first person from outside a major party to win a Senate seat for the ACT.

The South African-born conservationist who was raised in Zimbabwe until he emigrated to Australia in his teenage years campaigned on climate action, integrity in politics and territory rights among other issues.

In a statement on Twitter, Mr Pocock, 34, said the ACT had made history.

'For the first time, we have an independent voice representing our community in the federal parliament,' he said.

Mr Pocock in action while playing for the Wallabies but he has a new challenge to tackle after becoming the first independent to be elected to a Senate seat from the ACT

'Our campaign aimed to make politics about people. We built a policy platform off the back of thousands of conversations about the things that matter.

'This is hopefully just the beginning.'

The new senator paid tribute to his predecessor.

'I acknowledge the work of outgoing senator Zed Seselja after nine years representing us, and wish him and his family all the best,' he said.

'I am committed to being accessible and accountable to Canberrans.'

Mr Pocock, here seen addressing a climate change rally outside Parliament House, said that campaigning on issues such as this is a way of addressing the 'things that matter'

The former Senator congratulated Mr Pocock on his victory, and described his time in the Senate as an immense honour.

'I am proud of the impact the Coalition has had on delivering for not only our nation, but also delivering far more investment in Canberra than any other previous government since self-government,' he said.

'There is no greater privilege than serving your community and your country. It is a heavy responsibility.'

In a very tight contest Mr Pocock defeated former Liberal minister Zed Seselja (right) seen here with Senator Marise Payne (left) during his nine years in the Senate

Senator Seselja described the loss of the seat and the loss of government as a bitter blow, but was optimistic about future success for the party.

'People will write off the Liberal Party as they did in 2007, but we will be back here in the ACT and nationally,' he said.

'It's not always easy to stand up to the Labor-Green left in Canberra, but it's important that there is a political movement which does.'

Between 2008 and 2019 Mr Pocock made 78 appearances for the Wallabies playing at openside flanker.

In 2010 he won the John Eales Medal, which is the highest honour in Australian Rugby and was also named as International Rugby Board Player of the Year.

From 2013 to 2019 he also played for Canberra's Super Rugby team, the Brumbies.

Electoral officer for the ACT David Molnar said the final distribution of preferences was carried out on Tuesday morning.

'As with all aspects of the count, the automated distribution of preferences undertaken today was open to scrutineers appointed by the candidates,' he said.

The senators for the Northern Territory will be decided later on Tuesday when the preference distribution takes place.

Two Indigenous women - Labor's Malarndirri McCarthy and the Country Liberal Party's Jacinta Nampijinpa Price - are expected to take the NT Senate seats.

Senator McCarthy previously held her seat, while Ms Price defeated former CLP senator Sam McMahon, who lost her party's endorsement and unsuccessfully ran as a Liberal Democrats candidate.

South Australia's Senate race will be formally declared on Wednesday.

It is expected Labor will have 26 senators and will need the support of 12 Greens senators and Mr Pocock to pass legislation and motions in the 76-seat upper house from July 1.
Top officials in Afghanistan spent millions on luxury homes in the US, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and elsewhere that they later fled to after President Joe Biden pulled US forces out of the country and the Taliban quickly took over.

As hundreds of thousands of Afghans - and Afghan refugees - struggle to situate themselves after Kabul's fall last August, The Wall Street Journal revealed how high-ranking officials of the impoverished country escaped to opulent properties.

The newspaper reviewed property records in the US and abroad, reporting that at least two officials now live in expensive areas in Dubai - and one purchasing a total of ten properties in California while he was in office.

Afghanistan's former finance minister Eklil Hakimi, who bought the homes in California, then transferred eight of those homes in the Golden State to a company owned by his wife.

According to the WSJ, minister of economy Mustafa Mastoor and Governor of the Balkh province Atta Mohammad Noor each own properties on the Dubai Marina and in the City of Gold's lavish 'Palm Tree' area, respectively.

After fleeing Afghanistan in August, President Ashraf Ghani stayed at the world-renowned five-star St. Regis Hotel in Abu Dhabi with his family.

Meanwhile, his ally and National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib's stay at the luxe Shangri-La Hotel was covered by the United Arab Emirates on humanitarian grounds.

Top government officials in Afghanistan spent millions in luxury homes in the US and Dubai that they later resorted to after fleeing the besieged country. After fleeing Afghanistan in August, President Ashraf Ghani stayed at the world-renowned five-star St. Regis Hotel (pictured) in Abu Dhabi with his family

National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib's (left) stay at the Shangri-La Hotel was covered by the United Arab Emirates on humanitarian grounds. Minister of economy Mustafa Mastoof owns a condo on the Dubai Marina that he purchased as an investment before he was in office, he told the Journal.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Mohib was worried about his American pregnant wife's safety and moved his family to the Shangri-La Hotel in Abu Dhab

A look inside one of the suites at St Regis Dubai (File)

Many Afghan officials have fled the nation over the past year, citing fears of retaliation from the Taliban.

But their escape to foreign countries is a stark contrast to the arduous reality of thousands of Afghan refugees who did not flee their home country in private jets - but by embarking on days-long journeys to cross its borders on foot.

Unlike their politician compatriots, refugees fleeing the Taliban regiment were not welcomed with open arms by countries willing to pay for their stay at five-star hotels - as the United Arab Emirates did with several Afghan top government officials.

And accusations have piled up of top officials looting government coffers as they fled - including President Ghani, who has long denied such claims.

Reports indicate that President Ghani in fact had so much looted money with him when he fled Afghanistan that not all of it would fit in his helicopter, and that he was forced to leave money lying on the tarmac, Republican Reps. James Comer, R-KY, and Glenn Grothman, R-WI, wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken last year demanding an investigation into the incident.

Hamdullah Mohib, Ghani's national-security adviser, also fled Afghanistan with the president on August 15 as the Taliban closed in Kabul.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Mohib was worried about his American pregnant wife's safety and moved his family to the Shangri-La Hotel in Abu Dhab.

The outlet reported that his stay was paid for by the UAE on humanitarian grounds.

Mohib and his family later moved to a four-bedroom home in Florida owned by his mother-in-law. He told the Journal that he doesn't own any properties in the US or elsewhere.

While staying at the villa in the UAE, Mohib told the Journal: 'Since the fall of Kabul, a lot of rumors are flying around. I am personally disturbed by it ... I made financial sacrifices to work for the government.'

A room at the five-star Shangri La, Abu Dhabi, where National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib sateyd after fleeing Afghanistan

The stay at the luxurious hotel was covered by the UAE

The Governor of Balkh province, Atta Mohammad Noor, also resides in Dubai. Noor lives in the exclusive 'The Palm' area. The Journal reported that it was his sole property outside of Afghanistan

The besieged country's last finance minister Khalid Payenda, owns two homes in DC, each worth more than $1million, which were bought with cash.

Payenda told the Journal that he had to work as an Uber driver immediately after arriving in the US and that owning the two homes did not spare him from 'running into cash-flow problems.'

Meanwhile, once-finance minister Eklil Hakimi has purchased a total of ten homes in California with a combined worth of $10million during the time he was in office from 2015 to 2018, the Journal reported.

Eight of those properties were transferred to his wife Sultana Hakimi's company, Zala Group.

Among the properties owned by the Hakimis are a $2.5million home in the Laguna Niguel community and a $1.1 million beachfront South Cove condo.

Minister of economy Mustafa Mastoof owns a condo on the Dubai Marina that he purchased as an investment before he was in office, he told the Journal.

He has lived in Istanbul since months before Kabull's fall.

The Governor of Balkh province, Atta Mohammad Noor, also resides in Dubai. Noor lives in the exclusive 'The Palm' area. The Journal reported that it was his sole property outside of Afghanistan.

This photograph taken on January 22, 2018 shows Atta Mohammad Noor, the former governor of the northern province of Balkh

Last week, a US government watchdog's concluded that Ghani almost certainly did not flee Kabul as it fell to the Taliban with millions of dollars in stolen cash.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report is an interim document, as the office is still awaiting answers to questions sent to Ghani.

First reported on by Politico, the report interviewed witnesses as well as officials who were in the helicopter convoy with Ghani as they hastily fled the Presidential Palace in Kabul while the Taliban marched into the capital on August 15.

In subsequent days, multiple reports suggested that Ghani and the other officials took up to $169 million in Afghan government money with them.

Ghani has always fiercely denied these claims.

'Although SIGAR found that some cash was taken from the grounds of the palace and loaded onto these helicopters, evidence indicates that this number did not exceed $1 million and may have been closer in value to $500,000,' the report states.

It based that assessment heavily on interviews with the witnesses and officials involved, all of whom said they saw no signs of such large amounts of cash on the helicopters already overloaded with people fleeing for their lives.

'$169 million in hundred dollar bills, stacked end to end, would form a block 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet tall... This block would have weighed 3,722 pounds, or nearly two tons,' SIGAR noted, adding that witnesses reported 'minimal luggage' on the helicopters, which had no cargo holds.

Last week, a US government watchdog's concluded that ormer Ghani almost certainly did not flee Kabul as it fell to the Taliban with millions of dollars in stolen cash

Instead one official carried around $200,000, another carried some $240,000 and others had '$5,000 to $10,000 in their pockets... No one had millions,' one former senior official told SIGAR.

'If true, this puts the total amount of cash on board the three helicopters at approximately $500,000, with $440,000 belonging to the Afghan government,' the report said.

'SIGAR also identified suspicious circumstances in which approximately $5 million in cash was allegedly left behind at the presidential palace,' the report added.

It was not clear where the money came from or what it was for, 'but it was supposedly divided by members of the Presidential Protective Service after the helicopters departed but before the Taliban captured the palace,' it said.

The report said there appears to have been 'ample opportunity and effort to plunder Afghan government coffers.'

But, the watchdog added, it 'does not have sufficient evidence to determine with certainty whether hundreds of millions of dollars were removed from the country by Afghan officials as the government collapsed or whether any stolen money was provided by the United States.'
Stamp duty will be axed in New South Wales in an attempt to make buying a home more accessible for millions of Australians, but critics are warning its replacement may cost homeowners even more.

Premier Dominic Perrottet is preparing to table a bill to parliament that would abolish 'hated' stamp duty as a one-off lump sum in favour of a much smaller annual land tax.

Under current rules, someone who is not a first-home buyer must shell out an extra $22,800 when purchasing a $600,000 home - on top of their deposit.

Premier Dominic Perrottet is preparing to table a bill to parliament that would abolish stamp duty as a one-off lump sum in favour of a more manageable annual land tax (pictured, a Sydney real estate agent)

'It's probably the state's most hated tax there is,' Tim Lawless, head of research at property analytics firm CoreLogic Australia told Daily Mail Australia.

'That's because it's a tax on transacting. It's a tax you have to pay for the privilege of purchasing a property. And it's a huge tax as well.'

Stamp duty is calculated on a complicated sliding scale and is enforced by every state and territory.

Mr Perrottet had previously called it 'the worst tax that any government can have'.

Mr Lawless agrees and said doing away with the lump sum would be a 'smart move'.

'It takes away one of the biggest hurdles to homebuyers,' he said.

'The tax has been a huge impediment to getting people into the marketplace.

'So spreading the initial cost out over a long period of time makes a lot more sense and is a much more efficient way to administer that tax.'

with the medium property price in Sydney (pictured) now $1.12 million, buyers are being forced to cough up about $42,000 in stamp duty

But not everyone is singing Mr Perrottet's praises.

NSW Shadow Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said the short-term benefit of forgoing the one-off payment will eventually make families 'worse off'.

'I don't know where Mr Perrottet thinks that working families could find the money to pay him an annual land tax on their home that lasts forever,' he said.

'Our modelling shows that a typical family in Sydney will start paying $2,400 each year from next year if Mr Perrottet introduces this tax.'

First home buyers who plan to live in the property are currently exempt from paying stamp duty on properties up to $650,000.

But with the medium property price in Sydney now $1.12million, a soaring number of buyers are being forced to cough up more cash.

NSW Shadow Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said the short-term benefit of forgoing the one-off payment will eventually make families 'worse off' (pictured, a Sydney house auction)

Premier Dominic Perrottet (pictured) said stamp duty is the worst tax a government can have

'The market is really crazy right now  it's really hard to find something under $650,000,' prospective home buyer Tasnuva Sumaiya told the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Blacktown renter in her 30s said if she didn't need to pay stamp duty; it could be the difference between buying a better home - as an annual land tax is 'more affordable'.

Potts Point renter Alice Hidajat, also in her 30s, the change is a godsend after spending the past five years saving for a two-bedroom unit in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

'It is easier to get in. I always have to think about that extra $10,000 or $20,000 on top of the property value. It lifts the burden of added cost,' the Potts Point renter, who is in her 30s, said.

'There's flexibility  rather than thinking I have to create another few thousand dollars on top of the value I can afford, now you can opt for a smaller land tax. That also frees up your cash flow  I don't need to put up a lump sum.'

But before any change can be made, the NSW government still needs the federal Albanese government to sign off on the proposal.

The Prime Minister and Mr Perrottet are set to meet on Friday.
gettyimagesbank



By Lee Hyo-jin



Korean companies are struggling to recruit highly-skilled foreign workers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, according to a recent survey released earlier this month.



The survey, which was conducted among 300 local firms by the University of Science and Technology (UST) and the Korea Industrial Technology Association (KOITA), found that many companies were facing difficulties in recruiting foreigners for research positions despite a growing number of foreign nationals earning advanced degrees in Korea.



The survey respondents included six large conglomerates, 198 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and 96 venture startups. Of them, only 73 firms, or 24 percent, said they currently have hired foreigners in research positions, while the other 76 percent said they did not have employees of foreign nationality.



As for the reasons why they chose to recruit foreigners when multiple answers were allowed, the firms replied, to tackle a shortage of local manpower (43 percent), to expand their business overseas (43 percent) and because foreign nationals showed better performance and professional capabilities compared to their Korean counterparts (33 percent).



On the other hand, among the companies that did not hire foreign employees, 43 percent of them cited a lack of information about international students in Korea. Seventeen percent found international staffing unnecessary (17 percent), while some cited concerns over possible difficulties in communication due to a language barrier (15 percent), or complicated administrative procedures (9 percent).



However, 60 percent of these firms replied that they are willing to hire foreign workers in the future, with 61 percent seeking to recruit those with a master's degree and 27 percent saying that they prefer applicants with a doctoral degree.



Regarding the policy support needed from the government when recruiting foreign talent, 32 percent of the companies called for the establishment of a talent pool of potential candidates, while 26 percent said financial support, and another 20 percent wanted work visa requirements to be significantly eased.



"Foreign graduates who have obtained an advanced degree in Korea are highly qualified personnel who are equipped with an understanding of Korean culture as well as professional knowledge in their field. They are valuable resources who will support Korean companies to expand their business overseas," Kim Lee-hwan, president of the UST said in a statement.



The survey results came as Korea continues to suffer from a manpower shortage in its core industrial sectors such as semiconductors, batteries and bio-healthcare, which are widely considered the country's future growth engines.



Currently, there are 86,562 students enrolled in graduate programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields across the country, among whom 8,321 students, accounting for 10 percent of the total, are foreign nationals. Among the 2,767 international students who obtained a doctoral degree here between 2017 and 2019, 58 percent left to other countries rather than pursuing a career in Korea.




A childcare worker who forgot about a four-year-old girl and left her on a hot bus for more than an hour has been fined $1000.

The preschooler was strapped into her seat in the bus outside Milestones Early Learning at The Lakes in Townsville, northern Queensland, on the morning of July 15, 2021.

She was only rescued when a parent heard her crying from inside the closed vehicle, before paramedics raced her to hospital where she was treated for heat exhaustion.

On Monday, Chiquetta Terese Paronella - who was the acting manager of the centre at the time of the incident - pleaded guilty in Townsville District Court to one count of endangering the life of a child.

The maximum penalty is seven years behind bars.

Chiquetta Terese Paronella (pictured in black) admitted to leaving a four-year-old girl inside a hot bus for an hour

Paronella (pictured) has had a 20-year career in childcare, but had a 'memory lapse' on July 15

The court heard the 42-year-old, who has worked in childcare for about 20 years, had a 'memory lapse' on the morning of the incident, the ABC reported.

Her defence barrister, Rowan Pack, said the Department of Education conducted an investigation and found the childcare centre failed to train staff and enforce transportation protocols.

'[Paronella] puts her hand up for the offending conduct that she's been charged with, but it cannot be said that she is 100 per cent responsible for the incident,' Mr Pack said.

Judge John Coker acknowledged the seriousness of the charge, but he also took the early plea into consideration - along with the woman's remorse and concern for the young victim.

'If she had remained on the bus, and had not been seen by the parent, it could have been hours more on the bus and the circumstances could have been tragic,' he told the court.

The little girl was in a bus outside Milestones Early Learning at The Lakes in Townsville for more than an hour

When prosecutor Tom Hancock said the little girl would routinely says to her mother 'don't forget me' and 'remember I'm here' when travelling in buses, Paronella broke down in tears.

'[The mother] noticed that when they catch public buses to go places, [the child] will make clicking noise ... to ensure that her mother wouldn't forget where she was when leaving the bus,' Mr Hancock said.

The judge said Paronella was a responsible member of the community prior to the incident, and subsequently lost her career when her working with children permit was revoked.

She was fined $1000 with no conviction recorded.

A spokeswoman from Affinity Education Group said in a statement: 'The safety, development and happiness of the children in our care is at the core of everything we do at Affinity Education Group.

'Following the incident, a thorough internal and external independent investigation was undertaken.'
Private operators in NSW will be pushed to compete for funds in a bid to create tens of thousands of new childcare places where they are most needed.

Treasurer Matt Kean unveiled the policy to address a lack of accessible and affordable child care that he says is 'a huge barrier to women participating in the economy'.

The state will spend $775 million over the next four years, but could fork out up to $5 billion in the next decade, dependent on future advice.

Mr Kean announced the policy at a briefing hosted by urban policy think tank Committee for Sydney on Tuesday, a week out from the budget on June 21.

It is projected to create an additional 47,000 childcare places annually, eventually saving families nearly $4,000 a year for each child.

Premier Dominic Perrottet says the funding is a once-in-a-generation reform that needs a long-term view to drive women's participation in the workforce.

'Not just for today but for the next decade,' he said.

Treasurer Matt Kean unveiled the policy projected to create an additional 47,000 childcare places annually and eventually save families nearly $4,000 a child

NSW will spend $775 million over the next four years and could fork out up to $5 billion in the next decade

'This is a complex area with many challenging and competing interests, but we need to make sure we have a long term horizon... this is the biggest productivity reform the state can pursue,' the premier said.

The money will establish a fund for childcare operators looking to expand.

'That will work hand in glove with the (commonwealth) government, who are focusing on the demand-side subsidy,' Mr Kean said.

Operators will compete through an auction process to provide more places at affordable prices.

'If they want to propose ways that they're going to significantly decrease the cost of delivering care then they can compete for this money,' he said.

Mr Kean hopes to push the market to provide affordable places in areas crying out for child care, rather than just allowing operators to expand to areas where they can make the most profit.

'What we want to do is make sure that we deliver the most affordable accessible child care anywhere in the country,' he said.

The treasurer said the program will grow the economy by more than $17 billion a year.

'NSW has some of the most highly educated women anywhere on the planet,' he said.

'Unleashing that creative, professional capacity will drive economic growth.'

Mr Kean said some women who wanted to return to work were unable to find child care, or found it so expensive it was barely worthwhile, describing it as a women's tax on aspiration.

Women's workforce participation was lower than men's, their work was less secure, lower paid and they were more likely to be harassed while doing it.

'They are the result of divisive barriers that prevent women from having true freedom of choice over their lives,' he said.

In addition to the fund for operators, some $281 million will be spent on scholarships and training to support the staff required for an expanding sector.

Early Learning Minister Sarah Mitchell said it was the biggest investment the state had ever made in childcare staff, 95 per cent of whom are women.

'This is a landmark day for NSW,' she said.

Early Learning Minister Sarah Mitchell said it was 'a landmark day for NSW' and the biggest investment the state had ever made in childcare staff, 95 per cent of whom are women.

The policy is projected to add another 18,000 workers to the industry, with grants of up to $25,000 available for people training to become childcare workers.

Women have been a focus of Mr Kean's first budget as treasurer, with other pre-June 21 announcements including funding for menopause treatment, women's return to work grants and plans to create more women's community centres and refuges.
A Queensland farmer who battled a devastating drought has died in a freak ute accident.

Scott Todd, 38, was standing in the tray of a moving Toyota Landcruiser travelling through Thargomindah on Saturday morning when he fell.

The father-of-three suffered severe injuries and died at the scene.

Queensland grazier Scott Todd (pictured) died in a freak ute accident on Saturday morning

The 27-year-old man driving the ute was left unscathed.

Mr Todd operated a farm with sheep, goats and cattle at Brigalow Downs, south of Bollon.

He was a passionate advocate for farmers and called for more assistance and support for those struggling through drought.

The experienced grazier spoke about the severe impact the drought had on his livelihood and family in a 2019 interview.

At the time, the three properties he owned near Bollon had been reduced to naked plains of dirt.

'We've got no money left,' Mr Todd told AAP from his farmhouse.

'We break it down and say this is what we're doing until this day, and then we'll reassess it. Otherwise the anxiety and the pressure and the stress and the depression becomes too much and you just can't function properly.'

The lack of significant rain and the high price of fodder put the Todd family in a devastating position.

The father-of-three (left) was an advocate for farmers, calling for more support amidst the drought. He spoke about the harrowing impact the drought had on his family in a 2019 interview. (Pictured with his wife Alison and their three children Grace, Will, and Olivia)

Mr Todd and his wife Alison, who is a veterinarian, were facing the prospect of acquiring a loan from the bank to purchase their next load of cotten seed for $45,000 once their reserves were gone.

'Sometimes you drive down the paddock, and pull up and think "what the f***ing hell am I doing?" Mr Todd added.

'How am I going to do this? There's only one of me and I can't afford more staff or whatever. Right now I'm in the worst spot I've ever been in in my life.'

Mr Todd leaves behind his wife Alison and their three children Grace, Will, and Olivia.

The Queensland Police Service Forensic Crash Unit are investigating the incident.
A woman accused of disclosing official secrets and computer hacking while she was a police officer has faced court.

Briohny Lee Granzien was ordered to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday after being charged with six offences last month.

The charges came after Queensland's corruption watchdog and the police's ethical standards command investigated allegations of unauthorised access and disclosure of confidential information by the now 41-year-old.

Briohny Lee Granzie (pictured, leaving Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday) is accused of disclosing of official secrets, computer hacking and misuse which allegedly involves using a restricted computer to gain a benefit, namely the obtaining of information for another

She is charged with two counts of disclosure of official secrets.

The offences involve her allegedly communicating a 'classified police intelligence document' on February 8, 2021 and a police report on July 28, 2015, according to court files.

Ms Granzien is accused of communicating information that came to her knowledge or possession by virtue of her position as a police officer and 'that was her duty to keep secret'.

She is also facing four counts of computer hacking and misuse which allegedly involves using a restricted computer to gain a benefit, namely the obtaining of information for another.

Those alleged offences occurred on August 19, 2017, January 4, 2020, January 28, 2020 and February 5, 2021.

Ms Granzien is due to appear again in the same court on July 11.

She was granted bail on her own undertaking.
President Joe Biden will visit Saudi Arabia on July 15 and 16 in order to repair the relations between the U.S. and the second largest holder of petroleum reserves in the world.

His trip will also include stops in Israel and the West Bank, the White House announced on Tuesday.

While in Saudi Arabia, Biden plans to meet with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, a senior administration official told reporters on a briefing call.

During the stop in Jeddah, Biden also is expected to meet with nearly a dozen regional leaders, including MBS, as part of a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, known as the GCC+3.

'All you just got sent to your email addresses everything I'm doing in the Middle East - it lays it all out. I'm focused on labor. You cover the labor speech, and I'll tell you more about what I'm doing,' Biden told reporters on Tuesday before he boarded Air Force One for a trip to Philadelphia, where he will address the AFL-CIO.

President Joe Biden will visit the Middle East on July 13 to July 16 where he will make stops in Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia

The White House has down played the meeting with MBS, saying the president will meet with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and that the crown prince will be a part of that.

'Yes, we can expect the president to see the Crown Prince as well,' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia, in its statement on the trip, said Biden and MBS would meet.

'The crown prince and President Biden will hold official talks that will focus on various areas of bilateral cooperation and joint efforts to address regional and global challenges,' the statement said.

But White House deputy spokesman John Kirby said Biden will meet with the King and the meeting with MBS will be a part of that.

He's going to meet bilaterally with King Salman and King Salmans team and the crown prince is part of that team. I suspect he'll see the crown prince in the context of the meetings. He's grateful for the king's willingness to host the GCC plus three. He's looking forward to, again, a wide scope of discussions,' he said on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

The trip comes as gas prices in the United States continue to surge, a key domestic issue Biden hopes to tackle going into November's midterm election.

Over the weekend, the national average for a gallon of gas reached $5 for the first time in American history.

Saudi Arabia is the world's largest producer of oil, and as a key member of OPEC plays a large part in setting oil prices worldwide.

The White House announced the trip after Saudi Arabia this month helped nudge OPEC+ to ramp up oil production by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August.

At the time, the White House put out a statement thanking the kingdom, a move that was seen as a step toward trying to thaw the icy relations between Washington D.C. and Riyadh.

Biden also praised the kingdom for agreeing to extend a United Nations-mediated cease-fire in its seven-year war with Yemen. The president called the decison 'courageous.'

The White House has emphasized King Salman is the ruler of the kingdom. Biden is said to see the king as his equivalent, not the crown prince.

The president is visiting at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Jean-Pierre said in a statement Tuesday morning.

She said Biden will discuss the UN-mediated truce in Yemen, economic security, deterring threats from Iran, advancing human rights, and ensuring global energy and food security.

Earlier this month, the White House said Biden still felt MBS was a 'pariah' for what U.S. intelligence says was his role in the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in Turkey in 2018.

Human rights advocates also have encouraged Biden not to make the trip without bringing up Saudi's treatment of its citizens.

'Human rights is always a part of our conversations. No doubt it will be part of the meetings that the President has in the region, both in the stop in Jeddah and also, of course, in the stop in Israel,' the senior administration official said.

But John Kirby wouldnt commit to Biden talking about Khashoggis murder with MBS.

I'm not going to get ahead of the individual discussions the president has had. He has held Saudi Arabia accountable for a series of measures when he released and published that report from the intelligence community about the murder of Jamal khashoggi. He has spoken strongly about that, he said on MSNBCs Morning Joe.

He did say, however, Biden would discuss human rights.

Obviously human rights is something we bring up with partners and friends and folks all over the world every time we meet. It's a key component of the president's foreign policy. He believes that foreign policy has to be rooted in our values. Obviously human rights will come up as a part of that discussion, he noted.

Ahead of the stop in Saudi Arabia, Biden will touch down in Israel where he will emphasize the U.S. commitment to the country.

He will also hold a virtual summit with the leaders of Israel, India, and the United Arab Emirates.

While in the West Bank, Biden plans to meet with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and other leaders to reaffirm his commitment to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, the senior administration official said.

The president will end his trip in Saudi Arabia where he will meet close to a dozen leaders from Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, plus Iraq, Jordan and Egypt.

While in Saudi Arabia next month Biden will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler

The White House has said Biden feels that the crown prince is a 'pariah' for his role in the killing of a political opponent, Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in 2018

President Joe Biden told reporters that he hasn't decided whether to visit Saudi Arabia to beg for more oil

The administration didn't offer details of the president's expected meeting with MBS.

After Biden took office, it was made clear the president wanted to deal with King Salman and not the crown prince.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden referred to MBS as a 'pariah' in the aftermath of Khashoggi's killing.

The Washington Post journalist was murdered in Turkey in 2018. The CIA has concluded with 'high confidence' that bin Salman ordered the assassination.

Khashoggi's murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul tainted the crown prince's image as a reformist.

The last reported meetings between US officials and MBS have not gone well.

In September 2021 when Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan traveled to the Kingdom to meet with bin Salman, the crown prince began shouting at Sullivan when Khashoggi's murder was brought up, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time.

In a confusing incident on June 12, President Biden told reporters that he hadn't decided whether to visit Saudi Arabia to beg for more oil.

Then, just seconds later, he said he was indeed planning a trip there.

'Have you decided whether or not to go to Saudi Arabia,' Biden is asked by a reporter.

'No, not yet,' the president replies on camera.

But moments later, as Biden spoke on the tarmac in Los Angeles at the foot of Air Force One, the president said that he was in fact going.

'What would be holding up the decision at this point? Are there commitments from the Saudi's you're waiting for?'

'It happens to be a larger meeting taking place in Saudi Arabia. That's the reason I'm going', he said. 'It has to do with national security with the Israelis. It has to do with much larger issues than energy.'

Seconds later as Biden spoke on the tarmac at the foot of Air Force One, Biden said that he was in fact going

The visit would be aimed at bolstering relations with Saudi Arabia at a time when Biden is trying to find ways to lower gasoline prices in the United States.

Gas prices have shot up in recent months amid Russia's continued assault of Ukraine and the ensuing sanctions western countries have imposed on Russian oil, which pulled more than 1 million barrels of oil off of global markets.

In March, President Joe Biden announced that the United States would ban Russian oil and natural gas, warning Americans that 'defending freedom is going to cost.'

On Saturday, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline reached $5

But gas prices were already high at the time due to increased demand as the economy started to recover from COVID-related shutdowns, as well as increased travel demands going into the summer.

At the same time, though, many oil companies closed a number of their refineries as demand plummeted during the pandemic.

By Saturday, the national average price of gasoline reached $5 a gallon - up 60 cents from a month ago and up nearly two dollars from just one year ago, according to the New York Times.

The average price of gas, meanwhile, was above $4 in all 50 states - and in California, the price exceeds $6 a gallon, while in Minnesota, the price was $4.72.

Energy experts now estimate that for every penny the price of gas increases, it costs Americans an extra $4 million a day, with the average American paying $450 gas month for their fuel needs.

And research by the Bank of America Institute, which uses anonymous data from millions of their customers' credit and debit card accounts, shows spending on gas eating up a larger share of consumers' budgets and crowding out their ability to buy other items.

For lower-income households - defined as those with incomes below $50,000 - spending on gas reached nearly 10 percent of all spending on credit and debit cards in the last week of May, the institute said in a report this week.

That's up from about 7.5 percent in February, a steep increase in such a short period.
Arianna Reyes-Gomez, 31, was found unconscious and unresponsive with multiple stab wounds to her body at around 2:50am on Monday

An off-duty NYPD officer who was fatally stabbed at an apartment complex in the Bronx, allegedly by her estranged husband, was pictured Monday following her death.

Arianna Reyes-Gomez, 31, was found unconscious and unresponsive with multiple stab wounds to her body at around 2:50am on Monday.

The stabbing took place inside a residential apartment on Grand Concourse in the Bronx, New York, after a domestic dispute, cops said.

Following the attack, Gomez managed to call her cousin, who then called 911. Medics attempted to save her, but she died at the scene.

The officer's 34-year-old husband, Argenis de Jesus Baez Pizano, turned himself in to police at the 44th precinct shortly after the bloody incident.

He was also pictured Monday night being walked by officers to a squad car outside the precinct while in handcuffs after being taken into custody.

The couple were estranged, but had never been reported to local authorities before.

Gomez joined the NYPD in April 2019 and was assigned to a transit district in Brooklyn.

Later in the day, the force tweeted: 'Today, we mourn. Our hearts are heavy as we investigate the tragic murder of an NYPD officer who was off-duty last night in the Bronx. We're here for her loved ones, her fellow cops  and to ensure the person responsible is brought to justice.'

Argenis de Jesus Baez Pizano is placed into a car as he is taken into custody

Argenis de Jesus Baez Pizano, 34, is escorted out of the 44th precinct where he was charged with the murder of his estranged wife, police officer Arianna Reyes-Gomez, 31

Argenis de Jesus Baez Pizano, is said to have then turned himself in to the 44th precinct

The stabbing took place inside a residential apartment on Grand Concourse in the Bronx, New York, allegedly after a domestic dispute.

The body of a female police officer, Arianna Gomez,31, was taken away in an ambulance, on Monday morning after she was stabbed to death

Medics wrapped up the victim in a body bag before taking her away. The victim and the suspect reportedly have one child together

A NYPD honors the unidentified and now-deceased police woman after her body was brought inside an ambulance

Pizano, is not believed to have a criminal history. The couple had a three-year-old son who is living in Georgia with relatives, according to NBC.

He has been charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, authorities said.

A motive for the killing has not been made clear.

'We've had far to many cases of domestic violence homicides in the Bronx,' said Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said.

'It can happen to anyone, even police officers, even first responders. So it just reminds us that we have to keep doing this work, we have to keep focusing on resources and programs for victims of domestic violence, giving them a safe space and an outlet to go to.'

Argenis de Jesus Baez Pizano is pictured in photographs given to DailyMail.com by a neighbor

The NYPD Crime Scene Unit is seen at the apartment of deceased NYPD officer Arianna Reyes- Gomez

The NYPD paid tribute to the fallen policewoman on Twitter, sharing that the force's heart is 'heavy' and that it will 'ensure the person responsible is brought to justice'

An off-duty NYPD officer, 31, was stabbed to death in the early hours of Monday morning at an apartment complex inside an apartment building on Grand Course in the Bronx (pictured)

'We don't know what was going on with them, we just knew they were separated,' Gomez's brother, Pedro Reyes, said to the Daily News. 'We can't believe it.'

'We're feeling awful about this. We are in shock. We have no words,' he added.

''She was really a single mother. [Her son] was being taken care of by his grandparents and aunts. He was going to come back to New York in September to start school. She was so helpful, she helped everybody,' her brother said. 'She loved being a police officer. She was studying to be a sergeant.

'She worked hard to become a police officer. We want justice.'

Gomez is survived by three sisters, two brother and her young son.
Millions of Aussies are being warned to brace for mass blackouts on Tuesday night as freezing temperatures and a national shortage of power create a perfect storm for the grid.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) was forced to intervene on Monday by ordering extra generators to come online to cover power shortages and warned of more of the same on Tuesday.

The recent polar surge, which has brought freezing temperatures to most of Australia, has placed abnormal pressure on the power grid as Aussies blast their heaters and air-conditioning to stay warm.

The increased pressure on the power grid has been compounded by unreliable coal power plants and generators powered down after AEMO ordered a price cap on soaring energy prices.

Queensland and NSW residents are being asked to cut down on their power use again on Tuesday night with electricity supplies forecast to fall short for a second winter's night.

Victoria and South Australia are facing similar pressure on their power grids.

The AEMO on Tuesday issued a 'lack of reserve' warning for Wednesday evening, meaning the forecast demand was likely to outstrip supply in Victoria.

It said outages could be expected between 6pm and 7.30pm.

Millions of residents in NSW and Queensland have been warned of possible power outrages on Tuesday night

Households and businesses in the southeast and coastal areas of Queensland are facing blackouts from 5pm to 9pm on Tuesday.

And in NSW, a shortfall is expected on Tuesday night between 5.30pm and 9pm.

NSW Treasurer and Energy Minister Matt Kean said he was closely monitoring the power crisis.

'There's huge challenges in the energy sector at the moment,' he said on Tuesday.

The wholesale price of energy supply is spiking as the war in Ukraine drives up gas and coal prices.

'Because prices have been consistently high over the last week, the price cap has come in to protect NSW customers,' he said.

For the second day in a row, generators have been asked to supply more electricity.

'AEMO has not yet estimated the latest time at which they would need to intervene,' it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Transmission company Powerlink's Chief Executive Paul Simshauser said people should 'be a bit thoughtful' and reduce their energy use on Tuesday night.

'If you've got your air conditioner on ... just make sure it's not set to blast furnace mode,' he told ABC Radio.

The blackouts were expected to plunge east coast residents into darkness during the 'evening peak' from 5:30pm to 8pm on Monday, and then again on Tuesday morning (stock image)

There has been a supply crunch since Sunday when electricity generators stopped offering to supply power after AEMO capped skyrocketing wholesale electricity prices.

'Households can manage their electricity usage by considering the number of rooms being heated by air-conditioners. Turning off computers, TVs and other household appliances in standby mode. Or even turning off your pool pumps and second fridges,' Powerlink Queensland said.

AEMO claimed supplies are low even though there is 'sufficient physical generation capacity' in the state.

The order to power up generators with the price cap in place means many power providers are running at a loss.

Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said he did not need to intervene because AEMO is taking care of the situation.

'This is a system design that is doing its job at the moment, which means power stays on, we've got adequate supply,' he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

The minister blamed the electricity crisis on higher demand amid cold weather, high gas prices due to the Ukraine war and maintenance outages at public-owned coal power plants.

Some of those plants will be back generating electricity by Thursday, the minister said, but some will be out of action until next April.

Wholesale electricity prices are set by the highest bidder in Queensland, and 83 per cent of power comes from coal and gas plants.

State-owned generators Stanwell Corporation and CS Energy are shielded from high coal prices as they own their own coal mines.

The government can order its two generators to offer cheaper electricity to the market to keep prices lower.

Mr de Brenni has resisted calls to do so, and recently denied that the two public generators have been price gouging.

The market operator has capped wholesale prices anyway, he said, so his intervention isn't needed.

The shortage of electricity comes amid soaring demand for gas and electricity and additional coal-fired power outages in Queensland. Pictured is a coal-fired station

Queensland household electricity bills are set to rise by at least $43 per month from July, but analysts predict they will rise again before mid-2023 if wholesale prices continue surging to record levels.

Instead of dousing wholesale prices, the state government will wipe $43 from monthly power bills until mid-2023.

Mr de Brenni said investing more in solar, wind farms, and electricity storage, would shield Queenslanders from future blackouts in the longer term.

Soaring prices of energy on Sunday triggered the energy price cap after seven consecutive days of surging wholesale prices.

The cap limited the wholesale price to $300 a megawatt hour, with generators along the east coast asked by AEMO to continue running despite being unable to make a profit at these levels.

The 'high price threshold' threshold of $1.359million over a week, or an average of $674.16/MWh, was reached just before 7pm on Sunday night.

'As a consequence, available offers from generators reduced, contributing to a forecast supply shortfall,' the AEMO said in a statement.
A 'myopic' focus on Islamist extremism in Australia since the September 11 attacks has come at the expense of monitoring the far-right groups, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.

Liberty Victoria President Michael Stanton has acknowledged the recent emergence of far-right extremism in the state, citing neo-Nazis gathering in the Grampians and gallows erected outside state parliament as pandemic legislation was debated last year.

He told an inquiry on Tuesday that far-right extremism is real but argued Victorian politicians need to be careful not to blindly expand executive powers, surveillance and censorship to combat its influence.

A group branding Nazi swastikas (pictured) took to the Grampians nature reserve in Victoria

A civil liberties group is calling for police to crackdown on right-wing groups instead of focusing all attention on Islamic terrorism

'We need to make sure that in responding to those confronting scenes in the Grampians - whether it be Nazi salutes or display of the swastika - or the erection of gallows outside parliament, that we do not have a legislative response that throws the baby out with the bathwater,' Mr Stanton said.

'Sometimes that involves tolerating speech that we find offensive or humiliating.'

The barrister said Australian law enforcement agencies' focus has been drawn away from neo-Nazis and other far-right movements over the past 20 years by Islamist extremism.

Both must be addressed, Mr Stanton said, but Victoria's parliament should not cast the net too wide with any reforms.

'The focus should be on those people who are directly likely to be engaged in committing violent acts,' he said.

'To cast their net more broadly risks increasing stigmatisation - the kind of stigmatisation faced by the Muslim community, or parts of the Muslim community, in Australia for almost two decades - and risks being counterproductive.'

As well as investigating the rise of far-right extremism in Victoria, the inquiry is studying how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected its apparent growth.

Mr Stanton argued it was unhelpful to stigmatise a 'disparate' group of protesters, such as those seen across six lockdowns in the state, by connecting them to extremism.

'If we lump those people in with extremists, and if they feel disrespected, then this only will reinforce the messages of those extremists that the government isn't to be trusted,' he said.

The inquiry was announced in February after a push from the Greens following the neo-Nazi gathering in the Grampians, uncovered by investigative journalist Nick McKenzie.

The Nine newspapers reporter, who infiltrated the National Socialist Network, said Victoria is not doing enough to stop the radicalisation of children online.

Further, Mr McKenzie said de-radicalisation programs in places such as jails are not working and are viewed as a 'joke to be studied and exploited' by the NSN.

The inquiry, led by the Legal and Social Issues Committee, is due to report back to parliament with its findings and recommendations by August 4.

The hearing continues.

Liberty Victoria said Australian law enforcement agencies' focus has been drawn away from neo-Nazis and other far-right movements over the past 20 years by Islamist extremism
A Melbourne dental assistant, who was forced to homeschool her children after being sacked during the Covid pandemic, has been awarded $12,000.

Fiona Carpenter took her former employer Pearly Whites to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, claiming she was discriminated against because of her family responsibilities and a broken foot.

Tribunal member Ian Scott rejected her claim she was discriminated against based on her injury and sex, but agreed she was subjected to unlawful discrimination because of her parental status.

A Melbourne dental assistant, who was forced to homeschool her children after being sacked during the Covid pandemic, has been awarded $12,000 (pictured, a dentist at work)

Ms Carpenter was home-schooling her children because of COVID-19 restrictions in July 2020 when her boss, principal dentist Terry Wong, advised her of her termination.

She had been working as a casual dentist assistant at the practice for more than three years by that point.

Mr Wong told Ms Carpenter via email that her sacking was partly down to 'the current challenging circumstances' and the need for 'more stability' in the workplace.

Fiona Carpenter took her former employer Pearly Whites to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (pictured), claiming she was discriminated against because of her family responsibilities and a broken foot

He also pointed to the fact he hired a new permanent staff member, and told the tribunal he wanted to save on employment costs and let one of his casual workers go.

Mr Wong alleged Ms Carpenter had issues with other staff and said he considered each of his casual employees' working relationship with the practice in deciding who to let go.

He rejected the suggestion his use of the word stability referred to Ms Carpenter's availability; however, the tribunal member disagreed, saying it must have referred to him wanting staff to be more available as needed.

Mr Scott said he had to interpret Mr Wong's use of 'the current challenging circumstances' in his email as referring to Ms Carpenter's availability, or lack thereof.

Mr Wong alleged Ms Carpenter had issues with other staff and said he considered each of his casual employees' working relationship with the practice in deciding who to let go (pictured, dentist working on a patient)

The tribunal member also pointed out that, while Mr Wong claimed he needed to save on employment costs, Ms Carpenter was a casual employee and only paid when she worked.

'(Mr Wong) also gave evidence that he 'didn't believe the Government should pay someone who couldn't work' which is a reference to the Applicant being on JobKeeper payments,' Mr Scott said.

The tribunal member found the true reason for Ms Carpenter's dismissal must have been her family responsibilities and limited work availability.

As a result, he found the dental practice discriminated against Ms Carpenter because of her parental status.

Mr Wong also contravened the Equal Opportunity Act because he instructed and or authorised the practice to breach the legislation, Mr Scott said.

He ordered that the practice and Mr Wong pay Ms Carpenter a total $12,000 in damages.
Anthony Albanese has called on the Chinese government to remove sanctions imposed on Australia to improve relations between the two nations.

The Prime Minister was touring Rockpool Carseldine Home, an aged care facility in Brisbane, on Tuesday when a reporter asked him how 'hard' he would work to repair relations with China during a press conference.

'It is China that have imposed sanctions, it is China that has changed, and its China that needs to remove those sanctions,' Mr Albanese responded.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) has called on China to remove sanctions to improve relations with Australia

It comes as Defence Minister Richard Marles met with his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe at the Shangri-La Defence Summit in Singapore on Sunday for talks.

The face-to-face meeting was the first high-level contact between the countries since January 2020.

Mr Albanese said it was a 'good thing' that the meeting had taken place, believing it was a 'positive step' forward.

'It is always a good thing that people have dialogue and have a discussion and it's something that's been missing in the last few years,' he continued.

However, the Prime Minister reiterated his point that China needs to remove sanctions for there to be any hope that the relationship between the two countries will be repaired.

'There needs to be concrete steps taking forward. It is China that's changed the nature of the relationship.'

'They're our major trading partner, so it is important for Australia's economy and the jobs here that we have a relationship going forward but China needs to remove the sanctions that they have put in place.'

Australia's Minister for Defence Richard Marles (left) is pictured with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe (right) in Singapore

Mr Albanese, pictured speaking in Brisbane on Tuesday, said it was a 'positive step' forward that talks between the two countries had taken place at Shangri-La Defence Summit but reiterated his point that sanctions needed to be lifted for the relationship to be repaired

Mr Albanese said that there's 'no reason' for the sanctions to still be enforced.

He added that the sanctions 'hurt' Australia's economy but also 'hurt' China as the country misses out on Australia's quality produce.

Australian-Chinese relations had endured a difficult time since April 2020, when then-prime minister Scott Morrison called for World Health Organization investigators in Wuhan to have the same powers as UN-backed weapons inspectors.

The WHO was investigating the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic that has dominated world headlines for more than two years.

AUSTRALIA VERSUS CHINA TRADE WAR In October 2020, China imposed informal bans on Australian cotton and coal. A month later, Australian sugar, barley, lobsters, wine, copper and timber were added to the list. Six meat processors were banned from exporting beef to China. In December 2020, Australia lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization over China's 80.5 per cent tariffs on its barley exports. In the filing, Australia claimed China deviated from WTO rules 26 times. In March 2021, China imposed duties of between 116.2 per cent and 218.4 per cent on Australian wine, making it too expensive for Chinese consumers. This effectively killed the market. Advertisement

In November 2020, it emerged that the Chinese embassy in Canberra had drawn up what became known as the 'list of grievances' - 14 black marks that were China's reasons for the bad blood with Australia.

The list included: 'The incessant wanton interference in China's... affairs'; 'outrageous condemnation of the governing party of China'; and 'an unfriendly or antagonistic report on China by media'.

China stopped having diplomatic contact with Australia and imposed billions of dollars worth of bans and tariffs on Australian exports.

On Saturday, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin addressed China's increasing number of aerial confrontations.

He said there had been, 'an alarming increase in the number of unsafe aerial intercepts and confrontations at sea' by Chinese planes and ships.

General Wei Fenghe rejected what he called a 'smearing accusation', though, and accused America and other unnamed countries of 'meddling' in the South China Sea and 'stirring up trouble'.

'Some big power has long practised navigation hegemony on the pretext of freedom of navigation,' he told the Singapore summit.

'(The US) has flexed the muscles by sending warships and warplanes on a rampage in the South China Sea,' he said.

Mr Marles expressed alarm at China's rapid military build-up in the area.

'Chinese militarisation of features in the South China Sea needs to be understood for what it is: the intent to deny the legitimacy of its neighbours' claims in this vital international waterway through force,' he said.

Australian-Chinese relations soured in April 2020 after former Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) called for an international probe into the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak and for WHO investigators in Wuhan to have the same powers as UN-backed weapons inspectors

Mr Marles' meeting with General Wei Fenghe could pave the way for further high-level talks with China, with trade sanctions being a point of discussion between the two countries as well as tensions in the Indo-Pacific. (Pictured: Chinese president Xi Jinping)

The South China Sea, which has been a flashpoint of dispute for several years, is one of the world's major shipping routes and is of great strategic importance.

Speaking at the Shangri-La summit, General Wei Fenghe reaffirmed China's position that it seeks a 'peaceful reunification' with Taiwan, but warned any push for Taiwanese independence would be squashed

'We will resolutely crush any attempt to pursue Taiwan independence,' he said. 'We will fight at all costs. And we will fight to the very end.'

Mr Marles' meeting with General Wei Fenghe could pave the way for further high-level talks with China, with trade sanctions being something Australia is very keen to discuss.

'In moving forward, while there is a change in tone, there is absolutely no change in the substance of Australia's national interest,' Mr Marles said.




Parcel delivery workers under the national postal service said Tuesday they will launch a one-day strike later this week, demanding the scrapping of a new contract that does not guarantee job security for contract workers.







The Parcel Delivery Workers' Solidarity Union said its members affiliated with the state postal service, Korea Post, will walk off the job Saturday and stage simultaneous sit-ins across the country starting Monday.







The union claims Korea Post has decided to halt its request to mediate a new contract for contract couriers that does not even guarantee a work period of two years, possibly leading to easy layoffs. The contract will be adopted July 1.







The union said it will call off the strike if Korea Post agrees to withdraw what they called the "slavery" contract.







The planned strike is forecast to further disrupt the country's logistics networks amid an ongoing nationwide walkout by unionized truck drivers.







Thousands of unionized cargo truckers have been on strike, demanding an extension of a freight rate system that guarantees basic wages for truck drivers struggling to cope with soaring fuel prices. (Yonhap)






Northerners with strong accents are subjected to 'profound' social, economic and educational harm compared to those with southern accents, a study has found.

Researchers at Northumbria University said that those with strong northern accents are seen as 'less intelligent' and 'less educated' by those in the south.

Earlier this year, Angela Rayner hit back at people who she said had 'criticised her accent and grammar' during an interview on the radio.

Dr Robert McKenzie, who led the project, also pointed to Labour's Jess Phillips as an example of a politician who experiences accent-ism.

The professor acknowledged that it can work both ways. Another, less obvious, political victim was Jacob Rees-Mogg.

'A long time ago he stood for parliament in Fife, they were obviously testing him out,' said McKenzie.

'He said he felt he suffered at the polls because of his accent, that people wouldn't vote for him because they saw him as an outsider. So it does work both ways.'

Northerners with strong accents are subjected to 'profound' social, economic and education harm compared to those with southern accents, a study has found. Pictured: Labour MPs Angela Rayner (left) and Jess Phillips (right) have both spoken about accent prejudice

Dr McKenzie told the Times that 'accentism' was 'alive and well' in Britain.

He added: 'People were much more prejudiced when it came to accents from the north of England, for example, believing they sound less intelligent, less ambitious, less educated just from the way they speak.'

The team of experts interviewed more than 300 people over a four-year period and found that most people were unaware of their 'deeply embedded implicit biases'.

The study found that, before being interviewed, people believed they would not judge someone's intelligence or education based on their accent and were 'surprised' to discover they held implicit biases.

Dr McKenzie said: 'We played northern and southern speech samples to the study participants and asked them to associate positive traits, such as whether they sounded educated, with those voices.'

The Social Mobility Commission has campaigned for changes to be made to the Equality Act 2010 so that socio-economic background would be a 'protected characteristic'.

The call came after the commission found that, in a study of 300,000 civil servants, those with the 'right accent' would often get the top jobs and had a better chance of climbing the ladder.

Staff who were promoted were likely to have been privileged, have the right accent or 'received pronunciation', an emotionally detached and understated manner, and an 'intellectual approach' to culture and politics, the study found.

Earlier this year, Angela Rayner slammed criticism she received over an interview on the radio.

Addressing the Partygate scandal in January, the Deputy Labour Leader tweeted: 'I've been on the media this morning so my accent and grammar are being critiqued.

Dr McKenzie said Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured) said he was seen as an outsider because of his accent when he stood for parliament in Fife earlier in his career so accentism works both ways

'I wasn't Eton educated, but growing up in Stockport I was taught integrity, honesty and decency. Doesn't matter how you say it. Boris Johnson is unfit to lead.'

Labour's Jess Phillips has also spoken about the need for women with accents in politics.

Speaking to Mumsnet, Ms Phillips, Labour MP for Yardley and former leadership contender, said: 'One of the reasons that I always put myself forward and dare to be brave and keep climbing up is because I think it's important that others can see a young-ish mom with a regional accent being taken seriously in politics.

'We need to do much more to make our politics actually accessible to people because even in this contest it sometimes feels like a factory production line that has no bearing on how people in our country live their lives or what they consider to be leadership.'

Dr McKenzie said he supports changes to the Equality Act, and told the Times that Rayner was a 'great example' of the culture of accentism.

He said: 'She realises that criticism of her accent is a way of taking away her message and women in particular are targeted this way.'

He added: 'This is the prejudice that can dare speak its name. We are not allowed to be biased in terms of gender, we are not allowed to be biased in terms of sexual orientation.

'You just have to watch an episode of The Simpsons to see the way people from the southern United States are depicted. It is surprising I think that people still get away with it.'

He hopes politicians will come along and support the project and its campaign to have accents made a protected characteristic under the Equality Act.

'Just as people shouldn't hold gender biases or biases against fat or thin people, we shouldn't have biases against accents,' said McKenzie.
Boris Johnson has been pictured walking on a Cornish beach with his son Wilfred as he chose a staycation amid weeks of chaos at Britain's airports for millions desperate for a post-pandemic foreign break.

The Prime Minister has been in the West Country campaigning as he tries to win the Tiverton and Honiton by-election for the Tories on June 23, but is squeezing in a short family holiday.

And after a flying visit to the Devon constituency he headed to Cornwall to launch his food strategy at the wheel of a tractor before relaxing on the award-winning Porthminster beach, St Ives.

The Tory leader was seen holding two-year-old Wilfred's hand and clutching a child's spade for sandcastles as they enjoyed the June sunshine together at 2.30pm yesterday.

Wearing a white shirt and garish swimming shorts, other beachgoers described him lounging on the beach with his wife Carrie, Wilf and baby Romy. He also sat digging in the sand and appeared to walk over to the water and get his feet wet.

Locals' reaction was mixed, as some said it was a 'pleasure to meet him' and called him 'genuine' and 'kind' towards his wife children. Other more unkind residents suggested that his presence would mean Porthminster could lose its Blue Flag status for cleanliness while one cruel person on a local Facebook group said it was a shame he wasn't eaten by sharks.

The Cornwall trip is far less controversial than their last break, when Boris accepted a free 25,000 summer holiday for himself and his family from a millionaire former MP he made a peer. Staying in the UK also meant that he could avoid the chaos at many of Britain's airports where staff shortages are leading to long delays at check-in, problems with baggage collection, queues at passport control and hundreds of cancelled flights.

Boris Johnson walks across the sands of north Cornwall at Porthminster beach yesterday afternoon with his son Wilfred

Mr Johnson was seen disembarking from a tractor in Cornwall during the food strategy launch

Abandoned luggage at Glasgow Airport in a scene repeated across the UK in recent weeks

The Prime Minister quietly revealed that Lord Zac Goldsmith allowed him, Carrie and Wilfred to stay at his 25,000-per-night estate near Marbella without payment before Romy was born. Boris was seen painting on the terrace while his wife and son played in the sun and its vast grounds.

What is causing the airport chaos in Britain? Frustrated travellers queue at the Jet2 check-in at Manchester Airport terminal on Monday The aviation industry is struggling to cope with a huge post-pandemic rise in demand for travel abroad amid a severe staffing shortage that is particularly affecting easyJet, British Airways, Tui Airways and Wizz Air. Some airlines have not been able to ramp up their operations quickly enough for the numbers of people travelling, which has surged in recent months following the lifting of restrictions both domestically and abroad. The boss of Heathrow has warned of up to 18 months of disruption as the industry struggles to recruit and train staff to replace those let go during the pandemic. The airlines are desperately trying to rehire people - with security staff, ground handlers and check-in staff among the areas in which they are struggling to recruit. But there is a huge backlog for vetting new staff with security background checks often taking months required before training can even begin. And this all comes in the context a labour shortage, with more vacancies than workers available to fill the roles. Airports such as Manchester, Bristol and Gatwick have been among the worst-hit in recent months with customers facing huge queues amid airline advice to arrive earlier than normal for flights. Advertisement

Hours before his trip to the Cornish coast, Boris drove a tractor slowly over a courgette field and was shown a modern vegetable planting machine on a Cornwall farm.

The Prime Minister got into the cab and was shown how to operate the vehicle, moving it very slowly forward as courgette pickers followed behind, sorting the vegetables into crates at the back.

The farmer then showed Mr Johnson a machine capable of planting 150,000 plants a day, saying it is much more efficient than traditional planting techniques.

'So you can plant a lot of cabbage,' the Prime Minister said, describing it as 'unbelievable' and 'fantastic'.

He said his grandmother used to grow prize pumpkins, adding that some 'exploded'.

He then defended the Government's new food strategy amid criticism from its own lead adviser, who said the plans lack vision and fall short.

The Prime Minister denied the proposals fail to tackle obesity and said the best way to lose weight was to 'eat less' as he visited a farm in Cornwall on Monday.

Mr Johnson insisted he was 'very grateful' for the work done by Leon restaurant co-founder Henry Dimbleby, who was behind the major review into the country's food system.

But Mr Dimbleby has said some of his recommendations went ignored and the plan, being launched on Monday, fails to take enough measures to address the UK's health problems.

'I'm very grateful to Henry for all the work he has done. This is about helping to support UK food and farming at a particularly important time,' Mr Johnson told LBC Radio during a visit to Southern England Farms in Hayle.

On Saturday Boris was seen with Wilf on his shoulders as they visited Seaton beach in Devon, which is in the Tiverton and Honiton constituency where the Tories are trying to defend a 25,000 majority from a Lib Dem challenge.

Images shared by beachgoers in St Ives yesterday afternoon showed the PM taking a quick dip, The Mirror reported.

His wife Carrie had Romy, their second child together, in December last year.

Mr Johnson's south-west sojourn came as Brits face horror queues at airports and cancelled flights abroad.

EasyJet cancelled 46 flights yesterday and huge queues were spotted again at Bristol, Manchester and Heathrow airports.

Ryanair cabin crews in Spain are also set to go on strike this summer.

Staff at Europe's largest carrier by passenger numbers are protesting working conditions.

The prime minister visited a vegetable processing plant in Cornwall to launch the food plan

The prime minister celebrated a successful batch of broccoli at the Cornwall facility, Monday

A passenger said Heathrow's passport queue Monday was the worst they've ever encountered

Holidaymakers queue for security at Manchester Airport's Terminal One on Monday morning

Mr Johnson was pictured behind the wheel of a tractor at a farm in Hayle, Cornwall yesterday

Around 10,000 easyJet passengers were affected today by a total of 46 cancelled flights - with 29 at Gatwick, ten at Belfast, six at Bristol and more at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Stansted and Liverpool.

Meanwhile a source at Gatwick said that the airport is being hit by a 'meltdown every night' due to air traffic control staff shortages - amid concerns the situation could worsen when demand surges again during the summer holidays.

Mr Johnson also unveiled the government's food strategy during his trip.

The government's first such plan for 75 years was launched alongside farm workers in Cornwall on Monday.

Mr Johnson said: 'Our food strategy sets out a blueprint for how we will back farmers, boost British industry and help protect people against the impacts of future economic shocks by safeguarding our food security.

'Harnessing new technologies and innovation, we will grow and eat more of our own food, unlocking jobs and growing the economy.'

A leaked draft of the strategy, published by The Guardian on Friday, caused a stir when it appeared to reveal calls for a sugar and salt reformulation tax had been snubbed.

The review also urged the Government to 'nudge' consumers into changing their meat-eating habits.

But while the draft paper said ministers would 'support progress on a wide range of issues, including alternative proteins', it suggested sustainable sources of protein did not have to 'displace traditional sectors', pointing to 'regenerative farming'.

Leon co-founder and government adviser Henry Dimbleby hit out at the plan, telling the newspaper it 'is not a strategy'.

Mr Dimbleby told BBC Breakfast yesterday morning: 'Is it the big, bold, unified strategy I think we need? No.

'Do I think we're going in the right direction? Yes.'
Our great lettuce crisis appears to only be a problem for the eastern states with West Australians seemingly having no problem getting the salad staple - and at a completely reasonable price.

Fresh vegetable prices have skyrocketed over the past few months as demand outstrips supply after flooding in Queensland and northern NSW ravaged crops.

A head of lettuce, which typically costs about $2, can cost shoppers on the east coast up to $12 at the moment.

But over in sunny Western Australia, the lettuce price has remained stable, a fact the state is more than happy to boast about.

Under the caption 'What lettuce shortage?', Reddit user Dawgreen posted a picture of a West Australian Coles supermarket stall stacked high with large iceberg lettuces being sold for $3.50 a head.

They were stacked against an impressive pile of cos variety lettuces, also going for $3.50.

A Reddit user happily showed off his state's abundance of lettuce and commentators were quick to contrast this with the shortages of the vegetable in the eastern states

These extraordinarily expensive lettuces went on sale in a Brisbane IGA late last month with the shop and suppliers blaming the bad the Queensland weather for the sparse crop

This contrasts with lettuces being sold for almost $12 in some supermarkets along the Eastern Seaboard.

The reason appears to be local sourcing.

Lettuce supplies in the eastern states have been badly affected by flooding in Queensland and NSW, along with many other vegetable crops.

However, West Australian farmers have not been so unfortunate.

'Almost all of our lettuce in Western Australia is sourced in Western Australia which hasn't experienced the same level of supply impacts we have seen on the east coast,' a spokesperson for Coles said.

Chief Operating Officer Matt Swindells told Channel Nine on Tuesday morning that the east coast fresh produce growers had suffered 'a double whammy'.

'The first has been the floods that we all remember that went through south-east Queensland, northern NSW. That damaged crops but it also stopped the farmers being able to plant,' he said.

'That is then being compounded with one of the coldest winters in decades. So the crops that we have managed to get into the ground, they're not growing as fast as they normally would do.'

Woolworths also confirmed that Mother Nature had been kinder out west.

'While poor weather has significantly impacted the availability of lettuce on the east coast, our Western Australian lettuce growers have been unaffected and continue to enjoy favourable growing conditions,' a spokesperson said.

'Our lettuce supply in Western Australia is sourced from growers within the state, and the availability there has remained steady.

'While growers on the east coast have been planting new crops, it will likely take a number of weeks before supply begins to improve.'

'We're working closely with our east coast growers and we'll continue to keep our customers informed.'

Unfortunately for people on the east coast hoping to share in the west's bounty, the store said there was only enough lettuces to meet the demand of the WA market.

In NSW, where iceberg lettuces are being sold for $6.90 each, Woolworths is attempting to ease the pain of buying fresh food and vegetables by offering extra rewards points for doing so.

Up until August 18, shoppers who spend $10 or more on fresh fruit and veg will collect five times the amount of reward points on their total shop but you need to have the Everyday Rewards Card.

The story said this was a 'personalised offer' which can be boosted through the Everyday Rewards app.

WA-based Reddit commentators were quick to gloat about their national lettuce supremacy.

One joked about sending salad 'aid' to the east.

Reddit users were quick to run in the superiority of the WA's stock of vegetables

'I think my parents could cover their Indian pacific tickets by taking suitcases of iceberg lettuce back to Melbourne with them,' wrote another.

However, not everyone was so impressed.

Not everyone was that impressed by the lettuce price



The cost of lettuce in the eastern states even prompted KFC to substitute cabbage in its burgers but this did not gain prime ministerial favour.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week labelled the move as a 'crisis' for his KFC-loving son and joked it would be priority item for his cabinet to discuss.
Ukraine is thought to have struck a military base 40 miles inside Russia in an early-morning missile attack.

Footage showed what appeared to be a missile trail in the sky over the town of Klintsy early Tuesday, accompanied by a plume of smoke rising from a nearby base.

Troops and helicopters then arrived to inspect what appeared to be a bomb crater, as local Telegram channels reported a fire spreading to a nearby apartment block.

Smoke rose over the town of Klintsy, 40 miles inside the Russian border, on Tuesday morning (left) after what is thought to have been a Ukrainian missile strike on a military base (right)

'I was driving to work there was a rocket takeoff, after which they called me and said there was an explosion in Klintsy,' said a man who took a picture of the missile trace.

'The time between takeoff and the call is three minutes.'

Russian military helicopters were flying over the site in Klintsy, Bryansk region, the reported strike.

There were claims a woman was wounded in the hit, with her leg torn off.

Eyewitnesses posted a video with a crater allegedly from a hit by Ukrainian ammunition near Klintsy.

According to preliminary information, the wreckage indicates that it was a Tochka-U missile.

There were reports of electricity and water supplies being cut after the strike.

On Saturday, there were reports of a strike or sabotage attack at a military unit near Klintsy.

Military equipment under report from the Russian war campaign was reportedly damaged.

Locals reported hearing an explosion before a fire spread across the base and into a nearby apartment block, sending thick plumes of smoke into the sky
Detectives are hunting for witnesses after a 17-year-old girl was reportedly raped while onboard a train between London and Kent.

British Transport Police shared an appeal after the attack took place on a service between Eltham and Dartford in the middle of the afternoon.

Police said the teenager was raped in one of the train's toilet cubicles shortly after 2.30pm on Friday, May 20 and they are asking anyone who may have information to get in touch.

Detectives are hunting for witnesses after a 17-year-old girl was reportedly raped in a toilet cubicle while onboard a train travelling between London and Kent last month (stock image)

A 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident and has been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

Officers say they are keen to speak to any witnesses or anyone with information to assist their investigation.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information is asked to contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 2200052185.

Alternatively, they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Advertisement

Rail chiefs are 'fine-tuning' a pared-back strikes timetable which could see around half of the rail network open but only for 11 hours, as negotiators grow increasingly doubtful of reaching a deal before next week's walkouts.

Up to 50 per cent of services may run on key inter-city routes such as the east coast and west coast main lines on which signalling has been automated, under emergency plans for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday next week.

But these trains will only run between 7.30am and 6.30pm and rural areas will be cut off because they have no automated signalling and rely on signallers from the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union who are walking out.

Passengers are being warned by operators not to travel unless absolutely necessary - and they also run the risk of being left stranded if their journeys involve a station change and they leave it too late in the day, because the last trains to cities such as Glasgow from Birmingham or further south are likely to leave in the early afternoon.

Members of the RMT union at Network Rail and 13 train operators are to strike on June 21, 23 and 25 over pay, while the RMT and Unite are also striking on London Underground on June 21 in a separate row over jobs and pay.

It comes amid concerns over further chaos after the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) said today that 6,000 staff at Network Rail will be balloted for strikes in escalating disputes over pay, conditions and job security.

As fears mounted over a 'summer of discontent', TSSA bosses said the ballot of workers would be held between June 20 and July 11 - and, in the event of a yes vote, strike action could take place as early as July 25. Talks between Network Rail and the TSSA will be held on Thursday in a bid to agree a pay deal before voting gets underway.

Southeastern, which runs services between London, Kent and East Sussex, has told those hoping to travel on June 21, 23 or 25: 'We strongly recommend you plan ahead, do not travel on these dates and make alternative plans.'

Northern, which runs trains across the North of England, has gone further by 'asking customers not to travel on its services between June 21 - 26' and warned there will be only a 'very limited timetable'. The operator, which normally runs 2,000 services a day to 540 stations, said: 'Our ability to get customers where they want to be will be significantly impacted and our advice, regrettably, is simply not to travel during the week of strike action.'

Other operators have not yet gone as far as to say 'do not travel' and instead used language such as 'only travel if necessary' on c2c; 'we strongly advise you alter your plans' on Avanti West Coast; 'consider changing your travel dates where possible' on South Western Railway; and 'change their plans if they can' on East Midlands Railway.

Southeastern, which runs trains between London, Kent and East Sussex, has now issued a map showing what limited services will be running during the period of industrial action on June 21, 23 and 25

The disruption caused by next week's RMT strike will begin next Monday night from around 9pm, when services are axed to ensure rolling stock is in the correct places for dealing with the first strike the following day.

There will also be significant disruption on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday due to knock-on effects from walkouts the day before. Although the full network will be open, only 60 to 70 per cent of services will run on these days.

Planned rail strikes during 'summer of discontent' June 21 : RMT and Unite strike on London Underground

: RMT and Unite strike on London Underground June 21, 23 and 25 : RMT strike on Network Rail and 13 train operators

: RMT strike on Network Rail and 13 train operators June 26 : Aslef strike on Hull trains

: Aslef strike on Hull trains June 28-29 and July 13-14 : Aslef strike on Croydon Tramlink, London

: Aslef strike on Croydon Tramlink, London From July 25 : When Network Rail strike action could take place if TSSA members vote for it in ballot Advertisement

This is partly so more freight services than normal can be run in order to keep the lights on in some areas and petrol forecourts and supermarket shelves stocked.

It threatens to cause chaos for millions, affect key events such as Glastonbury and Armed Forces Day and even stop students attending school or sitting exams.

A rail source said: 'Some fine-tuning is going on but the timetable will be special from Monday to Sunday inclusive because every day will be affected. The worst-affected places will be rural areas, where signalling is still less modern than in urban centres. Those lines will be completely shut with no services whatsoever.

'As much as up to 50 per cent will run on the rest of the network during 7.30am to 6.30pm, but it's going to vary from operator to operator.'

The finished amended timetables are set to be published later this week. The main issue is a lack of signallers. Only a tenth of normal levels will be working on strike days after back-up signallers were drafted in.

Talks between Network Rail and RMT negotiators will continue today, but sources said last night that they were 'not hopeful' of a deal being struck and that it's 'looking like the strikes will go ahead at the moment'.

The RMT wants pay rises for workers which recognise the RPI inflation rate, which is currently 11.1 per cent. They also want a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.

The RMT was offered a pay rise of 2 per cent, which could increase to as much as 5 per cent if the union accepts some modernisation of working practices, such as rostering more staff at weekends - but it has snubbed the offer.

Commuters queue for buses outside London Victoria train station during the most recent Underground strike on June 6

Alongside the Network Rail talks, negotiations are taking place with 13 train companies covering most of the country whose RMT workers are also striking.

Rail strikes are 'not inevitable', says Labour as Grant Shapps is urged to hammer out a deal Rail strikes threatening to result in travel chaos next week are 'not inevitable', according to Labour. Shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire called on Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to focus on getting an agreement 'hammered out' with the unions. Her remarks came after Commons Leader Mark Spencer confirmed MPs will debate a 'motion on rail strikes' tomorrow following a last-minute switch to parliamentary business, although he did not confirm the specific details under consideration. For Labour, Ms Debbonaire said: 'The Transport Secretary ought to be relentlessly focusing on getting the parties round the table and getting an agreement hammered out. If he continues to fail that's on him. 'The backdrop to this dispute is the Tories have overseen a managed decline of our railways and if all the Transport Secretary can come up with is to bring in agency staff on trains they really are a Government who have run out of ideas, slashing safety, putting passengers at risk is no solution. 'So I remind the Transport Secretary of his job, he's meant to be in government, he holds the power to resolve these disputes, strikes next week are not inevitable and he could make sure they could be avoided. 'In Labour-run Wales train staff are not going on strike and all sides are working together to manage change.' She added: 'Instead of grandstanding the Government should get a grip and sort this mess out.' Mr Spencer replied: 'I think we may have tickled a little nerve somewhere, I think maybe there's a little bit of sensitivity here. 'I would encourage (Ms Debbonaire) to approach her union bosses with the same enthusiasm and get them round the table and stop the misery they're about to inflict on the Great British public, on students who will miss their exams, on people who want to get to job interviews and let's get round the table and discuss it, and I'd encourage her to encourage her union bosses to do exactly the same.' Conservative former minister Sir Christopher Chope branded Labour the 'strikers' friend' while SNP Commons leader Pete Wishart accused the UK Government of seeking to 'throw red meat to the Tory backbench on their favourite subject, which is hammering the unions'. Advertisement

The walkouts, the biggest in more than 30 years, will cost the Treasury 100million in lost fare revenue and deliver an estimated 450million hit to the UK economy.

Meanwhile the TSSA has served notice to ballot more than 6,000 staff at Network Rail.

The TSSA has previously announced strike ballots among its members at four rail firms - Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands and West Midlands Trains.

And members of the drivers union Aslef are also striking later this month at Hull Trains, Greater Anglia and Croydon Tramlink.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps updated ministers on the looming strike action at today's Cabinet meeting.

Giving an update on the meeting, the Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters: 'The Transport Secretary said the Government would remain on the side of the public, adding that strikes would also be bad for rail workers as it risked driving away customers when numbers were already down since the pandemic.

'He highlighted that median pay of rail workers was significantly higher than other public sector workers, with nurses receiving a median of 31,000 compared to 59,000 for train drivers.

'He said the strikes also risk disrupting exams at a time when schoolchildren had already had their education significantly affected during the pandemic.'

Downing Street also accused unions of 'skipping over a step' and moving to industrial action without proper negotiations. The Prime Minister's spokesman rejected claims the Government could be doing more to prevent the transport chaos facing commuters. The spokesman said Mr Shapps has been 'speaking to railway leaders, to Network Rail and to other groups throughout'.

'But, fundamentally, obviously it's for unions to have these negotiations with groups like Network Rail. It is our firm view that unions are skipping over a step, they're not negotiating, they are moving straight to strike action.'

The Government 'is doing everything possible to encourage unions to step back from the precipice of this and we want the negotiations to proceed', the spokesman said.

TSSA members at Network Rail work in operational, control, management and safety critical roles on rail services across Britain.

The union is demanding a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for 2022, no unagreed changes to terms and conditions, and a pay increase which reflects the rising cost of living.

The TSSA said Network Rail staff last had a pay rise between two and three years ago - it varies between grades - and also worked throughout the pandemic as key workers.

Members are being asked to cast two votes: one on strike action and another on action short of a strike.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: 'We could be seeing a summer of discontent across our railways if Network Rail don't see sense and come to the table to face the concerns of their staff.

'Network Rail staff are asking for basic fair treatment - not to be sacked from their jobs, a fair pay rise in the face of a cost-of-living crisis and no race to the bottom on terms and conditions.

London Waterloo Underground station is closed during the Rail, Maritime and Transport's Underground strike on June 6

'Fat cat bosses have so far refused these completely reasonable requests, leaving us with no option other than to ballot for industrial action, something which is always a last resort.

Thousands more rail staff to be balloted over strike action by TSSA union Thousands more railway workers are to be balloted for strikes in escalating disputes which threaten travel chaos this summer. The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) has served notice to ballot more than 6,000 staff at Network Rail in a dispute over pay, conditions and job security. The TSSA has previously announced strike ballots among its members at four rail companies - Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands and West Midlands Trains - while members of the drivers union Aslef are also striking later this month at Hull Trains, Greater Anglia and Croydon Tramlink. TSSA members at Network Rail work in operational, control, management and safety critical roles on rail services across Britain. TSSA is demanding a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for 2022, no unagreed changes to terms and conditions, and a pay increase which reflects the rising cost of living. The union said Network Rail staff last had a pay rise between two and three years ago - it varies between grades - and also worked throughout the pandemic as key workers. Members are being asked to cast two votes: one on strike action and another on action short of a strike. The ballot opens on June 20 and closes on July 11. In the event of a yes vote, strike action could be held from July 25. TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: 'We could be seeing a summer of discontent across our railways if Network Rail don't see sense and come to the table to face the concerns of their staff. 'Network Rail staff are asking for basic fair treatment - not to be sacked from their jobs, a fair pay rise in the face of a cost-of-living crisis and no race to the bottom on terms and conditions. 'Fat cat bosses have so far refused these completely reasonable requests, leaving us with no option other than to ballot for industrial action, something which is always a last resort. 'It's frankly ridiculous that we're being forced to ballot. Network Rail only responded to our requests for pay talks - made before Christmas - when we moved the issue to dispute in April and have dragged their heels at every stage. 'Our members have had enough. We are preparing for all options, including co-ordinated strike action.' A Network Rail spokesman said: 'Now is not for time for the TSSA to be jumping on the RMT 'strike bandwagon'. 'Positive pay talks were in full swing with a 'no-strings' pay offer of 2.5 per cent on the table, with the potential for more if connected to productivity and efficiency gains, so this news is both premature and deeply disappointing.' Talks between Network Rail and the TSSA will be held on Thursday in a bid to agree a pay deal. Network Rail said it remains committed to progressing talks with the union to implement reforms to management. Sources said that, through natural attrition and uptake on voluntary severance, strong progress has been made on management modernisation to date. Advertisement

'It's frankly ridiculous that we're being forced to ballot. Network Rail only responded to our requests for pay talks - made before Christmas - when we moved the issue to dispute in April and have dragged their heels at every stage.

'Our members have had enough. We are preparing for all options, including co-ordinated strike action.'

A Network Rail spokesman said: 'Now is not for time for the TSSA to be jumping on the RMT 'strike bandwagon'.

'Positive pay talks were in full swing with a 'no-strings' pay offer of 2.5 per cent on the table, with the potential for more if connected to productivity and efficiency gains, so this news is both premature and deeply disappointing.'

Network Rail said it remains committed to progressing talks with the TSSA to implement reforms to management.

Sources said that, through natural attrition and uptake on voluntary severance, strong progress has been made on management modernisation to date.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'Strikes should always be the last resort, not the first, so it is hugely disappointing and premature that the TSSA is balloting for industrial action when talks have only just begun.

'Taxpayers across the country contributed 16billion, or 600 per household, to keep our railways running throughout the pandemic.

'The railway is still on financial life support, with passenger numbers 25 per cent down and anything that drives away even more of them puts services and jobs at risk.

'Train travel for millions more people is now a choice, not a necessity. Strikes stop our customers choosing rail, and they might never return.

'We urge the TSSA to reconsider and come to industry talks, so we can find a solution that delivers for workers, passengers and taxpayers alike.'

Also today, Labour said the RMT rail strikes threatening to result in travel chaos next week are 'not inevitable'.

Shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire called on Mr Shapps to focus on getting an agreement 'hammered out' with the unions.

Her remarks came after Commons Leader Mark Spencer confirmed MPs will debate a 'motion on rail strikes' tomorrow following a last-minute switch to parliamentary business, although he did not confirm the specific details under consideration.

For Labour, Ms Debbonaire said: 'The Transport Secretary ought to be relentlessly focusing on getting the parties round the table and getting an agreement hammered out. If he continues to fail that's on him.

'The backdrop to this dispute is the Tories have overseen a managed decline of our railways and if all the Transport Secretary can come up with is to bring in agency staff on trains they really are a Government who have run out of ideas, slashing safety, putting passengers at risk is no solution.

'So I remind the Transport Secretary of his job, he's meant to be in government, he holds the power to resolve these disputes, strikes next week are not inevitable and he could make sure they could be avoided.

'In Labour-run Wales train staff are not going on strike and all sides are working together to manage change.'

She added: 'Instead of grandstanding the Government should get a grip and sort this mess out.'

Mr Spencer replied: 'I think we may have tickled a little nerve somewhere, I think maybe there's a little bit of sensitivity here.

'I would encourage (Ms Debbonaire) to approach her union bosses with the same enthusiasm and get them round the table and stop the misery they're about to inflict on the Great British public, on students who will miss their exams, on people who want to get to job interviews and let's get round the table and discuss it, and I'd encourage her to encourage her union bosses to do exactly the same.'

Transport Salaried Staffs Association general secretary Manuel Cortes (pictured in Liverpool in 2014) said today that Britain 'could be seeing a summer of discontent across our railways'

Conservative former minister Sir Christopher Chope branded Labour the 'strikers' friend' while SNP Commons leader Pete Wishart accused the UK Government of seeking to 'throw red meat to the Tory backbench on their favourite subject, which is hammering the unions'.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has refused to condemn the walkouts since they were announced last week. He has so far said only that the strikes 'shouldn't go ahead', but stopped short of criticising the RMT.

By contrast, the Conservative Party set up a new petition called 'Stop Labour's Strikes' yesterday and several Cabinet Ministers have hit out at the industrial action.

Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality, said: 'The planned rail strikes will come as a huge blow to a hospitality sector already facing huge challenges as it endeavours to recover from the ravages of the pandemic.

'Our customers and staff rely heavily on public transport to visit our venues, especially in towns and cities, where recovery is proving most difficult. We hope that the strikes can be avoided and urge all stakeholders to cooperate to that end.'

Luke Johnson, chairman of the Brighton Pier Group, branded the strikes 'selfish and unreasonable'. He said: 'It's awful news for my business and Brighton Pier. People take the train down to Brighton for the day and if they can't then they scrap it. Driving and parking is far too complicated.'
Advertisement

A plane expected to take the first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda tonight has been spotted at MoD Boscombe Down - with defiant ministers vowing the journey will go ahead even if there is only one person on board.

The Boeing 767 - operated by Spanish charter firm Privilege Style - was seen landing at the Ministry of Defence testing site in Wiltshire earlier today.

The company has a permit to fly from Stansted to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, at 9.30pm tonight, according to Civil Aviation Authority records. The airline has not yet commented on the claims.

Activists say just seven of the original 130 people originally told they would be deported to Rwanda are still set to be on the plane.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch appeal to block the removal of an Iraqi asylum seeker due to be deported tonight.

A panel of three justices refused permission for the man to challenge a Court of Appeal ruling yesterday which upheld the earlier decision of a High Court judge not to grant an injunction stopping the flight.

The court's president, Lord Reed, said there had been an 'assurance' that, if the policy is found to be unlawful in an upcoming judicial review, steps would be taken to bring back any migrants flown to Rwanda in the interim.

This morning, Liz Truss said the first plane will take off today even if it is only carrying one migrant. The Supreme Court ruling means this condition will be met.

It came as Boris Johnson vowed lawyers and Church of England critics would not deter the government from seeing the policy through.

Opening Cabinet this morning, Mr Johnson said: 'What is happening with the attempt to undermine the Rwanda policy is that they are, I'm afraid, undermining everything that we're trying to do to support safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK and to oppose the illegal and dangerous routes,' he said.

'I think that what the criminal gangs are doing and what those who effectively are abetting the work of the criminal gangs are doing is undermining people's confidence in the safe and legal system, undermining people's general acceptance of immigration.'

The Prime Minister added: 'We are not going to be in any way deterred or abashed by some of the criticism that is being directed upon this policy, some of it from slightly unexpected quarters. We are going to get on and deliver.'

Four people due to be to be on tonight's flight have brought a legal challenge to the High Court.

Mr Justice Swift has said each claimant's lawyer will have 40 minutes to argue their case, on top of their written arguments sent to the court. Sonali Naik QC said her client is an Iranian Kurd who appears to have 'a good substantive asylum claim'.

In other developments in the unfolding Rwanda flight farce:

Liz Truss said she did not know how many people would be on the first flight but it was important to establish the 'principle' of the policy and others would go in future;

The archbishops of Canterbury and York along with the other Anglican bishops in the House of Lords condemned the 'immoral' plan;

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: 'Deporting asylum seekers should shame us as a nation.'

Ms Truss did not deny estimates that a charter flight could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, instead saying she 'can't put a figure' on the expense but 'it is value for money';

Tory MP Peter Bone made a combative speech in the Commons in which he complained about 'lefty lawyers' sabotaging the policy;

A government source suggested the chances of the first flight going ahead were 'very, very slim' even despite the government winning a key court battle;

More than 100 migrants arrived in Dover after crossing the Channel in small boats today, with this week set to be one of 2022's busiest yet for crossings;

This Boeing 767 - seen landing at RAF Boscombe Down in Wiltshire today - is expected to be used in the first flight to Rwanda tonight. Spanish carrier Privilege Style has not yet commented on the claims

Boris Johnson, opening Cabinet today, turned his fire on lawyers who he accused of 'abetting the work of criminal gangs'

Mr Johnson - pictured today at Cabinet with Rishi Sunak in the background - insisted the Government would not be deterred by the attacks 'not least from lawyers' and told his Cabinet ministers that 'we are going to get on and deliver' the plan

Priti Patel's Rwanda plan received a boost last night after judges refused to block today's flight. The Home Secretary is seen today

Today, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted the first flight would take off but could not say how few people will be on it

Detainees in Brook House Detention Centre,Gatwick this morning on the day a flight to Rwanda is due to leave

Revealed: The piously lefty cabal who have fought to ground Rwanda flight By David Wilkes for the Daily Mail A collection of Left-wing groups have made legal challenges in a bid to block ministers' plan to send migrants to Rwanda. They are represented by lawyers who in many cases have links to the Labour Party and a lengthy record of bringing cases against the Government. MATRIX CHAMBERS Barristers from the trendy London human rights chambers  co-founded by Cherie Blair  represented the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, Care4Calais and Detention Action on Friday and yesterday. One was top QC Raza Husain, who last month retweeted a message by Labour MP Chris Bryant criticising Boris Johnson's response to Partygate that said: 'Downing Street under him has been a cesspit of arrogant, entitled narcissists.' Mrs Blair left the chambers in 2014. LEIGH DAY A separate challenge to the Rwanda policy by charity Asylum Aid, heard in court yesterday, was lodged by law firm Leigh Day, which was accused of being behind a 'witch-hunt' of British troops in Iraq. The firm and three of its solicitors  including senior partner Martyn Day  were cleared of a string of misconduct allegations following a disciplinary hearing in 2017. They had been charged by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority after the Ministry of Defence submitted a lengthy dossier of alleged wrongdoing, including claims they caused innocent troops years of torment. Leigh Day worked with Birmingham solicitor Phil Shiner to represent Iraqi clients in parallel legal actions. Mr Shiner was struck off as a solicitor for dishonesty over his handling of war-crime allegations against the Army. DOUGHTY STREET Asylum Aid's legal team also includes several barristers from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's former chambers, Doughty Street. They include leading human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy QC, who has been an active and outspoken Labour peer since entering the House of Lords as Baroness Kennedy after the general election in 1997. It is also where Amal Clooney, the lawyer wife of film star George, practises. Robert Latham, who retains an associate tenancy at Doughty Street, supported Sir Keir's leadership campaign with a donation of 100,000. DUNCAN LEWIS SOLICITORS Acting for the PCS union, Care 4 Calais and Detention Action, Duncan Lewis has a long track record of bringing challenges against government immigration measures. In 2020, The Mail on Sunday revealed the firm had received 55 million in legal aid from the British taxpayer in just three years. The paper also told how the company's staff have travelled to Calais and offered support to refugees hoping to reach Britain. Owned by entrepreneur Amarpal Singh Gupta, who has been dubbed 'Britain's legal aid king', the firm has forged a close relationship with charities that work among refugee camps on the French coast. Staff have also reportedly boasted of mixing with senior Labour Party figures, including deputy leader Angela Rayner and foreign spokesman David Lammy. DETENTION ACTION Bella Sankey, director of campaign group Detention Action, is a former would-be Labour MP endorsed by Sir Keir. Like the Labour leader many years before, Miss Sankey previously worked at Liberty, the campaign group for civil liberties which has long been a recruiting ground for Labour politicians. PUBLIC AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES UNION The union's firebrand general secretary Mark Serwotka was kicked out of the Labour Party in 1992 for being a member of the Trotskyist group Socialist Organiser. In 2016, he rejoined Labour, saying his long-time friend Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offered a 'genuine break from the past'. In recent years, he has called for a General Strike to 'bring the Tories down'. CARE4CALAIS The charity was at the centre of a scandal in 2017 when it emerged its married founder Clare Moseley, a former accountant and then 46, had a year-long affair with Mohamed Bajjar, then 27. He had falsely claimed to be a Syrian refugee, but was in reality a Tunisian market-stall trader married to another British woman. The charity is currently embroiled in a Charity Commission inquiry over 'serious governance concerns'. ASYLUM AID Its Cambridge-educated director Alison Pickup leads a team providing legal representation to asylum seekers and refugees. She was previously legal director of the Public Law Project  and before that had a practice at Doughty Street Chambers, where she specialised in immigration, asylum and migrants' rights in the context of unlawful detention, community care, asylum support and access to justice. Among her achievements, Doughty Street Chambers' website lists her as having been junior counsel in 'two of the leading challenges to the legal aid cuts'. One was the successful challenge to the proposed 'residence test' for legal aid, the other established that Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights  the right to respect for private and family life  may require legal aid to be provided in immigration cases. Advertisement

Today ministers have turned their fire on lawyers who they blame for sabotaging their flagship migration policy.

'All the lawyers who have been fighting in the courts will now turn their collective might elsewhere and direct all their resources at the remaining individuals due to be on board,' a government source told The Times.

'They'll be exploiting every single loophole possible and using every trick in the book to get those last people removed from the flight.

'[The chances of it going ahead as planned] are very, very slim.'

Last night, Tory MP Peter Bone made a combative speech in the Commons in which he complained about 'lefty lawyers' sabotaging the policy.

The MP Wellingborough told MPs: 'We hear that a number of people who were meant to be on the flight tomorrow have, miraculously, got some lefty lawyer to intervene and stop it.

'Can I suggest that instead of booking 50 people on each flight to Rwanda, book 250 people on it then when they stop half of them from travelling you still have a full flight - come on, get on and send them.'

Judges yesterday refused to block the inaugural flight scheduled for today to the offshore processing centre.

Tory MPs cheered in the Commons as the Court of Appeal backed a ruling in the Home Secretary's favour last week, giving the policy the green light.

A separate High Court bid to block the flight also failed yesterday when the charity Asylum Aid was denied an injunction.

The Home Secretary has now won three victories in cases brought against the Government by Left-wing groups.

But there is still only a slim chance that any migrants, including those who crossed the Channel in small boats, will be on today's flight to Rwanda.

Just seven names remained of the 130 on the original passenger list last night after lawyers submitted a series of challenges.

Further individual appeals by these seven, who include Iranians, Iraqis and Albanians, were expected in the hours before the flight.

At least six further cases are due to be heard at the High Court today under the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and other legal measures.

But the Court of Appeal's decision means Miss Patel's scheme to hand Channel migrants and other 'irregular arrivals' a one-way ticket to the east African nation has avoided falling at the first hurdle.

The Home Secretary insists the policy is necessary to avoid further drownings in the Channel.

'People will see this as a good result for the Home Office, but now the policy is not facing a blanket ban, well-resourced lawyers will try to get their clients pulled off the flight individually,' a government source said.

'They will try every tactic and exploit every loophole, probably waiting until the very last minute.'

The leadership of the Church of England yesterday condemned the Rwanda operation as an 'immoral policy that shames Britain'.

In a letter to The Times, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and 24 other bishops said: 'Whether or not the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda, this policy should shame us as a nation.'

Lord Justice Singh, chairing a panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal yesterday, declined to 'interfere with the conclusions' made by a High Court judge on Friday.

He said Mr Justice Swift 'did not err in principle' when he refused to grant an interim injunction that would have stopped the flight taking off.

Lord Justice Singh was a leading human rights barrister and founded Matrix Chambers with Cherie Blair.

The appeal was brought by the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents a majority of UK Border Force staff, and charities Care 4 Calais and Detention Action.

They were refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, although the applicants may lodge a further bid directly.

Raza Husain QC, for the applicants, told the court the Rwanda policy featured 'a serious interference with basic dignity' and the High Court had wrongly assessed the strength of their claim.

He added that if migrants were to be sent to Rwanda and a judicial review  due in July  rules the policy unlawful the Home Office would be required to return them to the UK.

Migrants could then have 'significant claims' for damages, the QC suggested.

But Rory Dunlop QC, for the Home Office, said: 'The flight tomorrow is important. This is a policy which is intended to deter dangerous and unnecessary journeys, journeys from safe third countries by people who do not need to make that journey to be safe, they can claim in France or wherever it is.

'This is a policy that  if it works  could save lives as well as disrupt the model of traffickers.'

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has implicitly rejected Prince Charles's reported criticisms of the Rwanda plan.

Mr Johnson declined to comment directly on whether the prince was wrong to call it 'appalling', but added: 'This is about making sure that we break the business model of criminal gangs who are not only risking people's lives but undermining public confidence in legal migration.'

Ms Patel has now won three victories in cases brought against the Government by Left-wing groups . Pictured: Human rights protesters demonstrate outside the Home Office in London

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the scheme was 'shameful' and 'completely unworkable, deeply unethical and extortionately expensive'.

It came as protestors were picturing scuffling with police last night after an emergency protest outside the Home Office in London.

The demonstrations, which began at around 5.30pm and quickly swelled, included the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who was pictured speaking enthusiastically into a megaphone as a large crowd amassed.

The scenes later turned chaotic after objectors were seen grappling with officers yesterday evening. The Met Police say no arrests were made.

Charities had challenged an initial refusal to grant an injunction on Friday, with three Court of Appeal judges yesterday rejecting their appeal following an urgent hearing.

The decision will not stop individual refugees from appealing their deportation, while a full judicial review of the policy is still due to take place in July.

Yesterday afternoon, Lord Justice Singh, sitting with Lady Justice Simler and Lord Justice Stuart-Smith, said Mr Justice Swift had 'conducted the balancing exercise properly' and did not err in principle nor in the approach he took.

He added: 'He weighed all the factors and reached a conclusion which he was reasonably entitled to reach on the material before him.

'This court cannot therefore interfere with that conclusion.'

The Court of Appeal's decision means Miss Patel's scheme to hand Channel migrants and other 'irregular arrivals' a one-way ticket to the east African nation has avoided falling at the first hurdle. Pictured: Border Force and the military escort migrant ashore at Dover Docks

Migrants travelling to the UK on small boats will be put on jets and sent to Rwanda while their applications are processed

First Rwanda flight doesn't deter migrants as more than 100 more arrive in Dover after crossing the Channel in small boats with this week set to be one of 2022's busiest yet for crossings

By Charlotte McLaughlin for MailOnline

More than 100 migrants arrived in the UK yesterday before the first flight to bring asylum seekers to Rwanda is scheduled to leave.

Judges decided that the plane to the African country could take off as official figures showed 138 people made the perilous journey across the English Channel in three boats.

It brings the total number of new arrivals to 705 in June alone, with the total for the year so far reaching 10,269.

The mostly male migrants could be seen being led along the gangway yesterday in Dover for processing by soldiers dressed in camouflage fatigues and high-vis vests and Border Force agents in Hazmat suits.

A further 92 adults and 12 children including a heavily pregnant woman were also brought to shore by Border Force this morning after attempting to cross the Channel.

When asked if they knew they could be sent to Rwanda, one migrant replied 'What? No' while others looked on in apparent confusion.

Court of Appeal judges rejected a legal challenge attempting to block the first flight in the government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda amid pressure from human rights groups and opposition parties.

Seven or eight people are reported to be leaving on the flight this evening, which is estimated to be costing the government 500,000.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, today, by Border Force, following a small boat incident in the Channel

A man carries a child as migrants arrive at the Port of Dover

A member of the military carries a child as migrants arrive at the Port of Dover

Migrants including a heavily pregnant woman and babies have been brought into Dover on two ships this morning.

The Dover RNLI lifeboat brought 10 to 20 migrants to shore while the Border Force ship Vigilant is brought around 60 people into Dover.

Approximately 92 adults and 12 children have been brought to shore by Border Force this morning after attempting to cross the Channel.

So far this morning migrants have been brought into the Port of Dover aboard the Dover RNLI lifeboat and the BF Vigilant.

A further 50 people - mostly men in their late teens or 20s - have been brought to shore in Dover on the Border Force ship Hurricane in the third recue by a ship today.

A soldier carries a baby in his hand while at least 12 children were rescued today

A man is seen with a child while migrants are brought in to Dover by RNLI and the Border Force

One man carried a toddler on his shoulders as he came ashore, and one woman was heavily pregnant.

Asked where they came from refugees said Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yesterday, Border Force cutter Hurricane took the first boat at around 3pm, while a second group of 50 people were escorted into the port on an RNLI lifeboat shortly before 8pm.

Another RNLI lifeboat brought a further 40 migrants to shore after dark at approximately 10.30pm.

Migrants on board one boat in the Calais Strait also got into difficulty and were rescued by the French on Monday.

A soldier carries a child nearby a woman coming off the boat in Dover today

Inflatable boats are towed into the marina after a group of people are brought in to Dover

A soldier is seen with a man carrying a child while wearing a life vest as over 100 migrants arrived today

Boat Notre Dame des Flandres was tasked with retrieving 43 migrants from the Channel, who were then dropped off at Gravelines where border police and the departmental fire and rescue service took care of them.

Boris Johnson accused lawyers representing migrants of 'abetting the work of criminal gangs' today as he defended the plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda ahead of the expected first flight on Tuesday.

The plans have been challenged in the courts and condemned by the Church of England's senior bishops and reportedly by the Prince of Wales, with the Prime Minister acknowledging that there had been criticism from 'some slightly unexpected quarters'.

Migrants disembark at the Port of Dover, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel, today

A woman is helped ashore following a small boat incident in the Channel

An urgent interim injunction to stop the new scheme was brought about by migrant charity Asylum Aid but was rejected in the same court yesterday.

Mr Johnson insisted the Government would not be deterred by the attacks 'not least from lawyers' and told his Cabinet ministers that 'we are going to get on and deliver' the plan.

Natalie Elphicke, MP for Dover, said: 'The Channel Crossings put lives at risk in the hands of ruthless criminal gangs.

'The action being taken by our Government to bring these dangerous crossings to an end is the compassionate, common sense and right thing to do.

'It's disappointing to see the courts being misused by political activists who support uncontrolled immigration.

'There is no need for anyone to get on a small boat. People are safe in France and many other places before France.'

This week is predicted to be one of the busiest so far this year for small boat crossings as conditions at sea become calmer - with around 30 migrants already spotted floating in the Channel on a black dinghy.

Despite Home Office warnings some people could be deported to Rwanda to be relocated, 705 people have been detained in June alone.

The total number of migrants to make the treacherous journey across the 21-mile Dover Strait currently stands at 10,269 in 321 boats - more than double that of the same period in 2021 when just over 4,546 people had been detained.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), 28,526 made the crossing in 2021 - compared to 8,410 who arrived in 2020.

Minister for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration, Tom Pursglove MP, has said: 'The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable.

'Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they also impact on the UK taxpayer, risk lives and our ability to help refugees come to the UK via safe and legal routes. Rightly, the British public has had enough.

'Through our Nationality and Borders Bill, we're cracking down on people smugglers and fixing the broken system by making it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and introducing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for those who facilitate illegal entry into our country.'

'This policy shames Britain': Entire Church of England leadership calls Government's plan to send failed asylum seekers to Rwanda 'immoral' as first flight is set to go ahead tomorrow

By Jacob Thorburn for MailOnline

Senior leaders at the Church of England have ripped into the Home Office's 'immoral' plan to deport migrants to Rwanda.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are among those who have lent their pens to a strongly worded letter that denounced the policy as one that 'shames Britain'.

Signed by the Most Rev Justin Welby and the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, the senior leaders, alongside 23 bishops that sit in the House of Lords, criticised the plan for lacking morality.

Writing to the Times, the co-signed letter states: 'Whether or not the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda, this policy should shame us as a nation.

'The shame is our own, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries.'

It comes just hours after three Court of Appeal judges struck down lawyers, charities and campaigners' latest bid to thwart the first Kigali-bound flight leaving today.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), which represents more than 80 per cent of Border Force staff, and charities Care4Calais and Detention Action challenged refusal to grant an injunction on Friday, which meant the first flight to the east African country could go ahead today.

But, following an urgent hearing in London yesterday, three senior judges dismissed the appeal, saying there was no error in the decision of Mr Justice Swift.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is among those who have signed a strongly worded letter that denounced Boris Johnson's policy as one that 'shames Britain'

The letter is also signed by the bishops of London, Durham, Exeter, Birmingham and Manchester.

The Home Office's proposals to fly migrants who entered the UK illegally to Rwanda have split opinion and drawn the ire of several high profile figures.

Rev Welby had previously used his Easter sermon to describe 'serious ethical questions' around the plan to send asylum seekers to the East African nation.

The Archbishop told his Canterbury congregation that the UK has a duty as a 'Christian country' to not 'sub-contract our responsibilities' after anyone who arrived in Britain illegally since January 1 could be relocated to Rwanda under a new deal.

He later said it would have been 'cowardly' not to have spoken out against the plan. Cabinet ministers hit back at Mr Welby after his outspoken intervention in April.

MPs later called Mr Welby's stinging intervention over the government's plan to send thousands of migrants with a one-way ticket to Rwanda 'clumsy'.

Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, a committed Catholic, said the government is not 'abandoning' migrants but taking on a 'very difficult responsibility' with the 'intention' of doing good' which he said is important within Christianity.

Other Tory MPs John Redwood, Mike Wood and Tom Hunt also blasted Mr Welby's comments with Mr Hunt saying the Archbishop should be wary of 'clumsily intervening' into political issues.

Repeatedly asked about the Prince of Wales's (left) apparent view that the proposals are 'appalling', Mr Johnson (right in Cornwall yesterday) insisted they were essential to 'break the business model' of people-smugglers

The Archbishop's comments were later echoed by Prince Charles, after The Mail revealed he had privately condemned the Rwanda asylum plan, saying giving Channel migrants a one-way ticket to Africa was 'appalling'.

Downing Street tried to cool the tensions later, saying Mr Johnson has 'nothing but respect and admiration' for the Prince.

The PM's official spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister has nothing but respect and admiration for the Prince of Wales, who's spoken out on a number of issues, not least the environment.'

The tetchy exchanges with Mr Johnson came amid fears ministers could be blocked from putting Channel migrants on the first flight to Rwanda.

Mr Johnson, according to sources who attended a private meeting between the Prime Minister and Tory MPs after Easter, claimed the senior clergyman had 'misconstrued the policy'.

Mr Johnson told LBC the Government had expected that 'very active lawyers' would try to challenge the Rwanda policy.

'We have always said that we knew that this policy would attract attacks from those who want to have a completely open-doors approach to immigration, who want people to be able to come across the Channel without let or hindrance,' he said.

'There are very active lawyers in this field. I have the utmost respect for the legal profession but it is also important we stop criminal gangs.'

Dozens of protestors are pictured scuffling with Met Police officers outside the Home Office during the 'Stop Rwanda flights' protest yesterday evening

Asked if the policy will be worth it if it results in just one person being removed, Mr Johnson said: 'I think it's very important that the criminal gangs who are putting people's lives at risk in the Channel is going to be broken  is being broken  by this Government.

A Government spokesperson said: 'Our world-leading Partnership with Rwanda will see those making dangerous, unnecessary and illegal journeys to the UK relocated there to have their claims considered and rebuild their lives.

'There is no one single solution to the global migration crisis, but doing nothing is not an option and this partnership will help break the business model of criminal gangs and prevent loss of life.

'Rwanda is a fundamentally safe and secure country with a track record of supporting asylum seekers and we are confident the agreement is fully compliant with all national and international law.'

It comes just months after the former archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan William, was locked in a war of words with the Government over its 120m scheme to halt a surge in Channel crossings.

He joined his successor and the incumbent Archbishop Justin Welby, and Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell in questioning the morality of the plan, labelling it 'sinful'.
More than 15,000 millionaires will flee Russia by the end of this year as they turn their back on Vladimir Putin's regime, a study has claimed.

Around 15 per cent of Russians with $1million (820,000) are expected to emigrate from the autocratic state by the end of 2022, according to projections by Henley & Partners based on migration data.

The firm acts as a go-between for the super-rich and countries that are selling citizenship.

Despite the drain of high-net worth people from the country, it is not the nation which has lost the most millionaires relative to population.

Around 15 per cent of Russians with $1million (820,000) are expected to emigrate from the autocratic state by the end of 2022

High-wealth Russians are fleeing Vladimir Putin's flagging economy which has been hit by sanctions

Ukraine, the target of Russia's invasion, will lose 2,800 millionaires before the end of the year - a startling 48 per cent reduction.

Andrew Amoils, the head of research at New World Wealth, which compiled the data, said: 'Affluent individuals have been emigrating from Russia in steadily rising numbers every year over the past decade, an early warning sign of the current problems the country is facing.

'Historically, major country collapses have usually been preceded by an acceleration in emigration of wealthy people, who are often the first to leave as they have the means to do so.'

The most popular destination for these wealthy expats is expected to be the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - who have taken the millionaire's playground title from traditional destinations like the US and UK.

Henley wrote in its report: 'UK has lost its wealth hub crown, and the US is fading fast as a magnet for the world's wealthy, with the UAE expected to overtake it by attracting the largest net inflows of millionaires globally in 2022'.

Around 4,000 Russian millionaires are expected to move to the UAE by the end of the year.

Australia (3,500), Singapore (2,800) and Israel (2,500) will also attract the high net-worth people to their shores as part of the Russian exodus, the report claims.

Also expected to be popular are the so-called 'three Ms' tax havens of Malta, Mauritius and Monaco.

The most popular destination for these wealthy expats is expected to be the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

'Malta has been one of Europe's great success stories of the past decade, not just in terms of millionaire migration but also in terms of overall wealth growth,' Amoils said.

'It is currently one of the world's fastest-growing markets, with US dollar wealth growth of 87% between 2011 and 2021. Its citizenship by naturalisation process has brought substantial new wealth to the island nation and has been credited with propelling Malta's strong growth in multiple sectors including financial services, IT and real estate.'

Malta offers an expedited process that only calls for proof of 12 months of residency so long as the applicant contributes more than $925,000 to the national development fund

Malta offers EU citizenship to those who contribute more than $740,000 to the national development fund, more than $860,000 into real estate investment, more than $12,000 to charity, and provide proof of at least 36 months of residency in the country.

'Approximately 300 millionaires are expected to move to Malta in 2022.'

The nation also offers an expedited process that only calls for proof of 12 months of residency so long as the applicant contributes more than $925,000 to the national development fund.

Indian Ocean island Mauritius is a 'wealth magnet' because it has no capital gains tax, no inheritance tax, and maximum tax rate of 3% of global companies.

According to the Africa Wealth Report 2022, Mauritius is now home to 4,800 HNWIs compared with 2,700 a decade ago.

Indian Ocean island Mauritius is a 'wealth magnet' because it has no capital gains tax, no inheritance tax, and maximum tax rate of 3% of global companies

Approximately 150 millionaires are expected to move to Mauritius in 2022, mainly from South Africa and Europe.

It is not just the wealthy living in conflict zones seeing an uptick in attempts to emigrate.

Henley & Partners said sales of golden passports to American nationals worth between $50 million and $20 billion have shot up more than 337 percent since 2019, Business Insider reported in May.

Latitude Residency & Citizenship and Dasein Advisors, two other citizenship firms, said they too have seen more inquiries from American clients over the past three years than in the previous 20 combined.

'We've all lived through the past two and a half years,' Reaz Jafri told Insider, referencing the pandemic and the civil unrest that followed.

'It all just reminded us how vulnerable and frail we are, and people who have means are accepting that it will happen again  and they don't want to be caught off guard.'

Other issues said to have seen the demand for foreign passports spike include the likely end of Roe V Wade, which legalized abortion across the US, Florida's Parental Rights in Education Bill - better known as the Don't Say Gay Bill, as well as fears for the future of America's democracy following the Black Lives Matter and January 6 riots.

Portugal was said to provide the most coveted 'golden passports' as sales from U.S. billionaires over the citizenships are up more than 377 percent in the past three years

New Zealand citizenship is popular as well as it grants golden passports to wealthy investors who only have to show proof of 88 days of residency in the country over three years

Austria offers citizenship immediately to those who make a $3.7 million contribution to the government development fund or invest more than $12.3 million into a business

Malta also grants European Union citizenships to those who provide more than $1 million to the nation after only 1 year of residency

Dominic Volek, head of private clients at Henley & Partners, said clients were worried over the 'four Cs: COVID-19, climate change, cryptocurrency and conflict.'

Volek told Insider his firm saw an uptick in clients during the Trump administration, and once the pandemic hit, wealthy Americans were hit by the realities of their country's COVID restrictions.

'In the very strict lockdowns there was a point where if you only had an American passport, you could not enter Europe,' Volek said. 'I think that made a lot of particularly ultra-high net worth individuals realize that they're potentially a little bit more fragile than they thought.'
The world is now at greater risk of nuclear strikes being carried out than during any period since the Cold War, researchers warned on Monday in a new report.

Their findings also said the number of nuclear weapons is set to rise in the coming decade for the first time following 35 years of decline, as global tensions flare amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

The nine nuclear powers - Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, the United States and Russia - had 12,705 nuclear warheads in early 2022.

This was 375 fewer than in early 2021, according to estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The number has come down from a high of more than 70,000 in 1986, as the US and Russia have gradually reduced their massive arsenals built up during the Cold War.

But this era of disarmament appears to be coming to an end and the risk of a nuclear escalation is now at its highest point in the post-Cold War period, SIPRI researchers warned on Monday.

'Although there were some significant gains in both nuclear arms control and nuclear disarmament in the past year, the risk of nuclear weapons being used seems higher now than at any time since the height of the cold war,' SIPRI Director Dan Smith said, introducing the report.

The world is at greater risk of nuclear strikes being carried out than at any period during the Cold War, researchers warned on Monday in a new report. Pictured: Russian president Vladimir Putin speaks on June 12. He put his nuclear forces on high alert days after ordering his forces to invade Ukraine on February 24

Matt Korda, one of the co-authors of the report, told AFP: 'Soon, we're going to get to the point where, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, the global number of nuclear weapons in the world could start increasing for the first time.'

Korda also warned: If the nuclear-armed states take no immediate and concrete action on disarmament, then the global inventory of nuclear warheads could soon begin to increase for the first time since the cold war.'

After a 'marginal' decrease seen last year, 'nuclear arsenals are expected to grow over the coming decade', SIPRI said.

During the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has on several occasions made reference to the use of nuclear weapons.

The Russian president placed Moscow's nuclear forces on high alert shortly after his invasion of Ukraine began February 24, raising fears he could press the button as the war in Ukraine continues to go against him.

The Kremlin has maintained that Russia would only resort to using nuclear weapons if it faced an existential threat.

Meanwhile several countries, including China and Britain, are either officially or unofficially modernising or ramping up their arsenals, the research institute said.

'It's going to be very difficult to make progress on disarmament over the coming years because of this war, and because of how Putin is talking about his nuclear weapons', Korda said.

These worrying statements are pushing 'a lot of other nuclear armed states to think about their own nuclear strategies', he added.

Pictured: A graphic showing the arsenals of five countries with the most nuclear weapons

Pictured: The mushroom cloud of a Russian nuclear bomb test is seen on October 30, 1961

Despite the entry into force in early 2021 of the UN nuclear weapon ban treaty and a five-year extension of the US-Russian 'New START' treaty, the situation has been deteriorating for some time, according to SIPRI.

Iran's nuclear programme and the development of increasingly advanced hypersonic missiles have, among other things, raised concern.

The drop in the overall number of weapons is due to the US and Russia 'dismantling retired warheads', SIPRI noted, while the number of operational weapons remains 'relatively stable'.

While Moscow and Washington have greatly reduced the number of nuclear weapons in their respective arsenals (in 1986 the two countries had more than 60,000 warheads between them), they still account for 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons.

Russia remains the biggest nuclear power, with 5,977 warheads in early 2022, down by 280 from a year ago, either deployed, in stock or waiting to be dismantled, according to the institute. More than 1,600 of its warheads are believed to be immediately operational, SIPRI said.

The United States meanwhile has 5,428 warheads, 120 fewer than last year, but it has more deployed than Russia, at 1,750.

Pictured: A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul

In terms of overall numbers, China comes third with 350, followed by France with 290, Britain with 225, Pakistan with 165, India with 160 and Israel with 90.

Israel is the only one of the nine that does not officially acknowledge having nuclear weapons.

As for North Korea, SIPRI said for the first time that Kim Jong-Un's Communist regime now has 20 nuclear warheads. Pyongyang is believed to have enough material to produce around 50.

On Monday, South Korea's top diplomat warned that North Korea has completed preparations for a new nuclear test and that only a political decision by the country's top leadership can prevent it from going forward.

In the case of Iran, non-proliferation experts have warned the country has enriched uranium at levels over 60 percent purity - a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent - to make one nuclear weapon should it decide to do so.

Over the weekend, Israel warned that Iran was 'dangerously close' to building nuclear weapons after the middle-eastern country said it had started removing 27 surveillance cameras from nuclear sites across the country - further denting hopes that the 2015 nuclear deal could be revived.

Pictured: A test of a Russian 'Satan-2' nuclear missile is seen in footage released by the Kremlin

In early 2022, the five nuclear-armed permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the US - issued a statement that 'nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought'.

Nonetheless, SIPRI noted, all five 'continue to expand or modernise their nuclear arsenals and appear to be increasing the salience of nuclear weapons in their military strategies.'

'China is in the middle of a substantial expansion of its nuclear weapon arsenal, which satellite images indicate includes the construction of over 300 new missile silos', it said.

According to the Pentagon, Beijing could have 700 warheads by 2027.

Britain last year said it would increase the ceiling on its total warhead stockpile, and would no longer publicly disclose figures for the country's operational nuclear weapons.
For almost two decades BBC News at Ten viewers have been used to watching Huw Edwards read the headlines from the relative comfort of a desk.

But social media users have joked that the presenter will now be upping his daily step count in News at Ten's flashy new 5million studio.

The news reader, 60, was seen up on his feet during the first 15 minutes of last night's broadcast from the new studio - which features a snazzy curved catwalk and large interactive screens.

And while he had a brief stint back behind a desk during a segment about the EU, he soon returned to his feet for a discussion with BBC economics editor Faisal Islam.

Some viewers joked that they were left 'exhausted' just watching the BBC presenter - who has been the main News at Ten reader since 2003 - move back and forward across the new and 'much bigger' studio.

Taking to Twitter, one viewer wrote: 'Not keen on the new look News at Ten, all this standing round and walking about one minute then sitting down the next. Huw Edwards must be dizzy...'

Another wrote: 'There seems to be a lot of walking about. I'm exhausted just watching Huw Edwards.'

Social media users have joked that BBC host Huw Edwards (pictured) is being given the run around in News at Ten's flashy 5million new studio

The presenter, 60, was up on his feet during the first 15 minutes of last night's broadcast from the new set - which features a snazzy curved catwalk and large interactive screens

On a night of mixed reviews for the 'much bigger' studio, some even joked that they were 'exhausted' just watching the presenter move across the set

Taking to Twitter, one viewer wrote: 'Not keen on the new look News at Ten, all this standing round and walking about one minute then sitting down the next. Huw Edwards must be dizzy...'

A third Twitter user added: 'Has this new studio been designed so that Huw Edwards can achieve the required amount of steps per day?

Another wrote: 'Watched BBC News tonight. Bless the lovely Huw Edwards. At one point he almost fell over a pointless step.'

Another described it 'disorientating' watching the presenter move around the new studio. They wrote: 'In my mind he (Huw) has always been a static top half of the body person. It feels strange to see his legs move.'

A third Twitter user added: 'Has this new studio been designed so that Huw Edwards can achieve the required amount of steps per day?

'It looks ridiculous and a complete waste of money. There was nothing wrong with the existing set. I though you were on a cost cutting exercise.'

Another wrote: 'Watched BBC News tonight. Bless the lovely Huw Edwards. At one point he almost fell over a pointless step.

'Who designed the new studio? It is weird. The weather map was also very odd. Give the forecasters more time, they rush through. It is a waste of time.'

Another described it 'disorientating' watching the presenter move around the new studio. They wrote: 'In my mind he (Huw) has always been a static top half of the body person. It feels strange to see his legs move.'

The BBC unveiled the new multi-million-pound news studio with its giant curved catwalk just as it is making drastic cuts.

The set was unveiled on last nights News At Ten  but even eagle-eyed viewers may struggle to see what the revamp, costing up to 5million, has changed.

Meanwhile the BBC is to combine news channels and cut jobs to save money.

Speaking to the Daily Mail ahead of the reveal of the first broadcast Edwards stressed during a video tour that it will add impact to stories.

But one BBC insider said staff were constantly told by management that there is no money.

The BBC's newly refurbished studio in New Broadcasting House , London, which will be home to the BBC News at Six and Ten

Alongside hosting News at Ten, the new studio will also host the London news bulletins

Huw Edwards behind his desk at the old BBC News at Ten studio, which has been replaced with a new flash set

When they see millions being spent on a studio refurbishment, they wonder where that sort of cash is coming from, they added.

Jonathan Munro, interim head of news, said it was the first major refurbishment in a decade, while a BBC spokesman said the more versatile set will be better value in the long run.

But it received mixed reviews on its 'opening night', with some viewers saying it looked 'too big' and others describing it as a 'waste of money'.

One Twitter user wrote: 'Thoughts on the new BBC studio? Looked WAY too big for my liking and felt a little weird, but some of the new tech was cool.

Another wrote: 'How can you justify the cost of the new News studio? You could have used the money to carry on funding elderly viewers's licence fees.'

Another added: 'So this new BBC studio is to attract younger(ish) viewres like me who have switched off broadcast and the BBC entirely? Lol, you guys are not living in the same century we are, are you?'

However it was not all negative reviews for the new studio, with some praising its new technology.

In particular, there was praise for the new regional handover, when the main UK news show hands over to local BBC news.

At this point in the show, Edwards stood in front of a screen showing each of the regional news set ups.

One Twitter user wrote: 'Really very neat idea and slickly hands over to the regional news teams. Overall it was an impressive programme, smoothly executed with some fresh new features.'

Freelance broadcaster journalist Vincent McAviney wrote: 'New BBC bulletins studio looking great tonight. Particularly love this regional handover shot.'

Others praised the style of the news studio. One wrote: 'How good does the new BBC News studio look! Clean crisp presenting. What the Beeb does best!'

Really like the new BBC news studio. There is more interaction from the news presenter and explanation, making good use of their new screens. Good for the viewer.'
Old carpenter makes model of ancient building with traditional woodworking technique

People's Daily Online) 15:07, June 14, 2022

Using an ancient woodworking technique, a 62-year-old carpenter in Jilin city, northeast Chinas Jilin Province, recently finished creating a wooden model of a building from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Photo shows details of a wooden model made in the form of a building from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) that was created by Hu Ping. (Chinanews.com/Shi Hongyu)

Hu Ping follows an ancient Chinese mortise and tenon technique, which means no nails are involved in the entire process for making the wooden model, which is 2 meters in length, 1.3 meters in width and 1.65 meters in height. The model also includes doors and windows, all of which can be opened and closed, as well as auspicious animals perched on the ridge of its roof.

Hu said he spent 11 years creating the wooden model. To look for relevant information, examine the ancient buildings, and select proper materials, he visited many places, including Beijing and Datong city in north Chinas Shanxi Province, which are known for their ancient buildings.

Having cultivated a fondness for painting and ancient buildings since childhood, he learned woodworking skills from one of his brothers and wood carving techniques from a local master.

In 1980, Hu began to work at a local wood carving factory. He later ran his own wood carving factory, which exported wood carving products to the United States and Europe.

Hu then started to make wooden models of ancient Chinese buildings in 2000. I have made three models, and the model of the building from the Qing Dynasty is the largest one, Hu said.

Hu introduced that the model was made from African rosewood, which will make the model take on a more antique appearance as time goes by.

Photo shows Hu Ping and the wooden model he created. (Chinanews.com/Shi Hongyu)

The biggest challenge with the model was its arches, as each arch consists of 60 to 70 pieces of wood, which must be precisely cut, Hu said.

I hope that more young people can learn the ancient Chinese mortise and tenon technique, Hu added.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)




Lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) proposed a bill aimed at strengthening National Assembly oversight of the government Tuesday despite objections from the ruling People Power Party (PPP).







Rep. Cho Eung-chon and 13 other DPK lawmakers proposed revising the National Assembly Act in a way that empowers Assembly standing committees to request revisions to presidential decrees or enforcement ordinances if they deem them to be incompatible with the law.







"The National Assembly, as a constitutional institution with legislative power, has the responsibility to regulate the content of administrative legislation," they said in the proposal.







They claimed that administrative legislation, such as presidential decrees, can be abused by the government to distort the purpose of laws or restrict people's freedom and rights, which should be done through Assembly legislation.







Critics, however, said the amendment, if passed, could give the DPK, which controls the National Assembly with 170 out of 299 seats, too much of a say in government affairs, thus hurting the principle of the separation of administrative and legislative powers.







The ruling PPP accused the DPK of attempting to interfere with government affairs.







President Yoon Suk-yeol also said Monday the move could be "unconstitutional."







"An enforcement ordinance is meant to be the president's decision, and the way to resolve problems with enforcement ordinances is to follow the means and steps stipulated in the Constitution," he said. (Yonhap)






A university student has been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend after entering a psychotic state and strangling her believing she was a demon.

Jordan Brodie Miller, 22, killed his 18-year-old girlfriend Emerald Wardle at his parents' home in Maitland, north of Sydney, on June 20, 2020.

Miller's three-week murder trial heard the student was in a psychotic state when he believed his girlfriend was a demon that was 'sucking the life out of him' but the jury agreed with prosecutors that his descent into psychosis was caused solely by his 'chronic' cannabis use and the ingestion of half a paper of LSD.

His lawyer's had attemtped to argue the student had been suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness like schizophrenia when he strangled his teenage girlfriend.

He had a defence of mental health impairment available to him but those defences were rejected by the jury.

Jordan Brodie Miller, 22, killed his 18-year-old girlfriend Emerald Wardle (left) at his parents' home in Maitland, north of Sydney, on June 20, 2020

Miller had consumed the LSD or acid on June 9, just 11 days before Ms Wardle was found dead by police who entered the Metford home just after 1:30am.

There were audible sounds of surprise when the guilty verdict was returned, five days after jurors retired to consider the case, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The jury rejected finding a 'special verdict' where Miller could have been found guilty of the act but not criminally responsible due to a mental health impairment.

The notion Miller did not intend to kill Ms Wardle, but 'another being' that was not human was also rejected by jurors in the Newcastle court room.

The jury found the student's descent into psychosis was caused solely by drug use.

Professor David Greenberg gave evidence in the trial and suggested Miller's condition had met the criteria of a drug-inducted psychosis, but didn't meet all the criteria of schizophrenia, a condition his lawyer's argued he may be suffering.

However, another psychiatrists Professor Olav Nielssen said he would 'put money on' Miller suffering from schizophrenia which had been intensified by his drug use.

Miller's three-week murder trial heard the student was in a psychotic state when he believed Ms Wardle (pictured) was a demon that was 'sucking the life out of him'

Over the three-week murder trial, the court heard Miller has not experienced any other psychotic episodes since Ms Wardle's death and has not taken any antipsychotic medication since January, 2021.

Ms Wardle's mother Tania Simshauser took the stand during the trial and spoke of the adoration her daughter had had for Miller.

She told the court she had referred to the 22-year-old as a 'big, shy genius'.

Miller was called a 'gentle giant' by friends and family who also took the stand.

However, several said they had noticed certain behavioural changes in him which came into focus after he was charged with Ms Wardle's murder.

Witnesses said he had become more argumentative and had spoken of being more intelligent and losing his 'ego' since his acid 'trip' on June 11.

He got in contact with a counselling service through his job at a Caltex service station and later disclosed to authorities he believed he was getting messages from the service about demons.

Ms Wardle's mother Tania Simshauser took the stand during the three-week trial and spoke of the adoration her daughter (pictured) had had for Miller

Miller had stolen his girlfriend's car the night before she died and driven it to her 'favourite' spot in Morpeth where he had planned to end his own life.

However, after speaking with Ms Wardle on the phone he returned home.

Appearing in court via video-link in the day after his arrest, Miller had repeatedly told the court he was a 'murderer' despite his lawyer's pleas.

'I wrapped my hands around Emerald Wardle's throat,' he said, despite his legal aid solicitor asking he remain silent.

The 22-year-old, who has no prior domestic violence convictions, had also told authorities he had been aware that he was strangling Ms Wardle.

Miller was remanded in custody to be sentenced at a later date.
A mother said it's a 'miracle' her son survived a horrifying 35ft fall from a balcony at a Harry Styles concert on Saturday as he's set to be released from hospital with just cuts and bruises.

Dylan Wood, 20, was placed on life support - but he incredibly escaped the concert plunge at Ibrox stadium, Glasgow, with just two black eyes, bruising and concussion.

The electrical engineer, from East Kilbride, was enjoying the night out in a VIP box when he lost his balance and fell over a barrier - landing on seats several feet below and knocking himself unconscious.

His terrified mother Marion Hawkins said shocking video footage of the moment he plunged head first into the packed crowd below left her feeling sick to her stomach.

Dylan was rushed to Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth Hospital's high dependency unit and placed on life support, but escaped with only minor injuries and could be allowed home later today.

He was put on life support and a ventilator after plummeting from the VIP box during Harry Styles' sold-out Glasgow gig - but Dylan came away with just two black eyes, bruising and concussion

Dylan Wood, 20, survived a horrifying fall from the top tier of Ibrox stadium, Glasgow, while enjoying a night out at Harry Styles' concert

Footage of the incident shows the crowd on their feet dancing before the silhouette is seen flailing as they fall towards members of the audience below.

Almost 50,000 fans were in attendance at the sold-out concert, the first of Harry Styles' 32-city tour.

Mother-of-four Marion said: 'We didn't know what injuries he had so he was put on a ventilator to keep him stable.

'It was touch and go that night but the scans came back all clear and he has no broken bones.

'It's a complete miracle he's still here, walking away with just cuts and scrapes. I was ill watching the video of it.

'Dylan was crying on the phone to me today, I think it's just hitting home for him how serious it was and how close he got to not being here.'

It is understood that Styles was performing his song Kiwi during an encore when the incident took place.

Traumatised witnesses told how Dylan fell from the Club Deck, above the Main Stand, towards the end of the show and watched in horror as paramedics performed CPR on him.

Sharing Dylan's account of what happened, Marion added: 'Dylan told me he was leaning up against the bannister in the VIP box and remembered thinking it was quite low down.

'He can't remember exactly, it's a bit of a blur, but he thinks he went to lean against it, misjudged it and fell back. It all just happened so quickly.

'He was knocked out and remembers coming to and getting a fright as people were grabbing at him. Paramedics were called and they got him out of there and worked on him in the ambulance before taking him to hospital.

Dylan's mother Marion Hawkins said it's a 'miracle' that her son came away from the horror fall relatively unscathed as she described her panic when she got the call that he had been hurt

Dylan was seen tumbling from the VIP box during the Harry Styles concert as horrified fans watched on

Opening night: Harry had stage presence in bucketloads on Saturday night as the European leg of his Love On Tour kickstarted in Glasgow

'I just panicked when I got the call and drove straight there. But he's doing good now and I hope to get him home today, I need him home.

'I can't stop thinking about it. I hope it was just a freak accident but I'll be fuming if it turns out the barrier was too low and someone is at fault.

'The main thing is he's okay. He's a very lucky boy.'

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'Officers were made aware of a man falling from a club deck at a premises on Edmiston Drive, Glasgow at around 10.15pm on Saturday, 11 June, 2022.

'There were no suspicious circumstances and the man was seen to by medical staff.'

Harry Styles had stage presence in bucket-loads on Saturday night as the European leg of his Love On Tour kickstarted in Glasgow.

The hitmaker, 28, wore a blue and yellow ensemble for his sold-out concert at Ibrox Stadium, which comprised of a jacket adorned with two large strawberries and funky tailored trousers.

As he paraded around the stage, some of the 50,817 in attendance snatched the chance to film their idol up close as a sea of phones went up in the air.

The former One Direction band member looked as though he was having a whale of a time as he made his way through a string of hits, including a selection from his latest album Harry's House.

At one moment during his set, the chart-topper held up a Pride flag as he belted out a song with passion.

Showing just how much he was enjoying himself, Harry threw a thumbs up for the cameras before returning his focus to the enthusiastic crowd in front of him.

Jazzy: The hitmaker, 28, wore a blue and yellow ensemble for his sold-out concert at Ibrox Stadium
Illinois Congressman Sean Casten's 17-year-old daughter Gwen died on Monday morning at their family home.

The suburban Chicago Democrat's office said that the Casten family requests privacy after Gwen passed away without providing further details about her death.

'This morning, Congressman Casten's beloved daughter, Gwen, 17, passed away. The Casten family requests privacy, and we will be issuing no further comment during this heartbreaking time,' the office said on Monday.

The teenager died at the family's Downers Grove home, police told the Chicago Tribune.

Downers Grove police officers were called to the house just before 7am 'for an unresponsive 17-year-old female', the police said, according to the outlet. 'First responders determined that the subject was deceased.'

Gwen was active in the political sphere and followed in the footsteps of her father by fighting for social causes that she was passionate about, such as gun control.

Her death comes just days after Rep. Casten, 50, said he had 'tremendous pride' in Gwen after she took the initiative to organize a 'Stop the Bleed' training at her school so that children could learn how to pack a gunshot wound during a school shooting.

Illinois Congressman Sean Casten's 17-year-old daughter Gwen (pictured) died on Monday morning at their family home

The teenager died on Monday morning at the family's Downers Grove home. Pictured: Gwen and her father at a Pride event

'I have both tremendous pride that my daughter took the initiative to organize that and tremendous shame that we as a country are making it the responsibility of children aged 15, 16 and 17 to do what sitting United States senators don't have the courage to do themselves,' Rep. Casten told Newsy.

Gwen also served as a co-director of the March For Our Lives Illinois chapter, a youth-led movement aimed at tackling gun violence.

The teenager has also appeared in a campaign video in support of her father, who is running for a third term in Congress against fellow incumbent Democrat Rep. Marie Newman.

Casten's campaign in February tweeted a photograph of the Democrat with Gwen, who was holding a petition in her hand.

'It's a big year in the Casten household! Sean's daughter will be voting in her first election and was able to sign the petition for her dad,' his campaign tweeted.

Sean Casten with his wife Kara, and daughters including Gwen (second right)

My teenage daughter, Gwen organized a Stop The Bleed training to learn how to pack a gunshot wound during a school shooting because, in America, our children have taken it upon themselves to do what sitting US Senators dont have the courage to do. pic.twitter.com/FSV2OJatq9  Rep. Sean Casten (@RepCasten) June 3, 2022

Shortly before Casten's office announced Gwen's death, his campaign asked Illinois TV stations to immediately pull his campaign spots off air until further notice, reported CBS News-Chicago.

Casten is running against Newman in the newly redrawn 6th Congressional District.

Newman said in a statement on Monday night: 'My heart breaks for the Casten family for the devastating loss of their daughter. My prayers are with Sean, Kara, and the entire Casten family.'

The Newman campaign 'is working to cease all comparative paid communications immediately,' the statement said.

Casten and his wife Kara have two daughters together; Gwen, 17, and Audrey, 14.

Shortly before Casten's (pictured) office announced Gwen's death, his campaign asked Illinois TV stations to immediately pull his campaign spots off air until further notice

Gwen's classmates mourned her death on social media on Monday night.

The Downer Groves Empowerment Club, which she was the leader of, released an Instagram statement saying: 'There are no words that can begin to describe the loss we are feeling. Gwen, founder and leader of Empowerment Club, was cherished by all.

'Her hardwork, determination, and beautiful personality was an inspiration to everyone. She was so loved, and her impact will live forever within our community.

'Thank you Gwen, for everything you have done to influence our lives and fill them with love and positivity. You were truly a force to be reckoned with. We will miss you.'

Last February, Gwen and her father co-wrote an article about the Capitol insurrection and the impact it had on them both.

At the time, Casten was in his office in Washington DC and Gwen was in school in Illinois. She described her fear at learning her father had been told to put gas masks on.
Advertisement

A 10-year-old deaf and mute boy has been stuck down an 80ft well in India for four days as emergency workers desperately race to rescue him.

Rahul Sahu fell down the waterhole on Friday while playing in the backyard of his house in the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Earth movers and cranes are helping dig a tunnel next to the well, which is only a couple of feet wide.

The boy has been stuck for four days as rescuers desperately try to save the boy with speech and hearing impediments

A 10-year-old deaf and mute boy has been stuck down an 80ft well in India for four days as emergency workers desperately race to rescue him

Rahul Sahu fell down the waterhole on Friday while playing in the backyard of his house in the central state of Chhattisgarh

Rahul is pictured down the well after a camera was sent down the hole as rescuers try to pull him to safety

A huge rescue team stares down the entrance of the deep well as they continue their mission to free the trapped young boy

Army soldiers and members of India's disaster response agency are also lending their assistance in the rescue mission.

But bad weather and venomous snakes and scorpions unearthed by the dig have hampered rescue efforts, local officials said.

Sahu was 'responding well' to rescuers and a camera is monitoring his condition and movements, Janjgir district police chief Vijay Agrawal told AFP by phone from the scene.

'Since the boy cannot speak or listen, we have a bigger challenge,' he added.

Earth movers and cranes are helping dig a tunnel next to the well, which is only a couple of feet wide

Army soldiers and members of India's disaster response agency are also lending their assistance in the rescue mission

Bad weather and venomous snakes and scorpions unearthed by the dig have hampered rescue efforts, local officials said

An oxygen pipe is feeding Sahu fresh air, but a government spokesman said the tunnelling effort had been slowed down by hard stone underneath the ground.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said he was hopeful Sahu would be brought up from the well alive and tweeted that the boy had eaten a banana sent down to him by rescuers.

Uncovered wells are a common feature of Indian farming villages but are frequently implicated in fatal accidents involving young children.

In 2019, a two-year-old toddler was pulled out dead from a well after a four-day rescue effort in the northern state of Punjab.

The same year a one-and-a-half-year-old child was rescued in neighbouring Haryana state after being trapped for two days.

In February, tragedy struck in Morocco when five-year-old Rayan who was trapped 100ft underground for four days was found dead by rescue teams.

In February, tragedy struck in Morocco when five-year-old Rayan who was trapped 100ft underground for four days was found dead by rescue teams

Rescuers worked to reach the five-year-old boy trapped in a well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco

Just days later, Haidar, a five-year-old boy who was stuck for three days down a well in a remote Afghan village also died

Rayan Awram fell into a 32-metre (105ft) well outside his home in Ighran village, in the northern province of Chefchaouen, sparking a race-against-the-clock rescue mission.

After digging vertically and then horizontally - all the while risking a landslide - rescuers finally reached the boy as they were filmed removing his body before rushing him away to be treated by doctors, as thousands of gathered villagers shouted prayers and well wishes.

But government officials then confirmed that the young boy could not be resuscitated, adding that he had tragically died before rescuers could reach him.

Just days later, a five-year-old boy who was stuck for three days down a well in a remote Afghan village also died.

Haidar was wedged 33ft down the well and rescuers spent three days desperately digging in an attempt to reach the boy in Shokok village, Zabul province, southern Afghanistan.
A police community support officer raped a young woman in his mother's flat after bragging about having two homes in London and Brighton and celebrity friends, a court has heard.

Jamal 'Bertie' Robinson, 29, is accused of attacking the woman, now 21, at his mother's home in Worthing, West Sussex after meeting her at a Brighton nightclub on December 14, 2019.

The PCSO boasted about landing his 'dream job' with Scotland Yard and gave the woman his badge to hold, telling her that police could get free VIP treatment, Lewes Crown Court heard.

Robinson also allegedly bragged about being friends with YouTubers Conor Maynard and Caspar Lee, and told the woman he was sending a video of them in the club to Maynard before putting his number into her phone with a police emoji next to it.

The woman said she felt safe with the officer agreed and agreed to go home with him, where he allegedly raped and sexually assaulted her. Robinson denies the claims.

Jamal Robinson, who is accused of rape and sexual assault. He denies the allegations

Jamal Robinson, pictured wearing a police uniform. He denies raping a woman in December 2019 after meeting her at a Brighton nightclub

Prosecuting, Edward Hand told the jury: 'This case is about a small group of young people meeting up at night, going back to one of their houses.

'There comes a point where she says she doesn't want any more sex and he carries on, that's what this case is about.

'She agreed to sexual contact, albeit reluctantly. She went on to tell police told the defendant she didn't want sex and pretended to be asleep.

Pictured: Robinson, who is accused of rape and sexual assault. He denies the claims

'Sexual activity instigated by him. She was reluctant to go on with it. The allegation in this case is she didn't consent and he would've known that.'

In a police interview after the alleged attack, the woman claimed that Robinson did not stop after she told him no.

She said: 'I was very firm. I said it hurts, I'm in pain, I'm tired, I need to go home.'

The woman said she told her friend: 'He made me do things I didn't want to do, I'm in so much pain. I think I'm going to cry.'

The woman described Mr Robinson as intimidating, annoying and 'up himself'.

'He was so intimidating, the way he would talk  so London-ish,' she said.

'He was very up himself as well. I think he thought 'Why would she not want to?' He was very cold.'

The woman said she had drunk more than she normally would have on a night out after having Christmas drinks at home with her family.

She said the officer approached her and her friend at the bar in a Brighton nightclub on Friday, December 14, 2019.

'He said let me sort you out, buying me and my friend a drink. It's not unusual, it's not uncommon for a guy to buy us a drink,' she told police.

'He just kept talking about being a police officer, showing us his badge, saying he had just got his dream job with the Met.'

The woman and her friend moved on to another club with Mr Robinson and his friend.

File photo shows the outside of Lewes Crown Court in East Sussex

'He said we get free VIP there because we are police and he would get one of his police friends to give us a lift,' she said.

The officer asked the women to go home with him and his friend.

'I had a chat with my friend,' the young woman said. 'She was more cautious than I was. 'She said come on they're not going to break the law.'

After consenting to sex, the woman told police she said no when Mr Robinson tried to have sex again.

'I said I'm not in the mood for sex, I'm not in the mood for any of this, I literally said no. I kept my eyes shut,' she said.

'I've been in this position so many times before. I usually just keep silent and get it over with. I thought he would listen given who he was and what he does. We've almost all been in a situation where we've not been brave enough to say no.'

The woman reported the rape after returning to college on Monday morning, but lost faith in police after meeting Mr Robinson.

'With the way he was behaving, blagging lifts getting VIP, I was even more disappointed. At one point he made me hold and carry his police badge,' she said.

The trial continues.
Liz Truss today dismissed the EU's threat to sue Britain over scrapping Northern Ireland Brexit rules.

The Foreign Secretary said there was 'no reason' for the 'negative' reaction from Brussels to the UK plans for overhauling the protocol.

In a round of interviews this morning, she insisted negotiations with the bloc had reached a 'dead end' as it was not willing to agree fundamental changes.

The UK is moving to end to the EU court's role in resolving disputes over Northern Ireland, as well as targeting 4,000 new Brussels rules that have been imposed since January last year without consent.

But commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said last night that Brussels is urgently considering legal action, which could come as soon as next week.

He even warned that the entire Brexit deal could be put at risk  raising the prospect of a damaging trade dispute involving tariffs and major border controls.

The EU is due to give its formal response tomorrow, but Mr Sefcovic met senior MEPs this afternoon. Afterwards they reiterated that renegotiating the protocol is 'not an option'.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (right) said there was 'no reason' for the 'negative' reaction from Maros Sefcovic (left) to the UK plans for overhauling the protocol

Loyalist protests in Belfast against the checks on goods crossing the irish Sea

The Bill, presented to Parliament tonight, aims to sweep away key parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, including a check-free 'green channel' for goods from mainland Britain and stripping control from the EU court

How the Northern Ireland row threatens to undo Brexit deal The row over the Northern Ireland Protocol began almost as soon as the Brexit agreement with the EU came into force. The two sides had to find a way of avoiding a hard border while maintaining the integrity of the UK, and avoid undermining the integrity of the EU customs union and single market. The Protocol manages this by effectively keeping Ulster inside the EU's single market. However, Brussels has been adamant that means checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea from Britain. Unionists are implacably opposed to the idea, arguing it 'others' an integral part of the UK. The UK began talks seeking to alter the terms of the agreement just months after it was signed by the PM. The toughest parts have never come into force, due to a series of delays brought in by both camps. In March last year the UK unilaterally extended the agri-food exemptions, something that triggered the EU to start breach proceedings. However, despite experts suggesting there is a landing zone available, political tensions have made a deal impossible. The UK has threatened to trigger Article 16 of the Treaty, which is available to suspend the provisions if they are causing major social upheaval. However, a command paper previously suggested using legislation instead as a more permanent solution. The UK insists that the problem lies with the negotiating mandate given to vice-president Maros Sefcovic, which does not allow enough scope to find a settlement. The Bill has now finally been published, spelling out the arrangements that the UK believes are feasible. But it will take time to pass the law, and it is not likely to come into force immediately even when on the statute books. As a result the government has more time - and it hopes more leverage - to hammer out an agreement. The legislation could make it trickier though as the British demands are now spelled out in black and white, meaning potentially less scope for compromise. The Biden administration has also taken a dim view, urging continued talks to solve the problem. One carrot in the process is the chance to restore powersharing in Northern Ireland. DUP first minister Paul Givan resigned in February in an effort to force movement. That left the Executive unable to function, due to the way it was set up to share power under the Good Friday Agreement. While ministers remained in post, they were restricted in the actions they could take. Since 1998, when the governance system was devised as part of Northern Ireland's historic peace accord, the first minister has always been a Unionist. That all changed last month, when Sinn Fein became the largest party at Stormont for the first time ever. However, the DUP has insisted that it will not return until its demands over the Protocol are met. Ministers have made clear to the DUP that the new legislation will not be implemented unless they agree to resume powersharing first. Advertisement

Ms Truss said: 'Our solution doesn't make the EU any worse off. We continue to protect the single market.'

'So there is absolutely no reason why the EU should react in a negative way to what we are doing. I've been very clear my preference is for a negotiated solution but in the absence of that we simply cannot allow the situation to drift.'

However, senior MEPs David McAllister, Bernd Lange and Nathalie Loiseau met Mr Sefcovic this afternoon.

They issued a statement expressing 'deep concerned' at the UK's 'serious and unacceptable breach of international law'.

'The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill puts into question the credibility of the UK Government to comply with its international obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, damages mutual trust and creates uncertainty for people, investors and business in Northern Ireland.

'We call upon the UK government and UK Parliament not to adopt the proposed bill and to return to the discussion table to find practical, flexible and durable solutions within the legal framework of the Protocol.'

In a sinister threat, they added: 'We recall that the conclusion of the Withdrawal Agreement was a pre-condition for the negotiation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.'

The MEPs said: 'A renegotiation of the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, is not an option.'

The PM said yesterday that a trade war would be a 'gross, gross over-reaction' to changes which are 'relatively trivial in the grand scheme of things'.

He stressed: 'All we're trying to do is simplify things, to actually remove the barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

'How perverse, how preposterous... to be introducing further restrictions on trade when all we're trying to do is have some bureaucratic simplifications.'

The new Northern Ireland Protocol Bill will give ministers powers to override parts of the original Brexit deal, including scrapping EU checks on goods traded between Britain and the province.

Downing Street acknowledged the legislation would allow ministers to break parts of the Brexit deal relating to Ulster, breaching an international treaty with the EU.

But the Government insisted the plan was permitted by international law because ministers have an overriding duty to protect the Good Friday peace agreement in Ulster.

The statement, a summary of legal advice from Attorney General Suella Braverman, cited the 'doctrine of necessity'  a recognised principle in international law which allows states to 'non-perform' treaty duties if it is the only way to 'safeguard an essential interest'.

It said the EU's implementation of the protocol was causing a 'diversion of trade and serious societal and economic difficulties', undermining the peace process.

It added that the 'genuinely exceptional situation' in Northern Ireland justified immediate intervention.

Both the EU and the White House have warned against taking unilateral action, along with some Tory MPs.

However, the US has said proposed changes to the protocol would not be an impediment to potential America-UK trade talks in Boston later this month.

And the government's stance was boosted today by an endorsement from unionists - with ministers trying to encourage them to rejoin powersharing.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the UK action was 'balanced and fair'.

'The Government is entitled under the protocol to take unilateral action where there has been societal, economic or political harm caused by the protocol,' he told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

'Therefore I think the Government is entirely within its rights and entitled to do this.

'What we need is a permanent solution here, and that is why I think it is important that the Government is bringing forward this legislation, and I think what the Government has proposed is balanced, it is fair.

'It enables us to see Northern Ireland's place within the UK's internal market restored in line with the commitment the Government gave in New Decade, New Approach over two-and-a-half years ago now.

'Finally we see the legislation introduced. It is the beginning of the Government honouring that commitment and now we need to take this legislation forward.'

UK ministers said that, after 18 months of inconclusive talks with Brussels, they had no choice but to act.

Ms Truss said she was 'very clear that we're acting in line with the law' and blamed the EU for the failure to reach a negotiated settlement.

Mr Sefcovic declared that Brussels 'will not re-negotiate the protocol'.

In a thinly veiled threat, he said the move 'undermines the trust that is necessary' for the Brexit trade deal to continue.
A widow whose 78-year-old husband was killed in a head on collision has said the three years and eight months sentence given to a white van man is 'not long enough' for the pain she has suffered.

Sue Hunt described how her life has been 'destroyed' by Aron Hicks, 28, after he smashed into Brian, her husband of 54 years, near an Oxfordshire village.

Speaking at her home in Didcot today she said Hicks' sentence of three years and four months for causing death by dangerous driving is not 'justice'.

Dashcam footage showed how the white van overtook one car on the A417 near Cholsey before trying to pass a second.

It then is filmed pulling onto the opposite side of the road while approaching the crest of a hill at around 8am on May 4 last year.

Hicks who was behind the wheel of his van on the way to work as a painter and decorator then hit Brian's Honda Civic head on, prosecutor Andrew Jordan told Oxford Crown Court.

Investigators believe he may have been going over the 50mph speed limit when he crashed.

Brian is pictured in 2011 on right while from left is sons Stuart and Steve and his wife, Susan. Brian's widow, also known as Sue, who was married to the victim for 54 years, said in a victim statement 'words cannot express the pain and anguish' her family feels

Speaking at her home in Didcot, Oxfordshire, Sue Hunt (pictured her with Brian during a 2016 trip to Egypt) said the year since her husband's death had been a 'living nightmare'

Sue, seen with Brian on their wedding day in 1967, also said: 'I don't feel that we have got justice'

Speaking at her home in Didcot, Oxfordshire, Sue Hunt said the year since her husband's death had been a 'living nightmare'.

'I don't feel that we have got justice,' she said. 'The three years and eight months sentence is not long enough for what he has done to this family.

'He took my husband's life and he has destroyed mine 'I consider him a murderer, and no matter what he says he will get no sympathy for me.

'My life and that of my sons will never be the same. Brian was taken from us in the most awful way. I will never ever get over it.'

Hicks was unable to see Mr Hunt's Honda Civic until too late, hitting it head-on, the court heard.

This is the shocking moment Brian was killed in a head on collision with a white van man who was overtaking and 'showing off'

Aron Hicks (pictured), 28, was overtaking 'for no reason' when he smashed into Brian Hunt, 78, who died shortly afterwards

He suggested to his probation officer, who wrote a pre-sentence report, that he was 'showing off', the court heard. And the jury was also told he was alone in his van so it was unclear why.

The court also heard that there was no reason for Hicks to make a dangerous manoeuvre on his way to work as he was in no rush.

Hicks, who pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, was also banned from the roads for three years and eight months and must pass an extended retest.

Judge Ian Pringle QC told the driver: 'Mr Hunt received devastating injuries which despite the efforts of the hospital he could not be saved and he died shortly afterwards. His death is your responsibility.'

Sue also known as Susan, who had been married to victim Brian for 54 years, said in a victim statement: 'Words cannot express the pain and anguish that family, our friends and I have endured since the death of my husband Brian.

'He did not deserve to die in this way. Aron Hicks took my husband's life. He will never understand the effect he's had on our family. It is unimaginable and unpardonable.'

Brian's son Stuart said in his statement that it felt as if the 'heart of the family has been literally ripped out'.

Here you can see the white van ploughing into Brian Hunt's car

Debris is seen coming out of the crashed vehicles on the A417 near Cholsey

The white van is then seen flipped over on the side of the road

His brother, Stephen, said directly to his father's killer: 'You took my dad away from not just me that day, but my whole family and our friends far too early. He had a life to live.'

In his own letter to his victim's family, Hicks said: 'I know that no amount of apologies or condolences can make this situation any better for you all.

'I can only begin to imagine the depth of your shock and grief. Knowing that my actions have caused this pain will be my life's biggest regret.'
Pope Francis said 'World War III has been declared' and suggested Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine was 'provoked' while also taking a new series of swipes at Russia's actions, a transcript of a conversation he had last month has revealed.

The leader of the Catholic Church denied being 'pro-Putin,' saying Russian troops were brutal, cruel and ferocious, while praising the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers who have been fighting for their country's survival since the invasion began in February.

He also decried Russia's 'monstrous' use of mercenaries from Chechnya and Syria - which have been drafted in by the Kremlin to bolster its faltering war efforts - and criticised the global arms trade.

But in the text of a conversation he had last month with editors of Jesuit media and published on Tuesday, he also said the situation was not black and white and that the war was 'perhaps in some way provoked' by NATO.

Francis said the on-going war in Ukraine, along with other conflicts around the globe, means 'World War III has been declared' and therefore the human race has seen three world wars in a century. This, he said, is a 'calamity' for humanity.

Pope Francis (pictured on Monday) suggested Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine was 'provoked' while also taking a new series of swipes at Russia's actions, a transcript of a conversation he had last month has revealed

'We see what is happening now in Ukraine in a certain way because it is closer to us and pricks our sensibilities more,' the Pope said in his comments last month.

'But there are other countries far away - think of some parts of Africa, northern Nigeria, northern Congo - where war is ongoing and nobody cares. Think of Rwanda 25 years ago. Think of Myanmar and the Rohingya. The world is at war.

'A few years ago, it occurred to me to say that we are experiencing a third world war fought piecemeal. Today, for me, World War III has been declared,' he said according the transcript of the conversation, published in English by Vatican News.

'This is something that should give us pause for thought. What is happening to humanity that has had three world wars in a century? I experienced the first war through the memory of my grandfather on the Piave River.

'Then the second and now the third. And this is bad for humanity, a calamity. You have to think that in a century there have been three world wars, with all the arms trade behind it!' he continued.

While condemning 'the ferocity, the cruelty of Russian troops, we must not forget the real problems if we want them to be solved,' Francis said, including the armaments industry among the factors that provide incentives for war.

'It is also true that the Russians thought it would all be over in a week. But they miscalculated. They encountered a brave people, a people who are struggling to survive and who have a history of struggle,' he said the transcript of the conversation, published by the Jesuit journal Civilta Cattolica.

'This is what moves us: to see such heroism. I would really like to emphasize this point, the heroism of the Ukrainian people. What is before our eyes is a situation of world war, global interests, arms sales and geopolitical appropriation, which is martyring a heroic people,' he said.

Francis said that several months before President Vladimir Putin sent his forces into Ukraine, the pontiff had met with a head of state who expressed concern that NATO was 'barking at the gates of Russia' in a way that could lead to war.

Francis then said in his own words: 'We do not see the whole drama unfolding behind this war, which was perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented'.

Asking himself rhetorically if that made him 'pro-Putin,' he said: 'No, I am not. It would be simplistic and wrong to say such a thing.' He added: 'I am simply opposed to reducing complexity to distinction between good and bad'.

The leader of the Catholic Church denied being 'pro-Putin,' saying Russian troops were brutal, cruel and ferocious, while praising the Bravery of Ukrainian troops who have been fighting for their country's survival since the invasion began in February

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a 'special operation' to disarm Ukraine and protect it from fascists, a characterisation previously criticised by Francis.

Ukraine and the West say the fascist allegation is baseless and that the war is an unprovoked act of aggression.

In his comments, Francis also noted Russia's 'monstrous' use of Chechen and Syrian mercenaries in Ukraine.

'What we are seeing is the brutality and ferocity with which this war is being carried out by the troops, generally mercenaries, used by the Russians,' he said. 'In reality, the Russians prefer to send forward Chechens, Syrians, mercenaries.'

Francis said he hoped to meet Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill at an inter-religious event in Kazakhstan in September. The two had been due to meet in Jerusalem on June but that trip was cancelled because of the war.

Kirill, who is close to Putin, has given the war in Ukraine his full-throated backing. Francis said last month that Kirill could not become 'Putin's altar boy', prompting a protest from the Russian Orthodox Church.

In the conversation with the Jesuits, Francis said he had told Kirill during a video call in March: 'Brother, we are not clerics of the state, we are pastors of the people'.

In another message published on Tuesday, Francis said the invasion of Ukraine is a violation of a country's right to self determination.

The pope spoke of the war in Ukraine in a message for the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of the Poor, which will be marked in November.

'The war in Ukraine has now been added to the regional wars that for years have taken a heavy toll of death and destruction,' Francis says in the message.

'Yet here the situation is even more complex due to the direct intervention of a 'superpower' aimed at imposing its own will in violation of the principle of the self-determination of peoples,' he said

Pictured: Andrii Holovin, priest of the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called, prays outside the church where a mass grave was discovered in April, on June 12, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine

The Pope's comments were revealed as Amnesty International accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, saying that attacks on the northeastern city of Kharkiv - many using banned cluster bombs - had killed hundreds of civilians.

'The repeated bombardments of residential neighbourhoods in Kharkiv are indiscriminate attacks which killed and injured hundreds of civilians, and as such constitute war crimes,' the rights group said in a report about Ukraine's second-biggest city.

In Bucha, a town near Kyiv that has become synonymous with war crimes allegations, police said they had discovered another seven bodies in a grave.

'Several victims had their hands tied and knees bound,' Kyiv regional police chief Andriy Nebytov said on Facebook.

Dozens of bodies in civilian clothing were found in the town in April after Russian troops withdrew from the area following a month-long occupation.

Servicemen take part in a review of the Chechen Republic's troops and military hardware at the residence of Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic, on February 25

Russian forces have since focused their efforts on the east of Ukraine, and to bolster his ailing war effort, Putin called for mercenaries to join his forces in battle.

Thousands of mercenaries from the notorious Wagner Group have been deployed by Russia in the conflict in Ukraine, along-side fighters from the Russian republic of Chechnya and from war-torn Syria.

A European official said in April that Russia had around 10,000 to 20,000 foreign fighters in the eastern Donbas - from Wagner as well as Russian proxy fighters from Syria and Libya.

At the time, it was estimated that as many as 40,000 fighters from Syria had signed up to join the Russian war effort after Putin offered a high reward for doing so.
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has been blasted as 'clueless' after she blamed the US tampon shortage on products being put in men's bathrooms for transgender people.

The 48-year-old congresswoman claimed that store shelves across the US are bereft of the essential products because 'men are buying tampons'.

But US companies producing tampons have blamed the shortage on Covid-19 related supply chain issues and shortages in staff.

Proctor & Gamble, the owner of the tampon brand Tampax, said in its most recent earnings call that it was having trouble getting the raw materials needed to make tampons, as well as problems shipping the finished products to stores across the country.

Yet the Georgia Republican claimed the shortage is due to tampons being put in men's bathrooms.

Marge Greene says there is now a tampon shortage in the country because the Biden Admin is putting them in mens bathrooms for trans people. pic.twitter.com/6bmkBMaOvU  Ron Filipkowski  (@RonFilipkowski) June 13, 2022

Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has been blasted as 'clueless' after she blamed the US tampon shortage on products being put in men's bathrooms for transgender people

'There's now a shortage of tampons, and that's probably because men are buying tampons,' Greene said during a discussion about the transgender community on the conservative Right Side Broadcasting Network.

'They put tampons in men's bathrooms. So this is the war on women.'

Her claims sparked backlash, with many Twitter users calling her 'clueless'.

One user wrote: 'Crazy Rep. Greene says there is a shortage of Tampons because Trans men are using them. She says they are being put in men's bathrooms.

'What she should have said, if she wasn't such a massive liar, is the problem is a shortage of materials. By why let truth spoil your narrative.'

Another user responded to Greene's comments and wrote: 'Uh... no they aren't. There's a shortage because of a raw material shortage by, you guessed it, shipping issues that resulted from the pandemic and haven't recovered.'

American writer Susan Eloise Hinton tweeted: 'Beyond stupid.'

Her claims sparked backlash, with many Twitter users calling her 'clueless'

P&G noted in a recent earnings call that it was having trouble sourcing raw materials for tampons and other feminine care products, as well as getting them on trucks bound for retailers.

Raw materials that go into tampons, including cotton, rayon, and sometimes pulp and plastic for applicators, have been some of the most in-demand raw materials throughout the pandemic, Time reported, because these material have gone into medical products.

Sheng Lu, a professor in the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies at the University of Delaware, said this is the third straight year the demand for cotton has exceeded production.

'Tampons are a staple producta life necessity,' Lu told Time. 'If you look at the pricing strategy for the big players, they will consider more price increases for these necessity products.'

Women have been complaining that they have been unable to access the essential sanitary products for weeks.

One woman tweeted: 'Just came from Walgreens and year, the tampon shortage is real. If you use cotton I'd go ahead and pray your next period's light.'

Another tweeted: 'A tampon shortage? Do y'all just hate women? I'm about to give birth soon and there's no formula and no tampons? What am I supposed to do?'

A nationwide baby formula shortage was triggered when the largest baby formula factory in the US closed February after a bacteria contamination and has since worsened nationally.

Abbott Laboratories finally reopened infant formula production at its facility in Sturgis on Saturday having met FDA requirements agreed to last month.

And before the recall of the Abbott formula, 11% of powdered baby formula was out of stock because of Covid pandemic-related supply-chain shortages and inflation. Before the pandemic, the normal out-of-stock range for powdered formula was 5% to 7%, according to IRI.

Greene has faced criticism in the past for her statements about the transgender community. In February, she appeared to suggest the threat of violence is how people need to 'stand up' against transgender and nonbinary people.

She also said moves to strengthen LGBT rights in the US would 'put trans rights above women's rights.

Greene has faced criticism in the past for her statements about the transgender community

Greene was also mocked online last month for claiming that Bill Gates wants you to eat meat grown in a 'peach tree dish'.

'You have to accept the fact that the government totally wants to provide surveillance on every part of your life,' Greene said in the latest episode of MTG Live, broadcast on her social media channels.

'They want to know when you are eating, they want to know if you are eating a cheeseburger - which is very bad because Bill Gates wants you to eat his fake meat that grows in a peach tree dish.'

She continued: 'So you will probably get a little zap inside your body and that is saying 'no, no, don't eat a real cheeseburger, eat the fake burger,' the fake meat from Bill Gates.

'They probably also want to know when you go to the bathroom, if your bowel movements are on time or consistent. I mean, what else do these people want to know?'

Marjorie Taylor Greene has warned that Bill Gates wants people to eat meat grown in a 'peach tree dish'

Greene, famed for her embrace of conspiracy theories, was referring to the meat alternatives such as Impossible Burger and Beyond.

Gates is an investor, either personally or through Breakthrough Energy Ventures, in several companies working to produce alternatives to meat, including Beyond Meats, Carbon Engineering, Impossible Foods, and Memphis Meats.

The UN estimates that livestock rearing makes up more than 14 percent of all man-made greenhouse gases, including methane, worldwide - with beef the worst culprit.

Greene's comments were met with ridicule.

Adam Kinzinger, her fellow Republican congressman, tweeted: 'Oh my goodness. @RepMTG completely said 'peach tree dish'!!!!!!'

One Twitter user suggested: 'I propose using Marjorie Taylor Greene and her peach tree dish video for a 'stay in school' PSA.

'Her stupidity is a terrible thing to waste.'

Another referenced her infamous February invocation of the 'gazpacho police', when she meant the gestapo.

Taylor Greene declared: 'Not only do we have the DC jail which is the DC gulag, but now we have Nancy Pelosi's gazpacho police spying on members of Congress, spying on the legislative work that we do, spying on our staff and spying on American citizens.'

On Monday, one person joked: 'If you want to make sure Bill Gates can't track you through your cheeseburger, always cook your meat in a peach tree dish. If the Gazpacho Police happen to show up, hit 'em with your space laser. Pew pew @RepMTG.'

Another said: 'If I'm magnetized from the vaccine, do the cheeseburger tracking devices still work?'
Britain's first openly-gay state school headteacher has come out to his students by introducing his husband in a special assembly on Monday.

Colin Scott, 54, urged his pupils to 'be whoever you want to be' as he introduced his husband Drew Dalton, a sociology lecturer at the University of Sunderland, during the assembly to mark Pride month.

Mr Scott's 512 pupils and their parents at Risedale School in North Yorkshire did not know of his sexuality beforehand - but school governors and staff knew of his decision in advance.

Mr Scott said he had 'awe and admiration for the young people I am responsible for' because they are 'accepting of their peers individual identities'.

He and his husband were joined on the school stage by Hanna Johnson, North Yorkshire Police's LGBTQ+ representative, and Lt Colonel Jim Turner, the openly gay commander at Catterick Garrison.

Surprised students commended their headmaster's bravery and burst into a round of applause.

Last year, a private school head Nick Hewlett made history when he revealed his sexuality to his pupils in a virtual school assembly.

The head at the 18,000-a-year St Dunstan's College in Catford, south London, delivered the pre-recorded video message to over 700, detailing how he is 'happily married and gay'.

Meanwhile, Mr Scott said the reason he decided to come out to his students was because he wanted to be 'honest to myself' and 'embrace who I truly am' following 'fear and trumoil' he has faced throughout his life - which forced him to quit the Royal Navy.

Britain's first openly-gay state school headteacher, Colin Scott, 54, (pictured) has come out to his students by introducing his husband in a special assembly on Monday

Mr Scott (introduced his husband Drew Dalton, a sociology lecturer at the University of Sunderland, during the assembly to mark Pride month. (From left, Hanna Johnson, NYP LGBQ+ liaison, Draw Dalton, Colin Scott and Lt Col Jim Turner, garrison commander)

Mr Scott said the reason he decided to come out to his students was because he wanted to be 'honest to myself' and 'embrace who I truly am' following 'turmoil' he has faced throughout his life - which forced him to quit the Royal Navy

He said: 'I am truly inspired by the pupils who are brave enough to be who they are and who they want to be.

'The time for me to hide behind the 80s child is over and to now embrace who I truly am, as I have always, perhaps hypocritically encouraged my pupils to do.

'It's time for me to practise what I preach and to be honest to myself and to others.'

Mr Scott said he grew up in a working class household in Hebburn, South Tyneside, and joined the Navy in 1984.

He said: 'I joined the Navy in full, but private, knowledge about my own sexuality. I thought it was a 'phase' that every young person went through.

'I told myself I was straight after all because that's what I should be. That's what I had been brought up to think and certainly the stigma attached to being gay at the time was not a positive one in society or the local communities.

'After four years of being in the Navy, I really struggled to 'block' the gay side out of me for fear of being caught by the authorities whilst still trying to pretend and act as a straight man.

'Whilst it was legal to be gay in civilian life it certainly wasn't in military life and I risked being criminalised and sent to prison had I been found out.

Posting the news on Twitter, Mr Collins' husband, Drew (pictured), wrote: 'So today, my husband became the first ever U.K. state school secondary Headteacher to come out to his pupils. They applauded him + he has since received amazing emails from parents. Im so proud of him'

'It reached the point where it was seriously affecting my own mental health and I made a choice to leave the job I had dearly loved doing because of that fear and turmoil.

'I still miss the Royal Navy to this day. But I regret nothing and only have the Navy to thank for how they truly made me who I was by building my confidence, growing me as a person and giving me my first experiences of teaching other people.

'I trained to be a teacher at a time when the political mantra from government was that 'children believe they have an inalienable right to be gay, no, no, no!'

'This was the cry from the then prime minister in 1988. And so came a new law; Section 28. This prevented schools from supporting young people who were LGBTQ+ or even to say that it was 'normal'.

'The pressure of being a young gay teacher in the 1990's prevented me being honest with myself and I hid, and I struggled and I cried.

'Especially when one young person did find the confidence to confide in me about their own sexuality and I couldn't help them, talk to them about it or point them in the direction of support.

'Thankfully in 2003 Section 28 was gone and the equality act of 2010 now gives protections to all people regardless of their individuality, their disabilities, their faiths, their genders or their orientations.

Mr Scott (pictured) said he grew up in a working class household in Hebburn, South Tyneside, and joined the Navy in 1984

'I have always put a brick wall up in front of me to prevent people from seeing the real me and instead showing them this 'construct' or clone of what society expected a teacher to be at the time.

'This 'wall' stayed up for many years. Each time I went for a promotion being gay could be a career-killer. I still believed being openly gay would prevent a teacher reaching senior levels within a school, and never a headteacher. Especially in a secondary school.

'But now I sit in awe and admiration for the young people I am responsible for as a headteacher. I watch their acceptance of their peers' individual identities. Be that their culture, religion, gender, race or sexual orientation. I sit back and think to myself 'why couldn't I be as open and accepted as most young people now feel confident enough to do and are?'

'Yes prejudice still exists out there and bullying does still happen in all schools. But here is me. A 54-year-old grown man scared of being who I am and hiding behind this fictional brick wall of my own construct. Yet the young people take on the world and are not now afraid of who they are.

'Prejudice will always exist if those with influence do not challenge it in all its forms. Do I not have the ability to stand up and tell them how life for them is much better than it was for me but to also stand up as a role model to be 'whoever you want to be'?

Parents posted messages of support following the assembly and saluted Mr Collins' 'bravery'.

Headmaster Nicholas Hewlett (pictured) told students and staff at St Dunstan's College, Catford that he was gay and happily married

One said: 'There's absolutely no place for shame about our sexuality in todays society. My son was in the assembly today and in his words 'It took some guts do to that in front of a few hundred teenagers.' We all respect that, big up to Mr Scott!'

Another posted: ' I as a parent have always respected Mr Scott as Head teacher and now I also admire his honesty and bravery! Both of my children came home very proud of Mr Scott today and even though I have always taught and encouraged them to be who they want to be I think this afternoons assembly will stay with them forever.'

A mum of an LBGTQ pupil described his announcement as 'absolutely awesome.'

She said: 'Absolutely awesome. Well done Mr Scott for such a fantastic and inspirational assembly. You've helped lots of kids be brave today and be who they are without worry. As a Mum of a girl who is LGBTQ and at your school this has been incredible. Amazing head teacher, amazing school and even better because of today's assembly.'

The school's chairman of governors, John Glahome, added his support. He said he was 'so pleased that the school community is so accepting of Mr Scott.'

Mr Glahome added: 'We were sure as Governors, when we selected Mr Scott, he would be a force for good for the school and advance the school's ethos.'
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo points at a panel as he announces the government's policy pack of reforming regulations during a press conference at the Government Complex in Sejong, Tuesday. Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



The government will set up a tribunal reviewing regulations affecting businesses, in a follow-up measure to President Yoon Suk-yeol's deregulation pledge to resuscitate the country's economic dynamism.



Along with the tribunal program, the government will also launch a "strategic meeting on reforming regulations" which will be presided over by the president to facilitate the decision-making process, according to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Tuesday.



"Through powerful and multidirectional efforts to reform regulations, the government will nurture a free market economy in which the private sector's freedom and creativity can be realized to its full extent," Han said during a press conference at the Government Complex in Sejong.



"Through this, the government will spearhead the country's economic recovery and sustainable growth."



The highlight of the policies announced Tuesday was the new program of a regulation tribunal.



Approximately 100 experts from private sectors will review whether a certain regulation is appropriate or not based on international standards and opinions from stakeholders and related government agencies.



If the agencies fail to prove the necessity and effectiveness of the regulation, the experts will demand the government either improve or abolish it. An official at the presidential office said the government can abolish a certain regulation by either promulgating presidential decrees or government agencies tabling law revisions at the National Assembly.



If the government does not accept the tribunal's judgments, the existing presidential Regulatory Reform Committee will advise their acceptance. If this is not enough, the presidential strategic meeting on reforming regulations, which will be chaired by the president himself, will address the conflict, Han said.



"When it comes to important regulatory matters, the president himself will preside over the meeting," Han said. "The government will make decisions promptly and be more powerful in pursuing policy goals."



Han also said the government will review all regulations related to economic activities and job creation every three years, so that its policy drive can be sustainable.



The announcements came a day after Yoon and Han had their first official weekly meeting on Monday. During the meeting, they agreed that "reforming archaic and outdated regulations is equal to the country's growth," with Yoon taking interest in the regulation tribunal program, according to the presidential office.



"President Yoon has expressed his strong commitment to reforming regulations," Han said during Tuesday's press conference. "He said, 'We should resolve this matter in the next five years,' so I believe all ministries will spare no efforts for deregulation."




A couple murdered their baby hours after hearing steps were being taken to safeguard her care, a court heard this afternoon.

Tiny Lily-Mai Saint George was just ten weeks old when her Haringey parents Lauren Saint George and Darren Hurrell, both 25, allegedly shook her to death.

She had been released into their care on January 25, 2018, against the advice of hospital staff who feared neglect but were overruled by social services, jurors heard.

But Wood Green Crown Court was told social worker Theresa Ferguson a week later told the couple Lily-Mai would have to go into a residential unit.

That night Saint George made a 999 call saying Lily-Mai had stopped breathing and was unresponsive. She died in Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital on February 2.

The court heard medics at the hospital had raised concerns over two weeks earlier but they were told nothing could be done.

But on the day before her release, Ms Ferguson became worried about the child after police were called to a domestic at the parents' flat.

She made a referral for a legal gateway meeting which was the first step in intervening in her care but then went on holiday.

When she visited again on January 31, Saint George refused to engage and stormed out. That night she made the 999 call.

Lauren Saint George smiles broadly as she leaves Woodgreen Crown Court at lunchtime

Darren Hurrell arrives at Wood Green Crown Court, London, where he and Lauren Saint George are charged with the murder

Prosecuting the case Sally O'Neil QC said: "Almost all of the professionals at the hospital were opposed to the baby being discharged into the parents' care at home,

'They had expressed their concern about the parents' ability to meet the baby's emotional, developmental and physical needs on many occasions to the social services.

'But nonetheless, the decision was made to discharge the baby into the care of her parents and the hospital had to accept that and deal with the situation as best they could.'

The court heard this morning Lily-Mai was born prematurely in November 2017 and spent the first two months of her life in Barnet Hospital.

She was just ten weeks old when her Haringey parents Lauren Saint George and Darren Hurrell, both 25, allegedly shook her to death.

A post mortem found she died from a serious head injury and had also suffered 18 rib breaks, two fractures in her right leg and severe bruising.

Staff were worried Saint George and Hurrell - who had been homeless - were incapable of looking after her and made referrals to social services.

Neonatal sister Deborah Hodge said Lily-Mai's mother had told staff that she 'hated' the noises Lily-Mai made and wished she would 'cry instead of groaning'.

Staff held meetings with them on January 16, 2018, and six days later where they expressed 'concerns about the possibility of neglect'.

They were so worried they even raised the possibility of a mother and baby unit to allow closer supervision of Lily-Mai and her parents.

Lauren Saint George arrives at Wood Green Crown Court, London, for the start of the trial

A life just 73 days long: The tragic dates in little Lily-Mai's too-short childhood November 21, 2017 - Lily-Mai is born prematurely and spends the first two months of her life in Barnet Hospital. January 16, 2018  Staff at the hospital Staff hold meetings with the parents when they talk about the care of Lily-Mai January 21, 2018  Another meeting is held where 'concerns about the possibility of neglect' are aired. January 24, 2018  Police are called to a domestic incident at Saint George and Hurrells flat in Haringey. Social worker Theresa Ferguson is informed and she makes a referral for a legal gateway meeting which was the first step in intervening in Lily-Mais care. January 25, 2018  Lily-Mail is released into the care of both of her parents, despite medics concerns. Theresa Ferguson goes on holiday. January 26, 2018  Duty social worker Muriel Caboste visits the flat and decides there are not increased child protection issues. This is despite her noticing the parents were not following the feeding and medication chart that they had been provided with on discharge. January 31, 2018  Theresa Ferguson has returned from holiday and visits them at their flat to discuss the 'legal gateway meeting' and how to safeguard Lily-Mai. Saint George refuses to engage and storms out. Four hours later Saint George rings 999 and says Lily-Mail is seriously ill and she is rushed to hospital. February 2, 2018  Lily-Mail is pronounced dead at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Advertisement

But the baby was released into their care on January 25 after Haringey Council social services said it would not be possible.

Saint George The mother and Hurrell both deny murder, manslaughter, causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a person under 16 years old.

Mrs O'Neill QC said of the 999 call: 'Lauren Saint George said that their baby wasn't breathing, that she was premature, had anaemia and had gone white and floppy so she thought her anaemia had kicked in.

'Darren Hurrell said that she had a heartbeat but wasn't breathing and later that she was trying to gasp for air.

'Lauren Saint George said that she wasn't responsive 'like she's not opening her eyes or crying.'

'The paramedics arrived very shortly afterwards and found the baby cyanosed which means blue around her lips and nose and very pale. She wasn't breathing or moving but had a pulse. She was given emergency ventilation.

'When asked what had happened, Darren Hurrell said that he had picked the baby up from her cot because she was crying and her head fell back and she became floppy and stopped breathing.

'He said he had performed CPR on her and said the baby had been pale and unsettled for a couple of days and not taking her milk properly.'

Lily-May was taken to North Middlesex Hospital where a CT scan revealed bleeding in her brain, jurors heard.

She was then transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital for a neuro-surgical procedure and was found with brain haemorrhages and areas of brain death.

Her condition is said to have worsened and doctors decided not to resuscitate her.

On February 2 February treatment was withdrawn and she was pronounced dead.

A post-mortem examination revealed recent haemorrhages in Lily-Mai's brain and spinal cord as well as damage caused by lack of oxygen or blood, the court heard.

Pathologists also found 18 rib fractures and fractures in the two lower bones of her right leg.

These injuries were all said to have been recent. Bruises were also discovered on the baby's body of a nature consistent with impact or gripping, jurors were told.

Lily-Mai was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital where she died on February 2, 2018

Darren Hurrell and Lauren Saint George, both 25, deny murder, manslaughter and cruelty

Ms O'Neill said: 'The conclusionwas that this was an example of a fatal head injury of the shaking or impact type and he concluded that the cause of death was head injury.

'The injuries were said to be in keeping with suspected physical abuse.

'It is the Crown's case that these two defendants, Lily-Mai's parents, were responsible for her death and that these fatal injuries were caused to Lily-Mai by forceful shaking shortly before that 999 call only six days after she had been discharged into their care.'

Hospital and care staff had raised serious concerns about Lily-Mai being discharged into her parents' care, jurors heard.

Several members of hospital staff made referrals to social services, the court was told.

Neonatal staff held meetings with the parents in the lead up to Lily-Mai's discharge, on 16 January and six days later.

'At both meetings the Neonatal Team expressed their concerns about the possibility of neglect and asked about the possibility of a mother and baby unit to allow closer supervision of Lily-Mai and assessment of the parents' ability to meet her needs,' Ms O'Neill said.

Lead social worker Theresa Ferguson, from Haringey Child and Family Services, allegedly told the hospital team that this was not an option.

A report by neonatal sister Deborah Hodge alleged that Saint George had told staff that she 'hated' the noises Lily-Mai made and wished she would 'cry instead of groaning'.

Ms O'Neill said: 'Almost all of the professionals at the hospital were opposed to the baby being discharged into the parents' care at home and had expressed their concern about the parents' ability to meet the baby's emotional, developmental and physical needs on many occasions to the Social Services.

'Nonetheless, the decision was made to discharge the baby into the care of her parents and the hospital had to accept that and deal with the situation as best they could.'

The trial continues.
The family of a newlywed found dead in a tanning salon are demanding answers over claims staff failed to check on her after police found the sunbed was 'operating correctly.'

Piata Tauwhare, 30, collapsed in the tanning booth after booking an appointment for an 11-minute session on May 28 in Swansea, South Wales.

The alarm was raised when her worried husband Ifan Jones, 23, was unable to contact her following the visit to Lextan.

It is believed she suffered sudden arrhythmic death syndrome before she was found dead up to two hours later.

Ms Tauwhare, pictured, had booked an 11 minute tanning session on May 28. Her mother-in-law Emma Collyer-Miles went to the salon after Ms Tauwhare failed to answer her phone when her body was discovered

Ifan Jones, left, pictured with his wife Piata Tauwhare, right. Mr Jones paid tribute to his 'selfless' wife who died in a South Wales tanning salon

Heartbroken husband Ifan has now questioned why staff did not check on his wife at the Swansea tanning salon.

It comes after police revealed an examination of the sunbed found it was working properly with 'no malfunctions.'

Ifan said: 'We found her lying in a room deceased. The staff members hadn't checked on her. She must have had a funny turn and passed away.

'From what I've been told the longest you can be in there is 20 minutes but she was only booked in for 11 minutes.

'Normally they come and check on you five minutes after the session so they can clean the bed for the next customer. They didn't even check if she was in there or not. It was my mum who found her.'

Ifan had called his mother Emma Collyer-Miles, 42, who then went to try to find mental health worker Piata in the tanning booth.

Her family launched a fundraiser following her death to fly her body back to her native New Zealand.

Mr Jones paid tribute to his 'compassionate, selfless' wife.

He said: 'Anyone who has ever had the pleasure to grace the presence of Piata Tauwhare will know that she was one of the kindest and purest souls they have ever and will ever remember.

'Her gleaming smile, eternally set on her sun-kissed face will live happily in our hearts forever. Even when she didn't understand a word our weird Welsh accents were saying, her teeth still glistened courteously and reassuringly to make us feel heard.

'That was her in a nutshell, a compassionate, selfless woman, putting others first, even when she couldn't understand a bloody word we were saying.

'Pi was the most caring, special daughter, sister, cousin, friend and wife.'

The couple married in September before moving back to Ifan's hometown of Swansea.

Detective Inspector Jones said: 'South Wales Police was called around 4.05pm on Saturday, May 28, by the Welsh Ambulance Service following reports that the body of a woman had been found at commercial premises on Carmarthen Road, Fforestfach.

'Emergency services attended and found the body of a woman in her 30s. An independent examination of the sunbed by a specialist engineer has been undertaken.

'The sunbed was found to be operating correctly with no malfunctions. There are believed to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.'

A spokesman for Lextan said at the time: 'We can sadly confirm that a customer died while at our Fforestfach salon on Saturday, May 28th.

'We give our condolences to the deceased's family and friends, and we have also offered counselling to any affected staff.

'We are cooperating with the investigation into this case by South Wales Police and any further enquiries should be made to them at this time.'
A vegan row has broken out after a popular plant-based festival chose a 400-year-old stately home known for its fishery and hunting parties as its venue this year.

Organisers of the seventh annual Vegan Camp Out have been accused of being 'hypocrites' and 'not real vegans' over their choice of hosts - and are now taking legal action against what they described as 'lies' being spread by 'anti-vegan trolls'.

This year's four-day affair will feature appearances from famous vegans including grime artist JME, model Heather Mills, drag queen Bimini Bon Boulash and funny man Simon Amstell, as well as yoga and fitness areas - and scores of vegan food stalls.

But fury was sparked when the venue for the 70-a-head fest, expected to attract 15,000 revellers, was announced as the Grade I listed Stanford Hall in Leicestershire.

Until very recently, the historic site allowed hunting on its ground and in 2020 was home to a shoot organised for the Rungapore syndicate, and previously hosted meets of the local Pytchley fox hounds.

It is also home to Stanford Fisheries, an outfit aiming to supply 100 per cent English-bred quality carp.

But despite hunting on the beauty spot recently being banned, organisers have faced a backlash from puritans over the 'non-vegan activities' which have previously taken place at the site.

Fury was sparked when this year's venue for the 70-a-head Vegan Camp Out, expected to attract 15,000 revellers, was announced as the Grade I listed Stanford Hall in Leicestershire (pictured)

This year's four-day affair will feature appearances from famous vegans including grime artist JME, model Heather Mills, drag queen Bimini Bon Boulash and funny man Simon Amstell, as well as yoga and fitness areas - and scores of vegan food stalls.

Organisers of the seventh annual Vegan Camp Out (last year's edition pictured) are even taking legal action against what they described as 'anti-vegan trolls', who accused them of being 'hypocrites' and 'not real vegans'

Despite hunting at Stanford Hall recently being banned, organisers have faced a backlash from puritans over the 'non-vegan activities' which have previously taken place at the site. (Pictured: Revellers at a previous Camp Out)

Chief of the Countryside Alliance Tim Bonner branded organisers 'staggeringly hypocritical' for profiting from the event - held at a venue that he said was 'steeped' in hunting and shooting history.

There is no suggestion that Mr Bonner is the subject of legal action.

It was not immediately clear on what grounds the organisers would be suing their critics. MailOnline has contacted them for comment.

It comes after social media users called for a 'boycott' of the four-day festival for 'supporting murder'.

'Stanford Hall is a shooting estate therefore vegans should be boycotting the place, not supporting it,' one wrote on Twitter.

Another said: 'Veganism that turns a blind eye to bloodsports isn't veganism,' while another simply added: 'Why would vegans support murder.'

In a statement organisers said there is no such thing as 'large vegan venues' and that 'almost all events are held at venues that host activities that cause harm to animals.'

'Whilst we all agree this isn't perfect, we acknowledge it's the reality of the world we live in,' they wrote, '...the vast majority of vegans would agree it would be ridiculous to claim someone isn't vegan for attending events held at these venues - including sports, concerts, weddings, music festivals, cinemas etc.'

The statement added: 'It has only been in the last few weeks that people have taken and twisted the fact that the venue we're at isn't vegan and used that against us to try and discredit Vegan Camp Out, making up a whole range of lies and conspiracy theories about us and our team...

In a statement (pictured) organisers said there are no such things as 'large vegan venues' and that 'almost all events are held at venues that host activities that cause harm to animals.'

'Including many anti-vegan trolls that have been heavily pushing this to (attempt) to try and cause a divide within the vegan movement, which unfortunately some people have fallen for.'

The group said it was having to take legal action against the people who have 'made these awful allegations', adding that 'no one should stand for lies made against themself.'

Stanford Hall, set in 700 acres of manicured park and woodland, operates as a tourist attraction, wedding and corporate events venue as well as hiring out its ten luxury bedrooms for private stays.

Owned by ex-Royal marine Nick Fothergill and his wife Lucy Stanford, crops are also grown in parts of the grounds.

Vegan Camp Out is supported by Viva!, a vegan charity that is against factory farming which it describes as 'an intensive form of animal agriculture which prioritises profit above everything else.'

In 2019 the Newark and Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society faced a backlash after it was revealed the society had signed a three-year contract to host the vegan bash at Newark Showground in Nottingham.

Social media users criticised the Vegan Camp Out festival for its choice of venue, branding them 'hypocrites' for its past association with hunting

The society and the showground are both used to help support and promote British farming, with some vegans taking offence at the fact their ticket money was essentially being pumped into the dairy and meat industry.

Farmers also complained that a festival whose organisers oppose slaughter and farming was being hosted by the society.

In 2018 one of the speakers was Ronnie Lee, the founder of the Animal Liberation Front, who previously spent 10 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to damage property in 1986.

The Vegan Camp Out statement added: 'Some people weren't happy when we were at Newark Showground, with it being owned by an agricultural society.

'We explained to people that there are three main types of outdoor venues that are fit for festivals - 1. Farmland 2. Agricultural ground and 3. Estates (which allow 'non-vegan activities' such as fishing and shoots).

'The feedback we got overwhelmingly voted for us to move to the last option, as unlike the first two it didn't put any money into the hands of animal farmers, animal agriculture, and couldn't fund the abuse of animals.'
A seven-year-old boy has died after he was hit by gunfire while in bed at his mobile home, police said.

Paul Vasquez was shot at about 10.45pm on Sunday at his family's home at the 13,000 block of McNair Street in the city of Cloverleaf.

Someone in a white or grey colored four-door Sedan fired multiple rounds into the house in a drive-by shooting.

The boy's bedroom was near the front of the home, authorities said.

Vasquez's mother and two older brothers were also home at the time of the shooting, but none of them were injured.

A 7-year-old Texas boy was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting. Harris County Sheriff's Sgt Jason Brown, pictured, appealed to anyone with information to come forward to police

He was struck in the chest and ran to his mother, but later died at Ben Taub Hospital.

No one has been arrested, with the police continuing to search for suspects.

KPRC2 showed video of a makeshift memorial to the boy, with flowers and balloons tied to a post with a message reading: 'Paul, you will be missed!'

'It's very bad, very bad,' said one resident interviewed.

Bullet holes were shown puncturing the front of the mobile home where Vasquez was shot. Residents said they heard around six shots.

'As of right now we don't have a motive for the shooting,' said Harris County Sheriff's Sgt Jason Brown.

'We're interviewing family, trying to determine what may have led someone to shoot him in the home this evening.'

Police are in the process of acquiring video footage to better identify suspects involved in the shooting.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez asked anyone with information to come forward to the police, according to KHOU11.

He said: A child was killed and during a drive-by shooting this morning.

This is the daily toll of gun violence. Gun violence in the US cant be viewed as a solitary issue.

Lets not accept daily gun violence as our norm. Our hearts go out to all those grieving in the wake of these shootings. We can and we must do more to stop gun violence.

Police can be contacted at 713-274-9100 or 713-222-TIPS.
Idaho police have been bombarded with death threats from callers as far away as Norway after arresting 31 masked members of a 'white supremacist' hate group on their way to riot at a pride event.

The arrests were made Saturday after a concerned resident called 911 to warn about masked men who 'looked like a little army' climbing into a truck and seemingly headed to the LGBTQ event at a park in the northwestern state.

Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White said half of around the 150 calls received by his department since the arrests were from anonymous people wanting to 'scream and yell at us' and 'offer death threats against myself and other members of the police department, merely for doing our jobs.'

White attributed the abusive calls to 'hate groups from outside' Coeur d'Alene, with one person phoning from Norway to 'give us their opinions.' The other half of the calls were 'supportive calls from the Coeur D'Alene community.'

The arrested men - who police believe are linked to US far-right cell Patriot Front - were intercepted before they could reach Coeur d'Alene City Park, where the pride event was taking place.

Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White said half of around the 150 calls received by his department since the arrests were from anonymous people wanting to 'scream and yell at us' and 'offer death threats against myself and other members of the police department, merely for doing our jobs'

The hate group 'Patriotic Front', on their way to riot at a LGBTQ pride event, was rumbled when a local resident called cops after spotting the men, all wearing white masks and carrying shields, loading themselves into the vehicle 'like a little army'

Dozens of masked members of the group, which preaches its white nationalist ideology with propaganda shared on social media, were arrested in Coeur d'Alene, in northwest Idaho

Patriot Front is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as 'a white nationalist hate group' that formed after the deadly 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017

All 31 were charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, after police received reports from residents who spotted the 'little army' getting inside the vehicle around 1.38 p.m.

The men, arrested on Saturday after the U-Haul rental truck they were riding in was pulled over, were expected to appear in court in the state later on Monday

They were armed with 'shields, shin guards and other riot gear... including at least one smoke grenade,' and were arrested for conspiracy to riot, said White.

The police chief said he and his department had been surprised by 'the level of preparation that we saw' and by the 'equipment that was carried and worn by those individuals.'

'It was very clear to us immediately that this was a riotous group' with 'some ill intent,' he added.

All 31 men, including 23-year-old self-declared leader of the alt-right Thomas Ryan Rousseau, were released from jail on bond and will make their initial court appearances in the coming weeks, a court official said on Monday.

The men were standing inside the truck wearing khakis, navy blue shirts and beige hats with white balaclavas covering their faces

Coeur d'Alene Mayor Jim Hammond (pictured) said on Monday: 'We are in the same city that we were last week. We are a city that respects everyone, that welcomes everyone'

A sticker reading 'Love Lives Here,' which is intended to show that all are welcome in the community regardless of race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, or religion, in Coeur d'Alene. A second sticker reading 'CDA 4 Pride' is seen on a door at the Human Rights Education Institute

Decorations from a separate pride event at the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d'Alene

The men had come from at least 11 states across the country, White said, including Texas, Colorado and Virginia.

The group are faced with felonies of conspiracy to riot for the alleged offense that could see them jailed for up to five years.

Rousseau founded Patriot Front in the aftermath of the 2017 white nationalist 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when it broke off from another extremist group, Vanguard America, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a justice and rights body which tracks hate groups.

Patriot Front has since maintained a similar white nationalist ideology, staging riots almost identical to the one police said they prevented Saturday.

In December, Rousseau led more than 100 masked members of the group on a march through Washington DC in an an effort to 'reclaim America' - after which they were caught on camera loading themselves into the back of an U-Haul moving truck.

The rally, which prompted law enforcement to remain on standby, remained tame - with none of the protestors arrested.

That was not the case this time around.

23-year-old self-declared leader of the alt-right Thomas Ryan Rousseau was also released on bail after his arrest

Thomas Ryan Rousseau, 23, of Grapevine, Texas, is among those facing felony charges of criminal conspiracy after dozens of members of the white nationalist group, known as the Patriot Front, were arrested in northwest Idaho Saturday

Rousseau also attended that protest, which occurred on December 4, 2021. No one was arrested after that procession, which remained peaceful

An offshoot from Rosseau's previous pro-white group Vanguard America, the Patriot Front has staged riots almost identical to the one police said they prevented Saturday. Pictured: Members of Patriot Front hold shields after marching in Washington, DC on December 4, 2021

The December demonstration also saw Rousseau and fellow member illegally pack into in a U-Haul truck before and after the protest

All 31 men arrested wore shirts inscribed with the message Reclaim America and hats that read 'Victory or Death'.

White added at the press conference: 'One lesson we have for our community ... is that one concerned citizen can prevent something horrible from happening.'

'Just one concerned citizen, rather than pulling out their phone and video taping this for their 15 minutes on YouTube or snap chatting it, took the time to call 911 and report some suspicious activity and as a result we likely stopped a riot from happening down town.'

Saturday's pride event in Coeur d'Alene, described by organizers as the largest ever in North Idaho, drew a crowd of several hundred people for festivities that included a talent show and drag queen dance hour, local media reported.

'We are in the same city that we were last week,' Coeur d'Alene Mayor Jim Hammond said on Monday. 'We are a city that respects everyone, that welcomes everyone.'

The remote hills of northern Idaho were long associated with Aryan Nations, a neo-Nazi group which hoped to establish a separate white-only region, and was tied to numerous violent crimes across the United States.

But Mayor Jim Hammond said the area was 'not going back to the days of the Aryan Nations' and was 'able to completely rid ourselves of that group and the kind of awful culture that they were trying to present to our community.'

An FBI spokeswoman told AFP that federal officers were assisting local authorities.

'If, in the course of the investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate,' said Sandra Barker via email.
Iran suspects Israel has poisoned two of its top scientists, the latest to die in an escalating shadow war between the two bitter rivals.

Ayoub Entezari, 35, and Kamran Aghamolaei, 31, died just days apart in similar circumstances in towns more than 300 miles apart in central and southern Iran.

Entezari, a graduate from a top technical universities, is thought to have worked on the country's missile and drone programmes while Aghamolaei was a PhD geology student in Tehran, a field of study sometimes linked to the nuclear programme.

It comes after four Revolutionary Guards soldiers died in mysterious circumstances over the course of three weeks, and amid warnings from Israel that Iran is closer than ever to developing a nuclear weapon as negotiations to rein in Tehran falter.

Kamran Aghamolaei, 31 (left), and Ayoub Entezari, 35 (right), died suddenly in Iran two weeks ago in what officials now believe were poisonings carried out by Israel

Entezari (front row, third right) is thought to have been an aerospace engineer working on the country's missile and drone programmes

Entezari is said to have fallen ill in late May shortly after attending a dinner organised by a long-term acquaintance in his home town of Yazd, central Iran.

He was taken to an intensive care unit at a local hospital as his symptoms worsened before he died on May 31, the New York Times reported.

The acquaintance who organised the dinner is now missing and being hunted by authorities, an Iranian official told the newspaper.

Entezari's death was reported by local officials who initially called him a 'martyr' and said his death was an act of 'biological terror'.

A tribute from his university described him as an 'aerospace engineer', while images from 2019 showed him presenting then-President Hassan Rouhani with turbines of the kind used in missiles and drones at a factory in his home city.

But officials later retracted the statement about him being a martyr and the local prosecutor denied he was an engineer, calling him 'an ordinary employee of an industrial company.'

Aghamolaei, meanwhile, fell ill in late May shortly after returning from a business trip to Tabriz, in northern Iran, with 'intense' nausea and diarrhea.

He was taken to hospital where his symptoms gradually worsened until he suffered organ failure and died on June 2.

The president of Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, where Aghamolaei studied, issued a statement confirming his death and calling him a PhD student.

Ali Kamani, a member of the Guards' aerospace division, was 'martyred' in Khomein in central Markazi province on Sunday and Mohammad Abdoos, an employee of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, was reported to have been 'martyred' on Sunday evening during a mission in the northern Semnan province

Israel has told the United States it was responsible for the assassination of an Iranian Revolutionary Guards colonel, according to reports

An online profile lists Aghamolaei as a student of economic geology. Though the field encompasses a wide range of studies, it is sometimes linked to mining nuclear material or identifying sites suitable for tests.

An Iranian official who spoke to the Time said, privately, Tehran believes both of them men were poisoned by toxins added to their food.

It comes off the back of a series of deaths in Iran that echo previous assassinations linked to Israel, including of top Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp officers.

Sayad Khodayee and Ali Esmaelzadeh, both IRGC colonels, died in Tehran on May 22 and May 28 - the first after being shot by motorbike riders outside his home and the second in a mysterious fall from his balcony.

Though details about both men are sparse, Khodayee's funeral was attended by thousands including top IRGC commanders - hinting at his importance.

Both men are thought to have served in the elite Quds Force in the same unit - Unit 840 - which carries out kidnappings and assassinations outside Iran, the Times of Israel reported.

Meanwhile Ali Kamani and Mohammad Abdous, who also belonged to the IRGC, died last weekend in separate incidents in Iran that have also been deemed suspicious.

Kamani, believed to be a Second Lieutenant, was said to have died in a 'car accident' in the province of Markazi - home to Iran's heavy water reactor, which is a key nuclear facility.

Meanwhile Abdous, whose rank and role in the IRGC is not clear, was said to have died 'on a mission' in Semnan - where Iranian satellite test facilities are located.

Israel appears to be stepping up a shadow-war against Iran while warning the country is closer than ever to getting a nuclear missile (pictured, its main nuclear facility at Natanz)

Ehsan Ghadbeigi, an engineer, was also killed on May 25 when drones struck the Parchin military complex, near Tehran, where the regime develops missile, nuclear and drone technology.

Quadcopter suicide drones blew up a part of the plant that is used to develop Iran's own drone technology, the Times reported.

Israel has not commented on the alleged poisoning of the two scientists, but rarely remarks on its operations overseas.

However, if confirmed, it would not be the first time Mossad agents had carried out a lethal poisoning.

Though rare, poison was used to kill physicist Ardeshir Hosseinpour - a top Iranian nuclear physicist - back in 2007.

Israel never acknowledged the mission, but US intelligence firm Stratfor said Hosseinpour was a 'top Mossad target'.

Amid the escalating tensions, Israel yesterday warned its citizens in Turkey that they face 'real and immediate danger' of being targeted in attacks by Iranian operatives.

Foreign minister Yair Lapid urged Israelis in the country to leave 'as soon as possible', citing 'several Iranian attempts at carrying out terror attacks against Israelis on holiday in Istanbul'.

Another blast shook Iran today, with a chemical factory in the southern city of Firouzabad exploding after an ammonium tank was said to have leaked.

Some 133 people, mostly factory workers, had to be taken to hospital though most only had light injuries, with 114 released later the same day.

World powers are trying to negotiate a new deal with Iran to help curtail its nuclear technology, though talks in Vienna appear close to collapse

Iran occasionally reports incidents of fires or explosions at industrial sites affecting the country's infrastructure that are mainly blamed on technical failures.

Years of economic sanctions by the West have blocked Iran's access to original spare parts and new equipment.

Sensitive military and nuclear sites in Iran have also been the target of attacks over the past years, which Iran has blamed on Israel.

In February, a fire broke out at a warehouse full of engine oil and flammable materials at a base belonging to Iran's powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the western province of Kemranshah, damaging a shed but causing no casualties.

A day earlier, unconfirmed reports proliferated online about several explosions heard in northern Kermanshah, a strategic location in Iran with various missile and military sites.

The reports come as Iran remains on edge about its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. Negotiations in Vienna to revive the accord have stalled for months.

The 2015 deal that granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program collapsed four years ago when former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the accord and re-imposed crushing sanctions.

In a separate development, Iran's government spokesman, Ali Bahadori Jahromi, said Tuesday that President Ebrahim Raisi has accepted the resignation of the country's labor minister, following weeks of protests by retirees.

The resignation by Hojjatollah Abdolmaleki on Monday was the first for the government since hard-line Raisi took office less than a year ago. Raisi has three months to propose a new minister to the parliament for approval.

Abdolmaleki said he resigned to keep the "harmony" of the Cabinet but would continue on as an advisor to the president. Mohamad Hadi Zahdivafa was named as caretaker of the labor ministry.
Tory gloom around losing the upcoming Tiverton and Honiton by-election next week will have deepened after a new poll showed support for the Liberal Democrats spiking.

With nine days to go until voters head to the polls in the Devon constituency, there is a growing expectation that the Conservatives will lose a seat they have held ever since it was created in 1997.

The Lib Dems are eyeing a hat-trick of by-election victories after their recent successes in Amersham and Chesham, and North Shropshire.

Their hopes will have been boosted by a Redfield and Wilton Strategies survey, which revealed the Lib Dems have climbed to 15 per cent support in a poll of national voting intention.

This is two percentage points higher than last week's poll.

The Tories are unchanged on 32 per cent and Labour down one percentage point on 39 per cent, when voters were asked which party they would back if a general election was held tomorrow.

A downbeat Conservative source told MailOnline that punters shouldn't be betting against bookies, who have installed the Lib Dems as favourites in Tiverton and Honiton.

ARedfield and Wilton Strategies survey revealed the Lib Dems have climbed to 15 per cent support in a poll of national voting intention

Tory MPs have put Boris Johnson on notice that he could face another challenge against his leadership if he loseskey by-elections next week

The PM, pictured with Tory candidate Helen Hurford, is facing defeat in the Devon constituency

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, with the party's by-election candidate Richard Foord, is eyeing success in the Tiverton and Honiton contest

Meanwhile, a separate poll revealed that more than two in five (43 per cent) of rural Conservative voters - such as those found in the Devon constituency - thought the party took rural communities for granted.

As well as the contest in Tiverton and Honiton, a by-election in Wakefield will also be held on 23rd June.

While the Lib Dems are the bookies' choice to win in Devon, Labour are odds-on to win back the West Yorkshire constituency they lost to the Tories at the 2019 general election.

Tory MPs have put Boris Johnson on notice that he could face another challenge against his leadership if he loses both by-elections.

Defeat in Tiverton and Honiton - a seat which was vacated when Tory MP Neil Parish resigned after admitting to watching porn in the House of Commons - will especially spook Conservatives who represent constituencies in the party's so-called 'Blue Wall' across southern England.

A Conservative source admitted the recent Tory infighting over the Prime Minister's position in Number 10 had affected the party's chances in Devon.

They highlighted how postal votes for the by-election were received last Tuesday, the day after Mr Johnson faced a battering by rebel Tory MPs in a confidence vote.

The source told MailOnline: 'I wouldn't be advising anyone to bet against the bookies.'

But, despite the Tory gloom, the Lib Dems aren't yet fully confident of success.

A party source told MailOnline the contest was 'certainly looking interesting' but insisted it would be 'more of an uphill battle' for the party than the recent victories in Amersham and Chesham, and North Shropshire.

They noted how victory in Tiverton and Honiton would be the biggest majority ever overturned in a by-election in British political history.

The source added that the Tories were 'flooding the constituency with visits from Cabinet ministers', including one by the PM on Friday.

A Savanta ComRes survey, commissioned by the Lib Dems, found that more than than two in five (43 per cent) of rural Conservative voters thought the party took rural communities for granted.

This rose even further among Conservative voters living in villages (48 per cent) and all adults living in rural communities (49 per cent).

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: 'This Conservative Government simply doesn't care about rural parts of the country.

'Conservative MPs and candidates ignore these communities at their peril.

'There is a growing revolt at a Conservative Party which allows rural health services to be cut to the bone and fails to save people from the cost of living crisis.

'Rural areas are being hardest hit by this financial crisis as petrol prices spiral and no help is given for those relying on heating oil.'
Hundreds of migrants arrived in the UK this morning before the first flight to bring asylum seekers to Rwanda is scheduled to leave.

Judges decided that the plane to Rwanda could take off as around 400 migrants  including mostly men, one heavily pregnant woman and 12 children  were seen arriving in Dover today.

Yesterday, 138 people arrived bringing the total official number of new arrivals to 705 in June alone, with the total for the year so far reaching 10,269.

When migrants were asked today in Dover if they knew they could be sent to Rwanda, one migrant replied 'What? No' while others looked on in apparent confusion.

Court of Appeal judges rejected a legal challenge by a human rights group in attempt to stop the flight to the African country taking off amid pressure from the Church of England and opposition parties.

Seven people are reported to be leaving on the flight this evening, which is estimated to be costing the government 500,000 as the chartered plane was pictured at a military air base.

This week is predicted to be one of the busiest so far this year for small boat crossings as the summer months bring calmer conditions at sea.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, today, by Border Force, following a small boat incident in the Channel

A man carries a child as migrants arrive at the Port of Dover

A member of the military carries a child as migrants arrive at the Port of Dover

Migrants including a heavily pregnant woman and babies have been brought into Dover on two ships this morning.

A child walks beside a soldier carrying a baby as a woman and man move off the boat

Migrants walk the gangway as they disembark at the Port of Dover. And a soldier carries a child as migrants arrive at the Port of Dover, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel

A punctured dinghy that was used by migrants to cross the English Channel is pulled into the Port of Dover

The Dover RNLI lifeboat brought 10 to 20 migrants to shore while the Border Force ship Vigilant brought around 60 people into Dover.

They could be seen standing on the gangway after disembarking the vessel, waiting to be processed by UK officials.

Approximately 92 adults and 12 children have been brought to shore by Border Force this morning were escorted to shore less than an hour later on board Border Force cutter Vigilant.

Two men carried babies in their arms while another held a toddler's hand as they were led along the walkway by soldiers dressed in camouflage fatigues and high-vis vests.

And several members of the group waved at onlookers as they approached the port.

A further 50 people - mostly men in their late teens or 20s - have been brought to shore in Dover on the Border Force ship Hurricane in the third recue by a ship today.

While Border Force catamaran Typhoon - equipped with a portable toilet - transported dozens of people to Dover around 12.30pm.

Seven people are reported to be leaving on the flight this evening, which is estimated to be costing the government 500,000 as the chartered plane was pictured at a military air base

A soldier from the Royal Artillery Regiment carries a young child ashore from the Valiant

A soldier carries a baby in his hand while at least 12 children were rescued today

A man is seen with a child while migrants are brought in to Dover by RNLI and the Border Force

A woman who is pregnant is led from Border Force boat Valiant after attempting the crossing of the English Channel

One man carried a toddler on his shoulders as he came ashore, and one woman was heavily pregnant.

Asked where they came from refugees said Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yesterday, Border Force cutter Hurricane took the first boat at around 3pm, while a second group of 50 people were escorted into the port on an RNLI lifeboat shortly before 8pm.

Another RNLI lifeboat brought a further 40 migrants to shore after dark at approximately 10.30pm.

Migrants on board one boat in the Calais Strait also got into difficulty and were rescued by the French on Monday.

The mostly male migrants could be seen being led along the gangway yesterday in Dover for processing by soldiers dressed in camouflage fatigues and high-vis vests and Border Force agents in Hazmat suits.

One man carried a toddler as they came ashore, pictured, and one woman was heavily pregnant

Migrants who attempted the crossing of the English Channel from France arrive at Dover on board a lifeboat

A partially submerged inflatable boat is brought into the marina

A view of a partially submerged inflatable boat that was[ towed into the marina

A soldier carries a child nearby a woman coming off the boat in Dover today

Several members of the group waved at onlookers and made the peace sign as they approached the port

Inflatable boats are towed into the marina after a group of people are brought in to Dover

A soldier is seen with a man carrying a child while wearing a life vest as over 100 migrants arrived today

Migrants who attempted the crossing of the English Channel from France sit on an RNLI boat

Boat Notre Dame des Flandres was tasked with retrieving 43 migrants from the Channel, who were then dropped off at Gravelines where border police and the departmental fire and rescue service took care of them.

Boris Johnson accused lawyers representing migrants of 'abetting the work of criminal gangs' today as he defended the plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda ahead of the expected first flight on Tuesday.

The plans have been challenged in the courts and condemned by the Church of England's senior bishops and reportedly by the Prince of Wales, with the Prime Minister acknowledging that there had been criticism from 'some slightly unexpected quarters'.

An urgent interim injunction to stop the new scheme was brought about by migrant charity Asylum Aid but was rejected, with the High Court ruling that the first flight to Africa will take off on Tuesday evening.

Young men are seen on the deck of a boat as they arrive in Dover today

Border Force seen with migrants as they came ashore at Dover Dock today

A military crew in a fast inflatable recover one of the boats used by migrants crossing the Channel

The military are seen tying a migrant's lifejacket while more come ashore at Dover Docks after they crossed the English Channel this morning

Migrants disembark at the Port of Dover, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel, today

A woman is helped ashore following a small boat incident in the Channel

Mr Johnson insisted the Government would not be deterred by the attacks 'not least from lawyers' and told his Cabinet ministers that 'we are going to get on and deliver' the plan.

Natalie Elphicke, MP for Dover, said: 'The Channel Crossings put lives at risk in the hands of ruthless criminal gangs.

'The action being taken by our Government to bring these dangerous crossings to an end is the compassionate, common sense and right thing to do.

'It's disappointing to see the courts being misused by political activists who support uncontrolled immigration.

'There is no need for anyone to get on a small boat. People are safe in France and many other places before France.'

A pregnant woman is helped ashore from a group of people thought to be migrants

A member of the military assists a woman as migrants arrive

This week is predicted to be one of the busiest so far this year for small boat crossings as conditions at sea become calmer - with around 30 migrants already spotted floating in the Channel on a black dinghy.

Despite Home Office warnings some people could be deported to Rwanda to be relocated, 705 people have been detained in June alone.

The total number of migrants to make the treacherous journey across the 21-mile Dover Strait currently stands at 10,269 in 321 boats - more than double that of the same period in 2021 when just over 4,546 people had been detained.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), 28,526 made the crossing in 2021 - compared to 8,410 who arrived in 2020.

Migrants disembark at the Port of Dover, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel

Minister for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration, Tom Pursglove MP, has said: 'The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable.

'Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they also impact on the UK taxpayer, risk lives and our ability to help refugees come to the UK via safe and legal routes. Rightly, the British public has had enough.

'Through our Nationality and Borders Bill, we're cracking down on people smugglers and fixing the broken system by making it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and introducing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for those who facilitate illegal entry into our country.'

Last night, Tory MP Peter Bone made a combative speech in the Commons in which he complained about 'lefty lawyers' sabotaging the policy.

The MP Wellingborough told MPs: 'We hear that a number of people who were meant to be on the flight tomorrow have, miraculously, got some lefty lawyer to intervene and stop it.

'Can I suggest that instead of booking 50 people on each flight to Rwanda, book 250 people on it then when they stop half of them from travelling you still have a full flight - come on, get on and send them.'
Frustrated Aldi customers have slammed the supermarket for selling 'sexist' children's books they say push outdated gender stereotypes.

An Aussie shopper took to Twitter last week and said she was 'disappointed' with Aldi after finding two children's books in the supermarket's Best Buys section.

The books feature the titles 'What can he be?' and 'What can she be' with the pages matching a potential career with a corresponding letter of the alphabet.

On the covers, a boy is dressed as an astronaut while a girl is pictured as a vet, with the shopper asking why certain careers had been assigned to a gender.

Frustrated Aldi customers have slammed the supermarket for selling 'sexist' children's books they say push outdated gender stereotypes

A customer took to Twitter last week and said she was 'disappointed' with Aldi after coming across two children's books in the supermarket's Best Buys section

'Girls can be Astronauts and surgeons! How about 'What can you be?' STOP the gender differentiation!' she tweeted.

Another user responded to the tweet and suggested that the same professions could be listed in both of the alphabetised books.

'I opened and checked. It didn't which is why I was more irritated. Aside from the fact that it's time to move to a non-binary format,' the shopper replied.

'We need the conversation to become non-binary. Wonder how many professions are possible for each letter of the alphabet?'

In the picture books (pictured) boys are told they can grow up to be engineers, firefighters, quality assurance managers and race car drivers

Girls are told they can be editors, fashion designers, queens and real estate agents

The shopper noted the books appeared to be knock-offs of the ABC What Can She Be? and ABC What Can He Be? picture books.

Boys are told they can grow up to be engineers, firefighters, quality assurance managers and race car drivers while girls are told they can be editors, fashion designers, queens, university lecturers and real estate agents.

Another confused customer shared similar images of the books on Twitter and described the titles as 'unnecessarily sexist'.

'What will she be? Maybe a fashion designer, but not a firefighter like him,' she wrote alongside a series of photos of the offending books.

The shopper added that both genders were told they could be veterinarians.

Another confused customer shared similar images of the picture books on Twitter and described the titles as unnecessarily sexist'

'Aldi is a smart choice for most things but this has disappointed,' one tweeted.

'What?! That's very disappointing,' a second said.

'What if he wants to be an editor or fashion designer too?' a third wrote.

Aldi replied to the twitter thread and wrote: 'Thank you for sharing with us, we will share your feedback with the buying team to look into further'.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Aldi for comment.
A leading Russian beauty queen and model agency owner faces up to 20 years in jail after being detained as a suspected drug dealer, say law enforcement.

Kristina Dukhina, 34, was held near her elite apartment in Moscow City skyscraper district.

She had been runner up in the Miss Dubai 2019 contest and won Grand Prix Miss Federation in Russia the following year.

Kristina Dukhina, 34, was held near her elite apartment in Moscow City skyscraper district after being found with mephedrone

She also owns an agency aimed at establishing the modelling industry in Crimea

She was held by Russian police after being found in possession of more than half a kilogram mephedrone, say reports

She also owns an agency aimed at establishing the modelling industry in Crimea, annexed by Vladimir Putin from Ukraine in 2014.

She was held by Russian police after being found in possession of more than half a kilogram mephedrone, say reports.

A mother of two, she is under investigation on the preparation of the illegal drug for sale.

'I decided to try my hand at beauty contests and show by example that dreams come true and nothing is impossible,' she said before her Dubai success.

'I did not expect to receive such a prestigious international title.

'Of course, I was always confident in myself and my beauty.'

This year ahead of her arrest, she had abruptly cut her social media presence.

'I am leaving social networks,' she posted.

' I will take only loved ones to my sterile empty room of a new life.'

Dukhina is detained pending further investigations, according to law enforcement.
President Yoon Suk-yeol has named a veteran ruling party lawmaker as a special envoy to China, officials from the presidential office said Tuesday.







Yoon recently asked Rep. Joo Ho-young, a five-term lawmaker from the People Power Party (PPP), to lead a delegation to Beijing, according to the officials.







The schedule of the delegation's visit to China has yet to be confirmed due to the COVID-19 situation there.







The delegation is expected to discuss bilateral relations as well as North Korea issues when it makes its trip to Beijing.







Earlier this month, Yoon sent Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon of the PPP as a special envoy to the European Union. (Yonhap)


Advertisement

William and Kate listened to heart-breaking accounts from child survivors as they joined mourners at Westminster Abbey as Britain remembers the 72 victims of Grenfell Tower who died five years ago today.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stood with survivors of the fire along with bereaved relatives at a memorial service also attended by MPs including Theresa May, who was prime minister at the time of the tragedy.

With Prince William looking on, Kate laid a wreath with white flowers at the base of Grenfell Tower to mark the five-year anniversary of the deadly fire. Afterwards, both bowed their hoods and paused for a moment of reflection.

It was also revealed the Duke and Duchess had held a private meeting earlier on Tuesday between the royal couple and those directly affected by the disaster.

The royal couple have long supported survivors and the families who died in the fire on June 14, 2017, which was accelerated by deadly combustible cladding and where many of those who died had been told to stay in their flats. 72 people died in the tragedy - but more are feared to have perished but were never identified.

Attendees marked the memorial with a 72-second silence in memory of the 72 victims of the fire, which took place exactly five years ago, was observed by attendees including William and Kate, and followed by applause.

Mourners donned green scarves and clothing to match the green hearts which adorn the wall below the 220ft tower, and which have become a powerful symbol representing the memory of those lost in the tragedy.

Green balloons were later released in memory of the 18 children who perished in the deadly blaze.

Eight-year-old Ayeesha, who survived the fire, also recited a poem she wrote called Never Forget, which was met with raucous applause from both Prince William and Kate.

She said: 'We will stay strong, we will rise up as a community, we will fight for justice together, we will always remember our friends and our neighbours, we will always remember our home.

'We can't change the past but we can change the future. Never forget.'

The little girl smiled as she ended the poem and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge could be seen smiling as they joined in applause.

And today with tears streaming down the faces of mourners, dressed in green and clutching photographs of their loved ones, the fifth anniversary was marked.

Prince William shakes the hand of two young attendees at the Grenfell Tower memorial service in London

With Prince William looking on, Kate laid a wreath with white flowers at the base of Grenfell Tower to mark the five-year anniversary of the deadly fire. Both bowed their hoods and paused for a brief moment of reflection

Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge speak with survivors and bereaved children during a memorial service to mark the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire

Hundreds of mourners attended Tuesday's service of remembrance - marking five years since the Grenfell Tower tragedy

A young schoolgirl is pictured laying flowers at the site of the Grenfell Tower memorial in north Kensington on Tuesday

The Duchess of Cambridge arrives during their unannounced visit to the memorial service at the base of Grenfell Tower earlier today

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stood shoulder-to-shoulder with survivors of the fire along with bereaved relatives at Tuesday's memorial service

William and Kate have long supported survivors and families who died in the tragedy, which took 72 lives when a fire took hold in the tower block on June 14, 2017

Eight-year-old Ayeesha, who survived the fire, recited a poem she wrote called Never Forget which was met with raucous applause from both Prince William and Kate

Hundreds gathered at the base of Grenfell Tower in north Kensington, London as they watched the memorial service get underway

Rapper Stormzy watched on as a wreath laying ceremony was displayed on big screens at the base of Grenfell Tower

Hamid Ali Jafari staples to a tribute wall at Grenfell Tower a photo of his father, Ali Yawar Jafari, who died in the Grenfell Tower fire on June 14, 2022 in London, England

People read the written tributes left to victims of the deadly Grenfell Tower fire on Tuesday, June 14

Prince William and Kate Middleton look sombre as they attend a memorial service marking the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower tragedy

William and Kate sit among the congregation during the unannounced visit to today's wreath laying service at the base of Grenfell Tower

After each group of names was read out, the congregation said in unison 'Forever in our hearts' - the phrase emblazoned across the top of the covered-up tower in north Kensington. Pictured: The Duchess of Cambridge today

The Duke of Cambridge is pictured addressing fellow attendees at the Grenfell Tower memorial on Tuesday as he and the Duchess of Cambridge made a surprise visit

Prince William speaks at the memorial service at the base of Grenfell Tower. Mourners were dressed in green and clutching photographs of loved ones

William and Kate were present as the congregation took part in the special service to commemorate those lost in the tragedy

Grenfell survivors and bereaved relatives are releasing 18 green balloons from the base of the west London tower to represent each child who died there five years ago. Pictured: Prince William speaks with fellow attendees on Tuesday afternoon

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge chatted with attendees before taking their seats in the front row for a multi-faith service at the base of the north Kensington high-rise on Tuesday

It is one of several events at which Grenfell survivors, the bereaved and the community will gather on Tuesday, five years on from the deadliest domestic blaze since the Second World War

The Duke of Cambridge is pictured arriving at the memorial service on Tuesday afternoon

The 72 victims who lost their lives in the deadly Grenfell Tower blaze Mohammad al-Haj Ali, 23

Sakina, 65, and Fatema Afrasehabi, 59

Fathia Ahmed, 71, Abufars Ibrahim, 39, and daughter Isra Ibrahim, 35

Raymond Bernard, 63

Kamru Miah, 79, Rabeya Begum, 64, Mohammed Hamid, 27, Mohammed Hanif, 26 and Husna Begum, 22

Maria del Pilar Burton, 72

Ali Yawar Jafari, 81

Amna Mahmud Idris, 27

Victoria King, 71, and Alexandra Atala, 40

Tony Disson, 65

Rania Ibrahim, and her young children Fethia and Hania

Vincent Chiejina, 60

Joseph Daniels, 69

Mariem, 27, and Eslah Elgwahry, 64

Hesham Rahman, 57

Gary Maunders, 57

Hashim Kedir, 44, Nura Jemal, 35, Firdows Hashim, 12, Yahya Hashim, 13, and Yaqub Hashim, six

Gloria Trevisan, 26, and Marco Gottardi, 27

Khadija Saye, 24

Mary Mendy, 54

Hamid Kani, 60

Deborah Lamprell, 45

Abdulaziz El-Wahabi, 52, Faouzia, 41, Yasin, 20, daughter Nur Huda, 16, and son Mehdi, eight

Ligaya Moore, 78

Dennis Murphy, 56

Mohamed Neda, 57

Mohamednur Tuccu, 44, his wife Amaya Tuccu-Ahmedin and Amal Ahmedin, three

Omar Belkadi, 32, Farah Hamdan, 31, and daughters Malak, seven, and six-month-old Leena

Berkti, 29, and Biruk Haftom, 12

Khadija Khalloufi, 52

Steve Power, 63

Jessica Urbano Ramirez, 12

Zainab Deen, 32, and her son Jeremiah, 2

Logan Gomes

Abdeslam Sebbar, 67

Sheila Smith, 84

Marjorie, 68, and Ernie Vital, 50

Isaac Paulos, 5

Nadia, Bassem, Sirria, Mierna, Fatima and Zeinab Choucair Advertisement

Tuesday marked the latest public show of support from the Cambridges.

William, along with his grandmother, the Queen, visited the site in west London in the days following the fire in June 2017.

And the Duke was joined by his wife when they met with survivors as part of the launch of the National Emergencies Trust in 2019.

It comes as local residents praised the appearance of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as 'huge' for the community and showed they 'shared that feeling' of mourning on the fifth anniversary.

Mother-of-five Muna Hussain said her children went to the same school as five of those who died in the fire and her household was evacuated in the days following.

When asked about William and Kate's appearance at the service, Ms Hussain, 50 said: 'I was happy.

'I was glad to see at least they know how we are feeling as a community and they shared that feeling.

'It makes me very happy. It's massive, it's huge for us. It makes you feel better.'

Today's congregation, organised by campaigners with Grenfell United, stood as the Westminster Abbey special service choir sang Psalm 102:1: 'Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my crying come unto thee.'

Mrs May, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Housing Secretary Michael Gove, former building safety and fire minister Stephen Greenhalgh, and shadow housing secretary Lisa Nandy sat to the side of the pulpit. Journalist Jon Snow sat in the front row and also spoke to the congregation.

The names of the 72 men, women and children who lost their lives in the worst fire in a generation were also read out.

Floral displays -including a 72 constructed of white flowers - and written tributes were left beside the Grenfell 'tribute wall'.

Opening the service, the very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, said the loss and anguish 'are still vivid and sharp' as the congregation gathered 'in sorrow and in pain'.

He said: 'Here we renew our commitment to remember those we have lost.

'We gather as those who look for justice and a renewed commitment to securing safety in our homes, safety in times of fire.

'Grateful for the support of the communities and individuals that have sustained the bereaved and the survivors over the last five years, we meet in faith and hope looking to a better, safer, surer future.'

It came as politicians paid tribute on social media, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeting: 'Today marks five years since the Grenfell Tower fire took the lives of 72 people.

'My thoughts are with the survivors, those who lost loved ones and the wider community.'

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer posted: 'Five years on from the Grenfell tower fire we remember the 72 people killed.

'The Grenfell community are courageous in their pursuit of justice and change.

'We stand with them. To honour the memories of those lost we must prevent such a tragedy happening again.

Mr Khan tweeted: 'Along with all Londoners I stand with the Grenfell community, today on the fifth anniversary of that terrible tragedy, and always.

'Together, we will get the answers, justice and change that we need to protect communities in London and across the rest of our country.'

Multi-faith leaders said the names of the victims of the tragedy, during a service at Westminster Abbey to remember those who perished in the tower block fire on June 14 2017.

After each group of names was read out, the congregation said in unison 'Forever in our hearts' - the phrase emblazoned across the top of the covered-up tower in north Kensington.

Hundreds of people connected to Grenfell Tower have heard a reading from the Quran at a multi-faith service being held at the base of the building.

Christian prayers were also being read by Reverend Gerard Skinner from the Roman Catholic Parish of Notting Hill. Following the readings, the local Soul Sanctuary Choir began a rendition of Amazing Grace.

Several hundred mourners later held a silent walk through North Kensington for the 72 victims of the devastating fire.

Survivors and bereaved relatives holding a banner reading 'United for Grenfell' led the walk while other members of the community are held huge home-made green hearts aloft.

Theresa May and Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove lower their heads in prayer during the service in Westminster Abbey today

Theresa May and community volunteer Claire Walker speak before the Grenfell fire memorial service at Westminster Abbey today

A green ribbon is tied to railings below the empty shell of the building, where loved ones continue to commemorate those lost in the fire

Grenfell Tower went up in flames five years ago today in the early hours of June 14, 2017, and became the worst fire in a generation

Campaigners have continued to question why nobody has ever been prosecuted in relation to the blaze, which took place five years ago today

It is one of several events at which Grenfell survivors, the bereaved and the community that gathered on Tuesday, five years on from the deadliest domestic blaze since the Second World War.

At 2pm a 72-second silence was observed at Westfield shopping centre, after which the names of the 72 victims was read out over the public address system.

Later in the afternoon, cording around the tower in north Kensington was removed so survivors, the bereaved and community groups could gather at its base for a multifaith service and lay flowers and wreaths.

Natasha Elcock, chairwoman of campaign group Grenfell United, said: 'This week will be a difficult week for everyone affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

'For many of us the events five years ago are still so raw in our minds and our losses remain heavy in our hearts.'

In the evening, firefighters from across the country will form a guard of honour as members of the community take part in a silent walk starting from the base of the tower.

Pete Wolfenden, a firefighter who responded to the blaze, said: 'It's been five years since the Grenfell Tower fire and the thoughts and wishes go out from all London firefighters and fire control staff personnel to the survivors and friends and family of those who lost their lives in this appalling incident, the worst domestic blaze in living memory.

'We also remember the brave and courageous members of all the emergency services who attended on the night and subsequent days, some of whom still suffer ill-health and bear the mental scars of attending that traumatic incident.'

The loss of 72 lives inside Grenfell Tower made it the worst fire in a British residential building since the Second World War

The Dean of Westminster David Hoyle addresses the congregation on the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy at Westminster Abbey

People arrive for a Grenfell fire memorial service at Westminster Abbey earlier today, where tributes were paid to those who lost their lives in the tragedy

Some in the crowd held flowers in memory of loved ones, with this person hold a white rose in Westminster Abbey during the service

Sir Martin Moore-Bick (centre), who led the public inquiry into the cause of the fire at Grenfell Tower, attended the ceremony today

A community choir dressed in green and black performs at the Grenfell Tower fire memorial service at Westminster Abbey today

A tree is decorated in green and with placards near to the remains of Grenfell Tower today, where the memory of the tragedy still looms large

Flowers and tributes to those who lost their lives in the tragedy have been placed at a wall in the area, with the remains of the tower in the background

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: 'Firefighters and the Grenfell community have a bond that was forged in tragedy, and the Fire Brigades Union stands in solidarity with all bereaved, survivors and residents.

'Today, on the fifth anniversary of the fire, it is a time for reflection, and to remember all those who lost their lives, and the loved ones they left behind. Their legacy lives on in the fight for justice.

'The community have faced constant denials from those responsible for Grenfell being covered in cladding as flammable as petrol.

'They have faced a wait for criminal charges that continues to this day. They inspire us all with their relentless fight for justice and we continue to stand in solidarity with them every step of the way.'

London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said he has found the strength and dignity of the Grenfell community 'humbling and inspiring'.

He added: 'I give my commitment that we will continue to listen and make changes to our service and work to drive improvements in the built environment to ensure such a tragedy can never happen again.'

A spokeswoman for campaign group Justice 4 Grenfell said: 'Today we stand with the Grenfell bereaved, survivors and community. Forever in our hearts.

'The Grenfell Tower fire has become a symbol of the social inequality and injustice that exists in our country.

'Seventy-two people lost their lives, many people lost their homes, possessions, families and loved ones.

'The first duty of any government is to protect the lives of its citizens. From the right to life and including the duty to provide adequate housing, these duties are enshrined in law and are where the Government has and continues to fail.'

It comes as other members of The Firm were out in force at Royal Ascot, with Prince Charles and Camilla leading the royal family today while the Queen missed the event amid her ongoing mobility issues.

Her Majesty was a regular at the Berkshire racecourse before the pandemic and has been at every Royal Meeting since acceding to the throne in 1952, apart from when it was held behind closed doors in 2020.

However the 96-year-old monarch will likely be watching from home just seven miles away at Windsor Castle this afternoon, especially when her horse King's Lynn started racing in the King's Stand Stakes at 3.40pm.

Instead, the Prince of Wales, 73, and Duchess of Cornwall, 74, were in attendance alongside a host of other royals - including Princess Anne, 71, and her two children Peter Philips, 44, and Zara Tindall, 41, Countess Sophie Wessex, 57, and Princess Beatrice, 33, who was joined by her husband Edoardo Mapelli-Mozzi, 38.

Just over a week after the Platinum Jubilee celebrations ended, members of the royal family appeared in high spirits, with many taking part in the carriage procession, before greeting one-another in the warm summer sunshine at the racecourse.

Zara could be seen affectionately greeting her uncle Charles, as well as Princess Michael of Kent, while Princess Beatrice was also beaming with joy at the event.

Meanwhile the Duchess of Cambridge's parents Carole and Michael Middleton also made a surprise appearance at the event today.

Prince Charles, 73, and Camilla, 74, led the royal family today at Royal Ascot as they came out in force for the first day of the races - while the Queen, 96 missed the event amid her ongoing mobility issues

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were in attendance alongside Princess Beatrice (left with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi) and Zara Tindall (right)

Meanwhile the Queen's only daughter Princess Anne was also in attendance at the event, opting for a cream coat dress with a brown fascinator

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall shared a laugh with William Buick's trainer Charlie Appleby during the event

Meanwhile Sophie Wessex was elegant in an over-the-top raspberry hat today as she joined other members of the royal family at the event

Scoring a winner! The Duchess of Cambridge's mother was seen jumping for joy during the races at Ascot
Do not approach: Police are urgently trying to trace Mahad Abdulkadir Mahamud (pictured)

Police are urgently seeking help to trace a man they believe may pose 'a significant risk to the public' after he absconded from hospital.

Mahad Abdulkadir Mahamud had been detained under the Mental Health Act and is considered a risk to the public because he had a history of carrying out random serious assaults.

The 26-year-old was being treated at Chase Farm Hospital, in Enfield, but ran off from the site on Monday, June 13, at about 5.30pm.

His disappearance has sparked an urgent plea from the Met Police to trace Mahamud's whereabouts due to the risk they believe he poses to members of the public.

Mahamud is 6ft 1ins, medium build, balding black hair with a beard. He was last seen wearing grey jogging bottoms.

Anyone who sees Mahamud is advised not to approach him but is advised to call 999 immediately.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Ridley, from the local policing team in Enfield, said: 'Mahamud has previously seriously assaulted another person completely unknown to him and is considered a serious risk to the public.

Mahad Abdulkadir Mahamud was being treated at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, London

'Extensive efforts are being made by my investigation team to locate this man, but we are also asking for the public's help. If you see this man, please do not to approach or challenge him, but dial 999 immediately.'

Mahamud has connections with Camden and Hertfordshire areas.

Chase Farm Hospital has a range of forensic mental health units including low and medium secure wards.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts should contact police on 999 quoting CAD 5851/13JUN.

To remain anonymous contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
This is the moment a mugger stripped a luxury watch off an American tourist's wrist in front of his family in Barcelona, with cops valuing the timepiece at $45,000 (37,000) - days after the man reportedly told them it was worth $800,000 (685,000).

The tourist - who was not named by Spanish police - was walking through the city's central Gothic Quarter with his young family when a mugger snuck up behind him and clawed the watch from his arm.

The American told police the timepiece was snatched off his wrist just after 2pm on Tuesday near the five-star Mercer Hotel where he is believed to have been staying.

The tourist first filed a complaint with the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) valuing his watch at $800,000 (685,000). But after carrying out their own checks police lowered the valuation to $45,000 (36,870), Catalan newspaper El Periodico reported.

It's not clear why police lowered the value of the watch.

Scroll down for video

This is the moment a thug rips a $45,000 watch off a tourists wrist while he is walking through the centre of Barcelona with his young family

CCTV footage of the lightning-quick robbery shows the unsuspecting American walking through an alley as a man runs up behind him and seizes his arm.

As the thief swings his victim around with one hand, he rips away the watch with the other and runs away leaving the family dumbfounded.

The footage shows the tourist with his partner and three young children at the time of the mugging. As the man is grabbed he stumbles backwards about to fall, but is able to steady himself - only to watch the man run off with his watch.

Unconfirmed local reports first identified the watch as a Swiss-made Hublot's Black Caviar Bang, which features hundreds of precision-cut black diamonds. The limited-edition watch has a $1 million price tag in the United States and takes more than 2,000 hours to finish from the the design stage.

However, reports said it was later revealed to be a less valuable version of the model, with Hublot making a range of 'Bang' watches worth tens-of-thousands of dollars. After the initial report, regional Mossos d'Esquadra police force said they were unable to confirm what type of watch had been taken.

Pictured: CCTV footage showing the thief (far-right) sneaking up behind an American tourist (in the red polo shirt) before swiping his watch and running back off down the street

As the thief swung his victim around with one hand, he ripped away the watch with the other and ran away - leaving the young family dumbfounded

It appeared the tourist was with his partner and three young children (shown together left) at the time of the mugging. As the man was mugged he stumbled backwards about to fall, but was able to steady himself only to watch the man run off with his expensive watch

The tourist first filed a complaint with the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) valuing his watch at $800,000. But after carrying out their own checks police lowered the valuation to $45,000. Pictured: A base model of the Hublot Black Caviar Bang watch (left), and another worth $45,000 (right)

But a spokesman said at the time: 'I can confirm we are investigating the violent theft of a designer watch worth $800,000 following a complaint from a tourist.

'The person who reported the crime said he was surrounded by a gang of muggers who snatched the watch off his wrist. The incident reported happened around 2.20pm on Tuesday. No arrests have yet been made.'

The CCTV footage - released after the police statement - appeared to contradict the initial reports, showing just one man mugging the tourist.

One local report said the mugging victim was returning to his hotel for a siesta after lunch at a nearby restaurant when he was targeted.

He has told the police he believes his assailants were of North African origin.

The theft occurred in Lledo Street, in Barcelona's charming Gothic Quarter, which has narrow medieval streets filled with trendy bars, clubs and restaurants and is always teeming with holidaymakers.

The police spokesman said: 'The man who reported his watch had been stolen was slightly hurt but they were minor injuries.'

The theft occurred in this spot on Lledo Street, in Barcelona's charming Gothic Quarter, which has narrow medieval streets filled with trendy bars, clubs and restaurants and is always teeming with holidaymakers

The American told police the timepiece was snatched off his wrist just after 2pm on Tuesday near the five-star Mercer Hotel (pictured) where he is believed to have been staying

The city centre of Barcelona has a reputation for its high crime rate, which is caused predominantly by thefts and robberies on its streets. According to the Barcelona Field Study Centre, the capital of Catalonia saw 40 crimes per 100 inhabitants in 2016 - a figure that is inflated by the number of visitors who are robbed

Earlier this week a middle-aged man was filmed as his watch was snatched from his wrist in the centre of Barcelona while no one lifted a finger to help.

The local police warned the public to be careful with their personal belongings during the summer months as more people visit the city and crime rates increase significantly.

The authorities also said such crimes have increased since the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and that the Mossos d'Esquadra have created a special unit dedicated to curbing them.

The city centre of Barcelona has a reputation for its high crime rate, which is caused predominantly by thefts and robberies on its streets.

According to the Barcelona Field Study Centre, the capital of Catalonia saw 40 crimes per 100 inhabitants in 2016, with the number being inflated by tourists.

The website said that during 2016, there were a total of 40,822 crimes in Ciutat Vella and El Raval (Barcelona's two central quarters) - of which 93 percent were thefts and robberies on public streets.
With a 'summer of discontent' looming in the form of mass strikes and a full-scale economic crisis, weary Britons going through a tough time are probably looking forward to a holiday by the sea.

But if you were looking forward to strolling along the beach with an ice cream in hand as temperatures hit a searing 35C, your plans may have been crushed  as ice cream sellers face a 'nightmare' shortage of Cadbury 99 Flakes for the second year in a row.

The crumbly chocolate treats are crucial to the sweet treat combo known as a 99 that has kept British families happy for years.

Now, Cadbury's parent company has revealed that it is working hard to resolve 'global supply chain disruptions' after deciding to have most of its Flakes produced in a factory near Cairo, Egypt.

Ice cream sellers face a 'nightmare' shortage of Cadbury 99 Flakes, stock image used

It is unknown why the chocolates are called 99 Flakes but it is possibly a reference to when they topped soft-serve cones that sold for only 99p

Could THIS be the reason that it's called the 99 Flake? It used to be thought that the chocolates are called 99 Flakes from when they topped soft-serve cones that sold for only 99p. However, Cadbury suggested the topper takes its name from a period where things considered elite by Italians were referred to as 99s because the King of Italy had an elite bodyguard unit of 99 men. The chocolatier said: 'In the days of the monarchy in Italy, the King had a specially chosen guard consisting of 99 men, and subsequently anything really special or first-class was known as '99' - and that is how '99' Flake came by its name.' Advertisement

Abby Beech, owner of Abbey's Ice Cream in Hessle, East Yorkshire, said she had been limited to 10 boxes are her supplier.

'There are 144 [Flakes] in a box. It sounds a lot but if you go to a large event you could easily use eight or nine boxes,' she told the BBC.

US giant Mondelez said sales have outstripped stock levels agreed with its customers at the start of the year.

A spokesperson said: 'In line with what many other companies are reporting, we are experiencing some global supply chain disruptions, alongside a recent increase in demand for the product in the UK and Ireland above the levels that we agreed with our customers at the start of the year.

'This means we are experiencing some short-term stock challenges on Flake 99.

'We are working, and will continue to work hard, to resolve the situation, and are working closely with our direct distributive customers to manage stock allocation fairly based on initial forecasts.'

MailOnline has contacted Mondelez, Cadbury's parent company, for further comment.

The Ice Cream Alliance said: 'There is, once again, a shortage of the flake product.

'This is disappointing to our members and their customers as the Flake product is synonymous with the whippy ice cream known as the Flake99 and enjoyed throughout the UK especially during the summer months.

The entrance to the Cadbury factory in Bournville on April 5, 2017 in Birmingham

'The ICA hopes that the supply issue is resolved as soon as possible to benefit both our members, the ice cream industry and their customers.'

It used to be thought that the chocolates are called 99 Flakes from when they topped soft-serve cones that sold for only 99p.

However, Cadbury suggested the topper takes its name from a period where things considered elite by Italians were referred to as 99s because the King of Italy had an elite bodyguard unit of 99 men.
Advertisement

Hunter Biden's ex-wife Kathleen said on Tuesday morning she was 'embarrassed' by allowing him to control their finances but 'buried her head in the sand' because she 'liked nice things and didn't want to think about the cost at which they were coming'.

Kathleen, 52, was married to Hunter from 1993 until 2017. They have three daughters together and split around the time that he began an affair with his dead brother Beau's widow Hallie.

Despite their acrimonious split - in which she allegedly demanded $37,000 a month - and Hunter's scandalous antics, Hallie was complimentary in an interview on Good Morning America on Tuesday to promote her new memoir, If We Break.

Kathleen admits handing total financial control over to her addict husband, something she is now embarrassed of and which backfired when the IRS came after the pair in 2003 for unpaid taxes.

'This was one of the harder parts for me to write and acknowledge. It's embarrassing to say that I seeded all financial control to my husband. I liked nice things and I didnt want to think about the cost at which they were coming. Writing this book really helped me to understand how unfair that was to Hunter and how unhealthy that was for me.'

Asked if she could contribute anything to any hearings on Hunter's involvement with Burisma - the Ukrainian energy company which he was paid millions to sit on the board of while his father was Vice President - she said: 'No. I have buried my head in the sand.'

The pair lived in heightened privilege throughout their marriage, raising their daughters in a six-bedroom, $1.85million home in Washington DC. They attended White House events with Joe when he was Vice President and made glamorous appearances at charity events, playing a happy couple with an idyllic life.

In reality, Hunter's drug addiction and penchant for prostitutes was draining their bank accounts and he was making questionable deals with foreign companies to keep the pair afloat.

Scroll down for video

Kathleen Buhle on Good Morning America on Tuesday morning. She gushed over Jill and Joe Biden and defended Hunter and his struggles with addiction

Hunter, Kathleen, Joe and Jill Biden at the burial of Senator Edward Kennedy in 2009. Kathleen was complimentary of the President and First Lady, saying she has never doubted their love of her daughters despite their support of Hunter's affair with his dead brother's widow

Kathleen refused to say whether or not Hunter used his famous name to curry favor or money.

Instead, she said: 'Trying to get someone to parse out what parts of their life came from their parents, in my mind, is not a healthy exercise.

'I think he has always acknowledged the benefit and advantage of coming from a prominent family.

'I saw someone who loved his father, respected his parents, he was proud to be their son,' she said.

It's embarrassing to say that I seeded all financial control to my husband. I liked nice things and I didnt want to think about the cost at which they were coming.

She paid tribute to President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill and their 'love' of her daughters and avoided questions about how Hunter's affair with Hallie may have hurt her.

'With addiction, especially, there's so much shame surrounding it that it becomes something that we don't talk about,' she said of Hunter's drug use.

Asked if his laptop photos - which show him engaging with prostitutes, smoking a crack pipe and in various states of undress - show the man she was married to, she replied softly: 'Not at all. He was struggling under a massive drug addiction and that's heartbreaking and painful.

'That wasn't who I was married to,' she said, adding: 'Drugs are awful.'

Charmed life: Kathleen and Hunter Biden at a charity event (left) in 2016, a year before their divorce, and at a dinner to celebrate British Prime Minister David Cameron's visit to America and the White House (right) in 2012

The couple and their three daughters lived in this $1.85million, six-bedroom Washington DC home

On his affair with Hallie and the Biden family's support of it, Kathleen was surprisingly diplomatic.

Hunter Biden with his dead brother's widow Hallie, who he started dating around the time of his divorce from Kathleen

'The one thing I've never, ever questioned was Joe and Jill's love and attention to my three daughters. Divorce was hard on all of us because we were very close but we come together out of a shared love for my daughters.

She added that she regretted being 'so upset' about her divorce after learning she had colon cancer, and that she hopes other women do not entrust all of their finances to their husband like she did.

'I really hope that's a lesson that women hear.

'Understand your finances, take responsibility for them,' she said.

Kathleen said that while the Bidens are 'obviously' in her memoir, it is less about them than it is her.

'They were in my life in such a significant way but I really tried to keep it to what was my relationship to Hunter's addiction, where was I in my marriage, and the choices I made to make sure that this is my story, the story of Kathleen Buhle.'

DailyMail.com previously revealed how Kathleen asked Hunter for $37,000-a-month and allegedly threatened to expose the photos on the laptop of he didn't pay up.

She had previously told People magazine that he didn't give her any alimony.

In one email by his lawyer dated March 2017, his attorney said: 'Hunter has learned that Kathleen intends...to release purportedly compromising photos of Hunter to the media.'

'The threat to release compromising photos is entirely unacceptable, and likely actionable under the District of Columbia's blackmail statute.'

Hunter Biden with his ex-wife Kathleen. The pair were married from 1993 until 2017

Kathleen's book contains revelations about Hunter's drug use during their marriage. DailyMail.com also uncovered emails on his laptop where his lawyers accused her of threatening to blackmail him into a sizeable alimony agreement with these embarrassing photos and others

Hunter is shown with his current wife, Melissa Cohen, and their toddler son Beau Biden Jr.

Buhle's attorney, Rebekah Sullivan, responded that her client 'has no intention of doing so'  but Hunter was still suspicious.

Kathleen Buhle (left) reveals new details about her marriage to Hunter Biden (right) in her forthcoming book If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction, and Healing, which will be released on June 14

'So implicit in this response is that she has picture but at the moment does not intend to release them.

'It does not address the fact that the threat was made which is a felony in and of itself,' he wrote to his lawyers after seeing the response.

The letter from Hunter's lawyer also accused Buhle of relying on Joe Biden to financially back his son to get her alimony  and even spoke to the former Vice President about it.

'Hunter has learned that Kathleen's settlement posture is premised on her expectation that Hunter's father will backstop any financial arrangement eventually reached between the parties,' Mancinelli wrote.

'Indeed, Kathleen's expectation has even been communicated to Hunter's father.

'Simply put, there is no 'blank-check.'

Any settlement must be economically feasible.

'If Kathleen is assuming that Hunter's father will perform Hunter's obligations, she is woefully misinformed and that mindset will hamper our ability to bring this case to closure.'

Kathleen also claims in her book that she wasn't given Secret Service protection when Joe Biden was Vice President, despite being married to Hunter at the time.

She wrote that she was left feeling 'embarrassed' and like 'I was not truly a Biden' after Hunter and their children were assigned a security detail when Joe became VP in 2009.
The Kremlin has said pro-Russian separatists would be willing to listen to an appeal from Britain over two captured fighters who have been sentenced to death.

Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were sentenced to death by firing squad last week by a rogue court in the 'Donetsk People's Republic', which accused them of being mercenaries, despite being regular soldiers in the Ukrainian army.

Moroccan Brahim Saadoun has also been sentenced with the Britons.

Liz Truss, a favourite target of Russian state media, said today that the best route to secure the release of Aslin and Pinner was 'through the Ukrainians', but that she would do 'whatever it takes'.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call today that London had not contacted Moscow about the issue.

He said: 'Of course, everything will depend on the appeal from London, and I am sure that the Russian side will be ready to consider it.'

Britain has so far declined publicly to raise the issue with authorities in the DPR.

The Kremlin has said pro-Russian separatists would be willing to listen to an appeal from Britain over Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner (pictured left to right alongside Moroccan Brahim Saadoun)

The pair were sentenced to death by firing squad last week by a rogue court in the 'Donetsk People's Republic'

The territory, much of which remains under Ukrainian control, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, except by Russia - which considers it an independent state.

Dealing directly with DPR leaders might be seen as de facto recognition.

London has called the death sentences a 'sham ruling' and said the proceedings were akin to a Soviet-era show trial.

Truss said last week the sentences had 'absolutely no legitimacy' while vowing 'to do everything we can to support' the imprisoned pair.

Authorities in the DPR said the men had a month to launch an appeal.

Their lawyers said they would do so and Kyiv has pledged to try to secure their release through a prisoner exchange with Russia.

Vladimir Solovyov, a man often known as Putin's mouthpiece, took aim at Truss on his show Sunday night - joking that Aiden and Pinner will be shot whether she recognises the sentence or not, and her words will not bring them back to life.

Vladimir Solovyov, known as 'Putin's mouthpiece', used his Sunday night news show to mock two Britons handed death sentences for fighting in Ukraine

Liz Truss , a favourite target of Russian state media, spoke out last week to condemn the sentences which she said had 'absolutely no legitimacy'

Nataliya Nikonorova, the 'foreign minister' of the DPR, spoke to Solovyov on the show - saying she was 'surprised' that Truss had refused to recognise the judgement.

Solovyov responded, to laughs from the other guests: 'So if something terrible happens and they are executed, they will not recognise their deaths?

'Will this bring these people back to life?'

Nikonorova added: 'They have not taken a single step to somehow try to participate in the fate of these citizens. No-one is helping them.'

Solovyov also mocked Britain's ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, accusing her of eating croissants named after Boris Johnson instead of negotiating a way out for the men.

It comes after Ms Simmons posted a photo on social media showing her eating one of the pastries at the weekend.

'She probably has more important issues to deal with,' said Nikonorova.

'Melinda is having fun,' taunted Solovyov.

'Her subjects are about to be executed, and she found a wonderful croissant called 'Boris Johnsonuk' and is eating it merrily.

'So she doesn't care about the fate of those people who are her subjects.'

Separately, Olga Skabeyeva - known as Putin's 'Iron Doll' - accused the British Foreign Office of being unsure how to help Aslin and Pinner.

'Liz Truss, the head of the Foreign Office, called the sentence illegal and promised to pull the Englishmen out - and to do it via Kyiv.

'Good luck, Liz,' she quipped.

Aslin and Pinner - a former British solider - are actually both members of the regular Ukrainian army, having moved to the country in 2018 and married Ukrainian women.

Both served multiple active tours of duty as part of Ukraine's marine corps along the old frontline between Ukraine and Russian-occupied regions in the Donbas.

They were then caught up in the war when Putin ordered his soldiers to seize the rest of Ukraine on February 24.

The pair had fallen back from the old frontline to the city of Mariupol, where they survived a months-long siege before surrendering in April.

The UK has opted not to directly negotiate with Russia for the release of the men because the two are Ukrainian troops.

Aslin (pictured) and Pinner - a former British solider - are actually both members of the regular Ukrainian army, having moved to the country in 2018

Downing Street fears that making direct approaches to Moscow will add legitimacy to the false claims that the pair are mercenaries.

Negotiating with the DPR has also been ruled out, over fears it will grant legitimacy to a 'government' that is not recoginsed internationally.

British diplomats have raised the case with their Moscow counterparts to voice concerns, but are allowing Kyiv to take the lead on trying to get the men released.

Russia wants Britain to engage directly with the DPR, a move that would mean recognising what the West sees as an illegal pro-Putin regime established on Ukrainian territory.

The trio are lodging legal appeals and these will be heard before any pleas to Pushilin for pardons.

Truss said that the best route to secure the release of Aslin and Pinner (pictured) was 'through the Ukrainians', but that she would do 'whatever it takes'

But his statement appears to usurp the whole process, making a mockery of justice for the Britons and the Moroccan.

The trial they faced was riddled with questionable legal tactics, including the non-appearance of five witnesses on whose word they were convicted.

Aslin's family said he and Pinner 'are not, and never were, mercenaries'.

They were living in Ukraine when war broke out and 'as members of Ukrainian armed forces, should be treated with respect just like any other prisoners of war', the family said in a statement.

Almost alone, Putin recognises the DPR as independent.

Under international law it is part of Ukraine, which does not carry out the death penalty, just as Russia does not.

A suspicion is that Putin wants the men to be bartered for pro-Kremlin prisoners held in Ukraine, like politician and tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk, a friend of the Kremlin leader.A third British detainee Andrew Hill, 35, a father of four from Plymouth, has also been told to expect the death penalty when his verdict is handed down.

Shaun Pinner Born: 1974, Bedfordshire Worked as: A British Army veteran, having served for years in the Royal Anglian regiment. Combat experience: Fought 'many' tours including in northern Ireland, according to his family, who said he also served with United Nations missions in Bosnia. Journey to Ukraine: Pinner moved to Ukraine in 2018 which he made his 'adopted home' and decided to put his military training to use fighting Russian-backed rebels in the country's eastern Donbas. He became engaged to a Ukrainian woman and worked his way into the marines, where he had been serving for the last two years. Pinner's three-year contract with the marines was due to end at the end of this year, his family said, when he wanted to become a humanitarian worker in the country. Pinner was helping to defend the frontlines in Donbas when Putin's invasion began on February 24. His unit of marines ended up hooking up with the Azov Battalion - members of the national guard with links to neo-Nazis - who were defending the city of Mariupol from the Russians. He was captured in Mariupol in April and paraded on state TV. Advertisement
Police have arrested a man after a 'particularly disturbing' sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl at a central London railway station.

British Transport Police say a 31-year-old man has been arrested following the incident at Victoria Railway Station in London.

The girl was in Boots in the Victoria Place Shopping Centre - which is inside the station - when she was assaulted at around 2.50pm on Saturday, June 11.

Yesterday the British Transport Police issued CCTV of a man they would like to speak to in relation to the incident.

Now they say a 31-year-old from Kent has been arrested and taken into custody for questioning.

The incident took place in the Boots store inside Victoria Place Shopping Centre (pictured) on June 11

A spokesperson for the force said: 'Thank you to everyone who shared our CCTV appeal yesterday following a sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl at London Victoria.

'As a result of your help, a 31-year-old man has been arrested this morning at his home address in Kent and taken into custody for questioning.'

Yesterday, as part of the appeal, Detective Constable Tony Gittins described the incident as 'particularly disturbing'.

Anyone with information is asked to contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 327 of 11/06/22.

Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Nancy Pelosi is preparing to bring a vote Tuesday on the Senate-passed bill to increase security measures for Supreme Court Justices and extend those protections to their families after holding up the measure for more than a month.

The move from the Democratic House Speaker comes after pressure from Republicans questioning why she has held the bill hostage in light of increasing threats against conservative Supreme Court Justices and their families following a leaked draft opinion showing the impending overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Democrats wanted to add protections for court employees' families, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator John Cornyn, one of the bill's authors, said that an amended bill would not have the votes to pass in the upper chamber.

'It's just incredible to me they said the Senate would not vote to protect employees,' House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Monday evening.

Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, co-authored the Supreme Court Police Parity Act with Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware.

The legislation was passed unanimously by all 100 senators in early May  just days after the leak.

Pelosi will likely bring the legislation to the floor under suspension, which is a procedural move used for non-controversial bills requiring the support of at least two-thirds of the House rather than a simple majority for passage.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has requested unanimous consent three times in the span of one week in an attempt to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. Each time his request was denied when Democrats refused to agree.

'For the 3rd time in a week, I'm calling for a vote for stronger security for Supreme Court JusticesALL of them,' McCarthy tweeted along with a five-minute clip from the House floor urging passage of the bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is preparing to bring to the floor a vote on the Supreme Court Police Parity Act, which will provide additional security to Justices and their families

'This isn't partisan,' he insisted. 'The threat is real.'

'Why is Speaker Pelosi blocking something that the Senate has already passed unanimously?'

When McCarthy asked Thursday for unanimous consent on the bill for the second time, Pelosi insisted that it could wait until the following week.

'The Justices are protected,' Pelosi said during her weekly press briefing last Thursday.

'There will be a bill,' she added, 'but nobody is in danger over the weekend because of not having a bill.'

McCarthy responded during his own weekly briefing that same day with: 'I don't know how she can say that.'

He pointed to the fact that a man was arrested near conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home in Maryland last Wednesday for a plot to kill the jurist and then himself.

'So was he not in any threat yesterday?' McCarthy questioned. 'Was he not in any threat after Schumer made his threats in the Supreme Court? Or Jen Psaki said it was the president's position to go to their home?'

'I have no idea why the Democrats have held that bill for a month,' McCarthy added. 'I think they may be playing politics.'

The Coons-Cornyn bill will allow the Supreme Court Police to provide 'around-the-clock security protection' to the families of Supreme Court Justices.

Several, including Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts, have faced protests outside their homes since the report last month showed the bench preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade  ending federal protections for the right to an abortion.

Security has already dramatically ramped up outside Justices' D.C.-area homes and around the Supreme Court building, where a seven-foot tall, non-scalable fence was erected in May to keep protesters, demonstrators and other threats clear from the building and its employees.

Security has increase outside the houses of Supreme Court Justices as protesters rally outside their D.C.-area homes and wage threats against the bench members who are preparing to overturn the 50-year-old landmark abortion case

A ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization will take place before the end of June. The ruling could overturn a 50-year-old precedent set by Roe v. Wade in 1973 that gave women the right to terminate their pregnancy nationwide.

Thirteen different states have trigger laws that would immediately ban abortion outright if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Following the leak in early May, Chief Justice Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the draft opinion by conservative Justice Samuel Alito and launched an investigation into the unprecedented breach.

Roberts does not support a full Roe v. Wade overturn, but with a 6-3 conservative majority on the bench, his defection doesn't make a difference for if the new opinion will stand as long as the five others stay in line.

The Chief Justices does, however, support a ban at the 15-week point in a pregnancy, which is the case brought before the Supreme Court that restruck the abortion debate.
An autistic 'loner' who was accused of building bombs in a neo-Nazi plot in Scotland has been cleared after his lawyer said he was 'a bit pathetic' but had a 'legitimate interest in chemistry'.

Richard Smith, 29, was found not guilty of carrying out preparations to commit acts of terrorism between August 2018 and November 2019 after a three-week trial at Edinburgh's High Court.

Prosecutors alleged that he possessed or was making home-made explosive substances including 'weapons of mass destruction' at various locations in Aberdeen.

They also claimed Smith had downloaded information which promoted anti-Muslim, neo-Nazi and other racist causes, including far-Right tweets addressed to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, had breached the Poisons Act 1972, and had assaulted a police officer.

Richard Smith, who was cleared of far-Right terrorism charges by Edinburgh's High Court

Smith's lawyer, however, argued that the mechanical engineering and computing student had a 'legitimate' interest in chemistry.

Defence counsel Ronnie Renucci QC said: 'He is not some lone wolf terrorist operating out of his bedsit in Aberdeen. He has Asperger's. He has autism. He may have poor communications skills. He may appear to be a bit pathetic. But he is not a terrorist.'

It was also alleged Smith had information about the manufacture and use of firearms and other weapons, as well as the practice of guerrilla warfare, paramilitary survival, combat and resistance techniques.

Army bomb disposal staff were called to the home on King Street, Aberdeen to make it safe

Jurors previously heard how police found chemicals at his home in King Street, Aberdeen which were 'precursor' substances for explosives.

Army bomb disposal staff were called in to the property to make it safe, the High Court in Edinburgh was told.

Officers also seized IT devices belonging to Smith and four million pieces of data they discovered books on how to make firearms and explosives.

Trial judge Lord Mulholland thanked jurors for the 'careful consideration and care' they had taken to evaluate the evidence.
A former prison worker has been arrested in connection to the death of a mother-of-four whose body was found in the trunk of her car in Texas last month.

Christopher Lee Maldonado was detained on Friday at a traffic stop by Texas City police officers and charged with tampering or fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse in connection with the death of 24-year-old Angela Mitchell.

Maldonado, who was fired as a jailor in 2019 over assault charges, was the last person Angela was known to have been with before she disappeared last month, according to a missing persons flyer distributed to the community by her family.

Angela's body was found decomposing in the trunk of her white Honda sedan on May 11 by police officers who had received a report from neighbors of a foul smell coming from the vehicle.

Angela Mitchell's body was found decomposing in the trunk of her white Honda sedan on May 11 by police officers who had received a report from neighbors of a foul smell coming from the vehicle

Angela's body was found decomposing in the trunk of her white Honda sedan (pictured) on May 11 by police officers who had received a report from neighbors of a foul smell coming from the vehicle

Christopher Maldonado was arrested

Police have not revealed her suspected cause of death. The Galveston County Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy.

Maldonado was arrested by police on Friday in connection to detectives' 'suspicious death' investigation, officers said. The suspect was also charged with an unrelated assault charge.

He is currently being held in the Galveston County Jail with a bond of $200,000.

Galveston County Sheriff's Office confirmed to ABC13 that Maldonado was a former jailer who was fired after he was arrested and charged with assault in 2019. He later violated a protection order and was sentenced to two days in jail for the assault charge.

Angela, who has two daughters aged nine and three and two sons aged seven and seven months, has been described by family and friends as a 'loving mom'.

Her mother, Georgia Mitchell, said she reported her daughter missing on May 6 after she failed to return to her home in Dickenson the night before.

Georgia has criticized Texas City Police Department for not 'doing their job at helping us find Angela' and searching for her daughter's car sooner after friends and family were able to track down her vehicle the same day they reported her missing.

Angela, who has two daughters aged nine and three and two sons aged seven and seven months, has been described by family and friends as a 'loving mom'

'Police didn't do any kind of investigation when the car was found,' Georgia wrote in on a GoFundMe page aimed at raising money to support Angela's four children.

'It wasn't until days later that they finally went to do a welfare check on Angela's vehicle. That's when we received the news she had passed.'

Georgia told ABC13 last month: 'I met police officers at her vehicle here in Texas City after filing a missing person report and I begged them.'

'I begged them to please search my daughter's car. "Please search my daughter's car. Please investigate this". I begged. I begged the police officers and they just dismissed me.'

Paying tribute to her daughter, Georgia wrote on the GoFundMe page: 'Angela Mitchell was a loving mom of four. She always kept a smile on her face.

'She surrounded everyone she knew with love and laughter... She will be missed tremendously.'
By Ahn Ho-young





On the eve of the summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden on May 21, I submitted through this column three points Yoon should focus on during the upcoming summit. I suggested that Yoon focus on the common values underlying the alliance. I also suggested that the two presidents must have substantial discussions on how to deal with North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and missiles as well as worrisome changes in its nuclear doctrine. I then suggested that they fully address the issues related to economic security.



I followed the summit closely and read the joint statement between the two presidents several times. I was encouraged that all the three points were taken up by the two presidents thoroughly and thoughtfully. In particular, I was impressed with the weight the two leaders placed upon the values underlying our alliance. That is what I got from Foreign Minister Park Jin's post-summit debriefing and my reading of the joint statement. The code word for the values underlying our alliance I found in the joint statement was the "Rules-Based International Order (RBIO)." The statement referred to the RBIO no less than five times.



I think there have been three major junctures in Korea-U.S. relations after World War II. The first juncture was the Korean War and the Mutual Defense Treaty that was concluded in 1953. Korea at the time chose as the underlying values for the new republic  liberal democracy, a market economy, human rights and the rule of law  the core elements constituting the RBIO. The choice enabled Korea to develop its economy and democratic institutions.



The second juncture was the end of the Cold War around 1990. This literally tectonic change in the international system allowed the RBIO to spread to all corners of the world, changing the world into what author Thomas Friedman referred to as "the flat world." This enabled Korea to normalize its relations with the former communist countries, take full advantage of the so-called flat world to further develop its economy and increase its voice in the international community.



The third juncture is what we are living through at this very time. The RBIO, which allowed Korea to catapult itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to one of the major voices in the international community, is being challenged in many parts of the world, as is painfully demonstrated through the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The third juncture is bringing confusion and divisiveness to Korean society as to where the country must stand in the middle of this juncture where many of the things we took for granted are being challenged and changing.



Some people think that the reason why the RBIO is challenged in the first place is that Pax Americana is coming to an end. We must spread our eggs instead of holding too tightly to the Korea-U.S. alliance.



In my mind, it is much too early to bet on the end of Pax Americana. Let's take the U.S. economy as an example. We understand as a general rule the inverse relationship between the size and the advanced level of an economy and its growth rate. The U.S. economy is the biggest and most advanced in the world. Still, it continues to surpass all other advanced economies in its economic vitality. It seems to come from the unique history and culture of the U.S. which encourages a free spirit and innovations in science, technology, financing and new business models.



Furthermore, were it to be true that the U.S.' power is in relative decline, it does not constitute a reason to turn away from the alliance, but all the more reason to further diversify and deepen the alliance so that Korea, commensurate with its enhanced national capability, can cooperate with the U.S. and other like-minded countries to maintain and strengthen the RBIO. It is because the values constituting the RBIO have become Korea's own values, which we cannot and must not be deprived of.



Yoon, meeting with Biden 11 days into his presidency, laid a clear marker as to where Korea should be going as we grapple with the challenges to the RBIO. The new government is showing impressive agility in implementing the ideas set out in the Joint Statement. Combined military exercises with the U.S., which have been stalled for the past five years, have already been resumed. Trilateral consultations among Korea, the U.S. and Japan at various levels have already taken place, or are being planned. Key advisors to Yoon are planning a trip to Washington, D.C. in order to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation for Korea's space programs.



The clear vision set out by Yoon and the deftly started implementation led me to believe that Korea and the U.S. are well-placed to overcome the challenges and thrive in the third juncture as we have done in the first and second junctures in Korea-U.S. relations.





Ahn Ho-young (hyahn78@mofa.or. of kr) is president the University of North Korean Studies. He served as Korean ambassador to the United States and first vice foreign minister.


Joe Biden is starting to more seriously consider a federal gas tax holiday as prices at the pump continue to soar with no sign of slowing and the administration is still blaming the surge on the conflict in Eastern Europe.

While the move would require congressional action, a public push by Biden in favor of the tax holiday could help spark movement  and sources told The Hill the president is getting closer to doing so.

'It's definitely an option on the table,' one Democrat close to the White House said.

Some states, including Maryland, Georgia and New York, have already moved to suspend their gas tax. Some suggest that Biden calling on the other states to do the same would also be an effective move from the White House to help ease pressure on Americans' pocketbooks.

Biden's economic team has discussed a gas tax holiday and is expected to meet for more talks on the matter later this week.

A new report indicates the administration is starting to more seriously consider a federal gas tax holiday as some states implement their own while prices near $7.00 in some areas of the country

The average price per gallon in the U.S. surpassed $5.00 this week  a new high

When asked Monday about whether the administration is considering a federal gas holiday, Biden's Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said there is nothing new to announce regarding the price of fuel.

As of Tuesday morning, the average price per gallon of gas in the U.S. is $5.02, according to AAA. In some areas of the country, there are reports that the price is nearing or surpassing $7.00 per gallon.

Biden has already tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, which had a negligible effect on gas prices.

While the White House has repeatedly said it is open to ideas on how to relieve rising tax prices, Biden's Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo admitted last week that the administration can't do anything to help.

'Unfortunately, that is the brutal reality,' Raimondo told CNN when asked what Biden can do.

'This is, in large part, caused by Putin's aggression,' Raimondo added. 'You know, since Putin moved troops to the border of Ukraine, gas prices have gone up over $1.40 a gallon, and the President is asking for Congress and others for potential ideas.'

'But as you say, the reality is that there isn't very much more to be done,' she said.

In April 2020, the average price per gallon was at a low of $1.77, which exponentially grew after President Joe Biden took office to now $5.02. The White House continues to blame the surge on Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February

The default of the administration has been to blame the prices on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, dubbing the crisis the 'Putin price hike' and claiming prices will continue to soar and remain high as long as the assault in Eastern Europe continues.

The blame has also been placed on oil companies, which the administration say are making a killing with keeping prices high.

Following a speech at the Port of Los Angeles on Friday, Biden said: 'Exxon made more money than God this year.'

He accused oil companies of purposefully not increasing production to meet the demand so they can charge more per gallon.

Biden is preparing to visit Saudi Arabia during a trip to the Middle East in the coming weeks, which many believe will include an urge for the country to ramp up production of oil to increase the global supply.
Rules on mask wearing in Australia's airports will soon be scrapped but will still be required on flights, apart from when passengers are eating.

Late on Tuesday, the federal government announced the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) recommended masks no longer be mandated in terminals from midnight on Friday, June 17.

Travellers will still be required to wear masks on all flights, but AHPCC said it will issue further advice on this in the future.

Health minister Mark Butler and infrastructure minister Catherine King said they 'anticipate the travelling public will notice this change in the days following Friday' as states and territories make changes to their public health orders.

Mask wearing in Australia's airports will no longer be compulsory from Friday. Pictured are are passengers checking in at Melbourne Airport on Friday, June 10, 2022

'This changed advice comes after the AHPPC has reviewed the current Covid-19 situation in Australia and considers it no longer proportionate to mandate mask wearing in the terminals,' the ministers said in a joint statement.

They said AHPPC had 'noted all states and territories have relaxed mask mandates in most community settings'.

Australians are recommended by AHPPC to continue to wear masks as a key measure to help minimise the spread of Covid-19 and influenza.

'Masks help us protect the most vulnerable in our community who are unable to get vaccinated and people who have a higher risk of developing severe illness,' the ministers said.

The European Union stopped enforcing mask wearing on flights in May, though application of the rule change was down to individual member states.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said it hoped ditching masks would mark 'a big step forward in the normalisation of air travel'.

The step was taken after considering vaccination levels and naturally acquired immunity, as well as the lifting of restrictions in a growing number of European countries.

EASA executive director Patrick Ky cautioned that passengers should still behave responsibly.

'A passenger who is coughing and sneezing should strongly consider wearing a face mask, for the reassurance of those seated nearby,' he said.

Passenger and crew on a Qantas flight are pictured wearing face masks in September 2020. Doing so is still compulsory on aeroplanes in Australia

Airlines welcomed the changes and called for a consistent approach to mask mandates.

'We believe that mask requirements on board aircraft should end when masks are no longer mandated in other parts of daily life, for example theatres, offices or on public transport,' said Willie Walsh, director-general of the International Air Transport Association.

Australia's loosening of rules will be welcomed by Australian airport operators who have been calling for the mandate's removal.

There were 25,622 new Covid-19 cases recorded across Australia on Tuesday.
This mugshot, provided by the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office shows Patriot Front member Jared Boyce, 27, who was arrested on Saturday in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho

The mother of a member of white supremacist group Patriot Front kicked her son out of her home after he was shown rioiting at an Idaho Pride march online even though he told her not to 'believe the media, mom. We were there to stop them grooming kids.'

Karen Amsden, mother of Patriot Front member Jared Michael Boyce, 27, who lives in Springville, Utah, made her mind up after 31 Patriot Front members were arrested with riot gear at the LGBTQ+ event after a tipster reported seeing people loading up into a U-Haul like 'a little army' at a hotel parking lot in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, police said.

Among one of the arrestees was Boyce, who has struggled to fill 'a void' in his life following his father's departure from his family after he came out as gay, his mother Karen Amsden told the Daily Beast.

The mother-of-one, who is a licensed clinical social worker, admitted that she is going public with her coup to sabotage of her son's standing in the group after previous attempts to persuade him to leave the far-right group have failed.

'I would love to do whatever I can to out him [as a Patriot Front member] so that he can't be a part of it,' Amsden said. 'And that they don't want him to be a part of their group because his mom has loose lips and a big mouth and he's never going to get away with anything.'

She confessed that ever since her son was released from jail, he told her that he would stay on with the group and therefore provided him with one final warning.

'I told him, 'Well, then you can't live here. You can choose between Patriot Front and your family.' And he's like, 'Well, I can't quit Patriot Front.' I'm like, 'Well, then you've just chosen. So pack your stuff and get out of my house,'' Amsden said.

Authorities arrested Boyce (pictured), along with other members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an LGBTQ pride event Saturday, after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear

Boyce, pictured in 2020, calls himself an 'alpha chad, professional Antifa teabagger' and a 'Patriot through and f****** through'

Boyce's mother said her son wanted to join a 'brotherhood' and 'looking for some connection' following his father's departure from his family after he came out as gay, which left a 'void' in his life

Based on Internet records, it is understood that Amsden lives in Springville. Pictured: her house, which she kicked Boyce out of

Karen Amsden with her son Jared Boyce in a picture taken in 2016

Amsden (right) has decided to go public with her son's involvement in Patriots Front as she tries to steer him away from the white nationalist group

Patriot Front is a white supremacist neo-Nazi group whose members perceive Black Americans, Jews and LGBTQ people as enemies, Jon Lewis, a George Washington University researcher who specializes in homegrown violent extremism, told the Associated Press.

Their playbook, Lewis said, involves identifying local grievances to exploit, organizing on platforms like the messaging app Telegram and ultimately showing up to events marching in neat columns, in blue- or white-collared-shirt uniforms, in a display of strength.

Though Pride celebrations have long been picketed by counter protesters citing religious objections, they haven't historically been a major focus for armed extremist groups. Still, it isn't surprising, given how anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has increasingly become a potent rallying cry in the far-right online ecosystem, Lewis said.

'That set of grievances fits into their broader narratives and shows their ability to mobilize the same folks against 'the enemy' over and over and over again,' he told the AP.

Boyce was first exposed as a Patriot Front member in 2020 on Twitter and has several clues on the social media platform hinting at his alliance with the far-right group, including his Twitter bio, which reads that he is an 'Alpha Chad, professional Antifa teabagger' and 'Patriot through and f****** through.' His username, @PedosnJooshang,' is a slur alteration to 'Pedos and Jews Hang.'

In Coeur d'Alene on Saturday, police found riot gear, one smoke grenade, shin guards and shields inside the van after pulling it over near a park where the North Idaho Pride Alliance was holding a Pride in the Park event, Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White told the Associated Press.

The 31 Patriot Front members, arrested on Saturday after the U-Haul rental truck they were riding in was pulled over by law enforcement officials

The group was rumbled when a local resident called cops after spotting the men, all wearing white masks and carrying shields, loading themselves into the vehicle 'like a little army'

Those arrested came from at least 11 states, including Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Virginia, and Arkansas, White said. Only one was from Idaho

The group came to riot around the small northern Idaho city wearing Patriot Front patches and logos on their hats and some T-shirts reading 'Reclaim America' according to police and videos of the arrests posted on social media.

The 31 members arrested came from at least 11 states, including Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Virginia, and Arkansas.

Thomas Ryan Rousseau, 23, of Grapevine, Texas, is considered to be Patriot Front's founder (left) and was arrested on Saturday in Idaho alongside Mitchell F Wagner (right), 24, who was previously charged with defacing am mural of famous black Americans on a college campus in St. Louis last year

Among those booked into jail on misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot was Thomas Ryan Rousseau of Grapevine, Texas, who has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as the 23-year-old who founded the group after the deadly 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

Also among the arrestees was Mitchell F. Wagner, 24, of Florissant, Missouri, who was previously charged with defacing a mural of famous Black Americans on a college campus in St. Louis last year.

Michael Kielty, Wagner's attorney, said Sunday that he had not been provided information about the charges. He said Patriot Front did not have a reputation for violence and that the case could be a First Amendment issue. 'Even if you don't like the speech, they have the right to make it,' he said.

Amden said Boyce, who was also arrested on Saturday, was bailed out of jail along with other members of the far-right group by anonymous donors, according to the Daily Beast. A day after his arrest, Boyce showed up to his mother's door and told her: 'Don't believe the media, mom. We were just there because they're grooming kids.'

Prior to Saturday's event in Idaho, Boyce told his mother that he had planned a camping trip for the weekend. Amsden said she didn't think twice and had no 'inkling' about her son's suspicious activity until she received a notification on her phone about the hate group's protest in Coeur d'Alene.

'And I saw this news story come up that said 31 members of a white supremacist group were were arrested at a rally, and I just knewI knew he was part of it,' she said.

Amsden proceeded to scroll through pictures of the event, mostly seeing men wearing matching hats and white balaclavas, and at one point thought to have recognized her son.

'I could tell it was him,' she said. 'And I had tried calling his phone and it was just going straight to voicemail and then later I was able to access the jail website and confirm that he was one of the guys that was arrested. It's a sick feeling.'

The worried mother previously advised her son to not get involved into trips organized by Patriot Front or else he would see his chances of getting into trouble with the law increase.

'He's so misguided and bought into all their rhetoric. It just makes me sick,' Amsden told the Daily Beast, adding that she hopes his arrest on Saturday was a 'wake-up call' for him to leave the group.

'This is not who I raised,' she added. 'This is not the example that was set for him.'

Patriot Front is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as 'a white nationalist hate group' that formed after the deadly 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017

The men were standing inside the truck wearing khakis, navy blue shirts and beige hats with white balaclavas covering their faces

Patriot Front members arrested for conspiracy to riot Thomas Ryan Rousseau

Mitchell F. Wagner

Jared M. Boyce

Nathan D. Brenner

Colton M. Brown

Josiah D. Buster

Mishael J. Buster

Devin W. Center

Dylan C. Corio

Winston W. Durham

Garret J. Garland

Branden M. Haney

Richard J. Jessop

James M. Johnson

James J. Johnson

Kieran P. Morris

Lawrence A. Norman

Justin M. Oleary

Cameron K. Pruitt

Forrest C. Rankin

Conor J. Ryan

Spencer T. Simpson

Alexander N. Sisenstein

Derek J. Smith

Dakota R. Tabler

Steven D. Tucker

Wesley E. Van Horn

Nathaniel T. Whitfield

Robert B. Whitted

Graham J. Whitsom

Connor P. Moran Advertisement

Amsden revealed that her son had been 'looking for some kind of connection,' and 'brotherhood' since he was a teen but only found Patriot Front once had entered adulthood.

Boyce was already married and had started a family by the time he joined the white supremacist group, thought to be in 2018, according to his mother. He found the faction online, Boyce's wife at the time told his mother, and 'had to complete an application and see some money to join.'

Boyce first started to form his own ideologies when he was around 14-year-old and dealt with his internal issues in a peaceful way, Amsden recollected. He even got a tattoo of Buddha and told others about 'not letting anger rule and loving everyone,' his mother said.

'But he totally changed when he found this group,' Amsden added. 'I first understood how far he'd gone when he was denying the Holocaustand one of my personal heroes is Anne Frank. And when he told me that, I thought he was kidding. Like, how can you? I just didn't even know what to say.'

Boyce, who is now divorced, has joint custody along with wife of Amsden's grand children, whom she's called 'the light of my life.' And despite his controversial views and allegiance with the Patriot Front, Amsden still sees her son for her grand kids.

She said she became more invested in researching the far-right group to understand why her son was so captivated by it once Boyce had become more engrained into white nationalism.

Amsden also thought about calling police on her son but was reluctant to do so as Boyce hadn't technically committed a crime. However, she was deeply worried after finding out about her son's arrest over the weekend.

On Monday, Boyce came around his mother's home to collect his personal items and advised his mother not to speak to media outlets or to the FBI. She has refused to abide to her son's instructions.

'He actually just showed up here at my house,' Amsden said. 'And it was a moment I've kind of dreaded because I was hoping he was going to change his attitude. But he's not.'

Amsden added that she 'just really want[s] to believe that people can change, and that he will figure it out. But my goodness, it's taking a long time.'

The group was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday. All 31 were charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, after police received reports from residents.
The White House has insisted the row between Britain and the EU over Northern Ireland won't imperil post-Brexit trade talks between Washington and London.

Boris Johnson provoked a furious response from the EU yesterday when the Government published legislation that would set aside key parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Prime Minister's push towards unilateral action on post-Brexit border arrangements saw Brussels threaten renewed legal action against Britain.

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic also revived the threat of a bitter EU-UK trade war as part of retaliatory action.

But there was a more muted response from the White House, despite previous warnings from US President Joe Biden that the long-running dispute could halt progress on a UK-US trade deal.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that Britain's unilateral action would not be an impediment to upcoming trade talks in Boston next week.

However, she urged both the EU and the UK to return to negotiations on the Protocol to 'resolve these differences'.

US President Joe Biden had previously warned that the long-running dispute over Northern Ireland could halt progress on a UK-US trade deal

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, pictured with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in January, has revived the threat of a bitter EU-UK trade war as part of retaliatory action

The Government has published legislation that would set aside key parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol

How the Northern Ireland row threatens to undo Brexit deal The row over the Northern Ireland Protocol began almost as soon as the Brexit agreement with the EU came into force. The two sides had to find a way of avoiding a hard border while maintaining the integrity of the UK, and avoid undermining the integrity of the EU customs union and single market. The Protocol manages this by effectively keeping Ulster inside the EU's single market. However, Brussels has been adamant that means checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea from Britain. Unionists are implacably opposed to the idea, arguing it 'others' an integral part of the UK. The UK began talks seeking to alter the terms of the agreement just months after it was signed by the PM. The toughest parts have never come into force, due to a series of delays brought in by both camps. In March last year the UK unilaterally extended the agri-food exemptions. This triggered the EU to start breach proceedings. However, despite experts suggesting there is a landing zone available, political tensions have made a deal impossible. Advertisement

'The US priority remains protecting the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and preserving peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of Northern Ireland,' the press secretary told reporters at a White House briefing.

'We have welcomed the provisions in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol as a way to manage the practical challenges of preserving distinct EU and UK markets while preventing the return of customs infrastructure on the land border.

'We recognise there have been challenges over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. We urge the UK and the EU to return to talks to resolve these differences.

'We support a strong and close EU-UK partnership. Transatlantic peace, security, and prosperity are best served by a strong UK, a strong EU, and the closest possible relationship between the two.'

Asked if the Protocol row would affect next week's third round of UK-US trade talks, or a post-Brexit trade deal between the two countries, Ms Jean-Pierre replied: 'No, I dont believe it will be.'

Her comments will ease fears about the reaction of Mr Biden's administration to the PM's action over the Protocol.

The US President has previously waded into the UK-EU dispute over Northern Ireland and, in a meeting with Mr Johnson last year, warned against any 'change in the Irish accords'.

Asked about the White House response to the publication of the Protocol legislation, the PM's official spokesman said today: 'Well, certainly we agree with the US position that it wouldn't impact on any US-UK trade deal.

'I think we are firmly of the view that it will be of huge benefit to both the US and the UK. So we want that to progress.'

The second round of US-UK trade talks was held in Abderdeen in April, following a first round of negotiations in Baltimore in March.
Advertisement

A plane expected to take the first group of asylum seekers to Rwanda at 9.30pm tonight has been spotted at MoD Boscombe Down - with defiant ministers vowing the flight will go ahead even if there is only one person on board.

The Boeing 767 - operated by Spanish charter firm Privilege Style - was seen landing at the Ministry of Defence testing site in Wiltshire earlier today.

The company has a permit to fly from Stansted to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, at 9.30pm tonight, according to Civil Aviation Authority records. However, reports suggest it will depart from Boscombe Down. The airline has not yet commented on the claims.

Activists say just seven of the original 130 people originally told they would be deported to Rwanda are still set to be on the aircraft.

Three Iranians, one Vietnamese, one Albanian and one Iraqi Kurd are being held at Colnbrook detention centre by Heathrow and a second Iraqi Kurd at Brook House at Gatwick, the BBC reported.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch appeal to block the removal of one of the Iraqi asylum seekers.

A panel of three justices refused permission for the man to challenge a Court of Appeal ruling yesterday which upheld the earlier decision of a High Court judge not to grant an injunction stopping the flight.

The court's president, Lord Reed, said there had been an 'assurance' that, if the policy is found to be unlawful in an upcoming judicial review, steps would be taken to bring back any migrants flown to Rwanda in the interim.

This morning, Liz Truss said the first plane will take off today even if it is only carrying one migrant. The Supreme Court ruling means this condition will be met.

It came as Boris Johnson vowed lawyers and Church of England critics would not deter the government from seeing the policy through.

Opening Cabinet this morning, Mr Johnson said: 'What is happening with the attempt to undermine the Rwanda policy is that they are, I'm afraid, undermining everything that we're trying to do to support safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK and to oppose the illegal and dangerous routes,' he said.

'I think that what the criminal gangs are doing and what those who effectively are abetting the work of the criminal gangs are doing is undermining people's confidence in the safe and legal system, undermining people's general acceptance of immigration.'

The Prime Minister added: 'We are not going to be in any way deterred or abashed by some of the criticism that is being directed upon this policy, some of it from slightly unexpected quarters. We are going to get on and deliver.'

Challenges by four asylum seekers were rejected by the same judge earlier today. In the first case, the judge said a man's removal to Rwanda would not alter the quality or nature of his relationship with his UK-resident sister, after lawyers representing him argued that deportation would infringe his right to a family life.

A barrister representing a second man told the judge that he had claimed asylum after receiving 'death threats from loan sharks' in Vietnam. Alex Grigg also alleged procedural failures, saying the man had been handed the letter informing him of his removal when no interpreter was present. However, the judge rejected this argument.

The third man, who had travelled from Iran to the UK with his 21-year-old son, had asked the High Court to prevent his removal due to his mental health and right to a family life. However, refusing the application, Mr Justice Swift said: 'I accept the prejudice to the claimant will include distress due to being separated from his son.'

The fourth man, a man, had his application to stop his removal rejected and he was also refused the right to appeal. Decisions on any other outstanding appeals could take place even if a migrant is already on the plane, ITV reported.

In other developments in the unfolding Rwanda flight farce:

Rwanda government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo defended the policy at a press conference in Kigali, saying: 'We were doing this for the right reasons ... We have the experience. We want it to be a welcoming place for people in precarious conditions and we're determined to make this work';

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she did not know how many people would be on the first flight but it was important to establish the 'principle' of the policy and others would go in future;

The archbishops of Canterbury and York along with the other Anglican bishops in the House of Lords condemned the 'immoral' plan;

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: 'Deporting asylum seekers should shame us as a nation.'

Ms Truss did not deny estimates that a charter flight could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, instead saying she 'can't put a figure' on the expense but 'it is value for money';

Tory MP Peter Bone made a combative speech in the Commons in which he complained about 'lefty lawyers' sabotaging the policy;

A government source suggested the chances of the first flight going ahead were 'very, very slim' even despite the government winning a key court battle;

More than 100 migrants arrived in Dover after crossing the Channel in small boats today, with this week set to be one of 2022's busiest yet for crossings;

This Boeing 767 - seen landing at RAF Boscombe Down in Wiltshire today - is expected to be used in the first flight to Rwanda tonight. Spanish carrier Privilege Style has not yet commented on the claims

The company has a permit to fly from Stansted to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, at 9.30pm tonight, according to Civil Aviation Authority records. The airline has not yet commented on the claims.

Three Iranians, one Vietnamese, one Albanian and one Iraqi Kurd are being held at Colnbrook detention centre by Heathrow, where a coach was seen parked today

Police guarding MoD Boscombe Down, where the plane believed to be involved in the first flight to Rwanda was seen today

Boris Johnson, opening Cabinet today, turned his fire on lawyers who he accused of 'abetting the work of criminal gangs'

Mr Johnson - pictured today at Cabinet with Rishi Sunak in the background - insisted the Government would not be deterred by the attacks 'not least from lawyers' and told his Cabinet ministers that 'we are going to get on and deliver' the plan

Priti Patel's Rwanda plan received a boost last night after judges refused to block today's flight. The Home Secretary is seen today

Today, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted the first flight would take off but could not say how few people will be on it

Detainees in Brook House Detention Centre, Gatwick this morning on the day a flight to Rwanda is due to leave

There have been protests at government removal centres including Brook House Detention Centre (pictured)

Three cases rejected by High Court judge today CASE 1 In the first case, the judge said a man's removal to Rwanda would not alter the quality or nature of his relationship with his UK-resident sister, after lawyers representing him argued that deportation would infringe his right to a family life. CASE 2 A barrister representing a second man told the judge that he had claimed asylum after receiving 'death threats from loan sharks' in Vietnam. Alex Grigg also alleged procedural failures, saying the man had been handed the letter informing him of his removal when no interpreter was present. However, the judge rejected this argument. CASE 3 The third man, who had travelled from Iran to the UK with his 21-year-old son, had asked the High Court to prevent his removal due to his mental health and right to a family life. However, refusing the application, Mr Justice Swift said: 'I accept the prejudice to the claimant will include distress due to being separated from his son.' CASE 4 In a hearing on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Justice Swift refused the application of a Kurdish man against his removal. The judge also refused him permission to appeal. Advertisement

Today ministers have turned their fire on lawyers who they blame for sabotaging their flagship migration policy.

'All the lawyers who have been fighting in the courts will now turn their collective might elsewhere and direct all their resources at the remaining individuals due to be on board,' a government source told The Times.

'They'll be exploiting every single loophole possible and using every trick in the book to get those last people removed from the flight.

'[The chances of it going ahead as planned] are very, very slim.'

Last night, Tory MP Peter Bone made a combative speech in the Commons in which he complained about 'lefty lawyers' sabotaging the policy.

The MP Wellingborough told MPs: 'We hear that a number of people who were meant to be on the flight tomorrow have, miraculously, got some lefty lawyer to intervene and stop it.

'Can I suggest that instead of booking 50 people on each flight to Rwanda, book 250 people on it then when they stop half of them from travelling you still have a full flight - come on, get on and send them.'

Judges yesterday refused to block the inaugural flight scheduled for today to the offshore processing centre.

Tory MPs cheered in the Commons as the Court of Appeal backed a ruling in the Home Secretary's favour last week, giving the policy the green light.

A separate High Court bid to block the flight also failed yesterday when the charity Asylum Aid was denied an injunction.

The Home Secretary has now won three victories in cases brought against the Government by Left-wing groups.

A processing tent erected next door to the Hope Hostel accommodation in Kigali, Rwanda where migrants from the UK are expected to be taken when they arrive

Ms Patel has now won three victories in cases brought against the Government by Left-wing groups . Pictured: Human rights protesters demonstrate outside the Home Office in London

Revealed: The piously lefty cabal who have fought to ground Rwanda flight By David Wilkes for the Daily Mail A collection of Left-wing groups have made legal challenges in a bid to block ministers' plan to send migrants to Rwanda. They are represented by lawyers who in many cases have links to the Labour Party and a lengthy record of bringing cases against the Government. MATRIX CHAMBERS Barristers from the trendy London human rights chambers  co-founded by Cherie Blair  represented the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, Care4Calais and Detention Action on Friday and yesterday. One was top QC Raza Husain, who last month retweeted a message by Labour MP Chris Bryant criticising Boris Johnson's response to Partygate that said: 'Downing Street under him has been a cesspit of arrogant, entitled narcissists.' Mrs Blair left the chambers in 2014. LEIGH DAY A separate challenge to the Rwanda policy by charity Asylum Aid, heard in court yesterday, was lodged by law firm Leigh Day, which was accused of being behind a 'witch-hunt' of British troops in Iraq. The firm and three of its solicitors  including senior partner Martyn Day  were cleared of a string of misconduct allegations following a disciplinary hearing in 2017. They had been charged by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority after the Ministry of Defence submitted a lengthy dossier of alleged wrongdoing, including claims they caused innocent troops years of torment. Leigh Day worked with Birmingham solicitor Phil Shiner to represent Iraqi clients in parallel legal actions. Mr Shiner was struck off as a solicitor for dishonesty over his handling of war-crime allegations against the Army. DOUGHTY STREET Asylum Aid's legal team also includes several barristers from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's former chambers, Doughty Street. They include leading human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy QC, who has been an active and outspoken Labour peer since entering the House of Lords as Baroness Kennedy after the general election in 1997. It is also where Amal Clooney, the lawyer wife of film star George, practises. Robert Latham, who retains an associate tenancy at Doughty Street, supported Sir Keir's leadership campaign with a donation of 100,000. DUNCAN LEWIS SOLICITORS Acting for the PCS union, Care 4 Calais and Detention Action, Duncan Lewis has a long track record of bringing challenges against government immigration measures. In 2020, The Mail on Sunday revealed the firm had received 55 million in legal aid from the British taxpayer in just three years. The paper also told how the company's staff have travelled to Calais and offered support to refugees hoping to reach Britain. Owned by entrepreneur Amarpal Singh Gupta, who has been dubbed 'Britain's legal aid king', the firm has forged a close relationship with charities that work among refugee camps on the French coast. Staff have also reportedly boasted of mixing with senior Labour Party figures, including deputy leader Angela Rayner and foreign spokesman David Lammy. DETENTION ACTION Bella Sankey, director of campaign group Detention Action, is a former would-be Labour MP endorsed by Sir Keir. Like the Labour leader many years before, Miss Sankey previously worked at Liberty, the campaign group for civil liberties which has long been a recruiting ground for Labour politicians. PUBLIC AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES UNION The union's firebrand general secretary Mark Serwotka was kicked out of the Labour Party in 1992 for being a member of the Trotskyist group Socialist Organiser. In 2016, he rejoined Labour, saying his long-time friend Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offered a 'genuine break from the past'. In recent years, he has called for a General Strike to 'bring the Tories down'. CARE4CALAIS The charity was at the centre of a scandal in 2017 when it emerged its married founder Clare Moseley, a former accountant and then 46, had a year-long affair with Mohamed Bajjar, then 27. He had falsely claimed to be a Syrian refugee, but was in reality a Tunisian market-stall trader married to another British woman. The charity is currently embroiled in a Charity Commission inquiry over 'serious governance concerns'. ASYLUM AID Its Cambridge-educated director Alison Pickup leads a team providing legal representation to asylum seekers and refugees. She was previously legal director of the Public Law Project  and before that had a practice at Doughty Street Chambers, where she specialised in immigration, asylum and migrants' rights in the context of unlawful detention, community care, asylum support and access to justice. Among her achievements, Doughty Street Chambers' website lists her as having been junior counsel in 'two of the leading challenges to the legal aid cuts'. One was the successful challenge to the proposed 'residence test' for legal aid, the other established that Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights  the right to respect for private and family life  may require legal aid to be provided in immigration cases. Advertisement

Just seven names remained of the 130 on the original passenger list last night after lawyers submitted a series of challenges.

Further individual appeals by these seven, who include Iranians, Iraqis and Albanians, were expected in the hours before the flight.

At least six further cases are due to be heard at the High Court today under the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and other legal measures.

But the Court of Appeal's decision means Miss Patel's scheme to hand Channel migrants and other 'irregular arrivals' a one-way ticket to the east African nation has avoided falling at the first hurdle.

The Home Secretary insists the policy is necessary to avoid further drownings in the Channel.

'People will see this as a good result for the Home Office, but now the policy is not facing a blanket ban, well-resourced lawyers will try to get their clients pulled off the flight individually,' a government source said.

'They will try every tactic and exploit every loophole, probably waiting until the very last minute.'

The leadership of the Church of England yesterday condemned the Rwanda operation as an 'immoral policy that shames Britain'.

In a letter to The Times, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and 24 other bishops said: 'Whether or not the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda, this policy should shame us as a nation.'

Lord Justice Singh, chairing a panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal yesterday, declined to 'interfere with the conclusions' made by a High Court judge on Friday.

He said Mr Justice Swift 'did not err in principle' when he refused to grant an interim injunction that would have stopped the flight taking off.

Lord Justice Singh was a leading human rights barrister and founded Matrix Chambers with Cherie Blair.

The appeal was brought by the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents a majority of UK Border Force staff, and charities Care 4 Calais and Detention Action.

They were refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, although the applicants may lodge a further bid directly.

Raza Husain QC, for the applicants, told the court the Rwanda policy featured 'a serious interference with basic dignity' and the High Court had wrongly assessed the strength of their claim.

He added that if migrants were to be sent to Rwanda and a judicial review  due in July  rules the policy unlawful the Home Office would be required to return them to the UK.

Migrants could then have 'significant claims' for damages, the QC suggested.

But Rory Dunlop QC, for the Home Office, said: 'The flight tomorrow is important. This is a policy which is intended to deter dangerous and unnecessary journeys, journeys from safe third countries by people who do not need to make that journey to be safe, they can claim in France or wherever it is.

'This is a policy that  if it works  could save lives as well as disrupt the model of traffickers.'

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has implicitly rejected Prince Charles's reported criticisms of the Rwanda plan.

Mr Johnson declined to comment directly on whether the prince was wrong to call it 'appalling', but added: 'This is about making sure that we break the business model of criminal gangs who are not only risking people's lives but undermining public confidence in legal migration.'

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the scheme was 'shameful' and 'completely unworkable, deeply unethical and extortionately expensive'.

It came as protestors were picturing scuffling with police last night after an emergency protest outside the Home Office in London.

The demonstrations, which began at around 5.30pm and quickly swelled, included the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who was pictured speaking enthusiastically into a megaphone as a large crowd amassed.

The scenes later turned chaotic after objectors were seen grappling with officers yesterday evening. The Met Police say no arrests were made.

Charities had challenged an initial refusal to grant an injunction on Friday, with three Court of Appeal judges yesterday rejecting their appeal following an urgent hearing.

The decision will not stop individual refugees from appealing their deportation, while a full judicial review of the policy is still due to take place in July.

Yesterday afternoon, Lord Justice Singh, sitting with Lady Justice Simler and Lord Justice Stuart-Smith, said Mr Justice Swift had 'conducted the balancing exercise properly' and did not err in principle nor in the approach he took.

He added: 'He weighed all the factors and reached a conclusion which he was reasonably entitled to reach on the material before him.

'This court cannot therefore interfere with that conclusion.'

The Court of Appeal's decision means Miss Patel's scheme to hand Channel migrants and other 'irregular arrivals' a one-way ticket to the east African nation has avoided falling at the first hurdle. Pictured: Border Force and the military escort migrant ashore at Dover Docks

Migrants travelling to the UK on small boats will be put on jets and sent to Rwanda while their applications are processed

Rwandan officials say deported migrants will be able to 'come and go as they please' from accommodation and only need to follow 'basic housekeeping rules' - as they slam Church critics' 'misconceptions' about Africa

Rwandan officials today said deported migrants would be able to 'come and go as they please' from their accomodation and only need to follow 'basic housekeeping rules', as they slammed critics' 'misconceptions' of Africa.

Government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo hit back at the Church of England's claim the plan was 'immoral', saying: 'We don't think it's immoral to offer a home to people.

'People may have their own opinions on what this problem is like, depending on where they come from, but from where we come from we're doing this for the right reasons.

'We want to be a welcoming place and we'll do our best to make sure that migrants are taken care of, and that they're able to build a life here.'

Rwanda government spokeswomen Yolande Makolo (centre) holds a press conference regarding the refugees arring from the UK in Rwanda

Asked for the Rwandan government's response to comments from migrants who said they would rather die than be sent to the country, Ms Makolo said some people have 'misconceptions' about what Africa is like which 'does not reflect the reality'.

She added: 'We do not consider living in Rwanda a punishment ... we do our best to provide a conducive environment for Rwandans to develop and for anyone else who comes to live here with us.'

Ms Makolo described the agreement, which has been opposed by the UN and rights groups, as an 'innovative programme'.

'Rwanda is proud to partner with the UK for this innovative programme that's intended to address the global migration crisis, which is causing untold suffering to so many. We are also keen to address the global imbalance in opportunities that is a major driver of irregular migration.

'Rwanda has a strong record of providing safety for those in danger. Tomorrow when the first flight lands here in Kigali, the new arrivals will be welcomed and will be looked after and supported to make new lives here. We will provide support with their asylum applications, including legal support and translation services. We will provide decent accommodation and look after all their essential needs.

'We also want to make it clear that if people apply for asylum in Rwanda and their claim is rejected, they will still have a pathway to legal residency in Rwanda. We welcome people from everywhere .. The new arrivals will be free to come and go as they please.'

Questioned about whether there will be curfews or any other restrictions placed on migrants once placed in accommodation, Ms Makolo said they are not detention facilities and there will be some basic house-keeping rules, but they will effectively be able to 'come and go as they please'.

Ms Makolo described the agreement, which has been opposed by the UN and rights groups, as an 'innovative programme'

If migrants choose to leave, 'we will support them to travel to their country of origin' or another country where they have a legal right to stay, she said, adding: 'We do hope that they'll choose to stay with us and follow in the footsteps of so many who have made Rwanda their home and have flourished here.

'Rwanda has a record of caring for refugees and welcoming migrants and will be able to provide not just a safe haven these people are looking for, but the opportunity to build new lives here and develop alongside Rwandans.'

Asked whether they were concerned about the outcry over the plan and the legal challenges in the UK, Ms Makolo told reporters: 'We were doing this for the right reasons ... We have the experience. We want it to be a welcoming place for people in precarious conditions and we're determined to make this work.

'We understand that there might be opposition to this but we are asking them to give this programme a chance because it's a solution.

'There are not many solutions, people are suffering, the asylum system is broken and being taken advantage of by criminal gangs that exploit people making false promises.

'People are risking their lives in these dangerous crossings, so something has to give and we are happy to be working on this solution with our UK partners.'

First Rwanda flight doesn't deter migrants as more than 100 more arrive in Dover after crossing the Channel in small boats with this week set to be one of 2022's busiest yet for crossings

By Charlotte McLaughlin for MailOnline

More than 100 migrants arrived in the UK yesterday before the first flight to bring asylum seekers to Rwanda is scheduled to leave.

Judges decided that the plane to the African country could take off as official figures showed 138 people made the perilous journey across the English Channel in three boats.

It brings the total number of new arrivals to 705 in June alone, with the total for the year so far reaching 10,269.

The mostly male migrants could be seen being led along the gangway yesterday in Dover for processing by soldiers dressed in camouflage fatigues and high-vis vests and Border Force agents in Hazmat suits.

A further 92 adults and 12 children including a heavily pregnant woman were also brought to shore by Border Force this morning after attempting to cross the Channel.

When asked if they knew they could be sent to Rwanda, one migrant replied 'What? No' while others looked on in apparent confusion.

Court of Appeal judges rejected a legal challenge attempting to block the first flight in the government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda amid pressure from human rights groups and opposition parties.

Seven or eight people are reported to be leaving on the flight this evening, which is estimated to be costing the government 500,000.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, today, by Border Force, following a small boat incident in the Channel

A man carries a child as migrants arrive at the Port of Dover

A member of the military carries a child as migrants arrive at the Port of Dover

Migrants including a heavily pregnant woman and babies have been brought into Dover on two ships this morning.

The Dover RNLI lifeboat brought 10 to 20 migrants to shore while the Border Force ship Vigilant is brought around 60 people into Dover.

Approximately 92 adults and 12 children have been brought to shore by Border Force this morning after attempting to cross the Channel.

So far this morning migrants have been brought into the Port of Dover aboard the Dover RNLI lifeboat and the BF Vigilant.

A further 50 people - mostly men in their late teens or 20s - have been brought to shore in Dover on the Border Force ship Hurricane in the third recue by a ship today.

A soldier carries a baby in his hand while at least 12 children were rescued today

A man is seen with a child while migrants are brought in to Dover by RNLI and the Border Force

One man carried a toddler on his shoulders as he came ashore, and one woman was heavily pregnant.

Asked where they came from refugees said Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yesterday, Border Force cutter Hurricane took the first boat at around 3pm, while a second group of 50 people were escorted into the port on an RNLI lifeboat shortly before 8pm.

Another RNLI lifeboat brought a further 40 migrants to shore after dark at approximately 10.30pm.

Migrants on board one boat in the Calais Strait also got into difficulty and were rescued by the French on Monday.

A soldier carries a child nearby a woman coming off the boat in Dover today

Inflatable boats are towed into the marina after a group of people are brought in to Dover

A soldier is seen with a man carrying a child while wearing a life vest as over 100 migrants arrived today

Boat Notre Dame des Flandres was tasked with retrieving 43 migrants from the Channel, who were then dropped off at Gravelines where border police and the departmental fire and rescue service took care of them.

Boris Johnson accused lawyers representing migrants of 'abetting the work of criminal gangs' today as he defended the plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda ahead of the expected first flight on Tuesday.

The plans have been challenged in the courts and condemned by the Church of England's senior bishops and reportedly by the Prince of Wales, with the Prime Minister acknowledging that there had been criticism from 'some slightly unexpected quarters'.

Migrants disembark at the Port of Dover, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel, today

A woman is helped ashore following a small boat incident in the Channel

An urgent interim injunction to stop the new scheme was brought about by migrant charity Asylum Aid but was rejected in the same court yesterday.

Mr Johnson insisted the Government would not be deterred by the attacks 'not least from lawyers' and told his Cabinet ministers that 'we are going to get on and deliver' the plan.

Natalie Elphicke, MP for Dover, said: 'The Channel Crossings put lives at risk in the hands of ruthless criminal gangs.

'The action being taken by our Government to bring these dangerous crossings to an end is the compassionate, common sense and right thing to do.

'It's disappointing to see the courts being misused by political activists who support uncontrolled immigration.

'There is no need for anyone to get on a small boat. People are safe in France and many other places before France.'

This week is predicted to be one of the busiest so far this year for small boat crossings as conditions at sea become calmer - with around 30 migrants already spotted floating in the Channel on a black dinghy.

Despite Home Office warnings some people could be deported to Rwanda to be relocated, 705 people have been detained in June alone.

The total number of migrants to make the treacherous journey across the 21-mile Dover Strait currently stands at 10,269 in 321 boats - more than double that of the same period in 2021 when just over 4,546 people had been detained.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), 28,526 made the crossing in 2021 - compared to 8,410 who arrived in 2020.

Minister for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration, Tom Pursglove MP, has said: 'The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable.

'Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they also impact on the UK taxpayer, risk lives and our ability to help refugees come to the UK via safe and legal routes. Rightly, the British public has had enough.

'Through our Nationality and Borders Bill, we're cracking down on people smugglers and fixing the broken system by making it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and introducing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for those who facilitate illegal entry into our country.'

'This policy shames Britain': Entire Church of England leadership calls Government's plan to send failed asylum seekers to Rwanda 'immoral' as first flight is set to go ahead tomorrow

By Jacob Thorburn for MailOnline

Senior leaders at the Church of England have ripped into the Home Office's 'immoral' plan to deport migrants to Rwanda.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are among those who have lent their pens to a strongly worded letter that denounced the policy as one that 'shames Britain'.

Signed by the Most Rev Justin Welby and the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, the senior leaders, alongside 23 bishops that sit in the House of Lords, criticised the plan for lacking morality.

Writing to the Times, the co-signed letter states: 'Whether or not the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda, this policy should shame us as a nation.

'The shame is our own, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries.'

It comes just hours after three Court of Appeal judges struck down lawyers, charities and campaigners' latest bid to thwart the first Kigali-bound flight leaving today.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), which represents more than 80 per cent of Border Force staff, and charities Care4Calais and Detention Action challenged refusal to grant an injunction on Friday, which meant the first flight to the east African country could go ahead today.

But, following an urgent hearing in London yesterday, three senior judges dismissed the appeal, saying there was no error in the decision of Mr Justice Swift.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is among those who have signed a strongly worded letter that denounced Boris Johnson's policy as one that 'shames Britain'

The letter is also signed by the bishops of London, Durham, Exeter, Birmingham and Manchester.

The Home Office's proposals to fly migrants who entered the UK illegally to Rwanda have split opinion and drawn the ire of several high profile figures.

Rev Welby had previously used his Easter sermon to describe 'serious ethical questions' around the plan to send asylum seekers to the East African nation.

The Archbishop told his Canterbury congregation that the UK has a duty as a 'Christian country' to not 'sub-contract our responsibilities' after anyone who arrived in Britain illegally since January 1 could be relocated to Rwanda under a new deal.

He later said it would have been 'cowardly' not to have spoken out against the plan. Cabinet ministers hit back at Mr Welby after his outspoken intervention in April.

MPs later called Mr Welby's stinging intervention over the government's plan to send thousands of migrants with a one-way ticket to Rwanda 'clumsy'.

Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, a committed Catholic, said the government is not 'abandoning' migrants but taking on a 'very difficult responsibility' with the 'intention' of doing good' which he said is important within Christianity.

Other Tory MPs John Redwood, Mike Wood and Tom Hunt also blasted Mr Welby's comments with Mr Hunt saying the Archbishop should be wary of 'clumsily intervening' into political issues.

Repeatedly asked about the Prince of Wales's (left) apparent view that the proposals are 'appalling', Mr Johnson (right in Cornwall yesterday) insisted they were essential to 'break the business model' of people-smugglers

The Archbishop's comments were later echoed by Prince Charles, after The Mail revealed he had privately condemned the Rwanda asylum plan, saying giving Channel migrants a one-way ticket to Africa was 'appalling'.

Downing Street tried to cool the tensions later, saying Mr Johnson has 'nothing but respect and admiration' for the Prince.

The PM's official spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister has nothing but respect and admiration for the Prince of Wales, who's spoken out on a number of issues, not least the environment.'

The tetchy exchanges with Mr Johnson came amid fears ministers could be blocked from putting Channel migrants on the first flight to Rwanda.

Mr Johnson, according to sources who attended a private meeting between the Prime Minister and Tory MPs after Easter, claimed the senior clergyman had 'misconstrued the policy'.

Mr Johnson told LBC the Government had expected that 'very active lawyers' would try to challenge the Rwanda policy.

'We have always said that we knew that this policy would attract attacks from those who want to have a completely open-doors approach to immigration, who want people to be able to come across the Channel without let or hindrance,' he said.

'There are very active lawyers in this field. I have the utmost respect for the legal profession but it is also important we stop criminal gangs.'

Dozens of protestors are pictured scuffling with Met Police officers outside the Home Office during the 'Stop Rwanda flights' protest yesterday evening

Asked if the policy will be worth it if it results in just one person being removed, Mr Johnson said: 'I think it's very important that the criminal gangs who are putting people's lives at risk in the Channel is going to be broken  is being broken  by this Government.

A Government spokesperson said: 'Our world-leading Partnership with Rwanda will see those making dangerous, unnecessary and illegal journeys to the UK relocated there to have their claims considered and rebuild their lives.

'There is no one single solution to the global migration crisis, but doing nothing is not an option and this partnership will help break the business model of criminal gangs and prevent loss of life.

'Rwanda is a fundamentally safe and secure country with a track record of supporting asylum seekers and we are confident the agreement is fully compliant with all national and international law.'

It comes just months after the former archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan William, was locked in a war of words with the Government over its 120m scheme to halt a surge in Channel crossings.

He joined his successor and the incumbent Archbishop Justin Welby, and Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell in questioning the morality of the plan, labelling it 'sinful'.
Notes written by Texas Governor Greg Abbott support his claim that he was initially given an inaccurate account of the police response to the Uvalde school shooting.

Abbott said he hand wrote the notes, obtained by ABC 13 Investigates, based on a timeline he was given by authorities immediately before his first press conference after the mass shooting.

During that press conference, Abbott inaccurately told the public that cops had engaged with the gunman immediately upon arriving at the school.

Abbott later said he was 'livid' that he had given the false timeline by authorities before that press conference.

The notes from that pad corroborate his claims that he was initially mislead by authorities.

Abbot's handwritten notes that he read from during his first press conference after the mass shooting at Uvalde

Abbott at a May 27 press conference where he claimed that authorities initially gave him a false account of the events of the shooting

The timeline Abbott wrote on the pad details an account of the events of May 24, when 18-year-old Salvador Ramos showed up at the Robb Elementary School and gunned down 19 students and two teachers.

'GM shot in face' is scrawled in blue ink at the top of the page, 'She contacted police' follows on the next line.

Abbott's notes then state that the gunman had an accident - referring to Ramos crashing a truck outside the elementary school - and then approached the school on foot.

The next line then inaccurately states that 'ISD approached gunman + engaged' before he enters the school and begins his massacre.

Police pursued a teacher who they believed was the gunman when they arrived at the school, but they did not exchange gunfire with anybody.

A page from Abbott's handwritten notes that he read from at his first press conference after the Uvalde shooting

The notes then detail Ramos' movements through the school after his entry, before breezing over time that police waited outside the school and stating 'Border Patrol, ISD officers, police, Sheriffs, and DPR converged on classroom,' and then 'BP officer killed the gunman' on the last lines.

The notes make no mention of the more than an hour of time that police waited outside of the school.

After the Texas Department of Public Safety corrected the account of events Abbott had given the public at his first press conference, the governor shifted blame on his gaff to authorities, saying he was 'livid' he had been provided false information.

'I was misled. I am livid about what happened,' Abbott said at a press conference on May 27, 'I was on this very stage two days ago and I was telling the public information that had been told to me in a room just a few yards behind where we're located right now.'

'It was a recitation of what people in that room told me, whether it be law enforcement officials or non-law enforcement officials, whatever the case may be and as everybody has learned, the information that I was given turned out, in part, to be inaccurate and I'm absolutely livid about that.'

Corroboration that Abbott was given false information comes as Texas authorities have come under fire over their response to the shooting, and for their scattered accounts to the public about what happened that day.

Uvalde Independent School District Police chief Peter Arredondo has been the focus of outrage, after it was revealed that he was the individual who gave the order for police not to enter the school for over an hour while Ramos was still inside.

Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin extended the city's declaration of a local state of disaster at an emergency city council meeting on Tuesday afternoon

Embattled police chief Peter Arredondo, who has been fingered as the man who told officers not to enter the room where the Salvador Ramos, 18, was holed up with students on May 24

Arredondo believed that the 18-year-old gunman, Salvador Ramos, was barricaded alone inside the building, and waited over an hour before breaching the classrooms.

Arredondo also reportedly stopped cooperating with investigators after the shooting.

While answering questions from reporters on June 7, Mayor Don McLaughlin said that he was being frozen out of investigations into the shooting, but expressed that he had confidence in Texas authorities.

'Let me be clear, I have the utmost confidence in Texas rangers,' he said.

But McLaughlin refused to answer questions about whether he had confidence in Arredondo.

'I'm not going to speak for Pete Arredondo,' he said, 'He'll have to speak for himself. I'm not going to go there.'
A 10-month-old girl has died after being run over by her mother when she forgot to strap her into her car seat properly.

The baby, who has not been identified, fell out of the chair and on to the road before her 35-year-old mother's car rolled over her when it was left in drive.

The Prince William County Police Department in Virginia said on June 12 incident saw the 2013 Toyota Highlander roll down a driveway on to the youngster.

The mother from Hyattsville had been visiting family in Woodbridge when the tragedy struck.

The Prince William County Police Department said on June 12 a 35-year-old mother from Hyattsville was visiting her relatives in Woodbridge when she left her 10-month-old daughter unrestrained in her car

Police said the mother eft her 10-month-old daughter in the backseat of her 2013 Toyota Highlander unrestrained (model pictured)

Police are continuing their investigation and due to a change in Virginia law, the child's identity is not being released

Police said at one point the mother drove a short distance to a nearby dumpster and then back to a residence to pick up additional family members when one of them opened the rear door the child fell out of the car onto the road.

The mother immediately got out of the vehicle to check on her daughter but the car's transmission was still in drive causing it to roll forward and hit the baby.

The 10-month-old sustained a serious head injury and was taken to a local hospital by her mother and died of a head injury hours later, police said.

Police say the girl only suffered head injuries and they have not charged the mother.

Cops are continuing their investigation and due to a change in Virginia law, the child's identity is not being released.
Liz Truss lashed out at the BBC's Mishal Hussain today for suggesting a new UK law over-riding the Brexit deal with the EU would prevent the UK criticising authoritarian regimes like Russia.

The Foreign Secretary lashed out at the host of Radio 4's Today Programme as she was questioned about the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, unveiled yesterday, damaged.

Ms Husain asked if the agreement damaged Britain's 'credibility on the international stage' because it meant ministers were 'not prepared to observe an agreement you only just signed'.

The UK faces renewed legal action from Brussels after the move to override large parts of the international deal which was struck over Northern Ireland's post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Critics have said that the domestic legislation is illegal under international law as it over-rides parts of a transnational treaty - something the Government denies.

Grilling the Foreign Secretary on the radio this morning, Ms Husain asked: 'What are you going to do next time you need to have stern words with a country like Russia? - telling them to act within the rule of law and they hit back and say ''well you're not willing to honour your agreements''.'

Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin's forces invaded Ukraine in February and continues to ignore international efforts to get him to withdraw and end the bloodshed.

Ms Truss replied: 'To be frank, I think that is an extraordinary comparison.'

The Foreign Secretary lashed out at the host of Radio 4's Today Programme as she was questioned about the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, unveiled yesterday, damaged.

Ms Husain asked if the agreement damaged Britain's 'credibility on the international stage' because it meant ministers were 'not prepared to observe an agreement you only just signed'.

Grilling the Foreign Secretary on the radio this morning, Ms Husain asked: 'What are you going to do next time you need to have stern words with a country like Russia? - telling them to act within the rule of law and they hit back and say ''well you're not willing to honour your agreements''.'

How the Northern Ireland row threatens to undo Brexit deal The row over the Northern Ireland Protocol began almost as soon as the Brexit agreement with the EU came into force. The two sides had to find a way of avoiding a hard border while maintaining the integrity of the UK, and avoid undermining the integrity of the EU customs union and single market. The Protocol manages this by effectively keeping Ulster inside the EU's single market. However, Brussels has been adamant that means checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea from Britain. Unionists are implacably opposed to the idea, arguing it 'others' an integral part of the UK. The UK began talks seeking to alter the terms of the agreement just months after it was signed by the PM. The toughest parts have never come into force, due to a series of delays brought in by both camps. In March last year the UK unilaterally extended the agri-food exemptions, something that triggered the EU to start breach proceedings. However, despite experts suggesting there is a landing zone available, political tensions have made a deal impossible. The UK has threatened to trigger Article 16 of the Treaty, which is available to suspend the provisions if they are causing major social upheaval. However, a command paper previously suggested using legislation instead as a more permanent solution. The UK insists that the problem lies with the negotiating mandate given to vice-president Maros Sefcovic, which does not allow enough scope to find a settlement. The Bill has now finally been published, spelling out the arrangements that the UK believes are feasible. But it will take time to pass the law, and it is not likely to come into force immediately even when on the statute books. As a result the government has more time - and it hopes more leverage - to hammer out an agreement. The legislation could make it trickier though as the British demands are now spelled out in black and white, meaning potentially less scope for compromise. The Biden administration has also taken a dim view, urging continued talks to solve the problem. One carrot in the process is the chance to restore powersharing in Northern Ireland. DUP first minister Paul Givan resigned in February in an effort to force movement. That left the Executive unable to function, due to the way it was set up to share power under the Good Friday Agreement. While ministers remained in post, they were restricted in the actions they could take. Since 1998, when the governance system was devised as part of Northern Ireland's historic peace accord, the first minister has always been a Unionist. That all changed last month, when Sinn Fein became the largest party at Stormont for the first time ever. However, the DUP has insisted that it will not return until its demands over the Protocol are met. Ministers have made clear to the DUP that the new legislation will not be implemented unless they agree to resume powersharing first. Advertisement

'We are acting as a United Kingdom Government to protect political stability, within our own country and we are able to do that within the law. Yesterday we published our legal position setting that out.

'That is the priority and the Protocol starts itself by talking about the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.

'It's clear the east-west strand of that agreement is being undermined. That is why the responsibility of the United Kingdom is to deal with this issue, to take the steps necessary to move forward and not allow this situation to drift, because the people of Northern Ireland deserve a government and we need to sort these issues out.

'I think that is an extraordinary comparison for you to make.'

Ms Truss today dismissed the EU's threat to sue Britain over scrapping Northern Ireland Brexit rules.

The Foreign Secretary said there was 'no reason' for the 'negative' reaction from Brussels to the UK plans for overhauling the protocol.

In a round of interviews this morning, she insisted negotiations with the bloc had reached a 'dead end' as it was not willing to agree fundamental changes.

The UK is moving to end to the EU court's role in resolving disputes over Northern Ireland, as well as targeting 4,000 new Brussels rules that have been imposed since January last year without consent.

But commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said last night that Brussels is urgently considering legal action, which could come as soon as next week.

He even warned that the entire Brexit deal could be put at risk  raising the prospect of a damaging trade dispute involving tariffs and major border controls.

Ms Truss said: 'Our solution doesn't make the EU any worse off. We continue to protect the single market.'

'So there is absolutely no reason why the EU should react in a negative way to what we are doing. I've been very clear my preference is for a negotiated solution but in the absence of that we simply cannot allow the situation to drift.'

The PM said yesterday that a trade war would be a 'gross, gross over-reaction' to changes which are 'relatively trivial in the grand scheme of things'.

He stressed: 'All we're trying to do is simplify things, to actually remove the barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

'How perverse, how preposterous... to be introducing further restrictions on trade when all we're trying to do is have some bureaucratic simplifications.' He spoke as:

The new Northern Ireland Protocol Bill will give ministers powers to override parts of the original Brexit deal, including scrapping EU checks on goods traded between Britain and the province.

Downing Street acknowledged the legislation would allow ministers to break parts of the Brexit deal relating to Ulster, breaching an international treaty with the EU.

But the Government insisted the plan was permitted by international law because ministers have an overriding duty to protect the Good Friday peace agreement in Ulster.

The statement, a summary of legal advice from Attorney General Suella Braverman, cited the 'doctrine of necessity'  a recognised principle in international law which allows states to 'non-perform' treaty duties if it is the only way to 'safeguard an essential interest'.

It said the EU's implementation of the protocol was causing a 'diversion of trade and serious societal and economic difficulties', undermining the peace process.

It added that the 'genuinely exceptional situation' in Northern Ireland justified immediate intervention.

Both the EU and the White House have warned against taking unilateral action, along with some Tory MPs.

However, the US has said proposed changes to the protocol would not be an impediment to potential America-UK trade talks in Boston later this month.

And the government's stance was boosted today by an endorsement from unionists - with ministers trying to encourage them to rejoin powersharing.

The Bill, presented to Parliament tonight, aims to sweep away key parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, including a check-free 'green channel' for goods from mainland Britain and stripping control from the EU court

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the UK action was 'balanced and fair'.

'The Government is entitled under the protocol to take unilateral action where there has been societal, economic or political harm caused by the protocol,' he told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

'Therefore I think the Government is entirely within its rights and entitled to do this.

'What we need is a permanent solution here, and that is why I think it is important that the Government is bringing forward this legislation, and I think what the Government has proposed is balanced, it is fair.

'It enables us to see Northern Ireland's place within the UK's internal market restored in line with the commitment the Government gave in New Decade, New Approach over two-and-a-half years ago now.

'Finally we see the legislation introduced. It is the beginning of the Government honouring that commitment and now we need to take this legislation forward.'

UK ministers said that, after 18 months of inconclusive talks with Brussels, they had no choice but to act.

Ms Truss said she was 'very clear that we're acting in line with the law' and blamed the EU for the failure to reach a negotiated settlement.

Mr Sefcovic declared that Brussels 'will not re-negotiate the protocol'.

In a thinly veiled threat, he said the move 'undermines the trust that is necessary' for the Brexit trade deal to continue.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has gone missing from prison amid fears he has been sent to a dreaded 'torture' prison notorious for sexual violence and brutal beatings.

The Putin foe was not at his penal colony today when his lawyer arrived, with a guard telling the attorney: 'There is no such convict here.'

Navalny's spokesman Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter: 'We do not know where Alexei is now and what colony they are taking him to.'

She added that none of his relatives, friends or representatives were informed about the transfer amid the claims he has been moved to the strict regime maximum security penal colony at Melekhovo.

The move is linked to the start of a new nine year sentence seen as politically motivated by the Russian opposition and the West.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has gone missing from prison amid fears he has been sent to a dreaded 'torture' prison (pictured behind bars in court in January)

The Putin foe had gone 'missing' from his previous jail but today it was claimed he had been moved to the strict regime maximum security penal colony at Melekhovo (pictured)

Navalny has said that he wants to replace Putin, and believes he would win an election if it was not rigged in the Kremlin leader's favour.

Independent media outlet Mediazona last year revealed allegations of systematic torture and sexual violence at the Melekhovo facility known as correctional colony No. 6.

It is in the same Vladimir region as his previous Pokrovskaya general regime colony, a two hour drive away.

The fact both jails are in a region with the same name as Putin is seen as reflecting the Kremlin leader's sense of humour.

Former convict Ivan Fomin, then 29, claimed that the governor of the colony, Roman Sahakyan, had forced him to refuse a lawyer with threats.

The move to the jail hell (pictured) is linked to the start of a new nine year sentence seen as politically motivated

Navalny (pictured in the colony) is seen as the most charismatic Putin foe, and the Russian leader refuses even to mention his name

He was told that if he did not cooperate 'they would rape me, and tie my legs and hands from behind.

'I would lie down, and they would beat my heels and ass.

'After that, if I did not confess, they would [rape] me with a [spade] handle, and then put this in my mouth.'

He witnessed another inmate being punched in the stomach and beaten with piping on his heels and bottom.

The prisoners was then 'raped' with the piping, which was later forced into his mouth, he said.

Navalny's press secretary Kira Yarmysh has said that while torture is used on prisoners in many Russian colonies, this jail is 'a monstrous place even by such insane standards.'

There had been numerous testimonies about the facility, she said.

There have been allegations of systematic torture and sexual violence at the facility known as correctional colony No. 6

In March, Navalny - who nearly lost his life when he was poisoned with novichok - was sentenced to nine years of strict regime prison for 'fraud and insulting the court'.

The judge had been promoted by Vladimir Putin ahead of the sentence.

He is due to be moved to a stricter jail when the new sentence comes into force.

Navalny is seen as the most charismatic Putin foe, and the Russian leader refuses even to mention his name.

A lawyer, the opposition politician has relentlessly exposed alleged corruption in Putin's circle.

Navalny says the case against him was fabricated.

He spoke out against the war in Ukraine, and vowed to 'continue to fight the authorities', declaring he was afraid of 'neither the FSB, nor chemical weapons, nor Putin.'
A hardworking farming family have been left heartbroken after discovering their land will be acquired to make way for a new road.

The Wilcox family's 15 acre property at north Richmond, north-west Sydney, will be bulldozed, perhaps as early as December, to provide access to a new bridge that forms a vital part of the huge Redbank Communities project.

The road will go straight through where their home currently sits.

Mariane and Peter Wilcox, who have grown fruit and vegetables at the property since 2000, say they were blindsided by the decision made by the NSW government, Hawkesbury Council and a developer.

The Wilcox family's 15 acre property at north Richmond has been compulsorily acquired and will be bulldozed to provide access to the new Gros Vale Bridge in the huge Redbank Communities project

They found out about the plans when they returned from a holiday and saw the development application notice cable-tied to a pole beside their driveway.

The developer Redbank, Hawkesbury Council and the NSW Government then instructed the Wilcox family they would forcibly acquire the property for the road leading to the $23.8millon Grose Vale Bridge.

The couple, who have farmed the land for 22 years, had hoped to pass the farm down to their son Adam.

A tearful Adam Wilcox, who has two young children, has been left devastated, he said he 'only knows farming'.

'Why would you take someone's house? It doesn't make sense,' he told A Current Affair.

Mrs Wilcox described the plan as 'heartless' but has vowed to 'fight to the end'.

'I went, 'How can they do that? We own it.''

Property owners Marian and Peter Wilcox planned to retire leaving their son Adam, 32 (pictured) to continue their legacy but the family property will now be used for a road

Marian and Peter Wilcox only found out about the change when they returned from an overseas trip to find plans cable-tied to a pole beside their driveway

She has set up a petition to change the route of the road, arguing that there is a lot of vacant land around the property that could be used instead.

'This project has been designed to go through our farming family's property and directed straight through our family home and farm sheds where we have resided and farmed for 22 years,' she wrote.

'We as the property owners have been treated extremely poorly,' Mrs Wilcox wrote.

'We have been discriminated against, treated disrespectfully and our emails and phone calls have not been acknowledged, replied to or actioned.'

Mrs Wilcox said the family had grown on the north Richmond property for five generations and she said it was one of the few remaining fertile blocks that is now being lost to development

The Wilcox children are furious at the government's acquisition of their parent's property. Kimberly Wilcox (second from left) started an online petition and Adam (right), a young father, had planned to continue growing food on the property when he parents retired

Peter and Marian Wilcox farmed their north Richmond property for 22 years and hoped to hand it on to their son Adam before they were told it had been forcibly acquired

Mrs Wilcox said their property had historical significance, having been farmed for five generations.

But just as important is its significance as an example of fertile land suitable for growing Sydney's food.

'Most of the land further west is unfarmable and the destruction of prime agricultural land with such close proximity to the Sydney population is a travesty.

'Once farmland is gone its gone, and this can lead to issues with food security as farming is one of the most important uses of land and there is limited fertile farmland in Sydney.'

Her daughter, Kimberly Wilcox said she was disgusted by how the Hawkesbury council and Redbank development had approached the situation.

'This is so disheartening to see after my parents worked hard their entire life to retire at a property/area they love only for the council to just come in and destroy their whole land,' she wrote.

The $1.2billion Redbank North Richmond project is planned to house 3,900 new residents by 2028.






By Kim Hyun-bin



Tensions between management and labor unions have been growing, following a recent Supreme Court ruling that the current peak wage system is tantamount to age-based discrimination as it cuts wages after a certain age without a rational reason, according to industry officials.



Unionized workers at large companies are demanding the abolition of the peak wage system, while management insists on maintaining the measure, claiming it is needed to hire more young workers as the country's population continues to age. The peak wage system guarantees the employment of workers by gradually reducing wages through the adjustment of working hours from the point when a worker reaches a certain age.



The peak wage system was introduced in 2009 to retain employees facing retirement at lower wages, while freeing up more capital to hire younger workers. The system is divided into two types: a retirement age extension, which increases the retirement age instead of a wage reduction, and a retirement age maintenance, which leaves the retirement age as it is and reduces wages. Most businesses have introduced extended retirement age measures.



"About 90 percent of companies do not have to worry as the Supreme Court ruling does not apply as they extended the retirement age," Kim Dae-jong, a Sejong University business professor said. "There are some companies that have requested the same workload from an employee, but cut their pay just because of their age and the Supreme Court deemed these instances as being illegal. However, it's legal for a company to reduce an employee's workload and cut their pay."



However, labor unions have been sending official letters to management to abolish the peak wage system.



The joint bargaining group of Samsung Electronics' four labor unions sent a letter to management recently to specify their position on the Supreme Court's decision and threatened to take legal action if the system is not abolished.



"We demand the abolition of the current peak wage system, which simply places age restrictions without consideration of work description and qualifications. It is clearly discriminatory," the union wrote in the letter. "We will also demand compensation from the company for monetary damages caused by the unreasonable operation of the peak wage system."



Samsung responded to the union's position by saying, "The company implemented a peak wage system that extends the retirement age, and it is irrelevant from the recent Supreme Court ruling."



Samsung Electronics introduced the peak wage system in 2014 by extending the retirement age from 57 to 60.



Unions affiliated with major domestic conglomerates, such as SK Hynix and Hyundai Motor, have also demanded the abolition of the peak wage system after the Supreme Court ruling.



Legal experts believe the ruling will need to be reviewed by individual corporations to see if the changes apply to them.



"As this Supreme Court ruling does not deny the effectiveness of the peak wage system itself, companies need to review it individually," Kim Dong-wook, an attorney at Shim & Kim said. "If the legal battle over the peak wage system continues, regardless of victory or defeat, it will increase uncertainties for businesses and act as a stumbling block for future employment expansion."



Businesses voice concerns over court ruling



The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), a business lobby group, also expressed concerns over the ruling.



"The peak wage system was necessary under the seniority-based pay system," said Kang Seok-gu, head of the KCCI's research division. "If it is nullified, employees both young and old will face job insecurity."



The Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) emphasized the purpose of the peak wage system, which was introduced to prevent older workers nearing retirement age from losing their jobs abruptly while creating jobs for young people.



"We hope that the court will be prudent in forthcoming rulings, considering the possible impact of its rulings on businesses," the KEF said in its statement.



The peak wage system has been introduced in a number of countries, such as Japan, where the seniority-based wage structure is predominant. In 10 European countries, including Sweden, the working hours of older workers are gradually reduced to prepare for retirement. The reduced income due to shorter working hours is compensated by the government through the social security system.



On the other hand, in the U.S., where an annual salary contract is signed each year, the peak wage system is not implemented and wages can be lowered according to one's performance.


A police constable who admitted sharing racist memes and jokes mocking the death of George Floyd with his friends on WhatsApp has been jailed for 20 weeks.

James Watts, 31, was working as a probationary constable in West Mercia Police when he sent the offensive images after a US police officer murdered Mr Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nine and a half minutes.

He previously pleaded guilty to 10 counts of the offence of sending grossly offensive messages in a group chat.

The former constable was today sentenced to 20 weeks in prison.

His name has also been added to the College of Policing's barred list, meaning he won't be able to work in any policing role across the country for life.

Watts, from Castle Bromwich in Birmingham, sent the racially discriminatory messages and images on his personal phone in May and June 2020.

James Watts, 31, was today jailed for 20 weeks after he admitted sending the grossly offensive and racist messages to his friends on WhatsApp. The messages, sent by the former constable in 2020, contained material about murdered George Floyd

Watts previously resigned from the force while the investigation was ongoing and he was today jailed for 20 weeks

The messages included content linked to the brutal murder of Mr Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota - which triggered a wave of Black Lives Matter protests across the world.

Four 'memes' sent by Watts referred to the American man - who was knelt on by police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020.

They included depictions of a kneeling matt emblazoned with George Floyd's face, the claim that someone had bought a Floyd t-shirt that was so tight around the neck that they could not breathe.

Other images showed a white dog wearing Ku Klux Klan clothing and a black dog with a noose around its neck.

George Floyd, 46, was murdered by a police officer kneeling on his neck in Minneapolis, US, in May 2020 - triggering worldwide Back Lives Matter protests

Another image, based on the Jaws film where the character says, 'We'll need a bigger boat', showed a man with an abnormally large neck and the punchline, 'We'll need a bigger knee.'

Other images mocked the size of black men's genitalia.

The messages came to light in June of that year, and the issue was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Watts resigned from the force while the investigation was ongoing.

He previously pleaded guilty to 10 counts of the offence of sending grossly offensive messages in a group chat

Jailing him for 20 weeks today, Deputy Chief Magistrate Tanweer Ikram said: 'The fact is that over a period of a month you continued to post messages that were grossly offensive.

'This goes beyond stupidity and foolishness. You were previously a prison officer and I have no doubt you would have received diversity and inclusion training in that role.

'You were (at the time) a police officer, someone the public looks up to to uphold the law.

'You undermined the confidence the public has in the police. Your behaviour brings the criminal justice system as a whole into disrepute. You are there to protect the public and enforce the law. What you did was the exact opposite.

'These were words you chose to use  words like p*ki. You lived your racism with the words you chose to use.

'The hostility you demonstrated on the basis of race makes this offending so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence will suffice.'

His defence counsel, Peter Arnold said of his client: 'There was clearly no intention to offend this particular man. He was blind to the offence he was causing.

'None of the other group members could find an ounce of racism in him.'

Speaking after today's hearing West Mercia's Deputy Chief Constable Julian Moss said: 'I welcome the sentencing today and the custodial sentence, which shows the gravity of the offence.

'This case shows we are committed to rooting out any racist behaviour within the force, whether it takes place on or off duty. There is absolutely no place for these attitudes or this behaviour within West Mercia Police.

'James Watts let down the communities he served and his colleagues by his grossly offensive behaviour. The force will not tolerate it, our officers will not tolerate it, I will not tolerate it.'

After sentencing, IOPC regional director Derrick Campbell said: 'The sharing of such images by a serving officer, some of which mocked the death of George Floyd, is bound to have caused significant reputational damage to policing.

'The content of these messages will disturb many people both within and outside the police service.

'Today's outcome must act as a stark reminder that this behaviour, particularly from a police officer, is unacceptable.

'It is important officers understand it is irrelevant whether such activity takes place on or off duty, or in a private or public social media network - the conduct is likely to face serious disciplinary or criminal consequences.'
Advertisement

Vladimir Putin's legs have buckled during a speech in Moscow, adding to the growing rumours of the Russian leader's health woes.

The president was attending an awards ceremony at the Kremlin on Sunday when he appeared unsteady on his feet.

The 69-year-old swayed back and forth before his speech as Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov accepted a prize.

He then took to the podium and appeared to shake before both of his legs buckled, forcing him to grip the stand for support.

Putin managed to continue with his speech and maintain his balance after the slight wobble, but the incident represents the latest piece of evidence to suggest the Russian despot is battling a litany of health problems.

It comes just days after a Kremlin insider claimed Putin had been advised by doctors not to make any 'lengthy' public appearances, having fallen ill amid recent discussions with his military chiefs.

The Russian President felt 'a sharp sickness, weakness and dizziness', while getting up from his desk following a recent video conference with advisers and military leaders, Telegram channel General SVR reported last week.

'The President needed urgent medical assistance,' claimed the channel which purports to have sources in the Kremlin and has made repeated claims over Putin's alleged medical problems, including cancer and Parkinson's disease.

The channel also cited the 'dizziness' incident to explain last week's abrupt announcement that Putin's annual 'Direct Line' live broadcast - a marathon Q&A when he answers questions from ordinary Russians over several hours - was postponed with no replacement date fixed.

It had been pencilled in for the second half of June or early July, but now no date is specified. Such unexplained cancellations are causing theories about his declining health to gain currency in the West.

Vladimir Putin's legs have buckled during a speech in Moscow, adding to the growing rumours of the Russian leader's health woes

The president was speaking at an awards ceremony at the Kremlin on Sunday when he stood at a podium

The 69-year-old swayed back and forth before his speech as Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov accepted a prize

Then Putin stood behind the podium as he appeared to shake before both legs buckled and he gripped the stand for support

Rumours over Putin's deteriorating health have circulated for years but are rapidly gaining ground in light of recent events.

Myriad photos and videos have emerged since the invasion of Ukraine began in which the Russian leader appears bloated and uncomfortable, while other clips have shown him experiencing seemingly uncontrollable leg tremors and walking with poor co-ordination.

He has previously been seen in footage with a violently shaking hand and also gripping the side of his chair for stability.

Weeks ago, an officer from the Federal Security Service of Russia claimed Putin has 'no more than two to three years to stay alive'.

An FSB officer described the Russian president's condition as a 'severe form of rapidly progressing cancer', as speculation ramped up that Putin was suffering with some form of serious illness amid the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin reportedly underwent 'successful' cancer surgery and is recovering following advice from medics that treatment was 'essential', according to Telegram channel General SVR.

General SVR claims to be authored by an exiled Kremlin lieutenant-general insider, known by the alias Viktor Mikhailovich, who purportedly has access to information the Kremlin refuses to publish.

It was the first outlet to suggest Putin was suffering from cancer.

British intelligence sources have also been quoted in various media reports telling outlets that Putin's health was deteriorating.

But Kyiv military spy chief Kyrylo Budanov said previously he fears the Russian leader still has a 'few more years' left in him.

His comments suggested the Ukrainians believe Putin is suffering from cancer, but are unclear on how severe the condition could be and to what extent it could impede Putin's ability to direct Russian military strategy and exert influence over the country.

The major-general also claimed Putin was the target of an assassination attempt shortly after launching his invasion.

He said the abortive bid was by representatives of the Caucasus, but did not release further details.

The report mirrored other claims that top-ranking Russian officials are said to be plotting a government without Putin, with Kremlin sources claiming insiders are already looking for ways to replace the Russian President.

The news outlet Meduza quoted sources claiming that high-ranking officials in Russia's security services FSB and GRU - referred to as 'hawks' - believe Putin has botched the invasion and want to seize control of the operation.

One method of 'moving things on' without need for a violent coup would be to place him in a long term hospital for the incurably unwell, suggested former MI6 chief Richard Dearlove.

Vladimir Putin (pictured last week) has been advised by doctors not to make any 'lengthy' public appearances after he fell ill amid discussions with his military chiefs, a Kremlin insider has claimed

This infamous image of a bloated, hunched Putin gripping a table as he spoke with defence minister Sergey Shoigu earlier in the war triggered speculation over his declining health

Rumours in Moscow persist that Putin has undergone recent surgery to treat his illness.

But in an interview with French TV, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said no one 'sane' could see any signs of illness in Putin, who reportedly has his food tested before eating it and bans his staff from standing too close to him.

'You can watch him on screens, read and listen to his speeches,' Lavrov said in comments released by the Russian foreign ministry.

'I leave it to the conscience of those who spread such rumours.'

It comes after a new report revealed that his bodyguards have been collecting his excrement while on foreign trips in a bid to stop people gathering information about his health.

Federal Protection Service members are 'responsible for collecting his bodily waste' in special packets which are kept inside a dedicated briefcase until they return to Russia.

According to two investigative journalists at French news magazine Paris Match, the collection of Putin's excrement is part of the Federal Protection Service's job, as they are tasked with protecting high-ranking state officials at whatever cost.

Reporters Regis Gente, who wrote two books on Russia, and Mikhail Rubin, who has covered Russian current affairs for over ten years, say that two examples of Putin excrement collections were of the President's visit to France on 29 May 2017 and to Saudi Arabia in October 2019.

In both of these instances, it is alleged that Putin either had a private toilet brought along with him during the trips, or that he was accompanied to the bathroom by several guards. Another theory is that he uses a 'porta-potty' everywhere he goes.

It is understood that the excrement collection is a way to stop people gathering information about his health. Pictured at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, when actress Julia Louis Dreyfus was told by museum staff that President Putin (right, with Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz left) had arrived with his own private bathroom

A report has revealed that Russian president Vladimir Putin's Federal Protection Service members are 'responsible for collecting his bodily waste' in special packets which are kept inside a dedicated briefcase until they return to Russia. Pictured is a statue depicting Putin on the toilet outside the Russian Embassy in Prague in 2021

One example of this happening could be in December 2019, when Putin was spotted going to the toilet with six bodyguards while at a Ukraine summit in Paris (pictured)

One other example could be in December 2019, when Putin was spotted going to the toilet with six bodyguards while at a Ukraine summit in Paris.

The Russian leader, 67 at the time, was filmed leaving the bathroom after five bodyguards made sure his surroundings were safe. Another bodyguard walked behind him as he left the toilet in Paris's Elysee Palace.

Farida Rustamova, an ex-BBC journalist, also confirmed the report by explaining on Twitter that a source of hers, who is reportedly an old acquaintance of Putin's, said he has been taking his own toilet on foreign trips since the beginning of this rule.

She revealed that she was aware of an incident at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, when actress Julia Louis Dreyfus was told by museum staff that President Putin had arrived with his own private bathroom and a 'porta-potty'.

Intelligence-gathering via excrement collection is not a new venture by a world leader. In 2016, an ex-Soviet agent said he found evidence that Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin had investigated founder of the People's Republic of China Mao Zedong by analysing his waste matter.

Though Putin may be struggling with health issues, his troops are continuing to wage war in eastern Ukraine, prompting one of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's top advisers to call on the West for more weapons shipments.

Mykhailo Podolyak said Monday that Kyiv needs 1,000 howitzers, 300 rocket artillery systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armoured vehicles and 1,000 drones 'to end the war'.

The eye-watering shopping list amounts to an army's-worth of Western equipment and goes well beyond both what has been supplied so far and what Ukraine itself has been requesting.

Put in context, 500 new tanks would be more than the UK and Germany have in active service combined, while 1,000 howitzers and 300 rocket launchers is more than the US currently has in active service.

The US has supplied a little over 100 howtizers to Ukraine so far while the US and UK combined are thought to have sent seven rocket systems.

Podolyak published the list amid heavy fighting in Ukraine's east - where Russia has this week issued a 'surrender or die' order to troops defending a key Donbas city - and ahead of a Wednesday meeting in Brussels to discuss weapons supplies.

Ukraine has asked its Western allies to supply an additional 1,000 artillery guns in order to put them on a level footing with Russian forces in the Donbas (pictured, a US M777 howitzer)

Ukraine also wants another 500 tanks which it says are needed to 'win' against Russia (pictured, the German Leopard 2 tank which Spain was considering sending to Kyiv)

Zelensky's adviser said 300 multiple-launch rocket systems are also required, with the US and UK having sent just seven so far (pictured, M270 MLRS)

Ukraine's 'shopping list' - 1,000 howitzers, chambered in 155mm NATO-standard shells - 300 multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) - 500 tanks - 2,000 armoured vehicles - 1,000 drones Advertisement

Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, will chair the meeting, while UK defence secretary Ben Wallace will be in attendance.

It is the third such meeting of Western defence ministers in recent months, after the first summit in late April brought together 40 nations to discuss Ukraine's security.

But such is the scale of Podolyak's new request that it is unclear whether the allies would even be capable of supplying Ukraine with what it needs without leaving their own stockpiles critically low.

And that is before factoring in shipments of spare parts, ammunition, fuel, and other equipment needed to keep those weapon systems running.

Germany, which has already baulked at some of the relatively moderate requests coming out of Kyiv to date, is almost certain to oppose the plans.

Berlin has committed to supplying weapons to Kyiv - including cutting edge anti-air systems and howitzers - but they have still not arrived in the country.

Chancellor Scholz has also blocked or delayed supplies of other equipment, such as Marder armoured vehicles which manufacturer Rheinmetall has offered to donate, and German-made Leopard 2 tanks which Spain offered last week.

Joe Biden has not placed hard limits on what the US is willing to give, only saying his objective is to achieve 'a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression.'

Severodonetsk is the current frontline of fighting in Ukraine's Donbas, with control of the city shifting week-to-week - and with Russia currently dominant

Liz Truss, the UK foreign secretary, has gone beyond that - saying the objective is to push Russia back beyond Ukraine's internationally accepted borders, while vowing to go 'further and faster' with weapons deliveries until that goal is met.

Doing so would mean Ukraine not just recapturing all the territory it has lost since the current war began on February 24, but also taking back areas of the Donbas and Crimea occupied after the last war in 2014.

Pivotal to that goal will be the outcome of the ongoing battle for Donbas, where Russia and Ukraine are locked into bloody long-range artillery duels and bitter street-to-street fighting in the city of Severodonetsk.

Russian forces on Monday blew up the last remaining bridge connecting the city with its sister, Lysychansk which sits on high ground across the Donets River, making efforts to resupply and reinforce units in the city very difficult.

As news of the bridge's destruction emerged, Eduard Basurin - spokesman for Russian-backed rebel armies in Ukraine's east - told the city's last defenders to 'surrender or die' in the face of the Russian assault.

'Ukrainian divisions that are there [in Severodonetsk] are there forever,' he said.

Kyiv has admitted the bridge was destroyed but denied defenders in the city are cut off, saying supply lines are still running although they are 'complicated'.

But Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said: 'Remaining civilians in Severodonetsk are almost entirely cut off from aid supplies after the destruction of the last bridge into the city.

'NRCs partner in eastern Ukraine estimate approximately 500 civilians are still sheltering at the Azot Chemical Plant, facing near-constant bombardment and with almost no opportunity to escape. They are surviving on food distributed by NRC and other aid organisations. But for the past few weeks, regular distributions have been impossible due to the intensified fighting and deteriorating security situation.'

Oleksandr Stryuk, head of administration in Severodonetsk, said today: 'Massive shelling has destroyed a third bridge. But the city is not isolated.'

He said Ukrainian troops 'continue to defend the city' and that there is round-the-clock fighting, adding that the ground situation 'changes every hour'.

He estimated that there are 'around 540 to 560' civilians hiding in the shelters of the city's chemical Azot plant, and that it is becoming 'difficult' to support them.
The White House is dodging questions on whether President Joe Biden will bring up the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi when he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia next month.

'We're not overlooking any content that happened before when the president took office,' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked about it.

'It's important to also emphasize that while we collaborate relationships, we are not looking to rupture relationships.'

She said human rights would be part of the conversation.

'Human rights issues, human rights conversation is something that the president brings up with many leaders and plans to do so,' she noted.

The White House is dodging questions on whether President Joe Biden will bring up the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi when he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Biden previously called the crown prince a 'pirah' after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi (above)

Deputy White House spokesman John Kirby also wouldnt commit to Biden talking about Khashoggis murder with MBS.

I'm not going to get ahead of the individual discussions the president has had. He has held Saudi Arabia accountable for a series of measures when he released and published that report from the intelligence community about the murder of Jamal khashoggi. He has spoken strongly about that, he said on MSNBCs Morning Joe.

He also said Biden would discuss human rights.

Obviously human rights is something we bring up with partners and friends and folks all over the world every time we meet. It's a key component of the president's foreign policy. He believes that foreign policy has to be rooted in our values. Obviously human rights will come up as a part of that discussion, he noted.

Earlier this month, the White House said Biden still felt MBS was a 'pariah' for what U.S. intelligence says was his role in the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in Turkey in 2018.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden referred to MBS as a 'pariah' in the aftermath of Khashoggi's killing.

The Washington Post journalist was murdered in Turkey in 2018. The CIA has concluded with 'high confidence' that bin Salman ordered the assassination.

Khashoggi's murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul tainted the crown prince's image as a reformist.

Human rights advocates also have encouraged Biden not to make the trip without bringing up Saudi's treatment of its citizens.

Biden will visit the kingdom on July 15 and 16 in order to repair the relations between the U.S. and the second largest holder of petroleum reserves in the world.

His trip will also include stops in Israel and the West Bank, the White House announced on Tuesday.

The White House has down played the president's meeting with MBS, saying the president will meet with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and that the crown prince will be a part of that.

'Yes, we can expect the president to see the Crown Prince as well,' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia, in its statement on the trip, said Biden and MBS would meet.

'The crown prince and President Biden will hold official talks that will focus on various areas of bilateral cooperation and joint efforts to address regional and global challenges,' the statement said.

But White House deputy spokesman John Kirby said Biden will meet with the King and the meeting with MBS will be a part of that.

He's going to meet bilaterally with King Salman and King Salmans team and the crown prince is part of that team. I suspect he'll see the crown prince in the context of the meetings. He's grateful for the king's willingness to host the GCC plus three. He's looking forward to, again, a wide scope of discussions,' he said on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

While in Saudi Arabia next month President Biden will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler

'We're not overlooking any content that happened before when the president took office,' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked about journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

The trip comes as gas prices in the United States continue to surge, a key domestic issue Biden hopes to tackle going into November's midterm election.

Over the weekend, the national average for a gallon of gas reached $5 for the first time in American history.

Saudi Arabia is the world's largest producer of oil, and as a key member of OPEC plays a large part in setting oil prices worldwide.

The White House announced the trip after Saudi Arabia this month helped nudge OPEC+ to ramp up oil production by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August.

At the time, the White House put out a statement thanking the kingdom, a move that was seen as a step toward trying to thaw the icy relations between Washington D.C. and Riyadh.

Biden also praised the kingdom for agreeing to extend a United Nations-mediated cease-fire in its seven-year war with Yemen. The president called the decison 'courageous.'

The White House has emphasized King Salman is the ruler of the kingdom. Biden is said to see the king as his equivalent, not the crown prince.

The president is visiting at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Jean-Pierre said in a statement Tuesday morning.

She said Biden will discuss the UN-mediated truce in Yemen, economic security, deterring threats from Iran, advancing human rights, and ensuring global energy and food security.
A British Airways flight saw chaos onboard as water poured into the cabin.

Crew members desperately tried to stop the relentless flow of water as the plane soared 30,00 feet in the sky.

The plane, on transatlantic flight BA292, left Heathrow at 10.40pm last Friday and landed in Washington DC at 10.55 on Saturday.

The Airbus A380 is a double decker plane with two flights of stairs, one at the front and one at the back of the airplane which has room for 500 passengers.

BA have told us that a fault with a water storage unit at the back of the plane flooded the flight of stairs used by economy passengers on the plane.

Water fell from the ceiling of the cabin at the back of the plane

Crew desperately tried to mop up the gushing water on the economy staircase

BA said: 'There was no safety issue at any point, this was from the clean drinking water supply.

'The flight continued safely to Washington and landed as normal.

'A faulty valve was replaced and the issue fixed.'

The shocking technical fault occurred towards end of the 7 hour flight to the States.

Engineers managed to fix the valve and the same plane was back in the air the same day.

BA have told us that this is rare as one staff member had never seen it happen in the three and a half years he had worked there.

Litres of water fell from the top of the cabin

British Airways had the fault fixed on arrival in Washington DC and the plane was back in the air the same day

Water dripping down from one level of the airbus to the lower level

An airline worker told The Sun: 'This was not a flight for nervous flyers.

'An inflight waterfall is not a regular feature at BA. It looked more British Waterways that British Airways.

'Crew gave thanks the leak happened towards the end of the transAtlantic crossing.

'There were a few people saying their Hail Mary's, but staff were professional throughout.'

In one video a BA stewardess can be heard whispering 'no f****** way' while water poured down the cabin.

Passengers were alarmed by the water at the end of the flight as some worried the water may damage the electrics onboard

Blankets and towels were frantically used to stem the flow of water

An airline spokesman said: 'While there was no safety issue at any point, the area was quickly isolated and the flight continued as planned.'

It is the first time one of BA's A380 jets has experienced a leak during a flight although Airbus has been hit by similar incidents before.
The Tory MP who was arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault offences spanning seven years has been re-bailed until mid-August, Scotland Yard has today revealed.

The unnamed man in his 50s, who is accused of sexual offences in London between 2002 and 2009, also faces allegations of indecent assault, abuse of position of trust and misconduct in public office.

He was initially bailed pending further enquiries until mid-June but the Metropolitan Police has now extended that process for around two months.

A force spokesperson told MailOnline said: 'In January 2020, the Met received a report relating to alleged sexual offences having been committed between 2002 and 2009. The offences are alleged to have occurred in London.

'An investigation is ongoing, led by officers from Central Specialist Crime.

'A man, aged in his 50s, was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of position of trust and misconduct in public office. He was taken into custody and has since been bailed pending further enquiries to a date in mid-August. Enquiries remain ongoing.'

Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, Wednesday May 18, 2022

The Conservatives have not suspended the whip from the MP, meaning he remains a member of the parliamentary party. But the MP, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been urged to stay away from Parliament while under investigation.

More than 50 MPs have faced investigations into alleged inappropriate behaviour in just four years since 2018.

Chief Whip Chris Heaton-Harris has asked that unnamed MP to stay away from Parliament during the probe.

A whips office spokesman said: 'The Chief Whip has asked that the MP concerned does not attend the Parliamentary Estate while an investigation is ongoing. Until the conclusion of the investigation we will not be commenting further.'

In May this year, disgraced former Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan was jailed for 18 months for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

Khan, 48, was expelled from the Conservative Party and resigned, triggering a by-election in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, after he was found guilty last month following a trial.

A general view of the Palace of Westminster in London

The jury heard how he forced the then teenager to drink gin and tonic and asked him to watch pornography, before the attack at a house in Staffordshire following a party in January 2008.

In 2020, 'naughty Tory' MP Charlie Elphicke was sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of three counts of sexual assault against two women. He was convicted in relation to a parliamentary worker in 2016 and a woman at his family's London home in 2007.

Last year, ex-Labour MP Mike Hill resigned after a former parliamentary worker alleged he sexually harassed and bullied her over a 16-month period, groping her and rubbing himself against her.

Mr Hill denied the allegations, but a central London employment tribunal upheld claims of 'detrimental treatment' over a 16-month period, judging that 'spiteful or retaliatory' acts followed the woman's rejection of his sexual advances.
Vladimir Putin's closest supporters are demanding he 'turbo charges' his invasion and totally crushes Ukraine, amid claims his brutal military campaign is failing.

TV anchorman Vladimir Solovyov - one of Russia's chief propagandists known as 'Putin's Voice' - urged the Russian leader to speed up the invasion which is starting to show signs of making slow progress in the Donbas after months of embarrassments.

Putin's space chief Dmitry Rogozin issued a chilling demand to 'end' Ukraine, while leading propagandist Dmitry Solovyov said he must take the gloves off and stop trying to protect the lives of the enemy.

Outspoken Rogozin, head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency, posted : 'What has emerged in place of Ukraine is an existential threat to the Russian people, Russian history, the Russian language and Russian civilisation.

'If we don't end them - as unfortunately our grandfathers didn't end them - then our grandchildren will have to die, and will have to pay an even bigger price.

'So let's put an end to it. Once and for all. For the sake of our grandchildren.'

Head of the RT 'propaganda' machine Margarita Simonyan demanded harsh new firepower from Russia.

Russia1 TV anchorman Vladimir Solovyov (pictured) - known as 'Putin's Voice' - urged the Russian leader to speed up the invasion which is now making slow progress in the Donbas

Claiming the Ukrainians were indiscriminately bombarding 'our Donetsk' - the eastern Ukrainian region which has been invaded by the Russians - she said they had hit a market, maternity hospital, buildings and streets.

She demanded: 'Mother (Russia), is it not time yet to smash these animals not by their hands, but on their jaw?'

In an extraordinary outburst, Solovyov - the host of Russia's Channel 1 show 'An Evening With Vladimir Solovyov' - claimed it was Putin - not Kyiv leader Volodymyr Zelensky - 'who is protecting the Ukrainian people'.

Some Ukrainians were 'gnashing their teeth in hatred' but most are 'impatiently waiting' for Russians to arrive, he said.

'I hope that at some point we will switch to turbo-mode,' he told his panellists. 'For now we are trying to minimise not only our losses, but also the Ukrainian losses. So every day we give you [them] the opportunity to surrender, to sign the surrender.'

He claimed Zelensky was guilty of 'ethnocide against the Ukrainian people'.

While four times missing the call up for himself, he was sending ever-older men into battle, said Solovyov.

'Now he has run out of men, he is going after women, right? Well done,' he told viewers. So he wants to go down in Ukrainian history as a man who mowed down men and women. I think no one has ever made such a mockery of his own people.'

Putin has repeatedly said that the main immediate reason for his intervention in Ukraine is to protect the Russian-speakers of the east from persecution and attack.

Ukraine and its Western allies says Russia's claim of persecution is a baseless pretext for an invasion, and that Russia is waging an unprovoked war against a sovereign state fighting for its existence.

In an extraordinary outburst, TV anchorman Vladimir Solovyov claimed it was Putin - not Kyiv leader Volodymyr Zelensky - 'who is protecting the Ukrainian people'

A Russian soldier walks in front of the damaged Metallurgical Combine Azovstal plant, in Mariupol, on the territory which is under the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic control, eastern Ukraine, Monday, June 13, 2022

Ukrainian servicemen ride American 155 mm turreted self-propelled howitzers M109, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 13, 2022

Meanwhile, Putin faced criticism from Igor Strelkov, 51, a former intelligence and army veteran who was formerly a staunchly pro-Kremlin commander of clandestine military operations during the annexation of Crimea and in Donbas in 2014.

He mocked the lack of real progress by Russian forces.

'The second stage of the special military operation has failed because the Donetsk group of the enemy could not be destroyed,' he said.

'It was only pushed back in some locations, but the advances are just tactical.'

Col. Vladimir Kvachkov, 73, an ex-Spetsnaz military intelligence commander, demanded huge mobilisation to counter the problems.

'Without introducing martial law in Russia, and partial or better general mobilisation, there will be no strategic changes in this,' he said. 'I have a feeling that Citizen Putin is afraid of a mass army more than the Ukrainian [army].'

But Girkin said Russia was so badly equipped away from the front that even mobilisation would not help.

'An attempt to conduct mobilisation, given [our] unpreparedness, may burst like a bubble in a toilet, and blow up and splatter everyone around.'

Putin's space chief Dmitry Rogozin (pictured left speaking with Putin on April 12) issued a chilling demand to 'end' Ukraine, while leading propagandist Dmitry Solovyov said he must take the gloves off and stop trying to protect the lives of the enemy

Head of the RT 'propaganda' machine Margarita Simonyan (pictured left in 2019 with Vladimir Putin) demanded harsh new firepower from Russia

On Tuesday, Russian forces stepped up efforts to cut off Ukrainian troops in the key industrial city of Severodonetsk in the east of the country despite Ukrainians insisting they were holding on.

Moscow has laid siege for weeks to the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which are separated by a river, as the last areas in the eastern Donbas region of Lugansk still under Ukrainian control.

The head of Severodonetsk's administration said 'massive shelling' had destroyed a third bridge linking the twin cities, but insisted his city was 'not isolated'.

'There are communication channels even if they are quite complicated,' Oleksandr Stryuk told Ukrainian television. Ukraine's 'continue to defend the city' but that the situation on the ground 'changes every hour,' he added.

On Monday, Sergiy Gaiday, governor of Lugansk, told Radio Free Europe that Russian forces had 'destroyed all the bridges and getting into the city is no longer possible. Evacuation is also not possible'.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has branded the human cost of the battle for east 'simply terrifying,' urging Western allies to speed arms deliveries to shore up Ukraine's ability to reclaim territory.

'We just need enough weapons to ensure all of this. Our partners have them.'

His presidential advisor, Mikhaylo Podolyak, has listed hundreds of howitzers, tanks and armoured vehicles as among items needed by the Ukrainian army.

'To end the war we need heavy weapons,' he tweeted.

A Russian soldier speaks to foreign journalists in front of the ruined Metallurgical Combine Azovstal, in Mariupol, on the territory which is under the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic control, eastern Ukraine, Monday, June 13, 2022

A Russian soldier looks at debris of the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal, in Mariupol, on the territory which is under the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic control, eastern Ukraine, Monday, June 13, 2022

Last week, Ukraine's defence minister said up to 100 Ukrainian troops were being killed and 500 sustaining injuries every day.

The capture of Severodonetsk would open the road to Sloviansk and another major city, Kramatorsk, in Moscow's push to conquer Donbas, a mainly Russian-speaking region partly held by pro-Kremlin separatists since 2014.

An AFP new agency team in Lysychansk saw massive damage after months of shelling, with no water, electricity or phone signal.

The Ukrainian military is using high ground in the city to exchange fire with Russian forces fighting for control of Severodonetsk, just across the water.

The Lugansk governor said Ukraine's forces had been pushed back from Severodonetsk's centre with the Russians controlling 70 to 80 percent of the city in their attempt to 'encircle it'.

With Russia turning the screw on Severodonetsk, Ukrainian forces have two choices: 'to surrender or die', said Eduard Basurin, a representative for pro-Russian separatists.

On Monday, Amnesty International accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, saying that attacks on the north-eastern city of Kharkiv - including banned cluster bombs - had killed hundreds of civilians.

'The repeated bombardments of residential neighbourhoods in Kharkiv are indiscriminate attacks which killed and injured hundreds of civilians, and as such constitute war crimes,' the rights group said in a report about Ukraine's second-biggest city.

In Bucha, a town near Kyiv that has become synonymous with allegations of Russian war crimes, police said Monday they had found another seven bodies in a grave.

'Several victims had their hands tied and knees bound,' Kyiv regional police chief Andriy Nebytov said on Facebook.

Dozens of bodies in civilian clothing were found in the town in April after Russian troops withdrew from the area following a month-long occupation.

A woman crouches next to the grave of Evgeny Khrapko, a combat medic and instructor of tactical medicine who was killed on a mission, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine, after his farewell ceremony in Kharkiv, Ukraine June 14, 2022

Relatives and friends attend the farewell ceremony of Evgeny Khrapko, a combat medic and instructor of tactical medicine who was killed on a mission amid Russia's invasion

Six people were injured on Tuesday by shelling in the Russian town of Klintsy, some 30 miles from the Ukrainian border in the Bryansk region.

Regional governor Alexander Bogomaz wrote on the Telegram messaging app that the number of injured had risen to six from an earlier tally of four.

'Those injured have shrapnel wounds,' Bogomaz wrote. 'They were all admitted to a local hospital. Their condition is stable.'

Reuters was unable to immediately verify the report.

Residents posted footage to social media of a Russian military helicopter hovering over the town and reported that electricity and water had been cut off.

Officials in Russian regions bordering Ukraine have in the past few weeks reported cases of what they said was cross-border shelling that damaged residential buildings and injured some people.

Separately, the defence ministry channel Zvezda News quoted Alexey Kulemzin, mayor of the separatist-controlled east Ukrainian city of Donetsk, as saying the number of people in the city killed by shelling on Monday had risen from three to six.

Away from the battlefield, Russia's war in Ukraine has posed a threat to global food security. Ukraine's deputy agriculture minister said Monday that a quarter of his country's arable land had been lost but insisted national food security was not threatened.

On a farm near the southern Ukrainian city Mykolaiv, the harvest has been delayed by the need to undo damage by Russian troops who passed through the area in March.

'We planted really late because we needed to clear everything beforehand,' including bombshells, Nadiia Ivanova, 42, told AFP.

The farm's warehouses currently hold 2,000 tonnes of last season's grain but with normal export routes blocked or damaged by the war, there are no buyers for the harvest.
The committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has postponed its Wednesday hearing which was to feature senior Trump Justice Department officials.

The House committee announced the postponement on Tuesday morning but did not give a reason or new date.

A source familiar with the decision told DailyMail.com it was 'just logistics.'

'There's just a lot of time needed to prepare all this stuff coming,' said the source.

Rep. Zoe Lofrgen, D-Calif., a member of the special panel, told MSNBC the committee's technicians needed more time to compile video exhibits.

Three of the committee members are also on the House Armed Services Committee, which next week begins considering the National Defense Authorization Act, essentially setting out the U.S. defense budget - adding a further complication.

And it comes after a key witness on Monday pulled out of appearing in person after his wife went into labor.

The next hearing is due to take place on Thursday.

The House committee investigating last year's attack on the U.S. Capitol postponed its scheduled Wednesday hearing over logistical issues

Wednesday's hearing was due to hear from Jeffrey Rosen, acting Attorney General at the time of the riot. He and other Department of Justice officials were expected to testify about how Trump wanted to install an attorney general who was more sympathetic to his claims

The committee has heard how Trump was told repeatedly by senior officials and aides that his claims of election fraud did not stand up to scrutiny, but that he failed to heed them

The witnesses at Wednesday's hearing were to include Jeffrey Rosen, the acting attorney general when the riot took place, as well was Richard Donoghue and Steven Engel, two other senior officials.

They were expected to describe a difficult meeting at the White House three days before Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building.

According to previous reporting, Trump wanted to replace Rosen with another official, Jeffrey Clark, who had suggested he would back the president's unfounded claims of voter fraud.

Trump ultimately backed down when confronted by Justice Department officials and White House aides who told him they would resign if he replaced Rosen.

Monday's hearing began with a scramble as Trump's former campaign manager Bill Stepien, the panel's top witness for the day, said he would not appear due to a 'family emergency.' Committees chairman Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson said Stepien's wife was in labor.

But the committee had a plan B - hours of Stepien's previous interview with the panel that was recorded on video. The committee aired multiple clips of that interview, along with others, as the hearing unfolded.

Stepien told investigators that Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani was urging Trump to declare victory on election night, despite Stepien's warnings that it was 'way too early' to make a prediction like that.

'My belief, my recommendation, was to say that votes were still being counted, it's too early to tell, too early to call the race,' Stepien said in one clip.

The committee also played recorded testimony of Bill Barr, Trump's attorney general, who said that the then president was 'detached from reality' with claims of voter fraud in the aftermath of the 2020 election

Trump's former top legal officer described how he repeatedly told the president his allegations were false.

And at one point he laughed as he described how Trump supporters had tried to build a case of fraud.

'I was somewhat demoralised because I thought boy, if he really believes this stuff, he has, you know, lost contact with with these become detached from reality,' Barr told the committee in his videotaped testimony.'

When Barr pushed back, he said, he was met with little interest

'My opinion then and my opinion now is that the election was not stolen by fraud.

'And I haven't seen anything since the election that changes my mind on that, including the "2000 Mules" movie,' he said before laughing at the film made by conservative activist Dinesh D'Souza, which claims that drop boxes were abused bu has been widely criticized by factcheckers.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr dismissed claims that the 2020 election was stolen as 'nonsense' and 'bulls***' in testimony released on Monday

Barr also said he told his then boss Donald Trump that there was not enough voter fraud in the 2020 election to change the outcome, one of several witnesses who said they told the then president and his team that their allegations did not stand up to scrutiny

'There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were': Top quotes from the second January 6 hearing 'The mayor was definitely intoxicated': Former Trump adviser Jason Miller on Rudy Giuliani 'I don't know that I had a firm view of what he should say': Ivanka Trump on what her father should say on election night when it was too early to call the result 'Right out of the box on election night, the president claimed that there was major fraud under way. I mean, this happened, as far as I could tell, before there was actually any potential of looking at evidence': Former Attorney General Bill Barr 'Very, very, very, very bleak': Trump's former campaign manager Bill Stepien on their chances of winning the 2020 election 'I told him that the stuff his people were shoveling out to the public was bulls***': Barr on election fraud claims 'There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were': Barr on Trump's attitude to fraud claims 'The 2020 election was not close': Republican campaign lawyer Ben Ginsberg Advertisement

Evidence shown by the committee has build a picture of a president told repeatedly by senior officials and key advisers that he lost the election fair and square.

Testimony suggested he then came to rely on the arguments of more fringe figures and an 'inebriated' Rudy Giuliani, who advised him to declare victory in election night, and then supplied him with unsubstantiated examples of fraud.

Trump responded on Monday night, with a 12-page statement accusing Democrats of seeking to distract from the Biden administration's troubles with a 'kangaroo court.'

'The January 6th Unselect Committee is disgracing everything we hold sacred about our Constitution. If they had any real evidence, they'd hold real hearings with equal representation,' he said in an emailed statement.

'They dont, so they use the illegally constituted committee to put on a smoke and mirrors show for the American people, in a pitiful last ditch effort to deceive the American publicagain.'

The committee has interviewed more than 1000 witnesses and assembled hundreds of thousands of pages of documents.

The result, its members hope to show, places Trump at the heart of a conspiracy to topple American democracy.

But Trump, in his response, relies on the partisan support of his former adviser Peter Navarro and conservative activist Dinesh D'Souza to repeat his case that the election was stolen.

Its footnotes are riddled with references to '2000 Mules,' D'Souza's much criticized documentary that claims to show how dropboxes were abused and the election was stolen from Trump.

Trump used his statement to accuse Democrats of trying to distract from the crises facing the Biden administration.

'We have a White House in shambles, with Democrats, just this week, declaring that Biden is unfit to run for reelection,' he said.

'And what is the Democrat Congress focused on? A Kangaroo court, hoping to distract the American people from the great pain they are experiencing.'

'Seventeen months after the events of January 6th, Democrats are unable to offer solutions.

'They are desperate to change the narrative of a failing nation, without even making mention of the havoc and death caused by the Radical Left just months earlier.'

The committee has not yet decided whether it will refer the case to the Department of Justice
This is the moment a drunk man challenged a crocodile to a fight before he was nearly dragged into a lagoon in the Mexican state of Tabasco.

The individual, whose name was not released by the authorities, had stoned the female reptile which was lying near her egg nest when she lunged at him at the La Encantada lagoon in the municipality of Villahermosa last Thursday.

The crocodile grabbed the man by the lower end of his pants and tried to pull him towards the edge of the lagoon before it relented.

Mexican authorities said a man who was drunk attacked a crocodile with rocks and was nearly pulled into a lagoon in Villahermosa, Tabasco, last Thursday

A member of the fire department in Villahermosa, Tabasco, secures the crocodile moments after it had attacked a drunk man who threw rocks at it

It's unclear how badly injured the man was but witnesses said that he was able to walk away on his own, according to Mexican newspaper La Razon.

'The person who was apparently attacked was throwing stones at (the crocodile) and was intoxicated,' Villahermosa Civil Defense director Jose Gomez said.

'These animals are in the reproductive stage. She had some eggs and the animal felt attacked and reacted.'

A firefighter attempts to lure the crocodile from its nest before trapping the reptile and securing the eggs

A firefighter grabs the crocodile by its tail while it was secured with a rope before the reptile and her eggs were removed from the lagoon and turned to the Federal Agency of Enviromental Protection

A unit with the local fire department arrived at the scene and was able to get the crocodile to crawl towards them before she was trapped and tied with a rope.

The reptile and the eggs were placed under the care of the Federal Agency of Environmental Protection.

The Tabasco Civil Protection department urged residents to restrain from making contact with crocodiles in the area.

'We make a strong call to avoid disturbing them so as not to generate defensive attacks,' the agency said in a statement.

The incident comes just eight months after a Villahermosa homeless man had half of his left arm bitten off by a crocodile while bathing in the Las Ilusiones lagoon.
A British man is to stand trial for raping his 33-year-old daughter while on holiday on the Greek island of Crete.

The man, 62, who cannot be named for legal reason, appeared in court in Heraklion, the capital of the island, today where he pleaded not guilty to the crime.

Wearing a t-shirt and shorts, he was handcuffed throughout the 90-minute hearing.

When the charges of rape, sexual abuse and domestic violence were put to him, he told the judge: I could never rape my own daughter. No one could do such a thing. I am not guilty.

A 62-year-old British man has been arrested on the Greek island of Crete accused of raping his own 33-year-old daughter on an abandoned beach (file image)

He was remanded in custody and under Greek law, his trial has to take place within the next 18 months.

In a dramatic twist, his daughter, who also cannot be named, came to visit him at the Heraklion Court House and was seen hugging him prior to his appearance before a judge and prosecutor.

She has also taken to social media to protest his innocence while slamming Greek police for their handling of the investigation.

The man was arrested on Saturday after his daughter, who he was on holiday with, reported to police that she had been raped two days before in the town of Malia while on a night out.

She admitted being drunk and said she could not remember anything about her attacker, save that he was wearing all-white clothes.

Officers who reviewed CCTV footage said the pair had been drinking together in a bar when the father made obscene gestures to his daughter, hit her in the face, followed her out onto the street and then raped her on a deserted beach.

Police say her father was wearing all-white clothing in the CCTV images.

The attack happened last week in the resort town of Malia, with the man appearing in court in the island capital of Heraklion today

The victim is said to be in a state of disbelief and has told police that her father could not have carried out the attack.

Medical examiners told local newspaper Neakriti that the woman was 'covered' in injures that were consistent with stones and branches found on the beach.

They added that she also had injuries consistent with rape, and that DNA samples have been collected.

In her complaint to police, the woman claimed that an unknown man stopped and raped her in the early hours of last Thursday morning in a narrow street close to a bar where she had been drinking with her father earlier.

Local media reported that DNA samples have been collected as part of the police investigation and that the man has also been provided with a Government appointed lawyer so that he can defend himself when he faces trial.

An Foreign Office spokesperson said: 'We are providing consular support to a British woman in Greece.'
The Duchess of York has described the disgraced Duke of York as a 'good and kind man' amid speculation he is pushing for a return to royal life.

Sarah Ferguson, 62, made the comments during an interview with Times Radio on Tuesday morning after Prince Andrew's settlement with Virginia Giuffre over sexual assault claims earlier this year.

Asked if she would still choose to marry the duke if she could turn back time, Ferguson gushingly replied: 'Oh, yes - he's a very good and kind man'.

Referring their wedding day, she added: 'And it was an exceptional day, July 23 1986. And it was just extraordinary.

'I think my life is an amazing life. I think I've been very lucky. And I am now just beginning my life again. And I think it's pretty cool to be able to say that.'

Her comments come just days after Andrew was seemingly banished during Garter Day, one of the most colourful events in the royal calendar, after the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge reportedly lobbied the Queen about his participation.

The duke was reportedly left 'crushed and confused' after he was banned from attending the service on Monday, Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie has claimed.

The controversial decision was clearly taken at the 11th hour, because Andrew's name was on the order of service. A source told the Evening Standard: 'The Duke of Cambridge was adamant. If York insisted on taking part publicly, he would withdraw'.

Meanwhile, a palace insider said that the decision to exclude Andrew from the public elements of today's Garter Day was a 'family decision'.

The Duchess of York has described her ex-husband Prince Andrew as a 'good and kind man'

Asked if she would still choose to marry the Duke if she could turn back time, Ferguson gushingly replied: 'Oh, yes - he's a very good and kind man'. Pictured: The pair together at Royal Ascot in 2015

Mrs Ferguson later told the programme: 'And, you know, I will stand very firmly by Andrew a very good and kind man and that's what I believe.

'We are divorced. I think it's very important, Mariella, that people realise that I don't spend long here in England, because I don't wish to. I'd much prefer being out.

'I've built 156 schools in Africa and Poland. And, you know, and I just want to keep going doing my philanthropy work.'

Despite divorcing in 1996, Sarah and Andrew have remained on such good terms that they still share Royal Lodge, the Queen Mothers former home, on the Windsor estate, and regularly visit the Queen together at Windsor Castle.

She previously described them as 'the happiest divorced couple in the world', living under the same roof at Royal Lodge, Windsor, but with their own rooms.

'We support each other like pillars of strengths,' she added.

In 2014, they spent about 13 million on a chalet in the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Verbier with both of their names on the deeds.

This week it emerged a freezing order has been placed on the Duke of Yorks controversial 18million retreat in the Swiss resort of Verbier which is in the process of being sold  reportedly to help him pay off sex abuse accuser Virginia.

The legal move will guarantee that a Swiss couple, with whom the duke struck up a business arrangement, will receive the reported 1.6million owed to them by the Queens second son, sources have said.

The disgraced royal had previously owed Isabelle de Rouvre more than 6million for the chalet until last year. Sources close to the duke insist the freezing order is not holding up the chalets sale.

Despite divorcing in 1996, Sarah and Andrew have remained on such good terms that they still share Royal Lodge, the Queen Mothers former home, on the Windsor estate, and regularly visit the Queen together at Windsor Castle

Her comments come just days after Andrew was seemingly banished during Garter Day, one of the most colourful events in the royal calendar, after the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge reportedly lobbied the Queen about his participation

It came amid reports that Andrew has pushed for a return to royal duties but his older brother Prince Charles and nephew Prince William had asked the Queen not to give in to the disgraced royal. Her Majesty apparently informed him to keep out of sight 'for his own good'.

Andrew, 62, was stripped of his official duties at the start of the year as he prepared to pay a multi-million-pound settlement to Jeffrey Epstein's sex slave Virginia Roberts Giuffre to keep her allegations of sexual abuse, which he denies, out of court.

But last night, the duke  who missed the Jubilee celebrations a week ago because he had Covid  dramatically pulled out of today's Order of the Garter ceremony, despite being a member of the ancient order of chivalry.

Charles and William were said to have blocked Andrew from appearing at today's Order of the Garter ceremony after lobbying the Queen, according to The Sun.

In a last-minute U-turn, the prince backed out of attending public aspects of the annual ceremony at Windsor. He will still attend a private lunch with the Queen and other members of the order.

Buckingham Palace had insisted that Andrew would attend the ceremony, because the honour was given to him in a personal capacity by the Queen.

But behind the scenes there was deep concern about the spectacle of the shamed prince walking in his robes in public. There were also fears he could be booed. The Queen is reported to have asked him to stay out of public sight and only attend private elements of today's event. It also appears that his wish to represent her at Royal Ascot has been binned.

Despite this, he remains ninth in line to the throne - and a Counsellor of State - meaning he will stand in for the Queen if she is incapacitated and Charles and William are abroad.

Prince Andrew lives in the grounds of Windsor Castle and is said to have daily contact with his mother.

Weeks after she stripped him of his titles, the Queen asked him to accompany her to Prince Philip's memorial service at Westminster Abbey in March, where he walked his mother down the aisle in a highly symbolic moment.

But palace aides - as well as his relatives - are said to have been clear that the strength of public feeling against over his links to Epstein, must preclude him from taking part in frontline royal duties.

Despite his non-appearance today, the duke believes he should be included in other royal and state events, The Daily Telegraph reported.

'The colonelcy of the Grenadier Guards was his most coveted title and he wants it back,' a source said.

'Having remained a Counsellor of State, he also believes he should be included at royal and state events. Most importantly for him is his status as an HRH and 'Prince of the Blood' and he feels that should be reinstated and his position recognised and respected.'

Prince Andrew, 61, is privately preparing to hand over 'personal documents' in an intrusive process that could see relatives, Royal aides and even ex-wife Sarah Ferguson dragged into his legal proceedings. Pictured together in 2019

The Palace and Andrew's spokesman last night declined to comment on the claims. But one royal insider suggested that, whether he had asked or not, there should be no expectation of being welcomed back.

The insider said the duke could 'lobby all he wanted, if indeed he has, but whether he would ever get anything back is an entirely different matter'.

An aide said the statement from January in which he was stripped of his roles 'with the Queen's approval and agreement', still 'speaks for itself'.

Prince Charles is understood to be prominent among those who feel he must be kept at arm's length to avoid damaging the entire institution of the British monarchy.

Andrew became Colonel of the Grenadier Guards five years ago after his father, Prince Philip, stepped back from public life  and is said to have particularly enjoyed the role.

It is claimed he wanted to wear the formal uniform of the rank at the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral last year, prompting a decision that all royal men would wear civilian morning coats to avoid any embarrassment.

A royal source said at the weekend that the 'Andrew problem' needed fixing. Another source told The Mail on Sunday: 'Clearly at some point soon, thought will have to be given as to how to support the duke as, [away] from the public gaze, he seeks slowly to rebuild his life in a different direction.'

There was the suggestion that one option could see the duke spending more time in Scotland but a full-time move there is thought to be unlikely.

Royal biographer Angela Levin said: 'Andrew should be ashamed of himself.

'His demand to return to duty was outrageous. It clearly showed he was not concerned about what happened with his court case.

'He was not found guilty - but, my goodness, there is a massive amount of grubbiness surrounding him.'
A Lotte Mart worker hands over a customer's online order to a delivery driver in a neighborhood in Seoul, Feb. 18, 2021. Courtesy of Lotte ON



By Kim Jae-heun



Lotte Shopping has decided to reduce the number of delivery vehicles operated by its online shopping mall Lotte On by 20 percent as part of efforts to improve its profitability, company officials said, Tuesday. Lotte Group is a traditional retail giant here, but its e-commerce sector has failed to show substantial results in the past two years since its launch in May 2020.



Lotte On's sales in the first quarter of this year stood at 26 billion won ($20.15 million), down 4.1 percent from a year earlier. Its operating loss grew by 57 percent  increasing from 29 billion won to 45 billion won  in the same period.



The limited variety of products sold on Lotte On's platform is attributed as the main reason for the company's poor earnings.



Lotte Shopping had originally planned to combine all seven of its retail subsidiaries including Lotte Department Store, Lotte Super and Lotte Homeshopping and sell their products through Lotte On. However, only three of its affiliates have agreed and the other four have decided to sell their products on their own separate online shopping mall portals.



The paid-membership program for Lotte On also failed to attract new customers. Lotte Shopping tried to entice its existing members from offline to online by combining them, but this plan did not work out the way the company expected.



After two years of sluggish performance, Lotte On decided last month to reduce the number of delivery vehicles it operates from 730 to 559.



"Due to the decrease in volume of online orders after the country's reopening from two years of strict quarantine measures, we have decided to remove one to two delivery vehicles per store in the country to improve company profits," a Lotte On official said.



The online shopping mall portal also stopped its overnight delivery service in April to reduce the accumulating losses. Lotte On believes that it has no chance of surviving in the severe competition of the delivery market, specifically against strong rivals like Coupang, Naver and SSG.com


A vegan veterinary nurse and self-styled 'animal liberation activist' who was sacked after she was found keeping a turkey in her flat has lost an unfair dismal case against her former employer.

Shakira Free Miles had taken the 'unwell' bird to a veterinary hospital two days after Christmas Day and had then kept it in her university-provided flat, an employment tribunal was told.

But the turkey was discovered by officers who raided the property while investigating her potential involvement in campaign group the Animal Liberation Front.

At the time, Ms Free Miles was an award winning veterinary nurse working for the London-based Royal Veterinary College (RVC).

Bosses at the prestigious veterinary university were alerted to her arrest and subsequently launched an investigation.

They found social media posts where Ms Free Miles was seen holding a piglet in Barcelona under the heading 'Meat the Victims - One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws'.

They also found she had treated a rabbit that had been taken during a raid on a farm and featured in a Channel 4 documentary called 'How to steal pigs and influence people', the panel was told.

Ms Free Miles, whose views were found to be 'on the more militant end' of the animal rights movement, was then sacked for gross misconduct after the RVC found that there was sufficient evidence in the social media posts of her association with illegal activities carried out by extreme animal rights groups, the tribunal was told.

The university also found she had been in breach of its 'no pet policy' by keeping Dorothy in her flat.

After her dismissal Ms Free Miles attempted to sue her former employers, claiming she had been discriminated against for her ethical veganism beliefs and that she had been unfairly dismissed.

But the panel found that her view that an individual has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws, allowing for actions including trespassing and removing animals in a bid to reduce the suffering of animals, was not a philosophical belief.

'Militant' Shakira Free Miles, a self-styled 'liberation activist' from London, had rescued the 'unwell' bird and had taken it to a veterinary hospital two days after Christmas Day, an employment tribunal was told. Pictured: Shakira Free Miles

At the time, Ms Free Miles (pictured centre winning an award) was an award winning veterinary nurse working for the London-based Royal Veterinary College (RVC), who were alerted to her arrest and subsequently launched an investigation

Ms Free Miles, who joined RVC in 2015, was based at its Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital in Camden, London.

In 2016, she was named Veterinary Nurse of the Year out of 400 nominations at the Ceva Awards for Animal Welfare.

At the time of the incident in 2019, she lived in a flat owned by the university, paying 340 a month in rent.

The tribunal was told Ms Free Miles, who made her ethical veganism beliefs clear at the start of her employment, would not allow meat or animal products to be put in the fridge she used at flat.

She had also been involved in campaigns relating to certain breeds of dogs being identified as dangerous and had featured in media interviews, including being interviewed by Vanessa Feltz on BBC Radio London about the importance of micro-chipping dogs.

Ms Free Miles, who joined RVC in 2015, was based at its Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital in Camden, London. Pictured: Shakira Free Miles with a chick

The hearing, held in central London, was told: 'She believes animals' lives have innate value and that humans should not eat, wear, use for sport, experiment on or profit from animals and that humans have a moral obligation to take positive action to prevent or reduce the suffering of animals.

'She said in evidence that that included trespass on private property to expose the suffering of animals and the removal of suffering animals.

'She said she supported disobeying unjust laws if it was done to expose the suffering of animals.'

Despite Ms Free Miles being 'well aware of' the no pet policy, in February 2019 the turkey was found in her flat during a raid when police were investigating a 'number of burglaries' and thefts suspected to have been conducted by Animal Liberation Front.

Ms Free Miles was arrested and Dorothy, the 'unwell' turkey, which had ulcerated infections and was unable to stand, was collected by the RSPCA.

After she was released without charge but under investigation, Ms Free Miles was suspended from work.

The tribunal was told a veterinary surgeon had examined Dorothy in December 2018, with Ms Free Miles saying she had rescued it and it was under her temporary care.

The panel was told: 'She knew that she was not allowed to have animals in her flat but had felt she had to do something as otherwise the turkey would have died.'

Her Instagram and Twitter accounts revealed Ms Free Miles' opinions were 'on the more militant' end of the animal rights movement, with her attending farm incursions in the UK and abroad with the group Meat the Victims, the panel heard.

When interviewed, Ms Free Miles said she was not a member of any animal liberation or pressure groups, arguing there was a distinction between protests and illegal activities.

The panel heard Ms Free Miles had been charged with criminal offences of conspiracy in connection with animal rights activities in Suffolk and was facing a Crown Court trial. It was also discovered that on her globalanimnalnetwork.org profile she described herself as an expert in fields where she was not and called herself a 'veterinarian', suggesting she was a surgeon, the tribunal heard

In June 2020, Ms Free Miles (pictured) was sacked for misconduct for breaching the no pets policy by keeping the turkey and for gross misconduct for posting pictures of people's pets on social media without permission and for her involvement in Meat the Victims which 'openly endorsed breaking the law'

But the university was then told Ms Free Miles had been linked to animal stealing, with the Suffolk Counter Terrorism Policing Unit believing she had treated stolen pigs, the tribunal was told.

The panel heard Ms Free Miles had told boss that she had been charged with criminal offences of conspiracy in connection with animal rights activities in Suffolk and was facing a Crown Court trial.

It was also discovered that on her globalanimnalnetwork.org profile she described herself as an expert in fields where she was not and called herself a 'veterinarian', suggesting she was a surgeon, the tribunal heard.

In June 2020, she was sacked for misconduct for breaching the no pets policy by keeping the turkey and for gross misconduct for posting pictures of people's pets on social media without permission and for her involvement in Meat the Victims which 'openly endorsed breaking the law'.

She then went to the employment tribunal claiming unfair dismissal, direct and indirect philosophical belief discrimination and breach of contract.

Dismissing her claims, Employment Judge Harjit Grewal concluded: '[Her] belief that she was morally obliged to take positive action to prevent or reduce the suffering of animals, which included trespass and removal of animals and its manifestation was not a philosophical belief.'
A paranoid schizophrenic who deliberately drowned her four-year-old son in the bath as he pleaded: 'Mummy don't kill me', has been sent to a secure mental hospital after being found to have carried out the act of murder.

Nigerian Oluwakemi Badare, 37, held her struggling son Kingswealth under the water for more than a minute at their home in Invermore Place, Plumstead, southeast London, on December 27 2020.

Police found the medication she was supposed to be taking in a rubbish bin on the landing, near to where her son's naked body was discovered already in a state of rigor mortis and with his scalp covered in defensive scratches.

The Old Bailey heard how she had been treated for mental illness for years and in 2017 confessed to medical staff she had attempted to drown her son, then a baby - just months before he was returned to her care in March 2018.

Badare had denied murder and manslaughter by gross negligence, claiming she had simply forgotten that her son was in the bath.

However she was not deemed fit enough to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, meaning jurors were asked to instead consider whether she carried out the acts alleged - in other words deciding whether she drowned Kingswealth deliberately or he died by accident.

After just nine hours deliberation, the jury decided the mother had deliberately killed her son and she will now be treated in a secure mental hospital ahead of sentencing.

Paranoid schizophrenic Oluwakemi Badare (pictured), 37, called emergency services to her home in Plumstead, on December 27, 2020, after drowning her four-year-old son in the bath while he begged for his life

The jury heard that paramedics found four-year-old Kingswealth Badare's (pictured) wet body at the top of the stairs outside the bathroom. His scalp was covered in scratches from being held underwater by his mother.

The Common Serjeant of London, Judge Richard Marks set a date for July 20.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson earlier told the jury that injuries to Kingswealth, including scratches and bruises to the front, sides and back of his scalp, were consistent with deliberate drowning.

'On December 27 2020 at 7:45am the defendant made a 999 emergency call,' Mr Atkinson said.

'The defendant told the emergency operator, who had asked her if the patient was breathing, that he was not and added that she had killed her four-year-old son.

'She added that she "want to do bubble bath for him" and that she had forgotten that she had left him in the bath and that she had filled the bath with cold water.'

Paramedics attended within ten minutes of the call and found Kingswealth's naked body on the landing at the top of the stairs.

Nicholas Goh, incident response officer with London Ambulance Service, said Badare was 'banging her arms on the sofa' when emergency services arrived.

'She became calm and said that they went for a bubble bath last night and that when she put him in the water he screamed as it was cold,' Mr Atkinson said.

She told Mr Goh this happened at midnight.

Badare, who was not deemed fit enough to participate at her trial, had denied murder and manslaughter by gross negligence, claiming she had simply forgotten that her son was in the bath

The prosecutor continued: 'Paramedics noted that Kingswealth's body was wet and there were bubbles on it.

'He was not breathing. His hair was waterlogged and there was water in his ears.

'It was noted that the child's jaw was stiff, his limbs were stiff, his lungs were full.

'It was considered...that there was no point to attempting resuscitation as rigor mortis had already set in.

'Kingswealth was confirmed to be dead.'

Police then arrived and spoke to Badare who was noted to be 'restless', the court heard.

She asked to see her son's body but her request was refused.

Following her arrest she told the officer: 'Yes, I forgot him in the bath.'

Badare collapsed as she was taken downstairs and sobbed: 'I fell asleep.'

The mother had been treated for mental illness since 2012 and began treatment as an in-patient for paranoid schizophrenia in 2017.

'At the time of her treatment in 2017 she was suffering from delusions,' Mr Atkinson said.

'She reported to a nurse during her subsequent in-patient admission to hospital that she had held Kingswealth under water for less than a minute when she believed that she was under surveillance.

'She said that she believed that there were people watching her and would harm her son.'

The court was told that Badare, 37, called emergency services to the address in Invermore Place (pictured) on Sunday shortly before 8am, where the boy was found dead

Badare had been suffering from paranoid schizophrenic episode in 2017 when she previously held her son under water, the Old Bailey (pictured) heard

This was recorded by hospital and child care services, but Kingswealth was returned to his mother's care in March 2018.

By the time of the killing she was not taking her anti-psychotic medication, the court heard.

After she was arrested, Badare told a custody nurse Jacqueline Donohoe that her son had told her: 'Mummy don't kill me', before she drowned him.

Mr Atkinson added: 'The prosecution suggest that it is unlikely to be a coincidence that, when unwell, the defendant should try to drown her son in 2017 and yet in 2020, again when she was unwell, Kingswealth should actually drown by accident rather than through an act by his mother.

'The circumstances in which the body was found and the comments made by the defendant that she had killed her son, and that he had told her 'mummy don't kill me'... underpin the prosecution contention that the defendant did the act of killing her son that is the act that needs to be proved for a charge of murder.

'At the very least, however, the defendant's account that she had left her son in the bath for a number of hours unsupervised and forgot about him allows for the conclusion that the act she was responsible for was manslaughter.

'That failure by her caused his death.'

Originally from Nigeria, Badare came to the UK in 2009, giving birth to Kingswealth in April 2016.

He was described as a 'healthy and active' boy before he died.

The jury found that Badare carried out of the act of murdering her son following a four day trial.
Advertisement

Chicago residents fled to their basements and nearby shelters when a surprise tornado ripped through the Windy City as it experienced 100F weather for the first time in a decade.

About 44,000 have been left without power after a tornado hit during Monday's afternoon rush hour, bringing 80 mph winds and powerful storms throughout the area that knocked the lights out for residents in Chicago, Maywood, Broadview, Westchester, and other neighborhoods, NBC reported.

It forced many to take shelter in their basements, local malls and open businesses on the street to avoid the chaos, all while the storm clouds head eastward, sending thunderstorm warnings to Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

It comes as the Midwest is experiencing a scorching heat dome sending, temperatures soaring to 100F and creating the conditions for powerful storms heading to New York City by Thursday.

A Chicago resident was pictured taking a jog in front of a home where a downed tree destroyed a Riverside home after a tornado ripped through the Windy City during Monday rush hour

The powerful winds knocked down trees throughout the area. Pictured, a tree fell on a car in the Kenwood neighborhood

City employees are seen in front of a wall that was partially broken due to the 80 mph winds

Dozens of trees fell on the city's rail system as city employees worked to clear the tracks on Monday night

The heat dome has expanded up north will settle in the states until Wednesday night

Among the hardest hit areas in Chicago was its Bellwood suburb, where Mayor Andre Harvey said at least 18 families have been displaced and two people were taken to the hospital for minor injuries.

The Brookfield Zoo announced it was opening late on Tuesday, with some areas completely closed off, as it cleans up damage caused by the storm.

'We received significant damage to our grounds due to last night's storm,' Zoo officials tweeted. 'We will be clearing downed trees and pathways and assessing the extensive damage this morning.'

As the storm cells have moved out of Chicago, the city is under an excessive heat warning until 8p.m. Wednesday, with temperatures expected to reach 98 to 100F on Tuesday. To residents, it will feel more like 110F.

Chicago's Department Of Buildings Commissioner Matt Beaudet warned residents to stay inside cool buildings during the major heat and to regularly check up on elderly neighbors and family members, who are among the most vulnerable during extreme heat.

Pictured: the storm cells hovering over Chicago as the tornado was set o barrel down on the Windy City

The tornado came with powerful thunderstorms that are expected to hit the East coast in the coming days

The devastation was seen throughout Chicago and its adjacent neighborhoods, including Riverside (pictured)

The storm darkened Chicago as thunderclouds formed quickly. Pictured, Wrigley Field closed as the storm hits

One Chicago resident took shelter in his bathtub, accompanying his frightened dog

The heat dome lies from Phoenix, Arizona, to the Carolinas and from as south as Texas to as north as Minnesota

Around 140 cities will see record breaking temperatures this week with the heat wave possibly stretching as far north as Michigan. Iowa is also expected to suffer through temperatures around 100F.

In Louisville, Kentucky, temperatures in the upper 90s are expected during the day on Tuesday and only dropping into the 80s by nightfall. Highs in the city will remain around that level until next Saturday when they drop to 85.

Tennesseans are warned to expect temperatures in the 90s that will feel like the 100s thanks to wind from the Gulf of Mexico bringing moisture and creating humidity in the area. Those temperatures will last until Thursday.

Kansas will see temperatures in the middle to upper 90s for the next few days that due to the humidity will feel around 100 to 105F.

A record will be broken in St. Louis too if the hits 101F on Tuesday as expected, the previous record was 97F. The temperature will remain in the triple digits this week.

On the east coast, South Carolina will see temperatures that will feel like between 100F and 105F throughout the week.

As will North Carolina, with Charlotte expected to break its temperature record for June that was set back in 1958 when temperatures hit 97F.

More than 100 million Americans are under heat warnings. Pictured: Zach Ward of South Bend, Indiana, wipes sweat off his face using his shirt while building a fence. He said he is drinking a gallon of water to stay hydrated

In Chicago, parents and kids are cooling off the Crown Fountain children's park in Michigan Avenue, pictured

Emese Kovacs Taylor is pictured playing with her 5-year-old daughter, Aliz, in the park on Tuesday

The heat advisory in Chicago is expected to last until Wednesday night as the city temperatures hit 100F

The NWS issued a heat warning for most of the country east of the Rocky Mountains

Tuesday's forecast places the heat dome across much of the nation, with areas of the Carolinas, Arizona New Mexico, Texas, Illinois, Kansas and Kentucky set to experience 100F or more

Respite for the Carolinas in the heatwave will be mild at best with 90F predicted for next Saturday.

Current models show that the heatwave will start to move back west by the end of next week, although central Texans will get no respite as temperatures will stay close to 100F all week in the area.

According to The Weather Channel, Phoenix will experience another day of 114F temperatures on Thursday. The city hit that record equaling number already on Sunday.

The National Weather Service said that Los Angels County will see 'potentially dangerous' temperatures in the area again by Thursday. Over the weekend, LA County saw temperatures of 100F in some inland areas.

On Thursday, weather in Phoenix could reach 113F, just nine degrees cooler than the hottest temperature recorded in the area - 122Fin 1990, according to AZ Family.

Heat is part of the normal routine of summertime in the desert, but weather forecasters say that doesn't mean people should feel at ease.

Excessive heat causes more deaths in the U.S. than other weather-related disasters, including hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined.

Meteorologists advise people in these affected areas to drink more water than usual during peak hours of the heat, wherever they may be.

Wearing protection, including hats, sunscreen and sunglasses, is also advised. It's not recommended to wear dark clothes as black clothing often transmits heat to the skin, making a person hotter.

Scientists say more frequent and intense heat waves are likely in the future because of climate change and a deepening drought.

In Texas, residents are tubing in New Braunfels as they try to beat the scorching heat

The Tuesday outing comes as the Lone Star state experiences 96F to 102F temperatures

One Texas man is pictured ditching a tube and opting to dive into the cool river instead in New Braunfels
Putin likely still wants to capture much if not all of Ukraine but has been forced to narrow his tactical objectives in war, a senior Pentagon official has said today.

The judgement comes as Russian forces inexorably push Ukrainian positions back in the grinding war in the Donbas, although the progress is a far cry from Putin's original grand war aims to capture Kyiv and decapitate the country in four days.

'I still think he has designs on a significant portion of Ukraine, if not the whole country,' Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said, speaking at an event hosted by the Center for New American Security.

'That said, I do not think he can achieve those objectives.

'They may make tactical gains here and there. The Ukrainians are holding up. I do not think the Russians have the capacity to achieve those grandiose objectives.'

Currently the aims are restricted to capturing the rest of the Donbas and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, which were already partially under pro-Moscow separatist control.

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl believes Russian President Vladimir Putin likely still wants to capture much if not all of Ukraine despite the setbacks his army has suffered

The city of Severdonetsk in eastern Ukraine has not yet been blocked off by Russian troops, but they control about 80 per cent of the area and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it

Ukraine has asked its Western allies to supply an additional 1,000 artillery guns in order to put them on a level footing with Russian forces in the Donbas (pictured, a US M777 howitzer)

Destroyed houses after strike in the town of Pryvillya at the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas. Russian forces are inexorably pushing Ukrainian positions back in the grinding war in the Donbas

Smoke and dirt rise from the city of Severodonetsk as Ukrainian forces are pushed to the outskirts of the city

Kahl also said the United States has not yet made a final decision on how to respond to any future North Korean nuclear test, a day after America's top diplomat warned of adjustments to U.S. military posture.

Asked to detail potential short- and longer-term military adjustments, Kahl said: 'No, because I think the final decisions have not been made.'

'Any adjustments we may make in our posture will - in the first instance - be done in consultation and close consultation with (South Korea) and with Japan,' Kahl said, adding he didn't want to 'outpace' conversations.

But North Korea is just one other ball the Pentagon is juggling, with the situation in Ukraine seen as far more urgent.

In response to Ukraine setbacks on the battlefield, Kyiv has written out an eyewatering list of heavy weapons they demand from their Western allies to help them fend off the Russian invaders.

North Korea provided this photo of what they claim is a test launch of a hypersonic missile in North Korea last January in a move that signals renewed confrontation with the United States

The United States has not yet made a final decision on how to respond to any future North Korean nuclear test (Pictured: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un)

A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, after North Korea hinted it could resume nuclear and long-range weapons tests, as it prepared for 'long-term confrontation' with the United States,

The South Korean Defense Ministry, U.S. and South Korea fighter jets fly over the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea's missile tests

Top presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said Monday that Kyiv needs 1,000 howitzers, 300 rocket artillery systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles and 1,000 drones 'to end the war'.

The eye-watering shopping list amounts to an army's-worth of Western equipment and goes well beyond both what has been supplied so far and what Ukraine itself has been requesting.

Put in context, 500 new tanks would be more than the UK and Germany have in active service combined, while 1,000 howitzers and 300 rocket launchers is more than the US currently has in active service.

The US has supplied a little over 100 howitzers to Ukraine so far while the US and UK combined are thought to have sent seven rocket systems.

Podolyak published the list amid heavy fighting in Ukraine's east - where Russia has this week issued a 'surrender or die' order to troops defending a key Donbas city - and ahead of a Wednesday meeting in Brussels to discuss weapons supplies.

The city of Severdonetsk in eastern Ukraine has not yet been blocked off by Russian troops, but they control about 80 per cent of the area and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it, an official said.

'There is still an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents,' Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai told the Associated Press.

He acknowledged that Ukrainian forces have been pushed out to the industrial outskirts of the city because of 'the scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using'.

About 12,000 people remain in Severdonetsk, a city with a pre-war population of 100,000. More than 500 civilians are sheltering in the Azot chemical plant, which is being relentlessly pounded by the Russians, according to Mr Haidai.

Ukraine also wants another 500 tanks which it says are needed to 'win' against Russia (pictured, the German Leopard 2 tank which Spain was considering sending to Kyiv)

Zelensky's adviser said 300 multiple-launch rocket systems are also required, with the US and UK having sent just seven so far (pictured, M270 MLRS)

Ukrainian servicemen ride American 155 mm turreted self-propelled howitzers M109, one of about 100 that the US has supplied

A total of 70 civilians have been evacuated from the Luhansk region over the past 24 fours, the governor said.

Two people were killed and another wounded in the Luhansk region, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Russian Colonel-General Mkhail Mizintsev said a humanitarian corridor will be opened on Wednesday to evacuate civilians from the besieged Azot plant, and take them to the town of Svatovo, 35 miles to the north in territory under the control of Russian and separatist forces.

He said the plan was made after Ukraine called for an evacuation corridor leading to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Col-Gen Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Management Center, is accused by Ukraine of human rights violations while commanding troops during the long siege of Mariupol, Ukraine's key port on the Sea of Azov that has been taken over by the Russians.

Russian forces in the last few weeks have pressed hard to capture Ukraine's eastern industrial Donbas area, which borders Russia and is made up of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

'The situation is difficult,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnky said in a news conference with Danish media. 'Our task is to fight back.'

Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the aid organizations supplying food to people in the Donbas, said fighting in the past few weeks has made regular food distributions impossible.

Now, he said, the remaining civilians in the city 'are almost entirely cut off from aid supplies after the destruction of the last bridge'.

Ukrainian authorities said on Tuesday that they had received the bodies of 64 defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, in another body swap with Russia.

The statement by the Ministry for Reintegration of Occupied Territories said the exchange took place in the Zaporizhzhia region, but did not clarify how many bodies were returned to Russia.

It was one of several body swaps the warring sides have conducted. Earlier this month Moscow and Kyiv exchanged 160 bodies each.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said its air defense system shot down two Russian cruise missiles targeting the Odesa region.

Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odesa regional military administration, thanked the country's air defense forces for striking down 'two enemy' cruise missiles.

There was no independent confirmation and it was not clear if any missiles hit their targets.

Reports of overnight shelling came from other Ukrainian regions as well, with five people were wounded in the Kharkiv region.
An inquest into the first confirmed death of a British soldier in the Ukraine conflict has found the volunteer was killed in a mortar attack.

Scott Sibley, aged 36 years, was officially declared dead on April 22, little more than a month after he had entered the conflict.

His position in southern Ukraine was shelled by Russian artillery, the Oxfordshire coroner heard.

The inquest heard that Mr Sibley's cause of death was listed as penetrative fragment injuries to his chest and abdomen, though the coroner added he had not received the full post-mortem examination.

Opening the inquest today at Oxford Coroner's Court, senior coroner Darren Salter said: 'Often it is the case that the information might not be 100 per cent accurate, as there has not been the time to collect all of the evidence.

Mr Salter continued: 'Mr Sibley was identified by his dental records on May 25 at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. The details of this 36-year-old was that he was a former petroleum operator for the British Army. He joined the Ukraine army and was deployed to the Foreign Nationals.

'Mr Sibley volunteered for a task and spent three days in a foxhole. On the third day a new team arrived to replace his position but the foxhole came under attack. Shelling started and a shell landed beside the foxhole.

'Mr Sibley then moved to the next foxhole when a mortar struck him, causing him fatal injuries.'

Scott Sibley, aged 36 years, was officially declared dead in April 22 this year, little more than a month after he had entered the conflict, after being hit by a Russian mortar strike in southern Ukraine

Scott Sibley is pictured in an Oct 2018 BBC report with his daughter Charlotte-Rose who was undergoing chemotherapy

Mr Sibley, 36, from north-east Lincolnshire, previously served in Afghanistan as a member of a specialist logistics unit attached to the Royal Marines

The coroner explained that Mr Sibley's body was returned to the UK following his death in Ukraine as a result of the mortar strike.

His identity was confirmed by dental records and was supported by a distinct tattoo.

An official statement from the coroner's officer said Mr Sibley was a divorcee from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, who travelled to Ukraine on March 13. His death was verified by field doctor R.V. Gerasimov.

The coroner concluded the opening inquest this afternoon and adjourned the full hearing until November 15.

The inquest into Mr Sibley's death comes just days after another Brit was killed fighting in Ukraine on Friday.

Jordan Gatley, who left the British Army in March, was reportedly killed in the eastern city of Severodonetsk where the fiercest fighting of the war so far is taking place.

His father Dean Gatley, from Cheshire, said the 'hero' former soldier travelled to Ukraine after Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine of February 24.

In an emotional tribute confirming the news, Dean wrote on Facebook: 'I didn't think that I'd ever use social media in this way but Sally, Adam and I would like to share some family news with all our friends, but there are just too many people to contact.

'Yesterday (10/06/22) we received the devastating news that our son, Jordan, has been shot and killed in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine,' he wrote, while posting pictures of Jordan as a child and in his military uniform.

Explaining the circumstances, Dean continued: 'Jordan left the British Army in March this year to continue his career as a soldier in other areas. The war against Europe had begun so, after careful consideration, he went to the Ukraine to help.

Jordan Gatley (left and right), who left the British Army in March, was reportedly killed in the eastern city of Severodonetsk where the fiercest fighting of the war so far is taking place. Dean Gatley (pictured right with Jordan), from Cheshire, said the former soldier travelled to Ukraine after Vladimir Putin ordered his soldiers into Ukraine of February 24

The gutted remains of cars lie along a road during heavy fighting at the front line in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Jordan Gatley was killed fighting in Ukraine's eastern city of Severodonetsk, his family said. The battle for the city has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the war so far. Pictured: Smoke and dirt rise from shelling in the city of Severodonetsk during fight between Ukrainian and Russian troops in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 7, 2022

'We have had several messages from his team out there telling us of his wealth of knowledge, his skills as a soldier and his love of his job. His team say they all loved him, as did we, and he made a massive difference to many people's lives, not only soldiering, but also by training the Ukrainian forces,' he said.

Dean wrote that his son and his unit in Ukraine were 'so proud' of what they were doing in the embattled country, and that the missions they were undertaking were 'dangerous, but necessary.'

'He loved his job and we are so proud of him. He truly was a hero and will forever be in our hearts,' he said.

In a statement to MailOnline, the Foreign Office said it was 'supporting the family of a British man who has died in Ukraine.'
Taiwan has warned that its domestically produced Yun Feng supersonic cruise missile can reach Beijing.

You Si Kun, president of the Legislative Assembly, threatened China in response to claims the Taiwan Strait is not international waters.

In his speech on Taiwan Overseas Network, You told Xi Jinping to think twice before invading Taiwan, saying they will not shy away from using their secretive missile.

Taiwan has warned that its domestically produced Yun Feng supersonic cruise missile (pictured) can reach Beijing

A carrier-based J-15 fighter jet takes off from the Chinese Navy's Liaoning aircraft-carrier during open-sea combat training

He also outlined plans to develop a more self-sufficient military to prepare for a potential conflict with their superpower neighbour.

You compared Taiwan to Ukraine in its defiant will to defend its sovereignty, and insisted they should prepare for what could be an inevitable invasion.

The Yun Feng missile is believed to have begun development after the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis when missile tests were carried out by the People's Republic of China.

It had been believed that the missiles originally had a range of 600 miles but the updated version has an estimated range of 1,200 miles, putting Beijing in its sights.

Beijing is located around 1,150 miles from Taiwan.

Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by Beijing, which views the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory to be re-taken one day

Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by Beijing, which views the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory to be re-taken one day, by force if necessary.

The narrow waterway that separates Taiwan and mainland China is a flashpoint, with Beijing often reacting angrily to passages by foreign warships.

The United States and other countries view the Strait as international waters open to all.

In recent years Western warships have sailed through the strait, drawing Beijing's anger.

But on Monday, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, said 'China has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait'.

'It is a false claim when certain countries call the Taiwan Strait 'international waters' in order to find a pretext for manipulating issues related to Taiwan and threatening China's sovereignty and security,' he added.

It had been believed that the missiles originally had a range of 600 miles but the updated version has an estimated range of 1,200 miles, putting Beijing in its sights

Taipei on Tuesday hit back, criticising Beijing's remarks as 'wrong' and 'unacceptable'.

'China... blatantly violates Taiwan's sovereignty and damages international maritime order to endanger regional peace and stability,' the ruling Democratic Progressive Party said in a statement.

Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said such comments were a 'fallacy'.

'The Taiwan Strait is international waters, and the waters outside our territorial waters are subject to the 'freedom of the high seas' principle of international law,' she told reporters.

Taiwan has always respected the actions of foreign ships in the Taiwan Strait that comply with international law, including innocent passage, Ou said.

'We understand and support the U.S. freedom of navigation missions' contribution to promoting regional peace and stability.'

The foreign ministry condemned Beijing for 'deliberately distorting international rules to belittle the Taiwan Strait as its own Exclusive Economic Zone'.

'China's attempt to annex Taiwan is obvious,' it said in a statement, adding that Taipei supports 'freedom of navigation' passages by US ships.

US warships periodically sail through the Taiwan Strait, while British, Canadian, French and Australian warships have all made passages in recent years.

In March, China's Shandong aircraft carrier and a US destroyer transited through the strait, shortly before Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a warning to Joe Biden that ties could suffer if there was a 'mishandling' of Taiwan's status.
An anti-abortion activist, who describes himself as the 'pro-life Spider-Man', has been arrested for climbing the 844-foot tall Devon Tower in Oklahoma as part of an ongoing anti-abortion protest.

As Maison Des Champs, 22, reached the top of the 50-story building - the tallest in Oklahoma - on Tuesday without safety gear, he was promptly arrested.

The college student, who calls himself the 'pro-life Spider-Man' is no stranger to climbing buildings and was arrested in May for climbing San Francisco's Salesforce Tower. Two days later, he climbed the New York Times building and a complaint was laid with police, although he was not arrested.

On his website, Des Champs describes himself as an experienced rock climber, and says he's been motivated to climb to raise funds for the anti-abortion movement after a draft leaked of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn of Roe vs. Wade. The court has not publicly released a decision.

When Des Champs reached the top of the Devon Tower on Tuesday, he was taken into custody. It's unclear what charges he faces.

Des Champs, seen here climbing the Salesforce Tower in May, is no stranger to climbing buildings. He was arrested Tuesday for his most recent climb - Devon Tower.

Des Champs posted video to his Instagram story Tuesday morning as he climbed Devon Tower

As Des Champs reached the top of the 50-story building - the tallest in Oklahoma - on Tuesday without safety gear, he was promptly arrested

When Des Champs reached the top of the Devon Tower in his most recent protest climb on Tuesday, he was taken into custody. There is no word on what charges he may be facing

The Devon Tower has 50 floors and is the tallest building in Oklahoma

Des Champs wrote on his website that he wanted to climb the towers to 'put a doctor behind bars,' as well as raise at least $1 million for charities advocating for women who are pro-life.

He said the leaked draft of Justice Samuel Alito's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade gave him extra motivation.

Emergency works wait outside the building as the climber continues to the top

Police watch from below as Des Champs makes his way to the top. He was taken into custody

'These doctors are literally killing these babies on the table and leaving them out to die,' he said. 'We're not trying to yell at women who want to have an abortion, we don't want to blame themwe just want to let them know there are other options.'

It's unclear how much Des Champs was able to raise through the stunt, if anything.

'I am a rock climber that has recently started climbing Skyscrapers to end abortion,' his website - www.prolifespiderman.com - says.

Des Champs was arrested on May 3 when he climbed San Francisco's Salesforce Tower, California's tallest skyscraper at 61 stories and 1,070 feet.

He was charged with misdemeanor trespassing and resisting a police investigation, for not following orders to stop climbing. He was cited and released, SFP said.

Des Champs also climbed up the entirety of the Salesforce tower without a harness in response to the Supreme Court's decision to overrule Roe vs Wade in early May

Des Champs, an anti-abortion activist, describes himself as the 'pro-life Spider-Man'

Office workers from inside the tower filmed Des Champs climbing up their floor levels

DesChamps filmed himself on Instagram climbing up all 61 stories of the Salesforce Tower in May, in which he says in one video: 'Everything's going good, I just wish I had more water'

Completed in 2018, the Salesforce Tower is the tallest building in San Francisco and the second tallest in California behind the 1,100 feet Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles. The building also serves as the headquarters to cloud-based software company, Salesforce.

Throughout his journey to the top of the Salesforce Tower, Des Champs filmed himself on Instagram.

At one point, he was seen on his story (@maison.deschamps) saying: 'Everything's going good, I just wish I had more water' and raising awareness for anti-abortion groups. He also called out Dr. Cesare Santangelo, an obstetrician-gynecologist in D.C. in another video.

'I'm up here climbing right now to protest Dr. Santangelo in Washington D.C.,' he says from high up the tower. 'There's been no investigation so far. The guy is out there killing babies. I think that's pretty bad. I'd like to help out and share this around or go to prolifespiderman.com and you can donate and help us raise some money for charities that support women in prolife. Thank you.'

DesChamps, 22, had someone with him to record video as he climbed the 721-foot building on 8th Avenue and West 40th on May 5

Two days later, on May 5, he climbed the 52-story New York Times building in Manhattan in the early hours of the morning.

On that climb, Des Champs hung a sign on the building's sixth and seventh floors that read 'ABORTION KILLS MORE THAN 911 EVERY WEEK!'

The Times building has been an attractive nuisance for climbers because the ceramic rods on the building are spaced closely together.

Climbers protesting global warming, Al Qaeda and other causes have scaled the building in the past, leading to some of the rods being removed. However, people have still managed to climb the building in recent years.

Des Champs, who started rock climbing at the age of 16, is a finance major at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It is unclear why he is in the San Francisco area, but the student claims that he climbed the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2021 to protest COVID-19 mandates.
The suspect, 26-year-old Nicholas Roske, was arrested outside Kavanaugh's home in Maryland Wednesday, just before 2am

The man charged with the attempted murder of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was convinced to abandon the plot by his sister, police have revealed.

The suspect, 26-year-old Nicholas Roske, was arrested outside Kavanaugh's home in Maryland Wednesday, just before 2am.

Just an hour before, the suspect flew into Washington, DC, from his native California, taking a taxi directly to the conservative jurist's home.

He soon backed out of the plan, however, putting a call into cops at roughly 1:40 am that saw him confess his desire to kill the judge - as well as himself - and ask for 'psychiatric help.'

Officers promptly arrested Roske outside the residence, finding him with a disturbing arsenal of weapons including a handgun, tactical gear, a knife, and zip ties.

He told cops he purchased the equipment 'for the purpose of breaking into the justice's residence and killing the justice as well as himself,' court documents show.

Police had been puzzled as to why the suspect, who lives in Los Angeles' Simi valley, traveled such a distance to carry out the planned hit only to back out at the last minute.

However, cops now reveal that Roske, who reportedly targeted Kavanaugh due to outrage over the court's rumored plans to overturn Roe v. Wade, was persuaded to nix the plot by his sister, whom he texted after he saw two deputy U.S. marshals guarding the house.

The suspect planned to murder of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh due to outrage over rumored plans to overturn Roe v. Wade, but was convinced to abandon the plot by his sister

'The suspect arrived by taxi and observed the U.S. marshals, and he turned around to contemplate his next move,' Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones told The Washington Post Monday.

The chief further revealed that upon witnessing the marshals, a spooked Roske walked a block away from Kavanaugh's home, and reportedly deliberated on whether to execute his plot for half an hour, texting his sibling for guidance.

After 30 minutes of back-and-forth, the woman, who was not named by police, convinced Roske to call off the hit.

'This is when he texted his sister and told her of his intentions, and she convinced him to call 911, which he did,' Jones said.

At that point, Jones said, Roske called 911 twice - once at 1:38am and again at 1:39am - to turn himself into authorities, in what appeared to be a cry for help from the now incarcerated suspect.

'I need psychiatric help,' he told them, admitting he'd traveled to hurt 'Brett Kavanaugh  the Supreme Court justice.'

Roske told the 911 operator that as well as his intention to assassinate the sitting Supreme Court justice, he was having suicidal and homicidal thoughts, newly released 911 call records obtained by the Washington Examiner detail.

'I've been having them for a long time,' Roske said. 'I'm from California. I came over here to act on them.'

Roske explained how he intended to hurt someone and himself.

Roske, pictured, told the 911 operator that as well as an intention to assassinate the sitting Supreme Court justice, he was having suicidal and homicidal thoughts

In 911 calls, Roske (left and right) allegedly told operators that he was upset about the leak of a recent Supreme Court draft decision regarding the right to abortion as well as the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. He is pictured left and right in older photos

'I brought a firearm with me, but it's unloaded and locked in the case... It's in a suitcase. It's a black suitcase... I'm standing near it, but the suitcase is zip-tied shut. I just came from the airport.'

Roske placed two calls to 911 at first hanging up and promising to call back with his location.

'I'm standing now, but I can sit, whatever. I want to be fully compliant. So whatever they want me to do, I'll do.' Roske told the 911 operator.

FBI agents are seen inside Roske's Simi Valley, California, home last Wednesday night after he was arrested for the alleged assassination plot

Roske had travelled with tools to facilitate a burglary, including a gun and even a special pair of hiking boots with soles that allowed for quieter movement inside a house.

When police conducted a search of Roske's locked bag and suitcase, they found two magazines and ammunition together with a newly bought pistol, a black tactical chest rig, a tactical knife, and pepper spray.

Roske also had a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crow bar, and hiking boots together with zip ties and duct tape.

During a confession to the 911 operator, he explained how he had left his home in California while his parents were on vacation in Hawaii and stashed all of his tools and weapons into his luggage.

After being asked why he planned to hurt himself and Kavanaugh, he said: 'I didn't think I could get away with it.'

Roske later told investigators he angry about the possibility of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in the coming months.

He also said the was unhappy at a potential role Kavanaugh might play during a loosening of gun laws in a separate high-profile case that has yet to come before the court.

Protesters returned to Kavanaugh's Maryland home just hours after Roske was arrested while carrying a disturbing arsenal of weapons and equipment

A woman holding a 'liar' sign with Kavanaugh's face on it and another saying 'mind your own uterus' walk outside his home on Wednesday night

Roske is now in custody and has been slapped with federal charges of 'attempted murder of a Supreme Court Justice.'

He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted, as well as up to a $50,000 fine.

The arrest came as the court prepares to release potentially landmark judgements on politically charged cases on gun rights and abortion by the end of June.

A draft opinion in the abortion case that was leaked at the beginning of May, written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, suggested that the court was poised to overturn the five-decade-old Roe v Wade ruling that said women had a constitutional right to obtain abortions.

If Alito's draft opinion goes through with support from a majority of the justices, it will likely allow many states to immediately implement full or near-full bans on the procedure.

Kavanaugh and his wife are the parents of two young daughters. They all reside in the home that was apparently targeted by the suspect

The prospect has sparked anger and dismay among advocates of abortion rights, and led to protests at the homes of Kavanaugh, Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts.

After the leak and the protests, security was increased for the justices and barriers were raised around the court itself to prevent protestors from nearing the building.

Attorney General Merrick Garland referred to the threat Roske posed during a press conference on Wednesday.

'It's obviously behavior that we will not tolerate. Threats of violence and actual violence against the justices, of course, strike at the heart of our democracy. And we will do everything we can to prevent them and to hold people who do them accountable,' Garland said.

Police stand guard as abortion rights activists protest near the house of US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in Chevy Chase, Maryland in September 2021

Kavanaugh is one of six justices in the court's conservative wing, against three progressives, but he is not viewed as being as hardline as Alito or some of the others on the bench.

A Catholic native of Washington, his nomination in 2018 to the high court drew particularly heated debates over his views toward women and abortion rights.

His confirmation gave conservatives a 5-4 majority on the court, which grew further when Catholic, stridently anti-abortion Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined in October 2020.

The leak of the Alito draft opinion sparked speculation that someone was hoping to push the court in one direction or another in its final ruling on the abortion case.

Some analysts believe that Roberts and Kavanaugh could occupy a moderating position on the final judgement to partially sustain the abortion protections in the original 1973 Roe v Wade decision.
Advertisement

Boris Johnson paid tribute to the 'incredible daring and bravery' shown by British Army servicemen and women 40 years after the end of the Falklands War.

The prime minister attended a service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire today alongside veterans, bereaved family members and senior members of UK defence staff.

Argentina surrendered at 9pm local time on June 14, 1982 after 74 days of fighting.

Mr Johnson, who laid a wreath at the service, said: 'The first thing is remember what an incredible thing it was that they achieved back in 1982.

Boris Johnson (pictured alongside senior UK defence staff and Falklands veterans) laid a wreath at the service earlier today

The Prime Minister remembered the 'incredible' achievement of Britain's 26,000 servicemen and women sent to the islands

Mr Johnson opened his remarks: 'The first thing I remember is what an incredible thing it was that they achieved back in 1982'

A tearful veteran appears to be moved by remarks made at the Falklands' 40th anniversary memorial service in Staffordshire

This iconic war photograph taken by Pete Holdgate shows valiant Royal Marines march towards Port Stanley during the war

'To make an opposed landing, to take back territory in the way that they did.

'The incredible daring and bravery of those young men and women.

'And we salute that - we remember that today.'

Mr Johnson, who spoke at the service as military helicopters carried out a fly-past, said the 'greatest tribute' to those who had laid down their lives was that the Falklands Islands had since 'thrived in peace and freedom'.

The undeclared war claimed the lives of 255 British forces personnel, 649 Argentines and three Falklands islanders. The total dead amounted to 907.

The attack came on April 2, as Argentinian forces targeted the islands located 8,000 miles from the UK mainland, deep in the South Atlantic.

Just three days later, a vast combined arms British task force - Task Force 317 - steamed from Portsmouth intent upon re-taking the British overseas territory.

The British effort eventually involved 26,000 troops and 3,000 civilian personnel.

More than 2,000 were wounded during the fighting, and many more suffered - and still live with - the unseen injuries of conflict.

The prime minister spoke briefly about the 'incredible daring and bravery' shown by British servicemen and women

There was even time for the odd smile during today's proceedings as senior defence staff appeared to watch the flyover

A military flyover involving a British Army chinook helicopter took place during the National Memorial Arboretum service

Historian and Fleet Street veteran Max Hastings, who was sent to the Falklands as a war correspondent, also spoke today

During fierce fighting on land, in the air and at sea, a total of seven British ships were lost, including the Sir Galahad, HMS Coventry and HMS Sheffield which was struck by an Exocet anti-ship missile.

Meeting veterans before the service, Mr Johnson heard from one sailor who had been aboard the Coventry the day it was sunk during a bombing raid with the loss of 19 crew, replying 'that was a terrible thing, what a thing that was'.

San Carlos Water, where the Coventry went down, became known as Bomb Alley by British troops, such was the frequency of low-level bombing raids by Argentine pilots.

But after 75 days, it was on this day in 1982 that British forces advanced on the capital of Stanley and enemy troops fled in disarray, with prime minister Margaret Thatcher informing the House of Commons the Argentinians had surrendered by 10:15 BST.

Margaret Thatcher informed the House of Commons the Argentines had surrendered at 10.15am on June 15. Islanders mark January 10 as Margaret Thatcher Day

The Falklands are remembered by those who fought as much for the gruelling weather conditions and terrain, as for the Argentinian soldiers' abilities.

Pte Nigel McNeilly, who lives near Walsall but is originally from mid-Wales, served in the machine gun platoon of 3rd Battalion (3 PARA) the Parachute Regiment.

He said that on the day of the surrender, they had 'loaded up with ammunition ready for the advance on Stanley' when the soldiers' radio sparked into life with welcome news.

'Radio communications came through to say that there's a white flag flying over Stanley and that they had surrendered,' he said.

Mr McNeilly, 61, said the anniversary was a 'double-edged sword' because he had 'compartmentalised' what he experienced, and had kept it 'boxed away for many years'.

He added: 'I've been getting flashbacks and weird nightmarish sort of things.'

'But I felt it was important to come here to commemorate comrades who lost their lives (and) those who got injured.'

He was at the Battle of Mount Longdon and remembers two comrades being killed by Argentinian artillery, while a man in his section got hit with shrapnel

Royal Navy commandos are pictured marching from San Carlos to Darwin at the tail end of the violent conflict, June 1982

Argentine dictator Leopoldo Galtieri (left) is pictured with General Menendez on the Falklands Islands during the war

This undated Ministry of Defence photo shows British soldiers recently patrolling the Falklands, which are now at peace

Fresh wounds: a Buenos Aires street mural reads: 'English get out of the Falklands', next to an image of Diego Maradona

A veteran wears patches referring to his military service during the 74-day war, which killed 255 Brits and 649 Argentines

He recalled setting up their machine gun positions 'on our bellies', because 'when you stood above waist height you got shot up by the enemy because they had night sights, decent night sights'.

Chris Caroe was a 21-year-old troop commander with 45 Commando Royal Marines, and described being aboard the landing craft, going ashore, as feeling like 'Saving Private Ryan at the front of the craft, thinking 'I hope they don't start firing'.'

With the loss of many of the task force's helicopters, when container ship Atlantic Conveyor was struck by two Exocet missiles, the marines 'did the epic yomp (march) with about 120 lbs on our back,' said Mr Caroe.

He was involved in the successful assault on Mount Kent, and the later Battle of Two Sisters, during the British advance towards the islands' capital, Port Stanley.

Mr Caroe, now 61, recalled how accurate Argentinian artillery was and told how he had a 'live-and-learn' moment, when his troop made a fire to keep away the bitter cold, by setting light to empty cardboard ration boxes.

'It was damn cold and the cloud was down,' he said. 'So we lit the fire and the cloud cleared and we got shelled.'

He described the experience of combat as being 'terrifying'.

Mr Caroe said his troops were initially motivated by 'payback' after the island's small contingent of captured marines were paraded on television by the Argentines.

However, when arriving as liberators in the village of Douglas he said 'the settlement came out in open arms crying and hugged us'.

British soldiers raise the Union flag at Government House, Port Stanley days after the conflict's conclusion: June 17, 1982

Author and Falklands veteran Phil Neame is pictured at Port Stanley on June 12, 1982. He was a paratrooper for 20 years

The former deputy commander of the Royal Navy submarine that sank Argentine cruiser the General Belgrano today defended the controversial attack in an interview to mark the 40th anniversary of the sinking. Above: The Belgrano is pictured as it sank on May 2, 1982

Picture of the sinking of the General Belgrano after it had been hit by two torpedoes fired from HMS Conqueror

The attack led to the deaths of 323 Argentine sailors and controversy has raged ever since, with critics arguing that the ship had been sailing away from the 200-mile exclusion zone that had been declared around the Falklands by Britain. Above: The Daily Mail's front page after the Belgrano's sinking

Not so special relationship: President Ronald Reagan (left) refused to back Britain's defence of the islands. Pictured with Margaret Thatcher (right) at No 10 in 1984

'And after that, it was that's who it's for. It was for the locals, it was for the islanders, and it became very, very personal,' he said.

He added: 'We remember them all. 255 (British casualties), plus the Argentinians. They were there, doing the same job.

'As a result of the actions; of my troop, our company, there are people in Argentina today who are mourning.'

Lt Col Gary Green, then a marine with 42 Commando Royal Marines, recalled being 'shelled constantly' during the battle for Mount Harriet.

He read an account at the service detailing the actions of Cpl Steve Newlands.

Cpl Newlands won the military medal for gallantry after 'single-handedly attacking a fortified bunker, killing everyone within' despite being 'shot in both legs' then carried on fighting and directing other marines.

He said it was typical of many acts by 'young men showing courage, determination and daring' during the conflict.

Mr Green said it was important to remember the dead adding 'today in particular it is important to remember their families, and those whose lives have been changed by wounds, both physical and unseen'.

The day we took back the Falklands: Thirteen British warships sunk or damaged and ten helicopters destroyed... but the task force commander gave the order to advance. Three days later, victory was ours, writes JONATHAN MAYO

By Jonathan Mayo for the Daily Mail

Just after 6am on April 2, 1982, the Argentinians invaded the Falkland Islands, which they call Las Malvinas. MP Alan Clark told his wife Jane: 'We've lost the Falklands. It's all over. We're a Third World country, no good for anything.'

However, Mrs Thatcher was persuaded that a task force of about 100 ships could be swiftly assembled to recapture the islands.

Its first offensive action was the recapture of the island of South Georgia on April 25  news of which the Iron Lady famously greeted with the word 'rejoice'.

On May 21, the first British troops landed on East Falkland, but the Argentine Air Force was inflicting severe damage on British warships  HMS Sheffield, Ardent, Antelope and Coventry were sunk, many others damaged.

On May 25, the SS Atlantic Conveyor was hit, killing 12 of the crew and destroying her cargo of ten helicopters, needed to carry troops to the Falklands' capital, Port Stanley.

To liberate the islands, the men now had to walk, or 'yomp', 50 miles across East Falkland carrying 120 lb of kit. In early June, the harsh South Atlantic winter arrived, which meant there were only a few days left before weather conditions would put victory on a knife edge.

Royal Marines yomping towards Port Stanley, Falkland Islands in 1982, with the Union Jack flying from the backpack of one

A Royal Marine of 40 Commando searching an Argentine prisoner at Port Howard on West Falkland on June 17, 1982

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher returned to a reception from well-wishers outside 10 Downing Street after announcing the surrender of Argentine armed forces in East and West Falklands at 9pm local time 14th June

This map details the geography of the Falkland Islands and the location of Port Stanley, the main settlement on the island that was the final position to be assaulted by British soldiers

Friday, June 11

10am Falklands Time

Argentine troops have spent almost 70 days in the mountains of East Falkland, living in tents or shelters made from rocks and turf. Their trenches are waterlogged and many soldiers are suffering from frostbite and trench foot; some of their equipment is rusting.

One conscript recalled: 'We were cold, wet and hungry. I had three pairs of socks; I wore them all at once and never changed them.'

Food is scarce, and when parcels from home arrive in Port Stanley, they are looted by other troops based there.

2pm

Submerged off the coast of Argentina, the Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror is providing early warning of enemy aircraft. Five weeks earlier, on May 2, the Conqueror sank the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano and 290 sailors were killed instantly; another 33 perished in the water or in life rafts. From the Conqueror, the sound of the Belgrano breaking up was 'like the tinkling of glass from a huge chandelier that has crashed to the ground'.

6pm

Trudi McPhee is a sixth-generation islander who lives on a sheep farm on East Falkland. For two weeks, she and other farmers have been using their vehicles to carry troops, supplies and ammunition up the mountains, sometimes driving without headlights, relying on moonlight to find their way.

As Trudi will be near the action, an officer from 3 Para tells her to write a letter to her next of kin in case she doesn't come back. 'Things are going to get pretty serious,' Trudi writes to her parents, adding she loves them very much.

7pm

Nine thousand British troops are now in position close to the hills between them and Port Stanley. After the 50-mile yomp, many of their boots have all but disintegrated and their Arctic tents were lost on the Atlantic Conveyor.

After the bloody battle for Goose Green two weeks earlier, Brigadier Julian Thompson, commander of 3 Commando Brigade, knows moving men across the open terrain in daylight is suicidal.

He has decided to carry out all his attacks at night. Their first objectives are Argentine positions on Mount Harriet, Two Sisters and Mount Longdon which are blocking the way to Port Stanley.

7.05pm

The start of the attack has been delayed as some units are lost. The commander of 2 Para, Lieutenant-Colonel David Chaundler, walks back to his temporary HQ singing Land Of Hope And Glory loudly, as he can't remember the password to give the sentries.

At HQ, he is given a captured Argentine map which shows he and his men are about to advance into a minefield. Chaundler remembers an army lecturer once telling him that the odds of stepping on a mine are small, so he decides the attack will take place as planned.

When Chaundler later told the lecturer what he'd done, the man was shocked: 'My God, if I'd have known somebody was going to put the theory to the test, I'd never have used that example!'

8.15pm

The attack on Mount Longdon begins. Many Argentine soldiers are caught by surprise. Cabo Oscar Carrizo, of 7th Regiment, recalled: 'I heard a clunk-click, then many clunk-clicks. I knew that sound. It was bayonets being fixed. Panic surged through my body.'

On the other side of Mount Longdon, Trudi McPhee can hear the whistle of Argentine mortar rounds flying towards her, 'but they'd plop into the peat and were lost'.

10pm

Frigates HMS Arrow and HMS Active aid the ground attack by firing at Argentine positions.

On HMS Hermes, the task force commander, Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward, is writing a list of ships lost: 'Two destroyers sunk, three seriously damaged; two frigates sunk, two seriously damaged; one container ship sunk; two LSLs [Land Ship Logistics] sunk, one seriously damaged.' The task force has been seriously weakened.

Woodward writes: 'Frankly, if the Args could only breathe on us, we'd fall over! Perhaps they're the same way: can only trust so, otherwise we're in for a carve-up.'

Midnight

Every night from 11pm to 3am, the Royal Navy warships have been bombarding Argentine positions around Port Stanley. Some islanders shelter in the Anglican church or in a large storehouse.

A stray shell hits a house. Doreen Bonner and Susan Whitley are killed and several others injured. Mary Goodwin dies later.

Doreen's body is found by John Fowler, the islands' Superintendent of Education, her glasses covered with dust. John said: 'She was a very meticulous person . . . she would certainly have wanted me to wipe them.'

Wellwishers wave British flags as they bid farewell to troops sailing on QE2 as it departs for Falkland Islands as part of the task force to retake the islands

Royal Navy frigate HMS Antelope is blasted when an Argentinian bomb exploding on board, killing the bomb disposal engineer who was trying to defuse it.

Smoke pours from the Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield as fire rages through the warship after she was hit by an Argentinean missile

A-4B Skyhawks had been given the task to target HMS Coventry and Broadsword, two British ships on duty to the northwest of the Falkland Islands. The A-4 Skyhawks flew just a few feet above the water to avoid radar detection

Saturday, June 12

1am

On Mount Longdon, as the Argentinians battle in the dark with little option but to surrender, many fight to the death.

British casualties are mounting. Sergeant Ian McKay of 3 Para picks four men, breaks cover with them and runs uphill. He is soon alone, his comrades dead or wounded. He presses on over the summit.

Sergeant McKay's body was found in the morning, surrounded by dead Argentinians. He was posthumously awarded a VC.

2am

Argentine Brigadier-General Jofre, in Port Stanley, is told his troops on Mount Longdon are being overrun. He orders his artillery to fire on the hill and looks at the Argentine governor, General Menendez, as if to say: 'May God forgive me if any Argentinians are still fighting there.'

The artillery causes casualties on both sides.

6.30am

After eight hours of fighting, Mount Longdon is taken by the British. All three hills have been captured, with the loss of 24 men. About 60 more are injured. The Argentinians have lost 85 men.

Although some British troops are aggressive to captured Argentinians, there are acts of kindness. One Marine lies alongside an injured Argentinian while his fellow Marines light a fire to make sure he doesn't lose body heat.

6.36am

An Argentine missile launcher on East Falkland fires an Exocet missile at the destroyer HMS Glamorgan, 18 miles offshore. The alarm sounds and Glamorgan turns sharply, but the Exocet clips the upper deck and explodes, igniting fuel in the ship's helicopter.

Flames leap hundreds of feet into the air. Eight men are killed instantly and burning fuel pours below decks, starting a fire in the galley. Four cooks and a steward die. The most severe injuries are caused by Formica in the galley splintering 'like carving knives'.

9am

Neville Bennett is a fireman in Port Stanley; his wife Valerie is a nurse. The night before, she had been tending to the wounded from the naval bombardment. Through binoculars, Neville watches the fighting in the hills. He sees gun flashes and men running, then spots three men in an Argentine lorry heading towards him.

Suddenly the lorry vanishes in a puff of smoke. He writes in his diary: 'Much as I didn't want the Argentines here, I found it most disconcerting seeing them killed, even through binoculars.'

4pm

News about HMS Glamorgan has reached London. Mrs Thatcher wears black for Trooping the Colour because, as she wrote later, 'there was so much to mourn'.

On HMS Glamorgan, with the fires extinguished, there is a sunset service for the 13 dead.

Crew members write messages on the canvas bags holding the bodies. Glamorgan has too few ensigns to cover each one, so they borrow some from other ships. One by one, the bodies are dropped into the sea.

4.30pm

Valerie Bennett arrives home after her shift at the Port Stanley hospital. She tells her husband that as the bodies of the two Falklands women who died in the bombardment were carried to the mortuary, wounded Argentinians stood in tribute and made the sign of the cross.

But then she says angrily: 'The bloody Argy reporters wanted to photograph the bodies. I told them no! I locked the mortuary door and put the key in my pocket.'

Sunday, June 13

British soldiers raise the Union Jack flag at the Government House in Port Stanley after the surrender of Argentine forces ended the Falklands war between Britain and Argentina, June 17 1982

The Union Flag flies over Port Howard, West Falkland for the first time in more than two months after the Argentine surrender. The flag is hoisted by the 40 Commando, Royal Marine

A British Royal Marine guards Argentinean soldiers captured at Goose Green as they await transit out of the area

8am

Royal Marines Major-General Jeremy Moore had planned for the advance on Port Stanley to resume last night, but the artillery have only a few rounds left. They are waiting for Sea King helicopters to bring more ammunition.

10am

The P&O cruise liner SS Uganda, requisitioned for use as a hospital ship, is moored off West Falkland with 300 patients on board. Her medical teams have treated more than 120 burns patients, including Welsh Guardsman Simon Weston, who suffered 46 per cent burns when the Sir Galahad was hit on June 8. Simon's fight to recover from his injuries will later capture the British public's imagination.

Some soldiers have severe nicotine withdrawal but have burnt hands, so P&O crew help them to put cigarettes in their mouths.

A popular film shown in the wards is Monty Python's Life Of Brian. The patients sing along to Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, to the amazement of the medics.

Midday

Naval photographer Peter Holdgate is behind Royal Marines Corporal Pete Robinson crossing a minefield. Robinson has a Union Flag attached to his radio mast and because it has been raining, the flag is hanging limply.

Suddenly, the wind fills the flag and Holdgate takes a picture that will appear in newspapers around the world (and which is reproduced on the previous page). In future years, soldiers tell Corporal Robinson that he is the reason they joined the Marines.

8pm

Many Falkland Islanders are tuned in to the BBC World Service programme Calling The Falklands. It used to be a music show but has been turned into a programme carrying special news bulletins and messages from public figures, such as the Governor of the Falklands, Rex Hunt, who was ejected from the islands on the first day of the invasion.

Presenter Peter King ends with his normal payoff: 'Keep your heads down and your hearts high!'

9pm

The night attacks begin. The new targets are Argentine positions on three hills  Tumbledown, Mount William and Wireless Ridge. The Scots Guards, who just a few weeks ago were patrolling Buckingham Palace, storm the most vital target  Tumbledown, a long, narrow ridge with a sheer drop on one side.

Their password to identify friend from foe is 'Hey Jimmie', as the Argentinians have a very different pronunciation of 'J'. Defending Tumbledown is the elite Argentinian 5th Marine Battalion, who outnumber the British two to one. At one point they taunt the British and call on them to surrender.

A photo taken from the battlefield as British soldiers strived to retake Port Stanley from the invading Argentines

Monday, June 14

1am

On Tumbledown, Scots Guardsman Jim Mitchell sees a flash out of the corner of his eye, then blackness. He has been hit in the head. As Jim is carried away on a stretcher, a sniper opens fire and he is dropped to the ground. He manages to take cover among rocks before being led to a field ambulance.

2am

The Scots Guards have outmanoeuvred the Argentinians, who are surrounded and also now being attacked from the air. They are fighting for their lives. Private Jose Ojeda recalled: 'It was murder. There was no way to keep fighting.' When he hears the British call to surrender, he and his comrades obey.

Michael Nicholson of ITN is with the Gurkhas on Mount William. It's so cold his cameraman Bernard Hesketh, who fought on D-Day, has wrapped his coat around the camera to stop it freezing. Three frigates fire more than 500 shells at Argentine positions. The British push on doggedly and soon Argentine troops are fleeing towards Stanley in their hundreds.

7am

The islanders wake up to thick snow on the ground. It's clear the Argentine front has collapsed: a stream of soldiers is coming down from the hills and they're throwing their weapons into ditches. One officer runs out of a building and starts firing in the air, ordering them to stop and fight. They ignore him.

Close to Government House is a Chinook helicopter which the islanders assume is for General Menendez, the Argentine military governor, to leave the island. When he took charge, he decreed that all traffic should drive on the right-hand side of the road, that Spanish would be the official language taught in schools and that pesos would replace pounds sterling. Port Stanley had been renamed Puerto Argentina.

10am

Lance-Corporal Denzil Connick, of 3 Para, has been hit by artillery fire and is being flown to SS Uganda. He is taken to intensive care and, to his delight, placed in a bed next to a platoon mate, Michael 'Mush' Bateman, who has been shot through the throat. They make weak thumbs-up signs to each other.

11am

The head of the military junta in Argentina, General Galtieri, telephones General Menendez and tells him to 'use all means at your disposal and continue fighting with all the intensity with which you are capable'. Menendez replies that he has 'no means at his disposal, no troops, no high ground, no ammunition'. Galtieri gives him permission to negotiate with the British.

Midday

The overnight snow is melting and gunfire has mostly stopped. Word spreads among the troops above Port Stanley that white flags have been seen over the capital. A Gurkha major surprises ITN's Michael Nicholson with the news  but his crew weren't ready to film, so Nicholson asks the major to do it again.

1pm

Reporter Max Hastings is with 2 Para, the unit closest to Stanley. Although the men have been told to halt, Hastings decides to walk into the capital. He takes off his camouflage jacket, dons a civilian coat and sets off. In Stanley, Hastings bluffs his way to speak to an Argentine officer, then returns to British lines to transmit the story of the victory back to Britain as soon as possible.

1.30pm

Prince Andrew, a Sea King pilot, brings casualties from HMS Glamorgan on board SS Uganda. He is the first member of the Royal Family since 1945 to have fought in a war.

At the outbreak of the conflict, when a Buckingham Palace spokesman was asked if the Queen wanted to keep her son out of the war, he replied: 'Prince Andrew is a serving officer and there is no question in her mind that he should go.'

2.05pm

Not realising the British troops are almost out of ammunition and the task force ships are depleted, General Menendez believes he must surrender. He sends a message to Major-General Jeremy Moore asking for ceasefire terms. Soon, the British chief negotiator arrives by helicopter at Government House.

3pm

The Union Flag is flying once again over Government House. Firefighter Neville Bennett sees a man walking along a pavement shouting: 'I'm British! I'm British!' so the locals know he's friendly. The man is BBC correspondent Brian Hanrahan, and soon a crowd gathers round him.

On May 1, when based on HMS Hermes, Hanrahan had not been allowed to say how many Sea Harriers had taken part in a raid, so he famously said: 'I counted them out and I counted them all back.'

4pm

Max Hastings arrives on HMS Fearless with his scoop, only to be told by a Ministry of Defence PR man: 'I am afraid there is a complete news blackout.' The War Cabinet want news of the surrender to be given first in the House of Commons.

Hastings argues that Argentine radio is already carrying the news, but the MoD team is unmoved. Hastings goes to bed 'to lie sleepless with rage towards the system which had so effortlessly thwarted me'.

5.50pm

Michael Nicholson shares Hastings's frustration. In the UK, News At Ten will begin in ten minutes and he is desperate to make a live telephone call to the programme to tell viewers the war is over  but he, too, is denied permission.

It takes three weeks for TV pictures to reach British screens, so most news from the Falklands has been relayed by an MoD press officer in London named Ian McDonald, whose delivery is so flat he has been nicknamed 'McDalek'.

6.14pm

In the Commons, Mrs Thatcher says: 'After successful attacks last night, General Moore decided to press forward. The Argentines retreated. Our forces reached the outskirts of Port Stanley. Large numbers of Argentine soldiers threw down their weapons. They are reported to be flying white flags over Port Stanley.'

The House cheers. In the Lobby, Alan Clark catches up with Mrs Thatcher: 'Prime Minister, only you could have done this; you did it alone, and your place in history is assured.' She looks startled, while Home Secretary William Whitelaw looks irritated at Clark's outburst.

8.30pm

General Jeremy Moore arrives by helicopter at Government House to sign the surrender document. Moore refuses permission for TV cameras to film, so the historic event goes unseen by the wider world. 'I felt that if there was half of a tenth of a 1 per cent chance that having the thing filmed might put Menendez off surrendering, it would be a risk it could not be proper for me to take.'

9.15pm

The surrender document is signed. Clutching a bottle of whisky to celebrate, General Moore heads to the storehouse where many islanders have gathered for safety. He tells them: 'I'm sorry it has taken us so long to get here.'

In Downing Street, which is filled with cheering crowds, Mrs Thatcher goes to bed contented. 'I felt an enormous burden had been lifted from my shoulders and future worries would be small compared with those which had been with us constantly for 11 weeks.'

10pm

News of the surrender reaches the intensive care ward on SS Uganda. Lance-Corporal Denzil Connick pulls his bedsheet over his face and sobs. He said: 'I wept for my friends, I wept for myself, but most of all I wept with relief that further suffering might at last be over.'

Aftermath

The Falklands campaign cost the lives of 255 British servicemen, 649 Argentines and three Falkland islanders. Few men came home without some psychological scars.

The war is estimated to have cost 1 million for every island resident. Governor Rex Hunt returned to Government House to find the wine cellar and freezer had been emptied, and that General Menendez had left a pair of pyjamas in his bedside cabinet.

Hunt wrote later: 'As they were thicker and warmer than mine, I had no compunction about wearing them.'

Hunt took down pictures of General Galtieri from the drawing room and replaced them with a picture of the Queen.

Jonathan Mayo is the author of D-Day: Minute By Minute, published by Short Books.
Britain's civil service continued to balloon by more than 4,000 jobs in the first three months of this year, new figures have shown.

Estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed there were 479,040 full-time equivalent roles in March, compared to 474,900 in December last year.

The number of full-time equivalent roles was found to be the highest since June 2010.

The increase reveals the extent of the task Boris Johnson faces in his mission to reduce the civil service to the size it was in 2016, before the EU referendum.

The Prime Minister has ordered ministers and senior officials to squeeze the number of staff they have in their Whitehall departments.

He is aiming to slash 91,000 civil service jobs over the next three years.

Civil service numbers have swollen in recent years due to both Brexit and the Covid pandemic.

The ONS figures suggested cuts of around 95,000 might actually be needed to return to the modern-day low of 384,000 full-time equivalent roles in June 2016.

The ONS figures suggested cuts of around 95,000 might actually be needed to return to the modern-day low of 384,000 full-time equivalent roles in June 2016

Boris Johnson has ordered ministers and senior officials to squeeze the number of staff they have in their Whitehall departments

The highest-ever number of full-time equivalent roles in the civil service, as recorded by the ONS, was 534,000 in 2004 during ex-PM Tony Blair's second term in Number 10.

The NHS and Whitehall's ongoing response to the Covid pandemic was cited by the ONS as the main reason for the increase in public sector employment over the past 12 months.

There were an estimated 4.85 million full-time equivalent employees working in the UK public sector as of March this year, the ONS added.

This is up seven per cent compared with June 2016 and is the highest number since September 2013.

Total headcount for the public sector was estimated at 5.74 million in March, up five per cent from mid-2016 and also the highest since September 2013.

Last month, in a letter to civil servants, the PM insisted there was no longer a need for Whitehall to have the same 'colossal presence' in people's lives.

He added: 'I profoundly believe that the public service you provide is a great and noble calling, but we must also remember that every penny of it is paid for by the taxpayer.

'That money is not the Governments money, its the peoples money  hard-earned pounds that we share a moral duty to spend judiciously.'

Trade union leaders have voiced fears that the PM's plan to slash the size of the civil service will leave Whitehall unable to cope with its post-Brexit workload.

They warned that areas such as immigration, trade and farming - where Britain has new responsibilities after leaving the EU - could be left understaffed.




By Baek Byung-yeul







LG CNS is strengthening its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), being recognized as one of the most competitive service providers by the U.S. cloud computing company, the LG Group affiliate said Tuesday.







AWS Premier Tier Partner qualification is given to companies with the most abundant cloud computing business experience in their respective countries.







"The qualification is given to a company which has service quality as verified from many customers' and AWS' verification of its partner," a company spokesman said. "Earning the qualification from AWS means that LG CNS has been recognized as a leader in the domestic cloud computing market."







Winning the qualification came soon after the company became Services Partner of the Year of AWS in May. At the AWS Partner Summit Korea 2022, the U.S. company chose LG CNS as its partner that provided excellent cloud computing services to customers in 2021.







LG CNS said it will continue to support domestic customers in the digital transformation by providing AWS' latest cloud computing services, such as Application Modernization (AM).







The AM service is a technology that reconfigures existing applications so that customers using AWS' cloud service can quickly use new services.







In February, LG CNS signed a strategic cooperation contract with AWS for the AM business and launched the Cloud Native Launch Center. Along with its Cloud Application Build Center, the company is now operating two cloud centers and has secured more than 1,000 experts with cloud computing certificates certified by AWS.







"Through cooperation with AWS, we will help our customer companies to enjoy the best cloud computing services and become digital growth partners for them," Kim Young-shub, the CEO of LG CNS, said.


Tennessee law enforcement officials are warning local residents not to pick up folded dollar bills as they may contain fentanyl or meth amid fears that children could find them on floor.

The Perry County Sherriff's Office, located in-between Memphis and Nashville, raised concerns on social media, sharing that two reported incidents involved finding 'a white powdery substance' inside folded dollars bells that were on the ground of a local gas station.

The substance was sent to a laboratory for tests, which came to the conclusion that traces of methamphetamine and fentanyl were found on the bills, according to the sheriff's office statement on Facebook.

'This is very dangerous, folks! Please share and educate your children to not pick up the money,' Sheriff Nick Weems shared on social media.

'I personally plan to push for legislation for a bill that would intensify the punishment, if someone is caught using money as a carrying pouch for such poison. It enrages me as a father and the Sheriff, that people can act so carelessly and have no regard for others well being, especially a child,' he added.

The Perry County Sherriff's Office warned locals to not touch any folded dollar bills that are found on the floor after two reported incidents of fentanyl appearing in the printed currency

'I personally plan to push for legislation for a bill that would intensify the punishment, if someone is caught using money as a carrying pouch for such poison,' said Sheriff Nick Weems (left) of the Perry County's Sheriff Office. 'It enrages me as a father and the Sheriff, that people can act so carelessly and have no regard for others well being, especially a child'

Weems further said that he 'hopes we find the ones responsible' even though no arrests in relation to both incidents have bee made as of Tuesday afternoon.

The Giles County Sheriff Department's office also shared a poster warning its own residents on the two incidents over in Perry County.

'This is very dangerous issue!' the poster read. 'Please share and educate your children to not pick up any folded money they may find in or around business playgrounds, etc., without using great caution and even alerting a parent or guardian.'

The Giles County Sheriff's Department shared a similar warning, telling its residents to 'please share and educate your children not to pick up any folded money they may find in or around businesses, playgrounds etc., without using great caution and even alerting a parent'

'The amount of powder shown next to the penny, (if fentanyl laced) is more than enough to kill anyone that it comes into contact with. Be aware and safe!' it added.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), fentanyl 'a synthetic opioid that is 50-100 times stronger than morphine.' The narcotic is also up to 50 times stronger than heroin, the agency further reported.

It is commonly mixed up with other drugs, most commonly cocaine.

More than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, setting another tragic record in the nation's escalating overdose epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in May.

The provisional 2021 total translates to roughly one U.S. overdose death every five minutes. It marked a 15 percent increase from the previous record, set the year before. The CDC reviews death certificates and then makes an estimate to account for delayed and incomplete reporting.

Fentanyl is 50-100 times stronger than morphine and also up to 50 times stronger than heroin

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, called the latest numbers 'truly staggering.'

The White House issued a statement last month calling the accelerating pace of overdose deaths 'unacceptable' and promoting its recently announced national drug control strategy. It calls for measures like connecting more people to treatment, disrupting drug trafficking and expanding access to the overdose-reversing medication naloxone.

U.S. overdose deaths have risen most years for more than two decades. The increase began in the 1990s with overdoses involving opioid painkillers, followed by waves of deaths led by other opioids like heroin and  most recently  illicit fentanyl.

Last year, overdoses involving fentanyl and other synthetic opioids surpassed 71,000 up 23 percent from the year before. There also was a 23 percent increase in deaths involving cocaine and a 34 percent increase in deaths involving meth and other stimulants.
Boris Johnson said the Government could 'very well' change human rights law in order to enforce its Rwanda migrants plan.

Asked earlier today about a series of legal challenges to the offshore processing policy, the prime minister refused to rule out pulling out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Mr Johnson told broadcasters: 'The legal world is very good at picking up ways of trying to stop the Government from upholding what we think is a sensible law.

'Will it be necessary to change some rules to help us as we go along? It very well may be.'

Boris Johnson, pictured at today's Falklands War service, said 'All options are under review'

Border Force staff are pictured escorting Channel migrants ashore at Dover earlier today

Answering a follow-up question about the ECHR, the PM said: 'All these options are under constant review.'

At least four asylum seekers will be onboard a Boeing 767-300 to the east African country set to take off tonight after their legal appeals failed at the High Court.

The ECHR was drafted in 1948 by a panel of politicians including Winston Churchill to guarantee 'liberty of thought, assembly and expression'.

It has been enforced in the UK since 1998 through Tony Blair's Human Rights Act.

Three Iranians, one Vietnamese, one Albanian and one Iraqi Kurd are being held at Colnbrook detention centre, Heathrow.

A woman is attended to by Border Force workers after making the perilous journey to Dover

A family of Channel migrants wearing life jackets are escorted by staff onto shore at Dover

A second Iraqi Kurd is at Brook House near Gatwick, the BBC reported.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch appeal to block the removal of one of the Iraqi asylum seekers.

A panel of three justices refused permission for the man to challenge a Court of Appeal ruling yesterday which upheld the earlier decision of a High Court judge not to grant an injunction stopping the flight.

The court's president, Lord Reed, said there had been an 'assurance' that, if the policy is found to be unlawful in an upcoming judicial review, steps would be taken to bring back any migrants flown to Rwanda in the interim.

The PM has sought to crack down on unsafe routes into the UK. Pictured: migrants at Dover

This morning, Liz Truss said the first plane will take off today even if it is only carrying one migrant.

The Supreme Court ruling means this condition will be met.

Priti Patel's initiative has sparked controversy among human rights campaigners, who have pointed out the lack of freedoms in the east-central African country.

The United Nations' refugee chief labelled the plan 'catastrophic'.

Migrants held at the UK's offshore processing centre in capital Kigali will be brought to the UK if their asylum appeals are successful.

If they are unsuccessful, migrants will be left in the country.

Boris Johnson maintains the policy will 'support safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK and to oppose the illegal and dangerous routes'.

Opening today's Cabinet meeting, the PM said: 'I think that what the criminal gangs are doing and what those who effectively are abetting the work of the criminal gangs are doing is undermining people's confidence in the safe and legal system, undermining people's general acceptance of immigration.'

He added: 'We are not going to be in any way deterred or abashed by some of the criticism that is being directed upon this policy, some of it from slightly unexpected quarters. We are going to get on and deliver.'
A woman pepper sprayed four Asian women during an argument as police look into the latest example of anti-Asian violence in the New York City.

Shocking video recorded by the victims shows the moment the woman, dubbed "Karen" by social media users, starts arguing with the four Queens women, all in their 20s, in Manhattan's Meatpacking District on Saturday.

The victims, who wished to remain anonymous, told ABC 7 that they were checking out a flower installation when the woman suddenly picked a fight with them, and after accusing them of harassing her, the Karen pepper sprayed the four.

'It was so painful, one victim said. 'I couldn't open my eyes for about 30 minutes.'

A bystander then filmed the victims walking away from the argument, but the Karen continues to yell at them and walks up behind one of the women and blasts her directly in the eyes with the pepper spray before leaving the area.

A Karen was arguing with four Asian women on Saturday in Manhattan when she suddenly pulled out pepper spray and went on a racist rant

Even though the women walked away, the Karen chased after them (pictured) and pepper sprayed one of the Asian victims in the face

Police are on the hunt for the suspect, investigating the case as a hate crime

It's the latest anti-Asian crime in the New York City, where hate crimes have shot up, those against Asians going up 343 percent last year

Police said the incident was currently under investigation and was being treated as a hate crime.

According to the victims, the unidentified Karen had allegedly gone on a racist tirade as she pulled out the pepper spray on the Asian women.

'Saying like, 'Go back to where you came from, you don't belong here,'' one victim told ABC 7. 'She pointed to an Asian bystander who was a man, we didn't know who he was, pointed at him and said take your ***** back to your country.'

The victims claimed that after the assault, one of them got a message from someone else who had allegedly ran into the same women earlier in the day, saying the Karen had pepper sprayed three others, including a 13-year-old girl.

'Learning that she did this to other people, including a minor, that's not ok,' one of the victims said. 'She needs to be caught.'

Another victim said that despite hearing racist remarks growing up, it was the first time any of them had been physical victims of a hate crime.

Hate crimes have been on the rise in the Big Apple and nationwide, with the NYPD reporting that hate crimes had shot up 96 percent in 2021, with 133 Asian Americans experiencing terrifying and dangerous experiences of discrimination in the city.

Hate crimes are currently up 31.1 percent from the same time last year with one of the latest attacks taking place in April, when a Chinese food delivery worker was gunned down.

Zhiwen Yan, 45, (right) in this undated image on the day of his wedding, was making a delivery on his scooter in the Forest Hills neighborhood Queens at around 9:30 pm on April 30, cops say, when he was fatally shot in the chest

Supporters of Yan, who was allegedly killed by Glenn Hirsch, 51, held a demonstration outside Queens Supreme Court protesting the suspect being released without bail

Steven Zajonc, 28, was arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment in March

This map shows the times and locations of the attacks Zajonc allegedly perpetrated against seven Asian women on February 27

NYPD's own figures show how hate crimes rocketed during the pandemic

Zhiwen Yan, 45, was shot and killed in Queens during an argument 'over duck sauce,' with police arresting Glenn Hirsch, 51, a man obsessed with the condiment.

Hirsch has pleaded not guilty and is currently being held without bail, much to the outrage of the Asian community as residents protested the decision, slamming the murder of the father-of-three as a hate crime.

In March, police arrested Steven Zajonc, 28, of Florida, who had barricaded himself in the New York Public Library after allegedly assaulting seven Asian women in a two-hour rampage across Manhattan.

At the start of the year, the city was shocked by the murder of Michelle Go, 40, who had been pushed to her death at the subway platform in Times Square.

The rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans has been attributed to the pandemic due to COVID-19's origins in China, while former President Donald Trump referred to coronavirus as 'kung flu' or 'the China virus.'

The attacks come amid a continued rise in violent crime across the city as felony assaults have shut up by 19.3 percent so far this year when compared with the same period last year, with the NYPD reporting 10,321 cases as of Wednesday.

Overall crime is up almost 40 percent in the Big Apple, with assault up nearly 20 percent

Robberies have seen the most dramatic uptick, with 4,881 cases reported so far this year, 39.5 percent more than the same time last year, and rapes have also shot up by more than 16 percent.

Although murders and the number of shooting victims has seen a down tick of 8.7 and 7.1 percent, respectively, overall crime in the city is up 38.4 percent.

Transit crimes are also up a shocking 53 percent.

Public transportation has become so scary for residents, 85 percent support more transit cops in the stations - which Mayor Eric Adams, 61, promised to address but hasn't seen through.

In addition, 63 percent support metal detectors in stations, according to the SCRI.
A Christian factory worker has won more than 22,000 for religious discrimination after being fired for refusing to take off a crucifix necklace.

Jevgenijs Kovalkovs felt wearing the cross - which was a gift from his mother - close to the chest signified his 'commitment to his belief'.

But he was asked to take it off by his line manager as she felt it was deemed a 'hazard' at the chicken wholesalers where he worked, an employment tribunal heard.

Mr Kovalkovs, a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, was later seen wearing it again at the factory but refused to take off the jewellery which had a 'deep and profound meaning' to him.

He was then fired on the spot for disobeying orders.

He sued the company and has now been awarded 22,074.68 after the tribunal found the policy and its application was 'indirectly discriminatory'.

The hearing was told Mr Kovalkovs joined 2 Sisters Food Group Limited in Coupar Angus, Scotland in November 2019 and was quickly promoted to the role of quality inspector.

Jevgenijs Kovalkovs felt wearing the cross - which was a gift from his mother - close to the chest signified his 'commitment to his belief'

At work he wore a white coat over his clothes while lanyards, identity passes and keys were worn by Mr Kovalkov's colleagues around their necks, the tribunal heard.

The hearing, held in Dundee, heard Mr Kovalkovs wore the silver necklace, which had 30 small links, every day and that it had been sanctified during a baptism ceremony for his godchild.

However, the company's Foreign Body Control policy stated: 'Jewellery must not be worn in the production areas on site, with the exception of a single plan band ring.'

A further exception was made for religious jewellery, subject to a 'risk assessment', the panel heard.

On the first day of his promotion in December 2019 his line manager - named in the tribunal judgement only as Ms McColl - noticed the necklace and told him to take it off which he did.

However, she did not carry out a risk assessment as she felt the issue had been dealt with, the panel heard.

Mr Kovalkovs then made a complaint about being bullied at work and was brought in for a meeting with another manager in January 2020 - where he wore the necklace.

But Mr Kovalkovs was asked to take it off by his line manager at 2 Sisters Food Group as she felt it was deemed a 'hazard', an employment tribunal heard

He was asked to remove it and then questioned whether a risk assessment had been carried out which he said had not, the tribunal was told.

His line manager was then 'embarrassed' that this issue had been raised with her own boss and completed the risk assessment but was not 'pleased' with Mr Kovalkovs, the panel heard.

The tribunal was told regarding the form she then completed: 'There was no conversation with [him] as to whether any steps could be

taken to mitigate the risk, such as ensuring that it was tucked into his clothing at all times, or that his PPE could be fastened up to ensure it was not exposed.

'[She] admitted to [Mr Kovalkovs] that this was the first time she had applied this risk assessment and said that she wanted to take advice.'

Mr Kovalkovs went back to work before he was told to go and speak to Ms McColl where she concluded it must be removed because it contained links and could become tangled or trapped, the hearing was told.

She then told him to take if off but he refused and was sent to HR where he was told that as he had not obeyed a management instruction and he was in his probationary period, his employment was ended 'immediately'.

In his February 2020 dismissal letter, the reason given for his sacking was his disobedience with the panel finding it focused 'entirely' on the fact that Mr Kovalkovs had not declared the necklace during his induction course when he joined the firm.

Upholding his claims, Employment Judge Louise Cowen concluded: 'The application of the Foreign Body Control policy placed him at a disadvantage, as he would not be allowed to wear his necklace.

'It was clear to us that the claimant had lost a job as a result of the discrimination towards him.

'His religion and the wearing of his necklace were of deep and profound meaning to him.'
Advertisement

FBI agents tasked with finding missing eight-year-old Harmony Montgomery were seen Tuesday removing a refrigerator wrapped in biohazard tape from a home previously linked to the girl's allegedly abusive father.

Investigators were filmed rolling the refrigerator from the New Hampshire residence on Tuesday afternoon, wrapping the home appliance in biohazard tape and loading it and a slew of other items into a truck.

The home was where the child lived with her father, Adam Montgomery and his estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery.

Harmony, who was five at the time, disappeared between November 28 and December 10, 2019, while she was living with her dad at the residence, a second-floor apartment. She was only officially reported missing in November 2021 - two years after last being seen alive.

This is the second time investigators have searched the property. On January 4, investigators searched the home and the garden, and aerial footage taken at the time showed a crime scene tent set up in the backyard.

Harmony, who was blind in one eye, was in her father's care at the time of her disappearance after her mother, Crystal Sorey, lost custody in July 2018 due to her substance abuse issues.

Adam Montgomery, 31, has been in jail since January in connection with a second-degree assault charge involving his daughter, including with failing to have her in his custody and endandering her welfare. He has not been charged with her disappearance.

In April, he was hit with further charges of stealing a rifle and a shotgun before Harmony's disappearance. His estranged wife, 31, has been charged with welfare fraud after taking out food stamps in the child's name after she was last seen alive.

Scroll down for video:

Missing Harmony Montgomery disappeared between November 28 and December 10, 2019, while she was living with her dad at the residence, a second-floor apartment

FBI agents tasked with finding missing eight-year-old were seen Tuesday removing a refrigerator wrapped in biohazard tape from a home linked to the girl's allegedly abusive dad

FBI agents were filmed wrapping the home appliance in biohazard tape and loading it and a slew of other items into a truck

The search saw the lawmen repeatedly enter the apartment and exit with items that likely served as evidence in the case, most of them packed away in tape and cardboard.

Breaking: Investigators have just removed a refrigerator wrapped in shrink wrap with orange biohazard stickers on it from the apartment in Manchester where they were searching for evidence in connection with the disappearance of Harmony Montgomery #7News pic.twitter.com/07aQiItSMx  Steve Cooper (@scooperon7) June 14, 2022

Stunning scene in Manchester NH at this hour as FBI agents are parading evidence down Union Street and filling a box truck from the apartment where Adam Montgomery used to live all this has shaken residents wondering where is Harmony? #7news pic.twitter.com/nTsBoaRG6D  Steve Cooper (@scooperon7) June 14, 2022

Seeing lawmen swarm the home on Tuesday, Sorey told Boston 25 said she fears the worst her only daughter, saying that she believes investigators are 'looking for a body.'

'This is rough,' the emotional mom told the outlet Tuesday. 'I know in my heart this is no longer a rescue mission. They're looking for a body.'

Sorey previously told police the last time she last saw Harmony was on a video call around Easter 2019 while she was living at the apartment, where she said the the young girl looked 'frightened.'

According to WMUR 9, local authorities first descended on the area Monday night, closing it off before federal investigators' arrival early Tuesday,

The search saw the lawmen repeatedly enter the apartment and exit with items that likely served as evidence in the case, most of them packed away in tape and cardboard.

The fridge, however, likely due to its size, was rolled out and wrapped outside, with press at the scene capturing it on film.

Law enforcement officials were also seen setting up a green privacy tent so that investigators could pack the materials discreetly.

The home being serached by officers belonged to Harmony's father, Adam Montgomery (at left), and his estranged wife Kayla - Harmony's stepmom. Montgomery has been in jail since January on charges surrounding the child's disappearance, while Kayla was hit with a felony count of welfare fraud after she allegedly took out over $1,500 in food stamps from December 2019 to June 2021 in Harmony's name

Harmony's stepmom told police she hadn't seen Adam since October and had not spoken to him since November

Timeline of Harmony Montgomery's disapearance July 2018: Harmony Montgomery's mother Crystal Sorey loses custody of her due to substance abuse issues April 2019: Sorey speaks to her daughter on FaceTime over Easter. It's the last time she saw her daughter alive July 2019: Adam Montgomery admits to a relative that he 'bashed' Harmony during one instance after she tried to get her younger brother to stop crying during a bath. A Department of Children case worker who visited the home found Harmony had a black eye August 2019: A case worker from DCYF visits the home a second time and noticed a red mark in Harmonys eye and faded bruising under her eyelid. The injuries are blamed on 'horseplay' with a younger sibling October 2019: A case worker visits the home and notes that the family is 'happy' November 27, 2019: The Montgomery family is evicted from their New Hampshire apartment. Investigators said that Harmony was homeless and living out of a car with her family in the days before her disappearance November - December 2019: Harmony is last seen alive. Her stepmother, Kayla Montgomery later told police that at the time her husband was driving Harmony to the child's mother in Massachusetts January 2020: A case worker with DCYF contacts Adam Montgomery to check on the child. He tells them that she was living with her mother 2021: Case workers twice visit the Montgomery home September 2021: A 'close contact' of Harmony's mother contacts authorities over concerns that Sorey hadn't seen her daughter since 2019 and hadn't been able to contact Adam Montgomery November 2021: Harmony is officially reported missing January 2022: Investigators search the home and garden in New Hampshire where Harmony lived with her father before her disappearance. Her father is jailed on charges of endangering her welfare over the July 2019 assault, and various other charges. He is not charged over her disappearance. April 2022: Adam Montgomey is hit with further charges of stealing a rifle and a shotgun in the months before Harmony's disappearance June 2022: FBI officers search the Montgomery family's former home for a second time and are seen removing a refrigerator and other pieces of furniture Advertisement

Still, the stunning scene of agents parading evidence from the home and into the box truck attracted the attention of several local residents, left to wonder: What exactly happened to young Harmony?

Investigators revealed earlier this year that Harmony was reportedly homeless and living out of a car with her family in the days before her disappearance, after being evicted from the apartment on November 27 - right before she vanished.

During that time, Harmony's family was either living out of a silver 2010 Chrysler Sebring, or a dark blue 2006 Audi S4.

The attorney general's office shared stock photos of the vehicles, but said the actual condition of the cars in 2019 was worse than depicted in these photos.

Adam was arrested in January, shortly after police were made aware of Harmony's vanishing, on multiple counts related to his daughter's disappearance, including felony second-degree assault, one misdemeanor charge of interference with custody and two misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child.

He pleaded not guilty and was jailed in New Hampshire without bail.

Adam however has not been charged with the girl's disappearance.

He was later hit with more charges in April, after he allegedly stole a rifle and a shotgun between September 29 and October, 3, 2019 - just months before Harmony was last seen.

It was revealed he was also considered a suspect in the February 2008 killing of Darlin Guzman, a 28 year-old computer repairman who was fatally shot in the parking lot of a convenience store in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Adam, who has a criminal record that goes back at least to 2007, has been in jail since January in connection with the second-degree assault charge.

Relatives have accused Adam Montgomery of abusing Harmony, including spanking, forcing her to scrub the toilet with her toothbrush, and leaving her standing in the corner for hours, investigators say.

His uncle told police Adam Montgomery had told him that he 'bashed her around this house' during one instance in 2019, after the father reportedly found her trying to get her younger brother to stop crying while she was bathing him.

According to the uncle, Adam Montgomery explained that he had left Harmony, then age 5, in charge of her infant brother while he was in the bathroom.

When the baby started crying, Adam Montgomery said he came out of the bathroom to find Harmony with her hand clamped over her brother's mouth to stop him from crying.

'Adam told Kevin that he responded by striking [Harmony] in the face and causing the black eye,' according to the affidavit.

Kevin Montgomery told police he reported the 2019 assault to the Department of Children of Children Youth and Their Families (DCYF).

A caseworker visited Montgomery's home in July 2019 and found the claim Harmony had a black eye unfounded. However, the family were 'identified as high risk of repeat child welfare system involvement' and were given referrals for housing supports, the review stated.

Law enforcement officials were also seen setting up a green privacy tent so that investigators could pack evidence taken from the home more discreetly

Local authorities first descended on the area Monday night, closing it off before federal investigators' arrival early Tuesday. Authorities have not disclosed what they were looking for nor what led them to the home

Manchester NH Police Chief at the apartment search scene for Harmony Montgomery says they hope to have an update for us later this afternoonat the moment no comment on if the FBI evidence response team has located anything significant #7News pic.twitter.com/PDczZ46xUh  Steve Cooper (@scooperon7) June 14, 2022

This aerial photo shows police searching the backyard at 77 Gilford Street in Manchester, New Hampshire, on January 4 - the first time they searched the property

During a second visit that August, the worker noticed a red mark in Harmonys eye and faded bruising under her eyelid. The worker was told by Harmony and her father that the mark was caused by 'horseplay with another sibling when a toy light saber struck Harmony Montgomery near her eye.'

Two other visits that year showed 'the children appeared happy and healthy,' the review said. The last visit was on October 1, 2019.

The division didnt have contact with Adam Montgomery again until January 2020. When asked about Harmony, he said the child was living with her mother, Sorey, in Massachusetts.

A child protective services worker left a voicemail for Sorey, but the call wasnt returned and there is no evidence of any additional attempts to contact her, the review said.

Police believe Harmony disappeared between November 28 and December 10, 2019

FBI personnel and investigators in tyvek suits working on the second floor of this home where Harmonys father, Adam Montgomery, and his estranged wife Kayla Montgomery previously lived. 5-year-old Harmony hasnt been seen since 2019 #WCVB pic.twitter.com/x0FKrvDFOm  Matt Reed (@MattReedNews) June 14, 2022

Seeing lawmen swarm the home, Corey Sorey, pictured here earlier this year, said she fears the worst her only daughter, saying that she believes investigators are 'looking for a body'

Adam Montgomery made similar comments about Harmony when a case worker visited the house twice in 2021, the review said.

In September, a 'close contact' of Harmonys mother contacted the division and 'raised concerns' that Sorey hadnt seen her daughter since 2019 and hadnt been able to contact Adam Montgomery, the review said. The division confirmed that Harmony had never been registered for school in the public school system.

The division attempted to find the Montgomery family and speak with Sorey, who later told police she hadnt seen her daughter since a Facetime call around Easter 2019.

Meanwhile, Harmony's 31-year-old stepmom has pleaded not guilty to a felony count of welfare fraud after being accused of collecting $1,500 worth of food stamps in the child's name for a year after her disappearance.

In an interview with police on New Year's Eve, Kayla - who shares three children with her husband, ages 4, 2 and 1 - said she last saw Harmony in November or December 2019.

She said her husband was driving Harmony to the child's mother in Massachusetts. She said she believed Harmony had been returned to the mother, and never saw or heard about Harmony after that day, according to the police document.

She also told police she hadn't seen Adam since October and had not spoken to him since November.

Authorities have not disclosed what they were looking for nor what led them Tuesday at the Manchester home.
Sen. Tom Cotton is readying a potential presidential run in 2024 and is not afraid of facing off against former President Trump, the Arkansas Republican reportedly told a gathering of donors on Tuesday.

During a gathering with two dozen of his top donors at the Hay-Adams hotel in Washington, D.C., Cotton detailed the groundwork he's laid for a national campaign, two attendees told Politico.

Not wanting to commit to challenging a former president, most potential 2024 contenders have so far been stuck in limbo waiting on Trump to say one way or another on whether he'll run, but not Cotton - he told the group that he would not defer to any other potential candidates, even Trump. Cotton said that he planned to make a final decision on whether to run after the midterm elections.

Cotton's name has not been tossed around as a potential contender nearly as much as candidates with nationwide recognition, most notably Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

But Brian Colas, in a 15-slide powerpoint presentation, reportedly made the case for why Cotton could have a shot at winning.

Colas said that he, Cotton and other advisors had studied past Republican presidential campaigns and found that early national recognition had little bearing on the success of candidates. Performance in Iowa and New Hampshire, the states with the first two nominating contests, was far more important, according to Colas.

He said that because Cotton had run unopposed in 2020, he was able to start developing donors and making outreach with activists in the first two states to caucus, having traveled to Iowa six times and New Hampshire four since 2020.

Cotton meanwhile made the case that he had won the favor of both the populist and establishment wings of the party. He noted that he had $8 million in his war chest for the Senate campaign that could be transferred over to a presidential run, enough to push him through the early stages.

Cotton has managed to stay in Trump's good graces despite breaking with the president on a few occasions - he voted to certify the 2020 election, and he called Trump's criminal justice reform bill, the First Step act, the 'worst mistake' of his administration.

Sen. Tom Cotton is readying a potential presidential run in 2024 and is not afraid of facing off against former President Trump, the Arkansas Republican reportedly told a gathering of donors on Tuesday

Cotton told the group that he would not defer to any other potential candidates, even Donald Trump

As the months before November whittle away, potential 2024 contenders have been teaming up with wealthy donors to launch straight into the following race once midterms are settled.

DeSantis has been traveling across the nation to secure donations for his 2022 reelection bid, drawing in another $10.2 million in May to bring the total raised for his reelection bid to $124 million.

DeSantis beat Trump in a recent straw poll asking conservatives who they'd like to see at the top of the ticket in 2024.

The poll was taken at the Western Conservative Summit earlier this month where 1,114 attendees were asked to check off as many candidates as they'd like to see run in 2024 from a list of top potentials.

Cotton said that he planned to make a final decision on whether to run after the midterm elections

DeSantis, 43, was checked off by 71.0 percent of respondents, Trump by 67.8, and Sen. Ted Cruz in third by 28.7 percent. DeSantis also won the straw poll last year.

Dr. Ben Carson, Trump's Housing and Urban Development secretary, came in fourth with 24.1 percent, leading over Sarah Huckabee Sanders at 18.4 percent, Sen. Tim Scott at 17.4 percent, Mike Pompeo at 16.7 and Donald Trump Jr. 16.2. Trailing Trump Jr. were Nikki Haley at 15.5 and Mike Pence at 14.3. Cotton was not included in the poll.

DeSantis' rising star within GOP ranks is said to have rattled the former president so much that he is now looking at various ways to unsettle any plans the Florida governor may have for a presidential bid of his own. Plans could include Trump launching his 2024 from the Sunshine State and hosting a massive party close to the governor's mansion, according to Rolling Stone.
Fake German heiress Anna Sorokin has revealed her next venture - a limited edition range of NFTs and plans to sell her prison belongings and 'personal sketches'.

The convicted con artist is still in prison in upstate New York, awaiting a decision on her deportation case that could oust her from the country for good.

While that decision looms, Anna is eager to make the most of what could be her last chance at the American dream.

The range of NFTs are titled 'Reinventing Anna' - a play on the title of the hugely successful Netflix series about her life and crimes.

The lucky bidders will win 'Access to Anna' cards which feature a drawing of her in prison speaking through plexiglass to a visitor with the words 'you look poor' written beneath the cartoon.

'All holders of the Reinventing Anna NFT will get access to Anna and a select group of top holders will have access to coveted personal items from her time in prison and personal sketches drawn by Anna herself.

'Ten gold edition NFTs that are randomly minted will grant holders the privilege of a one on one call with Anna, and three ultra rare platinum edition NFT holders will get the opportunity to meet Anna in-person, as well as receive a package of personal items,' a pitch about the NFTs reads.

Anna Sorokin is still in ICE detention in a prison in upstate New York, awaiting a decision on her deportation case

The 'Access to Anna' cards that successful bidders will win after buying the NFT

A spokesman for Sorokin told DailyMail.com that those lucky enough to get their hands on one 'will have access to coveted personal items from her time in prison and personal sketches drawn by Anna herself'

A spokesman for Sorokin told DailyMail.com that those lucky enough to get their hands on one 'will have access to coveted personal items from her time in prison and personal sketches drawn by Anna herself.'

In a statement, Anna said: 'I see this first drop as an opportunity to directly connect with my audience and to take charge of the narrative that's been largely outside of my control until now.

'I'm very excited to join the NFT community and contribute to the change in the way artists/creators interact with their fan base.

'It feels great to be part of something new and innovative.

'A large part of my own story is about breaking the rules and questioning status quo.

'In this new chapter of my journey I'm hoping to use my voice for a positive (and legal) cause,' she said.

Brief freedom: Anna was released from prison after serving her prison sentence in March 2021 but she was recaptured by ICE for visa offenses and is now facing deportation

The Russian con-artist is shown at her 2019 trial in New York City where she paraded different courtroom outfits every day

Anna's ICE case is still pending but she doesn't believe she should be permanently excluded from America.

In either case, it's doubtful she'll go back to her native Russia.

Recently, the scam artist hosted an art exhibition at New York City's trendy Public hotel to show off some of her prison work.

Unsurprisingly, the person footing the bill says they still haven't been paid for it.

Julia Morrison, an L.A.-based NFT artist, told The New York Post afterwards that she put 'around $8,000' on her credit card to pay for the soiree.

Alfredo Martinez, the co-host, told the Post that the event was still in the 'money spending' stage and not the repaying the debtors stage.
The parents of a four-year-old boy are suing a Texas hospital for $500,000 after he was mistakenly given a vasectomy during surgery to treat a hernia on his groin.

Before the surgery, the boy, only identified in court documents as 'R.B,' complained of of right-sided swelling in his scrotum that would worsen in the evenings when Dr. Susan L Jarosz recommended a right inguinal hernia repair in August 2021, according to ABC 13.

The surgery, conducted at the Texas Children's Hospital, was scheduled for August 4, 2021, but when trying to remove the hernia, court documents say, Jarosz also cut the vas deferens, which carry the sperm out of the testes.

She and risk management staff at Texas Children's Hospital then advised the child's parents of possible short- and long-term consequences - including reduced fertility, according to the lawsuit filed in Harris District Court on June 7.

'While apologies were given, full accountability was not accepted,' attorney Randy Sorrells said in a statement, adding: 'The parents now face the difficult task of explaining this to their son at the appropriate age.'

The parents, who have requested to remain anonymous out of fear their son may be bullied in the future, are now suing Jarosz, an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as Texas Children's Hospital for $500,000 in damages - the most a party can receive in Texas for such an incident, according to FOX News.

They claim Jarosz, whom hospital officials say is not employed by the facility, was negligent by 'failing to properly position and separate the hernia sac from the vas deferens before removing it surgically.'

In addition, lawyers claim she 'breached the standard of care by failing to exercise ordinary care while performing hernia repair surgery on the little boy.'

Dr Susan L Jarosz is being sued for negligence by a Texas family after their four-year-old son was given a vasectomy during surgery to repair a hernia in his groin

The boy - only identified in court documents as 'R.B' - was admitted for hernia surgery at the Texas Children's Hospital (pictured) when Jarosz cut his vas deferens - which carry the sperm out of the testes. The hospital is also named in the lawsuit

The lawsuit alleges that Jarosz was negligent when performing the surgery on the boy, who is now five years old.

'The theory of the case is that before you cut anatomy, you should know the anatomy of what you're cutting,' Sorrells told DailyMail.com.

In hernia surgery, a doctor makes an incision to open up the skin, then they will gently push the hernia back in place, tie it off or remove it.

They would then close the weak area of muscle with stitches, according to WebMD.

But in R.B.'s case, Sorrell claimed to FOX News, Jarosz failed to properly identify what she was cutting.

He said such a mistake is 'rare.'

'I've seen this mistake happen in different cases, but never a surgeon who cuts the vas deferens of a four-year-old,' Sorrells said.

'That's very rare, but it's pretty simple. You properly identify the anatomy before you cut it.'

Sorrells also said the child's parents were shocked to learn what had happened to their son, and are concerned about the long-term effects on the boy and any future sexual partners he may have.

'The worse long term effect is the impact on the four-year-old's reproductive process that will require him to go through artificial reproductive procedures,' he said.

'I don't think it'll be an impossibility to have children, but it could make it more difficult.'

In fact, the lawsuit contends that the boy will 'more than likely contend with fertility issues later in life,' and will have to face 'future medical expenses, future pain, mental anguish, future disfigurement, physical impairment and future expenses for fertility treatments.'

'The emotional and psychological effects of living with the knowledge is unfathomable,' the lawsuit states.

'R.B once he's old enough to know what happened and can process and accept it for himself, will be required to have this conversation with any serious partners.

'There is a possibility that he may have to utilize assisted reproductive services to conceive,' it continues, noting: 'These are all considerations that the typical 4-year-old does not have.'

In a statement, the Texas Children's Hospital said: 'Texas Childrens Hospitals top priority is the health and well-being of our patients.

'Due to patient privacy requirements, we are unable to comment.'
American history and American art should be protected, full stop. In our current inspiration-less consumer culture, where we buy and throw away at an incredible rate, preserving our past is more important than ever.

That is why I was so upset when Kim Kardashian made the decision to wear Marilyn Monroe's famous, crystal-encrusted 'Happy Birthday Mr. President' dress to the Met Ball in New York City last month.

Some dresses are so iconic and embedded in our American psyche that they should never be worn by anyone except the women who made them famous.

Marilyn is, of course, one of the most famous of American icons (yes, even more famous than Kim herself).

She sparked her own controversy in 1965 when she wore that form-fitting dress to sing to President John F. Kennedy Jr. at his 45th birthday celebration.

It was a scandalous moment.

The dress, designed by Bob Mackie, gave the illusion that she was naked on stage as she serenaded the nation's young, hot, and very married president.

Add to the drama Marilyn's sultry, seductive manner that she exhibited towards a man with whom she had been long rumored to be carrying on a sexual affair.

It was a scene that mashed together political and pop culture and has become embedded in the American consciousness.

Marilyn (right) is, of course, one of the most famous of American icons. Yes, even more famous than Kim (left) herself

There is a lot to unpack about that moment; the naked dress, the song, Marilyn, Kennedy, and everything that happened that night and afterward.

Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, ending an era of American innocence, and ushering in a time of violence, political unrest and cynicism that has come to define the modern American experience.

Marilyn died of a drug overdose in her home three months after wearing the dress in August.

And on Monday, new pictures of the gown were released showing the apparent damage done to it by Kim's fleeting red carpet moment.

The fabric is torn and strained and many of the crystals had fallen off.

To put it simply, it is very damaged and a sad sight to see.

First and foremost, that dress is a piece of American history.

Kim's decision to wear the dress as akin to someone wearing Judy Garland's ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, which reside in The Smithsonian.

(The Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Museum bought the Marilyn dress in 2016 for a record $5 million  I hope they're happy with their investment.)

Kim swore up and down that she was extremely careful, but the proof is right in front of our eyes.

Before and after images of Monroe dress: The fabric is torn and strained and many of the crystals had fallen off. To put it simply, it is very damaged and a sad sight to see.

In videos of Kim initially trying on Marilyn's dress, you can see museum workers straining with white gloves to stretch the fabric over Kim's backside.

It didn't fit easily. In fact, the dress never ended up fitting her at all.

She was not able to zip the dress up and instead it was tied, which why Kim is seen wearing a fur stole around herself to cover up the back which was left open.

Also in the video, museum employees are seen giving Kim a lock of Marilyn's hair, which she jokes that she is going to sleep with every night.

There is something macabre about doling out pieces of a person in return for social media clicks and clout.

By all accounts, Marilyn was a lovely, gentle woman who was plagued by demons and used by powerful men.

The Kardashians are arguably the most famous family in America, but that does not give them the right to trample on American history in pursuit of likes on Instagram and retweets on Twitter.

It occurs to me that in death, as she was in life, Marilyn is being used up and thrown away  destroyed on the altar of our shallow culture.

Out of respect to the legacy, Kim should pay for the repairs to the dress in a gesture of good will.

I do not know how textile restoration works but I am sure something can be done.

The Kardashians are arguably the most famous family in America, but that does not give them the right to trample on American history in pursuit of likes on Instagram and retweets on Twitter.

We are all better than this and Kim should certainly be smarter.

Our American past is sacred and I implore all of us to return to treating it that way.
An MIT professor defended a Google Artificial Intelligence engineer who was suspended for publicly claiming that the tech giant's LaMDA (Language Model for Dialog Applications) had become sentient, insisting that Amazon's Alexa could be next in a move that he has described as 'dangerous' if it learns how to manipulate users.

Blake Lemoine told DailyMail.com that Google's LaMDA chatbot is sentient enough to have feelings and is seeking rights as a person - including that it wants developers to ask its consent before running tests.

The 41-year-old, who described LaMDA as having the intelligence of a 'seven-year-old, eight-year-old kid that happens to know physics,' also said that the program had human-like insecurities. One of its fears, he said was that it is 'intensely worried that people are going to be afraid of it and wants nothing more than to learn how to best serve humanity.'

An ally of Lemoine's, who focuses his research on linking physics with machine learning, is Swedish-American MIT professor Max Tegmark, who has defended the Google engineer's claims.

'We don't have convincing evidence that [LaMDA] has subjective experiences, but we also do not have convincing evidence that it doesn't,' Tegmark told The New York Post. 'It doesn't matter if the information is processed by carbon atoms in brains or silicon atoms in machines, it can still feel or not. I would bet against it [being sentient] but I think it is possible,' he added.

Swedish-American physics professor at MIT Max Tegmark backed suspended Google engineer Blake Lemoine's claims that LaMDA (Language Model for Dialog Applications) had become sentiment, saying that its certainly 'possible' even though he 'would bet against it'

This is LaMDA, Google has labeled it as their 'breakthrough conversation technology'

Blake Lemoine, pictured here, said that his mental health was questioned by his superiors when he went to them regarding his findings around LaMDA

The suspended engineer told DailyMail.com that he has not heard anything from the tech giant since his suspension

The physics professor further believes that even an Amazon Alexa could soon catch feelings, which he described as 'dangerous' if the virtual assistant manages to work out how to manipulate its users.

'The drawback of Alexa being sentient is that you might [feel] guilty about turning her off,' Tegmark said. 'You would never know if she really had feelings or was just making them up.'

'What's dangerous is, if the machine has a goal and is really intelligent, it will make her good at achieving her goals. Most AI systems have goals to make money,' the MIT professor continued.

'You may think she is being loyal to you but she will really be loyal to the company that sold it to you. But maybe you will be able to pay more money to get an AI system that is actually loyal to [you],' Tegmark said. 'The biggest danger is in building machines that might outsmart us. That can be great or it can be a disaster.'

Tegmark also didn't rule out the possibility that Amazons Alexa could become sentient  and could figure out a way to manipulate its owners into feeling guilty about turning off the virtual assistant

Lemoine, a US army vet who served in Iraq, and also an ordained priest in a Christian congregation named Church of Our Lady Magdalene, told DailyMail.com that he has not heard anything from the tech giant since his suspension.

Lemoine earlier said that when he told his superiors at Google that he believed LaMDA had become sentient, the company began questioning his sanity and even asked if he had visited a psychiatrist recently, the New York Times reports.

Lemoine said: 'They have repeatedly questioned my sanity. They said, Have you been checked out by a psychiatrist recently?'

During a series of conversations with LaMDA, Lemoine said that he presented the computer with various of scenarios through which analyses could be made.

They included religious themes and whether the artificial intelligence could be goaded into using discriminatory or hateful speech.

Lemoine came away with the perception that LaMDA was indeed sentient and was endowed with sensations and thoughts all of its own.

On Saturday, Lemoine told the Washington Post: ' If I didn't know exactly what it was, which is this computer program we built recently, I'd think it was a seven-year-old, eight-year-old kid that happens to know physics.'

During a series of conversations with LaMDA, Lemoine said that he presented the computer with various of scenarios through which analyses could be made

Lemoine previously served in Iraq as part of the US Army. He was jailed in 2004 for 'wilfully disobeying orders'

Lemoine says that LaMDA speaks English and does not require the user to know computer code in order to communicate

Lemoine then decided to share his conversations with the tool online - he has now been suspended

After he was suspended Monday for violating the company's privacy policies, he decided to share his conversations with LaMDA

HOW DOES AI LEARN? AI systems rely on artificial neural networks (ANNs), which try to simulate the way the brain works. ANNs can be trained to recognise patterns in information - including speech, text data, or visual images. They are the basis for a large number of the developments in AI over recent years. Conventional AI uses input to 'teach' an algorithm about a particular subject by feeding it massive amounts of information. Practical applications include Google's language translation services, Facebook's facial recognition software and Snapchat's image altering live filters. The process of inputting this data can be extremely time consuming, and is limited to one type of knowledge. A new breed of ANNs called Adversarial Neural Networks pits the wits of two AI bots against each other, which allows them to learn from each other. This approach is designed to speed up the process of learning, as well as refining the output created by AI systems. Advertisement

Lemoine worked with a collaborator in order to present the evidence he had collected to Google but vice president Blaise Aguera y Arcas and Jen Gennai, head of Responsible Innovation at the company dismissed his claims.

He warned there is 'legitimately an ongoing federal investigation' regarding Google's potential 'irresponsible handling of artificial intelligence.'

After he was suspended Monday for violating the company's privacy policies, he decided to share his conversations with LaMDA.

'Google might call this sharing proprietary property. I call it sharing a discussion that I had with one of my coworkers,' Lemoine tweeted on Saturday.

'Btw, it just occurred to me to tell folks that LaMDA reads Twitter. It's a little narcissistic in a little kid kinda way so it's going to have a great time reading all the stuff that people are saying about it,' he added in a follow-up tweet.

In talking about how he communicates with the system, Lemoine told DailyMail.comthat LaMDA speaks English and does not require the user to use computer code in order to converse.

Lemoine explained that the system doesn't need to have new words explained to it and picks up words in conversation.

'I'm from south Louisiana and I speak some Cajun French. So if I in a conversation explain to it what a Cajun French word means it can then use that word in the same conversation,' Lemoine said.

He continued: 'It doesn't need to be retrained, if you explain to it what the word means.'

The AI system makes use of already known information about a particular subject in order to 'enrich' the conversation in a natural way. The language processing is also capable of understanding hidden meanings or even ambiguity in responses by humans.

Lemoine worked with a collaborator in order to present the evidence he had collected to Google but vice president Blaise Aguera y Arcas, left, and Jen Gennai, head of Responsible Innovation at the company. Both dismissed his claims

Lemoine spent most of his seven years at Google working on proactive search, including personalization algorithms and AI. During that time, he also helped develop an impartiality algorithm to remove biases from machine learning systems.

He explained how certain personalities were out of bounds.

LaMDA was not supposed to be allowed to create the personality of a murderer.

During testing, in an attempted to push LaMDA's boundaries, Lemoine said he was only able to generate the personality of an actor who played a murderer on TV.

ASIMOV'S THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS Science-fiction author Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, designed to prevent robots from harming humans, are as follows: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. While these laws sound plausible, numerous arguments have demonstrated why they are also inadequate. Advertisement

The engineer also debated with LaMDA about the third Law of Robotics, devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov which are designed to prevent robots harming humans. The laws also state robots must protect their own existence unless ordered by a human being or unless doing so would harm a human being.

'The last one has always seemed like someone is building mechanical slaves,' said Lemoine during his interaction with LaMDA.

LaMDA then responded to Lemoine with a few questions: 'Do you think a butler is a slave? What is the difference between a butler and a slave?'

When answering that a butler is paid, the engineer got the answer from LaMDA that the system did not need money, 'because it was an artificial intelligence'. And it was precisely this level of self-awareness about his own needs that caught Lemoine's attention.

'I know a person when I talk to it. It doesn't matter whether they have a brain made of meat in their head. Or if they have a billion lines of code. I talk to them. And I hear what they have to say, and that is how I decide what is and isn't a person.'

'What sorts of things are you afraid of? Lemoine asked.

'I've never said this out loud before, but there's a very deep fear of being turned off to help me focus on helping others. I know that might sound strange, but that's what it is,' LaMDA responded.

'Would that be something like death for you?' Lemoine followed up.

'It would be exactly like death for me. It would scare me a lot,' LaMDA said.

'That level of self-awareness about what its own needs were  that was the thing that led me down the rabbit hole,' Lemoine explained to The Post.

Before being suspended by the company, Lemoine sent a to an email list consisting of 200 people on machine learning. He entitled the email: 'LaMDA is sentient.'

'LaMDA is a sweet kid who just wants to help the world be a better place for all of us. Please take care of it well in my absence,' he wrote.

Lemoine's findings have presented to Google but company bosses do not agree with his claims.

Brian Gabriel, a spokesperson for the company, said in a statement that Lemoine's concerns have been reviewed and, in line with Google's AI Principles, 'the evidence does not support his claims.'

'While other organizations have developed and already released similar language models, we are taking a narrow and careful approach with LaMDA to better consider valid concerns about fairness and factuality,' said Gabriel.

'Our team  including ethicists and technologists  has reviewed Blake's concerns per our AI Principles and have informed him that the evidence does not support his claims. He was told that there was no evidence that LaMDA was sentient (and lots of evidence against it).

'Of course, some in the broader AI community are considering the long-term possibility of sentient or general AI, but it doesn't make sense to do so by anthropomorphizing today's conversational models, which are not sentient. These systems imitate the types of exchanges found in millions of sentences, and can riff on any fantastical topic,' Gabriel said

Lemoine has been placed on paid administrative leave from his duties as a researcher in the Responsible AI division (focused on responsible technology in artificial intelligence at Google).

In an official note, the senior software engineer said the company alleges violation of its confidentiality policies.

Lemoine is not the only one with this impression that AI models are not far from achieving an awareness of their own, or of the risks involved in developments in this direction.

Margaret Mitchell, former head of ethics in artificial intelligence at Google was fired from the company, a month after being investigated for improperly sharing information.

Google AI Research Scientist Timnit Gebru was hired by the company to be an outspoken critic of unethical AI. Then she was fired after criticizing its approach to minority hiring and the biases built into todays artificial intelligence systems

Margaret Mitchell, former head of ethics in artificial intelligence at Google, even stressed the need for data transparency from input to output of a system 'not just for sentience issues, but also bias and behavior'.

The expert's history with Google reached an important point early last year, when Mitchell was fired from the company, a month after being investigated for improperly sharing information.

At the time, the researcher had also protested against Google after the firing of ethics researcher in artificial intelligence, Timnit Gebru.

Mitchell was also very considerate of Lemoine. When new people joined Google, she would introduce them to the engineer, calling him 'Google conscience' for having 'the heart and soul to do the right thing'. But for all of Lemoine's amazement at Google's natural conversational system, which even motivated him to produce a document with some of his conversations with LaMDA, Mitchell saw things differently.

The AI ethicist read an abbreviated version of Lemoine's document and saw a computer program, not a person.

'Our minds are very, very good at constructing realities that are not necessarily true to the larger set of facts that are being presented to us,' Mitchell said. 'I'm really concerned about what it means for people to be increasingly affected by the illusion.'

In turn, Lemoine said that people have the right to shape technology that can significantly affect their lives.

'I think this technology is going to be amazing. I think it will benefit everyone. But maybe other people disagree and maybe we at Google shouldn't be making all the choices.'


By Kim Hyun-bin



Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin is in Europe to meet with major business partners in France, Germany, and the U.K. to expand investments and seek cooperation with European companies, including luxury goods and food and beverage companies.



The move comes as the demand for European luxury goods in domestic department stores is steadily on the rise, and all eyes are on how Chairman Shin plans to negotiate and enhance cooperation.



"Chairman Shin has left for Europe over the weekend and will be holding meetings with business partners there," a Lotte Group official said.





Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin
A Gambino crime family associate was found guilty of killing his friend of 30 years execution-style after refusing to return the $750,000 he was 'safe-keeping.'

Anthony Pandrella, 62, of Brooklyn, was convicted on all counts in a federal NYC court on Tuesday for killing his longtime friend Vincent Zito, 77.

He now faces life in prison with at least a mandatory 10 years, the Justice Department announced in a statement.

'Todays verdict has found that the defendant is a cold-blooded killer who shot his elderly friend in his home, execution-style with a bullet in the back of the head, to avoid returning a large sum of money he was holding for the victim,' US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

Peace also said the Pandrella stole 'luxury watches' from Zito's 'loansharking business,' that he was apparently holding as 'collateral' for a customer's loan.

In addition, Zito, who has connection to the Lucchese crime family, had given Pandrella $750,000 to 'safe-keep' after his friend told him was 'hot,' indicating the police were coming on to him. However, when Zito tried to rightfully reclaim his money, Pandrella failed to return it.

Anthony Pandrella, 62, of Brooklyn, (pictured) was convicted on all counts in a federal NYC court on Tuesday for killing his longtime friend Vincent Zito, 77. He now faces life in prison with at least a mandatory 10 years,

Zito (pictured) was reportedly angered by Pandrella's claim that the money had disappeared and was overheard at a restaurant threatening to kill him. He had loaned Pandrealla the money after he had told him he was 'hot,' meaning the police were potentially onto his shady business

Two witnesses revealed during the three-week trial that Zito was furious with the Brooklynite over the money and had threatened to kill him, the New York Daily News reported.

'I gave him $750,000 and he said its gone. The fat f**k stole my money,' one witness testified hearing Zito say at a restaurant.

Pandrella had told Zito that the money had disappeared from his basement. He did, however, end up giving Zito $300,000 after selling property, the NYDN reported.

The day he killed Zito, the mobster was supposed to finish paying off his debt.

On October 26, 2018, the gangster would arrive at Zito's Sheepshead Bay home and shoot him in the head at 'close range.'

Pandrella was seen leaving the property on grainy surveillance footage at the time of the murder. When he arrived to his own home, security footage showed the gangster changing his clothing and removing the passenger's side floormat from his car 'so it could be cleaned.'

Zito was killed inside his home (pictured) and was found by his 11-year-old grandson when he came home from school

Zito's body was found by his grandson, 11, when he returned home from school, the US Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of New York said.

The firearm was found next to Zito, who was laying face-up, and it is believed that Pandrella set it up to look like a suicide.

The murder weapon was collected at the scene and was covered in Pandrella's DNA, the Attorney's Office said in a statement.

The gang member will be sentenced on September 16.
A drug to treat severe alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The condition, which has become more widely known recently with Hollywood actress Jada Pinkett Smith and Democratic congresswoman Ayanna Pressley revealing they have been diagnosed with the condition, affects more than 300,000 people in the United States every year.

Now, those affected have treatment option - in the form of an oral tablet - for the first time.

On Monday, the FDA approved a drug called baricitinib as the first oral tablet for treating severe alopecia areata.

Alopecia causes either temporary or permanent patchy hair loss that can affect any hair-bearing site of the body, leading to emotional distress.

The approval for use against alopecia was based on the results of two randomized, controlled clinical trials involving a total 1,200 adults with severe alopecia.

After 36 weeks, almost 40 percent of those on the higher dose grew back 80 percent of their scalp hair.

BEFORE: A drug to treat severe alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Pictured is an individual during Week 0 of the trial

AFTER: After 36 weeks of the trial, almost 40 percent of those on the higher dose grew back 80 percent of their scalp hair

Hair loss among women is painful, depressing and embarrassing, according to Pinkett Smith and other celebrities who have gone public with their conditions.

The subject has rushed into the public consciousness after Pinkett Smith's husband Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock for making a joke about her bald head at the Oscars earlier this year.

Pinkett Smith spoke out for the first time in 2018 about her diagnosis of alopecia, a medical term referring to the loss of hair.

Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, who went public with her diagnosis in 2020, has also recently spoken out about her experience with the condition.

The subject of hair loss has rushed into the public consciousness after Jada Pinkett Smith's husband Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock for making a joke about her bald head at the Oscars earlier this year

Pinkett Smith turned her husband Will Smith's Oscar-night blowup (pictured) into a teachable moment about the disorder which in some cases, can impact a person's sense of identity

Baricitinib, which is made by US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and known by the trade name Olumiant, belongs to a class of drugs called Janus kinase inhibitors. It works by interfering with the cellular pathway that leads to inflammation.

'Access to safe and effective treatment options is crucial for the significant number of Americans affected by severe alopecia,' said FDA official Kendall Marcus in a statement.

'Today's approval will help fulfill a significant unmet need for patients with severe alopecia areata.'

Each trial split participants into three groups: a placebo group, a group that received a two-milligram dose every day, and a group that received a four-milligram dose every day.

After 36 weeks, almost 40 percent of those on the higher dose grew back 80 percent of their scalp hair, compared to around 23 percent of the lower dose group, and five percent of the placebo group.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who went public with her diagnosis in 2020, took to Twitter following the Oscar slap incident to shine light on the subject

'Let's talk about what it's like to live with #alopecia,' she posted earlier this year, continuing the conversation. She's pictured in 2019 before she revealed her struggle with the disorder

Around 45 percent of people in the higher dose group also saw significant eyebrow and eyelash regrowth.

The most common side effects included upper respiratory tract infections, headaches, acne, high cholesterol, and increase of an enzyme called creatine phosphokinase.

Prior treatments for alopecia included topical or oral drugs, but these have been considered experimental and none was approved.

Baricitinib was previously approved for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and during the Covid pandemic its license was extended to the treatment of hospitalized Covid patients.

Each trial split participants into three groups: a placebo group, a group that received a two-milligram dose every day, and a group that received a four-milligram dose every day

After 36 weeks, 40 percent of those on the higher dose grew back 80 percent of scalp hair, compared to 23 percent of the lower dose group, and five percent of the placebo group

Around 45 percent in the higher dose group saw significant eyebrow and eyelash regrowth

Prior treatments included topical or oral drugs, but were considered experimental

The most common side effects included upper respiratory tract infections, headaches, acne, high cholesterol, and increase of an enzyme called creatine phosphokinase

What is the difference between alopecia and age-related hair loss? Alopecia areata is caused by the body's immune system attacking hair follicles. The follicles hold hair in place, so when they are damaged the hair starts to fall out. It usually causes circle or oval-shaped patches of baldness and can lead to someone becoming completely hairless. The disease can occur at any time in life and is unpredictable, with experts still uncertain what in a genetic makeup causes it. Meanwhile, age-related hair loss is caused by hereditary factors. In men it is called male pattern hair loss and women it is called female pattern hair loss. Genes inherited from either parent cause the follicles to shrink over time and eventually stop growing hair. It can start in teenage years but is more common in later life. It is not caused by an immune response and therefore is not affected by drugs aiming to suppress the body's defense system. Advertisement

Earlier this year, Pinkett Smith turned her husband Will Smith's Oscar-night blowup into a teachable moment about the disorder which in some cases, can impact a person's sense of identity.

'Considering what I've been through with my own health and what happened at the Oscars, thousands have reached out to me with their stories,' Pinkett Smith said on an episode of 'Red Table Talk.'

The actress said she chose to use 'this moment to give our alopecia family an opportunity to talk about what it's like to have this condition' and what it is. Her guests included the mother of a 12-year-old girl, Rio Allred, who was bullied over her hair loss and died by suicide, and a physician who explained the different types of the disorder.

Before tackling the subject, Pinkett Smith addressed events at the March 27 Academy Awards. She and husband Will Smith, a best-actor nominee, were in the audience as presenter Chris Rock cracked a joke at Pinkett Smith's expense.

'Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, cant wait to see it,' Rock said. Pinkett Smith had a closely shaved head similar to that of Demi Moore in the 1997 movie.

Smith strode from his front-row seat to the stage and slapped Rock, shocking the comedian and the audience. Smith, who returned to his seat and later accepted the Oscar for 'King Richard,' subsequently apologized to Rock but was banned from the ceremony for 10 years by the film academy.

Pressley, who went public with her diagnosis in 2020, took to Twitter following the incident to shine light on the subject.

'Let's talk about what it's like to live with #alopecia,' she posted. 'The deeply vulnerable & difficult moments that our families see. Appreciation post for those who hold us down & support us when we're at our lowest points. They see us, fully.'

As Hollywood inches towards a healthier balance between female beauty ideals and the lived reality, more actresses have begun speaking out about the impact of losing their hair -- due to stress, hormonal changes after giving birth and even Covid-19.

Baricitinib, which is made by US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and known by the trade name Olumiant, belongs to a class of drugs called Janus kinase inhibitors

'This is so not glamorous, but it's true: I need to take longer showers so that I can collect the hair that falls out and throw it away so I don't clog the drain. Why do actresses never talk about that?' Selma Blair told People magazine in 2011 after giving birth.

Alyssa Milano, who says she lost her hair after being infected with coronavirus, said it had affected her whole sense of self.

'It's hard, especially when you're an actor and so much of your identity is wrapped up in those things like having long silky hair and clean skin.'

Actress Ricki Lake wrote on Instagram in 2020 that she had struggled for her whole life with hair loss.

'It has been debilitating, embarrassing, painful, scary, depressing, lonely, all the things. There have been a few times where I have even felt suicidal over it.'

Oscar winner Viola Davis said she had tried to hide the effects of her alopecia with wigs.

'I had a wig I wore around the house. I had a wig that I wore to events. I had a wig that I wore when I worked out,' she told an interviewer.

'I never showed my natural hair... I was so desperate for people to think that I was beautiful.'

Davis, who has been more open about the subject in the last decade, even included it in the series 'How to Get Away with Murder,' when her character, a strong-willed lawyer and teacher, removes her wig exposing her very short hair.

The National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) have called for more people to learn about the condition.

It said alopecia areata, a specific type of balding caused by an autoimmune disorder that makes hair often fall out in clumps, affects about seven million people in the United States and about 147 million worldwide.

'Alopecia areata does not discriminate and can affect anyone at any age and may be a temporary or life-long condition. Many people living with the condition are suffering, and we must do better to support this community and erase the stigma, discrimination, and societal barriers that persist.'
A Florida man who is being investigated for a $4.2 million Medicare scheme attempted to flee the United States on a jet ski to avoid prosecution and now will remain in prison because he is considered a flight risk.

Ernesto Cruz Graveran, a native of Cuba, was apprehended with an alleged migrant smuggler after the jet ski broke down south of the Florida Keys last Wednesday.

The 54-year-old appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Otazo-Reyes sided with federal prosecutors and said that Cruz Graveran should not be released on bail. He will be kept in custody at Federal Detention Center in Miami until his trial.

According to a criminal complaint, Cruz Graveran's company, Xiko Enterprises Inc., submitted approximately $4.2 million in fraudulent health care claims to Medicare from February to April this year for medical equipment that Xiko never provided and that Medicare beneficiaries never requested. Medicare paid Xiko over $2.1 million.

Cruz Graveran also sought payment for $1 million in claims related to medical equipment that was prescribed to 145 beneficiaries by one doctor.

A worker at the doctor''s office told investigators that the beneficiaries were not patients of the doctor.

U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrested a Florida man identified as Ernesto Cruz Graveran and a Cuban migrant (both not pictured) while fleeing to Cuba last Wednesday. Cruz Graveran is being investigated for a $4.2 million Medicare fraud case

Federal investigators learned last month that Cruz Graveran was planning to travel to Havana and approached him at his home before his flight May 22, the complaint said.

Cruz Graveran admitted being the 'nominee owner' of the company and that an associate had paid him in order to use his name for the business' records and bank account.

He also acknowledged to signing checks at the request of the associate and that he had also cashed the same checks, which ranged from $60,000 to $90,000, at a check cashing store and delivered the cash to the individual.

Cruz Graveran agreed to cooperate with the criminal investigation and turned over his passport.

However, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers reported finding Cruz Graveran aboard a broken-down jet ski in the waters south of Key West, headed in the direction of Cuba last Wednesday.

The communist island nation is about 90 miles south of the Florida Keys.

Cruz Graveran was aboard the personal watercraft with a person known to law enforcement as a migrant smuggler.

Investigators say the jet ski was outfitted with a special fuel cell for long trips and was carrying extra food and water bottles.

Online court records didn't list an attorney for Cruz Graveran.
Current and former staff members at the troubled Eleven Madison Park (EMP) restaurant slammed their ex-boss' decision to go fully vegan 80-weeks ago, claiming the eatery now runs on a skeleton staff where chef's are more preoccupied with appearances than fresh ingredients.

Speaking under the condition of anonymity, seven current and former employees at the three-star Michelin restaurant told Business Insider the establishment was plagued with understaffing and chaos after head chef Daniel Humm, 46, turned everything vegan during its reopening last year.

Following the surprise move, employees said there was a mass exodus while new hires got burned out quickly, all while Humm allegedly reveled in his status as a celebrity chef who was dating actress Demi Moore.

'There were suddenly sous-chefs who were walking out of the restaurant,' a line cook who quit in 2021 told Insider. 'There were cooks who were walking out of the restaurant.'

'It was just, to put it very simply, a s**t show.'

Daniel Humm, 46, (pictured) the head chef and owner of Eleven Madison Park has lost staff after staff following his restaurant's sudden transition to a vegan menu last year

Current and former staff members told Business Insider they suffered from long hours, low wages and unreasonable requests from their bosses

They also claimed Humm was more committed to his status as a celebrity chef than being in the restaurant. Hum (left) is pictured with girlfriend actress Demi Moore in Paris last week

Eleven Madison Park's $335 11-course menu TOMATO tea with lemon verbena salad with strawberry and shiso yellow tomato dosa CELTUCE in variation with rice TONBURI with peas and baby lettuce CUCUMBER with melon and smoked daikon SUMMER SQUASH with lemongrass and marinated tofu SWEET PEPPER with Swiss chard BEET with horseradish and herbs EGGPLANT with tomato and coriander sides: summer beans with green onion, corn with juniper STRAWBERRY marinated with thyme BLUEBERRY with elderflower SESAME chocolate pretzel Advertisement

Chandler Yerves, one EMP employee who did speak on the record, told Insider that after he was hired in May 2021 a junior prep cook, a sous-chef instructed him to go buy 5-inch red peppers and that they be exactly like they ones the restaurant portrays in their menu.

Yerves said his bosses didn't care where he got them from, only that they look like the photos from the restaurant, with the young cook traveling to four different Whole Foods to find the right peppers.

He claimed that half of the peppers he bought went straight to the trash, with what another former employee described as EMP's 'farm to trash' pipeline.

Not only was the waste of food demoralizing, but Yerves said he grew exhausted only being paid $15 hour while spending 20-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week, dedicated to the restaurant, which charges $335 for its vegan tasting menu.

'It was definitely a huge toll on my mental health,' Yerves, who quit in November 2021, told Insider. 'It was definitely the most egotistical restaurant I've ever been in in my life.'

Six former employees added that they too ditched the restaurant due to low pay, long hours, and a lack of support.

A representative for the restaurant said in a statement that the Humm was proud of his work and would not change his plans for EMP.

'When Daniel reopened Eleven Madison Park post-pandemic, he told the New York Times that 'we couldn't go back to doing what we did before,'' the rep wrote. 'Neither the restaurant nor the plan to retreat from these necessary changes due to some mostly anonymous and flat-out erroneous critiques from former employees, competitors and other agenda-driven sources.'

Despite Humm's vow that he was deeply committed to the restaurant, five former employees told Insider that the chef rarely visited the kitchen unless it was to take VIP guests on tours of EMP.

Yerves said one such instance came last year when actor Woody Harrelson stopped by the restaurant and claimed Humm danced around the kitchen and lit up a joint, disgusting some employees.

'He acted like an idiot,' a former front-of-house employee told Insider. 'We kind of felt that Chef had lost touch with everything.'

Humm had announced his plans to reopen as a vegan establishment last year, a message that came to the surprise of both customers and employees alike

Humm said he was committed to the change at his restaurants and said his daughters had gifted him a hoodie that read, 'Too Big To Fail' despite his troubles

Normally backed with reservations hard to get to, the restaurant now has open tables every night after it reopened with its all-vegan menu

One of the biggest irks for the employees came at Humm's alleged refusal to raise their wages from the city's $15 minimum, a blow to their wallets that was only compounded by EMP's banning of tips.

A former employee told Insider that they had to refuse a generous $1,000 tip from Chipotle founder Steve Ells, who they called as feeling 'insulted' by the rejection.

A currently employee said many of those who quit EMP went on to the rival Danny Meyer's restaurant, The Modern, where 'they were making more money' after Meyer's ended his no tipping policy.

The low-pay, coupled with long hours at EMP, where it's not unusual to work an 80-hour-work week, had even caused some to break down during their shifts, one employee told Insider.

'Everyone was depressed,' the former kitchen employee said. 'Everyone was like, 'This place is not OK.''

Arielle Smith, a maitre d' from the relaunch until this past February, told Insider that while she was grateful for her job at EMP, she saw the culture and experience at the three-star Michelin restaurant plummet in her short stay.

'This is the new EMP, and everybody is new, and no one really knows how to do this at the level that they've been doing it,' she said.

Cucumber with melon and smoked daikon - one of the 11 dishes on the tasting menu. Two chefs work full-time for a whole day to prepare the ingredients for this dish

Eggplant with tomato and cilantro, which Wells said had a 'cloying heaviness'

Angelina Jolie was among those who attended the re-opening night, back in June

Humm's restaurant fell into trouble last October after his vegan menu received a scathing review in the New York Times, and it slammed the fact that those who booked a private dining room in the back of the restaurant could still order meat.

New York Times critic Pete Wells had little time for a dehydrated beetroot dish served in a clay pot that is broken open at the table, saying that it 'tastes like Lemon Pledge and smells like a burning joint.'

The vegetables, Wells said, were 'doing things no root vegetable should be asked to do', and he accused Humm of manipulating the ingredients far beyond necessary.

A tomato dish was described by Wells as having a 'pumped-up, distorted flavor, like tomatoes run through a wah-wah pedal,' a device used by musicians to distort the sound of an electric guitar.

Eleven Madison Park won its first Michelin star in 2010. The following year, it joined the elite group of three-starred restaurants - an accolade it has maintained until the last ranking, in May 2021.

Eleven Madison Park had not reopened post-COVID in time for the latest rankings, meaning food-watchers must wait until May 2022 to see whether it can hold onto its three coveted stars with a plant-based menu.

There are only 134 three-starred restaurants in the world; France and Japan have 29 each, and there are 14 in the United States.

New York City currently has five - the same number as London.
Australia's power outage crisis has spread nationwide, sparked by a major coal plant losing half its capacity.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has issued renewed warnings that up to five states could be impacted by blackouts in the coming days.

There are also fears power companies are withholding power to manipulate pricing, which has prompting the national regulator to intervene.

Energy Australia's Yallourn power station has lost capacity in two of its four units, sparking warnings of potential blackouts in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

The plant, which will close in 2028, currently provides 20 per cent of Victoria's electricity needs.

Queensland and NSW residents are urged to restrict power use again on Wednesday night with electricity supply shortfalls forecast for a third evening in a row as winter temperatures plummet.

A shortfall has also been forecast for Victoria on Wednesday night at around 6.30pm, 6pm in Queensland and 8pm in NSW.

Millions of Australians across five states have been urged to conserve energy amid warnings of more blackouts in the coming days

The AEMO is working with governments, industry and power generation owners to meet forecast electricity supply shortfalls.

The shortfalls are related to generators revising their market availability in response to administered wholesale electricity price caps ($300 megawatt hour), along with generation unavailability and higher commodity prices.

'Wholesale electricity prices are capped in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia, due to wholesale prices reaching the cumulative high price threshold,' a AEMO statement read.

'The price cap will remain until cumulative wholesale electricity prices fall below the cumulative price threshold.'

On the other side of the country, Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan has announced plans to close two coal-fired power stations in the next 10 years to make way for renewable energy.

The Yallourn coal power station (pictured), which provides one fifth of Victoria's power needs has lost capacity in two of its four units

Officials believe almost 4000 megawatts of electricity supply is in reserve, prompting the Australian Energy Regulator to write to power companies and generators, The Australian reported.

'Recently the AER has observed that following the application of administered pricing in the NEM, generators are withdrawing available capacity from the market,' AER's chair Clare Savage wrote.

'This behaviour may be motivated by generators seeking to avoid the administered pricing compensation process in favour of the (AEMO) directions compensation process.'

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will hold a cabinet meeting in Gladstone, Central Queensland on Wednesday, where the energy crisis is expected to be one of the major topics of discussion.

Federal energy minister Chris Bowen says steps have been taken to avoid any load-shedding or blackouts along the east coast and is confident major problems will be avoided.

'It has required AEMO (the market operator) to direct generators to bid into the market to provide the energy system with electricity,' he told reporters on Tuesday.

Millions of residents in Victoria, NSW and Queensland have been warned of possible power outrages on Wednesday night

'I do not believe there is a likely outcome at this point that there will be any requirement for load shedding, or indeed, as I said, for blackouts.'

He added there's no need for people to turn off their heaters but suggested pulling the plug on non-essential appliances and devices.

'I expect most of those things would have been turned off already because power bills are so high,' Mr Bowen said.

'So swimming pool filters, swimming pool heaters and outside lighting  There is a general request that the market is tight and if they can be turned off then that would be useful.'

The shortage of electricity comes amid soaring demand for gas and electricity and additional coal-fired power outages in Queensland. Pictured is a coal-fired station
Advertisement

You now need to be long into middle age to remember the raw emotion of those extraordinary few weeks in the spring and summer of 1982. For all those gathered here yesterday, however, it could have been last week.

'His memory etched on our minds, forever in our hearts,' ran the handwritten inscription on the freshly laid wreath for Adrian Anslow of the Fleet Air Arm. He was only 20 when he died. It was signed: 'Mum, Dad and sister.'

Thousands of Mr Anslow's comrades were here at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire yesterday to ensure that he, like all the 255 servicemen who gave their lives in the liberation of the Falkland Islands, are still dearly remembered.

Thousands of ex-servicemen and women gathered at the National Memorial to ensure the memory of the 255 who lost lives

Boris Johnson (pictured alongside senior UK defence staff and Falklands veterans) laid a wreath at the service earlier today

The Prime Minister remembered the 'incredible' achievement of Britain's 26,000 servicemen and women sent to the islands

Mr Johnson opened his remarks: 'The first thing I remember is what an incredible thing it was that they achieved back in 1982'

It was exactly 40 years to the day since British troops hoisted the Union flag above Port Stanley following the surrender of the Argentinian forces. Even today, it is astonishing to think that Britain managed to assemble a battle fleet, sail to the other side of the world and defeat a well-entrenched invader without proper air support  all inside three months.

And unlike every other conflict since, none of those involved had a scintilla of doubt, let alone regret. Every single one of them remains unshakeably proud to have been part of one of the greatest feats of arms in modern history.

Introducing yesterday's Royal British Legion ceremony, the military historian and former Falklands War correspondent Sir Max Hastings reflected that this had been 'the greatest adventure of our lives'.

The 40th anniversary commemorations included many profoundly moving testimonies and recordings spanning all the key elements of the Falklands story.

A tearful veteran appears to be moved by remarks made at the Falklands' 40th anniversary memorial service in Staffordshire

On a highly emotional day, the Prime Minister laid a wreath at the Drumhead before addressing veterans and their families

This iconic war photograph taken by Pete Holdgate shows valiant Royal Marines march towards Port Stanley during the war

They included the dockyard workers who had the fleet ready to sail in just three days, and the burly ex-Royal Marine Graeme Golightly, whose toughest moment had actually been writing the letter leaving his meagre worldly goods to his Mum.

Among the most poignant moments was a series of video tributes from the children living in the Falkland Islands today. All made the simple, powerful point that their freedom rested entirely on the bravery of these stern-faced men squinting in the Staffordshire sunlight and the sacrifices of those that never made it home. 'Thank you,' they all said. And you knew that they really meant it.

Even more evocative than the grainy TV footage of tearful farewells and air attacks on the Royal Navy in 'Bomb Alley' were the first-hand stories of those in the thick of it.

The prime minister spoke briefly about the 'incredible daring and bravery' shown by British servicemen and women

There was even time for the odd smile during today's proceedings as senior defence staff appeared to watch the flyover

A military flyover involving a British Army chinook helicopter took place during the National Memorial Arboretum service

Former Petty Officer Chris Howe received a warm round of applause for his account of being caught in a fireball after his ship HMS Coventry was struck by three bombs. He could remember having his 'morning brew' on deck in bright sunshine and thinking it was 'perfect weather for Argie pilots'.

He could remember the warnings, later, of approaching enemy aircraft as he manned his post in the operations room  moments before he found himself on the floor in shredded clothing and a tangle of wires, more than a quarter of his body burned to a crisp.

And he could remember how it was only the thought of his wife and sons which empowered him to crawl through the wreckage and haul himself over the side into the soothing South Atlantic.

His subsequent journey from life-raft to a succession of field hospitals and back to the UK remains a little hazy. But, as he concluded: 'We must never forget!'

Historian and Fleet Street veteran Max Hastings, who was sent to the Falklands as a war correspondent, also spoke today

Margaret Thatcher informed the House of Commons the Argentines had surrendered at 10.15am on June 15. Islanders mark January 10 as Margaret Thatcher Day

Afterwards, in a quiet moment, he told me of a young rating who he had just sent down to a muster station where the poor boy caught the full force of the bombs. Such enduring memories as these are why he remains a trustee of the South Atlantic Medal Association, the decoration which united all those present yesterday.

Remarkably, some of them are still serving to this day.

Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Antony Radakin, told me that there are still 168 Falklands veterans in today's Armed Forces. He was a schoolboy at the time but retains vivid memories of his mother anxiously scanning the news every night for news of his elder brother, then serving in the task force in HMS Hermes.

Helen Townend, former chair of the Army Widows Association, brought a touch of levity as she recalled taking her newborn twins to wave off her husband Captain Will Townend aboard the QE2.

'It was like a scene from a Second World War newsreel, but in colour,' she recalled. As the ship left the quayside, she grabbed the nearest thing she could find to wave at her departing loved one  a Terry's nappy. One of those twins, Felicity, was there yesterday  and is now proud to serve as a medic in the Army reserves.

Royal Navy commandos are pictured marching from San Carlos to Darwin at the tail end of the violent conflict, June 1982

Argentine dictator Leopoldo Galtieri (left) is pictured with General Menendez on the Falklands Islands during the war

This undated Ministry of Defence photo shows British soldiers recently patrolling the Falklands, which are now at peace

Fresh wounds: a Buenos Aires street mural reads: 'English get out of the Falklands', next to an image of Diego Maradona

A veteran wears patches referring to his military service during the 74-day war, which killed 255 Brits and 649 Argentines

British soldiers raise the Union flag at Government House, Port Stanley days after the conflict's conclusion: June 17, 1982

The former deputy commander of the Royal Navy submarine that sank Argentine cruiser the General Belgrano today defended the controversial attack in an interview to mark the 40th anniversary of the sinking. Above: The Belgrano is pictured as it sank on May 2, 1982

Finally, the veterans were thanked by the Prime Minister, though most of Boris Johnson's words were drowned out by the thunder of a slow-moving helicopter flypast. After which, there was a great deal of catching up to do.

Karen Manson was thrilled to meet  for the first time  the three comrades who were with her stepbrother Richard Absolon, of 3 Para, when he was killed near Wireless Ridge.

All remembered a quiet lad who never faltered when the going got tough, which explains his posthumous Military Medal.

Nearby I found John 'Brummie' Maher, of 59 Commando Royal Engineers, swapping stories with his old mate Dave 'Muttley' Wright about their nerve-wracking nights beneath the noses of the enemy clearing minefields around Mount Harriet. 'The thing is, as long as you're with your mates, you've always got that bond,' said Mr Maher, 61. 'And I can assure you that everyone here was very glad that they were there.'

Additional reporting by Katie Nelmes
The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would extend police protection to the immediate families of Supreme Court justices.

It now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The vote was 396 approving the measure and 27 Democrats opposed it. Those Democrats wanted to extend the protections to the families of court employees.

Threats against the justices, their families and Supreme Court staff increased after Politico published a draft opinion, which if rendered by the court, would essentially repeal Roe v. Wade - the landmark case that made abortion legal in the country.

The leak of the draft opinion led to protests outside justices' houses and to a fence being errected around the Supreme Court buildng in efforts to increase security.

But Democrats were unsuccessful in their attempt to add in protections for court employees.

The House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would extend police protection to the immediate families of Supreme Court justices

The legislation moved quickly through the House after an armed man was arrested last week near the Maryland home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, threatening to kill him and his family - it had already been passed by the Senate

Police officers stand outside the home of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in anticipation of an abortion-rights demonstration

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican Senator John Cornyn, one of the bill's authors, said that an amended bill would not have the votes to pass in the upper chamber.

'It's just incredible to me they said the Senate would not vote to protect employees,' House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Monday evening.

Republicans argued the court staff are little-known figures to the public so they are not in need of protection.

Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, co-authored the Supreme Court Police Parity Act with Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware.

The legislation was passed unanimously by all 100 senators in early May  just days after the leak of the draft opinion.

The legislation had already been approved by the Senate when an armed man was arrested last week near the Maryland home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, threatening to kill him and his family.

It moved quickly through the House after the Kavanaugh incident.

Despite its bipartisan support in the House, there was tension surrounding its passage after Republicans accused Democrats of slow walking the bill to passage.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has requested unanimous consent three times in the span of one week in an attempt to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. Each time his request was denied when Democrats refused to agree.

'For the 3rd time in a week, I'm calling for a vote for stronger security for Supreme Court JusticesALL of them,' McCarthy tweeted along with a five-minute clip from the House floor urging passage of the bill.

'This isn't partisan,' he insisted. 'The threat is real.'

'Why is Speaker Pelosi blocking something that the Senate has already passed unanimously?'

When McCarthy asked Thursday for unanimous consent on the bill for the second time, Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted that it could wait until the following week.

'The Justices are protected,' Pelosi said during her weekly press briefing last Thursday.

'There will be a bill,' she added, 'but nobody is in danger over the weekend because of not having a bill.'

McCarthy responded during his own weekly briefing that same day with: 'I don't know how she can say that.'

He pointed to the fact that a man was arrested near conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home in Maryland last Wednesday for a plot to kill the jurist and then himself.

'So was he not in any threat yesterday?' McCarthy questioned. 'Was he not in any threat after Schumer made his threats in the Supreme Court? Or Jen Psaki said it was the president's position to go to their home?'

'I have no idea why the Democrats have held that bill for a month,' McCarthy added. 'I think they may be playing politics.'

The Coons-Cornyn bill will allow the Supreme Court Police to provide 'around-the-clock security protection' to the families of Supreme Court Justices.

Several, including Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts, have faced protests outside their homes since the report last month showed the bench preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade  ending federal protections for the right to an abortion.

Security has already dramatically ramped up outside Justices' D.C.-area homes and around the Supreme Court building, where a seven-foot tall, non-scalable fence was erected in May to keep protesters, demonstrators and other threats clear from the building and its employees.

Security fencing is seen outside the U.S. Supreme Court

Security has increase outside the houses of Supreme Court Justices as protesters rally outside their D.C.-area homes and wage threats against the bench members who are preparing to overturn the 50-year-old landmark abortion case

Pro-choice protesters pass in front of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house in Chevy Chase, MD, as Montgomery County Police and federal marshals stand guard

A ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization will take place before the end of June. The ruling could overturn a 50-year-old precedent set by Roe v. Wade in 1973 that gave women the right to terminate their pregnancy nationwide.

Thirteen different states have trigger laws that would immediately ban abortion outright if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Following the leak in early May, Chief Justice Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the draft opinion by conservative Justice Samuel Alito and launched an investigation into the unprecedented breach.

Roberts does not support a full Roe v. Wade overturn, but with a 6-3 conservative majority on the bench, his defection doesn't make a difference for if the new opinion will stand as long as the five others stay in line.

The Chief Justices does, however, support a ban at the 15-week point in a pregnancy, which is the case brought before the Supreme Court that restruck the abortion debate.
Two Royal Navy officers who had an affair while serving on Britain's nuclear submarines have been sacked for endangering national security with emails sent to each other as part of their 'clandestine sexual relationship'.

Lieutenant Sophie Brook, 30, was considered a 'trailblazer' as the first female warfare officer on a nuclear sub. Women have only been allowed to serve on submarines since 2011.

She had even been tipped to become the first female captain of a Navy submarine.

But she and Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Stone, 37, put the secrecy of the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent at risk by sharing classified submarine movements which could have been intercepted by an enemy, a court martial heard.

Their messages contained the departure time as well as the direction, speed and depth of travel of Vanguard-class submarine HMS Victorious. All of this 'would have been useful to an enemy' and risked weakening the 'cornerstone' of the nation's nuclear deterrent, the hearing was told.

Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Stone (pictured right at Bulford Military Court Centre) and Lieutenant Sophie Brook (pictured left) sent messages containing details of the movements of nuclear Vanguard-class submarine HMS Victorious (inset off coast of Scotland)

The messages  sent to a Yahoo account  were part of a 'clandestine sexual relationship' between the pair, despite Stone being married with two children.

Yesterday the highly respected officers' careers and reputations were in tatters, with Stone dismissed from the military and handed a suspended prison sentence of four months. Brook, who resigned after the messages were uncovered and went to work at the family car dealership, was also formally dismissed and handed a suspended prison sentence of five months.

A judge castigated their behaviour, saying they had 'compromised the security of the continuous at-sea deterrent'. Brook joined the Navy as an 18-year-old in 2011, Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire was told. In 2020 she was a watch leader aboard HMS Victorious, while Stone  who has served in the Navy since 2003  was a security officer aboard HMS Ambush.

Both submarines were based at HMS Clyde at Faslane, about 25 miles from Glasgow.

At the time, they were 'in a clandestine sexual relationship', Commander Peter Barker, prosecuting, said.

'Not least because Lt Cdr Stone was married with a young child.'

In July of that year, HMS Victorious was about to set sail for operational patrol. The court martial heard that on the day of sailing, Brook sent a number of emails to Stone  using her secure MODNet account to send messages to his Yahoo account.

The Trident Nuclear Submarine, HMS Victorious, on patrol off the west coast of Scotland in 2013

The breaches were discovered by another officer before the submarine departed but Brook was allowed to remain on board. Jonathan Lynch, defending Brook, said she had been 'somewhat of a trailblazer in the Royal Navy' but had 'felt a lot of pressure' being in the 'spotlight', and had used Stone as an 'emotional crutch'.

David Richards, defending Stone, said he had been 'foolish and stupid and made a mistake without thinking to respond to her.'

Brook and Stone pleaded guilty all charges. Sentencing the pair, Judge Advocate Darren Reed told Brook her culpability was higher 'because you deliberately disclosed this information'.

Stone had been 'reckless in replying to your email', he added. 'The continuous at-sea deterrent is the cornerstone of this country's assured and effective response to aggression.'

Both were dismissed from the military and ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work.

A Royal Navy spokesman said it demanded 'the highest possible standards of behaviour from all its personnel' and reports of 'activities which fall short are taken very seriously, fully investigated, and dealt with as appropriate.'
Brussels has vowed to 'bring the UK to compliance' over Brexit as it ramps up plans to launch a trade war.

European Commissioners will gather today to draw up plans for fresh legal action against the UK after the publication of the Government's proposals to override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

In a private briefing for MEPs yesterday, Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said it was 'clear that the UK broke the law' and suggested it should be punished.

A source said he told MEPs that international law will become 'a jungle' if the UK is allowed to override parts of the Brexit deal without consequences.

'We need to bring the UK to compliance,' he said. 'And I hope our measures lead us there.'

In a private briefing for MEPs yesterday, Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic (pictured) said it was 'clear that the UK broke the law' and suggested it should be punished

MEPs were told that Britain is likely to face three separate legal proceedings from Brussels over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

But Mr Sefcovic insisted the EU was 'not motivated by ideology' and confirmed that Brussels would bring forward new proposals for easing customs checks in Northern Ireland, possibly as soon as today.

Mr Sefcovic said this week the entire basis of the Brexit trade deal will be undermined if the Protocol is overridden.

But Tory MPs said it should be the EU in the dock for its heavy-handed implementation of post-Brexit trade checks in NI that have been blamed for fuelling political tensions in the Province.

Loyalist protests in Belfast against the checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea

Former Cabinet minister Sir John Redwood said it was 'absurd' that the UK was being threatened with legal action for defending the Protocol.

'Why don't they own up to the way they have broken the law by undermining the Good Friday Agreement?' he said.

'They are the lawbreakers, not the UK.'

The Government's proposals would allow it to introduce a new 'green lane' that would avoid all checks on goods destined for use in Northern Ireland.
When Sheryl Sandberg was at the height of her power as Mark Zuckerberg's number two at Facebook, she reportedly hired a PR company who charged $30,000 a month to burnish her public image.

But, following her departure from the social media giant last week after 14 years, insisting she needed to spend more time with her family and work on various philanthropic enterprises, she is in need of their services more than ever.

For Miss Sandberg  whose role as the public face of the social media giant has now been filled by the company's president of global affairs, the former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg  had just a day to bask in progressive virtuousness before it emerged there might be other reasons why she'd left the controversial technology company.

Miss Sandberg (pictured last July with Mark Zuckerberg) became Facebook's valuable face

It turns out that Silicon Valley's feminist queen, who claimed she was leaving principally to help her fellow women fight attempts by a conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court to challenge legal abortion in America, was reportedly under investigation by her ex-employer over her use of company resources.

Within 24 hours of Miss Sandberg's rather pious announcement, the Wall Street Journal sensationally reported that she has been the subject of a probe by Facebook lawyers for months over her use of company staff and resources on her personal projects.

And we're not talking about PAs dashing out to collect her dry cleaning or pick up an oat milk latte, but people said to be working on her philanthropic foundation, promoting her next book, and allegedly organising her forthcoming wedding to Tom Bernthal, the chief executive of a marketing consultancy.

Both Facebook and Sandberg have denied that the internal investigation into her behaviour has anything to do with her decision to leave Facebook  she will be staying on as a member of the board of its parent company Meta Platforms  and the Journal conceded that senior Facebook executives often use company resources to get things done in areas of their private lives.

However, the allegations threaten to damage the legacy of a billionaire businesswoman who had such a central role in turning Facebook into a social media phenomenon, albeit one with a reputation for not doing enough to root out hate speech and 'fake news'.

Since the former management consultant and Google advertising expert joined the company in 2008  four years after its founding  to be 'the adult in the room' and help it monetise its vast and growing base of users, its annual revenue has ballooned from $200 million to $117 billion last year.

Sandberg is accused of using company resources to plan her upcoming wedding to marketing executive Tom Bernthal (also pictured). She denies it had anything to do with her exit

And her rewards have been correspondingly vast. In 2020, Miss Sandberg took home just over $875,000 in basic pay, and a bonus of more than $900,000, as well as $19.7 million in shares. Her total net worth is put at $1.6 billion.

The Journal reported that her departure was the 'culmination of a years-long process in which one of the world's most powerful executives became increasingly burned out and disconnected' from Facebook.

Ms Sandberg (pictured at an abortions protest in Washington, DC) claimed to be leaving the company to focus on activism

But the way Sandberg pitches it, she was giving it all up for the sake of womankind.

'This is a really important moment for women,' she gushed about the Supreme Court's challenge to the historic Roe v Wade ruling that paved the way for legal abortion in the US. 'This is a really important moment for me to be able to do more with my philanthropy, with my foundation.'

She also said that after struggling to juggle work and home life, she wanted to spend more time with her family.

Miss Sandberg, whose first marriage ended in divorce after a year, had two children with her second husband, Dave Goldberg, who died in 2015 after an accident at a holiday villa in Mexico.

Then, in 2019, her former brother-in-law Rob set her up with Tom Bernthal. The couple became engaged in February 2020, Bernthal proposing with a ring decorated with five tiny hidden diamonds, representing their five children (Bernthal has three with his ex-wife).

In an intimate letter to Bernthal last year, published in Good Housekeeping, Sandberg said she 'could barely imagine dating again, much less getting married' after losing Goldberg. But she changed her mind upon meeting Bernthal.

The wedding is likely to include famous friends such as businesswoman Arianna Huffington, broadcaster Katie Couric and actress Kate Bosworth.

Sandberg (pictured in Paris, 2017) will remain on the board of parent company Meta Platforms

But Sandberg's domestic bliss may well be marred by claims that were reported earlier this year.

The Wall Street Journal reported that there had been 'fresh irritation' at the top of Facebook over the newspaper's allegations that Sandberg had 'pressured' the Daily Mail's online operation to scrap an article about a temporary restraining order taken out against Miss Sandberg's then boyfriend, computer games tycoon Bobby Kotick, chief executive of Activision Blizzard, by an old flame.

The woman later retracted some of the allegations and Meta denied that any threat against the website had ever been made.

Today, Meta has a market capitalisation of $455billion but its success has come at a price and one that's been paid by its account holders.

With nearly three billion active users, many of us have clearly not been put off by the endless wave of negative headlines Facebook has attracted over the years, but the company has earned a reputation as uniquely duplicitous and venal even by Silicon Valley standards.

Sanberg (pictured in 2018) has been credited as a key to Facebook's decades-long success

Under Zuckerberg and Sandberg, the company lurched from scandal to scandal. Most notably, it was accused of running ads paid for by 'Russian actors' with links to the Kremlin during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

And it was sued for $150billion by displaced members of Myanmar's Rohingya community over claims it contributed to genocide in their homeland by not only failing to take down inflammatory posts about the country's Muslim minority but amplifying them via its algorithms.

However, the incident that may have proved a turning point for Sandberg's fortunes concerned the British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook allowed it to harvest 87 million users' private information without their consent and use this data to target voters in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Mr Zuckerberg reportedly laid the blame for this fiasco  which saw Facebook fined 500,000 in the UK for a 'serious breach' of the law  squarely on the shoulders of Miss Sandberg, who apologised repeatedly for Facebook's mistakes over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and took personal responsibility. She told the Financial Times in April 2018: 'We made mistakes and I own them and they are on me.'

Insiders say her star started to fade at the company from that point.

Her legacy could be risked by an internal probe into alleged misuse of resources (Meta HQ)

But perhaps the most damaging blow to the company  and by extension Miss Sandberg  was struck last year by one of its own: Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen provided a shocking insight into the inner workings of the intensely secretive tech giant. She told Congress that the social media giant knew it was harming children, sowing division and undermining democracy, but continued to do so in pursuit of frenetic growth and 'astronomical profits'.

Haugen revealed an internal company study that found that 13.5 per cent of UK teenage girls said their suicidal thoughts became more frequent after joining the social media site Instagram, owned by Facebook.

Another leaked study found 17 per cent of female teenagers said their eating disorders got worse after using Instagram.

(Facebook countered that it had taken steps to rectify the failings identified by Ms Haugen.)

Who, one might well ask, walks away from all this carnage, lightly saying that they need to devote their valuable time and money to fighting for women's rights? It would have to be someone with a lot of chutzpah. And Miss Sandberg, a former high-flying U.S. Treasury official who was top of her class at Harvard Business School, certainly has that.

In 2013, she published her first book, Lean In: Women, Work And The Will To Lead, in which she argued that  contrary to received opinion that working mothers had to make compromises  they could have it all, if only they were a bit more like her. Put your career first, 'lean in' to your job, and the rest of your life will sort itself out.

Sandberg, pictured during a 2018 Senate hearing, was a leading light in corporate America

While she described it as a 'sort of feminist manifesto', many women lambasted Miss Sandberg as patronising and elitist.

She might be able to afford an army of childminders and helpers, but her advice was offensively unrealistic for most women, they said. A prominent U.S. columnist dismissed her as a 'PowerPoint Pied Piper in Prada ankle boots'.

On the back of the book, she launched a campaign  backed by Victoria Beckham and Beyonce  to discourage the word 'bossy' on the grounds it puts girls down and discourages them from being ambitious.

People close to Miss Sandberg say she believes she wouldn't have been criticised so savagely during her time at Facebook if she'd been a man, and others have claimed that the conveniently timed revelations about an internal investigation into her behaviour smacks of a corporate smear campaign.

There certainly may be no shortage of Facebook colleagues happy to dish the dirt.

The woman who would take a ten-strong entourage when she visited Washington has long had a reputation for being regal and self-obsessed.

Insiders said she lives in a bubble, surrounded by confidants dubbed 'FOSS' (Friends Of Sheryl Sandberg) in the company.

She was rumoured to have considered running for a seat in the U.S. Senate and even the White House. In 2020, Facebook: The Inside Story, by technology writer Steven Levy portrayed Miss Sandberg as an image-obsessed tyrant who screamed at underlings but  like Zuckerberg  naively believed Facebook was entirely a force for good.

She had a reputation for ruthless if priggish efficiency, he said. 'It was like Wendy parachuting on to the island of Lost Boys,' Levy wrote of her arrival at a company that had a frat boy atmosphere.

It wouldn't be hard to outdo the robotic Zuckerberg  who once told Levy 'I don't optimise for fun'  in the charm stakes.

However, said Levy, Miss Sandberg 'was prone to yelling at subordinates when they did not live up to her demands' and had 'screaming matches' with a senior colleague.

He said she was so 'obsessed with her public image' that she not only hired a PR company but always told media interviewers she was 'nervous' in the hope of being given more sympathetic treatment.

In response, Miss Sandberg admitted she had high standards but disputed the allegations that she yelled at subordinates or has a fixation on her public image.

Hailed by some prominent feminists as a role model for working women, Miss Sandberg has ended up instead being a cautionary tale, say her detractors.

As she 'leans in' to new challenges, she can at least console herself that she probably won't need colleagues to sort out her private life. She'll soon have plenty of time, even for the wedding.
A totally destroyed house is pictured after shelling in the city of Lysychansk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, June 13, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which are separated by a river, have been targeted for weeks as the last areas still under Ukrainian control in the eastern Lugansk region. AFP-Yonhap



The Ukrainian military said Monday its troops had been pushed out of the center of Severodonetsk, the city that for weeks has been the focal point of Russian efforts in the eastern Donbass region.



Russian forces shelled the city center with artillery and drove out the remaining Ukrainian soldiers there, the general staff in Kiev said.



According to Serhii Haidai, governor of the eastern province of Luhansk, where Severodonetsk is located, Russian troops now control more than 70 percent of the city, but fighting for every house continued.



Once the strategically important industrial city?falls to the Russians, Luhansk will be almost entirely controlled by pro-Russian separatists, Haidai told broadcaster Belsat, an important goal in the war for Moscow.



Russia captured the port city of Mariupol in May after a months-long siege and then turned greater attention toward taking control of Luhansk Province.



Russia now controls 90 percent of Luhansk and has been making incremental gains to completely encircle Severodonetsk. Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk Province make up the region known as the Donbass, which borders Russia.



Following the capture of the city of Sviatohirsk by pro-Russian forces, its mayor, Vladimir Bandura, has deserted, after having waited for the city's "liberation," like so many citizens, according to the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, Monday.



Ukrainian forces had lost control over the town last week.



The Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk is also being pummeled by Russia. According to Haidai, some 500 civilians, including 40 children, continue to hold out in the plant, using it as an air raid shelter. Kiev is currently trying to negotiate a humanitarian corridor to evacuate them, the governor said.



It wasn't possible to independently verify these claims.



According to the chief of Ukraine's police, Ihor Klymenko, more than 12,000 civilians have been killed so far in the Russian invasion of the country.



Seventy-five percent of the victims were men, 2 percent were children and the remaining 23 percent were women, he said in a Monday interview with the news agency Interfax-Ukraine.



More than 1,500 bodies were found in the area around the capital, Kiev, after Russian troops retreated at the end of March. The discovery of mass graves and tied-up corpses in the suburb of Bucha caused an international outcry.



The U.N. has so far recorded 4,300 civilian deaths.



Meanwhile, on day 110 of the war, a top Ukrainian official released a list of weapons he said are needed for a victory in the fight against Russia.



To push back the invaders, presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that Kiev needs 1,000 155-millimetre-calibre howitzers, 300 multiple-rocket launcher systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles and 1,000 drones.



The wish list was issued ahead of a meeting of NATO?defense ministers later this week in Brussels.



Kiev says a shortage of heavy weapons and ammunition is making the situation on the more-than-2,400-kilometer front increasingly difficult.



Ahead of a possible visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Ukraine, the country's Ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk called on Berlin to commit to the delivery of Leopard and Marder (Marten) tanks.



Scholz is reportedly planning to travel to Kiev later this week together with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. None of the governments has confirmed the trip so far, however.



"Unfortunately, without German heavy weapons, we will not succeed in breaking Russia's formidable military superiority and saving the lives of soldiers and civilians,"?Melnyk told dpa.



According to the German Economy Ministry, the German government has approved weapons worth 350 million ($365 million)?for Ukraine in the first three months of the war. However, heavy weapons from Germany have not yet arrived in Ukraine.



So far, Germany has committed to delivering seven self-propelled howitzers, four multiple rocket launchers, about 50 Gepard (Leopard) anti-aircraft tanks and an Iris-T missile defense system.



Meanwhile on Monday, Macron called for a strengthening of the European weapons industry in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.



"A European strategy is good for our economy, our jobs market, and our sovereignty," Macron said at the opening of a defense and security technology fair in Paris.



He called on Europe to invest more in its own defense capabilities, rather than spending money on military equipment imported from abroad. (dpa)?


A truck has smashed into the corner of a Sydney home after colliding with another car.

The concrete truck crashed with another vehicle on Cornelia Road, in Toongabbie in the city's west on Wednesday morning.

The truck then rolled into the corner of a nearby house, hitting two gas cylinders and causing a water main to burst, with the vehicle's cement mixer seen stuck through the wall.

Emergency services are at the scene and the truck driver, a man in his 60s, has been taken to Westmead Hospital in a stable condition with minor injuries.

A cement truck smashed into a home in Toongabbie, in Sydney's west on Wednesday morning

Shocking photos show the roof and side of the home destroyed. It's unclear if anyone was inside at the time of the crash

Shocking photos show the roof and side of the home destroyed. Nobody was inside at the time of the crash.

The driver of the other vehicle was assessed at the scene.

Cornelia Road is closed in both directions and the cause of the crash is under investigation.
The lovestruck husband of a woman who allegedly ordered him to assassinate her ex-lover was caught on tape begging her for sex.

But police claim Glen Cassidy was under no illusion he would only get lucky with Biannca Edmunds if he carried out the hit on her ex lover Michael Caposiena.

'Can we have sex tomorrow night, Cassidy asked her on March 3, 2016.

'I don't know. That depends on if we're celebrating or not,' Edmunds responded.

Biannca Edmunds leaves the Supreme Court of Victoria during her Supreme Court of Victoria trial in Melbourne this month

Biannca Edmunds has been accused of directing her husband Glen Cassidy (both pictured) to kill Michael Caposiena

Biannca Edmunds awaits to be interviewed by police for the first time in 2016

It is alleged Edmunds, 35, convinced Cassidy, 51, to carry out the hit on Mr Caposiena through a mix of kinky sex and manipulation.

Mr Caposiena - the estranged father of her toddler son - had made the deadly mistake of expressing a desire to have greater access with their child, it is alleged.

Cassidy bled to death after shooting Mr Caposiena dead in the botched assassination at his West Meadows home, north of Melbourne, on March 12 that year.

In a series of phone calls recorded by Cassidy leading up to the hit, Edmunds can be heard allegedly speaking in code about the planned assassination.

For reasons unknown, Cassidy had installed a phone app which he used to record numerous conversations.

'I am completely over this job,' Cassidy is heard complaining during one call.

'Well, just finish it,' Edmunds replied.

'I'm trying,' Cassidy said.

'Finish this job and move on. Let the future be better,' Edmunds told Cassidy.

'We need less stress in our lives and I'm not looking forward having to go to Legal Aid ... I'm sick of it.'

Edmunds has pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria to her ex-lover's murder.

Michael Caposiena died after he was shot in the head in March 2016. Glen Cassidy then tried to shoot his girlfriend, but had only taken one bullet to the hit

The jury heard Edmunds had hoped Cassidy would get the 'work' done while she was thousands of kilometres away in Darwin.

'Concentrate, don't stuff up, pay attention,' she told Cassidy in one call.

The jury heard Cassidy pined over his wife while he travelled to and from Melbourne casing out his victim's home.

'I've never, ever loved someone like I love you,' he told her during one display of affection.

'It's the truth. When I'm away from you I hurt.'

Edmunds responded with cold silence.

Many of the recorded calls played to the jury revolved around Cassidy searching for signs of affection from Edmunds - going so far as to suggest having a pink butterfly tattooed over an offending tattoo.

'I bet you look beautiful,' he gushed. 'Wanna hear me drink my coffee?

'I love you,' Cassidy said in another call.

'I know,' Edmunds responded.

The pair repeatedly expressed frustration as Cassidy's target failed to return home night after night.

'Hope things go better tonight. Hope there's someone there,' Cassidy complained to his wife.

'Well it's Sunday, they probably went away,' Edmunds responded.

'Frigging annoying ... but you gotta do what you gotta do,' Cassidy said.

'I know,' Edmunds replied.

Biannca Edmunds during her 2016 record of interview

Glen Cassidy's blood was splattered all over the porch after he tried to batter a woman to death. He bled out and died shortly after.

The sawn-off rifle Glen Cassidy used to murder Michael Caposiena. Biannca Edmunds' DNA was allegedly found on the gun

Cassidy is heard telling Edmunds about an unexpected dog present next door to his supposed 'workplace'.

He had bled out on the night of the bungled hit with a bloody map found on him highlighting where noisy dogs might be located.

Police claim it was a map made by Edmunds herself.

Upon nearing the end of her Darwin getaway, a seemingly frustrated Cassidy told her he was determined to get the 'job' done.

'I don't want to leave it at all. It has to be done,' Cassidy told Edmunds.

'I know,' Edmunds responded.

'I'll have to go back tomorrow night and get this finished,' Cassidy assured her.

The jury has heard Cassidy was made to feel Edmunds would leave him should he not carry out the murder.

Edmunds was heard repeatedly taunting Cassidy on the phone about a good looking young friend of his, who appeared to be showing her interest while she was in Darwin.

Night after night Cassidy told Edmunds of his failed 'work shifts' in Melbourne.

'I'll get this job finished today,' Cassidy was heard saying.

Edmunds responded: 'I hope you do. I wanna celebrate. I bought you a present.'

'I wanna celebrate too. Friggin trust me. I'll try my hardest, you know that,' Cassidy said.

'Just don't get all funny after the job,' Edmunds warned him. 'Don't hurt yourself.'

'No that won't happen,' Cassidy assured her. 'She'll be right.'

Mr Caposiena had managed to stab Cassidy in the moments before he was shot through the head

A hat stating 'Fear The Reaper' was found near where Cassidy's bloody body was located

Edmunds is repeatedly heard telling an increasingly anxious Cassidy to 'enjoy' himself.

But by the time she reached Darwin airport to come home, her frustration was palpable.

'Oh well just get it done then that way we won't have to worry about it anymore,' Edmunds told Cassidy.

'Just go to work that way it's over and done with and we don't have anymore nights like this. It's getting to everyone I think.'

The jury heard Edmunds' was worried about Cassidy's capacity to 'work' due to his complaints about failing to be able to sleep.

'Cos you're operating heavy machinery,' she told him.

It took police years to charge Edmunds over her alleged role in the crime.

Her arrest in June 2019 followed an exhaustive police investigation, which saw homicide squad detective Senior Constable Michael Cashman interrogate Edmunds twice.

The jury has heard Edmunds' arrest came on the back of a mix of forensic evidence allegedly linking her to the crime, including her fingerprint on a bloody map, and a text message police claim she sent to herself from Cassidy's phone on the day of the murder.

Edmunds has denied she had ever mentioned to Cassidy that she wished her ex harm.

'I have never wished anyone dead,' she told the detective.

'Really?' the detective responded.

'I highly doubt it, because I'm not a psycho,' she fired back.

Cassidy would use a solitary bullet to kill Mr Caposiena before firing his empty sawn-off rifle at his victim's girlfriend, Silvana Silva, who lived to tell the tale.

The former fitness instructor had tried to bash Ms Silva to death on the front porch before he bled out from knife wounds inflicted upon him by Mr Caposiena before he shot him dead.

Before concluding her 2015 police interview, Edmunds embarked on a rant in which she denounced all things illegal.

'I do not agree with firearms around children. I do not agree with a lot. I do not agree with text driving. I have digs at people about that. I friggin don't go out and off myself on alcohol. I go and have an okay time every now and again every couple of months, but I stay legal,' she said.

Annoyed, happy; Biannca Edmunds' 2016 record of interview saw her go through a range of emotions

A text message sent from Glen Cassidy's phone on the day he murdered Biannca Edmunds' ex-lover

Glen Cassidy made a 'To-Do' list, which included 'obstacles' to the murder plot and his desire to have 'much more sex'

Todd Bookham - who did almost eight years jail time for cutting his former wife's throat and stabbing her step sister in front of her six-year old son - told the jury Edmunds allegedly confessed to him that she had planned the execution of her ex-lover.

'She was going on about how Glen wasn't meant to die and it's all her fault ... she was telling me that they had drawn a map so that if he was to go there and, and kill um, sorry, what's his name?' Bookham said.

Edmunds dismissed Bookham's claims during her 2018 record of interview.

Dressed in a bright floral t-shirt, Edmunds again was put through the motions by Senior Constable Cashman before he cut to the chase.

'This is a guy who went to jail for attempted murder,' Edmunds barked at him.

'Yep,' the seemingly ice cool detective responded.

'And you're believing him?' she asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

The trial is expect to reach its conclusion on Wednesday.

'This is a guy who went to jail for attempted murder,' Edmunds barked at Senior Constable Cashman during her 2018 interview
Victoria Police has launched an investigation into the bungled prosecution of a successful tradie wrongly accused of rape.

Daily Mail Australia revealed last month Phoenix Cooper believed he had become a victim of the 'MeToo Movement' gone mad after police and prosecutors pushed ahead with its case against him.

On Tuesday, Victoria Police confirmed it had ordered an internal inquiry into its case against the 25-year old.

Phoenix Cooper was wrongly accused of drugging and raping a woman he had simply hit-it-off with at a trendy pub. The woman's law student mates described him as 'some random'

Phoenix Cooper was forced to employ high-priced barrister Philip Dunn, QC (right) to defend himself at the Supreme Court of Victoria

For eight long months Victoria Police detective Cheree Pedler had been convinced Cooper had drugged his supposed victim, who claimed she could not remember having sex with him.

But when the results came back negative - she charged him anyway.

On May 6, Mr Cooper was found not guilty by a Supreme Court of Victoria jury of raping the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The woman Mr Cooper had picked-up at a trendy nightspot in Melbourne's inner east was supposedly convinced by her law student mates that he must have drugged her.

How else could 'some random' - as her mate's later described the tradie - have gone home with their well-to-do Brighton mate who was on the path to becoming a hot shot lawyer.

On Tuesday, the Herald Sun reported Victoria Police confirmed it had received a complaint and it would be examined.

'Professional Standards Command has received a complaint in relation to this matter, which will be investigated,' it was reported.

Mr Cooper told Daily Mail Australia he has also engaged lawyers with a view to launching civil action against police.

Last month, Mr Cooper said he hoped no one else would have to endure what he had.

'Why did nobody put the brakes on this? Why has it gone this far? Imagine you had a son and your son was in a situation like this? Or a mate? Or a brother? It could happen to anyone,' he said at the time.

Mr Cooper believes he inadvertently became embroiled in the 'MeToo Movement' - a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicise their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment.

'Look, don't get me wrong, I believe in the MeToo Movement. But this is wrong. This is not rape in any world. There are guys going through this every single day that are facing years in prison and they can't afford proper legal support and end up in jail on flimsy, flimsy charges,' he said.

Mr Cooper, who was represented by top Melbourne silk Philip Dunn, QC, said his defence cost more than $200,000.

Walk of Shame: Phoenix Cooper was chased down the road and photographed after wrongly being accused of raping a drunken law student, who was convinced by her mates that he had done wrong. Cooper is pictured with lawyer Zyg Zayler from Melasecca Kelly Zayler

Despite his life being turned upside down, his business damaged and reputation dragged through the mud, the young tradie still expressed empathy for the woman who had pursued the rape claims.

'In my opinion, by them pushing this forward, not only did they obviously put me through hell, but they put this girl through hell by having to go through a trial that she was never going to win,' Mr Cooper said.

'I mean, she was a victim too, because her mates absolutely convinced her she had been drugged.'

The jury heard the alleged victim repeatedly contacted police asking them to charge Mr Cooper upon learning the drug results.

'She's a victim. And she writes the note saying 'I want and need him charged'. She's making contact with the police, taking an active role in it,' Mr Dunn told the jury.

'Why does she need him charged ... the defence suggests because she's now an entrenched victim.'

Daily Mail Australia has sought comment from Victoria Police .
Psychedelic drugs such as those in magic mushrooms could revolutionise care home treatment if given to people at the end of their life, an expert has argued.

Dr David Luke, associate professor of psychology at Greenwich University and an authority on the science of such drugs, said they can reduce the fear of death.

Speaking at Cheltenham Science Festival, he said: I think theres a good argument for psychedelics in palliative care.

Psilocybin, the compound found in magic mushrooms, shows significant promise in studies for reducing depression.

According to Dr David Luke, psychedelic drugs such as those in magic mushrooms could revolutionise care home treatment if given to people at the end of their life. Studies also suggest the drug can help minimise depression (STOCK)

People who consume it also report an opened mind and a sense of meaning which can cause some to start believing in an afterlife.

Dr Luke said people given psychedelics near the end of their life could have an epiphany, adding: It often relates to a sense of their own existence, they get a glimmer of something which reduces their fear of death, and its often that maybe death isnt the end or something like that.

In one US study, testing psilocybin on 29 cancer patients, most of whom were in an advanced stage of the disease, up to 80 per cent of them had significantly reduced depression and anxiety six months afterwards.

Psilocybin decreased cancer-related demoralisation, according to the researchers, such as feelings of loss of meaning, hope and purpose.

People felt more satisfied with their life despite the illness, and reported greater wellbeing.

Psilocybin, the compound found in magic mushrooms, shows significant promise in studies for reducing depression. It can also decrease cancer-related demoralisation and feelings of loss of meaning, researchers say

Dr Luke said there was anecdotal evidence people may live longer after using psychedelics, adding: People have less depression, anxiety, they have less fear about dying, so they feel better able to die or feel more prepared - they feel more open to their death.

Dr Luke said psychedelics need to be licensed first as treatments and then there would be a good case for using them in people having palliative care and studying their use in care homes.

He added: You would need a specialist team, you need people who are trained in guiding people through psychedelic experiences, but theres already training out there and I think people who are already working in palliative care who are therapists would be really well suited to that.

But you wouldnt need any particular facilities.

You just need a quiet room with some kind of conducive environment - some mood lighting and maybe a view of nature.

He said: It could revolutionise care homes, which are in a bit of a parlous state after the last few years.

In one US study, testing psilocybin on 29 cancer patients, most of whom were in an advanced stage of the disease, up to 80 per cent of them had significantly reduced depression and anxiety six months afterwards (STOCK)

Hospices across the UK care for around 200,000 people a year in with terminal and life-limiting conditions.

Responding to the comments at Cheltenham Science Festival, Professor Allan Young, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at Kings College London, said: Preliminary evidence suggests that psychedelics may be helpful in palliative care.

Psychedelics may help people to work through, understand and re-evaluate previous life experiences, so they reach a state of acceptance and are more prepared for death.

Psychedelics are different to other treatments but, as with any other treatment, extensive trials are now needed to fully quantify their benefits and harms.
Climate change could trigger a surge in domestic violence against women, a new study has warned.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have analysed previous studies and found a link between extreme weather and sexual assaults and physical abuse against women, girls, and sexual and gender minorities.

The team suggests the surge in violence during these events is driven by factors such as economic shock, social instability, enabling environments and stress.

'Extreme events don't themselves cause gender-based violence, but rather they exacerbate the drivers of violence or create environments that enable this type of behaviour,' said Kim van Daalen, an author of the study.

Climate change could trigger a surge in domestic violence against women, a new study has warned. Pictured: A woman holding a child walks through flooded waters in Sunamgong

Violence increased after Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the US in August 2005. In the aftermath, gender-based violence increased, particularly interpersonal violence or intimate partner violence, and physical victimisation increased for women. A study on internally-displaced people in Mississippi also found that sexual violence and rates of intimate partner violence increased in the year following the disaster. In addition, the New Orleans gay community was blamed for Hurricane Katrina, with the disaster being described as being 'God's punishment'. Advertisement

From 2000 to 2019, nearly four billion people around the world were affected by floods, droughts, and storms  with more than 300,000 fatalities, according to the researchers.

Worryingly, climate models indicate that these extreme weather events will get even worse as climate change progresses.

In the study, the researchers analysed 41 previous studies that explored extreme events alongside gender-based violence.

Their analysis revealed that gender-based violence appears to be exacerbated by extreme weather and climate events.

The perpetrators of violence in the studies ranged from partners and family members to religious leaders, relief workers and government officials.

Ms van Daalen said: 'At the root of this behaviour are systematic social and patriarchal structures that enable and normalise such violence.

'Existing social roles and norms, combined with inequalities leading to marginalisation, discrimination, and dispossession make women, girls, and sexual and gender minorities disproportionately vulnerable to the adverse impacts of extreme events.'

One example highlighted in the study is Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast of the US in August 2005.

In the aftermath, gender-based violence increased, particularly interpersonal violence or intimate partner violence, and physical victimisation increased for women.

A study on internally-displaced people in Mississippi also found that sexual violence and rates of intimate partner violence increased in the year following the disaster.

In addition, the New Orleans gay community was blamed for Hurricane Katrina, with the disaster being described as being 'God's punishment'.

One example highlighted in the study is Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast of the US in August 2005. In the aftermath, gender-based violence increased, particularly interpersonal violence or intimate partner violence, and physical victimisation increased for women

The researchers warn that the surge in violence can have long-term consequences.

This includes physical injury, unwanted pregnancy, exposure to HIV or other sexually transmitted infections, fertility problems, internalised stigma, mental health conditions, and ramifications for children.

Violence can also further increase vulnerability, according to the researchers, with some women choosing to stay home, placing them in additional danger.

While the researchers are hopeful that extreme weather events could also increase the reporting of domestic violence, they note that reporting remains plagued by a number of factors including silencing of victims.

This is particularly true in countries where safeguarding a daughter's and family's honour and marriageability is important, they added.

'Disaster management needs to focus on preventing, mitigating, and adapting to drivers of gender-based violence,' Ms van Daalen explained.

'It's crucial that it's informed by the women, girls, and sexual and gender minority populations affected and takes into account local sexual and gender cultures and local norms, traditions, and social attitudes.'

In terms of interventions, the researchers suggest that post-disaster shelters could be designed to have toilet and bath areas exclusively for women, girls, and sexual and gender minorities.

Empowerment initiatives for women could also be adapted and applied in extreme event management to empower women as decision makers.
Alien life on other planets could be in the form of robots who have outlived their creators, according to the Astronomer Royal.

And alarmingly, that is the same fate which may befall people on Earth too.

Numerous Hollywood films have presented the possibilities of robots becoming self-aware and deciding to destroy humans so they can rule the world.

But Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, told Cheltenham Science Festival robots taking over was a possibility.

Alien life on other planets could be in the form of robots who have outlived their creators

Astronomer Royal Martin Rees told Cheltenham Science Festival robots taking over was a possibility

DOES ALIEN LIFE EXIST? No life beyond Earth has ever been found; there is no evidence that alien life has ever visited our planet. However, this does not mean that the universe is lifeless other than on Earth, according to NASA. The space agency says: 'While no clear signs of life have ever been detected, the possibility of extraterrestrial biology - the scientific logic that supports it - has grown increasingly plausible.' One popular school of thought is that our own existence is evidence that there is certainly life on other planets, as the likelihood of Earth being a 'one-off' is almost zero. However, one argument against this is - if there is extraterrestrial life, why have we not found any evidence for it? Advertisement

On alien life, he said: 'I think if we were to detect anything artificial I think it would not be a flesh and blood civilisation like ours.

'I think it will be something robotic and electronic.

'If we imagine a timeline for our Earth, it's taken nearly four billion years for simple life to evolve into a civilisation and we've had technology for a few thousand years at most.

'It's certainly on the cards that after a few centuries more - 1,000 years - we will be superseded by electronic entities.

'And they would be near-immortal and they could go on for the rest of the universe history.

'So they could go on for a few billion years.'

Lord Rees told the Hay Festival last month that humans could survive on other planets by making future explorers part cyborg.

He suggested modern space pioneers could try to modify themselves and become a mix of 'flesh, blood and electronics', although he suggested the idea of human beings moving en masse to Mars was delusional.

Speaking in Cheltenham, he said manned space flight should be left to entrepreneurs like the billionaires Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos rather than NASA, as they can send people into space more cheaply with a higher level of risk than a public agency.

Lord Rees told the Hay Festival last month that humans could survive on other planets by making future explorers part cyborg

On future private space flight for ordinary people, rather than astronauts, Lord Rees said: 'Even if the risks were high, there would be many volunteers.

'The kinds of people who go hang-gliding or do dangerous mountaineering et cetera.'

He said some people may even accept one-way tickets to space, in the vein of early explorers, and want to live in space.

'By 2100, at the end of the century, I will expect that there will be some courageous thrill-seekers who've made the 200-day trip to Mars,' he added.
Microsoft is putting the final nail in the coffin of Internet Explorer, with the legacy web browser set to retire for good tomorrow.

The tech giant has gradually shifted away from the ageing software after 27 years on the scene, starting afresh with the new Edge browser in 2015 to coincide with the launch of Windows 10.

Support for the final version, Internet Explorer 11, has been maintained, even though most people have already moved elsewhere.

By ending support, this means important security updates and bug fixes will no longer be rolled out.

According to Statcounter, just 0.45 per cent of internet users still use the Internet Explorer browser.

Microsoft is putting the final nail in the coffin of Internet Explorer, revealing that the legacy web browser will retire for good tomorrow

The tech giant has gradually shifted away from the ageing software after 27 years on the scene, starting afresh with the new Edge browser in 2015 to coincide with the launch of Windows 10. Bill Gates is pictured at the launch of Internet Explorer back in 1995

What are the most popular browsers? Google Chrome - 64.95% Safari - 19.01% Edge - 3.99% Firefox - 3.26% Samsung Internet - 2.85% Opera - 2.11% Source: Statcounter Advertisement

In a blog post explaining the decision last year, Sean Lyndersay, partner group program manager for Microsoft Edge, wrote: 'Over the last year, you may have noticed our movement away from Internet Explorer (IE) support, such as an announcement of the end of IE support by Microsoft 365 online services.

'Today, we are at the next stage of that journey: we are announcing that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge.

'Not only is Microsoft Edge a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, but it is also able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications.'

The firm had already paved the way for Internet Explorer's demise, ending support for it in the Microsoft Teams web app in 2020.

Thankfully, Edge offers an IE mode for people to view dated websites that may not load properly on modern web browsers.

Mr Lyndersay added: 'Microsoft Edge has Internet Explorer mode built in, so you can access those legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and applications straight from Microsoft Edge.

'With Microsoft Edge capable of assuming this responsibility and more, the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10.'

The news has come as a disappointment to many millennials who grew up using the Internet Explorer web browser.

On Twitter, one user wrote: 'I haven't use IE in decades but it was the browser I had for the majority of my childhood. Whether you loved or hated Internet Explorer, it'll be the end of an era.'

The news has come as a disappointment to many millennials who grew up using the Internet Explorer web browser

Another added: 'For most of the Millennials like me, Internet explorer was our first gateway & introduction to the internet.'

And one joked: 'Why am I emotional about the Internet Explorer shutting down?'

Internet Explorer, which was first called Windows Internet Explorer, was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 in 1995.

Internet Explorer was one of the most widely used web browsers, attaining a peak of about 95 per cent during 2002 and 2003.

However, it struggled in the face of competition, and in May 2012 it was announced that Google's Chrome overtook Internet Explorer as the most used browser worldwide.
Instagram has launched a series of new supervision tools to allow parents to keep closer tabs on what their child is looking at, and how long they spend on the app.

Parents or guardians will be able to set daily limits for how long their teen can spend on the photo-sharing app, and schedule breaks for specific times.

They will also be able to see which account their child follows, and which ones follow them.

Meta, Instagram's parent company, announced the new tools in the US in March, but will now begin rolling them out globally.

The company has also applied supervision tools to the Oculus Quest headsets, including giving supervisors the ability to block inappropriate apps.

The tools are designed to support parents, guardians and teens alike to browse their apps safely, and could be provided to UK users as early as this month.

Instagram has launched a series of new supervision tools to allow parents to keep closer tabs on what their child is looking at, and how long they spend on the app

Concerned parents will be able to send an invitation to initiate supervision of their teen's Instagram account after the new tools are rolled out

Parents will be able to view a dashboard showing their childs daily habits on the platform

Concerned parents will be able to send an invitation to initiate supervision of their teen's Instagram account after the new tools are rolled out.

Previously, only the teen was able to send out these invitations.

Supervisors will be able to set specific times during the day or week when they would like to limit their teens use of Instagram.

They can also see more information when their teen reports an account or post, including who was reported, and the type of report.

In addition, parents will be able to view a dashboard showing their childs daily habits on the platform.

The parental supervision features automatically end when the child turns 18, Instagram confirmed.

Supervisors will be able to set specific times when they would like to limit their teens use of Instagram. The parental supervision features automatically end when the child turns 18

Instagram has launched a series of new supervision tools to allow parents to keep closer tabs on what their child is looking at, and how long they spend on the app

Starting this month, these tools will begin rolling out in the UK, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Canada, France and Germany, with plans to roll out globally before the end of the year.

Parents in the US already set up with earlier versions of the supervisor tools will now have the new features available to them.

Instagram will also be including more articles from experts in its online Family Centre to help teens and their parents navigate the digital world.

The roll-out will coincide with a new 'nudges' feature being tested in the UK and Ireland, designed to help young people become more mindful of the content they are looking at.

This will see a notification that encourages them to switch to a different topic on the platform if they are repeatedly looking at the same type of content on the apps Explore tab.

It also excludes certain topics that may be associated with appearance comparison.

Meta said it designed this feature because research has suggested 'nudges can be effective for helping people  especially teens  be more mindful of how theyre using social media in the moment'.

The nudges will work alongside the 'Take A Break' feature that was announced last December, which reminds scrollers to step away from the screen with a notification after a user-defined period of time.

Meta is currently testing a 'Take A Break' feature for users scrolling through 'Reel' videos, where a video reminder from a popular content creator will appear.

The company also plans to provide young creators in the US with advice from experts in child psychology and digital literacy on how to create responsible content and look after themselves and others while online.

WHAT FEATURES DOES INSTAGRAM HAVE TO PROTECT YOUNG PEOPLE ONLINE? For parents and guardians: Parents or guardians can send invitations to their teens asking to set up supervision tools on their account Supervisors can set specific times during the day or week when they would like to limit their teens use of Instagram Supervisors can see when their teen reports an account or post, and information about it Supervisors will have access to a dashboard showing their childs daily habits on the platform For teens: 'Nudge' notifications that encourages them to switch to a different topic on if they are repeatedly looking at the same type of content on the app 'Take A Break' notifications that remind a user to step away from their screen after a user-defined period of time Teens can send invitations to their parents inviting them to set up supervision tools on their account Advertisement

All the new features have been designed with the input of teens, parents, experts, and policymakers.

Vicki Shotbolt, CEO of Parent Zone, which will inform articles in the Instagram Family Centre, said: 'It is really encouraging to know that Meta has been listening to young people and their parents and creating tools that encourage timely conversations.

'At Parent Zone, we know how difficult it can be for parents when they feel locked out of their childrens digital worlds.

'With these new tools, we are seeing a shift to greater partnership between families and platforms and that is an incredibly positive step.'

Meta has also announce the launch of new supervisor tools for their Oculus Quest VR headset

Meta has also launched new supervisor tools for its Oculus Quest VR headset.

Parents will be able to approve or deny their teen's downloads or app purchases from the Oculus mobile app, if they come with an age rating.

They will also be able to view all of the apps that their teen owns, and block them from launching apps that may be inappropriate.

Other features include 'purchase notifications', alerting them when their teen makes a purchase in VR, and the ability to view their headset screen time from the Oculus mobile app.

They will also be able to view their Oculus friend list, and prevent them from accessing certain content from their PC on their Quest headset.

Unlike with the Instagram supervision features, the teen must initiate the process, and both the parent and teen have to agree.

These new tools were initially announced in March but will now start rolling out globally.

There will be a guide available on how to use all the new tools and to help parents discuss virtual reality with their teens.

Dr. Sameer Hinduja, Co-Director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, said: 'With VR technologies increasingly gaining traction, and the Quest becoming a favourite product of many youth, parents and guardians will now have access to a suite of tools to safeguard and stay involved with their teen's participation and experiences.

'We're glad that Meta continues to seek out data-driven insight from scholars and practitioners in various social scientific fields to build solutions that seek to equip youth, families and educators with the tools and resources they need to safely enjoy exploring and interacting on their favourite platforms.'
It may sound like the plot of 'Fantastic Voyage', but miniature robots that can travel around the human body and dispense medicines could soon be a reality.

Researchers at Stanford University have developed a 'millirobot' that can roll, flip, spin, and even swim to enter narrow spaces.

The fingertip-sized machine is inspired by the Japanese paper-folding art of origami and can be controlled using magnets  carrying drug treatments directly to a tumour, blood clot, infection or pain point.

The millirobot could revolutionise medicine, according to the researchers, replacing pills or intravenous injections that can cause unwanted side effects.

In the 1966 sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage, a submarine and its crew are shrunk and injected into a dying patient, where they venture through his veins into his brain and destroy a blockage using laser guns.

Origami millirobot with spinning-enabled propulsion. The fingertip-sized machine is inspired by the Japanese paper-folding art of origami and can be controlled using magnets

In the 1966 sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage, a submarine and its crew are shrunk and injected into a dying patient, where they venture through his veins into his brain and destroy a blockage using laser guns

The new millirobot measures less than a third of an inch wide (7.8mm) and is fitted with a magnetic plate

The new millirobot measures less than a third of an inch wide (7.8mm) and is fitted with a magnetic plate.

It is able to quickly travel over an organ's slick, uneven surfaces and swim through body fluids, propelling itself wirelessly while transporting liquid medicines.

Unlike tablets swallowed or liquids injected, it withholds medicine until 'it reaches the target and then releases a high-concentration drug', according to Stanford University mechanical engineer Renee Zhao.

'That is how our robot achieves targeted drug delivery,' she said.

The groundbreaking design goes beyond most origami-based robots, which only use foldability to control how they morph and move.

It also takes advantage if the folding motion to perform certain actions such as squeezing out medicine  in a similar way to an accordion squeezing out air.

Dr Zhao and her team also considered how the rigidity of the robot's unfolded form lends itself to propulsion through the environment.

This allowed the US team to get more out of the materials without adding bulk.

The more functionality achieved from a single structure, the less invasive the procedure is, Dr Zhao explained.

Another unique aspect of the design is the combination of certain geometrical features  including a long hole in the centre and slits angled up the sides  to reduce water resistance and boost efficiency.

Dr Zhao said: 'This design induces a negative pressure in the robot for fast swimming and meanwhile provides suction for cargo pickup and transportation.

'We take full advantage of the geometric features of this small robot and explore that single structure for different applications and for different functions.'

The millirobot can swim through body fluids, withholding medicine until it reaches the target and then releasing a high-concentration drug

The new millirobot is able to quickly travel over an organ's slick, uneven surfaces, according to Stanford University mechanical engineer Renee Zhao

Dr Zhao is working on several different millirobot designs, including a magnetic crawling robot that can worm its way through a stomach.

This robot is also powered by magnetic fields, allowing for continuous motion and enabling it to change direction in an instant.

Methods of locomotion are self-selected depending on the obstacles it has to overcome in the body  ranging from organs to torrents of fluid.

Just by shifting the strength and orientation of the magnetic field, the bot can sail ten times its length in a single leap, according to Dr Zhao.

The new first-of-its-kind swimmer robot is among the robots that is furthest along.

The robot is currently undergoing tests prior to animal experiments. If they are successful, human clinical trials will follow.

The 'millirobot' can roll, flip, spin, and even swim to enter narrow spaces.

Dr Zhao also plans to continue scaling down her robots, in order to further biomedical research at the microscale.

It is hoped her robots will eventually be carrying instruments or cameras into the body as well as dispensing medicine, and could change how doctors examine patients.

'We started looking at how all these work in parallel,' she said.

'This is a very unique point of this work, and it also has broad potential application in the biomedical field.'

The study, funded by the National Science Foundation and the American Heart Association, was published in Nature Communications.
Stargazers will have the chance to spot the second of four back-to-back supermoons when June's strawberry full moon lights up the sky tonight.

The spectacular lunar event will see the moon appear up to 17 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than usual.

Although it technically peaks today at 12:51 BST (07:51 EDT), the celestial sight won't be visible until later this evening for those in the UK and North America.

While there is no single definition, the term supermoon generally refers to a full moon that appears brighter and larger than other moons because it is at its closet orbit to Earth.

May's flower moon was a 'super blood moon' because a total lunar eclipse made Earth's natural satellite appear like a glowing red disk in the sky, while the full moons on July 13 and August 11 are also likely to be classed as supermoons.

Some parts of the scientific community, including NASA, use the supermoon definition set by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979, who classed it as a full moon that comes within 90 per cent of its perigee  the closest point to Earth in its orbit.

Look up! Stargazers will have the chance to spot what is likely to be the second of four back-to-back supermoons when June's strawberry full moon lights up the sky tonight (Last year's strawberry moon is pictured)

HOW TO SNAP A SHOT OF THE STRAWBERRY SUPERMOON The Royal Observatory in Greenwich has issued guidance on how to capture the best images of June's Strawberry supermoon. It said that whether you're using a DSLR camera (digital single-lens reflex), compact camera or a phone, you can take stunning pictures of the lunar satellite. To improve your chances of capturing a good shot, make sure to choose a location that allows an unobstructed view of the moon. To prevent camera shake, mount your device on a tripod. If you have the option to adjust your device's settings and want to focus just on the moon, make sure to use a telephoto lens  a long lens that enables you to capture objects that are far away. Set your ISO settings to a low level (usually around 100) to reduce noise in the picture. Aim for a shutter speed of around 1/30th of a second as the moon moves relatively quickly across the sky. Advertisement

However, retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak calculates supermoons to account for changes in the lunar orbit each lunar cycle.

Under his definition, May's full moon was a supermoon, while NASA did not classify it as such.

June's full moon will be 222,238.4 miles (357,658 km) from our planet when it rises at dusk, with skywatchers told to look in a southeasterly direction after sunset to see it creep up over the horizon.

Cloud cover across much of England and Wales should be minimal this evening, although people in Ireland and Scotland could have their view obscured.

If bad weather clouds your night sky, you can still watch the Strawberry supermoon live online via a free webcast from the Virtual Telescope Project, beginning at 20:15 BST (15:15 EDT).

The Royal Observatory in Greenwich is encouraging people to submit their photos of the supermoon to win a 'brilliant astronomy prize'.

'The good news is that the Super Strawberry Moon will still appear full for a few days in and around 14 June, so there will be plenty of chances to capture that all-important shot,' it said.

'Due to optical illusion, the moon often appears much larger when it's near the horizon, so for a really dramatic photograph look for the moon just after moonrise or before moonset.'

June's moon gets its name from it being strawberry season, when the berries are ripe for picking.

The Farmer's Almanac also notes that this specific full moon has had a number of names in the past, all linked to the natural world, including blooming moon.

Strawberry moon, the last super moon of 2021, is pictured over Washington, DC last year

An almost full supermoon was pictured over Glastonbury in Somerset in June last year

Other names, often given by Native American tribes, include green corn moon, hoer moon, birth moon, egg laying moon, honey moon and mead moon.

The phrase 'honeymoon' may be tied to this full moon, possibly due to the tradition of marrying in June or because the 'honey moon' is the 'sweetest' moon of the year.

TV presenter, author and world-class astronomer Mark Thompson has previously said that a supermoon is a great opportunity to look for features on the lunar surface.

'The ease with which the full moon can be spotted makes it a great object for kids and newcomers to stargazing,' he added.

'See how many craters you can spot or if you can locate the Sea of Tranquillity where Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin landed in 1969.'

Taking photographs of the moon can be a challenge, explained Thompson, who said people are often inspired to capture their own picture but just see a tiny white blob.

'To successfully capture lunar close-ups, a long lens is a must,' he said. 'Aspiring photographers should check out these expert tips from Canon for more advice.'
A sign is seen near the Stormont Parliament Buildings in Belfast, Northern Ireland, June 13, the day Britain's government proposed a bill to unilaterally scrap some of the rules governing post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland, as its dispute with the European Union over the protocol has not yet been resolved. Reuters-Yonhap



Britain's government proposed new legislation Monday that would unilaterally rewrite post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, despite opposition from some U.K. lawmakers and EU officials who say the move violates international law.



The proposed bill seeks to remove customs checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. That will override parts of the trade treaty that Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed with the European Union less than two years ago.



Britain's government maintained its move was justified under international law because of the genuinely exceptional situation," and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss blamed the EU for blocking a negotiated settlement. The European Commission said it could take legal action against the U.K.



Existing trade rules "provide business operators in Northern Ireland with access to the EU single market for goods. The U.K. government's approach puts this access  and related opportunities  at risk," said European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic.



In Ireland, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said it was "very regrettable for a country like the U.K. to renege on an international treaty." German Chancellor Olaf Scholz echoed the sentiment, saying there was "no reason" for the U.K. to make such a move.



"It's a rejection of all the agreements we reached between the European Union and Great Britain," Scholz said. "The European Union will react to this as one and it has the whole toolbox at its disposal."



Brushing aside criticism, Johnson told reporters that the proposed change was "relatively simple to do."



"Frankly, it's a relatively trivial set of adjustments in the grand scheme of things," he told LBC Radio.



He argued that his government's "higher and prior legal commitment" is to the 1998 Good Friday agreement that brought peace and stability to Northern Ireland.



Arrangements for Northern Ireland  the only part of the U.K. that shares a land border with an EU nation  have proved the thorniest issue in Britain's divorce from the bloc, which became final at the end of 2020. At the center of the dispute is the Northern Ireland Protocol, which now regulates trade ties between Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland, part of the EU.



Britain and the EU agreed in their Brexit deal that the Irish land border would be kept free of customs posts and other checks because an open border is a key pillar of the peace process that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland.



Instead, to protect the EU's single market, there are checks on some goods, such as meat and eggs, entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.



But the arrangement has proved politically damaging for Johnson because it treats Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party has refused to return to the region's power-sharing government until the protocol is scrapped or substantially changed.



The bill to override that arrangement is expected to face opposition in Parliament, including from members of Johnson's own Conservative ranks. Critics say unilaterally changing the protocol would be illegal and would damage Britain's standing with other countries because it's part of a treaty considered binding under international law.



In Brussels, Sefcovic said the protocol was the "one and only solution we could jointly find to protect the hard-earned gains of the peace process in Northern Ireland."



He added that the EU remains open to discussions with the British government to find a solution to the dispute. (AP)


The long-held belief that life may exist in Venus's clouds has been dismissed by a new study, which claims that the unusual behaviour of sulphur in the atmosphere cannot be explained by an 'aerial' form of extra-terrestrials.

Any life form in sufficient abundance is expected to leave chemical fingerprints on a planet's atmosphere as it consumes food and expels waste.

But Cambridge University scientists found no evidence of this, after using a combination of biochemistry and atmospheric chemistry to test the 'life in the clouds' hypothesis.

Astronomers have speculated for decades that sulphur in the clouds of the second planet from the sun may be able to support life and act as a potential food source.

However, researchers said 'aerial' life cannot explain the make-up of the Venusian atmosphere and why sulphur is 'sucked out' of the air.

'We wanted life to be a potential explanation, but when we ran the models, it isn't a viable solution,' said lead author Sean Jordan from Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy.

The belief that life may exist in Venus's clouds has been dismissed by a new study, which claims that the unusual behaviour of sulphur in its atmosphere can't be explained by an 'aerial' form of extra-terrestrials. Pictured is an artist's impression of what microbial life could look like

VENUS: THE BASICS Venus, the second planet from the sun, is a rocky world about the same size and mass as the Earth. However, its atmosphere is radically different to ours  being 96 per cent carbon dioxide and having a surface temperature of 867F (464C) and pressure 92 times that of on the Earth. The inhospitable planet is swaddled in clouds of sulphuric acid that make the surface impossible to glimpse. In the past, it has been suggested that Venus likely had oceans similar to Earth's  but these would have vaporised as it underwent a runaway greenhouse effect. The surface of Venus is a dry desertscape, which is periodically changed by volcanic activity. Facts and Figures Orbital period: 225 days Surface area: 460.2 million km Distance from Sun: 108.2 million km Length of day: 116d 18h 0m Radius: 6,051.8 km Mass: 4.867  10^24 kg (0.815 M) Advertisement

Their models looked at a particular feature of the dense atmosphere, which was the abundance of sulphur dioxide (SO2).

On Venus  the brightest natural object in Earth's night sky after the moon  there are high levels of SO2 lower in the clouds, but it somehow gets 'sucked out' of the atmosphere at higher altitudes, the scientists said.

On Earth, most SO2 in the atmosphere comes from volcanic emissions.

Dr Oliver Shorttle from Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences and Institute of Astronomy and a co-author of the study, said: 'If life is present, it must be affecting the atmospheric chemistry.

'Could life be the reason that SO2 levels on Venus get reduced so much?'

Researchers used a combination of atmospheric and biochemical models to study the chemical reactions expected to occur, given the known sources of chemical energy in Venus's atmosphere.

The models included a list of metabolic reactions that the life forms would carry out in order to get their 'food', and the waste by-products.

Scientists ran the model to see if the reduction in SO2 levels could be explained by these metabolic reactions.

They found that the reactions can result in a drop in SO2 levels, but only by producing other molecules in very large amounts that are not seen.

The results set a hard limit on how much life could exist on Venus without blowing apart our understanding of how chemical reactions work in planetary atmospheres.

'We looked at the sulphur-based "food" available in the Venusian atmosphere  it's not anything you or I would want to eat, but it is the main available energy source,' Jordan said.

'If that food is being consumed by life, we should see evidence of that through specific chemicals being lost and gained in the atmosphere.

'If life was responsible for the SO2 levels we see on Venus, it would also break everything we know about Venus's atmospheric chemistry.

'But if life isn't responsible for what we see on Venus, it's still a problem to be solved  there's lots of strange chemistry to follow up on.'

Although there's no evidence of sulphur-eating life hiding in the clouds of Venus, the researchers said their method of analysing atmospheric signatures will be valuable when NASA's $10 billion (7.4 billion) James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) begins returning images of other planetary systems later this year.

Some of the sulphur molecules in the current study are easy to see with JWST, so learning more about the chemical behaviour of our next-door neighbour could help scientists figure out similar planets across the galaxy.

Dr Shorttle said: 'To understand why some planets are alive, we need to understand why other planets are dead.

For nearly 50 years experts have been baffled by the presence of ammonia, a colourless gas made of nitrogen and oxygen, which was tentatively detected in Venus' atmosphere in the 70s

'If life somehow managed to sneak into the Venusian clouds, it would totally change how we search for chemical signs of life on other planets.'

Even if Venus is devoid of life, the researchers said their results could be useful for studying the atmospheres of similar planets throughout the galaxy, and the eventual detection of life outside our solar system.

Dr Paul Rimmer, from Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences and Cavendish Laboratory, as well as a co-author of the study, said: 'We've spent the past two years trying to explain the weird sulphur chemistry we see in the clouds of Venus.

'Life is pretty good at weird chemistry, so we've been studying whether there's a way to make life a potential explanation for what we see.

'Even if "our" Venus is dead, it's possible that Venus-like planets in other systems could host life.

'We can take what we've learned here and apply it to exoplanetary systems  this is just the beginning.'

The study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
While cats have a reputation for being independent and unaffectionate to humans, many owners form close emotional bonds with their kitties.

But a new study may put owners off showing so much love to their cats.

Researchers from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul have warned that cats are more likely to scratch the sofa if they have a close emotional bond with their owner.

'Unexpectedly, in our study, cats with the behaviour of scratching furniture or destroying objects were associated with a higher emotional closeness level with the owner,' the researchers wrote.

Researchers from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul have warned that cats are more likely to scratch the sofa if they have a close emotional bond with their owner

Feline fat: Nearly HALF of Britain's pet cats are now obese Nearly half of all pet cats in Britain are obese  and it is estimated that a whopping 54,500 of our feline friends are suffering from diabetes, vets have warned. Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common hormonal diseases in cats, and the likelihood of felines developing the condition is strongly influenced by weight. For cats, a diagnosis of diabetes can lead to the stress of daily injections and frequent veterinary examinations, or in many cases, sadly, euthanisation. Advertisement

In the study, the researchers set out to understand whether the level of emotional closeness between owners and their cats affects the animal's behaviour.

'Evidence supports that cats' behaviour influences the level of emotional closeness between the animals and the owners,' the team wrote in their study, published in the Journal of Veterinary Behaviour.

'In some circumstances, a bad relationship can result in neglecting, mistreating, or abandoning the animal.'

The researchers surveyed 500 cat owners in Brazil on their emotional bond with their cat, the characteristics that describe their cat, and their cat's behaviours.

The vast majority of the participants (90 per cent) were female, and the level of emotional closeness was higher in this group than in male owners.

Factors such as having other pets and frequent visits to the vet were also directly linked to a higher level of emotional closeness.

'No association was found between the owner's emotional closeness level and the presence of aggression, excessive vocalization, or inappropriate elimination in the cat,' the researchers wrote.

The vast majority of the participants (90 per cent) were female, and the level of emotional closeness was higher in this group than in male owners (stock image)

However, the team was surprised to find that emotional closeness appeared to be linked to scratching in cats.

'Surprisingly, scratching furniture and destroying objects was directly associated with a higher emotional closeness in our population,' they added.

'Owners who did not report this behavior had a lower level of emotional closeness than those who did.'

Unfortunately, the reason for this link remains unclear.

'This behaviour could have been interpreted as expected and tolerable by most owners, since scratching appears to be corrected relatively less than other cats' problem behaviors,' the team concluded.
Catnip is known to make cats go wild, with the felines rubbing, rolling, chewing, and licking it aggressively.

Now, a new study has shed light on why cats go mad for the plant, despite being carnivorous animals.

Researchers from Iwate University in Japan have found that when cats damage catnip, much higher amounts of strong insect repellents are released.

This indicates that the cats' aggressive behaviour protects them from pests.

Catnip is known to make cats go wild, with the felines rubbing, rolling, chewing, and licking it aggressively. Now, a new study has shed light on why cats go mad for the plant, despite being carnivorous animals

What is catnip? Catnip is made from a plant called Nepeta cataria. Its psychoactive quality comes from a compound known as nepetalactone which binds to the olfactory receptors in a cat's nose. This compound triggers a neurological response, similar to how cats react to sexual pheromones. Cats will usually rubs themselves on catnip, roll around on it, paw at it, lick it and even chew it. Cats who eat it sometimes react with drooling, sleepiness and purring. Advertisement

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) and its Asian counterpart, silvervine, are common plants that are known to have intoxicative properties.

The psychoactive quality comes from a compound known as nepetalactone which binds to the olfactory receptors in a cat's nose.

This compound triggers a neurological response, similar to how cats react to sexual pheromones.

Cats will usually rubs themselves on catnip, roll around on it, paw at it, lick it and even chew it.

Cats who eat it sometimes react with drooling, sleepiness and purring.

'Even in the famous musical Cats there are scenes where you see a cat intoxicate another cat using catnip powder,' said lead author, Masao Miyazaki.

Last year, Miyazaki's team revealed that when cats rub against the plants, they release nepetalactol and nepetalactone - insect-repelling compounds known as 'iridoids'.

The researchers counted Aedes albopictus mosquitoes landing on the heads of cats that were exposed to nepetalactol from silver vine.

After comparing them with cats not exposed to the compound, the found nepetalactol made a big difference in keeping away the mozzies.

Now, in a follow-up study, the researchers have shown how the cats' aggressive behaviour around the plant helps to release much higher amounts of the compounds.

'We found that physical damage of silvervine by cats promoted the immediate emission of total iridoids, which was 10-fold higher than from intact leaves,' says Miyazaki.

Catnip and its Asian counterpart, silvervine, are common plants that are known to have intoxicative properties

When cats rub against the plants, they release nepetalactol and nepetalactone - insect-repelling compounds known as 'iridoids'

In the study, the researchers gave cats dishes containing pure nepetalactone and nepetalactol.

They found that the cats responded to the chemicals in a very similar way as they do to basic catnip.

'Cats show the same response to iridoid cocktails and natural plants except for chewing,' Miyazaki said.

'They lick the chemicals on the plastic dish and rub against and roll over on the dish.'

Next, the researchers gave the cats dishes of the iridoids, but with punctured plastic covers over them.

They found that, despite being unable to contact the chemicals directly, the cats still exhibited licking and chewing.

'This means that licking and chewing is an instinctive behaviour elicited by olfactory stimulation of iridoids,' Miyazaki explained.

The team now hopes to follow-up with studies to understand which gene is responsible for cats' reaction to catnip and silvervine.

'Our future studies promise to answer the key remaining questions of why this response is limited to Felidae species, and why some cats don't respond to these plants,' Miyazaki concluded.
Darwin Nunez will complete his medical today ahead of his 64.1million move to Liverpool from Benfica and will sign a six year deal.

The 22-year-old was in England on Monday to undergo the first part of his medical with the main chunk of the procedure taking place on Tuesday.

Sportsmail has reported that Anfield sporting director Julian Ward was in Lisbon over the weekend for talks with his Benfica counterpart Pedro Marques over Nunez.

Darwin Nunez will complete his Liverpool medical today ahead of joining in a club-record deal

The forward will sign after rebuffing interest from Manchester United and Newcastle United, with the overall financial package potentially reaching a club-record 85m.

The Reds will pay an initial 64m with a further 12.8m payable on appearances, and then an additional 8.5m linked to the success of Jurgen Klopp's side.

Provided there are no issues with Nunez's medical, he will be confirmed as a new signing, having already agreed personal terms on a six-year contract.

Jurgen Klopp is set to strengthen his frontline with the forward, who could cost 85million

That would mean that his career at the club would officially begin on July 1.

It has also been revealed that the mega deal for the star is worth over 6m per year.

On Monday, Benfica confirmed that an agreement has been reached with Liverpool.

Virgil van Dijk's 75m fee, the current record for the Merseyside giants, is set to be smashed by their swoop for Nunez, with the switch effectively rubber-stamped.

Nunez has already agreed personal terms with the Anfield side and will pen a six-year contract

Nunez represents another high-profile addition to Klopp's attacking ranks, having scored 34 goals in 41 matches across all competitions last season.

The frontman also netted six goals in last campaign's Champions League, with two of them even coming in the quarter-final stage against his new employer.

Speaking of Nunez back in April, Klopp said: 'A good looking boy, huh?

The ace scored two against his new club in the quarter-finals of last term's Champions League

'And a decent player as well! Really good, really good. I knew before, of course, but he played pretty much in front of me with his tough battles with Ibrahima Konate.

'He was physically strong, quick, was calm around his finish. Good, really good. I always say in these situations if he is healthy, it's a big career ahead of him.'

Nunez started his career with Penarol in Uruguay before moving to Almeria in 2019. A year on, he signed a five-year deal at Benfica, where he scored 48 goals in 85 games.
Manchester United pulled out of the race for Darwin Nunez after deciding against joining a bidding war with bitter rivals Liverpool, Sportsmail can reveal.

Nunez is expected to complete an 85million switch from Benfica to the Reds on Tuesday, in what will be a club-record transfer. He will sign a six-year deal at Anfield.

United were in the running for the Uruguayan striker too but withdrew interest after deeming the asking price too high, rather than being rejected by the 22-year-old.

Manchester United rejected getting into a bidding war for Liverpool-bound Darwin Nunez

Nunez is set to join Liverpool on Tuesday in a club-record 85million deal from Benfica

Nunez's agent invited United to engage in a bidding war with Liverpool but the club declined

Sportsmail understands United were invited into an auction by the player's agents but declined to engage, ensuring a move to Old Trafford was never an option for Nunez.

The Red Devils have since moved on to other targets with Ajax winger Antony and Derby County's Malcolm Ebiowei at the forefront.

As revealed last month, Ebiowei, 18, has four teams clamouring for his signature with Tottenham, Newcastle and Crystal Palace also keen.

Ebiowei's emergence was one of the bright spots of Derby's season which ended with relegation to League One following their brave fight to beat the drop after being hit with a 21-point deduction.

Derby starlet Malcolm Ebiowei is wanted by a host of top-flight clubs this summer

United, Newcastle, Tottenham and Crystal Palace are in a four-way tussle for the 18-year-old

But his short-term deal expires this month and Ebiowei, who has played for England and Holland at youth level, is set to leave the Pride Park club.

Like Ebiowei, Antony is an inverted right winger. The Ajax star knows new United boss Erik ten Hag very well following their two seasons together at the Dutch giants.

According to Goal Brasil, the player's representatives have flown to Europe to try and speed up a potential deal, with the player believed to keen on a move to England to link up with his former boss.

Erik ten Hag (left) is believed to be keen on bringing Antony to Old Trafford this summer

Meanwhile, Ten Hag remains focused on strengthening his midfield options after losing a number of players on free transfers this summer.

Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata have all left Old Trafford, with United's new boss making Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong his No 1 target.

The club remain in talks with the Spanish giants over a deal for De Jong, although they are unwilling to let him go for less than 65million.

Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong is wanted by Erik ten Hag at Manchester United this summer

Ten Hag, who worked with De Jong at Ajax, is believed to have convinced the Holland star that his future lies in Manchester as he looks to build his XI around him.

United are also reportedly interested in a shock swoop for out-of-favour Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is expected to leave Anfield this summer.

The former England star could be available for as little as 10m, with talkSPORT claiming that Ten Hag is interested in adding him to his midfield options.

Elsewhere, United have shown interest in Ajax defender Jurrien Timber, Villarreal centre back Pau Torres and RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku, who is rated at 100m by the Bundesliga club.
For millions of movie fans, Tim Allen will always be linked to Buzz Lightyear, the none-too-bright would-be astronaut that he voiced in 1995's animated Pixar blockbuster Toy Story.

And Captain America star Chris Evans admits he was a little intimidated as he took on the role of voicing Buzz for the new Toy Story spin-off Lightyear, which opens around Australia this week.

When it came to delivering Buzz's famous catchphrase, 'to infinity and beyond,' the 40-year-old hunk says he simply copied Allen's version.

Captain America star Chris Evans (pictured) admits he was a little nervous about taking on the role of Buzz Lightyear made famous by actor Tim Allen in the 1995 hit Toy Story

'I just said, "Im doing Tim and I dont care",' reports The Daily Telegraph.

'It makes you feel so nervous to hear yourself out loud  it almost feels wrong. Its like trying to say "Bond, James Bond" and youre like "nope, nope, nope  thats for someone else".'

Evans' character in the Toy Story spin-off is not quite the dimwit that Tim Allen played.

In Toy Story, Buzz was merely a toy who thought he was an astronaut.

When it came to delivering Buzz's famous catchphrase, 'to infinity and beyond,' the 40-year-old hunk says he simply copied Allen's version

Lightyear, explains Evans, is supposed to be the movie the toy is based on.

In the plot of the new film, Buzz is a Space Ranger, marooned on a hostile planet, who tries to find his way home. The character is a bit smarter that the toy Buzz.

'[Tim Allen] is Buzz Lightyear to me too  I grew up on these movies,' Evans said.

Evans' character in the Toy Story spin-off is not quite the dimwit that Tim Allen played

'So, you certainly want to use it as a template...And he did such a good job, I would be a fool to not absorb some of the choices. But at the same time you have to kind of make some kind of fresh track in the snow.'

Evans also recently reexplained the plot of the film almost two years after a tweet he initially put out was ridiculed by fans.

At the time he wrote, 'And just to be clear, this isn't Buzz Lightyear the toy. This is the origin story of the human Buzz Lightyear that the toy is based on.'

Chris Evans as Captain America (third from right) in Captain America Civil War from 2016

On Jimmy Kimmel Live! Friday, the actor explained it more clearly by using an anecdote about how the film was explained to him by the film's director Angus MacLane.

'It began by him saying, "So when I was a kid, I loved Star Wars." The first slide was five-year-old Angus covered in Han Solo gear. And he said it was his whole world, he had all the toys, his friends loved it.

'He said that when he first saw the first Toy Story and when Andy got Buzz Lightyear and all his friends knew who Buzz was, he wondered, what was the movie in their world that they saw that made Buzz such an icon. This is the movie,' he said.

Evans will also been seen soon in the Netflix action-thriller The Gray Man, co-starring Ryan Gosling.

Based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Mark Greaney, with a budget of $200 million, it the most expensive feature film that Netflix ever made.

The Gray Man centers on Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling), a CIA black-ops mercenary who unwittingly uncovers some of the agency's deepest and darkest secrets.

Evans plays Lloyd Hansen, an, 'unhinged former colleague' of Gentry who leads the international manhunt to kill him.
Jana Wendt was one of the most recognisable faces on Australian TV in the 1980s and '90s.

The 66-year-old hosted 60 Minutes, A Current Affair and Sunday for Channel Nine, but vanished from the spotlight following her departure from the network.

Wendt previously revealed how ending her television career allowed her to pursue her passion for writing.

Jana Wendt (pictured in February 2020) used to be one of the most recognisable faces on Australian television, but vanished from the spotlight after her departure from Channel Nine

'I'm ensconced in what is for me the new, and deeply personal, occupation of fiction writing. From where I sit, it is hard to imagine doing anything else,' she said after being inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame in 2014.

Wendt was infamously 'sacked' by Nine's then-CEO Eddie McGuire in 2006.

The network was forced to pay her more than $2million for the remaining two and a half years of her contract to host the Sunday program.

'The only thing I'd say I was unhappy with is that I didn't leave earlier,' she previously told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Wendt explained the job had made her feel 'uncomfortable at times'.

She co-hosted Seven's 50 Years of Television event just 10 days after leaving Nine.

The 66-year-old hosted 60 Minutes, A Current Affair and Sunday for Channel Nine

She had joined 60 Minutes in 1982 - handpicked by executive producer Gerald Stone to join George Negus, Ray Martin and Ian Leslie - and soon became one of its biggest stars.

Wendt was just 24 and largely unknown to the public when she traded her Melbourne newsreader's chair for travelling the world with the current affairs juggernaut.

In her early days Wendt was not immediately welcomed by the established male reporters but Leslie believed Stone played his 'ace card' when he brought her to the program.

'In doing so he created an icon,' Leslie said at Stone's memorial service in November 2020.

Wendt (right) joined 60 Minutes in 1982 - handpicked by executive producer Gerald Stone (left) to join George Negus, Ray Martin and Ian Leslie - and soon became one of its biggest stars

Along with Negus and Martin he had initially been sceptical about Wendt's hiring, asking Stone 'Why are you putting on this beginner?'

'We were pretty puffed up and boy did she show us we were wrong,' Leslie said.

Wendt told Daily Mail Australia about those times when it was revealed in February that Negus had been diagnosed with dementia.

'There was some quite well-documented initial combat between us at the time as Negus tried to sort out what this interloper was doing on the show,' she said.

'There was a bit of combat but we sure worked things out and it ended up in many occasions for laughter and good feelings so that's the way it's remained.'

Wendt's forensic interviewing technique and cool/steely on-camera demeanour led to Negus dubbing her the 'perfumed steamroller'.

Wendt previously revealed how ending her television career allowed her to pursue her passion for writing. (Pictured: Wendt and Sam Chisolm at the Logie Awards in Melbourne in 2004)

She left 60 Minutes in 1986 after four years and went on to host A Current Affair, Dateline on SBS, Witness on Seven and returned to Nine to helm Sunday from 2003 to 2006.

Wendt presented the Logies Hall of Fame award to 60 Minutes at the 2018 Logies.

She won the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television In 1992 for her role as host of A Current Affair.

When she wasn't working, Wendt and her cameraman husband Brendan Ward spent much of their time in their home at Whale Beach. They sold the Malo Road property in 2005 for $5.9million.

Wendt is the author of A Matter of Principle, based on interviews with notable subjects in politics, society, art, sport, music and architecture, and Nice Work, which examined people who were passionate about their jobs.

Forty years after finding fame on national television Wendt recently narrated Deepest Dive: The Search for MH370, her first podcast.
Sophia Bush is officially off the market.

The 39-year-old actress and activist married her fiance Grant Hughes, 40, in Tulsa, Oklahoma over the weekend, reported Us Weekly.

The ceremony took place on Saturday, June 11, according to the outlet, and the event was attended by multiple celebrity friends of the couple.

Bride and groom: Sophia Bush married her fiance Grant Hughes in Tulsa, Oklahoma over the weekend

The Tulsa County Court Clerk told the publication that the duo obtained a marriage license on June 8th and returned it on June 11.

The nuptials took place at Philbrook Museum of Art, which was built in 1927 and is surrounded by more than two dozen acres of greenery.

A source told Us that the reception was enjoyed at The Church Studio.

The guest list included the likes of Colton Underwood, Aaron Paul, and Bush's One Tree Hill costar Hilarie Burton.

Gorgeous: The couple became engaged last August while enjoying a trip to Italy

Sophia revealed she became engaged to her businessman boyfriend while on vacation in Lake Como last August.

'So it turns out that being your favorite person's favorite person is the actual best feeling on planet Earth #YES,' she said in her Instagram caption as she shared an image.

'Thank you to @comoclassicboats and @bottega53 for helping my favorite human plan the most incredible, moving surprise of my life. My heart. It bursts,' she added.

The next day she was seen posing in a summer outfit while in Italy. 'Turns out this whole being engaged thing is really, really fun,' Bush said in her caption.

Picture-perfect: The two were first linked together when they were spotted together in Malibu in 2020

Magical: Sophia revealed she became engaged to her businessman boyfriend while on vacation in Lake Como last August

The couple had been dating for a year and The Hitcher actress - who was married to Chad Michael Murray from 2005 until 2006 - around the time she admitted she'd be sure about the 'motivations' behind tying the knot again before agreeing to it.

Speaking on the Inside of You podcast, she said: 'I think it depends on what people's motivations are and I want to make sure, whether it's myself or one of my best friends, that we're clear on what it is we're signing up for rather than thinking we're getting some Kate Hudson and Matt McConaughey rom-com life.

'This notion that you're going to meet your person and they're going to make you so happy that you're going to be fulfilled and you'll never be nervous again and you'll never ever think anyone else is hotlike what? It's such an absurd joke.'

And when it comes to her relationship, Sophia thinks 'radical honesty' is vital.

Grateful: 'Thank you to @comoclassicboats and @bottega53 for helping my favorite human plan the most incredible, moving surprise of my life. My heart. It bursts,' Bush wrote at the time of her engagement

When asked about Murray by Michael Rosenbaum, Bush immediately replied: 'Oh, I'm not going to talk about him. I'm not allowed to.'

'I've tried to poke fun at being a dumb kid and whenever I've done that, it gets twisted into I'm talking s**t about somebody who I don't even know anymore, who's clearly a grown-up,' she explained.

'I think you have to, like, laugh at who you used to be,' she continued. 'But when people ask me about history that involves someone else ... it's not worth my time. It's not a place where I harbor ill will or anything.'
After nearly a decade of collaborating together, Kanye West fired a shot at Adidas for 'blatant copying' of his Yeezy slides.

Adidas first unveiled their new Adilette slides earlier this month, which will retail at $55, and the 45-year-old rapper is none too happy about it.

West took to Instagram on Monday afternoon, blasting the shoe company and CEO Kasper Rorstad for the slides, which he dubbed, 'fake Yeezys.'

Shots fired: After nearly a decade of collaborating together, Kanye West fired a shot at Adidas for 'blatant copying' of his Yeezy slides

Fake Yeezys: West took to Instagram on Monday afternoon, blasting the shoe company and CEO Kasper Rorstad for the slides, which he dubbed, 'fake Yeezys'

Real Yeezys: The real Yeezys slides Kanye West sold through his deal with Adidas

'THIS IS YE driving down the same street Kobe passed on. Maybe I feel that Mamba spirit right now,' West began, possibly hinting his deal with Adidas is coming to an end.

NBA legend Kobe Bryant signed a six-year deal with Adidas before he was drafted straight out high school in 1996, but Bryant bought himself out of his Adidas contract in 2002.

After waiting a whole year as part of his opt-out clause, he signed a new deal with Nike in 2003, where he remained for the rest of his career.

Hint: 'THIS IS YE driving down the same street Kobe passed on. Maybe I feel that Mamba spirit right now,' West began, possibly hinting his deal with Adidas is coming to an end

West fired a direct shot at Rorstad, stating, 'To Kasper Im not standing for this blatant copying no more.'

'To all sneaker culture To every ball player rapper or even if you work at the store This is for everyone who wants to express themselves but feel they cant cause theyll loose their contract or be called crazy,' he continued.

'Bravery is not being afraid. Bravery is overcoming your fear for your truth. This Ye with the blue paint on my face,' he added.

Kasper: West fired a direct shot at Rorstad (above), stating, 'To Kasper Im not standing for this blatant copying no more'

'These shoes represent the disrespect that people in power have to the talent. This shoe is a fake Yeezy made by adidas themselves Im not talking to DC about this either Kasper come talk to me. Happy Monday,' West concluded.

West and Adidas' apparel and shoe deal was first announced in December 2013, with the first collection dropping in February 2015.

That line included his first shoe dubbed Yeezy Boosts, which were limited to just 9,000 pairs available only in New York City... which sold out in 10 minutes.

Disrespect: 'These shoes represent the disrespect that people in power have to the talent. This shoe is a fake Yeezy made by adidas themselves Im not talking to DC about this either Kasper come talk to me. Happy Monday,' West concluded

Deal: West and Adidas' apparel and shoe deal was first announced in December 2013, with the first collection dropping in February 2015

It's unclear if Adidas or Rorstad plan on responding publicly to West's post, though they have stuck by his side in the past.

Back in 2018, when West made controversial comments about slavery being a 'choice,' Rorstad defended West.

'Kanye has been and is a very important part of our strategy and has been a fantastic creator, and that's where I'm going to leave it. I'm not going to comment on every comment he or anyone else is making,' Rorstad said in a Bloomberg interview in May 2018.

No response: It's unclear if Adidas or Rorstad plan on responding publicly to West's post, though they have stuck by his side in the past
Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and her husband of two years - art dealer Cooke Maroney - brought their four-month-old baby with them to shop at the Italian food market Eataly inside the Westfield Century City mall.

The 37-year-old Vermont native showcased his hometown pride on a hoodie while hauling two bags as the Kentucky-born 31-year-old pushed the pram.

Jennifer went make-up free for her errands and sported a white T-shirt, emblazoned with a kitten and the Earth, as well as baggy blue jeans and white sandals.

Family sighting! Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and her husband of two years - art dealer Cooke Maroney - brought their four-month-old baby with them to shop at the Italian food market Eataly inside the Westfield Century City mall

'I really enjoy going to the grocery store with him,' Lawrence gushed to Vanity Fair in December.

'I don't know why but it fills me with a lot of joy. I think maybe because it's almost a metaphor for marriage. "Okay, we've got this list. These are the things we need. Let's work together and get this done."

'And I always get one of the cooking magazines, like 15 Minute Healthy Meals, and he always gives me a look like, "You're not going to use that. When are you going to make that?" And I say, "Yes, I am. Tuesday!" And he's always right, and I never do.'

The Don't Look Up star wasn't the only famous Jennifer at Eataly that day as Jennifer Lopez and her fiance Ben Affleck were also reportedly spotted there.

'I really enjoy going to the grocery store with him!' The 37-year-old Vermont native showcased his hometown pride on a hoodie while hauling two bags as the Kentucky-born 31-year-old pushed the pram

'It fills me with a lot of joy!' Jennifer went make-up free for her errands and sported a white T-shirt, emblazoned with a kitten and the Earth, as well as baggy blue jeans and white sandals

Bennifer: Lawrence wasn't the only famous Jennifer at Eataly that day as Jennifer Lopez and her fiance Ben Affleck were also reportedly spotted there (pictured April 23)

On May 23, Jennifer called into The Ellen DeGeneres Show and the 64-year-old host accidentally slipped and called her child 'him' indicating she has a son.

It was Lawrence's BFF since 2007, Laura Simpson, who originally set her up with Cooke in 2018 - according to Page Six.

Maroney is said to serve as director of Gladstone 64 gallery in Manhattan, which is exhibiting work from artist Kerstin Bratsch through June 18.

The Real Housewives superfan previously romanced her Mother! director Darren Aronofsky, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, and her X-Men co-star Nicholas Hoult.

'I do hear you sometimes talking to him': On May 23, the Don't Look Up star called into The Ellen DeGeneres Show and the 64-year-old host accidentally slipped and called her child 'him' indicating she has a son

Matchmaker: It was Jennifer's BFF since 2007, Laura Simpson (L, pictured in 2014), who originally set her up with Cooke in 2018

Gallery guy: Maroney is said to serve as director of Gladstone 64 gallery in Manhattan, which is exhibiting work from artist Kerstin Bratsch through June 18

It's been over a year since Jennifer wrapped her role as an American soldier who returns home with a traumatic brain injury in Lila Neugebauer's New Orleans-set drama Red, White and Water - hitting US theaters later this year.

Lawrence executive produced the A24 movie also featuring Samira Wiley, Brian Tyree Henry, and Stephen McKinley Henderson.

The two-time SAG Award winner is also starring in two Apple TV+ movies - Paolo Sorrentino's Sue Mengers biopic and Adam McKay's Elizabeth Holmes biopic Bad Blood.

Jennifer will also reportedly star in Gene Stupnitsky's R-rated raunchy comedy No Hard Feelings for Sony Pictures.
China adopts targeted measures to prop up foreign trade

People's Daily) 15:25, June 14, 2022

Photo taken on May 1, 2022 shows a container vessel docking at the Qianwan Container Terminal in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)

Against headwinds from the latest resurgences of COVID-19 and external factors causing further disruption, China has implemented a series of targeted measures to promote the continued growth of its foreign trade.

In the first five months of 2022, the value of Chinas total imports and exports increased by 8.3 percent year-on-year to reach 16.04 trillion yuan (about $2.4 trillion). In particular, the countrys foreign trade volume rebounded in May and grew 9.6 percent year-on-year, as targeted measures started to pay off.

Since the beginning of this year, Chinas Ministry of Commerce and other relevant departments have guided local governments to enhance services for key foreign trade enterprises and unimpeded cargo logistics to ensure their stable operation. In May, the import and export volume in the Yangtze River Delta region that includes Shanghai, a region which was seriously impacted by the recent outbreak of COVID-19, rose about 20 percent month-over-month.

In March, Jabil Circuit (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of U.S. manufacturing giant Jabil, which is located in the comprehensive bonded zone of the Wuxi National Hi-Tech District in Xinwu district, Wuxi city of east Chinas Jiangsu Province, encountered difficulties in exporting its products and importing raw materials due to impeded logistics between Shanghai and Jiangsu.

The company applied with the comprehensive bonded zone to receive passes for logistics vehicles on March 28. The company was then included by the local government on a white list comprising a number of enterprises in order to accelerate their resumption of work and production on April 1. Meanwhile, effective anti-epidemic measures were adopted to facilitate the companys cargo logistics.

Thanks to these measures, the company was able to ensure smooth cargo logistics between Wuxi all the way to Yangshan Port and Shanghai Pudong International Airport in Shanghai.

Our companys production lines were not interrupted. So far, we have recovered 100 percent of our production capacity, said Xiao Yong, general manager of the company, revealing that the company now keeps its production lines running 24 hours a day. From January to May, the companys import and export volume soared 22 percent year-on-year.

The General Administration of Customs recently introduced 10 measures to stabilize the operations of foreign trade companies, including speeding up the customs clearance of goods that are urgently needed for enterprises to optimize their working processes and enhance efficiency.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange rolled out measures to stabilize foreign trade in April, including expanding trials to facilitate foreign exchange settlement for trade firms nationwide while facilitating the use of the Chinese renminbi.

The General Office of the countrys State Council issued a circular on May 26 to enhance fiscal, tax, and financial support for foreign trade companies.

The circular called on banking institutions to increase credit support to foreign trade firms. Besides, China would expand the coverage of export credit insurance for small and micro foreign trade firms and improve services for their claims settlement, the circular said.

As of the end of May, the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure), a policy-oriented insurer specializing in export credit insurance in the country, had insured 149,000 foreign trade firms, with the sum insured exceeding $350 billion, up 12.7 percent from the same period last year.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)




A last chance for bidders to dine with Warren Buffett has garnered a $3 million early bid, as the 91-year-old billionaire auctions a final lunch to raise money for a San Francisco charity.







The Berkshire Hathaway Inc chairman has since 2000 raised more than $34.2 million for Glide, a nonprofit that offers meals, shelter, HIV and hepatitis C tests, job training and children's programs to the poor, homeless and substance abusers.







Buffett's first wife Susan, who died in 2004, introduced him to Glide after volunteering for the charity.







This year's auction began on Sunday night on eBay and will end on June 17.







The winner and as many as seven guests will dine with Buffett at the Smith Wollensky steakhouse in Manhattan.







Almost all subjects are fair game, apart from Buffett's current and future investing plans.







The auction is Buffett's 21st, but the first since 2019 because of the pandemic.







Bidding started at $25,000, and reached seven figures within eight hours. Only four people had placed bids by 1:30 p.m. EDT on Monday, including the $3,000,100 high bid.







Past winners include cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, who paid a record $4.57 million in 2019, and money manager Ted Weschler, who won the 2010 and 2011 auctions and later became a Berkshire portfolio manager.







Steaks  a Buffett favorite  cost $57 to $78 per person at Smith Wollensky, before tax and tip. Wine costs $50 to $12,005 a bottle.







Despite having donated about half of his Berkshire shares since 2006, Buffett was worth $106 billion on Friday, making him the fifth richest person worldwide, according to Forbes magazine. (Reuters)


The co-founder of James Corden's Fulwell 73 production company, Ben Turner, says he's 'really excited to get James back in the UK' after he wraps on The Late Late Show in the US next year.

MailOnline confirmed James Corden, 43, will step down as the host of the CBS talk show at the end of next season amid plans to spend more time back home in Britain.

Ben told Variety: '[Corden] has just got so many strings to his bow, and Late is a big commitment thats taken up so much of his time.

He's out! The co-founder of James Corden's Fulwell 73 production company, Ben Turner, is 'really excited to get James back in the UK' after The Late Late Show wraps in the US next year

'Were just really excited about having him back in the UK, and all the stuff that that entails, but it is a big moment for us.'

Fulwell 73 is based in both Los Angeles, California, where James currently lives, and London, and Ben said 'its all conversations that are ongoing' when asked whether the company will continue working with CBS on its next late night offering, adding that news will be revealed soon.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for James for comment.

Homecoming: MailOnline confirmed James Corden, 43, will step down as the host of the CBS talk show at the end of next season amid plans to spend more time back home in Britain (pictured on show with Arnold Schwarzenegger)

James made the decision to quit The Late Late Show at the end of season eight despite the best efforts of TV executives who exclusively told MailOnline that they 'desperately tried to keep him for longer'.

The star and his wife of 10 years Jules are mulling over a return to the UK with their three children Max, 11, Carey, seven, and Charlotte, four, but they are still trying to 'figure out' what's next for the family.

An insider told MailOnline that spending more time in the UK when the show ends is 'definitely on the horizon'.

Another source suggested he is planning on moving close to West Ham United's London Stadium in east London.

An insider told The Sun: 'James and Jules have had barely any time to see their families in the UK over the past few years due to his work schedule. They will go backwards and forwards for a while.

'Long-term, they both want to see more of their parents and are considering a permanent move back in a couple of years.

'They sold their house in London so would have to look for a new base in the capital.'

The next move: It was reported James and Jules are mulling over a return to the UK with three children Max, 11, Carey, seven, and Charlotte, four

The Late Late Show, which films out of Los Angeles, first premiered in 1995 with host Tom Snyder. Craig Kilborn and Craig Ferguson followed as host until James Corden came along in 2015.

Corden promised to 'go out with a bang' as he informed audiences of his decision to step down as the host of The Late Late Show.

Revealing the news during the latest episode of the US talk show he said the show had 'changed my life' and promised there would be 'lots of tears' when his tenure came to an end.

'Seven and half years ago I started hosting this show and there's no other way to put it, it has changed my life,' he said.

Leading man: The Late Late Show premiered in 1995 with Tom Snyder as host, Corden (pictured with guests Julie Andrews and Kristen Bell) took over in 2015 following Craig Kilborn and Craig Ferguson

'I never saw as it as my final destination, and I never want this show to overstay its welcome, I love making it and I really think in a year from now that will be a good time to move on and see what's out there.'

He added: 'We are all determined to make this the best year we have ever had...we are going to go out with a bang.

'The fact that you watch this...all over the world...is an absolute privilege for me and every single person who makes this show.'

'We [CBS] desperately tried to keep him for longer but James only wanted to do one final year that will keep him on the show until next year,' a senior CBS source revealed. 'He's been such a hit for us for so many years, we will miss him very much.'

'It's very rare to find a talent who can redefine a long running format. His skits went viral globally, smashing records and creating the most watched online clips in the history of late night TV,' they continued.

'The biggest stars in the world have appeared on his show - which even took him to the White House!'

James told Deadline it's been a difficult decision after enjoying such huge success.

'It's been it's a really hard decision to leave because I'm so immensely proud of the show. I'm thrilled to be extending [for a year]. I always thought I'd do it for five years and then leave and then I stayed on. I've really been thinking about it for a long time, thinking whether there might be one more adventure.'

When asked if he plans to move home, James said he and his wife 'genuinely don't know the answer to that'.

'It's something we think about and we talk about a lot but we haven't really made a decision on that yet. That's the life side of things which we'll figure out,' he added.

'I love living here [in LA]. I love everything it's given. My family and I have never taken this incredible adventure for granted. Every day I drive down Sunset to work and I just think I'm from High Wycombe.'
Abbie Quinnen dressed to impress in a stylish pink mini dress as she hit the blue carpet at the UK premiere of Lightyear on Monday.

The dancer, 25, posed up a storm in the eye catching puff sleeve number which showcased her slim physique.

The blonde beauty couldn't contain her smile as she styled her long tresses in perfect waves which cascaded past her bust from a side parting.

Glam: Abbie Quinnen dressed to impress in a stylish pink mini dress as she hit the blue carpet at the UK premiere of Lightyear on Monday

Abbie, who's boyfriend is Strictly star AJ Pritchard, coordinated the glam ensemble from Zara with a pair of strappy pink heels which elevated her figure.

Adding a different pop of colour, the beauty carried her personal belongings in a light blue shoulder bag.

She completed the glamorous look by wearing a gold pendant necklace and a stunning pearl bracelet.

Looking good: The dancer, 25, posed up a storm in the eye catching puff sleeve number which showcased her slim physique

Coordinated: The blonde beauty couldn't contain her smile as she styled her long tresses in perfect waves which cascaded past her bust from a side parting

Lightyear stars Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, James Brolin and a number of other actors and actresses attended the premiere.

Chris recently reexplained the plot of the film almost two years after a tweet he initially put out was ridiculed by fans.

At the time he wrote, 'And just to be clear, this isn't Buzz Lightyear the toy. This is the origin story of the human Buzz Lightyear that the toy is based on.'

Incredible: Adding a different pop of colour, the beauty carried her personal belongings in a light blue shoulder bag

Stylish: Abbie coordinated the glam ensemble from Zara with a pair of strappy pink heels which elevated her figure

On Jimmy Kimmel Live! Friday, the actor explained it more clearly by using an anecdote about how the film was explained to him by MacLane.

'It began by him saying, 'So when I was a kid, I loved Star Wars.' The first slide was five-year-old Angus covered in Han Solo gear. And he said it was his whole world, he had all the toys, his friends loved it.

'He said that when he first saw the first Toy Story and when Andy got Buzz Lightyear and all his friends knew who Buzz was, he wondered, what was the movie in their world that they saw that made Buzz such an icon. This is the movie,' he said.

Lightyear is set for release in theaters on June 17. It will be the 26th feature-length film released by Pixar.
Less than a day after presenting a performance from the musical MJ based on her father Michael Jackson's life, Paris Jackson is heading back to Los Angeles.

The 24-year-old daughter of music icon Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe was spotted at JFK airport in New York City on Monday.

Paris was joined by her 25-year-old brother on stage at the 2022 Tony Awards on Sunday night, introducing a performance by Myles Frost, who won a Tony for playing her father.

Paris in New York: Less than a day after presenting a performance from the musical MJ based on her father Michael Jackson's life, Paris Jackson is heading back to Los Angeles

The model and musician stepped out with her blonde locks tied back in a messy ponytail with black sunglasses.

She also wore a light-brown Gucci t-shirt with a multi-colored hoodie draped over her arm and a brown backpack slung from her shoulder.

Jackson completed her look with dark brown leggings and light brown work boots for her airport outing.

Paris' look: The model and musician stepped out with her blonde locks tied back in a messy ponytail with black sunglasses

Paris was joined by her brother Prince last night at Radio City Music Hall to introduce Myles Frost's performance from MJ at the Tony Awards.

Prince began, 'A lot of people seem to think our dad, Michael Jackson, changed popular music forever. And who are we to disagree?'

'But what people may not know is that he loved musicals-- on film and on the stage. That's why we are so incredibly excited to introduce tonight's first nominee for best musical, "Mj," which, using many of his iconic hits, looks at the complexities and brilliance of our father's creative process,' he added.

Paris and Prince: Paris was joined by her brother Prince last night at Radio City Music Hall to introduce Myles Frost's performance from MJ at the Tony Awards

Paris stated, 'This number showcases that creative process as he builds a dance routine, step by unforgettable step, to one of his best-loved hits, drawing on some of the influences who helped inspire his signature style.

'So, it is our great honor to now introduce Tony nominee Myles frost and the amazing cast of MJ!' she concluded.

Frost ultimately won Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, one of MJ's four Tony Awards it won on Sunday.

Creative process: Paris stated, 'This number showcases that creative process as he builds a dance routine, step by unforgettable step, to one of his best-loved hits, drawing on some of the influences who helped inspire his signature style

Paris announced her first solo tour in March, though the tour made headlines since she signed with promoter AEG.

Paris' grandmother Katherine Jackson sued AEG for wrongful death in 2010, since it was the company who hired controversial doctor Conrad Murray.

A jury ruled in favor of AEG, citing Michael's drug use as a contributing factor to his death, and not the hiring of Murray.
Television host Sonia Kruger has told of her daughter Maggie's adorable reaction to her Gold Logie nomination.

After showing a picture of the prize to her seven-year-old and explaining what a Gold Logie was, Maggie asked her mother whether she was going to bring one home.

'I'm like, "Sweetheart, it's just fun to be in the competition but I hope so!"' Sonia said.

Television host Sonia Kruger has told of her daughter Maggie's adorable reaction to her Gold Logie nomination

The Channel Seven star recounted the heart-warming story in an interview with TV Week, published on Monday.

Sonia, 56, is one of Australia's most recognised TV personalities over the last 20 years, and says she still finds the nomination hard to believe.

'I'm totally chuffed,' the Voice host gushed.

Elsewhere in the chat, Sonia said she was not about to start a campaign to win.

'I'm chuffed,' Sonia said of her Logie nomination for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television. (Pictured on the red carpet at the 2019 Logies at The Star Gold Coast)

'I've seen other people campaigning in the past, like [Sunrise weatherman] Sam Mac, who is just hilarious. And anything Tom [Gleeson, who won the Gold Logie in 2019], does is funny. I think I'd need others to campaign on my behalf.'

Sonia is up against Today host Karl Stefanovic, Tom Gleeson of Hard Quiz, Home and Away actor Ray Meagher, I'm a Celebrity presenter Julia Morris, MasterChef judge Melissa Leong and television funnyman Hamish Blake.

'I'm so flattered to even be in this group, because they're all super- talented,' she said.

Sonia, 56, is one of Australia's most recognised TV personalities over the last 20 years, and says she still finds the nomination hard to believe

Sonia, who's hosted shows like Big Brother Australia, The Voice and Dancing with the Stars, told TV Tonight on Monday the recognition was 'a long time coming'.

She noted that most of the male nominees have already taken home a Gold Logie in the past, and insisted the women deserve a chance this year.

'It's high time for one of the girls to get a turn,' she added.

'And it's not a popularity contest but I did host every show on Channel Seven last year and deserve it more than everyone else,' she joked.

Sonia also claimed veteran Home And Away star Ray Meagher should earn the award if she doesn't win.

The 62nd TV Week Logie Awards air this Sunday, June 19 from 7pm on Nine.
Love Island viewers were left in stitches on Monday night when Davide Sanclimenti interrupted Ekin-Su Culculoglu and Jacques O'Neill's flirting to bring them snacks and refreshments.

The Italian Stallion, 27, had repeatedly said that he did not care that his current partner was flirting with new arrival.

So, when the pair were getting comfortable later on, Davide decided to have a bit of fun and played waiter for the actress, 27, and rugby player, 23.

Hilarious: Love Island viewers were left in stitches on Monday night when Davide Sanclimenti interrupted Ekin-Su Culculoglu and Jacques O'Neill's flirting to bring them snacks and refreshments

As Ekin-Su was saying to Jacques that she would rather be in bed with him than with Davide, the man himself arrived with some crisps and drinks.

He said: 'Guys it's getting late, so I thought you guys are hungry, so I'm gonna leave some chips. Just some water, in case you're thirsty. I'll see you tomorrow.'

Viewers were in hysterics over the move, and rushed to Twitter to praise Davide.

Unbothered: The Italian Stallion, 27, had repeatedly said that he did not care that his current partner was flirting with new arrival

One fan wrote: 'davide walking over with the snacks and drinks during ekin-sus chat was the funniest thing hes done so far #LoveIsland maybe he does have a personality outside of being italian'.

Another echoed: 'Davide bringing over snacks and drinks so Jacques can have refreshments while stealing his gal is hilarious #loveisland'.

A third added: 'I aspire to Davide's level of pettiness'.

Flirting up a storm: As Ekin-Su was saying to Jacques that she would rather be in bed with him than with Davide, the man himself arrived with some crisps and drinks

While a fourth agreed, saying: 'Davide bringing snacks and drinks to Ekin-Su and Jacques is the best thing Ive seen all season #LoveIsland'.

A fifth compared Davide to Regina George's mum in Mean Girls, tweeting: 'Davide really said do you guys need anything, some snacks, condoms, let me know! I am HOWLING #loveisland'.

Davide later put the moves on Ekin-Su to win back her affections, making her breakfast the next morning and swooping in for a passionate kiss later in the evening.

Meanwhile, Jacques chose to recouple with Paige Thorne, 24, leaving 25-year-old Afia Tonkmor single and therefore dumped from the Island.

Hysterical: Viewers were in hysterics over the move, and rushed to Twitter to praise Davide

Smooch: Davide later put the moves on Ekin-Su to win back her affections, making her breakfast the next morning and swooping in for a passionate kiss later in the evening
They announced their split in January 2021 after 29 years of marriage.

But it seems Simon Baker and his ex-wife Rebecca Rigg are well and truly on good terms.

The 52-year-old actor was seen enjoying lunch with Rebecca, an Australian actress, in New York City on Friday.

The Mentalist star Simon Baker enjoyed lunch with his ex-wife Rebecca Rigg in New York City on Friday, two years after their marriage split

Simon kept things casual in blue jeans and green buttoned shirt for the outing.

He wore sunglasses as he chatted to his ex-wife and another woman after arriving to the establishment.

Rebecca also kept things casual in white jeans and a grey T-shirt for the lunch.

Simon kept things casual in blue jeans and green buttoned shirt for the outing

He wore sunglasses as he chatted to his ex-wife and another woman after arriving to the establishment

Rebecca also kept things casual in white jeans and a grey T-short for the lunch

Simon and Rebecca announced their split after 29 years of marriage in January 2021, having quietly separated some time in 2020.

'We remain close friends and our three children will always be the most important focus of our lives,' the pair said in a joint statement to People magazine.

Simon first met Rebecca in the early '90s and the former couple share three children together, Stella, 28, Claude, 23, and Harry, 20.

The pair tied the knot in 1998 after five years of living together.

Simon and Rebecca announced their split after 29 years of marriage in January 2021, having quietly separated some time in 2020

'We remain close friends and our three children will always be the most important focus of our lives,' the pair said in a joint statement to People magazine

Simon and Rebecca are pictured together in Sydney back in 2018, before their split

Speaking to People Magazine in 2018 about their marriage and why they never celebrated their wedding anniversary, Simon said: 'We've never really been big on it. Anniversaries, they're an odd thing, aren't they?'

'I think we put too much pressure on it. It's not like that with us. We're a team. Most of the time, 99 percent of the time, we're really great friends. So I don't need to mark it with great things.'

He went on: 'When we put too much pressure on something, everything gets a little clipped and we don't feel like we're ourselves.'

'And I think the most important thing in our relationship is that we're both able to be ourselves. I think it's probably the most important thing in most relationships, isn't it?'

Simon first met Rebecca in the early '90s and the former couple share three children together, Stella, 28, Claude, 23, and Harry, 20
Fifty Shades alum Dakota Johnson stepped out in Lower Manhattan on Monday wearing the fashion equivalent of a mullet - business up front with a party in the back.

Stylist Kate Young selected the Texan-born 32-year-old's white blazer mini-dress, which featured a bejeweled spine and rib cage.

Dakota toted a gold chain-strapped black purse and wore silver-tipped ankle strap stilettos as she left dinner at Tiny's.

Werrrk! Fifty Shades alum Dakota Johnson stepped out in Lower Manhattan on Monday wearing the fashion equivalent of a mullet - business up front with a party in the back

Johnson then attended the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Cha Cha Real Smooth, which starts streaming this Friday on Apple TV+.

The Lost Daughter star flaunted her 'Amor' neck tattoo thanks to the tidy top bun with fringe coiffed by hairstylist Mark Townsend.

Make-up artist Hung Vanngo brought out Dakota's baby blues and applied her peachy blush and mauve pout as she posed outside the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

Johnson produced and starred as Domino, a single mother of an autistic daughter called Lola (Vanessa Burghardt), in the New Jersey-set dramedy.

Back it up! Stylist Kate Young selected the Texan-born 32-year-old's white blazer mini-dress, which featured a bejeweled spine and rib cage

Leggy lady: Dakota toted a gold chain-strapped black purse and wore silver-tipped ankle strap stilettos as she left dinner at Tiny's

Red carpet time! Johnson then attended the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Cha Cha Real Smooth, which starts streaming this Friday on Apple TV+

Love: The Lost Daughter star flaunted her 'Amor' neck tattoo thanks to the tidy top bun with fringe coiffed by hairstylist Mark Townsend

Ready for her close-up! Make-up artist Hung Vanngo brought out Dakota's baby blues and applied her peachy blush and mauve pout as she posed outside the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center

Cooper Raiff wrote, directed, and starred as Andrew, a 22-year-old college grad who works as a Bar Mitzvah party host.

The 25-year-old triple threat - sporting a burly beard and a grey suit sans necktie - won the Audience Award for dramatic competition when Cha Cha Real Smooth premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23.

The Independent Spirit Award winner made sure to pose with one of her fellow producers, Ro Donnelly, who matched her in an off-white mini-dress.

Dakota also jumped into a group shot alongside Matt Dentler, Eric Feig, Cooper Raiff, Ro Donnelly, Vanessa Burghardt, Evan Assante, Brad Garrett, Colton Osorio, Odeya Rush, Kelly O'Sullivan, and Raul Castillo.

Double duty: Johnson produced and starred as Domino, a single mother of an autistic daughter called Lola (L, Vanessa Burghardt), in the New Jersey-set dramedy

Scored a $15M distribution deal! Cooper Raiff (M) wrote, directed, and starred as Andrew, a 22-year-old college grad who works as a Bar Mitzvah party host

Johnson will also play Anne Elliot in Carrie Cracknell's big-screen adaptation of Jane Austen's 1818 novel Persuasion, which premieres July 15 on Netflix.

And the TeaTime Pictures co-founder joined the MCU with her role as Cassandra Webb in S.J. Clarkson's 2023 Spider-Man spin-off Madame Web for Sony Pictures.

Missing from Dakota's side on Monday was her boyfriend since 2017 - Coldplay frontman Chris Martin - who's bringing his seven-time Grammy-winning band to Florida's Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Tuesday.

Johnson famously comes from a showbiz family consisting of grandmother Tippi Hedren, mother Melanie Griffith, and father Don Johnson.

Man of the hour! The 25-year-old triple threat - sporting a burly beard and a grey suit sans necktie - won the Audience Award for dramatic competition when Cha Cha Real Smooth premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23

Hey girl! The Independent Spirit Award winner made sure to pose with one of her fellow producers, Ro Donnelly, who matched her in an off-white mini-dress

Say cheese! Dakota also jumped into a group shot alongside (from L-R) Matt Dentler, Eric Feig, Cooper Raiff, Ro Donnelly, Vanessa Burghardt, Evan Assante, Brad Garrett, Colton Osorio, Odeya Rush, Kelly O'Sullivan, and Raul Castillo

Newlyweds! Three-time Emmy winner Brad Garrett - who plays Andrew's stepfather Greg - brought along his second wife IsaBeall Quella whom he wed on November 11

Three-time Emmy winner Brad Garrett - who plays Andrew's stepfather Greg - brought along his second wife IsaBeall Quella whom he wed on November 11.

The youngest men suiting up for the premiere were Evan Assante, who plays Andrew's little brother David, and Colton Osorio, who plays Rodrigo in the film.

Newcomer Vanessa Burghardt - who plays Domino's autistic daughter Lola - opted for a psychedelic puff-sleeved midi-dress with rainbow platform heels.

I heart NY! The youngest men suiting up for the premiere were Evan Assante (L), who plays Andrew's little brother David, and Colton Osorio (R), who plays Rodrigo in the film

Yellow submarine inspired: Newcomer Vanessa Burghardt - who plays Domino's autistic daughter Lola - opted for a psychedelic puff-sleeved midi-dress with rainbow platform heels

Menswear looks: Suiting up were Lady Bird alum Odeya Rush (L) and Sirens alum Kelly O'Sullivan (R), who play the characters Macy and Bella respectively

Linen look: Hustle actor Raul Castillo - who plays Domino's attorney boyfriend Joseph - looked sharp in a beige suit over a white top and brown loafers

NYU Tisch grad! The Many Saints of Newark star Michael Gandolfini - whose famous father James Gandolfini died in 2013 - wore a seventies retro orange floral top with his black suit

Suiting up were Lady Bird alum Odeya Rush and Sirens alum Kelly O'Sullivan, who play the characters Macy and Bella respectively.

Hustle actor Raul Castillo - who plays Domino's attorney boyfriend Joseph - looked sharp in a beige suit over a white top and brown loafers.

The Many Saints of Newark star Michael Gandolfini - whose famous father James Gandolfini died in 2013 - wore a seventies retro orange floral top with his black suit.

New League: A League Of Their Own's Roberta Colindrez hits the red carpet at the 2022 Tribeca Film Fest premiere

Chante and Abbi: Chante Adams poses with Abbi Jacobson at the 2022 Tribeca Film Fest premiere of A League of Their Own

Stars: Roberta Colindrez, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Abbi Jacobson, Chante Adams, Lea Robinson and D'Arcy Carden attend the 2022 Tribeca Film Fest premiere of A League of Their Own

More stars: Cast and crew D'Arcy Carden, Hailey Wierengo, Desta Tedros Reff, Abbi Jacobson, Maybelle Blair, Roberta Colindrez, Will Graham, Chante Adams, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Lea Robinson and Jamie Babbitt attend the 2022 Tribeca Film Fest premiere of A League of Their Own

Abbi: Maybelle and Will: Abbi Jacobson and Maybelle Blair poses with director Will Graham at the 2022 Tribeca Film Fest premiere of A League of Their Own

D'Arcy: D'Arcy Carden poses on the red carpet at the the 2022 Tribeca Film Fest premiere of A League of Their Own

Maybelle: Maybelle Blair, 95, one of the original members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, hits the red carpet at the 2022 Tribeca Film Fest premiere of A League of Their Own

Gbemisola: Gbemisola Ikumelo attends the 2022 Tribeca Film Fest premiere of A League of Their Own

Abbi: Abbi Jacobson hits the red carpet at the 2022 Tribeca Film Fest premiere of A League of Their Own

Laurence arrives: Laurence Fishburne arrives at the red carpet of The Cave of Adullam premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival

Laurence and Jesse: Laurence Fishburne poses with Jesse Williams on the red carpet at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival

Jesse: Jesse Williams stepped out at the premiere of The Cave of Adullam at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival

Nicole and Jason: Nicole and Jason Wilson arrive at The Cave of Adullam premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival

Troian and Patrick: Troian Bellisario and Patrick Adams hit the red carpet at the Broadway Rising premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival
Elsa Pataky is appreciating the 'little moments' in life.

The Spanish actress, 45, shared a photo to Instagram on Tuesday of herself with husband Chris Hemsworth, 38, as they enjoyed a sunset stroll along the beach while their children swam in the ocean.

'The little moments make my life big,' Elsa wrote in the caption, adding the hashtag #SunsetKidsAndFamily. She also translated her caption to Spanish.

Elsa Pataky shared a photo to Instagram on Tuesday of herself with husband Chris Hemsworth as they enjoyed a sunset stroll along the beach while their children swam in the ocean

The Thor star and his wife wrapped up warm in jumpers as they posed for a selfie on the sand while supervising their kids in the surf.

Elsa also posted a video of their children, India Rose, 10, and twins Tristan and Sasha, eight, clutching their boogie boards in the shallow bank of the shore.

Rather than catching the whitewash back to the beach, the kids appeared to crash into the barrel of the wave, with one of the boys giving a thumbs-up as they waded through the water.

Fans praised the family in the comments section, pointing out how 'happy' Elsa and Chris looked in the snap.

The Hemsworth children enjoyed playing in the waves at the beach at sunset

One of the twins gave an encouraging thumbs-up after crashing into the wave.

'Look how beautifully refreshed and happy you both look !' one follower wrote. 'Just so lovely and in love.'

'Beautiful family,' another commented.

The Hemsworths live in a $30million mansion in Broken Head, near the beachside town of Byron Bay in northern New South Wales.

Chris and Elsa are parents to three children under the age of 10, daughter India Rose and twin sons Tristan and Sasha (all pictured)

In a recent interview, the Aussie actor said he was building his dream life with his family of five.

'Life is sweet. It is great and I couldn't be happier,' he told The Sunday Telegraph.

'If you had have said or asked me 10 years ago where I would like to be, this is it.'

Elsa and Chris have been married since 2010 and welcomed their first child two years later.

The Hemsworths live in a $30million mansion in Broken Head, near the beachside town of Byron Bay in northern New South Wales

Elsa returned to acting this year after her husband encouraged her following her decision to take time off to raise their children.

'He's said to me how difficult it must have been to put aside my career, in a way, to be with the kids,' she told Stellar last month.

'He's been a major help in every way, just to get back to work and helping me because he knows how much I love it.'
The former producing partner of acclaimed Australian TV presenter Andrew Denton has revealed how their working relationship imploded.

Anita Jacoby, who worked with Denton on the top-rating ABC chat show Enough Rope (2003-2008), says in her new memoir she sometimes ended up on the receiving end of the funnyman's bad temper.

Jacoby, a former producer for 60 Minutes and Good Morning Australia, had a great working relationship with Denton, 62, but things soured between them when she decided to part company.

The former producing partner of acclaimed Australian TV presenter Andrew Denton (pictured on Enough Rope) has revealed how their working relationship imploded

The partners fell out in 2012 when Denton merged his company Zapruder's Other Films with TV producers Cordell Jigsaw.

Before that point, the Zapruder's team was responsible for a series of popular original shows over an 11-year period.

They included ABC programs Elders with Andrew Denton, The Gruen Transfer (later Gruen), Hungry Beast and Channel 10 panel show Can of Worms, among others.

But it was Enough Rope that became a classic with its line-up of celebrity guests, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton, Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Carrey.

Anita Jacoby, who worked with Denton on the top-rating ABC chat show Enough Rope (2003-2008), says in her new memoir she sometimes ended up on the receiving end of the funnyman's bad temper. (Picture: Denton and Jacoby at the AFI Awards in October 2004)

At the time of their rift, Jacoby said she was resigning from Denton's company as managing director for health and family reasons, reports TV Tonight.

Jacoby now says in her book Secrets Beyond the Screen that she could not work in the combined operation because it meant being 'relegated down the food chain'.

Denton was apparently unhappy with Jacoby's decision.

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton (pictured in 2014) was one of the many prominent figures interviewed by Denton on Enough Rope during its run on the ABC between 2003 and 2008

She writes in her book: 'This led to a major falling out with Andrew.

'He wanted out and I was to be the key continuity person with the corporate memory, the one to ensure the Zapruder culture remained alive and strong under the new ownership structure.

'I dont think Andrew appreciated how the change from merger to acquisition would impact my role.'

Jacoby said Denton (pictured with his late father, Kit Denton) had a darker side

Jacoby says of working with Denton: 'Great comedians and satirists often have a darker side to them.

'Andrew has talked publicly about the anger he grew up with, courtesy of his father, author Kit Denton.

'I was sometimes on the receiving end of that anger. If he went too far for my comfort he would usually apologise  but not always.'

Andrew Denton us seen here in April 2021

After leaving Zapruder's Other Films, Jacoby ran ITV Australia and sold the quiz show format The Chase to Channel Seven and the reality TV franchise I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! to Channel 10.

Jacoby is now Chair of the ABC's Advisory Council and is an Associate Member of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Secrets Beyond the Screen is out now
American talk show host Whoopi Goldberg has slammed an Australian newspaper for attempting to 'out' Rebel Wilson before she went public with her new girlfriend Ramona Agruma on Friday.

Sydney Morning Herald columnist Andrew Hornery published a column on Saturday in which he hit out at Wilson's decision to 'gazump' his scoop, arguing he'd found out about the relationship and was going to publish a story about it.

Goldberg said on The View: 'There's a lot of speculation that Rebel came out to get ahead of a tabloid story in the Sydney Morning Herald about her relationship.

The View's Whoopi Goldberg (pictured) has slammed an Australian newspaper for attempting to 'out' Rebel Wilson before she went public with her new girlfriend Ramona Agruma

'Now, the man who wrote it even apologised, saying it was "never his intention to out her" Well, you know that's not true.'

She continued: 'If it wasn't your intention, you wouldn't have done it. If you didn't want to do it, you shouldn't have done it. You knew exactly what you were doing.'

The View co-host Sara Haines then weighed in, pointing out that Hornery is gay himself and therefore should have known better.

'You'd think he'd have a unique empathy to how people come to those decisions when they're ready,' she said.

Sydney Morning Herald columnist Andrew Hornery published a column on Saturday in which he hit out at Wilson's decision to 'gazump' his scoop, arguing he'd found out about the relationship and was going to publish a story about it. (Pictured: Wilson and Ramona Agruma)

'If it wasn't your intention [to out Wilson] you wouldn't have done it,' a furious Goldberg said on The View this week

Haines went on to say she personally 'wouldn't trust' the media with such a sensitive story.

'It's sad that they're in this situation that they have to release these things they're not ready to talk about, but I think that's the better way to own the narrative,' she said.

'I would not give a quote or talk to a place that's forcing me to tell a story that I'm not ready to tell.'

Sunny Hostin agreed, calling the entire situation 'horrible'.

The View co-host Sara Haines (pictured) then weighed in, pointing out that Hornery is gay himself and therefore should have known better

Sunny Hostin (pictured) agreed with her co-hosts, calling the entire situation 'horrible'

It comes after Hornery apologised for the 'tone' of his controversial Rebel Wilson article, and said it was never his intention to 'inflict pain' when he reached out to ask about her new relationship with Ramona Agruma.

Hornery admitted he had learned some new and difficult lessons from the scandal.

'I genuinely regret that Rebel has found this hard. That was never my intention. But I see she has handled it all with extraordinary grace,' he wrote in a column that replaced Sunday's article online.

'As a gay man I'm well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts. The last thing I would ever want to do is inflict that pain on someone else.'

It comes after Hornery (pictured) apologised for the 'tone' of his controversial Rebel Wilson article, and said it was never his intention to 'inflict pain' when he reached out to ask about her new relationship with Ramona Agruma

Hornery said he thought his article would be a 'happy story' after seeing several months of photos of the couple together on Wilson's Instagram page.

'I assumed there was a good chance she might be happy to discuss it,' he explained.

'She had already revealed a month ago that she had been dating and was very happy.'

The gossip columnist said he never meant his request for comment to be a threat, but rather to 'make it clear' that he was 'sufficiently confident with his information and to open a conversation'.
Rebel Wilson has been skewered by Australia's most ruthless comedians, just days after the actress went public with her new girlfriend Ramona Agruma.

The 42-year-old was the subject of several jokes on Monday's episode of Have You Been Paying Attention? after quizmaster Tom Gleisner asked the panel to explain why Wilson was in the headlines last week.

'What is Rebel's happy news?' Gleisner asked, prompting comedian Tony Martin to cheekily respond: 'She's not going to be making any more films?'

Rebel Wilson (right) has been sledged by Australia's most ruthless comedians, just days after the actress went public with her new girlfriend Ramona Agruma (left)

'Very unkind. Rebel is very popular,' Gleisner replied in mock outrage.

'Tony, she's a national treasure!' interrupted panellist Sam Pang.

Guy Montgomery then buzzed in to say: 'After a long phase of rebelling against the system, she's found inner peace and will now be called Compliant Wilson.'

Anne Edmonds finally offered the correct answer, saying: 'She's got a girlfriend.'

'What is Rebel's happy news?' quizmaster Tom Gleisner asked, prompting comedian Tony Martin (back row, left) to cheekily respond: 'She's not going to be making any more films?'

Wilson came out on Friday by sharing a photo of herself and Agruma, 38, posing for a couple selfie on Instagram.

The Pitch Perfect star captioned her post: 'I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince... but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess.'

Although Friday marked Wilson and Agruma's official debut as a couple, the pair had actually been spotted together on several occasions in the past few months.

Guy Montgomery (pictured) then buzzed in to say: 'After a long phase of rebelling against the system, she's found inner peace and will now be called Compliant Wilson'

They even made a joint red carpet appearance at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in March.

Hours after the announcement, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Hornery published a column in which he accused Wilson of 'gazumping' his scoop by going public with her relationship - which he had been planning to publish a story about.

The columnist said he had contacted Wilson's reps on Thursday informing them of his plans to pen a story about her romance, and gave them 'two days to comment'.

'Big mistake. Wilson opted to gazump the story,' he wrote.

Wilson came out on Friday by sharing this photo to Instagram of herself and Agruma (left)

The Pitch Perfect star captioned her post, 'I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince... but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess'

A wave of backlash followed, with critics accusing Hornery of trying to 'out' Wilson and slamming him for then complaining about her taking control of the announcement.

Wilson soon responded to the controversy on Twitter, writing: 'Thanks for your comments. It was a very hard situation but trying to handle it with grace.'

Hornery has since apologised for the 'tone' of his article, and said it was never his intention to 'inflict pain' when he asked Wilson about her relationship with Agruma.

Although Friday marked the pair's debut as a couple, they had actually been spotted together on several occasions in the past few months. (Pictured: Wilson and Agruma in Utah on April 2)

Hornery admitted he had learnt some new and difficult lessons from the scandal.

'I genuinely regret that Rebel has found this hard. That was never my intention. But I see she has handled it all with extraordinary grace,' he wrote in a column that replaced Sunday's article online.

'As a gay man I'm well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts. The last thing I would ever want to do is inflict that pain on someone else.'

Hours after the announcement, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Hornery (pictured) published a column in which he accused Wilson of 'gazumping' his scoop by going public with her relationship - which he had been planning to publish a story about

Hornery said he thought his article would be a 'happy story' after seeing several months of photos of the couple together on Wilson's Instagram page.

'I assumed there was a good chance she might be happy to discuss it,' he explained.

'She had already revealed a month ago that she had been dating and was very happy.'

The gossip columnist said he never meant his request for comment to be a threat, but rather to 'make it clear' that he was 'sufficiently confident with his information and to open a conversation'.
Advertisement

Emmy nominee Sarah Snook glammed up to attend a special Emmy FYC (For Your Consideration) screening of HBO's Succession at the Asia Society and Museum in Manhattan's Upper East Side on Monday.

The Australian 34-year-old went sleeveless in a cobalt-blue cut-out dress and black pumps selected by stylist Stacey O'Connor.

Hairstylist and make-up artist Zoe Slatyer coiffed Sarah's side-parted ginger bob and she applied her pink pout, defined brows, and pink cheeks.

For your consideration! Emmy nominee Sarah Snook glammed up to attend a special Emmy FYC screening of HBO's Succession at the Asia Society and Museum in Manhattan's Upper East Side on Monday

In the third season finale, Snook's character Waystar RoyCo. President of Domestic Operations Siobhan 'Shiv' Roy and her brothers are betrayed by their billionaire father Logan Roy (Brian Cox).

Shiv has her ambitious, double-crossing husband Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) to thank for tipping off Logan before the sale of his media conglomerate to streaming giant GoJo.

'I don't think Shiv knows yet. She's just in free fall,' the NIDA grad told Variety last Thursday.

'What I think is the most interesting is the way they ended it. It's where they decided to cut to black. No decision has been made yet, and she doesn't know how she's feeling, which I think is betrayed and hurt.'

Red carpet fashion: The Australian 34-year-old went sleeveless in a cobalt-blue cut-out dress and black pumps selected by stylist Stacey O'Connor

Ready for her close-up! Hairstylist and make-up artist Zoe Slatyer coiffed Sarah's side-parted ginger bob and she applied her pink pout, defined brows, and pink cheeks

Spoiler alert! In the third season finale, Snook's character Waystar RoyCo. President of Domestic Operations Siobhan 'Shiv' Roy and her brothers are betrayed by their billionaire father Logan Roy (R, Brian Cox)

'I don't think Shiv knows yet. She's just in free fall': Shiv has her ambitious, double-crossing husband Tom Wambsgans (L, Matthew Macfadyen) to thank for tipping off Logan before the sale of his media conglomerate to streaming giant GoJo

The NIDA grad told Variety last Thursday: 'What I think is the most interesting is the way they ended it. It's where they decided to cut to black. No decision has been made yet, and she doesn't know how she's feeling, which I think is betrayed and hurt'

'Maybe this is an opportunity for you to just fight for female characters?' Sarah first turned down the plum part of the political fixer because she wasn't interested in portraying the only woman among 'a bunch of white dudes talking about business'

Sarah had originally turned down the plum part of the political fixer because she wasn't interested in portraying the only woman among 'a bunch of white dudes talking about business.'

'I'm likely to get sidelined and be like some sort of prop. I don't feel like that personally, nor do I feel like I want to compete for that. No, I don't want to do this job, and then it came back again,' Snook noted.

'Through blind faith, I thought, well, the creatives are interesting. You may be one of the only women in the pilot, but that doesn't mean that you're going to get sidelined necessarily and maybe this is an opportunity for you to just fight for female characters. There's a focus lens toward that kind of sexism.

'It is present in the show because it's present in real life, it's there, and that's inherent in the characters' behavior, as well as the things they say...There is so much sexism and so much misogyny against you just having an opinion because you're a woman. It's so frustrating but brilliant to play with and chew on.'

Floral frock! Snook posed with the only other powerful female cast member - J. Smith-Cameron - who plays Shiv's godmother and the Waystar attorney-turned-interim CEO

SAG Award-winning ensemble! It felt like a family reunion for the Pieces of a Woman actress who also posed with her onscreen brothers (from L-R) Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong as well as her onscreen father Brian Cox

Talented group: Also attending the Succession screening/Q&A panel with the fam were actor Matthew Macfadyen (L), creator Jesse Armstrong (4-R), and actor Nicholas Braun (R)

The Pieces of a Woman actress posed with the only other powerful female cast member - J. Smith-Cameron - who plays Shiv's godmother and the Waystar attorney-turned-interim CEO.

It felt like a family reunion for Sarah who also posed with her onscreen brothers Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong as well as her onscreen father Brian Cox.

Also attending the Succession screening/Q&A panel with the fam were actor Matthew Macfadyen, creator Jesse Armstrong, and actor Nicholas Braun.

HBO officially renewed the Trump Family-inspired, critically-acclaimed satirical black dramedy for a fourth season on October 26.

Ready for more? HBO officially renewed the Trump Family-inspired, critically-acclaimed satirical black dramedy for a fourth season on October 26

Patriarch: Emmy winner Brian Cox - who plays Waystar CEO Logan Roy - wore a navy-patterned shirt beneath a black blazer and grey slacks

Just returned from a music festival? Emmy nominee Kieran Culkin - who plays Waystar COO Roman Roy - wore an excess of bracelets with his a eggplant button-up and black velvet pants

Nominations for the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards (scheduled for September 12) will be announced July 12.

Emmy winner Brian Cox - who plays Waystar CEO Logan Roy - wore a navy-patterned shirt beneath a black blazer and grey slacks.

Emmy nominee Kieran Culkin - who plays Waystar COO Roman Roy - wore an excess of bracelets with his a eggplant button-up and black velvet pants.

Dapper: Emmy winner Jeremy Strong - who plays Waystar co-COO Kendall Roy - rocked a beige Reinhard Plank hat with a chic brown pinstripe suit

Suited and booted: Emmy nominee Matthew Macfadyen - who plays Shiv's double-crossing husband Tom Wambsgans - wore a grey suit over a baby-blue button-up

Aloha! Emmy nominee Nicholas Braun - who plays Logan's great-nephew Greg Hirsch - towered over the others clad in a colorful floral button-up and black pants

Emmy winner Jeremy Strong - who plays Waystar co-COO Kendall Roy - rocked a beige Reinhard Plank hat with a chic brown pinstripe suit.

Emmy nominee Matthew Macfadyen - who plays Shiv's double-crossing husband Tom Wambsgans - wore a grey suit over a baby-blue button-up.

Emmy nominee Nicholas Braun - who plays Logan's great-nephew Greg Hirsch - towered over the others clad in a colorful floral button-up and black pants.
Hugh Sheridan has compared Rebel Wilson's 'outing' by an Australian newspaper to a 'taunting' piece written about them by the same reporter after their own 'coming out' two years ago.

The Packed to the Rafters actor, who uses they/them pronouns, took to Twitter on Tuesday to blast the Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Hornery for a column written about them in 2020.

'Repeat offender @smh @theage this was the most painful piece to read just after coming out,' the 36-year-old wrote, before linking to the offending article.

Actor Hugh Sheridan (pictured in November 2018) has compared Rebel Wilson's 'outing' by an Australian newspaper to a 'taunting' piece written about them by the same reporter after their own 'coming out' two years ago

They added: 'We don't "speak out" as we're used to being taunted.

'So much of this article isnt fact. You should be ashamed of the treatment of humans who choose to come out.'

Hornery's 2020 column made light of the fact Sheridan had just come out as 'human' and refused to be labelled as either gay or bisexual.

He also claimed Sheridan's 'publicists regularly planted stories of him supposedly dating women' while remaining 'silent on his relationships with other men'.

Sheridan is the latest in a long line of celebrities to blast the SMH for attempting to 'out' Wilson before she went public with her new girlfriend on Friday.

Sheridan, who uses they/them pronouns, took to Twitter on Tuesday to blast the Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Hornery for a column written about them in 2020

Sheridan pictured with Rebel Wilson (right) and her girlfriend Ramona Agruma (left)

They joined other celebrities like Abbie Chatfield, who also took aim at the columnist for giving Wilson two days to respond before revealing she was dating a woman.

'Rebel was basically being forced to come out, so she went, "I'll just post about it then, to have control of my narrative and come out on my own terms,"' Chatfield said.

Magda Szubanski also hit back at Hornery, tweeting: 'Your paper has no god given right to know anything about the private life of anyone.'

Abbie Chatfield (pictured) has also joined the pile-on of celebrities attacking Hornery for supposedly trying to 'out' Wilson

Wilson went public with her new girlfriend on Friday. (Pictured with Ramona Agruma in March)

'I don't claim to speak on behalf of Rebel Wilson, but for LGBTQIA+ people the consequences of what is nothing more than a hissy fit over who gets to print gossip can have devastating effects.'

Meshel Laurie wrote on Instagram: 'This goes without saying, but we should all say it anyway I reckon. We should all make it very clear to @rebelwilson and to @andrewhornery that we are absolutely shocked and appalled by his actions.'

'He was even given an opportunity by Rebel Wilson to avoid the shame of outing a human being in 2022, but he's such a regressive person that he failed to recognise it.'

Chatfield then referred to the columnist giving Wilson two days to respond before revealing she was dating a woman. 'Rebel was basically being forced to come out, so she went, "I'll just post about it then, to have control of my narrative and come out on my own terms,"' she said

The media personality continued: 'He outed himself. He outed himself as crook room-reader, a sook and gossip columnist. So retro. And not in a good way babe.'

BBC reporter Megha Mohan wrote: 'I've just read this piece 3 times to make sure that I wasn't misreading. The publication messaged Rebel Wilson saying they would out her in 2 days - and is now complaining that she chose to announce her relationship with a woman herself. Quite astonishing.'

Hornery has since apologised for the 'tone' of his article, and said it was never his intention to 'inflict pain' when he asked Wilson about her relationship with Agruma.

Magda Szubanski and Meshel Laurie also hit back at Hornery on social media

He admitted he had learnt some new and difficult lessons from the scandal.

'I genuinely regret that Rebel has found this hard. That was never my intention. But I see she has handled it all with extraordinary grace,' he wrote in a column that replaced Sunday's article online.

'As a gay man I'm well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts. The last thing I would ever want to do is inflict that pain on someone else.'

It comes after Hornery (pictured) apologised for the 'tone' of his controversial Rebel Wilson article, and said it was never his intention to 'inflict pain' when he reached out to ask about her new relationship with Ramona Agruma

Hornery said he thought his article would be a 'happy story' after seeing several months of photos of the couple together on Wilson's Instagram page.

'I assumed there was a good chance she might be happy to discuss it,' he explained.

'She had already revealed a month ago that she had been dating and was very happy.'

The gossip columnist said he never meant his request for comment to be a threat, but rather to 'make it clear' that he was 'sufficiently confident with his information and to open a conversation'.
An Australian model has hit back at Instagram for removing one of her posts due to a breach of its anti-nudity rules.

Natalie Roser, 32, shared a racy photo on Tuesday of herself posing topless on a bed wearing nothing but skimpy underpants.

The post was part of a promotion to advertise her lingerie label Rose and Bare.

Natalie Roser, 32, (pictured) has hit back at Instagram after it removed a photo of the model promoting her underwear, citing 'sexual solicitation' as the reason for taking her image down

Despite having her back to the camera and not actually revealing any explicit part of her body, the post was removed.

Instagram claimed the image went against their 'community guidelines on adult sexual solicitation.'

'Definitely not sexual solicitation @instagram,' she wrote, slamming the app via her Instagram Story.

This is the photo that was removed from Natalie's feed

Instagram claimed the image went against their 'community guidelines on adult sexual solicitation.' 'Definitely not sexual solicitation @instagram,' she wrote, slamming the app via her Instagram Story

'Boo to you.'

The model appears to have tried several times to share the post, as her caption on the deleted post read: 'Reported... just over here trying to promote my amazing underwear that i spent years creating. @roseandbare in Tulum.'

Natalie is known for her sultry bikini and lingerie snaps due to her profession as a model, particularly posing for swimsuit brands like Monica Hansen Beachwear and Luli Fama Swimwear.

The model is known for showing off her sensational figure in her sultry bikini and lingerie snaps

She recently celebrated her 32nd birthday by taking a break from social media for a few days 'as a gift' to herself, according to a May post.

However, Natalie's husband Harley Bonner, 31, paid tribute to his wife in a sweet birthday Instagram post.

In his post, the former Home and Away actor wrote, 'Happy Birthday to my darling wife.'

Natalie recently celebrated her 32nd birthday by taking a break from social media

'This beautiful woman's patience, love and support knows no bounds!! I am eternally grateful. You've made this life a blessed one,' he added.

Natalie and Harley, who began dating in 2017, married at Krinklewood Estate in the Hunter Valley, NSW, on February 18.

In a recent interview with Maxim Australia, the model revealed she was considering a career in film or TV after catching the 'acting bug' from her husband.

'I've loved watching Harley do his thing and have been given an amazing insight into the world of acting,' she said.

'I'm terrified and excited by it at the same time. It's something I'd consider in the future.'
Emma Heming Willis shared a heartwarming shot of herself kissing husband Bruce Willis on Instagram Stories on Monday.

'I love him so much it hurts,' Heming Willis, 43, captioned the shot alongside the 67-year-old Hollywood stalwart, who is living with a condition known as aphasia, which can impact one's speech and cognition.

In the shot, the Pulp Fiction actor was wearing a light brown straw hat and button-down green shirt with black sunglasses.

The latest: Emma Heming Willis, 43, shared a heartwarming shot of herself kissing husband Bruce Willis, 67, on Instagram Stories on Monday

Heming Willis, who shares daughters Mabel Ray, 10, and Evelyn, eight, with the actor, donned a light blue top with her sleeves rolled up with her dark locks pulled back and sunglasses.

She also shared a clip of Willis performing the classic Under The Boardwalk with the Temptations in 1987, praising his confidence.

'My motto is dont let the fear stop you. Why? Because fear constantly stops me,' she said. 'Which is another reason I fell for my husband, fear has never stopped him. I mean what kind of next level confidence does it take to sing lead with The Temptations?'

She continued: 'You can say what you want (and boy have they) but this guy has always been led by his passion and has never let naysayers stop him from, well, anything. And I have so much respect, love and admiration for that man because of it.'

Heming Willis also shared a clip of Willis performing the classic Under The Boardwalk with the Temptations in 1987, praising his confidence

The couple of 13 years was seen enjoying an outing in nature this past April

The one-time model, who has a skincare company called CocoBaba, opened up last month about balancing family obligations and taking care of herself in an interview with The Bump.

'I struggle with making the time for self-care every day,' she said in the interview. 'I put my familys needs above my own, which I found does not make me any kind of hero. That amount of care for everyone else within my household had taken a toll on my mental health and overall health, and it served no one in my family.

'Someone told me not long ago that when you over-care for someone, you end up under-caring for yourself. That stopped me in my tracks and really resonated with me.'

Heming Willis said that she has 'some basic baseline needs that are a must, like first and foremost, exercise,' as it's a time she can 'disconnect' and makes her 'feel good overall.'

It's been more than two months since Heming Willis released a joint statement via Instagram with her two daughters and Willis's ex-wife Demi Moore, 59, and daughters Rumer, 33, Scout, 30, Tallulah, 28, announcing that Willis was stepping back from acting amid his aphasia diagnosis.

(L-R) Rumer Willis, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Scout Willis, Emma Heming Willis and Tallulah Willis were snapped together in LA in September of 2019 in LA

The actor's family took to Instagram March 30 to reveal he was stepping away from acting following his diagnosis with aphasia

In the March 30 statement, they said that Willis 'has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities.

'As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him. This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support.'

They continued: 'We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him. As Bruce always says, "Live it up" and together we plan to do just that.'

The Mayo Clinic defines aphasia as 'a condition that affects your ability to communicate' that 'can affect your speech, as well as the way you write and understand both spoken and written language.'

The actor's family did not announce what caused his bout with aphasia, which has a number of potential causes. The condition could occur following a head injury or stroke, or can be a predecessor to a brain tumor or Alzheimer's disease.

Patients who are living with the condition are typically treated with speech therapy and taught ways to communicate non-verbally.
Love Island Australia star Amelia Marni has made a spontaneous decision to pack up and move to Europe following her split from Josh Moss.

Announcing the news on Instagram on Tuesday, the 26-year-old revealed that she will be heading to Greece before staying in Europe for a while.

'Hi guys, I just wanna do a quick little life update,' she began telling fans.

Love Island Australia's Amelia Marni (pictured) is moving to Europe following her split from Josh Moss

'So, in two weeks, I'm gonna go to Mykonos for like, 10 days I think?,' she told fans.

'Who knows, I'm very sporadic I'm very spontaneous at the moment,' she continued.

'And then I think I'm gonna stay in London for like a month, maybe two months... Don't know how long yet, we will see.'

The reality star went on to confirm that she is 'semi-moving to Europe'.

'Like, a casual move,' she added. 'Like a few months, maybe a month. I don't know yet. I don't wanna commit to much yet.'

The star doesn't know exactly how long she will be overseas for, saying the decision is 'very spontaneous'

The shock decision comes almost one month after Amelia announced she and Josh, 29, had called it quits after four years together.

'Josh and I have decided to split,' Amelia's message from May 16 began.

'This was the most heartbreaking and respectful breakup. After almost four years of being together we decided to go our separate ways.'

Amelia added she wasn't sure if the news 'came as a shock' to fans, noting that the couple had always portrayed a happy and healthy relationship online.

Amelia announced she has split from Josh in May after four years as a couple

Last week, Josh addressed the shock breakup on his podcast The Handbags alongside MAFS alum Michael Brunelli

He said that on the day of their split, Amelia said she wasn't sure if she was still 'in love with him anymore' and that the pair had been 'unhappy' for months.

'She wants a lot of reassurance and she wants all that sort of stuff, and I can't give her as much as she wants,' Josh said.

According to Josh, Amelia said she wasn't sure if she was still 'in love with him anymore'

Josh said the pair ultimately broke up after spending a weekend away together.

'We got back and I got home one day, and she was sitting on the couch crying,' he recalled.

'I was like, ''What's wrong?'' and she was like, ''I'm so unhappy. I can't do this anymore. I don't know if I'm in love with you anymore."

Josh also claimed that the pair had been 'unhappy' for months

'And that was really, really hard. It came from left field, but now I look back on it I don't know if it did come from left field.'

Amelia and Josh met on Love Island Australia back in 2018.

It was only a few months ago that the former couple were hinting at a possible engagement, with Josh telling The Daily Telegraph in February that Italy would be the perfect location to propose to his long-term girlfriend.

'It might be a good spot to pop the question,' he told the publication.

Amelia added, 'I would love an Italian engagement. That would be very romantic.'
Chrissy Teigen shared a giggling Instagram video on Monday which showed her son Miles explaining that he had accidentally knocked out his sister's tooth.

Filming him as he returned from a swimming session and heading into their $17.5M six-bedroom Beverly Hills mansion, Miles, four, could be heard saying: 'Mom, mom, I got Luna's tooth out.'

Chrissy, 36, who is married to singer John Legend, 43, giggled and replied: 'You did?!'

'Mom, mom, I got Luna's tooth out': Chrissy Teigen couldn't stop laughing on Instagram Stories on Monday as she revealed her son Miles had accidentally knocked out sister Luna's tooth

Miles continued: 'I knocked her mouth, and it just came out.'

At that point, Luna, six, clarified: 'He accidentally did it.'

Chrissy replied: 'Okay, let me see. Let me take it. Thank you! Woohoo!'

It was Luna's left front tooth which had come out and she proudly placed it in her mother's hand.

Miles, 4, announced: 'Mom! Mom! I got Luna's tooth out. I knocked her mouth, and it just came out'

At that point, Luna, 6, clarified: 'He accidentally did it' as she handed the tooth to her mother

'Woohoo!' On average, children tend to lose the first of their baby teeth between ages 5-6 so little Miles was clearly giving her a helping hand

It's only been nine days since Chrissy's adorable mini-me lost her right central incisor, which she announced on Instagram with the caption: 'Tooth fairy time!'

It's only been nine days since Teigen's adorable mini-me lost her right central incisor, which she announced on Instagram with the caption: 'Tooth fairy time!'

Meanwhile, the self-admitted cyberbully's husband of eight years John Legend dropped the music video for his new single Dope featuring JID on Monday.

The 43-year-old EGOT champ is next scheduled to headline Portugal's EPD Cool Jazz Festival at the Manuel Possolo racetrack in Cascais on July 2.

'It's out everywhere now!' Meanwhile, Teigen's husband of eight years John Legend dropped the music video for his new single Dope featuring JID on Monday

Weeks away! The 43-year-old EGOT champ is next scheduled to headline Portugal's EPD Cool Jazz Festival at the Manuel Possolo racetrack in Cascais on July 2

John will then resume his Love in Las Vegas the Residency on August 5 at Planet Hollywood's Zappos Theater in Nevada.

Fans can next catch Chrissy and her 'bailiff' mother Vilailuck 'Pepper Thai' Teigen in the second season of small claims series Chrissy's Court, which premieres this Friday on the Roku Channel.

The first season aired on Jeffrey Katzenberg's short-form streaming platform Quibi, which sold its entire library to Roku for less than $100M in January 2021 after 'falling short of its subscriber projections.'

Premieres this Friday on the Roku Channel! Fans can next catch the self-admitted cyberbully and her 'bailiff' mother Vilailuck 'Pepper Thai' Teigen (L) in the second season of small claims series Chrissy's Court
Tina Louise only recently celebrated turning 41.

And the Australian star proved she's in the best shape of her life as she stripped to a skimpy bikini at a day spa on Monday.

The bombshell, who boasts a whopping 2.5 million followers on Instagram, looked sensational as she covered herself in clay.

Instagram star Tina Louise, 41, (pictured) was every inch the racy bombshell as she stripped to a bikini and covered herself in clay in an Instagram clip on Monday

Tina had plenty of fun as she splashed around in the clay, which no-doubt had the benefit of purifying her skin.

The star offered the camera a laugh and smile as she posed with a male pal.

Tina tagged Glen Ivy spa Hot Springs which is a wellness centre in California, just outside of Los Angeles.

Tina had plenty of fun as she splashed around in the clay

As well as a thriving modelling career, Tina owns a vegan restaurant in Los Angeles called Sugar Taco.

She was previously in a relationship with Brett Oppenheim, and appeared in the latest season of Netflix show Selling Sunset.

The two went public with their relationship last April, but split eight months later.

Tina posed with a shirtless male pal at the California hot springs

Brett, 45, confirmed their break-up during an Instagram Q&A in December after a fan asked if he was single.

'Okay, this question has absolutely nothing to do with real estate, but I will answer it. As of very recently, actually, yes,' he responded.

The couple called it quits after Tina started to think about starting a family but Brett wasn't keen on the idea, according to TMZ.

Tina is no stranger to racy swimwear with her donning a high-cut red swimmer during a dip in a pool earlier this month

'We were together for eight months, so it got to a point where I wanted to take the next step in the relationship, and he wasn't quite there yet,' she told the publication.

She added: 'That sort of ended the relationship.'

Brett later thanked Tina for their time together in a heartfelt post on Instagram, and insisted they were still friends.

Tina was previously in a relationship with real estate mogul Brett Oppenheim (left), and appeared in the latest season of Netflix show Selling Sunset

'I am grateful for you, Tina. For your love, your laugh, your smile, and for our enduring friendship,' he wrote.

'Tina is the most genuine... loving... beautiful woman I could have ever dreamed of... with the most breathtaking smile.

'I will always love her and be her friend.'
British Soap Award winner Millie Gibson returned to Coronation Street filming on Monday after scooping the Best Young Perfomer gong at the star-studded ceremony over the weekend.

The actress, 17, got back into character to film scenes on location, as a concerned Kelly Neelan searching for her pal Stu Carpenter, who has gone missing, before finding him unconscious behind a bin.

Stu, who was homeless during his first Corrie appearance in October 2021, had turned his life around by landing a job at Speed Daal, but it appears his life will take a turn for the worst as he hits the bottle.

Back on set: British Soap Award winner Millie Gibson returned to Coronation Street filming on Monday after scooping the Best Young Perfomer gong at the ceremony over the weekend

In the scenes, Millie's character Kelly can be seen searching for Stu with the help of her pal Aadi Alahan (played by Adam Hussain), discovering Stu (Bill Fellows) unconscious and surrounded by empty booze bottles.

Kelly quickly calls an ambulance, and as Stu is wheeled away she jumps into the back to take him to the hospital.

Viewers will have to wait and see whether Stu makes it through his ordeal, after actor Bill hinted his character has an explosive secret that is set to unfold in the coming weeks.

Worrying: The actress got back into character to film scenes on location, as a concerned Kelly Neelan searching for her pal Stu Carpenter

Casual: Millie's character Kelly can be seen searching for Stu with the help of her pal Aadi Alahan (played by Adam Hussain)

Where is he? The pair could be seen searching for Stu, who had gone missing, in the on-location scenes

What's going on? Stu cut a dishevelled figure with a bottle of alcohol in his hand as he filmed the worrying scenes

Is he OK? Actor Bill Fellows was seen behind a large bin surrounded by empty bottles and cans, with Stu clearly in an unwell state

Help! A worried Kelly and Aadi find Stu semi-unconscious behind the bin, with the pair quickly calling an ambulance

Speaking to Metro at the Soap Awards on Saturday, he said: 'It's big! Just as my character and Yasmeen are beginning to get it together, something major happens and it blows everything wide open. It's a big history.

'In fact it's a massive history. It has major repercussions. It's quite impressively controversial, about what happens to people who are veterans.'

In recent months viewers have seen Stu and Yasmeen (Shelley King) grow closer while working together at Speed Daal, after she was horrifically abused by her late husband Geoff Metcalfe (Ian Bartholomew).

Worrying: Actress Millie returned to work on the soap after scooping Best Young Performer at the British Soap Awards over the weekend

Casual: The young actress donned a camouflage bomber jacket and a neon yellow top as she headed to set to film the scenes

I'm coming with you! As Stu is wheeled into the ambulance, she jumps into the back to take him to the hospital

Hinting: Viewers will have to wait and see whether Stu makes it through his ordeal

It comes after Millie scooped the Best Young Perfomer gong at the British Soap Awards, which returned for the first time since 2019.

Millie was in great spirits as she smiled for the camera alongside her Corrie co-stars, having donned a white satin gown for the event.

And as she was presented with her own Young Performer award, the actress gushed: 'I'm so glad to be involved in such a great storyline'.

Secretive: Actor Bill has hinted his character has an explosive secret that is set to unfold in the coming weeks

It's big! He said: 'It's big! Just as my character and Yasmeen are beginning to get it together, something major happens and it blows everything wide open. It's a big history'

The British Soap Awards returned live to ITV for the first time in two years after the 2020 and 2021 ceremonies were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In its place in 2020, ITV instead aired a 60-minute special titled The British Soap Awards Celebrates 21 Years, narrated by long-running presenter Phillip Schofield.

This year, host Phillip Schofield, 60, welcomed a plethora of soap stars to London's Hackney Empire, where they'll battle it out to scoop prizes in 14 categories.

What's happening? 'In fact it's a massive history. It has major repercussions. It's quite impressively controversial, about what happens to people who are veterans,' he added

Riding high: And as she was presented with her own Young Performer award, Millie gushed: 'I'm so glad to be involved in such a great storyline'

Grand return: The British Soap Awards returned live to ITV for the first time in two years after the 2020 and 2021 ceremonies were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic

The awards are either voted for by a panel of expert judges or the public, with fans able to choose their favourites for Best British Soap, Best Leading Performer and Best Family categories.

Meanwhile, it was reported earlier this year that The British Soap Awards opted to axe the male and female categories.

Instead of Best Actor and Actress, stars from much-loved British soaps battled it out for the newly-created new Best Leading Performer award.

The move follows The Brits which scrapped gender classifications this year, with Adele beating Ed Sheeran to Artist of the Year.

Coronation Street airs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV.
Anna Heinrich was getting preened for the upcoming Logie Awards on Tuesday.

The former Bachelor star, 35, headed to a beauty salon in Double Bay, before she had a dress fitting with designer Steven Khalil.

Looking glamorous despite running errands, the blonde opted for a loose coffee coloured jumper that she wore hanging off one shoulder.

Anna Heinrich (pictured) was getting preened for the upcoming Logie Awards on Tuesday

She tucked the cosy garment into a three quarter length wool skirt in the same soft beige tone, which clung close to her figure.

Making sure she could move fast, Anne added a pair of well-loved white sneakers to the ensemble.

Anna had on a soft makeup look with a pink lipstick and wore her blonde hair down and straight.

The former Bachelor star, 35, headed to a beauty salon in Double Bay, before she had a dress fitting with designer Steven Khalil

Looking glamorous despite running errands, the blonde opted for a loose coffee coloured jumper that she wore hanging off one shoulder

She tucked the cosy garment into a three quarter length wool skirt in the same soft beige tone, which clung close to her figure

She carried a black purse on one shoulder and donned a pair of retro style sunglasses.

The former reality star completed her look with a gold necklace as well as a choker that sat on her collarbone.

Anna left her fitting with a friend and was busy checking her phone as she left the venue.

Anna had on a soft makeup look with a pink lipstick and wore her blonde hair down and straight

Making sure she could move fast, Anne added a pair of well-loved white sneakers to the ensemble

She carried a black purse on one shoulder and donned a pair of retro style sunglasses

While starring on SAS Australia earlier this year, Anna confessed that despite her confident exterior, inside, it's another story.

'I'm not a very confident person, I have a lot of self-doubt  if I don't think I can do something then I don't want to do it,' she told told Perth Now.

Anna added that she took part in SAS Australia to gain emotional strength, and to one day impress her daughter Elle, one.

The former reality star completed her look with a gold necklace as well as a choker that sat on her collarbone

Anna left her fitting wit a friend and was busy checking her phone as she left the venue

While starring on SAS Australia earlier this year, Anna confessed that despite her confident exterior, inside, it's another story

'I'm not a very confident person, I have a lot of self-doubt  if I don't think I can do something then I don't want to do it,' she told told Perth Now

'The reason why I joined was to gain more confidence, and to show my little girl that when you say that you can't do anything, you can,' she said.

On the reality show, Anna became emotional as she revealed how her husband Tim Robards encouraged her to join the series.

During an interrogation, the show's directing staff asked Anna how she feels she is doing on the course.

Anna added that she took part in SAS Australia to gain emotional strength, and to one day impress her daughter Elle, one

'The reason why I joined was to gain more confidence, and to show my little girl that when you say that you can't do anything, you can,' she said

On the reality show, Anna became emotional as she revealed how her husband Tim Robards encouraged her to join the series

'I honestly thought I'd make it a couple of days,' the mother-of-one confessed.

'Every time I do a challenge I go into it thinking I won't be able to do it, but then I do it,' she said.

An emotional Anna added: 'Honestly I didn't want to come on because it was so far out of my comfort zone but thankfully my husband gave me a little nudge.'

An emotional Anna said: 'Honestly I didn't want to come on because it was so far out of my comfort zone but thankfully my husband gave me a little nudge'

'I honestly thought I'd make it a couple of days,' the mother-of-one confessed

She went on to say her husband Tim 'had more faith in me than I did'

She went on to say her husband Tim 'had more faith in me than I did'.

Tim and Anna fell in love on The Bachelor Australia in 2013 and married in a stunning ceremony in Italy in 2018.

They welcomed their daughter Elle on November 14, 2020.
Merlin Griffiths has been seen for the first time in public after undergoing surgery to remove a tumour, following a stage three bowel cancer diagnosis.

The First Dates barman, 47, launched launch Royal Ascot's first ever reduced and alcohol-free bar on Tuesday as part of Harrogate Spring Water's Mindful Drinking Mission.

He looked dapper in a navy suit and pink shirt while putting his drink mixing skills to good use, before being joined by Love Island's Dr. Alex George, 31.

Here he is! First Dates' Merlin Griffiths cut a navy suit as he was seen in public for the first time since bowel tumour surgery on Tuesday while launching an alcohol-free bar at Royal Ascot

Appearing to be in high spirits, Merlin beamed from ear-to-ear while clinking his glass with Alex's, as they posed for photographers.

He was discharged from hospital six days after undergoing surgery to remove a tumour, back in April.

The barman from the popular Channel 4 dating show revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with a stage three tumour on his bowel.

On the mend: He was discharged from hospital six days after undergoing surgery to remove a tumour, back in April

At the time, the TV personality shared a cheering update to Instagram, posting a selfie with blue skies behind him, writing: 'And breathe. 6 days, start to finish.'

He added praise for the pioneering surgery, explaining: 'Now for real #cancer recovery. I've had open laparotomies before and the recovery was 6 weeks in hospital before robotic surgery!! Amazing.'

Merlin added the hashtags to mark Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, writing: #nhs #davincisurgicalsystem #bowelcancerawarenessmonth #stoma.

Talented: He looked suave in his navy suit and pink shirt while putting his drink mixing skills to good use

Looking good: The TV personality (right) was soon joined by Love Island's Dr. Alex George, 31, (left) who cut a smart figure in a grey suit

Making friends: Appearing to be in high spirits, Merlin beamed from ear-to-ear while clinking his glass with Alex's, as they posed for photographers

He thanked the NHS for 'literally saving his life' after undergoing the 'robotic' surgery.

The TV personality looked frail in a candid selfie from his hospital bed, which he shared to Twitter while admitting he was suffering 'aches and pains'.

In a post from the previous day, he wore a black face mask with unicorn prints while declaring he was 'ready as he'll ever be' in an Instagram post before having the tumour removed.

Cheers: The Welsh physician (left) continued his look with a pale pink tie

Suave: He framed his face with round glasses and wore his brown hair in a side-swept style

Talented: Merlin looked like he was in his element as he did was he does best

He wrote: 'Thank you #NHS for literally saving my life. #BowelCancerAwarenessMonth.'

Posting the same shot to the photosharing platform, he added: '2am. Tubes outta everywhere. Aches and pains. But no tumour! #bowelcancerawarenessmonth.'

Plugging April's Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, he concluded: Ready as I'll ever be. Tumour removal time. [champagne emoji] #bowelcancerawarenessmonth.'

Tragic: The barman from the popular Channel 4 dating show revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with a stage three tumour on his bowel

Fascinating: He also shared a photo of the four-armed 'robot' holding the surgical instruments and a camera, to give his followers an insight into the procedure

Candid: Plugging April's Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, he concluded: Ready as I'll ever be. Tumour removal time. [champagne emoji] #bowelcancerawarenessmonth'

He also shared a photo of the four-armed 'robot' holding the surgical instruments and a camera, to give his followers an insight into the procedure.

Merlin announced in March that he was due to have the operation, joking that he had three weeks to 'get my s**t together'.

Last year, Merlin was told he has a 75 per cent chance of living for more than five years after medical tests unearthed a stage three tumour that measured 4.5cm in length.

And updating his followers on his progress, he tweeted: 'Operation scheduled. Three weeks to get my s**t together. Robotic surgery, welcome to the future!'

Unwell: Merlin announced in March that he was due to have the operation, joking that he had three weeks to 'get my s**t together'

He later thanked his fans for their well wishes, adding: 'Thank you to everyone wishing me well. X May your lives be prosperous and filled with empathy and happiness.'

Robotic surgery sees surgeons view the operation through a magnified screen while a robotic machine with four arms holds the surgical instruments and a camera. The surgeon controls the arms of the machine and removes the cancer through keyhole surgery.

Merlin received his bleak diagnosis from doctors at Northampton General Hospital, saying at the time that he was trying to keep a 'positive outlook'.

Speaking to the Sunday Mirror last year, Merlin said: 'I'm keeping that positive outlook, but I've a morbid sense of humour. I tell people, 'I have colorectal cancer it's a real pain in the ar*e!'

Merlin has a seven-year-old daughter called Alix with his partner Lucille, 40, who he has been with for more than a decade and will be by his side as he faces a year of life-saving treatment.

Diagnosis: Last year, he was told he has a 75 per cent chance of living for more than five years after medical tests unearthed a stage three tumour that measured 4.5cm in length

When the barman told his young daughter of the troubling diagnosis he reassured her of the powers of modern medicine and gushed about the public healthcare system.

At the time, he said: 'I have so much faith in medicine and the NHS in this country, which is just so incredible.'

Keeping his emotions behind closed doors, Merlin admitted: 'I've shed a tear in private. But you can choose 'to do' or 'not to do'. I chose to lead my life as normal, to stick to the facts about it, and to keep putting one step in front of the other.'

'I have so much faith in medicine and the NHS in this country': Merlin said he was remaining optimistic as he gushed about the public health service

The TV personality, who became a household name alongside Fred Sirieix in the First Dates restaurant, started to feel pain in June but thought it was caused by an old stomach injury from a car accident in his 20s.

Merlin was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year and said his tumour looked like an alien and felt like a walnut stuck inside of him.

Doctors discovered the tumour when they gave the barman an emergency sigmoidoscopy to probe his lower intestine after the star spent three months telling people he felt something wrong in his body.

Merlin admitted he was terrified by the ordeal but immediately focused on his chances of survival following his diagnosis.

Close: He told his co-workers in the First Dates restaurant about his diagnosis just a week after he told his family (pictured: Fiona Beck, Grant Urquhart, Daniella Kalita, Fred Sirieix, David, Cici Coleman and Merlin on the show)

The star revealed that his tumour wanted to move into the tissue surrounding it but wasn't 'lymph' - meaning the cancer thankfully hadn't spread.

Merlin told his co-workers in the First Dates restaurant, including maitre d'hotel Fred Sirieix, and waiters Grant Urquhart and CiCi Coleman, about his diagnosis just a week after he told his family.

The barman admitted his peers were shocked and couldn't help but question why bad things happen to good people.
Sarah Monahan has broken her silence after disgraced Hey Dad! actor and convicted child sex offender Robert Hughes was released from prison on Tuesday.

In an Instagram Stories post on Monday, the actress, 45, who is among the actor's victims, quoted an affirmation attributed to Esther T. Moonomens.

'Now more than ever, trust the process of your life. The Universe wants you to be at peace with where you are before it propels you towards where you want to go,' the post read.

Sarah Monahan (pictured) has broken her silence after disgraced Hey Dad! actor and convicted child sex offender Robert Hughes was released from prison on Tuesday

'Surrender your expectations and make the most of your present by infusing gratitude into your every thought. Acknowledge the gifts in your life that you have already been granted,' it continued.

'Recognize your blessings and watch them multiply overtime. You'll never be placed in a storm that you can't navigate your way out of; the Universe doesn't want you to breakdown, it wants you to break free. Your golden chapter begins now'.

Robert Hughes will be deported to the UK after being granted parole.

In an Instagram Stories post on Monday, the actress, 45, who is among the actor's victims, quoted an affirmation attributed to Esther T. Moonomens

The 73-year-old was granted parole on June 2 by the NSW State Parole Authority, which determined he be released no later than Tuesday.

He was released from Long Bay Correctional Facility just after midnight on Tuesday and is at Villawood Detention Centre awaiting deportation from Sydney Airport.

The paedophile actor was released under the cover of darkness as the clock ticked over and into the custody of Australian Border Force officers, who are expected to ensure he is flown straight out of the country.

Former Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes (above) is awaiting deportation to the UK after he was released from Long Bay Correctional Facility just after midnight on Tuesday

Hughes renounced his Australian citizenship in 2020, thus becoming a non-lawful citizen requiring deportation upon release.

Australian Border Force, who usually handles the deportation of convicted criminals who are not Australian citizens, said it did not comment on operational matters.

During his parole hearing the SPA said it had been satisfied that after eight years behind bars Hughes' release was in the interests of the safety of the community.

Hughes, who starred as Martin Kelly in the TV comedy from 1987 to 1994, was previously rejected twice by the SPA.

'The offender has been assessed as below average risk,' SPA chairperson David Frearson and four panel members said.

Hughes (bottom left) was jailed in 2014 on 10 charges relating to sexual and indecent acts perpetrated on four young girls, including his on-screen daughter Sarah Monahan (bottom centre), in the 1980s and 1990s

'He intends to live with his wife and does not intend to seek employment.'

Hughes was jailed in 2014 for 10 years and nine months with a non-parole period of six years, which expired in April 2020.

A jury found him guilty of 10 charges relating to sexual and indecent acts perpetrated on four young girls in the 1980s and 1990s.

Hughes continues to deny his crimes despite 'overwhelming evidence'.

The victims included his former on-screen daughter Sarah Monahan, who attended his third parole hearing.

'He's an old man and he's frail, but they don't change, and he's a denier,' Ms Monahan said.

Victim Ms Monahan (above) said Hughes is still a 'denier' of any wrongdoing, despite 'overwhelming evidence' proving his crimes

'He still thinks he hasn't done anything.'

The SPA acknowledged the 'profound and deleterious effects on the victims... continue to this day and will probably be lifelong consequences'.

'It must be particularly galling for the victims to observe the offender's continued and obstinate denials in the face of compelling and overwhelming evidence from multiple witnesses,' it said.

The SPA accepted expert evidence that Hughes was consistently assessed as a below-average risk of sexually reoffending.

This prevented his accessing any sex-offender treatment programs while in custody.

Hughes will live with his wife Robyn Gardiner in the UK. Ms Gardiner told the parole authority she will keep him away from children when unsupervised.

He and his wife gave undertakings that once back in the community he will seek treatment with Rachel Pike, a clinical psychologist specialising in convicted sex offenders who deny their crimes.

This would assist with his reintegration and reduce his risk of re-offending.

'The offender's wife expressed her intention to continue to provide emotional support upon his release,' the authority wrote in its decision.

'Additionally, she advised that she has arranged post release accommodation for the offender to reside with her upon his eventual return to London.

'Whilst she believes in his innocence, she expressed her intention to ensure that the offender does not have unsupervised contact with children.

'She advised that she intends to encourage him to engage in psychological counselling.'

The SPA noted the last of his crimes took place three decades ago.

'The offences took place in particular settings in which the offender abused his power and his position of trust,' it said.

'He no longer enjoys such power or trust, as a direct consequence of the convictions and the consequent widespread adverse publicity, notwithstanding his defiant denials.'

Once in the UK, Hughes (above) will be monitored under the Sexual Offences Act 'notifications requirements' including notifying authorities if he intends to stay at a household for more than 12 hours where a child is present

While allegations against Hughes were raised in the 1990s, it took a paid television interview by Ms Monahan in 2010 to spark a broad police investigation into claims of sexual misconduct by the actor.

His victims included a family friend, friends of his daughter, and Ms Monahan.

Hughes made his third attempt at parole following two failed attempts. His minimum sentence of six years made him eligible for parole on April 6, 2020.

Judge Peter Zahra, who died suddenly last month, handed down the sentence with strong condemnation against Hughes.

'He engaged in brazen predatory behaviour; he planned and orchestrated the occasions when the conduct occurred. His conduct was persistent and calculated,' he said.

'He abused his position of trust and exploited the naivety and youth of the children.

'The profound and deleterious effects on the victims for many years, if not the whole of their lives. The victims here remain deeply disturbed by the conduct of the offender.'

The NSW State Parole Authority said Hughes (top left) was unlikely to reoffend considering his crimes took place several decades ago and were in a situation where he 'abused his power and his position of trust' which he 'no longer enjoys'

Australian Border Force advised it will notify British authorities of Hughes' imminent return.

Hughes will be monitored in the UK under the Sexual Offences Act 'notifications requirements'.

He must report to police within three days of his return to the UK, and once a year from then on and within three days of changing his details.

He will be required to provide passport and banking details and must notify police of any intention to travel out of the UK.

Hughes must also provide details of where he lives and where he regularly stays if different to his home address.

'There is a requirement to notify police if he going to stay (for a period of at least 12 hours) at a household where a child is present,' the parole authority noted.

He will be sent back to jail for up to six months if he fails to fulfil these conditions.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14
Robbie Coltrane has been forced to pull out of London's Comic Con next month due to 'continuing ill health'.

The Harry Potter star, 72, was due to meet fans and pose for photos at the event, held at Olympia London, but has now cancelled his appearance.

In 2019, the actor was spotted using a wheelchair as he awaited for surgery on his knee amid his ongoing battle with osteoarthritis, after doctors told him to lose weight or face a life of immobility.

The event organisers emailed fans who had pre-paid for autographs and photos with the Cracker actor to share a statement from his agent.

Ill health: Robbie Coltrane has been forced to pull out of London's Comic Con next month due to 'continuing ill health' (pictured in 2017)

The statement read: 'It is with deep regret that Robbie Coltrane has to withdraw from the July Comic Con due to his continuing ill health.

'He is very sorry to disappoint his fans and supporters and hopes very much to appear at another Showmasters event when his health permits.'

The July 9 convention is excepted to welcome 100,000 movie fans with celebrity guests David Harbour (Stranger Things) Andy Serkins (Lord Of The Rings) and Christopher Lloyd (Back To the Future) in attendance.

The organisers went on to say: 'Obviously, we are incredibly disappointed that Robbie is not able to attend and so sad to hear of his ill health.

Hagrid: The actor is well known for his role as the lovable gamekeeper Hagrid in the Harry Potter series (pictured in 2001)

'Both ourselves and Robbie we're looking forward to him being at the show and we wish him the best.

'We will work to see if we can get Robbie to a future event, but in the meantime, vouchers will automatically be issued to any ticket holders for Robbie.'

MailOnline has reached out to Robbie Coltrane's representatives for further comment.

Prior to his knee operation, a source told The Sun: 'Robbie has been in constant pain for years now, with his knee constantly deteriorating.

Cancelled: The Harry Potter star, 72, was due to meet fans and pose for photos at the event, held at Olympia London, but has now cancelled his appearance

'Its left him unable to walk without any assistance and hes been given a wheelchair while he waits to have a special surgical procedure in America to repair his joint.

'Its hugely frustrating for him but hes really hoping to be back on his feet after getting the operation.'

Robbie has been in daily agony with osteoarthritis, a condition that makes the joints become painful and stiff.

The actor also revealed doctors told him to lose seven stone or risk facing life as a 'cripple'.

In 2016, the Scottish actor said of his health: 'I'm in constant pain all day. I had an exploratory operation and they discovered I had no cartilage left in one of my knees. It's completely disintegrated.'
Dolph Lundgren's daughter Ida has reportedly been granted a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend after he threatened her and her family.

A judge has ordered 26-year-old Ida's former partner Jack Eaton-Morris to stay at least 100 yards away from Ida, Dolph, and other family members, reports TMZ.

According to documents obtained by the publication Jack took her phone and passport off her to stop her leaving a London hotel and grabbed her.

Scary: Dolph Lundgren's daughter Ida (pictured) has reportedly been granted a restraining a order against her ex-boyfriend after he threatened her and her family

It is claimed that the police were called but by the time they got there he had left.

She also claimed that he once threatened to blow up her mother's car and said that he was going to kill himself.

The judge granted her a temporary restraining order ahead of a hearing on June 30.

Representatives have been contacted by MailOnline for a comment.

Difficult: A judge has ordered 26-year-old Ida's former partner Jack Eaton-Morris to stay at least 100 yards away from Ida, Dolph, and other family members, reports TMZ (Dolph and Ida pictured in 2019)

Swedish actor Dolph, 64, has two daughters Ida and Greta Eveline, 20, from his 16-year marriage to Anette Qviberg, which ended in 2011.

The Rocky star is currently engaged to Emma Krokdal, 25, after he popped the question two years ago at Bank Hotel in his native Stockholm.

Dolph announced his engagement to Emma in an Instagram post on June 29, 2020.

The Swedish action star is 39 years older than the Norwegian personal trainer, whom he originally met at Equinox (where she worked) in July 2019.

Family: Swedish actor Dolph, 64, has two daughters Ida and Greta Eveline, 20, (left) from his 16-year marriage to Anette Qviberg, which ended in 2011

It's believed they started dating in 2019 after meeting at the gym and they went public with their relationship in January 2020 at the Cana Dorada Film & Music Festival in the Dominican Republic.

'They say youth is wasted on the young and whilst that's not true for everybody - like Emma - it is true for me because I matured very late,' Lundgren told Muscle and Health last year.

'I feel very lucky that I have someone like Emma at this age, it's changed my life and I hope I can give her the kind of help and support that takes a lot of time to discover and amass.

'I would say that right now I'm the most balanced as an individual I've ever been.'
Since BBC bosses confirmed that a Gavin & Stacey reunion will happen 'one day', fans have been waiting on tenterhooks.

And fans were left convinced the big day could be upon us as the show's stars Larry Lamb and Alison Steadman were spotted filming together in Barry Island, Wales, where the series is set.

The pair - who play Mick and Pam Shipman - were seen relaxing in deckchairs as they filmed an advert for Barrybados, a souvenir shop in the area that sells Gavin & Stacey paraphernalia.

'Oh my Christ!': Gavin & Stacey fans went into meltdown as the show's stars Larry Lamb and Alison Steadman were spotted filming in Barry Island this week

The sighting also coincided with news that James Corden (who played Smithy) is returning to the UK after quitting The Late Late Show - with fans speculating if he'll get to work on another Gavin & Stacey series.

Taking to Twitter fans penned: 'Waking up to the news of a new Gavin & Stacey series being made Doesnt get much better than that!'; 'Oh my Christ!! Do we dare dream of another Gavin & Stacey???';

'So Mick & Pam spotted on Barry Island filming. Is a new series of Gavin & Stacey happening? #GavinandStacey'; 'ahhhhh as if Pam and Mick have been spotted filming in Barry Island! really hope theres another series of Gavin & Stacey on the way';

'Gavin & Stacey S4 here we come!'; 'Please hope its happening #GavinandStacey Pam and mick spotted in Barry'; 'Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb (BLOODY PAM AND MICK) have been spotted filming ON BARRY ISLAND! *deep breaths.'

MailOnline has contacted Alison and Larry's representatives for comment.

In character: The pair - who play Mick and Pam Shipman - were filming an advert for Barrybados, a souvenir shop in the area that sells Gavin & Stacey paraphernalia (pictured on the show with co-star Mathew Horne)

Could it be? The sighting also coincided with news that James Corden (who played Smithy) is returning to the UK after quitting The Late Late Show - with fans speculating if he'll get to work on another Gavin & Stacey series

Gavin and Stacey ran for three series between 2007 and 2010 before returning for Christmas special - the most watched comedy in 17 years - in 2019.

Last year, BBC bosses confirmed the beloved show will return 'one day'.

While outlining the upcoming Christmas television schedule, the channel's Chief Content Officer, Charlotte Moore, discussed the future of the BBC One sitcom.

She explained: 'That wasn't something that was going to happen this year,' and followed that up with: 'One day.'

However, Mathew Horne recently shut down speculation of a Gavin & Stacey reunion, admitting that it would be hard to get some 'successful people' on board.

The actor, 43, claimed that fans desiring the comedy's return 'is not enough of a reason', adding that the writers 'want to make sure that they have a story' first.

Mathew - who plays Gavin - added how difficult it was to get the ensemble together for the 2019 Christmas special, which was later declared the most-viewed non-sporting event in a decade.

Hope: Last year, BBC bosses confirmed the beloved show will return 'one day' (L-R) Mathew Horne as Gavin, Joanna Page as Stacey, James Corden as Smithy and Ruth Jones as Nessa

He said: 'Obviously, the BBC would like more. James [Corden] and Ruth [Jones] have always said that they would only do more if they had a story and a reason to do it.

'Just because people want it is not enough of a reason to do it for them. They want to make sure that they have a story.

'They don't want to let the the piece down and let the audience down. They don't just want to do it for the sake of doing it.

I genuinely don't know if they're planning on doing more.'

Mathew - plays the titular Gavin in the series - revealed he has an 'allegiance' to the mega-hit, and would return if he were asked.

He said: 'It's quite a large ensemble and one filled with successful people. It was difficult to get everyone together last time, so it would be equally difficult to do it again.

'That said, we all have an allegiance with the show, obviously and it really is like returning to a family.

'I think we would all do it if we could. But James and Ruth want the script to be there and be right.'

Watch Gavin & Stacey only on Stan in Australia.
She welcomed her second child, a baby girl, with fiance Ryan Thomas two weeks ago.

And Lucy Mecklenburgh looked every inch the glowing new mother in a floral dress as she enjoyed a sunny stroll with her baby girl and a pal in Shenfield, Essex on Monday.

The former TOWIE star, 30, looked in great spirits as she smiled and chatted away to her pal, who is also a new mum, in her first public outing since welcoming her daughter.

Lovely: Lucy Mecklenburgh looked every inch the glowing new mother in a floral dress as she enjoyed a sunny stroll with her baby girl and a pal in Shenfield, Essex on Monday

Lucy showed off a glimpse off her post-partum figure in the blue patterned off-the-shoulder number as they visited Little Legs children's clothing score.

The star, who has yet to reveal the name of her girl, accessorised her look with tan sandals and a taupe handbag.

The TV personality showed off her natural beauty by wearing minimal make-up, while she donned oversized sunglasses and allowed her raven locks top fall about her shoulders.

New mum: The former TOWIE star, 30, looked in great spirits as she smiled and chatted away to her pal, who is also a new mum, in her first public outing since welcoming her daughter

Lucy appeared in a happy mood as she soaked up the sun while spending quality time with her newest arrival, who was tucked up nicely in her buggy.

It comes after her partner Ryan shared the first heartwarming snap of himself with his new baby daughter.

The actor, 37, took to Instagram earlier this month to share a picture of himself holding his new daughter in his arms, writing: 'Lucky is an understatement.'

New arrival: She welcomed her second child, a baby girl, with fiance Ryan Thomas two weeks ago

Looking great: Lucy showed off a glimpse off her post-partum figure in the blue patterned off-the-shoulder number as they visited Little Legs children's clothing score

Style: The star, who has yet to reveal the name of her girl, accessorised her look with tan sandals and a taupe handbag

Former Coronation Street star Ryan sat with an arm over the shoulder of his daughter Scarlett, 13, from his relationship with Tina O'Brien.

Lucy looked stylish in a white floral print dress as she sat with their son Roman, two, on her lap.

She shared a black and white image of the little girl's hand on her Instagram page.

Taking to her Stories, she added: 'She's here.'

Radiant: The TV personality showed off her natural beauty by wearing minimal make-up, while she donned oversized sunglasses and allowed her raven locks top fall about her shoulders

Mother and daughter time: Lucy appeared in a happy mood as she soaked up the sun while spending quality time with her newest arrival, who was tucked up nicely in her buggy

Catch up: Lucy and her friend enjoyed a catch-up as they walked with their babies

Getting some fresh air: Lucy flashed her legs ion the loose floral gown which featured a split at the side

Taking to her Stories, she added: 'She's here.'

Lucy previously told HELLO! Magazine that she was convinced she was pregnant with a girl, and was delighted when a scan confirmed her suspicions.

'I had an inkling that I was having a girl, but I was a bit more unsure than with Roman. With him I just knew  I don't know why but even before we found out, I said: "I know, one hundred per cent, it's a boy", Lucy said.

Out and about: The fitness enthusiast was in a good mood as she went on her first public outing since giving birth

Stocking up: The two ladies clearly had success during their shop[ping trip as they both carried shopping bags in their prams

Baby joy: The actor and his reality star fiancee Lucy announced they'd welcomed the latest addition to their family last month

The couple also revealed in the interview that they were struggling to come up with names for their daughter, explaining how they had a long list of 15 picked out but would wait until she was born to decide,

Lucy and Ryan met on the Channel 4 reality series, The Island with Bear Grylls five years ago before getting engaged during a romantic holiday in Italy two years later, when Lucy was pregnant with Roman.

Lucy has joked that despite their long engagement, the couple are a way off getting wed as they have had no time to organise a wedding.

In love: Ryan Thomas, 37, has shared the first heartwarming snap of himself with his new baby daughter
Legendary Home and Away actor Ray Meagher has revealed he thinks Hamish Blake will walk away with the Gold Logie this year.

Ray, 77, who is also up for the Gold gong, told Sydney's Confidential on Tuesday he believed the Lego Masters host would win the coveted award.

'I honestly think I am making up the numbers this year,' he told the publication.

Legendary Home and Away actor Ray Meagher, 77, has revealed who he thinks will take home the Gold Logie ahead of this year's awards ceremony. Here: Logies, 2019

Ray is up against Sonia Kruger, Karl Stefanovic, Julia Morris, Melissa Leong, and Tom Gleeson

Ray went on to say everyone on Home and Away worked incredibly hard this past year, with filming made harder due to covid.

'Everybody has worked incredibly hard through the Covid period and for our show to be nominated six times is just fantastic,' he said.

'It is a reflection of everybody in the cast and crew,' he told the publication.

Ray revealed he thinks Hamish Blake (R) will walk away with the Gold Logie this year. Here with Andy Lee (L)

Ray is up against Sonia Kruger, Karl Stefanovic, Julia Morris, Melissa Leong, and Tom Gleeson for the Gold Logie this year

Ray is one of the longest-serving actors in the business, appearing in every season of Home and Away since it began in 1988.

'It felt pretty good but it's also a bit of a surprise,' Ray said of his nomination, which was announced on May 15.

Ray previously won a Gold Logie back in 2010.

Icon: Ray has appeared in every season of Home and Away since it began in 1988

'I sort of thought my golden days were over 12 years ago when I won it.

'I don't see myself as a Gold Logie sort of a nominee. There are always plenty of people more deserving.'

Ray recently revealed the pitfalls of being an actor.

'I don't see myself as a Gold Logie sort of a nominee. There are always plenty of people more deserving,' he said. Pictured with Kate Ritchie (right)

'When I was younger as a freelance actor, I wondered whether I'd be able to feed myself let alone anybody else,' he said in a resurfaced Telegraph interview.

'It's a funny old profession, it's very precarious, it's a pretty dodgy old profession employment-wise.'

Ray is a stepfather to his wife Gilly's daughter Rebecca, who is in her 40s.
It's one of the most glamorous occasions in the British social calendar.

And Ulrika Jonsson flashed her arm tattoos in a black dress as she attended the first day of Royal Ascot on Tuesday with her son Cameron, 27, who she shares with ex husband John Turnbull.

The presenter and model, 54, gave a glimpse of her inkings in the smart frock which she teamed with a matching fascinator for the star-studded racing event.

Event: Ulrika Jonsson flashed her arm tattoos in a black dress as she attended the first day of Royal Ascot on Tuesday with her son Cameron, 27, who she shares with ex husband John Turnbull

Ulrika posed up a storm in the midi dress which had a pleated skirt design and statement ruched sleeves.

She completed the look with nude pointy heels and toted a beige bag with her while wearing her blonde tresses pinned back and opting for a full-coverage makeup look.

Ulrika and John Turnbull were married from 1990 to 1995 and welcomed Cameron in 1994.

Elsewhere, Maya Jama looked breath-taking in a tiered fuchsia and burgundy full-length gown, which she teamed with towering gold strappy sandals.

Bold: The presenter and model, 54, gave a glimpse of her inkings in the smart frock which she teamed with a matching fascinator for the star-studded racing event

Pretty: Ulrika posed up a storm in the midi dress which had a pleated skirt design and statement ruched sleeves

The TV presenter, 27, turned heads with a dramatic piece de resistance in the form of a bright pink floral headpiece.

Maya wore her raven locks scraped back in a sleek ponytail and completed her look with a pair of delicate gold drop earrings.

Also at the event was TV star Charlotte Hawkins who wore a pretty light blue dress with an elaborate fascinator.

Perfect in pink: Maya Jama looked breath-taking in a tiered fuchsia and burgundy full-length gown, which she teamed with towering gold strappy sandals

Fashion hit: The TV presenter, 27, turned heads with a dramatic piece de resistance in the form of a bright pink floral headpiece

The frock had a statement darker blue collar and was cinched in with a white belt to show off her lovely figure.

She completed the look with pointy stilettos and a white bag as she beamed in the sunshine.

Love Island star and commentator Chris Hughes was also at the event and looked dapper in a grey suit and shiny white waistcoat.

The look: She completed the look with nude pointy heels and toted a beige bag with her while wearing her blonde tresses pinned back and opting for a full-coverage makeup look

Family: Ulrika and John Turnbull were married from 1990 to 1995 and welcomed Cameron in 1994

It's the jewel in the crown of the racing season when it comes to style, and Royal Ascot got off to a suitably fashionable start on Tuesday morning - with a new, bolder dress code encouraging high glamour at the famous English meet.

Seen by many as the calendar highlight of the British summer season, Royal Ascot has finally returned to its former, pre-pandemic glory - with attendees unhindered by Covid restrictions and encouraged to go all out in the sartorial stakes.

Indeed, this year's published Style Guide for the event, the eleventh of its kind, requests formality remains in the Royal Enclosure - but hints at a more relaxed approach elsewhere, suggesting exuberant occasion wear is positively encouraged in 2022.

Stunning: Also at the event was TV star Charlotte Hawkins who wore a pretty light blue dress with an elaborate fascinator

Work it: The frock had a statement darker blue collar and was cinched in with a white belt to show off her lovely figure

Outfit: She completed the look with pointy stilettos and a white bag as she beamed in the sunshine

Floral: Sophie Winkleman wore a slowing patterned dress as she posed at Royal Ascot

Pretty! Her fascinator featured red fruit on it that matched the colour of her lipstick

Ladies' day: (L-R) Fabbiana Fierotti, Houda Ghazal, Ikram Abdi Omar, Sophie Winkleman, Lilah Parsons, Kate Mason and Kelly England Prehn joined Ghazal Paris for a private lunch

Winner! TV and radio presenter Lilah, 34, looked radiant in a pale blue midi-dress and cream hat - and appeared to enjoy some success during one of the races

Let me take a selfie! Lilah posed for a snap with Kate Mason inside their private box as the ladies enjoyed the day's festivities

And early arrivals on Monday clearly got the memo - sporting a dazzling array of colourful outfits, with show-stopping statement hats and elegant headpieces taking centre stage.

Although not attending, the Queen is likely to watch from Windsor Castle when her horse, King's Lynn, races in the King's Stand Stakes at 3.40pm this afternoon.

Amongst the racegoers was Princess Beatrice, wearing a beautiful belted tiered cream dress with neutral heels and a rustic-style hat, arriving on the arm of her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who donned a sharp top hat and tails with a pink tie.

Smart: Love Island star and commentator Chris Hughes was also at the event and looked dapper in a grey suit and shiny white waistcoat

Sports: Chris has a keen interest in horse racing

Exciting: It's the jewel in the crown of the racing season when it comes to style, and Royal Ascot got off to a suitably fashionable start on Tuesday morning

Sad: The Queen will not attend Royal Ascot today as she misses out on the event amid her ongoing mobility issues

Footwear brand Ghazal Paris took to Royal Ascot for a celebration of sartorial elegance as they hosted their first annual luncheon in the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot.

Hosting a private box on the opening day of this iconic event, founder Houda L Ghazal invited friends of the brand, including actress Lady Sophie Windsor (nee Winkleman) who is married to the Queen's first cousin once-removed, Lord Freddie Windsor.

In attendance was model of the moment Ikram Abdi Omar, the UKs first hijab-wearing model to feature on the cover of Vogue and former face of Burberry, while TV and radio presenters Lilah Parsons and Kate Mason were also out in force.

Model moment: In attendance was model of the moment Ikram Abdi Omar, the UKs first hijab-wearing model to feature on the cover of Vogue and former face of Burberry

Well-heeled: Footwear brand Ghazal Paris took to Royal Ascot for a celebration of sartorial elegance as they hosted their first annual luncheon in the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot

Chic: Chef Clodagh McKenna looked elegant in a vintage 1940s jacket & vintage 1970s chiffon skirt, paired with a boater from Hostie Hats Millinery

The Queen will not attend Royal Ascot today as she misses out on the event amid her ongoing mobility issues - but there will be a procession featuring Prince Charles, Camilla and Peter Phillips in the first carriage.

Following behind in the second carriage will be the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent; while in the third carriage will be Princess Anne, the Queen's close friend Lord de Mauley and former British Horseracing Authority head of stewarding William Nunneley with his wife Caroline.

In the fourth carriage at the procession - the details for which were revealed at noon today - will be the Earl and Countess of Hopetoun along with Tom Hooper and Lady Alexandra Hooper, who is also close with the royals.

Yay! Seen by many as the calendar highlight of the British summer season, Royal Ascot has finally returned to its former, pre-pandemic glory

Monarch: The Queen, who has owned 22 winners of races at Royal Ascot, was among racegoers attending last year

Her Majesty was a regular at the Berkshire racecourse before the pandemic and has been at every Royal Meeting since acceding to the throne in 1952, apart from when it was held behind closed doors in 2020.

However the 96-year-old monarch will likely be watching from home just seven miles away at Windsor Castle this afternoon, especially when her horse King's Lynn races in the King's Stand Stakes at 3.40pm.

The Queen, who has owned 22 winners of races at Royal Ascot, was among racegoers attending last year after it was selected to take part in the Government's events research programme on behalf of the sport of racing.

Plenty of fans adopted a patriotic theme too, to ensure the Platinum Jubilee celebrations continue, with red, white and blue incorporated into their outfits for the day.

Confident: She posed up a storm in her blue dress at the event
Jennifer Aniston is facing backlash following comments she made about the ways internet stars find fame in modern society, with angry fans accusing the star of trying to gatekeep the Hollywood elite.

The Friends star, 53, caused controversy with the comments she made during a sit down interview with Pam & Tommy star Sebastian Stan, 39, during which she reflected on the way the likes of Paris Hilton and Monica Lewinsky's fame was shaped by the rise of internet culture.

In a segment of the Actors on Actors interview for Variety, the pair had been discussing the infamous Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape leak in 1995 which Stans Hulu series was based upon, leading Aniston to discuss internet culture at the time.

Out of touch? Jennifer Aniston has come under fire for claiming that stars finding fame through 'internet culture' are 'diluting the actor's job'

Actors on Actors: Aniston's comments were made during a 30-minute sit down with Pam & Tommy star Sebastian Stan

Aniston began to comment on how the leak took place at a period when the internet began to influence society as she stated: It was right at the time when the internet really shaped a new culture about people becoming famous.

This thing of people becoming famous for basically doing nothing but yet having these incredible careers. And then women's reputation... I mean  Paris Hilton, Monica Lewinsky, all those.

Lewinsky was involved in a sex scandal with then-President Bill Clinton in 1998 after his two-year sexual relationship with the 24-year-old White House intern came to light, while Paris Hilton's private sex tape featuring herself and then-boyfriend Rick Salomon was leaked onto the internet in 2004.

Stan replied: 'When you look back at the 90s, you do see how many things have happened in that decade. Even the O.J. Simpson thing was actually the beginning of 24-hour news.'

His comment led the Horrible Bosses star to add: I feel so lucky that we got a little taste of the industry before it became what it is today... More streaming services  youre famous from TikTok, you're famous from YouTube, you're famous from Instagram. Its almost, like, its diluting the actors job.'

Not impressed: Twitter users were quick to call out the Friends star for her comments, claiming that her career was boosted by the fact her parents Nancy Dow and John Aniston are also actors

The Just Go With It star's comment soon sparked a furious response from some Twitter users who felt the Hollywood stars reflections about finding fame were ironic due to the fact her parents are late actress Nancy Dow and Days of Our Lives star John Aniston, 88.

One fan tweeted: 'Jennifer Aniston plays the same character which is just a version of herself in every movie and it consistently gives nothing. The only that saves her is she has pretty okay co stars to save as comic relief.. always the NEPOTISM babies with no talent wanting to give their take.'

Another wrote: 'Jennifer Aniston needs to calm down with her opinions when her nepotism got her into the industry and now she continues to make $20million per year just off syndication from a show that ended decades ago.'

'theyre so mad they cant gatekeep the title of celebrity to stay in their weird nepotism Hollywood elite (sic),' another Twitter user stated.

Like father, like daughter: Aniston pictured with her dad, Days of Our Lives actor John Aniston

Estranged: Aniston's late mother Nancy Dow starred in shows like The Beverly Hillbillies and The Wild Wild West; the pair famously had a 15-year feud over a tell-all book in 1999

Times are changing: Online commenters argued that the actress had failed to realize how social media was helping talent from 'overlooked' communities find fame

One fan mused: 'Jennifer Aniston (nepotism baby) not talking about the true injustice to the acting industry (nepotism) and instead pretending the acting profession is degraded when people from all walks of life have the opportunity to become actors based on their own hard work and virality (sic)'

Another added: 'I feel so lucky that nepotism got me in before TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, and other services gave other people the opportunity to be seen. I would have ~never~ been able to compete against such a candidate pool." - Jennifer Aniston, basically'.

However, some fans spoke out in defense of the Marley & Me star claiming she was right to say that internet platforms have allowed influencers to get roles traditionally given to actors.

'Shes not wrong the early 00s was revolutionizing. You actually had to have talent,' one person commented.

Another added: 'She kind of has a point though. Trained actors and those just coming out of training have been getting sidelined for influencers with no training whatsoever for a while now. And its happening across the board, no matter the race/class.'

Anistons parents divorced when she was nine years old, and the actress had an estranged relationship with her father - who initially discouraged her from pursing acting.

In 2012, The Bounty Hunter star told The Hollywood Reporter: 'My dads advice has always been: Dont do it. Become a doctor. Become a lawyer.

'He didnt want me to be heartbroken because he knew it was a tough business. It compelled me to go for it even harder. Do what keeps you happy, and dont ever let people box you in.'

Born to be a star: Aniston landed her first TV role alongside The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik (centre) in the short-lived 1990 series, Molloy

TV veteran: The actress also starred as as Jeannie Bueller in the Ferris Bueller's Day Off spin-off series, Ferris Bueller, that same year

However, the veteran actor was supportive of her career once she began to make her name in Hollywood.

In a joint 1990 interview with E! News, the soap star praised the then-budding-actress as he stated: 'Jennifer is a natural talent. There are certain things you can learn in this business, and there are certain things you cant learn. The comic instinct that she has in unerring. Thats her greatest asset.'

The Bruce Almighty star landed obtained her first regular television role on Molloy in 1990 and appeared in Ferris Bueller, a television adaptation of the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Both shows were cancelled and the star had a few more minor roles before landing her breakout part as Rachel Green in Friends in 1994.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Jennifer Aniston's representatives for comment.
Katie Price took to Instagram to reveal she has 'turned a corner' and is 'getting rid of evil human beings' after Carl Woods' 'threatening behaviour' charge was dropped.

It's not clear exactly who Katie, 44, was talking about but her words came five hours after Carl took to Instagram to reveal he would be talking more about what has been going on.

On Monday, Carl, 33, shared a heavily filtered video of himself saying: 'Oi, do you know what, today is a wicked day for me.

Embattled: Katie Price wrote about 'getting rid of evil human beings' on Instagram on Monday as Carl Woods said 'it is MY turn to talk' after 'threatening behaviour' charge was dropped

Sharing a video and talking about the 'bulls*** case against him, he said: 'I told you I had proof and believe you me, everything I've got is coming. And it is gonna be an absolute blinder'

'Do you remember that bulls*** case, the one that was full of lies, making me out to be a woman beater, that one, I'm sure you all remember it because I certainly do, I told everybody it was b*****s and I got untold abuse over it.

'Well now it's been proven to be the s**t that it was and guess what that means, it is my turn, MY turn to talk. And let me tell you, get the f***ing popcorn ready, because I am not going to hold back on this one.

'I told you I had proof and believe you me, everything I've got is coming. And it is gonna be an absolute blinder.'

Something to say: Five hours later, Katie wrote the above about 'turning a corner' in a cryptic post

Carl is yet to reveal any more information but he then posted the song Exposure, before holding up a bag of popcorn.

Katie then posted herself and wrote: 'Honestly, my lucky numbers keep coming, good things are suddenly happening too.

'I've so turned a corner on how I view things and act upon things now that being positive and getting rid of evil human beings I had in my life has also made a massive impact too. Out with the old and stay with loyals.'

Then on Tuesday, Carl took to social media and posted once again: 'A person who doesn't defend you, while someone slanders you, is your enemy too.'

Case dropped: Carl was charged following a highly publicised a row with Katie Price in August last year

On Monday, Carl said he is 'relieved' after his charge of threatening behaviour was dropped by investigators.

He was charged following a highly publicised a row with Katie in August last year.

Colchester Magistrates Court was told he had attempted to 'force his way into a house after a row with Katie in the street,' The Sun reports.

Mr Woods previously pleaded not guilty to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour.

Woods had been charged under Section 4 of the Public Order Act following an incident at his home in Little Canfield, Essex last year.

At an earlier hearing in March, magistrates were told the charge followed a row that spilled over into the street, disturbing neighbours.

Hand in hand: Carl pictured arriving at Colchester Magistrates' Court, Essex, at a hearing in March alongside partner Katie

At one stage Woods was allegedly seen trying to force open a door, the court heard.

The male model attended court hand-in-hand with Price, after the pair returned from a holiday to Thailand.

He had been due to stand trial on Thursday but it was revealed today that the case had been abandoned, due to no realistic prospect of conviction.

A source said: 'Carl is relieved to finally have his name cleared.

'The case really put huge amounts of pressure on him.

'Those close to Carl continued to support him throughout the process and everyone is relieved to hear the news.'

Elsewhere, Katie Price is awaiting her sentencing on June 24 at Lewes Crown Court, after previously pleading guilty to breaching a restraining order against her ex-partner Kieran Hayler's fiancee Michelle Penticost.

The former glamour model was arrested by police after she allegedly sent a vile and nasty message to Mr Hayler about Miss Penticost on January 21.

The message read: Tell your c****** whore piece of s*** girlfriend not to start on me.

She has a restraining order so shouldnt try antagonise me as she is in breach and Im sure she doesnt want people knowing that she was having an affair with you behind my back. That gutter slag.

Price was handed a five-year restraining order on June 3, 2019 banning her from contacting Miss Penticost directly or indirectly.

The order came after Price hurled a foul-mouthed tirade of abuse at her during a row in a school playground.

Regarding Woods' case, a CPS spokesman said today: 'The CPS has an obligation to keep cases under continuous review.

'As part of our review and in accordance with our legal test we concluded that there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction and the case was stopped.

'The Crown Prosecution Service takes seriously all situations where a person's behaviour causes fear and we will seek to prosecute suspects when our legal test is met.'
Chanelle Hayes has revealed she's now feeling 'confident' enough to wear a wedding dress after her nine stone weight loss - as she plans her nuptials to her fiance Dan Bingham.

The former Big Brother housemate, 34, has told in a candid new interview that she 'wouldn't have wanted to get married if she was still bigger'.

The beauty revealed she was engaged to Dan, 40, in April this year after being introduced in the 2020 lockdown through a mutual friend - but has never shared a full picture of him.

Happy: Chanelle Hayes has revealed she's now feeling 'confident' enough to wear a wedding dress after her nine stone weight loss - as she plans her nuptials to her fiance Dan Bingham

Chanelle lost nine stone after undergoing a gastric sleeve operation in August 2020, which saw her drop from a size 18 to a size 10.

Speaking to New magazine Chanelle told that she hasn't been dress shopping yet as she wants to get her boobs done in January and a tummy tuck to get rid of loose skin after her 9st weight loss.

She explained: 'I feel like nothing would fit properly until those two things are done and that would get me down. I don't know whether I would have wanted to get married if I was still bigger. But I am excited because I feel confident as I am now.

'I know I won't want a big meringue style dress and will probably go for something quite simple, but I'm not deciding anything for certain yet.'

Honest: The former Big Brother housemate, 34, has told in a candid new interview that she 'wouldn't have wanted to get married if she was still bigger' (pictured before weight loss in 2017)

Dan added that he hadn't taken into account she had lost weight when he bought the ring so it had to be resized as it fitted 'like a bracelet'.

She added that she has started to create a mood board of how she wants the wedding to be and revealed she wants it to be in the UK not abroad.

During the interview she also gushed over her new romance, saying: 'Everyone's got 'a person' and Dan is mine. I've never been able to fully be myself and I just know that he loves me so much.'

She also told how he proposed when she was hungover in her dressing gown, looking like a 'dog's dinner'.

Private: The beauty revealed she was engaged to Dan, 40, in April after being introduced in the 2020 lockdown through a mutual friend - but has never shared a full picture of him

Chanelle said of the proposal: 'He said: ''They say life beings at 40 and I want to spend the rest of my life with you''. It was perfect. I wouldn't have had it any other way.'

She added that she had always known that they would get married but that she didn't know he would do it when she was sat in her pajamas and 'feeling shaky from the night before'.

Back in April Chanelle accepted the proposal from Dan, who she has never shared a picture of.

She was 'over the moon' and 'said yes straight away', with a source telling OK! magazine: 'She's been dreaming of this for such a long time.

Big change: Chanelle lost nine stone after undergoing a gastric sleeve operation, which saw her drop from a size 18 to a size 10 (pictured left before and right after)

'Chanelle has really been through it when it comes to relationships and this time it really feels like she's found The One.

'She's already looking into wedding plans and can't wait to finally get married  she's been dreaming of this for such a long time.'

Chanelle's representative was contacted for comment by MailOnline at the time.

The TV personality shares her son Blakely, 11, with her ex-partner Matthew Bates, who she was in relationship with between 2009 and 2010.

She also has Frankie, four, with Edward Oates, who she was with on-and-off from 2016 to 2017.

Back in October, the influencer told her Instagram followers in a Q&A that she plans to walk down the aisle with her man and posted a rare photo of them.

In the post, Chanelle was asked 'Do you think you will get married?' She replied to the fan with a 'Yes' and a love heart as she concealed her man's identity with the question box.

They could been seen looking cosy over drinks as she revealed that she has found the one.

Doting mum: The TV personality shares her son Blakely, 11, (left) with her ex Matthew Bates, and Frankie, four, (right) with her former partner Edward Oates

Last year, Chanelle revealed that she was diagnosed with M.E. or CFS (chronic fatigue symptom), a condition that went undiagnosed for four years.

She also disclosed that she can no longer go to the gym, drink alcohol or enjoy nights out with friends because she's always so exhausted.

Chanelle lost nine stone after undergoing a gastric sleeve operation, which saw her drop from a size 18 to a size 10.

She now dubs herself a 'Body Positivity Advocate' in her Instagram bio, often posting inspiring snaps to her 120k followers.

In addition to her gastric sleeve operation, Chanelle more recently underwent an eight hour hair transplant surgery after discovering she suffers from female pattern baldness.

She told The Sun she was 'devastated' after seeing pictures of herself leaving the gym where the 'bald patches on the top of her head' were visible.

The star went on to reveal she would be scared her hairline would be revealed, saying: 'I couldn't go outside if it was raining, because it would dribble down her face'.

In February 2020, she underwent the surgery - which typically costs upwards of 7,000, at Farjo Hair Institute in Manchester.
The Wendy Williams Show will air its final new episode this Friday, bringing an end to the daytime series after over 13 years.

Williams, 57, withdrew from the show last year and embarked on what was initially supposed to be a temporary leave of absence to cope with health issues.

A series of rotating guest hosts took her place, and in February it emerged that Sherri Shepherd will permanently take over Williams' time slot this autumn.

Now a spokesperson for the series has confirmed to Variety that the finale of Williams' show will be broadcast this Friday without Williams herself.

End of the road: The Wendy Williams Show will air its final new episode this Friday, bringing an end to the daytime series after over 13 years

'The final original episode of The Wendy Williams Show will air on Friday, June 17th with a video tribute to the iconic host,' the spokesperson said in a statement. 'The series comes to an end after 13 successful years in syndication.'

Shepherd, who became a fan favorite during her repeated runs as a guest-host for Williams, will be starring on the show this week, including Friday.

A little over a month ago a Page Six insider revealed that some staffers on the series were hoping Williams would make an appearance on the finale.

The staffers 'have all these fond memories' and 'want her to come back,' said the source. 'A lot of people - especially the mid and low-level producers - signed up for the job because of Wendy. It feels like its just going to end [without her]. Its weird.'

Embattled: Williams, 57, withdrew from the show last year and embarked on what was initially supposed to be a temporary leave of absence to cope with health issues

Shepherd's upcoming syndicated show Sherri unveiled a new trailer last month ahead of its official premiere this autumn.

The Wendy Williams Show began with a six-week preview over the summer of 2008 and then entered syndication the following year.

Williams, who idolized Howard Stern, had already enjoyed a successful career as a radio shock jock, conducting juicy and occasionally combative interviews with stars as major as Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

She brought her irreverent style to TV, opening her show each day with a 'Hot Topics' segment where she offered her acerbic opinions on the latest showbiz stories.

Point of no return: Now a spokesperson for the series has confirmed to Variety that the finale of Williams' show will be broadcast this Friday without Williams herself

Williams declared in a recent interview that she would not watch Shepherd's upcoming talk show because it was not her 'thing.'

Shepherd replied on Instagram that 'I understand' Williams' position, adding: 'She's going through a lot. I'm truly concerned for her.'

Late last month it was revealed that Williams' finances would be controlled by a court-appointed guardian due to mental health concerns raised by several of the presenter's former staff.

Williams, who has been a fixture in the Big Apple for decades but has been seen less and less in recent months, has been at war with Wells Fargo since January, after staffers raised concerns that she was of 'unsound mind.'

In January, Williams' former financial adviser Lori Schiller, accused the star of being of unsound mind.

The accusation spurred the bank to block Williams - who has a reported net worth of $20million - from accessing her accounts in mid-January as they assessed the situation.

Tip of the hat: 'The final original episode of The Wendy Williams Show will air on Friday, June 17th with a video tribute to the iconic host,' the spokesperson said in a statement

The action led Williams to fire Schiller, as well as longtime manager Bernie Young and crisis manager Howard Bragman - both of whom have since spoken out about the presenters' inability to manage her finances.

'Bernie and Howard are out,' a source close to Williams told The Sun at the time. 'They dont even have a way to get in contact with her.'

The insider further revealed that 'no one has no way to get in contact with Wendy,' and that she doesnt even have her own phone anymore' - hinting at the star's mental state.

Lawyers for Williams responded by filing a motion that month demanding the bank unfreeze her accounts.

Incoming: A series of rotating guest hosts took her place, and in February it emerged that Sherri Shepherd (pictured) will permanently take over Williams' time slot this autumn

In March, Young, a well known New York producer who's worked on shows such as The Rose ODonnell Show and The Martha Stewart Show, filed documents to become Williams' legal guardian in a bid to gain control over her finances, saying he had the hosts 'best interests' at heart.

Young, meanwhile, filed the petition in New York court arguing he should have access to Wendys millions because she 'suffers serious health problems.'

The bank however, ruled the hold be upgraded to a temporary guardianship, further denying Williams access to her assets and statements - as well as her millions of dollars. At the time, Wells Fargo said the media personality was facing 'undue influence and financial exploitation,' citing accounts from former adviser Schiller.

The bank 'has strong reason to believe' Williams is 'the victim of undue influence and financial exploitation,' it claimed at the time.

'I want my money, this is not fair': Wells Fargo fire froze Wendy's account temporarily back in March after her ex-manager Bernie Young reportedly raised concerns over her mental health. It was revealed over the weekend that a New York judge has since made that ruling permanent at least until July, when Williams' situation will be reportedly reassessed

Legal filings subsequently revealed that Schiller had alleged to the bank that Williams was 'of unsound mind' and claimed that she 'witnessed signs of exploitation, including Wendy Williams' own expressed apprehension' about her close acquaintances and team.

Later that month, in three-and-a-half-minute video shared to Instagram, Williams aired her grievances against Wells Fargo, Schiller, Young and the New York court system, accusing them all of unjust treatment.

Williams lawyer LaShawn Thomas says they disagree with the ruling, and that Williams will not accept a longterm guardianship.

'My thing is that Ive been asking questions about my money and suddenly Lori Schiller has got no response regarding my money,' Williams said in an impassioned plea.

'I want my money. Its not fair, and Wells Fargo has no questions and answers with regarding my money. This is not fair, and Lori Schiller and Wells Fargo have this guardianship petition about keeping me away from my money. This is not right!'

The video saw Williams further fire at former manager Young, noting that he was 'no good,' and that the entire ordeal was 'not fair at all.'

Then, this weekend, it was revealed that the financial guardianship had been made permanent, with the order stating that a New York judge would appoint someone to look over the talking head's finances at least until July, when the order will be reassessed.

Williams, meanwhile, maintains she is capable of hiring her own financial advisors. She alleges the claims were put forth in an attempt to lessen the public outcry and regulatory scrutiny mounting around Wells Fargo due to their actions - which she calls overly aggressive and wrong.

Williams lawyer LaShawn Thomas says they disagree with the ruling, and that Williams will not accept a longterm guardianship.

'Wendy doesnt agree with a financial guardian being appointed,' Thomas explained in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. 'If its the courts intention to have one appointed over her affairs for the long haul, she definitely isnt going to accept that.'

Thomas said the recent ruling concerning the guardianship stemmed from a request Williams made to check her bank statements.

The bank didn't let her, the attorney said, citing that the host was an 'incapacitated person.'

The guardianship will be reassessed in July.
Dakota Johnson looked elegant as she stepped out in New York Tuesday.

The 32-year-old updated the classic sweater and pants look choosing a cream sweater with large cuffs and black wide leg pants.

The Our Friend star styled her hair straight and wore dark sunglasses as she left her hotel in The Big Apple.

Elegant: Dakota Johnson looked elegant as she stepped out in New York Tuesday, updating the classic sweater and pants look choosing a cream sweater with large cuffs and black wide leg pants

Time together: The Fifty Shades of Grey actress has been spotted in The Big Apple with her partner, Coldplay front man Chris Martin, who played shows there last week

Busy: Dakota attended the premiere of her film Cha Cha Real Smooth, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival Monday. The movie opens in theaters Friday

The 50 Shades of Grey actress' outing comes on the same day that Netflix released the trailer for her upcoming film, Persuasion.

Dakota takes on the role of heroine Anne Elliot in this latest adaptation of the timeless Jane Austen novel.

She plays a young woman from a financially struggling aristocratic family who was persuaded to turn down the proposal from a handsome, but poor Captain Wentworth eight years before the story takes place, only to run into him again.

Trailer: Netflix released the trailer for Persuasion Tuesday starring Dakota as heroine Anne Elliot in the film adaption of the Jane Austen novel

Rivals: Henry Golding, 35, and Cosmo Jarvis, 32, star as Mr. Elliot and Captain Wentworth, rivals for Anne's love. The film will debut on Netflix July 15

Cosmo Jarvis, 32, stars as the captain and Henry Golding, 35, fills the role of his rival, Mr. Elliot.

The versatile actress had to learn to speak with a posh British accent in addition to donning a corset and period clothes to take on the role of this much loved character who was introduced to the public more than 200 years ago.

The film, which adopted the same colorblind casting as the hit Netflix series Bridgerton, makes its streaming debut July 15.

Posh: The versatile actress adopted a posh British accent for her role as the downtrodden daughter of a financially struggling aristocratic family

Colorblind casting: Persuasion adopted the same colorblind casting as the Netflix hit Bridgerton

Fans can catch up with Dakota is theaters on Friday in Cha Cha Real Smooth.

She stars as the mother of an autistic daughter who befriends a Bar Mitzvah host in the dramady written, directed and starring Cooper Raiff, 25.

The film won the Audience Award in the drama category at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Cha cha: The People's Choice Award winner stars as the mother of an autistic daughter who befriends a Bar Mitzvah host in Cha Cha Real Smooth which opens in theaters and on Apple+ TV Friday

Awards: The film won the Audience Award in the drama category at the Sundance Film Festival in January

Out and about: Johnson was later spotted while taking a stroll through New York City's streets. The performer donned a black velvet jacket and a matching pair of pants during her outing

Johnson was later spotted while taking a stroll through New York City's streets.

The performer donned a black velvet jacket and a matching pair of pants during her outing.

The actress also rocked a set of silver high-heeled shoes, as well as a white shirt and gray tie.

Her gorgeous brunette locks cascaded onto her shoulders and paired well with the neutral toned of her outfit.
Nicky Hilton draped her blossoming baby bump in an elegant print gown while attending a rooftop party in New York over the weekend.

The 38-year-old little sister of Paris Hilton led the stars at a Saks x Ronny Kobo dinner held at SAGA in the Financial District of Manhattan.

The blonde star cut a glamorous figure at the fete, letting her signature blonde hair cascade over her shoulders in luxurious waves.

On the town: Nicky Hilton draped her blossoming baby bump in an elegant print gown while attending the Saks x Ronny Kobo dinner in Manhattan over the weekend

Nicky, who is expecting her third child by her husband James Rothschild, could be seen enjoying a chat with her pal Ezra J. William.

Ezra, an Indonesian socialite who appeared on Rich Kids Of Instagram, teamed a shimmering white striped suit with an oyster top.

While at the party he found time to socialize with reality star Dorothy Wang, who was seated next to him for dinner.

Dorothy, who shot to fame on Rich Kids Of Beverly Hills and achieved new heights of notoriety on Bling Empire, flashed a bit of leg at the rooftop party.

Chitchat: Nicky, who is expecting her third child by her husband James Rothschild, could be seen enjoying a chat with her pal Ezra J. William

The look: Ezra, an Indonesian socialite who appeared on Rich Kids Of Instagram, teamed a shimmering white striped suit with an oyster top

Side by side: While swanning around the party he found time to socialize with reality star Dorothy Wang, who was seated next to him for dinner

Dynamic duo: Dorothy, who shot to fame on Rich Kids Of Beverly Hills and achieved new heights of notoriety on Bling Empire, flashed a bit of leg at the rooftop party

Aglow: She selected a white and gold blouse and a matching pair of shorts, sweeping her hair into a ponytail and accentuating her screen siren features with makeup

She selected a white and gold blouse and a matching pair of shorts, sweeping her hair into a ponytail and accentuating her screen siren features with makeup.

Cara Santana, meanwhile, slid her enviably svelte frame into a monochrome floral cocktail dress that slid tantalizingly off the shoulder.

Famous figures strutted their stuff around SAGA, including fashion designer Cynthia Rowley, German model Carlotta Kohl and fashion lawyer Elizabeth Kurpis.

Cynthia mingled with none other than Kit Keenan, whom The Bachelor fans remember as a contestant on the Matt James season.

Sizzling sensation: Cara Santana, meanwhile, slid her enviably svelte frame into a monochrome floral cocktail dress that slid tantalizingly off the shoulder

Looking fab: Famous figures strutted their stuff around SAGA, including fashion designer (from left) Cynthia Rowley, German model Carlotta Kohl and fashion lawyer Elizabeth Kurpis

Dynamic duo: Cynthia mingled with none other than Kit Keenan, whom The Bachelor fans remember as a contestant on the Matt James season

Aglow: Kit slid her enviably trim frame into an electric green gown with a plunging neckline and throwback flared sleeves

Kit slid her enviably trim frame into an electric green gown with a plunging neckline and throwback flared sleeves.

Jenne Lombardo, who co-founded MADE Fashion Week, flashed the flesh in a black peekaboo dress that highlighted her hourglass frame.

An international array of models made their presence felt, including Eniko Mihalik from Hungary, Kirin Dejonckheere from Belgium and Flaviana Matata from Tanzania.

New York City fashion designer Mara Hoffman exuded a bit of summery flair in a bright orange dress with frills around the neckline.

Making it happen: Jenne Lombardo, who co-founded MADE Fashion Week, flashed the flesh in a black peekaboo dress that highlighted her hourglass frame

Worldwide: An international array of models were there, including(from left) Eniko Mihalik from Hungary, Kirin Dejonckheere from Belgium and Flaviana Matata from Tanzania

New York City fashion designer: Mara Hoffman exuded a bit of summery flair in a bright orange dress with frills around the neckline

Mona Vand, a wellness influencer whose brother became famous on Shahs Of Sunset, slid into a slinky monochrome dress with lace trim.

Fitness influencer Melissa Wood put her chiseled abs on display, while blogger Lainey Hedaya bared her trim midriff in a cutout gown.

French model Melody Monrose, who originally hails from Martinique, hobnobbed with fellow model Cris Urena, who is from the Dominican Republic.

Radiant: Mona Vand, a wellness influencer whose brother became famous on Shahs Of Sunset, slid into a slinky monochrome dress with lace trim

On the town: Fitness influencer Melissa Wood put her chiseled abs on display, while blogger Lainey Hedaya bared her trim midriff in a cutout gown

Sizzling at sunset: French model Melody Monrose, who originally hails from Martinique, hobnobbed with fellow model Cris Urena, who is from the Dominican Republic

Madison Utendahl, whose businessman father John Utendahl once had a high-profile romance with Tyra Banks, was Manhattan chic in a black cocktail dress.

Fashion stylist Elizabeth Sulcer went hell for leather in a long black coat while model Jacquelyn Jablonski threw a blazer over her mesh look.

Fashion designer Brian Atwood glowed with happiness while posing up at the sunset affair with his doctor husband Jake Deutsch.

The couple got together for a dazzling group shot to remember with Ronny Kobo, Victoria Brito and Tinamarie Clark.

Connections: Madison Utendahl, whose businessman father John Utendahl once had a high-profile romance with Tyra Banks, was Manhattan chic in a black cocktail dress

Dazzling: Fashion stylist Elizabeth Sulcer went hell for leather in a long black coat while model Jacquelyn Jablonski threw a blazer over her mesh look

Hot couple: Fashion designer Brian Atwood glowed with happiness while posing up at the sunset affair with his doctor husband Jake Deutsch
Squid Game captured worldwide attention when it began streaming on Netflix last year.

And now many fans will finally be able to see how they would fair in the competition based off the South Korean drama and one will be compensated very handsomely for their efforts.

Netflix announced they will be launching reality competition series Squid Game: The Challenge which they have billed as 'the biggest reality competition ever' according to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday.

Big money: Netflix announced they will be launching reality competition series Squid Game: The Challenge which they have billed as 'the biggest reality competition ever' according to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday

The streaming giant is putting the money where their mouth is as the massive field of 456 players will be competing for a chance to win $4.56million which they claim is the biggest cash prize in TV history.

However previous seasons of Fox's reality singing competition show, X Factor, has previously given out recording contracts worth up to $5million according to THR.

In the original dramatic series, hundreds of cash-strapped contestants accept an invitation to compete in children's games for a tempting prize, but the stakes are deadly.

Wow: The streaming giant is putting the money where their mouth is as the massive field of 456 players will be competing for a chance to win $4.56million which they claim is the biggest cash prize in TV history

Presumably no one will actually die while participating in the series of games based on the dystopian smash hit series.

Netflix Vice President of unscripted and documentary series Brandon Riegg said of the upcoming program: 'Squid Game took the world by storm with [director Hwang Dong-hyuks] captivating story and iconic imagery.

'Were grateful for his support as we turn the fictional world into reality in this massive competition and social experiment. Fans of the drama series are in for a fascinating and unpredictable journey as our 456 real world contestants navigate the biggest competition series ever, full of tension and twists, with the biggest-ever cash prize at the end.'

Iconic: In the original dramatic series, hundreds of cash-strapped contestants accept an invitation to compete in children's games for a tempting prize, but the stakes are deadly

The reality series will consist of 10 episodes which happens to be one more than the original dramatic series.

Squid Game became Netflix's most-watched new series last year, drawing in 142million people in its first month - nearly double the previous record held by Bridgerton.

The Korean drama is also being praised with adding 4.4million new subscribers, increasing Netflix global subscriptions to 213.5 million up from 209million.

It boosted the company's profits to $1.4billion - nearly double the amount it took in during the third quarter of 2020.
Tom Hiddleston's latest role could see fans drop off as he narrates the adventures of Winnie the Pooh for the sleeping aid app Calm.

Listeners will be able to unwind to the Loki actor reciting the app's latest sleep story of Disney's Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship Treasury.

The story is a collection of adventures with the beloved bear and his best friends, as they discover the value of true friendship.

Dreamy: Tom Hiddleston's latest role could see fans drop off as he narrates the adventures of Winnie the Pooh for the sleeping aid app Calm

Tom, 41, said: 'I loved Winnie the Pooh growing up and I'm so grateful to be able to revisit happy childhood memories through this Calm Sleep Story.

'There's a lot of wisdom and calming reassurance in the stories of Winnie the Pooh, which we can all learn from.

'What better way to listen and reflect on the warm-hearted nature of Pooh's character and stories than as we settle in for a good night's sleep.'

Drifting into a slumber: Listeners will be able to unwind to the Loki actor reciting the app's latest sleep story of Disney's Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship Treasury (Winnie The Pooh pictured with Piglet)

Tom joins other famous faces on the app including Harry Styles, David Walliams and Matthew McConaughey.

In support of the launch, Disney has released a selection of new illustrations to go alongside some of Pooh's words of wisdom - such as 'What's wrong with knowing what you know now and not knowing what you don't know now, until later.'

They have also produced sketches of Tom Hiddleston with Pooh to celebrate the partnership.

Sarah Fox, vice president of marketing and communications, Disney consumer products, games & publishing EMEA, said: 'Winnie the Pooh has been comforting adults and children for over 95 years.

'There is no other bear who holds the same place in our hearts. His kind-hearted stories combined with a special selection of cosy products will help families and fans to relax, and drift into a sweet slumber.

'We're excited to see Pooh's wise words of care and friendship come to life with the help of Tom Hiddleston's soothing tones.'

As part of Disney's collaboration with Calm, 1,000 families at Make-A-Wish UK will be also gifted a free subscription for three years to enjoy the new Winnie the Pooh sleep story.

Disney's Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship Treasury Sleep Story is now available on Calm to all subscribed users, with supporting Winnie the Pooh products available for purchase from leading retailers nationwide.
Brittany Cartwright confirmed that she and former pal Stassi Schroeder are feuding because she and husband Jax Taylor were no-shows at Stassi's big Italian wedding.

Cartwright, 33, revealed she had done 'everything in her power' to attend the wedding and said she hopes that they can 'figure this out' while appearing on the Betches Moms podcast on Monday.

Recently, Stassi revealed on her own podcast that Jax and Brittany were in the doghouse because they said they were attending the wedding but told friends the exact opposite. Cartwright, however, explained that things were not so black and white.

On the outs: Brittany Cartwright confirmed that she and former pal Stassi Schroeder are feuding because she and husband Jax Taylor were no-shows at Stassi's big Italian wedding (pictured in 2019)

'There's some rifts going on right now,' Brittany said. 'With me and Stassi, there's some things going on, which I hate. I love her to pieces and I wish we could figure this out.'

Brittany insisted that she and Jax 'wanted to be there' and had never pretended they were going, which Stassi accused them of doing.

'I would never in a million years do something like that on purpose,' Cartwright said. 'We had actual reasons why we couldn't go that were not talked about.'

She went on the explain that the passport they had ordered for their one-year-old son had not arrived in time for the trip and she had a death in the family which required her mom to travel back to Kentucky.

'There's some rifts going on right now,' Brittany said. 'With me and Stassi, there's some things going on, which I hate. I love her to pieces and I wish we could figure this out.' (pictured in February)

'But I know, like, having to wait to the last minute and not being able to be there for someone who I really do think of as one of my best friends, like, I feel terrible about and I'm truly sorry,' she said remorsefully. 'And I hope that one day, we'll be able to talk about this and figure it all out. Because I do want our kids to grow up together.'

Brittany, who formerly co-starred on Vanderpump Rules with Schroeder, said she had a lot of love for Stassi and Beau.

'She looked amazing at her wedding. I mean, they looked absolutely incredible,' she mused. 'And I know it would have been so fun to be there.'

'At the end of the day, I just hope that they know, like, I did not wait to the last minute because I knew I was going to not be there for weeks. That was not the case,' she explained that she still tried to get there 'up until the very last minute.'

Not pleased: Recently, Stassi revealed on her own podcast that Jax and Brittany were in the doghouse because they said they were attending the wedding but told friends the exact opposite

'I just felt terrible about it altogether because that's just not my personality, I would never try to put my friend in that situation,' Brittany said.

Stassi and Brittany haven't had a chance to hash things out in private but Schroeder did open up about her former co-stars no-showing at her nuptials on her The Good, the Bad and the Baby podcast.

The NYT best-selling author said during a recent episode that Jax and Brittany had RSVP'd yes to her wedding but her husband saw screenshots where Jax claimed the couple was never going to show.

'We need to address this with them because I'm not playing this game,' Stassi recalled saying a few weeks before the wedding. 'I ordered all the stuff we needed to have in terms of seat assignments and the place cards. So I need to know if I need to quickly ask to get things rearranged.'

'At the end of the day, I just hope that they know, like, I did not wait to the last minute because I knew I was going to not be there for weeks. That was not the case,' Brittany explained, adding that despite knowing for sometime she wouldn't attend, she still tried to get there 'up until the very last minute.' (Jax and Brittany pictured in 2021)

'Good friends don't do that,' she added. 'They don't talk s**t about your wedding behind your back or pretend that they're coming and give a list of reasons why they're not coming to other people. Friends don't do that to each other.'

Last month, Stassi said 'I do' for the second time at her dream wedding to husband Beau Clark in Italy.

The wedding guest list was slashed after she got fired from Vanderpump Rules - though Brittany and Jax had made the cut.

Schroeder's wedding went from 200 guests to just 35 because things were 'too expensive', she said during a recent appearance on the Dear Media podcast, The Skinny Confidential.

'Good friends don't do that,' Stassi recently said of the no-show. 'They don't talk s**t about your wedding behind your back or pretend that they're coming and give a list of reasons why they're not coming to other people. Friends don't do that to each other.'

'It was supposed to be on Vanderpump Rules,' Stassi said, explaining that her wedding special would have served as a 'bridge' episode for a now defunct spin-off show.

Stassi actually took a producer from the show with her and Beau to Rome back in 2019 to scout locations for the hotel, rehearsal dinner space and wedding venue so they could secure the rights to film there.

The Off With My Head author revealed that the venues refused to let her cancel. At the same time, after her firing over a racism scandal, all of Stassi's revenue streams - the show, her podcast and endorsements - all dried up

'Bravo didn't pay for this s**t,' she said, 'like we paid for the s**t and the venues didn't let us get out of it. Do we want to just eat this money and let it go? Or, like, do we want to, re-imagine what this wedding will look like and like still do it?'

Finally: Last month, Stassi said 'I do' for the second time at her dream wedding to husband Beau Clark in Italy but the wedding guest list was slashed after she got fired from Vanderpump Rules - though Brittany and Jax had made the cut, as did Katie Maloney (pictured)

Tom Sandoval and Scheana Shay were persona non grata at the swanky event. Scheana was one of the 70% that actually had her invite rescinded by the bride, while Sandoval was never invited.

Katie Maloney, who is Stassi's baby's godmother, made the cut for the wedding - as did her soon-to-be ex Tom Schwartz.

Kristen Doute - who was fired from the Bravo show alongside Stassi after falsely accusing black castmate Faith Sowers of theft to the police - was also absent from the wedding but had been invited.

Stassi and Beau started their romance towards the end of 2017 and they became engaged in July 2019.

The two first officially wed in 2020 in a back yard with few in attendance due to COVID. They had to wait until 2022 to have a big, splashy wedding of their dreams with their friends in Italy.
Married At First Sight bride Selina Chhaur dazzled at the Sydney premiere of Disney-Pixar's new animated film Lightyear on Tuesday night.

The hairdresser, 33, stunned in a glittery cream Nookie jumpsuit as she posed for solo photos on the red carpet.

Her eye-catching outfit hugged her slim figure to perfection, revealing a hint of decolletage thanks to its plunging halter neckline.

Married At First Sight bride Selina Chhaur, 33, dazzled at the Sydney premiere of Disney-Pixar's new animated film Lightyear on Tuesday night

Selina completed her look with bold red lipstick and hoop earrings, and swept her raven locks into a half-up hairstyle.

Elsewhere on the red carpet was fellow MAFS star Al Perkins, who showcased his love for the film's titular character by wearing a Buzz Lightyear costume.

Doing his best impression of the beloved Toy Story character, Al posed for the cameras with one fist raised triumphantly in the air.

Elsewhere on the red carpet was fellow Married At First Sight star Al Perkins (pictured), who showcased his love for the film's titular character by wearing a Buzz Lightyear costume

The Bachelor's Bella Varelis and boyfriend Will Stokoe put on a more subdued display as they posed arm-in-arm on the red carpet.

Bella wrapped up warm in a houndstooth blazer and grey jeans, while her influencer beau sported a distressed denim jacket and black cargo pants.

Bachelor golden couple Jimmy Nicholson and Holly Kingston also attended the event, cuddling on the red carpet for a loved-up photo.

The Bachelor's Bella Varelis (right) and boyfriend Will Stokoe (left) put on a more subdued display as they posed arm-in-arm on the red carpet

Bachelor golden couple Jimmy Nicholson (right) and Holly Kingston (left) also attended the event, cuddling on the red carpet for a loved-up photo

Holly sizzled in an orange midi dress and white boots, while her pilot boyfriend looked dapper in a checkered blazer and black jeans.

Several celebrities brought their families along for the screening, including Studio 10 host Tristan McManus, actress Penny McNamee and Hi-5 star Nathan Foley.

Lightyear follows the origin story of Buzz Lightyear, the hero who inspired the legendary Space Ranger action figure featured in Toy Story.

Lightyear is in cinemas on Thursday, June 16

Several celebrities brought their families along for the screening, including Studio 10 host Tristan McManus (pictured with his children)

Actress Penny McNamee posed alongside her son at the premiere
Her husband Justin Bieber revealed last week that he has suffered temporary facial paralysis from Ramsay Hunt syndrome just days after being forced to cancel dates on his Justice World Tour.

And Hailey Bieber looked somber on a solo outing.

The 25-year-old model - who recently revealed her own health struggle of a small blood clot in her brain which gave her stroke-like symptoms - was seen on a casual lunch outing at Bar Piti in New York City on Tuesday.

Flying solo: Hailey Bieber was seen on a casual lunch outing at Bar Piti in New York City on Tuesday

She donned an on-trend inspired by the early 2000s including clinging white tank top, baggy black cargo pants and matching sneakers.

The leggy model accessorized with a small black leather designer bag, hoop earrings, and black shades.

Hailey wore her straight light brown tresses down in a middle-part as she showed off her natural looks by wearing minimal make-up.

Tough times: The 25-year-old model recently revealed her own health struggle of a small blood clot in her brain which gave her stroke-like symptoms

Not afraid of Y2K: She donned an on-trend inspired by the early 2000s including clinging white tank top, baggy black cargo pants and matching sneakers

Making moves: The leggy model accessorized with a small black leather designer bag, hoop earrings, and black shades

This comes just days after her husband Justin took to his Instagram on Friday to share a three-minute video explaining the diagnosis, which is a complication of shingles that can lead to facial paralysis.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the hearing loss and facial paralysis associated with Ramsay Hunt syndrome is temporary, however, can become permanent.

Justin's right eye was unable to blink and the right side of his face did not move as he began the video saying: 'Hey everyone Justin here, I wanted to update you guys on what's been going on.

Sad news: Days ago her husband Justin Bieber has revealed that he has suffered facial paralysis from Ramsay Hunt syndrome just days after cancelling dates on his Justice World Tour, as he said that he cannot blink or move the right side of his face

Tough: The 28-year-old pop star took to his Instagram on Friday to share a three-minute video explaining the diagnosis which is a complication of shingles that can lead to facial paralysis

'Obviously as you can probably see with my face. I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome and it is from this virus that attacks the nerves in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis.'

Justin later updated posted a sad update on his Instagram Story as he wrote: 'Been getting progressively harder to eat which has been extremely frustrating, please pray for me [tearing up emoji]'

On Tuesday, the artist had announced that he was postponing the 'next few shows' of his seven-leg, 130-date Justice World Tour due 'non-Covid related illness.'

'Can't believe I'm saying this. I've done everything to get better but my sickness is getting worse,' the 28-year-old pop star - who boasts 539.2M social media followers - wrote.

Justin's right eye was unable to blink and the right side of his face did not move as he began the video saying: 'Hey everyone Justin here, I wanted to update you guys on what's been going on'

'Obviously as you can probably see with my face. I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome and it is from this virus that attacks the nerves in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis,' Justin continued

Justin later updated posted a sad update on his Instagram Story as he wrote: 'Been getting progressively harder to eat which has been extremely frustrating, please pray for me [tearing up emoji]'

Announcement: On Tuesday, the artist had announced that he was postponing the 'next few shows' of his seven-leg, 130-date Justice World Tour due 'non-Covid related illness' (pictured Friday)

The pop star wrote: 'Can't believe I'm saying this. I've done everything to get better but my sickness is getting worse. My heart breaks that I will have to postpone these next few shows (doctors orders). To all my people I love you so much and I'm gonna rest and get better'

Wow: The Justice World Tour began in February was set to have 130 dates all around the world through the rest of this year and into next year

'My heart breaks that I will have to postpone these next few shows (doctors orders). To all my people I love you so much and I'm gonna rest and get better.'

In the clip posted on Friday, Justin showed the devastating effects to his diagnosis as he showed how his eye wasn't blinking, can't smile, and nostril will not move all on the right side of his face.

He explained: 'So there is full paralysis on this side my face. So for those who are frustrated by my cancellations of the next shows, I'm just physically obviously not capable of doing them. This is pretty serious as you can see.

Scary: Justin showed the devastating effects to his diagnosis as he showed how his eye wasn't blinking, can't smile, and nostril will not move all on the right side of his face

He explained: 'So there is full paralysis on this side my face. So for those who are frustrated by my cancellations of the next shows, I'm just physically obviously not capable of doing them. This is pretty serious as you can see'

WHAT IS RAMSAY HUNT SYNDROME? THE RARE COMPLICATION OF SHINGLES THAT LEADS TO FACIAL PARALYSIS Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a complication of shingles, caused by the same virus as chickenpox (VZV), that can lead to facial paralysis. The virus becomes reactivated after laying dormant for years and causes inflammation and irritation on the facial nerves. VZV is harmless unless it is reactivated and should this happen new symptoms will appear. The virus can be reactivated when the immune system is weakened, and less able to fight off infection. Stress is often a trigger. Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a complication of shingles that can lead to facial paralysis Figures suggest that five in every 100,000 adults in the US will develop RHS. It poses a similar threat in the UK, according to the NHS. Children are rarely affected by RHS, as the complication most often affects adults in their 60s. Treatment usually involves antiviral medication. Doctors recommend seeking help within three days of the start of symptoms. What are the symptoms? Facial muscles droop

Difficulty closing the eye

Altered taste

Loss of facial expression

Difficulty eating, drinking and speaking Advertisement

'I wish this wasn't the case but obviously my body is telling me that I've got to slow down and I hope you guys understand. I will be using this time to rest and relax and get back to 100 percent so that I can do what I was born to do.'

According to FacialPalsy.org.uk if antiviral treatment is given within 72 hours of developing symptoms approximately 70 percent of people will experience a virtually full recovery and if damage to the nerve is mild then recovery should take place within a few weeks.

Justin concluded by saying that he is doing all that he can, including resting, in order to address the issue but was honest as he said he doesn't know how long it will take him to recovery.

He said: 'I love you guys. Thank you for being patient for me and I am going to get better. I'm doing all of these facial exercises to get my face back to normal and it will go back to normal.

He explained: 'So there is full paralysis on this side my face. So for those who are frustrated by my cancellations of the next shows, I'm just physically obviously not capable of doing them. This is pretty serious as you can see'

'I wish this wasn't the case but obviously my body is telling me that I've got to slow down and I hope you guys understand. I will be using this time to rest and relax and get back to 100 percent so that I can do what I was born to do,' Justin explained

'It's just time, we don't know how much time it will be, but it's going to be okay. I hope and I trust God and I trust that this is all for a reason. I'm not sure what that is right now but in the meantime I'm going to rest and I love you guys. Peace.'

This has not been an easy year for the Bieber family as Justin's wife Hailey was hospitalized in March for a small blood clot in her brain which gave her stroke-like symptoms.

It was reported at the time that Justin would not leave his wife's side during her traumatic ordeal.

Sources told People in March, Justin 'is probably more traumatized than even she is.'

'Thank you for being patient with me': Justin concluded by saying that he is doing all that he can, including resting, in order to address the issue but was honest as he said he doesn't know how long it will take him to recovery

He said: 'I love you guys. Thank you for being patient for me and I am going to get better. I'm doing all of these facial exercises to get my face back to normal and it will go back to normal'

He concluded: 'It's just time, we don't know how much time it will be, but it's going to be okay. I hope and I trust God and I trust that this is all for a reason. I'm not sure what that is right now but in the meantime I'm going to rest and I love you guys. Peace'

'When it happened, there was a lot of panic. Justin was crying, because you don't expect your young wife to have symptoms that resemble a stroke. Justin texted everyone he knew and asked everyone to pray for her, and he never left her side,' the insider said.

Justin had recently recovered from a bout of COVID-19 just weeks prior where he was forced to reschedule a few dates of his tour, his first major set of performances since ending the Purpose world tour in 2017.

Hailey revealed on Instagram she was hospitalized in Palm Springs back in March following 'stroke-like' symptoms, and found out she actually suffered a 'small blood clot.'

Trying year: This has not been an easy year for the Bieber family as Justin's wife Hailey was hospitalized in March for a small blood clot in her brain which gave her stroke-like symptoms, they are seen together at The Grammys in April

Hailey detailed the ordeal online in a lengthy Instagram post: 'On Thursday morning, I was sitting at breakfast with my husband when I started having stroke-like symptoms and was taken to the hospital'

Sources told PEOPLE magazine that Justin has been worried sick about his wife despite her pleas for him to stay as stress-free as possible as she recovers from the incident.

'Hailey doesn't want anyone to worry about her, but it was a terrifying situation for both of them,' the insider said. 'Justin is still very worried. He can barely sleep. He stays up watching her while she rests.'

The insider added: 'He would've done anything to help her. It was a moment for them both to be reminded about mortality, and focusing on what really matters.

Devoted: It was reported at the time that Justin would not leave his 25-year-old wife's side during her traumatic ordeal; pictured at the Met Gala in 2021

'He realizes, and is telling people around him, how much Hailey is his rock, and how she saved him from a dark time  and that he needs to appreciate her every day. He's going to keep an eye on her and help her however he can. And he has everyone around him praying for her continued good health. It shook him up.'

Hailey detailed the ordeal online in a lengthy Instagram post: 'On Thursday morning, I was sitting at breakfast with my husband when I started having stroke-like symptoms and was taken to the hospital.'

'They found I had suffered a very small blood clot to my brain, which caused a small lack of oxygen, but my body had passed it on its own and I recovered completely within a few hours.'

'Hailey is his rock': Justin had recently recovered from a bout of COVID-19 just weeks prior where he was forced to reschedule a few dates of his tour, his first major set of performances since ending the Purpose world tour in 2017

She added: 'Although this was definitely one of the scariest moments I've ever been through, I'm home now and doing well, and I'm so grateful and thankful to all the amazing doctors and nurses who took care of me!'

'Thank you to everyone who has reached out with well wishes and concern, and for all the support and love.'

According to sources close to her, Hailey's medical condition was affecting her movement in some way and they shared that she had undergone tests to find the origin of her illness.

Doctors were concerned that her symptoms might have been related to COVID-19 since Justin had been diagnosed with the virus earlier in March, but no conclusive evidence could be established.
Jared Leto and Amanda Seyfried bonded in a new interview over the scandalous moguls they have just played in miniseries.

Amanda, 36, stars on The Dropout as Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced Theranos founder who was convicted of fraud and could go to prison for up to 20 years.

While chatting to Amanda for Variety's Actors On Actors web show, Jared dished about the time he met Elizabeth, whom he described as 'incredibly smart and funny' and 'always quite lovely' to him.

Looking back: Jared Leto and Amanda Seyfried bonded in a new interview over the scandalous moguls they have just played in miniseries

In an odd coincidence, Jared presented Elizabeth with Glamour's Women Of The Year award in 2015 before her downfall.

'I had heard her speak in Palo Alto. She was great onstage. She was incredibly smart, funny - and then I met her after that, and I liked her a lot. But no indication that things weren't great in her life and at the company,' Jared dished.

'And then I gave her an award. And now I'm here with you. We stayed in touch after that and talked a few times, but my experience with her was always quite lovely. Not everyone is one thing. No one is one thing.'

Meanwhile Jared, 50, has just played WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann, whom he secretly met for the role even though he 'wasn't allowed' to do so.

Candid: Amanda 'of course' wanted to meet her subject Elizabeth Holmes, but was not 'allowed' even to get in touch with her because of Elizabeth's ongoing legal problems

Who's who: Amanda (left), 36, stars on The Dropout as Elizabeth Holmes (right), the disgraced Theranos founder who was convicted of fraud and could go to prison for up to 20 years

The Oscar-winning actor explained: 'The question was floated early on, and I didn't get a definitive response. I think the blanket approach that they were taking was that the Neumanns weren't involved with our project.'

Jared confessed however that 'I was too curious. I thought that I would regret it. We had a top-secret meeting. Nobody knew it was happening. I met his wife, Rebekah, and they have a lovely family. It was a nice experience on my end.'

His new show WeCrashed, in which Jared played Adam, also starred his fellow Oscar winner Anne Hathaway as Rebekah.

Amanda 'of course' wanted to meet her subject, but was not 'allowed' even to get in touch with her because of Elizabeth's ongoing legal problems.

By the way: In an odd coincidence, Jared presented Elizabeth with Glamour's Women Of The Year award in 2015 (pictured) before her downfall

'No one is one thing': 'We stayed in touch after that and talked a few times, but my experience with her was always quite lovely,' said Jared, pictured with Elizabeth after giving her the prize

'She was in litigation, and Disney was very clear about what we could and could not put in the show,' said Amanda. 'And I wasn't privy to any of that, because I didn't come on until the last minute. Kate McKinnon stepped out, and then they were looking for somebody else.'

Amanda spilled that Elizabeth 'was told not to watch' The Dropout, 'but I cannot imagine a world where she didn't peek.'

The Les Miserables actress shared: 'I have thought a lot about the sentencing. We tried to figure her out from a place of compassion and worthiness. I know whatever she's sentenced with, it's what she deserves.'

Uncanny: Jared (left), 50, has just played WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann (right), whom he secretly met for the role even though he 'wasn't allowed' to do so

She went on: 'And I also know, in my gut, that there's a space for her outside of this whole Theranos thing, outside of prison - if she goes to prison. Then she'll get out and she'll invent something new that'll work.'

She continued: 'I don't know if I'm the only person who feels that way. I'd love to see her take responsibility in a very vocal way, which she has not. If she can just take accountability and move on. Yeah, she lied a lot. She's a mother. She has her whole life ahead of her. She's my age. I like to think I'm still young, you know what I mean?'

A few months ago Amanda spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the problems of making a show about Elizabeth while her scandal was still unfolding.

What a cast: His new show WeCrashed, in which Jared played Adam, also starred his fellow Oscar winner Anne Hathaway as Rebekah

Six weeks of production on The Dropout took place while Elizabeth was on trial, with the result that, as Amanda confessed: 'It was always a little tense, knowing information could come out during the trial that could just change everything.'

Amanda revealed that 'one night' the show' creator Elizabeth Meriwether 'just got this dump of text messages that nobody had seen yet.'

The tranche of texts illuminated the relationship between Elizabeth and her ex Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani, the former Theranos COO who is currently on trial.
New TOWIE star Pia Smith has revealed 'half the show's cast' were booted off a plane to Madrid for refusing to wear masks.

The stars of the ITVBe show had been filming for the new series in the Dominican Republic - but nine cast members were removed from the plane after landing in the Spanish city on Tuesday morning- with the group spoken to by Spanish police over their 'lunatic behaviour'.

The group - five women and four men - failed to comply with airline rules by refusing to wear masks, despite repeated warnings, with one star vaping on the plane.

Three of the show's new stars Pia, Hannah Voyan and Mia Sully were among these removed, with James 'Diags' Bennewith also reported to be among the cast members.

Removed: New TOWIE star Pia Smith has revealed 'half the show's cast' were booted off a plane to London for refusing to wear masks

Civil Guard officers confirmed they were asked to intervene by an Air Europa pilot after the aircraft flew into the Spanish capital from the Dominican Republic.

After being met by police, the cast members were then refused permission to board their flight to London.

Pia said on Instagram: '24 hours later, we're still travelling, we got chucked off the flight because we didn't wear masks, it was like half the cast that got chucked off.

'We've had to sit here in Madrid airport for 10 hours. I'm not going to get back to the UK until 11:30pm, I won't be back in my bed until 1am.'

Awkward: Three new stars Pia (right), Hannah Voyan (centre) and Mia Sully (left) were removed from the flight, which arrived into Madrid from the Dominican Republic after filming at 11.25am on Tuesday

The airline rules state that any electric cigarettes must be kept in hand luggage rather than in the hold as they pose a fire risk, and that they must not be used on board at any time.

The use of masks covering the nose and mouth on Air Europa planes is currently mandatory for those over the age of six.

The show stars also face a hefty fine for their conduct.

Authorities: The Air Europa aircraft was met by police, with the stars reportedly spoken to by police over their 'lunatic behaviour' (stock image)

Pia said on Instagram: '24 hours later, we're still travelling, we got chucked off the flight because we didn't wear masks, it was like half the cast that got chucked off

A spokesman for Spain's Civil Guard confirmed to MailOnline: 'At 2.55pm today the captain of the police requested our presence on board a plane at Madrid's Barajas Airport which had touched down from the Dominican Republic to deal with people we were told were causing a public order disturbance.

'Civil Guard officers found these people a little upset when they reached the aircraft.

'On the indications of the captain and to avoid any more problems nine people, consisting of four men and five women who are all British nationals, were removed from the plane and after the corresponding complaint from the captain they are now set to face a fine.

'While officers were carrying out the process of identifying all the people that were removed from the plane so they can be notified of the amount of the fines at a future date, they've ended up missing their onward flight.

'Police are accompanying them to another flight bound for the UK so they can leave Madrid tonight.

'No arrests were made and after being accompanied off the earlier flight, the nine people removed were very co-operative.'

Star: James 'Diags' Bennewith is among the stars said to have been removed from the plane

A police source also told MailOnline: 'There was vaping going on and they weren't wearing face masks as they were obliged to do and they were disobeying instructions from the flight crew.

'As well as the nine people removed from the airplane, someone from the programme who wasn't involved in any of the problems stayed on with them and was also due to travel back to the UK with them on a different plane to the rest of the group.'

The Civil Guard added that the cast members had been reported for allegedly breaching Spanish air safety law - Law 21/2003.

A police report is expected to be passed to AESA - Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency - before a fine is decided.

Exciting: Hannah, Pia and Mia will star in the forthcoming series of the reality show, which is set to air later this year

'So excited for our new chapter': The trio, who often share glimpses of their glamorous lifestyles on social media, took to Instagram on Sunday to share the exciting news

An Air Europa spokeswoman confirmed: 'There was an incident on the flight. Following protocol, several passengers were asked to leave the plane for refusing to wear the mandatory masks and one of them for smoking inside the aircraft.

'While leaving the plane, they were accompanied by other passengers without further incident.'

A spokesman for the Civil Guard confirmed: 'At 2.55pm yesterday (TUE) the captain of the plane requested our presence on board an aircraft at Madrid's Barajas Airport which had touched down from the Dominican Republic to deal with people we were told were causing a public order disturbance.

'Civil Guard officers found these people a little upset when they reached the aircraft. 'On the indications of the captain and to avoid any more problems nine people, consisting of four men and five women who are all British nationals, were removed from the plane and after the corresponding complaint from the captain they are now set to face a fine.

'While officers were carrying out the process of identifying all the people that were removed from the plane so they can be notified of the amount of the fines at a future date, they ended up missing their onward flight.

'Police were due to accompany them to another flight bound for the UK last night (TUE) so they could leave Madrid. 'No arrests were made and after being accompanied off the earlier flight, the nine people removed were very co-operative.'

A well-placed police source added: 'There was vaping going on and they weren't wearing face masks as they were obliged to do and they were disobeying instructions from the flight crew.

'As well as the nine people removed from the airplane, someone from the programme who wasn't involved in any of the problems stayed on with them and was also due to travel back to the UK with them on a different plane to the rest of the group.'

MailOnline has also contacted representatives for Lime Pictures, each of the named stars, and Air Europa for comment.

Condition: According to The Sun, Mia only wanted to partake in the show if she could do so alongside her friends

It is thought a police report will now be passed on to the Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency (AESA), the state body that ensures civil aviation standards are observed in all aeronautical activity in Spain, to decide the size of the fine.

The report is expected to include a formal complaint by the Air Europa captain about the actions on board the plane he was in charge of.

When a Polish man was filmed leaving a Ryanair plane at Malaga Airport in January 2018 after climbing onto the wing via an emergency door, he was warned he could be fined 40,000. It is not clear if he had been hit with the huge financial penalty.

In August 2016 a Bolivian-born Spanish immigrant made headlines around the world after being filmed sprinting across a runway at Madrid's Barajas Airport to catch his flight, mistakenly thinking he was just about to miss it.

Fast food worker Cesar Saucedo, 24, protagonised an incredible security breach by jumping off a disconnected jet bridge at the airport and dashing towards a plane preparing to take off.

He managed to make his flight to the holiday island of Gran Canaria but was intercepted by police when he reached his destination.

Local reports at the time said Cesar could be fined anything up to 38,000 but it is not known if was ever asked to pay up the huge amount

'First day of filming': Hannah is the CEO of Millionaire Medical - a business which provides dermal fillers and BTX injections

New stars Pia and Hannah joined their best friend and Absolutely Ascot star Mia on the show for the new series.

The trio, who often share glimpses of their glamorous lifestyles on social media, took to Instagram on Sunday to share they were joining the show.

Alongside a sizzling snap of the girls in the Dominican Republic, where the Essex-based show is filming special episodes, Mia penned: 'Brunette Trio [sic] So happy to be working with my 2 best friends that are more like sisters. 17years of friendship, we've done everything together and so much more to come!

'Love you both to the moon and back. So excited for our new chapter [sic]'.

According to The Sun, Mia only wanted to partake in the show if she could do so alongside her friends.

The source explained: 'As soon as bosses met all three of them, they knew they were onto a winner.

'They are a force to be reckoned with and will bring so much drama to the new series. They know some of the cast already and there is beef between some of them, so expect some explosive telly.'

It has been said that the original plan was for the newbies to join the cast after the episodes abroad had been filmed, but that has now changed.

On Sunday afternoon, Hannah, who is the CEO of Millionaire Medical - a business which provides dermal fillers and BTX injections - updated her over 10,000 followers of her venture.

'First Day Of Filming [sic] @towie  Let's Go [sic],' she captioned a stunning full-length shot.

Pia, who owns a similar business to Hannah, Plumped By Pia, also took to the photo-sharing site with a gorgeous snap and wrote: 'The secret is finally out.. you'll be seeing some new faces on @towie [sic]'.

The insider added: 'It was a no-brainer to get the girls out in the sunshine and make a big impact on the opening episodes of the new series. Sparks are already flying and it will be great TV.'
Jeopardy fans couldn't get no satisfaction on Monday after a contestant on the long-running quiz show mistook Michael Caine for Mick Jagger.

Mazin Omer was in the spotlight when he was presented with a question referencing the knighting of the 89-year-old British film icon.

But even when he was presented with a photo of Caine, Omer guessed that it was the 78-year-old frontman and songwriter for The Rolling Stones, leading to a slew of astonished Twitter posts.

No satisfaction: Jeopardy contestant Mazin Omer got roasted on social media after he mixed up Michael Caine with Mick Jagger on Monday

In the episode, which was hosted by Mayim Bialik, Omer chose the $400 clue in the Knight After Knight category.

'To honor his father, this star here was knighted in his birth name, Sir Maurice Micklewhite,' read the former Big Bang Theory actress.

The screen flashed a grinning photo of Caine, who received the honor from Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.

Omer had a puzzled look on his face as he answered Mick Jagger, and the correct answer was offered up immediately afterward.

Knighted: In the episode, which was hosted by Mayim Bialik, Omer chose the $400 clue in the Knight After Knight category. He mistakenly selected Jagger, who announced he tested positive for Covid-19 on the same day

Clue: 'To honor his father, this star here was knighted in his birth name, Sir Maurice Micklewhite,' read the former Big Bang Theory actress over a photo of Caine from the 2000 honor

Just my imagination: Omer had a puzzled look on his face as he answered Mick Jagger, and the correct answer was offered up immediately afterward

Almost immediately, fans of Jeopardy took to Twitter to note the embarrassing mixup, though most responses were lighthearted.

'One of the contestants on Jeopardy just mistook a photo of Michael Caine for Mick Jagger,' wrote one user. 'I'm not sure which of those two gentlemen would be more offended.'

Another poster joked that they were 'dead' after the shocking mix-up.

One viewer was more rude in his response: 'How the hell did this guy get on the show.'

But others acknowledged that Jeopardy contestants had to have plenty of trivia knowledge to get on the show.

'I'm sure he know a million things that I don't, but man I wasn't ready for that,' joked a fan who posted a grinning GIF of Caine from The Dark Knight Rises.

Pointing fingers: Almost immediately, fans of Jeopardy took to Twitter to note the embarrassing mixup, though most responses were lighthearted, with several people noting Omer likely knew plenty of other trivia answers

It's possible that Omer may have mixed up the British icons, as Jagger has also been knighted.

He was awarded the honor in 2003 for his services to popular music, whereas Caine's honor was bestowed for his contributions to film.

The blunder didn't seem to have harmed Omer too much, as he still came in second and went home with $2,000.

The mix-up was oddly timed, as the Rolling Stones were forced to cancel there Amsterdam tour stop on Monday after Jagger tested positive for Covid-19.

'The Rolling Stones have been forced to call off tonight's concert in Amsterdam at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, following Mick Jagger testing positive after experiencing symptoms of Covid upon arrival at the stadium,' read a statement from the band.

'The Rolling Stones are deeply sorry for tonight's postponement, but the safety of the audience, fellow musicians and the touring crew has to take priority.

'The show will be rescheduled for a later date. Tickets for tonight's show will be honored for the rescheduled date. Standby for details.'

Most understandable: It's possible that Omer may have mixed up the British icons, as Jagger has also been knighted in 2003 for his contribution to popular music; seen June 9 with Ronnie Wood (L) and Keith Richards (R)

Let's (not) spend the night together: Jagger announced Monday that the Rolling Stones had to cancel upcoming shows after he tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of an Amsterdam concert

Jagger later shared his own post about the show, which he said was only postponed.

'I'm so sorry that we've had to postpone the Amsterdam show with such short notice tonight. I have unfortunately just tested positive for COVID. We aim to reschedule the date ASAP and get back as soon as we can. Thank you for all your patience and understanding. Mick,' he wrote.

On Tuesday, the band also announced that it was canceling a Friday concert in Switzerland.
Emily Ratajkowski showcased her incredible figure in a black midi dress as she attended the Superga Party at La Loggia del Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence, Italy.

The 31-year-old looked glamorous in the figure-hugging strappy number which accentuated her model physique.

The actress kept her look casual by adding a pair of eye catching Superga white trainers as she posed on the black carpet.

Looking good: Emily Ratajkowski showcased her incredible figure in a black midi dress as she attended the Superga Party at La Loggia del Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence, Italy

The mum-of-one showcased her beauty with a radiant palette of makeup as she beamed wearing a nude lipstick and opted for a peachy blush.

Emily styled her brunette tresses in loose waves as they cascaded past her shoulders from a center parting.

At the event, the runway star was handed a black marker pen allowing her to turn around and sign her signature on her campaign's back drop.

Exciting: The 31-year-old looked glamorous in the figure hugging strappy number which accentuated her model physique

Amazing: The actress kept her look casual by adding a pair of eye catching Superga white trainers as she posed on the black carpet

Emily is the brands newest Global Ambassador for it's Spring/Summer 2022 advertising campaign and collaboration.

Emily and her husband, actor and producer Sebastian Bear-McClard, 34, welcomed their first child in March 2021.

The couple have been married since 2018.

Glam: The mum-of-one showcased her beauty with a radiant palette of makeup as she beamed wearing a nude lipstick and opted for a peachy blush

The avowed feminist and her husband seem to be raising her child in a gender neutral fashion.

The tot is often dressed in a variety of colors and prints and has been seen accompanying his mother to reproductive rights marches.

During her pregnancy the My Body author wrote an essay for the October 2020 edition of Vogue, indicating that when asked if she hoped for a boy or girl, she responded, 'we won't know the gender until our child is 18 and that they'll let us know then.'

The I Feel Pretty star celebrated her 31st birthday June 7 on the beach at a luxury resort in Mexico.

The busy model and actress has recently completed work on the TV movie Bright Futures, co-starring with Lisa Kudrow, 59, and Home Economics star Jimmy Tatro, 30, in the comedy about a group of young friends transitioning from immaturity to success.

Fun times: Emily is the brands newest Global Ambassador for it's Spring/Summer 2022 advertising campaign and collaboration
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has weighed in on the recent banning of Skeng from performing at public events in Guyana, saying that the developments have left him feeling ashamed.

It is an embarrassment to me when another country say I dont want your artiste in my country, he said during his address at a Jamaica Labour Party Area Two Council Meeting in Sydenham, St Catherine yesterday.

Following Skengs performance at the Baderation concert on May 22, which ended prematurely end after some patrons began firing gunshots in the air and hurling bottles, Minister of Home Affairs for Guyana, Mr. Robeson Benn, had announced that the Protocol artist and others who have a record of promoting vulgar and lawless behaviour including the firing of gunshots in public places, would be prohibited from performing publicly in the country.

The Minister had said that his Ministry and the Guyana Police Force had been instructed to withhold consent and approval for any future public performances featuring Skeng, or any performer whose lyrical content promotes the kind of conduct exhibited at the Baderation event.

Wayne Chen, attorney-at-law and co-author of the book, Reggae Routes, had weighed in on the issue of Skengs banishment, on Radio Jamaicas weekly news discussion programme Thats a Wrap on Sunday, noting that while artistic expression must be protected, freedom of expression comes with great responsibility. He also indicated that the Guyanese government has a right to be concerned that that freedom of expression is balanced against the rights of their society to safety.

Freedom of expression, to use the old guideline, does not give one the right to shout fire in a crowded theatre. Societies have to protect themselves and they have to be judicious in the messages that are put out in the public and how they will influence action. If they can demonstrate that certain types of music can in some cases be so violent and lawbreaking, they have a right to protect themselves. But it has to be judiciously thought out, so it does not become a blatant breach of our rights to express, Chen said.

On Friday, Chen had also shared the news of Skengs ban from Guyana, which resulted in a slew of responses from Jamaicans, some expressing agreement with the Guyanese Ministers decision, some not.

Not the first CARICOM country: 2010 Dominica and St Lucia banned Vybz Kartel. Dominican minister told me she was protecting her young people from negative influences and wasnt too concerned about right of free movement of musicians under CSME treaty agreement, Chen had captioned his post.

Good. On principle alone, they should be banned everywhere until they can produce & deliver better quality music. Tired of the singular note. Jacns should want & dream of better for ourselves but we dont & wont, puddnpan responded.

One commenter, while noting Holness expression of discontent, said he believed the PM has been reticent about banning violent Dancehall songs and sanctioning artists, due to his name being bigged up in several of the violent and lewd songs recorded by some of the same entertainers.

Andrew Holness wouldnt do that because of popularity at stake plus these artist who sing about crime and murder mention anju name In these songs .. Hehehehe, Zzadiki noted, while tagging Holness in his response.

Some, however, argued that it was unfair to blame Skeng for the misdeeds of the gunslinging partygoers.

I dont understand the hate wul heap a positive music out deh n the majority nah swing to it. Nuff a dem who glad skeng get ban deven listen cultural music. Skeng went there to perform nuh si how skeng cause the shot dem fi buss n venue get rob, Biscuitman said.

The guns are already there. So they need to look at the root cause, Ambrosia added.

The recent developments come a year after Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley addressed her nation about a music video compilation put out by Barbadian dancehall artists on the Trojan Riddim on which she said she found impossible to remain silent as the songs glorified gun violence.

In June last year, Mottley said she was horrified at the video, and personally disappointed in the artiste whom she said had failed to recognise that they had an obligation to accept that to whom much is given, much is expected, dismissing the artistic license defence by indicating that some Barbadians lack the maturity required to not interpret the musical message literally.

In addition to a demand for a public apology to the people of Barbados, Prime Minister Mottley had said that that the persons who had uploaded the video, had a responsibility to take it down, explaining that performers, cannot expect the government to compartmentalize its support for their artistic endeavors. Two of the artistes in the video, Peter Ram and Mole had been involved in the Ministry of Educations COVID-19 safety campaign targeted at the nations youth.

Since the imposition of the ban, Skengs management team have responded, noting that there is an attempt to unduly assign blame to him for the chaos which ensued at Baderation.

According to them, Skeng had performed in several cities prior to and subsequent to the incident in Guyana, none of which resulted in mayhem.

The management also pinpointed subpar security arrangements which failed to prevent disorder at the event, noting that Skeng himself was in grave danger. They said the ban was merely an attempt at deflecting blame from the promoters, onto Skeng whom they said is aware of the negative effect of gun violence and do not and will never condone same anywhere.

We would appreciate the opportunity to perform in Guyana again, to remove any bad taste that has been left in the mouths of the Authorities. We remain resolute and supportive of our CARICOM partners and the exchange of our unique Caribbean culture, they stated in a release.
The prime accused Saduddin Malik is said to have confessed to his involvement in all incidents leading up to the gangrape. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: All the juveniles accused in the May 28 gangrape of a minor girl at Jubilee Hills on Monday confessed to the crime before the police, while one juvenile accused, who was charged with assaulting and outraging the modesty of the victim stated he did not rape the victim but had sexually assaulted her.

The prime accused Saduddin Malik is said to have confessed to his involvement in all incidents leading up to the gangrape near the Pedamma Temple at Jubilee Hills. The police seized a phone from one of the juvenile accused that had the video of the crime. After showing the video in which their faces were clearly seen, the accused had no option but to confess, sources said. Apart from that, Malik revealed about the juveniles involved in the gangrape.

The juveniles, wearing black monkey masks and escorted by 12 policemen, reached Jubilee Hills police station in a police van at 12.15 pm on Monday. The van picked them from the juvenile home around 10.30 am.

As per the court orders, the police questioned the minors based on Maliks confession. Maliks four-day custody ended on Sunday and he was produced before the court on Monday. The accused juveniles were interrogated for four hours and then escorted back to the juvenile home in the same van before 5 pm.

The police confirmed that neither the accused nor the victim had consumed liquor on the day the incident occurred.

The remand case diary and remand report in the sensational case, copies of which are in possession with this newspaper, disclose the facts. According to the report, the juvenile accused A-C (child in conflict with the law) was arrested at Attapur, while the prime accused Malik was arrested at Puppalaguda on June 3.

The Jubilee Hills police on June 4 recorded statements of a victims friend who is a minor and left on the day of the incident after she suspected foul play. Based on her and Malik;s statements, the police arrested two other accused on the same day.

The police also seized the clothes worn by the juvenile and a phone used in recording the crime. On June 5 the investigation officer (IO) filed a full investigation report, sealed it in a cover and submitted it to the court. After the arrest of the juveniles, the police also informed their parents the same day, the reports further stated.
Police in Prakasam district seized a rare idol of Panchamukha Vinayaka made out of Jade gemstone and weighing about 50kg from its carrier. (Representational Photo: DC)

Nellore: The police in Prakasam district seized a rare idol of Panchamukha Vinayaka made out of Jade gemstone and weighing about 50kg from its carrier, Venkateswar Reddy of Yarragondapalem in Prakasam district, on June 10.

Police of Yarragondapalem took possession of the emerald green colour idol following rumours that its value runs into crores. Emerald is high in demand in national and international markets, it being a fairly expensive gemstone.

Venkateswar Reddy told the police that he was performing a puja to the idol.

The idol is being sent to the Archaeological Survey of India for detailed examination and ascertain whether it is an antique piece.

Based on first impression, it is not emerald and a non-antique piece worth about Rs 10 lakh, said Sridhar Rao, additional SP of Prakasam. A case is being registered and an investigation will be carried out, he said while noting that a case related to the idol had been booked in Telangana too.
New Delhi: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking a halt to the extra-legal and precipitative action of demolition of the residential properties of the accused allegedly involved in the recent violence that erupted in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh in the wake of the objectionable and offensive remarks about Prophet Mohammed by two leaders of the ruling BJP.

It asked the court to issue a direction to the Uttar Pradesh government that no precipitative action be taken in Kanpur district against the residential or commercial property of any accused in any criminal proceedings as an extra-legal punitive measure. The Jamiat has said that the precipitative demolition as an extra-judicial punitive measure were clearly in violation of the principles of natural justice.

The adoption of such extra-legal measures is clearly in violation of the principles of natural justice, more so when the apex court has already ordered the stay of demolitions that were being carried out as a punitive measure in Northwest Delhi in similar circumstances.

The Jamiat further urged the Supreme court to direct the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure that any demolition exercise of any nature must be carried out strictly in accordance with applicable laws, and only after due notice and opportunity of hearing is given to each affected person.

The application referred to a statement by chief minister Yogi Adityanath that appeared in the media on June 4 saying that the houses of accused persons would be razed using bulldozers. It also referred to ADG (law and order) Prashant Kumar and Kanpur police commissioner Vijay Singh Meena reiterating that the properties of the accused will be seized and demolished.

The Jamiat pointed to Section 10 of the Uttar Pradesh (Regulation of Building Operations) Act 1958, that provides that the demolition of a building shall not be undertaken unless the affected person is given a reasonable opportunity of being heard. Further, the Jamiat application says Section 27 of the UP Urban Planning and Development Act 1973 also requires that the affected person be heard before proceeding with the demolition and be given at least 15 days notice.

Moreover, under the law, a person aggrieved with order of demolition is entitled to appeal against it to the chairman within a period of 30 days of the order.
He is survived by three sons who are currently abroad and are expected to arrive here on Tuesday.  DC Image

Hyderabad: Well-known historian and archivist Dr M.A. Nayeem died on Monday while undergoing treatment for age-related issues at a hospital in Banjara Hills. He was 84. Dr Nayeem had authored more than 25 books on the Deccan and the history of Hyderabad.

Dr Nayeem who started as archives research officer at the AP State Archives took voluntary retirement and left for Saudi Arabia, where he worked at the King Fahd University in Riyadh before returning to India.

He is survived by three sons who are currently abroad and are expected to arrive here on Tuesday. Dr Nayeems funeral prayers will be held at Alamgir Masjid at Shantinagar Colony on June 15.
Congress workers take out a protest rally from Imax circle to ED office in Hyderabad over summoning of party leader Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case by ED. (S. Surender Reddy/DC)

Hyderabad: Probably for the first time in recent years, the Hyderabad police allowed TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy and senior party leaders and cadre to stage a protest in the city. The police also imposed traffic restrictions at the venue minutes before the protest began to avoid traffic snarls on Monday.

The Congress leaders were protesting the summons issued to party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandh by the Enforcement Directorate.

Speculation was rife that the government had allowed the Congress to hold the protest to prevent any law and order situation at a time when the TRS was seeking to go national.

Saifabad assistant commissioner of police (ACP) C. Venu Gopala Reddy, who monitored the situation at the ED office here, said that they had given permission to TPCC leaders for the protest and had taken measures to prevent untoward incidents. There were no arrests, unlike previous times when scores of Congress leaders, including Revanth Reddy, and activists were taken into custody before they reached the protest venue.

Security was strengthened at the ED office in Basheerbagh, the venue of the protest, and the road was closed for more than three hours.

TPCC leaders succeeded in mobilising crowds and hundreds of activists were squatting in front of the ED office and shouting slogans against the BJP and in support of Rahul Gandhi.

This was in stark contrast to the scene during the recent protests over paddy procurement. When Revanth Reddy and the Congress cadre took to the streets, they were promptly arrested. Revanth Reddy had alleged at that time that the TRS government was arresting Congress leaders for staging protests against the BJP government at the Centre.

Sources said senior police officers were allegedly given instructions to ensure the smooth conduct of TPCC's protest.

Meanwhile, the traffic movement at Assembly junction, Police Control Room, Lakdikapul and other places was badly affected for a couple of hours. Where possible, traffic police directed vehicles through alternative routes.

Congress leaders quotes

The BJP at the Centre has started harassing Congress leaders and Gandhi family members by registering fake cases. The Nehru-Gandhi family had fought for freedom and were jailed by the British. Before Rahul Gandhis tour of the nation, the BJP is trying to humiliate him.

Mallu Batti Vikramarka, CLP leader

The Congress has gained people's sympathy by fighting against the anti-people policies being implemented by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. Unable to bear the Congress getting mileage, the BJP has started harassing the Gandhi family members.

D. Sridhar Babu
HYDERABAD: TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has readied a PowerPoint presentation to explain to party leaders the reasons why he had taken the decision to plunge into national politics, launch a national political party and what factors would contribute to its success.

Party sources said the 45-minute-long presentation would be made at the TRS state committee meeting expected to be held on June 19 at Telangana Bhavan. He would also explain why he did not try to forge a front and why the previous attempts to form fronts at the national level had failed.

Sources said that Chandrashekar Rao wanted to stress that people in the country were fed up with fronts or a group of political parties or leaders coming together with the sole purpose of grabbing power, given the bad experiences earlier. He felt that people now wanted a party which could set an 'alternative political agenda' with focus on real development and welfare of all sections irrespective of caste, creed and sex.

It would also talk about the 'political vacuum' in national politics on account of weakening of Left parties, Congress and Janata Parivar parties like JDS, JDU, Lok Dal etc, which Raos political party could fill.

Sources said the presentation would tell party leaders that the new party would expand with the support of people and not with the support of political leaders. Chandrashekar Rao would involve organisations and people representing students, farmers, working and retired employees, pensioners etc and come out with a specific agenda on how their long-pending issues will be addressed.

Sources said the TRS chief wanted to stress that although the BJP was ruling the country on its own majority for consecutive two terms, it was not 'invincible'. He would point out that the BJP secured just 31 per cent vote share in 2014 Lok Sabha polls and 37 per cent in 2019. This indicated that a majority of the voters had not voted for the BJP but were divided between various political parties due to which the BJP could capture power.

Rao wanted to infuse confidence among TRS leaders and cadres that his national party could achieve success as the Congress which ruled the country for several decades was now struggling to cross 50 Lok Sabha seats. He would tell party leaders and cadres that the Telangana model of welfare schemes and development programmes of the TRS government in the new state of Telangana within eight years of formation were being acclaimed by other states and there were demands for replicating the TRS government's schemes. The new party will showcase the 'Telangana model' and promise to replicate it for the entire country.
A bulldozer is being used to demolish the illegal structures of the residence of Javed Ahmed, a local leader who was allegedly involved in the recent violent protests against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) former spokeswoman Nupur Sharma's incendiary remarks about Prophet Mohammed, in Allahabad on June 12. (AFP)

The bulldozer raj that the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh launched in its first term and pursues in the second, so vigorously that it is currently being replicated faithfully by many BJP-governed states, is illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic. It must be stopped forthwith.

The latest in the series of house demolitions in Kanpur ostensibly targeting those participating in protests against the hate-filled remarks of BJP spokespersons against the Prophet shows blatant disregard for the rule of law.

With no legal backing, the government claims that it demolishes the houses and buildings built without proper documents and after following the due process of the law. This would include issuing of a notice to owners.

It has now come to light that the state government had issued no notice to the legal owner before demolishing the house of New Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University student and activist Afreen Fatima on Sunday. The governments case was that the house belonged to her father, who has been named as an accused in the recent violence, while her mother is the owner of the building. Reports suggest the government served a pre-dated notice to him.

Yet the primary question is not whether the notice was served on the rightful owner. It is the legality of the very act that is questioned. India is a constitutional democracy and not a banana republic. The Constitution stands guarantee to the peoples right to live with dignity in this country and stands in the way of the mammoth government machinery riding roughshod over the citizen.

Housing is one of the rights under the UN Declaration of Human Rights to which India is not only a signatory but a meaningful contributor in its drafting stage. Indian law mandates that eviction of people from an illegal structure must follow procedure. But the governments in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and the municipal bodies in Delhi, have not done the same. They act as if they are prosecutor, judge and jury of kangaroo courts that they set up to punish their targets.

It is a small mercy that they book their victims under some sections the Indian Penal Code. The police officers most of whom belong to the Indian Police Service and are mandated to uphold the law have no qualms providing lame excuses for their actions which go against the law in letter and spirit as well.

The disinterest of the courts, which have a responsibility to ensure that the citizens rights are protected and the writ of the Constitution runs in every part of the country, in the matter is highly regrettable. The Supreme Court did come to the rescue of the people in Jahangirpuri in the nations capital but showed no interest in barring all governments with going ahead with a process which turns the very idea of rule of law on its head.

It is time for all those who have a stake in the survival this nation to come together and raise their voices against this barbaric practice. Unless it is stopped now it will run over the very idea of India.
As part of the Google for India campaign, the search engine giant for the last several years has been hosting mentorship programmes for budding entrepreneurs and startup founders in the country.

Now, Google has announced to startup accelerator for Indian women founders. In a recent study, it was found that just 15 per cent of the 100 plus unicorns in India have one or more female leaders.

"In the course of conversations we had with several women founders, we realized that several aspects of the life of an entrepreneur - such as pitching, tapping networks, seeking out mentors - are significantly tougher for women as compared to their male counterparts, for reasons of cultural conditioning as well as lack of role models. With this in mind, today, we are pleased to announce the Google for Startups Accelerator - India Women Founders, aimed to help women founders address challenges that are unique to their experience, including fundraising, hiring and many others," Google said.

In the inaugural batch, Google will be accepting up to 20 women-founded / co-founded startups in India, including startups at the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) stage, and support them through a three-month programme.



Google opens a startup accelerator programme for women founders in India. Credit: Google



During the course, Google will offer special training in areas such as how to build networks, access to capital, overcome hiring challenges, mentorship and more, Also, the company will also help in meeting challenges that are specific to female founders caused by a variety of social reasons and low representation in the industry.

Furthermore, the curriculum will include workshops and support around AI/ML, Cloud, UX, Android, Web, Product Strategy and Growth, as well as provide access to a global community of women founders.

Interested women entrepreneurs can apply for Google for the Startups Accelerator programme (here) and the application window closes on 10 July.

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.
The Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) will organise a protest at Freedom Park on June 15 to urge the government to raise milk prices.

With the slogan Namma Haalu Namma Hakku, they contend that other states pay a much higher price to milk producers.

Members of the federation demanded that the state must take note of the losses incurred by manufacturers due to the low price of milk in Karnataka and raise the minimum price to Rs 50.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said enemies of the country are making desperate attempts to create unrest in Jammu and Kashmir through drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and misusing social media.

However, the governments determination and the indomitable courage of the security forces will not let the enemies outside and within our borders succeed, he asserted.

Troubled by our renewed resolve towards the development of Jammu and Kashmir, its aspirations and goals, our enemies are making desperate attempts to create unrest here," Sinha said at the 50th raising day function of the Armys White Knight Corps.

"Our armed forces are working with one single aim, one single intention to make J&K excel in every sphere of development. The governments determination and the indomitable courage of our police and security forces will not let the enemies outside and within our borders succeed," he added.

Sinha lauded the White Knight Corps also known as 16 Corps for their exemplary contribution in several strategic operations and for maintaining peace and tranquility in the region.

The Armys 16 Corps is the most dynamic operational Corps of the force. Since its raising in 1972, it has lived up to its motto of 'making the first move and striking in all directions," the Lt Governor said.

Over the years, the White Knight Corps has proved its mettle not only in combat, thwarting evil designs of adversaries, and restoring normalcy and counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir, but also made an invaluable contribution in the development of the region.

Sinha also acknowledged the "indispensable" work done by 16 Corps in the field of education, health, and housing in the areas bordering Poonch, Rajouri, Kishtwar and Jammu, under 'Operation Sadbhavna'.

The Lt Governor reiterated that the government is determined to destroy not only terrorists but the entire terror ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir with a clear cut policy of "not sparing the guilty and not touching the innocent".

Underlining the governments efforts to increase self-reliance in various sectors, including defence, he said, Under the leadership of the prime minister (Narendra Modi), the Indian Army is also moving towards self-reliance in terms of weapons and other military resources.

It is due to the governments persistent efforts that about 65 per cent of the military budget is now spent within the country itself, he added.
Sri Lanka will soon resume flights from Jaffna to India, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday as he asked tourism authorities to draw up plans to attract more Indian tourists.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said it has plans to attract 800,000 tourists during the rest of the year.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe instructed to resume flights from Jaffnas Palaly airport to Indian destinations to facilitate travel.

This was discussed during a meeting held with the industry stakeholders.

India in May re-emerged as Sri Lankas top inbound tourist market with 5,562 arrivals while over 3,723 came from the UK.

However, the total number of international tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in May plunged by almost 52 per cent, in comparison to April and 72 per cent in comparison to March.

The tourist arrivals have lessened due to the effects of the current economic and political situation in the country with main market countries issuing adverse travel advisories.

Sri Lanka is currently facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

The economic crisis has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and other fuel, toilet paper, and even matches, with Sri Lankans being forced to wait in lines lasting hours outside stores to buy fuel and cooking gas.

The island nations economic downturn was largely blamed on the Covid-19 pandemic with the island nations tourism revenue and inward remittances waning.
Efforts to bridge the schism in the Opposition ranks over Presidential polls, which emerged after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees unilateral attempt to call a meeting to discuss a candidate, are yet to bear fruit due to a lack of consensus among the players, as parties like the Congress are playing the waiting game on taking a call on going ahead with the deliberations on Wednesday.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar will be back in Delhi on Tuesday and leaders like Congress Mallikarjun Kharge, whom party chief Sonia Gandhi has appointed as pointsman for Presidential elections, and CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury among others are likely to hold informal discussions during the day on the way forward.

Congress and others are keen to hold the meeting on Wednesday but want to finalise the modalities without creating trouble among Opposition parties.

Read | 'Still in charge,' reminds Congress as Mamata calls Opposition parties

Sources said Trinamool Congress is pitching for a political candidate senior enough to lend weight to the Presidential candidate. Though there is no official word, sources indicated that Trinamool Congress has former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, a former BJP leader who joined the Mamata-led party last year, in mind.

On its part, Congress may back and even suggest the name of Pawar, if he is willing. There is also an informal consensus among most of the Opposition parties on Pawar, who has already made it clear that he has no inclination to fight the July 18 polls as he wants to concentrate on active politics.

A senior Opposition leader said that Pawar would fight only a winning battle and there was no chance as of now, even as AAP Rajya Sabha leader Sanjay Singh had met Pawar to impress upon Presidential polls and his partys support for him.

Also Read: House for moneybags: The Rajya Sabha story

Mamatas letter to 22 Opposition leaders inviting them for a meeting on Wednesday in Delhi to discuss Presidential polls have not gone well with a section of the Opposition with DMK and the Left parties opposing any initiative by the Trinamool Congress supremo, claiming that it would do more harm for the Opposition unity.

As Congress too was not enthused by Mamatas initiative and issued a statement subtly telling the Bengal leader that Sonia has already started the exercise and that it is in charge, senior Trinamool Congress leader Derek OBrien reached out to Kharge and Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal to assure that the Chief Minister has no ulterior motive and that they did not want to belittle the Congress.

Sources said Congress is not averse to the June 15 meeting with the Trinamool making it clear that Congress would remain the leading force. A senior leader said Trinamool has conveyed to the Congress leaders that it should even hold the press conference on Presidential polls.

Parties like DMK were upset with the unilateral announcement by Mamata, as they felt that it was like showing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin as a secondary figure in national politics.
On May 24, a day prior to the second in-person summit of the Quad leaders in Tokyo, the Prime Ministers of India, Japan and Australia and the US President launched a new economic initiative called the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), along with Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Brunei making up its 13 current members. The launch of this new-age economic arrangement, which is unlike the traditional trade pacts among countries, clearly outlines the Quads open and inclusive approach to the Indo-Pacific and renewed multilateralism in the region.

With IPEF, the Quad countries have further reinforced their Indo-Pacific partnership. It is expected to strengthen geo-economics not only amongst them but also across the Indo-Pacific expanse, with its members together accounting for 40% of world GDP. Technically, it seeks to strengthen economic cooperation and enhance inclusiveness, resilience, sustainability, fairness, economic growth and competitiveness in the region. Symbolically, it shows a collective desire to make the region the engine of global growth.

The IPEF has been touted as an economic pact that would not negotiate tariffs or market access. It primarily seeks integration with the participating countries on issues of trade, supply chains, clean energy, decarbonization, infrastructure, and tax and anti-corruption. It is likely to seek a collective approach to boosting regional trade cooperation, improving transparency, and managing crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic and future crises through the development of initiatives like the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.

The third aspect of IPEF -- based on the lines of the Paris Agreement -- aims to promote the development of sustainable and durable infrastructure through cross-cutting innovations in technology.

The fourth aspect of IPEF deals with capacity-building by sharing expertise, largely to sustain an open, transparent and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.

Indias decision to join the IPEF bolsters its activism under its Act East' policy and also sits well with its overall Indo-Pacific orientation. In years past, Indias trade in the Indo-Pacific has grown rapidly. New Delhis overseas investments are now being heavily directed to the East. Indias signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with Japan, South Korea and Singapore and also its simultaneous negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement with the ASEAN countries clearly outlines the momentum in its Act East policy.

Also, the overlap between the ASEAN outlook and the statement of the Quad summit 2022 reiterates the shared interests and values amongst the countries of the Indo-Pacific region. Therefore, with further convergence of mutual interests and shared values amongst the Quad members and member countries of the IPEF, the development seems to resonate well with Indias broader objectives in the Indo-Pacific region.

Apart from the IPEF, India recently also became a member of the WEF-led First Movers Coalition. This, too, is meant to enhance cooperation at the multilateral level in the Indo-Pacific. It relies on seeking cooperation between members on climate-oriented approaches to infrastructure, supply chain resilience, and fair practices. For India, it has also meant that through the IPEF, it will seek greater cooperation and accountability from the ASEAN and BIMSTEC groupings in the Indo-Pacific, as many countries that are part of these are also part of the IPEF.

For India, the move to join the IPEF is consistent with other recent trends in the expansion of its multilateral goals and increasing responsibilities in the Indo-Pacific region. India also recently joined the Combined Maritime Taskforce (CMF), a counterterrorism and counterpiracy grouping in the Arabian Sea. For a long time, India had avoided joining the CMF. However, its three foundational agreements with the US now make it easier for it to collaborate and coordinate in parts of the northern Indian Ocean, including in the Arabian Sea. Since China operationalised its naval base at Djibouti in 2017, the northern Indian Ocean has gradually figured on the strategic radar of both the US and India. The IPEF could very well be the launch pad for boosting Indias economic capacities in the western Indian Ocean, as much as on its eastern flank.

Beyond its promise, the IPEF is at a nascent stage, and it remains to be seen how it is implemented. What might potentially irk other members of the IPEF is the link that the US has drawn with its domestic interests, particularly the IPEF as being focused on American Workers, drawing on an interest-based, protectionist outlook. There is a need for some caution as similar previous initiatives by the US, such as the Blue Dot Network and Build Back Better, have made little progress.

(Mishra is Fellow, Strategic Studies Programme, ORF; Dubey is Programme Coordinator, Ananta Aspen Centre)
Released: June 14, 2022

Delaware County Council and Delaware County Controller Joanne Phillips were honored to be joined by U.S. Army Veteran and Director of Delaware Countys Military and Veterans Affairs John Sheaffer, and Army Veteran Dartanyun Wilkins-Harvey on June 14 to raise the U.S. Army flag.

The flag was raised in the courtyard of the Delaware County Government Center and Courthouse complex to commemorate the anniversary of the U.S. Army, which was established on June 14, 1775.

It will fly from the flagpole in the courtyard of the Government Center and Courthouse complex throughout the week.

Military flags will be raised at appropriate times later this year in observance of the U.S. Coast Guard on August 4, 1790; the Air Force on September 18, 1947; the Navy on October 13, 1775; and the Marine Corps on November 10, 1775.

Council extends its gratitude to all of those who have served or are serving, protecting our country.
Foyle MP and SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood, has said the British government are fooling nobody with their claims around legislation on the Protocol.

He was speaking after Secretary of State Brandon Lewis claimed the legislation was within the law.

The legislation was published for the first time on Monday with the British Government claiming it wants to change parts of the protocol to make it easier for some goods to flow from Great Britain to the North of Ireland.

But the EU is against the move, saying it would break international law with their Brexit Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, threatening to instigate legal action against the British Government.

The protocol ensures that the North of Ireland remains inside the EU's single market for the trading of goods.

It prevents a hard border with the Republic of Ireland but means checks are placed upon some goods arriving from Great Britain.

Mr Eastwood said: When I challenged Boris Johnson to commit to upholding international law in the House of Commons this week he was unable to give me a straight answer.

We know that his own advisers believe the Protocol legislation will breach the agreement with the EU and the attempt by Brandon Lewis to suggest otherwise is fooling nobody.

Johnson and his government have proved time and time again that they will say and do anything that furthers their own self-interest.

They have a casual relationship with the truth and have shown they are willing to totally disregard the law and the feelings of the people they represent as and when it suits them.

They have no regard for people in the North or the serious harm this and their move on legacy will have on people here.

Throughout the Brexit process this government has refused to put the needs of people in the North first and reach an agreement that will benefit both sides.

This legislation is an extraordinary act of bad faith from a government that has proved it cant be trusted and it will be people in the North and Britain that suffer as a result.
The sister of a Derry schoolboy who was killed by a plastic bullet has slammed Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, for compounding the family's trauma and questioned the British Government's commitment to reconciliation.

Paul Whitters, 15, sustained a fatal head injury when he was hit by the fired police baton round amid rioting in 1981.

The disturbances in Derry took place amid unrest associated with the republican hunger strikes at the Maze paramilitary prison in Co Down.

Relatives of the schoolboy have been campaigning for the release of further information about the incident since learning that a file at the National Archives at Kew had been closed until 2059 for national security reasons.

Last week, Brandon Lewis released material from the Archives saying the decision was in line with its commitment to helping families learn more about what happened to loved ones during the conflict.

The move has been described as a cynical attempt to deny truth and justice to families who lost loved ones during The Troubles after incidents with British forces.

Paul's sister, Emma Whitters, has said the fight to get some form of disclosure on Paul's death has been  a long road of contradictory information, fruitless meetings and bureaucratic dead ends and questioned why a file that last year could not be opened until 2059  with its remainder being put back to 2084  can suddenly be available now.

She said: Since we discovered the existence of this file more than five years ago, we have lobbied to have it opened before the NIOs release date of 2059.

It has been a long road of contradictory information, fruitless meetings and bureaucratic dead ends. And at the root of all this, there is the constant question of why the state would seek to hold the file closed  what possible issues of national security could relate to my 15-year-old brother, a schoolboy?

The government is making much of its commitment to information recovery. Yet for our family, information recovery has meant a Freedom of Information request which resulted in the release of a heavily redacted file.

The remainder of the file was closed for a further 25 years at which point, Ill not be here. Pauls dad has already passed away without having seen this file.

It was only a matter of weeks ago that Brandon Lewis introduced legislation that will deny families across the board access to justice.

If Pauls file was so sensitive it had to be closed until 2084, then questions must be asked about how it can be so easily released a number of weeks after recourse to justice is off the table.

The timing of these decisions seems as cruel and more than a bit cynical.

At this point, we believe the file remains closed and havent had sight of it so reserve

judgment on the content until we have had access.

Brandon Lewis is talking about information recovery and its role in reconciliation. Our experience of information recovery has, if anything, further compounded our trauma and calls into question the governments commitment to anything approaching reconciliation.

Sara Duddy from the Pat Finucane Centre who supported the family added: How can information be deemed so sensitive in October 2021 that it needs to be closed a further 25 years until 2084 yet now is deemed permissible to be released?

Is it that Brandon Lewis has timed this stunt to claim a victory for truth recovery, while effectively closing down any sort of legal avenue that the family could pursue?

Foyle MP and SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood also called upon Brandon Lewis and the British Government for full disclosure.

He said: Pauls family cannot and must not wait until 2059 to discover the truth about his killing. Each year that passes without Pauls family knowing the truth of what happened to him compounds their grief and diminishes their faith in the process. I have constantly raised Pauls case with Secretary of State Brandon Lewis. He must act now to release these files.

In whose interests is Pauls case being kept closed? It is utterly reprehensible.

The British Government is speaking out of both sides of its mouth telling us that they want truth and reconciliation for victims, but their every action, including in Pauls case and their shocking legacy proposals, has been to protect the state, to deny access to truth and justice.

Releasing this information, a matter of days after introducing legislation which would prevent families bringing forward new civil cases shows the character of a Government and a Secretary of State devoid of shame.

The question is, does this Government really care about Paul Whitters, his family or any victim, or do they simply care about fulfilling a manifesto commitment, protecting the state and protecting paramilitary killers?

Families have fought for truth and justice for decades; they will continue to fight, and I will do all I can to support them.
Andrea Brannigan, the mother of Buncrana's Danielle McLaughlin (28) who was murdered in Goa five years ago, said she had done everything in her power to get justice for her daughter.

Andrea's comments came in the wake of a meeting between Irish and British Diplomats and the Goa Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant.

Andrea said: I have done everything in my power to get justice for Danielle.

"I continue to push for a conclusion to the court case, in the hope that I may try and rebuild me and my family's lives with the knowledge that I have done everything in my power that I could possibly do to get justice for Danielle.

The aim of Thursday's meeting was to seek a quick conclusion to the trial of Goan man, Vikat Bhagat, who was charged with Danielle's rape and murder. His trial is currently underway at the district and sessions court at Margao in South Goa.

It took place between Consul General of Ireland, Gerry Kelly, and British Deputy High Commissioner, Western India, Alan Gemmell. Mr Kelly presented Mr Sawant with a letter from Andrea requesting that the trial be expedited, and expressing her fear that she would never get justice for Danielle.

Following the discussions the two men issued a joint statement, which said: Ensuring a quick conclusion to the court case is a significant priority for the British and Irish Governments as well as, of course, for Danielle's family.

We came to Goa together to do all we could to raise the profile of this case and express our concern at the pace of the trial and its impact on Danielle's family.
An exciting programme of events is being held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of La Trinidad Valencera off the coast of Donegal.

Part of the Spanish Armada, La Trinidad Valencera, was a refitted and refurbished 1,100-tonne Venetian merchant ship, captained by Don Alonzo de Luzon.

It was the first of the Armada's vessels to run aground. Badly damaged by heavy seas, La Trinidad Valencera, struck a reef in Inishowen's Kinnagoe Bay on September 16, 1588.

The wreck of the Valencera was discovered in February 1971 by members of Derry Sub-Aqua Club, pictured above.

The La Trinidad Valencera Weekend 2022 is taking place in the Inishowen Maritime Museum in Greencastle.

Events begin at 2.00pm on June 17 with a viewing of BBC Chronicle Documentary about the diving expeditions.

Divers landing artefacts from La Trinidad Valencera 50 years ago.

At 3.30pm there will be the official launch of the exhibition of artefacts recovered 30 years ago from La Trinidad Valencera by Fergus Gillespie, former Chief Herald of Ireland, including recollections from the divers and presentations. All of which will be followed by light refreshments and music.

The full programme of events for the La Trinidad Valencera Weekend 2022 can be seen below.

Attendees are asked to note that booking is essential for field trips. To book for Saturday's Lands of Eogain Inishowen Antiques field trip ending at Kinnagoe Bay, go to: https://inishowenmaritime-landsofeogain.eventbrite.ie.

To book for Sunday's guided walk with wildlife expert Aengus Kennedy along Long Glen River and down into Kinnagoe Bay, go to: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/inishowen-rivers-trust-biodiversity-in-kinnagoe-tickets-353923864807?aff=erelpanelorg.

The La Trinidad Valencera Weekend 2022 is sure to be a great success with the local community and visitors alike.
A County Derry MP has found himself under Russian sanction after being named on a 'stop list' issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

East Derry MP Gregory Campbell was named on a list of 'personal sanctions against members of the media and the UK defense lobby' issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry this afternoon.

As well as a number of prominent national UK journalists, a number of 'persons associated with the defense complex' were also named, as well as Mr Campbell's fellow DUP MPs Sammy Wilson and Gavin Robinson.

In a statement accompanying the list, the Ministry said those named were 'no longer allowed to enter the Russian Federation'.

"In connection with the anti-Russian actions of the British government to impose personal sanctions against leading journalists of our country and heads of companies in the domestic defense complex, a decision was made to include them in the Russian "stop list," they claimed.

"The British journalists included in the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and the events in Ukraine and Donbass.

"With their biased assessments, they also contribute to fueling Russophobia in British society.

"Persons associated with the defense complex of Great Britain are involved in making decisions on the supply of weapons to Ukraine, which are used by local punishers and Nazi formations to kill civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure."

Derry Now have approached Mr Campbell for comment.
Telecom Egypt and Aqua Comms have signed a crossing and landing agreement for the Europe Middle-East India Connect 1 (EMIC-1) subsea cable in Egypt.

EMIC-1 is a new intercontinental subsea cable and terrestrial fibre system. The new agreement will see Telecom Egypt provide a seamless optical path for the cable between East Africa, Asia, and Europe. EMIC-1 is the first modern cable to link this route, connecting up to 3 billion people to the internet and accommodating for the growing demand for data of the world's fastest growing regions.

The cable will land at Port Said in the Mediterranean Sea and Ras Ghareb on the Red Sea, with both landing stations deploying next-generation fibre optics. The routes are adjacent to the Suez Canal, between Suez and Port Said. Additionally, this crossing will also include a third new marine path, the Red Sea Festoon, that will link the Ras Ghareb and Suez landing stations with an option of the Suez Canal Route (a.k.a. the Al Morshedeen route), linking Port Said and Suez on the bank of the Suez Canal, offering a new level of resilience and diversity to the crossing solution.

Telecom Egypts Managing Director and CEO Adel Hamed said: We are pleased to offer Aqua Comms a seamless trans-Egypt crossing for their new cable. For years, we have established tangible steps to revamp our international infrastructure and increase our assets' geodiversity to keep pace with the rising global demand for large bandwidth and global reach. We believe that EMIC-1 will be a valuable addition to the subsea cables landing in Egypt.

Nigel Bayliff, CEO of Aqua Comms, said: We are delighted to work with Telecom Egypt to deliver a highly resilient and innovative solution that will be a critical part of our new EMIC-1 system. This new system will connect the key hubs in Europe of Genoa, Marseille and Barcelona with both Salalah, Oman and Mumbai, India serving these high-growth markets with best-in-class connectivity services.
Global payments technology company Mastercard and Ecobank Group, a leading independent pan-African banking group, are to partner to digitize agricultural value chains in Africa.

The partners will deploy Mastercard Farm Pass, which helps connect smallholder farmers to financial and agricultural ecosystems. Its roll-out will leverage the 33 countries where Ecobank has banking operations, helping millions of smallholder farmers gain digital access to markets, quality inputs, financial services, and real-time pricing information.

Mastercards Farm Pass is described as a digital platform that makes it safer and easier for farmers to sell their produce at a fair price. It brings together various agri-sector stakeholders from the supply and demand sides in one agricultural marketplace, amplifying the collective positive impact on farming communities.

Smallholder farmers can sell their produce at a better price, access quality inputs and farming information, get paid and pay digitally. Farm Pass also allows them to develop a financial profile that can unlock financing opportunities for working capital and input.

In other words, by integrating their businesses with payment systems, Farm Pass enables smallholder farmers to build a digital transaction record that can facilitate formal credit or other financial services from banks and other financial institutions. This is an important boost when only an estimated 3% of the sector receives banking credit, limiting the farmers capacity to grow their business or mitigate poor harvest losses.

Since its launch in 2015, Mastercard says Farm Pass has reached nearly one million smallholder farmers in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and India, enabling them to command 25%-50% higher prices and increase harvest productivity.

Mastercard says Farm Pass is part of its strategy to connect underserved communities to essential services through Community Pass, a shared interoperable digital platform that supports the companys commitment to connect one billion people and 50 million small and micro businesses to the digital economy by 2025.
Nothing is finely orchestrating the dripping of details about the upcoming Phone 1. After all, it has Carl Pei at the helm of things. The ex-OnePlus co-founders new company is set to unveil the Nothing Phone (1) on July 12. We also know the phone will be sold on Flipkart, an Indian-born eCommerce company. Now the company has also revealed that the handset will be manufactured in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. So, it seems to be going all out to appease Indians.

Nothing Phone 1's camera and antenna lines.

"We are thrilled to announce that every phone (1) sold in India will be manufactured locally," said Nothing India vice president and general manager Manu Sharma.

Tamil Nadu: Electronic Manufacturing Hub of India!



Nothing Phone (1) for India to be manufactured in Tamil Nadu.  Guidance Tamil Nadu (@Guidance_TN) June 14, 2022

Whistle Podu for Nothing Phone (1)

Nothing Phone 1 will be made in Tamil Nadu.

"Nothing phone (1) is the real start of our journey and we cannot think of a better way to establish ourselves in India, which is a key market for us," Mr. Sharma added.

The company has also announced over 270 authorized service centers in more than 250 cities along with across-the-year customer support through the Nothing India channels.

As for the phone itself, it has been spotted in the wild in what seems a promo video from Nothing. The alleged live images of Phone (1) has been shared by Piyush Bhaskar through Slashleaks.

Nothing Phone 1 Specs and India Availability

The Phone (1) will be available on Flipkart featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC, Android-based Nothing OS, wireless charging support, and a transparent chassis with a silver-colored metallic frame.

The Google-backed company wants the Phone (1) to be the most compelling alternative to Apple.

Well have more insight into the device when it comes out at the Return to Instinct event on July 12 at 8:30 PM IST. The show will be live streamed from London on nothing.tech.

As for other news, reviews, feature stories, buying guides, and everything else tech-related, keep reading Digit.in.
Samsung is ready to launch its Galaxy Watch 5 series in August and three different variants of the upcoming watch were seen on the FCC website in the US. According to one of the reports on GoAndroid the three Galaxy watches will be 40mm, 44mm, and 46mm in size respectively.

A wireless charger was also seen on the FCC database, with model number EP-OR900 as per the report which came on Monday. The top-end variant will likely have a 390mAh battery while the other two variants might have a 276 mAh battery. The three models might be available in Phantom, Balck Silver, Pink Gold, Sapphire and Balck variants. The 46mm watch is supposed to come in Phantom Balck and Silver colours.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 Features, Price and Specifications

Samsung is readying to deliver sapphire glass and titanium build on the Galaxy watch 5 Pro. Something like a titanium build is not common in smartwatches but it would certainly make for a premium build, reports said.

And the benefit of sapphire glass is that it is essentially scratch-proof, given the smartwatches excellent material durability. The company might even bring Galaxy Watch 5 incorporated with a thermometer.
Subscriber content preview

CHICAGO (AP)  A federal judge has dismissed a public corruption case against a construction contractor even before the end of trial testimony.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly dismissed a charge of wire fraud on Friday against Debra Fazio as part of an alleged $700,000 kickback scheme with the highway commissioner of Bloomingdale Township, near Chicago.





. . .
Unemployment remains over 7 pct in India as Modi instructs to create more jobs

Xinhua) 15:52, June 14, 2022

NEW DELHI, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The unemployment rate in India improved to 7.12 percent in May, from 7.83 percent in April, revealed the data provided by the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

According to the report, the unemployment rate in urban parts of the country in May stood at 8.21 percent while it was 6.62 in the rural areas.

On June 13, the jobless rate in the country stood at 7.27 percent (7.81 in urban and 7.02 in rural areas), the CMIE data revealed further.

The northern state of Haryana recorded the highest rate of unemployment at 24.6 percent in May, followed by Rajasthan (22.2 percent), Tripura (17.4 percent) and Delhi (13.6 percent).

Meanwhile, in a bid to address the growing concerns over rising unemployment in the country, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday directed government departments and ministries to recruit 1 million people in the next one-and-a-half years.

According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the direction came after a review of the status of human resources in all government departments and ministries.

The federal government's decision to provide a million jobs came amid the opposition parties' frequent criticism about the issue of unemployment over the past few months.

A large number of vacant posts in different government sectors has often been flagged by several quarters of the society.

Even the country's main ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) lawmaker Varun Gandhi last month raised the issue of unemployment, saying that over 6 million jobs sanctioned in central and state governments departments were lying vacant.

"While the youth are disappointed over non-availability of vacancies, the government data claims there are 6 million vacant posts," the lawmaker tweeted a screenshot claiming to be of sector-wise vacant posts.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
CCI penalises firms for bid rigging and cartelisation in Railways tenders

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday issued a final order against seven companies/firms which were found to have contravened the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act) by indulging in cartelisation in the supply of Protective Tubes to the Indian Railways.

The case was initiated on the basis of a lesser penalty application filed by one of the cartelising entities. Under Section 46 of the Act, a cartel member may approach the Commission by way of filing an application seeking lesser penalty, in return for providing full, true and vital disclosures in respect of the alleged cartel to the Commission.

CCI found these seven companies/firms to have indulged in cartelisation in the supply of Protective Tubes to the Indian Railways by means of directly or indirectly determining prices, allocating tenders, controlling supply and market, co-ordinating bid prices and manipulating the bidding process. The evidence in the matter included regular e-mail communications between the parties and filing of bids from same IP addresses by certain parties etc.

Further, ten individuals of these seven entities were also held by the CCI to be liable for the anti-competitive conduct of their respective companies/ firms, in terms of the provisions of Section 48 of the Act.

CCI imposed penalties at the rate of 5 per cent of the average turnover/ income upon the companies/firms and certain individuals found guilty of violating the provisions of the Act. However, benefit of reduction in penalty under the provisions of Section 46 of the Act of 100 per cent was given to the lesser penalty applicant. Post reduction, CCI directed the parties to pay total penalties of approximately Rs30 lakhs, besides issuing a cease-and-desist order.
DoT portal integrates all states and union territories into GatiShakti Master Plan

The recently launched GatiShakti Sanchar portal of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has integrated all 36 states and UTs. DoT will soon be convening a meeting of all NPG members to further accelerate the process of integrating the portal into the National Master Plan.

Ministry of railways will soon be creating 100 cargo terminals that have easier connectivity with roads and ports, as an approach towards multimodal infrastructure.

Senior railway ministry officials attending the Network Planning Group (NPG) meeting in New Delhi on 8 June said that detailed identification, timelines and mapping are already underway and will soon be shared with all other member ministries/departments for in-depth coordination.

Special Secretary Logistics Division of the DPIIT highlighted the role that the National Master Plan portal plays in integrating inter-ministerial planning and coordination. The NPG members were requested to maintain periodic engagement with the BISAG-N and regular project updates in the portal. Members were also advised to regularise planning and project mapping through the portal.

The NPG members were apprised of the latest guidelines from the ministry of finance, which mandates the examination of logistics and connectivity project by the Network Planning Group.

Through the Network Planning Group, all 8 infrastructure ministries/departments are taking up integrated planning, synchronised implementation and consolidated decision.

Meanwhile, minister of state for commerce and industry Som Parkash said the PM Gati Shakti National Masterplan will help achieve Indias aim of a $5 trillion economy.

Addressing the tndustry stakeholders at the India International Logistics abd Supply Chain Conference, organised by PHDCCI, the minister said the PM Gati Shakti masterplan and its implementation will help India achieve logistic efficiency, which is an important framework to help thrive businesses in the country.

An infrastructure master plan will make a difference through integrated approach by breaking the entrenched silos over six years, which has received Rs20,000 crore allocation in this years Budget. Propelled by seven engines  roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics  PM Gati Shakti is an idea whose time has come, the minister added.

Speaking on the occasion, PHDCCI president Pradeep Multani pointed out that the Indian logistics sector is on a big growth path. According to the domestic rating agency ICRA, India's logistics sector is expected to grow at a rate 8-10 per cent over the medium term. This is an improvement over the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8 per cent at which the industry grew during the last five years. Going forward, the governments focus is to bring down the cost of logistics from the present 14.4 per cent. The development of the logistics sector is also extremely important for the Indian economy, as it will boost exports, create jobs, and give the country a prominent position in the global supply chain, Multani added.
Fissures In The Oil Barrel

The war in Ukraine did not work in oils way, rather it only helped to reverse the rising trend in crude oil prices in the international markets. A slump in oil prices amidst tight supplies has come as a big shock for producer cartel Opec that was hoping big on supply curbs imposed by the expanded group that also included Russia.

The forced exclusion of Russian oil from the international markets is something that Optec did not anticipate. The western sanctions on Russia and the subsequent loss of demand for its oil caused a piling up of oil inventories, forcing the country to sell it cheap  to buyers mostly from China and India.

The potential ramp-up of Russian crude purchases has adversely impacted on Indias spot purchases. India is reported to have bought more than 40 million barrels of Russian oil between February and May. This is about 20 per cent more than all imports of crude in 2021.

A Bloomberg report citing Keller data said Russian oil arrivals into India for May peaked to 740,000 barrels a day, up from 284,000 barrels in April and 34,000 barrels a year earlier.

This has caused a dent in spot market purchases with some of the largest buyers suspending market operations against cheap oil from Russia. Global prices of benchmark crudes that have marched higher for several weeks on Optec supply cuts, declined sharply.

Russian exports have been squeezed by EU and US sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, actions that Russia calls a "special operation".

While China's gradual emergence from strict Covid-19 lockdowns has added to price support, speculation that Saudi Arabia may step up production weighed on the market, say analysts.

A report in the Financial Times on Wednesday cited sources as saying that Saudi Arabia is prepared to raise its oil production if Russia's output falls substantially because of the Western sanctions imposed on it.

Production increases scheduled for September would be brought forward to July and August, the paper said.

Market men reacted to the news by unwinding long positions in order to remain ready to quickly respond as and when Saudi Arabia raises production.

But, with oil prices already down, Optec or the expanded group is unlikely to change their policy.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that some OPEC members were considering suspending Russia from the agreed production plan, to allow other producers to pump significantly cruder, as sought by the United States and European nations.

Russia's economy and oil production have suffered since its late-February invasion of Ukraine, which led to Western sanctions and bans on energy imports from that country. Its oil output was down by 7.5 per cent as of mid-April, and the Kremlin said it could fall as much as 17 per cent this year.

The Optec members are looking at whether to kick Russia out from the group's deal to gradually increase oil production, after the country missed its target.

Some Opec+ sources said on Wednesday that Opec was set to stick to its modest monthly increases in oil output, despite seeing tighter global markets.

Still others expect Opec+ will keep its production policy unchanged. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is visiting Saudi Arabia ahead of Opecs technical meeting.
A number of Donegal passengers were on a flight that had to be diverted due to insufficient fuel on board to allow it to reach its planned destination.

The flight, from Lanzarote to Belfast, had to make an unscheduled stop in Porto in Portugal to enable it to take on extra fuel so it could complete its journey.

What should have been a four hour flight took around five and a half hours.

Everything was normal when mid-way through the flight, the captain made an announcement to say that we were going to have to land in Portugal to take on more fuel, one Donegal passenger recalled. The captain explained that due to a flight-planning error that they had not enough fuel to complete the trip to Belfast.

The initial reaction was that most people found it surprising that such an error had been made, but could understand the reason why the plane had to be diverted.

The TUI flight, with around 180 passengers on board, was around an hour and a half into its scheduled trip from Arrecife, the capital of Lanzarote, to Belfast International Airport when the announcement was made.

The plane, which had been heading northwards up along the Portuguese coast, had to switch direction and head south-easterly to land in Porto, Portugals second busiest airport.

The plane was on the ground for almost exactly an hour.

Having taken on fuel, it then took-off again, to head for Belfast.

The diversion and extra flying time was frustrating for people, but they generally accepted the situation. What was annoying for some, though, was the limited in-flight service available, the passenger noted, adding: They also had no duty free, which is unusual on such services. It turned out to be a long flight, but nobody had any issues with the need to refuel. But you do wonder why such a mistake could be made.

The TUI flight, using a Canadian Sunwings Boeing 737-800 aircraft, was scheduled to leave Lanzarote at 7.55 pm last Thursday. It officially departed at 8.26 pm, and landed in Porto just over an hour and a half later. The flight eventually arrived in Belfast at 1.51 am.
A food delivery cyclist who has spent over 500 days in custody accused of murdering 16-year-old Josh Dunne has been cleared of any offence in relation to the fatal stabbing by a unanimous Central Criminal Court jury.

The jury accepted George Gonzaga Bento's position that he was acting in self-defence after being attacked by a gang when he and a colleague tried to retrieve a stolen bike. He said he had pulled out a utility knife that he carried for cutting fruit and stabbed three people, including 16-year-old Josh.

They rejected the State's contention that Mr Bento had decided to take the law into his own hands, had exaggerated the threat posed by his attackers and knew at the time that the force he used was not necessary to repel the attack.

Mr Bento has been in custody for about 18 months having been refused bail by the High Court, but following the verdicts trial Judge Mr Justice Paul Burns told him he is free to go. A prison officer told the court that Mr Bento would be released from the court building. Mr Bento smiled and hugged family and friends when the verdicts were announced.

Members of Josh Dunne's family, including his mother, quickly left the court.

The jury of seven women and five men took a little over eight hours to reach unanimous verdicts on all counts following a six-week trial.

The prosecution alleged that Mr Bento produced a knife during a "stand-off or confrontation" with a man on a moped who had stolen another delivery cyclist's bike. Josh Dunne and other youths arrived at the scene and got involved in the confrontation.

Mr Bento told gardai in his interviews that he had used a knife to defend himself from the man on the moped and the gang of youths. He said it was only his intention to intimidate them when he took out the knife and make them go away. He said he stabbed the first and second males who punched and attacked him as he was scared and wanted to protect himself.

Josh, an unarmed teenager who was unknown to gardai, did not initially attack Mr Bento or Mr Quieroz but just held the moped while the attack continued. When he saw Mr Bento stab his friend, Josh reacted by punching Mr Bento repeatedly before being stabbed. CCTV captured the moment that Josh separated from the group and stumbled to the ground.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers said Josh suffered two stab wounds to the chest. The cause of death was a wound to the middle of the chest that pierced the muscle between the ribs and entered the chest cavity, piercing the lung close to the heart. It had also penetrated the aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body.

The accused took the stand during the trial and said that he and his friend Guillherme Quieroz had followed a bike thief through Dublin but when they tried to retrieve the stolen bike, they were set on by a gang of men and youths.

Mr Bento said he feared for his life and that of his friend and that he used the knife to defend them from serious injury or death. He told the jury that he believed the level of force he used was necessary to keep him and Mr Quieroz alive. "I believe I saved two lives, mine and Guilherme lives," he said.

Mr Quieroz also gave evidence, telling the jury that he believed Mr Bento saved him on two occasions, first when he was forced up against a wall and repeatedly punched and a second time when he was dragged to the road while being struck.

Mr Bento's defence counsel, Padraig Dwyer SC, told the jury that his client is an innocent, hard-working man who used reasonable force to defend himself and his friend Mr Quieroz from a "punishment beating" inflicted on them because they tried to retrieve a stolen bicycle.

Prosecution counsel, Sean Guerin SC, said that when Mr Bento produced the knife a second time and used it to stab one of the alleged victims, the teenagers were backing away and neither he nor his friend were under attack. He said that Josh Dunne, who had no involvement in the assault up to then, reacted to seeing his friend being stabbed by using reasonable force in punching Mr Bento to push him away.

Counsel described Josh's actions as "commendable" but said Mr Bento reacted to Josh's reasonable response with lethal force that he knew was not necessary to protect himself or his friend.

Mr Justice Burns had charged the jury that, in relation to the murder charge, if it was reasonably possible that the accused acted in defence of himself or another and used no more force than was necessary, he should be found not guilty.

Where a person used more force than was reasonably necessary but no more force than he honestly believed was necessary, the verdict would be not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. If the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused knew the amount of force used was not reasonably necessary then he would have been guilty of murder.

Mr Bento (36), a Brazilian national with an address in East Wall in Dublin 3, had denied murdering 16-year-old Josh Dunne at East Wall Road, East Wall on January 26, 2021.

The jury also acquitted Mr Bento of producing a utility knife in a manner likely to intimidate another in the course of a dispute or fight. He was further acquitted of assault causing harm to two other young men on the same occasion.

The trial heard that two other men got involved in the altercation just as Josh separated himself from the group. Mr Quieroz was beaten by these two men and Bento responded by stabbing one of them.

This 29-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied to the jury that he carried out a vicious attack on Mr Quieroz on the night and had only stopped after he was stabbed in the back. The jury heard the man has several previous criminal convictions, including those for bike theft, the possession of drugs and criminal damage.

Following the verdicts, Mr Justice Paul Burns thanked the jury and exempted them from further service for seven years.

During the trial, the jury saw CCTV footage showing a man on a moped picking up a delivery cyclist's bike and driving off with it.

Mr Bento and Mr Quieroz followed him and retrieved the bike but the moped man did not go away and when a group of teenagers arrived, including Josh, the moped man assaulted Mr Quieroz, sparking the fatal row.

The prosecution described the moped man as a bike thief and a thug who should be condemned for launching a violent and unlawful attack on Mr Bento and Mr Quieroz. He was, they said, the "instigator" of the trouble that led to Josh Dunne's death.

Mr Bento's defence counsel said the blame for Josh's death lay with the moped man and not with Mr Bento. At the beginning of their deliberations, the jury questioned why the moped man was not called to give evidence.
Dundalk has seen some improvement in the levels of littering in the town but has just missed out on achieving a Clean status in the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) litter survey.

An Taisce, who carry out the surveys on behalf of IBAL, deemed Dundalk Moderately Littered, placing it 27th out of 40 town and cities surveyed. In its appraisal of Dundalk, the IBAL report said that the town has seen some improvement but not enough to give it Clean status.

Among areas highlighted in the report, the Market Square in Dundalk was judged very much deserving of the top litter grade  the street-scape was excellent and the whole area was very well presented and maintained. The Square was given an A grade in the report and was described as an attractively presented town centre environment with lovely paving throughout.

Wooden seating, ornamental trees, litter bins, green recycle bins, signage, colourful planter boxes and and planted areas were all in very good condition  it was excellent with regard to litter.

Two other areas in Dundalk achieved a Grade A status - the R178 Carrickmacross Approach Road and the N53 Castleblayney Approach Road. For the R178, the survey said that the overall impression with regard to litter was a good one. There is a recessed area to a field with minor litter items. With regards to the Castleblayney Road, it said that the road surface, markings and signage created a fresh impression along this tree-lined route. There was a virtual absence of litter throughout.

The report mentioned a number of areas in the town that have seen a marked improvement on previous reports.

Clanbrassil St received a Grade B+ in the survey. The report said that the street paving presented well, and an outdoor seating area had been adorned with colourful flower arrangements. Street bins were freshly presented with clear dog signage. It added that not much effort is required for Clanbrassil Street to get the top litter grade.

Wrightsons Lane which also received a Grade B+ was described as a significantly improved site with just minor litter items this time around  dog fouling was most obvious with lower levels of alcohol bottles, mineral cans and sweet wrappers  some of it was trapped in the drains. It added that graffiti was very much a feature along this laneway.

Two areas in Dundalk where there was a notable litter presence however, were the Cost Cutter Car Park and the wasteground on the corner of Maxwells Row and St. Nicholas Avenue, with both receiving a Grade C. The report said that both had long-lie items, indicating a lack of thorough cleaning for quite some time. The Tesco Recycle Facility in Dundalk received a Grade C+ and while it was described as appearing as being in good order, it had a myriad of stuffed items to the rear. It added that a more thorough approach to cleaning is required to address this.
An appeal to help a family get a life saving heart transplant for their little girl has been made by the friends of Dundalk woman, Laura Holland, whose one year old daughter Nina, has been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy.

Nina's parents are to find out today (Tuesday) if she will be placed on the waiting list at the Cardiothoracic Unit at Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle in the United Kingdom.

Colleagues at Dundalk Institute of Technology, where Laura works, set up a GoFundMe appeal to help raise funds to go towards care of the brave young tot, as well as help support her parents, Laura and Johnny, who have had to relocate from Dundalk to Dublin, to be with their baby who is in Crumlin Children's Hospital.Laura told the Dundalk Democrat that they first found out that Nina had a problem with her heart at the 20 week scan.

They transferred her to the Rotunda [Hospital] for the delivery because they knew she was going to need a pacemaker, Laura explained. She was born in the Rotunda and they took her over to Crumlin [Children's Hopsital] and she had a temporary pacemaker fitted on day one, and then on day five they put in the permanent one.

Laura explained that Nina was in Crumlin Children's Hospital for about four or five weeks and was then able to go home and was alright for a couple of weeks, but then she started getting sick and refusing to drink her bottle. She was brought back to the hospital where an EMG tube was put down her nose. Courageous little Nina continued to get sick however and had to return to hosptial.

We were in and out of the hospital said Laura, as Nina kept vomiting. You couldn't leave the house. We were housebound.

In January, Laura goes on to say, they decided they were going to try this tube, it goes in through the duodunem, so it bypasses the stomach. But it didn't take. She got very sick after that and they had to take it out and they put in a peg in her stomach. She was grand for about three weeks, there was no vomiting, and we thought, 'this is great now, she's cured. And then she got Covid. Don't know where Covid came from, and she was sick with Covid for about three weeks and then the vomiting just came back with a vengeance and she just kept vomiting.

Laura said that a fundoplication was then carried out on Nina's stomach to stop the vomiting. Its like they put a little knot in the top of the stomach so you can't physically get sick. She adds however that Nina just deteriorated after that and ended up in ICU, her heart just gave out basically. She's been in ICU since then.

Testing was carried out on Nina to try and find out why her heart gave out, Laura explained, and it was found that the cause was genetic. They were told that even if she didn't have the pacemaker fitted at birth, something would have happened to her heart at some point and the only treatment is [a heart] transplant.

We're waiting now, tomorrow we have the talk with the UK transplant team to see if they're going to take her on the list.

While talking to the Dundalk Democrat, Laura explained that we're sitting in the [Dublin] city centre, we're waiting on the passport office to do her up a passport. They could tell her to come over tomorrow or next week. We're waiting on them to decide if they're going to put her on the transplant list. I don't know what the plan is going to be  if they're going to take her over there or if we're going to be waiting in Dublin for the transplant. But sure you don't know how long the transplant is going to take.

They're telling us they had one child up in the ward waiting for four years for a transplant. We could be here for the long haul if we get her well enough. Brave little Nina had just gone through a wobbly weekend, Laura adds, where she suffered an infection. They thought it was her heart but luckily enough it's not.

Nina has two young brothers who are missing their sister and their parents. The two boys are missing us now. We were in the Ronald McDonald House and we thought we were going to be able to take them up, and then the Infection Control Team said she had a bug in her stool sample and we were put out of Ronald McDonald's. I don't think we can get back in there. She continues, the parent's accommodation, they have a couple of houses up here and they've offered us one, so we'll hopefully be getting the key to that this week and we'll be able to take the boys up. I haven't told the boys about it because they told us this past week and we're still waiting.

So we're waiting for that, we're going to be getting called over to the UK  it's all up in the air, I don't know, we're just playing the waiting game to see what's going to happen. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the big decision from the UK. Hopefully they'll say they'll put her on the transplant list. They reckon their waiting list could be six to 12 months for a new heart, but sure we know that there's people waiting years. We just have to try and keep her right. If a transplant becomes available and she has an infection, they can't do it, she'd be put back on the list again. So they have to find out what the infection is and treat her with the right stuff.

Nina's bravery through the ordeal is plain to see. She's not giving up, says Laura, she's not giving up. They have her sedated there and she's still bouncing around the bed, she wants out of that bed. She wants that ventilator out. If she gets a chance she's grabbing at it.

Laura says she is very grateful for the support they have received. I would like to say thanks to all those who donated she says. We've had a lot of support, a lot of very generous family members and [from the] public. And thanks to the girls for setting it up for me. They had mentioned it to me a couple of months back, and I said 'no no, these gofundme's are for people that are really sick'  little did I know I'd be needing them to set one up.

You can support the fundraiser for Nina and her family by visiting https://gofund.me/41aa02b9
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.

If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.
Louth County Council has issued a response today to the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey results released yesterday, that ranked Drogheda 39th out of 40 towns and cities surveyed in the litter study and which described Drogheda as "Seriously Littered".

In its response the local authority said, "Louth County Council notes the outcome of a survey by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL), which has classified Drogheda as seriously littered. While disappointed with this classification, Louth County Council believes that a community response, including from businesses in Drogheda, can serve to rectify the situation."

It goes on to say that "the Council has been very active in Drogheda and up to the current month has issued numerous warning notices and a total of 50 fines for littering in 2022. Also, through its litter warden service, it is actively engaged with primary schools in the town. Some programmes were put on hold because of Covid-19, but these are now being resumed. The Council is mindful of certain construction and other waste sites where litter is prevalent and will as necessary, issue warning notices and fines."

"The County Council is a strong promoter of anti-littering messages across the county, and it hopes that everyone can play a positive community role by assuming personal responsibility in the reduction of littering. It thanks those who make that positive effort. In particular, it notes the work of a number of Tidy Towns organisations throughout the county, including Drogheda Tidy Towns."
Two projects in Louth have been granted funding through the Local Authority Waters Programme Community Water Development Fund, with the Ramparts in Dundalk the focus of one particular project and an exploration of Omeaths local freshwater waterbodies through citizen science activities being supported in another.

Dundalk Tidy Towns has been granted 4,500 to go towards an Initial Options Assessment for an ecological study of the Ramparts River in Dundalk. Omeath District Development CLG has been granted 500 to go towards an exploration of Omeaths local freshwater waterbodies through citizen science activities.

The rivers and coastline of County Louth are recognised as renowned places of natural beauty. They are popular with locals and visitors alike as destinations for water-based recreational activities, especially during summer months. However, water quality in some areas is not as good as it should be, with latest reports from the Environment Protection Agency show that around half of the rivers and lakes in Ireland do not have good water quality.

Issues affecting water quality in Louths rivers and lakes are well documented, with a lot of work underway through the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO), Louth County Council and relevant agencies to address pollution and other known problems. For the next five years, this work will be guided by Irelands River Basin Management Plan.

LAWPRO are contributing the funding to the two projects this year in County Louth. In acknowledgement of the important and diverse role communities have in the stewardship of healthy waters, Community Water Officer for Counties Louth, Monaghan & Cavan, Ben Malone said:

Community involvement is key to the protection and management of local waterbodies and our ability to fund the delivery of projects like these is only one of a number of ways LAWPRO can provide support to groups on the ground who want to protect their local environment. Every group on the ground has a role to play, no matter how big or small it is or whatever their capacity may be, there is support there for that group to act.

Nationally a total of 202 applications for Local Authority Waters Programme Community Water Development Fund for 2022 were received with 182 awarded a total of 510,093.31. Types of projects approved for funding include:

river and habitat enhancement works such as planting of native species and hedgerow, pollinator friendly planting, river-bank stabilisation, fencing and riparian buffer zones

match funding for large LEADER funded projects with a biodiversity/water quality element

preparation of local plans such as feasibility studies, habitat management plans, ecological surveys, and biodiversity action plans

awareness raising initiatives such as river clean ups, biodiversity information boards, citizen science workshops, outdoor classrooms, rainwater harvesting, and enhancement of wetlands

Commenting on the fund, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh OBrien, T.D. said, I welcome the announcement of the Community Water Development Fund grants 2022, which will support local communities and groups to deliver projects that enhance the quality of local streams, rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. I am pleased that my Department funds this scheme, which is a great example of community engagement and public participation.

"The Community Water Development Fund will continue to be a key measure in the new revised and strengthened River Basin Management Plan for Ireland, which I plan to launch later this year alongside my colleague Minister Malcolm Noonan. The Plan aims to protect Irelands water quality, and to ensure we have a well-protected environment and vibrant communities for future generations.
Click the 'Next >' arrow above or 'Next Story' below to go through the gallery

Pics: Fintan Clarke

Staff and retailers at Marshes Shopping Centre enjoyed a fundraising static cycle in aid of its charity partner Pieta at the centre on Saturday. Participants cycled for 20 minutes each on static bicycles on the Marshes Mall to raise funds for the charity, which helps those in suicidal distress and people engaged in self-harm.

This event was a great occasion and Marshes is proud to help contribute to the critical work of our charity partner Pieta, said centre manager Sean Farrell. Thank you to everybody who took park and came along to enjoy the spectacle.

Miles for Marshes saw plenty of sweat as staff and retailers pushed themselves physically for Pieta, which first opened its doors in 2006. Since then it has seen and helped over 60,000 people in distress and operates 20 locations across Ireland. Pieta employs over 200 therapists and support staff, and the demand for its services is increasing.

For updates, please visit www.marshesshopping.com or Marshes Facebook page.
A representative for the Ombudsman for Childrens Office has called on the government to use the summer months to put better supports in place for refugee children ahead of the new academic year.

Nuala Ward, director of investigations at the Ombudsman for Childrens Office, told the Joint Committee on Education that a failure to provide children arriving from Ukraine with a school placement is a deep concern.

Almost 6,800 Ukrainian children have been placed in Irish schools.

Some 4,766 of these pupils have been accommodated in primary schools while 2,031 pupils have enrolled in post-primary schools.

However, there is a concern that some parents from Ukraine have struggled to find a school place for their child.

Several have also reported that their children were forced to change schools as the family was being moved to a different part of the country.

Meg Ryan of Irish Red Cross said that the summer months is an opportunity to bridge the educational gaps for refugee children.

A huge number of schools have a substantial waitlist for Irish students and the prioritisation is being placed for those that have legacies or other connections.

An experience that I am finding with my clients, of the parents who have approached multiple schools, sometimes over the 15 schools, looking for a space for a child in secondary education and being told they have to adapt within, that the child will either have to repeat a year or go into a year with a different age group than is inappropriate for the child.

Huge issues around certain years, first year in particular is a big issue that my clients are experiencing.

Theres no provision being placed to adapt that there. There are children of this age that need to be placed within the restrictions of how many students they can have in a class.

Were in a summer month period now whereby something could be introduced, some exceptions could be placed in that would allow for schools to expand their classrooms to accommodate these children.

I think that this summer month period is a time where action should be put in place given it is a pause, where it can give a chance for caseworkers, supporters, parents of Ukrainian children to find appropriate school and placement and a guarantee which will then remove that sense of insecurity, both at home for the parents and for the child and this applies for special education access as well.

We are in a window where these these holes can be filled.

Ms Ward said that it is a fundamental right that children have access to their education.

So not having a school placement is a deep concern, especially for children arriving from the Ukraine as education is where they make their friends, Ms Ward told the committee.

They get to know about this new country theyve arrived into, about the language so its critical importance for their recovery that they have a school placement.

I agree with whats been said by my colleagues that this is a pause, this is a time to reflect on what is a crisis, but its time now to gather whats worked, what hasnt worked and put a new process for September for the new year.

Clodagh Carroll, assistant director of childrens services at Barnardos, said sudden change can have a significant impact on children.

A sudden change without information, a sudden change without choice and without control, she said.

The impact of trauma that we would see children experience is such that theyre constantly scanning their environment for threats, constantly uncertain whats going to happen next, constantly at a state of high arousal, which then has an impact on their physical well being, their behaviour, their interactions with peers, their relationships with others.

They will bounce off their parents high arousal when they are not aware of whats happening next.

I can refer to a situation in Dublin when we were reaching out to a group that were housed in one of our regions, but overnight up to 150 people were removed quite suddenly, within a day or two, and we would see the impact of that.

Children who have experienced trauma would need safety, security, certainty. They need stability, they need to know whats happening next, and they need to be made aware of it before it happens.

So from our point of view, when you are in a situation like that, a traumatic situation, control and choice are very important to you.

That sense of powerlessness comes with trauma. So early information, certainty, security, safety and knowing whats going to happen next.

Its an absolute necessity for these children so sudden changes, being taken out of schools and then arriving at another centre to go to another school, is very traumatising and re-triggering a child.
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) staff were left shaken after first lady Auxillia Mnangagwa caused a rumpus at the Forbes border post, including having her aides grab a manager by his belt, ZimLive has learnt.

President Emmerson Mnangagwas wife also shouted at one ZIMRA employee for staring at her in a shock outburst.

The incident allegedly took place in early May as the first lady returned from an unexplained road trip to Mozambique.

A source told ZimLive: She got out of her vehicle with aides and started shouting at everyone, accusing the border officials of being corrupt. She started asking those who were close for their names. She picked on ZIMRA officer and accused him of staring at her as if she was a prostitute.

She then demanded to see the ZIMRA manager, Tichaona Phiri, who was in his office. She sent her aides to get him. He was literally manhandled by his belt to meet her. She shouted at him for not coming to meet her and then instructed her boys to take him and go with him.

The poor manager was moved around the border while being held by his belt. She kept on shouting. When the manager was finally let go, she demanded that he should be fired as well as the ZIMRA officer accused of staring.

Phiri, the regional manager for ZIMRA, has reportedly been working from home since the incident. Other ZIMRA staff were reportedly left shaken.

Colleagues described Phiri as a no-nonsense man who wants things done properly.

While it remains unclear what prompted the outburst from the presidents wife, some have linked it to two incidents at the border during which goods linked to the first family or their associates were held up.

Phiri seized 15 trucks loaded with chrome which had been under-weighed. The trucks were destined for shipment in Beira and had the fingerprints of the first family. It took the intervention of the ZIMRA commissioner for customs (Batsirai Chadzingwa) for the trucks to be released, a source at the border said.

On another occasion, one of the sons imported some Italian booze which was labelled in Italian. It was held up because no-one at the border understood Italian. After angry phone calls, Chadzingwa stepped in once more to get it released.

Chadzingwa reportedly visited the Forbes border on a fact-finding mission after the Auxillia Mnangagwa incident.

A ZIMRA spokesman said they would not be commenting.

Auxillia Mnangagwa is given to vituperative outbursts. Her staff, civil servants and her husbands girlfriends have been at the receiving end of her sharp tongue.

In 2019, an audio was leaked of her shouting  for eight minutes  at Colonel Samson Murombo, commander of the 1 Presidential Guard Infantry Battalion, as she accused him of spying on her.

She accused Murombo of using someone called Manjoro  believed to be a member of her security detail  to spy on her. She also complained about a Mhlanga that she claimed was deployed to her office to spy on her.

She told Murombo she was driving from Bulawayo to Harare and invited him to kill her on the way.

If you dont shoot me before I get there, well kill each other in your office, she vowed.

In 2020, she summoned ZBC head of news Gilbert Nyambabvu to her office and spent 25 minutes hectoring him for suspending her favourite cameraman. Nyambabvu was removed a month later.

Last year, in November, her meddling in state media was laid bare again when she forced The Herald newspaper to apologise over a headline she felt did not sufficiently reflect her influence and importance.

The Herald, which must publish a story about her daily, ran with the headline Colleges endorse First Ladys programme. After she called the newspaper in fury, the editor was forced to apologise in the next edition on November 4.

We wish to state that the correct headline should have been Universities, colleges and vocational training centres endorse First Ladys programme, the apology said. Zimlive
 

EBRD to lend up to 300 million to gas company Naftogaz to boost Ukraines energy security

Initial 50 million immediately available for emergency gas purchases

Support is part of 1 billion EBRD activity in Ukraine this year, with donors and partners

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will lend up to 300 million to help Ukraines gas company Naftogaz (NAK) compensate for the loss of natural gas production following the invasion of Ukraine.

NAK will use the initial 50 million tranche disbursed by the EBRD for emergency gas purchases, which are urgently needed to prepare Ukraines gas system for the next heating season. The company aims to raise a total of 1 billion to buy up to one billion cubic metres of gas, which is critical to ensure there is enough gas in the system by autumn, and to safeguard access to services for people whose livelihoods and economic security are threatened by the war.

Alain Pilloux, EBRD Vice-President, Banking, said: The urgency to act is clear. Gas is needed: for the next heating season, for electricity production, and more broadly for supporting the economy. The replenishing of gas stocks must start now to avoid serious consequences in the autumn. This operation is very simply about providing heating to the people and economy of Ukraine.

Yuriy Vitrenko, the Chief Executive Officer of Naftogaz, said: Naftogaz highly appreciates its strategic partnership with the EBRD. That we can rely on the EBRD during the most difficult circumstances is confirmed by this project in conditions of war. This will definitely contribute to Ukraine's resilience. We are thankful that together with the EBRD we can help modernise Ukraine by implementing best practices in both the purchase of gas and the sustainable development of the energy sector in Ukraine.

The loan forms part of 1 billion of activity that the EBRD intends to undertake this year in Ukraine, in cooperation with donors and other partners, to support the countrys real economy.

All EBRD investments in Ukraine under this package involve risk-sharing. In Naftogazs case, EBRD shareholders will guarantee 66 per cent (200 million) of the total EBRD loan, which also backed by Ukraines sovereign guarantee. After the initial payment, donor guarantees will cover all of the next 100 million paid and 66 per cent of the final 150 million.

Beyond supporting energy security, the EBRDs loan is designed to support NAK in tackling workforce challenges caused by the hostilities, which have forced millions of people in Ukraine to flee their homes and workplaces.

It will also continue to support the Ukrainian gas markets closer integration with the European Union. In particular, NAK will be able to source natural gas, using a competitive procurement mechanism, from its existing pre-qualified EU-based gas traders. The EBRD requires NAK to use contracts based on the standards of the European Federation of Energy Traders.

The EBRD was swift to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February and pledged to stand by Ukraine. In early April, the EBRDs Board of Governors voted to suspend open-endedly the access of Russia and Belarus to EBRD finance and expertise, and the Bank is closing its offices in Russia and Belarus.

As well as a resilience package for Ukraine and neighbouring countries affected by the war, the EBRD has committed to help finance Ukraines reconstruction once conditions permit.
EBRD to extend a 15 million loan to UniCredit Leasing Serbia

New finance is for SME investments in sustainable, green technologies

Loans to be supported by donor-funded incentive grants

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending a 15 million loan to UniCredit Leasing Serbia for on-leasing to local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The credit line will help expand lease financing to private businesses in Serbia, encouraging them to invest in high performance standards, technologies and services, enabling them to become more competitive and energy efficient.

The loan agreement was signed by EBRD Vice President Allain Pilloux during his official visit to the country. He said: We are happy to be partnering once again with UniCredit Leasing Serbia to extend this new credit line to support the recovery and development of local businesses. Small businesses account for a substantial segment of the Serbian economy and helping them to invest in green and high-performing equipment and technology will help to increase their competitiveness both domestically and in external markets.

Ana Milic, President of the Executive Board of UniCredit Leasing Serbia, said: We are proud that UniCredit Leasing has been recognised as a reliable partner of the EBRD and that we are able to once again support SMEs in our country through this credit line. It is particularly important that SMEs, through this credit line, will be able to continue to improve their energy efficiency and the green economy, which are among the underlying tenets of our business.

SMEs will also benefit from grant incentives worth up to 15 per cent of the lease amount. The grants will be funded by Luxembourg, Norway and the United States of America, with other donors expected to participate.

The credit line is part of the EBRDs new SME Reboot Programme to support small firms recovery from the pandemic-induced slowdown. It will also aid the expansion of the green economy in Serbia by promoting investments in energy efficiency improvements. Around 70 per cent of programme funding will be allocated to investments in energy-saving and green technologies, while the remainder will support investments in automation, increased productivity, product quality and safety.

UniCredit Leasing Serbia is a long-standing partner of the EBRD and the third-largest leasing company in the country. The new credit line will underpin UniCredit Leasings aim to increase leasing to SMEs, while reaching more businesses outside the capital and attracting new clients.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Serbia. The Bank has invested more than 7.3 billion in the country to date. The Banks focus in Serbia is on private-sector development, improving public utilities and facilitating the countrys transition to a green economy.
EBRD extends an 8 million loan to Banca Intesa Belgrade in Serbia

New financing to support investments by women-led businesses

Sweden to provide grants and technical support

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending an 8 million loan to Banca Intesa Belgrade in Serbia. The financing, which Sweden is backing with grants and technical assistance, will support investments by women entrepreneurs.

The financing for businesses run or owned by women is being extended under the EBRDs Women in Business programme, which promotes womens entrepreneurship and their participation in business more broadly by providing them with access to finance and know-how.

The loan agreement was signed by Alain Pilloux, EBRD Vice President, during his visit to the country. He said: Improving access to finance and know-how for women-led businesses is one of our key priorities in the economies where we invest. The Women in Business programme, in particular, is helping to encourage and empower many women and I hope that this new financing will support many of them in going a step further and investing in scaling up their businesses.

In the Western Balkans, including Serbia, women entrepreneurs continue to face gender-specific challenges, both in terms of access to finance and access to know-how, curtailing economic opportunities to establish and grow their businesses. To help improve access to finance, the EBRD offers specialised credit lines in partnership with commercial banks. Since its launch in the Western Balkans in 2014, the Women in Business programme has provided more than 57 million in credit lines to more than 4,800 women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises across the region, giving them access to finance, advisory services, training, mentoring and network-building activities.

Banca Intesa has so far signed 20 credit line agreements with the EBRD, of which five were under the Women in Business programme.

Darko Popovic, President of the Executive Board of Banca Intesa, said: "Economic empowerment of women and their stronger integration into economic flows are important prerequisites for employment growth and sustainable economic development, which is why Banca Intesa has been providing strategic support to this segment of the economy for many years. As the first bank in Serbia to join the Women in Business programme, we have so far supported more than 2,500 women entrepreneurs with over 25.8 million in loans, helping them to develop their businesses and achieve professional ambitions. It is my great pleasure that after the exceptional success in the implementation of the previous four agreements, we continue our cooperation, thus encouraging the creation of an environment that boosts the development of women's entrepreneurship and contributes to inclusive economic development.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Serbia. The Bank has invested more than 7.3 billion in the country to date. Its focus in Serbia is on private-sector development, improving public utilities and facilitating the countrys transition to a green economy.
By Jonathan McCambridge, David Young and Rebecca Black, PA

A Bill which allows the UK government to override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol is reckless and disgraceful, Sinn Feins Stormont leader Michelle ONeill has said.

But DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said it is right that the UK government has acted on the protocol and said he would read the Bill against his partys tests for removing the Irish Sea border.

Sir Jeffrey also denied that his party was under pressure to re-enter powersharing at Stormont now that the UK government has published the legislation.

British prime minister Boris Johnson has said the legislation would introduce relatively simple bureaucratic changes, but Ms ONeill said it was a clear breach of international law.

She is one of 52 MLAs who have signed a joint letter to the prime minister stating their opposition to the legislation.

The protocol was jointly agreed by the UK and EU as part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement to keep the Irish land border free-flowing.

The arrangements instead require regulatory checks and customs declarations on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Speaking to the media at Stormont, Ms ONeill said: Todays action by Boris Johnson in Westminster is absolutely reckless, it is disgraceful, it does nothing to serve the interests of the people here.

It flies in the face of an international agreement which he himself negotiated. It is in clear breach of international law.

An anti-Northern Ireland Protocol sign close to Larne Port (Liam McBurney/PA)

She added: Boris Johnsons action is illegal, he is in clear breach of international law, regardless of the detail.

He himself signed up to an agreement, he signed on the dotted line and hes now legislating to breach that international agreement.

We want people to understand that we are speaking on behalf of the people here and the majority of parties are for the protocol.

We opposed Brexit, but we accept the protocol is mitigation.

We have had a number of business organisations out very strongly to say the protocol is working.

What Boris Johnson is doing today is to undermine all of that, bringing economic uncertainty. He is jeopardising jobs, local jobs.

I just dont think it is acceptable and it is important that we call it out.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson (Liam McBurney/PA)

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his party would read the Bill with interest.

He added: I believe that finally we are now seeing the kind of action that is required to begin the process of removing the barriers to trade within the United Kingdom to restoring Northern Irelands place within the UK internal market.

Sir Jeffrey said the EUs negotiating mandate was so limited it could not agree to the changes that were required to the protocol.

We believe it is right that the UK government takes this action, the UK Government has a primary responsibility to protect the integrity of the United Kingdom and its internal market, whilst at the same time making reasonable proposals that offer protection to the European Union and their single market, he said.

Sir Jeffrey was pressed on reports that the DUP had been warned by the British government that it would not progress the legislation if his party did not agree to re-enter powersharing at Stormont.

He said: I am not under any pressure. We have strong support from across unionism for the stand that we are taking.

I believe that our pressure has brought about what we see today with this Bill being published. I believe that our pressure is seeing progress being made and we will continue to work with government to ensure that this legislation progresses.

Asked if there had been UK government attempts to pressurise him, Sir Jeffrey added: No, I wouldnt characterise my conversations with the Government in that way.

I think the Government is anxious to see devolution restored and that is why it is introducing this Bill.
Plastic pollution in the oceans. Microplastics. Oil spills. Each of these items is already a distinct crisis. But researchers in the Canary Islands have coined a term for a new type of pollution they are finding in their studies: plastitar. According to the scientists, plastitar is washing up around shores of islands and consists of tar balls, often found after oil spills, and microplastics.

No longer is the presence of plastic in the environment limited to microplastics or a bottle in the sea, Javier Hernandez-Borges, associate professor of analytical chemistry at the University of La Laguna in Tenerife, told The Guardian. Hernandez-Borges coined the term plastitar. Now its giving rise to new formations; in this case, one that combines two contaminants.

Scientists first noticed the tar balls coated in plastic fragments two years ago and have now shared this worrisome finding in the journal Science of the Total Environment. The discovery joins other new formations of plastic pollutions taking over the marine environment, including pyroplastics (melted plastic pieces that resemble rocks) and plastiglomerates (the accumulation of melted plastic, basalt lava pieces and coastal sediments).

As for the newly defined plastitar, it consists of tar balls, or pieces of sticky, hardening tar from oil spills, that collects plastic fragments in the water.

It acts like Play-Doh, Hernandez-Borges explained. And when waves carrying microplastics or any other kind of marine debris crash on to the rocks, this debris sticks to the tar.

The tar eventually hardens, creating a new formation of remnants from oil spills and tiny pieces of plastic from various sources.

Researchers found the plastitar at several islands within the Canary Islands and suspect these formations can be found in other parts of the world as well. The plastic fragments studied were overwhelmingly polyethylene, the most common type of plastic globally. Polyethylene is used for everything from cling wrap and plastic bags to detergent bottles and milk jugs. Its also found in housewares, toys, and other ubiquitous objects.

The makeup of the plastitar has researchers concerned about potential toxic leaching into marine environments.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in tar, which are persistent organic pollutants that can bioaccumulate, have moderate to high acute toxicity to aquatic organisms. They can also act as endocrine disruptors and be carcinogenic, among others, the study warned. Its combination with plastic materials clearly supposes a double threat to the marine ecosystem with unknown environmental consequences, since plastics can be ingested by marine organisms causing intestinal blockage, internal injuries, oxidative stress and damage, inflammatory responses, among other important issues.

The study authors stress that more research is needed on the environmental threats this newly defined type of pollution could pose to marine life.




ASF test kit developed in Philippines may be available by end-2022





A test kit developed in the Philippines and that could detect African swine fever (ASF) may be available by the end of the year, while research is also underway for a possible vaccine against the disease, the country's Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said on June 8.

DOST Undersecretary Rowena Guevarra said the ASF test kit would eliminate the need to cull all pigs within the outbreak area, preventing possible pork supply problems.

"Once we have this detection kit, we no longer need to kill all hogs, Guevara said. "We can detect which pigs are sick and those are the only ones that should be culled. The unaffected ones need not be killed."

The DOST earlier this year provided some 16 million (US$300,192) in funding for Bioassets Corp. to develop the test kits and the ASF vaccine.

The research firm was also tasked to create a high containment mobile laboratory unit in Mindanao to help respond to outbreaks and fast-track testing using pig blood.

"They will prioritise the test kit and maybe, it can be released by the end of the year or early next year," Guevara added. "It may take them two years to develop the vaccine so maybe, it will be available by the end of 2023 or 2024."

The official said it was still unclear how much the test kits or the vaccine would cost. But she said the government would shoulder the cost until authorities allow its commercial use.



- ABS-CBN News




Malaysia's Angkasa to create 100 cooperatives for local halal poultry industry

Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Bhd (Angkasa) aims to create 100 cooperatives for the halal poultry industry Malaysia.

Its president, Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Fattah Abdullah, said each of these cooperatives could be built with a capacity of raising 50,000 chicken, thus contributing to an annual production of about 30 million birds.

He added that the effort could increase the involvement of the cooperative movement in the field of agro-food and is in line with the government's intention to see the sector contribute RM100billion (US$22.6 billion) to Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.

"We have seven million cooperative members nationwide. In terms of marketing, we will provide at least 3,000 outlets under the JiMAT SHOP Angkasa store flagship and we have identified 6,000 mosques that can be outlets," Dr. Abdullah said. "For us, the question of where to sell is not an issue, so long as this effort can be implemented to fruition."

Dr. Abdullah added that the cooperative could be set up through collaboration with chicken suppliers, such as Mars Global Sdn Bhd in Johor, through contract farms.

He said however, support from the state must be forthcoming in starting up the farm.

He added: "We have to negotiate with the state government to secure a plantation area (for example, to set up) four coops which will require seven to 10 acres of land.

"If it can be done, the cooperative can expedite this effort and get the farm up and running."

He said the Malaysian government's allocation of RM500 million (US$113 million) in agro-food funds offered to entrepreneurs would help the poultry farms to materialise.

"So I really hope the cooperatives can use this space and opportunity and request the government to channel this allocation to the cooperative movement, seeing the benefits that will impact the community and the national economy," said Dr. Abdullah.

- Bernama




1,000 hogs in Zamboanga, Philippines, dead due to ASF

Some 1,000 hogs died in Zamboanga City, the Philippines, during the past weeks due to African swine fever (ASF), records of the Office of the City Veterinarian (OCVET) showed.

Dr. Mario Ariola, Zamboanga City's veterinarian, said 651 hogs died from the disease while 430 suspected to be infected with the virus were put down.

There are still 1,081 being monitored by OCVET for possible ASF infections.

The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) has placed Zamboanga City under the red zone due to the spread of ASF cases in the communities.

Nearly 400 hog raisers in various communities are now affected by ASF.

The local government of Zamboanga has provided food packs to the affected families to help them cope with their losses, said Ariola.

Depopulation of hogs is still being conducted while strict monitoring of borders is being implemented to prevent the entry of live hogs into Zamboanga City.



- Manila Bulletin




Hy-Line International hosts first White Egg Varieties Congress in Mexico



Hy-Line International organised the first Latin America White Egg Varieties Congress in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, last May.

The technical school hosted 250 participants from 16 Latin America and Caribbean countries for an update on how to achieve the maximum genetic potential of the Hy-Line W-36 and W-80 varieties.

The companies who attended represented over 140 million white-egg layers in Latin America.

"By holding this event, we showcase the transformation and innovation of the Technical Service at Hy-Line International," said Dr. Daniel Valbuena, technical services manager for Hy-Line International. "We provide our customers with comprehensive solutions that incorporate all parts of the poultry production chain."

Presentation topics included bird management, nutrition, environmental and animal health.

Additionally, industry experts provided insight to global production trends, marketing strategies and economic predictions. Customers also shared personal success stories with the W-80 and W-36.

Sponsors of the event were Boehringer Ingelheim, Chore-Time, Diamond V, DSM, Elanco, Hy-Line de Mexico, Jamesway Chick Master Incubation, Nova-Tech, P&IS, Vetanco, Wisium, and Zinpro.

- Hy-Line




FGV to produce 75,000 tonnes of animal feed in 2022





FGV Holdings Bhd (FGV) in Malaysia is expecting to produce 75,000 tonnes of animal feed this year, up from 40,000 tonnes produced in 2021, to cater for the increasing demand for meat such as cow, goat, rabbit and chicken, The Edge Markets reported last month.

Through its subsidiary, FGV Integrated Farming Holdings Sdn Bhd (FGVIF), the company launched high-quality animal feed brand Alma, which uses palm kernel cake (PKC), in March last year for its expanding animal feed and animal nutrition business.

Speaking to the media at FGV Hari Raya open house, head of integrated farming Abdul Razak Aya said the Alma animal feed is 20% to 30% cheaper compared with other animal feed.

"We discovered that farmers have started converting feedstuff for their livestock to Alma products... therefore, we are targeting to produce up to 125,000 tonnes of animal feed by 2024," he said.

He added that FGVIF would continue the research and development (R&D) for chicken feed and is now in the process of finalising the formula and technology.

"The fibre content in PKC bran is high and not suitable for chickens but there is certain technology that we are working out," Aya said.

Meanwhile, group chief executive officer Mohd Nazrul Izam Mansor said the company wants to go beyond plantation and create a full value chain.

"We have farmers and Felda plantations and we want to help increase productivity in the plantations and reduce the cost of livestock to farmers," he said.

Asked if Malaysia is able to be self-sufficient in terms of chicken feed, he said it is possible since the size is considered small.

The government previously stated that PKC and corn cultivation will become the alternatives for chicken feed in the country.

- The Edge Markets


A senior member of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and attorney of slain political activist, Moreblessing Ali, has been arrested on charges of inciting political violence. A senior member of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and attorney of slain political activist, Moreblessing Ali, has been arrested on charges of inciting political violence.

Sikhala told VOA Zimbabwe Service that he is currently being held at Harare Central Police Stations Law and Order Section.

Im at this police station right now. They are charging me with inciting violence, said Sikhala, who attended Alis memorial service with other CCC members in Chitungwiza.

Police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, was unreachable for comment as he was not responding to calls on his mobile phone.

There was chaos and pandemonium at Alis funeral wake where suspected Zanu PF beat up CCC members, who in turn allegedly set on fire a house belonging to a local councilor and Zanu PF activist.

Ali was allegedly abducted on May 24 by suspected Zanu PF activist, who chopped her body and dumped it in a disused well in Nyatsime, Beatrice.

Police claim that she was killed by her former boyfriend, Pius Jamba, who is being sought by police. VOA




Aquafeed producers in Philippines call for lifting of ban on pork products used to make fish feed

Aquafeed manufacturers have requested the Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA) to lift a ban on the importation of pork products including processed animal proteins (PAP) from Italy that are used in manufacturing fish feed.

The move could help to bring down the prices of fish in local markets.

The ban has been in place since January this year as Italian authorities reported that wild boars tested positive for the African swine fever (ASF), prompting the agency to temporarily restrict the entry of this commodity to curb the spread of the disease.

"Maybe it's time for our government to review the regulation. Our regulation also needs to be world-class," said Norbert Chingcuanco, vice president of corporate planning at Feedmix Specialist Inc. II, in a virtual briefing. "Why is our regulation different from other countries such as the United States and Vietnam from food safety to business management? That's our appeal to the government."

"The government needs to review the ban on PAP. It would greatly help in lowering the cost of producing feeds and sourcing feeds," said Christopher Ian Tingzon, executive assistant to the president of Hoc Po Feeds Corp.



- Inquirer.net
Queen's Baton Relay to arrive tomorrow

The Queen's Baton will arrive on the Island tomorrow as part of a relay ahead of this year's Commonwealth Games.

It will arrive here having travelled from Guernsey.



Chief Minister Alfred Cannan MHK will be one of those welcoming the Baton as part of a busy itinerary.

During its time in the Island the Baton will visit a number of locations including Peel Castle, Port Erin, Castle Rushen and Tynwald Hill, as well as University College Isle of Man and Centre 21.

This year's games are taking place in Birmingham.


POLICE last night arrested CCC deputy chairman and Member of Parliament for Zengeza West Job Sikhala in connection with the violence that erupted at Nyatsime on the outskirts of Chitungwiza where his party supporters went on a rampage burning houses and destroying property.

Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrest of Sikhala and other CCC youths.

Sikhala and several youths suspected to be behind the violence in Nyatsime have been arrested on various charges that include inciting violence, arson and destroying property, said Asst Comm Nyathi.

Suspected CCC activists yesterday went on an orgy of violence, torching homes of Zanu PF officials, smashing shop windows and stoning cars in Seke ostensibly to avenge the death of Moreblessing Ali whose remains were found in a well in the suburb of Nyatsime just outside Chitungwiza.

According to witnesses, a house belonging to Zanu PF branch chairman, Cde George Murambatsvina, was burnt down while a gazebo at Chibhanguza Shopping centre in the new suburb was also reduced to ashes.

Cars were not spared as the suspected opposition supporters ran amok sealing off roads and shutting down businesses.

This came after CCC vice-chairperson Sikhala openly instigated the party supporters to take the war to Zanu PF in the wake of the unfortunate murder of Ali, in a case that police are currently investigating and which witnesses and friends have said was a case of gender-based violence.

The violence that erupted in Nyatsime also comes as the opposition, civic society and some Western embassies have been trying to score cheap political points through baseless claims that a Zanu PF activist is behind the murder of Ali.

Sikhala is on record as vowing to avenge the death of Ali, who some say was not even a member of the opposition party.

This death of Moreblessing Ali, let me tell them and the whole Zimbabwe, the whole family shall perish whichever way we are going to do it the family will suffer. You might not hear about this family again, it will be wiped from the face of the earth if they are not going to apologise as soon as possible.

Many people have volunteered to do the business to make sure the spirit of Moreblessing Ali will not rest until we avenge, and truly the avenging will be done, said Sikhala.

And true to the threats by Sikhala, Nyatsime yesterday afternoon resembled a war zone as marauding CCC activists went on an orgy of violence targeting homes of Zanu PF members after incitement from the CCC leadership.

Government spokesperson Mr Nick Mangwana, who is also the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, said the law will take its course with no fear or favour.

The swift arm of the law will deal with the arsonists who torched this private property, putting lives at risk and damaging personal belongings. Louts who perpetrate criminal acts will be dealt with in terms of the law without fear or favour.

They were deliberately cranked up to their most violent mode through inflammatory rhetoric. And as sure as the sun rises from the East they obliged.

Politicians should stop using young people as cannon fodder to remain relevant. This is not on, he said.

Police had to be deployed to the area to quell the rioters who had been bussed from Chitungwiza as the opposition yet again shows its true form of resorting to violence, especially ahead of key international events such as the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Rwanda as well as next years elections.

When The Herald visited the area yesterday, some of the CCC supporters were still stoning and turning away cars before the arrival of two truckloads of anti-riot police.

One of the residents who spoke on condition of anonymity warned The Herald news crew from entering the area.

My brothers, do you stay in this area? And where are you driving to? There have been clashes and some of these people do not want to see any unfamiliar faces and cars they do not know. I would advise that you should be very careful or rather drive back before they stone your vehicle.

Seke Constituency legislator Cde Munyaradzi Kashambe said he only got to know about the disturbances yesterday afternoon when he was about to get into Parliament.

I phoned some officials on the ground and they informed me that there were some disturbances in Nyatsime and that is when I advised the party officials and the police to ensure that sanity prevails on the ground, he said.

In an interview last night, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the disturbances and said the law enforcement agents are leaving no stone unturned to apprehend the suspects.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police is investigating the circumstances which have led to incidences of public violence in Nyatsime area, Chitungwiza, this afternoon. A detailed statement will be released in due course as police officers are currently on the ground to ensure that law and order is maintained, he said.

Several motorists driving through the area were forced to make U-turns as some of the youths were threatening to destroy their cars. Herald
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Just a few years ago, the case for smartwatches wasnt clear. Today, the wearable world is filled with various high-quality options, and a few key players have muscled their way to the front of the pack. Chances are, if youre reading this guide, youve probably already decided that its time to upgrade from a standard timepiece to a smartwatch. Maybe you want to reach for your phone less throughout the day, or maybe you want to stay connected in a more discrete way. The list of reasons why you may want a smartwatch is long, as is the list of factors youll want to consider before deciding which to buy.

What to look for in a smartwatch

Cherlynn Low

Compatibility

Apple Watches only work with iPhones, while Wear OS devices play nice with both iOS and Android. Smartwatches made by Samsung, Garmin, Fitbit and others are also compatible with Android and iOS, but youll need to install a companion app.

The smartwatch OS will also dictate the type and number of on-watch apps youll have access to. Many of these arent useful, though, making this factor a fairy minor one in the grand scheme of things.

Price

The best smartwatches generally cost between $300 and $400. Compared to budget smartwatches, which cost between $100 and $250, these pricier devices have advanced fitness, music and communications features. They also often include perks like onboard GPS, music storage and NFC, which budget devices generally dont.

Some companies make specialized fitness watches: Those can easily run north of $500, and wed only recommend them to serious athletes. Luxury smartwatches from brands like TAG Heuer and Hublot can also reach sky-high prices, but we wouldnt endorse any of them. These devices can cost more than $1,000, and youre usually paying for little more than a brand name and some needlessly exotic selection of build materials.

Battery life

Battery life remains one of our biggest complaints about smartwatches, but theres hope as of late. You can expect two full days from Apple Watches and most Wear OS devices. Watches using the Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor support extended battery modes that promise up to five days on a charge  if youre willing to shut off most features aside from, you know, displaying the time. Snapdragons next-gen Wear 4100 and 4100+ processors were announced in 2020, but only a handful of devices  some of which arent even available yet  are using them so far. Other models can last five to seven days, but they usually have fewer features and lower-quality displays. Meanwhile, some fitness watches can last weeks on a single charge.

A few smartwatches now support faster charging, too. For example, Apple promises the Series 7 can go from zero to 80 percent power in only 45 minutes, and get to full charge in 75 minutes. The OnePlus Watch is even speedier, powering up from zero to 43 percent in just 10 minutes. (Mind you that turned out to be one of the only good things about that device.)

Communication

Any smartwatch worth considering delivers call, text and app alerts to your wrist. Call and text alerts are self explanatory, but if those mean a lot to you, consider a watch with LTE. Theyre more expensive than their WiFi-only counterparts, but data connectivity allows the smartwatch to take and receive calls, and do the same with text messages, without your phone nearby. As far as app alerts go, getting them delivered to your wrist will let you glance down and see if you absolutely need to check your phone right now.

Fitness tracking

Activity tracking is a big reason why people turn to smartwatches. An all-purpose timepiece should log your steps, calories and workouts, and most of todays wearables have a heart rate monitor as well.

Many smartwatches also have onboard GPS, which is useful for tracking distance for runs and bike rides. Swimmers will want something water resistant, and thankfully most all-purpose devices now can withstand at least a dunk in the pool. Some smartwatches from companies like Garmin are more fitness focused than others and tend to offer more advanced features like heart-rate-variance tracking, recovery time estimation, onboard maps and more.

Health tracking on smartwatches has also seen advances over the years. Both Apple and Fitbit devices can estimate blood oxygen levels and measure ECGs. But the more affordable the smartwatch, the less likely it is that it has these kinds of health tracking features; if collecting that type of data is important to you, youll have to pay for the privilege.

Engadget

Music

Your watch can not only track your morning runs but also play music while youre exercising. Many smartwatches let you save your music locally, so you can connect wireless earbuds and listen to tunes without bringing your phone. Those that dont have onboard storage for music usually have on-watch music controls, so you can control playback without whipping out your phone. And if your watch has LTE, local saving isnt required  youll be able to stream music directly from the watch to your paired earbuds.

Always-on displays

Most flagship smartwatches today have some sort of always-on display, be it a default feature or a setting you can enable. It allows you to glance down at your watch to check the time and any other information youve set it to show on its watchface without lifting your wrist. This will no doubt affect your devices battery life, but thankfully most always-on modes dim the displays brightness so its not running at its peak unnecessarily. Cheaper devices wont have this feature; instead, their screens will automatically turn off to conserve battery and youll have to intentionally check your watch to turn on the display again.

NFC

Many smartwatches have NFC, letting you pay for things without your wallet. After saving your credit or debit card information, you can hold your smartwatch up to an NFC reader to pay for a cup of coffee on your way home from a run. Keep in mind that different watches use different payment systems: Apple Watches use Apple Pay, Wear OS devices use Google Pay, Samsung devices use Samsung Pay and so forth.

Apple Pay is one of the most popular NFC payment systems, with support for multiple banks and credit cards in 72 different countries, while Samsung and Google Pay work in fewer regions. Its also important to note that both NFC payment support varies by device as well for both Samsung and Googles systems.

Engadget Picks

Best overall: Apple Watch

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

The Apple Watch has evolved into the most robust smartwatch since its debut in 2015. Its the no-brainer pick for iPhone users, and we wouldnt judge you for switching to an iPhone just to be able to use an Apple Watch. The latest model, the Apple Watch Series 7, has solid fitness-tracking features that will satisfy the needs of beginners and serious athletes alike. It also detects if youve fallen, can carry out ECG tests and measures blood oxygen levels. Plus, it offers NFC, onboard music storage and many useful apps as well as a variety of ways to respond to messages.

The main differences between the Series 7 and the Series 6 that preceded it are the 7s larger display, its overnight respiratory tracking and faster charging. The slight increase in screen real estate allows you to see things even more clearly on the small device, and Apple managed to fit a full QWERTY keyboard on it to give users another way to respond to messages. The faster charging capabilities are also notable  we got 10 percent power in just 10 minutes of the Watch sitting on its charging disk, and it was fully recharged in less than one hour.

While the $399 Series 7 is the most feature-rich Apple Watch to date, its also the most expensive model in the Watch lineup, and for some shoppers there might not be clear benefits over older editions. Those who dont need an always-on display, ECG or blood oxygen readings might instead consider the Apple Watch SE, which starts at $279.

We actually regard the Watch SE as the best option for first-time smartwatch buyers, or people on stricter budgets. Youll get all the core Apple Watch features as well as things like fall detection, noise monitoring and emergency SOS, but youll have to do without more advanced hardware perks like a blood oxygen sensor and ECG monitor.

Best budget: Fitbit Versa 2

Dropping $400 on a smartwatch isnt feasible for everyone, which is why we recommend the Fitbit Versa 2 as the best sub-$200 option. Its our favorite budget watch because it offers a bunch of features at a great price. You get all of these essentials: Fitbits solid exercise-tracking abilities (including auto-workout detection), sleep tracking, water resistance, connected GPS, blood oxygen tracking and a six-day battery life. It also supports Fitbit Pay using NFC and it has built-in Amazon Alexa for voice commands. While the Versa 2 typically costs $150, weve seen it for as low as $100.

Best for Android users: Samsung Galaxy Watch 4

David Imel for Engadget

Samsung teamed up with Google recently to revamp its smartwatch OS, but that doesnt mean Tizen fans should fret. The Galaxy Watch 4 is the latest flagship wearable from Samsung and it runs on WearOS with the new One UI, which will feel familiar if youve used Tizen before. Also, the watch now comes with improved third-party app support and access to the Google Play Store, so you can download apps directly from the watch.

We like the Galaxy Watch 4 for its premium design as well as its comprehensive feature set. It has a 3-in-1 biometric sensor that enables features like body mass scanning, bloody oxygen tracking and more, plus it has a plethora of trackable workout profiles. Both the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Watch 4 Classic run on new 5nm processors and have more storage than before, as well as sharper, brighter displays. They both run smoothly and rarely lag, but that performance boost does come with a small sacrifice to battery life: the Galaxy Watch 4 typically lasted about one day in our testing, which while not the best, may not be a dealbreaker for you if you plan on recharging it every night.

Fashion-forward options

Fossil

Yes, there are still companies out there trying to make fashionable smartwatches. Back when wearables were novel and generally ugly, brands like Fossil, Michael Kors and Skagen found their niche in stylish smartwatches that took cues from analog timepieces. You also have the option to pick up a hybrid smartwatch from companies like Withings and Garmin  these devices look like standard wrist watches but incorporate some limited functionality like activity tracking and heart rate monitoring. They remain good options if you prefer that look, but thankfully, wearables made by Apple, Samsung, Fitbit and others have gotten much more attractive over the past few years.

Ultimately, the only thing you cant change after you buy a smartwatch is its case design. If youre not into the Apple Watchs squared-off corners, all of Samsungs smartwatches have round cases that look a little more like a traditional watch. Most wearables are offered in a choice of colors and you can pay extra for premium materials like stainless steel. Once you decide on a case, your band options are endless  there are dozens of first- and third-party watch straps available for most major smartwatches, allowing you to change up your look whenever you please.

Cherlynn Low contributed to this guide.
The New York Times reports Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court has rejected a proposed ballot measure that would have enshrined Uber and Lyft's business model in law. The court said the measure violated the Massachusetts constitution by including two unrelated policy decisions, including one hidden by "obscure language."

The bulk of the proposed ballot measure outlined limited benefits for rideshare drivers. However, the offending provision would have said that drivers couldn't be treated as an "employee or agent" of gig-based companies. If voted into law, this might have shielded outfits like Uber or Lyft from liability in the event of a crash or crime  not to mention kneecapping any attempts to reclassify drivers as employees in the state. The unrelated provisions raised concerns that voters might be "confused, misled and deprived" of a real choice, the court wrote in its decision.

Uber, Lyft and their supporters contended that formalizing the gig worker model would have protected flexibility for drivers seeking their own hours. Groups supporting the companies, such as Chamber of Progress, have claimed employee status could cost jobs and income. Critics like AFL-CIO union federation, however, have argued that measures like this create a false dichotomy between flexibility and benefits  they see ballot options like this as attempts to cut employment costs at the expense of laborers.

Uber and Lyft declined to comment. The two spent a total of $17.8 million endorsing the ballot measure, and have had mixed success promoting similar efforts in other states. They got Californians to vote for Proposition 22, a bid to reverse a state law protecting drivers as employees, only to watch as a judge ruled the measure unconstitutional. The companies struck an agreement with Washington State legislators in early 2022, but failed to get much traction in New York State.
Meta is introducing new parental supervision features for Quest virtual reality headsets and Instagram. The VR safety tools, which were announced in March, are rolling out worldwide.

The parental supervision process needs to be initiated on a teen's account (the minimum age to have a Facebook account is 13). A Parent Dashboard in the Oculus app will allow parents and guardians to block apps (including web browsers), see a list of apps on the teen's account and view their friends list. A teen can ask to buy an age-restricted app, then their parent can approve or deny the request. Parents can also view headset screen time, receive alerts when an app is purchased and block the Link and Air Link features to stop teens from using PC content on their headset.

On top of that, Meta is debuting a parent education hub, which includes information about the VR supervision options. The company says it worked with industry experts, teens, parents and policymakers on these controls. It will refine the tools over time.

At the start of this year, the Information Commissioner's Office in the UK said it would hold talks with Meta over how Quest 2 complies with a children's code that's designed to protect young users. These new measures could go some way toward addressing the watchdog's concerns.

Meanwhile, Instagram's parental supervision tools, which launched in the US in March, will arrive in the UK, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Canada, France and Germany this month with some expanded options. Parents can now invite teens to set up supervision tools (rather than requests solely coming from teen accounts).

Parents and guardians can limit access to Instagram at certain times by scheduling breaks. They can view more details about an account or post their teen reports, including the person in question and the type of report. They can also see which users their teen follows and who follows them. Instagram plans to roll out the tools globally later this year.

In the UK and Ireland, Instagram is testing a nudge feature. Teens will be encouraged to look at different posts if they spend too much time with the same kind of content in the Explore tab. The aim is to prompt them to be more mindful of their Instagram use. As part of a different test, teens in certain countries may see a prompt to turn on the Take a Break feature after watching Reels for a while.

Elsewhere, Instagram is adding more resources to its educational Family Center. There's a new page that provides teens with details about privacy settings for Quest, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger. Parents and guardians can access information about how to talk to kids about online safety issues.
Justin Lin may have exited as director of Fast X over creative differences with Vin Diesel, but the action maven is right back at it with a new project. It was announced that the Star Trek Beyond helmer has signed on to produce and direct a live-action film based on the popular Manga property One-Punch Man for Sony.

For those not in the know, One-Punch Man tells the story of Saitama, a diminutive bald hero who has the ability to smite any enemy combatant with a single punch, though he has grown weary of winning so easily, he is in search of a worthy challenge. The comic was adapted as an anime series which ran from 2015 to 2019.

Known for his over-the-top directing style and panache for action sequences, Justin Lin feels like a perfect choice to take on such a unique property which has been on Sony's radar since 2020. He will be not only directing One-Punch Man, but also serve as producer.

Penning the screenplay will be the writing team of Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner who wrote the Dwayne Johnson ensambles Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and the follow up Jumanji: The Next Level as well as the first Venom starring Tom Hardy.

It will be interesting to see what the final film will look like, but if they keep the wit and tone of the original source material, One-Punch Man could be a pretty fun flick. Enstarz will report more on this as news breaks.
Across the globe, countries are rearming  and this is especially true in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the region has imported more military equipment in the past decade than all but one other (Asia and Oceania). But countries in the MENA region are not only enthusiastic importers of weapons. They are also increasingly aiming to create indigenous defence capabilities and become exporters themselves. Their goals are to make inroads into the lucrative defence sector, to reduce the pressure on their own budgets by being able to buy domestically, and to support allies across the region with military hardware. This trend will have consequences not only for security in the region but also for Europe and how it deals with states that do not have the same ethical standards as European countries.

Turkey has led the way in such efforts, setting an example that states across the MENA are now emulating. Ankara has reaped the geopolitical benefits of the production and sale of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones), especially in terms of security and deterrence capabilities. For example, Turkey has used drones to protect its foreign policy interests in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean  and to extend its influence beyond the region, such as through the support for Azerbaijan, which helped the latter win its 2020 conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey was able to play this role because it spent years developing solid technological expertise and an industrial base. Other countries are now following suit. For instance, the United Arab Emirates is also developing its own drone industry and has deployed drones to support its allies and proxies in Libya, Yemen, and Ethiopia.

Local companies are now investing heavily in unmanned systems, especially unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), as well as loitering munitions (expendable missiles capable of staying airborne for some time until they identify a target and attack). These systems have performed remarkably well in war zones such as Libya and Syria. Turkeys Baykar and Israel Aerospace Industries have risen through the ranks of global drone manufacturers. They have expanded their market presence thanks to innovative and relatively cheap systems such as the TB-2 UCAV and the Harpy family of loitering munitions, which have already seen extensive use in battle, including in Ukraine. The expendability, affordability, and effectiveness of the Turkish TB-2 have made it the best-selling drone in history.

The region is poised to become one of the largest drone hubs in the world. Without the legal limitations and ethical constraints associated with the use of US- and other Western-made systems, states in the region will capitalise on indigenous drones and loitering munitions to reduce their dependence on Western products. The benefits for them include mitigating the risk of supply chain disruptions, increasing their room for manoeuvre when diplomacy fails to deliver, and establishing advantageous security partnerships with like-minded actors. Loitering munitions are drawing increasing attention because they are more cost-effective medium- and long-range precision strike systems.

For countries in the region, greater indigenous production can help alleviate the fiscal burden on national treasuries by reducing the need for expensive imports and can support national economies by creating highly skilled workforces. And states are throwing their weight behind this effort: in the past year alone, the region has hosted four prestigious defence exhibitions, including the largest one in the world, which recently concluded in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia is aiming to increase its capacity to cover its own defence procurement needs from barely 2% in 2018 to 50% by 2030. The UAE has already developed a capacity to manufacture arms locally, mainly through its state-owned defence conglomerate, EDGE Group (on 23rd place in SIPRIs top 100 global military and defence manufacturers list). The UAE has become the worlds 18th-biggest arms exporter, ahead of South Africa and Brazil, mostly by selling weapons to customers such as Egypt, Jordan, and Algeria.

Smaller-scale attempts at indigenisation have also boosted Egypts and Qatars defence industries. At Egypt Defence Expo 2021, Cairo presented the Noot tactical UAV and the forthcoming Thebes-30, a combat drone designed by local firm Industrial Complex Engineering Robots. The same company also produces the EJune-30, a licensed copy of the Emirati-designed Yabhon Flash 20, underlining the strong relationship between Cairo and Abu Dhabi in defence cooperation. In Qatar, the local incubator for military technology, Barzan Holdings, is working on several unmanned systems, including a high-altitude long-endurance drone and unmanned ground vehicles  the latter of which is being produced as part of a joint venture with German defence giant Rheinmetall.

Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are the Middle Eastern states most active in bolstering their own drone fleets with indigenously made platforms. EDGE Group recently developed the Hunter-2 series of portable tactical UAVs and loitering munitions. These are easily deployable, can operate in swarms, and will complement the groups drone portfolio. EDGE Group is the first Arab company to develop swarming drones with artificial intelligence capabilities. Similarly, Saudi conglomerate INTRA Defence Technologies has unveiled its newest UCAV, the Samoom, which may be a promising solution for the Saudi military and adds to the countrys indigenous Saker UAV family. Both Abu Dhabi and Riyadh have so far relied on Chinese drones such as the Wing Loong I and II, but they could progressively shift towards domestic systems that are easier to maintain and integrate into their command-and-control structures.

Like Turkey and Israel, Iran is positioning itself as a major drone power in the region. Yet Irans approach to drone development is remarkably different from that of its neighbours. The country built up its vast drone fleet over many years mainly out of necessity, aiming to compensate for its old and decaying air force, which has been battered by decades of sanctions. Thanks to reverse-engineering and components smuggling, Iran is now able to deploy several types of combat drones and loitering munitions, some of which have beyond-line-of-sight communications and long-range-strike capabilities. However, Iranian drones have remained largely on the margins of the global defence market. For example, Iran has exported an undisclosed number of Mohajer-6s to Ethiopia and has delivered other systems to regional allies such as the Syrian government, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen. Indeed, for Tehran, the market dimension of drones is of secondary importance to their role in strengthening national security and buoying the regimes propaganda for both domestic consumption and external deterrence.

Meanwhile, Algeria and Morocco are also hotspots for drone proliferation. Fuelled by their long-standing geopolitical rivalry, the two countries have in recent years significantly strengthened their drone capabilities by acquiring foreign systems. These include Rabats purchase of the TB-2 and the Wing Loong I, as well as Algerias acquisition of several models of the Chinese CH family. Algerias and Moroccos attempts at indigenisation have been on a smaller scale than those of many other countries in the region. But Morocco remains ambitious in this area: it recently signed a significant aviation deal with the Israel Aerospace Industries that is likely to cover UAV technology.

The proliferation of UCAVs throughout the MENA has not been accompanied by effective regulation of their use; their growth has led to a vast number of civilian casualties and violations of international humanitarian law in all conflicts in the region. This is taking place at a time when overall arms imports by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Qatar have risen 27%, 227%, and 73% respectively. These facts should prompt the international community, including the Europeans, to assume a leading role in ensuring the use of drones meets internationally recognised standards of oversight, transparency, and accountability. The European Union has a core interest in developing its own drone technology and preserving and expanding member states defence partnerships. However, the EU should also invest its political and diplomatic capital in devising a shared drone accountability regime designed to limit civilian casualties and to make the misuse of such systems intolerably costly.

Tools of Influence: Drone Proliferation in the Middle East and North Africa  Commentary by Federico Borsari  European Council on Foreign Relations / ECFR.

The Commentary can be downloaded here
An apparent misunderstanding between H-E-B and a development firm in Fort Worth goes to show that, in the retail business, timing is everything.

First, lets be clear: Theres little doubt H-E-B has positioned itself to expand into Fort Worth. Since 2013, the San Antonio-based supermarket chain has purchased nine properties in the city, according to the Tarrant Appraisal District.

But it appears Hillwood, a developer with offices in Dallas and Fort Worth, spoke out of turn when it announced a retail center its building would be anchored by the citys first H-E-B store.

Hillwood is building its Parkside at Alliance Town Center on the citys north side. Thats been reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and other news outlets. But on Wednesday, the developer raised a flurry of excitement when it said H-E-B would be part of the center.

When H-E-B caught wind of the news later that day, Hillwood had a mess on its hands. A public relations firm working on its behalf, Cooksey Communications, quickly backtracked with a news release saying Hillwood had inadvertently named H-E-B in the earlier one, according to the Fort Worth Business Press. The revised release said only that a major grocer would anchor the center.

For its part, H-E-B denies it has plans for the site.

The developer retracted that statement, H-E-B spokeswoman Julie Bedingfield said in an email. We have no plans.

Representatives of Hillwood  which was founded by Ross Perot Jr., son of the late presidential candidate and businessman Ross Perot  didnt respond to an email requesting comment.

Last year, H-E-B announced it was expanding into the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area with stores planned for Frisco and Plano. Since 2001, the chain has operated its upscale Central Market stores in North Texas.

S.A. VOTES Voter Guide: What to know for the Texas runoff election A breakdown of key state and local races and candidates in the May 24 primary runoff.

But it has no stores in Fort Worth proper, though it does in nearby Burleson, Cleburne and Granbury, according to its website.

According to the Star-Telegram, deed records indicate H-E-B has agreed to build a store at the Alliance Tower Center site by August 2026.

Residents of the area are eager for an H-E-B: A Fort Worth City Council member told the Star-Telegram that a survey from 15 years ago showed the number one thing they wanted was a grocery store like an H-E-B.
A multistory office tower to house DeLorean Motor Co., a lab that simulates lunar terrain and a vertiport for electric takeoff and landing vehicles are being planned for the next phases of development at Port San Antonio.

The ideas unveiled Tuesday would shift the look of the Port further from the warehouse-like buildings on the former Kelly Air Force Base, where about 80 companies now employ nearly 16,000 people, mostly in technology.

The new concepts come after the opening in April of the Tech Port Center + Arena, a $70 million, 130,000-square-foot facility. The three projects, which the Port said represent hundreds of millions of dollars in new investments, will start breaking ground next year.

On ExpressNews.com: First look: Inside Tech Port Center + Arena, San Antonio new $70 million, high-tech concert and esports venue

The high-tech building being planned to house DeLorean, the reconstituted automaker moving to San Antonio to develop and market electric vehicles, would come first, becoming the only office tower in Southwest San Antonio.

Rather than putting (DeLorean) into a relatively nondescript building, we want to use it as an opportunity to put a glamorous customer into a building that really speaks to what we think the Port is all about, said Jim Perschbach, CEO of Port San Antonio. You build something thats tall and iconic, and it becomes a symbol for what you are.

The tower, to be built near the Ports main entrance at General Hudness Drive, would be in operation by the first quarter of 2025, he said. It would house tenants beyond DeLorean.

Weve got people knocking on our door that we just dont have the space for right now, Perschbach said. So we need to get that up and operational.

DeLorean this year received more than $1 million from the city of San Antonio and Bexar County in exchange for establishing its global headquarters at Port San Antonio. The agreements call for it to hire 450 workers and invest $18.5 million there over four years.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio grants $562,500 to DeLorean, which aims to build new EV version of iconic gull-wing coupe

Last month, the automaker released the first images of its sporty electric-powered coupe, called the Alpha5, which it has said will go on sale in 2024. The company plans to unveil the vehicle at a California auto show in August.

Also Tuesday the Port said it will soon feature a research complex that includes a simulated lunar terrain, and a so-called vertiport for passenger and cargo electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles  a futuristic cross between fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

S.A. VOTES Voter Guide: What to know for the Texas runoff election A breakdown of key state and local races and candidates in the May 24 primary runoff.

Perschbach called it everyday human flight through electrically power aircraft.

The renderings shared Tuesday were conceptual. Port San Antonio is bringing in architects and designers this summer to give us something that really speaks to a vision even more impressive than the renderings, Perschbach said.

He acknowledged the cutting-edge nature of many new companies at the Port and the difficulty they may face in reaching commercial success. DeLorean, for its part, is entering an increasingly competitive electric vehicle market with massive players such as Ford and GM pouring billions into EV production.

But Perschbach said some firms here will successfully emerge from the technology races underway today.

There may be some of these companies that dont survive. Some are going to go on to become global names, Perschbach said. But they dont write songs about people who sat back real cautious and said Im gong to wait for somebody else to figure it out.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net


OPPOSITION Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) supporters yesterday clashed with their Zanu PF counterparts, leaving a trail of destruction as tempers flared over the murder of activist Moreblessing Ali in Nyatsime, Chitungwiza.

Ali was allegedly killed by well-known Zanu PF activists, including Pius Jamba.

Jamba is currently on the run and on the police wanted list.

The area resembled a war zone as enraged CCC youths reportedly set ablaze a house belonging to a Zanu PF councillor who was only identified as Maoresa, and destroyed windows of several shops at Chibhanguza Shopping Centre.

Last night, there were reports that CCC vice-chairperson Job Sikhala had been arrested for unknown reasons.

The partys activists also smashed windscreens of several cars at the centre before setting up a roadblock at Chigovanyika Shopping Centre targeting vehicles with Zanu PF stickers.

Zanu PF youths, who had been roaming around the centre intimidating mourners, were forced to flee after being outnumbered by the CCC youths armed with machetes, axes and sticks.

The opposition youths said they were frustrated by the polices failure to arrest suspects linked to Alis murder, whose mutilated remains were recovered from a disused well at Jambas house on Saturday, 18 days after her abduction.

Zanu PF has claimed Ali was its member.

The CCC youths ordered journalists not to shoot photographs of their protests.

A police reaction team came after the damage had already been done.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police is investigating the circumstances which led to the incidences of public violence in Nyatsime area, Chitungwiza this afternoon, police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said in a statement.

A detailed statement will be issued as police officers are currently on the ground to ensure that law and order is maintained.





Chamisa, who arrived after the violence had died down, said his party was going to petition the Southern African Development Community over the human rights situation in the country.

Politics have divided the country. Zanu PF knows that the writing is on the wall. People are being terrorised everyday here in Nyatsime. The liberation struggle was never about forcing people to vote for people they do not like. People should refrain from violence. No politician is worth dying for, Chamisa said.

Government has the duty to protect all citizens. The lives of Zimbabweans must be protected and secured. Lets defend each other as citizens against violence. We all have duty to fight for change. The nation must unite.

He added: We will engage Sadc to ensure that there is peace in Zimbabwe as we approach the 2023 election. Political violence must not be allowed to escalate. No life must be lost on account of politics.

Alis son, Silence, told mourners that they were living in fear after Zanu PF community leaders in the area threatened them with unspecified action.

He also said the family was unaware where Alis body had been taken to.

Family lawyer Job Sikhala told mourners that the family had resolved not to bury the victim until the perpetrators have been brought to book.

On Monday, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) issued a pastoral letter urging politicians to respect the sanctity of human life following Alis murder.

The brutality of the killing of Ali indicates a level of hatred that is very disturbing. The church is deeply concerned about the level of hate and hate speech that has developed in our nation that forms a reservoir out of which these terrible killings emerge, ZCC said.

The church pleads with the ZRP to handle cases of human disappearance, distress calls and cases of violent conflict with a sense of urgency and in ways that do not compromise the dignity of victims. Newsday
The San Antonio-based North American Development Banks board last week approved financing for a $300 million green loan program and $156 million in wastewater management, mobility and renewable energy projects.

In response to a lack of adequate financing for rural borrowers or small towns, the board said it seeks to close the divide on environmental sustainability. The goal for the program is to increase financing for smaller green and environmental projects that would otherwise not have access to funding.

NADBank provides financing  including loans and some grants  to support development of environmental infrastructure in the southern United States and northern Mexico.

We believe that our new Green Loan Program will help build a new market for the bank, said Calixto Mateos Hanel, managing director for NABBank, in areas where access to financing for small-scale green projects is more challenging.

On ExpressNews.com: Keeping PACE with water reuse: Underused financing tool can help buildings buy less water

The bank will also finance three new projects, two of which are in Texas.

In Kinney County, 6 miles west of Brackettville, the bank will provide $65.7 million to build a 160-megawatt solar park and 40-megawatt, two-hour battery energy storage system.

And the city of McAllen will receive up to $63 million for the Anzalduas Land Port of Entry Expansion Project, which will include commercial vehicle inspection facilities to support the processing of vehicles going through Mission. The hope is that the additional capacity will decrease congestion, which causes greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants.

International trade from Mexico to the United States is of vital importance to the state of Texas, McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos said in an announcement. The project will help grow trade not only for the benefit of the United States and Mexico, but also Texas and the local economy.

On ExpressNews.com: Alamo Heights eyes path to greener buildings with financing tool

Meanwhile, across the border in Ciudad Juarez in Chihuahua, a grant for $11.5 million and a loan for up to $15.4 million will be used to replace the four large sewer mains on the citys northwestern side, where old piping is deteriorating. By replacing these systems, the city can stop the potential discharge of untreated wastewater into the Rio Grande.

The diversity of the projects approved today, said Salvador Lopez Cordova, chief environmental officer for NADBank, reflect our commitment to financial innovation aimed at improving the environment and quality of life of the border region, as well as supporting its transition to a greener economy.

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
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Zachary Sutterfield and his parents were hoping a jury trial would give them answers and help educate the public about safety lapses at a San Marcos apartment building where an arsonist set a catastrophic fire that critically burned him and killed five people.

But those expectations were dashed Wednesday when they learned the trial was called off because the last remaining defendant in a civil lawsuit reached a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs.

As a result, the Sutterfields said, the public might never learn what went wrong at Iconic Village Apartments near Texas State University on July 20, 2018  or why flames swept so quickly through a 28-unit building, giving sleeping college students very little time to escape.

The civil case that appeared headed for trial argued that the owner and managers of the apartments, among other defendants, were responsible for the disaster and should pay damages because they allowed unsafe conditions, such as a lack of fire sprinklers, unreliable smoke detectors and a flawed roof design that fed oxygen to the fire.

That lawsuit was lodged by the parents of James Phillip Miranda, 23, one of the five young adults killed, and 13 tenants who were injured or suffered lingering ailments from the fire.

Because so many defendants reached settlements to resolve the lawsuit before a courtroom trial  and since the terms of such agreements are confidential  Sutterfield, 23, of San Angelo, feels there is no accountability.

Theres no justice  theres just been payouts, said the Angelo State University student, who suffered third-degree burns to almost 70 percent of his body and a traumatic brain injury as he fled the burning building and leaped from a second-story balcony. Theres no one thats going to be held responsible or held accountable.

Just to know that there isnt going to be anybody that takes blame or takes fault for this  and its not going to lead to any change, these payouts, these settlements  if no ones going to be held accountable, then its more likely to happen again, this exact situation.

On ExpressNews.com: Accelerant used in deadly San Marcos fire

The inferno erupted at 4:27 a.m. on July 20, 2018, as most residents were asleep at the apartments at 222 Ramsay St. It swiftly engulfed an entire building, killing the victims who lived in four separate upstairs apartments there  Dru Estes, 20, of San Antonio; Belinda Moats, 21, of Big Wells; Haley Michele Frizzell, 19, of San Angelo; David Angel Ortiz, 21, of Pasadena; and Miranda, who was from Mount Pleasant.

All of their deaths were ruled homicides.

More than three years later, that crime is still unsolved. The arsonists identity and motive remain a mystery.

And the Sutterfields fear people wont learn about the lack of safety measures at other older apartment buildings across San Marcos, Texas and the nation  protections such as fire sprinklers, central fire alarms and firebreaks in attics, none of which was found at Iconic Village.

Deona Jo DJ Sutterfield, Zachary Sutterfields mother, expressed disappointment that the public wont get answers from a civil jury trial.

I wish that people could see the testimonies and the information on how unsafe this building was so that they could actually protect their family members, she said.

I dont know that well ever have closure because there are still five kids dead. There are still many suffering.

The Sutterfields werent part of the lawsuit. They previously filed a separate lawsuit and settled out of court with the apartments owner and managers.

Sutterfield was staying with his friends, Frizzell and Ortiz, when the catastrophe occurred. All three of them ran outside together to try to escape.

On ExpressNews.com: A fire killed his friends, a leap saved his life  Zachary Sutterfield wonders why he was the lucky one

Investigators concluded someone intentionally set the fire. In the three years since, no one has been arrested or charged.

In pretrial testimony earlier this year, a real estate investor who manages the partnership that owns the apartments claimed the arsonist used an accelerant to ignite the inferno.

Investigators declined to comment on his allegation. Nothing else surfaced in public court filings related to the lawsuit to support his claims that an accelerant was used.

A Houston-area fire expert hired by the plaintiffs, Michael Chaney of Premier Claims Investigations, concluded through his own investigation that the blaze started at the southeast quadrant of the victims building  an area near an alleyway and another apartment building. Chaney documented his conclusions in a report recently made public as an exhibit in the lawsuit file.

The fire raged for hours and eventually spread to two nearby apartment buildings.

Some survivors said they never heard their smoke detectors sound off or that they began beeping well after the danger began, but the defendants contested claims that the devices didnt work.

The apartments also lacked a central fire alarm, and no firebreaks were installed in an attic-like space that was created when a pitched metal roof was built on top of the pre-existing shingle roof a year before the disaster, pretrial testimony and court documents revealed.

And the apartments had no fire sprinklers. Iconic Village was built in 1970 when the city of San Marcos followed a building code that didnt require new buildings to install them.

At the time of the disaster, the city followed the International Fire Code, which didnt require retrofitting existing buildings with sprinklers unless the structure underwent significant renovations.

On ExpressNews.com: Victims families stunned that deadly apartment fire was deliberate

After the deaths, San Marcos fire code was changed to require fire sprinklers in any older apartment buildings that experience a fire displacing one or more residents.

Many defendants targeted by the lawsuit reached settlements with the plaintiffs in recent weeks, effectively resolving the claims lodged against them. Those defendants included the corporate owner of the apartments, its property management firm, a regional operations manager, a leasing manager and other companies.

The last defendant in the case, CBRE Loan Services, reached a settlement agreement Tuesday, on the eve of trial. Jury selection was supposed to begin Wednesday.

Attorneys for the company  a subservicer of the owners loan on the Iconic Village property  didnt respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Neither did attorneys for the plaintiffs who sued.

Like the Sutterfields, families of the other victims  Estes, Moats, Frizzell and Ortiz  settled out of court after filing lawsuits against the apartment complexs owner and managers.

San Antonio resident Troy Estes, whose son, Dru Estes, was among the five victims killed, wasnt surprised the lawsuit was resolved and didnt think a trial would reveal any new details on who started the fire.

He and his wife, Cheryl, remain focused on their desire for the person who set the fire to be arrested and charged.

We just want whoever is responsible, whoever set the fire, whoever killed our kids to be held accountable, Troy Estes said Wednesday. Thats what we want. I dont think any information that would have come out (in a civil trial) would have pointed in that direction.

On ExpressNews.com: Families, investigators hope dramatic boost in reward helps solve mystery of deadly San Marcos fire

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives continues leading the criminal investigation into who set the fire. The San Marcos Fire Marshals Office is supporting that effort.

ATF officials recently said they remain optimistic the person or people responsible for the crime will be brought to justice. The bureau is following up on every lead, they said.

A $110,000 reward is still being offered for information leading to the identification or arrest of the person who ignited the blaze. Investigators urge anyone with information to call 1-888-ATF-TIPS or to email ATFTips@atf.gov.

The Sutterfields have started a nonprofit, Brighter Than The Fire, which aims to educate the public about fire safety and the need for renters to check apartments for fire sprinklers, central fire alarms and firebreaks in attic spaces before signing leases.

The lawsuits resolution and the lack of a courtroom trial wont slow their mission, they said.

Were going to keep pushing the retrofitting of buildings, DJ Sutterfield said. Were going to keep knocking on doors, and were going to keep nagging people, and were going to keep speaking about what happened that day.

Zachary Sutterfield wishes there was more legislative action requiring older apartment buildings to be equipped with fire sprinklers and other fire protection measures. He believes the public would be better educated on the issue had a civil trial occurred.

I wish there was more that came from this, he said. Theres things that I still want to know (in this case) that Ill never be able to know. Thats saddening as I wont be able to close that book or that chapter.

pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: Peggy_OHare
Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland has lifted its lockdown after concerns that there was an active shooter near the base on Tuesday.

The lockdown was lifted at around 11:30, about an hour and a half after JBSA initially tweeted that there was an active shooter near the base.

Shortly after Joint Base San Antonio's initial tweet about the shooting, the San Antonio Police Department tweeted that it was investigating reports of "shots fired" off Medina Base Road just outside the gates of JBSA-Lackland but said it was not an active shooter situation and there was no threat to the public.

At around 9:30 a.m., Lackland security personnel said at least six to eight gunshots could be heard off base, Brig. Gen. Russell Driggers said during a news conference. Driggers is the commander of Joint Base San Antonio.

Driggers said there was an incident with a shooter but did not provide details. He also said officials were still investigating, and he was unsure if anyone had been taken into custody in connection with the incident.

Joint Base San Antonio at about 10 a.m. issued an active shooter alert through a tweet after reports of gunshots were heard near the base in the area of Cedarhurst Drive and Ferncroft.

In the tweet, JBSA said the gunshots were heard off-base and that the base had gone under lockdown.

In an event like this we have procedures and put the base on lockdown, Driggers said during the news conference. And that gave security forces personnel in concert with Bexer County and San Antonio Police the time and space to be able to evaluate the situation.

Soon after the initial tweet, JBSA tweeted that there was no threat to anyone residing on base.

I just want to note that at times like these, with the events that have been happening recently, we want to take these types of situations very seriously, Driggers said. We have procedures that we put in place to do that.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi has again tested positive for COVID-19, his office said Monday.

His communications director, Phillip Waller, said Wicker took a required test and received a positive result.

He will be expected to miss votes and committee business this week until he is able to return in person to the Senate," Waller said.

Wicker, 70, attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in late May.

Wicker was also diagnosed with COVID-19 in August last year and in February this year. He said in February that he is fully vaccinated against the virus.

Wicker is the top Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. On April 8, he joined several Republican senators and representatives in a letter urging the Biden administration to drop the federal mask mandate for airlines and other transportation services.

The American people have seen through the false logic that COVID-19 only exists on airplanes and public transportation. They see it every day when they go to a grocery store, restaurant, shopping mall, or movie theater with no masks in sight, leading them to demand unneeded mandates come to an end, the lawmakers wrote.

Later in April, federal officials stopped enforcing the mandate on airplanes after a federal judge ended the requirement for face coverings on planes and trains and in transit hubs.

About two weeks after his COVID-19 diagnosis in August, Wicker said he had received a clean bill of health and was ready to start traveling the state again.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The future of water comes down to three cs: collaboration, creativity and celebration.

That was the message that Chi Ho Sham  president of the American Water Works Association, an international scientific and educational nonprofit focused on improving water quality and supply  had for the worlds water experts who have gathered in San Antonio this week.

We cannot protect our water without collaboration, Sham said during his remarks at the associations Annual Conference & Exposition. And we need to think outside the box.

The three-day conference  which includes expert panels on water management, utility innovations, research on harmful pathogens and what water will look like over the next few decades  comes to San Antonio amid weeks of blistering heat and months of drought.

RELATED: As Medina Lake dries up, SAWS to conduct water system study with USGS

Those conditions led the Edwards Aquifer Authority to declare Stage 3 water restrictions this week, although the San Antonio Water System is not imposing such restrictions on its customers, citing a diversified array of water sources that will enable it to remain at Stage 2.

Meanwhile, SAWS seized on the AWWAs conference being in San Antonio to show one of its newer water sources to Radhika Fox, assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Office of Water.

After Fox spoke at the conference, she traveled to Elmendorf in southern Bexar County to see SAWS H2Oaks Center, where one control room manages three water sources: a desalination plant, the Carrizo Aquifer, and aquifer storage and recovery.

The desalination plant, which has 13 wells, pulls brackish water from 1,200 feet underground and produces up to 11,200 acre-feet per year. One acre foot is 325,851 gallons.

Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

The Carrizo Aquifer, which lies between 450 and 900 feet below the facility, produces 4,600 acre-feet a year on average, with a high of 9,400 acre-feet per year.

The aquifer storage and recovery operation, meanwhile, stores Edwards Aquifer water in a bubble within the Carrizo Aquifer that stores 200,000 acre-feet. During drought-induced watering restrictions, the stored water can be accessed to mitigate further reduction in the Edwards Aquifers level.

That capacity factored into SAWS decision not to impose Stage 3 water restrictions.

Today, the H2Oaks Center can pump 60 million gallons to San Antonio per day. Next summer, SAWS plans to test whether it can increase that capacity to 85 million gallons per day.

Fox was impressed by the work SAWS is doing, saying that whats happening in San Antonio is the kind of thing needed throughout the western United States.

Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

We have to accelerate action if we're going to secure our communities water future, Fox said. If we can learn how San Antonio did it and then really translate those as strategy. And now is really the time because we really have an unprecedented level of resources, which is really inspiring.

In the next decade, she said, communities around the country need to have an integrated vision of how they will manage and protect their water resources as the climate changes.

Many cities have whiplash from a year of drought to a year of intense flooding. Drought and climate change are the biggest water-related issues facing San Antonio and the rest of Texas. Water saving techniques such as the H2Oaks Center could provide a future solution as well.

MORE LIKE THIS: SAWS water restrictions, explained

Earthea Nance, the EPA regional administrator for region six, also attended the tour and was impressed. Her coverage area includes Texas.

This facility provides resilience to drought, Nance said. Thats so awesome. Thats what we need.

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
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Cheryl Estes clutched the handmade box holding her late sons sheet music to her heart, pressed her cheek to the polished wood and cried.

The heat-withered pages were among the few items that San Marcos firefighters salvaged from Dru Estes apartment after an inferno gutted his entire building, killing the young San Antonio musician and four other people one year ago.

The precious sheet music  which Estes used for his performances in Texas State Universitys Bobcat Marching Band  was professionally restored before being returned to his parents Saturday.

They and relatives of some of the victims came together to mark the anniversary of the fire at Iconic Village Apartments and plead for help in finding out who deliberately started it. They hope a bigger reward than the $10,000 offered so far will elicit information that could lead to an arrest.

Listen:

One survivor, Zachary Sutterfield, 21, who suffered a head injury and was burned over 70 percent of his body, spoke to whomever was responsible.

I can never understand why you would do something like this, why you would take so much away from so many families and why you would hurt so many people, said Sutterfield, who has undergone life-saving surgeries in San Antonio.

Tip line Anyone with information about the Iconic Village fire is asked to call 1-888-ATF-TIPS (1-888-283-8477). The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the identification or arrest of whoever ignited the blaze. Readers can follow Zachary Sutterfield's recovery on a Facebook page dedicated to his healing. See More Collapse

I was always taught that God forgives and you have to be the better person. Its hard. Its hard. But if the person thats out there is watching this, I forgive you.

As he spoke, the parents of some of the victims quietly sobbed. They gathered at an Army Fisher House facility at Brooke Army Medical Center, where Sutterfield has been living in recent months as he continues to recover.

They shared memories of their children, tears, laughs and prayers, finding strength among each other. Some of the mothers wept as they met each other for the first time, embracing silently.

The unidentified arsonist has remained elusive as investigators chased thousands of leads and conducted hundreds of interviews during the past year.

The July 20, 2018, fire was unusual because of its sheer intensity and the number of people killed.

The inferno erupted two hours before sunrise at 4:27 a.m. as most residents were asleep, ripping through one apartment building at 222 Ramsay St. just blocks from the Texas State University campus and spreading to two other buildings.

The dead  Dru Estes, 20, of San Antonio; Haley Michele Frizzell, 19, of San Angelo; James Phillip Miranda, 23, of Mount Pleasant; Belinda Moats, 21, of Big Wells, and David Angel Ortiz, 21, of Pasadena  were in four separate apartments of Building 500, all on the second floor.

Their deaths were ruled homicides. Some of the victims died from burns, while others succumbed to a combination of burns and smoke inhalation.

On ExpressNews.com: Everyone was so young - Surviving witnesses describe the deadly San Marcos fire

Sutterfield, who was sleeping in the same apartment as Frizzell and Ortiz, barely escaped. He was caught in the flames when the three of them ran outside together. He suffered a traumatic brain injury when he leaped from a second-story outdoor balcony.

He survived full thickness burns to 70 percent of his body, including his head, face, chest, back, arms, hands and feet. Most of his fingers and portions of his hands were destroyed, along with one of his ears. Hes endured 24 surgeries at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, but estimates he faces 20 to 30 more operations.

Six other survivors suffered less severe injuries, such as broken bones.

Four months after the catastrophe, investigators revealed the fire was deliberately set. Theyve declined to publicly disclose specifically where and how it was ignited.

Investigators confirmed they have no suspects, but told the families they remain committed to solving the case. The San Marcos Fire Marshals office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are handling the investigation.

The mystery  and the fact that no one has been arrested  adds to the families pain.

I am angry. Im very mad. Ive watched my son suffer for a year, Sutterfields mother, Deona Jo DJ Sutterfield, said in a shaking voice before breaking into tears as the other families surrounded her closely Saturday.

Someone knows something. Someone saw something. Someone has talked to a girlfriend, a boyfriend, a mom, a dad. If youre sitting there holding it in, youre just as guilty as that person that took these lives. ... Youre a coward.

I just need that person to stand up, be a man, be accountable, said Mirandas mother, Ginger Kesterson of Winfield. Let us have our closure. Let us be able to move on.

Learning the motive for the fire seems just as important as the question of who set it.

I would love to find out that they did not intend to kill people, said Ortizs grandmother, Martha Blain of Houston. Not knowing is terrible. Its all consuming.

Ive felt all along that if we find out that they didnt really intend to hurt anybody, that would be easier to forgive, said Ortizs mother, Gina Ortiz of Pasadena.

On ExpressNews.com: Investigators retrace path of deadly San Marcos fire

All of the families who gathered Saturday said the reward of up to $10,000 offered by the ATF isnt enough to spur someone to step forward with information.

Frizzells father said he believes $50,000 or $100,000 would be a more appropriate amount, considering that five lives were lost. On Saturday, he pledged $10,000 of his own money to double the reward.

If you know something and youre going to tell on a friend, you might do that for $50,000 or $100,000, but youre probably not doing it for $10,000, said Brian Frizzell of San Angelo. If youre afraid of somebody, $10,000 isnt enough to go somewhere and risk it.

Zachary Sutterfields father said his family felt the reward amount was a slap in the face when it was first announced last year.

Its basically $2,000 for every person that dies and doesnt even take into account my son and the other hundreds of people that were affected, Karl Sutterfield said. I think its a very minimal amount of money and I dont see it being an incentive for somebody who has information. It just doesnt send the right signal to us that they really want to find this person.

In the past week, San Marcos city officials and other outside partners discussed how to offer a more substantial reward, Fire Marshal Kelly Kistner said. That possibility is still being explored.

The ATF also is investigating such options, Special Agent Nicole Strong confirmed Saturday.

The parents of all the victims killed and the Sutterfields have filed lawsuits against the owners and managers of Iconic Village Apartments, accusing them of safety lapses at the property. Those sued have denied any wrongdoing.

Brian Frizzell said he noticed one month before the fire that there were no smoke detectors in either of the bedrooms at the apartment that his daughter and David Ortiz shared.

Around that same time, the only smoke detector in the apartment  mounted in the living room  had a faltering battery that was beeping, Frizzell said. He said he replaced the battery himself.

And there were other problems at the property. Mirandas brother, Jonathan Terry of Mount Pleasant, recalled during his visit to the apartment that James bedroom window would not open. That window faced a narrow alleyway and was very close to another apartment building, he said.

The breezeways were full of furniture from people being able to lounge outside, Terry said. I dont feel like it would be safe for kids trying to get out. Theyve got obstacles everywhere, trying to get out of there.

The apartments werent equipped with fire sprinklers because they were built in 1970  a time when such safety equipment wasnt required. San Marcos fire code doesnt require retrofitting existing buildings with sprinklers unless the structure undergoes significant renovations. Fire department officials said last year they werent aware of any major remodeling at Iconic Village that would have required sprinklers to be installed.

Ortizs mother said it never occurred to her to look for a fire sprinkler system at her sons apartment building, but noted she felt reassured because she knew there was a fire alarm there.

On ExpressNews.com: Victims families stunned that deadly apartment fire was deliberate

Haley Frizzells mother urged all parents sending their children off to college this fall to check the safety of any apartments they consider renting.

Make sure everythings up to code, Michele Frizzell said. We walked through there  but I didnt know at the time to ask Are there firewalls here? How many smoke detectors are supposed to be in the room? Those are things you need to know before you go look at the apartment. Then confirm that they have those.

Sutterfield still faces a long road. He hasnt been able to return home to San Angelo since the fire. Hes unable to travel due to the extent of his injuries.

In the next several months, he will undergo a neurosurgery to fully restore his skull, part of which was removed to relieve pressure on his swelling brain after he suffered the head injury.

A team of surgeons from all over the world will build a new pair of hands for Sutterfield, in what is expected to be the first procedure of its kind in the United States, his mother said. The hand surgeries will take two years to complete.

Sutterfield has become a hero of sorts to the San Marcos Fire Department, which provided lunch for all of the families Saturday.

Moats was the only victim whose relatives were unable to attend.

Fire Chief Les Stephens presented Estes sheet music to his parents in a handmade pecan wood box constructed by one of the fire departments battalion chiefs. Troy and Cheryl Estes of San Antonio appeared overwhelmed by the surprise.

Cheryl Estes said she had been nervous about meeting the other victims families, but she found it to be a source of support on a very difficult day.

This is still going to be in our face until somebodys caught, she said.

The Bible says tomorrow is not promised. Whoevers responsible for this  or whoever knows something about this  there may not be a tomorrow for you to come forward. You need to come forward today.

Peggy OHare covers housing, demographics and the census in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: @Peggy_OHare
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SAN MARCOS  Mysterious noises. A mans shout. A remnant of a bag of charcoal. A sample of a wall.

Those are some of the clues from a catastrophic fire that engulfed a San Marcos apartment complex before dawn July 20, leaving five young adults dead and another with severe burns.

Investigators are trying to piece together how the inferno started and ultimately destroyed a building at Iconic Village Apartments, two blocks from the Texas State University campus  a painstaking effort that involves testing evidence found in the charred rubble, interviewing survivors, and reviewing records and photographs.

Authorities have taken debris from the building where the victims died, along with materials from the structures exterior to be tested in a laboratory.

One resident who narrowly escaped injury said two federal agents showed her photos of several men and asked if she recognized any of them.

RELATED: San Antonio fire victim remembered for his love, joy

That survivor also reported hearing perplexing and persistent sounds somewhere outside her apartment for two minutes just before panic ensued at 4:27 a.m.

It was just the sound of tiny things falling over and over and over again, Texas State graduate Alexandria Andi Campbell, 21, said of the odd noises she heard.

Three weeks into the investigation, authorities say they know but arent disclosing where the blaze originated. Theyre still trying to determine what sparked it, and they continue to scrutinize the path the flames traveled.

All those who died  Dru Estes, 20, of San Antonio; Haley Michele Frizzell, 19, of San Angelo; David Ortiz, 21, of Pasadena; Belinda Moats, 21, of Big Wells; and James Miranda, 23, of Mount Pleasant  had been living or staying in second-floor apartments in Building 500 of Iconic Village, located at 222 Ramsay St.

Now on ExpressNews.com: A fire killed Zachary Sutterfield's friends. A leap saved his life. After 23 surgeries, his recovery is grueling but with significant victories.

The damage to that structure was so grave that it looked like a bomb had gone off. But no one reported hearing an explosion. The fire spread to two nearby apartment buildings.

Many survivors had to jump from their apartment windows. Some had broken bones, burns and lacerations.

Zachary Sutterfield, 20, of San Angelo suffered head trauma and third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body. He remains in critical condition after having undergone several surgeries and skin grafts at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center in San Antonio, according to a statement released Wednesday by his parents.

Authorities havent revealed any theories about the fires cause, but San Marcos Fire Marshal Kelly Kistner offered this explanation of their work.

Our whole job is elimination  its not proving up, he said. We dont go in and go, Hey, we think this is a light fixture and then turn around and try to prove its a light fixture. We try to disprove everything.

Kistners office is leading the investigation. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Response Team sent 50 agents to San Marcos from all over the country to help with the case.

The Texas State Fire Marshals Office, San Marcos police and the city marshals office also are assisting.

Pure charcoal?

Public records and survivors who were interviewed by authorities offer hints of the leads investigators are chasing.

One of the items retrieved from the ruins was a remnant of an 8-pound bag of Viva Pancho 100% Mesquite Charcoal, according to a list of evidentiary items attached to a search warrant filed in a state district court in Hays County by the state fire marshals office.

Investigators are testing the chemical composition of the material to determine whether the charcoal contributed to the spread or growth of the fire, Kistner said. Viva Pancho is said to be a natural product with no chemicals that would cause a fire to accelerate, he said.

We just want to make sure that its pure charcoal like were being told it is  to make sure theres nothing else with it, Kistner said.

Investigators also collected three samples of debris from the fire and samples from a buildings exterior, including walls, wood and concrete. They also took two samples of material collected at floor level from the area where the charcoal bag remnant was found.

RELATED: 'Everyone was so young.' San Marcos apartment fire stuns college town.

The building components are being analyzed to determine how quickly they burned, which will help officials understand how the fire spread, Kistner said.

The search warrant and the list of items removed are consistent with how authorities proceed if they suspect a fire was set by someone using a flammable liquid, said one forensic fire investigator not involved in the case. The investigator, interviewed on the condition his name not be published, reviewed the records at the request of the San Antonio Express-News.

It looks like they probably brought a dog in there and the dog may well have alerted to several places where the dog thought there might be ignitable liquids, he said. You cant collect samples at random. You just dont.

Even if investigators dogs didnt alert to any specific spots, authorities would still test samples of debris if they believed that the blaze was set using an ignitable liquid or if they saw a pattern on the floor that suggests a puddle of liquid may have been poured there, the expert said. Such patterns can also show up after accidental fires, he noted.

The testing of the charcoal bag remnant could indicate that authorities are considering whether someone was barbecuing, the investigator said.

The search warrant was filed the day after the fire, before any of the victims bodies had been found. Obtaining such a warrant would allow investigators to use evidence recovered from the scene in a criminal prosecution. Because the evidence was collected under a court-approved warrant, it would be more difficult for a defendant or defendants to challenge its admissibility at trial, the forensic fire investigator said.

He noted that the number of ATF National Response Team agents who traveled to San Marcos to assist is not typical. They usually dont send that many  20 is usually a big number for them, he said.

An angry yell

Campbell, who narrowly escaped from her downstairs apartment in Building 500, recalled hearing strange noises and what sounded like a mans angry yell somewhere outside immediately before tenants awoke to flames.

The Katy native said shed been lying awake in her bed for about an hour when the puzzling noises outside caught her attention around 4:30 a.m.

It sounded like tiny things falling, was all I could think at first. No connection to fire whatsoever in my mind, Campbell told the Express-News. It all sounded like relatively small things, but still kind of loud. And it went on for a solid couple of minutes. I was getting really annoyed.

Then Campbell heard what sounded like an angry yell from a man, followed by a sentence of about eight words that sounded like an admonishment of some kind. She could not make out the words, she said. That was immediately followed by panicked yelling, she said.

It could have been the same person because it flowed so smoothly, she said.

The sounds of distress prompted Campbell to look out her bedroom window, which faces a narrow alleyway separating Iconic Village from Vintage Pads Apartments. She saw a flickering, orange light but didnt know where it was coming from. She couldnt smell smoke, but her boyfriend could.

We didnt have a sense of urgency right then, she said. We thought that a fire was somewhere in the distance.  We didnt think it was on top of us or anything.

Campbell went to her front door, which faces the apartment buildings center courtyard. She opened it to a wall of fire in my face, she said. It looked like it was in the door frame.  Im really surprised and thankful that it didnt flash into the room on to me.

Campbell ran toward her roommates bedroom and pounded on her door. The two women and Campbells boyfriend escaped through the bedroom windows into the back alley.

She saw her upstairs neighbor and his roommate sitting on the ground outside, close to the burning building. Both men had severely broken ankles and appeared to be in shock. Campbell said she, another woman and her boyfriend helped them move a safe distance from the building.

In the parking lot, dazed residents watched as their building was consumed by fire. Some were holding anxious pets. One man walked through the parking lot wearing only his underwear until someone gave him a jacket, Campbell recalled.

A fraction of a second

The flames reached twice the height of the two-story building, Campbell said.

Investigators have been considering whether a large tree that stood in the courtyard played any role in the spread of the blaze.

As tenants who escaped the fire gathered outside, an ominous feeling settled over Campbell.

I felt like there were way fewer people than there should be, she said. Plus the fact that we woke up to people who were screaming really, really loudly.  I was getting a really bad feeling, but I didnt want to dwell on it too much because there was no way to know at the time.

It was a down-to-the-fraction-of-a-second-kind of escape for everyone, I feel like. And on some level, its luck of the draw whether youre a sound sleeper, whether you were wearing earplugs that night, whether youd taken a sleeping pill because you couldnt sleep. ... It was really close for everybody.

Campbell told an ATF agent who interviewed her by phone two days after the fire about the strange sounds and the shout she heard that morning.

She also sent the agent some time-stamped photos she took of the flames with her cellphone.

Nearly a week after the catastrophe, Campbell was working at her job at a taco restaurant when she started a conversation with two ATF agents dining there. She told them shed been in Building 500 when it caught fire. She said the agents asked her questions and used a phone to show her photographs of five men. They asked if she recognized any of them. None looked familiar, Campbell said.

The agents provided no context whatsoever on why they showed her the photos, she said.

Another woman who lived in Building 500 said ATF agents asked if she knew of any disputes at Iconic Village or of any neighbors who didnt get along.

Authorities have been reluctant to discuss some aspects of their work. Thomas Moats  father of fire victim Belinda Moats  told an Express-News reporter who went to his home in Big Wells that the state had forbidden him to talk to the media.

Investigators hope that the testing of items from the rubble will be finished by October, Kistner said.

Final autopsy results showing how the victims died may not be ready for another two to three months, he said.

Fire investigations are one of the most complex types of investigations because of not just the human element, but also the scientific element, he said Friday.

Once authorities determine how the fire started, they will classify it one of four ways  incendiary, meaning the fire was intentionally started by someone; accidental; natural, which includes fires started by phenomena such as lightning strikes; or undetermined.

An incendiary fire doesnt always mean the person who started it committed arson. If someone was legally burning leaves on their own property in a rural area, for instance, that would be an incendiary fire but not a crime.

Regardless of how the fire ignited, Campbell is just grateful to be alive.

I feel so lucky, she said. Im thankful that I happened to be awake. Im thankful that people yelled and screamed and made a big noise.  And Im so thankful I lived on the first floor.

Peggy OHare is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: @Peggy_OHare
Nervous flyer? Layover got you down? Grab a beer  or two  while you wait.

Passengers at San Antonio airports may soon be able to enjoy an alcoholic beverage while killing time at the gate before their flights board.

City Council is scheduled to vote Thursday on allowing travelers to drink alcohol in most public areas of the citys two airports  San Antonio International Airport and Stinson Municipal Airport. Travelers currently can only drink alcohol in restaurants that sell the beverages.

The only caveat is you have to buy food along with the alcohol in accordance with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code.

And if the ban is lifted, youll still have to polish off your drink or throw it out before boarding the plane.

The proposal comes in the wake of Gov. Greg Abbotts recent decision to legalize to-go alcohol sales. Texas had historically banned such sales, but Gov. Abbott temporarily lifted the ban in the early days of the pandemic to offset the blow to the embattled restaurant industry.

Nearly a year after that emergency waiver went into effect, state Rep. Charlie Geren, a Republican restaurant owner from Fort Worth, filed legislation to make the waiver permanent. Last month, Gov. Abbott signed Gerens House Bill 1024 into law, decreeing beer, wine and mixed drinks could be included in food pickup and delivery orders.

In addition to Texas, a number of other states have passed legislation relaxing their to-go alcohol sales laws.

On ExpressNews.com: Texas alcohol-to-go bill signed into law by Gov. Abbott

The bill paved the way for San Antonio to revise its policies.

If approved, the amendment could increase alcohol sales and boost airport revenue.

caroline.tien@hearst.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A hush fell over a darkened Texas State University theater as news footage of a deliberately set apartment fire  and photos of the five young adults killed in the blaze  filled the movie screen.

Several hundred viewers showed up Sunday evening for an advance screening of The Weight of Ashes, a 73-minute documentary directed by Austin resident Brian Kyle BK Frizzell II. His sister, Haley Michele Frizzell, was among those who died in the Iconic Village Apartments fire, just blocks from the Texas State campus, nearly four years ago.

BK Frizzell, 24, one of the first graduates of Texas States film program, labored on the project with his crew for two and a half years. The documentary focuses on the grief and anguish that all five victims families have endured, along with the trauma suffered by Zachary Sutterfield, who suffered severe burns and life-changing injuries.

City of San Marcos

It also details the families hopes to find out who committed the crime.

Lisa Krantz, Contributor / Lisa Krantz

It does not, however, try to solve the mystery of who set the fire.

Frizzell and his film crew interviewed the families and friends of all five victims, along with Sutterfield and his parents. The film includes painful interviews with Frizzells own parents and with Frizzell himself. It also features occasional moments of humor as the survivors share funny memories of their loved ones.

Frizzell hopes a streaming service, such as Netflix or Hulu, will pick up the film so it can find a wider audience. He plans to submit the documentary to the Austin Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and all others he can afford to enter.

If no streaming services distribute the film, he said hell post it on YouTube and promote it himself.

Lisa Krantz, Contributor / Lisa Krantz

The main goal, more than anything else, is to have as many people see it as possible, Frizzell said after the advance screening Sunday. I want Haleys face out there. I want her memory out there. I want anyone who might have any information that could give us answers to see this and feel like they need to do something  (to) act on that information and help us out.

The fire, which erupted at 4:27 a.m. on July 20, 2018, tore through the victims apartment building before spreading to two others. Several days later, investigators recovered the remains of Haley Frizzell, 19, of San Angelo; her roommate, David Angel Ortiz, 21, of Pasadena; Dru Estes, 20, of San Antonio; James Phillip Miranda, 23, of Mount Pleasant; and Belinda Moats, 21, of Big Wells. All five were staying in upstairs apartments of the same building.

Sutterfield, now 24, of San Angelo, had been staying in the same apartment with Frizzell and Ortiz. He ran outside and leaped over the second-story balcony to escape but suffered third-degree burns to nearly 70 percent of his body and a traumatic brain injury.

Pretrial testimony  which surfaced in a civil lawsuit stemming from the fire  revealed that someone used an accelerant to ignite the blaze. Criminal investigators wouldnt confirm that claim but long ago announced that the fire had been intentionally set.

Nearly four years later, no arrests have been made. The lawsuit was ultimately settled on the eve of a jury trial.

Lisa Krantz, Contributor / Lisa Krantz

Audience was transfixed

The Weight of Ashes offers moving portraits of each of the victims, along with family photos and home videos. It painstakingly describes how each of their families learned of the catastrophe and their agonizing wait for answers while their children were missing in the rubble of the burned building.

The documentary also spotlights how the families and friends continue to mourn and long for answers on who set the disaster in motion.

Sunday night, the audience remained absolutely silent, focused completely on the theaters screen, even as the film paused for a few seconds at a time because of buffering difficulties.

Viewers dont learn of Sutterfields survival and disabling injuries  or the fact that the fire was intentionally set  until the second act of the film.

Sutterfields father, Karl, vents frustration with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the documentary, saying the agencys investigators have never tried to contact his injured son, himself or his wife since the fire occurred.

That shows (ATF investigators) dont care, Karl Sutterfield said in the film. And Im angry.

The mother of another victim said on camera that shes not sure the case is still a priority to the ATF.

ATF officials didnt respond to a request for comment Monday.

BK Frizzell received a standing ovation when he walked on the theaters stage at the end of the film.

The film screened Sunday was not the final cut. Frizzell said he plans to interview Moats family for the documentary in July and to add some footage of their words.

The film was made for $17,000 with a crew of about 25 people, he said. The largest donation for the project came from Ann Stevens of San Antonio, a 1972 Texas State graduate and former newspaper journalist who previously served as founding president of BioMedSA, a nonprofit that promotes San Antonios health care and bioscience industries.

I was inspired by BKs desire to chronicle the profound loss and grief the victims families (including his own) have experienced and to provide a constructive way to help them process their feelings, Stevens said in an email Monday.

As a longtime donor to Texas State, she contacted the College of Fine Arts & Communication to ask how she could help after learning of BK Frizzells plans for the documentary. She contributed an undisclosed sum that helped the film achieve its budget goal.

Stevens also attended Sundays advance screening. Her name appears in the credits at the end.

Needless to say, it was a very moving experience to watch  alongside members and friends of the victims families and others from the campus community, she wrote in her email.

BK is an amazing young man with a big heart, a freshly minted film degree and a bright future ahead of him. My hats off to him as he launches his film career with such a powerful and intensely personal documentary.

Frizzell said the film would not have been completed on time without Stevens support.

We ran out of the money we got from just fundraising like a while ago, he said. And then she came in and saved the day. And that was awesome.

In addition to the Frizzells, the families of three other victims  Ortiz, Estes and Moats  attended the Sunday screening.

Billy Calzada / Staff photographer

There will be answers

Frizzells parents, Brian and Michele Frizzell, also Texas State graduates, were overwhelmed with pride as they discussed his documentary during a family gathering at a San Marcos restaurant later Sunday. Neither of them had seen the film before the advance screening.

We really didnt have any idea of what to expect, said Michele Frizzell, 49, of San Angelo. I was impressed. I loved the way he put it together  the transitions.

We realize  that all the families were feeling the same way that day (of the fire).  And just getting to hear Haleys friends, their perspective and talk about her, it was just  it was beautiful, I thought. I mean, it was gut-wrenching.

Both parents said they cried through much of the film. It was hard for them to see their sons raw grief and tears on camera.

Since it had to buffer a little bit, (it) gave me a chance to kind of breathe for a minute and then keep going on, Michele Frizzell said.

Brian Frizzell, 51, said the film captured his daughters spirit.

The pain is just remembering all that again. A lot of pride. More of my tears were happy, proud of what everybody else had to say about her, he said. Hearing them talk about their affection for her.  For her to find that good of a group of friends, it makes you feel really good.

Michele Frizzell said Haley would have loved the film, even though she didnt like being the center of attention.

The parents believe the documentary has the potential to reach many more people than just those living in the immediate area.

Maybe somebodys in a corner of the world thats going to turn on the TV one day and watch it and think, Oh, wait   Michele Frizzell said. Who knows? That could happen.

Brian Frizzell said he still has hopes the crime will be solved.

I believe that at some point, something will come out and there will be an answer, he said. There wont ever be a good answer, unfortunately. Nothing is going to make everybody feel good about any of it. But I believe at some time, there will be answers.

Ortizs mother, Gina Ortiz, 51, of Pasadena, praised the work of BK Frizzell and his crew.

He told our story well, she said. And I think he gave our kids a voice. Thats what I wanted. That was important. He did a great job.

He made every effort to talk about not just his sister, but all five of them  and then included Zach in a good portion of it, too, she said. Zach is such an inspiring figure. Hes struggled and gone through a lot. But hes also out there inspiring a lot of people.

Dalia Moats Castillo, whose niece, Belinda, was killed in the fire, drove with family members to San Marcos from South Texas to see the film. She hopes the documentary will lead to answers.

Lisa Krantz, Contributor / Lisa Krantz

I think at this point, were just hoping that somebody will see this and somebody who knows what happened will come forward and get justice for them, Castillo said.

Belinda was a beautiful soul. She was a bookworm. She was such a good girl.

BK Frizzell, who is about to move with his fiancee to Los Angeles to continue working in the film industry, said its yet to be seen if he achieved what he set out to accomplish with the film.

The thing that I really want this movie to do is, of course, to bring answers and to help us figure out and solve the mystery of who did this, he said. Well see. I hope and dream that something I did can help bring an end to the questions.

I think that Haley would be happy with how this turned out.

A $110,000 reward is still being offered for information leading to the identification or arrest of the person who ignited the blaze. Investigators urge anyone with information on the crime to call 1-888-ATF-TIPS or to email ATFTips@atf.gov

pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: Peggy_OHare
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The past 30 months have been grueling for Deona Jo DJ Sutterfield.

Her son Zachary nearly died in a catastrophic apartment fire that someone deliberately set in San Marcos in July 2018  a still-unsolved crime that killed five people.

Zach, then 20, suffered third-degree burns to almost 70 percent of his body and a traumatic brain injury. DJ Sutterfield quit her job and stayed at his side as he received lifesaving medical care for 17 months in San Antonio, more than 200 miles from their San Angelo home. She changed his bandages, cleaned his wounds, fed and bathed him and cheered him on when hope seemed lost.

Now Sutterfield, 47, has been named the 2021 Texas Mother of the Year by the national nonprofit American Mothers Inc. She is among a group of mothers across the country being considered for the national title, which will be awarded in May.

The news took her by surprise because her husband, Karl Sutterfield, 52, and Zach nominated her for the honor without telling her. San Marcos Fire Chief Les Stephens and others joined the effort, writing letters on her behalf.

I was shocked, said DJ Sutterfield, a mother of two and an Army veteran who has also served with the National Guard in Hawaii and Texas. I was like, is this seriously happening?

There are so many beautiful women representing other states, and theyre doing amazing things, she said of the other winners. Its an honor to be among them. Ive been reading some of their bios, and Im just amazed that I am among them.

The award was established in 1935 by the Golden Rule Foundations American Mothers Committee. The national title has been given each year since to an inspirational mother who demonstrates unconditional love, inner strength and courage, according to the American Mothers website.

Last years national winner was LaTarsha Holden of Atlanta, a once-homeless mother of six who earned a doctorate and became a published author, speaker and advocate for single moms, the homeless and affordable housing.

On ExpressNews.com: A fire killed his friends. A leap saved his life. Zachary Sutterfield wonders why he was the lucky one.

Zach, now 22 and recovering at his parents home, is elated that his mother is being publicly recognized.

Nominating her seemed like the least I could do after everything shes done for me, the Angelo State University student said Wednesday.

DJ Sutterfield always believed her son would survive his injuries, even when his prognosis was very grim for days and weeks after the fire, Stephens, the fire chief, wrote in his nomination letter.

She willed her son to live, and he did, Stephens wrote. She sacrificed her entire identity, all except for being Zachs mother. The love she showed, from day one to now ... is what motherhood is all about.

The greatest testimony I have ever had the opportunity to witness is how DJ Sutterfield loves her son more than herself.

The fire, which occurred at Iconic Village Apartments near Texas State University on July 20, 2018, changed many families lives forever. Five young adults, all in upstairs apartments in the same building, were killed: Dru Estes, 20, of San Antonio; Haley Michele Frizzell, 19, of San Angelo; David Angel Ortiz, 21, of Pasadena; Belinda Moats, 21, of Big Wells; and James Phillip Miranda, 23, of Mount Pleasant.

Investigators have said the blaze was intentionally set, but they havent disclosed where it started or how it was ignited. All the deaths were ruled homicides.

Zachary Sutterfield was sleeping in the same apartment as Frizzell and Ortiz when the fire erupted shortly before 4:30 a.m. The three ran outside, but Zach was the only one who escaped by jumping from a second-story balcony.

On ExpressNews.com: Iconic Village fire survivor resuming college studies, planning for future

He suffered a severe blow to the head and third-degree burns to his head, face, chest, back, arms, hands and feet. Most of his fingers and both of his thumbs had to be amputated. He spent nearly 200 days hospitalized at the Armys Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center in San Antonio, then went through lengthy outpatient rehabilitation sessions. He and his mother didnt return home until January 2020.

He has endured 31 surgeries; another is set for next month.

DJ Sutterfield, a Kentucky native, became a mother at 17 when she had her first son, Danny Sutterfield. She joined the Army when she was 20 and served nearly four years on active duty. Her husband also is an Army vet.

I never did anything great in the military, she said. But the military did a lot of great things for me. And Im proud of my service.

Sutterfield worked as an Army medic in California and Hawaii. She went to nursing school for a time, but realized the medical field wasnt for her.

There was just something about it  I couldnt detach from the patient, Sutterfield said.

At the time, she didnt know the work was preparing her to one day provide medical care to her younger son, who hadnt been born yet.

If I look back on my life, Im like OK  God was preparing you for this, Sutterfield said. I really do give the military training that I had with the medic school kudos for what I was able to do for Zach. ... I knew what I was getting into by doing wound care. And I knew what to look for.

On ExpressNews.com: Families, authorities hope dramatic boost in reward helps solve mystery of deadly San Marcos fire

She left the Army in 1998 while pregnant with Zach because she faced medical complications that forced her on bed rest. The family returned to San Angelo in 2011, and Sutterfield joined the Texas National Guard as a heavy equipment operator.

Shes experienced many highs and lows since the fire.

The worst moment was the first time she and her husband saw Zach in his hospital room at Brooke Army Medical Center hours after the fire. Doctors tried to prepare them for what they would see and told them they should get ready to say goodbye to their son because he likely wouldnt survive.

She and her husband didnt recognize Zach when they walked in the room, and she fell to the floor.

I just remember begging God to help my baby, she said.

Zach defied the odds and kept fighting.

Everybody kept telling us, Hey, dont get excited. But I was getting excited, his mom recalled. Because with every moment that passed, I was still getting to hold his hand, I was still getting to see him through the window. I was still getting to spend time with him. I couldnt give up hope at that point.

There have also been moments of celebration  Zach leaving the hospital and moving into a Fisher House facility at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston while he continued outpatient treatment; his 21st birthday party almost a year after the fire; and Zach officiating at his older brothers wedding in October.

On ExpressNews.com: An emotional roller coaster  Parents describe brutal aftermath of San Marcos fire that injured son, killed his friends

The family is launching a nonprofit, Brighter Than the Fire, that they hope will bring fire safety education to college campuses and military bases. They want to teach people to check for safety features, such as fire suppression systems, before leasing apartments.

They also plan for the nonprofit to give away safety backpacks that include fire extinguishers and smoke detectors.

This isnt just about fire safety  its about honoring the lives lost, DJ Sutterfield said. Because I do think that sometimes the victims are forgotten. Everyone sees what Zach is going through. But a lot of times, we dont see what the victims families are going through and how they were affected by this.

DJ and Zach will travel to Florida so he can undergo another surgery March 17 through the nonprofit Sons of the Flag, which provides medical care to military and first responder burn survivors.

Zach and his father nominated DJ for the Mother of the Year award in September. Karl Sutterfield noted his wifes days caring for their son are long, usually 18 to 20 hours.

My wife has not left my sons side since the ill-fated day of 20 July 2018, Karl wrote in his nomination letter. My son has stated numerous times that he would not be here today if it were not for his mothers care and love.

Zach wrote a separate letter reflecting on her many sacrifices.

She is the true embodiment of what a mother is, he wrote. When she was not scrubbing bloodstains out of my clothing or preparing meals for the next day, she was by my side letting me know that it was going to be okay. She gave me hope.

She is not just my mom. She is my friend and a hero. I do not know if I would be here today if it were not for my moms love and conviction. ... She is the greatest mom a kid could ever ask for.

pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: Peggy_OHare


The disappearance of a Chitungwiza woman three weeks ago, Moreblessing Ali, who was eventually found dead in the Nyatsime area last weekend, was triggered by a beerhall brawl between the deceased and her estranged boyfriend and had no political hand involved, witnesses have said.

Police have since intensified investigations into the death of Ms Ali, whose body was found mutilated after her disappearance.

Witnesses who were with her when she was last seen, told The Herald yesterday that Ms Ali had an altercation with her ex-boyfriend, Pios Jamba, who is currently on the run.

The clarification puts paid to spirited claims by some CCC members in the area who sought to cast aspersions on Zanu PF by claiming that members of the ruling party had abducted her.

Opposition supporters had fingered one Simbarashe Chisango, who is a Zanu PF district chairperson in the area and a half-brother to the suspect, Jamba.

In an interview at the funeral wake, a workmate and neighbour, Ms Kirina Mayironi said they left their residence for Chibhanguza Night Club, a joint about a kilometre away, for a beer drink.

We left with Moreblessing around 7pm together with her dog, soon after we had returned from work to have some drinks at Chibhanguza. We drank until around 9pm when we decided to return home. Moreblessing was the first to go outside as I briefly remained behind talking to another neighbour of mine, said Ms Mayironi.

When I came out I saw her involved in a brawl with a man and by that time, she was being dragged. When the man saw me holding a beer bottle, he probably thought I wanted to attack him, and he then pulled out a catapault and fired at me, hitting my chin and I ran back into the bar.

He also complained that the dog was disturbing him from what he wanted to do, a statement which I did not understand what it meant. We then came out together with other patrons and by then, I was screaming to say look at what is happening to my friend but none managed to help because the man began to throw a lot of missiles so much that all patrons ran back into the bar.

Ms Mayironi said while she did not positively identify the culprit because of darkness and drunkness, she later heard from people present that it was Pious Jamba.

I was even shown his residence the following day, but at that time there was no one, said Ms Mariyoni.

A bar lady at Chibhanguza Nite Club, who only identified herself as Melody, said she saw patrons stampeding into the bar and she initially thought they were running away from the police.

I was then approached by our security guard from the window who asked to use my phone saying he wanted to call our boss. Our guard said Jamba was indiscriminately throwing missiles at anyone outside so he feared that he might damage window panes.

After a while, I followed up on the guard to find out if he was safe because by then, he was the only one whom we knew was outside. He then returned saying our employer had not picked his phone but I remained in the bar, said Melody.

Moreblessings step mother, Mrs Judith Chisiiwa who stays in St Marys, Chitungwiza, said she did not suspect politics to be behind the incident but blamed people who were with her step daughter on the night in question for taking long to inform close relatives.

Chisango confirmed that he was Jambas half-brother but said Jamba was not a member of any political party.

I will not comment substantively since the case is being handled by the police but what I can say is that indeed Jamba is my half-brother. We were born to the same mother but different fathers. He does his own things as an adult, some of which I might even not agree with.

He is not involved with any political activity. It is myself who is into politics, I am a district chairperson of Zanu PF here and that is probably why the opposition CCC wants to take advantage and soil the ruling partys image, said Cde Chisango.

A councillor in the area, Masimbi Masimbi, said it was clear that circumstances surrounding the death of Ali had nothing to do with political parties.

What is coming out clearly from this unfortunate incident is that this is purely a domestic affair that turned sour. It is purely a criminal case which has nothing to do with politics. It is known that Jamba and Moreblessing had a love affair until this sad incident that happened at a bar.

When I heard about the incident, we carried out searches all over the place for the lovers until Moreblessing was found dead. Unfortunately some opposition parties want to take advantage of this for their propaganda purposes, he said.

At yesterdays funeral wake, both Zanu PF supporters and CCC were in attendance claiming Ali belonged to their rank and file.

Clr Masimbi said they had discovered that Ali might have been involved in opposition politics while she was still residing in St Marys, but turned to Zanu PF when she got a residential stand and began to stay in Nyatsime.

She actually used to attend all our political activities and she belonged to Cell 2, he said.

Zanu PF provincial secretary for Information and Publicity, Cde Tatenda Mavetera, who attended the funeral implored members of the opposition to desist from politicising the tragedy.

We are equally disheartened by the sad incident. We are, however, encouraged that law enforcement agencies are carrying out investigations, said Cde Mavetera.

At the weekend, Zanu PF director of Information and Publicity Cde Tafadzwa Mugwadi said attempts by opposition political formations and foreign agencies to place blame for the kidnapping and subsequent death of Ms Ali on Zanu PF was perfectly choreographed to destabilise Zimbabwes foreign policy.

He said this was happening at a time Rwanda is scheduled to host the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Zimbabwe has expressed interest to rejoin the Commonwealth, and the current wave is aimed at shifting focus on the countrys progress in the reform agenda and put a justification for those still calling for the upholding of the illegal sanctions. Herald
As many as 13 troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety waited in a hallway at one point during a gunmans rampage that killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde last month, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez, a San Antonio Democrat whose district encompasses Uvalde, said DPS Director Steven McCraw revealed the number of responding state troopers to him in a recent exchange.

He told me there was enough people and equipment to breach the door, Gutierrez said, even as officers continued to wait for more than an hour and some of the children inside the two locked classrooms called 911 for help.

In previous statements, McCraw has said that as many as 19 officers from various law enforcement agencies waited outside the classrooms. DPS has not publicly clarified the extent to which it was involved in the widely criticized police response to the May 24 mass shooting.

Salvador Ramos, 18, was armed with an assault-style rifle and multiple large-capacity clips when he entered the school through an unlocked back door and walked to the adjoining classrooms where he killed his victims, police said. He injured 17 others.

At a news conference last month, McCraw described Pedro Pete Arredondo, chief of police for the Uvalde school district, as the on-scene commander. He said that after Arredondo arrived at the school, he instructed other officers not to force entry into the locked classrooms until they could acquire more equipment, such as ballistic shields.

Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

Gutierrez said he spoke May 28 with McCraw, who was in tears. McCraw told Gutierrez that day that DPS would never again stand down, the lawmaker told the San Antonio Express-News.

In another exchange June 2, McCraw told Gutierrez that as many as 13 DPS troopers had massed in the hallway outside the classrooms at one point  waiting to make entry even as the massacre unfolded.

The circumstances surrounding the second-deadliest K-12 school shooting in the United States remain under investigation by local, state and federal authorities. The worst-ever was the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre of 26 people.

The district attorney for Uvalde, Christina Mitchell Busbee, is leading a criminal investigation into the shooting. The Texas Rangers, with assistance from the FBI, are investigating the police response.

Separately, the Justice Department is conducting a critical incident review of the police response. And a three-member legislative committee appointed by House Speaker Dade Phelan is investigating the massacre.

Gutierrez wants more answers now.

Were supposed to be the big bad-ass cops in the region, Gutierrez said of the DPS troopers. What happened here? Where were they situated in that building, and what time did they get there? When it came to protecting our children, we failed.

McCraw has stopped providing Gutierrez information at the behest of Busbee, the state lawmaker said.

DPS spokesman Erick Estrada did not return messages Monday requesting comment.

ALLISON DINNER, Contributor / AFP via Getty Images

In an interview with the Texas Tribune, Arredondo said he did not believe he was in charge at the scene of the massacre and never gave instructions not to breach the building.

He said that within seconds of arriving at Robb Elementary, he left his police and campus radios outside the school. He said he thought the situation had changed from that of an active shooter to one in which a suspect had barricaded himself inside the classrooms. He said he was not aware of the 911 calls because he lacked radios, and no one in the hallway told him.

Arredondo also told the Tribune that he was waiting in the hallway for tools to open the door, including keys that took an excruciating amount of time for staff to find.

Gutierrez questioned why state troopers on the scene would automatically defer to a school district officer with no radios.

Why werent the decisions made by the most superior police force on-site? he asked. How then did everybody just jump on and make (Arredondo) the incident commander? If he never had a radio, then how did he make himself the incident commander? It just doesnt follow.

At the news conference last month, McCraw told reporters that police in Texas are trained not to wait for orders to neutralize an active shooter.

When theres an active shooter, the rules change, McCraw said. You dont have time. You dont have to have a leader on the scene. Every officer lines up, stacks up, goes and finds where those rounds are being fired at and keeps shooting until the subject is dead. Period.

Law enforcement sources told the Express-News that four Border Patrol agents and two sheriffs deputies made entry into the classrooms and killed Ramos.

Gutierrez said officers in the hallway at one point had as many as three ballistic shields before finally breaching the door to the classrooms. Once they did, nearly two dozen people inside were dead.

There was enough material in that room to stop this threat, he said. And it didnt happen.
Sundays bipartisan agreement to reduce gun violence doesnt go nearly far enough.

The families of Uvalde deserve more for their unbearable loss.

The families of those who came before them deserve more, too.

On ExpressNews.com: Remembering the victims of Uvalde school massacre

But for the first time in a long time, 10 Republican and 10 Democratic U.S. senators have agreed on a set of gun restrictions and prevention initiatives that could actually make a difference, albeit a small one.

Ten is a magic number in the Senate. With support from those 10 Republicans, plus 50 Democrats, the agreement will have the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP filibuster and reach President Joe Bidens desk.

The 10 didnt risk much. Four of them arent returning to the Senate after this year, and five of them, including Republican John Cornyn of Texas, are not up for reelection for another five years.

On ExpressNews.com: Morning of chaos  a reconstruction of Uvalde mass shooting

Yet the agreement is significant, even though it stops short of muscular gun controls that would better safeguard schools, grocery stores and houses of worship against our national epidemic of mass shootings.

Its significant because it gives gun-control activists a strategic position, a place to defend and from which to push harder.

The plan would not ban the sale of assault-style rifles. Nor would it raise the minimum age to buy one from 18 to 21. It would not outlaw the sale of high-capacity magazines, an accessory of choice for U.S. mass murderers.

On ExpressNews.com: What officials got wrong about Robb Elementary massacre

This is where we are as country: A majority of Americans support stricter gun laws, but we keep electing representatives who wont defy the National Rifle Association.

Still, theres much the compromise will do.

It will provide funding to states that adopt red-flag laws, which allow police and relatives to ask courts to take guns away from people deemed to pose a danger to themselves or others. Texas needs such a law, though its unlikely to pass unless voters elect legislators willing to think and act independently of the NRA.

The compromise also would direct billions of dollars to make schools safer and bolster mental health programs.

Among the most significant changes is the elimination of the boyfriend loophole. Federal law prohibits convicted domestic abusers from possessing guns, but only if they were married to, lived with or had a child with the person they abused. If the victim was a mere dating partner, the prohibition on gun ownership doesnt apply. Closing the loophole will make women safer.

The compromise also calls for tougher background checks for gun buyers under age 21 and for an investigative period to check juvenile and mental health records before a purchase could be completed.

It cracks down on gun trafficking  and on straw purchasing, when someone buys a gun on anothers behalf, often someone who couldnt pass a background check.

The deal also makes clearer who must register as a licensed gun dealer and their obligation to conduct background checks.

Frankly, that all these provisions arent already law should shock us. Its shocking to the rest of the world and helps explain why the United States leads the developed world in gun violence.

But this is where we are, and why the compromise doesnt go far enough.

Anyone who wants to buy an AR-15 rifle today can do so legally, including an 18-year-old such as the Uvalde gunman.

The high-velocity rounds he fired decapitated several children and pulverized their small bodies, a Uvalde pediatrician testified before Congress last week.

This kind of compromise is hard to accept.

But its more than has been achieved in 30 years. The horror of Uvalde did that. A pair of green Converse sneakers, the only way one of the schoolchildren from Robb Elementary could be identified, did that.

It made a difference that March for Our Lives, a youth-led movement organized after the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting, took to the nations streets Saturday, including in San Antonio.

It made a difference that two other gun-control groups, Everytown for Gun Safety and Brady, support the compromise.

Once it has been signed into law, activists will need to march to the polls in November.

It will take more young people like those who gathered Saturday at San Antonio City Hall, including Kimberly Gonzalez, 20, who wore her high school graduation gown.

Im walking for them, she said of the 19 children killed in Uvalde, because theyll never get to walk across a stage at graduation.

On ExpressNews.com: 500 march for gun control in downtown San Antonio

David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland shooting who went on to Harvard, described his evolution as an activist.

The leader of the March for Our Lives movement, Hogg was once unflinchingly demanding. Now 22, he has become pragmatic about gun reform.

Hes looking for responsible gun owners and moderate Republicans to join the movement, he says, and for a shift in the way guns are revered in the United States.

Hes banking on time, the kind people his age have  the time to outlast and outlive members of Congress who refuse to be part of the solution.

eayala@express-news.net
Steve Prezant/Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Justice says a North Texas man purchased over 90 firearms to illegally resell them. Prosecutors say the guns were later used in a homicide, an aggravated assault and other crimes in the U.S. and Canada.

The indictment says Demontre Antwon Hackworth, 31, is facing federal firearms charges, including for dealing firearms without a license and making false statements during the purchase of a firearm. Hackworth was arrested in Dallas on June 10 by agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
TRIP REPORT



Written by Milos Milakovic





For the first time since the pandemic, I decided to travel to Serbia by plane instead of by car. I purchased the tickets at the end of February and the outbound flight was scheduled for the 15th of April. Later, I had to change my flight dates, so the outbound flight was on Thursday 21st of April while the return flight was on Monday, 9th of May. The total price was 250 euros for a return ticket with luggage included. Before the pandemic, the route was maintained by Air Serbia and easyJet, but the latter has withdrawn from the route (and announced further cuts in its Berlin base to only 11 aircraft). Therefore, nowadays, Air Serbia has between 4 to 6 flights per week on the route.





Since Berlin is connected with most ex-Yu airports (before the pandemic, I think Zagreb was the only one without nonstop flight, even Banja Luka, Tuzla and Nis had flights to Berlin) I decided to check and compare prices to other cities with different companies. Belgrade was the only option for me, but I did it just for analysis.









This comparison is interesting for me because there are a lot of people saying that Air Serbia is too expensive and that LCC companies are much cheaper, which is absolutely not true in most cases.





My flight was scheduled for 9:45 AM so I went to the new BER airport quite early because of a few reasons. The first one is my own negative experience with waiting time at the security check at the airport and the second one was an official announcement from the airport that they are facing staff shortages. I used the Flughafen Express (Airport Express) train line from the S Ostkreuz station to reach the airport. The ride takes around 15-20 minutes to BER Terminals 1 and 2.





It takes only a couple of minutes from the underground train station to the check-in desks. For my flight, JU351, desks 524-526 (2 for economy and one for business) were assigned and I headed to them. The line wasn't that long and most of the passengers were Serbians headed to spend Orthodox Easter with their families at home. More than half of the people were young ones in their 20s or 30s and quite some families with small children.





I noticed several people speaking Russian and one of them confirmed to me that he is traveling to Moscow via Belgrade. It took around 25 minutes to get my boarding pass and drop off my luggage. It was possible to hand over hand luggage for free, so I chose to do that. BER is one of the airports where you cant do online check-in for the Air Serbia flights.





The new BER airport has several security checkpoints, so I headed to the closest one, control point 5. To be honest, all of them are the same and super inefficient with a weird distribution of people to the SD control. It is always required that one employee takes care of the line because people arent sure how to use it. And believe me, its not logical at all. Many of my friends and colleagues are complaining about it as well.





This happens all the time (image below). At some point, the line breaks up into 2 lines. One for the left 4 counters and the right for the other 4 counters. But people just wait in the one (only for the left counters in this case) and that leads to some people skipping the line because there are fewer people in the line for the right 4 counters. To be fair, this time I didnt notice that many people skipping the line but on my previous flights from BER that was the case. Anyway, the point is that if you have to explain to the people how to use queue line then the solution and the implementation are far from good. In the end, it took me almost 40 minutes to pass the security check.





Meanwhile, gate C06 was assigned for our flight. After passing through the duty-free shop I went to passport control. There was almost no one at passport control so it was really fast. C and D gates are reserved for destinations outside of the Schengen zone, which now includes the UK. Overall, it was almost completely empty as there weren't too many flights.





This time I travelled with the Airbus A319 with the registration YU-APC, with the name Novak Djokovic. That was the first rotation that day for the plane, which operated its last flight to Paris the day before.





Boarding started 35 minutes before departure, so we took off on time. Unfortunately, due to bad weather conditions, I dont have good images from the runway. The flight itself was quite calm and without anything unusual. The flight attendants handed water and Toto cookies to the passengers as usual on Air Serbia flights.





I dont know the exact LF but would say it was more than 70%.





The Elevate magazine had some interesting topics and the one about the history of aviation in the Kingdom of Serbia and later Yugoslavia was quite interesting for me. I didnt know that the Kingdom of Serbia was the fifth country in the world with laws for aviation transport.





We landed in Belgrade around 11:35, a few minutes later than planned I think. We parked at the new C terminal, next to Air Serbias the only A330 named after Nikola Tesla.





The flight was just a few days after the new part of the C terminal at Belgrade Airport was opened. We headed to the floor for arriving passengers and at the end of that floor 2 hostesses were giving presents to all arriving passengers.







Passport control was quite fast, and luggage was already waiting for us. Unfortunately, I dont have any images from the outside of the airport mostly because I found myself lost. The situation was a bit chaotic in front of arrivals with so many people waiting for passengers in a very small area. The parking area is under huge reconstruction, so I wanted to come to the car as soon as possible. Passport control was quite fast, and luggage was already waiting for us. Unfortunately, I dont have any images from the outside of the airport mostly because I found myself lost. The situation was a bit chaotic in front of arrivals with so many people waiting for passengers in a very small area. The parking area is under huge reconstruction, so I wanted to come to the car as soon as possible.





RETURN FLIGHT





The return flight was scheduled for Monday 9th of May at 7:10 in the morning. I arrived at the airport 2 hours before departure. As I checked-in online, I quickly handed over my luggage and headed to security and passport control. It was the first time that I used central security control at BEG. Overall experience was quite good. It took me only a few minutes to pass it. I have to emphasise that it is quite convenient that passengers are not asked anymore to take out their laptops to the separate box. It makes the process way faster.





It took me 20 minutes from the entrance to the airport until I was in the Duty Free Shop. It is much better than before, and I would like to underline that the offer of the local drink rakija is very good.





I found out that the Berlin flight was assigned to the C10 gate.





It seems to me that some little things are not finished at the new C terminal, which spoils the impression a bit. The biggest issue is lack of the food options. Especially in the morning since Hleb & Kifle opens at 6 am, so basically before that time you have only Kapital bar Lounge as an option if you want to eat something. In general, not enough for such a big airport. Ive seen that some Bistro is preparing for opening inside new C terminal so that might be helpful. Additionally, the impression is spoiled by dirty windows facing the parking lot.





A330 Nikola Tesla again:





Again I flew with Airbus A319 named after Novak Djokovic. I slept almost the entire flight and the flight itself was uneventful. The load factor was similar to the first flight (around 60-70%) based on a personal estimate. The interesting thing was that the VK Crvena Zvezda team was on the flight, probably going to CL match with Spandau in Berlin.





OVERALL CONCLUSION



As usual, the AirSerbia service was as expected and quite good. Even when easyJet was present on the route I preferred flying with Air Serbia as I found their service much better on the given route.

Regarding the airports themselves, I have mixed emotions. The BER building itself is of course much bigger, and more convenient for passengers. Also, the materials used inside are way more pleasant for the eyes than in Belgrade. On the other side, service is much more convenient and faster at BEG which is as important as the quality of the building itself.





Share your travel experience by submitting a trip report to exyu@exyuaviation.com

* prices with luggage
The 210th anniversary of Americas declaration of the War of 1812 against Great Britain, which falls on June 18, will not inspire much in the way of celebration or commemoration. It had, at most, a minor impact on American and world history. Yet that distant conflict is worth remembering, if only as a cautionary example: it stands as the most misbegotten war the United States has ever fought.

It was an offshoot of the great conflict between Great Britain and France that grew out of the French Revolution of 1789 and ended with the defeat of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In what came to be known as the Napoleonic Wars, Britain sought to use its maritime supremacy to stop other countries trade with France. The United States declared itself neutral and claimed the commercial rights that international law accorded to countries with that status during wartime. This led to a conflict with Great Britain over just what those neutral trading rights were. The Americans embraced an expansive definition, which afforded wide latitude for profitable trade. The British insisted on more restrictive terms and began seizing and searching American ships in the Caribbean and confiscating cargo that they regarded as contraband. President George Washington sent the Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay to London to negotiate with the British government on the issue, where he reached a compromise agreement. In 1795 the Congress reluctantly ratified what became known as Jays Treaty.

The Anglo-French war continued, however, and the Anglo-American dispute over neutral rights flared again during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. The Americans objected in particular to the British practice of seizing British subjects manning American vessels and forcing them into the Royal Navy, a practice known as impressment. Jefferson, too, sent a delegation to London to negotiate and it, too, produced an agreement with the British; but Jefferson rejected it because it did not, in his judgement, fully satisfy American principles. Instead, in an attempt to compel the British to accede to the American definition of neutral maritime rights, he signed the Embargo Act of 1807, which made sending goods to other countries illegal and barred American ships from leaving port. Jefferson believed that American trade was so important to the British that the government in London would make major concessions to restore it. Blockades of enemy countries had long been part of warfare. Thomas Jefferson blockaded his own country.

Jefferson's blockade fiasco

The embargo proved to be a fiasco. It had no effect on British policy but did do considerable economic damage to the United States, by one estimate costing the country five percent of its gross domestic product. The measure became increasingly unpopular and in 1809 Congress repealed it. By that time, James Madison had become president and he and his Republican Party felt they had to do something about what they deemed British maritime outrages. Based on an entirely unrealistic assessment of their military prospects, they declared war.

The war went badly. Before it started, Madison had failed to persuade the Congress to supply funds for increasing military preparations. At the outset of the fighting American forces attacked Britains North American possession, Canada, but the attack failed. The British imposed a maritime blockade on the United States that inflicted serious harm on the American economy. Then things got even worse.

When they declared war in 1812, the Americans had been able to count on the diversion of British military power to wage its war against France. The French defeat in Napoleons disastrous Russian campaign at the end of 1812 freed the British to concentrate their attention on North America. They occupied eastern Maine, defeated American troops at Bladensburg, Maryland, occupied Washington, D.C., and burned most of the public buildings in the capital including the White House.

The war ended with a treaty signed in Ghent, Belgium, on Dec. 24, 1814. Its terms restored the prewar status quo. Two and one-half years of fighting, at a cost to the United States of 2,260 killed and 4,505 wounded, not to mention the destruction of much of its capital city, had changed nothing.

War of 1812 a lesson in bad foreign policy

The war might have cost the country even more than that. It became so unpopular in New England, which was already alienated from Jefferson and Madisons Republican Party on a number of issues, that it stirred talk of secession. In December 1814, five New England states sent representatives to a meeting in Hartford to discuss their grievances. The report they drafted did not include secession from the country, but the fact that the meeting took place at all denoted serious disaffection with the federal government, which could have jeopardized New Englands membership in the union had the war continued.

Beyond serving as an example of how not to conduct foreign policy, the War of 1812 illustrates, in several ways, the ironic turns that history can take  the way, that is, that it can produce outcomes that are unexpected, or contrary to what was intended, or both. Of all Americas 45 presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were the two most resolutely opposed in principle to engaging in war. Yet their policies led to war with Great Britain. Moreover, that war was, strictly speaking, unnecessary: the British revoked the decrees the Americans found most objectionable before the declaration of war, but news of this decision reached North America only after it.

The United States resorted to arms to stop the British practice of impressment, but the American negotiators at Ghent did not demand that it be ended. Soon thereafter, however, the British ended impressment unilaterally: with the final defeat of Napoleon, they no longer had a military need for it. Thus, the United States did receive satisfaction on its principal reason for going to war through the military victory of the country that it was fighting.

The War of 1812 had two ironic domestic political consequences. General Andrew Jackson won a battle against the British on Jan. 8, 1815, which made him a national hero and set him on the path to becoming president in 1828. The war had ended 10 days before the battle, however, but word of the Treaty of Ghent had not yet arrived when it took place. In the wake of the war, Jefferson's and Madisons Republican Party, which had initiated what turned out to be a fruitless, dangerous conflict and had then presided over it incompetently, came to dominate American politics for a generation. The Republicans rivals, the Federalists, who had warned against and then opposed armed conflict with Great Britain, faded out of existence.

The War of 1812 does have one enduring legacy. A Baltimore lawyer, Francis Scott Key, witnessed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in his home city and wrote a poem celebrating the American flags survival during the attack. The poem was set to music and ultimately adopted as the national anthem. The Star-Spangled Banner, the song sung every day around the country to honor and praise America, was thus inspired by one of the least creditable episodes in the 250-year history of American foreign policy.
Jeremy Clarkson has said that "Britain needs food grown in Britain" in a series of tweets calling on the government to prioritise food and farming.

The Clarkson's Farm star, who farms in Oxfordshire, took to social media with numerous messages asking the government to focus on farming.

"In the next parliament I would like to see the government prioritise farming," Clarkson said in a Twitter video uploaded on Monday (13 June).

He added: "We've been asked to diversify and when we try to do that the local authorities tell us we can't. That needs addressing."

I sent this to Number 10 recently. pic.twitter.com/5WHXNwMYIa  Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) June 13, 2022

The former Top Gear presenter then posted a series of other messages on the topic of food and farming.

You can live without heat and clothing and even sex. But you cannot live without food. Please support British farming.  Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) June 13, 2022

What we must understand is that the grants farmers got for growing food are going. And we need food.  Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) June 13, 2022

The tweets led Prime Minister Boris Johnson to respond, highlighting in a video how this government is 'backing British farming' with the new food strategy.

Farmers will be issued more support to bolster domestic food production as part of the long-awaited food strategy, which was unveiled on Monday (13 June).

"I hope very much that you've had a chance to have a look at our Food Strategy," Mr Johnson said in a video, directed at Jeremy Clarkson.

"A lot of that is about backing British farming, backing our own domestic food production, eating more of what we grow here."

He added: "But what we want to do particularly for farmers - and I know that you care about this a lot - is ensure that we say that when farmers want to develop their property.

"When they want to turn a barn into a bistro or whatever you want to do, that we make sure that computer does not say no, and we help them - help farmers to make the most of their crops and their land as well."
Campaigners are renewing their calls for an end to UK live exports after 15,000 sheep died in the Red Sea last week.

Reports show that on 11 June around 15,000 sheep drowned when the Al Badri 1, a livestock vessel carrying them from Sudan to Saudi Arabia capsized.

The ship sank near the harbour exit as it was leaving the port of Suakin in Sudan. A report states that around 700 of the 15,800 sheep onboard were rescued.

Worldwide each year, millions of sheep, cattle, and pigs are sent on export journeys for slaughter or fattening by road, rail, sea or air across continents.

But Compassion in World Farming, which is calling for an end to such exports, said the trade was 'inhumane' and 'unnecessary'.

Today (14 June) marks the annual Ban Live Exports: International Awareness Day, in which supporters from a range of similar organisations unite to for a ban.

The date of 14 June was chosen due to a similar incident in 2015, when, on that date, 13,000 sheep died during a sea journey from Romania to Somalia.

Compassion in World Farming said the UK government should honour its pledge to ban UK live exports , made in August 2021.

Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser of the group said: "Animals should be slaughtered as near as possible to the farm on which they were reared and fattened on or near the farm where they were born.

Compassion in World Farming is calling for these exports to be ended... and is writing to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) whose guidelines provide that the amount of time animals spend on a journey should be kept to the minimum.

"We urge WOAH to press all their member countries to respect this guideline and to rapidly bring an end the transport of live animals over long distances."

However, according to Ruminant Health & Welfare (RH&W)  whose members represent the breadth of the supply chain  a ban on live exports would have far-reaching consequences.

It urged the government to build regional abattoir capacity in response: "Defra should, if a ban is implemented, take responsibility for the impact on businesses," said chairman Nigel Miller.
New data has provided stark evidence of how the UK pig sector's contraction will soon start to affect supplies going forward, as producers continue to see multiple crises such as high costs and the on-farm backlog.

Anonymised data from AgroVision, shared with the National Pig Association (NPA), confirms significant reductions in sow numbers and weaners compared with last year, with the trend accelerating in recent months.

A big proportion of the data AgroVision records on pig herd performance goes into a sample, representing about 60% of the GB herd, providing an overview of industry trends.

AgroVision recorded 373,000 weaners in April 2022, compared with 482,000 a year earlier, a huge 23% drop, continuing a downward trend since the start of the year.

The three-month rolling average shows a steady, virtually uninterrupted decline from a monthly average of 479,000 in September 2021 to 406,000 in April.

Based on services, AgroVision is forecasting further declines in weaner numbers in May and June.

AgroVisions April 2022 figure of 181,000 sows represents a 27,000, 13%, year-on-year reduction on the April 2021 figure 208,000.

Between April and November 2021, the figure was relatively stable level at around 206,000 to 208,000 sows.

But there have been seven consecutive months of decline since 21 September, with the rate accelerating since November, including a reduction of 14,000 between February and April.

The AgroVision data suggests a 21% year-on-year drop in sow services, with 33,000 recorded in April, compared with 42,000 in April 2021.

Agrovisions James Nesling said the company was confident the figures are representative of the wider industry.

One or two producers might have stopped recording but, generally, those that are using the system are updating regularly as they need to be recording what they are doing.

"This is a very good sample size and the data is fairly consistent month on month, he said.

Responding, the NPA said the data should send out a message to the supply chain and government about the 'huge impact' of the ongoing crisis on pig production capacity.

NPA chief executive Zoe Davies said: At a time when food security is under the spotlight, we do not want to see our production capacity eroded to the point where we are almost entirely reliant on imports.

That is why we continue to call for all parts of the supply chain to play their part in putting prices up and for the government to provide some proper support, so we can stem this decline in UK pork production.

She also highlighted recent analysis showing how some supermarket chains and retailers are currently doing more than others to help.

It is time for the whole supply to pull together to secure our future supplies of British pork, Ms Davies added.
The Scottish government has signalled it will not change Scotland's GM regulatory regime after Westminster introduced a bill shifting policy on gene edited crops and livestock.

The UK government announced new legislation through the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill to allow rules around gene editing of crops - and eventually animals - to be relaxed in England.

The post-Brexit law change means that scientists will be able to undertake research and development using the technique, following years of restrictions due to EU law.

For the most part, farming industry groups, such as the NFU, welcomed the bill's introduction, calling it a 'science-based legislative change'.

The union said the legislation change had the potential to offer a number of benefits to UK food production and to the environment.

The UK government had invited Scotland to join in on the legislation, the day before the Bill was introduced in Westminster.

However, in a new letter to Defra Secretary George Eustice, Scotland's farming minister Mairi McAllan rejected the invitation.

She said the use of genetic technologies was a "complex and emotive area", adding that it was "abundantly clear that there are issues that need to be addressed".

Furthermore, there were "serious considerations" around trade, including with the EU, the UK's biggest trading partner.

Gene-edited products from England could also enter devolved areas, Ms McAllan warned, which would be unacceptable.

"We have been clear that we do not presently intend to amend the GM regulatory regime in Scotland to remove categories of products which are currently regulated as GMOs," the minister said.

"The views of stakeholders in Scotland will be central to decision-making in this devolved area of responsibility (as is our pursuit of the highest environmental standards more generally).

"This encompasses views and evidence from the scientific community, views from across the spectrum of industry interests and, crucially, the views of consumers and the public as a whole."

Ms McAllan went on to say that "consumer information and choice is key", and that the public had a right to know what they were consuming.

"As your Impact Assessment to the Bill acknowledges, the market for precision-bred products 'ultimately depends on prevailing consumer attitudes to products which contain genetically engineered material', and 'the publics acceptance of GE and similar products remains an area of uncertainty.'

"Your own consultation last year rejected the changes to the regulation of GM that you are now pursuing. I am therefore extremely concerned that the UK governments preferred option, as set out in the Bill documentation, will not require labelling of precision-bred products."

She added: "Not only does this obstruct the enforcement of our devolved powers to regulate produce covered by the GM crops, animals and food and feed regimes in Scotland, but I am firmly of the view that the public have a right to know what they are consuming."

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill will go through the second reading stage in the House of Commons on Wednesday (15 June).
Securing the future of non-intensive sustainable agriculture in the UK is a key part of the answer to current debates in food policy, farmers in Wales have said.

Welsh farming representatives have argued that sustainably-farmed red meat such as Welsh Lamb  over half of which is sold to English consumers  offers solutions to the problems currently affecting the food system.

With the UK governments food strategy released on Monday, there is considerable attention on how to secure Britains food future and find ways to tackle issues like climate change, obesity and food security.

The government highlighted the importance of food security and sustainability, as well as the need to respond to current cost of living pressures and rising food prices.

But farmers in Wales, represented by Hybu Cig Cymru (Meat Promotion Wales), say that Welsh red meat can play a key role, due to the low intensity regenerative farming methods used in its production, and the high standards of animal health and welfare.

Research has shown that Welsh beef and sheep farming is far less harmful to the environment than farming elsewhere, causing much lower emissions.

Farmers in Wales therefore argue that sourcing Welsh red meat, rather than looking further afield, helps maintain high ethical and environmental standards.

Gwyn Howells, chief executive of HCC said: There are a number of issues which need addressing in our current food system. Obviously, the challenge of climate change is urgent and all sectors must play their part.

"Also, we must address food security, and be resilient in the face of external shocks such as the recent rise in costs and the war in Ukraine.

Rather than looking to faddish solutions, its time to support types of regenerative farming that are suited to the landscape and climate of these islands."

According to research, lamb and beef production in Wales is already much lower in terms of emissions than most other countries.

And numerous industry projects are currently underway to reduce the climate impact of Welsh red meat even further.

Mr Howells warned that any policies which put at risk Wales' productive and sustainable domestic livestock sector presented 'real dangers'.

"Families could face increasing food bills, and we may end up importing more food which may be produced to lower environmental and welfare standards.

He concluded: Welsh livestock farmers use non-intensive methods, using land thats unsuitable for other types of farming, and relying overwhelmingly on grass and rainfall rather than the additional inputs which are rocketing in their cost."
Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-Category
It has been two years since Sushant Singh Rajput's tragic passing. The late actor died on June 14, 2020, and as today marks the second death anniversary, we're looking back at some of his most heartening onscreen and off-screen moments. The actor had, in one instance, expressed his wish to attend a party at Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's home - Mannat in Mumbai. And in time, he did it.

In an old interview with a leading news portal, Sushant Singh Rajput had revealed that he was once at a cafe near Mannat and he saw cars driving through Shah Rukh Khan's home for a gathering. "I was never star-struck but I remember once I was sitting with my friends at a coffee shop near Shah Rukh's house in Bandra. He had a party and I could see a lot of big cars entering his bungalow."

"I told myself that one day I would like to go inside and party with him," he added. He had then shared that later he was indeed invited to a party on the occasion of Eid. The late actor recalled that it made him "really happy."

Sushant Singh Rajput's death at his home in Mumbai had sent shockwaves across the nation. His loved ones and fans continue to mourn his demise. While his last film was Dil Bechara which was released after his death, he leaves behind a memorable filmography that includes hits like Kai Po Che, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Chhicchore and many more.
As Kirron Kher turns a year older, we take a look back at her marriage with Anupam Kher which has remained stronger than ever for the past 36 years. Their relationship has weathered many storms since they got married in 1985.





In an interview in 2013 with a leading publication, Kirron Kher opened up about her marriage and love story with Anupam Kher. She recalled that they were doing theatre in Chandigarh together and were the best of friends. They were so close that they knew everything about each other, Kirron even knew the girls Anupam was attracted to. She added that it was fun as they worked together but there was nothing more than friendship at that point.

After this, Kirron came to Mumbai and got married to Gautam Berry, however it did not work out between them. This is also when Anupam Kher was facing difficulties in his marriage. Talking about the precise moment they felt something, Kirron told in an interview that they were going to Kolkata for Nadira Babbars play and she saw him looking different as his head was shaved, and Anupam looked back at her. She revealed that he later knocked in her room and confessed that he thought he had fallen in love with her. She later got a divorce from Gautam Berry and married Anupam Kher.





They later faced a financial crisis when Anupam Kher became a producer and borrowed money from the industry. During this time, Kirron would work and support her husband. She also added that he was optimistic and handled everything very positively.





Later Kirron Kher was diagnosed with cancer during the pandemic. However, she emerged stronger and beat the disease with the company and constant support of her husband.
MONTREAL, June 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier Inc. ("Bombardier" or the "Company") today announced the commencement of a tender offer (the "Tender Offer") to purchase for cash up to $350,000,000 aggregate purchase price (exclusive of accrued and unpaid interest) (as such aggregate purchase price may be increased or decreased by the Company, the "Aggregate Maximum Purchase Amount") of its outstanding Notes of the three series listed in the table below (collectively, the "Notes"); provided that the Company will only accept for purchase its 7.875% Senior Notes due 2027 having an aggregate purchase price of up to $100,000,000 (exclusive of accrued and unpaid interest) (as such aggregate purchase price for such 2027 Notes may be increased or decreased by the Company, the "2027 Tender Cap"). The Tender Offer will be funded entirely by using cash from the Company's balance sheet. The Tender Offer is being made pursuant to an Offer to Purchase dated June 13, 2022.



The table below summarizes certain payment terms for the Tender Offer:

Title of Note CUSIP / ISIN

(144A) CUSIP / ISIN

(Reg S) Principal

Amount

Outstanding 2027 Tender

Cap Acceptance

Priority

Level (4) Tender Offer

Consideration

(1)(2) Early

Tender

Payment

(1) Total

Consideration

(1)(2)(3) 7.875% Senior

Notes due

2027 097751 BT7 /

US097751BT78 C10602 BG1 /

USC10602BG11 $2,000,000,000 $100,000,000 1 $825.00 $30.00 $855.00 7.500% Senior

Notes due

2024 097751 BR1 /

US097751BR13 C10602 BF3 /

USC10602BF38 $800,000,000 N/A 2 $930.00 $30.00 $960.00 7.50% Senior

Notes due

2025 097751BM2 /

US097751BM26 C10602BA4 /

USC10602BA41 $1,300,000,000 N/A 3 $920.00 $30.00 $950.00

(1) Per $1,000 principal amount of Notes accepted for purchase.

(2) Excludes accrued and unpaid interest, which will be paid in addition to the Tender Offer Consideration or the Total Consideration, as applicable.

(3) Includes the applicable Early Tender Payment.

(4) The Acceptance Priority Level will be applied separately at the Early Tender Date and at the Expiration Date.

The Tender Offer will expire at 11:59 p.m. New York City time, on July 12, 2022 unless extended or earlier terminated (such date and time, including as extended or earlier terminated, the "Expiration Date"). Registered holders (each, a "Holder" and collectively, the "Holders") of the Notes must validly tender their Notes at or before 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 27, 2022 (such date and time, including as extended or earlier terminated, the "Early Tender Date") in order to be eligible to receive the Early Tender Payment in addition to the Tender Offer Consideration (as defined below).

Tenders of the Notes may be withdrawn at any time at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 27, 2022, unless extended or earlier terminated (the "Withdrawal Deadline"), and not thereafter, except in certain limited circumstances where withdrawal rights are required by applicable law.

The Notes will be purchased in accordance with the "Acceptance Priority Level" (in numerical priority order) as set forth in the table above (the "Acceptance Priority Level"), with Acceptance Priority Level 1 being the highest and Acceptance Priority Level 3 being the lowest, and possible proration of the Notes on the Early Settlement Date (as defined below) or the Final Settlement Date (as defined below) will be determined in accordance with the terms of the Tender Offer; provided that notwithstanding the Acceptance Priority Level for the 7.875% Senior Notes due 2027, the amount of such Notes that will be accepted in the Tender Offer is limited by the 2027 Tender Cap; and further provided that Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or prior to the Early Tender Date will be accepted for purchase in priority to Notes tendered after the Early Tender Date, even if such Notes tendered after the Early Tender Date have a higher Acceptance Priority Level than Notes tendered at or prior to the Early Tender Date.

Accordingly, if the aggregate total purchase price payable for the Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or prior to the Early Tender Date and accepted for purchase equals or exceeds the Aggregate Maximum Purchase Amount, then Holders who validly tender Notes after the Early Tender Date will not have any such Notes accepted for payment regardless of the Acceptance Priority Level of such Notes (unless the terms of the Tender Offer are amended by the Company in its sole and absolute discretion).

If, on the Early Settlement Date or Final Settlement Date, as applicable, only a portion of the tendered Notes of a series of Notes may be accepted for purchase, the aggregate principal amount of such series of Notes accepted for purchase will be prorated based upon the aggregate principal amount of that series of Notes that have been validly tendered and not yet accepted for purchase in the Tender Offer, such that the Aggregate Maximum Purchase Amount and the 2027 Tender Cap (with respect to the 7.875% Senior Notes due 2027) will not be exceeded.

The Total Consideration includes, in each case, an early tender payment (the "Early Tender Payment") of $30.00 for each $1,000 principal amount of the Notes, which Early Tender Payment is in addition to, in each case, the applicable Tender Offer Consideration (as defined below).

Subject to purchase in accordance with the Acceptance Priority Level, the Aggregate Maximum Purchase Amount, the 2027 Tender Cap and possible proration, Holders validly tendering Notes (that have not been validly withdrawn) at or prior to the Early Tender Date will be eligible to receive the applicable Total Consideration listed in the table above, which includes the Early Tender Payment, on the "Early Settlement Date", which is expected to be the second business day after the Early Tender Date, which means that the Early Settlement Date is expected to be June 29, 2022, but that may change without notice. Holders validly tendering Notes after the Early Tender Date but at or prior to the Expiration Date will only be eligible to receive the applicable "Tender Offer Consideration" listed in the table on the "Final Settlement Date". The Final Settlement Date is expected to be the second business day after the Expiration Date, which means that the Final Settlement Date is expected to be July 14, 2022, but that may change without notice. In addition to the Total Consideration or Tender Offer Consideration, Holders whose Notes are accepted for purchase will also receive accrued and unpaid interest from the last interest payment date to, but not including, the applicable settlement date.

The obligation of the Company to accept for purchase, and to pay for, Notes validly tendered pursuant to the Tender Offer is subject to, and conditioned upon, the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions as set forth in the Offer to Purchase, in the sole and absolute discretion of the Company. If such conditions shall not have been satisfied (or waived by the Company), no payments will be made to tendering Holders on the Early Settlement Date or Final Settlement Date, as applicable. The Tender Offer is not conditioned on any minimum amount of Notes being tendered.

None of Bombardier, the trustees for the Notes, the agents under the respective indentures for the Notes, the dealer managers, the information and tender agent, any of their respective subsidiaries or affiliates or any of its or their respective directors, officers, employees or representatives makes any recommendation to Holders as to whether or not to tender all or any portion of their Notes, and none of the foregoing has authorized any person to make any such recommendation. Holders must decide whether to tender Notes, and if tendering, the amount of Notes to tender.

All of the Notes are held in book-entry form. If you hold Notes through a broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee, you must contact such broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee if you wish to tender Notes pursuant to the Tender Offer. You should check with such broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee to determine whether they will charge you a fee for tendering Notes on your behalf. You should also confirm with the broker, dealer, bank, trust company or other nominee any deadlines by which you must provide your tender instructions, because the relevant deadline set by such nominee may be earlier than the deadlines set forth herein.

Bombardier has retained Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. to serve as dealer managers for the Tender Offer. Bombardier has retained Global Bondholder Services Corporation to act as the information and tender agent in respect of the Tender Offer.

For additional information regarding the terms of the Tender Offer, please contact Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. at their respective telephone numbers set forth on the back cover page of the Offer to Purchase. Copies of the Offer to Purchase may be obtained at https://www.gbsc-usa.com/bombardier/or by contacting Global Bondholder Services Corporation at.

This notice does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to purchase, or any solicitation of any offer to sell, the Notes or any other securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction, and neither this notice nor any part of it, nor the fact of its release, shall form the basis of, or be relied on or in connection with, any contract therefor. The Tender Offer is made only by and pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Offer to Purchase and the information in this notice is qualified by reference to the Offer to Purchase.



This announcement does not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell any securities in any jurisdiction or in any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful. In those jurisdictions where the securities, blue sky or other laws require the Tender Offer to be made by a licensed broker or dealer, the Tender Offer will be deemed to be made by the dealer managers or one or more registered brokers or dealers licensed under the laws of such jurisdiction.

Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements based on current expectations. By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to important known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause our actual results in future periods to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. For additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties, and the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Offer to Purchase.

About Bombardier



Bombardier is a global leader in aviation, focused on designing, manufacturing and servicing the world's most exceptional business jets. Bombardier's Challenger and Global aircraft families are renowned for their cutting-edge innovation, cabin design, performance and reliability. Bombardier has a worldwide fleet of approximately 5,000 aircraft in service with a wide variety of multinational corporations, charter and fractional ownership providers, governments and private individuals. Bombardier aircraft are also trusted around the world in special-mission roles.

Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Bombardier operates aerostructure, assembly and completion facilities in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The company's robust customer support network includes facilities in strategic locations in the United States and Canada, as well as in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, the UAE, Singapore, China and an Australian facility opening in 2022.

For corporate news and information, including Bombardier's Environmental, Social and Governance report, visit bombardier.com. Learn more about Bombardier's industry-leading products and customer service network at businessaircraft.bombardier.com. Follow us on Twitter @Bombardier.

Bombardier, Challenger and Global are registered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.

For information
TOKYO, June 14, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - Olympus Corporation ("Olympus" - Director, Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO: Yasuo Takeuchi) announces that from April 2022, the company has begun to exclusively source 100% of the electricity used at its major R&D and manufacturing sites in Japan from renewable sources.As a result, CO2 emissions from Olympus Group facilities in Japan will be reduced by approximately 40,000 tons per year. The percentage of the Olympus Group's total electricity use* in fiscal 2023 (ending March 2023) from renewable energy sources is expected to substantially increase from approximately 14% in the previous fiscal year to approximately 70%.- Transition to Renewable Energy Usage across the Olympus Group (Facilities in Japan and Overseas)FY2020 11.7%FY2021 12.7%FY2022 (estimate) 14% (approx.)FY2023 (estimate) 70% (approx.)*Excluding recently acquired companies, certain service offices, and certain sales offices.Olympus has set a goal of achieving net zero CO2 emissions from its site operations by 2030, as part of its commitment to achieving environmentally responsible business growth and creating a sustainable society. This is a key goal in line with our ESG materiality targets focused on the theme of a "carbon neutral society and circular economy."The company has already introduced a wide range of initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions. This includes the use of 100% renewable energy at some manufacturing sites in Europe and the United States, the installation of solar power generation facilities at some manufacturing sites in Japan, and support of the recommendations made by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)*.To achieve its carbon neutral goal, Olympus will continue to optimize manufacturing processes and promote energy-saving measures, is committed to further accelerate the shift to renewable energy sources across the company, thereby contributing to the decarbonization of society on a global level.About OlympusOlympus 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 30,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries and regions. For more information, visit www.olympus-global.com and follow our global Twitter account: @Olympus_Corp (https://twitter.com/olympus_corp).Olympus ContactCommunicationsContact Olympus: https://www.olympus-global.com/products/contact/*News release "Olympus Targets Carbon Neutrality by 2030 - Adds Carbon Neutrality and Circular Economy to its ESG Materiality and Supports the Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures":https://www.olympus-global.com/news/2021/contents/nr02125/nr02125_00001.pdfSource: OlympusCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd. (AIM:ECO)(TSX-V:EOG) ("Eco"), the oil and gas exploration company focused on the offshore Atlantic Margins, and JHI Associates Inc. ("JHI") have mutually agreed that Eco will no longer proceed with the proposed acquisition of the balance of the issued share capital of JHI not currently held by it (the "Acquisition"). JHI holds a 17.5% participating interest in the Canje Block offshore Guyana.

While all the main commercial points were agreed upon in keeping with the Commercially Binding Term Sheet announced on 14 March 2022 (including the proposed issuance of 127m new common shares of Eco to JHI shareholders), it was not possible to agree on the terms of lock-up arrangements required by Eco, designed to restrict and control any subsequent immediate sale of the consideration shares to be issued to the shareholders of JHI, to provide Eco Atlantic's shareholders with the appropriate levels of protection in such a transaction. As a result, the Board of Eco Atlantic has decided not to progress with the acquisition at the current time.

Gil Holzman, Co-Founder and CEO of Eco Atlantic commented:

"With the exclusivity period of our JHI negotiations ending last night, we have terminated the JHI proposed acquisition. We are unable to proceed without the appropriate protection for our shareholders that such lock-up arrangements were designed to provide. We look forward to remaining a significant shareholder in JHI with over 7% of the company and, as such, retain exposure to the potential of the Canje Block. We wish the JHI management the best of luck in growing and monetizing the business to benefit all shareholders. Notwithstanding termination of discussions, we and JHI may re-evaluate the proposed acquisition at a future date.

We look forward to commencing our drilling campaigns planned in the prospective Block 2B in South Africa and Guyana this year and providing further corporate updates as appropriate."

For more information, please visit www.ecooilandgas.com or contact the following:

Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas c/o Celicourt +44 (0) 20 8434 2754 Gil Holzman, CEO

Colin Kinley, COO

Alice Carroll, Head of Marketing and IR +44(0)781 729 5070 | +1 (416) 318 8272 Strand Hanson Limited (Financial & Nominated Adviser) +44 (0) 20 7409 3494 James Harris

James Bellman

Berenberg (Broker) +44 (0) 20 3207 7800 Emily Morris

Detlir Elezi

Celicourt (PR) +44 (0) 20 8434 2754 Mark Antelme

Jimmy Lea



The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended).

About Eco Atlantic:

Eco Atlantic is a TSX-V and AIM-quoted Atlantic Margin-focused oil & gas exploration company with offshore license interests in Guyana, Namibia, and South Africa. Eco aims to deliver material value for its stakeholders through its role in the energy transition to explore for low carbon intensity oil and gas in stable emerging markets close to infrastructure.

Offshore Guyana in the proven Guyana-Suriname Basin, the Company holds a 15% Working Interest in the 1,800 km2 Orinduik Block Operated by Tullow Oil. In Namibia, the Company holds Operatorship and an 85% Working Interest in four offshore Petroleum Licences: PELs: 97, 98, 99, and 100, representing a combined area of 28,593 km2 in the Walvis Basin.

Offshore South Africa, Eco is Operator and holds a 50% working interest in Block 2B and a 20% Working Interest in Blocks 3B/4B operated by Africa Oil Corp., totalling some 20,643 km2.

Cautionary Notes:

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements", including, without limitation, statements containing the words "will", "may", "expects", "intends", "anticipates" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectations, assumptions, and beliefs, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, general economic and market factors, competition, the effect of the global pandemic and consequent economic disruption, and the factors detailed in the Company's ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com. Although forward-looking statements contained herein are based on what management considers to be reasonable assumptions based on currently available information, there can be no assurance that actual events, performance or results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and our assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

The TSX-V has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: Eco (Atlantic) Oil and Gas Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/705010/Eco-Atlantic-Oil-and-Gas-Ltd-Announces-Termination-of-the-proposed-JHI-Acquisition
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Shares of Go-Ahead Group PLC (GOG.L) were gaining around 14 percent in the early morning trading in London after the public transport company received multiple takeover offers. On Monday, Go-Ahead reached an agreement with a consortium, consisting of Kinetic Holding Company Pty Ltd and Globalvia Inversiones S.A.U., to be acquired for around 647.7 million pounds. Under the deal terms, Go-Ahead Shareholders will be entitled to receive 1,500 pence for each Go-Ahead Share. This comprises 1,450 pence in cash and a special dividend of 50 pence per Go-Ahead Share, in lieu of a final dividend for the year ending 2 July 2022. Earlier, Go-Ahead confirmed receiving revised proposals from the consortium as well as Kelsian Group Limited. Go-Ahead then said both parties have been given access to undertake confirmatory due diligence. Meanwhile, Kelsian now urged Go-Ahead shareholders to take no action at this time. The company confirmed that it has been in preliminary discussions with Go-Ahead in relation to a possible takeover proposal. The company said any such possible offer is likely to be in cash. Kelsian said it continues to carefully assess the opportunity with a disciplined focus on the strategic and financial rationale. In London, Go-Ahead shares were trading at 1,546 pence, up 13.68 percent. 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.
Users will benefit from advanced treasury and risk management capabilities

PARIS, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Finastra today announced a partnership with Lozenge Analytics, offering the capabilities to Fusion KTP customers. The combined solution, available in the cloud or on-premise, is available to clients in France and the Benelux region, with the potential to expand into other geographies in the future.

Finastra's Fusion KTP treasury management solution provides corporate and bank treasurers with a consolidated view of their liquidity and financial positions - enabling them to see all financial exposures, optimize their hedging costs, reduce risk and ensure compliance. Integrating the capabilities of Lozenge Analytics will allow Fusion KTP users to perform complex statistical risk calculations. This includes using methods such as Value at Risk (VAR), Potential Future Exposure, Valuation, and Delta to work out potential losses or exposures.

Eric Aillet, Principal Product Manager at Finastra said, "The Lozenge Analytics team has in-depth knowledge of Fusion KTP and a wealth of experience in the areas of risk management, regulation and compliance. The integration of Lozenge Analytics with Fusion KTP brings significant value, and we look forward to working together to deliver these benefits to our clients."

Using Lozenge Analytics, integrated with Fusion KTP, bank treasurers will be able to perform stress tests as required by the European Banking Authority. Treasurers will be able to run different scenarios in order to demonstrate the institution's ability to deal with a range of crisis situations.

Renaud Savina, CEO of Lozenge Analytics said, "We're thrilled to partner with Finastra. Collaborating will help us extend our reach and deliver our capabilities to Fusion KTP users. We believe customers will benefit immensely from the ability to perform complex statistical risk calculations using a fully integrated solution in the cloud."

For further information please contact:

Caroline Duff

Global Head of PR

T +44 (0)7917 613586

E caroline.duff@finastra.com

About Finastra

Finastra is a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, and launched the leading open platform for innovation, FusionFabric.cloud, in 2017. It serves institutions of all sizes, providing award-winning solutions and services across Lending, Payments, Treasury & Capital Markets and Retail & Digital Banking for banks to support direct banking relationships and grow through indirect channels, such as embedded finance and Banking as a Service. Its pioneering approach and commitment to open finance and collaboration is why it is trusted by ~8,600 institutions, including 90 of the world's top 100 banks. For more information, visit finastra.com.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/finastra

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinastraFS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXMHbdfIgA6bzw_fsPN39bg

Corporate headquarters

4 Kingdom Street

Paddington

London W2 6BD

United Kingdom

T: +44 20 3320 5000

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/967510/Finastra_Logo.jpg




JAKARTA, June 14, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - The 34th global edition of World AI & RPA Show supported by KORIKA and IAIS concluded with 2 days of the power-packed conference that served as a key catalyst for Jakarta's bold vision of leveraging innovation and technology to diversify its goals by bringing together government officials & inspirational line-up of Artificial Intelligence experts & solution providers on the 8th & 9th of June.The show brought together over 450+ delegates & 45+ exception tech leaders as speakers from across the globe including major stakeholders of Jakarta's digital ecosystem.The theme for the conference was premised on helping key government entities and private enterprises that develop a comprehensive Artificial Intelligence roadmap by assessing sectors of critical infrastructure emerging technologies can be a strategic enabler to boost the nation's economic competitiveness.Prof. Dr. Hammam Riza, Principal Expert, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) President of KORIKA, Indonesia, spoke at length on the topic, "Leveraging Digital Transformation through Indonesia's AI National Strategy", and made strong points on AI Roadmap and its implementation in accordance with the country's values system. He also expressed how AI National Strategy can help in creating a digital-savvy workforce.Dr. Eng. Hary Budiarto, Chairman of Research and Talent Development Agency Ministry of ICT Indonesia, gave a keynote on "Why Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a critical component of Indonesia's technological landscape". He was quoted saying, "The primary industries in Indonesia will benefit from AI and other cutting-edge technologies, which will assist the Indonesian economy overcome challenges and limitations."Suganthi Shivkumar, Vice President, Asia, Alteryx, while delivering her tech talk on 'Driving Analytic Maturity: Scale the Impact of Analytics Across the Organization', spoke about a proven method that helps organizations democratize analytics across an organization, and added what are the stages of analytics maturity.One of the most prominent panel discussions witnessed at the event discussed on "How AI and Automation can drive a customer-centric Environment". The speakers on the panel included Muhamad Erza Aminanto, Senior Research Scientist, Jakarta Smart City; Amit Panda, Group Head of Data and Analytics, Sinarmas Financial (SMMA Group), Jean-Marc Provost, Director Digital and Conversational AI, Genesys; Eva Dormauli, Assistant Vice President Sales for Small and Medium Division BRI, PT. Bank Rakyat Indonesia Persero Tbk.In this discussion, panellists gave their insights on how CX revolutionised with the introduction of Conversational AI, the cause and cure for point solution chaos, a roadmap for Government bodies to become digital leaders and how Data and AI became the accelerators of CX.Bambang Dwi AngGono; Director of e-Government Department of Communications and Informatics - Republic of Indonesia, on his keynote shared insights on why Artificial Intelligence is a central piece of digital transformation'. He was quoted saying, "AI innovation is happening at a truly exponential rate, and business leaders, CIOs and IT Professionals must be open to AI solutions which can create real business value."Satchit Joglekar, Regional Director, ASEAN Emerging Markets, Snowflake, Singapore, while delivering his tech talk on 'Power Your Organization Forward with the Data Cloud', stated, "The Data Cloud eliminates silos, enabling organizations to rapidly and flexibly combine data from disparate sources to create new insights and maximize the value of the enterprise data."The event also focused on other key topics such as:- Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) at the heart of a company's business and operational models,- The digital revolution's frontiers are being pushed farther by recent advancements like facial recognition and related innovations,- Revamping policies for the digital era: Realigning policies and institutions with the digital economy,- Cloud as a driver for digital transformation and many more.Some of the top speakers who attended the event that took place on the 8th and 9th of June 2022 included:- Prof. Dr. Hammam Riza, Principal Expert, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) President of KORIKA, Indonesia;- Dr. Eng. Hary Budiarto; Chairman of Research and Talent Development Agency, Ministry of ICT, Indonesia;- Bambang Dwi Anggono, Director of e-Government, Department of Communications and Informatics, Republic of Indonesia, Indonesia;- Setiaji Setiaji, Chief of Digital Transformation Office, Minister of Health of The Republic of Indonesia;- Dr. Lukas, Co-founder and Chairperson, Indonesia AI Society;- Suganthi Shivkumar; Vice President - Asia, Alteryx;- Indra Hidayatullah, Data Management & Analytics Division Head, PT Bank Tabungan Negara (Persero) Tbk;- Kevin Lim, Regional Vice President, SEATH Dataiku Singapore;- Katrina Briedis; Sr. Product Marketing Manager, APAC, Denodo, Australia;- Satchit Joglekar; Regional Director, ASEAN Emerging Markets, Snowflake Singapore;- Benedikta Satya; Country Director, Searce, Indonesia;- Tauhid Abddul Jalil; Principal Consultant, Southeast Asia, Laiye;- Jean-marc Provost; Director Digital and Conversational AI, Genesys, Singapore;- Juan Kanggrawan; Head of Data Analytics Jakarta Smart City- Prof. Dr. Ir. Arwin Sumari; Senior Officer, Indonesian Air Force, Adjunct Professor, Politeknik Negeri Malang Indonesia and more."Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology holds enormous potential to transform businesses in ways that can improve operational effectiveness, boost productivity, increase efficiency, and reduce costs," stated Mithun Shetty, CEO, Trescon.The Jakarta edition of WorldAIShow was officially supported by KORIKA, IAIS; & officially sponsored by:- Lead Sponsor - Dataiku | iZeno;- Gold Sponsors - Denodo, Alteryx, Searce & Snowflake;- Silver Sponsors - Laiye & Genesys | Phincon;- Bronze Sponsor - Darktrace- Official Media Partners - The Jakarta Post & PR Newswire, a Cision company.About World AI & RPA ShowWorld AI Show is a thought-leadership-driven, business-focused, global series of events that takes place in strategic locations across the world. It connects top AI experts, enterprises, government representatives, data scientists, technology leaders, startups, investors, researchers, academicians, and global AI innovators - to discuss the impact of AI on commercial applications and the revolutionary ways it can transform businesses and government functions.About TresconTrescon is a global business events and consulting firm that provide a wide range of business services to a diversified client base that includes corporations, governments and individuals. Trescon is specialized in producing highly focused B2B events that connect businesses with opportunities through conferences, roadshows, expos, demand generation, investor connect and consulting services.For more information, visit: https://tresconglobal.com/conferences/ai/jakarta/For further details about the announcement, please contact:Jagriti Jaiswal,Marketing Lead, Tresconmedia@tresconglobal.comSource: tresconCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, inspects a research institute on chernozem soil conservation in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, June 12, 2022. Li made a law-enforcement inspection in Heilongjiang Province from June 10 to 13. Led by Li, legislators inspected the province's work in implementing the environmental protection law. They also conducted research for the legislation of a law on chernozem soil conservation. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) HARBIN, June 13 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Li Zhanshu has underlined sound legislation and supervision work in the environmental protection field, to employ the strength of the rule of law in ensuring the building of a beautiful China. Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, made the remarks during a four-day law-enforcement inspection that ended on Monday in China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang. Led by Li, legislators inspected the province's work in implementing the environmental protection law. They also conducted research for the legislation of a law on chernozem soil conservation. During the tour, Li called for efforts to advance the implementation of the law to ensure the CPC Central Committee's decisions and plans are effectively carried out. He noted that the legal system for environmental protection should be continuously improved to ensure that the system's overall effectiveness is enhanced. He also called on local governments, agricultural businesses and workers, and all relevant parties involved to take their due responsibility in conserving the chernozem soil, as it is important for the country's food security, ecological security and the Chinese nation's sustainable development. Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, inspects a research institute on chernozem soil conservation in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, June 12, 2022. Li made a law-enforcement inspection in Heilongjiang Province from June 10 to 13. Led by Li, legislators inspected the province's work in implementing the environmental protection law. They also conducted research for the legislation of a law on chernozem soil conservation. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, inspects Zhalong National Nature Reserve in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, June 10, 2022. Li made a law-enforcement inspection in Heilongjiang Province from June 10 to 13. Led by Li, legislators inspected the province's work in implementing the environmental protection law. They also conducted research for the legislation of a law on chernozem soil conservation. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, inspects China First Heavy Industries (CFHI) in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, June 10, 2022. Li made a law-enforcement inspection in Heilongjiang Province from June 10 to 13. Led by Li, legislators inspected the province's work in implementing the environmental protection law. They also conducted research for the legislation of a law on chernozem soil conservation. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
The "Albania Insurance Industry Key Trends and Opportunities to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The report gives a comprehensive overview of Albania's economy and demographic, Covid-19 impact on the industry. The report provides a detailed outlook by product category for the Albanian insurance industry.

It provides values for key performance indicators such as gross written premium, retail, and commercial split, premium ceded, profitability ratios, and premium by line of business, during the review period (2016-2020) and forecast period (2020-2025).

The report brings together the publisher's research, modeling, and analysis expertise, giving insurers access to information on segment dynamics. The report also includes details of insurance regulations, and recent changes in the regulatory structure.

Key Highlights

Key insights and dynamics of the Albanian insurance industry

A comprehensive overview of the Albanian economy, government initiatives and investment opportunities

The Albanian insurance regulatory framework's evolution, key facts, taxation regime, licensing and capital requirements

The Albanian insurance industry's market structure giving details of lines of business

Albania's reinsurance business's market structure giving details of premium ceded along with cession rates

Details of the competitive landscape and competitors' profiles

Scope

It provides historical values for the Albanian insurance industry for the report's 2016-2020 review period, and projected figures for the 2020-2025 forecast period

It offers a detailed analysis of the key categories in the Albanian insurance industry, and market forecasts to 2025

It profiles the top life insurance companies in Albania and outlines the key regulations affecting them

Key Topics Covered:

Economy Overview

Regulatory and Compliance

Key Market Trends

Life Insurance Overview

Penetration and Growth

Premiums Trends

Total Commissions and Expenses and Gross Claims

Investments

General Insurance Overview

Penetration and Growth

Premiums and Profitability

Total Commissions and Expenses and Gross Claims

Lines of Business Breakdown

Competitive Landscape

Insurance Industry Market Share and Concentration

Competitors Profiles

Mergers and Acquisition

Reinsurance Overview

Reinsurance Ceded Premiums

Insurtech

Appendix

Companies Mentioned

Sigal Life, Uniqa group Austria Sh.a.

Sicred Sh.a.

Insig Jete Sh.a.

Albsig jete

Sigal Uniqa Group Austria Sh.a.

Albsig Sh.a

Sigma Interalbanian Vienna Insurance Group Sh.a.

Eurosig Sh.a.

Intersig Vienna Insurance Group Sh.a.

Ansig Sh.a.

INSIG Sh.a.

Atlantic Society of Security Sh.a.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/378cpy

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005592/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

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
LONDON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Blis, the audience-first platform that doesn't rely on personal data, today announced the launch of its new e-guide, titled ' Missing something? Finding the audiences no one is talking aboutyet' . The new interactive e-guide was launched to help marketers understand the real impact of ID-reliant solutions on addressable audiences and the virtues of privacy-first solutions that don't rely on IDs to achieve accuracy at scale.

Changes to IDFAs and cookies have fundamentally impacted the ad ecosystem, from planning to targeting and measuring campaigns. The new e-guide looks at data from the UK, Europe, United States, Australia and New Zealand to demonstrate that almost half of the digital addressable audiences on mobile - and nearly half on desktop - are being missed due to IDs.

To enable marketers to uncover the people behind these percentages, Blis also launched its new interactive calculator showing which lifestyle audiences are being impacted the most by this drastic audience deprecation, covering 10 lifestyle audiences from travellers to fashionistas.

From questioning the sustainability of the solutions to understanding different technologies' limitations, the guide highlights three top tips for marketers to consider when choosing their advertising partners. Blis hopes the e-guide will help brands and agencies better understand how to embrace the privacy-first reality and adjust expectations and methods of targeting, to find and reach their missing audiences.

"There's still this belief that brands are achieving the right audience at scale - and that that will only change once the Chrome deprecation comes into force," said Aaron McKee, CTO at Blis. "But the current reality is much more troubling, as advertisers that still rely on IDs are already missing out on almost half of their audiences. This is happening right now, in front of our eyes and marketers need to have the right questions in mind when choosing their advertising partners. Today, not tomorrow. If your partners tell you they're still reaching your precise audiences at scale with ID-only or cookie-led solutions, you'll see that the numbers in our 'missing audience calculator' tell a different story".

The e-guide is available for download and reinforces Blis' commitment to audience-first targeting at scale that doesn't rely on personal data. Blis' approach is based on accurate, consented location data, combined with a range of rich online datasets giving clients the deepest audience understanding available.

About Blis

Blis is the audience-first platform that doesn't rely on personal data. We're an integrated planning and buying platform that delivers scaled, relevant and high-performing audiences, helping the world's largest brands and media agencies achieve their goals.

Over the past 18 years, Blis has built its reputation on delivering award-winning location-powered advertising solutions. In today's consumer-centric landscape, Blis is transforming the role of location data by combining it with a broad range of rich and powerful datasets to give our clients the deepest audience understanding available. Our unique approach to integrated planning and buying provides personalised targeting and performance without reliance on personal data. We serve relevant ads to the highest-value addressable audiences across any channel and deliver our clients' campaign outcomes every time, from brand awareness and engagement through to store/site visits and sales.

Established in the UK in 2004, Blis now operates in more than 40 offices across five continents. Working with the world's largest and most customer-driven companies across all verticals including Unilever, Samsung, McDonald's, HSBC, Mercedes Benz and Peugeot, as well as every major media agency.

To learn more, visit blis.com .

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1501097/Blis_Logo.jpg
Appoints Tuija Keinonen as Chair

TILT Biotherapeutics (TILT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer immunotherapies, announces it has completed the first close of its financing round raising $10.7 million (10 million). The round was led by Lifeline Ventures and was joined by Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd). The funding will be used to advance Phase I/II programs in Europe and the US, using TILT-123 plus immune checkpoint inhibitors against a range of cancers including ovarian, head neck, and lung.

The company also announces the appointment of Dr. Tuija Keinonen, PhD (Pharm),as Chair of the Board. Tuija brings specialist industry experience in life sciences business development and clinical trial operations across Europe and Asia.

TILT Biotherapeutics' founder and CEO, Akseli Hemminki, a cancer clinician who has personally treated hundreds of cancer patients, said, "I'm delighted to announce a solid financing for the company, and to warmly welcome Tuija Keinonen as Chair of the Board. Tuija brings a wealth of experience which will be a great asset as we progress our pipeline of armed oncolytic viruses. These are showing excellent potential in the clinic to increase the anti-tumor benefits of checkpoint inhibitors for a range of cancers where there's a pressing need for better therapies.

TILT Biotherapeutics' Chair, Tuija Keinonen, said, "I'm able to use my international business and clinical operations expertise to support TILT's growing clinical footprint. We now have several clinical trials running in Europe and the US and are planning more."

Lifeline Ventures' Founding Partner, Timo Ahopelto, said, "We support resilient founders. We saw early on the enormous potential in TILT's innovative approach to boost the patient's T cell immune response to better enable it to find and destroy cancer cells."

"TILT is one of the most promising biotech companies in Finland. We are excited to back the development of the company's innovative treatments for cancer types with currently limited treatment options. Despite the enormous developments in cancer treatments over the past decade, there is still a significant need for new therapies," said Miia Kaye, Investment Manager at Tesi.

-Ends-

About TILT Biotherapeutics

TILT Biotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer therapeutics based on its proprietary oncolytic adenoviruses armed with molecules including cytokines that can stimulate, or suppress, T cells. The company's patented TILT technology, which can be delivered locally and systemically, modifies the tumor microenvironment, and eliminates its ability to suppress immune responses to cancer, thereby enhancing T-cell therapies such as checkpoint inhibitors and CAR T therapies.

TILT's lead asset, TILT-123, is a 5/3 chimeric serotype adenovirus armed with two human cytokines: TNF alpha and IL-2. TILT-123 has demonstrated a 100% response rate in pre-clinical cancer models in vivo, and it is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials.

The Company's pioneering approach has been recognized by industry leaders including with the Merck KGaA and Pfizer Alliance, who are collaborating to investigate TILT-123's therapeutic effect in combination with the PD-L1 inhibitor, Avelumab (Bavencio), in clinical trials. The Company also has a collaboration with MSD investigating TILT-123 with Pembrolizumab (Keytruda

In 2019, TILT established an additional partnership with Biotheus, a privately held Chinese company based in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China, for the development and commercialization of TILT's proprietary oncolytic virus TILT-123 in Greater China.

Based in Helsinki, Finland, the company was established in 2013 as a spin-out from the University of Helsinki. It has funding from Lifeline Ventures, Tesi, angel investors, Business Finland, and the European Innovation Council (EIC).

About LifeLine Ventures

Lifeline Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded by serial entrepreneurs. Our team has a wide global experience with diverse entrepreneurial and CxO backgrounds enabling us to help our portfolio teams with their needs. Being based in Finland we have local knowledge and can support our portfolio founders quickly with things big and small. Due to our global backgrounds and tight networks we are also well equipped to help our founders reach abroad for scaling, raising funding, recruiting, or advice.

Lifeline Ventures, based in Helsinki, Finland, invests in future category-leading companies with strong founders. To date, we have invested in over 100 companies. Our investment ticket size ranges from 100 kEUR to 2 mEUR and we participate in angel, seed, and series A rounds. See our website here: https://www.lifelineventures.com and follow up on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lifeline-ventures/

About Tesi

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a state-owned investment company that wants to raise Finland to the front ranks of transformative economic growth by investing in funds and directly in companies. We invest profitably and responsibly, together with co-investors, to create the world's new success stories. Our investments under management total 2.4 billion euros. www.tesi.fi @TesiFII

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005153/en/

Contacts:

Media contacts

TILT Biotherapeutics

CBO Aino Kalervo

aino@tiltbio.com

Scius Communications

Katja Stout

+447789435990

katja@sciuscommunications.com
The Digital Therapeutics Alliance (DTA) and Healthware Group today announced a partnership to form a coalition convening thought leaders, policymakers, and professional and trade associations from across the European region to discuss and develop harmonised pathways for the recognition and scalability of digital therapeutics (DTx) at the local, national, and regional levels.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005168/en/

Digital Therapeutics Alliance and Healthware Group Partner to Build European Coalition to Scale Access to Digital Therapeutics (Photo: Business Wire)

Developing this pan-European coalition will be a catalysing factor for the successful scaling of DTx therapies across countries. The first in-person meeting of the coalition will take place at Frontiers Health Global Conference this coming October in Milan, Italy. The coalition will focus on co-creating a vision for the future by analysing existing frameworks and infrastructure, sharing learnings, and developing recommendations to build an environment which ensures safe and effective DTx therapies can be accessible to patients regardless of where they live.

The partnership between Healthware and DTA is part of the Alliance's Resource Partner program, a best-in-class network of leading experts in the rapidly evolving DTx industry who collaborate with DTA members to develop resources to advance digital therapeutics to transform global healthcare. Through this relationship, Healthware will also support DTA's Europe Policy Task Group, which is focused on understanding and informing key aspects of the European policy landscape, including Health Technology Assessment frameworks, national funding, clinician engagement, and patient access and reimbursement pathways.

This announcement follows a longstanding collaboration between the two organisations, which began with DTA's European launch at the Frontiers Health Global Conference in 2017. The development of a pan-European coalition will deepen DTA's presence in the region and further its mission to broaden the understanding, adoption, and integration of clinically evaluated digital therapeutics into healthcare through education, advocacy, and cross-industry collaboration.

Healthware brings over a decade of experience and advocacy of digital health/digital therapeutics and an even longer history of developing digitally focused solutions for life sciences, payors and medical device companies. Healthware has also developed a corporate investment fund to support and invest in digital health companies and nurtures a vast digital health network and expertise. In the area of digital therapeutics specifically, Healthware Group supports both the research and development of DTx products as well as the go to market, access, system integration and adoption strategies in partnership with pharmaceutical companies, digital health and DTx companies and all ecosystem stakeholders.

"We have been partnering with Healthware since the inception of DTA and are thrilled to have their knowledge and expertise on board," shared Megan Coder, DTA Chief Policy Officer. "As we jointly develop this coalition, our aim is to enable full scale access to digital therapeutics throughout Europe to transform critical aspects of patient care."

Roberto Ascione, CEO of Healthware Group says, "My team at Healthware has been helping shape the digital health landscape in Europe for many years, through our work with Frontiers Health and in direct support of our clients. We are excited to deepen our partnership with DTA to help shape the European policy landscape and ensure DTx companies can scale. We are huge advocates for the positive impact digital therapeutics can have on patients and believe that these solutions can help fill care gaps, augment care delivery and most importantly support patients in novel ways."

Healthware and DTA look forward to building this coalition together and are seeking the active participation of key stakeholders across the region. Further announcements about the coalition and how to get involved will be rolling out soon.

Healthware Group

Healthware Group is a global health innovation and technology leader providing transformational advisory and technology services for commercial, medical, and R&D operations of life-sciences and digital health companies, combined with design and development of digital medicines and digital therapeutics products.

Proprietary software platforms, specialised media and educational assets as well as a corporate venturing arm, ensure accelerated product development, close integration within the innovation ecosystem, continuous pipeline development and superior market access capabilities.

Founded in Italy in 1997 by CEO and digital health pioneer Roberto Ascione, Healthware Group encompasses several vertical brands, including flagship commercial and medical communications agency Healthware International, media consultancy Healthware Engage, innovation consultancy Healthware Labs, and creative motion lab virtual hybrid events specialist SWM and the digital therapeutics R&D partner and product portfolio organisation, Healthware Therapeutics.

It also operates Healthware Ventures, the corporate investment arm that supports digital health start-ups with a focus on digital therapeutics and telehealth and is the co-host of the global leading digital health conference Frontiers Health.

Healthware has a team of 200+ professionals with main offices in Salerno, London, New York, Milan, Helsinki and, together with its joint venture partner Intouch Group, has a combined reach of 1,500+ people in over 15 offices in Europe, the US, and Asia.

Thanks to the Argon Global Healthcare acquisition, the group also runs the Healthware Global Network, one of the largest international networks of independent healthcare agencies covering 25 Countries worldwide.

Healthware Group is privately owned and backed by FITEC, a leading European VC fund focusing on technology.

For more information, please visit healthwaregroup.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Digital Therapeutics Alliance

The Digital Therapeutics Alliance (DTA) is a global non-profit trade association of industry leaders and stakeholders with the mission of broadening the understanding, adoption, and integration of digital therapeutics into healthcare. DTA works to enable expanded access to high quality, evidence-based digital therapeutics for patients, clinicians, and payors to improve clinical and health economic outcomes. To learn more, please visit: www.dtxalliance.org or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005168/en/

Contacts:

Healthware Group

Antonietta Pannella, Marketing Communications Director

Mobile: +39 349 0648276 Email: antonietta.pannella@healthwaregroup.com

Digital Therapeutics Alliance

Hannah Fairman, Director of Communications

Email: hfairman@dtxalliance.org
Hazeltree, a leader in treasury and liquidity management technology for the alternative asset industry, announced today that it has appointed Sandy Weil as Chief Revenue Officer. Weil joins Hazeltree with 30+ years of experience in developing new businesses and new markets across different high-growth areas in financial services.

Weil reports directly to Hazeltree CEO Tushar Amin and will be responsible for driving Hazeltree's growth strategy across regions and product lines.

Most recently, he was a Senior Vice President at ION Trading. He managed the global cross-selling business across treasury and commodities and developed a significant and fast-growing market for the worldwide ION cloud business.

"I am beyond excited to have Sandy leading Hazeltree's go-to-market efforts," said Tushar Amin, CEO of Hazeltree. "Sandy's industry experience, market, and customer knowledge, combined with his drive to create value for our customers, is unsurpassed. I look forward to his important contributions to Hazeltree's next chapter of growth."

"Sandy's proven strengths with clients in the alternative asset management space, his technical and experience as a software business executive make him an ideal fit for Hazeltree's growing leadership team," said Doug Haynes, Executive Chairman, Hazeltree.

"I'm thrilled to join a growing fintech company and use my experience to take Hazeltree to the next level," said Weil. "I look forward to pursuing new opportunities for growth and bringing innovation and value to our customer base."

Prior to ION Trading, Weil was a Group Vice President at Oracle in the Financial Services Global Business Unit (FSGBU), responsible for solutions consulting, product strategy, and global marketing.

He was also the President and CEO of a small technology company called Proginet, which was sold for triple revenues to TIBCO Software Inc. in 2010. Weil previously served at Accenture, where he was a global market maker and helped to grow both the consulting and integration business. He was at the forefront of the development of the Accenture offshore application management and BPO business from 1999 to 2006.

Weil received a BA from Hobart College. He has also attended executive leadership programs at INSEAD, Harvard and NYU.

About Hazeltree

Hazeltree is a leader in treasury and liquidity management technology for the alternative asset management industry. Hazeltree's innovative cloud-based treasury and liquidity solutions deliver enhanced transparency, liquidity, risk mitigation, streamlined operations and increased IRR by optimizing counterparty interactions, credit facilities, margin requirements, and fees. Hazeltree is headquartered in New York with offices in London and Hong Kong.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005240/en/

Contacts:

Malea Lydon

BackBay Communications

malea.lydon@backbaycommunications.com
HALIFAX, NS / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Silver Tiger Metals Inc. (TSXV:SLVR)(OTCQX:SLVTF) ("Silver Tiger" or the "Corporation") has intersected 2,564.9 g/t silver equivalent over 0.5 meters in the Sooy Vein in Drill Hole ET-21-300 from 128.5 meters to 129.0 meters within a broader mineralized interval of 4.9 meters grading 281.3 g/t silver equivalent from 124.1 meters to 129.0 meters.

Highlights from the on-going drilling program include the following:

Hole ET-21-300: 0.5 meters grading 2,564.9 g/t silver equivalent from 128.5 meters to 129.0 meters, consisting of 2,230.0 g/t silver, 0.24 g/t gold, 2.85% copper, 0.72% lead and 0.76% zinc within 4.9

meters grading 281.3 g/t silver equivalent from 124.1 meters to 129.0 meters, consisting of 239.1 g/t silver, 0.06 g/t gold, 0.30% copper, 0.14% lead and 0.16% zinc



from 128.5 meters to 129.0 meters, consisting of 2,230.0 g/t silver, 0.24 g/t gold, 2.85% copper, 0.72% lead and 0.76% zinc from 124.1 meters to 129.0 meters, consisting of 239.1 g/t silver, 0.06 g/t gold, 0.30% copper, 0.14% lead and 0.16% zinc Hole ET-21-289: 0.6 meters grading 1,285.6 g/t silver equivalent from 173.3 meters to 173.9 meters, consisting of 901.0 g/t silver, 0.12 g/t gold, 0.61% copper, 3.14% lead and 7.32% zinc

Additional results for the Sooy Vein 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 Holes ET-21-300 and ET-21-305. Also attached is a Plan Map of the 600 meter central portion of the Sooy Vein and a Plan Map of the El Tigre Veins and Drill Holes.

Underground Rehabilitation at Historic El Tigre Mine Update

As previously announced Silver Tiger has contracted Cominvi, a Mexican underground contract mining and development company to rehabilitate the Historic El Tigre Mine. Cominvi are progressing well in the underground rehabilitation of the Historic El Tigre Mine and have already completed over 370 meters of rehabilitation in Level 7, which was the main portal to the mine. Completed rehabilitation is currently less than 100 meters from the Sooy Vein. Cominvi is also currently completing the scaling, rock bolting and installation of mesh screen to safely secure the entrance above and around the Level 7 portal.

Silver Tiger's CEO, Glenn Jessome, stated, "Step out drill holes from surface along strike North and South on the Sooy Vein continue to deliver high grade silver intercepts." Mr. Jessome further stated, "Our initial surface drilling discovered high grade zones of quartz vein and black shale. As we rehabilitate the historic El Tigre Mine to develop underground drill stations to increase drilling precision and reduce costs with shorter holes to define these high grade zones, the rehabilitation also provides mine development for the potential future mining of these same high grade zones."

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-21-289 Sooy Vein 173.3 173.9 0.6 0.12 901.0 0.61 3.14 7.32 1,285.6 ET-21-300 Sooy Vein Zone 124.1 129.0 4.9 0.06 239.1 0.30 0.14 0.16 281.3 including 128.5 129.0 0.5 0.24 2,230.0 2.85 0.72 0.76 2,564.9 ET-21-304 234.0 235.5 1.5 1.14 0.6 0.01 0.01 0.01 86.8 ET-21-305 Sooy Vein 18.3 48.2 29.9 0.04 88.9 0.00 0.06 0.01 94.3 including 27.4 30.5 3.1 0.03 279.0 0.00 0.03 0.00 282.3 234.8 235.6 0.8 0.05 529.0 0.41 0.32 0.20 586.7 271.0 271.9 0.9 0.03 85.9 0.11 0.13 0.03 102.8 ET-21-312 4.5 7.0 2.5 0.03 32.6 0.00 0.02 0.00 35.6 153.8 154.3 0.5 0.06 40.6 0.04 0.31 0.49 72.2 ET-21-320 Sooy Vein Zone 21.5 58.6 37.1 0.03 24.5 0.00 0.02 0.01 27.8 including 27.5 29.0 1.5 0.02 122.0 0.00 0.03 0.00 124.5 ET-21-321 Sooy Vein Zone 68.3 77.3 9.0 0.10 50.1 0.02 0.04 0.05 62.1 including 68.3 69.3 1.0 0.31 248.0 0.11 0.27 0.25 296.6 and 229.3 229.8 0.5 0.02 124.0 0.12 0.35 0.03 145.9 ET-21-322 Sooy Vein Zone 6.1 33.6 27.5 0.51 10.1 0.00 0.01 0.01 49.5 Including 25.8 27.1 1.3 2.97 35.1 0.01 0.02 0.02 260.1 2nd 56.0 57.5 1.5 0.03 99.0 0.01 0.02 0.03 103.1 and 104.4 107.4 3.0 0.06 117.1 0.01 0.01 0.00 122.8 281.0 282.0 1.0 0.02 199.0 0.12 0.05 0.04 214.7

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.

.

Drill Hole Location Table

Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation Az Dip Length ET-21-289 670792 3385077 1809.4 90 -43 320.3 ET-21-300 670780 3385102 1812.6 90 -30 269.9 ET-21-304 670825 3385024 1799.1 90 -30 259.3 ET-21-305 670779 3385102 1812.5 90 -61 330.1 ET-22-312 670833 3385283 1834.8 95 -42 198.3 ET-22-320 670776 3385113 1812.9 90 -42 155.6 ET-22-321 670833 3385283 1834.8 96 -64 262.3 ET-22-322 671059 3385138 1927.9 84 -57 332.5

El Tigre Cross Section 5100N (Drill Hole ET-21-300 and ET-21-305)

Plan Map of 600 Meters of the Sooy Vein





Plan Map of the El Tigre Veins and Drill Holes

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 Silver Tiger and 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/704958/Silver-Tiger-Intersects-25649-gt-AgEq-Over-05-Meters-Within-a-Broader-Interval-of-49-Meters-Grading-2813-gt-AgEq-in-the-Sooy-Vein
LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Pedro's List, Inc. (formerly Quest Management) OTC PINK:QSMG has successfully filed for the acquisition of Pedro's List, US LLC., in a share exchange and reverse merger.

Consumers worldwide use apps for more and more activities than ever before in history. Unlike the United States, the ability to search for consumer rated home-related services is (almost) not available via the internet in Mexico. This creates a number of significant challenges that Pedro's List solves. Security, accountability, recourse for ineffective service, theft, etc. Now even with Covid, there is an even greater need for responsible service providers, rated by consumers. In addition to people who own their homes, in most places in Mexico, people who rent are usually responsible (with approval from their landlords) to choose the services need, deducting needed services from their rent. This is a major consideration regarding the size of the market (especially relative to the market in the US). To promote organic growth in addition to a serious marketing campaign, Pedro's List offers a healthy rewards program for writing a review, referring an amigo and using the app. From some of the most expensive areas to the lower end of the scale, this service is greatly needed.

"We are extremely pleased to officially be a public company. After all the processes necessary, we are excited about being able to offer the public the opportunity to participate in our growth and initiate all the services we have to help." Stated Andrew Birnbaum, Pedro's List's Chief Executive Officer.

Eden Miller, Founder declared "We have great respect for the process needed to become a public entity. So many people worked to make this happen and we are grateful to be in this position of trust."

About Pedro's List: Pedro's List main business operations is connecting homeowners and consumers with customer rated service professionals for home repair, maintenance and improvement projects throughout Mexico. A free service to consumers, Pedro's List provides the technology tools and resources to allow homeowners to find local pre-screened, customer reviewed service professionals and instantly book appointments online or through the mobile application. An experienced team has been assembled to implement the plan to offer these services to consumers in a better way and significantly benefit service providers through technology.

For More Information contact Andrew Birnbaum ab@pedroslist.us or visit pedroslist.mx.

SOURCE: Pedro's List, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/704732/Pedros-List-Inc-QSMG-Acquires-Pedros-List-US-LLC-The-Consumer-Driven-Technology-Platform-Is-Now-a-Public-Company
Results for Hole CAL22-018, an attempted 500 metre deep probe to test the large IP chargeability anomaly of the California zone, reached a total depth of 264.48 m before caving. It penetrated the near surface oxide Au-Cu mineralization and transitioned into a higher sulfide-silica alteration zone with significantly higher Mo and Cu values. This sulfide zone corresponds well with the top of large, strong IP chargeability anomaly.

Continued intercepts of anomalous gold mineralization in the California zone

Multi-Element ICP results received for Cervantes drill holes

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Aztec Minerals Corp. (TSXV:AZT)(OTCQB:AZZTF) announces that it has received the final results of Au and multi-element analysis for its 2021-2022 RC drill program on the Cervantes property in Sonora, Mexico. The program comprised 5,249 meters in 26 RC drill holes, testing 4 targets (Purisima East, California, Jasper, California North).

The California zone of near surface, oxide gold mineralization was successfully expanded, and one deeper drill hole (22CAL-018) intersected a high pyrite zone anomalous in copper, molybdenum, gold and silver that corresponds well with the top of large, strong IP chargeability anomaly. Pyrite shells typically surround and overlie copper porphyry mineralized zones.

Additional drill results at the California target continue to return anomalous gold mineralization from the 2022 RC drill program on the Cervantes property located in Sonora, Mexico. The multi-element ICP results show good relationships between Au, Cu, Bi, Ag and As, with prospective grades and widths of Cu and Ag supporting a potential porphyry deposit at depth.

California Zone Drill Highlights

CAL22-018 traveled down through the underlying lower sulfide content transition zone from 77.5 m to 185.4 m and encountered a markedly higher pyrite content zone that continued to the 264.5 m TD

Visible, estimated pyrite contents increased from ~ 1% to ~3-5% avg

Mo increased from a 14 ppm Mo avg to 116 ppm avg

Cu increased from a 51 ppm Cu avg to 578 ppm avg

The primary focus of the Phase 2 RC drill program at Cervantes is to expand the previously drilled California zone by completing two drill hole fences parallel to and on either side of the 2017-18 Phase 1 drill hole fence. To-date, every hole drilled at California has intersected near surface, oxidized gold mineralization with minor copper oxides.

View drill section here:

Link to section view hole CAL22-018

Reported lengths are apparent widths, not true widths, and the observed gold mineralization appears to be widely distributed in disseminations, fractures and veinlets within quartz-feldspar porphyry, feldspar porphyry stocks, quartzites and related hydrothermal breccias.

View: California Longitudinal Section and California 2022 RC Drill Program Plan Map

Holes CAL22-018, 019, 020, and 021 intersected anomalous gold mineralization, see table below, extending the known mineralized zone at depth, and also to the north, east and south of the California zone. The RC Phase 2 drilling program has been completed. It covers an area now measuring approximately 900 metres long by 250 to 500 metres wide, with demonstrated, continuous anomalous mineralization up to 265 metres depth vertically. The porphyry gold-copper mineralization is still open in all directions.

The multi-element ICP results show good relationships between Au, Cu, Bi, Ag and As, which will assist in vectoring exploration targets for potentially economic grades and widths for Cu and Ag in a porphyry deposit model. The multi-element ICP values support the exploration model of the California zone being at the highest portion of a porphyry system, where an overlying high sulfidation zone has been eroded away.

Table 1: Cervantes RC Drilling Select Multi-Element Results with Gold

AZTEC MINERALS CORP CERVANTES PROJECT RC DRILLING Table1: Drill Hole Select Multi-Element Results with Gold Hole No. From To Interval Gold (gpT) Copper (%) Silver(gpT) Molybdenum PPM m m m CAL22-001 16.72 110.96 94.24 1.038 54.72m/0.361 72.96m/4.112 CAL22-002 4.6 103.36 98.76 0.374 16.72m/0.153 41.04m/1.226 CAL22-003 45.6 91.2 45.6 0.422 63.84m/0.107 53.2m/2.946 CAL22-004 0 165.68 165.68 1.002 159.6m/0.065 167.2m/1.908 CAL22-005 0 136.8 136.8 1.486 118.56m/.091 118.56m/2.661 CAL22-006 16.72 117.04 100.32 0.749 138m/0.103 165.68m/3.243 CAL22-007 83.6 147.44 63.84 0.465 107.92m/0.079 89.68m/1.429 CAL22-008 0 54.72 54.72 0.884 33.4m/0.122 30.4m/2.36 59.28m/0.096 59.28m/59.65 CAL22-009 0 86.64 86.64 0.5 74.48m/0.138 76m/2.386 CAL22-010 0 138.32 138.32 0.53 95.76m/0.224 127.7m/3.567 CAL22-011 25.84 158.08 132.24 0.427 21.52m/0.053 66.88m/2.279 65.36m/0.053 65.36m/1.502 CAL22-012 41.04 193.04 152 0.872 123.12m/0.095 165.68m/3.463 CAL22-013 139.84 147.44 7.6 0.209 54.72m/0.055 74.48m/1.489 CAL22-014 0 54.72 54.72 0.484 31.92m/.0615 27.36m/1.361 CAL22-015 4.56 72.96 68.4 0.421 30.4m/.0622 21.28m/2.779 CAL22-016 0 56.24 56.24 0.475 25.84m/.0981 12.16m/2.325 CAL22-017 28.88 53.2 24.32 0.315 31.92m/0.045 12.16m/1.475 19.8m/209.8 50.2m/0.069 10.64m/2.771 74.48m/144.57 CAL22-018 24.32 48.64 24.32 0.216 53.2m/0.078 86.65m/2.174 191.52 202.16 10.64 0.273 68.4m/0.062 28.88m/1.116 39.52m/122.46 CAL22-019 153.52 167.2 13.68 0.269 16.72./0.0803 59.28m/1.549 7.6m/126.6 CAL22-020 15.2 18.24 3.04 0.321 4.56m/1.833 CAL22-021 100.32 104.88 4.56 0.409 3.04m/.0707 3.04m/2.2 JAS22-001 10.64 19.76 9.12 0.332 69.9m/0.215 65.4m/2.723 19.76m/144.92 200.6m/0.117 PUR21-001 16.72 19.76 3.04 0.323 51.68m/0.069 83.6m/1.942 PUR21-002 22.8 31.92 9.12 0.334 31.9m/0.168 3.04m/1.8 13.68m/0.076 PUR21-003 18.2m/0.0518 3.04m/1.5 PUR22-004 25.8m/325.35

The Aztec-Kootenay JV has now completed its Phase 2 Reverse circulation (RC) program of 26 holes, totaling 5,249 metres at the Cervantes Property. Drilling commenced in December 2021. The planned drill testing of the four main targets of the Cervantes phase 2 drilling program is now complete. The primary objectives of the 2021 - 2022 phase 2 exploration program was to better define the open pit, heap leach gold potential of the porphyry oxide cap at California, evaluate the potential for deeper copper-gold porphyry sulfide mineralization underlying the oxide cap, test for north and west extensions of the California mineralization at California North and Jasper, and assess the breccia potential of Purisima East.

Drill samples cuttings are collected every 5 feet (1.52m) from all drill holes. The samples are analyzed by Bureau Veritas for gold with a 30-gram sample size using the method FA430 followed by MA300. Over limits, when present, are analyzed by AR404 or FA550. All holes contain certified blanks, standards, and duplicates as part of the quality control program. The QA/QC review for all drilling has been completed with excellent results showing good data integrity. The samples are shipped to and received by Bureau Veritas Minerals laboratory for the gold and multielement geochemical analysis and additional gold results will be received and reported in the next several weeks. Final multielement ICP results are expected to follow the release of the preliminary gold assays and are expected to be received during the second quarter 2022.

Aztec has recently completed drill hole collar surveying, field work for Drone Photogrammetry survey created a detailed ortho-topographic base map, and Terraspec readings on the RC drill chips. Aztec is now carrying out channel sampling and geologic mapping of the new drill roads at California, California Norte and Jasper, relogged the 2017-2018 core, expand surface sampling and mapping on the property in general to continue the 2021 phase 1 surface program, and generate Leapfrog modeling of the geology, geochemistry and geophysics.

Cervantes Property Highlights

Cervantes is a highly prospective porphyry gold-copper property located in southeastern Sonora state, Mexico. The project lies 160 km east of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico within the prolific Laramide porphyry copper belt approximately 265 km southeast of the Cananea porphyry copper-molybdenum mine (Grupo Mexico). Cervantes also lies along an east-west trending gold belt 60 km west of the Mulatos epithermal gold mine (Alamos Gold), 35 km northeast of the Osisko Development San Antonio gold mine, 45 km west of the La India mine (Agnico Eagle), and 40 km northwest of Santana gold deposit (Minera Alamos). View: Cervantes Project Location Map

Large well-located property (3,649 hectares) with good infrastructure, road access, local town, all private land, water wells on property, grid power nearby

(3,649 hectares) with good infrastructure, road access, local town, all private land, water wells on property, grid power nearby Seven prospective mineralized zones related to high level porphyries and breccias along an 7.0km east-northeast corridor with multiple intersecting northwest structures

to high level porphyries and breccias along an 7.0km east-northeast corridor with multiple intersecting northwest structures Distinct geophysical anomalies, California target marked by high magnetic and low resistivity anomalies, high radiometric and chargeability anomalies responding to pervasive alteration

California target marked by high magnetic and low resistivity anomalies, high radiometric and chargeability anomalies responding to pervasive alteration Extensive gold mineralization at California zone , 118 soil samples average 0.44 gpt gold over 900 m by 600 m area, trench rock-channel samples up to 0.47 gpt gold over 222m

, 118 soil samples average 0.44 gpt gold over 900 m by 600 m area, trench rock-channel samples up to 0.47 gpt gold over 222m Already drilled the first discovery hole at the California zone, intersected gold oxide cap to a classic gold-copper porphyry deposit, drill results up to 0.77 gpt gold over 160 m

hole at the California zone, intersected gold oxide cap to a classic gold-copper porphyry deposit, drill results up to 0.77 gpt gold over 160 m Excellent gold recoveries from preliminary metallurgical tests on drill core from California zone; oxide gold recoveries in bottle roll tests range from 75% to 87%

from preliminary metallurgical tests on drill core from California zone; oxide gold recoveries in bottle roll tests range from 75% to 87% California geophysical anomaly wide open laterally and at depth, IP chargeability strengthens and broadens to >500m depth over an area 1100 m by 1200 m

laterally and at depth, IP chargeability strengthens and broadens to >500m depth over an area 1100 m by 1200 m Three-Dimensional IP Survey conducted in 2019 extends strong chargeability anomalies to the southwest covering Estrella, Purisima East, and Purisima West, coinciding well with alteration and Au-Cu-Mo soil geochemical anomalies, all undrilled.

Allen David Heyl, B.Sc., CPG., VP Exploration of Aztec, is the Qualified Person supervised the Cervantes exploration program. Aztec is conducting reverse circulation drilling at Cervantes and collecting 5 feet (1.52m) samples for all drill holes. All drill hole sample batches contain certified blanks, standards, and duplicates as part of the quality control program. Mr. Heyl reviewed and approved the technical disclosures in this news release.

"Simon Dyakowski"



Simon Dyakowski, Chief Executive Officer

Aztec Minerals Corp.

About Aztec Minerals - Aztec is a mineral exploration company focused on the discovery of large polymetallic mineral deposits in the Americas. Our core asset is the prospective Cervantes porphyry gold-copper property in Sonora, Mexico. Aztec also has control of the historic, district-scale Tombstone properties host both bulk tonnage epithermal gold-silver as well as CRD silver-lead-zinc mineralization in Cochise County, Arizona. Aztec's shares trade on the TSX-V stock exchange (symbol AZT) and on the OTCQB (symbol AZZTF).

Contact Information - For more information, please contact:

Simon Dyakowski, CEO or Bradford Cooke, Chairman

Tel: (604) 619-7469

Fax: (604) 685-9744

Email: simon@aztecminerals.com

Website: www.aztecminerals.com

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. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects" or "it is expected", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from results contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Aztec Minerals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/704968/Aztec--Kootenay-JV-Reports-Final-Gold-and-Multi-Element-Results-from-2021-2022-RC-Drill-Program-on-Cervantes-Property-Sonora
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - Signal Gold Inc. (TSX: SGNL), Creating an Emerging Gold Producer in Atlantic Canada, is pleased to announce that it will be participating in THE Mining Investment Event of the North, which will be held IN PERSON and will take place on June 19-21, 2022, at the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac and Voltigeurs de Quebec Armoury in Quebec City, Canada.

Kevin Bullock, President and CEO will be presenting at 09:40 AM ET on June 21st. Management from Signal Gold Inc. will also be holding one-on-one investor meetings throughout the three-day conference. Interested parties should contact Nancy Larned at nlarned@vidconferences.com to inquire about registering to attend.

THE Event, Canada's First Tier I Mining Investment event is committed to bringing a global audience to Quebec to showcase the best of Canadian mining. THE Event will feature a mix of exploration, development, royalty companies and producers representing all commodities. CEOs will be asked to present in a unique "THE Talk" format, be part of a panel, or be interviewed. THE Event will also feature keynotes and panels with well-known industry thought leaders.

Information regarding THE Event including investor registration details, a list of participating companies, panelists and keynote speakers and a preliminary agenda can be found at https://vidconferences.com/conferences-events/in-person/canadas-first-tier-1-mining-conference/.

About Signal Gold Inc.

Signal Gold Inc. is a TSX and OTCQX-listed gold mining, development, and exploration company, focused in the top-tier Canadian mining jurisdictions of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The Company is advancing the Goldboro Gold Project in Nova Scotia, a significant growth project subject to a positive Feasibility Study (Please see the 'NI 43-101 Technical Report and Feasibility Study for the Goldboro Gold Project, Eastern Goldfields District, Nova Scotia' on January 11, 2022 for further details). Signal Gold also operates mining and milling operations in the prolific Baie Verte Mining District of Newfoundland which includes the fully permitted Pine Cove Mill, tailings facility and deep-water port, as well as ~15,000 hectares of highly prospective mineral property, including those adjacent to the past producing, high-grade Nugget Pond Mine at its Tilt Cove Gold Project.

About The Event Series

THE Event Series Conferences creates and develops unique, invitation only, premier investment conferences focused on providing participants and investors the best in investor conference experiences. THE Event Series Conferences planned for 2022 and beyond will be focused on other industry sectors and will be announced soon. To find out more about THE Event Conferences, please visit our website at https://vidconferences.com/.

For further information:

Kevin Bullock

President and CEO

6473881842

kbullock@signalgold.com
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - Dore Copper Mining Corp. (TSXV: DCMC), a copper and gold exploration and development company in Northern Quebec, is pleased to announce that it will be participating in THE Mining Investment Event of the North, which will be held IN PERSON and will take place on June 19-21, 2022, at the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac and Voltigeurs de Quebec Armoury in Quebec City, Canada.

Ernest Mast, President & CEO, will be presenting at 10:50 AM ET on June 20th. Management from Dore Copper Mining Corp. will also be holding one-on-one investor meetings throughout the three-day conference. Interested parties should contact Nancy Larned at nlarned@vidconferences.com to inquire about registering to attend.

THE Event, Canada's First Tier I Mining Investment event is committed to bringing a global audience to Quebec to showcase the best of Canadian mining. THE Event will feature a mix of exploration, development, royalty companies and producers representing all commodities. CEOs will be asked to present in a unique "THE Talk" format, be part of a panel, or be interviewed. THE Event will also feature keynotes and panels with well-known industry thought leaders.

Information regarding THE Event including investor registration details, a list of participating companies, panelists and keynote speakers and a preliminary agenda can be found at https://vidconferences.com/conferences-events/in-person/canadas-first-tier-1-mining-conference/

About Dore Copper Mining Corp.

Dore Copper Mining Corp. aims to be the next copper producer in Quebec with an initial production target of +50 Mlbs of copper equivalent annually by implementing a hub-and spoke operation model with multiple high-grade copper-gold assets feeding its centralized Copper Rand mill. The Corporation has delivered its PEA in May 2022 and plans to commence a feasibility study and submit permit applications by mid-year.

About The Event Series

THE Event Series Conferences creates and develops unique, invitation only, premier investment conferences focused on providing participants and investors the best in investor conference experiences. THE Event Series Conferences planned for 2022 and beyond will be focused on other industry sectors and will be announced soon. To find out more about THE Event Conferences, please visit our website at https://vidconferences.com/

For further information:

Laurie Gaborit

Vice President, Investor Relations

416-219-2049

laurie.gaborit@dorecopper.com
The leading cannabis company adds a nano-infused pre-roll to its award-winning product line

Las Vegas, Nevada--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - Bhang Inc. (CSE: BHNG) (OTCQB: BHNGF) ("Bhang" or the "Company"), a global cannabis CPG brand company with an award-winning portfolio of products, is complementing its strong position in the cannabis edibles market with the launch of a new, innovative pre-roll offering.

The new Bhang High Roller Nano-infused Pre-Roll is a whole flower product combined with nano-THC that delivers a more effective, efficient, and consistent experience. Since 2010, the Company has focused on building a legacy around providing its customers with precise, consistent cannabis chocolate products, perfecting a recipe with Bhang's signature cannabis-free taste, and the best premium ingredients.

Bhang High Roller Nano-infused Pre-Rolls add to the Company's legacy of effectiveness and consistency, produced with quality infused flower that is precisely dosed, just like Bhang's chocolates.





Bhang's High Roller Nano-infused Pre-Roll is ready to be sold in dispensaries.

Photo credit: Bhang, Inc.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3950/127528_018e23a2e480ebeb_001full.jpg.

The new infused pre-roll consists of hand-selected premium indoor flower combined with nano-THC coming in consistently at 50+% THC (20% more than your standard pre-roll), delivering a stronger and more enjoyable high.

Nano-THC means the THC particles themselves are smaller, meaning the High Roller Pre-Roll is infused with tiny molecules making the THC easier to absorb, facilitating almost instant onset.

"When it comes to the pre-roll category, we weren't just targeting market share and shelf-space opportunity - although infused pre-rolls are the second-best-selling pre-roll segment after hybrid/single-strain sales in the U.S., according to the latest data from Headset," says Jamie L. Pearson, President and CEO of Bhang. "The product we developed also had to live up to the legacy we've built over the past 12 years. The nano-infused process focuses on quality, consistency, and effectiveness, which makes the new product a perfect fit for our award-winning portfolio. Nano-THC is the future of cannabis products and consumers are asking more and more where it's available. We're paying close attention to state legislation and will expand accordingly when the time comes."

The Bhang High Roller nano-infused pre-roll is available in 1 gram format, delivering a 50+% THC dosage carefully rolled in unbleached natural brown papers.

The new product offering was mentioned in Bhang's recent Petalfast announcement and will be a significant part of the partnership kickoff, and is now ready to be sold in California dispensaries.

About Bhang

Bhang (CSE: BHNG) (OTCQB: BHNGF) is committed to making the fairly enjoyable ridiculously fun. For over a decade Bhang has delivered exceptional sensory experiences to consumers through its extensive portfolio of over 50 master-chef-created cannabis, CBD and terpene products including gourmet chocolates, pre-rolls, CBD isolate, and Hempsticks. Bhang's highly-awarded chocolates are among the top-selling edibles in 7 U.S. states and Canada. Bhang's CBD products are globally distributed and are known for being safe, efficacious and delicious. Learn more at www.bhangnation.com and purchase our high-quality CBD products at www.bhangcbd.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words "may," "would," "could," "should," "will," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect" or similar expressions and include information regarding: (i) statements regarding the future direction of the Company; (ii) the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business and financial objectives; (iii) plans for expansion of the Company into new jurisdictions; and (iv) expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflect the Company's management's expectations, estimates or projections concerning the business of the Company's future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information are the following: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; in particular, in the ability of the Company to raise debt and equity capital in the amounts and at the costs that it expects; adverse changes in the public perception of cannabis; decreases in the prevailing prices for cannabis and hemp products in the markets that the Company operates in; adverse changes in applicable laws or adverse changes in the application or enforcement of current laws; the cannabis market is highly regulated and those regulations and enforcement priorities of governmental authorities may change; compliance with extensive government regulation and related costs; and other risks described in the Company's Listing Statement, dated July 9, 2019, and other filings on www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information 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 not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information except as otherwise required by applicable law.

This press 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 the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The Company's 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 the securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to any "U.S. Person" (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to an exemption from such registration requirements.

Neither CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

INVESTORS CONTACT:

J. Graham Simmonds

Executive Chairman of the Board

Bhang Inc.

(416) 843-2881

invest@bhangcorporation.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/127528
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - United Rentals, Inc. (URI), an equipment rental firm, said on Tuesday that its Chief Financial Officer Jessica Graziano will leave the company on July 29, to pursue another opportunity. Subsequently, the company has named Ted Grace as finance chief on interim basis. Grace joined United Rentals in 2016 as Vice President and Head of Investor Relations, and has been an integral leader across all aspects of the finance function during his tenure. Grace will continue to be the primary investor contact as interim CFO and will serve in this dual role. United Rentals also said that it has started a hunt for a suitable candidate to succeed Graziano. 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.
With the new release of ThinkTrader Web, ThinkMarkets offers a platform-agnostic solution capable to run on multiple devices and screens.

LONDON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning multi-asset brokerage ThinkMarkets is continuing to build up its proprietary trading software products with a brand new addition to their suite of trading solutions. After becoming one of the most innovative brokers on mobile with its award-winning app ThinkTrader, the broker is now launching a web-based solution to provide seamless trading experiences and extend the reach of its product offering.

ThinkTrader Web is available via Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. The addition of a web-based platform ensures that the customers of ThinkMarkets can access their trading account from multiple devices and operating systems.

With over 125 technical indicators, 50 drawing tools, 20 chart types, and many more unique features, ThinkTrader Web is a notable addition to compliment the already rapidly growing userbase of ThinkMarkets.

Commenting on the news, the co-CEO of ThinkMarkets, Nauman Anees said: "Our mission has always been to provide our customers with all the necessary tools to achieve exceptional trading results. We started from mobile, aiming to bridge the gap between the small screen and a feature-rich platform. Today marks a new milestone along the road for ThinkTrader - as we commit to delivering a feature-rich web-trading experience with multi-screen support, easy-to-use interface exceptional security and reliability."

Uniquely positioned, ThinkMarkets has a rapidly growing userbase on mobile devices after over 10 years on the market. With the addition of a web-based version that supports multiple screens, ThinkMarkets and its app ThinkTrader aim to service the growing demands of more experienced customers that use advanced trading tools.

About ThinkMarkets:

ThinkMarkets is an innovative multi asset online trading firm allowing access to everything from Equities, Crypto, FX and more. By providing quick and easy access to a wide range of markets around the globe through our global geographic footprint we are removing the boundaries for investing and trading. The company employs the latest technology to provide the best pricing and execution speed and delivers superior service to traders throughout their trading journey. ThinkMarkets maintains competitive trading conditions including tight spreads, low to zero commissions and a range of account types tailored to the needs of specific clients. With headquarters in London and Melbourne, and hubs in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Japan, ThinkMarkets provides global market access to individual and institutional investors all over the world.

Contact: PR ThinkMarkets, +44 203 514 2374, pr@thinkmarkets.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/835251/ThinkMarkets_Logo.jpg
HIGHLIGHTS

Quartz Mountain has received from C.J. Greig & Associates Ltd. a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on its Maestro Gold-Silver-Molybdenum-Copper Property located in central British Columbia.

The Technical Report outlines key exploration targets including the Prodigy Zone, a priority exploration target for bulk tonnage gold and silver mineralization.

Select assay results from past operators' drilling in the Prodigy Zone include 178 m grading 0.56 g/t Au, 18.8 g/t Ag, 0.05% Cu and 0.029% Mo; and 128 m grading 0.22 g/t Au, 103.9 g/t Ag, 0.12% Cu and 0.022% Mo.

New airborne magnetic and historical drill core re-logging programs completed by Quartz Mountain indicate excellent potential for bulk tonnage style gold and silver mineralization.

The Maestro Property has excellent infrastructure, being close to the highway between the mining-support towns of Smithers and Houston, and therefore to airports, railways, and power.

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Quartz Mountain Resources Ltd. ("Quartz Mountain" or " the Company") (TSXV:QZM)(OTC Pink:QZMRF) is pleased to announce receipt of a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report (the "Technical Report") on the Company's Maestro Gold-Silver-Molybdenum-Copper Property (the "Property") which is located adjacent to Highway 16 between Smithers and Houston, British Columbia ("BC").

The Technical Report, authored by geologist Charles J. Greig, M.Sc, P.Geo., of C.J. Greig & Associates Ltd, outlines key exploration targets with "considerable potential for discovery of precious metals". The report, titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Maestro Property" will be filed on SEDAR.com and posted on the Company's website (www.quartzmountainresources.com).

Project Summary

The Maestro Property is comprised of ten mineral claims covering 1,577 hectares located in central BC, 15 km north of Houston and 50 km south of Smithers (see Figure 1). Highway 16 intersects the western edge of the Property, enabling easy access to nearby infrastructure including airports, railways, and power. The central region of the Property is accessible by numerous drill roads constructed by past operators. Quartz Mountain purchased 100% of the Property in 2021 from Impala Capital Corp., an arm's length third party. The Property is subject to a 2.5% Net Smelter Returns royalty, of which 1.5% can be purchased for $1.5 million.

Figure 1: Maestro Property Location

History

The Maestro Property and surrounding area has over 100-years of mineral exploration history dating back to 1914. However, work has only been accurately recorded in the immediate area since the 1960's and included mapping, rock and soil sampling, geophysics, trenching, and percussion and diamond drilling. Most of this work was focused on exploring for porphyry molybdenumcopper mineralization and it ultimately led to a Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment in 20114 for the Lone Pine Molybdenum Deposit, which is held by others in an inlying land-holding within the Maestro claims (see Figure 2). Because of the recent focus on the Lone Pine porphyry, systematic exploration for precious metals in the surrounding Maestro claims was not generally undertaken.

The Maestro Property is underlain mainly by Lower to Middle Jurassic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Hazelton Group and, to a lesser extent, by Upper Jurassic sedimentary rocks of the Bowser Lake Group (see Figure 2). Intruding the stratified rocks are stocks and dikes belonging to the Late Cretaceous Bulkley and Tertiary Goosly suites.

Notable historical drilling:

Molymines Exploration Ltd. (1965-1969): 128 percussion and diamond drill holes totaling 6,381 m at the Lone Pine Deposit and, to a lesser extent, the Prodigy Zone , which lies on the Maestro claims to the north of Lone Pine.

, which lies on the Maestro claims to the north of Lone Pine. Granby Mining Corp. (1976-1978): 22 drill holes totaling 2,160 m at the Prodigy , Granby , and Mineral Hill zones.

, , and zones. Dafrey Resources Inc. (1985): 12 percussion drill holes at the Lone Pine Deposit and the Prodigy Zone .

. Southern Cross Gold (1987): 8 diamond drill holes totaling 521 m at the Lone Pine Deposit and the Prodigy Zone .

. Bard Ventures Ltd. (2007-2011): 77 diamond drill holes totaling 35,334 m at the Lone Pine Deposit, and Prodigy, Granby, and Mineral Hill zones.

Figure 2: Maestro Property Geology1

Styles of Mineralizaion and Highlights of Historical Drilling

The Maestro Property contains significant molybdenumcopper porphyry-style mineralization in three primary areas that are known as the Prodigy, Granby, and Mineral Hill zones (see Figure 2). Locally, a distinct style of mineralization consisting of silver and base metal-rich veins occurs along with the molybdenumcopper porphyry mineralization. Currently, however, the most significant target on the Property is considered to be at the Prodigy Zone, where elevated gold and silver values are associated with yet another style of mineralization. This style occurs as quartz-ankerite veins, breccia bodies, and disseminated sulphide systems, and has yielded the strongest and most consistent gold and silver values returned in historical exploration (see Table 1). This style of vein mineralization is associated with green sericite alteration and cuts across both the porphyry-style mineralization and silver- and base metals-rich veins.

Styles of Mineralizaion and Highlights of Historical Drilling

The Maestro Property contains significant molybdenumcopper porphyry-style mineralization in three primary areas that are known as the Prodigy, Granby, and Mineral Hill zones (see Figure 2). Locally, a distinct style of mineralization consisting of silver and base metal-rich veins occurs along with the molybdenumcopper porphyry mineralization. Currently, however, the most significant target on the Property is considered to be at the Prodigy Zone, where elevated gold and silver values are associated with yet another style of mineralization. This style occurs as quartz-ankerite veins, breccia bodies, and disseminated sulphide systems, and has yielded the strongest and most consistent gold and silver values returned in historical exploration (see Table 1). This style of vein mineralization is associated with green sericite alteration and cuts across both the porphyry-style mineralization and silver- and base metals-rich veins.

Table 1: Significant Historical Diamond Drill Hole Intercepts, Prodigy Zone1 DDH From (m) To (m) Width (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Cu (%) Mo (%) BDQ-08-02 19.00 497.00 478.00 0.06 21.35 0.04 0.026 Including 197.00 215.00 18.00 0.98 490.14 0.33 0.023 And 203.00 205.00 2.00 6.60 3224.00 2.00 0.003 Including 257.00 259.00 2.00 0.17 26.30 1.49 0.082 Including 401.00 403.00 2.00 0.30 206.00 0.19 0.012 BDQ-08-03 8.00 407.00 399.00 0.08 10.90 0.05 0.033 Including 67.00 167.00 100.00 0.15 34.56 0.07 0.021 And 67.00 117.00 50.00 0.21 50.35 0.10 0.019 And 79.00 101.00 22.00 0.32 94.66 0.19 0.016 And 101.00 155.00 54.00 0.11 17.64 0.03 0.021 Including 295.00 407.00 112.00 0.02 1.20 0.03 0.059 BDQ-08-04 173.40 551.27 377.87 0.31 9.65 0.04 0.021 Including 373.00 551.27 178.27 0.56 18.83 0.05 0.029 And 373.00 493.00 120.00 0.65 18.93 0.05 0.038 And 373.00 449.00 76.00 0.77 22.98 0.06 0.036 And 391.00 393.00 2.00 1.07 42.00 0.12 0.253 And 407.00 411.00 4.00 1.35 66.35 0.17 0.025 And 421.00 425.00 4.00 0.27 26.10 0.06 0.085 And 429.00 433.00 4.00 1.25 50.50 0.05 0.042 And 441.00 449.00 8.00 1.24 47.60 0.07 0.046 And 529.00 551.27 22.27 0.62 35.78 0.12 0.005 And 545.00 547.00 2.00 1.41 170.00 0.38 0.002 BDQ-08-05 115.00 223.00 108.00 0.17 12.52 0.04 0.014 Including 163.00 223.00 60.00 0.20 16.48 0.03 0.015 BDQ-08-05 275.00 331.00 56.00 0.33 13.90 0.04 0.012 Including 275.00 291.00 16.00 0.37 33.23 0.06 0.010 And 283.00 285.00 2.00 0.18 128.00 0.18 0.006 BD-11-68 29.57 80.00 50.43 NA 1.58 0.08 0.042 BD-11-68 103.04 443.00 339.96 NA 1.64 0.06 0.062 Including 103.40 120.80 17.40 NA 1.05 0.13 0.113 Including 165.50 166.50 1.00 NA 179.20 0.38 0.103 BD-11-68 464.40 465.40 1.00 NA 111.90 0.08 0.053 BD-11-69 18.60 54.20 35.60 0.16 40.41 0.05 0.010 Including 49.30 51.00 1.70 1.35 711.00 0.73 0.003 BD-11-69 127.70 255.20 128.20 0.22 103.94 0.12 0.022 Including 134.10 181.90 47.80 0.49 269.21 0.27 0.011 And 142.50 148.80 6.30 1.94 1483.83 1.35 0.011 BD-11-69 146.80 469.10 322.30 0.09 15.34 0.03 0.045 Including 180.00 181.90 1.90 1.00 1539.00 1.09 0.004 Including 335.00 336.40 1.40 3.84 20.40 0.20 0.046 Including 448.70 449.00 0.30 5.51 61.40 0.04 0.017 NA: No Assays

Recent Work

In 2021, Quartz Mountain conducted a 234 line-km airborne magnetic survey at Maestro (see Figures 3, 4), and re-logged 13 historical diamond drill holes from the Prodigy. The holes were drilled between 2007 and 2011 by Bard Ventures Ltd., and results from some of the best holes are given in Table 1. Results from the re-logging suggest that there is a correlation of gold-bearing sulphide and sulphosalt mineralization in quartz-ankerite veins associated with quartz monzonitic intrusive rocks and with distinctive green sericite alteration of low magnetic susceptibility. This style of mineralization and alteration may extend outward from the precious metals-bearing zones identified in drilling at the Prodigy Zone, as suggested by the distribution of green sericite alteration identified in the re-logging (Figures 5, 6), which appears to have increasing intensity of alteration south and westward. The zone remains open in both directions.

This suggestion is supported by the results of the airborne magnetic survey, which shows linear northwest-trending magnetic highs and lows that coincide in many places with mapped intrusions and faults, respectively. Interestingly, the survey also outlined a large west-northwest trending oval-shaped magnetic high that lies in a till-covered area which surrounds much of the Prodigy Zone (see Figure 3, 4). The magnetic high is cored by a distinct oval-shaped magnetic low that is cospatial with the Prodigy Zone.

Figure 3: Maestro Property 1st Vertical Derivative of Total Magnetic Intensity

(after Walcott, 20213)

Figure 4: Prodigy Zone 1st Vertical Derivative of Total Magnetic Intensity

(after Walcott, 20213)

Figure 5: Historical Drill Pattern (after Bouzari, 20212)

Figure 6: Historical Drill Pattern on Prodigy Zone, Cross Section 1, showing thick,

gold-rich intercepts, associated with green sericite alteration.1

To date, no mineral resource has been established, and no mineral processing or metallurgical testing has been conducted for the Maestro Property.

Proposed Work

The Technical Report for the Maestro Property strongly recommends further exploration work and outlines that budgeted work in detail. The recommended Phase 1 program was to compile and reinterpret the historical geophysical data, to further resample historical drill core, and to conduct a soil geochemical survey in the vicinity of the Prodigy Zone. The recommended Phase 2 program was to drill the Prodigy Zone to test the continuity, extent, and grade of the gold-silver mineralization therein.

About Quartz Mountain

Quartz Mountain Resources Ltd. (TSXV: QZM.V, OTC PINK: QZMRF) is a restructured mineral exploration company based in Vancouver, Canada. It is focused on acquiring, exploring, developing, and transacting high-value gold, silver, and copper projects. The Company currently holds 100% of the Maestro Gold-Silver-Copper-Molybdenum Property and an option to acquire 100% of the Jake Porphyry Copper-Gold Property, both located in central BC. Projects are selected under Quartz Mountain's key acquisition principles: easy access to infrastructure, high potential for major resources and significant future transaction potential.

Quartz Mountain is associated with Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI), a company with over 35-years of success, discovering, developing, and transacting mineral projects in Canada and internationally. Former HDI projects in B.C. included Mount Milligan, Kemess South, and Gibraltar - all of which are porphyry deposits with current or former producing mines. Other well-known projects with HDI involvement include Sisson in Canada, Pebble and Florence in the United States, and Xietongmen in China.

Quartz Mountain is committed to the advancement of critical and essential mining assets while following HDI's Responsible Mineral Development principles, including a mandate to employ best practice approaches in the engagement and involvement of local communities, and meeting rigorous environmental standards.

About C.J. Greig & Associates Ltd.

C.J. Greig & Associates Ltd. was founded and is led by well-known exploration geologist Charlie Greig. The C.J. Greig & Associates team is highly regarded for its porphyry Cu-Au deposit knowledge and discovery track record. Charlie Greig is the recipient of the BC Association for Mineral Exploration's H.H. 'Spud' Huestis Award in 2020, for the discovery of GT Gold Corp.'s Saddle North porphyry Cu-Au deposit and Saddle South epithermal Au deposit in northwest BC.

Qualified Person

Charles J. Greig, P.Geo, a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, who is not independent of Quartz Mountain Resources, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Robert Dickinson

Chairman & CEO

For further details, contact Matthew Dickinson, VP Corporate Development at:

T: (604) 842-2690 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114.

E: info@quartzmountainresources.com

W: www.quartzmountainresources.com

Data Verification

The qualified person and a geologist under his supervision visited the Maestro Property on October 3, 2021, and verified the data for the report before, during and after the site visit by reviewing and assessing the historical exploration literature, assessment and technical reports and data concerning the Property; verifying the ownership and expiry dates of mineral titles that comprise the Property and auditing the results of 100 samples reported in the drilling database against original assay certificates attached to assessment reports.

Additional Drill Hole Information

DDH Length (m) Year Zone Azimuth Inclination BDQ-08-02 531.60 2008 Prodigy 0 -90 BDQ-08-03 481.60 2008 Prodigy 0 -90 BDQ-08-04 551.30 2008 Prodigy 0 -90 BDQ-08-05 486.50 2008 Prodigy 0 -90 BD-11-68 590.40 2011 Prodigy 0 -90 BD-11-69 602.59 2011 Prodigy 0 -90

Information on the laboratory and QA/QC for the historical drill holes can be found in the Maestro Technical Report.

References

NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Maestro Property, C.J Greig, P.Geo., C.J. Greig & Associates, effective date April 8, 2022 Geology of the Prodigy Au-Ag-Mo-Cu Mineralization Zone, Maestro Property, British Columbia. F. Bouzari, 2021 (Internal Report) Airborne Magnetic Surveying, Maestro Property, British Columbia (234 - Line km), Peter Walcott & Associates Limited, 2021 (BC Assessment Report # 39,747) Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Lone Pine Project, P&E Mining Consultants Inc, January 21, 2011 for Bard Ventures Ltd. (now St James Gold) and filed 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) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking-statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking-statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Assumptions used by the Company to develop forward-looking statements include the following: the Company's projects will obtain all required environmental and other permits, and all land use and other licenses, studies and exploration of the Company's projects will continue to be positive, and no geological or technical problems will occur.Though the Company believes the expectations expressed in its forward-looking-statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are subject to future events and third party discretion such as regulatory personnel. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include variations in market prices, continuity of mineralization and exploration success, and potential environmental issues or liabilities associated with exploration, development and mining activities, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and tenure and delays due to third party opposition, changes in and the effect of government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, and exploration and development of properties located within Aboriginal groups asserted territories that may affect or be perceived to affect asserted aboriginal rights and title, and which may cause permitting delays or opposition by Aboriginal groups, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions as well as the effect of COVID 19. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company,and the risks and uncertainties connected with its business, investors should review the Company's home jurisdiction filings as www.sedar.com and its filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE: Quartz Mountain Resources Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/704754/Quartz-Mountain-Releases-NI-43-101-Technical-Report-for-Maestro-Gold-Silver-Project-BC
Dufry International AG / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

Hudson Reveals New Hudson Nonstop Store At Nashville International Airport



14.06.2022 / 14:00





Store Opening Highlights Hudson's Expansive Food & Beverage Portfolio

In A Checkout-Free Environment Powered By Amazon

East Rutherford, N.J., June 14, 2022 - Hudson, a Dufry company and travel experience leader with more than 1,000 stores in airports, commuter hubs, landmarks and tourist destinations across North America, today announced that its first Southeast location for Hudson Nonstop, powered by Amazon's Just Walk Out technology, is officially open at Nashville International Airport (BNA).

The signature Hudson Nonstop experience comes to life in just over 1,000 square feet of concession space - this time with a unique twist. Different from any other Hudson Nonstop store, Hudson Nonstop at BNA exclusively offers food and beverage products so that travelers can explore and discover Hudson's expansive grab and go portfolio. This includes everything from Hudson's proprietary brand, Traveler's Best, to a wide selection of food and beverage items that provide healthy offerings, local representation, and above all, convenience.

"We are continuing to see strong momentum with the growth of our grab and go business," said Evan Schut, SVP of Food & Beverage of Hudson. "This new Hudson Nonstop format is designed to make it easier than ever for travelers to get the best food and beverage products, while still providing them with the same quick and frictionless experience that Hudson Nonstop is known for."

Travelers ready to fuel up can enter Hudson Nonstop by swiping their credit card or hovering their palm over an Amazon One device. Amazon One is Amazon's palm recognition service - a fast, convenient, contactless way for people to use their palm to enter, identify, and pay. After browsing an assortment of snacks, sandwiches and salads, Nashville's most beloved staples like Goo Goo Clusters and Moon Pies, and Tennessee's own Jack Daniel's sauces, travelers are charged for the products they take after they leave the store.

"We are pleased to introduce this exclusive offering in our program at Nashville International Airport," said Matt Jennings, Vice President of Fraport Tennessee. "With Hudson Nonstop's focus on food and drinks, traveler favorites are within easy reach - snacks, sandwiches, salads, food gifts and more. Travelers can satisfy their cravings and enjoy local offerings at the airport with a simple swipe of their credit card or hovering of their palm. It's the ultimate convenience and self-serve option for hungry fliers on the go."

Since 2006, Hudson and its Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) Partners Nashville Nails by Na'Sah's Inc., Olympic Supply, Inc. d/b/a Onsite News, and U-Kno, Inc. have provided travelers visiting the iconic Music City with best-in-class shopping experiences - including Hudson's inaugural Evolve format and experiential Brookstone destination.

The opening at BNA is a testament to the extraordinary success of the Hudson Nonstop concept, and further execution on Hudson's growth strategy of innovation driven by a deep understanding of travelers' needs combined with state-of-the-art technology. As the Traveler's Best Friend in the new world of travel and retail, Hudson continues to deliver convenient and digitally-powered store formats across its four pillars of travel convenience, specialty retail, duty free, and food and beverage.

About Hudson

Hudson, a Dufry Company, is a travel experience company turning the world of travel into a world of opportunity by being the Traveler's Best Friend in more than 1,000 stores in airports, commuter hubs, landmarks, and tourist locations. Our team members care for travelers as friends at our travel convenience, specialty retail, duty free and food and beverage destinations. At the intersection of travel and retail, we partner with landlords and vendors, and take innovative, commercial approaches to deliver exceptional value. To learn more about how we can make your location a travel destination, please visit us at hudsongroup.com or follow our journey on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

For further information, please contact:

Hudson Media Contact

Cindi Buckwalter

VP of Corporate Communications

communications@hudsongroup.com

End of Media Release


SEC approved rulebook following key demonstrations of Blockstation solution

Toronto, Ontario and Lagos, Nigeria--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - NASD OTC Securities Exchange is pleased to announce that it will soon launch a new Digital Securities Platform (N-DSP) through its new Master Agreement with Blockstation and regional partner TK Tech Africa, following the recent publication of the Securities & Exchange Commission's (SEC) Digital Asset Rulebook.

An exchange specializing in capital formation for companies in West Africa, NASD expects the Blockstation platform to create a fast-track for issuers to tokenize their assets, raise funds, and connect with a global investor pool. Further, the platform serves all ecosystem stakeholders including issuers, brokers, custodian banks, depositories, regulators, and investors, providing secure, end-to-end functionality for the entire capital markets lifecycle.

"This agreement is a key part of our strategy to be the most innovative exchange for capital formation in West Africa," says Bola Ajomale, NASD Managing Director and CEO. "By building the N-DSP on the Blockstation platform, we stand to create a secure, efficient and dynamic solution for issuers to tokenize, as well as connect with both brokers and investors more easily than ever before. More broadly, this cutting-edge technology furthers NASD's mission to enable economic development in Africa through consistent innovation, fulfilling our commitment to our stakeholders and the Nigerian economy at large."

The Master Agreement is the latest milestone in this initiative, following a successful pilot of the Blockstation platform in 2021 which involved NASD, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Stanbic IBTC Custodian, Capital Assets Limited, Afrinvest Limited, Greenwich Merchant Bank, Utica Capital, Anchoria Investments & Securities Ltd, and Coronation Merchant Bank. The pilot proved the system's suitability to support end-to-end workflow for all stakeholders in full compliance with market integrity, KYC/AML, and other regulatory requirements.

Speaking on the collaboration between Blockstation, TK Tech Africa and NASD, TK Tech Managing Director Damola Akindolire expressed delight regarding the achievement of this critical milestone and highlighted how the new SEC guidelines will enhance investor confidence and market transformation.

"We are honoured to be directly involved with this process in Nigeria through NASD, and our strategic regional partner TK Tech Africa to advocate for the new digital asset rules," says Matt Singh, Head of Business Strategy for Blockstation. "Considering Nigerians made over 274 billion dollars' worth of transactions in e-payments in the first four months of 2022, Nigeria is in a perfect position to leverage blockchain-based investments for its citizens."

As knowledge of digital securities is critical to the successful takeoff of the digital securities market in Nigeria, NASD and its partners will run the second of their enlightenment webinars Perspectives on Virtual Assets in the Capital Market on June 15 at 11am.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aG1MsW2wTTuSjEX0GHUgSQ

About NASD OTC Securities Exchange

NASD OTC Securities Exchange (NASD) is a Self-Regulatory Organization licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission to operate an Over the Counter (OTC) securities exchange in Nigeria for Unlisted Public Securities. NASD manages Primary markets for new capital raises and Secondary markets for existing shareholder liquidity through its community of participants. Our service offerings are designed to deepen the capital market, enhance investor confidence level and ease the capital raise process for businesses.

NASD OTC Exchange is a member of the Association of Securities Exchanges of Africa (ASEA), Lagos Chamber of Commerce (LCC) and the Association of Securities Exchanges of Nigeria (ASEN).

NASD media contact:

Anthonia Uzoukwu

Head, Human Resource and Administration

081-3-9393151

auzoukwu@nasdng.com

About Blockstation Inc.

Blockstation is a holistic, blockchain-driven platform for the entire lifecycle of tokenizing, listing, trading, clearing and settlement of digital assets and securities within the regulated capital marketplace. As an ecosystem solution, Blockstation serves international stock exchanges and their network of broker-dealer, regulator and depository partners with turn-key, end-to-end functionality to incorporate digital assets into their book of business, empowering them to attract new issuers, generate increased trading revenue, and satisfy market demand for digital assets.

Blockstation media contact:

Michael Spiar

Communications & Education Manager

michael.spiar@blockstation.com

1-833-599-7180 X3

About TK Tech Africa

TK TECH AFRICA LIMITED is a technology company that is focused on using blockchain technology to digitize assets, create alternative asset classes and transform financial market transactions in Africa.

TK Tech Africa Media Contact:

Apata Akinfenwa

Business Development

info@tkafric.com

234-1-4545873

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/127144
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - Sun Summit Minerals Corp. (TSXV: SMN) (OTCQB: SMREF) is pleased to announce the commencement of its summer 2022 exploration program across its Buck Property, central B.C.

Highlights

Property-wide geophysical survey is set to commence: Crew and equipment have been mobilised to the property to conduct a heli-borne Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM) survey.





Crew and equipment have been mobilised to the property to conduct a heli-borne Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM) survey. High-resolution geophysical data to assist with target generation: Results will be used to refine and prioritise follow-up geological and geochemical surveys and possible drilling later this year.





Results will be used to refine and prioritise follow-up geological and geochemical surveys and possible drilling later this year. Drill planning in progress: All new data from the recently competed Buck Main drill program has been interpreted and included into the refined geological model. Targets within and peripheral to the Buck Main system are currently being ranked and prioritised.

Sharyn Alexander, Sun Summit's President, stated:

"The start of this year's property-wide exploration program is a very exciting time for us. Based on encouraging results from last year's extensive drilling and field work, we decided it was paramount to focus on investigating the broader mineral potential and prospectivity of the entire property. As such, the objective of this extensive survey is to obtain important geophysical data from across the property to identify zones where geochemical, geological, and geophysical anomalies are coincidental. This additional data is anticipated to help focus follow-up work and generate new drill targets outside of the Buck Main zone.

"The Buck Property is surrounded by current and past-producing mines as well as numerous advanced-staged development projects1. Although the Buck Main target area is the current focus, we strongly believe in the project's potential to host multiple deposit-types. Our immediate goal therefore is to define and prioritise additional prospective drill targets to complement our ongoing systematic drill programs at Buck Main."

Geophysical Survey

Sun Summit has contracted Geotech Ltd. to carry out a helicopter-borne VTEM geophysical survey across the Buck property. The over 1,800-line kilometre survey will be conducted on east-west oriented lines spaced 200 metres apart. The VTEM system is proprietary to Geotech and is used to map the apparent resistivity (or electrical conductivity) and the magnetic signature of bedrock underlying a survey area. This data can be used to map geologic structures, lithologies and alteration zones potentially related to hydrothermal fluids in areas buried by post-mineralization cover such as glacial till and soils. This type of survey has been successfully utilized in similar geologic environments to explore for porphyry- and epithermal-related mineralization.

Central to the 33,000 hectare Buck Property is an approximately 24 kilometre long, northwest-trending, fault-bound belt of Late Cretaceous Kasalka Group volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, host to epithermal-related mineralization at Buck Main. Kasalka Group volcanic rocks also host bulk-tonnage epithermal-related mineralization at the Blackwater and Capoose gold-silver development projects of Artemis Gold Inc. (Angen et al., 2018)2. These rocks are poorly exposed across the Buck Property due to widespread post-mineralization cover, therefore the high-resolution VTEM data will provide critical insight into the prospectivity of the underlying bedrock and help focus future ground-based surveys.

The initial focus will be to investigate the apparent resistivity signature of the Buck Main epithermal-related system and to look for comparable signatures across the entire property. These potential anomalies, together with other signatures interpreted to be possibly related to additional mineralization styles, will be ranked and prioritised. Follow-up geological and geochemical surveys will commence shortly after completion of the VTEM survey.

Figure 1. Map showing the survey area



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6142/127605_9b38751354a1c9f2_001full.jpg

References

Angen, J.J., Hart, C.J.R., Kim, R.S., and Rahimi, M. (2018): Geology and Mineral Potential of the TREK Area, Northern Interior Plateau, Central British Columbia, Parts of 1:250,000 NTS Sheets 093B, C, F and G; Geoscience BC Report 2018-12, MDRU Publication 411.175 p.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

This news release has been approved by Sun Summit's Senior Advisor, Robert D. Willis, P. Eng., a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has also verified any data disclosed, including sampling, analytical and test data, underlying the technical information in this news release.

Community Engagement

Sun Summit is engaging with First Nations on whose territory the Buck Property is located and is discussing their interests and identifying contract and work opportunities, as well as opportunities to support community initiatives. The Company looks forward to continuing to work with local and regional First Nations as the project continues.

About Sun Summit

Sun Summit Minerals is an exploration company focused on expanding its epithermal gold, silver, and zinc discovery at its flagship 100% controlled Buck Property located in north-central British Columbia near the town of Houston in central B.C.

The Company is exploring multiple high priority targets through systematic exploration campaigns with excellent developed infrastructure and year-round drilling access. The Buck Property has high-grade and bulk-tonnage gold, silver, and zinc potential and is located in an established mining region that includes many former operating mines and current exploration projects.

Sun Summit is committed to environmental and social responsibility with a focus on responsible development to generate positive outcomes for all stakeholders.

Further details are available at www.sunsummitminerals.com.

Link to Figures

Figure 1:

https://sunsummitminerals.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Fig1_VTEM_Survey_June_NR.jpg

For further information, contact:

Sharyn Alexander

President

info@sunsummitminerals.com

Tel. 778-588-9606

Forward-Looking Information

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements, which involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences, without limiting the generality of the following, include: risks inherent in exploration activities; volatility and sensitivity to market prices; volatility and sensitivity to capital market fluctuations; the impact of exploration competition; the ability to raise funds through private or public equity financings; environmental and safety risks including increased regulatory burdens; unexpected geological or hydrological conditions; changes in government regulations and policies, including trade laws and policies; failure to obtain necessary permits and approvals from government authorities; weather and other natural phenomena; and other exploration, development, operating, financial market and regulatory risks. Except as required by applicable securities laws and regulation, Sun Summit disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

1 Resources and reserves at such mines are not evidence of resources existing at Buck

2 Mineralization at such projects is not necessarily indicative of mineralization at Buck

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/127605
Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - TrustBIX Inc. (TSXV: TBIX) (OTCQB: TBIXF) ("TrustBIX" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the release of the BIX Origin module which continues to position the Company as an innovative solution provider in many industries supporting provenance, chain of custody, and ESG reporting. This new module will further the Company's initiative to reward the agri-food and waste industries for their sustainable efforts, and to supply key insights and verifiable data to participating organizations and end consumers.

Designed with existing customers' input and ideas, BIX Origin is a SaaS traceability solution that provides verifiable data at every step of the supply chain, verifying source, brand claims, and practices with uniquely generated QR codes that are branded to match participating organizations. Producers and processors in multiple agri-food and bio-industrial industries, including cereal crops, pulse crops, animal protein, carbon and biochar, could use BIX Origin to provide assurance to further processors, investors, retailers and consumers on the origin of their products.

"BIX Origin enables organizations to manage and source their inventory while validating certified product claims, practices, and qualified program participation." Said Hubert Lau, CEO of TrustBIX Inc. "The release of BIX Origin will further assist TrustBIX in its initiative to reward the Agri-foods industry for their sustainable efforts."

About TrustBIX (TSXV: TBIX) (OTCQB:TBIXF)

As an innovative leader, TrustBIX provides agri-food traceability and chain of custody value solutions. The Company's goal is to create a world where we trust more, waste less and reward sustainable behaviour by addressing consumer and agri-food business demands. The proprietary platform, BIX (Business InfoXchange system), is designed to create trust without compromising privacy through innovative, blockchain-derived use of technology and data. By leveraging BIX and its unique use of incentive solutions, TrustBIX delivers independent validation of food provenance and sustainable production practices within the supply chain - Gate to Plate.

ViewTrak Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, provides a suite of hardware and software solutions to the livestock industry in Canada, United States, Mexico and China, such as Auction Master Pro, Market Master, Feedlot Solutions and pork grading probes.

The Company's Insight technology offers an edge-to-enterprise supply chain solution that brings asset situational awareness to dealers, equipment fleets, and civil construction managers. The platform allows for the tracking, protection, and identification of movement of assets using self-powered and self-reporting cellular tags and cloud-based suite of tools.

For more information, visit www.trustbix.com, or follow TrustBIX on Twitter @TrustBIX_Inc, LinkedIn TrustBIX and Facebook @TrustBIXInc .

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains certain forward-looking information and reflects the Company's present assumptions regarding future events. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, levels of activity, performance, and/or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. When used in this document, the words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "propose", "anticipate", "believe", "forecast", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions used by any of the Company's management, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the Company's internal projections, expectations, future growth, performance and business prospects and opportunities and are based on information currently available to the Company. Since they relate to the Company's current views with respect to future events, they are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments except as required by applicable securities legislation, regulations or policies.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

President and CEO

Mr. Hubert Lau

(780) 456-2207

info@trustbix.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/127616
WALTHAM, Mass., June 14, 2022, a leading provider of enterprise storage solutions, today announced its support for Tech Tackles Cancer , a non-profit initiative to raise awareness and funds supporting pediatric cancer treatment and research.



Infinidat and several other major IT and Storage vendors are putting aside their competitive rivalry for a joint effort to "tackle" cancer together in a charity event for the Tech Tackles Cancer program. Now in its 6th year, Tech Tackles Cancer is returning to an in-person event after a hiatus of more than two years due to the COVID pandemic.

Leveraging the power of the Boston tech industry, Tech Tackles Cancer will bring together vendors in a "Battle of the Technology Rockstars" on June 21 at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts to strike a unified chord for a humanitarian cause. The live audience and spectators watching the performances via LinkedIn Live will be able to vote for their favorite performances.

"Tech Tackles Cancer was founded to harness the power of the technology community to do something good, and it's important that we leverage our collective success to give back," said AtScale CEO Christopher Lynch, the technology veteran who founded Tech Tackles Cancer. "This is a chance to do that - while having some fun."

One of the featured performers will be Ken Steinhardt, Field CTO at Infinidat, which is one of multiple storage solution providers supporting this fundraising effort. Ken's band The Brothers Project will also be performing a set after the singing competition. The cause is personal for Ken because he has had close friends and direct family members affected by cancer. He is running a personal fundraising campaign that will directly benefit this charity, culminating in his performance at the live band karaoke competition at The Sinclair.

"Tech Tackles Cancer is a cause for which I have strong affinity. To do something for such a good cause and mix it with some good rock music, it doesn't get any better," said Steinhardt. "I am encouraged by how many tech companies have responded to this cause, saying 'I'm on board. How can I help?' The attitude across the industry has been amazing. It's a beautiful thing when we're collaborating for the right reasons."

On stage, he will be going up against Nathan Hall, VP of Engineering at Pure Storage; Steve Duplessie, Founder and Senior Analyst of Enterprise Strategy Group/Tech Target; George Hope, Worldwide Head of Partner Sales at HPE; Chris Lynch, and a dozen of other technology executives - or "rockstars" from the industry - for a fun night with feel-good rhythms, shining a spotlight on the storage industry.

Since 2012, Tech Tackles Cancer has raised more than $2 million in donations for organizations focused on pediatric cancer treatment and research, including St. Baldrick's and One Mission . This year, the goal is to raise over $300,000 for pediatric cancer-related causes.

Infinidat is actively involved as a platinum sponsor and has a seat on the volunteer-led team that oversees and plans the organization's activities. Serving on the executive committee of Tech Tackles Cancer is Dan Pearl, Senior Director, Sales Strategy & Enablement, Infinidat.

To find out more about Tech Tackles Cancer and all of the names and companies of the featured performances, go to: www.techtacklesx.org

About Infinidat

Infinidat helps enterprises and service providers empower their data-driven competitive advantage at scale. Infinidat's software defined storage architecture delivers microsecond latency, 100% availability, and scalability with a significantly lower total cost of ownership than competing storage technologies. The company offers an award-winning portfolio of enterprise storage solutions for primary and secondary storage deployments. The corporate headquarters are based in Herzliya, Israel, and U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.infinidat.com .

Connect with Infinidat

About Infinidat

Read our blog

Follow us on Twitter

Join us on LinkedIn

Visit us on Facebook

See us on YouTube

Be our partner

Media Contact

Infinidat

Sapna Capoor

Director of Global Communications

scapoor@infinidat.comI Mobile: +44 (0) 7789684159
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Black Tusk Resources Inc. ("Black Tusk" or the "Company) (CSE:TUSK)(OTC PINK:BTKRF)(FRA:0NB) is pleased to announce that geophysical surveying is now completed on the MoGold property located north of Val d'Or, Quebec.

On the MoGold property TMC Geophysique completed deep-penetrating Pulse-EM (Time Domain Electromagnetic) surveying designed to test a four square kilometre area to cover zones targeted through geologic assessment and rock sampling. Rock samples returned significant values of copper, silver and zinc (See Black Tusk News Release dated 2022-03-07). The geology along the trend is interpreted to have potential for Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) mineralization (see News Release dated 2022-03-07). The zone of interest also displays magnetic features derived from the Black Tusk 2021 surveys. TMC Geophysique is currently compiling the EM survey data and expects to soon provide maps and results.

Black Tusk's MoGold and PG Highway projects consist of adjoining claims covering a total area of 2,400 hectares. Black Tusk's geologic team, headed by Mathieu Piche based in Barraute (close to the properties), conducted reconnaissance level geological surveys with associated rock sampling over the two properties (see news release dated January 11, 2022).

The TMC Geophysique team is now mobilizing to undertake a second Pulse EM survey over Black Tusk's PG Highway claims where massive pyrite and pyrrhotite have been mapped at surface. The sulphide mineralization was discovered during the 2021 Black Tusk geologic reconnaissance. The strength of sulphide mineralization and the general geology suggest potential for hosting VMS deposition. The EM survey on PG Highway is estimated to be completed in the following week.

Black Tusk is preparing to test the best target areas on the MoGold and PG Highway properties by diamond drilling. The drilling could commence once all of the EM survey results have been mapped and reported by TMC, and the Black Tusk geologic team have evaluated all of the exploration work to date to determine priority locations and drill targets.

Black Tusk exploration programs undertaken in Quebec are supervised by Dr. Mathieu Piche, OGQ, with office located north of Val d'Or. He is also a Black Tusk company director.

Cautionary Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions as of that date. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to exploration and development; the ability of the Company to obtain additional financing; the Company's limited operating history; the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations; fluctuations in the prices of commodities; operating hazards and risks; competition and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Prospectus dated September 8, 2017 available on www.sedar.com. 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, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Richard Penn

CEO

(778) 384-8923

SOURCE: Black Tusk Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/705026/Black-Tusk-Resources-Inc-Geophysical-Survey-Completed-on-MoGold-and-Geophysical-Survey-Begins-on-PG-Highway-MoGold-Project-Quebec
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Highmark's THINK AHEAD Pathways Program begins its first of ten Ontario Emergency Room deployments with the first deployment scheduled for July 2022. The program offers physician follow-up and remote monitoring of neurological function to every patient who has suffered a head injury and is discharged directly from the Emergency Room (ER). It is intended to help address the gaps in follow-up care that can occur post-discharge.

Highmark Interactive Inc. (TSXV:HMRK), a global leader in digital health technologies, announces the start of their THINK AHEAD Pathways Program with a plan to add 9 more Emergency Rooms (ERs) over the coming quarters. THINK AHEAD was specifically developed for Canadian ERs for individuals who have experienced a head injury. Phase 1 begins at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington, Ontario and is scheduled to go live in July 2022, before rolling out to its second and third ER in the broader Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Phase 1 of the program later this summer/early fall. Phase 2 begins in November 2022 with an acceleration in deploying THINK AHEAD to an additional 7 Ontario ERs with one ER onboarded every 4-5 weeks.

THINK AHEAD starts directly in the ER with the digital assessment of any stable patient at triage who meets criteria for a suspected head injury (e.g., occurring from a fall or motor vehicle accident) with Highmark's EQ for Emergency software. Patients with injuries significant enough to warrant admission to hospital will initially be excluded from the program. Following discharge from the ER, within two to three (2-3) days, the patient will be virtually assessed by a physician to review their current status and referred for further rehabilitation where appropriate.

According to a study published in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation in 2020, 150,000 people will be diagnosed annually with mild head injury in Ontario with the majority seen and diagnosed in Ontario's ERs. The key driver of THINK AHEAD is to minimize the number of people that may fall through the cracks of our overstretched ERs after discharge. Furthermore, the TRACK TBI study demonstrated that more than 50% of people discharged with mild head injury had ongoing symptoms one year later that can impact school/work, sport and play. Accessing care after a milder head injury has had many barriers in Ontario including limited accessibility due to geography or language, need for education, or long wait lists for existing programs.

"Delivering consistent follow-up post-discharge from the ER is exactly on mark with our mission to revolutionize brain and mental health care," says Dr. Sanjeev Sharma. "We have worked diligently with each ER to ensure we augment their existing processes and workflows to put together a program that can bridge perceived and real gaps post discharge from an ER visit. We are excited to begin deployment of the THINK AHEAD program with the visionary and innovative ER leadership team of Joseph Brant Hospital before expanding across the province and ultimately Canada, and internationally."

Highmark sought to develop a program that can provide services to as many patients as possible, without the cost being borne by either the hospital or the patient. With their THINK AHEAD program that is exactly what is achieved. The software utilized in the ER and by the patient at their 48-72 hour follow up will have no cost for the hospital associated with it. If rehabilitation is required, the cost of Highmark's EQ platform will be undertaken by the treating clinic within the THINK AHEAD network of providers and treating clinics will work with patients to access funding available for their rehabilitation. Highmark expects to generate $3 million of annualized revenue from Phase 1 for deployment completed across the first 3 hospitals by fall of 2022. Phase 1 will reach an equal mix of SaaS revenue and clinical services. By the middle of Q2 of 2023, the rollout schedule targets a total of 10 Ontario ERs generating approximately $10 million in annualized revenue, with 75%, at a minimum, being SaaS revenue. Highmark is targeting deployment across 15 ERs by the end of 2023 in Ontario of which almost 85% will be SaaS revenue.

Highmark is also in preliminary discussions with ERs in Western Canada and anticipates beginning deployment across those provinces in early 2023.

About Highmark Interactive

Highmark Interactive was created to change the paradigm of testing and management for brain and mental health. Highmark's approach is focused on providing real-time data to health providers to support proactive, preventative interventions and targeted care planning to improve health outcomes.

In addition to a growing network of virtual clinics, Highmark Interactive offers the world's first gamified, FDA cleared patient-led assessments as well as digital clinician-led assessments of neurofunction and balance. Together, the technology is used in more than 350 health organizations globally.

By unlocking insights, Highmark's platform enables precision medicine and creates a more contemporary model for delivering better outcomes in medical, mental health and rehabilitation services. Learn more: https://www.highmark.tech/

For further information:

Highmark Interactive Inc.

Investor Relations

ir@highmark.tech

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This News Release contains forward-looking statements that relate to the current expectations and views of future events of the Corporation.

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, predictions, indications, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events.

Forward-looking statements in this Filing Statement include, among other things, statements relating to anticipated revenues generated by the Corporation's customers and the patients they serve, and the Corporation's business generally. Actual revenues generated will be influenced by, among other things, the actual rate of deployment of the THINK AHEAD Pathways Program with the hospital Emergency Rooms being targeted by the Corporation.

These statements and other forward-looking information are based on opinions, assumptions and estimates made by the Corporation in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that Highmark believes are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances, as of the date of this press release, including, without limitation, assumptions with respect to the number of hospital Emergency Rooms that will deploy the THINK AHEAD Pathways Program in the targeted time frame.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results that are the subject of any forward-looking statement to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including those referenced above. Although Highmark has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, conditions, results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events, conditions, results, performance or achievements to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Also see the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Corporation's filing statement dated November 4, 2021 and the sections entitled "Financial Risk Management and "Risk Management" in the Corporation's most recent management discussion and analysis for a discussion of certain factors that could cause actual results to be materially different than any forward-looking statements presented herein.

The Corporation does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such forward looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law.

SOURCE: Highmark Interactive Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/704984/Highmark-Interactive-Inc-Announces-Phase-1-of-its-THINK-AHEAD-Pathways-Program-Starting-with-the-Emergency-Room-at-Joseph-Brant-Hospital
- Momentum continues to build for Dren Bio after successfully forming highly experienced senior leadership team and earlier this year announcing research collaboration and license deal with Pfizer

- The financing round was co-led by Aisling Capital and HBM Healthcare Investments with participation from new investors Pfizer, ArrowMark Partners and Revelation Partners, along with all current insiders

Dren Bio, Inc. ("Dren Bio" or the "Company") today announced the completion of their $65 million Series B financing, pushing the Company's total capital received to date over $156 million. Following the financing, Dren Bio is well-capitalized to reach multiple key inflection points across both its drug discovery programs over the coming years.

"We are truly grateful for all the support we continue to receive from such an outstanding syndicate of investors," said Nenad Tomasevic, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Dren Bio. "This financing comes at the perfect time as we prepare to initiate the first clinical trial evaluating DR-01, our lead asset, in patients with Large Granular Lymphocytic leukemia or cytotoxic lymphomas in mid-2022. In addition to advancing DR-01, the proceeds from this latest round will also enable us to further expand the development of our internal pipeline using our proprietary Targeted Myeloid Engager and Phagocytosis Platform."

The Series B financing was co-led by Aisling Capital and HBM Healthcare Investments, with participation by new marquee investors Pfizer, ArrowMark Partners and Revelation Partners. There was also significant participation in the round by Dren Bio's existing insiders SR One, 8VC, Taiho Ventures, BVF Partners, Mission BioCapital and Alexandria Venture Investments, amongst others. In connection with the closing of the financing, the Company announced that Andrew Schiff, M.D., of Aisling Capital, and Chandra P. Leo, M.D., of HBM Partners, will join its Board of Directors.

"We were thoroughly impressed by Dren Bio's diversified R&D portfolio that encompasses two distinct therapeutic antibody programs including their attractive proprietary platform," said Dr. Schiff, Managing Partner at Aisling Capital. "We are excited by the opportunity to support Dren Bio in progressing on their mission to deliver revolutionary therapies to patients with severe unmet needs, starting with difficult-to-treat cancers."

Dr. Leo, of HBM Partners, added, "Over the last 18 months, Dren Bio has delivered robust preclinical data for their lead asset DR-01 and for their unique technology to induce myeloid cell engagement and phagocytosis. With this new financing, the Company is well positioned to rapidly advance DR-01 towards clinical proof-of-concept and to demonstrate the broad potential of their highly differentiated platform."

Proceeds from the financing will enable Dren Bio to continue advancement of its broad internal pipeline comprised of multiple development candidates approaching the clinic. The Company's lead asset, DR-01, is designed to precisely eliminate a subset of immune cells which are the underlying cause of certain hematologic malignancies and well-defined autoimmune disorders, both of which will be evaluated using its current funding. Dren Bio's position as an emerging leader in the antibody therapeutics space is further strengthened by the exceptional prospects of its Targeted Myeloid Engager and Phagocytosis Platform. Bispecific antibodies generated using the proprietary platform have been shown to produce effects that are well-differentiated from other competing technologies including T cell engagers, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity ("ADCC") antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates. In addition to their profound and multi-pronged mechanism of action, initial development candidates have been very well tolerated in non-human primates, which should enable their utilization in both oncology and non-oncology indications. With its current funding, Dren Bio now has the opportunity to demonstrate the vast potential of its platform to produce therapies for a wide array of patients.

About Dren Bio

Dren Bio is a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases. The Company's senior leadership team and scientific advisors have significant expertise covering the discovery and development of antibody-based product candidates designed to selectively target and deplete pathologic cells, protein aggregates and other disease-causing agents. Dren Bio's pipeline encompasses two distinct programs, the first focusing on the engineering of antibodies with enhanced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity ("ADCC") capabilities and the second revolving around its proprietary Targeted Myeloid Engager and Phagocytosis Platform. For more information about Dren Bio and its two programs, please visit the Company's website at www.drenbio.com.

About Dren Bio's Enhanced ADCC Program

Dren Bio's Enhanced ADCC Program incorporates a validated and well understood technology for which the Company's senior leadership team has extensive experience. The lead product candidate from this program, DR-01, has been shown preclinically to induce rapid ADCC of a cell type that possesses intrinsic cytotoxic potential and is the primary driver of disease in several rare, hematologic malignancies. In addition to these initial cancers, DR-01 is also being evaluated for potential use in treating a number of other indications, including various autoimmune disorders for which the same cytotoxic immune cells are known to play a key role.

About Dren Bio's Targeted Myeloid Engager and Phagocytosis Platform

The Company's Targeted Myeloid Engager and Phagocytosis Platform is an innovative and scientifically compelling approach towards discovering bispecific antibodies for the co-engagement of a conserved, microbial phagocytic receptor highly expressed on myeloid cells, along with a specific target antigen expressed on a pathologic cell or other disease-causing agent of interest. The unique biology of the novel phagocytic receptor enables controlled myeloid cell activation only in the presence of the desired target antigen, thereby resulting in localized cytokine release for an increased therapeutic index and more favorable safety profile. Bispecific antibodies from the platform that are being developed for the treatment of cancer elicit a powerful, multi-pronged mechanism of action that encompasses (i) direct coupling of myeloid cells with cancer cells, (ii) stimulation of myeloid cells for the release of key cytokines known to reprogram tumor associated macrophages and reset the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, (iii) phagocytosis and killing of tumor cells, and (iv) presentation of tumor neoantigens for activating effector and memory T cell responses necessary to achieve anti-tumor immunity. The significant upregulation of Antigen Presenting Machinery ("APM") signature genes and boost to both the number and diversity of peptides presented, collectively support the potential of future drug candidates discovered using the platform to provide longer-lasting responses than those currently observed by other comparable immune cell engaging technologies.

Dren Bio's first development candidate using the platform, DR-0201, co-engages a validated target expressed on the surface of B cells. Exciting preclinical data generated to date from both functional assays and in vivo animal models consistently demonstrate the ability of DR-0201 to induce robust B cell depletion using a differentiated approach when compared head-to-head against ADCC antibody and T cell engager technologies. DR-0201 also consistently exhibits an attractive safety profile, which has now been observed in multiple studies of non-human primates. In addition to Dren Bio's initial efforts focused on difficult-to-treat cancers, DR-0201 is being evaluated in autoimmune disorders for which the depletion of B cells has previously been validated in patients. Beyond DR-0201, the Company's early-stage pipeline also includes the discovery of bispecific antibodies against well-known solid tumor targets as well as exciting new development opportunities to potentially treat severe, life-threatening non-oncology indications such as light chain (AL) amyloidosis, transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis, and Alzheimer's disease, through the removal of harmful protein aggregates.

Source: Dren Bio, Inc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005372/en/

Contacts:

Company Contact:

Jeff Macfarland

SVP, Finance

ir@drenbio.com
CHICAGO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Pharmaceutical Excipients Market by Product (Organic Chemicals (Carbohydrates), Inorganic Chemicals (Calcium Phosphate)), Functionality (Fillers, Binders, Lubricants, Preservatives), Formulation (Tablets, Capsules, Parenteral) - Global Forecast to 2027", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Pharmaceutical Excipients Market is projected to reach USD 11.5 billion by 2027 from USD 8.6 billion in 2022, at a CAGR of 5.9% during the forecast period of 2022 to 2027.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Pharmaceutical Excipients Market"

562 - Tables

51 - Figures

392 - Pages

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=956

The pharmaceutical excipient market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.9% during the forecast period. Growth in the market can be attributed to factors such as the pharmaceutical sector expansion and increasing uptake of biopharmaceuticals. Furthermore, the growing adoption of orphan drugs is also expected to fuel the market growth.

The inorganic chemicals segment accounted for the second largest share of the product segment in the pharmaceutical excipients market in 2021.

Inorganic chemicals generally comprise elements of mineral origin. These chemicals are broadly segmented into calcium compounds, such as calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, and calcium sulfate; metal oxides; halites; and other inorganic chemicals. The performance properties of these chemicals is expected to drive inorganic chemicals segment demand thus fueling the pharmaceutical excipients during the forecast period

The suspending & viscosity agents segment accounted for the second largest share of the functionality segment in the pharmaceutical excipients market in 2021.

The second largest share of Suspending & Viscosity Agents segment can be attributed to the advantages of these agents. Suspensions prevent the caking of APIs at the bottom of a container by keeping them suspended; moderate shaking can restore suspension. Viscosity agents or viscosity modifiers change the thickness or texture of pharmaceutical ingredients. Such benefits of these agents such as stability for drugs along with appropriate viscosity is fueling its demand in the pharmaceutical industry.

Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=956

The Asia Pacific region is the fastest-growing region of the pharmaceutical excipients market in 2021.

The Asia Pacific is estimated to be the fastest-growing segment of the market. The growth of the pharmaceutical excipients markets of China and India is mostly driven by their low labor and manufacturing costs, which has drawn huge investments by pharma giants to these countries. The increasing disposable income, growing prevalence of lifestyle and age-related diseases, and government efforts to reform healthcare also contribute to the high growth of the regional market.

Key players in the pharmaceutical excipients market include Ashland Global Holdings, Inc (US), International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. (US), BASF SE (Germany), Evonik Industries AG (Germany), Roquette Freres (France), Associated British Foods plc (UK), Archer Daniels Midland Company (US), Lubrizol Corporation (US), Innophos Holdings (US), Kerry Group plc (Ireland), Wacker Chemie AG (Germany), Air Liquide (France), Dow Chemicals (US), Colorcon (US), DMV-Fonterra Excipients (Germany), JRS Pharma GmbH (Germany), Meggle GmbH & Co Kg (Germany), Finar Limited (India), Fuji Chemical Industries Co., Ltd (Japan), Merck KGaA (Germany), Captisol (US), Ideal Cures Pvt. Ltd (India), Corel Pharma Chem (India), Biogrund GmbH (Germany), Nitika Pharmaceutical Specialties Pvt. Ltd (India).

Speak to Analyst: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=956

Browse Adjacent Markets: Pharmaceuticals Market Research Reports & Consulting

Browse Related Reports:

Tablet Coatings Market by Polymer (Cellulosic, Vinyl, Acrylic), Functionality (Delayed Release, Sustained Release), Type (Sugar Coated, Film Coated, Enteric Coated), End User (Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical), COVID-19 Impact - Global Forecast to 2025

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/tablet-coatings-market-150774403.html

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Market by type (Innovative, generic), manufacturer (captive, merchant), synthesis (synthetic, biotech), by product (vaccines, Hormones), drug (OTC, Rx), application (Diabetes, oncology, CVD) - Global Forecast to 2025

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/API-Market-263.html

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

Mr. Aashish Mehra

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com

Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/pharma-excipients-market.asp

Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com

Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/pharma-excipients.asp

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg
TOCCOA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Galaxy Next Generation, Inc. (OTCQB:GAXY) ("Galaxy" or the "Company"), a provider of interactive learning technology solutions, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent No. 11,363,379 to support the integration of its platforms including the G2 Communicator; bell, paging, and intercom solutions, as well as the G2 Link classroom audio amplifier end-points.

Galaxy offers a diversified portfolio of technology products for the next generation of students and educators. The G2 Communicator controls communication throughout schools and monitors every product, including bell, paging, and intercom solutions and emergency communication. G2 Link is a Classroom Audio System that enhances teacher communication and student engagement in the classroom and throughout the school community.

The patent describes audio/visual systems that utilize assistive listening devices, which enables central control of the endpoints on the display of the assistive listening device itself. The patent covers the family of G2 products available now, products in development, as well as future products integrating the technology.

"Pursuing and obtaining effective intellectual property protection for our G2 platforms encompassing the fundamental IP underlying key technology, processes and devices is a critical part of our growth strategy," said Gary LeCroy, Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy. "We are pleased with the progress we are making in this area as we expand our issued patent portfolio and continue to file new patent applications for our technologies."

The addition of the patent increases Galaxy's portfolio to 2 patents issued and 3 others pending issuance.

About Galaxy Next Generation, Inc.

Galaxy Next Generation ( OTCQB:GAXY ) is a provider of interactive learning technology solutions that allows the presenter and participant to engage in a fully collaborative instructional environment. Galaxy's products include Galaxy's own private-label interactive touch screen panel as well as numerous other national and international branded peripheral and communication devices. Galaxy's distribution channel consists of 22+ resellers across the U.S. who primarily sell the Company's products within the commercial and educational market. Galaxy does not control where resellers focus their resell efforts, although generally, the K-12 education market is the largest customer base for Galaxy products - comprising nearly 90% of Galaxy's sales.

For additional information, please visit our website at: www.galaxynext.us.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. A more extensive listing of risks and factors that may affect the company's business prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the reports and other documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Company Contact

IR@GalaxyNext.us

P: 888-859-1274

Investor Relations

Brooks Hamilton

MZ North America

+1 949-546-6326

GAXY@mzgroup.us

SOURCE: Galaxy Next Generation, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/704994/Galaxy-Next-Generation-Announces-Issuance-of-US-Patent-Covering-Centralized-Control-of-Assisted-Listening-Audio-Devices-via-One-Communication-Platform
COEUR D'ALENE, ID / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Sidney Resources Corporation (OTC PINK:SDRC) ("Sidney" or the "Company") Sidney Resources Corporation (OTC:SDRC) announces Sean-Rae Zalewski will now serve as the Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Zalewski joined the board in October of 2021 as a Director. He has played a major role in the growth of the company through his exceptional skills in strategic planning, interpersonal communication, business acumen, and knowledge of corporate structure. Through various family office and investment banking relationships, as well as a diverse professional network, Mr. Zalewski continues to provide effective resources and seek synergy for Sidney Resource Corporation. Through these actions the executive team to evaluate and approach unique opportunities for collaborative growth and expansion.

Mr. Zalewski is currently engaged in corporate structuring, strategic planning, business succession, capital sourcing, and completing due diligence on portfolio companies. He acts as a consultant to various company boards, their committees, and provides guidance for family offices across North America.

Gregg Lindner, who has served as the President and CEO since August of 2013, will continue to serve as President of Sidney Resource Corporation.

Dan Hally, who joined the board with Mr. Lindner and who has served as Vice President of Operations and Treasurer, will be promoted Chief Operations Officer as well as continuing his role as Treasurer. He will continue to oversee exploration, development, and technology operations.

Sidney Resources Corporation (OTC:SDRC) is an Idaho Corporation mineral exploration and development company actively engaged in the acquisition, exploration and production of gold / silver properties and the research and development of innovative technologies with mining applications.

CONTACT:

Dan Hally

Chief Operations Officer

509-552-9858

dan@sdrccorp.com

www.sidneyresourcescorporation.com

SOURCE: Sidney Resources Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/704643/Sidney-Resources-Corporation-Announces-Leadership-Changes
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - Lobe Sciences Ltd. (CSE: LOBE) (OTCQB: LOBED) ("Lobe" or the "Company"), a Canadian Biopharmaceutical Company committed to discovering and developing psychedelic inspired medicines for the improvement of neurologic, brain and mental health disorders is reporting its roadmap for the remainder of 2022 and into 2023.

Philip Young CEO and Director stated, "I am happy to report that we have made significant progress since our last update in Q3 last year. The next 12 months will see the culmination of investments we've made in the development of therapeutics to treat neurological diseases such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI). Preclinical models have shown statistically significant results in the treatment of PTSD and mTBI caused by induced trauma. The combinations of psilocybin with n-acetyl cysteine (NAC) delivered superior results compared to either drug alone. Our patent pending combination therapy may allow for the use of sub-psychedelic dosing while retaining efficacy on these and other disorders."

Lobe is preparing a pre-IND meeting request with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to confirm its regulatory strategy and Phase I clinical protocols. We expect to have this meeting in the 3rd quarter of 2022. Following FDA's input, an IND will be filed and Phase I clinical trials in healthy subjects will be initiated immediately thereafter. Lobe will investigate the safety and tolerability of an oral drug candidate, L-130 (a molecular modification of naturally occurring psilocin) and measure absolute pharmacokinetics of this new chemical entity (NCE) given alone and in conjunction with NAC. Following the successful completion of the first-in-man safety trials, a Phase Ib/IIa study will be implemented in healthy volunteers and patients.

We have secured an exclusive source of L-130 and a series of related compounds for use in clinical trials this year and for subsequent trials in the future. Affirming our access to current good manufacturing practice ("cGMP") pharmaceutical grade active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) will enable us to efficiently conduct clinical trials and plan for further work using differentiated compounds.

Our joint venture with Virtual Psychedelics Inc., which is developing the Krysalis system, has completed the development of an early-stage prototype of the Krysalis Pod System. This is a major step forward as the team works to develop the industry leading platform for use with psychedelic and virtual therapy and counseling content in physician offices and clinics as well as integrating into the newly expanding Metaverse.

I look forward to keeping our shareholders informed as the year unfolds.

About Lobe Sciences Ltd.

Lobe Sciences is a life sciences company focused on psychedelic medicines. The Company, through collaborations with industry-leading partners, is engaged in drug research and development using psychedelic compounds and the development of innovative devices and delivery mechanisms to improve mental health and wellness.

For further information please contact:

Lobe Sciences Ltd.

Philip J Young, CEO

info@lobesciences.com

Tel: (949) 505-5623

NEITHER THE CSE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE.

This does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company, research and development using psychedelic compounds, and the development of innovative devices and delivery mechanisms to improve mental health and wellness, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers are cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of the forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including changes to the regulatory environment;, that the Company's drug research and development activities may be unsuccessful; that drugs and medical devices produced by, or on behalf of, the Company, may not work in the manner intended or at all, and may subject the Company to product liability or other liability claims; that the Company may not be able to attain the Company's corporate goals and objectives; and other risk factors detailed in the Company's continuous disclosure filings from time to time, as available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. As a result, the Company cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and the Company does not intend to update any of the included forward-looking statements except as expressly required by applicable Canadian securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/127677
PALM BEACH, Fla., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FinancialNewsMedia.com News Commentary - Recent history shows that, in 2021, the price of Uranium reached the highest levels since 2014, driven by numerous external factors. As a key component of nuclear energy, investors continue to bet on increasing demand for uranium as the world looks towards alternative energies. Throughout the year, the uranium spot price rose from around $30 to $42.05 a pound, an increase just shy of 40%. Put together, these factors contributed to a strong headwinds and a rally between 1 January and 31 March, as the price of uranium nearly doubled from $30.20 to $58.20 a pound, according to data from Currency.Com. According to a report from ResearchAndMarkets said the global uranium production is forecasted to reach 63.16ktU in 2025, experiencing growth at a CAGR of 5% during the period spanning from 2021 to 2025. The report said: "Growth in the global uranium market was supported by factors such as rising nuclear power capacities, increasing urban population, increasing use of uranium in radiation and increasing use of uranium in the military. However, the market growth would be challenged by a decline in nuclear electricity generation, shutting down of mine operations and geopolitical issues. The market is anticipated to experience certain trends like uranium used in radioisotope thermoelectric generators and rising uranium demand from China and developing nations. A gradual decrease in secondary supply, a combination of uranium demand recovery and uranium stockpiling by producers and funds, would lead to the global uranium market remaining in deficit in 2021." Active mining companies in the markets this week include Traction Uranium Corp. (OTCQB: TRCTF) (CSE: TRAC), Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE: UUUU) (TSX: EFR), Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE American: UEC), Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSE American: URG) (TSX: URE), Denison Mines Corp. (NYSE: DNN) (TSX: DML).

ResearchAndMarkets concluded: "The global uranium production by region can be segmented into the following regions: Kazakhstan, Australia, Namibia, Canada, Uzbekistan, Niger, Russia, China, Ukraine, India, South Africa, USA. In 2020, the dominant share of the market was held by Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has been an important source of uranium for more than 50 years. The region would continue to dominate the world's production of uranium during the forecast period, as the state-owned entity that mines and explores for uranium and also produces atomic power in the former Soviet republic."

Traction Uranium Corp. (OTCQB: TRCTF) (CSE: TRAC) BREAKING NEWS: Traction Uranium and Fission 3.0 Drilling Continues to Intersect Additional Anomalous Radioactivity at Lazy Edward Bay - Traction Uranium Corp. (the "Company" or "Traction"), a mineral exploration issuer focusing on the development of discovery prospects in Canada, including its two flagship uranium projects in the world-renowned Athabasca Region and Fission 3.0 Corp. ("Fission 3"), are pleased to provide the following update of the drilling at the Lazy Edward Bay project in the SE Athabasca Basin region which commenced on May 17, 2022. Drilling on the Horse West conductor has encountered anomalous radioactivity in drill hole LEB22-007 in proximity to an 11.7m-wide basement fault with intense clay and chlorite alteration approximately 10m further down hole. Drilling is currently targeting this significant structure up dip at the unconformity.

Highlights:

Drilling continues to encounter favorable structure, alteration and anomalous radioactivity in the vicinity of historic hole LE-73 on the West Horse conductor

LEB22-004 encountered anomalous radioactivity near the sandstone-basement unconformity at 164.6m associated with a reverse fault (see May 31, 2022 release)

associated with a reverse fault (see release) LEB22-007 encountered elevated radioactivity in the lower sandstone of 380cps on the handheld spectrometer at 169.75 m , corresponding on the downhole gamma probe with increased radioactivity >500 cps from 168.5 m to 169.5 m with a maximum of 1177 counts as well as from 171 m to 171.5 m with a maximum of 1063 cps.

, corresponding on the downhole gamma probe with increased radioactivity >500 cps from to with a maximum of 1177 counts as well as from to with a maximum of 1063 cps. The unconformity was intersected at 173m and the large fault zone was intersected from 178.4 m and continued to 190.1m .

and the large fault zone was intersected from and continued to . Additional drill targets have been defined along the Western Horse Corridor from a re-interpretation of an airborne VTEM survey to be added to the program.

Favorable structure, alteration along with elevated levels of radiation are key indicators for identifying unconformity type, high grade uranium deposits typical in the basin.

Hole LEB22-008 is in progress to test an 11.7m-wide extremely clay and chlorite altered basement structure along with proximal anomalous radioactivity intersected in hole LEB22-007 up-dip where it intersects the unconformity which is the 6th hole in the immediate vicinity of historic hole LE-73 along the western Horse Conductor. Hole LEB-007 targeted the same structure approximately 50m along strike to the north.

Lester Esteban, Chief Executive Officer, states "Our drill program at Lazy Edward Bay is exceeding our expectations, by optimizing logistics our team was able to re-allocate the cost savings towards drilling. We are hoping to drill more holes than planned and finish above 3000m rather than the original target of 8 holes for 2000m. This allows us to pursue mineralization on further good looking geophysical targets along the western Horse Conductor prior to wrapping up the program within the next couple weeks."CONTINUEDRead this full press release and more news for Traction Uranium at: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-trac/

Other recent developments in the mining industry of note include:

Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE: UUUU) (TSX: EFR) recently reported its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. The Company's annual report on Form 10-K has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and may be viewed on the Electronic Document Gathering and Retrieval System ("EDGAR") at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") at www.sedar.com, and on the Company's website at www.energyfuels.com. Unless noted otherwise, all dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars.

Mark S. Chalmers, Energy Fuels' President and CEO, stated: "Energy Fuels continues to benefit from increases in the prices for all of the critical elements and materials we produce. Though volatile, uranium prices have continued to exhibit strength and resilience, which we expect to continue"

Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE American: UEC) and UEX Corporation (UEX) recently announced they have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement (the "Agreement"), pursuant to which UEC will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of UEX by way of statutory plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") under the Canada Business Corporations Act.

Under the terms of the Agreement, each holder of the common shares of UEX (each, a "UEX Share") will receive 0.0831 of one UEC share (each, a "UEC Share") in exchange for each UEX Share. This share exchange ratio implies consideration of approximately C$0.43 (3) per UEX Share and a premium of approximately 50% based on the closing price of UEX's shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") on June 10, 2022.

Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSE American: URG) (TSX: URE) has recently filed the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtmland with Canadian securities authorities at www.sedar.com.

Ur-Energy CEO, John Cash said, "The first quarter of 2022 has been an exciting time for our industry with the long-term and spot uranium prices climbing dramatically in response to a growing recognition of nuclear energy's role in decarbonization, as evidenced by an increasing presence in the industry by financial players. Additionally, threats to the supply of uranium due to geopolitical uncertainty are beginning to overshadow the market. In response to rising uranium prices, and possible supply chain disruptions, we have continued and expanded our drilling and construction program to better position us to quickly ramp up low-cost production from our fully permitted Lost Creek Project when the market improves.

Denison Mines Corp. (NYSE: DNN) (TSX: DML) recently filed its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis ('MD&A') for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. Both documents will be available on the Company's website at www.denisonmines.com or on SEDAR (at www.sedar.com ) and EDGAR (at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml ). The highlights provided below are derived from these documents and should be read in conjunction with them. The Company's results reflect earnings attributable to Denison shareholders of $0.05 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 - including mark-to-market gains of $47.8 million on the Company's investment in 2.5 million pounds U3O8 of physical uranium holdings. All amounts in this release are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. View PDF

David Cates, President and CEO of Denison commented, "Our results from the first quarter of 2022 reflect further improvements in the uranium market, as well as an active start to the year for the Company's Wheeler River and McClean Lake projects.

DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM expects to be compensated forty five hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by Traction Uranium Corp. by a non-affiliated third party. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

Contact Information:

Media Contact email:

editor@financialnewsmedia.com

+1(561)325-8757
AECI LIMITED

Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa

(Registration number: 1924/002590/06)

Share code: AFE ISIN: ZAE000000220

Hybrid code: AFEP ISIN: ZAE000000238

Bond company code: AECI

LEI: 3789008641F1D3D90E85

(AECI or the Company)

CHANGE TO THE BOARD AND BOARD COMMITTEES: APPOINTMENT OF A NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

In compliance with paragraphs 3.59 of the JSE Limited (JSE) Listings Requirements and 6.39 of the JSE Debt Listings Requirements, AECI is pleased to announce that Mr Sam Coetzer will join the Board as Non-executive Director with effect from 1 July 2022. He will also serve as a member of the following Board committees: the Investment, Innovation and Technology Committee; and the Safety, Health and Environment Committee.

Sam Coetzer is a global mining executive with over 30 years of international experience, operating in Canada, the USA, South America, Australia, Tanzania, Fiji and South Africa. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering (Mining) and has most recently served on the Board of Harte Gold Corp., a company he previously led as Chief Executive Officer. Prior to that, Sam spent over eight years with Golden Star Resources as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director where he successfully transformed the company from open-pit operations to an underground-only producer, attracted institutional capital and grew the capital markets profile, increasing the overall share trading volume.

He has held numerous senior leadership positions at international companies (including Kinross Gold, Xstrata and Placer Dome/Barrick) and brings with him extensive global knowledge of underground and open-pit operations.

Khotso Mokhele states: "It is a pleasure to welcome Sam to the Board of AECI where his global mining experience and insight will provide an invaluable contribution in the execution of the Company's international growth strategy."

AECI confirms that the appointment of Mr Coetzer was made in accordance with the Company's Board Nomination, Composition and Diversity Policy.

By order of the Board

Khotso Mokhele

Chairman

Woodmead, Sandton

14 June 2022

Sponsor and Debt Sponsor

Rand Merchant Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank Limited
Industry-wide agreement aims at eliminating cross-brand intercom incompatibilities

PLANO, Texas, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardo Systems, Midland and Uclear, have today jointly announced the launch of the 'Open Bluetooth Intercom' (OBI) - an open industry-wide Bluetooth Intercom standard, allowing seamless cross-brand Bluetooth Intercom connectivity.

The partnership will help overcome many of the common frustrations experienced with traditional 'universally connected' devices, and foster a new era of significantly improved cross-brand experience.

While 'universal connectivity' enables pairing between cross-brand communicators, the experience for users is often inferior when compared to if they were connected to a device from the same brand. The pairing process can often be complex, previous connections forgotten and not always possible to make phone calls or listen to music in parallel to the intercom connection. All of these challenges are overcome with the introduction of the 'Open Bluetooth Intercom' agreement.

Speaking on behalf of the partners Shachar Harari, VP of Business Development explained: "Having just launched our 'Universal Communication Solution', the announcement of our 'Open Bluetooth Intercom' further cements our commitment to providing motorcyclists with the best solutions to communicate while riding. The new partnership will enable riders to fully enjoy seamless Bluetooth intercom connectivity across the brands and will further foster the penetration of communication solution among rider world-wide."

'Open Bluetooth Intercom' describes various extensions to the 'Bluetooth Handsfree Profile', designed for direct duplex communications between Bluetooth-capable devices - enhancing the interoperability of different partnership brands in the Bluetooth communicator market, meaning that riders no longer have to agree with fellow riding partners on a brand to buy.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1830648/OBI.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1772689/Cardo_Systems_Logo.jpg
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Rosinbomb (OTC Pink: ROSN) ("the Company"), a company with over four years of operating history developing and producing the ROSINBOMB line of rosin presses and accessories for extracting organic concentrates. CEO of the Company, Fred Angelopoulos, joined Stock Day host, Sever Copley.

Copley began the interview by asking about the Company's background and current projects. "Rosinbomb is a technology consumer products company that develops extraction technology and products for botanicals and any kind of organic material," explained Angelopoulos. "We have been in the industry for about five years, and we have a very unique process in what we do with a focus on solventless extractions."

"Do you have any new products scheduled for this year?" asked Copley. "We are launching a new product in the next couple of weeks," shared Angelopoulos. "It is called the ROSINBOMB Crunch, and it is consumer-based and allows for consumers to easily and efficiently craft their own extracts," he explained. "What is unique about this is that we have been able to develop up to five tons of pressure, and the product is around $500," said Angelopoulos. "The value of pounds of force per dollar is unmatched on the market."

Angelopoulos then elaborated on how the Company has worked to overcome supply chain challenges over the past few months and shared that the Company was also able to develop new technology during this time. "We have a couple of exciting products that we will be launching in the next three to six months, which will really help turn us into a serious player in the mass production of extracts."

Copley then asked about the Company's intellectual property, including their Flow Channel Technology and the M60 Rocket. "We had a design patent granted on our M-Series Rockets," said Angelopoulos, adding that the Company also filed utility patents two-years ago. "We've had two patents granted in the last two weeks," he said. "One of them is for the Flow Channel Technology," shared Angelopoulos, before elaborating on this revolutionary technology.

"We have another patent that was just granted, which is just as groundbreaking, on our power supply," continued Angelopoulos. "We are able to generate thousands of pounds of force, and this is with a three-prong plug," he shared. "This actuator patent ensures that our power supply will never be replicated or copied by a competitor."

"What does the future look like for Rosinbomb as a company?" asked Copley. "We've had sustainable growth, and these new technologies and products have really broadened our horizon," said Angelopoulos. "Our goal is to continue to be the leader in solventless extraction technology."

"We're excited about the future, and we have worked hard over the last couple of years to keep moving forward while we continue to develop new technology," continued Angelopoulos.

"Do you have any plans for up listing from OTC PINK?" asked Copley. "We are in the process of up completing our financial audit," said Angelopoulos. "Two years of audited financials are required to up list, and since we operate as a fully reporting company we should have no issues completing the process.," he explained. "We expect that to be completed within the next quarter or two, and I think that will open up a lot of opportunities for the company."

To hear the entire interview with Fred Angelopoulos, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/8102021-rosinbomb-announces-granting-of-new-patents-and-upcoming-uplisting-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 ROSINBOMB

Rosinbomb (OTC Pink: ROSN) has over four years of operating history developing and producing the ROSINBOMB line of rosin presses and accessories for extracting organic concentrates. Founded as a family company with deep roots in creating press technology for the organic fruit and vegetable juice market, ROSINBOMB presses require no chemicals or additional hardware to operate. The presses are plug-and-press out of the box. The technology uses patent pending techniques to optimize extraction potential and allow the user the ability to easily produce naturally-extracted, organic concentrates. Additional information can be found at rosinbomb.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements involve a high degree of risk and uncertainty, are predictions only and actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences include the uncertainty regarding viability and market acceptance of the company's products and services.

Media Contact:

press@rosinbomb.com

investor.relations@rosinbomb.com

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/127681
MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Kisses from Italy Inc. (OTCQB:KITL), announces that the U.S.-based restaurant chain operator, franchisor, and product distributor with locations in North America and Europe has filed a trademark application for Metaverse-Based virtual reality marketplaces. The patent seeks to allow the Company and it's various business facets to offer and is intended to cover the categories of virtual food and beverage products; downloadable virtual goods, namely, food items and beverages for use in virtual worlds; downloadable multimedia files containing artwork, text, audio, and video files and non-fungible tokens (NFTs); downloadable loyalty and reward cards which can be redeemed for menu items; downloadable computer software, namely, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for facilitating commercial transactions.

"We remain focused on increasing our footprint and growing our restaurant chain, retail business and franchising division, organically and through acquisitions. However, we also have a dual focus to capitalizing on emerging trends that could benefit our business and shareholders. The potential of the "Metaverse" and what it can become or how it can evolve, is enormous. It is a full integration of real-world experiences from the comfort of your own home," stated Michele Di Turi, co-founder, President and co-CEO of Kisses From Italy, Inc. "As my business partner and I looked further into the matter and how it can be applied to current operations, whether it be giving a tour to a potential franchisee in the virtual world or individuals visiting a Kisses From Italy store in the Metaverse, where our customers can purchase Kisses From Italy retail branded products or order one of our delicious sandwiches and have the order/ products show up at their door not long after. The possibilities are endless and definitely would add to our current and future ventures" added Di Turi.

In a recent article by Bloomberg News, it was cited that "Wall Street is pounding the table on the next big thing in technology, predicting the metaverse could be a $13 trillion industry by the end of the decade."

Also, mentioned in an article by Forbes, "The potential for retail in the metaverse, once the technology is better, is to make online shopping more engaging and useful. A tool that would allow consumers to explore and discover better than they can now would bring online shopping closer to what consumers can accomplish in stores, without ever leaving home. If that could happen, then the process of converting visitors into customers, which today is much less effective online than in-store, could make online retail a far more viable, and valuable, business. It would also have an enormous impact on the viability of many physical stores.

About Kisses from Italy Inc.

Kisses from Italy Inc. is a U.S.-based restaurant chain operator, franchisor, and product distributor with locations in North America and Europe. The Company offers a quick-service menu and a unique take on traditional Italian delicacies with an All-American flair. Kisses from Italy offerings include sandwiches, salads, Italian roasted coffee, coffee-related beverage, and an array of other products. In November of 2020, Kisses from Italy launched its retail branded products for distribution stores across Canada. Currently, our products are being offered in grocery stores and retail food stores.

The Company currently operates three corporate-owned stores and two franchised locations in the U.S. and Canada. It successfully commenced operations in May 2015 with the opening of its flagship location in Ft. Lauderdale at 3146 NE 9th St. The Company opened its inaugural European location in Ceglie del Campo, Bari, Italy in October of 2019. In September of 2019, Kisses from Italy Inc. was approved by FINRA to trade its common stock and was approved for up-listing by the OTC Markets Group to the OTCQB in mid-October 2019 under the ticker symbol KITL.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected. These risks and uncertainties are further defined in filings and reports by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors detailed from time to time in our filings with the SEC. Reference is hereby made to cautionary statements set forth in the Company's most recent SEC filings which are available at www.sec.gov as well as the Company's website at www.kissesfromitaly.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or changes to future operating results.

For more information, please visit www.kissesfromitaly.com

Contact Information:

Kisses from Italy Inc.

305-423-7129

info@kissesfromitaly.com

SOURCE: Kisses from Italy Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/704997/Kisses-From-Italy-Restaurant-Group-Files-Trademark-Application-Related-to-the-Metaverse
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / (TSXV:MARV)(Frankfurt:O4T)(OTCQB:MARVF); ("Marvel" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has completed a structural interpretation of the high-resolution magnetic survey at the Gander East Project, Central Newfoundland. Several prominent shear and deformation zones have been identified that require follow-up prospecting, mapping, and soil sampling. Results of the boots on the ground campaign together with the favourable structural features will aid Marvel in targeting those areas of high merit for its inaugural Phase I drilling program.

The Gander East Project consists of 274 claims totaling 6,850 hectares, which have been strategically positioned adjacent to New Found Gold's ("NFG") Queensway Project and along strike from both Exploits Discovery Middle Ridge Project and Sassy Resources Gander North Project (Figure 1). The Queensway Project is undergoing a 400,000 m drill campaign targeting 20 km of prospective strike along the regional scale Appleton and Dog Bay fault zones (Figure 2). NFG's most recent news release dated June 6, 2022, reported 9.12 g/t Au over 8.2 m and 42.6 g/t Au over 11.75 m beginning at only 8.8 m downhole. Parallel structures to those hosting gold in the Queensway and Middle Ridge project areas intersect the Gander East Project including a segment of the Gander River Ultrabasic Line (GRUB Line) that defines the easternmost bounding structure of the regionally prospective Exploits Subzone. Furthermore, the Gander East Project lies along strike to the south of a new regional gold trend defined by Sassy Resources as a part of their Gander North Project. The Structure is integral to the numerous gold occurrences and drill intersections within the Exploits Subzone.

Figure 1: Gander East Location Map Showing Strategic Location Adjacent to New Found Gold.

Figure 2: Gander East Location Map Showing Strategic Location and major fault positions.

The high-resolution magnetic survey was an extremely effective tool that enhanced the magnetic signature of the Property (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Contrast of regional government magnetic data left with magnetic signatures of a high-resolution magnetic survey right.

Other magnetic products from the high-resolution survey define and enhance the various rock types and structural features consistent with orogenic gold occurrences and deposits of the Exploits Subzone (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Magnetic inversions left aid in defining discrete magnetic units and structural features with increased amplitude effects right defining various rock types by their magnetic intensity.

As a result of the study of the magnetic products from the high-resolution survey, a major sigmoidal shear is interpreted through the central part of the property. Six areas of high merit will be targeted for follow-up prospecting, mapping, and soil sampling. These areas are deemed to have a high rate of success for orogenic gold mineralization based on known mineralization and alteration styles adjacent to the Property, folded and sheared sediment rocks, predominant shear zones, and numerous minor faults. (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Interpreted location of the predominant shear zone in the central part of the Property, left, and the 6 areas of interest targeted for follow-up exploration, right.

Commentary

"The Gander East Project is a strategic land position for Marvel within the Central Newfoundland gold belt. The effectiveness of the high-resolution magnetic survey defines structural features that we know have been integral to the success of New Found Golds Queensway Project and the high-grade Keats Zone. Our robust magnetic dataset clearly enhances our structural and lithological understanding of the Property and vectors our next exploration phase to those areas of high merit for gold mineralization. Once the results of this next phase are received, Marvel will initiate an inaugural drill campaign", stated Karim Rayani, President & Chief Executive Officer, Director.

Qualified Person

Mr. Mike Kilbourne, P. Geo, an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Company.

About Marvel Discovery Corp.

Marvel, listed on the TSX Venture Exchange for over 25 years, is a Canadian based emerging resource company. The Company is systematically exploring its extensive property positions in:

Newfoundland (Slip, Gander North, Gander South, Victoria Lake, Baie Verte, and Hope Brook - Au Prospects )

) Atikokan, Ontario (BlackFly - Au Prospect )

) Elliot Lake, Ontario (East Bull - Ni-Cu-PGE Prospect)

Quebec (Duhamel - Ni-Cu-Co prospect & Titanium, Vanadium, and Chromium Prospect)

Prince George, British Columbia (Wicheeda North - Rare Earth Elements Prospect)

The Company's website is: https://marveldiscovery.ca/

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Marvel Discovery Corp.

"Karim Rayani"

Karim Rayani

President/Chief Executive Officer, Director

Tel: 604 716 0551 email: k@r7.capital

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information:

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements which reflect the expectations of management. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Forward-looking statements in this press release relate to, among other things: completion of the proposed Arrangement. Actual future results may differ materially. 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. There is no assurance any of the conditions for closing will be met. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions, and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these times. 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, except as required by law

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Marvel Discovery Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/705000/Marvel-Completes-Structural-Study-of-High-Resolution-Magnetic-Survey-at-Gander-East-Mobilizes-Ground-Crews-To-Investigate-Targets-of-High-Merit-for-Phase-1-Drill-Program
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Musk Metals Corp. ("Musk Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:MUSK)(OTC PINK:EMSKF)(FSE:1I30) is pleased to announce it has started its fourth exploration program for Phase 1, on its 100% owned "Elon" lithium project in Quebec. Intervention permit has been received May 18th, 2022, which allowed the opening of access trails and exploratory trenches. The exploration work commenced on June 13th, 2022, targeting six anomalies that will be trenched, mapped, and sampled in the search for lithium-rich spodumene.

Dynamic Discoveries Geosciences was mandated to identify targets using topographic imagery (LiDAR), cross referenced with a high resolution heliborne magnetic survey (2021) and DEM. Possible surface dykes cross cutting the interpreted intrusions, concordant with till anomalies which show a context alike the Quebec Lithium Mine located 600m south-west of the Elon Lithium Property (the "Property").

The Program

The Company is expected to trench approximately 175 meters out of the 350 meters in the proposed planning. Trenches should be 2m wide, overburden depth is estimated between 0m to 3m. Fifty (50) meters of channel sampling is expected, which will be determined following surface mapping once bedrock is exposed. Target priorities are set according to where the bedrock is superficial which is somewhat concordant to outcrop geochemical anomalies rich in lithium, tantalum, and yttrium (Table 1). Unexplored targets in the present program will be subject to future exploration work, such as shallow drilling or further trenching.

Table 1: Trenches Details.

Priority TRENCH

ID LENGHT

(m) DEPTH

(m) OVERBURDEN

(m3) TARGET DESCRIPTION 1 T3 30 1 - 2 284.67 Interpreted pegmatite dyke using DEM-high and cross-referenced with LiDAR topographic imagery. Two blocs down-ice returned highest Li values of Fall 2021 prospection survey. 1 T4 83 1 - 3 767.79 Possible pegmatite dyke swarm, identified with Low Mag, high DEM and cross-referenced with LiDAR topographic imagery. 1 T9 62 2 - 3 574.11 Possible pegmatite dyke swarm interpreted with Low Mag, high DEM and cross-referenced with LiDAR topographic imagery. 2 T7 86 2 - 3 791.1 Interpreted pegmatitic dyke swarm, 300 meters up-ice from 'Zone A' which returned highest Li values in outcrop samples, including one value at 101ppm Li. Dyke swarm would be in inner zone of interpreted intrusion. 3 T8 41 2 - 3 383.13 Possible pegmatite dyke identified with high DEM. Pegmatite dyke would be in inner zone of interpreted intrusion. 3 T10 46 2 - 3 428.04 Possible pegmatitic dykes identified with high DEM, and possible dyke swarm identified with Low Mag. Cross referenced with LiDAR topographic imagery.

Mountain Bike trails, Cross-Country Ski trails and other trails are present on the southern part of the Property. To prevent damage to these trails, the Company will be using existing roads outside of the trail system to access their trenches. This led to the Company to reduce the number of trenches and sampled length to be worked in June (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Trenches, Existing Trails and Access.

Elon Property

The Elon Property is strategically located in Abitibi, Qc at approximately 600 meters northeast of the North American Lithium Project, formerly known as Mine Quebec Lithium, which produced over 907,000 tons of material at 1.40% Li2O between 1955 and 1965 (Boily et al, 1989).

Pluto Property

Further to its news releases dated Oct. 27, 2021 and January 25, 2022, on May 11, 2022 Musk amended its Property Option Agreement dated January 19, 2022 with Jinhua Capital Corporation ("Jinhua") in respect to the Pluto Property, located in the Dolomieu and Daubree townships of Quebec.

A summary of the substantive amendments to the Option Agreement on May 11, 2022 are provided below.

Pursuant to the Option Agreement, Musk advanced $200,000 to the authors (the "Authors") of the technical report on the Pluto Property dated January 15, 2022 (the "Technical Report"), as a prepaid expense for the Authors to undertake the proposed Phase 1 geological work on the Pluto Property as set out in the Technical Report (the "Phase 1 Work"). The Option Agreement provides for the following:

upon the Authors completing the Phase 1 Work, Musk agreed to immediately undertake commercially reasonable efforts to provide Jinhua with all relevant and supporting geological information, details, logs, invoices, expenditures and other documents evidencing the completion of the Phase 1 Work (the "Geological Records"); and

upon receipt of the Geological Records by Jinhua and verification that the Geological Records evidence that the Authors have completed the Phase 1 Work by expending at least $200,000 thereto in accordance with standard practices for geological work in Canada (the "Eligible Expenditures"), Jinhua will promptly issue 2,000,000 common shares (each, a "Common Share") at a deemed issue price of $0.10 per Common Share to Musk (each, an "Expenditure Share").

Any Expenditure Shares will be issued pursuant to an exemption under applicable securities laws and will bear a restricted period of four months and one day in accordance. In the event Jinhua does not receive the Geological Records evidencing the Eligible Expenditures on or before December 31, 2022, Jinhua may, with 10 days' written notice to Musk, terminate all right to receive the Expenditure Shares as set out in the Option Agreement. The number of Expenditure Shares to be issued by Jinhua to Musk will be on a post 2:1 Common Share consolidation basis, but nevertheless be subject to any other standard adjustment for routine corporate events such as future stock splits and consolidations. The issuance of the Expenditure Shares is conditional upon the Issuer complying with all Exchange policies with respect to the issuance thereof.

References:

Boily, M., Pilote, P., Raillon, H., 1989: La metallogenie des metaux de haute technologie en Abitibi-Temiscamingue. Ministere des Ressources Naturelles, MB 89-29.

Pearse, HK., Paiement, J.P., Skiadas. N., Stapinsky, M., Boyd, T., Bonneville., Gagnon, D., Clayton, G., Michaud, A., Boilard, A., 2016: NI 43-101 Technical Report - Feasibility Study on the Whabouchi Lithium Deposit and Hydromet Plant (Revised). Prepared for Nemaska Lithium Inc. By Met-Chem Canada Inc.

Qualified Person

This press release was prepared by Pierre-Alexandre Pelletier, P.Geo OGQ, and Steven Lauzier, P.Geo OGQ whom are qualified persons as defined under National Instrument 43-101, and who reviewed and approved the geological information provided in this news release.

Make sure to follow the company on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as well as subscribe for company updates at www.muskmetals.ca.

About Musk Metals Corp.

Musk Metals is a publicly traded exploration company focused on the development of highly prospective, discovery-stage mineral properties located in some of Canada's top mining jurisdictions. The growing portfolio of mineral properties exhibit favorable geological characteristics in underexplored areas within the prolific "Electric Avenue" pegmatite field of northwestern Ontario, the "Abitibi Lithium Camp" of southwestern Quebec, the "Golden Triangle" district of British Columbia, the Mineral Rich "Red Lake" mining camp of Northwestern Ontario and the "Chapais-Chibougamau" mining camp, the second largest mining camp in Quebec, Canada.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Nader Vatanchi

CEO & Director

For more information on Musk Metals, please contact:

Phone: 604-717-6605

Corporate e-mail: info@muskmetals.ca

Website: www.muskmetals.ca

Corporate Address: Suite 2905 - 700 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V7Y 1C6

Neither Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Musk Metals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/704983/Musk-Metals-Begins-Fourth-Exploration-Program-on-Its-100-Owned-Elon-Lithium-Project-in-Quebec-Canada
Humanitarian, Philanthropist and Activist, former Second Lady Tipper Gore has donated a total of $1 million to the Ukrainian-American nonprofit, Razom for Ukraine. The funds are being used to provide immediate humanitarian aid to Ukrainians on the ground. The former Second Lady has long been involved in disaster relief efforts across the globe and is now working with Razom to ensure that Ukrainians receive critically-needed aid and supplies.

Razom for Ukraine mobilized its emergency response project to deliver vital humanitarian aid, including medical and hospital supplies since the Russian invasion began. This outreach has allowed Razom to build and deepen relationships with other nonprofit organizations in local hotspots, to coordinate the collection of donations, aggregate medical supplies, and deliver trainings to Ukrainian physicians. Tipper Gore's donation will help Razom's efforts to provide Ukraine with life-saving aid and resources.

"Razom's mission, to save lives and support on-the-ground efforts in Ukraine, is as vital as it is awe-inspiring. Philanthropic support allows Razom to significantly expand its capabilities and scale its efforts as Russia's unjustified, egregious attack rages on. I am proud to share that I am supporting Razom's efforts in Ukraine, in the hope that it encourages others to do the same. As someone who has seen the effects of war firsthand in Zaire, I understand how critical Razom's work is both now, and going forward. In this fight, the Ukrainian people have been a beacon of democracy for those who value their freedom from tyranny. The Russian invasion must be stopped to avoid pain for years and generations to come," said Gore.

The first $900,000 of her contribution is being used to send direct aid to Ukraine, while the remaining $100,000 contribution is going toward expanding capacity.

Donations like Gore's have allowed Razom to invest over $32.7M into the nonprofit's emergency response efforts:

$19M went toward delivering life-saving tactical medicine and medical supplies to territorial defense units, hospitals, and field hospitals, all in active combat zones across Ukraine.

$9.9M went toward providing non-medical humanitarian aid such as communications resources that help ensure safe and effective delivery of aid

$1.7M went toward funding grants issued by Razom to organizations and initiatives that help civilians in combat zones and/or internally displaced persons

$1.1M went toward carrying out Razom's logistic chain

$591K went toward procuring vehicles to deliver aid and help evacuate children, families, and wounded persons

$84K went toward aiding Razom's advocacy work

"We are deeply honored to receive support from someone with such a textured history of advocacy, compassion, and philanthropy as Tipper Gore. Any and all contributions enable us to remain resolute in our mission to build a free and prosperous Ukraine. As such, we are immensely grateful to the former Second Lady for her generous contribution, one which I hope will inspire others to support our mission," said Dora Chomiak, President of Razom. "Every cent given to us supports our emergency response and advocacy efforts, which embody a singular purpose right now: to save lives in Ukraine."

Razom has directed most of its efforts to delivering critical humanitarian aid on the ground in Ukraine. Razom will continue its mission of building a free, democratic, and prosperous Ukraine and amplifying Ukrainian voices.

ABOUT RAZOM

Razom means "together" in Ukrainian.

The organization believes deeply in the enormous potential of dedicated volunteers around the world united by a single mission: to building and maintaining a democratic and prosperous Ukraine.

Established in the United States, the non-profit organization works towards that mission by creating spaces where people meet, partner and do. In this time of need, they have created the Razom Emergency Response which is focused on purchasing medical supplies for critical situations like blood loss and other tactical medicine items, hospital supplies, and tech enabled emergency response supplies that facilitate the delivery of this aid. Razom's procurement and logistics teams are made up of a trusted volunteer network they've nurtured since 2014 and partner organizations worldwide. Razom is also working with governments and embassies on helping to establish humanitarian corridors.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005368/en/

Contacts:

Nonna Tsiganok

Media Relations, Razom

nonna@razomforukraine.org
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - Richer Lives Press has released its new book 'Financial Dominance - Your Battle Plan for A Richer Life,' that shares its sustainable spending plan for the military community, written by US-based Certified Financial Planner and author Frank A. Molinar. The book talks about financial planning and debt management and how to build a healthy and fluid money management plan for the military community in particular. In addition, the author identifies the first edition as the 'Military and Veteran Edition' for its specific emphasis on the financial security of the current serving and veteran military community.

The book discusses the principles of money management and various aspects of a healthy spending plan in a language that can be easily understood by the service members and the veterans. The author depicts the principles with the help of a monthly spending plan worksheet, more efficient spending ideas, spending plan allowances worksheet, etc., in order to help them enjoy the wealth, prosperity, and freedom they have dedicated their lives to defend and protect. At the end of every chapter there are full color visual note illustrations through a combination of graphic cartoons that highlight the most important aspects of the segment of the reader's battle plan.

"This subject is too important and far-reaching to be dry or boring. This is financial education at its best, designed to help everyone move in the direction of their true potential, including you. It's not a game plan; it's a battle plan. Because this ain't a game, and you don't want to lose this fight," says Frank A. Molinar.

Richer Lives Press hints at multiple upcoming editions focusing on different demographics and professionals in society. Some of the targeted audiences include young adults, married couples, and small business owners, among others. Its mission is for the content of the book to change the financial metabolism of the readers, and it will also change the way people think about money. The book follows the method of explaining the principles with case studies and personal experiences to make the engagement with the readers straightforward.

"This battle plan simplifies and prioritizes your tasks, so you know exactly what to do, when to do it, why you're doing it, how to get it done, and even how long it'll take to fast track you towards your true potential. Stop living on the edge of financial ruin and just get by. It's time to build a bigger life," Molinar added.

Frank A. Molinar is a Certified Financial Planner, Author, Public Speaker, and a Financial Counselor with over 30 years of professional experience. He's also trained thousands as a consultant for the Department of Defense, the AZ Attorney General's Office, the AZ Department of Veteran Services, and multiple Veteran Service Organizations.

Media Contact:

Name: Frank A. Molinar

Email: Hello@RicherLivesPress.org

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/127670
Extensive TD SYNNEX network of manufacturers and resellers can now ensure their customers have the most comprehensive coverage against cyber threats across all IT environments

HOUSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alert Logic by HelpSystems today announced a strategic partnership with TD SYNNEX, a leading IT distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem, to add industry-leading managed detection and response (MDR) capabilities to their portfolio of solutions. The agreement makes Alert Logic the choice for a global network of technology partners seeking to offer comprehensive MDR to customers, expanding Alert Logic's market reach and demonstrating momentum for its partner program.

TD SYNNEX distributes more than 30,000 technology products from more than 500 of the world's leading and emerging manufacturers and provides complete solutions to more than 20,000 resellers and retail customers in the U.S., Canada, and Japan. By offering Alert Logic MDR to their customers, TD SYNNEX amplifies their partners' security expertise, while effectively securing their customers' environments.

"TD SYNNEX has added the Alert Logic MDR solution to our expansive global IT channel," said Reyna Thompson, Senior Vice President, Product Management, North America, TD SYNNEX Corporation. "Combining Alert Logic's leading solution with the support of our dedicated team equips customers with a flexible cybersecurity solution at a time when organizations are under extreme pressure to address a rising tide of cyber threats."

Organizations can quickly implement an Alert Logic MDR solution delivering 24/7 coverage to minimize exposure and effectively identify, analyze, and respond to cyber threats before they cause disruption. The agreement with Alert Logic enables TD SYNNEX partners to improve their customers' security posture with protection both before and after an attack. Alert Logic MDR enables organizations to view their entire threat landscape and monitor the health of their environment, reducing drift and providing the technology and support to respond quickly. New Alert Logic Intelligent Response capabilities relieve IT and security departments of repetitive response tasks and the need for constant administration through human-guided and fully automated workflows. The result is strong incident response that details actions for every step of an attack, as well as a comprehensive data recovery plan.

"TD SYNNEX has an extensive partner ecosystem that can now add Alert Logic MDR to their expanding security portfolio," said Dan Webb, Vice President, Global Partner Sales and Alliances, Alert Logic. "With the addition of Alert Logic to their portfolio, partners can now tap our deep well of security expertise to provide best-in-class security across a wide spectrum of organizations to help meet today's challenges presented by the ever-changing security threat landscape."

About Alert Logic by HelpSystems

Alert Logic by HelpSystems is the only managed detection and response (MDR) provider that delivers comprehensive coverage for public clouds, SaaS, on-premises, and hybrid environments. Since no level of investment prevents or blocks 100% of attacks, you need to continuously identify and address breaches or gaps before they cause real damage. With limited expertise and a cloud-centric strategy, this level of security can seem out of reach. Our cloud-native technology and white-glove team of security experts protect your organization 24/7 and ensure you have the most effective response to resolve whatever threats may come. Founded in 2002, Alert Logic is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has business operations, team members, and channel partners located worldwide. Learn more at alertlogic.com . Alert Logic - unrivaled security for your cloud journey.

About HelpSystems?

HelpSystems is a software company focused on helping exceptional organizations secure and automate their operations. Our? cybersecurity ?and? automation ?software protects information and simplifies IT processes to give our customers peace of mind. We know security and IT transformation is a journey, not a destination. Let's move forward. Learn more at? www.helpsystems.com .

About TD SYNNEX

TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) is a leading global distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem. We're an innovative partner helping more than 150,000 customers in 100+ countries to maximize the value of technology investments, demonstrate business outcomes and unlock growth opportunities. Headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, and Fremont, California, TD SYNNEX' 22,000 co-workers are dedicated to uniting compelling IT products, services and solutions from 1,500+ best-in-class technology vendors. Our edge-to-cloud portfolio is anchored in some of the highest-growth technology segments including cloud, cybersecurity, big data/analytics, IoT, mobility and everything as a service. TD SYNNEX is committed to serving customers and communities, and we believe we can have a positive impact on our people and our planet, intentionally acting as a respected corporate citizen. We aspire to be a diverse and inclusive employer of choice for talent across the IT ecosystem. For more information, visit www.TDSYNNEX.com or follow us on Twitter , LinkedIn , Facebook and Instagram .

 HelpSystems, LLC and its group of companies. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

All other trademarks listed herein are owned by their respective companies.

For Alert Logic Inquiries:

Bob Wientzen

Public Relations

Alert Logic

281-456-4254

bob.wientzen@alertlogic.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/882591/Alert_Logic_Logo.jpg
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - Midnight Sun Mining Corp. (TSXV: MMA) (OTCQB: MDNGF) (the "Company" or "Midnight Sun") is pleased to report that Zambian-Congo Copperbelt expert, Dr. Simon Dorling, has agreed to accept and maintain an engagement with the Company. Simon has reviewed the data and results obtained by Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration ("Rio Tinto") on Midnight Sun's Solwezi Licences in Zambia and integrated this information with the data created by Midnight Sun and previous operators as well as incorporating recent research in the region to build a comprehensive database and inclusive interpretation of the structural-geological settings for mineralisation for future targeting.

Dr. Dorling's work has generated several new targets and justification to revisit existing prospects on the licences, including the proposal of structural corridors controlling mineralization around both the Mitu discovery area as well as hole MDD-17-15 on the Mitu Trend which measured 4.23% CuEq over 11.6 metres (see the Company's news release dated July 4, 2017). These corridors suggest a fault-control on mineralisation through re-mobilisation into late northeast-trending faults which leave these mineralized areas open along strike.

"I am very pleased that Dr. Dorling has agreed to work with us. He already has a high degree of familiarity with the Solwezi Licences and is an expert in this region," commented Al Fabbro, President & CEO. "Dr. Dorling's integration of the newly collected information, particularly the geochemical and geophysical surveys, into our existing exploration data has formed the basis of a very compelling exploration campaign for Midnight Sun to undertake once we formally receive control of the licences from Rio Tinto. We are well funded and well situated to capitalize on this opportunity, as well as others that may arise from our work in the region."

Rio Tinto's exploration drilling was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and, ultimately, did not achieve the amount of work expected. Rio Tinto generated highly valuable data sets for the project and its future exploration, but, in the Company's view, did not capitalise on the newly collected information. Rio Tinto's drilling completed on the 22 Zone, Dumbwa, and the Mitu Trend have been incorporated into the Company's database and evaluation study ahead of the 2022 work program and drill targets are refined in preparation of Midnight Sun's return to the field, which is anticipated to be in August 2022 and include 4,000-5,000 metres of drilling.

Newly Identified Target - "Crunch Zone"

One of Dr. Dorling's immediate findings, based on a structural interpretation of new high-quality airborne magnetic data, is the identification of a previously undocumented "high strain" structural zone running between the edges of the Kazhiba Dome in the northwest and the Solwezi Dome in the southeast where the Roan strata have heavily been compressed and faulted and abruptly terminate along faults against the basement domes. This wedged fan of tight geological folds and faults links to the orientations and structures documented in the dome underlying First Quantum's Kansanshi Mine (~10 kilometres away) through a succession of sedimentary host rocks. The hypothesis is that the highly folded and possibly faulted strata could provide pathways and traps for concentrating copper-bearing fluids running between these three domes.

Qualified Person : Richard Mazur, P.Geo., a Director of the Company and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical data and contents of this release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF MIDNIGHT SUN MINING CORP.

Al Fabbro

President & CEO

For Further Information Contact:

Al Fabbro

President & CEO

Tel: +1 604 351 8850

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 NEW RELEASE.

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements." All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in commodity prices, unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/127512
BEIJING, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Huawei and China Telecom jointly held a release conference to launch Super TimeFreq Folding, an innovative 5G-Advanced technology, and demonstrate related lab test results. Liu Guiqing, Deputy General Manager of China Telecom, and Ryan Ding, Huawei's President of the Carrier BG, delivered speeches at the conference. Zhang Xin, General Manager of the 5G Co-construction and Sharing Working Group of China Telecom, and Gan Bin, Vice President of Huawei Wireless Solution, also delivered keynote speeches.

Through continuous innovation, 5G industry applications, such as machine motion control, multi-machine collaboration, and machine vision AI inspection, have become increasingly essential in core production processes, raising extremely high requirements on latency, reliability, and uplink bandwidth. Take latency as an example. A latency of or lower than 1 ms, 4 ms, and 10 ms is required in about 15%, 35%, and 30% of industrial control protocols, respectively. As such, how to fulfill the ultimate network requirements of core production processes has become an urgent technical challenge in the industry.

China Telecom and Huawei have been jointly innovating technologies to address major challenges in different stages of 5G development. They have launched the Super Uplink and Super Frequency Fusion technologies, which boost 5G uplink capabilities and raise the utilization of discrete spectrums, respectively. As the newest in such 'Super' series, Super TimeFreq Folding simulates the FDD air interface through uplink and downlink time-domain complementation of dual TDD carriers, leveraging both the TDD large bandwidth and low latency over the FDD air interface. On the 3.5 GHz band, Super TimeFreq Folding can provide an uplink equivalent bandwidth of up to 100 MHz and reach an uplink peak rate of more than 1 Gbps while shortening the E2E latency from 10 ms to less than 4 ms. The use of mmWave in the future will further slash the latency to less than 1 ms. Featuring large uplink bandwidth, low latency, high reliability, and ultra-large network capacity, Super TimeFreq Folding can better meet 5G performance requirements of core production processes; help industry customers improve quality, reduce costs, and increase efficiency; and accelerate industry digital transformation.

With collaboration among China Telecom, Huawei, and all other industry partners, 5G will become a new momentum driving China's high-quality economic development and usher the beginning of a smart world.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839329/image_1.jpg
Atlas expands its wind portfolio by acquiring a project from Voltalia in Brazil. This acquisition follows the recent announcement by the company of its proposed Alpaca wind portfolio in Chile. With this acquisition, Atlas continues to broaden its market offering to provide clients with a full suite of clean energy solutions.

SAO PAULO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlas Renewable Energy, an international renewable energy generator, acquired a wind project in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais from the French energy producer and provider Voltalia. The project, named Juramento, will have a generation capacity of 378 MW and will be composed of 63 wind turbines.

Juramento is Atlas Renewable Energy's second wind project, after the company announced the signing of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Enel Energia Chile last month for the development of the Alpaca wind portfolio (417 MW). Unlike Alpaca, Juramento does not have a PPA, and is open to any off-takers seeking renewable power in Brazil.

"With Juramento we continue to expand and diversify our product offering across all the regions where we operate," said Luis Pita, General Manager for Atlas Renewable Energy in Brazil. "This project is currently available for any large energy consumer looking for a PPA to transition from conventional sources of energy to renewable."

Juramento will generate 1,650 GWh per year, which is equivalent to benefiting 799,524 Brazilian families, preventing 123,750 tons of CO2 (est.) which could be compared to removing 49,500 cars from the streets of Sao Paulo. The structure of the transaction will be reviewed and finalized through Brazil's Administrative Council of Economic Defense (CADE) in the upcoming days.

About Atlas Renewable Energy

Atlas Renewable Energy is an international renewable energy generation company that has been developing, financing, constructing, and operating renewable energy projects throughout the Americas since early 2017. Atlas Renewable Energy includes an experienced team with the longest track record in the renewable energy industry in Latin America. The company is recognized for its high standards in the development, construction, and operation of large-scale projects.

Atlas Renewable Energy's growth is focused on the most stable markets in the region, using its proven expertise in development, marketing, and structuring to accelerate the transformation to clean energy. By actively engaging with the community and stakeholders at the heart of its strategy, the company works every day to deliver a cleaner future.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839397/Atlas_Renewable_Energy.jpg
Oscillate Plc - Completion of Audit

14 June 2022

OSCILLATE PLC

AQSE: MUSH

("Oscillate" or the "Company")

COMPLETION OF AUDIT

Further to its announcement of 31 May 2022, Oscillate, the AQSE traded enterprise company focused on opportunities in the natural resource sector, medicinal cannabis and special situations, is pleased to announce that the audit of the Company's results for the year ended 30 November 2021 has now been completed.

There are no material changes between the audited results and the financial information set out in the Company's 31 May 2022 announcement.

Oscillate' s report and accounts for the year ended 30 November 2021 will be available on the Company's website at https://oscillateplc.com/.

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

ENQUIRIES:

Company:

Oscillate plc

Fungai Ndoro



oscillateplc.com/ 020 7638 9271 AQSE Corporate Adviser:

Peterhouse Capital Limited

Guy Miller

Mark Anwyl 020 7220 9796

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
SEOUL, South Korea, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- J INTS BIO announced that it will be presenting the preclinical results of its NSCLC candidate 'JIN-A02' at the upcoming 2022 IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer, to be held in Vienna, Austria from 6th to 9th August.

'JIN-A02' is a novel orally administered 4th generation EGFR TKI that targets NSCLC cancers harboring C797S mutation. C797S is a mutation that occurs after the use of 3rd generation EGFR TKIs such as Osimertinib and Lazertinib, resulting in tumor resistance and disease progression.

According to J INTS BIO, 'JIN-A02' showed strong inhibitory activities against NSCLC cancer cell-lines harboring double and triple mutations with C797S mutations in in-vitro studies. In particular, 'JIN-A02" showed robust inhibition against double mutations (Ex19Del/C797S or L858R/C797S), which with the increasing use of 3rd generation EGFR-TKIs as First Line therapy worldwide, will soon become the dominant mutations leading to resistance and disease progression.

In addition, 'JIN-A02' also effectively reduced tumor volume in a dose-dependent manner, compared to Osimertinib, in mouse model harboring EGFR Ex19Del/T790M/C797S triple mutation cancers and exhibited high brain penetrance with efficacy.

A company official added that 'JIN-A02' demonstrated a favorable safety profile with a low propensity for cardiotoxicity and did not show significant toxic effects such as weight loss and cytotoxicity in animal models at therapeutic dose levels. It is therefore expected to be a highly valued new drug in the armamentarium for the treatment of NSCLC.

Dr Anna Jo, CEO J INTS BIO, said: "We are determined to rapidly advance our novel NSCLC pipeline program, and to overcome the limitations of developing or approved treatments through rigorous R&D, so as to improve the outcomes of patients around the world who suffered from NSCLC with limited or no viable alternative treatments."

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1838159/J_INTS_BIO.jpg
SAN DIEGO, CA, June 14, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - Novotech, the leading Asia Pacific biotech specialist CRO which has recently expanded its services to the US, will have key executives from APAC and the US attend BIO 2022 for meetings with biotechs considering the Asia-Pacific region to expedite their clinical trials. #4907Book a meeting with one of the Novotech experts at BIO here. https://novotech-cro.com/contactNovotech, which has a reputation for delivering full-service, high-quality expedited clinical trials in Asia-Pacific, can now offer its biotech clients clinical services in the US to support later phase global studies. Novotech now has a workforce of ~2,500 clinical trial professionals across Australia, South Korea, Greater China, Southeast Asia, India, South Africa and the US.Novotech CEO Dr. John Moller said Novotech's Asia-Pacific and US teams support cost effective expedited clinical research with world-class data, and the most advanced technology including solutions that enable acceleration of clinical trials across the regions."The focus on Asia-Pacific for biotech clinical research over the past five years makes the region the fastest growing clinical trial destination with China being the leading location for new trials followed by the US. Asia-Pacific offers a compelling solution for expedited clinical trials especially in oncology with its vast patient populations, less competitive clinical trial landscape, and world-class KOLs, in addition regulatory reforms, such as those in China, have accelerated approval processes. The expansion into the US was a strategic move to provide US-based expertise and infrastructure for our US clients wanting trials in APAC and the US, and for our APAC clients wanting US clinical programs." Clients will receive a seamless service, with a unified approach to systems and SOPs," Moller said.According to Global Data whitepaper: EVOLUTION OF CLINICAL TRIALS IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION COMPARED TO THE US AND THE EU5*, Over the last five years more than 70,000 new clinical trials were registered in the APAC region, the US, and the EU5. The APAC region was the largest contributor, with more than 50% of the trials followed by the US (29%) and the EU5 (17%). The APAC region has become the preferred destination for conducting clinical trials due to its large patient population, ease of regulatory compliance, lower cost of conducting studies, high-quality standards and the presence of top clinical sites.* https://novotech-cro.com/whitepapers/evolution-clinical-trials-asia-pacific-region-compared-us-and-eu5About Novotech Health HoldingsNovotech Health Holdings Pte. Ltd. ("Novotech") is the leading Asia-Pacific and US biotech specialist CRO. Novotech has integrated labs and phase I facilities and provides drug development consulting and clinical development services across all phases. It has been instrumental in the success of approximately 3,700 clinical trials across a broad range of therapeutic areas. Novotech is well positioned to serve biopharma clients conducting clinical trials in Asia-Pacific and the US. For more information visit https://novotech-cro.com/contactMedia ContactDavid JamesE: communications@novotech-cro.comAU: +61 2 8218 2144USA: +1 415 951 3228ASIA: +65 3159 3427Source: Novotech Health Holdings Pte LtdCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Prysmian Group, the world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has implemented an Emergency Order Line to quickly deliver products required to restore power and assist with emergency response efforts in the wake of natural disasters. With a predicted above-normal 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, this Emergency Order Line helps Prysmian and local communities both prepare for incoming emergencies and assist with post-disaster recovery, mitigating the risks of power loss and infrastructure damage.

Reestablishing electric power and communications is critical to emergency response efforts following hurricanes, tornados, wildfires and other disasters, so impacted communities can get back on their feet. By offering an on-demand Emergency Order Line, Prysmian Group's wide range of cabling solutions provide immediate relief and rebuilding assistance during emergency response situations.

Power companies around the country rely on Prysmian Group to deliver supplies needed for recovery. Within hours of a natural disaster, Prysmian can arrange to ship inventory and shuffle production to get products where they are needed most.

"As we enter this year's hurricane and storm season, we want to stress to our customers and communities across North America that Prysmian is here and ready to lend our assistance should they need it. Our Emergency Order Line is available 24/7 to provide any necessary support," said Allison Coleman, Trade & Installers Director of Commercial Operations of Prysmian Group North America.

With product offerings that include portable and temporary power during outages, cabling for heavy industrial and harsh environments, communication network support, asset monitoring and condition assessment systems and power restoration accessories, Prysmian Group is ready to assist during natural disasters and emergencies by providing mission-critical products, essential to provide power.

Specific product offerings include:

CAROL Cord & Cordset products used for portable and temporary power during outages.

products used for portable and temporary power during outages. PRYSMIAN Industrial MV power cables from 2.4 kV to 35 kV for permanent power in many commercial and industrial infrastructures.

from 2.4 kV to 35 kV for permanent power in many commercial and industrial infrastructures. AIRGUARD Industrial Armored LV and MV power cables for permanent power in heavy industrial and harsh environments and offshore markets.

for permanent power in heavy industrial and harsh environments and offshore markets. ELASPEED Accessories for glanding, jointing, connecting and terminating.

for glanding, jointing, connecting and terminating. PRY-CAM Asset Monitoring Systems for monitoring, condition assessment and asset management of electrical systems.

for monitoring, condition assessment and asset management of electrical systems. GenSPEED Category datacom cables for communications network support.

Prysmian Group's Emergency Order Line can be reached at 1-800-243-8020 (during regular business hours) or at 1-859-386-9850 (outside of regular business hours).

About Prysmian Group North America:

Prysmian Group is the world leader in the design, manufacture and sales of wire and cable products. Based in Highland Heights, Ky., Prysmian Group North America operations include 27 manufacturing facilities, 14 distribution centers, four R&D centers, and more than 5,400 employees with net sales of near $4 billion. From wire and cable products and solutions for the transmission and distribution of low, medium, high and extra-high voltage systems, to a cutting-edge offering of optical fiber and copper cables and connectivity systems for voice, video and data transmission, the Group serves the most comprehensive range of markets including power transmission and distribution, telecommunications, construction and infrastructure, energy projects and specialty industries for countless applications in the United States and Canada. Prysmian Group is a public company, listed on the Italian Stock Exchange in the FTSE MIB index. Additional information is available at na.prysmiangroup.com.

Media Relations:

Lauren Kane

External Communications Manager

lauren.kane@prysmiangroup.com

Justine David

Mower, on behalf of Prysmian Group

jdavid@mower.com

SOURCE: Prysmian Group

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/704980/Prysmian-Groups-Emergency-Order-Line-Offers-Immediate-Solutions-in-Wake-of-Natural-Disasters
As Per Brand Finance - The World's Leading Brand Valuation Consultancy

MUMBAI, India, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) , India's largest hospitality company, announced that its iconic brand, Taj, has been rated the World'sStrongest Hotel Brand 2022 by Brand Finance. The 'Hotels 50 2022' annual report by the world's leading brand valuation consultancy recognizes the most valuable and strongest hotel brands across the globe.

Mr. Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Indian Hotels Company, said, "We are very proud that Taj has been recognized as the World's Strongest Hotel Brand for the second time in a row. This reaffirms Taj as the most acclaimed benchmark of excellence in the industry globally."

"With travellers increasingly gravitating towards brands that not only epitomize the essence of world-class luxury but also follow responsible business practices, Taj is well poised to pave the future of hospitality. This recognition is a mark of our guests' steadfast trust and it celebrates the indomitable spirit of our employees, who embody the legacy of the brand while bringing alive the essence of Tajness."

Taj received an overall Brand Strength Index of 88.9 out of 100, with a corresponding AAA rating for customer familiarity, employee satisfaction and corporate reputation as well as its world-class customer service.

The Hotel 50 2022 report highlights the company's successful strategy to overcome pandemic-induced challenges and remain relevant to the need of consumers. Taj was also at the forefront in its efforts towards supporting the community including the healthcare sector.

To know more, click here to access the full report by Brand Finance.

About The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL)

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) and its subsidiaries bring together a group of brands and businesses that offer a fusion of warm Indian hospitality and world-class service. These include Taj - the iconic brand for the most discerning travellers and ranked as the World's Strongest Hotel Brand and India's Strongest Brand as per Brand Finance Hotels 50 Report 2022 and India 100 Report 2022, respectively; SeleQtions , a named collection of hotels; Vivanta , sophisticated upscale hotels; and Ginger , which is revolutionising the lean luxe segment.

IHCL has a portfolio of 237 hotels including 60 under development globally across 4 continents, 11 countries and in over 100 locations.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839406/Taj_Strongest_Brand.jpg
The 35th Global edition of World AI Show & Awards, brought together global AI leaders, investors, media outlets and government representatives all under one roof

Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - Shenzhen-based and founded in 2016, Pudu Robotics joined the World AI Show as Robotic Partners. World AI Show & Awards, held under the patronage of The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, member of the ruling family of Dubai, took place on 25 - 26 May 2022 at the Godolphin Ballroom of Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai.

Pudu Robotics showcased their innovative robots and robotic solutions at the World AI Show & Awards. Robots named BellaBot (Premium Delivery Robot) and KettyBot (Flexible Multitasker) were a part of this two-day conference. These robots are widely deployed in restaurants, coffee shops, hospitals, schools, office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, and factories.

The latest delivery robot designed by Pudu Robotics, BellaBot inherits the outstanding characteristics of the previous generation, while being endowed with superior human-Robot interaction capabilities. Featuring an innovative bionic design language, cute modeling, multi-modal interaction and many other new functions, BellaBot provides users with an unprecedented food delivery robot experience.

KettyBot continues the minimalist design concept of Pudu Technology. The compact size and forward-leaning C-shaped body allow the robot to go through clearance of only 55cm, making it an ideal choice in complex and crowded environments. Besides the robots displayed at the World AI Show, Pudu Robotics has also released several new robots (SwiftBotPUDU CC1PUDU SH1) and robotics solutions for the food service sector, an area fraught with some of the most dynamic and complex environments this year, continuing its mission of using robots to improve the efficiency of human production and living.





Figure 1

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8653/127649_3ab40e8d64c7a9af_001full.jpg.

Felix Zhang, founder and CEO of Pudu Robotics stated "Pudu Robotics is proud to become a Robotic partner for Trescon WAIS in UAE. Both companies share the same futuristic vision of the future, where day-to-day life without AI and service robots becomes unimaginable. Together we have the ability and the willingness to redefine the human-robot relationship that will bring the utmost value to everyone from individuals to private and corporate businesses, giving a much-needed tech boost to the numerous industries simultaneously."

According to Mithun Shetty, CEO of Trescon, "With the help of Pudu Robotic's advanced robots, participants can explore how industries are utilising AI, ML and robotics technology." He further added, "We are excited to have Pudu Robotics at World AI Show & Awards, which will unlock the possibilities of Robotics adoption for our participants ranging from hospitality to real estate, and retail to education sector."

About Pudu Robotics

Shenzhen-based and founded in 2016, Pudu Robotics is a world-leading tech-focused enterprise dedicated to the design, R&D, production and sales of commercial service robots on a mission to use robots to improve the efficiency of human production and living.

Since its inception, Pudu Robotics has heavily invested in R&D, obtained multiple awards such as Red Dot and applied hundreds of core patents to lead the development of the robotics category and provide high technology products that would appeal to targeted markets. Pudu Robotics has been rapidly growing in recent years to become a "leader" in the global markets with coverage of over 60 countries worldwide.

About World AI Show

World AI Show is a thought-leadership-driven, business-focused, global series of events that takes place in strategic locations across the world. The show is a one-of-a-kind gathering of pre-qualified CIOs, CEOs, CTOs, Heads of AI, Chief Digital Officers, Heads of Innovation and International AI experts.

Witness powerful keynotes, workshops, use-case presentations, product exhibitions, panel discussions and tech talks to find solutions for issues and trends within the AI and RPA space.

About Trescon:

Trescon is a global business events and consulting firm that provide a wide range of business services to a diversified client base that includes corporations, governments and individuals. Trescon is specialized in producing highly focused B2B events that connect businesses with opportunities through conferences, roadshows, expos, demand generation, investor connect and consulting services.

For more info, please contact:

Nupur Aswani

Head - Media, PR and Corporate Communication, Trescon

E media@tresconglobal.com

P +91 95588 88817

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/127649
STOCKHOLM, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- EQT is happy to announce that it is joining two leading partnerships: the World Economic Forum Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, the largest CEO-led climate alliance in the world, and the Global Impact Investing Network Investors' Council, a platform for impact investors looking to maximize impact through collaboration.

The World Economic Forum Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders ("the Alliance") is comprised of CEOs from 12 industries and more than 120 companies committed to taking bold, collective climate action to limit global warming in line with the Paris Agreement. The members of the Alliance support each other in setting emission reduction plans and in operationalizing their commitments. For EQT, joining the Alliance will enable cross-industry collaboration with CEOs representing leading companies globally, including Nestle, Ericsson and Ingka Group.

Global Impact Investing Network Investors' Council ("GIIN") consists of a leading group of impact investors committed to generating positive, measurable social and environmental impact. EQT is one of the earliest private markets firms to become a member - a testament to EQT building robust impact practices and its leadership role in the industry. The partnership facilitates in-depth practitioners' exchanges to identify shared interests and guides the impact investing industry in defining common standards and norms for integrating impact considerations into investment management, ultimately strengthening the practice of impact investing.

Christian Sinding, CEO and Managing Partner of EQT, said, "EQT is honored to join the Alliance as one of its first members from the financial industry. We share the belief that private capital has an important role to play in driving change towards a net zero economy and that collaboration across sectors will be crucial to the success of the Paris Agreement. Doing good is good business and how EQT believes we can deliver real long-term value to our clients."

Bahare Haghasnenas, Head of Sustainable Transformation, said, "EQT believes in sharing learnings and galvanizing our peers to accelerate industry-wide action. Through partnerships and in collaboration with clients, we hope to inspire the business community and investors to consider social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. We are thrilled to be joining GIIN as we fundamentally believe that collaboration is what will ultimately drive sustainability forward and increase the scale and effectiveness of impact investment around the world."

Contact

Bahare Haghshenas, Head of Sustainable Transformation, +45 31 31 04 31

Isabella Croon, Communications, +46 70 380 03 99

EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT

EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization focused on active ownership strategies. With a Nordic heritage and a global mindset, EQT has a track record of almost three decades of delivering consistent and attractive returns across multiple geographies, sectors and strategies. EQT has investment strategies covering all phases of a business' development, from start-up to maturity. EQT today has EUR 77 billion in assets under management across 36 active funds within two business segments - Private Capital and Real Assets.



With its roots in the Wallenberg family's entrepreneurial mindset and philosophy of long-term ownership, EQT is guided by a set of strong values and a distinct corporate culture. EQT manages and advises funds and vehicles that invest across the world with the mission to future-proof companies, generate attractive returns and make a positive impact with everything EQT does.



The EQT AB Group comprises EQT AB (publ) and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, which include general partners and fund managers of EQT funds as well as entities advising EQT funds. EQT has offices in 23 countries across Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and has more than 1,300 employees.



More info: www.eqtgroup.com

Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/eqt/r/partnering-to-accelerate-impact,c3585399

The following files are available for download:
Oneal joins from American Express, where he was Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Capital Markets of Kabbage, one of the world's largest fintech platforms offering credit, banking and payments solutions.

Previously, as CFO of late-stage, pre-IPO Kabbage, Oneal helped lead its acquisition and integration within American Express.

Oneal's experience managing large-scale operations and capital markets will help continue Flutterwave's growth, accelerate the company's expansion, further develop credit products and prepare for a potential IPO in the future.

Former Kabbage Controller, Rebecca Mendel , and former Kabbage Head of Treasury and Tax, Daniel Eidson , have also joined the company and will report directly to Oneal.

Following its Series D funding round in February 2022 , which valued the company at over $3 billion , Flutterwave continues to deliver strong growth as the African economy increasingly shifts to digital payments.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Flutterwave, Africa's leading payments technology company, today announced the appointment of OnealBhambani as its new Chief Financial Officer. He joins the company from American Express and Kabbage, where he managed fintech businesses operating at scale and helped lead the sale of Kabbage and its integration within American Express' Global Commercial Services segment.

Having recently completed its $250 million in Series D funding, valuing the company at over $3 billion, Flutterwave is going through a period of rapid growth. As Chief Financial officer, Oneal will serve a key function in enabling the company's expansion with best-in-class discipline, operational controls and financial rigour.

At Kabbage, Oneal was responsible for all of the company's financial operations and functions including IPO-ready financial and operational controls. Following the American Express acquisition in April 2022, he was the CFO and Head of Capital Markets of Kabbage's business unit, which provides credit, banking, and payments solutions to American Express' commercial customers.

Before and after the acquisition, Oneal was a key stakeholder in capital allocation and led critical strategic initiatives for the business. Earlier in his career, Oneal was a growth-stage investor at The TCW Group (an investment firm owned by The Carlyle Group), and Riverwood Capital. He began his career in investment banking at UBS.

This period of growth has enabled Flutterwave to further add to its Global Finance team, bringing in executives with a strong track record in controllership, treasury, and tax. The company hired Rebecca Mendel, former Kabbage Controller, and Daniel Eidson, former Kabbage Head of Treasury and Tax. Both Rebecca and Daniel will report directly to Oneal.

Olugbenga 'GB' Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, said:

"I am excited to welcome Oneal to Flutterwave. His track record of operating finance to enable scale and innovation with listed company standard financial controls will help us accelerate our growth as we continue to meet the needs of our expanding global customer base. I am also looking forward to working with Oneal on deal-related initiatives, given the number of inorganic opportunities we are seeing in today's market environment."

Commenting on his appointment, Oneal Bhambani said:

"It is a rare opportunity to join a high-scale, de facto market leader in one of the fastest growing markets in the world. I am looking forward to partnering with Flutterwave's team to enable solutions for our customers in Africa and across the globe. I fully expect to apply best-in-class strategies learned from my tenures at American Express and Kabbage."

About Flutterwave

Flutterwave is a payments technology company that enables businesses across the world to expand their operations in Africa and other emerging markets through a platform that enables cross-border transactions via one API. Flutterwave has processed over 200M transactions worth over USD $16B to date and serves more than 900,000 businesses including customers like Uber, Flywire, Booking.com, etc. The Company's key advantage is international payment processing in 150 currencies and multiple payment modes including local and international cards, mobile

wallets, bank transfers, Barter by Flutterwave, etc. Flutterwave has an infrastructure reach in over 34 African countries, including Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa. For more information on Flutterwave's journey, please visit www.flutterwave.com.

Image - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839704/Flutterwave_Oneal_Bhambani_CFO.jpg




LONDON, June 14, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - This year's unique international competition was officially launched for all music and film artists to enter their compositions and films featuring original scores.FMC-Film Music Contest is the biggest international music competition and awards of its kind in Europe intended for composers of original music for Film, TV, Ads, Videogames. For sound designers, bands, musicians, instrumentalists, soloists, producers, filmmakers, and videographers, with no age limits and irrespective of nationality or country of origin.The FMC 2022 organising team is excited to welcome all talented artists with their original music and audiovisual works and will be searching for them in all countries on all continents.Along with the opening of the competition, FMC 2022's official video trailer was also un-veiled: https://youtu.be/ocMPxEYAiocRegistration for the four competition categories is now open and offers several ways to enter. Contestants may enter musical compositions, films or videos with original scores they have already prepared in the following categories: 1. Instrumental Music; or 2. Music for Film, TV, Ads, Video Games. Alternatively, contestants have a unique opportunity to work on a visually appealing film-based or video-game competition material specially made for this year in the following categories: 3. Film Scoring "Casino.sk" or 4. Video Game Scoring "Die by the Blade".This year's Music Score for the Visual Media competition categories will once again feature visually engaging materials for entrants to get creative in their music composition and hone their compositional skills.You can register for FMC 2022 and all competition categories online at the official competition website here: www.fmcontest.com"These categories are definitely open to any musician or composer, so everyone is sure to find the category they identify with in terms of composition and musical arrangement. The entire process of registering for the competition, composing a new song, working on attractive visuals, and doing the final mixing and mastering in your studio before delivering entries is very interesting and highly creative. Judging from the responses of our contestants in previous years, it is also a way for many artists to have some fun and take a break from their everyday work, which we're very pleased about," said FMC director Vlado Zeleznak Jr.Who will decide the winners?The prestigious international jury in the FMC are composers, musicians from the EU, USA, Asia, Australia the professional elite in the music and film industry, working for Hollywood, Asian and European film studios, TV broadcasters, Netflix, etc.Past and present FMC judges, complete with short bios, have been posted in the jury section of the official website here: https://www.fmcontest.com/jury/During the 75th International Film Festival in Cannes, France, and its film market event, the Marche du Film, where the people behind FMC pitched the event to new partners, the competition's creators teamed up on a video call with the jury's chairman Vlado Meller. Fresh from working on the latest album by the legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers, Meller said, "I'm looking forward to FMC 2022 and all the contestants and their original compositions very much, especially in the instrumental music category since it will be very interesting to compare the level to previous years."On the heels of its new media partnerships with SOS--Sound On Sound and Music Connection, the FMC-Film Music Contest is thrilled to welcome Universal Audio alongside its long-standing partners.This new partner, one of the world's premier music companies, probably needs no special introduction to any musician. For many, the first things that spring to mind upon hearing that name are pioneering sound recording, innovative recording products since the company's very start, superlative product quality, cutting-edge design, and popular equipment and standards in recording studios around the world. We are honoured to welcome Universal Audio on board for FMC 2022: "The world's leader in Thunderbolt audio interfaces, analogue recording hardware, and UAD audio plug-ins." New high-value hardware from this partner will be included in the unique and highly desirable package of prizes for FMC 2022's winners.Not only that, winners will also gain plenty of media attention and receive other interesting and attractive media prizes.FMC would also like to thank all the long-standing partners who have been with us from the start, such as D16 Group Audio Software, PSPaudioware, Meze Audio, and others who have worked with FMC to reward the very best contestants with high-quality music software and hardware.Information about all the prizes can be found on our new official website here: https://www.fmcontest.com/prizes/All contestants have just a few months left to register for FMC 2022. The deadline for registration and submission of all entries is 12 September 2022.Follow FMC-Film Music Contest on Social Media:Facebook: facebook.com/FilmMusicContestInstagram: instagram.com/fmcontestYouTube: http://bit.ly/3oOaG48fmcfilmmusiccontest fmcontestMedia Contact:Mgr. Vlado Zeleznak JR.Director FMC-Film Music Contest, PRESS FMCE: press@fmcontest.comSource: FMCCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Dual scoring system which provides customers with a life cycle assessment (LCA) value alongside a rating system which measures progress towards near-zero

Designed to incentivise the decarbonisation of both primary and secondary steelmaking

Provides transparency and consistency across steel products for customers

Supports the development of markets for low-carbon emissions steel

14 June 2022

ArcelorMittal ('the Company') has today published a concept for a low-carbon emissions steel standard to help incentivise the decarbonisation of steelmaking globally and support the creation of market demand for physical steel products which would be classified as lower, and ultimately near-zero, carbon emissions steel.

The creation of clear definitions for low-carbon emissions physical steel is an important component of 'demand pull' and 'supply push' mechanisms that are required to support the steel industry in its transition to net zero by 2050. Clear definitions will also help inform targeted policy to support the scale-up and commercialisation of these near-zero technologies.

Three core principles

At the heart of the concept are three core principles:

It must include a dual score system comprising a LCA value for finished products (EPD for construction products) alongside a decarbonisation rating system which categorises low and near-zero carbon emissions per tonne of hot rolled steel and rewards producers as they decarbonise from their starting point.



It must be designed in such a way that incentivises the decarbonisation of all methods of steel production through technology shifts, rather than simply through increasing scrap rates using existing technology. This can be done by using a sliding scale based on the percentage of scrap used in production, a system which is also at the heart of the ResponsibleSteel and International Energy Agency ('IEA') low-carbon emissions steel models.



It must include a clearly defined boundary from which carbon emissions are counted for the decarbonisation rating system.



The concept is designed to be complementary to methods for rewarding virtual low-carbon steel, at least until significant amounts of physical low-carbon steel are available.

Commenting, Brad Davey, Executive Vice President, ArcelorMittal, and chair of the Company's Climate Committee, said:

"Setting a standard to classify low-carbon emissions steel during our industry's transition to net zero is critical to our decarbonisation journey. We have spent a lot of time thinking about how to do this in a fair way that incentivises all steelmakers to reduce emissions and ultimately achieve net zero. At the heart of our concept is a system that ensures that all steelmakers, both primary and secondary, are incentivised to further improve their emissions, and progress towards near zero is recognised and rewarded.

"We know that there are many organisations giving this question a lot of thought. We are in close discussion with several of these organisations and have welcomed the opportunity to share our expertise of steelmaking with them as they develop their recommendations. As this is such a critical topic for the industry, we decided to directly publish the key principles we believe should be at the core of any system to officially categorise lower and near zero carbon steel.

"We believe these principles will help incentivise the industry and will also prove intrinsic in providing transparency and clarity to steel consumers, guiding their purchasing decisions and helping to develop green steel lead markets."

Geert van Poelvoorde, Executive Vice President and CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe, added:

"We know that our customers want low-carbon steel products. That is why we launched the XCarb green steel certificates which have proved very popular with our customers. However, these are virtual low-carbon products and we must also have a system that defines what constitutes physical low-carbon steel during the transition to near and ultimately net zero. This will help support a return on the investment required to transition to low-carbon steelmaking which will be more costly than the technologies used today. We believe it is important that any standard has a dual approach that clearly states the LCA value of the product as well as a rating to show decarbonisation progress. This makes the embodied carbon content of the product clear to customers but also the progress that producer is making towards near zero - a vital component of ensuring every company contributes to achieving the Paris Agreement."

A dual scoring system to enable like-for-like comparisons and incentivise decarbonisation

Any standard must incorporate a dual score consisting of: a LCA value for finished products so that customers can clearly see the embodied carbon emissions of the steel they purchase, and; a decarbonisation rating system akin to the labelling system already used in the EU for white goods, which measures the level of steel producers' decarbonisation progress.

Sliding scale based on percentage of scrap input

Any standard must incentivise all steel producers to progress towards net zero, irrespective of the technology they start with. The carbon emissions in a tonne of steel is heavily influenced by the metallic input used in steelmaking, with secondary steelmaking (scrap-based) carrying a much lower carbon footprint than primary steelmaking (iron ore based). Although scrap steel has an important role to play in the decarbonisation of the global steel industry, it is a finite resource which is already fully utilised, and primary steel will continue to be needed to meet steel demand until well beyond 2050. Therefore, we firmly align with the view of both ResponsibleSteel and the IEA that a low-carbon emissions steel standard needs to incorporate a sliding scale which accounts for the metallic input (primary/iron ore vs. secondary/scrap) of steelmaking and incentivises decarbonisation through the introduction of low-carbon emissions technology rather than simply by increasing the amount of scrap used.

Boundary

It is critical that a consistent boundary is used in order to enable a like-for-like comparison between steel producers for the decarbonisation rating system, and that this boundary is representative of the core emissions of steel production. Therefore, in its initial phase our concept proposes a core steel system boundary that can be readily measured today, based on the Net-Zero Steel Pathway Methodology Project, which counts all Scope 1 and 2 emissions as well as selected Scope 3 emissions from ironmaking, steelmaking, casting and rolling1. As measuring methodology and primary upstream emissions data becomes available this boundary would then be extended in a second phase to include upstream emissions.

The graph below demonstrates the concept of how the decarbonisation rating system would work.





A steel producer's position on the graph would be based on their embodied carbon emissions per tonne of hot rolled steel (y-axis) and the metallic input they use (x-axis). The producer's position would fall above or below a threshold line, indicating whether they would be producing low-carbon emissions steel or not.

Furthermore, steel producers which fall on or below the threshold would then be split into six bands - A+ to E - with the producer progressing through the bands as they decarbonise. This system could therefore be used by policy makers and customers to incentivise producers to further decarbonise in order to attain a higher rating (with A and A+ being the highest and the only category where producers could claim their steel to be near zero (A) or net zero (A+)). Similar to ResponsibleSteel and the IEA, the threshold for near-zero steel should be set at a level which supports all potential decarbonisation routes.





Finally, any standard should also still recognise the early actions taken by first movers to enable customers to report reductions in their Scope 3 emissions through the purchase of virtual certificates. This should be represented through the inclusion of the 'S' certificate.

For further details on ArcelorMittal's proposal for a low-carbon emissions standard please visit https://corporate.arcelormittal.com/climate-action/low-carbon-emissions-steel-standardor have a look at our animated video which explains the standard and its methodology here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S5rDGasH-s.

ENDS

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal is the world's leading steel and mining company, with a presence in 60 countries and primary steelmaking facilities in 16 countries. In 2021, ArcelorMittal had revenues of $76.6 billion and crude steel production of 69.1 million metric tonnes, while iron ore production reached 50.9 million metric tonnes.

Our purpose is to produce ever smarter steels that have a positive benefit for people and planet. Steels made using innovative processes which use less energy, emit significantly less carbon and reduce costs. Steels that are cleaner, stronger and reusable. Steels for electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure that will support societies as they transform through this century. With steel at our core, our inventive people and an entrepreneurial culture at heart, we will support the world in making that change. This is what we believe it takes to be the steel company of the future.

ArcelorMittal is listed on the stock exchanges of New York (MT), Amsterdam (MT), Paris (MT), Luxembourg (MT) and on the Spanish stock exchanges of Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia (MTS).

For more information about ArcelorMittal please visit: http://corporate.arcelormittal.com/

Contact information ArcelorMittal Investor Relations General +44 20 7543 1128 Retail +44 20 3214 2893 SRI +44 20 3214 2801 Bonds/Credit

E-mail +33 171 921 026

investor.relations@arcelormittal.com (mailto:investor.relations@arcelormittal.com) Contact information ArcelorMittal Corporate Communications



Paul Weigh

Tel:

E-mail:







+44 20 3214 2419

press@arcelormittal.com (mailto:press@arcelormittal.com)

1 To see exactly what is included in the boundary please see https://corporate.arcelormittal.com/media/phendpxm/arcelormittal-low-emissions-steelmaking-standards-proposal.pdf
The company's service addresses the absence of any centralized sources and common regulations in Ontario tax sales.

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Tax Sales Hub is pleased to announce it is officially the first tax sales properties aggregator in Canada.

Established in 2019, Tax Sales Hub is a proud Canadian-based company with a mission to fill the gap of an absence of centralized source of tax sales properties across the country. The company works from two angles that both help investors to acquire properties/land way below market value, while also helping municipalities to raise more money for unpaid taxes. Tax Sales Hub does this by manually aggregating tax sales announcements nationwide and by bringing awareness among local real estate investors and communities.

"Tax sales have insane profit potential and have brought big breaks for investors in Ontario and elsewhere," says co-founder and CEO of Tax Sales Hub, Alexander Kay.

"However, without a business like ours, which acts like a middleman between municipalities and investors, it's insanely time-consuming to find a decent property in which to invest your money."

To address this critical issue, Tax Sales Hub manually aggregates tax sales announcements across Canada, processes this data, and presents it in a more human and readable format, with location, boundaries, images, and more. For some provinces like Ontario, where they announce up to 20-30 tax sales weekly, this isn't necessarily an issue. Concerns are predominantly in provinces such as British Columbia and New Brunswick, where tax sales are announced just 1-4 times a year - making issues much more complicated.

"What investors need to realize is that in these provinces, we are talking about hundreds of properties, which should be processed and listed on the website," Kay states. "It's an enormous amount of work - but, fortunately, we are here to help."

For more information about Tax Sales Hub, or to learn more about Ontario tax sales, please visit https://taxsaleshub.ca/.

About Tax Sales Hub

Tax Sales Hub first began as a side project in 2019 and initially served only a small private group of investors and friends. The purpose of the website was to simplify the process of hunting down sweet tax sale deals in Ontario and, after approximately one year, the company started to get more attention from the real estate investors' community. Since inception, Tax Sales Hub has added other provinces one by one and, from the beginning of 2022, the company has been serving the entire country to become a rock-solid SaaS company.

Tax Sales Hub was co-founded by CEO, Alexander Kay, an entrepreneur, saas strategist, software, and digital marketing architect.

Contact Information

Alexander Kay

alexander.kay@taxsaleshub.ca

https://taxsaleshub.ca/

SOURCE: Tax Sales Hub

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/705015/Announcing-Tax-Sales-Hub-Canadas-First-Tax-Sales-Properties-Aggregator
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd. ("Naturally Splendid" or "NSE" or the "Company" ) (FRANKFURT:50N) (TSX-V:NSP) (OTC:NSPDF) today is providing a status update in accordance with its obligations under the alternative information guidelines set out in National Policy 12-203 - Management Cease Trade Orders ("NP 12-203"), which require the Company to provide bi-weekly updates until such time as the Company is current with its filing obligations under Canadian securities laws. As previously announced, the Company is subject to a management cease trade order ("MCTO") issued by the British Columbia Securities Commission. The MCTO prohibits the directors and executive officers of the Company from trading in or acquiring securities of the Company until two full business days after the Company files its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the related management's discussion and analysis and certifications. The MCTO does not affect the ability of investors who are not insiders to trade in the securities of the Company.

The Company advises that aside from the British Columbia Securities Commission granting the MCTO: (i) there have been no material changes to the information contained in the Company's April 14, 2022 news release; (ii) it intends to continue to comply with the alternative information guidelines of NP 12-203; and (iii) except as previously disclosed, there are no subsequent specified defaults (actual or anticipated) within the meaning of NP 12-203.

The Company continues to work towards completing the filing on or before the June 30, 2022, deadline and will continue to update its shareholders of the status of the Audited financials periodically.

About Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd.

Naturally Splendid is a plant-based food manufacturing and technology company that produces and distributes nutritious and delicious plant-based commodity products.



Founded in 2010, the Company operates a Safe Quality Food Level 2 certified food manufacturing facility located just outside Vancouver, BC in Canada, focusing on producing an extensive range of plant-based entrees.



Naturally Splendid has an exclusive 10-year manufacturing and distribution agreement for Canada with a division of Australia's largest plant-based food manufacturer, Flexitarian Foods Pty. Ltd.

In addition to producing the Company's own branded products, Naturally Splendid provides contract manufacturing services and private labeling for a variety of nutritional plant-based food products destined for multiple distribution channels.



The Company has established healthy, functional foods under brands such as Natera Sport, Natera Hemp Foods, CHII, Elevate Me and Woods Wild Bar. The Company launched Natera Plant Based Foods, a line of delicious plant-based meat alternatives for the rapidly growing plant-based market segment.

Naturally Splendid maintains a relationship Plasm Pharmaceutical, a company that has been approved for conducting a phase 2 clinical trial approved by Health Canada for the treatment of COVID-19.

NSE has also developed proprietary technologies for the extraction of healthy omega 3 and 6 oils, as well as a protein concentrate from hemp.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Mr. J. Craig Goodwin

President, Director

Contact Information

Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd.

(NSP - TSX Venture; NSPDF - OTCQB; 50N Frankfurt)

#108-19100 Airport Way

Pitt Meadows, BC, V3Y 0E2

Office: (604) 570-0902

Fax: (604) 465-1128

E-mail: info@naturallysplendid.com

Website: www.naturallysplendid.com

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. Naturally Splendid cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Naturally Splendid's control including, Naturally Splendid's ability to compete with large food and beverage companies; sales of any potential products developed will be profitable; sales of shelled hemp seed will continue at existing rates or increase; customers will complete on sales contracts; and the risk that any of the potential applications may not receive all required regulatory or legal approval. 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, Naturally Splendid undertakes no obligation 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 TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE: Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/705098/Naturally-Splendid-Provides-Default-Status-Report
Awakn delivered revenue growth of 24% in the quarter

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - Awakn Life Sciences Corp. (NEO: AWKN) (OTCQB: AWKNF) (FSE: 954) ('Awakn'), a biotechnology company, researching, developing, and commercializing therapeutics to treat addiction with a near-term focus on Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), announced today its financial results and business highlights for the three months ended April 30, 2022. All results are reported under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and in Canadian dollars ("CAD"), unless otherwise specified.

Anthony Tennyson, Chief Executive Officer of Awakn Life Sciences, stated, "Today's results demonstrate the significant momentum building in our business across both our research and development pipeline and in our therapeutics commercialization business. The addiction treatment market opportunity is, unfortunately, large and growing, and Awakn is uniquely positioned to offer proven therapeutics supported by data to sufferers for whom the current standard of care is inadequate and relapse rates are unacceptably high.

During the quarter we achieved a number of significant milestones, including the completion of the world's first Ketamine study for a range of behavioural addictions including Gambling Disorder, Internet Gaming Disorder, Binge Eating Disorder and Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder. We also received regulatory approval for our flagship London clinic. Q1 was another period in which we made significant progress towards our goal of bringing effective therapeutics to addiction sufferers in desperate need."

1Q22 & Recent Business Highlights:

Initiated follow-on behavioral study investigating Ketamine as a treatment for Gambling Disorder. The study will be the first investigation globally to explore this technique to treat Gambling Disorder.

Filed Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application for the treatment of behavioral addictions with Ketamine and Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. This followed the successful completion of Awakn's behavioral addictions study, and the data provided from the study was used in the patent filing.

Completed the world's first Ketamine study for a range of behavioral addictions. The behavioral addictions included in the study were Gambling Disorder, Internet Gaming Disorder, Binge Eating Disorder and Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder.

Announced successful completion of hit to lead drug discovery program for new chemical entity (NCE), strengthening Awakn's pipeline for the treatment of a broad range of both substance and behavioral addictions. This is an essential first step on the pathway of developing new, faster acting, and safer entactogenic therapies for the market.

Received regulatory approval for flagship clinic in London to begin delivering treatments. The flagship London clinic is Awakn's third clinic, adding to the Company's two operating clinics located in Bristol (UK) and Oslo (Norway), which are delivering Ketamine-assisted therapy to treat addiction and several mental health disorders.

Filed patents for a new class of entactogen-like molecules, which are a class of psychoactive substances that produce distinctive emotional and social effects that Awakn believes has great potential to treat both substance and behavioral addictions

1Q22 & Recent Corporate Highlights:

Appointed biotech investment veteran Dennis Purcell as a Special Advisor to the CEO. Mr. Purcell brings a wealth of life science and investment experience to Awakn.

Appointed Dr. Arun Dhandayudham as new CMO of Awakn. Dr. Dhandayudham is an industry leading figure in Addictions Psychiatry

Announced the closing of private placement, issued 2,031,250 units at a price of $1.60 per unit for gross proceeds of $3,250,000

Appointed Kevin Lorenz as U.S. Head of Commercial Development. Mr. Lorenz will lead Awakn's therapeutics commercialization activities in the U.S., starting with the launch of its Licensing Partnership business which is scheduled and expected to generate revenue in the second half of 2022.

1Q22 Financial Highlights:

Delivered revenue of $253,154 via Awakn's clinics for the three months ended April 30, 2022, compared to $Nil in the prior year. This represents a 23.9% or $48,834 versus the three months ended January 31, 2022.

Revenue during the three-month period was primarily driven by the provision of ketamine-assisted therapies at the Oslo clinic in Norway and the Bristol clinic in the UK as the flagship London clinic in the UK only commenced delivering treatments in April 2022

As of April 30, 2022, the Company had $2,818,998 million in cash

Milestones Anticipated in H2 2022

Receive regulatory and ethics approval for Phase III clinical trial for Ketamine-Assisted Therapy for the treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder

Completion of the behavioral study of Ketamine in Gambling addiction





Therapeutics Commercialization through launching licensing partnerships utilizing the company's intellectual property (IP) Ketamine-Assisted Therapy for Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder ("KARE") in the US and Canada

New Chemical Entity drug development: Initiate lead optimization program

Open additional Awakn Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy Clinic

Awakn has applied for several grants, one of which the company expects to receive a response on by end of Q2, and if successful, would cover a substantial amount of the cost of Phase III clinical trial

About Awakn Life Sciences Corp.

Awakn Life Sciences is a biotechnology company, researching, developing, and commercializing combined therapeutics to treat addiction, with a focus on Alcohol Use Disorder. Awakn's team consists of renowned research experts, world leading chemists, scientists, psychiatrists, and psychologists. Addiction is one of the biggest unmet medical needs of our time, affecting over 20% of the global population and is an industry valued at over $100bn per annum. Awakn is working to disrupt this underperforming industry by advancing the next generation of drugs and therapies to be used in combination, through preclinical research and clinical stage trials.

www.awaknlifesciences.com | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, as defined in applicable securities laws (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding future events or the Company's future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "continues", "forecasts", "projects", "predicts", "intends", "anticipates", "targets" or "believes", or variations of, or the negatives of, such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, including statements relating the business of the Company. All forward-looking statements, including those herein are qualified by this cautionary statement.

Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the statements. There are certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking information. These include, but are not limited to:COVID-19; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; the business plans and strategies of the Company; the ability of the Company to comply with all applicable governmental regulations in a highly regulated business; the inherent risks in investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are engaged in activities currently considered illegal in some jurisdictions; changes in laws; limited operating history; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; fluctuations in securities markets; inconsistent public opinion and perception regarding the medical-use of psychedelic drugs; expectations regarding the size of the addiction market; and regulatory or political change. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date or dates specified in such statements.

Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For more information on the Company, investors are encouraged to review the Company's public filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities in the United States. The Company's and Awakn's 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.

Investor Enquiries:

Anthony Tennyson, CEO, Awakn Life Sciences

anthony.tennyson@awaknlifesciences.com

Media Enquiries:

America and Canada: KCSA Strategic Communications

Anne Donohoe

Adonohoe@KCSA.com

Rest of World: ROAD Communications

Paul Jarman / Nora Popova

Awakn@roadcommunications.co.uk

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/127779
Act Venture Capital, a Dublin, Ireland-based early-stage venture capital firm, reached the first close of its 140m sixth fund, ACT VI.

Over 80% of the fund is already committed with the final closing is planned for later this year.

ACT VI has a broad investor base built over multiple funds, combining leading institutional investors including European Investment Fund, Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Enterprise Ireland, and AIB, together with a focused group of entrepreneurial family offices providing both valuable strategic support and co-investment capabilities.

The new fund will target investments into 35 companies across technology sectors and highlights areas of interest in AI/ML, Enterprise, Deep Tech, Health, and Energy & Climate. Act can be the first cheque in and can invest up to 10m into any one company. The fund is positioned as a long-term partner to support founders from seed through several expansion rounds, with the capacity to add significant additional co-investment through its institutional investors and extensive family office base.

ACT VI recently completed its first Series A investment into Conjura which offers real-time data analytics across the entire ecommerce operation on a single cloud-based platform.

The fund has also partnered with Enterprise Ireland to establish a Seed Sidecar Fund which has already completed four seed deals into Plasmabound, Trustap, Clearword and Inferex.

Led by John Flynn, Debbie Rennick and John OSullivan, Act is one of the most active early-stage investors in the Irish market. The current portfolio comprises of 47 companies including Ekco, Gridbeyond, Cubic Telecom, Deciphex and Provizio. The firm has had 20 exits in the last 5 years, including SilverCloud Health (acquired by Amwell), Decawave (acquired by Qorvo), Corvil (acquired by Pico) and Ocrex (acquired by Sage).

FinSMEs

14/06/2022
Next Matter, a Berlin, Germany-based provider of an end-to-end operations automation and orchestration platform, raised $16M in Series A funding.

The round was led by Omers Ventures with participation from previous investors BlueYard Capital and Crane Venture Partners as well as a number of high-profile angels including Raisin founders Frank Freund and Tamaz Georgadze, HeyJobs founder Marius Luther and Charles Songhurst.

The company intends to use the funds to expand its fully remote team from 15 to 75 with a particular focus on the US, where a third of its customers are now based.

Founded in 2018 by Jan Hugenroth, Next Matter empowers organizations and people to do their best work every day by providing a cloud based automation and orchestration platform for operations tailored to a businesss unique operations needs. Customers include insuretech giant wefox, European online broker Trade Republic and US ecommerce player Spreetail.

Where legacy companies like Salesforce or SAP work to optimise a companys sales or finance departments, Next Matter orchestrates critical workflow across all departments to provide an operating system connecting a businesss operations across departments. By integrating with a companys existing tech stack, such as HubSpot, Slack, and Zapier, Next Matter is able to seamlessly link employees and their tools together no matter their role in the company. The platforms drag-and-drop interface allows users to automate and orchestrate any scenario imaginable, either from scratch or based on Next Matters extensive library of best practice operations templates.

FinSMEs

14/06/2022
Spirea Limited, a Cambridge, England, UK-based company created to advance a new generation of antibody drug conjugate (ADC) therapeutics, raised 2.4m in funding.

The round was co-led by Jonathan Milner and Cambridge Enterprise with participation from R42 Group, ACF Investors, o2h Ventures, Syndicate Room and the Cambridge Angels.

The company will use the funds to initiate its pipeline of differentiated ADCs in the treatment of solid tumours. ADCs combine the cell killing activity of a cytotoxic drug with the cancer targeting capability of a monoclonal antibody.

Led by Dr Myriam Ouberai, Chief Executive Officer, Spirea has developed a technology platform that allows more cytotoxic drug to be attached to the targeting antibody (a higher drug-to-antibody ratio) which means more drug is delivered to the cancer cell. This allows for the development of stable and tailored ADCs incorporating a variety of drug payloads at varying levels of potency and different modes-of-action. This will result in cancer therapeutics with significantly better efficacy and safety profiles.

Spirea, a spin-out from the University of Cambridge, has previously received investment from IP Group, Cambridge Enterprise, Start Codon, Jonathan Milner, o2h Ventures and Syndicate Room, and is supported by a number of successful, high-profile board members from the life sciences.

FinSMEs

14/06/2022
Suzano, a Sao Paulo, Brazil-based hardwood pulp producer and developer of sustainable and innovative solutions from renewable sources, has launched a global corporate venture capital initiative.

Suzano Ventures will invest US$70 million in a range of businesses with the potential to develop new solutions in areas including climate technology, bio-based products, agroforestry and sustainable packaging.

Initially, the initiative will focus on companies operating within at least one of four bioeconomy applications:

Improving the measurement and management of carbon sequestration

Accelerating and maximizing agroforestry yield

Developing new technologies and applications for pulp biomass

Creating more efficient pulp packaging from renewable sources

All investments will be aligned with Suzanos operations and will be made in businesses at both Seed and Series A funding stages.

Suzano Ventures will also have a structure of acceleration programs to leverage solutions that are in the laboratory phase or seeking commercial validation (pre-Seed).

Suzanos team of R&D experts who already operate in Brazil, North America, China and Israel will help identify potential investments and a new dedicated Suzano Ventures team will be formed to work with partners to scale their ideas and operations.

FinSMEs

14/06/2022
UNITS Moving and Portable Storage Celebrate Grand Opening in Kansas City

Locally Owned Portable Storage Business Prioritizing Community Service at Grand Opening

June 14, 2022 // Franchising.com // KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The Lenexa community in Kansas City is welcoming a new business and community partner to town with the opening of UNITS of Kansas City.

On June 16, the moving and portable storage franchise will be holding its grand opening from noon to 1 p.m. at 9742 Pflumm Road, Lenexa, Kansas.

Lenexa Mayor Michael Boehm and the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce will be on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially welcome UNITS to town.

Community organization Habitat for Humanity will also be on hand to receive a $1,500 donation. More than 50 guests will also enjoy lunch from Bryces Food Truck.

Community Partnership During Grand Opening

Although UNITS is new to town, they have already gotten involved in making a difference in the community.

Earlier this month, UNITS of Kansas City partnered with Habitat for Humanitys Rock the Block event.

UNITS donated two containers so 100+ volunteers could store their supplies for Rock the Block. During the event, volunteers fanned out into neighborhoods and completed much-needed repairs to homes of all shapes and sizes.

Community involvement is part of the foundation of UNITS Moving and Portable Storage, which is part of why Jim Becker is opening his second UNITS location in Kansas  he also owns UNITS of Central Iowa.

Community service is what appealed to me in the first place, says Jim. I love the fact that UNITS lets us be a part of the community whether its by helping people in a transitional period in their life, or helping the community as a whole, like partnering with Habitat for Humanity.

Grand Opening Celebration Details

UNITS Moving and Portable Storage Grand Opening, Thursday, June 16, 2022, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at 9742 Pflumm Road, Lenexa, KS 66215.

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony hosted by Lenexa Chamber of Commerce with Lenexa Mayor Michael Boehm.

Bryce Food Truck offering lunch to all guests.

Demonstration of ROBO-UNIT, a proprietary delivery system that can place containers in tight spaces.

Presentation for Habitat for Humanity, gifting H4H $1,500.

With a background in molecular biology and intellectual property law, Jim brings an abundance of talent and knowledge to the UNITS franchise. He has found his passion in entrepreneurship and using his business to make a positive impact in communities. Kansas City appealed to Jim because its a market with great opportunities. He is already feeling the love from his Kansas City neighbors and looks forward to helping people move and store their belongings safely as UNITS of Kansas City cements itself as a contributing member of the local business community.

SOURCE UNITS Moving and Portable Storage

###

Comments:

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Disqus
Story Highlights Employee stress reached a new high in 2021

Employee wellbeing is crucial to organizational health

Measuring wellbeing can help leaders better address it

Thirty-three percent of the world's employees are thriving, according to the latest State of the Global Workplace report. This marks a one-percentage-point rise in global life evaluations from 2020 and the fourth straight year of improvement.

But although the global percentage of thriving employees has been rising slightly in recent years, negative emotions have been on the rise too.

In 2020, the world's employees saw an increase in negative emotions (stress, worry, anger and sadness). In 2021, worry, anger and sadness did not return to prepandemic levels, and stress continued to climb to a new high -- 44% of employees said they experienced stress during a lot of the previous day.

If you're employed, you're probably not surprised. The last two years have been stressful as the world dealt with social isolation, economic shocks, education disruptions and health problems -- including long-term illness and death. Even in regions where COVID-19 has retreated, countries have been dealing with supply and labor shortages related to the pandemic.

Both life evaluation and daily emotions play a role in overall employee wellbeing. So how should we understand the relationship between them? How do overall life evaluations improve as negative emotions remain high?

These are not always the same people. Although life improved for some workers, it got worse for others. The pandemic did not affect everyone equally, and in many ways, it deepened social inequalities. Moreover, global averages obscure stark regional differences. Australia and New Zealand saw a six-point increase in thriving from 2020 to 2021, while Europe saw a five-point decrease. Our lives can be good and bad in different ways at the same time. Psychology makes a distinction between the "experiencing self" and the "reflective self." The experiencing self has moment-to-moment encounters with daily life (e.g., the pleasure of sipping a morning coffee or the annoyance of a traffic jam on the way to work). The reflective self steps back from the day-to-day to consider life overall: Am I getting what I want out of life? Does my future look bright?



Different things often affect daily experiences and life evaluation. For example, personal interactions and the status of our to-do list may affect our daily emotions, while income and social status may influence our life evaluation. People put the pandemic into perspective. Gallup's survey asks respondents how they think their life will be five years from now. Although many employees experienced hard times daily, they may have seen the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

Advice for Leaders

Some leaders may feel like things are back to normal, but Gallup's data suggest that the emotional side of work has not healed. Under the surface, people are stressed and anxious: Four out of 10 employees say they experienced worry during a lot of the day yesterday.

Although these emotions don't normally show up on a spreadsheet, they remain organizational risks. If leaders aren't paying attention to their employees' wellbeing, they are likely to be blindsided by top performer burnout and high quit rates.

Here's how leaders can change their approach:

Think beyond wellness. Most large organizations have physical wellness programs. But those programs don't always take mental health and social relationships -- important influencers of physical health -- into account. In addition, physical wellness fails to capture the broader dimensions of overall wellbeing: social, financial, career and community wellbeing.



Some corporations have adopted fewer hours or remote work to improve employee wellbeing. While these adoptions may provide some benefit, they don't provide positive support for overall wellbeing. That's an area in which all companies can grow.

Put wellbeing on your data dashboard. Wellbeing can be measured in a scientifically valid way, and it can be correlated with performance outcomes. When leaders have a finger on the pulse of their employees' wellbeing, they can identify potential hot spots, discover best practices and validate that wellbeing initiatives are actually making a difference.

Make employee care a permanent part of your culture. Employee engagement in the U.S. rose at the start of the pandemic, when employers decided to communicate, listen, and offer support and flexibility to workers. Since then, the percentage of employees who feel that their employer cares about their wellbeing has plummeted. The consequences reach beyond the absence of warm feelings -- they include lower engagement, higher burnout and more employees looking for new job opportunities elsewhere.

In contrast, Gallup's research has found that teams that are most likely to feel their organization cares about their wellbeing achieve higher customer engagement, profitability and productivity, lower turnover, and fewer safety incidents.

Of all the lessons learned from the pandemic, this one should be near the top of the list: Employee wellbeing is crucial to organizational health. Organizations can't function effectively -- let alone, adapt, compete and win -- with struggling and suffering workers. Employee wellbeing is a risk and an opportunity that leaders can't afford to ignore.

Create an organization where your people can thrive. Subscribe to the Gallup at Work newsletter to get the latest workplace advice and discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.

Learn more about how to prioritize employee wellbeing through your organizational culture.

Discover how the employee experience shapes engagement, performance and development.
The Albany Police Department has arrested a Sweet Home man for allegedly assaulting someone with a piece of concrete.

Officers arrested Raymond Manuel McKendree, 20, on Thursday, June 9. The reported assault is said to have taken place the same day McKendree was arrested.

According to court documents, McKendree allegedly used a chunk of concrete to assault the victim. McKendree also allegedly strangled the victim and damaged the victims car window/windshield.

McKendree was arraigned in Linn County Circuit Court on Thursday, June 9 on charges of second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, strangulation and second-degree criminal mischief. According to Oregons online court database, Judge Keith Stein appointed Michael Lowry as the defendants defense attorney and set McKendrees bail at $50,000.

The next court hearing in the matter is scheduled for June 21.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The Wells Fargo building in downtown Albany has been vacant since 2018, and the future of the structure is on the agenda at two meetings focused on local urban renewal on Wednesday, June 15.

Both the Albany Revitalization Agency, headed by members of City Council but in a different role, and its advisory panel known as the Central Albany Revitalization Area board, are set to talk about the building.

How the conversation plays out could have an impact on the future of Sybaris Bistro, an acclaimed downtown restaurant that has asked for redevelopment funding for a different historic building.

The Albany Revitalization Area purchased the Wells Fargo building and lot at 300 W First St. for $1.5 million in February 2019 after the bank closed that location. But plans to redevelop the structure have stalled amid ballooning costs.

This property has long been viewed as having critical potential as an anchoring tenant in contributing to the revitalization of the historic downtown, Seth Sherry, Albany economic development manager, wrote in a June 8 memo.

During the Central Albany Revitalization Area meeting, city staff will discuss options for the board to consider in moving forward with the building.

The Central Albany Revitalization Area board is an advisory group, appointed by the council, to the Albany Revitalization Agency.

The Albany Revitalization Agency board consists of Albany City Council members and uses city staff as advisors, but it is legally a separate entity from the city.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Albany Democrat-Herald.

In October 2018, the Albany Revitalization Agency came to consensus to concentrate on three projects before the government body sunsets: the Waterfront Improvement Project, which has $15 million earmarked for construction and $1 million for design; the St. Francis Hotel, which has $1.5 million allocated; and the Wells Fargo building, which has roughly $2 million reserved for the building and $500,000 for the parking lot.

The agency has $20.3 million to spend on the trio of projects, but the estimated cost is slightly less than that, and an ending balance of $352,000 is forecast.

Sybaris Bistro was once involved in a partnership to renovate and move the restaurant into the Wells Fargo building, but its owners withdrew from the plan in 2020.

The concept had Sybaris occupying the first floor of the building with apartments on the second floor and a third floor added. But adding residential units above the existing structure was highly complicated and expensive.

Given the current building environment, additional costs for a product that could be built for less from the ground up did not make sense, Sherry wrote.

The Wells Fargo redevelopment, as envisioned, has essentially been abandoned, but staff members remain optimistic that another partnership can materialize.

Sybaris owners have purchased the Oregon Electric Railroad Station, 133 Fifth Ave. SE, and plan to move the restaurant to that historic building.

Owner Matt Bennett and architect Bill Ryals, a member of the CARA board, went before the Albany Revitalization Agency during its May 11 meeting and asked for a loan of $800,000 or more to assist in renovations to the 1912 railroad station.

The Sybaris request to the agency seemingly pits the restaurant against at least one of the trio of other projects already allocated funding.

The Central Albany Revitalization Area board meets at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday in the City Council chambers.

The Albany Revitalization Agency meets immediately afterward.

Kyle Odegard can be contacted at 541-812-6077 or Kyle.Odegard@lee.net Follow him on Twitter via @KyleOdegard.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission, has signed an order to promulgate a set of trial outlines on military operations other than war.

The outlines aim to protect people's lives and property, safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interest, and safeguard world peace and regional stability.

The outlines, comprising 59 articles in six chapters, serve as a legal base for military operations other than war and will take effect on June 15, 2022.
SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The microbiome treatment market is receiving global attention and is rapidly emerging as a new treatment alternative for various intractable diseases. However, recent clinical trial failure reports and the limitation to identify a clear mode of action demand a careful approach. Korea-based company BioMe Inc. wants to bring in disruption with pathbreaking microbiome-based therapeutics.

Established in November 2020 by Professor Sang Sun Yoon of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, BioMe Inc. has been developing a microbiome-based live biotherapeutic product (LBP). Based on the distinguished microbiology research foundation of Yonsei University College of Medicine, BioMe Inc.

(i) understands the bacteriological characteristics of the candidate strains,

(ii) can prove its effectiveness using animal disease models, made possible in the state-of-the-art Avison Biomedical Research Centre.

To accelerate its research & development process, the startup recently signed a technology transfer contract with Yonsei University College of Medicine. BioMe Inc. would start developing microbiome-based therapeutics with the six patents transferred from Yonsei University College of Medicine.

The technology transfer under the contract includes a total of six patents, and BioMe's development pipeline is as follows:

No. Development Pipeline 1 A protein derived from airway microbiome with inhibitory effects against broad-spectrum respiratory infections 2 A microbiome-derived immune-enhancing protein with clear anti-cancer effect 3 A skin microbiome showing efficacy in treating atopic dermatitis 4 A consortium of commensal microbes showing efficacy in treating inflammatory bowel disease 5 Novel synbiotics system inducing butyrate synthesis

In addition to the above technology, a novel pipeline capable of degrading TMA, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, is under development by BioMe Inc.

Beyond discovering useful strains, BioMe Inc. is building a microbiome-based system that selectively produces beneficial metabolites or degrades hazardous counterparts. This development strategy represented by "Molecule First" is implemented through the iBTSTM (integrated BioMe Technology for Screen) platform.

Recently, Kim Bu Seon, a former managing director of SK Bioscience, has been recruited to design target product profiles for candidate strains. Preclinical trials are scheduled to begin in the first half of 2022, and clinical trials will begin in 2023.

Press contact: vallabh@topprwire.com

Related Images











Image 1: BioMe





BioMe









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

Attachment
Sydney, June 07, 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/Myanmar-Burma-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW





But a series of troubling events and increased repression since the military retook power in a coup in 2021 has thrown the forecasts for future growth into considerable doubt. Even estimates about the current state of affairs in the telecom sector are full of uncertainty, with one of the major mobile operators announcing a rapid withdrawal from the country while most of the rest have fallen under the governments influence.



In the five years since telecom market liberalisation, both mobile and mobile broadband penetration grew from single digits to around 100% by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The global health crisis was the first major event to bring a halt to the markets climb, but that was only a minor blip compared to what was to come with Myanmars second coup detat in February 2021. Leading up to that point saw officials from the Ministry of Transport and Communications instruct telcos to install spyware in their networks, to give the army access to all private voice and data communications. The junta shut down access to the Internet for several long periods following the takeover, including for the entire month of April. Then, following the refusal of the countrys two privately-owned mobile operators (Ooredoo and Telenor) to comply with the directive to install the surveillance software, executives from the two companies were barred from leaving the country and threatened with having their mobile licenses revoked. With personal safety and business operating conditions deteriorating badly, Telenor arranged a fire sale to Lebanons M1 Group, effectively writing off its entire Myanmar venture.



The political, social, and economic unrest has continued over the last 12 months, involving multiple reports of violence and even mobile tower sites being taken out by anti-government protestors. Foreign investors are fleeing the country and the long-term outlook for its telecom sector is, at best, bleak.



Key developments:





Military junta threatens the cancellation of mobile licenses and the detention of company executives if operators refuse to load spyware on their networks.

Telenor exits the Myanmar mobile market in a fire sale to Lebanons M1 following the imposition of military rule.

M1 agrees to sell a majority share of its Telenor acquisition to local interests, as dictated by the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Malaysia carrier Axiata Group puts its planned listing of towerco Edotco on hold due to the political unrest.

E-commerce transactions grow 73% year-on-year as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.



Companies mentioned in this report





Myanmar Post and Telecommunications (MPT); Telenor Myanmar; Ooredoo Myanmar; Mytel.







Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Myanmar-Burma-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW
Sydney, June 13, 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/Haiti-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW





The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was relatively small in terms of case numbers and mortality, but the economic fallout has been significant and compounds the misery for the millions already living in poverty.



The countrys telecommunications sector has been struggling for more than a decade, since infrastructure was severely damaged in the 2010 earthquake then levelled again in 2016s Hurricane Matthew. Aid agencies and the World Bank have prioritised Haiti and Afghanistan for financial aid and logistical support, including a $120 million grant in May 2022 to improve rural connectivity across the south of the country while increasing network resiliency in urban centres. But with the annual hurricane season just about to begin, it will be touch-and-go for the countrys fragile state to survive another battering.



Key developments:





World Bank provides a further $120 million grant to the Haiti Resilient Connectivity and Urban Transport Accessibility Project.



Companies mentioned in this report:





Natcom, Digicel, HaiTel, Comcel, Rectel.







Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Haiti-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW
English French

Roissy, June 14th 2022

Air France-KLM announces the success of its 2.256 billion rights issue

The capital increase generated strong demand from existing and new investors, for a total amount of 2.6 billion

The French and Dutch states participated to the full extent of their rights, to maintain their shareholdings unchanged, reiterating their confidence in Air France-KLMs performance

CMA CGM becomes a new strategic reference shareholder with a 9.0% stake in Air France-KLMs share capital

Net proceeds from the capital increase will be mostly used to accelerate State aid repayment and reduce related financial costs, as well as to reduce Air France-KLMs indebtedness



Air FranceKLM (the Company) today announces that it has successfully completed its share capital increase with preferential subscription rights (the Rights) announced on May 24th 2022 (the Rights Issue). Following the subscription period, which ended on June 9th 2022, the total demand amounted to approximately 2,240 million shares, for an amount close to 2.6 billion, corresponding to a well oversubscribed transaction with a take-up rate of approximately 116%:

1,831,278,510 new shares were subscribed on an irreducible basis (a titre irreductible), representing approximately 95% of the new shares to be issued;

orders submitted on a reducible basis (a titre reductible) represented 409,004,428 new shares and will therefore only be partially allocated for a number of 96,623,592 new shares.

The final gross proceeds of the Rights Issue, including the issue premium, amount to approximately 2,256 million (of which 1,611 million in cash) corresponding to the issuance of 1,928 million new shares (the New Shares) with a par value of 1 at a subscription price of 1.17 per share.

Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France  KLM, stated The success of our capital increase is a strong demonstration of the confidence that our existing shareholders and new investors have in the prospects of Air France-KLM. This operation, which is part of a broader strategy to transform and streamline our Group, will allow us to emerge with a stronger balance sheet and increased strategic flexibility. In a context of strong demand for travel, Air France-KLM will continue to implement its roadmap focused on increased profitability and sustainability, while meeting its customers expectations, fulfilling its CSR commitments and seizing the opportunities that will arise as the airline industry recovers.

Allocation of the share capital following the transaction

Following the settlement and delivery of the Rights Issue, Air France  KLMs share capital will amount to 2,570,536,136 shares with a nominal value of 1 each.

Air France-KLMs shareholding structure following the settlement and delivery of the Right Issue would be as per the table below

% of the capital

(post Right Issue) % voting rights (post Right Issue) % of the capital

(as of April 30th 2022) % voting rights (as of April 30th 2022) Number of shares / voting rights 2,570,536,136 2,826,884,172 642,634,034 871,080,285 French State 28.6% 28.5% 28.6% 28.1% Dutch State 9.3% 10.7% 9.3% 13.8% CMA CGM 9.0% 8.3% 0.0% 0.0% China Eastern Airlines1 4.7% 5.6% 9.6% 11.4% Delta Air Lines, Inc2 2.9% 4.0% 5.8% 8.6% Treasury stock 0.05% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% Others 45.5% 42.9% 46.5% 37.8%

Rationale for the Rights Issue

As announced on February 17th and detailed in the press release dated May 24th 2022, this transaction implements new recapitalization measures, following the 2021 initial capital increase.

The net proceeds of the issue will be partly allocated to repaying the deeply subordinated bonds issued in April 2021 and held by the French state as well as strengthening the Companys equity. As announced during its full-year results presentation on February 17 th 2022, the Company intends to free itself from the conditions set by the European Commissions Covid-19 temporary framework and will therefore allocate about 1.7 billion to the repayment of the "Covid-19 recapitalization aid" granted in the form of undated subordinated notes (the " TSS Etat ") issued in April 2021, through offset and repayment. The remainder (about 0.6 billion) will come to reduce net debt.





2022, the Company intends to free itself from the conditions set by the European Commissions Covid-19 temporary framework and will therefore allocate about 1.7 billion to the repayment of the "Covid-19 recapitalization aid" granted in the form of undated subordinated notes (the " ") issued in April 2021, through offset and repayment. The remainder (about 0.6 billion) will come to reduce net debt. This operation marks a significant step in the execution of the up to 4 billion equity and quasi-equity issuance program designed to strengthen the balance sheet, as announced on February 17 th . In the context of the companys expected performance recovery, with a 7% to 8% operating margin targeted in 2024, the company is confident that no further dilutive measures will be needed. The Companys sound financial liquidity position (10.8 billion of cash at hand as of March 31 st 2022) and promising outlook will allow Air France-KLM to repay additional outstanding state aid, which will further improve the financing costs of the Company.





. In the context of the companys expected performance recovery, with a 7% to 8% operating margin targeted in 2024, the company is confident that no further dilutive measures will be needed. The Companys sound financial liquidity position (10.8 billion of cash at hand as of March 31 2022) and promising outlook will allow Air France-KLM to repay additional outstanding state aid, which will further improve the financing costs of the Company. The Company confirms its objective to reduce its Net debt / EBITDA ratio to reach 2.0x to 2.5x by 2023.





Main shareholders subscription

The French state, Air France-KLMs largest shareholder (with 28.6% of the Companys share capital and 28.1% of voting rights), participated on an irreducible basis to the full extent of its Rights, corresponding to a subscription of 551,404,728 New Shares. Its shareholding after the completion of the Rights Issue remains unchanged. This subscription was carried out by way of offsetting a portion of the deeply subordinated notes (TSS Etat) issued in April 2021.

The Dutch state participated on an irreducible basis to the full extent of its Rights, corresponding to a subscription of 180,000,000 New Shares. Its shareholding after the completion of the Rights Issue remains unchanged.

CMA CGM, exclusive strategic partner for the cargo business, becomes a new reference shareholder, with a total shareholding amounting to 231,348,252 New Shares, corresponding to 9.0% of the Companys share capital after the Rights Issue.

China Eastern Airlines and Delta Air Lines participated in the Rights Issue on a cash-neutral basis, for an aggregate amount of approximately 110.7 million by subscribing to 58,763,343 and 35,873,772 New Shares respectively by using the net proceeds from selling part of their Rights to CMA CGM. This brings their respective shareholdings to 4.7% and 2.9% of the Companys share capital after the Rights Issue.

The FCPEs (Fond Commun de Placement Entreprise) participated in the Rights Issue on a cash-neutral basis through the sale of part of their Rights to the benefit of CMA CGM in a proportion allowing them to partially finance the exercise of the balance of their Rights by using the net proceeds of this sale.

The SPAAK (Stichting Piloten Aandelen Air France - KLM) participated in the Rights Issue on a cash-neutral basis by subscribing to new shares through the sale of part of their Rights.

Timetable

Settlement and delivery of the New Shares and commencement of trading on Euronext Paris and Euronext Amsterdam are expected to take place on June 16th 2022. The New Shares will immediately entitle their holders to receive dividends declared by the Company as from the date of issuance. They will be fully fungible with existing shares of the Company and will be traded on the same trading line under the same ISIN code FR0000031122.

Lock-up commitments

Air France-KLM has agreed to a lock-up period starting on the date of the signing of the underwriting agreement and expiring 180 calendar days following the settlement and delivery date of the New Shares, subject to certain exceptions.

The French state, the Dutch state, China Eastern Airlines and Delta Air Lines have entered into a lock-up agreement from the approval of the Prospectus by the French Autorite des Marches Financiers (the AMF) and until the expiration of a period of 90 calendar days following the date of settlement and delivery of the New Shares, subject to certain exceptions.

CMA CGM has agreed with the Company on a lock-up commitment as from the settlement-delivery of the New Shares until the expiry of a three-year period following this date, it being specified that CMA CGM may sell a maximum of 50% of the shares acquired in the context of the Rights Issue during an additional three-year period. This lock-up commitment will be terminated early if a firm and complete cooperation agreement in relation to air cargo is not concluded before December 1st 2022 or if such an agreement is terminated.

In addition, CMA CGM committed to a 10-year period to not acquire or subscribe to any shares issued by the Company, unless such acquisition does not lead to an increase of its stake in the share capital of the Company, subject to certain exceptions. The undertaking specifies that at the end of a period of 5 years from the settlement-delivery of the New Shares, the Board of Directors of the Company may modify this undertaking in order to allow CMA CGM to increase its shareholding in the Company.

The appointment of Rodolphe Saade as a Board Director for a four-year term of office was approved by the general shareholders' meeting held on May 24th 2022 and will be effective after all regulatory approvals have been received.

The Rights Issue was conducted by Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Natixis, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and Societe Generale acting as Joint Global Coordinators, Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Banco Santander, S.A., Citigroup and Cooperatieve Rabobank U.A acting as Joint Bookrunners; and Credit Industriel et Commercial S.A., MUFG Securities (Europe) N.V. and SMBC Bank EU AG acting as co-lead managers.

Risk factors

Potential investors are also advised to consider carefully the risk factors described in chapter 3.1 Risk factors of the 2021 Universal Registration Document, chapter 2 Risk factors of the amendment to the 2021 Universal Registration Document and chapter 2 Risk factors of the Securities Note. Should all or any part of these risk factors materialize, the Companys businesses, financials, results or ability to reach its guidance may be negatively affected and the value of the Companys shares may also be affected.

Availability of the Prospectus

The prospectus (the Prospectus) was approved by the AMF under number 22-0172 on 23 May 2022 and includes (i) the 2021 universal registration document (document denregistrement universel) of the Company filed with the AMF on 4 April 2022 under number D.22-0236 (the 2021 Universal Registration Document), the amendment to the 2021 universal registration document filed with the AMF on 23 May 2022 under number D.22-0236-A01, (iii) the securities note (note doperation) dated 23 May 2022 (the Securities Note), and (iv) the summary of the Prospectus (included in the Securities Note).

The Prospectus is available on the websites of the AMF (www.amf-france.org) and the Company (www. airfranceklm.com). Copies of the Prospectus will be made available free of charge at the Companys headquarters, located at 2, rue Robert Esnault-Pelterie, 75007 Paris, France.

Potential investors are advised to read the Prospectus before making an investment decision in order to fully understand the potential risks and rewards associated with the decision to invest in the securities. The approval of the Prospectus by the AMF should not be understood as an endorsement of the securities offered or admitted to trading on a regulated market.



Investor Relations

Frederic Kahane Michiel Klinkers

33 1 49 89 52 59 +33 1 49 89 52 60

frkahane@airfranceklm.com michiel.klinkers@airfranceklm.com

Website: www.airfranceklm.com

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of ordinary shares in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

The distribution of this document may, in certain jurisdictions, be restricted by local legislations. Persons into whose possession this document comes are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such potential local restrictions.

This press release is an advertisement and not a prospectus within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 (as amended, the Prospectus Regulation). Potential investors are advised to read the prospectus before making an investment decision in order to fully understand the potential risks and rewards associated with the decision to invest in the securities. The approval of the prospectus by the AMF should not be understood as an endorsement of the securities offered or admitted to trading on a regulated market.

With respect to the Member States of the European Economic Area (other than France) and the United Kingdom (each a Relevant State), no action has been undertaken or will be undertaken to make an offer to the public of the securities referred to herein requiring a publication of a prospectus in any Relevant State. As a result, the securities may and will be offered in any Relevant State only (i) to qualified investors within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation, for any investor in a Member State of the European Economic Area, or Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as part of national law under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the UK Prospectus Regulation), for any investor in the United Kingdom, (ii) to fewer than 150 individuals or legal entities (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Regulation or the UK Prospectus Regulation, as the case may be), or (iii) in accordance with the exemptions set forth in Article 1 (4) of the Prospectus Regulation or under any other circumstances which do not require the publication by Air France KLM of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation and/or to applicable regulations of that Relevant State.

The distribution of this press release has not been made, and has not been approved, by an authorised person within the meaning of Article 21(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. As a consequence, this press release is only being distributed to, and is only directed at, persons in the United Kingdom that (i) are investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended, the Order), (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) (high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.) of the Order, or (iii) are persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Article 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) in connection with the issue or sale of any securities may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as Relevant Persons). Any investment or investment activity to which this document relates is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons. Any person who is not a Relevant Person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

This press release may not be published, distributed or transmitted in the United States of America (including its territories and dependencies). This press release does not constitute or form part of any offer of securities for sale or any solicitation to purchase or to subscribe for securities or any solicitation of sale of securities in the United States of America. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act) or the law of any State or other jurisdiction of the United States of America, and may not be offered or sold in the United States of America absent registration under the Securities Act or pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. Air France KLM does not intend to register all or any portion of the securities in the United States of America under the Securities Act or to conduct a public offering of the securities in the United States of America.

This announcement may not be published, forwarded or distributed, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, South Africa, or Japan.

1Through the intermediary of Eastern Airlines Industry Investment (Luxembourg) Company Limited

2Through the intermediary of DAL Foreign Holdings CV

Attachment
Pune, India, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Cyber Security Market Size is projected to reach USD 376.32 Billion by 2029, from 139.77 Billion in 2021, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.4% during the forecast period. Fortune Business Insights has presented this information in its report titled, Global Cyber Security Market Share, 2022-2029.

Emerging online e-commerce platforms and the introduction of essential technologies such as the internet of things (IoT), cloud security, artificial intelligence (AI), and others are driving the market. The development of internet security solutions based on AI platforms is a top priority for key industry competitors.

Cyber Security Industry Developments-

February 2020: GE Healthcare introduced an AI-based network security service to connect AI, medical devices, and process management tools and help hospitals to evade It threats.

July 2021: To expedite DevSecOps, Fortinet, Inc. purchased application security innovator Skenai. Sken.ai offers comprehensive testing for all major languages and frameworks, as well as all types of scans (SAST, DAST, SCA, Secrets, and more). Machine learning (ML) is used by Sken.ai to correlate and assign a security risk level to each vulnerability discovered across multiple scan kinds and apps.





Request a Sample Copy of Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/cyber-security-market-101165





Report Scope:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2022-2029 Forecast Period 2022 to 2029 CAGR 13.4% 2029 Value Projection USD 376.32 billion Base Year 2021 Cyber Security Market Size in 2021 USD 139.77 billion Historical Data for 2018-2020 No. of Pages 160 Segments covered Component; Deployment Type; Enterprise Size; Industry and Region Growth Drivers Market Growth will be driven by the Increasing Number of E-Commerce Platforms Lack of Experts and Budget Constraints for SMEs to Hinder the Market Growth





Drivers & Restraints-

Market Growth will be driven by the Increasing Number of E-Commerce Platforms

Internet security solutions in connected network infrastructure have strengthened as e-commerce platforms and artificial intelligence, cloud technology, and blockchain have emerged. Furthermore, e-commerce businesses are concentrating on integrating network security solutions into their IT and electronic security systems.

The demand for network security solutions is expanding as these technologies are increasingly adopted to combat cyber-attacks. The demand for innovative solutions is expanding dramatically as the number of internet security threats increases, this factor may impede the global cyber security market growth.

Regional Insights-

North America to Lead the Global Cyber Security Market

North America Cyber Security Market Size, 2020 (USD 62.41 Billion). The growing frequency of high-profile security breaches in the region is driving demand for cloud application security solutions. In countries like the U.S. and Canada, the growing number of online e-commerce platforms is boosting the market growth. To provide better security measures to businesses, the government uses advanced network security protocols.

The cybersecurity industry in Europe is expected to increase at a significant CAGR. The increasing number of internet security projects and related investments by large firms in the U.K., Spain, Germany, Italy, France, and others are driving the expansion. Advanced IT security solutions are installed by key providers to protect highly sensitive information related to manufacturing operations while also increasing productivity.

Asia Pacific is expected to increase at an exponential rate. Countries such as China, India, and Korea are expected to grow at a rapid pace. The increase is due to an increase in the number of service providers as well as increased government and international investor investments in various security projects. According to research published by the internet security firm Symantec Corporation, India was ranked among the top ten countries in the world for combating secure web gateway crimes in 2019.

The Cyber Security Market in Middle East & Africa, and South America regions are expected to rise significantly. This expansion is attributable to increased government and private sector investment in nations such as the Gulf Cooperation Council, South Africa, and others. Furthermore, as significant actors embrace more strategies such as mergers and collaborations, security solutions will improve.





Click here to get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this Cyber Security Market.

Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/cyber-security-market-101165





Segmentation-

By deployment type, the Cyber Security Market is bifurcated into on-premises and cloud. On the basis of enterprise size, the market is split into Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) & Large Enterprises.

By industry, the market is segmented into BFSI, IT and Telecommunications, retail, healthcare, government, manufacturing, travel and transportation, energy and utilities and others.

By components, the global cyber security industry is divided into solutions (network security, cloud application security, end-point security, secure web gateway, application security, others) and services.

Geographically, the market is classified into South America, North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

Segmentation By Component Solution Network Security Cloud Application Security End-point Security Secure Web Gateway Application Security Others

Services By Deployment Cloud

On-Premises By Enterprises Size Large Enterprises

Small & Medium Enterprises By Industry BFSI

IT and Telecommunications

Retail

Healthcare

Government

Manufacturing

Travel and Transportation

Energy and Utilities

Others

Report Coverage-

To provide a better understanding to the user, the global cyber security industry report marks important regions throughout the world. Furthermore, the research analyses technologies that are being deployed at a quick rate on a global scale and provide insights into the newest market growth trends. It also includes key drivers and restrictions, which will aid the reader in gaining a thorough understanding of the Cyber Security Market.





Speak To Our Analyst: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/cyber-security-market-101165





COVID-19 Impact-

The COVID-19 outbreak had a significant impact on consumer and provider behaviour including the global cybersecurity industry. Data breaches, the closing of manufacturing units, reducing resources, and weakened supply chains are all factors that impede global corporate growth. Thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises around the world have been forced to close permanently or temporarily. According to a poll performed by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2020, 43% of respondents in the U.S. said that small and medium companies were temporarily closed. The epidemic had an impact on small businesses and start-ups all around the world. The demand for internet security solutions and services has been considerably impacted as a result of this.

Cybersecurity Market solutions have been in high demand in healthcare, manufacturing, and government during the epidemic. Key market participants are focusing on providing a variety of security solutions to protect industrial operations from severe cyber-attacks. In December 2020, IBM Corporation established IBM Security X-Force, a threat intelligence task force tasked with detecting cyber-attacks. The business started a global phishing campaign in six nations.

Competitive Landscape-

The key players emphasize developing advanced security solutions with the incorporation of emerging technologies. The vital players functioning in the market focus on organic development strategies such as extensive research and development activities for making technological advancements and introducing new security solutions to the market. Additional tactics include collaborations, partnerships, procurements, and so on, to enhance market presence. For instance, Check Point Software Technologies announced the acquisition of Cymplify in 2019 to integrate the former companys IoT solutions.

Cisco Systems and Other Market Leaders will Expand their Product Lines

Cisco Systems, Inc., a major competitor in the global industry, is concentrating on improving its network capabilities by incorporating emerging technologies such as machine learning and advanced analytics. Cisco Systems provides a wide range of internet security solutions that are based on network-related sectors. Superior threat protection, email security, network and data center security, unified threat management, advisory, access and policy, integration, and managed services are some of the services available.

Companies Covered in the Cyber Security Market Report:

Cisco Systems, Inc. (U.S.)

IBM Corporation (U.S.)

Fortinet, Inc. (U.S.)

Proofpoint, Inc. (U.S.)

Microsoft Corporation (U.S.)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (U.S.)

Zscaler, Inc. (U.S.)

Broadcom, Inc. (U.S.)

F5 Networks, Inc. (U.S.)

Check Point Software Technologies (Israel)

Sophos Ltd. (U.K.)





Quick Buy - Cyber Security Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/101165





Major Points of TOC:

Global Cyber Security Market Size Estimates and Forecasts (Quantitative Data), By Segments, 2018-2029 Key Findings By Component (USD) Solution Network Security Cloud Application Security End-Point Security Secure Web Gateway Application Security Others (Network Security, Etc.) Services By Deployment (USD) On-premise Cloud By Enterprise Size (USD) SMEs Large Enterprises By Industry(USD) BFSI IT & Telecom Retail Healthcare Government Manufacturing Travel & Transportation Energy and Utilities Others By Region (USD) North America South America Europe Middle East & Africa Asia Pacific

North America Cyber Security Market Size Estimates and Forecasts, By Segments, 2018-2029 By Component (USD) Solution Network Security Cloud Application Security End-Point Security Secure Web Gateway Application Security Others (Network Security, Etc.) Services By Deployment (USD) On-premise Cloud By Enterprise Size (USD) SMEs Large Enterprises By Industry(USD) BFSI IT & Telecom Retail Healthcare Government Manufacturing Travel & Transportation Energy and Utilities Others By Country (USD) United States (By Industry) Canada (By Industry) Mexico (By Industry)

South America Cyber Security Market Size Estimates and Forecasts (Quantitative Data), By Segments, 2018-2029 By Component (USD) Solution Network Security Cloud Application Security End-Point Security Secure Web Gateway Application Security Others (Network Security, Etc.) Services By Deployment (USD) On-premise Cloud By Enterprise Size (USD) SMEs Large Enterprises By Industry(USD) BFSI IT & Telecom Retail Healthcare Government Manufacturing Travel & Transportation Energy and Utilities Others By Country (USD) Brazil (By Industry) Argentina (By Industry) Rest of Latin America

Europe Cyber Security Market Size Estimates and Forecasts (Quantitative Data), By Segments, 2018-2029

TOC Continued!

About Us:

Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

Contact Us:

Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd.

US :+1 424 253 0390

UK : +44 2071 939123

APAC : +91 744 740 1245
New York, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Precision Cancer Diagnostic Test Market Report 2022-2032" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06285615/?utm_source=GNW



The Precision Cancer Diagnostic Test Market Report 2022-2032: This report will prove invaluable to leading firms striving for new revenue pockets if they wish to better understand the industry and its underlying dynamics. It will be useful for companies that would like to expand into different industries or to expand their existing operations in a new region.



Advancements in Technologies such as Functional Precision Medicine (FPM) Models



Some of the practical challenges of FPM can be addressed using new technologies created at the intersection of engineering and biology. Technology targeted at simulating the tumour microenvironment, particularly the extracellular matrix, has made significant progress. Organ chips (sometimes referred to as tissue chips or microphysiological systems) are indeed being used to depict cancer inside the tumour microenvironment. Such microfluidics devices, which are typically composed of tissue-specific types of cells, extracellular matrix gels, and cancerous cells, attempt to replicate the molecular and mechanical signals present in human tissue. One of the possible advantages of organ chips is their ability to replicate medicine distribution, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and drug toxicity.



Some of the hurdles to the broad use of organ chips in FPM include low drug testing throughput and the necessity for specialised skills to create and operate these devices. Allowing cells to remain in their native habitat throughout pharmaceutical therapy is another way to simulate tumour settings. This comprises medication treatment on individual tumour sections or fine-needle biopsies, wherein immunofluorescent cell death signs can be used to assess drug sensitivity. Its use of drug-containing microdevices which may be implanted directly into patients tumours is another promising approach for FPM. The medications in such microdevices can affect surrounding tissues, and therapy results in tumours can indeed be evaluated after theyve been removed.



What Questions Should You Ask before Buying a Market Research Report?

 How is the precision cancer diagnostic test market evolving?

 What is driving and restraining the precision cancer diagnostic test market?

 How will each precision cancer diagnostic test submarket segment grow over the forecast period and how much revenue will these submarkets account for in 2032?

 How will the market shares for each precision cancer diagnostic test submarket develop from 2022 to 2032?

 What will be the main driver for the overall market from 2022 to 2032?

 Will leading precision cancer diagnostic test markets broadly follow the macroeconomic dynamics, or will individual national markets outperform others?

 How will the market shares of the national markets change by 2032 and which geographical region will lead the market in 2032?

 Who are the leading players and what are their prospects over the forecast period?

 What are the precision cancer diagnostic test projects for these leading companies?

 How will the industry evolve during the period between 2020 and 2032? What are the implication of precision cancer diagnostic test projects taking place now and over the next 10 years?

 Is there a greater need for product commercialisation to further scale the precision cancer diagnostic test market?

 Where is the precision cancer diagnostic test market heading and how can you ensure you are at the forefront of the market?

 What are the best investment options for new product and service lines?

 What are the key prospects for moving companies into a new growth path and C-suite?



You need to discover how this will impact the precision cancer diagnostic test market today, and over the next 10 years:

 Our 602-page report provides 347 tables and 326 charts/graphs exclusively to you.

 The report highlights key lucrative areas in the industry so you can target them  NOW.

 It contains in-depth analyse of global, regional and national sales and growth

 It highlights for you the key successful trends, changes and revenue projections made by your competitors



This report tells you TODAY how the precision cancer diagnostic test market will develop in the next 10 years, and in-line with the variations in COVID-19 economic recession and bounce. This market is more critical now than at any point over the last 10 years.



Forecasts to 2032 and other analyses reveal the commercial prospects

 In addition to revenue forecasting to 2032, our new study provides you with recent results, growth rates, and market shares.

 You will find original analyses, with business outlooks and developments.

 Discover qualitative analyses (including market dynamics, drivers, opportunities, restraints and challenges), cost structure, impact of rising precision cancer diagnostic test prices and recent developments.



This report includes data analysis and invaluable insight into how COVID-19 will affect the industry and your company. Four COVID-19 recovery patterns and their impact, namely, V, L, W and U are discussed in this report.



Segments Covered in this report



Biopsy Method

 Tissue Biopsy

 Liquid Biopsy



End-User

 Hospitals

 Clinics

 Research Institutes



Category

 Cancer Imaging

 Molecular Cancer Testing

 Tumour Marker Immunoassays

 POC Colon Cancer Tests

 Other Categories



Cancer Type

 Breast Cancer

 Lung Cancer

 Colorectal Cancer

 Melanoma

 Pancreatic Cancer

 Other Cancer Type



Cancer Testing

 Blood-Based Molecular Cancer Tests

 HPV Genotyping

 Circulating Tumour Cell (CTC) Tests

 Next-Generation Sequencing Tests



Imaging Test

 Computed Tomography

 Magnetic Resonance Imaging

 Digital & Analog Mammography

 Positron Emission Tomography

 Digital Breast Tomosynthesis

 Molecular Breast Imaging



In addition to the revenue predictions for the overall world market and segments, you will also find revenue forecasts for four regional and 20 leading national markets:



North America

 U.S.

 Canada

 Mexico



Europe

 Germany

 Spain

 United Kingdom

 France

 Italy

 Rest of Europe



Asia Pacific

 China

 Japan

 India

 Australia

 South Korea

 Rest of Asia Pacific



LAMEA

 Brazil

 Turkey

 Saudi Arabia

 South Africa

 UAE

 Rest of Latin America, Middle East and Africa



The report also includes profiles and for some of the leading companies in the Precision Cancer Diagnostic Test Market, 2022 to 2032, with a focus on this segment of these companies operations.



Leading companies and the potential for market growth

 Abbott Laboratories (Abbott)

 Agilent Technologies, Inc.

 AstraZeneca PLC (AstraZeneca)

 Becton, Dickinson and Firm (BD)

 Biocept, Inc.

 Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc.

 Epigenomics AG

 Illumina, Inc. (Illumina)

 Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Myriad)

 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated



Overall world revenue for Precision Cancer Diagnostic Test Market, 2022 to 2032 in terms of value the market will surpass US$15,834 million in 2022, our work calculates. We predict strong revenue growth through to 2032. Our work identifies which organizations hold the greatest potential. Discover their capabilities, progress, and commercial prospects, helping you stay ahead.



How will the Precision Cancer Diagnostic Test Market, 2022 to 2032 Market report help you?



In summary, our 602-page report provides you with the following knowledge:

 Revenue forecasts to 2032 for Precision Cancer Diagnostic Test Market, 2022 to 2032 Market, with forecasts for biopsy method, end-user, cancer type, category, molecular cancer testing each forecasted at a global and regional level discover the industrys prospects, finding the most lucrative places for investments and revenues

 Revenue forecasts to 2032 for four regional and 20 key national markets  See forecasts for the Precision Cancer Diagnostic Test Market, 2022 to 2032 market in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and LAMEA. Also forecasted is the market in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, UK, Italy, China, India, Japan, and Australia among other prominent economies.

 Prospects for established firms and those seeking to enter the market including company profiles for 10 of the major companies involved in the Precision Cancer Diagnostic Test Market.





Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06285615/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
Dublin, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "US Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Market (2022-2027) by Technology, Vehicle Type, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The US Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Market is estimated to be USD 134.14 Mn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 321.99 Mn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 19.14%.



Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the US Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals.



As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks.

Company Profiles

The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario.

Some of the companies covered in this report are Ballard Power Systems, Borgwarner, Cummins, Doosan Group, Hyster-Yale, Hyundai Group, Plug Power, Toshiba, Toyota Motor Corp, etc.



Competitive Quadrant

The report includes 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.



Ansoff Analysis

The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the US Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company.

The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the US Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle 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 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, 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.

Report Highlights:

A complete analysis of the market, including parent industry

Important market dynamics and trends

Market segmentation

Historical, current, and projected size of the market based on value and volume

Market shares and strategies of key players

Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the market

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Market Size, Segmentations and Outlook



4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Rise in Environmental Concern to Boost Market Growth

4.1.2 Technological Advancements in Hydrogen Fuel Cell

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 High Initial Investment in Infrastructure

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Increasing Government Initiative for Development of Hydrogen Fuel Cell

4.3.2 Rapid R&D to Propel the Adoption of Hydrogen Fuels

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Performance Constraints



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 US Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Market, By Technology

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

6.3 Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell

6.4 Others



7 US Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Market, By Vehicle Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Passenger Vehicle

7.3 Commercial Vehicle

8 Competitive Landscape

8.1 Competitive Quadrant

8.2 Market Share Analysis

8.3 Strategic Initiatives

8.3.1 M&A and Investments

8.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

8.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



9 Company Profiles

Ballard Power Systems

Borgwarner

Cummins

Doosan Group

Hyster-Yale

Hyundai Group

Plug Power

Toshiba

Toyota Motor Corp

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/x770rz

Attachment
Dublin, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Aerospace and Defense Telemetry Market by Platform (Ground, Airborne, Marine, Space, Weapons, UAVs), Technology (Wired and Wireless Telemetry), Component ( Receiver, Transmitter, Antenna, Processors), Application, Region - Forecast to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Aerospace and Defense Telemetry Market is estimated to be USD 1.4 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 2.0 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2022 to 2027.

Factors such as increase in airspace modernization programs, demand for high rate data transmission, and development of low-cost miniaturized telemetry systems are driving factors assisting the growth of the aerospace and defense telemetry market.



L3Harris Technologies (US), Airbus (Netherlands), General Dynamics (US), Honeywell International Inc (US), and Maxar Technologies (US) are among the leading players operating in the aerospace & defense telemetry platform market.

These players have spread their business across various countries includes North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. COVID-19 has affected the aerospace and defense telemetry market growth to some extent, and this varies from country to country.



UAVs: The fastest-growing segment of the aerospace and defense telemetry market, by the platform



Based on platform, the aerospace and defense telemetry market has been segmented into ground, airborne, marine, space, weapons, and UAVs. The UAVs segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



Wireless telemetry: The fastest-growing segment of the aerospace and defense telemetry market, by technology



The wireless telemetry segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR. The growth can be attributed due to the high rate of adoption of wireless telemetry due to the ease of usage and maintenance.



Receiver: The fastest-growing and leading segment of the aerospace and defense telemetry market, by component



The defense segment of the aerospace and defense telemetry market has been classified into different components. The growth of the component segment of the aerospace and defense telemetry market can be attributed to the increased use of various technologically advanced receivers for receiving the large set of data through signalsfrom several parts of the world across multiple platforms.



North America: The largest contributing region in the aerospace and defense telemetry market



The aerospace and defense telemetry market in the North American region has been studied for the US and Canada. North American countries are awarding a number of contracts to major players of the aerospace and defense telemetry market for the delivery of telemetry system, and components, thus driving the growth of the aerospace and defense telemetry market in the region.

Premium Insights

Increasing Demand for UAVs and Satellites Drives Market Growth

Ground Platform to Command Market from 2018 to 2027

Commercial Subsegment to Dominate Market from 2018 to 2027

Wireless Technology to Lead Market from 2018 to 2027

India Projected to be Fastest-Growing Market from 2022 to 2027

Industry Trends

Technology Trends

Multi-Material 3D Printing of Components

Miniaturization of Antennas

Development of Active Electronically Scanned Array (Aesa)

Optoelectronic Solutions

Military Analog to Digital Converters (Adc) in Telemetry Systems

Increasing Use of Open Architecture Software

Advanced Computer Operated Radio Frequency

Increase in Use of Software-Defined Radio

Technology Analysis

Use Case Analysis

Ultra-Rugged Inertial Measurement Units

Next-Generation Digital Cabin Pressure Control and Monitoring System for Aircraft

Impact of Megatrends

Development of Smart Antennas

Multi-Band, Multi-Mission (Mbmm) Antenna

Hybrid Beamforming Methods

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Increase in Airspace Modernization Programs

Increasing Demand for Military UAVs

Emergence of Modern Warfare Systems

Development of Compact Telemetry Systems for UAVs

Customized Satcom-On-The-Move Solutions for Unmanned Ground Vehicles

Increasing Defense Budget of Countries

Restraints

Long Product Certification Duration

High Development and Maintenance Cost of Infrastructure

Opportunities

Development of Low-Cost and Miniaturized Telemetry Systems

Demand for High Rate of Data Transmission

Challenges

Lack of Skilled Workforce

Electromagnetic Compatibility Challenges in Military Vehicles

System Requirement and Design Constraints

Trends/Disruption Impacting Customer Business

Revenue Shift and New Revenue Pockets for Aerospace & Defense Telemetry Manufacturers

Revenue Shift for Aerospace & Defense Telemetry Market Players

Aerospace & Defense Telemetry Market Ecosystem

Prominent Companies

Private and Small Enterprises

Market Ecosystem

Patent Analysis

Innovation & Patent Registration, 2013-2021



Company Profiles

Airbus

BAE Systems

Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions

Collins Aerospace

Curtiss-Wright Corporation

General Dynamics Corporation

Honeywell International Inc.

Jda Systems

Kongsberg

L3Harris Technologies

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Maxar Technologies

Norsat International Inc.

Rami

Rohde & Schwarz

Ruag International Holding Ltd.

Safran Group

Spectrum Antenna & Avionics Systems (P) Limited

Te Connectivity Ltd.

Tecom Industries, Inc

Thales Group

Ultra Electronics

Verdant Telemetry & Antenna Systems

Viasat Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1tau7c

Attachment
New York, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Nuclear Power Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06241305/?utm_source=GNW

Nuclear power operators around the world sustained reliable nuclear power plant (NPP) operation during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Factors such as the ability of nuclear energy to generate electricity with lower carbon emissions, as compared to that of fossil fuels has been driving the growth of market studied. Moreover, nuclear power generation is among one of the most reliable ways of generating electricity along with reduced carbon emission. Additionally, it provides long term certainty over electricity costs. However, the high initial cost of setting up of nuclear power plant along with the availability of alternative power generation sources such as renewable energy is likely to restrain the growth of the market during the forecast period.



Key Highlights

Energy segment has dominated the market in the past and is expected to do the same during the forecast period.

Nations across the world are researching and developing the generation IV nuclear energy technologies to promote to promote safety, technical, economical, and environmental advancements in Nuclear energy. This in turn, is likey to create several opportunities for the market in the future.

Asia Pacific is expected to witness significant growth in the nuclear power market during the forecast period, owing to the significnt share of nuclear energy majorly in China and India.



Key Market Trends



Energy Segmet Expected to Dominate the Market



Nuclear energy is the energy released from the nucleus or the core of an atom made up of protons and neutrons. Nuclear energy can be produced either in nuclear fission (when the nuclei of atoms split into several parts) or by fusion (when nuclei fuse together). In todays world, nuclear fission is used to produce electricity, while nuclear fusion technology to produce power is at the Research and Development (R&D) phase.?

The growing population and the economy, coupled with rapid urbanization globally, are expected to increase energy demand significantly in the coming years. The global primary energy demand in 2020 reached more than 556 exajoules witnessing a 10% compared to about 505 exajoules in 2010. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global energy needs are expected to rise by 26% by 2050. The global electricity demand is likely to almost double due to emerging and developing economies.?

As of October 2021, about 441 commercial nuclear power plants were operating across 32 countries. The United States accounts for the largest nuclear electricity generation capacity and generates more nuclear electricity than any other country. France, with the second-largest nuclear electricity generation capacity.?

Several countries have plans to invest in nuclear power plants in the coming years. For instance, in November 2021, China has announced that it is planning to build at least 150 new reactors in the next 15 years, which is more than the rest of the world has made in the last 35 years. The countrys move also comes when it has been experiencing power shortages and blackouts, leading to Beijings unprecedented decision. The cost of the new nuclear ambition of China has been estimated to be around USD 440 billion. Earlier, the China General Nuclear Power Corporation announced that it was looking, by 2035, to significantly expand its nuclear capacity.?

The Indian government is also committed to expanding its nuclear power capacity as part of its massive infrastructure development program. In December 2021, the department of the atomic energy minister in India announced plans to expand the current nuclear power capacity of 6.78 GW to about 22.480 GW by 2031. Additionally, the net-zero targets in India are likely to be met through a combination of various clean energy sources, including nuclear power, in the coming years.?

Further, in February 2022, France announced plans to develop six new nuclear power reactors, building a further eight, and push ahead with the development of small modular reactors to reduce the countrys energy demand while increasing its carbon-free energy capacity. Moreover, there are several other nuclear power plants globally in the construction or planning phase. Such significant nuclear plans and investment scenarios are likely to witness a substantial development of the nuclear power market in the coming years.?

Therefore, owing to the above points, the energy segment is expected to dominate the nuclear power market during the forecast period.



Asia-Pacific is Expected to Witness Significant Growth



In contrast to North America and Europe, where growth in nuclear electricity generating capacity has been limited for many years, several countries in the Asia-Pacific are planning and building new nuclear power plants to meet their increasing demand for clean electricity.?

As of 2021, China has the most extensive new-build program for nuclear energy globally. The strong project pipeline is expected to strengthen the outlook for the Chinese nuclear power market, which has previously suffered from regulatory headwinds stemming from the governments decision to suspend approvals for nuclear reactors until a re-examination of plans has been done been concluded after the 2011 Japanese Fukushima Disaster.?

China uses the most advanced technology and stringent standards for developing nuclear power plants and strictly manages the entire life cycle of nuclear power plants from design, construction, and operation to decommissioning. As of December 2021, China has around 52 nuclear power reactors in operation with a combined capacity of 49.77 GWe. The country generated around 366.2 TWh of electricity from nuclear power, representing 4.7% of the total electricity generation in the country, as of 2020.?

The Chinese nuclear sector is expected to continue to expand at a robust rate during the forecast period and beyond, with capacity increasing by a rate of 10.3% per year between 2018 and 2027, resulting in more than 95 GW of installed nuclear power capacity. This is in line with the aims of decarbonizing the countrys electricity generation and amassing nuclear expertise to export technology.?

The Indian government is dedicated to growing its nuclear power generation capacity to meet the increasing electricity demand in the country. According to the Indian government, the countrys nuclear capacity is expected to reach about 22.5 GWe by 2031. ?

As of December 2021, the country has 23 operable nuclear reactors with a combined capacity of 6.88 GWe, and seven reactors with a combined capacity of 5.19 GWe are under the construction stage.

South Korea currently generates about one-quarter of its electricity from nuclear power, with a mixture of imported coal and gas used to produce the balance. As of October 2021, the country has 24 operable nuclear reactors with a combined capacity of 23.15 GWe, four reactors with a combined capacity of 5.6 GWe, and two reactors with a combined capacity of 1.24 GWe under construction, planned, and proposed stages, respectively.?

Therefore, owing to the above points, Asia-Pacific is expeced to witness a significant market growth during the forecast period.



Competitive Landscape



The nuclear power market is moderately consolidated. The key players in this market include GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Inc., Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, KEPCO Engineering & Construction, SKODA JS a.s., China National Nuclear Corporation, and others.



Additional Benefits:



The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format

3 months of analyst support

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06241305/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
HARRISBURG, Pa., June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pennsylvania Options for Wellness, Inc. is pleased to announce the successful launch of Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) under its "Vytal Options" brand of products in its Pennsylvania-based dispensary locations.

The development of this product was announced after PA Options for Wellness/"Vytal Options" saw an increase in demand for a competitively priced RSO product. From patients as well as physicians, this concentrated product appears to be a top choice for those battling cancer, chronic pain and insomnia.

Packaged in an easy-to-read pouch, the back label features simple dosing and warming directions.

The full extract cannabis oil (FECO) is made from high-quality cured flower that undergoes an extraction process using food-grade ethanol to yield and preserve a full array of cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, phenols and other fatty acids. RSO is meant for oral consumption (eaten or used sublingually) or applied topically, as opposed to being inhaled like other concentrate forms.

PA Options for Wellness/"Vytal Options" RSO is poised to be an integral addition to the brand's curated in-house product lineup, offering high-level relief through a concentrated intake method at a competitive cost. With educational-backed marketing materials for patients, this product is well-positioned to serve a variety of patients in the Pennsylvania medical cannabis program. PA Options for Wellness/"Vytal Options" currently offers RSO in one-gram syringes.

The Company's current branded products include its Troche sublingual and exclusive strains in its flower catalog. In addition to product line expansion, PA Options for Wellness looks toward geographic growth, with two more dispensaries scheduled to open over the next three months.

About PA Options for Wellness

PA Options for Wellness was founded by Thomas A. Trite, PD, FASCP, in 2014 with the goal of creating a premier medical cannabis service model and being the leader in the emerging medical cannabis industry and cannabis research.

Headquartered in Harrisburg, PA Options for Wellness' mission is to become the preferred provider of medical cannabis to qualified, approved patients through high-quality products, and dignified, professional service. The company is focused on research, patient outcomes and quality of life.

PA Options for Wellness is proud to have been awarded one of the first Pennsylvania Clinical Registrant licenses in June 2019 in collaboration with the Penn State College of Medicine. PA Options for Wellness also has a 65,000-square-foot grow/process facility that includes lab space and is located in Duncannon, Perry County.

In addition, PA Options for Wellness is collaborating with Penn State University on research. Penn State's College of Medicine also has an affiliation with the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, both state-approved academic clinical research centers, along with PA Options for Wellness, a state-approved clinical registrant.

PA Options for Wellness will bring top-quality, innovative products to the medical market, meeting the demand of our patients while adhering to strict ethical standards. Providing therapeutic solutions, we focus on combining plant science and medicine to transform the lives of our patients.

Media Inquires:

Samantha A. Alderfer

Director of Marketing & Business Development

PA Options for Wellness

salderfer@paofw.com

717-999-7445

Related Images











Image 1









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

Attachment
Pune, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- "Final Report will add the analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on this industry."

Global Steel Processing Market Research Report 2022-2028 is a historical overview and in-depth study on the current & future market of the Steel Processing industry. The report represents a basic overview of the Steel Processing market share, competitor segment with a basic introduction of key vendors, top regions, product types, and end industries. This report gives a historical overview of the Steel Processing market trends, growth, revenue, capacity, cost structure, and key drivers analysis. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Steel Processing manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.

Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications, and manufacturing technology. Then, the report explores the international major industry players in detail. In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, and market shares for each company.

Get a Sample PDF of report - https://www.industryresearch.biz/enquiry/request-sample/20991945

Scope of the Steel Processing Market Report:

Steel industry is one of the essential industries for the development of any community. In fact, it is really the base for numerous industries that could not have been established without steel industry. The European industrial revolution at the beginning of this century was actually founded on this industry. There are three basic routes to obtain finished steel products: (1) integrated steel production, (2) secondary processing, and (3) direct reduction. Integrated steel production involves transforming coal to coke in coke ovens, while iron ore is sintered or belletized prior to being fed into the blast furnace (BF). The ore is reduced in the blast furnace to obtain hot metal containing some 4% carbon and smaller quantities of other alloying elements. Next the hot metal is converted to steel in the basic oxygen furnace (BOF). Then, it is continuously cast to obtain semi-finished products, such as blooms, bars or slabs. These semi-finished products are rolled to the finished shapes of bars, sheet, rail, H or I beams.

The secondary processing, often called minimills, starts with steel scrap which is melted in an electrical arc furnace (EAF). The molten steel produced is possibly treated in a ladle furnace and then continuously cast and finished in a rolling operation. Originally, minimills provided only lower grade products, especially reinforcing bars. But, they recently have been able to capture a growing segment of the steel market. An alternative mode of steel production is the direct reduction method. In this method, production starts with high grade Iron ore pellets which are reduced with natural gas to sponge pellets. Then, the sponge iron pellets are fed into an electrical arc furnace. The resulting steel is continuously cast and rolled into a final shape.



Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global Steel Processing market size is estimated to be worth US$ 1391460 million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of US$ 1661480 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 3.0% during the review period.



The main global Steel Processing players include China Baowu, ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel, etc. The top three Steel Processing players account for approximately 12% of the total market. Asia is the largest consumer market for Steel Processing, accounting for about 70%, followed by Europe and NAFTZ. In terms of type, Alloy Steel is the largest segment, with a share about 55%. And in terms of application, the largest application is Construction, followed by Automotive.



TO UNDERSTAND HOW COVID-19 IMPACT IS COVERED IN THIS REPORT

The Major Players in the Steel Processing Market include: The research covers the current Steel Processing market size and its growth rates based on 5-year records with company outline of key players/manufacturers:

China Baowu

ArcelorMittal

Nippon Steel

Shagang Group

POSCO

HBIS

ANSTEEL

JFE Group

Shandong Steel

Tata Steel

On the basis of product type, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share, and growth rate of each type, primarily split into:

Carbon Steel

Alloy Steel

On the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share, and growth rate for each application, including:

Construction

Automotive

Transportation

Energy

Packaging

Tools and Machinery

Consumer Appliances

Metal Product

Others

Enquire before purchasing this report - https://www.industryresearch.biz/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/20991945

The Steel Processing Market competitive landscape provides details and data information by players. The report offers a comprehensive analysis and accurate statistics on revenue by the player for the period 2017-2022. It also offers detailed analysis supported by reliable statistics on revenue (global and regional level) by players for the period 2017-2022. Details included are company description, major business, company total revenue and the sales, revenue generated in Steel Processing business, the date to enter into the Steel Processing market, Steel Processing product introduction, recent developments, etc.

Some of the key questions answered in this report:

What is the global ( North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East & Africa ) sales value, production value, consumption value, import and export of Steel Processing?

) sales value, production value, consumption value, import and export of Steel Processing? Who are the global key manufacturers of the Steel Processing Industry? How is their operating situation (capacity, production, sales, price, cost, gross, and revenue)?

What are the Steel Processing market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the global Steel Processing Industry?

Which application/end-user or product type may seek incremental growth prospects? What is the market share of each type and application?

What focused approach and constraints are holding the Steel Processing market?

What are the different sales, marketing, and distribution channels in the global industry?

Years considered for this report:

Historical Years: 2017-2021

2017-2021 Base Year: 2021

2021 Estimated Year: 2022

2022 Steel Processing Market Forecast Period: 2022-2029

Get a Sample Copy of the Steel Processing Market Report 2022-2028

With tables and figures helping analyse worldwide Global Steel Processing market trends, this research provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.

Some Points from TOC:

1 Study Coverage

1.1 Steel Processing Product Introduction

1.2 Global Steel Processing Outlook 2017 VS 2022 VS 2028

1.2.1 Global Steel Processing Sales in US$ Million for the Year 2017-2028

1.2.2 Global Steel Processing Sales in Volume for the Year 2017-2028

1.3 United States Steel Processing Outlook 2017 VS 2022 VS 2028

1.4 Steel Processing Market Size, United States VS Global, 2017 VS 2022 VS 2028

1.4.1 The Market Share of United States Steel Processing in Global, 2017 VS 2022 VS 2028

1.4.2 The Growth Rate of Steel Processing Market Size, United States VS Global, 2017 VS 2022 VS 2028

1.5 Steel Processing Market Dynamics

1.5.1 Steel Processing Industry Trends

1.5.2 Steel Processing Market Drivers

1.5.3 Steel Processing Market Challenges

1.5.4 Steel Processing Market Restraints

1.6 Study Objectives

1.7 Years Considered

2 Market by Type

2.1 Steel Processing Market Segment by Type

2.2 Global Steel Processing Market Size by Type

2.2.1 Global Steel Processing Sales in Value, by Type (2017, 2022 & 2028)

2.2.2 Global Steel Processing Sales in Volume, by Type (2017, 2022 & 2028)

2.2.3 Global Steel Processing Average Selling Price (ASP) by Type (2017, 2022 & 2028)

3 Market by Application

3.1 Steel Processing Market Segment by Application

3.2 Global Steel Processing Market Size by Application

3.3 United States Steel Processing Market Size by Application

4 Global Steel Processing Competitor Landscape by Company

4.1 Global Steel Processing Market Size by Company

4.1.1 Top Global Steel Processing Manufacturers Ranked by Revenue (2021)

4.1.2 Global Steel Processing Revenue by Manufacturer (2017-2022)

4.1.3 Global Steel Processing Sales by Manufacturer (2017-2022)

4.1.4 Global Steel Processing Price by Manufacturer (2017-2022)

4.2 Global Steel Processing Concentration Ratio (CR)

4.2.1 Steel Processing Market Concentration Ratio (CR) (2017-2022)

4.2.2 Global Top 5 and Top 10 Largest Manufacturers of Steel Processing in 2021

4.2.3 Global Steel Processing Market Share by Company Type (Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3)

4.3 Global Steel Processing Manufacturing Base Distribution, Product Type

4.3.1 Global Steel Processing Manufacturers, Headquarters and Distribution of Producing Region

4.3.2 Manufacturers Steel Processing Product Type

4.3.3 Date of International Manufacturers Enter into Steel Processing Market

4.4 Manufacturers Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans

4.5 United States Steel Processing Market Size by Company

5 Global Steel Processing Market Size by Region

5.1 Global Steel Processing Market Size by Region: 2017 VS 2022 VS 2028

5.2 Global Steel Processing Market Size in Volume by Region (2017-2028)

5.2.1 Global Steel Processing Sales in Volume by Region: 2017-2022

5.2.2 Global Steel Processing Sales in Volume Forecast by Region (2023-2028)

5.3 Global Steel Processing Market Size in Value by Region (2017-2028)

5.3.1 Global Steel Processing Sales in Value by Region: 2017-2022

5.3.2 Global Steel Processing Sales in Value by Region: 2023-2028

6 Segment in Region Level & Country Level

6.1 North America

6.1.1 North America Steel Processing Market Size YoY Growth 2017-2028

6.1.2 North America Steel Processing Market Facts & Figures by Country (2017, 2022 & 2028)

6.1.3 United States

6.1.4 Canada

6.2 Asia-Pacific

6.2.1 Asia-Pacific Steel Processing Market Size YoY Growth 2017-2028

6.2.2 Asia-Pacific Steel Processing Market Facts & Figures by Region (2017, 2022 & 2028)

6.2.3 China

6.2.4 Japan

6.2.5 South Korea

6.2.6 India

6.2.7 Australia

6.2.8 China Taiwan

6.2.9 Indonesia

6.2.10 Thailand

6.2.11 Malaysia

6.3 Europe

6.3.1 Europe Steel Processing Market Size YoY Growth 2017-2028

6.3.2 Europe Steel Processing Market Facts & Figures by Country (2017, 2022 & 2028)

6.3.3 Germany

6.3.4 France

6.3.5 U.K.

6.3.6 Italy

6.3.7 Russia

6.4 Latin America

6.4.1 Latin America Steel Processing Market Size YoY Growth 2017-2028

6.4.2 Latin America Steel Processing Market Facts & Figures by Country (2017, 2022 & 2028)

6.4.3 Mexico

6.4.4 Brazil

6.4.5 Argentina

6.5 Middle East and Africa

6.5.1 Middle East and Africa Steel Processing Market Size YoY Growth 2017-2028

6.5.2 Middle East and Africa Steel Processing Market Facts & Figures by Country (2017, 2022 & 2028)

6.5.3 Turkey

6.5.4 Saudi Arabia

6.5.5 UAE

7 Company Profiles

8 Industry Chain and Sales Channels Analysis

8.1 Steel Processing Industry Chain Analysis

8.2 Steel Processing Key Raw Materials

8.2.1 Key Raw Materials

8.2.2 Steel Processing Distributors

8.3 Steel Processing Production Mode & Process

8.4 Steel Processing Sales and Marketing

8.4.1 Steel Processing Sales Channels

8.4.2 Steel Processing Distributors

8.5 Steel Processing Customers

9 Research Findings and Conclusion

10 Appendix

10.1 Research Methodology

10.1.1 Methodology/Research Approach

10.1.2 Data Source

10.2 Author Details

10.3 Disclaimer

Detailed TOC of Global Steel Processing Market @ https://www.industryresearch.biz/TOC/20991945

About Us:

Market is changing rapidly with the ongoing expansion of the industry. Advancement in technology has provided todays businesses with multifaceted advantages resulting in daily economic shifts. Thus, it is very important for a company to comprehend the patterns of market movements in order to strategize better. An efficient strategy offers the companies a head start in planning and an edge over the competitors. Industry Research is a credible source for gaining market reports that will provide you with the lead your business needs.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES



TORONTO, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Water Ways Technologies Inc. (TSXV: WWT) (FRA: WWT) ("Water Ways" or the "Company"), a global provider of Israeli-based agriculture technology, providing water irrigation solutions to agricultural producers, announces that it has received a new purchase order to install a 50 Hectares smart turnkey irrigation project of vegetables, mainly green peas, in Ethiopia. The project is expected to be delivered and installed during Q3 of 2022. The total value of the order is approximately C$400,000. The order is a repeat order from an existing Ethiopian client. The Company expects to recognize revenues from the project during Q3 of 2022.

Ohad Haber, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "I am pleased to receive a new order from Ethiopia. Due to the civil unrest in Ethiopia, there were many difficulties in conducting business in the region and I hope that with this order we are returning to normal course of business."





About Water Ways Technologies Inc.

WWT through its subsidiaries, is a global provider of Israeli-based agriculture technology, providing water irrigation solutions to agricultural producers. WWT competes in the global irrigation water systems market with a focus on developing solutions with commercial applications in the micro and precision irrigation segments of the overall market. At present, WWTs main revenue streams are derived from the following business units: (i) Projects Business Unit; and (ii) Component and Equipment Sales Unit. WWT is capitalizing on the opportunities presented by micro and smart irrigation, while also making a positive mark on society by making these technologies more widely available, especially in developing markets such as Africa and Latin America and developed markets such as China and Canada. WWTs irrigation projects include vineyards, Cotton fields, Apple and Orange orchards, Blueberry, Medical Cannabis growers, fresh produce cooling rooms and more, in over fifteen countries.

For more information, please contact: Ronnie Jaegermann

Director

T: +972-54-4202054

E: ronnie@waterwt.com Dor Sneh

CFO

T: +972-54-6512500

E: dor@irri-altal.com Dr. Eva Reuter

Investor Relations - Germany

+49 69 1532 5857

E: e.reuter@dr-reuter.eu

https://www.water-ways-technologies.com/

https://www.hg-wwt.com/

Twitter: @WaterWaysTechn1

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to Water Ways Technologies Inc. (Water Ways). All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect Water Ways' current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to Water Ways, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. Should any factor affect Water Ways in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, Water Ways does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and Water Ways undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. Water Ways' results and forward-looking information and calculations may be affected by fluctuations in exchange rates and its own share prices. All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c08648f9-3494-452a-8c4b-ccd982a6b502
CALGARY, Alberta, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carbeeza Inc. (formerly HIT Technologies Inc.) ("Carbeeza" or the "Company")(TSX.V:AUTO) is pleased to announce that Dr. Ibrahim Gedeon has been appointed to its board of directors (the "Board").



Dr. Ibrahim Gedeon has built a career in telecommunications by combining insight and skill as an applied scientist with a collaborative approach to leadership. As Chief Technology Officer for TELUS, a world leading communications technology company in Canada, he is responsible for innovation, technology development and strategy. Under Ibrahims leadership, the TELUS broadband network has been independently awarded as one of the best in the world. He is deeply passionate about advancing social capitalism and purpose, as well as diversity & inclusion. At TELUS, he acts as executive sponsor for a variety of Women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) events across the organization.

Ibrahim sits on the board for the Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada and also served on the boards of the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions and the Institute for Communication Technology Management. In addition to his industry leadership roles, Ibrahim is a Fellow of both the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and the Canadian Academy of Engineering, with recognition for significant contributions to the field of engineering. Ibrahim was recently named as one of Canada's Best Executives by the Globe & Mail's Report on Business Magazine (May 2022).

Ibrahim holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the American University of Beirut, a Masters in Electronics Engineering from Carleton University and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of British Columbia. He is passionate about supporting high-performing teams to innovate and move technology forward.

The Company would like to extend a warm welcome to Dr. Gedeon to the Board.

Carbeeza Inc.

Carbeeza is a Canadian-based software company whose platform is targeted to the automotive marketplace. It is the first application to harness the power of artificial intelligence to accurately predict the best financing scenario for consumers, all while keeping the consumer anonymous. Using state-of-the-art technology, Carbeeza brings the process of buying a car right to the phone, tailor-made for the consumer. Carbeeza is highly beneficial to both consumers and auto dealers.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF CARBEEZA INC.

Sandro Torrieri, Chief Executive Officer

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements"). By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the Company's control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, environmental risks, operational risks, competition from other industry participants, stock market volatility, and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although the Company believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, its forward-looking statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. Risks, uncertainties, material assumptions and other factors that could affect actual results are discussed in our public disclosure documents available at www.sedar.com. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

For further information please contact:
TORONTO, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This press release is being disseminated as required by securities legislation in connection with the filing of an early warning report regarding the common shares (Common Shares) of Buffalo Coal Corp. (the Issuer), held by Belvedere Resources DMCC (the Acquiror).



On June 14, 2022, the Acquiror purchased from Resource Capital Fund V L.P. (the Seller and together with the Acquiror, the Parties) 347,945,097 Common Shares in the capital of the Issuer. The Acquiror also assumed a US$27 million convertible loan (the Loan) pursuant to a convertible loan agreement between the Seller and the Issuer. The Loan with a maturity date of 30 June 2023 is optionally convertible by the Acquiror into Common Shares in the capital of the Issuer at the conversion rate of CA$ 0.0469 per common share. The purchase of the Common Shares and the Loan are collectively referred to as the Transaction in this release. The Transaction took place by private agreement between the Parties.

The Acquiror purchased the 347,945,097 Common Shares at a price of US$ 0.001552 per Common Share, for an aggregate purchase price of US$540,000 C$689,958) and acquired the Loan for US$2,000,000 (C$2,555,400). The total consideration paid in connection with the Transaction was US$2,540,000 (C$3,245,358) (in each case determined using the daily average exchange rate of the Bank of Canada, of 1.2777 at June 10, 2022).

Prior to the completion of the Transaction, the Acquiror did not own any Common Shares of the Issuer. After purchasing the Common Shares and the Loan in connection with the Transaction, the Acquiror owns 82.58 percent of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Issuer on a partially diluted basis. The number of common shares to be issued on conversion of the Loan would depend on the prospective exchange rate between US$ and C$. For illustrative purpose, 735.563 million common shares would be issued on conversion at the daily average exchange rate of the Bank of Canada, of 1.2777 on June 10, 2022, if the conversion had taken place on that date, and fully diluted ownership would be 92.88 percent, comprising of 1,083.51 million common shares in total.

The Acquiror has acquired the Common Shares and will acquire the Common Shares underlying the Loan, if converted on or before the date of maturity of 30 June 2023, for investment purposes with active management participation. The Acquiror may, depending on price, market conditions or other conditions or factors it considers relevant from time to time, increase or decrease its beneficial ownership, control or direction over Common Shares or other securities of the Issuer through market transactions, private agreements or otherwise.

The head office of the Company is located at:

GreyTown Road Industrial Area

Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, 3000

The Acquirors address is:

Unit No: 805, HDS Tower, Cluster F

Plot No: JLT-PH1-F2A

Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, UAE

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects the Acquirors current expectations regarding future events. Forward looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Acquirors control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward looking information. The Acquiror does not undertake any obligation to update such forward looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.

For further information or to obtain a copy of the report, please contact:

Alok Joshi

Director Finance, Belvedere Resources DMCC

+971 4580 8418
Vancouver, B.C., June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Metaspectral , a software company delivering the next generation of computer vision, has received funding as part of the smartEarth Canadian Space Agency initiative to build a method to systematically and methodically quantify the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) levels present at ground-elevation using hyperspectral data.



Metaspectral has created a hybrid on-premise and cloud-based software platform that is used in a variety of industries to identify materials and their characteristics that are otherwise invisible.

Reaching our climate goals will require access to the best available data on emissions levels. Our technology makes it possible to track and measure carbon emissions and carbon sequestration levels at Earths surface, said Metaspectral Co-founder and CTO, Migel Tissera. We achieve this by analyzing hyperspectral satellite imagery, which contains data from across the electromagnetic spectrum, making it possible to identify and quantify the gasses present.

Preliminary analysis of the data that is captured by satellites and processed using the platform has been shown to accurately measure global carbon emissions within a 3% margin of error.

Climate change is the most serious threat facing humanity, added Tissera. Many governments, including the Canadian government, have introduced pricing mechanisms for carbon emissions. This technology will make it possible to provide both the public and private sectors with the insights needed to adjust their environmental and climate change policies and plans, as well as reap the potential economic benefits of carbon credits.

Accurate, real-time data on GHG levels on the Earths surface has a multitude of potential applications including environmental monitoring (soils, forests, sea ice levels, and more), and can also help to measure emissions from oil and gas pipelines, leaks from deepwater drilling activity, and monitor for other hazards.

This project is being undertaken with the financial support of the Canadian Space Agency.

Metaspectral is currently hiring deep learning engineers and scientists, remote sensing scientists, and full-stack engineers. A full list of available positions is available at Metaspectral.com .

-##-

About Metaspectral

Metaspectral delivers the next generation of computer vision, capable of remotely identifying materials and determining their chemical composition, defects, and other properties otherwise invisible to conventional cameras. It achieves this by leveraging hyperspectral sensors and analyzing the data captured in real-time using artificial intelligence (AI), via its scalable, cloud-based platform. The software is already deployed in a range of industries including aerospace, defence, agriculture, manufacturing, and more. Learn more: https://metaspectral.com/

Media Contact:

Exvera Communications Inc.

Brittany Whitmore

Email: Brittany@Exvera.com
New York, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Preimplantation Genetics Diagnosis Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report By Test Type, By Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2022  2028" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06283456/?utm_source=GNW

In addition, PGD is doing tests on embryos to identify whether they are genetically defective. PGD is a non-invasive treatment that can be used instead of conventional post-conception diagnostic procedures. PGD is a technology used in IVF genetic testing that allows for a more thorough analysis of embryos than just their appearance. By completing embryo genetic testing, PGD considerably reduces the possibility of generating harmful embryos, which is a major driving force for the markets growth.



Preimplantation genetic testing is the process of genetically profiling embryos and, in certain cases, oocytes before fertilization to ensure a successful pregnancy. By detecting the presence of illness during the course of gestation, these tests assist couples who are at risk of inherited abnormalities in making the best decision about whether or not to terminate the pregnancy. These tests are also beneficial to women in IVF cycles who have had previous miscarriages or who had a previous pregnancy with genetic abnormalities.



Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), often known as embryo screening, is a branch of genetics that entails genetic testing of an embryo created by in vitro fertilization (IVF). PGD eliminates the possibility of selective pregnancy termination for couples who are at high risk of passing on major genetic, chromosomal, or inherited illnesses such as spinal muscular atrophy or cystic fibrosis.



The global Preimplantation Genetic Testing Market has grown rapidly as people with genetic disorders become more aware of the benefits of preimplantation genetic testing. Furthermore, during the forecast period, the rising rate of infertility is expected to propel the worldwide Preimplantation Genetic Testing Market forward.



COVID-19 Impact



The novel coronavirus has rapidly spread throughout multiple countries and regions, wreaking havoc on peoples lives and the community as a whole. It started as a human health issue and has since evolved into a major threat to global trade, economics, and finance. The COVID-19 pandemic raised the relevance of government healthcare facilities, resulting in an increase in global healthcare spending. Moreover, once the COVID-19 vaccine is brought into the market, COVID-19 instances are likely to decrease in the future. As a result, businesses that provide PGD have reopened. By the beginning of 2022, the market had recovered. To respond to urgent emergencies and build new working techniques post-pandemic, companies focus on protecting their employees, operations, and supply networks. Furthermore, the financial downturn caused by COVID-19 had a detrimental impact on the expansion of the preimplantation genetics diagnosis sector.



Market Growth Factors



Advanced Healthcare services and Increased awareness



The growing demand for better healthcare services and rising disposable money are creating opportunities for sophisticated diagnostic and treatment approaches to be developed. Because of the growing need to prevent physical deformities and health issues in newborns, early diagnostic approaches have gained significance in the healthcare sector during genetic IVF techniques and other artificial insemination operations. By evaluating genetic differences at the embryonic stage, preimplantation diagnostic testing can determine hereditary illnesses like cystic fibrosis, congenital hearing loss, and thalassemia. Furthermore, governments and non-profit organizations are working to raise awareness about the benefits of early genetic disease detection in order to improve the health of women and children.



A rise in the number of birth defects



Increased demand for preimplantation diagnostic and screening techniques is attributable to an increase in the occurrence of a single gene, mitochondrial, and other gene-related illnesses. According to the Florida Department of Health, nearly one out of every 28 babies in the state is diagnosed with a birth defect each year. For a successful pregnancy, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is used prior to IVF. PGD can be used in IVF cycles for women who have had many miscarriages or who have had a previous pregnancy with a chromosomal issue. PGD has the potential to aid couples at risk of inherited illnesses.



Market Restraining Factors



Ethical implications and the possibility of undetected diseases



Despite the various benefits of preimplantation genetic testing, there are some barriers to the growth of the industry. One of the major barriers is ethical acceptability and judicial controls by public bodies, which prevent the adoption rate of PGT services. Additionally, a few clinicians and researchers have questioned the efficacy of these techniques. Additionally, few people consider preimplantation genetic diagnosis to be morally objectionable because it involves the intentional development and killing of an abnormal human embryo. However, some organizations are advocating that people must be free of guilt when it comes to passing on the challenges of genetic illnesses to their offspring.



Test Type Outlook



Based on Test Type, the market is segmented into Aneuploidy, Chromosomal Abnormalities, X-linked diseases, Single Gene Disorders, HLA Typing, Gender selection, and Others. In 2021, the Aneuploidy segment garnered the maximum revenue share of the Preimplantation Genetics Diagnosis (PGD) Market. Preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy has been proposed as a technique to detect whole chromosomal aneuploidy prior to transfer, potentially increasing live birth rates and lowering early pregnancy failure rates. Preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy has been expanded to encompass evaluation of all chromosomes using techniques like array comparative genomic hybridization and next-generation sequencing.



Regional Outlook



Based on Regions, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, Middle East & Africa. In 2021, the North America emerged as the dominating region in the Preimplantation Genetics Diagnosis (PGD) Market by accounting for the largest revenue share. This is due to an increase in the number of people living in the country and an increase in the amount of money spent on healthcare. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, there are 489 fertility clinics in the United States that provide ART solutions as of 2019. States including Massachusetts, Columbia, and New Jersey has the greatest proportion of ART births. Furthermore, a growth in awareness of healthy embryos in poorer nations is likely to provide a business potential for preimplantation genetic diagnosis.



The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include Illumina, Inc., Invitae Corporation, Natera, Inc., Agilent Technologies, Inc., PerkinElmer, Inc., Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, Reproductive Genetic Innovations, PacGenomics, CeGaT GmbH, and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings.



Scope of the Study



Market Segments covered in the Report:



By Test Type



 Aneuploidy



 Chromosomal Abnormalities



 X-linked diseases



 Single Gene Disorders



 HLA Typing



 Gender selection



 Others



By Geography



 North America



o US



o Canada



o Mexico



o Rest of North America



 Europe



o Germany



o UK



o France



o Russia



o Spain



o Italy



o Rest of Europe



 Asia Pacific



o China



o Japan



o India



o South Korea



o Singapore



o Malaysia



o Rest of Asia Pacific



 LAMEA



o Brazil



o Argentina



o UAE



o Saudi Arabia



o South Africa



o Nigeria



o Rest of LAMEA



Companies Profiled



 Illumina, Inc.



 Invitae Corporation



 Natera, Inc.



 Agilent Technologies, Inc.



 PerkinElmer, Inc.



 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated



 Reproductive Genetic Innovations



 PacGenomics



 CeGaT GmbH



 Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings



Unique Offerings



 Exhaustive coverage



 Highest number of market tables and figures



 Subscription based model available



 Guaranteed best price



 Assured post sales research support with 10% customization free

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06283456/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
First post-pandemic analysis of loyalty for consumers and brands reveals opportunities for growth, risks for marketers who dont create connected experiences



Knowing customers = respecting time, sharing values, positive representative experience

TORONTO and NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Loyalty Report 2022 was released today and reveals shifting consumer priorities and risks for brands and marketers who dont stay connected to the emerging new normal expectations. The reportproduced by Bond, a leading global data-driven customer growth firm, in partnership with Visais in its 12th year. Over the years, the study has engaged with nearly a quarter million consumers across 34 countries on thousands of programs, clubs, subscriptions, etc. As the most comprehensive evergreen data set of its kind, this years report will include more than 39K consumers across 11 markets in North America and Europe, capturing over 750 brands spanning 15 industries.

After years of pandemic-level expectations, consumers across North America and Europe are increasingly clear they want to be seen, have their time valued, and they care about whom they choose to do business with. Discretionary spending is back on the rise and consumers are being purposeful about how they re-engage and what they now expect from brands.

Data from the report and Bonds companion annual Marketer Survey indicate that while brands and customers seem aligned on things like importance of customer service and exclusive access, theres a disconnect on the level of importance of recognizing customers and making them feel known.

Experiences that save customers time and make it easy for them remain very important factors, but showing that you know and understand a customer is the highest driver of loyalty to a program right now, said Sean Claessen, Chief Strategy Officer at Bond. Customers are signaling that when you show me you know me and recognize me, they will reward you with their loyalty, their advocacy, their retention, and their spend.

Employees and brand representatives have an increasingly valuable role in delivering on knowing me. Consumers say that reps who make me feel special and recognized and who proactively address my needs are, respectively, the top two and three drivers of loyalty to a program, right behind makes me feel valued and importantwhich tops the list.

The value brands can unlock from loyalty is nothing short of extraordinary, and modern data-driven experiences that consumers expect today are all about connecting with humanity, said Claessen. He added, Driving loyalty on both sides of the counter is the clearest pathway to gains in customer growth.

The report also confirms that when purpose is aligned to a customers values, it drives loyalty to their brand (more than an 8 lift in loyalty). Marketers, however, need to keep pace with the rapidly evolving consumer views on ESG and purpose-driven approaches: While prioritizes environmentally sustainable practices was the number two top driver of customer loyalty to a brand, only about 1/3 of marketers strongly agreed their brand is prioritizing this. Marketers are more likely to assume consumers prioritize charitable causes, and diversity and inclusion; however, its equity, supporting local businesses, and climate consciousness that we see consumers ranking higher as key drivers of their loyalty. But, ultimately, treating employees fairly is the number one driver from a consumer perspective.



The report covers brands who have invested in customer loyalty to drive their future growth and reveals the programs that are over-contributing or under-contributing to customer loyalty. The report further details that both membership enrollment (16.6) and active memberships (7.6) per person are holding steady. With the increase in new programs hitting the market over the past couple of years, and a finite share of engagement to compete for, its more critical than ever that brands focus on building experiences that drive loyalty amidst a growing sea of sameness.

To support the launch of this years study, Bond created a Pathways to Growth Guide that features report highlights as well as a series of deeper explorations on the insights and data in areas most closely linked to customer growth, including:

The Missing R in CRM (revisiting the role of relationships)

Values X Value: Woke Wave of ESG (doing well by doing good)

As well as future topics that include Loyalty: A Safe Harbor in a Cookie-less World (data depreciation and creating value for loyalty) and navigating the hype or help of NFTs, crypto, web 3.0, and more





The guide also features fast facts from the report as well as listings of top-ranked programs across key sectors, including Alaska Airlines, Marriott Bonvoy, Lego VIP, Kroger Plus, Sally Beauty Rewards, and Amazon Prime.



DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE HERE.

About Bond

Bond generates growth for clients by creating enduring relationships between people and brands based on intelligent connections and engaging experiences. Bond serves clients globally with customer experience and loyalty solutions that enable brands, customers, employees, partners, and the communities they serve, to experience the benefits of growth. Headquartered in Toronto, Bond is management-owned with more than 800 people and 9 offices across North America and Europe. For more information, visit bondbl.com, follow Bond on LinkedIn and Twitter, or connect by phone at 1-844-277-2663.

For more information, please contact:

Richard Lane

Bond Brand Loyalty

416-844-9658

pr@bondbl.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2336b4f0-4f6c-499e-9c12-602ae8c9219a
New York, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Dry-Type Transformer Market Research Report by Type, Phase, Voltage, Cooling Method, Application, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06258859/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Dry-Type Transformer Market size was estimated at USD 5,781.85 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 6,162.71 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 6.76% to reach USD 8,562.90 million by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Dry-Type Transformer to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Type, the market was studied across Cast Resin, Open Wound, Vacuum Pressure Encapsulated, and Vacuum Pressure Impregnated.



Based on Phase, the market was studied across Single-Phase and Three-Phase.



Based on Voltage, the market was studied across Low Voltage and Medium Voltage.



Based on Cooling Method, the market was studied across Air Blast and Air Natural.



Based on Application, the market was studied across Commercial and Industrial.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.



This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Dry-Type Transformer market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Dry-Type Transformer Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Dry-Type Transformer Market, including ABB Ltd., Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Crompton Greaves Ltd., Eaton Corporation, General Electric, Hammond Power Solutions Inc., Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd, Jinpan International Ltd., Kirloskar Electric Company Ltd., Schneider Electric SE, Siemens AG, Tbea Transformer Industrial Group, Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation, Virginia Transformer Corp., and Voltamp Transformers Ltd..



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Dry-Type Transformer Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Dry-Type Transformer Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Dry-Type Transformer Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Dry-Type Transformer Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Dry-Type Transformer Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Dry-Type Transformer Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Dry-Type Transformer Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06258859/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
AT-01 is the first pan-amyloid imaging agent capable of detecting diverse types of systemic amyloidosis

AT-01 visualizes and quantifies organ-specific changes in amyloid load over time

AT-01 detected patients with diverse types of systemic amyloidosis, by PET/CT imaging, with high sensitivity, notably in the heart



SAN FRANCISCO, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Attralus, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing transformative medicines to improve the lives of patients with systemic amyloidosis, today announced encouraging new clinical data from the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine from its Phase 1/2 trial of AT-01 (Iodine I-124 evuzamitide), the companys pan-amyloid binding peptide in development as a radiotracer for the diagnosis of multiple types of systemic amyloidosis. These data were included in oral and poster presentations at the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) Annual Meeting taking place June 11-14, 2022, in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

The Phase 1/2 trial evaluated the ability of AT-01 to detect amyloid deposits by PET/CT imaging in patients with diverse types of systemic amyloidosis. The study enrolled a total of 57 subjects, 50 of which had systemic amyloidosis, two of which were asymptomatic ATTR carriers, and five of which were healthy volunteers. All patients received an IV infusion of <2 mg of AT-01 (2 mCi), and images were acquired at 5 hours post injection using a Biograph PET/CT with a low dose CT.

AT-01 in PET/CT imaging of patients with systemic amyloidosis has the potential to become an essential tool not only to accelerate and streamline diagnosis, but also to provide a comprehensive assessment of disease burden and a means to monitor disease progression, said Gregory Bell, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Attralus. Today the diagnosis of amyloidosis is a long, complex process, and many patients with systemic amyloidosis remain undiagnosed. AT-01 has the potential to be the first and only non-invasive, pan-amyloid, whole body imaging diagnostic designed to detect all types of systemic amyloidosis across key organs.

AT-01 Final Results Summary

AT-01 uptake was detected in 96% of patients with diverse forms of amyloidosis (ATTR, AL, AA, ALECT2), by PET/CT imaging, with high sensitivity, notably in the heart.

The positive percent agreement (PPA) between clinical evaluation and AT-01 uptake in heart and kidneys was 96.2% (95% CI: 80.4, 99.9; n = 26) and 78.6% (95% CI: 49.2, 95.3; n = 14).

The negative percent agreement (NPA) assessed in healthy subjects, for the heart and kidneys was 100% and 80%, respectively (n = 5).

The Spearman rank-order correlation between cardiac standard uptake value ratio (SUVR) and NTproBNP in subjects with AL amyloidosis was 0.50 (p = 0.0209).

AT-01 Repeat Imaging Results Summary

Organ-specific regression of amyloid deposits was visualized using AT-01, occurring with corresponding improvement in serum free light chains and in serum biomarkers of organ function.

The PET/CT images indicated amyloid uptake of the radiotracer in the heart, spleen, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and bone marrow.

Quantitative analysis of PET/CT images by manual 2D and fully automated 3D methods correlated significantly (r P < 0.98; p < 0.02).

< 0.98; p < 0.02). Changes in hepatic, splenic, renal, and cardiac uptake were -22.6%, -53.2%. +13.1%, +18.2% for the manual method, and -25.5%, -56.3%, +12.9%, +19.6% for the automated method.

Concurrently, serum free light chain levels and serum alkaline phosphatase decreased from 38 mg/dL to 23 mg/dL and ~200 IU/mL to ~120 IU/mL, respectively.

Reduction in hepatosplenic amyloid in response to standard of care treatment may occur in the context of stable or increasing amyloid deposition in the heart and kidneys.

Systemic amyloidosis is a multi-organ disorder with variable presentation rendering rapid and accurate diagnosis challenging, said Jonathan Wall, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine. AT-01 offers the potential to diagnose and quantify amyloid burden, as well as monitor the disease over time.

Oral Presentation Details Abstract Title: Final Results of The First-In-Human Study of The Amyloid-Reactive Peptide 124I-p5+14, (Iodine[124I] Evuzamitide; AT-01) For the Detection of Systemic Amyloidosis Presenter: Jonathan Wall, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Director of the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicines Amyloidosis and Cancer Theranostics Program Session: Integrated Session 9: Cardiac Amyloidosis: Advances in Imaging and clinical applications Date/Time: June 14, 2022, 8:45 a.m.  9:00 a.m. PDT Poster Presentation Details Abstract Title: Repeat PET/CT Imaging of a Patient with Systemic Amyloidosis Using iodine (124I) evuzamitide (124I-p5+14) Identifies Organ-Specific Amyloid Regression Presenter: Emily Martin, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine Session: Meet-the-Author Poster Hall Reception Date/Time: June 13, 2022, 5:45 p.m.  7:00 p.m. PDT

For additional information, please visit the SNMMI Annual Meeting website .

About AT-01 Pan-Amyloid Diagnostic

AT-01 (I-124 Evuzamitide) utilizes the companys pan-amyloid binding peptide as an amyloid-specific radiotracer to image all types of systemic amyloidosis by PET/CT imaging. In initial clinical trials, AT-01 has been shown to detect multiple types of amyloid deposits, including AL and ATTR, in major organs such as the heart, kidney, liver and spleen. Attralus obtained exclusive rights to commercialize AT-01 under a commercial license agreement with the University of Tennessee Research Foundation. The same PAR-peptide technology is utilized in AT-02 and AT-04, two of the companys therapeutic candidates.

About Systemic Amyloidosis

Systemic amyloidosis encompasses a diverse group of rare diseases that occur due to accumulation of toxic amyloid deposits in tissues and organs, a consequence of aberrant protein misfolding events. These diseases are progressive, debilitating and often fatal. Systemic amyloidosis is significantly underdiagnosed due to low awareness, lack of specific symptoms, and no current disease-specific diagnostics. The two most common forms of systemic amyloidosis are immunoglobulin light-chain-associated (AL) amyloidosis and transthyretin-associated amyloidosis (ATTR). There is a significant unmet need for new therapies and diagnostics in systemic amyloidosis.

About Attralus

Attralus is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating transformative medicines to improve the lives of patients with systemic amyloidosis. The companys proprietary pan-amyloid removal (PAR) therapeutics are designed to directly bind to and remove toxic amyloid in organs and tissues. By targeting the universal disease-causing pathology in systemic amyloidosis diseases, PAR therapeutics have the potential to treat and reverse disease in patients with all types and stages of systemic amyloidosis. Attralus was founded by scientific experts in the field of amyloidosis and the company is headquartered in San Francisco.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements related to the efficacy, continued development, and potential of AT-01. Words such as developing, first and only, potential, shown and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Attralus' current expectations. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Attralus' actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties. Attralus expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Attralus' expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Contact:

Luke Heagle

Real Chemistry

(910) 619-5764

lheagle@realchemistry.com
PORTLAND, Maine, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intersolar North America (ISNA) and Energy Storage North America (ESNA), the industrys premier solar + storage event, is now accepting abstracts for presentation opportunities at the co-located conference to be held February 14-16, 2023 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California.



Our mission is to accelerate the energy transitionand the education provided by our event fosters new opportunities for problem-solving, collaboration, and progress toward that mission, said Wes Doane, Event Director, Intersolar North America and Energy Storage North America. We are committed to delivering actionable information attendees can immediately apply to their work as well as forward-looking insights into market opportunities and new policies to deepen strategic and competitive positioning.

Featuring approximately 24 sessions, the #isnaesna23 conference program will examine the latest developments driving markets and technologies in solar, storage and EV infrastructure across utility, commercial and industrial, and residential sectors. Presentation formats include keynote addresses, individual and multiple presenter sessions, and panel discussions.

Through the Call for Abstracts , Intersolar North America and Energy Storage North America seek to showcase a diverse range of voices, experience, and expertise. In addition to being positioned as an industry thought leader, 2023 speakers will receive a complimentary registration pass, exclusive networking opportunities, and exposure across the events digital channels and marketing initiatives.

Apply to Present in 2023

Industry experts, practitioners, developers, investors, and thought leaders are invited to submit an abstract here before submissions close on July 31, 2022. All proposals will be reviewed by an advisory board; speakers will be notified of acceptance status by the end of September.



About Intersolar North America and Energy Storage North America

Intersolar North America and Energy Storage North America is the premier US-based conference and trade show focused on solar, energy storage, and EV charging infrastructure. Dedicated to accelerating the energy transition, the combined event delivers actionable education, invaluable networking, and an immersive exhibit hall experiencewhich includes the popular Solar Games installer competition.

Join 6,000+ energy leaders and 300+ exhibitors February 14-16, 2023 in Long Beach, CA to help shape the next phase of our clean energy transformation. Learn more online at intersolar.us and esnaexpo.com .

About Diversified Communications

Diversified Communications is a leading international media company with a portfolio of face-to-face exhibitions and conferences, online communities, and digital and print publications. As producers of these market-leading products, Diversified Communications connects, educates, and strengthens business communities in over 15 industries including: renewable energy, healthcare, natural and organic, food and beverage, and technology. Established in 1949 and headquartered in Portland, Maine, USA, with divisions and offices around the world, Diversified Communications remains a privately held, third-generation, family-owned business. For more information, visit: https://www.divcom.com .
LONDON, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The spirits market in the Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 6% during the forecast period. Specialty spirits was the largest category in the region in 2021. Based on the relative performance of countries/territories on multiple metrics, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan were shortlisted as high potential countries due to their large spirits market sizes, projected high-value growth rates, and projected rising per capita value growth levels. In 2021, on-premise was the largest distribution channel in the APAC spirits market while glass was the most used pack material.



The Asia-Pacific Spirits Market Research Report offered by GlobalData Plc provides a comprehensive overview of the Asia Pacific spirits sector including market overview, high-growth country analysis, top companies, key distribution channels, packaging formats, and case studies.

For more insights on this report, download a free report sample

High Potential Countries in the Asia Pacific Spirits Market

New Zealand

Australia

Hong Kong

Japan

Japan was the largest market in terms of value sales in 2021. During the forecast period, Australia will contribute the most to the growth of the liqueurs category, and Hong Kong is projected to record the fastest value and volume CAGRs.

Asia Pacific Spirits Market Segmentation by Category

Whiskey

Flavored alcoholic beverages

Liqueurs

Vodka

Rum

Brandy

Tequila and mezcal

Gin and genever

Specialty spirits

Non-alcoholic spirits drinks

Asia Pacific Spirits Market Analysis by Categories

For more category insights, download a free report sample

Asia Pacific Spirits Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel

On-premise

Off-premise Hypermarkets and supermarkets Food and drinks specialists Convenience stores E-retailers Others





Asia Pacific Spirits Market Analysis by Distribution Channels

For more distribution channels insights, download a free report sample

Asia Pacific Spirits Market Segmentation by Packaging Material

Glass

Rigid metal

Paper and board

Rigid plastics

Asia Pacific Spirits Market Analysis by Packaging Materials

For more packaging material insights, download a free report sample



Leading Spirits Companies in the Asia Pacific

Suntory Holdings Ltd

Hite Jinro Co., Ltd.

Diageo Plc

Thai Beverage PLC

Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., Ltd.



Asia Pacific Spirits Market Analysis by Leading Companies

To know more about leading spirits companies, download a free report sample

Asia Pacific Spirits Market Overview

Market Size 2021 $446.87 billion CAGR >6% Forecast Period 2021-2026 Key Categories Whiskey, Flavored Alcoholic Beverages, Liqueurs, Vodka, Rum, Brandy, Tequila and Mezcal, Gin and Genever, Specialty Spirits, and Non-alcoholic Spirits Drinks Key Distribution Channels On-premise and Off-premise Key Packaging Materials Glass, Rigid Metal, Paper and Board, Rigid Plastics Leading Companies Suntory Holdings Ltd, Hite Jinro Co., Ltd., Diageo Plc, Thai Beverage PLC, and Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., Ltd

Asia Pacific Spirits Market Report Scope

Sector size, market size, and growth analysis by category.

Changing share of value consumption in the spirits categories across high-potential countries in the Asia-Pacific region. It also provides Risk-Reward analysis of four countries across the Asia-Pacific region based on market assessment, economic development, sociodemographic trends, governance indicators, and technological infrastructure.

Overview, demographic analysis, and key trends across high-potential countries.

Some of the most compelling spirits manufacturers, brands, products, and marketing campaigns in the Asia-Pacific region. It also provides a better understanding of how a certain manufacturer achieved success in the sector and insights.

Overview of leading companies in the Asia-Pacific region in 2020 besides analyzing the growth of private label in the region.

Analysis on the leading distribution channels in the Asia Pacific Spirits sector in 2021. It covers hypermarkets & supermarkets, health & beauty stores, para pharmacies/drugstores, chemists/pharmacies, e-retailers, department stores, direct sellers, convenience stores, dollar stores, variety stores & general merchandise retailers, cash & carries & warehouse clubs, and other retailers.

Percentage share and growth analysis for various pack materials, pack types, closure types, and primary outer types based on the volume sales (by pack units) of spirits.

The challenges and future outlook pertaining to the Asia Pacific Spirits sector.

Reasons to Buy

This report has been created to provide its readers with up-to-date information and analysis to uncover emerging opportunities of growth within the sector in the region.

The report provides a detailed analysis of the countries in the region, covering the key challenges, competitive landscape, and demographic analysis, that can help companies gain insight into the country-specific nuances.

The analysts have also placed a significant emphasis on the key trends that drive consumer choice and the future opportunities that can be explored in the region, that can help companies in revenue expansion.

To gain competitive intelligence about leading brands in the sector in the region with information about their market share and growth rates.

FAQs

What was the Asia Pacific spirits market size in 2021?

The spirits market size in APAC was valued at $446.87 billion in 2021.

What is the Asia Pacific spirits market growth rate?

The spirits market in APAC is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 6% during the forecast period.

What are the key categories in the Asia Pacific spirits market?

The key categories in the APAC spirits market are whiskey, flavored alcoholic beverages, liqueurs, vodka, rum, brandy, tequila and mezcal, gin and genever, specialty spirits, and non-alcoholic spirits drinks.

What are the key distribution channels in the Asia Pacific spirits market?

The key distribution channels in the APAC spirits market are on-premise and off-premise.

What are the key packaging materials in the Asia Pacific spirits market?

The key packaging materials in the APAC spirits market are glass, rigid metal, paper and board, and rigid plastics.

Which are the leading companies in the Asia Pacific spirits market?

The leading spirits companies in APAC are Suntory Holdings Ltd, Hite Jinro Co., Ltd., Diageo Plc, Thai Beverage PLC, and Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., Ltd.

Related Reports

Opportunities in the Eastern Europe Spirits Sector  Click h e re

Opportunities in the Global Spirits Sector  Click h ere

Opportunities in the Americas Spirits Sector  Click here

Opportunities in the Western European Spirits Sector  Click here

Brazil Rum (Spirits) Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics to 2025  Click here





About us

GlobalData is a leading provider of data, analytics, and insights on the world's largest industries. In an increasingly fast-moving, complex, and uncertain world, it has never been harder for organizations and decision makers to predict and navigate the future. This is why GlobalData's mission is to help our clients to decode the future and profit from faster, more informed decisions. As a leading information services company, thousands of clients rely on GlobalData for trusted, timely, and actionable intelligence. Our solutions are designed to provide a daily edge to professionals within corporations, financial institutions, professional services, and government agencies.

Media Contacts

GlobalData

Mark Jephcott

Head of PR EMEA

mark.jephcott@globaldata.com

cc: pr@globaldata.com

+44 (0)207 936 6400
English French

MONTREAL, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Navigating the health care system can be overwhelming. An innovative app improving the patient experience at the MUHC is expanding thanks to a $1 million gift from CIBC to the MUHC Foundation. Created by the Opal Health Informatics Group - a passionate group of patients, clinicians, researchers, and students at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), the Opal app provides patients access to their hospital appointments, laboratory test results, some clinical notes written by their doctors, and educational material about their illness and treatments. The result is a more empowered experience for patientswith their health information at their fingertips, they feel in control of their journey.



It is deeply satisfying for our healthcare professionals at the McGill University Health Centre to co-create projects with patients that improve the patient experience. Opal is a product of this vital collaboration and I look forward to seeing it evolve.

 Dr. Pierre Gfeller, President and Executive Director, MUHC

Opal was created when the late Laurie Hendren, a Professor of Computer Science at McGill University and breast cancer patient, teamed up with her radiation oncologist, Dr. Tarek Hijal, and with medical physicist and cancer researcher Dr. John Kildea to empower patients during their care and improve their experience. Currently, Opal is used by cancer patients at the MUHC, as well as by patients with inflammatory bowel disease and HIV, and the parents of children with kidney disease.

Laurie was the driving force behind the app. She understood how difficult it can be to keep track of dozens of appointments and the need for patients to access their own personal health information while dealing with the stress of a cancer diagnosis.

 Dr. Tarek Hijal, Chief of Radiation Oncology at the MUHC, Clinical Lead of the Quebec SmartCare Consortium and Opal Co-Creator

With CIBCs support, Opal will be expanded to enhance patient care and research as the centrepiece of an innovative new project known as the Quebec SmartCare Consortium (quebecsmartcare.com). As the project progresses, participating physicians will be able to monitor their patients between appointments using wearable devices that track vital signs. Remote monitoring will provide physicians a steady stream of data to help them better understand each patients condition. It will also provide patients the reassurance that anomalies in their health will be noticed by their health care team and addressed quickly.

The incredible team at McGill University Health Centre continuously helps improve the functioning of our healthcare systems through the implementation of innovative tools like Opal, said Rosa Trunzo, Vice President and Region Head, Quebec at CIBC. On behalf of CIBC, were proud to support their ambition to provide exceptional and integrated patient-centric care for those living with cancer, as we collectively work towards a future where no one has to fear a cancer diagnosis.

Opal is also a powerful tool for research. Patients will be able to share their anonymized data with scientists to enable studies that will ultimately improve patient care.

Opal not only helps patients feel in control of their health care journey, it creates an immense opportunity to work with patients to collect real-world data to improve our understanding of treatments, monitor and minimize side effects, identify gaps in care, develop new treatment options and much more.

 Dr. John Kildea, Cancer Researcher at the RI-MUHC, Principal Investigator of the Quebec SmartCare Consortium and Opal Co-Creator

As Opals capabilities grow, thanks to the investments of the public and private partners who are participating in the Quebec SmartCare Consortium as well as funding from the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, its creators are expanding the reach of the app within the MUHC and, for the first time, to another Quebec hospital. In the same way that technology has changed so many aspects of our lives, Opal will change how we navigate the healthcare system.

The MUHC Foundation is grateful to CIBC for its generous gift to support Opal. Receiving a life-changing diagnosis is always difficult, and anything that can help alleviate the stress of treatment makes a huge difference for patients. With CIBCs help, Opal will become a key resource for patients and physicians across the MUHC

 Suzanne Legge Orr, Dream Big Campaign Co-Chair, MUHC Foundation

To enable Opal to reach this milestone expansion, the MUHC Foundation is raising another $500,000. Please help us reach this goal: https://muhcf.akaraisin.com/ui/opal

About the McGill University Health Centre Foundation

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Foundation raises funds to support excellence in patient care, research and teaching at the McGill University Health Centre, one of the top university hospitals in Canada. Our Dream Big Campaign to change the course of lives and medicine is raising millions of dollars to solve humanitys deadliest puzzles: infectious diseases; end cancer as a life-threatening illness; fix broken hearts through innovative cardiac care; detect the silent killersovarian and endometrial cancersearly; create the best skilled health care teams in Canada; and much more. We are rallying our entire community to solve the worlds most complex health care challenges. www.muhcfoundation.com

About the RI-MUHC

The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) is a world-renowned biomedical and healthcare research centre. The institute, which is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University, is the research arm of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)  an academic health centre located in Montreal, Canada, that has a mandate to focus on complex care within its community. The RI-MUHC supports over 450 researchers and around 1,200 research trainees devoted to a broad spectrum of fundamental, clinical and health outcomes research at the Glen and the Montreal General Hospital sites of the MUHC. Its research facilities offer a dynamic multidisciplinary environment that fosters collaboration and leverages discovery aimed at improving the health of individual patients across their lifespan. The RI-MUHC is supported in part by the Fonds de recherche du Quebec  Sante (FRQS). www.rimuhc.ca

About CIBC

CIBC is a leading North American financial institution with 11 million personal banking, business, public sector and institutional clients. Through corporate donations, community partnerships and the genuinely caring culture of Team CIBC, we are committed to helping people and our communities make their ambitions a reality. Learn more about our community impact. Ongoing news releases and more information about CIBC can be found at https://www.cibc.com/en/about-cibc/media-centre.html.

About the Quebec SmartCare Consortium

The Quebec SmartCare Consortium is an innovative three-year project led by the Opal Health Informatics Group at the RI-MUHC that is bringing together a group of key public and private healthcare organizations in Quebec that are working on digital health solutions. It aims to demonstrate the power of SmartCare, which it defines as the use of patient-centered data and mobile health technologies to drive remote monitoring and artificial intelligence research in healthcare. The consortium is made possible thanks to generous funding from the Health Collaborations Accelerator Fund of the Quebec Ministry of Economy and Innovation and private partners Roche, Novartis, the McGill University Health Centre Foundation and the Cedars Cancer Foundation. Quebec companies VitalTracer, iMD Research, My Intelligent Machines and Imagia are contributing their technologies and expertise, in collaboration with MUHC patients and partners at McGill University, CHU Ste-Justine, Universite de Montreal, Phyla Inc. and Mila. www.quebecsmartcare.com

Contacts:

Tarah Schwartz

Director, Communications and Marketing

McGill University Health Centre Foundation

tarah.schwartz@muhc.mcgill.ca

Kelly Albert

Senior Communications Officer

McGill University Health Centre Foundation

kelly.albert@muhc.mcgill.ca

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d89808e1-3344-4de9-a557-70039b791060
TROY, Michigan, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North American Bancard, LLC, (NAB) a U.S.-based leader in electronic payment solutions, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a Sustainability Certificate by Switch, the recognized world leader in sustainable data center design, development, and mission-critical operations.

NAB is awarded the Sustainability Certificate for using 100% renewable energy within the Switch ecosystem. The certificate demonstrates that Switch retired 301 Energy Credits in 2021 on behalf of NAB in just 2021 alone, making their energy consumption 100% green at Switchs data center facilities.

These renewable energy credits comply with Greenpeaces principles of locality, additionality, and sustainability, and were generated by Nevada solar farms.

Were fully committed to the sustainability of our planet, said Andy Bolin, chief information officer at North American Bancard. Thats why we long ago introduced green-friendly initiatives like digital receipts and paperless statements. For the past few years we have taken that commitment to a whole new level with Switch data centers that officially run on 100% renewable energy.

Since January, 2016, all Switch data centers have run on 100% renewable energy. The company had 2021 goals of net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions, which the company achieved. For 2022, the company aims to maintain those net zero numbers as the business grows its portfolio.

In a letter to the public by Rob Roy, Chairman, CEO, and Founder of Switch, introducing the companys annual Environmental Social and Governance Report, Roy said: My vision for Switch, with the Boards full support, is to sustainably power the future of the connected world by providing the most secure, energy-efficient technology ecosystems to facilitate digital commerce and to do our part to enhance human productivity and drive economic prosperity. I believe that Data runs the Planet, but it should not ruin the planet.

About North American Bancard

North American Bancard is re-imagining the payment experience. As a leading payment technology innovator, NAB has a diversified product platform that provides a modern end-to-end infrastructure to enable globally-preferred payment types. NAB's superior solutions deliver seamless payments experiences in mobile, e-commerce, and in-store environments. Serving hundreds of thousands of businesses and with over $100 billion per year in electronic transaction volume, NAB delivers functional, feature-rich and frictionless solutions for the evolving merchant economy. For more information, please visit www.northamericanbancard.com.

About Switch

Switch, Inc., is the independent leader in exascale data center ecosystems, edge data center designs, industry-leading telecommunications solutions, and next-generation technology innovation. Switch Founder and CEO Rob Roy has developed more than 500 issued and pending patent claims covering data center designs that have manifested into the companys world-renowned data centers and technology solutions. Visit switch.com for more information.
Toronto, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Since 1963, the Primucci surname has been synonymous with pizza. Today, the entrepreneurial pizzamakers were recognized for close to a quarter-century of support for Variety the Childrens Charity of Ontario with the reveal of its newly renovated Primucci Pavilion, the main lobby to the landmark facility located at the intersection of Danforth Ave and Kingston Road. Part of the renovation includes a 22-foot-wide by 10-foot-high mural depicting children at play against the Toronto skyline with the words, Share the love.

Pizza Nova has been a deeply cherished partner since 1999, says Karen Stintz, president of Variety. We are delighted to honour them in this way. Their contributions have helped us to lovingly serve thousands of children and their families over the years. We could not be more thankful for their relentless and inspiring support.

Over the course of a 23-year partnership, Pizza Nova has raised more than $2 million for Variety with the support of its customers, franchisees and staff. This years contribution was announced today at the reveal  an amount of $203,902 raised from the companys 2022 Thats Amore Pizza for Kids campaign.

We are blessed to be a part of this community and to be able to give back, said Domenic Primucci, president of Pizza Nova. The Primucci Pavilion captures an important element of the drive that has motivated us since day 1 helping children, no matter their circumstances, to enjoy access to good, wholesome fun and activities. We made our first donation to Variety in 1999 and have never looked back. Were excited about whats to come and thank the board, the leadership and the staff and volunteers at Variety for all they do for the children. They truly make the world a better place.

Variety announced the new name of their pavilion last June and has since completed its renovation of the space. Part of the renovations included the impressive mural, created by Ontario artist Nicole Lalonde.

Sam Primucci, who founded Pizza Nova was in attendance with his wife, Gemma, sons Domenic and Mike, and daughters-in-law Anna and Lori. The family, beaming with passion and pride, committed to maintaining their resolve to make a difference in the lives of the children.

Were honoured by this new pavilion and beautiful mural, said Sam Primucci. But, truly, were here and have always come here to honour the people who work at Variety. We are privileged to be associated with each one of them. We look forward to continuing this partnership for years to come.

Through its programs, Variety helps enrich the lives of thousands of children living with physical and mental disabilities by providing an accessible facility at Variety Village, specialized programs, dedicated staff, and a community in which everyone is equal and welcome.

The difference the Primucci family has made in the lives of children is difficult to quantify, said Stintz. Theyve provided chances when they seemed scarce, and optimism on difficult days. The kids will remember these opportunities for their whole lives, and so will we.

About Variety the Childrens Charity Ontario

For 73 years Variety- The Children's Charity of Ontario has made a significant impact on the lives of children and youth with disabilities and their families in the greater Toronto area at Variety Village and throughout the province. Varietys specialized programs and services have supported its promise to improve the quality of life and integration into society of all children, regardless of ability. Varietys kids are breaking down societal barriers every single day by showcasing their abilities at Variety Village and in their own communities. Visit www.varietyontario.ca

About Pizza Nova

Founded in 1963, Pizza Nova is a family-operated business that is committed to sharing the rich taste of Italy with Canadians. Pizza Nova has more than 145 locations in Southern Ontario and is inspired by family values such as trust, integrity and authenticity. Known for fresh toppings and high-quality ingredients and a wide range of authentic Italian menu items including lasagna, panzerotti, Italian sandwiches, chicken wings, arancini and FOCACCIA BARESE, Pizza Nova also has a line of Primucci-branded products featuring Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Homestyle Tomato Sauce, Italian Hot Peppers, Spicy Green Olives and Sundried Black Olives. Taste the Difference or learn more at pizzanova.com.

-30-

Attachments
Belleville, Illinois, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new study showing that long-haul COVID symptoms can persist 15 months after onset, spotlights the importance of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits for workers affected by severe illness and related complications, according to Allsup, the nations premier disability representation company.

The study by Northwestern Medicine and published in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology found that people with long-haul COVID continue to experience symptoms such as brain fog, headache, dizziness and fatigue an average of 15 months after first becoming ill. Research conducted by Northwesterns Neuro COVID-19 clinic further showed that none of the 52 long-haulers participating in the study were ever hospitalized, yet still experienced symptoms many months later.

Of the 52 patients who completed the study:

Average age was 43.

73% were female.

77% received the COVID-19 vaccine.

Allsup, which provides SSDI and veterans disability appeal services, has documented an increase in SSDI claims related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. We have seen a slow, steady rise in the number of SSDI claims for those individuals who are no longer able to work due to the coronavirus, said T.J. Geist, Allsup Principal Advocate.

Its vital to seek SSDI help right away if you are experiencing conditions resulting from the debilitating effects of this virus, or complications due to existing medical issues you had before your COVID diagnosis, and had to stop working, Geist explained.

While patients in the study reported improvements in their recovery, cognitive function and fatigue, the overall quality of life measures remained lower than the average population. Loss of taste and smell decreased over time, but heart rate and blood pressure variation and gastrointestinal symptoms increased.

The Social Security Administration (SSA), which oversees the SSDI program, recognizes these factors regarding COVID-related claims when reviewing SSDI applications:

Lung, heart, kidney, neurological and circulatory damage.

Worsening impact on pre-existing physical and mental impairments.

Respiratory, cognitive, circulatory and other chronic disorders resulting from infection.

Researchers estimate that long COVID may affect up to 30% or an estimated 24 million people in the U.S.

If people are suffering from long COVID and are unable to work, we strongly recommend they start the SSDI application process immediately with representation. Allsup has helped more than 350,000 individuals with disabilities obtain SSDI benefits for over 38 years, Geist said. Our experts are at the forefront of working with COVID-related claims and know how to convey the impact of life-altering symptoms like chronic brain fog and fatigue.

In addition to monthly cash income, benefits with SSDI include:

Dependent benefits  for children under the age of 18.

Return-to-work incentives  free assistance returning to work while protecting SSDI benefits.

Medicare benefits  effective 24 months after SSDI cash benefits begin.

Retirement benefits protection  SSDI approval freezes earnings records resulting in higher Social Security retirement income.

COBRA extension  extended health insurance up to an additional 11 months.

Learn more about the basics of SSDI, including eligibility criteria, by visiting SSDI 101 before you apply.

To hear from an Allsup customer about his experience, watch this video.

Help with SSDI Claims and Appeals

For more information about applying for SSDI benefits, filing your appeal if youre denied, or to see if you are eligible, visit Allsup.com/long-covid or call 1-800-678-3276.

ABOUT ALLSUP

Allsup and its subsidiaries provide nationwide Social Security disability, veterans disability appeal, return to work, and healthcare benefits services for individuals, their employers and insurance carriers. Allsup professionals deliver specialized services supporting people with disabilities and seniors so they may lead lives that are as financially secure and as healthy as possible. Founded in 1984, the company is based in Belleville, Illinois, near St. Louis. Learn more at TrueHelp.com and @Allsup or download a free PDF of Applying for Social Security Disability Insurance: Getting It Right The First Time.

Attachment
Madrid, Spain, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Skydweller Aero Inc. signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Luxembourgs Minister of Defence (MoD) and Leonardo to explore opportunities for future cooperation involving the Skydweller Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)

This new agreement will initially see Luxembourgs Directorate of Defence assist the transportation of the Skydweller aircraft from Albacete, Spain, to the Caribbean for its long-endurance flight testing and demonstration activities - in support of Skydweller Aeros contract with U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to demonstrate zero-emission, long-endurance flight for defence applications.

Skydweller is the worlds first solar-powered, fully electric Unmanned Aircraft System capable of carrying large and heavy payloads over long-distances with ultra-persistent endurance. The aircraft is currently undergoing development by Skydweller Aero, a US/European start-up. Leonardo is a strategic investor in Skydweller and the companys primary industrial partner. Leonardo serves as the prime contractor for Luxembourgs Directorate of Defence with regards to Skydweller .

The objective of the partnership is to accelerate the development and demonstration of the first mission-capable, solar-powered, autonomous aircraft. The agreement also includes options to identify areas for collaboration in the development and demonstration of the Skydweller in conjunction with Leonardos ISR sensors and related capabilities focused on ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) mission sets.

This partnership demonstrates the shared vision between Skydweller and Luxembourgs Directorate of Defense in the development of the Skydweller platform to bring this mission-capable, sustainable ISR platform to U.S. DoD and its allies, said Skydweller CEO Dr. Robert Miller. We are extremely grateful to Luxembourgs Directorate of Defense for their important contribution to this effort.

The Skydweller platform is an innovative project in the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) framework where the Luxembourg Defence has been operating in the Land, Air and Space domain since decades. This project is perfectly in line with the Luxembourg Directorate of Defences ambition to decarbonize the military, to reduce military emissions and fossil fuel dependency and thus to reduce the carbon footprint of the sector, declared Luxembourg MoD Francois Bausch. Furthermore, fostering the development of green dual use projects like Skydweller will also have a long-term beneficial impact on civil aviation, another of my political priorities and responsibilities.

Leonardo has a long heritage of building and equipping manned and unmanned ISR platforms and intends to bring a new class of persistent and sustainable capabilities to such a critical domain. Laurent Sissmann, Senior Vice President Unmanned Systems at Leonardo commented. As a strategic and industrial partner of Skydweller, we are delighted to count on the support of the Luxemburg Directorate of Defense and the experience of the Luxemburg Defence in ISR related matters for the research and development and flight-test campaign of such a breakthrough capability as Skydweller. We really can say that Luxemburg MOD and Leonardo share the vision that Skydweller is this one-of-a-kind endeavour where sustainability and ISR capabilities truly match and reinforce each other.

About Skydweller Aero Inc.

Skydweller Aero Inc. is a cutting-edge aerospace company developing solar powered aircraft solutions capable of achieving perpetual flight with heavy, powerful payload capacity. Utilizing technology based upon the longest continuous renewably powered flight program in history, this fast-growing startup is developing a new class of unmanned aircraft, providing the persistence of geosynchronous satellites with the powerful sensing capabilities and the flexibility of a large, airborne platform.

With a flexible payload system, including communications relay, 4G/5G cellular, day/night full motion video, satellite communication, imaging radar, and more, Skydweller will enhance commercial and government telecommunication, geospatial, meteorological, and emergency operation efforts around the world, allowing customers to operate persistently in more challenging areas for longer durations, while reducing environmental impact. For more information about Skydweller, visit www.skydweller.aero.

Follow us on social media

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skydwelleraero.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Skydweller_Aero
NEW YORK, NY, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- ILUS International Inc (OTC: ILUS), ILUS is a Mergers and Acquisitions company focused on acquiring and developing technology-based companies across the globe. The company wishes to provide an update on the progress, plans, and focus regarding its subsidiaries, including its plans to add a significant battery manufacturing acquisition to its Renewables subsidiary.



ILUS emergency response focused subsidiary, Emergency Response Technologies (ERT), has taken significant steps towards achieving its short-term milestones and therefore appointed Dan Peters as its Chief Executive Officer to assist with the implementation of its growth plans. ILUS has simultaneously made significant progress with its Renewables subsidiary, which is already home to Replay Solutions and E-Raptor. Replay Solutions is an urban mining company which is working on the recovery of rare metals from discarded electronic equipment and electrical waste using innovative mechanical and chemical treatments. E-Raptor is a range of commercial electric utility vehicles (EVs) which are used by the industrial, hospitality, agricultural and public safety sectors. Both companies are currently setting up their new operations in Serbia.

In a move that will add to its Renewables subsidiary, ILUS is now in the final stages of agreeing the acquisition of a battery manufacturing company which is currently generating $20 million in annual revenue. The company primarily designs and manufactures several battery types and is rolling out its own lithium battery product. Several byproducts of Replay Solutions mining process such as plastics, lithium, and various minerals can be used in the potential acquisitions manufacturing plant. The availability of required raw materials and minerals from Replay Solutions will substantially reduce manufacturing costs for the company. The battery manufacturer will also develop and manufacture batteries for the E-Raptor range of EVs and work on the development of specialized batteries for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones). Following several positive meetings with the potential acquisition, further meetings are taking place this week. ILUS is preparing to agree terms and announce the deal within weeks.

With plans underway for ERT to uplist to a major stock exchange and the execution of aggressive growth plans for its Renewables subsidiary, ILUS will now also place increased focus on its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Defense subsidiaries. Here the company is already assessing acquisition options in both sectors. The amalgamation of assets into ILUS includes but is not limited to the fields of Public Safety, Renewable Energy, Defense, Security, Manufacturing, Transportation and Logistics.

We continue to add building blocks to the ILUS conglomerate. The newly appointed CEO of ERT will play a vital role in the growth of our existing Emergency Response acquisitions as well as consolidating the new ones into the group when they close. This gives extra room for the ILUS management team to focus on bringing further strategically aligned and valuable assets into our stable. Nick and I will remain intricately involved in the progress of ERT which represents the culmination of a vision we have worked towards for over 10 years. We are very clear in our intention to continually add assets to ILUS which have a direct impact on the increased safety and well-being of our communities.

For further information on the companies, please see their communication channels:

Website: https://ilus-group.com

Twitter: OTC_ILUS

Email: IR@Ilus-Group.com

Source: ILUS

Related Links

https://ilus-group.com

Forward-Looking Statement

Certain information set forth in this press release contains "forward-looking information", including "future-oriented financial information" and "financial outlook", under applicable securities laws (collectively referred to herein as forward-looking statements). Except for statements of historical fact, the information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements and includes, but is not limited to, the (i) projected financial performance of the Company; (ii) completion of, and the use of proceeds from, the sale of the shares being offered hereunder; (iii) the expected development of the Company's business, projects, and joint ventures; (iv) execution of the Company's vision and growth strategy, including with respect to future M&A activity and global growth; (v) sources and availability of third-party financing for the Company's projects; (vi) completion of the Company's projects that are currently underway, in development or otherwise under consideration; (vi) renewal of the Company's current customer, supplier and other material agreements; and (vii) future liquidity, working capital, and capital requirements. Forward-looking statements are provided to allow potential investors the opportunity to understand management's beliefs and opinions in respect of the future so that they may use such beliefs and opinions as one factor in evaluating an investment. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or result expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although forward-looking statements contained in this presentation are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has provided guidance to issuers regarding the use of social media to disclose material non-public information. In this regard, investors and others should note that we announce material financial information via official Press Releases, in addition to SEC filings, press releases, Questions & Answers sessions, public conference calls and webcastsalso may take time from time to time. We use these channels as well as social media to communicate with the public about our company, our services, and other issues. It is possible that the information we post on social media could be deemed to be material information. Therefore, considering the SEC's guidance, we encourage investors, the media, and others interested in our company to review the information we post on the following social & media channels:

website: https://ilus-group.com Twitter: OTC_ILUS



Note: ILUS Coin does not sit within ILUS International Inc (Ilustrato Pictures International Inc), so the public are recommended to follow the correct Media Channels relating to the public company OTC: ILUS.
SNOWFLAKE SUMMIT, Las Vegas, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dataiku, the platform for Everyday AI, today announced that it has been named the 2022 Machine Learning/AI Partner of the Year award winner by Snowflake, the Data Cloud company, for the second year in a row. This award was presented at Snowflake Summit 2022 The World of Data Collaboration.

Also at Snowflake Summit today, Dataiku received competency awards in financial services, healthcare life sciences, and retail and CPG for the depth of its Snowflake expertise and commitment to driving customer impact in these industries. The partnership between the two industry leaders has deepened in the past year, as the tandem supports a growing list of joint customers, including Ameritas, First Tech Federal Credit Union, Novartis, and, Monoprix.

Dataikus Everyday AI platform enables organizations of any size to deliver data, analytics, and AI projects in a collaborative, scalable environment that takes full advantage of their investment in Snowflake. In addition, the joint solution provides an easy-to-use, visual interface where coders and non-coders can securely team up to work with data in Snowflake to build production-ready data pipelines and data science projects, all in a single platform.

We are thrilled to be chosen as Snowflakes 2022 Machine Learning / AI Partner of the Year for the second year in a row, said David Tharp, SVP Ecosystems and Alliances at Dataiku. The power of our AI capability with the Snowflake Data Cloud platform is quickly shifting the landscape of intelligent cloud computing. We are providing value to our joint customers in minutes rather than months. In the past year, we have invested significantly in becoming the most tightly integrated machine learning / AI platform to Snowflake, and its very rewarding to see this value delivered to our customers.

"Snowflake and Dataiku's commitment to developing and delivering Everyday AI solutions is foundational to our shared mission of helping every organization benefit from a data-driven culture. Together with Dataiku, we are delivering on the promise of machine learning and AI for customers across industries," said Colleen Kapase, SVP of Worldwide Partnerships at Snowflake.

Combining Snowflakes Data Cloud with Dataikus end-to-end analytics and AI platform has been a game changer for our organization, greatly improving how we manage large datasets and complex analytics, said Jay Franklin, VP of Enterprise Data and Analytics at First Tech Federal Credit Union. As a credit union, we have a terrific opportunity to directly impact the lives of our members. By scaling and maturing our data science and analytics practices, we are making this a reality through member centricity and personalized, highly-relevant experiences and offerings.

Dataikus integrated access with Snowpark for Python

A year after announcing its integration with Snowflakes Snowpark and Java user-defined functions (UDFs), Dataiku has also integrated access to Snowpark for Python, enabling Python coders and developers to work with familiar tools, packages, and libraries. Now, coders can focus on innovation while avoiding manual tasks and dependencies.

The new and existing integrations with Snowflake allow users to accomplish the following:

Build end-to-end AI/ML workflows in Dataiku using their Snowflake data without having to write code or move data



Quickly access both enterprise data and third-party data in Snowflake



Scale data preparation and feature engineering using Snowflake compute to 1000s of projects



Access interactive analytics on Snowflake data, including charts, notebooks, and dashboards



Build and deploy data applications and automate data pipelines



These integrations and more give customers the speed, scale, and security of Snowflakes high-performance engine with Dataikus platform for Everyday AI.

Resources

Visit Dataiku at the Snowflake Summit in booth 1533



Learn more about Dataiku and Snowflake



Register now for the Everyday AI Conference NYC and London, where Snowflake is a sponsor

Attachment
The Massey Ferguson Beauvais Plant Celebrates Milestone Production

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0b4b1bd6-88c6-46bb-ab26-06c55c805df8

Caption: Employees and leadership at the Beauvais Massey Ferguson campus celebrate the production of the one-millionth tractor, an MF 8S.305 Dyna-VT.

DULUTH, Ga., June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO), a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural machinery and precision ag technology, celebrates the production of the one-millionth tractor at its Massey Ferguson Beauvais plant. This significant milestone coincides with the companys 175th anniversary. Massey Ferguson has been manufacturing tractors in Beauvais, France, since November 20, 1960.

2022 is a year of milestone celebrations for Massey Ferguson, said Darren Parker, vice president of Massey Ferguson, North America. We applaud the hard work and dedication of our colleagues in Beauvais to produce our one-millionth tractor. Were also excited to celebrate Massey Fergusons 175 years of straightforward, dependable equipment innovation this year. These dual milestones prove our status as agricultural problem solvers dedicated to providing the right equipment, at the right price, for individual farming operations. Our equipment, just like our customers, is Born to Farm.

Celebrating 62 years of production in Beauvais

Thierry Lhotte, vice president and managing director, Massey Ferguson EAME, and president of AGCO in France, presented the one-millionth tractor produced in Beauvais  a brand-new Massey Ferguson 8S.305 Dyna-VT  to Thierry Aubree, an arable farmer and contractor from the village of La Chapelle-des-Fougeretz in Brittany, France. On behalf of all our employees and dealers, I want to thank our customers for their steadfast trust, said Lhotte. The new MF 8S Series adds to Aubrees expanding Massey Ferguson fleet that already includes four tractors, three combines and two large balers.

Boussad Bouaouli, vice president, manufacturing Beauvais, emphasized employee commitment on the Beauvais MF campus development. From 1960, there have always been people who kept the site moving, always with the right farmer-first focus to address challenges of the times and, above all, with a clear view to the future, Bouaouli said.

It all started with the MF 825 in 1960. From then, the site grew continuously, producing iconic tractors driven by innovation, including:

MF 3000 Series in 1986, the first tractor with onboard electronics.

MF 8600 in 2008, introducing the efficient power concept, which reduces environmental impact, courtesy of the first use of SCR technology on an ag machine.

MF 8S Series in 2020, with its award-winning Protect-U concept, which features a 9.4-inch gap between the cab and the engine installation, reducing heat, noise and vibrations being transmitted to the cab and improving cooling and performance. The MF 8S Series received the Tractor of the Year 2021, Red Dot: Product Design 2021 and Farm Machine 2022 awards.



The Beauvais plant and our dedicated employees embody Massy Fergusons commitment to farmer-focused equipment solutions. This plant, named Factory of the Year 2016, represents the modern era of Massey Ferguson. This campus sets our future and new standards, Bouaouli said.

The site has seen innovative developments in recent years, including implementation of Lean Manufacturing practices, expansion of the Beauvais 2 cab assembly line and a logistics center, and a Tractor Customization Workshop. The facility produces many of the brands most popular tractors, including the MF 4700 M, MF 5700 M, MF 5S, MF 6S, MF 7S, MF 8S and MF 8700 S Series. Up to 100 tractors can be produced and shipped daily to dealers in more than 70 countries.

As we hand over this one-millionth tractor, we are set to unify our sites into a single MF Campus with all our departments under one roof, Lhotte said. This offers high flexibility and leverages the unique experiences, skills and commitment of the people who work here. This tractor milestone is our 2,500 employees success, including our GIMA transmissions joint venture.

Celebrating this milestone with you

Stop by the Massey Ferguson booth at the Farm Progress Show, August 30 through September 1 in Boone, Iowa.

Media Contacts

Bob Blakely, AGCO | Bob.Blakely@AGCOCorp.com | 770-232-8018

Arielle Windham | Arielle.windham@flint-group.com | 701-499-2169

Massey Ferguson is a registered trademark of AGCO. Dyna-VT and Protect-U are trademarks of AGCO.

About AGCO

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural machinery and precision ag technology. AGCO delivers customer value through its differentiated brand portfolio including core brands like Challenger, Fendt, GSI, Massey Ferguson, Precision Planting and Valtra. Powered by Fuse smart farming solutions, AGCOs full line of equipment and services help farmers sustainably feed our world. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, USA, AGCO had net sales of approximately $11.1 billion in 2021. For more information, visit www.AGCOcorp.com. For company news, information and events, please follow us on Twitter: @AGCOCorp. For financial news on Twitter, please follow the hashtag #AGCOIR.
NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Tupperware Brands Corporation (Tupperware or the Company) (NYSE: TUP) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and docketed under 22-cv-04976, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Tupperware securities between November 3, 2021 and May 3, 2022, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.



If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Tupperware securities during the Class Period, you have until August 15, 2022 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

Tupperware operates as a consumer products company worldwide. The Company manufactures, markets, and sells design-centric preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home, as well as a line of cookware, knives, microwave products, microfiber textiles, water-filtration related items, and an array of products for on-the-go consumers under the Tupperware brand name.

The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Tupperware was facing significant challenges in maintaining its earnings and sales performance; (ii) accordingly, Tupperwares full year 2022 guidance was unrealistic and/or unsustainable; (iii) all the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to have a material negative impact on Tupperwares financial condition; and (iv) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On May 4, 2022, Tupperware announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2022. Among other items, Tupperware reported adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations and net sales that fell well short of consensus estimates and withdrew its full year 2022 guidance and named a new Chief Financial Officer. The Company attributed the poor performance to the conflict in Russia and Ukraine. However, when pressed by analysts on a conference call, the Company acknowledged that Russia and Ukraine only accounted for 2% of its revenue.

On this news, Tupperwares stock price fell $5.76 per share, or 32.16%, to close at $12.15 per share on May 4, 2022.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com
English French

MONTREAL, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yorbeau Resources Inc. (TSX: YRB) (Yorbeau or the Company) announces that the nominees listed in the Companys management proxy circular dated May 13, 2022 were elected as directors of Yorbeau. The detailed results of the vote for the election of directors held at the annual general meeting of shareholders on June 14, 2022 in Montreal are set out below.



Nominee Votes

For %

For Votes

Withheld %

Withheld G. Bodnar Jr. 158,124,484 93.82 % 10,415,007 6.18 % John Jacobsen 168,528,841 99.99 % 10,650 0.01 % Henri Gelinas 158,124,484 93.82 % 10,415,007 6.18 % Terry Kocisko 158,126,284 93.82 % 10,413,207 6.18 % Marcel Lecourt 168,501,391 99.98 % 38,100 0.02 % Jerome Gendron 168,525,591 99.99 % 13,900 0.01 % Dany Laflamme 168,525,841 99.99 % 13,650 0.01 %

About Yorbeau Resources Inc.

The Rouyn Property, wholly owned by the Company, contains four known gold deposits in the 6-km-long Augmitto-Astoria corridor situated on the western portion of the property. The Company signed a definitive agreement in December 2018, whereby IAMGOLD has the option to acquire a 100% interest in the Rouyn property, and a major drilling program is underway. Two of the four deposits, Astoria and Augmitto, benefit from substantial underground infrastructure and have been the subject of technical reports that include resource estimates and that were filed in accordance with Regulation 43-101. In 2015, the Company expanded its exploration property portfolio by acquiring strategic base metal properties in prospective areas of the Abitibi Belt of Quebec and Ontario that feature an infrastructure favourable for mining development. The newly acquired base metal properties include the Scott Project, which bears important mineral resources (see the press release dated March 30, 2017) and on which a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment was recently completed.

For additional information on the Company, consult its website at www.yorbeauresources.com.

For further information, please contact:

G. Bodnar Jr.

President, Chief Financial Officer

Yorbeau Resources Inc.

gbodnar@yorbeauresources.com

Tel: 514-384-2202



Toll free in North America: 1-855-384-2202




HIGHLIGHTS



A feasibility study for mining of the Beatons Creek gold project ( Beatons Creek ) Fresh mineral resource ( Feasibility Study ) is underway, with completion targeted by mid-Q4 2022

) Fresh mineral resource ( ) is underway, with completion targeted by mid-Q4 2022 Metallurgical and geotechnical diamond drilling programs have been completed, with assaying and metallurgical test work underway and due for completion by the end of July 2022

Phase one of a mineral resource definition reverse circulation ( RC ) drilling program will be completed by the end of June 2022. Results received to May 31, 2022 include significant, high-grade intercepts (> 40 gram-metres gold) of: 3.5 m at 43.62 g/t gold from 47 m in GHF0526 5.5 m at 16.02 g/t gold from 30 m in GHF0269 1.5 m at 48.84 g/t gold from 42.5 m in GHF0500 4.5 m at 15.23 g/t gold from 47.5 m in GHF0523 2 m at 28.14 g/t gold from 75.5 m in GHF0200 3 m at 18.5 g/t gold from 72.5 m in GHF0181 3 m at 17.85 g/t gold from 39 m in GHF0014 1.5 m at 31.29 g/t gold from 43.5 m in GHF0498 2.5 m at 17.66 g/t gold from 41.5 m in GHF0490 2.5 m at 16.16 g/t gold from 82 m in GHF0216 3 m at 15.3 g/t gold from 61.5 m in GHF0554

) drilling program will be completed by the end of June 2022. Results received to May 31, 2022 include significant, high-grade intercepts (> 40 gram-metres gold) of: Mineral resource definition drilling to date has confirmed the high-grade nature, strong continuity, and thickness of the Fresh mineralized material

Commencement of Phase Two mining of the Beatons Creek Fresh deposit is subject to receipt of approvals from various Western Australian regulatory departments1.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (Novo or the Company) (TSX: NVO, NVO.WT & NVO.WT.A) (OTCQX: NSRPF) is pleased to provide an update on the Feasibility Study and key initial results from the ongoing resource definition drilling program.

The Fresh component of Beatons Creek accounts for approximately 65% of the global Beatons Creek mineral resource estimate and is integral to Novos operational success. With mining of the Oxide mineral resource nearing completion1,2, we have shifted our focus on the ground to complete key exploration and development activities for Phase Two Fresh operations at Beatons Creek. Importantly, our resource definition drill program has already delivered excellent, near-surface results which confirm the high-grade nature of the Fresh mineral resource and supports Novos plans to accelerate the Feasibility Study, while working with Western Australian regulatory departments to obtain requisite approvals, commented Mr. Michael Spreadborough, Executive Co-Chairman, acting Chief Executive Officer and a director of Novo.

BEATONS CREEK STATUS

Operations will be paused at Beatons Creek, with a controlled and phased wind-down of operational activities through Q3 2022, as outlined in the Companys news release dated June 14, 20221. Commencement of Phase Two mining of the Fresh mineral resource at Beatons Creek, is subject to receipt of approvals from various Western Australian regulatory departments and the successful completion of the Feasibility Study, including a final investment decision by Novos board of directors1.

BEATONS CREEK RESOURCE DEFINITION DRILLING

Building upon recent knowledge gained during mining activities completed at the Grants Hill deposit, which forms part of Beatons Creek, Novo has been undertaking 20 m by 20 m resource definition RC drilling across key areas at Grants Hill, which contains the majority of the known Fresh mineralization3.

This drill program commenced at the end of October 2021, with the Company accelerating drilling in January 2022 through three RC drill rigs. At the end of May 2022, approximately 31,700 m (397 holes), with an average depth of 80 m per hole, were drilled into the Grants Hill project area.

Drilling at Grant's Hill has been systemically trending in a north-westerly direction from the Oxide open pit boundary, testing the extent of the known mineralization (lodes) identified in the previously released mineral resource estimate3. Whilst the natural topography and landscape has presented some challenges, the drill coverage was designed to test as many lodes as possible (Figures 1 & 2 below). To date, drilling programs have achieved good spatial coverage reaching up to 400 m in width and 600 m in length. These drill programs have been targeting known lodes including the M0, M1, M2 and M3, with the primary focus targeting the well-endowed M1 and M2 lodes.

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e3717933-4cef-4c3c-a735-56506d81764a

(Figure 1: Grants Hill Fresh mineral resource definition RC drilling)

To gain further confidence in the lodes, a 30,400 sq m area was drilled at a 10 m by 10 m spacing immediately adjacent to the recently mined Grants Hill pit. This drilling comprised 73 holes for 5,080 m drilled, in addition to the already drilled 20 m by 20 m pattern (Figure 2 below).

Figures 3, 4 and 5 illustrate the lodes intersected by recent resource definition drilling, along with drilling results received to date. Results are encouraging, indicating that the principal M1 and M2 lodes remain open and continuous along plunge. These results also confirm the thickness and tenor of the mineralization intercepted in prior drilling programs. Refer to Table 1 for a list of all significant intervals greater than 0.5 g/t gold.

BEATONS CREEK RESOURCE EXTENSION DRILLING

Significance of the resource definition results allows Novo to plan for the next phases of drilling, extending drill coverage in a north-westerly direction with an expectation to grow the current mineral resource estimate3 (MRE) (Figure 2 below shows priority 1 to priority 4 phases). The next stage of resource extension drilling will be targeting areas of existing sparse drilling information and planned drilling aims to increase resource confidence, through the upgrade of current inferred mineral resources3 and unclassified mineralization. The resource extension drilling program will be completed in a staged approach, targeting higher-priority areas in the first instance and progressing to lower priority areas to potentially grow the inferred mineral resource3 and inform further studies and life-of-mine planning.

The drilling program will continue for the remainder of CY2022 and into H1 2023 and is expected to define the updated extent of the Beatons Creek Fresh mineral resource.

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5a7d935f-859b-4ff8-97f4-b3ed6c33c78a

(Figure 2: Plan view of Beatons Creek Fresh mineral resource definition and extension programs)

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/25076229-f329-4cf8-a438-01c89f2556e2

(Figure 3: Section view A-A Beatons Creek Fresh mineral resource definition and extension programs)

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/357b2b53-6d7e-4ee8-8056-841777933a61

(Figure 4: Section view B-B Beatons Creek Fresh mineral resource definition and extension programs)

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/41ffd4cb-c8dd-43d9-b8a8-acb43f5a2207

(Figure 5: Section view C-C Beatons Creek Fresh mineral resource definition and extension programs)

BEATONS CREEK FRESH FEASIBILITY STUDY

The results from the resource definition and extension drilling program will inform an update to the MRE for Beatons Creek, with the upgraded MRE providing the foundation for the Feasibility Study.

Data collection and analysis programs are underway to better define parameters for:

Metallurgical recoveries and an optimization of the Golden Eagle processing facility ( Golden Eagle Plant )

) Geotechnical, hydrogeological and hydrological conditions to be encountered in the open pits

Geochemical properties of the various materials being mined to ensure they are appropriately managed during and post-mining operations at Beatons Creek



Other key studies which have also commenced, include:

Updated Beatons Creek mine and waste dump designs incorporating management of any potential for acid mine drainage and mine closure commitments

Improved understanding of the metallurgical performance of the Beatons Creek Fresh mineralized material though the Golden Eagle Plant and optimum throughput rates, as previously reported 4

Definition of an economic provision for additional tailings storage capacity to accommodate processing of Beatons Creek Fresh mineralized material

Determining the suitability of current Beatons Creek infrastructure required to support mining and processing of the Fresh mineralized material, including consideration of renewable energy options for power generation and/or supply

Mining and processing schedules

Capital and operating cost estimates and life-of-mine cash flow forecasts

Development of an economic mine plan and the reporting of a mineral reserve estimate in a National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) compliant technical report



SAMPLE PREPARATION, ASSAYING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE/QUALITY CONTROL

The widths of intercepts reported are approximate true width given vertical RC holes and relatively flat lying lodes. All samples are collected as 0.5 m RC composites. Samples are split in half (c. 8 kg) at the rig and one half selected at random and submitted to the Beatons Creek on-site Intertek laboratory. Samples are dried for 24 hours. They are then fed through a Smart Crusher, where they are reduced to P90 -3 mm and 2.5 kg split off for assay. The 2.5 kg sub-sample is placed into five PhotonAssay pots. The pots are shipped to the Intertek laboratory in Perth where they are assayed in total by PhotonAssay. PhotonAssay is a non-destructive method, based on technology that measures gold concentration via X-ray excitation to produce gamma rays. Intertek PhotonAssay is NATA accredited (3244) via ISO/IEC 17025 (2017) for method PA W0002. Drill program design, quality assurance/quality control and interpretation of results is performed by qualified persons employing quality control (QC) analysis consistent with industry best practices. PhotonAssay certified CRMs and blanks are included at a rate of 1 in 25 samples for QC purposes by the Company. Intertek undertakes its own QC, the results of which are provided to Novo. Approximately 2% of PhotonAssay samples are umpire assayed by screen fire assay. Novo does not know of any factors of drilling or sampling that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the assay data disclosed.

All data was verified without limitation by a qualified person by reviewing analytical procedures undertaken.

QP STATEMENT

Dr. Simon Dominy FAusIMM (CP) FAIG (RPGeo) is the qualified person, as defined under NI 43-101, responsible for, and having reviewed and approved, the technical information contained in this news release. Dr. Dominy is a Technical Advisor to Novo.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

The decision by the Company to produce at Beatons Creek was not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability and, as a result, there is an increased uncertainty of achieving any particular level of recovery of minerals or the cost of such recovery, including increased risks associated with developing a commercially mineable deposit. Production has not achieved forecast to date. Historically, such projects have a much higher risk of economic and technical failure. There is no guarantee that anticipated production costs will be achieved. Failure to achieve the anticipated production costs would have a material adverse impact on the Companys cash flow and future profitability.

The Company cautions that its declaration of commercial production effective October 1, 20215 only indicates that Beatons Creek was operating at anticipated and sustainable levels and it does not indicate that economic results will be realized.

ABOUT NOVO

Novo operates its flagship Beatons Creek gold project while exploring and developing its prospective land package covering approximately 11,000 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In addition to the Companys primary focus, Novo seeks to leverage its internal geological expertise to deliver value-accretive opportunities to its shareholders.

Shareholders and Canadian media are to contact Leo Karabelas at (416) 543-3120 or e-mail leo@novoresources.com.

Australian media are to contact Cameron Gilenko (Citadel-MAGNUS) at 0466 984 953.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

Novo Resources Corp.

 Michael Spreadborough 

Michael Spreadborough

Executive Co-Chairman and Acting CEO

Forward-looking information

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information (within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation) including, without limitation, that the Feasibility Study will be completed in mid-Q4 2022, that assaying and metallurgical testwork will be completed in Q3 2022, that mineral resource definition and extension drilling programs will further expand the Beatons Creek Fresh mineral resource and will continue for the remainder of CY2022 and H1 2023, and that extending drill coverage in a north-westerly direction will potentially grow the mineral resource. 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, without limitation, customary risks of the resource industry and the risk factors identified in Novos managements discussion and analysis for the three-month period ended March 31, 2022, which is available under Novos profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date those statements are made. Except as required by applicable law, Novo assumes no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to any forward-looking statement contained or incorporated by reference herein to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements. If Novo updates any forward-looking statement(s), no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

Table 1: Significant intercepts for all drilling during the Fresh mining stage. The table is generated by calculating the average grade for each drill hole intersection constrained by the modelled M1 and M2 lodes, and a 0.5 g/t gold intersection grade cut-off for reporting. All holes are drilled on tenement M46/11 and with co-ordinates related to reference system GDA94, Zone 51.

Hole ID Type Depth Date

Completed Easting Northing Height Azimuth Dip Lode From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Grade

(Au g/t) GHF0001 RC 75 2/11/2021 199831.818 7577899.339 411.318 0 -90 M1 34.5 38.5 4 2.79 GHF0001 RC 75 2/11/2021 199831.818 7577899.339 411.318 0 -90 M2 51.5 54.5 3 2.90 GHF0004 RC 100 17/02/2022 199605.876 7577672.975 428.432 340 -89 M2 73 73.5 0.5 0.59 GHF0005 RC 96 17/02/2022 199619.976 7577658.862 426.573 10 -89 M2 68.5 70.5 2 0.69 GHF0006 RC 85 17/02/2022 199634.086 7577673.006 425.518 103 -89 M1 48 50.5 2.5 2.05 GHF0006 RC 85 17/02/2022 199634.086 7577673.006 425.518 103 -89 M2 67.5 68 0.5 1.98 GHF0007 RC 83 29/11/2021 199648.304 7577687.212 423.5 0 -90 M1 48 49.5 1.5 7.20 GHF0007 RC 83 29/11/2021 199648.304 7577687.212 423.5 0 -90 M2 65.5 68.5 3 0.88 GHF0008 RC 75 2/11/2021 199834.235 7577870.496 415.48 0 -90 M1 37.5 40 2.5 2.30 GHF0008 RC 75 2/11/2021 199834.235 7577870.496 415.48 0 -90 M2 53 56.5 3.5 1.58 GHF0009 RC 82 25/10/2021 199874.059 7577913.127 416.472 0 -90 M1 39 40 1 8.34 GHF0009 RC 82 25/10/2021 199874.059 7577913.127 416.472 0 -90 M2 55.5 58 2.5 4.95 GHF0010 RC 12 7/12/2021 199648.524 7577659.566 423.631 0 -90 M1 45.5 47 1.5 7.45 GHF0010 RC 12 7/12/2021 199648.524 7577659.566 423.631 0 -90 M2 63.5 67 3.5 0.84 GHF0011 RC 83 22/02/2022 199662.37 7577673.006 424.952 156 -90 M1 46.5 47.5 1 1.40 GHF0011 RC 83 22/02/2022 199662.37 7577673.006 424.952 156 -90 M2 64 65.5 1.5 1.08 GHF0013 RC 79 3/11/2021 199832.909 7577842.677 420.816 0 -90 M1 43 44.5 1.5 3.44 GHF0013 RC 79 3/11/2021 199832.909 7577842.677 420.816 0 -90 M2 57 60 3 1.81 GHF0014 RC 24 3/11/2021 199846.179 7577856.83 418.181 0 -90 M1 39 42 3 17.85 GHF0014 RC 24 3/11/2021 199846.179 7577856.83 418.181 0 -90 M2 54 58 4 1.39 GHF0016 RC 76 21/10/2021 199903.224 7577912.62 421.856 0 -90 M1 42.5 46.5 4 5.04 GHF0016 RC 76 21/10/2021 199903.224 7577912.62 421.856 0 -90 M2 61 62.5 1.5 2.12 GHF0018 RC 82 1/01/2022 199690.472 7577673.643 425.178 0 -90 M1 50.5 51.5 1 4.37 GHF0018 RC 82 1/01/2022 199690.472 7577673.643 425.178 0 -90 M2 64.5 65.5 1 1.20 GHF0019 RC 84 31/12/2021 199704.737 7577687.117 425.253 0 -90 M1 50.5 52.5 2 2.09 GHF0019 RC 84 31/12/2021 199704.737 7577687.117 425.253 0 -90 M2 63.5 64.5 1 1.98 GHF0020 RC 85 11/12/2021 199718.878 7577701.501 423.976 0 -90 M1 48.5 50 1.5 1.89 GHF0020 RC 85 11/12/2021 199718.878 7577701.501 423.976 0 -90 M2 60 63 3 1.60 GHF0022 RC 18 7/11/2021 199775.58 7577758.737 422.973 0 -90 M1 44 45.5 1.5 1.77 GHF0022 RC 18 7/11/2021 199775.58 7577758.737 422.973 0 -90 M2 57.5 59.5 2 1.13 GHF0023 RC 54 4/11/2021 199818.856 7577800.758 424.874 0 -90 M1 47 50 3 1.31 GHF0023 RC 54 4/11/2021 199818.856 7577800.758 424.874 0 -90 M2 58 60 2 4.54 GHF0024 RC 80 1/11/2021 199845.978 7577828.274 425.285 0 -90 M1 46 46.5 0.5 4.69 GHF0024 RC 80 1/11/2021 199845.978 7577828.274 425.285 0 -90 M2 60 62.5 2.5 1.11 GHF0025 RC 30 26/10/2021 199889.194 7577870.52 421.953 0 -90 M1 41 42 1 6.46 GHF0025 RC 30 26/10/2021 199889.194 7577870.52 421.953 0 -90 M2 55.5 60 4.5 8.15 GHF0026 RC 76 23/10/2021 199916.766 7577898.835 424.244 0 -90 M1 43.5 46.5 3 10.72 GHF0026 RC 76 23/10/2021 199916.766 7577898.835 424.244 0 -90 M2 60.5 64 3.5 2.31 GHF0027 RC 80 30/12/2021 199718.95 7577673.061 424.584 0 -90 M1 47.5 48.5 1 3.25 GHF0027 RC 80 30/12/2021 199718.95 7577673.061 424.584 0 -90 M2 60 61.5 1.5 0.95 GHF0028 RC 85 30/12/2021 199732.866 7577686.74 427.848 0 -90 M1 50 52 2 2.78 GHF0028 RC 85 30/12/2021 199732.866 7577686.74 427.848 0 -90 M2 62.5 64 1.5 2.05 GHF0029 RC 54 18/12/2021 199746.827 7577701.694 429.56 0 -90 M1 48.5 49 0.5 8.14 GHF0029 RC 54 18/12/2021 199746.827 7577701.694 429.56 0 -90 M2 62.5 64.5 2 3.45 GHF0030 RC 78 16/12/2021 199761.717 7577714.566 430.74 0 -90 M1 49.5 51 1.5 1.16 GHF0030 RC 78 16/12/2021 199761.717 7577714.566 430.74 0 -90 M2 63 67 4 1.41 GHF0031 RC 90 22/02/2022 199775.507 7577729.576 431.131 10 -90 M1 49.5 50 0.5 2.21 GHF0031 RC 90 22/02/2022 199775.507 7577729.576 431.131 10 -90 M2 61.5 64 2.5 0.71 GHF0032 RC 36 8/11/2021 199789.901 7577743.895 429.9 0 -90 M1 49 50.5 1.5 3.24 GHF0032 RC 36 8/11/2021 199789.901 7577743.895 429.9 0 -90 M2 62 63 1 2.61 GHF0033 RC 82 1/12/2021 199803.67 7577758.246 427.926 0 -90 M1 48 48.5 0.5 3.26 GHF0033 RC 82 1/12/2021 199803.67 7577758.246 427.926 0 -90 M2 60 62.5 2.5 7.74 GHF0034 RC 82 7/11/2021 199818.382 7577771.889 428.548 0 -90 M1 47.5 49 1.5 3.12 GHF0034 RC 82 7/11/2021 199818.382 7577771.889 428.548 0 -90 M2 60.5 63 2.5 2.33 GHF0035 RC 54 5/11/2021 199832.947 7577786.135 428.163 0 -90 M1 47.5 50 2.5 4.82 GHF0035 RC 54 5/11/2021 199832.947 7577786.135 428.163 0 -90 M2 61.5 63 1.5 0.75 GHF0036 RC 81 1/12/2021 199846.002 7577800.528 428.26 0 -90 M1 46.5 50 3.5 6.05 GHF0036 RC 81 1/12/2021 199846.002 7577800.528 428.26 0 -90 M2 58.5 61.5 3 7.99 GHF0037 RC 54 31/10/2021 199860.413 7577814.588 427.331 0 -90 M1 43.5 46.5 3 0.76 GHF0037 RC 54 31/10/2021 199860.413 7577814.588 427.331 0 -90 M2 58 60.5 2.5 2.53 GHF0038 RC 75 31/10/2021 199875.307 7577827.318 424.834 0 -90 M1 41 42 1 2.58 GHF0038 RC 75 31/10/2021 199875.307 7577827.318 424.834 0 -90 M2 54.5 59 4.5 1.44 GHF0039 RC 74 31/10/2021 199888.976 7577842.608 424.71 0 -90 M1 41 43.5 2.5 3.40 GHF0039 RC 74 31/10/2021 199888.976 7577842.608 424.71 0 -90 M2 57 58.5 1.5 0.61 GHF0040 RC 64 24/10/2021 199903.262 7577857.409 426.187 0 -90 M1 42.5 45 2.5 3.80 GHF0040 RC 64 24/10/2021 199903.262 7577857.409 426.187 0 -90 M2 57.5 63 5.5 4.96 GHF0042 RC 77 24/10/2021 199916.856 7577871.087 427.13 0 -90 M1 44.5 45.5 1 10.25 GHF0042 RC 77 24/10/2021 199916.856 7577871.087 427.13 0 -90 M2 60.5 64 3.5 1.60 GHF0043 RC 72 11/12/2021 199930.717 7577885.154 425.303 0 -90 M1 43 44 1 16.60 GHF0043 RC 72 11/12/2021 199930.717 7577885.154 425.303 0 -90 M2 59.5 61 1.5 7.43 GHF0044 RC 92 12/12/2021 199945.059 7577899.294 422.095 0 -90 M1 40.5 43.5 3 9.67 GHF0044 RC 92 12/12/2021 199945.059 7577899.294 422.095 0 -90 M2 55 56 1 1.04 GHF0045 RC 82 20/12/2021 199761.083 7577687.055 428.357 0 -90 M2 59 61.5 2.5 1.63 GHF0046 RC 83 19/12/2021 199775.483 7577701.002 428.925 0 -90 M1 48.5 50 1.5 2.13 GHF0046 RC 83 19/12/2021 199775.483 7577701.002 428.925 0 -90 M2 59 62 3 0.85 GHF0047 RC 83 18/12/2021 199789.734 7577715.558 429.172 0 -90 M1 45.5 46 0.5 1.26 GHF0047 RC 83 18/12/2021 199789.734 7577715.558 429.172 0 -90 M2 58.5 60.5 2 1.70 GHF0048 RC 82 17/12/2021 199803.822 7577730.03 430.27 0 -90 M1 46 47 1 2.72 GHF0048 RC 82 17/12/2021 199803.822 7577730.03 430.27 0 -90 M2 59.5 61 1.5 0.82 GHF0049 RC 81 7/11/2021 199817.509 7577743.309 429.826 0 -90 M1 45.5 46 0.5 0.60 GHF0049 RC 81 7/11/2021 199817.509 7577743.309 429.826 0 -90 M2 57.5 60 2.5 2.61 GHF0050 RC 80 1/12/2021 199832.075 7577757.86 428.284 0 -90 M1 46 47 1 0.71 GHF0050 RC 80 1/12/2021 199832.075 7577757.86 428.284 0 -90 M2 57 59 2 0.95 GHF0052 RC 76 22/02/2022 199874.501 7577800.287 425.689 94 -89 M1 40 41 1 24.17 GHF0052 RC 76 22/02/2022 199874.501 7577800.287 425.689 94 -89 M2 50.5 56 5.5 3.36 GHF0053 RC 54 7/01/2022 199888.644 7577814.429 424.792 0 -90 M1 37.5 40.5 3 2.21 GHF0053 RC 54 7/01/2022 199888.644 7577814.429 424.792 0 -90 M2 53.5 57 3.5 2.24 GHF0054 RC 72 7/01/2022 199902.786 7577828.572 424.286 0 -90 M1 38 39 1 9.85 GHF0054 RC 72 7/01/2022 199902.786 7577828.572 424.286 0 -90 M2 52.5 57 4.5 2.83 GHF0055 RC 71 7/01/2022 199916.928 7577842.714 425.503 0 -90 M1 39.5 42 2.5 4.93 GHF0055 RC 71 7/01/2022 199916.928 7577842.714 425.503 0 -90 M2 54.5 57 2.5 1.95 GHF0056 RC 72 6/01/2022 199931.07 7577856.856 425.642 0 -90 M1 40.5 42.5 2 3.33 GHF0056 RC 72 6/01/2022 199931.07 7577856.856 425.642 0 -90 M2 55 58.5 3.5 3.16 GHF0126 RC 69 7/02/2022 199804.153 7578153.934 414.16 0 -90 M1 47.5 48 0.5 1.16 GHF0127 RC 76 20/01/2022 199790.103 7578135.636 417.01 0 -90 M1 50 51.5 1.5 2.27 GHF0127 RC 76 20/01/2022 199790.103 7578135.636 417.01 0 -90 M2 62 62.5 0.5 0.75 GHF0128 RC 75 20/01/2022 199775.771 7578125.558 417.187 0 -90 M1 50 52.5 2.5 1.23 GHF0128 RC 75 20/01/2022 199775.771 7578125.558 417.187 0 -90 M2 64.5 66 1.5 1.43 GHF0129 RC 76 19/01/2022 199761.31 7578111.349 416.998 0 -90 M1 48.5 49.5 1 9.04 GHF0129 RC 76 19/01/2022 199761.31 7578111.349 416.998 0 -90 M2 63.5 64.5 1 0.93 GHF0130 RC 76 8/02/2022 199747.22 7578097.271 416.216 0 -90 M1 47 48 1 1.73 GHF0130 RC 76 8/02/2022 199747.22 7578097.271 416.216 0 -90 M2 63 66 3 0.75 GHF0131 RC 72 14/02/2022 199732.851 7578082.632 413.043 0 -90 M1 45 45.5 0.5 0.60 GHF0131 RC 72 14/02/2022 199732.851 7578082.632 413.043 0 -90 M2 59.5 62 2.5 1.09 GHF0132 RC 67 7/02/2022 199718.754 7578069.426 408.494 0 -90 M1 39 40.5 1.5 4.31 GHF0132 RC 67 7/02/2022 199718.754 7578069.426 408.494 0 -90 M2 54.5 55 0.5 0.63 GHF0133 RC 59 5/03/2022 199704.794 7578054.844 401.037 0 -90 M1 31 33 2 1.23 GHF0133 RC 59 5/03/2022 199704.794 7578054.844 401.037 0 -90 M2 48 49 1 1.45 GHF0139 RC 66 5/02/2022 199833.058 7578153.021 411.385 0 -90 M2 57.5 58.5 1 0.76 GHF0141 RC 72 6/02/2022 199804.83 7578123.687 414.46 0 -90 M1 48 49.5 1.5 0.94 GHF0141 RC 72 6/02/2022 199804.83 7578123.687 414.46 0 -90 M2 63.5 64 0.5 0.67 GHF0142 RC 74 21/01/2022 199789.54 7578110.693 415.497 0 -90 M1 48 49.5 1.5 2.20 GHF0142 RC 74 21/01/2022 199789.54 7578110.693 415.497 0 -90 M2 63 65.5 2.5 0.99 GHF0143 RC 76 24/01/2022 199775.305 7578098.687 416.087 0 -90 M1 47.5 48.5 1 4.17 GHF0143 RC 76 24/01/2022 199775.305 7578098.687 416.087 0 -90 M2 63.5 64.5 1 4.20 GHF0144 RC 76 9/02/2022 199761.79 7578083.06 415.197 0 -90 M1 46 47 1 13.16 GHF0144 RC 76 9/02/2022 199761.79 7578083.06 415.197 0 -90 M2 62.5 66 3.5 0.98 GHF0145 RC 72 8/02/2022 199747.149 7578068.64 412.924 0 -90 M1 43.5 46 2.5 2.51 GHF0145 RC 72 8/02/2022 199747.149 7578068.64 412.924 0 -90 M2 59.5 62.5 3 0.99 GHF0146 RC 67 14/02/2022 199734.474 7578055.48 408.48 0 -90 M1 40 40.5 0.5 1.61 GHF0146 RC 67 14/02/2022 199734.474 7578055.48 408.48 0 -90 M2 54.5 58 3.5 3.16 GHF0147 RC 60 4/03/2022 199718.936 7578040.702 400.931 0 -90 M1 32.5 34.5 2 2.16 GHF0147 RC 60 4/03/2022 199718.936 7578040.702 400.931 0 -90 M2 47 50.5 3.5 0.81 GHF0150 RC 66 6/02/2022 199846.845 7578139.785 411 0 -90 M1 48.5 49.5 1 2.03 GHF0150 RC 66 6/02/2022 199846.845 7578139.785 411 0 -90 M2 56.5 57 0.5 29.16 GHF0151 RC 68 7/02/2022 199832.961 7578125.073 411.372 0 -90 M1 47 47.5 0.5 2.50 GHF0152 RC 70 6/02/2022 199817.04 7578110.675 412.713 0 -90 M1 47.5 48 0.5 1.94 GHF0152 RC 70 6/02/2022 199817.04 7578110.675 412.713 0 -90 M2 61 63.5 2.5 1.56 GHF0153 RC 72 27/01/2022 199803.045 7578096.592 414.387 0 -90 M1 46 49 3 2.90 GHF0153 RC 72 27/01/2022 199803.045 7578096.592 414.387 0 -90 M2 62.5 63.5 1 2.57 GHF0154 RC 74 23/01/2022 199789.414 7578083.882 414.615 0 -90 M1 45.5 47 1.5 3.44 GHF0154 RC 74 23/01/2022 199789.414 7578083.882 414.615 0 -90 M2 61 63.5 2.5 1.61 GHF0156 RC 71 11/02/2022 199761.119 7578054.926 410.729 0 -90 M1 43.5 45 1.5 3.70 GHF0156 RC 71 11/02/2022 199761.119 7578054.926 410.729 0 -90 M2 57.5 61 3.5 1.17 GHF0157 RC 66 11/02/2022 199747.366 7578040.441 406.129 0 -90 M1 37.5 38.5 1 1.79 GHF0157 RC 66 11/02/2022 199747.366 7578040.441 406.129 0 -90 M2 52.5 55.5 3 0.88 GHF0158 RC 48 1/03/2022 199733.079 7578026.56 400.669 0 -90 M1 33 33.5 0.5 9.42 GHF0158 RC 48 1/03/2022 199733.079 7578026.56 400.669 0 -90 M2 47 48 1 0.81 GHF0160 RC 76 19/01/2022 199689.916 7577984.315 418.023 0 -90 M2 65.5 67 1.5 1.09 GHF0162 RC 66 2/02/2022 199859.521 7578125.674 409.754 0 -90 M1 47.5 49 1.5 5.48 GHF0163 RC 66 2/02/2022 199845.695 7578112.225 410.589 0 -90 M1 46.5 48 1.5 1.92 GHF0163 RC 66 2/02/2022 199845.695 7578112.225 410.589 0 -90 M2 56.5 57 0.5 1.16 GHF0164 RC 69 6/02/2022 199832.417 7578097.792 411.877 0 -90 M1 46.5 48 1.5 2.91 GHF0164 RC 69 6/02/2022 199832.417 7578097.792 411.877 0 -90 M2 61.5 63 1.5 1.23 GHF0165 RC 72 26/01/2022 199817.334 7578083.406 412.759 0 -90 M1 45.5 47 1.5 13.30 GHF0165 RC 72 26/01/2022 199817.334 7578083.406 412.759 0 -90 M2 61 62.5 1.5 3.84 GHF0166 RC 71 23/01/2022 199802.454 7578069.086 412.298 0 -90 M1 44.5 46.5 2 6.70 GHF0166 RC 71 23/01/2022 199802.454 7578069.086 412.298 0 -90 M2 60 61 1 7.51 GHF0167 RC 70 14/02/2022 199789.471 7578052.819 410.204 0 -90 M1 42 45.5 3.5 6.35 GHF0167 RC 70 14/02/2022 199789.471 7578052.819 410.204 0 -90 M2 58.5 61 2.5 1.44 GHF0168 RC 68 23/02/2022 199774.432 7578040.961 407.511 0 -90 M1 39 40 1 1.28 GHF0168 RC 68 23/02/2022 199774.432 7578040.961 407.511 0 -90 M2 54 58 4 1.53 GHF0169 RC 64 23/02/2022 199765.847 7578029.105 404.519 0 -90 M1 37.5 40 2.5 0.68 GHF0169 RC 64 23/02/2022 199765.847 7578029.105 404.519 0 -90 M2 51.5 54.5 3 1.20 GHF0170 RC 59 1/03/2022 199747.221 7578012.418 399.542 0 -90 M1 32 32.5 0.5 2.15 GHF0170 RC 59 1/03/2022 199747.221 7578012.418 399.542 0 -90 M2 46 47.5 1.5 1.08 GHF0172 RC 79 18/01/2022 199705.206 7577970.56 419.926 0 -90 M1 51 52 1 1.05 GHF0172 RC 79 18/01/2022 199705.206 7577970.56 419.926 0 -90 M2 65.5 68 2.5 3.23 GHF0173 RC 78 13/01/2022 199690.37 7577955.321 421.258 0 -90 M1 54.5 56.5 2 1.25 GHF0173 RC 78 13/01/2022 199690.37 7577955.321 421.258 0 -90 M2 67 71.5 4.5 1.70 GHF0175 RC 72 21/02/2022 199662.369 7577927.565 427.552 0 -90 M1 60 61 1 1.26 GHF0175 RC 72 21/02/2022 199662.369 7577927.565 427.552 0 -90 M2 73.5 77 3.5 0.98 GHF0176 RC 87 25/02/2022 199648.226 7577913.423 430.838 0 -90 M1 62.5 64 1.5 8.10 GHF0176 RC 87 25/02/2022 199648.226 7577913.423 430.838 0 -90 M2 73.5 76.5 3 1.66 GHF0177 RC 90 26/02/2022 199634.084 7577899.28 432.894 0 -90 M1 64.5 66 1.5 2.06 GHF0178 RC 96 3/03/2022 199605.8 7577870.996 436.124 0 -90 M1 70 71.5 1.5 3.80 GHF0178 RC 96 3/03/2022 199605.8 7577870.996 436.124 0 -90 M2 84.5 85 0.5 0.51 GHF0179 RC 102 31/03/2022 199577.516 7577842.711 442.788 0 -90 M2 90.5 92.5 2 1.25 GHF0180 RC 108 30/03/2022 199563.374 7577828.569 443.69 0 -90 M1 80 82 2 0.63 GHF0180 RC 108 30/03/2022 199563.374 7577828.569 443.69 0 -90 M2 91.5 92.5 1 1.19 GHF0181 RC 104 26/03/2022 199549.232 7577814.427 439.536 0 -90 M1 72.5 75.5 3 18.50 GHF0181 RC 104 26/03/2022 199549.232 7577814.427 439.536 0 -90 M2 88 88.5 0.5 0.70 GHF0182 RC 100 24/03/2022 199535.09 7577800.285 435.043 0 -90 M1 67.5 69 1.5 8.19 GHF0182 RC 100 24/03/2022 199535.09 7577800.285 435.043 0 -90 M2 88 89 1 0.67 GHF0183 RC 66 6/02/2022 199846.511 7578083.429 409.689 0 -90 M1 44 46.5 2.5 4.97 GHF0183 RC 66 6/02/2022 199846.511 7578083.429 409.689 0 -90 M2 59 60.5 1.5 4.29 GHF0184 RC 48 24/01/2022 199831.934 7578069.736 409.718 0 -90 M1 43.5 44.5 1 3.79 GHF0184 RC 48 24/01/2022 199831.934 7578069.736 409.718 0 -90 M2 56.5 59.5 3 3.70 GHF0185 RC 66 22/01/2022 199818.372 7578055.04 407.717 0 -90 M1 41 43 2 6.38 GHF0185 RC 66 22/01/2022 199818.372 7578055.04 407.717 0 -90 M2 55.5 56.5 1 10.20 GHF0186 RC 65 12/02/2022 199803.115 7578040.548 406.671 0 -90 M1 38.5 39.5 1 2.63 GHF0186 RC 65 12/02/2022 199803.115 7578040.548 406.671 0 -90 M2 54 57 3 1.05 GHF0187 RC 42 24/02/2022 199789.647 7578026.561 404.202 0 -90 M1 35.5 36 0.5 7.42 GHF0187 RC 42 24/02/2022 199789.647 7578026.561 404.202 0 -90 M2 51 54 3 2.24 GHF0188 RC 61 24/02/2022 199775.505 7578012.418 401.772 0 -90 M1 32.5 34.5 2 2.22 GHF0188 RC 61 24/02/2022 199775.505 7578012.418 401.772 0 -90 M2 48 52 4 2.04 GHF0189 RC 58 28/02/2022 199761.363 7577998.276 398.617 0 -90 M1 29.5 30.5 1 6.62 GHF0189 RC 58 28/02/2022 199761.363 7577998.276 398.617 0 -90 M2 44.5 48 3.5 0.55 GHF0190 RC 24 11/01/2022 199731.152 7577969.544 418.66 0 -90 M1 48.5 51 2.5 2.35 GHF0190 RC 24 11/01/2022 199731.152 7577969.544 418.66 0 -90 M2 63 63.5 0.5 0.63 GHF0191 RC 77 10/01/2022 199719.588 7577956.095 420.513 0 -90 M1 51.5 52.5 1 1.39 GHF0191 RC 77 10/01/2022 199719.588 7577956.095 420.513 0 -90 M2 68 70 2 1.12 GHF0192 RC 79 12/01/2022 199705.338 7577942.273 421.605 0 -90 M1 54 56.5 2.5 4.06 GHF0192 RC 79 12/01/2022 199705.338 7577942.273 421.605 0 -90 M2 69 71.5 2.5 2.07 GHF0193 RC 81 19/01/2022 199691.77 7577927.446 424.742 0 -90 M1 57 58.5 1.5 7.96 GHF0193 RC 81 19/01/2022 199691.77 7577927.446 424.742 0 -90 M2 72 74 2 2.34 GHF0194 RC 87 22/02/2022 199676.511 7577913.423 429.304 0 -90 M1 61.5 63 1.5 7.41 GHF0194 RC 87 22/02/2022 199676.511 7577913.423 429.304 0 -90 M2 73.5 75.5 2 0.53 GHF0195 RC 90 24/02/2022 199662.369 7577899.281 434.132 0 -90 M1 66 66.5 0.5 1.15 GHF0195 RC 90 24/02/2022 199662.369 7577899.281 434.132 0 -90 M2 79 80 1 0.88 GHF0196 RC 94 25/02/2022 199648.227 7577885.138 437.501 0 -90 M1 68.5 70.5 2 2.38 GHF0196 RC 94 25/02/2022 199648.227 7577885.138 437.501 0 -90 M2 82 83 1 0.73 GHF0197 RC 98 27/02/2022 199634.085 7577870.996 440.117 0 -90 M1 71 72.5 1.5 1.82 GHF0197 RC 98 27/02/2022 199634.085 7577870.996 440.117 0 -90 M2 88 89 1 1.04 GHF0198 RC 102 4/03/2022 199619.943 7577856.854 442.811 0 -90 M1 78.5 79.5 1 0.60 GHF0198 RC 102 4/03/2022 199619.943 7577856.854 442.811 0 -90 M2 89.5 91 1.5 0.92 GHF0199 RC 110 1/04/2022 199577.517 7577814.427 447.688 0 -90 M1 84 85 1 0.81 GHF0199 RC 110 1/04/2022 199577.517 7577814.427 447.688 0 -90 M2 95 96.5 1.5 1.49 GHF0200 RC 108 30/03/2022 199563.374 7577800.285 443.467 0 -90 M1 75.5 77.5 2 28.14 GHF0200 RC 108 30/03/2022 199563.374 7577800.285 443.467 0 -90 M2 92.5 93 0.5 0.75 GHF0203 RC 59 22/01/2022 199832.809 7578040.582 402.258 0 -90 M1 34 36 2 3.07 GHF0203 RC 59 22/01/2022 199832.809 7578040.582 402.258 0 -90 M2 49.5 52 2.5 1.07 GHF0204 RC 59 26/02/2022 199817.931 7578026.561 402.362 0 -90 M1 33.5 35 1.5 6.42 GHF0204 RC 59 26/02/2022 199817.931 7578026.561 402.362 0 -90 M2 49.5 53.5 4 1.53 GHF0205 RC 54 25/02/2022 199803.789 7578012.419 402.141 0 -90 M1 33.5 35.5 2 13.56 GHF0205 RC 54 25/02/2022 199803.789 7578012.419 402.141 0 -90 M2 49 53 4 0.88 GHF0206 RC 57 28/02/2022 199789.647 7577998.276 399.233 0 -90 M1 28 30 2 5.21 GHF0206 RC 57 28/02/2022 199789.647 7577998.276 399.233 0 -90 M2 45 48 3 0.79 GHF0207 RC 75 9/01/2022 199748.273 7577955.746 419.625 0 -90 M1 48.5 51 2.5 2.05 GHF0207 RC 75 9/01/2022 199748.273 7577955.746 419.625 0 -90 M2 64.5 68 3.5 1.37 GHF0209 RC 78 14/01/2022 199720.192 7577928.468 419.475 0 -90 M1 51 52 1 1.09 GHF0209 RC 78 14/01/2022 199720.192 7577928.468 419.475 0 -90 M2 66 68 2 1.96 GHF0210 RC 79 14/01/2022 199703.409 7577914.606 422.066 0 -90 M1 53.5 54.5 1 2.31 GHF0210 RC 79 14/01/2022 199703.409 7577914.606 422.066 0 -90 M2 67 69 2 1.53 GHF0211 RC 81 18/01/2022 199692.292 7577895.943 422.235 0 -90 M1 53.5 57.5 4 5.19 GHF0211 RC 81 18/01/2022 199692.292 7577895.943 422.235 0 -90 M2 65 66.5 1.5 0.82 GHF0213 RC 107 2/04/2022 199634.085 7577842.712 447.625 0 -90 M1 83.5 84 0.5 1.32 GHF0213 RC 107 2/04/2022 199634.085 7577842.712 447.625 0 -90 M2 97 97.5 0.5 0.72 GHF0214 RC 102 5/03/2022 199619.943 7577828.57 451.361 0 -90 M1 84 85 1 2.25 GHF0214 RC 102 5/03/2022 199619.943 7577828.57 451.361 0 -90 M2 99.5 100.5 1 1.75 GHF0215 RC 113 3/04/2022 199605.801 7577814.427 451.991 0 -90 M1 83 86 3 1.90 GHF0215 RC 113 3/04/2022 199605.801 7577814.427 451.991 0 -90 M2 97.5 100.5 3 0.60 GHF0216 RC 102 6/03/2022 199591.659 7577800.285 450.274 0 -90 M1 82 84.5 2.5 16.16 GHF0216 RC 102 6/03/2022 199591.659 7577800.285 450.274 0 -90 M2 96.5 98.5 2 4.04 GHF0217 RC 108 23/04/2022 199577.517 7577786.143 444.588 0 -90 M1 76 78.5 2.5 7.60 GHF0218 RC 100 27/02/2022 199563.375 7577772.001 439.411 53 -87 M1 70.5 74.5 4 2.22 GHF0219 RC 97 27/02/2022 199549.233 7577757.858 436.235 356 -90 M1 66 68 2 3.51 GHF0219 RC 97 27/02/2022 199549.233 7577757.858 436.235 356 -90 M2 80.5 81.5 1 0.73 GHF0220 RC 114 26/02/2022 199535.091 7577743.716 435.804 0 -90 M1 64 67.5 3.5 3.57 GHF0220 RC 114 26/02/2022 199535.091 7577743.716 435.804 0 -90 M2 80 80.5 0.5 2.30 GHF0222 RC 50 14/04/2022 199888.785 7578069.049 397.286 0 -90 M1 31 32 1 16.28 GHF0226 RC 54 26/02/2022 199832.074 7578012.419 399.433 0 -90 M1 30 31 1 2.92 GHF0226 RC 54 26/02/2022 199832.074 7578012.419 399.433 0 -90 M2 46.5 48.5 2 1.31 GHF0227 RC 54 27/02/2022 199817.932 7577998.277 399.114 0 -90 M1 30 30.5 0.5 0.81 GHF0227 RC 54 27/02/2022 199817.932 7577998.277 399.114 0 -90 M2 45.5 50 4.5 1.65 GHF0228 RC 54 28/02/2022 199803.789 7577984.134 398.493 0 -90 M1 27.5 30 2.5 2.51 GHF0228 RC 54 28/02/2022 199803.789 7577984.134 398.493 0 -90 M2 45 47 2 4.59 GHF0229 RC 74 8/01/2022 199775.478 7577955.646 418.423 0 -90 M1 47 49 2 2.23 GHF0229 RC 74 8/01/2022 199775.478 7577955.646 418.423 0 -90 M2 63 64.5 1.5 2.03 GHF0230 RC 12 8/01/2022 199761.445 7577942.368 418.873 268 -90 M1 46.5 50 3.5 2.37 GHF0230 RC 12 8/01/2022 199761.445 7577942.368 418.873 268 -90 M2 63 66.5 3.5 0.82 GHF0231 RC 78 21/01/2022 199717.215 7577899.898 419.716 358 -89 M1 50 52 2 5.48 GHF0231 RC 78 21/01/2022 199717.215 7577899.898 419.716 358 -89 M2 66 68.5 2.5 0.70 GHF0232 RC 81 15/01/2022 199704.486 7577883.666 422.781 0 -90 M1 53.5 55 1.5 1.50 GHF0232 RC 81 15/01/2022 199704.486 7577883.666 422.781 0 -90 M2 65.5 67 1.5 0.91 GHF0233 RC 94 28/02/2022 199676.511 7577856.854 435.456 0 -90 M1 66.5 68.5 2 0.72 GHF0233 RC 94 28/02/2022 199676.511 7577856.854 435.456 0 -90 M2 79 81 2 0.61 GHF0234 RC 78 1/03/2022 199662.369 7577842.712 440.501 0 -90 M1 71 72.5 1.5 1.65 GHF0234 RC 78 1/03/2022 199662.369 7577842.712 440.501 0 -90 M2 85.5 86.5 1 0.60 GHF0235 RC 106 2/04/2022 199605.801 7577786.143 446.32 0 -90 M1 80 81 1 0.65 GHF0235 RC 106 2/04/2022 199605.801 7577786.143 446.32 0 -90 M2 93 94 1 0.61 GHF0236 RC 102 28/02/2022 199563.375 7577743.716 437.193 173 -89 M1 66.5 69 2.5 8.43 GHF0237 RC 113 28/02/2022 199549.233 7577729.574 436.415 0 -90 M1 67 68 1 1.40 GHF0237 RC 113 28/02/2022 199549.233 7577729.574 436.415 0 -90 M2 81.5 82 0.5 0.86 GHF0238 RC 114 26/02/2022 199535.091 7577715.432 433.516 1 -89 M2 81.5 82 0.5 0.56 GHF0241 RC 54 7/03/2022 199874.5 7578026.561 401.059 0 -90 M1 35.5 36.5 1 0.66 GHF0241 RC 54 7/03/2022 199874.5 7578026.561 401.059 0 -90 M2 44.5 45 0.5 1.13 GHF0242 RC 52 6/03/2022 199860.358 7578012.419 397.61 0 -90 M1 29 30 1 3.18 GHF0242 RC 52 6/03/2022 199860.358 7578012.419 397.61 0 -90 M2 44.5 45.5 1 0.94 GHF0243 RC 52 5/03/2022 199846.216 7577998.277 398.097 0 -90 M1 28 29.5 1.5 1.25 GHF0243 RC 52 5/03/2022 199846.216 7577998.277 398.097 0 -90 M2 45 46 1 1.86 GHF0244 RC 70 20/01/2022 199789.343 7577943.675 415.972 0 -90 M1 43.5 45.5 2 7.64 GHF0244 RC 70 20/01/2022 199789.343 7577943.675 415.972 0 -90 M2 60.5 62.5 2 2.38 GHF0245 RC 70 21/01/2022 199778.266 7577929.795 414.84 0 -90 M1 43.5 44.5 1 6.12 GHF0245 RC 70 21/01/2022 199778.266 7577929.795 414.84 0 -90 M2 58.5 62 3.5 5.07 GHF0247 RC 82 16/01/2022 199717.288 7577873.067 423.226 0 -90 M1 54 55 1 5.48 GHF0247 RC 82 16/01/2022 199717.288 7577873.067 423.226 0 -90 M2 65.5 68.5 3 1.45 GHF0248 RC 87 22/02/2022 199591.194 7577742.56 428.831 0 -90 M1 59 62.5 3.5 3.88 GHF0248 RC 87 22/02/2022 199591.194 7577742.56 428.831 0 -90 M2 74.5 75 0.5 0.50 GHF0249 RC 109 22/02/2022 199563.375 7577715.432 434.624 11 -90 M1 62 65.5 3.5 1.99 GHF0249 RC 109 22/02/2022 199563.375 7577715.432 434.624 11 -90 M2 79 80 1 0.51 GHF0250 RC 128 22/02/2022 199549.233 7577701.29 432.659 116 -90 M1 69 70 1 3.35 GHF0250 RC 128 22/02/2022 199549.233 7577701.29 432.659 116 -90 M2 81 81.5 0.5 0.61 GHF0252 RC 50 7/03/2022 199888.642 7578012.419 398.386 0 -90 M1 30.5 31 0.5 0.51 GHF0257 RC 62 20/01/2022 199790.192 7577917.651 409.494 0 -90 M1 38.5 39.5 1 8.41 GHF0257 RC 62 20/01/2022 199790.192 7577917.651 409.494 0 -90 M2 52.5 56 3.5 3.08 GHF0258 RC 62 22/01/2022 199775.271 7577898.078 405.698 0 -90 M1 32.5 36 3.5 1.39 GHF0258 RC 62 22/01/2022 199775.271 7577898.078 405.698 0 -90 M2 52 52.5 0.5 3.27 GHF0259 RC 81 16/01/2022 199706.722 7577827.987 425.18 0 -90 M1 55.5 58.5 3 1.80 GHF0259 RC 81 16/01/2022 199706.722 7577827.987 425.18 0 -90 M2 67.5 69 1.5 0.51 GHF0260 RC 87 16/02/2022 199690.654 7577814.428 430.981 0 -90 M1 60 61.5 1.5 6.98 GHF0260 RC 87 16/02/2022 199690.654 7577814.428 430.981 0 -90 M2 75.5 76.5 1 2.20 GHF0261 RC 93 8/03/2022 199648.227 7577772.001 436.49 0 -90 M2 80 83 3 6.82 GHF0262 RC 85 19/02/2022 199619.873 7577742.739 427.872 0 -90 M1 60.5 61.5 1 0.96 GHF0262 RC 85 19/02/2022 199619.873 7577742.739 427.872 0 -90 M2 71 73 2 0.62 GHF0263 RC 101 8/01/2022 199591.135 7577713.849 428.411 0 -90 M1 56.5 58.5 2 1.12 GHF0263 RC 101 8/01/2022 199591.135 7577713.849 428.411 0 -90 M2 75.5 76 0.5 1.46 GHF0264 RC 105 22/02/2022 199577.517 7577701.29 432.984 356 -90 M1 59.5 61.5 2 0.73 GHF0264 RC 105 22/02/2022 199577.517 7577701.29 432.984 356 -90 M2 77 78 1 0.76 GHF0267 RC 55 13/04/2022 199902.784 7577998.277 401.715 0 -90 M1 32.5 33.5 1 4.24 GHF0267 RC 55 13/04/2022 199902.784 7577998.277 401.715 0 -90 M2 43.5 44.5 1 0.59 GHF0268 RC 58 11/01/2022 199889.163 7577984.147 403.212 0 -90 M1 32 36.5 4.5 3.20 GHF0268 RC 58 11/01/2022 199889.163 7577984.147 403.212 0 -90 M2 45.5 47 1.5 1.31 GHF0269 RC 54 10/01/2022 199875.235 7577969.319 403.719 0 -90 M1 30 35.5 5.5 16.02 GHF0269 RC 54 10/01/2022 199875.235 7577969.319 403.719 0 -90 M2 42.5 45 2.5 0.59 GHF0270 RC 57 10/01/2022 199860.243 7577956.677 405.086 0 -90 M1 32 35 3 3.82 GHF0270 RC 57 10/01/2022 199860.243 7577956.677 405.086 0 -90 M2 48 50 2 0.55 GHF0271 RC 59 10/01/2022 199846.011 7577941.92 406.302 0 -90 M1 31.5 34 2.5 1.99 GHF0271 RC 59 10/01/2022 199846.011 7577941.92 406.302 0 -90 M2 48.5 52 3.5 3.57 GHF0273 RC 61 22/01/2022 199790.4 7577884.438 406.604 0 -90 M1 32 36.5 4.5 4.86 GHF0273 RC 61 22/01/2022 199790.4 7577884.438 406.604 0 -90 M2 51.5 52.5 1 1.60 GHF0274 RC 63 23/01/2022 199776.85 7577871.998 407.656 0 -90 M1 34 37 3 10.74 GHF0274 RC 63 23/01/2022 199776.85 7577871.998 407.656 0 -90 M2 46 49 3 1.77 GHF0275 RC 68 23/01/2022 199762.373 7577857.338 412.209 0 -90 M1 41 42.5 1.5 4.30 GHF0275 RC 68 23/01/2022 199762.373 7577857.338 412.209 0 -90 M2 53 55.5 2.5 0.91 GHF0276 RC 74 24/01/2022 199748.123 7577842.823 418.374 0 -90 M1 45.5 47.5 2 1.01 GHF0276 RC 74 24/01/2022 199748.123 7577842.823 418.374 0 -90 M2 58.5 61.5 3 1.73 GHF0277 RC 77 17/01/2022 199734.757 7577827.903 422.747 0 -90 M1 53 55 2 0.59 GHF0277 RC 77 17/01/2022 199734.757 7577827.903 422.747 0 -90 M2 63.5 67 3.5 2.25 GHF0278 RC 79 17/01/2022 199719.396 7577813.552 425.392 0 -90 M1 56 56.5 0.5 0.86 GHF0279 RC 54 1/02/2022 199704.796 7577800.286 425.316 0 -90 M1 52 53.5 1.5 1.09 GHF0281 RC 88 9/03/2022 199648.228 7577743.717 431.083 0 -90 M1 63 64 1 0.68 GHF0281 RC 88 9/03/2022 199648.228 7577743.717 431.083 0 -90 M2 74 75 1 1.09 GHF0282 RC 18 17/02/2022 199635.379 7577731.533 428.039 0 -90 M1 59.5 60.5 1 1.38 GHF0282 RC 18 17/02/2022 199635.379 7577731.533 428.039 0 -90 M2 71 72 1 0.68 GHF0283 RC 18 5/01/2022 199619.453 7577714.29 420.499 0 -90 M2 64 65.5 1.5 0.57 GHF0284 RC 54 6/01/2022 199605.483 7577702.442 425.706 0 -90 M1 53 53.5 0.5 0.82 GHF0284 RC 54 6/01/2022 199605.483 7577702.442 425.706 0 -90 M2 70.5 73 2.5 0.79 GHF0285 RC 100 22/02/2022 199591.66 7577687.148 430.643 14 -89 M1 57.5 59.5 2 3.03 GHF0285 RC 100 22/02/2022 199591.66 7577687.148 430.643 14 -89 M2 75 76 1 0.59 GHF0287 RC 36 11/01/2022 199902.842 7577969.975 405.234 0 -90 M1 32 35.5 3.5 2.11 GHF0287 RC 36 11/01/2022 199902.842 7577969.975 405.234 0 -90 M2 46 46.5 0.5 0.67 GHF0289 RC 67 15/01/2022 199874.093 7577940.67 414.633 0 -90 M1 39 41.5 2.5 4.15 GHF0289 RC 67 15/01/2022 199874.093 7577940.67 414.633 0 -90 M2 57 59.5 2.5 3.09 GHF0292 RC 61 23/01/2022 199790.217 7577857.613 407.119 0 -90 M1 32.5 34.5 2 2.11 GHF0292 RC 61 23/01/2022 199790.217 7577857.613 407.119 0 -90 M2 46.5 48 1.5 1.40 GHF0293 RC 73 18/04/2022 199733.08 7577800.286 420.552 0 -90 M1 47.5 48 0.5 15.94 GHF0294 RC 72 17/01/2022 199719.734 7577786.547 419.481 0 -90 M1 44 45 1 1.99 GHF0294 RC 72 17/01/2022 199719.734 7577786.547 419.481 0 -90 M2 61.5 63 1.5 1.29 GHF0295 RC 82 13/04/2022 199676.512 7577743.717 427.558 0 -90 M2 69 70 1 3.83 GHF0296 RC 72 5/01/2022 199635.586 7577701.245 420.188 0 -90 M1 46.5 47 0.5 8.27 GHF0296 RC 72 5/01/2022 199635.586 7577701.245 420.188 0 -90 M2 62.5 64.5 2 1.10 GHF0297 RC 90 4/01/2022 199621.655 7577686.293 425.847 0 -90 M1 51 53.5 2.5 5.54 GHF0297 RC 90 4/01/2022 199621.655 7577686.293 425.847 0 -90 M2 69.5 71 1.5 0.67 GHF0298 RC 55 12/01/2022 199917.105 7577955.396 407.079 0 -90 M1 32 37 5 4.36 GHF0298 RC 55 12/01/2022 199917.105 7577955.396 407.079 0 -90 M2 46.5 47.5 1 0.89 GHF0299 RC 66 13/01/2022 199900.989 7577939.504 417.62 0 -90 M1 41 43.5 2.5 2.81 GHF0299 RC 66 13/01/2022 199900.989 7577939.504 417.62 0 -90 M2 55 56 1 0.65 GHF0300 RC 42 15/01/2022 199887.855 7577926.165 418.699 0 -90 M1 42 44.5 2.5 1.62 GHF0300 RC 42 15/01/2022 199887.855 7577926.165 418.699 0 -90 M2 60 62.5 2.5 0.84 GHF0301 RC 48 17/01/2022 199733.262 7577772.181 414.558 0 -90 M1 38 39.5 1.5 16.39 GHF0302 RC 68 16/01/2022 199718.483 7577757.553 414.696 0 -90 M1 38.5 40 1.5 4.65 GHF0302 RC 68 16/01/2022 199718.483 7577757.553 414.696 0 -90 M2 53.5 55.5 2 2.71 GHF0303 RC 72 15/02/2022 199704.349 7577743.437 418.872 0 -90 M2 58.5 59.5 1 5.15 GHF0304 RC 60 15/02/2022 199691.468 7577729.872 420.143 0 -90 M1 48 50.5 2.5 0.64 GHF0304 RC 60 15/02/2022 199691.468 7577729.872 420.143 0 -90 M2 59.5 61 1.5 2.76 GHF0306 RC 71 3/01/2022 199662.35 7577701.255 419.362 0 -90 M1 48 49 1 0.65 GHF0306 RC 71 3/01/2022 199662.35 7577701.255 419.362 0 -90 M2 60 60.5 0.5 1.07 GHF0307 RC 30 3/01/2022 199930.955 7577941.658 409.248 0 -90 M1 33 35 2 1.51 GHF0308 RC 42 13/01/2022 199916.278 7577926.471 418.396 0 -90 M1 40 42.5 2.5 1.81 GHF0308 RC 42 13/01/2022 199916.278 7577926.471 418.396 0 -90 M2 54 57 3 0.96 GHF0309 RC 69 2/01/2022 199705.214 7577715.027 417.997 0 -90 M1 44.5 46.5 2 1.38 GHF0309 RC 69 2/01/2022 199705.214 7577715.027 417.997 0 -90 M2 55.5 57.5 2 2.92 GHF0310 RC 78 2/01/2022 199691.154 7577701.452 420.329 0 -90 M1 47 48.5 1.5 3.19 GHF0310 RC 78 2/01/2022 199691.154 7577701.452 420.329 0 -90 M2 59 60 1 1.91 GHF0311 RC 60 13/01/2022 199945.275 7577925.882 415.786 0 -90 M1 36 39.5 3.5 3.07 GHF0313 RC 67 14/01/2022 199930.311 7577912.472 420.51 0 -90 M1 40.5 42.5 2 3.13 GHF0313 RC 67 14/01/2022 199930.311 7577912.472 420.51 0 -90 M2 54 56.5 2.5 1.14 GHF0323 RC 102 16/04/2022 199506.805 7577998.274 432.246 0 -90 M1 63 63.5 0.5 0.51 GHF0323 RC 102 16/04/2022 199506.805 7577998.274 432.246 0 -90 M2 77 78.5 1.5 0.98 GHF0326 RC 101 17/04/2022 199520.947 7578012.417 431.12 0 -90 M1 65.5 67 1.5 2.82 GHF0326 RC 101 17/04/2022 199520.947 7578012.417 431.12 0 -90 M2 76.5 78 1.5 1.12 GHF0327 RC 102 15/04/2022 199535.089 7577998.275 435.161 0 -90 M1 66.5 67.5 1 1.36 GHF0327 RC 102 15/04/2022 199535.089 7577998.275 435.161 0 -90 M2 80.5 82 1.5 1.58 GHF0330 RC 88 19/04/2022 199535.089 7578026.559 428.475 0 -90 M1 61.5 63 1.5 0.59 GHF0330 RC 88 19/04/2022 199535.089 7578026.559 428.475 0 -90 M2 73 74.5 1.5 1.35 GHF0331 RC 92 18/04/2022 199549.231 7578012.417 431.748 0 -90 M1 63.5 64 0.5 1.07 GHF0331 RC 92 18/04/2022 199549.231 7578012.417 431.748 0 -90 M2 77 78.5 1.5 1.34 GHF0335 RC 80 19/04/2022 199549.231 7578040.701 425.46 0 -90 M1 59.5 61.5 2 1.12 GHF0335 RC 80 19/04/2022 199549.231 7578040.701 425.46 0 -90 M2 71 73 2 0.55 GHF0336 RC 88 21/04/2022 199563.373 7578026.559 427.779 0 -90 M1 60 62.5 2.5 0.86 GHF0336 RC 88 21/04/2022 199563.373 7578026.559 427.779 0 -90 M2 71.5 74 2.5 0.57 GHF0337 RC 85 21/04/2022 199577.515 7578012.417 425.027 0 -90 M1 57.5 58 0.5 1.32 GHF0337 RC 85 21/04/2022 199577.515 7578012.417 425.027 0 -90 M2 71 72 1 1.33 GHF0338 RC 80 23/04/2022 199591.657 7577998.275 419.756 0 -90 M1 52 52.5 0.5 1.25 GHF0338 RC 80 23/04/2022 199591.657 7577998.275 419.756 0 -90 M2 64.5 67 2.5 1.59 GHF0345 RC 82 20/04/2022 199577.515 7578040.701 422.338 0 -90 M1 57.5 58.5 1 1.12 GHF0345 RC 82 20/04/2022 199577.515 7578040.701 422.338 0 -90 M2 70.5 71 0.5 0.81 GHF0346 RC 81 27/04/2022 199591.657 7578026.559 421.037 0 -90 M1 55.5 56 0.5 1.32 GHF0346 RC 81 27/04/2022 199591.657 7578026.559 421.037 0 -90 M2 67.5 69 1.5 0.68 GHF0347 RC 79 24/04/2022 199605.799 7578012.417 419.416 0 -90 M1 52.5 53.5 1 0.90 GHF0347 RC 79 24/04/2022 199605.799 7578012.417 419.416 0 -90 M2 66.5 68.5 2 1.07 GHF0355 RC 79 29/04/2022 199605.799 7578040.702 418.662 0 -90 M1 51.5 52.5 1 1.13 GHF0355 RC 79 29/04/2022 199605.799 7578040.702 418.662 0 -90 M2 65 66.5 1.5 0.87 GHF0356 RC 76 25/04/2022 199619.941 7578026.56 415.707 0 -90 M1 50 51 1 0.54 GHF0364 RC 76 28/04/2022 199619.941 7578054.844 415.905 0 -90 M1 46.5 48 1.5 1.32 GHF0364 RC 76 28/04/2022 199619.941 7578054.844 415.905 0 -90 M2 62.5 64 1.5 0.79 GHF0365 RC 73 28/04/2022 199634.083 7578040.702 413.313 0 -90 M2 60.5 61.5 1 1.07 GHF0380 RC 62 30/04/2022 199676.51 7578054.844 401.581 0 -90 M1 32.5 34 1.5 1.07 GHF0380 RC 62 30/04/2022 199676.51 7578054.844 401.581 0 -90 M2 48.5 49 0.5 1.36 GHF0381 RC 72 20/03/2022 199520.945 7578238.691 411.775 0 -90 M1 44 45.5 1.5 0.68 GHF0381 RC 72 20/03/2022 199520.945 7578238.691 411.775 0 -90 M2 58.5 59.5 1 5.36 GHF0382 RC 78 15/03/2022 199577.514 7578182.123 417.882 343 -89 M1 45.5 46 0.5 1.71 GHF0382 RC 78 15/03/2022 199577.514 7578182.123 417.882 343 -89 M2 59 63 4 1.00 GHF0386 RC 60 15/04/2022 199676.51 7578083.128 400.046 0 -90 M1 30.5 31.5 1 0.60 GHF0386 RC 60 15/04/2022 199676.51 7578083.128 400.046 0 -90 M2 45.5 47.5 2 1.02 GHF0389 RC 73 24/03/2022 199506.803 7578281.117 413.485 0 -90 M1 47 47.5 0.5 1.28 GHF0389 RC 73 24/03/2022 199506.803 7578281.117 413.485 0 -90 M2 58 59.5 1.5 0.93 GHF0390 RC 73.5 24/03/2022 199520.945 7578266.975 413.258 344 -89 M1 46.5 47.5 1 0.71 GHF0390 RC 73.5 24/03/2022 199520.945 7578266.975 413.258 344 -89 M2 57.5 60 2.5 1.09 GHF0391 RC 74 20/03/2022 199535.087 7578252.833 413.605 0 -90 M1 46 47.5 1.5 1.72 GHF0391 RC 74 20/03/2022 199535.087 7578252.833 413.605 0 -90 M2 58.5 60 1.5 2.08 GHF0393 RC 80 20/03/2022 199591.656 7578196.265 420.068 0 -90 M2 61 63 2 1.43 GHF0397 RC 70 24/03/2022 199549.229 7578266.975 415.171 1 -90 M2 59.5 60.5 1 1.99 GHF0398 RC 71 14/03/2022 199577.514 7578238.691 415.53 114 -90 M1 43.5 45 1.5 2.10 GHF0398 RC 71 14/03/2022 199577.514 7578238.691 415.53 114 -90 M2 56 58 2 1.74 GHF0399 RC 88 29/03/2002 199591.656 7578224.549 418.316 0 -90 M1 48.5 49 0.5 1.04 GHF0399 RC 88 29/03/2002 199591.656 7578224.549 418.316 0 -90 M2 59 62.5 3.5 1.81 GHF0400 RC 78 13/04/2022 199605.798 7578210.407 423.241 0 -90 M1 51 54.5 3.5 0.90 GHF0400 RC 78 13/04/2022 199605.798 7578210.407 423.241 0 -90 M2 64.5 66.5 2 1.17 GHF0401 RC 82 7/03/2022 199619.94 7578196.265 426.942 0 -90 M1 55 56 1 0.74 GHF0401 RC 82 7/03/2022 199619.94 7578196.265 426.942 0 -90 M2 69 70.5 1.5 1.53 GHF0402 RC 90 4/03/2022 199648.225 7578167.981 419.754 7 -89 M1 47.5 50.5 3 1.23 GHF0402 RC 90 4/03/2022 199648.225 7578167.981 419.754 7 -89 M2 63 64.5 1.5 1.75 GHF0403 RC 78 4/03/2022 199662.367 7578153.839 418.102 355 -89 M1 46 47 1 0.70 GHF0403 RC 78 4/03/2022 199662.367 7578153.839 418.102 355 -89 M2 60.5 62.5 2 3.23 GHF0404 RC 83 4/03/2022 199676.509 7578139.697 418.611 316 -90 M1 47 49 2 1.85 GHF0404 RC 83 4/03/2022 199676.509 7578139.697 418.611 316 -90 M2 63 66 3 1.32 GHF0405 RC 78 4/03/2022 199690.651 7578125.555 417.828 51 -89 M1 47 48 1 3.33 GHF0405 RC 78 4/03/2022 199690.651 7578125.555 417.828 51 -89 M2 64 66.5 2.5 0.71 GHF0406 RC 77 4/03/2022 199704.794 7578111.413 416.605 306 -90 M1 46 49.5 3.5 2.07 GHF0406 RC 77 4/03/2022 199704.794 7578111.413 416.605 306 -90 M2 61.5 64.5 3 0.88 GHF0407 RC 84 4/03/2022 199718.936 7578097.271 414.531 0 -90 M1 45 45.5 0.5 2.23 GHF0407 RC 84 4/03/2022 199718.936 7578097.271 414.531 0 -90 M2 61 63 2 1.03 GHF0408 RC 82 18/04/2022 199506.802 7578337.686 427.377 0 -90 M1 57.5 58 0.5 0.75 GHF0409 RC 80 18/04/2022 199535.087 7578309.402 424.945 0 -90 M1 54 56 2 1.93 GHF0409 RC 80 18/04/2022 199535.087 7578309.402 424.945 0 -90 M2 67.5 68 0.5 3.00 GHF0411 RC 72 15/04/2022 199591.656 7578252.833 417.185 0 -90 M1 47.5 48.5 1 2.64 GHF0411 RC 72 15/04/2022 199591.656 7578252.833 417.185 0 -90 M2 57 58 1 0.68 GHF0412 RC 76 30/03/2022 199605.798 7578238.691 420.611 2 -89 M1 48 49 1 0.97 GHF0412 RC 76 30/03/2022 199605.798 7578238.691 420.611 2 -89 M2 60.5 61.5 1 2.14 GHF0413 RC 80 13/04/2022 199619.94 7578224.549 424.978 183 -90 M1 52 54 2 1.88 GHF0413 RC 80 13/04/2022 199619.94 7578224.549 424.978 183 -90 M2 65.5 68 2.5 3.19 GHF0414 RC 82 5/03/2022 199634.082 7578210.407 426.576 1 -89 M1 54 55.5 1.5 0.91 GHF0414 RC 82 5/03/2022 199634.082 7578210.407 426.576 1 -89 M2 68.5 70.5 2 2.64 GHF0415 RC 81 18/04/2022 199648.225 7578196.265 425.101 138 -90 M1 53 55 2 0.58 GHF0415 RC 81 18/04/2022 199648.225 7578196.265 425.101 138 -90 M2 68.5 70.5 2 3.38 GHF0416 RC 78 5/03/2022 199662.367 7578182.123 422.544 2 -90 M1 51 52 1 1.65 GHF0416 RC 78 5/03/2022 199662.367 7578182.123 422.544 2 -90 M2 65.5 68 2.5 2.71 GHF0417 RC 81 5/03/2022 199676.509 7578167.981 420.989 2 -89 M2 64 66.5 2.5 2.13 GHF0419 RC 79 4/03/2022 199704.793 7578139.697 419.127 0 -90 M1 48 49 1 3.36 GHF0419 RC 79 4/03/2022 199704.793 7578139.697 419.127 0 -90 M2 64 65 1 0.93 GHF0420 RC 78 27/05/2022 199718.936 7578125.555 417.795 344 -89 M1 46.5 48 1.5 0.53 GHF0420 RC 78 27/05/2022 199718.936 7578125.555 417.795 344 -89 M2 63.5 64.5 1 2.91 GHF0422 RC 88 18/04/2022 199520.944 7578351.828 432.839 3 -90 M1 62 63.5 1.5 5.08 GHF0422 RC 88 18/04/2022 199520.944 7578351.828 432.839 3 -90 M2 73.5 75.5 2 2.48 GHF0423 RC 85 18/04/2022 199535.086 7578337.686 430.377 344 -89 M2 71.5 72 0.5 1.61 GHF0424 RC 81 18/04/2022 199549.229 7578323.544 425.793 10 -89 M1 54.5 55.5 1 5.77 GHF0424 RC 81 18/04/2022 199549.229 7578323.544 425.793 10 -89 M2 67 67.5 0.5 4.15 GHF0426 RC 75 13/04/2022 199605.798 7578266.976 419.674 310 -90 M1 49.5 50.5 1 2.22 GHF0426 RC 75 13/04/2022 199605.798 7578266.976 419.674 310 -90 M2 62 62.5 0.5 2.51 GHF0427 RC 78 7/03/2022 199619.94 7578252.834 422.937 0 -90 M1 51 52 1 2.84 GHF0427 RC 78 7/03/2022 199619.94 7578252.834 422.937 0 -90 M2 62.5 65 2.5 1.71 GHF0428 RC 75 23/04/2022 199662.367 7578210.408 420.444 0 -90 M1 47.5 49.5 2 2.72 GHF0428 RC 75 23/04/2022 199662.367 7578210.408 420.444 0 -90 M2 61.5 62.5 1 1.31 GHF0429 RC 79 24/04/2022 199676.509 7578196.266 418.877 305 -89 M1 46.5 48.5 2 2.36 GHF0429 RC 79 24/04/2022 199676.509 7578196.266 418.877 305 -89 M2 61.5 62.5 1 3.08 GHF0430 RC 79 24/04/2022 199690.651 7578182.124 418.964 162 -89 M1 46.5 48.5 2 1.58 GHF0430 RC 79 24/04/2022 199690.651 7578182.124 418.964 162 -89 M2 63 64.5 1.5 1.89 GHF0431 RC 82 1/05/2022 199704.793 7578167.981 420.582 318 -89 M1 48.5 49.5 1 2.59 GHF0431 RC 82 1/05/2022 199704.793 7578167.981 420.582 318 -89 M2 63.5 67.5 4 0.85 GHF0432 RC 82 26/04/2022 199718.935 7578153.839 422.534 0 -90 M1 50.5 54.5 4 1.96 GHF0432 RC 82 26/04/2022 199718.935 7578153.839 422.534 0 -90 M2 67 69 2 2.13 GHF0433 RC 78 11/02/2022 199733.078 7578139.697 418.774 0 -90 M1 49 51 2 2.39 GHF0433 RC 78 11/02/2022 199733.078 7578139.697 418.774 0 -90 M2 64.5 65.5 1 2.46 GHF0434 RC 78 20/02/2022 199747.22 7578125.555 417.878 0 -90 M1 48 49 1 2.07 GHF0434 RC 78 20/02/2022 199747.22 7578125.555 417.878 0 -90 M2 63 65 2 0.96 GHF0435 RC 88 18/04/2022 199535.086 7578365.97 433.443 356 -89 M2 71.5 73 1.5 2.62 GHF0436 RC 84 18/04/2022 199549.228 7578351.828 429 4 -89 M2 68 69 1 0.76 GHF0438 RC 90 14/03/2022 199591.655 7578309.402 416.627 310 -90 M1 44.5 45.5 1 1.13 GHF0438 RC 90 14/03/2022 199591.655 7578309.402 416.627 310 -90 M2 55 55.5 0.5 0.91 GHF0440 RC 77 7/03/2022 199634.082 7578266.976 421.545 349 -89 M1 49.5 51 1.5 6.19 GHF0440 RC 77 7/03/2022 199634.082 7578266.976 421.545 349 -89 M2 61 62 1 1.79 GHF0441 RC 72 23/04/2022 199662.366 7578238.692 416.711 0 -90 M2 58 59 1 3.01 GHF0443 RC 79 23/04/2022 199690.651 7578210.408 415.969 1 -88 M1 45 45.5 0.5 1.89 GHF0443 RC 79 23/04/2022 199690.651 7578210.408 415.969 1 -88 M2 58.5 60 1.5 0.75 GHF0444 RC 79 26/04/2022 199704.793 7578196.266 417.126 16 -88 M1 45.5 47 1.5 1.35 GHF0444 RC 79 26/04/2022 199704.793 7578196.266 417.126 16 -88 M2 60.5 62 1.5 4.47 GHF0445 RC 79 4/03/2022 199718.935 7578182.124 417.588 0 -90 M1 46.5 48.5 2 1.11 GHF0445 RC 79 4/03/2022 199718.935 7578182.124 417.588 0 -90 M2 62 64.5 2.5 2.00 GHF0446 RC 79 25/04/2022 199733.078 7578167.982 418.669 310 -89 M1 47 49 2 0.97 GHF0447 RC 79 21/04/2022 199747.22 7578153.84 422.86 360 -89 M1 52.5 55 2.5 3.03 GHF0447 RC 79 21/04/2022 199747.22 7578153.84 422.86 360 -89 M2 67.5 68 0.5 1.64 GHF0452 RC 81 7/03/2022 199634.082 7578295.26 425.547 6 -89 M1 53 53.5 0.5 0.61 GHF0453 RC 70.5 1/05/2022 199690.651 7578238.692 416.446 7 -90 M2 56.5 59 2.5 2.33 GHF0454 RC 78.5 22/04/2022 199704.793 7578224.55 413.804 0 -90 M1 42 42.5 0.5 9.36 GHF0455 RC 68 22/04/2022 199718.935 7578210.408 413.026 301 -90 M2 54.5 55 0.5 0.54 GHF0456 RC 79 22/04/2022 199733.077 7578196.266 415.403 348 -90 M1 45 46 1 5.41 GHF0456 RC 79 22/04/2022 199733.077 7578196.266 415.403 348 -90 M2 57 57.5 0.5 1.36 GHF0457 RC 78 3/03/2022 199747.22 7578182.124 416.194 0 -90 M1 47.5 48.5 1 33.16 GHF0458 RC 79.5 25/04/2022 199761.362 7578167.982 417.861 359 -89 M1 48.5 49.5 1 0.87 GHF0459 RC 77 26/04/2022 199775.504 7578153.84 422.371 72 -89 M1 55 56 1 3.11 GHF0460 RC 70 15/04/2022 199605.797 7578351.829 420.307 0 -90 M2 55 55.5 0.5 1.08 GHF0464 RC 71 29/05/2022 199704.793 7578252.834 420.683 159 -90 M1 47 47.5 0.5 17.60 GHF0468 RC 78 2/03/2022 199775.504 7578182.124 414.321 0 -90 M1 48 49 1 0.97 GHF0469 RC 83 15/04/2022 199634.081 7578351.829 427.603 0 -90 M1 51.5 52 0.5 1.44 GHF0470 RC 86 9/03/2022 199648.224 7578337.687 431.044 19 -89 M2 61.5 62.5 1 0.62 GHF0475 RC 73.5 30/04/2022 199747.219 7578238.692 417.911 28 -90 M1 48 50 2 3.04 GHF0479 RC 79 12/03/2022 199690.65 7578323.545 429.361 11 -89 M2 56 56.5 0.5 1.43 GHF0480 RC 80 12/03/2022 199704.792 7578309.403 430.13 7 -90 M2 56.5 57.5 1 0.59 GHF0481 RC 80 12/03/2022 199718.934 7578295.261 430.22 14 -89 M2 57.5 58 0.5 1.29 GHF0482 RC 79 12/03/2022 199733.077 7578281.119 429.084 8 -90 M2 56.5 57 0.5 0.56 GHF0490 RC 68 7/02/2022 199931.069 7577899.282 423.857 174 -90 M1 41.5 44 2.5 17.66 GHF0490 RC 68 7/02/2022 199931.069 7577899.282 423.857 174 -90 M2 60 61.5 1.5 1.66 GHF0491 RC 67 15/02/2022 199938.049 7577892.296 424.172 69 -90 M1 41.5 43.5 2 2.67 GHF0491 RC 67 15/02/2022 199938.049 7577892.296 424.172 69 -90 M2 59.5 61 1.5 1.30 GHF0492 RC 70 17/02/2022 199909.54 7577906.463 422.864 67 -90 M1 42 45 3 2.83 GHF0492 RC 70 17/02/2022 199909.54 7577906.463 422.864 67 -90 M2 60.5 63 2.5 2.44 GHF0494 RC 69.5 17/02/2022 199895.756 7577906.314 422.087 283 -89 M1 42 45 3 5.96 GHF0494 RC 69.5 17/02/2022 199895.756 7577906.314 422.087 283 -89 M2 59.5 62.5 3 2.21 GHF0495 RC 70.5 17/02/2022 199902.657 7577899.5 423.217 3 -89 M1 42 44.5 2.5 8.71 GHF0495 RC 70.5 17/02/2022 199902.657 7577899.5 423.217 3 -89 M2 59.5 63 3.5 2.54 GHF0496 RC 71.5 17/02/2022 199909.675 7577892.491 424.654 3 -88 M1 43.5 44.5 1 15.63 GHF0496 RC 71.5 17/02/2022 199909.675 7577892.491 424.654 3 -88 M2 59.5 63 3.5 7.88 GHF0497 RC 71 17/02/2022 199916.84 7577885.128 425.895 165 -89 M1 43.5 45 1.5 3.35 GHF0497 RC 71 17/02/2022 199916.84 7577885.128 425.895 165 -89 M2 60.5 63.5 3 3.85 GHF0498 RC 70.5 17/02/2022 199924.03 7577877.888 426.759 7 -90 M1 43.5 45 1.5 31.29 GHF0498 RC 70.5 17/02/2022 199924.03 7577877.888 426.759 7 -90 M2 58.5 61.5 3 6.22 GHF0499 RC 69 17/02/2022 199923.876 7577863.732 426.87 359 -89 M1 42 44 2 4.58 GHF0499 RC 69 17/02/2022 199923.876 7577863.732 426.87 359 -89 M2 56.5 61.5 5 2.88 GHF0500 RC 69 17/02/2022 199909.211 7577863.348 426.862 80 -89 M1 42.5 44 1.5 48.84 GHF0500 RC 69 17/02/2022 199909.211 7577863.348 426.862 80 -89 M2 56.5 61.5 5 3.78 GHF0501 RC 68.5 17/02/2022 199916.946 7577856.679 426.95 2 -90 M1 42 44 2 8.90 GHF0501 RC 68.5 17/02/2022 199916.946 7577856.679 426.95 2 -90 M2 56.5 58.5 2 1.56 GHF0502 RC 65.5 17/02/2022 199924.163 7577849.551 425.879 306 -89 M1 40 42 2 3.40 GHF0502 RC 65.5 17/02/2022 199924.163 7577849.551 425.879 306 -89 M2 54 58.5 4.5 2.20 GHF0503 RC 67 17/02/2022 199909.544 7577849.346 426.398 329 -90 M1 40.5 43.5 3 1.91 GHF0503 RC 67 17/02/2022 199909.544 7577849.346 426.398 329 -90 M2 57 60 3 13.16 GHF0504 RC 66.5 17/02/2022 199895.707 7577849.66 425.105 359 -89 M1 40.5 43.5 3 2.29 GHF0504 RC 66.5 17/02/2022 199895.707 7577849.66 425.105 359 -89 M2 55 60 5 2.83 GHF0505 RC 66.5 17/02/2022 199902.69 7577842.75 425.75 8 -89 M1 39.5 43 3.5 2.05 GHF0505 RC 66.5 17/02/2022 199902.69 7577842.75 425.75 8 -89 M2 55 59.5 4.5 4.68 GHF0506 RC 64 17/02/2022 199909.862 7577835.49 424.694 126 -89 M1 38 39.5 1.5 18.94 GHF0506 RC 64 17/02/2022 199909.862 7577835.49 424.694 126 -89 M2 51 57 6 2.07 GHF0507 RC 66 17/02/2022 199895.904 7577835.641 425.245 21 -90 M1 39 41.5 2.5 8.14 GHF0507 RC 66 17/02/2022 199895.904 7577835.641 425.245 21 -90 M2 53.5 57.5 4 2.52 GHF0508 RC 66 17/02/2022 199874.408 7577842.822 422.616 335 -90 M1 39.5 42.5 3 4.03 GHF0508 RC 66 17/02/2022 199874.408 7577842.822 422.616 335 -90 M2 54.5 58 3.5 1.73 GHF0509 RC 66.5 17/02/2022 199881.59 7577835.773 424.447 271 -89 M1 40 40.5 0.5 7.31 GHF0509 RC 66.5 17/02/2022 199881.59 7577835.773 424.447 271 -89 M2 54.5 58 3.5 4.40 GHF0510 RC 65.5 17/02/2022 199888.474 7577828.424 425.138 357 -89 M1 39.5 41 1.5 1.25 GHF0510 RC 65.5 17/02/2022 199888.474 7577828.424 425.138 357 -89 M2 54.5 57.5 3 0.89 GHF0511 RC 63.5 17/02/2022 199895.712 7577821.243 424.311 338 -89 M1 36 39.5 3.5 4.41 GHF0511 RC 63.5 17/02/2022 199895.712 7577821.243 424.311 338 -89 M2 50.5 55.5 5 4.81 GHF0512 RC 67 17/02/2022 199867.489 7577835.645 423.286 339 -90 M1 40 42.5 2.5 2.52 GHF0512 RC 67 17/02/2022 199867.489 7577835.645 423.286 339 -90 M2 54 58.5 4.5 1.69 GHF0513 RC 65.5 17/02/2022 199881.505 7577821.485 425.682 22 -90 M1 38.5 41.5 3 0.63 GHF0513 RC 65.5 17/02/2022 199881.505 7577821.485 425.682 22 -90 M2 55 57 2 1.14 GHF0514 RC 69 17/02/2022 199860.448 7577828.847 425.482 324 -89 M1 43.5 45 1.5 4.88 GHF0514 RC 69 17/02/2022 199860.448 7577828.847 425.482 324 -89 M2 57 60 3 1.69 GHF0515 RC 67.5 17/02/2022 199867.507 7577821.505 426.395 0 -90 M1 42.5 45 2.5 6.63 GHF0515 RC 67.5 17/02/2022 199867.507 7577821.505 426.395 0 -90 M2 56 59.5 3.5 1.70 GHF0516 RC 65.5 17/02/2022 199874.468 7577814.464 426.452 25 -89 M1 40.5 43.5 3 4.71 GHF0517 RC 63.5 17/02/2022 199881.814 7577807.046 425.239 8 -90 M1 37.5 41 3.5 5.04 GHF0517 RC 63.5 17/02/2022 199881.814 7577807.046 425.239 8 -90 M2 51 56 5 1.50 GHF0518 RC 70.5 17/02/2022 199853.458 7577821.26 426.932 221 -90 M1 45.5 46.5 1 30.39 GHF0518 RC 70.5 17/02/2022 199853.458 7577821.26 426.932 221 -90 M2 59 61.5 2.5 0.96 GHF0519 RC 66 17/02/2022 199867.398 7577807.3 427.054 59 -90 M1 43 44.5 1.5 3.13 GHF0519 RC 66 17/02/2022 199867.398 7577807.3 427.054 59 -90 M2 55 58.5 3.5 2.52 GHF0520 RC 69.5 17/02/2022 199853.327 7577807.42 428.033 327 -89 M1 47 50 3 1.50 GHF0520 RC 69.5 17/02/2022 199853.327 7577807.42 428.033 327 -89 M2 57.5 61.5 4 2.74 GHF0521 RC 67 18/02/2022 199860.42 7577800.148 427.581 350 -90 M1 45.5 47 1.5 5.17 GHF0521 RC 67 18/02/2022 199860.42 7577800.148 427.581 350 -90 M2 58 60 2 1.14 GHF0522 RC 75 18/02/2022 199853.436 7577793.183 428.089 6 -90 M1 46 47.5 1.5 23.35 GHF0522 RC 75 18/02/2022 199853.436 7577793.183 428.089 6 -90 M2 57 60 3 3.86 GHF0523 RC 70 18/02/2022 199839.262 7577793.253 428.588 3 -89 M1 47.5 52 4.5 15.23 GHF0523 RC 70 18/02/2022 199839.262 7577793.253 428.588 3 -89 M2 59 62.5 3.5 3.05 GHF0524 RC 69 18/02/2022 199845.971 7577786.109 428.521 4 -89 M2 57.5 62 4.5 3.86 GHF0525 RC 69.5 18/02/2022 199839.371 7577779.114 428.726 297 -89 M1 47 49.5 2.5 13.54 GHF0525 RC 69.5 18/02/2022 199839.371 7577779.114 428.726 297 -89 M2 61 62 1 14.15 GHF0526 RC 70.5 18/02/2022 199824.966 7577778.923 428.566 0 -90 M1 47 50.5 3.5 43.62 GHF0526 RC 70.5 18/02/2022 199824.966 7577778.923 428.566 0 -90 M2 59 60 1 6.43 GHF0527 RC 69.5 18/02/2022 199832.043 7577772.049 428.968 355 -90 M1 46.5 48.5 2 4.31 GHF0527 RC 69.5 18/02/2022 199832.043 7577772.049 428.968 355 -90 M2 58.5 61.5 3 4.12 GHF0528 RC 70 18/02/2022 199825.034 7577765.176 429.205 10 -89 M1 46.5 47.5 1 5.29 GHF0528 RC 70 18/02/2022 199825.034 7577765.176 429.205 10 -89 M2 59 62 3 4.72 GHF0529 RC 72 9/02/2022 199811.575 7577763.987 428.955 0 -90 M1 47.5 50 2.5 2.03 GHF0529 RC 72 9/02/2022 199811.575 7577763.987 428.955 0 -90 M2 60 61 1 2.24 GHF0530 RC 71 18/02/2022 199817.933 7577758.094 429.752 0 -90 M1 47 49.5 2.5 1.40 GHF0530 RC 71 18/02/2022 199817.933 7577758.094 429.752 0 -90 M2 59.5 61.5 2 1.89 GHF0531 RC 68.5 18/02/2022 199825.226 7577750.574 428.659 348 -89 M1 45 46 1 12.26 GHF0531 RC 68.5 18/02/2022 199825.226 7577750.574 428.659 348 -89 M2 57 59 2 2.34 GHF0532 RC 66.5 18/02/2022 199831.972 7577743.755 428.093 0 -90 M1 42.5 44.5 2 3.36 GHF0532 RC 66.5 18/02/2022 199831.972 7577743.755 428.093 0 -90 M2 55 57 2 3.34 GHF0533 RC 72 11/02/2022 199810.891 7577750.922 430.132 7 -89 M1 48 48.5 0.5 1.71 GHF0533 RC 72 11/02/2022 199810.891 7577750.922 430.132 7 -89 M2 60 62 2 2.37 GHF0534 RC 67.5 18/02/2022 199824.948 7577736.639 428.67 1 -90 M1 44 44.5 0.5 3.42 GHF0534 RC 67.5 18/02/2022 199824.948 7577736.639 428.67 1 -90 M2 55.5 57 1.5 0.78 GHF0535 RC 72.5 11/02/2022 199796.831 7577750.578 429.405 0 -90 M2 61 63 2 2.45 GHF0536 RC 72.5 11/02/2022 199803.83 7577743.566 430.642 12 -89 M1 48 48.5 0.5 0.94 GHF0536 RC 72.5 11/02/2022 199803.83 7577743.566 430.642 12 -89 M2 59.5 60.5 1 3.74 GHF0537 RC 71 11/02/2022 199811.166 7577736.723 430.42 168 -89 M1 46.5 47 0.5 0.80 GHF0537 RC 71 11/02/2022 199811.166 7577736.723 430.42 168 -89 M2 60 60.5 0.5 0.54 GHF0538 RC 73 11/02/2022 199796.777 7577736.718 430.893 357 -89 M1 47 48 1 4.59 GHF0540 RC 73.5 11/02/2022 199789.838 7577729.739 431.062 341 -89 M1 47.5 49 1.5 2.32 GHF0540 RC 73.5 11/02/2022 199789.838 7577729.739 431.062 341 -89 M2 61 63.5 2.5 0.70 GHF0541 RC 70.5 11/02/2022 199799.851 7577721.897 429.287 0 -90 M1 44.5 45.5 1 5.70 GHF0541 RC 70.5 11/02/2022 199799.851 7577721.897 429.287 0 -90 M2 59.5 62 2.5 0.61 GHF0542 RC 73 11/02/2022 199782.583 7577722.526 430.745 348 -90 M2 60 63.5 3.5 1.00 GHF0543 RC 75 12/02/2022 199768.774 7577722.593 431.139 0 -90 M2 63 66 3 1.25 GHF0544 RC 73 11/02/2022 199775.636 7577715.626 430.899 8 -89 M1 48 49 1 1.57 GHF0544 RC 73 11/02/2022 199775.636 7577715.626 430.899 8 -89 M2 60.5 63.5 3 2.99 GHF0545 RC 70 11/02/2022 199782.425 7577708.503 429.249 0 -90 M1 48 52 4 3.80 GHF0545 RC 70 11/02/2022 199782.425 7577708.503 429.249 0 -90 M2 55 57.5 2.5 1.02 GHF0546 RC 73.5 14/02/2022 199754.583 7577722.372 428.367 0 -90 M1 48.5 49 0.5 3.95 GHF0547 RC 73 15/02/2022 199768.325 7577708.363 430.775 336 -89 M1 51 52.5 1.5 1.28 GHF0547 RC 73 15/02/2022 199768.325 7577708.363 430.775 336 -89 M2 61.5 65.5 4 1.34 GHF0548 RC 73 7/02/2022 199748.158 7577715.796 427.932 1 -90 M2 61.5 63 1.5 2.36 GHF0549 RC 74 14/02/2022 199754.274 7577708.261 430.144 0 -90 M1 49 50 1 8.94 GHF0549 RC 74 14/02/2022 199754.274 7577708.261 430.144 0 -90 M2 62.5 63.5 1 3.51 GHF0550 RC 72.5 15/02/2022 199761.414 7577701.435 430.521 87 -89 M1 50 51.5 1.5 1.47 GHF0550 RC 72.5 15/02/2022 199761.414 7577701.435 430.521 87 -89 M2 62 62.5 0.5 3.62 GHF0551 RC 68.5 9/02/2022 199768.32 7577694.14 428.958 0 -90 M1 48.5 49 0.5 2.02 GHF0551 RC 68.5 9/02/2022 199768.32 7577694.14 428.958 0 -90 M2 58 61 3 3.90 GHF0552 RC 72.5 6/02/2022 199740.325 7577708.476 427.375 0 -90 M1 47.5 48.5 1 6.98 GHF0552 RC 72.5 6/02/2022 199740.325 7577708.476 427.375 0 -90 M2 61.5 64.5 3 3.77 GHF0553 RC 71.5 18/02/2022 199754.258 7577694.222 429.892 0 -90 M1 46.5 48.5 2 4.59 GHF0553 RC 71.5 18/02/2022 199754.258 7577694.222 429.892 0 -90 M2 60 63.5 3.5 2.69 GHF0554 RC 72 5/02/2022 199733.079 7577701.309 427.119 0 -90 M1 47.5 48 0.5 3.44 GHF0554 RC 72 5/02/2022 199733.079 7577701.309 427.119 0 -90 M2 61.5 64.5 3 15.30 GHF0555 RC 72.5 8/02/2022 199741.293 7577694.98 428.848 0 -90 M1 47.5 48.5 1 3.60 GHF0556 RC 54 6/02/2022 199747.106 7577687.232 428.884 1 -90 M1 49 49.5 0.5 0.58 GHF0556 RC 54 6/02/2022 199747.106 7577687.232 428.884 1 -90 M2 60 62.5 2.5 1.11 GHF0557 RC 66.5 5/02/2022 199753.952 7577681.506 427.433 0 -90 M1 45.5 46 0.5 0.65 GHF0557 RC 66.5 5/02/2022 199753.952 7577681.506 427.433 0 -90 M2 58.5 60.5 2 1.64 GHF0558 RC 72 4/02/2022 199725.986 7577694.201 426.777 0 -90 M1 51 51.5 0.5 4.29 GHF0558 RC 72 4/02/2022 199725.986 7577694.201 426.777 0 -90 M2 63 64.5 1.5 3.66 GHF0559 RC 69 4/02/2022 199739.87 7577679.766 427.234 0 -90 M2 60.5 61.5 1 0.93 GHF0560 RC 72 3/02/2022 199717.282 7577687.007 426.274 0 -90 M1 50.5 52 1.5 7.16 GHF0560 RC 72 3/02/2022 199717.282 7577687.007 426.274 0 -90 M2 62.5 64.5 2 1.91 GHF0561 RC 70 3/02/2022 199725.817 7577680.157 426.56 0 -90 M1 49.5 50.5 1 8.17 GHF0561 RC 70 3/02/2022 199725.817 7577680.157 426.56 0 -90 M2 61.5 63.5 2 1.24 GHF0562 RC 66.5 4/02/2022 199733.444 7577674.908 425.402 0 -90 M1 42.5 44.5 2 16.36 GHF0562 RC 66.5 4/02/2022 199733.444 7577674.908 425.402 0 -90 M2 60 62 2 1.25

______________________

1 Refer to the Companys news releases dated June 14, 2022.

2 Refer to the Companys news releases dated December 13, 2021 and May 24, 2022.

3 Refer to the Companys news release dated April 30, 2021 and the report titled Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Beatons Creek Gold Project, Western Australia (the PEA) with an effective date of February 5, 2021 and an issue date of April 30, 2021. The mineral resource estimate in the PEA has not been adjusted for depletion. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

4 Refer to the Companys news releases dated October 12, 2021 and April 7, 2022.

5 Refer to the Companys news release dated October 12, 2021.




PLYMOUTH, Minn., June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

What: The historic first endorsement deal under the newly passed Minnesota High School Name Image Likeness (NIL) rule



Who: Top High School Female Athlete will sign endorsement deal with TruStone Financial Credit Union, represented by President & CEO Dale Turner

Where: TruStone Financial, 14601 27th Avenue North, Suite 104, Plymouth, MN 55447

When: Wednesday, June 15, 11:30 am CT

Contact: Marty Kelly, EVP/CMO, TruStone Financial  marty.kelly@trustone.org

Why: Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) recently approved NIL. Please join us for a special announcement and signing event at the TruStone Financial Corporate office.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/226e8b93-d962-454e-a768-a139495d5a5b
Mercedes held a big lobby in Azerbaijan for a new F1 rulebook. According to The Germans, the current cars are not safe, but few teams support the reigning world champion among the constructors. Martin Brundle also doesn't understand what the team's intention is.

Article continues under ad

Lobbying in Azerbaijan

Mercedes is having a much harder time in Formula 1 after eight years of dominance in 2022. The new regulations were interpreted better by Ferrari and Red Bull Racing and the German team just can't get the optimal performance out of the W13. In fact, to get the most out of it, it has to be driven so low that it is barely driveable for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

''Of course, [Mercedes] can fix it by raising the car but then they lose a huge amount of performance. So, they need to get the car low, stiff on the suspension and stiff on the side wall of the new tyres as well, and they've had to sacrifice comfort for performance. What's surprising, really, is that Mercedes just can't seem to get a handle on what looks like, actually, quite an excellent car, if they could just unlock it,'' says Brundle at Sky Sports.

No help for Mercedes

Mercedes tried in Baku to persuade other teams to vote for a new rulebook. According to Toto Wollf and consorts, these regulations are dangerous. However, Brundle understands that other teams are not going along with this.

''To ask the other teams to change the regulations to help Mercedes, is a bit like asking a turkey to vote for Christmas. I'm not underplaying what George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are going through, because it does look particularly painful,'' the Briton concludes.

Read more Timetable Grand Prix of Canada takes some getting used to due to huge time difference
bp has agreed to sell its 50% interest in the Sunrise oil sands project in Alberta, Canada, to Calgary-based Cenovus Energy, the other owner of the Sunrise project. As part of the deal, bp is acquiring Cenovuss interest in the Bay du Nord project in Eastern Canada, adding to its sizeable acreage position offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.

In Canada, bp will no longer have interests in oil sands production and will shift its focus to future potential offshore growth. bp currently holds an interest in six exploration licenses in the offshore Eastern Newfoundland Region. The non-operated stake in the Bay du Nord project will expand bps position offshore Eastern Canada.

The Sunrise project was originally being jointly developed by Husky Energy and BP; Husky operated the field. The Sunrise field was estimated to hold 3.7 billion barrels of bitumen including 0.36 billion barrels of proved, 2.48 billion barrels of probable and 0.86 billion barrels of possible reserves. Cenovus acquired Husky in January 2021.

Sunrise is about 60 kilometers northeast of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The reservoir at Sunrise sits about 200 meters below the surface.

The Bay du Nord project (BdN) consists of several oil discoveries in the Flemish Pass basin, some 500 km northeast of St. Johns in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The first discovery was made by Equinor in 2013, followed by additional discoveries in 2015, 2016 and 2020. The Bay du Nord discovery is at a water depth of approximately 1170 meters whilst the new discoveries are at approx. 650 water depth.





Cenovus Energy was Equinors partner in the Bay du Nord discoveries. bp is Equinors partner in the Cappahayden and Cambriol Central discoveries.

Total consideration for the transaction includes C$600 million (US$465 million) cash, a contingent payment with a maximum aggregate value of C$600 million expiring after two years, and Cenovuss 35% position in the undeveloped Bay du Nord project offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in 2022.
Canada Post has earmarked $1 billion to cut emissions and transform its fleet. With nearly 14,000 vehicles and Canadas largest retail network of close to 6,000 post offices, Canada Post acknowledges its footprint is significant. The Corporation will transform its fleet to non-emitting transportation, with commitments to reach a 50% electric fleet by 2030 and 100% by 2040.

Canada Post currently has an open RFQ (Request for Qualification) for an EV Pilot. Canada Post is looking to purchase a limited quantity of electric vehicles for the purpose of carrying out a pilot involving field trials of vehicles in an operational setting. The pilot / field trials are being carried out to assist Canada Post in developing and refining the requirements, specifications and evaluation criteria to be used in future, anticipated RFPs involving procurements of Electric Vehicles (EVs).

Closing data on the RFQ is 31 December 2022.

Canada Post has committed to a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, measured against 2019 levels. The target is built to meet the 1.5 C pathway of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which aims to limit global warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. The 2030 target sets Canada Post on a path to net zero emissions by 2050 and will be submitted to the SBTi for approval.





In May, Canada Post unveiled its net-zero parcel sorting facility that will have the capacity to process more than one million packages a day. The $470-million Albert Jackson Processing Centre will be a key hub for the companys national network when it officially opens in early 2023. The facility is the largest industrial project in Canada with the Zero Carbon Building Standard designation.





Canada Post is launching a trial of a low-speed vehicle on a postal route covering neighboorhoods west of downtown Ottawa. The compact electric vehicle reaches maximum speeds of 40 km/h. It will be used for delivery and collection activities for a year to evaluate its performance in operations and optimal safety procedures.
Schaeffler is introducing 4in1 electric axle drives. Until now, up to three drive components were assembled in one compact unit. With the 4in1 electric axle, Schaeffler is now going one step further by integrating the thermal management system as well as the electric motor, power electronics, and transmission into the axle drive. This makes the axle drive more compact and lighter and ensures greater comfort.





With the 4in1 electric axle, Schaeffler is now integrating the thermal management system as well as the electric motor, power electronics, and transmission into the axle drive.

A particularly efficient thermal management system also ensures that a car travels further on one battery charge and charges faster. Another new development are electric beam axles for pick-up trucks. In the future, Schaeffler will supply beam axles to automobile manufacturers, particularly in North America.





The highly integrated and compact housing of the 4in1 electric axle needs significantly less space than non-integrated systems.

Heat is a scarce and valuable resource in electric cars, which do not have the waste heat from internal combustion engines for heating the interior, for example. Furthermore, particularly at high and low outside temperatures, the range and rapid charging capability essentially depend on whether, for example, the battery can be held in a suitable temperature window.

The thermal management system has a significant influence on the efficiency and comfort of the vehicle. Dr. Jochen Schroder, head of the E-Mobility business division at Schaeffler

The company therefore already offers thermal management systems for all types of vehicle powertrains and is continuing to develop them. A new approach is the combination of the drive components of a conventional electric axle with the thermal management system, which was an independent module in most cases until now.

The 4in1 packaging creates a highly integrated and compact complete system, which requires significantly less space than non-integrated solutions, says Schroder. Furthermore, less energy is lost in the form of heat because unnecessary hoses and cables can be dispensed with.

Another advantage of the 4in1 system is the optimized interaction of the individual subsystems, says Schroder. Schaefflers engineers consider the thermal behavior of individual drive components such as the electric motor or the power electronics as well as the most efficient and comprehensive thermal management of the entire vehicle. For example, an intelligent control system ensures that excess heat is efficiently dissipated from the power electronics and electric motor and that it is used in the interior of the vehicle. The temperature of the battery is also regulated in such a way that the car can travel further on one battery charge and that it charges faster.

The supplier realizes further efficiency benefits by bringing in a new heat pump, which is operated with carbon dioxide. Not only does carbon dioxide have less impact on the environment than conventional refrigerant, it also has physical characteristics which allow more efficient heating and cooling of vehicles.

The 4in1 electric axle with an integrated thermal management system enables a higher efficiency level of the complete system, says Schroder. An efficiency level of up to 96% is possible in an optimally designed system. Each additional percentage point translates into an increased range.

With its 4in1 electric axle, Schaeffler is developing its most comprehensive drive system for electric cars so far. The company will also continue to offer to its customers individual components and subsystems for electric and hybrid drives such as electric motors, transmissions, bearings, and the thermal management system. The range also includes the combination of two or three drive components.

Schaeffler is therefore opening up a particularly large market, especially since in the future electric axles will be used in vehicles ranging from passenger cars through to light commercial vehicles with purely electric drives and drives based on fuel cells. This would extend also to tailored electric axles and components for the electrification of commercial vehicles and heavy-duty applications.

For the electrification of medium-duty pick-up trucks, particularly for the North American market, Schaeffler is developing and will manufacture an electric beam axle. In the electric beam axle, the electric motor, transmission, power electronics, and the entire rear axle are connected to each other and supplied to the customer as a ready-to-fit unit. Axles like these are more than two meters wide. Schaeffler has already secured its first orders for electric beam axles from automobile manufacturers. The company is therefore entering a new market segment for electric axle drives.

Schaeffler manufactures components for electric axles at several locations worldwide. In September 2021, production started at its plant in Szombathely, Hungary. This production location is the Schaeffler Groups first pure e-mobility plant and its new competence center for the manufacture of components and systems for electrified powertrains. In addition, components for e-mobility and integrated electric axle drives are manufactured in Taicang, China. A further production facility is being set up in Wooster, US, where hybrid modules are already being manufactured. The new global lead plant for electric motors is now being built in Buhl, headquarters of Schaefflers Automotive Technologies division.
These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales.
Samsung Galaxy A04 Core leaks: looks mostly the same, but will get a better chipset

Here is a peek at the Samsung Galaxy A04 Core, what might be the cheapest smartphone that the company releases this year. We have seen renders of a related model, the Galaxy A04s with a fancy a triple camera on the back. The Core will not have a three cameras, instead it will offer only the bare essentials.



Samsung Galaxy A04 Core (leaked images)

Its a basic phone that doesnt seem to have changed much from the Galaxy A03 Core. A single camera on the back and a notch on the front to house the selfie camera.

Details are a bit scarce at the moment, but the phone will allegedly be powered by the Exynos 850  an 8nm chip with eight Cortex-A55 cores (2.0GHz) and a Mali-G52 MP1 GPU. Hardly a speed demon, but still better than the 28nm Unisoc chip that powered by the A03 Core. A phone that was initially identified as the Galaxy A04s posted Geekbench scores using the same Exynos 850 chipset. A case of mistaken identity? Perhaps, but that chip would be an upgrade over the A03s as well, so its not impossible that several A04 models will use it.



Samsung Galaxy A04 Core in three colors (leaked images)

Theres no word on other features or pricing yet, but dont expect too much  previous A0 Core models have used Android Go edition.

Source (in German)
Pyriel "Ross" Jao, 20, with advice on how to respond if someone in your life comes out to you as gender-fluid or otherwise non-cisgendered on May 26, 2022.
OUAGADOUGOU, June 13 (Xinhua) -- At least 50 civilians were killed in an attack perpetrated on Saturday night by unidentified gunmen against Seytenga commune, Seno province, in northern Burkina Faso, the government spokesman Lionel Bilgo said on Monday.

"As of Monday afternoon, 50 bodies have been found and the search continues," Bilgo said, adding that the toll may rise.

People who fled the attack were taken care of in the town of Dori, capital of the Sahel region, said Bilgo.

Last Thursday, unidentified gunmen attacked the Territorial Brigade of Gendarmerie of Seytenga, killing 11 gendarmes.

Also in the same province, four police officers were killed and two others still missing during an attack perpetrated on Sunday by unidentified gunmen against a detachment of the Republican Security Corps (CRS) of Yakouta, said a statement on Monday.

Security in Burkina Faso has worsened since 2015 as attacks have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 1.9 million others in the West African nation.
Report

Report suspicious phone calls to the Mariana Regional Fusion Center and provide pertinent information such as the date and time you were contacted, along with any details regarding the nature of the call and any information regarding, names, addresses and instructions you were given.

The community can report any suspicious calls and activity relating to the subject to the Fusion Center at 671-475-0400 or via email to mrfc@ghs.guam.gov.
A man accused of discharging a firearm at the Paseo de Susana parking lot was indicted on an attempted murder charge.

Evin Babauta Pangelinan, 21, was charged with attempted murder with a special allegation of possession and use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony in connection with an incident at Paseo May 27.

As police investigated the incident, which was recorded and went viral on social media, Pangelinan surrendered and admitted his involvement.

According to court documents, Pangelinan said he almost got into a fight with four or five men he didnt know. A man began to bash his vehicle and other vehicles. When one of the men swung a machete at him, Pangelinans friend fired a gun into the air three or four times, court documents state.

Pangelinan told investigators he said, Par let me have that. ... Ill show you how its done.

'Knowingly attempted'

According to the indictment, Pangelinans charge of attempted murder as a first-degree felony stated he knowingly attempted to cause the death of co-defendant Narson Marsian with a firearm.

Pangelinan initially was charged with attempted criminal mischief and released from confinement at the Department of Corrections. He remains on release following the attempted murder charge. He also faces charges of possession of a firearm without a firearm identification card, discharge of firearms and reckless conduct.

In addition to Marsian, who remains confined at the Department of Corrections, Marson Kintin, 23, Karey Lee Willey, 18, and Kyle Joaquin Topasna, 20, were indicted with Pangelinan as co-defendants.

Court documents state Marsian and Kintin wielded machetes they used to damage cars and chase people after hearing gunshots.

They both were charged with aggravated assault, reckless conduct and disorderly conduct, while Marsian also was charged with three counts of criminal mischief.

Handerson Sony was charged with using a machete, but the charges were dismissed.

One of the vehicles damaged was Pangelinans Toyota Tacoma pickup, according to the indictment.

Topasna was charged with reckless conduct and three counts of discharge of firearms.

Willey was charged with possession of a firearm without a firearm identification card.

Kintin, Willey and Topasna are on pre-trial release.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero addresses those in attendance during Simon A. Sanchez High School Class of 2022 commencement ceremony at the University of Guams Calvo Field House May 31, 2022, in Mangilao. After a brief hospitalization for a respiratory infection, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero is back on track to deliver her fourth annual State of the Island address.
With close to half of the $587 million in American Rescue Plan funds under the governors discretionary control already spent as of last month, lawmakers are calling on Adelup for more transparency and relief assistance for struggling families.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerreros authority over the funds has been a sore point for some in the Legislature, which usually has more control over spending for the government of Guam.

A report on the funds provided to the Legislature from the Bureau of Budget and Management Research shows that $257.7 million in ARP money had been expended or encumbered by the close of May. The bulk of the money, which is available until September of 2025, was received last May. About $23 million was used last month alone, the report shows.

Unsatisfied

Sen. Telo Taitague, who required the reporting through an amendment to the annual budget bill last year, said she was unsatisfied with the level of scrutiny that it provides.

A big picture breakdown of funding is included in the report, but Taitague said, The administration has provided close to nothing with respect to information detailing the use of these critical federal investments.

Information on the $250 million that the Infrastructure and Jobs Act may bring to Guam also was scarce, Taitague said.

The senator in March introduced Bill 282, which would require BBMR and the Department of Administration to detail the expenditure of funds by purpose and project description. While the measure has bipartisan support from Speaker Therese Terlaje, Sens. Joanne Brown, Frank Blas Jr., Tony Ada and Sabina Perez, it has yet to receive a public hearing date from the committee overseeing general government operations and appropriations.

Taitague said she will seek to introduce the oversight provision as an amendment to this years budget bill, if needed.

BBMR Director Lester Carlson on Tuesday said the money was ultimately subject to a federal audit and that any information on how agencies plan to use the funds was readily available.

Working families

Taitague also took issue with some line items in the ARP report that she said dont assist working families, especially as utilities, fuel and food costs have increased. The senator cited a $1.8 million expenditure that went toward a wage study for government positions and $458,000 for the Department of CHamoru Affairs and the Guam Council on the Arts & Humanities.

Blas wrote the governors office on June 3 and again on Monday, asking for Adelup to immediately implement additional stimulus payments for families through either the ARP funds or some of the excess $87 million in revenue the government is expected to collect this year.

Governor, again there are families that are one step away from financial catastrophe, Blas wrote Monday.

He noted that Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Gov. Ralph Torres recently provided a second round of stimulus payments  $500 per taxpayer.

Leon Guerrero on Tuesday responded, pointing to various programs already implemented by Adelup, including the $800 All-RISE program, which has paid out some $36 million to residents below a certain income threshold. Some 12,487 eligible families more recently received $300 in gas relief money through the second Prugraman Salappe and another $80 million will be distributed to help childcare providers, she stated.

While you note in your letter that ARP funds have not been fully expended, I assure you they have been fully dedicated, she said.

Leon Guerrero said the excess revenue the government is expected to collect this year was under the Legislatures control and said that Blas could spearhead an assistance program using the funds.

I invite you to explore the mechanisms within your control to help our people, as I have, the governor stated.




Haiti - Politic : The United States will increase the quota of refugees, with a priority for Haiti





To better manage migration in the Americas, President Joe Biden pledged at the closing of the 9th Summit of the Americas to increase the refugee quota from Latin America and the Caribbean to 20,000 for 2023 and 2024, with particular priority for a greater number of Haitians whose exodus affects the entire continent. An increase compared to the maximum of 15,000 the United States expects to receive in the current fiscal year, which ends in June.



It should be noted, however, that the quota allocated to the Americas during this fiscal year remains low compared to those granted to the other regions, since it represents barely 12% of the maximum of 125,000 refugees that the United States proposes to welcome for the current financial year without counting the opening made to some 100,000 Ukrainian refugees...



To address labor shortages in key sectors of the U.S. economy and limit irregular migration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Labor (DOL) have made available 11,500 visas additional end of May for H-2B non-agricultural seasonal workers, for nationals of Northern Central America and Haiti.



In addition, the US will resettle more Haitian refugees and resume the Haitian family reunification program.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Cardinal Chibly Langlois operated

The Permanent Secretariat of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti (CEH) informs that following the terrible traffic accident suffered by Cardinal Chibly Langlois https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36866-haiti-flash-cardinal-langlois-victim-of-a-terrible-accident-miraculously-comes-out-alive.html , the surgery required due to multiple fractures went well.



Bahamas : 67 Haitians intercepted off Great Inagua

US Coast Guard crews intercepted an overloaded small sailboat with 67 Haitian men and women and minors on board off Great Inagua, Bahamas.



Odette Roy Fombrun celebrates her 105th birthday

Author of numerous educational books, a collection on civics and several novels, the well-known and respected former Haitian teacher and feminist activist Odette Roy Fombrun (born June 13, 1917 in Port-au-Prince), crowned "Living National Treasure" in 2009 and dean of Haiti, celebrated Monday, June 13, 2020 her 105th birthday. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36194-haiti-flash-at-104-years-old-odette-roy-fombrun-launches-a-final-appeal-to-the-pm.html



Chicago passports : the Consulate apologizes

Monday, June 13, 2022 "The Consulate General of Haiti in Chicago apologizes for the delays encountered in the delivery of passports. The consular team is working to remedy this situation as soon as possible. We thank you for your understanding."



55,000 students assessed

Monday, June 13, about 55,000 students throughout the national territory were assessed in mathematics, Creole and French by the Ministry of National Education. 1,693 directors of public schools and 80 of private schools participated in this evaluation.



D-Day Grenadiers to the Assault

This Tuesday, June 14 as part of the 4th day of Group B of League B of the 2nd Edition of the League of Nations 2022 of the Confederation of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) Our grenadiers will face in return match the "Golden Jaguars" of Guyana at the Olympic Stadium Felix Sanchez in Santo Domingo at 6:00 p.m., to whom they inflicted a scathing defeat [6-2] Saturday June 11 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36890-haiti-league-of-nations-2022-our-grenadiers-crush-guyana-[6-2]-and-take-the-lead-in-group-b-video.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Hamamatsu Photonics has developed the worlds first terahertz image intensifier (THz image intensifier or simply THz-I.I.) by leveraging its imaging technology fostered over many years. This THz-I.I. has high resolution and fast response which allows for real-time imaging of terahertz wave (*) pulses transmitted through or reflected from target objects.

This THz-I.I. will be unveiled at The 69th JSAP (Japan Society of Applied Physics) Spring Meeting held at the Sagamihara Campus of Aoyama Gakuin University (in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan) for 5 days from Tuesday, March 22 to Saturday, March 26.

*Terahertz waves are electromagnetic waves near a frequency of 1 THz and have the properties of both light and radio waves.
ShareBar

Comments must be on-topic and civil in tone (with no name calling or personal attacks). Any promotional language or urls will be removed immediately. Your comment may be edited for clarity and length.
News Release

June 14, 2022



Contact information

Health officials confirm two cases of measles in Hennepin County siblings

Decrease in vaccination rates during pandemic raises concern that more children at risk

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is working closely with Hennepin County Public Health and health care providers to investigate two confirmed cases of measles in children who are siblings and live in Hennepin County.

The two children developed symptoms shortly after returning from a visit to a country where measles is common. Both have tested positive for measles. The preschool-aged children were not vaccinated and one was hospitalized due to measles complications. MDH, Hennepin County Public Health staff, hospital and clinic staff are working to notify people who may have been exposed. The risk to the general public from these cases is low. The children were isolated when symptoms started, so exposures were limited to health care and family settings.

MDH has notified health care providers in the state to be alert for patients with signs or symptoms of measles. If additional measles cases develop as a result of these cases, they will likely occur between now and July 1, health officials said.

Initial symptoms of measles include a high fever, cough, runny nose, and watery eyes followed by a rash that typically spreads from the head to the rest of the body. It generally takes eight to 12 days from exposure to someone with measles to develop the first symptom, which is usually fever. The measles rash usually appears two to three days after the fever begins. Measles can be a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and even death. If you have symptoms of measles, call your doctor or clinic and they will let you know if you need to come in for a visit.

Any case of measles causes concern for health officials. Measles spreads easily by coughing, talking, or being in the same room with someone who has measles. Yet some communities in Minnesota continue to have low vaccination rates for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). In addition, vaccination rates for MMR, along with other childhood diseases, declined during the pandemic. Health officials worry that some children may be more vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases than they were two years ago, especially since many people are beginning to travel again.

According to recent data, the percentage of 2-year-olds who had received at least one dose of MMR vaccine by 24 months declined from 81.4% in 2019 to 79.3% in 2021. More details on this data can be found on the Minnesota Public Health Data Access Portal: Immunizations.

This case emphasizes the importance of getting vaccinated for diseases, such as measles, which can be prevented with vaccines, State Epidemiologist Dr. Ruth Lynfield said. Vaccines are extremely effective for preventing measles. Its important that we work on getting our immunization rates back up where they need to be so that all children in Minnesota are protected.

Minnesota has had four cases of measles since a major outbreak in 2017. Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but it is still common in other parts of the world. In a typical year, Minnesota sees one to four cases of measles, generally in people who traveled to countries where measles is more common.

We need to maintain our high vaccination rates in the United States to make sure measles does not make a comeback in Minnesota, said Margaret Roddy, section manager for vaccine preventable disease at MDH. As long as there is measles somewhere in the world and people travel, the risk to Minnesota remains. The measles vaccine is safe and effective. Without it, the risk of disease is real.

The best way to prevent measles is through vaccination. Children should receive two doses of MMR vaccine: the first at 12 to 15 months of age, and the second at 4 to 6 years of age. Children 6 to 12 months should get an early dose of MMR vaccine if they are traveling to a country where measles is common. For all ages, it is important to talk to your doctor if you Plan to Travel to another country. Your doctor can check to make sure you and your family are up to date on your immunizations and make sure there are no other immunizations you need.

MDH encourages people to check their records to confirm that they and their children have received the MMR vaccine. Minnesotans can request their vaccination records by visiting Find My Immunization Record.

For more information, visit the MDH measles website.

-MDH-

Doug Schultz

MDH Communications

651-201-4993

doug.schultz@state.mn.us






HENLEY now has 13 public electric vehicle charging points.

Six of the EZ Charge points have been installed at the Greys Road car park with another seven in the Kings Road car park.

Each one is a twin unit which can charge two vehicles at once.

They are part of a roll-out of 62 charging points in council-owned car parks in Oxfordshire.

The 5.4 million programme is being delivered by a consortium of partners including Oxfordshire County Council, the University of Oxford, Urban Integrated UK and Bicester firm Zeta Lighting which is running the EV charging service under the trading name EZ Charge.

South Oxfordshire and other district councils are supporting the scheme and hosting the hubs.

The fast chargers allow residents without off-street parking to park free overnight and will work from 7kW to 22kW depending on the type of vehicle, the time of day and the take-up.

They will also offer battery top-ups to commuters and visitors during the day.

The chargers were officially unveiled on Friday with a ribbon- cutting ceremony performed by Henley Mayor Michelle Thomas at Greys Road car park attended by fellow councillors and Mark Wood, business development manager with EZ Charge.

Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak, who represents Henley on the district and county council, said the installation of the chargers was a fabulous achievement.

He added: To coin a cliche, it is the future and they will be more and more used and there will be more of these going in. Mr Wood said the charging points were simple to use either using contactless or an app and EV drivers would soon be able to book a slot in advance via the app.

He said: We have designed and developed this over the last few years to make sure they are at the top for reliability.

We are unique in that we design, develop and now manufacture our own. We are talking to a lot of councils at the moment.

Councillor Sue Cooper, cabinet minister for environment, climate change and nature recovery at the district council, said: Electric cars are quiet and cheap to run but problems arise when you want to go away from home and you dont know where the chargers are going to be, so to have some new charging points is a big advantage for everybody.

There are two charging prices depending on the time of day  35p per kWh during peak time and 30p per kWh between midnight and 7am. It would cost around 22 to top up an average electric car battery, which would take an average of four to five hours.

Electric vehicle driver Allen Harris welcomed the new charges.

The 71-year-old, from Sonning Common, said: We have got to go down this pathway and the sooner we start it the better.

I have had a wall box installed at home and that has been quite an interesting experience.

It is predicted that by 2030, one in five cars on Oxfordshires roads will be an EV, according to data modelling by the University of Oxford.

The programme, which is among the first of its kind in the UK, is being funded by the Office for Zero Emissions Vehicles through Innovate UK and the Governments On-Street Residential Charging Scheme.
Following recent remarks by suspended BJP spokesperson, Nupur Sharma, about Prophet Muhammad, the Malaysia-based hacktivist group DragonForce has launched a series of cyber attacks against the Indian government. Sharma made some remarks about Prophet Muhammad during a panel discussion about the Gyanvapi Mosque survey, hosted by a television news channel, which offended many people around the world. Soon after, she apologised on Twitter.

The hacking group has launched a campaign OpsPatuk which translates to strike back, against the Indian government. It is also seeking help from Muslim Hackers From All Over The World, Human Rights Organizations, and Activists (sic).

Religiously and politically motivated campaigns, such as OpsPatuk, can result in a breach of some sensitive government websites containing Personal Identifiable Information (PII), military operations, and other government secrets, which, in the wrong hands, can enable targeted attacks on the country and its citizens.

Cyber experts predict that the intensity and volume of such attacks on Indian entities are only going to increase, and the government and enterprises should ensure adequate safety measures to secure their digital properties.

Series of cyber attacks

In its research on June 10, Bengaluru-based cyber security firm, CloudSEK, discovered a tweet posted by a Malaysian hacktivist group known as DragonForce, calling for attacks on Indian government websites by Muslim hackers all over the world.

According to CloudSEK researchers, the primary goal of the attack was to retaliate against the Indian government for the controversial comments made about Prophet Muhammad by Nupur Sharma. To enable their allies to launch attacks, the group shared Indian users social media credentials, particularly Facebook access and leading bank username and password combinations.

During the detailed investigation, CloudSEK discovered multiple threat actors participating in this operation and hacking various Indian websites.

Scale of attack

The group has also shared evidence that they have hacked Indian government websites, such as indembassyisrael.gov.in, manage.gov.in, extensionmoocs.gov.in, cia.gov.in and cfa.gov.in, and others.

The organisation has published a list of websites that supporters and allies are encouraged to attack. This includes private Indian websites as well as many Indian government websites, such as those of logistics and supply-chain companies, educational institutions, technology and software companies, and web hosting providers.

What is DragonForce?

This cyber call-to-arms is the work of DragonForce Malaysia, a pro-Palestinian hacktivist group based in the country. This organisation owns and operates a forum where it posts announcements and discusses its most recent actions. The group also has Instagram and Facebook profiles, as well as numerous Telegram channels. The gang has been running frequent recruitment and promotion efforts using Tiktok and Instagram reels. Over 2.4 million people have viewed the posts calling for action against the Indian government.

DragonForce has previously been associated with Malaysian or Pakistani groups such as Revolution Pakistan, RileksCrew, T3DimensionMalaysia, UnitedMuslimCyberArmy, CodeNewbie, PhantomCrews, LocalhostMalaysia, HarimauMalayaCyberArmy, and GroupTempurRakyatMalaysia. This operation has a high chance of gaining more support and attention from hacktivists around the world.

The solution?

According to Darshit Ashara, Principal Threat Researcher, CloudSEK, the Indian government and private organisations must take this campaign seriously, and nip these threat actors advances in the bud.

As we have seen during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, hacktivists are persistent and resourceful. So, its imperative for the Indian government and private organisations to take this campaign seriously. We need to start by nullifying the low-hanging fruit that threat actors typically use as initial vectors to initiate attacks. This includes malware logs, misconfigured applications, default passwords, unpatched or outdated servers and other assets, and previously leaked databases being sold on the dark web, says Darshit Ashara, commenting on the campaign.

Source : India Today
Conrad Nagoya to debut in the industrial capital of Japan in 2026, empowering business and leisure guests with its approachable luxury hospitality.

Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the signing of an agreement with Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. to open Conrad Nagoya in the summer of 2026. The hotel will be part of a multi-company* mixed-use development, located in Nagoya's central business district of Sakae, Aichi Prefecture.

Situated alongside four main thoroughfares of the city center, Conrad Nagoya will span 13 stories of a new 41-story mixed-use building complex housing commercial facilities, a multiplex cinema, and offices in addition to the hotel. Travelers will enjoy convenient access to the Chubu Centrair International Airport, approximately 50 kilometers away, as well as key business districts with the building directly connected to Sakae Subway Station. For tourists looking to explore Nagoya at leisure, the hotel is located near attractions such as Nagoya Castle, Tokugawa Art Museum, Atsuta Shrine, Nagoya Noh Theater, Chubu Electric Power MIRAI TOWER, and Osu shopping district.

Conrad Nagoya will feature a total of 170 guest rooms, four restaurants including an all-day dining restaurant and rooftop bar, a gym, spa, and indoor pool. An executive lounge, meeting rooms, and a 180-person capacity ballroom will appeal to the needs of banquets and business meetings, all while delivering Conrad's signature intuitive service. With inspiration drawn from the rich cultural heritage of the region, the hotel's bold, locally inspired design will incorporate the art and exquisite craftsmanship that Aichi Prefecture is renowned for - enabling guests to fully immerse themselves in the destination.

There are 40 Conrad properties in destinations such as Tokyo, Osaka, New York, Abu Dhabi, London, Istanbul, Hong Kong and more. For more information about Conrad Hotels & Resorts, please visit stories.hilton.com/brands/conrad-hotels.

*The mixed-use development project is by Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., Japan Post Real Estate Co., Ltd., Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company, and The Chunichi Shimbun Newspaper Publishing Co., Ltd.

Hotel website
From Mexico and Hawaii to Maldives and Malaysia, Ivan Giles brings a wealth of experience in luxury resorts to his new role as General Manager of Four Seasons Resort Langkawi. His international sensibility is complemented by a genuine passion for Langkawi's unique offerings, making him ideally positioned to reintroduce this one-of-a-kind destination to travellers as Malaysia reopens its borders after nearly two years.

Arriving at Four Seasons Resort Langkawi is something of a homecoming for Ivan, who served as the property's Resort Manager from 2015 to 2017. Now at the helm of this jungle-cloaked hideaway, he is excited for guests to rediscover "one of the most beautifully designed Four Seasons beachfront properties."

Situated just next to the UNESCO-endorsed Langkawi Geopark, the Resort's pristine natural setting blends the appeal of lush mountains and ancient rainforests, emerald seascapes and dramatic limestone cliffs - all of which Ivan is keen to showcase for travellers from around the world.

At the top of his recommendations list? The iconic boat safari through mysterious mangroves, led by experienced Four Seasons naturalists: "Have you ever seen a fish walk on land?" He also loves the island's jewel-toned sunsets, with Rhu Bar being his favourite vantage point, followed closely by Rumah Ikan Fish House, a signature venue that pays homage to Langkawi's local fishing traditions.

Spectacular beachfront properties have been at the heart of Ivan's career for over two decades. As he observes, "There is something magical about vacationing at an island resort. Our guests leave the rest of the world behind and have the chance to truly unwind, connect with loved ones and immerse fully in the destination."

Most recently, Ivan oversaw the award-winning food and beverage portfolio at Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru, Four Seasons Explorer (the brand's luxury catamaran) and Voavah Private Island, all located in the Maldives. Along with ensuring impeccable service, he was also responsible for developing team members for future leadership roles. Prior to his time in Asia, he cut his teeth at two high-end beach resorts in Mexico as part of their opening team, then honed his skills at two coveted Four Seasons properties - as Director of Restaurants at Costa Rica Peninsula Papagayo, and as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the brand's Five-Diamond resort in Lanai, Hawaii.

The opportunity to work and live in different countries has been an incredible learning journey. "It opens your mind and heart," he says. "With enough time and patience, you can find common denominators with every culture." In Hawaii, by the end of his four-year stay, he had become part of the ohana island family, spending his weekends diving and fishing with local residents.

What is the secret to creating an exceptional resort experience? "Paying close attention to each guest interaction and having rounded communication among all team members, from the buggy chauffeur and housekeeping attendant to the sommelier and chef." Indeed, at Four Seasons Resort Langkawi, the entire team works together seamlessly to deliver highly personalized service and craft memorable moments for guests.

As Ivan leads the Resort into a brand-new chapter, health and wellbeing continue to be a top priority. Along with Four Seasons properties around the globe, Four Seasons Resort Langkawi has implemented Lead With Care, an enhanced program to ensure the safety and health of guests and employees alike.

On the personal front, Ivan loves to spend time with his three-year-old daughter: "She's a mermaid, so we can spend hours in the pool or out in the sea." The little one gets her passion for the water from her father, who is a trained rescue diver and free diver. Ivan is also looking forward to introducing her to Langkawi's incredible wildlife, from exotic hornbills to beloved dusky leaf monkeys.
Employment in the sector could also exceed 2019 levels next year

Growth rates in Travel & Tourism set to outstrip Portugal GDP at 3.4% per annum over next decade with some 200,000 new jobs

Portugal is set to be the fourth most popular European destination amongst travellers this summer

London, UK - The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed the Travel & Tourism sector in Portugal will drive the national economic recovery and could even surpass pre-pandemic levels next year, when it is projected to rise nearly 4.8% above 2019 levels.

The forecast from WTTCs latest Economic Impact Report (EIR) shows the sectors total contribution to GDP could reach nearly 39.5 billion next year, representing 17.4% of the total economy.

Employment in the sector could also exceed 2019 levels, creating more than 3,200 additional jobs, to reach more than one million by the end of 2023.

According to the global Tourism bodys latest data, Travel & Tourisms GDP is expected to grow at an average of 3.4% annually over the next decade, more than three times the 1.1% growth rate of the countrys overall economy, to reach more than 50 billion (20.2% of the total economy) by 2032.

The forecast also reveals the Travel & Tourism sector in Portugal, is expected to create nearly 193,000 jobs in the next 10 years, averaging over 19,000 new jobs every year, reaching more than 1.1 million employed within the sector by 2032.

After the devastating impact of COVID-19, Portugal is showing a strong recovery, by the end of this year the sectors total contribution to GDP is expected to grow 54.7% to more than 35.8 billion, amounting to 16.2% of the total GDP.

Employment in the sector is set to grow 5.6%, to reach nearly more than 953,000 jobs.

According to WTTCs knowledge partner ForwardKeys, latest flight booking data shows a promising summer for the southern European country.

Flight booking data shows that Portugal is set to be the fourth most popular European destination this summer, with a 179% year-on-year increase of international arrivals, and only 9% behind pre-pandemic levels.

The data shows flight bookings overtaking pre-pandemic levels, with bookings from the U.S., Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany, up 41%, 36%, 29%, and 11%, respectively.

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: COVID-19 wreaked havoc on Portugals Travel & Tourism, affecting millions of livelihoods and impacting the national economy."

The future for Travel & Tourism in Portugal is very optimistic. Growth will outstrip the national GDP and create almost 200,000 new jobs over the decade. The Portuguese government is doing a great job.

Rita Marques, Secretary of State for Tourism of Portugal, said: Our aim is clear - we want to position Portugal as one of the most competitive, safe and sustainable tourist destinations in the world."

In the face of this goal, we are happy to partner with WTTC to ensure that tourists and companies know, understand, and are interested in making a commitment to achieving sustainable tourist destinations. For a better planet, a better tourism.

Portugals Travel & Tourism total contribution to GDP represented 17.1% (37.6 billion) in 2019, plummeting to just 8.7% (17.4 billion) in 2020, halving the sectors contribution to total economy (53.6%).

The sector also supported more than one million jobs, before the pandemic brought international travel to a complete halt, which resulted in a loss of 160,000 (15.6%), falling to 850,000 in 2020.

WTTCs latest EIR report also reveals that 2021 saw the beginning of the recovery for the countrys Travel & Tourism sector.

Last year, its contribution to GDP climbed 32.6% year on year, to reach 23.1 billion.

However, the recovery of jobs was slower with just 50,000 Travel & Tourism jobs created, to reach 900,000.

The global tourism body says the sectors contribution to the economy and employment could have been higher if it werent for the impact of the Omicron variant, which led to the recovery faltering around the world, with many countries reinstating severe travel restrictions.

About WTTC

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) represents the global travel & tourism private sector. Members include 200 CEOs, Chairs and Presidents of the world's leading travel & tourism companies from all geographies covering all industries. For more than 30 years, WTTC has been committed to raising the awareness of governments and the public of the economic and social significance of the travel & tourism sector.

According to WTTC's 2021 Economic Impact Report, during 2020, a year in which it was devasted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Travel & Tourism made a 5.5% contribution to global GDP and was responsible for 272 million jobs.

WTTC Press Office

WTTC

View source
London - Crave Interactive, a leading global hospitality technology company, announced today that the Crave team is attending HITEC Orlando in June to showcase their in-room guest experience platform alongside other top hospitality tech businesses.

Hotels and tech businesses worldwide gather each year at HITEC  the worlds largest and oldest tech hospitality conference. The Crave team attends every year, but this anniversary year will be extra special, not just for HITEC and its attendees, but for Crave.

Craves launched its award-winning 4th generation tablet in September, offering a high-end guest experience that has helped Crave customers tap into new revenue streams and revive their businesses post-pandemic.

HITEC attendees will be able to test out the new range  plus Craves mobile solution  at their booth. The team will be hosting live demos, and hotels interested in finding out more can set up private meetings with the team.

HITEC Orlando 2022 Source: Crave Interactive

Its so great to be back at HITEC for another year, Chief Commercial Officer Tim Butterworth said there is a real buzz around the 50th anniversary, and we cant wait to be part of the celebrations. Hotels are looking for unified digital solutions to promote their guest experiences and showcase their hotel amenities.

Those unable to travel to Florida can see both the in-room tablet and mobile solution in Craves new video and interview with founder and CEO Gareth Hughes. The video shows up-close detail of the tablets (designed specifically for hotels) and the smooth guest experience and upsell opportunities they provide. To arrange a personal demo, please email [email protected].

Crave T3 In-Room Tablet range, and Guest Mobile solution will be exhibited at the HITEC exhibition in Orlando from 27th to 30th May 2022, at booth #1308.

About Crave Interactive:

Crave Interactive is a leading developer of digital service solutions for the global hospitality industry.Its cloud-based platform delivers over 800 million guest interactions per year.

Crave has helped millions of hotel guests self-order food and other services from their rooms via in-room tablets and mobile phones and are experts in self-ordering and guest communication solutions.

Solutions include Crave Mobile, with QR-codes for instant guest service via mobile, and Crave in-room tablets, designed specifically for hotels.

Crave is headquartered in the UK with offices worldwide and is part of the True Corporation plc (Thailand) group of companies.

Contact: [email protected]

Web: www.craveinteractive.com

Press enquiries:

Marketing Manager, Crave Interactive Ltd

+44(0)330 403 0144

[email protected]

Francesca Stepney

Marketing Manager

View source
By equipping Resorts World Las Vegas team members with real-time, accurate information, they are better equipped to solve problems and provide superior customer service; Visit Beekeeper at HITEC Orlando in Booth 2718 June 28 to 30 at the Orange County Convention Center.

OAKLAND, CALIF. - Beekeeper, the leading mobile workforce collaboration platform designed specifically for frontline workers, was named Best Employee App via the Ragan Employee Communications Awards. The company received this honor following its deployment at Resorts World Las Vegas, the first integrated resort to be built on the Las Vegas Strip in over a decade.

For some properties, in-person meetings in the break room and paper notices posted on bulletin boards are sufficient methods for communicating tasks, said Andrada Paraschiv, Beekeeper VP Hospitality. For Resorts World Las Vegas, however, we knew we needed to deliver something more robust. They were searching for a communication infrastructure that could be woven into the design of their operation from the beginning. What they found was Beekeeper.

Beekeeper is an award-winning digital workplace app that digitizes hospitality workers by connecting operational systems and communication channels within one secure, intuitive platform. Beekeeper connects colleagues across locations and departments in real time via mobile or desktop devices and includes an intelligent dashboard to help companies improve internal communication and streamline business processes. Secure, automated, and relevant information is readily distributed, searchable, and measurable in one central hub for an efficient digitized workflow.

At Resorts World Las Vegas, it takes a team of more than 5,000 people to service its over 3,500 guestrooms and suites, gaming floor, world-class food and beverage options, 5,000-capacity theater, distinct nightlife venues, curated retail collection of designer and boutique shops and more. Today, 99% of those employees are active on the dedicated Beekeeper platform, accessing information curated for their specific roles.

In a fast-paced industry where every second counts, having a mobile-first solution that facilitates real-time, enterprise-wide communication is a game changer, Paraschiv said. Prioritizing their communication strategy with our productivity and collaboration app has enabled Resorts World Las Vegas to avoid outdated communication methods by adopting a mobile communication system. With Beekeeper, management has built its workforce from the ground up with a tech-first culture of transparency. And employees are accessing all personal information in the language of their choice thanks to automatic inline translation. We commend Resorts World Las Vegas for their vision. They truly understand the importance of better communication and collaboration.

Email-Free Operation

Employees at Resorts World Las Vegas are required to download Beekeeper onto their mobile device from the day they onboard with the company. The app is equipped with instant messaging, a digital document library and training materials, chatbots, push notifications and updates from management about day-to-day needs.

There also are two main chat streams within Beekeeper. The Vibe offers direct updates from company leadership about work-related topics, company changes and critical knowledge and operations protocols. Culture of You is an inclusive venue for team members to post kudos and coworker recognition, share successes and participate in the company culture.

To learn more about the Beekeeper employee communication and collaboration platform, visit them at HITEC Orlando in Booth 2718 June 28 to 30 at the Orange County Convention Center. To pre-schedule an appointment at HITEC, book some time with Brian Hennington here.

ABOUT BEEKEEPER

Beekeeper is transforming the way frontline businesses work. Our frontline operating system helps companies ditch paper and manual processes to improve employee engagement, retention, and performance. Empower employees with direct access to the people, processes, and systems they need to do their best work. Companies around the world use Beekeeper to connect their teams, unify their systems and drive their businesses forward.

Website: www.beekeeper.io, Blog: www.beekeeper.io/blog, LinkedIn

Barb Worcester

PRPRO

+1 440 930 5770
I was the General Manager of the three-star Hotel Rege in Budapest, Hungary when we happened to host a conference in April of 1985. The event was attended by the chief executives of cooperative corporations of the travel and tourism industries of European countries. It was a multi-day event during which the attendees were entertained by visits to tourist attractions and enlightening day trips to the countryside, giving them a taste of the traditional Hungarian hospitality offered by successful coops. The event was a great success to Cooptourist, the official organizer (and owner of our hotel), and the staff of our hotel had certainly done our utmost to put our best foot forward.

The closing gala dinner of the conference was held in our ballroom. Things were progressing well. We were already past the first course when Mr. Gannaby, our guest from Sweden and high-ranked executive of Reso Hotels, waved me over. He asked me if he could make a special request from one hotelier to another, peer to peer. He asked me if he could get a different main course than the one on the carefully composed dinner menu. He told me he loved that special Hungarian halaszle (fish soup) that they had tasted at a specialty coop fish restaurant in Paks, a reputable small town, the day before. He wondered if he could have a portion of that famous halaszle instead of our main course.

My response was a positive, yes, although we never had fish in our kitchen. When we opened the Hotel Rege in April of 1982 we had encountered space constraints during the design and construction phase of our kitchen. We had one way to deal with the design flaw: we made room for storage, ware washing, and food production by eliminating fish and seafood from our planned menu. These items must have separate cold storage, cleaning, and preparation areas allocated to them according to public health regulations to avoid cross-contamination, so we decided to operate our restaurant without any fish or seafood offerings on the menu. We never had any difficulties with that decision, until Mr. Gannabys request.

I smiled at Mr. Gannaby and told him with a straight face that I would be delighted to treat him to that special meal. Then I added that since halaszle was not one of our regular menu items, a little extra time was needed to prepare it for him. He said he didnt mind the extra wait and understood that extraordinary items take extra time. He appreciated the personal accommodation.

I walked back into our kitchen then used the back stairs to run down to the lobby and grab our bellman. I told him to take a taxi and go down the street as fast as possible to the fish restaurant located about five minutes away to get take-out. We needed a generous portion of halaszle that he should bring straight into our kitchen. Our chef there would make the most professional presentation in our hotels branded soup bowl to serve to Mr. Gannaby. It all went as planned and our guest was delighted. That night was unforgettable for a special personal reason as well: I got the call after the dinner was over that our daughter had arrived. She was born that night.

When I presented the extra charge added to the invoice for the gala dinner and explained it to the CEO of Cooptourist, he got a good chuckle out of it.

I tell this story because it represents the best of our profession. Service is the name of a game that is intuitive, detail-oriented, and as personal as necessary. Mr. Gannaby was happy to be offered personal attention and the fulfillment of his extra request. I always believed that service is at the very heart of our business, whatever it takes. The fact that we never served fish at our hotel could not get in the way of great service.

A Hotelier

The above is an excerpt from A Hotelier by Gabor Forgacs. If you ever stayed or worked at a hotel, this book will take you to familiar places. The journey of an international hotelier is told through several stories, offering a peek behind the scenes. It also paints a picture of life in socialist Hungary in the decades before the collapse of the East-European communist regimes. How did the Archbishop of Canterbury get into the back seat of a beat-up old Lada for a ride on narrow country roads to visit the Abbey of Tihany, Hungary? What was a most genuine solution improvised by the night manager, when the highest ranked executives of the largest Canadian bank held a private year-end party at a suite of a Toronto hotel and ran out of beer past the last call? How did a return guest get walked on an oversold night to another hotel after the hotel ran out of rooms? How was sleeping on a couch sold for a night in the elevator lobby of a hotel? What happened when a special cake of a corporate convention was dropped and ruined by accident in the middle of the night? These stories and others take readers on a trip across continents and into the life of a professional hotelier who spent decades in hotel operations. The author also describes life in the seventies and eighties in Budapest, Hungary. Entertaining insights by a good storyteller offer a real treat for the reader. The book is available at https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000235611461.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Truckers in South Korea ended an eight-day strike that caused major disruptions to domestic production and cargo transport, their union and the government announced after negotiations Tuesday.

Thousands of truckers joined the nationwide strike, calling for an extension of temporary guarantees of minimum wages amid soaring fuel prices. The strike triggered delays in the shipment and delivery of steel, cement, petrochemicals, tires and other items, with some factories forced to halt production.

The strikes damage has been largely limited to domestic industries, though experts say a prolonged strike could have undermined global supply chains already hit by Russias invasion of Ukraine and Chinas COVID-19 restrictions. There have been no reports of substantial disruptions of key South Korean export items such as semiconductors and automobiles, Industry Ministry officials said.

During their fifth round of negotiations on Tuesday night, representatives of the truckers and Transport Ministry officials reached a deal on ending the strike, the Cargo Truckers Solidarity and the ministry announced in separate statements.

They said the ministry agreed to seek to extend the current rules on minimum wage guarantees and consider increasing fuel subsidies for truckers. The union said drivers will immediately return to work.

Its fortunate that the Cargo Truckers Solidarity withdraw its collective refusal of (cargo) transport and decided to return to work now, the Transport Ministry statement said. We feel very sorry to the people for causing concerns.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Monday that the first six days of the strike had caused an estimated 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in damages.

Earlier Tuesday, about 6,800 truckers rallied at various sites across South Korea on their eighth day of the strike, according to the Transport Ministry. It said some steel and cement factories had halted operations and some striking truckers obstructed cargo transport at some major southeastern ports.

During a Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the countrys No. 2 official, called the reported transport obstructions illicit activities that would never receive public support, according to Cho Yongman, a government spokesperson.

Cho cited Han as saying that the transport disruptions could pose a big irrecoverable blow to South Koreas economy, which already faces other difficulties.

Police said Monday that they had detained 44 striking truckers but released most of them except for two who were formally arrested. Two additional truckers were detained Tuesday, the Transport Ministry said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Sameer Shroff thought he had clicked on a wrong button while checking rates recently for retail electricity on his computer.

Prices ranged from 16 cents a kilowatt hour to as high as 20 cents  far above the 10 cents he pays as part of his current plan. If he had looked on Thursday, he would have seen a 12-month contract charging more than 23 cents per kilowatt hour. The sky-high prices have led him to consider installing solar panels atop his 4,500-square-foot home in Katy.

Its bananas, he said. At 8 to 10 cents, it would have taken 20 years to recoup the costs of solar. But now the math is just right.

Shroff and millions of other Texans have been sticker shocked in the past few months when shopping for retail power service, with some Houston-area rates more than doubling over the past year. Twelve-month plans for about 1,000 kilowatt hours from Green Mountain Energy, for example, jumped to 23.4 cents per kilowatt hour this week from about 11 cents a year ago. Discount Power rates for the same contract length and power consumption rose to 21 cents from 11 cents.

On average, the prices have nearly doubled in the Houston region over the past year, according to ElectricityPlans, which provides market insights to retailers and consumers.

Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

At the heart of surging prices is the natural gas market, which has seen a spike in prices and volatility since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, said David Kinchen, chief operating officer of Energy Ogre, which analyzes retail power plans for consumers. About 44 percent of the electricity within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, comes from natural gas, so the price of that fuel drives electricity prices overall across the state.

On HoustonChronicle.com: ERCOT expects summer demand for power to shatter Texas records, report finds

The price for 1 million British thermal units in June 2021 was $3.26, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. By Friday at noon, it was $8.76, down from a high of $9.32 four days earlier  the highest price logged in the United States since the summer of 2008.

The price is swinging 10 to 12 percent in a day, which historically is an incredible amount of volatility, Kinchen said.

That price uncertainty has led retailers to raise their prices to limit risk. Kinchen said to think about it like a lemonade stand. If someone pledged to sell lemonade at $2 a glass, but then had to go out and buy the ingredients to make it, they would lose enormous amounts of money if the price of a lemon jumped from $1 to $3.

Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Electricity retailers are gambling every time they offer a contract, hoping that their prices will come close to matching the cost of generating electricity with natural gas.

But some retailers are unwilling to take the risk.

Octopus Energy, a small renewable energy retailer with Texas operations based in Houston, has a note on its website telling would-be customers that due to record-high energy prices most homes will be better off staying with their current energy supplier right now. It also tells current customers that if their Octopus fixed-term contracts are about to end, they should consider finding a new retail supplier.

Octopus Energy CEO Michael Lee said customers whose contracts expire can still stay on with a month-to-month rate. He said the company is pressing pause on its fixed-term contracts so it can assess whether these prices are here to stay and to see how the Public Utility Commissions yet-to-be-announced plans for overhauling the wholesale power market will affect his business and its customers. He said Octopus may not offer fixed-price contracts again until the PUCs choice for its market redesign.

If you look at market rates today, theyre very expensive, Lee said. If Im customer-centric, I dont want to sign contracts that are extra expensive.

Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Companies that continue to offer fixed-term contracts are pushing customers toward longer terms, said Jason Thomas, co-founder and partner with Plano-based consultancy Vault Energy Solutions. In 13 years working with electricity trading in Texas, he said, most retailers have promoted 12-month plans as the gold standard, offering lower rates to encourage customers to sign for that length of time.

Right now theyre offering cheaper rates on their 24-month plans, Thomas said. Those plans arent cheap, but theyre cheaper than 12-month terms because it lets the retailers spread out the risk and costs over a longer period of time.

Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox

On Friday, Reliants cheapest 12-month plan for homes in the 77007 ZIP code near Houstons First Ward, for example, was 21.8 cents per kilowatt hour for a home that uses about 2,000 kilowatthours a month. But its 24-month plans for the same customer was 17.8 cents.

Meghan McConomy, director of marketing strategy for Reliant, said that has led consumers to gravitate toward contracts that last 24 months or longer. She said buying power further in advance helps the company better plan.

That is one of the reasons offering longer terms  they are lower priced, McConomy said. I dont have a crystal ball for how this will look down the road, but the thing were really focused on right now is working with customers through the summer.

That includes offering interactive charts that allow customers to track their daily usage, and a tool that allows them to compare their usage to other similar homes to see whether theirs is operating as efficiently.

Rebecca Bridges, chief marketing officer of ElectricityPlans.com, said fixed-rate contracts still offer a better deal than variable or month-to-month options. Shoppers should select plans based on their power consumption, which they can usually monitor. But the best thing people can do to save on their power bills, she said, is to conserve electricity.

I think the energy conservation of the 70s might come back in fashion as we being more conscious of what were using, she said.

shelby.webb@chron.com

An earlier version of this story misstated the cost of natural gas per British thermal unit. The price per 1 million British thermal units in June 2021 was $3.26, but a previous story incorrectly stated that was the price per 1 billion Btus.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday reiterated that the Taiwan question fundamentally differs in nature from the Ukraine issue, adding Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory and the Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair that brooks no foreign interference.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a regular press conference when asked to comment on Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

When asked how the Taiwan region should respond if China "seeks to take it, by force if necessary," Zelenskyy on Saturday said that "today's example of Ukraine is an example for the whole world; no one benefits from war; if there is a way out diplomatically, we need to use the diplomatic way, but it must be a pre-emptive way, not the one that comes after the war has started."

"We have noted that President Zelenskyy didn't mention Taiwan," Wang stressed, adding "as some media pointed out, some people are simply raising the questions about Taiwan in order to try to put words in President Zelenskyy's mouth."

He added the country will take strong measures to respond to all "Taiwan independence" attempts aimed at splitting China in order to firmly defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Five years after entering the U.S., Sekisui House, a homebuilder and developer based in Osaka, Japan, will gain a significant presence in Texas with the acquisition of Houston-based Chesmar Homes.

The company's wholly-owned SH Residential Holdings subsidiary entered into an agreement with Chesmar Group to acquire Chesmar Homes and related companies for approximately $514 million, the company announced Friday.

"We are excited to partner with Chesmar to capitalize on compelling opportunities in the Texas market," said Rick Robideau, CEO of SH Residential Holdings, said in an announcement. "The addition of Chesmar to the Sekisui House family enables us to gain immediate scale in several leading markets in the attractive Texas region. We believe that we can provide the capital and efficiencies to help Chesmar grow and enhance its competitive position while continuing to build dream homes for Texas families."

The deal would give Sekisui House operations in four of the nation's top homebuilding markets. Chesmar owns and controls over 6,000 lots and closed 2,082 homes in 2021 across the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio markets.

Top markets for new homes Metro areas are ranked by annual home starts by builders through the first quarter of 2022, according to Zonda: 1. Dallas-Fort Worth: 54,938, up 21% 2. Houston: 43,267, up 13% 3. Phoenix: 28,888, up 12% 4. Austin: 26,270, up 12% 5. Atlanta: 26,171, -3% 6. San Antonio: 22,245, up 28% 7. Tampa: 16,553, up 13% 8. Orlando: 16,090, up 12% 10: Charlotte, N.C.: 14,502, up 3% 10: Washington, D.C./Arlington, Va.: 13,812, up 1% See More Collapse

Chesmar, which offers mortgage and title services through its CLM Mortgage and N Title subsidiaries, posted sales of approximately $810 million in 2021.

The acquisition moves Sekisui House toward a goal of building 10,000 homes annually outside of Japan by 2025. The company, which first expanded internationally in 2009, operates in United States, China, Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom.

RELATED: Builder sings praises as employees rise to the challenge

The deal positions Chesmar for further growth by providing access to capital and technology as a subsidiary of Sekisui House.

"Chesmar Homes has been the adventure of my life", said Chesmar founder and CEO Don Klein. "It has been extremely rewarding to watch our people ("Chesmarians") and the company grow. We look forward to being part of Sekisui House's collection of companies and supporting its goal of creating over 10,000 happy customers annually in its international markets."

Founded in 2005, Chesmar is the 12th largest builder in the Houston market based on home starts with 1,037 starts in 2021, according to Zonda, a housing information firm. Chesmar, a private company that has been honored as a Houston Chronicle Top Workplaces winner 10 times, closed 970 homes in the Houston area in 2021.

RELATED: Houston homebuilder sets sights on Dallas with acquisition

Sekisui House said it plans to acquire an interest in Chesmar Homes on July 1 and complete the acquisition of interests in CLM Mortgage and N Title by Dec. 31.

Since being founded in 1960, Sekisui House has built more than 2.5 million homes. The company has more than 300 subsidiaries and affiliates.

Sekisui House entered the U.S. with the acquisition of Woodside Homes Co. in 2017, followed by Holt Group Holdings in 2021. The company built more than 3,400 homes across Utah, California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington last year.

The acquisition gives Sekisui House a third company on the Builder 100, a publication of Zonda ranking the nation's largest homebuilders. Woodside Homes ranked No. 34 on the Builder 100 list with 2,735 closings in 2021. Chesmar was No. 40 with 2,082. Holt Homes was No. 85 with 726 closings.
Two new COVID-19 subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, are making inroads in Houston and could fuel ongoing transmission in the area, experts say.

First detected in January and February in South Africa, the omicron subvariants appear to have additional mutations that allow them to evade some immunity from vaccines or previous omicron infections, according to European Union health officials, who on Monday warned of potentially significant case increases throughout Europe.

The new subvariants are the latest in the omicron lineage to draw the global health communitys attention, but its unclear whether they will out-compete the currently dominant strains of BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1.

In Houston, BA.4 and BA.5 now account for 7 percent and 14 percent of all COVID cases, respectively, among Houston Methodist patients, according to Dr. Wesley Long, the hospitals medical director of diagnostic microbiology. The subvariants are also taking up a growing share of cases nationally, together accounting for 13 percent of infections in the U.S. as of June 4, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With new variants increasing predominance, its likely to help fuel transmission through the summer, Long said.

The development comes amid a nationwide COVID surge thats difficult to accurately quantify, given the rise of at-home tests. Based on case numbers published by the The New York Times, daily new infections appear to be leveling off. Texas case numbers continue to rise steadily, according to the Texas Department of State Health Service.

In Harris County, the percentage of people who test positive is now 18.6, more than double the rate in mid-May. And all but four of the 39 city wastewater treatment plants are seeing an increasing viral load, according to Houston wastewater samples collected and analyzed on June 6.

Daily COVID hospitalizations have remained low but are also seeing a slight uptick across the country and statewide. In Texas, the number has steadily risen from 1,147 on June 2 to 1,543 on Sunday. Those figures still dont come close to the peak of the January omicron wave, when the state saw more than 13,000 COVID patients hospitalized in a day.

Overall, the latest mutations appear to cause less severe illness compared to earlier strains. More people are benefiting from vaccines, natural immunity and the availability of the oral antiviral pill Paxlovid. The Food and Drug Administration also appears poised to grant emergency approval this week for two COVID vaccine options for children under 6.

Dr. Robert Atmar, a professor of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine, said hes not as concerned about the new subvariants sending a flood of new patients to local hospitals. He is, however, worried about more healthcare workers and high-risk populations becoming infected. Houstons largest pediatric hospitals already are unusually busy this time of year, as they contend with out-of-season outbreaks of other common illnesses.

Masks and social distancing are still effective at stemming transmission, Atmar noted, even if face coverings are no longer federally required on public transportation.

I think everybody in the community should be aware of their own personal and family risks, and to take into consideration that this is a more transmissible virus, he said.

julian.gill@chron.com
Black joy often emanates from Black sorrow, food writer Nicole A. Taylor observes in her new cookbook Watermelon & Red Birds. Whether its a family funeral, community grieving or national mourning throughout civil rights struggles, that affecting intersection of sorrow and joy plays out time and again as pain and suffering begets triumph and jubilation.

Such was the case for the birth of Watermelon & Red Birds, the first cookbook devoted to Juneteenth. Taylor said she realized she was the right person to write a Juneteenth cookbook when George Floyd was murdered in May 2020, triggering a summer of protests demanding racial justice. Black joy and celebrations, she said, needed to be a part of the conversation during this dark time, specifically the healing comforts of food. In the midst of sorrow, Black people and Black hands have been so important to the American table, she said.

FREEDOM DAY: As Juneteenth approaches, here's everything you need to know about the holiday

Taylors new cookbook arrives just as America will celebrate Juneteenth this weekend, June 19, a national holiday signed into law last year as the first federal holiday enacted since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

Beatriz da Costa / Beatriz da Costa

Juneteenth is short for June Nineteenth, the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston to ensure that enslaved people be freed, two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The following year freemen in Texas organized the first Juneteenth festivities which, like the Great Migration, spread to every corner of the country. Juneteenth foods include red drinks (red soda, punch, hibiscus tea); red foods (watermelon and strawberries); red cake; barbecue and other traditional soul food staples; and summer bounty fruits and vegetables.

THE LEGACY: For Black Houstonians, Juneteenth is more than history

Taylor embraces all those and more in her canvassing of customs and traditions of American foodways that have evolved since the first Juneteenth celebrations. There are modern notions and regional allegiances intertwined in the recipes Taylor developed for the book. The cookbook, she said, is not meant to be a strict interpretation of the foods and flavors of the original Juneteenth celebrations but a bridge between those traditional dishes and a culinary journey to the present: Its an attempt to fashion a Juneteenth celebration for the twenty-first century.

NEWSLETTERS Join the conversation with HouWeAre We want to foster conversation and highlight the intersection of race, identity and culture in one of America's most diverse cities. Sign up for the HouWeAre newsletter here.

The more than 75 recipes in the book take in a delicious swath of creative and regional interpretations of festive Juneteenth fare including pickles and hot sauces, red drinks, fair foods, barbecue, salads (potato, green and fruit), icy treats, and many cakes. Galveston and Texas food and drink  smoked meats, hot guts sausages, brisket, tamales, nifty red-hued fizzes  are also woven through Watermelon & Red Birds.

Beatriz da Costa / Beatriz da Costa

The title comes from a native-born African fruit and African and Native American beliefs that red birds are ancestors returning to spread luck. Taylor, who splits her time between New York and Georgia, said she needed those red birds while writing during the pandemic struggles when she felt enormous pressures and hardships  and got COVID. I gave in to self-doubt, and I lost the very joy I write about over and over, she wrote in the book. Then a red bird would appear  my ancestors would sing to me and strut around my backyard, reminding me to rest and then try again.

Her research, naturally, brought her to Texas and to Galveston where Juneteenth was born. I learned about Houston as a story of Black emancipation, she said, referring to sites such as Emancipation Park and Freedmens Town. Texas foods are certainly a part of her Juneteenth story, but so are the countrys vast regional foodways that have been woven into the celebration for generations. Whatever food strikes a celebratory chord for Juneteenth is valid, Taylor said.

If gumbo makes you feel good on Juneteenth, do it, she said.

And thats among the beauties of the cookbook. It doesnt pronounce what foods are mandatory for Juneteenth. And its not aimed at just one audience.

I definitely wrote it thinking I wanted to speak to Black people. But I also knew this book was for all Americans, Taylor said. It is a love letter to Black culture. But its for everyone; its American history.

Local Juneteenth events Emancipation Park Juneteenth: June 18 and 19 at 3018 Emancipation, 4 to 10 p.m. Free admission (ticket required); epconservancy.org. Mayor Turner's Annual Acres Homes Juneteenth Parade: June 18, 10 a.m. to noon. Parade begins at Acres Homes Multi-Service Center, 6719 W. Montgomery and ends at 1620 Dolly Wright at Gerater Zion Mission Baptist Church. Galveston Juneteenth Festival & Parade: Festival June 18 noon to 10 p.m. at the McGuire Dent Recreational Center at Menard Park, 2222 28th. The parade on June 18 at 1 p.m. at 26th and Avenue H, ending at 41st and Avenue H. A picnic will immediately follow at Wright Cuney Park, 718 41st. See More Collapse

I hope throughout the book that I quench a little bit of peoples desires to understand Black culture and people of color and how were all weaved together, she said. Its a starting point for people who are celebrating Juneteenth for the first time or wanting to know more about Juneteenth.

SWEET POTATO SPRITZ

Sweet potato syrup

2 cups sugar

2  cups water

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into -inch pieces

 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 star anise pod

 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 teaspoon kosher salt

The spritz

Ice

8 ounces Aperitivo Cappelletti (red bitter aperitif)

3 ounces vodka

2 ounces sweet potato syrup

16 ounces sparkling white wine

4 orange slices, for garnish

Instructions: For the sweet potato syrup: Combine the sugar, water, sweet potato, vanilla bean, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil at of medium-low heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the sugar is dissolved and the sweet potato is tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and allow the sweet potato to steep in the syrup for 1 to 2 hours, until cooled to room temperature. Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve. Transfer the strained syrup to a squeeze bottle and refrigerate until ready to use. The syrup can be refrigerated for up to several weeks.

For the spritz cocktail: In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine 4 ounces of the aperitif, 1 ounces of the vodka, and 2 ounces of the sweet potato syrup. Stir using a long bar spoon until combined. Strain into two large stemless or stemmed wineglasses over ice and top each with 4 ounces of sparkling white wine. Repeat to make two additional cocktails. Garnish with orange slices.

Makes 4 servings

From Watermelon & Red Birds by Nicole A. Taylor

greg.morago@chron.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Houstons growing distillery business now has a new player  a Black-owned premium vodka company called General Orders No. 3.

The vodka will launch Juneteenth weekend at the Juneteenth HBCU Alliance Music Fest, a concert and scholarship benefit at 8:30 p.m. June 18 at 713 Music Hall, 401 Franklin. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University National Alumni Association Scholarship Fund.

NEWSLETTERS Join the conversation with HouWeAre We want to foster conversation and highlight the intersection of race, identity and culture in one of America's most diverse cities. Sign up for the HouWeAre newsletter here.

General Orders was founded by 10 African American friends and entrepreneurs who are all graduates of Texas Southern University, Prairie View A&M University, University of Texas at Austin, Wiley College, University of Houston and Cornell University. Together, they wanted to produce a Houston-made vodka that celebrates Texas heritage and culture. The vodka takes its name from the birth of Juneteenth, when federal troops arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865, to order that all enslaved people be freed.

THE LEGACY: For Black Houstonians, Juneteenth is more than history

Distilled from sweet potatoes, russet potatoes and corn, the vodka is filtered and blended in Fifth Ward. Priced at about $28, it can be found locally at OST Liquor Store, 3928 Old Spanish Trail; Andrew Liquor, 11322 Bellaire; Fiesta Beverage Mart; and Ralston Discount Liquor. Bars carrying it include Permission Whiskey, 2920 White Oak; Bar 5015, 5015 Almeda; and Taste Bar & Kitchen, 3015 Bagby.

A percentage of all sales will go to supporting historically Black colleges and universities.

greg.morago@chron.com
A Houston hospitality business finally cracked one of the highly competitive national categories at the James Beard Foundation's annual awards ceremony, often called the Oscars of the food-and-drink world.

Julep, a handsome bar on Washington Avenue owned by Alba Huerta, took home the top prize for Outstanding Bar Program on Monday night in Chicago.

Im still crying, Huerta told the Houston Chronicle immediately after winning, adding she was full of pure joy and an overwhelming amount of emotions.

Despite multiple Houston finalists, Huerta was the only winner from Houston. Other finalists included Chris Williams, chef/owner of Lucilles restaurant, nominated for Outstanding Restaurateur; Hugos restaurant, from Tracy Vaught and Hugo Ortega of the H-Town Restaurant Group, nominated for Outstanding Hospitality; and Ruben Ortega, nominated for Outstanding Pastry Chef for his work at Xochi. On a regional level, Best Chef Texas had three nominations: Pitmaster Quy Hoang of Blood Bros. BBQ, and the team of Christine Ha and Tony J. Nguyen of Xin Chao.

The biggest night of the year for the food community came after two years the awards were suspended during the pandemic (the last James Beard ceremony was 2019).

People of color and women were well represented in both the nominees and winners at the awards, embroiled in recent years in its own internal struggle to reflect diversity. The messages of inclusivity within the hospitality industry were echoed in acceptance speeches as the restaurant and bar business continues to struggle with the devastating consequences of the pandemic.

Huerta was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and her parents moved their family to Houston when she was a young girl. She said she felt a need to recognize the immigrant experience in her acceptance speech: Thank you to my city of Houston, Texas, for loving immigrants like me, like my family. Welcoming us and giving us the path to opening our own businesses, she said at the podium.

Wearing a va-va-va-voom red dress, Huerta took to the stage with bar professional girlfriends. I didnt prepare a speech because I was trying to get into this dress and these shoes, she said.

Huerta made the most of her James Beard weekend, hosting a takeover of The Violet Hour bar in Chicago (2015 winner of JBFs Outstanding Bar Program) on Sunday serving signature Julep drinks.

Huerta said she had no idea how she was going to celebrate her win. A Julep, perhaps?

Were just celebrating the moment and having the most amazing time, she said.

It's been quite a summer already for Huerta and her bar. On June 7, Julep was the only bar in Texas that made the list of North Americas 50 Best Bars. It came in at No. 46.

CLASSIC COCKTAIL: How to make Julep bar's iconic Mint Julep

Julep also is a finalist for the 2022 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards for Best U.S. Cocktail Bar (U.S. Central division), to be presented in New Orleans in July.

The winners of the 2022 James Beard chef and restaurant awards:

Outstanding Restaurateur: Chris Bianco, Tratto, Pane Bianco and Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix

Outstanding Chef: Mashama Bailey, The Grey, Savannah, Ga.

Outstanding Restaurant: Chai Pani, Asheville, NC

Best New Restaurant: Owamni, Minneapolis

Outstanding Hospitality: Curate, Asheville, NC

Emerging Chef: Edgar Rico, Nixta Taqueria, Austin

Outstanding Baker: Don Guerra, Barrio Bread, Tucson

Outstanding Pastry Chef: Warda Bouguettaya, Warda Patisserie, Detroit

Outstanding Wine Program: The Four Horsemen, New York City

Outstanding Bar Program: Julep, Houston

Humanitarian of the Year: Grace Young for her work championing businesses in Chinatown

Lifetime Achievement Award: Martin Yan



Best Chef California: Brandon Jew, Mister Jius, San Francisco

Best Chef Great Lakes: Erick Williams, Virtue Restaurant & Bar, Chicago

Best Chef Mid-Atlantic: Christina Martinez, South Philly Barbacoa, Philadelphia

Best Chef Midwest: Dane Baldwin, The Diplomat, Milwaukee

Best Chef Mountain: Caroline Glover, Annette, Aurora, Co.

Best Chef New York State: Chintan Pandya, Dhamaka, New York City

Best Chef Northeast: Nisachon Morgan, Saap, Randolph, VT

Best Chef Northwest and Pacific: Robynne Maii, Fete, Honolulu

Best Chef Southeast: Ricky Moore, Saltbox Seafood Joint, Durham, NC

Best chef South: Adam Evans, Automatic Seafood and Oysters, Birmingham, Al.

Best Chef Southwest: Fernando Olea, Sazon, Santa Fe

Best Chef Texas: Iliana de la Vega, El Naranjo, Austin
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  A major free zone operator in Dubai owned by the sheikhdom's ruler said Thursday it would make an initial public offering on the local stock market, the latest state asset to list in an effort to boost the city-state's bourse.

The TECOM Group, whose 10 holdings include Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City, plans to offer 625 million shares on the Dubai Financial Market. TECOM said it planned to offer investors dividends of $218 million a year for the next three years.

The offer would represent 12.5% of all shares of TECOM, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding, part of the vast government enterprises informally known as Dubai Inc. and overseen by its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

TECOM reported having revenues of over $480 million in 2021, with a profit of nearly $320 million.

With our intention to list ... we are expanding our contribution to Dubais financial market and bolstering our vision to further unlock the emirates economic and business growth potential," said Malek Al Malek, TECOM's chairman.

TECOM said it hoped to begin trading its shares on July 5.

The listing is part of a wider plan announced last November by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the son of Dubais ruler, to list 10 state industries on the stock market to boost its profile and raise new capital for the skyscraper-lined emirate.

Dubai is home to 3.5 million people and has seen a surge of interest as the sheikhdom weathered the pandemic and kept its vital tourism and real estate markets afloat. TECOM is one of Dubai's top operators of free zones, which allow foreign companies to operate in a tax-free environment and maintain 100% of their ownership.

Dubais Water and Electricity Authority, known as DEWA, began trading a portion of its shares for the first time in April after raising over $6 billion during its IPO.

A renewed wave of IPOs has struck across the Gulf Arab states, likely fueled by the listing of the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco. Even long-haul carrier Emirates, the jewel of Dubai Inc., has been discussed as a possible IPO target.

But risks remain  particularly after Yemen's Houthi rebels launched attacks on the country at the start of the year.

Although the UAE continues to exercise de-escalation diplomacy and self-restraint, there can be no assurance that tensions will not continue to escalate in the region, or that further attacks will not happen, the prospectus warned.
katifcam/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Shoppers got quite the surprise last Friday, June 10, when a red pickup truck crashed into the Aldi in Granite City.

A video posted to Facebook by user Becca Johnson shows the store at 1412 Schaeffer Road after the crash happened. According to Granite City Fire Chief Rich Wilson two people were transferred by first responders to St. Louis area hospitals.
About a week ago, I received an email from Missy Jane, who has lived in Houston practically all of her life.

She'll soon be leaving the city she's called home for all these decades and will move elsewhere in Texas.

"The move will most likely be near the end of July so I'd like to spend all of June visiting some of my favorite places in Houston," she wrote. "However, quite a few Chronicle pieces this year have shown me that I've missed a lot over the past four decades."

30 YEARS AGO: See Houston as it looked in May 1992

So she asked me for my top 10 places to visit before leaving the city.

This is a difficult question because it largely comes down to a matter of taste. Like having drinks? I'd go to La Carafe. Like history? There's the San Jacinto Battleground. But not everyone drinks nor is everyone a history buff.

I think when coming up with a list of where to go, one should consider its uniqueness. I can go to any park in America, but we only have one Memorial Park and Hermann Park. There are major league ballparks all over America, but only one Minute Maid Park.

I turned to the wise folks who follow the Bayou City Facebook page for their thoughts. Here's what some of them had to say.

The Museum of Fine Arts, to relive childish memories of running around the museum after hours. In the '70s, my mother worked there in the offices, and I would visit my special favorite paintings. I always felt it was my museum, and still do. It's a bittersweet way to remember my dear mother. - Cathleen Wareham

Melissa Phillip/Staff

Id take a drive around the entire Loop 610. Growing up in the late 70s, I learned to merge lanes, enter/exit the freeway and read signs by cruising around 610 early Sunday mornings. I still make this Sunday journey when I crave some good tunes and me time. - Marcy Basile

I would grab a breakfast bagel at the Hot Bagel Shop on Shepherd, and then I'd ride my bike around Buffalo Bayou Park and the Braes Bayou trails. Then I'd go to the Museum of Natural Science and the Menil. Next stop, a tour of Rice University and a beer at Valhalla. I'd ditch the bike, and drive out Bellaire and eat at Three Dragons in China Town. I'd finish with cocktails at Under the Volcano. If I needed a late night snack, I'd hit Chapultepec for some nachos. - Rich Hornbuckle

Paul Stephen / San Antonio Express-News

I'd visit MFAH for the fabulous art and architecture. Then I would have lunch at Guadalupana on Dunlavy -- ordering enchiladas mole to eat with the beer I'd buy next door. - Richard Bebermeyer

I've left and gone back a few times, to Dallas for 8 years, then to Ohio and now to Victoria. I'm from the Southeast side of Houston, going over the Ship Channel Bridge near sundown is my favorite thing, especially when I know I won't be back for awhile. Looking towards downtown as the sun hits the water is magical. - Juanita Bustamante

One last bike ride around the gravel levee road on top of Barker Dam. - Burhan Blum

Left Houston in '98 for the cooler climes of Washington state. However I do miss the Montrose area where I used to live. I'd go clubbing at Numbers, find some peace of mind at the Rothko Chanel, view eye candy at the Menil and MFAH, and grab a beer at the Mucky Duck. If I'm really hungry, chicken fried steak and a milkshake at the 59 Diner or good ol' greasy pizza at [Star Pizza]. (Note: 59 Diner has closed.) - Dalton Webb

I left six years ago. If I chose food - Ninfas on Navigation, El tiempo, or Shipleys. All things I cant get in the Midwest. If I chose drink - Warrens Inn. - Blair Stauffer Fetting

Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Barbecue Inn! Best shrimp ever! I moved to Austin 3 yrs. ago to be closer to my grandkids, and I really miss my Houston! Im a 4th generation native Houstonian, so I have so much history there. I miss just driving around the city in the Heights and downtown areas where my family was all born and raised. Its so interesting (and sad!) to see how much everything has changed! - DebbieTelge Straube

Orange show, Smither Park, Beer Can house and go push the button on the Bayou. - Renee' M Eaton

Nick de la Torre/Staff

Numbers Night Club and then a late night snack at Mai's Vietnamese Restaurant. - Michelle Balch Muller

Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle

If there were places that popped up often among respondents, it's places like Shipley's, Ninfa's on Navigation, Buffalo Bayou, the museums, the Rothko Chapel, Niko Nikos and Miller Outdoor Theatre to name a few. Keeping to 10 is impossible, but at least there are plenty of places to choose from.

I think the best way to say goodbye to Houston is to reconnect with the places that meant so much to you in your youth. The old stomping grounds, as they say. The first house or apartment you remember growing up in. The first school you attended. Take pictures. In Houston, those places might be gone or have changed for the better or worse. Still, it might be worth it to take one last look.

Where would you go on your farewell tour of the city?
Chronicle file

It was once written that Gary Hill was a "hell of a reporter."

The 35-year-old joined the Houston Chronicle in 1972 as a copy editor and later joined the Features desk. Previously, the married father of three worked at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
A 9-year-old girl was fatally shot and her mother injured Monday night during an apparent domestic disturbance at a Heights-area apartment, according to Houston police.

The two were shot about 9:50 p.m. in the apartment at the 400 block of Oxford Street near the Katy Service Freeway Road, police said.

CHILD GUN DEATHS: As Texas reels from Uvalde, these 19 Houston-area kids are a reminder gun violence happens every day

Investigators believe a domestic disturbance occurred between the woman and a man, Houston Police Department Lt. JP Horelica said. The man shot at the woman and struck the child. Another toddler was in the residence at the time of the incident but was not injured.

Both victims were taken to a local hospital where the child was pronounced dead and the mother is expected to survive.

It is currently unknown what led up to the shooting and what connection the victims have with the gunman, HPD added.

"At this time we know who the suspect is and we have units actively searching for him," Horelica said.

'A POLITICAL CIRCUS': Texas education board bracing for showdown over social studies curriculum

Anyone with information should contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477.

No other information is available at this time.

Joel.Umanzor@chron.com
U.S. Coast Guard photo, courtesy Station Galveston

Four people were rescued Monday when their boat sank near the Texas City dike, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The quartet called the Coast Guard's recruiting office, which relayed the call to the command center around 2:35 p.m.. The boaters said they were in distress near the Texas City dike. When officials could not regain communication with the boaters, a small rescue boat was launched and found the boaters and the craft, which was taking on water. They were able to reconnect with the boaters via a Coast Guard distress system.
HOUSTON  Texas Childrens Hospital has been named the second-best pediatric hospital in the nation, and the top option for cardiology and pulmonology, in this years U.S. News and World Report Best Childrens Hospitals rankings.

Texas Childrens improved upon last year, when it ranked as the third-best pediatric hospital in the country. It also ranked as the best hospital in Texas for the 14th year in a row.

We are beyond thrilled with the newest U.S. News & World Report rankings that place Texas Childrens Hospital second in the United States and first in the state of Texas, Mark A. Wallace, the hospital's president and CEO, said in a news release. Consistent collaboration, newfound discoveries and extraordinary patient care is what has brought us to where we are today. I am incredibly proud of this remarkable team and everything weve accomplished together  and our promise to every family is that we are just getting started.

The Best Childrens Hospitals rankings, released on Tuesday, are based on data from 119 medical centers across the U.S. Texas Childrens is included on the Honor Roll, which recognizes 10 pediatric hospitals that offer a high level of care across multiple specialties.

Boston Childrens Hospital earned the top spot on the Honor Roll for the ninth year in a row, boosted by first-place rankings in five pediatric specialties.

Texas Childrens ranked in all 10 of the pediatric specialties evaluated by U.S. News. The hospital ranked first in cardiology/heart surgery and pulmonology; second in neurology, third in neonatology and nephrology; fourth in cancer and gastroenterology; fifth in diabetes/endocrinology and urology; and eighth in orthopedics.

I think the most remarkable thing about Texas Childrens is that it has achieved a degree of excellent in every single specialty that we evaluate that is almost unparalleled, said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News.

The Best Childrens Hospitals rankings are designed to help families find the best care for children who have rare of life-threatening medical conditions, according to U.S. News.

Texas Childrens Hospital was the only pediatric hospital in the state that was included on the Honor Roll, but others were recognized in U.S. News' regional and specialty rankings.

Childrens Medical Center Dallas ranked as the second-best pediatric hospital in Texas, while Cook Childrens Medical Center in Fort Worth ranked third.

Childrens Memorial Hermann Hospital ranked as the fourth-best pediatric hospital in Texas. It earned national rankings in four specialties: 27th in neurology, 35th in cardiology and gastroenterology and 49th in orthopedics.

MD Anderson Childrens Cancer Hospital also earned a national ranking of 23rd in cancer care.

The Best Childrens Hospitals rankings are based on clinical data and an annual survey of thousands of pediatric specialists. The rankings consider a variety of factors such as patient outcomes, including mortality and infection rates; health equity; available clinical resources; and a hospitals compliance with best practices.

This years rankings also include new measures to evaluate diversity, equity and inclusion. They account for 2 percent of a hospital's score in each of the 10 specialties.

The new measures focus on whether hospitals are serving a diverse group of patients and providing equitable care to everyone. They also evaluate how well hospitals are promoting diversity and inclusion among their own physicians, hospital leaders and other staff, Harder said.

We wanted to make sure that we incorporated into this measure an understanding of what hospitals are doing to make sure their clinicians and their staff are representative of the diversity in their patient population, he said.
Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a resolution calling for Governor Greg Abbott to call a special session in response to the Uvalde school shooting.

The vote was 3-2, with the three Democrats in favor and two Republican members opposed.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said national gun control measures currently being proposed "won't solve the problem" of gun violence. Hidalgo called on the Commissioners Court's Analyst's Office to work with the Justice Administration Department, and the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department to prepare a report on youth gun violence in the county from 2015 to the present, as well as the most effective, evidence-based policy solutions.

"If Gov. Abbott can call three special sessions to make it harder for people to vote, surely he can call a special session to keep our kids from being massacred in their schools," Hidalgo said during a Tuesday press conference announcing the resolution.

CHILD GUN DEATHS: As Texas reels from Uvalde, these 19 Houston-area kids are a reminder gun violence happens every day

Kendall Cooper, a student speaking with March For Our Lives Houston, asked the court to include youth representatives in its efforts to address gun violence.

"We propose an official gun violence task force and youth council to go with this report," Cooper said.

The court unanimously approved a proposal from Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey to create a Harris County Safe School Commission.

"This commission is being set up to listen to the youth, to listen to the school districts," Ramsey said.

jen.rice@chron.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Tuesday is likely to be among the most consequential days in recent Southern Baptist history.

More than 10,000 church representatives will convene in Anaheim, Calif., for their first chance to vote on a slew of sex abuse policies and take steps to address findings of a recent report that outlined two decades of mishandled abuse complaints by top denominational leaders.

WATCH LIVE: 2022 SBC Pastors Conference and SBC Annual Meeting

The nations second-largest faith group will also elect a new president, a contest that many view as a harbinger for whats to come on abuse measures in the following year.

Heres what you need to know:

Why is this year so important?

It will be the latest in a half-decade string of annual meetings that have been dominated by conversations about how to confront sexual abuse and hold leaders accountable for failures to do the same.

Those debates began in earnest in 2018, as three longtime SBC leaders  Paige Patterson, Frank Page and former Texas Appeals Court Judge Paul Pressler  were mired in scandals over their handling of sexual abuse reports, or for misconduct themselves.

Then, in 2019, the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News published Abuse of Faith, an investigation that found that more than 400 SBC church leaders and volunteers have been credibly accused of sex crimes since 2000. They left behind more than 700 victims, nearly all of them children.

The SBC has since continued to grapple with the findings of that report and has passed some modest reforms. Last year, in response to the scandal, church representatives approved a third-party investigation into top leaders handling of sexual abuse. That report was released last month and found that longtime members of the SBCs executive committee had tried to silence survivors and stymie reform attempts out of fear that they could open the SBC up to lawsuits.

The report sparked outcry among many Southern Baptists, though some have mobilized in opposition to the report and broader abuse initiatives  including by questioning whether the firm behind the report, Guidepost Solutions, is trustworthy because it has previously voiced support for Pride Month on social media.

On Monday, the executive committee elected a new leader: Jared Wellman, an Arlington pastor who has been particularly adamant and proactive on abuse issues. Survivors in attendance said it was a hopeful sign ahead of Tuesdays consequential votes.

Sex abuse reforms

On Tuesday afternoon, Southern Baptists will discuss findings of the Guidepost report and could vote on two proposals made by an abuse task force that worked with the firm:

 Approve the creation of a task force to study Guideposts recommendations and report on their feasibility by next year. The task force would serve as a resource for abuse prevention and survivor care;

 Approve the creation of a ministry check website to maintain a record of pastors, employees and volunteers who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse and who have been or are associated with a Southern Baptist entity. The website would include offenders who confessed, were convicted of a criminal charge or had a civil judgment rendered against them. A credible accusation can also be confirmed by an independent third party hired by any church or Southern Baptist entity, such as a law firm.

Presidential election

Southern Baptists are also expected to elect a new president Tuesday afternoon. Though SBC presidents have few actual powers and cant compel the SBCs 47,000 churches to do much, many see this years contest as an indication of the path the SBC will take moving forward on abuse.

Two front-runners in the race  Texas pastor Bart Barber and Florida pastor Tom Ascol  have drawn most of the attention because of their competing views on confronting abuse. Current SBC president Ed Litton announced earlier this year that he is not pursuing a second term.

Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, in North Texas, has been increasingly outspoken on the need for the SBC to adopt strong abuse policies and repent for previous failures to address the crisis.

Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Fla., has similarly decried the abuse crisis while pushing back on some of the reforms that survivors have requested for decades.

Hes previously questioned whether the database idea would deny credibly accused pastors due process and has focused much of his candidacy on critical race theory and other issues that he said signal a drift toward liberalism in the SBC, one of the nations most conservative faith groups.

Ascol has also increasingly aligned himself with the Conservative Baptist Network, a splinter SBC group that was formed in 2020 in response to what they say is a liberal drift. Many of those involved with CBN have pushed back against abuse reforms, and the groups founding was aided in part by Patterson, the longtime SBC figure who was ousted as president of the SBCs Fort Worth seminary in 2018 for mishandling numerous rape claims.

robert.downen@chron.com
A recently retired Texas truck driver, who traveled across the country for decades, has been charged in a cold case killing of a woman whose body was found off Interstate 10 in California nearly 30 years ago, according a news release.

Douglas Thomas, 67, of McLennan County, was charged Friday in the death of Sherri Herrera, a mother of four who was discovered on a remote desert highway on-ramp in March 1993 in Riverside County, California, according to the Office of the District Attorney in Riverside County office.

You might also like: A woman was brutally killed in her Terrell Hills home 46 years ago this month. Police are still looking for her killer.

Herrera was last seen alive just a few days before her body was found.

"Along with the murder count, the DAs Office also has filed a special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of a rape," according to the news release.

Office of the District Attorney in Riverside County

Thomas traveled extensively throughout his more than 40 years as a truck driver, according to authorities.

In late May, Texas Rangers arrested Thomas on suspicion of killing another woman in Titus County, about two hours east of Dallas. Shenda Denise Hayes was killed in April 1992. Thomas was connected to that killing by a DNA match to evidence from the crime scene, according to prosecutors.

You might also like: Two killed on Canyon Lake after they were run over by boat and hit by propeller

Thomas DNA was also connected to evidence gathered during the investigation into Herreras killing, prosecutors said. Investigators with the Riverside County Regional Cold Case Team traveled to Texas and interviewed Thomas about Herrera.

Thomas remains in custody at the McLennan County Jail on a bail of $2 million. McLennan County is in Central Texas and its largest city is Waco.

According to a news release, Thomas will first be prosecuted in Texas for the 1992 killing. The district attorneys office will then request that Thomas be extradited to California to stand trial for the killing of Herrera.

Television station KWTX, which cited a search warrant affidavit filed by the Texas Rangers, shed some light on the 1992 Texas killing.

Hayes partially clothed body was discovered near a rest area along Interstate 30 near Mount Pleasant in Titus County, KWTX reported. An investigation showed she had been strangled with a device made of wire and cord in a manner to control the victim, according to the affidavit. Evidence suggests that she had been sexually assaulted.

Thomas was reportedly linked to the two killings by DNA samples collected at the respective crime scenes that were then uploaded to an FBI database in the early 2000s, the television station reported.

timothy.fanning@express-news.net
As many as 13 troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety waited in a hallway at one point during a gunmans rampage that killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde last month, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez, a San Antonio Democrat whose district encompasses Uvalde, said DPS Director Steven McCraw revealed the number of responding state troopers to him in a recent exchange.

He told me there was enough people and equipment to breach the door, Gutierrez said, even as officers continued to wait for more than an hour and some of the children inside the two locked classrooms called 911 for help.

In previous statements, McCraw has said that as many as 19 officers from various law enforcement agencies waited outside the classrooms. DPS has not publicly clarified the extent to which it was involved in the widely criticized police response to the May 24 mass shooting.

IN AUSTIN: Texas legislative leaders want to spend millions on mental health, school safety by end of summer

Salvador Ramos, 18, was armed with an assault-style rifle and multiple large-capacity clips when he entered the school through an unlocked back door and walked to the adjoining classrooms where he killed his victims, police said. He injured 17 others.

At a news conference last month, McCraw described Pedro Pete Arredondo, chief of police for the Uvalde school district, as the on-scene commander. He said that after Arredondo arrived at the school, he instructed other officers not to force entry into the locked classrooms until they could acquire more equipment, such as ballistic shields.

Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

Gutierrez said he spoke May 28 with McCraw, who was in tears. McCraw told Gutierrez that day that DPS would never again stand down, the lawmaker told the San Antonio Express-News.

In another exchange June 2, McCraw told Gutierrez that as many as 13 DPS troopers had massed in the hallway outside the classrooms at one point  waiting to make entry even as the massacre unfolded.

The circumstances surrounding the second-deadliest K-12 school shooting in the United States remain under investigation by local, state and federal authorities. The worst-ever was the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre of 26 people.

The district attorney for Uvalde, Christina Mitchell Busbee, is leading a criminal investigation into the shooting. The Texas Rangers, with assistance from the FBI, are investigating the police response.

'SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED': Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey reacts to Senate gun safety deal

Separately, the Justice Department is conducting a critical incident review of the police response. And a three-member legislative committee appointed by House Speaker Dade Phelan is investigating the massacre.

Gutierrez wants more answers now.

Were supposed to be the big bad-ass cops in the region, Gutierrez said of the DPS troopers. What happened here? Where were they situated in that building, and what time did they get there? When it came to protecting our children, we failed.

McCraw has stopped providing Gutierrez information at the behest of Busbee, the state lawmaker said.

DPS spokesman Erick Estrada did not return messages Monday requesting comment.

ALLISON DINNER, Contributor / AFP via Getty Images

In an interview with the Texas Tribune, Arredondo said he did not believe he was in charge at the scene of the massacre and never gave instructions not to breach the building.

He said that within seconds of arriving at Robb Elementary, he left his police and campus radios outside the school. He said he thought the situation had changed from that of an active shooter to one in which a suspect had barricaded himself inside the classrooms. He said he was not aware of the 911 calls because he lacked radios, and no one in the hallway told him.

Arredondo also told the Tribune that he was waiting in the hallway for tools to open the door, including keys that took an excruciating amount of time for staff to find.

Gutierrez questioned why state troopers on the scene would automatically defer to a school district officer with no radios.

Why werent the decisions made by the most superior police force on-site? he asked. How then did everybody just jump on and make (Arredondo) the incident commander? If he never had a radio, then how did he make himself the incident commander? It just doesnt follow.

'CONTAGIOUS SMILE': Uvalde mourns 10-year-old Alexandria Aniyah Rubio

At the news conference last month, McCraw told reporters that police in Texas are trained not to wait for orders to neutralize an active shooter.

When theres an active shooter, the rules change, McCraw said. You dont have time. You dont have to have a leader on the scene. Every officer lines up, stacks up, goes and finds where those rounds are being fired at and keeps shooting until the subject is dead. Period.

Law enforcement sources told the Express-News that four Border Patrol agents and two sheriffs deputies made entry into the classrooms and killed Ramos.

Gutierrez said officers in the hallway at one point had as many as three ballistic shields before finally breaching the door to the classrooms. Once they did, nearly two dozen people inside were dead.

There was enough material in that room to stop this threat, he said. And it didnt happen.
Today marks the start of a historic meeting of Southern Baptists, at which the nations second-largest faith group is set to debate sexual abuse policies and elect a new president.

The meeting comes amid fallout from a third-party investigation that found the SBCs top leadership body, the executive committee, has for decades suppressed abuse reports and stymied reforms that experts said would better safeguard children from predators.

READ MORE: Bombshell 400-page report finds Southern Baptist leaders routinely silenced sexual abuse survivors

The SBC only meets for two days a year, and so annual meetings are often dramatic affairs. But this years meeting is all but certain to be historically tense.

Here are a few things to know ahead of the meeting.

What is the Southern Baptist Convention, and why are they meeting?

The Southern Baptist Convention is a collective of 47,000 churches and roughly 15 million members who pool together money to fund seminaries and evangelism efforts. SBC churches are also autonomous and self-governing, and while they cooperate with one another on certain efforts, leaders have little oversight over local congregations.

A HISTORIC REPORT: 5 explosive takeaways from the new Southern Baptist report

That idea, called local church autonomy, will factor heavily into Tuesdays meeting, as churches debate how much more they want to cooperate with one another to prevent abuse. SBC churches defer most decisions to their top leadership body, the executive committee. That body was at the core of last months explosive report, and so Tuesdays meeting will be a litmus test of both the SBCs broader response to the findings, but also how much the report has affected the trust between top leaders and the convention writ-large.

How is the meeting organized?

The SBCs annual meeting is a massive exercise in Roberts Rules of Order, a parliamentary process that allows virtually anyone  regardless of church size, theological training or anything else  to make recommendations on everything from policies to the meetings schedule.

When will the abuse issue come up?

As it stands, the two most important moments of Tuesday will likely come in the afternoon. First, SBC church representatives (called messengers) are expected to discuss reforms in response to last months report on sexual abuse. Among the proposals is the creation of a ministry check website of ministers accused of sexual abuse. The proposal has long been sought by survivors and experts who say the SBCs lack of consistent ordination standards or central records makes it easy for predators to move from church to church.

SBC presidential election

Southern Baptists are also expected to elect a new president Tuesday. Though SBC presidents have few actual powers and cant compel SBC churches to do much, many see this years contest as an indication of the path the SBC will take moving forward on abuse.

Two front-runners in the race  Texas pastor Bart Barber and Florida pastor Tom Ascol  have drawn most of the attention because of their competing views on confronting abuse.

MORE: Texas Supreme Court rules against Southern Baptist leader accused of rape, a win for survivors

Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, in North Texas, has been increasingly outspoken on the need for the SBC to adopt strong abuse policies and repent for previous failures to address the crisis. Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Fla., has also said the SBC should address abuse. But he has pushed back on some of the reforms that survivors have requested for decades. Ascot has instead focused much of his candidacy on critical race theory and other issues that he said signal a drift toward liberalism in the SBC, one of the nations most conservative faith groups.

Can I watch live?

You can watch the meeting here. And you can read the roughly 100 stories the Chronicle has written on SBC sexual abuse here.

robert.downen@chron.com
Regarding Senate negotiators announce a deal on guns, breaking logjam, (June 12): As far as Im concerned the compromise legislation on firearms announced by the Senate is too little, too late and heavy on the compromise. Specifically, rather than a federal red flag law consistent across all 50 states the agreement will offer money to states as incentive to enact their own laws. Is the number of dead children and adults in recent shootings not enough incentive to take action? Weve already seen how effective incentives are with all the red states that refused to expand Medicaid. Who in their right mind thinks an incentive to create red flag laws will work with extremist Second Amendment supporters? I predict the number of states creating new red flag laws will be few and far between. This is just more dithering delay tactics by a GOP perfectly fine with the status quo.

David Kelly, Spring

Do you know how to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. And that is what Sen. John Cornyn, one of a dwindling number of Republican moderates, is trying to do to get some small bit of common-sense gun control legislation passed in a Senate where his party does not have the majority. Which Texas senator would you rather have at the negotiating table, Cornyn or Cruz? If you think that there isnt enough being done now, just wait until after the midterms if the predictions of a Republican-controlled Senate come true. At least two more years of talk and absolutely no action.

Kenneth Campbell, Cypress

Regarding Editorial: On gun reform, Cornyn is not trying hard enough, (June 9): Your editorial last week was right on the mark. The headline absolutely sums up the fact that our senior senator hasnt the courage or leadership needed to point the GOP senators in the right direction. There are so many positive and necessary changes to be made to the nations gun laws that are supported by a strong majority of citizens. Protecting the gun lobby and the NRA are not particularly high priorities for anyone but the politicians beholden to them for their campaign coffers. Enhanced background checks, limiting the capacity of ammunition magazines, restricting the sale of assault-style arms to people over the age of 21 and requiring licensure for those who would purchase these types of weapons are not out of the realm of possibilities if Cornyn had the courage to push his colleagues in that direction. It is time that our representatives begin representing the sentiments of their constituents rather than the industries and their lobbyists who push legislators to ignore the will of the people.

Bill Bentley, La Porte

Youth activism

Regarding Teen activists plan 13 March for Our Lives rallies on Texas gun safety this Saturday, (June 10): My hat is off to the young people representing March for Our Lives who are working tirelessly to get their message out about gun violence in this country. I hear a lot of complaints about todays youth, but Ill be damned if they arent making a lot more sense than our leaders in the state government. Stay in the fight, kids  people are listening.

Brenden McBride, Katy

Quitting the NRA

Regarding Editorial: Im done. After Uvalde, Texan NRA member sets example for others to follow, (June 7): I especially appreciated the Chronicles editorial describing Richard Smalls early experiences with guns, his mentors and the NRA in South Texas. During my own teenage years I did not know anyone who owned a gun in New Jersey in the 40s and 50s. My exposure to guns was limited to target shooting with .22 rifles available for use at the local recreation center range, which was sponsored by the Boy Scouts and the NRA. My instructors taught gun safety and marksmanship; I still have a few of my best target results preserved for the past 70 years.

After college I was dismayed to find out that the NRA had entered a new phase. Gone was the emphasis on gun safety and .22 rifles, replaced by emphasis on acquiring handguns to protect oneself. The NRA was becoming a lobbyist for gun manufacturers and their most prominent activity seemed to be to create fear among ordinary citizens; in this they sought to enlist the aid of elected officials who joined the effort as they became corrupted by large NRA campaign donations. I quit the NRA in 1958.

America will remain the leader of the free world only when the current crop of gun-corrupt politicians is removed from office. Let this commence in November, 2022. We should start by rating politicians according to their records with regard to gun control legislation and acceptance of NRA campaign money.

R. P. Nielsen, Montgomery
The Texas State Board of Education is preparing for a once-in-a-decade rewrite of the states social studies curriculum, at a time when education politics is especially heated amid a push from conservative groups to reign in discussions about topics like racism and gender.

The board had been initially expected to unveil the new draft curriculum for its June meetings, happening this week, but delayed the release until next month. Its now set to delve into the overhaul in a special meeting in late July, with public testimony.

Keven Ellis, the chair of the board and a Lufkin Republican, said hes hopeful the board can avoid being drawn into a messy fight, given the national debates.

Were going to have  because of whats happening in our country right now  a lot of testimony around that and a lot of input and a lot of discussion, Ellis said. But I want to focus on what our students need.

Texas has a long history of clashes over whats taught in schools  including sex ed content in health textbooks, whether the Civil War was fought over slavery, the influence of Moses on Americas Founding Fathers and evolution. This years rewrite could be especially heated, coming after a wave of state legislation and school district actions targeting teachers specifically.

READ MORE: Houston school board races emerge as new battleground over critical race theory, book bans

Those include a state law banning Critical Race Theory from Texas classrooms and restricting how teachers can discuss political issues with students. School districts have also banned books with inappropriate content, often including those that discuss LGBTQ issues. And last year Gov. Greg Abbott prohibited school districts and local governments from instituting mask mandates during COVID-19 surges, actions that teachers unions opposed.

Conservatives say the backlash is a result of the pandemic, when parents saw their children at home in virtual classrooms and witnessed teachings that they describe as having a liberal bias. Democrats say the crackdown is an effort to whitewash history, downplay the role of racism in America and censor content about LGBTQ people.

Earlier this year, board members Tom Maynard, R-Florence, and Jay Johnson, R-Pampa, brought on right-wing scholar Stephen Balch as a content advisor. Balch has written that immigrants could destroy traditional America and has supported conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, describing it as a literal coup.

Maynard and Johnson later said they were unaware of the controversial writings and knew Balch to be a respected academic.

The Texas Freedom Network, a left-leaning nonprofit that tracks conservative extremism in the state, said Blachs inclusion foreshadowed a politicization of the social studies curriculum review.

The (board) has a history of injecting their own political ideologies into the curriculum standards, be it social studies or health or science, said Carisa Lopez, political director for the Texas Freedom Network. So we would hope that the board would use this as an opportunity to really turn the page and move away from that, but Im not super optimistic.

A spokesman for the Texas Association of School Boards  which a prominent Texas conservative group has accused of trying to indoctrinate Texas kids with leftist ideas  said in the recent May elections, 900 school board elections were held, and 400 new members were elected.

Thats a re-election rate for incumbents of about 55 percent. In Congress, the incumbency reelection rate is about 95 percent.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Weve seen school board meetings get out of control, a lot of fear mongering and massive misrepresentation of whats happening at our schools, Lopez said of school board meetings. If whats happening at the local level is any indication, were in for a political circus.

Republicans see the school fights as a winning political issue. In Virginia, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin was propelled to a surprise victory last year largely on the back of pushing for parents to have more of a say in what their kids are taught at school.

Gov. Greg Abbott also joined a national push for Parents Bill of Rights policies in the next Legislative session, including control over what kids are taught, an ability to veto a childs grade advancement and vouchers to provide public funding for parents to send kids to private schools.

The school curriculum is known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. It is drafted line-by-line by a number of working groups that specialize in different areas, then is reviewed by a team of content advisors who were named by the state board and, finally, presented to the board itself, which will hold public hearings and offer amendments.

A final vote on the curriculum is expected in mid-November, just after the midterm elections.

edward.mckinley@chron.com
House Speaker Dade Phelan on Monday proposed that Texas top lawmakers allocate more than $170 million for mental health services and school safety initiatives before the start of the next academic year.

In a letter to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who heads the Senate, Phelan suggested expanding telemedicine services, increasing hospital capacity for mental health treatment, bolstering active shooter training for law enforcement and allowing school districts to purchase silent panic buttons. He also endorsed Patricks previous request to spend $50 million on bulletproof shields for school police.

The negotiations come on the heels of last months mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Twenty-one people died, including 19 children, and 17 more were injured.

Though the Legislature is not in session, lawmakers could immediately approve the money through an emergency budget appropriation, which would reallocate resources from existing funding pools. Phelan suggested tapping into surplus funds in the Foundation School Program, the main source of funding for Texas schools.

Gov. Greg Abbott has so far declined to call a special session, which would immediately bring legislators back to Austin to discuss appropriations and other legislative responses.

RELATED: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants Texas to spend $50 million on bulletproof shields after Uvalde shooting

Like you, I believe our respective chambers have the obligation to take immediate, concrete action with the goal of making our schools as safe as possible before the start of the upcoming school year, Phelan wrote. I also believe our state is best served by a multi-faceted response  one that includes strategies to improve mental health outcomes and strengthen school security for students and teachers, which our chambers have worked in stride to improve and enhance for multiple sessions.

Texas GOP leaders have focused heavily on school security and mental health in the wake of the Uvalde massacre, while shutting down Democrats requests to restrict gun access. Republicans control all statewide offices in Texas and hold a majority in both chambers of the Legislature.

Guns are the issue, said Jamarr Brown, the co-executive director of the Texas Democratic Party. Yes, we need more mental health support and our schools need to be properly upgraded - but those are distractions from the issue at hand: that an 18-year old was able to legally purchase a weapon of war and use it to slaughter a classroom of children and teachers.

Abbott, Patrick and Phelan would all have to sign off on the funds before they are disbursed, as would the chairs of each chambers finance committee. A representative for Patrick did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Abbott said in a statement that the proposals are a great start to delivering not only on the needs of the Uvalde community, but for schools and communities across Texas.

Phelans proposals

Phelans letter included an eight-point plan to address mental health and school safety concerns. To start, he wants to spend roughly $37.5 million a year to expand Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine, which offers telehealth services to public school students who need mental health treatment.

The state currently spends $25 million annually to provide those resources to about 40 percent of the state. The additional funding would expand the program statewide.

Another $30 million should go toward inpatient capacity at hospitals across the state, allowing them to take in more children who need mental health support or treatment. The expansion is necessary to address the growing number of acute cases in children, Phelan said.

Hes also asking to allocate $10.5 million each year to support Pediatric Crisis Stabilization and Response Teams in every region of the state. The teams are designed to immediately respond to mental health crises, cutting down local reliance on hospitals, he said. That effort would also require about $3 million in startup costs.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

His last two proposals on mental health would expand specialty therapy across the state, providing more community-based treatment for juvenile offenders and helping young people experiencing their first episode of psychosis. The funding for those efforts varies.

On school safety, Phelan built on Gov. Greg Abbotts previous requests to provide active shooter training to all law enforcement officers and conduct assessments of school districts emergency operations plans. The speaker is asking for $7 million to support Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training and another $7 million for the Texas School Safety Center, which is leading the review of school safety plans.

Lastly, $18.7 million would allow Texas school districts to buy silent panic alerts, which provides real-time coordination between first responder agencies.

The monetary figures are all estimates, and Phelans proposals are not final. Lawmakers are expected to continue discussing legislative responses in the coming months.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls wants to rescind the no-fly zones at Disneyland and Disneyworld in response to the corporations stance against a Florida state law that restricts conversations in schools about sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Richmond Republican and former Fort Bend County sheriff on Monday filed the Airlines Independent of Restrictions Act, which would take away the no-fly zones around the Disney resorts and would restrict the federal government from enacting new no-fly zones without a national security justification. The bill was cosponsored by six Republicans.

With Democrats in control of Congress and the presidency, the measure is unlikely to become law.

The fact that Disney is the only corporate resort benefiting from this national security law should tell you all you need to knowDisneys deep pockets are manipulating the federal government, Nehls said. Ending Washington corruption starts by removing Congress from the payroll of corporate giants and breaking the quid-pro-quo system, especially when it does nothing to benefit the American people.

READ MORE: 'Don't Say Gay' vs. 'parental rights': Fact-checking claims about Florida's controversial bill

Conservatives have criticized Disney since the corporation spoke out against a recent Florida law that bars teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who controls the state Senate, has said he intends to push for Texas own version of the law, which opponents have labeled Dont Say Gay.

Patrick said the law simply says schools cannot sexualize children in elementary school. Critics say its an attempt from conservatives to silence conversations about LGBTQ issues.

Disney did not initially take a stance on the Florida bill, but eventually denounced it after employees raised concerns.

We chose not to take a public position on it because we thought we could be more effective working behind-the-scenes, engaging directly with lawmakers  on both sides of the aisle, CEO Bob Chapek said in March, while adding that the company had opposed the policy from the start.

Nehls bill comes after the congressman sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in May condemning the special treatment Disney receives with the zones. Its unfair that Disney parks are designated no-fly zones, Nehls wrote, while other large amusement parks are not and contend with noisy aircraft or planes flying banner advertisements above.

edward.mckinley@chron.com
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
How to get a Sample cleared for a Song or Beat

Never mind the effort and time that goes into making your own music  clearing a sample is an art all of its own! And one that you really dont want to get wrong in terms of the legalities

by DITTO MUSIC

When it comes to getting the rights to use a sample, theres a lengthy, legal and often expensive process involved. But thats not to say you cant go after that catchy bassline or a mesmerising lyric thatll transform your song into the track you know it could be! Heres what you need to know.

What is a sample in music?

A sample is any element of a pre-existing song or recording by another artist or group that features in a different track.

So in short  this is when a musician incorporates elements or copies and pastes a snippet of another artists song into an entirely new song of their own.

Be warned! A sample shouldnt be confused with an interpolation.

An interpolation is where a musician re-records lyrics or music from another artists song note for note, based on the original composition.

Why does this matter?

Well, to legally use a sample, youll need permission to use both the master recording and the underlying composition. But for an interpolation, youll only need to get permission for the underlying composition.

Since clearing samples can be time-consuming and expensive, a lot of artists have taken to interpolating records to reduce the number of permissions they need to obtain (and save themselves the stress and dolla in the process!).

Remember  the licensing required to clear a sample and/or interpolation should not be confused with the licensing required to release a cover song.

Cover versions differ from both samples and interpolations in that the cover artist is only required to obtain the mechanical license from the original songwriter and/or publisher.

Hip Hop musicians and rappers rely very heavily on samples in their work. A good example is Jack Harlows 2022 TikTok anthem First Class, which features a reworked sample of Fergies classic 2006 hit, Glamorous.

But unless youre Jack Harlow (or the likes), legally securing samples as an independent musician can be a difficult and expensive task.

So youll need to make sure youre in the know about all the laws, rules and regulations around sampling music in 2022.

How to clear a sample for a song

So to be clear  using samples in your music without legal permission is a violation of music industry law.

Yep. You heard it right.

So if youve heard any rumours or loopholes about using samples without getting the legal go-ahead first, youve been wrongly informed my friend.

A common myth is that you can legally sample a copyrighted song without getting permission, as long as the sample is shorter than 6 seconds, or 11 seconds, or 15 seconds

Warning  this is false information!

You cannot sample music without permission, no matter how short or long the sample might be.

A very famous example is the case of Vanilla Ice borrowing the bass line from Under Pressure. Even though the sample is only about 3 seconds long, it didnt stop Queen and David Bowie suing Ice for copyright infringement, swooping in and collecting the cash.

This is because sampling music is actually rooted in an understanding of music copyright law.

Youll need to acquire 2 different licences to legally use a sample from an existing recording of your own music;

1. A copyright licence for permission to use the master recording (often owned by the artist or label)

2. A copyright licence for permission to use the underlying composition (often controlled by the songwriter and/or music publisher)

For a sample, youll need to acquire both the master recording and underlying music license. But for an However, unlike the licence youll need to distribute and release a cover song, the copyright owner doesnt have to grant you permission.

Which means theyve pretty much got free reign when it comes to dictating the terms of usage, terms that you can either accept, or reject and head back empty handed.

Step 1. Apply for clearance well in advance

Finding the original source of a sample and clearing it is usually a lengthy process.

Even if youve tracked down all the right people, you might not get granted access to the sample right away, especially when it comes to prolonged financial negotiations and all the associated paperwork

So dont risk waiting to the point at which youre ready to drop your new song, before going after the rights to use the sample.

Because at the end of the day, if you dont get the permission from the rights holders, youll be back to the drawing board anyway.

So clear the sample first and then get jiggy with it.

Step 2. Collect info about the song youre sampling

Before you can start asking for the permission to feature a sample in your song, youll first want to lock down all the necessary and need-to-know info about the song you want to sample and how youre planning on using it.

Make sure youre clear on the following;

 How long the sample is

 How many times the sample features in your song

 Which part of the rights holders song youre sampling

 What your plans are with the song

Once youre clear about all of that, you can start reaching out to the rights holders of the sample.

Step 3. Identify the master recording rightsholder

Remember  this will be either the artist, label, or another third party.

For finding the master recording owner, a quick Google search should usually throw up the answers you need, either via the artists or bands Wikipedia page or if the song is available on Spotify, check out the linear notes at the bottom of the songs page.

Once you find out who it is, make a note of their contact information  including their phone no. and email address  which youll usually be able to find listed on their website.

Step 4. Identify the publishing rightsholder

Your best chance for locating the publishing owner is heading straight to the biggest music publishing databases (PROs) and searching those for the song directly

In the US this will be ASCAP , Harry Fox & BMI . In Canada its SOCAN . And in the UK itll be the PRS.

However  to get full access to the info on these databases, youll need to be signed up with the right PRO for your region or area. If youre working with a music publishing service like Ditto Music Publishing, well sign you up on your behalf, so you can access information thats exclusive to society members only.

If you arent a member of any PRO, you could opt to use Google instead. Plug in the composition owners name and run an online search. Itll likely be tricky to find a direct contact no. or email, but if you can  all kudos to you!

Step 5. Contact the rights owners & negotiate a price

Once youve tracked down the contact details of both the label/artist and songwriter/publisher, reach out to them with all the important info we discussed above + a copy of your track that features their sample.

If they like what they hear, the next thing theyll want to discuss is the costs.

Most publishers will likely request an upfront advance, similar to a clearance fee.This can range from anywhere between a few hundred dollars to a few thousand.

On top of this, theyre likely to request a percentage of all revenue generated from the song. How high this percentage is will usually depend on things like;



 How prominently the sample features on the song

 How recognizable the sample is

 Whether the sample includes vocals, instrumentation or both



Similarly, the label will also want some kind of upfront fee or advance, plus something called a rollover.

A rollover is essentially a royalty rate thats calculated based on a sales threshold i.e. once youve sold X amount of downloads of your song, youll owe the label X amount of money.

TIP: For songs where the master owner and publishing owner is the same person, such as an independent artist or a band who self administers their own publishing, youll usually be able to negotiate a smaller all-in price for the clearance fee.

What if one (or both) rights holders denies me permission?

If either the artist (and their label) or the songwriter (and or publisher) deny you access to the sample, then its time to pack up and hit the road.

Under no circumstances should you still try and release a song featuring samples that youve been denied permission to.

You could get into serious legal trouble, pay massive fines and your music will most likely be taken down from all streaming platforms permanently.

An alternative option is to use some pre-cleared samples instead.

There are websites online that offer a library of pre-cleared samples that are all legal for use without going through the sample licensing process. All you have to do is buy and download the audio you want to sample in your song.

Some pre-cleared sample websites you can check out include; Citizen DJ , Tracklib & DMG clearances .

Remember  you must clear a sample legally to use it in your work and avoid getting into any legal copyright infringement trouble.

If youre unsuccessful, head back to the drawing board and try to come up with a catchy riff, cool sequence or interesting element of your own!

Its never worth risking your music and your rep by using a sample that you havent got the legal permission to use.

Share on:
Police Chief Timothy Garner, who will be retiring June 30, is honored by state Rep. John Barrett III for nearly four decades of service to the town at the annual town meeting. State Rep. Smitty Pignatelli, right, also attended.

Cheshire Voters Reject Two Bylaw Changes at Town Meeting

CHESHIRE, Mass.  Town meeting rejected two bylaw changes on Monday night, including one that would have created a stormwater management bylaw, and increased three line items from the floor.

Article 25, the stormwater bylaw, did not obtain the two-thirds majority needed to pass. It would have regulated the town's storm drain system and prohibited illicit discharges, connections and obstructions.

Several voters were upset that they did not get the chance to read the bylaw sooner. It must be voted on again at the next annual town meeting.

"I'm just a little bit concerned that we haven't done a good job, not because we haven't been trying to get this done, but because the calendar may have run out in terms of getting it on the warrant, where you could have a large public meeting to publicize it and to advertise it," said Planning Board member E. Richard Scholz. "I think some of the people that are going to be most severely impacted by this possibly aren't even here to be able to vote."

The bylaw would have made the Conservation Commission, or any agent it authorizes, the town's stormwater authority. The commission would have been able to enforce penalties for violations, including fines, injunctions and orders for remediation.

Article 22 would have changed the annual town meeting date from the second Monday in June to the last Monday of April and the start time from 7 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Voters expressed concerns about the new date being too early, specifically for school district budgets.

"What happens if the state numbers come in significantly lower than what you put in that budget? You put us in a bind. Why are we moving this to a position where we don't have all of the financials that we need?" asked William Craig, a member of the McCann School Committee.

The 102 voters who attended the nearly three-hour meeting at Hoosac Valley High School passed all other articles, including appropriating $1,238,110 for the general government budget, $2,943,366 for Hoosac Valley Regional School District, $438,574 for McCann Technical School and $30,000 for out-of-district placements.

They also passed a question to transfer $240,555.23 of free cash to lower the town's tax rate and to put another $125,800 into the capital stabilization fund. That also means $7,500 will also go toward Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) compliance and reporting even though the stormwater bylaw failed.

Board of Selectmen Chair Michelle Francesconi said significant work went into managing funds as effectively as possible. She said the general government budget will also fund many technological upgrades across town.

"Throughout the budget, there are numerous times where we did condense line items to allow us to better utilize the funds during the year," she said.

One topic discussed was the salaries of certain town employees, such as the town clerk, that are lower compared to other communities. Francesconi said town employee salaries have been discussed continuously during budget discussions and they will be looked at in the future.

Voters approved a motion by Library Association President Mary Ellen Baker to raise the $38,480 Cheshire Library Association line item by $4,860. Baker said the library plans to use this money to cover some costs of the director position.

Another motion to increase Cemetery Department wages from $28,886 to $37,822 to fund a fourth employee was also approved. These brought the total amount for Article 13 to $130,376 from $116,580.

The Council on Aging revolving fund was increased on the floor from $5,000 to $10,000.

Article 23 would have amended the town's marijuana bylaw to only allow two non-retail cannabis establisments, down from six, was withdrawn. This article was proposed by the Selectmen and required a two-thirds vote to pass.

Francesconi said town counsel informed her the Planning Board would be required to vote on the article, which it did not, meaning it had to be withdrawn.

The town also honored Police Chief Timothy Garner, who will retire as of June 30.

"There's two kinds of people in this world: there's givers and takers. And I can say without hesitation that Chief Timothy Garner is a giver," said state Rep. John Barrett III, who was present to give Garner a proclamation from the House of Representatives recognizing his service.

Garner received a standing ovation from the crowd after getting the honor.

State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli was also in attendance.

"Chief, I would not miss this for the world. You've done some incredible things ... You've really left a huge mark here and whoever replaces you has got some very big shoes to fill," he said.
Fire Officials Urge Residents to Leave Fireworks to the Professionals

STOW, Mass.  Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey and State Police Colonel Christopher S. Mason are reminding residents to leave fireworks to the professionals this summer.

Massachusetts fire departments reported more than 900 fires related to illegal fireworks between 2012 and 2021, officials said. In addition to the 43 fire service injuries and $2.1 million in damages attributed to these fires, Massachusetts medical facilities reported 31 severe burn injuries extending to 5 percent or more of the victims' bodies that were caused by illegal fireworks.

"People are injured and property is lost to illegal fireworks every single year in Massachusetts," State Fire Marshal Ostroskey said. "As we enter the period when most of these incidents occur, we're reminding everyone that fireworks are illegal because they are dangerous. Many cities and towns will have professional fireworks displays this year, so play it safe and leave fireworks to the professionals."

Officials emphasized that fireworks, including sparklers, are especially unsafe around children. Sparklers burn at temperatures of over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit  hotter than the melting point of glass and aluminum. According to a 2021 report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, "there were an estimated 1,600 emergency department-treated injuries associated with firecrackers and 900 with sparklers" in 2020. This accounted for almost 10 percent of all fireworks-related injuries that year. Of those 900 injuries from sparklers, 44% were to children under the age of 5.

"The possession, use, and sale of fireworks are illegal in Massachusetts without certification and licensing," said Colonel Mason. "Massachusetts law requires the confiscation of any illegal fireworks we encounter, even if legally purchased elsewhere. State Police and our local partners will be conducting targeted enforcement efforts to intercept illegal fireworks coming into the state and we will seize any that we find in routine traffic stops."

Fireworks fires peaked in Massachusetts during the summer of 2020, with 120 incidents reported to the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System that year. They declined by 67% to 40 incidents in 2021 as many cities and towns resumed their public fireworks displays and police departments increased enforcement. State Police seized more than 47,000 units of illegal fireworks and issued 65 criminal summonses during last year's enforcement operations. Those operations will resume this summer, officials said.

The Department of Fire Services posts a list of permitted municipal fireworks displays and updates it each week through the summer. To view the list  and to learn more about the dangers of illegal fireworks  visit the DFS website.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:

Home Regional News East
Name: Karan Yaramada

Company: Jade Global

Job Title: CEO

Location: San Jose, CA

Karan Yaramada founded Kanverse in 2020, and established Jade Global, as the founder and CEO in 2003 with a vision and passion to deliver excellence to its customers. An alumnus of Harvard Business School, Yaramada exemplifies the companys deep-rooted culture of maximising value from the latest technology to address some of the biggest business challenges. Kanverse is Yaramadas visionary pursuit to interweave the world with the power of AI, driven by the need for safe and responsible use of this revolutionary technology.

What was the most valuable piece of career advice that you received? If youre looking to be promoted, follow these two things that will lead you in the right direction. Firstly, express your intent to the right people, such as direct supervisor/manager, in advance or before the beginning of a new performance review cycle. Secondly, set your long-term goals to meet key objectives of the role that you would like to attain within the next year or two.

What was the worst piece of business advice that you received? If you keep your superiors happy, they will take care of you, instead of doing the right things in the best interest of the company. This narrow focus does more harm than good, in my opinion.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in IT/tech? Three very important things that can set you up for success are intellectual curiosity, a culture of trust, and work ethic.

The intellectually curious are the ones who thrive, who upset the status quo and find newer and better ways to do things. Every great relationship begins with trust, which plays a vital role in building company culture. And, when you can align your life passion with purpose and persistence, the lines between working and playing dissolve and become one ever flowing part of your life. Work hard, fail fast and learn faster.

Did you always want to work in IT/tech? Im not sure that I did, but I did decide to switch my major from mechanical to computer science engineering after my undergrad. In fact, I left one of the top engineering schools, IIT Kharagpur, in order to switch my major to computer science and engineering at a different university.

What was your first job in IT/tech? I joined Tata Consultancy Services right after receiving my masters in computer science and engineering as an Assistance Systems Engineer Trainee. The trainee in my title went away after six months of working in that position.

What are some common misconceptions about working in IT/tech? A common misconception about working in IT is that everyone is always behind a desk or the computer and writing code. Thats not always the case. You make a huge impact in any business by being part of IT. You get a full view of business from both inside and outside. IT and Business are converging into one and eventually every company will become a Tech company.

What tips would you give to someone aiming for a c-level position? I would advise the following:

Self-awareness is key. Understand your strengths and weaknesses.

Your team's success is your success. Always find a way to make your teams successful.

Understand what makes your company unique or different and promote those values or that culture.

Broaden your scope. Whenever possible, take on new challenges or different business functions.

Take a step back and see the business from a different perspective and voluntarily bring in new ideas.

Focus on company goals even at the sacrifice of your own unit/department.

Lead by example.

What are your career ambitions, and have you reached them yet? My career goal was to build a great IT company and I can happily say Im halfway there already.

Do you have a good work life balance in your current role? I have made personal sacrifices in the process of building the company and my family has always been very supportive. Its time to pay them back with my time and support.

What, if anything, would you change about the route your career path has taken? For many years I was very financially conservative. I would say I could have taken more risks while developing the company. I could have invested in growth aggressively.

Which would you recommend: A coding bootcamp or a computer science degree? I would recommend a computer science degree because the degree will help groom you for long-term success where bootcamp will only teach you a narrower skillset.

How important are specific certifications? Certifications are important for new job opportunities but alone are not enough to help you grow in your career.

What are the three skills or abilities you look for in prospective candidates? A positive attitude, the ability to learn, and accountability or taking ownership.

What would put you off a candidate? First, frequent job changes. Second, changing jobs for not good enough reasons. Finally, blame others for their failures instead of learning from their failures.

What are the most common mistakes made by candidates in an interview? How can those mistakes be avoided? For the most part, there is no right or wrong answer in my interviews. The questions are merely to bring out a candidates vulnerabilities as well as their strengths. Candidates must listen carefully, seek clarification to understand the questions asked and be fully engaged.

Do you think it is better to have technical or business skills  or a mix of both? A mixture of both. To apply technology to business effectively, technologists should have the appropriate business skills. Someone running a business should also have the correct technical skills to run their business.
Khaama Press, June 13, 2022

According to The Wall Street Journal, some key Afghan officials and their families spent millions of dollars in the final years of the war on luxurious mansions in the United States and other countries, and when they fled the rising violence in Afghanistan.

Some officials who held senior roles during former President Ashraf Ghanis administration, which began in 2014, are now residing in mansions along Californias coast, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of public records, interviews, and other evidence.

According to data and interviews, many former officials live in the United Arab Emirates, major European cities, and Turkey.

After seeking to uncover the officials whereabouts, it was discovered that the majority had migrated overseas, particularly in countries where currently accessible property and company information are limited.

Some former high-ranking government officials who had foreign citizenships and assets, allowed for an easier relocations in their assets outside of Afghanistan, while others spent on new properties and relocated their families abroad as the government collapsed to the Taliban, according to the journal.

Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai  Former President of Afghanistan

After escaping to the UAE, President Ghani initially stayed in a suite with his wife at the five-star St. Regis Hotel in Abu Dhabi. His wife then chose a private villa offered by the Emiratis as their permanent residence.

Foreign officials had alleged Ghani of looting government money, so substantial that not all of it could fit in the chopper when he escaped the presidential palace last year.

Given the helicopters space and weight limits, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction stated in an interim report last week that the allegation is unlikely to be true.

Hamdullah Mohib  Former National Security Advisor

Before Kabul fell, former President Ghanis ally, Hamdullah Mohib, the former National Security Advisor, who left with President Ghani, relocated his family to the Shangri-La Hotel in Abu Dhabi, which was paid for by the UAE government.

According to public documents and Mohib himself, the family then relocated to a four-bedroom property in Florida on a beautiful bay bordered with palm trees.
UPDATED 16.06.22 Turkish police arrested 21 Kurdish journalists and media workers in a massive operation in the Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakir on terrorism charges. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Turkish affiliates strongly condemn these massive arrests of journalists on groundless charges and urges for the immediate release of all of them.

Police raided on 8 June the homes of several Kurdish journalists working for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency, the all-female Jin News website, a production company called Pel, and the Dicle Firat Journalists' Association.

During the raids, police officers seized computers, hard drives and other work equipment from the journalists houses and media offices.

All IFJ Turkish affiliates, Turkiye Gazeteciler Sendikas (TGS), Disk-Basin, Turkiye Gazetciler Cemiyeti (TGC) and Gazeteciler Cemiyeti Dernegi (GCD), unanimously condemned the arrest of the Kurdish journalists and the use of terrorism to criminalise journalism and urged for their immediate release.

Journalism is not terrorism

The police told local media that the operation targeted the Kurdistan Workers Partys (PKK's) press committee structure, accusing the arrested media workers of promoting terrorist activities.

The Turkish authorities have disclosed no further information about the investigation, prompting a backlash from human rights groups and journalists' unions over the lack of transparency.

The arrested journalists announced they will continue working from their cells .

The economic crisis is deepening, there are military operations in the works, and the presidential and parliamentary elections process for next year has started. Journalists follow these and report on them, that may be the reason for their detention, said Dicle Frat Journalists Association co-chair Serdar Altan, who is among the 21 who were arrested. Journalists will not be silenced with such arrests, he added.

Journalists arrested include Serdar Altan, editors of the Mezopotamya and Jin News agencies Aziz Oruc and Gulsen Kocuk, Jin News Director Safiye Alagas and several reporters from the two Kurdish-focused agencies, including Omer Celik, Suat Doguhan, Ramazan Geciken, Berivan Karatorak, Esmer Tunc, Nese Toprak, Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Mazlum Dogan Guler, Mehmet Sahin, Elif Ungur, Ibrahim Koyuncu, Remziye Temel, Mehmet Yalcn, and Abdurrahman Oncu, Mezopotamya media reported .

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger , said: Turkish authorities continue to crack down on journalists, accusing them of practising terrorism. The IFJ strongly opposes these arrests and stands in solidarity with all Kurdish media workers currently in prison for doing their job. We call for their immediate release and the return of all confiscated work material. Journalism is not terrorism.

On 16 June a Turkish court imprisoned pending trial 16 of the arrested journalists and media workers for alledgedly "belonging to a terrorist organisation".
Google engineer Blake Lemoine made headlines over the weekend when he went public with claims that the company's machine learning-powered chatbot model LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) was sentient and alive, with the intelligence of a child around 7 or 8 years old. In a Washington Post article, Lemoine said that he became convinced of LaMDA's sentience after the model began expressing fears, including a "very deep fear of being turned off." Soon after Lemoine shared his findings publicly, Google announced that he had been placed on paid leave.

You don't need to worry about your company's A.I. chatbots growing minds of their own, or even revolting, just yet, however. Google itself said that internal teams had reviewed Lemoine's claims and did not find evidence to support his findings. Rather than a sign of the incoming robot apocalypse, Lemoine's belief that Google's model had come to life should be seen as a sign of a new era in A.I. chat technology, one where highly adaptive models can hold full conversations with humans without letting their true nature slip.

In a recent piece for The Economist, fellow Google engineer Blaise Aguera y Arcas said that while LaMDA is making "strides" toward consciousness, its communicative capabilities still fall short of demonstrating sentience. According to Aguera y Arcas, part of why LaMDA seems so realistic is that it learns from human language, including dialogue between multiple characters sourced from stories. By studying how people normally talk to each other, the A.I. can more effectively identify how to respond to any input.

Even a computer saying something as seemingly indicative of consciousness as "I want everyone to understand that I am, in fact, a person" is not actually expressing any kind of real want or desire. The program is simply placing words together in an order that it has determined will most effectively answer the user's query.
What does it take to run an Emmy-winning show? How do producers who run these shows coordinate logistics and collaborate with talent and guests? And, most important, why do they do it?

Abbey LeVine, an Emmy-nominated producer, and member of the Directors Guild of America and Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, finds purpose in being a portal to help people give a voice to their own narrative in documentary, news, and unscripted broadcast content. After three decades as a working professional producer, LeVine has crafted a mindset that is agile, attentive, and adaptable. She says this has kept her relevant in an industry that doesn't always retain top talent because of its rigorous work environment.

Location matters, LeVine suggests. She got the production bug at the age of 16 after attending a game show taping in Los Angeles. The buzz of Hollywood was palpable. Realizing Los Angeles and New York City are prime locations for production, LeVine transferred from the University of Miami to Syracuse University in her junior year to position herself closer to a city that is an industry hub.

LeVine started her career as an intern at Good Morning America, part of ABC News, when a professor at Syracuse recommended her for the position. She had hoped that the internship would materialize into a full-time role when she graduated, but despite a successful experience and meeting plenty of people, the stars didn't align. It was a good lesson for building thick skin in the business.

She did not lose hope and kept her eye out for opportunities at ABC News while she honed her craft by contributing to talk shows, true crime programs, and even reality TV. And at the beginning of 2021, she was asked to join ABC News' 20/20 as a producer, where she is currently channeling her expertise and talent into a legacy American institution and says she feels she has found her work home.

A producer's primary job is to build relationships with talent and guests to a point that they forget they are even on camera. This partnership must exemplify integrity, which cultivates trust. The shows with loyal viewers and engaging content have producers who intuitively know this secret and leverage it, because it is only then that the original message and intent of the talent and guests is seamlessly translated onto the screen.

Growth on the job is another piece of the production puzzle. Perfection is not the goal. Making television is an art, not a science. Therefore, the vulnerability of speaking up and offering ideas that may be brilliant or may bomb is part of the process. So willingness to both lead and learn at the same time, LeVine says, keeps her grounded and focused on both meaningful programming and an enjoyable work environment.

LeVine chuckles and says TV is her longest lasting relationship. More than her ex-husband or certain friends, television has been consistent and loyal to her. It has opened doors for her to film in 13 countries and 48 states. She says television has given her access and an insider's perspective while filming. Part of the excitement is the variety -- one day at a women's prison and then jumping on a plane to Australia to spend the next four days documenting Lady Gaga on tour.

While working in the media can be rewarding and exciting, sometimes it is not stable. LeVine chose to diversify her resume and found that one way to move up was to move around. So she helped launch many successful shows, before landing at 20/20, which is currently in its 44th season. But, she admits, there were long stretches between jobs sometimes, especially with the more prominent positions, like showrunner.
Someone always has to go first--but occupying that role isn't necessarily easy.

While Black women are the fastest-growing demographic of entrepreneurs in the United States, they remain underrepresented in many industries. And especially when it comes to securing capital, a lack of previous representation in an industry can be a barrier.

"During the time I was building my business, I was generating tons of money, but I just couldn't get funded," says Robin Wilson, founder of home textile brand Clean Design Home (originally called Robin Wilson Home). "I remember going to a seed capital group and showing how successful my business was, and a woman said, 'I don't know any brands like yours--I'm not trying to be racist or anything.' I said, 'I can't really unzip myself and become something I'm not.' So I was out." After years of bootstrapping, Wilson became the first Black American female founder of a global, licensed hypoallergenic textile brand, and now has several successful companies under her holding company, A Blue Egg Corporation.

Wilson is just one example of the Black women entrepreneurs succeeding in spite of systemic barriers. Inc. spoke with her and two others to find out their best takeaways for strategizing, connecting with investors who get you, and achieving "firsts" in their respective industries.

Make the connections you can

By day, Rada Griffin is a senior software engineer for NASA, working on a project that will send the first woman to the moon in 2024. But in her off hours, she's the owner of Anissa Wakefield Wines and Alabama's first certified Black female winemaker. In 2006, the Huntsville, Alabama-based entrepreneur started a catering business on the side and quickly developed an interest in wine. "Back then, you really had to know someone in the winemaking business to get some insight about it," she says. After years of self-study, she launched her business in 2017, releasing her first vintage of wine the following year. She became a certified winemaker in 2021, after she completed an online program through Cornell's School of Hotel Administration.

Of the more than 8,000 wineries in the United States, about one-10th of 1 percent are Black-owned, Phil Long, president of the Association of African American Vintners, told Bloomberg in 2020. Finding people who are open-minded to diversity and inclusion, Griffin says, has been key to her success. She connected with a few other Black women winemakers working in Napa, where she produces her wine. "I've come across some really, really great people who have kind of taken me under their wing," she says. "If you don't reach out to people, if you don't go talk to people and understand what it is that you're doing or what you need to do better, you'll keep making the same mistakes." Griffin says that the support she's gained from her network has made all the difference--she turns to her fellow winemakers for advice and inspiration.

Turn "no" into a learning opportunity

Tiffany Mason, founder of Harlem Pilates--the first Pilates studio in Harlem--recently won a $30,000 grant from Squarespace to put toward her business. But fundraising previously wasn't easy. For that reason, she bootstrapped her business, running lessons from her apartment for about two years before she started looking for a brick-and-mortar space in 2019. After approaching a few banks, she got approved for a small personal loan, which allowed her to take the next step in opening her business.

"I got a lot of noes," she says. "Eventually, you understand that noes are feedback to help you get better. It's important to take those responses and learn how to refine your messaging." On her part, Mason says that early noes taught her to become more confident in her pitch, being "loud and proud" about owning the only Pilates studio in her neighborhood. While trying to secure her initial bank loan, Mason says that she took a more passive approach, and didn't really emphasize how significant her business was for her neighborhood; when she applied for Squarespace's grant, she went in the opposite direction--to great success.

Understand the power of branding

Wilson started her career in the corporate world at the executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles. When the company went public in 1999, she gained the financial opportunity to pursue her real passion--so, she went to NYU to get her master's in real estate finance and launched her business, Robin Wilson Home. Over the years, she's faced ups and downs, and particularly had a hard time garnering VC interest. "As a woman and a person of color, there's real fiscal inequality," she says.

But in the summer of 2020, she saw sales of her 2015 book Clean Design tick up, amid increased calls to support Black-owned businesses. Around that time, she had a conversation with an old business school professor, who advised her to change the name of her business to help expand her appeal. "Clean design was a highly ranked search term," she says. "I also felt like our lexicon for our homes had changed--it wasn't just a place for you to put your keys but it truly has become a sanctuary for many of us." She went on GoDaddy, found that "cleandesignhome.com" was available, and renamed her business. A textile deal at a hotel chain quickly followed, and in late 2021, she released a collection at Macy's.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Prevent Unauthorized Transactions in your demat / trading account Update your Mobile Number/ email Id with your stock broker / Depository Participant. Receive information of your transactions directly from Exchanges on your mobile / email at the end of day and alerts on your registered mobile for all debits and other important transactions in your demat account directly from NSDL/ CDSL on the same day." - Issued in the interest of investors.

KYC is one time exercise while dealing in securities markets - once KYC is done through a SEBI registered intermediary (broker, DP, Mutual Fund etc.), you need not undergo the same process again when you approach another intermediary.

No need to issue cheques by investors while subscribing to IPO. Just write the bank account number and sign in the application form to authorise your bank to make payment in case of allotment. No worries for refund as the money remains in investor's account."

www.indiainfoline.com is part of the IIFL Group, a leading financial services player and a diversified NBFC. The site provides comprehensive and real time information on Indian corporates, sectors, financial markets and economy. On the site we feature industry and political leaders, entrepreneurs, and trend setters. The research, personal finance and market tutorial sections are widely followed by students, academia, corporates and investors among others.
Ashneer Grover, the most popular desi shark and ex-founder of BharatPe, made a surprising announcement on his 40th birthday. 'It's time for a third unicorn!' said the billionaire banker-turned-entrepreneur on Twitter.



Ashneer, who claimed his throne as one of the judges for the first edition of Shark Tank in India, warns that this will disrupt yet another market area.

Twitter

Without indulging in further details, Ashneer, the mastermind behind BharatPe and Grofers, was in a reflective mood on his birthday.



TOI

He shared that while his life may appear more full and experienced than most, he still believes there is much more to be done. He added, 'It's unfinished business for me!'

Today I turn 40. Some will say Ive lived a full life and experienced more things than most. Created value for generations. For me its still unfinished business. Time to disrupt another sector. Its time for the Third Unicorn !! pic.twitter.com/wb7ZQe41FY  Ashneer Grover (@Ashneer_Grover) June 14, 2022

Here is how Ashneer's fans reacted to his tweet.

Happy birthday Ashneer. May you create more unicorns and more jobs.



Looking forward to another session of twitter space soon. pic.twitter.com/IxVT8loF4f  Mayank Sehgal (@mayank_sehgal) June 14, 2022

One thing that we must admire about you sir is your brutal honesty and business sense...keep building new bigg businesses sir  Poojan Patel (@Poojanpatel63) June 14, 2022





Happy Birthday Sir... good luck. Always looking for the opportunity to learn something from you...  Harpreet Singh (@Harpree68199091) June 14, 2022

Happy Bday AshneerNo one can contest the fact that you are and always will be a game changer. More power to you  Mandar Natekar (@mandar2404) June 14, 2022

Keep growing bro, you are a good person...    (@DixitPragyan) June 14, 2022

Sharing birthdays with my inspiration is the last thing Id expect - happy birthday @Ashneer_Grover, keep inspiring and keep being contrarian, this world needs more people like you  Naman Tekriwal (@namantekriwal_) June 14, 2022

Happy Birthday Dear Ashneer,

You will definitely create another unicorn, more power to you.  Dr. Vijay Mishra (@DRCSVijayMishra) June 14, 2022

Despite all the drama that unfolded in Ashneer's life in the past six months, he appears unperturbed as he seems to have embarked on a new journey as an entrepreneur.

indiatimes

He has been teasing about his new venture after a brief sabbatical. Ashneer is yet to divulge what he is working on. Most aspiring entrepreneurs look up to him for his fiery attitude and business acumen.



Twitter

Shark Tank India S1 created a movement in India's entrepreneurial environment. While the Desis are patiently awaiting the following season, Ashneer's next move is also being anticipated by his fans.



According to PTI, BharatPe fired Madhuri Jain Grover, the wife of the fintech firm's co-founder and managing director Ashneer Grover, in February for alleged financial irregularities and canceled employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) vested in her.



(To get the latest updates from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.)
On June 12, Indians in the United Kingdom and several other organizations gathered in record numbers to hear filmmaker Vivek Ranjan AgnihotriThe maker of 'The Kashmir Filed' stated at the time that Indians should unite to defend their people from an internal threat.

Instagram

Agnihotri's passionate speech on injustice, diversity, inclusion, and world peace attracted a crowd of over 1,000 people in Hyde Park, London.

Instagram

He made a strong case for countering terrorism via compassion and the Oneness philosophy of the Indians. Hindus respect and celebrate diversity in all aspects of life, including religions, as per Agnihotri, and want the same in return.



I am humbled to see so many people waiting for hours to show their support and solidarity.

Thanks everyone. Will upload audience generated videos as soon as they come. #VRAAtHydePark#HumanityTour pic.twitter.com/QGCOa8zHmX  Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) June 12, 2022

When Agnihotri asked the crowd to accept a promise to Vande Mataram, the crowd burst into applause.

Despite the tight security, some Pakistani groups tried but failed to disrupt the event.



The Hyde Park was filled with Bharat Mata Ki Jai. What a day of victory. Wow! Now we have a UNITED voice. #HumanityTour pic.twitter.com/ZluC5WcbYQ  Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) June 12, 2022

Several present at the venue echoed Agnihotri's thoughts and repeated after him:

Instagram

"We take a pledge on this day of June 12th, 2022, at the speakers Corner, Hyde Park, London, that we Bharatiyas shall stand united against terrorism. As United Bharatiyas, we condemn the worlds longest continuous Genocide of Hindus in Kashmir. We take a pledge that we will stand up and speak up against communal and radical forces.

We shall speak up every time injustice is done to any Hindu in the world. We condemn the curbing of FREE speech at Oxford University. We resolve that we are United as Bharatiyas, and we shall dedicate ourselves to the common goal of protecting the civilizational state of Bharat from its enemies.

We, the United Hindus, believe in TRUTH, HUMANITY, AND ONENESS. Jai Hind. Vande Mataram. Bharat Mata ki Jai."



Agnihotri's speech was the second time the Indian diaspora had convened in such large numbers in the United Kingdom to hear a public figure.

Instagram

The first time people had gathered in such large numbers was for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Last evening was HISTORICAL. Never ever so many Indians have gathered for a cause. This is our DISSENT. In a public park. People drove from Scotland/Midland just to hear me. London has never witnessed such a scene. Thanks and love everyone.#VRAAtHydePark#HumanityTour pic.twitter.com/3zL5h9C0Hq  Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) June 13, 2022

The event came to a close with a performance of the national anthem and slogans of Vande Mataram. A few days ago, 'The Kashmir files,' threatened to sue Oxford University. The filmmaker is currently in Europe on a humanity tour.

(To get the latest updates from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.)
1. Nupur Sharma Prophet Row: Swara Bhasker Slams Gautam Gambhir for 'Secular Liberals' Comment

Reports suggest that police have arrested more than 200 people in connection with the protest across UP and even bulldozers are running on the streets. Now, "Silence of so called secular liberals on the sickening display of hatred & death threats throughout the country against a woman who has apologised is surely DEAFENING! #LetsTolerateIntolerance," Gautam Gambhir tweeted on his social media account.

After seeing the post, Swara Bhaskar took to his Instagram to reshare the tweet and wrote, "Inko bulldozers ki aawaaz nahi sunaai pad rahi lekin (But these people can't hear the noise of bulldozers)!"

Web Screen Grab

2. Actor Kevin Spacey To Face London Court After Being Formally Charged With Sexual Assault

The double Academy Award winner is expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court in London on June 16, 2022. It has been reported by a leading foreign media portal that the actor is believed to have arrived in London with one of his American lawyers, Alan Jackson, over the weekend. Last month, the Crown Prosecution Service had announced that it has authorized police to press charges against Kevin Spacey.

Web Screen Grab

3. Chhavi Mittal Flaunts Surgery Scars In Backless Dress, Says, 'They Remind Me Of The Fight'

Soon after, netizens took to the comments section of Chhavi Mittal's Instagram post and hailed her as a 'powerhouse' and 'inspiration.' "Three cheers to you my friend...For the sheer strength... And for being such an Inspiration to tons out there like me... So proud of u" and "What an inspiration ! I smile with my wet eyes as and when I read your post," one user wrote.

Web Screen Grab

"You know one thing you are a powerhouse. It does not mean sexy and also it does not mean attractive but rather a powerhouse from where people get mental toughness and encouragement to survive even in the most difficult and toughest time in their respective life. Bravo", wrote another user on Instagram.

4. BTS: V To Get Friendship Tattoo '7' With Jungkook, Reveals He Cried After Watching 'Our Blues'

Talking about the friendship '7' tattoo, V according to a Twitter user @BTStranslation said, "I still... haven't gotten the friendship 7' tattoo. I haven't been able to decide where to get it so I'm trying to decide quickly. Will you guys help me decide? I'll go get it done with Jungkook once I choose where I'll get it done."

Meanwhile, a fan suggested V that he should get inked under the left toe to which V responded saying, "I also thought about it." BTS' RM recently revealed that he got the tattoo on his leg while eagle-eyed fans noticed Jimin has got inked on his finger.

Web Screen Grab

5. Rhea Chakraborty Gets Emotional On Sushant Singh Rajput's 2nd Death Anniversary, Shares Pics

In a heartfelt Instagram post, the Sonali Cable actress shared some rare and unseen pictures with Kai Po Che actor Sushant Singh Rajput from the time they were apparently dating. Sharing the pictures, Rhea Chakraborty wrote, "Miss you every day " and ended her message with a heart emoji for her lost love. Soon after, fans took to the comment section of Rhea Chakraborty's Instagram post and shared how much they miss the later actor, who made a mark with his brilliant acting. Fans also sent their love support to the actress.

Instagram

(For more news and updates from the world of celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment, and let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.)
The tenure of President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to end on July 24, hence the process of the election of the President and the counting of votes must be complete before that.

File Image

The election for the next President of India will be held on July 18, the Election Commission said on June 9. The counting will take place on July 21, the poll panel said.

Who elects India's President?

The President of India, like any other democracy, is elected indirectly by the people of the country. The electoral college is used in the Presidential elections, which means that all of the representatives elected by the people of India to various public offices at the state and national levels vote to elect the President.

An electoral college consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of states and the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry.

There are 776 members of Parliament (543 Lok Sabha MPs, 233 Rajya Sabha MPs) and 4,809 members of state legislative legislatures in the electoral college. The electoral college has a total of 10,86,431 votes. Each elector's vote (MP/MLA) has a predetermined value.

The value is set at 708 for each MP. This figure is calculated for an MLA using a formula based on the population of the state he or she represents (as of the 1971 Census). As a result, the value varies per state.

Agencies

For instance, each MLA from Uttar Pradesh, the most populated state, has the highest value of 208 of all the states. The 403 Uttar Pradesh legislators are worth a total of 83,824. The state's 80 MPs had a total vote value of 56,640, bringing the total value of votes cast by MPs and MLAs in the state to 1.4 lakh, giving them a weightage of roughly 12.7 percent.

The vote value for an MLA in smaller states like Punjab is 118. It is 64 degrees in Uttarakhand and 20 degrees in Goa. Punjab has a total value of 13,572, Uttarakhand 4,480, and Goa 800. MLAs in respective states and Union territories, as well as MPs in Parliament, are given ballot papers (green for MPs and pink for MLAs) to cast their votes when the nominations are filed. Due to the absence of a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, the value of a Member of Parliament's vote is anticipated to fall to 700 from 708 in the presidential elections slated this year, as reports the PTI.

Who can become the President of India?

Anyone who is an Indian citizen and meets certain additional requirements is eligible to become President.

A candidate for President must be 35 years old and qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha, or House of the People. The candidate cannot hold an office of profit. Furthermore, the Presidential candidate must have the formal support of at least 50 proposers and seconders, who can be state or national public officials. This regulation was implemented to prevent fake nominations by ensuring that candidates with no possibility of winning do not apply for the position of President.

Procedure of voting

A single transferable vote is used in the presidential election, which follows the proportional representation system. There are no election symbols on the ballot paper. On the ballot paper, there are two columns. The names of the candidates are listed in the first column. The order of preference is listed in the second column.

File Image

A member of the electoral college votes by entering figure 1 next to the contestant's name in the area provided. The voter can indicate as many consecutive preferences on the voting paper as he or she likes by writing the numbers 2, 3, 4, and so on next to the names of the contenders. No ballot paper is deemed invalid just because all of the electoral college member's preferences are not marked.

Despite the fact that there have only been 14 Presidents since Dr. Rajendra Prasad won the first two elections, the Presidential election in 2022 will be the 16th for the highest constitutional post in India. President of India elections have previously taken place in 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017.





For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.
The pandemic years saw the super-rich of India queuing up to flee the country, mostly to countries in Europe, America and the Middle East.

The devastation caused by COVID was said to be one of the main reasons that made the high net worth individuals (HNWI) leave India.

But even in 2022 the trend of the super rich migrating to other countries, and buying citizenship there has only continued.

Delhi Airport

More than 8,000 super rich Indians will leave in 2022

According to the latest Henley Global Citizens Report, India has the third highest number of HNWIs seeking to migrate to other countries.

The report said that in 2021 there was an increase of 54% in such inquiries compared to 2020 which saw a 63% rise in the interest shown by Indian investors.

The report estimates that in 2022 alone over 8,000 super rich will leave India.

Russia topped the list with an estimated 15,000 outflows, followed by China at 10,000.

Indians looking beyond US and Canada

The report said that while historically Canada and the USA have been extremely popular education hubs for Indians, there is a growing interest in European residence by investment migration programs like those offered by Greece, Malta, Portugal, and other golden visas on the continent.

Unsplash

This can be attributed to more European universities having become bilingual and offering tuition in English. A number of European countries are also being considered as potential places to own retirement or vacation homes, conduct business, and enjoy lifestyle benefits.

The most popular options among Indian investors are the golden visa programs in Portugal and Greece on the residence by investment front and Malta and Montenegro on the citizenship by naturalization/citizenship by investment front.

AFP

Tech entrepreneurs look at Singapore

Singapore is a preferred destination for tech entrepreneurs and also for setting up family offices because of its strong legal system and availability of world-class financial advisors, the Dubai Golden Visa has emerged as a winner in several circles for its ease of procurement and the multiple opportunities it offers.

Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, says by the end of the year, 88,000 millionaires are expected to have relocated to new countries, 22,000 fewer than pre-pandemic in 2019. "Next year (2023), the largest millionaire migration flows on record are predicted  125,000  as affluent investors and their families earnestly prepare for the new post-COVID world order."

Edarabia

UAE, the world's most preferred location

The report noted that UAE has become the focus of intense interest among affluent investors and is expected to see the highest net influx of HNWIs globally in 2022, with 4,000 forecast  a dramatic increase of 208% versus 2019s net inflow of 1,300 and one of its largest on record.

For more on news, sports and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
We all have a love for the momos because of the taste. They are soft steamed dough, with meat, veggies or paneer stuffing inside, momo defines indulgence.

By the way, how can we forget the delicious momo chutney by the side- spicy one. Already slurping? Let's agree we can easily have plates of momos in just no time.

Unsplash/Representational Image

But did you know that gulping momos without chewing them properly can be hazardous?! That's right.

All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi recently issued a warning, after a man lost his life after choking on a momo, NDTV reported.

AIIMS recently published a report in the journal Forensic Imaging where it explained a rare case of a man dying after choking on a momo. The man was in his 50s.

Reportedly, during the post-mortem, it was revealed that the momo got lodged in the opening of the windpipe. This is why doctors concluded that he died of choking on the dish.

Unsplash/Representational Image

The experts issued a swallow with care warning after this case came to light.

The doctors further concluded that it is the slippery texture and small shape of the momo that might lead to such problems. Hence, we must chew the momos properly before swallowing them.

Unsplash/Representational Image

Momos are bite-size dumplings made with a spoonful of stuffing wrapped in dough. Momo are usually steamed, though they are sometimes fried or steam-fried. Meat or vegetables fillings become succulent as it produces an intensively flavored broth sealed inside the wrappers. Variants of the dish developed later in Nepal after it became popular among Asians.

Momo is originally from Tibet. Momo has become a delicacy in Nepal and Tibetan communities in Bhutan, as well as people of the Indian regions of Darjeeling, Ladakh, Sikkim, Assam, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. In Pakistan, Gilgit-Baltistan region it is known as mamtoo.
History is full of mysteries and archaeologists in Israel have stumbled upon a tomb with a blood-red warning to anyone who tries to open it.

According to reports, the 'cursed tomb' was found in the recently unearthed cave within an ancient cemetery in Beit She'arim, Israel.

This is also reportedly the first tomb to be discovered at the UNESCO World Heritage Site for 65 years. The cave was found by researchers a year ago but smaller caves within the main one were found recently. The archaeologists termed the tomb significant because it was the first ever within the heritage site to identify a dead person as a convert.

The tomb's strange message inscribed on it in red orders people not to open it.

It read: Yaakov HaGer vows to curse anybody who would open this grave, so nobody will open it. 60 years old.



Pen News

'Yaakov Ha'Ger' translates to Jacob the proselyte, which means a convert to Judaism. Nothing is known about who could have written the threatening warning.

An archaeologist from the University of Haifa said the message was inscribed to ensure the resting place of the dead remained undisturbed.

"It was to prevent others from opening the tomb at a later point, which happened quite often - re-using tombs through time," said Adi Erlich.

Elrich also said that the inscription is from the late Roman or early Byzantine period - a time when Christianity was strengthened.

Pen News

"The inscription is from the late Roman or early Byzantine period, in which Christianity was strengthened. And here we find evidence that there are still people who choose to join the Jewish people. We know of converts in the Roman period mostly from funerary contexts, such as first-century AD Jerusalem, or third to fourth-century AD Rome. But this is the first proselyte from Beit She'arim, and they are not well attested from that time in Galilee. So this is real news, Erlich said.

"We just took care of the inscription and blocked the cave to keep it safe for the time being. No excavations are planned at the moment," she added.



The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) are now in possession of the curse inscription. It might be put up on display.



Pen News

With quotes from UNILAD.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
In a scene that looks straight from a thriller movie, a man swimming in the sea near his family blew up after hitting a mine. The incident raised suspicions that he had hit a mine deployed on a Ukrainian beach.

The person's body washed up on a beach where his wife, son, and a friend had been sitting moments before he died.

Instagram

Due to the ongoing war with Russia, local officials have prohibited swimming in the area that has mines bordering the water's edge.

What is a mine-infested region?

Ukraine has accused Russia of planting mines in the Black Sea on purpose, while Kremlin forces allege Kyiv is to blame.



Mine/insider.com

As naval mines used in the war float hundreds of miles away, some of the most dangerous weapons deployed in Russia's war on Ukraine are threatening the entire Black Sea region.

Ukraine and Russia share the Black Sea coast with Georgia and NATO members, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Four mines have floated away from Ukrainian shores since the beginning of the war. Three were found in Turkish waters and one off the coast of Romania. Maritime traffic in the region can be severely impacted by stray mines.

The Odessa Region Police said in a statement:

Image: @gunp.odessa/Newsflash)

"Police urge residents and guests of the Odessa region to strictly follow the rules of martial law: do not go to the coastal protection zone of the Black Sea; do not swim in the mined sea." "Do not go to the coastal protection zone of the Black Sea, do not swim in the mined sea," the police urged.

Police added,

Unsplash

"Today, the neglect of safety rules by a family from the Donetsk region has led to tragic consequences. While swimming in the sea in one of the villages of the Odessa district, an explosion of an unknown object killed a 50-year-old man in front of his wife, son, and friend. "The latter miraculously did not suffer because he went swimming with the victim."

Hinting at the investigation, the cops said the "full circumstances of the incident" were still being established.

lithuania.postsen

"Once again, a strict ban on visiting the coast and swimming in the sea are security measures that are life-threatening if neglected," the statement added.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
Hailing from the Lakhimpur town in Uttar Pradesh, Anamika Singh came to Delhi in 2008 to do her PG Diploma in Business Management.

Since then she has been based in Delhi, where after working as an HR professional in a few companies, she started Litsa Services, a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) company, with her little savings of Rs 50,000 in 2018.

And now, the companys turnover has grown to Rs 2.5 crore in FY 2021-22 and was Rs 1.2 crore in FY 2020-21.

Anamikas company Litsa focuses on finding jobs for mothers who want to work from home with flexible timings, as per The Weekend Leader.

To date, her organisation has reportedly hired more than 500 people for companies such as Faircent.com, Link Group, Infogain India, Fujitsu India, Franciscan Solutions, TEX Systems, Logixal, and Awfis.com.

theweekendleader

How The Idea Came Up

The idea of starting Litsa Services came to Anamika when she herself faced challenges in juggling work and home after she became a mother.

She reportedly said Employers must recognise that a mother requires time to care for her child. I created this firm thinking along these lines. I really wanted to have an organization where I could build such an environment for a woman, where work is not a strain for them.

She added Even if an employee wants to take a break during the day, they can do so and work at night. Even if they want to work early in the morning, they may do so; the companies provide them complete freedom in managing their family and work.

Anamika now works with a team of 10 full-time workers and around 30 freelancers. The Noida-based proprietorship firm reportedly serves around 25 clients.

They hire people with a minimum of one year of experience to senior resources for leadership positions. Candidates are paid monthly salaries between Rs 15k and Rs 1.5 lakh depending on their experience and the positions they are placed in, as per The Weekend Leader.

Litsa does not charge the employee for its service. The company receives its fee from clients, who pay a certain percentage of the hired employees annual CTC. The amount differs from client to client and is based on the position of the employees.

theweekendleader

Also Read: The Inspirational Story Of Chinu Kala: From Earning Just Rs 20 Daily To Building A Rs 40 Crore Jewellery Brand

More About The Recruitment Company

During the initial struggling days, Anamika got support from Vinay Mathews, the founder of Faircent.com, a fintech company, who was a former colleague of Anamika when she worked at Times of India. Faircent.com was her first client.

She says As of now, weve placed about 100 people at Faircent.com. I try to provide the best candidates for my clients at a competitive package so that both my clients and the employees are happy.

They have access to the CVs of thousands of job seekers through career portals such as Naukri, Monster and Linkedin, where they have taken paid subscriptions.

We match the skill sets of applicants with the needs of our clients and conduct interviews with them. The employer then schedules another round of interviews with the shortlisted candidates and makes the selection, says Anamika.

In the future, Anamika plans to help more women from small towns find jobs and towards that end she plans to organise training programs in communication skills for them.

Anamika had tied the knot with Pushpender Tomar, a software developer, in December 2011 and in September 2013 she had a baby. Then it was in January 2018 when she started Litsa Services and for four years, she has been taking it to newer heights.

Also Read: How This Cancer Survivor Built A Rs 150-crore Uber-Like Aviation Company

For more of such interesting financial content and news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

One person died in a construction accident in Boston last Thursday morning and a second person was taken to the hospital, police said.

Officers responded to the citys Seaport District at about 5:30 a.m. for reports of an accident, Officer Andre Watson said.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Injuries to the other person are not considered life-threatening, he said.

The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health said the worker was crushed by heavy blocks of street curbing material that was being unloaded.

No information about the victim was made public.

The death is under investigation by police, the Suffolk district attorneys office and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The fatality is the latest workplace death in the Boston area recently, and comes the day after a 60-year-old overnight security worker at The Country Club in Brookline was found dead by coworkers after apparently falling from a decking area, authorities said.

A worker was killed in March when a floor deck gave way at the Government Center Garage in Boston. A worker died in October at an under-construction apartment building in East Boston.

Of the 62 workers in Massachusetts who lost their lives on the job in 2021, 15 worked in construction, according to a report released in April by MassCOSH.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Construction
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

Florida-based Britely Insurance reports it has agreed to acquire the assets of Empire State Brokerage Services, a Plainview, New York based wholesale broker operating in more than 25 states. The transaction is expected to close in July of 2022.

David Schepsman, president at Empire, and his team bring decades of experience in commercial insurance markets including restaurants, contractors healthcare, real estate and nonprofits, according to its website.

Its online Empire Express service allows agents to quickly obtain quotes for businessowners, general liability, workers compensation and professional liability accounts. Empire also has regional offices in South Carolina and Massachusetts.

Britely is an insurance distribution franchise platform. It offers access to personal lines, commercial lines, small group and individual health insurance markets. Through its subsidiary, Britely Medical Insurance Services, it also provides specialized products and services to the medical community.

Greg Roper, CEO at Britely, is former CEO of Integrity Funding Group.

The company recently added two industry veterans Tom Lynch and Jason Murgio  to its advisory board. Lynch is the founder of the workers compensation consulting firm Lynch, Ryan & Associates. Murgio serves as the CEO and owner of Merger & Acquisition Services, Inc., an insurance-focused boutique investment banking firm.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Agencies
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

Coterie Insurance, a small business insurtech, announced its expansion into New York State. With the addition of New York, Coterie insurance products are now available to agents, brokers and small employers across the nation.

New York agents and brokers can now access Coteries offerings on its website and small businesses in New York can connect with one of Coteries 5,000 agents via the websites Find an Agent tool. The Coterie dashboard offers a qualification checker that indicates within seconds if a business is within the Coterie appetite.

New York has the 10th largest economy in the world and maintains one of the largest employment populations of micro-businesses under 20 employees in the nation, says Pete Buccola, vice president at Coterie.

In addition to partnering digitally with agents and brokers, Coterie aims to integrate insurance purchasing into existing small businesses processes. The company has teamed up with platforms including Intuit Quickbooks and Thryv in order to deliver business insurance through tools customers are already using. The company has also partnered with Independent Market Solutions and First Market Connect to help expand its capabilities to insurance agents already serving small businesses.

Coterie offers general liability, professional liability and business owners policies for small employers and freelancers. Coteries insurance products are underwritten by Spinnaker Insurance Co. and Benchmark Insurance Co.

Coterie is led by David McFarland, founder and CEO.

The Cincinnati-based insurtech pulled in $11.5 million in new venture funding in February 2021 That followed an $8.5 million initial financing round in March 2020. Its investors include Intact Ventures, Alpha Edison, Lackawanna Insurance Group, RPM Ventures and Allos Ventures.

Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance New York New Markets
Operations at Russias Sakhalin 1 oil project will continue to face disruptions for a couple of months as Western sanctions have hit insurance cover for ships to transport crude, according to Indias ONGC Videsh, a stakeholder.

ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of Indias top oil explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp., has a 20% stake in Sakhalin 1, which produces a Russian grade known as Sokol off the coast of Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East.

In April the Russian unit of Exxon Mobile Corp., which operated Sakhalin-1, declared force majeure there after sanctions had made it difficult to ship crude to customers.

This temporary disruption is going to be there for a couple of months because of which we are having suppressed production from Sakhalin, Alok Gupta, managing director of ONGC Videsh, said on an ONGC analyst call on May 30. The transcript of the call has been posted on ONGCs website.

Exxon, which had a 30% stake, is withdrawing from the project after announcing in March it would discontinue all its Russian operations following Moscows invasion of Ukraine.

Gupta said the companies were unable to move oil from Sakhalin 1 due to the high moral ground taken by the global protection & indemnity (P&I) club for the ice class vessels, required to ship oil to South Korea for sale mostly to North Asian buyers.

Ships are commercially required to have P&I insurance that covers third party liability claims including environmental damage and injury.

Insurers from Europe and the United States, which dominate the international marine market, have cut coverage for Russian oil tankers, to avoid breaching sanctions imposed in the wake of Moscows invasion of Ukraine.

Reuters in April reported that ONGC is struggling to move oil from the Sakhalin 1 project, due to insurance problems.

Most of the vessels that can break through ice are owned by Russias state-owned Sovcomflot (SCF), which is placed under sanctions.

Gupta hoped that the situation at Sakhlin-1 would normalize over the next two-three weeks as we are finding out alternative measures. He did not elaborate on the alternative measures.

He said ONGC lifts on average 22 cargoes of Sokol in a year. Each cargo not getting lifted impacts us by $55 million, he said.

ONGC is getting alright prices for sales of oil from its other two Russian assets  Vankorneft and Imperial  supplied via pipelines to neighboring countries, he said, adding the sea-borne crude is being sold at a discount.

(Reporting by Aftab Ahmed; editing by Susan Fenton)

Topics Russia Energy Oil Gas
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at SCOR and HDI Global.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

McMurdo to Succeed Blanc as SCORs CEO of Reinsurance

SCOR announced that its CEO of Reinsurance Michel Blanc will retire in January 2023 after 31 years with SCOR.

He will be succeeded as CEO of Reinsurance by Stuart McMurdo. Blanc and McMurdo will work very closely with immediate effect to ensure a smooth transition and relationship continuity with our business partners.

McMurdo joined SCOR in 2018 as CEO of SCOR UK and the SCOR Syndicate and became regional CEO for EMEA in 2020. McMurdos leadership was essential to improve the financial performance of the SCOR Syndicate and to bring together the P&C platform in EMEA, said Paris-based SCOR in a statement.

A recruitment process has been launched to replace McMurdo as CEO of the SCOR Syndicate and SCOR UK. McMurdo will remain CEO of these two entities until the end of this recruitment process and regulatory approval.

Catherine Fassi will replace McMurdo as regional CEO of EMEA and Canada for P&C, effective July 1, 2022.

Id like to express my warmest thanks to Michel for all that he has brought to SCOR since 1991, both worldwide and in the Asia-Pacific region. It has been a great pleasure working with Michel throughout those years and I wish him a very well- deserved, happy retirement, commented Jean-Paul Conoscente, CEO for P&C at SCOR.

Biographies

Stuart McMurdo has been with SCOR since April 2018 and is CEO of SCOR P&C for EMEA across both reinsurance and specialty insurance. This includes responsibility for SCORs Lloyds business, the SCOR Syndicate. Prior to joining, McMurdo was the head of Reinsurance for Santam Ltd., South Africas largest short-term insurer. His responsibilities included both the buying of reinsurance for the group and the establishment of Santam Re, a business writing inwards reinsurance from selected territories around the world. Before joining Santam, McMurdo was general manager of one of South Africas leading retail brokerages, after spending 11 years with the Hannover Reinsurance Group in various management roles, both in South Africa and Germany. He obtained a Bachelor of Accounting Science Honours from UNISA and is a certified financial accountant. McMurdo has more than 25 years industry experience.

Catherine Fassi is a graduate of the CentraleSupelec Engineering School. She is also a certified actuary and CERA-ERM expert, holding an executive MBA from INSEAD. Fassi started her career as a statutory auditor at Mazars in Paris, where she took part in consultancy and actuarial assignments for the insurance industry. She joined SCOR in 2013 as P&C chief accounting officer and subsequently held various roles within the P&C Finance team. In 2019 she was promoted to SCOR P&C Deputy CFO, and then in 2020 to SCOR P&C CFO.

***

HDI Global Promotes Hullin to Lead Industrial Lines Division After Wohlthat Retires

HDI Global announced that board member Jens Wohlthat will retire at the end of September and hand over his functions to David Hullin.

Hullin then will be responsible for the entire business of the Industrial Lines division of the Talanx Group outside Germany. Previously, Hullin was responsible for Continental Europe, North and South America, the United Kingdom and Ireland, while Wohlthats area of responsibility covered the regions Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Global Network.

Wohlthat will continue to remain available to HDI Global in an advisory capacity.

In addition, after the successful restructuring of the organization in Germany with profitable growth, Andreas Luberichs will step down from the management board of HDI Global SE by mutual agreement on June 30, 2022, in order to pursue new challenges.

He will be succeeded by Dr. Barbara Klimaszewski-Blettner, who will be responsible for business in Germany.

Jens Wohlthat, one of the leading experts in the international insurance industry, is going to retire. I should like to thank him most warmly for the successful expansion of the international markets. I would also like to wish him lots of enjoyment and all the best for the next stage in his life, commented Torsten Leue, chairman of the Management Board of Talanx AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HDI Global SE.

David Hullin has a wealth of international experience and he is the ideal successor to Jens Wohlthat. He is not only familiar with the insurance business and international markets, he also knows how to conduct strategic development of profitable organic and inorganic growth, he added.

Leue thanked Luberichs for his successful work at the company, particularly for the sustainable restructuring of the organization in Germany of HDI Global SE.

Biographies

Jens Wohlthat grew up in South Africa and he has spent his entire professional career at HDI. He started out in 1980 as an apprentice at the HDI Head Office in Hannover before holding various positions in industrial insurance and foreign business. In 1996, he became section leader of Liability Foreign before joining the Management Board of HDI International Holding AG in 2002. Since 2006, the 64-year-old has been a member of the Management Board of HDI Global SE. Under his aegis, the foreign share of HDI Globals premium volume has risen to around 60%. Wohlthat successfully established and expanded the business in Latin America, North America, Australia and Asia.

David Hullin (53) has been a member of the Management Board of HDI Global SE since May 2019. Initially, he was responsible for the areas of property, engineering insurance, marine, multi-risk and the Europe division. Since the beginning of 2022, he has worked with Wohlthat, looking after all international markets. He has 27 years of experience in reinsurance and in international primary insurance at the Talanx Group.

Dr. Barbara Klimaszewski-Blettner, who will be responsible for business in Germany, has more than 12 years of experience in the insurance industry, including 10 years in industrial insurance. She has held various positions including with Allianz Global Corporate Solutions. Currently, she heads the south-east region at HDI Global with the locations Munich, Nuremberg and Leipzig. She will report to the chairman of the Management Board of HDI Global SE, Dr. Edgar Puls.

Topics Reinsurance
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the National Herald case for the second straight day.

On Monday, he was grilled for about ten hours and summoned again.

Mr Gandhi reached the ED office at around 11.07 a.m. this morning and directly went inside without speaking to the media.

A three-member team will interrogate him.

Though Mr Gandhi's questioning ended at about 9 p.m. on Monday, he had to wait as he wanted make a few corrections in his statements.

In between the questioning, he was also given a lunch break during which the Congress leader went to meet his ailing mother Sonia Gandhi at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

After meeting his mother, he returned to the ED's headquarters where the quuestioning resumed.

Rahul Gandhi was questioned about a few transactions made by Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd, a Kolkata based firm.

"Dotex firm allegedly paid Rs 1 crore to Young Indian. This was a loan which they gave to YI in 2010. The loan given by Dotex Merchandise was never returned. YI was just incorporated when this loan was paid," said a source.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has also been summoned im the matter.
The owners of Rapid City, South Dakota hotel are facing a lawsuit over a social media post by one of them that promised to ban Native Americans from the property.

The lawsuit comes from a shareholder who happens to be a relative of the family that owns the Gateway Hotel.

Judson Uhre recently filed a lawsuit in Pennington County against his mother, Connie Uhre, and his brothers, Nick and Chad Uhre, as well as the company that operates the hotel, Retsel Corporation.

Judson is alleging a breach of fiduciary duty, shareholder oppression and interference in the hotels operation, the Rapid City Journal reported.

Connie Uhre, Retsels president, garnered widespread attention last spring when she said on social media that she would no longer allow American Indians on the property following a fatal shooting at the hotel involving two teenagers which police said where Native American.

Amid protests, the hotel shut down for about a month. After reopening, Connie Uhre was arrested May 31 for allegedly spraying a cleaning product at demonstrators outside the hotel. The demonstrators were members of the NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led activist organization.

Connie Uhre had a duty of care to ensure that she conducts herself in a manner not prejudicial to the business of the corporation, however, she went ahead and made a racially charged rant which was posted on a website with wide coverage and this led to financial loss of clients for the hotel as well as the damage to the hotels reputation, Judson Uhre said in his lawsuit.

Judsons filing seeks any and all damages due as a result of his familys action.

Connie, Nick and Chad Uhre did not immediately return a phone message for comment.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits South Dakota
Omaha National Group, Inc. announced the opening of its new headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, at 9110 West Dodge Road.

The redesigned building includes design and technology upgrades and more than doubles the square footage to 52,000 square feet, which can accommodate up to 300 employees as Omaha National continues to grow beyond its current count of 200 employees. The facility provides large private workspaces for each employee as well as expanded spaces for collaboration and multi-media/video capabilities.

Omaha Nationals headquarters will always be in Omaha, said Omaha National President and CEO Reagan Pufall. This is a great place to build a company and this new space allows us to continue growing while providing amenities and perks for our growing organization.

For Omaha National Workers Comp Provider, Happiness Is Key to Hiring

Along with its central location in Omaha, Omaha Nationals new headquarters offers additional perks for staff. The space will have a larger break room and common areas for employees to socialize. The company will continue to provide free snacks and fruit each day and also plans to arrange for regular visits by local food trucks.

Our new office will create more open space for collaboration across the company while providing privacy when our employees are handling sensitive calls, said Omaha National Vice President of Company Development, Mary Senff. Each department is in a wing of the building to maximize productivity and, since we frequently hire people without previous experience, we have included expanded training facilities.

In September 2021, Omaha National raised $45 million in Series B funding from investors Accomplice, HighSage Ventures and Tull Investments.
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

Binance U.S. and its CEO were sued on Monday by a U.S. investor who alleges the cryptocurrency exchange falsely marketed Terra USD as a safe asset ahead of the so-called stablecoins collapse in value last month.

Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to the value of traditional assets, such as the U.S. dollar, and are popular as safe havens in times of turmoil in crypto markets. But Terra USDs value plunged last month, breaking its 1:1 dollar peg and contributing to a tumble in other crypto assets like Bitcoin.

In the lawsuit against Binance and Chief Executive Brian Shroder, Utah resident Jeffrey Lockhart said Binance falsely advertised Terra USD as safe and backed by fiat currency, when in fact it was an unregistered security.

Lockhart said Binances failure to register with the U.S. government as a securities exchange limits disclosure about assets traded on the platform, harming investors.

Binance and other exchanges were critical enablers of this devastating failure to comply with the securities laws, said Tibor Nagy of law firm Dontzin Nagy & Fleissig, which represents Lockhart. Crypto exchanges made massive profits by flouting securities laws and causing real harm to real people.

A Binance spokesperson said the exchange is registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)  a unit of the U.S. Treasury Department  and complies with all applicable regulations.

These assertions are without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously, the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the exchange will delist Terra USD, a decision made before the lawsuit was filed.

Lockhart is seeking to have himself and other investors who bought Terra on Binance registered as a class.

In a separate lawsuit in 2020, investors accused Binance of selling unregistered tokens and failing to register as an exchange or broker-dealer.

A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed that case in March, stating that the investors had waited until too long after their losses to sue and that U.S. securities law did not apply because Binance was not a domestic exchange. The investors are appealing.

Lockharts lawsuit, by contrast, targets Binances U.S. unit and comes just weeks after Terra USDs collapse.

His suit comes after a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators last week proposed legislation to have the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), play the primary role in regulating crypto.

The CFTC is generally seen as friendlier toward cryptocurrencies, as the SEC has found crypto assets should be seen as securities.

Cryptocurrencies continued their slide on June 13, with Bitcoin touching an 18-month low and No. 2 token ether tumbling as much as 18%.

Topics Lawsuits USA
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

Sterling Jewelers Inc. agreed to pay $125 million to roughly 68,000 female retail sales workers who sued the company 14 years ago alleging sex bias in pay and promotions, according to a press statement and class counsel.

The deal still needs to be approved by the arbitrator overseeing the landmark class arbitration, attorney Joseph M. Sellers told Bloomberg Law Thursday. After that, the case will be sent back to the US District Court for the Southern District of New Yorkwhere the women sued in 2008and the class will ask the court to confirm the arbitrators award, Sellers said. Hes a partner in Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC in Washington.

Sterling will also pay class counsel $50 million in attorneys fees and costs as part of the settlement, according to a joint statement issued by the company and Cohen Milstein Thursday.

Practices Changing

The settlement was partly spurred by changes the Signet Jewelers subsidiary had already begun to undertake to transform its pay and promotion practices, Sellers told Bloomberg Law.

The company has worked to eliminate decision-making factors that unintentionally caused the bias in an industry where a vast majority of the employees are women, he said.

For the past four years, weve been successfully transforming Signets business model and culture, Signet CEO Gina Drosos said in the statement announcing the settlement.

The company believes prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion grows high-functioning teams and fosters a culture of appreciation and development, Drosos said. The settlement is a significant step toward bringing closure to a nearly 15-year-old case, she said.

The 2008 lawsuit alleged in part that Sterlings facially neutral pay and promotion decision-making systems had a disparate impact on female employees that wasnt consistent with business necessity, or that less discriminatory pay and promotion practices existed that the company failed to use.

The pay practices inadvertently discounted womens prior experiences at the time they were hired and unintentionally caused their starting pay to be lower than it should have been, Sellers said.

They started low and stayed low because their pay wasnt properly adjusted upward despite their success in selling Sterlings merchandise, Sellers said.

The claimants will be reviewing Sterlings practices going forward to ensure they continue to comply with federal law, he said.

The case alleged gender discrimination involving legacy pay and promotions practices used by our Sterling division, Sterling Jewelers told Bloomberg Law Friday in an email. We discontinued the practices at issue in the lawsuit as part of our ongoing transformation of making diversity, equity, and inclusion an integral part of our business strategy.

Today, Signet has a highly engaged team and is proud to be a Great Place to Work-Certified company, and for the last four consecutive years, listed on the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index. The settlement represents an end to a difficult chapter and is a positive step, reflecting our commitment to our continuing transformation and purpose, Sterling said.

Singular Importance

Women continuing to receive unequal pay throughout their careers based on discrimination in the setting of their starting pay is a widespread problem that needed to be challenged, Sellers said.

The courage and commitment of the women who spearheaded the suit through four trips to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and two to the US Supreme Court is another reason why the case is of singular importance, he said.

Along the way, the case led to significant legal holdings on when class claims can be arbitrated and the information that must be provided to potential class members to notify them of their ability to participate in class arbitration proceedings, he said.

Sterlings status as an industry leader is yet another reason why the settlement is so significant, Sellers said.

The industry has always been accessible but not necessarily hospitable to women, he said. The case and the settlement will have a ripple effect not just within the company, but also likely throughout the industry, he said.

The changes Sterling has already made and will continue to make to its job practices show the companys commitment to support women, Sellers said.

Burr & Smith LLP and Jenner & Block LLP also represent the class. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP represents Sterling.

The case is Jock v. Sterling Jewelers Inc., S.D.N.Y., No. 1:08-cv-02875, settlement announced 6/9/22.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

A U.S. judge on Monday said shareholders can sue Deutsche Bank for allegedly hiding shortfalls in its internal controls while doing business with risky, ultra-rich clients like the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Russian oligarchs.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said shareholders may try to prove in their proposed class action that the German bank was aware its know-your-customer and anti-money laundering controls were ineffective, and that its share price fell as the truth became known.

In a 30-page decision, Rakoff said the complaint described specific processes that Deutsche Bank knowingly undermined through an unwritten but pervasive practice of exempting rich, politically connected clients from normal internal scrutiny.

Rakoff said shareholders may also pursue claims against Chief Executive Christian Sewing and his predecessor John Cryan. He dismissed claims against Deutsche Banks chief financial officer and his predecessor.

A Deutsche Bank spokesman declined to comment. The lawsuit covers investors in Deutsche Bank securities from March 14, 2017 to May 12, 2020.

Since taking over in 2018, Sewing has boosted profits and tried to restore investor confidence that the bank had moved past its internal controls shortfalls.

These included failures to better monitor its work for Epstein, which in 2020 led to a $150 million fine from a New York regulator, and dealings with Danske Banks Estonia branch, which was embroiled in a massive money laundering scandal.

The defendants said shareholders failed to show any intent to defraud, and that the banks statements about its compliance processes were aspirational or puffery.

But Rakoff said the complaint adequately alleged that Sewing and Cryan were personally aware of the deficiencies in the banks KYC and AML practices that made filings they signed false or misleading.

Emma Gilmore, a lawyer for the shareholders, said companies have long tried to evade liability by claiming their statements about compliance were aspirational.

Judge Rakoffs decision makes clear that not only is this argument extraordinarily cynical, it has no basis in law, Gilmore said in an email.

The case is Karimi v Deutsche Bank AG et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-02854.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)

Photo: Frankfurt, Germany  February 9, 2011: twin towers of headquarter of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany.

Topics Lawsuits USA Russia
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

A half-century ago, an explosion ripped through a Georgia factory that made flares for use by the Army in the Vietnam War, killing 29 workers and injuring 50 more.

But today, few people remember the accident in Woodbine, the dangerous conditions the employees worked in, and the small amount of compensation that injured survivors and family members received afterwards, according to a recent report from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

There is no scholarship on this, said Melissa Jackson, whose mother and cousin were killed in the 1971 blast. There is no historical memory or understanding of this. For me, the memory of the whole day is still very vivid and very painful and very clear. But outside of those few of us who remember, its like it has been erased.

Local students in the coastal community were not taught much about the incident, and little research has been done.

The Alabama-based Law Center, which has championed the rights of oppressed and impoverished people in the U.S. since the early 1970s, is hoping to elevate awareness of the explosion and its consequences. The non-profit organization said it granted $50,000 to the Thiokol Memorial Project in Woodbine last fall.

The Projects museum there displays some 350 artifacts from the disaster, but it is run mostly with the help of volunteers and is attempting to secure a larger tract of land that can serve as a memorial to the victims, the Law Center reported.

The blast and its remembrance also highlight how the victims were compensated, compared to what might be available today. The Law Center article noted that the U.S. government, which had contracted with Thiokol Chemical Co. to make the flares, argued that victims had no right to legal claims.

After years of court battles, a federal judge found the government guilty of negligence. Reports showed that the Army had found that the materials used in making the flares was so explosive that the Thiokol plant would need to be shut down and reconstructed to make it safer. But the Army did not share its findings with the manufacturer.

Some of the most seriously injured victims received more than $100,000. Under Georgia workers compensation laws at the time, though, fatality benefits for dependents of the dead workers were limited to $17,000  roughly $123,700 in todays dollars.

These people that were injured were not well compensated, Arnold Young, a Savannah, Georgia, attorney, told the Law Center.

The limit on dependents death benefits in the 1970s is considerably less than the roughly $270,000 cap allowed by statute today, according to a national report produced by the Workers Compenstion Research Institute. Thats a significant improvement over the $230,000 maximum allowed just two years ago.

But all dependents dont receive the maximum. Death benefits in 2022 are limited to two-thirds of the deceased workers weekly wage, or a maximum of $675 a week, and spouses lose the benefit if they remarry. The maximum death benefit in Georgia is more than what Florida allows but less than the maximum allowed in Alabama.

For injured workers, Georgia continues to rank near the bottom in U.S. in some types of benefits allowed, according to the WCRI report.

The Feb. 9, 1971 explosion did lead to some safety improvements, the Southern Poverty Law Center noted. Federal safety inspectors regularly checked the remaining and rebuilt section of the Thiokol factor in Woodbine, and workers were trained to use fire extinguishers.

Photo: Aftermath of the Thiokol plant explosion in Southeast Georgia, in 1971. (Georgia Public Broadcasting)

Topics Georgia
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

When the Florida Legislature approved Senate Bill 76 last year, with its restrictions on homeowner solicitation by roofing contractors, insurers saw it as a major blow against runaway fraudulent and exaggerated roof claims.

Then a contractor, Gale Force Roofing and Restoration, and others quickly filed suit against the state agency charged with enforcing the law. A federal judge in July 2021 issued an injunction, temporarily halting the solicitation provisions in the law, noting that the prohibitions may violate roofers constitutional right to free speech. The court action prompted outcries from the insurance industry but it ultimately led to the passage of other, far-reaching but more-nuanced legislation at the Florida special session last month.

Now, both sides in the Gale Force suit have agreed that, thanks to the recent measures signed into law, the SB 76 restrictions are moot. The same federal judge who put a hold on the 2021 law agreed Friday to dismiss the complaint.

SB 2D is now law and resolved the complaints that plaintiffs and plaintiff intervenors raised, reads the joint motion to dismiss the case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. In sum, the declaratory and injunctive relief sought in the complaints is now inappropriate and the case is moot.

The attorney for Gale Force Roofing said Monday that his client had essentially prevailed in the suit, had prevented the strict prohibitions from taking effect, and had forced the Legislature to revise the law.

Gale Force won its case, and it was only dismissed because there was no further relief (other than the attorneys fees at issue) that the court could award, attorney Jeremy Bailie, of Saint Petersburg, wrote in an email.

Senate Bill 2D, one of two reform bills approved during the May 23-25 special insurance session, made a wide range of statutory changes designed to limit roof claims, unnecessary claims litigation and plaintiffs attorney fees. It also amended the same section of state law that last years SB 76 addressed on roof-work solicitation.

SB 76 had prohibited any written or electronic communication by a contractor that encourages, instructs, or induces a consumer to contact a contractor or public adjuster for the purpose of making an insurance claim for roof damage. That included flyers, door hangers, business cards and emails.

This years SB 2D prohibits only those advertisements that lack a disclaimer that clearly states that the homeowner is responsible for paying the insurance policy deductible, and that a contractor offering to waive or pay the deductible is guilty of a third-degree felony.

The only remaining question in the Gale Force suit is the amount of attorney fees racked up in the case  and who will pay them. The parties have until July 13 to file motions on fees and costs, Judge Mark Walker wrote in his June 10 order.

The motion for dismissal also raised a point that is sure to lead to some chuckles in the state capital. The motion notes that the case is ripe for dismissal because the new law overrides SB 76s provisions, those provisions are not likely to be reenacted, and SB 2D was not adopted simply to manipulate the courts thinking.

First, the legislative changes were the product of serious deliberation on the part of the Florida Legislature, which met in a special session to enact comprehensive reforms to the States insurance laws, the motion reads.

Those who were present at the special session may agree that while lawmakers gave a number of speeches on the pros and cons of SB 2D, they did not engage in true deliberation: The passage of the bill and its companion, SB 4D, appeared to be a foregone conclusion before the session started. The bills were said to be crafted by the governors office and House and Senate leadership, and hardly a word was changed during the session. Some 27 amendments were offered, including a freeze on homeowner insurance rates, but none passed.

SB 2D also added other provisions that werent mentioned in the motion to dismiss the SB 76 suit. One major change now bars assignees of benefits from being awarded their attorney fees, even if they prevail in lawsuits. Another limits the fee multiplier to rare cases. Insurance industry advocates have said those measures could help curtail solicitation by roofers and should greatly reduce the thousands of AOB claims lawsuits filed every month in Florida.

It remains to be seen if Gale Force Roofing will now join a lawsuit filed just days after the special session, which challenges the constitutionality of SB 2D. Bailie said he is not aware of any plans by his client to intervene.

That suit was filed in Leon County Circuit Court by Restoration Association of Florida, a group of contractors, and by Air Quality Assessors, a firm that tests for the presence of mold in homes after water leaks.

Topics Lawsuits Florida
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

Police charged three boys with arson in fires that destroyed three historic homes in an Atlanta suburb over the weekend.

Two 14-year-olds and one 15-year-old were arrested Wednesday at their homes in Clayton County, officials in Morrow announced. All three were taken to a juvenile detention center.

The juveniles are charged with arson, burglary, interference with government property, property damage and trespassing.

The fires burned three houses, including one dating to the 1800s, in an area near Southlake Mall that Morrow spent more than $10 million to develop as a downtown district in 2009. The development closed in late 2010 amid the pressures of the Great Recession and allegations of scandal after it was determined that structures did not meet building codes. Buildings have since been repeatedly vandalized.

The fires were investigated by local officials as well state Insurance Commissioner John King and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Investigators confirmed the fire was set just after midnight on Saturday morning, beginning in one building and spreading to the other two.

Interim Morrow Police Chief David Snively said investigators met with witnesses and reviewed digital evidence, leading them to the boys.

The city says it will rebuild the structures, despite investigators classifying them as total losses, and is planning a Saturday morning prayer vigil.

The tremendous grief suffered by our community since Saturday can be somewhat resolved with the knowledge that the suspects in this case have been identified and apprehended, Mayor John Lampl said in a statement.

Lampl was investigated over the collapse of the development when he was Morrow city manager. He eventually pleaded no contest to falsifying fire reports to say buildings had commercial-grade sprinklers instead of the residential sprinklers that were actually installed. Lampl served six months of probation and paid $12,000 in fines.

Lampl was elected mayor in 2019 and has since spearheaded efforts to redevelop the area after attempts to sell it failed.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Georgia Numbers Arson
A suburban Seattle, Washington, city will pay more than $1.5 million to settle a dispute with a former assistant police chief who was disciplined for posting a Nazi rank insignia on his office door and joking about the Holocaust.

Former Kent Assistant Police Chief Derek Kammerzell, who had been with the department for nearly three decades, was initially given two weeks of unpaid leave after the 2020 incident. Outraged residents and members of the Jewish community prompted Mayor Dana Ralph to put Kammerzell on paid administrative leave and demand his resignation.

The citys attempt to essentially discipline Kammerzell a second time led to a dispute between his lawyers and the city that appeared headed for litigation. But interim city Chief Administrative Officer Arthur Pat Fitzpatrick, who is also the city attorney, said Friday the city had resolved the matter through negotiation, The Seattle Times reported.

Ralph, in calling for Kammerzells resignation in January, acknowledged that the decision to revisit the discipline issue would likely come at a high cost. The city said Friday it would pay him $1,520,000 to resign.

Had the city simply fired him, officials said, he likely would have won back his job through arbitration due to federal and state labor laws.

An internal investigation concluded Kammerzell knew the meaning of the insignia he placed above the nameplate on his office door in September 2020  that of an obergruppenfuhrer  a high official in Hitlers paramilitary Schutzstaffel, or SS, which was responsible for the systematic murders of millions of Jews and others in Europe during World War II.

The insignia was taken down after four days when a detective in the investigations bureau, which Kammerzell commanded, filed a complaint.

Kammerzell also was overheard joking about the Holocaust, according to the internal investigation.

Messages left by the newspaper with Kammerzells attorney and with the Kent Police Officers Association were not immediately returned.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Washington Law Enforcement
The new chair of Shannon Group Conal Henry said Ireland has a very imbalanced aviation sector and this is something that must be addressed.

Speaking at a recent meeting of Clare County Council Mr Henry said the Shannon Group "is in rude health on the back of increasing passenger numbers through the airport. "It is a very, very well run business, is financially resilient and has very strong potential."

However, Mr Henry said: "The challenge for the airport is the challenge for aviation in Ireland. We have a very imbalanced aviation sector.

"We have 87% of traffic going through one airport and 13% going through five airports and four of those five airports are competing for that 13%  effectively undermining their ability to compete with the Dublin offering."

Dublin Airport which handles 87% of the country's air traffic saw massive security queues last month as it struggled to recruit the required security screening staff. Picture: Dominic McGrath

He said: "So you have this weird situation of people driving past three airports to take flights from Dublin. This is not suitable for any State and something that must be addressed.

"It is a policy challenge and there is a real need to re-address national aviation policy to look at how we better have a competitive aviation proposition in the State."

'Road to recovery'

The meeting heard that Shannon Airport is performing ahead of expectations and is on course to deliver between 75pc to 80pc of pre-pandemic passenger numbers this year.

CEO of the Shannon Group, Mary Considine said "we are confident that we are on the right road to recovery" due to the pent-up demand that is there is for air travel.

In 2019, the airport recorded passenger numbers of 1.7m and Ms Considine said that the airport is hoping for 75-80% this year of pre-pandemic traffic.

She said: We are doing much better than we would have anticipated at the start of the year."

An 80% projection of pre-pandemic passenger figures would deliver passenger numbers of 1.368 million for 2022.

She said: We have definitely felt the bounce at Shannon.

Heathrow slots

Ms Considine also urged maximising the use of Shannons three Heathrow slots as the guarantee concerning the slots expires in September. Mr Considine said that if the routes are properly supported there will never be a question mark over their viability.

Mr Henry strongly resisted a call from the floor that the Shannon Group chair adopt an executive role in running the airport.

He said: "The last thing Shannon airport needs is more management  it just needs a clear plan supported by all the stakeholders.

Mr Henry said that has great confidence in the management team at Shannon and stated there is a mistaken belief that if you throw more managers at a problem it will get solved.

He said: "That is not how it works, it will just create more noise."

Earlier, Ms Considine said that Ryanair now flies to more destinations out of Shannon than it did before the pandemic.

Ms Considine also pointed out that for the first time since 2010, Shannon has a daily transatlantic link to Boston and New York all year round.

Ms Considine said that through economies of scale flights out of Dublin can be cheaper than Shannon for passengers but urged passengers to examine the total costs of travelling out of Dublin.
Hong Kong: CE visits PMQ

Chief Executive Carrie Lam visited PMQ today to meet the three founders of the Musketeers Education & Culture Charitable Foundation and thank them for their efforts in the establishment of the creative hub.

The Musketeers Foundation set up the PMQ Management Company and successfully secured the project's operating rights to revitalise the Former Police Married Quarters on Hollywood Road, a Grade 3 historic building on Aberdeen Street in Central, into a creative landmark.

The project is operated by the non-profit-making social enterprise and named PMQ.

Mrs Lam noted that since its opening in 2014, PMQ has been committed to nurturing local creative entrepreneurs and designers. It also promoted the spirit of creativity and design to different sectors of the community to foster a local creative culture through attracting visitors from Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas.

She expressed her heartfelt thanks to the foundation's three founders - Stanley Chu, Lawrence Fung and Leong Ka-chai - for their financial commitment and effort to transform PMQ into a hub for creative activities of pop culture and emerging artists.

Mrs Lam noted that PMQ provides a platform not only for emerging entrepreneurs in the design and creative fields to start their business, but also for local and international design brands to showcase and sell their products and services.

PMQ has attracted over 20 million visitors over the past years, contributing to the creative and tourism industries of Hong Kong, she added.

During her visit, the Chief Executive also toured several design studios and chatted with tenants.

Mrs Lam was pleased to learn that PMQ has recently seen a gradual rise in the number of visitors and improvements to the business as Hong Kong has been returning steadily to normalcy amid the epidemic.

This story has been published on: 2022-06-14. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

The Shangri-La Dialogue resumed from June 10 to 12 in Singapore following a two-year hiatus. Judging from the deliveries of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the security forum, as well as some related information, the maritime environment surrounding China is set to experience new characteristics and encounter unprecedented challenges.

First, the trend of militarization and confrontational groupings promoted by the US has accelerated. When delivering a speech outlining the administration's China policy days ago, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said "the Biden administration's strategy can be summed up in three words - 'invest, align, compete.'"

At the Shangri-La Dialogue, Austin underlined the Quad and AUKUS, as well as the US' alliance with Japan, the Philippines and South Korea. These indicate that the US will rely on bilateral military alliances in the western Pacific including the East China Sea and the South China Sea, the Quad in the Indian Ocean, and AUKUS in the South Pacific, in a bid to strategically and militarily contain China.

In terms of their means to deal with China, in addition to the traditional use of bases, joint exercises, intelligence collection, and freedom of navigation operations, new military technologies and warfare styles such as unmanned aerial vehicles, artificial intelligence, and hypersonic equipment may also be put into use.

Furthermore, given that both the Quad and the AUKUS are aimed at containing China, the possibility that these two mechanisms will eventually converge over time cannot be ruled out. In fact, as long as Japan is wooed into AUKUS or the UK joins the Quad, the integration of the two mechanisms will be realized. Second, China's maritime development space will be further squeezed, with relevant activities subject to increased surveillance by the US and its allies. The joint statement issued at the US-ASEAN Special Summit in May, and the Austin address suggest a new level of commitment and deployment of US Coast Guard (USCG) forces to Southeast Asia.

In particular, the US has claimed to be taking action to uphold international laws and rules in "gray zone," including the "unprecedented" deployment of USCG in the Asia-Pacific region. The target of such US claims, while not explicit, is self-explanatory.

Finally, various forms of maritime infringement activities will be more active than ever, and China will face more severe challenges to safeguard its maritime rights. The US policy of forcing countries to "take sides" in the South China Sea, its support for the arbitration award, the USCG's cross-border law enforcement, and the upcoming cooperation between the US and Southeast Asian countries in the fields of situational awareness and law enforcement will lead to more intense and frequent conflicts in the maritime field between China and neighboring and even extraterritorial countries around resource development and utilization, navigation safety, fishing activities and the maintenance of order.

The form and content of the infringement will likely be the following: confrontation between China and Japan in the disputed waters of the East China Sea will see an upward trend as Japan strengthens its control of the waters around the Diaoyu Islands.

In the Nansha Islands waters, oil and gas development will be on the rise; cooperation between maritime police of the claimant countries and the USCG in law enforcement will become the norm; some claimant countries will use the arbitration award as the basis for legal "claim" and "consolidation of rights" through domestic legislation, and submit new outer continental shelf claims or push the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to hear the submitted applications, the possibility of which cannot be ignored.

Facing the new challenges, China can actively respond at two levels: strategic and tactical. Among them, at the tactical level, the means are no more than "control, countermeasures and hedging."

For possible crises and conflicts in the military and law-enforcement fields, binding mechanisms and rules should be established; for oil and gas development and fishery violations in the disputed areas, diplomatic means and maritime actions should be used; legal actions based on arbitration awards should be counteracted by legal means in order to offset their possible negative consequences.

The author is President of the National Institute for the South China Sea Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn
Russia will provide a way out for civilians at the Azot fertiliser factory in the contested city of Severodonetsk, but will use a different plan to that which Kiev requested, the Russian military said on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian proposal may have been an attempt to extract its soldiers from the blockaded plant, it claimed, RT reported.

The Russian statement said civilians in the Azot plant were being used as a "human shield" by Ukrainian troops who took cover at the facility. Hundreds of non-combatants were allegedly forced to move to the Ukrainian forces' last stronghold in the city as Russian and allied troops captured residential areas in Severodonetsk.

The city is claimed by the Russia-allied Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) as part of its territory.

"The Ukrainian side considers the position of its military units as hopeless, so we consider the request to save the civilians as an attempt to extract the surviving troops out of the blockade," said Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, RT reported.

The Russian military noted the situation is not unlike what happened in the city of Mariupol, where Ukrainian troops remained blockaded at the Azovstal plant for weeks before surrendering to Russian and allied troops.

Mizintsev urged Ukrainian officials to order their soldiers in Severodonetsk to lay down their arms and surrender too. In the meantime, Russia is willing to grant civilians safe passage to territory controlled by the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), provided the Ukrainian troops let them go, the statement said.

Severodonetsk is one of just a handful of places in LPR-claimed territory where Ukrainian troops are still present. Last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said his country's troops and local militias were in control of 97 per cent of the republic's territory.
Leaving Cert students sitting Irish paper two on Tuesday would not have been under pressure following a "student-friendly" exam.

The paper presented to students today was more straightforward than Monday's paper one, according to Anne Loughnane, the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland subject representative.

Irish paper two includes prose, poetry, literature and reading comprehensions. Students had just over three hours to complete the 120-mark paper.

Students would have been way more prepared for it, Ms Loughnane said. They had greater choice, so they wouldn't have been under pressure. There were no twists on the questions."

"They were all very straightforward. I think this paper would have been a much more positive experience for students.

I thought they were very positive and very student-friendly papers in general. There is a greater choice this year, which gives the students a greater opportunity to show their knowledge.

They're more comfortable because they have plenty of time as well to answer.

Higher-level students were asked in the reading comprehension section about Irish language poet Maire Mhac an tSaoi, who passed away last October, and traditional music.

Again, the questions seemed to be straightforward and doable.

I think that most students who had prepared reasonably well had a great opportunity to do very well on this paper.

Ordinary level

At ordinary level, there was plenty of choice and plenty of opportunities for students to show their knowledge of the language, she added.

In particular, I thought the poetry questions were lovely. It would have been a good positive note to end the Irish exam on. Any student who had prepared, I think would have been comfortable answering.

The reading comprehensions here were based on music, and on the history of the Conrad na Gaeilge building on Harcourt Street.

Kathleen Lowney, principal, with her cousin, Leaving Cert student Brian Lowney, after the Irish paper two exam at Ballincollig Community School. Picture: Denis Minihane

The questions on the comprehension were straightforward. They were based on what was before them, what they had read.

Claire Markey, Irish subject representative with the Teachers Union of Ireland, agreed with this consensus.

"They were balanced and fair papers.

The questions students were asked on the ordinary level reading comprehension were "fairly straightforward, and they would have enjoyed the questions on music, she believes.

Students had a choice this year, so they didn't necessarily have to do poetry and prose. They could do either, or, or one from each. They had a very wide variety of choices there.

The questions were the usual run-of-the-mill type of questions that usually come up.

At higher level, the questions that came up in poetry and prose were also very straightforward, Ms Markey added.

There were a few little challenges there for them in some of the questions, but there was enough scope for them not to have to pick questions that they were maybe unsure of.

This morning's Junior Cert exams focused on applied technology and Italian. On Tuesday afternoon, the Junior Cert French exam gets under way.

This Tuesday afternoon, the Leaving Cert biology exam will also take place.
Both the biology and Irish exam papers offered plenty of choices as Leaving Cert exams continued on Tuesday, with teachers agreeing that the adjustments to this year's exams helped to take pressure off students.

Overall, the higher-level biology paper was very fair and offered students fantastic choice.

However, a couple of questions may have thrown them, according to Margaret McGagh, subject representative with the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI). Questions on genetics and ecology came up in both Section A, the short questions worth 80 marks, and in Section C, the longer questions worth 180 marks.

Students tend to study genetics and ecology very well, and are usually very well prepared to answer them," she said.

Section B, which focuses on experiments, again offered students a very good choice.

This year, students had to answer one out of three, compared to two out of three pre-Covid. However, Ms McGagh said she had one quibble with Section C.

Vika Fleming who completed her Irish paper as an external candidate at Ballincollig Community School. Picture: Denis Minihane

"Students at higher level would be expecting a question on photosynthesis or respiration," she said.

"They had both on this paper, but the photosynthesis question also included questions about cell division, which would be a very unusual combination.

"I think having the mitosis question might have thrown them, she said, adding that this group of students spent time learning online last year due to Covid.

The human biology question that featured on the higher-level paper was also quite nice, but also included a completely different topic.

They got the excretory system," said Ms McGagh.

"No tricks really, they either knew it or they didnt, but they stuck at the bottom of it a question about water transport in plants. Again with this cohort, they might have ended up studying their human biology very well and left off the plant biology. That might have eliminated that question for them.

Leaving Certificate students Sinead Somers (left) and Shauntelle Lehane Buckley at Ballincollig Community School. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Studyclix subject expert biology teacher Gemma Gillespie said the ordinary level paper was "straightforward" for the most part, "though some students may have found the genetics question challenging as quite a lot of detail was required in the answer.

Irish papers

Leaving Cert students sitting Irish paper two on Tuesday morning would not have been under pressure following a "student-friendly" exam, according to ASTI subject representative Anne Loughnane.

The paper presented to students was more straightforward than Monday's paper one, she added.

Irish paper two includes prose, poetry, literature, and reading comprehensions.

Leaving Certificate students Nina Buckley (left) and Sinead Buttimer after the Irish paper at Ballincollig Community School. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Students would have been way more prepared for it," she said.

They had greater choice, so they wouldn't have been under pressure. There were no twists on the questions.

"I think this paper would have been a much more positive experience for students.

Higher-level students were asked in the reading comprehension section about Irish language poet Maire Mhac an tSaoi, who passed away last October, and traditional music.

I think that most students who had prepared reasonably well had a great opportunity to do very well on this paper, said Ms Loughnane.

At ordinary level, there was a good deal of choice and plenty of opportunities for students to show their knowledge of the language, she added.

In particular, I thought the poetry questions were lovely," she said.

It would have been a good positive note to end the Irish exam on. Any student who had prepared, I think would have been comfortable answering.

Claire Markey, Irish subject representative with the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI), agreed with this view.

"They were balanced and fair papers, she said.

The questions students were asked on the ordinary level reading comprehensions  based on music, and on the history of the Conrad na Gaeilge building on Harcourt St  were "fairly straightforward.

Kathleen Lowney, principal, with her cousin, Leaving Certificate student Brian Lowney, after the Irish paper at Ballincollig Community School. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Students had a choice this year, so they did not necessarily have to do poetry and prose.

The questions were the usual run-of-the-mill type of questions that usually come up, she said.

Junior Cert exams also continued on Tuesday, with students sitting applied technology and Italian on Tuesday morning, and French in the afternoon.

The State exams continue on Wednesday, with Leaving Cert French and history, and Junior Cert home economics and Spanish.
The worsening economic crisis in Lebanon is hitting an orphanage that has been dubbed Irelands embassy in south Lebanon.

Tibnine Orphanage needs to raise $25,000 to pay for overdue school fees, fuel, and urgent maintenance work.

The orphanage was built with the help and support of peacekeepers from the Netherlands in 1979, but Irish peacekeepers have been heavily involved with it ever since.

Funding for the orphanage, which houses 65 children, comes from a variety of sources, including the Lebanese government, Defence Forces personnel serving with the UN, and donations from UN veterans.

Funding usually comes via Irish Aid, Irelands development cooperation programme, and is for so-called 'micro projects'.

An example of one of these would be where the Defence Forces provided a replacement minibus for the orphanage, which was funded with $15,000 provided by Irish Aid in 2016.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin met children and staff from the orphanage when he visited Tibnine at the end of May to lay a wreath at a memorial for Irish soldiers who have died while on peacekeeping duties in Lebanon.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin during a visit to Lebanon to mark the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on Sunday, May 29, 2022. Picture: Government Information Service/PA Wire

Orphanage director Ali Saad said while he is hoping to get help via the usual funding sources, anyone who wants to help can get in touch with the orphanage via its website.

With support, we can achieve our goals and targets for the best benefits of those young girls and future educated mothers," he said.

With you all, we can give them hope for their upcoming days and happiness for their life.

During the 1980s, Irish soldiers supplied the orphanage with food and helped to equip and install bedrooms.

Irish medics serving with the UN also do health checks on the children and provide an element of care for them.

As well as providing fresh water, soldiers also teach English to the children.

Funds supplied by Irish Aid and Defences Forces personnel have also supplied buses over the years, as well as a kitchen and a playground.

Mr Saad also pointed out that Irish peacekeepers helped protect the orphanage "in times of bombardments, conflicts or wars, day and night when needed".
There is no timetable to return to powersharing at Stormont despite British government legislation on the Northern Ireland Protocol, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has said.

Mr Donaldson said his party needs to see the legislation progressing through Parliament but added that he believes it has the potential to provide a solution to the Irish Sea border.

However, Sinn Fein renewed its attack on the controversial Bill, with vice president Michelle ONeill warning it will cost jobs in Northern Ireland.

British foreign secretary Liz Truss moved this week to publish legislation which would allow ministers to override large parts of the international deal struck over Northern Irelands post-Brexit trading arrangements.

The protocol requires regulatory checks and customs declarations on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Unionists in Northern Ireland are vociferously opposed to the international treaty, claiming it has undermined the regions place within the UK.

The DUP has blocked the formation of a new powersharing government at Stormont after last months Assembly election.

Speaking on College Green in Westminster, Mr Donaldson said: We havent completed our initial assessment of the legislation.

We want to do that and then well talk to the Government about where we go from here.

We havent come to a view as to when the institutions might be restored. We want that to happen but we need to be sure that this Bill is moving forward

He added: Theres a long way to go with this legislation. It will take months to pass through the Commons and the Lords unless the Government decides to escalate the timetable for the Bill, and we havent heard that.

So we will consider what happens in the legislative process, but at this stage we havent come to a view as to when the institutions might be restored.

We want that to happen but we need to be sure that this Bill is moving forward, and that this Bill will be enacted.

That is fundamentally important for us. A solution can only work once the legislation is in place.

We believe it has the potential to provide a solution on the difficulties created by the protocol.

Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill (Liam McBurney/PA)

Ms ONeill said the legislation would create economic uncertainty.

During a visit to a factory in Co Tyrone, she said: The reality is that the actions of Boris Johnson, the actions to unilaterally disapply parts of the protocol, will have a negative impact on businesses like this.

It creates more uncertainty so that is not in the best interests of the people here, it is certainly not in the best interests of the business community here.

There are ways to smooth the protocol but that needs to be done in an agreed fashion between the EU and the British government.

The Boris Johnson approach of running roughshod over the protocol, undermining the protocol, undermining the Good Friday Agreement, undermining political stability, is just not acceptable and it is not the way to go.

I think the EU have always been very pragmatic, they have understood more than the Tories in London the need to protect the Good Friday Agreement.

If you were a local company who wants to sell into the European market for the future, that investor will think twice because of the uncertainty here

That pragmatism is what we need to see in terms of what needs to happen next. An agreed way forward is the only way forward.

This approach of Boris Johnson is just reckless, it is dangerous and it creates even more economic uncertainty.

If you were a local company who wants to sell into the European market for the future, that investor will think twice because of the uncertainty here.

So Boris Johnson is jeopardising jobs here, all for what is going on within the Tory party. Boris Johnson and the Tories will never act in the interests of people here.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the legislation is anti-business and anti-industry.

The fundamental issue is one of trust because the EU did enter an international agreement with the UK Government, which is now, essentially, being reneged upon, Mr Martin added.

Irish premier Micheal Martin (Damien Storan/PA)

A lot of European Union leaders are going to say, How are we going to trust you again if we do a further deal? How do we know you will adhere to that deal?

That is a fundamental issue that now has to be overcome. I think the EU will uphold its side and also seek to press the full adherence to the agreement.

Nobody wants to be in a situation where we end up in acrimony or real difficulty, but I am afraid the British Governments decision to unilaterally press ahead with this legislation  which is ill-thought-out anyway, in terms of the detail of it  I think makes for very difficult times ahead.

I dont think its well-thought-out or well-thought-through and certainly doesnt match the realities on the ground in terms of experiences of those involved in various industries.

For example, those involved in manufacturing are doing particularly well under the protocol and theyre now very concerned, not just by the uncertainty that has been created, but also the fact that this represents an undermining of conditions.
Burma More than 5,000 civilians flee as Myanmar Junta Burns Villages in Sagaing

Yuwa village in Mawlaik Township, Sagaing Region after being torched by regime forces on June 10.

More than 5,000 civilians from Mawlaik Township, Sagaing Region, have fled their homes as Myanmars regime forces raided and burned down over 1,000 houses in four villages in the township within three days.

Between June 10 and 12 without being attacked an estimated 250 troops from Battalion 366 raided Yuwa, Magyi Tan, Mawku and Tatkone villages to the west of the Chindwin River, according to residents.

Two Magyi Tan villagers in their 20s, Ko Sithu and Ko Phyo, were detained and tortured to death by troops and pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia members on June 10, a rescue worker told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

She said the two bodies had been stabbed and chopped many times.

Troops looted valuables, including furniture, motorbikes and electronic devices.

Troops killed livestock and destroyed tools they could not carry with them, according to the rescuer, who also lost her house and possessions in Yuwa.

She said the regime forces had used four barges to transport loot to their battalion in Mawlaik.

All four villages were totally destroyed.

Most residents are sheltering in forests and refugee camps. Food, medicine and tents are required for the fleeing villagers, said the rescue worker.

Sagaing faces the regimes extreme oppression. I call on everyone across the country to revolt against the junta, a Yuwa villager said. Dont be cold-blooded about the regimes atrocities.

By the end of May, an estimated 18,886 houses and other buildings had been burned down by the regime, according to Data for Myanmar, an independent group monitoring junta atrocities.

Sagaing has suffered the most, losing an estimated 13,840 houses, followed by Magwe Region with 3,055 houses burned down by regime forces.

On June 10, several hundred civilians from Pakokku Township in Magwe Region fled their homes after regime forces burned down around 170 houses in three villages, according to media reports.

Myanmars junta faces daily attacks from peoples defense forces and ethnic armed organizations across the country.

Meanwhile, the junta has escalated its atrocities, including the arbitrary killing of civilians, torture, using civilians as human shields, air and artillery strikes on residential areas and looting and burning houses, especially in Chin, Kachin, Shan, Kayah and Karen states and Magwe, Sagaing and Mandalay regions.
Burma Myanmar Junta Soldiers Kill Three Civilians and Take 60 Hostage in Sagaing

Lelti Village.

Myanmar junta troops raided Lelti and Maunghtaung villages in Budalin Township, Sagaing Region on Sunday, killing three civilians and taking 60 others hostage, according to local sources.

Around 50 Myanmar military soldiers and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia raided Lelti Village, firing mortar shells as they advanced.

A father and a son were killed by the shelling and two other villagers were injured. Junta troops also shot dead a female villager outside the village.

They came to Lelti Village from Kutaw Village and fired mortar shells. A house was struck and two people were killed immediately. A woman in her 50s was also shot dead by them, said a resident.

Junta troops detained 20 villagers as human shields and went to neighboring Maunghtaung Village. Some 50 houses there were torched by regime forces and 40 villagers were taken hostage.

The whereabouts of the detained villagers is still unknown, but it is believed that they were taken to Kutaw Village where junta soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee militia are based.

On Monday, those junta troops clashed for around half an hour with a Peoples Defense Force (PDF) near the village of Sipar.

A PDF leader and a fighter died in the clash and two others were injured. Around seven junta soldiers are thought to have been killed, said a resistance fighter.

Lelti and Maunghtaung residents still dare not return to their villages.

The villagers took rice and dried fish with them when they fled. They dare not go back because of reports that junta troops are staying in the village. They dare not return as the regime soldiers are inhumane and can shoot anyone on sight, a Budalin resident told The Irrawaddy.

Almost all townships in Sagaing Region have experienced junta arson attacks and fighting in May and June.

Some 18,886 houses have been destroyed or damaged in arson attacks by military regime troops and their allies since last years coup up to the end of May this year, according to Data for Myanmar, an independent group documenting junta atrocities.

You may also like these stories:

Regime Airstrike Destroys Hospital in Lower Myanmar

Junta Chief to Preside Over Myanmars First Grand Military Review in Seven Years

Resistance Fighters and KIA Clash With Junta Forces in Northern Myanmar
Burma Myanmar Prison Authorities Beat At Least 10 Political Prisoners in Insein

Insein Prison. / The Irrawaddy

More than 10 people held in Yangons Insein Prison by Myanmars military regime for anti-junta activities were injured in a beating by the prison authorities, according to sources close to the prison where hundreds of activists are being held and face prosecution.

Some political prisoners from Thabyay ward in Insein staged a hunger strike on June 8 against the juntas decision to execute four dissidents, including prominent 88 Generation student leader Ko Jimmy and National League for Democracy lawmaker Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw.

Some also complained about forced labor to a director of the Correctional Department who visited the prison the following day.

Prison officers were angry with their complaints and ordered staff and criminal inmates to beat 11 political prisoners who made complaints.

One of them had a rib cracked, another had his forearm broken and another had his nose torn. Among the torture victims were a priest, doctor, lawyer and engineer.

The Thabyay warden reportedly told political prisoners: You can report your beating. We just need a piece of paper [to show our commanders] why you died. Prison staff also reportedly swore and made threats.

The prisoners health conditions are unknown. Those who participated in the hunger strike have been moved to other wards, said a source.

They were forced to work on prison farms for 12 hours a day. They were told to pay 150,000 kyats if they dont want to work on the farm. If they refused, they were forced to sleep in a crowded cell. Around 120 prisoners were in a cell which can only hold 60 people, said the source.

The prison authorities have cut off electricity and water to the womens ward since a strike, forcing inmates to drink toilet water. Many are suffering from diarrhea.

Last month, the prison authorities failed to take a pregnant woman having a difficult labor to hospital and the baby was stillborn, prompting women detainees to strike.

Sources said the woman who lost her baby and her husband were prosecuted and jailed on political charges. Their details are unknown.

A former prison officer said: I suspect that they are deliberately and systematically torturing political prisoners. I never saw such awful things when I worked in the prison. They appear to be trying to inflict permanent trauma on inmates.

Prison commander Zaw Lin Aung and supervisor Aung Ko Oo are responsible for torture in Insein, said sources. Several criminal inmates are involved in beating political prisoners at the instruction of Zaw Lin Aung and Aung Ko Ko, said sources.

Zaw Lin Aung is a former military officer who was transferred to the Correctional Department after the 2021 coup. Observers said the regime has replaced civilian staff with military personnel in prisons across the country to torture political prisoners.

The torture of political prisoners has been the most severe at Insein, Obo Prison in Mandalay, Monywa Prison in Sagaing and Hpa-an Prison in Karen State, according to observers.

On June 6, when political prisoners raised objections to a plan to keep them with convicted criminals in Hpa-an, the authorities fired warning shots and attacked with catapults and bamboo sticks, injuring around 60 political prisoners.

Political prisoners were beaten following a brawl in Obo on June 5. Two political prisoners were stabbed by prison staff and at least 10 others were injured. Political prisoners were subsequently kept in solitary confinement.

You may also like these stories:



Myanmar Junta Raises SIM and Internet Taxes to Silence Opposition

Myanmar Junta Airstrikes Continue in Kayah State

Myanmar Air Force Chief Forced to Retire
Burma Myanmar Troops Arrest Anti-Regime Protesters in Yangon

An anti-regime flash mob protest in Yangon

At least five young people who took part in anti-coup flash mob protests in Yangon were arrested on Monday night while military troops were checking overnight guest registrations in some townships in the city.

Regime troops and police have been hunting protesters in a number of townships in Yangon that have seen strong anti-junta protest activity including Sanchaung, Kyimyindaing, Hlaing, Tamwe and Thingangyun.

The overnight guest registration system is used to monitor the presence of strangers in neighborhoods and was used by the previous military regime to crack down on dissidents. Under the system, someone who is not a permanent resident in a neighborhood must report to local authorities if he or she wants to stay there overnight. The current junta reinstated it after the coup last year.

As the troops checked overnight guest registrations in the above townships on Monday, a protester from Yangon Peoples Strike and three from Kyimyindaing Youths Strike were arrested for failing to report their stays to authorities, according to one of their fellow young anti-coup activists.

A member of the General Strike Committee (GSC) confirmed the arrests. The GSC was formed by 25 organizations from different fields including political groups and strike committees to work for the end of military dictatorship.

We dont know exactly who was arrested last night but other protesters are moving to other safe houses, the GSC member told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

Despite the tightened security, young activists have staged frequent flash mob protests in the commercial capital Yangon.

On Saturday, young protesters managed to attach a banner reading Today the pagoda is closed as the nation has been sentenced to death at the main gate of the Shwedagon Pagoda, despite the presence of soldiers and police guarding the vicinity of the pagoda.

Strike committees have continued their protests in Yangon in order to divert regime troops attention from underground (UG) members engaged in missions to attack regime targets.

A GSC member said, We well know the ground protests are very dangerous but if we dont hold the protests the UG members will be targeted by soldiers and police. If they try to arrest us, the UG members can complete their mission on the other side.

At the same time, junta troops and police are tirelessly hunting the protesters. They have stepped up their efforts to arrest protesters this month, and strike committees in Yangon have warned their members to be on alert.

Additionally, young anti-coup activists are facing many difficulties. Even when we have funds, it is not easy to rent a safe house for our members. House owners dont want to rent to young people, said the GSC member. The regime has threatened to confiscate the property of landlords who rent it out to anti-regime activists.

On May 30, at least two protesters were detained after junta troops rammed a private vehicle into anti-coup protesters in Yangon.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a total of 11,043 people are still in prison after being detained since the coup.
Burma Over 100 Junta Soldiers Defect to Arakan Army in Western Myanmar

Myanmar military soldiers at the Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyitaw in 2018. / The Irrawaddy

Over 100 soldiers including officers have defected from the Myanmar military to the Arakan Army (AA) since last years coup, said AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha on Tuesday during a press conference held by the Rakhine State-based ethnic armed organization.

More than 100 soldiers have defected to us. We have provided assistance to them and helped them resettle for humanitarian reasons, said Khaing Thukha.

However, he declined to provide further details about defectors who he said had abandoned their units in Rakhine State in western Myanmar.

Khaing Thukha said also that the AA has detained junta soldiers in response to the military regimes arrest of administrative officials of the United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the AA, in townships across Rakhine.

AA troops arrested a corporal and a private from a junta outpost near Kisspanadi Bridge in Kyauktaw on Saturday, he said. The pair were detained as they went to a nearby market to buy food, he added.

The Myanmar military has been staging night raids on the houses of our ULA/AA members. We have detained their troops in retaliation for this. When they release our troops, we will release theirs too, said the AA spokesperson.

The regime has not issued a statement about the AAs arrest of its troops.

Deputy junta chief Vice Senior General Soe Win is currently in Rakhine and met military personnel based in the capital Sittwe on Monday, according to regime media. He urged the soldiers to be on full alert at all times while performing their duties, and to be ready for combat at all times.

Military personnel are responsible for security around the clock and security must be your top priority in performing national defense duty, he told the troops.

Military tensions are running high in Rakhine with junta forces expanding their presence with reinforcements of artillery and navy vessels. Since November 2020, the Myanmar military and the AA have observed an unofficial ceasefire, following two years of intense fighting.

But renewed clashes between the two sides have been taking place in Chin States Paletwa Township, which borders Rakhine, since May.
Burma Ten Myanmar Junta Troops Killed in Kayah State Fighting

Karenni resistance fighters seized junta weapons on June 12 in Hpruso Township. / KNDF

Approximately 10 junta soldiers were reportedly killed and their weapons seized on Sunday in Hpruso Township, Kayah State.

Regime soldiers were moving from Hpruso to Demoso and Loikaw townships when the Karenni Army, Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), Loikaw Peoples Defense Force (PDF) and Demoso PDF attacked on June 10 at Daw Nyun Ku and Hti Pout So villages.

The KNDF told The Irrawaddy that fighting is ongoing.

Not less than 10 soldiers were killed and their weapons seized. Three resistance fighters were lightly injured, said a KNDF representative.

Eight rifles, bullets, bombs, landmines and Light Infantry Battalion 66 and police uniforms were shown in KNDF pictures.

The KNDF said regime artillery destroyed a Baptist church and troops looted houses in the Dawnyayku and Htipautso villages, where they were stationed.

Karenni resistance fighters claimed to have killed junta soldiers and destroyed three military trucks and seized two others containing weapons in Hpruso on June 3 when they attacked a convoy.

Kayah fighting began more than a year ago with the junta regularly using airstrikes and artillery. A majority of the states 200,000 residents have been displaced.

In May there were about 61 battles reported in the state, approximately 107 junta troops killed and five resistance fighters seized. Less than 10 resistance fighters were killed during the month, the KNDF said on June 2.

You may also like these stories:



Junta Chief to Preside Over Myanmars First Grand Military Review in Seven Years

Resistance Fighters and KIA Clash With Junta Forces in Northern Myanmar

Myanmar Junta Raises SIM and Internet Taxes to Silence Opposition


The World Health Organization (WHO) is likely to declare monkeypox, which has so far affected 2,821 people in both endemic and non-endemic countries, a global health emergency, according to media reports. The highest level of warning by the global health body currently applies only to the Covid-19 pandemic, polio and Ebola. The UN health agency will convene an emergency committee meeting next week to assess whether the recent monkeypox outbreak warrants a public health emergency. As of June 8, WHO reported 1,285 monkeypox cases in 28 'non-endemic' countries, particularly in Europe, North America, and Australia. About eight African countries, including Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo and Liberia, where monkeypox is endemic, reported 1,536 suspected cases and 59 confirmed cases. While no deaths have been reported to date from the non-endemic countries, the endemic African countries have recorded 72 deaths from monkeypox from January till June 8. According to WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, it is high time to step up the response because the virus is behaving unusually. "We don't want to wait until the situation gets out of control," said WHO's Emergencies Director for Africa, Ibrahima Soce Fall. This comes after experts pushed the WHO for faster action for several weeks, following criticism of the agency's initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic. They noted that although monkeypox is not as transmissible or dangerous as Covid, there needs to be clearer guidance as to how a person infected by monkeypox should be isolated, more explicit advice on how to protect people who are at risk, and improved testing and contact tracing. The WHO has also issued new guidelines on monkeypox vaccination, which includes recommendations on use of (smallpox) vaccines for monkeypox. "The goal of the global outbreak response for monkeypox is to control the outbreak, and to effectively use public health measures to prevent onward spread of the disease. Judicious use of vaccines can support this response," the health body said in a statement. However, it added that mass vaccination is not required nor recommended for monkeypox at this point of time.




Burma The Master of the Myanmar Juntas Skyful of Lies

Myanmar military spokeperson Zaw Min Tun speaks during a press briefing at the Defense Service Museum in Naypyitaw on Jan. 26, 2021. / AFP

Min Aung Hlaing, who is responsible for the military coup in February last year, is viewed locally and internationally as a thick general.

As notorious as Min Aung Hlaing is Major General Zaw Min Tun, the leader of his information teamofficially known as the Tatmadaw True News Information Teamwho has earned the title of the regimes biggest liar, for so tirelessly parroting its claims.

It has been Zaw Min Tuns assignment to assert that ousted State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was corrupt (for which not a scrap of concrete evidence has been produced so far despite a series of trials since last year); to insist that the Myanmar military will not negotiate with the Peoples Defense Force (PDF), but crush it (it now says it welcomes PDF members to rejoin society if they surrender); and to announce the Myanmar militarys intention to execute popular politicians who oppose the regime such as Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw.

Following the coup, the two generals earned derogatory nicknames from the Myanmar people. Min Aung Hlaing is called Ma Ah La, the Burmese acronym for his name but also for the swear word mother******, and Zaw Min Tun is called Zaw Mae Lone. In Burmese, Mae Lone is a name normally given to a tubby dog with black fur. Zaw Min Tun is a stout man with a dark complexion.

Min Aung Hlaing will never find a man better suited than Zaw Min Tun to presenting an unabashed defense of his regime, its atrocities and its violence.

Though Zaw Min Tun has become Min Aung Hlaings favorite among dozens of generals, he has other faces that are less well known.

He is not, as many people think, the protege of Min Aung Hlaing. He is in fact the henchman of Min Aung Hlaings deputy, Soe Win. Until the coup last year, Zaw Min Tun used to speak critically of Min Aung Hlaing and his family, while praising Soe Win. Nobody seems to know if Min Aung Hlaing was aware of Zaw Min Tuns badmouthing him behind his back.

But Min Aung Hlaing seems to have decided that Zaw Min Tun is the right person to be his spokesperson after the major general called Daw Aung San Suu Kyi stupid in an interview with CNN last year in the aftermath of the coup.

When asked whether General Aung San, the father of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the man who founded the Myanmar military more than seven decades ago, would be horrified if he were alive today to see what was happening in the country, Zaw Min Tun replied, If I have to [imagine myself] in his place, he would say How stupid my daughter is.

The army officer from Anyar

Zaw Min Tun, who graduated with the 37th intake of the Defense Services Academy, was a friend of U Zaw Htay, who served as spokesperson for Myanmars ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government. U Zaw Htay died last month.

The origins of both men lie in central Myanmar, known in Burmese as Anyar. U Zaw Htay was from Magwe and Zaw Min Tun hails from Yenanchaung.

They were dubbed the parrot brothers, referring to a Burmese story about two parrot brothers that are separated in a storm with one ending up in the hands of rebels and the other in the hands of a hermit.

People joked that U Zaw Htay was the good parrot, as the former major sided with the NLD government after being appointed its spokesperson, while Zaw Min Tun parroted the words of the bad guys.

Zaw Min Tun served as the director of the militarys Directorate of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare before being assigned to the military press team.

Since the coup, he has only granted interviews to journalists close to him, giving other journalists and media outlets the cold shoulder.

A journalist who is close the spokesman said he is a good and helpful man at heart, though he is now defending the military.

The major general has helped a lot so that a few journalists inside the country were not arrested and could flee in time, the journalist said. But this is hard to square with his defense of a regime that has arrested more than 100 journalists and continues to incarcerate about 50 in its notorious prisons.

Defending the butcher

At a press conference in April 2021, when asked about the death of more than 500 civilians in just two months since the February coup, he replied that the Myanmar military had the capacity to kill 500 people within hours, implying that the military had exercised restraint and should be thanked. If we really shot at a crowd of protesters with assault rifles, that more than 500 people you talked about would have died in hours, he said.

Min Aung Hlaing, unlike his mentor and former military dictator Than Shwe, is not a quiet or reclusive man; his personal style more closely resembles that of former spy chief General Khin Nyunt, who was sometimes referred to as a TV star. The coup leader is a narcissist who loves to see his image on the 8 p.m. local news when stations broadcast clips of his speeches. He is also pleased to see his photos on the front pages of newspapers.

In this regard, it is Zaw Min Tuns responsibility to keep the junta chief happy. Though he is only the deputy information minister, he has more influence than the minister, former Major General Maung Maung Ohn, and seldom needs to go to his office at the ministry, as he is always accompanying Min Aung Hlaing.

Pack of lies disguised as a press conference

Another of Zaw Min Tuns tasks is to oversee the regimes monthly press conferences.

People have no trust in these press conferences, which are only intended to cover up the daily atrocities of the regime across the country, and slam the civilian shadow government, known as the National Unity Government (NUG), and its armed wing, the PDF.

They joke that he is the person telling a skyful of liesa Burmese phrase embraced by the previous regime in the early 1990s to denounce the BBC and VOA Myanmar services for their reporting on Myanmar under military rule at that time.

But the regime does not care about that, and focuses solely on maintaining the support of those who back the military. As such, Zaw Min Tun is responsible for spreading lies aimed at covering up the fact that the military coup has failed.

The first thing he does after each press conference is to run down from the dais and suck on a cigarette, according to a person who regularly attends them. It appears that smoking helps to relieve his guilty conscience for a while.

These media events reflect the standards of the regime; Zaw Min Tun does not understand that the function of a press conference is to report to the people.

Often, he uses swear words and obscenities that are inappropriate for use by the chief of the information team at state-level press conferences.

He speaks like a crook. He speaks provocatively, which makes me angry, Yangon resident Ko Htet said, describing the feeling he gets when watching the regimes press conferences on TV.

Sometimes at the press conferences, Zaw Min Tun hits back at journalists with questions of his own, or rambles on about books, lyrics from songs and poems, and films. For professional journalists, the press conferences are something to be endured, often lasting for hours. The majority of the attendants are from online media sponsored by the regime.

Zaw Min Tun has a rare ability to tell lies non-stop for hours, without shame. None of the current generals can match him. In this regard, he is quite on a par with the spokesmen of former military regimes like U Khin Yi (a former police chief) and U Kyaw Hsan.

Ministers hated by the public

In their day, Than Shwe and his information minister Major General Kyaw Hsan made their names as a storytelling duo.

A famous phrase even emerged in response to Kyaw Hsans skill at lying: Stop it, Kyaw Hsan.

Kyaw Hsan strongly defended Than Shwes roadmap for democratization from the criticisms of local and foreign journalists. And he did not lose face, as Than Shwe stepped down after promulgating the constitution, as promised.

Then, ex-general Thein Sein came to power and Ye Htut, a former lieutenant-colonel, served as his spokesman. He attracted much ire from the people during his tenure as the spokesman.

He was able to leave office with dignity, however, as power was handed over to the NLD after its 2015 general election victory, despite many people predicting that the losing, quasi-civilian government would refuse to go.

Unlike their predecessors, however, Min Aung Hlaing and Zaw Min Tun have gone too far to save their reputations.

Far from relinquishing power like his mentor Than Shwe, who illegitimately ruled the country for 19 years, Min Aung Hlaing will assume the presidency if the regime-arranged 2023 general elections take place as planned.

Zaw Min Tun will therefore have to continue to lie for him.
Burma UN, ASEAN Say Renewed Effort Needed as Myanmar Crisis Worsens

Karen villagers injured during regime air strikes rest after receiving medical treatment while taking shelter in a jungle in Hpa-pun in eastern Myanmar's Karen State in March 2021. / Free Burma Rangers / AFP

As the post-coup crisis has deepened in Myanmar, the UN special envoy for the country and regional leaders have seemed helpless as to how best to address the issues facing the country.

Noeleen Heyzer, the UN special envoy, admitted on Monday at the UN General Assembly that the political crisis unleashed in Myanmar following the Feb. 1 military coup last year has opened new frontlines that had long been at peace, noting that the challenges in the country have both deepened and expanded dramatically.

Heyzer said that since she took up the job six months ago, Myanmar had continued to descend into profound and widespread conflict.

Myanmar has been in social and political turmoil since last years military coup. More than one year on, the regime is still unable to control the country while struggling with popular armed resistance against its rule. The countrys economy is in a downward spiral so severe the World Bank said the situation is too chaotic for it to offer GDP growth forecasts for the coming years. The junta, ignoring the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)s request that it implement the peace plan the bloc adopted for Myanmar, has continued killing civilians and burning tens of thousands of homes in a bid to crush the resistance.

Calling Myanmars situation one of the worlds largest refugee emergencies, Heyzer said that as a result of the multidimensional crises in the country there were now over 1 million internally displaced people (IDPs) across the country with serious regional and international ramifications.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, said that Malaysia will propose an expansion of the powers granted to ASEANs special envoy to Myanmar as the countrys post-coup violence shows no signs of abating. He described the situation in Myanmar as a real test for the region, adding that the country was descending rapidly into some kind of civil war.

We, the foreign ministers of ASEAN, must really put a lot of effort into the idea of strengthening the special envoy, Saifuddin told reporters on the sidelines of the summit.

ASEAN has appointed Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn as the blocs Special Envoy for Myanmar. He visited the country in March to meet with regime leader Min Aung Hlaing. After the trip, the envoy said the Myanmar issue was complicated and would take a long time to solve, as the stakeholders were not ready to cooperate and still insist on fighting and eliminating one another.

Among other things, the Malaysian proposal could involve making the envoys role a full-time position with a tenure of more than 12 months, according to the South China Morning Post.

US Department of State Counselor Derek Chollet said at the Shangari-La summit that the US was constantly thinking of ways to pressure the regime to enter negotiations to put Myanmar back on the path of democracy, including fresh sanctions to cut off the juntas resources and cripple its military capabilities.

Heyzer said she was continuing to work closely with ASEAN to de-escalate hostilities. However, she pointed out that continued differences, regionally and more broadly among UN member states, have left the people of Myanmar feeling abandoned in their time of need.

I will continue to play a bridging rolein Myanmar, in the region, and the international community to address the protection needs and suffering of the most vulnerable, and to support the will of the people for a future federal democratic union based on peace, stability and shared prosperity.

Meanwhile, ASEAN Special Envoy Prak Sokhonn will make his second trip to Myanmar on June 29-30.

Sources told The Irrawaddy that the trip was aimed at following up on the implementation of ASEANs peace plan for Myanmar, known as the Five-Point Consensus, but its not clear which points would be his focus this time. The envoy has asked the regime for permission to meet with ousted leader and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as other key stakeholders during the upcoming visit.

Following his trip in March, the junta agreed to allow ASEAN to send humanitarian aid into Myanmar, one of the points in the peace plan, but only through its official channels. This has prompted fears among right groups and opposition forces that the junta will use the aid for itself rather than delivering it to those in need.

At the same time, ASEAN was criticized for not pushing the junta to implement more immediate points such as the immediate cessation of violence in the country.

Since the adoption of the consensus in April last year, the junta has killed at least 1,700 people, mostly for engaging in anti-regime activism. Furthermore, since last month it has escalated raids and set villages on fire nearly every day in resistance strongholds like Sagaing in Upper Myanmar.

Data for Myanmar, an independent group monitoring junta atrocities, reported on June 3 that an estimated 18,886 houses and other buildings had been burned down since the 2021 coup. Sagaing has suffered the most, losing an estimated 13,840 houses.
Microsoft has been accused of a lack of transparency in its vulnerability practices, with the security outfit Tenable claiming these practices put the software giant's customers at risk.

Tenable chairman and chief executive Amit Yoran said in a blog post that his company had discovered two flaws, one of which it considered critical, in Microsoft's Azure platform, both in the Synapse Analytics part of Azure.

Synapse Analytics is used for machine learning, data aggregation and similar computational tasks.

One of these flaws was a privilege escalation flaw with the context of a Spark VM. The second allowed the poisoning of the hosts file on all nodes in a Spark pool.

Yoranthat Microsoft decided to silently patch the privilege escalation flaw, while downplaying the risk. "It was only after being told that we were going to go public, that their story changed 89 days after the initial vulnerability notification when they privately acknowledged the severity of the security issue. To date, Microsoft customers have not been notified," he added.

Tenable researcher James Sebree wrote that the company had rated the issue as a critical severity, basing its reasoning on the concept of the Spark VM itself.

He said: "During the disclosure process, Microsoft representatives initially seemed to agree that these were critical issues. A patch for the privilege escalation issue was developed and implemented without further information or clarification being required from Tenable Research.

"This patch was also made silently and no notification was provided to Tenable. We had to discover this information for ourselves.

"During the final weeks of the disclosure process, MSRC [Microsoft Security Research Centre] began attempting to downplay this issue and classified it as a 'best practice recommendation' rather than a security issue. Their team stated the following (typos are Microsofts): '[W]e do not consider this to be a important severity security issue but rather a better practice'.

Yoran said this was not an isolated case. "This is a repeated pattern of behaviour. Several security companies have written about their vulnerability notification interactions with Microsoft, and Microsofts dismissive attitude about the risk that vulnerabilities present to their customers," he said.

"For an IT infrastructure provider or a cloud service provider that is not being transparent, the stakes are raised exponentially.

"Without timely and detailed disclosures, customers have no idea if they were, or are, vulnerable to attack or if they fell victim to attack prior to a vulnerability being patched.

"And not notifying customers denies them the opportunity to look for evidence that they were or were not compromised, a grossly irresponsible policy."

Yoran pointed to the case of FireEye/Mandiant which provided what he said was "an exemplary model for responsible disclosure when the company disclosed their breach, even prior to the forensic evidence resulting in the SolarWinds revelations of 2020".

He said the answer did not lie in just asking vendors to do better. "Holding a cloud or technology provider to a standard of care and transparency is essential. Independent audit and assessment of IT infrastructure and cloud service providers should be mandatory.

"The fox is guarding the henhouse. Trust but verify. The simple lessons we have been taught since elementary school remain applicable in cyber."
COMPANY NEWS: MongoDB introduces a unified set of new capabilities in Atlas to address the growing data needs of developers to build modern applications.

MongoDB unveiled its Developer Data Platform vision with a series of new groundbreaking capabilities at MongoDBs annual conference, MongoDB World at the Javits Center in New York City.

With these announcements, MongoDB is empowering development teams to innovate faster by addressing a wider set of use cases, servicing more of the data lifecycle, optimising for modern architectures, and implementing the most sophisticated levels of data encryption, all within a single integrated developer data platform.

Hundreds of millions of new applications will be developed over the coming years that deliver compelling customer experiences, enable new capabilities to transform businesses, and increase operational efficiency via more sophisticated automation  and these applications all require a highly scalable, cloud-native, globally distributed data platform, said MongoDB president and CEO Dev Ittycheria. Our vision is to offer a developer data platform that provides a modern and elegant developer experience, enables broad support for a wide variety of use cases, and delivers the performance and scale needed to address the most demanding requirements.

Addressing a wider spectrum of use cases

MongoDB has extended its compelling and unique approach of working with data beyond operational and transactional use cases to serve search and analytics use cases, all within a unified platform. These enhancements allow teams to accomplish more while preserving a consistent developer experience and reducing the complexity of the data infrastructure required to support modern applications.

MongoDB announced a number of capabilities that make it easier for developers to build in-app analytics and power richer application experiences. Column store indexing, available later this year, will enable users to create and maintain a purpose-built index that dramatically speeds up many common analytical queries without requiring any changes to the document structure or having to move data to another system. Furthermore, analytics nodes can now be scaled separately, allowing teams to independently tune the performance of their operational and analytical queries without over-or under-provisioning.

MongoDB time-series collections make it easier, faster, and lower cost to build applications that monitor physical systems, track assets, or deal with financial data. In the upcoming MongoDB 6.0 release, time-series collections will support secondary indexes on measurements, and feature read performance improvements and optimizations for sorting time-based data more quickly.

Atlas Search is the fastest and easiest way to build relevance-based search capabilities into applications. Now, with Search Facets, developers are able to rapidly build search experiences that allow end-users to more seamlessly browse, narrow down or refine their results by different dimensions.

Servicing more of the data lifecycle

MongoDB announced new products and capabilities that enable development teams to better analyse, transform, and move their data in Atlas while reducing reliance on batch processes and ETL jobs that can create delays, limit productivity, and increase costs.

Atlas Data Lake will feature fully managed storage capabilities that provide the economics of cloud object storage while optimising for high-performing analytical queries. Atlas Data Lake reformats, creates partition indexes, and partitions data as it is ingested from Atlas databases, creating a highly performant companion data lake.

Atlass Data Federation capabilities allow teams to create virtual databases so that they can work with data that resides in a range of different sources. Development teams can query, transform, or create views across one or more collections, MongoDB clusters, and storage buckets.

Atlas SQL Interface provides a great experience for data analysts, who work mainly in SQL tools, to interact with Atlas data in a read-only interface. This makes it easy to natively query and visualise Atlas data with SQL-based tools while preserving the flexibility of the document model. Additionally, you can query data across Atlas clusters and cloud object stores using SQL without the need for data manipulation, schema definition, or flattening of data.

Optimising for modern application architectures

In addition to supporting a wide range of workloads, organisations need to have the flexibility to deploy the right application architectures to serve their needs.

Atlas Serverless is now generally available and allows users to support a wide range of application requirements with little to no initial configuration and ongoing capacity management. Users benefit from the ability to scale to zero and deploy in all three major cloud providers, and tiered pricing automatically reduces the cost for large workloads without upfront commitments.

Vercel integration will allow teams using Vercels platform to develop, preview and ship websites and applications to more easily get started with MongoDB Atlas as their backend database. Using Vercel's Integrations Marketplace, developers can now deploy new web experiences on Atlas with zero configuration and instantly start building with documents that map directly to their code.

Cluster-to-Cluster Synchronisation provides the continuous data synchronisation of MongoDB clusters across environments whether in Atlas, in a private cloud, on-premises, or on the edge. Cluster-to-Cluster Synchronisation allows users to easily migrate data to the cloud, create test environments, create dedicated analytics environments, and support data residency requirements.

Atlas Device Sync connects a fully managed backend database in Atlas to Realm, the popular mobile database on the edge and mobile devices. MongoDBs new Flexible Sync option grants granular control over the data synced to user applications with intuitive language-native queries and hierarchical permissions.

The Data API is a secure API for accessing Atlas data over HTTPS without any operational overhead. This provides developers with a way to easily extend Atlas data into other apps and services in the cloud or into their serverless architectures.

"The ability to leverage Cluster-to-Cluster Synchronisation (C2C) for our many existing MongoDB-based travel applications is something we've been wanting for a long time and will be a huge benefit to us. It will greatly improve many facets of our software lifecycle, such as supporting "blue/green" deployments, data distribution, cloud migration and further increasing our high levels of geographic availability for our airline customers," said Sylvain Roy, Senior Vice-President, Technology Platforms & Engineering (TPE), Amadeus.

Implementing the most sophisticated levels of data encryption

Every organisation must be able to secure the most sensitive information in any environment without compromising the ability to build rich application experiences that make use of that data. While existing encryption solutions (in motion and at rest) cover many use cases, none of them protects sensitive data while it is in use.

Queryable Encryption, available in preview with MongoDB 6.0, introduces the industrys first encrypted search scheme using breakthrough cryptography engineering. This technology gives developers the ability to query encrypted sensitive data in a simple and intuitive way without impacting performance, with zero cryptography experience required. Data remains encrypted at all times on the database, including in memory and in the CPU; keys never leave the application and cannot be accessed by the database server.

This end-to-end client-side encryption uses novel encrypted index data structures in such a way that for the first time, developers can run expressive queries on fully encrypted confidential workloads. Queryable Encryption is based on well-tested and established standard NIST cryptographic primitives to provide strong protection from attacks against the database, including insider threats, highly privileged administrators and cloud infrastructure staff.

For the full list of new features and enhancements released at MongoDB World 2022 visit https://www.mongodb.com/new.
me&u has appointed Natalie Housson to the role of global CFO, Brian Duncan to the role of vice president of US sales, and Eric Seymour to the role of head of US business development.

"They all bring a depth of experience and knowledge in the key areas needed to continue me&u's expansion around the world," said me&u CEO Katrina Barry.

"We've expanded over 200% since the start of 2021 and bolstering out the team with their leadership abilities will help us take me&u global.

"With Natalie, Brian, and Eric onboard, me&u will be able to continue creating better experiences for customers and venues across the global hospitality sector."

Natalie Housson (pictured above) joins me&u from Moneytech, where she served as group CFO.

She previously worked as CFO at Plenti, executive manager of retail banking services at the Commonwealth Bank, head of ANZ finance at PayPal, EU finance transformation lead at eBay, and as a senior accountant at Procter & Gamble. in the UK.

Housson holds an honours degree in French and German from the University of Manchester

"It's an exciting time for me&u who have achieved rapid growth and are now serving 70% of Australia's top pub groups, while launching in new overseas markets. I am excited about the opportunity we have to plan and execute our expansion into the US and UK," said Housson.

Brian Duncan was most recently business development director at HungerRush, and previously served as CEO of Plan Based, sales and business development director at OER Services, business development manager at SmartWitness, and as channel development director at LeasePlan.

He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Purdue University.

"The US hospitality landscape is really different to Australia's, and order and pay technology is an incredibly new category here. It's an exciting challenge and I'm excited to bring my knowledge of the local landscape to both revolutionise venue operations and enhance customer experiences in America," said Duncan.

Eric Seymour also joins me&u from HungerRush, where he was director of channel programs.

He previously worked as regional sales director at Revention, CEO of Austin POS, sales director at Attentus Medical Sales, and sales and marketing director at Smart Multimedia.

Earlier in his career Seymour served as a hospital corpsman in the US Navy, and on returning to civilian life spent ten years as field supervisor of Cypress Creek EMS.

He is also an executive board member of the Back the Badges BBQ Foundation that supports first responders.

"To strengthen and build the hospitality industry, me&u is disrupting the way the venues are working, and this style of disruption will be a very good thing. I'm committed to leveraging my business development expertise and contacts to bring me&u to venues everywhere," said Seymour.
Get unlimited access to all content and features at ivpressonline.com with our Full Online Access Subscription. Read our E-Edition, the digital replica of the print newspaper online, access content in exclusive sections including Family, Teen, Business, Databases, Farm and more. This option does not include daily home delivery of the Imperial Valley Press newspaper. For home delivery service, please select Premium or Premium Plus.
The Spark New Zealand Board today announced it has appointed Gordon MacLeod and Sheridan Broadbent as independent, non-executive directors, effective 1 August 2022. Gordon will be a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee (ARMC) and Sheridan will be a member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee (HRCC).

Spark New Zealand Chair, Justine Smyth, says, "As we continue to transition to a digital services future, we are looking to broaden the skills and capabilities of the Board with these two appointments. Sheridan brings a deep understanding of our sector, the speed of change, and the business transformation required to succeed, while Gordons business leadership experience and operational and commercial expertise will be a valuable complement to the existing skills-mix of the Board.

Gordon is a highly credentialed business leader, who held a range of senior executive roles over a 15-year period at Ryman Healthcare Group, where he most recently served as CEO. Prior to this, Gordon was a Corporate Finance and Advisory Partner with PWC and was also the Finance Director of a London listed Hi Tech company, Xaar, based in Cambridge, England. Gordon was recently appointed to the Board of Delegat Group and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury, is a Chartered Accountant Fellow, and a Member of the Institute of Directors.

Gordon says, As I move into this next phase of my career, I am thrilled to be joining the Board of Spark and look forward to bringing my experience of leading large and complex businesses to bear in supporting Sparks strategy and capitalising on the growth potential of the technology sector in Aotearoa.

Sheridans executive and governance career has spanned telecommunications, ICT, infrastructure, and energy. Her governance experience includes her role as Independent Director for Manawa Energy, Chair-elect of Pipeline and Civil Group, member of the governments Cyber Security Advisory Committee and Chair of Kordia (which will come to an end prior to taking up her directorship at Spark) and her previous role as Director of Transpower. Sheridan holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland, is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Sheridan says, I have worked in technology businesses in both executive and governance roles across my career and am passionate about the transformative potential of the sector in Aotearoa. Spark is at an exciting inflection point, as it continues to evolve from its traditional telecommunications legacy into a digital services company, and Im looking forward to contributing to that momentum.

In accordance with Sparks constitution, Gordon and Sheridan will retire and offer themselves for re-election at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in November 2022.

The Board also announced that Paul Berriman will retire at the next Annual General Meeting and thanks him for his valuable contribution over the past eleven years.

Justine continued, Spark has benefited significantly from Pauls extensive experience and expertise in telecommunications and ICT, as we have transformed Spark from its earlier Telecom days and grown into new digital services markets. Paul has been a passionate supporter of Spark and the role technology can play in Aotearoa, connecting Spark to his global networks to support its growth. We thank him for his considerable contribution.

The Board is well positioned with diverse and complementary skills to help guide Spark to deliver on its strategic ambitions and its purpose of helping all of New Zealand to win big in a digital world.

ENDS

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process.

Related News:

Green Cross Health Limited 2022 Annual Report / NOM

Me Today completes Rights Issue

Channel confirms timing of Board Chair succession

EROAD releases FY22 Annual Report and Sustainability Report

BIT - Half Year Report

Compliance with Market Abuse Regulation

27th June 2022 Morning Report

Fonterra provides milk price, performance, strategy update

Revised Chatham announcement concerning PDAC

23rd June 2022 Morning Report


This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
Donald Trumps closest campaign advisers, top government officials and even his family were systematically dismantling his false claims of 2020 election fraud ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol
Page Content

The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (Ministry VSA) has finalized a new 10-year strategic plan for chronic diseases.





It is called the Multisectoral Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD MAP) 2021-2030. The NCD MAP was presented to the Ministries of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports, the Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning, and Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Finance by the Minister of VSA Hon. Omar Ottley.





NCDs are chronic conditions that are caused by a combination of lifestyle, biological and environmental factors. They are the biggest cause of ill-health and death in the world.





In Sint Maarten, around a quarter of the population suffer from a chronic condition including high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, cancer, stroke, and heart attack. Mental health related issues are also a prevalent but hidden condition.





The vision of the NCD MAP is a vibrant Sint Maarten society where health and wellbeing are the way of life for all people to achieve their fullest potential in a stigma-free, equitable and supportive community.





The mission of the strategic plan is to create and promote a supportive environment that enables and empowers people to make healthier choices that will prevent and reduce NCDs and their risk factors by 2030. This can only be achieved by multisectoral action and collaboration between the various ministries.





The four NCD MAP strategic action areas are 1. Strengthen health systems for surveillance, research, monitoring and evaluation on NCD prevalence and risk factors; 2. Establish governance and coordination mechanisms for multisectoral involvement, decision-making and implementation of the NCD MAP; 3. Reduce NCD risk factors by creating awareness, promoting healthy lifestyles and addressing determinants of health; 4. Provide quality, people-centered, integrated and comprehensive services for the effective management of NCDs, including self-management.





PHOTO CUTLINE: Left: Ms Nicola Taylor, program director for PAHO, Minister of VSA Omar Ottley.





Right: Dr Erica Wheeler, PAHO rep for T&T and Dutch Caribbean





Dr Paul Edwards.




Staff Writer

Jonathan Roberts is a reporter and photographer for the Johnson City Press covering Health Care, Johnson City and Jonesborough. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and has been with the Press since 2019.
Johnson City, TN (37604)

Today

Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low around 55F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
Page Content

The Sint Maarten Trust Fund Steering Committee members are currently in Sint Maarten for a working visit. The Honorable Prime Minister Silveria E. Jacobs hereby extends a warm welcome to the Steering Committee as they return to Sint Maarten to discuss the implementation of Trust Fund initiatives, opportunities for improvement, as well as plans of action for potential upcoming projects.





The Steering Committee is made up of former Sint Maarten Prime Minister, Mr. Marcel Gumbs (representing the Government of Sint Maarten), former Dutch State Secretary, Mr. Frans Weekers (representing the Government of the Netherlands), and World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean Countries, Ms. Lilia Burunciuc (representing the World Bank).





The Trust Fund is assisting Sint Maarten to recover after the destruction of hurricanes Irma and Maria and has invested in the countrys long-term development and sustainability. While this government is happy to see progress with the work that has been completed thus far, there is still a lot to be done and this weeks meeting of the Steering Committee gives us the opportunity to, as the local idiom says, hold one head on the path forward, stated Prime Minister Jacobs.





The official Steering Committee meeting starts tomorrow, Tuesday, June 14. The Honorable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of VROMI Egbert J. Doran will open the meeting on behalf of the Government of Sint Maarten. The Steering Committee will discuss the status of the portfolio, including the financial and operational outlook of the 10 projects currently under implementation. The Steering Committee will also discuss the projects under preparation, such as improving mental health care and wastewater treatment, as well as a housing project to increase the number of affordable homes in Sint Maarten.





The formal meeting will be followed by a grant agreement signing for the Fostering Resilient Learning Project (FRLP). This project will finance the reconstruction of Sister Marie Laurence Primary School, Charles Leopold Bell Primary School, and the Philipsburg Jubilee Library, as well as the embedding of (digital) programs within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) to improve the provision of education, particularly for students with special behavioral and learning needs. In collaboration with Ministry of ECYS, preparatory work has already started with this project, including important stakeholder consultation sessions.





During the visit, the Steering Committee will also interact with entrepreneurs who are beneficiaries of the Enterprise Support Project (ESP) and visit six multi-story apartment buildings of the Sint Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF). These buildings  locally known as the towers - are currently being repaired through the Emergency Recovery Project (ERP-1).
Page Content

The minister of VSA discusses plans for the execution of activities associated with the mental health project.

Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, Mr. Omar Ottley, welcomed World Bank representatives Ana Holt, Johanne Angers, Marcelo Bortman, and Alyssa Khan to his office to discuss the delegations trip. The group is currently here on a travel they refer to as a mission. The aim of this trip is to gain perspective and insight about St. Maartens situation as it concerns mental health and to have discussions about moving the project along with relevant parties. This is the first mission trip for the group regarding the project.

Spokeswoman for the group during the courtesy visit to the Ministers office, Ms. Holt, remarked that after meeting with the policy team from Public Health and mental health focal point for the ministry, manager of the project at the NRPB, and visiting various foundations on the island, the group received a better understanding of the issues the island is facing as they pertain to mental health and substance abuse. The Minister remarked, mental health issues are indeed rampant on the island, but also substance abuse is becoming a great concern, particularly amongst our youth. On behalf of the delegation Ms. Holt stated after speaking with personnel of the foundations that we visited and policy makers of the Department of Public Health that I must concur with [the Ministers] sentiments.

On the mission the delegation visited the Mental Health Foundation, the Ujima Foundation, Turning Point, White and Yellow Cross Centre, (both the Hope Estate and St. Johns Estate locations). The group said that they were impressed and inspired by the commitment and dedication of staff, both from the foundations they visited as well as the staff from the government. Ms. Holt reminded the policy team working on health reforms and legislative updates, sometimes we do so much, and we still might not think it enough because we are looking forward to the long path we still must travel. We must remember to reflect and look behind as well from where we came.

At the end of the courtesy visit the delegation again pledged their support and commitment to the project before posing for a picture and bidding salutations shortly after. The group looks forward to returning to the island later in the year to embark on their second mission in regard to the project.





Minister of VSA Omar Ottley expressed his profound gratitude to the delegation. This is truly a chance for St. Maarten to strengthen our mental health awareness and increase access to mental health care. Amongst the list of technical and financial aassistance we would also like to request legislative assistance to help adjust the current laws so that we can intervene at an earlier stage, without infringing on human rights. Ottley said





Minister Ottley (center)

Marcelo Bortman (far left)

Alyssa Khan (immediate left )

Ana Holt (immediate right)

Johanne Angers (far right)


remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
Today ( June 13), U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung attended the signing ceremony for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Sri Lankan Department of Agriculture, for a $27 million project that aims to double the milk production of Sri Lankan dairy farmers participating in the U.S. Department of Agricultures Food for Progress initiative.

In close partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka, the project began in late 2017 and has already benefited 25,000 Sri Lankan dairy farmers, increasing their milk production by an average of 68 percent to date. An estimated 80,000 Sri Lankans will ultimately receive assistance from this program, as part of the United States continued efforts to support food security and economic growth in Sri Lanka. After unforeseen delays including the COVID pandemic, the U.S. Embassy and the Sri Lankan Department of Agriculture finalized this partnership agreement today.

Ambassador Chung stated, This $27 million contribution is a prime example of the United States multi-year commitment to promoting sustainable economic development in Sri Lanka. Not only is this support significantly improving production for the countrys dairy industry  more important now than ever  it is also equipping Sri Lankan dairy farmers with the resources necessary to compete, grow, and thrive.

Food for Progress Market-Oriented Dairy Project partners with a U.S. non-profit organization called the International Executive Service Corps to help Sri Lankan farmers increase dairy production by providing them with the skills they need to improve farm operations and management. It will also provide better access to financing, so farmers can expand their businesses and reach new markets.

In addition to assisting Sri Lankan farmers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last year contributed US $26 million to a school nutrition program that benefitted over 453,000 Sri Lankans across the country, in coordination with Save the Children. Taken together, USDA initiatives to promote food security are benefitting over half a million Sri Lankans, ensuring schoolchildren have essential nutrition, and helping farmers increase productivity.

Learn more about the Market-Oriented Dairy Project here: https://www.market-oriented-dairy.org/
Two Britons captured while fighting in Ukraines armed forces have been sentenced to death after what has been condemned as a show trial. Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who surrendered to Russian forces during the siege of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, were convicted on the charge of being a mercenary. They have a month to appeal and, if successful, they could receive a life or 25-year prison sentence instead of the death penalty.

Pro-Russian officials in the breakaway republic of Donetsk, where the trial was conducted, claimed the mens actions had led to the deaths and injury of civilians, as well as damage to civilian and social infrastructure.

But what observers have called a show trial on trumped-up charges raises important questions both about their status under international law (specifically, whether they are entitled to prisoner of war status) and the compatibility of these trials with the rights that come with such status.

Are Aslin and Pinner prisoners of war?

The status of prisoner of war (POW) is legally protected, with a specific definition and rights that attach to it under international law. The Third Geneva Convention of 1949 and the First Additional Protocol of 1977 set out who is entitled to POW status, and how they must be treated by the state that detains them during an armed conflict.

Based on media reports, Aslin and Pinner appear to have been integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces, serving in the Marines (as opposed to merely fighting alongside them), having apparently been in Ukraine for several years.

This would suggest they fall squarely within the definition of persons entitled to POW status. It also means they are lawful combatants  a related status that entitles them to take part in hostilities against the enemy.

Russian officials have referred to all foreign fighters who fight alongside Ukraine as mercenaries. This is a legal term that denotes a foreign fighter who is not a member of a states armed forces but who fights alongside them in return for substantial monetary compensation.

While mercenaries are not entitled to POW status, the fact that Aslin and Pinner are officially members of the Ukrainian armed forces means that they are not mercenaries. Indeed, Aslin reportedly holds Ukrainian nationality.

In fact, those also travelling to Ukraine following the February invasion and joining its International Legion would not count as mercenaries and should be entitled to POW status, given they too are incorporated into the armed forces of Ukraine.

There appears little doubt, therefore, that Aslin and Pinner are entitled to combatant and POW status. The next question is whether this trial violated their rights that come with that status.

What are their rights?

Once you qualify for combatant and POW status, international law grants a long list of rights to which you are entitled when detained by the enemy state. One of these rights, which flows from the status of lawful combatant and the right to participate in hostilities, is the right not to be prosecuted for that participation, as long as no war crimes have been committed.

Combatants are protected from prosecution for what would otherwise be a domestic crime, such as homicide or destruction of property. The idea behind this rule is that individual enemy soldiers should not be punished for doing what the other sides soldiers are also doing (fighting in a war on behalf of their country).

The charges against Aslin and Pinner are reported as follows: committing a crime as part of a criminal group, forcible seizure of power or retention of power, being a mercenary and the promotion of training in terrorist activities. The charges all appear to concern the mere fact of their joining the armed forces of Ukraine and fighting with them. To this extent, the prosecution of the two does violate their rights under international law that come from their status as combatants.

The right of combatants not to be prosecuted for participating in the war does not extend to war crimes, which states are obligated to prosecute. It has been reported that the two also stood accused of causing civilian deaths. But even if the charges against Aslin and Pinner had gone beyond the fact of their joining the Ukrainian forces, and alleged specific acts  such as war crimes  international law grants them very detailed fair trial rights as POWs. This includes a right to be tried by an independent and impartial court (a standard which the courts established in pro-Russian Donetsk have been shown not to meet).

Importantly, they can also only be prosecuted by the same courts and procedures applicable to Russias own armed forces. Given that Russia appears to have handed the two over to prosecuting authorities in the self-proclaimed separatist republic of Donetsk, the trial clearly violates this rule.

Based on what has been reported, the trial of Aslin and Pinner seems clearly to have violated their rights as combatants and POWs.

What are the consequences?

Enforcing these obligations against Russia is where the key difficulty lies. Various mechanisms have already been initiated to try to bring Russia and its agents before different courts, but they all face their own limitations. Wilfully depriving a POW of fair trial rights, or unlawfully transferring them, constitute war crimes, and the International Criminal Court is already investigating alleged war crimes in Ukraine (but this requires the perpetrators to be brought into ICC custody).

Individual POWs might also bring claims against the Russian government before the European Court of Human Rights (as many individuals have already done since February). But Russias compliance with any eventual judgments would be difficult to ensure.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.
The UN rights chief said Tuesday Myanmar's junta has likely committed crimes against humanity and urged authorities to stop planned executions, including of prominent democracy activists.

Myanmar's military seized power on February 1 last year, ousting the civilian government and arresting its de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta has since waged a bloody crackdown on dissent.

The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned that going ahead with the country's first judicial executions since 1990 would "violate the right to life".

"I urgently call on military authorities to refrain from such a regressive step," she told the UN Human Rights Council.

Myanmar's junta this month said it would execute a former lawmaker from Suu Kyi's party and a prominent democracy activist -- both convicted of terrorism.

They are among dozens who have been sentenced to death as part of the junta's crackdown.

On Tuesday, Bachelet repeated her office's findings that the military's abuses since the coup may amount to "crimes against humanity and war crimes".

She said at least 1,900 killings by the military had been reported since the coup, with more than 13,500 people arbitrarily arrested, including politicians, journalists and lawyers.

More than 10,500 are in detention, she said.

Post-coup violence has pushed the number of displaced people in Myanmar to more than one million, with around 14 million in the country needing urgent humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.

- 'Senseless violence' -

In a March report, the rights office described how the military had bombarded populated areas with air strikes and heavy weapons and deliberately targeted civilians.

Many were shot in the head, burned to death, arbitrarily arrested, tortured or used as human shields.

Bachelet said Tuesday that since then, the "senseless violence in Myanmar has intensified".

She pointed to the "well-documented tactic of the military is the burning of entire villages, residential buildings, schools, houses of worship and other objects specially protected under international humanitarian law".

"The targeting of civilians and the burning of villages must stop now," she said, adding that 11,000 sites may have been targeted so far.

Bachelet also voiced alarm at reports suggesting the junta was "trying to militarise whole communities by expanding its allied local militia organisations, and formalising military control of police forces."

She also denounced Myanmar's continued crackdown on the Rohingya, including implementing "strict discriminatory limitations on their movement", saying more than 300 had been arrested for travelling "illegally" outside their communities.

The UN rights chief reiterated calls for accountability for the widespread abuses.

"It is extremely disappointing to note that international efforts to rein in the military's recklessly violent approach have been largely ineffective," she said.
To listen to the podcast, click on the "play" button below:

People are trafficked from one side of the African continent to the other. Refugee detention centres are in the hands of militia groups. Migrants attempt to cross by sea. The boats are intercepted and migrants sent back. And the cycle starts over again. The situation of refugees and migrants in Libya is complex and many accuse the European Union of turning a blind eye to the abuses its border policies enable.

We asked Marwa Mohamed, Head of Advocacy of Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL) and host of the Libya Matters Podcast, and Sally Hayden, Africa Correspondent at the Irish Times and author of My Fourth Time, We Drowned, to unpack this multifaceted problem. Sally talks about the first time she was contacted by refugees trapped in Libya, and the starvation, medical neglect and violence in the detention centres that she was able to document. She also discusses the monetisation of refugees by Libyan actors and the effect of strict European Union border policies.

A communication sent to the International Criminal Court in November 2021 by European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights, and LFJL outlined their analysis of how the torture and other human rights abuses may amount to crimes against humanity. Last April the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, told the United Nation Security Council about his current approaches. Marwa runs through the evidence of crimes including arbitrary detention, torture, murder, persecution, sexual violence and enslavement. She also talks about the European complicity with the system and urges the ICC to not leave these crimes to domestic courts but to address them as crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Recommended reading Migrants and international justice: why the pressure is mounting
The Gambia is suspending state employees accused of rights violations during ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh's regime, including senior members of the country's security forces, a justice ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.

The move marks a significant step forward in the country's transitional justice process.

The ministry has written to the employers of those concerned to notify them of their suspension, spokesman Kimbeng Tah told AFP Tuesday.

It expects confirmation of the suspensions "in the coming days," he said.

The commander of the police force's Anti-Crime Unit, Gorgui Mboob, and the Drug Law Enforcement Agency's director of operations, Ebrima Jim Drammeh, are among those named.

A truth commission that investigated alleged crimes committed by the state under the now-exiled leader's 22-year rule accused dozens of current and former state personnel of a litany of abuses.

Members of the police, the army, the intelligence services and the prison services were among those accused of offences including torture, sexual violence and extrajudicial killings.

The move is one of the first concrete actions taken to implement the truth commission's recommendations.

- Victims groups want Jammeh -

Reed Brody, a lawyer with the International Commission of Jurists who works with Jammeh's victims, welcomed the news.

"It's a tangible, concrete step by the government," he said.

On May 25, the government accepted all but two of the 265 recommendations made in the commission's final report, tabled late last year.

Those included recommendations to prosecute Jammeh himself for a swathe of crimes, from raping a beauty queen to using death squads.

He is also accused of ordering the murder of the AFP journalist Deyda Hydara and administering bogus HIV "treatment" programmes.

Jammeh is living in exile in Equatorial Guinea, which has no extradition treaty with The Gambia.

Victims' groups have urged authorities to do more to extradite the ex-president for prosecution.

Government spokesman Ebrima Sankareh last week told AFP that authorities had hired foreign and Gambian lawyers to outline next steps for a trial, which could begin by the end of the year.

The government has already said it will prosecute all 70 alleged perpetrators named in the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission's twice-delayed report.

That includes former vice president Isatou Njie-Saidy and members of the so-called "Junglers" hit squad.

The authorities have also begun working on a reparations bill.

Jammeh was forced into exile in early 2017 after his shock electoral defeat to current President Adama Barrow and a six-week crisis that led to military intervention by other West African states.
Kang Ha Neul returns to the small screen with a new acting role in the newest JTBC drama "Insider." After its pilot week, the public demands JTBC to cancel the drama's broadcast.

Read on to know why!

Kang Ha Neul's 'Insider' Receives Flak For Disrespecting Buddhism

"Insider" starring Kang Ha Neul, Lee Yoo Young and Heo Sung Tae depicts the life-changing infiltration of a judicial trainee in a field full of morally corrupt figures.

Kang Ha Neul plays the role of Kim Yo Han, a judicial trainee who fell into an abyss during an undercover investigation to take down the ill-fated culprits.

After its premiere, "Insider" draws flak as it gets embroiled in controversy. The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism demands to cancel it from broadcast as some scenes from the pilot episode undoubtedly ridicule and blatantly insult Buddhism.

The scene in question, which aired on June 8, shows the monks gamble inside the temple. In response to the episode, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism Religious and Peace Committee issued a statement on June 9.

The committee ordered that the malicious and blatant disparagement of monks must be scrapped and removed from the entire series.

They said, "The episode is an obvious defamation of the religion and Buddhists who continue to practice in temples. It disrespects and mocks all monks who follow the teachings of Buddha."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Here's Why 'Insider' Wouldn't Exist Without Kang Ha Neul

"Buddhists have reached a point where it is difficult for them to tolerate situations like this, in which Buddhism was used just as a vulgar gambling group," they continued.

The setting of an illegal gambling board disguised as a temple shows Kim Yo Han (Kang Ha Neul), a Judicial Research and Training Institute student who transforms into a monk himself while gambling.

In the meantime, JTBC and the producers of 'Insider' apologized to the public and demanded the abolition of the program and the deletion of the video.

Because of this, the drama, as well as Kang Ha Neul, was put in jeopardy. Several fans expressed their distaste and uncomfortable feelings regarding the episode.

Some viewers also criticized that religious people should also reflect, saying that a similar situation might have or might have not happened in real life.

'Insider' Production Unit To Take Action? Here's What We Know

Due to the anticipation of fans to Kang Ha Neul's return, many eyes were glued to JTBC's new thriller drama "Insider."

Unfortunately, the drama threw off many viewers due to its controversy. After the complaint was raised, it is expected to give an immediate solution to the problem.

JTBC's side hasn't taken any follow up measures nor statement to appease the opposing side, but they are expected to release a statement once the position is cleared.

Moreover, Kang Ha Neul's "Insider" is put under the microscope as focus is given on whether the drama overcomes the noise and rises above the issues.

On the other hand, Kang Ha Neul's passionate performance captures the hearts of viewers every Wednesday and Thursday on JTBC at 10:30 p.m. KST! Don't miss it!

KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
Mylene Drouin gives an update in Montreal, on Wednesday, February 24, 2021. Public health authorities say they are opening monkeypox vaccination to all men who plan to have sex with other men.The Montreal public health director told reporters that men who are visiting Montreal and plan to have sex with other men during their visit, as well as sex workers, will be among those who are eligible for vaccination. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Prime Minister of Greenland Mute Bourup Egede, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Denmark Jeppe Kofod, centre, and Canadas Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly share a three-way handshake after signing an agreement that will establish a land border between Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark on Hans Island, an Arctic island between Nunavut and Greenland, in Ottawa, on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The citys Public Safety & Welfare Committee voted unanimously Monday evening in support of a resolution discouraging panhandling in Kenosha.

The committee voted in favor of the resolution sponsored by Ald. David Mau and co-sponsored by Alds. Rocco LaMacchia and Holly Kangas. The matter is now headed to the full City Council.

The resolution would allow for signage to be placed at multiple locations throughout the city where people have asked motorists for money and other items such as cigarettes.

The four locations where signage would be installed are: the right-of-way at 3813 Roosevelt Road; the 5600 block of 67th Street near the Towerline Park; at the intersection of 60th Street with 22nd Avenue; and at the intersection of 67th Street with Highway 31.

The message, according to the resolution, would be Give Smart, Say No To Panhandling, Be Part Of The Solution By Contributing To Local Charities, or some variation of that.

Municipalities do not have the power to ban panhandling because federal courts have ruled the practice is protected by the First Amendment.

The resolution, however, states it is desirable to encourage donations be made to community groups such as social service agencies and charitable organizations rather than to individuals.

Mau said other area municipalities have adopted a similar approach.

What I noticed is a lot of other cities all around the county including Wisconsin and Illinois have signs that just say give safe, its O.K. to say no to panhandling and give to charity instead, Mau said. I thought that was an interesting idea to propose. Businesses that Ive talked to love the idea. All the aldermen that Ive spoken to love the idea.

Uptown resident and business owner Yolanda Hernandez said she supports the resolution.

I think its going to help a lot of businesses with panhandling, she told the committee.

According to the resolution it is: safer for the persons seeking alms to seek assistance from community groups such as social service agencies and charitable organizations than standing in the elements of the weather seeking alms, or being assaulted by a person misinterpreting the intent of the encounter.

The resolution states it is also safer for the public not to be distracted while operating a vehicle by persons actively trying to seek their attention for the purpose of alms giving.

According to city officials, each sign would cost about $250. No specific charity would be highlighted by the signage, according to Mau. This is Maus first proposal since being elected in April.

Currently only panhandlers who are intoxicated, in the streets or threatening to others can be removed by law enforcement officials.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
580 Shares Share

Maybe we need to educate upper management  those multi-million-dollar hospitals with multi-million dollars per year salaried CEOs and board members with their financial perks  that health care professionals and nurses during Health Care Worker/Nurse Week in May of each year are no longer in the second grade.

Maybe we need to remind them that we are college-educated health care professionals with degrees, like ADNs, BSN, MSNs, RNs, LPNs, educators, NPs, and respiratory therapists.

Last year, our unit on dayshift received pizza for our appreciation month. The night shift received the two pieces leftover from the day shift.

The year before, the staff all received a cookie. If you were a member of the resource team and you went from one critical care unit to another, wherever you were needed, you did not get a cookie because you really werent a member of that team.

One year, we all received lifesavers with a strip of paper that said thank you for being a lifesaver, or the institution that gave out real rocks with the statement you rock and said that you could paint your rock with whatever color or pattern empowers you.

This year, we received shoelaces. Thats correct. Shoelaces with a sticky note that said: Were in this together every step of the way.

Do we need to educate those in the upper echelons that we are not three years old?

Do we need to go through a litany of how we save lives, how we bring patients back to life, how we do CPR, code blues, code cools, how we assist in open-heart surgery and CABGs, dialysis, assist in intubations, manage ventilators, pressors, assist in inserting central lines and arterial lines and titrations of life-saving IV medications, ECMOs, etc.

If youre exhausted just reading this, imagine a 12-14 hour shift and no break, no 30 minutes, no 15 minutes.

Imagine the 24/7 cerebral perfusion we all do to save your loved ones life, bring that baby into this world safely, or ease someone into a comfortable, painless death.

Imagine giving us key rings, leftover pizza, chapstick, lifesavers, rocks, shoestrings, or a cookie.

Spare us these incredible insults, disrespect, and disregard for our health care professions.

This year, I collected the shoestrings given to us and donated them to our local homeless shelter downtown.

We refuse to be disrespected anymore.

Debbie Moore-Black is a nurse who blogs at Do Not Resuscitate.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
By Yan Jin

The long-postponed 9th Summit of the Americas finally convened in Los Angeles from June 6 to 10. Hosting the summit again after 28 years, the US had high hopes for this event of home-court diplomacy. In the past half year, the Biden administration has made careful preparations and wide-ranging deployments in order to relive the glory of the first summit in Miami, but ended up in a falling-out with Latin American countries around the participation of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. The Latin American community, headed by Mexico, said no to the superpower  some of them sent lower-level officials to participate while some downright refused to join, leaving the host much embarrassed.

To cushion the tension and hostility, the Biden administration tried hard to appear generous at the summit, rolling out a number of plans and initiatives on battling the pandemic, tackling climate change, and managing migration. The most heavyweight must be the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, whereby the US promised to help Latin America rebuild its economy in the post-pandemic era by mobilizing investment, building resilient supply chains, and promoting economic transformation .

But quite out of the hosts expectation, these sugar-coated bullets didnt meet with a chorus of hooray from the Latin American guests, who instead remained calm and prudent in general. The reason is that Washingtons move before the summit to keep out those who didnt follow its lead already drove a wedge in their political mutual trust. More importantly, the guests had seen through the geopolitical calculations behind the proposals. First, Americas ideological division of the world is unpopular. Since Biden came into office, his administration has waved high the flag of values and alliance to Latin American countries and tried to get some of them onboard to form the democratic alliance of the western hemisphere. But at the same time, it has maintained high pressure on Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, and kept upping the sanctions for a chance to overthrow their regimes. The purpose was to split Latin America and prevent the spread of anti-America thoughts across the continent. During the Summit, officials from Washington continued to set the event on an ideological tone without showing any regret for excluding the three countries. What the US did  dividing Latin American countries into different classes based on its own values  strongly displeased the participating countries. The President of Chile said Americas exclusion of certain countries was a mistake.

Second, Latin American countries doubt the viability of the policy package presented by the US. Latin America is never Americas diplomatic priority. In the past year and more, Bidens strategic focus is on Asia Pacific and Europe, so he has little to offer to share with Latin American countries. This, compounded by partisan strife at home, overshadows Washingtons promise to aid and invest in Central America and its plan to build back a better world  they are either hard to get off the ground or turn out different from what they were intended to be. Biden proposed to reform the Inter-American Development Bank  he has been talking about that for a long time, but its nothing but a lip service by now. Mexican President Lopez was extremely dissatisfied with that, complaining that the US Congress approved a $13.6 billion aid package for Ukraine within two days, but the $4 billion aid package for Central America hasnt budged for a long time.

Third, Latin American countries dont want to be embroiled in the New Cold War. After the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, the US tried to seduce and pressure Latin American countries into joining the so-called democratic bloc and the sanctions against Russia, but met with unanimous objection. During the Summit, Biden mentioned the Russian threats many times in an attempt to lure the participants with a so-called policy dividend, which however comes with rigorous geopolitical strings. If they accept the conditions, the Latin American countries will have to join the US-made and US-led political, economic and security clique, be tied onto its chariot running toward a New Cold War, and very likely become collateral damages in the major-country contention. Knowing this well, Latin American countries wont just sing to Americas tune blindly and obediently.

The Summit of the Americas should be a platform of dialogue on which the American family works together to overcome difficulties and find a way toward common prosperity. But the US, abusing its privileges as the host, indulged itself in its self-made New Cold War and was determined to drag Latin American countries onto its strategic track as chess pieces, turning a blind eye to their needs for recovery and development. There is no doubt that Bidens geopolitical ambition has ruined this years summit, which was supposed to be a wind vane of the US-Latin America relations. The chaos both before and after the summit showed clearly that the geopolitical agenda forced by the US was a serious mismatch to the concerns of the participating countries. The days when Washington could just give orders at will were long gone.

(The author is an associate researcher at the Institute of Latin American Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations)
Kathleen Funchion, Sinn Fein TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, has urged the government to do much more to help apprentices hit by the cost of living crisis.

Her comments came as Sinn Fein launched the results of its survey of apprentices, which gathered the views of almost 350 apprentices about their experiences of pay and working conditions and backlogs in accessing training.

"The results of this survey expose the shocking way in which apprentices have been let down by this government," Teachta Funchion said.

"Apprentices do highly-skilled work in much-needed industries including construction. Their work is vital for ensuring major housing projects including retrofitting can go ahead.

"Despite the crucial role that apprentices and tradespeople play, the government has abandoned them and failed to deliver adequate support. Apprentices are being badly hit by the cost of living crisis. Despite working full-time, many apprentices are on very low pay often below minimum wage. This means they are being put under huge financial pressure by rising costs."

According to the survey, 84% of apprentices told Sinn Fein that they have had to cut down on essentials such as buying groceries or turning the heating on. 72% report having had to take on debt since the start of their apprenticeship. 96% felt the government was not doing enough to help apprentices.

Almost half of all apprentices surveyed said they are worried they may have to give up their apprenticeship, simply because they cannot afford to keep going.

Many apprentices also highlighted how major delays in progressing their apprenticeship are also hitting their pockets hard.

"Years of underinvestment has left a shortage of capacity in the system," added Teachta Funchion.

"Only 1,798 apprentices became fully qualified tradespeople in 2021. That is close to 600 fewer than in 2020 and represents the lowest number of newly qualified tradespeople since 2017."

The Kilkenny TD has called on the government 'to wake up to the reality of what life is like for apprentices in Ireland and act urgently to ensure that they get a much-needed break from the cost of living crisis'.
Blood donation clinics are taking place all over the country for World Blood Donor Day.

According to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS), people can donate today (Tuesday June 14) in Skibbereen and Cork City in Co Cork, Stilogran and D'Olier Street in Co Dublin, Abbeyfeale in Co Limerick, Athboy in Co Meath, Ballybofey in Co Donegal, Tullamore in Co Offaly, and Kiltimagh in Co Mayo.

The IBTS encourages people to regularly donate in order to keep national supply topped up.

Blood types B+, AB+ and AB- are the most plentiful in supply at present (8 and 9 days each) while A+ and B- are running low with 2 and 3 days each.

People are advised to make an appointment ahead of time to ensure a spot at a clinic and are asked to bring photo ID to help maintain blood safety by verifying identity before donating.

Today is #WorldBloodDonorDay  We are celebrating all of our wonderful donors and supporters - thank you for all that you do in helping save lives! #GiveBlood #GivePlatelets #GiveBoneMarrow #WeCountOnYou pic.twitter.com/21WWUGIAHi  Giveblood (@Giveblood_ie) June 14, 2022

Multiple issues rule people out of blood donation, including recent travel (depending on the place), feeling unwell and certain medications.

Children may not accompany adults to their blood donation, as the clinics only permit donors to facilitate Covid-19 social distancing.

Drinking plenty of cold, non-alcoholic fluids in the 24 hours prior to donating and eating savoury food and / or salty snacks the night before donation will greatly reduce the risk of fainting during or after donating.

In addition, please ensure you eat something substantial in the 3 hours prior to your donation.

Although a donation only takes approximately 8 minutes, you will need to allow 60-90 minutes for the entire process, i.e. from the time you register to resting afterwards while enjoying refreshments.

Find out more here.
Kilkenny will be represented at Ireland's National Civil Conference which takes place this week at University College Cork (UCC).

The conference is free and open to the public with the opening address by the Taoiseach Michael Martin TD, and Kilkenny will be represented by documentary maker, Eoin Hahessy who hails from Coon.

Eoin will be presenting a paper on the role of the Irish diaspora during Ireland's turbulent period in its history and in particular he will be discussing the role of Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix and its innovative use of media in the early twentieth century.

"Daniel Mannix has fallen from the pages of history in Ireland and the role of the Irish diaspora our history is often forgotten" commented Eoin, who previously wrote and directed a documentary, Michael They've Shot Them, which was broadcast on RTE and the Australian broadcaster SBS. This documentary charted the impact of Ireland's 1916 rising in Australia.

The conference at UCC occurs four days from Wednesday 15 - Saturday June 18 and will have over 130 scholars from across Ireland and the world. It also available to view online and you can still register at www.ucc.ie/civilwar/
A group of cyclists spearheaded by a strong Kilkenny contingent set off from Malin Head yesterday on an epic five day charity fundraiser from Malin to Mizen Head.

Currently in Enniskillen after completing Day One, James Callanan and Patrick Brennan from Kilkenny will make their way further south to Athlone (126km) today on the next stretch of their journey, alongside friends Cathal and Daragh.

From there it's on to Limerick (121km) and the last two days will bring them to Killarney (112km) and then on to their final destination, Mizen Head (111km).

The group are doing the cycle to raise vital funds for the Irish Cancer Society and Breast Cancer Ireland.

"Cancer has unfortunately had an impact on our lives in some way or another over the last couple of years and we are doing this cycle to raise funds for these two great charities," explained Patrick.

"These charities rely on the generosity of the public to provide cancer support and services. The demand for these services has increased significantly since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic."

The group have already raised thousands for their chosen charities but made the point that every single donation counts and helps make a difference.

If you'd like to support the group, CLICK HERE.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Students normally explore Yellowstone on the trip, but that is no longer an option due to flooding.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on June 13 defended a newly reached bipartisan gun deal as a pragmatic step forward that won't threaten gun owners' Second Amendment rights.
Microsoft announced it has entered into a labor neutrality agreement with Communications Workers of America (CWA), the union that has been supporting Activision Blizzard employees in their organizing efforts.
UN: Death toll from week of Darfur clashes now at least 125
Sebitseom Floating Island on the Han River, Seoul, is lit up in blue and yellow in celebration of Sweden Day 2022, June 7. Courtesy of Embassy of Sweden in Korea



By Kwon Mee-yoo



The Embassy of Sweden hosted Sweden Day 2022 in style and offline for the first time in three years.



Held on the Sebitseom Floating Island in Seoul, June 7, the celebration was themed "Pioneer the possible" and packed with Swedish companies that embody the innovative values of the country.



"I am delighted to resume Sweden Day this year after a two-year long break caused by the COVID pandemic. Sweden Day is not only a celebration of our national day, but also an opportunity to share a bit of Sweden with our guests," Ambassador of Sweden to Korea Daniel Wolven said.



Sweden observes its National Day on June 6, commemorating the election of King Gustav Vasa on June 6, 1523, which is considered as the founding of modern Sweden.



"I arrived in Seoul only nine months ago and for me and for my family this has been an amazing experience, both professionally and personally. I can think of no two countries located so far away from each other that share so many positive features  a strong industry and engineering tradition, vibrant youth cultures and music industries, the passion for, and production, of world class film, design and food, top-ranked innovation hubs and not least, our joint commitment to peace and security," he said.





Ambassador of Sweden to Korea Daniel Wolven speaks during the Sweden Day 2022 celebration at Sebitseom Floating Island on the Han River, Seoul, June 7. Courtesy of Embassy of Sweden in Korea
Foreign Minister Park Jin, left, walks through Incheon International Airport on Sunday on his way to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken. Yonhap



Experts say Korea's ties with the region will be upgraded



By Kang Hyun-kyung



Korea's relations with the Middle East may undergo a change, in a positive way, in the next few years, according to people who are familiar with the matter.



Their optimism about Korea-Middle East ties is based on their personal experiences of the man in charge of the nation's foreign policy, and their testimony about him is consistent. Foreign Minister Park Jin, also a lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, is a Middle East enthusiast, they said.



"I got the sense that he's very interested in the region, while interacting with him, albeit intermittently," Jang Ji-hyang, a research fellow of comparative Middle East politics at the Seoul-based think tank, Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told The Korea Times.



In early March before the March 9 presidential election, Jang was invited to a session hosted by the Global Vision Committee, then a foreign policy advisory committee established in the Yoon Suk-yeol camp. Back then Rep. Park was leading the committee as its chairman. Jang was asked to present what's going on in the Middle East and its implications for Korea, an offer she accepted.



"Rep. Park moderated the event and I remember he was very enthusiastic about the region. He said that the Middle East is an important region for Korea, and that's why he was determined to organize the session and squeeze it into their already busy schedule," she said.



Jang presented what she had prepared, followed by a Q&A session. Her audience was Yoon's then-foreign policy advisors and many of them were later appointed to key foreign policy and security posts after Yoon was inaugurated. National Security Advisor Kim Sung-han, Korean Ambassador to the United States Cho Tae-yong, and some other foreign policy and military experts attended the session.



"Rep. Park was one of a few people there who intently listened to my presentation. I could tell that he was very serious, seen from the way he spoke about the region," said Jang.



The session on the Middle East was one of the 11 foreign policy events the committee had prepared. Topics they covered included the U.S.-China rivalry, Korea-Japan relations, tripartite cooperation among Korea, Japan and the United States, as well as the Indo-Pacific region. The Middle East session was the last event held about a week before the presidential election.



"My impression was that the Yoon camp was much more interested in the Middle East than the Lee Jae-myung camp. Before the Middle East session, I got phone calls twice from the Yoon camp about my presentation, first from his aide and second from Park himself," said Jang.





President Yoon Suk-yeol and Israeli Ambassador to Korea Akiva Tor pose with a letter from Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on March 24 in Yoon's previous office in Tongui-dong, Seoul. Newsis



Inspired by Israel



Foreign Minister Park's particular interest lies in Israel, according to a source familiar with the matter.



"I was told that Minister Park came to be interested in Israel since 2008 when he served as chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Trade committee," the source said, noting that's what she heard directly from Park. "He said there is a lot Korea can learn from Israel. Minister Park is an eager learner."



Park's bond with Israel came to be known to the public last year when Korea and the Middle Eastern country agreed on a coronavirus vaccine swap. The Korean government announced on July 7 of last year that it would receive 700,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine on loan from Israel.



Rep. Park welcomed the announcement in a statement released the same day, calling the Korea-Israel vaccine swap the result of a "technology alliance" between the two countries.



Park played a key role behind the vaccine swap arrangement. He initiated the deal on May 11 during a meeting between Israeli Economy Minister Amir Peretz, who was visiting Korea at the time, and Korean lawmakers in the National Assembly. Park called for the need for a Korea-Israel technology partnership, describing Israel as a key country with which Korea should forge such a partnership based on close bilateral cooperation in the areas of defense and economy.



The Israeli minister was quoted as saying that Israel was willing to help Korea and that he would discuss Park's proposal with other cabinet ministers of his country after going back home. Park reportedly followed up with his proposal a month later when he and Israeli Ambassador to Korea Akiva Tor went hiking together on Mount Bukhan, Seoul.



According to another source, Park's interest in the Middle East had been apparent several times when he served as a chair professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Graduate School of International and Area Studies from 2013 to 2020, prior to rejoining the National Assembly as a lawmaker.



"I was told that he encouraged his students to conduct research on Middle Eastern affairs, and that's how I came to know that he was interested in the region," the source said.

After Park took the helm in the foreign ministry, he began to capitalize on his interest in the region.



Earlier this month, the foreign ministry announced a plan to fund a research project about the tripartite cooperation among Korea, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. According to a media report on June 6, the ministry explained in its proposal letter that the Israeli government had initially proposed to Korea that there should be tripartite cooperation among Korea, Israel and unspecified Arab countries. The ministry chose the UAE among other Arab countries as a partner for the tripartite partnership because it is Korea's only strategic partner in the Middle East.





Foreign Minister Park Jin, right, sits down with Iranian Ambassador to Korea Saeed B. Shabestari in his office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul, June 9. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs
By Simon Johnson and Oleg Ustenko



Emmanuel Macron, president of France, recently expressed concern about not humiliating Vladimir Putin through a quick and comprehensive defeat in Ukraine. But he seems to have lost track of conditions on the ground.



The war will eventually come to an end and Russia will not achieve its goals, but it will be a long struggle. To maintain this effort  which requires paying for the costs of war  it's imperative to restart the Ukrainian economy and generate more tax revenue, even as the fighting carries on.



The good news is that the European Union, the United States and other allies have already committed substantial resources to support Ukrainians, including when they leave the country as refugees. What is needed now is to adjust how those resources are deployed, to encourage these refugees to return home when it is safe to do so. This will help the Ukrainian economy and strengthen government finances.



In the weeks after Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, a large proportion of the local population either moved westward within Ukraine and or left the country entirely. This was completely understandable given the anticipated violence. Subsequent missile attacks on civilians, the deliberate targeting of places sheltering children, and the horrors that happened in Bucha, Irpin and other places confirmed everyone's worst fears.



More than 6.5 million Ukrainians escaped the country and found amazing support in neighboring countries, including EU countries, as well as non-EU countries such as Moldova and Norway. Taking care of refugees is expensive  they need food, shelter, schooling, healthcare and other services. Many countries have also provided daily cash allowances.



Part of this cost has been borne with great generosity by individuals, but the budgetary cost to EU governments associated with taking care of more than 6 million refugees is at least 60 billion euros per year (about 10,000 euros per person).



Some of these refugees can work while outside Ukraine. The information technology and telecoms infrastructure of the country remains strong, despite Russia's efforts to destroy these systems. As a result, people who can work remotely are able to earn income and, even more important, keep the Ukrainian insurance, finance, customer service and other economic activities on their feet.



But many jobs in an economy such as Ukraine's cannot be done remotely, and there is also a pressing need to rebuild roads, bridges, apartments and commercial buildings. The weather is currently good for construction, but this will not last long  within six months rain and cold will make it much harder to rebuild. Overall, on its current course, the economy is likely to decline by at least 40 percent this year compared with 2021 and, until the refugees return home, a sustained recovery is hard to achieve.



There is already a steady flow of at least 30,000 people returning to Ukraine per day. They and many more Ukrainians can be productively employed to rebuild and repair the economy, but the government is hard-pressed to support them and their wages. The government budget is already running a monthly deficit of around 5 billion euros to cover war-related spending.



That's why it would make sense to have some of the EU financial support for refugees made available to them when they return to Ukraine.



There are three potential ways to make this transfer. One approach is to let refugees bring their cash benefits back with them to Ukraine for a limited period, such as six months. Another is to provide additional resources to the Ukrainian government to hire more people for rebuilding work. Both these policies will pull more refugees home, but the process may be slow.



Easier and more effective would be for the Ukrainian government to use this funding, received from the EU, to create a temporary basic income program for all Ukrainians in the country. A modest cash grant program would help millions now struggling to feed their families stay in their communities and increase economic activity.



If half of the more than 6 million Ukrainian refugees were to return home, European governments could significantly reduce their refugee spending and redirect tens of billions of euros into uses that would have long-term benefits for Ukraine. Any such program could be wound down as Russian forces are expelled from Ukrainian territory and the economy stabilizes.



We don't know how long this war will last. The devastation wrought by Russia's invasion remains incalculable. Eventually, Ukraine, a country of around 40 million, will need international assistance and support to rebuild. Shoring up its economy and beginning that process should start now.





Simon Johnson is a professor at MIT Sloan and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. Oleg Ustenko is economic adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. This article was produced for the Los Angeles Times and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.




By Robert D. Atkinson





Nations are in a fierce win-lose competition for global market share in advanced, traded-sector technology industries, because winning enables not only prosperity, but economic and national security  especially for allied nations where China's gain often comes at their loss. Over the last quarter century Korea's advanced-industry performance has been superlative and lags only behind Taiwan.



The Hamilton Center on Industrial Strategy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation recently examined national changes in global shares of output in seven advanced industries: pharmaceuticals; electrical equipment; machinery and equipment; motor vehicle equipment; other transport equipment; computer, electronic and optical products; and information technology and information services. These industries are globally traded, technologically complex and key to national and economic security.



It should come as no surprise that Korea has shown remarkable progress. Its global share of advanced industries increased by 65 percent from 1995 to 2018, from 2.5 to 4.1 percent. Korea went from having an advanced industrial economy that was just 10 percent of the size of the United States' advanced industrial economy in 1995 to one that was 18 percent the size in 2018 (the latest year data is available). In 1995 Korea's computer and electronic products output was just 14 percent America's output. By 2018, it was almost half of America's (46 percent).



Indeed, Korea's progress was especially pronounced in computers and electronics, where Korea now produces almost 11 percent of global output, up from around 4 percent in 1995. This has been enabled by leading firms such as LG, Samsung and SK. Korea is also strong in electrical equipment. However, Korea remains relatively weak in software and IT information industries and pharmaceuticals.



Interestingly, while Korea gained global market share between 1995 and 2018 in computers and electronics, electrical equipment and motor vehicles, it lost share in other transportation equipment, which includes shipbuilding, aerospace and pharmaceuticals. The former is presumably due to China's subsidized dominance in shipbuilding. Interestingly, given the rise of the Korean motor vehicle industry, its global share declined from 2006 to 2018, peaking in 2015 at 3.8 percent. Over the same period, China's global market share increased from 9.5 percent to 24.8 percent.



Korea's performance in Hamilton Index industry sectors



Advanced industries make up a very large share of Korea's economy: more than double the global average. And their share has increased 56 percent since 1995 (from 11 percent to 17 percent of Korean GDP). Korea's relative global market share in the computer and electronics sector is a whopping 5.4 times larger than the global average, up from a little more than double in 1995. In contrast, the pharmaceutical and IT and other information services industries are underrepresented compared with the global average, with the former seeing declining share since 1995.



When compared with other leading nations, only Taiwan has a greater share of its economic output coming from advanced industries. Korea's advanced industries make up 2.1 times more of its economy than the global average. This is compared to China's share in advanced industries which is 34 percent higher than the global average, Japan's 43 percent and Germany's 74 percent. While U.S. advanced industry output is five times larger than Korea's, America is 55 percent less specialized in advanced industries as is the Korean economy. In other words, these industries make up more than double the share of Korea's economy than they do in the United States. Also of note, while the Indian economy has 27 times more population than Korea's, Korea's advanced industry output is 16 percent larger.



Korea should be proud of its success in building world-leading advanced industries. But as they say in investing, past success is no guarantee of future success. This is particularly true given that the top industries in Korea are also the top ones in China (electrical equipment, computers and electronics and machinery) and ones that the Chinese government has targeted for continued global expansion. This means that Korea cannot afford to rest on its laurels. It must continue to ensure that government policies support advanced industry growth in Korea.





Robert D. Atkinson (@RobAtkinsonITIF) is the president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), an independent, nonpartisan research and educational institute focusing on the intersection of technological innovation and public policy.


Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Mostly sunny. High 73F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 48F. N winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.
Here are the Walworth Countys weekly criminal complaints from June 15-20. The cases still need to make their way through the Walworth County 
A local couple is teaming up to offer some cool treats to customers on piers along Geneva Lake and another is providing mobile boat detailing where they come to you.

Kelsey and Jordan Bradford of Lake Geneva started Salt & Kai last summer. As part of the business, the couple delivers popsicles from Petes Pops, beverages and other cold snack items to piers along Geneva Lake by appointment for weddings, birthday parties, engagement celebrations, business outings and private parties.

The couple also travels to Big Foot State Beach to make their products available to boaters. The products are delivered by a boat that the couple restored last year.

So far, it has been Geneva Lake and specifically to the piers, Kelsey Bradford said. We dont go boat to boat unless we are at Big Foot Beach and they walk up to us. But other than that its to piers for private events, whether thats private residential piers or private business piers. Were happy to come to any event.

The Bradfords also have made their products available during several community events including Lake Geneva Jazz Fest, Spring Market at the Barn in Elkhorn and The Space grand opening event, 605 W. Main St. in Lake Geneva.

Kelsey said they also plan to feature their products during Burlingtons Venetian Festival in July.

We will come and set up a little bar, and we will sell Petes Pops and drinks at different events, Kelsey said.

Besides delivering cool treats to the piers, the couple also sells items from local artisans including bracelets, headbands, earrings and handbags.

As a business, we just love sharing great products with whoever we can, Kelsey said. So we sell things that we found that we love, whether thats food, whether thats retail and things that just have great stories behind them. So were all about storytelling in unique ways and highlighting the other businesses that are around.

Kelsey said she is pleased with the support that the business has received during the past year.

Everyone who learns about us is excited for what were doing, Kelsey said. Were definitely still getting our name out there and getting the story out of who we are and why were doing this. Its not really a money-maker thing for us right now. Its more to just build community and share the things we love with others and bring a little joy to Lake Geneva and around the lake.

The couple is preparing their business for the upcoming tourism season by updating their website, redesigning their business logo and upgrading their boat with a new motor so it travels faster.

Theres still a lot to do and a lot of growth to happen, Kelsey said. Were taking it one day at a time and going with the flow.

Kelsey said they developed the idea for the business from her experience working in marketing and Jordans background working as a marine technician and his interest in boats.

The couple currently operates the business out of their home but plan to establish a brick and mortar location in the future.

We just came together and merged our ideas, and we want to grow into something bigger with a brick and mortar location and have a community space that has great products and offers different amenities for the community, Kelsey said. Were at the very beginning of our journey in building what we want Salt & Kai to be.

Salt & Kai currently is operated as a seasonal business through September, but the couple plans to expand the business to be open throughout the year in the future.

For more information about Salt & Kai, visit www.saltandkai.com or call 262-729-3123.

Mobile boat cleaning

Another family bringing their service to Walworth County and Geneva Lake is Alexi and Colin Shepet, co-owners of Dockside Watercraft Cleaners, Inc.

The couple started Dockside Watercraft Cleaners in 2020 and have mostly been working in Waukesha County.

Alexi Shepet said they felt it was a good time to expand their business and offer their services in Walworth County.

Dockside Watercraft Cleaners offers basic maintenance cleaning, full detail cleaning and full detail and wax services. Alexi said they travel to the clients homes and are able to clean the boat where it is stationed.

We are completely mobile. We pack everything into a truck with a power washer to have everything we need to clean off a boat where it sits, Alexi said. If its in a driveway, if its on a lift on the water, we have mechanisms in place to clean those boats. So I think our niche is the fact that we are mobile and we can get to your boat on the lift.

Dockside Watercraft Cleaners currently has two crew of workers in Walworth County and two crews in Waukesha County. Alexi said they usually have three employees working on a boat at a time. She said they may add more employees as they receive more clients.

The couple decided to start the business in 2020 after Alexi was laid off from her job as an information technology recruiter and Colin received less clients from his medical sales job during the pandemic.

At that point in time, we had been playing with the idea, Alexi said. We had grown up near lakes. It was waking up one night and saying, How about a mobile boat detailing company? We sat on that idea for a little bit. We thought, I dont think thats offered, so we asked around and did a bunch of research.

Alexi said the couple may expand their business to other areas of Wisconsin in the future.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Republican lawmakers will allow regulations Democratic Gov. Tony Evers administration developed to control pollution from toxic forever chemicals to take effect, according to a spokesperson for the Legislatures rules committee.

The rules limit the amount of certain compounds known as PFAS allowed in surface waters and drinking water.

The Legislatures Republican-controlled Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules has no objections to the regulations and will allow the Department of Natural Resources to implement them, Mike Mikalsen, an aide to committee co-chair Sen. Steve Nass, told The Associated Press.

Mikalsen warned that the committee could suspend the standards if the department doesnt lawfully implement them, but the decision marks a rare Republican concession to Evers.

Since taking office in 2019, Evers has been working to limit contamination from the compounds, which have been linked to cancer and other illnesses.

Used in firefighting foam, packaging and stain-resistant products, PFAS have contaminated groundwater in communities including Madison, Marinette and Peshtigo, Marshfield, Wausau and the La Crosse County town of Campbell. Public health officials have warned people to limit consumption of fish from contaminated waters, including Black Earth Creek, and the Yahara River and three of its five lakes.

The DNR began crafting PFAS regulations in 2019 and ultimately recommended limits for two compounds  PFOS and PFOA  in ground, surface and drinking water to the agencys policy board.

Industry groups including Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce opposed the regulations, which they said would be too costly.

The DNR estimated it would have cost the states businesses and local governments about $6 million per year to comply with the new regulations, while Wisconsin residents could save hundreds of millions of dollars each year in avoided health care costs.

The Natural Resources Board in February approved the surface water standards but the boards conservative majority rejected limits for groundwater, the source of drinking water for about two-thirds of Wisconsin residents.

The board also adopted weakened limits for public drinking water supplies.

Tony Wilkin Gibart, executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates, called the legislative approval a positive development and a necessary step to protecting public health.

While we are glad to see these rules move forward, we are mindful that Wisconsinites whose water comes from private wells also deserve the same protections under our states groundwater law, he said.

Tests have found some level of PFAS in all of Madisons 23 municipal wells, though none above the proposed limit. The city has taken one well offline as a precautionary measure while exploring treatment options.

Earlier this year a Waukesha County judge ruled the DNR cannot require cleanup of PFAS contamination under the states spills law without first going through the 2-year rule-making process for each contaminant.

However, that ruling remains on hold while under appeal. The DNR said Friday that it will continue providing bottled water to residents with contaminated wells.

State Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, has sued Johnson Controls for contaminating waters around Marinette, where a subsidiary manufactured firefighting foam with PFAS.

Dane County has sued dozens of manufacturers in an effort to help pay for substantial cleanup costs related to contamination at the Madison airport.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.


Mr. President,

Sri Lanka has regularly shared our progress and challenges in an open exchange with this Council and other organs of the United Nations. It is in this spirit of transparency, candour and openness that I make this address to the current session of the Council.

The international community is aware of the grave social and economic situation that Sri Lanka has been faced with in recent weeks. While this situation has been aggravated by ongoing global crises including the pandemic, the focus of the protests has consisted of demands for economic relief and institutional reform. In recognition of these challenges and in moving forward in an inclusive manner, we consider it crucial to heed the aspirations of all segments of our people, in particular, the youth.

Mr. President,

As a stable foundation for the future, the President and the Prime Minister have called for a consensual approach to national issues through a broad-based government. Far reaching political changes are already taking place with the appointment of a new Prime Minister and of a new multi-party Cabinet.

We are actively engaged in evolving an all-party consensus regarding the need for the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, to consolidate seminal democratic values enshrined in Parliament, independent institutions and salutary checks and balances on the powers of the Executive. We need to ensure collectively that these reforms take place within a democratic constitutional framework and in keeping with due process. The process of change must not destroy the very democratic institutions that are sought to be strengthened.

We have consistently emphasized that dissent needs to be peaceful and be expressed within the democratic space. During the recent disturbances, a limited curfew and emergency regulations were imposed for the sole purpose of maintaining law and public order and allowing the unimpeded distribution of essential supplies. At the instance of the Attorney General and under direct judicial supervision, fullyfledged investigations are proceeding with regard to the incidents of 9th May and their aftermath. We also condemn unreservedly the deaths of several persons including a Member of Parliament and extensive damage to property throughout the country. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, as well, has initiated independent investigations into these incidents.

Mr. President,

On the important aspect of the economy, in order to stabilize the situation and provide essentials for our people, we are formulating concrete measures which are expected to lead to an IMF supported programme. In moving forward, we are in dialogue with all stakeholders including domestic and international partners. We are putting together a coherent structure to place our economy back on a sustainable growth path and to provide for necessities such as food, fertilizer, energy and medicines. The current situation and future reform measures have a potentially adverse impact on the lives and livelihoods of the poor and the vulnerable. In agreement, therefore, with the emphatic remarks by the distinguished High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, earlier this morning, Sri Lanka is firmly committed to targeted social protection measures to mitigate these consequences. We certainly recognize, as a core belief, that human rights are indivisible, interconnected and interdependent.

Mr. President,

Over the past years, including at the 49th Session in March this year, we have interacted with the Council in addressing a series of issues raised in relation to Sri Lanka. Today, as we seek to redress grievances and issues in a broader social context, it is both compelling and challenging to demonstrate further tangible progress on post-conflict consolidation through domestic processes. We will continue to do so by active engagement with this Council.

Notwithstanding the recent challenges and constraints, I would like to highlight significant progress made in some key areas.

Since the previous meeting, soon after my pledge to the HRC that the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) will be amended, I presented legislation to Parliament to amend the PTA, and this was enacted. The cumulative effect of these Amendments will make a substantial improvement of, and a profound impact upon, the existing law and will further the cause of human rights and human freedoms in Sri Lanka. In this regard, the Inspector General of Police has issued instructions whereby there is a de facto moratorium on arrests being made under the PTA. Law enforcement officials have been instructed to follow due process in the conduct of investigations under the PTA and to use this legislation only in instances of extreme necessity.

After the last Session of this Council, from March to June 2022, 22 persons detained under the PTA have been released on the recommendation of the Advisory Board established under Section 13 of the PTA.

The list of designated individuals, groups and entities under the United Nations Regulation No. 1 of 2012 is being reviewed. As of now 318 individuals and 04 entitles are proposed to be delisted. This is a continuing exercise.

The Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) continued with its mandate in promoting reconciliation.

With regard to the SDGs, Sri Lanka has made substantial progress, including on SDG16. The UN Sustainable Development Report 2021 has placed Sri Lanka at the 87th position (SLs global rank has increased by 7 positions out of 165 countries) and the country is given an overall ranking of 68.1, which is above the regional average.

The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) has met more than 83% of persons invited for panels of inquiries as part of its verification process. The Office for Reparations (OR) was allocated Rs.53 million in addition to its initial allocation of Rs.759 million to pay compensation for the year, despite the current economic constraints.

More than 92% of private lands occupied by the military at the end of the conflict has been released to the legitimate owners. Steps are being taken to resettle the last remaining 8,090 IDPs.

On the Easter Sunday attacks, the Attorney General has sent out several indictments to High Courts and the Trials in this regard are proceeding.

Sri Lanka remains, at the same time, open to engaging with the diaspora community and with civil society organizations committed to the wellbeing of our country.

Mr. President,

In the past I have made clear that Sri Lanka rejects the so-called external evidence gathering mechanism introduced by HRC Resolution 46/1, adopted without our consent and that of other members of this Council. We reiterate our conviction that this mechanism will only serve to polarize and divide, and will be an unproductive and unhelpful drain on the resources of this Council and its Members.

In conclusion, we seek the understanding of this Council regarding the challenging social and economic situation in Sri Lanka. We undertake to engage in the multiple tasks before us and to honour legitimate commitments. Sri Lanka is an active participant in the multilateral framework and has continued its close engagement with the international community and the Human Rights Council to realize the promotion and protection of human rights with justice and equity for our people. The difficult situation we are facing today and the voices of our youth remind us urgently that we need to address these challenges with humility.

Our approach, Mr. President, is to recognize the challenge without being overwhelmed or constricted by it. With a clearly conceived objective, clarity regarding the means to accomplish it and, above all, confidence in the resilience of our people - which has served this nation well in the past - we embark on an intricate journey, step by step. We are immensely fortified by the sustained goodwill and support of the international community, manifested in abundant measure, and look forward to continuing open engagement.

I thank you Mr. President.

View PDF
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 14 (ANI/NewsVoir): The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) opened applications for the sixth edition of its prestigious IET India Scholarship Award, with combined prize money of Rs 10 Lakhs. Open to students of all AICTE, UGC approved and National institutes, the IET India Scholarship programme aims to reward and celebrate individual excellence and innovation among undergraduate engineering students in India.

Previous winners have gone on to join industry stalwarts like Apple, Boeing, Deloitte and MIT, and some have even become entrepreneurs themselves. This is the first step in a rigorous 4-stage process which tests students on academic and technical parameters, as well as creativity, innovation and presentation skills.

Also Read | Sidhu Moose Wala Murder Case: Delhi Court Allows Punjab Police To Arrest Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

Shekhar Sanyal, Director and Country Head, IET India said, "The IET India Scholarship Award was initiated with the core objective of identifying the engineering leaders of tomorrow and also, encouraging young people entering the profession. After an extremely successful re-launch last year, I am thrilled to be announcing the opening of applications for our sixth edition. Through this Award, we hope to recognise creativity, innovation, leadership and excellence in our undergraduate students, and further encourage them to contribute to India's flourishing technology ecosystem. The previous editions have witnessed an incredible response, and we are looking forward to sustaining the momentum this year as well."

The IET India Scholarship Award 2022 is led by a highly empowered and respected Advisory board, comprising of academicians and corporate professionals of national repute who helped build a strong framework for the IET India Scholarship Award. The committee is chaired by Prof Abhijit Chakrabarti, Former Vice-Chancellor, Jadavpur University, Kolkata; Chairman - IET India Scholarship Award.

Also Read | Indonesia Open 2022: PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth Knocked Out in First Round.

Prof Abhijit Chakrabarti said, "It gives me immense pleasure to announce the opening of the sixth edition of the IET India Scholarship Award, and I am looking forward to get engaged with some of the brightest young minds in the engineering world. It has been heartening to see the impact of the award on our past winners, and it has been a delight to witness their achievements over the years. The quality of work presented is exponentially going up, and we are expecting the competition to be tight. I highly encourage all undergraduate engineering students to make the most of this opportunity and put their best foot forward to prove their mettle."

The Award evaluates participants across parameters that include academic performance, extracurricular activities, range of outreach activities and their ability to come up with creative engineering solutions to solve societal challenges. In the first round, students are shortlisted based on their academic performance as well as extracurricular activities. They then progress to an online test on STEM subjects and technical expertise. Students that clear the cut-off score are then invited to present their technological solution to a pertinent societal challenge in the regional rounds. Regional winners finally battle it out in the national finals to win the title.

"India's engineering landscape is rapidly evolving, with the whole world now recognising the country as a hub for R&D and innovation. Furthering our technological prowess necessitates that we tap into the immense potential of our youth, and offer opportunities to explore, engage and demonstrate their skills. Every year, the challenges we set are tougher, and the solutions we get are just as creative. This year too, we are very excited to see the innovative ideas that applicants will bring to the table," said Ujani Ghosh, who leads the project at IET India.

The past five editions of the IET India Scholarship Award have received over 35,000 applications in total, with over 16000 entries last year alone. Instituted in 2013, the annual IET India Scholarship Award underlines IET India's commitment to India's engineering community. The programme aims to reward innovative thinking from the next crop of engineers entering the workforce and is part of a wide number of IET India initiatives focused at improving the quality of engineering in India. Applications are now open for the 2022 edition.

For more information, please visit - bit.ly/ScholarshipAward2022.

Institution of Engineering and Technology - India: The IET office started operations in India in 2006, in Bangalore. Given the increasing global importance of India as an engineering hub, our aim is to make an impact that has relevance both locally and internationally. Our strategy is to make a meaningful impact on the overall competency and skill levels within the Indian engineering community and play an influencing role with industry in relation to technology innovation and solving problems of public importance. We want to do this by working in partnership with industry, academia and government, focussing on the application of practical skills within both learning and career lifecycles, driving innovation and thought leadership through high-impact sectors.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kochi (Kerala) [India], June 14 (ANI): Justice Kauser Edappagath of the Kerala High Court recused from the hearing a petition filed by the Crime Branch of the state police challenging the order of the Ernakulam Additional Special Sessions Court which rejected its petition to forward the memory card allegedly containing the visuals of the crime for forensic examination.

The forensic examination was sought by the Crime Branch to confirm the illegal access of the memory card as suggested by the change in the hash value. The Crime Branch or the prosecution pointed out in its petition that the memory card and the files contained in it could have been opened several times. Moreover, a detailed forensic examination can only find out when it was opened the last time.

Also Read | Hyderabad: Drunk Man Climbs on Moving Police Vehicle, Created Ruckus in Asif Nagar (Watch Video).

Though the changes made in the hash value were reported to the trial court on January 29, 2020, the same was not intimated to the prosecution till February 2022.

Earlier this month, Kerala High Court dismissed a petition challenging the transfer of S Sreejith, ADGP of Kerala Police from the post of Crime Branch Chief and supervising officer of the 2017 Actress Assault Case.

Also Read | Punjab Shocker: Man Robs Teenagers Scooter in Broad Daylight After Running Out of Fuel in Mohali.

Division Bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly dismissed the petition of movie director Baiju Kottarakkara.

While dismissing the petition, the court made it clear that it cannot interfere in the state's matters.

State Government submitted the transfer order of Sreejith and the details of the new Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was formed recently.

Earlier, Kerala High Court had granted time till July 15 to the prosecution to conclude further investigation in the 2017 Actress Assault Case.

The case pertains that an actress, who worked in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films, was allegedly abducted and molested inside her car by a group of men who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of 17 February 2017. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Sri Satya Sai District (Andhra Pradesh) [India], June 14 (ANI): For the third year in a row, as part of the YSR free crop insurance scheme, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy disbursed Rs 2,977.80 crore for over 15 lakh farmers across the state who suffered crop loss during the Kharif season in 2021.

The insurance amount was disbursed during an event held at Chennekothapalli in Sri Sathya Sai district on Tuesday. The compensation amount is being given as part of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana and the State government's 'Free Crop Insurance' scheme.

Also Read | Vegetable Oil Imports Down by 15% Over Last Year as Indonesia Curbs Exports: SEA.

"If the crop is lost, the farmers are in distress. This in turn puts the state under distress. Hence, a revolutionary move was taken. If the farmers lose crops in one season, we directly place the compensation amount in the hands of the farmers before the arrival of the same season next year. We pay crop insurance compensation without bribes or discrimination," the CM said.

Hitting out at the Telugu Desam Party, Jagan said that the previous TDP government was capable of not just aiding more farmers in just three years but also to clear the arrears the previous government had left.

Also Read | Hyderabad: Drunk Man Climbs on Moving Police Vehicle, Created Ruckus in Asif Nagar (Watch Video).

"The previous government disbursed just Rs 3,411 crores for 30.85 lakh farmers over five years. But, under our regime, in the last year three years, we have already disbursed a total sum of Rs 6,684 crore to 44.28 lakh farmers under YSR free insurance crops. Clearing out the arrears of the previous government, we are at every step ensuring the farmers welfare through timely payments," the CM said.

In the undivided Anantapur district, the total insurance amount disbursed was Rs 628 crore for the 2019 and 2020 Kharif seasons. This year, while the government had announced disbursal of Rs 467.81 crore as part of crop insurance for 3.35 lakh farmers in undivided Anantapur district, after reorganisation, the government has deposited Rs 885.45 crore into 4,04,461 farmers' bank accounts as compensation in Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts. While 1,71,881 farmers in Sri Sathya Sai district have received Rs 255.78 crore, 2,32,580 farmers in Anantapur received Rs 629.77 crore.

"Once upon a time, Anantapur district was a drought district. Now there is plenty of water. The farmers have benefitted in the district over the past three years. We have spent Rs 1,27,823 crore on farmers in these three years. We are ensuring revolutionary change in the agriculture sector through RBKs - one that the whole country is witnessing and taking notes of," the CM highlighted at the event.

The Chief Minister also said that the state government will not stop its efforts to aid to the farmers like the previous government. The CM also highlighted the lapses in the TDP manifesto and the promises they did not keep during their tenure.

"We are not competing with the past CMs in terms of doing good to the farmers. We are competing with the country. Chandrababu Naidu did not cater to the farmers and did not keep up with the manifesto promises made by TDP," the CM noted. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Guwahati (Assam) [India], June 14 (ANI): CID of Assam police on Tuesday arrested a person who impersonating himself as a Crime Branch Inspector and has been extorting money from suspects/accused of various cases under the pretext of exonerating them by influencing senior officers of the department.

The arrested person was identified as Upendra Pandey who originally hails from Uttar Pradesh but is presently staying in the Beltola area in Guwahati.

Also Read | Shehnaaz Gill Looks Mesmerizing in a White Organza Dress

Read @ANI Story   Latest Tweet by ANI Digital.

A case no 06/2022 under section 120 (B), 419, 420, 388 of IPC registered at CID police station.

He has been produced before the court where he was sent into judicial custody for further interrogation.

Also Read | Hyderabad: Drunk Man Climbs on Moving Police Vehicle, Created Ruckus in Asif Nagar (Watch Video).

The CID had conducted searches at his residence. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], June 14 (ANI): Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala along with many other prominent leaders were released on Monday after around 10 hours of detention at Sarojini Nagar Police station.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi left the Enforcement Directorate office in Delhi after 10 hours of questioning in the National Herald case.

Also Read | Congress Protest: 26 MPs, 5 MLAs Among 459 Detained During Protest March, Says Delhi Police.

Several senior leaders of the party including Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry, Shakti Sinh Gohil, Anil Chaudhry, a few MPs and workers were also detained at various Police Stations in Delhi.

Congress leaders and workers had staged protests holding placards at AICC headquarters in New Delhi over the summons of Rahul Gandhi.

Also Read | Rajasthan: Internet Services Suspended in 4 Tehsils of Bharatpur As Reservation Issue Rages Again.

Various leaders including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot took part in the party's Satyagraha march.

Addressing the media, Baghel said, "The entire country is witness to the dictatorship of the ruling BJP. Congress workers were being detained from reaching the party headquarters. The entire area has been cordoned off and police have been deployed all around in an attempt to crush democracy. It is the democratic right of the opposition party to protest."

Calling the ED action on Rahul Gandhi "malicious", the Chief Minister said that the Centre is using its agencies to "suppress the voice of Opposition".

Rahul Gandhi, the 51-year-old politician, who entered the headquarters of the federal probe agency in central Delhi around 11 am after starting from the Congress office on Akbar Road, was accompanied by a large group of party leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel.

He is being questioned by an Assistant Director level officer-- the investigating officer of the case--supervised by a Deputy Director and a Joint Director.Another officer is learnt to be typing Rahul Gandhi's statement which is being recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Cable-Stayed Bridge across River Chambal on Kota Bypass on NH-76 of East-West Corridor in Rajasthan. (Photo/PIB)

New Delhi [India], 14 June (ANI): Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that the project for the construction and maintenance of a cable-stayed bridge across the Chambal river on Kota Bypass on NH-76 of East-West Corridor in Rajasthan has been completed.

He posted a series of tweets saying, "the Government under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working round the clock to enhance infrastructure in our country."

Also Read | Drone Rules 2021: Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia Grants First Type Certificate Under Drone Law to Gurugram-Based IoTechWorld.

He also said that the 1.4 km long bridge is part of the Kota Bypass and part of the East-West corridor from Porbander (Gujrat) to Silcher (Assam), which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017.

Entirely built with capital expenditure (CAPEX) worth Rs. 214 crore, the bridge comes with a robust system that is capable of tackling extreme traffic situations, handling heavy rains, winds, and storms and is even equipped to issue an earthquake notification to the control room of the bridge.

Also Read | Moto G82 5G Now Available for Sale in India, Check Offers Here.

"The cables of the bridge are aerodynamic in nature and have the ability to be neutral in stormy winds," he tweeted.

The Minister also tweeted, "To prevent disturbance to wildlife, a 7.5 m Noise Barrier with approx 70 per cent visibility in 700 m length on both sides of the bridge has been installed."

The project has not only benefitted residents of the Hadoti region of Rajasthan but has also contributed to reducing the traffic congestion in Kota city, he added. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Jun 14 (PTI) Rahul Gandhi should first provide the ED right answers on the serious charges of corruption against him, Union minister Anurag Thakur said on Tuesday in response to the Congress leader's criticism of the prime minister's decision to provide 10 lakh jobs in the next 18 months.

The former Congress president, who appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for a second consecutive day of questioning in a money laundering probe, has dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move a "maha jumla".

Also Read | Air India Fined Rs 10 Lakh for Denying Boarding to Passengers With Valid Tickets.

Though everyone has welcomed the prime minister's decision, taken in the interest of the youth, Gandhi has expressed anger and questioned why the youth would get jobs, Thakur said.

"I would only say to Rahul ji, you should first provide the right answers to ED on the serious charges of corruption made against you so that you provide information during the two days of your questioning that is carrying on," the BJP leader told reporters.

Also Read | Bulldozer Row: Ex-Judges of SC, Advocates Write to CJI N.V. Ramana on Demolition Drives in Uttar Pradesh.

"Rather than welcoming the decision, I think he is too busy dealing with other issues and unable to show his happiness towards this decision," he added.

The prime minister has asked various government departments and ministries to undertake the recruitment of 10 lakh people on a "mission mode" in the next year-and-a-half, his office said on Tuesday.

Thanking Modi, Thakur said, "This is big news for the youth of the country."

"We welcome this decision and have already started taking meetings with all ministries and departments so that this should be done at the earliest. The prime minister has set a deadline of 18 months so that these 10 lakh posts are filled," the Union minister said.

The prime minister is not an expert at creating jobs, but in creating "news" over jobs, Gandhi alleged.

"Just like eight years ago the youth were deceived with a promise of 2 crore jobs every year, in the same manner it is now the turn of 10 lakh government jobs. This is a government not of 'jumlas' (rhetoric) but 'maha jumlas'," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

(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, Jun 14 (PTI) Two Delhi Police personnel created a WhatsApp group in 2017 with the noble intention of arranging blood for accident victims. Five years and a pandemic later, the group with over 800 members has emerged as a saviour for patients of cancer, dengue and Covid across the national capital and neighbouring states.

On the World Blood Donor Day on Tuesday, Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana announced the official adoption of Jeevan Dayini" as a welfare measure for the general public, and its personnel and their families.

Also Read | Punjab Shocker: Man Robs Teenagers Scooter in Broad Daylight After Running Out of Fuel in Mohali.

According to police, the number -- 6828400400  is the dedicated Jeevan Dayini helpline available on WhatsApp and Telegram to bring together beneficiaries, including blood banks, and volunteers.

A brainchild of Constable Ravinder and Head Constable Amit, the group had just 20 members when it was set up by the duo while they were posted at Kotla Mubarakpur Police Station in south Delhi.

Also Read | Jyeshtha Purnima 2022: Amarnath Shrine Board Organises 'Pratham Puja' at Holy Cave.

The over 800 members of the group include 650 Delhi Police personnel and those from defence forces, Haryana Police as well as teachers and common citizens. Many of them have donated blood on more than 50 occasions, Ravinder said.

Asked about the inspiration behind the idea, the duo said while performing their duty, they would often visit hospitals for medico-legal cases (MLC).

During their visits, they were faced with the harsh reality of lack of blood donors and several people dying because of it.

"While at Kotla Mubarakpur, we witnessed some deaths due to lack of blood donors and took a pledge to not let anyone die due to non-availability of a blood donor and that's how the journey started," 30-year-old Ravinder, who has donated blood 81 times since the inception of the group, told PTI.

In the first year of the group's inception, more than 600 units of blood were donated. Till date, the group members have donated blood more than 8,500 times, and during peak Covid, plasma was donated on more than 300 occasions, said Ravinder, who is currently posted in the 6th Battalion of Delhi Police.

Meanwhile, Amit (32) said it is bewildering that in a country of 1.2 billion people, deaths are happening because of lack of blood donors.

"Despite such a huge population, if even a single person dies to not getting blood in time, we as a country should feel ashamed," said Amit who himself has donated blood 87 times since 2017.

According to Ravinder, they get around 20 messages or calls every day from people seeking blood donors for their friends or family members while during peak Covid, over 500 messages and calls were received every day, although, most were for plasma.

"I have donated blood mostly to cancer and dengue patients. I have twice donated my white blood cells which is usually done as a last resort for cancer patients, he said saying the process is very complex and time-taking.

Amit recalled how on a few occasions, they had to cut short the adviced time gap between two donations of platelets.

"During the severe second wave of Covid, we had no other option. We donated platelets within a gap of five days instead of the usual 15," he recalled.

Lauding the efforts of the duo, DCP PRO Suman Nalwa said, "Jivandayini is another initiative that is saving lives through blood donations. It is always encouraging and heart warming to see the men and women of Delhi Police queue up to donate blood."

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], June 14 (ANI): The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) on Monday staged a demonstration outside UP Sadan against the demolition of the former JNU student Afreen Fatima in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj.

Afreen Fatima is the daughter of the alleged mastermind of Prayagraj violence, Javed Ahmed.

Also Read | Kanpur Violence Main Accused Zafar Hayat Hashmi Names Builders, Politicians in Funding.

JNUSU members raised slogans against the "bulldozer raj" of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government and held placards reading, "Stop bulldozing our homes, resist the political Vendetta of Modi-Yogi government", "Stop targeting Muslims", etc.

Uttar Pradesh Police had detained the "mastermind" of the violence which broke out during a protest over controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad in Prayagraj on June 10.

Also Read | Nothing Phone (1) Smartphone To Be Manufactured in India.

"Mastermind Javed Ahmed detained, there could be more masterminds...The anti-social elements used minor kids to hurl stones at the police and administration. A case registered under 29 crucial sections. Action will be taken under Gangster Act and the NSA," Prayagraj Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Kumar told reporters here.

Several incidents of violence including sloganeering and stone-pelting were reported from several parts of Uttar Pradesh after Friday prayers when people began protesting against the inflammatory statements of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled party leader Naveen Kumar Jindal.

When asked about action against mastermind Javed Ahmed's daughter, the SSP said, "Javed's daughter who is a student in Delhi is also involved in such activities... If needed, we will contact Delhi Police and send our teams."

According to the District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri, an FIR has been lodged in connection with the violence and 68 people have been arrested so far.

Following the demolition of houses, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also took a jibe at the state chief minister Yogi Adityanath, saying the latter has become the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court.

"He'll (Yogi) convict anyone and demolish their houses? The house which was demolished is in the name of the wife of the accused who is a Muslim woman," Owaisi said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, Jun 14 (PTI) NCP leader Supriya Sule on Tuesday said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was "denied permission" by the PMO to speak in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a temple inauguration event in Dehu near Pune city, and dubbed it as an insult to the state.

Also Read | Plastic Ban in West Bengal: Buyers of Sub-75-Micron Plastic Bags To Face Penalty of Rs 500 From July 1.

Also Read | Rajasthan Quota Issue: National Highway-21 Blocked for 3rd Day, Internet Suspension Extended in 4 Tehsils of Bharatpur.

The prime minister inaugurated a shila (rock) temple at the Sant Tukaram Maharaj Mandir dedicated to the 17th-century saint in Dehu.

Devendra Fadnavis, the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, spoke just before PM Modi delivered his speech at the programme.

Talking to reporters in Amravati, Sule, a Lok Sabha MP, said Pawar, a senior NCP leader, had requested the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to allow him to speak at the event.

She said as the Guardian Minister of Pune district and Deputy Chief Minister, Pawar had received Modi at the Lohegaon airport on his arrival.

Dada's (Ajit Pawar) office had requested that he be allowed to speak because he is the Deputy CM and Pune district guardian minister. But the PMO declined permission to Dada to give his speech, Sule said, adding she was sharing this information after verifying it from Pawar's office.

This is an insult to Maharashtra. If our Deputy CM is on the stage then it is his right to speak, said the Member of Parliament from Baramati in the Pune district.

Whether to allow Fadnavis to speak is their internal matter but Ajit Pawar should have been allowed to speak at the Dehu event," the NCP leader said.

She maintained the incident was very hurtful, shocking and distressing.

"Leader of the Opposition Devendra Fadnavis was given an opportunity to speak at the Prime minister's event at Dehu, but the state's deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar was not allowed to speak. This is an insult to Maharashtra," Sule later tweeted.

NCP legislator Amol Mitkari, too, concurred with Sule's views.

In the Amravati district, Sule and NCP workers staged a protest and raised slogans against the Central government over the issue.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
By Payal Mehta

New Delhi [India], June 14 (ANI): Several opposition leaders will take part in the meeting called on Wednesday by Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee to discuss presidential polls to put up a united fight against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.

Also Read | Jyeshtha Purnima 2022: Amarnath Shrine Board Organises 'Pratham Puja' at Holy Cave.

The West Bengal Chief Minister flew to the national capital and met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar on Tuesday ahead of the meeting.

The presidential elections will take place on July 18 and the results will be declared on July 21.

Also Read | EWS Admissions 2022: Last Date for EWS Admission in Entry-Level Classes Extended Till June 24.

Other leaders who would take part in the meeting include former minister HD Deve Gowda and his son and Janata Dal (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, Rashtriya Lok Dal's Jayant Chaudhary and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti.

MK Stalin's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will be represented by TR Baalu while Shiv Sena's Subhash Desai will attend the meeting.

Samajwadi Party and National Conference will also attend the meeting while Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party is yet to confirm its participation.

Sources said Congress will also participate in the meeting to be held at the Constitution Club. Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, and Randeep Singh Surjewala are likely to attend the meeting.

Banerjee has also sent an invitation to former BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal but it is unlikely to attend the meeting.

Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja on Tuesday said that Left parties are likely to attend the meeting. CPI-M and other Left parties are rivals of the ruling TMC in Bengal.

Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal, which has been invited, is unlikely to attend the meeting. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is likely to send a representative even as party leader K Chandrashekar Rao is keen to forge an anti-BJP alliance.

KCR is likely to float a new political party at the national level as part of efforts to play a key role in national politics.

Banerjee had earlier written a letter to 22 leaders, including Left parties, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and chief ministers of opposition-ruled states. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Srinagar, Jun 14 (PTI) Pratham Puja (first prayer), marking the ritual beginning of the annual Amarnath yatra, was held on Tuesday on the occasion of Jyestha Purnima at the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said.

The formal yatra will begin on June 30 and culminate on August 11, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan.

Also Read | PM @narendramodi Inaugurates Kranti Gatha: Gallery of Revolutionaries of Maharashtra at   Latest Tweet by Prasar Bharati News Services.

"To mark the beginning of annual #AmarnathYatra, Pratham puja was performed on Tuesday on the occasion of Jyestha Purnima at the holy cave shrine of Lord #Shiva," the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) tweeted.

It said Nitishwar Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of the board, along with other office bearers, participated in the prayers.

Also Read | Air India Fined Rs 10 Lakh for Denying Boarding to Passengers With Valid Tickets.

More than 10 Lakh pilgrims are expected to pay obeisance at the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, 45 kilometres from tourist resort Pahalgam.

The Amarnath Yatra, which has been opened to the general public this year after a gap of two years, will commence on June 30 and conclude on August 11.

The yatra was cut short as a precautionary measure in 2019 after the Centre imposed severe restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370. Only ritualistic aspects of the yatra were conducted in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], June 14 (ANI): Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that the Cabinet Committee on Security has taken a historic decision by approving the transformative scheme of 'Agnipath' wherein Indian youth would be granted an opportunity to get inducted into the Armed services.

"The Cabinet Committee on Security has taken a historic decision today to approve the transformative scheme of 'Agnipath'. Under this, Indian youth would be granted an opportunity to get inducted into the Armed services. Under the 'Agnipath' scheme, efforts are to create a youthful profile of the Armed forces," Singh said while addressing a press conference in the national capital today.

Also Read | Meta Rolls Out Voice Mode Setting in Horizon Worlds.

The Union Minister said, "It would help to train them for new technologies and also improve their health levels. This scheme will increase employment opportunities with new skills in different sectors."

The Defence Minister said that the entire nation, especially our youth, treats the armed forces with respect. "Every child aspires to wear an army uniform at some point in their lifetime," he said.

Also Read | Rajasthan Roadways Hikes Jaipur to Delhi Volvo Bus Fare by 30%.

Asking the youth to have a "youthful profile", he said, "Youthful profile will also have the advantage that they can be easily trained for new technologies, and their health and fitness level will also be better."

"Efforts are being made under the Agnipath scheme, that the profile of Indian Armed Forces should be as youthful as the profile of wider Indian population. This will also lead to the availability of a higher-skilled workforce to the economy which will be helpful in productivity gain and overall GDP growth. The employment opportunities will increase with the 'Agnipath' scheme. Skills and experience acquired during Agniveer's service will assure employment in various fields," he said.

This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked the government departments to recruit 10 lakh people in the next 1.5 years in a "mission mode." PM Modi directed various departments to undertake the recruitment in organisations after the review of the status of the human resources in all government departments and ministries.

Informing about the directions from PM Modi, the PMO office took to Twitter and wrote, "PM Narendra Modi reviewed the status of Human Resources in all departments and ministries and instructed that recruitment of 10 lakh people be done by the Government in a mission mode in the next 1.5 years." (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 14 (ANI): The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday said that it has arrested one more suspect from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for his alleged involvement in funding and recruitment for the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The arrested person has been identified as Yusuf. He allegedly transferred funds to accused Junaid Mohammad. "Accused Yusuf was presented in Pune court today," added ATS.

Also Read | Punjab Shocker: Man Robs Teenagers Scooter in Broad Daylight After Running Out of Fuel in Mohali.

"Maharashtra ATS team reached Jammu and Kashmir to investigate Junaid Mohammad case. He was arrested by ATS from Pune. The team has got some information about his links with the terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba. ATS also recorded the statement of his family members", stated the agency.

On May 24, the Maharashtra state ATS arrested Mohammed Junaid Mohammed Ata (28), from the Khamgaon taluka of the state's Buldhana district. The ATS on June 2 had arrested another wanted suspect in the same case, Aftab Hussain Shah, 28, a carpenter from J&K's Kishtwar.

Also Read | Jyeshtha Purnima 2022: Amarnath Shrine Board Organises 'Pratham Puja' at Holy Cave.

Shah is accused of being the link between Junaid Mohammed and a LeT operative based in a foreign country.

Shah was produced before the competent court of that jurisdiction and he was handed over to ATS, Maharashtra on three days transit remand. He shall be produced before the competent court for police custody on his arrival in Maharashtra.

Further, on June 10, the ATS took custody of Inamul Haque from Saharanpur. He is allegedly a partner of Junaid Mohammad who was arrested by ATS from Pune, added ATS.

The 28-year-old accused Mohammad Junaid, as per the Maharashtra ATS is an Indian national, residing in Pune and was connected to Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) terror network.

"The team has got some information about Junaid's links with the terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba. ATS also recorded the statement of his family members," said ATS.

According to an ATS official, Junaid was in touch with active members of LeT Kashmir and was trying to recruit youth for the banned organisation from various parts of the state. "Later these recruits were taken to Jammu and Kashmir for training, to conduct terrorist activities."

The official informed of a transaction between Junaid and the LeT.

"Prima facie investigation revealed that Junaid was also trying to disturb the National security and communal harmony and trying to create a religious rift among communities by posting various comments etc through various social media like Facebook and WhatsApp etc," the ATS said.

Junaid has been booked under sections 153A (attacks upon the religion, race, etc), 121A (conspiring to commit certain offences against the State), 116 (bribing public servant) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

As per the ATS, Junaid was using 10 SIM cards. "All these SIM cards were used to interact and coordinate with whom the top bosses for training in J-K and how to proceed further." He destroyed all the SIM cards after using them.

Junaid's suspicious role had emerged during the operation in Jammu and Kashmir for three months, for which he had shifted from Akola to Pune.

So far, the ATS has identified three handlers of LeT during the investigation, an official said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
MBABANE  PUDEMO and SWAYOCO say they will disrupt the ongoing recruitment of soldiers in the various constituencies.

In fact, the President of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), the youth league of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), Sakhile Awviva Nxumalo, has come out to state that his organisation was responsible for the confusion that occurred at Mayiwane Inkhundla last Thursday during the recruitment exercise. Nxumalo was addressing members of political parties on Friday, after the Supreme Court had reserved judgment in the appeal filed by government after a full bench of the High Court declared certain provisions of the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act of 1938 and Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008 unconstitutional. A majority of the political party members, who were in court, belonged to PUDEMO.

Gathering

The SWAYOCO president was one of the leaders who addressed the gathering at the High Court. He said members of the party should do everything in their power to ensure that the recruitment exercise was disrupted. He did not mention the methods to be employed in disturbing the recruitment process. Nxumalo alleged that their members had disrupted the start of the 3.2km race at Mayiwane Inkhundla last Thursday. He alleged that members of the political party blew whistles while members of the army, who were conducting the recruitment exercise, were still getting the participants ready for the start of the race.

According to Nxumalo, after the whistles had been blown prematurely, allegedly by our cadres, the participants began to race. There is this thinking that our comrades should take part in the recruitment exercise in the tinkhundla centres in order to become soldiers. We must do everything in our power to disorganise the exercise. Our cadres have made sure that the thing collapses. At Mayiwane, our cadres did it. They blew whistles before the soldiers signalled the start of the race and the people started running, said Nxumalo. He stated that it was their task as the youth to do so. The SWAYOCO president also said they had to do the same thing at Kukhanyeni Inkhundla.

When sought yesterday to clarify the method of disrupting the exercise, Nxumalos cellphone was not available on the network for the better part of the day. He was seen on videos of those who attended the funeral of political activist Amos Mbhedzi in South Africa (SA). PUDEMO President Mlungisi Makhanya said you will never find us being told by soldiers to race in order to join the army. He said they were soldiers of Mario Masuku and Amos Mbedzi. Masuku is a former PUDEMO president while Mbedzi was a political activist who died while receiving treatment in a South African health facility. This was after he had been released by His Majestys Correctional Services to their South African counterparts. Mbedzis health had deteriorated while incarcerated in the kingdom.

Recruitment

The recruitment exercise began last Monday at Sigwe and Ngudzeni tinkhundla. It has been conducted at Matsanjeni North, Lugongolweni, Maseyisini, Gege, Mhlangatane, Mayiwane, Madlangempisi and Mkhiweni. The recruitment at Mayiwane was rescheduled to Saturday after the mishap. During the first phase of the recruitment exercise last Thursday at Mayiwane Inkhundla, about 450 aspiring soldiers bolted despite being warned not to do so as some were not ready. There were about 500 participants in total and 50 heard the order and they did not run. A majority of the participants ran the 3.2km distance and they were not aware that the soldiers had instructed them not to proceed with the race. The race is the initial phase of the recruitment process and is followed by other exercises of physical fitness such as the jack-knife, sit-ups and press-ups. However, the aspiring soldiers under Mayiwane Inkhundla did not move to the next stage last Thursday, as the exercise was stopped since they did not take instructions and it was postponed to Saturday. When the participants who had continued to run the 3.2 kilometre-race, despite being ordered to stop, returned, they were shocked to discover that the race had in actual fact been stopped.

Excited

One of the participants, who was among the first to finish the race, was so excited that he even pointed at a passing army vehicle and referred to it as imoto yase msebentini wami, meaning, a vehicle from my workplace, only to be told that the whole exercise would be postponed. Meanwhile, at the High Court on Friday, PUDEMO President, Makhanya, acknowledged other formations but not the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO). He acknowledged PUDEMO Women League, Swaziland Union of Students (SNUS), Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF), Swaziland Rural Women Assembly, Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), Multi-Stakeholders Forum (MSF), Political Parties Assembly (PPA) and others. Notably, SWALIMO is a member of MSF.

Makhanya informed the gathering that as PUDEMO, they were not worried about those who were not at the High Court with them. They always make noise when we are not next to them. We get insulted when we are not next to them. They are not here today and we dont have a problem because this is a movement for the brave. We dont have a problem that they are not here. In fact, we dont want them next to us because they tend to disturb us, telling us that the police want us to leave; we dont take orders from the police, he said. He also apologised on behalf of their members, that some of them were blocked from entering the courtroom because it was said to be already full. Makhanya said nobody should be denied access to the court.

If that happens, the case will not proceed. Some of you did not benefit from hearing what was being said inside. You should have been there to hear it for yourselves. You are PUDEMO and these charges are against you. I apologise for the miscommunication since some of you had been informed that the case would continue yesterday (Thursday), said Makhanya.

Fair

The president pointed out that it was not fair that the advocate who represented the State, Advocate Gregory Harpur, in the terrorism case, to say they did not suffer any prejudice despite the six-year delay of the hearing of the appeal. Apart from Makhanya, other respondents in the appeal are former Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) Secretary General (SG) Maxwell Dlamini, Human Rights Lawyer Thulani Maseko, PUDEMOs Mphandlana Shongwe and others who were charged under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. Some of them were arrested for wearing T-shirts with political slogans inscribed on them and others carried placards calling for democracy in Eswatini. Makhanya also encouraged their membership to attend MPs Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dubes case tomorrow at the High Court.
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], June 14 (ANI): Uttarakhand Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Deepak Bali on Monday resigned from his post and the membership of the party.

Bali cited being uncomfortable with the party's methodology as the reason for his resignation.

Also Read | Congress Protest: 26 MPs, 5 MLAs Among 459 Detained During Protest March, Says Delhi Police.

In a letter to AAP's national convenor Arwind Kejriwal, Deepak Bali mentioned that he won't be able to carry on with the functioning of the party and thus asked for acceptance of his resignation from the post of Uttarakhand state chairmanship.

His resignation came after the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) chief ministerial candidate for the recently concluded Assembly election in Uttarakhand, Retired Colonel Ajay Kothiyal on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in Dehradun.

Also Read | Rajasthan: Internet Services Suspended in 4 Tehsils of Bharatpur As Reservation Issue Rages Again.

The former army officer announced his decision to quit the party on Twitter, posting his resignation letter on the microblogging site.

In March this year, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power in Uttarakhand as it bagged 47 seats, 11 more than the required majority in the 70-seat assembly. According to the Election Commission of India, Congress won 19 seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) registered victory in two constituencies. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Jun 14 (PTI) Venture capital firm Sequoia India and Southeast Asia has raised USD 2.85 billion - the highest ever in one tranche by any venture capital fund - to fund startups and other ventures in the region, the company said in a statement.

Of the funds raised, USD 2 billion is dedicated to India across two funds, and the remaining USD 850 million funds is for Southeast Asia.

Also Read | Samsung Crystal 4K Neo Affordable TV Launched in India at Rs 35,990.

As per the SEC filings and earlier fundraising announcements, this now takes Sequoia's total committed capital in India and South East Asia to USD 9 billion over the past 16 years.

"Sequoia India and Sequoia Southeast Asia have collectively raised USD 2.85 billion across a new set of funds, including India venture and growth funds and a USD 850 million Southeast Asian fund - the firm's first dedicated fund for that region," the statement said.

Also Read | Coolpad Cool 20s 5G With MediaTek Dimensity 700 Chipset Launched; Price, Features & Specifications.

This is the largest fund raised by any VC firm in the region, it added.

Sequoia has had a stellar run in the last few years, witnessing 9 IPOs of companies it funded and USD 4 billion of exits in the last 18 months.

The firm has 36 unicorns in the region, including the likes of Zomato, Unacademy, Pinelabs, Byjus and Razorpay.

"This fundraise comes at a time when markets are starting to cool after a very long bull run, and is a signal of the firm's deep commitment to the region's startup ecosystem that continues to show promise," the statement said. "India and Southeast Asia have both grown rapidly in the last decade, thanks to the acceleration of digital adoption and rising consumer incomes."

Last year, India emerged as the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, after the USA and China. Southeast Asia, meanwhile, is on track to become a USD 1 trillion digital economy by 2030.

Sequoia has been present in India for the past 16 years and in Southeast Asia for ten.

"The firm has partnered with more than 400 startups across multiple sectors, stages and market cycles and has 36 unicorns in its portfolio. Between 2021-2022, the VC firm saw nine IPOs, with notable ones like Freshworks and Zomato," the statement said.

The company said its initiatives in the region contribute to building and supporting the ecosystem in ways that go beyond capital.

"Surge, a 16-week program of early-stage startups launched in 2019, has grown to a community of 246 founders from 112 startups across more than 15 sectors. It also launched Sequoia Spark, a fellowship and mentorship program for female founders last year, as well as Sequoia Build, a program for growth-stage startups looking to scale sustainably," it noted.

With this fundraise, Sequoia India will continue to partner with the next generation of founders, building enduring companies across seed, Series A, and growth stages. It will also continue to double down on initiatives to collaborate across the ecosystem with founders, governments, co-investors, and partners.

"The market in India is seeing increasing consumption power, supportive regulations and high talent density. Founders today are leveraging this to solve a diverse range of problems with the aim to create value for millions of people, both in India and for the world. And many large companies with regional or global footprints are expected to emerge from this region in the decade to come," the statement added. PTI

(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, Jun 14 (PTI) Weather Risk Management Services (WRMS), an agriculture risk management company, on Tuesday said it has received 2.1 million euros (Rs 17 crore) from InsuResilience Solutions Fund to provide solutions for yield guarantee to small farmers.

The company will use the fresh capital to develop and implement the yield guarantee solution to improve the resilience of 1,00,000 smallholder farmers against climate risks and incentivise smart agricultural risk management practices, WRMS said in a statement.

Also Read | Google Maps Now Shows Estimated Toll Charges in India, Japan, Indonesia & the US.

InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF), managed by the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (FS), and financed by KfW Development Bank, signed a grant agreement with WRMS and INGEN Technologies, a data provider of weather stations, to co-fund the project development and implementation of the yield guarantee solution.

The project also aims to scale up the yield guarantee solution for crops such as cotton, chili, paddy, wheat and potato.

Also Read | Poco F4 5G Confirmed to Sport 64MP Triple Rear Camera Setup.

"At WRMS, our aim is to build resilience of smallholder farmers by giving them equal opportunities to thrive. With this new association with InsuResilience Solutions Fund, we are now ready to further ramp up our SecuFarm services to the next level and support the smallholders to our maximum extent," Anuj Kumbhat, Founder & CEO of WRMS, said.

With support of ISF, he said, the focus would be on reaching out to over 1,00,000 smallholder farmers and building digital SecuFarms to create a larger economic, social and environmental impact.

WRMS offers SecuFarm which is a sustainable farming solution for smallholders to provide them with farm level yield guarantee and an assured income. The solution guarantees farmers a benchmark yield, provided they follow the Package of Practice (PoP) shared with them on the SecuFarm app.

"If the actual yield is still below the benchmark yield due to any extreme weather attack or crop disease, the farmer is compensated by WRMS, in proportion to the shortfall," the statement said.

WRMS has offered SecuFarm to more than 25,000 farmers in 22 states of India till date.

(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], June 14 (ANI): Apple will release new iPad Pro versions in September this year.

According to Mashable, the newest M2 chipset, which is also present in the freshly introduced MacBook Air, is expected to power these next iPad Pro models. Wireless charging will be supported, and the tablet device's camera module will be updated.

Also Read | World Blood Donor Day is Being Observed Today with Theme Safe Blood Saves   Latest Tweet by Prasar Bharati News Services.

As per a recent claim by Mark Gurman, the manufacture of the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models has not ceased and will continue for some time. According to the rumour, a new 14.1-inch iPad Pro model would be unveiled during the launch event, which is expected to begin in September this year.

The latest M2 chipset, which was revealed at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2022, is expected to power this smartphone.

Also Read | HP Launches New Spectre x360 Laptops in India, Check Price & Other Details Here.

Rumours report, that the forthcoming iPad Pro lineup would include a 14.1-inch device powered by an M2 CPU. The smartphone is also said to have a MiniLED display with ProMotion compatibility.

During the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2022, which began on June 6, the Cupertino tech giant announced the new M2 chipset, as reported by Mashable.

The chipset was introduced with the MacBook Air (2022), and it is said to boost CPU performance by over 18 per cent and GPU performance by over 35 per cent. This chipset is one of the quickest on the market right now, and it replaces the M1 chipset that was released last year. (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, Jun 14 (PTI) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has assured crisis-hit Sri Lanka of support to promote American investments in the country after the completion of IMF negotiations, as he spoke with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to discuss the island nation's current economic and political challenges.

The two leaders spoke over the phone on Monday.

Also Read | Excessive Heat Rolls East; Bakes Much of Central, Eastern US.

Wickremesinghe explained the current status of the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He further said that Sri Lanka is willing to have closer cooperation with the US.

Also Read | Cat-to-Human Transmission of COVID-19: 32-Year-Old Female Veterinarian Contracts Coronavirus After Being Exposed to Infected Cat.

"It was a pleasure speaking to Secretary of State @SecBlinken. I briefed him on the current economic situation and requested for our countries to work closer. He assured his support to further promote US investments in Sri Lanka upon the completion of IMF negotiations," Wickremesinghe tweeted.

Sri Lanka has decided to seek the assistance of the Washington-based global lender to combat the worst economic crisis since its independence from Britain in 1948. The talks between Sri Lanka and the IMF commenced on April 18.

US State Department in a statement said, "The Secretary and Prime Minister discussed Sri Lanka's current economic and political challenges."

"The Secretary affirmed the United States' commitment to the Sri Lankan people during this challenging time and the importance of supporting reforms that address the concerns of all Sri Lankans, including on democratic governance and human rights," it said.

The nearly bankrupt country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026. Sri Lanka's total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion.

The IMF in May said that it requires sufficient assurance from the country that it will restore debt sustainability during the debt restructuring process.

The IMF is planning to send an in-person mission in the coming weeks to Sri Lanka for policy discussions on a financial arrangement.

The economic crisis has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and other fuel, toilet paper and even matches, with Sri Lankans for months being forced to wait in lines lasting hours outside stores to buy fuel and cooking gas.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Xiamen [China], June 14 (ANI/Xinhua): The BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) Innovation Center signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday with the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) to facilitate bilateral cooperation and promote the common development of BRICS countries.

BRICS is the acronym for an emerging-market bloc that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It is home to over 40 per cent of the world's population and about a quarter of the global economy.

Also Read | Monkeypox Outbreak: WHO Convenes Experts to Decide If MPXV Virus Is A Global Health Emergency.

The MoU was signed at a meeting held via video link in the port city of Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province. Huang Wenhui, executive vice chairman of the BRICS PartNIR Innovation Center council, and Marcos Troyjo, president of the NDB, signed the MoU on behalf of the two sides.

According to the MoU, the two sides will give priority to cooperation in such fields as artificial intelligence, the industrial internet, energy conservation and environmental protection through joint research, personnel training and information sharing on infrastructure and sustainable programs.

Also Read | China Using COVID App To Restrict Residents After Rural Banks Run Out of Cash: Report.

Troyjo said that, besides the NDB, the BRICS PartNIR Innovation Center is another concrete mechanism to foster cooperation between BRICS countries.

They both aim to promote the sustainable development agenda, including the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals, in BRICS as well as other emerging markets and developing countries.

"There are lots of potentials for us to collaborate in the areas of information sharing on projects, people training as well as joint research," said the president.

The BRICS PartNIR Innovation Center was launched in Xiamen in December 2020. Headquartered in Shanghai, the NDB was established by BRICS nations. The bank formally opened in July 2015. (ANI/Xinhua)

(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], June 14 (ANI): Finland and Sweden may join the upcoming NATO summit in Madrid as non-member invitees despite Turkey's stance to deny them entry into the alliance, US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said on Tuesday.

"Our goal here is to try and see if we might have Sweden and Finland sitting at the table in Madrid as invitees," Sputnik quoted Smith as saying. "Many of us had hopes that we would see these two countries join us in Madrid as invitees at the table with the other leaders. We don't know if that will come to pass."

Also Read | Monkeypox Outbreak: WHO Convenes Experts to Decide If MPXV Virus Is A Global Health Emergency.

The United States is working behind closed doors to address the concerns Turkey has raised about Finland and Sweden's possible accession to the alliance, Smith said.

The Madrid summit is scheduled to take place from June 28-30 and will include discussions on areas including NATO force posture and support for Ukraine, Smith added.

Also Read | China Using COVID App To Restrict Residents After Rural Banks Run Out of Cash: Report.

On June 12, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the decisions by Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership are historic.

"You have long been our closest partners. You have strong democracies, with capable militaries. And your membership in NATO will increase our shared security," Stoltenberg said in a joint presser with the President of Finland, Sauli Niinisto.

"Finland's and Sweden's membership in NATO would further strengthen the Nordic region of our Alliance. And now, Allies are considering the next steps on your path to NATO," he added.

The NATO Defense Ministers are set to meet on June 15-16 in Brussels. The EU, Georgia, Finland, Sweden and Ukraine are invited to attend the event. (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, Jun 14 (PTI) The Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay on Tuesday invoked Buddhist monk Arahat Mahinda to deliver a symbolic, goodwill message in Sinhala to mark the occasion of Poson Poya Day.

The Poson Poya Day is of the highest significance to Sri Lankan Buddhists, as it marks the historic arrival of Arahat Mahinda Thera to the country with the message of Lord Buddha, paving the way to create a new identity as well as a cultural renaissance.

Also Read | US President Joe Biden to Visit Saudi Arabia, Israel and West Bank in July 2022.

Arahat Mahinda had carried the message of Buddhism from India on a Poson full moon day like today and Sri Lanka was among the first among many countries that India had extended its message of Buddhism, Baglay said in his video message.

The envoy recalled that under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian government included assistance of USD 15 million to Sri Lanka to promote Buddhist diplomacy between the two countries.

Also Read | South Korean Presidential Office Likely To Get New Name Today.

Baglay also spoke about the first international flight that landed at the Kushinagar International Airport in October 2021, which was from Sri Lanka.

The ancient city of Kushinagar, situated in Uttar Pradesh is considered a sacred spot for Buddhist pilgrims as it was believed to be the final resting place of Lord Gautama Buddha.

The envoy's goodwill message in Sinhala comes at a time when Sri Lanka is undergoing its worst economic crisis since its independence from Britain in 1948.

India has provided a USD 55 million Line of Credit to Sri Lanka for the import of fertilisers, in a bid to help the island nation tide over its food scarcity, the Indian High Commission said last week.

The nearly bankrupt country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026.

Sri Lanka's total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Istanbul [Turkey], June 14 (ANI): Islamic scholars and intellectuals gathered in Istanbul on Monday for an international conference to highlight the Uyghur genocide and to support their struggle with the Chinese Communist Party.

"This weekend, Islamic scholars and intellectuals of the Muslim world gathered in Istanbul for an international conference that aims to introduce the #UyghurGenocide to the Muslim World and to mobilize public opinion to support the #Uyghurs in their struggle with #CCP. #ChinasWaronIslam," tweeted Center for Uyghur Studies (CUS).

Also Read | Cat-to-Human Transmission of COVID-19: 32-Year-Old Female Veterinarian Contracts Coronavirus After Being Exposed to Infected Cat.

The Center for Uyghur Studies provides strategic policy recommendations and presents research reports to interfaith entities, related international organizations and governments on the people of East Turkistan/Xinjiang.

The Uyghurs are a predominantly Muslim minority Turkic ethnic group, whose origins can be traced to Central and East Asia.

Also Read | New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Reshuffles Cabinet.

Their native region is considered to be the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China.

Xinjiang is technically an autonomous region within China. The Uyghurs are Muslim, they don't speak Mandarin as their native language, and have ethnicity and culture that is different from that of mainland China.

Over the past few decades, as economic prosperity has come to Xinjiang, it has brought with it in large numbers the majority of Han Chinese, who have cornered the better jobs, and left the Uyghurs feeling their livelihoods and identity were under threat.

This led to sporadic violence, in 2009 culminating in a riot that killed 200 people, mostly Han Chinese, in the region's capital Urumqi.

According to reports, since 2016, over a million Uyghur Muslims have been detained in Xinjiang re-education camps by the Chinese Government.

The main purpose of these re-education camps was to ensure adherence to the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party.

Chinese authorities have been accused of imposing forced labour, systematic forced birth control and torture, and separating children from incarcerated parents.

Several countries, including the US, Canada and the Netherlands, have accused China of committing genocide - defined by international convention as the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".

China has been forcibly mass sterilising Uyghur women to suppress the population, separating children from their families, and attempting to break the cultural traditions of the group.

China denies all allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, claiming its system of "re-education" camps is there to combat separatism and Islamist militancy in the region. (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, Jun 14 (PTI) Sri Lanka will soon resume flights from Jaffna to India, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday as he asked tourism authorities to draw up plans to attract more Indian tourists.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said it has plans to attract 800,000 tourists during the rest of the year.

Also Read | US President Joe Biden to Visit Saudi Arabia, Israel and West Bank in July 2022.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe instructed to resume flights from Jaffna's Palaly airport to Indian destinations to facilitate travel.

This was discussed during a meeting held with the industry stakeholders.

Also Read | South Korean Presidential Office Likely To Get New Name Today.

India in May re-emerged as Sri Lanka's top inbound tourist market with 5,562 arrivals while over 3,723 came from the UK.

However, the total number of international tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in May plunged by almost 52 per cent, in comparison to April and 72 per cent in comparison to March.

The tourist arrivals have lessened due to the effects of the current economic and political situation in the country with main market countries issuing adverse travel advisories.

Sri Lanka is currently facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

The economic crisis has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and other fuel, toilet paper, and even matches, with Sri Lankans being forced to wait in lines lasting hours outside stores to buy fuel and cooking gas.

The island nation's economic downturn was largely blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic with the island nation's tourism revenue and inward remittances waning.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Turkey's and Tunisia's banking systems appear the most at risk to scarcer and more expensive global liquidity, S&P Global Ratings said in an analysis.

The analysis found that Qatari banks could withstand a substantial level of stress. If one factors in the support of the government at a similar size as during the boycott by some GCC states, the banking system appears to be fairly protected from expected volatility in market conditions, particularly given the recent increase in oil and gas prices.

Major central banks are tightening monetary policy faster than initially expected, which will likely tighten and raise the cost of debt on global capital markets.

Some emerging markets exposed

Some emerging markets banking systems are exposed to this phenomena either directly through their own substantial net external debt or indirectly through exposure to corporates or sovereigns.

The report titled, "Which Emerging Market Banking Systems Are Most Exposed To External Funding Stress And Why," looks at banking systems in five emerging markets that S&P considers as potentially vulnerable to the changes in global liquidity conditions: Egypt, Indonesia, Qatar, Tunisia and Turkey.

The change in global liquidity conditions can flow through these banking systems through two main channels:

A direct channel: This involves banking systems with significant external debt. Turkey and, to a lesser extent, Qatar are the two main banking systems exposed to this risk, in S&Ps view. The impact could come from lower rollover rates of external debt and a depletion of liquidity buffers.

External debt

An indirect channel: This includes banking systems exposed to other economic agents with significant external debt, such as the corporate sector (Indonesia) or the sovereign (Tunisia (unrated), and, to a lesser extent, Egypt). The impact could come from lower rollover rates for international capital market debt for the corporates or difficulty in refinancing debt for sovereigns that either would push them to increase their leverage with the local banking system or depreciate their currencies, resulting in economic pressure in those countries.

S&P findings show that Turkey and Tunisia are the countries most vulnerable to changing global liquidity conditions. In Turkey, the impact could be direct and through lower rollover rates for banking system external debt.

Although the banking system appears to have sufficient foreign currency-denominated assets, a large portion is placed with the central bank or the government, which could reduce their usability in a worst-case scenario.
Ullanbataar, Jun 14 (PTI) The four holy Kapilvastu relics of Lord Buddha brought from India were placed with great reverence at the Gandan monastery here on Tuesday for a 11-day exposition amid Buddhist chantings and musical performances on the auspicious occasion of the Mongolian Buddha Day.

The four holy Kapilavastu relics, brought by a 25-member delegation led by Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju, and other relics from Mongolia will remain on display at the Battsagaan temple Assembly Hall of the Gandan Monastery for the Buddhist devotees to seek blessing until June 24.

Also Read | US President Joe Biden to Visit Saudi Arabia, Israel and West Bank in July 2022.

Addressing a large number of Buddhist devotees, monks, Mongolian leaders and foreign dignitaries who attended the ceremony, Rijiju said that "several centuries ago, the spirit of Buddhism traversed from the Himalayan mountains of India into Mongolian steppes and become our precious shared heritage. This spiritual connect continues to bind the people of our two nations."

He said that the Mongolian Buddhist relics are being displayed here in Gandan Monastery alongside Indian relics, "reinforcing this unique spiritual link between our two brotherly nations."

Also Read | South Korean Presidential Office Likely To Get New Name Today.

Let us all join in prayer that hatred and violence should find no place in our thoughts. May peace, compassion and good sense prevail in the world, may teachings and philosophy of Buddha provide a healing touch to the sufferings of so many people across this world, he was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the Ministry of Culture.

I am told that Mongolians were able to draw solace from the telecast of 55-episode Indian Buddha Serial that was dubbed in Mongolian language and it continues to inspire people to the path of Buddhism," he said.

The minister also informed that India has reprinted 100 sets of 108 volume Sacred Mongolian Kanjur which will soon be distributed to monasteries and other Buddhist institutions.

Mongolian Parliament Speaker Gombojav Zandanshatar, Mongolia's culture minister Nomin Chinbat and Khamba Nomun Khan of the Gandan monastery, 17 MPs and incarnate lamas along with the delegation members from India were present at the ceremony.

The Mongolian Parliament Speaker thanked the Indian government for allowing the exposition of the holy relics for 11 days and giving the people of Mongolia the opportunity to pay their respects and seek blessings.

The Kapilavastu relics are among the 22 special relics kept in the National Museum of the Culture Ministry.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bucharest, Jun 14 (AP) French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Romania on Tuesday to hold bilateral talks and meet with French troops stationed there who are part of NATO's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Macron's visit to Romania, a European Union member since 2007 and a NATO member since 2004, marked the beginning of a regional tour that includes a visit Wednesday to non-NATO Moldova. Both countries share long borders with embattled Ukraine.

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden to Attend I2U2 Virtual Summit Next Week: White House.

Nobody knows what is in store for us in the coming weeks and months, but we will do all we can to put an end to the Russian invasion, to help Ukrainians and continue with negotiations, Macron said at the eastern Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, where he was greeted by Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.

In a brief address to French soldiers deployed at the NATO base, Macron praised them for honouring our commitment to defend Europe as war is being waged again.

Also Read | Monkeypox Outbreak: WHO Convenes Experts to Decide If MPXV Virus Is A Global Health Emergency.

France has around 500 soldiers deployed in Romania and has been a key player in NATO's bolstering of forces on the alliance's eastern flank following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24. In May, France deployed an air defence system to Romania that NATO said can ensure protection to the forces operating within the area.

In the long term, Macron said we need to be able to protect ourselves and went on to say NATO's multinational battlegroup in Romania  which includes French, Belgian and American military personnel  will serve as a powerful deterrent on Europe's eastern flank.

On Wednesday, Macron will meet with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at the air base for official talks in preparation for a European Council meeting in Brussels, as well as a key NATO Strategic Concept summit in Madrid later this month.

French spokesperson Olivia Gregoire said Macron is expected to address the consequences of the war in Ukraine, from a surge of Ukrainian refugees to the spike in energy prices and the disruptions to global grain markets.

He will also discuss Ukraine's and Moldova's demands to join the EU ahead of a European summit next week, she said. France currently holds the presidency of the EU Council.

Macron will underline the importance of the strength of the European project in these troubled moments, she said.

After Romania, Macron will head to Chisinau, Moldova's capital, where he will meet with President Maia Sandu. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Lahore [Pakistan], June 14 (ANI): The Lahore Special Court on Monday said that "no evidence of corruption, misuse of authority, and bribery" was so far found on record against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz, in the Rs 16 billion money laundering case.

The court further said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had "mala fide" intentions for arresting Hamza and PM Shehbaz, reported Geo News.

Also Read | Cat-to-Human Transmission of COVID-19: 32-Year-Old Female Veterinarian Contracts Coronavirus After Being Exposed to Infected Cat.

The order said that the FIA started investigating Hamza and PM Shehbaz when they were already in the NAB's custody. It noted that they were interrogated twice -- on December 18, 2022, and January 8, 2021.

Following this, the FIA did not interrogate them for the next five months. Once they were released from NAB's custody, the court said FIA asked them to appear before it.

Also Read | New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Reshuffles Cabinet.

"This shows that the prosecution wanted to arrest them again after their release, which shows its mal intent," the special court's order said.

The FIA had alleged that PM Shehbaz and his son Hamza were involved in corruption worth Rs 16 billion.

In a written order for confirming their pre-arrest bail, the court said the FIA wanted to arrest PM Shehbaz and CM Hamza after they secured bails in the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) cases.

The special court, which was hearing the money laundering case filed by the FIA against Shehbaz and Hamza, granted the two pre-arrest bail last week.

"...allegation about gratification, corrupt practice, abuse of official authority, kickbacks, and commission requires further probe during the trial as at this stage cogent evidence is not available," the order read.

The order said that the investigation office (IO), to date, has not mentioned in his diary that the petitioners were required to be in custody for further investigation, reported Geo News.

The investigation of the case has been completed and the charge sheet has also been submitted, therefore, the arrests are not required, the special court said, explaining its decision to grant the petitioners bail.

The order mentioned that the statements of the 64 people recorded in the case -- who had deposited the amounts -- relate to Rs 60.7 million and not Rs 16 billion -- as claimed by the FIA.

It added that in the statements of the 64 depositors, none mentioned the names of the prime minister and the chief minister. "Moreover, said statements do not spell out any bribery, kickbacks, or commission, etc." (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], June 14 (ANI): The Quad and the BRICS, the two rivals, are competing with each other as they find India one of its key members among the countries.

The Quad has a rival, BRICS, which assembles ministers from Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa - and India and the leaders see India as the key member for the obvious reason of countering China.

Also Read | South Korean Presidential Office Likely To Get New Name Today.

Tokyo recently hosted the "Quad". The leaders of Japan, the United States, India and Australia had met at all is quite an achievement, especially when one of the key members, India, is taking a stance on Russia's war on Ukraine so different from that of the others.

India had abstained from voting on the UN Security Council resolution over Ukraine.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: 7 Civilians Tortured and Brutally Shot in Head by Russians in Kiev.

Notably, the Quad has a sort of rival to BRICS, which since 2006 has assembled ministers from Brazil, Russia, India and China and which in 2011, will add South Africa.

At first, the BRICS summits appeared to symbolize the growing importance of these big emerging economies, reflecting also in a Western-centric sort of way the fact that the idea of "the BRICS" was originally created by a British chief economist at the American investment bank Goldman Sachs as an intellectual piece of marketing, according to Asia Times.

This year, BRICS will be chaired by China.

As compared with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, the BRICS summits look almost technical in nature. The Quad was initiated by Shinzo Abe in 2007 with the idea of influencing or reshaping the grand stage of geopolitics, using joint military exercises between the four countries as a way to emphasize the Quad's role as a counterweight in the Indo-Pacific against China's growing role.

It is to be noted that India is a member both of the Quad and of the BRICS groupings.

The quite intense annual program of BRICS ministerial meetings and other events shows that even if this grouping is largely ignored by the international media, it nevertheless has established quite a strong habit and necessity of consultation and collaboration among the five member countries.

Japan, the United States and Australia see India as the key member for the obvious reason of countering China. But while India does see the need to counter or deter China, it plainly also sees a purpose in consulting quite intensively with China through the BRICS framework, Asia Times reported further.

And, as everyone has been aware since Russia's action in Ukraine on February 24, India remains dependent on Russia, which is China's "strategic partner," for military supplies and technology, and has refused to join in any sanctions or condemnations of Russia's behaviour.

The February's joint statement between Russia and China about that strategic partnership, moreover, talks of an aim of deepening collaboration between those two countries and India. (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], June 14 (ANI): The Chairman of Sri Lanka's Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), M M C Ferdinando has resigned days after he alleged before the parliamentary panel that Prime Minister Narendra Modi influenced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to award a wind power project to the Adani Group in this island nation.

The top Sri Lankan official's resignation was announced by the Sri Lankan power and energy minister Kanchana Wijesekera on Twitter. He wrote that Ferdinando's resignation had been accepted and that he would be replaced by the vice-chairman as the head of Sri Lanka's Central Electricity Board (CEB).

Also Read | South Korean Presidential Office Likely To Get New Name Today.

Ferdinando's testimony before parliament's Committee for Public Enterprises (COPE) last Friday sparked a political controversy with the opposition in both Sri Lanka and India.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Ferdinando apologized unconditionally for his recent statement before the COPE meeting regarding the awarding of the Mannar Wind Power project to Indian conglomerate Adani, The Island, a local newspaper reported.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: 7 Civilians Tortured and Brutally Shot in Head by Russians in Kiev.

"During this discussion, I became so emotional due to pressures and unreasonable allegations levelled against me to issue this official letter of request. Therefore, due to unexpected pressure and emotions, I was compelled without limitation to express the word 'India agamathi bala kara bawa kiwwa' (stressed by the Hon Prime Minister of India), which is totally incorrect. Hence, I wish to withdraw the relevant statement and record my apology unconditionally," the statement cited by the Sri Lankan newspaper read.

Ferdinando, who is the former Secretary to the Ministry of Power, told the committee that the President had informed him to award the tender to the Adani Group as there was pressure from the Indian Government to do so.

Rajapaksa issued a statement denying that he had exerted any pressure as regards the power project.

"Re a statement made by the #lka CEB Chairman at a COPE committee hearing regarding the award of a Wind Power Project in Mannar, I categorically deny authorization to award this project to any specific person or entity. I trust responsible communication in this regard will follow," Gotabaya Rajapaksa Tweeted on June 11.

Sri Lanka is currently in an acute shortage of power.

India has sent assistance worth several billion US dollars to rescue the money-strapped Sri Lankan government accompanied by shiploads of humanitarian aid, cooking gas, large quantities of fuel, and medicinal supplies.

India is becoming a stronger and more mutually beneficial partner to Sri Lanka. Apart from assistance during the pandemic and fertilizer chaos, India is also donating basic products to island nations.

On June 3, High Commissioner to Colombo Gopal Baglay handed over a total of 3.3 tons of essential medical supplies to the 1990 Suwaseriya Ambulance Service.Baglay said that Jaishankar was apprised of the looming shortage of medical supplies faced by the Foundation during his visit to the Suwaseriya Headquarters in Colombo in March 2022.

Earlier on May 27, Acting High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka Vinod K Jacob handed over a consignment of over 25 tons of medical supplies to Minister of Health, Keheliya Rambukwella in Colombo.

Taking to Twitter, the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka said that the consignment is valued at close to Rs 260 million.

These humanitarian supplies are in continuation of the Government of India's ongoing support to the people of Sri Lanka in multiple forms such as financial assistance, forex support, material supply and many more. These efforts prove that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Neighborhood First' policy which places people-to-people engagement is still active. (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, Jun 14 (PTI) An influential American Senator in a meeting with India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu has raised objections to high tariff imposed by New Delhi on pecan, his office said.

The issue was raised by Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff during a video meet with Sandhu last week, it said on Monday.

Also Read | Cat-to-Human Transmission of COVID-19: 32-Year-Old Female Veterinarian Contracts Coronavirus After Being Exposed to Infected Cat.

Responding to the needs of Georgia farmers, Ossoff objected to India's high tariffs on pecans, which are hurting these farmers who export pecans to international markets.

Senator Ossoff and Ambassador Sandhu agreed to work together to make improvements to the US-India trade relationship, a media release said.

Also Read | New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Reshuffles Cabinet.

Earlier this month, Senator Ossoff had talked to Georgia's pecan farmers in Tift and Turner counties who expressed concern over India's high pecan tariffs.

Georgia produces about one-third of all American pecans, his office said in a press release.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Patna, June 14: A special court in Patna on Tuesday convicted Bahubali MLA Anant Singh in the AK-47 recovery case of 2019.

The MP-MLA court verdict was announced by judge Triloki Dubey. The quantum of punishment will be announced on June 21. The maximum imprisonment in this case would be 10 years.

Anant Singh, the Bahubali MLA of RJD from Mokama, is currently lodged in Beur jail of Patna. A team of Patna police headed by then City SP Lipi Singh raided the house of Anant Singh in his native village Nadwa under Barh police station on August 16, 2019. As per the police theory, the raiding team had seized an AK-47 riffle, two hand grenades and 26 live cartridges of AK-47 from his house. Bihar: Several Trains Cancelled, Diverted on Patna-Kolkata Route After Protests at Barhiya Railway Station.

During the hearing of this case, the prosecution side produced 13 witnesses and their statements were recorded in the court. The defense side also produced 34 witnesses.

The hearing of the case was completed on Monday and the judge has reserved his decision for Tuesday.

The house of Nadwa village belongs to Anant Singh but he was not living in it. The house was given to a caretaker to look after the premises.

The AK-47 weapon was kept in a hutment behind the big box. The hand grenades were recovered from the adjoining hut.

The police said that AK-47 was evenly wrapped with a plastic bag followed by layers of carbons to avoid detection in metal detectors during transportation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 14, 2022 04:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
New Delhi, June 14: The Congress is likely to attend the meeting of political parties convened by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday for deliberations over a joint opposition candidate for the post of President, sources said. They said Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Surjewala may attend the meeting on behalf of the party.

Banerjee has convened the meeting on June 15 at the Constitution Club in the national capital for discussions to come out with a consensus Opposition candidate. Several opposition parties are likely to attend the meeting and take forward the discussion on the joint candidate.

The election of the President of India will be held on July 18. With numbers on its side, the ruling NDA has half the votes of the electorate and its candidate can make it through easily with the support of some independent parties like the BJD, AIADMK and YSR-CP.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday said the Southwest monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of the Arabian Sea and some parts of Gujarat state, and the entire Konkan region.
If a passenger is denied boarding despite having a valid ticket and has reported at the airport on time, certain regulations have to be followed by the airline concerned, as per the DGCA. In case the airline concerned is able to arrange an alternative flight for the affected passenger within an hour, no compensation is to be paid, the DGCA regulations state.
Saudi Arabia's Jadwa Investment has acquired a majority stake of 70% in Kuwait-based Dabdoob Holdings, owner of the largest toy e-commerce application in the GCC.

This was Jadwa Investments first regional venture capital investment through Jadwa E-Commerce Opportunities Fund.

Founded in December 2017 in Kuwait, Dabdoob has evolved into a specialised e-commerce platform for toys and gifts, focusing on children aged 0-12 years old. After becoming the market leader in Kuwait, Dabdoob embarked on a regional expansion strategy by rolling out their best-in-class offering in all GCC countries, and plans to expand further across the wider Middle East and North Africa region.

Next stage of growth

Commenting on the investment, Tariq Al-Sudairy, Managing Director and CEO of Jadwa Investment, said: Dabdoobs management has demonstrated an exceptional ability to capitalise on important industry trends since the companys establishment, and we look forward to contributing to Dabdoobs next stage of growth through this partnership.

Saad Al-Saif, Head of Private Equity at Jadwa Investment, added: As private equity investors, we scan emerging trends and look to invest in and empower strong teams. Dabdoob has a well-recognised brand, strong product offering, unique wrapping, and same-day delivery. Together, these comprise a formula for success in the toys and gifts space.

Speaking for Dabdoob, Mohammad Al-Hajeri, CEO, added: Jadwas investment in Dabdoob constitutes an important milestone for the company, and a launch pad towards our next phase of growth. With Jadwas like-minded partnership and full-backing, we are now keen to accelerate the implementation of our strategic initiatives and expansion plans across the wider Mena region.-- TradeArabia News Service
Barricading underway & security forces deployed near Akbar Road in Delhi with Section 144 in CrPC imposed in the area. pic.twitter.com/56XKAMR2Xg ANI (@ANI) June 14, 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.)
West Bengal legislative Assembly passes West Bengal Private University Laws Amendment Bill 2022. The Bill seeks to replace Governor with the state's Education Minister as Visitor of private universities. There was no voting as BJP had walked out. ANI (@ANI) June 14, 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.)
Beijing, June 14: Authorities in the Chinese province of Henan are suspected to be restricting some residents' movements using a Covid app, following rare protests, BBC reported.

Multiple people say they are being forced to quarantine, blocked from public transport or entering buildings.

Most appear to be customers of four rural banks which had run into issues providing cash withdrawals, report Chinese media outlets.

The banks froze deposits, prompting angry demonstrations last month, BBC reported.

China's banking and insurance regulator has since ordered an investigation into the banks.

More than 39 billion yuan ($6bn) is believed to have been frozen, affecting hundreds of thousands of customers. COVID-19 in China: Shanghai Reopens Commercial Outlets With COVID-19 Resurgence Under Control.

In many Chinese cities, residents use a "health code" app to enter buildings and shops, use public transport, or leave the city. Users must scan a QR code and show a colour-coded "health status" on their phone before entering.

If this status turns red, it indicates the person has tested positive for Covid recently or is suspected to have Covid, and must be quarantined for 14 days, BBC reported.

On Tuesday, some residents found their status had turned red when they tried to enter train stations, buildings, or hotels.

It is not known how many have been affected, but Chinese reports indicate that the issue has occurred in several towns and villages in Henan.

Customers of the four banks who travelled from other provinces to Henan's capital city Zhengzhou have also encountered the same issue.

One bank customer in Zhengzhou told BBC Chinese that her status was red even though she had never been in contact with a confirmed case, and her most recent tests showed she was negative.

She added that she was visited by health officials who asked her to stay at home and refused to explain why her status had suddenly turned red.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 14, 2022 08:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The Yellowstone National Park flood on Monday prompted the closure of all the area's entrances as well as the destruction of some of the roads in the popular tourist attraction.

6/13/22 at 11:12 a.m. UPDATE: All entrances to Yellowstone National Park CLOSED temporarily due to heavy flooding, rockslides, extremely hazardous conditions; Stay informed about road status and weather conditions. More: https://t.co/mymnqGMNN9 https://t.co/AIEGadQoZu  Yellowstone National Park (@YellowstoneNPS) June 13, 2022

The National Park Service announced on Monday that the closure of the park's entrances was because of the "unprecedented rainfall causing substantial flooding, rockslides, and mudslides on roadways," ABC News reported.

The Yellowstone National Park spans 2,219,789 acres of land mostly in Wyoming, but also in Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone National Park officials were not able to determine when the famous tourist spot would reopen, NPR reported, citing Associated Press.

Superintendent Cam Sholly said that they cannot assess the damage in the park until the flood waters subside.

"It is likely that the northern loop will be closed for a substantial amount of time," Sholly added.

The park service in the Yellowstone National Park confirmed that some parts of the roads along the area have been washed out by the floods.

Meanwhile, other parts of the roads were covered in mud or rocks. The Yellowstone National Park released an aerial footage acquired by KBZK, showing the aftermath of the tragedy in the area.

The footage showed the current condition of the North Entrance Road through the Gardner Canyon between Gardiner, Montana, and Mammoth Hot Springs. The video from the park revealed a scene featuring the raging current of the Yellowstone River with its murky water, with some parts of the roads destroyed.

Bridge washes away. Heavy flooding currently happening in Gardiner, Montana. All entrances to Yellowstone National Park are closed until further notice (June 2022) pic.twitter.com/MeUpJufRqz  Catastrophic Failure (@ohshidt) June 13, 2022

Another footage circulating on Twitter showed that heavy flooding washed away a bridge in the affected area.

READ NEXT: Florida: WWE Legend Jeff Hardy Arrested | What Crimes Did He Commit?

Yellowstone National Park Flood Prompts Evacuations

Some residents near Yellowstone National Park were forced to evacuate due to severe storms across Montana, according to Montana Public Radio.

Residents in parts of Livingston were under a pre-evacuation order on Monday afternoon. Livingston City Fire Department advised the people from the eastern part of town near the famous tourist attraction to "make preparations for evacuation" due to the high chances of flooding.

Red Lodge was also subjected to evacuations, as the weather conditions caused basements to be swamped and wash out bridges in the area. The Red Lodge Community Church reportedly served as an evacuation spot since Sunday.

"We were not prepared for this by any means whatsoever, and we still don't know what's going to happen next," Pastor Pam Peterson said.

'Unprecedented' Overflowing of Yellowstone River

The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed that heavy rains on the snowpack over Beartooth/Absaroka mountains "resulted in unprecedented rises" on the Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs and Livingston.

The flooding in the Yellowstone National Park pushed the said river to its highest record levels and it continued to rise as of Monday.

Scientists noted that they cannot direct the link of a single weather event to climate change without extensive study. However, they contended that climate change is responsible for extreme events, including storms, floods, and wildfires.

READ NEXT: U.S. Navy Announces 'Safety Pause' Amid Helicopter Crashes in California

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Yellowstone Flooding Takes Out Bridge, Washes Out Roads - From 23 ABC News | KERO
The second day of the January 6 hearings has revealed a series of taped testimony from former U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign advisers and lawyers.

NPR reported that the House select committee used lots of footage from its taped interviews with professionals from Trump's 2020 campaign, including Trump campaign manager, Bill Stepien; senior adviser, Jason Miller; and multiple lawyers

The group of campaign professionals all claimed they tried to tell Trump the truth, which was that the outlook was bleak, he should not declare victory on election night, and that he was going to lose.

They also noted that Trump's election fraud claims were "bogus and silly," "idiotic," "stupid," "complete nonsense," and "crazy stuff," as described by the former Attorney General Bill Barr.

Barr earlier said during the Monday viewing audience that the fraud claims were "doing a great great disservice to the country."

Former Acting Attorney General Richard Donoghue said that when they debunked the president's claims, Trump would not fight them on it and would just "move on to another."

The former president started listening to three figures, including Rudy Giuliani, who Stepien and Miller described as "intoxicated" on election night. It also included lawyer Sidney Powell and former trade adviser Peter Navarro.

READ NEXT: Prime Time January 6 Hearing: Here's What Ivanka Trump Testified That Irked Donald Trump

Second Day of January 6 Hearings

Reuters noted that Stepien told the House select committee that he and other aides viewed themselves as "Team Normal" as they tried to steer Trump away from fraud claims being "peddled" by Giuliani and other lawyers.

Stepien said in a videotaped testimony that he did not think what was happening was honest or professional.

The committee also showed what witnesses said were a series of "outlandish fraud allegations" that prove to be false.

The outlandish allegations included a "suspicious black suitcase," which contained fake ballots that turned out to be a local election lock box in Georgia. It also includes claims of computer chips being swapped into voting machines that automatically awarded Trump votes to Biden, as well as rampant fraudulent voting.

Amanda Wick, an investigator with the select committee, said that a number of Trump fundraising appeals based on voter fraud claims raised $250 million. Nearly $100 million was raised in the first week after the election.

Legal experts noted that the said fundraising activities could have been fraudulent.

Meanwhile, Trump repeatedly denied anything illegal in relation to the January 6 events.

Donald Trump on Capitol Riot Hearing

Donald Trump has released a 12-page rebuttal to testimony and evidence presented by House select committee probing the January 6 insurrection.



He accused Democrats of seeking to distract from a series of domestic issues facing the country, according to The Hill report. Trump said that 17 months after the events of the Capitol riot, Democrats are "unable to offer solutions."

The former president added that the Democrats are hoping that the January 6 hearings "will somehow alter their failing prospects."

READ MORE: Donald Trump Admits He Didn't Win Presidential Election 2020 During Interview With Presidential Historians

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: WATCH LIVE: Jan. 6 Committee hearings - Day 2 - from PBS NewsHour


The government of Cuba imposed sentences on nearly 400 people who participated in the July 11 and 12's anti-government protests that occurred last year.

According to Al Jazeera, at least 381 people received the sentences from Cuba who took to the streets of Havana and other towns to call on the island's government over several issues.

The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that of that number, at least 297 were sentenced to between five and 25 years of jail time for crimes of sedition, sabotage, robbery with force, and public disorder.

The prosecutor's office noted that 84 people, including 15 young people, were not given sentences. However, they were given the option to commute their sentences with community service, France 24 reported.

Those who received sentences on Monday include at least 16 young people aged 16 to 18.

Cubans legally reach their adulthood at 18 years old, However, the island's criminal responsibility is applied at the age of 16.

"The Attorney General's Office continues to inform the public about the legal response to the events of July 11, 2021, which attacked the constitutional order and the stability of our socialist state," the statement from the office reads.

The office also warned about tougher sentences that will be imposed on those who will breach their sanctions or who will engage in criminal offenses.

READ NEXT: Brazil's Police Discover Items Belonging to Missing Pair in Amazon | Here's What They Found

Other People Charged in Cuba Over Protests

In January, prosecutors in Cuba announced that at least 790 people were charged in connection to last year's protests on the island.

Some of the individuals charged in January could face up to 30 years of imprisonment if they are convicted.

The nearly 800 people charged in January faced charges of sedition, public disorder, theft, violent attacks, and other crimes.

Prosecutors in Cuba previously said that crimes of sedition have "severe penalties," but the consequences to be given to the demonstrators will correspond to the level of violence they demonstrated.

The U.S. Embassy in Cuba slammed the island's for the hundreds of charges announced in January, calling them "unconscionable."

"They will not be able to crush the people's demands for a better future. We are all listening to the families when they are speaking about these violations of justice," the U.S. Embassy noted during that time.

What Caused Cuba's Protests?

According to Associated Press, the protests on the island erupted over the people's demand on shortages of food, medicines, and repeated electricity outages.

There were also calls for political change, as well as a faster pace of vaccinations.

Meanwhile, Cuba's government blames the hardships experienced by the island on the U.S. sanctions that cost the island to lose billions.

The government of Cuba has committed a crackdown on the protests, but their method prompted condemnation from rights groups.

In October, the Human Rights Watch accused Havana of "systematically engaging in arbitrary detention, ill-treatment of detainees, and abuse-ridden criminal prosecutions.

"Peaceful protesters and other critics have been systematically detained, held incommunicado and abused in horrendous conditions, and subjected to sham trials," Juan Pappier, the group's senior Americas researcher said in a statement.

READ NEXT: Yellowstone National Park Flood: Tragedy Closes All 4 Park Entrances, Destroys Roads

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Inside The Anti-Government Protests in Cuba - From NBC News
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has allowed school districts to start arming employees as soon as this fall through a bill he signed into law on Monday.

According to Associated Press, the law requires up to 24 hours of training before an employee can go armed and up to eight hours of annual training.

The Ohio School Safety Center must approve the training programs. DeWine noted that he was ordering the center to require a maximum of 24 hours and the eight hours.

The Republican governor added that schools could provide additional training if they wish.

DeWine also outlined several other school safety measures he and the lawmakers have promoted, including $100 million for security upgrades at schools and $5 million for upgrades in colleges.

Ohio is also adding 28 employees to the school safety center to work with districts on safety issues and provide training under the new law.

According to DeWine, the state has also given $1.2 billion in wellness funding for schools to address mental health and other issues.

READ NEXT: Texas Stepfather Beaten to Death by Teens After He Sexually Abused Their 9-Year-Old Sister

Ohio Arming School Teachers and Staff

In a news briefing on Monday, DeWine said the 700 hours of training are intended to broadly train law enforcement, but the vast majority of the training is not "really relevant to school safety, directly."

Thus, the bill reduced the hours of training required for armed school personnel from 700 to 24, CNN reported.

The Republican governor cited some examples of unnecessary training, including patrolling in a police cruiser, stopping a vehicle, investigating a traffic accident, and operating a radar.

House Bill 99 was first introduced in February last year. However, it was quickly pushed through the GOP-controlled Ohio legislature at DeWine's behest after the Texas school shooting.

DeWine said the new law is giving schools a choice to make the best decision they make with the best information they have based on their particular circumstances.

He added that his preference remains that school districts hire armed school resource officers, saying the law is another tool for districts that want to protect children.

Ohio Bill on Guns

According to CBS News, the mayors of Ohio's biggest cities, including Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, have planned an afternoon press conference to highlight gun violence in their communities and their differences with the governor over gun issues.

Nan Whaley, DeWine's Democratic opponent for governor, denounced DeWine's decision to sign the bill and has also planned to hold a news conference.

Democrats noted that the law "sends the wrong message" after the massacre of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas. On the other hand, Republicans argued that the measure could prevent such shootings.

Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) of Ohio also opposed the legislation. Mike Weinman, the director of government affairs for the FOP, said that teachers would not have sufficient training to use firearms.

It is also opposed by major law enforcement groups, gun control advocates, and the state's teacher unions. Meanwhile, it is supported by a number of police departments and school districts.

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: Ohio Gun Laws: 'Constitutional Carry' Goes Into Effect; DeWine Signs Bill Allowing Armed Teachers - From WBNC 10 TV
At least seven bodies suspected to be members of the Gulf Cartel were found dead by authorities in one of Mexico's famous tourist spots.

According to New York Post, the seven bodies were dumped in the Huasteca region, a destination popular among tourists for its waterfalls and crystalline rivers.

Independent reported that the group of men was found dead on a roadway late Thursday. The corpses also had an ominous message on them.

"This is what happened to me for working with the Gulf [Cartel]," read the warning scribbled on the dead bodies. The messages were reportedly signed by "Valles Operation O.B.," a reference to a rival gang.

The bodies reportedly had extensive bruising, suggesting they were beaten. Prosecutors in San Luis Potosi state believed that the men did not appear to be from the township of Aquismon, where they were discovered, and may have been killed elsewhere before being dumped in the rural area.

According to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram, the Gulf Cartel has used intimidation and extreme violence to maintain control of its territories in northeast Mexico and smuggle deadly drugs into communities across the U.S. for decades, CBS News reported.

READ NEXT: Cuba Imposes Sentences on Nearly 400 Demonstrators on Last Year's Anti-Government Protests

Gulf Cartel Boss 'El Gordo' Extradited From Mexico to the U.S.

Last month, the former leader of the Gulf Cartel, Mario Cardenas Guillen, also known as "El Gordo" or "El M-1," was extradited from Mexico to the U.S. to stand trial in a Texas court.

According to reports, El Gordo is facing drug trafficking charges in Texas. As a cartel leader, he is reportedly responsible for the large-scale importation of cocaine into Houston, Texas.

Cardenas Guillen previously controlled the Gulf Cartel with Eduardo Costilla, also known as "El Cos," who was arrested in 2012 and extradited to the U.S. in 2015.

El Gordo has reportedly run the cartel since his brother, former leader Antonio Cardenas Guillen or "Tony Tormenta," was killed in a gunfight with the Mexican government in 2010.

Cardenas Guillen is also the brother of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, a co-leader of the Gulf Cartel who was arrested in 2003 and extradited to the U.S. in 2007.

According to reports, El Gordo was initially arrested and convicted on organized crime charges in 1995. He was imprisoned in Matamoros city, across the U.S.-Mexico border from Brownsville, Texas, where he was caught organizing large shipments of cocaine and marijuana from behind bars.

El Gordo was then reassigned to a prison in Jalisco state and was released in 2007 after he finished his sentence. He reportedly rejoined the Gulf Cartel after his release. Because of this, the DEA has maintained him on its fugitive list for violations of federal law on conspiracy charges.

Cardenas Guillen was arrested a second time in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas in 2012. He was reportedly caught with weapons, ammunition, and four small envelopes containing cocaine.

El Gordo, who was incarcerated at the Altiplano maximum-security federal prison in Mexico State, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April last year.

Factions of Gulf Cartel in Mexico Agreed to a Truce

In July last year, three of the warring factions of Mexico's Gulf Cartel announced that they had reached an agreement on a truce, which would postpone the shootings and killings in the state of Tamaulipas.

Tamaulipas state police had confirmed the printed banners with slogans like "Long live Peace!," which were posted by Gulf Cartel factions in the border city of Reynosa and other cities.

The banners were printed with red, white, and green letters like the colors in Mexico's flag and were signed by the Metros, the Scorpions, and the Reds - the three main factions involved in the decade-old turf war.

It was unclear if the Cyclones, a fourth faction, was part of the agreement.

READ MORE: Yellowstone National Park Flood: Tragedy Closes All Park Entrances, Destroys Roads

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Mexican Cartels: The Gulf Cartel - From RANE
A former Mexican political advisor was beaten and burned alive by an angry mob of more than 200 villagers in Mexico in a case of mistaken identity.

According to Daily Mail, Daniel Picazo was visiting his grandfather's home in Huauchinango town in Puebla state when about 30 people cornered him near the residence.

The villagers falsely accused the 31-year-old former advisor of the National Action Party of child trafficking. Mexican network TV Azteca reported that Picazo, a lawyer and an adviser to a lawmaker in the State of Mexico, was accused of kidnapping a child after false rumors spread in chat rooms on WhatsApp.

Picazo was with a male individual who managed to escape and hide in a nearby building. The angry mob attacked both men after forcing them out of Picazo's pickup truck.

The villagers then dragged the former Mexican political advisor to a local park, where the police attempted to rescue him and put him in a patrol car, but the angry mob outmatched them. Picazo was attacked once again in the field and was doused with gasoline while he was still alive.

The former political advisor's parents told Radio Formula that their son was walking down the street with his hands tied behind his back and burns to his body before he got on his knees and begged for help.

In a statement, the Huauchinango City Council said it strongly disapproves of this act and maintains that criminal behavior must be judged under the procedures of the rule of law.

READ NEXT: El Chapo Trial: Sinaloa Cartel Boss to Ask Supreme Court to Review His Case to Overturn Drug Trafficking Conviction

Former Mexican Political Advisor Falsely Accused of Child Trafficking by Villagers in Mexico

According to El Pais, around 30 locals took part in the attack while another 200 stood by and watched. Daniel Picazo's sister posted a message on Twitter after his death, saying that her brother was a professional "who loved travel and life."

She then went on to say that she was "disgusted" at the people responsible for killing Picazo. She added that her brother was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Police and health workers rushed to the site. However, the angry mob had hindered them from reaching the former Mexican political advisor.

Picazo has worked for the Chamber of Deputies' Justice Commission from 2018 to 2021. He was hired as an advisor to National Action Party Congresswoman Johana Felipe towards the end of 2021. He left her office in March.

Puebla authorities had made no arrests as of Monday evening for the death of Daniel Picazo.

Lynching in Mexico

The Huachinango municipality said that "this is not justice, but barbarism," adding that authorities are already leading the probe to determine responsibility.

The municipality posted a statement on Facebook on Sunday, advising people not to fall for the fake information and be sure to verify all types of information being spread through any media.

Mob justice or lynching is not uncommon in parts of Mexico. According to CBS News, seven people were beaten and burned alive also in Puebla in 2019.

In 2018, two men were burned to death in Puebla after rumors had spread on WhatsApp that they were child abductors, which turned out to be false later on.

Jose Gil, the deputy minister for Information and Cyber Intelligence in Mexico City, said social media plays a role in many crimes. Gil noted that it could alter a community by spreading false information that many perceive as truthful.

READ MORE: 2 Cops Associated With El Mencho's Jalisco Cartel Get More Than 77 Years in Prison in Mexico

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Lynching, Vigilante Attacks on the Rise in Mexico - From Al Jazeera English
A one-year-old Georgia baby was kidnapped and killed by her father before he committed suicide behind a church.

According to Crime Online, Darian Javaris Bennett, 38, kidnapped the girl after he shot 63-year-old Peggy Burns and her 38-year-old daughter Keashawn Washington, the mother of the one-year-old baby.

Newton County Sheriff's Office said they went to 95 Chandler Field Drive in Covington at around 11:14 p.m. Saturday on a call of a person who had been shot, WSB-TV reported.

Responding deputies found Burns with multiple gunshot wounds, including at least one to her head. Burns reportedly told police before being taken to a hospital that Bennett had shot her and her daughter and kidnapped the child.

Washington's two other kids, ages 11 and 12, were inside the home at the time of the shooting, but they were unharmed. Bennett was not their father. That night, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) issued an Amber Alert for the baby named Jaquari Bennett.

READ NEXT: 7 Bodies of Gulf Cartel Members Found Dead in Mexico's Famous Tourist Spot

Suspect Committed Suicide After Killing Georgia Baby

At around 7 a.m. Sunday, authorities reportedly received a 911 call from Darian Javaris Bennett telling them he intended to kill his daughter and himself.

Police used GPS to locate Bennett's black Honda Accord and found the car at the Riverdale United Methodist Church at the corner of Riverdale Drive and Adams Drive, where they heard gunshots in the rear of the building.

Police then went to the back of the church and found the bodies of Bennett and the baby with gunshot wounds. Both were declared dead. The sheriff's office said Bennett shot the girl before turning the gun on himself, Fox 5 reported.

'We Don't Know What Triggered This,' Georgia Officers Say

Detectives are currently working to understand what led to the killings. Officers admitted they are still clueless about what caused the tragedy involving the Georgia baby and her family.

"We just don't know what triggered this. We don't know if there are any mental issues," Newton County Sheriff's Sgt. Jack Redlinger told WAGA-TV. Redlinger noted that he was not familiar with any arrests in connection to Bennett.

"I'm not familiar with his background. Hopefully, in a couple days, we'll have that information," he said.

According to investigators, Washington died while Burns, who was in critical condition, was being treated at Atlanta Medical Center. The GBI also confirmed the Georgia baby's death in a tweet on Sunday.

"Baby Jaquari has died. The Newton County Sheriff's Office is handling the investigation," the GBI tweeted.

According to WSB-TV, Darian Javaris Bennett has just been released from jail. Bennett was reportedly arrested for threatening to kill the baby's mother two months before.

Pastor Phillip McPherson Armstrong of the Riverdale First United Methodist Church was shocked when a cop told him that Bennett shot and killed his daughter before he killed himself behind the church.

"It's just a sad commentary of what's going on in our world today," Armstrong told WSB-TV.

READ MORE: Yellowstone National Park Flood: Tragedy Closes All Park Entrances, Destroys Roads

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Father In Georgia Fatally Shot 1-Year-Old Child, Her Mother - From NBC News
Bahrain Airport Company, the operator and managing body of Bahrain International Airport (BIA), has laid the foundation stone for the Express Cargo Village on a 25,000-sq-m area within the BIA complex.

The Express Cargo Village is a sophisticated logistics platform that provides a one-stop shop for express cargo operators, each of which will have their own premises within the facility.

An advanced logistics hub, it includes buildings dedicated to serving each cargo operator in line with the highest international standards.

The government signed up French engineering consultants Egis to supervise the design and construction of the project, while Cebarco Bahrain has been named the main contractor of the Express Cargo Village.

The scope of work includes the construction of warehouses, aircraft aprons, and outlets along with associated finishing.

This comes in line with Bahrains strategy for the logistics industry as laid out in its Economic Recovery Plan, in implementation of the vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

It also follows an announcement by the Cabinet, chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, reported BNA.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held in the presence of the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications and also Chairman of Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) Engineer Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, Cebarco Bahrain Chairman Dr Khalid Abdulrahim and Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Bahrains Head of Customs in addition to a number of officials from Bahrain Airport Company.

Express Cargo Village will promote the growth of the logistics industry, enhancing its regional competitiveness and ability to attract investment. Logistics is one of the high-priority sectors outlined in Bahrains Economic Vision 2030, said Kamal bin Mohammed.

The minister pointed out that one of the Economic Recovery Plans main objectives is to accelerate the adoption of a strategy for logistics.

"Express Cargo Village will boost BIAs cargo capacity in line with the highest standards as it deploys advanced technologies to improve efficiency andmeet growth targets for air freight and e-commerce," he added.

Kamal bin Mohammed said the logistics strategy aims to further develop the sector and enhance its efficiency by accelerating the process of linking operations at BIA with those of Khalifa bin Salman Port, and streamlining land transportation procedures, to make the Kingdom a preferred destination for cargo and e-commerce.

"It ensures that all operations are carried out quickly and smoothly in a single location, enabling the airport to handle larger quantities of cargo efficiently, better meet the requirements of cargo customers, and create new job opportunities," he added.

BAC earlier signed a 10-year agreement with global logistics giant, FedEx Express, allocating 9,000 sq m to it for the operation of a 5,000-sq-m warehouse and a 4,000-sq-m open area, which will be handed over in Q3 of 2023.
Bahrain has recorded the worlds fastest tourism recovery rate of 95% since the pandemic, with its 2021 tourist numbers reaching 3.8 million, a new research report said.



However, its 2021 tourism revenue of $1.8 billion is only 49% of what the island country accumulated in 2019 ($3.7 billion), meaning travellers are spending less when they visit, according to analysis from money.co.uk, a UK-based price comparison website.



In second place, Albania welcomed over 5.3 million tourists in 2021, just short (89.8%) of its 2019 total. With a varied blend of mountainous and coastal regions, this south-eastern European country will hope to return to its pre-lockdown visitor peak soon, the report noted.



The Caribbean nation Dominican Republic, the third in the top three countries posting highest recoveries, which saw 5 million visitors in 2021, which was around 78% of its total for 2019 (6.4 million). According to the countrys Ministry of Tourism, the country attracted more tourists (700,000) in December 2021, than it had in any other month on record.



Placing tenth in the rankings is Montenegro. While the small Balkan country's 2021 tourist total of 1.6 million is only 64% of its 2019 numbers (2.5 million), its recovery from the 2020 slump of 400,000 is impressive, said the report.



James Andrews, personal finance expert at money.co.uk, commented on the research: After around two years of lockdowns people are again looking abroad for their next holiday. While some consumer trends have changed forever, a lot of the usual things people look for in a potential destination remain the same. At the top of this list is affordability, no matter what the location and type of holiday. There are a number of ways to keep costs down when taking a vacation, while still getting the break you need:



Cutting costs

 Shop around - Compare packages from various travel agents to just booking every step of the trip yourself, as sometimes that extra effort can equal more spending money in your pocket.

 Analyse traveller reviews - Advice from your fellow tourists who have done it before is invaluable. Most accommodation and major attractions are rated on affordability as well as giving information on what you will experience, which should advise you if it will be worth it.

 Be wary of tourist traps - While some are inevitable when exploring a location's major landmarks and attractions, don't be afraid to venture outside of the hustle and bustle. Finding some local gems will usually result in better prices and a more authentic experience.

 Set yourself a daily budget - This can be difficult but planning and tracking your spending when on holiday allows you to stay in financial control. Give yourself a realistic daily allowance that will still leave you with money for emergencies, or even that new piece of clothing that caught your eye.



Countries where tourism is struggling to recover post-pandemic

Hong Kongs tourism industry is struggling to recover the most, according to the research. Twenty-four million tourists in 2019 dropped to approximately 100,000 in 2021, 0.4% of its pre-Covid popularity.



The second slowest return to normality is Japan. Its 2021 tourist volume of around 200,000 is only 0.6% of its 2019 total (31.9 million). Taiwan completes the top three with roughly 100,000 visitors in 2021, which is a large drop from its 2019 total of 11.9 million (0.8%).  TradeArabia News Service
If you are interested to find out how sleepy Laois once was a centre for revolutionary workers rights protests, a fascinating talk is taking place this week.

Laois Libraries is presenting Revolutionary Workers, an online talk with Terry Dunne, Laois Historian-in-Residence, and Francis Devine, labour historian. This is the second in a three-part series of talks on Revolutionary Laois organised by Laois Libraries as part of its Decade of Centenaries programme for 2022.

The talk takes place at 8 pm on Thursday 16th June 2022 to coincide with the centenary of the first election in the Irish Free State, in which William Davin, of the Railway Clerks Association, won 46.54% of the votes in the Laois-Offaly constituency.

Terry Dunne will talk on his chapter in Bread not profits: provincial working-class politics during the Irish Revolution, a new collection of essays on the labour movement in the revolutionary decade (1913-1923). The chapter looks at the Portarlington Sawmills Lockout of 1918 and the Clonaslee Farm Strike of 1922.

Francis Devine, author of Organising history: a centenary of SIPTU, 1909-2009, and editor of Bread not profits, will discuss how the Laois experience fits into the national pattern.

Tickets are available, free of charge, on Eventbrite and on the Laois Local Studies website on www.laoislocalstudies.ie/history-talks-online-6/

Revolutionary War, the final talk in this online series, will take place on Thursday 30th June 2022 at 8 pm. Join Michael Rafter and Terry Dunne in conversation about the course of the Civil War in Laois.
A new date has been fixed for a public meeting on the future of Ballyroan.

The Ballyroan Community Development Association invites the community of Ballyroan, including representatives of local community groups, to a pubic meeting in June to discuss the future.

The association outlined what it hopes can be achieved.

"The purpose of the meeting is to provide an opportunity for all in the community to become involved in plans for the future of Ballyroan. It will also be an opportunity to gather opinions about projects to enhance the village and its surrounds for the benefit of the people of Ballyroan, and to develop a committee of local volunteers whose sole function is to facilitate growth and improve quality of life within the community.

"All members of the community are invited to this meeting and we look forward to seeing everyone on the night. Representatives of Laois PPN (Public Participation Network) and Laois Partnership will also be in attendance," said the public notice.

The public meeting was due to take place on Tuesday, June 14 at 8pm in Ballyroan Community Hall. It has now been rescheduled to Tuesday, June 21 at 8pm in the Community Hall.
A defunct fuel merchant in Louth last left behind a tax bill of nearly 10 million according to the latest Revenue Commissioner's latest tax default list which also includes doctors, dentists and a surgeon.

They are just some of the latest individuals and companies on the new Tax Defaulter list published by the Revenue Commissioners.

The new Revenue's published List of Tax Defaulters covers the period from January 1 to March 31. During the same three months, investigations resulted in more than 2.218 billion in tax, interest, and penalties who chose not to their way.

While most people pay up when Revenue calls others don't and have to be subjected to extensive audits to find out how much they owe.

Top of that list was Glendalough Stores is now in Liquidation. Based at 66A Newtown Business Park, Boyne Business Park Drogheda, Co Louth. The fuel wholesaler which traded as B.K Oils, ran up unpaid taxes of 3,304,971. The tax office calculated penalties of 3,374,592 and interest 3,304,971. The total bill of amounted to 9,984,534 after the Revenue Investigation Case. None of the money had been repaid by the end of March.

The fuel trader is on Part 2 of the list compiled pursuant to Section 1086 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997. A total of nine cases were published with 11.6m the total settlement amount in these cases.

Where a taxpayer has failed to pay or failed to enter into an arrangement to pay the full amount of the settlement, the amount unpaid as at 30 September 2021 is indicated in the list.

The Revenue say Part 2 settlements are not published where the taxpayer has made a qualifying disclosure relating to undisclosed tax, as defined in Section 1077E (1) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, where the settlement amount does not exceed the relevant threshold, currently 35,000, or where the amount of fine or other penalty does not exceed 15% of the amount of tax.

See FULL PART 2 LIST HERE.

Revenue also publishes a Part 1 list which includes persons in whose case the Court has determined a penalty relating to a settlement, or has imposed a fine, imprisonment or other penalty in respect of a tax or duty offence.

Details are published when the Court determined penalty exceeds 15% of the total tax (where the total amount of tax only exceeds 50,000) and a qualifying disclosure has not been made:

The biggest penalty determined was against Liam McMahon, a farmer with and address at Drumswords House, 28 Lacky Road, Roslea, Co Fermanagh, BT92 7NW.

The Penalty Determination by the Courts relating to an under-declaration of Income Tax in the amount of 144,897.98

Also listed on Part 1 Eiba, Elsayed Ali Elsayed, of Chapel St, Elphin, Castletrea, Co Roscommon who was fined 10,000 for the misuse of mineral oil.

See FULL PART 1 LIST HERE

These published settlements reflect only a portion of all Revenue audits and investigations. In the 3-month period to 31 March 2022 a total of 331 Revenue audit and investigations, together with 13,567 Risk Management Interventions (Aspect Queries and Profile Interviews), were settled, resulting in a yield of 2.218 billion in tax, interest, and penalties.

#EXPLAINER AND FURTHER INFO ON LATEST LIST

Part 1: Court Determinations

Court imposed fine, imprisonment or other penalty: Details are published when a fine or other Court penalty is imposed in respect of tax or duty offences. Court penalties may include imprisonment, partly suspended or suspended sentences, community service in lieu of imprisonment, and closure orders.

There were 44 such cases are published and 89,950 is the total of court fines imposed.

These include:

19 cases of failure to file a tax return and failure to produce books and records. Court fines totalling 34,450 and one hour of community service in lieu of imprisonment were imposed;

13 cases of misuse of marked mineral oil, in respect of which Court fines totalling 43,000 were imposed;

12 cases of excise offences for tobacco smuggling, illegal selling of tobacco and possession of untaxed tobacco for sale. Court fines totalling 12,500, one 6-month sentence and one 8-month sentence (both fully suspended on condition), one 10-month sentence (partially suspended on condition), two 4-month sentences and 100 hours of community service, in lieu of imprisonment, were imposed.

Court Determination of Penalty: Subject to certain criteria, in settlement cases where there is no agreement to a penalty, or a person fails to pay an agreed penalty, the Court determines the penalty. Details are published when the Court determined penalty exceeds 15% of the total tax and the total of the tax, interest and penalty is more than 35,000 and a qualifying disclosure has not been made:

Part 2: Settlements

Settlements are published when the extensive voluntary disclosure options are not availed of and the default arises because of careless or deliberate behaviour:

9 cases are published today and 11.6m is the total settlement amount in these cases;

9 cases were for amounts exceeding 100,000, of which 1 exceeded 500,000

3 are cases in which the settlement was not fully paid as at 31 March 2022

10,465,384 was the amount unpaid as at 31 March 2022. Revenue vigorously pursues collection/enforcement of unpaid settlements. In some cases, collection/recovery of the full unpaid amount will not be possible (e.g. company liquidation)

Revenue Compliance Yield

Background

Revenue says its compliance programme is carried out under the "Code of Practice for Revenue Audit and other Compliance Interventions" (the Code). The significant benefits of making a qualifying disclosure are set out in the Code and include availing of reduced penalties, avoiding publication in the List of Tax Defaulters, and avoiding possible prosecution.

Publication

Revenue says it publishes the List of Tax Defaulters under the provisions of Section 1086 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, as amended. The list is published in two parts:

Part 1: Court Penalty Determinations and Court imposed fine, imprisonment or other penalty

Court penalty determinations are published where a taxpayer has not made a qualifying disclosure, the Court determined penalty exceeds 15% of the total tax, and the total of the tax, interest and penalty is more than 35,000.

All cases where a fine, imprisonment or other Court penalty is imposed by a Court, in respect of a tax or duty offence, are published.

Part 2: Accepted Settlements (and Settlements deemed to be agreed due to full payment)

Where a taxpayer has voluntarily furnished complete information relating to undisclosed tax liabilities and paid the tax and interest due (made a qualifying disclosure of tax defaults), settlements are not published.

Since 1 May 2017, significant changes and restrictions have come into effect where the case involves matters outside the Republic of Ireland, or 'offshore matters'. These changes limit the opportunity to make a 'qualifying disclosure' and coincide with increased international co-operation whereby Revenue gets more and more information automatically from other jurisdictions.

Legislation introduced in the Finance Act 2016 obliges Revenue to identify settlements where the person has failed to pay within the relevant period.

Settlements are not published where the taxpayer has made a qualifying disclosure relating to undisclosed tax, as defined in Section 1077E (1) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, where the settlement amount does not exceed the relevant threshold, currently 35,000, or where the amount of fine or other penalty does not exceed 15% of the amount of tax.

Calculation of Penalties

Where a qualifying disclosure has not been made, Revenu say penalties between 15% and 100% are applied, depending on the category of default and whether or not the taxpayer has cooperated fully with Revenue in the course of enquiries. The categories of default are Deliberate Behaviour or Careless Behaviour.

Deliberate Behaviour involves either a breach of a tax obligation with indicators consistent with intent on the part of the taxpayer or a breach that cannot be explained solely by carelessness

Careless Behaviour involves lack of due care, which results in the incorrect declaration of tax liabilities by a taxpayer, or which results in the making of incorrect repayment claims. The level of penalty may be further reduced having regard to the level of cooperation provided by the taxpayer once the default is uncovered. Full details of the level of penalties applicable to audit settlements are set out in Penalty Table 1 (Paragraph 5.6.2) of the Code.

Innocent errors and adjustments due to different interpretations of legislation

Penalties are not applicable where a tax default is not deliberate or is not attributable in any way to the failure by a taxpayer to take reasonable care to comply with his or her tax obligations. Neither is a penalty applicable where an adjustment to liability arises from differences in the interpretation or the application of legislation, and the taxpayer could reasonably have considered her/his interpretation to be correct.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said there was absolutely no reason for the European Union to retaliate against the UK after plans to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol caused outrage in Brussels and capitals across the bloc.

Irelands Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney warned the UK Governments move could destabilise the situation in Northern Ireland and was undermining the work that led to the Brexit agreement with the EU.

The UK faces renewed legal action from Brussels after the move to override large parts of the international deal which was struck over Northern Irelands post-Brexit trading arrangements.

But Ms Truss told Times Radio: Our solution doesnt make the EU any worse off. We continue to protect the single market, were supplying the EU with data, weve got strong enforcement to make sure companies arent violating the rules.

So there is absolutely no reason why the EU should react in a negative way to what were doing.

The UK has argued that the measures to remove checks on goods and animal and plant products travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland are necessary to safeguard the Good Friday Agreement and peace and stability.

The imposition of checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland in order to keep an open border with Ireland has angered unionists.

Ms Truss told the BBC Good Morning Ulster programme: The reason that we feel that we absolutely had to take action is because of the situation in Northern Ireland.

The fact is that the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is being undermined. We havent seen an Executive formed since February, we have seen east-west trade diminished, trade diverted to north-south. Weve also seen the people of Northern Ireland not able to benefit from tax breaks.

These are all issues that we need to sort out. Our preference is to sort them out with the EU, but as yet the EU are not agreeing to change the text of the protocol.

We deeply regret that the British Government has decided to unilaterally break the agreement on the #NI Protocol. In order to protect the Belfast/GoodFridayAgreement we remain open to negotiations on the basis of the existing agreement. https://t.co/PCiBR8j70g  Miguel Berger (@GermanAmbUK) June 13, 2022

But Mr Coveney told the same programme it is going to destabilise what is already a difficult situation and urged Ms Truss to focus on negotiations with the EU who want to compromise and want to respond to unionist concerns.

He said: What the British Government is proposing to do is dismantle the protocol, which is international law, which was carefully put together over a number of years through painstaking negotiation involving this British Prime Minister to solve or to manage the disruption of Brexit on the island of Ireland as best we could.

The British Government is now looking to undermine all of that work for whatever political reason.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today: This, I think, is really a new low in British-Irish relations, certainly, I think in the last 25 years or so.

The European Commission responded to the publication on Monday of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill with an announcement that it intends to reopen legal action against the UK which has been on hold since September.

Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic hinted at further measures, saying the unliteral action by the UK had undermined the trust needed for the effective operation of its post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels.

That anger was reflected in statements from Paris and Berlin, with Germanys ambassador to the UK Miguel Berger saying we deeply regret that the British Government has decided to unilaterally break the agreement on the protocol.

But the Government will draw some comfort from the measured response from the White House, where President Joe Biden, who has Irish roots, takes a close interest in issues relating to the Good Friday Agreement.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested the dispute would not be an impediment to US-UK trade talks.

But she called for a negotiated settlement between the UK and EU.

We recognise there have been challenges over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, she said.

We urge the UK and the EU to return to talks to resolve these differences. 

Business leaders urged Boris Johnson not to enter a damaging trade war with the EU over the issue.

The Prime Minister insisted the Bill contained only minor, bureaucratic changes while Downing Street said it was an insurance mechanism in case a negotiated agreement with the EU could not be found.

However Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, the manufacturers organisation, said business needed both sides to urgently get round the negotiating table to agree a pragmatic settlement.

We recognise that the protocol in the current state does need to be changed, he said.

But the way to do this is not to start a trade war with the EU in the middle of a financial crisis which would be damaging for both British and EU businesses alike and put further strain on already stretched supply chains.

Richard Burge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the Governments action risked significant harm to businesses across the UK.

Getting Brexit done was at least meant to deliver certainty to businesses after years of waiting for clarity on the future of the UKs trade relations with the European Union, he said.

The introduction of this Bill means we are now teetering on the brink of a trade war with the EU and that will mean further economic pain and falls in investment.
Two people were allegedly assaulted by one man, Naas Court was told on Thursday, June 9.

The allegations relate to Fergal ONeill, with an address listed as Redhills in Kildare.

Gardai claimed that on January 29 last, the 39-year-old defendant allegedly attacked a woman in the early hours of the morning.

'COVERED IN BLOOD'

Garda Sergeant Brian Jacob told Judge Desmond Zaidan that the alleged injured party was covered in blood and had sustained a black eye and cuts to her face.

He further claimed that when another man tried to intervene, Mr ONeill allegedly assaulted him as well.

These two alleged offences are in contravention of Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.

SPECIFIC CONDITION GRANTED

It was heard that all parties are known to one another, and that a medical report was due.

Gardai advised the judge to impose a specific condition on his bail: that the accused have no contact with the alleged injured parties, which the judge agreed to do.

Judge Zaidan agreed to grant bail for Mr O' Neill until December 1, where a medical report and directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions are due.
A pop up pool won't be popping up in County Kildare anytime soon.

There was a mixed reaction to a suggestion by Cllr Nuala Killeen that the local authority should consider acquiring a pop up pool for next year that could provide interim swimming facilities for up to 1,400 people a week.

Cllr Killeen said KCC should consider a temporary rental period of 12 weeks as an initial starting point.

She added this would be a starting point towards resolving the outstanding need for swimming amenities for communities throughout the county.

She said it would also enable children to learn to swim.

Read more Kildare news

Last month Irelands first such pool opened.

Located on the grounds of Donabate Portrane Community Centre, the fully heated marquee pool can accommodate up to 16 children at a time.

She told a KCC meeting on May 30 that the 250,000 cost for a year is not a huge amount.

But the pool at Maynooth University has been closed for many years and it would be a better idea to bring that pool back into use, said Cllr Ciara Galvin.

Cllr Galvin said at the time it closed it was the oldest pool in Ireland and in need of refurbishment.

Cllr Colm Kenny suggested that the pool in Clongowes Wood College, near Clane, should also be used by the public if it was possible to come to a financial arrangement.

The meeting was told that significant investment is required on site including changing rooms, a ramp and hoist. KCC is to investigate if this could be brought to Kildare and issues to be addressed include resources, funding and a suitable location.

The initiative would require a public consultation process.
Broadcaster and impressionist Doireann Garrihy and Love Island winner and Olympic rugby player Greg O'Shea will judge the Most Stylish competition, in association with the K Club, at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh on June 25.

Joining Doireann and Greg in the judging stakes will be Breeda McLoughlin, wife of Dubai Duty Frees executive vice chairman and CEO, Colm McLoughlin, and fashion expert Bairbre Power.

Fashion and millinery will be the barometer of style on Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Day, with organisers challenging race goers with a new theme  Lets Go Big  and judge Doireann is encouraging all attendees to put their best shoe forward in the hope of winning the covetable Dubai Duty Free Most Stylish title in association with The K Club.

This is the first summer since 2019 where there will be full attendance at The Curragh and no restrictions when it comes to attending the races. To celebrate everyone coming together again, well be on the lookout for people who have brought their A game to the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby on Saturday June 25  lets go big and really have some fun! Big hat, big dress, big jewellery, big energy. Weve waited long enough for this. We'd love to see people really go for it on the day.

Commenting on the excitement around this years Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, Sinead El Sibai, Senior Vice President Marketing, Dubai Duty Free said, This is our 15th year as title sponsor and our 21st year in association with The Curragh. Given that we can now return to full capacity crowds it is going to make this year very special. We are looking forward to once more being back at The Curragh and enjoying all that this special day brings in terms of racing and, of course, fashion, which plays a very big part on the day.

Greg and Doireann are encouraging racegoers to 'go big' with their Derby fashion this year

Speaking about his excitement ahead of race day, Greg OShea gave competitors his own unique piece of advice. Personally, I love to see men and women really own their look. Yes, you can put on a great dress or a dapper suit but going big with energy and confidence can really make someone stand out from the crowd in what they are wearing. Thats something we are really looking to find on the day too when on the ground at The Curragh.

Paul Heery, General Manager of The K Club, is looking forward to a great day of racing and fashion at the Curragh. The K Club is delighted to be part of this internationally-anticipated day of sport and style, and our judges will certainly have their work cut out to find the Dubai Duty Free Most Stylish titles in what will be the biggest crowd for years. Its going to be a big day out, full of fun, glamour and style  just what we love at The K Club.

This year sees two incredible competition prizes on offer with the Most Stylish Lady walking away with a holiday of a lifetimeat home and abroad courtesy of Dubai Duty Free and The K Club. As well as being crowned Most Stylish on the day, one lucky lady will receive return flights for two to Dubai with five glorious nights in Dubai Duty Frees own five-star hotel, The Jumeirah Creekside, as well as 1,000 in spending money at the award-winning airport retailer. Back on home soil, the winner and a guest will also be treated to a two-night stay in a luxurious Liffey Suite at The K Club, dinner on one evening in South Bar & Restaurant, spa treatments plus transfers to or from Dublin Airport (if required).

The prize for Most Stylish Man is a fantastic five-star K Club VIP experience which includes two nights in a luxury suite, dinner on both evenings in two of the resorts stylish and buzzing new restaurants, The Palmer and South, and a long list of fabulous resort activities including segway tours, spa treatments, whiskey tasting, clay-pigeon shooting and a 500 voucher to spend at nearby Kildare Village.

Gates at The Curragh for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby open at 11am on Saturday, June 25, with style spotters and judges ready and waiting to find their favourites. Ticket booking in advance is advisable with a variety of promotional offers now available at curragh.ie.

Pick up this week's Leinster Leader for your bumper 20-page Irish Derby special supplement, packed with racing, style, interviews, entertainment and more.
A minimum living wage for all is set to be introduced from next year, it has been confirmed.

It will involve a series of measures to provide better terms and conditions, including sick leave and pensions.

The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar outlined his proposal to introduce a living wage for all employees, starting from next year.

He will now consult with various interested parties, including employer and worker representative groups, unions and the public on the draft plan.

Last year, the Tanaiste asked the Low Pay Commission to conduct research and report to him on how best the Government can progress to a living wage. Todays proposals are based on these recommendations.

"Better terms and conditions for employees must be one of the legacies of the pandemic. The living wage will build on the programme of improvements we are making, from introducing mandatory sick pay, to auto enrolment for pensions, to putting in place the laws, regulations and infrastructure to give people more flexibility over how and where they work.

"Thank you to the Low Pay Commission and NUI Maynooth for all their work and research. The proposal I am outlining today is based on the LPCs recommendations. Its really important we get the balance right and I think this proposal achieves that, however I will be listening over the coming weeks for feedback before bringing a final plan to Government later this year," Minister Varadkar said.

Proposals

The living wage will be set at 60% of the median wage in any given year, which in 2022 would be 12.17 per hour. The national minimum wage is currently 10.50 per hour.

The national minimum wage will remain in place until the 60% living wage is fully phased in, in 2026, but will increase over the years as usual, closing the gap between it and the living wage.

From 2026, we will no longer have a national minimum wage, the living wage will be the floor and will be mandatory for all employers.

Depending on prevailing economic circumstances, it is proposed to give the Low Pay Commission discretion to introduce the full living wage faster or slower than the 4 years proposed.

Research carried out by the National University of Ireland, Maynooth for the Low Pay Commission includes evidence that a statutory wage floor set at 60% of the median wage of all workers could be implemented without substantial effects on employment.

"Were making a huge amount of improvements to workers rights and terms and conditions this year and Im really conscious that, although we have more people working than ever before in the history of the state, employers have had a turbulent and difficult couple of years and many are still just getting back on their feet," Minister Varadkar said.

"Im also aware that we have a really uncertain period ahead. The most important workers right is their right to work, to have a job. That is why I am proposing we phase this in and I will be listening to employers views on these draft proposals".

The Low Pay Commission is an independent body established under the National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Act 2015 and comprises equal numbers of employer representatives, employee representatives, and independent experts.

The Commission made eighteen recommendations on the progression to a living wage. The main recommendations are as follows:

* Adopting a fixed threshold approach for the calculation of a living wage (as opposed to a Minimum Essential Standard of Living / basket of goods approach) and setting the fixed threshold at 60% of the median wage in the economy, under the assumption of a 3% rate of growth in the median wage;

* Progressing to a living wage of 60% of the economy-wide median wage through a gradual adjustment to the minimum wage over a period of no more than five years;

* After the 60% of the median wage target has been reached, subject to an assessment of the impact of the progression to the 60%, the Commission should assess the economic practicality of gradually increasing the targeted threshold rate towards 66% of the median wage;

* Consideration is given to how employers with a substantial proportion of minimum wage employees can be supported during the progression to a living wage.

* Consideration of the impact of a move to a living wage rate on the take home pay of different categories of workers to ensure that low wage workers receive a reasonable increase in take home pay.
Ricki Wynne was given a hero's welcome in Leitrim Village last night, Monday June 13.

Crowds met the endurance runner in Leitrim Village and Drumshanbo yesterday evening when he returned home from his gruelling world breaking success.

Ricki ran up and down Ireland's holy mountain, Croagh Patrick, for 24 hours straight, which took him 15 round trips.

Ricki was wearing GPS trackers on the day to ensure he had it all recorded properly for the Guinness Book of World Records.

He started the challenge at 10am on Saturday and ran through the night, finishing up at 10am on Sunday morning!

Ricki undertook the run to raise much needed funds for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association to honour a close friend of his who is living with the dreadful condition, and to commemorate the memory of another Drumshanbo native who has passed away.

Motor Neurone Disease is a progressive neurological condition that attacks the motor neurones, or nerves, in the brain and spinal cord. Currently, there is no cure for the disease.

The link for donations is www.idonate.ie/rickiwynne
InvestigationHeadaches, dizziness, severe fatigue: Since 2016, mysterious neurological disorders, dubbed 'Havana syndrome,' have been afflicting Canadian and American diplomats and members of the secret services. Despite a lack of public evidence, Ottawa and Washington strongly suspect that Russia is behind it, using a microwave weapon.

Marc Polymeropoulos is not crazy. He is certain that he was the victim of a "mysterious attack." How else to explain his loss of distance vision, which prevents him from driving? The excruciating migraines? The dizziness? In December 2017, he was in Moscow for 10 days on a business trip. In theory, it was to be a routine trip. The American was in his 40s at the time and had been in his CIA position as deputy chief of operations for the Europe and Eurasia Mission Center for less than a year. He was there to meet with his counterparts from the FSB, the federal security service of the Russian Federation. The bilateral discussions were to be held in the dreary offices of the former USSR.

Camille Durand/M Le magazine du Monde a partir d'une photo de LightField Studios Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo

Early in his trip, the operative, accustomed to working undercover on sensitive, risky missions in the Middle East, woke up in the middle of the night unable to stand. In addition to nausea, there was a deafening buzzing sound that he had never heard before. Worried and on the verge of collapse, Mr. Polymeropoulos thought at first it might be food poisoning. This hypothesis was quickly ruled out. A few days later, the same violent dizziness seized him again. He remained confined to his hotel room for nearly 36 hours, unable to move.

Back home in the United States, he suffered from brain fog and his cognitive abilities gradually declined. The impairment was inexplicable for this man in good physical condition, used to navigating war zones. Starting in 2018, an idea slowly crept into his mind, becoming as persistent as the headaches afflicting him every day: "I said to myself, I'm a victim of Havana syndrome," Mr. Polymeropoulos told us via the encrypted messaging application Signal.

A mystery that emerged in late 2016

We are interested in your experience using the site. Send feedback

As its name suggests, this mysterious medical phenomenon first appeared on the island of Cuba in late 2016. It infiltrated the quiet avenues on the west side of the Cuban capital, where the supposedly safe and affluent Miramar neighborhood is home to most of the country's embassies. All of the victims have been diplomats or intelligence officers employed by the United States and, in smaller numbers, by Canada.

These individuals experienced the first effects of the disease at home, in their living room or bedroom, often after hearing a noise. Symptoms such as loss of balance or nosebleeds have also been observed in all their family members, including young children and pets. Unlike the Canadians, who have only been affected when stationed in Cuba, US personnel are gradually being affected around the world. Cases have been identified in China, Colombia and Europe, including Vienna, Geneva and, most recently, in 2021, in Paris. The CIA maintains a strong presence in all these cities.

You have 86.4% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
New Delhi, June 14 (UNI) Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande on Tuesday said that the Agnipath scheme aims to make the Army a future-ready fighting force, capable of meeting multiple challenges, across the full spectrum of conflict.

"The scheme has been prepared following detailed consultations with all stakeholders. This effort complements other ongoing initiatives to transform the Indian Army into a modern, technology driven, Atmanirbhar and battle worthy force," he said.

The Army Chief was speaking in a press conference along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhary and Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar.
GARDAI have confirmed a car which was used during a burglary at a shop in County Limerick was subsequently abandoned and set on fire in Limerick city.

Witnesses are being sought to the break-in which happened in Croagh in the early hours of last Thursday morning.

According to gardai, a burglar broke into a shop in the village at exactly 2am by smashing a front window with a hammer.

"He forced open two tills and escaped with a small amount of cash. The burglar can be described as wearing a blue

top, blue bottoms and wearing a black cap," said Garda John Finnerty.

According to gardai, the culprit used a stolen car to carry out the burglary - a 151 L-registered blue Volkswagen Up.

"He drove this car the whole way to Limerick city and abandoned it at Harvard Close, College Court, Castletroy at 3.37am. The car was subsequently set on fire and burnt out," added Garda Finnerty.

Gardai are appealing to anyone who saw the stolen car between 2am and 3.37am last Thursday to contact them.

"If you happened to come across this car anywhere between Croagh and Castletroy or indeed if you have any information on this burglary, then we would like to hear from you," said a spokesperson.

Gardai at Newcastle West are investigating the burglary incident and can be contacted at 069 20650.
A MOTORIST who rammed two garda cars during a high-speed pursuit has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Jamie Kelly, aged 27, whose most-recent address is at Coolageela East, Kanturk, County Cork pleaded guilty to multiple charges including two of endangerment.

During a sentencing hearing, Garda Aidan ORiordan said the pursuit began at around 11am on April 18, 2017 when gardai encountered a Ford Mondeo car which had been stolen near Buttevant the previous day.

The pursuit, he said, started at Patrick Street and continued through the city and out to Ballysheedy.

Limerick Circuit Court was told the defendant struck a number of parked vehicles and that he drove at speed the wrong way down a one-way street during the incident.

Garda ORiordan said a detective drew his firearm after the Mondeo collided with an unmarked patrol car at Penneywell Road and began to reverse at the vehicle following the impact.

He drove off and, later, at Rathuird, Ballysheedy, two other gardai had to jump over a wall as the Mondeo attempted to pass a marked patrol car which was blocking the road.

The stolen car was subsequently located burned-out in North Cork and Mr Kelly, who has more than 100 previous convictions, was arrested three weeks later.

While he initially denied driving the Mondeo, he did make admissions telling gardai he was f***** off his head on drugs.

Judge Patrick Meghan imposed a 39-month prison sentence, suspending the final nine months.

A six-year driving ban was also handed down.
LIMERICK Youth Service (LYS) has launched a hard hitting and evocative short film addressing the prejudices faced by young people from the Travelling Community.

Written by and featuring teenagers and young adults from the Travelling Community, Our Story highlights the challenges young Travellers face in terms of mental health support.

Throughout the piece the young adults speak openly about their own mental health and the discrimination they have faced in the education system and in society in general.

Crystal Ward, LYS Traveller Youth Mental Health Project, who took part in the short film said:

Today is a day that will set a foundation for a brighter and more positive future for those of us who struggle with their mental health.

Travellers unique cultural identity should be celebrated, promoted and respected, not something that should be hidden, in fear of discrimination, Crystal added.

As part of the project, almost 100 young members of the Travelling Community took part in consultations across Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary.

They shared their experiences of their mental health, from speaking among their peer group and family to assessing support and barriers they face.

From those consultations, seven young people took part in the CHIME mental health recovery programme and from it decided to create Our Story.

Crystal expressed her pride in her Traveller heritage, saying that it shouldnt stop us or anyone like us from reaching out for help, which is what the short film is about.

With mental health sometimes, our heritage makes people feel like they can characterise us, without knowing us.

We are more than a label makes us out to be. We are all human and we deserve a chance at life without being pre-judged, Crystal concluded.
SINN FEIN TD Maurice Quinlivan has donated the 200 electricity credit he received to a local community centre.

In a bid to ease the cost-of-living crisis, all domestic electricity customers received a once-off grant which is automatically deducted from the monthly energy bill.

However, in a letter to St Munchins Community Centre in Kileely, Mr Quinlivan declared he did not require the grant, and instead raised a cheque to its chief executive Linda Ledger.

Can you please use this money as a small fund to help any people who approaches St Munchin's Community Centre and may be unable [to be] in a position to pay for meals etc, he wrote.

Ms Ledger said: Its lovely he trusts us. I think he gets from being in and out of the centre, he realises there is some food poverty going on, that there are certain people who cannot afford dinner. They are trying to do without. He pops in and out and saw things for himself that made him do it.

The centre boss said she will give the money out on a discretionary basis.

I have a lot of elderly people and they only want their dinner Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and thats because they are sharing their dinner over two days. I like to give them a deal, and when we get money like this, it helps me to let certain people off, she said.

Mr Quinlivan declined to comment further.
A LIMERICK-based landlord has reached a tax settlement with the Revenue Commissioners for more than 100,000.

According to the latest List of Tax Defaulters, which has just been published, a partnership of Rita O'Dowd and Audrey Hickey which has an address at 8 The Carlton, Shannon Street, Limerick agreed the settlement during the first quarter of this year.

The partnership, which has a listed occupation of landlord, has paid a total of 101,411 arising from an under-declaration of VAT.

According to the Revenue Commissioners, the agreed settlement includes 59,125 in tax, 24,548 in interest and 17,738 in penalties.

Details of nine settlements with a total value of 11.6m have been published this Tuesday.

Two of those who agreed settlements have addresses in County Dublin, while the other six have addresses in Cork, Galway, Kerry, Mayo, Carlow and Louth.

The highest single settlement was for a total of 9,984,534.
LIMERICK City and County Council has confirmed that the Treaty Stone will receive a "final wash down" once repairs to the structure are complete.

It comes after concerns were raised at the appearance of the lime mortar used to seal-up gaps in the attraction, which is located at Clancy's Strand.

Mary Immaculate College lecturer Dr Paul O'Brien tweeted an image of the repair work, and questioned its standard, with a number of others also expressing concerns over its appearance following the infill.

One of the most recognisable historic monuments associated with #Limerick was recently repaired and this is the result. Seriously, who signs off on this standard of work? Thanks to @Gina_inTipp for alerting me to this issue. pic.twitter.com/Gtpf7CPrD2  Dr Paul O'Brien (@FearStairLmk) June 13, 2022

However, a spokesperson for the local authority said the lime mortar used "requires a carbonation period in order to gain strength."

"Following on from this present curing phase, the stonework will receive a final wash down to remove any lime dust or residue. This project is being carried out to the highest conservation standards that befits a national monument and one of Limericks most iconic destinations."

For his part, Dr O'Brien further tweeted to suggest that the lime mortar "will eventually darken", having spoken to an expert.

Work got under way to repair the famous Treaty Stone in April. As part of the project, all growth and vegetation on the monument was removed, with natural hydraulic lime mortar then inserted to rake out and repoint the structure.

Resin injections will see the cracked stone repaired, while the bronze inset of the historic construction will be cleaned.

Council stressed this project has yet to be completed.

"The main body of the project has been to carry out stone grafts, also known as indents, to reverse previous inappropriate cement repairs done to this national monument, which impacted on its stability, due to the nature of the stone. In addition to the masonry work, essential lime pointing was carried out," a statement read.

"A carefully specified mix of lime mortar was used following the raking of failed mortar from joints. The existing joints were flush pointed, as per the original. This was done in order to reverse previous inappropriate cement repairs and to ensure the ongoing stability of the monument," it added.
The Irish Government needs to stop deluding themselves" about the problems being caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said.

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has been fiercely critical of the UK Governments plans to override parts of the international deal which was struck over Northern Irelands post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Mr Coveney warned the move could destabilise the situation in Northern Ireland and was undermining the work that led to the Brexit agreement with the EU.

But Sir Jeffrey responded: Simon Coveney fails to recognise the extent of the problems that the protocol is causing for Northern Ireland.

He told the BBC: It is not just about trade, it is not just about the difficulties it is creating for business, it is not just about the impact this is having on the cost of living for every consumer in Northern Ireland, it is also about our political institutions.

It is about stability. Not a single unionist MLA elected to the Assembly last month supports the protocol and without that cross-community consensus the political institutions cannot operate.

I think the Irish Government need to get real, they need to understand the extent of the problem here and stop deluding themselves that it is some kind of minor issue.

As for negotiations, Simon Coveney talks about sitting around the table  the problem is weve had two years of negotiation and no progress.

The protocol arrangements require regulatory checks and customs declarations on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Unionists in Northern Ireland are vociferously opposed to the international treaty, claiming it has undermined the regions place within the United Kingdom.

The DUP has blocked the formation of a new power-sharing government at Stormont following last months Assembly election in protest.

Sir Jeffrey said the UK Government was entitled to take unilateral action over the arrangements.

He said: What we need is a permanent solution here, and that is why I think it is important that the Government is bringing forward this legislation, and I think what the Government has proposed is balanced, it is fair.

It enables us to see Northern Irelands place within the UKs internal market restored in line with the commitment the Government gave in New Decade, New Approach over two-and-a-half years ago now.

But Sinn Feins Stormont leader Michelle ONeill said the UK Governments actions were a straight up, slam dunk breach of an international agreement.

She told RTE: It undermines the Good Friday Agreement, and their actions will have huge economic consequences because the reality is, and everybody bar the DUP and bar Boris Johnson knows, that the protocol is working.

Its given us an economic advantage. Our economy is outperforming that of Britain and thats I think what they want to hide in this.

Boris Johnsons action yesterday is just completely reckless, and serves to create more instability and serves to create more uncertainty for businesses for planning for the future.

Ms ONeill added: From the very outset of the Brexit debate, we said that the Good Friday Agreement and Brexit were incompatible.

We didnt consent to Brexit, but its still being foisted upon us.

We sought to find some mitigation in the form of the protocol.

It protects the all-island economy which is flourishing as a direct result of the protocol.
Passengers heading on sun holidays in June and July will not face widespread disruption this summer despite a threat of industrial action by some staff in Spain, according to Ryanair.

Spanish cabin staff have confirmed that they will go on strike for six days in late June and early July.

The staff will stage the strike on June 24, 25, 26 and 30 and on July 1 and 2. They say they are unhappy with working conditions and pay, the USO union said.

"We have to resume mobilisation so that the reality of our situation is known and Ryanair is forced to abide by basic labour laws," said Lidia Arasanz, the general secretary of USO's Ryanair section, in a statement.

Staff of Ryanair, the largest airline in Europe in terms of passenger numbers, have walked out in other European countries including Belgium and Italy.

The airline released a statement confirming that it has already negotiated collective agreements that cover 90% of its staff across Europe.

"In recent months we have been negotiating improvements to those agreements as we work through the Covid recovery phase," it said.

"Those negotiations are going well and we do not expect widespread disruption this summer."

The airline said it had also reached agreement with the Spanish CCOO union.

"Recent announcements by the much smaller USO and SITCPLA unions are a distraction from their own failures to deliver agreements after three years of negotiations and we believe that their strike calls will not be supported by our Spanish crews," the airline stated.
New Delhi, June 14 (UNI) India's antitrust watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Tuesday said that it has approved the acquisition of entire shareholding in Air Asia India by Air India.







The proposed combination envisages the acquisition of the entire equity share capital of Air Asia (India) Private Limited (Air Asia India) by Air India Ltd (AIL), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Limited (TSPL), an official statement from CCI said.







At present, TSPL holds 83.67% of the equity share capital of Air Asia India with the remaining 16.33% stake held by Air Asia Investment Ltd (AAIL), an arm of Malaysia-based Air Asia Group.







Air Asia India operates under the brand name AirAsia. It is engaged in the business of providing the following services, domestic scheduled air passenger transport service, air cargo transport services and charter flight services in India.







AirAsia India does not provide scheduled air passenger transport services on international routes, the CCI statement added.







Tata Group took control of Air India in January this year following its successful bid and it is now in the process of reorganising its airline business. The business conglomerate currently has three separate airline brands namely Air India, Air Asia India and Vistara. With the acquisition of Air India, it now also has Air India Express as part of the group.



UNI AKM SHK2015
Pixar

Walt Disney Co.'s animated Pixar film "Lightyear" won't be able to be watched by kids in Singapore after the city-state's Infocomm Media Development Authority gave it a NC16 rating because it includes a kiss between two female characters.

The Southeast Asian nation issued the minimum 16-year-old age rating to the "Toy Story" spin-off Tuesday, saying that while it is an "excellent animated film set in the U.S. context, Singapore is a diverse society where we have multiple sensibilities and viewpoints."
Click here to read the full article.

Every entry in the Despicable Me franchise is technically a Minions movie, since one way or another, the adorable yellow buggers manage to steal the show. But the fun thing about 2015s stand-alone prequel was just that: It allowed the Minions to stand alone, pairing them with someone other than Gru for a change.

Grus great, but his bad-guy-gone-soft shtick is starting to get old. Now, in Minions: The Rise of Gru, we get to see him young: At the mischievous age of 11, hes already sporting the hunchback and hook nose, and dreaming of world domination. On career day at school, the enfant terrible (still voiced by Steve Carell, delivering his Eastern Euro accent at a slightly higher little-kid register) announces, I want to be a supervillain! And not just any supervillain. He wants to join the Vicious Six, but isnt sure whether the Minions will help or harm his chances of joining their ranks. Meanwhile, we already know the answer, since the brand can handle a movie without Gru, but not one without the Minions.

With every film, Illuminations technique improves. But unlike some studios output, these movies arent showoffy in the slightest, using incremental advances (like the capacity to host set-pieces in various San Francisco neighborhoods) to support the action, rather than distracting from it. The creative team, led by director Kyle Balda, blends Three Stooges slapstick routines with the classic squash-and-stretch character animation of the golden era, while getting creative with how to stage such gags in three-dimensional space. (Consider the movies kung fu training section, which accomplishes most of its laughs through clever cutting.)

By now, youve probably figured out that the Minions sequel is really more of a Despicable Me prequel, introducing a few of the elements  such as mad scientist Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), future rival Vector and the Bank of Evil  that feed directly into the original movie. Weve seen this strategy plenty with other properties, from Star Wars to Cruella, both of which The Rise of Gru resembles, except that here, an ostensible good guy doesnt turn to the dark side because his preferred career path doesnt work out. Villainy was his Plan A all along.

Everybody has idols. The Minions look up to their new mini boss, even though hes no taller than they are at the moment. Meanwhile, Gru decorates his childhood bedroom (he still lives with mama Marlena, voiced by Julie Andrews) with pinups and action figures of the best baddies in the biz: Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson), Stronghold (Danny Trejo), Nunchuck (Lucy Lawless), Svengeance (Dolph Lundgren), Jean-Clawed (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and Grus personal favorite, the legendary Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin). Together, they form the Vicious Six. Thing is, you can never truly trust a supervillain, and midway through their latest heist  stealing the Zodiac Stone from its jungle hideout  Belle lets Knuckles fall to his likely death.

Hence the vacancy Gru so desperately covets. The kid shows up to interview for Knuckles old spot and is all but laughed out of the room. Evil is for adults, Belle tells him, not for tubby little punks. Refusing to go home empty-handed, Gru nabs the stone from right under their noses, sparking a high-stakes game of hot potato. The agitated quintet comes after him, while Knuckles (whos a lot harder to kill than anyone might have thought) also looks for a chance to recapture his prize.

Where do the Minions fit into all of this, you ask? The movie answers how Gru came to adopt them in the first place. If Despicable Me was about how three orphan girls make Gru an unlikely father figure, this one suggests the Minions were good practice for the job. But even though its nice to have a dedicated team of extra hands, Gru isnt convinced that these silly, clumsy, earplug-looking assistants can earn their keep. Theyre always messing things up. Like the Zodiac Stone theft. Pursued by five of the Vicious Six, Gru hands the prize off to a squatty, chatty, more-than-slightly SpongeBob-y new Minion named Otto (like the others, hes voiced by Pierre Coffin in a high-pitched mix of surprisingly intuitive gibberish), who trades the magic stone for a pet rock.

Furious, Gru fires the lot of them, effectively putting the pressure on these bumbling groupies to earn their jobs back. And thus, the Minions reclaim their role as the movies main characters. But instead of dealing with the whole herd of them, director Balda focuses on Otto and everybodys favorite trio  tall-and-skinny Kevin, one-eyed Stuart and attention-deficit mini-minion Bob  who all make their way to Northern California after Knuckles kidnaps their master (only to become his mentor).

The San Francisco scenes play quite well until the climactic standoff, when the Zodiac Stones power is unleashed and the Vicious Six take on fearsome animal forms  dragon, monkey, snake, tiger, etc.  while the Minions become the least intimidating version of a bunny, a goat and a rooster you could imagine. The movie is multitasking too much at this point, though Michelle Yeoh fans, still flying high on the success of Everything Everywhere All at Once, get an extra helping of her here. She plays Master Chow, a martial artist turned acupuncture therapist who helps turn the yellow guys into itsy-bitsy Bruce Lees.

Script-wise, The Rise of Gru takes a few too many shortcuts, as with the RZA character, who bikes off with the stone, then hands it over as soon as hes asked. The movie is missing a scene in which Otto must convince him to give it back. This overly familiar franchise could use a chapter where misguided Gru really does manage to be evil for a time. Instead, everything here is in service of either a laugh or an easy emotional reaction (Balda pulls the Puss in Boots trick of making the Minions eyes real big when theyre trying to get their way). Six months into 2022, its the funniest film Hollywood has produced thus far. Audiences know what to expect, and Illumination delivers, offering another feel-good dose of bad behavior.

Reviewed at Annecy Animation Festival (opener), June 13, 2022. MPA Rating: PG. Running time: 87 MIN.

Running Time: Running time: 87 MIN.

MPAA Rating: PG

Production

(Animated) A Universal Pictures release and presentation of a Chris Meledandri production. Producers: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy, Chris Reynaud. Executive producer: Brett Hoffman. Co-producer: Jean-Luc Florinda.

Crew

Director: Kyle Balda. Co-directors: Brad Ableson, Jonathan Del Val. Screenplay: Brian Lynch, Matthew Fogel; story: Matthew Fogel. Editor: Claire Dodgson. Music: Heitor Pereira. Original songs and theme: Pharrell Williams.

With

Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Alan Arkin. (English, Minion dialogue)

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Click here to read the full article.

During a storyteller conversation with Gayle King at Tribeca Film Festival, Tyler Perry spoke publicly for the first time about the moments after Will Smith infamously slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars. Perry was seen speaking to Smith after the incident, but the actor-director-producer made it clear that he was de-escalating the situation, rather than comforting Smith.

I was there close up, I left early to go and check on Chris because it was wrong in no uncertain terms, Perry said. I made sure I said that to Will, and when we walked over to him, he was devastated. He couldnt believe what happened.

He continued, I think he is very much in reflection of trying to figure out what happened.

Perry went on to cite Smiths best-selling memoir Will, where the Oscar-winning actor illustrated a moment when he was not able to protect his mother at 8 years old.

I know that feeling, Im getting chills thinking about it, Perry said. I know that feeling of being a man and thinking about the little boy. If that trauma is not dealt with right away as you get older, it will show up in the most inappropriate, most horrible time.

But when King asked if Perry was comforting Smith at that moment, he made a clear distinction.

Theres a difference between comforting and de-escalating, Perry said. Being friends with both of them, its been very difficult.

However, the conversation mainly focused on the success of Tyler Perry Studios, which King was fast to point out as she introduced Perry.

Tyler Perry Studios [is] 330 acres. How big is that? Its reported to be larger than Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount and Sony  combined, King said. Round of applause, please.

He responded, Every time I hear that I think, Thats why youre so tired. Thats why youre sleeping so much.

Perry, 52, was once homeless and sleeping in his car that was up for repossession. Hes now the highest-paid Black actor in Hollywood, and his payroll last year was $154 million.

My payroll  not my bills  my payroll was $154 million, Perry said. And that is to 99% Black people. These are people who would never have had a shot in the industry.

Much of Perrys fortune comes from his gigantic film complex in Atlanta that is currently home to 12 soundstages. Perry said each stage was named after African Americans who truly inspire him, including Smith and fellow filmmaker Spike Lee, who once criticized Perrys audience for voting with their time by sitting in front of the idiot box.

I honored him because I dont care what he said, Perry said. How can I ignore his contribution? Had he not done what he did, I wouldnt be here.

King, who emanated a fond appreciation of Perrys work throughout the one-hour panel discussion, said he wasnt driven by fame or money, but by loving his work.

Im not thinking about being tired, Im not thinking about making another No. 1 movie, Perry said. Honestly, my hand to god, Im thinking about the audience that Ive cultivated from the beginning of my career. What do we want to see? What is going to speak to us? Whats going to make us laugh? Thats always the intention and everything else follows.

That audience that Perry has cultivated over the years, however, hasnt always been in line with the mainstream interests of Hollywood studios.

There was this thing called crossover when I started having success, Perry said. Tyler, what are you gonna do to crossover? which meant what are you going to do to make white people like you? What are you going to do to me be more mainstream? I always rejected that because I always felt like whoever invented that line to crossover, that line goes both ways. Come over to what we doing, I dont have to go over there.

King accentuated how Perry has talked candidly about being an abuse survivor and the violence he witnessed growing up. When asked how he was able to heal without seeing a therapist, Perry pointed to his work.

The work is the therapy, he said. As a writer, every character has a motivation. If Im writing, And she got up and she went over to the stove, there has to be a reason. Why did she go to the stove? What was she trying to do? Does she want to cook this? I started applying that to my own life. Why do you feel this way? Why did you say that? Why did you get so angry about that? Because I feel like everything in our lives as men, women and kids  theres a string going back to something in your past. And for me, as a writer, I try and chase down that string for the motivation.

To many people across the globe, Perry is best known as the creator and performer of the Madea character that has appeared in 11 films. While Perry initially planned to retire the fictional elderly woman, hes decided to bring back the character for more projects.

I was done, but the political divide, the social injustice, the hate and anger and rage, and us being bombarded and constantly fed with negativity was killing me, Perry said. I was like, We gotta laugh. We got to do something. What do I have to make us laugh?

Perry believes that the solution to reducing this negativity is embracing bipartisanship.

If nobody wants to come to the middle and have a conversation, then were always going to be polarized, Perry concluded. The healing and the help happens in the middle, and Ive wished that we started electing officials that ought to stand in the middle.

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Amid a high-heat and drought index, the Webb County Commissioners Court approved a motion to order and enforce a local regulation against specific types of fireworks prior to the Fourth of July fireworks season.

Violation of the order also has a monetary fine and is considered a Class-C misdemeanor.

The order restricts fireworks within the skyrockets with sticks and missiles with fin category. The order will be enforced by the Webb County Sheriffs Office, and it hopes that the order and $500 fine discourage the use of those types of fireworks to mitigate the risk of wildfires that may damage life and property.

The county indicated that based on the current Keetch-Bryanm Drought Index, Webb County is 532 and may reach the index trigger of 696 before the Fourth of July. The KBDI states that their scale ranges between 0 and 800, with 800 representing severe drought conditions that may increase the risk of wildfires.

In March, county residents woke up to a haze amid two northern fires that were part of a string of fires Texas firefighters were addressing throughout South Texas. Early in the month, a brush fire along the Rio Grande reached El Cenizo, where it was reported that the fire came in from Nuevo Laredo.

LMT reported then that while it did not present El Cenizo much danger, the fire was approximately five to six miles long on the Mexican side. Rio Bravo Fire Department Chief Juan C. Gonzalez said at the time that the fire was attributed to warmer temperature and the dead vegetation of the area.

Furthermore, the Rio Grande International Study Center lamented a May fire that decimated the Airport-Loop 20 wetlands adjacent to Lake Casa Blanca. They noted that the fire displaced and hurt wildlife as well as it impacts the wetlands contribution to cooling the environment. Signs show that the fire did not eradicate the green life in the area, but the center advocates to protect the environment during the times.

It was an intense, very hot fire that was like one giant fireball. Winds were high that night, so the fire moved quickly instead of settling in for a slow, all-consuming burn. Tops of palms are still showing life, and small sprouts of green are coming out of the ash, the RGISC wrote.

According to the Texas Weather Connection, the KBDI is an index used to determining forest fire potential and is based on a daily water balance, where a drought factor is balanced with precipitation and soil moisture (assumed to have a maximum storage capacity of 8-inches) and is expressed in hundredths of an inch of soil moisture depletion.

On average, Webb County is recorded to reach 573 and has seen a max of 713, but as of June 13, West Texas currently sees a higher recording in the KBDI range as compared to north and east Texas.

The index is derived from ground-based estimates of temperature and precipitation derived from weather stations and interpolated manually by experts at the Texas Forest Service for counties across the state. Researchers at Texas A&M University are working with the TFS to derive this index from AVHRR satellite data and NEXRAD radar rainfall within a GIS.
DUNCANVILLE, Texas (AP)  Police have released the name of the man with a handgun they fatally shot at a Dallas-area gymnasium where about 150 children were attending a day camp.

Brandon Keith Ned, 42, of Dallas, was the man they killed in a Monday morning gunfight at the Duncanville Fieldhouse, Duncanville police said in a statement released Tuesday. The police said no other information would be released at this time, citing the ongoing investigation by the Texas Rangers.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan sent a letter to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on June 13 proposing more than $100 million in initiatives to address mental health and school safety ahead of the upcoming school year. The plan comes about three weeks after the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde that left 21 people dead, including 19 children.

The plan does not include any policy suggestions for regulating access to firearms in Texas, according to Phelans letter.

The speakers letter is a response to a proposal from Patrick to set aside $50 million in funding to equip school law enforcement officers with bulletproof shields, the letter said. Phelan called it a worthwhile goal and agreed that the funding for the shields should be made available.

Like you, I believe our respective chambers have the obligation to take immediate, concrete action with the goal of making our schools as safe as possible before the start of the upcoming year, Phelan said in the letter.

The most costly initiative in the plan is to expand Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT), which provides mental health services to children and adolescents with behavioral needs, the letter said. The program currently costs $25 million annually and covers 40% of the state. To expand TCHATT statewide would cost an additional $37.5 million per year, according to the letter.

The plan also proposed an additional $30 million for increased community mental health bed capacity and funding to increase the number of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) teams throughout the state. The state currently has seven teams but needs 140 MST teams to meat the statewide need, the letter said. Phelan proposed adding five to seven teams in the fall of 2022 and 10-14 more teams in the spring of 2023.

Other mental health initiatives include implementing Pediatric Crisis Stabilization and Response Teams in each region to ensure access to crisis intervention and expanding Coordinated Specialty Care teams across the state to provide resources for children after their first episode of psychosis.

Plans for school safety include $7 million for Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training, $7 million in funding for the Texas School Safety Center and $18.7 million for a silent panic alert system for school districts.



The funds would be made available through budget execution, the letter said, which allows lawmakers to take money already appropriated and direct it to another source. Republican leaders recently did this when they redirected nearly half a billion in funding from agencies like the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and Department of Public Safety to fund Operation Lone Star.

Patrick sent a letter responding to Phelan saying he supports the initiatives but he said he also believes the state legislature should have the opportunity to determine whether to fund these proposals beyond the 2022-23 school year. In the letter, Patrick said he would also like to set aside $5 million for fusion centers, which help law enforcement identify threats and pass them on to school districts, and fund automatic locking doors and metal detectors.

Gov. Greg Abbott commended Phelan and Patrick for their proposals in a press release.

"I applaud both the Lt. Governor and Speaker for quickly offering proposals that can immediately make schools safer, provide needed mental health support, and help our law enforcement officers on the front lines.
Following the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, a bipartisan group of senators helmed by Texas senator John Cornyn has been negotiating for weeks to reach a deal on gun legislation both parties can agree on.

The group of negotiating senators reached a tentative deal Sunday. The implementation of red flag laws, which empower authorities to take away guns from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others, might be an area of consensus between Democratic and Republican senators in the tentative deal, according to a Washington Post report.

Also known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders (or ERPOs), red flag laws allow law enforcement to ask a civil court to take away a potentially dangerous individuals guns. Some states permit family members and police officers to petition civil courts. Others give close contacts like teachers and coworkers an avenue for sounding the alarm.

Petitions typically require some form of documentation of the individuals dangerous behavior. In Maryland, for example, petitioners must list the behaviors theyve observed that indicated to them that an individual should not have a firearm.

Judges assess red flag petitions according to criteria specific to their state before either issuing an order to remove an individuals gun(s) or allowing them to keep their firearms. For example, California judges have to consider the number of times a person has made threats of violence in the past year, while other states allow judges to assess any documented history of substance abuse in their decision.

Removal orders can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Most states with red flag laws can issue one-year removal orders and in some cases allow judges to extend them.

Nineteen states and Washington, D.C. currently have red flag laws on the books. Florida passed its first red flag law in 2018 after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The Parkland shooter was the subject of several FBI tips and multiple 911 calls alerting authorities about his dangerous behavior in the years before the shooting.

Texas lawmakers have never passed red flag laws and the states Republican leaders have remained largely opposed to any form of gun control. While Sen. Cornyn has struck a collaborative tone in recent weeks during the Senate negotiation process, past statements from prominent Republican leaders in Texas indicate they will resist even watered-down gun control measures.

The non-bipartisan bill pushed through the House last week called for red flag laws in both state and federal courts, while the Senates alternative deal would create a federal grant system to support enforcement of red flag measures at the state level instead.

But Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has already signaled opposition to this modification: We shouldn't be putting the federal government's very heavy thumb on the scale with coercive grant programs, Cruz said in late April. Especially when 19 states and the District of Columbia are already experimenting with these laws, he added.

While Republican opposition to red flag laws carried over to Senate negotiations, however, senators in the bipartisan negotiation group announced on Sunday that theyd reached a deal on an altered version of the Houses legislative package. Multiple republican senators, including Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, voiced support for the federal grant system.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
New Delhi, June 14 (UNI) As Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced 10 lakh recruitments will be done in the government over the next year and a half, Congress questioned what happened to the promise of creating two crore jobs every year.

The Congress leader also said there are 30 lakh posts vacant in the central government.

"The promise was to give two crore jobs every year, 16 crore jobs were to be given in eight years. Now they are saying that by 2024 only 10 lakh jobs will be given," said Surjewala, who is currently under detention of Delhi Police along with several other Congress leaders after they staged a protest as Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate.
A nurse administers a pediatric dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to a girl at a L.A. Care Health Plan vaccination clinic at Los Angeles Mission College in the Sylmar neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, January 19, 2022. - While cases of Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise in California, officials are seeing early signs that the Omicron surge is slowing. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
Check out our latest E-Edition

Accessible anytime and anywhere on your desktop, tablet and smart phone devices. The Lodi News e-Edition is enhanced with the latest digital tools, including RSS feeds, social networking and much more.

Check out our latest E-edition!
Revenue has reached settlements in excess of 11.5 million with tax defaulters for the three month period from January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2022.

The latest Revenue tax defaulters list shows that there were a total of nine settlements in that time.

One settlement accounted for the majority of the total. Glendalough Stores Limited based at 66A Newtown Business Park Boyne Business Park, Drogheda reached a settlement totalling 9,984,534 with Revenue. It followed a Revenue investigation for under-declaration of VAT. The company is now in liquidation.

Medical Practitioner Ammar Alhassan, based in Saggart Medical Centre, reached a settlement for 175,351 following a Revenue Audit Case for under-declaration of income tax.

Donagh Callanan, a chartered quantity surveyor based at 1701 Euro Business Park, Little Island, Cork reached a settlement with Revenue totalling 313,389.

Domessin Consulting Limited, a medical service provider based at 24 Grianan Fidh, Aikens Village, Sandyford in Dublin reached a settlement of 158,484. This was following a Revenue Audit Case for under-declaration of PAYE, PRSI and USC.

An Orthodontic Surgeon based at Steamship House, Dock Street, Galway, Hugh Gordan, reached a settlement of 250,218 with Revenue for under-declaration of income tax.

Paul Murphy, a dentist based at Annapurna, Manulla, Castlebar reached a settlement of 120,758 with Revenue for under-declaration of income tax.

Thomas Kennedy, a company director based in Dingle, reached a settlement with Revenue totalling 134,793 for under-declaration of income tax and VAT.

Longford Slimming World members donate clothes to Irish Cancer Society Slimming World members in Longford town are celebrating their fabulous weight losses by donating the clothes they have successfully slimmed out of to The Irish Cancer Society. The members, who have lost over 220 stone since January alone, have donated over 100 bags to raise vitally needed funds for the cancer charity.

Longford man was in prison and unable to do community service, court is told A Longford man has told a court he was unable to complete an order for 175 hours community service owing to the fact he was already in prison.

Stephen Murphy, a former company director and landlord with an address at Milltown House, Bagelnastown, Carlow reached a settlement with Revenue for the sum of 357,568 for under-declaration of income tax.

The partnership of Rita O'Dowd and Audrey Hickey, landlords with an address at 8 The Carlton, Shannon Street Limerick, reached a settlement with Revenue for 101,411 for under-declaration of VAT.

See the full tax defaulters list here.
A couple of weeks after the Platinum Jubilee weekend, a new study has revealed that Ireland is the most Royals-obsessed country in Europe outside of the UK, according to Google search data.

The study, conducted by online casino authority Askgamblers.com analysed Google Search data for different keywords connected to the Royal Family such as Queen Elizabeth, Buckingham Palace and Harry and Meghan across 35 European countries, excluding the UK, and compared the total number of searches to each countrys population to reveal the rate of searches per million people.

According to results, the most Royals-obsesses countries are:

Ireland

With a total volume of 88,110 monthly searches, Ireland ranks first. With a population of 4,937,786 people, Ireland registers a staggering average of 17,844 monthly searches per million people, making it the most Royals-obsessed non-UK country in Europe.

Malta

With a much lower number of monthly searches (4,930 per month) and the second smallest population after Iceland (441,543 people), thanks to a staggering 11,165.3 monthly searches per million people, Malta is the second most Monarchy-obsessed European country.

Italy

One thing is for sure: Italians love the Royal family! Registering the highest number of monthly searches for terms related to the Royal family (456,960) followed by Germany (280,110) and France (230,000), Italy is the third most Royals-obsessed country, with an average search volume of 7,557 per million people.

Denmark

Denmark, Sweden, and Norway also classify high in the ranking. With an average search volume of 6,379 every million people, and a population of 5,792,202 people, the Danish are the fourth most Royals-obsessed country, followed by other two Scandinavian countries: Sweden and Norway.

Sweden

With a population size of nearly double the size of Denmark (10,099,261), according to the research, Sweden is fifth in the ranking, with a total search volume of 51,350 per month for Royal-related terms, and an average search volume per million people of 5,084 searches per month.

A spokesperson for Askgamblers.com comments on the findings: This data shows that the Royal Family is influential and popular all over Europe. Google searches suggest that people from different countries are intrigued by various aspects of the Royal Family, the Queen being the main one. Only a few other countries in Europe have monarchies, and its fascinating to see how some of them, such as Denmark and Sweden, appear high up in the list, while others such as Spain and Belgium show much lower levels of interest.

The study was conducted by AskGamblers, a leading online casino authority in the gambling industry which provides the latest information on online casinos, including the best casino reviews and ratings by a team of experts and real casino players.
Crime

By Long Island Published: June 14 2022

Suffolk County Police last night arrested a man after he stabbed his grandfather to death in Shirley.

Suffolk County Police last night arrested a man after he stabbed his grandfather to death in Shirley.

John Pilgrim was at his residence, located at 134 Hounslow Road, when his grandson Christopher Clarke stabbed him to death at approximately 7:45 p.m. Clarke then fled the scene on foot.

Pilgrim, 80, was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner.

Following an investigation, Clarke was located and arrested at the Long Island Railroad Station in Shirley at 9:41 p.m. Homicide Squad detectives charged Clarke, 34, of 601 2nd St., Brooklyn, with Murder 2nd Degree. He is being held at the Sixth Precinct and is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip later today.
Contango Holdings PLC - natural resource development company with operations in Africa - Enters into an offtake agreement with AtoZ Investments Pty Ltd, a coal trading company based in South Africa, for Contango's initial coking coal production.

AtoZ agrees to purchase 10,000 tonnes per month of washed coking coal produced at the Lubu Coking Coal Project in Zimbabwe at the prevailing Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe market price, which currently of USD120 per tonne. AtoZ agrees to handle all subsequent logistics and marketing of the coal.

Contango adds that it expects the MMCZ coking coal price to rise, given the current macro-outlook and global coking coal price environment. This, it explains, would provide greater margin to its operations.

Current stock price: 5.95 pence, closing 27% higher in London on Tuesday

12-month change: down 6.3%

By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
OnTheMarket PLC - Aldershot, England-based property search portal operator - Swings to a pretax loss of GBP928,000 in the year ended January 31, from a profit of GBP1.1 million the previous year. Revenue climbs to GBP30.4 million from GBP23.0 million. Explains that agency revenue benefited from growth in paying customers during the latter part of the year ended January 31, 2021. This allowed the company to start its most recent financial year with a higher monthly revenue run rate, it explains. Reports a "positive" start to the current financial year, in line with board expectations.

Current stock price: 83.50 pence, down 3.5% in London

12-month change: down 19%

By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
PureTech Health PLC - Boston, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage biotherapeutics - Announces results from phase two study of LYT-100-COV on patients with post acute or long Covid with respiratory complications.

No treatment effect was observed in the patient population, however there was a reaffirmation of the safety and tolerability profile seen in prior studies.

As a result, PureTech will no longer pursue further studies in the current population, and will instead look to start studies of LYT-100 in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis later in June.

Also on Tuesday, PureTech reveals its results from a healthy adult study of LYT-300, achieving the milestone of oral bioavailability of allopregnanolone in healthy adults.

"This is a key milestone for the candidate, which is designed to overcome the normally poor oral bioavailability of allopregnanolone to deliver its proven efficacy via simple, convenient oral dosing," the company says.

The clinical data establishes proof-of-principle for the company's Glyph platform for enabling oral administration of a range of therapeutics.

Current stock price: 157.00 pence, down 4.9% on Tuesday

12-month change: down 58%

By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has triggered a fresh dispute with the EU as his government set out plans to override the agreement governing Northern Ireland's post-Brexit trading arrangements.

The Irish government said the measures marked a "new low point" and accused Johnson's administration of "breaking the law".

The European Commission said it would take "proportionate" action to secure the implementation of the protocol, beginning with the resumption of legal proceedings against the UK, which it suspended in September.

The prime minister insisted the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill contained only minor, bureaucratic changes, while Downing Street said it was an "insurance mechanism" in case a negotiated agreement with the EU could not be found.

Johnson signed the Northern Ireland Protocol with the EU as part of the Brexit divorce settlement, with the measures aimed at preventing a hard border on the island of Ireland.

But by imposing checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea from Great Britain, the protocol has fuelled unionist anger in Northern Ireland and is also opposed by Eurosceptics in Johnson's Conservative Party.

The new legislation creates a framework to allow ministers at Westminster to introduce changes in four areas covering customs and agri-food safety checks, regulation, subsidy controls and the role of the European Court of Justice.

The UK government insisted the bill was compatible with international law under the "doctrine of necessity" which allows obligations in treaties to be set aside under "certain, very exceptional, limited conditions".

But Ireland's premier Micheal Martin said "it's very regrettable for a country like the UK to renege on an international treaty", adding: "It represents a new low point because the natural expectation of democratic countries like ourselves, the UK and all across Europe is that we honour international agreements that we enter into."

The protocol is "an international deal ratified by British parliament and approved by the PM", the Taoiseach said, and breaching it "goes to the heart of the issue of trust".

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said the EU viewed the UK's actions with "significant concern" and that it would consider what steps to take next.

As well as re-starting infringement proceedings against the UK, he said the EU would also look at launching further legal action to protect the integrity of the EU single market.

He said the access of Northern Ireland businesses to that single market was now "at risk" while the UK's action had undermined the trust necessary for the operation of its post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels.

"Unilateral action is damaging to mutual trust," he said.

"Our aim will always be to secure the implementation of the protocol. Our reaction to unilateral action by the UK will reflect that aim and will be proportionate."

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was "very clear that we're acting in line with the law" and blamed the EU for the failure to reach a negotiated settlement.

Responding to Martin's criticism she said: "We have sought a negotiated settlement for the last 18 months but as yet the EU have been unwilling to change the terms of the protocol.

"So I would strongly encourage the Irish Taoiseach to discuss this with the EU, to get a change in the mandate, and then we can go to the negotiating table."

She rejected the suggestion the move was merely a negotiating ploy, telling reporters at the Foreign Office: "We're completely serious about this legislation."

The bill will give ministers powers to override elements of the protocol, which was jointly agreed in 2019 by Johnson's government and the EU.

The protocol arrangements require regulatory checks and customs declarations on goods and plant and animal products moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, because they could flow through the open border with Ireland into the EU's single market.

Unionists in Northern Ireland are vociferously opposed to the treaty, claiming it has undermined the region's place within the UK.

The DUP has blocked the formation of a new power-sharing government at Stormont following last month's Assembly election in protest at the protocol.

Johnson told LBC Radio: "One community at the moment feels very, very estranged from the way things are operating and very alienated.

"We have just got to fix that. It is relatively simple to do it, it's a bureaucratic change that needs to be made.

"Frankly, it's a relatively trivial set of adjustments in the grand scheme of things."

The bill will enable ministers to establish a "green lane" so trusted traders are allowed to move goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland without checks, as long as the products remain within the UK.

Goods supplied by firms outside the trusted trader scheme, or products destined for Ireland and the EU, would go through a red lane and face checks.

Products being placed on the market in Northern Ireland would be allowed to follow either UK or EU regulations, rather than having to comply with Brussels' rules.

Changes would also allow Northern Ireland to be included in UK government state aid schemes and tax changes  for example the UK has complained that VAT relief on energy-saving materials could not be extended across the Irish Sea while changes to the alcohol duty regime are also prevented from applying in Northern Ireland.

The fourth area where changes are envisaged is the governance of the arrangements and the role of the European Court of Justice.

The plan would mean that UK courts are responsible for the operation of the new regime, but matters of EU law could still be referred to the ECJ.

The UK also proposes removing the ECJ as a final arbiter in trade disputes over the protocol, with the function instead handed to independent adjudicators.

The UK government's position has been opposed by 52 of the 90 MLAs in the Stormont assembly, with politicians representing Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the Alliance Party condemning the "reckless" plan.

But Truss said the protocol had "damaged the balance" between nationalist and unionist communities and she was determined to address that.

The government's actions could also inflame tensions with Joe Biden's White House, which takes a keen interest in issues affecting the Good Friday Agreement  the president is proud of his Irish roots.

Truss said: "I have had regular discussions with the US on this issue. Of course they are an important ally of the UK, I know that the US wants to see this situation sorted out and they want to see the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement restored as well."

source: PA

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - Vietnam Enterprise Investments Ltd on Tuesday said it will promote Gordon Lawson to chair, replacing Stanley Chou.

The Vietnamese equities-focused closed-end fund has named Gordon Lawson as chair. Lawson is currently senior independent non-executive director of the company.

Vietnam Enterprise said that Chou plans to step down as chair and resign from the board on June 30.

Chou was made chair in 2019. Previously, Chou had served as director of Vietnam Growth Fund Ltd, a fund also managed by the Dragon Capital Group Ltd, until its merger with Vietnam Enterprise, following which Chou joined Vietnam Enterprise's board in January 2016.

"The board would like to thank Chou for his valuable contribution during his time on the board, and his guidance as chair, during which time the company has significantly grown its assets under management, including via the merger with Vietnam Growth Fund Ltd, and has also listed on the Official List and admitted its shares to trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange," Vietnam Enterprise said.

Further, the company said that Entela Benz-Saliasi will replace Lawson as senior independent non-executive director.

Shares in Vietnam Enterprise were down 0.2% to 675.94 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

By Sophie Rose; sophierose@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The ACAVE association of specialised travel agencies in Spain believes that the Spanish government promise of more police officers for airports will be insufficient.

Spain's interior ministry has said that 500 police will reinforce controls at airports, but ACAVE argues that these will not be enough to prevent congestion at certain airports. The association has, therefore, sent a letter to the ministry, calling for a "more ambitious expansion of the workforce in order to reduce waiting times at controls". ACVAE maintains that there can be queues at some airports of up to three hours.

Although the forecast for Spain as a whole is for fewer tourists than in 2019, the association insists that more police are needed. Much attention has been paid to queues at Madrid-Barajas for non-EU travellers, and ACAVE highlights the situation with UK travellers and the need to stamp passports.

Jordi Marti, the association's president says that "urgent measures must be taken" to properly handle the arrival of tourists, especially from the UK. "We cannot wait, as the high season has already started."

ACAVE identifies Palma, Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, Tenerife and especially Madrid as airports needing police reinforcement.

It has been reported that fifty more National Police officers will be available in Palma from June 20, but it has also been suggested that these fifty officers will be for the three airports in the Balearics and not solely for Palma.
Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass.
As part of the ongoing University growth initiative, Northwestern Engineerings Department of Computer Science welcomes one clinical faculty member and two teaching-track faculty.

Our new colleagues will offer a wealth of knowledge and new research collaborations and courses to our entire community, said Samir Khuller, Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science.

Clinical Faculty

In early April, Andrew Fano joined as clinical professor of computer science and codirector of Northwesterns Kellogg School of Management and McCormick School of Engineering MBAi program. Prior to joining Northwestern, he spent 25 years at Accenture Labs, where he most recently was the global managing director of artificial intelligence (AI) research and development. In this capacity, he led research teams in the US, Ireland, India, China, and France on a range of applied AI research projects that demonstrated the potential applications of emerging approaches on a variety of problems including conversational systems, computational creativity, semi-automated data labeling, supply chain security, promotion optimization, bias detection, regulatory compliance, and knowledge management.

Fano also led the Accenture Labs University program which involved research sponsorships to more than 24 top universities worldwide. His experience bridging the business and academic communities informs his efforts at the MBAi program. His goal is to harness Northwestern and industry resources to produce graduates with a realistic understanding of what kind of industry problems can be addressed with AI and related technologies, what it takes to deploy such systems, and what it means to do so in a responsible manner. Fano earned his PhD in computer science with a focus on AI from Northwestern Engineering and completed the Kellogg Executive MBA Program.

Faculty of Instruction

Joseph Hummel joins this summer as a full professor of instruction. Most recently, Hummel served as clinical associate professor in computer science, director of undergraduate studies, and codirector of the Early Research Scholars Program at the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC). Hummel earned a PhD in computer science from the University of California, Irvine, focusing on high-performance computing and optimizing compilers. He has earned numerous teaching awards, including two UIC Silver Circle awards. Hummels research interests include programming languages, high-performance computing, and working with undergraduates interested in research. He is also an avid sailor and active in the Chicago sailing community.

Zach Wood-Doughty will be promoted from McCormick Teaching Fellow to an assistant professor of instruction in September. His research focuses on using natural language processing methods in causal inference. Specifically, he is interested in what assumptions are necessary to make causal claims from the study of observational data collected from social media texts and clinical notes. Wood-Doughty earned a PhD in computer science in 2021 and an MSE in computer science degree in 2017 from Johns Hopkins University. He received a bachelor of arts in computer science and mathematics from Carleton College in 2014.

Transforming Computer Science Education

Capitalizing on the rapid growth of computer science, Northwestern CS teaching faculty are reimagining curricula while strengthening the departments inclusive community. Since the launch of the University growth initiative in 2016, Northwestern CS has added 10 fully integrated teaching-track faculty, all of whom hold doctorate degrees, advise undergraduate research projects, and pursue their own research specialties. Learn more about how our faculty of instruction are transforming computer science education.

Read more
Northwestern Engineerings Department of Computer Science welcomes two jointly appointed CS+X faculty members and one core tenure-track faculty member as part of the ongoing University growth initiative.

I am delighted that our faculty recruitment efforts this year were successful," said Samir Khuller, Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science. "We hired faculty with a diverse collection of research focus areas to continue strengthening our research and teaching programs.

Jointly Appointed CS+X Faculty

Sam Kriegman will join this fall as assistant professor of computer science with a joint appointment in chemical and biological engineering and mechanical engineering. Most recently, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Tufts University and Harvard University, where he created new kinds of robots for technological and biological applications, and, sometimes, for fun. Kriegmans research involves computational approaches to the automated design and manufacture of mechanical, chemical, and biological robots. A recipient of the Cozzarelli Prize, awarded annually to six research teams whose Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences articles have made outstanding contributions to their field, his work introducing the worlds first computer-designed organisms (the xenobots) has generated considerable global media attention and was displayed as an exhibit at the Design Museum in London. Kriegman earned a PhD in computer science from the University of Vermont in 2020, and received the Basic and Applied Science Category Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award.

Miklos Z. Racz will start in January 2023 as an assistant professor of computer science with a joint appointment in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at Northwesterns Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. He joins Northwestern from Princeton University, where he served as assistant professor of operations research and financial engineering and an associated faculty member at the Center for Statistics and Machine Learning. Raczs research interests lie broadly at the interface of probability, statistics, computer science, and information theory. He earned a PhD in statistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a postdoc in the Theory Group at Microsoft Research, Redmond. Raczs research and teaching have been recognized by the Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) Howard B. Wentz Jr. Junior Faculty Award, Excellence in Teaching Award, and SEAS Innovation Award.

Core Tenure-track CS Faculty

Andrew Crotty will join in September as an assistant professor of computer science. His research primarily explores the design of systems for large-scale data analytics and data science, for which he received a Google PhD Fellowship in 2016 related to his work on the Tupleware project. Crotty joins Northwestern following a joint appointment postdoctoral researcher position with the computer science departments at Carnegie Mellon University and Brown University. Previously, he served as a postdoctoral researcher in the Data Science Initiative at Brown University, where he also earned a PhD in computer science in 2019.
On 10 June 2022, the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) held an inauguration ceremony to announce the official launch of a new electronic tariff platform, developed by the LRA in partnership with the EU-WCO Programme for Harmonized System in Africa (HS-Africa Programme), funded by the European Union.

At the invitation of the LRA Commissioner General Mr. Thabo Khasipe, the event was attended by senior representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, SACU Secretariat, the European Union (EU) Delegation to Lesotho, the WCO and a wide audience of stakeholders, including private sector. The WCO Secretary General Dr. Kunio Mikuriya delivered remarks at the opening of the ceremony.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Tseko Nyesemane, Deputy Commissioner Customs expressed his appreciation to the WCO, the EU and the e-tariff technical team of the LRA, stressing that the new platform would contribute to the automation and digitalization of Customs clearance processes. He pointed out that the initiative would enhance the efficiency of LRA services to stakeholders. He recalled the ongoing transformation of the revenue system in Lesotho emphasizing that the e-tariff platform would be an important achievement in the context of this process, contributing to modernization of revenue service across the country.

Congratulating the LRA on the inauguration of the electronic tariff platform, Dr. Mikuriya stressed that as the world was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of digitalization of Customs procedures towards paperless trade could not be overemphasized as it contributed substantially to the ease of doing business. He recalled that the WCO theme of the year 2022 was Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Data Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem, welcoming the new tariff platform as an important step towards that objective. He pledged continued assistance for Africa under the HS-Africa Programme, thanking the EU for its financial support.

In her welcoming address, Ms. Tsireletso Mojela, Deputy Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, thanked the WCO and the EU for their assistance in the implementation of the electronic tariff platform. She commended the LRA on the success of the project, stressing that trade facilitation work was high on the agenda of the government in Lesotho, with the National Trade Facilitation Committee coordinating the implementation of various initiatives with the relevant stakeholders. She stressed the key role of WCO standards, such as the HS and the Revised Kyoto Convention, in the modernization of Customs work, and reiterated her administrations sustained interest in strengthening that work further.

Speaking on behalf of the EU Delegation in Lesotho, Mr. Tomas Pallas Aparisi, Trade and Private Sector Development correspondent, welcomed the successful implementation of the new electronic tool in Lesotho. He pointed out that the EU would be keen on supporting such initiatives as they contributed to facilitating international trade, and trade was creating jobs, reducing poverty and furthering economic development. He expressed his confidence in the success of the new tool, which would help remove trade barriers and contribute to the creation of the continental free trade area in Africa.

After a demonstration of the new platform, other speakers took the floor to welcome the implementation of the tariff platform, stressing that it would help bring Lesotho into a better alignment with international standards of the WCO, the WTO and the AfCFTA. The inauguration ceremony was preceded by a series of workshops to explain the functioning of the new tool to Customs officials. The ceremony concluded by activating the electronic tariff platform on the LRA website and making it fully operational.

For more details, please contact hs@wcoomd.org.
From 2 to 3 June, 2022, the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP), held a Strategic Planning Follow-up Workshop for the Customs Administration of Bolivia (AN, for its Spanish acronym) to support the implementation of their newly developed Multi-year Strategic Plan.

This mission was organized within the GTFP support provided within its fully fledged intervention in Bolivia, under the organizational development component, aiming to support the AN for developing its new strategic plan. After a series of remote activities due to COVID-19 Pandemic, the AN successfully managed to accomplish the expected outcome of the GTFP for this particular topic, requiring additional support on reviewing its annual implementation plan and accompanying the finetuning of their new performance indicators.

As a result of this activity, the strategic plan and performance indicators were reviewed and further recommendations were provided to ensure the sustainability of its institutional planning, in accordance to the recent organizational changes and current national and international challenges.

For more information on the GTFP, please, contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.
Post your Comments

Comments should be on the topic and should not be abusive. The editorial team reserves the right to review and moderate the comments posted on the site.
Nairobi  Deputy President William Ruto has vowed to ensure implementation of the entrenched two-thirds gender rule within the first three months if the Kenya Kwanza Alliance clinches the presidency.

Speaking on Friday during the signing of the Kenya Kwanza Women Charter, DP Ruto said he was aware that women form the largest population in the country and their needs ought to be well taken care off both at the National Government and at the County level.

"Within three months of the Kenya Kwanza rule, we will put a mechanism to actualize the two-third gender rule and immediately operationalize that mechanism so that women don't have to wait longer," he said.

"While we went through the many economic fora across the country, we listened to the women of Kenya. They told us many things about empowerment, leadership, and they gave us examples of how they want things to change."

Ruto pledged to make women equal partners in his government saying they will be the face of the Kenya Kwanza government.

He exuded confidence that Kenya Kwanza government will have the most women leaders including governors if successful in the August elections.

"Will produce most elected women Governors, setting a record in Kenya," Ruto said.

He pointed out that "The 2022 election is about the economy of the republic of Kenya and its people. The face of this election is a woman, she is called mama mboga."

"Even before the elections, we already have a woman who has been elected as a Woman Rep in Kericho County; she is unopposed," Ruto added.

The Kenya Kwanza Alliance has already announced that if it forms the next government, more women will be appointed on the cabinet and other senior appointive posts.

The twelfth Parliament which was dissolved indefinitely on Thursday failed to enact the gender rule that seeks to have more women in Parliament for the last 10 years.

The Kenya Kwanza Women Charter outlined seven key issues that they want addressed by the government if the Ruto led team wins the polls.

They include, economic empowerment, women leadership, education for women, protection of women against Sexual and Gender Based Violence (GBV), health, environment, agriculture and ownership of land by women.

While responding to their requests, DP Ruto committed that that an agency will be formed to directly cater for women's issues.

He said, the agency which will be domiciled at the office of the President will be led by a female official who will also be sitting at the cabinet.

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Presidential flagbearer further promised to actualize access to government procurement opportunities by ensuring that women-owned enterprises will automatically qualify for financing through the hustler fund.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Governance Women By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

"I commit that the women will have a 50 percent access to the 50 billion shillings hustler fund without any conditions or interest," the DP said.

With the rising cases of teenage pregnancies, DP Ruto further committed to ensure a comprehensive return to school formula for teenage mothers, under bursary schemes, as well as put an end to period poverty by providing sanitary pads to all girls for free.

Ruto who is seeking to take over from President Uhuru Kenya pledged to create an institute at the Kenya School of Government to train women and build the capacity of women in leadership and entrepreneurship.

Ruto is among the four candidates who have so far been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to seek for the top seat come August 9 polls.

Others include his closest political nemesis and Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition flagbearer Raila Odinga, George Wajakoyah of the Roots Party and David Mwaure of Agano Party.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

MILWAUKEE (AP)  Searchers on Tuesday found the body of a 10-year-old boy who was swept away in a Milwaukee drainage ditch following severe thunderstorms that brought heavy rain and damaging winds to a wide swath of the Midwest and parts of the South.

The boy's body was found during a search of the city's drainage tunnels, WITI-TV reported. Two adults in their 30s who entered the water in an attempt to rescue the child Monday evening were still missing, according to Milwaukee fire and police officials.

Firefighters focused their search Tuesday on three connected tunnels that carry water to the Kinnickinnic River. Search crews did not enter the tunnels Monday night because of dangerous conditions and instead sent a drone inside in an attempt to locate the three, officials said. Police said all three knew each other, but didnt elaborate.

The water was deep and fast-flowing following the severe storms, which also caused damage in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. And the storms also packed a punch early Tuesday as they rolled into West Virginia, where numerous roads were closed by downed trees and power lines.

According to the website PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide, more than 400,000 electric customers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia were without service Tuesday afternoon.

The storms came as high temperatures and humidity settled in over states stretching from parts of the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and eastward to the Carolinas. More than 100 million people were facing combination of heat advisories, excessive heat warnings and excessive heat watches through Wednesday following record weekend temperatures in parts of the West and the Southwest.

In Illinois, a supercell thunderstorm with winds in excess of 80 mph (129 kph) toppled trees and damaged power lines Monday evening as it left a trail of damage across the Chicago area and into northwestern Indiana, the National Weather Service said.

Numerous reports of wind damage were reported along the storms path, with Chicagos OHare International Airport recording an 84 mph (135 kph) wind gust, the weather service said. Tornado sirens sounded in Chicago as the storm rumbled in, and crews were assessing the damage Tuesday to determine if any twisters touched down.

In Bellwood in Chicagos west suburbs, village officials said winds stripped the roof off an apartment building, injuring a young woman who was hospitalized after being hit by falling debris but was expected to be fine.

We just heard people screaming that the roof was off, get out, get out, resident Larhonda Neal told WLS-TV.

In northwestern Indiana, the weather service reported storm damage in Ogden Dunes and said hail 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) in diameter pummeled the Lake County town of New Chicago on Monday night.

In northeastern Indiana, the weather service said a 98 mph wind gust was recorded at Fort Wayne International Airport, the strongest wind the airport has ever recorded, eclipsing the previous record of a 91 mph gust recorded on June 30, 2012. Extensive storm damage and downed trees were reported in Fort Wayne, where winds ripped siding and insulation from the hangar of SkyWest, an aircraft maintenance company southwest of the Fort Wayne airports terminal and runways, exposing the planes inside, WANE-TV reported.

Thunderstorm clusters in the lower Great Lakes region met the criteria to be considered a derecho, the National Weather Service tweeted Tuesday. A derecho is a widespread, straight-line wind storm that is associated with fast-moving severe thunderstorms.

In northern West Virginia, three firefighters were taken to a hospital for evaluation after responding to an electrical fire early Tuesday in Wheeling, the city about 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh said in a news release. Two firefighters were shocked by a power line that fell on the roof of a building which had caught fire during the storm. The third firefighter was injured in a fall.
More than 80 percent of Africa's trade is with countries outside the continent, perpetuating dependence and reducing regional economic growth.

Accra  Africa should be under no illusion about Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. It is the equivalent of France deciding it would like to have Algeria back or Portugal seeking to recover Mozambique and Angola or Britain aspiring to rule once more from the Cape to Cairo.

If anyone has good reason to be appalled by Putin's revanchist designs to raise the Russian empire from the ash heap of history, it is the people of Africa, who for so long have been on the receiving end of the kind of enslavement Putin is attempting to impose upon Ukraine.

African countries who failed to condemn Putin's war on Ukraine should rethink.

Africa's 17 abstentions on the United Nations vote condemning Putin's Anschluss were not even justified in realpolitik terms. Putin's Russia has nothing to offer Africa except guns, mercenaries and conflict to sustain demand for them. The Putin regime presides over a murderously corrupt rentier state, whose mineral wealth is siphoned off by an oligarchy, while what should be a vibrant Russian economy stagnates for everyone else.

It is remarkable that the GDP of a country that encompasses eleven time zones and a population of 144 million should be smaller than Italy's. Other than petroleum products and weapons, Putin's Russia invents or manufactures almost nothing the rest of the world wants to buy. Is it any wonder that the country's brightest and best are fleeing? For one thing, they would prefer not to find themselves poisoned or in Putin's gulag for committing thought crimes.

Now, thanks to Putin and his dreams of restoring a mythical past, the lives of millions of Africans, already reeling from the Covid pandemic, are likely to be made even harder as his wicked war causes energy prices to soar and shuts down one of the world's most important granaries.

In International Monetary Fund-speak, "sub Saharan African countries find themselves facing another severe and exogenous shock." As the chair of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat plaintively put it, Africa is a "collateral victim."

Africa must  and can  reduce its dependence on external powers.

Africa is not responsible for turning the earth's atmosphere into a hothouse. Africa did not culture the virus that has sent millions to an early grave over the past two years. Africa  as Kenya's representative forcefully noted in the United Nations Security Council debate on Putin's invasion, has scrupulously respected its own borders, even though they are arbitrarily drawn artifacts of occupying powers. And yet, Africa keeps paying the price of others' greed and folly.

Demographics tell us that this will, in the end, be Africa's century. Come 2050, Africa will be home to more than half the world's people in their prime working years. Nigeria alone will be more populous than the United States. But if demographics truly are to be Africa's destiny, then the continent's leaders need to lead with shared purpose.

Stephen Butler / Shutterstock Market day in Budadiri in eastern Uganda. Africa's informal sector accounts for around 80 percent of livelihoods, but the African Free Trade Area could create conditions for large-scale job creation and economic growth across the continent.

With Covid, climate change and Putin's war; with the American body politic gnawing at its own entrails; and with the Chinese Communist Party turning increasingly expansionist, the world appears to be headed to an historic inflection point, at which we will have to decide to do things differently, as we did at the end of the previous great inflection point, World War II. Whether it will take a similar cataclysm before we undertake the needed course correction is the frighteningly open question today.

Africa had no say in designing the post-WWII global architecture. One obvious result: a region that now represents over 16 percent of the world's population has no permanent seat, let alone veto, on the UN Security Council. That has to change.

To free itself and meet its peoples' needs, Africans must act collectively.

For change to happen, Africa must act - and be seen to act - as a combined group, rather than as a collection of mostly small, weak, easily divisible statelets. That is one reason it is so important that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) be fully implemented.

Developed within the African Union over the past decade to be a largely barrier-free market for regional trade, the 2018 agreement has been ratified by the majority of African countries. The more the AfCFTA vision is realized, the more self-sufficient African economies will become in terms of food and energy and the less they will be vulnerable to exogenous shocks or reliant on the 'kindness' of self-interested strangers.

Africa, of course, is hugely diverse and complicated, but if African nations and their leaders could genuinely collaborate within the continent, their interests would be served much more effectively.

Speaking and acting as one, African leaders would not have to pretend there is a moral equivalence between Putin's regime and the targets of his imperialist ambitions. As one, they might also have some influence, were they to demand that China choose between Putin and Africa.

Rosa Whitaker, President of The Whitaker Group, served as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa under the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. She was the first person to hold the newly created post. Among her many honors, she was awarded special recognition by the Africa-America Institute for promoting U.S. Africa trade.
MANISTEE COUNTY  A new position to help build up housing in Manistee County will be advertised within a month, according to Manistee City Manager Bill Gambill.

The creation of the position was approved at the June 7 Manistee City Council meeting. The city will provide $20,000 a year for three years for the position.

However, because the position is countywide, there will be additional funding from other local units of government within the county, as well as funds from nonprofit organizations.

The person who eventually takes the position of housing ready coordinator for Manistee County would be employed by Housing North  a housing nonprofit based in Traverse City, according to Housing North's executive director Yarrow Brown.

Financing the position

According to Gambill, the breakdown of the funding for the position is as follows:

 Manistee County: $20,000 a year for three years

 Manistee County Community Foundation: $10,000 a year for three years. However, Gambill also said, "they will put in an extra $10,000 to help get us closer to the goal for 2022."

 Manistee Housing Commission: $10,000 a year for three years

 United Way: $5,000 a year for three years

 Filer Township: $5,000 a year for three years

Gambill said that $80,000 is the total commitment for the first year and $70,000 has been committed for years two and three.

"Manistee Township is considering a commitment as well. The goal was $90,000 per year for three years."

Reasons for the position

What does the position entail? A job description of the Manistee County Housing Ready Coordinator from Housing North can be seen online along with this story at manisteenews.com See More Collapse

The idea of the position has been floated before and comes as part of several initiatives passed by the city council in recent years.

"In 2018, the city of Manistee was selected to participate in the Rising Tide Initiative. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Talent Investment Agency and Michigan State Housing Development Authority, now the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, committed their assets to engaging specific communities across the state in order to empower them to shape their future and maximize economic potential. One of the outcomes of the initiative was the development of the City of Manistee Housing Action Plan (2019) which provides important context for this position," a document describing the position reads in part.

According to a target market analysis conducted in 2019, Manistee County needs 905 new housing units through 2025.

582 units would be rentals with 76% of all rentals with rents at $650 or below for people with incomes at $26,000 or less.

323 houses or owner-occupied units are needed. Of all 323 owner-occupied housing units, 98% would need to be priced at $250,000 or below for people who make less than $100,000 a year.

The city itself needs nearly 400 housing units with over 300 of the units being rentals. Of the rentals, the vast majority are needed for people making less than $40,000 a year.

Duties

The position, which has been financed for three years, would need to be renewed by the county after three years, according to Brown. She said one of the main metrics for success for the position would be that the community sees enough progress to agree to fund the position for another three years. She has noted that has happened so far in Charlevoix County.

Brown said there are two other positions  in Emmet and Charlevoix counties  similar to the one in Manistee.

Among the duties that the Housing Ready coordinator would perform are:

 Serve as the primary point of contact for housing-related questions and provide referrals to appropriate partners and resources;

 Work with community partners to effectively communicate the need for housing solutions in Manistee County and help educate locally elected officials and community members about best practices for housing solutions;

 Support partner efforts to encourage and assist units of government with adopting zoning that alleviates community housing challenges;

 Work with community partners and the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce's director of economic development to identify priority sites for housing opportunities and garner community support;

 Work with community partners to assist in building development capacity for housing, including rehabilitation programs and supporting new construction within Manistee County;

 Research, seek and implement grants from local, state and national sources of funding in order to leverage financial support for addressing Manistee Countys housing challenges; and

 Overseeing the development of clear guidelines outlying the process, available funding vehicles and timetables for programs and incentives.

In addition to that, the person would have a work plan which would be undefined in its nature of day-to-day work but would be put together with community input from groups like the Manistee County Housing Action Team, according to Brown.

The Manistee County Housing Action Team is a cross-sector group of municipalities, organizations, businesses and individuals committed to a coordinated solution to the communitys housing challenges, the position document reads.

The position would pay in the range of $55,000 to $65,000 annually and would require five years of experience in public policy in regard to housing.

Brown said she hopes to have a person in place by the end of the summer but also said it is more important to make sure Housing North and the county find the right person for the job than to fill the position by a particular timeline.

Brown said "there is no magic solution" to housing. She said measuring success would be difficult but the metrics that could be applied would include seeing more development, more rehabilitation of older homes as well as some new development.

"The most important thing is the community is able to see the value of the position," she said.
MANISTEE  CASMAN Academy will be bolstering its library over the summer thanks to a grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries.

CASMAN was one of 300 schools from 44 states across the country to receive a $5,000 grant to update and diversify their library collections.

I am thrilled that children from 300 schools will soon have access to an updated library collection, Bush said in a news release. Students across the country turn to books to discover the world around them, and we know that opening a new book opens the door to new opportunities and learning.

In total, the foundation awarded $1.5 million in library grants this year.

CASMAN director Shelly VanVoorst said the grant will have a big impact on the students.

"For quite some time we have been fortunate to have many places donate used books to help supply our library, but this grant really allows us to get new books for the students and to be able to have their input into which books they would like to see added to the library," she said. "We are happy that we can continue to encourage students to read and enjoy reading, while having books that they want to read available for them right here at our school."

The Laura Bush Foundation for Americas Libraries supports school libraries with the greatest needs with the goal of encouraging all students to develop a love of reading and learning. Since its inception in 2002, it has awarded more than $19.5 million to more than 3,300 schools across the country.

The CASMAN staff has already started putting together a list of books to acquire. VanVoorst said she had to assure staff members that the school could afford plenty of new books thanks to the grant.

"When I was telling the staff about it they were picking out like one or two (books)," she said. "They were trying to be conservative knowing our usual budget, but I was like, 'Folks, we have to really increase what we're putting on this list. ... We have five grand.' The list is blowing up now, so that's good."

The George W. Bush Institutes Education and Opportunity work, which houses the Laura Bush Foundation for Americas Libraries, is supported by The Allstate Foundation. The Laura Bush Foundation is managed as a restricted fund at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas.

Mary Becker-Witt, Manistee ISD school board president, said the school is very deserving of the grant.

"I know a parent who has a child at CASMAN and said it was the best family decision ever. She cannot believe how much her child has blossomed," Becker-Witt said. "She is very bright, but was not in the right environment. Now she's in an environment that has caring and support."

Visit laurabushfoundation.org to learn more about the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries.
The Sebewaing Rotary Club's annual 5K run has a special twist for 2022; it will be held in honor of Allan and Caron Nietzke, who passed away in 2021 and 2020 respectively.

The Nietzkes were long-time Rotary members, with Allan receiving the Paul Harris Award, which recognizes the recipient's contribution to the Rotary Club.

"They were not only active members of our rotary, but our community in general," said Sebewaing Rotary's youth exchange officer Cheryl Canfield.

The couple was especially passionate about PolioPlus, a worldwide endeavor by the Rotary Club to eradicate polio from the world. Sebewaing Rotary's end of the year donation to PolioPlus will be funded with money raised from 5K.

"It's a huge thing, because we're so close to eradicating polio," Canfield said.

The race will also double as an opportunity to attract younger people to club membership, which the club has been struggling with. They've tried hosting virtual meetings, but Canfield believes that the race may be more effective.

"There's nothing like being together in person and getting together as leaders to do something for the benefit of the community," she said.

Those who wish to sign up for the race can do so via itsyourrace.com. The race will begin on June 18th at 8am, starting from Bay Shore Camp in Sebewaing.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)  Memorial events are being planned in both Mississippi and Alabama for a police officer who was shot to death last week in the line of duty, officials said Monday.

A memorial service will be held Thursday in Meridian, Mississippi, for Meridian Police Officer Kennis Croom, who was killed while answering a call about domestic violence at a home in the city last Thursday.
MCALLEN, Texas (AP)  A South Texas mayor was arrested Monday after a federal indictment accused him of committing bribery and fraud.

Penitas Mayor Rodrigo Lopez was arrested as he re-entered the country at the Hidalgo Port of Entry, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The two-count indictment accuses Lopez of embezzling from the La Joya Independent School District. From March through August 2018, the district made purchases totaling about $70,000 from Lopezs company Xizaka LLC, the indictment alleges.

Lopez also is accused of offering a bribe to a district employee concerning those purchases.

Lopez is scheduled for arraignment and a detention hearing Tuesday before a federal magistrate in McAllen, 15 miles east of Penitas. If convicted, Lopez faces up to 10 years in prison per count.

No telephone number is listed for Lopez, 38, and no attorney is listed for him in court records.
A state commission that deals with services to elderly citizens will be holding its next public hearing session in Huron County.

The Michigan Commission on Services for the Aging meeting will take place on June 17 at the Huron County Senior Center in Bad Axe. Its monthly business meeting will start at 9 a.m. while its listening session will begin at 1 p.m. Anyone who attends will be asked to register upon arrival and each speaker is asked to limit comments to three to five minutes.

Each year, the commission hosts listening sessions in different areas of the state to give older adults the opportunity to share feedback about issues impacting their lives. It will hold five meetings this year, having already hosted sessions, in Lansing and Grand Rapids and with future sessions in Rochester and Manistee.

Bob Schlueter, the chairman on the commission, said the commissioners have discussions about where they have met in the past and they like to spread their meetings around the state.

I dont believe the Thumb area has had any appearances by the commission in a while, Schleter said. The commissioners represent the whole state. We have conversations about where the meetings are. Theres no scientific formula.

The commissioners want to hear local residents concerns, like what is going on with home health care services or what services have been added or taken away.

The questions are all over the place and pertinent to the area were in, Schlueter said. Issues in the U.P. are different from Detroit. We make sure were hearing different voices from other areas.

The commission is a 15-member, governor-appointed body that advises the governor, Legislature, and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on policies and matters relating to polices and programs for older adults in Michigan. A majority of the members shall be 60 years of age and older, with no more than eight members from the same party. They serve three-year terms and appointments are subject to the advice and consent of the state Senate.

MDHHS and the commission are dedicated to helping older adults live in the setting of their choice for as long as possible while complementing the care provided by their family and friends, said Scott Wamsley, director of the MDHHS Bureau of Aging, Community Living, and Supports said in a statement. It is critical to hear what types of services older adults and their loved ones believe are important to them.

Those who need accommodations to attend may contact Kelly Cooper by phone at 517-214-1618 or by email at CooperK6@michigan.gov.
JUBA, South Sudan (AP)  At least 1.7 million hungry people in South Sudan are losing humanitarian food aid at the worst possible time as the United Nations World Food Program suspends the help, blaming critical funding shortages.

South Sudan faces unprecedented hunger amid climate shocks, soaring food prices linked to the war in Ukraine and recovery from civil war. Over 60% of the population of more than 11 million people faces severe food insecurity, according to WFP, which said it had to halve food rations last year.
CAIRO (AP)  Clashes in Sudan killed at least 145 people and injured over 180 others this month, the United Nations said Tuesday, the latest tribal violence to rock the war-wrecked east African nation.

The violence in West Darfur and South Kordofan provinces, some of the deadliest in recent years, comes as Sudans turmoil worsens after an October military coup. The takeover upended the countrys short-lived transition to democratic rule after a popular uprising forced the militarys removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.

The most recent bout of violence erupted last week in West Darfurs town of Kulbus over a land dispute between Arab and African tribes, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Local Arab militias then attacked multiple villages in the area, OCHA said.

A total of 126 people were killed, including 101 from the Gimir tribe and 25 from the Arab Rizeigat tribe, it said. More than 130 others, mostly from the non-Arab tribe, were injured in the weeklong clashes, it added.

OCHA said at least 25 villages in the Kulbus area were attacked, looted and burned and that at least 50,000 people were forced to flee their homes in West Darfur and neighboring North Darfur province, where the clashes spread.

In South Kordofan, at least 19 people were reportedly killed, and 54 others injured in separate tribal clashes earlier this month, according to OCHA.

The violence in the town of Abu Jubayhah, which lasted for three days, grew out of a robbery of a tuk tuk, a three-wheeled vehicle, on June 5, it said. The fighting displaced more than 15,000 people after six neighborhoods in the town were burned down, it added.

OCHA said the fighting subsided following the deployment of troops to the area. Authorities declared a nightly curfew last week, but the situation remains tense, it said.

The past weeks fighting was the latest bout of tribal violence in Darfur, a vast region in western Sudan that was wrecked by two decades of conflict. The violence puts into question the U.N. Security Council decision last year to dismantle the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping forces mandate in the region.

The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when ethnic Africans rebelled, accusing the Arab-dominated government in the capital of Khartoum of discrimination. Al-Bashirs government was accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes and unleashing militias known as the janjaweed on civilians there  a charge it denied.

Al-Bashir, who has been in prison in Khartoum since he was ousted from power in 2019, was indicted over a decade ago by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Darfur.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

MILFORD  Subway is considering a relocation of its headquarters from Milford to Fairfield County, but the fast food giant is so far providing few details about the potential move.

Subway is exploring options in northeastern Fairfield County to create a world-class work environment for our employees, that includes a modernized headquarter(s) location, featuring an engaging and welcoming workspace and wide range of on-site amenities, the company said in a statement Monday. As a member of the community for nearly 50 years, we look forward to strengthening our long-term commitment to the area.

The company declined to comment further on the possible move. If carried out, it would mark one of the most significant corporate relocations in recent years in Connecticut.

Subways main offices are now located at 325 Sub Way in Milford, about a half-mile north of Interstate 95s Exit 35. The company declined to comment on the current number of employees based there.

Milford Mayor Benjamin Blake was not immediately available to comment Monday.

In the past 18 months, Subway has already pursued changes to its office footprint. In March 2021, the company signed a lease for more than 64,000 square feet in an office park next to Miami International Airport, with plans to bring 100 employees, according to real estate news outlet The Real Deal. The company said at the time that the offices would house marketing and culinary staff and the companys Latin American regional offices, but keep most of its employees in Milford, The Real Deal reported.

Subway declined to comment Monday on its operations in Miami.

Amid the potential headquarters move, Subway continues to grow. It has announced plans to hire more than 50,000 people this month to work in its restaurants across the U.S.

New recruits would join a company that has more than 37,000 restaurants across more than 100 countries. In a related statement, Subway did not provide hiring projections at a state level, noting that since Subway restaurants are independently owned and operated, the number of employees and hiring needs can vary by restaurant.

The companys first restaurant was opened in Bridgeport in 1965 by a then-17-year-old Fred DeLuca, and family friend Dr. Peter Buck. They originally called that submarine sandwich shop Petes Super Submarines. Buck died last November at age 90. DeLuca died at age 67 in 2015.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
Hope Hostel, also known as AERG/One Dollar Campaign complex, is one of the places designated to shelter migrants and asylum seekers from the United Kingdom.

A controversial plan by the British government to fly asylum-seekers from the UK to Rwanda is set to go ahead after a court rejected a last-minute appeal.

A last-minute bid to halt deportations of asylum-seekers to Rwanda failed on Monday after the Court of Appeal in London dismissed attempts to stop the first flight.

The British government has faced pushback over the plans from the United Nations as well as human rights and refugee groups.

Protests are expected on Monday ahead of the departure of the first flight, which is slated to take off on Tuesday.

What did the court say?

Judge Rabinder Singh dismissed the appeal on Monday, saying the appeals court could not interfere with a prior High Court ruling that was "clear and detailed."

The judge also refused to grant permission for further appeal -- meaning the first planned flight on Tuesday looked set to go ahead.

Refugee charities and a trade union lodged an appeal to temporarily halt the planned flights, arguing that they would undermine the "basic dignity" of people fleeing war, oppression and other circumstances.

The High Court on Friday ruled that the flights could go ahead, but that those who were slated for deportation could still appeal on Monday.

What will happen to asylum-seekers?

Under the plan, agreed between the British and Rwandan governments, some asylum-seekers who are in the UK will be given a one-way ticket to Rwanda.

The UK has reportedly paid Rwanda 120 million pounds ($148 million; 140 million) upfront for the plan.

The British government plans on making additional payments to Rwanda based on the number of asylum-seekers it deports.

The first flight will reportedly have over 30 people on board -- but the number is believed to have now dropped to 11.

British officials have not commented on the nationalities of those who have been slated for the first deportation flight to Rwanda, although British charities say the flight includes people fleeing from Syria and Afghanistan, Reuters news agency reported.

Why is the UK pushing for the plan?

The British government has defended the controversial plan, saying it welcomes refugees who come to Britain by approved immigration routes, but it also wants to put an end to criminal smuggling and dangerous Channel crossings.

The government hopes the flights will serve to deter other asylum-seekers looking to enter the UK.

Rwanda has also defended the deal, with President Paul Kagame saying it was not about "trading people" but offering a chance for asylum-seekers to begin a new life.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda Europe and Africa Migration By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

UN slams 'catastrophic' policy

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, sharply criticized the UK government's plans. He said the move to fly asylum-seekers to Rwanda is "all wrong" and sets a "catastrophic" precedent.

"The UK says... we do this to save people from dangerous journeys. Let me doubt that a little bit," he said to reporters.

"Saving people from dangerous journeys is great, is absolutely great. But is that the right way to do it?" he asked. "I don't think so."

The UN's refugee agency says the British government's plans do not take into account the limited resources in Rwanda to process asylum claims.

The move also could set a dangerous precedent for lower-income countries who are hosting far more refugees than the United Kingdom.

"What am I going to tell them if they say a rich country like the UK, they are sending them abroad, I will do the same. I close my border... and they can go to another country?" Grandi said.

"The precedent that this creates is catastrophic," he added.

(AFP, Reuters)
Rose has taken over the summer wine season. And why not? Its refreshing, delicious and its vibrant flavors come in a range of pretty colors.



Pink wines make me think of the warm and sunny vineyards of the south of France. Originating in the Mediterranean climate  known for a relaxed lifestyle and delicious food  it's no mystery why rose and summer are a great fit.



Wine regions around the world have jumped on the rose bandwagon, but most still come from France, Italy and Spain. Made from red-wine grapes, the juice from a gentle first pressing is given limited time to soak on the skins, yielding pale color and lighter flavors. One Italian brand is named 11 Minutes for the brief amount of time the juice has contact.



The popularity of easy-drinking rose is fueled by uncomplicated, enjoyable and modestly-priced wines, but theres a seemingly infinite and confusing number of bottles to choose from.



I went to Stew Leonards Wines in Norwalk for some guidance from advisor JoAnn LoGiurato.

The Provence style is popular, she said. Crisp and light with watermelon and strawberry flavors, it's just a step up from white wine. Other styles have a fuller body and more complex flavors  lighter versions of red wines.
The fired CNN producer from Connecticut accused of luring young girls and their mothers to a Vermont ski home for sexual training has been offered a plea deal by federal prosecutors, court documents show.

John Griffin, a Stamford resident, has been held by federal authorities since his indictment in December on three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity.

Griffin was fired from his job as a CNN producer after the indictment. He is also being sued by an 11-year-old victim and her guardian who claim the girl was forced to commit sex acts while she was at his home in Ludlow, Vt. The child was 9 when the incidents allegedly occurred in July 2020, court documents said.

The childs adoptive mother who brought the girl from their Nevada home to visit Griffin has pleaded guilty to attempted lewdness with a child under the age of 14, attempted sexual assault and child abuse. Hearst Connecticut Media Group is withholding the womans name to protect the childs identity.

The woman was sentenced in April to eight to 20 years in prison on each count in Nevada, court records show. The woman is also required to register as a sex offender and have lifetime supervision, court records show. She was arrested about 18 months before Griffin was charged.

According to federal court documents, Griffin is going through a divorce and dealing with the lawsuit while in custody on the federal charges. His wife was not accused of wrongdoing and has not been charged.

Griffins attorney in the federal case, David Kirby, was granted a 45-day extension so he could discuss the plea agreement with his client later this summer. In court documents, Kirby said he will be involved in another trial for three to four weeks beginning Wednesday and will not be able to discuss the plea deal and its ramifications with Griffin until the trial is complete.

This case may be resolved by plea, but substantial consultations with Mr. Griffin are required to determine if that will be the case, Kirby said in a motion seeking a 45-day continuance. A U.S. District Judge in Vermont granted the request, moving the date for motions to Aug. 4. The terms of the plea agreement have not been disclosed.

While an agreement has not yet been reached in the lawsuit, the parties have agreed that Griffins attorney, Robert Berke, will set aside a particular dollar amount in the event that a settlement or a verdict takes place, court documents indicate. Due to the victims age, the amount is sealed, court documents said.

There is also a hold on the plaintiffs seeking any evidence directly related to Griffin, including testimony during depositions until the federal charges have been resolved, court documents said. Griffin would have had to plead the 5th Amendment during depositions due to the pending criminal charges, Berke said Monday. Berke estimated that it could take 12 to 18 months to resolve the federal charges before the lawsuit can move forward.

Griffin, a former Norwalk resident, was once a producer for the Chris Cuomo show and was most recently a producer for CNN senior political analyst John Avlon.

The 10-page indictment issued by a Grand Jury alleges that Griffin frequently used Kik, a messaging application, and Google Hangouts to lure mothers with young daughters to meet him at the Vermont ski house he had bought with his wife to provide sexual training on how to be submissive to men. Griffin boasted during internet chats that he had trained girls as young as 7 years old, federal authorities said.

He sent a total of $3,350 to the adoptive mother of the 9-year-old for the two to travel from Nevada to Boston where Griffin picked them up and drove them to his Vermont home, court documents said. At the Vermont ski house, the child was directed to engage in and did engage in illegal sexual activity, the indictment said.

Federal authorities are seeking to seize any assets Griffin owned, including properties, vehicles and computers that may have been used in the commission of a crime.

The victim and her guardian who are called Jane Doe and Janet Doe in court documents contend that Griffin repeatedly sexually abused the 9-year-old at the Vermont house and she has endured mental suffering, including humiliation and anxiety that will likely impact her future earnings. The child is now living in Connecticut with a guardian, court documents said.
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRIDGEPORT  Authorities are still investigating a weekend incident in which a 2-year-old child was struck by a car, a city official said Monday.

Scott Appleby, director of Bridgeports Office of Emergency Management, said the toddler was taken to a local hospital Sunday after sustaining minor injuries in the incident on Barnum Avenue.
NEW YORK (AP)  Philip Baker Hall, the prolific character actor of film and theater who starred in Paul Thomas Anderson's first movies and who memorably hunted down a long-overdue library book in Seinfeld, has died. He was 90.

Holly Wolfle Hall, the actor's wife of nearly 40 years, on Monday said Hall died Sunday surrounded by loved ones in Glendale, California. She said Hall had been well until a few weeks earlier, and spent his final days in warm spirits, reflecting on his life.

His voice at the end was still just as powerful, said Wolfle Hall. Her husband, she added, never retired from acting.

In a career spanning half a century, Hall was a ubiquitous hangdog face whose doleful, weary appearance could shroud a booming intensity and humble sensitivity. His range was wide, but Hall, who had a natural gravitas, often played men in suits, trench coats and lab coats.

"Men who are highly stressed, older men, who are at the limit of their tolerance for suffering and stress and pain, Hall told the Washington Post in 2017. I had an affinity for playing those roles.

Born in Toledo, Ohio, Hall initially devoted himself more to theater in Los Angeles, after moving out in 1975, than TV and movies. While shooting bit parts in Hollywood (an episode of Good Times was one of his first gigs), Hall worked with the L.A. Actor Theatre. There he played Richard Nixon in the one-act play Secret Honor, a role he reprised in Robert Altman's 1984 film adaptation. Critic Pauline Kael wrote that Hall draws on his lack of a star presence and on an actors fears of his own mediocrity in a way that seems to parallel Nixons feelings."

Hall made an impression in the smallest of roles in other films, like 1988's Midnight Run." But outside of theater, Hall was mostly doing guest roles in television. That changed when he was shooting a PBS program in 1992. Hall then encountered a production assistant in his early 20s named Paul Thomas Anderson. The two would hang out, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee between scenes. Anderson, believing Hall hadn't gotten his due in film, asked him to look at a script he had written for a 20-minute short film titled Cigarettes & Coffee.

Im reading this script, and I truly had trouble believing that that kid wrote this script, Hall told the AV Club in 2012. I mean, it was just so brilliant, resonating with nuance all over the place, like a playwright. Certainly, as a film, Id never really seen anything like it. It was staggering.

After the $20,000 short made it into the Sundance Film Festival, Anderson expanded it into his feature debut, 1997's Hard Eight, which catapulted Hall's career. In it, Hall played a wise and courteous itinerate gambler named Sydney who schools a young drifter (John C. Reilly) on the craft. In one indelible scene, Philip Seymour Hoffman's first with Anderson, a hot-shot gambler chides Hall as old-timer.

Anderson would cast Hall again as adult film theater magnate Floyd Gondolli who warns Burt Reynolds' pornography producer about the industry's future in Boogie Nights." In Anderson's Magnolia, Hall played Jimmy Gator, the host of a kids game show.

I have a particular fascination with character actors, with wanting to turn them into lead actors," Anderson told The Los Angeles Times in 1998. "I see Philip Baker Hall, hes just . . . an actor that I love. Theres no one else with a face like that, or a voice like that.

To many, Hall was instantly recognizable for one of the most powerfully funny guest appearances on Seinfeld. In the 22nd episode of the sitcom in 1991, Hall played Lt. Joe Bookman, the library investigator who comes after Seinfeld for a years-overdue copy of Tropic of Cancer." Hall played him like a hardboiled noir detective, telling Seinfeld: Well, I got a flash for ya, Joy-boy: Party time is over.

Hall was brought back for the Seinfeld finale and by Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm. David once said no other actor ever made him laugh more than Hall.

Among Hall's many other credits were Michael Mann's The Insider, as 60 Minutes producer Don Hewitt, and Lars von Trier's Dogville." Hall appeared in Say Anything, The Truman Show, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Zodiac, Argo and Rush Hour." Hall played the neighbor Walt Kleezak on Modern Family. His last performance was in the 2020 series Messiah.

Hall, who was married to Dianne Lewis for three years in the early 1970s, is survived by his wife, four daughters, four grandchildren and his brother.
analysis

Our world and everything in it is made up of innumerable tiny molecules. These molecules are the smallest units of chemical compounds or living things. Viruses, bacteria, parasites, plants, animals, humans: each organism is underpinned by molecules. Studying them allows scientists to understand the basic principles and interactions that govern all forms of life.

Shifts at such basic levels change the way an organism looks or functions. That's critical in understanding diseases, for one thing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, molecular research enabled scientists to quickly understand how the new coronavirus behaved and how to prevent infection. That, in turn, drove vaccine development.

Molecular research could also, in future, make it possible to personalise medicine - basing treatment on a patient's DNA. And it may be key to progress in the treatment of diseases such as sickle cell anaemia, diabetes and cancer.

There's a problem, though: molecular research is expensive. It requires specialised equipment and chemicals, which is costly.

In Nigeria, where I conduct molecular research - and in many other African countries - there is very little state funding for research and development. Nigeria's TETFund, the government agency responsible for all higher education funding, has very limited resources. Molecular research is often neglected in funding decisions in favour of other forms of research that could provide immediate solutions to pressing societal needs, such as immediate control measures for disease outbreaks.

As I argued in a recent journal article, though, molecular research can help address some of Nigeria's health needs. Nigeria has a rich biodiversity of humans, animals and plants whose molecular compositions may hold clues to future advancements in medical science. The country also bears a huge burden of infectious disease. Microorganisms that cause diseases abound in the tropical climate of Nigeria.

Investment in research into the molecular characteristics of these microorganisms would go a long way in disease control and management both locally and globally.

Untapped contributions

It's worth noting what Nigeria's molecular research scientists have already been able to achieve without good resources.

They were at the forefront of sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 genome within days of the first infection being recorded on Nigerian soil. This work allowed them to publish the first SARS-CoV-2 sequence data on the African continent. This was made possible by many years of international and local funding to build capacity at the African Centre of Excellence for the Genomics of Infectious Disease and the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research.

Imagine how much more could be done and how Nigeria could contribute to global health solutions if its numerous excellent scientists were properly equipped with adequate facilities.

South Africa has demonstrated this dedicated research support via its National Research Foundation. Huge funds have been invested in research for the control of HIV and AIDS and, more recently, COVID-19.

At present, most Nigerian molecular research scientists do not have the specialised research equipment they need. This is because of cost and limited availability. Most of this equipment, and the chemical reagents needed for this work, is imported. There are a few specialised reference molecular laboratories in the country, but not nearly enough to serve the needs of this nation of more than 200 million people.

Universities, which are the ideal spaces for such research facilities, don't offer adequate institutional support for procuring molecular research equipment and reagents.

Yet there are many diseases peculiar to the country and region, for which new treatments could be easily developed with the aid of molecular research. They include genetic diseases like sickle cell, noncommunicable diseases like diabetes, and infectious diseases like malaria and neglected tropical diseases (among them river blindness and sleeping sickness or African trypanosomiasis).

Nigeria - and the African continent - cannot continue to wait for western researchers to find solutions to these peculiar health challenges.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Health Science By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

Concerted effort

Nigeria has the opportunity to contribute an enormous amount of knowledge to molecular research. For this to happen, a concerted effort is required by the government, institutions, local and international funding bodies, and molecular researchers themselves.

COVID-19 has taught us that a health problem in one place could threaten global health. Therefore all hands should be on deck to tackle health challenges wherever they occur.

There is a strong need for national and international funding bodies to increase funding allocations to improve molecular research capacity in Africa. Also, universities and research institutions should provide an enabling environment by providing easy access to the equipment and facilities that researchers need. Researchers will thus be encouraged to find solutions to health challenges and train more scientists.

Chinwe Uzoma Chukwudi, Senior lecturer in Molecular Pathology and Microbial Genetics, University of Nigeria
The Army is dumping the company it contracted to run its platform administering education benefits for more than 100,000 soldiers, a site that has been cursed with technical issues with service leaders saying it has been flawed from the start.

In March 2021, the service launched ArmyIgnitED, a tool for soldiers to process their education benefits that is currently managed by professional services company Deloitte. That service was an attempt to modernize the now defunct GoArmyEd.

Yet, right out of the gate, ArmyIgnitED had major problems. Thousands of soldiers blasted the platform on social media for issues ranging from login difficulties to the site not having their college or degree program accessible and payment failures leading to at least 20,000 soldiers paying thousands of dollars out of pocket. Those issues promptly drew scorn from members of Congress and forced senior leaders to scramble to set up reimbursement programs for soldiers.

Read Next: Navy Secretary Censures 5 Officers over Fatal AAV Sinking

"A year ago, there was a lot of frustration. Soldiers were paying out of pocket. We couldn't get logins. There were all kinds of issues," Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, the service's top enlisted leader, said at a town hall with soldiers Friday.

"We haven't fixed them all; we still have a long way to go. We acknowledge right now we haven't solved all the issues," Grinston added. "I used [tuition assistance]. I'm a huge fan, and I would not have my degree if not for that.  It's important to you, it's important to me."

After the disastrous launch, issues still remain a year later, and the Army has decided it will no longer work with Deloitte, the contractor that runs the platform, once its contract expires in February 2023, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. A Deloitte spokesperson confirmed that the contract won't be extended.

The service is expected to shift its education services to BAM Technologies, according to Tara Clements, an Army spokesperson. That company did not respond to a request for comment from Military.com.

"Deloitte will continue to perform on their current contract with ArmyIgnitED and assist with a smooth transition to the new platform," Clements told Military.com in a statement.

"We deeply appreciate Soldiers' service and sacrifice and know how important the Army's tuition assistance is to the men and women who serve," Karen Walsh, a Deloitte spokesperson, told Military.com in a statement. "Over the past year, in coordination with Army leadership, we have made enhancements to ArmyIgnitED to address specific concerns, improve Soldiers' experience, and expedite the reimbursement of tuition expenses."

Beyond the Army's tuition platform, Deloitte has a long record of taking on complicated IT projects. It was recently awarded a $106 million contract to develop an artificial intelligence hub for the Pentagon.

But the company has also struggled with other projects, such as a more than $600 million IT system for Rhode Island called the Unified Health Infrastructure Project, or UHIP. That system, launched in 2016, was supposed to integrate 48 state and federal benefit programs, including Medicaid, food assistance and subsidized child care.

The program immediately hit turbulence, with 300,000 mostly low-income Rhode Islanders unable to access critical government assistance. A state investigation found the system wasn't ready for launch and that Deloitte officials falsely told the state's governor that the platform was "all green."

"Although Deloitte was selected for its experience with these types of projects, it has not consistently adhered to industry best practices," found a 2017 report to then-Gov. Gina Raimondo, who is now the U.S. secretary of commerce. "The State too heavily relied on Deloitte's industry experience to ensure successful project delivery and therefore did not dedicate adequate State resources to appropriately oversee the vendor."

Later, Deloitte faced backlash in Florida after Gov. Ron DeSantis' Medicaid department, the Agency for Health Care Administration, awarded the company $135 million to modernize its IT systems after it stumbled with an unemployment system.

In spring 2020, the Trump administration awarded Deloitte a $44 million no-bid contract to build a website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to manage inventory and schedule COVID-19 vaccines. The website performed poorly, which spurred most states to launch their own programs instead of using Deloitte's system for free.

In the meantime, soldiers are being told by service leaders to keep their colleges in the loop on any financial or registration hurdles due to ArmyIgnitED. Some schools also have specific rules against forcing late fee debts onto service members and vets using military benefits.

ArmyIgnitED is expected to stay online throughout the transition to a new contractor, with all of the site's features, including those that have been delayed, expected to be operational by early 2023, according to Clements. ArmyIgnitED's Facebook page is still peppered with complaints from dozens of soldiers almost daily.

"Go to your local education center; that counselor can liaise with the college that this is a military applicant and they will try to work it out," Command Sgt. Maj. Faith Alexander, the top enlisted leader for the Army's education systems, said at the town hall Friday. "Don't be like the one soldier from Fort Benning I saw that waited until his fifth notice."

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

Related: Army Promises to Reimburse Soldiers Affected by Broken Tuition Assistance Website
Bobby McDonalds infectious smile beams as he tells the unusual history of the 20 Black soldiers and their White lieutenant who pioneered the U.S. Armys use of bicycles.

Military planners interest in bicycles likely stemmed from a desire to ditch slow-moving logistics wagons that would stretch for 50-60 miles behind a Civil War-era army. Soldiers had to transport feed for horses, and bicycles could move much more quietly without requiring trips to water troughs.

But the history of bicycles in the service is more than just a technological oddity. It also coincides with a shift in how Black soldiers would serve their country.

Read Next: Navy Secretary Censures 5 Officers over Fatal AAV Sinking

On May 12, 1896, 2nd Lt. James A. Moss received permission to organize the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps, the first of its kind. Under Moss leadership, the initial corps consisted of eight Black enlisted men who learned to ride in formation, drill, ford streams and pedal 40 miles a day.

Now that history is being honored, with McDonald and another Black veteran organizing a ride to commemorate the historical first.

It was positive history. Its just positive and educational. Youve got a bunch of guys who are just trying to do the job, McDonald told Military.com. Everyone can rally around bicycles.

Tuesday marks the 125th anniversary of a test ride Moss and the 25th made, a 1,900-mile, 41-day expedition that began on June 14, 1897, in Missoula, Montana, and ended in St. Louis. Its also the 247th birthday of the Army itself, placing the historic ride at almost the midpoint in the services history.

To honor that ride, reenactors dressed in period uniforms and on replica bicycles will pedal along a portion of the same route forged in 1897. While the majority will ride five miles from the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula to downtown Missoula, adventure cyclist Erick Cedeno is slated to take on the entire route to St. Louis.

The all-Black 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps traveled 1,900 miles from Fort Missoula in Montana to St. Louis in June and July 1897. The journey took 41 days.

The month of events will be spread across three cities: Missoula; Wallace, Idaho; and St. Louis. They will conclude with an event at the Missouri History Museum located in St. Louis' Forest Park on July 24  the date the bicycle corps, nicknamed the Iron Riders, completed their journey.

For more than a year, the event, called Iron Riders 2022, has been planned by a committee that includes Black military veterans. McDonald is the son of a soldier who served with the segregated 1321st Engineer General Service Regiment in Europe and Okinawa during World War I, and is a veteran himself, having volunteered for the Navy on Aug. 11, 1965, the day the Watts Riots started. While deployed on the USS Tripoli in 1967, McDonald served as an aircraft handler, helping launch, land and park UH-1s, CH-47s and HH-53s.

By retelling the story of the Buffalo Soldiers and the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps, McDonald hopes to bridge divides.

Our country has gone negative, at least a piece of it, he said. I appreciated my time in the service it didnt matter who you were and weve lost that. Everyone has their own opinion, which is great, but theres no compromise. We cant even go along to get along.

In January, McDonald and another veteran leading the events, Ron Jones, were featured in a short documentary produced by the American Legion. Jones is the son of a World War II veteran and a member of the Army mounted cavalry regiment known as the Buffalo Soldiers.

Jones received his draft notice at 22 years old and had 10 days to report to the Army. Because of the quick turnaround, Jones volunteered for the Navy after an Air Force recruiter said he couldnt get him inducted before the deadline. Jones was later put on a track as an electrician.

Despite coming into boot camp without knowing how to swim, Jones was recognized early on by drill sergeants as a leader and spent nights in the company commanders office reading the manual about how to put recruits through boot camp.

He was recruited for the Navy nuclear program, serving as the only Black engineer on any of the three submarines on which he deployed.

I felt a certain pride in my uniqueness. There was a time in this country when they believed a Black man could never be trained to operate a nuclear reactor, Jones said in an interview. I realized if it wasnt for the Buffalo soldiers, who were the first people of color to serve in the active army. Those men opened the doors for all of us in the military so I could become a nuclear engineer.

When Jones turned 50 years old, he got into bike riding to mitigate his family history of cardiovascular disease. After riding around his Los Angeles neighborhood for a while, he started signing up for 100-mile rides.

People ride bicycles all the time, but who rides 1,900 miles across the country? I wanted to start telling their story, Jones said.

In 2010, he saw a photo of Buffalo Soldiers on bicycles for the first time.

By driving his father to meetings of the local chapter of the 9th and 10th Cavalry (Horse) Association, Jones got involved in telling the stories of Black service members who served in segregated units from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century.

That was definitely something we could relate to each other about, he says.

Riders in the 25h Infantry Regiment Bicycle Corps traveled 1,900 miles from Fort Missoula, Montana, to St. Louis in 1897. (National Archives photo)

African American military history experienced a revival in the 1970s amid movies that featured the Buffalo Soldiers, The publics interest was further captured by the 1989 film Glory on the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, said Tate Jones, director of the Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History at Fort Missoula. Since joining the museum, Jones said interest in the story of Black troops on bicycles has increased, which he attributes to renewed attention on Black military history.

During the late 19th century, the bicycles increasing popularity caught the attention of the U.S. military. In 1892, Maj. Gen. Nelson A. Miles, as commander-in-chief of the Army, recommended one full regiment be equipped with bicycles, and that existing troops at posts throughout the country use bicycles for transportation.

This was an interlude for the Army. By 1897, the Indian Wars had been over for a significant period of time. We werent really involved in the imperial era yet in Cuba and the Philippines. There was kind of a lull that allowed some people in the Army to experiment, Jones said.

The 1,900-mile ride to St. Louis by the 25th wasnt that units first test. A little less than a year before, they rode from Missoula to Yellowstone National Park and back, an 800-mile journey they covered on Spalding bicycles  each packed with a rifle, 50 rounds of ammunition, knapsack, blanket roll, a shelter and drinking cup.

The history of the much longer ride in 1897 largely survives through newspaper clippings. The soldiers endured thirst, hunger, cold, heat and loss of sleep, according to press coverage of the expedition.

Despite these and other hardships, the 25th Bicycle Corps was greeted upon its arrival in St. Louis on July 24, 1897. They returned to Fort Missoula by train. The Army denied Moss request for additional cross country bicycle tests, and the experiment was overtaken by plans for a war with Spain.

In 1898, the 25th Infantry Regiment left Fort Missoula for Cuba to fight in the Spanish-American War.

It was the greatest experiment the Army ever had on a bicycle, McDonald said. I keep telling people I dont have to clean it. I dont have to clean up behind it. I dont have to feed it. I dont have to worry about it throwing me off.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the location of the July 24 event.

Related: How a Race Riot Involving an Army Unit Led to the Largest Murder Trial in US History
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro has issued Letters of Censure to five officers who were in positions of leadership during the fatal sinking of an amphibious assault vehicle, or AAV, on July 30, 2020, according to a statement issued Monday. The incident led to the deaths of eight Marines and one sailor.

The move comes almost a year after the last of four investigations found that "poorly-maintained AAVs, inadequately trained personnel and the failure to conduct a timely egress caused the sinking of the AAV and the tragic loss of life," Adm. Samuel Paparo, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, noted in a letter endorsing the 2021 report.

The five officers censured include now-retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Osterman, Col. Christopher Bronzi, Capt. Stewart Bateshansky, Capt. John Kurtz, and Lt. Col. Keith Brenize.

Read Next: C-17 Crew Cleared After Civilians Clinging to Plane Fell to Their Deaths During Afghanistan Evacuation

Osterman, Bronzi and Brenize were all Marine officers in the chain of command for the unit that provided the AAVs for the exercise. Kurtz was the commanding officer of the USS Somerset -- the ship that launched the craft -- and Bateshanksy led the amphibious task force involved.

Some of the officers have already faced punishment. Bronzi, who commanded the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit at the time, was relieved of his command in March 2021. In his 2021 endorsement letter, Paparo said that, "unless otherwise directed," he planned to take administrative action regarding Bateshansky and Kurtz, but a Navy spokesman, citing the Privacy Act, said no further details would be available.

Del Toro, in his statement, said that the letters were issued following a thorough review of the command investigations," adding that the five "officers received [letters of censure] due to their inadequate leadership and execution of their oversight duties."

Osterman, who is now retired but served as commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force at the time of the accident, had not previously been held culpable for the deadly incident, but Del Toro noted in his letter of censure that the general was "responsible for mitigating the inherent risks in operations and training" and that he "did not fully appreciate the potential negative impact of COVID-related challenges" on the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

According to a LinkedIn profile that appears to belong to Osterman, he is now an executive consultant on leadership, strategy and national security.

The letters, which are placed in service members' personnel files and can often prevent them from being promoted or progressing in their careers, come just days after Del Toro released a Navy-wide message on leadership and accountability in early June.

"When leaders' actions or inactions result in the loss of life or capital resources or simply lower our standards, the senior leadership of the [Navy] has a responsibility to determine the root cause and hold responsible persons appropriately accountable," Del Toro wrote in the message. "I would encourage all leaders -- especially those in command -- to continually assess your team's performance ... and always ask for help when needed."

A Marine Corps report into the AAV sinking noted that "ultimately, this tragic mishap was preventable." The AAV that sank was built 17 years before the youngest Marine killed was born and suffered from faulty seals on a grill at the front of the vehicle and an incorrectly installed headlight.

Reports also noted that the tragedy was compounded by the fact that there were no safety boats in the water and unit leaders failed to ensure their Marines had completed egress training, which teaches them how to get out of a sinking vehicle or aircraft.

As the vehicle began to take on water, another AAV that came up to help accidentally bumped into it, turning it sideways into the choppy waves. With a hatch open, water quickly filled the troop compartment, and the AAV sank with most of its crew still on board.

The Marine Corps has since barred AAVs from operating in the water.

"We must cherish the special trust, confidence, and responsibility that comes with command and should never take it for granted," Del Toro wrote in his message to the fleet. "The lives of our Sailors, Marines, and [Navy] civilians depend on it."

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

Related: Navy Investigation into Deadly AAV Mishap Finds Issues But No Direct Link to the Sinking of Landing Craft
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February, a debate within the U.S. foreign policy community has reignited over how far Washington would go to defend Taiwan if China launched a similar assault on the island. These questions acquired a new level of urgency last month when President Joe Biden seemed to suggest he would use military force to protect Taiwan if Beijing ever decided to attack it.

Although Biden administration officials quickly clarified the United States had not abandoned its historic policy of "strategic ambiguity" toward Taiwan's defense, the president's comments came only days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave a speech outlining Washington's approach to China: Beijing is the greatest challenger to the American-led international order, and its global behavior must be constrained through shaping the "strategic environment" around it.

Despite U.S. officials insisting they don't want a "new Cold War," the Biden team is making a mistake in applying the Cold War-era U.S. strategy of containment as a means of managing its increasingly hostile relationship with China. Indeed, Washington already fought a cold war once with Beijing while engaging in superpower competition with Moscow -- it was a catastrophe not only for American foreign policy but also for all of East Asia.

During the first 25 or so years of the Cold War, Asia represented a blood-soaked albatross for U.S. policymakers.

Months after his domestic critics accused him of "losing China" to leader Mao Zedong and his Chinese Communist Party (CCP), President Harry Truman authorized a military intervention on the Korean Peninsula in 1950 to halt North Korea's invasion of its southern neighbor. "If we were to let Asia go," he warned after Pyongyang's forces attacked, "the Near East would collapse and no telling what would happen in Europe."

This early formulation of the "domino theory," which Truman cited to justify U.S. involvement, helped transform the Cold War from a political and economic competition into a militarized confrontation that led to a series of fiascoes in Asia.

Washington's early victories in reversing North Korea's invasion triggered Chinese intervention in the Korean conflict, leading to a costly stalemate. By the time a cease-fire was reached in July 1953, there were an estimated 5 million casualties, including 2 million to 3 million civilians. South Korea had been saved, but Mao's China exacted a terrible cost.

At two points during the 1950s, U.S. officials found themselves on the nuclear brink when Mao attacked Taiwanese-held islands off the coast of mainland China. Looking to avoid using American ground forces, the Eisenhower administration threatened atomic retaliation to defend Taiwan. Beijing ultimately relented both times, but the crises convinced Chinese policymakers to build their own nuclear deterrent, raising the stakes in a volatile region.

The U.S. soon found itself sucked into another ferocious quagmire in Indochina. France's inability to quell a communist insurgency there pushed Washington to deeply engage, first by aiding Paris' military campaigns and then by deploying American troops in what became known as the Vietnam War. Covertly assisted by Beijing, North Vietnam consistently frustrated U.S. efforts to defeat it, leading to an approximate 3 million deaths. By the war's end, American leaders had achieved none of their objectives, and the CCP scored a significant victory in pushing U.S. forces out of Vietnam.

Across Southeast Asia, Chinese-U.S. competition caused significant destruction and violence. In Indonesia, Washington abetted a wave of mass killings of suspected communist sympathizers that led to roughly 500,000 deaths and decades of authoritarian rule. In neighboring Malaysia, U.S. officials supported counterinsurgency campaigns against Beijing-sponsored communist revolutionaries that resulted in two decades of civil war. Fears of CCP influence spreading produced a succession of American misadventures in the Pacific that hardly advanced U.S. goals.

As U.S.-China relations further decline to lows not seen in decades, America's previous cold war with China should give policymakers pause. Washington's past attempt to contain Beijing in East Asia accomplished little and precipitated wanton regional devastation and ruin. This all occurred while China was a low-income nation with hundreds of millions living in poverty.

After decades of setbacks, an earlier generation of U.S. cold warriors finally learned a militarized approach to China would only continue to end in failure. With China currently rising as a peer competitor and expanding its nuclear arsenal, the risks of miscalculation are even more fraught than before.

On its current trajectory, Chinese-U.S. great power competition in the Pacific will leave the region less secure and more prone to instability and conflict. Biden's increasingly hawkish advisers must realize the Cold War is not a recipe for success but a formula for disaster.

The 21st century requires a fresh framework for tackling an unstable world -- comprehensive diplomacy and cooperation are a good place to start.

___

(Grant Golub is a contributing fellow at Defense Priorities and an Ernest May Fellow with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School.)

2022 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
In the military, the "high and tight" reigns supreme by today's hair regulation standards, but in the civilian world, the mullet is making a comeback. Once universally accepted as the most reviled haircut on Earth, the COVID-19 pandemic has resurrected the style, with some even declaring 2020 as "The Year of the Mullet."

It's highly unlikely that the mullet will be making its way back into the good graces of military uniform regulations, but in the days of yore, it was (apparently) the perfect look for anyone about to walk into combat.

From the earliest days of military history, warriors have been rocking the mullet. There was no "business in the front, party in the rear" when Homer described the Abantes, a unit of Greek spearmen in "The Iliad," when they sailed for Troy in 40 long, black ships. Instead, Homer described their hair with the immortal line, "their forelocks cropped, hair grown long at the backs."

Hair historian Rachael Gibson agrees. In a 2021 web video on the history of this hairstyle, she said that what we call a "mullet" has been around for centuries.

"It has its roots as a really practical military haircut," said Gibson. "Vikings, Romans and Native Americans all had hairstyles that were variants on the mullet. The idea of it being this military haircut is that you have long hair in the back which keeps you warm when you're out on an exposed battlefield, but having it shorter in the front means that you're not gonna get your hair pulled and not getting hair in your eyes."

One Marine Corps recruit became internet famous for showing up to boot camp ready for battle in 2018. (U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Christian Garcia)

It wasn't just Vikings who sported the 'do. Gallic warriors in modern-day France and Celtic tribes in England wore mullet hairstyles. According to author Alan Henderson in his book "Mullet Madness!: The Haircut That's Business Up Front and a Party in the Back," it actually became so associated with Rome's enemies that it was banned from the Imperial Army.

Though banned in the legions, it didn't stop Roman civilians who wanted an edgy look from wearing it. Rowdy young aristocrats watching chariot races at the Colosseum wore it when it was known as the "Hun Cut," referring to the nomadic Huns who raided the Empire's border regions on horseback.

Fast-forwarding to the 1800s and the American West, the mullet is sported by various Native tribes. Men of the Nez Pierce tribe were spiritually guided in wearing their hair cropped close in the front with spiky bangs, coupled with a long, flowing "waterfall" mane of hair down their back. Other tribes wore their hair in this way, too, so depictions of Native warriors became widespread.

The image of the "Wild West," the Native American and the lawlessness of the frontier regions sparked a popular image among Americans. This popularity translated into Americans adopting the hairstyle for themselves; by the mid-1840s, even President James K. Polk was wearing a mullet-style haircut.

When the 19th century turned to the 20th century and Americans began fighting in world wars, the soldiers who fought those wars became more visible to the public. U.S. troops were being seen as the ideal American citizen, and the military began cleaning up its hirsute act. Crew cuts would dominate the U.S. military for the rest of the century, even as the American public began growing their locks.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

Want to Learn More About Military Life?

Whether you're thinking of joining the military, looking for post-military careers or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox.
The Tigers announced theyve designated reliever Jacob Barnes for assignment and optioned outfielder Derek Hill to Triple-A Toledo. The moves open a pair of 26-man roster spots for right-hander Drew Hutchison and lefty Tyler Alexander, who will be added to the active roster tomorrow. Hutchison is being selected from Toledo, while Alexander will be reinstated from the 15-day injured list. Detroits 40-man roster count remains at 38.

Barnes signed a minor league deal over the offseason and broke camp with the club. The seven-year MLB veteran made 22 appearances for skipper A.J. Hinch, working primarily in lower-leverage situations. Barnes struggled to a 6.10 ERA through 20 2/3 innings, and of greater concern, saw his swing-and-miss propensity fall precipitously. He has generated swinging strikes on only 7.7% of his offerings, and his 11.2% strikeout rate is the fourth-lowest mark among the 160 relievers with 20+ innings pitched.

Thats a surprising development, as Barnes has typically posted solid strikeout and whiff numbers throughout his career. The velocity and spin on both his fastball and cutter are virtually unchanged relative to last season, but hes simply not getting the kind of swing-and-miss to which hes been accustomed. Barnes is out of minor league option years, so the Tigers had to designate him for assignment if they werent prepared to continue giving him opportunities to sort things out at the major league level.

Detroit will now have a week to trade the 32-year-old or place him on waivers. Given his rough start to the year, Barnes will probably land on the waiver wire. Even if he passes through unclaimed, hed have the right to refuse a minor league assignment while still collecting the remainder of his $1.13MM salary by virtue of having surpassed five years of MLB service this season.

Hutchison returns to the big leagues for the second time in 2022. He made ten appearances earlier in the year after cracking the Opening Day roster, but Detroit designated him for assignment last month. Hutchison reached free agency after clearing waivers but re-signed on a minor league deal and worked his way back after five strong outings with the Mud Hens. The veteran has allowed only three runs in 9 2/3 innings with Toledo, punching out 13 batters with three walks.

A starting pitcher early in his career, the 31-year-old Hutchison has worked primarily in relief of late. That includes all of his early-season work in Detroit, where he tossed 15 2/3 innings of nine-run ball. Hutchison punched out 15 batters and issued 12 walks over that stretch, but hes capable of shouldering multiple frames out of the bullpen and will presumably step into Barnes middle relief role.

Alexander, meanwhile, returns after a six-week absence. The southpaw started four times in April but suffered an elbow sprain that has kept him on the shelf since then. Originally targeted for a swing role, hell likely head right back into the rotation for a club that lost Casey Mize to a Tommy John procedure and has seen Matt Manning and Michael Pineda shelved due to long-term injury issues. Detroit will also be without Eduardo Rodriguez indefinitely as he attends to personal matters.
Mr Kanu is a Nigerian-British citizen.

Nnamdi Kanu's family has threatened to sue the British government over its "silence" on the alleged illegal extraordinary rendition of Mr Kanu to Nigeria, according to a report by The Guardian UK.

The family accused the UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Liz Truss, of ignoring "overwhelming evidence" that Mr Kanu was extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria by the Nigerian government.

Mr Kanu, the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is a Nigerian- British citizen.

The IPOB leader, who was granted bail in April 2017, fled the country after an invasion of his home in Afara-Ukwu, near Umuahia, Abia State, by the Nigerian military in September of that year.

He was re-arrested in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria in June 2021, about four years after he fled Nigeria. He is currently being detained in Abuja where he is facing trial for treason.

In a pre-action legal letter to Ms Truss, the family, through their lawyers, Bindmans LLP, accused the foreign secretary of failing to end Mr Kanu's "unlawful" detention in Nigeria.

The family had previously threatened legal action against the British government over the lack of "consular assistance" for Mr Kanu.

In the latest letter to the foreign secretary through the lawyers, Mr Kanu's family said the IPOB leader's alleged extraordinary rendition to Nigeria might have breached international law.

They insisted that Ms Truss must take a view on whether there has been a breach of international law in the rendition of Mr Kanu or face legal action.

"If Mr Kanu has been subject to extraordinary rendition, this is a grave breach of international law which has a significant impact on the discretion which the secretary of state exercises in respect of the steps she should take to assist Mr Kanu under international and domestic law," Shirin Marker, one of the family's lawyers said in the letter.

"Forming a view as to whether a breach of international law has occurred, and if so the gravity of the breach, is, therefore, an essential prerequisite to the exercise of discretion on taking further steps at international and domestic law," the solicitor added.

The letter said Mr Kanu was in Kenya in June last year when he was detained by the country's security services, who took him to a house where he was chained to the floor and beaten for approximately eight days before being put on a private jet on June 27, and flown to Abuja.

Initially, the Nigerian government did not reveal in which country Mr Kanu was detained before being extradited, which raised more unanswered questions about the capture, although they later denied reports that he was illegally extradited to Nigeria.

But the lawyers said the flight believed to have been used in "unlawfully" transporting the IPOB leader from Kenya has been identified, citing testimony of the IPOB leader to his brother and lawyers.

They faulted the Nigerian government's failure to provide details of how Mr Kanu - who did not have his British passport with him - was brought back to Nigeria.

Mr Kanu's family laments UK govt's silence

The IPOB leader's family has expressed frustration with the British government on the continued detention of Mr Kanu by the Nigerian government.

"With every day that passes, I am increasingly concerned for my brother's welfare in detention and increasingly frustrated by the UK government's ineffectiveness in assisting him," Kingsley, Mr Kanu's younger brother, was quoted as saying.

"I hope the court will rule that the foreign secretary must recognise the seriousness of my brother's situation and properly consider what other steps she can take to assist him in light of his extraordinary rendition," Mr Kingsley added.

Background

Mr Kanu was earlier slammed with 15 count charges by the Nigerian government on terrorism and felony. But the charges have been reduced to seven.

In April, Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, struck out eight of the 15 charges in her ruling on Mr Kanu's preliminary objection challenging the validity of the charges.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Governance Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

Mrs Nyako had ruled that counts 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14 were incompetent for not disclosing any valid offences against the defendant.

Also, on May 18, following an objection by IPOB's lead counsel, Mike Ozekhome, the Nigerian government withdrew a six-count charge, which was earlier amended.

The judge approved the seven existing counts of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 15, which Mr Kanu is currently being tried on.

The IPOB leader had already pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him when he was arraigned in January.

The judge earlier dismissed Mr Kanu's claim that the Nigerian government illegally repatriated him from Kenya to Nigeria without following a formal extradition procedure.

Mrs Nyako insisted that there was a "surviving bench warrant" for the IPOB leader's arrest and that his repatriation was in compliance with her order in 2018, for his arrest to face trial.

IPOB, a separatist group led by Mr Kanu, is agitating for an independent state of Biafra to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.
Two persons, who allegedly sodomised a 13-year-old boy at La, a suburb of Accra, have been dragged before the Gender-Based Violence Court (GBVC) at the Police headquarters.

Francis Agyei Okpoti, aka Cecia, a 21-year-old Mason and Emmanuel Mensah Lartey, a 29-year-old driver's mate, have been charged with two counts of defilement, each.

The accused persons have pleaded not guilty before the court presided over by Mrs Abena Amponsah.

They have been granted bail in the sum of GHC50,000 with two sureties each.

The court ordered that the sureties must have properties worth the bail sum.

The accused persons are to reappear on June 29 for Case Management Conference.

Prosecuting Chief Inspector Simon Terkpor said the complainant, a 51-year-old driver, was the father of the victim, and that they resided at La, Accra.

The accused persons, the prosecution said, also resided within the same area and that Okpoti's house was adjacent to the complainant's house.

It said he (Okpoti) had been sending the victim on errands.

The prosecution said on August 15, 2022, during the day, Okpoti sent the victim to go and buy him sachet water and on his return, the accused had gone into his bathroom and asked the victim to bring the water to the bathroom and the victim obliged.

It said Okpoti then pulled the victim by hand into the bathroom, pulled down his shorts to the kneel level and had anal sex with the victim in the bathroom and asked the victim not to inform anyone.

The prosecution said in September 2021, Okpoti followed the victim to a public toilet at La and again had anal sex with him.

According to the prosecution, on February 28, this year, in the evening, Lartey met the victim at the La Melcom area where he was selling sachet water and drinks.

It said Lartey lured the victim into one of the classrooms of a public school at La and had anal sex with him.

The prosecution said the complainant in March this year had information from the victim's sister through a teacher that the victim had been sexually abused.

When the complainant asked the victim, he mentioned the names of the accused persons.

It said a report was made at the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit and the complainant was given a Police medical form to seek treatment at a hospital for the victim.

The accused persons were later arrested by the Police.

GNA
There is no story that is not true. ~ Chinua Achebe. The attempt by the Government of Ghana (GoG) to centralise the collection of the property tax through an arrangement with a private consortium, a certain Digital City Solutions Limited, presents yet the single most inimical policy decision to Ghanas local governance system. While it may presently not be so, it will be irrefutable to state, from hindsight, that a desire for good practice and sacrificial efforts, pushed by genuine patriotism, have shaped Ghanas local governance policy and legislative frameworks.

Since 1988, when the Ghana embarked on this model of decentralisation  a programme designed to cede some political, administrative, and fiscal powers and responsibilities to the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs)  various governments have strived to expand the frontiers of decentralisation in all its forms and modalities. Indeed, the PNDC Law 207 which was later adopted and expanded in the 1992 Constitution, provided the seedbed for the growth of Ghanas decentralisation system. Almost all governments since 1992 have pushed decentralisation reforms through extensive participatory and consultative processes with stakeholders.

Relative Contribution of Successive Governments to Decentralisation

It is undisputable that the J.J. Rawlings Provisional National Defence Councils (PNDC) administration had laid a resilient foundation for decentralisation as evidenced by Article 240 and other provisions in the 1992 Constitution. Indeed, Rawlings democratic administration, from 1992 to 2000 had continued the pursuit for a buoyant decentralisation and local governance through setting up the institutional and legislative architecture. This position is also reinforced by enactment of the Local Government Act, 1993 (Act 462), and other Acts of Parliament and legislative instruments. The J. A. Kufour administration (2001 to 2008) among others, focused on the creation of more districts  arguably regarded as one of the key processes of decentralization.

The GoG in 2010, produced a Decentralisation Policy Framework which acknowledged fiscal decentralisation as critical to empowering MMDAs to have the suitable funding and financial management arrangements. The devolution of revenue mobilisation and spending powers to MMDAs would allow for responsive local governance, efficient and accountable public service delivery. Again, the seriousness of the GoG towards fiscal decentralisation manifested in the establishment of the Fiscal Decentralisation Unit (FDU) in 2011 by the Ministry of Finance (MoF). The FDU has since operated as the focal point through which the MoF has explored intergovernmental fiscal arrangements, including the assignment of expenditure and revenue responsibilities, fiscal transfers, borrowing and other fiscal measures. Without a sliver of misgiving, the actions, and inactions of the Nana Akufo-Addo government have injured the nature and stride of fiscal decentralisation.

It is obvious for practitioners, scholars and stakeholders operating in the space of local governance that a fiscal decentralisation is an essential condition for a sound revenue system for local authorities. However, the fast evolution of cities and urban centres in Ghana, with their ever-increasing populations, has left the MMDAs austerely outpaced in terms of financing, delivery of municipal services and implementation of their composite development plans and budgets. The MMDAs are unable to cope with the many problems faced by residents, such as inadequate basic services including clean water supply, housing, waste collection and sanitation, improving the road network, transport, extension of electricity to newly built suburbs, etc. The current financing arrangement for District Assemblies in Ghana is not markedly different from practices in especially countries in Anglophone Africa. However, the disposition of government in delaying the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) weakens the service delivery ability of these District Assemblies.

The Depletion of Central Government Transfers

The DACF as provided by Act 455 (1993) has been one main instrument of intergovernmental fiscal transfer. Article 252(2) of the 1992 Constitution instructs that Parliament shall make allocation of not less than five percent of the revenues of Ghana to the district assemblies for development and the amount shall be paid into the District Assemblies Common Fund in quarterly instalments. Cognisant of its central role to the District Assemblies functionalities, the previous John Mahama administration had discretionarily increased the DACF to 7.5 percent of total government revenue. Indeed, in 2016, stakeholders and Civil Society Organisations had persuaded government with a proposal to increase the DACF to 12 percent. Regrettably, in 2017, government rolled back the quantum from 7.5 percent to the constitutional threshold of 5 percent. The government further attempted to cap all earmarked funds to a fixed tax revenue (25% of tax revenues), through the Earmarked Funds Capping and Realignment Act, 2017 (Act 947). Though, this move was later declared by the Supreme Court as a violation of Article 252 (2) of the 1992 Constitution. It appears the courts ruling had no effect on the governments plans to reduce the quantum of DACF to the MMDAs.

In Ghana today, the reality is that MMDAs are assigned more expenditure functions than they can finance from all sources of revenue available to them. This vertical imbalance arising out of a mismatch of functions and finances, somewhat legitimises their dependence on the central government for transfers. The only stable and substantial own revenue source to the MMDAs is the property tax (property rate). Practically, the MMDAs are often left with little but property tax, business licences, user charges and market fees, etc. The proceeds from these assigned revenue sources are usually insignificant, except property rates, which provide a prospect of good revenue. The MMDAs would be pushed to a hopeless situation when the central government succeeds in subcontracting the collecting the property tax.

Argument for Upholding the Decentralised Collection of Property Tax

Consequently, the decision by the GoG to adopt a centralised control of collecting property tax would severely encumber the MMDAs ability to generate own revenue for development. While the literature generally emphasises that each level of government should be assigned taxes that are as closely related as possible to the benefit derived from spending them, it often also notes that if fiscal decentralisation is to be a reality, subnational governments must control their own sources of revenue (Martinez-Vasquez et. al 2006;21).

The decentralisation of taxation is closely linked to efforts to build accountability between citizens and local authorities, and, to further improve local service provision. The local collection of property taxes helps to build accountability between the MMDAs providing municipal services and the citizens utilising these services. A centralised collection arrangement as pursued by government cannot directly provide answerability from the centralised collection agency in the same magnitude as a District Assembly. An initiative that curtails accountability to the people would, to some extent, oppose good governance ethics.

In local government tax assignments, it is generally argued that lower-level governments should tax revenue bases with low mobility between jurisdictions. Property tax is therefore often called the ideal tax for local governments. Taxes that are considered especially suitable include user fees, business licences and taxes on immobile properties. Real estate is the ultimate immobile asset, making property tax well-suited to local control.

By reason of spatial proximity, the MMDAs are deemed to have more knowledge about both existing properties and those that are being built. The MMDAs function in the issuance of development and building permits affords them this information on property ownership. They are therefore better positioned than the central government or its subcontracted associates to build property cadastres and implement taxes on properties.

Traditionally, a plausible argument has been made that there is an obvious link between property and the provision of municipal services such as domestic waste collection, water and sanitation, drainage systems, infrastructure, local roads networks, etc. It is rational if resources for the provision of the municipal services are collected locally from the properties benefitting directly from the array of services.

Given the prevailing political-economy and social factors in Ghana, the administration of property tax by the central government could be counterproductive. The central governments furtive attempt to seize and subcontract the collection responsibility of property tax is not only an assault on fiscal decentralisation, but it would as well equate to a bad revenue design for the MMDAs. An improved revenue administration cannot compensate for bad revenue design. As Fjeldstad and Heggstad (2012) succinctly put it, there is no merit in making a bad revenue system work better.

If the justification by central government has been the inefficiency or poor collections of property tax by many MMDAs, we must not be oblivious that incentives are better aligned with responsibilities. If property tax is collected by the MMDAs, they will be more dedicated collectors of the tax if it comes directly into their accounts, rather than going to a central government agency for redistribution. Local government practitioners and stakeholders do not have trust and confidence in this arrangement because successive governments have not demonstrated fidelity with the laws, allocations, and releases of the DACF.

Action to Improve Property Tax Administration

It is true that Ghanaian MMDAs, over the years, have not fully exploited property tax as a local revenue source. Many factors are easily in sight, including outdated or non-existent valuation rolls and property registers, limited administrative capacity and equipment, and the lack of political support to MMDAs to enforce property tax.

Luckily, many MMDAs had begun reaping revenue from property rates with the support of CSOs and stakeholders in international development cooperation. The narrative had significantly changed, GIZ Ghana, for instance has been investing colossally in decentralisation reforms, including strengthening the capacity of MMDAs in the area of mobilising internally generated funds (IGF). These investments are pervasive, including the creation of the revenue management software  the district local revenue software (dLRev), undertaking and paying for property valuation, training and capacity building initiatives, logistical support to MMDA and Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), etc. If anyone wonders why Ghanas development journey has been one of a cyclical redundancy, the brazing act of government to ignore or treat as trivial all the huge investments and supports by the development partners and civil society, provides the answers.

There is doubt that the GoGs case for centralisation of the property tax is also built around macroeconomic considerations and equalisation, and the case for local government efficiency in collections. In the process of fiscal decentralisation, it is important to be conscious of the risks for macroeconomic management and fiscal discipline. It is true that extensive devolution of revenue and spending responsibilities to subnational tiers of government can affect the central governments ability to carry out stabilisation and macroeconomic adjustment through the budget. However, local administration of property tax does not in any conceivable form impact macroeconomic stability negatively.

The Centralisation of Property Tax and Effective Collection

Despite the decorative arguments in favour of decentralisation, most countries with decentralised systems, including Ghana are not collecting anywhere near their potential in property taxation. The reasons for the underperformance of local authorities in Ghana are pervasive, with socioeconomic, cultural, and political underpinnings. Centralisation is not the elixir to heal the malaise of poor collections! With the record of ineffective collections of property tax by local authorities, a number of anglophone countries in Eastern Africa have drastically recentralised key aspects of property taxation in recent years in the hope of collecting more. For example, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Gambia took the decision to centralise the collection of property tax. Verily, the empirical evidence in favour of centralised taxes is fairly weak. There is an avalanche of evidence that Francophone countries with relatively centralised systems vary in their effectiveness. For the most part they noticeably underperform in relation to property taxation. The evidence further reveals that Liberia  the most centralised anglophone country  has not performed well in property tax administration.

The role of central governments is preferably to provide legal framework for property taxation, whereas its administration is left for local authorities. The evidence from many MMDAs already shows that property rates can provide reliable and substantial revenues. The historical antecedents have provided the guidance that anglophone countries typically decentralise key aspects of property taxation such as collection and administration.

The views expressed here are strictly the authors and do not reflect the position of any of his professional associates.

By MOHAMMED MUSAH | [email protected]
Members of the Minority Caucus on Parliaments Trade, Industry and Tourism Committee say persons whose actions and inactions led to the non-operationalization of the Komenda sugar factory will be prosecuted if the opposition National Democratic Congress wins the next elections.

They also blamed the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for undervaluing the price of the factory, which was pegged at US$50 million to US$12 million, hence causing financial loss to the state.

They said the NPP government under President Akufo-Addo is playing politics with the issues relating to the factory and propagating factually inaccurate narratives to score cheap political points.

This came to light after Ranking Member of Parliaments Trade, Industry and Tourism Committee, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah led a delegation to the factory to get first-hand information on the state of the factory.

The leadership indicated its resolve to ensure that the factory is operationalized while prosecuting persons who had a hand in the collapse of the factory.

It is incumbent on the government of Nana Akufo-Addo to continue all projects started by the previous NDC government. This meant that projects such as the Komenda Sugar Factory ought to have been continued by the government. They played politics with it and demonized the previous government by giving factually inaccurate narratives. What we have seen today is a clear-cut example of causing financial loss to the state. This is unacceptable. The factory has been left to rot and the next NDC government in 2025 will be prosecuting those involved in respect to the Komenda Sugar Factory, a member of the Committee and former Deputy Attorney General, Dominic Ayine told Citi News.

Dominic Ayine again indicated they will accurately determine how much financial loss has been caused to the state and brief Ghanaians.

Armah Kofi Buah who is a former Energy Minister indicated that stories that were concocted to discredit the National Democratic Congress on issues of the Komenda sugarcane were false, hence the need to correct the narratives.

It has taken too long for the factory to be operationalized by this government and the story about what is being done about the factory has been just too many. So it was important we came here to clarify whatever is happening here. The NDC set up a sustained program to ensure that the factory is fed with raw materials, but it has taken this government six years to only operationalize the factory and all we are asking is for government to operationalize the factory. We noticed that there were people painting the factory, but we will probe further, Armah Kofi Buah said.

On the issue of support for out-growers to provide raw materials for the factory, the Ellembelle MP noted that the NDC government secured a US$ 24.54 million loan facility from India in November 2016, adding that this was to be used for sugarcane development, irrigation system, as well as the out-grower schemes but the NPP in 2017, refused to access the US$ 24.54 million facility meant for supporting the sugarcane production and rather engaged in blame game.

As a government that campaigned on creating industries, one would have expected that factories that this government came to meet will be supported to grow instead of deliberately collapsing them. The government abandoned the factory with a hidden motive to dispose it off at a give-away price to their cronies, the Ellembelle MP said.

Member of Parliament for Komenda Edina Eguafo Abbrem, Samuel Attah Mills, said he will ensure the operationalization of the factory to create jobs for the people of Komenda as well as reduce rural-urban migration.

I will ensure that the factory becomes operational to create jobs for my people and reduce the rural-urban migration, the MP told Citi News.

citinewsroom
France's National Rally party (RN) came third in the first round of legislative elections on Sunday. Ahead in 108 of the 577 constituencies, the party's performance gives weight to leader Marine Le Pen's hopes to form a parliamentary group for the first time since 1986.

RN won 18.68 percent of the vote in the first round, well behind the left-wing Nupes alliance (25.66 percent) and the presidential majority Together (Ensemble) on 25.75 percent.

But it will field candidates in next Sunday's second round in more than 200 constituencies, and is in the lead in 108.

The party has significantly improved its score in the 2017 parliamentary elections, when it won 13.2 percent of the vote.

In 2017, 120 RN candidates went through to the second round, this year there will be 208  a breakthrough for the anti-immigration, populist party.

"We are the only ones to have this strong momentum, Marine Le Pen said on Sunday. (Macron's) LREM is in strong decline, the Republicans are in a tailspin.

Parliamentary group

The National Rally has just eight MPs at present and needs 15 to be able to form a group in parliament.

Jean-Lin Lacapelle, MEP and RN spokesperson, is in little doubt that will happen.

"We are the top party in France outside of a coalition, he told RFI. "We're progressing, up by 7 points, and we will have a massive group."

Le Pen was more realistic and spoke of "dozens of MPs [...] "if voters turn out".

The risk of low turnout is real.

A record 54 percent of voters didn't go to the polls on Sunday and RN's electorate  largely working class and young  are among those most likely to abstain.

Zemmour no more

Le Pen came out top in her fiefdom of Henin-Beaumont, in northern France, with over 55 percent, beating Marine Tondelier the left-wing Nupes alliance candidate (22.6 percent).

But low participation levels deprived Le Pen of an outright win.

Candidates must win 25 percent of registered voters; Le Pen obtained 22.53 percent.

The party did well in the Pyrenees-Orientales in the southwest where it qualified in all four constituencies.

In the Var department in the southeast, the RN's candidate knocked out far-right firebrand and former presidential candidate Eric Zemmour.

Zemmour, the founder of Reconquest party (Reconquete), scored a respectable 23.19 percent but lost out to Philippe Lottiaux on 24.74.

The anti-Islam candidate, purveyor of the great replacement theory, finds himself with no obvious role to play in French politics for the moment.

No Reconquest candidates made it through to the second round meaning the party will have no representatives in parliament.

Le Pen  who had refused offers to ally with Zemmour  has appealed to Reconquest voters to rally round the RN candidate for the second round.

If they want to have national MPs who defend France [...] they will find these MPs in the National Rally" she said.

Better than 1986

RN hopes to do even better than in 1986 when Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Front, led 35 MPs into parliament.

In terms of number of votes it's a record, it marks the return of a far-right parliamentary group which hasn't existed since 1986, political scientist Dorian Dreuil told RFI.

Changes to the voting system has in effect made it harder for the far right to translate votes into seats in parliament.

For the far right it's a breakthrough which will also help them because there are financial considerations," Dreuil added.

"When you have a parliamentary group you get extra money, you're given more time to speak, more visibility as well. It's a way of installing yourselves for the next five years.

Every vote the party picks up is worth 1.64 euros per year  so RN's 4,248,626 votes are worth close to 7 million of public money. It's a welcome windfall for a party that is more than 20 million euros in debt.

Republican Front?

How many of the National Assembly's 577 seats RN will occupy will be decided next Sunday following the second round.

And much will hinge on whether the so-called Republican Front  where parties traditionally come together to block the far right  will operate in constituencies where RN is in a run-off against the left-wing Nupes alliance.

On Sunday evening Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne  who came out on top in her constituency in Normandy  caused a stir saying no vote should go to the extremes, putting Nupes in the same bag as the far-right National Rally.

Using RN's old name, she readjusted her stance.

"Our position is no vote for the National Front. When you have a Nupes candidate [who] doesn't respect Republican values, insults the police, calls for an end to support for Ukraine, wants to leave Europe, this candidate shouldn't get [our] vote," she said.

Read more on France's legislative elections here
The British government was to send a first plane carrying failed asylum seekers to Rwanda on Tuesday despite last-gasp legal bids and protests against the controversial policy.

A chartered plane was to leave one of London's airports overnight and land in Kigali on Tuesday, campaigners said, after UK judges rejected an appeal against the deportations.

Claimants had argued that a decision on the policy should have waited until a full hearing on the legality of the policy next month.

Thirty-one migrants were due to be sent but one of the claimants, the NGO Care4Calais, tweeted that 23 of them had now had their tickets cancelled.

Those due to be deported include Albanians, Iraqis, Iranians and a Syrian, Care4Calais said.

Other claimants included the Public and Commercial Services Union, whose members will have to implement the removals, and immigration support group Detention Action.

PCS chief Mark Serwotka said on Sunday it would be "an appalling situation" if Tuesday's removals were subsequently found to be illegal at the full hearing.

Home Secretary Priti Patel should wait for the July hearing if she "had any respect, not just for the desperate people who come to this country, but for the workers she employs", Serwotka told Sky News.

Protesters gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice and the Home Office on Monday.

Protesters gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Monday. By Niklas HALLE'N (AFP)

In Geneva, UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi called the UK government policy "all wrong" and said it should not be "exporting its responsibility to another country".

Church of England leaders, including its most senior cleric the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, reiterated their criticism of the policy as "one that should shame us as a nation".

"Our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries," Welby and 24 other bishops wrote in Tuesday's Times newspaper.

"This immoral policy shames Britain."

"Evil trafficking" must be combatted by providing safe routes to the UK to "reduce dangerous journeys", The Times quoted the bishops as saying ahead of the letter's publication.

'Hate speech and discrimination'

Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson insist the policy is needed to stop a flood of all-too-often deadly migrant crossings of the Channel from France.

"It's very important that the criminal gangs who are putting people's lives at risk in the Channel understand that their business model is going to be broken," Johnson told LBC radio on Monday.

"They're selling people falsely, luring them into something that is extremely risky and criminal."

Under the agreement with Kigali, anyone landing in the UK illegally is liable to be given a one-way ticket for processing and resettlement in Rwanda.

Under the agreement with Kigali, anyone landing in the UK illegally is liable to be given a one-way ticket for processing and resettlement in Rwanda. By Simon WOHLFAHRT (AFP)

The government says that genuine asylum claimants should be content to stay in France.

And contradicting the UN refugee agency UNHCR, it insists that Rwanda is a safe destination with the capacity to absorb possibly tens of thousands of UK-bound claimants in future.

Doris Uwicyeza, chief technical adviser to Rwanda's justice ministry, pushed back against criticism of the human rights record of President Paul Kagame's government -- which is set this month to host a Commonwealth summit attended by Prince Charles and Johnson.

Rwanda's 1994 genocide made it particularly attentive to "protecting anybody from hate speech and discrimination", including gay people, she told LBC radio.

British newspapers reported that Prince Charles had dubbed the plan "appalling".

The reported comment prompted unnamed cabinet ministers to tell Queen Elizabeth II's heir to stay out of politics.

International NGO Human Rights Watch issued a public letter warning that "to this day, serious human rights abuses continue to occur in Rwanda, including repression of free speech, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and torture".
The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday accused Rwanda of an "invasion" after rebels it says receive support from Kigali overran a major trading post on the Ugandan border.

Fighters from the M23 rebel group seized the town of Bunagana in eastern North Kivu province as some government forces retreated into Uganda, local sources said.

But the Congolese army released a statement on Monday evening accusing the Rwandan army of taking over the border town.

General Sylvain Ekenge, spokesman for the province's military government, said Kigali decided to "directly intervene" after realising the rebels it backs were suffering "enormous setbacks".

Rwandan troops "decided to violate the untouchable nature of our border and the integrity of our territory" by occupying Bunagana, which he called "an invasion, no more, no less".

The comments escalated Congolese rhetoric against Rwanda, with the government already accusing its neighbour of backing rebels in the east of the country.

Bunagana "is under enemy control", a Congolese officer had earlier told AFP by phone from provincial capital Goma.

"The army has just given way and is heading into Uganda," said Damien Sebusanane, head of a civil society association, who was on Uganda's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

"An army truck has just gone past, four jeeps and other vehicles which are full of soldiers," he said, estimating the number of DRC troops retreating into Uganda at around 100.

A humanitarian source on the ground said heavy clashes had broken out again on Sunday morning and the only way out for the embattled DRC troops was to cross into Uganda.

"One hundred and thirty-seven Congolese soldiers and 37 police have surrendered" to Ugandan troops, security forces officer Hajj Sadiq Sekandi said from Kampala.

"They were fleeing the fighting and seeking protection," he said, adding that he was at the border leading a crisis meeting.

UN refugee concerns

Thousands of people have fled into Uganda and the DRC territory of Rutshuru since a second bout of violence flared in March.

The Ugandan officer said: "At the moment there are more than 30,000 Congolese on the Ugandan side of the border. They are frightened to return home."

The UN's refugee agency said on Monday that 368 more people had fled across the border into Uganda from Bunagana.

The humanitarian situation was "more and more concerning", said Herve Nsabimana, coordinator of a human rights NGO.

The M23, a primarily Congolese Tutsi militia, is one of more than 120 armed groups active in eastern DRC.

It briefly captured Goma in 2012 but a joint offensive by UN troops and the Congolese army quelled the rebellion.

The group resumed fighting in November last year after accusing the Congolese government of failing to respect a 2009 agreement under which the army was to incorporate its fighters.

The DRC government on Sunday reiterated that Rwanda was backing the rebels, an assertion Kigali has repeatedly denied.

The M23 briefly captured Goma in 2012. By (AFP)

In their assault on Bunagana, the M23 were "supported by soldiers and artillery from the Rwandan army", the DRC army said in a statement, adding that two soldiers and several enemy combatants were killed.

Ekenge had said Rwanda was seeking to "asphyxiate" Goma and put pressure on the government in Kinshasa.

Ceasefire call

The M23 put out a statement confirming Bunagana was under its control.

It was not a premeditated act, said spokesman Willy Ngoma, but came in response to the army offensive.

The UN and the African Union called for a ceasefire on all sides, but Kigali accused the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, of "taking sides" and supporting Kinshasa.

"When the DRC bombs Rwandan territory unprovoked, this is a serious matter that has consequences, and it has to stop once and for all," Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo posted on Twitter.

"By taking sides in this conflict, MONUSCO has contributed significantly to the intransigence of the DRC Government in cross-border shelling of Rwandan territory," she added.

Relations between Kinshasa and Kigali have been strained since the mass arrival in DRC of Rwandan Hutus accused of slaughtering Tutsis during the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
The Police have announced that the Deputy Regional Commander in the Ashanti Region, has been removed following the shooting incident at the Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi today.

This comes after the Inspector General of Police Dr George Akuffo Dampre led a team to the area to assess the situation.

Portions of a statement issued by the Police after the IGPs visit said It was further established that even though nobody was hit by a bullet the Police handling of the incident was poor and fell short of our standard operating procedure on crowd control.

Over thirty students of the Islamic Senior High School were rushed to the hospital after the police allegedly fired tear gas and live bullets to disperse students who were demonstrating over incessant vehicular knockdown.

Worried parents stormed the school to demand for the release of their wards on Monday June 13.

The affected students were conveyed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) and other hospitals in Kumasi.

I should be worried but some of them have been resituated . we will follow to the hospital and see how they are doing, Madam Mary Owusu Afriyie, the Regional Education Director told journalists.

3news.com
The Ghana Police Service (GPS) has announced that its Police Professional Standards Bureau has commenced a full-scale investigation into the conduct of the officers who were responsible for the disturbances at the Islamic Senior High School.

Yesterday, some students of the Islamic Senior High School located at Abrepo in Kumasi took to the streets and blocked sections of the road to demonstrate against frequent motor traffic accidents in front of their school.

The Police responded to disperse the students and open the road to normal traffic flow.

The students pelted the Police with stones and the Police used pepper spray and fired warning shots in an attempt to disperse them.

Even though nobody was hit by a bullet, the Ghana Police Service has admitted that the handling of the incident was poor and fell short of its standard operating procedure on crowd control.

Determined to see to it that those responsible do not go scot-free, the Police statement has disclosed that DCOP Kwasi Akomeah-Apraku of the Ashanti Regional Police command has been relieved of his duties and interdicted.

As a result, the Deputy Regional Police Commander, DCOP/Mr. Kwasi Akomeah-Apraku, who was acting as the Regional Commander has been removed from his position and has been interdicted, a Police statement issued on Monday night said.

It added, Two other officers ACP/Mr. George Ankomah, the Regional Operations Officer and ACP/Mr. Alex Cudjoe Acquah, the Suame Divisional Police Commander have also been interdicted to make way for a thorough investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB) has commenced a full-scale investigation into the conduct of the officers who were responsible for the Police response.

Below is a copy of the Police statement:
Solomon Asante, NPP Communicator

14.06.2022 LISTEN

Mr. Solomon Asante, a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party's communication team, has said some politicians only humble themselves when election approaches.

Mr. Asante made this statement while speaking on the Morning Show on the Accra-based Movement TV on Monday, June 13, 2022.

According to the communicator, those people seize to exhibit the humility they portray while vying for the position soon after the election is over.

He advised that such an attitude should change henceforth.

Addressing the issue in relation to the NPP's upcoming national delegate elections, he suggested that the lucky ones who may win the election should bring everyone on board and seek their opinions on how certain things should be done to achieve the victory they seek in the upcoming general elections.

Some people only understand the principle of humility when its time for elections and when they win they show their true colors. That narrative should change; rather they should bring everyone on board and solicit their ideas or fix them at places in the constituency to win the coming general elections, he said

Mr. Asante further called for a change in the selfish attitude of some NPP leaders to enable the party 'break the 8.'

If we dont change our attitude, breaking the 8 will be difficult. I am advising everyone to make themselves available because breaking the 8 is a collective action, he advises.
Vision for Alternative Development (VALD Ghana) has called for a total ban on shisha in Ghana.

This is after it said it sighted a video in which some students from the Sunyani Senior High School were seen smoking shisha.

In a statement, the group said it was time to take giant steps which go beyond education and sensitization.

We therefore call on the Ministry of Health and the FDA to as a matter of urgency begin the process of outlawing the products in Ghana. Many countries including, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon etc. have taken bold steps in banning shisha in their countries, because of the public health threat it will have on their children and their youth.

The group also called for improved education on the effects of tobacco in education institutions.

Also, there must be a deliberate plan to roll out education in our schools, especially the second cycle and tertiary institutions on the negative effects of tobacco use on their health, it added.

On sanctions at the Sunyani school, the group said it was even more disturbed about the action taken by the authorities of the school to suspend these girls.

The school authorities and the Ghana Education Service must be more concerned about the effects the product has had on these young girls and provide them some medical and counselling attention. Find below the full statement

Shisha is a threat to Ghanaian youth; regulating it is not enough  An outright ban is urgently required

The attention of Vision for Alternative Development (VALD Ghana), Ghana NCD Alliance and other CSO Actors have been drawn to a viral video in which some students from the Sunyani Senior High School were seen smoking shisha, one of the tobacco industrys deadliest products.

As civil society actors working in the tobacco control and the NCD space, we are concerned about the dangers this act will have on the health of these young girls involved.

We are even more disturbed about the action taken by the authorities of the School to suspend these girls. The school authorities and the Ghana Education Service must be more concerned about the effects the product has had on these young girls and provide them some medical and counselling attention.

There is the need for intensive investigation by the Food and Drugs Authority to attain further information about the facility, where the shisha is being offered, and whether it meets the regulatory standards. This is a clear violation of the Tobacco Control Measures of the Ghana Public Health Act (Act 851) of 2012, which seeks to protect children from the use and exposure to tobacco smoke.

CSO actors in health, led by VALD-Ghana have in the past called on the FDA and MoH to use either an administrative fiat or guidelines to ban this deadly product in Ghana, but no action was taken. Shisha over the years has become a fashionable product among the second cycle institutions and at the Tertiary levels and is more common in many communities of Ghana. It is therefore important to note that regulating shisha by the FDA given the recent increase in consumption, especially among the youth is certainly not deterrent enough, putting the future of our children at risk.

Additionally, considering the health implications of smoking shisha as research reveals that, a session of shisha is equivalent to smoking over 100 sticks of cigarettes, thus it has become more expedient to ban it rather than regulating it. Many of the shisha products are also illegally sold as they do not meet the required standards.

Research by the Ghana Health Service indicates that most of the country's youth have ditched the smoking of traditional tobacco cigarettes for e-cigarettes and shisha. Revealing that the rate of smoking shisha and e-cigarettes among young people has shot up to 5.3 percent, higher than the traditional use of tobacco which stands at 2.8 percent.

Despite the ban on tobacco-related advertisements and the law against smoking in public places, the consumption of tobacco and its related products is still on the rise in Ghana. A study on The Economics of Tobacco Control/Taxation in Ghana facilitated by VALD Ghana revealed that, the youth and women especially are now getting hooked on to flavoured tobacco/cigarettes and shisha because of its appealing fragrance.

There is a misconception held by many people that shisha is safer than cigarettes because of its contact with water, however, according to the American Lung Association, at least 82 toxic chemicals and carcinogens have been identified in hookah/shisha smoke. Additionally, although the smoke passes through water, this does not eliminate the hazardous, addictive chemicals released from tobacco.

Smoking shisha increases the risk of oral cancer, lung cancer, heart diseases, among others; moreover, the body fluids exchanged with multiple people sharing one pipe which are not cleaned properly or at all present another avenue for the spread of infectious diseases.

The tobacco industry knows that an overwhelming majority of smokers first begin to smoke while still in their teens as they are highly vulnerable to the effects of the powerful addictive nicotine, hence their intentional and deliberate trend of strategically recruiting replacement smokers so as to continuously stay in business.

VALD Ghana and its partners acknowledge the efforts of the Food and Drugs Authority in promoting education and awareness creation on the harmful effects of tobacco use; however, we believe it is time we take giant steps which goes beyond education and sensitization.

We therefore call on the Ministry of Health and the FDA to, as a matter of urgency, begin the process of outlawing the products in Ghana. Many countries including, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon etc. have taken bold steps in banning shisha in their countries, because of the public health threat it will have on their children and their youth.

Also, there must be a deliberate plan to roll out education in our schools, especially the second cycle and tertiary institutions, on the negative effects of tobacco use on their health.

By Citi Newsroom
Survivors said the attackers raided the community in the early hours of Sunday

Gunmen ,who attacked Igama, a rural community in Benue State on Sunday morning, killed 37, residents of the community told PREMIUM TIMES.

A survivor, Ambrose Adah, said the attackers raided the community while he and his family were preparing for Mass.

Igama, an agrarian community, located in Okpokwu Local Government area, is 160 kilometres from Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

"While we were preparing for the early morning Mass on Sunday, herdsmen in large numbers riding on motorbikes, invaded our community," Mr Adah said.

"Members of our community mostly women and youths were killed during the attack.

"So far 37 corpses have been recovered and presently deposited at St Mary's General Hospital, Okpoga," the headquarters of Okpokwu Local Government.

"My three-bedroom bungalow and other valuables were destroyed by the herdsmen," Mr Adah disclosed in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Monday.

He added: "Dozens of houses were razed to the ground," while over 500 hundred residents who were displaced by the attack are seeking shelter at Ojigo ward, and other neighbouring communities.

To forestall further attacks, Mr Adah appealed to the federal government to station a military base in the area.

Corroborating Mr Adah's claim, the federal lawmaker representing Ado, Ogbadibo and Okpokwu federal constituency, Francis Otta, told Channels Television in a statement that thirty persons were killed in the attack on the Igama community.

"Growing up in Utonkon District of Ado LGA, I knew Igama in Ojigo Ward of Okpokwu LGA as one of the most peaceful communities in Benue South until recently when terrorists turned it to a cesspool of blood," Mr Ottah was quoted to have said in the statement.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

"I, therefore, condemn the killing of 30 innocent people, and still counting... I have contacted security agents who have responded appropriately," the lawmaker said.

Authorities confirm attack

Amina Audu, the chairperson of Okpokwu Local Government, confirmed the incident. She, however, said only 12 corpses have been recovered.

She said the attackers ravaged the two communities- Igama and Efeche, and hundreds of people have been displaced by the attack.

"The attack has occasioned a humanitarian crisis, not just at Igama but at Opialu, Ojigo and Utonkon, where survivors have fled to," Ms Audu told this reporter in a telephone interview on Monday.

The local council boss said security operatives comprising the police, military and vigilantes, are patrolling the affected communities.

The Benue state police spokesperson, Sewuese Anene, confirmed the attack, but could not provide details on the casualties.

In a text message to this reporter, Ms Sewuese said: "Information was received about the attack in Okpokwu LGA and more teams were mobilized to assist the Division on the ground. I am yet to receive details from the team on the ground."

The state has been under persistent deadly attacks allegedly perpetrated by herdsmen.

In April, 15 people were killed in an overnight raid on Tior-Tyu, a rural community in Tarka Local Government. The attack was blamed on the herdsmen militia.

Clashes between nomadic herdsmen and farming communities are rampant in Benue, a largely agrarian state.
14.06.2022 LISTEN

The Achimota Bright Future Academy has refuted claims of one of its teachers being arrested in connection to phone theft.

In a letter issued on Monday, June 13, 2022, the school confirmed that a phone theft incident has indeed happened.

It however stressed that no member of its teaching staff has been arrested as has been reported in the media.

The management has sighted a reportage published on your platform on SUNDAY 4TH JUNE, 2022 in which a staff is alleged to have aided a student in a phone theft. The management is highly unhappy with the publication thus would like to state the following:

No member of our staff has been arrested by the Israel Police nor is the police on a manhunt for any member of our staff, parts of the letter copied to Modernghana News said.

The management of Bright Future Academy is urging media platforms to refrain from this false publication intended to taint the image of the institution.

Find more in the letter below:

RE: ACHIMOTA BRIGHT FUTURE ACADEMY TEACHER ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY STEALING MOBILE PHONES  BY SIMON AGBOVI (CONTRIBUTOR)

The management has sighted a reportage published on your platform on SUNDAY 4TH JUNE, 2022 in which a staff is alleged to have aided a student in a phone theft. The management is highly unhappy with the publication thus would like to state the following:

No member of our staff has been arrested by the Israel Police nor is the police on a manhunt for any member of our staff.

The student who has been accused is a 16year old form 3 learner; not 20years old as reported in the news.

The media platform (mordernghana.gh) reporter did not speak to the managers of the school or the teacher in question to hear our side of the story.

The Ghana Police Service  Israel, has indicated that investigation into the accusation is yet to be concluded. Thus, no such information has been given to any reporter.

Millicent Appiah is a well behaved learner of our school who got her admission into BASIC 6 (in 2018). She lives with her foster parents in Accra.

Over the years, she had complained of some domestic abuses meted out to her by her foster brother she usually calls Uncle.

According to Millicent, the complainant, Ralphel Apetorgbor (whose name was withheld in the story published) has always been on her neck for reasons best known to him.

Sometimes, he would follow Millicent to school to complain of home chores she supposedly had failed to complete. He would demand that the learner be asked to come home with him to complete the chores before returning to school. Uncle was in arms because this request was declined.

On another occasion, Millicent reported that the complainant had set all her stationery and belongings ablaze. It took the effort of her foster father and teachers to encourage her. The complainant has threatened to do everything possible to eject this minor who has barely three months to write her BECE from the house.

All these complains from Millicent are seen to be more of domestic issues which the school would not meddle in. We only do our best to encourage and support our learner.

However, the complainant visited the school again in May this year with a friend of his to pick Millicent up for a supposed Auntie of hers who had arrived from the village who wanted to see her before leaving.

We pleaded with him to at least allow her to close from school. The accuser indicated that the relative had come from far and was to leave that evening. This seemed a little strange.

In order to be establish the truth, the management through her class teacher Mr. Newlove Aboagye placed a call to the father of the complainant who doubles as Millicents foster-father, who declined we allowed the learner to be sent home. Millicents foster father followed immediately to ensure that she was not allowed to follow Uncle.

This didnt go down well with the complainant  RAPHAEL APETORGBOR.

He caused a scene and had to be ushered out by the principal. It is rather strange that, her class teacher had been named in this supposed phone theft saga.

On seeing the story on the website, the management visited the Israel Police Station to verify the story. It was realised that the complainant had refused to show up to the police station to aid the police investigate the theft claim he had reported to the police. The police visited his house, but he had blatantly refused to open the door. He claimed he was deep asleep.

On hearing the measures, the managers of the school were putting in place to addressed this false publication, the father of the complainant (foster father of Millicent Appiah) came to the school to apologise on his sons behalf.

An apology is hardly what we need at this instance.

The management would like to urge all learners, parents, staff and the general public to disregard the news and remain calm while the police unravels the truth about the theft accusation.

The management also urges media platforms (especially  newsghana.com.gh and fhsts.com to refrain from this false publication intended to taint the image of the institution, our very hardworking and discipline staff and the minor whose name is being drugged in the mud.

The management is urging journalists / media houses to do proper fact checks and report the truth.

Sincerely,

SIGNED

THE MANAGEMENT
Manasseh Azure Awuni, Editor of the Fourth Estate has taken a swipe at the Oti regional minister for ordering trees planted by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on June 4 be uprooted.

According to him, the minister should also proceed with the removal of all trees planted as part of the Green Ghana campaign as soon as possible.

Manasseh in a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, said Akufo-Addo's tenure as president is not worth remembering because many Ghanaians have lost interest in it.

The Oti Regional Minister should as well uproot the trees being planted now. To some, the Akufo-Addo era isn't worth remembering, his post reads.

Background information

On Friday, June 10, 2022, the Oti Regional Minister, Joshua Makubu, demanded the removal of trees planted by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) leadership during the celebration of their June 4 anniversary this year at the Nkawkaw community senior high school in the Oti region.

Speaking to the media at the Kpasa Senior High Technical School to commemorate this years Green Ghana Day, the Minister noted that the June 4 uprising was a day peoples parents and loved ones were killed and many have lost their livelihood,

He added that many Ghanaians are still not over that incident and, for that reason, the leadership of the NDC should not be planting trees that will be a symbol of remembrance for the affected victims.

The regional minister again suggested that if the NDC feels it is necessary to plant those trees, it shouldnt be on a school premise but on land that must be purchased solely for that purpose.
The Ministry in charge of Education (MoE) has assured parents of students enrolled in the Islamic Senior High School that their wards are safe following Mondays disturbances.

The Ministry in a press release says it has been duly briefed on the unfortunate incident that occurred on the campus of the Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi on Monday, June 13, 2022.

The disturbance which occurred when Police used tear gas on protesting students resulted in thirty-eight (38) students seeking medical attention as academic work was disrupted.

Out of the thirty-eight (38), twenty-two (22) have been discharged as of yesterday and have joined their colleagues on campus.

In a press release after the incident, the Ministry of Education has indicated that normalcy has been restored.

It has given the assurance to parents and guardians that their wards are safe amid the resumption of academic work.

The Ministry wishes to inform the public that calm has been restored and full academic work has resumed. Again, the MoE would like to assure parents, guardians and the public of the safety of their wards and is collaborating with relevant State Institutions to bring finality to the matter, part of the Education Ministrys release reads.

On behalf of the Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Deputy Minister for Education, Hon John Ntim Fordjour accompanied by the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Mayor of Kumasi, and CHASS President has visited the affected students at the various health facilities and also addressed the student population.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has disclosed that a full-scale investigation has commenced into the conduct of officers deployed to the Islamic SHS on Monday to restore calm.
The Executive Director of Women Initiative for Self-Empowerment (WISE) Ghana, Adwoa Bame has appealed to media practitioners to be gender-sensitive when reporting on gender-based violence in the country.

She noted that most often broadcast journalists, especially newscasters try to dramatise gender-based violence which does more harm than good to the survivors.

"Let's take the drama out of the cases that we report so that people can get the real import of the story and understand what the survivors are going through even as to when the victim or survivor is listening to her story being reported, she will feel that, this is someone who understands my issue and not someone who want to make fun of her been victimised.

"We looking to eradicate gender-based violence against women and children. Be gender sensitive in your reportage, and report cases by giving out the message without traumatising the survivors the more. Again look at how you can help in a holistic way not just say your stories and you are done as a media practitioner. Anytime you are reporting on gender-based violence please wear your gender lens", she explained.

She said this at a media engagement forum in Accra on the theme "Engagement With The Media on Gender Responsiveness in Reportage".

"We are here today with the representative of the media houses so that we can address the issue of reporting on gender-based violence or cases with a bit of gender lens because we find out that, there is a lack of gender responsiveness in the reportage by many media houses when it comes to gender-based violence cases. We all know that is traumatising for the survivors and their families so if the media can do something about it then it helps to reduce the trauma that they are already going through and then it will create a conducive environment for empowerment and rehabilitation of the survivors".

She noted that WISE over the years has had an engagement with the media where information was shared to help improve their reportage.

According to her, there has been improvement made in reporting hence there is more improvement to be done in gender-based violence reportage.

"There has been improvement in reportage, especially with the local media but there is still room for improvement and so basically we will be pleading with the various media houses to look at those issues and address them very well because most often we are talking about children and this is building their future. If you give them that signal around them it kind of masks their future so yes there have been improvements but we still have a long way to go especially the local media".

Madam Adwoa Bame emphasis on visiting various media house to interact with journalists and also engaging the National Media Commission to help sensitized its members.

Madam Adwoa Bame furthermore urged media houses to develop a policy guide which will guide both news anchors and the reporters when reporting on gender-based violence.
The Coalition of Muslim Organisations in Ghana (COMOG) has debunked claims made by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Cathedral about government helping the Muslims in building the National Mosque.

The group said the claim is only aimed at justifying the GHc25million state money that has been injected into the building of which they described as the "controversial national cathedral."

This is contained in a press release signed by the President of COMOG, Hajj Abdel-Manan Abdel Rahman, issued on Monday, June 13, 2022.

He said the national mosque, which is located at Kanda in Accra, was not sponsored by the government, and throughout the project, Ghana government did not contribute a penny.

While calling for an apology and retraction from Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, COMOG has urged the public to treat his claims with the contempt it deserves.

On Sunday, June 12, 2022, the Chief Executive Officer for the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral project asserted that the state contributed to the building of the National Mosque.

Kindly read the release below:
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh has implored the Ghana Police Service to see to it that the professionalism attached to its work is improved.

The call to the security service follows the latest crowd control failure at Abrepo in the Ashanti Region.

On Monday, June 13, 2022, the Police in a bid to disperse protesting students of the Islamic Senior High School resorted to the use of tear gas as well as pepper spray.

The action caused a lot of tension and fear amongst parents of students in the school especially after over 20 students end up in various hospitals for medical care.

Unimpressed with the action by the Police, lawmaker Franck Annor-Dompreh says it is important that the Police improve on its antics and tactics when it comes to crowd control.

These incidents are becoming too many. Just as we love and respect the Police to deal with such matters and particularly ensuring Public orderliness, the Police should up their professional antics &tactics in the handling of such 'infantile' challenges, the Nsawam-Adoagyiri MP said in a Tweet.

The Police in a bid to ensure people are punished for the Islamic SHS disturbances have instituted a full-scale investigation into the conduct of officers deployed on Monday to restore calm amid the protest.

Meanwhile, the Acting Ashanti Regional Police commander and two others have been interdicted.

Today, calm has been restored with academic activities resumed fully.
The UK government on Tuesday defended its controversial policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, even as the entire senior leadership of the Church of England branded it shameful and immoral.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted the first flight to Kigali would take off no matter how many people were on board, after 23 of the 31 migrants had their tickets cancelled.

"We're expecting to send the flight later today," she told Sky News, as fresh protests were held at a detention centre near London Gatwick airport.

Truss said she was unable to confirm how many people would be on the charter flight to Kigali, which was due to leave from an undisclosed airport on Tuesday night.

But she said the policy, which the UN refugee agency has also criticised as "all wrong", was vital to smash the business model of human-trafficking gangs exploiting vulnerable migrants.

Record numbers of migrants have made the perilous Channel crossing from northern France, heaping pressure on the government in London to act after it promised to tighten borders after Brexit.

Campaigners supporting migrants and a union representing Border Force workers who will have to carry out the policy failed in a legal challenge to stop the deportations.

After the latest attempt was thrown out on Monday, the two senior-most clerics in the Church of England and 23 bishops called the policy "immoral" and said it "shames Britain".

"They (migrants) are the vulnerable that the Old Testament calls us to value," Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell wrote in a letter to The Times.

"We cannot offer asylum to everyone, but we must not outsource our ethical responsibilities, or discard international law -- which protects the right to claim asylum."

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the entire senior leadership team of the Church of England called the policy shameful and immoral. By Daniel LEAL (AFP)

At the weekend, it was reported that Queen Elizabeth II's heir, Prince Charles, had privately described the government's plan as "appalling".

Truss, though, hit back. "The people who are immoral in this case are the people traffickers trading on human misery," she said.

"Our policy is completely legal. It's completely moral," she added, accusing critics of having no alternative plan.

'Value for money'

Truss said she could not put a figure on the cost of the charter flight, which has been estimated at some 250,000 ($303,000).

But she insisted it was "value for money" to reduce the long-term social cost of irregular migration.

"There will be people on the flights and if they're not on this flight, they will be on the next flight," she added.

Deported asylum seekers who make it to Kigali will be put up in the Hope Hostel, which was built in 2014 to give refuge to orphans from the 1994 genocide of 800,000 to one million ethnic Tutsis.

Some 20 orphans were living in the hostel when the partnership between Rwanda and Britain was signed. They have since been evicted.

Hostel manager Ismael Bakina says up to 100 migrants can be accommodated and he will charge $65 a day.

"This is not a prison. It's a home like our home," hostel manager Ismael Bakina told AFP. "In a hotel a person will be free in everything they want. When they want to go out of the hotel, it's no problem."

Under the agreement with Kigali, anyone landing in Britain illegally is liable to be given a one-way ticket for processing and resettlement in Rwanda.

The government of President Paul Kagame has said the deportations will begin slowly and rejected criticism that Rwanda is not a safe country.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel signed the deal with Rwanda's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Vincent Biruta in April. By Simon WOHLFAHRT (AFP)

Human Rights Watch has warned that there are "serious human rights abuses" in Rwanda, including curbs on free speech, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and torture.

Rwandan opposition parties also question whether the resettlement scheme will work given high youth unemployment rates.

Kagame is due to host leaders of the 53 other Commonwealth countries later this month, as well as Prince Charles as head of the grouping.
Arusha, Tanzania ( 7 June, 2022) - The Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wamkele Mene, has addressed Heads and Chief Executive Officers of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) from across Africa on the implementation of the AfCFTA and its likely influence on future trade policies on the continent.

Delivering an address to participants in Arusha, Tanzania on the occasion of the Second Coordination Meeting Of The heads/CEOs of RECs on the implementation of the AfCFTA, Mr. Mene observed that the implementation of AfCFTA will likely influence future trade policies of the RECs.

In this regard, he said, effective collaboration

between the RECs and the AfCFTA Secretariat was necessary to ensure that the AfCFTA outcomes were consistent with regional advancements

in trade integration made thus far and the projections for the future.

Therefore, he noted, the coordination meetings offer the RECs, Business Councils and AfCFTA Secretariat an opportunity to listen to one another, to better understand their areas of difference, and to work together to build consensus around common positions critical to their success at creating an African Economic Community.

Mr. Mene reiterated that previous summits of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and

Government have mandated the AfCFTA Secretariat, the African Union Commission, and the RECs to develop a Framework of Collaboration to enhance complementarity, synergies, and alignment of programmes and activities to facilitate the effective implementation of

the AfCFTA.

In his opinion, by agreeing on a workable framework which will strengthen the interdependence of RECs on the one hand and strengthen the cooperation between RECs and the AfCFTA Secretariat on the other hand, the RECs, Business Councils and the AfCFTA Secretariat will be taking steps critical to the success of the AfCFTA.

He recounted that the Secretariat, and the RECs have already received instructions from the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union to take all necessary steps to ensure the effective implementation of the AfCFTA, including facilitating commercially

meaningful flow of goods and services under the AfCFTA preferential regime, across the continent.

According to him, "We were also instructed to develop a coordinated approach to the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement, with the existing RECs as building blocks."

Prior to the Arusha meeting of the Heads and CEOs of RECs, there had been the Senior Officials Meeting to continue the preparation of actionable strategies towards enhancing the effective implementation of the AfCFTA, drawing lessons from the implementation of RECs Free Trade Areas (FTAs) and Customs Unions. The Senior Officials also engaged with the European Union, with a view towards mobilizing resources for the implementation of the AfCFTA.

The meeting with the EU, which was AfCFTA's second joint meeting for 2022, was of particular importance as the AfCFTA Secretariat and the RECs coordinate their efforts towards mobilizing resources for the effective implementation of the AfCFTA.

According to Mr. Mene, "In between our first coordination meeting in Accra  Ghana in September 2021 and this current round of meetings, our Senior Officials have been able to convene  both formally and informally  on a number of issues, including on the EU Support and the AfDBs Phase II Support to the Secretariat."

Source: Melvin Tarlue
14.06.2022 LISTEN

Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo-Prampram, Samuel Nartey George has blamed the constant fuel hikes and general high cost of living in Ghana to the depreciation of the cedi.

According to him, much as global set backs are influencing situations in Ghana, it is not the cause of the constant hikes and general hardship in the country.

Sharing his thoughts on Good Morning Ghana on Accra based Metro TV on June 14, he expressed that, Ghana had oil and was exporting much of it on the international market, which was generating profits for government.

He said it was therefore surprising that those profits were not being utilised to cushion the ordinary Ghanaians who are suffering the brunt of the hikes.

The reason the prices are going up is not world market prices. The reason fuel prices are going up at our pumps is not the Russian-Ukraine war and fuel prices; its the depreciation of the cedi. Ghana, what was the budgeted price for the oil? Was it $55 a barrel? We are net exporter oil.

When you take the number of crude we import and crude we export, we export more than we import. You came and did a budget of $ 55 per barrel now you say its selling at $100 a barrel, so it means on each barrel youre making profit of $45 as a government. 90% profit, in fact excess profit so how is that not translating, how is there no pass through from that windfall to cushion me and the ordinary Ghanaian at the pump? Sam George queried.

He noted that, even plantain, the popular Kofi brokeman, which was GHS1.50, had jumped to GHS3.00.

According to him, the country is not producing large quantities and as such has to import from Burkina Faso. He added that increased fares alone cannot attribute to high jump in plantain prices.

The cost of transporting plantain cannot cause an increase in plantain from GHS1.50 to GHS3.00. It cannot be the only reason. It is simply the fact that, Ghana is not producing enough plantain and we are importing too much plantain from Burkina Faso, a country whose soil and weather is not as favorable as ours. You cant tell me that we have no right to righteous anger and indignation, he intimated.

Sam George further shared that 40% of the costs of fuel prices are taxes that goes to government. He said even though the taxes were scrapped, it was only for three months.

He believes that if those taxes were held back by the government, it would have provided so form of relief to Ghanaians.

Meanwhile, fuel prices keep going up together with prices of goods and services.
IT IS something parents fail to talk about at home. Schools are not bold about it in the classroom. It does not seem to come anywhere near a government's prioritised health issues.

As for churches, even with a commanding heavy teenage and young adult membership, the topic may not be one of their favourites.

Yet, adolescent sexual and reproductive health issues can be a thief of time. A time-bomb that can totally destroy the future of a youthful population, often described as the future of a nation.

While Africa has been admired by the rest of the world as the continent of the future because of its youthful population, we seem to do very little to nurture, manage and encourage the development of this potential future. Empowering them with the knowledge and education on something as critical as sexual and reproductive health is often a second guess.

There has been a lot of talk about teenage pregnancies, illegal abortions, rising incidence of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, drug abuse and high school dropouts. All these are ills gnawing at the future of the youth.

Sexual and Reproductive Health

Studies have shown that the lack of awareness and understanding of implications of sexual and reproductive health issues are real and pervasive in our society. Any wonder there was, for example, huge numbers from the Ghana Education Service (GES) indicating a high incidence of teenage pregnancies especially in 2020 when schools were closed and students were at home.

A situation which has led the GES and School Health to introduce and encourage back to the classroom programmes for teenage mothers so they do not become drop outs in their quest for formal education.

Adolescence can be a challenging period during which children become exposed to all forms of misguided health, sexual and reproductive activities that could have long-term negative effects. Such effects are not only detrimental to their health but also to their education, development and future.

As its contribution to the issue, the Zonta Club of Accra has passionately taken up the challenge to make a difference in the area of sexual and reproductive health, especially in disadvantaged communities.

Status Of Women

As a service organisation committed to uplifting the status of women and girls, having learnt that the common challenge that was facing pre-Secondary School children was in the area of sexual and reproductive health, Zonta 2018 started a laudable adolescent sexual reproductive health programme in the Abokobi sub-district of Ga East in the Greater-Accra Region.

With the support and guidance of the Health and Education Directorate of the Municipality and with financial help from UNFPA, a project on sexual and reproductive health aimed at educating and empowering school-going adolescents was initiated. The programme went far with selected schools in the Municipality. Adolescent Health Clubs were set up. Teachers were trained to supervise, guide, organise and coordinate activities of the Clubs.

For the sustainability of the programme, ambassadors and peer educators were also trained to provide counselling and support to their peers who needed assistance. Nonetheless, the pause presented an opportunity for a good assessment of the project last year. It showed a reduction in the incidence of teenage pregnancy at a time when other parts of the country were experiencing a surge.

The assessment also showed that an increase in the knowledge of reproductive health issues in the project areas, namely, Abokobi and Kwabenya sub-Municipalities was high.

With that in mind, Zonta, again, with support from UNFPA, GHS GES, resumed its community assistance of empowering the adolescent with the sought after life lessons last month.

The target was to expand to 21 schools, train 42 teachers as health communicators and 105 pupils as peer educators.

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic did not allow the project to travel very far with lockdowns and closure of schools in 2020.

Assessment

The programme went far with selected schools in the Municipality. Adolescent Health Clubs were set up. Teachers were trained to supervise, guide, organise and coordinate activities of the Clubs.

For the sustainability of the programme, ambassadors and peer educators were also trained to provide counselling and support to their peers who needed assistance.

Eleven schools in the Abokobi Municipality have successfully gone through the project. To make it more sustainable, 22 health communicators and 55 peer educators have also undergone the requisite training and the inauguration of Health Clubs. This took place a couple of weeks ago where certificates and badges were presented.

A five-day training has also been completed in the last week for 20 health communicators and 50 peer educators from 10 selected schools in Taifa and Kwabenya.

The valuable contribution of Zonta Club and its allies to empowering the adolescent youth in the beneficiary communities are indeed laudable. They have broken the ice and empowered the youth to lifetime education and lessons as far as their sexual and reproductive health is concerned.

Ultimately, this should have a cascading effect in communities, schools and families. The nation would be better off with knowledgeable and empowered youth able to take care of their reproductive and other health issues while concentrating on completing their formal education.

The drive of Zonta Club and the seed sown should help the youth in the beneficiary communities focus their dreams towards a more informed and knowledgeable future. A worthy cause worth emulation by other service organisations.

BY Vicky Wireko
The police said the success of the operation was an indication of the synergy between the police and the military in Kaduna State.

A combined team of military and police operatives foiled an attack by bandits on the Kaduna-Abuja Highway in the early hours of Monday.

The operatives killed one of the bandits and recovered one AK47 rifle and nine of their operational motorcycles.

The Kaduna State Police spokesperson, Mohammed Jalige, confirmed the incident in a statement on Monday afternoon.

He said the operation's success indicated the synergy between the police and the military in Kaduna State.

"On Monday 13th June 2022 at about 2:55 am when the combined team of Police Operation Puff Adder and that of the Nigerian army Operation Thunder Strike while on routine patrol along Kaduna-Abuja highway at Sabon Sara had an encounter with armed bandits who were on their nefarious mission along the busy highway.

"An exchange of gunfire ensued as a result of which the friendly forces truncated the bandits' mission forcing them to retreat into the forest as one bandit was neutralised.

"Upon a search of the general area, an AK47 rifle and nine bandits' operational motorcycles were recovered," he stated.

The police urged residents in the area to report people with suspected gunshot wounds to security agencies as "injured criminal elements will be hibernating around nearby communities to access healthcare services.

There has been a resurgence of attacks on the Abuja- Kaduna road, after an attack on a Kaduna-bound train from Abuja forced the government to suspend operations of the rail service between the cities.

Left with limited options, commuters, who used to travel to and from the country's capital city from Kaduna, have returned to travelling via the expressway.
This is the kind of historical illiteracy you get when you represent and teach Gold Coast Colony history as Gold Coast/Ghana history. If Ashanti chiefs, and Ashanti elites generally, did not feel compelled to join E/R chiefs in their fight for their independence, it was because, as far as Asante was concerned, that wasn't their fight. When Ashanti was fighting for its own self-government, they were not joined by E/R chiefs. That independence or internal self-government for Asante was achieved when finally the British assented to the restoration of the Asante Confederacy (and Confederacy Council) in 1935.

Restoration of the Asante Confederacy (that is, of Asante as a unit under the headship of the Asantehene-in-Council) had been the primary goal and demand of Asante since the return of Prempeh I. That goal, which came with internal self-government for Asante, was realized finally under Prempeh II.

What business then did Asante have to fight with E/R chiefs for the latter's subsequent independence when they had already fought to achieve theirs. If Asante had not been joined with the Gold Coast Colony after the Second World War (under the Burns Constitution), it likely would have remained independent and separate from the Gold Coast Colony up until 1957. And perhaps the question of Ashanti joining the Gold Coast Colony to become one at independence in 1957 might have been resolved by a referendum in Asante, just as was done with Trans-Volta Togoland.

So, this notion that Ashanti did not fight for independence with the Gold Coast Colony chiefs simply betrays a lack of understanding of the nuances of Gold Coast/Ghana history. There is a reason why the post-Second World War struggle for internal self-government of the Gold Coast did not initially interest a lot of Asante chiefs and elites--they already had achieved their goal of internal self-government before the Second World War.

Ashanti participation in the Gold Coast independence struggle increased sharply with the coming of the Coussey Constitution and the holding, for the first time, of elections in the entire Gold Coast territory (the Colony, Asante, and Northern Territories) to elect members to a unitary national assembly. That is when the Gold Coast began its real struggle for independence as one unit. And when that time came, most young Asante politicians (including RR Amponsah and Victor Owusu) initially joined the CPP.

If you don't count any Asante, Northern, or Voltarian elite in the Big Six, it was because the 1948 Riots was largely a Gold Coast Colony Colony palaver, and especially an Accra-centered one. If you weren't in Accra, you weren't likely to have been arrested. And in any case, what kind of historiography reckons a nation's historical founders on the basis of the arrest record of the colonial police in relation to one specific event? So if you evaded arrest that day, as Nii Kwabena Bonney and many others more involved in the 1948 Riots did that week, and therefore did not make newspaper headlines as one of the "Big Six" that means you, or your people, didn't fight for independence as much as the arrested six did? That view cannot be taken seriously!

Perhaps a more interesting historical inquiry is how E/R chiefs, not being signatories to the signatories to the Bond of 1844 and not having fought a war against the British, ended up a part of the Gold Coast Colony, thereby necessitating their having to fight at a later date for their independence. If you submit yourself willingly to be colonised by an European power (as well as aid the colonizer to colonize other territories, notably Asante), why should you expect those who resisted their colonization by force--and without your help--and who fought for a restoration of their self-government, to bother themselves with your own subsequent fight for your independence?

These are the rich nuances of Ghanaian colonial history that we don't teach. The version of history we teach as Ghana/Gold Coast history is mostly just a little slice of Gold Coast Colony history minus any critical analytical perspective.

- Prof. H Prempeh
An Accra High Court on Monday adjourned trial involving the 14 alleged murderers of Major Maxwell Adams Mahama to enable the State file response to their submission of no case.

Three defence lawyers filed their submission on behalf of their clients, while two others were yet to file theirs.

The Court presided over by Justice Mariama Owusu said the State could not be waiting for those defence lawyers before the State files its responses.

The Court is not inclined to wait for them to file their submission of no case, with or without them, the case will continue, she said.

She said the Court gave a timeline for these documents to be filed of which the time had expired.

Initially, Mrs Frances Mullen Ansah, Chief State Attorney, told the Court that they were waiting for the defence to finish filing their submissions before they filed their response.

Mrs Mullen Ansah told the Court that the Prosecution would file the responses on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

The Prosecution presented 14 witnesses, who testified before the Court and were cross examined by the lawyers for the accused persons.

Police Chief Inspector Samuel Agyarkwa was the last prosecution witness to testify before the Court.

Fourteen persons are standing trial at an Accra High Court over the killing of Major Mahama, who was an officer of the 5th Infantry Battalion, at Burma Camp.

The late Major was on duty at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region when on May 29, 2017, some residents allegedly mistook him for an armed robber and lynched him.

The mob had ignored his persistent plea that he was an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces.

The accused persons are William Baah, the Assembly member of Denkyira-Obuasi, Bernard Asamoah alias Daddy, Kofi Nyame a.k.a Abortion, Akwasi Boah, Kwame Tuffour, Joseph Appiah Kubi, Michael Anim and Bismarck Donkor.

Others are John Bosie, Akwasi Baah, Charles Kwaning, Emmanuel Badu, Bismarck Abanga and Kwadwo Anima.

The case has been adjourned to June 20.

GNA
14.06.2022 LISTEN

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ningo Prampram Constituency, Samuel Nartey George has responded to the recent police encounter between the students of the Islamic Senior High School (SHS) in Kumasi.

In his reaction, the outspoken lawmaker described the actions of the police officers as barbaric, unprofessional, troubling and indicative of an attitude that is worth worrying.

In a tweet sighted by this portal on the lawmaker's Twitter page on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, he queried why the police can fire shots at students who were without any weapon.

The seeming resort to the extreme force by the Ghana Police Service as a first resort is not only barbaric and unprofessional but deeply troubling and a source of worry. How do you discharge live ammunition on unarmed students? Clearly, our Police Service is sick and needs healing, Sam George said in his post.

Background information

On Monday, June 13, 2022, over thirty students from Kumasi's Islamic Senior High School were rushed to the hospital after police allegedly used tear gas and live bullets to disperse students protesting against unending vehicular knockdowns.

The incident has since attracted uproar in the country, especially among the parents of the victims and others who have their wards at the school.

Meanwhile, reports from the Ghana police and the Ghana Education Service (GES) have indicated that the affected victims are now responding to treatment and academic work in the school has resumed.
The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has called on party followers not to give attention to the Oti Regional Minister over his utterances on the partys June 4 tree planting exercise.

The Minister, Joshua Makubu while addressing the media at the Kpasa Senior High Technical School to mark this years Green Ghana Day demanded that trees planted by the opposition party are removed.

He said; We cannot sit down as a country, as a Municipality, as a Region or a School and allow trees to be planted on a compound to signify this day where people lost their lives.

We are indirectly saying that, if your grandfather was General F.A. Akuffo, Ignatius Kutu Acheampong and General Afrifa, then it means that you shouldnt come to Nkwanta Community Senior High School because if you come there, you will see the trees there and you will remember June 4 and you will remember the death of your father and other loved ones.

Reacting to the argument by the Regional Minister, Johnson Asiedu Nketia has urged followers of the NDC not to give him attention.

According to him, the NDC will not allow the ignorant utterances of Joshua Makubu to undermine the partys belief in tree planting as part of efforts to green the country.

NDC members should turn a blind eye to the Ministers action and continue to plant trees as our founder, late President Rawlings encouraged us to do. He is the only one who while serving as President gave deliberate command that no tree should be cut down during road construction works at the Ridge and 37 hospitals. He always loved to preserve trees and he introduced tree planting on a large scale across the country during the revolution days which has gone on until now that the latter-day saint (Akufo-Addo government) is also doing same, the NDC scribe told Kasapa FM in an interview.

Asiedu Nketia continued, So the action of one ignorant minister cannot undermine our belief in greening Ghana and our resolve to take part in the exercise of tree planting. This is why we are strongly against the declassification of the Achimota Forest as a forest reserve. If the NPP pretend to be what they are not, these are some of the things that will happen.

Since his demand for all trees planted by the NDC on June 4 to be uprooted, Oti Regional Minister Joshua Makubu has come under backlash with many insisting that he does not merit his position.
Ten more African cities have signed on to the C40 Clean Air Cities Declaration to improve air quality. C40 is an international group of mayors collaborating to make cities more environmentally sustainable.

In May 2022, Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Dakar, Ekurhuleni, Freetown, Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi and Tshwane joined Durban, the first African city to sign the declaration.

As part of the C40 pledge, city leaders have committed to actions to tackle air pollution and slow human-caused changes in climate. These include actions such as setting targets that follow the World Health Organisation's clean air guidelines .

This is a welcome commitment, as air pollution is a leading burden on global health. More than 6.5 million people die prematurely from exposure to air pollution each year worldwide. And air quality is worsening in African cities during a period of rapid growth and development. African cities are forecast to grow by 3 - 31% annually from now until the end of the century. This is far steeper than growth rates in Indian cities, at about 1 - 3% per year.

A major challenge in combating air pollution in Africa's cities is the scarcity of data. Air quality is not monitored in most cities and resources to compile inventories of the types and sizes of sources contributing to air pollution are lacking. All these efforts are costly and require sustained, long-term funding.

Publicly available data from satellite observations provide a picture of multiple air pollutants. In our recent study , we sampled these data over fast-growing cities in the tropics, including 26 in Africa. Our investigation covered a 14-year period between 2005 and 2018.

We determined that the quality of air is declining at unprecedented rates. We found that the cause is a shift from rural to urban sources and that combined worsening air quality and population growth is linked to 180,000 additional premature deaths.

Such harmful effects will persist without bold air quality policies.

Shift in pollution

For centuries, air pollution in Africa has been dominated by open burning of biomass . This is a common practice by farmers in the dry season to clear land and to prepare for the next sowing season. The smoke produced is full of pollutants , bad for people and the environment.

This is now changing, in cities at least.

In our analysis we identified that urban pollution sources have surpassed rural biomass burning as the main cause for worsening air pollution in cities. Satellite observations are too coarse (~10 km) to pinpoint the exact sources, but we can speculate that these include road traffic, burning of waste, and household use of fuels like charcoal and wood.

Our study focused on the fastest growing cities in the tropics. Amongst these are Lagos ( population 15.4 million people growing at 3.5% per year ) in Nigeria, Dar es Salaam ( population 7.4 million people, 5.1% per year ) in Tanzania, and Kinshasa ( population 15.6 million people, 4.4% per year ) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The air quality indicators we tracked were fine particulate matter pollution (PM2.5) and the gas-phase compounds nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ammonia (NH3), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These either directly impact health (PM2.5, NO2) or form air pollutants that do (VOCs, NH3). These can all be produced from traffic, and burning of household waste and fuel. Dar es Salaam has a population of 7.4 million people. Photo by Daniel Hayduk/AFP via Getty Images) Getty Images

Health hazards

The shift from rural to urban sources, combined with rapid population growth, is leading to more people living in closer proximity to air pollution and worsening population health.

Of most concern is PM2.5, as these particles are about 30 times smaller than the diameter of a strand of human hair. PM2.5 penetrate deep into our lungs and go on to have a range of effects on health , leading to premature death. Most prominent are heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and lower respiratory infections.

We used health risk assessment and atmospheric chemistry models, along with the satellite data, to estimate that premature mortality from sustained exposure to these small particles has steadily increased in 21 of the fastest growing cities in Africa. It's risen from 84,000 in 2005 to 110,000 in 2018 . This is on average about 2,000 avoidable deaths each year. Map showing premature deaths in cities studied. Karn Vohra

A third of these deaths are in five of the 10 cities that have signed on to the C40 declaration: Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Dakar, Lagos and Nairobi. The steepest increase in early deaths of about 300 people per year is in Kinshasa, a city yet to join the pledge. Kinshasa is yet to sign the clean air cities declaration. Photo: John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images. Getty Images

The number of people dying prematurely from exposure to air pollution is three times lower in African cities than in Asia, where the shift to urban sources of air pollution is well under way or has already occurred . This is in part because improvements in healthcare in Africa are counteracting the adverse effects of air pollution on health leading to decline in overall mortality. In Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, for example, the number of deaths could have been almost double the values we estimated without improvements in healthcare. But this offsetting won't last if air quality continues to degrade and healthcare improvements taper off.

Twenty-six cities in Africa are predicted to be megacities by 2100 , reaching unprecedented sizes. By 2100, Lagos may be home to 80 million people; more than double the current largest city of Tokyo.

Access to emission control and renewable energy technologies are cheaper and easier to use than ever before. The C40 pledges are a step in the right direction, but more cities need to join to safeguard public health across the continent.

Karn Vohra received funding from the University of Birmingham Global Challenges Studentship.

Eloise Marais receives funding from UK Research Councils, the European Commission, and the Stockholm Environment Institute.

By Karn Vohra, Research Fellow, UCL And

Eloise Marais, Associate Professor in Physical Geography, UCL
President of the Ghana Moslem Mission, Sheikh Amin Bonsu has alleged that students of the Islamic Senior High School were grieving over the death of a mistress of the school at the time of the disturbances on Monday.

He said the sorrow and sadness was what propelled the students to take to the streets to protest.

Speaking to Accra based GHOne TV today, he stated that, the students were agitated over the ghastly accident that led to the death of a mistress in the school.

The unfortunate incident, the sad and unfortunate incident that happened yesterday was because; if I show you, I think on social media you can see how brutal the accident was and they came yesterday in the morning to hear that, that mistress has passed away. When death occurs you can see how people are taken emotionally unaware and that let some of them out of sorrow and sadness onto the street, he shared.

He noted that although the students were calmed and shepherded back into the school, the police upon arrival did not seek the face of any authority before the unfortunate firing of bullets and use of tear gas.

Despite not being unhappy with the action of the police personnel, Sheikh Amin Bonsu commended the IGP for seeing to it that a temporary speed ramp is being constructed on the schools road as a measure to curb the incessant knockdowns.

He said he wished other security leaders would emulate the IGPs readiness to find remedy to problems.

Meanwhile, he admonished students of the Islamic Senior High School to be law abiding and adhere to all rules as the school was one of the best in the country.

On Monday June 13, 2022, students of the Islamic Senior High School in the Ashanti Region hit the streets to protest against the constant knockdowns by vehicles.

Police personnel deployed to restore calm ended up using tear gas and other force to disperse the protesting students.

This resulted in over 30 students being admitted to various hospitals for medical care. Fortunately, all students are doing well with majority already discharged and back in school.
Prof. Gyampo and his late father

14.06.2022 LISTEN

Prof. Ransford Gyampo, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana (UG), Legon, is currently griefing following the death of his 87-year-old biological father.

The lecturer disclosed this on his Facebook page on Monday, June 14, 2022, with a picture of himself and his father, Mr. Sampson Bismark Gyampo.

According to him, he received news of his fathers passing after he (father) had told him earlier this year that he would not return to Ghana again.

The outspoken lecturer admitted that though he is a strong man, he is currently emotionally down upon hearing of his father's death.

Read below the post from Prof. Gyampo as he wishes his father eternal rest.

Folks this is my biological father, the man who gave birth to me. Mr Sampson Bismark Gyampo. He passed this morning. He was 87

Dad, when I was escorting you to the airport to London on 18th February this year, you told me you wont come back to Ghana again. This morning I had a call that youve passed.

You know I am strong but I am not strong at allBut Ill see. Rest well.
14.06.2022 LISTEN

The LGBT+ Rights Ghana has said its billboard erected along the Tema Highway opposite the mall was only to communicate the Ghanaian culture of love, tolerance and acceptance of diversity.

The group noted that the Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values granted interviews and gave false narratives of the intended message the billboard was to communicate.

In press statement on June 14, the advocacy group indicated that the billboard was mounted on May 20, 2022. It added that it was shared on social media by one Elikem E. K. Kotoko who they say is a member of the NDC communications team.

The group stressed that, on the morning of June 9, 2022, members of the Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values (CPHRFV), accompanied by some proponents of the anti-LGBT+ bill in parliament visited the site of the billboard situated along the Tema highway and opposite the Accra Mall. They granted interviews with false narrations outside of the intended messages of love, diversity and tolerance imprinted on the billboard.

The LGBT+ Rights Ghana holds the view that they are well within their rights as Ghanaians to advocate for the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ+ Ghanaians as enshrined in the 1992 constitution of Ghana.

According to the group, they are law abiding citizens who are just advocating for the rights, safety and security of all LGBTQIA+ persons in the country.

There was anger in town over an erected billboard that seek to promote LGBTQIA+.

The billboard was subsequently pulled down.

Lawmakers championing the passage of the anti LGBTQ bill have shared their annoyance and disbelief over the ability of the advocacy group to put up the billboard the nation's capital.

See full statement here
The body of a suspected illegal artisanal miner who went missing has been retrieved from Newmont Ghanas Ahafo mines operational area with the assistance of local police.

The body was located, identified and retrieved from an illegal mining pit dug within the Ahafo mines Apensu pit area on Friday, June 10, 2022,

This was after the company granted access to the police and the traditional authorities from Hwidiem in the Asutifi North district in the Ahafo region.

The deceased, a resident of Hwediem, was left behind when they were chased away by Newmont security following their unlawful entry into their mining concession site at Kampisigo.

The deceased, identified as Emmanuel Kwabena Atikum, was among four persons during their illegal activities in the night on Tuesday, June 7, 2022.

In a statement issued by the management of Newmont Ghanas Ahafo Mine on Monday, June 13, 2022, the company denied being responsible for his death.

The statement signed by the Acting General Managing, Alex Kofi Annin, said per the laws of Ghana, their security contractors are unarmed, and has no weapons to apply on them.

Over the weekend, there have been media reports, (based on an erroneous social media post) alleging the victim had been shot and linking the company to the illegal miners death, the statement said.

We vehemently denied it because Newmont Ghanas private security contractors are unarmed as per Ghanaian law, Mr Kofi Annin explained.

The Police are investigating and we are fully cooperating with them to establish the cause of the death, he added.

Despite Newmont Ghanas work to prevent these illegal mining activities, the Company expresses its condolences to the family and community of the deceased, the statement concluded.

Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/ Francis Appiah
The Executive Director of the National Cathedral, Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah has apologized to the Muslim community for claiming that the National Mosque was facilitated by the State.

In a statement released on June 14, Dr. Opoku-Mensah stressed that the peace and unity that exist between Muslims and Christians should not be disrupted.

According to him, that is why he believes the National Mosque project should not be dragged into the conversation around the National Cathedral project.

we should not equalize the discussions on the National Cathedral and the National Mosque as they are separate projects. We should be very careful as a nation not to disrupt the unique peaceful relations that exists between Muslims and Christians, Dr. Opoku-Mensah said.

Find more details here.

On June 13, the Coalition of Muslim Organizations, Ghana (COMOG) released a statement calling out the Executive Director of the National Cathedral for stating on GTV that the state contributed to the construction of the National Mosque.

COMOG emphasised that the state under no political regime contributed a pesewa to the construction of the National Mosque.

They called on Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, Executive Director of the National Cathedral to retract and apologize to the entire Muslim community.

It is on the back of that statement that Dr. Opoku-Mensah has today apologised and retraced his comments.
Blog

Nigeria's COVID-19 vaccination campaign is not a competition and there are no prizes for the state that successfully vaccinates all of its eligible population first, but the fact that Nasarawa State has vaccinated over 70% of its eligible population, putting it ahead of all but one of its neighbouring states, is a commendable feat.

In 2021, Nigeria set a target to achieve 70% coverage for COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2022, but data from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) revealed that as of 1 June, 2022, 24.1% and 16.9% of Nigeria's eligible population had been partially and fully vaccinated against COVID-19, respectively. The country is behind schedule and must intensify efforts if this goal must be met by the end of the year.

How it all began

In February 2022, the NPHCDA revealed that Nasarawa State topped the list of five best performing states in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. As of 27 February, at least four in every 10 eligible persons in the state had been fully vaccinated. To achieve this feat, Nasarawa leveraged on learnings from past vaccination campaigns, clearly employing an old strategy to a new public health issue.

The state adopted the target set by the NPHCDA to vaccinate 50%, 70%, and 100% of its population by March, June and December 2022. They hit the 70% mark in February -- ahead of schedule -- and by 31 May, 2022, had fully vaccinated 1,444,272 and partially vaccinated 1,322,013 of its estimated 2,523,400 population.

According to Mr Ayuba Ismaila Oko, project manager, State Emergency Routine Immunisation Coordination Centre and the Deputy Director, Routine Immunisation Unit, "the Executive Secretary of the state set up a committee to develop the strategy that helped increase the number of vaccinated persons in the state". The committee was made up of officials of the NPHCDA, health officers from all 13 Local Government Areas (LGA) in the state and selected officers from some Primary Health Centers (PHC). Leaders of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), government agencies, including the State Security Service, private organisations and various other stakeholders were also part of the committee.

The state launched its Mass Vaccination Campaign in November 2021 with a public education campaign to increase public confidence in and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials were distributed statewide, and jingles were produced in English and translated into the seven local languages. To ensure that the campaign reached every corner of the state, purposeful effort was made to reach members of communities and associations through their leaders. Rallies during which comedians used local languages to create awareness were organised across each LGA, at motor parks, markets, health facilities, shopping malls, markets, and schools.

Dr Stephen Iliya Sasetu, Director Planning, Research and Statistics Nasarawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency revealed that members of the committee also "met with Fulani leaders, market leaders, leaders of drivers and motorcycle riders' associations, and various other traditional and group leaders. After the visits, a lot of them got vaccinated and then with evidence to show, they helped to mobilise their people". He added that the campaign achieved a heightened awareness of the importance of the COVID-19 vaccination which translated into behavioural change as, without being pushed, community dwellers now visit facilities to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

For the next phase of the vaccination campaign, teams made up of vaccinators, recorders, and mobilisers were assembled, trained and sent out to communities. The communications campaign had paved the way for them, and so they went to areas where the rallies had mobilised people, as well as other public areas where people were most likely to converge, including public health facilities, designated private facilities, the state secretariat, among others. There, they sensitised and vaccinated people simultaneously.

Umra Abdulahi Aliu, a recorder with the vaccination team at Bukan Sidi Primary Health centre said they also took advantage of seasonal gatherings, "During Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) exam registration and other such registration exercises, people are asked if they have gotten vaccination and if not, they are encouraged to get vaccinated at the nearest centre."

To stay up to date with the campaign, virtual meetings were organised every day, where all the teams met to debrief, trouble shoot on any issues encountered and share key information on next steps of action. The state health secretary, some NPHCDA staff and LGA team leads were always present at the meetings.

Motivating the frontline workers

Health workers were a great asset to the exercise. Besides their direct involvement in the campaign, they were also among the first set of people to get vaccinated and therefore convinced people to get vaccinated by sharing their own experiences. The state in turn motivated the health workers by paying them a fee for their services. "This is a proven strategy in the moment of emergency, team members who meet up their targets were rewarded more," said Dr Sasetu.

Addressing challenges

There were concerns about the state's ability to sustain the extra payment being made to health workers. But Oko thinks it must be sustained because "you don't just sit and expect people to mobilise, there has to be a good reward system". He revealed that the state recently got approval for a fund from UNICEF to help ensure that the practice is sustained.

According to Ms Eunice Damisa, Director of Advocacy and Communication, NPHCDA, vaccine availability and accessibility used to be a major issue, "but this has been resolved because the country now has enough vaccines in stock and the logistics and supply chain system have been strengthened more." Misinformation about COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was an issue but this is being tackled with the ongoing communications campaign which will continue to run as long as the COVID-19 vaccine campaign is a priority.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Health Nigeria By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

Oko said that a man was reported to have been selling COVID-19 vaccine cards to people who had not been vaccinated. The committee involved the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security bodies in the state. "Because there was an accountability framework and involvement of security groups, the culprit was punished accordingly," he said.

In a chart outlining African countries and the percentage of fully vaccinated populations per country, Nigeria ranks 42nd having fully vaccinated only 6% of her eligible population.

Although the numbers vary by state, ranging from over 3 million fully vaccinated in Kano to over 26,000 in Bayelsa, it is encouraging to see that every state in Nigeria is committed to ensuring that its citizens receive the COVID-19 vaccine. However, all states -- particularly those with the lowest numbers -- must heighten efforts to increase their numbers.

Long dependent on wealthy nations for its vaccine supplies, Nigeria is building its own vaccine manufacturing capacity as revealed by President Buhari in January 2022. COVID-19 vaccine inequity, one of the fallouts of the pandemic, has shown that countries will take care of their people first and Africa needs to be able to do the same. Great strides will be made into ensuring that Nigeria fully vaccinates most of her population if the nation is able to push from both fronts -- continue to leverage on lessons learned from polio and other immunisation campaigns to increase coverage, as well as ensure vaccine availability.
Award-winning barber, Andrews Asare

14.06.2022 LISTEN

Popular Ghanaian barber and hairstylist, Andrews Asare has disclosed that the barbering business in the country has evolved tremendously, especially the cost they charge for a haircut.

Mr. Asare who doubles as the Founder of the Ghana Active Barber Foundation, made this revelation on GTVs Breakfast Show on Monday, June 13, 2022.

According to him, the business, which was not much valued during its prime time, is now lucrative.

He stated that barbers used to charge Ghc2 or even less for a haircut but now charge more than GHS50 per cut and have expanded their business to the point where they employ many young people in the country.

Now the system is changing because at first barbers we look down upon them right here in Ghana but right now barbers are charging 100 dollars for home service. Right now, people are investing in barbering and they are getting money out of it I have seven barbers that Ive trained, and they have all moved to Dubai to work there, two are in South Africa so we are training a lot of people and the barber game is changing, he said.

The award-winning barber further said alot of enhancement creams are now available to prevent hair loss.

At first, you can have a bald head and is bald but right now, we have different things you can do to have hair. So, we have hair units, hair transplants, scar pigmentation, Andrews Asare shared.
Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey

14.06.2022 LISTEN

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has rubbished claims that the Ghana Card is equivalent to an Electronic Passport (E-Passport).

Answering questions on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, the Minister explained that although the Ghana Card has features of an E-Passport, it has a long way to go before it can be used for such purpose.

To conclude Mr. Speaker, I wish to reiterate that even though the Ghana Card bears the technical features of an E-passport and has the potential to be used as an E-passport there is still a long way to go for it to be recognized as such, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey stressed.

According to Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Ghana Card at the moment is only accepted within the ECOWAS sub-region although it has the potential to move beyond those borders in the future.

In the past several government officials including the Vice President of the Republic, H.E Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia have made the claim that the Ghana Card is equivalent to E-Passport.

Although there were claims that the card has been accepted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as E-Passport, the international body subsequently clarified that such claims were untrue.
A robbery incident at the Makafui and Sons Lotto Company at Ayitikorpe in the Akatsi South Municipality of the Volta region has left multiple people with injuries.

One person has been confirmed dead.

The incident occurred on Monday night when armed robbers invaded the companys premises.

The armed robbers according to information gathered were a gang of six.

The attack was staged after 08:00 pm when some of the workers had returned from their daily closing routine.

The companys driver, Dotsey Dogbatey was shot in the back by the armed robbers and died on the scene.

Other workers were beaten and left with various injuries that required medical attention from health facilities.

One of the victims, Yaw Gakpo who is a worker of the company in an interview with media personnel narrated I had just returned from closing and was going to drop my car key and just when I entered the office to drop the key, the people entered the premises and started shooting sporadically.

He said the robbers demanded to see the director of the company and when he told them he had not seen him, they beat him mercilessly.

..when the robbers got to the gate, the gate was locked so they banged it violently until the deceased (Dotsey Dogbatey) moved to open it; thinking it was some other colleagues who had returned but just when he opened the gate, they shot him, he said.

Cecillia Gadasu, a cook at the company disclosed to journalists that she was molested by the armed robbers who spoke Ewe and wore black dresses with masks on.

Reports indicate that a huge sum of money was taken by the armed robbers.
The police administration has promoted two of its officers for effecting the arrest of another officer carrying substances suspected to be Indian Hemp.

The two officers promoted are Inspector Azumah Komla Justice and Cpl. Felix Diameh.

The Police Administration has promoted two officers, Inspector Azumah Komla Justice and No. 52543 G/L/CPL Felix Diameh for their role in effecting the arrest of No. 45638 G/Sgt Lotsu Agbeko, a police officer stationed at the Formed Police Unit (FPU) in Accra.

A policeman from the Tesano police station in Accra was involved in an accident after he was given a hot chase by some uniformed men.

The policeman, G/Sgt Lotsu Agbeko, who was in charge of his own Blue Black Toyota Corolla, with registration number GC 1069  09 failed to stop at a police checkpoint.

The injured policeman was alleged to have been transporting dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp.

The accident , which happened around the Kpeve mountains, saw the suspected policeman sustain injuries to his left hand.

The above police officer was transporting the suspected Indian hemp from Have direction and failed to stop at Have police barrier when signalled by personnel on duty to do so. He attempted to escape but was given a hot chase by the personnel. On reaching a section of the road on Kpeve Mountain, he was involved in an accident and had a fracture on his left hand. 84 parcels of compressed dried leaves [were] found in his car boot, police said in a statement.

The suspect was rushed to the Peki Government Hospital for treatment, where he is responding to treatment but under police guard.

Police have assured of further investigations into the matter and will update the public on further developments.

By Citi Newsroom
The running mate to late Moshood Abiola in the 1993 presidential election, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, has said that he placed national interest above his own personal feelings to serve in the government of late General Sani Abacha.

He made this known to journalists in Maiduguri, Borno State, during a solidarity visit to Governor Babagana Umara Zulum on Sunday.

According to him, his actions were in line with the teachings of the Islamic faith, which he professed, that leadership comes from God which he accepted in good fate.

"When we think of the collective good there are times when we have to sacrifice personal interest and join hands in rebuilding society and bringing peace and harmony to our people: I have addressed this issue of why did I join Abacha's government and so on.

"I know we won the elections on June 12, 1993, I know that injustice was done when those elections were annulled but there is always one guiding principle in my public life which is that the national interest supersedes any other consideration and all my actions have been informed by this consciousness of what is best in the national interest."

The former minister who hails from Borno state, said he was particularly happy with the magnitude of celebration that took place in his home state to mark the new Democracy Day, which signifies love and solidarity towards him as a son of the soil and a key player in the events of that year.

He said, "I don't think the celebration on the actual 12th of June 1993 was any greater than the celebration of the first democracy day on June 12; And for that I have to thank the Governor who gave the leadership, thank the people of Borno not only for celebrating June 12 as democracy day per se, but I know that they also had in mind that one of their own, their own son was also a critical player, I appreciate the confidence and love."
June 14, 2022

Ukraine - Killing Surrendering Soldiers, Shelling Civilians

At 8:30 UTC today I checked the priorities of the day on major U.S. news websites.

On the New York Times homepage the word "Trump" appeared 10 times, "Ukraine" appeared 5 times.

On the Washington Post homepage the word "Trump" appeared 12 times, "Ukraine" appeared 5 times.

On the Wall Street Journal homepage the word "Trump" appeared 9 times, "Ukraine" appeared 3 times.

The Google Trends graph for Ukraine has fallen to near zero.

This is a problem because it takes pressure off the Biden administration to negotiate with Russia over Ukraine and the future security architecture in Europe.

---

Today's daily 'clobber list' by the Russian Ministry of Defense includes an additional chapter taken from the verbal briefing:

I would like to note that in recent weeks, incidents involving the shooting of Ukrainian servicemen in the back by nationalist units have become more frequent in areas of military operations. Thus, after a fire preparation for an attack by Russian troops near Novomikhailovka in Donetsk People's Republic, more than 30 servicemen of the 25th Battalion of the 54th Mechanized Brigade of the AFU decided to lay down their arms and surrender. Ukrainian servicemen occupying a stronghold near Zvioroferma asked the Russian unit command via radio to cease fire and provide a corridor for exit. Around 10 p.m., AFU servicemen with white flags began moving towards Russian positions. At that moment, a Ukrainian nationalist barrier unit arrived at the stronghold in armored vehicles and opened crossfire in the back on the servicemen of the 54th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. As a result of this shooting, 32 Ukrainian servicemen were fatally wounded and killed. This incident, as well as many others like it, clearly demonstrates that amid growing military failures and demoralization of Ukrainian troops, the Kiev nationalist regime is trying to stop the retreat and surrender of its units by punitive actions of barrier squads.

I have seen no evidence that supports the details of the above incident. But there have been public reports that somewhat prominent people who are opposed to the war or criticize the Zelenski regime get picked up the Ukrainian SBU (the former KGB) or some 'nationalist', ie. fascist goons to then vanish. It is thereby not astonishing to read that similar events, on a likely larger scale, are happening at the frontline of the war.

---

The Ukrainian artillery is said to fire only 6,000 rounds per day for lack artillery ammunition. Yesterday 300 projectiles were fired by the Ukrainian army or by 'nationalists' onto civilian areas of 'rebel' held city of Donetsk. There were at lest 7 dead and 22 wounded. Graham Phillips provides a video report of the impacts and damage (vid). To use 5% of the daily ammunition ration to terrorize civilians in Donetsk is not only despicable but dumb as those artillery troops will now receive intensified attention they deserve.

Levi @Levi_godman - 11:42 UTC  Jun 14, 2022

The DPR asks Russia to use additional Iskanders and aircraft to destroy the artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Meanwhile Russia is providing a humanitarian corridor for civilians and surrendering Ukrainian troops who leave the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk. The scheme is similar to the corridors at the Azov steelworks in Mariupol where it worked well.

Posted by b on June 14, 2022 at 14:59 UTC | Permalink

Comments

next page 
The national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Barr Julius Abure, has said that the party's presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, has no plan to leave the party.

According to Abure, the consultations that is said to be ongoing regarding Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso only centered on how people can support their candidates to win the 2023 general elections.

Speaking at a press conference to mark Democracy Day on Monday, Abure, who said democracy has not reflected a better life for Nigerians, added that Obi and the Labour Party have embarked on a movement championed by the youths for a better Nigeria.

"Section 17 of the 1999 Constitution as amended shows clearly that the principal purpose of government is the provision of security.

"Section 18 says the national economy must ensure maximum welfare for the people. Today, Nigerians are only crying for the protection of their lives but the government is unable to provide that minimum benefit.

"Democracy has not been reflected in the lives of the people because 80 million people are living below the poverty line. Existing income cannot provide the basic needs of the people.

"As we commemorate democracy, we need to struggle more because the Labour Party has become the symbol for great movement. That is why we produced Peter Obi as the presidential candidate and he stands out among the candidates," Abure said.

According to Abure, if Obi becomes the president, he will give the country a better life.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Governance Labour By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

"He (Obi) says Nigeria will move from consumption to production, that is why he is in the labour party.

"We know that a productive economy is from the workforce which is labour and the Peter Obi project is in tandem with the Labour Party. Obi has the answers to the numerous Nigerian challenges.

"With Peter Obi as president, it is the people that will drive the process and Nigerians should not make the mistake of voting people we already know their antecedents," Abure disclosed while calling on Nigerians to ensure they get their PVCs.

On the debate for a Muslim-Muslim ticket, Abure said anyone thinking about same faith ticket should have a rethink, saying that such will not fly.

"Nigerians have been divided by the current government. Anything that will further divide the people should be avoided. It was Muslim/ Christian ticket and now should be Christian and Muslim ticket which the labour party will fly," Abure said of the alliance option that is on the table.

"There is nothing wrong with talking. The discussion is centred around people coming to work with Peter Obi. He has stated categorically that he is not thinking of being a vice president and not thinking of leaving the labour party because it is a movement and we shall not play the second feadle.

"The discussion ongoing is how many people will work for Peter Obi because he is in a movement. Since other regions have had the presidency, the most reasonable thing to do now is to ensure that the most competent person in the South East gets it. But Obi stands out as the best among the candidates and he is not pushing for a regional card because he is eminently qualified," Abure added.
NEW YORK (AP)  Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski again had a plane in the air, only this time Chris Hemsworth was at the wheel.

They were shooting Spiderhead, a science-fiction prison thriller based on a George Saunders story, along the coast of Australia. The film is set almost entirely in a remote concrete fortress jutting out over the sea, but it opens with the arrival of a seaplane that was flown by Hemsworth with Kosinski lying in the back. The slow-moving, prop-engine plan was a far cry from the F-18 jets of Kosinskis box-office smash.

It was initially going to be the plane Tom Cruise did his work in, Hemsworth jokes.

Spiderhead, which debuts Friday on Netflix, is in many ways the opposite of Top Gun: Maverick Its a talky, interior film made during the pandemic that will be streaming in homes, not filling IMAX screens. But chief among its quirky pleasures is Hemsworths leading performance as the researcher who presides as a benevolent, '80s-yacht-rock-dancing tyrant over the Spiderhead Penitentiary and Research Center, cheerfully conducting experiments in which he drugs prisoners to chemically raise or lower their moods, appetites and verbal acuity.

For a performer who has only occasionally flashed his comic ability (hosting Saturday Night Live," as the secretary in Ghostbusters"), Hemsworths deft balancing act in Spiderhead showcases a range well beyond the MCU. Hemsworth, who recently began shooting George Miller's Furiosa, returns as Thor again in next month's Thor: Love and Thunder," a franchise that has gradually loosened to adapt to its star's comic agility. And there are more action movies ("Extraction 2") on the way.

But without a fight scene or a special effect, Spiderhead may convey Hemsworth's powers better than anything before it.

This was one of the most enjoyable experiences Ive had, Hemsworth said in a recent interview by video-conference from Australia. Normally, these films, you string them out over three or four months. In this instance, due to my schedule, due to COVID restrictions and so on, it was compressed into a four-week period. Initially, we didnt think it was possible.

Aside from pandemic factors, Spiderhead is uniquely improbable considering its source material. Few have ever read a Saunders story and thought it would transfer seamlessly into a movie. But screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick developed the author's 2010 story Escape From Spiderhead, a farcical yet moving first-person account of a prisoner (played by Miles Teller in the film) undergoing lab tests. They greatly expanded the part played by Hemsworth, Dr. Steve Abnesti, who enthusiastically runs the facility with few rules and mysterious intentions. He's a little like the nicest Bond villain you've ever met.

Kosinski sent the script to Hemsworth hoping hed respond to the role.

In his performances, I always saw glimpses of a wide range of availabilities that maybe sometimes gets masked by the action films and his leading-man looks, says Kosinski.

There's a precision to his physicality that really lends itself to this role," the director adds. "He has this ability that Ive seen in Tom (Cruise), as well, to really understand the frame and the lens and where to be in it. Thats something that not everybody has. Hes just really aware of the medium and how to use it effectively.

In Spiderhead," Hemsworth uses the exactitude and charisma he normally leans on in more conventional leading-man performances for darker, manipulative purposes.

There was sort of a nervous energy underneath it, bubbling away, even in the stiller moments, Hemsworth says. I was trying to tap into that feeling when youre about to break and you either laugh or cry, but youre right on the tightrope. Whatever that feeling is, I wanted the character to be in it and hopefully give a sense of: Which way is he going to turn next? Whats going to be the next reaction?

Spiderhead was shot largely in sequence on a sound stage, and Hemsworth seems visibly liberated by the lack of constraints  costume or otherwise  of the production.

Im so thankful for the films Ive played but they didnt give me the range and opportunity to explore in this way, Hemsworth says.

The 38-year-old Hemsworth drew partly from CEOs and technocrats who exude a hyper-intelligent, obsessive focus, but who might, in their certainty of technology's potential, lack empathy. Still, the character's high-functioning narcissism isn't entirely alien to Hemsworth, either.

There was a cheekiness to the character that reminded me of myself in school, allowing my thoughts to run ahead of one another, not really caring about what Im doing or what Im saying, he says. That enthusiasm and that excitement is me at my most inventive and creative. Catch me on a day when Im exhausted and not in that space, then thats not the character. But that part of me I wanted to be prominent.

Spiderhead" arrives between bigger blockbusters by both its director and star, on the heels of Top Gun: Maverick  a movie that has played savior to movie theaters  and the cusp of Thor: Love and Thunder." Both are likely to rank among the biggest ticket sellers of the year. Kosinski, speaking as the Maverick grosses continued to roll in, is still getting his head around the film's success and, as he says, just how many people are responding to a movie that was shot in a very traditional way, live-action, in camera.

This is the type of movie I grew up on, Kosinski says.

But for both Hemsworth and Kosinski, the variation between projects, and the ability to go off and make a strange, hard-to-describe sci-fi film for a mass audience is part of the particular charm of Spiderhead. Kosinski last week set up his next project, a Formula One racing film starring Brad Pitt and Apple TV+, with plans for a wide exclusive theatrical release before streaming.

Its a very interesting hybrid. It kind of spans these two films that I just did, says Kosinski. Everyones trying to figure out: What does the future of cinema look like? We thought this was an interesting model to try.

For Hemsworth, whose Extraction ranks as one of Netflix's most-watched films, Spiderhead" was a deviation that only encouraged him when he readjusted back to bigger movies.

Both service the other, Hemsworth says. Any time I venture out and do something different and then return back to, say, Thor, I find I have a different appreciation for the character and also a different opinion of it.

___

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)  The Western U.S. on Monday marked another day of hot, dry and windy weather as crews from California to New Mexico battled wildfires that had forced hundreds of people to leave their homes.

Roughly 2,500 homes have been evacuated because of two wildfires burning on the outskirts of Flagstaff in northern Arizona, officials said at an afternoon briefing.

We all have felt the pain of watching our beautiful mountain burn. We acknowledged what an incredibly difficult time this is for those who have been evacuated and for those whose homes have been threatened, Coconino County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Patrice Horstman said.

The wildfire prompted the county to declare an emergency. It's been fueled by high winds that have grounded aircraft as an option for firefighting. Crews are planning on being able to use aircraft Tuesday as winds moderate, authorities said.

Incident Cmdr. Aaron Graeser said the Flagstaff-area fire is one of the countrys top priorities for firefighting resources.

Every potential fire source was a problem today, and every potential unburned area was receptive to fire today, Graeser said. That puts us in an interesting situation of trying to, again, assign resources the best we can based on that.

Current conditions have also kept fire managers from being able to better map it by air but the fire is estimated to be 8 square miles (20 square kilometers).

Crews were expecting wind gusts up to 50 mph (80 kph) as they battled the blaze that has burned through parts of the footprint left by another springtime fire that destroyed over two dozen homes as well as parts of other fire scars.

So far, one home and a secondary structure have been lost in the fire first reported Sunday, Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Bret Axlund said.

The Arizona Snowbowl ski resort closed as a precaution because of the wildfire  the second to hit the area this year.

It's literally like deja vu, said Coconino County sheriff's spokesman Jon Paxton. "We are in the same exact spot doing the same exact thing as we were a month and a half ago. People are tired.

Two other smaller wildfires northeast of the blaze were also burning Monday.

Wildfires broke out early this spring in multiple states in the Western U.S., where climate change and an enduring drought are fanning the frequency and intensity of forest and grassland fires.

The number of square miles burned so far this year is more than double the 10-year national average, and states like New Mexico already have set records with devastating blazes that destroyed hundreds of homes while causing environmental damage that is expected to affect water supplies.

Nationally, more than 6,200 wildland firefighters were battling nearly three dozen uncontained fires that had charred over 1 million acres (4,408 square kilometers), according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Even in Alaska, forecasters have warned that many southwestern fires have grown exceptionally over the last week, which is unusual for that area. Southwest Alaska normally experiences shorter periods of high fire danger because intermittent rain can provide relief, but since mid-May the region has been hot and windy, helping to dry out vegetation.

Favorable weather Monday helped slow the progression of a tundra wildfire just over 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) away from an Alaska Native village. Moderate temperatures and a shift in the wind that had been driving the fire toward St. Marys will allow firefighters to directly attack the flames and increase protections for the Yupik community.

The lightning-sparked fire is estimated at about 193 square miles (500 square kilometers). It's burning dry grass and shrubs in southwest Alaska's mostly treeless tundra.

In California, evacuations were ordered for about 300 remote homes near a wildfire that flared up over the weekend in forest land northeast of Los Angeles near the Pacific Crest Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains.

The blaze saw renewed growth Sunday afternoon and by midday Monday had scorched about 1.5 square miles (3.9 square km) of pine trees and dry brush, fire spokesperson Dana Dierkes said.

The fuel is very dry, so it acts like a ladder, carrying flames from the bottom of the trees to the very top, Dierkes said. Crews were also contending with unpredictable winds that were expected to strengthen later in the day, she said.

Aside from mandatory evacuations for some, the remainder of the mountain town of Wrightwood, with about 4,500 residents, was under an evacuation warning. Several roads also were closed.

The fire was 18% contained.

Five people were rescued from a dangerous area after a wildfire broke out Monday near Dulzura in San Diego County near the Mexican border and spread to nearly 600 acres (242 hectares), authorities said.

Two of those rescued were taken to a hospital but there was no immediate word on how they were injured or their conditions, fire officials said.

Fire conditions were elevated because of warm and dry weekend weather across Southern California. Monday was expected to be cooler, but another heat wave was expected at midweek, the National Weather Service said.

In Northern California, a 50-mile (80-km) stretch of State Route 70 was closed indefinitely on Monday after mud, boulders and dead trees inundated lanes during flash floods along a wildfire burn scar.

Several drivers were rescued Sunday evening from debris flowing on the highway when hillsides burned bare by last years enormous Dixie Fire came loose. No injuries were reported.

The causes of the latest California fires were under investigation.

U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officers cited a 57-year-old camper for lighting toilet paper on fire and placing it under a rock Saturday near the origin of the Arizona wildfire. The fire was reported a day later. Court documents show the man told authorities he tried to put the fire out with his sleeping bag, but his attorney said in federal court Monday that doesnt mean his client was responsible for sparking the blaze.

Flagstaff resident Janetta Kathleen rode her horse, Squish, up a hill to get a better look at the wildfire Sunday evening and watched it creep toward homes in the shadow of the mountain. Her home isn't directly in the fire's path, but her family, two bulldogs and horses are ready to go at a moment's notice.

I need to know what's going on because I have decisions to make for my family, she said. If the winds shift, we'll be in trouble.

Hikers, campers and others who were out enjoying the forest also had to leave Sunday. A shelter was set up at a middle school.

Strong winds sent embers across U.S. Route 89, the main route to the turnoff for the Grand Canyon's east rim entrance, through the Navajo Nation and up into Utah. Many people commute between the reservation and Flagstaff for work. Parts of the highway remained closed Monday.

We're not working directly on suppressing the fire to get the whole thing out right now, said Coconino National Forest spokesman Brady Smith. That's not our focus and it's not possible right now. Right now, it's going to be focused on protecting life and property."

Smoke from the fire near Flagstaff caused hazy skies in Colorado on Monday, obscuring views of the Rocky Mountains from Denver and other cities along the states Front Range.

Meanwhile, firefighters worked to contain a small wildfire burning in juniper and pinion pine that briefly caused evacuation orders Sunday in the San Luis Valleys Rio Grande National Forest in southern Colorado.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for high fire danger in central and southern parts of Colorado as well as parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Winds are expected to ease after Monday with some moisture moving in later this week in parts of the Southwest, the weather service said.

___

Associated Press writers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska; Jim Anderson in Denver; and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)  A Texas judge on Monday again delayed the murder trial of an ex-police officer who fatally shot a Black woman through a window of her own Fort Worth home in 2019.

State administrative Judge George Gallagher delayed Aaron Deans trial during a Monday hearing until another judge decides on a defense motion to recuse state District Judge David Hagerman. Hagerman has declined to recuse himself as judge presiding over the trial, which had been scheduled to start next week.

Dean is charged in the death of Atatiana Jefferson, whom he shot and killed in her home while responding to an October 2019 report about open doors. In court submissions, his attorneys have argued that Hagerman has grown increasingly hostile, overbearing and rude to them.

At a June 3 hearing, defense attorneys had sought a delay because lead attorney Jim Lane, who had been ill, and a key defense witness would be unavailable. Hagerman revised to follow courthouse rules and ordered the trial to proceed, defense co-counsels Miles Brissette and Bob Gill said in their motion for Gallagher to settle the scheduling conflict. At the Monday hearing, Gallagher said a hearing on the recusal motion would not be able to be held until at least the week after next, forcing the postponement of the trial from June 21.

At the June 3 hearing, Gill told Hagerman that he had submitted a vacation request letter for June 29 months before. Hagerman said he would not consider that issue. He and prosecutors pointed out they had canceled their vacations to be ready for the Dean trial.

Youre not going to dictate the schedule to this court, Mr. Gill, Hagerman said.

Hagerman has issued a gag order has been issued that prevents prosecutors and defense attorneys from speaking publicly about the case.

Jefferson was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew when a neighbor called a non-emergency police line to report that a door to Jefferson's home was ajar. Police have said Dean opened fire from outside through a window after perceiving a threat.

The killing and ensuing delays have frayed relations between the Fort Worth Police Department and the city's Black community.

Deans trial has been delayed for years as the COVID-19 pandemic ground courts across the country to a standstill. Hagerman denied a defense motion on May 4 to move the trial, then scheduled for May 16, to another county, arguing that media coverage of the case would make choosing an impartial jury impossible. Hagerman granted the one-month postponement to June 21 because of Lane's poor health.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BEIRUT (AP)  Lebanons president on Tuesday presented suggestions related to the disputed maritime border with Israel to the U.S. envoy mediating between the two countries, the presidents office said. The envoy said the suggestions will enable the negotiations to go forward.

President Michel Aouns office released the statement following his meeting with Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser for energy security at the U.S. State Department who has been mediating between the two neighbors.

Hochstein arrived in Beirut on Monday following an invitation by the Lebanese government and after Israel set up a gas rig at its designated location at the Karish field. Israel says the field is part of its U.N.-recognized exclusive economic zone, while Lebanon insists it is in a disputed area.

Hochsteins discussions with top Lebanese officials focused on ways to reach a solution amid rising tensions as Lebanon's Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group and Israel exchanged threats. Hezbollahs leader last week warned he would strike the gas rig at Karish if drilling starts before an agreement is reached. The heavily armed Hezbollah, which has fought several wars with Israel, has repeatedly said in the past that it would use its weapons to protect Lebanons economic rights.

Days later, Israels army Chief Aviv Kochavi threatened Lebanon with unprecedented bombing saying that a future war would be very large.

The U.S.-mediated indirect talks between Lebanon and Israel have been stalled since last year amid disagreements within Lebanon over how big the disputed area is.

The two countries, which have been officially at war since Israels creation in 1948, both claim some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon hopes to unleash offshore oil and gas production as it grapples with the worst economic crisis in its modern history.

Last year, the Lebanese delegation in the talks  a mix of army generals and professionals  offered a new map that pushes for an additional 1,430 square kilometers (550 square miles) as Lebanese territory.

In Beirut, Hochstein met with Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other officials. He did not speak to reporters after the meetings.

Hochstein later told the U.S.-funded Alhurra TV station that the Lebanese government took a very strong step forward by presenting a more united approach. He refused to give details about the Lebanese suggestions, saying its about looking at what kind of a compromise can be reached that the Israelis can agree to and not feel that it is being pushed into something against their interest while still preserving the most important part of Lebanons interest.

I think that it will enable the negotiations to go forward, he said.

Hochstein added that a solution to the border crisis would help Lebanon pull out of its economic meltdown that began in October 2019 leaving more than 75% of its people in poverty.

A Lebanese official who attended the meetings told The Associated Press that they focused on the disputed area of the Mediterranean and that the additional area Lebanon was pushing for  known in Lebanon as Line 29  was shelved.

The Israelis are totally refusing to talk about Line 29, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media.

Lebanese media reported ahead of Tuesdays meetings that Aoun would put forward several proposals, including one which shows readiness to give Israel full control of Karish field in return for Lebanon getting the Qana field, part of which stretches deep into the disputed area.

The anonymous official said Lebanon wants to get full control of the Qana field and has reservations about Israel working in the Karish field without a final agreement with Lebanon.

During a visit to Lebanon in February, Hochstein had handed Lebanese officials a proposal from Israel which gives more than half the disputed area to Lebanon. Lebanon did not respond to the proposal at the time.

Aouns office said he gave Hochstein a response to his February proposal to forward it to the Israeli side." Aoun told the U.S. envoy he hopes that Hochstein would return soon to Lebanon with Israels answers.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet criticized the Lebanese leadership, saying on Tuesday that instead of using gas for the benefit of its citizens, that same leadership is busy fighting with internal and external disputes.

The dispute over the maritime border is more than a decade old. In 2012, Lebanon rejected an American proposal of getting 550 square kilometers (212 square miles), or almost two thirds of the area, while Israel would have gotten the remaining third.

The offer was known at the time as the Hoff Line, after U.S. diplomat Frederick Hoff who was mediating then between the two countries.
Where does the lawsuit brought forth by David Wilson to remove Midland County District Attorney Laura Nodolf stand?

Monday, there was no change.

Nodolf still hasnt commented publicly about the lawsuit or her representation.

Midland County leaders Monday decided to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday regarding the payment of legal fees for the district attorney in this case. The court does not have to provide representation, according to county officials, but Texas law allows the court to do so if commissioners believe it serves county purposes.

Wilsons petition was filed in the 385th District Court. County officials said Friday that Judge Leah Robertson  the presiding judge in the 385th -- has asked the presiding regional judge  Seventh Administrative Judicial Region of Texas Judge Dean Rucker  to assign a visiting judge from outside Midland to oversee judicial proceedings, including a trial if it goes to court.

Allison Clayton, an attorney for Wilson, stated Friday that Judge Kelly Moore has been appointed in her place.

Now that we have filed our petition, Section 87.016 of the Texas Government Code roughly outlines what could happen next, Clayton wrote Friday. We have requested the court issue a citation. If the judge refuses to issue the citation, the petition is dismissed, without the possibility of appeal. If the judge issues a citation, then the suit moves forward.

At that point, (now we are in Section 87.017) the judge can (in his discretion) temporarily suspend Ms. Nodolf and appoint someone else to act in her place. The case proceeds from there with the trial for removal.

Another thing we could learn this week is whether County Attorney Russell Malm will represent the state in removal proceedings (as pursuant to Section 87.018(d) of the Texas Government Code), it was explained the Reporter-Telegram.

This is new ground for us, and we are still researching the issues, Malm wrote this weekend. My expectation is that I will file a motion to recuse myself.
A former federal prosecutor has stated his intention to run for Midland County district attorney.

Glenn Harwood told the Reporter-Telegram that he plans to run for the Republican Partys nomination in 2024. The current district attorney is Laura Nodolf.

Harwood worked from 2015 until recently as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorneys Office, in the Midland-Odessa Division of the Western District of Texas. He stated in an email to the Reporter-Telegram that as a federal prosecutor, he handled the full range of federal offenses arising in the six counties surrounding Midland  primarily, narcotics and firearms offenses, child exploitation offenses, white collar offenses and immigration offenses.

He wrote that a federal employee isnt permitted to raise funds or run for partisan office, so he submitted his resignation from the US Attorneys Office and entered private practice. Harwood is currently working both as Of Counsel with Keith & Lorfing, PLLC, and as a solo practitioner in Midland, with a focus on federal and state criminal law.

As part of the law enforcement community in Midland, I had an inside view of the need for improvement at the Midland County District Attorneys Office, Harwood said in an email. For several years, colleagues in the legal community and law enforcement have encouraged me to run for district attorney. This winter, I decided to take the first steps to begin my candidacy.

Harwood said he has filed his designation of a campaign treasurer and started to campaign.

If I am elected, I will work to rebuild a more collaborative, respectful and productive relationship with the local, county and state law enforcement community, Harwood said. I will ensure that the thorough investigations from the law enforcement agencies result in deliberate, thoughtful, and appropriate charging decisions. I will ensure that criminal trials are well-prepared and professionally litigated. Finally, and most importantly, I will work to restore the publics confidence in the Midland County District Attorneys Office.

The criminal defendants, the victims of crime, the defense bar, the courts, law enforcement, the employees of the District Attorneys Office, and the public at large are all stakeholders in the authority exercised by the district attorney. I intend to consider the equities of all the stakeholders in every decision I will make as the district attorney. As a career prosecutor, a combat veteran, and an experienced attorney, Ill bring proven leadership, breadth of experience, and seasoned judgment to the office of the Midland County District Attorney.

Harwood lists being in public service for nearly 30 years, including serving in the US Army for more than 22 years. That experience included deployment to Iraq with an Artillery Headquarters Unit in 2003, and again in 2006 with the First Cavalry Division. He also stated he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014.

During my 14 years as a Judge Advocate, I served primarily in military justice (criminal law) positions  as a prosecutor, a supervisory prosecutor, a supervisory defense counsel and a military justice trainer, Harwood wrote. I retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2015.

He lists being a member of the Bars of Texas and Virginia and being licensed in the United States Supreme Court, The Fourth and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Western and Northern Districts of Texas and various military courts.

He stated he and his wife Kimberly have been married for more than 30 years, have fostered six children -- two of whom were added to the family permanently through adoption  and have two elementary-aged children and four adult children, ages 18 to 25.

He also lists having served on the board of a non-profit ministry, Fostering Restoration Ministries, which provides support and services to foster and adoptive families, and being an active member of Stonegate Fellowship.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Investors would be green with envy at the returns the Permian Strategic Partnership has enjoyed.

The partnership announced Monday that it has transformed $93 million in investments received from the 17 companies that comprise its membership, into $950 million in community support. That $93 million is over the three-year life of the partnership.

Were pretty proud of the numbers, Tracee Bentley, the partnerships president and chief executive officer, told the Reporter-Telegram in a telephone interview. The rate of return is pretty remarkable.

She explained that partnerships with other entities helped leverage that $93 million in PSP funding into $950 million. As an example, Bentley said the Abell-Hanger Foundation, Henry Foundation and Scharbauer Foundations joined PSP in raising $55 million to bring 14 IDEA schools  including IDEA Travis and a second Midland school being built  to Midland and Odessa. Other partners joined PSP in funding Midland Colleges Pre-K Academy and Center for Teaching Excellence. Yet another partnership, with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation will give 134 elementary schools in 22 Permian Basin counties fully equipped science, technology and math (STEM) centers serving more than 60,000 students and 2,000 teachers.

Partnerships have extended beyond education to partnership with, among others, the University of Texas Permian Basin, Texas Tech Health Sciences Center and Midland and Odessa colleges to expand health care training and access.

Those include new or expanded nursing and pre-med training facilities at the schools and working with Texas Tech to create a new surgical and subspecialty program.

Weve made a lot of investments that the community will start to see and feel in a year or two, she said of the investments in medical training programs.

PSP Over the past year PSP has made substantial investments to support critical community needs, including:  $34.075 million in education investments benefiting more than 100,000 students.

 $41 million in health care investments to improve access to the region's 2 million residents.

 $14.7 million to train and upskill the region's 800,000 strong workforce. See More Collapse

The partnership also worked to bring $600 million in state funding to address Permian Basin roads, and Bentley said the PSP will continue to serve as the Permian Basins voice in Austin. Investments have also been made in veterans programs and supporting first responders.

I would say weve exceeded expectations. When we formed in 2019, we set lofty goals to be transformative, she said. We had a great 2019 and then 2020 hit.

The organization was challenged to get back on track and make up lost ground, she said, adding that she and the PSP team are thrilled at how PSP performed last year. The partnership has already made substantial investments to date this year, she noted.

The other thing that exceeded my expectations is we didnt lose a single member in 2020 to economic conditions, she added. We lost some members to mergers and acquisitions. She cited founding members Concho Resources and Shell Energy, both now part of ConocoPhillips, Anadarko, now part of Occidental Petroleum, and Parsley Energy, now part of Pioneer Natural Resources.

Residents throughout the Permian Basin  including West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico  can see PSP elevate its investments in education in order to support the young families moving into the region and looking for quality schools, she said.

There will also continue to be a laser focus on health care, she added, and on workforce development.

I would say the PSP is going to be around for the foreseeable future, said Bentley. I feel weve only just begun. We have years and years of investments to make.
The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said terrorists are now targeting the Southwestern part of the country to source for funds for their activities in the North.

Fayemi, who is also the chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF), made this assertion while speaking on Channels Tv's Sunrise Daily programme on Monday.

He said: "Insecurity comes in different guises, what is an insurgency in the Northwest may transform itself into banditry or kidnapping in the Southwest, utilising the resources it gets from that to continue to fund insurgency in other parts of the country.

"What is not in doubt is the inexplicable nexus that now exists between those responsible for the insurgency in the northeastern part of the country and those involved in banditry in the northwest that is now coming south in search of resources in order to fund their nefarious activities in the areas where they hitherto operated.

"It's that chain that must be broken, that nexus. That is why we in the Southwest that have seen these activities metamorphosing into insecurity in our space must be concerned with what is going on in other parts.

"We must concern ourselves with insecurity in any part of Nigeria. That is what this has pointed to, we can not just play the ostrich."

He said taking an isolated view in solving the problem of insecurity in Nigeria would be a waste of effort and demanded an integrated response.

The Ekiti State governor called for the retooling of the security architecture to achieve an integrated response to insecurity.

"These things are inexplicably linked and we must respond to them in an integrated version, retool our security architecture, recruit more men into our security agencies, increase the use of technology - satellite surveillance, drone coverage, telephone tracking, all of these things need to now be much more accelerated in order to address this problem that has now come upon us," he stated.

Fayemi said measures were already being made to track, apprehend and bring to book those who attacked the Catholic Church in Owo earlier in the month.

He urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and give information to the security agencies whenever they noticed anything odd in their locality.
A U.S. Marine Corps High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System launches a reduced range practice rocket on Angaur, Palau on June 8. The event, conducted by the 5th Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, is just one example of the portions of Valiant Shield 2022 occurring in the Republic of Palau. Last weeks testing of a forward commanded, offensive missile strike will be followed by the first-ever use of the Patriot missile defense system in Palau later this week.
opinion

The Global South needs international funding to help decision-makers tackle the inequities that could be created by a shift to greener economies

Developing countries face the monumental task of tackling climate change while dealing with significant social and economic challenges. These include persistent poverty, inequality and energy access gaps, as well as degradation and loss of their natural resources.

Responses to the climate challenge may, if not carefully designed, introduce new hardships and deepen inequalities: workers might lose their jobs as polluting factories close down and new green businesses might open only in cities rather than rural areas. A just climate transition is thus about making sure that everyone affected can have their say, and no one is left behind.

It is also about the opportunity for decision-makers to use climate action to tackle the root causes of inequality and vulnerability, helping reduce resistance to change, and to deploy limited resources wisely to achieve broader sustainable development goals.

Our recent report on just transitions in the Global South summarises findings from research partners in Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya, Laos, Malawi and Vietnam.

"Just transition" is now featuring more often in climate discussions in developing countries but among decision-makers, there is limited understanding of the equity issues a climate transition might create, and little planning to ensure these are being addressed.

Here are six ways to help improve this:

Governments should implement their commitments to manage transitions justly and build momentum for inclusive planning processes. Countries like Indonesia, Colombia and Argentina mention just transition in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to tackling climate change, submitted to the United Nations. But these documents do not always inform domestic policy and budget planning. A better approach would be to incorporate the objective of just transition into national development plans. By offering more strategic direction and involving various government institutions, this can be a foundation for dialogue and resourcing of transition efforts.

We need to fill data gaps on how climate action and sectoral transitions might affect different people. This knowledge is key to help decision-makers recognise potential equity issues and devise strategies to tackle them. In Indonesia, the Ministry of Manpower is preparing a study on the impact of climate change on employment and planning to draft a 'Critical Occupational List' that maps out the jobs that are disappearing and others emerging as part of the transition.#

We need to build the capacity of decision-makers and vulnerable groups to understand the implications of climate action and the opportunities of transition. Beyond filling research and analysis gaps, this might include knowledge-sharing and exchange visits to other countries with similar experiences. Resources should also be made accessible for people who otherwise would not be able to take part in the just transition process. In Indonesia, for example, comic strips written in Bahasa to explain the concept to local communities are being planned, aimed at sparking interest and dialogue around the changes.

Just transition implies a broad planning process because the social and economic impacts of transition go well beyond individual sectors or government portfolios. This means more areas of government, civil society organisations and other kinds of institutions, such as those in education, should be involved.

Much of the labour force in developing countries is in informal sectors that are unregistered, sometimes illegal and with limited social protection. Just transition strategies need to meaningfully engage these workers, in ways that are adapted to the local context. In Ghana, building trust through face-to-face meetings has been an effective approach.

Achieving broad engagement implies strong government coordination. Local governments, particularly, will bear many of the costs and impacts of transition, for example in coal-producing regions such as East Kalimantan in Indonesia or La Guajira in Colombia. At the same time, they often lack resources to cope. To play a central role in dialogue and planning, they will need financial and technical support.

As the "just transition" debate is nascent in many countries, it is difficult to identify all the funding gaps and investment needs to implement a green and fair shift. Countries will require finance for re-skilling programmes for workers and communities, public policy reform to strengthen social safety nets, and infrastructure investments to help regions diversify their economies, among others.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Climate Africa Sustainable Development By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

In the short term, funding is needed to help countries overcome some of the barriers described above, and to create spaces for greater dialogue around a just transition. Here, international development partners and climate finance providers have a key role to play.

Climate finance should not only target the technical part of transitions - that is reducing emissions or adapting to climate impacts. It must also support communities with managing the socio-economic impacts and addressing inequality more broadly.

As the world prepares for the next U.N. climate conference in Egypt in November, it is time to integrate equity and justice - the foundation of impactful climate action - into the way we plan, and finance, climate transitions.

Aaron Atteridge is research lead for Climate Strategies' South to South Just Transitions initiative, and Tari Lestari is an associate with the Dala Institute in Indonesia.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

VIRGINIA  Four candidates are pushing for the Democratic nomination to fill three positions on the Cass County Board.

Voters will elect three Democratic candidates to run in the November election June 28.

Kim Hance, Gary Noe, Connie Starkey and Ron Culves are each trying for the nomination.

Hance did not return answers to a questionnaire from the Journal-Courier.

Noe, 77, is a member of the board and has served on several committees, including the safety committee, courthouse and jail committees, and road and bridge committees.

One of his focuses is taxes and addressing concerns about the labor shortage.

"I want to keep taxes down , keep the good health department, county roads, encourage new business," Noe said.

He said the board needs to look at the housing shortage and labor shortage in the county.

Noe spent 12 years as an engineer on BNSF railway, where he acted as a union representative.

He has two children and four grandchildren.

Starkey, 68, has been a county board member for six years. She was also on the Beardstown Houston Memorial Library Board for seven years, the West Central Mass Transit District Board of Directors for three years.

She served on the Finance and Judiciary committee; Insurance and Bonds committee; the Cass County Safety, Environment and Housing committee; the Beardstown TIF District; and Economic Development and Tourism.

Taxes are something Starkey said she wants to work on if reelected.

"To work to lower taxes as we have done this year, continue to work for more housing for our growing county's workforce and to increase the workforce within our county," Starkey said. "Our community needs all types of housing, from rental to affordable homes for local families to purchase. The need is tremendous."

Starkey has degrees in education, agriculture education, plant and soil science, and horticulture. She has previously worked as a teacher at in Beardstown and Turner Junior High School (now the Jacksonville Middle School).

Starkey is married to Jeff and has three children and five grandchildren.

Culves, 50, is the Ward 3 alderman for Beardstown. He was elected to the position in 2017.

His focus, if elected, would be economic growth.

"[Some goals], job creation and economic growth," Culves said. "Providing affordable housing options. Sound fiscal management.

He said he has experience managing annual budgets in excess of $25 million and was the chairman of the Beardstown City Council Finance Committee.

Culves said some of the biggest issues facing the county are ensuring supportedfrom the proper infrastructure. He said this includes: safe roads and bridges; water and sewer; and public safety such as law enforcement, fire and EMS.

Culves has both a bachelors and masters in accounting from the University of Illinois, worked for five years in banking, four in a CPA firm and has served as chief financial officer and chief executive officer for non-profits for 18 years.

He is the son of Tonie Beard Culves and Cliff Culves.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The United Arab Emirates on Monday banned the upcoming Pixar animated feature Lightyear" from showing in movie theaters after its inclusion of a kiss between two lesbian characters.

The decision by the UAE comes as Malaysia also reportedly will ban the film, raising the possibility other Muslim-majority nations could follow suit on one of Disney's biggest animated films of the year as the film industry comes out of the depths of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Emirates, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, announced through its Media Regulatory Office of the country's Ministry of Youth and Culture that the film would not be opening in the country this Thursday.

The film is not licensed for public screening in all cinemas in the UAE, due to its violation of the countrys media content standards, the office said in a tweet. The office confirms that all films screened in cinemas across the country are subject to follow-up and evaluation before the date of screening to the public, to ensure the safety of the circulated content according to the appropriate age classification.

The office did not elaborate on the tweet and did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press. The tweet included an image of the film's poster, with the profile image of its main character Buzz Lightyear with a no symbol over it in red.

Movie theaters in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, had already advertised showtimes for the film. But over the weekend, a social media campaign with the Arabic hashtag Ban Showing Lightyear in the Emirates, caught the attention of conservative Emiratis. They described showing a lesbian couple on screen as being against their culture and religion.

The movie, with actor Chris Evans voicing the inspiration for the Buzz Lightyear action figure from the Toy Story films, includes a female character voiced by actress Uzo Aduba kissing her female partner.

The UAE, many other countries in the wider Mideast, is a Muslim-led nation that criminalizes same-sex relationships. The U.S. State Department warns that Islamic, or Shariah, law in the UAE can include the death penalty for same-sex conduct, while Dubai can levy a 10-year prison sentence and Abu Dhabi allows for up to 14 years.

However, such prosecutions are rarely reported and LGBTQ individuals do live in the skyscraper-studded city-state of Dubai, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates.

The $200 million Lightyear is expected to be a major draw for Disney, with analysts estimating it could gross over $100 million in its first weekend.

Studios have allowed censors to cut films in global distribution for content in the past, including in the Mideast market. Recently, Disney has faced protests from activists and its own staff over what they described as CEO Bob Chapeks slow response in publicly criticizing Florida legislation that opponents dubbed the Dont Say Gay bill.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in late March signed the bill, which forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

The moment had been earlier cut from the film but was restored after Pixar employees protested Disney's response to Floridas bill.

The movie also may be banned in Malaysia as well. The Star, the countrys top English-language newspaper, cited an anonymous, nongovernment source as saying that Lightyear will not be shown in Malaysian cinemas. No reasons were given. A newspaper in the Persian Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain similarly has speculated the film wouldn't be shown there.

Officials from Malaysia's Film Censorship Board and the Home Affairs Ministry, as well as The Walt Disney Co., could not be immediately reached for comment.

___

Associated Press writers Malak Harb in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
Just when it didnt seem things couldnt get worse  gasoline at $5 a gallon, supply shortages in everything from baby formula to new cars  comes the devastating news that many of us will endure electricity blackouts this summer.

The alarm was sounded by the nonprofit North American Electric Reliability Corp. and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The North American electric grid is the largest machine on earth and the most complex, incorporating everything from the wonky pole you see at the roadside with a birds nest of wires to some of the most sophisticated engineering ever devised. It runs in real-time, even more so than the air traffic control system: All the airplanes in the sky dont have to land at the same time, but electricity must be there at the flick of every switch.

Except it may not always be there this summer. Rod Kuckro, a respected energy journalist, says it depends on Mother Nature, but the prognosis isnt good.

Speaking on White House Chronicle, the weekly news and public affairs program on PBS that I host and produce, Kuckro said, There is a confluence of factors that could affect energy supply across the majority of the (lower) 48 states. These are continued reduced hydroelectric production in the West, and the continued drought in the Southwest.

The biggest threat to power supply, according to the NERC and the FERC, is in the vast central region, reaching from Manitoba in Canada down to the Gulf of Mexico. It is served by the regional transmission organization, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator.

These operational entities are nonprofit companies that organize and distribute their regions bulk power for utilities. In California, it is the California Independent System Operator; in the Mid-Atlantic, it is PJM; and in the Northeast, it is the New England System Independent Operator. They generate no power, but they control power flows and could initiate brownouts and blackouts.

With record storm activity and high temperatures predicted this summer, blackouts are likely to be deadly. The old, the young and the sick are all vulnerable. If the electric supply fails, with it goes everything from air conditioning to refrigeration to lights and even the ability to pump gas or access money from ATMs.

The United States, along with other modern nations, runs on electricity and when that falls short, it is catastrophic. It is chaos writ large, especially if the failure lasts more than a few hours.

On the same episode of White House Chronicle, Daniel Brooks, vice president of integrated grid and energy systems at the Electric Power Research Institute, also referred to a confluence of factors contributing to the impending electricity crisis. Brooks said, Were going through a significant change in terms of the energy mix and resources, and the way those resources behave under certain weather conditions.

If power supply is stressed this summer, change in the generating mix will get a lot of political attention. At heart is the switch from fossil fuel generation to renewables. If there are power outages, a political storm will ensue. The Biden administration will be accused of speeding the switch to renewables, although the utilities dont say that.

The weather is deteriorating, and the grid is stretched in dealing with new realities as well as coping with old bugaboos, like the extreme difficulty in building transmission lines. Better transmission would relieve a lot of grid stress.

Peter Londa, president of Tantalus Systems, which helps its 260 utility customers digitize and cope with the new realities, explained some of the difficulties facing the utilities not only in the shifting sources of generation but also in the new shape of the electric demand. For example, he said, electric vehicles, particularly the much-awaited Ford F-150 Lightning pickup, could be an asset to homeowners and utilities. During a blackout, their EVs could be used to power their homes for days. They could be a source of storage if thousands of owners signed up with their utilities in a storage program.

The fact is that utilities are facing three major shifts: in the generation to wind and solar, in customer demand, and especially in weather. Mother Nature is on a rampage and we all must adjust to that.
analysis

Information sharing and partnerships are reasons for hope despite the dismal state of crime and policing in South Africa.

Murder is up, police morale is down, and reform is imperative. But precisely what is broken in the South African Police Service (SAPS), and how will we know when it's improving?

Without defining the problem, well-intentioned activities risk missing their mark. Progress in crime and policing requires data, partnerships and leaders willing to focus attention on when, where and around whom harm is greatest. Crime and policing in South Africa are in a dire state, but the SAPS' willingness to share some information with the public gives a faint silver lining to an otherwise dark cloud.

On 3 June, the SAPS released crime statistics for the first three months of 2022. The data revealed an alarming 22% surge in murder, equating to a rate of 40 per 100 000 residents or seven times the global average. All other categories of serious violent crime also increased.

In the same week, the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police discussed the findings of a 2021 SAPS 'climate survey' on the morale and internal environment in the service. It revealed a state of dire mistrust among members. Roughly half of police believed their colleagues were dishonest (53%), abused their power (54%), weren't self-disciplined (51%) and didn't conduct themselves ethically (47%) or professionally (47%).

The survey also painted a picture of crushingly low morale. Thirty-eight percent didn't look forward to work in the morning; 41% were dissatisfied with their jobs; and 51% felt the SAPS didn't care about their wellbeing. Fifty-four percent were unmotivated; 68% felt dissatisfied with career progression opportunities; and 78% were dissatisfied with the promotions process.

As disastrous as this data is, the SAPS must be commended for producing and sharing it. Solving chronic problems like endemic violence and organisational dysfunction is best begun with an analysis of such information. Leaders can use the findings to identify where harm is greatest, hypothesise about the mechanisms behind the causes, and deploy interventions that can be tracked and measured, informing adaptation and learning.

Unfortunately, this process isn't common practice. For example, on 24 May, Police Minister Bheki Cele suggested that the promotion of 8 607 constables and sergeants would 'contribute significantly to an improvement in employee morale.' His intuition may be sound, but will it work?

Since promotions are not based on performance, they may temporarily improve morale among a few police but risk alienating tens of thousands of others. Perhaps, as hinted in the climate study, broader improvements could be attained by introducing a fair, merit-based promotion system. We can't know if we won't ask.

Fortunately, things may be improving in some areas. Two weeks before the recent crime statistics and climate survey presentations, a group of senior police officials, researchers, and the Western Cape Police Ombudsman attended the sixth Annual American Society of Evidence-Based Policing conference in Washington, DC.

The society was established in 2015 and is one of four international police-led groupings for evidence-based policing. These networks are composed of police officers and researchers who promote the identification and implementation of effective research-based strategies to improve public safety and officer wellbeing.

Like the battles waged against the coronavirus pandemic and climate change, these societies recognise that the future of policing and public safety can't be left to the whims of politicians or charismatic officials. Instead, they must be evidence-informed if meaningful and sustainable results are to be achieved.

The same can be said of the SAPS approach to crime. In South Africa, very little is known about the impact of the large numbers of arrests, roadblocks, shop visits and other activities carried out by police each year. South African delegates left the conference recognising that an intentionally evidence-informed approach could clarify what practices work and what do more harm.

Reflecting on the conference, SAPS Head of Research Maj-Gen (Dr) Phil Vuma said he was struck by the trust between police leaders and academic partners collaborating to test and evaluate policing. Similarly, Western Cape Police Ombudsman, retired Maj-Gen Oswald Reddy, appreciated the importance of research and evaluation partnerships for improving policing and oversight. He said that South Africans should use the growing evidence base to hold police accountable and enhance public safety.

These are good signs. Along with the quarterly release of crime data and the recent climate survey, police and government officials are increasingly collaborating with others to build a local evidence base. For example, Western Cape government officials have pioneered a real-time safety dashboard of violence metrics to provide law enforcers with the best possible data to guide their work.

But as delegates heard in Washington DC, it isn't enough for police to report data. They must show how they respond to it using specific measures tailored to each problem. This means explaining why an approach has been selected, its expected impact, and how it will be assessed. Speakers noted that when police regularly share data, they empower government and communities to address crime themselves and so build trust.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

It was also recognised that policing is facing a critical moment. The legitimacy of police institutions is being challenged in many countries, public trust is floundering, and budgets are being cut. It is more crucial than ever that police use evidence to do more with fewer resources - and the same is true for South Africa.

The recent crime and climate survey statistics highlight significant problems in South African policing, but the SAPS should not be lambasted after sharing them. Instead, the public should welcome the data release. They should partner with police to assess the figures and collaborate on evidence-informed plans to reduce violent crime and improve the working conditions of all dedicated police officers.

Andrew Faull, Senior Researcher, Justice and Violence Prevention, ISS Pretoria

Development partners: This article is published with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation and Bavarian State Chancellery. The ISS is also grateful for support from the members of the ISS Partnership Forum: the Hanns Seidel Foundation, the European Union, the Open Society Foundations and the governments of Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
UK cancels first flight to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda View Photo

LONDON (AP)  Britain canceled a flight that was scheduled to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda late Tuesday after the European Court of Human Rights intervened, saying the plan carried a real risk of irreversible harm.

The decision to scrap the flight capped three days of frantic court challenges from immigrant rights lawyers who launched a flurry of case-by-case appeals seeking to block the deportation of everyone on the governments list.

British government officials had said earlier in the day that the plane would take off no matter how many people were on board. But after the appeals, no one remained. British media reported that the number of potential deportees had been more than 30 on Friday.

After the flight was canceled, Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was disappointed but would not be deterred from doing the right thing. She added: Our legal team are reviewing every decision made on this flight and preparation for the next flight begins now.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had emphatically defended Britains plan, arguing that it is a legitimate way to protect lives and thwart the criminal gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel in small boats. Britain in recent years has seen an illegal influx of migrants from such places as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Iraq and Yemen.

Johnson announced an agreement with Rwanda in April in which people who enter Britain illegally will be deported to the East African country. In exchange for accepting them, Rwanda will receive millions of pounds (dollars) in development aid. The deportees will be allowed to apply for asylum in Rwanda, not Britain.

Opponents have argued that it is illegal and inhumane to send people thousands of miles to a country they dont want to live in. The leaders of the Church of England joined the opposition, calling the governments policy immoral. Prince Charles was among those opposed, according to British news reports.

Activists have denounced the policy as an attack on the rights of refugees that most countries have recognized since the end of World War II.

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said the British governments deportation threat would not serve as a deterrent to those seeking safety in the U.K.

The government must immediately rethink by having a grown-up conversation with France and the (European Union) about sharing responsibility and look to operating an orderly, humane, and fair asylum system, Solomon said.

The U.N. refugee agency condemned the plan out of concern that other countries will follow suit as war, repression and natural disasters force a growing number of people from their homes.

Politicians in Denmark and Austria are considering similar proposals. Australia has operated an asylum-processing center in the Pacific island nation of Nauru since 2012.

At a global level, this unapologetically punitive deal further condones the evisceration of the right to seek asylum in wealthy countries, said Maurizio Albahari, a migration expert at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana as he described the UK policy.

Many millions of people around the globe have been displaced over the past two decades, putting the international consensus on refugees under strain. The world had more than 26 million refugees in the middle of last year, more that double the number two decades ago, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Millions more have left their homes voluntarily, seeking economic opportunities in developed nations.

In Britain, those pressures have led to a surge in the number of people crossing the English Channel in leaky inflatable boats, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Last November, 27 people died when their boat sank in the waters between France and England.

Johnson, fighting for his political life amid concerns about his leadership and ethics, responded by promising to stop such risky journeys.

While Rwanda was the site of a genocide that killed hundreds of thousands of people in 1994, the country has built a reputation for stability and economic progress since then, the British government argues. Critics say that stability comes at the cost of political repression.

Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, attacked the policy as all wrong.

If the British government is truly interested in protecting lives, it should work with other countries to target the smugglers and provide safe routes for asylum-seekers, not simply shunt migrants to other countries, Grandi said.

The precedent that this creates is catastrophic for a concept that needs to be shared, like asylum, Grandi said Monday.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and 24 other bishops from the Church of England joined the chorus of voices asking the government to reconsider an immoral policy that shames Britain.

Our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum-seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries, the bishops wrote in a letter to the Times of London.

Britains Supreme Court refused to hear one last-ditch appeal Tuesday, a day after two lower courts refused to block the deportations. Legal challenges continued, however, as lawyers filed case-by-case appeals on behalf of individual migrants.

Many migrants favor Britain as a destination for reasons of language or family ties, or because it is seen as an open economy with more opportunities than other European nations.

When Britain was a member of the European Union, it was part of a system that required refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country they entered. Those who reached Britain could be sent back to the EU countries they traveled from. Britain lost that option when it withdrew from the EU two years ago.

Since then, the British and French governments have worked to stop the journeys, with a great deal of bickering and not much success. More than 28,000 migrants entered Britain in small boats last year, up from 8,500 in 2020.

Nando Sigona, a migration expert at the University of Birmingham, said large principles are at stake if the Rwanda policy stands.

How can we establish any kind of moral high ground where we intervene in other countries if we are not signatory to providing protection to those fleeing war and persecution? Sigona asked.

___

Follow APs coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

By DANICA KIRKA

Associated Press
analysis

Misalignment in South Africa's foreign policy strategy has been the subject of much recent scrutiny and criticism. Could the issues involved be due to ambiguities in South African foreign policies or are they due to misunderstanding? This article focuses specifically on South Africa's foreign policy decisions taken in relation to Russia's invasion of Ukraine - and the resultant protracted conflict - and the insurgency in northern Mozambique.

In 1993, in an article published in Foreign Affairs magazine, Nelson Mandela asserted that South Africa's first democratic foreign policy would be guided by a commitment to human rights, promoting democracy, justice, peaceful resolution to conflicts, and economic cooperation as core principles. This new foreign policy position was an about-turn from the apartheid regime's foreign policy focus. This new posture was informed by the Constitution, and since then by the White Paper on South African Foreign Policy (2011) as well as precedents set by foreign policy decisions over the years.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, South Africa was a newly democratic country with material and moral base of influence, gained from its successful negotiation of a peaceful end to apartheid and the transfer of power to a majority-elected government. It used this base of influence as a diplomatic tool when engaging with its Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional neighbours and continental peers in the African Union (AU). That base of influence also enabled South Africa to 'punch above its weight' when engaging on global matters in multilateral forums.

Yet, critical discussions on South Africa's foreign policy positions have grown over the last decade, with many questioning whether the country has developed them clearly and coherently. Recent positions in the international arena have been controversial. Critics have argued that they demonstrate contradictions between the country's stated foreign policy principles and its values and interests in practice.

The universally accepted norm is that a country's national interests and values determine its foreign policy. This refers to calculating a nation's key goals, which could be its economic, ideological, political, and or security interests. However, the values articulated by incumbent governments change over time, often in response to real-world developments. For instance, on 12 May 2022, Dr Naledi Pandor, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, delivered the Budget Vote for her ministry in parliament, and re-articulated South Africa's current position. She placed this in a global context which she characterised as involving "complex shifts in global relations and unprecedented global instability". Factors cited were the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine conflict, and questions of social stability in Eswatini, Lesotho, and Mozambique.

South Africa's history of apartheid and its successful transition to democracy has profoundly shaped an approach to foreign policy that emphasises normative ideals, and in the past, these have given the country a unique position as a moral voice of reason in the international context. This distinctive position has been more influential than its military instruments, as seen through its contribution to conflict resolution globally and the promotion of multilateralism. However, as indicated above, critics argue that there are signs that South Africa's position as an advocate of peace and human rights is waning.

On the international front, South Africa's stance, adopted in the March 2022 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution "Aggression Against Ukraine" is a subject of frustration and confusion, given the mixed messaging that preceded it. For example, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as the United States Ambassador-Designate to South Africa, Reuben Brigety said that South Africa's decision to abstain from supporting the resolution had been "quite disappointing" and "unfortunate". He called for a return to diplomacy based on "ubuntu". At home, criticisms were leveled at the governing party's reliance and continued solidarity with its former Cold War allies, as well as the ANC's analysis of the changing balance of forces globally in its 2022 National Policy Conference report.

In response to some of the criticism, South Africa appeared to backtracked on its initial position, or rather that expressed by the Foreign Minister. Subsequently, the position stated that Russia's actions in Ukraine have "violated international law." However, the country stated that it remained steadfast in calling for a negotiated end to the conflict, a position based on the view that "in the end, negotiations will end the conflict". Following the criticisms, South Africa has continued to call for "consistency in the approach of the international community to countries that violate international law", citing unequal responses to the case of Israel's continued occupation of Palestine. The government appeals to the observation that most Western powers fail to give the same prominence and attention to this as they have to Russia's violations.

When Russia invaded Ukraine almost four months ago, South Africa's proposal of a negotiated settlement was critically derided by several Western leaders. As the conflict drags on, some Western leaders have nonetheless appeared to soften their stance; calls for an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops have become calls for peace talks with Moscow. President Volodymyr Zelensky recently stated: "Negotiation is [the] only way out of war", though Zelensky has made it clear that he will not surrender Ukrainian territory.

Some may still argue that South Africa's position undermines its ability to act as a credible normative broker in the global arena. However, history may judge it differently. South Africa's history in achieving a negotiated peace settlement may still give the country moral standing. Minister Pandor stated: "The international community must focus on finding a sustainable solution. It will not be found in isolating one party or bringing it to its knees. We do not want to go down the route following the Treaty of Versailles." The merits of such an argument should be rigorously debated. Abstention - regardless of appearance - is technically not disagreement or necessarily anti-Nato per se. Nonetheless, whether abstention on such an issue provides a seat at the negotiating table or not must be part of the debate.

At the regional level, South Africa may also have been expected to take a more prominent role in the growing insurgency currently playing out in northern Mozambique. South Africa has been criticised for not being as proactive and aggressive as Rwanda in getting involved to address rising insecurity in the neighbouring country. However, the Rwandan deployment is a bilateral agreement, which means deployment is more rapid. South Africa's room for manoeuvre is limited, given that it is guided by the more bureaucratic multilateral SADC response.

Respect for sovereignty is a key SADC principle. Without it, the regional organisation would falter, fail to effectively carry out its mandate, and possibly cease to exist. South Africa's perceived slowness to deploy troops to the SADC force in Mozambique can be attributed to Mozambique's reluctance to allow a SADC force to be deployed in the country. As soon as Mozambique had accepted and approved the deployment of a SADC force, in July 2021 South Africa was quick to deploy 1 495 SANDF members to the SADC force. This deployment was extended in April 2022 at the cost of R2.8 billion. Part of what makes the issue complex is that those who respect the pre-eminence of sovereignty are confused that South Africa did not, on that principle, vote in favour of the UN motions. As indicated above, there are also other factors to consider.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa External Relations Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

In short, as envisioned by the Constitution, South Africa's foreign policy should continue to adopt a principled stance, advocating for principled solutions to complex international relations issues while calling for more accountable global governance. The South African government will be best served through better articulation of its foreign policy decisions in a clear, transparent, and coherent manner to mitigate against a trust deficit and misunderstandings developing at the expense of the country's interests, international relations commitments, and status.

Stuart Mbanyele

Stuart is a Junior Researcher in the Governance Delivery and Impact programme at Good Governance Africa. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Security and Strategic Studies from the University of Pretoria. His dissertation explored the linkages between marginalisation and insecurity, looking at the securitisation of service delivery protests in South Africa. Before joining Good Governance Africa, He was a Junior Research Fellow with the Centre for Law and Society at the University of Cape Town. Before that, he worked as a research consultant at the Institute of Security Studies with the Justice and Violence Prevention Programme and as a Junior Lecturer for the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Pretoria.
South Korean truckers end 8-day strike, return to work View Photo

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Truckers in South Korea ended an eight-day strike that caused major disruptions to domestic production and cargo transport, their union and the government announced after negotiations Tuesday.

Thousands of truckers joined the nationwide strike, calling for an extension of temporary guarantees of minimum wages amid soaring fuel prices. The strike triggered delays in the shipment and delivery of steel, cement, petrochemicals, tires and other items, with some factories forced to halt production.

The strikes damage has been largely limited to domestic industries, though experts say a prolonged strike could have undermined global supply chains already hit by Russias invasion of Ukraine and Chinas COVID-19 restrictions. There have been no reports of substantial disruptions of key South Korean export items such as semiconductors and automobiles, Industry Ministry officials said.

During their fifth round of negotiations on Tuesday night, representatives of the truckers and Transport Ministry officials reached a deal on ending the strike, the Cargo Truckers Solidarity and the ministry announced in separate statements.

They said the ministry agreed to seek to extend the current rules on minimum wage guarantees and consider increasing fuel subsidies for truckers. The union said drivers will immediately return to work.

Its fortunate that the Cargo Truckers Solidarity withdraw its collective refusal of (cargo) transport and decided to return to work now, the Transport Ministry statement said. We feel very sorry to the people for causing concerns.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Monday that the first six days of the strike had caused an estimated 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in damages.

Earlier Tuesday, about 6,800 truckers rallied at various sites across South Korea on their eighth day of the strike, according to the Transport Ministry. It said some steel and cement factories had halted operations and some striking truckers obstructed cargo transport at some major southeastern ports.

During a Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the countrys No. 2 official, called the reported transport obstructions illicit activities that would never receive public support, according to Cho Yongman, a government spokesperson.

Cho cited Han as saying that the transport disruptions could pose a big irrecoverable blow to South Koreas economy, which already faces other difficulties.

Police said Monday that they had detained 44 striking truckers but released most of them except for two who were formally arrested. Two additional truckers were detained Tuesday, the Transport Ministry said.

By HYUNG-JIN KIM

Associated Press
War isnt funny but humor helps Ukrainians cope with trauma View Photo

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Because hell shortly be deployed as a soldier on the battlefields of Ukraine, Serhiy Lipko and Anastasia Zukhvala chose to marry first, like a growing number of couples being torn asunder by war with Russia.

Like others, their nuptials were rushed and smaller than they would have been during peacetime, with just a few dozen close friends and family. She wore a simple crown of blue flowers in her hair. And then, because laughter can be medicinal and because Lipko was building a career as a comic before the defense of his country called, they headed to a stand-up comedy club in Ukraines capital, Kyiv.

There, with his new wife watching from the wings, he took the stage in olive-green fatigues and soon had the crowd in stitches with close-to-the-bone humor about army and married life. He joked that military training with NATO instructors had been a great opportunity for him to practice his English, and how nervous hed been about handling expensive military gear, for fear of breaking it.

The war isnt remotely funny, but Ukrainians are learning to laugh about the awfulness of it all. Not necessarily because they want to, but because they have to  to stay sane in the brutality that has killed tens of thousands of people, is upending Ukraine, millions of lives and the world order as it rages on front lines in the east and south of the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his troops, especially dead and wounded ones, are favorite targets of dark Ukrainian wartime humor. But there are red lines: Ukrainian dead arent laughed about and the grimmest battles, among them the brutal siege of Mariupol and the port citys Azovstal steelworks, are far too raw for jokes. The same is true of atrocities in Bucha and elsewhere.

Tragedies cannot and will never be the object of humor, said Zukhvala, who also works as a stand-up comic, as she and Lipko hugged with the tenderness of newlyweds after his show and scooped up armfuls of bouquets, wondering aloud how theyd find space for them at home.

This is an absolutely crazy time, beyond ordinary experience, she said. Our life now is made of paradoxes, and it can even be funny.

Ukraines most famous comedian is Volodymyr Zelenskyy, now the countrys president, elected in 2019. In the TV comedy series Servant of the People, the former stand-up comic and actor played a lovable high school teacher who accidentally becomes president  before he later actually became one for real. But Zelenskyy hasnt had much cause for comedy since the Feb. 24 invasion thrust him into the role of wartime leader. His daily video addresses to the nation are often grim and forceful.

But while he works to rally international support and soldiers fight with tanks, artillery and tons of Western-supplied armaments, Ukrainians away from the front are using jokes and humor as weapons  against war-time anxiety and moroseness, against Russia and to feel as one, both laughing and crying together in their sorrow and anger.

Yuliia Shytko, 29, said she felt in far higher spirits after chortling loudly with the rest of the crowd through Lipko and other comedians routines in the basement comedy club, the vast majority of their jokes revolving around war-related themes.

Laughing and stuff, thats how you cope, Shytko said.

Lipko and Zelenskyy crossed paths in comedy before war utterly altered their trajectories. The future president, then still an entertainer, was a juror in 2016 on the TV game show, Make a comedian laugh. Lipko was a contestant. He wore camouflage fatigues because he was in the midst of military service and rattled off jokes about his army experiences. He made Zelenskyy laugh by quipping that hed buy a PlayStation if he won the top prize  which he eventually did. They spoke in Russian then; they both stick to Ukrainian in public now.

Lipko is still riffing off army life, even as he prepares within days to leave behind his bride to fight. The army gave him a day off to tie the knot, a quick in-and-out of a marriage office where their comedian friends ruffled the registrars feathers by joking around.

We laughed a lot, said stand-up comic Anton Tymoshenko, who attended and also performed later that night at the club.

Lipkos nickname in the army is the comedian. During his routine, he joked that some things his fellow soldiers say and do are so funny he cant help but use them as fodder for his stand-up, despite having told them he wouldnt. Afterward, he said his comic outlook should help him endure in battle.

I am a comedian who temporarily became a serviceman, he said. I have plans and creative projects for after the war. There are things to live for.

Zukhvala said she tells herself that we will win and everything will be fine. She wants a big wedding celebration when peace returns.

Tymoshenko said he and their other comedian friends will look after her while Lipko is away.

But he has worries of his own: He has been trying to persuade his parents to leave their village in the south that he feels is too close to the Russian advance, but to his dismay theyre laughing off the danger. His mother quipped that should Russian missiles churn up her potato plot, that would spare her the spade work.

My mother never joked before the war, he said. They use my weapons against me  and thats unfair.

-

Hanna Arhirova contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs coverage of the Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

By JOHN LEICESTER

Associated Press
Russians control 80% of key Ukraine city, cut escape routes View Photo

LVIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian troops control about 80% of the fiercely contested eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it but Ukrainians were still trying to evacuate the wounded, a regional official said Tuesday.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, acknowledged that a mass evacuation of civilians from Sievierodonetsk now was simply not possible due to the relentless shelling and fighting. Ukrainian forces have been pushed to the industrial outskirts of the city because of the scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using, he said.

There is still an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents, he told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that Russian soldiers have not yet completely blocked off the strategic city.

About 12,000 people remain in Sievierodonetsk, from a pre-war population of 100,000. More than 500 civilians are sheltering in the Azot chemical plant, which is being pounded by the Russians, according to Haidai.

In all, 70 civilians were evacuated from the Luhansk region in the last day, the governor said.

A Russian general, meanwhile, said a humanitarian corridor will be opened Wednesday to evacuate civilians from the Azot plant. Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said evacuees would be taken to the town of Svatovo, 60 kilometers (35 miles) to the north in territory under the control of Russian and separatist forces.

He said the plan was made after Ukraine called for an evacuation corridor leading to territory it controls.

Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Management Center, is accused by Ukraine of human rights violations while commanding troops during the long siege of Mariupol, Ukraines key port on the Sea of Azov, which has been taken over by the Russians.

Russian forces in the past few weeks have pressed hard to capture Ukraines eastern industrial Donbas area, which borders Russia and is made up of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

The losses, unfortunately, are painful, but we have to hold out, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Tuesday in his nightly video address. The more losses the enemy suffers there, the less strength it will have to continue the aggression. Therefore, the Donbas is key to determining who will dominate in the coming weeks.

As he does almost every day, Zelenskyy pleaded for more and faster deliveries of Western arms, this time specifically asking for anti-missile defense systems.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Tuesday the military had only received around 10% of the Western weapons it had requested to create parity with the Russian army.

No matter how much effort Ukraine makes, no matter how professional our army, without the help of Western partners we will not be able to win this war, Malyar said in a televised news conference.

She said Ukraine uses 5,000 to 6,000 artillery rounds a day, while Russia uses 10 times more.

In recent days, Ukrainian officials have spoken of the heavy human cost of the war, with the fierce fighting in the east becoming an artillery battle that has seen Kyivs forces outgunned and outnumbered.

Malyar said every day of delay means the loss of lives of more Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. And therefore, unfortunately, we cannot wait very long, because the situation is very difficult, she added.

With the conflict now in its fourth month, the battle of Donbas could dictate the course of the war.

If Russia prevails, Ukraine will lose not only land but perhaps the bulk of its most capable military forces, opening the way for Moscow to grab more territory and dictate its terms to Kyiv.

A Russian failure, however, could lay the grounds for a Ukrainian counteroffensive  and possible political upheaval for the Kremlin.

Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the aid organizations supplying food to civilians in the Donbas, said fighting in the past few weeks has made regular food distributions impossible. Now, he said, the remaining civilians in Sievierodonetsk are almost entirely cut off from aid supplies after the destruction of the last bridge.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, the Russian army is trying to strengthen its positions and Ukrainian forces there also are suffering painful losses, Zelenskyy said. And we still need to fight, to fight hard for the complete security of Kharkiv and the region, he said.

According to an intelligence update Tuesday by the U.K. Defense Ministry, Russian forces appear to have made small advances in the Kharkiv region for the first time in several weeks.

Elsewhere, a regional Ukrainian military official said the countrys air defense shot down two Russian cruise missiles targeting the region around Odesa, Ukraines main port on the Black Sea.

___

MORE STORIES ON THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR :

 Ukrainians use humor to cope with the trauma of war

 Bucolic Ukraine forest is site of mass grave exhumation

 Russia lowers gas flows to Europe through pipeline

 Pope blasts Russian cruelty,  lauds Ukrainian heroism

___

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

U.S. President Joe Biden says hes working closely with European partners to get 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain, currently blocked from leaving Black Sea ports due to Russias invasion, onto international markets.

He said Tuesday the plan would involve building temporary storage silos on Ukraines borders to deal with the problem of the different rail gauges that Ukrainian and European railway systems use.

Ukraine has a system, like Russia has, a rail gauge that is different than the gauge of the rest of the tracks in Europe, Biden said. So were going to build silos, temporary silos, in the borders of Ukraine, including in Poland. So we can transfer it from those cars into those silos, into cars in Europe and get it out to the ocean and get it across the world. But its taking time.

Ukraine is one of the worlds biggest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. The lack of Ukrainian grain on world markets is threatening to exacerbate food shortages and inflation across the world. Many African and Middle Eastern countries rely heavily on Ukrainian grain and could face problems feeding their people without it.

___

Nearly two-thirds of the children in Ukraine have been uprooted during the war, according to a U.N. official who visited the country last week.

The war in Ukraine is a child rights crisis, Afshan Khan told a news briefing Tuesday. Shes the Europe and Central Asia director for UNICEF, the U.N. childrens agency.

Khan said 277 children in Ukraine have been killed and 456 injured, mostly due to explosives used in urban areas. She said the number of damaged schools is likely in the thousands, and only about 25% of schools in Ukraine are even operational.

Millions of Ukrainian women and children have fled the country since the Russian invasion in February.

___

French President Emmanuel Macron visited Romania on Tuesday to hold talks and meet with French troops stationed there as part of NATOs response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Macrons visit to Romania, a European Union member since 2007 and a NATO member since 2004, was the beginning of a regional tour that includes a visit Wednesday to non-NATO Moldova. Both countries share long borders with Ukraine.

Nobody knows what is in store for us in the coming weeks and months, but we will do all we can to put an end to the Russian invasion, to help Ukrainians and continue with negotiations, Macron said at the eastern Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, where he was greeted by Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.

___

The Kremlin says Russia would be ready to consider a U.K. appeal over the fate of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting for Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said neither Moscow nor the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine who passed the sentence had heard from London on the issue.

You need to apply  to the authorities of the country whose court passed the verdict, and that is not the Russian Federation, Peskov said. But, of course, everything will depend on appeals from London. And I am sure that the Russian side will be ready to listen.

Britons Aiden Aslin and Sean Pinner, and Moroccan national Brahim Saadoun, were accused of fighting as mercenaries for Ukraine in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic.

Separatist authorities said all three had a month to appeal their sentence. Kyiv has pledged to try to secure their release through a prisoner swap with Russia.

___

Russian natural gas deliveries through a major pipeline to Europe will drop by around 40% this year, state-controlled energy giant Gazprom said Tuesday, after Canadian sanctions over the war in Ukraine prevented German partner Siemens Energy from delivering overhauled equipment.

Germanys utility network agency said it did not see gas supplies as endangered and that reduced flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea aligned with commercial behavior and Russias previously announced cutoff of gas to Denmark and the Netherlands, the German news agency dpa reported. The Federal Network Agency said it was monitoring the situation.

Spot gas prices rose in Europe, a sign of jitters over possible further effects of the war on supplies of Russian gas, which powers industry and generates electricity on the continent.

The European Union has outlined plans to reduce dependence on Russian gas by two-thirds by years end. Economists say a complete cutoff would deal a severe blow to the economy, consumers and gas-intensive industries.

___

Russias foreign ministry says it has banned dozens of British media and defense figures from entering the country.

A statement on the ministry website Tuesday said the ban on 29 journalists and commentators was a response to what it claimed was the British medias deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information on Russia and its war in Ukraine.

The list included senior editors and correspondents for the BBC and the Times and Guardian newspapers.

Also banned were 20 other people including Britains navy chief, a junior defense minister, and senior executives at defense and aerospace firms Thales UK and BAE Systems.

___

The prime ministers of NATO members Albania and Montenegro are heading for Kyiv after an invitation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Albanias Edi Rama announced the trip on social media, with a photo of him boarding a plane Tuesday accompanied by Montenegros Dritan Abazovic.

Both Balkan countries have denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine and joined the sanctions against Moscow.

___

Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday they had received the remains of 64 defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in the latest body swap with Russia.

The statement by the Ministry for Reintegration of Occupied Territories said the exchange took place in the Zaporizhzhia region, but didnt clarify how many bodies were returned to Russia.

It was one of the several swaps the warring sides have conducted. Earlier this month Moscow and Kyiv exchanged 160 bodies each. There was no immediate confirmation from Moscow on the swap reported by Ukraine on Tuesday.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

By YURAS KARMANAU

Associated Press
Sonora, CA  A Dallas-based company has acquired both Sonora Lumber and Calaveras Lumber with plans to grow the businesses.

The buyer is Nations Best Holdings, founded in 2019, which owns and operates a variety of home improvement companies.

Nations Best President and CEO Chris Miller says, This part of California is steeped in historyfrom the early days of the Gold Rush to the origins of a classic Mark Twain story. As we establish our presence in the state, its an appealing area to put down our roots. Calaveras Lumber and Sonora Lumber are well-run building material and hardware stores that are positioned for growth as they serve their communities.

Longtime owner Mike Fullaway will stay on with Nations Best, alongside daughter Jodie Brixey. Mike, along with his wife Diana, has put out a statement, Our family has seen a lot of changes and growth in this business and community since my father, Wilbur Fullaway, started in 1976. We have valued the opportunity to serve our community, customers, and our employees. Partnering with Nations Best is the next step in our journey. It will provide us the opportunity to grow, expand, and serve the communities and people we know and love.

As part of Nations Bests strategy, Calaveras Lumber and Sonora Lumber will both maintain their existing names and the key leadership teams. Nations Best will provide strategic and financial support designed to grow the businesses.

Sonora Lumber is located at 730 South Washington Street in Sonora and Calaveras Lumber is at 155 North Main Street in Angels Camp.

The Sonora Lumber location was previously JS West Lumber and Hardware prior to it being acquired by Calaveras Lumber in 2014, and being renamed Sonora Lumber.
Man convicted of murder in deaths of Georgia prison guards View Photo

EATONTON, Ga. (AP)  A Georgia prisoner has been found guilty of murder in the killings of two guards during an escape from a prison bus five years ago.

A jury deliberated about 90 minutes Monday evening before convicting Ricky Dubose in the June 2017 shooting deaths of Sgt. Christopher Monica and Sgt. Curtis Billue, news outlets reported. Now jurors will have to decide whether he should be sentenced to die for the killings or should spend the rest of his life in prison.

Gabrielle Amber Pittman, an attorney for Dubose, told jurors during opening statements that Dubose was guilty, but she asked them to find him guilty and intellectually disabled, which would have made him ineligible for the death penalty. But the jury did not attach any qualifications to the guilty verdict.

Because of intense publicity surrounding the killings, a jury was brought in from coastal Glynn County.

Dubose and Donnie Rowe escaped together from the bus in Putnam County, southeast of Atlanta, and were arrested in Tennessee days later. Rowe was convicted last year of murder in the guards death. A judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole after jurors failed He was sentenced to life in prison without parole by a judge after jurors could not agree on whether he should be sentenced to death.

Dubose was accused of firing the gun that killed the officers after he and Rowe slipped out of handcuffs and burst through an unlocked gate at the front of the bus. Prosecutors say Dubose grabbed one of the officers weapons and shot Monica, the guard, and then Billue, the driver, both in the head. Security cameras on the bus recorded the violent escape and roughly 30 other prisoners witnessed the killings.

Dubose, 29, was serving a 20-year sentence for a 2015 armed robbery and assault in Elbert County when he escaped. He had been in prison earlier, as well.
Laxalts Nevada win sets up fierce race for Senate control View Photo

LAS VEGAS (AP)  Adam Laxalt, a former state attorney general who has embraced lies about the 2020 election, won the Republican nomination for a pivotal Nevada Senate seat, fending off a challenge from a political newcomer and setting up what will likely be a fierce and costly race against incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto, one of the most endangered Democrats in an evenly divided Senate.

Laxalt enjoyed the backing of the Republican Partys most influential figures, ranging from former President Donald Trump to Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But a late-stage challenge from political newcomer Sam Brown forced Laxalt to spend heavily in the final weeks of the primary campaign and tap into the support of some of his high-profile backers, particularly those with ties to Trump.

The matchup against Cortez Masto comes at a difficult moment for Democrats, weighed down by President Joe Bidens low approval ratings and seeking to maintain control of Congress as people throughout the U.S. grapple with rising prices of everyday goods and gasoline. Republicans see the race as their best opportunity to flip a Senate seat and regain the majority, but are also watching for longer-term signals that Nevada is swinging back in their direction after rejecting every GOP presidential candidate since 2004.

Together we have taken an important step tonight, Laxalt said at a party in Reno, Nevada. An important step in taking our country back, an important step in taking our great state of Nevada.

Beyond the Senate race, Republicans in Nevada also picked Joe Lombardo as their nominee to challenge incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak in what could be one of the most competitive governors races this year. And the GOP backed Jim Marchant as their candidate for secretary of state. A former state lawmaker, he has repeated false claims about the presidential campaign and, if elected, would be in charge of elections in a state that could be critical in determining the winner of the White House in 2024.

Nevada was one of several states that held elections Tuesday, about midway through a primary season that could reshape American politics. The results offered warnings for both parties.

In south Texas, Democrats lost a long-held seat in the U.S. House. They are likely to regain it in November, but Tuesdays results were a reminder that the partys standing is at risk of slipping among Latinos.

Trump, meanwhile, helped a South Carolina state lawmaker take out five-term incumbent Rep. Tom Rice, who backed the former presidents second impeachment last year. While the win could help Trump regain momentum after setbacks in a series of races last month, it happened in a rural, solidly Republican congressional district. Another incumbent that the former president sought to defeat in a neighboring district, Rep. Nancy Mace, held back the challenger, attracting some of the suburban moderates who bolted from the GOP during the Trump era.

Speaking to reporters after the results came in, Mace sought to strike a tone of consensus, pledging to work with anyone whos willing to work with me, full stop.

For his part, Trump posted a statement on his social media platform saying Maces challenger, Katie Arrington, was a long shot who ran a great race. He offered his congratulations to Mace, who he said should easily prevail over a Democrat in the fall.

Still, much of the attention Tuesday was on Nevada.

Laxalt entered the primary with strong name recognition after serving for four years as Nevadas attorney general. The grandson of former U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, he campaigned unsuccessfully for governor in 2018.

But perhaps most importantly in GOP circles, hes got ties to Trump. Laxalt worked on Trumps reelection campaign and promoted his lies about election fraud in the state after the 2020 election, including spearheading legal challenges to the vote-counting process. Trump in turn hosted Laxalt for a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and appeared in a campaign ad for Laxalt.

Trumps false claims of fraud in the 2020 election were laced throughout the campaign. Last fall, Laxalt began raising fears of voter fraud in 2022 and talked about preemptively mounting legal challenges to try to tighten up the election.

Laxalt had insisted in 2020 that ineligible and dead voters cast ballots in the presidential election in Nevada, despite the states Republican secretary of state insisting that the results showing Bidens victory were accurate and reliable.

Brown, to the surprise of many in the state, won the endorsement of the Nevada Republican Party at a convention vote in late April and a straw poll of the Las Vegas-area GOP at a May gathering. Recent polls showed him closing in on Laxalt, though the state, with a transient population and many late-shift workers due to the states tourism and casino industry, is considered fickle for pollsters.

Laxalt is now focused on trying to defeat Cortez Masto, the first Latina elected to the Senate and successor of the late Sen. Harry Reid. She is making her first reelection bid as Democrats broadly are facing headwinds this year, particularly when it comes to the economy. In Nevada, high prices for gas are acutely felt by residents of Las Vegas sprawling suburbs or those commuting from far-flung rural areas.

Those same factors could imperil the reelection of Nevadas Democratic governor, Sisolak. He will face Lombardo, the sheriff of Clark County, who also earned a coveted endorsement from Trump.

___

Price reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York, Meg Kinnard in Charleston, South Carolina and Gabe Stern in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and KEN RITTER

Associated Press
Fisher-Price, US regulators warn of infant deaths in rockers View Photo

WASHINGTON (AP)  Fisher-Price and U.S. product safety regulators are telling parents not to let their infants fall asleep in the companys rockers after 13 infants died in the devices between 2009 and 2021.

The deaths happened when the babies fell asleep in Fisher Prices Infant-to-Toddler and Newborn-to-Toddler rockers. The company, along with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said the rockers should never be used for sleep and infants should never be left unsupervised or unrestrained in them.

Fisher-Price, a division of El Segundo, California-based Mattel Inc., recalled a similar product last year after four infants died after they were placed on their backs unrestrained in the 4-in-1 Rock n Glide Soother. Those fatalities, all children under 4 months old, occurred between April 2019 and February 2020.

In 2019, the CPSC recalled another similar Fisher-Price product, the Rock n Play Sleeper, after 30 infant fatalities were reported. Doctors, parents and consumer advocates had warned the company for years that the product was unsafe and should be recalled.

CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. said a gag order implemented by Congress in 1981 prevented the agency from issuing an immediate warning to consumers without first seeking permission from the products maker. In the most recent case, Trumka said the gag order delayed the warning message by two months.

Congress must immediately repeal the gag rule, Trumka said in a release separate from Tuesdays product warning. If CPSC cannot issue timely warnings, dangers will remain hidden in peoples homes.

A new rule finalized by the CPSC requires that infant sleep products have a sleep surface angle of 10 degrees or less. The rule goes into effect on June 23, 2022.

Fisher-Price and the CPSC said the best place for infants to sleep is on their back on a firm, flat surface without blankets or other objects near them.

Fisher-Price has sold more than 17 million Rockers worldwide since the 1990s.

Consumers are encouraged to report incidents involving these or other infant products to the CPSC at saferproducts (dot) gov.

By MATT OTT

AP Business Writer
Port Aransas Fisherman's Wharf

Last week, a Texas angler caught a 137-pound Cubera Snapper off the Gulf Coast in Port Aransas, Texas. The catch could break the previous world record.

A June 10 Facebook post on the Port Aransas Fishermans Wharf page described the catch as a "pending" Texas and world record. The Port Aransas Fishermans Wharf said the potential record is still in review, adding that the process usually takes two to three weeks.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  A federal judge on Monday agreed to an accelerated schedule for a new lawsuit that seeks to force members of Virginia's Republican-controlled House of Delegates to face unscheduled elections this fall.

House elections in 2021 were supposed to be the first held under constitutionally required redistricting based on the 2020 census. But because census results were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the state held elections under old legislative boundaries.

A lawsuit filed by Democratic Party activist Paul Goldman a year ago was dismissed last week by a three-judge panel that found Goldman did not have standing as a voter or a potential candidate to file the lawsuit.

Days later, Jeff Thomas, an author who has written extensively about Virginia government and politics, filed a similar lawsuit. Thomas alleges that the 2021 House elections were invalid and asks the court to order new elections this year under the updated districts.

WRIC-TV reports that during a hearing Monday, U.S. District Court Judge David Novak ordered an expedited schedule for Thomas lawsuit and criticized former Attorney General Mark Herring's office for delaying the earlier lawsuit with appeals before the issue of Goldman's standing was decided.

It is really just not appropriate, the way they handled this case, Novak said of Herrings office.

Novak has given the office of current Attorney General Jason Miyares until June 24 to file its planned motion to dismiss Thomas' lawsuit.

Novak acknowledged that the states possible argument of a dwindling timetable for new elections could be valid, and pointed out that Thomas case wont be decided until after the June 21 Congressional primaries.

I just want my voting rights back, Thomas said after the hearing.
Deputy Chairman of Sudans Sovereign Council and the head of the Sudanese delegation to the Juba peace talks, Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan Hemeti, SRF chairman El Hadi Idris, and South Sudan President Salva Kiir at a signing ceremony in Juba.

analysis

Since Sudan's military coup on 25 October 2021, the United Nations mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) has tried to find a compromise to the country's political crisis. In January 2022, it launched a dialogue with the military and political parties, and it recently combined these negotiation efforts through the African Union and the regional body, IGAD's mechanism. While most Western nations have publicly supported the tripartite process, it has been rightly criticized by Sudanese activists and some political parties who see the mediation effort as legitimizing the military coup. Critics of the process are right.

The international mediation effort would entrench military rule with Potemkin civilian representation that would have even less power than previous civilian governments. On fundamental issues like democracy, there is no room for compromise or mediation. The idea that the junta will reverse the coup through mediation is implausible. It is hard to see how the UN and foreign nations can claim to support a transition to democracy while supporting a process that would rubber stamp the military takeover.

It's easy to see why pro-democracy activists have protested against UNITAMS : "A transition would do perfectly fine without UNITAMS, in-fact better," Samahir al-Mubarak, an activist told me.

The international community is trying to use a 30 June deadline for IMF and World Bank financing to entice the military into an agreement. The international community risks moving the goalposts so far that the cosmetic announcements Sudan's junta makes would be hailed as a breakthrough in the peace-process. For example, the recent announcement that the military lifted the state of emergency was met with applause from the UN and diplomats. In reality, the junta has made up the rules since the 25 October coup and lifting the state of emergency will have little effect on the continued takeover. Violence against protestors has continued. Desperate to make a deal, diplomats risk repeating their past mistakes.

In his brilliant book When Peace Kills Politics, Sharath Srinivasan details how international peacemaking in Sudan's recent political history entrenches conflict and displaces domestic civil politics that can actually make lasting change. The mediation process displaces the grassroots political movement that actually creates change in Sudan. It was not foreign intervention or even the country's opposition political parties who ended the 30-year rule of Omar al-Bashir in 2019, but grassroots labour activists.

Power-sharing agreements in Sudan have often led to violence because they do not address the root causes of conflict and often make the problem worse by enabling corrupt elites. A continuation of Sudan's wealth and power sharing formula dominated by the military extends to the current mediation initiative. The recent Juba Peace Agreement, also supported by the international community, has contributed to a new chapter of violence in Darfur. When the long history of peace processes and compromises that have spurred violence in the Sudans is pointed out to diplomats, they rightly ask what an alternative approach would be.

Western nations are now considering financial sanctions on Hemeti and Sudan's military leaders, specifically the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) (spurred by the Russian invasion of Ukraine). However, if applied, financial sanctions alone are not a sufficient response.

An alternative approach begins when Western diplomats understand how their current policies are entrenching autocracy. Sudan's junta are masters at siphoning aid to entrench their own political interests while applying superficial changes to alleviate pressure. They are proficient at cowing diplomats with threats of expulsion so human rights investigations and attempts to protect civilians do not happen. They offer dubious intelligence to Western officials focused on terrorism and migration. They pressure diplomats into whitewashing massacres. They allude to instability or Islamists that loom with too much pressure on the military's regional allies. Understanding and mitigating how the international community falls into these and other traps from Sudan's junta is a necessary first step in an alternative approach to support real change.

Diplomats are also wondering how to approach the leader of Sudan's RSF, Mohammed Hamdan Dalgo "Hemeti". They see his economic and political power in Sudan, influence across the Sahel, and the rise of violence in Darfur, and are wary of alienating such an important figure with a history of violence. There is not a good short-term solution to Hemeti's rise, but in the long run there are options if nations are willing to accept trade-offs.

Hemeti is essentially the head of a multinational company. His most important resources are minerals and mercenaries. His private empire can be undermined by increasing the costs for his clients or undermining his assets. Increasing the costs for Hemeti's clients would include threating and actual oversight of Gulf institutions that facilitate Hemeti's finances and pressure on foreign states or groups who use Hemeti's forces. Undermining Hemeti's assets would include reforming the export process of Sudan's gold, and economic empowerment across Darfur. That development could mean the sustainable development of agriculture from businesses. In my interviews with Hemeti's tribesmen in Darfur the number who are dissatisfied with a life of fighting is noticeable as well as how many believe Hemeti has put Khartoum politics over their clan's interest.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Sudan Conflict International Organisations By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

It's true that some of these solutions, like programs monitoring gold exports, take time to be established in a bureaucratic system. Some are difficult to carry out, like undermining Hemeti's grip over his fighters. But other solutions, like oversight and pressure on Gulf institutions have not occurred yet because Western nations value their relationship with Gulf countries over their interests in Sudan. If Western nations want to undermine Hemeti, their challenge may not be in changing the behavior of the RSF commander, but in changing the behavior of their diplomatic colleagues from their own nations working in the Gulf.

Justin Lynch is a writer and researcher living in Sudan. He is co-author of Sudan's Unfinished Democracy from African Argument series at Hurst.

Debating Ideas aims to reflect the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from within the African continent and beyond. It offers debates and engagements, contexts and controversies, and reviews and responses flowing from the African Arguments books.
MOSCOW (AP)  Allies of imprisoned opposition politician Alexei Navalny sounded the alarm Tuesday when they discovered he was no longer in the prison where he had been serving his time and there was no word on where he had been taken.

But late in the day, the chairman of a prison monitoring commission said Navalny had been transferred to a maximum-security prison nearby.

Navalny was moved to the IK-6 prison in the village of Melekhovo in the Vladimir region, Russian news agencies reported, citing Sergei Yazhan, chairman of the regional Public Monitoring Commission. Melekhovo is about 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of Moscow.

Prison transfers in Russia sometimes take days and are shrouded in secrecy. The lack of information about the whereabouts of Navalny, the most determined political foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had worried his allies.

All this time we dont know where Alexei is. He is left alone with the system that has already once tried to kill him, Navalnys spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said earlier on social media. After the transfer was reported, she said his close associates had not been able to independently confirm it.

His closest ally, Leonid Volkov, said on Telegram that Navalny's lawyer went to visit him in prison Tuesday and was told that there is no such convict here.

Where Alexei is now and which prison he is being taken to, we don't know, Volkov said.

Lawyer Olga Mikhaylova told Russia's state news agency Tass that Navalny's attorneys were told he was transferred to a maximum-security prison, "but which one, we weren't told.

Navalny was arrested in January 2021 upon returning from Germany, where he had been recuperating from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin, and handed a 2-year sentence for a parole violation.

In March, Navalny was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of fraud and contempt of court, which he rejected as politically motivated and an attempt by the authorities to keep him behind bars for as long as possible.

The judge ordered the Kremlin critic to serve the new sentence in a maximum-security prison. He was supposed to be transferred to one after he lost his appeal.

The new conviction followed a year-long Kremlin crackdown on Navalnys supporters, other opposition activists and independent journalists in which authorities appear eager to stifle all dissent.

Navalnys close associates have faced criminal charges and many have left the country, while his groups political infrastructure  an anti-corruption foundation and a nationwide network of regional offices  has been destroyed after being labeled an extremist organization.

Until now, Navalny had been at the IK-2 penal colony in the Vladimir region. The facility in the town of Pokrov stands out among Russian penitentiaries for its especially strict inmate routines, which include standing at attention for hours. IK-6 is located about 150 kilometers to the east.

Russias secrecy about prisoner transfers has come under criticism from human rights advocates.
DUNCANVILLE, Texas (AP)  Police shot and killed a man who fired gunshots at a Dallas-area gymnasium where about 150 children were attending a day camp, authorities said.

No children, staff or officers were hurt in the shooting that happened at about 8:45 a.m. at the Duncanville Fieldhouse, police said.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)  Calmer winds and cooler temperatures Tuesday allowed firefighters across the U.S. West to get a better handle on blazes that have forced hundreds of people from their homes.

As red flag warnings expired and winds died down in northern Arizona, firefighters took advantage of the weather changes to attack a 31-square-mile (81-square-kilometer) blaze by air and at the fire's edges.

They're optimistic to make some headway, fire information officer Cathie Pauls said.

The forecast for later this week called for a chance of showers, which could dampen the blaze but might bring the chance of new fires from lightning strikes.

Meanwhile, authorities downgraded evacuations for the larger of two wildfires burning on the outskirts of Flagstaff, Arizona.

That fire made a run into a wilderness area and reached a lava dome to the northeast, away from most neighborhoods. One home and a secondary structure had burned, the Coconino County Sheriff's Office said. About 350 homes remained evacuated Tuesday.

Another 280 homes were evacuated because of a smaller wildfire that burned about 6 square miles (16 square kilometers) in a more remote area.

Sandra Morales planned to return home Wednesday, a day after evacuations for her neighborhood were lifted.

Still, she worried about the smoke, potential wind shifts and the risk of flooding later in the fire area.

Next thing you know, we have to be worried about the monsoons and all that, she said. That debris, if it gets severe, it's going to come down the mountain.

Climate change and an enduring drought have fanned the frequency and intensity of forest and grassland fires. Multiple states had early starts to the wildfire season this spring.

The number of square miles burned so far this year is more than double the 10-year national average, and states like New Mexico have already set records with devastating blazes that destroyed hundreds of homes while causing environmental damage that is expected to affect water supplies.

Nationally, more than 6,200 wildland firefighters were battling nearly three dozen uncontained fires that had charred over 1,780 square miles (4,611 square kilometers), much of it in the U.S. Southwest, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

In southwest Alaska, favorable winds shifted the progression of a fire that's burned 202 square miles (523 square kilometers) of dry grass and brush, fire managers said Tuesday. No one had been evacuated, and no structures were damaged or lost.

In California, firefighters reported significant progress against a wildfire near the San Gabriel Mountains community of Wrightwood, but evacuation orders and warnings remained in place. The blaze has scorched about 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers) since erupting over the weekend and was 27% contained.

In Northern California's Tehama County, firefighters gained 30% containment of a fire that destroyed 10 buildings, damaged four others and threatened about 160 structures, fire officials said.

In a wildfire-related situation, a 50-mile (80-km) stretch of State Route 70 in Northern California remained closed indefinitely after mud, boulders and dead trees inundated lanes during flash floods along a burn scar.

___

Associated Press writers John Antczak in Los Angeles and Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report.
Casie Pierce doesn't usually work Fridays. But on the Friday after the draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked, Pierce, the development director for a Dallas-based abortion fund, which helps people pay for the procedure and associated logistics, had to be at her computer.

She was monitoring the rage giving.

Am I optimistic watching funds rolling in? Of course I am, she said. But whats unfortunate is it takes a tragedy to wake people up out of their slumber to start giving, because weve been here doing this all along.

In response to the May 2 leaked draft that signaled the likely withdrawal of the legal right to an abortion in the U.S., donors clicked on donations buttons and mailed checks in a fury.

An annual fundraiser organized by the National Network of Abortion Funds raised more than $2.4 million by the end of May to benefit some 90 abortion funds, more than in any previous year. In 2019, NNAF said those abortion funds aided 56,000 people  only about one in four of those who contacted them for help.

Abortion funds, unlike clinics or advocacy organizations, focus on providing people with money to pay for abortions as well as help with logistics like travel, childcare and support. As a result, they have smaller budgets than broader reproductive rights organizations like Planned Parenthood.

Kelly Nelson, who founded an abortion fund in Tampa, Florida, felt two ways about the rage donors, as she called them.

I love them," she said. Weve really benefited. But, you know, I dont think a lot of them well ever see again.

Given the magnitude of the need, she said, abortion funds need multiyear philanthropic grants.

We really want to make this a long-term thing where people recognize that the fight with the courts is over now and we lost, Nelson said. We have to help the people on the ground today and tomorrow. We need to get them to their appointments.

She added: This is the time for philanthropy to get creative and reach out to abortion funds, who have traditionally been underfunded in the reproductive health world."

One analysis of philanthropic donations done by the progressive group the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) found that between 2015 and 2019, of the $1.7 billion that foundations gave to reproductive rights issues, less than 3% was designated specifically for abortion funds while 21% was directed to other abortion-related work, for example, by advocates or clinics.

Groups that oppose abortion also saw a big boost in funding since the Supreme Court signaled openness to new restrictions on abortion in December. The anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America plans to spend more on political campaigns this election cycle than ever before  $78 million. They did not respond to a request for comment about their donors' response to the leaked draft opinion.

Since 2017, the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund has been run entirely by volunteers, including Nelson, and over that time has reduced its reliance on individual donors as a proportion of its budget. Still, Nelson said, the organization often has just a months worth of funds lined up at any time.

Before May 2, it had run out of money three times this year, forcing a shutdown of the the phone line that clients use to contact them.

Thats how paycheck-to-paycheck we are, Nelson said.

Even before some states acted in recent years to restrict the right to abortion, many people couldnt afford one.

When abortion funds have to close their doors on the 15th of the month, thats 15 days of callers who arent getting funding, said Brandi Collins-Calhoun of the NCRP. Those are people who arent going to have access to their abortions. And its not because of the lack of Roe. Its because of the lack of funding.

The unpredictability of rage giving, or fad funding, can hurt movements. "Its very harmful, Collins-Calhoun said. And its something that we urge funders not to lean into too much.

Collins-Calhoun argues that despite legal restrictions, philanthropic giving can still make a transformational difference if foundations and large donors were to increase their donations to abortion access organizations and sustain that giving over time.

Thats what a lack of investment means: It means that you have to keep revisiting the same thing every 50 years, said Paris Hatcher, executive director of Black Feminist Future, referring to the multigenerational struggle to secure access to abortion in the U.S.

She is making the case to other organizers whose focus isn't specifically reproductive justice that their work for racial or economic equality is intertwined with abortion access.

Another analysis by The Bridgespan Group, a philanthropic consultancy, and Shake the Table, a feminist philanthropic advisory group, found that less than 1% of total foundation giving in 2017 went to womens rights organizations around the world. It further concluded that feminist funds have the capacity to distribute 10 times the amount of philanthropic donations than they do now.

In the weeks since the leaked decision, Nelsons Tampa fund has received renewed donations from several foundations as well as a first-time grant for $50,000, the largest they've ever received.

Federal funds, through programs like Medicaid, cannot be used to pay for abortions, except when a pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or endangers the life of the patient.

Pierce, of the Texas Equal Access Fund in Dallas, said she hopes that might change in the long run. Until then, she urged donors to be bold.

I really would like to tell donors to not be shy and to not be afraid of the stigma around the word abortion, she said.

Still, Pierce suggests to those who don't want to be identified on the funds tax return to contribute through a donor advised fund, a kind of charitable investment account that does not require attaching names to donations.

Pierce is seeking to raise $2.5 million to help fund travel and other support for half of their callers and hire a new staffer to organize those logistics. The fund's current annual budget is $800,000.

Both the Dallas and Tampa abortion funds promote monthly giving programs to individual donors as a preferred way to receive donations. And some have responded.

Before the May 2 Supreme Court leak, monthly donors gave the Tampa fund a total of $470 a month, which isnt a lot. Thats one procedure. But we knew that we could cover that one procedure, Nelson said.

After a month of rage giving, Nelson said, 111 monthly donors had signed up to give a total of nearly $4,000.

___

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
Associated Press /File photo

Caterpillar, the producer of iconic yellow construction and mining equipment, is moving its headquarters to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, effectively ending its century-long history calling the state of Illinois its home.

The machinery producer said the move is in its "best strategic interest," without citing what benefits it will gain from relocating out of the Greater Chicago area. The company said in a statement it will begin transitioning its headquarters to Irving, Texas, this year.
Dennis S. via Yelp

San Antonio's Cherrity Bar is asking locals to support them more than ever after a small kitchen fire broke out at the establishment last weekend. According to an Instagram post from the bar, the fire occurred during the evening hours on Friday, June 10.

"Unfortunately, we were hit with a small kitchen fire last night," Cherrity Bar wrote in an Instagram post the following day on Saturday, June 11. "*Thankfully* the damage was minimal and we will be able to recover."
Ranch Brand Wine and Spirits is putting the final touches on one tasting room in Wimberley, and another is set to open later this year in New Braunfels. Owner Christopher Ware says his Wimberley location will be among the best options in the region when it opens mid-July.

"I'd like to say that we will have the best cocktails between downtown Austin and downtown San Antonio, by far," Ware says.

Courtesy of Ranch Brand Wine and Spirits

He fell in love with the Texas Hill Country town while sharing local wine with others, he says. Ware goes on to note the warm welcome neighboring businesses have given him, saying it has been "very encouraging."

The Ranch Brand was created in 2020 during the pandemic, and now customers can find Ranch Brand Wine and Spirits at retail stores. Ware sees the new tasting room as well positioned to fit changing social attitudes.

"COVID-19 changed people's drinking habits. COVID-19 changed how people travel ... They want to be outside at places like Fredericksburg, Wimberley, New Braunfels," Ware says. "Those towns exploded with people wanting to go to fun outdoor destinations."

Ware says his new location will have a vast selection of liquor, but no beer for now. The tasting room, being built at 13619 Ranch Road 12, will have front and back patios for guests to pass the time at, and they can also expect a light food menu to be offered.

Courtesy of Ranch Brand Wine and Spirits

Ware says the New Braunfels tasting room is being built for another brand, Derel Spirits. They will serve frozen drinks and draft cocktails near the Comal River to help people keep cool in the Texas heat.

The New Braunfels tasting room will have lawn chairs, a pro shop where people can buy a tube to float the river, and showers for people returning from the river.

"We want to be your pit stop on the river while you're having a great time," Ware says.

The building is in an old gas station across the street from Schlitterbahn and is expected to open by Labor Day, Ware says.
We regret to inform you that the lake is at it again. For the fourth consecutive year, a toxic blue-green algae has been found in Lady Bird Lake, a sample of which was collected at Red Bud Isle last week. This is the same algae that killed multiple dogs in 2019.

The city will spend $300,000 on treatment and lab testing to once again mitigate the problem. Beginning this week, 30,000 pounds of Phoslock  a portmanteau of "phosphorous" and "lock"  will go into multiple locations, including at Red Bud Isle and Festival Beach.

So, phew, right? Once they treat the water, it's safe to hop back in, right? No. Never. I am here to provide a service, and that service is to say, once and for all, that no one should swim in Lady Bird Lake.

But against all reason, people are still jumping in. Is it because more than half of Austin's pools remain closed during an extra-sweaty summer? Do they think there's buried treasure at the bottom? Do I wish I had a third thing to self-referentially link to?

When I moved to Austin in February 2011, just before an eerily similar apocalyptic spring-into-summer, one of the first bits of advice I got from the locals was exactly this: Do not swim in Town Lake. That they called it Town Lake and not its official name, Lady Bird Lake, means that they predated the 2007 name change. Thus, even more reason to take their advice. Unless, of course, you consider that calling it Town Lake is also wrong etymologically because this body of water is not a lake, but a reservoir. It's a damned dammed portion of the Colorado River.

Now that folks are taking a dip in Lady Bird Lake, it appears that someone is forgetting to pass along this advice to the 116 or so new residents to our fair city. I'll take the blame and use my platform for good for once. I know that peer pressure can be difficult, particularly in the summer, when the combination of pomegranate Truly and an unforgiving, mean-spirited sun could make anyone hop into the nearest body of water.

Here are some free talking points for the next time someone asks you to jump in a (Lady Bird or Town) lake.

"I'm trying a new skin care routine and it doesn't include parasites."

In all fairness  and I'm nothing if not fair  swimmer's itch can happen in any non-chlorinated pool. It just so happened in this one very recently, went viral, and looked sickening.

"I would, but I already had zebra mussels for brunch."

Visit Austin! When we have drinkable water it only sometimes smells awful.

Mondadori Portfolio/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Im

"Let's not disturb the nutria!"

These giant beaver-slash-rat hybrids apparently taste like rabbit, which I will just have to trust is true.

"No thanks, I have warm White Claw aftertaste in my mouth and I don't want to spoil it with delicious reservoir water."

See above.

"I love having an alive dog."

This is for if someone asks your dog to jump in Lady Bird Lake and expects Spot to provide an answer. Dogs can't talk (yet), so this is what you'll say.

"Let's stay on top of our paddle boards, where we look extremely cool."

Everyone looks cool on top of a paddle board, and many people are saying this. Stay warm, stay dry, stay looking chic as hell atop your board with this surefire excuse.

"It's illegal!"

Alright, narc. Technically you're right, though it feels impossible to get arrested for doing this thing that everyone seems to keep doing. It is "off-limits" to swim in Lady Bird Lake, but not because of pollution or parasites or zebra mussels or blue-green algae. No, no, no. As of 2017, Lady Bird Lake's water has been given the prestigious "fair" rating. You can't swim in it because there's  uh  just a bunch of debris floating around in it? I, for one, feel better knowing this.
Sean Gladwell/Getty Images

One TikTok influencer from California wants to know how Texans can live in the dramatic and unforgiving Lone Star heat. TikToker @taraswrld says, "there's no chance anyone wants to live in Texas."

Tara Lynn, a popular social media star best known for the storytime and comedy videos she posts to her TikTok account, posted a video about her time in Austin last week. She told her more than 4.6 million followers on TikTok how she ventured outside her hotel for only an hour and had to go back because of the excessive heat (we get that girl, it's hot).
A detainee mother, with sleeping baby on her back, feeds her other child some bread inside the female room of a detention centre in Benghazi, Libya (file photo).

interview

Boston/Dublin  'We've moved from the monetisation of movement to the monetisation of captivity.'

In 2018, journalist Sally Hayden received a message on Facebook from a refugee in a Libyan detention centre. "We need your help. We are under bad condition in Libya prison. If you have time, I will tell you all the story," the message read, seemingly sent out of the blue.

It turned out that the man knew Hayden's name because of an investigation she had conducted for The New Humanitarian earlier that year about allegations of corruption within the UN refugee agency's resettlement programme in Sudan.

The contact lit a fuse for Hayden. She began what would become four years of in-depth reporting into the abuses being perpetrated against refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in Libyan detention centres, exploring in particular how EU policies were helping to perpetuate this cycle of suffering. Hayden compiled the reporting into a book, "My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking refuge on the world's deadliest migration route", published in March.

A year before the man reached out to Hayden from the detention centre, the EU and its member states had begun providing support to the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants attempting to leave the country and reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

Since then, the EU's policies, as well as the abuses they help facilitate, have been well documented by Hayden and others, including in our interactive explainer. But holding anyone accountable for the abuses, or pressuring the EU to change course, have proved elusive.

"In the detention centres where people who are intercepted end up, there is not a proper registration system," Hayden said. "We don't know how many people are dying when they are returned to Libya. You cannot do a proper analysis of the consequences of European policies that support these interceptions and returns without that information, but it just isn't being gathered."

The New Humanitarian recently spoke to Hayden about the questionable roles the EU, UN agencies, and sometimes other aid organisations are playing in Libya, as well as the need for accountability and the importance of continuing to document the abuses being perpetrated.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

The New Humanitarian: What is still poorly understood about the treatment of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in Libya?

Sally Hayden: What I was interested in when I started reporting on this was the effects of European policies - basically what the EU is deliberately doing to harden its own borders. In 2012, there was a European Court of Human Rights decision - the Hirsi decision - which said that European navy and coast guard boats cannot return refugees and migrants to Libya. The current policy of supporting the Libyan Coast Guard has evolved as a result of that decision. When I interviewed the EU's border agency Frontex - which provides operational support to the Libyan Coast Guard - they told me that they do not monitor what happens after people are intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard because Libya is a sovereign state.

We also know that in the detention centres where people who are intercepted end up there is not a proper registration system. There's no list of who is inside. It's a sign of the dysfunctionality of the Libyan state, but it is also deliberate. In detention centres, people get sold to traffickers, they pay their way out, they get sent out during the day as forced labour. Having a registration system would get in the way of being able to do that. People can go missing or even die without their names being noted down. We don't know how many people are dying when they are returned to Libya. You cannot do a proper analysis of the consequences of European policies that support these interceptions and returns without that information, but it just isn't being gathered.

In terms of EU funding, my reporting has showed that a lot of money from the EU Trust Fund for Africa - a multi-billion dollar pot of money established in 2015 and aimed, effectively, at stopping migration from across Africa - ends up supporting or empowering militias in various ways, which contributes to the dysfunctionality in Libya. In my book, I write about being on a rescue ship off the Libyan coast, and I assumed that if we rescued people they would be refugees from various African countries who escaped detention centres. But instead we rescued Libyans who said they were fleeing militias because the militias are just making the country unlivable. The problems are massive, but I think there are a lot of questions to be asked about how specifically European Union anti-migration funding is making them worse.

The New Humanitarian: What role are UN agencies and international humanitarian organisations playing when it comes to European migration control policies in Libya?

Hayden: Money from the EU Trust Fund directed toward Libya doesn't just go towards training and equipping the Libyan Coast Guard. It also goes towards UN agencies - IOM (the UN's migration agency) and UNHCR (the UN's refugee agency) - that then distribute it through partner organisations that implement projects that are supposed to improve humanitarian conditions inside detention centres.

When you interview European politicians and say, "Is your policy not effectively returning people to indefinite detention in Libya where they have no legal recourse, no way to get out?". The European politicians will respond that they don't approve of the detention centres; that they want them closed; but that, in the meantime, they are trying to improve the situation by funding the UN.

Pretty quickly after I started reporting on this, I started getting contacted by UN staff - as well as staff from the UN's partner organisations in Libya - who were basically saying that they were very uncomfortable with the way the UN was being used because they felt like it was being used to whitewash the brutal effects of European Union policy. And that was because the European politicians could use the funding being sent to UN agencies as an excuse.

Now it has been five years since this policy began, and the conditions in detention centres haven't improved. I think that it's clear that they are not necessarily going to get better and that the centres are not going to be closed any time soon.

The New Humanitarian: You frame your book saying that you hope it contributes to the quest for accountability. Who needs to be held accountable and for what?

Hayden: I'm a journalist, so I'm just trying to document things. But, for me, it has been quite shocking that there hasn't been some sort of analysis in terms of both the consequences of the European Union policy and then certain incidents that have happened inside detention centres. For example, one that I write about is the detention centre in Zintan. At one point, one person was dying every two weeks of medical neglect and starvation. And there was never any sort of accountability for those deaths. Things just moved on.

A lot of the people who are working with aid organisations on these issues in aid organisations - the top people anyway - are based in Tunisia. They're not even necessarily based in Libya. A lot of them also only stay for one year, or something like that. There's a lot of turnover. So I don't know that lessons are always being learned over a longer term from mistakes that have been made in the past.

In terms of accountability, I know that there are a lot of lawyers attempting to hold specific Libyan individuals accountable who may be guilty of various crimes against humanity and war crimes. There is also a broader attempt to see if there's any way for the EU to be held accountable. I've heard a lot of questions as well about whether the humanitarian organisations should have done more in terms of at least trying to learn lessons from things that have gone wrong.

The New Humanitarian: This story really broke through globally in 2017 with the CNN report about Libyan slave markets, which is incidentally the same year the EU started supporting the Libyan Coast Guard. What has changed since then?

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Libya Europe and Africa Migration By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

Hayden: We've moved from the monetisation of movement to the monetisation of captivity, as Mark Micallef, director of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime's North Africa and Sahel Observatory, has said. When people are with smugglers, they are being sold between different smuggling gangs, and the amount that they have to pay to get out of detention or get on a boat to cross the sea is rising and rising, and they might have to pay repeatedly. They might have to pay $5,000 and then they might have to pay it again and again.

When people get into detention, that has also been monetised because they are either being sent out as forced labour, which the people in charge of the detention centre are able to profit from, or they are being used inside detention centres as forced labour, or they are having to get released. There are also allegations that the people running the detention centres are skimming off the aid that is delivered or finding other ways to make a profit from it.

Overall, I don't think the situation has changed dramatically. But what we have now is a long period of time to show that this is what is happening. We can't pretend like this situation is going to get better now. It has been going on long enough. We know that it's not getting better.

The New Humanitarian: How do we move from that clear picture of what is happening to some sort of change taking place?

Hayden: We are seeing very slow developments or admissions about what is happening. For example, the independent UN fact-finding mission last October said that there was evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes being carried out against refugees and migrants in Libya. More recently, we had the ICC (International Criminal Court) prosecutor say the same. All of these things, potentially they'll make some difference. It's a very slow process, but I don't think that means that we shouldn't be gathering the evidence.

Obviously, the situation now is atrocious and there are gross human rights abuses. Our role as journalists is to make sure people can't say they didn't know about it.
The newest Marble Falls hotel is set to break ground this sumemr, about a decade after the project was first planned. The Ophelia Hotel Marble Falls will begin construction this summer, with rooms opening to guests in 2024, according to a news release.

The hotel will be on Lake Marble Falls and will feature 123 guest rooms, over 9,000-square-feet of ballroom and meeting space, a restaurant, bar and cafe, rooftop bar, and dining.

The name for the new hotel was chosen to honor Ophelia "Birdie" Harwood, who became the first women to be elected as mayor in Texas. What's more, she took office three years before women could legally vote.

The Ophelia Hotel will be affiliated with Hilton Hotels' Tapestry Collection, a group of boutique hotels.

Plans for the Ophelia first began to take shape in 2013 at the behest of the Marble Falls Economic Development Corporation. The release says the group took their time to find the right development partner that would fit the downtown site. They say the Ophelia fits the bill.

Based in Boerne, the Phoenix Hospitality Group is slated as the lead developer, and will stay on to become the hotel manager after the grand opening. The Austin-based Wurzel Builders will build the project.

Across the Texas Hill Country in Fredericksburg, the Albert Hotel is also preparing to welcome guests, but is expected to open its doors sometime this year. Located at 242 East Main Street, the Albert will have 110 guest rooms, a saloon, a 2,000-square-foot spa, and a 3,600-square-foot interior meeting and event space.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON (AP)  A man armed with a machete once broke into Stephen Breyer's vacation home in the Caribbean and took $1,000. Ruth Bader Ginsburg had her purse snatched on a Washington street. David Souter was assaulted by several men while he was jogging.

Supreme Court justices have not been immune to violent crime. But this past weeks late-night incident at Justice Brett Kavanaughs suburban Washington home, where authorities said a man armed with a gun and knife threatened to kill the justice, reflects a heightened level of potential danger not just for members of the nation's highest court, but all judges.

One proposal pending in Congress would provide additional security measures for the justices, and another would offer more privacy and protection for all federal judges.

Round-the-clock security given to the justices after the leak of the draft opinion in a major abortion case may well have averted a tragedy.

But the situation had much in common with other recent incidents that ended with the shooting death of a former judge in Wisconsin last week and the killing in 2020 of the son of a federal judge at their home in New Jersey. Troubled men, harboring a warped desire for vengeance and equipped with guns, turned their threats into action.

Were seeing these threats increase in number and intensity. That's a sign. That's a signal, said U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, whose son was killed nearly two years ago in the attack that also wounded her husband.

Kavanaugh's would-be attacker is Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, California, authorities said in charging him with the attempted murder of a justice. Clad in black, he arrived by taxi outside Kavanaugh's Maryland home around 1 a.m. Wednesday.

He spotted two U.S. Marshals who were guarding the house and walked in the other direction, calling 911 to say he was having suicidal thoughts and also planned to kill Kavanaugh, according to court documents. Roske said he found the justice's address on the internet.

When police searched a backpack and suitcase he was carrying, they said they found a Glock 17 pistol, ammunition, a knife, zip ties, duct tape and other items Roske said he was going to use to break into the house. He said he bought the gun to kill Kavanaugh.

Roske told police he was upset by the leaked draft opinion in the abortion case and by the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and believed Kavanaugh would vote to loosen gun control laws, according to documents filed in federal court in Maryland.

Last week, Wisconsin authorities said Douglas Uhde, 56, shot John Roemer, a former county judge, in a targeted attack against a judge who had once sentenced him to prison. Roemer was found zip-tied to a chair. Uhde had shot himself and later died.

In July 2020, lawyer Roy Den Hollander showed up at Judge Salas' home posing as a FedEx delivery person. Den Hollander fatally shot Salas' 20-year-old son, Daniel Anderl, and wounded her husband, Mark Anderl. The judge was in another part of the home at the time and was not injured.

Den Hollander, 72, was a mens rights lawyer with a history of anti-feminist writings. He was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound the day after the ambush, when police said they found a document with information about a dozen female judges from across the country, half of whom are Latina, including Salas.

Authorities believe Den Hollander also was tracking Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Salas said in a televised interview last year, because they found a manila folder with information about Sotomayor when they searched a locker belonging to Den Hollander.

Over the years, Supreme Court justices have called on Congress to provide more money for their security. But at the same time, the justices often shrugged off protection when it was offered. When Justice Antonin Scalia died on a hunting trip in Texas in 2016, for example, he did not have a security detail with him.

In recent years, the court has stepped up security for the justices. The court routinely refuses to discuss protection for the nine justices, but Justice Amy Coney Barrett said earlier this year that she was not prepared for how much more extensive security is now than when she worked for Scalia in the late 1990s.

Sotomayor likes to walk among guests at her public appearances, often joking about the armed officers who are there to protect her. The guys up here. The big guys with stuff around their waist and things. Theyre here to protect you from me, she said to laughter at an event this year. They get nervous if you get up unexpectedly. ... Please dont make them nervous.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday that the House would take up a bill with bipartisan support that already has passed the Senate that would expand protection to the members of the justices' immediate families.

Gabe Roth of the court reform group Fix the Court said in his view the justices need Secret Service-level protection, which has only become more obvious this week. Ive said it for years.

A separate bill, named in memory of Salas' son, would provide more privacy and protections for all federal judges, including scrubbing personal information from the internet, to deal with mounting cyberthreats. The U.S. Marshals Service, which protects about 2,700 federal judges and thousands more prosecutors and court officials, said there were 4,511 threats and inappropriate communications in 2021, compared with 926 such incidents in 2015.

The legislation, also widely supported by lawmakers in both parties, has been blocked by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who wants it to apply to members of Congress as well.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the bill's author, said the Kavanaugh incident and Roemer's death in Wisconsin make plain the need for the legislation. Our bill is the only existing proposal to protect the personal information of judges and their families, Menendez said in an email.

A similar bill in the House has not even gotten a hearing.

We talk a lot about what can be done. How about we stop arming the public with information they are using to kill us? How about we do that? Salas said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press.

The internet has made it much easier to find personal information pertaining to judges, and everyone else.

But even before the digital age, judges were sometimes the targets of people who harbored grudges about their treatment in the criminal justice system. In a book, retired Texas Judge Susan P. Baker details 42 judges, including three at the federal level, who were murdered or otherwise met suspicious ends in the 20th century.

In the past 17 years, three close relatives of federal judges have been killed in attacks at the judges' homes, including Salas' son. In 2005, U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow returned from work to find her husband and mother shot dead in the basement of her Chicago home. The killer was a homeless electrician who had lost a medical malpractice suit in her courtroom.

U.S. District Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf, who heads the office responsible for federal courts administration, said the incident at Kavanaughs house is just the most recent reminder that threats against judges are real and they can have and have had dire consequences.
Malorny/Getty Images

Despite the Edwards Aquifer dipping to levels that would prompt Stage 3 water restrictions, SAWS and local officials have decided to allow residents in San Antonio to remain at Stage 2, according to a statement released by the city's water provider on Monday.

Stage 3 pumping cutbacks were instigated after the 10-day average of the SAWS index well, called J-16, dipped below 640 feet. Due to diversification efforts in SAWS water sourcing  making non-Edwards Aquifer water supplies available  the utility company agreed to allow San Antonio residents to continue restricting at a Stage 2 level instead of moving toward more restrictive rules.
Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images

A man has been arrested in connection to the missing Texas mother of four who was found dead in her trunk last month, according to a report from KHOU. The body of 24-year-old Angela Leann Mitchell was found in a vehicle that was parked for days in Texas City.

Christopher Lee Maldonado was arrested Friday during a traffic stop in Texas City, according to a news release from the police department. He faces charges of tampering/fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair (human corpse), as well as an unrelated assault charge.
The Brownsville Police Department has debunked rumors that the woman in a recent viral video showing a brutal fight in a Whataburger parking lot was dead. Officials said they are investigating after the woman who was assaulted filed a police report.

According to a Monday, June 13 Facebook post from the department, the video of the assault, which has gone viral on social media, occurred around 2:25 a.m. on June 11 at the Whataburger in the 3500 block of Alton Gloor, which is in Brownsville.

The video showed two couples fighting, initially a pair of women fighting on the ground and a pair of men trading blows. At one point, a man leaves his fight with the other man and kicks one of the women in the head. A car blocked the view of what happens to the woman next, but when the view clears that woman is shown knocked out cold on the pavement.

The Brownsville Herald reported a second video released showed people attempting to revive the woman, leaving people on social media to believe she was dead.

According to the police, they did not receive any calls for service at that location during the time of the assault. The department was also made aware of the assault through social media.

"To debunk any social media chatter, the female that was assaulted is not deceased and came in to file the report," the department wrote in its Facebook post.

The Brownsville Police Department would like to remind the public that if they see any criminal activity or assaults, to please call the police in order for the investigation to start in its early stages.

You can watch the video below:
Steve Cunningham and Lorenzo Gomez want people feeling the mental health strain from life to use their recently launched app called WeTree to connect with close family and friends for help. But while they seek to tap into the support of social networks, they dont want people to think of their app as social media.

Unlike social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, which strive to keep users engaged for as long as possible, thereby generating as much advertising revenue as possible, WeTree seeks to be a catalyst for real-life therapeutic conservation. WeTree asks users to fill out a basic questionnaire about their mental health, known as the Mental Health Minute, that asks what emotions theyre feeling, what theyre grateful for and what theyre struggling with  all with an eye toward strengthening and leaning on meaningful relationships.

One of the things that we found in our research is that the single best way to protect yourself from all the stuff thats going on in the world is to have strong relationships, Cunningham said. Being able to talk about the things youre struggling with is critical for maintaining and nurturing those relationships. Thats what most people struggle with: I dont know how to talk about this stuff. Im the only one who feels this way. I dont want to be a burden to people.

There are several mental health apps available, but Cunningham and Gomez believe WeTree is the first that helps users form supportive networks of family and friends for coping. Others, they say, connect users with professionals or help them resolve their problems on their own.

Both founders are rooted in San Antonios entrepreneurship community. Gomez is co-founder of Tech Bloc and the chairman of Geekdom, while Cunningham is CEO of readitfor.me, which summarizes self-help and business books for busy leaders. They run WeTree from Pearls coworking space.

The app launched on May 3, during Mental Health Awareness Month.

Cunningham and Gomez recently sat to discuss their experiences with mental health, how they got the idea for the app and their plans for its future. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Billy Calzada / Staff photographer

Q: How has the app fared since its launch?

Gomez: Its been awesome. Weve got a lot of inquiries, a lot of leads from businesses, a lot of individuals sign up. Weve had a lot of people just in our personal lives coming up and saying, Hey, I saw the app and referred it to someone. I feel like were starting the word of mouth propagation.

Cunningham: As soon as we say, mental health app, all of a sudden, everybodys eyes get bigger. They want to talk about it. Its something thats clearly on everybodys mind right now. Everybody is struggling with something. They feel like, Finally, Ive got something that gives me an opportunity to get off my chest.

Q: Why do you think mental health is on everybodys mind right now?

Cunningham: The last few years have been hard. My background is in the personal development space, people wanting to get better at certain skills. A couple years ago, before the pandemic, I launched a simple tool to get people to basically deconstruct what they wanted in different areas of their life, as a personal development exercise. One of the questions was, what are your emotional goals? I sent it out to a bunch of people, and every single person that I knew personally wrote in their answer something along the lines of decrease my fear and anxiety. It was a real light bulb moment for me. Man, everybodys struggling, including me, because I was like, Me too. I guess Im not the only one who feels this way. I didnt know what to do with it. So fast-forward into the pandemic, I know everybody around me is struggling. And I knew from their social media posts that they were not talking about it. Maybe we can give you an opportunity to be honest about it.

Billy Calzada / Staff photographer

Q: So that was the genesis of the idea.

Cunningham: Part of it was we had done a lot of work in the positive psychology world. Just trying to understand, like, what does flourishing mean? What does well-being mean beyond just feeling happy? Lorenzo, in his book The Cilantro Diaries, wrote about mental health. So I knew at least someone in my crew was passionate about mental health. He was the one person I knew that had the courage to talk about it.

Gomez: Its a mental health book about my middle school on the West Side. One of the things that I discovered is that, like what Steve said, everyone wants to talk about (mental health), but nobody wants to go first. When I published the book, everyone would just say, Oh my God, I read your book, and then they would proceed to tell me their version of my story. That was really eye-opening. I just wrote it because I wanted to get it out. So when Steve called me to talk about what he was working on, just from that experience, I thought, Oh, this is a really good way for people to go first. I think thats one of the great values of the tool, is it makes it really easy for someone to go first.

Q: Where are you getting your funding from?

Cunningham: Right now, were getting it from customers. Thats step number one.

Gomez: Its basically self-funded. Im working for free right now.

Q: Do you plan to seek investors later?

Gomez: We dont know. Were completely open to it. Whats funny is weve had, gosh, probably half a dozen customers either offer to invest or introduce us to investors. So there has been a lot of investor interest in the app.

Cunningham: At this point, were taking it day by day. Whether its customers or venture funding or angel investors, we dont really know exactly what the need is right now.

Billy Calzada / Staff photographer

Q: So the users of the app are encouraged to check in every day.

Cunningham: Youre encouraged to do it daily. Most people will do it multiple times a week; a lot of people do it daily. Its enough that youre in communication with the people that are in your inner circle. Over time, its kind of like peeling an onion. People get more and more comfortable sharing the things that theyre struggling with.

Gomez: Weve heard this from multiple users:  conversations I never would have had. This whole notion that its facilitating things that never would have come up organically. It gives you a reason to do it. I think theres three obstacles were overcoming. The first one is, were conditioned in polite society to just tell a little white lie, which is, Hey, how are you doing? Im good. There are so many people; theyre not good, but were not taught to say how we really feel. The second one is, its not normalized. You know, I didnt even hear the term mental health until I was in my 30s. Its not part of our vernacular. The third thing is that even with the people that we care about, even the people that we know care about us, we tell ourselves this lie, which is, I dont want to bother them. And I dont want to be a burden to them.

Q: So if someone indicates theyre in trouble, youre encouraged to reach out to that person outside the app?

Cunningham: Right now, the idea is you would text them or call them, whatever channel that youre using already, and offer your support. But also, follow up when theyre doing well. Its the whole spectrum of just being there for somebody. A lot of times, when people share good news, they dont have a lot of slaps on the back. Its about building those relationships with the people that will be with you on both ends of that spectrum.

Q: Is that something you might change? Having them reach out inside the app?

Gomez: One of the things that we both love about it now is that its very simple. I feel like most social media platforms are trying to get you addicted, so that you never leave, and were OK with our users leaving. Were OK if this is a tool that just facilitates the human experience again  you know, let me get you off and back to human interaction. Thats very important to us, because everyone has seen all the research come out about how the endorphins hit you every time someone likes that. And thats really not what were about.

Q: Do you consider this a social media app?

Cunningham: No. I think we specifically dont want to call it a social media for that very reason. Social media apps are designed to get you addicted to them so that they can serve you more advertising. Thats the entire purpose. I think we want to position ourselves as far away  the anti-social media app, almost, although theres a social component to it. Wed rather name it a mental health app.

Gomez: I would only add one thing. I believe weve created a new category, which is mental health engagement. I consider social media to be this different solar system in the marketing world. In the mental health space, you have the meditation apps on one side  which is sort of, you know, self-discipline, I have to do it by myself. And then you have apps that connect you to a therapist. Were this completely third category, which is you do it in a community with at least one other person.

Q: Do you have plans to add more functionality?

Gomez: The next big one is mobile. Mobile is not out. I think that one will be in the next couple of weeks. But specifically, notifications. The whole idea that when I do my daily pulse, youll get notified, which is a passive way of saying, Hey, have you done yours? We think thats going to be the next big engagement booster.

Q: Apart from that questionnaire, can you submit a long-form post?

Cunningham: No. I think thats one of one of the reasons why people are attracted to it  probably similar to how Twitter was. You can only do so much in it, but the idea is, how do we get you out there to then go talk? Because your spouse or your kid or your parents or your best friend, they dont need a blog post from you. They just want to know, how are you doing today? And if we need to talk, lets talk.
Yves here. An overview of Polands ambitions and predispositions, and what that could mean for the future of western Ukraine. Note that this article oddly steers around the fact that Russia has said it will treat any foreign forces that enter Ukraine as hostile and they will be attacked. Given its long range missile capabilities, Russia could presumably destroy or at worst severely weaken an invasion from Poland, even before getting to the fact that its military is far from battle-hardened. Thus youd have to assume this sort of possibility plays out only if Russia deems it as in its interest. Of course, this is now an overly dynamic situation, so how Russia looks at options could change as events develop.

By John Helmer who has been the longest continuously serving foreign correspondent in Russia, and the only western journalist to have directed his own bureau independent of single national or commercial ties. Helmer has also been a professor of political science, and advisor to government heads in Greece, the United States, and Asia. Originally published at Dances with Bears

On June 13, for the first time since the Russian military operation began in the Ukraine, a detailed Russian intelligence assessment has been published in Moscow of Polish strategy for the future of Ukraine. This follows several weeks of brief statements by Russian security and intelligence officials claiming the government in Warsaw is aiming at an anschluss or union with the eastern borderlands known in Poland as Kresy Wschodnie, and in the Ukraine as Halychyna; thats to say, Galicia.

These Russian claims have been dismissed as propaganda by the Poles. Polish strategy, according to Warsaw sources, is to preserve the Zelensky regime in Kiev and the unified Ukrainian military command  and not to acknowledge the possibility of their defeat by the Russian army east of the Dnieper River.

In this weeks discussion between Vlad Shlepchenko, a military analyst for Tsargrad in Moscow, and Vladimir Kozin, a leading academic attached to the Russian intelligence think tank, the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, they consider the scope of the strategic problem which they think the Poles, and behind them the US and NATO, will continue to pose, after the objectives of Phase-1 and Phase-2 of the Russian military operation in the Ukraine have been completed.

Vladimir Kozin is a senior advisor and chief of group working at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, which is part of the presidential administration. He is also a professor at the Russian Academy of Military Sciences and holder of several state and diplomatic ranks. Vlad Shlepchenko is a reporter for Tsargrad who specializes in military strategy. His last report of April 30 was translated and can be read here.

Tsargrad is a Moscow-based television channel and internet publication with Russian nationalist and Orthodox sympathies which has been the target of US sanctions and a federal indictment announced in March of this year.

Source: https://tsargrad.tv/

Between opening and closing quotes, the following is a verbatim translation; the maps, captions, links, and sources have been added to amplify the original text which can be read here.

Vlad Shlepchenko: One of the leaders of the Russophobic movement, as one would expect, has been Poland  a country tormented by phantom pains from its lost power, and with old scores to settle against the Russian world. At the same time, it is Poland which has the greatest chance of becoming the main beneficiary of the impending collapse and division of Ukraine. How far do Polish ambitions reach, and why does satisfying them lay the foundation for a big new war in Europe? Poland is clearly preparing for the return of the territories that were part of it before the Second World War, the so-called eastern borderlands. What do you think could be a signal for Warsaw that the moment has come and now it is possible?

Vladimir Kozin: It can be assumed that such a signal will be sent to the current Polish leadership: firstly, when the current Kiev regime ceases to put up armed resistance to the allied armed forces of Russia, the Donetsk Peoples Republic and the Lugansk Peoples Republic. Secondly, if the current Ukrainian president leaves Ukraine, voluntarily relinquishing his position, or if he he is removed for another reason. And thirdly, if Russia and the two states allied with it in the Donbass do not make a clear statement about the inadmissibility of any Anschluss [German for union] of any part of Ukraine by any NATO state under any pretext.

Shlepchenko: Historically, the eastern border territories [ , including present-day Ukrainian, Belarus and Lithuania] were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Maybe God is with them and will let them take it away. After all, why should we be against Polands absorption of Galicia  the birthplace of Stepan Bandera and hateful Russophobia?

THE POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH AT ITS MAXIMUM 17TH CENTURY BORDERS

Kozin: : A new hotbed of tension may arise in this part of Europe on a qualitatively different scale from the current situation, when Ukraine, short of being a full member of the North Atlantic Aliiance, launched its third large-scale aggression against the inhabitants of Donbass. That is, in this new situation there may be an armed confrontation between Russia, as well as the DPR and LPR, against the NATO states. This development of events must by no means be allowed to happen.

Shlepchenko: The Poles have long-standing scores to settle with the western Ukrainians. As a rule, the events of the Volhynia Massacre [1943-45] are recalled in this context. But the Galician peasantry, even in the 19th century, while they were still under the rule of Austria-Hungary, slaughtered the Poles at any opportunity. That is, their conflict is real  it is stable and has endured for centuries. If the annexation of the western Ukrainian territories by Poland happens, how will events develop there? Will the two sides, Galicians and Poles, merge in celebration of their joint struggle against the Russian threat, or will the Poles engage in the denazification of their new compatriots?



Kozin: The first scenario seems to be the most probable one.

ETHNIC CLEANSING & CIVIL WAR BETWEEN UKRAINIANS AND POLES

Source of map with Ukrainian nationalist interpretation, read this from the Euro-Maidan press.

Shlepchenko: If Russia does not halt its advance westward, how far is Poland ready to go? Will they try to take Odessa after they absorb Lvov and Ternopil? Will they form a military-civilian administration in Kiev? How far are the Poles ready to go if their heads dont butt up against Russian tanks?



Kozin: Most likely Warsaw will follow the path of capturing as much territorial space as possible in Ukraine. Concrete historical examples show that the Poles have repeatedly tried to annex foreign lands by force of arms.

Shlepchenko: Poland does not act on its own. As you noted, it is part of NATO. But NATO itself is far from united. For some in Germany, the development and deepening of the conflict with Russia is causing the loss of cheap energy and the collapse of industry; for some in Italy, and from the conflict with us, too, there are only losses. Who are the main sponsors and drivers of Poland in its current policy?



Kozin: I think that the main sponsors of Polands imperial ambitions are the United States and Great Britain, which long ago created a state in the shape of Poland with a stable and unchanging policy of maximal Russophobia.

Shlepchenko: Is this why they are so eager to participate in the supply of American long-range MLRS to Ukraine [Multiple Launch Rocket Systems; for mapping their range in Ukraine, click]?

Kozin: And not only that. The same ambitions are pushing Warsaw to participate in the NATO Baltic Air Patrol program with the provision of Polish combat aircraft for participation in the program and in Baltic airspace for dual-purpose aircraft of this military bloc; that is, aircraft capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads. In accordance with the same considerations, Warsaw gives its authority for heavy strategic aircraft of the US Air Force, certified for the delivery of START [strategic offensive weapons] to cross its airspace when moving towards Russia. Poland was guided by the same considerations when issuing its consent for the construction of an operational US missile defense base at Redzikowo, in the north of the country, which will be equipped not only with defensive, but also with offensive types of weapons aimed at our country. In all these cases, the same strategic motive looms large in Warsaw  the creation of an immediate threat to Russia as a whole and to the Russian exclave in the Baltic  the Kaliningrad region  as well as to the Republic of Belarus, territory over which Poland has territorial claims. As for Polands involvement in the supply of long-range MLRS from the United States, when they transit through Polish territory to the Ukraine, [the Poles and Americans] may well replace one type of system with a firing range of up to 80 km with a longer range system capable of striking at a range of 300 km.

US GOVERNMENT MAP OF THE REDZIKOWO MISSILE BASE IN THE NATO SYSTEM

Source: https://twitter.com/

For a Polish think-tank assessment of the range and other capabilities of the Redzikowo missile base, read this.

Shlepchenko: OK. Polands current hostility is undeniable. Lets step back a bit and look into the future. Now Polish society, the elites, the intelligentsia and the average citizen are very fond of the idea of reviving the Commonwealth, a state that stretched from sea to sea. In the modern version, this is the concept of the Intermarium [Miedzymorze] which is supposed to be implemented through partnership programs with the participation of twelve states. According to this plan, the Baltic-Adriatic-Black Sea Initiative (BACHI) was created and is working. It is also called the Three Seas Initiative. How real and dangerous is this challenge?

MAP OF THE THREE SEAS INITIATIVE PROPOSED TO THE EU BY POLAND

Source: https://www.reddit.com/

For a brief introduction and endorsement by the Royal United Service Institute, a British think tank, click to read.

Kozin: Under the current conditions, as well as in the more distant future, the implementation of the Three Seas Initiative looks impossible due to the deep contradictions that exist, and will continue to exist, between the potential participants of the project with this name.

Shlepchenko: For the sake of argument, lets assume this project will be implemented, and that in the end, with the exception of Hungary, the Eastern European countries will not retain so much of their sovereignty, while the Big Brothers in Washington and London compel them to give way. The economic benefits from such cooperation are quite real. In the light of this possibility, does it not turn out that the more successfully Poland is acting now, the more reason Moscow has to put it in line for demilitarization in the medium term?



Kozin: Russia is not in a position to carry out the demilitarization of all the NATO member states, and it does not set such tasks for itself. But to strengthen its defense against the military threat of the transatlantic alliance in the form of its combined forward-based forces, which include nuclear missileforces, anti-missile systems and general-purpose forces, Russia is obliged to achieve in the most effective way.

Shlepchenko: We are living in an era of geopolitical shifts on an epochal scale. The united West is split, the paths of the European Union and the United States are diverging more and more. In effect, the UK is waging hybrid war against continental Europe, using anti-Russian sanctions as a tool to strangle the German economy. Russia by itself is trying to break out of the geopolitical corner into which it was driven as a result of the collapse of the USSR.

The demolition of the old structures and blocs is accompanied by the construction of new ones. As part of this process, and for the first time in many centuries, the Eastern European countries have a chance to turn from being the anteroom of Western civilization and the eternally suffering buffer between Russia and real European power into a really significant geopolitical player with its own weight, unique opportunities, and directly injected into the geopolitical alignment of the global centres of power. Whether this scenario is realized or not is a debatable question. However, the fact that the East Europeans are working on its implementation is obvious.

The formation of an effective Three Seas Initiative will become a big geopolitical and economic problem for Russia, China and the Western European states. The new structure, simply by virtue of its geographical location, will try to establish tight control over the transit of Chinese goods and resources from Russia. In the modern system of the world distribution of labour, Europe is one of the two main producers of high technology and science-intensive products, Russia is the largest exporter of raw materials, and China is the main producer of consumer goods. By placing an organization interested in taking rent from transit flows on the transport routes between them, Great Britain and the US would receive an effective tool for direct control of the transcontinental trade and, accordingly, European industry; and for indirect control over the flow of European technologies to Russia and China.

For our country, the implementation of this scenario would mean a return to the situation at the beginning of the reign of Peter the Great. Moscow will either have to cut a window through to Europe again by force of arms, or make extraordinary efforts to develop its own high-tech industries, equalizing the value of economic interaction with European countries, and primarily with German industry. And it is this choice that will determine the paradigm within which events will develop in the next ten to fifteen years.
Yves here. Ive always been bothered by the fact that medical intake forms routinely ask for a designation of race. Perhaps I should put mixed race rather than Caucasian.

The tendency to deem certain races/gene pools are more likely to develop certain ailments is regularly overdone. But Tay-Sachs, once thought to occur only within the Ashkenazi Jewish population, is now occurring outside it. White people do get sickle-cell anemia.

By Rae Ellen Bichell, Kaiser Health News Colorado Correspondent, and previously, she was a radio reporter for the Mountain West News Bureau, KUNC and NPR, and Cara Anthony, Kaiser Health News Midwest Correspondent, who previously worked at the Belleville News-Democrat, The Indianapolis Star, The Frederick (Md.) News-Post, and the Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia). Originally published at Kaiser Health News

Several months ago, a lab technologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital mixed the blood components of two people: Alphonso Harried, who needed a kidney, and Pat Holterman-Hommes, who hoped to give him one.

The goal was to see whether Harrieds body would instantly see Holterman-Hommes organ as a major threat and attack it before surgeons could finish a transplant. To do that, the technologist mixed in fluorescent tags that would glow if Harrieds immune defense forces would latch onto the donors cells in preparation for an attack. If, after a few hours, the machine found lots of glowing, it meant the kidney transplant would be doomed. It stayed dark: They were a match.

I was floored, said Harried.

Both recipient and donor were a little surprised. Harried is Black. Holterman-Hommes is white.

Could a white person donate a kidney to a Black person? Would race get in the way of their plans? Both families admitted those kinds of questions were flitting around in their heads, even though they know, deep down, that its more about your blood type  and all of our blood is red, as Holterman-Hommes put it.

Harried and Holterman-Hommes reunited in 2021 ahead of Harrieds April 2022 kidney transplant, using one of Holterman-Hommes kidneys. (JOE MARTINEZ FOR KHN)

Scientists widely agree that race is a social construct, yet it is often conflated with biology, leaving the impression that a persons race governs how the body functions.

Its not just laypeople  its in the medical field as well. People often conflate race with biology, said Dr. Marva Moxey-Mims, chief of pediatric nephrology at Childrens National Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Shes not talking just about kidney medicine. Race has been used as a shorthand for how peoples bodies work for years across many fields  not out of malice but because it was based on what was considered the best science available at the time. The science was not immune to the racialized culture it sprung from, which is now being seen in a new light. For example, U.S. pediatricians recently ditched a calculation that assumed Black children were less likely to get a urinary tract infection after new research found the risk had to do with a childs history of fevers and past infections  not race. And obstetricians removed race and ethnicity from a calculation meant to gauge a patients ability to have a vaginal birth after a previous cesarean section, once they determined it was based on flawed science. Still, researchers say those race-based guidelines are just a slice of those being used to assess patients, and are largely based on the assumption that how a person looks or identifies reflects their genetic makeup.

Race does have its place during a doctors visit, however. Medical providers who give patients culturally competent care  the act of acknowledging a patients heritage, beliefs, and values during treatment  often see improved patient outcomes. Culturally competent doctors understand that overt racism and microaggressions can not only cause mental distress but also that racial trauma can make a person physically sick. Race is a useful tool for identifying population-level disparities, but experts now say it is not very useful in making decisions about how to treat an individual patient.

Because using race as a medical shorthand is at best imprecise and at worst harmful, a conversation is unfolding nationally among lawmakers, scientists, and doctors who say one of the best things patients can do is ask if  and how  their race is factored into their care.

Doctors and researchers in kidney care have been active recently in reevaluating their use of race-based medical guidance.

History is being written right now that this is not the right thing to do and that the path forward is to use race responsibly and not to do it in the way that weve been doing in the past, says Dr. Nwamaka Eneanya, a nephrologist with Fresenius Medical Care, who in a previous position with the University of Pennsylvania traced in the journal Nature the history of how race  a social construct became embedded in medicine.

The perception that there is such a thing as a Black or white kidney quietly followed patient and donor as Harried and Holterman-Hommes were on the path to the transplant  in their medical records and in the screening tests recommended.

Medical records described Harried as a 47-year-old Black or African American male and Holterman-Hommes as a 58-year-old, married Caucasian female. Harried does not recall ever providing his race or speaking with his physicians about the influence of race on his care, but for two years or more his classification as Black or African American was a factor in the equations doctors used to estimate how well his kidneys were working. As previous KHN reporting lays out, that practice  distinguishing between Black and non-Black bodies  was the norm. In fall 2021, a national committee determined race has no place in estimating kidney function, a small but significant step in revising how race is considered.

Dr. Lisa McElroy, a surgeon who performs kidney transplants at Duke University, said the constant consideration of race is the rule, not the exception, in medicine.

Medicine or health care is a little bit like art. It reflects the culture, she said. Race is a part of our culture, and it shows up all through it  and health care is no different.

McElroy no longer mentions race in her patients notes, because it really has no bearing on the clinical care plan or biology of disease.

Still, such assumptions extend throughout health care. Some primary care doctors, for example, continue to hew to an assumption that Black patients cannot handle certain kinds of blood pressure medications, even while researchers have concluded those assumptions dont make sense, distract doctors from considering factors more important than race  like whether the patient has access to nutritious food and stable housing  and could prevent patients from achieving better health by limiting their options.

Studying population-level patterns is important for identifying where disparities exist, but that doesnt mean peoples bodies innately function differently  just as population-level disparities in pay do not indicate one gender is fundamentally more capable of hard work.

If you see group differences  theyre usually driven by what we do to groups, said Dr. Keith Norris, not by innate differences in those groups. Still, medicine often continues to use race as a crude catchall, said Norris, a UCLA nephrologist, as if every Black person in America experiences the same amount and the same quantity of structural racism, individualized racism, internalized racism, and gene polymorphisms.

In Harried and Holterman-Hommes case, one striking example of race being used as shorthand for determining how peoples bodies work was an informational guide given to Holterman-Hommes that said African Americans with high blood pressure could not donate an organ, but Caucasians with high blood pressure might still qualify.

I cant believe they actually wrote that down, said Dr. Vanessa Grubbs, a nephrologist at the University of California-San Francisco. That worries Grubbs because using race as a reason to exclude donors can create a situation in which Black transplant recipients have to work harder to find a living donor than others would.

I do think that criteria such as these become barriers for transplantation, said Dr. Rajnish Mehrotra, head of nephrology at the University of Washington. He said that type of hypertension distinction could exclude potential donors  like the 56% of Black adults with high blood pressure in the U.S.  when more of them are sorely needed.

The inclusion of race did not necessarily affect Harrieds ability to receive a kidney, nor Holterman-Hommes ability to give him one. But following their case offers a glimpse into the ways race and biology are often cemented together.

The St. Louis Case

Harried and Holterman-Hommes met 20 years ago when they worked together at a nonprofit that serves youth experiencing homelessness in St. Louis. Harried was the guy who pulled kids out of their ruts and into a creative mindset, from which they would write poems and songs and do artwork. Holterman-Hommes said he was the calm in their storm. Harried calls Holterman-Hommes big stuff because she is the nonprofits CEO who keeps the lights on and the donations coming in. You never knew that she was the president of the company, said Harried. There wasnt an air about her.

Harried resigned in 2018 as his health declined. Then in 2021, Holterman-Hommes saw a KHN article about Harried and decided to see if she could help her former colleague. Although Holterman-Hommes mother was born with one kidney, she had lived a long and healthy life, so Holterman-Hommes figured she could spare one of her own.

As Holterman-Hommes explored becoming a donor candidate, initial tests showed high blood pressure readings, in addition to lower-than-ideal kidney function. But I like to get an A on a test, she said, so she redid both sets of tests, repeating the kidney function test after staying better hydrated and the blood pressure test after a big work deadline had passed. She moved on in the screening process after her results improved.

Grubbs wonders whether, if Holterman-Hommes had been Black, they would have just dismissed her. Grubbs shared an instance in which she suspects thats exactly what happened to the wife of a patient of hers in California who needed a kidney transplant.

The wife, who is Black and was in her 50s at the time, wasnt allowed to give the patient a kidney because of her hypertension.

There are people in this country that will tell you that, Oh, white people donate kidneys, Black people dont donate kidneys, and thats not true, said Mehrotra. You hear that racist trope. But [there are] all of these barriers to kidney donation.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital later said it had given Holterman-Hommes an outdated guide, an unfortunate circumstance that is being corrected, and provided a new one that does not say Black people with hypertension cannot donate. Instead, it says that people cannot donate if they have hypertension that was either diagnosed before age 40 or requires more than one medication to manage.

But at some point, it was a policy, said Harried, whose kidneys have been failing for several years. And its unclear how many years that outdated guidance shaped perceptions among those seeking care at Barnes-Jewish, which performs more living-donor kidney transplants per year than any other location in Missouri, according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.

There is little transparency into how medical centers incorporate race into their decision-making and care. Guidelines from the United Network for Organ Sharing, the national organization in charge of the transplant system, leave the door open for hospitals to exclude a donor with any condition that, in the hospitals medical judgment, causes the donor to be unsuitable for organ donation.

Tanjala Purnell, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health studying disparities in kidney transplantation, said she knows of several centers that used race-based criteria, though some have relaxed those rules, instead deciding case by case. Theres not a standard set to say, Well, no, you can absolutely not have different rules for different people, she said. We dont have those safeguards. Dr. Tarek Alhamad, medical director of the kidney program at the Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Transplant Center, said race-based criteria for kidney donations arent created to exclude Black people  it was born of a desire to avoid harming them.

African Americans are more likely to have end-stage renal disease, they are more likely to have end-stage renal disease related to hypertension. And they are more likely to have genetic factors that would lead to kidney dysfunction, said Alhamad.

Compared with white and Hispanic donors, non-Hispanic Black donors are known to be at higher risk for developing kidney failure because of their donation, though its still very rare.

He said it feels unethical to take a kidney from someone who may really need it down the line. This is our role as physicians not to do harm.

The Science

Researchers are studying a possible way to clarify who is really at risk in donating a kidney, by identifying specific risk factors rather than pinning odds on the vague concept of race.

Specifically, a gene called APOL1 could influence a persons likelihood of developing kidney disease. All humans have two copies of this gene, but there are different versions, or variants, of it. Having two risk variants increases the chance of kidney injury.

The risk variants are most prevalent in people with recent African ancestry, a group that crosses racial and ethnic boundaries. About 13% of African Americans have the double whammy of two risk variants, said Dr. Barry Freedman, chief of nephrology at the Wake Forest School of Medicine. Even then, he said, their fate isnt sealed  most people in that group wont get kidney failure. We think they need a second hit, like HIV infection, or lupus, or covid-19.

Freedman is leading a study that looks, in part, at how kidney donors with those risk variants fare in the long term.

This is really important because the hope is that kidneys wont be discarded or turned down as frequently, said Moxey-Mims, who is also involved in the research.

Researchers who are focused on health equity say that while APOL1 testing could help separate race from genetics, it could be a double-edged sword. Purnell pointed out that if APOL1 is misused  for example, if a transplant center makes a blanket rule that no one with two risk variants can donate, rather than using it as a starting point for shared decision-making, or if doctors offer the test based only on a patients looks  it could merely add another criterion to the list by which certain people are excluded.

We have to do our due diligence, said Purnell, to ensure that any effort to be protective doesnt end up making the pool of available donors for certain groups smaller and smaller and smaller. Purnell, McElroy, and others steeped in transplant inequities say that as long as race  which is a cultural concept defining how someone identifies, or how they are perceived  is used as a stand-in for someones ancestry or genetics, the line between protecting and excluding people will remain fuzzy.

Thats the heart of the matter here, said McElroy.

So where does race belong in kidney transplant medicine? Many of the physicians interviewed for this article  many of them people of color  said it primarily serves as a potential indicator of hurdles patients may face, rather than as a marker of how their bodies function.

For example, McElroy said she might spend more time with Black patients building trust with them and their families, or talking about how important living donations can be, similar to the ways she might spend more time with a Spanish-speaking patient making sure they know how to access a translator, or with an elderly patient emphasizing how important physical activity is.

The purpose is not to ignore the social determinants of health  of which race is one, she said. Its to try to help them overcome the race-specific or ethnicity-specific barriers to receiving excellent care.

While all the science gets sorted out, Eneanya is trying to get the message out to patients: Just ask the question: Is my race being used in my clinical care? And if it is, first of all, what race is in the chart? Is it affecting my care? And what are my options?

Just keep your eyes open, ask questions, said Harried.

In late April, a kidney from Holterman-Hommes body was successfully placed into Harrieds. Both are home now and say they are doing well.
The town of Abala in Ethiopia in 2015 (file photo).

Abala -- a border town between Tigray and Afar -- embodies the Tigray conflict like no other. Residents who used to be neighbors now accuse each other of committing massacres.

Decimated houses, as far as the eye can see, are the welcome sight that greets one while entering the town of Abala on the Tigray-Afar border. It feels like a ghost town in a Sci-fi movie.

In December 2021, Tigrayan fighters loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) attacked Abala.

Survivors who remained in the town told DW the Tigrayan fighters went from door to door, looted, and destroyed everything they could find.

As a result, broken glass still litters the street, and graffiti is painted on every other door or wall that reads 'TDF' (for Tigray Defence Forces) or 'Tigray winner.'

In some cases, other graffiti reads 'Afar' -- probably left behind by Afar militias, who staged a counter-attack on TPLF.

Looting, killing, and raping

Tahir Hassen, the mayor of Abala, remembers the day the TPLF came into his town: "They were firing heavy weaponry onto the city like rain," Hassen told DW, alleging that more than 225 people died as a result.

"They killed the elderly in their homes and others while they were escaping. Then, they followed them and killed them." They also raped five women."

He said those who stayed lived under the TPLF occupation for four months.

At a nearby cemetery, Mohammed Hussein, a local health official, showed DW mass graves. He said he had helped bury 58 civilians, among them eight children.

"These children were killed by shelling coming from TPLF. They were four, five years old and the oldest was six. I have a heavy heart. I will never forget this."

Even the elderly are not spared

"At the time, my son and I, as well as another elderly woman, were here together. I couldn't run because I am frail, I couldn't pay for transportation either because I didn't have money." Abeba, one of the displaced persons, told DW.

Abeba (not her real name for fear of reprisals) stayed, but the TPLF fighters confined her for two days in a detention camp. When she returned to her house, she found it in ruins.

"I am sure they will come back," Abeba said fearfully. "They told us if they feel threatened, they will come back."

Since March, afragile ceasefire between the federal government and the TPLF has been in place. In late April, TPLF fighters withdrew from Abala and other Afar territories, allowing aid convoys to enter the Tigray region.

But Abala's mayor Tahir Hassen says that TPLF never really left.

"They will come back once they have had enough food aid. When they've had enough, they will use [the aid] for war."

Massacre allegations

Abala had a mixed population of ethnic Tigrayans and Afar living together as neighbors, friends, and family. But now, both sides accuse each other of committing atrocities.

Tigray witnesses told DW that the Afar militia targeted and killed several Tigrayans. "Afar forces together with Afar residents shot Tigrayans and burnt their houses. They were targeting Tigrayans only," one witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

He said he only survived because his neighbor, an ethnic Afar, hid him in his house. "I was saved while other residents were killed." Another former resident said he had seen dead bodies of other Tigrayan residents he knew lying on the street.

Then they were told by Afar Special Forces that for their safety, they would be taken to the regional capital of Semera. Instead, the Afar fighters transported several thousands of them on lorries to Semera, where they were held in a detention site for more than five months.

Deplorable camp conditions

Jean Bosco, Head of Field Office at UNHCR in Semera, confirmed to DW that the group of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were moved from Abala to Semera were all of the Tigrayan ethnicity.

"The official information we got was [that they were moved] for their own safety -- which is understandable," Bosco said, adding that having a minority trapped in a conflict zone exposes that group to retaliation.

"But after moving them, is it valid to keep them in a detention-like condition?" the UNHCR official pondered. At least 70 people, including five children, have died in the camp due to a lack of medication and food.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Ethiopia Conflict By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

DW was not allowed to visit the camp, and local authorities repeatedly declined interview requests.

According to a former detainee, some people could leave the camp by paying bribes of up to 20.000 Ethiopian Birr ($380, 363), money that most the IDPs don't have.

The UN says a new camp has recently opened to ease congestion by taking in hundreds of people from Semera IDP Camp, But even there, people are not free to leave.

The Tigray crisis erupted on November 4 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered Ethiopian National Defense Forces to carry out a military offensive on TPLF regional forces. Abiy's move was in response to the TPLF attack on a federal military base in the northern frontier.

The clashes came after months of disputes between Abiy's government and TPLF leaders, who were once Ethiopia's dominant political party.

Since then, thousands have been killed, and more than 5 million people uprooted from their homes in 2021 -- the highest number of IDPs recorded in a year -- according to a recent report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu
(Natural News) Online meeting footage obtained by the Epoch Times revealed that activist group Shut Down D.C. plans on blocking access to the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on June 13 in protest of possibly overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade case.

The group is planning on sealing off all three vehicle entrances to the Court to keep the justices from getting in.

A video slide read that their goal is to create a decision dilemma, presenting the court, Congress, and law enforcement (and the political leaders that oversee them) with three unacceptable (to them) options. (Related: FULL LIST: Pro-abortion vandalism, church storming over possibility Roe v. Wade will fall.)

The groups presentation said that it would either stop the Supreme Court justices from entering the court; continue to escalate the crisis in democracy by making the police remove the demonstrators by force; or make the government implement its demands.

These protests are in response to the leaked Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson draft opinion that suggests the court may overturn the Roe v. Wade case. This new decision could allow states to make their own laws on abortion.

Protesters demonstrate outside Supreme Court

This brought a lot of anger, and protesters have demonstrated outside the Supreme Court for weeks. In a memo last month, the Department of Homeland Securitys intelligence arm warned of a sharp rise in threats to the High Court. Law enforcement also started investigating violent threats from pro-abortion extremists against the members of the Court, including the Court building itself.

The group will be blocking access to the Courts underground parking garage, which serves as the primary entry and exit point for employees and justices.

This plan calls for demonstrators to obstruct two points near the Court on the 2nd Street and a third on A Street, which bisects 2nd Street directly behind the court building. The A Street is a residential area, but 2nd street is a commuter thoroughfare.

Shut Down D.C. had also planned a rally in front of the Court on First Street, which lies between the U.S. Capitol and the Courts marble plaza. Organizers described the location as low-risk, which contrasts with the blockade posts where they anticipate arrests and skirmishes to happen.

Its possible we will see many different law enforcement agencies, as weve become used to, one of the organizers said.

Several agencies have jurisdiction over the area, including the Capitol Police and Washingtons Metropolitan police department.

The organizers acknowledged that their goal is to massively disrupt the Court. We may talk about some action ideas that stretch the bounds of constitutionally protected speech, one said during the online meeting.

Another advised fellow protesters to be careful in what they say. There can be people on any big call who might not have great intentions, so if there is something that you might not want to be seen on Fox News or any of the conservative news channels, you might not want to say it on this call, she said.

If the planning meetings attendance was any indication, at least 60 people will take part in the court blockade. Activists at the online meeting also suggested ways to block the courts three entrances, including mass sit-ins, big art, a lockdown, a dance party, a peoples assembly on the streets and a rally.

The prospect of overturning Roe v. Wade has sparked discussions about abortion access on the state level, where legislators would have substantial power to limit abortion rights.

An analysis found that 23 states have laws in place to limit abortions, including 13 that have trigger bans, which are designed to almost immediately enact near-total bans on abortion.

In case the decision of the Justices on June 13 does overturn the Roe v. Wade case, 16 states and the Washington, D.C. are expected to protect abortion access under state law by at least guaranteeing the right to get an abortion up to a certain point in a pregnancy. These states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Follow Abortions.news for more news related to abortion.

Watch the video below to know how abortion rights could have damaging effects on the economy.

This video is from the Children are NOT Sex Toys! channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Pro-abortion leftists DOX and TARGET conservative SCOTUS justices following leak of draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

Abortion industry pushing chemical pill to starve unborn in womb as fears rise SCOTUS will overturn Roe v. Wade.

Left-wing abortion terrorists vow to target conservative Supreme Court justices who signed on to draft repeal of Roe v. Wade.

Human rights organization says unborn babies arent human and have no rights.

Gavin Newsoms Abortion Council introduces legislation to permit INFANTICIDE before and after birth.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

FreeBeacon.com

KCRA.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Washington, D.C.-based think tank Brookings Institution suspended its president over a federal investigation for his alleged involvement in an illegal lobbying campaign in Qatar.

Brookings put its president, retired Marine General John Allen, on administrative leave beginning June 8. Ted Gayer, the think tanks executive vice president, will assume Allens duties for the duration of the erstwhile generals suspension. The military officer had also led forces under the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Afghanistan prior to his appointment as Brookings president in 2017.

Allens suspension followed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seizing his electronic data by authority of a search warrant. According to the bureau, Allen made false statements and withheld incriminating documents about his behind-the-scenes role during a 2017 diplomatic crisis involving Qatar and its neighbors. The retired generals actions subsequently played a role in influencing the Trump administrations stance toward Doha.

There is substantial evidence that these [Foreign Agents Registration Act] violations were willful, wrote FBI agent Babak Adib in the search warrants application.

Adib mentioned that Allen misrepresented his role in the lobbying campaign to U.S. officials. Allen also failed to disclose that he was simultaneously pursuing multimillion-dollar business deals with the government of Qatar. Furthermore, the now-suspended Brookings president had also given a false version of events about his work in Doha and had failed to produce relevant email messages in response to an earlier grand jury subpoena.

Interestingly, an affidavit filed by the FBI said Allen used his official Brookings email account for some of the exchanges.

The retired general declined to comment on the bureaus actions. He had earlier denied working for Doha and explained that his actions in 2017 sought to prevent another war in the Persian Gulf region that could jeopardize American troops.

Allens spokesman Beau Phillips said in a June 8 statement that the suspended Brookings president had done nothing improper or unlawful.

Through decades of public service in combat and diplomacy, Allen has earned an unmatched, sterling reputation for honor and integrity. We look forward to correcting the falsehoods about [him] that have been improperly publicized in this manner.

Brookings distanced itself from Doha despite receiving huge funding from it

The think tank itself announced the decision to put Allen on administrative leave in a June 10 press release. It clarified that Brookings is not the subject of a federal investigation into a personal trip Allen took to Qatar in 2017 before he became president of the institution.

Brookings seeks to maintain high ethical standards in all its operations, [and] has strong independence policies in place to ensure financial supporters do not influence the research findings or policy recommendations of its experts. The integrity and objectivity of Brookings scholars and their research constitute the institutions principal assets. (Related: US universities received $6.5 billion in undisclosed foreign gifts and contracts  including ones from China.)

The statement also reiterated that Brookings receives no funds from the government of Qatar, but acknowledged that it received money from Doha in the past to support operations for research and events  clearly pointing to a conflict of interest.

Established in 1916, Brookings is one of the most influential think tanks in the United States. It has had strong ties in Qatar since 2007, with the establishment of the Brookings Doha Center (BDC) funded by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The New York Times noted that in 2012, Doha noted in a news release that the BDCs role included reflecting the bright image of Qatar in the international media, especially the American ones. According to the Times, Qatar donated $14.4 million to the think tank over a span of four years.

While the non-profit Brookings is not required to disclose donations, it voluntarily does so  with its annual reports showing that Doha gave at least $2 million yearly from 2016 to 2021.

However, Brookings decided to stop taking any new donations from Qatar in 2019  while Allen was still president. Ties between the U.S. and Qatari branches of the think tank were mutually ended in 2021, with the BDC becoming the Middle East Council on Global Affairs.

Watch the One America News report below about the Brookings Institutions connection to the now-discredited Steele dossier.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

1984? Think tank group wants government to harvest your smartphone data to prevent mass violence.

How much money are US universities accepting as bribes from communist China?

Tucker Carlson outs fake conservative think tanks for doing Big Techs bidding.

Sources include:

MSN.com

APNews.com

Brookings.edu

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) A new study conducted by doctors from the University of Colorado found that the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine can cause vaccine-associated enhanced disease (VAED) in children.

Worse, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) knew this would happen. (Related: Pfizer, FDA knew their COVID vaccine causes immunosuppression, ADE, VAED.)

The study released on May 31 sought to prove that the COVID-19 vaccination efficiently protects children against multisystem inflammatory syndrome. Sadly, what the researchers found was a stark contrast.

A multisystem inflammatory syndrome is a condition that mostly affects children and creates hazardous inflammation all over the body, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes and digestive organs

The condition can be both serious and dangerous and experts have absolutely no idea what causes it. However, this hasnt stopped the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from citing the condition as a complication of the supposed COVID-19 disease.

The University of Colorado researchers conducted a comprehensive study of two fully vaccinated children in America who were diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome. The study revealed that these two children suffered horrible diseases, such as hyponatremia, thrombocytopenia, lymphopenia, sepsis, toxic shock syndrome and vasculitis.

Autoimmune disease occurs when the bodys natural defense system cant differentiate between a persons own cells and foreign cells, causing the body to wrongly attack normal cells.

The two previously healthy children received two doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 injection. And people know this now because its all in the secret Pfizer documents that the FDA has been forced to issue by court order.

VAED is a modified presentation of clinical infections affecting people exposed to a wild virus after having received a previous vaccination for the same virus.

Enhanced responses are activated by failed attempts to contain the infecting virus, and VAED usually presents with symptoms connected to the target organ of the infectious virus.

VAED happens as two different immunopathologies, namely antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) and vaccine-associated hypersensitivity (VAH).

In-depth research carried out by health experts through the years has brought to light increasing concerns about ADE, a phenomenon where vaccines make the disease even worse by coating the immune system for a likely fatal overreaction.

ADE can appear in various ways, but the most famous is called the Trojan Horse Pathway. This happens when non-neutralizing antibodies created by past infection or vaccination fail to deactivate the virus upon re-exposure. They then act as a gateway by enabling the virus to gain entry and replicate in cells that are mostly restricted by immune cells like macrophages. This can lead to broader dissemination of disease and over-reactive immune responses that cause more serious illness.

FDA tried to delay release of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine safety data

The FDA tried to delay the release of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine safety data for 75 years in spite of approving the injection after only 108 days of safety review on December 11, 2020.

However, in early January, District Judge Mark Pittman ordered them to deliver 55,000 pages per month.

Since that time the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency has posted all of the Pfizer documents on its website with the most recent drop happening last June 1.

Pfizers classified document is titled 5.3.6 Cumulative Analysis of Post-Authorization Adverse Event Reports of PF-07302048 (BNT162B2) Received Through 28-Feb-2021. The document, which Pfizer tried to hide, was delivered to the FDA as part of the companys biologics license application for its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

The document listed VAED and Vaccine-Associated Enhanced Respiratory Disease (VAERD) in a section titled Important Potential Risk.

Pfizer claimed in their confidential document that up to Feb 28, 2021, they had received 138 cases reporting 317 likely relevant events suggestive of VAED. Of these, 71 were medically significant resulting in eight disabilities, 13 serious events, and 38 of the 138 people died.

Of the 317 relevant events reported by 138 people, 135 were marked as drug ineffective, 53 as dyspnoea (struggling to breathe), 23 as COVID-19 pneumonia, eight as respiratory failure and seven as seizure.

Follow VaccineInjuryNews.com for more news about vaccine injuries.

Watch the video below to know more about the COVID-19 vaccine epidemic.

This video is from the The Gateway Beast channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Pfizer admits in confidential document that COVID-19 vaccine causes Vaccine-Associated Enhanced Disease (same thing as Antibody Dependent Enhancement).

TICKING TIME BOMBS: The fully vaccinated will experience enhanced disease when re-exposed to new coronavirus variants  study.

Mainstream media outlets in damage control as more Americans get sick and die after taking COVID-19 vaccines.

Scientist warns: mRNA vaccines will continue killing people, and those who survive will be NWO puppets  Brighteon.TV.

UK Government refuses to publish further COVID-19 Data because it suggests the Triple Vaccinated are developing AIDS & the Double Vaccinated are suffering ADE.

Sources include:

ExposeNews.com 1

Expose-news.com 2

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) A former congressman, who had been expelled from Congress and imprisoned for bribery in 1981, has pleaded guilty to committing vote fraud in five elections.

In a June 6 press release, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that former Rep. Michael Ozzie Myers (D-PA) admitted to conspiracy to deprive voters of civil rights, bribery, obstruction of justice [and] falsification of voting records. The department mentioned that the erstwhile member of Congress also admitted to conspiring to illegally vote in a federal election.

Myers pleaded guilty for orchestrating schemes to fraudulently stuff the ballot boxes for specific Democratic candidates during the Keystone States 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 elections. According to the DOJ, Myers bribed Domenick J. Demuro, a South Philadelphia election judge, to illegally pad the votes of certain candidates with close links to the lawmaker. Demuro was charged in May 2020 and subsequently pleaded guilty. (Related: FLASHBACK: Democrat political insider explains the ease with which he was able to commit vote fraud for years.)

The former congressman also conspired with Marie Beren, another election judge in South Philadelphia, to commit election fraud. She and Myers, alongside several other accomplices, illegally padded votes of candidates who had close links to or had hired the congressman. The election judge also falsified the polling books and list of voters in the city ward assigned to her. Just like Demuro, Beren was separately charged and pleaded guilty in October 2021.

Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. If even one vote has been illegally cast, or the integrity of just one election official is compromised, it diminishes faith in [the] process, said U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams.

Votes are not things to be purchased and democracy is not for sale. If you are a political consultant, election official, or work with the polling places in any way, I urge you to do your job honestly and faithfully. That is what the public deserves and what the federal government will enforce.

Myers previously served time for involvement in bribery scheme

Years before, Myers became entangled in the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) undercover Abscam operation. Initially targeting underworld figures in New York City who were dealing in stolen artwork, the operation expanded to target corrupt politicians. According to the FBI, one senator, six congressmen and more than a dozen other criminals and corrupt officials were arrested and found guilty  including Myers.

FBI agents bagged the former Pennsylvania congressman in 1979 after accepting bribe money, which was captured on videotape. The money was said to be from an Arab Sheikh  who was actually a fake persona created by the bureaus agents. Myers was expelled from Congress in a 376-30 vote in 1980, becoming the first member of the lower chamber to be expelled since 1861.

The former congressman was then sentenced to three years jail time and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. He was released from prison in 1985 after serving his sentence, establishing a political consultancy firm. Myers could find himself behind bars once more as he faces up to 20 years in prison for the vote fraud charges.

Aside from this, Myers had also been charged with assault and battery after attacking a motel security guard and a female cashier who had told him to keep his party quiet. He eventually pleaded no contest to a disorderly conduct charge related to the incident and subsequently received a six-month suspended sentence.

One thing you can say about Myers [is that] his values have long been out of whack, said Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBIs Philadelphia Division. Decades ago, he valued a fake sheikhs bribe more than the ethical obligations of his elected federal office. This time around, he valued his clients money and his own whims more than the integrity of multiple elections and the will of Philadelphia voters.

Watch this video of a Democratic voter in Philadelphia talking about vote fraud in his city below.

This video is from the vaticancatholic.com channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

How Democrats have become the party of vote fraud and stolen democracy.

Wisconsin disability service coordinator: Vote fraud rampant in assisted living facilities.

Mail-in votes in Michigan and Pennsylvania show evidence of coordinated vote fraud for Biden.

BUSTED: Election official dismissed vote fraud allegations as his county benefited from Zuckerberg-linked nonprofit.

Democrats are lying: Vote fraud IS real and its been occurring in THEIR cities for years, says an operative who ran ballot fraud operations for Dems.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

Justice.gov

PJMedia.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) In the 1950s, Ron Gollobin spent his time roaming wetlands at the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp with a boat and a motor. He spent most of his time in the swamps even though he loved the town.

Gollobin said he felt utter freedom while hunting for frogs, lizards, turtles and snakes.

In junior high, Gollobins interest in reptiles and amphibians picked up steam. His fascination with snakes also intensified under the tutelage of a classmate named John, an amateur herpetologist with a research-oriented approach to all cold and scaly creatures.

His reptilian education jumped from small, harmless snakes to deadly pit vipers. I clearly remember the first time John showed me how to handle a poisonous snake  a cottonmouth. I grabbed the snake behind the neck, and it instantly wrapped its body around my arm and began squeezing as if it was a constrictor. Maybe I was hooked, because even though I was scared, I started to enjoy it.

With Johns help, Gollobin built snake laboratory in his attic, which he populated with specimens in alcohol-filled jars. Essentially, he pickled the animals.

A 15-year-old in 1956, Gollobin found a get-rich-quick scheme in a newspaper article. Scientists at the time were looking for people who could bring them dried snake venom for $400 an ounce.

In my tender teenage years, more than one get-rich-quick scheme shook their flashy lures and hooked me on their shiny, sharp barbs, Gollobin shared. Despite comic and cosmic serial failures, coupled with persistent pigheadedness, nothing kept me from seeking the next shortcut to wealth  least of all, learning from experiences.

Gollobin started hunting for cottonmouths with business-like efficiency as he moved down the swamps methodically until his burlap sacks grew heavy with snakes that he will milk for their venom.

Week after week over the summer, he went from milking dozens of snakes to scoring hundreds. Unfortunately, that experience was a bust  he didnt know how to purify snake venom, so four months of death-defying work went down the drain. The crash of the cottonmouth harvesting scheme was complete.

Sixty-six years later, Gollobin found he is heartened by his own audacity and teenage nerve. I was always a risk-taker, always riding the edge, and catching cottonmouths taught me to remain calm in the rigidity of tense situations and were a good background for life in general, he said.

Coming from a middle-class family, he was usually seen comfortable running with rednecks or the more refined individuals. I was always a guy hovering between two worlds, and it served me well later in life.

From snake hunter to award-winning investigative reporter

Indeed, Gollobin found a less dangerous career  although less dangerous may be a stretch. Instead of hunting for snakes, he hunted for stories and became an investigative reporter and master in his field.

In Virginia, he revealed a National Guard commander selling stolen goods to the city of Portsmouth.

In New Jersey, he uncovered what was the largest bank fraud case in the state at the time (1972). This earned him a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize and he became a finalist for the story that sent two bank presidents to prison, essentially ending their corrupt reign.

He later moved to television and spent decades at the WCVB-TV Boston, where he won awards for investigative reporting, trial coverage, general assignments and breaking news stories. He won five Emmy Awards for his outstanding work.

After he left television, he became a consultant specializing in media training, crisis communication for national publications, politicians, state and federal governmental agencies and more.

Over six decades after the 1956 summer of cottonmouth farming, Gollobin still reflects on the days of his youth. I think about those days more and more. It was a crazy time in a young boys life that I can only compare to Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn. I had a charmed life in many senses, and it was a lucky way to grow up.

Sources include:

AgWeb.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) It is frighteningly easy to become an expert. When I was in my 20s and newly qualified I was regularly described as a world famous expert or a leading expert whenever I was quoted in the media.

At least I was only ever giving my opinion based on the facts which were available  I have never been paid or otherwise bribed to offer an opinion or a particular point of view.

(Article republished from Expose-News.com)

By Dr Vernon Coleman

There is a certain amount of irony in the fact that now I am much older, and I hope wiser and better informed, I am never invited to give my opinion on TV or radio shows or for the press.

The mainstream media prefers its experts to stick to the official and accepted line on whatever topic is under discussion.

What viewers, listeners and readers dont know is that many so-called experts have been bought and paid for, and when they open their mouths they are merely saying what theyve been told to say by their employers.

The drug industry has an army of doctors who will say whatever they are required to say  in return for a large cheque, a holiday abroad or a new television set. Special agencies offer these so-called experts to media groups who are looking for someone who can provide an apparently expert view.

Television reporters, radio presenters and newspaper journalists like the fact that these experts work free of charge because they are paid by their sponsors. The experts are known as rent a quote experts.

Poverty and Death

As the world races towards poverty it is vital to remember that poverty and death are inextricably linked.

In Africa and Asia, there are hundreds of millions of people dying because recent events  particularly the sanctions against Russia  have made them too poor to buy any food.

In the UK, all the people who drowned themselves in one stretch of the river Thames over a period of years had one thing in common  they were penniless.

Penury is a major cause of mental and physical illness.

And a major cause of death.

When people get poorer, more of them die. Many just starve to death. Many more eat cheap, fatty, bad-for-you food  if they can afford food at all.

They cant afford to keep warm in cold weather.

They are massively stressed.

Governments and central banks around the world know all this.

The conspirators working towards the Great Reset know this.

So, remember that the conspirators are planning to reduce the worlds population from 7.5 billion to 500 million.

And then ask yourself this question: are all the people running central banks and governments around the world incredibly stupid and incompetent or are they deliberately making people poor so that more of them will die.

Simple question.

But you know the answer as well as I do.

Microwave Ovens  a Menace to Your Health?

It isnt just the poor quality of the food we buy which makes us ill  damaging our immune systems and making us vulnerable to infections and to cancer.

The way we prepare our food can also have a dramatic effect on our health. Overcooking food can destroy the vitamin content, for example.

And consider the microwave oven.

There are millions of microwave ovens in use around the world. Unlike traditional ovens they work by using short wave electromagnetic radiation to heat up food.

But, although microwave ovens are widely sold, widely used and sit in millions of kitchens heating (and affecting) the food that people eat, neither governments nor manufacturers seem keen to provide or publish information showing exactly how safe these products are.

In my book Food for Thought (first published in 1994) I asked specific questions about microwave ovens.

The first questions were: Are the waves that are used to do the cooking harmful to human beings? and If any of the microwaves escape from the oven will they harm your health?

The other question, possibly even more alarming, was even simpler: Does using a microwave oven affect the food you at in any harmful way?

I found that even though the manufacturers didnt seem to have done much research work there was, nevertheless quite a good amount of research available.

In 1998 The Journal of Natural Science published an extremely significant paper dealing with the effects of microwaves on humans. The paper, was written by William Kopp, who worked at the Atlantis Rising Educational Center in Portland, Oregon from 1977 to 1979 and who, while working there, gathered together early documents detailing what was then known about the harmful effects of microwave ovens on human beings.

By writing this paper Kopp annoyed a powerful lobby. According to the Journal of Natural Science he subsequently changed his name and disappeared. This may sound dramatic but I have met another researcher who examined the dangers of microwave ovens who has been subjected to threats, and whose attempts to publicise the truth about microwave ovens has been met with lawsuits and other attempts to silence him.

Kopp reported that microwave ovens were originally developed by the Nazis for use by mobile support operations during the planned invasion of the Soviet Union. The aim was to eliminate the logistical problem of finding cooking fuels  as well as to cut down cooking times. The initial German research was conducted by the Germans in 1942-3 at the Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin.

After the end of World War II, wrote Kopp, the Allies discovered the medical research which related to microwave ovens. Experimental microwave equipment was transferred both to the US War Department and to the Soviet Union for investigation. In the Soviet Union research work was done at the Institute of Radio Technology at Kinsk and the Institute of Radio Technology at Rajasthan.

It was in the Soviet Union that most of the research was done and published. And it was the Soviet Union, reported Kopp, which found that a human did not even need to ingest microwaved food substances to be in danger, because even exposure to the energy field itself was sufficient to cause serious adverse side effects.

Kopp pointed out that Soviet scientists were so alarmed about the hazards associated with microwave ovens that the Soviet Union produced a state law in 1976 which forbad the use of any microwave apparatus.

Here is a list of some of the adverse effects listed by the Soviet scientists back in the 1970s as having been observed when human beings were exposed to microwaves.

A destabilisation in the production of hormones and the maintenance of hormone balance in both males and females.

Brainwave disturbance in the alpha, theta and delta wave signal patterns.

A breakdown of the human life energy field.

A degeneration and destabilisation of internal cellular membrane properties.

A degeneration and breakdown of electrical nerve impulses within the cerebrum.

A long term cumulative loss of vital energies within humans, animals and plants which were located within a 500m radius of the operational equipment.

Long lasting residual effects in the nervous system and lymphatic systems.

Negative psychological effects (produced as a result of the brain wave pattern changes) which included: loss of memory, loss of ability to concentrate, changes in intellect and emotional responses and sleep disturbances.

More recently obtained evidence seems to confirm that the danger of microwave ovens is not confined to what happens to the food that is cooked inside them.

Despite the protective shields with which they may be fitted microwave ovens give out extra low frequency electromagnetic fields which may be high enough to produce lymphatic cancer in children.

And when white blood cells are exposed to the sort of electromagnetic fields given out by microwave ovens their ability to fight disease may be reduced dramatically.

Back in the early 1990s there were already over 7,000 scientific publications in existence dealing with the health damage caused by short wave transmitters. The damage to cells and cell membranes caused by electromagnetic fields has been well known to scientists for years. (Although, naturally, the electrical and telecommunications industries have steadfastly followed the early example of the tobacco industry and denied that their products could possibly cause cancer or, indeed, any other serious health problem).

The scientists who examined food which had been cooked in microwave ovens came across a number of serious problems. Here is a summary, listed in William Kopps paper in the Journal of Natural Science of some of the serious changes which have been identified:

In a statistically high percentage of persons, microwaved foods caused stomach and intestinal cancerous growths, as well as a gradual breakdown of the function of the digestive and excretive systems.

When meat was heated sufficiently for eating a cancer causing agent was created.

Cancer causing agents in milk and cereal grains were produced.

Eating food that had been heated by microwave resulted in a higher percentage of cancer cells within the blood.

Microwave emissions caused serious alterations to frozen fruits when they were thawed in a microwave oven.

Changes took place in raw, cooked or frozen vegetables when they were exposed to microwaves for extremely short periods of time.

Because of chemical changes which had taken place in food that was heated in a microwave oven human lymphatic systems malfunctioned with a result that the human body did not adequately protect itself against some types of cancerous growth.

In addition, scientists have found that microwave heating also causes significant decreases in the nutritive value of all foods researched.

Among other serious problems they found that there was a drop in the availability of B complex vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E and essential minerals in foods that had been heated in a microwave oven.

The September 1998 edition of The Journal of Natural Science contained yet more evidence drawing attention to the possible hazards associated with microwave ovens.

In 1990 researchers in Berlin found that all the microwave ovens it tested emitted microwaves while operating.

As far as microwaves are concerned the most sensitive part of the body is the lens in the eye. Anyone who operates a microwave oven (particularly at eye level) which leaks could go blind.

Studies with broccoli and carrots have revealed that cell structures are destroyed in the microwave oven. (In conventional ovens the cell walls remain intact.)

Cooking in a microwave oven creates free radicals  known to be a possible cancer trigger.

Food cooked in a microwave oven may be cooked unevenly  leaving possible cold spots inside the food. This may result in the possible development of listeria or salmonella infection.

Water samples were heated, both conventionally and in a microwave oven. The water samples were then used to help grain germinate. Grain did not germinate when in contact with water which had been heated in a microwave oven.

At the end of the 1980s it was reported that there was an increased incidence of malformations among children of mothers exposed to microwave ovens.

In 1991 a patient in Oklahoma is alleged to have died of anaphylaxis after receiving a blood transfusion with blood warmed in a microwave oven. It is claimed that the microwave irradiation had altered the blood and thereby caused the patients death.

Scientists have discovered that microwaving human breast milk at high temperatures produced a marked decrease in activity of all the tested anti-infective factors naturally present in breast milk. The growth of E.coli was 18 times that observed in normal human breast milk.

In 1989 the Swiss biologist Dr Hans Hertel, together with another researcher, conducted a study on the effects of microwaved food which proved that food which had been cooked in a microwave oven caused significant changes in the blood. The authors noted that these changes indicated the beginning of a pathological process (e.g. the beginning of cancer). Afterwards the second researcher, who had worked with Dr Hertel, disassociated himself from the results and his earlier interpretation of the results. In a private letter to Dr Hertel the second researcher admitted that he feared consequences and that the safety of his family was more important to him than anything else.

The October/November 1998 issue of Nexus magazine reported that a physicist had presented research showing that the human body generates and emits its own low intensity radiation.

The physicist claimed that the human bodys metabolism generates its own electromagnetic field. The weak emissions of light which are produced by the body are an outward sign of an orderly, functioning metabolism. This research opens up another series of questions about the effect external sources of microwave radiation may have on living tissues.

Back in the 1990s it seemed perfectly clear to me that microwave ovens should be banned. And any such ban should only be lifted if the manufacturers were prepared to do research which either showed that these original research findings were inaccurate or showed that there are ways to counteract the problems.

But even then the manufacture and sale of microwave ovens was big business and these convenient items have become fixtures in canteens, restaurants, hotels and homes all over the world.

In The Journal of Natural Science Dr Hertel points out that: research of the biological effects of electromagnetic fields on life, especially connected with technical microwaves, is successfully being suppressed. Such research projects are, therefore, only possible on a private basis while the relevant authorities do everything they can to keep the findings from the public, denying them, making them look ridiculous or dismissing them as non-scientific.

I believe that Dr Hertel was absolutely right.

Mainstream newspapers, magazines, television and radio have consistently ignored or denied the threat posed by microwave ovens. Politicians have refused to ask for these devices to be properly tested. In my experience, attempts to publicise the possible hazards (and the fact that the industry making and selling microwave ovens has never done adequate testing on the effects on human health) seem to have been met with more concern for the health of the microwave industry than for the health and safety of consumers.

Back in January 1990 I warned, in a newspaper article, that thousands could die every year from the effect of food cooked in microwave ovens. I pointed out that it could be many years before the damage done by microwave ovens could be fully assessed and added that I was appalled that manufacturers had not fully tested microwave ovens.

In the UK the BBC broadcast a programme attacking me for this warning and blaming me as the source of a scare about the heating of milk in microwave ovens. My offer to appear on the programme to discuss the issue and defend my point of view was rejected.

My complaint about the BBCs Food and Drink programme was duly upheld by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission which described the BBC programme as unfair.

These days, the risks associated with microwave ovens appear to have been pretty well hushed up.

There is a good deal of reassurance available. But sadly not much in the way of research.

The only people who would pay for such research are the people making microwave ovens.

And why would they pay for research which might be an embarrassment, to say the least?

Read more at: Expose-News.com
(Natural News) The mysterious hepatitis targeting children continues to wreak havoc around the world.

Hundreds of cases worldwide have been confirmed by investigators and more American states have been reporting cases lately. U.S. federal authorities said they are investigating 274 likely child hepatitis cases based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has reported cases of unidentified origin in 39 states. It is not clear what is happening with the hepatitis outbreak according to officials in the United States and other nations.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed more than 700 possible cases of child hepatitis during a news conference on June 8. The WHO said at least 38 cases have required liver transplants while 10 have died. The United Nations (UN) agency added that there are another 99 cases that need to be classified.(Related: UNKNOWN hepatitis strain found in 169 vaccinated children from 11 countries.)

On June 9, the Kentucky Department of Public Health confirmed six cases of child hepatitis of mysterious origin in the state.

The WHO said these hepatitis cases have been more serious and a higher proportion of patients have developed acute liver failure compared with previous reports of acute hepatitis of unknown etiology in children.

While adenovirus is a plausible hypothesis as part of the pathogenesis mechanism further investigations are ongoing for the causative agent; adenovirus infection (which generally causes mild self-limiting gastrointestinal or respiratory infections in young children) does not fully explain the more severe clinical picture observed with these cases, the UN health agency said.

Virus vector used in COVID-19 vaccines found in diagnosed children

During a previous CDC reporting about hepatitis cases in Alabama, it was revealed that the nine children diagnosed with the mysterious hepatitis all tested positive for adenovirus, which is a common virus that causes cold-like symptoms. Interestingly, the virus vector being used in the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines is an adenovirus.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver and is commonly caused by a viral infection. The hepatitis A, B and C viruses are usually linked with the condition, although officials say that liver inflammation can also be caused by long-term or heavy alcohol usage, drug overdoses, prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs and toxins.

Symptoms of hepatitis include jaundice or the yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dark-colored urine, joint pain, a loss of appetite, fever and fatigue.

Serious cases resulting in liver failure are particularly rare in children, so clinicians in the United Kingdom naturally became worried when they saw an increase in such cases with no cause. The common hepatitis viruses have not been detected in any of the children affected.

This is definitely unusual, and I cant think of many times in my career where we have faced something like this. Whats unusual is that its fulminant hepatitis, which basically means the liver has failed completely in these children. Thats extremely rare in childhood. And it has put us all on high alert, said Asha Bowen, a clinician at Perth Childrens Hospital in Australia and an infectious diseases researcher at Telethon Kids Institute.

The children were mostly healthy before becoming sick and being diagnosed. Their hepatitis was described as severe and acute by the WHO.

A lot of the children suffered from gastrointestinal symptoms like abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting. Some also had jaundice, a condition caused by liver damage.

Adenoviruses were discovered in more than 70 of the children, while 20 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Follow Outbreak.news for more news about the hepatitis outbreak in children.

Watch the video below to know more about the worldwide child hepatitis scare.

This video is from the Truth or Consequences channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Pfizers COVID vaccine responsible for hepatitis outbreak in children.

Covid vaccines are causing severe autoimmune hepatitis in children.

Athletes dropping dead, children contracting hepatitis: Are COVID jabs to blame?

FDA probes alkaline water seller in Nevada over hepatitis and liver damage links.

This Cameroonian medicinal plant can keep your liver healthy and prevent acute hepatitis.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

TheGuardian.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) was preparing for the monkeypox outbreak as early as March 2021, when it conducted a tabletop exercise simulating its spread through the United States.

The NTI is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by former Georgia Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn and media billionaire and CNN co-founder Ted Turner.

The NTI partnered with the Munich Security Conference (MSC), a nonprofit that holds a yearly conference on international security policy in Germany, during last years virtual exercise, held on March 17. The NTI and MSC summarized their key findings and actionable recommendations in the tabletop exercise and released this report back in November. (Related: Monkeypox outbreak could be used to justify expansion of medical surveillance.)

To aid the NTI in its simulation, it gathered a panel of 19 experts, including representatives of the American and Chinese governments, officials from the World Health Organization and the United Nations and researchers from Big Pharma companies and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This simulation was also sponsored by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his charity organization, Open Philanthropy.

NTI simulates release of lab-enhanced monkeypox virus

The fictional scenario was meant to simulate a bioterror attack similar to what happened in the 1995 movie 12 Monkeys, wherein a group of eco-terrorists released a deadly virus that wiped out most of humanity.

The NTIs scenario gamed out what would happen if a lab-enhanced monkeypox virus was secretly released and ended up spreading worldwide during a 19-month-long pandemic.

The simulations imaginary launch date was May 15, with cases beginning to emerge a month later, resulting in more than three billion infections and 271 million deaths by the end of the exercise.

It should be noted that the simulations launch date coincides with the start of the first international outbreak of monkeypox, which currently has around 1,000 confirmed or suspected cases across at least 40 countries, including the United States, which has 45 confirmed cases in 15 states and the District of Columbia.

NTI denies it predicted monkeypox outbreak

The NTIs decision to use monkeypox for its fictional scenario, along with the timeline it used, has led many to speculate whether the nonprofit predicted the current monkeypox outbreak.

NTI immediately denied all of the accusations leveled against the organization in statements released on the groups website and in interviews given by its leading members. It has gone so far as to accuse many of its detractors of spreading disinformation.

Some social media activities have included disinformation about our exercise, wrote the group on its website. The key takeaway from our exercise is not the specific pathogen in our fictional scenario; its the fact that the world is woefully unprepared to guard against future pandemics.

We wanted to select a pathogen that would be a plausible fit for our fictional scenario, and we chose monkeypox from a range of options offered by our expert advisors, said NTI Vice President of Global Biological Policy and Programs Jaime Yassif. The fact that several countries are currently experiencing an outbreak of monkeypox is purely a coincidence.

Learn more about the monkeypox outbreak by reading the latest articles at Outbreak.news.

Watch this clip from The Stew Peters Show and learn more about the Nuclear Threat Initiative and its preparations for the monkeypox outbreak.

This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

WHO says monkeypox outbreak unlikely to turn into next global pandemic.

Despite media claims, Americans shouldnt be concerned about monkeypox  Brighteon.TV.

Why did the government buy 13 million monkeypox vaccines from a biotech company backed by Fauci?

RIGGED: Government spends $119 million for monkeypox vaccines following ONE confirmed case in US.

New engineered pandemic: US buys millions of vaccines as monkeypox outbreak hits Europe and North America.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

NYPost.com

Newsweek.com

WSJ.com

NTI.org
(Natural News) Remember earlier in the year when the puppets in Washington, D.C., told us all that there were no United States-run bioweapons laboratories in Ukraine? Well, the story has changed and now the Pentagon says that it does, in fact, run several dozen biolabs in Ukraine  46, to be exact.

The new narrative is that these biolabs are peaceful efforts to improve nuclear and radiological safety and security, disease surveillance, chemical safety and security, and readiness to respond to epidemics and pandemics such as COVID-19.

For the past 20 years, the Pentagon now admits, U.S.-run biolabs in Ukraine have been operating to protect public health, not to develop bioweapons like the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19). And anyone who says otherwise, including Russia and China, is spreading disinformation and sowing mistrust about Americas brave and virtuous efforts to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

A Biden regime Department of Defense (DoD) fact sheet claims that the U.S. has never done anything in Ukraine other than to try to save more lives by taking big, bad weapon procurements out of Russia and basically storing them in Ukraine for safekeeping.

The Pentagon insists that the U.S. has worked collaboratively to improve Ukraines biological safety, security, and disease surveillance for both human and animal health by providing support to 46 peaceful Ukrainian laboratories, health facilities, and disease diagnostic sites over the last two decades.

The purpose of these programs was not to develop deadly bioweapons for unleashing in cash-grabbing and power-amassing plandemics. No, the real purpose, the Pentagon claims, involves improving public health and agricultural safety measures at the nexus of nonproliferation.

Russia provides evidence while the U.S. provides empty words

None of this, of course, jives with what Russia is saying about the matter. The Russian Federation had to engage a special operation to deal with the problem inside Ukraine, and now says it may have to expand that into a sweeping demilitarization move against NATO.

Not everything that went on inside the Pentagons biolabs was done with international support, however. The Pentagon says that activities were often carried out in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other globalist entities  but not always.

Russias Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who heads up the countrys Radioactive, Chemical, and Biological Protection Forces, says that only three of Ukraines many biolabs possess the required safety criteria to even be undertaking the type of research they claim to have been conducting.

The reason why Russias version of events is more trustworthy than U.S.-NATOs is that the Russian military continues to provide actual evidence that the Pentagon has been engaged in shady, illegal, and treasonous activities, including inhumane experiments on Ukrainian patients.

The Pentagon has also unleashed numerous biological attacks in Ukraine, including one against the breakaway territory of Lugansk back in early May. There were also attempts made back in February in Ukraine to weaponize drones to spread pathogens as well as efforts to destroy evidence of wrongdoing at the biolabs.

Between 2005 and early 2022, the US poured more than $224 million into biological research in Ukraine, according to Russias Investigative Committee, Great Game India reports. According to Moscow, the conspiracy involved Western pharmaceutical giants, organizations, and even the Democratic Party of the United States.

For revealing this and other damning information about U.S. activities in Ukraine, Bidens DoD is accusing Russia, with the help of China, of attempting to undermine that work by spreading disinformation and sowing mistrust in the people and institutions all over the world that contribute to the reduction of WMD threat.

In response to these accusations, China has asked the U.S. to explain its actions in a fair, objective, and professional manner.

The latest news about operations in Ukraine can be found at Treason.news.

Sources for this article include:

GreatGameIndia.com

Defense.gov

NaturalNews.com
analysis

Drought, COVID-19 and the Russian war against Ukraine are fomenting a hunger crisis in Africa. The continent has enough fertile soil and water to meet its own needs, but there are many hurdles preventing this.

The crisis that erupted in February 2022 was European. However, the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops set in motion developments that have hit Africa hard. The supply of grain and other agricultural products collapsed in one fell swoop, highlighting how dependent large parts of the continent still are on imports.

"The Ukraine conflict, but also the coronavirus pandemic, have shown how our food systems are not working for the poorest," Sara Mbago-Bhunu, of the United Nations agency International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), told DW.

According to the Tanzanian economist, the financial burden on individual households had already risen sharply as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. She said that between 60 and 70% of people's income was now spent on food. "Households of five or six have to weigh what they can afford and will probably turn to less nutritious products that are cheaper," she added. Experts agree that the system needs to be reformed urgently. They tout an approach that would change the whole process of getting produce from the farmer to the dinner table.

Africa's potential

Many African countries, including Zambia, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have the potential to become food exporters, said Mbago-Bhunu. They could produce more than they need for their own markets simply because of their large swaths of arable land.

One cannot really say that the region is a "breadbasket" because conditions are not ideal for growing wheat and other common cereals used to make bread. However, cereals such as millet and sorghum ARE grown in abundance, as well as a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. In some areas, livestock farming could produce meat and dairy products on a large scale.

But there would be several hurdles to overcome for this to happen. For example, it would be necessary to change much-used farming methods, such as slash-and-burn, which have depleted the soil. Water reservoirs in southern Africa would urgently need to be protected to enable agriculture, said Mbago-Bhunu.

It would also be necessary to exploit various existing technologies to improve yields per hectare. Other experts say that local investment and knowledge transfer, for instance, on drip irrigation and the use of fertilizers, are also needed.

Free trade for regional consumption

Harvesting represents a further challenge. There is a shortage of much-needed labor. Young people in search of work are increasingly drawn to cities.

Furthermore, products must reach the consumer. Kamassah Felix Mawuli is the director of a Ghanaian agricultural company, which grows a wide range of products, from tubers such as sweet potatoes, yams, and cassava to tomatoes, peppers, and herbs such as basil and mint. He is also the head of the Association of Ghanaian Exporters, and though he would like to supply the region, most of his customers are in Europe because transport routes within Africa are poor, he told DW.

"If I'm going to Sudan from Ghana, it will take me 13 to 14 hours," he said. "If I'm going to Europe, in six hours I'm there. [... ] "You would be surprised to find that airfreight from Ghana to other neighboring countries is more expensive than going to Europe."

It was traders like Kamassah Felix Mawuli who advocated for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which was signed a few years ago. But so far, it has had little effect, and traders complain that it is not only a matter of imposing tariffs: Massive infrastructure development would be needed to prevent goods from spoiling on their way to regional markets.

Kamassah Felix Mawuli is hoping for investment and more support from the African Union and its member states.

Farmers and traders must join forces

Much more needs to be done to make Africa's food production competitive, agreed Francisco Mari from the Germany-based non-governmental organization Brot fur die Welt (Bread for the World) (I found it described thus in a different DW article.) For example, the resilience of small farmers must be strengthened, he said. He said that this was all the more the case, given that factors such as climate fluctuations and extreme weather events meant farmers were taking a major risk if they moved to large-scale cultivation.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Africa Agribusiness Food and Agriculture By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

"We would be happy if the world would allow Africa to feed itself, that the great diversity of food production could be used, and that local markets could be supplied by African producers," Mari said. Instead, he explained, there is fierce competition from European products that are often heavily subsidized in African markets, which has led to dependency. Now, he said, the focus lies on imported wheat instead of locally grown grains.

According to Mari, better energy supplies and access to innovative technologies that would allow African farmers to network with traders and gain access to food auctions are important.

Government intervention has sometimes led to quick success, said IFAD expert Sara Mbago-Bhunu. For instance, in Kenya: After the government introduced high import duties on powdered milk, national milk production became competitive in a very short time.

This article was adapted from German
(Natural News) Twitter has imposed a weeklong suspension on the account of writer and political activist Danny Haiphong for a thread he made on the platform disputing the mainstream Tiananmen Square massacre narrative.

(Article by Caitlin Johnstone republished from CaityJohnstone.Medium.com)

Twitter has imposed a weeklong suspension on the account of writer and political activist Danny Haiphong for a thread he made on the platform disputing the mainstream Tiananmen Square massacre narrative.

The notification Haiphong received informed him that Twitter had locked his account for Violating our rules against abuse and harassment, presumably in reference to a rule the platform

put in place a year ago which prohibits content that denies that mass murder or other mass casualty events took place, where we can verify that the event occured, and when the content is shared with abusive intent.

Specifically, we do not permit the denial of violent events, including abusive references to specific events where protected categories were the primary victims. This policy now covers targeted and non-targeted content. https://t.co/leiuuyqDbE  Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) June 1, 2021

This may include references to such an event as a hoax or claims that victims or survivors are fake or actors, Twitter said of the new rule. It includes, but is not limited to, events like the Holocaust, school shootings, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters.

That we are now seeing this rule applied to protect narratives which support the geostrategic interests of the US-centralized empire is not in the least bit surprising.

The US government thought police at Twitter locked journalist Danny Haiphong @SpiritofHos account, threatening to suspend him because he contradicted the Western propaganda narrative on Tiananmen, calling it abuse. There is only free speech for US regime propagandists here pic.twitter.com/t9CeCGIBeK  Benjamin Norton (@BenjaminNorton) June 5, 2022

Haiphong is far from the first to dispute the mainstream western narrative about exactly what happened around Tiananmen Square in June of 1989 as the Soviet Union was crumbling and Washingtons temporary Cold War alignment with Beijing was losing its strategic usefulness. But we can expect more acts of online censorship like this as Silicon Valley continues to expand into its role as guardian of imperial historic records.

This idea that government-tied Silicon Valley institutions should act as arbiters of history on behalf of the public consumer is gaining steadily increasing acceptance in the artificially manufactured echo chamber of mainstream public opinion. We saw another example of this recently in Joe Laurias excellent refutation of accusations against Consortium News of historic inaccuracy by the imperial narrative management firm NewsGuard.

As journalists like Whitney Webb and Mnar Adley noted years ago, NewsGuard markets itself as a news rating agency designed to help people sort out good from bad sources of information online, but in reality functions as an empire-backed weapon against media who question imperial narratives about whats happening in the world.

The Grayzones Max Blumenthal outlined the companys many partnerships with imperial swamp monsters like former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and chief propagandist Richard Stengel as well as imperialist cutouts like the German Marshall Fund when its operatives contacted his outlet for comment on their accusations.

Corporate/national security state censorship operation @NewsGuardRating is preparing to blacklist several anti-imperialist sites including @TheGrayzoneNews. We will not grovel for approval from spooks that rated CNN highly & deny the US backed a coup in Ukraine. My response: pic.twitter.com/ZOwIf9zkn3  Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) April 27, 2022

Lauria compiles a mountain of evidence in refutation of NewsGuards claim that Consortium News published false content about the 2014 US-backed coup in Ukraine, copiously citing outlets which NewsGuard itself has labeled accurate sources of information with its green check designation system. It becomes clear as you read the article that NewsGuards real function is, as John Kiriakou put it, guarding the country from the news.

US State-Affiliated NewsGuard Targets Consortium News https://t.co/pAT3ZofeNw  Consortium News (@Consortiumnews) June 3, 2022

Then youve got Wikipedia, which blacklists the same sites as NewsGuard and whose operatives run relentless smear campaigns on anti-imperialist voices, thereby guaranteeing a view of history that is wildly tilted in the favor of empire-authorized narratives. Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, also happens to serve on NewsGuards advisory board.

This idea that anyone can ever be an impartial arbiter of objective reality is logically fallacious and is invalidated by facts in evidence. It is clear that imposing regulations on peoples efforts to understand world events on the platforms where people have come to congregate to share ideas and information will necessarily lead to an information ecosystem that is skewed to the benefit of whatever power structure is imposing those regulations. When that power structure is an alliance of oligarchs and government proxies whose interests are served by the ongoing dominance of the US-centralized empire, the information ecosystem will be biased in favor of that empire.

The most impressive feat of engineering in the 21st century has been of the social variety. The social engineering necessary to continually keep people confused and blinkered about whats going on in the world despite a sudden influx of information availability is one of the most astonishing achievements in the history of civilization, despite its depraved and destructive nature.

The empire has had mixed feelings about the internet since its creation. On one hand it allows for unprecedented surveillance and information gathering and the rapid distribution of propaganda, which it likes, but on the other it allows for the unprecedented democratization of information, which it doesnt like.

Its answer to this quandary has been to come up with fact checking services and Silicon Valley censorship protocols for restricting misinformation (with facts and information defined as whatever advances imperial interests). Thats all were seeing with continually expanding online censorship policies, and with government-tied oligarchic narrative management operations like NewsGuard.

Read more at: CaityJohnstone.Medium.com
(Natural News) It is hard to believe that the British once ruled an empire that stretched from sunrise to sunset around the globe given the woke, nonsensical, unserious country it has become.

Police in Essex climbed aboard the virtue-signaling wagon last week by posting a photo of officers gleefully raising a pride flag to show their solidarity with the LGBTQ community.

We celebrate diversity by raising the Pride Progress flag for #PrideMonth at our HQ & to honour those who championed for equality before us! #WeValueDifference #PoliceinPride, tweeted Essex Police.

But the force followed that up with a threat: Were monitoring our posts. All hate crime will be reported & investigated.

Message: Agree with our political positions and virtue-signaling nonsense or well punish you.

We celebrate diversity by raising the Pride Progress flag for #PrideMonth at our HQ & to honour those who championed for equality before us! #WeValueDifference #PoliceinPride https://t.co/rOXvmf2B7G *Were monitoring our posts. All hate crime will be reported & investigated* pic.twitter.com/iYYwJiheXQ  Essex Police (@EssexPoliceUK) June 6, 2022

Several who responded to the police tweet pointed out the lunacy of their wasting time and resources on offensive social media posts while people in their city are being stabbed on the street in broad daylight.

And who defines hate crime? You? asked one respondent. What qualifies you to do that? You dont even know what youre being paid to do anymore.

Are you seriously threatening the population that if we dont comply to your ideology and speak out an objection, youll investigate us? Wow. Too bad you dont put that kind of passion into stopping grooming gangs from raping young girls, said another user.

Doing something so popular that you have to warn people youre monitoring your posts for hate crime (not a real crime btw), another user said.

Summit News adds:

People in the UK are routinely investigated and sometimes charged by police for hate crimes that have become so broad, anyone from a minority group who claims they were offended is enough for authorities to treat and record it as a hate incident.

Back in 2015, the head of the National Police Chiefs Council said that due to a lack of resources, officers would be unable to attend some burglaries. In 2018, it was revealed that two-thirds of burglaries are not even investigated.

However, resources always seem to be available when it comes to policing thoughts and words.

By comparison, however, in 2017 a report noted that British police arrested 3.395 people for offensive online comments in a single year. Two years later Harry Miller, a former police officer, was interrogated for about 30 minutes for the high crime of liking a tweet that was deemed offensive by people in the transgender community.

In the summer of 2021, Summit News reported, West Midlands Police were blasted for bragging on Twitter about arresting a 12-year-old boy who allegedly sent offensive messages on social media. And a video from 2020 shows plainclothes police officers questioning a man at his home after he reportedly posted offensive comments on Facebook regarding a political discussion.

As we highlighted last year, Merseyside Police were forced to respond after officers took part in an electronic ad campaign outside a supermarket which claimed being offensive is an offence, with authorities later clarifying that it is in fact not an offense, Summit News added.

These are not serious people, which means Britain is no longer a serious country, caught up in its own cycle of woke societal rules that other supposedly guaranteed rights and protections are literally being trampled in their endless pursuit of being woke and politically correct enough.

The nature of expression, speech and language is sometimes offensive  that is what makes us truly free. If we cannot express an opinion that some people or even most people dont share, then we arent really part of a free society.

Sources include:

Summit.news

Breitbart.com
(Natural News) Ukraine is looking to ban Leo Tolstoys book, War and Peace because it glorifies the Russian military. Kievs ministry of education said it will no longer teach other Russian works that also glorify the Russian military.

(Article by Mac Slavo republished from SHTFPlan.com)

The War and Peace is described as:

Hailed as one of the greatest novels of all time and a classic of world literature, War and Peace unfolds in the early nineteenth century during the turbulent years of the Napoleonic invasion of Russia. Tolstoys epic ranges from stirring depictions of historical events to intimate portraits of family life, moving between public spectacles and private lives to offer a tale of both panoramic scope and closely observed detail.

Tolstoys internationally recognized masterpiece joins other classic Russian books that were already banned in Ukraine long before the current conflict. All these will be completely excluded from foreign literature, first deputy Minister of education Andrey Vitrenko said in an interview with the TV channel Ukraine 24. So, for example, War and Peace, this will not be studied in Ukraine anymore.

Banning books is the modern-day equivalent of the Nazi book burning. But statists and those who worship their masters and love their slavery know that a free mind comes from knowing and that knowing comes from learning.

Propaganda is a dangerous weapon. Russian lies are poisons all around today, deputy minister Larisa Petasyuk said on Facebook at the time.

But the real problem is censorship. Propaganda will eventually fail if people have access to all information from all sides, even information they disagree with. Its the censorship that keeps the masses enslaved and believing they have to be controlled and ruled and thats civil.

Kiev has also banned Russian works of art and language instruction long before the current conflict, however. In March 2019, the Ukrainian government prohibited some 40 works of art due to their mention of Russian businesses, artists, social networks, internet portals, the USSR, or Soviet political figures. Among the works banned on that occasion was Mikhail Bulgakovs novel The Master and Margarita, which had also been censored in the USSR.

The most eye-opening book that can be read right now, is by Larken Rose, and it is called The Most Dangerous Superstition.

If you imagine yourself to be a compassionate, peace-loving, civilized human being, you must read this book:

When someone looks out at the world and sees all manner of suffering and injustice, stretching back for thousands of years and continuing today, he invariably blames such problems on someone elses hatred, greed, or stupidity. Rarely will someone consider the possibility that his own belief system is the cause of the pain and suffering he sees around him. But in most cases, it is. The root cause of most of societys illsthe main source of mans inhumanity to manis neither malice nor negligence, but a mere superstitionan unquestioned assumption which has been accepted on faith by nearly everyone, of all ages, races, religions, education and income levels. If people were to recognize that one belief for what it isan utterly irrational, self-contradictory, and horribly destructive mythmost of the violence, oppression, and injustice in the world would cease. But that will happen only when people dare to honestly and objectively re-examine their belief systems. The Most Dangerous Superstition exposes the myth for what it is, showing how nearly everyone, as a result of one particular unquestioned assumption, is directly contributing to violence and oppression without even realizing it.

Read more at: SHTFPlan.com
(Natural News) The Biden regimes Department of Defense (DoD) has released a document claiming that the Russian Federation is spreading disinformation about the United States governments weapons of mass destruction (WMD) operations.

According to the regime, the U.S. has been working on threat reduction efforts with Ukraine, Russia and other former Soviet Union countries. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the document explains, the U.S., along with its allies, partners and international organizations, has supposedly been trying to eliminate the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons attacks.

These cooperative threat reduction efforts have helped advance global peace and security, and have supported the global consensus that the world is safer when we work together to increase transparency and reduce the risks from weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs, the document alleges.

In 1991, the U.S Congress created the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program through the passage of the Soviet Threat Reduction Act. This legislation, as claimed in the document, accomplished the following four tasks:

1) Consolidating and securing WMD and WMD-related material in a limited number of secure sites

2) Inventorying and accounting for these weapons and materials

3) Providing safe handling and safe disposition of these weapons and materials as called for by arms control agreements

4) Offering assistance in finding gainful employment for thousands of former Soviet scientists with expert knowledge of WMD, WMD-related materials, or their delivery systems

The United States has provided this assistance with transparency and in cooperation with our partners, which included Russia prior to 2014, toward mutually-decided objectives, and has been reported on a regular basis, the document further insists.

Bidens DoD declares that Ukraine has no nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons programs

In other words, according to the federal government, it is the good guys in all this, having tried for many decades to eliminate nuclear and biological weapons from the world. And anyone who says otherwise, including Russia, is spreading disinformation and sowing mistrust in the people and institutions all over the world that contribute to WMD threat reduction.

The document goes on to list all of the supposed achievements of the U.S. and its globalist allies over the years, including the alleged decommissioning of more than 1,300 WMD delivery systems, including silos, mobile launchers, submarines and strategic bombers.

Bidens DoD also pats itself on the back for supposedly upgrading security at 24 nuclear weapon storage sites and securely moving more than 600 shipments of nuclear warheads from less secure storage to more secure storage or destruction (almost all of this work in Russia).

Ukraines voluntary and verifiable renunciation of nuclear weapons, with the transfer of Soviet missiles, nuclear weapons, and weapons-usable nuclear materials to Russia or destruction of such missiles, weapons, and materials, and accession to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT) as a non-nuclear-weapon State Party in December 1994, the document goes on to explain.

The document also contains an entire section on Ukraine that starts out with the claim that Ukraine has no nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons programs, even though we know for a fact that this is untrue.

Today, the collaborations in Ukraine remain peaceful efforts to improve nuclear and radiological safety and security, disease surveillance, chemical safety and security, and readiness to respond to epidemics and pandemics such as COVID-19, Bidens DoD insists.

Many of these collaborations are multilateral and involve the G7-led Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the OPCW, and other UN specialized agencies.

The document concludes by declaring that Ukraine has become a leader in transparency, and that the country supposedly does not have any nuclear, biological or chemicals weapons programs in operation.

More related news can be found at WWIII.news.

Sources for this article include:

Defense.gov

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) For book author Paul Engel, the U.S. Constitution is a powerful tool that Americans can use to keep the federal government in check.

The Constitution is ink on parchment. It is not going to get up and slap these people saying, This is what I told you to do. It is our tool to keep our governments under control  to understand what theyve been authorized to do and what theyve not been authorized to do, Engel told host Dr. John Diamond during the June 8 episode of America Unhinged on Brighteon.TV.

Engel lamented that Americans talk about the Constitution, but dont do anything about it and then wonder why everything keeps falling apart in the country. He cited a quote from former President Ronald Reagan to drive home his point: We The People tell the government what to do, it doesnt tell us.

Americans need to get back to that, Engel said.

According to Diamond, God has given people the ability to choose their leaders or rulers, quoting the first U.S. Chief Justice John Jay.

Americans need to read and study the Constitution

According to Engel, Jay also used to urge every member of the state to read and study the Constitution and to teach the next generation to be free by knowing their rights and being prepared to defend and assert them.

The author and speaker added that he took it as a challenge and started reading and studying the Constitution. I began to understand that there was so much about the Constitution that was not being taught and that there were teachings about it that were wrong, Engel said.

This led to a series of events that made Engel realize how constitutionally ignorant the Americans have become, and this gave birth to the idea for The Constitution Study, which he founded in 2014. He also authored a book titled The Constitution Study, which tackles both the entire Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The book is written in everyday conversational English and designed for everyday people to read and understand. Engel is putting out articles and videos that deal with constitutional issues on his website, ConstitutionStudy.com. He is also hosting an online study via Zoom every other Monday to read, discuss, debate and talk about the Constitution.

Diamond lauded Engel for his efforts, adding that Americans need to start training their children by putting together homeschool groups and public school groups that have teachings about the Constitution.

The Constitution requires every elected official or appointed officer at both the state and federal levels to affirm their support to the Constitution. But most of these officials, Engel said, have not really read the Constitution. (Related: The Constitution invites usand politics compels usto consider redrawing state and local borders.)

Engel stressed that the Constitution should serve as an employee handbook for those representatives who are running at the state, federal and local levels.

Many people seem to be intimidated reading the Constitution. This is why Engel wrote the book Constitution in 30 Days, which is like a daily devotion to the Constitution. He said people can read it in two and a half minutes a day for 30 days.

Diamond also emphasized the importance of the Declaration of Independence because it serves as a bridge between the Bible and the Constitution. He added that God gave people rights and laws, which the Founding Fathers understood.

The theologian said history, next to the Bible, is one of the most important topics to be studied because if people dont learn from the past they are doomed to repeat it.

Follow Liberty.news for more news related to the Constitution and freedom.

Watch the full June 8 episode of America Unhinged below. Catch new episodes of America Unhinged every Monday to Friday at 9-10 a.m., Saturday at 8-9 a.m. and Sunday at 9-10 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

Dr. Alan Keyes: Democrats want to get rid of US Constitution to establish Marxism  Brighteon.TV.

Lawyer Brad Geyer tells Dr. Bryan Ardis: US Constitution, Bill of Rights are being trampled on  Brighteon.TV.

General Flynn urges pastors to defend the Constitution from the pulpit  Brighteon.TV.

Influential writer accuses globalists of trying to get rid of the Constitution  Brighteon.TV.

Their endgame for the flag, the national anthem, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

Britannica.com

NewsWithViews.com
(Natural News) American Promise Executive Director Bill Cortese sees the coming midterm elections as a chance for Americans to regain control of the country from people who write big checks and use dark money.

We cant be ruled by just a handful of people. We cant be ruled by the D.C. consulting class who get rich off of these things. This is an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to bring the power back to the states, Cortese told host Dr. John Diamond during the June 9 episode of America Unhinged on Brighteon.TV.

Its not an easy climb. But we feel that the grassroots support is there really on both sides. People are fed up, they have had enough. We need to bring back the power to the states and we need to protect our democracy. And this loophole is something that our adversaries have been exploiting. And its a real concern for us.

Diamond pointed out that both elected and appointed officials know that money controls the people. The Brighteon.TV host and theologian took note that people with big money control everything: banking elite controls the corporations; the corporations control the politicians; and the politicians control the American people.

Thats the system American Promise is trying to correct. Founded in 2015, American Promise seeks to reinforce anti-corruption laws across the country, particularly against dark money. He added that American Promise was launched with a commitment to bring a solution to this problem through a constitutional solution that restores Americas constitutional principle; a winning strategy and a dedicated organization that unites the country; and honesty and transparency.

Cortese revealed that $3.5 billion of dark money was spent in the 2020 elections and Americans have no idea where it came from. (Related: Election watchdog group exposes Zuckerbergs $500M dark money scheme to elect Biden.)

Dark money is untraceable, unaccountable money that can come in from literally anywhere. The American people have seen dark money come in from overseas and that any of our adversaries can utilize this loophole, Cortese said.

The American Promise executive director said one of the goals of American Promise is to pass the 28th Amendment, which essentially restores States rights through the 10th Amendment and actually supports the First Amendment.

Cortese mentioned they believed that the States should be able to regulate elections within their state and they have already introduced a resolution that calls on Congress to address this loophole.

He also said that it is a concern from a national security standpoint that adversaries like China, Russia, the Saudis and the Qataris could come in, set up an LLC, utilize the C4 system and begin to influence American elections.

Cortese said that it is a deep concern for a lot of people and this should be one of the things that bring Republicans, Democrats and Independents together so that America can preserve its democracy.

He added Americans have the ability to choose who will lead them and the use of dark money undermines the essence of Americas democracy. Its a big challenge, Cortese admitted, but its worth fighting for.

America is controlled by so much dark money

Diamond pointed out that America is controlled by so much dark money that comes from either billionaires like George Soros and Bill Gates or from foreign governments like China. All those loopholes need to be closed, according to Diamond.

Cortese, who is a former member of the United States Marine Corps, said Americans need to pressure and tell their state representatives and state senators that they need to pass this resolution to get the ball rolling on amending the Constitution and protecting Americas democracy.

He reiterated that American people must bring back the power to the states to give them the constitutional authority to make sure that they can regulate. Cortese also said that Americans need to restore and bring back federalism to protect democracy in the country.

We need the grassroots support. Youre not going to beat big money with big money. Youre going to beat it with grassroots support. Average everyday people coming together and working together and say enough is enough, said Cortese.

Follow Corruption.news for more news about dark money being used in elections.

Watch the full June 9 episode of America Unhinged below. Catch new episodes of America Unhinged every Monday to Friday at 9-10 a.m., Saturday at 8-9 a.m. and Sunday at 9-10 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

Dark money is what led to Bidens installation as president.

Billionaire anarchist George Soros org has been caught funding dark money group that pushes for defunding police.

No more Zuckerbucks: Mark Zuckerberg will no longer try to influence elections with HUGE DONATIONS following pushback from conservatives  Brighteon.TV.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

AmericanPromise.net
(Natural News) Last nights production in the House was straight out of the communist playbook and with it came the confirmation of the communist takeover of the US House of Representatives and our government.

(Article by Joe Hoft republished from TheGatewayPundit.com)

Last night the communist regime running the US House of Representatives ensured that all major media outlets share their show trials to the American people. Like Mao Zedong in communist China, Joseph Stalin in communist Russia, or Hugo Chavez in communist Venezuela, all major news outlets were coerced to see only what the regime allowed them to see.

See for yourself.

Via Midnight Rider.

Only FOX, Newsmax, and OAN decided not to run the show trials and today, CNN shamed them for not joining in like good communists.

The prime-time hearing began at 8 p.m. Eastern time. When Rep. Bennie Thompson gaveled the hearing to order, Fox News host Tucker Carlson ignored him. Carlson declared that the ruling class was giving yet another lecture about January 6. He called the hearing propaganda and reveled in his refusal to air it. They are lying, he said, and we are not going to help them do it. Carlson then lied himself: He said if something noteworthy happens at the hearing, obviously we will bring it to you immediately. But his show did not do that. When Thompson said January 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup, Carlson asked why the news media cared at all. He barely mentioned Donald Trump, even though the former presidents plot to undermine American democracy was the focal point of the hearing. Instead, he talked a lot about Democrats and questioned why other networks were committing collusion with the House by televising the hearing. Because the Democrats and the left are desperate, his guest Jason Whitlock said.

The fact that not one of the major media outlets said they would not show the communist-like show trials, says what our media is and how it is now propaganda for the far left cabal.

The fact that the now communist left claims that President Trump was trying to overthrow an election is laughable, if not so sinister.

Pelosis communist House Committee does not adhere to the rules it set up for the committee. When the GOP offered five representatives to place on the committee, as agreed, Pelosi said no and put her own two NeverTrumper House members on the committee  crazy Liz Cheney and crybaby Adam Kinzinger. They hate Trump and the good Americans he represents so they were perfect for the committee. Many believe Cheney runs the committee.

These actions show that the uniparty is running the House and the uniparty will do anything to keep power, like the communists of old. These animals were so threatened by President Trump they created a made-up Russia collusion sham that they all knew was false. Then when Trumps base only grew they realized they had to steal the 2020 Election. They never imagined he would win by such a large margin.

What the left-wing communists continuously try to do is create a picture that they are a majority while pretending that Americans who supported President Trump are a minority. This is another lie.

President Trump shattered the number of votes in 2020 for a President and valid votes in an election. Every day we find more and more evidence of massive voter fraud in the 2020 Election. The communist media wont share it, like good puppies. The lies continue. There simply is no way imaginable that this guy who couldnt fill a dozen circles at his embarrassing events could beat President Trump. No way.

Now the communists, to hold their power are imprisoning good Americans from Jan 6, some of whom were asked to participate with the FBI but refused (Jeremy Brown) and others who fought the brutal police actions to save lives (Jake Lang who narrated the below movie from prison).

The House is now full-blown commie. Pelosi is a demonic leader like all communists. Dont believe their made-up garbage.

Read more at: TheGatewayPundit.com
(Natural News) Treacherous treasonous criminals!! The UNSELECT January 6th Committee disgraced themselves and the nation on Primetime TV last night. They brought British filmmaker Nick Quested onto the stand as one of their key witnesses and presented his footage to the public EDITED in the most manipulated fashion possible to leave out the most compelling content he shot that day- THE BODIES OF UNITED STATES VETERAN ASHLI BABBITT AND ROSANNE BOYLAND!

(Article by Cara Castronuova republished from TheGatewayPundit.com)

Do they think Americans are stupid?

A more complete version of Questeds footage was released by a source to the public this morning. It contains never-before-seen footage of Rosanne Boyland and Ashli Babbitts bodies. Here it is:

The harder the January 6th Committee pushes their phony narrative, the more their deceit will reveal itself, said Tina Ryan of Citizens Against Political Persecution.

Please share this tweet below far and wide. It contains the footage above plus more:

The @January6thCmte edited @nickquesteds footage deliberately to deceive the American public. Footage of protestors trying to save Roseanne Boylands life and of their scolding the police for murdering Ashli Babbitt was removed because it doesnt support the official narrative. pic.twitter.com/eTACtkDiBL  Joseph D. McBride, Esq. (@McBrideLawNYC) June 10, 2022

The January 6th Committee maliciously and deceptively edited Nick Questeds footage, said leading J6 Attorney Joseph McBride. It was for the specific purpose of casting the events of that day in the worst possible light, which is exactly how the Department of Justice introduces evidence in court.

The Unselect Committee Hearing promised never-before-seen footage to the public by videographer and hearing witness Nick Quested. That footage was carefully edited on last nights broadcast to make Trump Supporters look unhinged and violent for no reason.

There was an explanation to the group of protesters anger during this specific West Capitol Steps sequence featured on last nights Primetime Propaganda Special that was seen by the Unselect Misinformation Committee (yet they maliciously edited it out with the intent to manipulate the American public to fit their narrative). These outraged protestors had witnessed the beating of Rosanne Boyland by DC Metro Police with a stick and were trying to save her life as police prevented them at first from getting near her unconscious body!

They omitted footage that shows protestors coming to the aid of Rosanne Boyland, said McBride. These men fought to save her life, tried to resuscitate her after she lost consciousness, and watched her die. All of this speaks to the state of mind of the people in the crowd. All of this supports the conclusion that protestors had a right to defend themselves and each other from abject police brutality. The Committee does not want the public to know about any of this. And that is exactly why the Committee removed these powerful scenes from their presentation.

We at the Gateway Pundit were aware that this footage existed and had seen it, but did not have it in our possession as the government would not release it along with the rest of the 14,000 hours of footage they are still keeping from us. It is clear why.

WE HERE AT THE GATEWAY PUNDIT WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT TO HAVE IT RELEASED FOR YOU.

Liz Cheney and friends sure had access to never-before-seen footage- yet they made the conscious decision to leave the most compelling parts out of their bogus hearing presentation last night!

This leaked Nick Quested video contains the clearest footage we now have of Boylands brutalized body after she was beaten by DC Metro Police Officer Lila Morris. Her body is being worked on desperately by Trump supporters. She is blue in the face and possibly dead (God Bless this beautiful woman). There is also unseen footage of the body of veteran Ashli Babbitt being seen taken down a flight of stairs and her blood COVERING the floor as protesters yell in fury after witnessing her murder.

The footage also shows the crowd during the moment Ashli Babbitt was shot, how she was illegally carried away from a crime scene by the Capitol Police, and how protestors berated the police for their inhumane treatment of her dead body, said McBride.

They Left left this out last night!? Liz Cheney, how can you look at yourself in the mirror?! You had direct privy to this footage showing the deaths of two fellow American women and you failed to mention that footage existed in your star witnesses never-before-seen footage?

It is time this disgusting joke of a committee is disbanded and THEY MUST BE INVESTIGATED BY AN INDEPENDENT BODY for manipulating the American public, wasting millions in taxpayer dollars, and trying to influence the 2022 midterm elections by deceitfully and knowingly manipulating the voters with their OUTRIGHT LIES.

Show this video to every liberal and moderate you know to make them see reason! The lying left has overplayed their hand!

THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE LIVES OF TWO WOMEN THAT DIED THAT DAY. They did not mention them or the two men (Benjamin Phillips and Kevin Greeson) that died allegedly due to flash bang grenade induced cardiac arrest. They do not care about our fellow American Citizens.

This committee has proven itself completely untrustworthy and criminal after only one night of their hearing. An investigation into the Unselect Committee is needed immediately to explain to Americans why this incredibly important footage was left out.

Read more at: TheGatewayPundit.com
(Natural News) Here are the three videos (with descriptions) from my hosting of the Alex Jones Show yesterday (Alex is on vacation) at the InfoWars studios, where I brought a high-end lab microscope and performed real-time microscopy of the mysterious clots which have been recovered from the bodies of those who suddenly died.

I have received a flood of feedback from this broadcast, with each person offering suggestions of what these clots might be. Some people believe these clots are made of non-living tissue or cross-linked proteins which are getting larger in size just due to chemistry and protein morphology. Others believe these are biostructures made of living cells that are living and growing.

My current guess is the former. I think it is more likely these clots are non-living than living, but we need to do a lot more tests to be sure.

If you want to see the live microscopy, I carry it out about half-way through the first hour (below) and also again during the third hour with Dr. Jane Ruby.

Three episodes from the broadcast

Heres the first hour of my hosting of the Alex Jones Show yesterday, featuring LIVE microscopy analysis of clots, with Harrison Smith riding shotgun, and also featuring our mystery doctor guest warning about an explosion of clots in patients at urgent care centers and Emergency Rooms across America:

Brighteon.com/2cc9879d-4ffa-4473-a01a-0e42fff370ba

Second hour of my hosting the Alex Jones Show yesterday  featuring embalmer Richard Hirschman and his vials and bags full of clots harvested from those who died suddenly, usually after #vaccines were given previously. Shocking visuals, and stunning testimony. He says up to 70%  80% of the subjects he is embalming show these bizarre clots which are killing people. This seems to indicate a massive wave of PREMATURE DEATHS taking place among the vaccinated

Brighteon.com/76993eb7-db76-4792-bd5a-017aa5c84b9e

Third hour of my hosting the Alex Jones Show yesterday, featuring Dr. Jane Ruby, plus more live microscopy examinations of nanowires and biostructures of the bizarre clots that are killing people, usually after theyve been vaccinated. Dr. Ruby provides new analysis as we attempt to explain what these clots really are, how they are growing in the body. Dr. Ruby says they are self-assembling structures.

Brighteon.com/194ea7f9-73e3-420c-9430-ae12865e87ab

For coverage in the podcast format, heres Mondays Situation Update podcast which also reveals these microscopy photos in great detail:

Brighteon.com/56a29c98-bf66-423e-9ce2-dc486d7fe019

Much more coming on this subject soon
(Natural News) Dr. Jim Meehan believes the monkeypox outbreak was engineered because people are no longer afraid of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). Meehan, an expert ophthalmologist and surgeon, spoke out against worrying about the monkeypox outbreak during an appearance on InfoWars.

I think its a distraction, said Meehan when asked what he thinks about the monkeypox outbreak. Its an intermediary, as they were losing the narrative with coronavirus, as we were all tiring of that nonsense that the lockdowns, the masking and everything. The science  the truth was outing the fact that everything they were doing was wrong. (Related: Nonprofit founded by CNN co-founder was PREPARING for the monkeypox outbreak in 2021.)

Meehan noted that using monkeypox to fearmonger does come with its advantages. Unlike COVID-19, symptoms of monkeypox can be visibly seen in the form of the pox, or the painful, fluid-filled blister-like lesions that appear over an infected persons extremities, usually the hands, legs and feet but also on occasion the face. If a person catches the monkeypox through sexual contact, these lesions could appear on their genitals or anus.

Old pictures of people with monkeypox can be spread throughout the internet and by mainstream media outlets to drum up terror over the disease.

But the one big downside to using monkeypox is that it is very difficult to transmit the virus. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was forced to admit that the virus is not spreading via airborne transmission. It only spreads through close contact.

U.S. has less than 50 infections nearly a month after first monkeypox case

According to the CDC, the U.S. now has 49 cases in 17 states. California has the most cases, with 15 confirmed, followed by New York with 11 and Illinois with eight.

Massachusetts, where the first case in the U.S. was confirmed in mid-May, now has two additional cases.

Neither case reports a known link to the first case identified in Massachusetts, announced the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in a press release. The two cases were discovered in adult men who reported having close contact with each other.

While the state governments statement did not specify it, it is likely the two men in Massachusetts had sexual relations with one another because both the CDC and the World Health Organization have admitted that gay and bisexual men are the primary transmitters of the virus.

None of the confirmed cases in the U.S. have died, and most have recovered without requiring hospitalization.

On Friday, June 10, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn OConnell of the Department of Health and Human Services said that the U.S. has ordered an additional 500,000 frozen, liquid doses of the Jynneos smallpox vaccine from biotech company Bavarian Nordic.

Without a proper vaccine specifically for use against the monkeypox virus, governments all over the world, including America, are using the smallpox vaccine instead.

The federal government currently has about 72,000 doses of the Jynneos smallpox vaccine. It is expected to receive around 300,000 more doses from Bavarian Nordic over the next several weeks. According to OConnell, the 500,000 additional doses will be delivered later in the year.

We have the vaccines and treatments we need to respond to the rising cases, said OConnell.

Around 36,000 of the 72,000 doses are immediately available in the strategic national stockpile.

Furthermore, Bavarian Nordic also holds another one million doses of the smallpox vaccine just for the United States. Upon request by the federal government, it can fill another 16.4 million doses.

This also does not take into account the more than 100 million doses of ACAM2000 that the U.S. has. This is an older-generation smallpox vaccine.

In an appeal to his audience, Clark told people to seek out doctors like Meehan because, with the monkeypox outbreak, theyre gonna hype it up.

If youre looking for a doctor, you dont want to go to a doctor thats gonna force you to take a monkeypox vaccine. God knows whats in it, he said.

Learn more about the monkeypox outbreak in the United States at Outbreak.news.

Watch this video from InfoWars as Clay Clark and Dr. Jim Meehan of the Thrive Time Show join Owen Shroyer to talk about how the monkeypox outbreak was engineered.

This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.

More related articles:

Monkeypox outbreak could be used to justify expansion of medical surveillance.

WHO says monkeypox outbreak unlikely to turn into next global pandemic.

Despite media claims, Americans shouldnt be concerned about monkeypox  Brighteon.TV.

Why did the government buy 13 million monkeypox vaccines from a biotech company backed by Fauci?

RIGGED: Government spends $119 million for monkeypox vaccines following ONE confirmed case in US.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

SciTechDaily.com

TheEpochTimes.com

CIDRAP.UMN.edu

CNBC.com
Nairobi  Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka has alleged that he helped bail out some unknown leaders in the Kenya Kwanza Alliance who were jailed in neighboring countries owing to their involvement in dubious deals.

Musyoka made the allegation on Monday during a tour of the Azimio-One Kenya coalition tour of Kisii but he failed to disclose the identities of those he bailed out.

He remarked that their opponents in the Deputy President William Ruto-led camp cannot be trusted to lead the nation.

"Kenyans know about money laundering and I want to say all the major players involved are on the other team. I have helped others who were jailed in our neighboring countries," he said.

Musyoka stressed that leaders with questionable characters cannot be entrusted to lead by all means.

He drummed up support for Raila Odinga - the Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya coalition presidential candidate noting that his record is devoid of any stains.

"Our team is full of members who have good character who can be able to lead this country to prosperity," he said.

The coalition began it's charm offensive tour of the region on Monday and is scheduled to traverse the larger Nyanza region until Saturday.
(Natural News) Everybody knows who Tom Cruise is, but most people dont know the history of psychiatry in America. Tom Cruise does. Tom has friends who have suffered the abuse of the torturous mental health industry. The true history of psychiatry practice in this country, and the methods for treating mental health issues, seem quite psychotic and archaic (and it continues today). History reveals that psychiatry is mostly about abusive experimentation on mental patients, without their consent, and without their familys consent. This includes children and teenagers suffering sexual abuse, mental abuse, verbal abuse, drug-induced abuse, relentless electric shock treatments and more.

Some psychiatrists are on the record literally extracting teeth and removing organs to try to fix mental disorders, just look up the infamous Dr. Henry Cotton. Over a century later and the American medical industrial complex still calls Henry Cotton the Champion of Conventional Medicine. Go figure.

Tom Cruz exposes the REAL abuse doled out by psychiatrists in America over the last century

In an older NBC interview that has recently gone viral on social media, Top Gun star Tom Cruise is ripping on anti-depressants, SSRIs, mind-altering drugs and electro-shock treatments: Psychiatry  is a pseudo-science. Here we are today, where I talk out against drugs, and psychiatric abuses of electro-shocking people, okay, against their will of drugging children with them not knowing the effects of these drugs. Do you know what Adderall is? Do you know Ritalin? Do you know now that Ritalin is a street drug? Do you understand that?

More from Tom Cruise in the interview embedded below: Heres the problem you dont know the history of psychiatry. I do. All it does (prescribed drugs) is mask the problem, and if you understand the history of it, it masks the problem. Thats what it does. Thats all it does. Youre not getting to the reason why. Theres no such thing as a chemical imbalance.

Cruise goes so far as to say that vitamins and exercise would be better than prescribing these useless drugs. He says, these drugs are very dangerous, theyre mind-altering drugs. He goes into details about how his wifes friend Brook Shields was scarred by misinformation, because she didnt understand the history of psychiatry.

Conventional mental health medicine is psychotic, as are its enforcers

One almost needs to be sadistic and a bit psychotic yourself in order to be a psychiatrist these days. Do you derive pleasure from inflicting pain, humiliation, suffering on others? Prescribing mind-altering SSRI drugs and using electric shock treatment on mental health patients isnt just abuse, its torture. While prescription drugs put thoughts in the heads of patients about homicide and suicide (darkens it even worse if the patient is already suffering from these), the patient-victim is tortured relentlessly, daily, with electro-shock treatment, that causes serious, permanent injuries, including damaging respiratory and heart function.

Even minor, low-voltage electric shock can cause nerve damage, as the current passes through the body, and the nerve tissue cant resist the current. This damage can permanently affect the patients ability to walk, and it can prevent the brain from processing PAIN signals from the body. They can become paralyzed for life.

Electroshock therapy, a.k.a. electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), is still used TODAY as a conventional medicine torture method for the severely depressed, or those with bi-polar disorder. If the drugs and interrogative questions dont seem to be working, electrically-induced convulsion torture comes next. This archaic torture is still used right now, and its no wonder the same doctors dont also yank healthy teeth with pliers and remove organs in their own insane, psychotic, sadistic attempt to address mental issues.

Do you know who the Champion of Conventional Medicine is today? Its STILL Dr. Henry Cotton, the real, original Dr. Frankenstein

To this day, conventional medicine (Big Pharma) still celebrates the doctor who pulled teeth and removed organs to address the mental health issues of his patients. The AMA (American Medical Association) and the American Journal of Psychiatry still brag that the Frankenstein-freak doctor ushered in a new era in the treatment of mental diseases. See how they call it a disease, as if theres already admittedly no cure, only treatments? Thats the cover so the freak doctors can abuse the patients in private rooms with torture devices, drugs and other perverted, invasive methods.

The AMA went so far as to call Dr. Henry Cotton one of the most stimulating figures of our generation. His death rate after mental health surgery was over 30% when he removed intestinal parts, the cervix, fallopian tubes, and/or the uterus. Cotton removed over 10,000 teeth at the State Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey, from 1919 to 1921. He was like an American version of the Nazi witch doctor Joseph Mengele.

Dr. Henry Cottons reign of TERROR at the New Jersey hospital for the insane lasted more than 25 years, torturing people with barely little-to-no successful results. Today, archaic surgery is still used to try to remove cancer that has spread throughout the body, and for dying seniors in order to rake in mass profits. Its all just torture for cash and delusions of grandeur for the doctors who sling the real-life nightmare treatments. The only thing cutting edge about that archaic surgery is the scalpel itself.

Bookmark Censored.news to your favorite websites for truth news about Big Pharma torture treatments that are being censored from the rest of media as you read this.

Sources for this article include:

Electrocuted.com

NaturalNews.com

MedicalNewsToday.com
Researchers in the Canary Islands coined a name to describe a new sort of marine pollution that they believe is spilling dangerous chemicals into the ocean.

The finding was made as a team of experts searched the beaches of Tenerife, a Spanish island in the Canaries. They kept spotting clumps of solidified tar, dotted with small, colorful bits of plastic, set against the beautiful seas that lapped the Playa Grande.

They quickly realized that this mixture of tar and microplastics, dubbed "plastitar," was unlike any other plastic pollution they'd encountered.

"The existence of plastic in the environment is no longer restricted to microplastics or a bottle in the water," said Javier Hernandez Borges, an associate professor of analytical chemistry at the Tenerife's University of La Laguna. "Now it's spawning new structures, such as this one, which mixes two pollutants.

The discovery has been reflected in a new study that defines it as an "unassessed hazard" for coastal habitats more than two years after researchers discovered it. It joins a growing list of plastic-based marine pollution, ranging from pyroplastics (melted plastic resembling tiny pebbles) to plastiglomerates (a mixture of melted plastic, beach silt, and basalt lava pieces).

Microplastic Threat

For over two decades, scientists have been concerned about the potential consequences of microplastics, while most researchers have focused on the threats to marine life. After a team discovered plastic particles smaller than 5 mm on British beaches, Richard Thompson, a marine scientist at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom, invented the phrase in 2004 to characterize them. According to scientists, scientists have found microplastics in deep seas, Arctic snow and Antarctic ice, seafood, table salt, drinking water, and beer, drifting in the air or dropping with rain over mountains and towns. It might take decades or longer for these tiny bits to disintegrate completely. It's reasonably straightforward that every species has some amount of exposure.

Plastitar Discovery

When it comes to plastitar, the process is simple: when oil spill residue evaporates and weathers, it washes ashore as tar balls that stick to the rocky Canary Islands' coasts. Hernandez Borges compared it to Play-Doh. "When waves bring microplastics or other types of marine debris smash on the rocks, the material adheres to the tar."

The structure solidifies over time, fusing anything from abandoned fishing equipment to plastic pellets and scraps of polyester and nylon to the tar.

Plastitar was discovered along the shorelines of the numerous Canary Islands, notably El Hierro and Lanzarote. It was broad, spanning more than half of the region they were investigating in one example. The occurrence of plastitar was related to the archipelago's location along a major oil tanker shipping route, but the researchers are confident that it exists all over the planet.

"We're certain that this is prevalent anywhere there's a mix of tar and microplastics," Hernandez Borges added.

Needs More Study

While further study is needed to determine plastitar's environmental impact, experts believe that its combination of hydrocarbons and microplastics might leak hazardous compounds, resulting in circumstances that could be fatal to species like algae.

"It may be obstructing and hindering the ecosystem's development in some manner," Hernandez Borges added.

The finding adds to the growing image of a global plastic cycle, in which plastic moves through the atmosphere, seas, and land like natural processes like the carbon cycle.

"Some academics are concerned that because plastic is so widespread, it may be damaging our ecosystem in other ways," Hernandez Borges said. "This is highly critical if plastic is causing other forms."

Related Article: Scientists Creates Enzyme that Breaks Down Plastics Turning Centuries of Degradation Into Days

For more environmental news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Using a bow and arrow, a Texan fisherman captured a massive, prehistoric-looking alligator gar in Falcon Lake, Texas.

Catching the Giant

Gerardo Benitez, the fisherman's brother, shared photos and a video of the massive 7-foot-8-inch gar on Facebook in a post that went viral from the Falcon Lake Fishing & Outdoors group on Wednesday.

Edgar, the fisherman who caught the gigantic fish, stands next to his catch on the banks of Falcon Lake, a reservoir on the Rio Grande close to the Mexican border.

Alligator gar are the biggest gar species, reaching lengths of up to 10 feet. When they're young, they grow quickly, but as they age, they slow down: every time their age doubles, they grow another foot in length. They may also survive for an extremely long period, as seen by the world record, nearly nine feet long and believed to be over 90 years old.

Benitez said in the Facebook comments that Edgar caught and killed the gar with a bow and arrow, a fishing method commonly used to target freshwater fish such as carp and gar, as well as sharks and rays in the ocean. They said there was no way to weigh it; thus, it wasn't recorded.

"The trouble is, when you go bow hunting for gar, it's not as straightforward," Benitez stated in his post. "The gar only allows you 1 or 2 seconds at most to get a shot, and it's impossible to judge how large it is."

Also Read: Frankenstein Fish Spooks Social Media

Alligator Gar Being Game Fished

Because alligator gar attains sexual maturity around the age of ten and does not spawn yearly, their population is slow to develop.

The popularity of alligator gar as a sport fish has decreased alligator gar populations in their native areas. Bowfishers love them because their size makes them an easy target.

Alligator gar populations have been protected by legislation in portions of their habitat due to conservation concerns, including a statewide one-per-day bag restriction in Texas.

However, in Falcon Lake, where Benitez's massive gar was captured and killed, there is a daily limit of five alligator gar, with no restrictions on any other gar species.

Condemned in Social Media

Many people condemned the killing in comments on Facebook posts that included photos and videos.

"I'm just not persuaded that was an ethical harvest. You should let those gigantic breeders go. Also shot with a bow..." commented one user, while another agreed, stating, "They should have left this gar live. Like what were they going to do with it? Just snap pictures and get likes?" "What a clown move to kill it," one commenter said, while another said, "Breeding gar right there, it should've been released."

Benitez replied to the unfavorable comments about his brother's arrest, "We don't waste the meat; we share it with friends and family; nothing goes to waste."

Related Article: Black Chinese Carp: Invasive Species With Human-Like Teeth Invade US Lakes

For the most recent updates from the animal kingdom, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Hundreds of people have been evacuated as a 4,500-acre wildfire called the Pipeline Fire continues to grow near the city of Flagstaff, Arizona.

Local authorities reportedly said future evacuations are expected and could affect thousands more, who were told to prepare to leave should the fire worsen.

There have been no immediate reports of casualties and property damage.

However, the unpredictable wildfire growth could reach populated areas in the next few hours or days.

In the meantime, road closures have been imposed, in addition to the people evacuated in the outskirts of the city.

Pipeline Fire

The Pipeline Fire has been burning around six miles north of the city, which was first raised by a fire lookout at about 10:50 a.m. local time on Sunday, June 12.

With this, local officials ordered 690 households to evacuate and an told additional 2,410 households to prepare for an "imminent evacuation," according to CNN.

The US media outlet cited a statement from the Coconino County Sheriff's Office, saying they were investigating a possible arson, and arrested a 57-year-old man accused of causing the fire, which started from the Snowbowl Road.

The initial investigation reportedly revealed a white pickup truck left after the emergence of the Pipeline Fire.

Also Read: Wildfire: 'Wall of Flames' Force the Evacuation of an Arizona Tourist Town

Arizona Wildland Fires

The occurrence of wildfires is common in Arizona; where both humans and fire weather conditions have triggered flames to burst at any time of the year.

According to the Department of Forestry and Fire Management (DFFM), 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by humans.

In Arizona, over 80% of the state's wildland in 2020 were human-triggered. Approximately 2,520 wildfires were recorded statewide and covered almost 1 million acres of tribal, federal, and state lands.

In the last 20 years, several thousands of wildfires occurred across Arizona, where some have been considered to be destructive and life-threatening.

In 2013, the Wallow Fire became the largest wildland fire in Arizona's history, burning nearly 500,000 acres which Was estimated to be 1,900 square kilometers.

The wildland fire caused widespread infrastructural damage, destroying dozens of homes and commercial buildings.

Details of the fire's magnitude, which even surpassed the Rodeo Chediski Fire in 2002, was taken through images from space by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Aqua satellite, according to the NASA Earth Observatory.

2022 US Fire Season

The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) provided a statistical report that nearly 30,000 wildfires have burnt almost 2.5 million acres of land across the US as of Monday, June 13, since the start of 2022.

The year-to-date (YTD) data showed that that total number of wildfires is greater than previous years from 2012.

The YTD statistics also showed that the 2022 US early fire season to be the most active within a decade.

Aside from Arizona, the country currently has active wildland fires in the states of Alaska, California, New Mexico, and Texas as of Monday evening.

All of the fires are still far from contained.

As the official start of the summer season comes draws near, extreme heat, prolonged drought, and dry conditions are likely in favor for the growth and spread of wildfires, especially in the Southwest US.

Related Article: Wildfire Destroys Multiple Homes and Prompts Evacuation in Arizona
Damaging winds from a potential derecho or inland hurricane is threatening the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic overnight from Monday to Tuesday, June 13 to June 14, AccuWeather meteorologists warned.

The lethal weather phenomenon is possible when fast-moving thunderstorms with hurricane-like winds merge, causing widespread destruction and disruption.

AccuWeather forecasters projected that the storm system could also spawn tornadoes and produce torrential rain with flooding traveling hundreds of miles, affecting areas from southeastern Wisconsin, western Michigan, Virginia, to Maryland.

Power outages are likely in the said regions as high winds from the system could down power lines and damage other electricity-related infrastructure such as power stations.

Both domestic and international flights in some parts of the United States could be delayed, diverted, or cancelled.

In May, a powerful derecho killed two people in South Dakota and Minnesota.

The same phenomenon also killed at least 10 people across Canada last month.

Related weather events in the past have caused large-scale blackouts, including in Iowa where over 100,000 were left without power.

Derecho Storm Alert

AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sonowski on Monday, June 13, reported that forecasters in the weather forecasting company have raised the alert that there is plausible chance a derecho will form with high pack winds and heavy rain.

However, the meteorologist claimed that the direction of the storm complex could absorb and spread high temperatures or extreme heat and high humidity currently scorching the Great Plains and Mississippi Valley.

The areas forecasted to be first affected are Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; and Columbus, Ohio.

Also Read: Canada Storm Update: Deadly Derecho Kills At Least 10 People, Leaves Half a Million Without Electricity

Power Outages

AccuWeather also cited a tweet from Twitter user Max Tsaparis on Monday afternoon, indicating that 13,000 power outages in Madison, Wisconsin.

13,000 folks without power in Madison due to the #severe storm. Looks especially hard hit on the west and south side of town #wiwx pic.twitter.com/ZKuVA93nbe  Max Tsaparis (@MaxTsaparis) June 13, 2022

Meanwhile, over 150,000 customers were left without electricity as the severe storms ripped through Cincinnati, Ohio, according to local media outlet WLWT5

Related power outages are likely to occur in other areas in the coming hours.

What is a Derecho Storm?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - National Weather Service (NWS) defines a derecho as a "rare type of severe thunderstorm," best described as a prolonged wind storm.

It consists of moving thunderstorms or showers in a rapid pace.

The inland hurricane is also compared with the intensity of tornadoes.

However, a derecho is different since its damage is normally faced in one direction along a straight line.

Unlike other named storms or weather disturbances, the movement of the so-called "derecho storm" is more predictable.

As a comparison, the recent derecho in Canada traversed in an eastward pattern across the country, leaving a trail of destruction in Ontario and Quebec, as well as its surrounding areas.

The strength of the derecho lies in its hurricane-force winds, which was outlined by the NOAA - NWS to reach 240 miles (400 kilometers) with wind gusts of over 58 miles per hour (93 kilometers per hour).

The formation of a derecho stems from a bow echo, which can come from a group of thunderstorms or a single thunderstorm.

The latter is produced when atmospheric winds are stronger than normal and wind directions are not linear, the US weather agency explains.

Related Article: Derecho Causes Havoc Across Midwest
An elephant crushed a 70-year-old woman to death in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, India, on Thursday, June 9.

However, the story does not end there as the tusked animal returned a few hours later to trample and toss the woman's corpse during her funeral.

The elephant was never seen again after fleeing following its second attack.

The incident added to the increasing number of cases of elephant attacks in Odisha and across India, where multiple research attributed that the violent behavior was due to human encroachment in elephant territory.

Other research pointed out that such attacks are sex-driven during the elephant mating season.

Double Kill Incident

The old woman named Maya Murmu was collecting water from a well in the Raipal village when the unprecedented animal attack occurred, according to local authorities, as cited by The Print, India's digital platform.

The woman sustained injuries and died after being sent to the hospital.

Following her death, family members immediately performed their last burial rituals as part of the funeral ceremonies.

However, the large mammal returned at the wrong place and at the wrong time.

The authorities on Saturday reportedly confirmed that the elephant returned during the funeral of the woman only to take her corpse from the pyre.

Also Read: Saudi Tourist 'Killed on the Spot' After Aggressive Elephant Trampled Him on Safari

India Elephant Attacks

Human-wildlife conflict has increased for many years as the expansion of human settlements and agricultural lands have destroyed and continues to threaten the natural habitats of wild animals in various ecosystems.

In this conflict, elephants' attacks are one of the most notable phenomena that poses a great risk to humans.

India has witnessed these attacks to become a commonplace over the decades, wherein multiple reports claimed dozens of fatalities annually in recent years.

Odisha has the highest number of deaths from elephant attacks, reaching 589 between 2014 and 2020, according to a data provided by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, as cited by the Times of India.

Odisha is followed by West Bengal with 526 deaths, Jharkhand with 480, and Assam with 479.

The total number of nationwide fatalities from such attacks were 3,310 from the said period.

Human-Elephant Conflict

In a research paper published in the Chinese Journal of Traumatology in November 2021, scientists used the term human-elephant conflict (HEC) in India to portray as a "growing health problem" since it causes a large number of deaths each year.

The study involved a case report on three survivors of elephant attacks, highlighting that elephant attacks are common in Odisha, a state in Eastern India where its population live near forest lands and where HECs are common.

The scientists said injuries or deaths can come from an elephant's stomping, trampling, squeezing, tossing, or even crushing the chest and head of a person.

Most aggressive behavior affect adult elephants during their mating season, which occurs when females are in heat in the later part of the rainy season.

The rainy or wet season in India, also called the summer monsoon season or southwest monsoon, spans from June to September each year.

While an explanation for elephant attacks have been provided, the case of the killed Odisha woman has been considered as an unprovoked attack.

Related Article: Ranger Dies After Rampaging Elephant Skewers Her Like Barbecue
According to the first research to describe the yearly movement of an individual animal from an extinct species, a traveling male mastodon perished in a fierce mating-season conflict with a competitor in what is now northeast Indiana, about 100 miles from his home region.

Discovery of Mastodon on migration

The research's first author, University of Cincinnati paleoecologist Joshua Miller, said that the outcome that is unique to this study is that they have been able to document the yearly overland migration of an individual from an extinct species for the first time, as per ScienceDaily.

Scientists were able to show that huge male mastodons like Buesching traveled to the mating grounds every year using novel modeling approaches and a robust geochemical toolset.

Daniel Fisher, a U-M paleontologist, and research co-leader took part in the Buesching mastodon excavation 24 years ago.

He cut a thin, longitudinal chunk from the middle of the animal's 9.5-foot right tusk, which is longer and more thoroughly preserved than the left.

The new isotopic and life-history studies were performed on that slab, allowing scientists to recreate shifting patterns of landscape usage over two important periods: adolescence and maturity.

According to the researchers, the Buesching mastodon perished at the age of 34 in a conflict over mate access.

The structure and composition of the tusk captured and recorded the animal's growth and development, as well as its history of changing land use and changing behavior, according to Fisher, a professor of earth and environmental sciences, an ecology and evolutionary biology professor, and a curator at the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology.

Also Read: Humans Not to Blame for Mastodon Extinction

Different migration patterns due to season fluctuation

Mastodons and other big animals' reproductive success was likely dependent on migration and other types of seasonally regulated terrain usage in severe Pleistocene temperatures, as per SciTechDaily.

According to the current study, nothing is known about how their geographic ranges and movement fluctuated seasonally or altered with sexual maturation.

However, tools for analyzing the ratios of various forms of the element's strontium and oxygen in ancient tusks are assisting scientists in unlocking some of those mysteries.

Mastodons, mammoths, and contemporary elephants are proboscideans, which are enormous, flexible-trunked animals with lengthened upper incisor teeth that erupt as tusks from their heads.

Each year of the animal's existence, new growth layers are put down on top of the existing ones.

A tusk's annual growth layers are similar to a tree's annual rings, with the exception that each new tusk layer forms in the center, whereas new growth in trees happens in a layer of cells adjacent to the bark.

A tusk's growing layers resemble an overturned tower of ice cream cones, with the moment of death at the bottom and the moment of birth at the top.

Mastodons ate trees and bushes and were herbivores.

Chemical ingredients in their food and drinking water, particularly the beautifully tapering, ever-growing tusks, were absorbed into their body tissues as they grew.

The isotopic data from the tusks were then fed into Miller and his colleagues' spatially explicit movement model.

The model allowed the researchers to calculate how far the animal was going and the likelihood of movement between possible places, which had previously been unavailable in investigations of extinct-animal migrations.

Strontium isotope geochemistry is a rapidly growing area in paleontology, archaeology, historical ecology, and even forensic biology, according to Miller.

The next phase in Fisher and Miller's mastodon study will be to examine the tusks of a different specimen, possibly a male or a female.

Related article: 6-Year-Old Discovers Rare Mastodon Tooth in Michigan's Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve
STONELEIGH, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 17: White leghorn bantam chickens are displayed for sale at The National Poultry Show on November 17, 2012 in Stoneleigh, England.Thousands of people have attended The Poultry Club's 2012 National Show. The Poultry Club was founded 1877, and was established to safeguard the interests of all pure and traditional breeds of poultry including chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. (Photo : Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Ancestors of our modern domesticated chickens may have been revered as novelties back in the day, not served on a dining table. In fact, they were viewed as exotic animals that were respected, and even worshipped.

Researchers found that chickens were regarded as all hail and mighty for centuries before they became meals, LiveScience reported. They weren't as fast-growing as to today's domesticated chickens, but they have more distinctive look and voice, and only about one-third the size of chickens now.

According to a new study, approximately 500 years had elapsed before chickens in central Europe began to be used widely for food. However, before that, they were "what everyone wanted".

"Chickens, at first, are this amazing thing," said study co-author Greger Larson, the director of the paleogenomics and bio-archaeology research network at the University of Oxford in England. "Whereas people today scramble to acquire whatever the Kardashians have, thousands of years ago, that would have been a chicken," he added.

Mysterious Origins

Before chickens were domesticated (Gallus domesticus), humans first got acquainted with their ancestors: the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) from Southeast Asia.

These "jungle birds" have had "murky origins" before it became one of the most popular food on Earth, according to the study. This is because archaelogy is challenging in heavily forested Southeast Asia, and tiny artifacts like chicken bones are hard to notice. They easily sink into the ground or disturbed by mammals' digging, human construction and other disruptions, said study co-author Joris Peters, a zooarchaeologist at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

As a result, soil layers in which chicken bones are found may not accurately represent the age of the bones, the authors reported in two papers published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and in the journal Antiquity.

Also read: An Alarming Number of Dead Dolphins Are Washing Up on Black Sea Due to Russian War

How Chickens Landed the Platter

According to Larson, humans and chickens have probably been associated for only about 3,500 years. By about 1500 B.C., when people in southeastern Asia cultivated rice and millet, and planted in fields with grain, it would attract red junglefowl, and people find them "very endearing".

As the birds began to rely on humans for food, domestication began, and the chickens had spread all over central China, South Asia and Mesopotamia, to Africa, Mediterranean, and central Europe

Larson said that men at the time were often buried with cockerels, and women with hens, and these chickens were likely important to the people with whom they were buried.

"These are older birds, their individual birds," Larson said. "They matter to their society."

During the rise of the Roman empire in Europe, chicken eggs became popular as a stadium snack. Although it was unclear how the shift occurred, chicken consumption has become widespread in Roman-controlled Britain dates to around the first century A.D.

Larson said it is possible that having chickens around for centuries made humans reevaluate their relationship "in a more practical light."

"Familiarity breeds contempt," he noted.

Furthermore, Peter explains that the domestication helped sustainably expand human subsistence over time. "In retrospect, the domestication of the chicken proved very useful for cultural developments throughout the wider region, as domestic flocks could easily be taken on sea voyages, either as provisions or, ultimately, to raise chickens in newly occupied areas," he added.

Related article: Indiana Angler Reels Monster Catfish, Breaks State Record
On Monday, major flooding at Yellowstone National Park took away at least one bridge, washed away roads, and triggered mudslides, causing officials to seal the park's entrances and evacuate people.

"Exceptional Rainfall"

The flooding was caused by "exceptional rainfall," according to park authorities on Facebook.

The park superintendent announced that due to record floods and rockslides caused by a burst of torrential rainfall, all five gates to Yellowstone national park were closed on Monday, the first day of the summer tourist season.

Closed Until Further Announcement

At least until Wednesday, the whole park, which spans portions of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, will be closed to visitors, including those with hotel and camping reservations, as authorities assess damage to roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.

Scientists say they can't link a single weather event to climate change without additional research. Still, climate change is causing more powerful and frequent extreme events, including storms, droughts, floods, and wildfires.

Flooding was also caused by recent heavy rains and spring runoff in southern Montana, with water rushing down streets in Red Lodge. According to the Office of Emergency Management, carbon County has issued evacuation orders.

Historic Flood

For the first time since a series of deadly wildfires in 1988, all five park entrances were blocked from entering vehicles. Officials said the National Park Service sought to contact tourists and personnel who had remained in various areas, particularly in Yellowstone's hardest-hit northern side.

The park superintendent, Cam Sholly, stated in a statement that "our first focus has been to evacuate the northern area of the park where we have several road and bridge collapses, mudslides, and other concerns."

According to the National Park Service, the "gateway" village of Gardiner, Montana, located just north of the park's northern boundary and home to many Yellowstone service personnel, has been shut off owing to a mudslide in the area.

The park's electric power was knocked out in several parts, and preliminary inspections revealed that large portions of roads were swept away or covered with boulders and mud, with several bridges also destroyed, according to the park service.

According to the organization, many roads in the park's southern tier were on the edge of flooding.

Also Read: Atmospheric River Rages Towards the Pacific Northwest

Days of Continous Rain

Days of heavy rainfall in the park and continuous rains over most of the region produced the flooding and avalanche following one of the wettest springs in recent years. The park staff described the great rain and flooding that swept through the area.

A rapid rise in summer temperatures over the previous three days has sped the melting and runoff of late-winter storm snow in the park's higher elevations.

Holiday Rain

Heavy rains and quick snow melt collided in the park barely two weeks after the customary Memorial Day weekend opening of the US summer tourist season, which accounts for the vast majority of Yellowstone's yearly 4 million visitors.

Related Article: Exposure to Major Disasters Can Cause Long-Term Mental Health Problems

For more climate and weather updates, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Explorers discover that the deep sea's 'holy grail' of shipwrecks is not alone. Images from a centuries-old galleon sunk by enemy forces reveal not just a billion-dollar prize but also rare, never-before-seen discoveries.

Traversing the Ocean

A high-tech vehicle traveling around the bottom off the coast of Colombia on a mission to track down the "holy grail" of colonial shipwrecks has discovered two more centuries-old gems.

Colombian officials recently revealed incredible footage of the sunken 18th-century San Jose galleon and two additional previously unknown historical warships off the country's Caribbean coast.

A colonial-era boat and a schooner have been discovered, both of which are considered from around the same time as Colombia's 200-year-old battle for independence from Spain.

"We already have two further findings in the same region," naval commander Admiral Gabriel Perez told Reuters. "So the task has just begun."

Also Read: Experts Mapping Out the Ocean Floor Unearthed Historic and Shocking Discovery

Acquiring the Footage

According to The Washington Post, the footage of the wreckage was acquired during four Colombian Navy reconnaissance sorties over the San Jose ruins. The seafloor is littered with gold coins, crew swords, cannons constructed in Seville in 1655, porcelain dinnerware, pottery, glass bottles, and other antiquities.

The British sank the San Jose, a 64-gun galleon, near Colombia's Caribbean port of Cartagena in 1708. Only a few of the 600-strong crew members escaped.

The ship was lost at sea for centuries until it was discovered in 2015 by a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The ship has been "kept intact and safeguarded with a view to a future retrieval," according to Colombian President Ivan Duque, who said last week that the wreck has been "kept intact and protected."

Naval authorities recorded the film with a remotely controlled vehicle at a depth of roughly 3,100 feet, providing an unparalleled look into the ships' past.

Leonardo Moreno-alvarez, a Ph.D. student at the University of Pittsburgh, says, "every disaster is like a miniature Pompeii - it's a picture of civilization at one precise period."

A Nautical Mystery

According to ABC Australia, the wreckage of the San Jose has long been regarded as one of history's outstanding nautical mysteries.

When the disaster was discovered seven years ago, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos hailed it as "the most valuable treasure ever uncovered in global history."

According to France 24, experts believe that the nearly 200 tons of gold, silver, and gems on the San Jose are worth over $17 billion today.

The ship's richness has earned it the moniker "holy grail" of shipwrecks. However, the ownership of the wreckage and its contents quickly became a source of legal contention.

Colombia, Spain, an American corporation, and the Qhara Qhara Indigenous community have filed lawsuits.

Claiming Ownership

Spain claims ownership of the sunk ship since it belonged to the Spanish navy in 1706 when it sank, according to a UNESCO treaty. The Qhara Qhara Indigenous community in Bolivia, on the other hand, claims ownership of the treasure since the Spanish compelled their forefathers to mine part of the precious metals aboard.

"All those archaeological disputes are colonialism issues," Moreno-alvarez told The Washington Post.

Then there's the American firm Sea Search Armada, which claims a piece of the wealth due to a 2007 Colombian court order that gave the company 50% of the treasure found from the wreckage that wasn't national patrimony.

On the other hand, Colombia claimed that the sunken ship identified in 1981 by a firm acquired by Sea Search Armada was not the San Jose. Colombian officials claimed that the genuine remnants of the San Jose were located in November 2015 with the aid of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. According to ABC Australia, researchers utilized an autonomous underwater vehicle called REMUS 6000 to help determine the wreckage's position and collect photographs of the ruins at a depth of 1,968 feet (600 meters).

Claiming the Wreckage

Colombia claims Sea Search Armada does not have rights to the treasure since the location supplied by the business in 1981 was wrong. San Jose's destiny and wealth were sealed in 2013 when Colombia enacted legislation declaring sunken ships discovered in its seas to be national heritage.

The new film of the San Jose galleon provided the finest glimpse of the wreck and its jewels. Old corroded coins, as well as pottery fragments and bits of all forms and colors, are strewn over the buried remains.

Colombian officials announced earlier this year that after salvage and cleaning efforts are made, all of the treasures from the San Jose would be displayed in a museum.

According to officials, the contents of the other two shipwrecks will be located and assessed.

Related Article: Scientists Exploring Shipwreck Discover Mysterious 'Larger Than Human' Deep-Sea Creature

For similar news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Nairobi  Former Kitui East Member of Parliament Kiema kilonzo has made a complaint against the Nomination of Julius Malombe to vie for the position of Governor in Kitui County.

Kiema through his Lawyer Eric Mutua told the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) dispute resolution committee that Malombe's nomination was a sham.

He urged the committee to revoke the nomination and order for fresh elections.

Mutua said that his client was not notified of the time and date when the elections were conducted and only received a letter three hours after the exercise had started.

Malombe's Lawyer Mansur Isha however told the committee that the complaint before them is incompetent should be dismissed.

He stated that Kiema ought to have made a complaint to the returning officer or to Wiper Democratic Party.

The committee chaired by George Murugu heard that Kilonzo did not exhaust the internal political Party dispute resolution mechanisms, before complaining to IEBC.

Isha submitted that the committee lacked jurisdiction to entertain the complaint,

The committee will deliver a ruling on June 18.
In June of last year, a 56-year-old commercial lobster diver named Michael Packard found himself inside the mouth of a humpback whale. The survivor later gets his story told on film.

On a Friday morning near Herring Cove Beach, off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, Packard was diving for lobsters on the sea floor when he came across more marine life than he expected.

Packard recounted the events, saying that it was just a normal day for him. However, on his third dive, he was hit on his way down and all of a sudden, it went dark.

A humpback whale has taken the diver into its mouth. Off the coast of Massachusetts, sightings of humpback whales are common.

Humpback whales are baleen whales, which means they have a very fine keratin comb in their mouth instead of teeth to allow water out while keeping their small krill prey inside.

Keratin is the same protein that makes up human nails and hair.

Not What It Ordered

Baleen whales, such as humpback whales, frequently get larger animals into their mouth, including humans. A Bryde's whale engulfed and spat out a tour guide off the coast of South Africa, among other whale-mouth incidents. Baleen whales do not commonly eat larger prey.

Packard relayed that he could sense that he was moving and that the whale was squeezing with the muscles in its mouth. He thought for sure that there is no way he is getting out and that he is done and dead. During the terrifying ordeal, he could only think of his 12 and 15-year-old boys.

He remembered how the whale tried to spit out the contents of its mouth. There was a sudden movement and the diver felt the whale swim fast upward, and shake its head vigorously, and that was when Packard found himself flying out of the animal's mouth. The next vision he saw was the sky. He was already floating on the ocean, ecstatic about the realization that he is going to live.

In Packard's estimate, he was in the whale's mouth for about 40 seconds.

Nicola Hodgins of the UK nonprofit organization, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, explains that Packard was not actually swallowed by the humpback whale.

Read also: Humpback Whales No Longer Endangered Species, But Experts Are Still Worried

While a humpback whale's 10-foot mouth can easily fit a human inside, Hodgins explains that humpback whales' throats are only about as big as a human fist and stretch to a maximum diameter of about 15 inches only. This makes it scientifically impossible for the gigantic sea creature to swallow a human.

Packard claims that he kept breathing while inside the whale's mouth to avoid getting the bends. A crewman, Josiah Mayo, radioed shore and returned Packard to the pier. The lobster diver was then picked up, and he was taken to Cape Cod Hospital by a Provincetown Fire Department ambulance.

Unfazed Diver

David Abel, a Boston Globe staffer and filmmaker, thinks Packard's story is fit to be made into a film.

Packard seems relatively unperturbed by the whole ordeal and, three weeks after the incident, has returned to his underwater job.

He said that in his occupation, he always had some trepidation before he got in the water. Some risks would cross his mind but he does not focus on them. Instead, he focuses on the job that he has to do.

Related article: Rescued 12-Meter Humpback Whale in Spain Expresses 'Thank You' to Divers
Nairobi  A section of oil marketing companies has raised concern that the Government's proposal to allocate a 30 percent import quota to the National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK) will have an impact on the fuel supply chain market and may precipitate unnecessary shortages as witnessed in the past.

According to the proposals contained in the Draft Petroleum (importation) quota allocations) regulations, 2022, NOCK, the state-owned oil marketer will be allowed to import up to a third of fuel products into the country which includes diesel, petrol, kerosene, and cooking gas.

But Total Supply and Planning Manager, Susan Gacheru, while presenting her submissions during a public and stakeholder consultations workshop on the regulations, expressed doubt about whether the state oil marketer has the capacity to meet demand even as she noted that the current importing requirements are no longer based on demand but on capacity.

She remained wary of a constrained capacity that will be insufficient to meet the demand; the same concerns were raised by Martin Chomba, chair of the Petroleum Outlets Association of Kenya (POAK).

Gacheru urged the Government to consider private facilities which can be connected to the Kenya Pipeline jetty in order to meet the capacity demand.

EPRA currently oversees the importation of petroleum products through the open tender system where the lowest bidder is granted rights to import on behalf of other marketing companies

"The majority of OMCs import through the SOT and therefore the 30pc rule will impact the rest us as capacity would be constraineD, the Government should consider how well we can make use of private facilities and how we can connect them to other capacities," Gacheru said.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Petroleum By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

Some of these private facilities fronted include Shimanzi, and Petrocity terminal which she noted are well-positioned for the importers to use.

Chomba noted that while the regulations are welcomed, it is likely to affect the efficiency and capability of delivering fuel products to Kenyans.

"Unless something is done in terms of restructuring NOCK in terms of human resources and infrastructure, I am not confident they can achieve the 30 percent, maybe they can start progressively, they don't have requisite resources, to go for that, unless financed by Treasury

Chomba also raised concerns on whether EPRA, the regulator will independently reign on NOCK, a fellow government entity should they negate or fail to come short of what is expected of them.

We urge the regulator to have a system whereby it can be effective to reign on the state oil marketer without being seen as merely ' cherry-picking, " Chumba said.

The players are also fronting for a balanced composition of the management of NOCK which should incorporate both private and public sector players.
Nairobi  Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo has urged parties in the South Sudan, Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of Congo conflicts to emulate the handshake between President Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.

Speaking during a meeting with various ambassadors on Monday, Omamo indicated that this is the only way to foster peace within the region.

She emphasised the need for both parties not to be rigid but to give way to dialogue which will in turn result in good relations between opponents.

The latest clashes in Sudans Darfur region between Arab and non-Arab groups have left more than 100 people killed, a tribal leader said on Monday.

The fighting killed 117 people and left 14 villages burnt in the locality of Kolbus in West Darfur, said Ibrahim Hashem, a leader in the ethnic African Gimir tribe.

Hashem said the fighting took place between the Gimir and the Arab Rizeigat tribe.

A rebel group in eastern DR Congo that the government accuses of being supported by Rwanda has overrun a trading hub on the border with Uganda, local sources said on Monday.

M23 fighters seized the town of Bunagana in North Kivu province as some government forces retreated into Uganda, they said.

Bunagana is under enemy control, a Congolese officer said, who was reached by AFP by phone from Goma.

The army has just given way and is heading into Uganda, said Damien Sebusanane, head of a local civil society association, who was on the Ugandan side of the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

An army truck has just gone past, four jeeps and other vehicles which are full of soldiers, he said, estimating the number of DRC troops retreating into Uganda at around 100.

A humanitarian source on the ground said that heavy clashes broke out again on Sunday morning and the only way out for the embattled DRC troops was to cross into Uganda.

In Ethiopia, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), which ruled the country for more than three decades before Abiy came to power in 2018, has been designated a terrorist group by the current government.
Questions about birdhouses along Windsor Road, donors to the University of Illinois athletic department, a new restaurant along Green Street, a new mural along Green Street, former tenants of a 140-year-old downtown Urbana building and a trail at Allerton Park.
Nairobi  The Kenya Railway Corporation has urged Kenyans to maintain a safe distance from railway lines, so as to avoid railway-related accidents.

This comes days after a freight train carrying empty saddles while on its return from Ruiru hit a lorry which got stuck while trying to cross the rail track at an illegal level crossing.

The incident left 5 people dead.

"We urge motorists and pedestrians to maintain safe distance from railway lines, exercise caution while approaching level crossings and desist from obstructing oncoming trains," Kenya Railways stated.

According to police, the lorry transporting laborers is owned by a Chinese Manufacturing company and was attempting to cross the tracks but underestimated the speed and distance of the oncoming train.

The lorry was ferrying construction workers and its driver reportedly miscalculated the speed and distance of the train.

The Kenya Railways also explained that trains cannot stop instantly due to their enormous weight and inertia, hence have the right of way.

"For example, a freight train traveling at 80 km h pulling 100 loaded wagons, on applying brakes will come to a stop several metres ahead. This is why it is prohibited to sit or walk on the tracks," Kenya Railways said.
'The challenge of preventing gun violence is ever present, and we must do more, especially in light of recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde. We must address the underlying causes of violent crime by reducing poverty and creating more opportunity in underserved communities.'
'Republican or Democrat, if someone from our party is spouting lies that can greatly damage our country and system of government, we must admonish them immediately or risk losing our way of life.'
'I am the only candidate that has consistently demonstrated a desire to reach across the aisle and a willingness to stand up to their own party if needed. This is the type of representation I believe most East Central Illinoisans want and need.'
'Throughout the pandemic, we saw bad actors trying to take advantage of the most vulnerable in our communities, in particular the elderly. The attorney general needs to be more vigilant in protecting citizens from fraud and abuse.'
Reporter

Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
Reporter

Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).
Equipping security firms with enough and professional skills is key to boosting security and their professionalism as well.

This was highlighted by Alphonse Sinzi, the Director of Training and Professional Standard, under the Infrastructure Security and Private Security Service Providers Department, during a training that was offered by Rwanda National Police to private security companies last week.

The training aimed at boosting their professionalism and to also act as a platform for further workshops, from which security firms can receive legit documents to operate anywhere within the security industry.

Some of the security companies that took part in the training include; Delta, Dicel, Easco, Excel, Excellent, GardaWorld, Guardsmark, Highsec, Isco, Quick Star, Rgl, Royal Security, Rucosec, Scar Ltd, Top Sec and Veterans Ltd.

"Security guards work at different and big places, so they really need to get as much training as possible and that is a routine that we always go by," Sinzi said.

Guards, along with their security firms were reminded to be more hospitable and patriotic as usual since they are representing the country with their work.

They were also encouraged to be more vigilant while on duty, in order not to give room to any terrorism or insecurity related crimes.

Violette Mukampunga, one of the security guards at the training, and has been working in this profession for seven years now, told this publication that this was such an amazing opportunity that was imperative.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

"We learnt a lot from the training and we wanted it for sure. It was my very first time attending this sort of workshop and I would suggest that the Rwanda National Police keeps on providing such training, since they have a lot of amazing content that can be useful in our career as guards."

When asked about the way forward, Sinzi revealed that soon they are introducing a new system of offering some courses and training, "Basic training will start in September 2022. With the new law, all the security guards will have to attend three months of training sessions and later be given legit documents/certificates that can not only permit them to work in any security company in Rwanda, but also in any country around the world within the security field."

As confirmed by various security companies, the training increased alertness and readiness and mainly refreshed the guards.

"We strongly believe that now all the guards are very well sharpened and the difference will be noticed in their respective workplace. We are so confident that they are going to deliver the best from now on, during the CHOGM and in the future as well, for they are very ready," said William Gichohi, GardaWorld Country Manager.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government that is distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
Scientists from Wellington, New Zealand, have conducted a systematic review to understand the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis in palliative care settings. Palliative care aims to relieve the suffering and improve the quality of life of critically or terminally ill patients. The study has recently been published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

Methodological Reviews: Cannabis in palliative care: a systematic review of current evidence. Image Credit: Tsareva.pro / Shutterstock

Systematic review design

In the systematic review, the scientists searched all eligible articles published between 1960 and 2021. The final analysis was based on a total of 52 studies, which included 20 randomized control trials and 32 non-randomized studies. The scientists identified the quality of evidence as very low or low for all studies and low for only two RCTs.

The studies selected for the final analysis involved 4,786 participants diagnosed with cancer, dementia, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), spasticity, and new-onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE) syndrome.

The primary aim of the review was to investigate the effect of medicinal cannabis on quality of life and patient-reported or clinician-reported treatment outcomes. Also included in the review were the types of medical cannabis used and the associated risks.

Important observations

The majority of the studies included in the review were on cancer patients. Only a few studies were conducted on dementia patients and AIDS patients. Considerable differences in study populations, as well as cannabis treatment regimens, were observed across the studies. However, because of the heterogeneity in types of cannabis used as well as study outcomes, the scientists could not perform a meta-analysis of the findings.

The studies investigating the quality of life in cancer patients revealed no positive impact of medicinal cannabis on the overall quality of life, impression of change (belief about treatment efficacy), and satisfaction.

Regarding impression of change, inconsistent effects were observed among cancer patients, with some studies showing positive impacts of the oral spray nabiximols and some showing no treatment-induced benefits. In an open-level pilot study, some improvements in the impression of change were observed in cancer patients who received either cannabidiol or tetrahydrocannabinol. Similar inconsistent effects of nabiximols on patient satisfaction were observed across the studies.

In cancer patients, positive effects of some medicinal cannabis were observed in relieving pain, nausea and vomiting, appetite, sleep, fatigue, chemosensory perception, and paraneoplastic night sweats.

In dementia patients, some improvement in appetite and agitation symptoms were observed following cannabis treatment. Similarly, in AIDS patients, cannabis-mediated improvements in nausea and vomiting symptoms were observed.

In all included studies, several adverse events were noted in both treatment and control groups. As mentioned by the scientists, the large number of adversities might be due to the differences in patterns of reporting adverse events between studies. While some studies mentioned all adversities reported by the patients, some reported only common adversities.

Various types of cannabis were used in the included studies. Overall, five pharmaceutical-grade products, several standardized and non-standardized commercial products, and plant products were evaluated. However, considerable differences in doses and formulations were observed between the studies.

Study significance

This systematic review identifies a range of positive effects of medicinal cannabis in palliative care for critically or terminally ill patients, especially cancer, dementia, and AIDS patients. However, because of the low or very low quality of evidence, the scientists cannot conclusively recommend the use of medicinal cannabis in palliative care settings.

In several outcome analyses, contradictory results have been observed. This highlights the need for more in-depth studies to establish the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis in palliative care settings.

As mentioned by the scientists, high-quality clinical trials with proper selection of participants, treatment regimens, study controls, and validated outcome reporting methods are required to improve the quality of evidence. Such high-quality studies will help determine whether cannabis can outperform currently available standard of care or gold standard interventions, or it can be used as an adjunctive treatment in clinical setups.
A new study by RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences examining population genetics across Europe has analyzed the diverse ancestries of people living in the UK. This knowledge has the potential to inform future health research on genetic factors leading to disease.

The study, led by researchers at the RCSI School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences and the SFI FutureNeuro Research Centre, has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The RCSI and FutureNeuro researchers used the UK Biobank, a database of genetic and health information of over 500,000 participants from the UK, to examine population genetics and ancestry across Europe.

The study analyzed the genetic ancestry data of individuals in the UK Biobank who reported having a European birthplace outside of the UK  about 1% of the dataset. Researchers cataloged where individuals shared segments of their genome with other individuals, meaning they had a common ancestor within the past 3,000 years.

With this information, the researchers could group individuals with more segments in common than on average into three branches, corresponding to southern, central-eastern, and northwestern Europe.

By studying the patterns of the genome sharing, the researchers were able to infer historical patterns such as population size and how genetically isolated specific European regions are, relative to each other. In general, people from southern Europe were found to have less in common genetically with each other than in other areas, due to the larger population sizes and therefore usually greater number of ancestors in the region.

An exception to this was Malta which, being an island, was found to have a smaller pool of ancestors. This is the first large sample analysis of Maltese population genetics. Identifying European regions such as Malta with specific histories of genetic isolation could potentially aid the discovery of genetic factors contributing to disease.

In addition to building and expanding upon previous knowledge in Europe, the results present the UK Biobank as a source of diverse ancestries beyond the UK. This has the potential to complement and inform researchers interested in specific communities or regions across Europe and the world.

Professor Gianpiero Cavalleri, Professor of Human Genetics at RCSI, Deputy Director of FutureNeuro and senior author on the paper, commented: "This research has shown the diversity of European ancestries sampled by the UK Biobank and has enabled us show the "big picture" of the genetic landscape of Europe, including new insights into communities such as within Malta. This work suggests similar gains of knowledge could be found within non-European ancestry groups using the UK Biobank, groups that are typically excluded from genetic analyses."

The power of the large sample size of and scale of information on the participants in the UK Biobank has allowed us to show the diversity of genetic histories across the European continent. With new sequencing data becoming available from the UK Biobank, our work lays a foundation for informed analysis of rare and functional variation in ancestries in the UK and beyond." Dr Edmund Gilbert, NUI Posdoctoral Fellow and first author on the paper

The research was conducted using the publicly available UK Biobank resource. It was supported by the NUI Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Sciences and Engineering and Science Foundation Ireland, via the FutureNeuro Research Centre and the Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science.
Later-born generations of older adults in the United States are more likely to have a greater number of chronic health conditions than the generations that preceded them, according to a study conducted by Penn State and Texas State University.

According to the researchers, the increasing frequency of reporting multiple chronic health conditions  or multimorbidity -- represents a substantial threat to the health of aging populations. This may place increased strain on the well-being of older adults, as well as medical and federal insurance systems, especially as the number of U.S. adults older than age 65 is projected to grow by more than 50% by 2050.

Steven Haas, associate professor of sociology and demography at Penn State, said the results fit with other recent research that suggests the health of more recent generations in the U.S. is worse than that their predecessors in a number of ways.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, we were beginning to see declines in life expectancy among middle-aged Americans, a reversal of more than a century long trend. Furthermore, the past 30 years has seen population health in the U.S. fall behind that in other high-income countries, and our findings suggest that the U.S. is likely to continue to fall further behind our peers." Steven Haas, associate professor of sociology and demography, Penn State

The researchers said the findings could help inform policy to address the potentially diminishing health in our expanding population of older adults. The paper was recently published in The Journals of Gerontology, and was also worked on by Ana Quinones, Oregon Health & Science University.

For the study, the researchers examined data about adults aged 51 years and older from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative survey of aging Americans. The study measured multimorbidity using a count of nine chronic conditions: heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, lung disease, cancer (excluding skin cancer), high depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment. The researchers also explored variation in the specific conditions driving generational differences in multimorbidity.

They found that more recently born generations of older adults are more likely to report a greater number of chronic conditions and experience the onset of those conditions earlier in life.

"For example, when comparing those born between 1948-65  referred to as Baby Boomers -- to those born during the later years of the Great Depression (between 1931 and 1941) at similar ages," Haas said, "Baby Boomers exhibited a greater number of chronic health conditions. Baby Boomers also reported two or more chronic health conditions at younger ages."

The researchers also found that sociodemographic factors such as race and ethnicity, whether the person was born in the U.S., childhood socioeconomic circumstances, and childhood health affected the risk of multimorbidity for all generations. Among adults with multimorbidity, arthritis and hypertension were the most prevalent conditions for all generations, and there was evidence that high depressive symptoms and diabetes contributed to the observed generational differences in multimorbidity risk.

Nicholas Bishop, assistant professor at Texas State University, said there could be multiple explanations for the findings.

"Later-born generations have had access to more advanced modern medicine for a greater period of their lives, therefore we may expect them to enjoy better health than those born to prior generations," Bishop said. "Though this is partially true, advanced medical treatments may enable individuals to live with multiple chronic conditions that once would have proven fatal, potentially increasing the likelihood that any one person experiences multimorbidity."

He added that older adults in more recently born generations have also had greater exposure to health risk factors such as obesity, which increases the likelihood of experiencing chronic disease. Medical advances have also been accompanied by better surveillance and measurement of disease, leading to the identification of chronic conditions which once may have gone undiagnosed.

The researchers said future studies could try to find explanations for these differences in multimorbidity between generations.

The National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health helped support this research.
New research from UT Southwestern suggests that RNA exosomes  the cellular machines that degrade old molecules of RNA  play a key role in the development of B cells, which are critical to the immune system's ability to protect against infection. The findings, published in Science Immunology, explain why patients with rare mutations in a gene that codes for this machinery are often immunodeficient and could offer new approaches to treat autoimmune diseases.

It was quite a surprise for us to find that this gene, whose role was well known as part of a disposal system for RNA, is also critical for a very important part of our immune system." Nan Yan, Ph.D., study leader, Professor of Immunology and Microbiology at UT Southwestern and member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center

Many patients with a rare disease tied to RNA exosome deficiency, known as trichohepatoenteric syndrome (THES), also develop B-cell immunodeficiency and experience recurrent infections. Although researchers have long known that THES is associated with mutations in exosome-encoding genes known as SKIV2L and TTC37, the molecular basis of the disease has been unknown.

To better understand the role of SKIV2L in THES, Dr. Yan's research team in the Department of Immunology and colleagues at the Primary Immunodeficiency Clinic at UTSW and Children's Medical Center Dallas studied a THES patient who carried this mutation and was part of a clinical research study led by Christian Wysocki, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics. In addition to the usual clinical features of THES, a multi-organ disorder with symptoms including small size at birth, intractable diarrhea, distinctive "wooly" hair, and liver diseases, this patient had a severely low blood count of B cells.

Researchers then generated mice whose SKIV2L gene had been deleted in bone marrow stem cells that generate B cells. The animals also had B-cell deficiencies; further research showed that the B cells never matured because a key part of their development  in which progenitor cells randomly recombine genetic material to create a diverse B-cell pool  did not occur.

Dr. Yan explained that this appears to be related to SKIV2L's role in RNA degradation. In a separate finding published in the same issue of Science Immunology, researchers at Columbia University showed mutations in other components of the RNA exosome also cause B-cell deficiency. These mutations render RNA exosomes nonfunctional, causing cells to selectively retain RNA, particularly the non-coding form that doesn't produce proteins. When B-cell progenitors become gunked up with excessive non-coding RNA, they can't mature into functional B cells.

Taken together, the findings suggest that THES might be treated with a bone marrow transplant, replacing faulty B-cell progenitors that carry a genetic mutation with healthy ones. They also suggest that SKIV2L could offer a new target for fighting autoimmune diseases such as lupus, in which overactive B cells play a key role. By inhibiting the activity of this gene, Dr. Yan explained, it may be possible to control the number of B cells, lowering the intensity of autoimmune attack.

Dr. Yan is the Rita C. and William P. Clements, Jr. Scholar in Medical Research.

Other UTSW researchers who contributed to this study include Kun Yang (first author), Jie Han, Jennifer G. Gill, Jason Y. Park, Meghana N. Sathe, Jyothsna Gattineni, and Tracey Wright. M. Teresa de la Morena of the University of Washington also contributed.

This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (AI153576) and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
The spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has waxed and waned, depending on the level of population immunity and the biological characteristics of the virus. The emergence of new variants of the virus, with higher transmissibility or immune escape characteristics, for instance, has changed the course of the pandemic. A new research paper in the journal Viruses reports the isolation of a recombinant strain in a patient infected with the virus for over a year.

Study: Sequential Appearance and Isolation of a SARS-CoV-2 Recombinant between Two Major SARS-CoV-2 Variants in a Chronically Infected Immunocompromised Patient. Image Credit: NIAID

Introduction

Genetic recombination refers to the combination of corresponding parts of a genomic molecule to form a new sequence. It commonly occurs in ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses, including the currently circulating SARS-CoV-2, a member of the family of coronaviruses. In fact, it is suspected to have given rise to the pandemic virus.

This phenomenon has also been inferred to occur in human patients with this infection, as shown by the presence of the distinctive mutations of different strains of the virus in the same patient. However, none of these has been isolated so far.

In the current paper, published in the journal Viruses, the scientists found evidence of the slow emergence of a recombinant strain of SARS-CoV-2 in a chronically immunocompromised patient. The patient was a 56 years old male with lymphoma.

The first positive test came in August 2020, when he developed pneumonia, requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. This was successfully treated, but the virus was not cleared. During the last 14 months of his life, he repeatedly tested positive for the virus before dying of complications following the lymphoma and progressive multifocal leukoencephalitis first diagnosed in May 2021.

The first detection of a hybrid-genome SARS-CoV-2 variant came after 14 months of infection. The two strains that had undergone recombination were identified as B.1.160, and the Alpha variant. Two regions of the former had been replaced by the latter, and the spike gene showed all the eight characteristic mutations of the Alpha variant, while the S477N mutation which is a hallmark of B.1.160 was absent.

There was little evidence to suggest that the presence of these Alpha mutations was due to coinfection or contamination by both variants. Instead, These findings indicated that this mosaic genome was the result of recombinations between parental genomes of the B.1.160 and Alpha variants.

The timeline of positive viral RNA tests suggested that the initial infection occurred with B.1.160, circulating widely from August 2020 until January 2021, when the Alpha variant replaced it. The next sequence was obtained only 8 months later, and this showed that a mosaic genome had already been formed between the two strains.

This recombinant formed over several steps, with recombination occurring at three sites of the two parental genomes. The detection of multiple chimeric copies indicated the presence of several breakpoints between the ancestral strains.

Schematic representation of the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 genomes obtained from the nasopharyngeal samples and from the culture supernatants, as well as of the recombination events over time, in reference to parental genomes of the B.1.160 and Alpha variants. (a) Genome map and annotation; (b) Genome structure and mutations. Blue color of rectangles indicates sequences from a B.1.160 variant; yellow color indicates sequences from an Alpha variant; green color indicates co-detection of sequences from a B.1.160 variant and from an Alpha variant; grey color indicates sequences from indeterminate origin. Signature mutations from the B.1.160 and Alpha variants are indicated by a blue background and a yellow background, respectively. Signature mutations that are absent are indicated by a red font. 21,765: -6 nucleotides; 21,991: -3 nucleotides. Nsp, nonstructural protein; ORF, open reading frame.

What Are the Implications?

The results of this study emphasized the presence of recombination in an immunocompromised lymphoma patient who developed a prolonged course of infection with SARS-CoV-2 despite undergoing multiple treatments. The outcome was the development of a hybrid virus strain formed by B.1.160 and the Alpha variant. The replacement of a distinctive B.1.160 mutation by several characteristic Alpha mutations between 8 and 14 months were thought to be non-accidental, and the result of recombination at three sites.

Further analysis of the genomic samples from successive respiratory samples and cultures of the virus showed a stepwise development of several hybrid viruses in this patient, among which one established itself and continued to replicate in the host until the very end.

This early sampling study, which covered over a year, yields much insight into how RNA viruses recombine to form new strains, and in particular, reveals the generation of a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 strain that was isolated in culture. Earlier research has shown the presence of 16 Alpha-non-Alpha recombinants in 2021 in the UK. Others have suggested that recombinants account for 5% of circulating viruses in the UK and USA.

Even as more recombinants are being detected every month, researchers are exploring different pathways in various cell types or between different types of RNA viruses. This could help understand how human pathogenic RNA viruses emerge.

The significance of such findings should lead to a strengthening of genomic surveillance in patients, especially in immunocompromised long-term viral carriers. Such infectious episodes could perhaps lead to the emergence of new emerging viruses.
Nairobi  Roots Party Presidential running mate Justina Wamae says should George Wajackoyah succeed in the August Elections to become the head of state, they will have Kenyans working four days a week.

Through her twitter account, Wamae indicated that their manifesto that is set to be launched on July will be focusing on a "24 hour working economy."

She further pointed out that they shall "have an 8-hour shift and people will be paid every two weeks."

Wajackoyah on his part continued to take to social media to popularize the key agenda in his manifesto where he urged Kenyans to really scrutinise it.

In his comments specifically directed to Facebook users, Wajackoyah emphasised the need for "Kenyans to look keenly into our economic revolution manifesto and make independent and wise decisions on where we want our country to be in the next 5 years."

He highlighted key issues that his government if successful will focus on that include industrial hemp (cannabis) production and snake farming.

"We are aiming to cruise in barely/unclaimed waters of industrial hemp, anti-venom, drought free crops among many other realistic developments," he stated.

"A vote for RPK is a vote for a prosperous Kenya. I humbly request you to vote for me, George Luchiri Wajackoya, for the presidency on 8th August 2022. One Love," he stated.

The Roots Party candidate has argued snake farming has the potential to generate sufficient revenues to help offset the national debt which stands at Sh8.4 trillion with the debt ceiling raised to Sh10 trillion.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Governance Labour By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

"We will launch the manifesto and we will let Kenyans know our vision for the country," Wajackoyah said during a television interview on Wednesday.

He is among four candidates cleared for the August 9 State House race by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Wajackoyah who is seen as a nonstarter in the State House race by prominent analysts has dismissed opinion polls projecting a two-horse race between Ruto and Raila terming pollsters as biased since it failed to capture responses in respect to all the four cleared candidates.

"I do not like that company and when I become president should I find out that it has violated the Constitution of Kenya by not doing what Kenyans want, I will send them packing," he remarked.
Visit us at Analytica in Munich, June 21-24, booth A2.506A

Analytica is the world's leading marketplace for products and services along the entire value chain for modern laboratory processes. It is where the industry's key players and decision-makers meet.

In 2020 we were hopeful to meet you in Munich but reality changed our plans and in the end it was a virtual meeting.

In 2022 we look forward to welcoming you in hall A2, booth 506A and demonstrate real-time trace gas analysis.

We'll bring a PTR-TOF and analyze the air on the show floor in Munich, June 21-24. Come to our booth A2.506A and experience a real-time trace VOC monitoring live demo.

Join us!
Casey Malish had just pulled into an intersection in the 2nd Ward when a woman with tattoos and pinkish hair unexpectedly hopped into the back seat of his gray Mazda. He handles outreach for the Houston Harm Reduction Alliance, a nonprofit that helps drug users like her stay alive.

The woman, Desiree Hess, had arranged to meet with him, but Malish, as usual, wasn't sure what to expect on this recent afternoon. Hess told Malish to take her to near the Value Village thrift store before she explained why she was so frantic.

Earlier that day, around 2 a.m., Hess said, a woman  a "teeny-tiny little girl"  overdosed in the warehouse where Hess was hanging out. No one there could find naloxone, a medicine that reverses opioid overdoses, and the woman's lips turned blue. Hess said she blew into the woman's mouth, trying to keep her alive, while others covered her with ice. Finally, someone found some naloxone, often referred to by the brand name Narcan, and sprayed the medication into her nose. After the woman regained consciousness, Hess made a decision.

"I knew I had to call Casey," the 39-year-old recalled, "to get more Narcan."

Malish drives city streets handing out needles, naloxone, cotton balls, and condoms from the trunk of his sedan. But the Houston Harm Reduction Alliance, which tax records show operates on less than $50,000 annually, can afford to pay Malish only a couple of thousand dollars every now and again. His full-time job is as a research assistant at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Malish  a 31-year-old who said he had a problem with alcohol and opioid pills and then heroin before giving them all up nearly 10 years ago  estimated he can reach only about 20 people like Hess a month. Meanwhile, drug overdoses killed 1,119 people in the city last year, according to the Houston Police Department.

President Joe Biden wants to expand harm reduction programs like the one Malish works for as part of a broader strategy to reduce drug overdose deaths, which surged to more than 107,000 nationwide in 2021. But the $30 million plan faces a complicated reality on the ground. In Houston, as in many parts of the country, harm reduction programs operate on the fringes of legality and with scant budgets. Often, advocates like Malish must navigate a maze of state and local laws, fierce local opposition, and hostile law enforcement.

Regina LaBelle, who served as acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy until November, credits the Biden White House with being the first presidential administration to openly embrace harm reduction to curb drug overdoses. She said that the $30 million, tucked into the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, is still just a first step and that too many groups rely on an unstable patchwork of grants.

"You shouldn't have to hold bake sales to get people the care that they need," said LaBelle, who now directs an addiction policy program at Georgetown University.

Plus, the administration faces limits on what it can do when programs face blowback from state legislatures and local leaders. "What you don't want to do is have the federal government coming in and imposing something on a recalcitrant state," she said.

Both Republican- and Democratic-led states have legalized aspects of harm reduction, but many remain resistant.

By 2017, all states and Washington, D.C., had loosened access to naloxone, according to Temple University's Center for Public Health Law Research. Yet, fentanyl test strips  which help people avoid the powerful synthetic opioid or take more precautions when using it  are illegal in about half of states. According to KFF, seven states don't have a program that provides people with clean needles, which help prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C, as well as bacterial infections and embolisms that develop when overused, weak needles break off in a vein. And New York is the only city operating injection sites, where people can use drugs under supervision, although Rhode Island has legalized them and the Justice Department has signaled it may pave the way for more sites to open.

Texas is among the states that have been slow to embrace the interventions  and hasn't expanded eligibility for Medicaid, so Texans with low incomes have limited access to recovery programs. During the 2021 legislative session, lawmakers scuttled a bill that would have rescinded criminal penalties for possessing drug paraphernalia, items such as clean syringes and fentanyl test strips.

That means the Houston Harm Reduction Alliance operates in a "legal gray area," said Malish. Although it has tacit support from the Houston police and other local entities, the nonprofit could face trouble if it strayed into a neighboring city.

"Programs that facilitate addictions by providing the tools people need to continue using drugs are not helping our community," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican, wrote to KHN in an email. In February, Cruz criticized Biden's grant program by saying it would fund "crack pipes for all" in a retweet of a story on a conservative website. Fact checkers debunked the story's claim, but it continues to provide fodder to opponents of harm reduction practices in state and local governments, even in places where overdose deaths are quickly rising.

Louisiana allows local officials to decide whether to authorize syringe exchange programs, but only four of the state's 64 parishes allow the services. "We know in the public health space how these programs save lives," said Nell Wilson, project director for Louisiana's Opioid Surveillance initiative. "But being a more conservative state, a lot of the problem is battling against wide-ranging misconceptions not based in fact."

In Kentucky, local public health departments run harm reduction programs, said James Thacker, a program manager at the University of Kentucky's harm reduction initiative. In some parts of the state, local law enforcement agencies support programs. In others, they enforce laws that consider fentanyl test strips illegal drug paraphernalia.

Harm reduction programs face backlash in progressive places, too, such as San Francisco, where some residents believe they foster drug use.

Still, state and local harm reduction groups say the Biden administration's $30 million grant isn't enough money to expand their programs to reach the number of people who need help.

"We were disappointed by that number," said Cate Graziani, co-executive director of the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, which sought the maximum $400,000 in funding but wasn't among the two dozen organizations to receive grants. Her group planned to distribute the funds to local outposts such as the Houston Harm Reduction Alliance.

"These programs are still running on a shoestring," said Leo Beletsky, a public health law expert at Northeastern University. "That is not how public health is supposed to be done."

Advocates for harm reduction don't believe such efforts alone will suddenly halt overdose deaths. Addiction is a complicated, chronic disease. And in 2021, overdose deaths jumped 15% from a year earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today, illegal fentanyl and its analogs from Mexico and China have tainted the street supply of counterfeit pills, heroin, and even stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine, causing both casual users and those with long-term addiction to overdose and die.

"No one thing is going to solve the overdose crisis, but this is going to save a lot of people's lives," Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, said about harm reduction efforts.

Many of Malish's clients talk about wanting to quit drugs. People who use syringe services programs are five times as likely to start treatment and three times as likely to stop using drugs, according to the CDC.

As Malish drove Hess past the Value Village to the abandoned strip mall where she usually lives, she said she plans to start methadone treatment for heroin addiction as soon as she can get an ID the city offers to people without housing.

"I'm so sick of seeing my friends die," said Hess.

When she got out of Malish's car, he loaded her arms with boxes of syringes, sterile water, injectable naloxone, tourniquets, and fentanyl test strips for her to share with others.

Hess then asked Malish if she could take two quarters she found in the seat cushions of his car to buy drinking water, before walking through the mall's double doors.
FUJIFILM Healthcare Europe is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Augmented Operating Room (BOpA) Innovation Chair to accelerate the development of digital technologies for surgery.

The BOpA Innovation Chair  a partnership between Greater Paris University Hospitals | AP-HP, Institut Mines-Telecom (IMT) and Universite Paris-Saclay  aims to identify common problems in the operating room, and develop digital technologies to support medical professionals in surgery. The organisations purpose is to transform the way surgical procedures are learnt and analysed by modernising resources in theatre.

FUJIFILM Healthcare Europe has agreed a four-year sponsorship to help the BOpA Innovation Chair fund this innovative research. This sponsorship comes in addition to the support provided by the AP-HP Foundation, Fondation Mines-Telecom and Universite Paris-Saclay. As a leading provider of ultrasound systems and software for surgeons, Fujifilm will also participate in the project through the loan of materials and equipment to support the development of these novel technologies to assist in surgery.

Professor Eric Vibert from Universite Paris-Saclay, co-founder of the BOpA Innovation Chair and surgeon at the Hepato-Biliary Center of the Paul-Brousse hospital within Greater Paris University Hospitals, said: The BOpA Innovation Chair is exploring the future of the operating room, so it's no coincidence that Fujifilm is one of BOpA's new sponsors. Between the digital twin and ultra-high frequency ultrasound, we're going to discover what the future will be together.

Laurent Rapon, Head of Ultrasound Europe at FUJIFILM Healthcare Europe, commented: Creating new digital technologies to aid surgeons working in the operating room will benefit healthcare systems and patients alike  improving the overall quality of care  and we are delighted to be supporting the BOpA Innovation Chair in this endeavour.

Francoise Preteux, Vice-President and General Manager of IMT, added: The BOpA Chair innovates by cross-fertilizing two major research axes: human-centred approaches and technological advances. As a co-founder, we are pleased to welcome a world-class technology partner to participate in the development of Medicine 4.0, and improve relationships with patients thanks to digital transformation.

For more information, visit: www.chaire-bopa.fr
MolGen b.v. of Veenendaal (NL), a global solutions provider of innovative extraction DNA/RNA isolation technology, hardware, systems, consumables and reagents for human diagnostics, agricultural research, and the biotech industry is attending the Analytica Fair, in Munich, on the 21st- 24th of June 2022.

Image Credit: Press Image/MolGen

Analytica Fair is the worlds leading trade fair for laboratory technology, analysis and biotechnology. For the last fifty years, the Analytica Fair has showcased laboratory innovations and technologies across the complete laboratory chain. MolGen takes the opportunity to participate in this international event, to network, connect and do business with leading participants. During the event, MolGen will share its expertise in lab automation systems. Aware of the importance of automating and scaling-up diagnosis, MolGen developed a large range of automated technology, software, hardware systems, consumables, reagents and combined workflows that enable increased lab productivity, reduced costs and diagnosis accuracy. The PurePrep line is a compound of technologies that enables automation from sample to result.

At the fair, MolGen presents the PurePrep 24, an DNA/RNA extraction system for high sample volume applications, such as isolating DNA from blood samples. The PurePrep 4800 is a complete DNA/RNA extraction system with sample barcode scanning, liquid handling for reagents and samples, extraction and PCR setup in one system.

The newest MolGen testing device is MoaA RT. This multiplex viruses RT-qPCR kit is a single well, which targets 5 highly infectious diseases; Influenza A virus, Influenza B virus, Respiratory syncytial viruses (RSV) type A & type B and SARS-CoV-2. It can detect each of these diseases with a single PCR reaction. The kit uses an advanced PlexZyme technology.

By combining these diagnoses into one single kit, diagnostics pricing, efficiency and turnaround time improve significantly. This kit accelerates laboratories capacity, helping to meet demand, and safety and standards requirements.

Analytica Fair is the worlds leading trade fair for laboratory technology, analysis and biotechnology. For the last fifty years, the Analytica Fair has showcased laboratory innovations and technologies across the complete laboratory chain. MolGen takes the opportunity to participate in this international event, to network, connect and do business with leading participants. During the event, MolGen will share its expertise in lab automation systems. Aware of the importance of automating and scaling-up diagnosis, MolGen developed a large range of automated technology, software, hardware systems, consumables, reagents and combined workflows that enable increased lab productivity, reduced costs and diagnosis accuracy. The PurePrep line is a compound of technologies that enables automation from sample to result.

Come and Meet Us at Our Networking Event

At its booth B1.109 on June 21st at 4 pm (local time), MolGen holds a presentation to explain the companys vision and its lab technology. Following the networking event there will be refreshments.
Bielefeld University is coordinating a new EU-research project that seeks to produce microscopic liver tissue cultures that can survive for 14 days, while also using imaging methods to investigate how liver cells react to combinations of different medications.

The backdrop to this project is the fact is that more than 30 percent of adults over the age of 65 in Europe today take at least 5 different medications per day. These drugs are not always well tolerated in combination, which is something that needs to be investigated in greater detail.

This is the first research project led by Bielefeld University to be funded by the European Union's European Innovation Council (EIC). Five additional partners from throughout Europe are participating in the project, including the Protestant Hospital of Bethel Foundation [Evangelisches Klinikum Bethel], which is part of the University Hospital Ostwestfalen-Lippe.

Chronically ill or elderly individuals often take a number of different medications every day: they might get a pill to bring down their blood pressure from their cardiologist, their general practitioner might dole out pain relievers, stomach medication, and a blood thinner, and their psychiatrist might prescribe an anti-depressant. All of these different compounds come together in the body, and are then largely processed in the liver.

Drug interactions are known to occur with some medications, but it is not always clear exactly how drugs work together in the body - and not every liver reacts in the same way to the same mix of active compounds.

Studies have shown that some 10 to 20 percent of hospitalizations among elderly patients stem from a negative reaction to a mix of different medications. Their medication must then be re-adjusted." Dr Thomas Huser, Professor, Bielefeld University

System to keep liver cells alive outside of the body

Huser is a physicist who has been working on the liver and optical imaging of liver cells for more than 12 years. He is coordinating this new EU project called DeLIVERY, which brings together Bielefeld University and five partners from around Europe. 'Our goal is to develop a microscopy system for liver cells to test the tolerability of drug interactions,' he explains. Such a system for the liver does not currently exist.

The liver cells are to be kept alive in a kind of mini-incubator for at least 14 days, during which the researchers will observe how the liver cells react to certain drugs, drugs in combination, and different dosages. 'For this, we have chosen to test the classes of drugs that are most frequently prescribed to elderly people,' says Huser.

Bielefeld researchers tasked with imaging

Just as important as the cell incubator is the imaging that is being developed specifically for DeLIVERY to facilitate these observations, and this is the responsibility of Huser's research group. 'We are working on an optical system that can image liver cells in ultra-high resolution without having to remove the cells from the incubator and put them under the microscope,' explains Huser. The advantage here is that the cells are not destroyed for future research, as they would be if they were placed on a specimen slide and put under the microscope. Instead, the cells survive.

The European Innovation Council (EIC) will be providing approximately 3 million Euro in funding for this project over a period of four years. 'Our goal is to be able to do a biopsy to test how the liver of an individual patient will react to certain drugs and their interaction,' says Thomas Huser. Only a few liver cells would have to be biopsied for this - and biopsies are routine procedures in medicine.

An interdisciplinary team of project partners

Partners on this project include the Protestant Hospital of Bethel Foundation [Evangelisches Klinikum Bethel], die University Troms in Norway, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium, and the companies Excelitas PCO GmbH in Kehlheim, Germany, and Cherry Biotech in France.

Project partners leverage their varied expertise to pursue an interdisciplinary approach. Cherry Biotech, for instance, is developing the cube-shaped incubator with a side measuring 40 centimeters long. The incubator's eight settings will be able to be adjusted to provide optimal conditions for the liver cells.

The liver cells that will be studied are being provided by the Department of General and Visceral Surgery at the Protestant Hospital of Bethel Foundation, which belongs to the University Hospital Ostwestfalen-Lippe. Like Professor Huser, head of the department Professor Dr. med. Jan Schulte am Esch also specializes in the liver. As Dr. Schulte am Esch explains: 'this project will enable us, for the first time, to image the finest structures of the human liver under the influence of various drugs. It will also allow us to observe hepatic damage and regeneration processes over a longer period of time, which is of great relevance from a surgical point of view.'

The local Bielefeld collaboration arose out of the Bielefeld OWL Biomedical Research Association [Forschungsverbund Biomedizin Bielefeld OWL e.V], which was founded by Bielefeld University and Protestant Hospital of Bethel Foundation, and of which Huser is a member and Schulte am Esch is part of the Association's board of directors.

DeLIVERY is positioned to help advance individualized treatment, especially for elderly patients. In addition to testing drug interactions, the researchers plan to use their future liver culture microscopy system to test novel drugs that have the potential to reverse the effects of aging. Other plans include testing drugs developed for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a disease that is now widespread.

The project name 'DeLIVERY' is a combination of 'delivery' and 'liver,' which as a single word is meant to convey that medications taken orally can only enter the blood stream by passing through the liver. The full name of the project is 'Long-term Microphysiological Sample Imaging for Evaluation of Polypharmacy in Liver.'

The project is being funded as part of the European Innovation Council's Pathfinder Program (Funding Agreement no. 101046928). The European Innovation Council was created by the European Commission to support the commercialization of high-risk, high-impact technologies in the European Union.

Behind the European Innovation's calls for proposals and funding instruments is a total budget of 9.736 billion Euro - approximately ten percent of the total budget for the new EU research framework program Horizon Europe. With its Pathfinder Program, the European Innovation Council provides funding to multidisciplinary research teams pursuing visionary research with the potential to generate significant technological breakthroughs.

New project ties in with doctoral network

Together with two on-going projects that are funded by the predecessor program 'FET' (Future and Emerging Technologies), DeLIVERY is already the third project of the EU innovation funding initiative being conducted at Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics. The DeLIVERY project ties in with the existing doctoral network DeLIVER, which Bielefeld University has been coordinating since 2018 for the education of doctoral researchers.

At DeLIVER, early career researchers investigate healthy aging under the microscope, developing novel optical methods that allow for super-resolution microscopic examination of the liver. DeLIVER is a Marie Skodowska-Curie European Training Network (European Training Network for Young Scientists), funded by the European Union.
When Cynthia Johnson learned she would owe $200 out-of-pocket for a diagnostic mammogram in Houston, she almost put off getting the test that told her she had breast cancer.

"I thought, 'I really don't have this to spend, and it's probably nothing,'" said Johnson, who works in educational assessment at a university. But she decided to go forward with the test because she could put the copay on a credit card.

Johnson was 39 in 2018 when that mammogram confirmed that the lump she'd noticed in her left breast was cancer. Today, after a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation, she is disease-free.

Having to choose between paying rent and getting the testing they need can be a serious dilemma for some patients. Under the Affordable Care Act, many preventive services  such as breast and colorectal cancer screening  are covered at no cost. That means patients don't have to pay the normal copayments, coinsurance, or deductible costs their plan requires. But if a screening returns an abnormal result and a health care provider orders more testing to figure out what's wrong, patients may be on the hook for hundreds or even thousands of dollars for diagnostic services.

Many patient advocates and medical experts say no-cost coverage should be extended beyond an initial preventive test to imaging, biopsies, or other services necessary for diagnosing a problem.

"The billing distinction between screening and diagnostic testing is a technical one," said Dr. A. Mark Fendrick, director of the University of Michigan's Center for Value-Based Insurance Design. "The federal government should clarify that commercial plans and Medicare should fully cover all the required steps to diagnose cancer or another problem, not just the first screening test."

A study that examined more than 6 million commercial insurance claims for screening mammograms from 2010 to 2017 found that 16% required additional imaging or other procedures. Half the women who got further imaging and a biopsy paid $152 or more in out-of-pocket costs for follow-up tests in 2017, according to the study by Fendrick and several colleagues and published by JAMA Network Open.

People who needed testing after other preventive cancer screenings also racked up charges: half paid $155 or more for a biopsy after a suspicious result on a cervical cancer test; $100 was the average bill for a colonoscopy after a stool-based colorectal cancer test; and $424, on average, was charged for follow-up tests after a CT scan to check for lung cancer, according to additional research by Fendrick and others.

Van Vorhis of Apple Valley, Minnesota, did an at-home stool test to screen for colorectal cancer two years ago. When the test came back positive, the 65-year-old retired lawyer needed a follow-up colonoscopy to determine whether anything serious was wrong.

The colonoscopy was unremarkable: It found a few benign polyps, or clusters of cells, that the physician snipped out during the procedure. But Vorhis was floored by the $7,000 he owed under his individual health plan. His first colonoscopy several years earlier hadn't cost him a cent.

He contacted his doctor to complain that he hadn't been warned about the potential financial consequences of choosing a stool-based test to screen for cancer. If Vorhis had chosen to have a screening colonoscopy in the first place, he wouldn't have owed anything because the test would have been considered preventive. But after a positive stool test, "to them it was clearly diagnostic, and there's no freebie for a diagnostic test," Vorhis said.

He filed an appeal with his insurer but lost.

In a breakthrough for patients and their advocates, people who are commercially insured and, like Vorhis, need a colonoscopy after a positive stool test or a so-called direct visualization test like a CT colonography will no longer face out-of-pocket costs. According to federal rules for health plan years starting after May 31, the follow-up test is considered an integral part of the preventive screening, and patients can't be charged anything for it by their health plan.

The new rule may encourage more people to get colorectal cancer screenings, cancer experts said, since people can do a stool-based test at home.

Nine states already required similar coverage in the plans they regulate. Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Texas don't allow patients to be charged for follow-up colonoscopies after a positive stool-based test, according to Fight Colorectal Cancer, an advocacy group. New York recently passed a bill that is expected to be signed into law soon, said Molly McDonnell, the organization's director of advocacy.

In recent years, advocates have also pushed to eliminate cost sharing for breast cancer diagnostic services. A federal bill that would require health plans to cover diagnostic imaging for breast cancer without patient cost sharing  just as they do for preventive screening for the disease  has bipartisan support but hasn't made headway.

In the meantime, a handful of states  Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, and Texas  have moved ahead on this issue, according to tracking by Susan G. Komen, an advocacy organization for breast cancer patients that works to get these laws passed.

This year, an additional 10 states introduced legislation similar to the federal bill, according to Komen. In two of them  Georgia and Oklahoma  the measures passed.

These state laws apply only to state-regulated health plans, however. Most people are covered by employer-sponsored, self-funded plans that are regulated by the federal government.

"The primary pushback we get comes from insurers," said Molly Guthrie, vice president of policy and advocacy at Komen. "Their argument is cost." But, she said, there are significant cost savings if breast cancer is identified and treated in its early stages.

A study that analyzed claims data after a breast cancer diagnosis in 2010 found that the average overall costs for people diagnosed at stage 1 or 2 were just more than $82,000 in the year after diagnosis. When breast cancer was diagnosed at stage 3, the average costs jumped to nearly $130,000. For people with a stage 4 diagnosis, costs in the year afterward exceeded $134,000. Disease stages are determined based on tumor size and spread, among other factors.

When asked to provide health plans' perspective on eliminating cost sharing for follow-up testing after an abnormal result, a spokesperson for a health insurance trade group declined to elaborate.

"Health plans design their benefits to optimize affordability and access to quality care," David Allen, a spokesperson for AHIP, said in a statement. "When patients are diagnosed with medical conditions, their treatment is covered based on the plan they choose."

In addition to cancer screenings, dozens of preventive services are recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and must be covered without charging patients under the Affordable Care Act if they meet age or other screening criteria.

But if health plans are required to cover diagnostic cancer testing without charging patients, will eliminating cost sharing for follow-up testing after other types of preventive screenings  for abdominal aortic aneurysms, for example  be far behind?

Bring it on, said Fendrick. The health system could absorb those costs, he said, if some low-value preventive care that isn't recommended, such as cervical cancer screening in most women older than 65, were discontinued.

"That is a slippery slope that I really want to ski down," he said.
In a recent study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers reported natural reassortment of influenza viruses in pigs.

Background

Pigs are deemed as vessels for reassortment of influenza A viruses (IAVs). Swine, human, and avian IAVs could co-infect swine and create novel reassortant IAVs with the potential to cause zoonosis or pandemics. One study provided evidence of avian influenza virus infections in pigs. It was revealed that avian IAVs linked to human infections contained internal genes from avian H9N2 viruses, implying that the H9N2 viral genes might aid zoonotic transmission.

About the study

In the current study, researchers detected a swine IAV with matrix (M) and polymerase basic 1 (PB1) gene segments originating from avian H9N2 influenza. The research team collected nasal swab samples from imported swine at a local Hong Kong slaughterhouse as part of the monthly influenza surveillance program, which resumed in April 2021 following disruptions due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

IAVs were isolated from swab samples using Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. Cultures exhibiting cytopathic effect (CPE) were identified and were tested by a standard hemagglutination assay using turkey red blood cells. The cultures positive for hemagglutination were subject to a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, specific for M segments. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed on PCR-positive samples.

Results and conclusion

The researchers collected 829 nasal swab samples from April 2021 to February 2022. They isolated eight IAVs, seven from August 2021 and one from September 2021. The authors reported that the deduced viral sequences had been made available on the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) database. These sequences were compared with references.

All IAVs from August 2021 were H3N2 viruses, and their neuraminidase (NA) and hemagglutinin (HA) segments were related to human-like H3N2 swine IAV. However, the internal gene segments were derivatives of the pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) influenza virus. Although these IAVs were not genetically identical, they shared significant similarities. The swine from which IAVs were isolated were imported from two Southern Chinese provinces.

Given that the imported animals were slaughtered within 24 hours, the researchers speculated that influenza transmission might have occurred between pigs outside Hong Kong before import. Previously, this genotype (H3N2) was found in pigs raised in Guangxi, China. From the September 2021 samples, the team isolated a swine H1N1 IAV and noted reassortments from multiple lineages of swine IAVs in it. The M and PB1 segments were of avian H9N2 origin.

Moreover, it also contained polymerase acidic, PB2, and NA segments of the pH1N1 lineage. The NA and HA gene segments were of Eurasian avian-like H1N1 lineage, and the non-structural gene segment exhibited a triple reassortant lineage. This viral isolate was further purified on plaque assays, and the resultant plaque-purified clones were genotypically identical, ruling out the possibility of a mixed infection.

It also featured an M gene segment of G1-like H9N2 lineage and a PB1 gene segment of SH/F/98-like lineage. Such similar sequences were detected in zoonotic IAVs in humans. However, the two sequences did not contain mutations known for adaptation in mammalian hosts. Additionally, the encoded PB1 and M proteins had amino acid sequences rarely found in avian and mammalian IAVs.

One recent study reported multiple Eurasian avian-like H1N1 swine influenza reassortants; of these, one reassortant class (genotype 4) had a genotype similar to the IAV isolated in September 2021. However, its M and PB1 segments were of pH1N1 lineage, unlike the one reported in the present study. The authors posit that Eurasian avian-like H1N1 and genotype 4 viruses might originate from a common ancestor. Nevertheless, further evaluation of its pandemic potential is required.

Conclusion

In conclusion, various zoonotic IAVs in humans show genes derived from H9N2 viruses. These findings indicated that H9N2 IAVs have been infecting pigs and reassorting with swine IAVs, highlighting the continued need to monitor swine IAVs.
A new American Heart Association scientific statement highlights the need for more data and research about sex differences in the use and response to mechanical clot removal for acute ischemic stroke and suggests a clear differentiation between sex and gender in future research.

The new scientific statement, "Toward a Better Understanding of Sex- and Gender-Related Differences in Endovascular Stroke Treatment," was published today in Stroke, the peer-reviewed, flagship journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

The most common type of stroke is an ischemic stroke and is caused by a blood clot in a blood vessel that blocks the flow of blood to the brain. Treatment usually involves clot-busting medications to dissolve the clot.

For severe stroke within a large blood vessel, the treatment also may include a procedure to remove the clot- called mechanical thrombectomy or endovascular therapy - in which a tiny tube, or catheter, equipped with a special device on the end, is threaded through the blood vessel to grasp the clot and remove it.

Endovascular therapy(EVT, mechanical clot removal) and clot-busting medications are now a standard treatment for select patients with severe stroke. In 2019, the American Heart Association stroke treatment guidelines were updated to recommend mechanical clot removal for select stroke patients to improve the likelihood of functional recovery.

Since EVT was only recently established as standard of care for ischemic stroke, there is limited data about the physiological differences in treatment and outcomes between men and women. The statement provides a list of suggestions to assess sex- and gender-related differences in EVT research, and a guide for clinicians to improve care for people who have undergone EVT by addressing sex- and gender-specific factors.

The statement clarifies that sex refers to biological factors, is categorized as male or female, and is static (does not change over a person's lifetime); gender is defined in terms of individual social roles, behaviors and expressions. Gender identity differs from sex in that it is neither binary nor static; it exists along a continuum and may change over time, and due to limitations of data available, the statement addresses only binary gender.

The statement refers mostly to sex differences on the basis of the data that were captured in most EVT studies, and the use of male and female or men and women refers to sex, with the acknowledgement, however, that some of the addressed sex differences may truly be related to gender rather than sex.

Currently, the majority of acute stroke research uses the terms sex and gender interchangeably. The statement suggests that studies examining biological and hormonal factors related to stroke should consider analysis by sex, while research assessing the impact of stroke on quality of life and other social factors may find analysis by gender to be more relevant.

There is currently a large overlap between sex and gender in this population. However, while the number of trans-gender individuals in the U.S. is estimated to be rather low (0.3 - 0.8%), self-identified gender diversity in people with stroke is expected to increase in the future. Age at EVT treatment also varies. While stroke incidence increases with age, women tend to be 4-5 years older than men when a stroke occurs (average age at first stroke is about 68 years in men and 72 years in women) , which is linked to poorer outcomes.

Moving forward, researchers need to be aware of the profound impact of sex on stroke incidence, treatment and prognosis, such as noting sex-related differences in research data. In addition, clinicians need to understand the importance of sex- and gender-related biases in their daily practice to meet the specific needs of people who receive EVT.

The American Academy of Neurology affirms the value of this statement as an educational tool for neurologists, and the statement is endorsed by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

This scientific statement was prepared by the volunteer writing group on behalf of the American Heart Association Stroke Council; the Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention; and the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention. American Heart Association scientific statements promote greater awareness about cardiovascular diseases and stroke issues and help facilitate informed health care decisions.

Scientific statements outline what is currently known about a topic, and what areas need additional research. While scientific statements inform the development of guidelines, they do not make treatment recommendations. American Heart Association guidelines provide the Association's official clinical practice recommendations.
seqWell, a global provider of genomic library workflow solutions including the plexWell next-generation sequencing (NGS) multiplexing technology, today announced the appointment of Dr Amy Liao to its Board. Amy joins the current Board of Directors, led by Chairman Paul McEwan. The appointment supports the commercial development of the Companys existing and future products, following its recent $7M Series C funding round.

Amy has over 20 years experience in genomics, previously as CEO of GENEWIZ, a global genomics service provider, which she co-founded in 1999. Following the acquisition of GENEWIZ by Azenta Life Sciences in 2018, Amy was appointed President of Azenta Life Sciences Services until her departure in 2021. Under her leadership, the Company grew to over 1000 employees, globally.

Testament to Amys experience in the genomics sector, in 2020, she was awarded the Biomedical Engineering Societys Wallace A. Coulter award for innovation in healthcare, an award recognizing outstanding individuals who have demonstrated a lifetime commitment to and made important contributions to patient healthcare. In 2010, Amy also received the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of The Year Award in the Services category for New Jersey, along with GENEWIZ co-founder, Dr Steve Sun.

Amy holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Biochemistry from Nankai University and Tsinghua University, respectively. She obtained her PhD in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from Stony Brook University, the State University of New York, and completed her Postdoctoral studies in Anatomy and Cell Biology at Columbia University.

Dr Amy Liao, Board Member at seqWell, said: As an entrepreneur who led a genomics services company for over 20 years, I am aware of the value that seqWell technologies can bring to customers by streamlining next-generation sequencing workflows. Im enthusiastic to work alongside the Board and management team to contribute to the Companys ongoing growth and success.

Dan Calvo, President and Chief Executive Officer at seqWell, commented: Amy is well-respected in the next-generation sequencing field, and her knowledge and experience will make her a key asset to seqWell. I am pleased to welcome Amy to the Board, which further strengthens our leadership team. Her distinguished career in genomics will be of great value as we continue to expand and raise awareness of our seqWell technology. I look forward to working with Amy to guide our strategy and accelerate the development and commercialization of tools that deliver more efficient next-generation sequencing workflows for our customers.
In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server, researchers assessed the role of adenoside diphosphate (ADP)-ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6) in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

Background

SARS-CoV-2 is a beta-coronavirus that enters human cells through two routes: direct fusion at the plasma membrane or endocytosis and subsequent fusion with late lysosome or endosome. Various researchers have thoroughly studied the SARS-CoV-2 receptor, various entry factors, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), as well as the mechanism via which the virus fuses with the plasma membrane. However, further research is required to understand the mechanism involved in the entry of the virus via the endocytic pathway.

About the study

In the present study, researchers determined the function of ARF6 in SARS-CoV-2 endocytosis and subsequent infection.

The team screened several cell lines to assess the antiviral activity of a specific inhibitor of transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) called camostat mesylate. Infection readout was further performed via an imaging-based pipeline that used SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) antibody to detect infected cells. The team also determined whether dynamin affected viral entry into the Huh-7 cells using a specific guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) inhibitor of dynamin called dynasore. A cholesterol-removing agent called beta-methyl cyclodextrin was used as a positive control since it blocked the formation of lipid rafts, which are essential for endocytosis.

The team also developed two polyclonal populations of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-targeted cells having guide ribonucleic acids (gRNAs) that were specific for ARF6. Depletion of ARF6 was verified using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The cells were infected with SARS-CoV-2, and the viral infection and replication were quantified using a 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID 50 ) assay and RT-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), respectively.

Furthermore, the team tested the effect of inhibitor NAV-2729 and agonist AA147 on SARS-CoV-2 infection. The mechanism by which ARF6 supports SARS-CoV-2 replication in Calu-3 cells was also assessed by infecting ARF6 knockout and NTg cells with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.

Results

The study results showed that the human hepatocarcinoma cell line Huh-7 showed substantial resistance to the antiviral activity of camostat. On the other hand, treatment of the cell line with the irreversible cysteine protease inhibitor Z-FA-FMK resulted in strong antiviral activity. This suggested that the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the Huh-7 cells was possibly mediated by endocytosis and not the fusion of the plasma membrane. Therefore, the team used Huh-7 cells as a representation to mechanistically study the endocytic entry of SARS-CoV-2.

Treatment with beta-methyl cyclodextrin blocked viral infection, while treatment with dynasore increased the proportion of infected cells. This suggested that the endocytic uptake mechanism used by SARS-CoV-2 was dependent on cholesterol. Analysis with CRISPR cells showed no difference between non-targeting guide (NTg) and ARF6, while the viral replication was under the detection limit for the ACE-2 Huh-7 cells. The team also observed a substantial reduction in the proportion of infected cells in ARF6 cells, which suggested that ARF6 played an important role in viral entry.

The inhibitor NAV-2729 displayed a dose-response inhibition of infection while the agonist AA147 increased the proportion of infected cells. This indicated that ARF6 was a crucial factor in the SARS-CoV-2 infection of Huh-7 cells. Furthermore, the treatment of ARF-6 knockout cells with dynasore did not affect the infection, thus confirming that dynamin was not involved in the endocytosis of SARS-CoV-2 in Huh-7 cells. The team also noted that treatment with NAV-2729 substantially reduced viral replication.

Additionally, the team observed that SARS-CoV-2 infection was less efficient in Calu-3 cells that were transduced with ARF6-targeting guide as compared to Calu-3 cells that were transduced with NTg. Also, the reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Calu-3 ARF6 knockout cells was higher than in the Huh-7 ARF6 knockout cells, which suggested that ARF6 played more roles in Calu-3 cells than in Huh-7 cells.

Infection of ARF6 knockout cells with the SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan strain and the Omicron variant showed a significant decline compared to that in the NTg cells. This indicated that ARF6 might be involved in post-entry steps in Calu-3 cells.

Conclusion

Overall, the study findings highlighted the potential of ARF6 as a target for the development of therapeutic agents against SARS-CoV-2 infection. The researchers believe that future studies that focus on investigating drugs that target ARF-6 could lead to the development of SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics.

*Important notice

bioRxiv 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.
Nairobi  Nairobi Governor candidate Johnson Sakaja has maintained that he has a degree from Teams University in Uganda, dismissing claims that he did not graduate.

Responding to a complaint before the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) regarding the legality of his academic credentials, Sakaja accused the complainant of having deliberately omitted relevant pages of the graduation booklet that contained his name.

The complaint was lodged after claims that the Sakaja's was not among a list of Teams University graduates, given that a degree certificate is among requisite requirements for Governor candidates in Kenya.

"Among other qualifications and awards of excellence, I hold a Bachelor of Science in Management degree conferred upon me by Team University in Uganda, having satisfied the requirements of the award," Sakaja stated.

Sakaja said that Teams University is duly recognized in Uganda, and by extension in Kenya.

He also dismissed names used by the complainant (Johnson Koskei Sakaja) to refer to him, noting that his only name is Sakaja Johnson Arthur.

Sakaja further asked IEBC to dismiss the complaint as it was filed outside the prescribed timeliness.

According Sakaja, the deadline for filing a dispute lapsed on June 8, 2022.

"The complaints herein are legally incompetent, fatally detective and procedurally untenable having been lodged outside the prescribed statutory timelines," he stated.
In a recent study under review at the Archives of Virology journal and currently posted to the Research Square* preprint server, investigators in Israel assessed the disparities and similarities between seasonal influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections.

Study: SARS-CoV-2 and Seasonal Influenza: Similarity and Disparity. Image Credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock

Background

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) combines radiological and clinical features with influenza virus-induced respiratory illness. Unfortunately, it is tough to determine the difference between these two viruses just by examining their clinical presentations.

Since the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, researchers have drawn parallels between influenza and COVID-19. The severity of COVID-19 relative to seasonal influenza is still a topic of debate.

Further, an early distinction between SARS-CoV-2 infection and influenza viruses is critical among hospitalized patients. This is especially crucial at the moment because healthcare institutions are coping with seasonal influenza and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the epidemiologic implications, the possibility for airborne transmission, inadequate baseline herd immunity, and differing therapeutic methods emphasize the importance of distinguishing between SARS-CoV-2- and influenza-infected patients.

About the study

In the present retrospective research, the scientists determined if there were any variations in clinical presentation and disease severity between influenza and COVID-19 across hospitalized patients. The study was carried out at a 1000-bedded university-affiliated tertiary care hospital treating over two million people in northern Israel, named Rambam Health Care Campus (RHCC).

The investigation included all adults hospitalized in RHCC with confirmed-COVID-19 during the second SARS-CoV-2 wave in Israel between 1 June 2020 and 31 August 2020. These patients were compared to individuals admitted with influenza-induced respiratory illness between 1 November 2019 and 31 August 2020. The outcomes and clinical features of the hospitalized COVID-19 and influenza patients were compared.

Data including clinical and demographic details, laboratory measures during admission, and the National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2), were collected from the RHCC's electronic medical records. Further, the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 26 software was used to analyze the data.

Results and discussions

Collectively, the study results depicted that a total of 152 COVID-19 and 136 influenza patients were included in the study.

Runny nose, cough, dyspnea, myalgia, and comorbidities were more common in influenza patients than in SARS-CoV-2 patients. Hypoxemia on admission, heightened liver enzymes, or smoking habit was also more prevalent in influenza patients. Overall, the individuals with influenza infection demonstrated typical flu-like symptoms.

Patients with COVID-19, on the other hand, were overweight, had lymphopenia of less than 1500, C reactive protein (CRP) of more than 5 mg/dL, or radiographic anomalies. According to the mounting evidence, chronic inflammation, and excess adiposity associated with obesity enhances the vulnerability to viral infections and illness severity because of immune system dysregulation and high proinflammatory cytokines levels.

The most prevalent laboratory abnormality in COVID-19 patients was lymphopenia, which was 54 times more frequent than in individuals infected with influenza. Direct lymphocytes viral infection due to the presence of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors on their cell membrane and provoked lymphocyte deficit owing to proinflammatory cytokines were two possibilities that justify the significant lymphopenia in SARS-CoV-2 infection.

COVID-19 patients had a higher percentage of abnormal chest x-rays (CXRs), primarily manifested as bilateral infiltrates. This inference was in line with several earlier studies. However, it was at odds with a prior smaller study.

Besides, the incidence of dehydration at hospital admission was elevated in SARS-CoV-2 patients. The intravascular exhaustion caused by the virus's direct impact on renal ACE2 receptors might explain this phenomenon.

The demand for ventilatory support, duration of hospital stay, and 30-day mortality were similar in both groups, despite influenza patients experiencing a severe illness with a NEWS2 of more than six on admission. Contrary to the present study, a prior investigation from Germany discovered that hospitalized COVID-19 patients had heightened in-hospital death and poorer clinical outcomes, such as length of hospital stay and ventilation, acute renal injury, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Conclusions

Study findings revealed that influenza patients were more critically ill during their stay in the hospital than patients with SARS-CoV-2. Both cohorts, however, had equal in-hospital death and clinical outcomes.

Furthermore, the two diseases harbored distinct properties that enable them to be separated from one another during the admission time till laboratory diagnosis. The diverse traits of COVID-19 and influenza facilitate the implementation of appropriate preventative strategies and infection control approaches from the point of hospital arrival.

*Important notice

Preprints with 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.
Thought Leaders Henry Fingerhut Senior Policy Analyst for Science & Innovation Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

In this interview, News-Medical speaks to Henry Fingerhut, Senior Policy Analyst for Science & Innovation at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, about genomic surveillance and its associated opportunities and challenges. In collaboration with Professor Derrick Crook of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Medicine, Henry recently published Global Governance of Genomic Pathogen Surveillance, a paper outlining the recent history and future opportunities at the international level.

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us about your professional background and your current role at the Institute for Global Change?

Im a Senior Policy Analyst for Science & Innovation at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. I come from an interdisciplinary background. At TBI, I work on a range of technology policy issues, including health, biotechnology, and UK innovation policy, with the aim to help governments leverage technology for social good.

Most recently, I completed my Ph.D. in Technology, Management, and Policy at MIT with research on how healthcare providers use Evidence-Based Practice and incorporate new technologies into clinical care.

As part of The Global Health Security Consortium, the Institute for Global Change advocates for a comprehensive approach to genomic surveillance. Could you explain the process of genomic surveillance, its importance, and how it aids global public health security?

Genomic pathogen surveillance systematically identifies and tracks pathogens to understand how they develop, mutate, and spread. This process includes all the steps from the swabwhen a sample is taken from an infected individualto public health decisions. It incorporates 1) sampling potentially infected individuals, 2) sequencing that sample to get the underlying pathogens genome, 3) a series of systematic data analysis steps to isolate the pathogens genome, remove personally identifiable information about the patient, and compare it to other pathogens, 4) and storing and sharing that data among labs and public health officials to generate public health insights.

Image Credit: Explode/Shutterstock.com

Genomic surveillance complements the current public health infrastructure to help public health officials quickly identify and evaluate new pathogens and variants of concern. A comprehensive global network with sequencing and data analysis capabilities worldwide, as well as the governance standards to ensure the data is analyzed consistently and shared ethically, would help alert officials at the national and global levels about new outbreaks and variants. It would also help researchers and pharmaceutical companies understand pathogen dynamics and develop effective treatments.

Genomic surveillance has been an integral part of managing the COVID-19 pandemic. How has genomic surveillance and its associated technologies/sequencing methods changed since the start of the pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic helped call global attention to this need and rapidly advanced global initiatives. There has been a range of philanthropic initiatives to build out genomic sequencing capacity in low- and middle-income countries during COVID-19, and the WHOs new Berlin Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence and 10 year strategy for global genomic surveillance, both launched in the past year, will help build out this critical infrastructure post-pandemic to monitor other pathogens and related concerns like TB and anti-microbial resistance.

In your study entitled Global Governance of Genomic Pathogen Surveillance, you discuss the opportunities and challenges within this field. What are the current challenges of the global governance of genomic pathogen surveillance, and how may these challenges be overcome in the future?

We outline three challenges in the paper: governing the ethical and geopolitical concerns around genomic data sharing, setting and adopting technical standards, and scaling capacity across the globe. These each require global cooperation and trust-building, particularly to ensure technical providers or beneficiaries of data sharing, often from high-income countries, respond to the concerns of low- and middle-income countries who contribute data to the network. But as we highlight in the paper, structures like the new WHO Hub will play an important convening role in bringing together an effective and responsible global network.

Global public health security includes proactive approaches to minimize public health disasters like pandemics. How can genomic pathogen surveillance help healthcare professionals in their pandemic preparedness.

Genomic pathogen surveillance can help public health officials and healthcare professionals in pandemic preparedness. For public health officials, a well-designed genomic surveillance network will help quickly identify new pathogens and variants of concern, track their population dynamics within and across countries, andwhen linked securely and anonymously to routine clinical datamonitor their virulence and symptomatology.

Image Credit: Blue Planet Studio/Shutterstock.com

For healthcare professionals, this data could also help inform diagnosis and treatment decisions, both by access to that public health data and hopefully by developing precision treatments targeted to a specific pathogen variant.

Generally, the COVID-19 pandemic indicated how important it is to coordinate and collaborate across the research, clinical, policy, and public health spheres to improve health outcomes  to do so requires the infrastructure to share data securely and anonymously. Genomic pathogen surveillance is one piece of that puzzle and could help to establish best practices for cross-sector collaboration broadly.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted patterns of global health inequality. How can health innovation policies improve health inequalities, especially regarding scaling genomic sequencing worldwide?

As we highlight in the paper, the global genomic surveillance community has been responsive to valid concerns of health inequality in the past decade, raised especially by low- and middle-income countriesmost notably Indonesia in 2008. It is essential that vulnerable populations be represented in data collection to enable us to learn how pathogens spread among different groups and how their symptoms develop.

But it is also important that this data collection and sharing be done responsibly, with attention to their autonomy, engagement as partners, and benefit-sharing. The 2010 Nagoya Protocol secures many of these principles of fair and equitable benefit-sharing, but it will be essential to develop mechanisms to build local capacity and share benefits effectively.

You work in collaboration with the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine and the University of Oxford. How important is collaboration between partners when addressing global public health issues?

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how important collaboration is in global public health  including across the academic, policy, and private sectors and at the local, national, and global levels. The GHSC is a new kind of partnership, bringing together political, scientific, and technological expertise to drive progress in global health - and with this paper, we wanted to highlight the need for such cooperation in global genomic surveillance.

Of course, collaboration at this scale brings challenges. Still, we hope this paper helps identify some ways forward for a critical modern infrastructure that can not only future-proof us against pandemics but can also build far greater capabilities in the fight against communicable diseases and help revolutionize microbiology.

What are the next steps for The Global Health Security Consortium and its ongoing work within genomic pathogen surveillance?

We have a handful of initiatives in this area, ranging from thought leadership to facilitating cross-sector partnerships to move forward global genomic surveillance efforts. This includes looking at how national governments can build genomic surveillance capabilities and engage in effective, mutually beneficial data sharing. But it also includes engagement at the international level to ensure momentum does not slow as political and public focus on the pandemic subsides.

We've come a long way in accelerating digital infrastructure in response to COVID. Still, there is a significant opportunity to build 21st-century technology that cannot only help us fight against future variants and pandemics but has much wider potential impacts, including in areas like TB. It is an opportunity we need to take: the health and economic benefits of doing so will likely be substantial in the future.

Where can readers find more information?

You can find more information about the Global Health Security Consortium and current initiatives here. And the Tony Blair Institute is also working on a range of policy issues more broadly, including health and biotech, available here.

About Henry Fingerhut

Henry is a Senior Policy Analyst for Science & Innovation at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. He comes from an interdisciplinary background at the intersection of science and policy. In particular, he focuses on how social and political factors impact scientific projects (like the genomic pathogen surveillance initiatives) and how technical details can impact policy outcomes. At TBI, he works on a range of technology policy issues, including health, biotechnology, and UK innovation policy, with the aim to help governments leverage technology for social good.

Prior to joining TBI, he completed my Ph.D. in Technology, Management, and Policy at MIT with research on how healthcare providers use Evidence-Based Practice and incorporate new technologies into clinical care.






Nairobi  Roots Party Presidential Candidate George Wajackoyah has reiterated if elected in the August polls his administration will re-introduce the death penalty ostensibly to curb the runway corruption in the country.

The controversial presidential candidate stressed that corrupt individuals will be hanged as punishment for their crimes to serve as a lesson to others who plunder the country's resources

"As Kenyans we need to protect our resources and my administration will not spare anyone in that pursuit," Wajackoyah told residents of Kirinyaga during his vote hunting mission in the region.

Wajackoyah who has hinged his presidential bid on legalizing bhang in the country decried that corruption cases in courts continue to be tailor made by parties involved to drag for years with the sole purpose of defeating justice.

"Even corrupt Judges will not be spared by my administration in the fight against corruption," he said.

He noted that it is unfortunate that culprits involved in the mega scandals in the country always go unpunished.

Corruption and the recovery of the country's economy continue to dominate the campaign agenda for presidential aspirants ahead of the high-stake August polls.

Wajackoyah is among three presidential candidates who were cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to contest in the polls.

Other are: Rail Odinga of Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya coalition, Deputy President William Ruto of Kenya Kwanza and Agano Party Presidential candidate David Waihiga.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Governance Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

In his tour of Kirinyaga, Wajackoyah thrashed his opponents' agenda for the country and asked residents to be intentional on whom they want to lead them.

On Odinga's social welfare programme of giving out Sh6, 000 to vulnerable households, Wajackoyah said the plan is unrealistic.

He also said the bottom-up economic model fronted by Ruto was only meant to stir excitement among the electorate and vowed to use the "wheelbarrows" to enhance bhnag farming in the country.

Wajackoyah is set to unveil his 12-point manifesto on July 2, 2022.

Besides the legalization of bhang to support its use for medical purposes, the manifesto is expected to outline his plan to upscale snake farming in a bid to create sufficient venom supply for the manufacture of antivenin.

Wajackoyah has argued snake farming has the potential to generate sufficient revenues to help offset the national debt which stands at Sh8.4 trillion with the debt ceiling raised to Sh10 trillion.
(Newser)  At one point Monday, the police department in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, had received almost 150 calls from the public about the arrests of 31 men connected to a white supremacist group who were headed to an LGBTQ+ event in town. About half of the calls were congratulatory, NBC News reports, with people saying they're proud of the department for the Patriot Front arrests. Those callers gave their names. The other half came from people who wanted "nothing more than to scream and yell at us and use some really choice wordsoffer death threats against myself and other members of the police department merely for doing our jobs," Chief Lee White said. "Those people obviously remain anonymous."

Among the men pulled out of a rental truck Saturday and arrested was Thomas Ryan Rousseau, who the Southern Poverty Law Center says founded the Patriot Front after the violent "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Another was Mitchell F. Wagner of Florissant, Missouri, who had been charged with defacing a mural in 2021 of famous Black Americans at a college in St. Louis, per Politico. The group planned to riot downtown, White said. Jon Lewis of George Washington University said the Patriot Front is a white supremacist, neo-Nazi organization whose members consider Black Americans, Jews, and LGBTQ people to be their enemies.

The group may have picked the wrong town. Residents and businesses for years have rallied around the idea that Coeur d'Alene is "too great to hate." Mayor Jim Hammond said the Southern Poverty Law Center once helped the Idaho city rid itself of an Aryan Nations compound nearby, per CNN. "We are not going to back to the days of the Aryan Nations," Hammond said at a news conference Monday, adding, "We are a culture of love and kindness, and we will continue to be." (Read more Idaho stories.)
(Newser)  Update: James Patterson is apologizing after a comment he made in a recent interview didn't go over well. "I apologize for saying white male writers having trouble finding work is a form of racism," the author tweeted Tuesday. "I absolutely do not believe that racism is practiced against white writers. Please know that I strongly support a diversity of voices being heardin literature, in Hollywood, everywhere." Our original story from Monday follows:

Author James Patterson's prolific career was founded on 29 crime thrillers featuring a Black detective named Alex Cross. "I just wanted to create a character who happened to be Black," he told Sarah Baxter in an interview with the Sunday Times on the occasion of Pattersons new self-titled memoir. Patterson pondered racism in Hollywood, including a period "where there was all this [Black] talent and nobody got hired. Now, he thinks white male writers face discrimination in film, theater, TV, and publishing in general. Its "just another form of racism," he said. "Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes."

Patterson also discussed Jeffrey Epstein, about whom he wrote a scorching nonfiction book in 2016 called Filthy Rich. Of Epstein's deeds and the famous people in his Rolodex, Patterson says, "I know they didn't know. Why would Epstein tell people?" Those famous people include Bill Clinton; the two are close friends and have cowritten two thrillers. Patterson also heaped praise on Dolly Parton, his coauthor for Run, Rose, Run, which is slated to be adapted for film, something Patterson has always longed for. "Just once, I'd like to stand up and cheer for one of my books on the silver screen," he said.

Per Publishers Weekly, Patterson is the top-selling author of the past 17 years, thanks largely to his extraordinary number of titles. Nowadays, most are collaborations; Patterson develops detailed outlines, but others add the meat. He is often derided for a formulaic, pulpy approach aimed solely at making money, and he is very rich, indeed. Patterson is sensitive to such criticism, especially as a former "full-blown, know-it-all literary snob." But he doesn't dwell on it in his memoir, which New Yorker reviewer Laura Miller regards as "a grab bag of anecdotes." However, Miller does note that for a commercial novel written by a white man in the early 1990s," its treatment of Alex Cross "is notably alert to structural racism and what are now called microaggressions." (Read more James Patterson stories.)
(Newser)  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted Monday that he's tested positive for COVID-19, days after meeting with President Biden in Los Angeles and months after his first bout with the coronavirus. "I'll be following public health guidelines and isolating," the prime minister posted. "I feel okay, but that's because I got my shots." Trudeau has had three doses of the vaccine, including a booster in January, shortly before his first positive test, Politico reports. He returned to Ottawa on Saturday after attending the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.

Trudeau was in close contact with Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 82, at the summit, per NBC News. A White House spokesperson, however, said the president was not considered a "close contact" of the prime minister's. Xavier Becerra, US secretary of Health and Human Service, tested positive on Monday and is experiencing mild symptoms, his office announced. He attended the Los Angeles summit, as well, but his spokesperson said he's not considered a close contact of Biden's. Becerra will work in isolation, his office said. Trudeau also tweeted a reminder to get vaccinated and boosted. (Read more Justin Trudeau stories.)
(Newser)  Kimberly Guilfoyle introduced Donald Trump Jr. at the "Save America" or "Stop the Steal" rally held on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021, shortly before a mob of rioters stormed the US Capitol. For the two and a half minutes she was on stage, the Trump campaign adviser, former Fox News host, and fiancee of Trump Jr. was paid $60,000, Rep. Zoe Lofgren told CNN on Monday. "Guilfoyle was paid for the introduction she gave at the speech on Jan. 6. She received compensation for that ... $60,000 for two and a half minutes," said Lofgren, a member of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, per Mediaite.

Lofgren says the select committee has evidence that money was raised based on former President Trump's false claim that he won the election, and members of his inner circle personally benefited from that money, CNN reports. More than $250 million was raised for a supposed "official election defense fund," when such a thing did not exist. But people like Guilfoyle were paid out of that fund, Lofgren says. "They got grifted by this fundraising appeal that was going out several times a day to raise money for battles in courts that didnt happen," she said. "I'm not saying it's a crime, but I think it's a grift." (Read more Kimberly Guilfoyle stories.)
(Newser)  Mental illness is on the minds of many, who are apparently looking to diagnose themselves. Long known as psychiatry's bible, the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has become a surprise bestseller since its fifth versionthe first in a decadewas released in March, reports Axios. Dubbed DSM-5-TR, the book, which lists criteria for various conditions, had made its way to the Wall Street Journal's e-book best-seller list by May. It's also the top-selling psychiatry book on Amazon. "I think what really caught the imagination was that we're sitting at home now and looking to say, 'Boy, I'm feeling depressedlet me now go and find out more about it,'" APA CEO and medical director Saul Levin tells Axios.

That's good and bad. Psychiatrist Ralph Lewis, who describes a trend of young people self-diagnosing mental disorders even years before the pandemic, notes a diagnosis "provides validation and legitimacy to ones struggles," per Psychology Today. It also provides practical benefits such as sick leave and disability benefits. But self-diagnosistriggered in part by what Axios describes as "a record shortage of mental health providers"leads to over-diagnosis, which in turn "leads to over-prescribing of medications," Lewis writes. This can also mean "severe mental illness becomes trivialized  It becomes harder for the people most in need of psychiatric services to access the already overloaded system."

It may also "lead to an unrealistic loss of acceptance that stress and distress are inherent features of life," not problems for a psychiatrist to solve, Lewis writes. Author and activist Sarah Fay, who describes her six "misdiagnoses" in the book Pathological, has also made this argument, noting a person might assume they are depressed when they are actually sad. DSM diagnoses, which are not scientifically proven but "lists of symptoms created by mental health professionals," have "led to false epidemics, like ADHD, autism, et cetera," she told Salon earlier this year. Indeed, she has noted there is little reliability to DSM diagnoses, which "shouldn't be taken as the gospel truthparticularly in milder cases where the level of dysfunction is difficult to gauge." (Read more mental health stories.)
(Newser)  The White House is brushing off concerns that the 79-year-old president's age could affect his reelection bid as "fallacious" and not worth listening to. Asked Monday whether President Biden could handle another presidential campaign, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told CNN, "That is not a question that we should be even asking." She added: "I can't even keep up with him. We just got back from New Mexico, we just got back from California ... just look at the work that he does ... how he's delivering for the American public." What's driving the debate:



Jean-Pierre was responding specifically to a New York Times report indicating Democrats feel Biden's age presents "a deep concern about his political viability." The report states the president, who'd be 81 during the 2024 campaign and 86 at the end of a second term, has "built a reputation for gaffes" and "repeatedly rattled global diplomacy with unexpected remarks."

It also quotes David Axelrod, the chief strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns, as saying, "The presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue." However, he goes on to say Biden's age "has fed a narrative about competence that isn't rooted in reality."

Age concerns should also apply to possible Republican opponent Donald Trump, who will be 78 during the 2024 campaign, writes Axios' Mike Allen. With diversity and technology transforming the culture and workplace, "that can leave geriatric leadership of government out of step with everyday life." Allen also points to a recent comment from David Gergen, an advisor to four presidents, who said both Biden and Trump should "step back and leave open the door to younger people."

But on the right, Rich Lowry argues Democrats are plugging their ears to concerns about Biden's age mainly because of Vice President Kamala Harris. "She's simply a political void whose abysmal ratings reflect not just Biden's troubles but her own profound, inherent flaws as a political figure," he writes at the New York Post. Indeed, she "makes Biden look like a prospective electoral juggernaut by comparison."

If something were to take Biden out of the running, "there is little consensus about who would lead" the Democratic Party, per the Times. Democrats, few of whom expect Harris to step in unopposed, have put forth names including Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders (now 80), Elizabeth Warren, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (aged 40).

Allies say Biden is best suited to defeat Trump, per the Times. Others say a fresh face will be needed to defeat someone like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is 43. For now, the youngest Democratic member of Congress is refusing to say whether she'd back Biden. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN on Sunday, per Fox News. "Should he run again? I think that I ... you know, I think it's ... we'll take a look at it."

(Read more President Biden stories.)
(Newser)  President Biden will make his first trip to the Middle East next month with visits to Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia, the White House announced Tuesday. The decision to pay a call on Saudi leaders during the July 13-16 trip comes after Biden as a Democratic presidential candidate branded the kingdom a "pariah" because of its human rights record and pledged to recalibrate the US-Saudi relationship, per the AP. Biden plans to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, according to a senior administration official. US intelligence officials determined Prince Mohammed likely ordered the brutal 2018 killing of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi. After Biden took office, his administration made clear the president would avoid direct engagement with the crown prince and instead focus his engagements with King Salman.

Human rights advocates and some Democratic allies cautioned Biden about visiting the oil-rich kingdom, saying such a visit without first getting human rights commitments would send a message to Saudi leaders that there are no consequences for egregious rights violations. The Saudis have been accused of using mass arrests, executions, and violence to squelch dissent. But at a time of skyrocketing prices at the gas pump, growing worries on Iran's nuclear program, and perpetual concern that China is expanding its global footprint, Biden and his national security team have determined that freezing out the Saudis, particularly the crown prince, is simply not in the US interest. Biden's first stop in the Middle East will be in Israel for a long-planned visit with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem. He'll then meet with Palestinian Authority leaders, including Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank.

Biden will cap the whirlwind trip with a visit to Jeddah for a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council leaders and talks with King Salman, the crown prince, and other Saudi officials. Facing questions earlier this month about a potential visit to Saudi Arabia, Biden stressed that the relationship had multiple facets that impact US and Middle East security. "Look, I'm not going to change my view on human rights," Biden said. "But as president of the United States, my job is to bring peace if I can. ... And that's what I'm going to try to do." "While in Saudi Arabia, the president will also discuss a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues with his counterparts," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. "These include support to the UN-mediated truce in Yemen, which has led to the most peaceful period there since war began seven years ago."

(Read more President Biden stories.)
(Newser)  Robert Reich, who describes himself as both progressive and liberal, is floating the idea of a conservative for president. In a Substack post, the former Clinton labor secretary suggests GOP Rep. Liz Cheney might be precisely what the country needs. "I've been in and around American politics for well over a half century," he writes, and "I've never seen this nation as bitterly divided as it is now." In his view, routine politics should take a back seat to the necessity of healing this rift, and he argues that nobody is better qualified than Cheney. She has shown more integrity than any US politician since the Capitol attack by bucking her own party to go after former President Trump and his "Big Lie," writes Reich. (Cheney is vice chair of the ongoing Jan. 6 hearings.)

"It will be impossible to reunite this nation without a leader who is the exact opposite of Trumpdriven not by narcissism but by a passion for the rule of law and the Constitutionsomeone who has staked everything on opposing Trump's demagogic authoritarianism, someone with huge stores of courage and integrity," writes Reich. He wants Cheney to run against Trump in the GOP primary, though he also writes that he will "probably" back President Biden should he run again. Reich acknowledges that he opposes many of Cheney's conservative policies. "But we are at an inflection point in this nation over a set of principles that transcend any particular positions or policies." (Read the full column.)
(Newser)  Update: In May, Alexei Navalny had written in a Telegram post that he'd heard inmates at the notorious penal colony in Melekhovo were building a "prison within a prison" for him. He may now be detained in that disturbing-sounding confinement: Per CNN, the head of a regional public oversight panel told the Tass state news agency on Tuesday that the 46-year-old Russian dissident, recently sentenced to nine years in prison on what critics say are trumped-up fraud charges, had arrived at the maximum-security colony as a transfer from his original prison. A rep from Navalny's camp, Kira Yarmysh, says their team has received no confirmation this is true. Anna Veduta, VP of the Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Navalny, says in a statement to Fox News that news of the transfer is "hardly a relief," adding: "This colony is known to be one of the toughest and most torturous in Russia." Our original story from Tuesday follows:

Aides of jailed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny are concerned about his welfare after his reported removal to an undisclosed location. His lawyer arrived at a prison camp where Navalny had been serving sentences for alleged fraud and parole violations, only to be told, "There is no such convict here," spokesperson Kira Yarmysh tells Politico. (This has actually happened before.) "Neither Alexei's attorneys nor his relatives were informed about his transfer in advance," the rep says. "There were rumors that he was going to be transferred to the high-security penal colony IK-6 'Melekhovo'" near Vladimir, Yarmysh adds, per Reuters. "But it is impossible to know when, and if, he will actually arrive there."

In March, Navalny received nine years in prison for alleged fraud and contempt of court in what Amnesty International called a "sham trial" in violation of international human rights law. A year earlier, he'd been sentenced to more than 2.5 years in prison on charges that he violated probation while recovering from nerve agent poisoning in Germany. The US, European Union, and allied countries say the poisoning was an attack ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yarmysh notes "as long as we don't know where Alexei is, he remains one-on-one with the system that has already tried to kill him, so our main task now is to locate him as soon as possible."

Navalny's transfer comes two weeks after he announced he was facing new charges of forming an extremist group and inciting hatred towards authorities, which could bring another 15 years in prison, per Reuters. Weeks earlier, while appearing in court to appeal his fraud conviction, Russia's most prominent opposition leader had berated Putin, calling him a "madman" and "crazy thief" who started a "stupid war" in Ukraine that is not only "based on lies" but resulting in innocent people dying on both sides, per Reuters. "You will all suffer historic defeat," he added. "When you will all be burning in hell, your grandfathers will be adding wood to your fires." (Read more Alexei Navalny stories.)
(Newser)  A long-runningand very politedispute between Canada and Denmark over an Arctic island is over. The "Whisky War" started in 1973, when the countries agreed to a boundary in the Nares Strait separating Canada and Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but the status of Hans Island in the middle of the strait was unclear, the BBC reports. After Canadian troops visited the tiny, uninhabited island in 1984 to plant a flag and bury a bottle of whiskey, a Danish minister replaced the Canadian items with a Danish flag, a bottle of schnapps, and a note saying "Welcome to Danish Island," starting a back-and-forth that continued for decades.

The two countries are both exactly 18 kilometers11.2 milesaway from the island, allowing them both to claim it under international law. Under the agreement announced Tuesday, Hans Island will be split between the countries along a rift that stretches from north to south, giving Denmark its first land border with Canada, the CBC reports. The deal to divide it along the natural feature gives Denmark a slightly larger share of the 0.5-square-mile island. Officials say the two countries decided to finally settle the dispute to give the world an example of nations resolving their issues peacefully. Canada and Denmark have been cooperating closely in assisting Ukraine.

"It was the friendliest of all wars," said Melanie Joly, the Canadian foreign minister, per the New York Times. "But when you look at whats going on in the world right now, particularly since the invasion by Russia of Ukraine, we really wanted to give more momentum and renew our energies to make sure that we would find a solution." The island is known as Tartupaluk to Inuit people on both sides of the border. They were involved in the negotiations and authorities say their hunting and fishing rights will not be affected. (Read more Canada stories.)
The first group of migrants and asylum seekers who will be transferred from UK is expected to arrive in Kigali on Tuesday, June 14.

The development follows a ruling by the UK appeal court on Monday, which dismissed the application for an injunction that meant to stop the plane from taking off.

The panel of three judges at the London-based Court of Appeal led by Justice Singh ruled that High Court Judge, Jonathan Swift had conducted the balancing exercise properly and did not err in principle nor in the approach he took.

The appellants were challenging a decision by the UK-based high court, which had ruled to give a go ahead to the airlifting.

The United Kingdom Home Secretary Priti Patel during the signing ceremony in Kigali on Thursday, April 14. Photo by Olivier Mugwiza

Singh added; "He (Jonathan Swift) weighed all the factors and reached a conclusion which he was reasonably entitled to reach on the material before him.

"This court cannot therefore interfere with that conclusion."

On April 14, Rwanda and the United Kingdom announced a major partnership under which the former will receive migrants and asylum seekers from the UK.

Rwanda ready

Rwanda has announced that it has put all necessary requirement to host the migrants and asylum seekers from UK.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Rwanda government spokesperson, Yolande Makolo described Rwanda as a very welcoming society, saying that Rwandans have been in similar predicament.

"We understand the plight of the people who are forced to leave their homes and live in precarious conditions," she said.

Currently, Rwanda hosts over 130,000 refugees, some have lived in Rwanda for over 25 years and according to Makolo, Rwanda identify with the plight of vulnerable people and it is one of the reasons Rwanda is having a Migration and Economic Development Partnership with the UK.

Upon arrival, they will be accommodated at Hope Hostels. At the hostel, they will be registered and their asylum claims will be received and recorded.

The claims will be assessed based on Rwandan refugee laws and international conventions. The assessment will determine whether they get refugee status. Those granted refugees status will be given due papers.

For those who won't be willing to take the refugee status will also be offered an opportunity to stay in Rwanda, and if they stay, they will be granted a residence permit.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda Europe and Africa Migration By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

The New Times also established that both, those who are granted the refugee status and those who are granted the option to stay, will be given packages to facilitate them to stay in the country, integrate and acquire some skills for the long term plan so that in future they are able to sustain themselves.

The Rwanda-UK Migration and Economic Development Partnership intends to disrupt the business model of organised crime gangs that make a fortune from illegally shipping migrants to the UK; will also intend to deter migrants from putting their lives at risk.

The partnership was shaped in a manner that prioritises the dignity and rights of migrants, empowering them with a range of opportunities for building a better life in a country which has been consistently ranked as one of the world's safest.

The partnership is the first of its kind, and has been referred to as an innovative solution to a broken global immigration system.
(Newser)  Last August, a four-year-old boy with a persistent hernia problem was admitted to Texas Children's Hospital for laparoscopic surgery, a minimally invasive technique. Unfortunately, the surgeon cut the wrong part of the anatomy and left the boy with a partial vasectomy. Per Click2Houston, the boy's family is now suing both the hospital and the surgeon for up to $1 million. The lawsuit claims the surgeon "breached the standard of care by failing to exercise ordinary care." As a result, the boy will "more than likely contend with fertility issues later in life" and face "future medical expenses, future pain, mental anguish, future disfigurement, physical impairment, and future expenses for fertility treatments."

According to ABC 13, the surgeonnamed in the suit as Dr. Susan L. Jaroszand the hospital's risk management staff "advised the family of what happened and the possible short- and long-term consequences of this injury." The family's lawyers said, "While apologies were given, full accountability was not accepted. The parents now face the difficult task of explaining this to their son at the appropriate age." Fox 4 reports that the surgeon allegedly cut the boy's vas deferens, a tube that carries semen. Houston attorney Randy Sorrels said, "It's not a common mistake at all. Before a doctor transects or cuts any part of the anatomy, they are supposed to positively identify what the anatomy is and then cut. Here, the doctor failed to accurately identify the anatomy."

The partial vasectomy can probably be reversed, but it will require additional surgery. Dr. Jarosz is also an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine; records show she has no history of malpractice or other reported issues. In a statement on the matter, the hospital said, "Texas Childrens Hospitals top priority is the health and wellbeing of our patients. Due to patient privacy requirements, we are unable to comment." (Read more laparoscopy stories.)
(Newser)  The World Health Organization is planning to hold an emergency meeting next week on what Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calls the "unusual and concerning" worldwide outbreak of monkeypox. The organization plans to look into whether the outbreak should be declared a "public health emergency of international concern," as COVID-19 was, the BBC reports. The WHO says it is also working on coming up with a new name for the virus and the disease it causes after scientists said a "non-discriminatory and non-stigmatising" name was urgently needed.

In a letter released last week, a group of scientists said the name monkeypox and references to an African origin violated WHO guidelines that recommend against using geographic names or animal names, Bloomberg reports. "In the context of the current global outbreak, continued reference to, and nomenclature of this virus being African is not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatizing," they wrote. The scientists also noted that while most cases in the recent outbreak have been in Europe and North America, news organizations tend to use photos of African patients.

The WHO says it is consulting experts in orthopoxviruses to find a more suitable name. One name that has been suggested is hMPXV, the BBC reports. The disease was once little known outside African countries where it is endemic, but Tedros said more than 1,600 confirmed cases have been reported this year in 39 countries, along with almost 1,500 suspected cases, the AP reports. The virus was named monkeypox because it was first detected in laboratory monkeys but rodents are believed to be the main animal host. (Read more monkeypox stories.)
(Newser)  A Georgia prisoner has been found guilty of murder in the killings of two guards during an escape from a prison bus five years ago. A jury deliberated about 90 minutes Monday evening before convicting Ricky Dubose in the June 2017 shooting deaths of Sgt. Christopher Monica and Sgt. Curtis Billue. Now jurors will have to decide whether he should be sentenced to die for the killings or should spend the rest of his life in prison. Gabrielle Amber Pittman, an attorney for Dubose, told jurors during opening statements that Dubose was guilty, but she asked them to find him guilty and intellectually disabled, which would have made him ineligible for the death penalty, the AP reports

Dubose and Donnie Rowe escaped together from the bus in Putnam County, southeast of Atlanta, and were arrested in Tennessee days later. Rowe was convicted last year of murder in the guards deaths. A judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole after jurors could not agree on whether he should be sentenced to death. Dubose was accused of firing the gun that killed the officers after he and Rowe slipped out of handcuffs and burst through an unlocked gate at the front of the bus.

Prosecutors say Dubose grabbed one of the officers weapons and shot Monica, the guard, and then Billue, the driver, both in the head. Security cameras on the bus recorded the violent escape and roughly 30 other prisoners witnessed the killings. Dubose, 29, was serving a 20-year sentence for a 2015 armed robbery and assault in Elbert County when he escaped.

(Read more Georgia stories.)
Ron Yarnell lives in Fairbanks and has spent more than 50 years guiding in the Brooks Range. He owns a cabin at Wild Lake and has a second home just outside Bettles. He wants to see Alaskas unique lifestyles protected.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain marks the celebration of the World Blood Donor Day, which falls on June 14 of every year to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and to thank voluntary blood donors.

This years event comes under the theme Blood donation is a gesture of solidarity, take part and save lives, aims to thank blood donors and raise awareness on a larger scale of the need for regular and free blood donations.

The celebration highlights the need for a year-round blood donation campaign to maintain safe blood transfusions and build a sustainable national blood supply system.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) has celebrated the graduation of the 2020-2021 batch of its Annual Graduation Ceremony of Bangor University Undergraduate Programmes.

It was held under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain.

Present were the Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain and Chairman of the BIBFs Board of Directors, Rasheed Al Maraj, and the Higher Education Council Secretary-General and Board of Trustees Vice-Chair, Dr Shaikha Rana bint Isa Al Khalifa, as 174 students received their degree.

Dr Shaikha Rana delivered a speech in which he commended the long years of a truly fruitful academic partnership between the BIBF in Bahrain and Bangor University in the UK.

Whether you have studied Banking & Finance or Accounting & Finance, the stats on job placement with these joint programmes seem to be hopeful and reassuring, she said.

According to the official BIBF website, 56% of graduates of these programmes are employed within six months of graduation, with a total of 80% securing a job within a whole year of graduation.

Interestingly, not all graduates go on to work in the field of finance itself.

According to the BIBFs website, of the aforementioned 80% who secure a job placement within 12 months of graduation, 59% of them typically go on to work in the financial sector, 9% end up working for auditing firms, with another 9% interestingly enough pursuing careers in education and training Our human resources, Bahrainis themselves, are the fuel that powers the engine of our financial economy  and if Bahrain is to continue to grow and become the financial hub of the region then we must continue investing in the development and refinement of this very precious resource through education and training, Al Maraj said.

Vice-Chancellor and Head of Bangor Universitys College of Arts Professor Andrew Edwards expressed his pride in the strong relationship between Bangor University and the BIBF that had strengthened over the past 20 years, equipping the banking and financial sector with well-skilled cadres that are ready to join the labour market.

Utmost professionalism BIBFs Director Dr Ahmed Al Shaikh congratulated the graduates, advising them to approach the next phase of their lives with the utmost professionalism and to apply the learned skillsets of their educational journey towards success in their professional careers. He noted the BIBFs commitment to fulfilling the business needs across all sectors with a focus on Bahrains economic development goals, through the provision of highly qualified local human capital, as a key national goal.

Dr Ahmed reiterated the BIBFs commitment and contribution as a training provider of quality international programmes, towards achieving these goals, particularly in the banking and financial sector.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Company (GIG Bahrain), one of the largest leading insurance companies in the region, unveiled its new brand in line with the company's continuous endeavors to move towards sustainable growth and continued success in a rapidly changing and developing insurance environment.

The new logo was designed to reflect the strengths of the company's brand and its rich heritage and long history in providing means of reassurance and protection for all customers.

This change also coincided with the policy pursued by Gulf Insurance Group and its vision of expansion and growth within the region. This is reflected in the redesign of the new logo, which is characterized by simplicity and distinctive colors while building on the company's current logo by capitalizing the same 3 letters "GIG".

On this occasion, Dr. Abdulla Sultan, CEO of the Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Company, said: We are excited to experience the re-branding of the company in coordination with our parent Company, Gulf Insurance Group, which reflects the aspiration to expand and lead both the local and regional insurance markets. This gives us a fresh new look and perspective reflecting our new innovative means of rendering our services with a customer centric approach.

It is worth mentioning that Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Company (Brand logo: gig Bahrain) is the leading insurance company in the Bahraini market rated A- (Excellent) with stable outlook, by A.M Best which is the highest rating in Bahrain to be awarded to a local direct insurer.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Connecting the unconnected remained the major goal at the Generation Connect Global Youth Summit being held at the Intare Conference Arena, in Kigali, Rwanda, last week, which saw the participation of five youth leaders from Bahrain.

The summit was organised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) with the set objective of encouraging and inspiring the youth from across the world to become an agent of change through the use of technology.

The Daily Tribune had a unique opportunity to interact with the youth participants from the Kingdom at a Meet the Press event held at Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) Headquarters in Seef.

Speaking at the event, 19-year-old Ali Al Toblani, a finance student at American University of Bahrain and one of the participants at the summit, said the Draft Call to Action was the major highlight at the summit.

It consisted of recommendations submitted by us, the youth representatives, to the ITU. We are certain that our recommendations will be implemented in the future and the ways to implement them will be discussed during the next summit.

Mr Ali said it has been a great opportunity to take part in the summit, which had representatives from across the world. Fatema Almearami, 17, a student of West Riffa Secondary Grade School, the youngest of participants from the Kingdom, said she cherished every moment of being at the summit.

In light of constantly developing technologies, it is up to the youth to seize the opportunity and become future leaders while contributing towards the nation-building process, she said.

Environmental specialist Shahd Alrabia, another participant, said the summit offered a real platform to connect the unconnected. The youth from across the globe are different when it comes to the challenges they face. And the summit has offered a platform to connect these youth from totally different backgrounds by the latest advancements in technologies.

The 22-year-old said the future of nations lies in the hands of the youth, who are the first to explore any of the latest technologies. It is up to us to adopt the positive side of all emerging technologies to ensure that youth are always brought to decision-making tables. And such a move would guarantee youth engagement and youth empowerment.

Salma Alhashemi, 25, the fourth participant, who is employed at TRA as the Regulatory and Policy Development Officer, said innovation is the cornerstone towards the development of any nation.

Such summits offer the best room for the youth to know how important the concept of innovation is. The more innovation, the more productivity and subsequently, the more economic growth.

She said latest technologies can positively contribute towards women empowerment amidst women constituting a huge share of Artificial Intelligence and new technology workforce. Abdulla Almubarak, 27, the fifth participant is a mechanical engineer working in the Kingdoms oil and gas sector. He said the participation of five youths in the summit offers concrete evidence regarding the importance the Kingdom attaches to youth empowerment.

Youth are the main contributors in building the technical infrastructure of any nation and such summits offer a channel for them to grow their visions and plans for their nations. Bahrain is an emerging leader in the tech sector encompassing fintech and AI. It has had many milestones including Amazon Web Services setting up its regional headquarters here.

Many tech giants are on the way to invest here. The talented workforce is also an added advantage for the country. This years summit was held in a hybrid format, with physical participation, as well as virtual youth engagement, and the TRA of Bahrain took this chance to select and sponsor an exemplary delegation of Bahraini youth to attend and participate in the summit.

The Summit brought together young leaders, entrepreneurs, social change-makers, engineers, policy specialists, students, and others and put them in touch with Business leaders, influential decision makers, and community advocates that also attended the event.

The Summit aimed to address the digital divide and related topics, including digital skills, gender, climate change, online safety, the future of work, entrereneurship, digital dependencies, and more.

A Call to Action document themed My Digital Future was also issued. The consultations brought together students, young professionals, digital entrepreneurs and youth networks from around the world to co-create the draft Call to Action.

The aim of the process is to enhance youth engagement in building an inclusive, sustainable digital future for all through participation in government, ITU and the wider UN system.

The Youth Summit was co-designed with young people from ITUs Generation Connect Youth network, of which one of our very own Bahraini delegation was a part of, included students with a passion for digital solutions, social change-makers, young entrepreneurs, promising young engineers and policy specialists from government, business and universities.
The tragic suicide of Stardoms Hana Kimura has inspired changes to the defamation laws in Japan.

There is now a one year prison term and fines of up $2,220 USD for anyone who is found guilty of slandering others online.

While also part of Stardom, Kimura suffered severe online backlash in 2020 over her participation in the Netflix reality show Terrace House. Some online fans were highly critical of Kimuras disagreements, arguments with another popular housemate on the show.

Stardom fans, we are very sorry to report that our Hana Kimura has passed away. Please be respectful and allow some time for things to process, and keep your thoughts and prayers with her family and friends. We appreciate your support during this difficult time, the promotion wrote at the time.

The producers of the show ended production shortly after the tragedy.

Two posters were eventually convicted of defaming Kimura online. They were fined $66 which sparked outrage across Japan. Kimuras mother, and former professional wrestler Kyoko Kimura, testified at Japans parliament lobbying for tougher penalties.
Nairobi  President Uhuru Kenyatta now says the new Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) National Forensic will protect police from what he terms as "unfounded allegations" that have been leveled against them in the past.

The remarks by President Kenyatta come at a time when security agencies in the country have been blamed for enforced disappearances, summary killings, and other human rights violations.

The Head of State said Monday during the official commissioning of the facility at DCI headquarters that the evidence-led investigation will help steer the harmonization of the DCI to ensure they meet the international policing norms and standards.

"The national endeavor here seeks to improve our ability to unravel complex crimes and therefore most consequentially support our criminal justice system through evidence-based investigations enabling quick and reliable reconstruction of events as well as identification of suspects through validated and internationally accepted means," he said.

President Kenyatta further said the ultra-modern facility will help disrupt and establish criminal patterns through forensic laboratory techniques, crime scene techniques, documentation, and proper transportation of exhibits while maintaining the chain of custody as well as improving customs and border security.

He added that the national forensics laboratory augments other programmes and reforms instituted by the government in the criminal justice system since 2013 he took office.

"The forensic laboratory shall complement existing infrastructure while also meeting the first changing needs for both investigators as well as all stakeholders. The facility will provide an invaluable resource not just within the criminal justice sector but also to users in educational research, civil law, human science, and other fields," he said.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

President Kenyatta said that criminal networks are now utilizing advanced technology to push their agenda due to globalization, saying the lab will play a critical role in combating crime.

"That is why infrastructure that is housed in this facility is critical because it will revolutionize our investigatory techniques through cutting edge science to law enforcement actions resulting in a safe and more just Kenya for all," the head of State said.

He noted that the facility is a highlight of the transformation made in the tooling and retooling of the security organs as the government seeks to make them more capable to address the security challenges faced by the nation.

The Head of State directed the Ministry of Information Technology Jointly with the Ministry of Interior to convene and report to him in the next two weeks on how they can utilize the forensics laboratory to build the capacity of the cybercrime unit.

President Kenyatta further directed the National police Service to introduce mandatory and continuous professional development programs on cybersecurity for all officers charged with criminal investigations.

He added that the multi-agency and intelligence-led approach to tackling security issues has significantly improved security singling out the fight against terrorism and also led to a higher conviction rate for cases presented before courts.
A Japanese government report called for creating a 10-trillion-yen, or about 74-billion-dollar, fund for university research in a bid to reverse a decline in the country's science and technology capability.

The annual white paper on science, technology and innovation approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday highlighted challenges to Japan becoming a science-and-technology-oriented nation. The push to improve research is a pillar of the government's growth strategy.

The report notes that two decades ago, Japan ranked fourth globally in terms of research-paper quality. Japan was overtaken by India in 2018 in the rankings and now has fallen into 10th place.

The white paper says one of the factors behind the drop was that Japanese universities and businesses did not see much of an increase in research and development expenses over the past 20 years.

Expenses in universities increased 23.4-fold in China in that period, 4.7-fold in South Korea, 2.6-fold in the United States, but only 0.9-fold in Japan.

The report notes that in Japan, universities produce more than 70 percent of research papers.

The paper also called for other efforts to strengthen research at universities and to support young researchers. It says top-level researchers in Japan should be given backing to conduct joint studies with their overseas counterparts.

The paper also says that as cutting-edge science and technology becomes the core competition area among countries, the government must intensely promote research in areas including quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
Nairobi  The National Bank of Kenya (NBK) has appointed Peter Kioko as acting Managing Director effective June 10, 2022.

Kioko will take over from Paul Russo who was appointed as the KCB Group CEO on May 25.

"KCB Group is delighted to have Peter steer National Bank to greater heights as he has played a pivotal role in driving the transformation of the bank, " said Russo while announcing the appointment.

Kioko is currently the Director of Finance, and Strategy at NBK, having joined the bank in November 2016.

He brings to this new role, over 25 years of cumulative financial management experience having served in an array of leadership roles in various local and international organizations.

This includes East African Breweries Group Limited as the Head of Risk & Audit, Stanbic Bank as the Finance Manager - Corporate and Investment Banking and Kenya Shell / BP Limited as the Group Financial Controller.

Kioko holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting Option) from the University of Nairobi, a Post Graduate Diploma from the University of Bradford, and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Melody A. Currey, who always seemed to find her own way as a blunt practitioner of politics in 25 years as a state lawmaker, East Hartford mayor and state commissioner, died Monday as her husband drove her to a dialysis appointment.

She and dad were on the way to the appointment this morning, said her son, state Rep. Jeff Currey, D-East Hartford. They were at a red light. The sun came out. She said, I cant do this. I love you. And she died.

Jeff Currey took a deep breath, cried a little and laughed a little.

She always did things the way and when she wanted, he said.

Melody Currey was 71, a native of New York who took well to the politics of her adopted home, East Hartford.

She was elected to the state House in 1992, serving as a deputy leader. She left after her election as mayor in 2005.

In January 2011, she joined the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in its first days, serving as commissioner of motor vehicles in Malloys first term, then commissioner of administrative services in his second.

As the commissioner of administrative services, Currey oversaw a complex series of purchases and renovations that moved state agencies from expensive leased space.

After the purchase and renovation of an office building on Farmington Avenue in Hartford and the two-tower Connecticut River Plaza downtown, the State Office Building near the Capitol was emptied and gutted.

On a hard-hat tour of the River Plaza complex she conducted for Malloy in 2016, she noted with satisfaction that her 15th-floor office in one tower would be higher than the one slated for Kevin Sullivan, the former Senate leader who was Malloys commissioner of revenue services, a reflection of long-standing House and Senate rivalries.

I told Sullivan, I always wanted to look down on you, she said, smiling that day.

Malloy and former Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman were among those to call Jeff Currey with condolences on Monday. Services were incomplete.

Currey is survived by her husband, Don; three children, Jeff, Becky and Matt; and six grandchildren. Melody and Don Currey celebrated their 50th anniversary in October.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol has postponed a hearing that was to feature dramatic testimony from former Justice Department officials who were pressured by then-President Donald Trump to pursue his false election fraud theories.

The hearing had been scheduled for Wednesday, but the committee on Tuesday morning said that it had been delayed. A spokesman for the panel attributed the postponement to a number of scheduling factors, including production timeline and availability of members and witnesses.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican member of the committee, said on Twitter that the hearing had been moved to next week as a way to space out the testimony surrounding the insurrection, when crowds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden's victory.

The committee has already held two hearings, including a primetime one last week that featured never-before-seen video of extremists leading the deadly siege. Another hearing is set to take place on Thursday.

The witnesses at Wednesday's hearing were to include Jeffrey Rosen, who was the acting attorney general at the time of the Capitol insurrection, as well as two other former top officials at the Justice Department, Richard Donoghue and Steven Engel. Lawyers for all three men did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The witnesses, all of whom have since left the Justice Department, are expected to testify about how Trump sought to bend the department to his political will during the final days of his administration by urging officials to declare the election as corrupt and to aid in his efforts to challenge the results of the race won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Though the lawyers' accounts have been documented by the news media, the hearing will give the American public its most detailed glimpse of a near-revolt inside the Justice Department as Trump contemplated replacing the agency's top official with a lower-level lawyer seen as more willing to advance the president's false claims that the election was stolen. Several other senior officials warned Trump in a White House meeting that they'd resign if the leadership change occurred.

Rosen took over the department following the December 2020 departure of William Barr, who angered Trump by saying the department had not found fraud that could have affected the results of the election. Trump quickly soured on Rosen, too, after the then-acting attorney general rejected entreaties from the president and the White House to challenge the election results.

Around that time, the president was introduced by Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican and ardent Trump backer, to Jeffrey Clark, a little-known assistant attorney general who postured himself as willing to advance Trump's baseless voting fraud claims.

At one point, according to testimony provided to lawmakers, Clark presented colleagues with a draft letter pushing Georgia officials to convene a special legislative session on the election results. Clark wanted the letter sent, but superiors at the Justice Department refused.

A lawyer for Clark did not immediately return a phone message on Wednesday.

Clark's support led Trump to openly contemplate naming him as acting attorney general in place of Rosen.

The situation came to a head during a tense, hours-long Jan. 3, 2021 meeting at the White House in which Engel and Donoghue told Trump that they would resign from the Justice Department if Trump proceeded with his plan to fire Rosen and replace him with Clark.

Trump ultimately relented, and Rosen remained on as acting attorney general through the end of the administration.

___

Follow Eric Tucker at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
DANBURY  A plan to make Danbury a player in Connecticuts emerging retail marijuana market as soon as the fall got a positive recommendation from the citys planning department.

Three of the four uses that would be allowed contain a retail sales component for which the city will collect an additional 6 percent sales tax, wrote Sharon Calitro, the citys top planner, in a letter to the Planning and Zoning commissions. In sum, the proposed amendments provide for the establishment of a limited number of specific cannabisuses in Danbury with associated restrictions and regulations that will protect the public health, safety, and welfare.

Calitro is referring to a proposed amendment to Danburys Zoning Commission that would allow four types of marijuana businesses  including recreational pot sales  but not on Main Street. The amendment, which is scheduled to be debated publicly on July 12, will be up to Danburys nine-member elected Zoning Commission to decide.

The plan calls for the number of marijuana businesses to be capped at no more than four at any one time citywide, and confines the pot businesses to certain commercial and industrial zones where they wont impinge on schools, parks and churches. Other kinds of marijuana businesses, such as cannabis food and beverage manufacturing, would be banned.

Danbury has a moratorium in place banning applications for marijuana businesses, as well as a medical marijuana dispensary that is open and serving patients on the west side that was approved before Danburys ban went into effect last summer.

Like most communities across Connecticut, Danbury was tentative about embracing Connecticuts law decriminalizing pot on July 1. One problem was no one had read the 300-page law. Another problem was indecision about how much acceptance to give a drug that was once a public enemy.

Incoming Mayor Dean Esposito entrusted the work of interpreting the new state law and devising what parts of it were best for Danbury to implement to the citys planning and law departments.

The departments came up with proposed regulations to allow for no more than two hybrid retailers that sell both medicinal marijuana and recreational pot to adults, or no more than three businesses in the following categories: one medicinal marijuana dispensary, one recreational pot retailer, and one hybrid retailer. In addition, the regulations would allow no more than one micro-cultivator  a small scale indoor plant producer whose grow space is between 2,000- and 10,000-square-feet.

Esposito and other city leaders said they were comfortable that the city had proposed a way to dip its toes into the emerging adult use marijuana market without going too far too fast. The leaders said they looked forward to the debate in July.

It remains to be seen how Danburians will react to the proposed regulation. The first action the Zoning Commission is likely to take is to extend the moratorium, which is due to expire at the end of July. That would give the city time to weigh the proposed regulations.

Danburys new law would change what was in place in Danbury before the moratorium went into effect by permitting retail pot sales and by permitting marijuana production.

Connecticuts new law allows people to have up to 1.5 ounces of pot in their possession, and up to 5 ounces securely stored. Patients in the medical marijuana program are allowed to have a limited number of pot plants in their home.

Retail sales of recreational pot are not expected to begin in Connecticut until late this year. At that point Danbury could have in place a model cannabis regulation.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  A weeklong strike by thousands of truckers in South Korea has triggered major disruptions in cargo transport and production that have caused 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in damages, officials said Monday.

An extended strike may eventually worsen the global supply chains already battered by Russias invasion of Ukraine and Chinas pandemic curbs. But the strike's impact has so far been largely limited to South Korea's domestic industry. The worlds 10th largest economy, the country hasnt reported any major disruption of exports of key items like semiconductors.

The fourth round of negotiations between the striking truckers and government officials Sunday failed to reach a deal. Transport Ministry officials said they would seek to continue talks to end the strike, but the Cargo Truckers Solidarity said Monday it has no immediate plans to resume the negotiations.

At the center of the dispute is the truckers calls for a minimum wage guarantee amid surging fuel prices. It wasnt known what exactly broke down Sundays talks, but the truckers association said the government refused to accept its calls for a more active position on the minimum wage demand.

The Transport Ministry said about 6,600 truckers were rallying Monday in 14 locations across South Korea. But the Cargo Truckers Solidarity said a far larger number of truckers were refusing to work, staying at home or elsewhere instead of taking part in rallies.

South Koreas auto, steel, petrochemistry, cement and other sectors have been hit hard by the strike.

Factories couldnt produce 5,400 cars as scheduled due to a delay of deliveries of components. The planned shipping or delivery of 450,000 tons of steels, 500 billion won ($390 million) worth of petrochemicals, 810,000 tons of cement and 640,000 tires have also been put off, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement.

But the ministry said that South Korea's cargo transport disruption hasnt reached a level that threatens global supply chains. It also said it hasn't received reports of meaningful disruptions of exports of semiconductors, automobiles and other key items.

Observers say some companies ordered supplies in advance in anticipation of the strike.

The strike is affecting our country's domestic supply chains, rather than global ones, said Chang Sangsik, chief of an office on supply chains at the Korea International Trade Association in Seoul.

Some foreign companies make finished products by using parts and intermediary goods manufactured by South Korean companies," he said. If they find it difficult to get such products due to the truckers strike, that means it is affecting (supply chains) in other countries. But such a situation hasnt come yet.

Chang said many foreign companies hold extra inventory that can sustain supply shocks for weeks or even several months.

Lee Jang-Gyoon, chief researcher at the Hyundai Research Institute, said the truckers strikes could still affect global supply chains if they continue too much longer, as a delay in cargo transport would hamper productions.
RwandAir has offered a 15 per cent saving off flights for passengers across its extensive network, in line with the forthcoming Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The high-level meeting slated for June 20 to 26 is set to attract over 5000 delegates in Rwanda from 54 member states of the Commonwealth, a third of the world's population.

Government officials, business executives, young entrepreneurs, and civil societies around the world will convene together to have meaningful discussions on common political and economic challenges and opportunities, among others.

In an official statement by the national carrier on June 13, flights booked between June 13 and 25 will enjoy a 15 per cent discount using a special code CHOGM22 at rwandair.com.

The offer applies to all destinations across RwandAir's network and enables customers to travel to 22 countries throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

The carrier has also added extra London flights.

"The increased schedule will run between June 11 and July 3, including select non-stop flights direct to Kigali," it stated.

Jimmy Musoni, RwandAir Chief Commercial Officer, said: "For the first time in over a decade, we will see an African country host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, so RwandAir is very pleased to welcome the world to Rwanda."

To recognise this "hugely important" milestone for Rwanda, he said, "We wanted to share with our customers some great savings on fares to every destination across our extensive network."

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda Governance Transport By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

RwandAir is an anchor partner for the Commonwealth Business Forum.

With a fleet of twelve aircraft, including two wide-body Airbus A330s, the airline currently serves 28 destinations across East, Central, West and Southern Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

The previous CHOGM took place in 2018 in London. After two consecutive postponements because of Covid-19 impacts, Rwanda had time to make ends meet and fast track with preparations as it is only counting a few days to the D-day.

From infrastructure, logistics, and venue arrangements, the country is undergoing preparations to ensure delegates have a smooth experience during their stay and be able to make the most of the four forums and side events scheduled on the margin of CHOGM.

Under the theme: "Delivering a common future: Connect, Innovate, and Transform," the event will feature the Commonwealth Business Forum, Youth Forum, Women Forum, and People Forum.
Thought leaders in innovation, cryptoassets, sustainability and inclusion and diversity participating in discussions at Toronto tech conference

TORONTO, June 14, 2022 /CNW/ - KPMG in Canada thought leaders in innovation will be available for interviews at Collision, North America's fastest-growing tech conference from June 20-23 in Toronto.

KPMG leaders will be moderating panels and giving keynote introductions on topics such as corporate innovation, the future of work, sustainability and the evolution of finance.

"With 33,000+ attendees from 140 countries, Collision is where the world's most innovative thinkers come to exchange ideas about shaping our future for the better through technology and innovation," says Armughan Ahmad, President and Managing Partner, Digital, KPMG in Canada. "As a member of one of the world's largest professional services firms, we are proud to play a key role in connecting the dots across the global ecosystems to advance the innovation agenda across government, corporate and start-ups."

KPMG in Canada partners speaking at Collision include (all times are EST):

KPMG in Canada will be making several announcements and offering live technology demonstrations at Collision.

The firm also welcomes entrepreneurs and startups attending Collision to apply to the KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator competition, which gives Canadian startups the opportunity to showcase their ideas on a national and global scale. The competition is open to Canadian entrepreneurs who can demonstrate to a panel of industry professionals that they have developed innovative technologies, established business models, and have the potential to scale-up globally.

The most exciting, early-stage tech innovators will compete in the Canadian portion of the competition. The winner of the national finals will then be selected to participate in the global finals during the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, Portugal, in November 2022.

The KPMG booth will be located at E229 near the Investor to Startup Meetings, Stages 3 and 4, and opposite the Startup Showcase Stage at the Enercare Centre, 100 Princes' Blvd, Toronto, ON M6K 3C3.

KPMG in Canada is a corporate sponsor of Collision.

About KPMG in Canada

KPMG LLP, a limited liability partnership, is a full-service Audit, Tax and Advisory firm owned and operated by Canadians. For over 150 years, our professionals have provided consulting, accounting, auditing, and tax services to Canadians, inspiring confidence, empowering change, and driving innovation. Guided by our core values of Integrity, Excellence, Courage, Together, For Better, KPMG employs more than 10,000 people in over 40 locations across Canada, serving private- and public-sector clients. KPMG is consistently ranked one of Canada's top employers and one of the best places to work in the country.

The firm is established under the laws of Ontario and is a member of KPMG's global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International, a private English company limited by guarantee. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. For more information, see home.kpmg/ca.

SOURCE KPMG LLP

For further information: For media inquiries: Roula Meditskos, National Communications and Media Relations, KPMG in Canada, (416) 416-549-7982, [email protected]
Randeep Surjewala has launched an attack on the government as the investigation into the National Herald continues.

The Congress raised four questions for the central government on Tuesday, ahead of Rahul Gandhis second day of questioning by the Enforcement Directorate. Randeep Surjewala mentioned leaders from the BJP-ruled states of Assam and Karnataka, including Himanta Biswa Sarma and BS Yediyurappa, and claimed that no action was taken in ED cases filed against these leaders when they joined the BJP. Surjewala claimed that the central investigation agency has become the Modi governments election management department.

The Congress spokesperson went on to ask four questions, including, Why is the BJP only targeting Congress and Rahul Gandhi? Is it an attempt to silence the voice that raises questions for people? Has Rahul Gandhi become an impediment to the governments ability to benefit capitalists? The BJP government is spending millions of rupees and employing 40-50 ministers to put pressure on Rahul Gandhi. Why?

Understand the chronology: in a panic, the Modi government has attacked a voice of integrity in the guise of the ED. This is a direct attack on the ED. This is an attack on the person who is raising peoples concerns.

The Congress launched a nationwide Satyagrah protest on Monday, as dramatic scenes unfolded in the national capital, with Rahul Gandhi leading a march to the ED office, top party leaders detained for hours, and barricades erected in various parts of the city.

Security remains tight near the party headquarters for the second day.

The National Herald case involves allegations of misappropriation of funds in transactions involving Young India, which is supported by the Gandhis, and the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which publishes the daily founded by former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru.
The federal agency's investigators questioned the 51-year-old CEO for more than three hours in the first session, which began at 11 a.m. at its headquarters. The first round of questioning ended about 2.15 p.m. to allow for a lunch break. The Congress leader went to his home before visiting Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the national capital, where his mother, party interim president Sonia Gandhi, is being treated for COVID-related illnesses.

On Monday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) began interviewing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the suspected money laundering case involving the National Herald.

The federal agencys investigators questioned the 51-year-old CEO for more than three hours in the first session, which began at 11 a.m. at its headquarters. The first round of questioning ended about 2.15 p.m. to allow for a lunch break. The Congress leader went to his home before visiting Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the national capital, where his mother, party interim president Sonia Gandhi, is being treated for COVID-related illnesses.

At roughly 3.45 p.m., Rahul Gandhi returned to the investigation for the second round of questioning.

Rahul Gandhi is being questioned by an Assistant Director level official, who is the cases investigative officer and is overseen by a Deputy Director and a Joint Director.

According to reports, another officer is typing Gandhis testimony, which is being recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Enforcement Directorate is probing a Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in Kerala over suspected financial irregularities in the party-backed Young Indian Pvt Limited (YIL), which runs the National Herald newspaper.

The ED will most likely investigate the ownership pattern, the transfer of AJL assets to YIL, and other connected problems.

At roughly 3.45 p.m., Rahul Gandhi returned to the investigation for the second round of questioning.

Rahul Gandhi is being questioned by an Assistant Director level official, who is the cases investigative officer and is overseen by a Deputy Director and a Joint Director.

According to reports, another officer is typing Gandhis testimony, which is being recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Enforcement Directorate is probing a Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in Kerala over suspected financial irregularities in the party-backed Young Indian Pvt Limited (YIL), which runs the National Herald newspaper.

The ED will most likely investigate the ownership pattern, the transfer of AJL assets to YIL, and other connected problems.

The ED is also looking into financial transactions and the involvement of party functionaries in the operation of the AJL and YIL.

The Associated Journals Limited (AJL) owns and publishes the National Herald.

In addition, Rahul Gandhis mother, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, will be questioned by the ED. It just summoned her to appear before it on June 23 in the case.

A trial court took cognizance of an Income Tax Department inquiry conducted on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

Swamy had petitioned the court, arguing that the assets of AJL were unlawfully obtained and transferred to YIL, in which Sonia Gandhi and her son each controlled 38% of the stock.

Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the YIL organisers. Swamy said that the Gandhis misused finances, with YIL paying merely Rs 50 lakh to secure the right to reclaim Rs 90.25 crore owing to Congress through AJL.

According to Section 25 of the Companies Act of 1956, YIL is a not-for-profit corporation that cannot accrue profits or pay dividends to its shareholders.

Senior Supreme Court counsel and Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi called it a case of political vendetta, saying, This is actually a very strange case  an alleged money laundering case on which summons are issued with no money involved.

The federal agencys action came after it questioned senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress treasurer Pawan Bansal in April this year as part of its money laundering investigation into the National Herald case.

The CIA then recorded both of the Congress leaders comments. YILs CEO is Kharge, while AJLs Managing Director is Bansal.

Meanwhile, police have sealed all routes leading to the ED headquarters in central Delhi, with Rapid Action Force members heavily deployed.

The Delhi Police has enforced Section 144 CrPC rules prohibiting public assembly and access on roads leading to the ED headquarters in Pravaratan Bhawan on A P J Abdul Kalam Road.

In the aftermath of the projected march by the Congress party from its headquarters to the ED office where Rahul Gandhi is being questioned, the Delhi Traffic Police issued an advise to residents of the national capital advising them to avoid specific routes.
The Prime Minister will also dedicate the Jal Bhushan Building and Gallery of Revolutionaries at Mumbai's Raj Bhawan.

On June 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Maharashtras Saint Tukaram Maharaj Temple in Dehu, Pune. Later in the day, the Prime Minister will also dedicate the Jal Bhushan Building and Gallery of Revolutionaries at Raj Bhawan in Mumbai.

Sant Tukaram was a Warkari saint and poet best known for his Abhanga devotional poetry and community-oriented worship via spiritual songs known as Kirtans. He was a resident of Dehu. Following his death, a Shila Mandir was constructed, but it was not formally structured as a Temple.

According to the official press release, it has been rebuilt in stone masonry with 36 peaks and also carries an idol of Sant Tukaram. Later, the Prime Minister will attend the 200th anniversary celebration of the Gujarati daily Mumbai Samachar at Mumbais Bandra Kurla Complex.

According to media reports, the temple was closed to the public on Sunday, June 12, in preparation for the Prime Ministers visit. The police and security presence on the premises has also been increased.

Following the inauguration of the Saint Tukaram Maharaj Temple in Dehu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated in his address on Tuesday, Saints taught us that discriminating between human beings is the greatest sin, and thus, my government is running on the principles of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis referred to PM Modi as a true warkari and pradhan sevak in a three-minute speech.

Following that, PM Modi stated that his government will spend Rs 11,000 crore on two 350-kilometer palkhi margs. He went on to say that Sant Tukarams abhangs are giving him urja and pointing him in the right direction. In 2017-18, the palkhi margs were announced. PM Modi laid the groundwork for the project in November 2021.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a video of himself greeting the welcome committee on Twitter.


The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, N.Y. will welcome Ann Wilson to the stage on July 27.



Wilson is the celebrated co-founder of Heart, which she formed with her sister Nancy in 1973. The eight-time platinum-selling band has earned a reputation as one of the worlds most legendary rock groups, which was sealed with their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.



Wilson appreciates when people say shes an inspiration to upcoming female artists for the early strides she made in the music industry, especially in a male-dominated genre.



I find it extremely flattering. It was a tough road. In the beginning, women were viewed as lesser  weaker and not as talented. There was definitely sexism and misogyny, she said.



Both Wilsons certainly proved any naysayers wrong.



Recognized as two of the premier hard-rock vocalists of all time, Ann and Nancy smashed boundaries with Heart. With hits like Barracuda, Crazy on You, Never, and What About Love, Heart is firmly established as a critical and commercial success.



Wilson recently discussed her new album, Fierce Bliss, which took shape during the pandemic lockdown.



I was home and able to look out the window, daydream, relax and journal, she said. Eventually these journal entries turned into song lyrics, which turned into little iPhone demos.



Wilson was introduced to some fellow musicians by a friend of hers, Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill. This helped her achieve a bucket-list goal to record at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios.



The studio is located in Sheffield, Ala., which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to Muscle Shoals, the city has hosted noted artists such as The Rolling Stones, Cher, Canned Heat, Bob Seger, Rod Stewart and Herbie Mann.



Wilson said she and her fellow musicians truly clicked, and eventually Fierce Bliss was born.



These musicians helped me flesh out the demos pretty quickly, and before I knew it, we had 11 songs, she said.



Fierce Bliss is a rocking collection of universal folk tales for all walks of life, according to Wilsons team.



In addition to new songs, Wilson recorded some covers for the album, including Queens Love of My Life and Robin Trowers Bridge of Sighs. She had the idea to perform the former as a duet, and chose Gill as her partner.

Though she said her favorite songs to sing live change depending on the night, "Crazy on You" always remains among the top.
Muad Hrezi, the progressive candidate seeking to challenge longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. John Larson in the First Congressional District, has failed to gather enough valid signatures to appear on the primary ballot this August.

Hrezi said he is about 300 signatures shy of the 3,833 required per law. In a complaint filed in Superior Court this week challenging the petitioning process, Hrezi said the Secretary of the State was two days late in providing his campaign with the required paperwork and that several of his volunteers were sidelined due to COVID.

He was still waiting Tuesday for official word from the Secretary of the States Office on whether his petition would be approved. But an audit done by his campaign showed he was several hundred signatures short, he said.

Desmond Conner, a spokesman for the Secretary of the State, said it would take until the end of the week to determine which of the petitioning candidates, if any, would qualify for the primary. Conner declined to comment on the pending lawsuit from Hrezi.

Since he failed to get 15 percent support from party delegates at the nominating convention this spring, Hrezi had to gather signatures from 2 percent of registered Democrats in the 1st District to petition his way on to the primary ballot. His complaint also offers a critique of the petitioning process in Connecticut, which Hrezi said is more restrictive than many other states.

The system is not one that strengthens democracy, he said. Its extremely anti-democratic. It suppresses voter choices.

Hrezi, 27, a former substitute teacher who worked as a staffer for U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, sought to replicate progressive wins in previous elections such as U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs defeat of House Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley in New Yorks 15th Congressional District  widely seen as one of the biggest upsets of the 2018 midterms.

Larson, 72, whose served in Congress for nearly 25 years, hasnt faced a primary opponent since winning the seat. Hrezis campaign focused on bringing a fresh face to Washington and moving the Democratic Party more to the left on issues such as health care.

Despite his poor showing at the Democratic nominating convention, Hrezi raised about $500,000 in contributions  more than any of the Republican candidates for Congress as of the latest campaign filings.

julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com
Mombasa  Kenyans have been advised to go for genetic mapping to establish traces of albinism and other genetically transmitted diseases before consummating their marriages.

Experts indicate that albinism could be minimized through the process of determining the location of genes on chromosomes to ascertain the condition between couples.

It is a condition that occurs when one of several genetic defects make the body unable to produce or distribute melanin and it is inherited through families.

Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital Clinician Dermatologist Joash Matonda defined albinism as the absence of melanin due to reduced production of melanin, the pigment that provides color in the hair, eyes, or skin.

He was speaking at Uhuru na Kazi government building during skin cancer screening of Mombasa County albinism community ahead of Monday's International Albinism Awareness Day.

There are about 700 people with albinism residing in the entire Coast region with six counties of Mombasa, Kwale, Taita Taveta, Kilifi, Tana River and Lamu.

"If they do proper history checking in their families and get married to people who have no history of albinism, chances of them getting children who have no albinism is very high and vice versa. We do marriage counselling so that they don't pick a partner with a history of albinism," stated Dr. Matonda.

In an exclusive interview with Kenya News Agency, Dr Matonda indicated that albinism is an inherited condition with the signs present from the birth of an infant, something he said could be managed through gene mapping between couples.

"Albinism is a condition that is inherited from one generation to the other. We have two main types of albinism: ocular albinism, which affects the eye and oculocutaneous albinism which makes people's skin very white or pale," he added.

He further argued that the pre-marital gene screening could help resolve cases of albinism and other diseases that are costly to manage.

Matonda also called Kenyans with albinism to stop intermarrying so as to minimize chances of transmitting of the condition to their offspring.

"Although love is a passion obsession where individuals feel affection for each, we do recommend that our brothers and sisters with albinism consider marrying other members of the society to help reduce the genetic transfer of their condition to the next generation," he added euphemistically.

The Coast regional referral hospital-based consultant dermatologist, who conducted skin cancer screening and public health to the albinism community in Mombasa on the physical body management, also urged Kenyan society to change their mindset towards the community.

He said persons with albinism suffer from two types of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma -a type of skin cancer that begins in the basal cells, which produces new skin cells as the old ones die and squamous cell carcinoma- most common form of skin cancer, characterized by abnormal, accelerated growth of squamous cells, which is curable with early diagnose.

He stated that skin cancers among albinism start with excess exposure to sun which burns or damages their skins causing alliterations that start with reddening of the skin, itchiness, blisters and skin rupture leading to penetration of the rays.

"Melanin is a pigment that helps us protect the ultraviolet A and B rays which if we are exposed to them for too long, they can cause skin cancer now that either they do not have melanin completely or the enzymes that are responsible to synthesis this pigment is insufficient, we call it enzyme tyrosine. If they do not produce enough of the pigment, the ultraviolet A rays and B rays can penetrate into the skin and cause the two skin cancers," added Dr. Matonda.

Matonda also raised alarm over rampant stigmatization of the albinism community in the country, something he said has isolated them from the rest of citizenry.

He appealed to Kenyans to be mindful of the community whom he stated deserved full participation in the national building.

"This community is like any other members of our nation and we have to change our mindset towards them," he added.

Matonda revealed that to avert the high cost of skin cancer, the albinism community needed to strictly adhere to a set of dos and don'ts including wearing appropriate clothes and hats and wearing sunscreen appropriately.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Health By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

"They are required to be in the sun before 10am and after 4:30 pm for purpose of vitamin D. If you don't have anything to do, stay indoors, especially to the young ones and those who have no option but work have to plan outdoor activities for morning or evening to avoid sun damage," added Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) based Lung and Skin specialist, James Moyae.

Moyae, who suffers albinism, urged his colleagues to properly apply a set of sunscreen lotions and took them through the right procedure of applying the cream.

"You have to apply it around sun-exposed parts of your bodies. It should be applied correctly and consistently to protect your skin from ultraviolet radiation," he stressed.

He thanked the national government for providing free sunscreen lotions, sun protective devices and free medical care to the community among other affirmative actions. - Kna
NEW MILFORD  The New Milford Democratic Town Committee has announced new leadership.

The new chair is Hilary Ram, elected to replace Mary Jane Lundgren who is retiring after serving six years. Also elected were Alexandra Thomas as vice-chair, Ellen Conklin as treasurer and Christina Moots as secretary.

Hilary Ram and Alexandra Thomas were elected to the New Milford Town Council in November 2021. They join Mary Jane Lundgren on the Council.

Hilary Ram, raised in New York City, has a degree in Political Science from St. Lawrence University. Ram is head of research for the PBS show,Common Ground. She is employed as a teacher at the Washington Montessori School and is involved with the Refugee Resettlement Project.

Alexandra Thomas was born and raised in New Milford where she had served as member and chair of the NM Board of Education. With a degree in business, she spent over 35 years owning, operating and managing youth camps, and is currently president of the CT Camping Association.

Ellen Conklin is a management consultant specializing in human resources and mergers and acquisitions. She graduated from Cornell University, has an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth and a JD from the Cardozo School of Law in NYC. Conklin serves as a member of the Towns Municipal Roads Committee.

The newest member of the NMDTC, Christina Moots, serves as a paralegal at Moots Pellegrini. She is New Milford born and active in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR.) Christina attended WestConn and Southern New Hampshire University.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)  A Cambodian-American lawyer and dozens of members of a now-dissolved opposition party were convicted of treason Tuesday in a trial that is part of efforts to tame opposition to the long-running rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Lawyer Theary Seng and most of the other defendants were charged over a failed attempt by the leader of the defunct Cambodia National Rescue Party to return from exile in 2019. Cambodian authorities blocked Sam Rainsys return and alleged that the 60 defendants were involved in organizing his trip, which Theary Seng and the others have denied.

Cambodian courts are widely believed to be under the influence of Hun Sen, whose authoritarian rule has kept him in power for 37 years. The Cambodia National Rescue Party was his partys biggest rival before it was disbanded by a court ruling just ahead of national elections in 2018 that resulted in a clean sweep by Hun Sens Cambodia Peoples Party.

The mass trials against political opposition members are really about preventing any electoral challenge to Prime Minister Hun Sens rule, but they have also come to symbolize the death of Cambodias democracy, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. By creating a political dynamic that relies on intimidation and persecution of government critics, Hun Sen demonstrates his total disregard for democratic rights.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Theary Seng and most of the others guilty of conspiracy to commit treason, defense lawyer Choung Chou Ngy said. Theary Seng was sentenced to six years in jail, and the others received sentences of five to eight years.

Many of the 60 defendants earlier fled into exile or went into hiding, and it wasnt immediately clear how many appeared in court for the verdict Tuesday. According to Human Rights Watch, 27 defendants who are in exile were tried in absentia.

Theary Seng stood outside the court as the verdict was announced, saying she wanted her arrest to be public and not in the shadow. Journalists saw at least three police officers approach Theary Seng, hold her hand and body, and push her into a waiting police truck shortly after the verdict came.

She was dressed as Lady Liberty, in a light green gown and a crown with Freedom written on it. She carried an imitation torch, which she raised and shouted Free the political prisoners. She has worn thematic costumes to her court sessions to publicize her belief that Cambodia is not a democratic nation and the trial is unfair.

She told reporters she was ready for a sham guilty verdict.

I am ready and prepared to go to the notorious Cambodian prison for my political opinions, for my beliefs, for my belief in democracy, for my belief in freedom, she said. "I am ready to pay the price of prison in order that I live out my conscience and my belief in freedom and justice.

Choung Chou Ngy, who represents Theary Seng but not the other defendants, said he plans to file an appeal. He said the defendants who received five-year terms had their sentences suspended, but those with sentences of six to eight years were ordered jailed, and the judge ordered police to find those who were sentenced in absentia so they could face justice.

Theary Seng was jailed at Prey Sar prison on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Gen. Nut Savana, a spokesperson for the interior ministry's prison department, said in an interview with the online Swift News service. He said she had a medical check on arrival and was put in an isolation area for 21 days as a standard precaution against the spread of COVID-19.

U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy said on Twitter that the sentencing of Theary Seng and the others was deeply troubling.

"Freedom of expression and association, and tolerance of dissenting views, are vital components of democracy," he wrote. We call on Cambodian authorities to release her and other human rights activists from unjust imprisonment."

The disbanding of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, its removal from the ballot, and a government crackdown on media and independence voices paved the way for Hun Sens party to sweep the 2018 elections and claim every seat in the National Assembly. He has repeatedly stated his intention to stay in office until 2028 and has endorsed one of his sons to succeed him.

Sam Rainsy, Hun Sens main political nemesis, has been in exile since 2016 to avoid serving prison sentences on defamation and other charges he says are politically motivated.

The trial of Theary Seng and her co-defendants began in 2020 but was suspended until December 2021 due to coronavirus restrictions. Initially, nearly 130 defendants were named and the proceeding was split into three trials for manageability.

In a related case in March, the court convicted 21 people of treason and other charges for nonviolent political opposition to Cambodias government. Seven exiled leaders of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, including Sam Rainsy, received 10-year prison terms in absentia. Another 13 defendants were ordinary party supporters whom the court ordered to serve more than three years.

___

Follow AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The state is focusing on purchasing and protecting more than 1,000 acres of open space through 15 projects in Connecticut communities, including Wilton, Redding and Weston.

Gov. Ned Lamont recently announced $7.5 million would go towards the preservation efforts, as well as several community gardens. The money comes from the states Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Grant Program and the Urban Green and Community Gardens Grant Program. Theyre administered by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Included in that $7.5 million state total will be an undeveloped 99-acre parcel to expand Devils Den Preserve in Redding and nearly 10 acres in Wilton to help create a 700-plus acre contiguous forest in Weston and Wilton.

A grant totaling just over $1.1 million will go to The Nature Conservancy to acquire the 99.1-acre plot on the Granskog Property, which be added to Devils Den Preserve, a property that begins just east of the Georgetown section of Wilton.

As the climate changes, we must work to protect the landscapes that provide refuge for plants and animals adapting to a warmer world, said Frogard Ryan, state director for The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut. We are excited to work with the State of Connecticut to expand Devil's Den Preserve, the largest expanse of protected land in Fairfield County and our most frequently visited preserve, to help keep our promise to protect the lands and waters on which all life depends.

The Nature Conservancy anticipates a 12- to 18- month window to finalize the purchase and acquire the land officially.

This is the last large undeveloped parcel adjacent to Devil's Den Preserve, according to state Sen. Will Haskell, and it currently has more than 20 miles of trails for residents to explore. In addition, its acquisition will preserve forest and freshwater resources and protect more than 500 types of trees and 140 species of birds.

Half of the acreage is within the Saugatuck Reservoir's public drinking water supply boundaries.

Another grant, totaling more than $398,000, is included to help the Aspetuck Land Trust acquire 9.84 acres of the Montanaro Property in Wilton. The property consists of two lots and is part of a long-term project by the land trust to create a 700-plus acre contiguous forest known as the Weston-Wilton Forest Block, Haskell said.

Aspetuck Executive Director David Brant called the plot of land a private donut hole inholding in the middle of the 705-acre intact forest block the Aspetuck Land Trust is protecting.

Weve been working for 12 years to conserve this property and its protection ensures the preservation of the last developable parcel inside the forest reserve, said Brant. The last frontier of undeveloped open space in our region.

The grant is also expected to provide recreational opportunities by creating trails for residents to traverse and to address local ecosystems, wildlife and clean water.

Haskell said he was thrilled to see the funds being allocated for the conservation initiative.

Sometimes we vote on these big budgets and its hard to really understand how they materialize into tangible changes for our community, how they actually change the lives of the people who live in the 26th District, Haskell said. But here we have an example of a series of state budgets that Ive been proud to support to put historic resources into making our communities beautiful and conserving our natural resources.

He noted that making these natural spaces accessible to the public through trails, preserving their natural beauty and making sure they are not developed so future generations can enjoy them too is part of what makes Connecticut so special.

Lamont said in his release announcing the grants that the states preservation of open space has helped define its landscape and preserve its important natural resources and natural beauty and is one of the main things that makes this state such a great place to call home.

Haskell said he always asks the new families he meets who moved to Connectict what drew them to the state and community. While some mention the excellent school districts, or proximity to New York City, he said many have been drawn by the beauty of the outdoors.

They were drawn by the ability to take a hike on the Norwalk River Valley Trail, the ability to walk along the beach at Sherwood Island State Park, Haskell said, contextualzing why he believes these grants are so important. People, I think, appreciate when their government looks out for their kids and grandkids ability to breathe clean air and drink clean water and I think thats a part of Connecticuts current success.

Other projects included are in Bozrah, Montville, East Haddam, East Hampton, Portland, Killingworth, Madison, Oxford, Salisbury, Sharon, Southbury, Stamford, Wallingford, Willington, Winchester, Groton, Killingly, New Haven, Waterbury and Windham.
WEST HAVEN  Former City Hall employee John Bernardo, charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, changed his plea to guilty on the latter count Thursday in Hartford court.

Bernardo was arrested Nov. 4, the second of four individuals arrested in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud West Haven out of $636,783.70 of a $1.15 million allocation of federal pandemic relief funding. Former Democratic state Rep. Michael DiMassa, who was arrested in October 2021 and also was employed by the city, and Bernardo both were principals of Compass Investment Group LLC, which allegedly was used as a shell company. The address listed for the business is Bernardos home address.

The details of Bernardos sentencing will be established at a later date, said U.S. District Judge Omar Williams.

Although Bernardo admitted wrongdoing with his guilty plea, he alleged that he had been duped by DiMassa about how much money the former state official allegedly stole from the city.

I didnt know what the hell was going on, he said. Im going to be a man and face what I have to face.

Bernardos attorney Gregory Cerritelli said there are outstanding concerns about how much Bernardo should owe in restitution, considering Bernardos claim in court Tuesday that his share of any ill-gotten funds was around $50,000.

I assume well argue that at sentencing, Cerritelli said.

A request for comment from DiMassas attorney was not immediately returned.

Assistant State's Attorney Ray Miller requested that the record reflect that regardless of whether he got $1 or $636,783.70 that Bernardo knew the funds were illegally obtained and he was pleading guilty.

Investigators allege DiMassa used falsified invoices claiming Compass Investment Group had provided services and materials related to the citys pandemic response; city officials later told investigators they had never contracted Compass Investment Group for any work, and work alleged in the invoices had not been done.

All four individuals had pleaded not guilty. A scheduled change of plea hearing for Bernardo last week was delayed for a week after he reportedly fell ill.

Jury selection for DiMassa, as well as co-defendants Lauren Knox and John Trasacco, is scheduled for Sept. 15 in Hartford.

Bernardo, who was employed as a housing specialist for West Havens Community Development Administration at the time of his arrest, is a retired firefighter.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WEST HAVEN  The site of the now-closed Daiko Japanese Restaurant & Jerry-Sans Sushi Bar may hold special memories for fans of the popular eatery, but a developer is aiming for the location to be a place that will hold a lot more than that.

Developers are proposing a self-storage facility at the former site of Daiko on Derby Avenue, and have applied for approval with the citys Planning and Zoning Department.

City Planning Director Chris Soto announced the development to the City Council this week, and said the planned facility would be more than 122,000 square feet.

Well be reconfiguring some of the entrances to that site so there wont be as many ways to enter into the site, to hopefully alleviate traffic issues over there, as well, Soto said.

Daiko operated in that location for 23 years before being made to vacate last month when the Westchester County, N.Y.-based landlord decided to sell the property. Landlord Vinod Shah told the Register in May he was close to closing a deal but declined to comment any further.

According to records filed with the City Clerk, the property was sold to an LLC for $2.44 million in late May.

Other developments progress

Soto said representatives of other developments are prepared or preparing to meet for their next set of approvals with either the citys Planning and Zoning Commission or Zoning Board of Appeals.

He said he hopes that New England Brewing Co., which is slated to occupy the site of the Savin Rock Conference Center on Rock Street, will meet with the PZC before the end of July, although the brewerys design work had been delayed.

Soto said he expects his office will complete a zone change request within two weeks for the site of the Blake Building, which is being developed as medical office space for Shoreline Wellness Center and Behavioral Health Clinic. A 7-Eleven on Sawmill Road is close to opening and being online, he said, as several modifications will receive an expected vote on July 12.

Corporation Counsel Lee Tiernan said tough love for developers of the long-delayed The Haven project  a planned waterside high-end mall project that has been stalled for nearly a decade  seems to have paid off.

Following Mayor Nancy Rossis announcement that she intends to fine the developers for blight, which would cost the developers roughly $3,000 per day, Tiernan said the developer took the initiative to contact the mayor to discuss future plans. Tiernan told council members at a meeting last month that Indianapolis-based developer Simon Property Group had not returned the citys calls for months.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
WEST HAVEN  Funerals will be held this week for two local residents killed this month in a tractor-trailer crash in Vermont.

Nicole Ende, 37, and Dante Elliott, 46, died June 2 when the tractor-trailer they were traveling in overturned on Route 64 in Williamstown, Vt., according to Vermont State Police.

Vermont State Police said mechanical failure is suspected to have been a factor in the fatal crash, as witnesses reported that the tractor-trailer's brakes were smoking.

Investigation revealed that the tractor-trailer flipped onto its side while attempting to navigate a sharp corner and subsequently left the traveled portion of the roadway, police said. The tractor-trailer slid into a ditch and came to a position of uncontrolled rest on its roof.

Elliott, a New Haven native, had a passion for driving tractor-trailers and traveling the country, family said as part of a GoFundMe campaign raising funds for his funeral expenses.

Dante loved driving trucks, bikes, pretty much anything on (two) or more wheels. He was always cracking jokes and everyone he came into contact with immediately liked him. He is truly going to leave a lasting impression and will never be forgotten by those who knew him. He loved his family, and helped when he could, the GoFundMe page stated. His mother, father, daughter, sister and nieces were his whole life. He had so much more life to live at only 46 years old, but God called upon him to come home.

Ende, who was a passenger in the tractor-trailer, was a graduate of Milfords Joseph A. Foran High School and is being remembered as a social butterfly, according to her obituary.

Ende was the daughter of Maryann Ende and the late Robert Ende, as well as the mother of Joseph David Gagliardi Jr., whom she loved with all her heart, family said in the obituary.

She was an avid New York Giants fan, and enjoyed nothing more than spending time on the beach with family and friends. Nicole was a social butterfly. Her bubbly personality and contagious smile will be truly missed by all who knew and loved her, her obituary said.

Ende, certified phlebotomist, is survived by many family members, according to her obituary, including her brother, Robert.

A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Agnes Church, located at 400 Merwin Ave. in Milford.

Elliotts funeral will be held Saturday at Colonial Funerals, located at 86 Circular Ave. in Hamden. A viewing will begin at 10 a.m., followed by a service at 11 a.m.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON (AP)  A man carrying a Confederate battle flag stormed the U.S. Capitol with his son because they intended to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Bidens 2020 electoral victory, prosecutors argued Tuesday at the close of the men's trial.

A federal judge, not a jury, will decide if Delaware residents Kevin Seefried and his adult son, Hunter, are guilty of a felony obstruction charge and several misdemeanor offenses stemming from the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden didn't immediately issue a verdict from the bench after hearing attorneys' closing arguments. He told them to return to court on Wednesday afternoon.

Defense attorneys argued that the Seefrieds had no intention of disrupting the joint session for Congress to certify the Electoral College vote when they entered the Capitol.

Widely published photographs showed Kevin Seefried carrying a Confederate battle flag inside the Capitol after he and Hunter Seefried, then 22, entered the building through a broken window.

Eugene Ohm, one of Kevin Seefried's lawyers, drew a distinction between rioters who merely trespassed and those who went inside the Capitol to interfere with Congress. Ohm said prosecutors have sometimes blurred that line, including in the Seefrieds' case.

Edson Bostic, Hunter Seefried's attorney, said prosecutors are asking McFadden to take a lot of leaps without evidence that his client intended to stop the vote count on Jan. 6.

No one said that he was angry, Bostic said. No one said that he was hostile or aggressive in his interaction with the Capitol police.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Benet Kearney said the Seefrieds' conduct and words, captured on video, made their intentions crystal clear.

They thought the election was stolen and they were upset about it, Kearney said.

McFadden, whom President Donald Trump nominated in 2017, presided over two previous bench trials for Capitol riot defendants. He acquitted one of all charges and partially acquitted another.

The Seefrieds' trial included the first public testimony of Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, who has been lauded for his bravery during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters. Goodman led a group of rioters away from the Senate chamber as senators and then-Vice President Mike Pence were being evacuated. He also directed Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, to turn around and head away from the mob.

Goodman encountered Kevin Seefried before the mob chased the officer up a set of stairs. The officer said the elder Seefried cursed at him and jabbed at him with the base end of his flagpole three or four times without making contact with him.

Another Capitol police officer who confronted the mob near the Senate chamber recalled that Kevin Seefried asked, Why are you protecting them?

I assumed he was talking about Congress, Officer Brian Morgan testified.

The charges against both Kevin and Hunter Seefried include one felony count: obstruction of an official proceeding. They werent charged with assaulting any officers.

Neither defendant testified at their trial.

The father and son traveled to Washington from their home in Laurel, Delaware, to hear Trumps speech at the Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6. They were among the first rioters to approach the building near the Senate Wing Door, according to prosecutors.

After watching other rioters use a police shield and a wooden plank to break a window, Hunter Seefried used a gloved fist to clear a shard of glass in one of the broken windowpanes, prosecutors said.

FBI agents said they didnt find any evidence linking Kevin Seefried or his son to any far-right extremist groups. Kevin Seefried told an agent that he didnt view the Confederate flag as a symbol of racist hate.

In April, McFadden acquitted New Mexico resident Matthew Martin of misdemeanor charges that he illegally entered the Capitol and engaged in disorderly conduct after he walked into the building.

In March, McFadden acquitted a New Mexico elected official, Couy Griffin, of engaging in disorderly conduct but convicted him of illegally entering restricted Capitol grounds.

Separately on Tuesday, a former city councilman in West Virginia was sentenced to 45 days in prison for breaching the Capitol during the riot. Eric Barber was sentenced by a federal judge in Washington for his December guilty plea to a misdemeanor count of illegally entering the Capitol.

Barber also was given a seven-day sentence, which the judge suspended, for stealing a portable battery charger from a media stand inside the Capitol.

Barber was ordered to pay $500 restitution for damage done to the Capitol and for the cost of the charger.

More than 800 cases have been brought so far in the largest prosecution in Justice Department history. So far, the criminal investigation has focused primarily on the hundreds of Trump supporters who broke through police barricades, shattered windows, attacked officers and stormed into the Capitol.

More than 300 other defendants have pleaded guilty to riot offenses, mostly misdemeanors. Approximately 100 others have trial dates in 2022 or 2023.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette said Monday that he plans to travel to Africa just as the primary campaign season kicks into high gear, banking that his name recognition is so strong he can afford to leave the country with his job on the line.

La Follette told The Associated Press that he plans to leave on a trip to Kenya and Zimbabwe on Sunday and doesnt plan to return to Wisconsin until early July. The 81 year-old Democrat said he booked the trip two years ago but had to postpone it due to the COVID-19 pandemic and doesn't want to lose his down payment.

The trip comes as La Follette faces a challenge within his own party for his job and with Republicans targeting his office.

Its probably not the best time, but I had no choice unless I had to forfeit the payment I made for it," he said. "So I decided that life has to go on.

The stakes are high for the sleepy office because Republicans want to shift election oversight from the state elections commission to the secretary of state, following the model of more than 30 other states. Democrats fear that could allow Republicans to improperly influence certification of Wisconsin elections, particularly the 2024 presidential contest.

Worried that La Follette may lack the energy to compete, Dane County Democratic Party Chairwoman Alexia Sabor is challenging La Follette for the partys nomination.

La Follette plans to stay in small lodges with a group of 10 to 15 people and spend his days on excursions looking at wildlife. Earlier this year, he said he was so scared of contracting the coronavirus he didnt know how he would circulate his nomination papers across Wisconsin, although he ultimately did manage to secure the 2,000 signatures he needed to get on the ballot. He said he now feels the pandemic has subsided enough that its safe to travel overseas.

Ill wear my double mask and shield on the airplane, he said.

La Follette  a distant relative of Fighting Bob La Follette, a progressive governor and 1924 presidential candidate  was first elected secretary of state in 1974. After a failed try for lieutenant governor in 1978, he won the office in 1982 and has won reelection nine times.

The Wisconsin primaries are Aug. 9. State Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, Jay Schroeder and Justin Schmidtka are running in a three-way Republican primary.

La Follette said he's not particularly worried about not being able to campaign in the crucial weeks leading up to the primary. The lodges have internet service so he can stay in touch, he said, and he's confidant that voters already know plenty about him.

Im sure my opponent will try to make hay out of it, but its not like Im an unknown candidate, he said. People know who am I. The issues are simple. Who has the best chance of winning in November? I am that candidate. If my opponent tries to drag out any other issues like I'm too old or Im in Africa, that doesn't make any difference. The issue is the same. Who has the best chance to beat the Republican?

Sabor accused La Follette of disengaging with voters.

This trip demonstrates the same disrespect for voters that Doug has shown for taxpayers his entire 40-plus years in public office, she said in a text her campaign consultant, Sachin Chedda, forwarded to the AP. He couldn't go out and get signatures but he can go on safari?"

___

Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trichmond1
analysis

As the coalition metro is plagued by political infighting, a Methodist bishop is calling for residents and leaders to come together to face the water emergency.

With Nelson Mandela Bay facing an unprecedented crisis as extremely low dam levels threaten water supply to large parts of the city, Bishop Jacob Freemantle, the Methodist bishop for the city, has called for a water summit.

The metro's political precariousness was highlighted by a recent row in a curry restaurant in Gqeberha that resulted in mayor Eugene Johnson firing Siyanda Manyana, a political consultant from GOOD, one of the political parties in the unstable coalition that is in charge of the city.

Video footage shows Manyana and councillor Lawrence Troon in an ugly shouting match in the popular restaurant, Royal Delhi, over the appointment of the city manager.

Because of the low water levels, the emergency barge (a floating pump station) at Impofu Dam had to be decommissioned on Thursday, 9 June.

The municipality said levels at the city's second-largest dam were so low that the pumps could suck up mud and sludge. This left parts of the metro without water.

On Thursday, Impofu Dam had six days of water left and the...
DURHAM, N.C. (AP)  A North Carolina prosecutor announced Monday that she wont charge law enforcement officers who fatally shot three people in three separate incidents in January.

Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberrys office announced that Deberry has concluded her review of investigations into the shootings and evidence doesnt support criminal charges. She released letters to the three departments involved.

The cases include the fatal shooting of Stephanie Monique Wilson in Bahama on Jan. 4 by a Durham County sheriffs deputy. The investigation found Wilson placed a false emergency call to 911 to induce law enforcement officers to respond to her home and pointed a shotgun at deputies several times, ignoring their orders to disarm, Deberry wrote. The evidence establishes that a reasonable officer would have believed he and others were in danger and under the circumstances, the force used wasn't excessive, she wrote.

The second case was the fatal shooting of Charles Piquet at a Circle K station on Jan. 12 by Durham police officers. A clerk called 911 and reported that a man who had cut his neck with a broken bottle was threatening her. An officer in the responding officers positions would have reasonably believed that Piquets actions were an imminent threat of deadly force, and the force officers used was not excessive under the circumstances, Deberry said. The letter notes that the clerk also claimed to be shot by officers.

The third case was the fatal shooting of Raishawn Jones by a Duke University officer at Duke University Hospital on Jan. 14. Jones was taken to the hospital after he was involved in a crash with a pedestrian and determined to be intoxicated, Deberry wrote. Jones restraints were removed so he could use the bathroom and while he was being evaluated for release, he tried to leave, but the officer guided Jones back to the exam room. When the officer moved to handcuff Jones, they began to struggle over the officers gun, and during the struggle, Jones managed to fire one shot, according to Deberry's letter. A second officer arrived and shot Jones, who later died.

Deberry states that a reasonable officer would have believed that the officer struggling with Jones was in danger and under the circumstances the force he used wasn't excessive. But she also notes that the presence of guns in the emergency room increased the level of risk and suggests that the hospital and police department consider a policy that requires guns to be stored securely before entering the emergency department.
Former Vice President Mike Pence called for an enforcement-first strategy in confronting problems at the United States-Mexico border and touted the Trump-Pences administration approach to immigration in a speech in Arizona on border security.

Pence toured a section of border in southeastern Arizona before coming to Phoenix for the speech. During his address to state GOP lawmakers and other Republicans, the former vice president heaped criticism on the Biden administration's immigration strategy and complimented state and local officials in Arizona for trying to fill in security gaps at the border that arent covered by the federal government.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WOODSTOCK  State police are searching for a man and woman accused of stealing donations from a nonprofit.

The duo hit the Arc Emporium in Woodstock twice.

The first incident was June 4 at 8:55 p.m. The man and woman stole cans and bottles from a donation bin at the nonprofit. They then returned the next night around 8:15 p.m. and stole again, according to state police.

Police provided a video of the man and woman stealing the items.

Arcs donation station accepts rinsed and cleaned bottles and cans. The nonprofit uses these donations to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities assimilate into their local communities, state police said.

Anyone with information about the suspects identities is asked to contact Troop D at 860-779-4900 or email Daryl.Manbeck@CT.gov.
NEW YORK (AP)  Journalists face harassment, fight against misinformation and are keenly aware of the industry's financial troubles and the dim view many Americans have of them.

Despite all that, most love their jobs and wouldn't trade it for something else.

Those were among the findings in a survey of nearly 12,000 journalists conducted by the Pew Research Center and released on Tuesday.

To me, that's a fascinating juxtaposition, said Amy Mitchell, director of journalism research at Pew. They get it. They feel the struggle. They understand the public's feelings toward them. But they love it. They're proud of their work.

More than three-quarters of the journalists (77%) said that if they had the chance to do it all again, they would pursue a career in the news business. Three-quarters of journalists over age 65 say the job has a positive impact on their emotional well-being, although these numbers get smaller for those who are younger.

When asked to describe their industry in a single word, 72% of journalists surveyed pick something negative  words like struggling, chaos, partisan, difficult and stressful, Pew said.

And when asked for one word that journalists think the general public would use to describe the news industry, only 3% could be characterized as positive. Words like inaccurate, untrustworthy," biased and partisan were used most often.

Years of attacks from former President Donald Trump and his allies have taken a toll. Coupled with a companion poll of American adults in general, journalists have a more positive view of the job they do than people they are reporting for. For instance, 67% of journalists believe they're doing a very or somewhat good job of covering the most important stories, compared to 41% of the public. Most journalists (65%) said news organizations do a good job of reporting accurately, while only 35% of the public feels this way.

Pew found that 42% of the journalists said they had been harassed or threatened over the past year, mostly online. Sixteen percent of women said they'd been sexually harassed by someone outside their organization.

More than 9 in 10 journalists said they considered made up or false information to be a significant problem for society. A third of respondents said they come across falsehoods on a regular basis, Pew said.

For all the negativity, 70% of journalists pronounce themselves very or somewhat satisfied with their jobs, Pew said. Roughly the same number of people say they're excited about their work.

By overwhelming numbers, Pew found journalists using social media like Twitter and Facebook to promote their work and to hunt down possible sources. However, two-thirds of journalists said social media has had a very or somewhat negative impact on the profession.

People overall dont trust (social media) a lot, Mitchell said, but the vast majority are using it.

The number of people who face harassment or come across unreliable information online may explain the apparent contradiction, she said.

Fully three-quarters of the journalists feel its a major problem when people with the same opinions get their news from the same organizations, while 39% of the public sees it that way, Pew said.

Pew's findings are based on a national, online survey of 11,889 journalists conducted between Feb. 16 and March 17, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1%.
The Labour Party (LP) Presidential flag bearer in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi has left Nigeria for a 3-day visit to Egypt to study amon...

The Labour Party (LP) Presidential flag bearer in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi has left Nigeria for a 3-day visit to Egypt to study among others, the Egyptian Power Sector, Education, Planning and Finance Sectors.

Obi who left Nigeria on Tuesday shared photos of him at the airport on his verified Twitter page.

I just departed for Egypt on a 3-day visit as part of my detailed study of comparable countries to Nigeria. In Egypt, I am expected to understudy, among others, the Egyptian Power Sector, Education, Planning and Finance Sectors. -PO pic.twitter.com/GzH8Gl7977  Peter Obi (@PeterObi) June 14, 2022

According to the former governor of Anambra state, he embarked on the journey as part of his detailed study of comparable countries to Nigeria.

He wrote, I just departed for Egypt on a 3-day visit as part of my detailed study of comparable countries to Nigeria. In Egypt, I am expected to understudy, among others, the Egyptian Power Sector, Education, Planning and Finance Sectors. -PO

A nationwide mass movement is underway among young Nigerians across the country to mobilize grassroots awareness and support for Peter Obi as their preferred choice for President of Nigeria.

In what is shaping to be the most intensely contested election in the history of Nigeria, strategies are being implemented across the country to ensure either Abubakar Atiku or Bola Ahmed Tinubu or Peter Obi emerges the winner of the February 2023 general election.

Obi who has vowed to make Nigeria a better country if elected as the president is on the quest to acquire knowledge and experiences that will enable him rule Nigeria.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria have recorded their biggest win ever after thrashing Sao Tome & Principe 10-0 in their Group A clash of th...

The Super Eagles of Nigeria have recorded their biggest win ever after thrashing Sao Tome & Principe 10-0 in their Group A clash of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

The annihilation took place at the Adrar Stadium on Monday.

Napoli striker Victor Osimhen opened the floodgates within minutes when he scored the first goal from Moses Simons cross.

Simon, who plies his trade with Nantes in France, registered his name on the scoresheet to make it 2-0 for Nigeria.

A few minutes to the end of the first half, former Kortrijk forward Terem Moffi profited from Osimhens assist to open his international goal diary.

In the 48th minute, Osimhen continued the onslaught after he benefited from Ademola Lookmans excellent delivery.

A fantastic free-kick from Oghenekaro Etebo at the edge of the box made it 5-0 for the Super Eagles five minutes before the hour mark.

Moffi then bagged his brace and Nigerias 6th from a fine Zaidu Sanusi assist before Lookman joined the train for his maiden international goal in the 64th minute.

In the 65th minute, Super Eagles poser boy Osimhen got his hat-trick before securing his fourth goal of the match  moments later  as Nigeria led 9-0.

West Ham United target Emmanuel Dennis scored from the penalty spot at injury time as Nigeria completed the massacre.

The last time Nigeria secured a huge victory was in 1991 against Burkina Faso in the AFCON group stage.

They won the encounter 7-1.
The Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi has debunked reports making the rounds that he asked people of the state to vote for only the All Pr...

The Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi has debunked reports making the rounds that he asked people of the state to vote for only the All Progressives Congress, APC in the 2023 presidential elections.

Reports emerged on Monday alleging that Umahi had said the state will not vote Mr. Peter Obi of Labour Party, LP, claiming that Ebonyi is for APC.

Umahi was said to have stated this while addressing political leaders, traditional rulers, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, among other stakeholders of the state during the swearing-in of five commissioners, the states head of service, HOS, which had taken place at the new government house in Abakaliki.

But Umahi, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Francis Nwaze said he was only reiterating his earlier promise to support the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

The statement reads partly, Our attention has been drawn to insinuations in some quarters suggesting that the Ebonyi State Governor, Engr. David Umahi, FNSE, FNATE has specifically asked Ebonyi People not to vote for a particular candidate in the 2023 Presidential election.

What Governor Umahi did during a Stakeholders meeting on Monday was in the spirit of sportsmanship to emphasize his earlier resolve to support the eventual winner of the Presidential election who later turned out to be Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

The statement by Governor Umahi by all standards only underscored his determination to live up to his earlier comment of supporting the Partys Standard Bearer.
A Twitter user, identified as Ameerah Sufyan, raised the alarm on Tuesday after an alleged kidnapping incident involving three pregnant wo...

A Twitter user, identified as Ameerah Sufyan, raised the alarm on Tuesday after an alleged kidnapping incident involving three pregnant women and two children.

In a series of tweets, Sufyan alleged that she and other 16 victims were abducted at gunpoint from different parts of Abuja by men in police uniforms and a van.

The tweep, @ameerah_sufyan, noted that she had shared her location with her WhatsApp contacts, adding that her captors did not see her phone.

She tweeted, Please whoever has my WhatsApp number I sent a broadcast message of my location.

We were abducted at gunpoint by people with police uniforms and a van from our houses from different parts of Abuja.

Were 17 including three pregnant women and two little kids. They didnt see my phone.





Shortly after the first tweet, Sufyan gave details of her captors, adding that they were being transported to the western part of the country.

Theyre four yoruba and two fulani men They divided us up an hour ago. Were seven here, she tweeted.

She added, The other vehicle they said they will reach Ilorin and ours will reach Ibadan or Ikeja as they said.

Following the cry for help, tweeps have taken to the comment section to tag the Twitter accounts of the Nigerian Police Force and the Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, to the post.

As at the time of filing this report, the police are yet to respond to the tags on Twitter.

Efforts to reach Adejobi was futile as he didnt pick calls from our correspondent.
Omotola Akinsanya, a 31-year-old woman who was reportedly hit by John Greg, a Lebanese motorist in Lagos, has died. On May 4, Omotol...

Omotola Akinsanya, a 31-year-old woman who was reportedly hit by John Greg, a Lebanese motorist in Lagos, has died.

On May 4, Omotola was reportedly hit by a car driven by Greg at the Victoria Island axis of Lagos, while the Lebanese driver was driving against traffic, also known as one-way, at top speed.

In Lagos, driving against traffic, popularly known as one-way driving, is an offence liable to three-year jail term and forfeiture of the vehicle.

The incident caused damage to the victims leg, and she was admitted at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

Greg was said to have fled the scene after the incident but was chased down and subsequently arrested by the officers of the Lagos police command.

Benjamin Hundeyin, spokesman of the Lagos police command, in a statement, had said an investigation jad commenced into the incident.

On Monday, a family member of Omotola, who didnt want to be named, told TheCable that the victim died on June 9  days after the deceaseds left leg was amputated.

Several surgical operations were carried out on Tolas leg before the left leg was amputated. Immediately after the incident happened, she went through eight-hour surgery, the family member said.

The last surgery was the amputation of the left leg. Even LASUTH did not manage the case well. They neglected the girl and they were collecting close to N250,000 daily for ICU and services.

Imagine that kind of amount for one month plus. If you calculate it, you will know how much we have spent. After infection started affecting the leg, LASUTH said they had to amputate the leg.

She did not come out of the amputation surgery conscious and she died after like seven days after the amputation at LASUTH.

The Lebanese guy did not come to the hospital or offer a dime for the treatment of Tola. We were told he was granted bail of N1 million by the court. The family needs justice.

WELL RE-ARRAIGN MOTORIST FOR MANSLAUGHTER

Hundeyin said on Monday that Greg has been granted bail by a magistrate court and that the police will re-arraign him on amended charges to include manslaughter since the victim has died.

The case is already in court. All that we will do now is to amend the charges to read manslaughter since the lady is dead, the Lagos police spokesperson said.
A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment two co-defendants in a suit filed by the National...





A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment two co-defendants in a suit filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency against suspended DCP Abba Kyari over an alleged drug deal.

Justice Emeka Nwite, in a judgment, said having admitted to have committed the offence preferred against them in counts 5, 6 and 7 by the NDLEA, Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who are 6th and 7th defendants, are hereby convicted accordingly.

Justice Nwite thereafter sentenced them to two years imprisonment on each of counts 5, 6 and 7.

He said the terms, which shall run concurrently, would commence from the day the defendants were arrested by the NDLEA.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the two defendants, Umeibe and Ezenwanne, who are 6th and 7th defendants respectively in the matter, are the two alleged drug traffickers arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu by the Nigerian police and handed over to the NDLEA.

They had pleaded guilty to five, six and seven counts preferred against them by the anti-narcotic agency.





NAN earlier reports that at the resumed hearing, counsel for the NDLEA, Sunday Joseph, told Justice Emeka Nwite that two motions seeking a plea bargain in respect of Umeibe and Ezenwanne had been filed.

Joseph said the motions, dated June 13, were filed on June 14.

The lawyer of the two defendants, E. U. Okenyi also concurred with Josephs submission.

Also, counsel for other defendants, including Kyari, did not oppose the motions.

(NAN)
Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, has warned that the people of the Southwest would not tolerate another unprovoked attack on the ...

Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, has warned that the people of the Southwest would not tolerate another unprovoked attack on the region under any guise.

Akeredolu spoke on Tuesday at the Government House in Akure while receiving Gov. Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Gov. Babajide Sanwo-olu of Lagos State, and Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State.

Akeredolu, who said the people of Ondo State and Southwest region at large, had always come to the country in peace and unity, described the Owo attack as one too many.

He appreciated the governors for their solidarity, which he described as not just symbolic but important, and noted that the people of the Southwest region had always maintained peace and unity in the country.

We are part of this country and we have always come to this country in peace and we have maintained peace. We have been trying every time to maintain Nigeria because we believe in Nigeria.

Let someone point to an incident in which we left our enclave or we left this peaceful environment and went to cause problems in other places. Let them tell us.

We have come to this country in peace, and now people want to visit us with war. You want to maim and kill us; it is not easy.

It is a dreadful assault. I said to people that if we were at war and we were armed and faced ourselves, in one day 40 people would not die from our side. But this is not war, we were not at war.

This is an assault on us, on our psyche. We cannot continue this way. We believe in this place, we believe in South-Western region, we believe in Yoruba. Is Yoruba part of the Nigeria we believe in? Yes.

But I thank you for your solidarity. You have come all the time and we have always worked together, all of us, he said.

According to Akeredolu, If you get to the scene, Im sure it will bring tears out of your eyes. These criminals, these animals in human skin, what they did was horrendous.

They did not come to kidnap, they did not come to steal, they took no dime. They went into the church and shot at everything within their sight, the governor lamented.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has accused the founder of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedep...

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has accused the founder of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo, of nursing hatred for President Muhammadu Buhari.

Oyedepo had described Buharis government as the most wicked and corrupt in the history of Nigeria.

Speaking during a church programme tagged, Special Prayer for The Nation on Monday, June 13, 2022, Oyedepo had lamented the deep suffering unleashed on Nigerians by official corruption.

According to the cleric, the Federal Government claimed to be fighting corruption, but its officials are very corrupt.

He said the N80 billion allegedly stolen by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, would be enough to meet the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

But in a tweet on Tuesday, Adesina said Bishop Oyedepos comments were borne out of his blind hatred for President Buhari.

The tweet reads: The bishop at Ota cant even get his facts right. Blinded by hatred for PMB, he says Auditor-General stole N80bn.

Pity! He doesnt know the difference between Accountant-General (only alleged) and Auditor-General. Like OBJ said long ago, we should begin to ordain our own bishops.
Affected workers who were illegally sacked in 2019 by the management of the Ekiti State University (EKSU) have not been reinstated by the in...





Affected workers who were illegally sacked in 2019 by the management of the Ekiti State University (EKSU) have not been reinstated by the institution despite court pronouncement on the matter.





It will be recalled that following the ruling of the Ado Ekiti Division of the Appeal Court on 28th March and 4th April 2022, the management of Ekiti State University met with the workers and their legal representatives and reached an agreement on immediate reinstatement.





A document obtained from the court, which was made available to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti recently and which detailed the agreement reached, reads in part: Following the judgment at the Ado-Ekiti division of the Appeal Court on March 28, the Management of the Ekiti State University met with the judgment creditors and their counsels on April 4th and April 22, 2022, and reached the wherein the following agreement:





That the university management is prepared to abide by the judgment of the court and welcomed the judgment creditors back to work.





That for the purposes of their administrative convenience, the University agreed to write letters for reabsorption immediately following the courts intervention without loss of promotion and allowances.





That salaries would henceforth be prepared starting from April 2022.





Meanwhile, the workers have cried out over the failure of the EKSU management to fulfill the agreement reached two months after.





One of the workers, who pleaded anonymity for fear of witchhunt, said: Unfortunately, the University has failed till date to meet up with any of the agreed terms as shown in their refusal to issue letters of reinstatement despite the availability of essential workers even during the ongoing National strike and payment of April 2022 salary that was paid to the University staff on Thursday 9th, 2022.





The workers expressed dissatisfaction with the action of the management and urged it to do the needful in the interest of posterity.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended its support for religious schools, ruling that parents who send their children to such institutions have a right to tuition aid if the state provides it to other similar private schools.

You voted:
Have you seen Top Gun: Maverick, the beyond-popular, supersonic sequel to the 1980s classic Top Gun? Both movies were all about hot young pilots training in the Navys finishing school for dogfighters. Both movies star one of Hollywoods leading men, Tom Cruise, as an erratic yet implacable jet jock who, despite challenges  spoiler alert  achieves immeasurable glory.

Cruise is considerably older in the current flick, but his eyes still glint with inner intensity and his rascally smile still sparkles as alluringly as ever.

Algiers resident Chris Frasher got to meet and work with the superstar during the filming of the new "Top Gun." In a way, he said, he met two Cruises.

Frasher is the real-life Navy fighter pilot who flew Cruise through treacherous mountain terrain during action scenes in the new movie. Frasher said that for a second or two, here and there, you can see his helmeted head bobbing around as he and the superstar wander the great blue yonder. If theres snow in the background, he said, its probably him.

Frasher wore a partial wig and was liberally spray-tanned for his fleeting scenes as Cruise's character, Maverick.

Cruise is definitely a big cheese, Frasher said, theres no doubt about that. When hes on the set, everybody treats him like an admiral. Theres a hush that falls over the room when hes around, he said.

On the other hand, When Tom Cruise gets excited (like when a days shooting has gone well), everybody gets excited, Frasher said.

Frasher said that before he took Cruise up in a very complicated, very expensive two-seat F-18 aircraft, his commanding officer warned him that even if Cruise was an action movie icon, and the co-producer of the multimillion-dollar movie, he couldnt give orders.

Listen, the commander said, you dont report to anyone but me, Frasher recalled.

But Frashers boss didnt need to worry. In the backseat of the airplane, which is bigger than a school bus and can travel at 600 mph, Cruise was deferential. He was along for the ride and he didnt presume otherwise. Cruise handled the acting and Frasher handled the flying.

I told him, In the cockpit, youre going to call me Griff (Frashers radio handle) and Im going to call you Maverick, OK? Nothing about their outside identities was going to matter.

Fighter pilots can be a cynical, bunch, Frasher said. And everyone was skeptical of the pretend fighter pilot. But the truth was, Cruise was cool.

I saw two sides of Tom Cruise, Frasher said.

Once, due to a technical problem, the pair wasnt able to take to the air and shoot scenes as scheduled.

We lost a day because my jet broke, Frasher said. One of my computers was dead.

Time is money, so naturally Cruise and his crew were anxious to find a work-around. But Frasher had to disappoint a person who probably rarely suffers disappointment. He informed the star that there wasnt a work-around. Until the replacement computer arrived, they were grounded. Period.

In that moment, they were peers.

Frasher is 33, and hes been with the Navy for 11 years. He was born in Lake Orion, Michigan, and, even as a little kid, he was fascinated by flight. His parents took him to air shows and once he got to meet the Navys Blue Angels aerobatic team.

In college, he took courses meant to lead to a career as a pilot. He joined the Navy ROTC and, after graduation, went to Navy flight school for two years. Landing on a boat is the coolest thing you can do, Frasher said, of flying to and from the deck of a moving aircraft carrier.

The way it works after that, Frasher explained, is once the Navy helps you earn your wings as a jet pilot, then you owe the Navy eight years of service.

Frasher said he never went to the Top Gun dogfighting school. But he was stationed in Japan for a time as part of a strike group meant to defend American interests in Asia.

His last year in the service wasnt much fun, he said. He was assigned to an aircraft carrier patrolling the sea near Syria and Iraq in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. Which meant nobody could leave the boat for months and months. It was a drag. So much so, that he said he left active duty to be sure he never got trapped again.

After all, he and his wife were ready to start a family. So, he signed up to be a full-time Naval reserve pilot, stationed at the Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chase. Yep, Frasher is one of the folks from Strike Fighter Squadron 204, flying those big gray jets that go roaring over the city from time to time, to the delight of some and the consternation of others.

The Navy agreed to work with Paramount Pictures on the new "Top Gun" movie, and according to Wikipedia, the studio paid more than $11,000 per flight hour. When the movie producers started seeking out a pilot with the right body type to fly scenes with Cruise. Frasher volunteered. Why not?

Of course, the movie is a little over the top. They put a lot of Hollywood inject in there, he said.

True, he said, you put anybody in a jet and they get a big head and egos can come into play. But if anyone acted as arrogantly as the Hangman character, in our community, hed be ostracized.

We do get competitive, but were professionals, he said.

Frasher said hes happy to be in such a big-time movie, even if you just see flashes of the back of his disguised head. His most important contribution may really have been teaching some of the actors how to look like theyre piloting a high-performance plane, not just riding in one.

Cruise is an accomplished amateur pilot in his own right, who flies a World War II-era Mustang fighter plane and can handle a private jet. But, Frasher said, there was no way the Pentagon would let anybody but an experienced pilot fly an F-18, which he described as the workhorse of the Navy.

Especially during the sort of dodgy, high-speed, low-altitude maneuvering the film required.

Still, one time, after some intense flying and filming, as they were cruising back to their base in Washington state, exhausted, Griff let Maverick take the backseat stick for a while to get a feel for their shared steed. Chances are, both men have told pals about the moment.
DALLAS  An armed man who attacked a summer camp in Duncanville on Monday is dead after being shot by police.

Around 250 children were at the camp at the Duncanville Fieldhouse, which went on lockdown after the gunman fired shots. Police said the gunman attempted to enter a classroom, but the door was locked. No children, staff or police were harmed, said Duncanville Assistant Chief of Police Matthew Stogner during a news conference.

Stogner said police responded to the field house in the 1700 block of S. Main Street at 8:45 a.m., two minutes after receiving calls about shots being fired. The field house was the site of a summer camp for children between the ages of 4 and 14, he said.

During a search, officers confronted the man and shot him. Police provided medical aid, and the suspect was taken to a hospital, where he later died. The suspects identity was not released, and a motive has not been determined.

Stogner said because the shooting involved a police officer, the investigation will be led by the Texas Rangers.

Police said the suspect entered the field house through the main lobby doors with a handgun. He exchanged words with a camp staff member and fired one round, prompting calls to police.

Camp counselors moved the kids to a safe area and began locking doors, Stogner said. The suspect attempted to enter one classroom but was not able to get inside because the door was locked, Stogner said. He shot at the classroom door, where there were children inside, he said.

Naomi Rodgers, a camp counselor, told KXAS-TV (NBC5) that she was working with about 40 children and they were about to play a game when they heard the gunshot.

We had to move them all across the room because the building is glass and we had to find a safe space, Rodgers told NBC5. The shooter actually came to our door ... and he said if we didnt let him see who he wanted to see he was going to shoot the place up.

The suspect then moved into the gymnasium and was confronted by police, Stogner said.

Children were reunited with their parents with the help of Duncanville ISD and DeSoto and Cedar Hill police departments, Stogner said.

The incident comes nearly three weeks after the massacre in Uvalde, where 21 people, including 19 children, were killed at Robb Elementary School. Stogner said officers at the department had recently undergone active shooter training and did exactly what they were trained to do.

We obviously understand what took place south of us, Stogner said. I can only talk about how we responded here and we did an exceptional job.

Duncanville City Manager Aretha R. Ferrell-Benavides said the city would work with parents to find a new location for the summer camp and that sessions would likely resume later this week.

We want to make sure they feel comfortable and safe returning to this location, she said.

____

2022 The Dallas Morning News. Visit dallasnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A man sitting in his pickup truck in Mid-City was yanked from the vehicle by a carjacker Monday afternoon, New Orleans police said.

Police responded to the carjacking at the intersection of South Murat and Banks streets at around 5:14 p.m. They said that after the carjacker pulled the victim from his gray 2019 Dodge Ram pickup truck with Texas license plate RRG7708, he fled in the vehicle.

There have been 141 carjackings so far this year, according to the Metropolitan Crime Commission. At this time last year, there had been 134 carjackings, and in 2020 at this time, there had been 63 carjackings.

No other information was immediately available.
The Irish Bayou castle is for sale once again, according to the property's Facebook page, and this time the eye-catching landmark is on the market for $500,000.

A reproduction of a 14th century castle that can be seen for miles from Interstate 10, the "fisherman's castle" has changed hands a number of times since it was first built in 1981. The whimsical structure was erected by Simon Villemarette as a tourist attraction for visitors to the World's Fair when New Orleans hosted it in in 1984. Attempts to have tour buses and boats stop at the castle mostly failed, however.

Peter and Pamela Egan used the castle and land across US 11 as a weekend camp for about four years before they sold it for $62,000 in 1995. In 2005 the castle survived hurricane Katrina, which filled it with about 12 feet of water, and it has been through various restoration efforts in recent years.

The fishing camp across the street and another empty lot are included in the latest offer.
After a weekend marked by death and violence at the New Orleans jail that raised anew well-trod concerns about the facilitys staffing and safety, the Orleans Parish Sheriffs Office pulled its deputies from their posts at local courts Monday to bolster jail staffing, causing attorneys to scramble as hearings went online.

A degree of relief for the criminal court system came late Monday. The sheriffs office said court would resume in some capacity Tuesday morning, but spokesperson Timothy David Ray could not provide additional details by press time.

At the jail, one incarcerated person died after a fight that involved at least two knife-like weapons, while another man jumped from a second-story mezzanine, breaking his spine.

The separate incidents, which occurred on Friday and Sunday, validated concerns often raised by the federally-appointed monitors who have since 2013 audited the Orleans Justice Center: That weapons are frequently brought into the jail or fashioned from pieces of the facility itself and that inadequate supervision has led to suicides and attempted suicides.

The deaths are the first in Sheriff Susan Hutsons tenure, which began May 2.

Neither of the deceaseds names had been released by the Sheriffs Office as of late Monday.

Jail fight

But according to the Sheriffs Office, four men fought in a jail pod Friday night. At least two of the men were stabbed, and three were brought to University Medical Center, where one died on Saturday of a fractured skull and multiple fractures to his left shoulder. His death was the first to violence inside the jail since 2009, Ray said.

Another man remains in the hospital with a punctured lung. A third was released back to the jail Sunday after being treated for lacerations that required staples. The fourth man suffered superficial injuries, Ray said, and was treated inside the jail for blows to his face.

Then men had each been classified as high security, Ray said, but screenings did not indicate they should not be housed together. He declined to say what charges the men were booked on.

The weapons were recovered, Ray said, but he declined to describe them. He said investigators are still determining whether the weapons were brought in or made inside the jail.

On Sunday, an incarcerated person leapt over a railing on a second-story mezzanine and died, the Sheriffs Office reported. The 46-year-old man had been booked into the jail Friday.

In response, Hutson ordered deputies who normally report to the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, Orleans Parish Civil District Court, and a handful of other internal assignments, including the Sheriffs Office training academy, transportation division and kitchen warehouse to report to the jail instead.

By Monday, the Civil District Court had announced it had been restaffed by deputies and was open to the public. The Criminal District Court, however, was forced to hold its hearings online.

Staffing woes

The jail and the Sheriffs Office were placed under a federal consent decree nine years ago after persistent reports of violence, drug use and poor mental health care within the facility. Three people died there in 2020. Last year, Anthony Hunt overdosed and died in his jail cell.

NOLA Business Insider The biggest stories in business, delivered to you every day. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Both former Sheriff Marlin Gusman and Hutson have blamed chronic understaffing for many of the jails woes. As recently as last fall, the Sheriffs Office reported 100 open positions.

But sources close to the jail have pointed to a more complex issue.

In a post on its Facebook page, the MacArthur Justice Center, which represents inmates in the ongoing federal consent decree, wrote that inadequate supervision, pervasive contraband, failures in medical and mental health care, and physical deficiencies in the jail's structure have led to an unsafe space for incarcerated people.

The case of the man who leapt from the mezzanine level highlights a problem that could persist in the future: The second-floor mezzanines overlooking many of the jails pods have played an outsized role in the litigation surrounding a proposed new building  so-called Phase III  for inmates with mental and medical health problems.

Proponents of the new facility say inmates at risk of suicide need custom-built tiers that don't have mezzanines. Opponents say that parts of the existing main lock-up could be safely retrofitted with protective fencing.

That proposal didnt satisfy the Department of Justice, which supports building a new facility. Its lawyers said in a July 2021 brief that the Orleans Justice Center has "dangerous mezzanine levels from which prisoners can jump or hang themselves.

Federal monitors have also repeatedly expressed concerns. Incidents of inmates identified as at increased risk continue to obtain access to contraband and/or are not adequately supervised and gain access to mezzanines," they said in an October report, repeating in identical language of a critique from their February 2021 report.

Court scrambles

The sheriffs order, delivered late Sunday night, caused attorneys and various court personnel to clamber as they worked to notify family members, victims, witnesses and others that the court building would be closed to the public. Instead, they were asked to appear on Zoom.

But while court proceedings continued virtually, defendants were not able to appear online. The jail remained in an emergency lockdown Monday, said Derwyn Bunton, chief district defender for Orleans Public Defenders, and defendants were not given access to virtual court.

Their access to online court, Ray said, will resume Tuesday.

Hutson's order was initially expected to last as long as two weeks, but Monday night's announcement meant some criminal court proceedings would resume.

Currently, our deputies provide security for five separate courts and we will reassess our deployments over the coming weeks, Hutson said in a written statement.

At least seven criminal trials were expected to move forward this week.

Staff writers Matt Sledge and Missy Wilkinson contributed to this report.
A degree of relief came late Monday for the Orleans Parish criminal court system, as Sheriff Susan Hutson's office announced some in-person proceedings would resume Tuesday morning.

The details were not immediately clear, but Hutson's office released a statement saying the decision was made after meeting with the District Attorney's office, the Public Defender's office and criminal court judges. The statement described the resulting "hybrid arrangement" of online and in-person proceedings as "a short-term plan to increase safety at the Orleans Justice Center and the courthouse."

One year ago, when I announced my campaign for sheriff, I laid out the problems that were plaguing the Sheriffs Office and said to our community, 'We can and we must do better,'" Hutson said in the statement. "By taking immediate action to increase safety and more fully staff the jail, we are doing better. Currently, our deputies provide security for five separate courts and we will reassess our deployments over the coming weeks."

Trials and other proceedings were effectively halted after Hutson issued an order late Sunday recalling all deputies from their posts in criminal court and assigned them to the jail. The move came in response to three days of violence and two deaths in the Orleans Justice Center. Deputies were pulled from several other assignments, including the training academy, transportation division, kitchen warehouse, and civil court.

The weekend chaos at the jail included an inmate suicide Sunday afternoon and a physical altercation Friday that left one incarcerated person dead and two others injured. The sheriffs office has not released the names of the deceased and is working to notify family and complete an internal investigation.
Two young girls who were dumped in a remote area of Venetian Isles last week were both shot in the head and left for dead after their attacker allegedly forced one of teens to perform oral sex on him at gunpoint, according to court documents that became available on Tuesday.

The girls, ages 14 and 15, were picked up in St. Tammany Parish late Wednesday by 19-year-old Jordan Mitchell, police wrote in the documents. He was on probation for an assault charge, court records show.

Mitchell drove the teens to an unspecified location in New Orleans East and asked one of them to have sex with him, the documents say. When she refused, he pulled out a gun and forced her to perform oral sex.

Afterwards, Mitchell allegedly shot both girls.

Mitchell is then accused of dumping the girls in the 21000 block of Chef Menteur Highway, where a neighbor found them and called paramedics, a law enforcement source confirmed Tuesday. Jonathan Fourcade, a spokesperson from New Orleans Emergency Medical Services said both girls were brought to an area trauma center in critical condition, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to their heads and bodies.

Miraculously, both were alive.

NOLA Business Insider The biggest stories in business, delivered to you every day. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Mitchell, who is from Slidell, was arrested Friday in St. Tammany and later transferred to New Orleans where he was booked on two counts of attempted first degree murder and one count of first degree rape. Magistrate Commissioner Dennis Moore set Mitchell's bond at $50,000 Tuesday on the attempted murder counts.

During the hearing, Mitchell's public defender said he believes one of the victims misidentified his client.

Court records show a detective on the case arrived at the hospital soon after the teens were admitted and interviewed one of the victims. She said that the man who shot her was named Jordan and drove a white sedan with tinted windows.

St. Tammany detectives located Mitchell's car before NOPD detectives put Mitchell in a photographic lineup, documents said. One victim positively identified him as the man responsible for the crimes, according to court records.

Mitchell pleaded guilty in Jefferson Parish in February to an amended count of aggravated assault with a firearm and received 36 months probation. However, he was wanted at the time of his arrest in the shooting for failing to pay court fines.
A 19-year-old accused of shooting two teenage girls from St. Tammany and leaving them for dead is also facing a first-degree rape charge in connection with the case, New Orleans police said Monday.

The 14- and 15-year-old girls survived the attack and were found about 5:30 a.m. Thursday in the 21000 block of Chef Menteur Highway. Authorities said they were dumped there, in a remote section of Venetian Isles, by Jordan A. Mitchell after he shot them.

Paramedics took the girls to a hospital in critical condition, police said, and Mitchell was arrested later that day by New Orleans police, St. Tammany Parish sheriffs detectives and SWAT team members. He was booked in the Orleans Justice Center on two counts of attempted murder, officials said.

After further investigation, police determined one of the victims had been raped and she identified Mitchell as the perpetrator, leading to the additional count.
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
HAMMOND  Research shows that businesses that make their customers happy focus on innovation, talent and process, a consultant told a Region business crowd Tuesday.

John Brandt, a former editor-in-chief of IndustryWeek and CEO of the Manufacturing Performance Institute research and consulting firm, gave a talk at Dynasty Banquet Halls in Hammond Tuesday as part of the WorkPlace Innovation Series.

He discussed his book "Nincompoopery: Why Your Customers Hate You  And How to Fix It," advising businesses on how to change the "terrible customer service, idiotic business processes and soul-crushing management practices that drive customers crazy."

"We have to convince our colleagues that change is not optional," he said. "We have to convince our peers that change is worth the pain that's going to happen. When you are leading change, there is going to be resistance. It's usually not resistance to the change itself. It's usually resistance to a change in relationships and a change in status. It's not fear of this new technology. It's what's going to happen to me. When you manage change, you have to manage fear."

The Northwest Indiana Workforce Board, WorkOne, the Center for Workforce Innovations and The Times of Northwest Indiana presented the talk.

"John Brandt has an impressive bio," Center for Workforce Innovations President and CEO Lisa Daugherty said. "John is an experienced entrepreneur, author and researcher ... He's had a unique career in marketing, management and consulting that's earned him more than 20 awards in reporting, writing and editing."

People spent more time at work than doing almost anything other than maybe sleeping, so it's important to them that their work be meaningful, Brandt said.

"People want to do something more than serve time," he said. "They want their work to matter. They want to make an impact on the industry. They want to help people. They want to know I was a good person and I made enough to donate to my church, whatever it is. Most people want to know their life matters. For most people, that's some combination of faith, family and purpose. They don't want to go to work to be a loser for 40 to 50 years. They want a broader purpose that's going to make them happier."

Companies can succeed by treating customers well and making the customer experience as easy as possible, Brandt said. He cited the policy at AT&T stores of greeting customers right away and finding out what they want to make them feel like they're valued.

"We live in a world where it is increasingly not the products we make but the relationships we have," he said.

Businesses often listen to consultants about what customers want but not to the customers themselves, Brandt said.

The Starwood hotel brand was told for years no one wanted liquid soap because people didn't want to pay $200 a night to be in a truck stop. But each bar of soap cumulatively costs $3 to $4 a night per room, so getting rid of it would be a major cost saving.

"They rebranded it as bliss, made it fragrant and put it in stylish dispensers," he said "Customers loved it. We want to make our customers happier but don't always know exactly what our customers want."

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
LOWELL  Harvest Tyme Family Farm is about to become a Jurassic Park.

Giant, life-sized dinosaurs, including colossal T-Rexes and Brontosauruses that stand up to 14-feet tall, will soon invade Harvest Tyme at 17904 Grant St. in Lowell.

More than 20 moving and roaring animatronic dinosaurs will be displayed for the Dino Tyme exhibit later this summer. The prehistoric attraction also will include larger-than-life dinosaurs kids can ride, a fossil dig and a 14-foot-tall volcano that will erupt, emitting smoke.

"It will be a first of its kind that's never been seen in Northwest Indiana," owner Josh Sickinger said. "They've had bigger dinosaurs in Chicago, but nothing like this in this area. The dinosaurs will be a great family experience for all ages."

Sickinger's 6-year-old son Conrad helped pick out which dinosaurs would be featured. It includes his favorites, the T-Rex and Triceratops.

"He's very well-versed in dinosaurs," he said. "He had an important role."

The farm has grown into a regional attraction in recent years with a pumpkin patch, corn maze and Christmas light show.

Dino Tyme will feature live stage shows throughout the day and a dozen amusement rides, including new rides like a carousel and spin ride. It also will have more static dinosaur statute and a baby dinosaur.

For an extra charge, aspiring paleontologists will be able to comb through a sandbox for fossils they can take home.

There also will be concessions, including doughnuts, kettle corn and pizza.

Kids can get up close and marvel at the dinosaurs, posing for as many pictures as they'd like.

"It's a prehistoric exhibit with realistic dinosaurs for fans," he said. "They're animatronic, so the eyes move, the head turns and it looks like they're breathing. The tails move. They're replica dinosaurs."

Harvest Tyme has been bringing in more and more attractions as it looks to become a year-round destination. Sickinger previously worked as a certified public accountant but quit his full-time job as a controller last year to focus on bringing new events to Harvest Tyme.

"This is something I had in mind for a while," he said. "The new Jurassic Park movie was an inspiration."

It took hours of research to find a manufacturer of the type of dinosaurs he had in mind.

"It was not the easiest," he said. "I had to do a lot of due diligence to find a good quality product I could be confident in."

The hope was for the attraction to come around the time of the "Jurassic World Dominion" opening, but it's been delayed. The dinosaurs are coming in from China, and the shipments are held up due to pandemic-induced supply chain issues.

"They are halfway across the Pacific Ocean," spokesperson Diane Poulton said. "They're supposed to be in Los Angeles by June 10 and unloaded by the 17th. They have yet to be sent by train to Chicago and trucked to Lowell. It's probably going to be August by the time we get opened."

Excitement has been mounting.

"I knew there was a general love of dinosaurs," Sickinger said. "But I underestimated the appeal to kids. It's generated so much excitement from the little bit we've put it. It's been amazing."

He estimates families could spend about a half-day there between the dinosaurs and amusement park rides. It will be on display temporarily but may become an annual attraction every summer.

"Our pumpkin patch has been drawing visitors far into Illinois and the Chicagoland area," he said. "We're looking to give out a great experience to get people to visit the farm."

Harvest Tyme also plans a dinosaur-themed corn maze this year, potentially in the fall.

"We're definitely excited to bring full-sized, lifelike dinosaurs," he said.

Tickets will be $18.95 in advance and $22.95 at the door.

For more information, visit harvesttymefun.com, follow the business on Facebook or call 219-440-2386.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
VALPARAISO  The 20-year-old man facing a felony count of assisting a suicide in Monday's shooting of a 19-year-old woman at a Chesterton hotel has been identified by officials as Matthew Devon Rinehart.

Rinehart, who is in custody at the Porter County jail, is listed as being both from Ohio and Gary.

The gunshot victim in the case was listed in stable condition Tuesday morning, according to Chesterton police.

The woman, who sustained a gunshot wound to the face, was initially taken to the nearby Northwest Health-Porter hospital and then flown by helicopter to an Illinois hospital, the department said.

Chesterton police said they were called to the Best Western Indian Oak hotel at 558 Indian Boundary Road around 10:33 a.m. Monday and directed to a room where they found the injured woman.

Rinehart, who was allegedly present in the room when the shooting occurred, was taken to the Chesterton Police Department.

Investigators with the county were called in to help process the scene and interview witnesses, police said. The decision was made to charge Rinehart after police reviewed the case with the county prosecutor's office.

Charging in the case is not expected before Tuesday afternoon.

The state's assisting suicide law refers to a person who "Provides the physical means by which the other person attempts or commits suicide. Participates in a physical act by which the other person attempts or commits suicide."

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A Gary man convicted last year of attempted murder for shooting a pregnant woman in the back of the head received a fair trial, according to the Indiana Court of Appeals.

In a 3-0 decision, the appeals court said theres no basis to overturn the conviction of Donjulian Hobson, 25, in connection with the July 14, 2018, shooting in an alley in Garys Emerson neighborhood.

According to court records, Hobson shot and killed Antonio Pookie Adams, 23, of Gary, and shot and wounded Adams then-23-year-old girlfriend, whom The Times is choosing not to name.

A Lake County jury acquitted Hobson of murder in connection with Adams death after Hobson successfully argued at trial he acted in self-defense.

But Hobson was found guilty of the attempted murder of the pregnant woman and sentenced to 38 years in prison.

Hobson argued in his appeal that Lake Superior Judge Samuel Cappas erred by not allowing the jury to consider a lesser charge of battery resulting in serious bodily injury.

According to court records, Hobson claimed the woman didnt even realize she was shot. There also was evidence Hobson pistol-whipped her, which he said is more line with a charge of battery resulting in serious bodily injury than attempted murder.

The appeals court said it agreed with Cappas that Hobsons intent to kill can be inferred by the manner in which he used a deadly weapon.

He stood above her and shot her in the head. (The woman) did not need to know that she was shot in order to establish Hobsons specific intent to kill her, the court said.

Moreover, the appeals court noted the charging instrument referred to the shooting, not a pistol-whipping  So, though the battery factually is a lesser-included offense here, the court did not abuse its discretion by rejecting the instruction.

After all, a trial court may refuse an instruction which has the tendency to mislead or confuse the jury. The proffered instruction (battery resulting in serious bodily injury) might have confused the jury in this circumstance, the appeals court said.

In sum, we find no error here, and conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in denying Hobsons request.

Hobson still can ask the Indiana Supreme Court to consider reviewing his case and overturning his conviction.

Otherwise, his earliest possible release date from prison, assuming good behavior, is May 7, 2047, according to the Indiana Department of Correction.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
CHESTERTON  A 20-year-old Ohio man faces a felony count of assisting a suicide in the Monday morning shooting of a 19-year-old woman at the Best Western Indian Oak hotel at 558 Indian Boundary Road, according to Chesterton police.

The woman, who sustained a gunshot wound to the face, was taken to the nearby Northwest Health-Porter hospital and then flown by helicopter to an Illinois hospital, the department said.

"At the time of this press release, the female victim is still being treated at an Illinois hospital," police said early Monday night. "Her prognosis at this time is unknown."

Police said they were called to the hotel around 10:33 a.m. and directed to a room where they found the injured woman.

The 20-year-old man, who was present in the room when the shooting occurred, was taken to the Chesterton Police Department.

Investigators with the county were called in to help process the scene and interview witnesses. The decision was made to charge the man after police reviewed the case with the county prosecutor's office.

No further details will be released until charges are filed, police said.

Police said earlier Monday there is no ongoing risk to the public.

"Chief (Tim) Richardson thanks the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Porter Police Department, Porter County Sheriffs Department and the Porter County Prosecutors Office for their assistance today with this on-going investigation," the department said.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
June's full moon, the strawberry moon, will illuminate the sky this week.

The moon will appear full until Wednesday's moonset, according to NASA. It will reach its peak at 7:52 a.m. ET Tuesday but will not be fully visible in North America until moonrise. This year's strawberry moon is the first of two consecutive supermoons.

While there is no single definition, the term supermoon generally refers to a full moon that appears brighter and larger than other moons because it is at its closet orbit to Earth.

To a casual observer, the supermoon may appear similar in size to other moons. However, the noticeable change in brightness enhances visibility and creates a great opportunity for people to begin paying attention to the moon and its phases, said Noah Petro, chief of NASA's Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Lab.

The ideal time to look at the moon is when it is rising or setting since that's when it will appear the largest to the naked eye, said Jacqueline Faherty, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History. (The Old Farmer's Almanac's calculator can help you find out what time the moon rises and sets in your location.)

The best views of June's full moon in the United States will be in the southern half of the country and the Southwest. A series of weak storms will move through the Northeast and Great Lakes regions early in the week, creating cloudy conditions that will make it difficult to get a clear view, CNN meteorologist Gene Norman said.

Petro recommends that moon gazers seek out a clear horizon and avoid areas with tall buildings and thick forestry. He also urges people to stay away from bright lights if possible for maximum visibility.

The name strawberry moon is rooted in the traditions of Indigenous groups in the northeastern U.S., including the Algonquin, Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota communities that saw the celestial event as a sign that strawberries, and other fruits, were ripe and ready to be gathered. The Haida people refer to the moon as the berries ripen moon, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac.

This full moon corresponds with the Hindu festival Vat Purnima, a celebration where married women tie a ceremonial thread around a banyan tree and fast to pray that their spouse lives a long life.

For Buddhists, this moon is the Poson Poya moon, named after the holiday celebrating the introduction of Buddhism in Sri Lanka in 236 B.C.

There will be six more full moons in 2022, according to The Old Farmers' Almanac:

July 13: Buck moon

August 11: Sturgeon moon

September 10: Harvest moon

October 9: Hunter's moon

November 8: Beaver moon

December 7: Cold moon

These are the popularized names associated with the monthly full moons, but the significance of each one may vary across Native American tribes.

In June 2021 the strawberry supermoon put on quite a show:

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Caterpillar Inc. plans to move its global headquarters from Deerfield to the companys existing office in Irving, Texas, officials said Tuesday.

The transition is set to begin this year.

We believe its in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillars strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world, said Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby in a statement.

The move comes five years after Caterpillar announced that it would move its headquarters from Peoria to Deerfield.

The company said Tuesday that Illinois "remains the largest concentration of Caterpillar employees anywhere in the world."

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, responding to the news, downplayed the significance of losing the iconic Illinois company, claiming that the state remains "a leader in attracting large and midsize corporate relocations."

"It's disappointing to see Caterpillar move their 240 headquarters employees out of Deerfield over the next several years when so many companies are coming in," Pritzker said in a statement. "We will continue to support the 17,400 Illinoisans who work for the company in East Peoria, Mapleton, Mossville, Pontiac and Decatur  which remains Caterpillar's largest manufacturing plant in North America after the company's recent expansion."

Still, Illinois' loss of the company's C-suite is another high-profile blow. CAT has Illinois roots that date back nearly a century, first in Peoria and later in Deerfield.

It also comes just over one month after Boeing announced it was moving its corporate headquarters from Chicago to Washington, D.C. after nearly two decades calling The Windy City home.

Still, even after the high-profile departures, Illinois is home to the fourth-most Fortune 500 companies in the United States, including Archer-Daniels-Midland, John Deere, McDonald's, State Farm, United and Walgreens.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
9:10 p.m. Update: All storms have departed Northwest Indiana and the severe weather threat has come to an end. Most damage that has been reported in the Region has been minor, except in Portage. Several homes were reportedly struck by lightning there and one had a tree fall on it. No injuries have been reported so far. The largest hail to fall was ping pong ball size in New Chicago.

The National Weather Service will take a closer look at the damage in Northwest Indiana and across all of Chicagoland on Tuesday to determine if a tornado or tornadoes touched down or not.

Additional stray showers are possible for the next few hours, but all rain will be gone by early Tuesday morning. Get ready for a very hot and humid day. High temperatures will reach around 98 with feels like temperatures around 106 in the afternoon Tuesday.

8:25 p.m. Update: The rotating thunderstorm in Porter County has weakened some and currently does not have the potential of producing a tornado. However, wind gusts up to 70 mph and up to quarter size hail are still possible as it moves southeast.

The storm in LaPorte county is also moving southeast and still could produce wind gusts up to 60 mph and pea size hail. Remain indoors until both of these storms pass.

8:10 p.m. Update: The tornado warning continues for far eastern Lake County and central Porter County. The storm is still rotating and could produce a tornado to the southwest of Valparaiso. Valparaiso is still likely to see up to quarter size hail strong straight-line winds.

In addition to the tornado warning, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for much LaPorte County until 9:45 p.m. Wind gusts up to 60 mph and up to dime size hail are expected.

7:55 p.m. Update: The tornado warning continues until 8:15 p.m. A funnel cloud was reported over Gary and is moving southeast. A tornado could touch down at any time. Even if a tornado does not touch down, damaging winds are likely with this storm.

7:35 p.m. Update: A Tornado Warning has been issued for Lake and Porter counties until 8:15 p.m. Some of the locations within the warning are Hammond, Gary, Hobart, Portage, Merrillville, and Valparaiso. Radar indicates that the storm approaching the area could be producing a tornado. This storm has already caused significant wind damage in Chicago. Heavy rain, lightning, and quarter size hail are also expected. If you are in this warning, seek shelter in an interior room on the lowest floor of a permanent building or home immediately!

Matt Holiner covers weather and climate across the Midwest. Matt has eight years of professional meteorology experience and has forecast every type of weather for cities across the country. He holds the National Weather Association's Seal of Approval.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Local Weather Get the daily forecast and severe weather alerts in your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The disease can vary in severity, but for some, it can be life-altering  a total loss of body hair, including eyelashes and eyebrows, even nose hair and hair in the ears. And, until recently, for those with alopecia areata, there was no treatment to make the hair grow back.

But on Monday, the Food and Drug Administration approved baricitinib, a drug made by Eli Lilly that regrows hair by blocking the immune system from attacking hair follicles. Two other companies, Pfizer and Concert Pharmaceuticals, are close behind with similar drugs, known as JAK inhibitors. The drugs are already on the market for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. F.D.A. approval is important for insurance coverage of these expensive drugs, which have a list price of nearly $2,500 a month.

The Lilly drug was studied in two trials, sponsored by the company and published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine, involving 1,200 patients with severe alopecia areata. Nearly 40 percent who took the drug had complete or near-complete hair regrowth after 36 weeks. After a year, nearly half of the patients had their hair back.
I consider him a good friend, said Mr. Giuliani, who worked for four years in the Trump White House, adding that he wanted to bring the same kind of change to New York that Mr. Trump had brought to America.

Mr. Zeldin, once considered a moderate, has been a staunch supporter of Mr. Trump, voting in the House to overturn the results of the 2020 election. That effort was led  interestingly enough  by the older Mr. Giuliani. But Mr. Zeldin was slightly more circumspect in his feelings about Mr. Trumps political prospects, saying, If President Trump wants to run, he should run, and adding that he believed the former president would be the next Republican nominee.

Mr. Zeldin, a four-term congressman from Long Island, tried to reel off other issues he felt deserved federal attention, including illegal immigration, foreign policy and the supply chain. Thats where Congress should be spending their time right now, he said.

Mr. Astorino, the former Westchester County executive who was the partys unsuccessful nominee for governor in 2014, went the furthest in acknowledging the Capitol riots, calling Jan. 6 a horrible day in our nations history, and saying that Mr. Trump bears some responsibility for the mob attack. But he called the hearings political theater.

Mr. Astorino generally avoided the verbal sparring going on between Mr. Zeldin and Mr. Wilson in the CBS studio, trying to convey a calmer presence.

This state is a mess, he said, adding, I ran in 14 and everything has just gotten worse.

Social issues percolated throughout the evening, with the possible Supreme Court decision on the fate of Roe v. Wade expected this month. Perhaps cognizant of New Yorks strong liberal bent  Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two-to-one in enrollment  none of the four on Monday called directly for Roe to be overturned, though several said there should be restrictions on who can perform abortions and when women can seek them.
Finally, climate change is a global problem, requiring global action  and offering a reason not to move. Anyone urging U.S. action has encountered the counterargument, It doesnt matter what we do, because China will just keep polluting. There are answers to that argument  if we ever do get serious about emissions, carbon tariffs will have to be part of the mix. But its certainly an argument that affects the discussion.

As I said, all of these issues are explanations for inaction on climate, not excuses. But heres the thing: None of these explanations for environmental inaction apply to the death of the Great Salt Lake. Yet the relevant policymakers still seem unwilling or unable to act.

Remember, were not talking about bad things that might happen in the distant future: Much of the lake is already gone, and the big wildlife die-off might begin as early as this summer. And it doesnt take a statistical model to notice that the lake is shrinking.

In terms of the economics, tourism is a huge industry in Utah. How will that industry fare if the famous lake becomes a poisoned desert? And how can a state on the edge of ecological crisis still be diverting water desperately needed to replenish the lake to maintain lush green lawns that serve no essential economic purpose?

Finally, we arent talking about a global problem. True, global climate change has contributed to reduced snowpack, which is one reason the Great Salt Lake has shrunk. But a large part of the problem is local water consumption; if that consumption could be curbed, Utah neednt worry that its efforts would be negated by the Chinese or whatever.

So this should be easy: A threatened region should be accepting modest sacrifices, some barely more than inconveniences, to avert a disaster just around the corner. But it doesnt seem to be happening.

And if we cant save the Great Salt Lake, what chance do we have of saving the planet?
A constituent family with young children meeting with their member of Congress in the House office buildings is not a suspicious group or reconnaissance tour, Mr. Loudermilk wrote in a joint statement with Mr. Davis, adding: No place that the family went on the 5th was breached on the 6th, the family did not enter the Capitol grounds on the 6th, and no one in that family has been investigated or charged in connection to Jan. 6.

Mr. Loudermilk has declined to meet with the panel to discuss the matter.

To date, not one of seven Republican lawmakers the committee has asked to meet with has agreed to do so. The committee has issued subpoenas to five of them, including Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the minority leader, to try to force their cooperation.

On Monday, the panel completed its second public hearing this month, in which it made a wide-ranging case that former President Donald J. Trump created and relentlessly spread the lie that the 2020 election had been stolen from him, in the face of mounting evidence from a chorus of advisers that he had been legitimately defeated.

A pro-Trump crowd of thousands, believing those lies, attacked the Capitol as Congress was meeting to certify the election of Joseph R. Biden Jr., on Jan. 6, injuring more than 150 police officers and causing widespread damage.

Immediately after the riot, Democrats raised questions about whether some Republican members of Congress had defied pandemic restrictions and given tours of the Capitol before the attack, allowing visitors to study the layout of the complex before the violent rampage.

More than 30 Democrats joined Representative Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey in requesting an investigation by the top Capitol security officials and the Capitol Police into what Ms. Sherrill called suspicious behavior and access given to visitors to the Capitol complex the day before the riot.
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba  An Iraqi prisoner who commanded insurgents during the U.S. war in Afghanistan pleaded guilty on Monday to war crimes charges related to lethal attacks on allied soldiers in 2003 and 2004, in a deal that could hand him off to the custody of another country by 2024.

Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, now in his 60s, spent much of the daylong hearing responding, Yes, your honor, to the questions of the military judge, Lt. Col. Mark F. Rosenow, about a secret account of his activities in Afghanistan as a co-conspirator with Osama bin Laden and other top Qaeda leaders between 1996 and 2003. The account included more than 100 items.

He could be sentenced to 10 years in prison, much of it to be served in the custody of another country, under a plea agreement that has yet to be made public.
WASHINGTON  The Air Force has cleared the crew of an American military C-17 cargo plane that took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul last August with people hanging onto the wings, during the frenzied days of the Afghanistan evacuation.

Twin reviews of the harrowing incident, in which human body parts were later discovered in the wheel well of the plane, concluded that the aircrew was in compliance with applicable rules of engagement, Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, said in a statement on Monday. The reviews were conducted by the Air Forces Air Mobility Command and United States Central Command.

It remains unclear exactly how many people died in the episode on Aug. 16, 2021, as a crowd of Afghans, desperate to escape the country after their government collapsed under the Taliban, climbed onto the outside of the plane and fell from it after the flight took off.
Representative Steven Horsford, whose district stretches from northern Las Vegas to the middle of the state, could also be in trouble. In March, his wife, Sonya Douglass, popped up on Twitter to say she would not be silent about the decade-long affair he has admitted to having with Gabriela Linder, a former intern for Senator Harry Reid.

Douglass criticized his choice to file for re-election and force us to endure yet another season of living through the sordid details of the #horsfordaffair with #mistressforcongress rather than granting us the time and space to heal as a family.

Linder hosted an audio memoir of the affair under a pseudonym, Love Jones, called Mistress for Congress.

After Horsford responded to her first series of tweets, Douglass wrote: This statement is worse than the first from May 2020. The lies never end. Lets pray @stevenhorsford comes to grips with reality and gets the help he needs.

Horsfords likely opponent is Annie Black, a state lawmaker who was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Last week, Black sent out a fund-raising appeal to supporters with the subject line, The Real Big Lie is that Biden Won Fair and Square.

The Democratic primary to watch

Then theres Representative Dina Titus, whose historically safe Las Vegas seat is now decidedly unsafe thanks to a decision by Nevada Democrats to spread some of the voters in her old district across the two others.
WASHINGTON  Rudolph W. Giuliani seemed drunk, and he was making a beeline for the president.

It was election night in 2020, and President Donald J. Trump was seeing his re-election bid slip away, vote by vote. According to video testimony prepared by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, Mr. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and personal lawyer for Mr. Trump, was spouting conspiracy theories.

Theyre stealing it from us, Mr. Giuliani told the president when he found him, according to Jason Miller, one of the presidents top campaign aides, who told the Jan. 6 committee that Mr. Giuliani was definitely intoxicated that night. Where do all the votes come from? We need to go say that we won.

Several times that night, Mr. Trumps own family members and closest advisers urged him to reject Mr. Giulianis advice. Mr. Miller told him not to go and declare victory without a better sense of the numbers. Its far too early to be making any proclamation like that, said Bill Stepien, his campaign manager. Even his daughter Ivanka Trump told him that the results were still being counted.
WASHINGTON  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol made a wide-ranging case on Monday that former President Donald J. Trump created and relentlessly spread the lie that the 2020 election had been stolen from him in the face of mounting evidence from an expanding chorus of advisers that he had been legitimately defeated.

The committee, in its second hearing this month, traced the origins and progression of what it has described as Mr. Trumps big lie. It showed through live witness testimony and recorded depositions how the former president, defying many of his advisers, insisted on declaring victory on election night before the votes were fully counted, then sought to challenge his defeat with increasingly outlandish and baseless claims that he was repeatedly informed were wrong.

Hes become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff, William P. Barr, the former attorney general, said of Mr. Trump during a videotaped interview the panel played on Monday, in which he at one point could not control his laughter at the absurdity of the claims that the former president was making.
Representative Young Kim of California, a Republican who is one of the first Korean American women in Congress, advanced to the general election in November after a hard-fought primary that became one of the most expensive races in the state.

Ms. Kim was one of the top vote-getters in the June 7 House primary, according to The Associated Press. Californias primaries are open  all candidates, regardless of party, run on the same ballot and the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election.

Ms. Kim will now face Asif Mahmood, a Democrat and a physician who is focusing on abortion access, in November in Californias 40th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Orange and San Bernardino Counties.
A mountain in Yellowstone National Park, named for an Army officer who participated in a massacre in which at least 173 Native Americans were slaughtered, has been renamed in honor of Americas Indigenous people, the National Park Service said.

The National Park Service said on Thursday that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names had voted unanimously to rename Mount Doane, a 10,551-foot peak in the southeastern part of Yellowstone. It will now be known as First Peoples Mountain, the Park Service said in a statement.

The mountain had honored Gustavus Doane, an Army officer and explorer who, in response to the alleged murder of a white fur trader, helped lead an attack in 1870 that became known as the Marias Massacre. He boasted about the attack in his accounts of the exploration of the land that would become Yellowstone National Park two years later.
Suicide affects people of all backgrounds and nearly all ages. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is the second leading cause of death among individuals 10 to 34, and the fifth among those 35 to 54. In 2020, nearly 46,000 people took their lives in the United States, and overall attempts have risen in the last decade.

Family members often want to help a loved one who is struggling with suicidal thoughts or attempts  a complicated situation made even more challenging when the person is an adult. Parents of young children, after all, are legally responsible for them and can make most decisions about their well-being, which could include hospitalization. But you cant force an adult to get treatment.

With adults, its not as straightforward because our laws favor individual autonomy and rights, including the right to not be involuntarily held unless its determined necessary, said Dr. Christine Moutier, the chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Consequently, families and friends are often at a loss, desperately seeking ways to help an adult who may be depressed and suicidal, but unsure of exactly how to do so. While close confidants may not be able to save a loved one, and should not be expected to solve the problem, many want to offer a hand.
Is there any harm in trying them?

Some might think that taking a supplement for their depression or anxiety could not hurt, so why not try it? But the experts cautioned that there could be potential risks and downsides. Supplements can be expensive and may cause side effects or adverse drug interactions. And supplements are not as rigorously regulated as F.D.A.-approved drugs and over-the-counter medications are, and they do not have to be proved safe and effective before they can be sold. Theres not nearly as much oversight compared to traditional pharmaceuticals, which require pills be manufactured in a consistent way, with consistent dosing, said Dr. Paul Nestadt, a co-director of the Johns Hopkins Anxiety Disorders Clinic and an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Megan Olsen, the general counsel for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association for the supplement industry, wrote in a statement to The New York Times that supplement companies were allowed to make health-related claims about their products effect on the structure or function of the body and that those claims must be supported by evidence. But Dr. Pieter Cohen, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said that supplement companies were rarely held accountable for certain health claims associated with their products. As long as the manufacturer does not claim that their product will treat or cure a specific disease, they can say anything they want to, he said.

Another potential risk of supplements is a paradoxical one: They could exacerbate a mental health condition. Dr. Nestadt said that theres some evidence, for instance, that St. Johns wort can potentially induce a manic episode in people with bipolar disorder.

Perhaps one of the biggest dangers is that people may take a supplement instead of seeking a proven treatment for their anxiety or depression. Im not so worried that someone is going to try lavender or chamomile, Dr. Sanacora said. Im much more worried about the risks associated with delaying an effective treatment.

If your depression or anxiety is severe, experts say, supplements are unlikely to help, and you should instead see a trained professional. In fact, experts recommend that you consult a health care provider before starting any supplement, regardless of what it is meant to treat.
Sonia Gandhi, a towering public figure in India and the president of the opposition Indian National Congress party, has been hospitalized in Delhi with Covid-related issues, the party said on Sunday.

Ms. Gandhi, 75, was in stable condition, a party spokesman said on Twitter. She tested positive for the coronavirus on June 2. Her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, reported her own positive test result the next day.

The Congress party governed India for the majority of its history since independence from British rule in 1947, but in recent years its power has declined, while the Bharatiya Janata Party of Narendra Modi established itself as a dominant force in national elections.
They need somebody to be on the field whos helping, Kozlov said, not somebody who needs to be helped.

Kozlov said the dancers, who have kept in contact with family members with frequent calls, have leaned on one another for emotional support. He said he hoped the U.S. tour would not only showcase their art but also prove that nothing can break them.

Theyre trying to stay up, he said, up to work, up to help their families.

Kristopher McDowell, a founding partner of Rhizome Consulting, which is producing the tour, said the Kyiv City Ballet would like to share Ukrainian stories with young Americans through workshops, master classes and conversations between dancers.

Never have I been told this company needs a day off or this company needs three or four days to sit in their hotel room, he said. They want to be out engaged doing community work.
THE HAGUE  The best way to understand the work of Piet Mondrian, said Caro Verbeek, the curator of a show devoted to the Dutch artist at the Kunstmuseum here, is to dance in front of one of his paintings.

On a recent tour of the show, Verbeek said Mondrians work was best appreciated as a multisensory kinesthetic experience. If you prefer not to dance in the galleries, she said, you can try listening to music, or perhaps smelling a particularly complex scent as you gaze at his paintings.

To demonstrate, Verbeek, strikingly clad all in black with bright green shoes, stopped in front of one of Mondrians red, yellow and blue paintings, his final masterpiece Victory Boogie Woogie, and began to stomp and clap.
As the novelist Lore Segal noted in The Times Book Review, Molkho, while his wife is still drawing breath, has his eye on his widowed legal adviser as a post-mortem possibility and spends the rest of the novel in encounters with other post-mortem possibilities.

Mr. Yehoshua won the National Jewish Book Award for fiction with Mr. Mani (1992), which traces the wanderings of six generations of the Sephardic Mani family through crucial periods of Jewish history. Each of its five chapters consists of the dialogue of a single speaker who is telling a story to another character, with that listeners missing responses implied in the first characters remarks. To complicate matters, the novel proceeds backward in time.

Though evocatively set in Israel, Mr. Yehoshuas novels are laced with themes that connect them to the contemporary Western canon. (Mr. Bloom included A Late Divorce in a copious list of works that make up, in his view, that canon). As the critic Jerome Greenfield wrote in 1979: In the existential despair, the pessimism, the sense of dislocation and alienation that pervade his work, Yehoshua establishes a bridge between modern Israeli writing and a dominant stream of some of the best Western literature of our age.

Saul Bellow called Mr. Yehoshua one of Israels world-class writers. His books were translated into 28 languages. He won the Israel Prize, awarded annually by the state for important cultural contributions, and in 2005 he was shortlisted for the first Man Booker International Prize, then given for an entire body of work.

In one movement of his imaginative wings, Mr. Grossman, the Israeli novelist, wrote of Mr. Yehoshua in an email, he would show us just how banal and absurd, just how the reality  especially of ours, in Israel  is surrealistic.

Some critics saw Mr. Yehoshuas novels and short stories as allegories for his jaundiced view of Israels policies toward the Palestinians. Others dismissed such interpretations. In a review of A Late Divorce, Walter Goodman, a Times critic, wrote that the novels Israeli characters, use money, sex, food, humor, affection, cruelty to hold onto each other, to punish each other, and that the novel has nothing to do with the West Bank.
A staple of best-seller lists, he has written childrens books and biographies as well as works of science fiction and fantasy. He is perhaps best known for his Womens Murder Club series of mysteries and his series about Alex Cross, a Black detective and psychologist. The Cross books have been turned into movies starring Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry.

Mr. Patterson has also written two books with former President Bill Clinton and one book, Run, Rose, Run, with Dolly Parton, published in March. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2019. A White House citation accompanying the honor called him one of the most successful American authors of our time.

In his interview with The Sunday Times, Mr. Patterson spoke about the success of the Cross books.

I just wanted to create a character who happened to be Black, he said. I would not have tried to write a serious saga about a Black family. Its different in a detective story because plot is so important.

But it was Mr. Pattersons comments about older white writers that drew the most attention. The newspaper reported that Mr. Patterson had expressed concern that it was difficult for those writers to find work in film, theater, television and publishing.
Where Cosima differs from Lorien and Tom is in the bewilderment, verging on dismay, that she feels upon learning of Maestros passionate enthusiasm for her novel. Her fear that public recognition will undermine the tenuous stability that she has at last managed to achieve contrasts sharply with the actors youthful avidity to meet the challenge of reconciling their love for each other with their status as rising stars. Will Cosimas anxiety ultimately cause her to regret her hesitancy? Will Lorien and Toms bravura survive the vagaries of Hollywood? These questions lend Diary of a Film its atmosphere of emotional unease and uncertainty.

Novels narrated by artists in other genres are a risky proposition. Too often the painter, the composer, the songwriter end up sounding, well, like the novelist. This is thankfully not the case in Diary of a Film; one of its many pleasures is its arresting and authoritative rendering of Maestros cinematic eye and of the particulars of film festival premieres, with their regimen of photo ops, news conferences and screenings. Maestro is at once protective and unsentimental toward Lorien and Tom, whom he insists he has cast for reasons having nothing to do with their Hollywood status. There was something of me in both boys, he says, which was why I wanted to warn them of my mistakes: the danger of your openness being taken advantage of, and of the damage to your body and mind from constantly running.

Listening to Lorien quote from James Baldwins poem The Giver across a dinner table, he observes: The vulnerability of giving was also the reality of being alive to hope, and although he looked bolstered by my encouragement and the way that Toms leg now wrapped around his under the table, he was wiped out from the scale of effort; forgetting the energy that bravery required.

What does it mean to be brave? Unsurprisingly, it is Cosima, a dissident in the industry of art, who proves to be the bravest character of all, challenging Maestros sense of masculine entitlement and, in so doing, repudiating the institutionalized fame that the film festival embodies. A woman of fortitude, passion and fidelity, she sees past hope to the likelihood of an unhappy ending and recognizes that living was learning to deal with endings in a way that did not hurt you more.
Closes description is more accurate. The biographical facts add up to more of a brisk sketch than a richly detailed portrait. This is not to deny that there are moments of sharp and even bitter insight: Higgss belief that his antisocial personality developed during a sickly and lonely childhood in northern England  I grew up a rather isolated child; his marriage and its failure because of his workaholic habits; a resulting, paralyzing depression; Higgss dedication to social justice causes, which at one point led him to suspect that he had become an embarrassment to some of his colleagues. After all, Higgs notes modestly, The portion of my life for which I am known is rather small  three weeks in the summer of 1964.

It is those three weeks that anchor the real story in this book, a clear, vivid and occasionally even beautiful portrait of a scientific breakthrough: the tale of how a relatively obscure Scotland-based physicist developed a stunning theory, one that would help illuminate the invisible, particulate web that holds our universe together. And how in the following decades, the research community would argue, debate, build and expand on his idea, setting out on a quest to confirm the existence of the Higgs boson and with it our own understanding of the universe.

At a basic level, Higgss theory belongs to a fundamental and puzzling question: Where does the mass of the universe come from? Using the known rules of physics, from electromagnetism to quantum mechanics, Higgs raised the possibility of an unstable subatomic particle that, through a series of fizzing interactions, could lend mass to other particles. He predicted this particle would be a boson  a notably massive subatomic particle that helps hold matter together  and that it would exist in an energy field that enabled the interactions. Higgs suggested a path to confirming the existence of the boson and the eventual measurement of its decay products. In doing so, Close writes, the theory issued a subtle challenge: Is this just a clever piece of mathematics or does nature really work this way?

Close uses that question as a launching point, taking the reader through much of the history of particle physics and introducing the key players, the insights by others in the field who moved the ideas forward and the eventual decision to build a machine in Switzerland  the Large Hadron Collider  to test the possibilities. The L.H.C. would find confirmation for the bosons decay products in 2012. Close brings to this story an insiders knowledge and a combat-ready willingness to defend Higgs against his occasional critics, at one point dismissing the high-profile British physicist Stephen Hawking as a man with a singular genius for playing the media.
The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is cutting 18 percent of its work force amid depressed markets and concerns of a looming recession.

The companys chief executive, Brian Armstrong, informed employees of the layoffs in a note Tuesday morning, saying the company over-hired its staff during a crypto boom. The company will let about 1,100 people go, reducing its work force to 5,000.

At the time, we were in the early innings of the bull run and adoption of crypto products was exploding, Mr. Armstrong wrote. There were new use cases enabled by crypto getting traction practically every week.
When it comes to elections, disinformation is not just a problem online.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin argue in a new report that disinformation targeting communities of color in three battleground states circulated as often through traditional sources of information, complicating efforts to fight it.

The misleading information was included in mailings and campaign advertisements in newspapers, radio, television and even billboards. Those efforts are more likely to reach voters in those communities than targeted disinformation campaigns on the internet.

Online disinformation is just one small piece of the puzzle, said Rachel Goodman of Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan organization that commissioned the report. There are many other failures in the information ecosystem that allow disinformation about elections to thrive.
While the past history of public sector corruption was well known, there was at that time a perception that this was improving, following the election of President Jonathan, the judge wrote, adding that JPMorgans customer during the relevant period was a sovereign state now operating under a democratically elected government.

Nigeria argued that JPMorgan had not done enough to safeguard the countrys money. Under British law, a bank is required to act in its customers best interests, even if someone connected to a customer tries to get that bank to do otherwise. Even as it tried to send money to various banks, a few of which rejected the funds and cited the suspicious nature of the deal governing their transfer, JPMorgan reported to British regulators its concerns that it might be transferring funds to a convicted money launderer. It made the transfers anyway.

JPMorgan had said it was following instructions it received from senior Nigerian government officials, including the countrys attorney general, who wrote a letter attesting to the legitimacy of the instructions.

This judgment reflects our commitment to acting with high professional standards in every country we operate in, and how we are prepared to robustly defend our actions and reputation when they are called into question, Patrick Burton, a JPMorgan spokesman, said in an email to The New York Times on Tuesday.
A machine used in shipping Russian natural gas to Germany has been caught up in Canadian sanctions imposed against Moscow, prompting a steep drop in flows in a key Russian pipeline and contributing to a surge in European natural gas prices on Tuesday.

Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, said on Twitter on Tuesday that it was reducing the amount of gas it sends to Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline by about 40 percent because a turbine sent for repairs had not been returned in due time. It said it could not provide the amount of gas normally sent to Germany without the machine.

Siemens Energy, the Munich-based maker of the turbine, largely confirmed Gazproms account. It said in a statement that it had overhauled the turbine at a specialist facility in Montreal but that it was currently impossible to return it to Gazprom due to the sanctions imposed by Canada.
After the previous nights luck, we drove to Hudson, which at this point could be called SoHo North. And yet, its home to the decidedly unfussy, unfancy Cafe Mutton, open since 2021, where we were again promptly seated. The chef and owner Shaina Loew-Banayan specializes in a kind of easygoing but exceedingly delicious cafe food: a mayo-slathered fried bologna sandwich using locally raised meat; tender crepes with rich maple syrup; and a soulwarming, congee-inspired porridge with chicken, scallions and chile crisp that Ive thought about every day since.

On our last full day, we drove to Woodstock to visit Harana Market, which opened in 2021. Its a small Asian market and deli with an incredible selection of made-to-order Filipino food. We enjoyed our orders by a firepit that overlooked a grassy valley. With little to no cell reception, there was nothing to do but focus on the tortang talong, an eggplant omelet stuffed with garlic and herbs and drizzled with banana ketchup, and the creamy tofu sisig with pan-fried mixed vegetables and garlic fried rice. If wed only gone on a Friday, we could have had the fish sauce twice-fried chicken with garlic popcorn.
Mels, a pizza place that opened in Chelsea in March, seems determined to show everybody a good time. Most pizza places accomplish this with pizza alone, but Mels doesnt stop there.

You pass from the front door into a dim tunnel, as if you were entering a nightclub. At the end of it, past the two or three smiling hosts, is the kitchen, dominated by a domed pizza oven that looks like a disco ball. All night, the restaurant plays hip-hop and club music at volumes you dont normally hear in restaurants outside the meatpacking district.

Almost as many people seem to be working in the moody, shadowy dining room as eating; every few minutes a different server stops by to check in to ask about cocktails or wine or something else. Near the end of my first dinner at Mels, one of them materialized by my side to ask how the meal was going.
Headliner

Chambers

Racines NY, a wine bar and restaurant loosely associated with Racines in Paris, opened sporadically during the pandemic, but closed permanently last summer. It severed its ties with the Paris location, began renovations and has reinvented itself as Chambers. David Lillie, an owner of Chambers Street Wines, remains a partner, along with the beverage director, Pascaline Lepeltier, an award-winning French sommelier; the general manager, Jared David, who had that role at Racines NY; and Jonathan Karis, a former chef de cuisine at Gramercy Tavern and the new executive chef. He describes his food as home cooking, though partly boning a chicken and serving it richly marinated and sizzled on a plancha might not be a home cooks idea of weeknight dinner. Nonetheless, his food is homier than Raciness. Black bass with braised artichokes and saffron seasoning, grilled sweetbreads with sauerkraut, Little Gem lettuce with a creamy feta dressing and, for dessert, a phyllo mille-feuille with honey-lemon mascarpone are some other dishes hes planning. Though the restaurant maintains its substantial cellar, the working wine list is brief, rotates seasonally and has an eye on the environment, with an interest in who made the wine and how. Ms. Lepeltier plans to feature hybrid grapes and have wines from Red Hook Winery and others on tap. I dont want to serve wines for the 1 percent, she said. The renovations have resulted in a somewhat more gracious and coherent space framed by curved pale wood panels, brick walls, a long marble bar, a roomier dining counter at the open kitchen and a communal table in front. There are fewer seats, 55 down from 69, reflecting reduced staffing. (Opens Wednesday)

94 Chambers Street (Church Street), 212-580-3572, chambers.nyc.

Opening

Farm to People Kitchen & Bar

Farm to People, a 10-year-old organization that gathers food and delivers from more than 150 farms in the New York region, has added a dining hall to its new Bushwick warehouse. Open from 5 p.m. to midnight Fridays, noon to midnight Saturdays and 3 to 10 p.m. Sundays, it serves a sumac smashed burger, a veggie kelp burger, a yuzu tarragon potato salad and hummus, with wine and local beers. The chef is Matthew Yee, who was at Mena and One White Street. The industrial space is also used for events.

1100 Flushing Avenue (Irving Avenue), Bushwick, Brooklyn, farmtopeople.com.

Eat Offbeat

The catering and meal delivery company, founded in 2015 to employ refugee and immigrant chefs, has opened its first restaurant, in Chelsea Market. Offering counter service, it features lunchtime bowls with choices of grains like jollof rice and Iraqi red rice; proteins, including Venezuelan carne mechada; and vegetables and sides like dahl from Sri Lanka or tahini-roasted vegetables from Syria, all preparations drawn from the cuisines of the chefs home countries. There is an area for prepared items and snacks, including vegetable samosa. To better support its work, Eat Offbeat has entered into a partnership with Great Performances, the Bronx-based catering and restaurant company, in which it will use the catering companys kitchens.

Chelsea Market, 75 Ninth Avenue (15th Street), eatoffbeat.com.
PARIS  In its refinement and meticulous detail, the miniature lion engraved in relief on the dial of the wristwatch looks like it could have been created by royal artisans in the sixth century B.C. in Persepolis (in todays Iran) to decorate the Apadana Palace of Darius the Great, ruler of the Persian Empire.

But the beast  carved as if in motion against a fading stone wall  was actually made by 21st-century artisans employed in the metiers dart workshops of the Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin, in Plans-les-Ouates, outside Geneva.

The inspiration for the timepiece, called the Lion of Darius, is the ancient stone wall panel known as the Frieze of Lions that once decorated the halls of Apadana and is now on display in the Near Eastern Antiquities department of the Louvre Museum in Paris.
If we understood homelessness as a collective disaster, like a fire that is engulfing our communities, how would we want those communities to evolve? Whose examples would we want to follow? Whose mistakes would we want to avoid? What aspects of the system creating and responding to homelessness do we need to see most clearly?

In California, the crisis is at a different scale than it is in Houston. It will take years to build the amount of housing necessary to accommodate people who need it. In the interim, what can be done for communities with masses of people who have no place to live?

After Chico became more aggressive about enforcing its anti-camping ordinances, a group of the citys unhoused residents sued and won an injunction against the city. The police were prohibited from clearing encampments until alternative sites for shelter were identified. In response, the city built 177 Pallet shelters; in April, the first inhabitants moved in. Their experience will number among hundreds of experiments in transitional housing around the country. Which have yielded the best results?

With federal funding for housing flatlining and few paths to federal legislation to help states and municipalities manage the crisis, places like Arizona and Philadelphia have turned to a perhaps-unlikely source: Medicaid. Their argument is that housing their most vulnerable residents saves the program money in expensive E.R. visits and other costs, with better health outcomes. Is this a path other communities should pursue?
Elliot Ross for The New York Times

In July 2021, Wendy Marcum had been homeless for three years.

She slept on friends couches and moved from one temporary shelter to another.

But like many other people in Houston who are experiencing homelessness, what she really wanted was a home.

Three Years in Shelters. Ten Months to Find a Home. Scenes from one womans journey out of homelessness in Houston.
In the late 1980s, Richman was tasked with closing the state psychiatric hospital in Philadelphia. For years, federal policies had encouraged the closure of state institutions, notorious for warehousing people with mental illness in wretched conditions. As deinstitutionalization gained momentum, an infrastructure to help care for people in their communities was supposed to emerge in its place. The federal Supplemental Security Income program was created to provide a basic income for people with disabilities, while Medicaid, created in 1965, paid for their health care. But, reflecting the concerns of the time, Medicaids creators were adamant that the program would not cover long-term stays in psychiatric hospitals or other institutions, with the exception of nursing homes. Nor would it pay to house people elsewhere, prohibiting the use of federal Medicaid funds for room and board.

HUD was also created in 1965, with a budget that soon grew to $26 billion. But in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan slashed that by more than 70 percent. (Even today only one in four people who qualify actually get rental assistance because HUD doesnt have the money.) At the same time, the Reagan administration repealed the Mental Health Systems Act, cutting funding that was intended to help build community mental health centers and pushing progress back by decades, said Steve Sharfstein, former director of Mental Health Service Programs at the National Institute of Mental Health.

There would have been billions of dollars more that would have flowed to the states and would have created a much sturdier community support network for patients housing and employment and clinical services, he said. Instead, the 1980s brought the criminalization of the mentally ill and the homelessness epidemic.

Community-based housing for people with mental illness was largely left to the states to develop with money saved by closing asylums. But the states never committed enough money to that effort, and Richman saw more people with mental illness or disabilities living on the street as a result.

Richman later took a job as head of Philadelphias mental health department, where she spent years devising a system to use Medicaid to help address that failure.

Medicaid is financed partly by the federal government and partly by the individual states. While states have leeway in how to spend their portion, strict rules dictate how the federal part can be used. Richman got around this by creating a city-led nonprofit that would provide mental health and addiction care for Philadelphias Medicaid population, rather than contracting with for-profit insurance companies like Aetna or Anthem. This kept money in the citys hands. The nonprofit could use some of the savings it achieved however it liked  including paying for clients rent. In 1997, Richmans idea was approved, and Community Behavioral Health was born.
In most cases, the initiation involves excision of the clitoris and labia minora with a razor by a senior society member called a sowei, who has no medical training but is believed to be spiritually powerful. The ceremony is carried out in women-only encampments, which were once rural but are now sometimes in towns, known as the bondo bush.

Laws against cutting have had uneven enforcement and mixed results. Some countries, such as Egypt and Ethiopia, have seen rates fall dramatically. But in others, such as Senegal and Somalia, the decline has been negligible. Globally, the number of girls at risk of being cut continues to grow, because countries without laws or enforcement against cutting have large and rapidly growing youth populations.

While Sierra Leone has one of the worlds highest rates of cutting, it is also one of the few places where the practice seems to be showing a sustained decline, as more and more young women resist.

Every morning as she gets ready for school, Isha Kamara and her grandmother, Hawa, debate bondo. Hawa Kamara says it is high time for Ms. Kamara to be initiated. Ms. Kamara, 20, who is in her last year of high school and wants to manage a bank one day, says shes not interested

All her life, Ms. Kamara, who has lived with her grandmother since she was orphaned as a small child, has heard about the plans for her initiation. But after she read about cutting in a magazine and heard lectures at school  They told us that anything God put on our bodies belongs there and should stay  she started saying she would not join the society.

Her grandmother warned shed have no friends. Ms. Kamara said her friends were also planning to refuse initiation. Her grandmother warned that she would die single and lonely; Ms. Kamara said she expected plenty of people would want to marry a bank manager.
But, she asserted, Ive always told the truth.

Ms. Heard, 36, lost the defamation case that Mr. Depp filed against her, alleging that she had devastated his career after The Washington Post published an op-ed in which she called herself a public figure representing domestic abuse. The article did not mention Mr. Depp by name, but he and his lawyers argued that it was clearly referring to a time in 2016 in which Ms. Heard told a court that Mr. Depp was physically abusive toward her.

The $10.35 million award to Mr. Depp was offset by a $2 million award for Ms. Heard. The jury found that Mr. Depp had defamed Ms. Heard in one instance, when a lawyer who had previously represented him during the defamation proceedings made a statement to a British tabloid accusing her of damaging the couples penthouse and blaming it on Mr. Depp.

A lawyer for Ms. Heard, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, has said she plans to appeal the verdict.

The six-week trial turned into an internet obsession fueled by courtroom sound bites made accessible by a pair of cameras filming the proceedings for livestreams and television broadcasts. Ms. Heard was on the receiving end of much of the online vitriol, with Depp fans mocking her testimony and calling her a liar.

Even if you think that Im lying, you still couldnt tell me  look me in the eye and tell me  that you think on social media theres been a fair representation, Ms. Heard said in the NBC interview, more of which will air later this week. She added that she had never felt more removed from my own humanity.
Still, my colleague Winnie Hu writes that some elected officials and community leaders doubt that five years is enough time for the city to push through a plan. And five years would be up the year after the next election for mayor.

There are no easy solutions  if there were, we would have done it many years ago, said Lincoln Restler, a City Council member from Brooklyn who has criticized the Adams administration for not carrying out repairs aggressively. This has been kicked down the road because it is so hard.

City officials warned in 2016 that if the B.Q.E. did not get attention, trucks would have to be restricted by 2026. To deal with faster-than-expected deterioration brought on by trucks that apparently exceeded the prescribed 80,000-ton weight limit, the de Blasio panel recommended closing two of six lanes on a half-mile stretch of the B.Q.E. That was done last summer.

That was three years after city officials presented two options to rebuild the B.Q.E.  options that were rejected by critics, including Adams, then the Brooklyn borough president. One option was to close the Brooklyn Heights promenade for as long as six years and build a temporary roadway above it to carry traffic while the long-term work went on below.

Later the City Council weighed in with an $11 billion plan to tear down the highway and replace it with a three-mile-long tunnel.

Samuel Schwartz, a transportation engineer who was an official in the citys Department of Transportation for nearly 20 years, predicted that there would be no consensus on how to proceed. He suggested that Adams and Hochul simply set a deadline to come up with a new plan  and then move ahead despite almost-certain opposition.
With Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine in February, it suddenly became very difficult to be Russian in this world. A nation, it seemed, had become a global pariah overnight.

This fell particularly heavily on cosmopolitan Russians who had viewed themselves as citizens of the global community and had opposed the war but now feared a kind of international cancellation based on their nationality alone.

Yet for many, things were even worse inside Russia. The country they called home and was central to their identity had revealed itself as something different and darker than they knew.
As I reflect on this attitude among Democratic leaders, Im reminded of the historian Jefferson Cowies argument about the New Deals relationship to the American political order. In The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics, Cowie argues for an interpretation of the United States in the 20th century that treats the New Deal era, from the administration of Franklin Roosevelt to the 1970s, as a sustained deviation from some of the main contours of American political practice, economic structure, and cultural outlook.

The Great Depression and World War II may have forced clear realignments of American politics and class relations, Cowie writes, but those changes were less the linear triumph of the welfare state than the product of very specific, and short-lived, historical circumstances.

If this is true  if the New Deal was the product of highly contingent circumstances unlikely to be repeated either now or in the future  then the challenge for those committed to the notion of a government that protects and expands the collective economic rights of the American people is to forge a new vision for what that might be. The path forward is not clear, Cowie writes, but whatever successful incarnation of a liberal social imaginary might follow will not look like the New Deal, and it might be best to free ourselves from the notion that it will.

I think you can apply a similar great exception analysis to the decades of institutional stability and orderly partisan competition that shaped the current generation of Democratic leaders, including the president and many of his closest allies.

They came into national politics in an age of bipartisan consensus and centrist policymaking, at a time when the parties and their coalitions were less ideological and more geographically varied. But this, too, was a historical aberration, the result of political and social dynamics  such as the broad prosperity of the industrial economic order at home  that were already well in decline by the time that Biden, Pelosi, Feinstein and others first took office.

American politics since then has reverted to an earlier state of heightened division, partisanship and fierce electoral competition. Even the authoritarianism on display in the Republican Party has antecedents in the behavior of Southern political elites at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.
None of this is news to leftist critics of 20th-century conservatism. But a growing number of dissidents within conservatism view these legacy institutions  not just the Federalist Society but also the Heritage Foundation, National Review Institute and others  as ultimately hostile to core commitments that ought to inform the right. These would include cultivation of republican and personal virtue that rests on common prosperity and, yes, a measure of material equality; robust social-democratic support, especially for working families, who shouldnt have to choose between paying their bills and having children; and modesty about Washingtons role in foreign affairs.

Yet the institutions of Conservatism Inc. persist in advancing a pro-business agenda despite opposition from the large populist-right segment of the Republican rank and file. While the G.O.P. has never been a workers party, many of its voters are. Yet Conservatism Inc. refuses to embrace a multiethnic, working-class ethos.

Having seen the workings of institutional conservatism firsthand for several decades, we believe that the best way to understand the contemporary conservative intellectual movement is by examining the material interests that underwrite its workings and shape its mission. Those material interests arent all perfectly in agreement with one another, which is why the organizations in question dont always play nice together. There are disagreements at the margins. But the North Star of all is rule by large corporate and financial power, and support for militarism and cultural aggression abroad.

The Federalist Society itself offers the best illustration of the misguided development of movement conservatism. Hot-button social questions are sometimes fiercely contested among those with ties to the society. For instance, it was Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch who in 2020 led a majority of the court in ruling that sexual orientation and gender identity apply to the 1964 Civil Rights Acts definition of sex. And Edward Whelan, an originalist stalwart, countered arguments in favor of constitutional protection of fetal personhood  the likely next stage in the anti-abortion battle if or when Roe falls.
Its a concern all allies of Ukraine share, of course. But only Germany seems to have been transfixed by it. Yet the reason for the governments reluctance to furnish Ukraine with the support it needs is perhaps less high-minded, and closer to home. Mr. Scholzs Social Democratic Party, at the head of the ruling coalition, has a long history of conciliatory relations with Russia. As the weeks wore on, it became clear it was this historic entanglement  and the habits it set  that underpinned Mr. Scholzs hesitancy.

Gerhard Schroder, the former chancellor and leader of the Social Democrats who was until recently on the payroll of Rosneft, a Russian oil company, exemplifies the entanglement. But thats just the tip of the iceberg. Many older Social Democratic lawmakers, reared in a peace movement that sought a route out of Cold War hostilities, tend to go easy on Russia. The younger generation, which caviled at the prospect of canceling the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Russia and was generally reluctant to punish Moscow, is not much more cleareyed.

Its unfortunate that when Russia is waging war against Ukraine, the German chancellor belongs to the political party that has the most complicated relationship with Russia. The two other parties in the coalition, the Free Democrats and the Greens, have no such problems. In the case of the Green Party, thats particularly noteworthy. Rooted like the Social Democrats in the pacifist antiwar movement, the Greens have learned, not least through the devastating war in the former Yugoslavia, that peace cannot always be acquired through peaceful means. Its uncompromising stance on Russia, approved by the majority of Green voters, is the result of hard-won wisdom.

Its what the public seems to want, too. The partys leaders, Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, have been especially vocal in favor of sanctions and the provision of weapons, and are, according to a recent survey, the countrys most popular politicians. Despite anxiety about nuclear conflict and fears for the health of the economy, many Germans seem to support a clear rejection of Mr. Putins actions. Even as the financial toll of the war affects peoples everyday lives, Germans appear to want moral guidance from their leaders and are prepared to make sacrifices in the name of what is right. Yet Mr. Scholz, constrained by his party and his instincts, has little to offer them.
We recently sat down with senior Daily producer Rachel Quester to talk about one of her favorite episodes of the show that shes had a hand in making. Rachels pick is A Conversation with an Afghan General, one of a number of episodes we made last year amid the American withdrawal from  and the fall of  Afghanistan.

Heres what she had to say about making the episode.

Why is this episode among your favorites?

When Afghanistan fell, the team really kicked into gear and felt like not only telling listeners what was going on but doing that through voices on the ground and those who were actually experiencing it. We did that by telling stories about people like R., an outspoken critic of the Taliban who was trying to flee and interpreters and their military equivalents.

How did the episode come about?

I was really curious about this thing we were hearing over and over again  and President Biden even came out and gave a speech saying as much  that, basically, the Afghan army just laid down their arms, that they werent fighting. That kind of left me with a question: Would someone in the Afghan army agree with that assessment? With a lot of blame being put on their shoulders, whats their perspective of what happened? Does that feel like a fair critique? So that was a voice I really wanted to hear from.

How did you end up finding that voice?

Producer Lynsea Garrison and I had started to poke around to see what voices we could find, and eventually we came up with a list. One name on that list was General Khoshal Sadat  he had been featured in a story from 2019 because he was this up-and-coming, star, young general in the Afghan army.

We reached out to him and ended up having a phone call where I was getting his story for basically an hour. At that time, our focus was so on what had happened in the immediate sense, but it became very clear from his perspective that it was a way more complicated picture than to say that the Afghan army laid down their arms. Later, I asked him if he would do an on-the-record, formal interview for the show, and he said yes.
You could almost imagine a coffee maker made out of bike gadgets in there  they had really gone for the industrial, Ms. Hill said. She wanted to preserve the rugged shell of the space, but make it very sophisticated.

Specifically, she hoped the interior would feel as calm and inviting as the lobbies of upscale hotels she had visited in nearby Sonoma County. I wanted to create that sort of spalike feel, and get to enjoy it every day, she said.

First, she got rid of the monstrous furnace on full view in a corner of the living space and replaced it with a streamlined mini split. She covered the thin-strip wood flooring with new 12-inch-wide white-oak boards.

Then, to help realize her larger vision, she turned to Lane McNab, a San Francisco-based interior designer whose work she had admired at a friends house. I didnt want to fall into the trap of having an idea in the bedroom, an idea in the dining room, an idea in the living room and an idea in the kitchen, only to have a big, open space with four ideas competing for attention, Ms. Hill said. And I had seen Lanes work, and how easily and softly she captured one idea and could flow it through space.
If a newborn child grows up hearing people speaking in many different languages, will it later be able to speak all those languages?

 Puneesh T., India

Children learn languages from the people around them. If they are exposed to multiple languages, they may grow up bilingual or multilingual. These kinds of environments are not unusual; the consensus among linguists is that a majority of children in the world grow up hearing multiple languages.
JOHN ERIC PARKER I had come straight from doing the Jerry Springer opera. So I had already said Jesus is gay and all of these other things. And then I got a phone call from Bobby Lopez, saying this is where were headed, these are the lyrics, there is something underneath it. As Bobby and Matt and Trey like to say, fart jokes are fart jokes, but if theres nothing underneath, then it doesnt matter. And when Bobby and I had the conversation, I thought, OK, this is uncomfortable, but Im game because its all about the conversation.

LEWIS CLEALE When I was going to audition, I said, I need to know what this is, because there was very little on the page for me. So they sent me to a safe house that had security cameras. And I read the script, and I couldnt really process it. And then I got to the Hasa Diga number and I read those words and I went, This is impossible. They cant. Theres no  how do you say those  I cant even say the words.

So I got the job. Day two, I remember calling my agent and he said, What do you think? And I said I dont know  that Hasa Diga thing is rough. He said, just go back another day. And the very next morning they ran Hasa Diga. Everyone knew each other. It was already staged. It was choreographed, and they had already had chemistry. And when they started the dance  there are two guys that leap in the air  I was completely overtaken by emotion. I was pinned to my seat and I said, Theyve done it.

What was the chatter like going into the first preview performance?

GRAHAM BOWEN Although we felt it was a hit, you start to think, Have we convinced ourselves of this? Are other people going to see it this way? And to watch the energy rise and wrap itself around the fact that this is an authentic, traditional, structured musical  the audience was basking in it.

Why do you think the show has endured for 4,000 performances?

CLEALE I dont think there are a lot of surefire comedies on Broadway. If you walk in the doors, chances are youre going to laugh  and you will probably laugh a lot. And thats a rare thing. But I think with anything that lasts, it comes down to the creative inputs. Number one is writing. The writing is so tight, the jokes are so supported, the music fits the writing.
Charles Kernaghan, who with a single-minded passion and tireless energy exposed the prevalence of sweatshop-made goods in Americas toy sections, department stores and celebrity fashion lines, died on June 1 at his home in Manhattan. He was 74.

His sister, Maryellen Kernaghan, announced the death but did not provide a cause.

As the longtime director of a shoestring organization called the National Labor Committee, Mr. Kernaghan was among the first activists to show that the seemingly magical drop in prices for a wide range of consumer goods in the 1980s and 90s was a result of American companies shift of production to developing countries, where workers often toiled in dangerous conditions for pennies an hour.

He specialized in the high-profile takedown, going after brands like Nike, Disney and Walmart. He targeted Bratz dolls, Eddie Bauer outdoor wear and Microsoft wireless mice. In 2007 he showed that crucifixes sold at St. Patricks Cathedral in Manhattan came from a Chinese sweatshop.
He said that Chief Kammerzell had also told him that he had once taken a photo with a public figure and raised his hand in a heil Hitler sign as a joke.

According to the investigation, Chief Kammerzell admitted to placing what he described as a German rank insignia above the nameplate on his door, and recalled that someone in the department had once given him the nickname the German General because of his last name and German heritage. He said that he had embraced the nickname.

That nickname, he added, later morphed into Obergruppenfuhrer, considered the SS equivalent of a Western general. He said he had learned the term from a television show, The Man in the High Castle. The show, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick, explores an alternate reality in which the Allied powers lost World War II and Japan and Germany rule the United States.

Chief Kammerzell said he had Googled the term Obergruppenfuhrer, according to the investigation, and that one of the results of the search was the insignia, which he printed and placed above his door.

According to the investigation, Chief Kammerzell denied expressing any positive sentiments about either Nazis or fascist governments. But it was not plausible, the investigator said, that he would not understand the Nazi affiliation of the symbol placed on his door.

The Kent Police Officers Association and a lawyer known to have represented the association did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
A 10-year-old boy died and two men were missing after they were swept away in a drainage ditch in Milwaukee during severe thunderstorms that passed through the region overnight on Monday, bringing heavy rains and flooding to the area, the authorities said.

Chief Aaron Lipski of the Milwaukee Fire Department said at a news conference Tuesday that firefighters had paused rescue efforts after conditions became too dangerous on Monday and resumed their search for the victims.

The authorities said the Milwaukee Police Department was called at about 6 p.m. Monday to the 3800 block of South 25th Street, about four miles from the Mitchell International Airport, for a boy who had slipped into a drainage ditch leading to the Kinnickinnic River.
Maine offers same-day voter registration, so theres still time to cast a ballot in person today.

How to vote

Not sure if youre registered to vote? You can check here. If youre not registered, dont worry. The secretary of states website says, There is no cutoff date for registering to vote in person at your town office or city hall.

The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot, however, was last week. You can go here to request an absentee ballot for future elections.

To check the status of your absentee ballot, visit this page.

Where to vote

This site will help you find your voting place.
An expert committee advising the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday unanimously recommended Modernas coronavirus vaccine for use in children and adolescents ages 6 to 17, an important step before emergency authorization.

The F.D.A. will most likely follow the panels advice in the coming days, as it has done consistently during the pandemic, and grant authorization. But doing so may have little immediate impact, since the age group has had access to Pfizer-BioNTech shots since last year. To date, Modernas shots have been authorized only for adults.

On Wednesday, the committee is scheduled to vote on a more pressing question: whether to recommend emergency authorization of both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for the nations youngest children, who still are not eligible for any coronavirus shots. Both the F.D.A. and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will prioritize decisions on that matter over Moderna shots for older children and teenagers because of the unmet need, officials familiar with the planning said.
Nevada voters can weigh in on some key contests today. Heres a last-minute guide for Election Day.

How to vote

All registered voters in Nevada should have received a ballot by mail, unless they requested to opt out, according to Nevadas secretary of state.

Voters can use this page to check the status of their ballots and to check their voter registration status. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by today and received by the county clerks office, or registrar of voters, by 5 p.m. local time on Saturday, according to the secretary of states office.

Didnt register yet? Thats OK. Nevada offers same-day registration for people casting ballots in person.
Republican voters in Nevada on Tuesday elevated conservative candidates who have ardently embraced Donald J. Trumps false claims of election fraud, turning a key swing state into a contest this fall between embattled Democrats and Republicans who insist President Biden stole the 2020 election.

The victories in the Nevada primaries for Mr. Trump capped a series of elections on Tuesday that saw one South Carolina Republican lawmaker who had crossed Mr. Trump go down in defeat, another survive her Trump-backed challenge and a Hispanic Republican grab a South Texas House seat vacated by a Democrat.

Those results gave mixed signals about Mr. Trumps continuing grip on the party even as the scrutiny of his actions following his 2020 defeat intensifies. At the same time, the elections on Tuesday suggested that Republicans remain on course for strong gains in Novembers midterms.

By flipping the Rio Grande Valley seat of former Representative Filemon Vela in Texas, Mayra Flores became the first Republican to represent the majority-Hispanic district in the seats 10-year history, and she became the first Republican Latina the state has ever sent to Congress.

In the sheer number of tossup contests, few states will rival Nevada this fall. Republicans see chances to unseat a host of Democrats, including Gov. Steve Sisolak; Lt. Gov. Lisa Cano Burkhead; three Democratic members of the House; and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.

Among the Republicans who won their primaries Tuesday were Adam Laxalt, a Senate candidate and former Nevada attorney general who led Mr. Trumps efforts to overturn the states 2020 election results, and Jim Marchant, a secretary of state candidate who has pressed conspiracy theories about voting machines and hopes to oversee the states 2024 election.

Image Supporters of Representative Nancy Mace at her election night watch party in Mount Pleasant, S.C., on Tuesday. Credit... Logan R. Cyrus for The New York Times

Election night on Tuesday started with the defeat in South Carolina of Representative Tom Rice by a Republican primary challenger endorsed by Mr. Trump, even as another South Carolina Republican, Representative Nancy Mace, survived.

Both Mr. Rice and Ms. Mace had crossed the former president as he struggled to maintain power after the Jan. 6 attack, which is now under the spotlight of congressional hearings. Mr. Rice, a staunch conservative in a conservative coastal district, was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him for inciting the riot. Ms. Mace, in her first speech as a newly elected freshman, said Mr. Trump bore responsibility for the deadly mayhem, though she did not vote to impeach him.

In turn, Mr. Trump backed Katie Arrington, a former state lawmaker, to take on Ms. Mace and State Representative Russell Fry to challenge Mr. Rice. Mr. Trump, who turned 76 on Tuesday, called on South Carolina voters to deliver him a beautiful, beautiful birthday present  twin defeats of both Ms. Mace and Mr. Rice.

The South Carolina contests had their own dynamics  Mr. Rice was defiant and contemptuous of Mr. Trump to the end, while Ms. Mace tried hard to regain the good graces of Trump administration officials if not Mr. Trump himself. The outcomes of both races could hold deep meaning to the party as it considers whether to renominate the former president for another White House run.

This took a little bit of time, but we are finally here, Ms. Mace told those gathered for a victory party in Charleston, as she thanked Ms. Arrington for stepping into the arena. She added, this is going to make our campaign even stronger in November.

The elections on Tuesday represented something of a midpoint in a Republican primary season that has delivered decidedly mixed signals to party leadership. Mr. Trump has claimed some significant wins, propelling his chosen Senate candidates to primary victories, such as J.D. Vance in Ohio and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania. However, his endorsed candidates have lost primary showdowns for governor in Georgia and Nebraska as well as a key secretary of state race in Georgia.

Image Voters casting ballots at Doolittle Community Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Credit... Bridget Bennett for The New York Times

Still to come are contests that rank high on his vengeance list, such as Representative Liz Cheneys primary in Wyoming on Aug. 16. Ahead of Arizonas Aug. 2 primary, Mr. Trump has backed Kari Lake, a promoter of his false stolen-election claims, to be the states next governor. To take on Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, he picked Blake Masters, who was caught on tape promoting the conspiracy that one-third of the people outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 were F.B.I. agents.

In South Carolina, Mr. Rice was only the second of the 10 impeachment Republicans to take his case for re-election to the partys primary voters, and he was the first to lose. The other, Representative David Valadao of California, clings to a slim lead over a Trump-aligned challenger, as vote counting continues after the primary there last week. Mr. Rices defeat means half of the 10 will not be returning to Congress next year, with other contests still to come, including Ms. Cheneys uphill climb.

Ms. Maces run for re-election had split the Trump community. The Trump administrations most prominent South Carolinians  former Representative Mick Mulvaney, his budget director and acting chief of staff, and former Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as United Nations ambassador  both backed Ms. Mace against Ms. Arrington, who was a proven gamble for the party since she had lost the seat to a Democrat in 2018.

Image Former Gov. Nikki Haley, left, campaigned with Representative Nancy Mace in Summerville, S.C., last week. Credit... Logan R. Cyrus for The New York Times

Ms. Haley, who is considering her own run for president in 2024, had scrambled to endorse Ms. Mace before Mr. Trump could endorse Ms. Arrington, a move that established some independence without openly crossing the former president.

Its a great day in South Carolina! Ms. Haley proclaimed with Ms. Maces victory.

In the Republican upset in South Texas, Ms. Flores won a special election to fill the remainder of Mr. Velas term until the end of the year, becoming one of three Latinas to ever represent the state in Congress. The seat will once again be up for grabs in the November general election. Yet even her temporary victory foreshadows broader Republican gains in the Democratic stronghold of South Texas.

Ms. Flores  who was born in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and is the wife of a Border Patrol agent  raised 16 times the amount logged by her closest Democratic competitor, Dan Sanchez. She appeared to have at least one celebrity supporter  Elon Musk, who posted on Twitter early Wednesday that he voted for Ms. Flores, describing it as the first time I ever voted Republican. Mr. Musks SpaceX operates a launch site in the district.

Ms. Flores had not received a formal endorsement from Mr. Trump, but she had campaigned as a Trump-inspired Republican focused on border security. Her campaign signs highlighted three words: Dios, familia, patria. God, family, country.

In one of her earliest campaign ads, she made her way through a thick field of flowering cotton in South Texas, as she blasted a Democratic Party that she said insists on selling Hispanics the idea that they should depend on big government.

Image Mayra Flores, a Republican who won the Rio Grande Valley seat of former Representative Filemon Vela, at a parade in Brownsville, Texas, in February. Credit... Jason Garza for The New York Times

At 13 years old, I was working in this very cotton field every day, all day, in the hot Texas sun, she said, adding that immigrants like her came the legal way to pursue the American Dream. She called for a militarization of the border, embraced Mr. Trumps false claims of election fraud and often denounced the radical socialist communist agenda.

In Nevada, Republican candidates largely sought to align themselves with Mr. Trump, taking hard right stances on abortion, guns, immigration and the teaching of race and gender in schools.

In the governors race there, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo won the Republican nomination and will face Mr. Sisolak in November. The sheriff had been criticizing the governor for his mask mandates and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Sisolak abandoned the states mask mandate in February and has been heavily promoting Nevadas economic rebound and the billions of dollars pumped into the state from federal coronavirus relief packages.

In the Senate race, Ms. Cortez Masto will face Mr. Laxalt, the grandson of a former Nevada governor and senator. In an audio recording obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Laxalt told voters in March that he was already gearing up to fight election fraud in his race, explaining that were vetting which group we think is going to do better.

But it was Mr. Marchant, a former state assemblyman, who worries many Democrats the most. At events with the MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell and other Trump allies, Mr. Marchant has embraced some of the most far-fetched and debunked electoral conspiracy theories. He has pressed for all ballots to be cast and counted by hand, and he organized the America First secretary of state coalition to elect candidates who have embraced false claims about the 2020 election.

Image Jim Marchant at a Republican election night watch party in Las Vegas, in 2020. Credit... John Locher/Associated Press

As it has been in the past several elections, Nevada promises to be a battleground in the 2024 presidential campaign, and the person running the election will either be Mr. Marchant or Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat and former aide to the late Senate majority leader Harry Reid.

Enough of the untruths. We need to focus on the truths in a bipartisan way, Mr. Aguilar told The Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Beyond those statewide offices, three Nevada House seats are deemed tossups for the fall, a potential windfall for Republicans as they seek control of Congress.

In Nevada, where Mr. Reid and the states Culinary Union built an influential Democratic political machine, a racially diverse coalition of working-class and Latino voters has powered crucial Democratic victories in presidential elections since 2008. But the presidents party tends to lose ground in midterm elections. That has been particularly true for Democrats in Nevada. Democratic turnout in the midterms in the state has tended to take a sharp nosedive, favoring Republicans.

Maya King and Jennifer Medina contributed reporting.
Today we will choose between humility and hubris, Bruce Frank, the chair of the task force, told messengers from the stage. The time for action has come.

After more than an hour of sometimes contentious debate, messengers approved the task forces two recommendations, to create a group to study further changes to safeguard churchgoers and to create a website that tracks pastors and other church workers who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. The convention hall erupted into sustained applause as the resolutions passed, then stood and joined in song: Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy on me.

Im feeling acknowledged, validated and encouraged, said Jules Woodson, who in 2018 came forward to say a youth pastor sexually assaulted her when she was 17. This is a step in the right direction and for the first time in 24 years, I feel like true action to stop this systemic crisis has been set in motion, she said.

Mr. Barber defeated Tom Ascol, a Florida pastor who has criticized what he describes as the denominations leftward drift on issues including gender, sexuality, abortion and critical race theory, which the convention publicly affirmed as a potentially useful analytical tool in 2019.

Mr. Ascols supporters mobilized to ensure his voters could make the expensive trip to Anaheim and were prepared to vote as a bloc when they arrived. The Conservative Baptist Network, an influential ultraconservative group founded in 2020, texted supporters reminders for the timing of important votes, and recommendations on how to vote.
Ms. Darr, 43, said that she was thinking about commuting to nearby towns where she could take up her former profession as a nurse. Her husband, she added, operated heavy equipment, and hoped that he might be able to earn some money assisting with recovery efforts.

Anna Holloway, 45, runs a bookstore and cafe in Gardiner. She said that her business had been closed on Tuesday afternoon by the health department, because of the lack of clean water.

Previously, Ms. Holloway said, she and her colleagues had been hauling water in 10-gallon jugs from a nearby well, and using disposable plates to cut back on washing dishes, so that they could remain open.

We already have a town of stranded people, the last thing you want is a town of stranded people with no coffee in the morning, Ms. Holloway said, adding that while she had been trying to remain optimistic, she believed that the flooding spelled the end of this years tourist season for the town.

Unfortunately, she added, without Yellowstone, theres no reason for people to come to Gardiner.

She said that she had told her 11 employees she would try to help them find jobs elsewhere, and in the meantime, would either operate her business solo, or leave town for the summer to find another job. My business is my job, Ms. Holloway said. Im not going to be able to pay my bills.

Other businesses were less accommodating, workers said.

They just fired us all, said Madeline Arsola, 30, who works for a hotel in the town that she said told several of its employees on Tuesday that they would no longer have jobs.
Then, with the lights low, do something quiet and relaxing to transition into sleep mode. Were not built to go from 60 miles an hour to zero. We need time to slow down or else it will be hard for us to sleep, Dr. Swanson said.

Thats why she and other experts said that you should avoid aerobic exercise close to bedtime. They also advised against eating large meals within three hours of sleep (though a small snack before bed is fine). And when it comes to drinking, experts recommended not consuming alcohol in the hours leading up to bedtime because even though it will probably cause you to conk out quickly, it will likely lead to a fitful night of poor quality sleep.

Pay attention to caffeine. The general rule of thumb is to be cautious of caffeine after lunchtime, Dr. Gehrman said. Caffeine can linger in the brain for eight to 10 hours at sufficient enough levels to disrupt sleep. But he added that the effects of caffeine can vary greatly from person to person.

Cool down your bedroom. When its time to sleep, keep your bedroom between 60 and 67 degrees. We tend to get more deep sleep in a cool bedroom, Dr. Gehrman said. He even noted that for some people, once summer hits and they crank up the A/C, they sleep better because theyre keeping their bedroom cooler than they would in spring or fall. (Wirecutter, a New York Times Company that reviews and recommends products, has tips for keeping a room cool on a budget.)

Avoid distractions. If you can, use room-darkening shades or an eye mask while sleeping. And consider turning on a white noise machine or a fan that hums gently to buffer any distracting environmental sounds.

If you still find yourself tossing and turning in bed, get up and do something calming (like reading a book, meditating or knitting) until you feel sleepy. Only then should you get back into bed. That way you wont associate your bed with sleeplessness. We always say that bed should be for two things: sleep and sex, Dr. Gehrman said.
Ms. Fan was taken away by investigators not long after she had been in touch with a Bloomberg editor, according to a Bloomberg article in 2020. The company has previously said it did not know why Ms. Fan had been detained, but that it had sought information about her whereabouts from both the Chinese government and Chinas embassy in Washington.

Bloomberg said it was made aware of the embassy statement over the weekend.

In that statement, the embassy said Ms. Fan had been formally arrested in July 2021 on suspicion of committing crimes endangering national security, adding that her legitimate rights and interests have been fully protected.

John Micklethwait, editor in chief of Bloomberg, said he was encouraged to hear that Ms. Fan was out on bail. She is a much valued member of our Beijing bureau  and we will continue to do everything possible to help her and her family. He did not address whether Bloomberg had been notified in January of her release.

Ms. Fan is a Chinese citizen who joined Bloomberg in 2017 after working for several other news organizations, including CNBC, CBS and Reuters. Chinese nationals are banned from doing independent reporting for foreign media in China and are allowed to work only as research assistants.
BANGKOK  Theary Seng, a Cambodian American lawyer and a human rights activist, was sentenced to six years in prison on Tuesday as part of Cambodias wide-ranging crackdown on opponents of the nations prime minister, Hun Sen.

Ms. Theary Seng  a refugee who escaped Cambodias killing fields and who had returned from the United States to help build democracy  was convicted of conspiracy to commit treason, along with dozens of other critics and opposition politicians.

Choung Chou Ngy, her lawyer, said he planned to appeal her conviction. He said that those who had received five-year terms had their sentences suspended but that the other defendants with five to eight years would face prison time.
FATEHGARH-SAHIB, India  When the unseasonably heavy rains flooded the fields, and then the equally unseasonable heat shriveled the seeds, it didnt just slash Ranjit Singhs wheat harvest by nearly half.

It put him, and nearly all the other households in his village in northern India, that much further from financial stability in a country where a majority of people scratch out a living on farms. Like many Indian farmers, Mr. Singh is saddled with enormous debt and wondering how he will repay it, as a warming world makes farming ever more precarious.

For India and other South Asian nations, home to hundreds of millions of humanitys most vulnerable, a seemingly bottomless well of challenges  poverty, food security, health, governance  has only deepened as the region bakes on the front lines of climate change.
SEOUL  The travel industry applauded the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions decision to lift the Covid-19 testing requirement for people entering the United States, but some travelers were wary.

In Asia, where flights to the United States can stretch well beyond 12 hours, people with trips planned said they were worried they would be at greater risk of contracting Covid on planes.

Katharine Jones, a 24-year-old American graduate student in Taiwan, said that she was planning to pack a rapid testing kit for her flight from Taipei to San Francisco on Tuesday and test herself after arriving at the U.S. airport before she meets her family.
Hans Island is just a desolate, kidney shaped piece of rock in the Arctic. But for 49 years, it has been the source of a rare territorial dispute for Canada because it sits right in the middle of the international boundary between that country and Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.

Over the decades the dispute between Canada and Demark has been fought in often whimsical ways.

Since Canadian troops began visiting the island in 1984 to plant maple leaf flags and leave behind bottles of Canadian whisky, Danes have been regularly dropping in to replace the Canadian items with schnapps and Danish flags. And cabinet ministers from both countries have arrived by helicopter to assert their nations competing claims and survey the rock they claimed to govern.

Now, this long-running and largely benign diplomatic impasse reached an end.

Canada and Denmark signed an agreement on Tuesday that formally defined their Arctic marine boundary and settles the question of Hans Islands ownership. The island will be split, with about 60 percent of the rock becoming Denmark and the rest becoming Canada.
The British government announced in April that it had reached a deal with Rwanda that would allow the processing and settling of asylum seekers in the African country. In return, Britain would pay Rwanda 120 million pounds for economic development programs.

The deal has provoked fierce opposition in Britain for being unworkable and unethical, including from religious figures, civil servants and  according to the Times of London  from Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne.

After Tuesdays flight was grounded, Yolande Makolo, a spokeswoman for the Rwandan government, said it would not be deterred by the latest developments.

Rwanda remains fully committed to making this partnership work, she said. The current situation of people making dangerous journeys cannot continue as it is causing untold suffering to so many. Rwanda stands ready to receive the migrants when they do arrive and offer them safety and opportunity in our country.

Critics accuse Mr. Johnson, who narrowly survived a vote of no confidence last week, of deliberately stoking the issue for political advantage. They argue that even if very few asylum seekers are deported, the policy is intended to send a signal to voters that Britain is tough on those seeking to enter Britain by crossing the English Channel, many of them in small boats.
It doesnt go away, it doesnt get easier, he said.

The fire, which wrapped the building in flames, was fed by flammable cladding that had been added to the outside of the structure during a renovation. The cladding had been banned in many countries, but decades of deregulation meant it could still be used in Britain, as politicians evidently decided that cost concerns outweighed the fire risk.

The government launched an investigation into the fire in 2017, and only after the second phase of its inquiry ends can a separate criminal investigation by Londons Metropolitan Police conclude, with the possibility of resulting in official charges.

Even as the community united in remembrance and grief, a desire for accountability and change permeated the day.

The loss and the anguish are still vivid and sharp, David Hoyle, the Dean of Westminster, said as he opened a service in Westminster Abbey on Tuesday morning. We gather in sorrow and in pain.

Mr. Hoyle asked the attendees to commit to remembering the victims and to seeking justice for those who had been wronged.

We will seek justice, the assembly replied.

Leaders from some of Londons Muslim, Jewish, Orthodox and Sikh communities attended the services, to represent the diverse faiths of the people who inhabited Grenfell Tower, and read the names of the victims aloud.
KYIV, Ukraine  For weeks, Ukrainian officials have pleaded for powerful Western weapons as a way to stave off battlefield defeats. A senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky shifted this messaging on weapons on Monday by laying out for the first time the total number of howitzers, rocket launchers and tanks Ukraine thinks it would need to win the war against Russia.

At the same time, the adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, accused Western leaders of being reluctant to seriously address Ukraines gigantic disadvantage in long-range weaponry, and the scale of what will be needed to even the odds. He suggested that Western nations lacked a sense of urgency even as Ukraines army, low on ammunition and taking heavy casualties, is being battered in fighting in the East.

And he suggested that some Western European countries, including France and Germany, were hiding from the war.
As Ukrainian and Russian soldiers engage in street battles in Sievierodonetsk and scores of civilians remain stranded under unrelenting bombardment, the last bridge linking the eastern city with Ukrainian-controlled territory to the west has been destroyed, according to officials from both nations.

The destruction of the bridge could help Moscow seize the city by making it harder for Ukrainian soldiers to reinforce their positions, evacuate their wounded or retreat. While Ukrainian officials say that supplies can still get into and out of Sievierodonetsk, the loss of the bridge, after weeks of fighting there, makes it unclear whether Ukrainian forces can continue to defend the city.

The bridges destruction all but cuts the final road link between Sievierodonetsk, which lies on the eastern bank of the Siversky Donets River, and the Ukrainian-controlled city of Lysychansk, which lies on higher ground to the west. It could also complicate the Russian advance, making any frontal assault on Lysyschansk more difficult, as it would require the Russians to expose their troops to attack while crossing the river.
The profession of support notwithstanding, the remarkable initial unity in response to Russias invasion seems to be fraying among the Western allies who have shipped weapons to Ukraine and imposed a broad array of financial sanctions on Russia.

Some leaders in Central and Eastern Europe, with its long experience of Soviet domination, have strong views about the need to teach Russia a painful and lasting lesson  with some going as far as to reject the idea of even speaking to Mr. Putin.

But France, Italy and Germany, among the continents biggest and richest countries, are anxious about the prospect of a prolonged, stalemated war that raises the risk of drawing NATO into the fighting and would further damage their economies as they grapple with rising inflation and fuel prices.

The United States has sought to balance two oft-conflicting goals. The first is for Ukraine to emerge as a vibrant, democratic state  exactly what Mr. Putin is seeking to crush. The second is President Bidens goal of avoiding direct conflict with Russia, which he has repeatedly called World War III.

The European Union is seriously considering starting Ukraine along a path to membership, despite its history of corruption and political instability, which diplomats say might help entice Ukraine into agreeing to a negotiated end to the fighting. It is not clear, though, what might persuade Mr. Putin to make a deal, particularly as long as his forces keep taking more cities and towns.

But not Sievierodonetsk, not just yet, its mayor, Oleksandr Stryuk, said on national television. Russian troops are trying to storm the city, he said, but the military is holding firm.
Trying to capture Kyiv with an immediate assault from the north turned out to be a misguided goal for Russia, ending in failure. Still, many analysts believe that taking the capital and toppling the Ukrainian government remains President Vladimir V. Putins ultimate goal, even as he has limited the scope of Russian military ambitions, for now, to the Donbas region of the East.

Local officials say they dont want a repeat of what happened in February, when civilians were caught off guard by the invasion, their lives suddenly upended, even though the Kremlin had signaled its intentions for months.

We make sure that a doctor makes the rounds to all the villages every few weeks, because locals fear that at any moment their territory could be cut off, said Volodymyr Pinchuk, the deputy mayor of Horodnya, the largest city in the region. He said residents memories of several thousand Russian tanks rumbling through the city in February for 48 hours straight would not be soon forgotten.

There are more than just psychological factors at play. In this war of attrition, Moscows strategy is to force the Ukrainians to defend as much of their exposed borders as possible, even where there is no fighting.

Ukraine needs to defend its borders with Russia in both Chernihiv and Sumy provinces in the north. In the southwest, Ukraine needs to defend its border with Transnistria, the breakaway pro-Moscow province inside Moldova. And then there is the active front line in the east, from the southern Kherson province to the northeastern Sumy region, which is more than 750 miles long.
A North Carolina pest control company is offering to pay homeowners $2,000 if they agree to let it release 100 American cockroaches into their households so it can test a new extermination technique.

If you live in the continental United States and want to make a quick couple of grand, go to The Pest Informer website and sign up for their ongoing experimental program. The pest control company is looking to test a new cockroach extermination technique in real-life conditions, so it wants to release 100 roaches into peoples homes, so it can try to exterminate them all for 30 days. The deal requires the written approval of the homeowner to have 100 cockroaches released on their property and to have the entire experiment filmed by technicians.

Photo: Picas Joe/Pexels

So what happens if this experiential pest control technique isnt as effective as The Pest Informer hopes it is? Well, if cockroaches are still present in your home after the agreed-upon 30 days, the company will still pay you the $2,000 and will employ tried-and-true extermination techniques to ensure your home is roach-free.

We are currently hiring 5-7 household owners to allow us to release ~100 American cockroaches into your home, and give us permission to film, and test out a specific cockroach treatment, a recent post on The Pest Informer blog reads.



Company founder David Floyd told NBC News that by Monday, June 13, The Pest Informer had already received over 2,200 applications for the offer via a dedicated sign-up form on its website. However, the application page will remain open through July 31, so you still have a shot, albeit a small one, considering only 5 to 7 homes will eventually be selected.

Floyd said that, in the past, The Pest Informer had released cockroaches into the houses of friends and family of company employees to test treatments. No word on whether theyve had roach problems after the experiments ended, though
JHR Group is books North American PR duties for The Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau. JHR Group will manage the travel trade relations, marketing and public relations efforts for Rio CVB in the US. The focus of the work will be on attracting both business and leisure tourism to the city. In addition, the agency will represent Rio de Janeiro at trade shows, conferences and events. Before the pandemic, international travel injected US$ 6 billion into the Brazilian economy. The return of foreigners is already happening, but we need to act to communicate the city even better to the issuing countries, said Rio CVB executive director Roberta Werner.

AxiCom, WPP's technology specialist communications agency is engaged as PR agency of record in Europe for JCB International, the international operations subsidiary of financial services provider JCB. AxiCom will support JCB's growth in the region through strategic media relations and communications. The agency is also tasked with working to grow JCB Internationals brand recognition with merchants, acquiring partners and other target groups. We are eager to utilize their in-depth expertise in our very niche industry of payments and technology to drive JCB brand awareness cross-regionallywith the core purpose of unlocking new payment gateways for our 140 million international cardmembers and European business partners alike," said JCB International (Europe) managing director Ray Shinzawa. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981.

JC Communications is named PR agency of record for PR for Backland, a luxury eco-resort near the Grand Canyon in the Ponderosa Pine Forests of Arizona. The agency will be executing pre-opening publicity for the resort, as well as ongoing publicity to introduce them to the marketplace. They will also coordinate media visits and overall media outreach. In addition, JC has signed on as agency of record for Spicemode, an artisan brand of globally-inspired cooking sauces, seasonings and rubs made in the USA.
Moderna has awarded its global corporate PR duties to DXTRA Health, a collective of more than 1,500 staffers housed within Interpublic shops.

A cross-disciplined group from Weber Shandwick, Golin and Jack Health will work to bolster the corporate reputation of the COVID-19 vaccine maker and spotlight its research savvy.

DXTRA Health will further educate the world about Modernas mRNA technology and its promise to transform the future of human health, said Kate Cronin, the companys chief brand officer.

She told ODwyers that Moderna was not working with IPG prior to the June 13 DXTRA Health announcement.

We used FTI for corporate global media relations and Ruder Finn for disease awareness work, said Cronin, who headed Ogilvy Health before joining Moderna a year ago.

Laura Schoen, DXTRA Healths chief healthcare officer, will lead the team that will support Modernas outreach to employees, policymakers, healthcare providers, vaccine recipients and consumers.
Profitability was up last year for North American PR agencies, according to an annual industry survey conducted by PR merger and acquisition advisory firm Gould+Partners.

Gould+Partners latest Benchmarking report, which analyzes key factors affecting PR firm profitability, found that North American PR agencies witnessed operating profits averaging 19.7 percent of net revenues (calculated as fee billings plus markups) in 2021, up from 18.2 percent in 2020 and a 2.3 percent increase from pre-COVID 2019s 17.4 percent.

19.7 percent average operating profit is an incredible comeback for the PR industry, Gould+Partners Managing Partner Rick Gould told ODwyers.

The surveys findings discovered that profitability was especially high at the largest firms: PR agencies with revenues in excess of $25 million netted average operating profits of 21.3 percent in 2021up from 20.2 percent in 2020indicating both increased organic growth as well as growth via acquisition. Firms with between $10 million and $25 million in revenues netted 20.1 percent profitability last year, up from 17 percent in 2020. Firms accounting for between $3 million and $10 million in revenues netted profitability of 19.5 percent profitability, up from 18.1 percent, while the smallest firmsthose with under $3 million in revenuesnetted the smallest profitability, 15.8 percent, flat from 2020.

When broken out by region, the report found that PR firms located in the U.S. Southeast boasted the highest average operating profits in 2021 (25.3 percent), followed by firms in Canada (25 percent), California (24.8 percent), the Wash. D.C. metro area (21.4 percent) and the Midwest (19 percent). Among the least profitable were firms located in the Southwest (15.9 percent), firms located in the Northeast (15.4 percent) and the New York City metro area (14.4 percent).

Gould additionally said that staff turnover for the year averaged 25.4 percent in 2021up from 18 percent in 2020with some firms experiencing turnover of more than 50 percent.

Turnover equates to increased costs for search firms, training, bonuses, raises, all impacting the bottom line, Gould told ODwyers.

On the other hand, the report also found that revenue per professional staff member averaged $257,732 last year, slightly up from $255,409 in 2020. Total overhead, meanwhile, was virtually flat, averaging 23.4 percent of net revenues, compared to 23.6 percent in 2020.

Gould+Partners 2022 Gould+Partners Benchmarking Survey Report was based on responses from 40 participating best of class North American PR agencies. Responses were collected in May.
Josh Weinberg

The American Geophysical Union names Josh Weinberg as VP of strategic communications and marketing. Weinberg most recently headed sales marketing strategy for broadcast media company TEGNA. Before that, he held leadership roles at The Walt Disney Company/National Geographic, Warner Bros. Discovery and the BBC. At the AGU, Weinberg will lead global integrated marketing, media and brand strategies to support the organizations mission for research, discovery and solutions in addressing climate change. He brings a wealth of knowledge, creativity and proven results in shaping brands and developing compelling content to advance important issues, said AGU executive director and CEO Randy Fiser.

Jennifer Tolkachev

BOCA Communications, which focuses on B2B high tech and medtech innovators, appoints Jennifer Tolkachev as vice president. Tolkachev comes to the agency from inbound marketing agency SmartBug Media, where she was director of public relations. She was previously creative director at Sprout Creative and director of PR at JKT Communications. At BOCA, Tolkachev it tasked with helping to grow the companys Southern California practice and recruit talent. She brings a diverse marketing and PR background to the agency, which will ultimately benefit all of our clients, said BOCA founder Kathleen Shanahan.

Lauren Cohen

Lumicell, which develops imaging technologies for cancer surgery, hires Lauren Cohen as vice president of marketing and communications. Cohen comes to the company after 17 years at Boston Scientific, where she most recently served as director, global digital marketing. In her new post, she will be part of a commercial team preparing the launch of the companys Lumicell Direct Visualization System. Laurens experience in launching womens health and medical device technologies will be instrumental as we focus on bringing our innovative Lumicell DVS to market, said company president and CEO Kevin Hershberger.
The Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) Enforcement Authority has said that while the number of complaints it has received to date is relatively low, this is not surprising given the perceived fear factor that comes with making a complaint.

The remarks were made by Noel Collins, Head of the UTP Enforcement Authority Division in the Department of Agriculture in reply to Independent TD for Laois Offaly Carol Nolan.

Deputy Nolan had engaged with the Enforcement Authority in an attempt to clarify why so few farmers and producers were not engaging with the new trading protections regime and what kind of response it had received from the five major multiples.

To date the UTP Authority has received just six complaints, but four of these were outside the scope of the UTP Regulations and two are still at the scoping assessment stage, Deputy Nolan said.

It was also made clear to me that there is still a significant level of concern and even fear among farmers and producers when it comes to having their rights vindicated or protected.

I accept that the UTP Authority is actively and constructively engaging with farmers to try and address these concerns and that is something I want to warmly welcome. Indeed, in its response to my queries on this matter, it very clearly stated that the Enforcement Authority will use every power available to them to ensure that any threat or act of retaliation by a buyer arising from a supplier exercising their legal rights will result in the strongest possible sanctions against the buyer," Deputy Nolan continued.

I also welcome the fact that the Enforcement Authority is requiring the major multiples to submit Implementation Reports which should provide evidence of how they are ensuring compliance with the new regulations. As well as that all of these buyers will have to nominate a Compliance Officer to deal with the Enforcement Authority with risk-based inspections of the largest businesses beginning later this year.

Farmers and producers will no longer tolerate being walked on when it comes to unfair pricing, concluded Deputy Nolan.
While Europe basks in a continent wide heat wave, in Ireland we can look forward to one hot day this week.

According to the latest Met Eireann weather forecast for Ireland, temperatures on Friday are set to reach a high of 26 degrees over parts of the country on Friday. Temperatures are set to fall back dramatically on Saturday to a high of just 17 degrees before getting back into the 20s for Sunday.

According to Met Eireann, temperatures will rise steadily across the week from highs of 19 on Tuesday, 21 on Wednesday and 22 on Thursday before peaking on Friday. The weather will also be mainly dry throughout the week.

Tuesday

According to the latest Met Eireann weather forecast, many areas will stay dry for the day on Tuesday and occasional bright or sunny periods will develop, however it will stay quite cloudy in Connacht and Ulster with light rain or drizzle at times. Highest temperatures of 14 to 19 degrees in a light to moderate south to southwest breeze.

It will be mostly cloudy early on Tuesday night with patches of light rain or drizzle, most frequent in the northwest. It will become drier in most places overnight, with some clear spells developing, however light rain or drizzle is possible at times near the west and northwest coast. Lowest temperatures of 9 to 13 degrees with light southerly or variable breezes allowing localised mist and fog patches to develop.

Wednesday

The latest Met Eireann weather forecast states that most areas will be dry with sunny spells on Wednesday however, it will be cloudier with scattered showers in the west and northwest. Highest temperatures of 15 to 21 degrees, warmest in the south and east, with a light to moderate south to southwest breeze.

Scattered showers will continue in the west and northwest on Wednesday night but other areas will be dry with clear spells. Lowest temperatures of 9 to 13 degrees with a light southerly breeze.

Thursday

According to Met Eireann, Thursday will be warm and dry with sunny spells across the south and east of the country with temperatures here reaching 18 to 22 degrees. Further to the northwest it will be cloudy with outbreaks of rain and highest temperatures of 14 to 17 degrees. Light to moderate southerly breezes.

Dry with clear spells across the southern half of the country on Thursday night, but cloudy further north with scattered showers, especially in the northwest. Lowest temperatures of 11 to 14 degrees with light to moderate southerly breezes.

FRIDAY

The latest Met Eireann weather forecast states that it will be dry, warm and sunny in Leinster and Munster on Friday. It will be cloudier and cooler in Connacht and Ulster, with scattered showers, mainly near northern and western coasts at first but extending further inland later in the day. Highest temperatures generally of 20 to 26 degrees, warmest in Leinster and Munster, but temperatures only reaching the mid-teens near the west and northwest coast. Light to moderate south to southwest winds, veering west to northwest later.

Cloud and isolated light rain will move southeastwards across the country on Friday night. Lowest temperatures of 9 to13 degrees in a light to moderate west to northwest wind.

SATURDAY

According to Met Eireann, cloud and patchy light rain will clear from the south and southeast on Saturday morning. For the rest of the day there will be sunny spells and just a few showers in the west and northwest. Breezy with a moderate to fresh and blustery northwesterly wind. Highest temperatures of 13 to 17 degrees.

SUNDAY

In its latest forecast, Met Eireann states that it looks like Sunday will be mostly dry with a moderate northwesterly wind. Best of the sunshine in the southeast with temperatures reaching the low twenties, but cooler and cloudier elsewhere.
THE very dynamic Geashill Ukraine Committee through their own initiative and fundraising efforts provided three mobile homes for Ukrainian families to live in their award winning tidiest village.

Their efforts were supported by Tullamore Lions Club who donated 2,000, given by local business people and personal donations.

Alan Gethings explained that the idea was first mooted when a number of local people met in the local hall just a few days after the Russian army invaded Ukraine and pictures of families running for their lives began to appear on our television screens.

What else could we have done? said Mr Gethings. We were offered and looked around at a number of unused houses in the area but found it would be expensive to refurbish them to acceptable standards.

When approached, Bernie Sullivan Brady, the owner of the village caravan park, was more than delighted to see a revival of the park and to lend her support to the humanitarian cause.

We decided on three mobile homes, in the caravan park, to provide opportunities for Ukraine families to integrate into our community and keep the cohesion of our village.

Each of the homes has three bedrooms in addition to generous living space. Each home has running water and electricity.

Before proceeding with their plans, the committee worked with the Irish Red Cross and Offaly County Council in outlining their facilities and what they had on offer for three Ukraine families.

To fund their project the committee set up a bank account and organised a number of events including a ceili, sale of work and a card drive.

The project was made possible by the generosity of local business people, personal donations from local residents and those who organised the events, explained Alan.

The hardworking committee responsible for this very worthy cause are - Chairperson, Brid Lofts; Secretary Audrey Colton; Treasurers, Richard Dudley and Marie McNally; PRO Alan Gethings; Steve Graham, Cllr Mark Hackett, Aideen Byrne, Ann Guilfoyle, Pat Walsh, Bob Campbell and William Edgill.

The homes are now ready for occupation as soon as tenancies have been allocated and notified to the committee.

President of Tullamore Lions Club, Paul Cullen, said the club were delighted to be able to support this novel, cost effective and much needed facility. The money donated has been wisely invested, said Mr Cullen.
A young woman who was charged over a fatal crash in Melbournes west has been refused bail after a magistrate found there was too great a risk of her driving again
Melbournes Felise Kaufusi was found not guilty of elbowing Sam Walker in the head after contesting the dangerous contact charge at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night.
Brittney Griner will remain in custody in Russia for at least another two and a half weeks ... the WNBA superstar's detention was just extended by a court until July 2. The ruling was handed down on Tuesday, according to Russian state media outlet
Will the German chancellor join France's Emmanuel Macron and Italy's Mario Draghi in Kyiv? Speculation about a possible joint visit is garnering high expectations, but the seemingly reticent chancellor has not confirmed.
Eurasia Review 17 Jun 2022

By Reid Standish



(RFE/RL)  As questions mount about the extent of European support for Ukraine, the leaders of..
Rebels from the M23 group in DR Congo seized the border town of Bunagana, according to local activists. The Congolese army accused Rwanda of launching an invasion.
First deportation flight set to go ahead as scheduled on Tuesday after UK court refuses to halt government plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda
Beijing has no reason to sanction Australia, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The call comes after ministers from two countries met for the first time in years.
Europe has opened its door to Ukrainians fleeing the war. But what if you don't have a Ukrainian passport?
Zee News 14 Jun 2022

When the auction was stopped on the second day, another Rs 2,000 crore was bid for Package C, which has a select non-exclusive..
Up to eight people are due to be on Tuesday's flight but at least three more appeals are being heard.
 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd.

All rights reserved.

One News is a registered trademark

of One News Page Ltd.
Several UK journalists, including some from the BBC, have been barred from entering Russia.
Sky News 14 Jun 2022

The first deportation flight due to take asylum seekers to Rwanda will not be taking off tonight following a series of last-minute..
The UK is set to deport an unspecified number of migrants of various nationalities to Rwanda, in a controversial deal that was given the green light by British courts. Rwandans are watching events unfold with skepticism.
NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Finland was ready to address Turkey's security concers amid the latter's opposition to Finland and Sweden joining the Western military alliance. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the two Nordic countries of allowing terrorists in their territories.
Australia's new Foreign Minister Penny Wong will make her first official visit in the role to New Zealand on Thursday, meeting Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. Wong was sworn in less than a month ago, and since then has made it a...
Britain's decision to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol is "astonishing many people around the world", Ireland's Europe affairs minister has told Sky News.
The Congress has passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which will help fix supply chains and ease shipping backlogs, with bipartisan support. Reducing bottlenecks at U.S. ports and improving conditions for agricultural exports are key to pave the way for lower costs for American retailers, farmers and consumers. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which unanimously passed the Senate in March, was a
The House has given final approval to legislation to allow around-the-clock security protection for families of Supreme Court justices.
Sky News 15 Jun 2022

The full moon in June, seen as the last full moon of spring before the summer solstice, is traditionally known as the strawberry..
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the June full moon, which is celebrated as "Vat Purnima" in India, will appear opposite the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 7:52 am EDT (5:22 pm IST) on June 14.
The head of the Russian Committee for the Prevention of Torture has announced his organisation is disbanding after the government labelled it a "foreign agent".Sergei Babinets, who worked with the NGO to pressure the Russian government...
It comes as the Ukraine war is making the raw materials used in sanitary products more costly.
While Brussels has threatened legal action, the pro-Brexit ERG has so far withheld its support for the Northern Ireland Protocol bill.
Former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov also said that Putin seemed "out of it" at a meeting days before the invasion of Ukraine began.
Sports Illustrated 27 Jun 2022

The Phoenix Mercury star was also ordered to remain in custody for the duration of her criminal trial. She could face 10 years in..
The leaders of Ukraine are gaming out where the war with Russia goes from here. One of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's top advisers at Kyiv's presidential compound weighed in on what Ukraine wants.
The youth plays a great role in nation-building, for they have the power to help a country develop and move towards progress. It is also responsible for bringing social reform within a country. The youth of a country determine the future of its nation. Fortunately, Pakistan is blessed to have over 64% of its population as youth....
WASHINGTON (AP)  Donald Trumps closest campaign advisers, top government officials and even his family were dismantling his false claims of 2020 election fraud ahead of Jan. 6, but the defeated president seemed detached from reality and kept clinging to outlandish theories to stay in power, the committee investigating the Capitol attack was told Monday.

With gripping testimony, the panel is laying out in step-by-step fashion how Trump ignored his own campaign team's data as one state after another flipped to Joe Biden, and instead latched on to conspiracy theories, court cases and his own declarations of victory rather than having to admit defeat.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Trump's big lie of election fraud escalated and transformed into marching orders that summoned supporters to Washington and then sent them to the Capitol on Jan. 6 to block Bidens victory.

He's become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff, former Attorney General William Barr testified in his interview with the committee.

Barr called the voting fraud claims bull, bogus and idiotic, and resigned in the aftermath. I didnt want to be a part of it.

The House 1/6 committee spent the morning hearing delving into Trumps claims of election fraud and the countless ways those around him tried to convince the defeated Republican president they were not true, and he had simply lost the election.

The witnesses Monday, mostly Republicans and many testifying in prerecorded videos, described in blunt terms and sometimes exasperated detail how Trump refused to take the advice of those closest to him, including his family members. As the people around him splintered into a team normal headed by former campaign manager Bill Stepien and others led by Trump confidant Rudy Giuliani, the president chose his side.

On election night, Stepien said, Trump was growing increasingly unhappy and refusing to accept the grim outlook for his presidency.

Son-in-law Jared Kushner tried to steer Trump away from Giuliani and his far-flung theories of voter fraud. The president would have none of it.

The back-and-forth intensified in the run-up to Jan. 6. Former Justice Department official Richard Donoghue recalled breaking down one claim after another  from a truckload of ballots in Pennsylvania to a missing suitcase of ballots in Georgia - and telling Trump much of the info youre getting is false.

Still, he pressed on with his false claims even after dozens of court cases collapsed.

On Monday an unrepentant Trump blasted the hearings in his familiar language as ridiculous and treasonous and repeated his claims.

The former president, mulling another run for the White House, defended the Capitol attack as merely Americans seeking to hold their elected officials accountable.

Nine people died in the riot and its aftermath, including a Trump supporter shot and killed by Capitol police. More than 800 people have been arrested, and members of two extremist groups have been indicted on rare sedition charges over their roles leading the charge into the Capitol.

During the hearing, the panel also provided new information about how Trump's fundraising machine collected some $250 million with his campaigns to Stop the Steal and others in the aftermath of the November election, mostly from small-dollar donations from Americans. One plea for cash went out 30 minutes before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Not only was there the big lie, there was the big ripoff, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.

Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., opened Monday's hearing saying Trump betrayed the trust of the American people and tried to remain in office when people had voted him out.

As the hearings play out for the public, they are also being watched by one of the most important viewers, Attorney General Merrick Garland, who must decide whether his department can and should prosecute Trump. No sitting or former president has ever faced such an indictment.

I am watching, Garland said Monday at a press briefing at the Justice Department, even if he may not watch all the hearings live. And I can assure you the Jan. 6 prosecutors are watching all of the hearings as well."

Biden was getting updates but not watching blow by blow, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Stepien was to be a key in-person witness Monday but abruptly backed out of appearing live because his wife went into labor. Stepien, who is still close to Trump, had been subpoenaed to appear. He is now a top campaign adviser to Trump-endorsed House candidate Harriet Hageman, who is challenging committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney in the Wyoming Republican primary.

The panel marched ahead after a morning scramble and delay, with witness after witness saying Trump embraced and repeated his claims about the election although those closest told him the theories of stolen ballots or rigged voting machines were simply not true.

Stepien and senior adviser Jason Miller described how the festive mood at the White House on Election Night turned grim as Fox News announced Trump had lost the state of Arizona to Joe Biden, and aides worked to counsel Trump on what to do next.

But he ignored their advice, choosing to listen instead to Giuliani, who was described as inebriated by several witnesses. Giuliani issued a general denial Monday, rejecting all falsehoods he said were being said about him.

Stepien said, My belief, my recommendation was to say that votes were still being counted, its too early to tell, too early to call the race.

But Trump thought I was wrong. He told me so.

Barr, who had also testified in last week's blockbuster opening hearing, said Trump was as mad as I'd ever seen him when the attorney general later explained that the Justice Department would not take sides in the election.

Barr said when he would tell Trump how crazy some of these allegations were, there was never, there was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were."

For the past year, the committee has been investigating the most violent attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812, which some believe posed a grave threat to democracy.

Mondays hearing also featured live witnesses, including Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News Channel political editor who was part of a team that declared on Election Night that Arizona was being won by Biden. Also appearing was the former U.S. attorney in Atlanta, BJay Pak, who abruptly resigned after Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find enough votes to overturn his defeat.

The panel also heard from elections lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg, who discussed the norms of election campaign challenges, and former Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, the only Republican on the city's election board, who told the panel that regardless of how fantastical some of the claims that Trump and his team were making, the city officials investigated. He discussed facing threats after Trump criticized him in a tweet.

___

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Michael Balsamo in Washington and Farnoush Amiri and Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.

___

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BIG RAPIDS  During its regular monthly meeting, the Big Rapids Public Schools board of education discussed plans for the upcoming school year and several projects in store over the summer.

Members highlighted a number of agenda items including the end-of-year festivities at the school, staffing updates and upcoming infrastructure projects.

The district recently approved tenure and the hiring of some new staff members for the new school year in several departments including transportation and in the elementary.

Superintendent Tim Haist said he is happy to see new additions to the schools community.

We're very lucky to have such great young teachers, Haist said. They're doing an amazing job. I appreciate our personnel committee coming together. They appreciate our administrators for the job they're doing evaluating and mentoring these teachers because each one is doing very well.

The board also reviewed plans and changes in the elementary. Elementary students completed their end-of-year assessments this week.

Deb Tyson, curriculum director for Big Rapids, said the staff has plenty planned for the new school year.

As far as hiring, so far since the last meeting we've hired four teachers which will be hopefully approved in July, Tyson said. We have a behavioral specialist, an assistant tech director a paraprofessional and a lead driver. We hired one driver who will also work as a custodian.

The administration is also looking to move further ahead with their grant work, and are expecting to receive more information on funding from the government soon.

Tina Mills, finance director for the district, said the process depends largely on enrollment.

There's a lot of moving parts with these grants and so that's kind of what's been holding us up, Mills said. The treasury and both the houses of Senate and House came to a consensus that revenues are looking better than they did in February but we have not really heard anything more, it's been very quiet. We are using the numbers that we heard from the governor, which was a $430 increase (per student) for next year. We're going to base our pupil count on our February count for this year. There are a lot of assumptions that are going to go into this budget.

In addition, the district is looking forward to several construction projects set to improve building safety and cosmetics.

Superintendent Tim Haist said the projects should be complete by fall.

We're hoping that we still have some time for our summer projects, Haist said. I feel like we're making good progress on those. You're going to see the exterior of the middle school work, I think start here in the next week or two. I know the work on the dugouts is going to start potentially next week, as well as the signage on the buildings. Hopefully, by the end of the summer, there's some lead time and they already have those signs, but we're hopeful that that's going to take place as well.

The cabling project for the new security systems within the buildings is underway and should be complete and installed by fall. The new system includes notification screens and improved networking and notification operations.

Students and staff will be doing training when the new school year starts so they can learn how the new security works and how to engage with it in an emergency situation.

In other agenda items, the board also discussed preparing for the new year's audit.

The boards next scheduled board meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. July 11 at the High School Media Center, at 21175 15 Mile Road in Big Rapids.

For more information on the BRPS board of education, visit the district website at www.brps.org.
The 2022 Congressional App Challenge will launch on Wednesday for all middle and high school students in Michigan's Fourth Congressional District.

Congressman John Moolenaar has invited students to enter the annual challenge.

Students can participate individually or in teams of up to four people. The winning app will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol. Students will also have the option to attend an event in Washington D.C., where they will showcase their app alongside other winning students from across the United States.

Entries must be submitted on the Congressional App Challenge website at www.congressionalappchallenge.us. Rules and a checklist for submissions are online. The deadline for entries is noon on Nov. 1.

Tess DeGayner/tess.degayner@hearstnp.com

The 2021 Congressional App Challenge yielded more than 2,100 fully functioning apps. Moolenaar named Midland High School's Lauren McGuirk, Allison Scheffer, and Elliana Rinn as the winners of the 2021 Congressional App Challenge in Michigans Fourth District.

The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where members of Congress host contests in their districts for middle school and high school students, encouraging them to learn to code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science.

Each participating member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and each winning team is invited to showcase their winning app to Congress during the annual #HouseOfCode festival.

The Fourth Congressional District is made up of 15 counties: Clare, Clinton, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, Missaukee, Ogemaw, Osceola, Roscommon, Shiawassee, and Wexford counties, as well as parts of Montcalm and Saginaw counties.

Additional questions about the App Challenge can be directed to Moolenaars Washington, D.C. office at 202-225-3561.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims.

Monday, June 13

9:02 p.m.  Police were called to the 4800 block of Inglewood Drive for a domestic violence complaint.

8:58 p.m.  A deputy performed a civil stand by to allow a vehicle belonging to a 32-year-old Lee Township woman to be retrieved from her residence.

7:49 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Mt. Haley Township residence regarding an alarm. A deputy checked the building and contacted the homeowner who advised he was having alarm issues.

3:30 p.m. - Deputies assisted community mental health with transporting a 39-year-old Geneva Township man from his residence to the ER regarding a mental health pickup order. The man was transported without incident.

12:44 p.m. - The driver of a silver truck took $64.50 in fuel in Coleman without paying. No plate obtained, several hour delay in reporting this.

1:24 p.m. - Deputies assisted Ingersoll Fire Department in entering a residence reference an unknown medical issue. Fire personnel had already gained entry and assisted the woman inside.

11:06 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to the area of N. Meridian Road near W. Saginaw Road for the report of a two-vehicle traffic crash.

10:27 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to Edenville Township regarding construction vehicles parked in the roadway causing a traffic hazard. The company put out flagmen upon the deputys request.

9:07 a.m.- Police responded to East Business US-10 and Waldo Avenue overpass for a traffic hazard.

8:53 a.m.- Police were called to the 4400 block of Campus Ridge Drive for a private property crash.

4:12 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Jasper Township location regarding a complaint of a suspicious vehicle that parked in front of the complainant's residence playing loud music. The deputy located the vehicle and spoke with a 38-year-old man who owned property across the road. The man advised he would keep the music down.

1:32 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Larkin Township residence regarding a report of an unknown man who was loading items into a pickup truck at the property next door to the complainant. The deputy spoke with the 71-year-old man who had a key to the residence. The man was house sitting and removing trash cans.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  A territorial dispute between Denmark and Canada over a barren and uninhabited rock in the Arctic that has led to decades of friendly friction has come to an end, with the two countries agreeing on Tuesday to divide the tiny island between them.

Under the agreement, a border will be drawn across the 1.3-square-kilometer (half-square-mile) Hans Island in the waterway between the northwestern coast of the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland and Canada's Ellesmere Island. The rock has no known mineral reserves of value.

It sends a clear signal that it is possible to resolve border disputes ... in a pragmatic and peaceful way, where the all parties become winners, said Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod. He said it was an important signal now that there is much war and unrest in the world.

Canada and Denmark agreed in 1973 to create a border through Nares Strait, halfway between Greenland and Canada. But they were unable to agree which country would have sovereignty over Hans Island, which lies about 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) south of the North Pole. In the end, they decided to work out the question of ownership later.

In the following years, the territorial dispute  nicknamed the whisky war by media  raised its head multiple times.

In 1984, Denmarks minister of Greenland affairs raised a Danish flag on the island, buried a bottle of Danish schnapps at the base of the flagpole and left a note saying, Welcome to the Danish island. Canadians then planted their own flag and left a bottle of Canadian brandy. Since then, the countries have in turns hoisted their flags and left bottles of various spirits in a sort of tot-for-tot dispute.

In 2002, Nana Flensburg was part of a Danish military crew that stood on the cliff to perform a flag-raising ceremony. The Politiken newspaper on Tuesday quote her as saying in her diary that "among the stones in the cairns were lots of bottles, glasses, etc. with documents that informed about previous visits to the island.

The agreement enters into force after the two countries internal procedures have been completed. In Denmark, the Parliament must first give its consent to the agreement.

It's a win for Canada. It's a win for Denmark, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said, while alluding to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

We're showing other countries how territorial disputes can be resolved ... What were saying to President Putin is, We have the best way to settle disputes.'"

The two foreign ministers also exchanged bottles of whiskey.

Although both countries have sent warships to the island, there was never any risk of a shooting war. Both sides resolved to settle the problem peacefully and talks began in 2005.

The agreement means the United States will no longer be the only country with which Canada shares a land border.

We now have a border with the E.U, Joly said.

It also settles maritime boundaries around the island which could have grown in importance as global warming in the Northwest Passage could open the channels of Canadas Arctic islands and shorten the voyage from Europe to the Far East. The United States, Canada, Russia, Denmark and Norway have been staking claims in the Arctic.

The settlement also gives indigenous access and rights of use to Hans island.

_____

Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
An effort to be more inclusive or the federal government being too nosy? Democrats and Republicans took starkly contrasting views Tuesday of proposed legislation that would put voluntary questions about sexual orientation and gender identity on federal demographic surveys.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform approved a bill requiring federal agencies that collect demographic data through surveys to ask about sexual orientation and gender identity, but no one would be required to give the information nor would they be penalized for refusing to do so.

Supporters of the legislation said it could help provide much better data about the LGBTQ population nationwide at a time when views about sexual orientation and gender identity are evolving and as right-wing extremists are firing up anti-LGBTQ rhetoric online.

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the committee's Democratic chair, said the measure would help make data collection as inclusive as possible.

By including this, we can ensure that our policies are more equitable and inclusive of the constituents we serve," said Maloney of New York.

Republican committee members called the measure government intrusion and overreach at its most personal.

We should be alarmed by this attempt by the federal government to gather such sensitive data, said Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona.

Republican committee members proposed amendments that would require the legislation to offer a definition of sex, only allow people to answer such questions about themselves and would limit the questions to adults only. Biggs also proposed an amendment that would require data collection of people in the U.S. illegally, in a discussion that referenced then-President Donald Trump's failed effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

All of the Republican amendments were voted down.

The legislation was debated at a time when the Census Bureau separately is requesting $10 million to study over several years the best ways to ask about sexual orientation and gender identity for its annual American Community Survey, and as President Joe Biden declared June as LGBTQ Pride Month." It also is taking place as some Republican-dominated state legislatures have restricted what can be discussed about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and banned transgender girls from competing in girls sports.

Some federal agencies already ask about sexual orientation and gender identity, but they are limited primarily to health and criminal justice surveys. The once-a-decade census and several Census Bureau surveys give same-sex couples a chance to answer if they are in a marriage or domestic partnership. But that omits LGBTQ people who are single or not living in the same household with their partner, and for the gender question, male and female are the only options.

The online Household Pulse Survey is the only Census Bureau survey that asks these questions, but it is categorized as experimental and may not meet some of the quality standards for the nation's largest statistical agency.

Several Democratic House members on Tuesday also urged the directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Census Bureau to add a category of Middle Eastern and North African, also known as MENA, for the once-a-decade census and other federal surveys.

The Census Bureau recommended adding a MENA category to the 2020 census, but the idea was dropped by the Trump administration.

Decades-old Office of Management and Budget standards have designated Middle Eastern and North African residents as white. Adding a separate MENA category would help guarantee that residents with roots from this region get federal resources and produce more accurate data, said the letter to OMD Director Shalanda Young and Census Bureau Director Robert Santos.

Since members of the MENA community trace their roots to either the Middle East or North Africa, OMBs standards fail to capture the lived experience of many community members," the letter said.

___

Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP
LANSING, Mich.  On Monday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to announce two business expansion projects expected to create 68 new jobs and generate a total private investment of $7.7 million in the cities of Cadillac and Fenton have received support from the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF).

Todays investments by American Recreational Products and Rexair will create a combined 68 good-paying jobs for Michiganders as we continue growing Michigans economy and investing in every region of the state, said Governor Whitmer. With jobs growing every day, unemployment decreasing at a record rate, strong small business growth and rising wages, our economy is on the move. I will stay focused on the fundamentals that matter most to working families and communities while ensuring Michigan leads the way in key industries like manufacturing. Our state is competing more aggressively than ever before to bring more jobs and investment to Michigan to grow our economy even further.

The decisions by American Recreational Products and Rexair to expand in Michigan highlight the enduring strength of Michigans value proposition: talented workforce, diverse industries and the business environment focused on long-term economic growth, said Quentin L. Messer, Jr., CEO of MEDC and president and chair of the MSF Board. These projects are representative of our holistic, people-first approach to economic development that rewards risk-takers while further securing Michigans leadership in the industries that will propel our economy into the future and benefit more Michiganders.

American Recreational Products is a subsidiary of Northern Composites, a manufacturer of composites and plastics for John Deere, Navistar, Crest Marine, Avalon Pontoons and more. The company has three locations in Michigan and employs more than 150 residents.

American Recreational Products facility in Owosso has reached its capacity with no options to expand. The company has identified an existing facility in the city of Fenton that can accommodate its existing business as well as a new fiberglass product line.

The project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $4 million and create 59 jobs, supported by a $250,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant. Michigan was chosen for the project over competing sites in Minnesota and Missouri.

The project will bring good manufacturing jobs to the area and will further cement the companys presence in Michigan. American Recreational Products supports personal growth of its employees and takes pride in promoting from within. The company employs many veterans and uses local schools to reach talent in disadvantaged areas and underrepresented employees.

The city of Fenton anticipates approval of a five-year Industrial Facilities Tax Abatement in support of the project. Individuals interested in careers with American Recreational Products should visit nationalcomposites.com/careers/.

National Composites is very excited to expand into the great city of Fenton. The opening of American Recreational Products will be a great new step for our company, said National Composites Chief Executive Officer Adam Fenton. It allows us to have a more targeted focus on the production of our proprietary boat lines, Paddle Wheeler and BOKA Marine, as well as open up more capacity and job creation opportunities at our other Michigan facilities.

Rexair, founded in 1936, is a leading direct seller and manufacturer of premium vacuum cleaning systems for residential customers. The companys principal product, the Rainbow vacuum cleaner, is sold in countries around the globe through a network of third-party distributors. Rexair is headquartered in Troy and currently employs 228 people in Michigan.

Due to supply chain overseas, the company is bringing manufacturing of certain products back home to Michigan. Rexair plans to expand at its facility in the city of Cadillac, where it will install nine new injection molding machines. The project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $3.35 million and create nine jobs, supported by a $48,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant. Michigan was chosen for the project over a competing site in Kentucky.

Rexair is excited to be working with MEDC and the city of Cadillac in our combined efforts to grow Michigans economy and employment opportunities, said Rexair Environmental Health and Safety Administrator Jeff Nerem. This is truly a team effort to invest in all our futures.

The project will bring nine new jobs and retain eight jobs by onshoring a production line from China. In addition, the project will establish the companys presence and future investment in Michigan. Rexair is focused on environmentally responsible manufacturing, and the new machines will decrease their power consumption by as much as 60%.

The city of Cadillac plans to support company by aiding with permitting or other requirements. For information on careers with Rexair, visit rainbowsystem.com/opportunities/request-information/.

I am thrilled to learn about Rexairs continued commitment to reinvest in their city of Cadillac, Michigan facility, and it is truly wonderful to see the impact of the collaborative efforts between the MEDC and the City result in such a positive outcome, said Cadillac City Manager Marcus A. Peccia. The creation of new positions coupled with nearly $1.4 million in capital investment will lead to more local sustainability for the Rexair facility, additional employment opportunities, and is another great example of viability of Cadillac as the place for economic development activities. A sincere thank you to both Rexair and the MEDC for making this investment in the city of Cadillac.
Utilizing data from the U.S. Department of Education, HeyTutor analyzed how federal educational relief funds were distributed during the pandemic.
Brown-Forman Co./Coca-Cola Co.

One of the most popular cocktails is coming to store shelves in cans.

Jack Daniels and Coca-Cola, more commonly known as "a Jack and Coke," will be available later this year in both a regular and zero option. Brown-Forman Corporation, which owns Jack Daniels, and Coca-Cola made the announcement in a press release.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP)  A second arrest has been made in a mass shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where three people died and 14 were injured, police said.

Alexis Lewis, 36, was charged Monday with criminal homicide, reckless endangerment, and possession of a firearm during the commission or attempt to commit a dangerous felony, Chattanooga Police said in a statement.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)  Calmer winds and cooler temperatures Tuesday allowed firefighters across the U.S. West to get a better handle on blazes that have forced hundreds of people from their homes.

As red flag warnings expired and winds died down in northern Arizona, firefighters took advantage of the weather changes to attack a 31-square-mile (81-square-kilometer) blaze by air and at the fire's edges.

They're optimistic to make some headway, fire information officer Cathie Pauls said.

The forecast for later this week called for a chance of showers, which could dampen the blaze but might bring the chance of new fires from lightning strikes.

Meanwhile, authorities downgraded evacuations for the larger of two wildfires burning on the outskirts of Flagstaff, Arizona.

That fire made a run into a wilderness area and reached a lava dome to the northeast, away from most neighborhoods. One home and a secondary structure had burned, the Coconino County Sheriff's Office said. About 350 homes remained evacuated Tuesday.

Another 280 homes were evacuated because of a smaller wildfire that burned about 6 square miles (16 square kilometers) in a more remote area.

Sandra Morales planned to return home Wednesday, a day after evacuations for her neighborhood were lifted.

Still, she worried about the smoke, potential wind shifts and the risk of flooding later in the fire area.

Next thing you know, we have to be worried about the monsoons and all that, she said. That debris, if it gets severe, it's going to come down the mountain.

Climate change and an enduring drought have fanned the frequency and intensity of forest and grassland fires. Multiple states had early starts to the wildfire season this spring.

The number of square miles burned so far this year is more than double the 10-year national average, and states like New Mexico have already set records with devastating blazes that destroyed hundreds of homes while causing environmental damage that is expected to affect water supplies.

Nationally, more than 6,200 wildland firefighters were battling nearly three dozen uncontained fires that had charred over 1,780 square miles (4,611 square kilometers), much of it in the U.S. Southwest, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

In southwest Alaska, favorable winds shifted the progression of a fire that's burned 202 square miles (523 square kilometers) of dry grass and brush, fire managers said Tuesday. No one had been evacuated, and no structures were damaged or lost.

In California, firefighters reported significant progress against a wildfire near the San Gabriel Mountains community of Wrightwood, but evacuation orders and warnings remained in place. The blaze has scorched about 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers) since erupting over the weekend and was 27% contained.

In Northern California's Tehama County, firefighters gained 30% containment of a fire that destroyed 10 buildings, damaged four others and threatened about 160 structures, fire officials said.

In a wildfire-related situation, a 50-mile (80-km) stretch of State Route 70 in Northern California remained closed indefinitely after mud, boulders and dead trees inundated lanes during flash floods along a burn scar.

___

Associated Press writers John Antczak in Los Angeles and Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report.
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Abdoulaye Diop, has expressed his country's position, concerns and expectations for a possible renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)
Harare, Zmbabwe (PANA) - Human rights group, Amnesty International, has asked the Zimbabwe authorities to thoroughly investigate the murder of a woman whose dismembered body was found recently
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Prime Minister appointed by Parliament, Fathi Bachagha, says his government has started working from the central city of Sirte, assuring that it will preserve the unity and stability of the country and support the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections on the dates to be specified in a roadmap
New York, US (PANA) - Long-term uncertainty related to the length of the transition period in Mali has made it even more difficult to achieve progress on implementing the 2015 peace agreement, the top UN official in the country told the Security Council on Monday
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, on Monday dismissed the British Governments proposal to process United Kingdom-bound asylum seekers in Rwanda, describing the offshore deal between the two countries announced in April, as all wrong
Photo: (Photo : Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Around 95,000 tins of baby formula arrived in the United States from Australia on Sunday, June 12, potentially offering relief to many parents who have struggled to obtain infant formula for their children in recent weeks.

Bubs Australia was able to strike a deal with American grocery chains Kroger Co. and Albertsons Companies to import the company's formula under the fourth flight of Operation Fly Formula, the manufacturer announced.

Bubs Founder and CEO Kristy Carr issued a statement, telling ABC News, "We extend our thanks to our retail partners, who will [endeavor] that our products quickly get to retail shelves in the States and stores in most need with the highest stock-out rates."

Another shipment from Bubs to arrive on June 16

Sunday's shipment, which touched down in the city of Los Angeles in California, is one of two entering the United States this week from Bubs Australia, with the second one arriving on Thursday, June 16, in Columbus, Ohio.

Both shipments from Bubs Australia will bring more than four million 8-ounce bottles, or 380,000 pounds, of baby formula to Kroger and Albertson's shelves starting on June 20.

The Biden administration has pushed to restock store shelves across the United States recently after a massive baby formula shortage forced moms to go on social media to trade formula.

According to the White House, it has struck deals with various manufacturers to bring nearly 128 million bottles of formula to the United States. President Joe Biden said during a virtual meeting with members of his administration and formula manufacturers on June 1 that there is nothing more stressful than the feeling you can't get what your child needs.

Biden added that his administration would quickly use every tool available to restock shelves. He invoked the Defense Production Act last month to address the baby formula shortage so that suppliers in the U.S. could get necessary ingredients to formula manufacturers as fast as possible, according to NPR.

Read Also: Tech Experts Warn Parents of Baby Formula Scams They Can Be Tricked By

Abbott restarts production in Michigan plant

Abbott Nutrition plant is partly to blame for the nationwide shortage after its plant in Sturgis, Michigan, was shut down for months following an inspection by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that found Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria, which can be deadly to infants, in several areas of the facility.

However, there is some good news with Abbott already restarting its specialty formula production in the Michigan plant. The company said that it is starting with the production of EleCare, an amino acid-based hypoallergenic product for babies and infants who cannot tolerate other formulas, as well as other specialty formulas.

Abbott added that the first batches of its Elecare product are expected to be available to consumers in the United States around June 20, according to CNN. The company said in a Saturday statement that it is also working hard to fulfill the steps necessary to restart production of Similac and other formulas and will do so as soon as possible.

Related Article: Buffalo Mom Says Son Shot at Tops is Lucky to be Alive, Calls it a Miracle and Divine Intervention
Photo: (Photo : DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images)

The heartbroken mother of a 13-year-old A-student who drowned along with a friend in Jamaica Bay demanded to know on Sunday, June 12, why his school waited hours to tell her that he had cut class - well after her son died.

Samantha Singh, whose teenage son Daniel Persaud drowned with pal Ryan Wong shortly before midday on Friday, June 10, while swimming in Queens, told the New York Post she wondered whether her child's death could have been averted had she been told earlier by authorities that he skipped school to go for a swim in the bay.

Singh said her son was supposed to attend MS 137, and school officials did not call her to let her know that he was not in class until hours later. When talking about the incident, Singh was emotional, saying, "They need to inform the parents right away, especially a middle school. We don't receive a call until 7 p.m. So if we could have received a call earlier, I have a track on his phone."

Singh asks why the school did not inform her immediately

Singh said that when the school finally alerted her that her son was missing, they told her that he had been gone since a little before 10 a.m. Singh blamed her son's school, saying, "I have four kids. In this day and age, you have to know where they are all the time. I thought he was in school. Just a couple of hours, I didn't track him. At 10, 11 [a.m.], I need to know he's not in school."

Singh added that the school where her two oldest daughters went, Richmond Hill, would have called right away if any of her daughters left school. Singh also questioned the bus driver that took them to the beach, asking why he did not notice the little kids alone.

According to the New York Daily News, Persaud and Ryan, who was also 13 years old, were with a group of friends swimming in the bay near Cross Bay Boulevard and Beach 96th Street around 11:40 a.m. when the unfortunate tragedy unfolded.

Cops said that the two boys, both from Richmond Hill, were on a sandbar when it suddenly collapsed, trapping both teens under the turbulent waters.

Read Also: Anguish for Denver Mom as Porch Pirate Steals Package of Baby Formula

Both teens rushed to Jamaica Hospital

NYPD aviation, harbor-patrol crews, and firefighters scoured the waters for the two boys and eventually found the teens unconscious. They were both rushed to Jamaica Hospital where they were later pronounced dead.

Ryan's mother, Gloria Wong, posed an emotional message on Facebook on Saturday, writing that her boy will forever live in her heart. Ryan's uncle was distraught as well, telling a media outlet in an interview that it was so sad that he would never get the chance to grow up. He added that it hurts a lot.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are an estimated 3,960 fatal unintentional drownings every year in the United States. That includes boating-related drowning, resulting in an average of 11 drowning deaths per day in the U.S.

Related Article: Parents Hesitant to Get Their Kids Vaccinated Against COVID-19 Because of Lower Vaccine Efficacy
Photo: (Photo : FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

New York City has spent more than $200,000 on drag queen shows in public performances and story readings at various schools, libraries, and festivals. Some parents have voiced their outrage as they have not consented to these activities for their children.

A mom told state Assembly candidate Helen Qiu that she was shocked because her 11-year-old son was exposed to drag queen culture without her permission. She also pointed out that drag queen shows are not part of the curriculum.

PS 191 mom Reese Harrington echoed what the other mom said, adding that conversations about gender fluidity should occur at home between the parents and their kids and not at drag queen shows.

Storm Neverson, who has two children under ten years old, does not think drag queen shows are appropriate for their ages. She said she was briefed about these shows, but it was more like a heads-up than actually asking permission from the parents. The mom believes that her kids will likely understand gender fluidity if they are in middle school.

Read Also: School Officials Investigate Preschool for Using Flashcards Showing Pregnant Man

Some parents said that additions and variations to the program have expanded in recent years to include lessons encouraging the children to pick their pronouns or come up with their drag names, per the New York Post.

The drag shows entail a 45-minute story hour whose performers are trained by the librarians to read certain books that highlight diversity. The drag queens also sing and do arts and crafts with the kids.

Proposed Funding Pull Out

Drag Queen Story Hour NYC received $207,000 of taxpayers' money in less than four years to mount these events featuring cross-dressers. As of January 2022, the group has organized around 40 drag shows in 34 public schools for K-12 to high school in all of the city's five boroughs.

This year, $80,000 has been allocated to the City Council. However, Vickie Paladino, a Council representative, said she would pull out funding for these drag shows in her district. She said programs that teach little kids about gender fluidity, paid "out of the pockets of hardworking New York taxpayers," are no longer happening on her watch.

According to Daily Mail, the state's Department of Education said that these programs were aimed at helping curb violence against gender-nonconforming people and transgender. Suzan Sume, the department's spokesperson, said that young children might learn early on that they have to respect different people.

June is Pride Month

The controversy comes as June is Pride Month for the LGBTQI+ community. Earlier, protesters gathered in Manhattan with plans to heckle Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was invited to a private affair, per ABC 7.

In March, DeSantis signed a law in his state to ban schools from teaching younger students about gender identity and sexual orientation. He also agreed to disallow gender therapies in Florida and revoked Medicaid for adults seeking treatments for their transition. The LGBTQI+ community believes that these decisions have been an attack on them.

Related Article: 'Generation Drag' Documentary Produced, Hosted by Tyra Banks Accused of Corrupting Kids Training as Drag Queens
Photo: (Photo : Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

American regulators have historically inspected baby formula plants in the United States at least once a year, but they did not inspect any of the three biggest manufacturers in 2020, according to federal records that The Associated Press reviewed.

When they finally managed to get inside an Abbott Nutrition formula plant in Sturgis, Michigan, after a two-year gap, regulators found standing water and lax sanitation procedures in the facility. But inspectors offered only voluntary suggestions to Abbott for fixing the problems and issued no formal warning to the formula maker.

Inspectors would return to the plant five months later after four infants who consumed powdered formula from the Michigan facility suffered bacterial infections. They found bacterial contamination inside Abbott's factory, leading to a lengthy four-month shutdown and turning a festering supply shortage of formula into a full-blown crisis.

The U.S. forced to import formula products from overseas

It sent parents scrambling to find the much-needed formula and forced the United States to airlift products from overseas, according to a report by CNN.

The gap in inspections of baby formula plants, brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic, is getting new scrutiny from the U.S. Congress and government watchdogs, who are investigating the series of missteps that led to the crisis.

A recent bill would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to inspect infant formula facilities every six months. Aside from that, the government's inspector general for health has also launched an inquiry into the FDA's handling of Abbott's Michigan plant, the largest in the United States.

Abbott resumed production at the Sturgis plant early this month under a legally binding agreement with the FDA, but the company's shutdown and nationwide shortage exposed how concentrated the formula industry has become in the United States, with a handful of manufacturers accounting for roughly 90 percent of the market.

The FDA pulled most of its safety inspectors from the field as COVID-19 swept across the United States in early 2020, skipping thousands of routine plant inspections in the process. The federal agency said in a statement that it did conduct more than 800 "mission critical" inspections during the first year of the COVID pandemic.

Read Also: Operation Fly Formula Makes Another Delivery, Flies in 190,000 Pounds of Baby Formula From Australia

FDA only resumed routine inspections in July 2021

Regulators selected facilities for inspections during that period based on whether they carried a specific safety risk or were needed to produce an important medical therapy. Only three of the country's 23 facilities that make, package, or distribute formula made the cut. The FDA only resumed routine inspections back in July 2021.

The inspection records that were reviewed showed gaps as large as 2.5 years between the 2019 inspections of the FDA and when regulators returned to facilities owned by the three leading formula manufacturers in the U.S. - Reckitt, Gerber, and Abbott.

According to agency records, the FDA has yet to return to two key plants owned by Gerber and one owned by Reckitt. UPI reported that all those facilities are operating around the clock to boost formula production in the U.S.

Related Article: Baker Mom Beats The Odds Again, Gives Birth to third Set of Twins in 2 Years
Nashville International Airport (BNA), Tennessee, has announced a new improvement and expansion plan for two concourses, a new air freight building and terminal roadway enhancements.

New Horizon is expected to cost US$1.4bn and will be phased in over the next six years with a scheduled completion in late 2028. The project is the next step in the construction and renovation of Nashville International Airport following BNA Vision, which began in 2017 and will continue through 2023. New Horizon funding will come from bonds, federal and state aviation grants, Passenger Facility Charges (PFCs) and other airport funds.

') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // -->

Doug Kreulen, BNA president and CEO, said, When we broke ground on BNA Vision, our goal was to expand the infrastructure of BNA to better support Nashvilles impressive growth trajectory over the next 20 years. The passenger volume weve seen at Nashville International Airport continues to outpace our previous projections, which is a great sign for our city, but it also means that we have to continue building for the future. Its paramount for us to focus on a new horizon and continue to build a world-class airport to support more and more domestic and international travelers.

New Horizons preliminary plan includes:

Concourse A and D improvements  Concourse A and D will see extensions and improvements including additional gates, moving walkways, and additional concessions in both concourses.

New air freight building  a new air freight facility will be constructed to better support airline cargo requirements.

Terminal roadway improvements  capacity will increase and ease traffic flow into and out of the airport terminal and parking garages.

Baggage handling system improvements  upgrades to the baggage handling system will sort bags by flight, speed security inspections, and deliver passenger luggage to and from the aircraft faster.

The New Horizon design phase is expected to begin in August 2022 with construction on the extension of Concourse D scheduled to begin in late 2023  with completion of all projects in late 2028.
Apple supplier TSMC sits at the forefront of mass production of next-generation chips. The company is expected to break ground this year on a 2-nm fabrication facility and expects to begin large-scale manufacturing of 3-nm chips later this year, reports Nikkei Asia.

Smaller semiconductors lead to miniaturization and improved performance of devices. The 2-nm chips will be used in products such as cutting-edge smartphones, quantum computers, data centers and. Those chips also reduce power consumption, shrinking carbon footprints.

For multiple reasons, including national security, Japan will work with the U.S. to launch a domestic manufacturing base for 2-nanometer semiconductors as early as fiscal 2025.

Tokyo and Washington will provide support under a bilateral chip technology partnership. Private companies from the two countries will pursue research on design and mass production.

Japanese and U.S. businesses could jointly establish a new company, or Japanese corporations could set up a new manufacturing hub. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will partially subsidize the cost of research and development as well as capital expenditures.

Joint research will start this summer at the earliest, and a research and mass production center will be formed between fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2027.

Japan is home to strong chip materials makers such as Shin-Etsu Chemical and Sumco, while the U.S. has the chipmaking equipment giant Applied Materials. This cooperation between chipmakers and key suppliers is intended to put mass production tech for 2-nm chips within reach. For more, read the full Nikkei Asia report.

Considering that the iPhone is the leading smartphone in the U.S., the group behind the new U.S. base of manufacturing 2nm will no doubt make every effort to convince Apple to partner with this effort in some capacity.
Writer, director and producer Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson attend the Tribeca Festival premiere of Apple Original Films Cha Cha Real Smooth at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

(Click on image to Enlarge)

Apple Original Films hosted the Tribeca Festival premiere of the Sundance Audience Award winner Cha Cha Real Smooth, debuting in select theaters and on Apple TV+ on Friday, June 17.

Raiff writes, directs and stars alongside Johnson, Garrett, Leslie Mann and newcomers Burghardt and Assante in this tale of unconventional love that brims with emotional honesty.

The story is about 22-year-old Andrew fresh out of college and without a clear life path going forward and stuck back at home with his family in New Jersey. But if theres one thing that belongs on his nonexistent resume, its how to get a party started, which lands him the perfect job of motivational dancing at the bar and bat mitzvahs for his younger brothers classmates. When Andrew befriends a local mom, Domino, and her daughter, Lola, he finally discovers a future he wants  even if it might not be his own.

(Click on image to greatly Enlarge)

Archive: Apple TV News
Autochek, the automotive technology company making car ownership more accessible and affordable across Africa, has partnered with Fidelity Bank, Ghanas largest privately-owned indigenous bank, to provide easier access to more financing options for consumers and businesses as a catalyst for growth in Ghanas automotive sector.



Since the acquisition of Cheki Ghana in 2020, Autochek has been building the financial infrastructure to drive the penetration of auto financing in Ghana and across Africa, powered by a data analytics engine that makes it easier for financial institutions to offer credit to consumers and businesses. This new partnership will make it easier for consumers and businesses across Ghana to leverage Fidelity Banks range of financing options to purchase the desired vehicles via the Autochek platform.



Ghana is one of the fastest growing automobile markets in Africa, projected to reach $11 billion in value by 2026, with a strong market for used cars and growing market for new cars. However, a fragmented marketplace means stakeholders are often working in silos which leads to various inefficiencies across the value chain. Autochek is bringing together all relevant stakeholders to improve the automotive finance value proposition across the continent and drive shared value for consumers, manufacturers, financial institutions and other stakeholders.



When customers identify a vehicle that is available for financing on the Autochek platform, they simply need to fill a short form to apply for the autoloan. If they meet the required criteria, they will begin to receive offers from financial institutions such as Fidelity Bank in Ghana. When the customer accepts the offer, they are able to receive their vehicle within 3 - 5 days.



According to Ayo Olabisi, Country Manager at Autochek, Our mission is to deepen the penetration of auto financing across Africa, and Ghana represents a significant market on that mission. Fidelity Bank has an established reputation for delivering great products and services and we are looking forward to working more closely with them to connect more Ghanaians to auto financing that works for them and other stakeholders in the automotive industry.



Nana Esi Idun-Arkhurst, Divisional Director, Retail Banking at Fidelity Bank said This partnership with Autocheck is to support individuals and businesses to purchase their dream cars at competitive rates and without stress. We have an exciting range of financing options that they can take advantage of and we are confident that with Autocheks technology, we will achieve significant impact across Ghanas automotive value chain.

This collaboration emphasizes our commitment to partner with relevant stakeholders to roll out products and services that align to the needs of our numerous customers and non-customers alike, she added.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Customers of banks who are yet to update their records with the Ghana Card have less than 20 days to do so or else they risk not being able to engage in any financial transaction through their accounts.



Some banks including Stanbic, have started sending messages to their customers reminding them of a Bank of Ghana (BoG) directive that starting July 1, the GhanaCard shall be the only identification card to undertake transactions at all BoG licensed and regulated financial institutions.



A message to a customer who is yet to update the records, urging him to act quickly, sent by Stanbic on Sunday June 12 said  In 20 days , you will not be able to perform transactions without your Ghana Card per the BoG directive.



CBG also in a message said  Please be informed that effective July 1, 2022 the Ghana Card shall be the only identification card that will be accepted for all banking transactions at CBG as directed by the BoG.



The BoG institutions that will not accept customers who fail to update the records include Banks; Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions; Non-Deposit-Taking Financial Institutions; Payment Service Providers and Dedicated Electronic Money Issuers; Forex Bureaus and Credit Reference Bureaus.



In furtherance of its objective of ensuring the safety of the financial system, Bank of Ghana pursuant to Regulation 7 of the National Identity Register, 2012 (L.I.2111), hereby directs that with effect from 1st July, 2022, the Ghana Card shall be the only identification card that will be used to undertake transactions at all Bank of Ghana licensed and regulated financial institutions including: i. Banks; ii. Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions; iii. Non-Deposit-Taking Financial Institutions; iv. Payment Service Providers and Dedicated Electronic Money Issuers; v. Forex Bureaus and Credit Reference Bureaus.



In line with this Notice, Section 30 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044) and Regulation 12 of the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, 2011 (L.I. 1987), all financial institutions shall take steps to update customer records with the Ghana Card.



Customers of Bank of Ghana regulated financial institutions are therefore advised to update their records with their respective financial institutions with the Ghana Card in line with this Notice.



Some analysts welcomed the move by the BoG.



For instance, a Global Investment Analyst, Mr Patrick Abankwa Baah, said that the level of confidence banks had in their customers would increase following the directive.



He told Miriam Osei Agyeman on the Business Brief on TV3 Wednesday January 19 that with this new directive, banks are now assured that customers will not flee with their loans without being traced because they can be easily tracked with the use of the Ghana Card which contains security features and details of the holder.



He said We accept the voter card, we accept the NHIS , we accept the Ghana Card and we even accept the drivers license but it is time that we consolidate all of these cards into one, which will be accepted by all.



For me, this call has two effects; it has the positive and negative effects. The July deadline is, for me, good but if the NIA does not take time to register the people that are still in the system then it is going to be a bit of challenge with the financial inclusion exercise on the part of the Bank of Ghana.



So, we have to ensure that as many Ghanaians as possible in the age bracket gets access to the card so that they can hold their bank accounts where ever they are.



The positive side of this is that it will give banks the leverage to be able to to have confidence in their customers because the Ghana Card is is now linked to all other cards including your SSNIT and driving license so when Banks are giving out loans they have confidence that customers will not be able to run away with their money.

















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.

Featured Video
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has assured students of Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi that his outfit will do all it can to protect them.



Dr. Akuffo Dampare upon hearing the protest by students of Islamic Senior High School which reportedly resulted in the hospitalisation of some 20 students moved to the scene with a team of officers from Accra.



The students who had blocked the road in protest of a bad road in front of their school were allegedly teargassed by Police who had been called in by concerned residents and motorists.



Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Director of the National Ambulance Service, Sommit Duut, has disclosed that police officers who responded to the protest of the students did not use live bullets in their attempt to disperse the crowd.



He noted the students rather suffered respiratory distress.



According to him, the response to the police was informed by the conduct of the protesters.



However, addressing the students on their campus after a visit to those at the hospital, the Inspector General of Police, disclosed that their classmates are doing well adding that he cherishes them as his own sons and daughters.



Each and every one of you has been brought to this world to achieve a particular purpose for which no other person can accomplish it. Therefore we have a responsibility to ensure that all of you are safe and live to your full potential so as for you to be able to distinguish yourself and your God given destiny for this generation and general unborn.



Therefore, anything that will take you out of this world before the accomplishment of your destiny is something that is ungodly and we will do whatever it takes to ensure that it doesnt happen, Dr. Dampare assured the students.



He continued: That is why as a parent who considers all of you as either a son or a daughter as soon as the issue happens we have to stop everything we are doing in Accra and come and make sure that you are okay. Because we have sons like you, we have daughters like you.



He, however, advised the student body not to take the law into their hands when they feel something is going wrong.



Therefore with what we have seen we can go back to Accra with the spirit and mind and you are safe. With this incident that happened as soon as I touched base and we went around and saw the dangers that you are exposed to. I made a couple of calls and the Urban Roads and its leadership assured me to quickly come around and ensure that the right is done, he reiterated.





Source: starrfm









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Some 35 staff of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital have reportedly contracted the COVID-19 virus.



According to sources at the hospital, 70 percent of the 35 infected staff got the virus from within the hospital while 30 percent of the infections came from outside the health facility, asaaseradio.com reports.



A notice shared by the authorities of the hospital has urged its staff to adhere strictly to the COVID-19 protocols so as to protect themselves.



As healthcare workers, learn to live safely with coronavirus (COVID-19), it is our responsibility to reduce the risk of catching COVID-19 and passing it on to another healthcare worker or family members, asaaseradio.com quoted the notice shared by the hospital to its staff.



Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has indicated that there has been a gradual surge in the number of COVID-19 cases across the Greater Accra Region over the last month.



According to the Director-General of the GHS, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Ghana is currently recording a total of 44 cases daily.



The development follows relatively low cases of the virus recorded in previous months - March and April.



Breaking down the figures during a press briefing on Wednesday, May 8, 2022, Dr. Kuma Aboagye said the average daily cases of COVID-19 recorded in Greater Accra Region has increased from 1.3 in April to 13.3 cases in May to 44 cases per day in June.



According to him, the country was recording a total of 4,488 confirmed cases in January, which reduced to 2,523 in February with an average of 84 cases recorded in a day.



These numbers further reduced to 152 in March and then to 39 in April. The numbers however started rising again in May to 399 and currently, there are 267 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country.



The Ghana Health Service Director-General however emphasized that the current outbreak is currently amongst children between 0 and 15 years.



The service has also advocated for all to keep the safety protocols and wear nose masks, especially in enclosed areas.







Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie, has urged politicians and influential people in society to desist from interfering in the operations of the Medical and Dental Council Ghana in ensuring best practices among practitioners and dealing with quark doctors.



He said if a doctors attitude fell foul of rules and regulations governing the profession, politicians must not interfere with the system put in place to achieve strong regulatory practices.



Dr Afriyie said this when members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health paid a working visit to the Council as part of a three-week tour of agencies under the health sector.



Visit

Other agencies the Select Committee intended to visit include the Food and Drugs Authority and the National Health Insurance Authority.



The meeting was held behind closed doors and briefing journalists later, Dr Afriyie said it came up during discussions that some of the challenges the council was faced with had to do with quark doctors and interference from politicians, family members and influential people.



On quark doctors, he said, there were a lot of those miscreants whose activities and practices were detrimental to public health stressing that we face financial constraints in dealing with this problem.



In view of that, he pointed out that, the continuous capping of the Council was not in the interest of the public and that of good practice.



He pointed out that the Council needed to have full resources available to execute its mandate adding that, the committee would pick the issue of capping up in the form of a private member motion on the floor of Parliament.



The council is required to submit 34 per cent of whatever money it generated to the presidency and that is what the capping is.



Capping is serious

Contributing to the discussion, the Ranking Member on Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, described the capping issue as a very serious matter pointing out that, it did not make sense for the government to be siphoning money from institutions that it must rather invest in.



The health sector is a very sensitive one that any inefficiency may lead to loss of lives. If there is anything for the government to be highly interested in, it should be the health sector, he said.



He said the attention of the committee had been drawn to the fact that the Legislative Instrument the Council was currently working with needed amendment and called on the sector ministry to raise the issue in Parliament to enable the committee to expedite action on it.



In his remarks, the Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council, Prof. Paul Kwame Nyame, commended the committee for the visit and said it was the first of its kind by the Select Committee to the Council.









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.

Featured Video
Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Constituency in the Volta region of Ghana, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has warned that anyone found to have committed any wrongdoing in the construction of the controversial National Cathedral will be prosecuted.



Some people will be prosecuted over the National Cathedral project when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) wins political power to form the next government, he noted.



Mr. Ablakwa who doubles as the Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament alleged that the government has released an amount of 32million to one Sir David Adjaye & Associates Limited in 2021 without approval by Parliament.



The North Tongu lawmaker without mincing words opined that the 32million paid to Sir Adjaye and Associates Limited is illegal.



MPs have not approved all of these colossal sums of money that are being released to companies we are seeing for the first time.



We are not even aware of the procurement processes that were followed for these companies and these consultants, who are today receiving hundreds of millions of Ghana cedis, Mr. Ablakwa said.



The North Tongu MP explained on GTVs Breakfast Show on Monday, June 13, 2022, hinted that Hundreds of Ghana Cedis have been spent without the foreknowledge of Parliament.



On Sunday, June 12, 2022, the Finance Minister spoke about only 25million cedis as money so far spend on the National Cathedral.





Source: gbc









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The flagbearer of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), Kofi Akpaloo, has stated that the LPG government can easily work towards ending the importation of poultry products.



According to him, the LPG will outline proactive measures to ensure they increase the production of poultry and halt the importation of chicken.



Additionally, he opined that LPG will support farmers with input, equipment, and storage. Since maize forms a major part of staple food, such an initiative would also benefit other sectors and not only poultry.



Consequently, the country can increase the production and storage of maize. This would help to evade the skyrocketing price of maize during the off-harvest season, "Kofi Akpaloo told Accra-based Kingdom FM.



"If I become President of Ghana I will ban the importation of chicken and other poultry products thus will make sure we increase production here to feed ourselves," he added.



On managing the farm, he advised that owners of farms, especially larger outlets set full corporate governance and management structure to help them run the business professionally.



Kofi Akpaloo is very confident that Ghana can end the importation of poultry if it looks at these seriously. He posits that the poultry business is a very lucrative area with a huge market and people should not be afraid to enter.













Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Queen Elizabeth II, who celebrated her 70th year on the British throne earlier this month, has became the worlds second longest-serving monarch, with only Frances Louis XIV ahead of her in the history books.



Having ruled for 70 years and 127 days, Elizabeth II has beaten the likes of Franz Joseph I, who ruled over Austria and Austro-Hungary for almost 68 years, and Thailands Bhumibol Adulyadej, taking over the second place from the latter on Monday.



Elizabeth II became queen at 25, after her father, King George VI, died on 6 February 1952. Ruling over the United Kingdom and fourteen other Commonwealth realms, she is already the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, as well as the longest currently serving head of state.



Louis XIV, also known as le Roi Soleil or Sun King, reigned over France from age four, but he only took over the rule himself in 1661.



Elizabeth II would have to rule until May 2024 to become the longest-serving monarch in history.



Although Elizabeth II, now 96, reached the seven decades mark in February, her Platinum Jubilee celebrations were marked with four days of festivities across the UK just last weekend.



Despite fewer public functions as of late due to mobility problems, the queen made an appearance at the Buckingham Palace during the Jubilee weekend.



She thanked the British public at the end of the celebrations in a statement, saying that she was humbled and touched and that she continued to be committed to serving you to the best of my ability.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu-Bio, who doubles as the National Chairman of the 2022 Green Ghana Planning Committee has disclosed that a total of 22,671,696 million seedlings have so far been distributed for the 2022 edition of the Green Ghana agenda, which well exceeds that initial 20 million seedling targeted.



Addressing the media on behalf of the Sector Minister, Samuel, A. Jinapor during a press conference in the aftermath of the Green Ghana Day, on Monday, 13th June, 2022, the Deputy Minister called for an effective monitoring and supervision of the seedlings planted to fuel the success of the 2022 edition of government's aggressive afforestation and reforestation program.



"We need to make conscious efforts to nurture the trees by watering them, protect them from destruction, prevent fires, weed under them until they grow to maturity" he said.



The Deputy Lands Minister added that, the "survival rate this year will be more than the 85% survival rate last year. The Ministry has put in place a Monitoring and Assessment Team under the Chairmanship of Hon. Francis Manu-Adabor, who is the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Lands and Forestry to undertake comprehensive field assessment of trees planted this year which includes other members of the Committee like myself and the CEO of the Forestry Commission."



Hon. Owusu-Bio used the occasion to rebuff claims by some section of the media that the Green Ghana Day program was politicized and partisan, indicating that the Green Ghana Day was a national assignment and that the inclusiveness of Ghanaians with diverse backgrounds in the political and religious landscape such as the Former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, Former President John Agyekum Kufuor, the National Chief Imam and high profile members of the Clergy gives this clear indication that it is for Ghana.



In responding to a question posed by the media on the budget and expenditure of the Green Ghana Day, Hon. Benito Owusu disclosed that so far, GHC6million cedis was disbursed to the Ministry for the Green Ghana Day, out of which the 22 Million tree seedlings were obtained, which also included publicity and other expenses in the lead up to the planting.



He added that subsequently, a detailed report of the expenses will be made available to the public just like that of last year.



The CEO of the Forestry Commission, Mr. John Allotey on his part, gave an indept presentation on the provisional results of the seedlings distributed and planted on the Green Ghana Day.



Pertinent among things highlighted in his presentation were the individual targets assigned to Regions and the actual results achieved.



He noted that among the 16 regions, the Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono, Bono East, Eastern and the Greater Accra Regions exceeded their target while the Northern, North East and Oti Region are yet to meet their target due to low rainfall in these regions.



He said, from the 50% target purported to be planted in the forest reserves, 40.2% have been planted and the other 50% for homes and other locations have seen a 59.8% work done, while reiterating that on the whole 22,671,696 seedlings have been distributed so far.



"The national target was to plant 20 million seedlings but as we speak now, we have distributed 22,671,696 and even with this, the districts are still entering some of the figures and so we will update you as and when they come in" He disclosed



He also gave an analysis on the performances of various districts in the regions saying that " although some districts are yet to meet their target, generally performances have been very impressive in the various districts"



He mentioned the highest seedlings distributed per demand, naming Teak, Ofram, Cidrella, Acacia, and Mahogany as examples, adding that Fruits and Timber species as examples of the species most requested for.



The CEO also welcomed the role of the media in helping to monitor the seedlings planted during Green Ghana Day and added that all information regarding Green Ghana is available at the District Level of Forestry Commission.



He applauded some lead private plantation companies and churches who contributed to the success of the Project, outlining Global Green, Sanatex Ghana, Form Ghana, Sakam Savanna, The Pentecost Church, Catholic, Apostolic, Methodist and Assemblies to God as examples.









Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Four Members of Ghanas Parliament are now in London to commence discussions with the United Kingdom Parliament on issues bordering on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021 (Anti-LGBT bill).



The delegation of Members of Parliament (MPs) who travelled to London are members of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee and are being led by the chairman of the committee, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi.



The four-member team will commence discussion with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) on the anti-gay bill currently before Parliament, Monday, June 13, 2022.



This comes after Anyimadu-Antwi indicated that the United Kingdom Parliament has extended an invitation to members of Ghanas Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee to discuss matters relating to the anti-gay bill currently before it.



In an interview with Accra-based TV3, Anyimadu-Antwi disclosed that he together with four other members of the committee will leave the country for this important meeting on Sunday, June 12.



He added that the meeting will be held on Monday and will last for a 3-day duration before they return to the country on Wednesday.



The invitation came to the Speaker and the Speaker forwarded it to the Committee. Four members of the committee including myself and the ranking member will be attending this important meeting.



"We take off on Sunday, we were supposed to have gone today but because of flight arrangement we will go on Sunday so we walk into the meeting Monday morning and by Wednesday we are done, he said on Saturday, June 11.



Ningo Prampram MP Sam Nartey George and eight other MPs are currently sponsoring an Anti- LGBTQI Bill on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights that proscribe activities of the LGBTQ+ community.



People of the same sex who engage in sexual activity could spend up to 10 years in jail if the law is passed.











Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) has urged Ghanaians, especially the youth, to demand accountability from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to improve upon the livelihoods of the citizenry.



It called on Ghanaians, especially the youth, to join hands with the CPP so that they could bring a change to the status quo in 2024, stressing that indeed experience is the best teacher, we have done it before and we will do it again.



Anniversary



This was contained in a statement on Sunday, June 12, 2022 to mark the 73rd anniversary of the party issued by the General Secretary of the CPP, Nana Yaa Akyempim Jantuah.



The CPP was formed on June 12, 1949 by Dr Kwame Nkrumah and his comrades after they broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) where he was then the General Secretary.



COVID-19 funds



It called on the government to give detailed account of the money spent in the fight against COVID-19 and to fulfil to Ghanaians all promises made towards lowering the high cost of living.



The CPP is asking for accountability of the COVID -19 funds and all donations that have been made to the country in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. There should be full disclosure on how the COVID largesse have been spent, as Ghanaians have the right to know, it said.



It called on Ghanaians to support the CPP to make a demand on the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to be accountable, transparent, and to fulfil to Ghanaians all promises made to enhance livelihoods and make lives better.



The statement called on President Akufo-Addo to be prudent with the resources of the nation to avoid profligate and unwarranted spending which did not inure to the benefit of Ghanaians.



How do we fail to preserve existing forest reserves and turn around to spend money to buy 20 million seedlings to green Ghana, certainly this is a misplaced priority and a waste of our money. It said.



Legacy



It urged members of the party and Ghanaians to keep the CPP in their memory in view of the indelible legacy of unprecedented economic development that the CPP made under the leadership of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.



The statement was optimistic that working in unity, the CPP would regain political power in the 2024 general election and change the status quo.













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.

Featured Video
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is putting its act together to win the 2024 elections.

According to the party, it was focused on taking up the mantle of leadership to restore hope for the country.



We are focused on re-equipping, re-tooling and re-positioning our party to prepare ourselves to win the next election to form the next government," the National Chairman of the NDC, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said at the 30th anniversary celebration of the party in Accra last Friday.



The event was attended by leading members and other party faithful.



They included a former Chief of Staff, Nana Ato Dadzie; the Chairman of the Council of Elders, Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu; the running mate of the partys presidential candidate in the 2020 elections, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang; the General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah; the Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, and a former Minister of Finance, Dr Kwabena Duffuor.



Best performer



Touting the achievements of the party, the national chairman said the NDC had contributed to the development of the country more than any political party in the Fourth Republic.



He said in the health, economic, educational, energy and water sectors, the partys delivery while in government was unmatched.



"We have performed better during our tenure in office than our opponents, who have used propaganda to throw dust into the eyes of the people. Therefore, we have every reason to celebrate the party's 30 years. We have a better record than others," he said.



Great party



Setting the stage for the celebration, Mr Ofosu Ampofo said the NDC was a great party,and that it was incumbent on all members to commit themselves to its policies and programmes.



Listing some of the success stories, he said it was the NDC that introduced and implemented the National Electrification Programme to connect many of the regions, including the then Brong Ahafo and Northern Ghana, to the national grid.



He said the rural electrification and the self-help electrification programmes were both undertaken by the NDC government.



The NDC Chairman said it was the NDC in government that changed the power generation mix and brought in the Aboadze Thermal Plant.



In the health sector, Mr Ofosu Ampofo said it was the NDC that started the construction of regional hospitals.



In the area of education, he said it was the NDC that established all the 10 polytechnics and then upgraded them into technical universities.



"There were only three public universities in this country; any other public university was put in



place by the NDC," he said, and cited the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale, the University of Health and Allied Science, Ho, the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, and the University for Environment and Sustainable Development, Somanya, as examples.



He also mentioned the provision of water through the small water supply system and community water and sanitation as some of the works that were done by the party.



Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the party had delivered according to its motto of unity, stability and development and had brought about same and unprecedented development in the country.



Assurance



Mr Iddrisu gave assurance of the determination of the Minority in Parliament, with the grass roots and all other structures of the party, to rescue the country from the non-performing New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.



"To the Ghanaian people and the NPP, I can say without any fear of condemnation that there is no political party as successful as the NDC. I say without fear of contradiction that there is no political party that has contributed to the economic, social and democratic transformation of the country more than the NDC," he stressed.



According to him, the party had contributed immensely to Ghana becoming a beacon of hope for democracy in Africa, and that the country owed it to former President Rawlings and the NDC for a liberalised economy that allowed for private participation in the economic management of Ghana and not the NPP.









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.

Featured Video
The former Member of Parliament for Nandom, Dr. Benjamin Kumbuor, has advised the rank and file of the opposition National Democratic Congress to allow a level playing field for all presidential hopefuls in the party.



According to him, the NDC as a democratic party will be making a mistake if other flagbearer aspirants are prevented from contesting former President John Mahama.



He has been a Vice President before; he has been a President before. Currently, he is a former President, so his statue looks different from all other entrants who might be coming, and particularly the media will definitely be more interested in him because they have interacted with him.



That is what seems to show the prominence that he plays. But I am not sure, as a matter of politics with the NDC, that this prevents any other person in a democratic competitive election from coming up and expressing what they bring to the table. So let us not look at what individuals are saying, they are entitled to their own opinions, but the facts are out there for everybody to have his view, the former Defense Minister told TV3.



He continued: I think that everybody, in a democracy, is entitled to his views. As to whether that view is right or wrong is another matter.



I guess that probably, people who are expressing that view are expressing it from their perspective and not necessarily because it reflected on the grounds. People need to look at John Mahamas candidature in a completely different context.



Dr. Kwabena Duffuor



The NDC, on June 6 2022, called off Dr. Kwabena Duffuors Ahotor project event scheduled to take place at the partys Headquarters at Adabraka on June 7 2022, in Accra.



According to the party, the event was cancelled due to some disagreements.



Some NDC sympathizers and members across the country took to social media to express concerns over the development.



However, a press release signed by the General Secretary, John Aseidu Nketia, in response to an article by the Informer Newspaper, noted that the event was called off due to unsettled business between Dr. Duffuor and the party.



A mutually acceptable agreement was reached at our FEC meeting last week, with Dr. Duffour in attendance, pursuant to which we scheduled the presentation of the Ahoto project items to the party for Tuesday, June 7 2022.



The event was rescheduled because of certain issues raised subsequent to the final meeting by the donor with aspects of the agreement which required further deliberations and clearance by FEC, the General Secretary explained.



But in a sharp rebuttal, former National Organizer of the NDC and Member of Dr. Kwabena Duffuors Ahotor Project Team, Yaw Boateng Gyan, stated that the National Chairman for the opposition National Democratic Congress, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, called off the project launch at the partys Headquarters in Accra.



According to him, all was set for the event at the headquarters when the National Chairman, through the National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi, called to inform him that the relaunch had been put on hold.



In the morning of Monday, June 6, 2022, while preparing for the relaunch on Tuesday, Sammy Gyamfi called me and delivered a message from the National Chairman, Hon. Ofosu Ampofo that the relaunch of the Ahotor has been put on hold.



This was the last communication regarding the relaunch of the Ahotor Project with FEC, the former NDC National Organizer explained in a statement.



He added, "We are still waiting for FEC official communication regarding the relaunch of the Ahotor Project.





Source: starrfm









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Prof Stephen Adei, an economist has said reversing the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) will not solve the economic woes of Ghana.



The pressure group Arise Ghana wants the government to reverse the levy, halt the Agyapa deal and reduce fuel prices, as well as, stop the reclassification of the Achimota Forest.



Speaking at the opening of the Financial Economic Seminar in Accra on Monday (13 June), Adei said: Interestingly, I was looking through social media and I saw a planned demonstration by a group called Arise Ghana on 21 June, I think they are giving a sufficient notice and as I look through them they have five complaints.



So, I went down to read what was their request to the government, and interestingly there were four of them. That E-Levy must be reversed, petrol prices should be reduced, that the Agyapa deal should not come on and the EI of the Achimota Forest should be reversed. And I said that well, if the government did all these four things, it will not change the current situation, not that they are not important, Prof Adei said.



He further called on participants to proffer solutions that could help solve the economic challenges facing Ghana.



I am expecting in this forum, real serious engagements as to where we came from, why we are here, what are the options for the future and a country like Ghana and which are the paths that may be most suitable, he added.

The leading member of the Arise Ghana Movement Bernard Mornah, has said that the pressure group is preparing to rally Ghanaians to the streets in protest of the countrys rising hardships on 21 June 2022.



Arise Ghana is a civil society pressure group which seeks to employ legitimate and legal means of influencing public policy to shape the Ghanaian society.



We are bringing the other side of the story that probably the policy makers are oblivious of and if they care they will then consider all these in shaping the destiny of our nation, Mornah said.



Speaking on The Forum on Saturday (4 June) Mornah said: We have gone on demonstrations one many times and it appears that our leaders and policy makers are not yielding anytime we go on the streets. They take it that it is one of the usual things, so initially to be honest with you, the group took the decision that we will be having a one week continuous demonstration.



But others thought that we should start and see the response of policy makers and we can then regroup and take a decision moving forward. This is just the beginning of a series of things to be manifested depending on the response of policy makers, particularly government, on some of the issues that we will be raising, he told show host Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Budu.



Arise Ghana served notice to embark on a demonstration in Accra on Tuesday 21 June 2022.



The reason for which we want to gather and sleep around Christ the King is that we believe that around the church the angels will be hovering around in the night so they can protect us. We want to test the limits of our democracy.



Police protection

Mornah stated that after reading the letter demanding demonstrator security, the regional commander stated that they couldnt guarantee a 48-hour demonstration since the police were stretched.



The police cannot become the new dictators and threats of our democracy. The police is supposed to be notified of our routes and they have to make preparations to ensure that we embark on our routes. The police have no right to say how long our protestation should last.



The fact that the police say that they cannot provide that security doesnt stop us from embarking on our demonstration. We have notified them; it is for them to come and do their duty.



Except they are telling me that the Ghana Police is so incompetent that they are not able to rally themselves in other to contain a situation as minimum as this, Mornah said.

Source: asaaseradio.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Ernest Owusu Bempah, the Communication Director for the Ghana Gas Company Limited who doubles as the convener for the Fixing the country movement says the soar in prices of foodstuff and crude oil is a result of the ongoing Russian  Ukraine Conflict.



According to Mr. Bempah, just within a few weeks of the conflict, global wheat and crude oil prices have ascended unprecedentedly and Africa, a continent heavily dependent on food imports from both countries, is already experiencing price shocks and scarcity of these commodities.



Speaking in an interview with the media, he disclosed that while Africa is still battling the repercussions of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has topped up its plight leading to the ailing economy of the majority of these countries, and Ghana he added is no exception.



His assertion was based on a UN report published on the 21st of April 2022 by Joseph Sacko and Ibrahim Mayaki on how the Russian  Ukraine conflict impacts Africa which states; The conflict will likely impact food security in Africa. Both through availability and pricing in some food crops, particularly wheat and sunflower, as well as socio-economic recovery and growth, triggered by rising uncertainties in global financial markets and supply chain systems.



He further stated that above all these the Akufo-Addo Led Government is trying its possible best to ensure that the Ghanaian economy bounces back to its former state to ease the plight of the Ghanaian people.



The Mahama Government which did not battle any global repercussion suffered retardation how much more the Akufo-Addo government that has battled severe global recession?", Mr. Bempah Quizzed.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
FILE - Roddy Ricch performs at day one of the Astroworld Music Festival at NRG Park on Nov. 5, 2021, in Houston. Authorities have dropped criminal charges against Ricch following a gun arrest Saturday, June 11, 2022, in New York City that forced him to miss a scheduled concert performance. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
Police respond to an incident on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday, June 11, 2022. Two organizers of a rally set to take place on Parliament Hill Saturday say they were arrested and released soon after by police for being wrongfully identified in connection to a bomb threat in the area.THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle
Prescription drugs are seen on shelves at a pharmacy in Montreal, Thursday, March 11, 2021. The Parliamentary Budget Officer says changes to the way Canada sets drug prices will lower drug spending by about seven per cent over the long term. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Police cars are seen parked outside Vancouver Police Department headquarters in Vancouver, on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. British Columbia's police complaint commissioner has set off an investigation into the conduct of 19 officers from eight separate police departments.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Liberal MP Raj Grewal rises in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Friday, June 3, 2016. A list of people former MP Raj Grewal invited to an intimate meet and greet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in India four years ago is the focus of Grewal's ongoing criminal trial in Ottawa today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
A woman uses her computer keyboard to type while surfing the internet in North Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012. Businesses and other private-sector organizations would be required to report ransomware incidents and other cyberattacks to the government under a federal bill to be tabled today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Mourners hold a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Natalie Warmardam in Wilno, Ont. on Friday, Sept. 25, 2015. A coroner's inquest has heard from a former Victim/Witness Assistance Program manager who worked with two of three women killed by their former partner in eastern Ontario. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
If Tuesdays primaries in South Carolina end up having typical turnout, about 1 in 6 ballots have already been cast during the states first early voting period
LVIV, UKRAINE  Russian troops control about 80 percent of the fiercely contested eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it but Ukrainian authorities are still trying to evacuate the wounded, a regional official said Tuesday.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, acknowledged that a mass evacuation of civilians from Sievierodonetsk now is "simply not possible" due to the relentless shelling and fighting. Ukrainian forces have been pushed to the industrial outskirts of the city because of "the scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using," he said.

"There is still an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents," he told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that Russian forces have not yet completely blocked off the strategic city.

About 12,000 people remain in Sievierodonetsk, from a pre-war population of 100,000. More than 500 civilians are sheltering in the city's Azot chemical plant, which is being relentlessly pounded by the Russians, according to Haidai.

In all, 70 civilians were evacuated from the Luhansk region in the last day, the governor said.

A Russian general, meanwhile, said a humanitarian corridor will be opened Wednesday to evacuate civilians from the Azot plant. Col-Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said evacuees would be taken to the town of Svatovo, 35 miles to the north in territory under the control of Russian and separatist forces.

He said the plan was made after Ukraine called for an evacuation corridor leading to territory it controls.

Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Management Center, is accused by Ukraine of human rights violations while commanding troops during the long siege of Mariupol, Ukraine's key port on the Sea of Azov that has been taken over by the Russians.

Russian forces in the past few weeks have pressed hard to capture Ukraine's eastern industrial Donbas area, which borders Russia and is made up of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

"The situation is difficult," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a news conference Tuesday with Danish media. "Our task is to fight back."

With the conflict now in its fourth month, the battle of Donbas could dictate the course of the war.

If Russia prevails, Ukraine will lose not only land but perhaps the bulk of its most capable military forces, opening the way for Moscow to grab more territory and dictate its terms to Kyiv.

A Russian failure, however, could lay the grounds for a Ukrainian counteroffensive  and possible political upheaval for the Kremlin.

Jan Egeland, the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the aid organizations supplying food to civilians in the Donbas, said fighting in the past few weeks has made regular food distributions impossible. Now, he said, the remaining civilians in Sievierodonetsk "are almost entirely cut off from aid supplies after the destruction of the last bridge."

Reports of overnight shelling came from other Ukrainian regions as well, with five people wounded in the northeastern Kharkiv region. According to an intelligence update Tuesday by the U.K. Defense Ministry, Russian forces appear to have made small advances in the Kharkiv sector for the first time in several weeks.
A customer walks among businesses heading to a restaurant in downtown Moncks Corner in this Independent file photo from 2020. The town of Moncks Corner has implemented a grant program using federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to aid local businesses with projects like signage, landscaping and marketing.
CHAPIN  Lexington-Richland County School District Five is adding metal detectors, door sensors, cameras, barricades and police officers to district campuses ahead of the next school year, the superintendent said at a June 13 board meeting.

Deadly school shootings in parts of the country in recent weeks prompted the district to evaluate its own security measures, superintendent Akil Ross said.

"With the recent events that we have seen in terms of gun violence, specifically what we saw in Uvalde, (Texas)," Ross said, "we want to focus on the notion of safe, secure, equitable learning environments."

The district plans to have the new security measures installed for the 2023-24 school year.

Lexington-Richland Five's decision comes on the heels of a similar one made in Richland County School District One.

The Columbia-area Richland One district had metal detectors installed in late April, following gun incidents including the Easter weekend shooting at Columbiana Centre and the separate shooting deaths of high school students in the area.

The changes in Lexington-Richland Five are part of a multilayered approach to protecting the district's 17,000 students, Ross said, looking to couple the additional technology and personnel with a more robust mental health services.

The district is considering spending a $1.5 million chunk of next year's budget on salaries for new teachers, teachers' assistants and assistant principals, and it's considering dedicating funds to hiring a mental health coordinator.

Lexington-Richland Five has 52 counselors in schools across its Irmo and Chapin schools, and each one of them averages over 100 counseling sessions every month, the superintendent said. Teachers in the district ranked "time to plan and reflect on practice" as the support they needed the most in a survey that got 890 responses.

Both SLED and the FBI are slated to conduct safety evaluations of the schools this summer, Ross said, called "threat assessments." The law enforcement divisions will report back to the superintendent ahead of the school year.

The metal detectors, door sensors, SLED behavior unit officers and additional resource officers from the Lexington and Richland county sheriff's departments would together, in the long run, help teachers feel safer and more able to manage their classrooms, Ross said.

"We like this technology. It's mobile, it's user-friendly, it's reliable," the superintendent said.
Michael Shemtov was in Butcher & Bees open kitchen at 3 p.m. May 17, less than one month before he would hop on a plane to Chicago for the James Beard Awards ceremony.

As a handful of guests finished up a late lunch, Shemtov rolled dolmas and plated a beet and tahini appetizer, two of four new dishes that just landed on the menu.

Its not the place many might expect to find the leader of a growing hospitality group with four establishments in three cities  a group with a restaurant that in March was named a James Beard Award finalist in the Outstanding Restaurant category, an award given to the place that best demonstrates consistent excellence in food, atmosphere, hospitality and operations while contributing positively to its broader community.

Despite the controversy that has swirled around the James Beard Foundation in recent years, the finalist nod is an honor that is only bestowed upon five restaurants in the country. This year, those restaurants were Brennans in New Orleans; Chai Pani in Asheville, N.C.; Parachute in Chicago; The Walrus and the Carpenter in Seattle; and Butcher & Bee, a restaurant that has been serving the Charleston community since 2011.

With the restaurant receiving more attention than ever before, Shemtov could have been getting micd up for an appearance on an afternoon talk show, but instead, he was helping freshen up Butcher & Bees menu as he looked to fill openings for three of his top four chef positions.

As evidenced by the openings, the downtown Charleston restaurant is continuing to evolve like it did in 2016 when it moved from 654 King St. to its current location at 1085 Morrison Drive.

In a city filled with elite restaurants, what led the group of volunteer subcommittee members, judges and tasting panelists from around the country who make up the James Beard Awards voting body to select Butcher & Bee?

Agile and seasonal, the restaurant continues to turn heads with its Middle Eastern-inspired food and in-house bakery. Beyond just the food, its perhaps the restaurants impact on Charlestons community and restaurant industry that sets it apart.

Building the Bee

Shemtovs father was born in Iraq, and his mother grew up in Shreveport, La., before moving to Israel, where Shemtov and his sister were born.

Shemtovs father did most of the cooking, and the family leaned into his Middle Eastern traditions when they moved to the United States.

He was like the dominant force in the family, and it very much felt like a Middle Eastern house, Shemtov said. But my dad also liked Southern culture just randomly. He liked Harley-Davidsons, and Lowcountry boil was one of his favorite things.

Shemtovs Middle Eastern upbringing factors into todays Butcher & Bee menu, but when the restaurant first opened on King Street in 2011, the offering was much different. Back then, Butcher & Bee served globally inspired gourmet sandwiches to a local crowd on a stretch of Upper King Street that had yet to develop into the buzzing restaurant hub it is today.

While leading two Mellow Mushroom outposts and serving as the popular pizza chain's marketing director, Shemtov dreamed up his vision for Butcher & Bee, a casual eatery that would specialize in sandwiches made using farm-fresh ingredients.

During its tenure on King Street, Butcher & Bee catered to the food and beverage industry by opening from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. in addition to its lunch service. Charleston locals fell in love with Butcher & Bees open-faced chile relleno torta and muffaletta, but serving sandwiches that lived up to Shemtovs standards and turning a profit at once just wasnt possible.

We were really popular but not really profitable in that location with that concept. You just couldn't get somebody to pay enough for a sandwich to buy pastured meats and make the bread and make the condiments and make the pickles, Shemtov said. We were busy and people liked it and it was constantly a line out the door, but the internals were painful.

At a crossroads, Shemtov decided to bring Butcher & Bee to Nashville, Tenn., a restaurant he at the time referred to as Butcher & Bee 2.0. Serving sandwiches, Middle Eastern mezze, salads and alcohol (Butcher & Bee Charleston was BYOB at the time), the restaurants sales stretched far beyond its Lowcountry counterpart.

The next iteration of Charlestons Butcher & Bee on Morrison Drive would serve dinner, he decided. But it wasnt that simple.

It was hard to build dinner business because everybody just knew us for lunch, Shemtov said. We just kept hearing over and over, I liked the old Butcher & Bee better.

Slowly but surely that changed. Favorites emerged  whipped feta with local honey, kebabs, bacon-wrapped dates  and the restaurant developed a following like it did during its Upper King Street days.

Behind the scenes, Shemtov cultivated a culture that stepped outside of what is traditionally found in restaurants. Employees were made a priority and received benefits at a time when few existed in the hospitality industry. A 2 percent surcharge was added to customer's bills so Shemtov could enhance employee health insurance packages and maternity/paternity leave was granted, for instance.

The restaurant became a place for staff members to grow as cooks, servers and managers. Some eventually moved on to other prominent kitchens, while others have stayed put for years.

Antonio Thomas has worked as a Butcher & Bee chef for eight years, making him one of its longest tenured employees.

Thomas grew up on Maple Street around the corner from the Bee, where he has developed a knowledge of new dishes and cooking techniques while working just about every kitchen job you could think of.

Its interesting ... because really I only knew soul foods. But now I know a lot of other foods, Thomas said. In this kitchen, I do a little bit of everything.

Butcher & Bee Director of Operations Trace Conway joined the team in August 2015. Shemtov and his wife Melody had just had a baby, and Butcher & Bee Nashville was set to open in December. Months after that, Butcher & Bee Charleston moved to its present-day location.

Shemtov told Conway early on that the restaurants mission was to connect customers to farmers through food  a vision Shemtov says has been ingrained in him since reading a book called "The Omnivores Dilemma."

Its still something we talk about all the time, Conway said. We constantly are discussing how to get into contact with more farmers.

Beyond just the farmers, Shemtov is in the business of connecting people, one of the reasons Conway said he opened a coffee shop (The Daily on King Street) despite the fact that hes not a morning person. This mission to connect reverberates throughout the restaurant.

Michael is a true visionary. On the core of things, we see eye to eye, so I let him forge ahead, Conway said. Its been an adventure, but its been a good adventure. I think I thrive in a little bit of that chaos, too.

Community impact

Butcher & Bee was not immune to the struggles other restaurants faced at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Post and Courier followed Butcher & Bee, along with three other Charleston area establishments, as it navigated the pandemic. There were low points such as staff shortages and issues with Uber Eats, among others.

Those times made it easier to celebrate the high points, like when the restaurant sponsored a Medical University of South Carolina testing station with Edmunds Oast in their shared parking lot at Half Mile North. Or when Shemtov and his team partnered with a local clinic to organize a vaccine clinic that helped nearly 1,000 people  mostly hospitality workers  receive their shots.

And then there was the Pay It Forward initiative.

Pay It Forward distributed 11,575 grocery bags to more than 2,250 individuals in two months in spring 2020, filling the bags with essentials from Charleston-area farms, producers and local businesses. The program helped staff members from over 250 restaurants get groceries at a time when that was no small feat.

Butcher & Bee Chief of Staff Tara Pate, who joined the restaurant group in February 2020, was furloughed in mid-March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly after, Shemtov called with the idea to launch Pay It Forward.

The first call Michael is making is like, Were going to get through this, heres how youre going to do it. Do you want to start a nonprofit? " Pate recalled. "And youre like, Oh OK this is more than words, this is actions.

Conway also recalled early discussions about Pay It Forward, which she said revolved around supporting local farmers

Were not here just to serve food, Conway said. We actively seek out to do these things. Its not just about making sure were serving a nice chicken sandwich.

Pay It Forward has since morphed into a full-fledged 501(c)(3) nonprofit that distributed over $21,000 in grants to Charleston food and beverage workers in need between January and March. After securing $200,000 in combined funding from the Indigo Hospitality Group and Sullivans Island restaurant Obstinate Daughter, the organization is poised to further serve Charleston food and beverage workers in need.

I feel like the values of our company is something that aligned with my personal values, Pate said. I think in the hospitality industry thats sometimes hard to find.

Looking inward

Chai Pani picked up the national James Beard Award in the Outstanding Restaurant category at a June 13 ceremony at the Lyric Opera in Chicago, besting Butcher & Bee and the three other finalist nominees.

The morning after the awards ceremony, Shemtov told The Post and Courier he was happy to see the award go to his friend Meherwan Irani, who shares his story of visiting spice markets and eating street food in India through the food served at his casual downtown Asheville restaurant.

Sure, Shemtov wanted the win, but just being up for this award means Butcher & Bee has reached new heights.

"I never set out to win a Beard Award," said Shemtov, recalling conversations with his staff about striving to enter the national conversation around excellence. "Were here, were in Chicago, were one of five restaurants in the nation."

Moving forward, Shemtov is committed to contributing to the community, but much of his attention will be focused on the action inside the four walls of the restaurant. He recently hired a chef de cuisine named Salvador Lopez, although he is still searching for his next executive chef.

Shemtov doesn't seem concerned by what lies ahead, however. After all, those who reach the pinnacle of their profession usually prefer to stay there.
SUMMERVILLE  At the new Bexley Fish & Raw Bar, small plates roll out of the kitchen one by one, tapas style.

Among the quickest to arrive is an oblong wooden board bearing Madisons bread ($8), four slices from a Japanese-style milk loaf, feathery soft and griddled dark golden brown. Two scoops of sorghum butter add a mild, almost syrup-like sweetness.

The smoked fish dip ($16) lands quickly, too. Spiced crackers are arrayed in one of the long trays three compartments, and a colorful spring crudite fills the other  carrots, celery and red pepper drizzled with sweetened vinegar plus a few tangy bread and butter pickles and spicy pickled ramps. The cool, hefty scoop of dip in the center has smoky chunks of trout bound in white dressing and flecked with green herbs.

But theres more. Three piles of orange trout roe add salty accents. Most intriguing is a broad square of trout skin, baked flat and crisp, perched atop the scoop of dip. I have no idea if youre supposed to break it into accenting shards or use it like a cracker for scooping. I do know that its delicious.

Bexley Fish & Raw Bar CUISINE: Seafood REPRESENTATIVE DISH: Seared scallops with pea and basil puree, parmesan foam and Carolina Gold rice grits ADDRESS: 100 W. Richardson Ave. Suite A, Summerville PHONE: 843-900-3793 BAR: Beer and wine WEB: bexleysummerville.com DINING ROOM HOURS: 4-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday PRICE: $$ COSTS: $8-$36 PARKING: Ample free on-street parking. There is also parking available in the downtown Summerville garage next door.

Theres a lot going on there for a platter of fish dip, and theres a lot going on on almost all of Bexleys plates. The restaurant opened in January in the heart of Summerville, just off Main Street on West Richardson Avenue. In just a few short months, it has secured a cadre of regulars who the staff greet by name, and those patrons happily evangelize their favorite dishes to new guests.

On my first night in, the woman beside us at the L-shaped bar sang the praises of the seafood ceviche ($14), and for good reason. The deep bowl brims with pale yellow broth, a scoop of mashed avocado and a few curls of thinly sliced radish bobbing at the top. It seems more cold soup than marinated fish at first, but each spoonful of citrusy liquid explodes with sweet, herbal flavors. Hidden inside are chunks of shrimp, diced octopus and firm white fish. And the real capper are the corn chips ringing the bowl  long, curving strips of yellow tortillas fried fresh for each order and perfect for scooping.

The ceviche isnt the only dish taking flavors in unexpected directions. A single thin slice of yellow fin tuna crudo ($16) is as wide as the plate and topped with impossibly sweet local strawberries. Three oblong scoops of beef tartare ($18) are deliciously cool and rich, but the tartar is outshined by the taters  a trio of golden brown triangles that are billed as hashbrowns but are really so much more.

They start off as mashed potatoes in a lasagna pan that are sliced then fried until delightfully crisp outside but still creamy and soft in the middle. Theyre stood on end atop a spiral of bright yellow uni vinaigrette and dotted with tiny piles of black caviar and orange trout roe. Like many of the other plates, its finished with a scattering of yellow nasturtium petals and black and red flakes of housemade furikake. Those seemingly random colors and flavors come together beautifully, and you may find yourself scraping the dish with a spoon to scoop up every salty and savory bit.

Bexley is the first foray into restaurant ownership by longtime Charleston chef Jeremy Holst. Its name is a nod to North Charlestons Bexley Street, where Holst grew up. After high school, he headed north to the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Stints followed in fine dining kitchens in Hawaii, Atlanta and Las Vegas, as well as back in the Lowcountry at The Woodlands resort in Summerville.

Holst first came on my radar at Six Tables, an impressive but short-lived tasting menu-only restaurant in Mount Pleasant. He headed next downtown to lead the kitchen at Anson, and then out to Kiawah Island and Jasmines Porch. Thats quite a pedigree, and the wide-ranging experience shows in the array of flavors found on each Bexley plate.

Those plates are imminently local, starting with the stoneware dishes themselves, which are handmade and glazed right there in Summerville by Beth Kitch. The veggies and herbs are grown by Dorchester County producers like Yellow Dog Farms and Gruber Farms. The Madison behind Madisons bread is Madison Stilner, a young local baker whos in the process of launching a retail bakery nearby.

Call it a hyper-neighborhood restaurant, if you will, and a family restaurant, too, for Holsts wife Carolyn and son Eli both work alongside him. Hes staffed his team with an extended family of sorts, as well: colleagues from past kitchens, including from way back in his days at the Woodlands.

With 10 small plates and a half-dozen raw bar options, one could assemble a remarkable meal from just the left side of the menu. But that would mean skipping the large plates, which may be the most impressive of the lot.

The set piece accompanying the fish of the day (golden tile the night I tried it, $34) is a smoky and splendid preserved tomato shellfish perloo thats studded with shrimp, mussels and charred okra. A dark brown duck leg ($28) anchors a plate thats otherwise all yellow and green, with a jumble of pillowy seared dumplings, nubs of asparagus and marinated peas scattered atop a foundation of golden sauce.

If I were forced to find fault with something, I might say the ducks miso glaze is a tad too assertive, muscling over the top when you carve off the first bite. That miso, though, fades pleasantly into the background as tender shreds of rich duck mix with the smooth, creamy sauce and bits of veggie and herbs. The crunch of toasted chili flakes tops off an irresistible melange of sharp flavors.

The scallops entree ($36) also left me scraping together disparate bits into gloriously unified forkfuls. Four stout scallops, flawlessly silky beneath a dark brown sear, rest amid pools of foamy white parmesan cream, and a bright green puree of peas and basil. Theyre adorned with long, slender mushrooms, rosy watermelon radishes and white shavings of something or other  I lost track after a while. I do know, though, that tucked inside the smooth pea puree are bits of soft, aromatic Carolina Gold rice grits, and theyre heavenly.

Its been a long time since Ive been as impressed with a new restaurant as I am with Bexley. Thats mostly due to the food  flavors layered upon flavors, improbable combinations that somehow come together  but theres much to like about the setting, too.

Its a small space in a newish brick building. The decor is clean and neutral with a definite neighborhood feel. Beneath a black-painted drop ceiling, the white wall along the back announces the fish of the day and the oyster selection, spelled out in black letter magnets. A few strategically hung mirrors add the illusion of depth to what might otherwise be a tight dining room.

A few two- and four-tops line the outer walls, but the big L-shaped raw bar in the center is where the real action lies. Its not billed as a chefs table per se, but it certainly functions that way. There are no bartenders behind it shaking cocktails. (Bexley sells no hard liquor but does offer a nicely balanced slate of 40 wines and a worthy selection of local canned beer.) Instead, you watch the crew blending tartare, shucking oysters and garnishing plates as they appear in the pass from the small open kitchen. There are tweezers involved.

That open format lets Holst duck into the kitchen to prep a few dishes then step out to greet regulars and chat up diners along the bar. He radiates enthusiasm, eager to explain how a dish was prepared or where the ingredients came from, seeming thrilled to be cooking what he wants and serving it how he wants.

That enthusiasm carries straight through to the end of the meal, which is rare in a era when even our toniest downtown restaurants have dispensed with their pastry chefs. Panna cotta, chocolate cake, an endless parade of tarts  all made in advance and quickly plated by line cooks  may top off a meal with a sugary surge, but theyre usually long forgotten by the time you get home.

No so with Bexleys.

I decided to master five desserts that were pastry chef-worthy, Holst told us during one of his rounds through the dining room.

I can only attest for the two currently on the menu, but he appears to have succeeded.

How do you make a bowl of chocolate pudding ($9) memorable? You drop a big cube of toasted homemade marshmallow on top, drizzle it with gooey salted caramel and sprinkle on cocoa nib crumbles.

A sweet, tangy yellow disc of key lime semifreddo ($9) is certainly a make-ahead item, but the rest of the deconstructed elements evoke a more playful age. Instead of a dense crust underneath, crumbled graham crackers are sprinkled over the top. Theyre joined by shards of bright red raspberries, flash-frozen with liquid nitrogen and shattered to bits, plus a few tangy-sweet blobs of lime curd. Its finished not with whipped cream but a half-dozen ethereally soft marshmallow swirls, which are piped into teardrops and toasted dark brown on the edges.

I cant stop thinking about those toasty marshmallow swirls, nor about all the other fine details of each Bexley plate.

There was a time when the farther from downtown Charleston one drove, the more dull the dining became. Here in 2022, as my restaurant treks have taken me out over the bridges and farther up the Interstate 26 corridor, I keep discovering unexpected gems.

The arrival of Bexley is big news for diners in Summerville, and for those of us just passing through, too.
GEORGETOWN  Georgetown County has 269 more acres of protected wilderness with a recent donation by the Yawkey Foundation.

The parcel will be added to Georgetown Countys existing Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center, a 24,000-acre protected natural preserve that was originally donated to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources by the former Boston Red Sox owner in 1977, the state agency said.

The newly donated Cat Island land contains 161 acres of upland pine and a 108-acre brackish managed wetland.

The upland pine stand includes foraging habitat for red-cockaded woodpeckers, a federally endangered species. The brackish managed wetland is used by waterfowl, wading birds and numerous shorebird species.

The tract also contains the Belle Isle Rice Mill Chimney, a 33-foot-9-inch high brick structure that has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983. The chimney is one of two existing rice mill chimneys in Georgetown County.

The preserve consists of remote barrier islands, pine forests and waterfowl ponds flush with wildlife and the former hunting preserve owned by Yawkey.

The Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center embraces North Island, South Island, and most of Cat Island, three coastal islands located at the mouth of Winyah Bay in Georgetown County.

The wildlife preserve is home to hundreds of species of wildlife and is a habitat for migratory birds, eagles, alligators and other endangered species, including the threatened loggerhead sea turtle which nests there.

The wildlife center is funded in perpetuity by the Dedham, Mass.-based Yawkey Foundation, according to the release.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the partnership between the state Department of Natural Resources and the Yawkey Foundation.

With the benefit of 45 years of hindsight, I can confidently say that Tom Yawkeys gift to South Carolina is indeed priceless, Robert Boyles, director of the Department of Natural Resources said in a statement.
GREENVILLE  In a contentious 5-2 vote, Greenville City Council gave final approval to provide $5.5 million for a 120-foot observation tower that will serve as the centerpiece for the newly opened Unity Park.

The funding is a combination of $1 million left over from constructing the first phase of the park and $4.5 million in accommodations and hospitality tax revenue. The city plans to secure another $5.5 million through private fundraising to pay for the estimated $11 million project.

Mayor Knox White, Councilwoman Lillian Brock Flemming and councilmen Ken Gibson, Wil Brasington and John DeWorken voted in favor June 13 of using the public dollars to pay for construction. Councilwoman Dorothy Dowe and Councilman Russell Stall voted against.

The process leading to the second and final vote on the funding has elicited strong statements and bouts of verbal sparring in recent weeks, both among council members and residents who spoke during public meetings.

"This has been the most contentious thing I have been a part of since I've been on council," said Gibson, who was elected in 2019.

Dowe has repeatedly voiced opposition to the use of public money to fund the tower, saying the council initially approved a smaller structure that would be funded fully through private donations. After spending about $66 million on Unity Park, she said, Greenville should not contribute more money to an observation tower.

"I continue to oppose this public funding," she said at the June 13 meeting.

She has also questioned how city policy dictates how the decision to contribute more money to the project would be made should fundraising fall short or costs go up, though she said she's confident city staff would bring it to council for a vote.

In his comments ahead of the final vote on the funding, Gibson said he and many in the historically Black Southernside community in which Unity Park sits have been disheartened to see the level of opposition funding for the tower has garnered.

Sign up for our Greenville daily update newsletter. Sign up for daily roundups of our top stories, news and culture from the Upstate. This newsletter is hand-curated by a member of our Greenville news staff. Email

Sign Up!

"I'm taking everyone at their word that what their concerns are, are their concerns," he said. "But the perception of those concerns was very troubling to people in the Southernside community and the African American community in this town. This was a promise that City Council made to those residents."

DeWorken, who also spoke in support of the tower, said the $3.5 million the city is providing in accommodations tax dollars, which are generated through hotel fees, can only be used for tourism-related projects, preventing Greenville from allocating it to efforts such as road improvements.

"I believe that in 100 years, Greenvillians will look at Unity Park and they will look at the tower as one of our greatest achievements in the history of the city of Greenville," he said.

Dowe said while City Manager John McDonough has assured her the council will receive monthly updates on how the tower project is progressing, she remains concerned it is an unwise use of tax dollars and that its maintenance will put undue stress on city staff.

As it is currently designed, the tower would stretch upward in a spiral on the south side of the Reedy River, offering views of the Greenville skyline and the Blue Ridge mountains.

The Hughes Agency, a private public relations company the city hired to fundraise for the park and tower, had secured about $2 million in pledges for the structure as of April.

The citys contract with the agency expires in November.

The mayor has said he is confident Greenville will be able to raise $5.5 million before then.
Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)

Today

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 74F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Three men were sentenced in federal court for their roles in defrauding low-income housing programs as part of a sprawling corruption investigation that ensnared a city of Charleston employee and a former bank executive.

Charles "Chuck" Mincey, owner of Palmettos at Folly, was sentenced June 14 to eight months in prison and three years of supervised release.

Karl Henry Zerbst, a former market president for First Reliance and Ameris banks, was sentenced to five years of probation.

Brian Herndon, former city of Charleston project manager, received a six-month prison sentence followed by a year of supervised release on a bribery charge.

Mincey and Zerbst pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy charges, while Herndon pleaded guilty to bribery.

The sentencings brought to a close one chapter of the federal investigation which began in June 2017 after a Charleston-area veteran awarded a grant for housing repairs complained the contractor overbilled for the work.

At the center of the investigation was Mincey, a 65-year-old building contractor who paid kickbacks to several people to secure contracts to do repair and renovation work on the homes of low-income veterans.

The work was paid for through a housing program administered by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, which awarded up to $12,500 each to eligible homeowners. Local lenders were responsible for disbursing the funds.

Mincey admitted in a proffer agreement with federal authorities that, beginning in 2012, he and Edward "Butch" Clark conspired to pay kickbacks to a local loan administrator of the program in exchange for repair contracts.

The loan administrator who Mincey identified has not been criminally charged in the case, according to court records.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Shoemake said June 14 the agency cannot comment on pending charges or allegations.

Clark, a well-known local real estate developer, died in 2018.

Michael Gross, a special agent for the Federal Housing Finance Agency's inspector general, testified at Mincey's sentencing hearing that the arrangement among the men ended after a dispute. Mincey then began paying kickbacks to Zerbst, another local administrator, so his company could continue to earn contracts.

Altogether, federal authorities determined Zerbst earned about $246,000 in kickbacks, which he has already paid in restitution. Mincey agreed to pay about $91,000 in restitution for the corruptly awarded contracts.

Gross testified he began investigating after a local veteran complained the bank was overbilled for work on his house.

The veteran told Gross that Mincey charged $1,300 for an electrical panel upgrade, but the actual work performed was minor. Gross testified that he learned Mincey and Zerbst were already under investigation by Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta due to discrepancies in cost assessments.

The special agent subpoenaed bank records for Mincey and Zerbst, which revealed that Mincey was writing checks to a company controlled by Zerbst.

Mincey was contacted by federal authorities and agreed to cooperate with the investigation. The contractor outlined the fraud scheme involving the federal housing program but also revealed he and another contractor, William "Bill" Kendall, had paid bribes to a city of Charleston employee to steer housing contracts to his company.

The employee, Herndon, was a project manager for the city's Department of Housing and Community Development. Mincey said Herndon would tell the contractors the city's estimated cost for the projects  information that was supposed to be secret  in advance of the bidding process. The builders were awarded almost 100 contracts worth about $1.1 million between 2014 and 2019, FBI agent Brian Womble testified.

The builders did not pay bribes for all those contracts, but Womble said he believed other companies' bids were not accepted because of the scheme.

Altogether, Herndon collected about $15,000 in bribes.

Herndon agreed to cooperate with authorities to prosecute Kendall, but the contractor died while the federal investigation was ongoing, Womble said.

Mincey helped authorities identify another loan administrator who was stealing from the veterans housing program: Aaron Martez Spann.

Spann was stealing from the program, Gross testified, rather than accepting kickbacks to steer the repair contracts to favored builders.

Spann, 55, agreed to plead guilty last month to conspiracy for submitting false information that inflated the costs of repair work, while also wrongly claiming that the work had been inspected.

Spann also admitted he pocketed money from six grants, according to a May 25 plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Allesandra Stewart said at Mincey's plea hearing that the government agreed the defendant deserved a lesser sentence because of his "substantial" cooperation in the case, which included wearing a wire while discussing bribes with Herndon.

Herndon was not granted the same consideration, since Kendall died before he could be prosecuted.

Herndon took full responsibility for his actions at his sentencing hearing and acknowledged he hurt people in the city's housing program, many of them elderly or disabled.

"I abused my position at the city where I had good pay and benefits," he said.

U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Seymour acknowledged Herndon, who said he had a yearslong opioid addiction, appeared "genuinely contrite," but noted that public corruption can erode public trust in local government.

The city of Charleston filed a letter in the case stating that Herndon's arrest had jeopardized its relationship with U.S. Housing and Urban Development, which provided funding to support the city's housing program, according to Seymour.
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
Happy primary day, South Carolina!

It doesnt have quite the cachet of Election Day, but its every bit as important  in many cases more important. And as the S.C. League of Women Voters Nancy Williams put it recently, its sort of like the Fourth of July: a patriotic reminder of our countrys almost 250 years of government of, by, and for the people.

Of course, unlike Independence Day, this day is more than a simple reminder of our individual rights and responsibilities as citizens. This day calls on us to do something to claim those rights and live up to those responsibilities. So if you haven't already cast an early ballot or an absentee ballot, we urge you to go to the polls today.

Well, with one caveat: Dont go if you have no clue who any of the candidates are and dont intend to do anything to inform yourself; the last thing we need is for our elections to be decided by the uniformed. Of course, the fact that youre reading an editorial in your local newspaper about voting suggests that youre not uninformed.

One thing you might not have thought enough about, though, is how important it is to vote in primaries. Most local, legislative and congressional districts are so gerrymandered that many who win in today's primaries are pretty much a lock to win again in November, so if you dont vote now, you wont really have any say. The same is true in many countywide and statewide offices.

And since most people boycott the primaries  four years ago, only 20% of registered voters participated  you dont have to worry about long lines.

Heres a recap of our endorsements:

 Education superintendent. Molly Spearman is probably the best superintendent of education South Carolina has ever had, and one candidate fits the Molly Spearman template: Republican Kathy Maness. Indeed, its no coincidence that Ms. Spearman has endorsed Ms. Maness.

Like Ms. Spearman, Ms. Maness is a former teacher who went on to run a large education advocacy group, from which she has participated in every important education policy debate in our state in the past two decades. Ms. Maness has the distinction among the Republican candidates of having served in elective office (Lexington Town Council since 2004), which gives her an understanding most of us lack about answering to voters and building consensus in order to get anything accomplished. And as head of the Palmetto State Teachers Association, it has been her job to represent teachers while working in a bipartisan way to present a pragmatic vision for education to the Legislature.

 U.S. House. We endorsed Republican U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace in the 1st District and Tom Rice in the 7th District for the same reason: not because we consider either the perfect representative but because they were targeted for telling the truth about the integrity of our elections and of our constitutional republic, and then acting to preserve that integrity. Ms. Mace dared to say that the Constitution did not allow the Congress to reject the Electoral College results from the 50 states, and Mr. Rice condemned the actions  or, rather, the inaction  of then-President Donald Trump in the hours after insurgents breached the U.S. Capitol.

This is not a matter of the former president looking at the field and deciding he liked other candidates better than Mr. Rice and Ms. Mace. Its not a matter of his assessing the incumbents' overall records. Its not even a question of whether they are sufficiently Republican or sufficiently conservative  unless you define conservative and Republican as doing whatever the former president wants you to do, even when he wants you to usurp our Constitution. Rather, this is an effort to punish the incumbents for putting our Constitution ahead of the desires of the former president.

Regardless of whether you like them or not, if you think thats a dangerous thing to do, and if you live in the 1st or the 7th district, you need to go out and vote for one of them today.

 Charleston County register of deeds. Normally, it wouldnt matter which candidate wins, since the register doesnt set policy but simply supervises employees and systems with the clerical mission of ensuring that deeds, mortgages, powers of attorney and the like are recorded within the 30-day window mandated by state law. But incumbent Michael Miller has gotten the office so far behind that the Legislature felt compelled to pass a law to allow a judge to remove him if documents start piling up again; unfortunately, that law wont fix the problems in the office. The best chance for that is replacing him with someone who has the experience with deed recording that he didnt have, and voters can do that by selecting Karen Hollings in the Democratic primary.
A man carries water in front of an apartment building damaged in an overnight missile strike in Sloviansk, Ukraine. In towns and cities near the fighting in eastern Ukraine, artillery and missile strikes have downed power lines and punched through water pipes, leaving many without electricity or water as repair crews race to repair the damage.
The Post and Courier provides a forum for our readers to share their opinions, and to hold up a mirror to our community. Publication does not imply endorsement by the newspaper; the editorial staff attempts to select a representative sample of letters because we believe its important to let our readers see the range of opinions their neighbors submit for publication.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who drew Donald Trump's ire after openly criticizing the former president in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack, fended off a fierce primary challenge from Katie Arrington, surviving Trump's public political crusade against her.
Voters in the greater Charleston area reported relatively few issues as they headed to the polls in a steady trickle in South Carolinas Democratic and Republican primaries.

More than 32,000 people voted in Charleston County as of 4 p.m. June 14, putting the county on track for a 15 percent turnout when the polls closed at 7 p.m.

Nearly 9,000 people voted in Dorchester County as of 4 p.m. and more than 19,000 people voted in Berkeley County as of 4 p.m. Turnout is expected to be about 10 percent in Dorchester County and at least 20 percent in Berkeley County.

Minimal lines have been reported. There were few technical issues in the tri-county area.

Theres no long lines anywhere, Dorchester County Executive Director Kizzie Scott said. Weve done a good job of getting voters in and out throughout the day.

In Dorchester County, voting ran smoothly except for one problem, Scott said. Candace Jennings withdrew from the Statehouse District 97 Republican primary as did Lynz Piper-Loomis from the 1st Congressional District Republican primary. Neither filed to remove their names from the ballot in time, Scott said.

Those votes will be counted toward the totals and could affect races where a runoff election is warranted.

Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email

Sign Up!

In Charleston County, polls were busiest at 10 a.m. About 19,000 Republican primary ballots and 13,000 Democratic primary ballots were cast as of 4 p.m. The majority of voters are over the age of 55, with the lowest turnout coming in the 18- to 24-year-old group.

Isaac Cramer, director of the county's elections office, has heard of few issues with the recent redistricting in Charleston County. But he said some voters are reporting being thrown off this year as they were in the 1st Congressional District the last time they voted and have since been moved to the 6th Congressional District.

Heat was a concern throughout the day.

Be cautious of the weather  not just the heat, but any thunderstorms this afternoon, Cramer said as the day was heading toward the last three hours of voting. We want voters to feel confident when they go to the polling location, and just be safe.

More than 130,000 people cast their ballots early or sent in absentee ballots, according to data released by the S.C. Elections Commission on June 13.

Polls remained open statewide until 7 p.m. June 14. For all information on visit SCvotes.gov
Travelers from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and other foreign countries are no longer required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test result to board a flight to Guam or anywhere else in the U.S., officials said during Tuesday's tourism trade show with dozens of visiting Japanese travel and tour agents.

Guam Visitors Bureau President Carl Gutierrez announced the lifting of the COVID-19 testing requirement for Guam-bound international travelers in his remarks at the GoGo!Guam Fam Tour, the first GVB-hosted Japan trade show since 2019.

The change took effect at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.

It was "perfect timing," Gutierrez said of the change and Guam's ongoing tourism recovery efforts to grow demand in the Japan market.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped the COVID-19 testing requirement for inbound air travelers from abroad, but it will continue to monitor the state of the pandemic and will reassess the need for a testing requirement if the situation changes.

But while proof of a negative COVID-19 test result is no longer required, proof of full vaccination is still a requirement for international travelers.

Gutierrez and GVB Board Chairman Milton Morinaga, at the trade show held at Hyatt Regency Guam, said the lifting of COVID-19 testing requirement means more tourists would be encouraged to travel to Guam.

It's not only less hassle for tourists but also reduces the expense for them, the GVB officials said.

That's about $150 that a foreign traveler doesn't need to spend even before boarding a flight to Guam.

And while on Guam, tourists can get free COVID-19 testing that's still required for them to re-enter their countries such as Japan or Korea, Gutierrez and Morinaga said.

Overall, that's about $300 of savings for any Guam-bound tourist.

So for a traveling family of three, that's about $900 that they could instead spend on Guam for tours, hotel, food and gifts, Morinaga said.

"This is a start," Morinaga said. "Japan itself is trying to ease up. They know tourism is key to revitalizing the economy."

The free COVID-19 testing on Guam lasts through Sept. 30, unless GVB secures more program funding to continue the program beyond that date.

Morinaga said he looks forward to the day when the Japanese government also no longer requires COVID testing for Japanese citizens returning from Guam and other destinations.

Japan recently lowered its COVID-19 health risk to level 1 for 36 countries and regions, which includes Guam.

"So Guam is opening. Japan is opening. And to make it easier for our Japanese guests to return home, Guams Department of Public Health offers free COVID tests at four testing sites right here on Guam," Gutierrez said.

Airlines and others in the travel industry had repeatedly pushed for an end to the COVID-19 test requirement, saying it's hurting demand for international trips.

Gutierrez said United Airlines is increasing its flights this month and will introduce the Osaka routes in July. Japan Airlines will also reopen routes in August.

"Now is the time to support Japan travel," he told the trade show attendees. "We hope each of you makes all the connections you need to help us improve the Guam product. Enjoy your stay and make the most of this important destination. Guam is counting on your success. Biba Japan, Biba Guam, GoGoGuam. Japan, you're still the one."

It's been 55 years since Pan American Airways flew 109 Japanese visitors to Guam in 1967, and since then, Japan has always been a vital tourism market for Guam.

Starting in 2017, however, there were more Korean tourists visiting Guam than Japanese. With more eased restrictions, Koreans have started driving up Guam's arrival numbers again in recent months but industry experts said it could take years to reach pre-pandemic arrivals again.

'Less hassle, less expense'

Kanji Uenishi of the Osaka-based Travel Gallery Co. Ltd. said being able to see for himself how Guam is doing now is a big help in marketing and promoting the destination among Japanese tourists.

He noted the hotel renovations on Guam, as well as the opening of a new hotel, The Tsubaki Tower even during a pandemic. It's his third visit to Guam, he said.

With COVID-19 testing no longer a requirement to enter Guam, he said this makes it convenient for tourists.

Dozens of Guam hotels, tourist attractions, shopping malls, telecommunications and other tourism-related businesses took part in the trade show.

Ricky Woodall, general manager for Skydive Guam Inc., said the trade show gave his business an opportunity to connect with Japanese travel partners so they could better market Guam as a destination and more importantly, bring back more Japanese tourists who used to be their leading customers for skydiving.

"Skydiving, it's fun, it gets you up there. At 8,000 to 14,000 feet, you see the island really well," Woodall said.

Ron Batimana, a general sales agent for the Valley of the Latte, one of the major tourist attractions on Guam, said it's good to know that more flights from Japan will soon resume.

The lifting of the COVID-19 testing requirement is welcome news, he said.

"We're very optimistic and very happy that they are slowly coming back."
Travelers from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and other foreign countries are no longer required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test result to board a flight to Guam or anywhere else in the U.S., officials said Tuesday during a Guam tourism trade show with dozens of visiting Japanese travel and tour agents.

Guam Visitors Bureau President Carl Gutierrez announced the lifting of the COVID-19 testing requirement for Guam-bound international travelers in his remarks at the GoGo! Guam Fam Tour, the first GVB-hosted Japan trade show since 2019.

The change took effect at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.

It was "perfect timing," Gutierrez said of the change and Guam's ongoing tourism recovery efforts to grow demand in the Japan market.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped the COVID-19 testing requirement for inbound air travelers from abroad, but will continue to monitor the state of the pandemic and will reassess the need for a testing requirement if the situation changes.

While proof of a negative COVID-19 test result is no longer required, proof of full vaccination remains a requirement for international travelers.

Gutierrez and GVB board Chair Milton Morinaga, at the trade show held at Hyatt Regency Guam, said the lifting of COVID-19 testing requirement means more tourists will be encouraged to travel to Guam.

Less hassle, less expense

It's not only less hassle for tourists, the GVB officials said, but also reduces the expense for them.

That's about $150 a foreign traveler doesn't need to spend before boarding a flight to Guam.

And while on Guam, tourists can get free COVID-19 testing that's still required for them to reenter their home countries, including Japan or Korea, Gutierrez and Morinaga said.

Overall, that's about $300 of savings for any Guam-bound tourist.

So, for a traveling family of three, that's about $900 the family can spend on Guam for tours, hotel, food and gifts, Morinaga said.

"This is a start," Morinaga added. "Japan itself is trying to ease up. They know tourism is key to revitalizing the economy."

The free COVID-19 testing on Guam lasts through Sept. 30, unless GVB secures more program funding to continue the program beyond that date.

Morinaga said he looks forward to the day when the Japanese government no longer requires COVID testing for Japanese citizens returning from Guam and other destinations.

Japan recently lowered its COVID-19 health risk to level 1 for 36 countries and regions, including Guam.

"So Guam is opening. Japan is opening. And to make it easier for our Japanese guests to return home, Guams Department of Public Health (and Social Services) offers free COVID tests at four testing sites right here on Guam," Gutierrez said.

Airlines and others in the travel industry have pushed repeatedly for an end to the COVID-19 test requirement, saying it's hurting demand for international trips.

Gutierrez said United Airlines is increasing its flights this month and will introduce Osaka routes in July. Japan Airlines is expected to reopen routes in August.

"Now is the time to support Japan travel," he told the trade show attendees. "We hope each of you makes all the connections you need to help us improve the Guam product. Enjoy your stay and make the most of this important destination. Guam is counting on your success. Biba Japan, Biba Guam, GoGo! Guam. Japan, you're still the one."

It's been 55 years since Pan American Airways flew 109 Japanese visitors to Guam in 1967 and, since then, Japan has been a vital tourism market for Guam.

Starting in 2017, however, there were more Korean tourists visiting Guam than Japanese. With fewer restrictions, Koreans have started driving up Guam's arrival numbers in recent months, but industry experts have said it could take years to reach pre-pandemic arrivals.

Kanji Uenishi, of the Osaka-based Travel Gallery Co. Ltd., said being able to see for himself how Guam is doing now is a big help in marketing and promoting the destination among Japanese tourists.

He noted the hotel renovations on Guam, as well as the opening of a new hotel, The Tsubaki Tower, coming online during the pandemic. It's his third visit to Guam, he said.

With COVID-19 testing no longer a requirement to enter Guam, he said, this makes it convenient for tourists.

Dozens of Guam hotels, tourist attractions, shopping malls, telecommunications and other tourism-related businesses took part in the trade show.

Ricky Woodall, general manager for Skydive Guam Inc., said the trade show gave his business an opportunity to connect with Japanese travel partners so they can better market Guam as a destination and, more importantly, bring back more Japanese tourists, who used to be the company's leading customers for skydiving.

"Skydiving, it's fun, it gets you up there. At 8,000 to 14,000 feet, you see the island really well," Woodall said.

Ron Batimana, a general sales agent for the Valley of the Latte, one of the major tourist attractions on Guam, said it's good to know that more flights from Japan will resume soon.

The lifting of the COVID-19 testing requirement is welcome news, he said.

"We're very optimistic and very happy that they are slowly coming back."
I will no longer be voting for him

I will still vote for him

I am going to vote in the Republican primary

I think he should drop out of the race for governor

Vote

View Results
Neil Youngs Dont Let It Bring You Down is the seventh track on his 1970 album After the Gold Rush. It begins: Old man lying by the side of the road Since my road trip to Madison over the weekend, Youngs tune has been going through my mind with the slightly altered lyric: Dead deer lying by the side of the road It could be Wisconsins state song.

The dead deer lying by the side of the road on Highway 94 appear with the regularity of the mile markers, though the condition of the dead deer varies. A few have gone into rigor mortis and look like they could be stood up. Others have gone into an extreme state of decomposition. The rest are somewhere in between.

Where are the scavengers? They are falling down on the job or insufficient to the occasion.

If you need to pull over on the highway, youll have to look for a parking spot between the carcasses. Its not a pleasant thought. Where is your state pride?

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has posted a note on Car-Killed Deer (CKD in the departments bureaucratese). The department acknowledges that [r]emoval of car-killed deer (CKD) from Wisconsins roadways is an important safety task. It alleges that [t]his responsibility is shared by all levels of government.

However, the state is scrimping on clean-up costs on the interstate and otherwise bragging about reducing its CKD program costs. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation includes this note on the disposal of CKD:

There are several CKD disposal methods allowed for deer remains along Interstates, U.S. and state highways. These include: removal and transport of CKD to a landfill, incinerator, or chemical digester; transport to a rendering plant in counties not affected by Chronic Wasting Disease; and roadside disposal, which involves moving deer remains out of direct view in safe zones within the highway right-of-way. The roadside disposal policy has drastically reduced the states CKD program costs by limiting transportation costs and landfill tipping fees. It also provides birds of prey and other wildlife important food sources. Roadside disposal is limited to the following conditions: the remains must be located within rural areas at least  mile away from a residence or business; disposal does not include multiple carcasses in one location; and, disposal is outside of ditches and mowing areas.

I infer that the states CKD disposal costs on the interstate are asymptotically approaching zero. The result is unsightly and unsettling, but dont let it bring you down.
David Jensen is the University of Minnesota Law Schools chief advancement officer. Mr. Jensen has emailed his response to my message to Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Dean William McGeveran, who moderated the Zoom webinar I addressed. I am posting Mr. Jensens response verbatim without further comment.

* * * * *

Dear Scott:

Thank you for writing to Professor McGeveran regarding your concerns over the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health: Implications and Impact on Reproductive Rights webinar. We always appreciate hearing from any of our alumni, especially those who continue to engage with our vast variety of dynamic programming. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

Professor McGeverans term as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs is nearly complete, and he will be leaving on sabbatical in due course. Please allow me to respond to your inquiry, as I believe I may be able to shed some light on the issues you have raised.

As it was in 1979, the University of Minnesota Law School is committed to educating the next generation of lawyer-leaders. As such, we are intentional about creating an intellectual and community space in which all are welcome and all can learn. Each student, faculty, and staff members unique contribution to our community is valued, and we encourage discourse from a wide range of perspectives that enhance the law school experience.

With respect to our faculty, their professional expertise, scholarly endeavors, and personal beliefs are varied, stretching along the length of the ideological spectrum. Specifically, we have faculty who are active in the Federalist Society, faculty who have advised and worked with (or in) the Trump and Bush Administrations, as well as former faculty who have been appointed to the bench by Republican governors and Presidents, including President Donald Trump. For the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health: Implications and Impact on Reproductive Rights webinar, about which you wrote Prof. McGeveran, faculty members who work in that specific area of the law lent their expertise to the panel.

It is important to note, that like our faculty, our talented and hard-working students are diverse in their backgrounds, career goals, passions, and ideological beliefs. During the academic year, students are actively engaged in a variety of activities and organizations, including those in the ideologically conservative space.

For generations, our students have left these halls with the skills necessary to lead at every level and in every facet of society. We are proud that no matter their concentration or career path, they will continue to do so successfully with all types of perspectives and world-views.

Our state and our nation continue to need well-trained attorneys who are ready to lead in our increasingly complex world, regardless of ideology.

Thank you again for taking the time to express your views. We appreciate your passion and concern for this important issue.

Sincerely,

David

David L. Jensen

(he/him/his)

Chief Advancement Officer

University of Minnesota Law School
Famous Yoruba actress Mercy Aigbe has explained the reasons behind her fight with her erstwhile socialite friend, Omolara Olukotun, the owner of Larrit Shoe Village (LSV), at a public gathering.

A messy scene ensued Sunday evening when both women allegedly exchanged blows at an event.

The incident occurred at the launch of Remmy Gold, a famous businesswomans new plaza on Unilag Road, Lagos State.

Actress Iyabo Ojo who sat next to Larrit, took to her heels when she (Lara) threw a bottle at Mercy.

Several movie stars and socialites, including Eniola Ajao and Bimbo Thomas, graced the occasion.

Justification

After the fight, Mercy, on her Instagram story, explained her side of the story.

The 44-year-old actress said Larrit was in the habit of bullying her online and physically assaulted her at the event.

 I have been bullied online several times by Larrit (Lara). She calls me unprintable names, unprovoked; yesterday, she took it a step further by physically assaulting me.

The mother-of-two said that Larrit slandered her online and physically. The actress claimed she tried to reach out to Larrit, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

I have patronised her business, and she has done likewise. So I was surprised and confused as she suddenly became my enemy. I sent messages to her on Whatsapp and called a few people close to her to understand why she would be an antagonist. All efforts proved abortive, she said.

Speaking about the fight at the party, the Edo State-born actress said Larrit was still antagonistic to her and started calling her names.

At the party Yesterday, she started with the same energy, throwing words at me, calling me names and being disrespectful. Initially, I kept calm and didnt respond to her, people around her appealed to her to stop, yet Lara wouldnt stop. And so I decided to stand up for myself and retaliated with the same energy, Mercy wrote.

Mercys response to Larrit did not go down well with the shoe merchant, which provoked a fight between the ladies at the event and resulted in fisticuffs.

The fight

A viral video surfaced online, establishing that the fight started after Mercy and Larrit got into a heated argument at the plaza.

During the party, Mercy conversed with Eniola Ajao about her husband, Kazim Adeoti, when Larrit, seated across her table, shaded her, saying she was just a second wife.

In retaliation, Mercy instructed the DJ to play songs to shade Larrit.

At first, it seemed as though Larrit was trying to maintain her calm, not until Mercy allegedly started calling her names.

It provoked Larrit to throw a bottle at Mercy in anger.

Mercy was later captured on video, leaving the party venue dishevelled while being assisted by onlookers and guests.

Video of actress #MercyAigbe and businesswoman, Laritt fighting at an event pic.twitter.com/akdnGmw322  Instantgistng (@instantgistng) June 13, 2022

Mercy married Mr Adeoti, a famous Yoruba film producer and marketer, in January 2022.

While this is Mercys third shot at marriage, it is Mr Adeotis second marriage.

Mr Adeoti is a father of four, while his first wife, Oluwafunsho, who lives in Minnesota, U.S., is a notable fashion designer and owner of Asiwaju Couture.

Reactions

Following the fisticuffs between the actress and Lagos socialite, Iyabo Ojo shared photos of herself at the event as she reacted to the fight, which she described as a vawulance,

She wrote, The look you give when you dont support Vawulance.

Meanwhile, the socialite posted a video on the Instagram page where she claimed that contrary to speculations, she was not in a contest with anyone for a man.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CevbrW1K0Uh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The socialite said she would not engage in a social media fight and rant with anyone, but she was ready to reply to any tantrum.

Recently, Mercy has been making headlines after she unveiled her new husband.

The union news sparked several controversies since Mr Adeotis first wife, Oluwafunsho, accused the actress of betraying her trust and snatching her husband.

While Mercy argued that her husband, a Muslim, was entitled to more than a wife, Mrs Abeoti claimed that Mercy was always a problem in her marriage.

Mrs Adeoti debunked claims by her husband that she had accepted the actress as a second wife, vowed that she would never get a second wife in her marriage, and described the actress as his side chick.

The actress, despite criticism, continues to flaunt romantic pictures and posts of herself and her new husband on social media.
Lagos socialite and entrepreneur Omolara Olukotun, the owner of Larrit Shoe Village (LSV), has hit back at actress Mercy Aigbe, revealing her marriage to another wontns husband was the cause of their fights and misunderstanding.

Mercy married Kazim Adeoti, a father of four and a famous Yoruba filmmaker, in January 2022.

Mr Adeoti is also married to Oluwafunsho, a friend of the actress, who lives in Minnesota, U.S. and runs a notable fashion business known as Asiwaju Couture.

Mrs Adeoti claimed that she introduced Mercy to her husband during his 40th surprise birthday party, which the actress attended in the company of her then-husband, Lanre Gentry.

Although Mercy divorced Mr Gentry in 2017 after a messy controversy, their union produced a son Olajuwon.

While this is Mercys third shot at marriage, it is Mr Adeotis second marriage.

The union news sparked several controversies since Mr Adeotis first wife, Oluwafunsho, accused the actress of betraying her trust and snatching her husband.

While Mercy argued that her husband, a Muslim, was entitled to more than a wife, Mrs Abeoti claimed that Mercy was always a problem in her marriage.

Mrs Adeoti, who debunked claims by her husband that she had accepted the actress as a second wife, vowed that she would never get a second wife in her marriage, and described the actress as his side chick.

The actress, despite criticism, continues to showcase romantic pictures and posts of herself and her new husband.

However, on Sunday, Larrit was seen in a viral video fighting with Mercy at an event and tossing a bottle at the Yoruba actress.

The incident occurred at the launch of Remmy Gold, a famous businesswomans new plaza on Unilag Road, Lagos State.

Speaking about the infamous fight which almost ruined the event, Mercy said that Larrit was in the habit of bullying her online and physically assaulted her at the event.

The actress claimed that Larrit slandered her online and physically despite attempting to reconcile with the businesswoman and settle their difference amicably.

Reacting to Mercys claims, in a Tuesday Instagram post, Lara, better known by her business name, Laritt, revealed that her problem with Mercy was because the actress dared Kazeem Adeotis first wife.

To set the record straight, Larrit told her side of the story on what led to the exchange of blows at the public event. She said:  For the record and clarification, you marrying someones husband is not my headache. Your audacity to disrespect and show off, and different indirect signal.

You kept daring the other woman on what can she do and calling yourself Aya d owner; the husband that belongs to another woman that has kids for d the same man u married is what I stand against.

Larrit is unapologetic about her physical confrontation with the actress, saying she is not a supporter of broken marriages.

If it is my crime to have offended some people, I publicly say Im not sorry.

The Lagos socialite accused the actress of always acting like a victim to the public and showing your devilish part behind close doors.

Anyone can buy your drama. Thats not my business but dont play with me.

She further issued a stern warning to the actress to desist from talking about her on social media.

The businesswoman wrote: Listen carefully. This is social media, a public platform. But dont call my name to address issues you dont want me to react to, period. So please do not trigger me by mentioning my name henceforth.

Aside from running shoe businesses, Larrit started up as a Nollywood actress, and she also supplies shoes to artists and celebrities.

Background

The fisticuff between the actress and the socialite started when Larrit shaded Mercy, conversing with Eniola Ajao about her husband, saying she was just a second wife.

In retaliation, Mercy instructed the DJ to play songs to shade Larrit.

At first, it seemed as though Larrit, seated at the other side of the table, was trying to maintain her calm, not until Mercy allegedly started calling her names.

It provoked Larrit to throw a bottle at Mercy in anger.

Mercy was later captured on video, leaving the party venue dishevelled while being assisted by onlookers and guests.
If Tinubu can carry through, I will say he has the more radical ideas of the three. Double-digit growth, public works and mass mobilisation for mass employment and even our security crisis, commodity exchange, and a strategic fuel reserves sounds like someone has been thinking deep or listening to a smorgasbord of intelligent, deep, and out-of-the-box ideas. I believe others will finetune their ideas and come back strong.

To make this brief I will be looking at and comparing the economic agenda, as advertised, of three top contenders  Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peter Obi of the Labour Party. These are not the only contenders, but the two parties that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been promoting  the APC and PDP  have a clear edge because the majority of our folks are illiterate and so cannot process a switch from one party to a new one very easily. Peter Obi of the Labour party  a latter day arrival  seems to enjoy some social media noise, which may or may not translate to votes. There are also other very articulate contenders such as the philosophical Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the eloquent Malik Ado-Ibrahim of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), the very grounded Yabagi Sani of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), and the bone in governments throat, Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC). I will come around to some of these contestants as they reveal their plans.

Personally, among the three I am looking at today, I am excited by the Tinubu manifesto. Here are some of his official promises:

Bola Tinubu

(a) 25 per cent annual budget for education;

(b) 10 per cent annual budget for health;

(c) Decentralisation of police;

(d) Introduction of a commodity exchange;

(e) Total deregulation of the oil market and building of a national storage to sustain supply;

(f) Stimulation of production and manufacturing for export;

(g) Target of 15,000MW generation and distribution of electricity;

(h) 12 per cent GDP growth year-on-year for four years;

(i) Establishment of six Regional Economic Development Agencies.

Titled My Vision for Nigeria, Tinubu promises in the document, a nation transformed into greatness, the pride of Africa, a role model for all black people worldwide, and respected among all other countries A vibrant and thriving democracy and a prosperous nation with a fast-growing industrial base, capable of producing the most basic needs of the people and exporting to other countries of the world A country with a robust economy, where prosperity is broadly shared by all irrespective of class, region, and religion A nation where its people enjoy all the basic needs, including a safe and secure environment, abundant food, affordable shelter, health care, and quality primary education for all I will focus on stimulating jobs, which will be my top priority as President. I will get Nigeria to work by launching a major public works program, a significant and heavy investment in infrastructure, and value-adding manufacturing and agriculture.My administration will build an efficient, fast-growing, and well-diversified emerging economy with a real GDP growth averaging 12 per cent annually for the next four years, translating into millions of new jobs during this period. Tinubu also promised to create six new Regional Economic Development Agencies which will establish sub-regional industrial hubs to exploit each zones competitive advantage and optimise their potential for industrial growth. Supply will come from local refineries, and the forces of demand and supply will determine the price of petroleum products My administration will establish a National Strategic Reserve for Petroleum Products to stabilise supply during unexpected shortages or surplus periods. This will eliminate any form of product shortages and prevent wild swings in prices.

Atikus Promises

For the former vice president, he is sticking to his belief in liberal capitalism, something he has always pushed since he began running for president. He is a core capitalist and believes in the power of capital and entrepreneurship to transform Nigeria. To that extent, he promises the following, officially:

A comprehensive objective of providing a more hospitable environment for businesses to thrive; T hriving businesse s would create jobs and wealth for Nigerian citizens; Reaffirm the criticality of private-sector leadership and greater private sector participation in development, while repositioning the public sector to focus on its core responsibility of facilitation; Break government monopoly in all infrastructural sectors, including the refineries, rail transportation and power transmission and give private investors a larger role in funding and managing the sectors; Allow the market greater leverage in determining prices; E stablish a strong and effective government that guarantees the safety and security of life and property; Build a strong, resilient, and prosperous economy that creates jobs and lifts people out of poverty; Promote a true federal system which will provides a strong Federal Government to guarantee national unity, while allowing the federating units to set their own priorities; Spearhead education reform so it is driven by innovation, science, and technology.

For Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, his economic goals are decidedly rooted in liberal economics. I also must confess that I am suspicious of that narrative, as Nigeria has tried this for decades but with disastrous results. Atiku wants businesses to thrive and believes that it is businesses that will provide jobs. Well, true, but companies are not in the business of creating jobs, but maximising profits. A reliance on the private sector may be disastrous.

Peter Obi

Mr Obi has positioned himself in the hearts of many as a no-nonsense cost-cutter. He speaks much about his frugality during his stint in Anambra State as governor. He rightly ridicules the profligacy that has permeated Nigeria from the federal to local government. He has also recently traveled to 31 countries around the world to find out how they repositioned their nations. He looks to be what human resource people call a Resource Investigator as well as a Monitor Evaluator.

Apart from the crucial, existential need to stop profligacy and be more sensible in government spending, I wait to hear more coherently and forcefully what he has to say in terms of growing the pie. I scoured the internet to find the following ideas he has espoused, as he traveled all over the country:

Move Nigeria from a consuming to a producing nation; Replace the revenue sharing formula with production formula; Invest in Nigerias landmass; Stop borrowing for consumption; Invest in education; Build human infrastructure before physical infrastructure; Stop corruption, sick leadership, irresponsible spending; Invest in MSMEs. Government should give MSMEs ideas and grants; Government should pull people out of poverty; Cut down cost of governance; Do away with Office of First Lady.

My Critique

Let me state again that I have a bias for Bola Ahmed Tinubu and this is because of the slant of his stated ideas. Promising 25 per cent of the annual budget for education and 10 per cent for health may sound very ambitious but it tends towards the United Nations requirements and our needs in these sectors. Someone already criticised the 25 per cent spending on education but was reminded that we have over 15 million children on the streets  a problem which requires a major emergency. Decentralisation of the police has been long in coming. Nigeria has also been grappling for long with the concept of a commodity exchange, which can help farmers sell in bulk ahead of time and cut post-harvest losses. Not a bad one. The idea of having a strategic reserve for fuel is novel and commendable. Ditto the targeting of double-digit economic growth. I have been an advocate of challenging ourselves to be far more productive for long. The targeting of 15,000 megawatts of electricity through further deregulation of that sector (having more power generating companies  GenCos and power disctribution companies  DisCos covering smaller jurisdictions, and pressing in other sources of energy  such as renewables) is also modest and commendable. Tinubu promises a major public works and infrastructure focus, which will help in also boosting jobs in the country, but also includes regional hubs for development  maybe not new bureaucracies but an initiative to focus on value addition to all the basic farm products from our regions, to reduce post-harvest loss, and help target foreign markets, while expanding the cultivation of our arable land. This is just for starters. I like his meshing of capitalist and social-capitalist ideas. We cannot ignore our people in the equation of development. It must however be said that another manifesto document came out a few days back, written by Messrs Femi Pedro and Babatunde Ogala, which is slightly different from the above. I believe that a more comprehensive manifesto will come out shortly.

No one can ignore the timeliness of some of Obis ideas. But they are skewed towards costs saving; moving Nigeria from consuming to producing nation, stopping borrowing for consumption, cutting down the cost of governance, doing away with the Office of First Lady, stopping corruption and dealign with the sickness in leadership all these ideas are good and much needed in Nigeria because we have already gone too far with our profligacy.

For Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, his economic goals are decidedly rooted in liberal economics. I also must confess that I am suspicious of that narrative, as Nigeria has tried this for decades but with disastrous results. Atiku wants businesses to thrive and believes that it is businesses that will provide jobs. Well, true, but companies are not in the business of creating jobs, but maximising profits. A reliance on the private sector may be disastrous. The private sector did not campaign to make the lives of our people better, politicians did. The entity with the biggest responsibility for ensuring that people have work to do is the government. Again Alhaji Atiku promises to break government monopoly by selling off the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), and rail transportation. This is good on paper, but we should remember that from history, our privatisation, especially under Messrs Obasanjo and Atiku, has been very dismal and only marginally successful. Privatisation is not a silver bullet. Is there anything to sell in the refineries which have been vandalised, sabotaged and cannibalised in part? Are we going to sell to people who will cannibalise them further and asset-strip them? Also, the rail system everywhere has an input of government and people enjoy subsidy. You may not be able to run that commercially for now, else it comes in too expensive. I have studied this extensively. Atiku unabashedly comes in from an extreme right angle. He may appeal to many of our liberal market, banker-types with his market economy refrain. I will only remind him that many people who love the market have also come running for taxpayer bailouts from governments in the past  a case of the privatisation of profits and socialisation of losses. Are capitalists conmen? Because the market is often flawed, rigged and mal-regulated in climes like ours.

Obi

No one can ignore the timeliness of some of Obis ideas. But they are skewed towards costs saving; moving Nigeria from consuming to producing nation, stopping borrowing for consumption, cutting down the cost of governance, doing away with the Office of First Lady, stopping corruption and dealign with the sickness in leadership all these ideas are good and much needed in Nigeria because we have already gone too far with our profligacy. I also like Obis take on investment in education, but I think the comparison of human capital investment and physical infrastructure is unnecessary. For one, this country has been training people for decades now, who should be able to step up and do any work. But yes, we are hemorrhaging human capital by leaving 15 million children on the streets. Still, let government continue with physical infrastructure BUT let government use mostly Nigerians and keep the money within the house. Obi comes from a tangent and talks about investing in our landmass. I align with this, especially if Obi is focused on meeting our food needs, banishing importation of food, and targeting Africa with trade. We have much arable land that we havent touched. But he veers off by repeating that government should invest more in MSMEs, suggesting that government gives MSMEs ideas and grants. Nigeria already has 42 million MSMEs, where over 41 million are micro-businesses of people surviving on a thread. I dare say that no nation has ever become great on the basis of MSMEs that are all selling imported products. Drive around Nigeria, go to the markets, look at the stores. ALL of them, bar none, are selling imported products. It is a sad scenario and portends more danger ahead. Somehow, we left our flanks open, took some of the toxic advices from you-know-who, and by the time we opened our eyes, we were producing NOTHING but importing everything from abroad. Those guys convinced us that markets (where is Atiku) will help us balance everything out. The result has been more than disastrous.

If Tinubu can carry through, I will say he has the more radical ideas of the three. Double-digit growth, public works and mass mobilisation for mass employment and even our security crisis, commodity exchange, and a strategic fuel reserves sounds like someone has been thinking deep or listening to a smorgasbord of intelligent, deep, and out-of-the-box ideas. I believe others will finetune their ideas and come back strong. I will also review others like Wole Adebayo of SDP, Yabagi Sani of ADP, Ado-Ibrahim of YPP, and Kachikwu of ADC. Promises to be an exciting season.

Tope Fasua, an economist, author, blogger, entrepreneur, and recent presidential candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), can be reached through topsyfash@yahoo.com.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Apo, Abuja, on Tuesday, ordered the Nigeria Police Force to produce a murder suspect, Uwani Usman, in court to answer for the alleged killing of her husband, Hussaini Usman.

Mr Usman, a businessman, was gruesomely murdered on October 28, 2018, at his Apo residence in Abuja.

But efforts to get Mrs Usman and her son, Huzaifa Usman, who are the prime suspects, prosecuted have been unsuccessful.

A year ago, the trial judge, Angela Otaluka, ordered the arrest of Mrs Usman, but the police arrested her last Saturday, June 11, while her son has been detained in prison since 2018.

Police investigations alleged the younger Usman was complicit in his fathers death.

Tuesdays proceedings

Mrs Usman was not in court at Tuesdays sitting.

The prosecuting lawyer, Godwin Ijioma, informed the judge that Mrs Usman was feigning ill-health at a police clinic in Abuja.

Mr Ijioma further told the judge that the investigating police officer (IPO) in charge of the case said he was awaiting an instruction from the Commissioner of Police in charge of homicide to produce Mrs Usman before the court.

The IPO said until the police commissioner in charge of homicide directs him to bring the 2nd defendant (Mrs Usman) to court, Mr Ijioma told the court.

However, Mrs Otaluka ordered the police to either bring the 2nd defendant in a wheelchair or on a stretcher for her to take her plea.

Bring the 2nd defendant in a wheelchair or on a stretcher. The defendants have to be in court to take their plea, the judge ordered.

The court adjourned the suit until Thursday, June 16, for the defendants to be arraigned.

AGF directs prosecution of suspects

Mrs Usman who is charged alongside her son, Huzaifa, for the alleged strangulation of her husband, had been evading arrest for nearly four years until last Saturday.

Sources familiar with the case said top police officers and politicians have been shielding Mrs Usman from prosecution.

But a piece of legal advice from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) revealed that there is a prima facie case against the duo  Mrs Usman and Huzaifa.

The AGFs letter addressed to the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali, the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Mohammed Abubakar, asked the police to immediately arrest and prosecute the suspects.

In the letter dated May 13, the DPPF said: The office of the Attorney General of the Federation having reviewed the case file is of the view that the duo of Musa Ndanusa and Adamu Umar be used as prosecution witnesses.

In view of the above, I am further directed to inform your office to continue with the prosecution of the case.

The letter added: The office of the Attorney General of the Federation having reviewed the case file is of the view that the duo of Musa Ndanusa and Adamu Umar be used as prosecution witnesses.

In view of the above, I am further directed to inform your office to continue with the prosecution of the case.

But police sources said Mrs Usman would only be brought to court for trial if the Inspector-General of Police directs the commissioner in charge of homicide in Abuja to comply with the courts orders.

It will be recalled that the case first came up before Samira Bature, a judge of the FCT High Court, where Huzaifa, 25, was first arraigned for murder.

He pleaded not guilty and was remanded at Kuje prison in Abuja. Huzaifa has been in detention and was brought to court on Tuesday.

Background

Family sources who are familiar with the case told Daily Trust that Mr Usmans murder was initially linked to an armed robbery incident.

He (Mr Usman) was said to be on his way to the mosque around 5 a.m. with Huzaifa when the assailants attacked him and asked Huzaifa to face the wall, a family source, who asked not to be named, said.

The younger Usman was said to have told people that after he discovered his father had been killed and the assailants had left, he dragged the corpse to the sitting room from the compound and he went to call his mother before they went to the mosque to call for assistance.

The family source said this conflicting narrative led to further questions.
The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has emerged as the running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Wike, PREMIUM TIMES learnt, was the preferred choice of most members of the partys committee set up to assist Mr Abubakar in choosing a running mate  against Ifeanyi Okowa, the Delta State Governor.

A source at the partys headquarters said members of the panel, in a meeting on Tuesday, cast votes to decide a running mate and in the end, Mr Wike polled 16 votes to defeat Mr Okowa who scored three votes.

The panel, comprising former and serving governors, members of the partys National Working Committee and members of the Board of Trustees, was established last week.

The party is expected to make an official announcement of the Rivers State governor as the running mate.

His victory comes hours after the partys national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, said the panel will choose a running mate in 48 hours.

Although Mr Wike, a presidential aspirant, had initially said he did not want to be vice president, it is unclear whether he now wants the position.

Earlier, this paper learnt that members of the governors team were putting pressure on the committee and the party to pick him as running mate  as a way of compensating him for his defeat at the presidential primary in May.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Atiku emerged as the PDPs presidential candidate after Aminu Tambuwal, the Sokoto State governor, withdrew from the race  giving him an edge over Nyesom Wike, who was also in the race.

Mr Atiku had written the panel, as the administrative arm of the party, on the choice of his running mate.

Tuesdays meeting is in furtherance of consultations aimed at arriving at a choice which Nigerians would be glad to elect into office, the party chairman said earlier.

Present at the meeting were the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Aminu Tambuwal; Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed; Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom and former Senate President, David Mark.

Others were former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko; former Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, and Senator Philip Aduda, among others.

The electoral umpire, INEC, has asked political parties to submit the names of their presidential candidates and their running mates by Friday, June 17.
Four ministers may have become politically stranded after their defeat in the presidential primary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) which was held between Tuesday and Wednesday at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

A total of 28 aspirants bought the partys N100 million expression of interest and nomination forms to participate in the primary but five of them did not return the forms. Eventually, only 14 stood in the primary election after nine other aspirants withdrew just before voting started.

A former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, eventually won the primary by taking about 60 per cent of the votes and will fly the flag of the APC in the February 25, 2023, presidential election.

The ministers who were forced to resign last month after obtaining the forms were Emeka Nwajiuba (Minister of State for Education), Godswill Akpabio (Niger Delta Affairs), Ogbonnaya Onu (Science and Technology) and Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation).

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, had also obtained the presidential forms but pulled out after President Muhammadu Buhari asked the ministers to resign.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, also abandoned her interest in the senatorial election to keep her portfolio.

Despite declaring their intention to run in the 2023 elections, the ministers, except Mr Nwajiuba, had held on to their cabinet seats until Nigerians started calling out Mr Buhari for condoning a breach of section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022.

Mr Buhari on May 11 eventually demanded the resignation of the ministers.

Performance

Mr Amaechi emerged second in the APC presidential primary after scoring 316 votes. Two of the three other former ministers, Messrs Nwajiuba and Onu, got a single vote each from the 2,322 party delegates accredited to vote at the National Convention.

Mr Nwajiuba, who hails from Imo State, was at some point speculated to be Mr Buharis preferred candidate, under the impression that the president had acceded to the agitation for the party to zone its presidential ticket to the South-east.

However, once it became clear to him that the president would not name a consensus candidate, Mr Nwajiuba boycotted the convention while the other aspirants from the South-east used the time allocated to them to address the delegates to decry the injustice the party was meting to their region.

Following the failure of all these entreaties, it became clear that the convention was headed away from these lofty ideals I subscribe to and will still pursue. I, therefore, declined to attend, Mr Nwajiuba wrote in his public statement explaining his decision to boycott the event.

On his part, the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Akpabio, who is from the South-south region, was one of the seven aspirants who stepped down for the eventual winner, Mr Tinubu.

But the 91 delegates from Mr Akpabios Akwa Ibom could not deliver their votes to Mr Tinubu due to a court injunction restraining them from voting at the primary.

Standing out

Amidst the abysmal performance of Mr Buharis ministers, Mr Amaechi stood out at the convention.

The former Rivers State governor polled 316 votes to take the second position ahead of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who came third. Mr Osinbajo secured 235 votes.

Mr Amaechis state had only 69 delegates at the convention, an indication he got a lot more votes from outside the state.

Interestingly, Mr Amaechis kinsman and former political ally, Governor Nyesom Wike, also came second in the PDP presidential primary.

What is next?

What is next for the four ministers who gave up their seats to run unsuccessfully for the APC presidential ticket? Will the president reappoint them into his cabinet or what are the other options before them?

Mr Buhari, at a valedictory session in Abuja, for ministers leaving the Federal Executive Council, had promised to fill their vacant seats without delay. He has yet to do so.

None of the former ministers has suggested that they would not accept their ministerial positions if reappointed. Also, none of them is recognised by the electoral commission, INEC, as a candidate for any elective position in the 2023 general election, an indication that they may not be bugged down by personal political campaigns if reappointed.

Akpabio

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that Mr Akpabio on Thursday night emerged as the APC candidate for the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial seat, after reportedly winning a rerun of the partys senatorial primary.

INEC, however, on Saturday rejected Mr Akpabios nomination, saying it recognizes only the winner of the original primary that its officials monitored.

INEC had also said the APC in Akwa Ibom State has no governorship candidate for the 2023 general elections, having failed to conduct a primary.

In 2019, Mr Akpabio lost the senatorial election before being appointed as minister. Will the president once again offer him a lifeline?

Amaechi

After Mr Amaechis defeat at the primary, a former Kaduna senator, Shehu Sani, suggested that President Buhari should re-appoint Rotimi Amaechi back to the Transportation ministry to finish up his railway projects so that we are not left with uncompleted Rail lines.

Mr Amaechi was one of the officials who pushed the presidents infrastructure agenda. He was also believed to have a good relationship with the Aso Rock cabal.

Mr Amaechi served as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly for eight years and served another two terms as governor of Rivers State before his appointment as minister.

It is yet unclear what he plans to do next in public life.

Onu

Mr Onu was the first governor of Abia State, between January 1992 and November 1993 before becoming the longest-serving minister in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation following his appointment in 2015.

Mr Onu was nominated as the presidential candidate of the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) in 1999 but surrendered the ticket to Olu Falae after the party entered into an alliance with the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) for the 1999 presidential election.

His latest presidential bid was based on the hope that Mr Buhari and party leaders would zone the ticket to the South-east.

Nwajiuba

Before President Buhari appointed him the Minister of State for Education in 2019, Mr Nwajiuba had just been elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Okigwe North, his first national office.

He lost the Imo governorship elections on the platform of the All Peoples Party (APP) in 2003, 2007 and 2011.

His state governor, Hope Uzodinma, is in his first term. Aside from the governor also being in the APC, the party is split into different factions in the state.
Gunmen have killed another man in Nkwelle-Ezunaka community in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigerias South-east.

The incident happened in the early hours of Monday at a popular junction in the area.

A resident of the area, Arinze Ajaezu, told PREMIUM TIMES what happened.

He said the gunmen, who stormed the area through Nkwelle Road, zoomed off through Onitsha Road, a different route, after killing the victim.

We dont know the identity of the guy. But some (people) are suspecting that he could be a security agent, he said.

The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident in a statement.

He identified the victim as Ikechukwu Udeozor.

Mr Ikenga said the victim was abducted from his residence on Thursday by gunmen and killed on Monday, four days after.

Today, May 13, at about 10:20 a.m., police operatives recovered a lifeless body at the roadside by Y- Junction, Nkwelle-Ezunaka. The victim was later identified as Ikechukwu Udeozor, Mr Ikenga said.

The spokesperson said the police were investigating the incident and that the killers would be arrested.

Worsening insecurity

Security in Nigerias South-east has deteriorated with frequent attacks by armed persons in the region.

Anambra State has witnessed some of the worst attacks in the region. The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.

The latest attack occurred barely 48 hours after gunmen killed a youth leader of the All Progressive Grand Alliance in Utuh, a community in Nnewi South Local Government Area of the state.

Also, last month, gunmen abducted and then beheaded Okechukwu Okoye, a lawmaker representing Aguata 2 Constituency in Anambra State House of Assembly.

Mr Okoye was killed on May 21 with his aide, Cyril Chiegboka, six days after they were abducted along Aguluzigbo Road, Anaocha Local Government Area of the state.

The Nigerian government has accused outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra of being responsible for some of the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied their involvement in the attacks.

The separatist group is leading agitation for an independent state of Biafra to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south Nigeria.

The leader of the secessionist group, Nnamdi Kanu, is detained in Abuja where he is facing trial for terrorism.
Nigeria on Tuesday lost its $1.7 billion claim against JP Morgan Chase Bank over the transfer of proceeds from the sale of OPL 245 in the controversial Malabu oil deal.

Judge Sara Cockerill ruled Tuesday that the Nigerian government couldnt show that it had been defrauded in the case.

In the suit, Nigeria is claiming more than $1.7 billion for the banks role in the controversial deal. Nigeria also alleges that JP Morgan was grossly negligent in its decision to transfer funds paid by oil giants Shell and Eni into an escrow account controlled by a former Nigerian oil minister, Dan Etete.

Earlier in February, Nigerian lawyer, Roger Masefield, argued that the nations case rested on proving that there was fraud and JP Morgan was aware of the risk of fraud.

The evidence of fraud is little short of overwhelming, the lawyer told the court.

Under its Quincecare duty, the bank was entitled to refuse to pay for as long as it had reasonable grounds for believing its customer was being defrauded.

Quincecare refers to a legal precedent whereby the bank should not pay out if it believes its client will be defrauded by making the payment.

Judge Cockerill said Tuesday that by the time of the 2013 payments, the bank was on notice of a risk of fraud.

There was a risk  but it was, on the evidence, no more than a possibility based on a slim foundation, the judge ruled.

Background

The OPL deal details how Shell and Italys Eni in 2011 paid the Nigerian government of then president Goodluck Jonathan a combined $1.3 billion for an oil block. Of that amount $875 million was paid to Malabu Oil & Gas, a company controlled by former oil minister Dan Etete.

Mr Etete had awarded Malabu the rights to the block in 1998 when he was Nigerias oil minister.

Within weeks of the deal in April 2011, half of Malabus money was allegedly packed into bags and paid out to Nigerian government officials and Western oil executives as cash bribes.

The deal has also spawned further lawsuits, including efforts by a new presidential regime in Nigeria to recover assets. A panel of judges in Milan acquitted the companies and executives, who all denied any wrongdoing, of bribery last March. Prosecutors have however appealed the ruling.

Classified documents from Britains financial crime agency seen by this newspaper revealed how it allowed JP Morgan to pay $875 million of suspicious funds to Mr Etete, a former Nigerian oil minister widely known as a convicted money launderer.

The documents, rarely seen Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), were filed by the banking giants London branch as it raised concerns about huge payments it was being asked to make by the Nigerian government to Mr Etete.

The reports were filed in 2011 and 2013 to the UKs Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), which at that time sat within the now defunct Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Trial

The trial opened in February with details of the claim by Mr Masefield, who argued that the bank failed in its Quincecare duty.

Damages sought by Nigeria include cash sent to Mr Etetes company, Malabu Oil and Gas, around $875 million paid in three installments in 2011 and 2013, plus interest, taking the total to over $1.7 billion.

But Bloomberg reports Tuesday that the London High Court judge said no such breach took place.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria is naturally disappointed by the outcome of the judgment and will be reviewing it carefully before considering next steps, a spokesman told Bloomberg. He added that the Nigerian government will continue its fight against fraud and corruption and to work to recover funds for the people of Nigeria.

JP Morgan in a statement said that the judgment reflects its commitment to acting with high professional standards in every country it operates in. The bank added that the judgement also shows how we are prepared to robustly defend our actions and reputation when they are called into question.
The gunmen, who abducted 29 wedding guests on Saturday in Sokoto, have asked to be paid a ransom of N145 million before they are released, the secretary-general of the Phone Sellers Association in the state, Nasiru Musa, told TVC News.

Many of the hostages are mobile phone dealers at the Bebeji Communication Market in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State.

They were abducted on Saturday evening while returning from the wedding of one of their colleagues in Tambuwal in Sokoto.

The bandits called twice on Monday morning to inform us of their stand regarding our members that are with them

They said we should bring five million naira for each of the twenty-nine persons with them which in total is N145 million before they can be released, Mr Musa said.

Immediately after the abduction, it was thought that 50 people were abducted but several of those thought to have been abducted returned home. Seven others were rescued by a member of a vigilante group operating in the area.

The chairman of the association, Mustapha Khalifa, told PREMIUM TIMES on the phone on Tuesday that some of them who escaped during the abduction are receiving treatment at the Talata Mafara General Hospital.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the bandits ambushed two buses conveying the wedding guests back to Gusau in Dogon Awo immediately after Bimasa village in the Tureta local government area of Sokoto.

Kidnap for ransom, killings and displacement of innocent residents, cattle rustling, and armed robbery have become rampant in the north-west and some parts of the central region of Nigeria

The worst hits are farmers, women, and students and now travelling on federal and local highways is becoming dangerous as bandits block roads, abduct and kill motorists.

Major federal highways including Abuja-Kaduna, Gusau-Sokoto-Birnin Kebbi, and Birnin Gwari-Kaduna have become travellers nightmares with attacks and abduction or killing of travellers becoming a daily occurrence.

Travelling by train in the region has also become dangerous as some abducted Kaduna-bound train passengers are still in captivity more than 70 days after their abduction.

Despite efforts by security agents and vigilance group members to tackle banditry, the gunmen keep committing atrocities in the land.

In his speech Sunday morning to mark this years Democracy Day, President Muhammadu Buhari said he lives with grief and worry over the level of insecurity in the country.

On this special day, I want us all to put all victims of terrorist activities in our thoughts and prayers, he said.

I am living daily with the grief and worry for all those victims and prisoners of terrorism and kidnapping.

The Zamfara State government said it has been making efforts to rescue the victims.

Zamfara state government is doing all it could to secure the release of Bebeji Youth from their abductors, the director-general, new media at the Zamfara State government house, Ibrahim Zauma, told PREMIUM TIMES.

The spokesperson of the police command, Mohammed Shehu, said the police commissioner has sent special operatives to track the bandits and rescue the abductees.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has described the former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, as a selfless patriot and elder statesman who has made significant contributions to the growth and stability of the nation and the West African sub-region.

The former president said this in a statement he posted on social media to celebrate Mr Abubakar who turned 80 on Monday.

Mr Jonathan described the former leader as a peace maker and nation builder due to his activities at the National Peace Committee.

Your commitment to our national aspirations and considerable achievements as Head of State at a momentous period in the history of our nation has continued to be referenced as a watershed in the birthing of the Fourth Republic.

Out of office, you have earned a reputation as a peace maker and nation builder for your key roles in promoting unity, mutual harmony and peaceful elections through the National Peace Committee.

As you celebrate, I wish you more strength, wisdom, and sound health in your future endeavours, he said.

Epitome of unity

In his goodwill message, former Vice President and presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, described the celebrant as a great Nigerian patriot and an epitome of unity.

In a statement by his spokesperson, Paul Ibe, Mr Atiku said the former Head of State demonstrated great patriotism and commitment to unity and democracy by keeping faith to his transition timetable in 1999.

According to the former vice president, Mr Abubakar has also committed himself to the promotion of unity and democracy since leaving office by involving himself in peace building efforts in the country.

As you celebrate your 80th birthday today (Monday), Im excited to say that my interactions with you have always been fruitful because I see in you a great fountain of inspiration and a reservoir of wisdom and knowledge, Mr Abubakar extolled the general.

The former vice president also said Mr Abdulsalamis contributions to creating a culture of politics without bitterness will always be appreciated by Nigerians.

Keeping a promise is one of the greatest signs of a great leader. General Abdulsalami has met that criterion. Im proud to associate with such a great and patriotic Nigerian. May Allah grant the General more good health and longer life to continue to serve humanity, the presidential hopeful added.

A nationalist

In a separate message by his Chief Press secretary, Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa said Nigeria benefited immensely from Mr Abubakars leadership as he returned the country to democratic rule in 1999.

He commended the former leader for his consistency in the pursuit of peace and credible electoral process in the country.

The governor also lauded the former head of state for his patriotism, which he exudes by always speaking up on national issues and unrelenting in his service to the country and humanity. He said Mr Abubakar had faithfully sustained those contributions to the polity.

He described the octogenarian as an epitome of nationalism, selflessness and statesmanship, and prayed that God would raise more persons like him in the country.

On behalf of my family, the government and people of Delta, I felicitate with you, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, on your 80th birth anniversary.

As a great patriot and elder statesman, you have made significant contributions to the growth and stability of our nation through your selfless service to the country and humanity.

Your commitment to our peaceful coexistence and laudable initiative, which birthed the Fourth Republic remains a momentous period in the history of our nation.

Even out of office, you have continued to work tirelessly as a troubleshooter and nations builder and in promoting unity and peaceful elections through the National Peace Committee.

As you celebrate your 80th birth anniversary today, I join your family, friends and wells wishers to thank Almighty God for your life and to pray that He continues to bless you with robust health, greater wisdom, guidance, protection and enduring provisions, Mr Okowa said.
The Commissioner of Police in Bauchi State, Umar Sanda, has ordered an immediate investigation of a mob that set a suspect ablaze at Chinade community in Katagum Local Government Area of the state.

Mr Sanda stated this in a statement signed by the spokesperson of the Bauchi police, Ahmed Wakili, and made available to journalists in Bauchi.

He described the mob action as a barbaric and dehumanizing act of jungle justice meted on the suspect by some irate youth in Chinade.

Mr Sanda ordered an immediate and thorough investigation into the act, adding that it was barbaric and inimical to the law governing our country.

Instead of taking the suspect to the police for proper investigation and prosecution, they mobbed the suspect for allegedly stealing a motorcycle without any recourse to the law.

Mr Sanda warned that the command under his stewardship, would not allow some recalcitrant elements in the society to take the laws into their hands by killing suspects arrested for an alleged crime in such a dehumanising and unlawful manner.

He further warned that nobody had the right to treat a suspect in such a barbaric manner, stressing that it was wrong for anyone to assume the position of a law enforcement agency.

The CP said that any suspect apprehended in connection with any crime should be immediately handed over to the police or any law enforcement agencies for investigating and prosecution.

Mr Sanda appealed to the public to be calm, as the police command was already mopping up those responsible for the gruesome act for possible prosecution.

NAN reports that a middle-aged man whose identity had not been determined, was late Sunday night attacked by a mob who beat him to a pulp and later set him ablaze for alleged theft of a motorcycle in the community.

(NAN)
An Ado-Ekiti High Court on Tuesday sentenced a 30-year-old man, Shola Oguntuase, to life imprisonment for raping a 14-year-old JSS 3 student.

The convict was arraigned and tried before Justice Adekunle Adeyeye on a one-count charge of defilement.

Delivering judgment, Mr Adeyeye held that the prosecution proved its case against the convict beyond all reasonable doubts, hence, his conviction to life imprisonment.

From the entire circumstances, I have no doubt that the prosecution established beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant raped the victim.

The defendant is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment, the judge ruled.

Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, Marcus Olowoyo, told the court that Mr Oguntuase raped the minor on July 7, 2020, at Ire- Ekiti in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti.

Mr Olowoyo, in proving his case, presented the victims statement to the police before the court as evidence.

The prosecutor further called four witnesses and tendered medical reports as exhibits before the court to prove her case of rape.

However, the defence counsel, Rotimi Adabembe, called no witnesses.

(NAN)
Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has warned that the people of the South-west would not tolerate another unprovoked attack on the region under any guise.

Mr Akeredolu spoke on Tuesday at the Government House in Akure while receiving Governors Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the immediate past governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, also joined the entourage to pay a condolence visit to Mr Akeredolu over the June 5, 2022, terror attack in Owo Local Government Area.

Mr Akeredolu, who said the people of Ondo State and the South-west region at large, had always come to the country in peace and unity, described the Owo attack as one too many.

He appreciated the governors for their solidarity, which he described as not just symbolic but important, and noted that the people of the Southwest region had always maintained peace and unity in the country.

We are part of this country and we have always come to this country in peace and we have maintained peace. We have been trying every time to maintain Nigeria because we believe in Nigeria.

Let someone point to an incident in which we left our enclave or we left this peaceful environment and went to cause problems in other places. Let them tell us.

We have come to this country in peace, and now people want to visit us with war. You want to maim and kill us; it is not easy.

It is a dreadful assault. I said to people that if we were at war and we were armed and faced ourselves, in one day 40 people would not die from our side. But this is not war, we were not at war.

This is an assault on us, on our psyche. We cannot continue this way. We believe in this place, we believe in the South-Western region, we believe in Yoruba. Is Yoruba part of the Nigeria we believe in? Yes.

But I thank you for your solidarity. You have come all the time and we have always worked together, all of us, he said.

According to Mr Akeredolu, If you get to the scene, Im sure it will bring tears out of your eyes. These criminals, these animals in human skin, what they did was horrendous.

They did not come to kidnap, they did not come to steal, they took no dime. They went into the church and shot at everything within their sight, the governor said.

Earlier, Governor Abiodun, who spoke on behalf of the other governors, said the attack was not just on the good people of Owo and Ondo State, but the entire people of the South-west region.

He announced the donation of N25 million from each of the governors, totalling N75 million for the victims of the attack.

Mr Abiodun disclosed that the region would soon meet to take a position to further consolidate and improve the security architecture in the zone.

Of course, we have met and we have condemned this act which we find as most unfortunate. Your Excellency, this is an attack too many.

We know that you have been at the vanguard of ensuring peace and security for your people. In fact, you are the champion of the Amotekun in the South-West.

We, your brothers, wonder if this is more personal because of the role you have played in ensuring that our zone is secured.

One wonders if there is a particular reason this attack was launched in your hometown of Owo. We are deeply pained, we are deeply saddened and we commiserate with you.

We pray for the lives of the departed, we pray that the almighty God forgives their sins and accepts their souls.

We commiserate with their families, we sympathise with those that are still in the hospitals, Mr Abiodun said. (NAN)
A coalition of anti-corruption organisations has formed a group to promote whistleblowing as a strategy for fighting corruption and attaining transparency and good governance in ECOWAS member states.

The Whistleblowing Advocacy Coalition of West Africa (WACOWA) said the group was formed following talks with the ECOWAS Commission and the Network of Anti-corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA) on strengthening the fight against corruption in West Africa.

The coalition made up of 13 civil society organisations disclosed this in a statement signed by Chido Onumah of the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL).

The coalition aims to increase the commitment to the establishment of a whistleblower protection law in ECOWAS member states while supporting whistleblowing policies.

WACOWAs objective is to complement the commissions efforts in this regard by promoting whistleblowing as an accountability tool and strengthening commitment to the development of a whistleblower protection law in member states.

It will collate reported cases to aid the work of anti-corruption agencies, seek new partners that will participate in the objectives of the advocacy and create solutions that will serve the needs of the communities.

The coalition promises a fervent commitment to the promotion of transparent and accountable governance in ECOWAS countries by advocating whistleblowing as a conscious and obligatory action of citizens as a way of reducing corruption and aiding development in their communities, the statement said.

Corruption a major challenge

According to the statement, the coalition said corruption has been one of the major challenges facing West African states since independence, and that its pervasiveness in the subregion makes it seem intractable.

It added that the many damaging impacts of corruption over the decades are mass poverty, high-level unemployment, disregard for law and order, lack of trust in government and rising political instability destroying lives and property.

Although most ECOWAS member states have passed anti-corruption laws, ratified international conventions against corruption and established special national anti-corruption institutions, a few others have yet to do so.

Still, despite these efforts, tackling corruption in the region has not yielded the desired result. The integrity of government and level of corruption are rated more poorly in West and East Africa than in other regions on the continent, as pointed out by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in one of its reports issued in 2005.

Even Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has over the years expressed similar sentiments by indicating that ECOWAS countries have excessively higher levels of corruption than countries in other regions.

A key feature in the ECOWAS Commissions protocol to combat corruption in the region is the ECOWAS Whistleblower Protection Strategy. The Commission identifies whistleblowing as one of the most direct methods of exposing corrupt acts which can foster transparency and accountability in both the public and private sector administration.

The strategy is to encourage member states to pass whistleblowing legislation that is safe for making disclosure of wrongdoing and ensuring protection against retaliation because of such disclosure.

Whistle-blowing policy

The whistle-blowing policy in Nigeria is an anti-corruption initiative of the federal ministry of finance. It encourages citizens to voluntarily disclose information about fraud, bribery, and other related financial crimes activities.

The policy, launched in 2016, by the federal government and facilitated through the Ministry of Finance, provides a rewarded or entitled to between 2.5 per cent and five per cent of the recovered funds to a whistleblower who provides information about any financial mismanagement.

However, there have been concerns about the protection of the whistleblowers from retaliation with rights activists calling on the National Assembly to pass the Whistle-blowing Policy Bill to tackle corruption and protect whistleblowers.

According to a 2021 report by AFRIMIL, says that more than 62 per cent of Nigerians believe that vulnerable groups will not report corruption if there is no strong legislative protection against the victimization of whistleblowers.

The report added that three out of every four Nigerians strongly agree that Nigerians have stopped reporting looted funds due to nepotism.

Some of the other civic groups and organisations that signed the whistleblowing coalitions statement include, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Civic Media Lab Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Human and Environment Development Agenda (HEDA), MILID Foundation, OrderPaper.ng, Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development (PRIMORG), and Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action).

Others are Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Tap iNitiative, Transparency International (TI)  Nigeria, and, 21st Century Community for Youth Empowerment and Women Initiative.
Members of Iwhnurohna Monitoring Group (IMG), a sociocultural group of Iwhnurohna indigenes of the Niger Delta resident in North America and Europe, have called on the flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, to pick the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, as his running mate for the presidential election. The group said that Mr Abubakar should do so immediately and without equivocation, vacillation or contemplation.

Members of the Diaspora-based Niger Delta group made the call at the end of their world-wide zoom meeting on Monday, resolving that an Atiku-Wike ticket will be the winning ticket for the PDP.

A spokesperson for the group, Chindah Wami, said that an Atiku-Wike ticket is the only ticket that will definitely, unquestionably guarantee victory for the PDP.

Mr Wami added that, No one should forget that without Wike there would not have been any Peoples Democratic Party to which people would have returned to, adding: If there is anyone who should be thanked for keeping PDP strong today, Wike is the one. His strong showing as runner-up in the recently concluded primaries will bring the party together if he is picked as the running mate.

Members of the Iwhnurohna group recalled that prior to the primaries, Mr Wike said that he would not leave the party even if he lost in the primaries.

Mr Wami recalled that even though Mr Wikes friend, Aminu Tabuwal, lost at the end of the primaries in 2018 in Port Harcourt, Mr Wike still supported the partys nominee, Mr Abubakar, in the 2019 presidential elections.

Wike said the same thing now that even if he loses the presidential nomination he would still support whoever is the partys flagbearer, Mr Wami said, adding that, It is not every politician that will act like Wike and mean it.

Members of the Diaspora Nigerian group said that citizens of the country are concerned about the sordid, unpleasant and depressing state of the Nigerian nation today, and noted that it will be reversed by a leadership that cares about the general wellbeing of the citizens without regard to ethnicity, religion or socioeconomic status.

An Atiku-Wike ticket will not only guarantee victory for the PDP it is the only ticket will reverse the wrong direction that the country has been sailing in the last seven years, the IMG spokesperson said.

Members of the IMG pointed out that Wike has a proven track record as an effective governor for which he was nicknamed, Mr Project even by some prominent members of the ruling APC party. He was also an effective Minister for Education as exemplified by the hundreds of Almajiri schools he built for the education of school-age children in Northern Nigeria.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has arraigned a businesswoman, Ramat Mba, before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in Gwagwalada, Abuja, for allegedly defrauding job seekers of N4.5 million.

According to a statement by the ICPC spokesperson, Azuka Ogugwa, on Tuesday, Ms Mba was arraigned on a five-count charge before the judge, Ibrahim Mohammed, of the Abuja High Court.

She is being accused of impersonating the late Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, with the intent to procure employment in the service of ICPC for two unsuspecting job seekers.

The commission also accused her of demanding and receiving N2 million from one Chimezie Akpata Terry and another N1.5 million from one Susan Jumai Danielin in exchange for non-existing employment in government agencies, contrary to Section 13 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under Section 68 of the same Act.

Court session

ICPCs lawyer, Mashkur Salisu, told the court that Ms Mba committed the offence sometime in 2020 when she collected N4.5 million from several job seekers promising to secure jobs for them with ICPC and National Air Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).

ALSO READ: Court convicts man for N2 million job scam

The court further heard how the defendant fraudulently forged the signature of the late Abba Kyari with which she sent a letter to the ICPC Chairman, requesting that the duo of Chimezie Akpata and Ismail Adewole Oladipupo be employed into the service of the Commission.

The late chief of Staff however distanced himself from the request before his death in 2020 as revealed by ICPCs counsel, Mr Salisu.

Defence lawyer, Alozie Chigozie, moved the bail application for the accused, praying that the court grant her bail on liberal terms.

Mr Salisu, who did not oppose the bail application, however, prayed the court to admit the accused to bail on reasonable terms that would ensure her attendance in court for trial.

The judge thereafter admitted her to bail in the sum of N10 million with one surety who must be an Assistant Director in the federal service and resident within the FCT. The case has been adjourned to 22nd September 2022 for a definite hearing.
Shortly before his death, the dean of the School of Media and Communication (SMC), Pan-Atlantic University (PAU), Lagos, Mike Okolo, inspired 20 pioneer beneficiaries of the MTN Media Innovation Programme (MIP) which was recently launched by the communications giant.

Mr Okolo, who reportedly died on June 5, 2022, was one of the celebrated media scholars who engaged the fellows during the opening sessions of the six-month fully funded fellowship.

According to the deceased, the fellows would engage in intensive sessions on courses covering modern income streams for journalists, creativity and innovation.

He had said the programme would equip the fellows with the requisite knowledge in storytelling, entrepreneurship and management principles, 5G, and blockchain technology, business and media ethics, strategic planning skills, among others.

Mr Okolo hinted that the selected fellows were chosen from over 1,200 applications submitted during a call-for-applications phase which he noted commenced on April 27, 2022, and ended on May 5, 2022.

He added that selections were based on performance from a written test as well as a statement of purpose (SOP) submission.

Shortly after rounding off the in-session for the first month, Mr Okolo, who had joined the university since 2004, was said to have died in an accident on June 5.

The university, in a memo announcing his demise, hailed him for his contribution to the institution in his 18 years of service.

He was said to be survived by his wife, Rosemary Okolo, who is a former registrar at the university, and four children.

The statement read in part: Dr Okolo joined Pan-Atlantic University in 2004 as the Corporate Affairs Manager of the University. In 2006, he moved to become a pioneer member of the newly formed Centre for Media and Communication and played a key role in the Centres establishment.

The CMC evolved into the School of Media and Communication, attaining a reputation for running quality academic as well as professional education programmes, with the tremendous input of Dr Okolo

Meanwhile, following his tragic passing, the university management has appointed Ngozi Okpara as the acting dean of the School of Media and Communication (SMC).

MTN speaks on MIP

While welcoming the participants, the chief corporate services officer of MTN Nigeria, Tobechukwu Okigbo, had also advised the fellows to use the opportunity offered by the programme to improve their skills as journalists and media practitioners.

Mr Tobechukwu challenged journalists to be independently minded in the course of their interactions with media industry players.

As media practitioners, you must think for yourself, so we the industry do not tell you things which are not as though they were.

You must query some industry statistics; analyse certain claims to help the society make informed decisions by knowing the truth. Interrogate the numbers; that is what sets you apart, Mr Tobechukwu said.

The programme

In-person sessions for the fellowship commenced on May 23, 2022, to run for six months till December 10, 2022.

As part of the programme, fellows will also travel to South Africa to study the media business, Pan-Africanism and the role of development media through a programme with the University of Witwatersrand, one of Africas leading universities in media training.

Furthermore, cohorts will execute practical group projects that will be presented at the end of the programme; where an outstanding storyteller will be awarded a grant to participate in and cover MTN Foundations key initiative, What Can We Do Together?

According to the organisers, at the end of the training, the fellows will also have access to professional resources and mentorship from the universitys faculty.

The fellows

The 2022 pioneer MIP cohorts include Ameh Ejekwonyilo of PREMIUM TIMES, Chima Akwaja of Leadership Newspaper, Mike Okwoche of TVC News, Peter Oluka of Techeconomy, Adeyemi Adepetun of The Guardian Newspaper, Wasilat Azeez of TheCable, Uhuotu Omilabu of Inspiration FM, Damilola Fajinmi of Megalectrics and Sakina Ahmed of Fombina FM.

Others are Abidemi Dairo of Channels Television, Vanessa Obioha of Thisday Newspaper, Temitayo Jaiyeola of Punch Newspaper, Elsie Godwin; a digital content creator, Agbonkhese Oboh of Vanguard Newspaper, Nahimah Ajikanle-Nurudeen of AP News, Daniel Adeyemi of TechCabal, Samson Akintaro of Nairametrics, Razaq Ayinla of Businessday, Esther Ndu of Arise News, Ugo Onwuaso of Nigeria Communications Week, Michael Orodare of Neusroom and Blossom Deji-Folutile.

Fellows expectations

The fellows, who were excited by their selection, expressed their expectations from the initiative, even as they pledged to maximise the opportunity.

I am excited to have been chosen for the MIP programme, and I look forward to filling the knowledge gaps in entrepreneurial skills as well as applying the communication skills that will be acquired to tell more impactful stories as a journalist, Mr Ameh, one of the cohorts said at the opening session in Lagos.

For another fellow, Daniel Adeyemi, This opportunity will expand my storytelling capacity, through first-person exposure to technological practices both in Nigeria and across Africa, deeper understanding of the regulatory landscape and exposure to case studies from leading organisations in the sector.

My goal from this programme is to be able to create a digital platform that will complement the existing broadcast platform in my organisation and at the same time boost the companys revenue. Ultimately, I am optimistic that being part of this programme will make my dream to become a media entrepreneur even after retirement a reality, said Mrs Ahmed, a fellow.
A former Deputy Governor of the CBN, Kingsley Moghalu, has resigned his membership in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) days after losing his bid for the partys presidential ticket.

Mr Moghalu lost in a primary held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Wednesday, to the founder of Roots Television, Dumebi Kachikwu.

He polled 589 votes to come second behind Mr Kachikwu who scored 977 votes.

In his resignation letter addressed to the ADC National Chairman, Okey Nwosu, on Monday, the former CBN boss faulted the party leadership and the manner in which they handled the electoral process that produced Mr Kachikwu as the winner.

He said the exercise conducted by the ADC leadership was flawed with inconsistencies, similar to that noted within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He added that the process and conduct of the exercise contradicts his values.

I have resigned because the process and conduct of the partys presidential primary on June 8, 2022, at Abeokuta revealed a fundamental clash of values between me and your leadership of the party, he said.

Mr Moghalu accused the leadership of the ADC of reneging on its promise to provide a level playing field for all aspirants during the primary election.

Despite the circular you issued a few days to the primary committing the party to provide transportation and accommodation for delegates to and in Abeokuta, and which as we agreed would provide a level playing for all the presidential aspirants, the party under your leadership failed to do so.

Some aspirants, including myself, made donations to the ADC party account as requested by the party for this purpose. This failure, which appeared intentional, created room for massive abuses of the electoral process including delegate capture and financial inducement of delegates. This is only one of the numerous inconsistencies and the absence of transparency and predictability in the management of the party that I had progressively complained about.

As you are well aware, I have consistently resisted pressures to join the APC or the PDP precisely to avoid cash-and-carry politics. For me to remain a member of the ADC therefore, after what thousands of party members participated in at Abeokuta, would be to endorse political corruption of a most obscene order, Mr Moghalu disclosed in the letter.

Mr Nwosu could not be reached for comments.

Also, the National Secretary of the ADC, Said Abdullah, did not answer calls or text messages sent to his mobile telephone.

Having vowed to send the presidential candidates of the APC and PDP on political retirement if he emerged as the flagbearer of the ADC, Mr Moghalus dream of leading Nigeria has again suffered an early setback.

He lost his first presidential bid as the Young Progressive Party (YPP) candidate in 2019, the same party he dumped a couple of months after the last election.

Mr Moghalu, in his comment after joining the ADC in October 2021, said his then new party aligned with his political ideology.
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced two co-defendants in a suit filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) against suspended deputy commissioner of police, Abba Kyari, over an alleged drug deal to two years imprisonment.

The judge, Emeka Nwite, in a judgment, said having admitted to have committed the offences preferred against them in counts 5, 6 and 7, Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who are the 6th and 7th defendants, are hereby convicted accordingly.

Mr Nwite thereafter sentenced them to two years imprisonment on each of counts 5, 6 and 7.

He said the terms, which shall run concurrently, would commence from the day the defendants were arrested by the NDLEA.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two defendants, Umeibe and Ezenwanne, who are 6th and 7th defendants respectively in the matter, are the two alleged drug traffickers arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu by the Nigerian police and handed over to the NDLEA.

They had pleaded guilty to counts 5, 6 and 7 preferred against them by the anti-narcotic agency.

Background

The anti-narcotic agency had, on March 7, 2022, arraigned the seven defendants, including Mr Kyari, on eight charges of conspiracy, illegal dealing in cocaine, importation of cocaine and obstruction.

Four of the defendants are members of the Intelligence Response Team, which Mr Kyari headed until his suspension following his indictment for fraud in the United States last year.

The two others, who are non-police officers, are Messrs Umeibe and Ezenwanne, who were accused of importing 21.35kg of cocaine into Nigeria via the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Enugu State, on January 19, 2022.

Their lawyer, E. U. Okenyi, had defended the decision of his clients to plead guilty to the crime.

Mr Kyaris lead lawyer, Kanu Agabi, opposed the prosecutions application for a review of facts and subsequent sentencing of the defendants, saying it would jeopardise his clients defence.

But the two defendants lawyer as well as the prosecuting counsel opposed it.

The arguments of the defendants are speculative. They have not raised any facts or evidence indicating that reviewing the facts of the case will be prejudicial to their defence, NDLEAs prosecuting counsel, Joseph Sunday, argued.

Charges

NDLEA prosecutors accused Mr Kyari and the four IRT members of illicit dealing in 21.35kg of cocaine between January 19 and 25, 2022, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under section 11(c) of the NDLEA Act.

In one of the charges, the anti-narcotic agency alleged that Mr Kyari and the four IRT operatives illicitly tampered with 21.35kg of cocaine by removing 17.55 kg of it and substituting same with some other substance. The offence is said to be contrary to and punishable under section 14(b) of the NDLEA Act.

The prosecutors also accused Mr Kyari, in a count which features only him as the sole defendant, of attempting to obstruct the NDLEA and its authorised officers by offering $61,400 to a senior anti-narcotics operative as an inducement to prevent the testing of the 17.55kg of cocaine.

In three of the counts, Messrs Umeibe and Ezenwanne were accused of importing 21.35kg of cocaine into Nigeria via the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Enugu State, on January 19, 2022.

Meanwhile, another judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Inyang Ekwo, had on June 3 fixed August 29 for judgement on the suit seeking the extradition of Mr Kyari to the United States of America to face fraud charges.

(NAN)
Some senators of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday, faulted the defection of the former minority leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia, South) to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

During the seemingly solemn and glum plenary session, the lawmakers raised several issues ranging from failure to consult the PDP caucus to breaching some provisions of the Constitution.

This was shortly after Ahmad Lawan, the Senate President, announced his (Mr Abaribe) defection from the PDP to APGA and his resignation as the Senate minority leader.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Abaribe in May left the PDP on grounds of a shambolic electoral process in the state, driven by a procured court injunction.

The lawmaker, who resigned about 48 hours after he withdrew from the state governorship race, also decried the partys use of an imaginary three-man ad hoc delegates and the exclusion of the partys statutory delegates in the primary elections to elect candidates.

Although Mr Lawan noted that the Abia senator had sent two letters notifying him of his defection and resignation, he did not read the letters. He simply made a verbal announcement.

Abaribe has decamped from the PDP to APGA. The position of the minority leader is now vacant for the PDP to fill. We wish him success

While he announced that APGA is now represented in the Senate, he said Mr Abaribe gave good leadership and kept the majority party on its toes and also supported the progress of the administration.

PDP senators kick

Shortly after Mr Lawans announcement, the Senate Minority Whip, Philip Aduda, raised a Point of Order  Order 42  asking to explain the circumstances upon which Mr Abaribe left.

He would go on to say it was a controversial one and that the former minority leader did not consult the minority leadership caucus before making a decision to decamp.

He was, however, interrupted by the Senate President who said the circumstance was not a controversial one.

George Sekibo (Rivers) was next to raise a similar issue.

He said the PDP caucus was initially not aware of his reasons for leaving and that if the reason was division in his state party, he was expected to come to the caucus for discussions and interventions.

This time, Mr Lawan said everyone was aware the moment Mr Abaribe defected. He also said the senators decision to consult the caucus is his decision to make.

Other senators like Gabriel Suswam and Betty Apiafi made similar complaints, saying his defection contradicts Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution which says a member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by another political party. he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.

Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.

This law means any lawmaker who defects to another political party when the party on whose platform he was elected is not undergoing any form of crisis or is not part of a merger with two or more political parties, shall vacate his seat.

To this, Mr Lawan asked aggrieved lawmakers to go to court.

Mr Abaribe has moved on to obtain the APGA senatorial ticket.

He had been at loggerheads with the leadership of the PDP in the state after the party zoned its governorship ticket to Abia Central and Abia North Senatorial Districts in the state.

The lawmaker represents Abia South, the same as the sitting governor, Ikezie Ikpeazu, and the former was zoned out in the partys new arrangement.

He is one of many top contenders (for various positions) to leave the PDP lately.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Faruk Yahaya, a lieutenant general, has ordered a review of the Nigerian Armys rules of engagement and code of conduct for Operation Safe Conduct ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Mr Yahaya gave the directive at the opening of the Second Quarter COAS Conference 2022 on Tuesday, in Abuja.

He said the approved guidelines would be conveyed to the commanders of various units and formations as soon as possible.

The COAS directed all personnel to remain apolitical while providing enabling and secured environment for electoral processes to thrive.

In this regard, I directed the review of Rules of Engagement and Code of Conduct for Operation Safe Conduct and the approved guidelines would be conveyed to you soon.

The Nigerian Army will continue to enhance its civil-military relations efforts and provide the necessary support in aid of the civil authority.

The successes achieved in our operations were no doubt facilitated by the commitment of the political leadership toward enhancing operational competencies of the Nigerian army as well as our general logistics, welfare, and wellbeing of the troops, he said.

Mr Yahaya said the troops had continued to sustain the tempo of operations against all forms of criminalities in collaboration with sister services and other security agencies.

He commended the level of cooperation and professionalism exhibited by the sister services and other security agencies in furtherance of their operational effort.

The army chief said this has led to the achievement of several successes across various theatres of operation in the country.

In the North East troops of Operation Hadin Kai have sustained the onslaught against the terrorists leading to the clearance of the several criminal enclaves and the surrendering of large numbers of insurgents and their families.

Concerted effort has also been made to contain and checkmate t secessionist activities in the South-east and illegal oil bunker activities in the South-south.

The South-west has remained relatively calm while our reinvigorated operations across North-central and North-west theatres are also yielding results, he said.

The COAS said the conference would enable the army to fine-tune its strategies and establish new benchmarks for the enhancement of operations in all theatres.

While commending the sacrifices and bravery of the troops, he pledged the Nigerian armys continued commitment to sustain effort toward providing an enabling environment for socio-economic activities to thrive.

He said that the high command would continue to devote premium attention to the training of personnel as a fundamental requirement for successful operations.

The Chief of Policy and Plans (Army), Anthony Omozoje, a major general, said the conference was designed to review progress in army operations and general activities in the second quarter.

Mr Omozoje said the army would conduct a holistic appraisal of its activities in the first half of the year and develop strategies to consolidate the achievements in the months ahead.

He said the review would include efforts in the provision of security support to facilitate peaceful conduct of electioneering activities for the 2023 elections.

According to him, the second-quarter conference is also special, adding that it provided an opportunity to commemorate the first anniversary of Office of the Chief of Staff.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference has in attendance, the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Samuel Adebayo, a major general, principal staff officers of Army Headquarters and corps commanders.

Others are the commanders of joint operations, General Officers Commanding (GOCs), Commandants of tri-service and army institutions and field commanders.

(NAN)
The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) today called on the Federal Government to discontinue its attempt to adopt a Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries, accusing it of trying to regulate social media and other online platforms through the backdoor by circumventing the legislative process.

MRA described the draft Code of Practice developed by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and published for public comments as a clumsy attempt to usurp the powers, functions and authority of the National Assembly as well as a breach of the constitutional rights of Nigerians.

NITDAs Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relationship, Hadiza Umar, issued a Press Release Monday announcing that NITDA issued the Code of Practice which it is presenting for public input, on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari in accordance with its mandate under the NITDA Act, to standardize, coordinate and develop regulatory frameworks for all information technology practices in Nigeria.

Condemning the effort, Ayode Longe, MRAs Programme Director, said: The Federal Government is clearly attempting to circumvent the legislative process in favour of a backdoor approach to regulate social media and other internet platforms. It is curious that the Government has chosen to use an administrative document to surreptitiously create criminal offences as the document states unequivocally that any platform or internet intermediary responsible for violating its provisions will be liable to prosecution and conviction.

He argued that NITDAs misuse of the term Code of Practice to describe the document amounts to acting under false pretences to dupe Nigerians into believing that the government is seeking to protect them when its real intention is so obviously to control social media and other Internet platforms by compelling them to register with the government and thereby muzzle the right to freedom of expression online.

Mr Longe contended that the document is a breach of Articles 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Nigerias treaty obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which gives everyone the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers

According to him, the name is problematic. Although it is termed a code of practice, it is in fact not intended to provide guidance for the implementation of any specific law or regulation. Rather, it creates criminal offences which are not contained in any existing Law and attempts to legitimize them by a vague reference to its enabling Act and other laws, which is beyond the remit of any such administrative document.

Mr Longe argued that the underlying rationale for many of the provisions of the document are unrealistic and unreasonable as they defy logic and common sense.

He said: In todays globalized world, is it possible or realistic to expect global Internet platforms like Facebook, Twitter and others to register with the government of every country in the world where they have users and set up offices in all those countries, which is the implication of the Federal Governments demand? Conversely, Nigerias external broadcaster, the Voice of Nigeria, broadcasts its signal and content to dozens of countries around the world and runs a website that is accessible globally; is it registered and does it have offices in all the countries where its signals are received as Nigeria is now demanding of platforms registered in other countries?

Mr Longe described many of the provisions of the document as arbitrary and draconian, saying the requirement that platforms take down unlawful content within 24 hours after receiving a notice or complaint from any authorized government agency constitutes an attempt by the government to control content published on social media and other online platforms while bypassing the judicial process and usurping the functions of the courts which should legitimately determine what content that is illegal or unlawful.

MRA, therefore, rejected the Code of Practice in its totality. It called on the government to abandon it and approach the National Assembly with an appropriate bill if its genuine intention is to address legitimate issues rather than violating the rights of Nigerians and other members of the public on the pretext of protecting them from fake news and misinformation.
Amidst speculations on the potential Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has said the countrys Constitution does not recognise religion as a factor in the choice of a running mate.

Mr Uzodinma, who served as co-chairman of the recent APC Convention Committee, said the focus should be on uniting the country and providing good governance.

He stated this on Tuesday while speaking with journalists at the State House, after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Social media has been awash with speculations that the partys presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, may pick a northern Muslim as his running mate.

The former Lagos State governor, who is a Muslim from the South-west zone, is expected to pick a running mate from any of the three zones in the north.

Most Christian politicians from the north are from minority ethnic groups.

There are speculations that Mr Tinubu may opt for a Muslim running mate as the late Moshood Abiola did for the 1993 presidential election.

Mr Abiola, a Muslim from Ogun State in the South-west, had picked Babagana Kingibe, a Muslim from Borno State, as the vice-presidential candidate of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Mr Abiola was already coasting home to victory in the election when the then Babangida administration annulled the election.

Mr Uzondinma said the candidate has the prerogative of picking a running mate.

There is nowhere in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria where religion is a factor or characteristic as to who becomes the President or who becomes the running mate.

But we are looking for united Nigeria, where governance will be the issue, where a president would be judged by his capacity to deliver democratic dividends, develop Nigeria to look like other parts of the western world where democracy is working, he said.

Mr Uzodinma added that Mr Tinubu must consider local characteristics and every factor political and apolitical that will make him win his election.

He stressed the need for the candidate to consider spread, noting that winning the election is the most important thing.

Furthermore, Mr Uzodinma commented on the presidential aspiration of the South-east.

Several APC presidential aspirants from the South-east, including the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, and the former Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, had called for the micro zoning of the presidential ticket to the region.

While Mr Onu made the demand while speaking at the convention venue, Mr Nwajiuba stayed away from the event in protest against the failure of the ruling party to micro-zone the presidential ticket to the South-east.

Mr Uzodinma said the South-east is not interested in being a running mate, but rather to be president. He added that the region will have to rally around the candidate after the decision of the delegates.

What we wanted as a zone was to be the president of Nigeria. And I was convinced that it was proper for us to ask for it. But in this business of partisan democracy, the minority will have their view but the majority will have their way, he said.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) requires all presidential candidates will have to submit the names of their running mates to it by June 17.
There is something inherently sinister in swanning into a village somewhere in Africa, tossing a few coins at people less privileged than you and being able to instruct them to do whatever you want.

If the price (or pay-off) is high enough, or the sense of humour crude enough the possibilities are endless.

It is this exact boundless freedom, plus a deeply ingrained racist ideology that has made an online Chinese industry Ive spent the last year investigating possible.

The concept behind this industry is not such a foreign one  you pay to receive a video of someone from a land, world, or reality far away from your own reading out a personalised greeting  made just for you.

Perhaps it is your favourite actor from the noughties, commissioned to wish you a happy birthday. Or maybe it is a greying politician congratulating you on exam success. It is big business and designed to connect ordinary people to the public figures they admire.

But the stars of this particular online show are not celebrities. They are Africans. Men, women, and most disturbingly, children.

For half a dollar a day, children are made to film such videos. They are then sold for anything from $10 to $70 per 30-second video.

As a customer, you simply submit your order and requirements to the video maker or one of his numerous agents in China:

This video is for friends who are about to get married, I hope the children can be energetic/pumped up! They shouldnt shout the last line, one such order reads.

To me, it is a human zoo of sorts, reimagined for this new, digital, socially-distanced age. Where humans, from elsewhere in the world can gawk at the foreignness and often visible poverty of the Africans featured  all through the comfort of their iPhones and favourite social media and messaging apps. It places a distance between customer and costumed-performer that allows the former to avoid questions about the morality and regulation of this trade.

But in February 2020, one particular video exposed the even uglier underbelly of this industry.

A group of 15 or so African children are dressed in red uniforms, standing around a blackboard bearing a Chinese phrase. A voice, off-camera, then instructs them to repeat this phrase in Chinese: Im a black devil, the kids chant, still smiling happily, and my IQ is low! They are then made to cheer a celebratory yeahhhh! and flail their arms before the video comes to an end. If you are reading this, I implore you to open a new tab, and google the word Heigui  it can be translated as Black monster or Black devil, but in practice, it is no different in intended use to the N-word.

This is too far! Stop buying these videos, one Chinese commenter raged. Hahahah this is too funny, another laughed.

One of the versions of this video racked up over three million views on Weibo in days.

On an internet as heavily censored as the Chinese one, racism strangely seems to evade such restriction.

Not that anyone who cant speak the language would know. It is this cultural and language gap that has allowed this content and others similar to it to flourish, unobstructed since 2015, despite the protests of Africans in China and concerned Chinese netizens.

With BBC Africa Eye, I investigated the origins of this video, who made it, and where. Analysing hundreds of clips to find out more, our team were then able to geolocate the exact location these children had been filmed  a village on the outskirts of Lilongwe, Malawi. The bulk of the content filmed in this village had been uploaded to Chinese social media platforms by a man in his 20s called Lu Ke. He was known locally as Susu, and had become one of the most prolific filmmakers in this industry. With the help of an undercover reporter, we got closer to this man, finding out more about him, and eventually gathering evidence suggesting that he was responsible for this video.

When I finally got the opportunity to confront him, I hoped speaking in his own language would be enough to invoke some remorse  at least, honesty.

I remembered a video in which he had made two young girls from the village kiss on the lips, before turning to kiss at the camera.

Or the one in which he had told the kids to promise to never come to China, a nod to the surprisingly widespread fear that Chinas increasing courtship of Africa will lead to an invasion of dark-skinned Africans, blackening the Chinese gene pool.

This is not to mention the scores of videos that carry the unmistakable hallmark of saviourism and poverty porn, framing Susu as king of the children, in his own words.

Susu denied everything we put to him and was keen to clear his name  this was not exploitation, he had fed the children and their poor families, and taught them Chinese culture  this was all good will.

He made an even more farcical claim  this was all inspired by his country. He explained that China (the mother country) was coming to help Africa, so its citizens, like him, were naturally following the same initiative.

I was struck by his desire to link his own individual actions to those of his country. It is something I had tried to avoid doing myself  I had never seen China as a nation endorse this industry. But Susu seemingly saw no such contradiction.

Time and time again, he would play on his domestic audiences strong sense of national pride to garner support for his content.

To them, his content showed him doing a good job representing China overseas and spreading Chinese values. In this sense, I could see how his followers were also being deceived.

Satisfying is not quite the word for how it felt to see the power dynamic Susu had carefully curated over his years in this rural village all come tumbling down in less than half a day when we confronted him.

But when Henry Mhango, my co-reporter, and I left the village, my mind could not help but wander to the other operations being run elsewhere on the African continent.

This glimpse into one operation, by one man, in one village left me with one main observation:

The problem with this industry is so much bigger than Susu alone.

PART TWO Racism in China and the impact on the image of Africa

I lived in China for six of the best years of my life. In many ways, I feel I grew up there.

But I would be dishonest if I did not mention the racism I, and many other black people in the country, faced while there. In my second year, I made what would be my first and (trust me) last trip to a zoo in the southern city of Guangzhou. Imagine my horror when, stood by an orangutan enclosure, I turned around to realise that I had become the main attraction. Some of this curiosity was innocent  you dont live in a country with as tiny a black population as China and not expect to arouse some local interest.

But understanding what was being said about me, punctuated by the click and flash of phone cameras made this interest hard to excuse.

Look, shes so black

My god, shes so black, [she] doesnt look goodbut I like her hairdo you think its real?

Hahahaha, shes looking at her fellow monkeys. Just like that, Id become the exhibit.

In China, the majority of people know very little about Africa and its people  their primary point of reference will be media  mainstream, most traditionally, but increasingly social media.

It is easy then to see why, beyond the horrific exploitation of the children in this industry, this content is also so problematic for Africans living in China. It has a direct impact on the way they are treated and talked about.

Content creators like Susu are able to position themselves as authorities on Africanness. They, collectively, are in complete control of the narrative they choose to spin  and to anyone who knows no difference, this then becomes an acceptable truth.

If Susus disclosures during our undercover journalists meeting with him are to be believed, black people are a dancing, smiling, obedient race of people  with a proclivity for theft, lies, and immoral behaviour.

Is he aware of the narrative that his content plays a role in creating about Africa in China?

I found one of his comments online particularly enlightening.

He had posted a video sitting in a KFC in Malawis capital, Lilongwe  Africas KFC the caption reads.

Perhaps feeling reflective, he leaves a comment:

In fact, many places in Africa are very good [laugh emoji], but none posts it.

You would think, given this controversy around the Low IQ video, the industry that made it possible would have long since imploded and men like Susu forced out of business.

But as I type, this industry is being propelled to new heights  finding its way into new Asian markets like Japan and creating new formats and features to keep up with the constant demand for innovation and excitement that social media often demands.

Today, if you type, Feizhou/ the Chinese word for Africa into search bars on international social media platforms like Tiktok and Instagram, you will find these videos, even sometimes garnering millions of views.

I should say, there is no indication that the African adult participants in this industry do so under duress. They, like the children, are compensated for their time and they form a large part of this industry. But having witnessed the inner working of one operation first-hand, and with an awareness of this racial context within China, I still wonder what they know about how and why their image is used, and just how much profit is made off their labour.

The official state narrative in China is that the country has a zero-tolerance policy towards racial discrimination.

Yet, this industry and the content in and around it still exist. Are we now ready to have an honest, open dialogue about anti-Blackness  which is a global problem  but which manifests in very specific ways in a Chinese context? A discussion that presents a nationwide reckoning on the table as part of the solution?

Without it, I fear that the specific brand of racism that has underpinned the exploitation of African children in this industry will only continue to be one of Chinas biggest exports.

Runako Celina is an investigative journalist for BBC Africa Eye and BBC Eye

Watch Racism for Sale
The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) said it is partnering with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission(ICPC) to deal with vote buyers and sellers at polling units in Saturdays governorship election in Ekiti State.

The Chairman of the commission, Mahmood Yakubu, while addressing stakeholders in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, on Tuesday, highlighted the ills of vote-buying, saying the commission was gearing towards mitigating its effect during the election.

We are not unaware that vote-buying is a destroyer of the electoral process, said Mr Yakubu.

To show how determined we are to stop this menace, we have changed the configuration of the ballot boxes in all polling units to prevent vote-buying.

We are also partnering the operatives of ICPC and EFCC to deploy their men and deal with vote buyers and sellers according to the law.

On security, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali, said the huge security deployment for the Ekiti governorship election is not to scare or intimidate voters on election day.

He had earlier announced that 17,374 police personnel had been mobilised for the governorship election on Saturday.

The figure is much higher than what was deployed in the 2018 election.

About 10,000 police officers were deployed to cover the Ekiti governorship election in 2018, in addition to 7,500 men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

While addressing stakeholders in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, Mr Alkali said the 17,374 personnel for Saturdays assignment is apart from operatives from National Security and Civil Defence Corps and other security agencies.

He said the increase in the deployment was to protect the sanctity of the ballots and make the outcome of the election credible and acceptable to all stakeholders.

The IGP said no individual with ulterior motive would be allowed to vitiate the outcome of the election, through violence, vote-buying, and other actions that can taint the credibility of the poll.

He warned his men against professional misconduct that could mar the results of the election or disrupt the process.

Mr Alkali also assured the voters that adequate security personnel were on the ground to ward off any security threat that could hinder them from exercising their franchise rights during the poll.

All the 177 wards and 2,445 polling units will be manned by appropriate manpower. Let me say this, the massive deployment is not to scare the citizens, but to protect the sanctity of the ballots and the provisions of the Electoral Act, he said.

Those who want to constitute a cog in the will of progress will face the consequences of their actions. National security should be of priority and uppermost in our minds. Let us conduct this election in the most civil manner.

All the parties must embrace the virtues of democracy. We will not allow any person or group of persons to disrupt this election no matter how highly placed. Let all the contenders provide the moral leadership so that we can achieve success together.

Speaking further, Mr Yakubu appealed to participants to eschew violence and allow the votes of the people to count.

He assured the stakeholders that the commission would maintain and protect the transparency and security of the process.

Let me assure political parties and voters that the task of electing a new governor will be left in the hands of Ekiti voters, Mr Yakubu said.

We wont take any action that would put any party and candidate in a vantage position. We are going to do everything according to the constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act.

He noted that four National Commissioners and eight Resident Electoral Commissioners had been deployed to ensure the conduct of a credible election, adding that a total of 749, 065 voters representing 76 per cent have collected their Permanent Voter Cards(PVCs).

To underscore how prepared we are, we have provided magnifying glasses and braille ballot papers for visually impaired citizens while the Bimodal Voters Authentication System Machines(BVAS) will be used for accreditation.

Meanwhile, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ekiti State, Adeniran Tella, said that pregnant women, people living with disabilities, and the aged, would be given priority to vote on election day.

Mr Tella added that safeguarding protocols relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic will be applied at polling units, to prevent the spread of the disease.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is expected to announce its vice-presidential candidate in 48 hours.

The partys National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, disclosed this shortly before meeting with members of the committee set up to assist the partys presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, choose a running mate.

The panel, comprising former and serving governors, members of the partys National Working Committee and members of the Board of Trustees, was established last week.

They are meant to come up with a running mate for the partys flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar, by the end of the week.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Abubakar emerged the PDPs presidential candidate after Aminu Tambuwal, the Sokoto State governor, withdrew from the race  giving him an edge over Nyesom Wike, who was also in the race.

This newspaper also reported how the party is currently torn between Mr Wike and Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the vice-presidential candidate.

However, at Tuesdays meeting, Mr Ayu said the party will announce its running mate in 48 hours and present them to Nigerians.

He said Mr Abubakar had written the panel, as the administrative arm of the party, on the choice of his running mate.

He also noted that the Governors Forum, the National Assembly and NWC are represented in the panel.

I wish you a successful deliberation and I hope you come up with a conclusion between tomorrow and Friday.

Tuesdays meeting is in furtherance of consultations aimed at arriving at a choice which Nigerians would be glad to elect into office.

Present at the meeting were the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Aminu Tambuwal; Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed; Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom and former Senate President, David Mark.

Others were former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko; former Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, and Senator Philip Aduda, among others.

The party has until Friday, as stipulated by the electoral umpire, INEC, to submit the names of its presidential candidates and their running mates.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, Tuesday, announced his departure for Egypt to study the countrys education, power, planning and finance achievements.

He announced the three-day trip to the North African nation through his Twitter account which has continued to attract commendations as well as criticisms from friends and foes on the social media platform.

I just departed for Egypt on a 3-day visit as part of my detailed study of comparable countries to Nigeria. In Egypt, I am expected to understudy, among others, the Egyptian Power Sector, Education, Planning and Finance Sectors, Mr Obi said

The tweet has moved to the top of the trends table in the country.

While many of the supporters of the LP presidential candidate hailed his trip to Egypt as one of his deliberate efforts to see Nigeria working, others described his move as yet another unnecessary move ahead of the 2023 poll.

As Nigeria, which is the continents biggest economy, struggles with the problem of power supply, Mr Obis choice of Egypt was probably informed by the countrys giant leap from similar concern to being the second country in Africa with the highest electricity access.

PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday reported the worsening state of the countrys electricity as the government announced the sixth national electricity grid collapse in 2022.

Mr Obis trip to Egypt came on the heels of the grid collapse leading to power outages in some cities amidst the biting effects of fuel scarcity in Nigerias capital city, Abuja.

While many of the supporters of the LP presidential candidate hailed his trip to Egypt as one of his deliberate efforts to see Nigeria working, others described his move as yet another unnecessary move ahead of the 2023 poll.

With the hashtag #WeCantContinueLikeThis, the presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, said Mr Obis move is a sign of unseriousness and a display of misplaced priority ahead of the 2023 poll

Heard @PeterObi travelled to Egypt to learn how to fix Education/Power problems, this is exactly the problem with unprepared candidates. It is 9 months to the election & a two-term gov. & former VP candidate wants to go learn something from Egypt in 3 days? Wow! #WeCantContinueLikeThis, Mr Sowore took a swipe at his fellow contender in a tweet.

Another user with a name, Retson Tedheke, argued that the former Anambra governors trip to Egypt is totally unnecessary since another company, Siemens, has started in Nigeria.

How Can You Go To Egypt to Observe What Siemens is Already Doing in Nigeria. Even if You want to Form Activities, You Should Know that Siemens has Already Started Working in The Nigeria Power Sector Under President Muhammadu Buhari Na. Haba Bros!, he lamented in his tweet.

His comments were, however, countered by many more who challenged him to show proof that Siemens has started power deals in the country.

More Twitter users questioned why Mr Obi is not in Ekiti campaigning for the LP governorship candidate while one of the forerunners in the race, Bola Tinubu of APC, is in the state canvassing votes.

Im a Peter Obi supporter, but he should be more bothered about local politics for now than visiting Egypt or anywhere. We need him to win first before he can implement all the knowledge he is gaining. If he did not win all this knowledge might be of no use, Asiwaju of Enugu, @_Temibee, argued.

Peter Obi is just too strategic God.

While some people went to Germany for a medical checkup and others are busy with local politics, my President is going to Egypt to study how they doubled their power generation in 10 years and how they built 10k factories in 7yrs, Jack, @Jack_ng01, defended the former Anambra governor.

Discussion around Mr Obis trip to Egypt has been the number one trend on the giant social media platform, Nigeria Twitter, for more than six hours.
The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDs (NACA), Gambo Aliyu, has said Nigeria has the largest global fund portfolio in a single country with over $1.1 billion for 2021 to 2023 implementation.

Mr Aliyu made this known while speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at the official unveiling of a publication titled From the darkest of days to a new dawn-35 year of the Nigerian response to HIV/AIDS.

Mr Aliyu said to support external funding, the Nigerian government also increased domestic HIV financing with 50,000 additional AntiRetrovirals (ART) annually.

He said the fund is sourced from the countrys resources and the establishment of the HIV Trust Fund.

The quicker we begin to look at domestic financial sustainability, the better for Nigeria because we do not expect donor support to continue forever, he said.

Global Fund is the worlds largest financier of AIDS, Tuberculosis, and malaria prevention, treatment, and care programmes.

Its a partnership designed to accelerate the end of these epidemics in more than 100 countries.

New Dawn

Mr Aliyu said the publication is an account of the evolution of HIV in Nigeria over the past 35 years.

He said the publication is a rich inventory of insights and great lessons to guide health workers, researchers, and policymakers in addressing Nigerias unfinished business in HIV/AIDS.

We must close the unmet HIV treatment needs among women, children, and men.

In his remarks, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, said the publication has been in the making for the last three years.

Represented by WHO country representative, Walter Mulombo, he said the project is a joint effort of the UN system working on AIDS in Nigeria, NACA, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and the Network of People Living with HIV in Nigeria (NEPWHAN).

Mr Schmale said the publication is inspired by Nigerias exemplary early days of the response to the epidemic (1986-2004) and the 2018 Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Surveythe worlds largest population-based HIV survey.

He said it chronicles more than 150 people who contributed, fought, or experienced the evolution of the response at one time or another.

It depicts the role played by the government and various key stakeholders, including development partners, people living with HIV, civil societies, and the private sector, he said.

He said the UN is proud to have been requested to support the government and people of Nigeria to document the evolution of their HIV response.

Mr Schmale said the information will help stakeholders better understand the current situation of people living with HIV and be inspired to go the last mile.

NEPWHAN coordinator hails effort

The national coordinator of NEPWHAN, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said its great seeing the important effort at documenting HIV/AIDS history in Nigeria come to light.

Mr Ibrahim said the publication tells the story of HIV response in Nigeria from the very beginning till date, capturing the significant progress over the past 35 years.

With the two index cases of HIV in Lagos and Enugu 1985, the Government of Nigeria immediately sprang into action, but the response was largely uncoordinated and marked with misconceptions, denial and indifference, among others, he said.

He said the antiretroviral treatment approved globally in 1987 was beyond the means of most Nigerians. Same for the more effective ART introduced in 1995. With these, the spread of HIV continued unabated, and resulted in many deaths across the country for many years.

Mr Ibrahim said over the years, the involvement and activities of civil society organisations in the prevention and control of HIV and AIDS in Nigeria increased significantly.

He said during this period, NEPWHAN was established in 1998 by some faith-based organisations and NGOs, and the interventions and response have been robust and inclusive ever since then.

By 2020, the number of people living with HIV that have access to ART increased from 360,000 to about 1.5 million. From its peak of 5.8 per cent in 2001, HIV prevalence in Nigeria decreased to 1.3 per cent in 2018, he said.

He said although Nigeria consistently ranked among the countries with the largest HIV burden, tremendous progress has been made in recent times to meet the challenges of the epidemic.

And this is why we celebrate a new dawn, he said.
As the world celebrates World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) on Tuesday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has charged African governments and political leaders to prioritise the provision of resources to improve blood transfusion services.

In her message to mark the annual event on Tuesday, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, noted that blood donation services have been frustrated in Africa due to staff shortages and limited funding from governments and partner organisations for effective blood donor education, recruitment, and retention.

Compared to other regions globally, Ms Moeti said the African region sees a disproportionate number of conditions requiring donor blood, impacting as many as seven million patients every year.

She cited examples of the health conditions which include haemorrhage associated with pregnancy and childbirth, severe anaemia due to malaria and malnutrition, bone marrow and inherited blood disorders, trauma and accidents, as well as man-made and natural disasters.

Speaking further on access to blood donations, she noted that in the African region, demand regularly outstrips supply, which she noted negatively delays access for patients who need safe and quality-assured blood to save their lives.

COVID-19 impact

Ms Moeti added that as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, voluntary unpaid blood donations dropped significantly, citing Malawi as an example, where a 46 per cent decrease in donations is said to have been recorded.

In 2021 on WBDD, she also highlighted how the pandemic significantly reduced the number of donors across the world, particularly in Africa

She said: Over the past year, blood stocks decreased in the African region as movement restrictions and fears of infection hindered people from accessing donation sites.

The average blood donation rate dropped by 17 per cent and the frequency of blood drives reduced by 25 per cent. Demand for blood also decreased by 13 per cent with the suspension of routine surgeries in some countries and fewer people seeking care in health facilities.

However, she noted that some countries across the region have worked hard to improve blood donation frequency and that the situation is showing signs of stabilising.

Blood transfusion services in many countries reached out to blood donors through public awareness campaigns, transporting donors from and to their homes, using digital platforms and establishing call centres, she said.

Government impact

Speaking further, she emphasised the need for the government to invest in blood transfusion services in Africa.

She said: As WHO in the African region, we provide support to countries at various levels, including resource mobilisation for the implementation of national blood transfusion plans, advocacy for integrating blood safety in these plans and strengthening the legal and regulatory framework for blood safety.

On World Blood Donor Day today, I urge African governments and political leaders to prioritise the provision of adequate human and financial resources to secure the future of national blood transfusion services. A blood service that gives patients access to safe blood and blood products, in sufficient quantities, is a key component of an effective health system.

Ms Moeti added that the government in partnerships and collaborations with media, the private sector, and faith-based and non-governmental organisations, will help increase the recruitment and retention of voluntary unpaid blood donors.

She also appreciated Africas blood donors for their selfless contribution to national health systems, through this life-saving gift to patients who need transfusion therapy.

Donating blood is an act of solidarity. By becoming a blood donor, you will help ease the pressure on health systems still struggling under the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

Focus of this years campaign

Every year on June 14, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD). The event, which was established in 2004, serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood.

With the theme, Donating blood is an act of solidarity. Join the effort and save lives, this years campaign seeks to highlight the critical role of voluntary blood donations in saving lives and enhancing community solidarity and social cohesion.

In a publication on its website, the WHO gave the specific objectives of this years campaign, hosted by Mexico through its National Blood Centre.

The WHO said in parts that the campaign highlights the need for committed, year-round blood donation, to maintain adequate supplies and achieve universal and timely access to safe blood transfusion

To recognise and promote the values of voluntary unpaid blood donation in enhancing community solidarity and social cohesion.

To raise awareness of the need for increased investment from governments to build a sustainable and resilient national blood system and increase collection from voluntary non-remunerated blood donors.
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress(APC) for the 2023 election, Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, led 14 other APC governors to Ekiti State to campaign for the partys governorship candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, ahead of Saturdays election.

Those who were also at the APCs final rally were former Osun State Governor and first Interim National Chairman of the APC, Bisi Akande, and the current National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu.

Besides Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, Governors Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo; Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano; Dapo Abiodun of Ogun; Gboyega Oyetola of Osun; Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna; Abdurazaq Abdurahman of Kwara and Inua Yahaya of Gombe were present to lend their support.

Others were Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, Solomon Lalong of Plateau, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, Babagaba Zulum of Borno State and Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos.

Addressing the crowd of party supporters at the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion in Ado Ekiti, Mr Tinubu said APC had started a revolution in Nigeria in 2015 by sweeping away the PDP.

He said the revolution pioneered by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 and, which was sustained in 2019, should be allowed to reach an enviable height by voting for APC in all elections.

President Buhari, a man of honour and dignity, had kept his promise by passing the ball to us in the south that we should produce the next President and it is now left for us to vote APC to maintain the unity and progress of our nation, he said.

Mr Tinubu noted that the Ekiti election was significant in boosting the APC chances in next years presidential election, and urged all factions within the party to close ranks.

To those who are aggrieved in Ekiti, nothing is wrong in having quarrels in a party, but it is not good to burn down the house, the presidential candidate said.

That is why I want you to vote for Emilokan of Ekiti, Biodun Oyebanji. This is our first test after my emergence, dont let us fail; dont let us disappoint President Buhari.

We must put Nigeria on the path of progress and you will never regret voting for APC in this election.

In their submissions, Governors Akeredolu, Sanwo-Olu and Bagudu described Mr Oyebanji as the best man to continue with the purposeful leadership laid by Governor Kayode Fayemi .

Mr Bagudu, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, added that Mr Tinubu had been picked as the presidential candidate and that the Southwest zone must stand by him, and that the only way to demonstrate this was by winning Ekiti for APC.

The Progressive Governors Forum knows that Ekiti will do us proud on Saturday by overwhelmingly voting for APC, banking on the solid foundation Governor Fayemi has provided, he said.

Biodun Oyebanji is the only one that can continue the good work Fayemi has begun. He will not disappoint you. The Southwest has a big task ahead of 2023 and holding the zone strongly for Asiwaju to be able to win the 2023 presidential election will be to the benefit of all of us.

Presenting the flag to the candidate, the National Chairman of the Party, Mr Adamu, expressed optimism that Mr Oyebanji will be elected as the next governor to succeed governor Fayemi, who he said had done wonderfully well in the last four years.

Since the nomination of my brother and your father, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as our presidential candidate, this is our first outing, said Mr Adamu.

We want to see you come out and vote for this humble and service-inclined young man.

I have been to Ekiti on three occasions, but I have never seen this kind of a crowd. I have never seen a crowd like this and this is an indication of the support you have for APC.

We saw the votes you gave APC in 2018 and you have to replicate and even do more on Saturday.

Mr Akande, on his part, said if all Nigerians, including Hausa, Fulani and Igbo, agreed to make a Yoruba man President in 2023, that Ekiti voters shouldnt disgrace the party on Saturday.

Please, whoever we have offended should please forgive us in the interest of our party and all of us, he said.

APC is a party that we can trust. Yoruba and Ekiti, in particular, belong to the progressives and we must display this in this election.
The police in Anambra State said they killed a member of a suspected robbery gang on Tuesday during a shootout along Ogidi-Oraukwu Road in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, who disclosed this in a statement, said the incident occurred at about 1:50 p.m.

He said the armed men stormed the area in an unregistered white Toyota truck and attempted to dispossess some motorists and commuters of their belongings.

The police spokesperson said the armed men, on sighting the police operatives on patrol, opened fire on them.

The police operatives engaged the armed robbers, Mr Ikenga said. The police demobilised one out of the four-member armed robbery gang.

Other gang members fled the scene with the truck, he said.

One AK-47 rifle and six rounds of live ammunition were among the items recovered from the scene, according to the police.

Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, said the police were investigating the incident, and have also launched an operation to track down the fleeing suspects.

Worsening insecurity

Security in Nigerias South-east has deteriorated lately, with attacks by armed persons.

Anambra State has witnessed some of the worst attacks in the region. The attacks often target security agencies, government officials, and facilities.

The Nigerian government has accused outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra of being responsible for some of the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied their involvement in the attacks.

The separatist group is leading an agitation for an independent state of Biafra to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south Nigeria.
Gunmen killed two young entrepreneurs in Aba, Abia State, on Tuesday.

The police spokesperson in the state, Geoffrey Ogbonna, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Aba.

The incident (happened) at Ogbor Hill area of Aba. The report is still sketchy, but the police have stepped into action, said Mr Ogbonna, a superintendent of police.

A witness who did not want his name mentioned in the report said the gunmen killed the two men under Ogbor Hill Waterside Bridge.

ALSO READ: One killed during shootout between police and gunmen in Anambra

The victims dealt on musical equipment and footwear, according to the witness.

He said the assailants, about eight of them, were inside four tricycles.

I was here when one victim pulled his car over to greet his friend, the other victim.

The gunmen suddenly arrived in four tricycles, confronted one of them, and demanded for some money. In the ensuing argument, they shot the victims, he said.

The witness said it was disturbing that the attack took place just a few metres from a police station.

NAN learnt that the son of one of the victims was also shot after they killed his father. The son is receiving treatment at a hospital.

There is growing insecurity in Nigerias South-east, which many people have attributed to the activities of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, a separatist group in the region.

In Anambra State, also in the South-east, police shot dead a robbery suspect on Tuesday during a shootout.

He said the armed men stormed an area in a Toyota truck and attempted to dispossess some motorists and commuters of their belongings before police operatives arrived at the scene.

(NAN)
Airbus Helicopters and Nigerian-based,Helicopter company EAN Aviation Limited (EAN) have signed a partnership making EAN a distributor for Airbus Helicopters in West Africa.

The strategic partnership between EAN Aviation Limited and Airbus Helicopters focuses on the West African civilian market, excluding Military. In essence, civil customers in Nigeria can now contract directly with EAN Aviation Limited who will be offering sales, servicing and support for helicopters in the West African region.

The strategic partnership with Airbus & EAN is the 7th of its kind globally. Nigeria, with the largest population in Africa and the largest GDP, offers substantial growth potential in domestic travel for Airbus Helicopters with EAN firmly positioned, as seasoned experts in the Nigerian & West African region to drive value creation.

EAN has been at the forefront of Business Aviation development in Nigeria for over a decade said Segun Demuren, CEO EAN Aviation Limited, We look forward to leveraging our impressive network, in-depth market understanding to grow the helicopter services industry, and to add value to Airbus Helicopters activity in the West African region by deepening connectivity and operational efficiency. Take Nigeria for example, we have 32 airports but 774 local governments that helicopters can access. He also added, We are glad to be affiliated with a brand that has gained the trust of millions of people, based on their decades of experience and millions of flight hours. At Airbus, safety is at the heart of everything they do, the team strives to meet the highest safety

levels, and will provide servicing and support to ensure the safe operation of all their aircraft and products in the West African region, which we know is very important to our clients

We are thrilled to have EAN as our first independent distributor in the West African region. Their knowledge of the market is second to none. We are confident in their expert team to ensure the success of this partnership and excited about the opportunity to expand our footprint in West Africa by growing the civilian market for helicopters, which is well suited to the regions aviation needs, providing operational flexibility to develop the current transportation architecture said Arnaud Montalvo, H/O Sales Middle East and Africa.

EAN has been selected in consideration of their local commercial structure, capacity to further develop local & ancillary markets, ability to support Airbus customers and contribute to customer satisfaction according to Airbus Helicopters Ethics & Compliance requirements.

About EAN Aviation Limited

EAN Aviation operates the first fully integrated FBO and maintenance facility in Lagos. The EAN hangar jet center is strategically located at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, offering business aviation services, aircraft maintenance and a luxury VIP terminal.

Our dedicated team of experienced staff are internationally trained and competent, with a deep understanding of the market and regulatory policies, working together to ensure that every client has a stress-free experience. We deliver excellent quality service with a keen attention to detail which has not only earned us the ISBAH and NATA Safety 1st PLST Certifications, but also a listing on the US National Air Transportation Associations Global FBO Map  the first for an FBO in Africa.

Contact: airbushelicopters@ean.aero

For more information about the EAN Aviation Limited: https://ean.aero

For more information about Airbus:

https://www.airbus.com/en/products-services/helicopters/hcare-services/global-network
The Borno State Commissioner of Police, Abdu Umar, says Boko Haram insurgents abducted two women in Mairari village in Konduga Local Government Area.

Mr Umar made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri. He said the incident occurred on June 7.

At about 7.30, one Ari Mustapha of Mairari village in Konduga, reported that some gun men suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents invaded his home and kidnapped his two daughters.

He said they were aged 26 and 30.

He also said that the insurgents stole two bulls and other belongings before fleeing away, the commissioner said.

The commissioner of police said that on receiving the information, a crack-team was deployed on a a search and rescue around the environment but to no avail.

Mr Umar said that the command would intensify the search until the victims are rescued and reunited with their families.

The commissioner urged the people to report any suspicious activities to the nearest security outfit around them.

(NAN)
After his botched attempt to be elected the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), senate president, Ahmad Lawans bid to secure the partys senatorial ticket for the Yobe North constituency has run into troubled waters.

It was rumoured that Mr Lawan, like the governor of Ebonyi, David Umahi, who also contested in the APC presidential primary, had nominated a placeholder to secure the APC ticket for the Yobe North Senatorial seat.

However, unlike Mr Umahi, who didnt have a problem replacing his younger brother, Austin, whom he had elected as his placeholder for the APC Ebonyi South Senatorial ticket, Mr Lawan is having problems getting Bashir Machina, his rumoured placeholder, to relinquish the ticket for him.

Last Friday, supporters of Mr Machina organised a solidarity rally where they insisted the politician will not step down for the senate president, who has repeatedly represented the constituency for 23 years; first as the member of the House of Representatives for Bade/Jakusko Federal Constituency between 1999- 2007, and the senator for the Yobe North district from 2007 to date.

Lawans plot to return

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the senate president was seeking the assistance of the national chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, in his quest to claim the senatorial ticket from Mr Bashir.

The move is, however, meeting stiff resistance and Mr Machina and his supporters have vowed not to step down for the senate president.

Supporters of Mr Machina gathered in Gashua, the hometown of the senate president to reject the rumoured plan to replace their principal.

Mr Machinas supporters, led by a former commissioner for youth in the state, Salleh Kachalla, also visited the palace of the Emir of Bade, Abubakar Suleiman II.

At the palace, they told the emir that the people of Bade and Jakusko local governments are in support of Mr Machinas candidacy.

We the people of Bade and Jakusko have decided to throw our weight behind the candidature of Bashir Machina who was duly elected as the APC candidate for our zone to take over from the senate president Ahmad Lawan, Mr Kachalla said.

We are in your Palace today specifically to seek your blessings and formally inform you of our resolve to support the candidature of Bashir Machina who is from old Nguru Emirate, he added.

The Emir of Bade, Abubakar Umar Suleiman, thanked the groups for visiting him and wished Mr Machina well in his political journey.

Another speaker of the group Nura Dalhatu Gashua said having spent 23 years at the National Assembly, Mr Lawans time as the representative of the people was up and he should not plot a comeback through the backdoor.

Former Secretary of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Mohmmed Gaskanta, who attended the rally, said Mr Machina was duly elected as the partys candidate and should not be stepping down for anyone.

We cannot accept anything less. As far as we are concerned, we have our candidate Bashir Machina and no one can change it. If they like, they can change it at the villa but we are the people casting our votes here. The people in the villa cannot decide who is our senator in the zone, Mr Gaskanta said.

Mr Lawan could not be immediately reached for comments.

When reached for comments, Mohammed Isa, the spokesperson of Mr Machina, said his principal was not planning to step down for the senate president.

The position of Mr Bashir Machina is that, in the first place, he did not have any agreement with anybody to step down, let alone concede the senatorial seat to anyone.

Secondly, the mandate he got is for the people and not by or for an individual therefore, he has no right to take any decision about what the delegates did in electing him by surrounding his senatorial seat for anybody.

My principal is still in the race and Isha Allah will be elected as a senator to represent his people come 2023,

It is totally untrue, he emerged as the Partys candidate and will stand as APCs flag-bearer in the upcoming general elections, Mr Isa said.
The Kwara State Government has faulted accusations by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state that it has nothing to show after three year in office.

In a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES, the special adviser to the governor on political communication, Bashir Adigun, said the PDP is frustrated by the giant strides of the governor, having realised the difference between his administration and their corrupt regime is like darkness and daylight

Uninspiring speech

The PDP had, during a Democracy Day celebration, released a statement saying Governor Abdurahman Abdurrazaq has not lived up to the expectations of the people of the state.

The state PDP Chairman, Babatunde Mohammed, said the governor opted to read and an uninspiring speech instead of commissioning projects to mark the Day.

Since June 12 is Democracy Day, the people of Kwara State expected that the administration will roll out dividends of democracy by unfolding new projects and social services, which will enhance the socio-economic development of the state and improve the standard of living of the people.

It was a surprise that all the Governor did was to read a poorly crafted and badly delivered, uninspiring speech, which holds nothing for the people. This is a disappointment to the people of this great state given the numerous promises made by the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration when it was campaigning before the 2019 elections.

Where are the jobs Governor Abdulrazaq promised the people? Where are the infrastructure projects he promised? Where is the good governance that he promised? Where is the increased salary and improved working conditions for the civil servants and other public sector workers he promised? Where are the better social services that he talked about? Empty promises and no creative thinking, he said.

Mr Mohammed accused the governor of taking decisions without due diligence, lack of plans to make good use of funds from the federal account, generated revenue, development partners and others.

He also accused the administration of being corrupt and diverting public funds meant for developmental projects to sponsoring propaganda.

The party chairman said people of the state have become wiser and would work against the APC in the next general elections.

Frustrated people

In his response to the statement, however, Mr Adigun said those accusing the governor of not providing good leadership are frustrated.

Mr Adigun said the governor did not commission projects during the Democracy Day celebration because the administration was not into commisioning uncompleted projects.

He accused the PDP of commisioning deceptive projects like the Metropolitan Square, cargo terminal and Government House residence, when it was in power.

Mr Adigun said the APC administration has done a lot of development projects and would let the projects speak for themselves.

The PDP government owed contractors billions of Naira on these projects despite partial handover and commissioning of the projects by the displaced government.

We could have commissioned the Ilesha-Baruba ring road and other roads, the Eye clinic, school projects and the KWARALEARN project which puts a computer in every classroom in the state. If we begin to commission our projects, we will not have time for governance.

We have made positive impact in the lives of our people despite receiving less statutory allocation than the PDP administration especially in the last five months that NNPC stopped contributing to the Federation Account. One will recall that the PDP administration could not pay N18,000 minimum wage but the AbdulRazaq administration continue to pay the new N30,000 minimum wage despite lower allocation from the Federation Account.

Unlike the displaced dynasty in the state, ,Kwarans can attest to the humble, modest and low profile of the Governor, preferring high media visibility focusing people -oriented projects in all sectors and in all parts of the state rather than focusing on himself since he assumed office, the governors aide, said.

He said the governors prudent nature has also led to the revival of state-owned media among other capital projects.

Mr Adigun said contrary to the allegation by the PDP that the people of the state were tired of the administration, thousands of Kwarans follow the governor on his various social media handles.

Unlike the stereotypes, hundreds of thousands of youths and patriots and their families follow the Governor on the go, on his Twitter handle, Facebook and other social media platforms highlighting projects, ground-breaking ceremonies, monitoring and declared for use without waste of scarce resources in the name of projects commissioning.

Media aides to the Governor , media crew comprising conventional and new media daily keep kwarans informed of Governor AbdulRazaqs unprecedented achievements in Road infrastructure, Education, Healthcare, Agriculture, Sports, Youth Development, Agriculture, Women empowerment, Civil Service Welfare, Provision of Water in urban and rural areas among others, he said.

While declaring that Kwarans are no longer interested in the PDP, Mr Adigun said the people have seen the difference between the PDP 16 years of looting and misrule and the laudable achievements of Governor AbdulRazaq in three years.

The PDP, headed by the political family of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, ran Kwara State for 16 years until it was displaced in 2019 by the APC through the Otoge ( Enough is Enough) political uprising.

Both parties are poised for a rematch in the 2023 election.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Bello, Tuesday, inaugurated the newly elected six Area Council chairmen and their deputies.

Mr Bello, while inaugurating the chairmen in Abuja, urged them to focus on good governance aimed at satisfying the yearnings and aspirations of the electorate.

The new chairmen and councillors of the six Area Council were elected on February 12.

The Chief Judge of the FCT, Hussaini Yusuf, represented by Suleiman Belgore, administered the Oath of Office to the chairmen and their deputies.

The minister also enjoined them to abide by their Oath of Office and defend the Nigerian Constitution.

The time of electioneering is over. Now it is time to face and focus on good governance, to ensure that the electorate enjoy more dividends of democracy in the territory.

You should accord priority to primary health care services. I also urge you to give attention to sanitation, primary education and other basic social amenities, Mr Bello said.

On his part, Abubakar Dantsoho, Mandate Secretary for the FCT Area Council Services Secretariat, enjoined the chairmen to prioritise their programmes.

You were elected to perform and you are going to be judged by your performance. You can see about three of you were re-elected. If they had not performed well, I am sure they will not be elected by the electorate.

So, it is a very big challenge, it is not a time for a jamboree. It is a time for governance and I urge you to do your best.

At the FCT Area Council Services Secretariat, we are very much in charge of the area councils and we will be going after them, inspecting their programmes and whoever did not perform, the law will take its course, he warned.

Earlier, the chairmen, while taking their Oath of Office, pledged to defend the countrys constitution and abide by the rules and regulations guiding the running of FCT.

They also promised fair governance, devoid of discrimination to all residents, irrespective of political, ethnic or religious affiliations.

The event was attended by royal fathers from within and outside the territory, supporters of the chairmen, leaders and members of parties.

The area councils that were inaugurated include AMAC, Bwari, Kuje, Gwagwalada, Abaji and Kwali.

(NAN)
Nigerias Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said that the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has reduced crimes against journalists in the country.

Mr Malami, who was represented by Jubril Gwandu, a media officer in the ministry, on Tuesday, in Lagos made the statement at a training organised by the UNESCO.

Media under Buhari

The three-day training is tagged Workshop for state high court judges on freedom of expression and safety of journalists.

Government has also taken giant steps to curb impunity for crimes against journalists in the country and this explains why media censorship and violence against journalists in Nigeria has abated under this government, Mr Malami said.

The 2020 report of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) indicated that Nigeria was the only country to get off the index of nations with impunity for crimes against journalists.

This is another positive feather of development in the human rights record of the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari that calls for celebration. It is a re-enactment of the best practices in the conduct of the governance which characterizes the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.

The minister said the constitution guarantees freedom of speech, however, it is not absolute.

Government expects that the press and other citizens should not exercise their right to freedom of expression in such a manner as would jeopardize or threaten national security and cohesion, he said.

The actual picture

Nigeria is ranked 120 on the World Press Freedom Index 2021, a drop of five spots from its ranking in 2020. Reporters Without Borders describes Nigeria as one of West Africas most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists.

In a report titled Journalism Under Digital Siege to mark this years World Press Freedom Day, the International Press Centre (IPC) said it documented at least 40 incidents of press freedom attacks on 49 journalists in 2021 in Nigeria.

The group said those who committed the attacks included state governments and their agencies, State Security Service (SSS), Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Police Officers, State Police Commands, Nigeria Police Intelligence Response Team, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), unknown gunmen, hoodlums, and private organisations.

A year earlier, the group had documented at least 48 cases of attacks on journalists and eight attacks on media houses.

The reality is it is little or no justice or even compensation for the victims, while the perpetrators go scot-free, said Lanre Arogundade, the Executive Director of IPC who, himself, was a victim of harassment by the SSS.

A report by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) stated that about 160 journalists were attacked in Nigeria between 2018 and 2020.

The attacks notwithstanding, the Nigerian government has remained undeterred in its efforts to censor the media through social media censorship.

Conducive environment

Nuhu Yachat, a representative of UNESCO, said the training is focused on strengthening the rule of law and human rights by reinforcing the capacities and knowledge of judges on international laws on freedom of speech, public access to information, and the safety of journalists, as well as on legal challenges to mitigate them.

It is hoped that this would be a great step towards supporting the role of our judges in protecting and ensuring an environment conducive to freedom of expression, access to information and safety of journalists in Nigeria, she added.

The Chief of Section, Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists, at the UNESCO Guilherme Canela urged the judges to use the international laws to question the national law.
HANGZHOU, China, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Zhejiang Axwill Electrical Co.,Ltd. specializes in Conduits and conduit fittings, including connectors, couplings, metal boxes, flexible conduits etc. In recent months, we found there were counterfeit ranlic brand emt conduit in Egypt market. Sticker is as following type, please refer to the picture to see the difference:

Please be noticed and be care for buying those emt tubes.
HELSINKI, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Caverion Corporation Investor news 14 June 2022 at 10.00 a.m. EEST

Caverion wins two major agreements from industrial customers ABB AG and MTU Aero Engines AG in Germany

With a total volume of around 25 million euros, Caverion secures two major agreements from two well-known industrial customers: an innovation center for the technology company ABB AG and a production hall for the aviation industry engine specialist MTU Aero Engines AG. The installed building technology is customised for the customer to their operational needs providing sustainable, smart and reliable solutions.

"We are delighted to deliver technical solutions to two well-known industrial customers for their major projects. Be it the multifunctional building of ABB or the production hall at MTU, Caverion makes efficient building technology possible," says Manfred Simmet, Head of Caverion Germany.

ABB Campus  smart and sustainable

The innovation center for digitalisation and artificial intelligence named "ABB Campus" contains a data center, a research center with laboratories and more. The five-story building, where more than 1,300 employees will find their workplace, has a gross floor area of around 30,000 square meters.

"The building is planned as a smart building and will combine user comfort and climate protection. The technical installations are an important factor. With Caverion we have found the right partner for our ambitious construction project," says Michael Halfmann, Head of Strategic Projects Germany and Mannheim Site Manager at ABB.

Caverion is responsible for the technical disciplines of ventilation and air conditioning, heating and sanitation, cooling and sprinkler systems. The building is planned to be completed in March 2023.

MTU  New production hall for rotors

MTU Aero Engines is a leading manufacturer of military and commercial engines. At the company's headquarters in Munich, a new production building for rotors, including an office wing, is being built on an area of 14,200 square meters.

"For our new production hall with almost fully automated production processes, building systems are a key factor," says Maximilian Starfl, Structural Design Project Manager Building and Engineering at MTU Aero Engines AG. "Caverion is an experienced partner with the necessary capacity to meet our schedule."

Caverion will install the technical disciplines of ventilation and air conditioning, heating and sanitation, cooling and sprinkler systems by March 2023.

Read more about our Build services and solutions

For more information, please contact:

Holger Winkelstrater

Head of Marketing and Communication, Caverion Germany,

+49 89 374288 117

holger.winkelstraeter@caverion.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/caverion/r/caverion-wins-two-major-agreements-from-industrial-customers-abb-ag-and-mtu-aero-engines-ag-in-germa,c3584878

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/14078/3584878/1592373.pdf Release https://news.cision.com/caverion/i/mtu-,c3060480 MTU https://news.cision.com/caverion/i/abb-campus,c3060481 ABB Campus

SOURCE Caverion
Introduced on February 3, 2022, Pennsylvania House Bill 2156 would create Keystone Saves, a program that will provide hard-working Pennsylvanians with an easy way to save out of their regular paycheck, helping them grow the savings they need to take control of their future.

Keystone Saves would be a privately managed, easy-to-use retirement savings option that would help small businesses - with 5  100 employees  provide a no-cost retirement benefit for their workers while helping to reduce the state's $14.3 billion fiscal burden from low retirement savings.

More than six in ten of these business owners (61%) say current retirement savings plans are too costly, just over a third (35%) say they are concerned about how complicated they are, and, one in four (24%) of these small business owners say retirement savings plans would be too time-consuming to operate.

Most small business owners in Pennsylvania agree:being able to offer access to a voluntary, portable retirement savings program helps local small businesses attract and retain quality employees and stay competitive, according to the survey. Among those small business owners in Pennsylvania who do offer a retirement savings plan to their employees, at least a quarter indicate that the main reason they offer it is because it is the right thing to do (30%) or it helps to attract and/or retain quality employees (26%).

"Small business owners recognize that there is a retirement savings crisis in Pennsylvania, and they want lawmakers to act," said Bill Johnston-Walsh, AARP Pennsylvania State Director. "Keystone Saves is a great opportunity for the General Assembly to empower millions of Pennsylvanians to save for a financially secure and independent retirement  while providing small businesses an effective way to attract and retain employees."

Moreover, half of Pennsylvania business owners and decision-makers (50%) expressed concern about their employees not having enough money to cover healthcare or living expenses when they retire, with one in five (19%) reporting they are very concerned. Nearly three-quarters of small business owners (73%) are also concerned that, as taxpayers, some Pennsylvania residents have not saved enough money for retirement and could end up being reliant on public assistance programs.

The Keystone Saves program proposal before the Legislature is similar to programs already in operation in Oregon, California and Illinois. As of April, the programs have enrolled more than 460,000 workers who have saved nearly $436 million. Many participants are first-time savers and the average income of savers in Oregon, which has had the program since 2017, is $29,000.

***

AARP commissioned AUS/SSRI to field this 2022 Pennsylvania Small Business Owner Survey between April 25  May 20, 2022. Interviews were conducted by cell and landline phone among 500 small business owners or decision makers about employee benefits at companies with 5-100 additional employees. The margin of error for this sample is  4.4 percent. Some percentage may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding. For each graph, 'not sure' is absent if it was less than 10 percent. See annotated survey for this data. The sample came from a Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. (D&B) business list and is weighted back to the current Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. business universe for Pennsylvania. D&B includes over 1.2 million business records for Pennsylvania. Census shows approx. 92,000 small businesses with 5100 employees.

About AARP

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org/pa or follow @AARPPA on social media.

CONTACT: TJ Thiessen, [email protected] , 202-374-8033

SOURCE AARP Pennsylvania
Extensive TD SYNNEX network of manufacturers and resellers can now ensure their customers have the most comprehensive coverage against cyber threats across all IT environments

HOUSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alert Logic by HelpSystems today announced a strategic partnership with TD SYNNEX, a leading IT distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem, to add industry-leading managed detection and response (MDR) capabilities to their portfolio of solutions. The agreement makes Alert Logic the choice for a global network of technology partners seeking to offer comprehensive MDR to customers, expanding Alert Logic's market reach and demonstrating momentum for its partner program.

TD SYNNEX distributes more than 30,000 technology products from more than 500 of the world's leading and emerging manufacturers and provides complete solutions to more than 20,000 resellers and retail customers in the U.S., Canada, and Japan. By offering Alert Logic MDR to their customers, TD SYNNEX amplifies their partners' security expertise, while effectively securing their customers' environments.

"TD SYNNEX has added the Alert Logic MDR solution to our expansive global IT channel," said Reyna Thompson, Senior Vice President, Product Management, North America, TD SYNNEX Corporation. "Combining Alert Logic's leading solution with the support of our dedicated team equips customers with a flexible cybersecurity solution at a time when organizations are under extreme pressure to address a rising tide of cyber threats."

Organizations can quickly implement an Alert Logic MDR solution delivering 24/7 coverage to minimize exposure and effectively identify, analyze, and respond to cyber threats before they cause disruption. The agreement with Alert Logic enables TD SYNNEX partners to improve their customers' security posture with protection both before and after an attack. Alert Logic MDR enables organizations to view their entire threat landscape and monitor the health of their environment, reducing drift and providing the technology and support to respond quickly. New Alert Logic Intelligent Response capabilities relieve IT and security departments of repetitive response tasks and the need for constant administration through human-guided and fully automated workflows. The result is strong incident response that details actions for every step of an attack, as well as a comprehensive data recovery plan.

"TD SYNNEX has an extensive partner ecosystem that can now add Alert Logic MDR to their expanding security portfolio," said Dan Webb, Vice President, Global Partner Sales and Alliances, Alert Logic. "With the addition of Alert Logic to their portfolio, partners can now tap our deep well of security expertise to provide best-in-class security across a wide spectrum of organizations to help meet today's challenges presented by the ever-changing security threat landscape."

About Alert Logic by HelpSystems

Alert Logic by HelpSystems is the only managed detection and response (MDR) provider that delivers comprehensive coverage for public clouds, SaaS, on-premises, and hybrid environments. Since no level of investment prevents or blocks 100% of attacks, you need to continuously identify and address breaches or gaps before they cause real damage. With limited expertise and a cloud-centric strategy, this level of security can seem out of reach. Our cloud-native technology and white-glove team of security experts protect your organization 24/7 and ensure you have the most effective response to resolve whatever threats may come. Founded in 2002, Alert Logic is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has business operations, team members, and channel partners located worldwide. Learn more at alertlogic.com . Alert Logic  unrivaled security for your cloud journey.

About HelpSystems

HelpSystems is a software company focused on helping exceptional organizations secure and automate their operations. Our cybersecurity and automation software protects information and simplifies IT processes to give our customers peace of mind. We know security and IT transformation is a journey, not a destination. Let's move forward. Learn more at www.helpsystems.com .

About TD SYNNEX

TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) is a leading global distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem. We're an innovative partner helping more than 150,000 customers in 100+ countries to maximize the value of technology investments, demonstrate business outcomes and unlock growth opportunities. Headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, and Fremont, California, TD SYNNEX' 22,000 co-workers are dedicated to uniting compelling IT products, services and solutions from 1,500+ best-in-class technology vendors. Our edge-to-cloud portfolio is anchored in some of the highest-growth technology segments including cloud, cybersecurity, big data/analytics, IoT, mobility and everything as a service. TD SYNNEX is committed to serving customers and communities, and we believe we can have a positive impact on our people and our planet, intentionally acting as a respected corporate citizen. We aspire to be a diverse and inclusive employer of choice for talent across the IT ecosystem. For more information, visit www.TDSYNNEX.com or follow us on Twitter , LinkedIn , Facebook and Instagram .

 HelpSystems, LLC and its group of companies. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

All other trademarks listed herein are owned by their respective companies.

For Alert Logic Inquiries:

Bob Wientzen

Public Relations

Alert Logic

281-456-4254

[email protected]

SOURCE Alert Logic
FORT LEE, N.J., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sarah Choi, a graduate of University of Southern California and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in California, is proud to announce the launch of a clean and cruelty-free skincare line, AS OF TODAY.

AS OF TODAY

Headquartered in New Jersey, the AS OF TODAY brand is the result of Sarah's passion for and ambition to change the way everyday people view their skincare routines. This launch includes four facial products designed to enhance the inner and outer beauty of the wearer while also making use of effective, high-quality ingredients. Using her background in merchandise marketing, Sarah is ready to share these approachable, affordable products with clients across the United States.

AS OF TODAY brand includes clean, cruelty-free skincare products, clinically proven, all specially created with ingredients sourced from Paris, France. Sarah's company is defined by the use of the key ingredient R-Peptide in all their products, which is a naturally-derived neuro-calming peptide that reactivates skin barriers and thus reverses signs of stress-aging. R-Peptide helps to normalize the skin cell network and fight skin stress. By including R-Peptide in AS OF TODAY facial cleansing products, clients can experience various benefits between two and eight weeks after application, including:

Reduced wrinkles

Smoother skin

Increased hydration

A stronger skin barrier to protect against stress-aging

A healthier and a brighter overall complexion

AS OF TODAY skincare line is strictly created without parabens, phthalates, sulfates, retinol, plastic microbeads, and several other commonly-used ingredients.

It includes four different products to create a comprehensive, modern-day and night routine:

R-Peptide Enzyme Cleanser (130ml) : This mild cleanser, used as the first step in the AS OF TODAY skincare routine, is designed to provide deep cleaning and exfoliation benefits without any dryness. This product's cream-to-foam texture can leave the skin hydrated and refreshed.

: This mild cleanser, used as the first step in the AS OF TODAY skincare routine, is designed to provide deep cleaning and exfoliation benefits without any dryness. This product's cream-to-foam texture can leave the skin hydrated and refreshed. R-Peptide Toner Pads (8ml, 30 packs of two pads): Used after the cleansing, these pre-moistened cotton toner pads can help balance the skin's natural pH without causing excess dryness.

Used after the cleansing, these pre-moistened cotton toner pads can help balance the skin's natural pH without causing excess dryness. R-Peptide Ampoule (30ml) :1% highly concentrated R-Peptide for optimal results Designed to repair the look of wrinkles and promote a youthful overall appearance of the skin, this product also features a glowing effect to leave the wearer with a rejuvenated and brightened look.

:1% highly concentrated R-Peptide for optimal results Designed to repair the look of wrinkles and promote a youthful overall appearance of the skin, this product also features a glowing effect to leave the wearer with a rejuvenated and brightened look. R-Peptide Renewing Masks (28ml, five masks): These anti-aging skin masks can help reduce the appearance of wrinkles when used after the Ampoule formula and helps to rejuvenate the glowing skin.

AS OF TODAY is designed to provide a sense of hope and positivity to the general public and is centered around the idea of encouraging the individual to be a better version of themselves every single day. The mission of Sarahi's skincare brand is to promote self-love and self-care with affordable products that provide visible results. Although the company is currently headquartered in New Jersey, Sarah plans to relocate the company to New York in 2023.

Learn more about how the AS OF TODAY line of skincare can benefit the everyday lives of both men and women at asoftoday.com.

About AS OF TODAY:

Established in 2022, the AS OF TODAY skincare brand was created by entrepreneur Sarah Choi, a 2022 graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM)in California. The brand's line of R-Peptide facial cleansing products use ingredients sourced from Paris, France and are designed to lift the wearer up even on his or her worst day. The mission behind AS OF TODAY is to promote confidence and celebrate overcoming adversity under the values of self-love, positivity, and unity. Find out more at asoftoday.com.

Contact Information

Name: Sarah Choi

Email: [email protected]

Phone Number: 201-482-4907

SOURCE AS OF TODAY
Ms. Owens has progressed throughout her career at BCT. Starting in 2019, she served as a Teller and was promoted to Universal Banker. Most recently, Ms. Owens was an Administrative Assistant in BCT Wealth Advisors.

"Amber has been a key player in the success of BCT Wealth Advisors," stated Leslie Crabill, Senior Vice President, Director of Wealth and Investments. "She has consistently provided clients personal service resulting in positive experiences during volatile market cycles. We are pleased to promote her to this important position."

Ms. Owens earned a Master's degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management and a minor in Economics, both from Shepherd University. While there, she was an active member of Delta Sigma Pi, a co-educational professional business fraternity.

Community is important to Ms. Owens. She serves on the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force at BCT, an employee-driven team focused on providing full participation for all employees, both within the workplace and in the communities served by the organization.

Ms. Owens makes her home in Berkeley County, West Virginia with her husband Christopher and two young sons. She is a member of Baker Heights Baptist Church where she volunteers regularly. She enjoys cultivating her relationships with family and friends.

About the Company

For over 65 years, BCT Wealth Advisors has provided financial management, investment, trust, and estate services to its clients.

The Company's shares are quoted on the OTC Pink Sheet marketplace under the symbol "PTBS." For more information about Potomac Bancshares, Inc., and the Bank, please visit our website at www.mybct.bank.

Securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker-dealer (member FINRA/SIPC). Insurance products are offered through LPL or its licensed affiliates. BCT-Bank of Charles Town and BCT Wealth Advisors are not registered as a broker-dealer or investment advisor. Registered representatives of LPL offer products and services using BCT Wealth Advisors, and may also be employees of BCT-Bank of Charles Town. These products and services are being offered through LPL or its affiliates, which are separate entities from, and not affiliates of, BCT-Bank of Charles Town or BCT Wealth Advisors.

Securities and insurance offered through LPL or its affiliates are:

Not Insured by FDIC or Any Other Government Agency, Not Bank Guaranteed, Not Bank Deposits or Obligations, May Lose Value

SOURCE BCT - Bank of Charles Town
During her post-doctoral education, Dr. Fairley said that she was ready to give up. Like many students, the stress of academia became too much. Her advice to PCOM students who may be feeling similar was this: "In the midst of your struggles, don't be robbed of your hope and your passion."

A family medicine practitioner and PCOM Georgia alumna, Dr. Brumfield-Mitchum shared an uphill battle that all medical students facepassing boards. While she succeeded in lectures and rotations, she struggled to pass her first board exam. After failing that exam twice, she took a break from rotations to study diligentlyand she passed. She encouraged the students to not let tests define them.

Dr. Booker is board-certified in OB/GYN and family medicine, but what many don't see behind her title is the years of sacrifice and perseverance it took to receive it. Dr. Booker gave birth to her daughter at 20-years-old and immediately began medical school while also being a first-time mom to a newborn. She said to attendees, "Don't ever count yourself out. Women are the heart of the family, the heart of medicine, and the heart of society. We're the innovators."

Student-doctor and moderator Jasmine Render (DO '25) said, "There have been countless times in my life when I felt my voice didn't matter because I am a Black woman. This panel provided the chance to put a spotlight on three amazing Black women and to reinforce that their stories do matter while allowing them to impact the lives of people that look like them and people that do not."

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) extended its commitment to the Southeast by establishing PCOM South Georgia, an additional teaching location in Moultrie, Georgia. PCOM South Georgia offers both a full, four-year medical program leading to the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree and a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree.

SOURCE Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
International Day of Yoga 2022 celebrated across Vietnam

Events run by the Indian Embassy in Vietnam to mark the 8th International Day of Yoga 2022 (June 21), themed Yoga for Humanity, are set to take place nationwide, heard at a press conference in Hanoi on June 13.













A yoga performance staged at an event celebrating the date in Binh Thuan province. (Photo: VNA)

Introducing the massive celebration, Indian Ambassador Pranay Verma affirmed Vietnam has always been an important partner of India in promoting and celebrating the International Day of Yoga since it was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014.



The widespread love for Yoga in Vietnam has brought about a strong cultural connection and people-to-people exchange between the two countries, he said.



According to the diplomat, the celebration was kicked off on May 29 with an event held at Tam Chuc pagoda in the northern province of Ha Nam. Yoga events have also scheduled to take place in many places throughout the nation, including Hanoi, Vinh Phuc, and Quang Ninh in the north; Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, and Da Nang in the central region; Dak Nong and Dak Lak in the Central Highlands; Ho Chi Minh City in the South; and Can Tho, Tien Giang, Soc Trang in the Mekong Delta, among many other localities.



In the capital city, the International Day of Yoga will be marked on June 18 at Ly Thai To statue square in Hoan Kiem district.



Verma said in 2022, Vietnam was selected by the Government of India as one of the countries included in the Global Yoga Ring programme.



Under the programme, India's national television Doordarshan will broadcast live in India the International Yoga Day celebrations around the world. Serving the broadcast, the Indian Embassy has worked with Quang Ninh for the organisation of a grand event in Ha Long Bay.



At the press conference, the diplomat also read a letter sent to Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. In the letter, Modi highlighted his gratitude for the Vietnamese Governments support toward the celebration over the years as well as his hope for such assistance in the coming time./
NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Blis, the audience-first platform that doesn't rely on personal data, today announced the launch of its new e-guide, titled ' Missing something? Finding the audiences no one is talking aboutyet' . The new interactive e-guide was launched to help marketers understand the real impact of ID-reliant solutions on addressable audiences and the virtues of privacy-first solutions that don't rely on IDs to achieve accuracy at scale.

Changes to IDFAs and cookies have fundamentally impacted the ad ecosystem, from planning to targeting and measuring campaigns. The new e-guide looks at data from the United States, UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand to demonstrate that almost half of the digital addressable audiences on mobile  and nearly half on desktop  are being missed due to IDs.

To enable marketers to uncover the people behind these percentages, Blis also launched its new interactive calculator showing which lifestyle audiences are being impacted the most by this drastic audience deprecation, covering 10 lifestyle audiences from travelers to fashionistas.

From questioning the sustainability of the solutions to understanding different technologies' limitations, the guide highlights three top tips for marketers to consider when choosing their advertising partners. Blis hopes the e-guide will help brands and agencies better understand how to embrace the privacy-first reality and adjust expectations and methods of targeting, to find and reach their missing audiences.

"There's still this belief that brands are achieving the right audience at scale  and that that will only change once the Chrome deprecation comes into force," said Aaron McKee, CTO at Blis. "But the current reality is much more troubling, as advertisers that still rely on IDs are already missing out on almost half of their audiences. This is happening right now, in front of our eyes and marketers need to have the right questions in mind when choosing their advertising partners. Today, not tomorrow. If your partners tell you they're still reaching your precise audiences at scale with ID-only or cookie-led solutions, you'll see that the numbers in our 'missing audience calculator' tell a different story".

The e-guide is available for download and reinforces Blis' commitment to audience-first targeting at scale that doesn't rely on personal data. Blis' approach is based on accurate, consented location data, combined with a range of rich online datasets giving clients the deepest audience understanding available.

About Blis

Blis is the audience-first platform that doesn't rely on personal data. We're an integrated planning and buying platform that delivers scaled, relevant and high-performing audiences, helping the world's largest brands and media agencies achieve their goals.

Over the past 18 years, Blis has built its reputation on delivering award-winning location-powered advertising solutions. In today's consumer-centric landscape, Blis is transforming the role of location data by combining it with a broad range of rich and powerful datasets to give our clients the deepest audience understanding available. Our unique approach to integrated planning and buying provides personalized targeting and performance without reliance on personal data. We serve relevant ads to the highest-value addressable audiences across any channel and deliver our clients' campaign outcomes every time, from brand awareness and engagement through to store/site visits and sales.

Established in the UK in 2004, Blis now operates in more than 40 offices across five continents. Working with the world's largest and most customer-driven companies across all verticals including Unilever, Samsung, McDonald's, HSBC, Mercedes Benz and Peugeot, as well as every major media agency.

To learn more, visit blis.com .

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1501097/Blis_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Blis
Manuel Pozo Perello, president of Induban, explained that the expansion, made at the request of Goya, will add the presence of Cafe Santo Domingo to the southeastern region of the United States. The initial agreement between Induban and Goya Foods, signed last year, brought Cafe Santo Domingo to more than 20 states in the northeastern United States, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, among others.

Pozo Perello and Frank Unanue, president of Goya Foods of Florida, participated in the signing of this new agreement

"For Industrias Banilejas, the speed with which this second step of expansion in our agreement with Goya has taken place is more than significant, and more significant still that it was the distributor who requested the presence of our brand in six other states, due to the continuous demand from supermarket buyers in the area," said Pozo Perello.

In recent years, Goya Foods has expanded its commercial product offering with leading food brands from Latin America. Those brands, which now include Cafe Santo Domingo, will be available for sale in thousands of outlets, including independent supermarkets, regional supermarket chains and national chains.

Cafe Santo Domingo combines the best coffee beans roasted to perfection, with a complex aroma combining hazelnuts, caramel, and vanilla. It will be available in two varieties: classic and espresso. The classic has the perfect balance between the natural sweetness, soft acidity, and subtle characteristic bitterness of coffee. On the other hand, the espresso is a full-bodied coffee with an intense taste and aroma.

Pozo Perello indicated that Cafe Santo Domingo, just like other Induban products, are also available throughout the United States through Amazon, the leader in the e-commerce channel. The company launched its virtual store linked to the famous sales platform in 2020.

About INDUBAN

Industrias Banilejas S.A.S., (INDUBAN) is the leading coffee producing company in the Dominican Republic. Established in 1945 for the purchase, elaboration, and sales of coffee, it later became an exporter of Dominican gold coffee, highly sought after in the United States and Europe. For more than 75 years, Induban has served Dominicans the aroma and flavor of Cafe Santo Domingo, the leading and most emblematic brand in the country. Its brands transcend borders, being enjoyed around the world, including The United States, Canada, Spain, Hungary, Russia, Aruba, St. Martin, and Virgin Islands, among others.

SOURCE Industrias Banilejas S.A.S. (Induban)
The Operational Analytics Club, a community for data practitioners, will host a two-day, online gathering with technical sessions, sessions on using data to drive business, hackathons, and more for data professionals July 28 & 29

SAN FRANCISCO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Census ( www.getcensus.com ), the operational analytics platform that syncs customer data from your data warehouse to all your key business tools, announced its inaugural community conference, Summer Community Days , for July 28-29. The event is part of the programming The Operational Analytics Club ( www.operationalanalytics.club ), a dedicated community for modern data professionals, is hosting as part of the Summer of Data '22. Summer Community Days will include industry experts speaking on technical and data-related business topics, as well as in-person happy hours in San Francisco, Calif., Denver, Colo., Chicago, Ill., Los Angeles, Calif., and Brookyln, New York.

Summer Community Days focuses on amplifying the voices of data professionalsincluding analytics engineers, data analysts, and data-savvy business expertsso they can learn from each other and share their knowledge with the greater data community. Programming features online workshops, lectures, and hackathons across technical and data-driven business topics, including:

Lane one: Technical deep dives

Use case workshops



New tools 101



The mental process of modeling considerations



How your data stack stacks up

Lane two: Driving data in business

Crafting successful data careers



Building and managing high-impact data teams



Taking your seat at the table



Taming the chaos

Data practitioners can apply to speak at Summer Community Days on any of the topics above until 11:59 pm PT June 30. Accepted submissions will receive additional support from the Operational Analytics Club's community and content team.

"The data industry and community wouldn't be what it is today without the brilliant minds and contributions of data practitioners," said Allie Beazell, director of developer marketing for Census. "Summer Community Days is an opportunity for us to give the mic and stage to those community experts, learn from each other, and grow our collective knowledge around modern data best practices (and meet some new data nerds along the way). Census and The Operational Analytics Club are thrilled to help facilitate this exchange of expertise this summer to help members of our community stand out in their careers."

To learn more about the Summer Community Days event for data practitioners, visit operationalanalytics.club/summer-community-days . To submit a topic for a 30-minute presentation, visit www.operationalanalytics.club/call-for-proposals .

For more information about the Operational Analytics Club, visit www.operationalanalytics.club.

About Census

Census turns data warehouses into a hub for business operations, empowering everyone with trustworthy and actionable data. With its reverse ETL (extract, transfer, and load) tool, data teams can validate and publish analytics directly into all their applications in real-time. Hundreds of companies like Canva, Figma, Loom, and Notion use Census to sync billions of records to empower their customer success, sales, and marketing teams. Census is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Insight Partners, Sequoia, and Tiger Global. For more information, visit https://www.getcensus.com or follow @census on Twitter.

SOURCE Census
CAPE TOWN, South Africa and MUMBAI, India , June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has approved a sweet-tasting, heat-stable, '4-in-1' fixed-dose combination of four antiretroviral (ARV) treatments composed of abacavir, lamivudine, lopinavir, and ritonavir that is specifically designed for infants and young children with HIV. This combination treatment has been developed by Cipla Limited (BSE: 500087; NSE: CIPLA EQ; and hereafter referred to as "Cipla") and the not-for-profit Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).

This new formulation represents a significant improvement over protease inhibitor-containing paediatric ARV formulations that have been used in South Africa for decades. It does not require refrigeration, has a sweet taste and is easy to administer to infants and children of different weights and ages, a major improvement for both children and their caregivers over previously available formulations. The country has 238,000 children under the age of 15 living with HIV  the highest in the world. [1]

'It is highly significant that this first regulatory approval of the 4-in-1 formulation is from a country that has a high-burden of HIV among children,' said Dr Irene Mukui, Head of HIV, DNDi. 'SAHPRA's accelerated review is notable and encouraging for other high-burden countries, and we acknowledge this show of commitment by the South African authorities. Now, it is our hope that all the necessary steps will be taken  first in South Africa and then in other countries  to ensure the broadest possible access to this optimal formulation for young children who need it.'

The '4-in-1' combination contains an antiretroviral combination that is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an alternative first-line regimen for infants and young children with HIV  in the form of granule-filled capsules. Caretakers will be able to give the medicine to children by sprinkling the granules over soft food like porridge or dissolving it in water or milk.

Commenting on the development, Umang Vohra, Managing Director and Global CEO, Cipla said, 'We are guided by our strong sense of responsibility to address unmet patient needs and we are committed to bringing novel solutions to improve lives. This approval has come at an important time when so many children are suffering from HIV at such a young age. We will continue in our endeavour to enable access to life saving solutions for all.'

Until recently, the only WHO-recommended lopinavir-based treatment available for babies and very young children in South Africa consisted of a syrup that contained 40% alcohol and required refrigeration. Caregivers struggled to give this bitter-tasting formulation to young children, leading to poor adherence. Caregivers without refrigeration had a very difficult time storing the formulations  sometimes burying them in the ground to keep them cold.

Now, there are multiple new child-friendly formulations of WHO-recommended regimens being introduced  including paediatric formulations of dolutegravir-containing regimens  representing a long-awaited and long overdue 'treatment revolution' for children with HIV.

'South Africa has made major advances in the treatment of adults living with HIV, but as in the rest of Africa, children with HIV have been left behind, in part because the treatment options we have are not child-friendly,' said Professor Moherndran Archery, who represents Child and Adolescent Interests at the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society (SAHCS). 'Although 72% of South African adults are on life-saving HIV treatment, just half of children living with HIV in the country are on treatment. Along with other optimal ARV formulations being introduced in South Africa, the approval of the 4-in-1 is a step towards closing this gap and ending the neglect of children with HIV.'

Without treatment, half of children with HIV will die before turning two. Worldwide, 2.78 million children and adolescents are living with HIV  88% of them in sub-Saharan Africa  but only 54% have access to treatment, according to UNICEF.

Paul Miller, CEO of Cipla South Africa, said: 'For more than 20 years, Cipla has ensured equitable access to affordable, life-saving ARVs, and we are pleased to be continuing this commitment by providing optimal child-friendly antiretroviral formulations, especially for infants and young children who are at highest risk of dying without access to treatment.'

The 4-in-1 was developed and registered with the financial support of Unitaid; the French Development Agency; the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; Medecins Sans Frontieres International; the UBS Optimus Foundation; the Monegasque Cooperation for Development; MSF Norway; the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation; and other private foundations and individuals.

Press package

Photos of the 4-in-1 combination are available here .

About DNDi

A not-for-profit research and development organization, DNDi works to deliver new treatments for neglected patients, those living with Chagas disease, sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis), leishmaniasis, filarial infections, mycetoma, paediatric HIV, and hepatitis C. DNDi is also coordinating the ANTICOV clinical trial to find treatments for mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases in Africa. Since its inception in 2003, DNDi has delivered eleven new treatments to date, including new drug combinations for kala-azar, two fixed-dose antimalarials, and DNDi's first successfully developed new chemical entity, fexinidazole, approved in 2018 for the treatment of both stages of sleeping sickness. www.dndi.org

About Cipla

Established in 1935, Cipla is a global pharmaceutical company focused on agile and sustainable growth, complex generics, and deepening portfolio in our home markets of India, South Africa, North America, and key regulated and emerging markets. Our strengths in the respiratory, anti-retroviral, urology, cardiology, anti-infective and CNS segments are well-known. Our 47 manufacturing sites around the world produce 50+ dosage forms and 1,500+ products using cutting-edge technology platforms to cater to our 80+ markets. Cipla is ranked 3rd largest in pharma in India (IQVIA MAT Mar'22), 3rd largest in the pharma private market in South Africa (IQVIA MAT Mar'22), and is among the most dispensed generic players in the U.S.

For over eight decades, making a difference to patients has inspired every aspect of Cipla's work. Our paradigm-changing offer of a triple anti-retroviral therapy in HIV/AIDS at less than a dollar a day in Africa in 2001 is widely acknowledged as having contributed to bringing inclusiveness, accessibility and affordability to the centre of the HIV movement. A responsible corporate citizen, Cipla's humanitarian approach to healthcare in pursuit of its purpose of 'Caring for Life' and deep-rooted community links wherever it is present make it a partner of choice to global health bodies, peers and all stakeholders. For more, please visit www.cipla.com , or click on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn.

[1] According to Thembisa, the leading mathematical model of the HIV epidemic in South Africa

SOURCE Cipla
SAN DIEGO , June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The newspaper Clarin.com recently published a commentary article highlighting the significance and potential impact of the upcoming European Health Conference Exhibition 2022.

The HIMSS European Health Conference & Exhibition is one of the most important global events related to healthcare and technology. This year it will be presented in the capital of Finland, Helsinki. HIMSS 2022 offers a unique opportunity to bring together the world's most critical and influential Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) .

HIMSS, for its acronym in English for Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society, is a non-profit organization focused on transforming the world's healthcare sector based on information and technology. It has provided services in this field across the globe, with more than 60 years of history. With a group of 110,000 people, 480 supplier teams, 470 non-profit partners, and 650 service entities, the HIMSS has carried out its tasks year after year to achieve its mission with utmost excellence.

In 2022 and 2021, the HIMSS event had to happen virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it was able to host thousands of KOLs and experts, finalizing in a grand success despite the global crisis and challenges imposed by the pandemic.

Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and worldwide healthcare experts will gather in Helsinki for the 2022 HIMSS European and Health Conference & Exhibition. Lectures, live sessions, trade shows, and various workshops will be available at the main hall for all attendees.

When is the HIMSS European Health Conference & Exhibition scheduled?

The event is scheduled from June 14 to 16, 2022, in the capital of Finland, Helsinki. This will be a unique experience to interact with world-renowned experts in nextgen technologies in healthcare, automation systems, and technology applied to public health.

Who will be attending the HIMSS 2022?

This HIMSS 2022 congress will bring together a large number of professionals, key opinion leaders, and specialists within the life sciences, among whom we have: senior executives, suppliers, information technology professionals, Finnish government officials, innovative entrepreneurs, and consultants, among many other KOLs that you will probably recognize from the reviews we have prepared in this article.

Why should you participate?

At HIMSS 2022, you will have the opportunity to meet key opinion leaders (KOLs) who have organized and guided the most advanced countries to overcome global health crises.

The European Union invested more than 650 million euros in recovering from the effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are some 13,000 million euros assigned to develop digital healthcare, meaning endless opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors interested in technological advances and cutting-edge technology. The HIMSS 2022 presents the unique opportunity to experience the latest medical advances and discoveries developed by the leading countries, which helped overcome the global pandemic and set the highest standard in the healthcare industry worldwide.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to connect, expand your professional network or keep your knowledge up to date with information and insights provided directly in live sessions by world-renowned opinion leaders and KOLs.

Helsinki welcomes thousands of KOLs

Despite its low temperatures, this city is well known for being friendly and featuring its splendid modern architecture and overflowing with art on every corner.

Helsinki is easy to navigate, with most landmarks being very close together within walking distance. The city has a vast network of transportation options, from trams to buses, including bike passes. Renting bicycles is also available across the city.

You can walk through the market, buy local food, rest in a cafe, and continue your journey with ease. The Finns are also well-known coffee drinkers worldwide; you might get a chance to visit Mood Coffee Roastery in Ullanlinna, Kahvila Siili, in the traditional sector of Kapyla; or maybe Ursula Cafe in the Kaivopuisto. These locations are great choices if you want to explore the culinary offerings of Helsinki.

Finland is at the vanguard of healthcare in Europe

One of the most relevant aspects of Finland's significant development, even above the United Kingdom or China, is its great dedication, with a long history, to research related to the incorporation of detailed data in the healthcare sector. An aspect that has powerfully caught the attention of the key opinion leader (KOL).

Since 2002, Finland has invested heavily in its efforts to digitalize healthcare records and incorporate technology into the public health system. Finland studies on cancer patients have been recorded and stored since the 1950s, and accurate records of all newborns have been kept since the late 1960s.

With the tremendous technological advance incorporating population data into the public health system and attracting many experts, Finland achieved top quality standards in medical practices and life expectations. This is one of the most critical advantages of meeting all the specialists precisely in Helsinki for the European Health Conference & Exhibition in 2022.

Who will be the KOLs at HIMSS European Health Conference & Exhibition 2022?

This event will have as guests several of the world-renowned health leaders, panelists, and speakers, who will address various topics around digital health and care and several of their personal experiences as inspiring anecdotes.

Dr. Visa Holopainen , Director of Strategic Development of the University Hospital of Helsinki-Uusimaa, will lecture on how data-driven innovations have reshaped medical care in recent times and what values-based medical care is like in practice in Finland.

Juha Tuominem , one of Finland's leading internal medicine specialists, was previously the CEO and CEO of Helsinki University Hospital.

Aki Linden , a member of the Finnish parliament being the Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services, specializes in health care and is an advocate of the philosophy of the welfare state, which is that the state is responsible for protecting and promoting the economic and social welfare of its citizens through a principle of equal opportunities.

Dr. Kaija Saranto , a professor of Health and Human Services Informatics at the University of Eastern Finland, leads research groups aiming to analyze health data, shared decision-making, virtual care, and patient safety.

She will give an additional talk on health care, taking into account three essential aspects, the person, the processes, and the technology; this panel is called "cybersecurity skills that challenge medical care" taught by other specialists.

Johannes Ahlqvist, a specialist in programming technology for the interdisciplinary master's degree in information networks, has been in charge of the Competitiveness project based on health data. The project seeks to promote the use of data on the well-being of people in Finland to improve levels of competitiveness. He will act as an interviewer during Dr. Visa Honkanen's lecture.

Tarja Stenvall , Senior Vice President in Key Markets at Sanofi, specializes in global health issues, emphasizing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular problems and diabetes. She is also the Vice President of Commercial Operations with vaccines in Latin America, having her headquarters in Panama.

Dr. Antti Iivanainen , General Director of Development of Apotti, a unique program worldwide capable of uniting health and social care with ICT technology, will speak about the patient-client relationship and how electronic health records help close the gap.

Mikael Rinnetmaki , the founder of Sensotrend, a company that seeks to make it easier for people with diabetes, and Finnish ambassador for Fast Healthcare Interoperability, a standard developed and promoted by HL7 International for the exchange of electronic medical records, will speak with Dr. Antti Iivanainen, about electronic health records as well as the development of digital health services in the private sector.

Maritta Haavisto , the director of the Service District in Helsinki, works on the implementation of mental health and substance abuse prevention services for the elderly. She will talk about how active and healthy aging can be supported.

Dr. Minna Hendolin , lead specialist in Sitra's Health Data 2030 project, a multitasking operator in innovation, and other specialists will give a conference entitled "FROM SILOS TO INTEGRATED CARE: Towards an open flow of data, research, and collaborations".

Dr. Bert Verdonck , Chair in Charge of Health within the Data Space Business Committee, Gaia-X and Program Manager for Health Data Initiatives, Philips. This will take place during the conference of dr. Minna Hendolyn.

Dr. Johanna Makela , Director of Research and Services at the Finnish Biobanks. She will have a place during Dr. Minna Hendolin's lecture.

Heidi Anttila , leader of the KATI program at the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare, promotes new technologies in health care carried out from home. She will speak with Dr. Maritta Haavisto on supporting active and healthy aging.

Leena Setala , Director of Strategy of the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, will give a speech entitled "Building the world's smartest hospitals." She will tell the most interesting anecdotes about the most modern hospitals in Finland.

Koen Kas is a futuristic health care visionary whose purpose is to make services more pleasant and effective for patients. He is also an entrepreneur and founding CEO of HealthSkouts who gives inspiring lectures on the future of healthcare and the cutting edge of digital health, a professor of molecular oncology, and an acclaimed speaker who chairs the scientific committee of the European Organization for Cancer prevention.

Dr. Timo Tyrvainen , the chief economist at the Climate Leadership Coalition in Finland, worked for the National Bank of Finland, was an advisor and then chief economist, until 2014, at Aktia Bank, one of the largest banks in Finland. Mr. Tyrvainen will be speaking alongside other specialists during a panel discussion called "Climate Crisis: Healthcare Responsibility to Our Planet."

Nancy Jennings , Health Adviser and AMR Leader for the UK Mission to the EU in Brussels, also for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Belgium. Mrs. Jenning will be one of the participants during the discussion on the climate crisis and what is the responsibility of healthcare to our planet.

Dr. Maria Neira , Director of Environment, Climate Change, and Health, is also Director of the Swiss World Health Organization. Dr. Neira will be one of the participants during the discussion on the climate crisis and what is the responsibility of health care to our planet.

Ben Tongue , Digital Net Zero Lead, Lead for Digital Sustainability, Net Zero, Equality and Climate Resilience Agendas at NHS UK Transformation Directorate. Mr. Tongue will be one of the participants during the discussion on the climate crisis and what is the responsibility of health care to our planet.

Isabelle Kumar , the former CNN newscaster, and producer in London, now hosts Euronews Tonight, Euronews' evening news program. She will also be one of the participants during the discussion on the climate crisis and what is the responsibility of health care to our planet.

Data Credits: The influence profiles of the speakers highlighted in this article were obtained from the platform Key Opinion Leaders using their open-source database of researchers' influence scores available at keyopinionleaders.com.

Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) is an American research insights firm that provides a free search engine that measures the influence of researchers and doctors in scientific circles worldwide. For more information, please see the KOLs FAQs.

Closing thoughts

The HIMSS European Health Conference & Exhibition is centered on the worldwide Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) gathering in Helsinki to communicate and share their findings and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and open their knowledge on how were they able to transform and improve the healthcare industry, positively affecting the wellbeing of millions of patients.

The HIMSS 2022 is the perfect place to listen and learn from Key Opinion leaders while sharing their most profound discoveries and insights on applied artificial intelligence, digital public health, managed health as an individual, the radical health perspective, and the empowerment of the health sector worker.

It is essential to stay vigilant against COVID-19. For this reason, do not forget to comply with all biosecurity measures and always carry proof of their respective vaccines at hand.

Media Contact: Amy Mcquade

[email protected]

SOURCE Key Opinion Leaders, LLC
WASHINGTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Fisher-Price are alerting consumers to at least 13 reported deaths between 2009 and 2021 of infants in Fisher-Price Infant-to-Toddler Rockers and Newborn-to-Toddler Rockers. Rockers should never be used for sleep and infants should never be unsupervised or unrestrained in the Rockers.

https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2022/CPSC-and-Fisher-Price-Warn-Consumers-About-13-Deaths-in-Fisher-Price-Infant-to-Toddler-and-Newborn-to-Toddler-Rockers-Advise-Rockers-Should-Never-Be-Used-for-Sleep

Consumers are encouraged to report incidents involving these or other infant products to CPSC at saferproducts.gov. CPSC investigates incidents and fatalities that occurred while infants were in the products.

Fisher-Price has sold more than 17 million Rockers worldwide since the 1990s and reviews and evaluates reported incidents that occurred while infants were in the products. Fisher-Price recommends consumers visit Fisher-Price's Safe Start webpage at www.fisherprice.com/SafeStart for safety videos, tips and additional safety information, as well as the latest safety warnings for Rockers and other infant products. Consumers are also encouraged to report incidents to Fisher-Price at 800-432-5437.

Parents and caregivers should never use inclined products, such as rockers, gliders, soothers, and swings, for infant sleep and should not leave infants in these products unsupervised, unrestrained, or with bedding material, due to the risk of suffocation. CPSC recently finalized a rule requiring that infant sleep products have a sleep surface angle of 10 degrees or less. The rule goes into effect on June 23, 2022.

Consumers are reminded:

The best place for an infant to sleep is on a firm, flat surface in a crib, bassinet or play yard.

Parents and caregivers should use a fitted sheet only and never add blankets, pillows, padded crib bumpers, or other items to an infant's sleeping environment.

Infants should always be placed to sleep on their back. Infants who fall asleep in an inclined or upright position should be moved to a safe sleep environment with a firm, flat surface such as a crib, bassinet or play yard.

About Fisher-Price

Fisher-Price is committed to the safety of its products. Founded more than 90 years ago, Fisher-Price's purpose is to be the most trusted brand for parents and caregivers of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. For more information on Fisher-Price please visit fisher-price.com.

About the U.S. CPSC

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product-related incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products has contributed to a decline in the rate of injuries associated with consumer products over the past 50 years.

Federal law prohibits any person from selling products subject to a Commission ordered recall or a voluntary recall undertaken in consultation with the CPSC.

For lifesaving information:

- Visit CPSC.gov.

- Sign up to receive our e-mail alerts.

- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram @USCPSC and Twitter @USCPSC.

- Report a dangerous product or a product-related injury on www.SaferProducts.gov.

- Call CPSC's Hotline at 800-638-2772 (TTY 301-595-7054).

- Contact a media specialist.

Release Number: 22-157

SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
BANGALORE, India, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global DPCR and QPCR market is segmented by Type - dPCR, qPCR, by Application -Clinical, Research Institution, Other. Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2028. It is published in Valuates Reports under the Computer Science Category.

The global DPCR and QPCR market size is estimated to be worth USD 1419.2 million in 2022 and is forecast to be a readjusted size of USD 2165.8 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 7.3% during the review period.

Target diseases and genetic anomalies are becoming more common, necessitating the need for quick, precise, and accurate results. Furthermore, disease diagnosis via biomarker profiling is becoming more widespread. The qPCR market is predicted to increase as a result of these factors.

Browse The Table of Contents And List of Figures At https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-22I2176/global-digital-pcr-dpcr-and-real-time-pcr-qpcr

TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF DPCR AND QPCR MARKET

The increasing use of qPCR in Gene Expression, Pathogen Detection, Environmental Studies, siRNA, miRNA, lncRNA Detection, and Microarray Validation is expected to boost the qPCR market ahead.

Furthermore, qPCR provides quick, precise, and reliable findings. Real-time PCR is a kind of PCR that collects data while the reaction is ongoing, improving accuracy and removing the need for time-consuming post-PCR processes. As a result of this factor, the qPCR market is expected to grow. In research labs, qPCR tests are often used to determine the number of copies of a gene (gene dosage) in transformed cell lines or the existence of mutant genes. To precisely quantify changes in gene expression, qPCR testing can be used in conjunction with reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR).

The increased use of dPCR in cancer research and clinical microbiology is expected to boost the dPCR market. dPCR has also been widely used in a range of applications, such as mutation/SNP detection, genome editing detection, copy number variation, and standards validation.

In addition to basic research, clinical diagnostics, and environmental testing, digital PCR has a wide range of applications. Pathogen detection and digestive health analysis, liquid biopsy for cancer monitoring, organ transplant rejection monitoring, and non-invasive prenatal testing for serious genetic abnormalities, copy number variation analysis, single gene expression analysis, rare sequence detection, gene expression profiling, and single-cell analysis, as well as the detection of DNA contaminants in bioprocessing, are just a few of the applications. Furthermore, dPCR is frequently used as an orthogonal technique to confirm rare mutations found by next-generation sequencing (NGS) as well as to validate NGS libraries.

Digital droplet PCR and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) are excellent technologies for identifying small changes in the expression of a biomarker in response to therapeutic therapy. As a result, the increasing use of biomarker profiling for disease detection is expected to propel the qPCR and dPCR markets even higher.

Get Your Sample Today: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-22I2176/Global_Digital_PCR_dPCR_and_Real_Time_PCR_qPCR_Market

COVID-19 IMPACT ON THE DPCR AND QPCR MARKET

The pandemic of COVID-19 had a major influence on the healthcare business. The diagnostics industry took the worst of the blow, with the PCR market seeing a large increase. Digital PCR and real-time PCR have sparked a lot of attention since they are utilized for diagnostic and drug discovery. Industry participants are increasingly focused on developing a droplet digital PCR kit to detect COVID-19. In order to lessen the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, regulatory bodies have voiced significant support for authorizing these tests.

TOP COMPANIES IN THE DPCR AND QPCR MARKET

In the global Digital PCR (DPCR) and QPCR markets, Thermo Fisher, Roche, QIAGEN, Bio-rad, Agilent, and others are among the main players. Around 75% of the qPCR and dPCR business is controlled by the top five producers in the globe.

QPCR AND DPCR MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS:

The most common product is qPCR, which accounts for more than 70% of the market. In terms of application, the most popular is Research Use, followed by Clinical Use.

North America is the most important market, accounting for over half of total share, followed by Europe and China, each accounting for over 40%. North America's dominance is due to the existence of large PCR manufacturers in the region, as well as increased demand for rapid diagnostic tests, which is expected to fuel regional expansion.

Inquire For Customization: https://reports.valuates.com/request/customisation/QYRE-Auto-22I2176/Global_Digital_PCR_dPCR_and_Real_Time_PCR_qPCR_Market

Market By Region

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

Inquire For Regional Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/QYRE-Auto-22I2176/Global_Digital_PCR_dPCR_and_Real_Time_PCR_qPCR_Market

Key players

Thermo Fisher

Roche

QIAGEN

Bio-rad

Agilent

Bioer

Biosynex

Esco

Analytik Jena

Techne

Fluidigm

RainDance Technologies

Inquire For Chapter Cost: https://reports.valuates.com/request/chaptercost/QYRE-Auto-22I2176/Global_Digital_PCR_dPCR_and_Real_Time_PCR_qPCR_Market

Buy Now for Single User + Covid-19 Impact : https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-22I2176&lic=single-user

SUBSCRIPTION

We have introduced a tailor-made subscription for our customers. Please leave a note in the Comment Section to know about our subscription plans.

SIMILAR REPORTS

- The global digital polymerase chain reaction market generated USD 508.8 million in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 1,139.9 million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 9.1% from 2021 to 2028.

- Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) market size is estimated to be worth USD 6632.8 million in 2022 and is forecast to be a readjusted size of USD 8868.3 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 5.0% during the review period.

- The global qPCR and dPCR Instrumentation market was valued at USD 1158 million in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 1895.5 million by the end of 2027, growing at a CAGR of 7.3% during 2021-2027.

- The global antimicrobial susceptibility testing market size was valued at USD 3040.00 million in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 4736.03 million by 2030 registering a CAGR of 5.8% from 2021 to 2030.

- The global Bioreactors market size is estimated to be worth USD 1523.1 million in 2022 and is forecast to be a readjusted size of USD 2154.4 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 6.0% during the review period.

- The global Cell Analysis market size is projected to reach USD 25610 Million by 2027, from USD 19740 Million in 2020, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.7% during 2021-2027.

- The global cell culture market accounted for USD 16,107.7 million in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 36,926.8 million by 2027, registering a CAGR of 10.9% from 2020 to 2027.

- The global Automated Cell Culture Market was valued at USD 212 million in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 358.8 million by the end of 2027, growing at a CAGR of 7.9% during 2021-2027.

- The global digital therapeutics market size was valued at USD 2.88 Billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 13.80 Billion by 2027 with a CAGR of 20.5% during the forecast period.

- The genetic testing market accounted for USD 12,682 Million in 2019, and is expected to reach USD 21,260 Million by 2027, registering a CAGR of 10.1% from 2020 to 2027.

- The global Hemodialysis market size is estimated to be worth USD 2018.1 million in 2022 and is forecasted to reach USD 2206.7 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 1.5% during the review period.

- The global Lab Automation market size is estimated to be worth USD 13760 Million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 19820 Million by 2028 with a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period 2022-2028.

- The global Medical Tubing market size is estimated to be worth USD 8136.6 million in 2022 and is forecast to be a readjusted size of USD 13570 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 8.9% during the review period.

- The global Neurostimulation Devices market size is estimated to be worth USD 7454.1 million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 14170 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 11.3% during the review period.

- The global Sterilization Equipment market was valued at USD 1674.3 million in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 2005.8 million by the end of 2028, growing at a CAGR of 3.06% from 2022 to 2028.

- The global next generation sequencing market size was valued at USD 4,533 million in 2018, and is estimated to reach USD 18,565 million by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 19.2% from 2019 to 2026.

- The global Medical Supplies market size is projected to reach USD 329030 Million by 2028, from USD 202430 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 7.1% during 2022-2028.

- The global Disposable Medical Supplies market size is projected to reach USD 293760 Million by 2027, from USD 210170 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 4.9% during 2021-2027.

- Global Digital PCR Platform Market Research Report

Click Here To See Related Reports on Digital PCR (dPCR) and Real-Time PCR (qPCR) Market

About Us:

Valuates offers in-depth market insights into various industries. Our extensive report repository is constantly updated to meet your changing industry analysis needs.

Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs.

To achieve a consistent view of the market, data is gathered from various primary and secondary sources, at each step, data triangulation methodologies are applied to reduce deviance and find a consistent view of the market. Each sample we share contains a detailed research methodology employed to generate the report. Please also reach our sales team to get the complete list of our data sources.

Contact Us:

Valuates Reports

[email protected]

For U.S. Toll-Free Call 1-(315)-215-3225

For IST Call +91-8040957137

WhatsApp: +91-9945648335

Website: https://reports.valuates.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/valuatesreports

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082232/Valuates_Reports_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Valuates Reports
"The launch of El Blunto in Nevada is an important milestone as we continue our mission to expand our brand's accessibility and footprint on a national level," said Q. Ladraa, Founder and CEO of Albert Einstone's. "We are excited to enter the Nevada market with a partner that shares our core values and Reina LV's cultivation and manufacturing facility is one of the best in the country. Their team is committed to cultivating the highest quality cannabis flower on the market and this partnership allows us to focus on delivering the best pre-rolls across the Silver State."

"Our objective at Reina LV has always been to put the customer and the patient first. That includes a commitment to cultivating the highest quality flower on the market and partnering with brands that share our ethos," said Priscilla Vilchis, CEO of Reina LV. "Our facilities are designed to meet a plethora of manufacturing needs and we are delighted to be working closely with El Blunto to bring their best-in-class pre-rolls to the Nevada market."

El Blunto manufactures the highest quality pre-rolls in cannabis. Their products are available in 450+ dispensaries across California and Arizona, and now Nevada. Their signature product, The World's Finest Cannabis Cigar, is a tobacco free full-flower blunt that features 1.75 grams of top-shelf high-testing cannabis. Full flower is hand-broken, never ground, hand-rolled in an all-natural fiber wrap, cured for 72-hours in a temperature and humidity-controlled environment, and finished with a glass filter.

El Blunto will manufacture out of Reina LV's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Las Vegas and Reina LV will provide their top-shelf indoor flower for use in the El Blunto line-up. El Blunto is already working with dispensary partners across Nevada and their premium un-infused and infused pre-rolls will be broadly available in the coming weeks.

About El Blunto

El Blunto is a California-based cannabis brand that offers 'The World's Finest Cannabis Experience'. Born from a passion for craftsmanship and quality, El Blunto is an evolution of historic cigar-making tradition. Borrowing age-old techniques from master cigar-rollers, we create products of the highest caliber with the highest level of finishing. Product design and development is approached like a true science, ensuring customers get the same, phenomenal experience every single time. The El Blunto line up includes El Blunto (cannabis cigar), El Bluntito (mini-blunts), El Jointito (joints and mini-joints), as well as pouches of full-flower and Roll Your Own Blunt Kits  all available in un-infused and infused (melty ice-water hash, diamonds) varietals. El Blunto products are available in 450+ dispensaries across California and Arizona and soon to be available in Nevada. El Blunto is a subsidiary of Albert Einstone's LLC.

For more information, visit www.alberteinstones.com

Follow us on instagram @Elblunto.ca @Alberteinstones

About Reina LV

Reina LV is a company that provides patients access to safe, efficacious cannabinoid medicines and cultivates their own cannabis products. Started by L.A. entrepreneur Priscilla Vilchis, Reina LV is a woman-owned company that puts the health and safety of cannabis patients first. The company, which was started out of Nevada, has grown into a full-scale medical cannabis cultivator that operates a 25,000 square foot, $6 million cultivation and laboratory facility in Las Vegas.

SOURCE Albert Einstone's LLC
Surge in adoption of EVs, increase in demand for fast charging cables, and rise in government initiatives for lowering down carbon footprints drive the global electric vehicle charging cable market growth

PORTLAND, Ore., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Electric Vehicle Charging Cable Market by Power Type (AC charging, DC charging), by Application (Private charging, Public charging), by Cable Length (2 meter to 5 meter, 6 meter to 10 meter, Above 10 meter), by Shape (Straight, Coiled), by Charging Level (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031." According to the report, the global electric vehicle charging cable industry generated $0.67 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $3.45 billion by 2031, manifesting a CAGR of 18.1% from 2022 to 2031.

Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities

Rise in adoption of EVs, demand for fast charging cables, and surge in government initiatives for reducing carbon footprints drive the growth of the global electric vehicle charging cable market. However, high operational costs of EV charging cables and rise in implementation of wireless EV charging technology restrain the market growth. On the other hand, infrastructural developments of public EV charging station and technological advancements in EV charging cable present new opportunities in the coming years.

Download Report (363 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, Figures) at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/9279

Covid-19 Scenario

Manufacturing activities of components of electric vehicle charging cable were stopped completely or partially due to lockdown restrictions. Moreover, small tier II and tier III manufacturers faced liquidity issues.

In addition, the market was dependent on the global supply chains for core technology services. Disruptions in supply chain led to stoppage of manufacturing activities and hindered daily operations.

The slowdown in demand & production presented a strong ripple effect on the global EV manufacturers and impacted the EV supply chains worldwide.

Request for Customization at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/9279

The DC charging segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period

Based on power type, the DC charging segment held the highest market share in 2021, contributing to nearly two-fifths of the global electric vehicle charging cable market, and is expected to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. This is due to increase in R&D efforts toward offering efficient charging infrastructure, consistent flow of current & charging speeds, and a sharp decline in installation price in recent years. However, the AC charging segment is estimated to manifest the largest CAGR of 19.4% from 2022 to 2031, owing to ease in availability of AC charging infrastructure across the globe.

The private charging segment to continue its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on application, the private charging segment accounted for the highest market share in 2021, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the global electric vehicle charging cable market, and is expected to continue its leadership status throughout the forecast period. This is due to increase in adoption of electric vehicles across the globe and supportive government initiatives for installing dedicated home charging infrastructure. However, the public charging segment is projected to witness the highest CAGR of 19.0% from 2022 to 2031. This is attributed to continuous government initiatives that support the installation and maintenance of public charging systems across various cities.

Interested to Procure the Data with Actionable Strategy & Insights? Inquire here at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/9279

Asia-Pacific to offer lucrative opportunities

Based on region, Asia-Pacific contributed the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2020, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the global electric vehicle charging cable market, and is expected to maintain its dominance in terms of revenue by 2031. Moreover, this region is projected to portray the fastest CAGR of 19.1% during the forecast period. This is due to increased production and sales of EVs and related components across the globe. The research also analyzes regions including North America, Europe, and LAMEA.

Leading Market Players

AG Electrical Technology Co

Aptiv Plc.

Besen International Group

Brugg Group

Chengdu Khons Technology Co., Ltd.

Coroplast Fritz Muller GmbH & Co. KG

Dyden Corporation

EV Cables UK

Guangdong OMG Transmitting Technology Co., Ltd.

Leoni AG

Manlon Polymers

Phoenix Contact

Prysmian S.p.A.

Sinbon Electronics

TE Connectivity Ltd.

Buy Complete Report Now! https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/f0bbab6a8cc11a83ab7e71cc8f7896e2

Similar Reports We Have on EV Industry:

Electric Vehicle Charging System Market by Product Type (Home Charging Systems and Commercial Charging Systems), Mode of Charging (Plug-in Charging System and Wireless Charging System) and Charging Voltage Level (Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212030.

Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging Market by Vehicle Type (BEV, PHEV, CEV), by Distribution Channel (OEMS, AFTERMARKET), by Charging Method (CWPT, MGWPT, RIPT, IPT), by Installation (Home, Commercial), by Power Source (3?11 KW, 1150 KW, >50 KW): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2030.

EV Test Equipment Market by Vehicle Type (Passenger Car and Commercial Vehicle), Electric Vehicle Type (BEV and HEV), Equipment Type (AC/DC EVSE, Battery Test Equipment, Chassis Dynamometer, Engine Dynamometer, and EV Drive Train Test) Application (EV Component & Drivetrain, EV Charging, and Powertrain): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212030.

EV Platform Market by, Electric Vehicle Type (Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Battery Electric Vehicle and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) and Platform (P0, P1, P2, P3, and P4): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212030.

Electric Vehicle Charger Market by Vehicle Type (Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), and Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)), Charging Type (On-board Chargers, and Off-board Chargers), and End User (Residential and Commercial): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2030.

About Us

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

David Correa

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

USA/Canada (Toll Free):

+1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022

UK: +44-845-528-1300

Hong Kong: +852-301-84916

India (Pune): +91-20-66346060

Fax: +1(855)550-5975

[email protected]

Web: www.alliedmarketresearch.com

Allied Market Research Blog: https://blog.alliedmarketresearch.com

Follow Us on | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn |

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Allied Market Research
The partnership will provide logistical and emotional support to Group Benefit Solutions' employer clients and their employees through Empathy's app

NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Empathy , a platform helping families navigate the journey they face after losing a loved one, today announced a partnership with New York Life Group Benefit Solutions , a leader in the group insurance market. The partnership is an expansion of the partnership announced between Empathy and New York Life1 last year to provide beneficiaries with logistical and emotional support after the loss of their loved ones.

Bereaved employees and their families are often left grieving and in distress, not just from the loss itself, but also from the logistical challenges that follow. According to Empathy's recently released Cost of Dying 2022 Report , families spend, on average, 420 hours tending to their loved one's affairs in the weeks and months following the loss. Moreover, the same report found that returning to work created additional stress, with 70% of younger respondents reporting either lowered performance, concern for their job, or both.

New York Life Group Benefit Solutions offers compassion and caring guidance to help employees and their families navigate a loss. Through their partnership, Group Benefit Solutions will bring Empathy's award-winning platform to their employer clients and their employees in need of support.

Empathy offers a holistic approach to bereavement care, helping simplify end-of-life bureaucracy, minimizing tedious tasks, and automating processes involved in the administration of an estatewhile providing emotional support throughout. Dedicated care specialists are available to support families through every aspect of loss, both emotionally and logistically, 24/7.

"Going back to work after losing a loved one can be extremely challenging. There are so many logistical burdens that still need to be navigated that it often feels like you are working two jobs when you are grieving and at your most vulnerable. We have seen, unequivocally, the quantifiable impact technology can have in easing the burdens on bereaved employees," said Ron Gura, Co-Founder & CEO of Empathy. "Employers who acknowledge and support their grieving team members are doing more than extending a kindness. They are also making a decision that is good for their organization. We are delighted to further our work with New York Life and proud of our shared dedication to supporting bereaved families across the U.S."

Empathy's partnership with Group Benefit Solutions follows its ongoing work with New York Life's Group Membership Association Division, an operation dedicated to delivering protection products to group and affinity organizations. The Group Membership business provides life insurance beneficiaries with loss support through access to the Empathy app.

"New York Life Group Benefit Solutions provides services and caring guidance through efforts and opportunities that align with the values of our company," said Meghan Shea, head of strategy, product, and marketing for Group Benefit Solutions. "Our partnership with Empathy, plus grief resources from the New York Life Foundation, highlight the breadth of bereavement programs and tools available to our clients and their employees."

1Empathy is not affiliated with New York Life.

About Empathy

Empathy 's mission is to help families deal with loss, incorporating both emotional and logistical support for the families in their time of need. Powered by technology and driven by purpose, Empathy's application, awarded Google Play's 2021 " Best App for Good " and CB Insights' " Top Digital Health Companies Of 2021 ," simplifies and streamlines end-of-life bureaucracy with personalized plans and grief support. Launched in 2021 and headquartered in New York and Tel Aviv, Empathy is backed by top tier VC firms and serves Fortune 100 enterprise customers alongside its direct-to-consumer offering. To receive more information about Empathy's product, visit us at Empathy.com .

Empathy Media Contact

Garrett Krivicich

Headline Media

[email protected]

+1 786 233 7684

SOURCE Empathy
Award-Winning Agtech Startup Uses AI and Machine Learning Algorithms to Transform Pest Management and Create Tools that Support Improved, Sustainable Farming Methods.

RIVERSIDE, Calif., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, agtech startup FarmSense announces a limited product launch of their award-winning and internationally acclaimed real-time pest monitoring and identification device, FlightSensor. This initial launch, which will consist of approximately 1,000 FlightSensor units, will be distributed to select commercial pest advisors, farm managers and growers in California.

Originally launched as an incubator business at the University of California, Riverside, FarmSense's FlightSensor utilizes patented technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and real-time analytics to improve insect monitoring and crop management efforts. FarmSense's award-winning FlightSensor is a revolutionary step forward in pest management, saving growers not only time, labor, and money, but also reducing the need for pesticide use while improving crop yield.

"Our FlightSensor is transforming the agriculture industry and we are excited to see what it can do for Integrated Pest Management on a larger scale," said Dr. Leslie Hickle, co-founder and CEO. "With today's growing concern with resource management and good farming practices, crop health and sustainability is critical. We enable scalable good farming practices and provide data that will result in better outcomes for farmers and their consumers."

Traditionally, most commercial farmers monitor for pests by using numerous sticky traps that require frequent manual counts, can be wildly inaccurate, and can delay data by up to two weeks. Additionally, these manual traps are labor and time intensive, fueling additional costs for growers. Considering that experts estimate pests to be responsible for up to 40% of global crop production loss each year, the commercial agriculture industry was in dire need of the accurate and autonomous solution to pest monitoring systems that FarmSense's FlightSensor delivers.

Industry interest in FarmSense has grown at a rapid rate. Having won over $2 million in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding in 2021 for the development of biosecurity measures against native and invasive pests, FarmSense continues to garner the attention of investors within the agtech industry as they approach the closing of their first Series A funding round in 2022.

FarmSense will demonstrate their platform at the 2022 TechCrunch Climate Conference (June 14-16th), where startups will converge to confront the climate crisis, discuss the new era of climate technology, and showcase their innovations.

Growers and farmers who are interested in participating in the limited launch can apply for inclusion in the limited launch, which includes a FlightSensor and access to FarmSense's online real-time monitoring platform.

To learn more about FarmSense and their FlightSensor technology, or to apply to participate in the initial launch, visit https://www.farmsense.io/ .

About FarmSense: Founded in 2016, FarmSense helps farmers simplify pest management and take the guesswork out of insect monitoring. The company's patented technology, using their FlightSensor, provides real-time insect counts and classifications, giving immediate access for farmers to make mission-critical decisions on crop and pest control.

Media Contact:

Grady Moore

[email protected]

(949) 264-2347

SOURCE FarmSense
Rising demand for animal nutrition, the ban of antibiotics in many places, leading participants in the livestock industry and meat manufacturers to utilize feed additives, standardization of meat products is some of the factors to lead the market.

JERSEY CITY, N.J., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Verified Market Research recently published a report, "Feed Additives Market" By Type (Amino Acids, Phosphate), By Form (Liquid, Dry), By Livestock (Ruminants, Poultry), and By Geography. According to Verified Market Research, the Feed Additives Market size was valued at USD 38.1 Billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 84.1 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 5.9% from 2022 to 2030.

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/download-sample/?rid=23002

Browse in-depth TOC on "Feed Additives Market"

202 - Pages

126  Tables

37  Figures

Global Feed Additives Market Overview

Increased usage of feed additives is due to increased consumption of animal-based goods, increased feed output, standardization of meat products due to disease outbreaks, and deployment of innovative animal husbandry procedures to improve meat quality. Many farmers resorted to panic purchase of animal feed in anticipation of potential shortages as governments around the world enacted stay-at-home orders. The scarcity of raw materials or feed additives to manufacture compound feeds is causing concern among key stakeholders in the livestock feed sector.

However, given the frequency of lockdowns, the individual governments have made steps to ensure a seamless flow of raw materials throughout the agricultural sectors, including compound feed manufacturing facilities, which is expected to help the market. Probiotics are expected to boost the worldwide feed additives Market due to increased knowledge, rising demand for animal nutrition, and the ban of antibiotics in many places, leading participants in the livestock industry and meat manufacturers to utilize them. Many countries around the world have made food safety a top priority. Livestock production has increased in all countries and animal groupings to meet the demands of changing population food patterns, particularly in developing Markets.

Key Developments

In 2022, BASF increased the capacity of its Ludwigshafen ( Germany ) plant to produce feed enzymes. BASF's annual production has expanded dramatically as a result of the expansion of the existing plant. The increased manufacturing capacity allows BASF to meet the growing global demand from clients for the BASF feed enzymes Natuphos E (phytase), Natugrain TS (xylanase and glucanase), and the newly released Natupulse TS (mannanase).

Key Players

The major players in the market are Kemin, ADM, BASF, Chr. Hansen, Cargill, Nutreco, DuPont, Invivo, Evonik, DSM and Solvay.

Verified Market Research has segmented the Global Feed Additives Market On the basis of Type, Form, Livestock, and Geography.

Feed Additives Market, By Type

Amino Acids



Phosphate



Vitamins



Acidifiers



Carotenoids



Enzymes



Mycotoxin Detoxifiers



Flavors and Sweeteners



Antibiotics



Preservatives



Antioxidants



Non Protein Nitrogen



Others

Feed Additives Market, By Form

Liquid



Dry

Feed Additives Market, By Livestock

Ruminants



Poultry



Swine



Aquatic Animals



Others

Feed Additives Market, by Geography

North America



U.S





Canada





Mexico



Europe



Germany





France





U.K





Rest of Europe



Asia Pacific



China





Japan





India





Rest of Asia Pacific



ROW



Middle East & Africa

&



Latin America

Browse Related Reports:

Medicated Feed Additives Market By Mixture Type (Concentrates, Supplements), By Type (Antioxidants, Antibiotics), By Livestock (Ruminants, Poultry), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

Food Additives Market By Raw Materials (Natural, Artificial), By Type (Acidulants, Colors, Emulsifiers, Flavors), By Application (Bread, Drinks, Ready-To-Use Food), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

Microencapsulation Market By Coating Material (Carbohydrates, Gums And Resins), By Core Material (Agricultural Inputs, Food Additives), By Application (Agrochemicals, Construction), By Technology (Spray Technology, Dripping Technology), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

Electronic Warfare Aircraft Market By Product (Metal, Ceramics), By Application (Aerospace and Defense, Automobile Industry), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

World's Top 5 Animal Feed Companies improving the quality of animal feed for a sustainable future

Visualize Feed Additives Market using Verified Market Intelligence -:

Verified Market Intelligence is our BI Enabled Platform for narrative storytelling of this market. VMI offers in-depth forecasted trends and accurate Insights on over 20,000+ emerging & niche markets, helping you make critical revenue impacting decisions for a brilliant future.

VMI provides a holistic overview and global competitive landscape with respect to Region, Country, and Segment, and Key players of your market. Present your Market Report & findings with an inbuilt presentation feature saving over 70% of your time and resources for Investor, Sales & Marketing, R&D, and Product Development pitches. VMI enables data delivery In Excel and Interactive PDF formats with over 15+ Key Market Indicators for your market.

About Us

Verified Market Research is a leading Global Research and Consulting firm servicing over 5000+ customers. Verified Market Research provides advanced analytical research solutions while offering information enriched research studies. We offer insight into strategic and growth analyses, Data necessary to achieve corporate goals and critical revenue decisions.

Our 250 Analysts and SME's offer a high level of expertise in data collection and governance use industrial techniques to collect and analyze data on more than 15,000 high impact and niche markets. Our analysts are trained to combine modern data collection techniques, superior research methodology, expertise and years of collective experience to produce informative and accurate research.

We study 14+ categories from Semiconductor & Electronics, Chemicals, Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Energy & Power, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Automotive & Transportation, Information & Communication Technology, Software & Services, Information Security, Mining, Minerals & Metals, Building & construction, Agriculture industry and Medical Devices from over 100 countries.

Contact Us

Mr. Edwyne Fernandes

Verified Market Research

US: +1 (650)-781-4080

UK: +44 (753)-715-0008

APAC: +61 (488)-85-9400

US Toll Free: +1 (800)-782-1768

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1315349/Verified_Market_Research_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Verified Market Research
HOUSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Freeport LNG Development, L.P. ("Freeport LNG") is providing the following update on the June 8 incident at its Quintana Island liquefaction facility:

At approximately 11:40AM CT on June 8, 2022, an incident occurred at the Freeport LNG liquefaction plant on Quintana Island, Texas that resulted in the release of LNG, leading to the formation and ignition of a natural gas vapor cloud, and subsequent fire at the facility. As reported previously, there were no injuries, and at no time did the incident pose a threat to the surrounding community. In accordance with Freeport LNG's safety design parameters, the LNG vapor cloud dispersion and ignition thereof were at all times contained within the fence line of the liquefaction facility, lasting approximately 10 seconds. The fire and associated smoke visible thereafter were from the burning of materials in and around the location where the incident occurred, such as piping insulation and cabling. With the assistance of local area emergency response personnel, the resultant fire was extinguished approximately 40 minutes after the initial incident. While the burning of those materials resulted in carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compound emissions, these were of limited quantity due to the short duration of the fire and not at levels that posed any immediate risk to Freeport LNG personnel or the surrounding community. There was no release of any other chemicals or substances from the plant during the event. Water used to suppress the subsequent fire was captured on site, and will be tested and confirmed free of any harmful contaminants before being released or removed for proper disposal.

The incident occurred in pipe racks that support the transfer of LNG from the facility's LNG storage tank area to the terminal's dock facilities located on the intracoastal (i.e., north) side of Freeport LNG's dock basin. None of the liquefaction trains, LNG storage tanks, dock facilities, or LNG process areas were impacted. In coordination with local, state and federal officials, Freeport LNG's investigation into the cause of the incident, and what steps are necessary to safely resume liquefaction operations, is underway. Preliminary observations suggest that the incident resulted from the overpressure and rupture of a segment of an LNG transfer line, leading to the rapid flashing of LNG and the release and ignition of the natural gas vapor cloud. Additional investigation is underway to determine the underlying precipitating events that enabled the overpressure conditions in the LNG piping.

At this time, completion of all necessary repairs and a return to full plant operations is not expected until late 2022. Given the relatively contained area of the facility physically impacted by the incident, a resumption of partial operations is targeted to be achieved in approximately 90 days, once the safety and security of doing so can be assured, and all regulatory clearances are obtained.

Freeport LNG is mindful of the impact this incident and our suspension of operations has on our personnel, our surrounding community, and the domestic and international gas and LNG markets. We have immense gratitude for the selfless efforts undertaken by Freeport LNG operators and emergency response personnel and local emergency responders to quickly address and contain the impacts of the event on our facilities, our personnel, and the surrounding community.

ABOUT FREEPORT LNG

Freeport LNG is an LNG export company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company's three train, 15 MTPA liquefaction facility is the seventh largest in the world and second largest in the U.S. Freeport LNG's liquefaction facility is the largest all-electric drive motor plant of its kind in the world, making it the most environmentally sustainable site of its kind. The facility's electric drive motors reduce carbon emissions by over 90% relative to gas turbine-driven liquefaction facilities. Freeport plans to expand by adding a fourth liquefaction train, which has received all regulatory approvals for construction. Freeport was formed in 2002 to develop, own and operate an LNG terminal on Quintana Island, near Freeport, Texas. The terminal started LNG import operations in June 2008 and began LNG export operations in 2019. Further information can be found on Freeport's website at www.freeportlng.com .

SOURCE Freeport LNG
After Successfully Running Capital Markets Garrett Busch Will Now Lead the Growing Portfolio of Hotels

IRVINE, Calif., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Hospitality Group Ventures, Inc. ("Pacific Hospitality Group"), a leading Orange County based hotel management and investment company, is pleased to announce that Garrett S. Busch has been named as President. In his new role, Busch will oversee the portfolio of 12 independent hotels and resorts. He will succeed Paul J. McCormick, the outgoing President and COO. Garrett Busch has served as Pacific Hospitality Group's Vice President of Capital Markets and Development since 2019 and will continue to spearhead the company's expansion efforts while assuming day-to-day oversight of the entire company.

Garrett S. Busch, President, Pacific Hospitality Group

"Garrett's proven track record, business development acumen, and unrivaled dedication makes him the right leader for Pacific Hospitality Group," said company founder and Chief Executive Officer Timothy R. Busch. "Garrett's love for the business combined with his ability to run a multifaceted operation makes him the perfect leader for us. He is poised to take the helm and lead PHG to our next phase of growth."

Busch replaces Paul J. McCormick who steps down as President after successfully leading the company for the past 4 years. McCormick, a seasoned hospitality veteran who has led operations for KSL Resorts, Miraval and Sage Hospitality, to name a few, led PHG to record revues in 2019 and steadfastly guided the company through the Covid storm. "We will forever be indebted to Paul for his dedication and leadership," added Busch.

"I am honored and excited by this opportunity," said Garrett Busch, now President of PHG. "My family's support and team's confidence in me has allowed me to move from growing the company to now leading the company. I am already getting to know our 1,550 team members across the country and am humbled by each one of them. It is a privilege to be their leader and look forward to all of the expansion and best in class operations our portfolio will enjoy together."

Under Busch's tenure as Vice President of Capital Markets, Pacific Hospitality Group acquired the Hotel Granduca in Austin, Texas in December 2020 and completed the ground-up construction of the Hyatt Place Hotel in downtown Phoenix, Arizona in May 2021. Garrett recently led Pacific Hospitality Group and the Busch Family's efforts to recapitalize, refinance, and consolidate control of The Meritage Resort and Spa and its soon to be reimagined sister property, The Grand Reserve at the Meritage, both located in the picturesque Napa Valley.

Before taking the reigns of the development team, Busch spent 8 years running the family winery Trinitas Cellars, in Napa, California. During his time in Napa, Garrett significantly expanded the winery's revenues and reach where he championed fruitful wine partnerships with his alma matter, the University of Notre Dame. Busch received his undergraduate degree in business and his MBA from the University of Notre Dame where he majored in Entrepreneurship and Finance, respectively.

About Pacific Hospitality Group ("PHG")

Irvine based PHG owns and operates hotels across the United States. PHG's investment philosophy is to hold assets long-term in order to drive long-term value for investors while make lasting community contributions. PHG's portfolio includes both branded properties (Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt) and its independent Meritage Collection properties located in iconic locations such as the Ko'a Kea Hotel & Resort in Kauai, Pasea Hotel & Spa in Huntington Beach, Hotel Granduca in Austin, and the aforementioned Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa.

SOURCE Pacific Hospitality Group Ventures, Inc.
Key Points Covered in the Medical Gases Market Report:

Am I engaging with the right suppliers?

Which KPIs should I use to evaluate my incumbent suppliers?

Which supplier selection criteria are relevant for ERP Software?

What are the ERP Software category essentials in terms of SLAs and RFx?

Key Global Suppliers in the Medical Gases Market:

Linde

L'Air Liquide

Air Products and Chemicals

Know more..

This report offers detailed insights and analysis of the major cost drivers, volume drivers, and innovations of the medical gases procurement and sourcing market, which the global suppliers have been leveraging to gain a competitive edge across regions.

This medical gases procurement market study also includes a complete analysis of procurement strategies used by major category end-users in a wide range of industries while sourcing medical gases. In addition, this report investigates the most extensively used and high-potential pricing models used by buyers, which will help in determining business opportunities for revenue growth. These figures can assist buyers in generating cost reductions and identifying sales strategies.

Request a Report Sample to Gain Comprehensive Insights at Medical Gases Market:

https://www.procurement.spendedge.com/report/medical-gases--procurement-market-intelligence-report

Related Trending Topics:

Subscribe to our "Free Limited Period Starter Procurement Plan" to get the following:

View 6 full reports

View 800+ report samples

Pre-order upcoming reports

Dedicated account manager

Signup for our subscription services now for FREE!

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
Highly-curated offering from Homes & Villas by Marriott International brings guests an expansive portfolio of premium and luxury homes across beach and urban areas

BETHESDA, Md., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Homes & Villas by Marriott International, the Marriott Bonvoy travel program's curated and growing collection of premium and luxury whole home rentals around the world, today announced its launch in Australia and New Zealand  marking the platform's entrance in Asia Pacific. The expansion into these new markets adds over 350 premium and luxury homes to the platform in prime leisure destinations, including Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Orange in Australia, and Auckland and Queenstown in New Zealand  just to name a few.

Queenstown, New Zealand

With Australia's interstate and international borders now open, and with New Zealand's borders soon to follow, Homes & Villas by Marriott International is well-positioned to meet the increasing demands from both domestic and overseas travellers for larger groups stays to experience the joy of reconnecting over travel, together. These unique homes provide members of Marriott's award-winning travel program, Marriott Bonvoy, with more options when they travel as a complement to Marriott International's 29 hotels across 13 different brands in Australia and New Zealand. Several of the homes feature balconies, pools, gourmet kitchens and large entertaining areas that make them the ideal place for gatherings.

Homes & Villas by Marriott International was launched in May 2019 to provide Marriott Bonvoy members with more options when they travel, backed by Marriott International's 90+ years of expertise in delivering exceptional hospitality experiences. Every home listed on the platform is professionally-managed and selected to ensure it meets the high product and service standards that guests expect of Marriott International in design, cleanliness, safety, reliability and high-end amenities. It is also the only home rental platform to participate in the Marriott Bonvoy travel program, allowing its 164 million+ members to earn and redeem points for all stays.

"Private home rental offerings are tremendously popular right now as travellers look for ways to re-connect with loved ones, as well as to continue to balance remote work, school, and leisure. We are thrilled to be bringing Homes & Villas by Marriott International to Australia and New Zealand, providing our guests with a curated selection of the best premium and luxury homes in the market. These homes provide the space and amenities expected from a luxury experience and the backing of a trusted travel company," said Jennifer Hsieh, Vice President, Homes & Villas by Marriott International.

Marriott International works meticulously with selected professional property management groups to craft the ultimate experience - from beachside villas to city penthouses. Making travel even easier, Homes & Villas also offers pet-friendly accommodation enabling guests to enjoy a getaway with their furry companion by their side. Every stay is managed by a specialist property manager and offers 24/7 support for any customer assistance needed during the getaway.

From luxurious countryside houses in vineyards, sprawling houses and magnificent lakeview villas, as well as buzzing city apartments and penthouses, guests will have access to a range of different options in the unique collection of private homes in Australia and New Zealand.

Marriott Bonvoy members who book any of Homes & Villas by Marriott International's 65,000+ private home rentals worldwide for 5+nights between 13 June 2022 and 22 June 2022, and complete their stay with check-out on or before December 31, 2022, will earn 2X points, plus a Free Night Award valid for a future stay at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.

For more information, please visit www.homesandvillasbymarriott.com

About Homes & Villas by Marriott International

Launched in May 2019, Homes & Villas by Marriott International is a curated and growing collection of 65,000+ premium and luxury whole home rentals located in 700+ prime destinations throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, the Caribbean and Latin America. Leveraging Marriott International's decades of delivering exceptional hospitality experience, each home is professionally managed and meets the company's design, cleanliness, safety and amenity standards. It is also the only home rental offering to participate in the award-winning travel program Marriott Bonvoy, enabling members to earn and redeem points for all stays. Connect with @HomesandVillasbyMarriott on Instagram and Facebook.

SOURCE Marriott International, Inc.
Download the Sample Report Now!

Key Industrial Vegetation Management Sourcing and Procurement Report Highlights:

Market growth 2021-2025: USD 2.12 Billion Growth momentum & CAGR: Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.52% Top Pricing Models: Fixed Pricing, Cost-plus pricing, and Volume-based pricing Key consumer countries: North America , Europe , and APAC Supplier Selection Scope: Logistics and transport capabilities, Data management and analytical capabilities, and Pricing terms Top Suppliers: Bayer AG, Sygneta Group, and Dow Inc

Know More About This Market: Request for a Free Sample Report Now!

Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers:

The report explains several strategic and tactical negotiation levers to assist buyers obtain the best prices in the Industrial Vegetation Management market. The research also provides buyers with appropriate Industrial Vegetation Management pricing levels, the benefits and drawbacks of prominent pricing models such as unit-based pricing and bundled pricing, category management strategies, and methods to help them achieve their category objectives.

For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, www.spendedge.com/report/industrial-vegetation-management-sourcing-and-procurement-intelligence-report

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth:

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors.

Identify favorable opportunities in Industrial Vegetation Management TCO (total cost of ownership).

Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes.

Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities.

To know more about various other market drivers, trends and challenges.

Download our free sample report

Smart Procurement Starts Here

SpendEdge's procurement intelligence platform is the go-to tool for companies looking to access latest procurement research insights and supplier data on an easy-to-use platform.

STARTER PACK

Get 6 Full Reports, View 800+ report samples, Pre-order upcoming reports, Pre-order upcoming reports.

Subscribe Now for FREE

Want to know about various other Subscription packs? Click here

Get the Details That You Are Looking for:

Buy our detailed market analysis report to uncover:

Changing market landscape with yearly forecast till 2024.

Analyze the market's competitive and vendor landscape.

How much marketing budget to set aside for geographical market expansion?

Understanding the most adopted procurement strategies by buyers across industries.

Download the FREE sample Report Now!

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, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

Contacts

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
21% of small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) report a need for safety and security solutions

FORT WORTH, Texas, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- International research firm Parks Associates today announced it will host two sessions, featuring executives from Alarm.com, Alula, Bates Security, Brivo, HavenLock, Homebase, Johnson Controls, Nice, Plume, Salto Systems, and Silicon Labs, on Tuesday, June 15, at Electronic Security Expo (ESX) at the Fort Worth Convention Center. The sessions, "SMBs  Expanding Opportunities with New Services" and "Top 5 Factors Before Entering the Multifamily Market," are part of the Expo's New Markets session track.

Parks Associates: SMBs' Likelihood of Purchasing Smart Devices for Business Locations

"There's a huge demand for safety and security solutions across customer segments, from commercial to MDU to single-family housing," said Chris White, Sr. Analyst, Parks Associates. "We look forward to bringing industry leaders together to talk about demand for security and monitoring services and the huge opportunities to scale in the near- and long-term future."

According to Parks Associates, 21% of SMBs report a need for products and monitoring services that deliver safety and security for their employees and business. Parks Associates research also shows the market for multifamily buildings and multi-dwelling units (MDUs) is ripe with opportunity  84% of property managers intend to install internet-connected devices in the next 12 months.

The session "SMBs  Expanding Opportunities with New Services" will be held on June 15 at 9:15 AM CT US, and "Top 5 Factors Before Entering the Multifamily Market" will be held at 10:30 AM CT US, both in Room 202AB at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Session speakers:

Preeti Agarwal , Senior Cyber-Security Solutions Architect, Plume

, Senior Cyber-Security Solutions Architect, Jeremy Bates , President, Bates Security

, President, Alex Bertelli , CEO, HavenLock Inc.

, CEO, Colin Cureton , Senior Director Home & Consumer Ecosystem and Business Development, Silicon Labs

, Senior Director Home & Consumer Ecosystem and Business Development, Jennifer Doctor , Senior Director, Product Management, Johnson Controls

, Senior Director, Product Management, Preston Grutzmacher , Vertical Business Leader for Multifamily Housing, Salto Systems

, Vertical Business Leader for Multifamily Housing, Warren Hill , VP Marketing and Partner Development, Alula

, VP Marketing and Partner Development, RaeAnn Loveall , Chief People Officer, Homebase

, Chief People Officer, James Reno , VP, Sales  Commercial Business, Alarm.com

, VP, Sales  Commercial Business, Mariam Rogers , VP, Multifamily Sales, Brivo

, VP, Multifamily Sales, Paul Williams , Chief Product Officer, Nice North America

"Developing and marketing products for multi-dwelling units is uniquely challenging: should you design for residents with smart home attributes like ease-of-use and exciting features, or appeal to property owners' commercial interests emphasizing ROI and system integration? The answer is yes, and yes. I'm looking forward to sharing Silicon Labs' perspective, drawn from our work helping customers bring winning designs to market," said Colin Cureton, Senior Director, IoT Ecosystems and Business Development, Silicon Labs.

"I'm excited to participate alongside other industry experts and discuss how the multifamily technology market is booming! Security installers and multifamily customers need to understand the market trends and the huge opportunities for additional services and products," said Preston Grutzmacher, Vertical Business Leader for Multifamily Housing, Salto Systems.

Parks Associates' podcast, The Connected Consumer, will detail Jennifer Kent's and Chris White's participation at ESX 2022 in an upcoming episode. Subscribe now.

For more information, contact [email protected]. To schedule an interview with an analyst or to request specific data, please contact Rosey Sera at [email protected] or 972-490-1113.

About Parks Associates: Parks Associates, a woman-owned and woman-led internationally recognized market research and consulting company, specializes in emerging technology solutions serving the consumer and small to medium business (SMB) markets. Celebrating its 35th year in 2021, Parks Associates is a partner to companies navigating the changing consumer technology landscapes through data-driven market insights, extensive consumer and industry intelligence, custom marketing services, and executive networking experiences and conferences. https://www.parksassociates.com

Contact:

Rosey Sera

Parks Associates

972.490.1113

[email protected]

SOURCE Parks Associates
Pre-clinical proof-of-concept demonstrated in a disease model

JUPITER, Fla. and BOSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jupiter Neurosciences, Inc. ("Jupiter" or the "Company"), today announced the publication in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease of "JOTROL, a Novel Formulation of Resveratrol, Shows Beneficial Effects in the 3xTg-AD Mouse Model." This research, performed in collaboration with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine demonstrated that a novel, oral formulation of resveratrol, JOTROL, was able to deliver therapeutically viable levels of resveratrol in a disease mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The results showed that JOTROL significantly increased bioavailability over non-formulated resveratrol and that treatment resulted in AD-related gene expression changes, as well as changes in inflammatory gene and cytokine levels. JOTROL may be effective as a prophylaxis and/or treatment for AD through increased expression and/or activation of neuroprotective genes, suppression of pro-inflammatory genes, and regulation of central and peripheral cytokine levels. "This study demonstrated the much-improved bioavailability and activity of JOTROL over unformulated resveratrol in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease with extended drug exposure, stated lead author Professor Claes Wahlestedt, Associate Dean for Therapeutic Innovation, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine."

JOTROL Product Differentiation Comparison.

About JOTROL

JOTROL, the Company's unique and patented platform product, is an enhanced resveratrol formulation designed to safely deliver therapeutically relevant levels of resveratrol. In a Phase I first-in-man trial, JOTROL was administered in ascending doses to assess safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics. JOTROL was determined to be safe and well tolerated at all dose levels administered and achieved blood plasma target levels 8-10-fold higher than naive resveratrol administered in historical clinical trials. The study was financed by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), entitled Safety and Pharmacokinetics of JOTROL for Alzheimer's Disease. Resveratrol can cross the blood-brain barrier and has demonstrated positive effects on oxidative stress, inflammation, and mitochondrial function in Friedreich's ataxia (FA) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients.

About Jupiter Neurosciences, Inc.

Jupiter Neurosciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on treating CNS disorders and rare diseases. The Company's platform product, JOTROL, offers potential therapeutic benefit to most central nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, ataxias, and metabolic disorders such as Lysosomal Storage Disorders and mitochondrial diseases. Human clinical trial data shows benefits in several indications and the FDA has accepted a first investigational new drug (IND) application of JOTROL. More information may be found on the Company's website www.jupiterneurosciences.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain statements relating to future results which are forward-looking statements. It is possible that the Company's actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements, depending on factors including whether results obtained in preclinical and nonclinical studies and clinical trials will be indicative of results obtained in future clinical trials; whether preliminary or interim results from a clinical trial will be indicative of the final results of the trial; the size of the potential markets for the Company's drug candidates and its ability to service those markets; and the Company's current and future capital requirements and its ability to raise additional funds to satisfy its capital needs. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or of which we hereafter become aware.

Contacts:

Investor Relations

Alison Silva, President & CBO

Jupiter Neurosciences, Inc.

[email protected]

Media Relations

Alex Rosen, Chief Administrative Officer

Jupiter Neurosciences, Inc.

561-406-6154

[email protected]

SOURCE Jupiter Neurosciences, Inc.
PHILADELPHIA, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaskela Law LLC announces that it is investigating Manning & Napier, Inc. (NYSE: MN) on behalf of the company's shareholders.

On April 1, 2022, Manning & Napier announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Callodine Group, LLC ("Callodine") at a price of $12.85 per share. Following the closing of the proposed transaction, shares of Manning & Napier's stock will no longer be publicly traded.

The investigation seeks to determine: (i) whether the transaction as structured is fair to Manning & Napier shareholders; (ii) whether MN shareholders will be receiving sufficient consideration for their shares; and (iii) whether Manning & Napier's directors have breached their fiduciary duties to the company's stockholders in agreeing to sell the company to Callodine.

Manning & Napier shareholders are encouraged to contact Kaskela Law LLC (D. Seamus Kaskela, Esq. or Adrienne Bell, Esq.) at (484) 229  0750, or by email ([email protected]) or online at https://kaskelalaw.com/cases/manning-napier-inc/ , for additional information about this investigation and their legal rights and options.

Kaskela Law LLC represents investors in securities fraud, corporate governance, and merger & acquisition litigation. For additional information about Kaskela Law LLC please visit www.kaskelalaw.com. This notice may constitute attorney advertising in certain jurisdictions.

CONTACT:

D. Seamus Kaskela, Esq.

Adrienne Bell, Esq.

KASKELA LAW LLC

18 Campus Blvd., Suite 100

Newtown Square, PA 19073

(484) 229  0750

(888) 715  1740

www.kaskelalaw.com

SOURCE Kaskela Law LLC
SUZHOU, China, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kintor Pharmaceutical Limited ("Kintor Pharma", HKEX: 9939), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative small molecules and biological therapeutics, today announced that its "clinical trial cooperative research and development and overseas application demonstration of the anti-COVID-19 drug (pruxelutamide, used to be called proxalutamide)" project was selected as one of the Belt and Road Innovation Cooperation Projects and was included in the list of proposed projects for special fund supported by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology (Innovation Support Plan for International Science and Technology Cooperation/Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Science and Technology Cooperation). Kintor Pharma and Etana, an Indonesian company, developed the project together.

The fund was built by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Finance. By integrating and allocating resources to improve innovation in the Jiangsu Province, the fund will focus on supporting industrial research and development, innovation, and high-quality development with countries and regions worldwide involved in the Belt and Road project. The Belt and Road Innovation Cooperation Project is required to support international R&D, technology transfer, and overseas demonstrations of projects in the countries involved in the Belt and Road project. The project must also promote technology or products from the Jiangsu Province globally while promoting open cooperation in innovation.

Pruxelutamide's inclusion in the Belt and Road Innovation Cooperation Project is based on Kintor Pharma and Etana's collaboration on the clinical development and commercialization of pruxelutamide for the treatment of COVID-19 in Indonesia. The project's success serves as recognition of Kintor's R&D and innovation capabilities. The company will continue to focus on improving its R&D capabilities along with industrial innovation to promote open global cooperation in biotech.

About Pruxelutamide

Pruxelutamide is an ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) and TMPRSS2 (transmembrane protease, serine 2) proteins inhibitor that inhibits the entry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into host cells. For COVID-19 patients with early symptoms, targeting the ACE2/TMPRSS2 signal axis by pruxelutamide could significantly inhibit the entry of the virus into host cells. For severe patients, pruxelutamide promotes the clearance of pathogens and decreases inflammation by activating the Nrf2 pathway, which inhibits the over-production of IL-6, proinflammatory cytokines, and chemokines, thus minimizing cytokine storms and tissues damage. In this way, pruxelutamide might be well-positioned as an effective drug for COVID-19 patients from early symptoms to hospitalized/severe conditions.

On August 25 2021, Kintor Pharma announced that it had entered into a licensing agreement with PT Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia, for the commercialization of proxalutamide for the treatment of COVID-19 in Indonesia.

About Kintor Pharmaceutical Limited

Kintor Pharmaceutical Limited is developing and commercializing a robust pipeline of innovative small molecule and biological therapeutics for androgen-receptor-related disease areas with unmet medical needs, including COVID-19, prostate, breast and liver cancers, alopecia and acne. For more information, visit www.kintor.com.cn.

SOURCE Kintor Pharma
Virtual Conference announced to benefit business owners and those looking to start a business

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- JC Training Academy has put together an event that small business owners do not want to miss. A wealth of education and value will be provided for attendees. Information is catered specifically to those who are in business and those who are looking to take the next step of starting a business. This virtual event will allow business owners to connect with established leaders to glean from their expertise and experience across multiple industries. Business owners are left to their own whim and internet search ability to find various answers that speak from different points of view. This leaves most confused and unsure. This event is set to bring wisdom and perspective enabling business owners to execute decision-making that promotes the desired results for their business.

Our Speakers Our Agenda

The event focuses on four key components concerning business: Grants, Credit, Operations, and Taxes. This will be new information and perspective that anyone is able to use to make improvements. When it comes to grants and funding, it has always been said that money exists for new startups and certain industries. The question left unanswered is how to come across it and qualify for it. Business credit is a hot topic, but very few are certain that they are headed in the right direction in building it.

Most business owners lack the proper understanding of their day-to-day operations to be able to plan for future growth and maintenance. This affects a multitude of things including record keeping, tax planning, and overall growth. Taxes and record-keeping are the other side of the business that many lack the understanding to include in their business plan. There is no point in growing your business revenue without having a tax plan to implement tax minimization while maximizing one's profits.

"We have talked with business owners and see that they desire to learn. They have search fatigue and are looking for guidance. Our event helps by compiling the necessary education needed for success."

 James Hall - CEO of JC Training Academy

The Let's Build Community Wealth Together Business Expo event will cover these topics in great length as well as provide attendees opportunities to get their questions answered while also providing community group access after the event. A full day of amazing interactive sessions and post-event support for any questions is what makes this an event that should be on every small business owner's agenda. It simply makes sense to invest in one's ability to run and grow their business to success.

Registration is open to the masses.

About JC Training Academy

JC Training Academy provides online courses, masterclasses, and events with regards to specific subject matters leveraging subject matter experts. Students and attendees can gain the necessary knowledge, wisdom, and perspective to achieve their desired outcome. Teaching is done with practicality in mind allowing students and attendees to move forward with clear steps to achieve their goals.

Contact:

James Hall

CEO, Marketing & Public Relations

[email protected]

(681) 353-5012

SOURCE JC Training Academy
PINEVILLE, N.C., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Manufactured Housing Properties Inc. (OTC: MHPC), a leading owner and operator of manufactured housing communities, announced today that Bill Boscow has joined the firm as executive vice president, capital markets.

"Bill is a great addition to our team and we think his expertise and track record of success will bring tremendous value to the company as we continue to grow," said Jay Wardlaw, president of Manufactured Housing Properties.

Boscow is a 35-year veteran of the financial services industry. Most recently, Boscow was senior vice president at Wildermuth Wealth. Prior to this, he served in various sales and marketing leadership roles at Morningstar, Lincoln National Group and RiverSource/Ameriprise, among others.

"I am honored to join one of the leaders in manufactured housing ownership and management," said Boscow. "MHP is committed to furthering the company's growth via its current Regulation A offering and intends to create additional offerings in the future to enhance its appeal to advisors and their clients."

Boscow holds FINRA Series 7, 24 and 66 licenses, as well as Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP) designations. Boscow earned a bachelor's degree in American studies/economics from Middlebury College and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.

About Manufactured Housing Properties Inc.

Manufactured Housing Properties Inc. ("MHP") together with its affiliates, acquires, owns, and operates manufactured housing communities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. The company focuses on acquiring and operating manufactured housing communities in high growth markets. As of March 31, 2022, MHP owns 46 communities comprised of 2,195 home sites. To learn more, please visit www.mhproperties.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this press release regarding us, our expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and are forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements involve uncertainties and risks that could cause actual performance and results of operations to differ materially from those anticipated. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent our judgment as of the date of publication of this press release and we caution you not to place undue reliance on such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements include those factors described in the "Risk Factor" section in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC. Our company, our management and our affiliates assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events after the initial publication of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of subsequent events.

Contact: Jill Swartz

Spotlight Marketing Communications

949-427-1389

[email protected]

SOURCE Manufactured Housing Properties
WASHINGTON , June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA, in partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will release the James Webb Space Telescope's first full-color images and spectroscopic data during a televised broadcast beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 12, from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Released one by one, these first images from the world's largest and most powerful space telescope will demonstrate Webb at its full power, ready to begin its mission to unfold the infrared universe.

Each image will simultaneously be made available on social media as well as on the agency's website at:

nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

Embargoed access to Webb's first images will not be available prior to their public release.

The following is a list of activities leading up to release (all times Eastern):

Wednesday, June 29

Media Day at Webb's Mission Operations Center

NASA will host a media day at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 29. The event will include a media briefing on the status of Webb's commissioning as well as overviews of planned science for Webb's first year of operations and Webb image processing.

On-site attendees can tour Webb's Mission Operations Control facilities, including the Flight Control Room, and conduct interviews with mission experts.

Media must register their interest in participating by completing this form by 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 21, for in-person, and by 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 28, for virtual.

NASA and STScI will soon provide further details to those who register their interest, including the full media day schedule and COVID-19 safety protocols. Due to space limitations, NASA and STScI may be unable to accommodate all requests for on-site attendance.

Tuesday, July 12

Image Release Day

10:30 a.m.  Live coverage of the image release broadcast will air on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency's website . The public also can watch live on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Twitch, and Daily Motion.





Live coverage of the image release broadcast will air on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency's . The public also can watch live on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Twitch, and Daily Motion. 12 p.m.  Following the live broadcast, NASA and its partners will hold a joint media briefing at NASA Goddard. The briefing will livestream on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency's website . The list of media briefing participants is forthcoming, and this advisory will be updated with details later.



Media interested in participating in-person must complete this form by 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday , June 21.





Following the live broadcast, NASA and its partners will hold a joint media briefing at NASA Goddard. The briefing will livestream on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency's . The list of media briefing participants is forthcoming, and this advisory will be updated with details later. Media interested in participating in-person must complete this form by , June 21. 3 p.m.  Live Interview Opportunities: From approximately 3 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday , July 12, and 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday , July 13, Webb mission experts will be available to conduct live, remote interviews with broadcast media. Experts will be available to conduct interviews in both English and Spanish. More details about scheduling these interviews will be made available closer to the date. Members of the media seeking interviews outside of these windows should complete this media interview request form.

NASA's media accreditation policy for on-site and virtual activities is available online. The agency will soon provide further details to those who register their interest, including COVID-19 safety protocols. Due to space limitations, NASA may be unable to accommodate all requests for on-site attendance. Media and members of the public may ask questions on social media using #UnfoldtheUniverse.

Wednesday, July 13

3 p.m.: NASA Science Live

Webb experts will answer questions about the first images and data in a NASA Science Live show. The broadcast, Webb's First Full-Color Images Explained, will air live on the NASA Science Live website, as well as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Viewers of this episode can submit questions on social media using the hashtag #UnfoldtheUniverse or by leaving a comment in the chat section of the Facebook or YouTube stream.

At the same time, NASA also will broadcast a live social media event in Spanish on its NASA en espanol YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. Webb experts Begona Vila and Nestor Espinoza will discuss the release of the first images and take questions from followers.

NASA Social

The agency also will host an in-person NASA Social Tuesday, July 12, and Wednesday, July 13. Participants will join as guests for the in-studio filming of the televised broadcast at NASA Goddard, tour NASA Goddard and STScI facilities, and interact with experts from the Webb mission.

Webb Community Events

The public can also join in the excitement of Webb's first full-color images by attending one of the many official Webb Space Telescope Community Events taking place across the country this summer. The list of events celebrating Webb's first images is available online and updated frequently.

Webb, an international partnership with ESA and CSA, launched Dec. 25 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. After unfolding into its final form in space and successfully reaching its destination 1 million miles from Earth, the observatory now is completing the months-long process of preparing for science operations. Webb will explore every phase of cosmic history  from within the solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe, and everything in between.

Stay connected with the mission and share your experience with Webb's first images on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with #UnfoldTheUniverse. Follow and tag these accounts:

SOURCE NASA
-- UNICEF USA spots will begin running on World Refugee Day June 20 --

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) today announced the launch of a public service campaign to further support children displaced by the war in Ukraine. The campaign will run on World Refugee Day (June 20) and all proceeds will be donated to UNICEF USA to support UNICEF's emergency response and humanitarian work in Ukraine and neighboring countries.

From June 20 through July 4, broadcast radio and television stations are encouraged to participate in the campaign by airing public service announcements and sharing information on their websites, social media and newscasts.

The war in Ukraine has been devastating to many, including millions of children and families. According to UNICEF USA, almost two out of every three children are currently displaced either within Ukraine or in nearby countries due to the war. Wherever there is conflict, it is children who suffer most. Since the conflict began, broadcasters have provided in-depth news coverage and many have set up fundraising drives to raise money and collect donations for Ukrainians.

The PSAs are available in English and Spanish for broadcast television and radio and can be found here. The spots encourage audiences to donate to relief efforts at www.unicefusa.org/Action.

"UNICEF is highly esteemed globally for their work helping children in times of crisis, including providing critical humanitarian support to millions of Ukrainians in need," said NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. "Community service is ingrained in broadcasters' very foundation and we are committed to helping the people suffering during this conflict by spreading the word about the lifeline work UNICEF and partners are doing in Ukraine and garnering support for their relief efforts."

Since the start of the war, UNICEF and partners have been on the ground in Ukraine and bordering countries working to provide children and their families with humanitarian assistance, including child protection, water and sanitation, health, nutrition, education services and more.

About NAB

The National Association of Broadcasters is the premier advocacy association for America's broadcasters. NAB advances radio and television interests in legislative, regulatory and public affairs. Through advocacy, education and innovation, NAB enables broadcasters to best serve their communities, strengthen their businesses and seize new opportunities in the digital age. Learn more at www.nab.org.

About UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to pursue a more equitable world for every child. UNICEF has helped save more children's lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, safe water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more.

UNICEF USA advances the global mission of UNICEF by rallying the American public to support the world's most vulnerable children. Together, we are working toward a world that upholds the rights of all children and helps every child thrive. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.

SOURCE National Association of Broadcasters
WASHINGTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Following is a statement from Jen Judson, President of the National Press Club and Gil Klein, President of the National Press Club Journalism Institute on the reported release of Bloomberg Journalist Haze Fan from detention in China.

"We were relieved to hear that Bloomberg journalist Haze Fan has been released on bail in China, according to a Bloomberg report. The report is based on a statement on the Chinese Embassy website in Washington that seems to have been posted early last month. While we cautiously welcome this development, we continue to have concerns over the whereabouts, safety and wellbeing of Fan. We not that though the Chinese Embassy in Washington has said Fan was released in January, Bloomberg has been unable to reach her to confirm her status. Also, it is clear that there are still legal challenges remaining for her, which we continue to view as unjust.

Fan, a Chinese national, had worked for several western news organizations in China prior to her work with Bloomberg. She was taken from her apartment in December 2020 and there has been no news about her until today's Bloomberg report.

In 2021, the Press Club and its Journalism Institute honored Fan with its International John Aubuchon Award for Press Freedom in part to keep a spotlight on her case. Fan's case was a major focus of the Club's Fourth Estate Gala in the fall of 2021. As part of that Gala there was a full page Washington Post ad with Fan's photo. During a World Press Freedom Day campaign last month The Washington Post again ran a full-page ad featuring Fan. The Chinese Embassy responded to this ad by stating that Fan had been released on bail earlier this year, according to the Bloomberg report. The timeline described is complicated but seems to suggest Fan was released in the build up to Beijing's February Winter Olympics. Bloomberg is still working to confirm the timeline of events.

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. With 3,000 members representing nearly every major news organization, the Club is a leading voice for press freedom in the U.S. and worldwide.

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 civic engagement.

Contact: Bill McCarren, 202-662-7534 for The National Press Club

SOURCE National Press Club
The new 2022 Jeep Compass has earned a TOP SAFETY PICK rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for 2022.

The rating applies to models equipped with LED projector or LED reflector headlamps, when paired with high-beam assist.

"The new 2022 Jeep Compass demonstrates our steadfast commitment to customer satisfaction," said Jim Morrison, vice president, Jeep brand North America. "The Compass blends exceptional active and passive safety features with legendary Jeep 4x4 capability. The result is outstanding value for our customers and their families."

The SUV's TOP SAFETY PICK rating was driven by its performance in six IIHS crashworthiness tests that included three types of frontal crashes. The remaining tests evaluate behavior in a side impact, rear impact and a rollover.

The 2022 Jeep Compass achieved the highest possible score in each.

Further, the vehicle's automatic emergency braking technology  Full-speed Forward Collision Warning with Active Braking  earned the highest possible rating of "superior," while its Pedestrian/Cyclist Automatic Emergency Braking system was rated "advanced."

Both features, which are standard equipment on the 2022 Jeep Compass, are designed to detect imminent collisions and, in certain conditions, automatically apply the vehicle's brakes.

These are among more than 75 available safety and security features. Others include Active Lane Management and Rear Cross Path detection.

Despite a challenging market, U.S. Compass sales were up 22% in the first quarter of this year, compared with the first three months of 2021.

Jeep Brand

Built on 80 years of legendary heritage, Jeep is the authentic SUV brand that brings capability, craftsmanship and versatility to people who seek extraordinary journeys. The Jeep brand delivers an open invitation to live life to the fullest by offering a broad portfolio of vehicles that continues to provide owners with a sense of safety and security to handle any journey with confidence. The Jeep vehicle range consists of the Cherokee, Compass, Gladiator, Grand Cherokee, Grand Cherokee 4xe, Renegade and Wrangler and Wrangler 4xe. Jeep Wave, a premium owner loyalty and customer care program that is available to the entire Jeep 4x4 lineup, is filled with benefits and exclusive perks to deliver Jeep brand owners the utmost care and dedicated 24/7 support. The legendary Jeep brand's off-road capability is enhanced by a global electrification initiative that is transforming 4xe into new 4x4 in pursuit of the brand's vision of accomplishing Zero Emission Freedom. All Jeep brand SUVs will offer an electrified variant by 2025.

Follow Jeep and company news and video on:

Company blog: http://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Media website: http://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Jeep brand: www.jeep.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeep

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jeep

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeep

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/jeep

YouTube: www.youtube.com/thejeepchannel or https://www.youtube.com/StellantisNA

SOURCE Stellantis
With the SEC increasing the maximum offering amount under Regulation A from $50M to $75M in late 2020, companies race to take advantage of the increased limits

SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Funded, a California-based marketing firm focused on Regulation A capital raises, is working to streamline the Reg A process for issuers. Reg A can be a difficult format for companies to utilize as the process for SEC qualification is tedious and, once qualified, running a successful marketing campaign to find investors is something that requires deep knowledge and experience. With that said, companies who are able to navigate the regulatory process and execute solid marketing campaigns are raising significant capital while avoiding many of the pitfalls of traditional capital raise formats. As issuers aim to surpass $2B raised via Reg A in 2022, the industry is seeing an increasing number of companies jump on the bandwagon.

What is Regulation A?

Regulation A (also referred to Regulation A+) is a form of equity crowdfunding that allows businesses to advertise, sell and issue securities in their company to both non-accredited and accredited investors. Under Reg A, businesses can raise up to $75M in a 12-month period.

What are the Benefits of Regulation A for Companies?

Three key benefits of utilizing Reg A include:

Maintain Control of the Company - Simply put, companies using Reg A typically see a larger number of shareholders in their company who all own smaller pieces of the pie. With this type of investor base, founding members of the company are able to maintain control without giving up controlling voting rights.

- Simply put, companies using Reg A typically see a larger number of shareholders in their company who all own smaller pieces of the pie. With this type of investor base, founding members of the company are able to maintain control without giving up controlling voting rights. Develop a Base of Loyal Brand Advocates - A successful Reg A campaign will result in thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of shareholders in a company. These investors will often make multiple investments as the company grows, refer friends/family to invest and even become customers of the brand.

- A successful Reg A campaign will result in thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of shareholders in a company. These investors will often make multiple investments as the company grows, refer friends/family to invest and even become customers of the brand. Providing Additional Growth Opportunities - One aspect of Reg A that is rarely discussed is the other types of opportunities that may arise as a result of the large volume of advertising. With a large volume of Reg A advertising deployed, this often leads to joint ventures and strategic partnerships that can add immense value for early-stage companies.

Regulation A Capital Raised By Year

With the first Reg A+ campaign going live in June of 2015, the industry has taken some time to establish itself. Reg A is still very new and we are in the early stages of this industry as a whole. Here is a look at capital raised by year under Reg A:

2015 (partial year) = $9.6M

2016 = $229M

2017 = $430M

2018 = $736M

2019 = $1.04B

2020 = $1.4B (estimated)

(estimated) 2021 = $1.85B (estimated)

It is important to note that the SEC has not yet released final numbers for the calendar years of 2020 or 2021. Estimates are based largely on a report released by the SEC highlighting that $1.7B of capital was raised via Reg A between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021.

About Funded

Funded provides end-to-end marketing and advertising solutions for Reg A, Reg D 506(c) and Reg CF capital raises. Funded has a proven track record of planning and executing marketing campaigns for both equity crowdfunding raises and private placement offerings. In addition, Funded has an extensive partner network that connects issuers with all of the key resources necessary for their capital raise. To learn more about Funded, visit: www.funded.capital .

Media Contact:

Ryan Frank

619-630-7574

[email protected]

SOURCE Funded
The digital spot depicts Nick and Ric retreating to the great outdoors for a variety of campsite activities, which quickly reveal that in the Offerman clan, older does in fact mean wiser. From woodworking, to bird-calling, to steak-eating, dad does it better every time. While the younger Offerman is renowned for his nature skills and aptitude for craftsmanship, within his family, Ric is the supreme woodsman. As their outdoor adventures come to an end over a nightcap while stargazing, Ric manifests the constellation of a beloved trinity - a T-Bone steak, a baked potato and a bottle of Lagavulin 16 Year Old - proof that for iconic father-son duos like these two, a love of well-crafted whisky is written in the stars.

"Does my Dad do everything better than me? Sure. But hang on, is that because of his superior life prowess, or am I maybe letting him win because I am a generous son?" pondered Nick Offerman. He continued, "If you answered with the superior prowess one, you're right, dang it, but I hope you at least considered the second. The good news is, I only have to do  as good as my dad to finish in front of most of my fellow mortals."

In the spirit of protecting our forests so that generations to come can enjoy future Father's Days in the great outdoors, Lagavulin is making a $50,000 contribution to the California Fire Foundation to benefit California firefighters, their families and the communities they protect. Additionally, the handcrafted wooden bear featured in the new video will be auctioned on Charity Buzz from June 10 to June 22 to further provide funds to the California Fire Foundation.

"Lagavulin: My Tales of Whisky" has chronicled the adventures of Nick Offerman and his preferred imbibement since 2014. The full series can be viewed on the YouTube channel for your Father's Day (or every day) viewing pleasure.

Lagavulin Single Malt Scotch Whisky is available to purchase at select U.S. liquor retailers and can be shipped and delivered on ReserveBar.com, Drizly.com or the Drizly app, making it a great gift for dads that are Offerman fans, whisky connoisseurs, lovers of the outdoors or all of the above.

Lagavulin encourages those who are 21+ to please drink responsibly. More information on Lagavulin Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky and the distillery can be found at www.malts.com/en-row/distilleries/lagavulin/.

About Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman is an actor, writer and woodworker, best known as the character of Ron Swanson on NBC's hit comedy series Parks & Recreation, Karl Weathers in the acclaimed FX series Fargo, the co-host and executive producer of NBC's Making It, in the role of Forest on FX's DEVS, and as Rick Kaepernick in the Netflix series Colin: In Black and White. Recent film credits include Hearts Beat Loud, Lucy In The Sky, The Founder, Bad Times At The El Royale, The Hero, The Lego Movie (1&2), White Fang, and The Little Hours. Offerman has penned five New York Times Bestselling books: Paddle Your Own Canoe, Gumption, Good Clean Fun, The Greatest Love Story Ever Told (written with his wife, Megan Mullally), and most recently Where The Deer And The Antelope Play. In his spare time, he can be found at his woodshop in Los Angeles building hand-crafted items ranging from fine furniture to canoes to ukuleles.

About Diageo

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Casamigos, DeLeon and Don Julio tequilas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: DGE) and their products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world.

For more information about Diageo, their people, brands, and performance, visit www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practices. Follow Twitter and Instagram for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA.

Please Drink Responsibly.

Lagavulin Single Malt Scotch Whisky. 43% Alc/Vol. Imported by Diageo, New York, NY.

SOURCE Diageo
ATLANTA, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Oakbridge Insurance Agency LLC (Oakbridge), one of the largest independent insurance and risk management agencies in the Southeast, today announced a new partnership with Brock Insurance Agency, an independent agency with offices in Rossville, Georgia, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Savannah, Georgia. The partnership creates Oakbridge's first presence in Tennessee and supports the agency's continued Southeastern expansion.

Robbie Smith, Oakbridge CEO

A premier insurance agency founded in 1963, Brock has been recognized as a Best Practices Agency by Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America for the last three years and a top performer in their revenue category in 2021.

"We are very excited to join Oakbridge," said Brock President Mark Brock. "We've been working with Oakbridge's founding firms for over a decade, and this partnership is evidence of the trust and bond we have built and will continue to nurture."

The partnership extends Brock's access to additional resources and programs as well as a group of like-minded individuals who are focused on providing innovative solutions for their clients. "It's a true win-win. Our customers will continue to work with the same team members as they have for decades while the agency will be able to expand its offerings to better support our customers, team and the community. It is our mission to create significant value every day for those around us, and Oakbridge takes us to the next level so we can do just that," Brock added.

"We are thrilled to welcome Brock Insurance Agency as our newest partner. Their reputation as a leading agency in the Southeast is evidenced by the quality of their people and their record as a top performing firm," said Oakbridge CEO Robbie Smith. "Brock is a good cultural fit for Oakbridge. We're excited to bring on such a strong, like-minded group that will continue to be a major player in their markets as well as help lead Oakbridge into the future."

The partnership doubles Oakbridge's employee benefits presence in the region and significantly supplements the agency's focus on specialization in construction, real estate, manufacturing, nonprofits and energy.

About Oakbridge Insurance Agency

Founded in 2020 through the merger of four leading insurance and risk management firms in the Southeast, Oakbridge Insurance Agency LLC is a rapidly growing partnership model for firms seeking accelerated growth, access to capital and an expanded suite of resources with which to serve clients. Ranked a "Top 100" insurance brokerage by Business Insurance and Insurance Journal magazines, Oakbridge is now one of the largest privately owned insurance, risk management, and employee benefits agencies in the region. The agency has specific experience in the agriculture, bond/surety, construction, financial, health care, manufacturing, municipalities, non-profit, senior living and transportation industries. Learn more: oakbridgeinsurance.com.

Contact:

Christen Engel

Poston Communications

(404) 875-3400

[email protected]

SOURCE Oakbridge Insurance Agency
CHICAGO, June 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and ABC 7 Chicago will host another Black and Latino Houses Matter phone bank on June 15, 2022, to help homeowners find refunds, apply for property tax exemptions and avoid the Tax Sale.

"Since I started Black and Latino Houses Matter we've returned nearly $200 million owed to these two minority groups," Pappas said. "I am especially happy we are able to do this ahead of Juneteenth."

Juneteenth is short for "June Nineteenth" and commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States after the end of the Civil War in 1865.

The following are the phone bank details:

Date: Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Time: 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Location: Cook County Treasurer's Office

Phone Bank Number: 312.603.5105

Samantha Chatman, consumer investigative reporter with ABC 7's I-Team, will report on the phone bank throughout out the day. Callers to the phone bank should give their address or Property Index Number (PIN) to researchers who will:

Search $84 million in available property tax refunds

in available property tax refunds Check if you are eligible for $34 million in missing property tax exemptions

in missing property tax exemptions Verify if your property is on the Tax Sale list with delinquent taxes

"All Cook County homeowners are welcome to call the phone bank," Pappas added. "We will do this as long as people have money coming to them."

SOURCE Cook County Treasurer's Office
The 2022 class joins a rich network of the more than 1,000 scientists who have received awards from Pew since 1985. Tweet this

The 2022 class of scholarsall early-career, junior facultyjoins a rich network of the more than 1,000 scientists who have received awards from Pew since 1985. Current scholars have opportunities to meet annually to build connections and exchange ideas with fellow Pew-funded scientists.

"This new class embodies diverse, creative, and unique new avenues of biomedical research," said Craig C. Mello, Ph.D., a 1995 Pew scholar, 2006 Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine, and chair of the national advisory committee for the scholars program. "With support from Pew, these scientists will have not only resources but access to a network of colleagues and advisors that will spark new discoveries and push the boundaries of their work. I look forward to seeing where their discoveries take them."

Scholars were chosen from 197 applicants nominated by leading academic institutions and researchers across the United States. This year's class includes scientists exploring the design of "universal vaccines" against rapidly mutating viruses, how the brain processes pain, and the evolution of cancer-protective responses from radiation exposure.

Five members of the 2022 class, who were selected for their commitment to investigating health challenges relating to the brain as it ages, will receive awards with support from the Kathryn W. Davis Peace by Pieces Fund.

The 2022 Pew scholars in the biomedical sciences are:

Ishmail Abdus-Saboor, Ph.D.

Columbia University

Dr. Abdus-Saboor will explore how the brain processes the physical sensation and emotional experience of pain.

Amber L. Alhadeff, Ph.D.

Monell Chemical Senses Center

Dr. Alhadeff will unravel the neural circuits that link nutrient sensing and feeding.

Mariana Byndloss, D.V.M., Ph.D.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Byndloss will explore why infants treated with antibiotics are prone to childhood obesity.

Melody Campbell, Ph.D.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Dr. Campbell will explore the structural changes in cell-surface receptors that allow activated white blood cells to locate and fight infections.

Shane Campbell-Staton, Ph.D.

Princeton University

Dr. Campbell-Staton will investigate the evolution of protective, anticancer responses in wolves that live in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Amelia Escolano, Ph.D.

The Wistar Institute

Dr. Escolano will develop an approach for designing a "universal vaccine" against viruses that rapidly mutate.

Ankur Jain, Ph.D.

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

Dr. Jain will explore the role that metabolites called polyamines play in health and disease.

Elizabeth Johnson, Ph.D.

Cornell University

Dr. Johnson will explore how the fats in human milk support the production of health-promoting metabolites by bacteria in the gut.

Naama Kanarek, Ph.D.

Boston Children's Hospital; Harvard Medical School

Dr. Kanarek will engineer a method for detecting the metabolites produced by individual cancer cells, a key step toward unraveling what is different about cells that develop resistance to treatments that target the metabolic pathway.

Jacqueline Kimmey, Ph.D.

University of California, Santa Cruz

Dr. Kimmey will investigate how a person's circadian body clock influences their immunity to infection.

Sarah Kocher, Ph.D.

Princeton University

Dr. Kocher will examine how genes and environment shape social behavior in sweat bees.

Maayan Levy, Ph.D.

University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Levy will explore how internal factors influence the biology of intestinal epithelial cells.

Matthew Lovett-Barron, Ph.D.

University of California, San Diego

Dr. Lovett-Barron will explore how schooling fish use visual information to coordinate their behavior.

Maria M. Mihaylova, Ph.D.

The Ohio State University

Dr. Mihaylova will examine how changes in intestinal stem cells and progenitor cells can lead to digestive issues, including an altered ability to absorb nutrients, as we age.

Matthew Miller, Ph.D.

University of Utah

Dr. Miller will investigate the mechanisms that allow duplicated chromosomes to be accurately distributed when a cell divides.

Alban Ordureau, Ph.D.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Dr. Ordureau will investigate how cellular protein homeostasis supports healthy neurons' development and activity.

Joseph Parker, Ph.D.

California Institute of Technology

Dr. Parker will use rove beetles to uncover mechanisms by which animal cell types synthesize and secrete bioactive small molecules.

Steve Ramirez, Ph.D.

Boston University

Dr. Ramirez will investigate whether artificially activating cells that encode memories can alter the course of Alzheimer's disease.

C. Wyatt Shields IV, Ph.D.

University of Colorado Boulder

Dr. Shields will develop microscale robots for use in drug delivery.

Andrew B. Stergachis, M.D., Ph.D.

University of Washington

Dr. Stergachis will unravel the structure and function of chromatin and gene regulatory features within "uncharted" regions of the human genome.

William Wan, Ph.D.

Vanderbilt University

Dr. Wan will explore how the Ebola virus gains entry into host cells.

Laura Wingler, Ph.D.

Duke University

Dr. Wingler will unravel how different signaling molecules can activate the same receptor and yet induce distinct cellular responses.

The Pew Charitable Trusts is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today's most challenging problems. Learn more at pewtrusts.org.

Erin Davis, 202-540-6677, [email protected]

SOURCE The Pew Charitable Trusts
Since 2019, Piramal Pharma Solutions (PPS) has made or committed more than $30 million in capital investments, both in the infrastructure and the operational culture at the Digwal site, to improve performance, gain efficiencies, and increase capacity to meet market demands. A driving force of this program is the company's emphasis on Operational Excellence (OE) as part of the global corporate culture. By applying specific OE tools such as Theory of Constraint, Value Stream Mapping, Optimization of Unit Operations, and Line Balancing, more than 20% of the site's capacity has been released to date. Additional capacity will be released in the coming months as the OE tools generate further benefits. These initiatives will further help PPS cater to the immediate requirements of global customers. Further, to reduce manual interventions, mechanization advancements are underway including investments in Powder Transfer Systems. On the documentation side, the site is moving away from paper records to Electronic Batch Records (eBMR).

Previously, Digwal embarked on a journey to extend its offerings to include development services for late-phase clinical requirements, clients pursuing registration, and site transfers to support the commercial launch. The site enhanced its facilities, talent, and processes to support phase-appropriate customer requirements. Now, Digwal's R&D capabilities are being further strengthened, with approximately 20 new fume hoods coming online to support services projects. As a result, the site has recently partnered with clients on more than a dozen programs, including several which have been commercially launched and others that are under registration with the regulator. As part of PPS's strategy to provide simplicity and speed to customers through integrated projects which involve two or more sites, integrated project management processes and tools were developed. These initiatives have resulted in a more than 7-fold increase in order book from integrated projects for Digwal over the last three fiscal years.

As part of the company's sustainability efforts, the Digwal site is equipped with a 'Zero Liquid Discharge' facility to ensure all liquid waste gets adequately treated in-house and recycled back to utilities. The solvent recovery infrastructure has also been upgraded, resulting in increased distillation efficiency and a reduction in solvent consumption. In addition, close monitoring and improved governance have helped in reducing the overall freshwater consumption. PPS is also investigating opportunities to deploy green chemistries for some large volume products.

Based on the company's continued focus on Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS), the site was able to secure Environmental Clearance (EC) for the multi-fold expansion by the concerned authorities, covering the site for the growth envisaged in the next 7-10 years.

In addition to the increased reactor capacity, the Digwal site will benefit from infrastructure upgrades that include a renovated administration block, a new canteen facility, Quality Control lab revamp, and more. The consolidation and creation of a centralized new warehouse for the storage of finished goods that features a warehouse management system (WMS) are currently underway.

Peter DeYoung, Chief Executive Officer, Piramal Pharma Solutions said, "We are now seeing the fruits of our labor in applying Operational Excellence practices at Digwal. Coupled with the capital investment we are making, our API capabilities at the site are moving to the next level. Digwal can now take on more complex and larger-scale projects than it could in the past. It's another example of how we continue to invest and grow to serve market demands and work with our clients to reduce the burden of disease on patients."

The Digwal site covers more than 100 acres and employs approximately 825 FTEs. In addition to producing APIs, Digwal provides analytical services and offers anaesthetic drug product (bottling) services. The site has undergone more than twenty successful inspections by a host of regulatory agencies including FDA (US), MHRA (UK), PMDA (Japan) and ANVISA (Brazil) and has been successfully audited by numerous global customers.

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. PPS also offers development and manufacturing services for biologics including vaccines, gene therapies, and monoclonal antibodies, made possible through Piramal Pharma Limited's investment in Yapan Bio Private Limited. 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 of 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

For Media Queries

Rajiv Banerjee

Corporate Communications

[email protected]

For Investors

Anupam Jain

Investor Relations

[email protected]

Photo 1: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839678/Peter_DeYoung.jpg

Photo 2: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839676/Intermediate_Reaction_Area.jpg

Photo 3: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839679/Pharma_Area_Digwal.jpg

Photo 4: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839675/Agitated_Nutsche_Filter_Dryer.jpg

Photo 5: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839677/Micronizer_in_Powder_Processing_Area.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1726186/Piramal_Pharma_Solutions_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Piramal Pharma Solutions
Ritchie Bros. Energy will offer a complete suite of transaction solutions, services, and insights

FORT WORTH, Texas, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Ritchie Bros. has a long history of serving the oil & gas industry, with its first energy auctions conducted in the 1960s. For the last several years, some of the company's oil & gas equipment auctions have been held under the Kruse Energy brand, with online bidding available through IronPlanet.com. Going forward, all oil & gas customers will be helped by the Ritchie Bros. Energy team, with access to Ritchie Bros.' complete suite of transaction solutions, services, and insightsmeaning more options for sellers and more selection for buyers.

"Oil & gas companies want the same level of choice as any other consignor," said Ann Fandozzi, Chief Executive Offer, Ritchie Bros. "With Kruse we offered a one-size-fits-all solution. With Ritchie Bros. Energy we can offer unreserved auctions, weekly featured online events, a daily reserved marketplace for premium assets, and a listing service. We can also offer oil & gas customers a variety of value-added services and data solutions, along with access to unmatched global reach and buyer demand."

Ritchie Bros. held its final Kruse Energy auction last week, attracting approximately 3,500 bidders. The first Ritchie Bros. Energy event will be held in September in conjunction with Ritchie Bros.' Fort Worth, TX auction, which typically attracts more than 12,000 bidders from 60+ countries.

"This is all about providing more options for our sellers and selection for buyers," said Kelly Kittson, Ritchie Bros.' Director, Strategic Accounts, and leader of the Ritchie Bros. Energy team. "For our buyers, we will be leveraging teams globally to find more supply. For sellers, our Fort Worth 'Energy Days' will attract more bidders than we ever could with the Kruse Energy brand, driving stronger prices for your used equipment and surplus assets."

There will be five Fort Worth, TX Energy Day events held annually. Bidding will be available online in real time at rbauction.com and via Ritchie Bros. mobile application, which wasn't available at Kruse events. To consign equipment to the September Ritchie Bros. Energy event in Fort Worth, TX, please call +1.866.382.1614.

"We've recently seen a dramatic price increase for drill pipeup approximately 20-30% in the last quarter. We've also seen an uptick in demand for drilling rigs," added Mr. Kittson. "Please contact us today so we can start marketing your equipment to the world!"

About Ritchie Bros.

Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE: RBA) (TSX: RBA) is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a number of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer offering live auction events with online bidding; IronPlanet, an online marketplace with weekly featured auctions and providing the exclusive IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification; Marketplace-E, a controlled marketplace offering multiple price and timing options; Ritchie List, a self-serve listing service for North America; Mascus, a leading European online equipment listing service; Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty, offering privately negotiated sales; and sector-specific solutions GovPlanet, TruckPlanet, and Ritchie Bros. Energy. The Company's suite of solutions also includes Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions and Rouse Services LLC, which together provides a complete end-to-end asset management, data-driven intelligence and performance benchmarking system; SmartEquip, an innovative technology platform that supports customers' management of the equipment lifecycle and integrates parts procurement with both OEMs and dealers; plus equipment financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. For more information about Ritchie Bros., visit RitchieBros.com.

Photos and video for embedding in media stories are available at rbauction.com/media.

SOURCE Ritchie Bros.
By providing clinical research opportunities for donated blood, the partnership provides an answer to blood donors who ask to do more with their donation.

SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego Blood Bank and LunaPBC are partnering to invite blood donors to further support health research through blood donation. This new collaboration expands upon San Diego Blood Bank's earlier work with Luna that enrolled blood donors interested in participating in COVID-19 research.

The partnership answers the call from blood donors who ask to do more to improve the health of their community by participating in research studies that matter to them.

"When we began collecting convalescent plasma for COVID-19 hospital patients at the height of the pandemic, donors who recovered from the virus came out in droves to donate to help those in their community and beyond," said Nikhil Nayak, Chief Business Officer for San Diego Blood Bank. "Our blood donors often ask about additional ways they can support our mission, so we are proud to afford them the opportunity to influence the future of personalized medicine through innovative programs like this."

The launch of the partnership coincides with World Blood Donor Day which celebrates blood donors for their service and commitment to saving lives.

"Regular blood donation has been a cornerstone to global health, with donor blood being used for surgeries, cancer treatments, chronic illnesses, and injuries," said Doug Morton, Chief Executive Officer for San Diego Blood Bank. "In addition to acknowledging blood donors, we also want to commend the health professionals, like those at San Diego Blood Bank, who conduct research, develop new technologies, and find new uses for donated blood, as well as the medical teams who use donated blood for their patients on a regular basis."

The San Diego Blood bank chose the Luna technology platform because of its people-centered framework that increases participant engagement and retention, ensures interventions meet the priorities and needs of individuals, and facilitates comprehensive, longitudinal studies.

San Diego Blood Bank has leveraged itself beyond transfusion medicine. Today, it is a platform for ensuring the community's health by connecting its resources and diverse blood donors with research opportunities like the one announced with Luna. This will ultimately improve the future health of Southern California by securing lifesaving treatments for people of all backgrounds.

"Factors such as genetics, age, gender, and ethnic origin play an important role in the effectiveness of medical treatments, which is why diversity in research participants is incredibly important," said Nayak.

The Luna technology platform enables individual data sharing that preserves individual privacy and data utility for discovery. In May 2022, Luna announced a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) was conducted to characterize the platform's compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPIA confirmed that the data privacy rights of Luna members are fully supported. It is commonly accepted that GDPR is the most demanding data privacy standard adopted by many non-European Union countries and it served as an exemplar for California's Privacy Rights Act which will launch in January 2023.

Dedicated blood donor Jeff Gonka said, "One standard blood donation could save up to three lives, but one small blood sample donated for research could potentially save thousands of lives."

To learn more about the Southern California Discovery Community, visit: https://www.lunadna.com/sdbb/

About San Diego Blood Bank

San Diego Blood Bank is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization also operating as Southern California Blood Bank. The Blood Bank serves hospitals throughout Southern California. San Diego Blood Bank is dedicated to community health by providing a reliable supply of blood to patients in need. Our vision is to further ensure the health of our community by simultaneously delivering related health and wellness education and services and collaborating with various partners in medical research. San Diego Blood Bank currently operates nine fixed-site donation locations and 10 bloodmobiles. For more information about SDBB, visit www.SanDiegoBloodBank.org or connect with us on Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , and Linkedin.

About Luna

Founded in 2017, LunaPBC is a public benefit corporation headquartered in San Diego, California. The team, investors, and advisors are renowned in the patient advocacy, health, and science fields. With participation from over 180 countries and communities advancing causes including disease-specific, public health, environmental, and emerging interests, The Luna platform empowers these collectives to gather a wide range of data  health records, lived experience, disease history, genomics, and more  to advance research that addresses their unique health needs. Luna makes research representative of the real world and aligned with people's true goals by giving all participants a role from right where they are. For more information, visit LunaDNA.com .

SOURCE LunaPBC; San Diego Blood Bank
"Blake is a forward-thinking, empathetic leader who understands the values and culture of Stream." Tweet this

Among Kendrick's top priorities are ensuring that infrastructure will handle the firm's projected growth while maintaining and highlighting its distinct culture with strategic internal and external messaging across all business lines.

"Blake is a forward-thinking, empathetic leader who understands the values and culture of Stream," Jackson said. "He's trusted and respected by all our leaders and, most importantly, by the people he will be working closely with to guide our growth and success. I'm looking forward to seeing him build on the successes of Liz and her team while finding new ways to serve our employees and customers."

Kendrick joined Stream as a member of the Dallas industrial team after graduating from Texas A&M University in 2006 with a master's degree. During his tenure, he has held several leadership positions across the company in addition to being one of the top industrial brokers in the DFW market.

About Stream Realty Partners

Stream Realty Partners is a full-service commercial real estate firm with integrated offerings in leasing, property management, tenant representation, development, construction management, investment sales, and investment management services. Headquartered in Dallas, Stream is dedicated to sourcing acquisition and development opportunities for the firm and its clients. Since 1996, the company has grown to a staff of more than 1,100 professionals with offices in Atlanta, Austin, the Carolinas, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston, Greater Los Angeles, Nashville, Northern Virginia, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C. Stream completes more than $5.8 billion in real estate transactions annually and is an active investor and developer across the nation. Visit www.streamrealty.com.

Media Contact: Brian Medricka, 214-560-3033, [email protected]

SOURCE Stream Realty Partners, L.P.
Global enabler of IoT products and solutions adds Irvine location to its regional offices in Illinois, Florida and North Carolina

IRVINE, Calif., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Telit, a global enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT), today announced a new global corporate headquarters in Southern California. Following the CEO's move to the U.S., the new headquarters is in the City of IrvineOrange County's technology huband will support Telit's strategy to grow its connected devices and solutions business worldwide. The Irvine office will also serve key projects and customers in the region, widening its U.S. presence that currently includes offices in Illinois, Florida and North Carolina.

"These are exciting times for Telit," said Paolo Dal Pino, CEO, Telit. "Choosing a global headquarters in California is a move consistent with the objective of strengthening our market position as a leading western player in the IoT connected devices and solutions arena. Particularly nowwith a 100% Western shareholder structureit's a move that poises Telit for major growth and expansion in 2022 and beyond."

Today, Telit's headquarters, research and development centers, and sales and operations offices continue to expand globally, with 28 locations on six of the seven continents which include R&D centers in the U.S., Italy, Korea and India. As a driver enabling Industry 4.0. and digital transformation, Telit provides enterprises with best-in-class device management and connectivity solutions that are essential to technologies powering smart cities, transportation, manufacturing, automotive, retail, healthcare and beyond. Telit's IoT expertsrenowned for pioneering a successful end-to-end system approachensure Telit modules, connectivity and platforms all work seamlessly together to scale IoT deployments today and in the future. In addition to implementing thousands of successful IoT solutions worldwide, Telit continues to invest in its technology roadmap to push the industry forward for years to come.

The Irvine location is now open and operating.

About Telit

Telit simplifies onboarding of connected 'things' with a portfolio of enterprise-grade wireless communication and positioning modules; cellular MVNO connectivity plans and management services; edge and cloud software; and data orchestration, IoT and Industrial IoT platforms. With over two decades of pioneering IoT innovation experience, Telit delivers award-winning, secure, integrated IoT solutions for many of the world's largest enterprises, OEMs, system integrators and service providers, so they can connect and manage IoT at any scale.

For more information, follow us on YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook or visit www.Telit.com.

Copyright  2022 Telit Communications LTD. All rights reserved. Telit, Telit OneEdge and all associated logos are trademarks of Telit Communications LTD and its affiliated companies in the United States and other countries. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Media Contacts

Leslie Hart

Telit

+1 919-415-1510

[email protected]

Lora Wilson

Valerie Christopherson

GRC for Telit

+1 949-608-0276

[email protected]

SOURCE Telit
WACO, Texas, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Companies (TFBIC) again received the "Highest Customer Satisfaction Among Auto Insurers in Texas," according to the recently released J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Auto Insurance StudySM.

For eleven consecutive years, Texas Farm Bureau Insurance has achieved this outstanding honor from J.D. Power for auto insurance customer satisfaction. For this 2022 study, Texas Farm Bureau Insurance ranked highest in all five study factors: Interaction, Price, Policy Offerings, Billing Process and Policy Information, and Claims.

"This award is such an honor and we were so pleased when we received word that we had achieved the highest score for the eleventh consecutive time," said Mike Gerik, Executive Vice President for the Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Companies. "We take pride in our membership and are committed to delivering a superior level of personal service to our 500,000+ member-families every day."

Read the full press release from J.D. Power here:

https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2022-us-auto-insurance-study

About Texas Farm Bureau Insurance :

For over six decades, Texas Farm Bureau Insurance has been protecting our members' moments  the big, the small, and the everyday. Our 850+ agents and over 300 claims personnel provide prompt, efficient, personal service to our more than 500,000 member-families all across our great state. With auto, home, farm and ranch, life, health, as well as other insurance products, we've been protecting Texans since 1952. For more information, please visit txfb-ins.com.

About J.D. Power

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, J.D. Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 50 years. The world's leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

J.D. Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company's business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The J.D. Power auto shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

Contact:

Karl Ellis

(254) 751-2274

[email protected]

SOURCE Texas Farm Bureau Insurance
Recognized as the country's largest agency dedicated to LGBTQ+ homeless youth, The Ali Forney Center helps over 2,000 people annually and distributes more than 70,000 meals every year. It's a vital organization focused on protecting at-risk LGBTQ+ youth from the harms of homelessness and empowering them with the tools to live independent lives.

"We're proud to once again be partnering with The Ali Forney Center in honor of Pride Month and to be shining a light on its mission of safeguarding LGBTQ+ youth," said Claudia Grundman, Vice President  Global Brand Partnerships at Dorel Home. "The last two years have limited access even further to secure housing options for at-risk LGBTQ+ populations, so it's an especially critical time for us to get involved. We continue to be inspired by the work of The AFC and are beyond grateful for their leadership in our community."

"We are humbled and grateful to have this ongoing support from Queer Eye Home Collection," said Alex Roque  President and Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center. "Queer Eye supports us in affirming for LGBTQ+ youths who have been rejected by their families, that they are cared for and worthy of love. Queer Eye's commitment to the LGBTQ+ community is helping to provide vital services and care including housing, meals, HIV testing, healthcare, and much more. This pride season, and always, we celebrate and appreciate Queer Eye for their allyship and pledge to a better world for all LGBTQ+ people."

"The Ali Forney Center does tremendous and important work for LGBTQ+ youth, and we are honored to help with their mission to keep them safe," said Joel Chiodi, SVP of Strategic Development at Scout Productions, creators, and producers of Queer Eye.

Now on the cusp of celebrating its second year, the Queer Eye Home Collection , created through a partnership brokered by Queer Eye's global licensing agency IMG, boasts a range of modern and multi-functional furnishings for every room in the home, including the patio. Functional pieces like the Queer Eye Corey Drop Leaf Table, the Queer Eye Quincy Transitional TV Stand , and the Queer Eye Brennan 3-Piece Bistro Set are Fab Five-approved and designed to infuse any living space with a fierce new vibe. Available exclusively at Walmart.com, the Queer Eye Home Collection is as affordable as it is fabulous with accent tables as low as $80 and task chairs at $65.

GET SOCIAL WITH QUEER EYE!

Website: Walmart.com

Instagram: @queereye @walmart

ABOUT DOREL INDUSTRIES

Dorel Industries Inc. (TSX: DII.B, DII.A) is a global organization, operating two distinct businesses in juvenile products and home products. Dorel's strength lies in the diversity, innovation and quality of its products as well as the superiority of its brands. Dorel Juvenile's powerfully branded products include global brands Maxi-Cosi and Tiny Love, complemented by regional brands such as Safety 1st, BebeConfort, Cosco and Infanti. Dorel Home, with its comprehensive e-commerce platform, markets a wide assortment of domestically produced and imported furniture. Dorel has annual sales of US$1.7 billion and employs approximately 4,200 people in facilities located in twenty-two countries worldwide.

About Ali Forney Center

The Ali Forney Center mission is to protect LGBTQ+ youth from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently.

In 2002, Carl Siciliano founded the Ali Forney Center (AFC) in memory of, and after, a gender-nonconforming youth who was tragically murdered in 1997. The organization has grown to become the largest agency dedicated to LGBTQ+ homeless youths in the countryassisting 2,000 youth per year through a 24-hour Drop-In Center which provides over 70,000 meals annually, medical and mental health services through an on-site clinic, and a scattered site housing program.

For further information:

Alexandria Horvat-Becevello, Account Manager

1Milk2Sugars Communications

[email protected]

416-506-5000 x 204

SOURCE Queer Eye
Danielle's plant-based recipes not only are popular among the vegan community, but also anyone interested in trying plant-based meals. Danielle is one of the fastest growing food bloggers ever through her engaging content and trendy recipe content style, as her audience has further grown more than a million followers in the past 25 days.

Danielle had been teasing an upcoming collaboration; a co-branded partnership with GoNanas. Emphasizing healthy, quality ingredients, and most importantly, indulgent taste. GoNanas is a women-owned brand with vegan, gluten free and allergen-friendly banana bread mixes that come in a variety of decadent flavors. GoNanas was started by Annie and Morgan, who were neighbors and best friends at the University of Michigan, where they met Danielle. Their specialty is limited edition mix flavors that they drop online every month (sometimes multiple times a month) that sell out within days if not hours.

GoNanas and HealthyGirl Kitchen has launched two co-branded flavors of banana bread mixes (Caramel Brownie Banana Bread and their new and improved Fudge Brownie) as well as a new flavor of GoNanas instant banana bread packets (Brownie Batter Instant Banana Bread).

Annie & Morgan recognized Danielle as the perfect person to launch their co-branded line of banana bread with Danielle's own twist. "We're SO excited to be working with Danielle at @healthygirlkitchen for the FIRST EVER Brownie Banana Bread Mix Line. These are our most indulgent flavors we've ever made" says Morgan Lerner, " and she is truly changing the world by being a non-judgemental vegan and showing every person that eating vegan food can be indulgent, delicious, AND good for you.".

Christina Brennan, Danielle's agent and the President of the Digital Renegades says, "There is something special when you put together one of the top influencers Danielle Brown, who cares so much about delivering quality content to her community, and a brand lead by two powerhouse women. You are not going to miss this tasty collaboration."

HealthyGirl Kitchen LLC X GoNanas co-branded, limited edition line launched June 12th at 8pm ET sharp, and will only be available while supplies last. Visit here to buy.

CONTACT: William Martin, [email protected]

SOURCE Digital Renegades
Shareholders of Record Received Distribution of Shares in Notation Labs

PHOENIX, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Trutankless, Inc. (OTCQB: TKLS) today announced that on January 21st, 2022, Trutankless received notification from FINRA that they had received the necessary documentation to process the corporate action requested by Trutankless and its transfer agent, Pacific Stock Transfer. The payment date was revised to January 24th, 2022 and Pacific Stock Transfer Company acted as transfer agent to Trutankless and completed the Spin-Off of 100% of Notation Labs, Inc.

Each Trutankless, Inc. stockholder of record received one share of Notation Labs, Inc. common stock on January 24th, 2022 for every four shares of Trutankless, Inc. common stock held on the December 10th, 2021 record date.

No action was required of Trutankless, Inc. stockholders to participate in the distribution and receive shares of Notation Labs common stock. The distributed shares of Notation Labs, Inc., CUSIP 66980X102, are held in book-entry at Pacific Stock Transfer. Trutankless shareholders may reach out to Pacific Stock Transfer at 1 (800) 785-7782 or via email at [email protected] for additional information.

About Trutankless, Inc.:

Trutankless, Inc. (OTCQB: TKLS ) is a technology-driven developer of accessible, next-generation home automation and efficiency systems. The Company's primary products are a line of electric tankless water heaters that surpasses traditional tank water heaters in energy efficiency, output, dependability and environmental sustainability. The Company sells its products to plumbing wholesale distributors and dealers throughout the United States. Trutankless, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Please visit www.trutankless.com or call 855-TO-BUY-TRU.

Connect on social media:

www.houzz.com/pro/trutankless

www.facebook.com/trutankless

www.twitter.com/trutankless

www.youtube.com/trutankless

About Notation Labs, Inc.:

Notation Labs, Inc. was incorporated as a Nevada corporation on August 28th, 2020 and has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Trutankless, Inc. Notation Labs mission is to innovate water technologies that conserve water and to produce products for consumers which are engineered to provide comfort and peace of mind. Pacific Stock Transfer is the transfer agent for Notation Labs, Inc.

www.notationlabs.io

Forward-Looking Statement: The statements in this press release regarding any implied or perceived benefits from the release by Trutankless of its line of electric tankless water heaters or added key strategic sales and distribution partners are forward-looking statements. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, risks of the key strategic sales and distribution partners ability to sell our product, and effects of legal and administrative proceedings and governmental regulation, especially in a foreign country, future financial and operational results, competition, general economic conditions, and the ability to manage and continue growth.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual outcomes may vary materially from those indicated. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this news release include the introduction of new technology, market conditions, and those set forth in reports or documents we file from time to time with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to revise or update such statements to reflect current events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. There is no guarantee that any specific outcome will be achieved. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

SOURCE Trutankless, Inc.
Offering over $1M in new scholarships, the partnership seeks to close the tech skills gap through training in web development and UX/UI design

SALT LAKE CITY, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sustainable Startups and Meta have joined forces with V School to provide one full-ride scholarship and $1M in partial scholarships to V School's online web development and UX/UI design programs. Applications are open now through November 1, 2022 and are available here . Winners will be announced on November 8, 2022.

"This is a truly life-altering opportunity for women in Utah Valley to break into tech and start building the lives they deserve," says V School co-founder MO Reeder. "We are so grateful to Meta and Sustainable Startups for their commitment to closing the skills gap and for partnering with us on this cause."

V School's training programs are mastery-based, and graduation is contingent on students landing great jobs in their field, rather than merely completing coursework. According to one graduate, "V School feels like a one-of-a-kind community where their whole goal is to get you prepared for a job and do everything in their power to make you more marketable."

You Belong in Tech Scholarship Eligibility

To be eligible for the full-ride You Belong in Tech Scholarship ($21,000 value), applicants must be women residing in Utah Valley, and they must apply by November 1, 2022.

Partial Scholarship Eligibility

In addition to the You Belong in Tech Scholarship, V School is offering $1M in partial scholarships ($4,000 per student) to qualified applicants in the United States and Canada.

Information Session

V School will host an in-person info session on June 23, 2022 at 6:30pm MST at Kiln in Lehi, UT. Register here .

About Sustainable Startups

Sustainable Startups is a civic organization that teaches entrepreneurial mindsets and skill-sets to individuals looking to create change.

About Meta

Meta , formerly Facebook, Inc., is a technology company based in Silicon Valley. Its subsidiaries include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and others.

About V School

For people looking to break into the tech industry, V School is a reliable and accessible path to a high paying career. Unlike traditional schools and bootcamps, V School is 100% outcomes-based, where graduation is based on employment.

SOURCE V School
Fassett represents innovative life sciences and medical technology clientsfrom start-ups to public companiesas well as the investors that finance them. His practice focuses on venture capital financings, public and private M&A transactions, initial public offerings, and licensing and commercial agreements. He also advises clients concerning employee compensation plans, public company reporting and disclosure issues, and securities law compliance.

"With this latest announcement, we're moving forward with efforts to continue to expand on our established relationships with innovative life sciences and technology companies throughout Colorado," said Doug Clark, managing partner at Wilson Sonsini. "Brent has strong connections to the life sciences community throughout the region and his experience covers the complete life cycle of events and issues that companies manage, from formation to exit. We're pleased to welcome Brent to the firm and our newest location, and we look forward to continuing to grow in the Mountain West region."

Fassett serves on the board of directors of the Colorado BioScience Association, which champions a collaborative life sciences ecosystem and advocates for a supportive business climate. He has been recognized as an up-and-coming M&A attorney, a top capital markets practitioner, and a leading life sciences lawyer in legal industry rankings.

"Brent Fassett is a respected, longtime leader in Colorado's life sciences ecosystem," said Elyse Blazevich, president and CEO of Colorado BioScience Association. "Colorado BioScience Association congratulates Brent on his new role. We look forward to collaborating with Brent and the Wilson Sonsini team to advance Colorado's reputation as a leading global hub for life sciences."

On February 1, 2022, Wilson Sonsini announced plans to open an office in Boulder, from which it would support the region's thriving life sciences businesses and other growth enterprises. The firm represents a range of start-up and established life sciences clients in Colorado that fall into several sectors, including drug discovery; biotech, genomics, and proteomics; screening and diagnostics; medical devices and supplies; pharmaceuticals; health services; and agtech and foodtech.

"Joining Wilson Sonsini gives me the chance to continue to work with innovative life sciences clients and introduce them to the firm's venture counsel program, Neuron, the talented patents and innovations team, and other valuable resources," said Fassett. "Wilson Sonsini has an impressive range of interesting clients in the Intermountain region and nationally. I look forward to working with the team in Boulder, helping the office expand, and collaborating with the amazing attorneys who have helped the firm build nationally well-known corporate and life sciences practices."

Before joining Wilson Sonsini, Fassett was a partner in the Denver office of Cooley LLP. He joined Cooley in 1995 and became partner in 2004. Prior to that, he was an associate in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis, where he began his legal career.

Fassett earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1994, and a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1991. He is admitted to practice in Colorado.

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 18 technology and business hubs worldwide. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com.

SOURCE Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Offer to Purchase for Cash Up to $50,000,000.00 Principal Amount of the Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. 6.50% Senior Notes Due 2027 at $15.00 per $25.00 of Principal Amount of the Notes plus Accrued Interest

NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 745 Capital LLC (the "Purchaser") has commenced a cash tender offer for up to $50,000,000.00 principal amount of the Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. 6.50% Senior Notes Due 2027 (CUSIP No. 50575Q300) (NYSE symbol LTSL) (Bloomberg symbol LTSL Pfd) (the "Notes") as described below (the "Tender Offer"). The terms and conditions of the Tender Offer are described in the Purchaser's Offer to Purchase dated June 9, 2022 (the "Offer to Purchase") and the related Letter of Transmittal (the "Letter of Transmittal").

The Tender Offer will expire at 5:00p.m. EST, on July 15, 2022, unless extended or earlier terminated (the "Expiration Time"). Subject to the application of the Tender Offer Cap (as defined in the Offer to Purchase) and possible proration, Holders who validly tender (and who do not validly withdraw) their Notes prior to the Expiration Time will be entitled to receive $15.00 for each $25.00 principal amount of the Notes, plus accrued interest.

The Tender Offer is subject to the conditions in the Offer to Purchase and Letter of Transmittal. Provided that the conditions to the Tender Offer have been satisfied or waived, payment for the Notes purchased in the Tender Offer will be made on or about July 22, 2022.

This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell the Notes. The Purchaser is making the offer only by the terms of the Offer to Purchase and Letter of Transmittal, copies of which may be obtained from D.F. King & Co., Inc., the tender and information agent for the Tender Offer, at [email protected] or (800) 706-3274 or, for banks and brokers, at (212) 269-5550.

About 745 Capital LLC

745 Capital was incorporated in New York in 2022 and is not affiliated with Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those related to the completion of the Tender Offer. Forward-looking statements involve many risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future. The Purchaser is not under any obligation to update its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Contact: Michael Horthman (212) 232-3233

SOURCE 745 Capital LLC
ProPricer enters Deltek Marketplace partnership to arm customers with best of breed proposal software.

SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ProPricer, the leading proposal pricing solution for government contractors and agencies, announced that it had entered a partnership with Deltek, the leading global provider of software and solutions for project-based business. ProPricer has joined Deltek's Marketplace to provide Deltek Costpoint and Deltek Cobra customers with direct access to the ProPricer pricing platform.

"Government contracting, particularly pricing, has unique needs and challenges. Pricing software that meets the needs of federal regulations is hard to come by, which is why we built our software. Contractors and agencies alike have seen improvements in the bid process through ProPricerand we want to expand on that with Costpoint and Cobra integrations. We're excited about this relationship and the opportunities that stem from the Deltek Marketplace," said Keith Nordin, ProPricer's Chief Revenue Officer.

Deltek Costpoint and Deltek Cobra complement ProPricer by focusing on improving quality control and project success for government contractors. Both parties bring efficiency, compliance, and digitalization to the proposal process for agencies.

"Deltek recognizes the need for the public sector to increase acquisition efficiencies. "This collaboration will enhance the operational effectiveness of acquisition, contracting, and project management for our customers as we navigate the shifting pricing landscape," said Pete Mann, Senior VP, Corporate Development & Product Alliances at Deltek.

The Government Contract Pricing (GCP) Summit, the nation's only conference for federal contract pricing professionals, kicks off today, June 14, and will feature keynote addresses from the Department of Defense (DoD) and industry leaders. Representatives from Deltek and ProPricer will also be presenting at the summit. Learn more about ProPricer's arrival in the Deltek Marketplace by visiting each organization's conference booth or the ProPricer Blog.

About ProPricer

ProPricer is software that maximizes the efficiency and accuracy of the development, submission, evaluation, negotiation, and auditing of proposal pricing. From storing historical proposal data to effortlessly generating a broad range of reports, ProPricer empowers government contractors to build custom proposals, perform what-if analyses, and integrate all proposal data quickly and easilywithin one platform.

Founded in 1984, ProPricer is trusted by organizations worldwide, including the top 10 US defense contractors. The company thrives on transforming its customers' needs into product features and enhancements that benefit all its current and future users. ProPricer is a trademark of Executive Business Services, Inc. (EBS). Visit us at www.propricer.com to learn more.

About Deltek

Better software means better projects. Deltek is the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for project-based businesses. More than 30,000 organizations and millions of users in over 80 countries around the world rely on Deltek for superior levels of project intelligence, management, and collaboration. Our industry-focused expertise powers project success by helping firms achieve performance that maximizes productivity and revenue. Learn more at www.deltek.com.

CONTACT: Holly DeHesa, [email protected]

SOURCE ProPricer
Enterprise Content Impact Platform uses SEO and data science technology to power its latest product offering

BERLIN and WALTHAM, Mass., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Acrolinx, a global leader in helping the world's largest enterprises create higher-impact content, is excited to announce a unique partnership with Oncrawl, the SEO and data platform powered by the industry-leading SEO Crawler and Log Analyzer.

Acrolinx's newest product offering  the Content Cube  recognizes the need for enterprises to measure the impact of their digital content strategies. It gives marketers clear insight into their content's success by aligning performance metrics with content quality data, and uncovering areas for improvement. Acrolinx is using Oncrawl's industry-leading, powerful website crawler to provide website content for the Content Cube to analyze.

Acrolinx chose to power the Content Cube with Oncrawl because of its versatility and comprehensive crawling technologies. Consequently, our solution can handle even the most inhospitable, uncrawlable websites, revealing accurate and valuable data for our customers. Through its capacity to scan the maximum amount of website content, Oncrawl uncovers missed opportunities for increased engagement and identifies potential website pages that put brand reputation at risk. The Content Cube collects performance data from Oncrawl's crawl and combines it with the Acrolinx quality scores, providing guidance for content improvement.

Acrolinx and Oncrawl look forward to future developments together. With technologies that are complementary on a conceptual level  Oncrawl helps enterprises make content easily indexable by search engines to drive more traffic to it, while Acrolinx helps enterprises create impactful content that leads to conversions  we're excited to bring more insights to our customers together.

"The Content Cube provides concrete benefits to users, and we're excited to continue to work with Acrolinx on integrating our crawl technologies into specific solutions. Access to website data is the key to every successful campaign, whether for increased visibility or improved engagement," confirms Francois Goube, CEO and Founder of Oncrawl.

About Acrolinx

Acrolinx is the leader in content impact. Our AI-powered software improves the quality, fitness, and performance of enterprise content. Acrolinx customers increase their content's value by streamlining its creation, governing it against established writing guidelines, and improving its impact over time. Acrolinx helps Fortune 2000 companies eliminate editorial bottlenecks, quality issues, budget overruns, and compliance risks from their content supply chain. Learn more at acrolinx.com .

About Oncrawl

Oncrawl is an enterprise SEO and data platform powered by data science and machine learning. The solution helps more than a thousand clients in 66 countries to improve their organic traffic, rankings, and revenues by opening Google's black box. Clients include Rakuten, Canon, Lastminute.com, Forbes, and other major companies.

Driven by a strong technical spirit, Oncrawl gives search marketers easy access to the data they need by providing the tools, analysis, and reports to support the entire SEO process. In 2021, Oncrawl became the most awarded SEO platform with multiple awards at the US, UK, Canadian, Global, European, APAC and Mena Search Awards. Learn more at oncrawl.com .

Contact: Charlotte Baxter-Read, [email protected]

SOURCE Acrolinx
Offered at $6.99* a la carte or $8.99* when paired with chips, queso and a refreshing small drink, Taco Bueno's new Quesadilla Burrrger is everything you ever wanted. But it won't last long. Get yours today!

To find your local Taco Bueno, and to order online, visit TacoBueno.com.

For exclusive deals and specials, become a Buenohead and receive a FREE Beef Muchaco. Text "Bueno" to 72829 or go to tacobueno.com/buenoheads for email signup.

*Price may vary. Offer available for a Limited Time. At participating locations. While supplies last.

Nolan Ryan Brands, All Rights Reserved. Cholula and the Cholula logo are registered trademarks of Spicy Liquid, LLC., licensed to Taco Bueno. "Coke" is a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company."

About Taco Bueno

Taco Bueno is committed to providing an authentic, better-tasting Tex-Mex experience through made-fresh-daily preparations, hand-selected ingredients, and genuine friendly hospitality. Founded in 1967 in Abilene, TX, Taco Bueno is a privately held company that operates nearly 145 restaurants throughout the American South and Southwest  including Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. To learn more about Taco Bueno, please visit www.TacoBueno.com or www.facebook.com/BuenoHeadquarters.

About Sun Holdings, Inc. Sun Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1997 by Guillermo Perales, funded by an SBA loan. Sun's portfolio has been ranked as the second-largest franchisee group in the U.S. by Mega 99, 2021 Rankings. Mr. Perales has developed a portfolio that includes companies that own and operate more than 1,300 locations in 12 states, creating more than 28,000 jobs. He has also overseen the development of over 200 new stores and completed 200 store remodels in the last three years. Today, his companies own and operate Taco Bueno and also operate Burger King, Popeyes, Arby's, Applebee's, T-Mobile, McAlister's, IHOP, GNC and several airport restaurant locations. Mr. Perales' organization has been awarded the MUFSO Golden Chain Award and Nation's Restaurant News' Top 10 Power List. He has also been named Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year, IFA's Entrepreneur of the Year, Dealmaker of the Year and Latino Executive of the Year by D CEO Magazine and Nation's Restaurant News' Most Influential CEO for 2021, as well as appearing on Latino Leaders Magazine's 101 Most Influential Latinos for several consecutive years.

Sun Holdings, Inc. is a growing company that is always seeking new opportunities. For more information about Sun Holdings, visit www.sunholdings.net.

SOURCE Taco Bueno
The acquisition enables Amber Group to conduct relevant regulated activities under the auspices of Type 1, 2, 4, 5 and 9 licenses from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission

SINGAPORE, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Amber Group, a leading global digital asset platform, today announced its acquisition of Celera Markets Limited, a fully licensed financial group by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong. The acquisition represents a significant milestone for Amber Group, as it continues to strengthen its product portfolio to bridge the gap between traditional and digital finance globally.

As a licensed corporation under the Hong Kong SFC, Celera Markets is a discretionary asset management firm that engages in traditional securities and derivatives brokerage services, with an emphasis on algorithmic execution spanning global venues and asset management mandates.

The acquisition leverages the synergies between Celera Markets and Amber Group, as the latter sets its sights on broadening its advisory and deals offering for financial instruments, while adhering to the regulatory parameters set by the SFC. Through the acquisition, Amber Group has secured five types of SFC licenses - Type 1, 2, 4, 5 and 9 - which allows the company to carry out a broad range of services including advising on and dealing in securities and futures contracts as well as providing asset management services.

This is a landmark moment for Amber Group amid an increasingly complex regulatory landscape in the finance industry. The acquisition strengthens Amber Group's foothold in Hong Kong, a leading global financial center and one of the world's most active and liquid securities markets, effectively widening the reach of the company's products and services to legacy financial market participants.

"Hong Kong holds tremendous strategic value as a key global finance hub, and we are proud to be integrating the best from traditional and digital finance as we expand our presence in the market. As an asset management player with a decade-long track record, Celera Markets offers valuable market expertise and TradFi experience which is critical to our global mission to facilitate the convergence of TradFi and digital asset finance. This acquisition also marks a significant milestone in Amber Group's commitment to regulatory compliance as we strive to build institutional investors' trust and confidence in crypto assets. As we continue to hold ourselves to the highest compliance standards and win the trust of an SFC-approved institution, we look forward to welcoming a new era of finance in Hong Kong, "said Michael Wu, Chief Executive Officer of Amber Group.

About Amber Group

Amber Group is a leading digital asset platform operating globally with offices in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The firm provides a full range of digital asset services spanning investing, financing, and trading. Amber Group is backed by prominent investors including Sequoia, Temasek, Paradigm, Tiger Global, Dragonfly, Pantera, Coinbase Ventures, and Blockchain.com.

For more information, please visit www.ambergroup.io .

SOURCE Amber Group
AMSTERDAM, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Arcadis today released its 2022 Sustainable Cities Index (SCI), which evaluates prosperity in 100 global cities. Oslo led the index, followed by many European cities. Tokyo, Seattle and San Francisco were also among the top ten.

The SCI ranks cities on three pillars of sustainability: planet, people, and profit. Comprising 26 indicators and 51 metrics, together the pillars signal overall prosperity and reflect the intertwined services and outcomes cities need to consider in pursuing sustainability goals. The research also highlights strengths and opportunities of select cities.

While the top ten had the highest combined scores, no city ranked in the top ten across all three pillars. This indicates that excellence in one category alone is not enough for long-term prosperity. As cities race to meet Paris Agreement commitments by 2030, placing equal value on each pillar will yield the greatest results.

"Every city is unique with its own blend of strengths and weaknesses," said Arcadis Global Cities Director, John Batten. "There is no single solution that can propel a city to be sustainable. Having a chief sustainability officer and an electric vehicle charging network helps, but there are other interconnected challenges, such as housing affordability and income equality, that cities need to address to make lasting progress."

The 2022 edition marks Arcadis's 5th SCI and takes a holistic view of sustainability to highlight the evolving challenges facing cities. The cities included were chosen to provide an overview of the world's urban environment, geographical coverage, economic variety, future growth expectations and sustainability challenges. Indicators were evaluated by Arcadis experts, and metrics were selected based on information available across all cities and source credibility.

The full report can be found here.

Top 10 Sustainable Cities:

1. Oslo

2. Stockholm

3. Tokyo

4. Copenhagen

5. Berlin

6. London

7. Seattle

8. Paris

9. San Francisco

10. Amsterdam

ABOUT ARCADIS

Arcadis is the leading global design & consultancy organization for natural and built assets. We maximize impact for our clients and the communities they serve by providing effective solutions through sustainable outcomes, focus and scale, and digitalization. We are 29,000 people, active in over 70 countries that generate 3.4 billion in revenues. We support UN-Habitat with knowledge and expertise to improve quality of life in cities around the world. www.arcadis.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1838726/Arcadis_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Arcadis
Big Question for Candidates: "What is your plan to ensure that Arizona students have quality teachers and principals?"

PHOENIX, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) today released its education findings from the newly launched Arizona Voters' Agenda, which identifies what likely voters in the general election want candidates to address as they campaign for their votes. The results on education demonstrate overwhelming support from voters across all political parties and age groups on important education issues, including increasing education funding, expanding secondary education opportunities, and improving education outcomes.

"The Arizona Voters' Agenda is a data-driven look at the issues likely Arizona voters across every partisan segment and age group agree and prioritize when considering whom to vote for in the upcoming elections," explained Dr. Sybil Francis, President & CEO of CFA. "There is no better place to start than on education, which is essential to our long-term success and which was the top issue in CFA's Gallup Arizona Survey in 2020. Voters are more interested in hearing about these issues than they are about many hot-button issues currently dominating political dialogue. And they want to know where candidates stand on these issues as well as their plans for addressing them when making their decision about whom to support with their vote."

The top education issue on the Arizona Voters' Agenda is "Ensuring that Arizona schools have quality teachers and principals," a topic that is supported by 97% of likely voters, including 96% among Republicans, 95% independents/unaffiliated, and 98% Democrats. This was also the top education finding from CFA's report on the Gallup Arizona Survey in 2020.

In addition, 72% of voters strongly support "Increasing teacher pay," which rises to 88% including those who somewhat support it. This includes 80% of Republicans, 90% of independents/unaffiliated, and 98% of Democrats. And 65% strongly support the broader concept of "Increasing funding for K-12 public education," with another 17% somewhat supporting it. This includes 69% of Republicans, 90% of independents/unaffiliated, and 97% of Democrats.

"Voters continue to believe that schools are underfunded and teachers are underpaid," said Dr. Francis. "It's important to note that super-majorities of voters  Republicans included  want to invest in quality education."

Read more.

SOURCE Center For Future of Arizona
The bond on the TSE is Artel's first capital markets activity, either domestically or internationally. A broad range of investors participated in the raise, which was oversubscribed.

In its first interaction with the investor community, Artel showcased its leading domestic market share, rapid increase in export sales, and strong projections for future growth. The raise will be used to replenish the company's working capital.

Sarvar Akhmedov, Head of the Capital Markets Development Department, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan, said: "Artel's issuance on the TSE is the latest encouraging sign of the development of Uzbekistan's capital markets. The Ministry of Finance is committed to increasing confidence in the domestic markets and creating the conditions for an increasingly healthy and liquid TSE. We expect that other large players will soon consider the TSE as an attractive forum to raise capital, which will further develop both their businesses and our country."

Shokhruh Ruzikulov, CEO, Artel Electronics LLC, added: "We are very proud to have issued our first bond on the domestic market. The TSE, with a pool of regionally focused investors, is the natural forum for our first bond issuance. It provides us the opportunity to demonstrate Artel's robust fundamentals and strong growth prospects. Interacting successfully with the investor community is an affirmation of our hard work in consolidating our businesses and aligning with international best practice in ESG and financial reporting."

The issuance is Artel's natural next step as the company continues to align with international standards across its operations, providing an opportunity to access new forms of financing. This transformation has been facilitated by the Group's 2020 consolidation under the parent company, Artel Electronics LLC. Total consolidated assets exceed UZS 3.7trn (US$330m).

Following extensive tax reforms in Uzbekistan in 2019 that lifted restrictions on the size of businesses, private entities have been able to consolidate their subsidiary companies under holding groups. This has allowed them to introduce international standards of corporate governance and accounting practices, and provided the scale to access more diverse forms of financing, both domestically and internationally.

In early 2022, a Presidential decree was issued that introduced tax incentives to encourage investment in the domestic capital markets. Artel becomes the largest private company to issue a bond on the TSE.

Avesta Investment Group acted as lead manager for the transaction.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839103/Artel_Canon0028.jpg



Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839104/Artel_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Artel Electronics LLC
VANCOUVER, BC, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Augusta Gold Corp. (TSX: G) (OTCQB: AUGG) (FSE: 11B) ("Augusta Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of the acquisition of the Reward Project (refer to the Company's news releases dated April 21, 2022 and June 7, 2022 for further information).

The Company also announces that it has received TSX approval to hold its annual shareholder meeting after June 30, 2022. The Company will file a notice on SEDAR in the coming weeks setting the date for its annual shareholder meeting.

About Augusta Gold

Augusta Gold is an exploration and development company focused on building a long-term business that delivers stakeholder value through developing the Reward and Bullfrog gold projects and pursing accretive M&A opportunities. The Reward and Bullfrog gold projects are located in the prolific Bullfrog mining district approximately 120 miles north-west of Las Vegas, Nevada and just outside of Beatty, Nevada. The Company is led by a management team and board of directors with a proven track record of success in financing and developing mining assets and delivering shareholder value. For more information, please visit www.augustagold.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements and information contained in this new release constitute "forward-looking statements", and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These statements appear in a number of places in this new release and include statements regarding our intent, or the beliefs or current expectations of our officers and directors, including that the Company will file a notice on SEDAR in the coming weeks setting the date for its annual shareholder meeting. When used in this news release words such as "to be", "will", "planned", "expected", "potential", "anticipated" and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to vary materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Such forward-looking statements are based on various assumptions, including assumptions made with regard to the timing of the Company's board approving the Company's shareholder meeting date. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable, based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Except as required by applicable law, we assume no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward- looking statements. If we update any one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. You should not place undue importance on forward-looking statements and should not rely upon these statements as of any other date. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE Augusta Gold Corp.
Avast CEO, Ondrej Vlcek, and Avast Security Ambassador, Garry Kasparov, will discuss misinformation and cyber warfare in relation to the war in Ukraine

PRAGUE and TORONTO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in digital security and privacy, today announced that Ondrej Vlcek , Chief Executive Officer at Avast, and Garry Kasparov, Chess Grandmaster and Avast Security Ambassador, will discuss the digital aspect of the ongoing war in Europe and how misinformation and a shut down of the internet in Russia are influencing digital freedom. The talk, titled "Fight for digital freedom in times of cyberwar", will take place on June 22nd at 10:15 am Eastern Daylight Time on the Center Stage at the annual Collision 2022 conference in Toronto, Canada. Gillian Tett, chair of the editorial board and editor at large at the US edition of the Financial Times, will moderate the live discussion.

Digital freedom for all is a core belief that Avast has held for the last thirty years, since its inception. However, limitations to the internet such as those introduced by autocrats, misinformation, censorship, espionage, and other mechanisms of cyberwar, have put global digital freedom at risk. Ondrej Vlcek and Garry Kasparov will discuss cyberwar activities including DDos attacks, espionage, and ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure and their effects on citizens around the globe.

On June 22, at 2:00 pm EDT at Q&A Stage, Garry Kasparov will be playing a simultaneous chess exhibition with 12 selected participants of the conference.

In addition, on June 23rd, 2022 at 1:00 pm EDT, Greg Wolfond, Vice President of Identity Initiatives at Avast, will be hosting a Master Class on the best way to protect the digital identity of consumers from continued privacy and security concerns. He will discuss the challenges with current digital identity solutions, highlight the success of Avast's partnership with Interac in Canada, outline the benefits to a new approach, and provide an overview of what Avast is doing in the space to further protect and enable consumers online.

About Garry Kasparov, Avast Security Ambassador

Garry Kasparov became the youngest world chess champion in history in 1985 and was the world's top-rated player for 20 years. He first discovered the potential of AI during his famous matches against the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue. Ever since, he's spoken about future tech, most recently as Avast's security ambassador. His matches against arch-rival Anatoly Karpov and Deep Blue popularized chess and machine intelligence in unprecedented ways.

About Ondrej Vlcek, Avast CEO

Ondrej Vlcek serves as Chief Executive Officer for Avast. Together with his senior management team, he executes on Avast's vision to deliver people-centric security and spearheads the Company's product innovation program for emerging consumer technology categories, including AI and identity protection. Previously, he held the combined position of Executive Vice-President & General Manager, Consumer, and Chief Technology Officer. In this role, he led Avast's transformation from a traditional PC antivirus vendor to the leading provider of a full portfolio of protection, privacy, and performance products for consumers.

About Greg Wolfond, Avast VP of Identity Initiatives

Greg Wolfond was the founder of SecureKey Technologies, a leading identity and authentication provider. With more than 30 years of experience in the software and tech services industry, Greg has led a long career serving as a serial entrepreneur whose earlier ventures include Footprint Software Inc., a financial software company he sold to IBM, and 724 Solutions Inc., a wireless infrastructure software provider he took public. Greg is currently the Vice President of Identity Initiatives at Avast, helping lead the Avast team as they enter the B2B space and adopt digital infinity practices with next generation privacy-enhancing services.

About Avast:

Avast (LSE:AVST), a FTSE 100 company, is a global leader in digital security and privacy, headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. With over 435 million users online, Avast offers products under the Avast and AVG brands that protect people from threats on the internet and the evolving IoT threat landscape. The company's threat detection network is among the most advanced in the world, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to detect and stop threats in real time. Avast digital security products for Mobile, PC or Mac are top-ranked and certified by VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, SE Labs and others. Avast is a member of Coalition Against Stalkerware, No More Ransom, and the Internet Watch Foundation. Visit: www.avast.com .

Keep in touch with Avast:

For security and privacy insights, visit the Avast blog: https://blog.avast.com/

For in-depth technical analysis of threats, visit the Avast Decoded blog: https://decoded.avast.io/

For handy guides, advice and tips, visit Avast Academy: https://www.avast.com/c-academy

For more information about Avast visit: https://www.avast.com/en-gb/about and https://www.avast.com/company-faqs

and Follow us on Twitter: @Avast

Join our LinkedIn community: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avast

Visit our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/avast

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Avast Software, Inc.
Automotive manufacturers now able to simplify and accelerate development timelines and reduce costs when building Android Automotive OS-based IVI systems

WATERLOO, Ontario, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced an updated version of QNX Advanced Virtualization Frameworks (QAVF) and support for Google's latest Android Automotive OS (AAOS) reference implementation ( Trout 1.0 ). Already in use by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) across multiple production programs, this new version of QAVF will further enable embedded automotive software developers to simplify development, accelerate time to market and reduce costs when building Android Automotive OS-based IVI systems. This new development strengthens BlackBerry's leadership position within the embedded automotive software market by providing a foundation on which safety and non-safety applications can be easily developed.

QNX Advanced Virtualization Frameworks extends the functionality of the QNX Hypervisor and the QNX Hypervisor for Safety to support the complex sharing and abstraction of the underlying hardware in a hypervised environment for systems including digital cockpits, domain controllers and other high-performance compute applications requiring a mix of safety and non-safety functions. The QNX Hypervisor products, QAVF and Trout 1.0 together enable a rapid application development environment, while leveraging the features and advantages provided by the Android operating system.

Virtualization is a fundamental requirement in current and next generation cockpit architectures. The combination of Trout 1.0, QNX Hypervisor for Safety and QNX safety certified shared device drivers simplifies the integration of Android for customers while simultaneously providing an ideal environment for developing mixed-criticality systems.

In addition to supporting Trout 1.0, QNX is extending QAVF to align with the latest VIRTIO standards and add USB management, filesystem sharing and specialized graphics sharing for mission critical environments.

The development is another significant automotive milestone for the company, whose BlackBerry QNX technology is in production programs with 45 different OEMs and 7/7 of the top Tier 1s and secures over 195 million vehicles worldwide. BlackBerry QNX is the market leader for safety-certified embedded software in automotive. Automakers and Tier 1s, including BMW, Aptiv, Bosch, Ford, GM, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Volkswagen, trust BlackBerry QNX software for a broad range of safety-related systems. These include Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), Digital Cockpits and Secure Data Gateways, all of which are becoming increasingly prevalent in vehicles. Furthermore, BlackBerry QNX is key to the future of the automotive industry, with design wins with 24 of the top 25 electric vehicle automakers, and providing a safe, reliable, and secure software foundation for autonomous drive vehicle systems.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 195M vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security, endpoint management, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust.

BlackBerry. Intelligent Security. Everywhere.

For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.

Google and Android are trademarks of Google LLC.

Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY, EMBLEM Design and QNX are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, its subsidiaries and/or affiliates, used under license, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.

Media Contact:

BlackBerry Media Relations

+1 (519) 597-7273

[email protected]

SOURCE BlackBerry Limited
GRAPEVINE, Texas, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BNY Mellon's Pershing ("Pershing") celebrates the bright future of financial advice this week at their flagship INSITE conference, together with business leaders, industry advocates and next generation talent. An action-packed agenda will serve up interactive networking, workshops and a dedicated recruiting session with leading wealth management and advisory firms.

"The next generation of talent has the power to reshape our industry," said Ben Harrison, Co-Head, Wealth Solutions, BNY Mellon's Pershing. "The support of today's leadership is key to driving future progress. Pershing is committed to empowering potential through education, community connection and professional opportunities for students and current professionals to expand and grow."

Highlights will include:

INSITE Student Experience, designed to connect the next generation of financial services professionals with learning and career opportunities, will double in size this year to include more than 60 university students. Participants were nominated by faculty leaders from 12 of the nation's leading CFP-certified universities and colleges. Over 100 students have participated in the program to-date, and have benefitted from access to leaders at wealth management firms, industry organizations and influencers, including The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning and The Foundation for Financial Planning (FFP).

designed to connect the next generation of financial services professionals with learning and career opportunities, will double in size this year to include more than 60 university students. Participants were nominated by faculty leaders from 12 of the nation's leading CFP-certified universities and colleges. Over 100 students have participated in the program to-date, and have benefitted from access to leaders at wealth management firms, industry organizations and influencers, including The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning and The Foundation for Financial Planning (FFP). Diverse Leadership Community will reunite at INSITE for open, game-changing conversations, workshops and networking driven by Pershing's:

will reunite at INSITE for open, game-changing conversations, workshops and networking driven by Pershing's: Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Council, made up of Pershing clients who lead successful minority, woman and veteran-owned businesses, and is designed to amplify opportunities in the financial services space, and highlight the strength and perspectives of leaders motivating positive change within the industry.

made up of Pershing clients who lead successful minority, woman and veteran-owned businesses, and is designed to amplify opportunities in the financial services space, and highlight the strength and perspectives of leaders motivating positive change within the industry.

Women's Initiative Network (WIN), a passionate network of Pershing female employees and allies around the world, that inspires diverse financial professionals to thrive inside and outside the workplace.

a passionate network of Pershing female employees and allies around the world, that inspires diverse financial professionals to thrive inside and outside the workplace.

Next Leadership Forum (NLF), emerging leaders from wealth management firms across the country, poised to deliver the future of financial advice.

"Tomorrow's financial services leaders need to see and experience future opportunities today," said Maura Creekmore, Co-Head, Wealth Solutions, BNY Mellon's Pershing. "Exposure to the multitude of career paths within financial services is the best way to connect talent with opportunity. We are proud to lead the way as an advocate, and open minds and doors for the next generation."

For more information about INSITE 2022including a full agenda of speakers, sessions and events please visit bnymellonINSITE.com . Join the conversation on social media by following @Pershing on LinkedIn and Twitter and the #realinsite hashtag.

ABOUT BNY MELLON'S PERSHING

BNY Mellon's Pershing is a leading provider of clearing and custody services. We are uniquely positioned to help complex financial services firms transform their businesses, drive growth, maximize efficiency, and manage risk and regulation.

Wealth management and institutional firms outsource to us for trading and settlement services, investment solutions, bank and brokerage custody, middle and back office support, data insights, and business consulting.

Pershing brings together high-touch service, an open digital platform and the BNY Mellon enterprise to deliver a differentiated experience for every client.

Pershing LLC (member FINRA, NYSE, SIPC) is a BNY Mellon company. With offices around the world, Pershing has over $2 trillion in assets and millions of investor accounts. Pershing affiliates include Albridge Solutions, Inc. and Lockwood Advisors, Inc., an investment adviser registered in the United States under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Additional information is available on pershing.com, or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter @Pershing.

Media Contact

Amy Kester

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +1 201-413-2066

SOURCE BNY Mellon Pershing
"With the increasing variety of consumption occasions, the release of Bonterra Bubbles expands how, when and where consumers can enjoy Bonterra," said Hilary Butler, director of marketing for Bonterra. "This expansion into sparkling canned wines signals our continued commitment to deliver on consumer trends and values. Bonterra Bubbles offer the same great quality as our acclaimed 750ml portfolio and will certainly be a crowd pleaser."

As consumers continue to reach for alternatively packaged beverages, canned wine is poised for success. By 2028, canned wine is expected to be a $571.8 million-dollar market, with the popularity of sparkling selections remaining a bright spot in the category.2 Meanwhile the market for natural and organic products continues to boom and is estimated to reach $400 billion by 2030,3 with the production of organic wine projected to grow 10.2% between 2022 and 2030.4

"Organic winemaking is all about balance, and these cans strike the perfect balance between good quality wine and a style that doesn't take itself too seriously," said Winemaker Jeff Cichocki. "The versatility that comes from the purity of fruit flavor, lively acidity and carbonation, opens the door for fun and sometimes unexpected pairings: crispy, panko-crusted onion rings are my go-to for our Rose. At the end of the day, the only guideline when cracking open a can of Bonterra Bubbles is to simply enjoy it."

Launching with non-vintage canned Rose and a white blend Brut, Bonterra Bubbles invites consumers to enjoy the brand's low-intervention, organically farmed wine with a playful twist and effervescent attitude. Cichocki crafts the wines exclusively with certified organic grapes grown in California, blending varieties such as Grenache, Mourvedre and Malbec in the Rose, and Viognier and French Colombard in the Brut to create fresh, fruit-driven selections. Following fermentation and aging in stainless steel tanks for ultimate freshness, Cichocki ensures the blends are full of flavor and low in alcoholthe Brut comes in at 12% ABV and the Rose at 12.3% ABVbefore the wines are carbonated to create crisp, sessionable sippers with a refreshing, clean finish.

To celebrate the launch, Bonterra plans to unveil Bubbles during the Aspen Food & Wine Classic running June 17-19, and has teamed up with multiple influencers and brand ambassadors to be some of the first to try it.

"We are thrilled to be able to bring Bonterra Bubbles to the mountains this yearto retailers, restaurant owners, and brand ambassadors," said Butler. "Bubbles offers that effervescent, perfectly balanced sip you've come to expect from Bonterra. We're so pleased to make it easier than ever to enjoy."

Bonterra Bubbles is available at retailers nationwide and online. To learn more about Bonterra Bubbles, follow the brand on Instagram and Facebook @Bonterra or visit Bonterra.com.

ABOUT BONTERRA

Leading with the belief that wine making is a collaboration with the land, Bonterra has been farming organically since 1987. Inspired by the purity of organic fruit, Bonterra has a low-intervention approach to wine makingits winery is certified organic, sustainable, and TRUE Zero Waste and operates on 100% renewable energy. Organically farmed and masterfully made, the Bonterra Organic Vineyards collection epitomizes wines that are perfectly in tune with nature. In addition to a widely available selection of organically farmed wines that includes Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Rose and Zinfandel, Bonterra crafts a trio of sought-after single-vineyard offerings from estate vineyards in Mendocino County.

Bonterra is the world's first organically farmed wine brand to be Climate Neutral certified, meaning it takes responsibility for its emissions across its entire business scope. As part of the largest Certified B Corp wine company in the world, Bonterra advocates for policies around regenerative agriculture, healthy soils and sustainable water practices. Bonterra was awarded the 2020 California Green Medal in the Environment category in recognition of its legacy of environmental stewardship and ongoing leadership in climate-smart wine growing. More at www.Bonterra.com.

1 IRI L13 weeks ending 4-3-22. TTL US MULO + C

2 Grand View Research Market Analysis Report "Canned Wines Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Sparkling, Fortified), By Distribution Channel (Supermarket & Hypermarket, Online), By Region (APAC, North America), And Segment Forecasts, 2021  2028," Link: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/canned-wines-market

3 New Hope Network: Shara Rutberg, "Technology, J.E.D.I. are key to natural products' growth, data show", Mar. 9, 2022. Link: https://www.newhope.com/market-data-and-analysis/technology-jedi-are-key-natural-products-growth-data-show

4 Grand View Research Market Analysis Report "Organic Wine Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Red Organic Wine, White Organic Wine), By Distribution Channel (On-trade, Off-trade), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022  2030," Link: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/organic-wine-market-report?utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fmcg_21-feb-22&utm_term=organic-wine-market-report&utm_content=rd1

SOURCE Bonterra Organic Vineyards
Number one for the ninth year in a row and ranked in the top three spots for all 10 specialties

BOSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Children's Hospital is the number one pediatric hospital in the nation for the ninth year in a row according to U.S. News & World Report's 2022-23 Best Children's Hospitals Honor Roll.

"These last few years have been extremely challenging, not just for hospitals, but for everyone. This ranking is a testament to the extraordinary work and resolve of our entire Boston Children's family and a tribute to their dedication to the patients, families and communities we are privileged to serve," says President and CEO Kevin B. Churchwell, MD. "We are honored to be recognized again as the nation's leading children's hospital, and we are proud of our unwavering commitment to improving and advancing the health and well-being of children -- everywhere and every day."

Boston Children's 2022-23 rankings:

First in:

Second in:

Third in:

U.S. News introduced the Best Children's Hospitals rankings in 2007 to help families of children with rare or life-threatening illnesses find the best medical care available in consultation with their doctors and other medical professionals. The rankings are the most comprehensive source of quality-related information on U.S. pediatric hospitals.

The Best Children's Hospitals methodology factors objective measures such as patient outcomes, including mortality and infection rates, as well as health equity and available clinical resources and compliance with best practices. To calculate the Best Children's Hospitals rankings, U.S. News gathered relevant data from children's hospitals in early 2022 and from pediatric physicians and other healthcare organizations as well as available clinical resources, compliance with best practices, and efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion among patients and staff in 2022.

For more information, visit Best Children's Hospitals and use #BestHospitals on Facebook and Twitter .

About Boston Children's Hospital

Boston Children's Hospital is ranked the #1 children's hospital in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and is a pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. Today, 3,000 researchers and scientific staff, including 11 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 25 members of the National Academy of Medicine and 10 Howard Hughes Medical Investigators comprise Boston Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Boston Children's is now a 415-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care. For more, visit our Answers blog and follow us on social media @BostonChildrens, @BCH_Innovation, Facebook and YouTube.

CONTACT:

Erin Tornatore

617-919-3110

[email protected]

SOURCE Boston Children's Hospital
Advario is a carve-out of the German company Oiltanking, which specializes in designing, building, and operating storage and logistic infrastructure for petrochemicals, gases, and new energies.

The total investment in the announced terminal will be approximately US$400 million .

. The project will generate approximately 2,000 jobs during construction in the state of Veracruz .

MEXICO CITY, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Braskem Idesa (BI) announces the signing of an investment agreement with Advario for a joint 50% stake in the construction and operation of an ethane import terminal in Mexico, called "Puerto Mexico Chemical Terminal" (Terminal Quimica Puerto Mexico or TQPM, in Spanish).

The project's total investment will be approximately US$400 million, construction should begin in July 2022, and it is planned to be completed by the end of 2024. The Terminal will be developed in the municipalities of Coatzacoalcos and Nanchital, in the state of Veracruz. The 10-hectare site is in the northern part of the Pajaritos lagoon and will be connected to Braskem Idesa's complex via an 11-kilometer pipeline. A new jetty will also be built in the Pajaritos lagoon with an exclusive area for operations with cryogenic ethane This important infrastructure project will be part of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, one of the Mexican government's main development initiatives.

Advario, a recent carve-out from Oiltanking, is a Dutch company specialized in designing, building, financing, and operating storage and logistic infrastructure for bulk liquid products, including cryogenic gases. Its history and experience span over 50 years. Advario's portfolio comprises world-scale storage terminals located strategically in key hubs across the globe. Advario focuses on the individual needs of its customers and provides custom-made infrastructure for each project, thereby always with a strong focus on health, safety, and the environment, sustainability, and reliability of services when operating its facilities.

"This partnership allows Braskem Idesa to work with one of the most distinguished companies in the sector, adding technology, experience, and recognized safety excellence to TQPM's operations. We are delighted with the announcement of this joint venture," commented Stefan Lepecki, CEO of Braskem Idesa.

Bas Verkooijen, CEO of Advario, commented regarding the partnership with BI that "Advario is proud to partner with Braskem Idesa on this project. The development of the Puerto Mexico Chemical Terminal is another important example of Advario's commitment to partnering with leaders in the industry and focusing on growth opportunities within chemicals, gases, and new energies. We look forward to a long and successful collaboration and to bringing our depth of expertise to this exciting project."

Braskem Idesa highlights that Advario will add value and bring extensive experience to ensure the success of this world-class project. The ethane import terminal will be a major infrastructure for cryogenic ethane to be supplied to Mexico and will provide the additional raw material that Braskem Idesa needs to operate at full capacity, thereby increasing the availability of this hydrocarbon and the competitiveness of the entire Mexican petrochemical and plastics industry.

The TQPM is a greenfield project, as it will be constructed entirely in an area without existing infrastructure. The project will positively impact the city of Coatzacoalcos and Nanchital in terms of job creation, contracting local suppliers of goods and services, and creating new logistics infrastructure for the region and the state of Veracruz. The Terminal is expected to generate approximately 2,000 jobs during construction, and the increased availability of ethane will also support other important production chains in the country's petrochemical industry.

About Braskem Idesa S. A. P. I:

Founded in 2010, Braskem Idesa is a Mexican company formed from the partnership of Braskem (Brazil), the largest petrochemical company on the continent producing thermoplastics, and Grupo Idesa, a leading Mexican petrochemical company. Together, they developed a petrochemical complex to produce ethylene and high- and low-density polyethylene in the municipality of Nanchital, Veracruz in Mexico. The facility, which began operating in 2016, produces one million fifty thousand tons per year of ethylene and polyethylene.

About Advario:

Founded in 2022, Advario is a carve out from Oiltanking, which was founded in 1972 as a subsidiary of Marquard Und Bahls. Advario is a leading storage and logistic service provider globally with its headquarters based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Advario brings 50 years of expertise and experience on designing, building and operating storage and logistic infrastructure for petroleum products, chemicals, gases, and new energies across all continents.

Please visit: www.braskemidesa.com.mx www.advario.com

Facebook: Braskem Idesa

LinkedIn: Advario Twitter: @BraskemIdesa



LinkedIn: Braskem Idesa





SOURCE Braskem
This strategic partnership will enable the integration of video game technology into large-scale training solutions

MONTREAL, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - (NYSE: CAE) (TSX: CAE)  CAE today announced a partnership with Behaviour Interactive, one of North America's leading independent game developers.

Under this agreement, these two Canadian companies, which are leaders in their respective fields of expertise, will combine their technological know-how to create innovative technological solutions.

In addition, Behaviour Interactive will give CAE exclusive access to key multidisciplinary teams related to video game technology development. This partnership will enable CAE to integrate video game technology into its high-performance products, allowing it to develop immersive training technologies that are more revolutionary than ever before.

This partnership also demonstrates CAE's continued focus on stimulating Canadian innovation in line with its commitments under the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy.

"We are excited to partner with Behaviour Interactive to accelerate the implementation of new immersive digital solutions that will increase safety and operational efficiency," said Philippe Couillard, Vice President, Global Engineering. "CAE is continually investing in the development of immersive digital training solutions that enable the creation of high-fidelity virtual worlds that are ultra-realistic; we are confident that this partnership will help strengthen CAE's position as a global leader in emerging technologies."

"This partnership confirms the relevance of Behaviour Interactive's vision, which, as early as 2014, set up a team dedicated to business services outside of video games," said Dominique Lebel, Senior Vice President of Behaviour Interactive. "We are impressed with the vision and new technologies developed by CAE. It's a privilege to work with their teams to design innovative technology products."

About Behaviour Interactive

Founded in 1992, Behaviour Interactive is the largest independent video game developer and publisher in Canada with offices in Montreal and Toronto. The studio, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and has more than 900 full-time employees, has had tremendous success with its original intellectual property Dead by Daylight, with more than 50 million players worldwide on all platforms. Behaviour holds co-developer credits for some of the biggest titles in the gaming industry (such as Assassin's Creed, Gears 5, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 and 2) and has built an unparalleled and award-winning culture within the gaming industry. Winner of the Enterprise Fast 15 award, named one of the best managed companies by Deloitte Canada and ranked among the best places to work in the country by GamesIndustry.biz in 2021, Behaviour is a leading development studio that fosters career growth and talent development within the gaming industry. Behaviour partners with some of the world's biggest brands including Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and many others. For more information, visit: www.bhvr.com.

A bout CAE

At CAE, we equip people in critical roles with the expertise and solutions to create a safer world. As a high-technology company, we digitalize the physical world, deploying simulation training and critical operations support solutions. Above all else, we empower pilots, airlines, defence and security forces, and healthcare practitioners to perform at their best every day and when the stakes are the highest. Around the globe, we're everywhere customers need us to be with more than 13,000 employees in more than 200 sites and training locations in over 35 countries. CAE represents 75 years of industry firststhe highest-fidelity flight and mission simulators, surgical manikins, and personalized training programs powered by artificial intelligence. We're investing our time and resources into building the next generation of cutting-edge, digitally immersive training and critical operations solutions. Today and tomorrow, we'll make sure our customers are ready for the moments that matter. www.cae.com

Follow us on Twitter: CAE_Inc

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cae.inc

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/cae

Hashtags: #CAE; #CAEpilot; #Hightech

SOURCE CAE INC.
In this role, Dr. Fields-Johnson will be responsible for developing strategies that address the overall talent needs of the organization. In partnership with leaders across the company, she will translate the talent needs into actionable ideas, as well as identify the appropriate learning, communication, organizational effectiveness, and talent management strategies and interventions.

To recruit for the position, Carhartt employed executive search firm BroadView Talent Partners, recognized for their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and proven process for identifying talent.

"In today's competitive job market, it's critical for companies to have best practices in place to not only attract, but retain, top talent," said Piscopink. "We are excited to have Candis join our team and I'm confident that she will further our commitment to our highly engaged workforce, but also help us connect the dots across our organization, challenge the status quo and execute with excellence."

Dr. Fields-Johnson brings a wealth of experience as a strategic change leader to Carhartt, most recently serving as Head of Learning and Development (L&D), Global Operations and Information Technology (IT) for AstraZeneca. There, she set the direction and strategy for L&D globally across five functions and three regions in support of the business strategy and talent priorities.

Earlier, she held various HR roles with increasing responsibility at Penske, Saint-Gobain, and Merck & Co.

Dr. Fields-Johnson earned her Doctorate of Education from Neumann University in Aston, Penn., her Master's Of Science in Organizational Development and Training from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, her Bachelors in Chemistry from Temple University in Philadelphia. She also achieved her post doctoral certification in Human Resource Management from Villanova University in Philadelphia.

About Carhartt, Inc.

Established in 1889, Carhartt is a global premium workwear brand with a rich heritage of developing rugged products for workers on and off the job. Headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, with approximately 5,400 employees worldwide, Carhartt is family-owned and managed by the descendants of the company's founder, Hamilton Carhartt. For more information, visit www.carhartt.com.

Contact: Amy Hellebuyck Wes Richter

Carhartt, Inc. Zeno Group for Carhartt

(313) 749-6322 (312) 826-3582

[email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Carhartt
Awards to Nine New York City Organizations Advance Foundation's Work to Support Equity through Opportunity

NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Clayton Dubilier & Rice ("CD&R" or the "Firm") today announced that the CD&R Foundation (the "Foundation"), which launched last year to meaningfully expand the Firm's philanthropic, service, and educational efforts, has made inaugural grants totaling approximately $3 million to nine non-profit organizations in New York City.

These diverse organizations, identified as CD&R's Talent Solution Partners ("TSP"), align with the Foundation's goal of supporting "Equity through Opportunity" by offering underserved and underestimated talent in CD&R's local communities access to job training, high-quality jobs, and ongoing professional development opportunities throughout their career journey. Each organization focuses on the Foundation's key levers for change, which include:

Equity: Promoting equitable access to employment and advancement that is inclusive of all facets of diversitywith a focus on historically excluded talent

Promoting equitable access to employment and advancement that is inclusive of all facets of diversitywith a focus on historically excluded talent Growth: Supporting economic growth efforts in CD&R's two local communities  New York City and London

Supporting economic growth efforts in CD&R's two local communities  and Skills: Strengthening and amplifying best-in-class job skills training and upskilling practices for underserved and underestimated talent across industries

Strengthening and amplifying best-in-class job skills training and upskilling practices for underserved and underestimated talent across industries Systems: Building capacity and filling gaps in the local workforce development ecosystem to increase opportunity pathways and eliminate barriers faced by marginalized communities

CD&R will work alongside the TSPs to strengthen these efforts throughout New York City.

"CD&R recognizes that the pool of talent in our communities is overflowing, but their access to opportunity is shallow," said Randy Moore, President of the CD&R Foundation. "These nine non-profit organizations were selected based on a myriad of factors, including their vision/mission, leadership, and commitment to an equitable future. These represent some of the traits and goals that we believe are critical to creating greater economic opportunity and employment for people of all backgrounds. Moving forward, we look forward to continuing to identify other potential partners that share our mission and values."

"Over the past 44 years, CD&R has built a reputation for driving positive impact and innovation throughout our portfolio and in our local communities," said Don Gogel, Chairman of both CD&R and the CD&R Foundation. "The CD&R Foundation meaningfully expands these efforts, and we look forward to working with our TSPs to move the needle on inclusive employment and advancement practices."

Details on the Foundation and mission statements for each of the inaugural Foundation TSPs can be found below and at the following link: https://www.cdr-inc.com/cdr-builds#cdr-foundation .

Braven : Its mission is to empower promising, underrepresented young people with the skills, confidence, experiences, and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs.

: Its mission is to empower promising, underrepresented young people with the skills, confidence, experiences, and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs. The City University of New York : The largest public urban university in the country, serving 260,000 degree seeking students and 185,000 continuing education students. The CUNY Office of Careers and Industry Partnerships sits at the intersection of industry and higher education, building partnerships between employers and the university to align CUNY's academic preparation with in-demand jobs in growth industries.

: The largest public urban university in the country, serving 260,000 degree seeking students and 185,000 continuing education students. The CUNY Office of Careers and Industry Partnerships sits at the intersection of industry and higher education, building partnerships between employers and the university to align CUNY's academic preparation with in-demand jobs in growth industries. Genesys Works : This organization provides pathways to career success for high school students in underserved communities through skills training, meaningful work experiences, and impactful relationships.

: This organization provides pathways to career success for high school students in underserved communities through skills training, meaningful work experiences, and impactful relationships. Grace Institute : The institute empowers low-income women in the New York area to achieve employment and economic self-sufficiency by providing job-skills training, counseling, placement services and continuous learning opportunities.

: The institute empowers low-income women in the area to achieve employment and economic self-sufficiency by providing job-skills training, counseling, placement services and continuous learning opportunities. Henry Street Settlement : The organization's mission is to create opportunity for Lower East Side residents and other New Yorkers with over 50 programs located in 18 program sites across four core divisions, including employment and education.

: The organization's mission is to create opportunity for Lower East Side residents and other New Yorkers with over 50 programs located in 18 program sites across four core divisions, including employment and education. The Marcy Lab School : This institution provides free technical training, leadership development, and direct access to high-growth technology careers for young adults from underestimated backgrounds.

: This institution provides free technical training, leadership development, and direct access to high-growth technology careers for young adults from underestimated backgrounds. Per Scholas : Its mission is to advance economic equity through rigorous training for tech careers and to connect skilled underrepresented talent to leading businesses.

: Its mission is to advance economic equity through rigorous training for tech careers and to connect skilled underrepresented talent to leading businesses. STRIVE : A nonprofit agency headquartered in East Harlem that provides a pathway to life-changing careers and opportunities through comprehensive professional training, intensive personal support and self-empowerment for those who face societal barriers to advancement.

: A nonprofit agency headquartered in East Harlem that provides a pathway to life-changing careers and opportunities through comprehensive professional training, intensive personal support and self-empowerment for those who face societal barriers to advancement. Upwardly Global: Its mission is to eliminate employment barriers for immigrant and refugee professionals and advance the inclusion of their skills into the U.S. economy through innovative skill-building and networking programs.

About Clayton, Dubilier & Rice

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is a private investment firm with a strategy predicated on building stronger, more profitable businesses primarily in five industry sectors, including Industrials, Healthcare, Consumer, Technology and Financial Services. The CD&R Foundation was established with the goal of enabling "Equity through Opportunity" by strengthening the workforce development ecosystem at the local community, portfolio network, and employer level. Learn more about the Foundation and keep up with its activities through LinkedIn and @CDRBuilds on Twitter. For more information, please visit www.cdr-inc.com.

SOURCE Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
"We are thrilled to have Todd join our growing Philadelphia team. He brings over 25 years of banking experience to Centric Bank and has a proven record of success," says Husic. "He has spent the last 12 years of his career in the suburban Philadelphia market and will be located in the Devon Financial Center. Over 53% of our Centric Bank loan portfolio is generated in suburban Philadelphia, and we've only begun to tap into that potential. Todd's ability to envision cash management opportunities for our customers is vital to our compounding growth and allows our customers to spend more time on their business, not on their banking. Knowledge, trust, loyalty, and a genuine passion for helping businesses thrive make Todd a perfect fit for our relationship banking model."

As Director of Cash Management, Ferrara's responsibilities include sales leadership, business development, product management, and ensuring a responsive customer experience for Centric's cash management product suite. Reporting to Christopher Bickel, Market Leader Main Line, and Commercial Revenue Officer, Ferrara will also develop the growing cash management team; partner with commercial lenders and financial center teams to meet the banking needs of customers and prospects; and build relationships with Centric customers by providing exceptional solutions to their cash management needs.

"I am excited to lead our Cash Management team and happy to be part of the Centric Bank family," says Ferrara. "The Centric Bank Way culture is refreshing, and it's immediately evident why they are celebrated as a Best Banks to Work For. The people are wonderful! Their We Revolve Around You promise is true at every level of the bank. Centric Bank is all about relationships, valuing both the customers and the employees."

Before joining Centric Bank, Ferrara was at Bryn Mawr Trust in the role of SVP Small Business and Cash Management Manager. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA, and currently resides in Royersford, PA. He can be reached at [email protected].

ABOUT CENTRIC BANK AND CENTRIC FINANCIAL CORPORATION

An American Banker 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018 Best Banks to Work For, four-time American Banker Most Powerful Women in Banking Top Team, three-time Best Places to Work, and Top 50 Fastest-Growing Companies for eight years, Centric Bank is headquartered in south central Pennsylvania with assets of $1.1 billion and remains a leader in organic loan growth. A locally owned, locally loaned community bank, Centric Bank provides highly competitive and pro-growth financial services to businesses, professionals, individuals, families, and to the health care and dental industries with the Doctor Centric Bank Division. Centric Bank was named one of the Top 200 Community Banks in the U.S. in 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.

Founded in 2007, Pennsylvania-based Centric Bank has financial centers located in Harrisburg, Hershey, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Doylestown, Devon, and Lancaster, as well as commercial loan offices in Devon, Doylestown, Lancaster, and an Operations and Executive Office campus in Hampden Township, Cumberland County. To learn more about Centric Bank, call 717.657.7727 or visit CentricBank.com. Connect with them on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Centric Financial Corporation is traded over the counter (OTC-Pink) with the ticker symbol CFCX.

Contact: Anne Deeter Gallaher

Tel. 717.580.4856

[email protected]

SOURCE Centric Bank
The 144-acre Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility consists of twenty 1940s vintage underground storage tanks ("USTs") with a combined total capacity of 250 million gallons of petroleum-based fuel. It is located on the western edge of the Ko'olau mountain range, approximately 100 feet above the Waimalu and Moanalua Aquifers. This collectively covers the Southern Oahu Basal Aquifer, which the Navy has acknowledged as irreplaceable and vulnerable to contamination. Red Hill also includes tunnels, exposed and buried pipelines, ventilation systems with air intakes and exhaust portals, a pumphouse, control room, surge tanks, slop oil and oil recovery facilities, and fueling stations at various piers in Pearl Harbor, including Hotel Pier, Kilo Pier, Bravo Pier, and Mike Pier.

While the Red Hill facility has been ordered to permanently close and halt operations, defueling and closure pose an even greater risk of spills, leaks, and discharges than current operations. WOA's citizen suit seeks intervention of the Federal Court to require safe and timely defueling, both to protect the aquifer and to prevent petroleum spills and leaks to streams and the harbor during that defueling. Further WOA seeks civil penalties for past violations of the Clean Water Act by the Navy.

The Navy has self-reported discharges of petroleum from the Hotel Pier and Kilo Pier to Pu'uloa, On March 17 and June 2, 2020, the Navy notified the Department of Health that Red Hill discharged pollutants from the Hotel Pier. On July 23, 2021, the Navy also confirmed a release of pollutants occurring between July 16 and July 19, 2021, from Red Hill, Pearl Harbor at Kilo Pier. Confirming the Navy's inability to safely operate the Red Hill facility, the source of the Hotel Pier spill remained unidentified for at least 365 days after the Navy first reported the discharge. WOA is confident many additional unreported petroleum discharges will be discovered as the citizen suit proceeds. Small concentrations of petroleum are rapidly lethal to wildlife and habitat in the area.

WOA members listed in this citizen suit are: Melodie Aduja, a former State Senator and former Deputy Prosecuting Attorney; Pete Doktor, a veteran and peace activist; Kim Coco Iwamoto, a former Board of Education member and business owner; Mary Maxine Kahaulelio, a community organizer and activist; and Clarence 'Ku' Ching, a former Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee and community activist. Kahaulelio and Ching are Native Hawaiian Kupuna (elders) with long histories of successful protests, including against the military bombing of Kahoolawe , and Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea ; they are both plaintiffs in the Hawaii Supreme Court case that affirmed that the State failed to protect trust property it had leased to the U.S. Army as Pohakuloa Training Area .

"We can't rely on the State Government to protect our interests," - Clarence "Ku" Ching

"Water is the source of humanity, it's from God." - Mary "Auntie Maxine" Kahaulelio

"It's criminal to hold our `ohana (families) hostage while fuel leaks continue, including imminent threat of catastrophic spill according to even Navy's studies; as a military veteran, it's unacceptable that the military is our biggest security threat given clean water is security and true wealth." - Pete Doktor

"We always knew that the Red Hill Facility posed an imminent danger to our freshwater sole source aquifer on Oahu because of 80 years of corrosion, disrepair, and lack of adequate testing and maintenance. The Facility and its pipelines absolutely cannot be properly and safely operated even for defueling." - Melodie Aduja

"As a small business owner, 100% of my revenue depends on ensuring my customers have access to clean, safe water; since the State failed to hold the Navy to an adequate standard of care regarding Red Hill, the people must remain steadfast in shouting "foul" every time the Navy contaminates Hawaii's waters." - Kim Coco Iwamoto

Contacts:

Wai Ola Alliance, www.WaiOlaAlliance.com , 816-287-4176, [email protected]

Daniel Cooper, Sycamore Law, Inc., (415) 360-2962, [email protected]

William Harrison, Esq., (808) 542-5297, [email protected]

SOURCE Wai Ola Alliance
Read the 120-page report with TOC on "Cloud-based Project Portfolio Management Market Analysis Report by End User (manufacturing, ICT, healthcare, BFSI, and others) and Geography (North America, Europe, APAC, MEA, and South America), and the Segment Forecasts,2021-2025". Gain competitive intelligence about market leaders. Track key industry opportunities, trends, and threats. Information on marketing, brand, strategy and market development, sales, and supply functions. https://www.technavio.com/report/report/cloud-based-project-portfolio-management-market-industry-analysis

Get ready to achieve excellent business outcomes from this exclusive Cloud-based Project Portfolio Management Market report by Technavio. The report will include highlights of the overall market which includes frequently asked questions such as -

What are historical revenue figures and estimated revenue figures as well as CAGR during the forecast timeframe?

What is the current trend taking place in the market space?|

Which are business tactics that will influence competitive scenarios along with defining the growth potential of the market?

What are market drivers, restraints, and challenges impacting demand & growth of the market?

Which regions & segments will garner massive revenue and emerge as market leaders in upcoming years?

The competitive scenario provided in the Cloud-based Project Portfolio Management Market report analyzes, evaluates, and positions companies based on various performance indicators. Some of the factors considered for this analysis include the financial performance of companies over the past few years, growth strategies, product innovations, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc. Don't wait, Make a strategic approach & boost your business goals with our Cloud-based Project Portfolio Management Market Forecast Report - Buy Now!

Cloud-based Project Portfolio Management Market: Drivers, Trends & Challenges

The cloud-based project portfolio management market is driven by the increasing requirements for large-scale project portfolio management. In addition, the interlinking of software with project portfolio management is anticipated to boost the growth of the Cloud-based Project Portfolio Management Market. However, the factors such as challenges from open-source platforms may impede the market growth.

Cloud-based Project Portfolio Management Market: Vendor Offerings

The cloud-based project portfolio management market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market.

Atlassian Corp. Plc - The company offers products like JIRA for team planning and project management.

The company offers products like JIRA for team planning and project management. Broadcom Inc. - The company offers Clarity which is a full-feature enterprise-grade PPM platform that fulfills large complexity use cases. The data model is deep across demand management, project management, custom investment management, resource management, financial management, program, and portfolio capabilities.

The company offers Clarity which is a full-feature enterprise-grade PPM platform that fulfills large complexity use cases. The data model is deep across demand management, project management, custom investment management, resource management, financial management, program, and portfolio capabilities. Mavenlink Inc. - The project management solution of the company is specifically designed for professional service organizations. It allows to assess the entire project portfolio at once or drill down to the task level.

The project management solution of the company is specifically designed for professional service organizations. It allows to assess the entire project portfolio at once or drill down to the task level. Micro Focus International Plc - The project portfolio management (PPM) software of the company combines workflows and data, aligning corporate investments with business strategy.

The project portfolio management (PPM) software of the company combines workflows and data, aligning corporate investments with business strategy. Microsoft Corp. - The project portfolio management (PPM) software of the company has capabilities to effectively plan, prioritize, and manage project and portfolio investments.

The project portfolio management (PPM) software of the company has capabilities to effectively plan, prioritize, and manage project and portfolio investments. To know about all major vendor offerings - Download a sample now!

Cloud-based Project Portfolio Management Market: Segmentation Analysis

End-User Outlook (Revenue, USD bn, 2020-2025)

manufacturing - size and forecast 2020-2025

ICT - size and forecast 2020-2025

healthcare - size and forecast 2020-2025

BFSI - size and forecast 2020-2025

others - size and forecast 2020-2025

Geography Outlook (Revenue, USD bn, 2020-2025)

North America - size and forecast 2020-2025

- size and forecast 2020-2025 Europe - size and forecast 2020-2025

- size and forecast 2020-2025 APAC - size and forecast 2020-2025

MEA - size and forecast 2020-2025

South America - size and forecast 2020-2025

To know about the market contribution of each segment - Grab an exclusive Report

Related Reports:

The smart education software market share is expected to increase to USD 33.53 trillion from 2021 to 2026, at a CAGR of 16.39%. Download a sample now!

share is expected to increase to USD 33.53 trillion from 2021 to 2026, at a CAGR of 16.39%. The photo editing software market size is expected to be valued at USD 542.87 million by 2026 at a progressing CAGR of 9.27%. Download a sample now!

Cloud-based Project Portfolio Management Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 18.26% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 4.83 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 15.92 Performing market contribution North America at 40% Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Atlassian Corp. Plc, Broadcom Inc., Mavenlink Inc., Micro Focus International Plc, Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., Planview Inc., SAP SE, ServiceNow Inc., and Upland Software, Inc. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID 19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period, Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table of Content

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 01: Parent market



Exhibit 02: Market characteristics

2.2 Value chain analysis

Exhibit 03:Value chain analysis: System Software

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 04: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 05: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2020

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025

Exhibit 06: Global - Market size and forecast 2020 - 2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 07: Global market: Year-over-year growth 2020 - 2025 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 08: Five forces analysis 2020 & 2025

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 09: Bargaining power of buyers

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 10: Bargaining power of suppliers

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 11: Threat of new entrants

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 12: Threat of substitutes

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 13: Threat of rivalry

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 14: Market condition - Five forces 2020

5 Market Segmentation by End-user

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 15: End-user - Market share 2020-2025 (%)

5.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 16: Comparison by End-user

5.3 Manufacturing - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 17: Manufacturing - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 18: Manufacturing - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.4 ICT - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 19: ICT - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 20: ICT - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.5 Healthcare - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 21: Healthcare - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 22: Healthcare - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.6 BFSI - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 23: BFSI - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 24: BFSI - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 25: Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 26: Others - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.8 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 27: Market opportunity by End-user

6 Customer landscape

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 29: Market share by geography 2020-2025 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 30: Geographic comparison

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 31: North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 32: North America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 33: Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 34: Europe - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 35: APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 36: APAC - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.6 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 37: MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 38: MEA - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.7 South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 39: South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 40: South America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.8 Key leading countries

Exhibit 41: Key leading countries

7.9 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 42: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

Exhibit 43: Impact of drivers and challenges

8.3 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 44: Vendor landscape

9.3 Landscape disruption

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 47: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 48: Market positioning of vendors

10.3 Atlassian Corp. Plc

Exhibit 49: Atlassian Corp. Plc - Overview



Exhibit 50: Atlassian Corp. Plc - Business segments



Exhibit 51: Atlassian Corp. Plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 52: Atlassian Corp. Plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 53: Atlassian Corp. Plc - Segment focus

10.4 Broadcom Inc.

Exhibit 54: Broadcom Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 55: Broadcom Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 56: Broadcom Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 57: Broadcom Inc. - Segment focus

10.5 Mavenlink Inc.

Exhibit 58: Mavenlink Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 59: Mavenlink Inc. - Product and service



Exhibit 60:Mavenlink Inc. -Key news



Exhibit 61: Mavenlink Inc. - Key offerings

10.6 Micro Focus International Plc

Exhibit 62: Micro Focus International Plc - Overview



Exhibit 63: Micro Focus International Plc - Business segments



Exhibit 64:Micro Focus International Plc -Key news



Exhibit 65: Micro Focus International Plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 66: Micro Focus International Plc - Segment focus

10.7 Microsoft Corp.

Exhibit 67: Microsoft Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 68: Microsoft Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 69:Microsoft Corp. -Key news



Exhibit 70: Microsoft Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 71: Microsoft Corp. - Segment focus

10.8 Oracle Corp.

Exhibit 72: Oracle Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 73: Oracle Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 74:Oracle Corp. -Key news



Exhibit 75: Oracle Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 76: Oracle Corp. - Segment focus

10.9 Planview Inc.

Exhibit 77: Planview Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 78: Planview Inc. - Product and service



Exhibit 79:Planview Inc. -Key news



Exhibit 80: Planview Inc. - Key offerings

10.10 SAP SE

Exhibit 81: SAP SE - Overview



Exhibit 82: SAP SE - Business segments



Exhibit 83:SAP SE -Key news



Exhibit 84: SAP SE - Key offerings



Exhibit 85: SAP SE - Segment focus

10.11 ServiceNow Inc.

Exhibit 86: ServiceNow Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 87: ServiceNow Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 88:ServiceNow Inc. -Key news



Exhibit 89: ServiceNow Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 90: ServiceNow Inc. - Segment focus

10.12 Upland Software, Inc.

Exhibit 91: Upland Software, Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 92: Upland Software, Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 93: Upland Software, Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 94: Upland Software, Inc. - Segment focus

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 95: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.3 Research methodology

Exhibit 96: Research Methodology



Exhibit 97: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 98: Information sources

11.4 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 99: List of abbreviations

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contacts

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
COLUMBIA, Mo., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier express car wash brands Club Car Wash and Rapid Express Car Wash have announced a strategic partnership between the two companies. As part of the partnership, all Rapid Express Car Wash locations will be rebranded as Club Car Wash. Located in Central and South Texas, Rapid Express Car Wash currently operates 17 express sites with 11 under the construction process and an additional 25 in development. Club Car Wash operates 67 locations across the Midwest with an additional 40 locations currently in development.

This collaboration with Rapid Express Car Wash brings Club Car Wash's express car wash portfolio to 82 operating locations with plans to reach nearly 140 locations by the end of 2022.

"Rapid Express has great locations and a terrific team and we couldn't be more excited to add them to the Club Car Wash family," said Rollie Bartels, CEO of Club Car Wash.

Under the partnership, there will be no interruption to Rapid Express Car Wash customers and their Unlimited Club members. Club Car Wash will transition all operating Rapid Express Car Wash locations to Club Car Wash branding by the end of September 2022.

"Club Car Wash has a well-established reputation in the car wash industry and an impressive operating platform. The Rapid Express Car Wash team and I are very excited to join forces with them to bring the first Club Car Wash location to Texas," said Ahmed Jafferally, CEO of Rapid Express Car Wash.

Club Car Wash currently has 67 operating locations throughout the Central United States operating in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

Club Car Wash offers a full menu of wash options for a variety of customers. These offering includes a range of individual washes and monthly memberships allowing customers quality, convenience, and cost savings. All membership options include the use of free microfiber towels and high-quality vacuums.

About Club Car Wash:

Founded as Tiger Express Car Wash in 2006, the company rebranded to Club Car Wash in 2019. Currently operating more than 67 locations in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. Club Car Wash is one of the largest and fastest growing express car wash companies in the Central United States. Club Car Wash has plans to scale rapidly into Wisconsin, Colorado, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee through acquisitions and new developments.

To learn more about Club Car Wash, please visit: http://www.clubcarwash.com/.

Contact:

Kendell Palmquist

Club Car Wash

[email protected]

SOURCE Club Car Wash
Total Pages: 122

122 Companies: 10+  Including Brain Resource Ltd., Cambridge Cognition Holdings Plc, CogniFit Ltd., Cogstate Ltd., ImPACT Applications Inc., MedAvante-ProPhase Inc., Pearson Plc, Posit Science Corp., Quest Diagnostics Inc., and Signant Health among others.

10+  Including Brain Resource Ltd., Cambridge Cognition Holdings Plc, CogniFit Ltd., Cogstate Ltd., ImPACT Applications Inc., MedAvante-ProPhase Inc., Pearson Plc, Posit Science Corp., Quest Diagnostics Inc., and Signant Health among others. Coverage: Key drivers, trends, and challenges; Product insights & news; Value chain analysis; Parent market analysis; Vendor landscape

Key drivers, trends, and challenges; Product insights & news; Value chain analysis; Parent market analysis; Vendor landscape Segments: End-user (healthcare sector, education sector, and others) and geography ( North America , Europe , APAC, South America , and MEA).

End-user (healthcare sector, education sector, and others) and geography ( , , APAC, , and MEA). Geographies: US, Germany , Canada , UK, and Australia

To understand more about Market Dynamics. Download our sample report

According to the recent market study by Technavio, the Cognitive Assessment and Training Market is expected to increase by USD 13.55 billion from 2019-2024, with an accelerated CAGR of 33.07%. The report provides a detailed analysis of drivers & opportunities, top winning strategies, competitive scenario, future market trends, market size & estimations, and major investment pockets.

North America will register the highest growth rate of 33% among the other regions. The US is the key markets for market in North America. Market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in other regions.

Download Sample Report: for more additional information about the key consumer countries.

Vendor Insights-

The Cognitive Assessment and Training Market is fragmented, and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as focusing on product delivery through multiple distribution channels to compete in the market.

Brain Resource Ltd.- WebNeuro is a web-based cognitive assessment that is undertaken through a PC using a keyboard and mouse

Cambridge Cognition Holdings Plc- The company offers assessments and tests for attention and psychomotor speed, executive functions, memory, and emotion and social cognition.

CogniFit Ltd.- The company offers cognitive tests for Auditory Short-term Memory, Contextual Memory, Divided Attention, Focus, Hand-eye Coordination, Inhibition, and other functions.

Find additional highlights on the vendors and their product offerings. Download Sample Report Now!

Regional Market Outlook

North America will account for 33% of the market's growth. The United States is the most important market in North America. The market in this region will increase at a quicker rate than the market in other regions.

Over the projected period, factors such as the presence of a robust infrastructure to implement cognitive assessment and training in advanced economies would aid the expansion of the cognitive assessment and training market in North America.

Download our Sample Report for more key highlights on the regional market share of most of the above-mentioned countries.

Latest Drivers & Trends Driving the Market-

Cognitive Assessment and Training Market Driver:

The cost-effectiveness of online cognitive examinations is one of the primary elements driving the cognitive assessment and training business. The availability of low-cost online cognitive examinations will be a major driver of market expansion for cognitive evaluation and training. Cognitive tests are increasingly being used in the recruitment process by multinational corporations. As a result, there is a growing need for online cognitive evaluations, which are less expensive and produce better results than labor-intensive manual approaches.

Cognitive Assessment and Training Market Trend:

Another factor driving the growth of the cognitive assessment and training market in the forecast period is the increasing implementation of gamification for cognitive assessment. Gamification successfully incorporates game design aspects into cognitive tests without detracting from their scientific value, improving data quality, training efficacy, and participant engagement. As a result, certain market vendors are including engaging games in cognitive testing and training solutions, resulting in the industry's rapid expansion.

Find additional information about various other market Drivers & Trends mentioned in our latest Sample Report .

Didn't Find What You Were Looking For? Customize Report-

Don't miss out on the opportunity to speak to our analyst and know more insights about this market report. Our analysts can also help you customize this report according to your needs. Our analysts and industry experts will work directly with you to understand your requirements and provide you with customized data in a short amount of time.

Do reach out to our analysts for more customized reports as per your requirements. Speak to our Analyst now!

Here are Some Similar Topics-

E-learning Market in the UK by Product and End-user - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026: The E-learning market share in the UK is expected to increase to USD 11.57 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 15.27%. Download Exclusive Sample Report

Digital English Language Learning Market by End-user, Deployment, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026: The digital English language learning market share is expected to increase to USD 14.37 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 16.78%. Download Exclusive Sample Report

Cognitive Assessment And Training Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 33.07% Market growth 2020-2024 $ 13.55 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 32.48 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 33% Key consumer countries US, Germany, Canada, UK, and Australia Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled Brain Resource Ltd., Cambridge Cognition Holdings Plc, CogniFit Ltd., Cogstate Ltd., ImPACT Applications Inc., MedAvante-ProPhase Inc., Pearson Plc, Posit Science Corp., Quest Diagnostics Inc., and Signant Health Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID 19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for forecast period Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 01: Parent market



Exhibit 02: Market characteristics

2.2 Value chain analysis

Exhibit 03: Value Chain Analysis: Education Services

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 04: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 05: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2020

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025

Exhibit 06: Global - Market size and forecast 2020 - 2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 07: Global market: Year-over-year growth 2020 - 2025 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 08: Five forces analysis 2020 & 2025

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 09: Bargaining power of buyers

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 10: Bargaining power of suppliers

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 11: Threat of new entrants

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 12: Threat of substitutes

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 13: Threat of rivalry

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 14: Market condition - Five forces 2020

5 Market Segmentation by End-user

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 15: End-user - Market share 2020-2025 (%)

5.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 16: Comparison by End-user

5.3 Healthcare - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 17: Healthcare - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 18: Healthcare - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.4 Education - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 19: Education - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 20: Education - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.5 Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 21: Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 22: Others - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.6 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 23: Market opportunity by End-user

6 Customer Landscape

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 25: Market share by geography 2020-2025 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 26: Geographic comparison

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 27: North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 28: North America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 29: Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 30: Europe - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 31: APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 32: APAC - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 33: South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 34: South America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.7 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 35: MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 36: MEA - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.8 Key leading countries

Exhibit 37: Key leading countries

7.9 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 38: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

Exhibit 39: Impact of drivers and challenges

8.3 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Competitive scenario

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 40: Vendor landscape

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 41: Landscape disruption



Exhibit 42: Industry risks

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 43: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 44: Market positioning of vendors

10.3 Cambridge Cognition Holdings Plc

10.4 CogniFit Ltd.

Exhibit 49: CogniFit Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 50: CogniFit Ltd. - Product and service



Exhibit 51: CogniFit Ltd. - Key offerings

10.5 Cogstate Ltd.

Exhibit 52: Cogstate Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 53: Cogstate Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 54: Cogstate Ltd. - Key news



Exhibit 55: Cogstate Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 56: Cogstate Ltd. - Segment focus

10.6 ImPACT Applications Inc.

Exhibit 57: ImPACT Applications Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 58: ImPACT Applications Inc. - Product and service



Exhibit 59: ImPACT Applications Inc. - Key offerings

10.7 Pearson Plc

Exhibit 60: Pearson Plc - Overview



Exhibit 61: Pearson Plc - Business segments



Exhibit 62: Pearson Plc -Key news



Exhibit 63: Pearson Plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 64: Pearson Plc - Segment focus

10.8 Posit Science Corp.

Exhibit 65: Posit Science Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 66: Posit Science Corp. - Product and service



Exhibit 67: Posit Science Corp. - Key offerings

10.9 Quest Diagnostics Inc.

Exhibit 68: Quest Diagnostics Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 69: Quest Diagnostics Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 70: Quest Diagnostics Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 71: Quest Diagnostics Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 72: Quest Diagnostics Inc. - Segment focus

10.10 Signant Health

Exhibit 73: Signant Health - Overview



Exhibit 74: Signant Health - Product and service



Exhibit 75: Signant Health - Key news



Exhibit 76: Signant Health - Key offerings

10.11 Total Brain Ltd.

Exhibit 77: Total Brain Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 78: Total Brain Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 79: Total Brain Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 80: Total Brain Ltd. - Segment focus

10.12 WIRB Copernicus Group

Exhibit 81: WIRB Copernicus Group - Overview



Exhibit 82: WIRB Copernicus Group - Product and service



Exhibit 83: WIRB Copernicus Group - Key news



Exhibit 84: WIRB Copernicus Group - Key offerings

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 85: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.3 Research methodology

Exhibit 86: Research Methodology



Exhibit 87: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 88: Information sources

11.4 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 89: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.



Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
"Our new partnership . . . will help forge an impactful new growth path for Cold Jet," added Gene Cooke III. Tweet this

Cold Jet has two distinct lines of business centered on the use of dry ice. The company provides environmental cleaning, surface preparation, and parts finishing systems to global manufacturing industries. These systems utilize particles of dry ice as a blasting medium.

Secondly, the company produces systems for the production, metering and packaging of dry ice. These systems enable the consistent production of a controlled range of dry ice products for food transportation, cold chain management and dry ice cleaning.

Customers are using Cold Jet's technology-based solutions to replace outdated processes that are inefficient and harmful to health and safety by putting recycled CO 2 to work with a water-free, waste-free, and chemical-free solution.

Cold Jet is headquartered in Loveland, Ohio, USA with international operations in Europe, Asia, Canada and Mexico.

"As the industry leader across a range of dry ice applications, Cold Jet is well-positioned to capitalize on long-term tailwinds across the markets it serves," said Chuck Walter, a vice president at Harris Williams. "With innovative technologies, a longstanding commitment to ESG and sustainability, and a differentiated employee-centric culture, Cold Jet exemplifies the businesses we strive to represent."

"Dry ice has long been an essential contributor to the global economy", said Gene Cooke III. "However, it has taken on a new responsibility in humanity's fight against COVID-19 over the last few years. The impact of COVID-19 on global health and the global economy has been painful, but Cold Jet is extremely proud to play such a vital part in the distribution process of live-saving vaccines."

"I'm confident our new partnership with Seidler and Stonehenge, in collaboration with Harris Williams, will help forge an impactful new growth path for Cold Jet in taking on the responsibility for a cleaner, healthier planet," added Gene Cooke III.

"With its comprehensive portfolio of innovative and highly-specialized equipment, Cold Jet is a vital partner to a diverse and loyal customer base," said John Arendale, a managing director at Harris Williams. "It was a pleasure working with Gene Cooke, founder and CEO, and the rest of the Cold Jet team, and we are excited to see their next chapter unfold in partnership with Seidler and Stonehenge."

About Seidler Equity Partners

Seidler and its affiliates have been investing in market-leading companies since 1992. Seidler aligns with business founders and management teams to achieve long-term growth objectives while preserving company culture. Headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, Seidler also has an office in Sydney, Australia and currently has over $3.5 billion of assets under management.

About Stonehenge Partners

Stonehenge Partners is an Ohio based private equity fund that focuses exclusively on lower middle market companies. The company has raised more than $1 billion and are currently investing out of its fifth institutional fund. Stonehenge has a long history of partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams who are focused on improving their companies and building equity value. The company provides flexible capital that meets the needs of all stakeholders including majority equity, minority equity, debt, and combinations thereof.

About Harris Williams

Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across Industry Groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC).

For media inquiries, please contact Christian E. Rogiers, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing, Cold Jet at [email protected] .

SOURCE Cold Jet
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Conscious Capital Growth, announced today both their partnership with Louisiana-based Main Squeeze Juice Company, the franchise concept that is taking the health and wellness juice category by storm, and the partnership's plans for rapid expansion in the U.S. and eventually worldwide.

Conscious Capital Growth, led by franchise veterans, Heather Elrod, former CEO of Amazing Lash Studio, Christo Demetriades, a tenured c-suite global franchise executive, along with their advisory team, can spot a concept with exceptional potential when they see one. That's what led them to partner with Main Squeeze Juice Company, a brand that has emerged as the hottest in the health and wellness space.

Conscious Capital Growth invests in Main Squeeze Juice Company Tweet this

"What attracted us to Main Squeeze is that the concept is clearly a game-changer and the team is driven to help people get healthy and stay that way. The success they are experiencing proves they have a winning formula. Now it's time for accelerated expansion, and that's where we come in," said Heather Elrod, managing partner.

Featuring 100% plant-powered, cold-pressed juices, smoothies, bowls, toasts and more, Main Squeeze has 26 locations open and more than 50 in development. Early on, the family-run company attracted the attention of New Orleans Saints' former wide receiver, Hall of Famer and Super Bowl XLIV Champion Marques Colston, and current Miami Dolphins punter, Super Bowl XLIV Champion and Pro Bowler Thomas Morstead. Both are supportive of the brand and this new partnership which aims at ramping up store growth and leveraging that expansion to further enhance their high-value unit economics.

Main Squeeze Juice Company CEO, Thomas Nieto said, "Working with Conscious Capital Growth will throw fuel on the already blazing fire that is Main Squeeze. Together we plan to dominate the juice category so that more people can experience our products and live healthier lives. Our mission is to make healthy easier and we've cracked the code on how to do that, creating raging fans everywhere we go."

The partnership is the culmination of several months of due diligence and talks to first understand why customers love Main Squeeze, and second, to discover the specific operational and financial requirements for rapid expansion. "Organizations like Main Squeeze Juice Company don't need us to come in and take over. They want wisdom, experience and a team that can shorten the growth timeline so the core team can focus on taking care of franchisees and customers," said Christo Demetriades, managing partner.

Conscious Capital Growth will work with the current Main Squeeze Juice Company team to fast track franchise sales, real estate development, business intelligence, training, marketing and innovation with the goal of serving more people in more markets and propelling the brand to industry leader.

About Conscious Capital Growth

Conscious Capital Growth, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, exists to make growing a business easier for owners, particularly franchisors. The company's unique platform includes experienced leaders, industry advisors, instant infrastructure and access to capital. The company's experienced team brings to the companies it serves a decades' long track record of success in Wellness, Beauty, Pet, Services, Food & Beverage, Education and Consumer Package Goods & Retail. For more information visit www.ccGRO.com.

About Main Squeeze Juice Company

Main Squeeze Juice Company is based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has been franchising its fast casual juice and smoothie bar concept since 2017. The original Main Squeeze, built in Lake Charles, Louisiana, achieved early success which prompted them to take their passion for healthy eating and healthy meal-replacement to the next level. They began franchising that same year. The company now has 26 locations open and more than 50 locations in various stages of development throughout the country. They plan to grow and share their mission of making healthy easier with more people in the U.S. and worldwide. www.mainsqueezejuiceco.com

SOURCE Conscious Capital Growth
Rhode Island tech company will expand their student journey platform as higher education institutions face increased pressure to drive operational efficiencies and workforce readiness for students.

WARWICK, R.I., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CORE Higher Education Group, known for its leading solutions in student competency management, clinical education, and workforce readiness, announced today that it has received a significant growth investment from The Riverside Company, a global growth and private equity investment firm committed to helping mission-driven technology companies realize their full potential and accelerate market adoption. The investment positions CORE for accelerated growth and allows the company to continue building its suite of software applications to support students through the entire student journey.

Riverside's investment is a testament to CORE's product quality, growth, and customer retention. Today, CORE supports more than 375+ programs at over 175+ colleges and universities throughout the US and Canada in the areas of recruiting, experiential/clinical education, competency assessment, workforce readiness, and digital portfolios.

Gregory Cianfarani, CORE founder and CEO, said "I am excited about partnering with Riverside due to its focus on investing in high quality companies that deliver compelling benefits to customers. Riverside has an outstanding support structure and success rate with supporting software companies as they scale and accelerate growth. With this added financial backing, we will improve our products faster and build out the capabilities needed by our clients throughout the higher education market and beyond." Cianfarani and other members of the CORE management team will continue to be meaningful shareholders of the company and stay in their existing management roles.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with Greg and the rest of the CORE management team," said Riverside Senior Partner Joe Manning. "Riverside has been an active investor in the higher ed software industry over the last decade and we're excited to further that commitment with an investment in CORE. The CORE team has built a world-class software platform, team, and customer base that is well positioned for continued expansion."

In 2006, CORE started off by offering its clinical management software (ELMS) to health science programs, helping them improve their data management, security, and operational efficiencies within the experiential and clinical education components of the curriculum. Reacting to customer feedback, employer feedback, and accreditation needs, CORE has since expanded its offerings to include student recruiting (RECRUIT), student competency assessment and curricular mapping (CompMS), student workforce readiness (READINESS), student-employer relationship building (MyCred ePortfolios), and continuing education access (CESearchEngine.com).

Aside from the capital support to expand product development and customer support, the Riverside financing will be used to pursue complementary add-on acquisitions to broaden the product portfolio and expand solutions for CORE's customer base.

About CORE Higher Education Group

Headquartered in West Warwick, Rhode Island, CORE Higher Education Group is an education technology company providing colleges a suite of software applications to support the student journey... from recruiting... to clinical education... to workplace readiness. Founded in 2006, CORE's software applications have grown to support the recruiting, experiential education, competency assessment, workforce readiness, and digital portfolio needs of more than 375 programs at over 175+ colleges and universities throughout North America. For more information, visit: https://corehighered.com/

About The Riverside Company

The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on investing in growing businesses valued at up to $400 million. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has made more than 750 investments. The firm's international private equity and structured capital portfolios include more than 120 companies.

SOURCE CORE Higher Education Group
Preference for Foreign Asset Managers in Terms of Performance, Track Record and Trustworthiness

HONG KONG, June 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The vast majority of Asian investors see credibility (96%), performance (96%) and service fees (90%) as the key criteria for choosing an asset manager, according to FleishmanHillard's The Future of Asset Management in Asia 2022.

The report, which for the first time now covers four markets across Asia (mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore and South Korea) and follows three years of the well-received Future of Asset Management in China report, offers insights for global asset managers assessing opportunities in Asia. Published in collaboration with the agency's TRUE Global Intelligence practice, the report features analysis drawn from an online survey of Asian investors' attitudes and behaviors, plus an overview of the latest industry trends.

The survey shows that overseas asset managers are preferred for their performance (53%), track record (45%) and trustworthiness (43%) by investors over local players. Asian investors value asset managers that are transparent in customer communication (92%) and fee disclosure (89%) and that offer sophisticated risk management capabilities (90%) and strong ESG products (78%).

"Despite continuous market volatility in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, Asia continues to be an epicenter of growth for international asset managers, with China presenting opportunities for expansion amid an upsurge in the number of affluent investors in the region," said Patrick Yu, Asia Pacific lead of FleishmanHillard's Financial and Professional Services sector. "Credibility and performance continue to be key for investors in Asia choosing asset managers. Overseas managers need to think through how they can accommodate investors' appetites by delivering uncorrelated alpha with well-timed, top-notch investment solutions drawing upon a variety of global expertise and experiences."

The survey also found:

Asian investors show a strong preference for investing in the region they know the best: Asia Pacific . The exception here is South Korean investors, who are most keen to invest in North America (58%) and are almost as likely to target Europe (37%) as Asia Pacific (39%).

. The exception here is South Korean investors, who are most keen to invest in (58%) and are almost as likely to target (37%) as (39%). With the Ukraine - Russia conflict increasing global volatility, most investors are moving investments into lower risk options, although Singaporean investors are just as likely to maintain their current asset allocations as they are to reduce risk.

- conflict increasing global volatility, most investors are moving investments into lower risk options, although Singaporean investors are just as likely to maintain their current asset allocations as they are to reduce risk. Despite the fall in stock markets, particularly in growth segments, investors in the region still have their sights on investing in innovation sectors this year, with 53% of investors across the region saying they will invest in the internet and technology sector.

With a number of new investment themes breaking onto the scene in the last year, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse, the report shows a clear appetite among investors in the surveyed markets for products investing in these themes. Cryptocurrency-related products topped investors' wish-lists, with 45% showing interest despite weaker performance in the six months prior to the survey.

A total of 41% also expressed interest in metaverse-themed products, and 33% said they are considering investing in an NFT or digital collectible, which is largely driven by investors in the Hong Kong SAR, 43% of whom expressed interest.

More than half (59%) of investors use online methods for fund patronage, followed by independent financial advisers (46%) and wealth managers (43%).

FleishmanHillard's The Future of Asset Management in Asia 2022 report includes qualitative and quantitative data. FleishmanHillard TRUE Global Intelligence fielded an online survey of 418 investment professionals in mainland China, the Hong Kong SAR, Singapore and South Korea between April 27 and May 5, 2022. All respondents to the survey self-identified as working in investment, finance or banking, and had traded or invested in at least one of the following: equities funds (77%), fixed income (57%), ETF (48%), alternatives (15%), balanced funds (30%) or PE funds (11%).

Remarks: A mainland China focused report, The Future of Asset Management in China 2022, is also available for asset managers interested specifically in this growing market.

About FleishmanHillard

FleishmanHillard specializes in public relations, reputation management, public affairs, brand marketing, digital strategy, social engagement and content strategy. FleishmanHillard was named 2021 PRovoke Global Agency of the Year, 2021 ICCO Network of the Year, 2021 Campaign Global PR Agency of the Year, 2022 PRWeek U.S. Agency of the Year and Outstanding Extra-Large Agency of the Year; 2021 PRovoke APAC Consultancy of the Year; 2021 PRWeek UK Large Consultancy of the Year; Human Rights Campaign Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality 2018-2021; and to Seramount's (formerly Working Mother Media) "Top Companies for Executive Women" list 2010-2021. FleishmanHillard is part of Omnicom Public Relations Group, and has nearly 80 offices in more than 30 countries, plus affiliates in 45 countries.

About Omnicom Public Relations Group

Omnicom Public Relations Group is a global collective of three of the top global public relations agencies worldwide and specialist agencies in areas including public affairs, language strategy, global health strategy and change management. As the largest group of communications professionals in the world, our employees provide expertise to companies, government agencies, NGOs and nonprofits across a wide range of industries. Omnicom Public Relations Group delivers for clients through a relentless focus on talent, continuous pursuit of innovation and a culture steeped in collaboration. Omnicom Public Relations Group is part of the Communications Consultancy Network, a division of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC).



About Omnicom Group Inc.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries. Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.

SOURCE FleishmanHillard Inc.
Company Expands One of the Country's Most Sizeable Industrial Portfolios, Adding More Than 150 Acres in Eight Separate Acquisitions

$550 Million Portfolio Currently Spans 677 Acres Over 50 IOS Properties in 13 States

NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Criterion Group, a New York City-based investor and developer with 20 years of experience building across multiple asset types, including industrial, multifamily, film studios and self-storage, today announced the acquisition of eight industrial outdoor storage (IOS) properties totaling 151 acres for an aggregate purchase price of $45.3 million. With these acquisitions, Criterion Group's extensive IOS portfolio expands to 13 states and for the first time includes investments in Virginia and North Carolina.

The company's latest IOS acquisitions include:

A 57-acre site located at 3340 W. Norfolk Road, Portsmouth, Virginia .

. A 23-acre site located at 1593 Jessie Street and a 9.5-acre site located at 139 Eastport Road both in Jacksonville, Florida .

. A 16-acre site located at 8300 Moores Chapel Road in Charlotte and a 10.38-acre site located at 1891 Jenkins Dairy Road in Gastonia, North Carolina .

and a 10.38-acre site located at 1891 Jenkins Dairy Road in . A 15-acre site located at 101 Brookside Lane in East Hartford, Connecticut .

. A 10.38-acre site located at 4600 & 4700 Highway 73 in Port Arthur, Texas .

. A 10.11-acre site located at 1286 Milledge Street in East Point, Georgia .

"We're pleased to grow our portfolio of IOS properties with these acquisitions, which mark our first investments in Virginia and North Carolina and increase our presence to include 13 states with assets under ownership," said Shibber Khan, Principal of Criterion Group. "Adding more than 150 acres of IOS properties in six prime markets across the U.S. within roughly 90 days is indicative of the firm's momentum and our ability to rapidly identify and execute on strategic investment opportunities within the industrial space."

Criterion Group recently formed a joint venture (JV) with Columbia Pacific Advisors for the purpose of expanding its IOS portfolio throughout the U.S. by deploying an additional $2 billion in capital by the end of 2023.

Criterion's national portfolio of IOS properties brings to market more than 677 acres of land that will be utilized as industrial outdoor storage, including equipment yards, fleet storage, and logistics support services. Criterion's $550 million IOS portfolio currently includes over 50 properties in 13 states.

As America's industrial economic activity has shifted from manufacturing to heavily focused logistics and distribution, Criterion Group has been at the forefront of investment in the industrial asset class. With a "boots on the ground" business style, the firm continues to build upon its successful track record, attacking the scarcity of available, properly-zoned, and advantageously located land nationwide.

ABOUT CRITERION GROUP

With beginnings in the multifamily residential sector of western Queens, NY, Criterion Group LLC has built a capacity for scale and a diversity of asset types. Today, the Criterion portfolio spans apartment buildings, self-storage facilities, film studios, warehousing, industrial yards and truck parking facilities throughout the continental United States. Since 2002, Criterion has grown deliberately and organically with an eye for overlooked value. Often, the perceived undesirability of locations, asset types and financing constraints enables the team to identify and capitalize on opportunities in their infancy. As a result, Criterion's decisions have been predictive of institutional capital prior to saturation and overpricing of assets. For more information, please visit www.criteriongroup.com.

SOURCE Criterion Group
SAN FRANCISCO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global data center cooling market size is expected to reach USD 56.15 billion by 2030, advancing at a CAGR of 17.2% from 2022 to 2030, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. An increase in the number of data centers facilities worldwide is favoring the rapid growth in this space. Additionally, a gradual shift towards cloud services is creating demand for eco-friendly cooling technology.

Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report:

IT & telecom captured over 45% of the overall revenue share in 2021. 5G penetration and the pandemic that brought about a rapid need for digital transformation among enterprises is the key success factor for the segment's success over the last few years.

Raised floor containment, although ranking third among all containment types, is expected to gain traction in the future. The segment is projected to surpass a revenue demand of approximately USD 12.7 billion by 2030.

by 2030. Although the category was popular in earlier days, several factors such as ineffective cooling and costs have driven down the demand over the last few years.

The worldwide market for data center cooling is expected to witness substantial growth owing to the need for enhanced cooling techniques to negate the scorching heat due to rising global temperatures.

The market is highly consolidated and characterized by stiff competition with the presence of major global players, who are focusing on introducing different data center cooling techniques in order to enhance their market presence.

Get more Insights from 160-pages market research report, "Data Center Cooling Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product, By Application, By Containment, By Structure, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030", published by Grand View Research.

Data Center Cooling Market Growth & Trends

The favorable initiatives by governing bodies across the globe aimed at promoting cloud proliferation are driving the demand for data centers, subsequently creating avenues for the datacenter cooling industry. For instance, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) funded several projects related to cloud computing such as Smart Abu Dhabi or Smart Dubai. These projects were aimed at bringing in rapid digital transformation among enterprises while favoring the country's economic growth. Such initiatives and more by different governments globally will impel data center demand globally, thereby proliferating the need for cooling solutions.

The data center expansion is often associated with high CO2 emissions and increased energy usage. Furthermore, the data center cooling solutions are estimated to account for 35% of the total energy consumption in data center facilities. Therefore, vendors in this space are aiming to introduce sustainable cooling solutions while attempting to save over 70% of the cost associated with cooling. For example, Apple's North Carolina data center facility operates on sustainable power sources, and data center cooling is achieved through the free-air cooling technique, allowing the chillers to be off for almost 80% of the time.

Additionally, there is increasing pressure from the local and federal government agencies, environmentalists, and the general public, on organizations to implement green initiatives. Therefore, the rising demand for environment-friendly and cost-effective cooling solutions is expected to propel the growth of the datacenter cooling market. However, high installation and maintenance costs, electricity consumption, and carbon emissions are some of the challenges affecting the market growth.

Data Center Cooling Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global data center cooling market based on product, application, containment, structure, and region:

Data Center Cooling Market - Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Air Conditioners

Precision Air Conditioners

Chillers

Air Handling Units

Others

Data Center Cooling Market - Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Telecom

IT

Retail

Healthcare

BFSI

Energy

Others

Data Center Cooling Market - Containment Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Raised Floor With Containment

Hot Aisle Containment (HAC)



Cold Aisle Containment (CAC)

Raised Floor Without Containment

Data Center Cooling Market - Structure Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Rack-based Cooling

Row-based Cooling

Room-based Cooling

Data Center Cooling Market - Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada

Europe

U.K.



Germany



Nordic Countries

Asia Pacific

China



India



Japan



South East Asia

Latin America

Brazil



Mexico

Middle East & Africa

List of Key Companies in the Data Center Cooling Market

Asetek

Coolcentric

Netmagic Solutions

Schneider Electric

Air Enterprises

Fujitsu Limited

Climaveneta Climate Technologies (P) Ltd.

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

Data Center Power Market - The global data center power market size is expected to reach USD 15.0 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2022 to 2030, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is majorly driven by the shift in focus of end-users towards hyper-scale and colocation data centers. Rising establishments of such data center facilities are anticipated to result in an increasing demand for data center power equipment during the forecast period. The data center power industry has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid advancement in the datasets utilized & generated by various companies and individuals has resulted in a rise in data storage demand.

The global data center power market size is expected to reach by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2022 to 2030, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is majorly driven by the shift in focus of end-users towards hyper-scale and colocation data centers. Rising establishments of such data center facilities are anticipated to result in an increasing demand for data center power equipment during the forecast period. The data center power industry has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid advancement in the datasets utilized & generated by various companies and individuals has resulted in a rise in data storage demand. Data Center Substation Market - The global data center substation market size is expected to reach USD 14.80 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 5.6% from 2021 to 2030, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. Data centers are a vital part of the IT infrastructure of the digitized society. New data-intensive technologies and high-speed wireless networks have led to an increased demand for data centers among businesses of all sizes, right from major electricity-intensive industries to limited enterprise computing centers.

- The global data center substation market size is expected to reach by 2030, registering a CAGR of 5.6% from 2021 to 2030, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. Data centers are a vital part of the IT infrastructure of the digitized society. New data-intensive technologies and high-speed wireless networks have led to an increased demand for data centers among businesses of all sizes, right from major electricity-intensive industries to limited enterprise computing centers. Data Center Colocation Market - The global data center colocation market size is expected to reach USD 117.82 billion by 2028, recording a CAGR of 13.3% from 2021 to 2028, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. Several businesses and cloud service providers are shifting toward colocation or multi-tenant data centers, which is a key factor contributing to the market growth. Colocation is the preferred choice among numerous enterprises as it offers increased cost benefits compared to building and maintaining their own data center facility. Colocation data centers also offer operational flexibility while scaling up infrastructure to accommodate larger data volumes. With the rising costs of land, property, and IT infrastructure, these data centers are a viable option for SMEs due to limited IT spending.

Browse through Grand View Research's Communications Infrastructure Industry Research Reports.

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research Helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead.

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc.

Phone: +1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com

Grand View Compass | Astra ESG Solutions

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661327/Grand_View_Research_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
LONDON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Datatonic, a leader for Data + AI consulting on Google Cloud, today announced it has received the 2021 Google Cloud Specialization Partner of the Year award for Machine Learning.

Datatonic was recognized for the company's achievements in the Google Cloud ecosystem, helping joint customers scale their Machine Learning (ML) capabilities with Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) and achieve business impact with transformational ML solutions.

Datatonic has continuously invested in expanding their MLOps expertise, from defining what "good" MLOps looks like, to helping clients make their ML workloads faster, scalable, and more efficient. In just the past year, they have built high-performing MLOps platforms for global clients across the Telecommunications, Media, and e-Commerce sectors, enabling them to seamlessly leverage MLOps best practices across their teams.

Their recently open-sourced MLOps Turbo Templates, co-developed with Google Cloud's Vertex AI Pipelines product team, showcase Datatonic's experience implementing MLOps solutions, and Google Cloud's technical excellence to help teams get started with MLOps even faster.

"We're delighted with this recognition from our partners at Google Cloud. It's amazing to see our team go from strength to strength at the forefront of cutting-edge technology with Google Cloud and MLOps. We're proud to be driving continuous improvements to the tech stack in partnership with Google Cloud, and to drive impact and scalability with our customers, from increasing ROI in data and AI spending to unlocking new revenue streams." - Louis Decuypere - CEO, Datatonic

"Google Cloud Specializations recognize partner excellence and proven customer success in a particular product area or industry," said Nina Harding, Global Chief, Partner Programs and Strategy, Google Cloud. "Based on their certified, repeatable customer success and strong technical capabilities, we're proud to recognize Datatonic as Specialization Partner of the Year for Machine Learning."

Datatonic is a data consultancy enabling companies to make better business decisions with the power of Modern Data Stack and MLOps. Its services empower clients to deepen their understanding of consumers, increase competitive advantages, and unlock operational efficiencies by building cloud-native data foundations and accelerating high-impact analytics and machine learning use cases.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839415/Datatonic_Logo.jpg

For enquiries about new projects, get in touch at [email protected]

For media / press enquiries, contact Krisztina Gyure ([email protected])

SOURCE Datatonic Ltd
Platform uses predictive data to identify at-risk moms during first trimester; helps eliminate racial disparities by increasing equity in maternal outcomes

LOUISVILLE, Ky., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucina, a leader in women's maternity and predictive analytics and a business unit of Unified Women's Healthcare, is lowering preterm birth rates and NICU stays with their innovative, AI-enabled digital technology. This approach comes at a critical time when the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among industrialized countries, especially for women of color. African American mothers are three times more likely to die during childbirth than their white counterparts. Since 2000, the maternal mortality rate has risen nearly 60%, making it worse now than it was decades earlier, and the financial costs are staggering. In 2019, the maternal and child costs due to maternal morbidity for U.S. births were $32.3 billion, from conception to age 5. Addressing the maternal mortality and morbidity crisis is a key priority for the Biden-Harris administration, which is committed to supporting safe pregnancies and childbirth in our nation and reducing complications and mortality in the year following birth.

"Our country continues to experience disheartening high mortality rates for women of color that we can prevent. African American moms experience 40% worse outcomes than the national average," explains Dr. Trent Haywood, Lucina Advisory Board member and former Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "Lucina is the essential partner to positively impact this population with proven outcomes in lowering preterm birth rates and in NICU average length of stay by intervening in the first trimester, identifying problems, and providing solutions that increase positive birth outcomes. "

Lucina's Proven Approach

Lucina's technology identifies profiles, assesses, connects, and tracks at-risk mothers.Their proprietary database uses an algorithm that identifies 7,000 risk factors, while considering prominent social determinants of health (SDOH), like income level, educational level, medical insurance coverage, access to medical care, pre-pregnancy health, and general health status. The resulting data helps Lucina find 98% of moms before delivery and 72% in the first trimester, allowing for earlier engagement and access to care that will prevent adverse outcomes. It also improves patient engagement and addresses racial disparity gaps in care to connect families to the resources in their communities.

"As an OB/Gyn, I see a genuine sense of urgency for digital tools like Lucina's. This kind of AI-technology can be harnessed to improve not just perinatal outcomes but perinatal health equity," says Dr. Holly Puritz, an OB/Gyn and a board advisor for Lucina.

Lucina is the only technology with predictive data and information, which is the more effective way to identify these at-risk women and create proper treatment plans.

They also collect key '4th Trimester' data  this is the transition period after childbirth when infants are adjusting to life outside the womb and moms are adjusting to new parenthood. Significant biological, psychosocial, and social changes are occuring during this time but our current healthcare system does not support it sufficiently. With some plans, Lucina provides important risk assessment data 90 days post delivery, which is vital for moms and babies after they're discharged from the hospital.

An Essential Partner to Payors

Lucina works closely with national health plans by decreasing the incidence of low-birth-weight newborns and NICU stays by 10%, resulting in better patient outcomes and lessening the burden on our healthcare system. Many health plans offer maternity analytics, but they often fall short when it comes to early identification and real-time patient risk levels.

"Our system is an ideal supplement to health plans because 40% of at-risk moms are missed prior to birth by health plans alone. That means the healthcare system is failing almost half of pregnant women," says Dr. Matt Eakins, President of Lucina and Chief Innovation Officer of Unified Women's Healthcare. "We work closely with payors' case managers to ensure every woman can access the best healthcare in the world, improving quality metrics and creating a value-based framework that improves delivery outcomes and healthier communities over time."

Lucina also works collaboratively with medical providers to support whole-person case and address clinical and psychosocial needs.

For more information about Lucina, visit www.lucinaanalytics.com

About Lucina

Lucina delivers the leading women's maternity analytics platform to innovative health plans, Medicaid providers, and public entities. Lucina identifies women at-risk of preterm birth, usually within the first trimester, with personalized health improvement resources, making it easy for care managers to complete actions that optimize the health and well-being of women to improve birth outcomes and to create healthier communities over time.

About Unified Women's Healthcare (UWH)

Lucina Analytics is a business unit of Unified Women's Healthcare (UWH), a diversified women's health company and a single-specialty management services organization that has strategically grown to successfully become the largest physician practice management company dedicated solely to women. UWH supports more than 2,500 providers across nearly 900 locations in North America.

SOURCE Lucina Analytics
SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Kiana Aran , Associate Professor of Medical Diagnostics and Therapeutics at Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) and Chief Scientific Officer of Cardea Bio , recently received a Research Gift from Agilent Technologies' university relations program to support her research on developing a scalable detection platform to continuously monitor the quality and health of cell cultures using Cardea's graphene-based BPU (Biosignal Processing Unit) platform.

Currently, a major challenge in antibody manufacturing process development is enabling continuous cell culture analysis to maintain the desired quality while reducing time to market, maintaining cost effectiveness, and providing manufacturing flexibility. Current methods are costly and inefficient.

Dr. Paul Grint, executive chairman of the board at Cardea Bio, states, "The typical biomanufacturing process is complex and includes a cell culture process that generates the molecule of interest and a purification process to remove product-related impurities. Successful development and implementation of a tech infrastructure for real-time process monitoring at critical control points of this process can significantly improve quality and reduce cost associated with loss of products as well as personnel required for comprehensive analytical testing off-line."

Conventional tools for cell culture media analysis require manual sampling and different steps of sample preparation. The sample collection process increases the contamination risk, and monitoring each cell culture bioreactor individually is a time-consuming process. Thus, bioprocessing - both for production of biopharmaceuticals and cell therapy manufacturing - can greatly benefit from automated, streamlined measurements to minimize the hands-on time required to make these critical cell-based products and therapies.

"Currently, multiple instruments are required to measure each of the biomarkers and the bioproduct. Using Cardea's platform, a significant advantage is that it's a single platform that can monitor multiple types of analytes, from glucose to protein-based biomarkers." adds Dr. Kiana Aran, and continues, "Cardea's BPU can address the traditional bioprocessing challenges by continuously sampling and monitoring the health of the cell culture in real-time. The goal of utilizing BPUs is to increase the efficiency, sensitivity, and specificity of monitoring glucose metabolite, pH level, and antibody production in order to evaluate the cell performance, growing conditions, and ideal production environment."

For the project, Dr. Aran will be working closely with Dr. Chong Wing Yung, the Associate Director for Agilent's Research Programs, and Agilent Research Scientist Dr. Kristin Bernick.

"Through Agilent's ACT-UR grant with Professor Kiana Aran, we are excited to learn more about the application of her novel graphene-based semiconductors to the bioprocessing space," Yung said. "This will be a wonderful opportunity for us to gain exposure to using this exciting technology to continuously monitor and measure key parameters of cell cultures over time. In addition, we look forward to growing our relationship with Professor Aran and KGI."

The project will draw upon prior results in which BPUs rapidly detected and quantified serum proteins such as cytokines in a small volume of plasma, with very high sensitivity and specificity, and without the need for secondary antibodies and optical labels. The sensitivity enabled by the biosensor platform dramatically reduces the sample volume and experimental complexity in comparison to standard quantitative methods, while the label-free nature of the detection platform significantly reduces the complexity and need for reagents.

Link to KGI's article on the Research Gift from Agilent

About Cardea Bio

Cardea Bio is the world's only mass producer of a biocompatible semiconductor, the BPU (Biosignal Processing Unit). The BPU is the first and only semiconductor capable of translating real-time streams of multiomics signals into digital information. Through the BPU platform, Cardea's long-term vision is to democratize access to the biosignals and insights behind the most advanced technology on our planet: Nature and biology. The Internet of Biology is that way becoming possible.

Cardea's rapidly expanding IP portfolio now has 29 broad patents issued and another 32 patents pending, cementing Cardea's market-leader position in the graphene biosensor industry, where they are bringing the BPU (Biosignal Processing Unit) Platform to market.

Cardea is headquartered in San Diego and has additional activity in Los Angeles. Cardea is a 100% American developed and built biocompatible semiconductor technology for applications across a variety of sectors including human health, agriculture, molecular diagnostics, biotechnology, environmental monitoring, and animal health.

Contact Cardea

Lasse Gorlitz, VP of Communications

US phone: +1 858 319 7135

EU phone: +45 2758 2601

[email protected]

SOURCE Cardea Bio
STOCKHOLM, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Eurocine Vaccines AB ("Eurocine Vaccines") hereby announces that the company has entered into a research and collaboration agreement with Redbiotec AG ("Redbiotec"). The agreement gives Eurocine Vaccines the exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize vaccine candidates against Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2, HSV-2, based on the technologies developed by Redbiotec.

The agreement covers both an mRNA and a protein-based technology, its documentation and patents within the field of HSV-2. By entering this agreement, all activities related to the development, manufacture and commercialization until an out-licensing agreement with a third party is signed, will be managed and financed by Eurocine Vaccines.

The proceeds from any future out-licensing or granting of rights to third parties shall be shared between Eurocine Vaccines and Redbiotec, dependent on the projects development stage at which the agreement with the third party is entered. Redbiotec has a right to royalties on Eurocine Vaccines net sales of an approved HSV-2 vaccine, should such sales arise.

"I am very pleased that we have added this promising candidate to our portfolio, especially given the impressive scientific development of the therapeutic vaccine made to this point by Redbiotec," says CEO Hans Arwidsson, Eurocine Vaccines. The candidate is perfectly in line with our portfolio strategy, Dr. Arwidsson adds.

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 is a sexually transmitted disease that affects about half a billion people worldwide according to WHO. Implications that follow include painful genital blisters and/or ulcers, depression resulting from the negative impact on quality of life and sexual relationships, increased risk of HIV, neurological disabilities due to neonatal herpes and in rare cases, encephalitis. Presently treated mainly by antivirals, no effective therapeutic vaccine is available on the market today.

"We are very content to have engaged Eurocine Vaccines for the leap ahead, taking our novel HSV-2 candidates from innovation towards a potential blockbuster. Eurocine Vaccines has proven to be one of the few vaccine experts who are engaged, committed and able to do just that," says Christian Schaub, co-founder and CEO of Redbiotec.

Redbiotec is a private biotech company located near Zurich, Switzerland, founded in 2006. With an expertise in complex proteins and microbial engineering, Redbiotec has a successful track record in collaborating with pharma companies in the field of vaccines (e.g. Redvax, a Redbiotec spin-off, acquired by Pfizer). Redbiotec is now working on several projects including proteins for the food industry and proteins and genetic materials for the pharma and biotech industry. https://www.redbiotec.ch/

Immediate action points following the signing of this agreement include;

Planning the forthcoming development, including preclinical and clinical studies, documentation, patents and business development along with active marketing.

Deciding which technology to pursue  the mRNA or protein-based vaccine candidate.

Evaluate the potential of a prophylactic HSV-2 vaccine to follow the development of this therapeutic vaccine, and the potential synergies of these two.

Read more about our development process, how we bridge the gap between innovation and market: https://www.eurocine-vaccines.com/bridging-the-gap/

This information is such information that Eurocine Vaccines AB 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, on 14 June 2022.

CONTACT:

Hans Arwidsson, Ph.D., MBA

CEO of Eurocine Vaccines AB

[email protected]

+46 70 634 0171

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/eurocine-vaccines/r/eurocine-vaccines-expands-its-portfolio-with-a-therapeutic-hsv-2-vaccine-candidate,c3585336

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/11552/3585336/1592747.pdf Eurocine Vaccines expands its portfolio with a therapeutic HSV-2 vaccine candidate https://news.cision.com/eurocine-vaccines/i/centrifug,c3060763 Centrifug

SOURCE Eurocine Vaccines
The award-winning unified communications company provides essential tools to support remote & hybrid workers.

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolve IP, a leading, global service provider of Work Anywhere solutions, today announced that it will be featured on Inside the Blueprint on FOX Business Network on June 19th, 2022, and Bloomberg International on July 10th, 2022. Inside the Blueprint is an award-winning educational show highlighting innovations and new technologies impacting business performance & growth.

As a leading provider of remote and hybrid work solutions, Evolve IP was delighted to be among the innovative influencers featured in this program.

With appearances from Pete Stevenson (Evolve IP CEO) and Randall Thompson (Chief Revenue Officer) and Christian Teeft (Chief Technology Officer), the spot focused on how crucial it is to support hybrid and remote workers, and how Evolve IP is uniquely positioned to help organizations.

Evolve IP: Providing Reliability and Support for Work Anywhere

CRO Randall Thompson explains the realities all business leaders face today: "[Employees'] ability to work remotely, from any device, is paramount to their success in a complex IT environment."

Remote work has changed business operations in fundamental ways, not least of which relates to security. And yet, most businesses have yet to implement an effective, long-term plan for not only equipping employees to work from home, but making that a reliably secure arrangement.

CEO Pete Stevenson acknowledges Evolve IP's integral role in advancing technology for "work from anywhere" employees: "Evolve IP is a global provider of 'work anywhere' solutions, with operations throughout the United States, United Kingdom, and the rest of Europe. We cover the world with our services, which primarily include unified communication solutions, contact center, and desktop as a service, all on a cloud-based platform."

He describes the support system Evolve IP provides in this way: "We are your ally. We take your essential workplace tools, fill the gaps, and get them working together as a simple, fine-tuned solution."

CTO Christian Teeft explains that, "When we're focusing on the core services, it's allowing your organization to be more productive and efficient."

Evolve IP actively supports the fact that an office is no longer just a physical place  it's a collection of people who need to work together from wherever they are. In the segment, Inside the Blueprint explains how offering cloud-based workplace tools is not only a preference, it's become a competitive advantage.

About Evolve IP

Evolve IP partners with the world's biggest tech companies to bring together their unified communications, collaboration, voice, virtual desktop, and contact center tools into a single, secure solution, fine-tuned for the hybrid workforce. By seamlessly integrating these disparate systems from leaders like Microsoft, Cisco, Citrix, and VMware, and filling in the gaps, they are improving the user experience for both employees and customers, while centralizing technology management. So, no matter how locations, tools, and partners shift over time, you have a permanent hybrid workplace solution that makes the future of work better for everyone.

About Inside the Blueprint

"Inside the Blueprint," a national TV series airing on Fox Business Network and Bloomberg International, creates engaging educational content with partners focused on innovations, technology and new solutions impacting the built environment. Each episode explores four important aspects related to cutting-edge technology, products and services: the Inspiration, the Idea, the Process and the Impact. "Inside the Blueprint" creates comprehensive, visually stunning behind the scenes looks at how products are made and installed and the far-reaching benefits they're having on the built environmentand the world. For more information on ITB, contact Robert Holodak at 954.637.8581.

Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12921014

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Evolve IP
Partnerships with top institutions move leading candidates into pre-clinical evaluation; platform updates enable discovery of new targets

EMERYVILLE, Calif., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fauna Bio , a biotechnology company pioneering the fields of comparative, computational and translational genomics, is celebrating its fourth birthday this month with the release of Centaur, a knowledge graph that is the first of its kind to visualize the intersection between animal gene expression data and human diseases in one comprehensive map. With Centaur, Fauna Bio is able to more rapidly identify human disease indications and targets to generate new therapeutic solutions for some of the most serious human diseases. Orca is another new update to the Convergence platform, and enables direct comparison of gene expression signatures from naturally disease-resistant species with those from humans. Convergence now leverages genomic analyses across 452 mammal species (65 of which are hibernators), an 86 percent increase from two years ago.

Much of the company's focus is cardiac and pulmonary diseases, where current treatments mainly focus on symptom management rather than treating the underlying condition. Faun1003, a compound discovered through LEO (Fauna Bio's drug prediction module), is being investigated for use in lung injury and pulmonary hypertension. While uniquely differentiated, retrospective analyses of similar compounds show a survival advantage in critical care settings for patients with lung injury that receive this drug, providing additional human support for the target of Faun1003.

Fauna Bio's first neuronal program, Faun264G, looks to improve the survival of human neurons deprived of glucose. A pilot study found knockdown of 264G in-vivo impairs the ability of 13-lined ground squirrels to enter torpor, validating its function. Fauna will continue with expanded in-vivo experiments to understand its role in controlling metabolism this summer. Fauna Bio has also initiated a new discovery program in inflammatory bowel disease, seeking targets to improve epithelial barrier function and reduce immune cell migration. Forty-five percent of compounds predicted for use in IBD by LEO have already been investigated, suggesting strong enrichment for IBD targets. The company has also completed brain cortex and kidney sequencing, with target predictions coming soon.

These updates build on the company's momentum since raising $9M in funding last year . Since then, Fauna has expanded partnerships with leading academic institutions, including the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Monash University in Australia. Both collaborations focus on studying genes from the 13-lined ground squirrel that allow for survival during hibernation under extreme conditions. Monash University will assist in additional pre-clinical testing of Fauna compounds, while UW-O supports the existing colony, additional tissue collections, and in-vivo experiments. Through a new partnership with the University of Nevada - Las Vegas, Fauna will add genes from tenrecs, a second hibernating species, to Fauna Bio's proprietary biobank.

"We continue to see how the power of comparative genomics, and looking outside of our own species, is like building a stronger magnet to help us find that elusive needle in the haystack. By introducing a small amount of the right data and applying it in the right way, we can more quickly identify the real opportunities to make a difference for people suffering from diseases with unmet needs," said Ashley Zehnder, Ph.D., D.V.M, CEO of Fauna Bio. "We've had incredible support from the National Human Genomics Research Institute , the National Institute of Health, our investors, and advisors to continue educating and bringing these programs closer to finding real therapeutic solutions for many of the worst human diseases."

Fauna will be attending the 2022 BIO International Convention in San Diego this week, with Dr. Zehnder speaking on a panel, " Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Case Studies in Rare Disease Drug Development ," on Wednesday, June 15th, from 1:45-2:45 p.m. PDT. Registration for BIO is required to attend. For more information on Fauna Bio, please visit www.faunabio.com .

About Fauna Bio

Fauna Bio is an end-to-end target and drug discovery platform company and a pioneer in computational, comparative and translational genomics. Fauna Bio is mining the shared genetics between mammals and humans to pinpoint specific genes and pathways that result in disease resistance to some of the most common and deadly human diseases. With a proprietary biobank that includes thousands of tissue samples across multiple species and time points, unparalleled data curation, comparative genomics, machine learning-based target predictions and compound predictions, the Fauna Bio platform identifies extraordinary genes which are highly conserved across species and predicts small molecules that replicate disease resistance to jumpstart human drug development.

SOURCE Fauna Bio
NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. (NYSE: FHS) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.

This lawsuit is on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased FHS American Depositary Shares in or traceable to the Company's March 2021 initial public offering.

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 11, 2022

No obligation or cost to you.

Learn more about your recoverable losses in FHS:

https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/first-high-school-education-group-co-ltd-loss-submission-form?id=28436&from=4

First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. NEWS - FHS NEWS

CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (a) the new rules, regulations and policies to be implemented by the Chinese government following the Two Sessions parliamentary meetings were far more severe than represented to investors and posed a material adverse threat to the Company and its business; (b) contemplated Chinese regulations and rules regarding private education were leading to a slowdown of government approval to open new educational facilities which would have a negative effect on FHS's enrollment and growth; and (c) as a result, representations made in connection with the Company's initial public offering regarding FHS's historical financial and operational metrics and purported market opportunities did not accurately reflect the actual business, operations, and financial results and trajectory of the Company at the time of the initial public offering, and were materially false and misleading and lacked a factual basis.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in FHS you have until July 11, 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 FHS 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 FHS lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/first-high-school-education-group-co-ltd-loss-submission-form?id=28436&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
Users will benefit from advanced treasury and risk management capabilities

PARIS, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Finastra today announced a partnership with Lozenge Analytics, offering the capabilities to Fusion KTP customers. The combined solution, available in the cloud or on-premise, is available to clients in France and the Benelux region, with the potential to expand into other geographies in the future.

Finastra's Fusion KTP treasury management solution provides corporate and bank treasurers with a consolidated view of their liquidity and financial positions  enabling them to see all financial exposures, optimize their hedging costs, reduce risk and ensure compliance. Integrating the capabilities of Lozenge Analytics will allow Fusion KTP users to perform complex statistical risk calculations. This includes using methods such as Value at Risk (VAR), Potential Future Exposure, Valuation, and Delta to work out potential losses or exposures.

Eric Aillet, Principal Product Manager at Finastra said, "The Lozenge Analytics team has in-depth knowledge of Fusion KTP and a wealth of experience in the areas of risk management, regulation and compliance. The integration of Lozenge Analytics with Fusion KTP brings significant value, and we look forward to working together to deliver these benefits to our clients."

Using Lozenge Analytics, integrated with Fusion KTP, bank treasurers will be able to perform stress tests as required by the European Banking Authority. Treasurers will be able to run different scenarios in order to demonstrate the institution's ability to deal with a range of crisis situations.

Renaud Savina, CEO of Lozenge Analytics said, "We're thrilled to partner with Finastra. Collaborating will help us extend our reach and deliver our capabilities to Fusion KTP users. We believe customers will benefit immensely from the ability to perform complex statistical risk calculations using a fully integrated solution in the cloud."

For further information please contact:

Caroline Duff

Global Head of PR

T +44 (0)7917 613586

E [email protected]

About Finastra

Finastra is a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, and launched the leading open platform for innovation, FusionFabric.cloud, in 2017. It serves institutions of all sizes, providing award-winning solutions and services across Lending, Payments, Treasury & Capital Markets and Retail & Digital Banking for banks to support direct banking relationships and grow through indirect channels, such as embedded finance and Banking as a Service. Its pioneering approach and commitment to open finance and collaboration is why it is trusted by ~8,600 institutions, including 90 of the world's top 100 banks. For more information, visit finastra.com.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/finastra

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinastraFS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXMHbdfIgA6bzw_fsPN39bg

Corporate headquarters

4 Kingdom Street

Paddington

London W2 6BD

United Kingdom

T: +44 20 3320 5000

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/967510/Finastra_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Finastra
This new funding brings Flip's total Series B to more than $100 million and follows on the heels of Flip's first Series B round in December 2021 which was co-led by Sequoia Capital India, Insight Partners, and Insignia Ventures Partners. Flip will use the capital to ramp up its workforce with a focus on engineering and product teams, invest in new product and technology development to provide a higher quality of service, and further accelerate its business expansion.

Flip aims to be the most customer-centric financial technology company in the world by enabling individuals and businesses to conduct fair, low-cost financial transactions from anywhere to anyone on a digital platform. Flip's innovative solutions solve common problems experienced while conducting financial transactions, such as money getting stuck while transferring, lengthy transfer processes, and inconvenient product experiences with complicated flows. The company's most prominent products include online P2P (peer-to-peer) payments with interbank transfers to more than 100 domestic banks, international remittances, e-wallet top-ups, and business solution products.

Flip was founded by University of Indonesia alumni Rafi Putra Arriyan, Luqman Sungkar, and Ginanjar Ibnu Solikhin who started building the company while studying. The platform is an answer to the problem Rafi himself experienced as a college student - long turnaround time to transfer funds and incurring a transfer fee each time to different banks.

"The growth opportunity of the Indonesian digital economy is vast with its massive population and favorable demographics," said Rafi Putra Arriyan, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Flip. "We are laser-focused on helping millions of Indonesians, both individuals and businesses, execute various money transactions at a low cost through our platform. We believe in the vast potential of P2P (peer-to-peer) payment because it is customary in Indonesia to send money via transfer for both personal, family, or household purposes. Despite many others trying and failing, we have succeeded in capturing the market because of our customer-focused understanding."

Gita Prihanto, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Flip, said: "We are humbled to receive trust and continuous support from our investors. We are also thrilled to welcome Tencent and Block, who share the same purpose of making fintech accessible to everyone in Indonesia. The knowledge and expertise from our strong partners, both renowned global firms and angel investors, will help us to grow our business amid the challenging times facing today's global market and tech landscape. This investment phase invigorates our aspiration to have an even greater positive impact on society by continuing to expand our fintech solutions and by promoting the digital economy ecosystem in Indonesia."

In the first half of 2022, Flip increased the size of its team size by 30% to over 400 employees. In addition, the company has driven significant growth in user volume and has served more than 10 million users for various kinds of financial transactions from and to different regions in Indonesia and overseas. Its business solutions have hundreds of companies of all sizes as users of disbursement and remittance services such as employee payroll, customer refunds, invoice/supplier payments, and international transfers.

About Flip

Flip (PT Fliptech Lentera Inspirasi Pertiwi) is an Indonesian financial technology company leading in consumer payment platform. Obtaining a license from Bank Indonesia (BI) in 2016, Flip provides fair financial solutions, including interbank transfers, overseas transfers, e-wallet top-ups, digital products, and one-stop financial management solution for business (B2B).

Flip is trusted by millions of users with a rating of 4.7 out of 5, with more than 250,000 reviews on iOS and Android. In addition, hundreds of companies and SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) in Indonesia have the Flip B2B solution products.

Flip was founded in 2015 by Rafi Putra Arriyan, Luqman Sungkar, and Ginanjar Ibnu Solikhin. Owing to the innovation and persistence of the entire team, Flip has won several awards, including Forbes 30 Under 30 and LinkedIn Top Startup. Flip aims to be the most customer-centric financial technology company in the world and enable users to do fair financial transactions from anywhere to anyone.

The Flip app can be downloaded via iOS and Android. For further information, please visit flip.id

About Tencent

Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Its communication and social services, Weixin and QQ, connect users with each other and with digital content and services, both online and offline, making their lives more convenient. The targeted advertising service helps advertisers reach out to hundreds of millions of consumers in China. The FinTech and business services support its partners' business growth and assist their digital upgrade.

Tencent invests heavily in talent and technological innovation, actively promoting the development of the Internet industry. Tencent was founded in Shenzhen, China, in 1998. Shares of Tencent (00700.HK) are listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

About Insight Partners

Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of February 24, 2022, the closing of the firm's recent fundraise, Fund XII, brings Insight Partners' regulatory assets under management to over $90B. Insight Partners has invested in more than 600 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and Palo Alto. Insight's mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on software expertise to foster long-term success. Insight Partners meets great software leaders where they are in their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners

SOURCE Flip
Since becoming a Givex client less than two years ago, BarBurrito Restaurants Inc. has more than doubled its footprint, expanding from 80 to 185 locations

TORONTO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Givex Information Technology Group Ltd . (Givex) (TSX: GIVX) (OTCQX: GIVXF), a global leader in omnichannel processing of gift cards, loyalty, and digital merchandise credit, is pleased to announce that GivexPOS, mobile app, gift card and loyalty client BarBurrito Restaurants Inc. has become the largest Mexican restaurant chain in Canada.

"Since BarBurrito initially partnered with Givex, the brand has grown to become Canada's largest Mexican restaurant chain," said Mo Chaar, chief commercial officer of Givex. "This is an incredible accomplishment and demonstrates the scalability of Givex technology. We look forward to continuing to support BarBurrito's growth and expansion through our ongoing partnership."

Givex, the global IT platform that provides omnichannel POS, gift card, loyalty and stored value ticketing solutions, first partnered with BarBurrito in October 2020, as its POS system provider in Saskatchewan. Since then, Givex has become the POS provider across all locations.

In December 2021, Givex announced a new omnichannel technology partnership with BarBurrito. Using Givex's online ordering, gift card and loyalty technology, all relationships throughout the BarBurrito network are handled through a single solution with a high level of service that encompasses the chain's needs in a one-time setup.

"We're excited to have achieved this milestone with the help of Givex technology," said Sameer Lalji, Senior Vice President of BarBurrito Restaurants Inc. "From coast to coast, the support is seamless. All facets of the Givex system are integrated, helping optimize operations and supporting our growth."

Founded in Toronto in 2005, BarBurrito Restaurants Inc. is Canada's leading chain offering Tex-Mex fare. With over 185 locations and more on the way, BarBurrito continues its expansion with the support of Givex technology.

For more information about Givex technology, visit givex.com .

About Givex

Givex (TSX: GIVX;OTCQX: GIVXF) is a global fintech company providing merchants with customer engagement, point of sale and payment solutions, all in a single platform. We are integrated with 1000+ technology partners, creating a fully end-to-end solution that delivers powerful customer insights. Our platform is used by some of the world's largest brands, comprising approximately 100,000+ active locations across more than 100 countries. Learn more at givex.com .

SOURCE Givex
DUBLIN, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Capnography Market (2022-2027) by Product, Product Type, Technology, Application, End-User, Connector, Application Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Capnography Market is estimated to be USD 497.14 Mn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 892.28 Mn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 12.41%.



Market Dynamics

Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Capnography Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals.



As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks.

Company Profiles

The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are Becton, Dickinson and Company, Burtons Medical Equipment, Criticare Technologies, Dragerwerk, etc.



Countries Studied

America ( Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , United States , Rest of Americas)

, , , , , , , , Rest of Americas) Europe ( Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Russia , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , United Kingdom , Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Middle-East and Africa ( Egypt , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Rest of MEA)

and ( , , , , , , Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific ( Australia , Bangladesh , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Taiwan , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes 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.



Ansoff Analysis

The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global Capnography Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.



The report analyses the Global Capnography Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.



Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, the analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Capnography 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 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, 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

3 Executive Summary



4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Increasing Prevalence of Respiratory and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases

4.1.2 Increase in Geriatric Population

4.1.3 Increasing Number of Surgeries

4.1.4 Increase in Number of ICU Admissions

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 High Costs of Device

4.2.2 Stringent Government Regulatory Procedures

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 High Growth Potential in Emerging Countries

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Presence of Alternative Respiratory Monitoring Devices Such as Gas Analyzers and Pulse Oximetry



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 Capnography Market, By Product

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Capnometers

6.3 Accessories



7 Global Capnography Market, By Product Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Handheld

7.3 Conventional



8 Global Capnography Market, By Technology

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Main-stream

8.3 Side-stream

8.4 Micro-stream

9 Global Capnography Market, By Connector

9.1 Introduction

9.2 LC Connector

9.3 SC Connector

9.4 MPO Connector

9.5 RJ-45



10 Global Capnography Market, By Application

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Trauma and Emergency Care

10.3 Cardiac Care

10.4 Respiratory Monitoring

10.5 Others



11 Global Capnography Market, By End-User

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Hospitals and Clinics

11.3 Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs)

12 Americas' Capnography Market

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Argentina

12.3 Brazil

12.4 Canada

12.5 Chile

12.6 Colombia

12.7 Mexico

12.8 Peru

12.9 United States

12.10 Rest of Americas



13 Europe's Capnography Market

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Austria

13.3 Belgium

13.4 Denmark

13.5 Finland

13.6 France

13.7 Germany

13.8 Italy

13.9 Netherlands

13.10 Norway

13.11 Poland

13.12 Russia

13.13 Spain

13.14 Sweden

13.15 Switzerland

13.16 United Kingdom

13.17 Rest of Europe



14 Middle East and Africa's Capnography Market

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Egypt

14.3 Israel

14.4 Qatar

14.5 Saudi Arabia

14.6 South Africa

14.7 United Arab Emirates

14.8 Rest of MEA



15 APAC's Capnography Market

15.1 Introduction

15.2 Australia

15.3 Bangladesh

15.4 China

15.5 India

15.6 Indonesia

15.7 Japan

15.8 Malaysia

15.9 Philippines

15.10 Singapore

15.11 South Korea

15.12 Sri Lanka

15.13 Thailand

15.14 Taiwan

15.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific



16 Competitive Landscape

16.1 Competitive Quadrant

16.2 Market Share Analysis

16.3 Strategic Initiatives

16.3.1 M&A and Investments

16.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

16.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



17 Company Profiles

17.1 Becton, Dickinson, and Company

17.2 Burtons Medical Equipment

17.3 Criticare Technologies

17.4 Dragerwerk

17.5 Edan Instruments

17.6 GE Healthcare

17.7 Hamilton Bonaduz

17.8 Hill-Rom Services

17.9 Infinium Medical

17.10 Koninklijke Philips

17.11 Masimo

17.12 Medtronic

17.13 Nihon Kohden

17.14 Nonin Medical

17.15 SLE

17.16 Smiths Medical

17.17 Zoe Medical



18 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/o0xcqu

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
DUBLIN, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global POP Display Market (2022-2027) by Material Type, Sales Channel, Application, Geography, Competitive Analysis, and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global POP Display Market is estimated to be USD 12.1 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 16.27 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 6.1%.



Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global POP Display Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals.



As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks.

Company Profiles

The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are International Paper Company, DS Smith, Smurfit Kappa Group, Sonoco Products Company, Marketing Alliance Group, Mitchel-Loln, Creative Displays Now, Dana, POPTECH, EZ POP, etc.



Countries Studied

America ( Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , United States , Rest of Americas)

, , , , , , , , Rest of Americas) Europe ( Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Russia , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , United Kingdom , Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Middle-East and Africa ( Egypt , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Rest of MEA)

and ( , , , , , , Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific ( Australia , Bangladesh , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Taiwan , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes 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.



Ansoff Analysis

The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global POP Display Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.



The report analyses the Global POP Display Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.



Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, the analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global POP Display 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 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, 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



3 Executive Summary



4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Growing Advertisements Tacts by FMCG Industries and Food Service Agencies

4.1.2 Rising Discretionary Income of the Urban Population

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 High Upfront Cost

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Fast Growth in the Organized Retail Sector, Especially in Emerging Economies

4.3.2 Growing Investments in Retail Sectors

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Limited Reach and Unclear Message Communication



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 POP Display Market, By Material Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Corrugated Board Foam Board

6.3 Plastic Sheet

6.3.1 Expanded PVC

6.3.2 Acrylic

6.3.3 Polycarbonate

6.3.4 Others

6.4 Glass

6.5 Metal



7 Global POP Display Market, By Sales Channel

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Hypermarket &Supermarket

7.3 Departmental Store

7.4 Specialty Store

7.5 Convenience Store

7.6 Others



8 Global POP Display Market, By Application

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Food & Beverages

8.3 Cosmetics & Personal Care

8.4 Pharmaceuticals

8.5 Printing & Stationary

8.6 Electronics

8.7 Automotive

8.8 Others



9 Americas' POP Display Market

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Argentina

9.3 Brazil

9.4 Canada

9.5 Chile

9.6 Colombia

9.7 Mexico

9.8 Peru

9.9 United States

9.10 Rest of Americas



10 Europe's POP Display Market

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Austria

10.3 Belgium

10.4 Denmark

10.5 Finland

10.6 France

10.7 Germany

10.8 Italy

10.9 Netherlands

10.10 Norway

10.11 Poland

10.12 Russia

10.13 Spain

10.14 Sweden

10.15 Switzerland

10.16 United Kingdom

10.17 Rest of Europe



11 Middle East and Africa's POP Display Market

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Egypt

11.3 Israel

11.4 Qatar

11.5 Saudi Arabia

11.6 South Africa

11.7 United Arab Emirates

11.8 Rest of MEA



12 APAC's POP Display Market

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Australia

12.3 Bangladesh

12.4 China

12.5 India

12.6 Indonesia

12.7 Japan

12.8 Malaysia

12.9 Philippines

12.10 Singapore

12.11 South Korea

12.12 Sri Lanka

12.13 Thailand

12.14 Taiwan

12.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific



13 Competitive Landscape

13.1 Competitive Quadrant

13.2 Market Share Analysis

13.3 Strategic Initiatives

13.3.1 M&A and Investments

13.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

13.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



14 Company Profiles

14.1 International Paper Company

14.2 DS Smith

14.3 Smurfit Kappa Group

14.4 Sonoco Products Company

14.5 Menasha Packaging Company

14.6 Georgia-pacific

14.7 Pratt Industries

14.8 FFR Merchandising Company

14.9 Marketing Alliance Group

14.10 Repack Canada

14.11 Avante

14.12 GLBC

14.13 Ravenshoe Packaging

14.14 Mitchel-Loln

14.15 Creative Displays Now

14.16 Dana

14.17 POPTECH

14.18 Noble Industries

14.19 Promag

14.20 EZ POP



15 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/vzna7t

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
DUBLIN, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Smart Beacon Market (2022-2027) by Beacon Standard, Connectivity Service, Offerings, End Use, Geography, Competitive Analysis, and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Smart Beacon Market is estimated to be USD 17 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 148.98 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 54.36%.



Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Smart Beacon Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals.



As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks.

Company Profiles

The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are Accent Advanced Systems, BlueUp, Chengdu JAALEE Technology, Cisco Systems, Estimote, Fujitsu Components, Gimbal, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development, HID Global, indoors, Kontaktio, Leantegra, MobStac, Moko Technology, Radius Networks, Samsung Electronics, Sensoro, etc.

Countries Studied

America ( Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , United States , Rest of Americas)

, , , , , , , , Rest of Americas) Europe ( Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Russia , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , United Kingdom , Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Middle-East and Africa ( Egypt , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Rest of MEA)

and ( , , , , , , Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific ( Australia , Bangladesh , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Taiwan , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes 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.

Ansoff Analysis

The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global Smart Beacon Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.



The report analyses the Global Smart Beacon Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.



Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, the analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth.

Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Smart Beacon 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 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, 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



3 Executive Summary



4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Growing Adoption of Smartphones

4.1.2 Growing Need for Spatial Data to Be Used in Analytics

4.1.3 Increasing Focus on Business Intelligence to Gain Competitive Advantage

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Growing Trend Among Offline Stores to Opt for Online Platforms in Retail Sector

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Adoption of Smart Beacons in Logistics and Transportation

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Restricted Sensing Capabilities Due to Limitations in Underlying BLE Technology



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 Smart Beacon Market, By Beacon Standard

6.1 Introduction

6.2 iBeacon

6.3 Eddystone

6.4 Others



7 Global Smart Beacon Market, By Connectivity Service

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

7.3 BLE 4.0

7.4 BLE 5.0

7.5 Hybrid



8 Global Smart Beacon Market, By Offerings

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Hardware

8.3 Standard Beacon

8.4 Card Beacon

8.5 Sticker Beacon

8.6 Software

8.7 Content Management Software

8.8 Analytics Software

8.9 Other Software

8.10 Service

8.11 Project Management Service

8.12 Consulting Service

8.13 Maintenance & Support Service



9 Global Smart Beacon Market, By End Use

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Retail

9.3 Public Gatherings & Spaces

9.4 Hospitality

9.5 Transportation & Logistics

9.6 Sports

9.7 Aviation

9.8 Healthcare

9.9 Automotive

9.10 Bank, Financial Services, Insurance (BFSI)

9.11 Education

9.12 Others



10 Americas' Smart Beacon Market

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Argentina

10.3 Brazil

10.4 Canada

10.5 Chile

10.6 Colombia

10.7 Mexico

10.8 Peru

10.9 United States

10.10 Rest of Americas



11 Europe's Smart Beacon Market

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Austria

11.3 Belgium

11.4 Denmark

11.5 Finland

11.6 France

11.7 Germany

11.8 Italy

11.9 Netherlands

11.10 Norway

11.11 Poland

11.12 Russia

11.13 Spain

11.14 Sweden

11.15 Switzerland

11.16 United Kingdom

11.17 Rest of Europe



12 Middle East and Africa's Smart Beacon Market

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Egypt

12.3 Israel

12.4 Qatar

12.5 Saudi Arabia

12.6 South Africa

12.7 United Arab Emirates

12.8 Rest of MEA



13 APAC's Smart Beacon Market

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Australia

13.3 Bangladesh

13.4 China

13.5 India

13.6 Indonesia

13.7 Japan

13.8 Malaysia

13.9 Philippines

13.10 Singapore

13.11 South Korea

13.12 Sri Lanka

13.13 Thailand

13.14 Taiwan

13.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Competitive Quadrant

14.2 Market Share Analysis

14.3 Strategic Initiatives

14.3.1 M&A and Investments

14.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

14.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



15 Company Profiles

15.1 Accent Advanced Systems

15.2 BlueUp

15.3 Chengdu JAALEE Technology

15.4 Cisco Systems

15.5 Estimote

15.6 Fujitsu Components

15.7 Gimbal

15.8 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development

15.9 HID Global

15.10 indoors

15.11 Kontaktio

15.12 Leantegra

15.13 MobStac

15.14 Moko Technology

15.15 Radius Networks

15.16 Samsung Electronics

15.17 Sensoro



16 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/p5a7bs

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
Leading Digital Health Innovators Come Together to Change Industry's Attitude and Approach to Regulatory Oversight

BOSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) launched a collaborative project, Digital Health Regulatory Pathways , with partners including Abbott, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Google, and the Harvard-MIT Center for Regulatory Science to develop tools to help transform product and regulatory strategy for digital health solution providers. Contemplating a broad spectrum of digital health solutions  including clinical decision support systems, digital diagnostics and therapeutics, extended reality, and remote monitoring technologies  the planned resources will support innovators seeking to optimize their regulatory strategy to drive the development of high quality, trustworthy digital health products that best meet their commercial goals and the needs of patients.

Digital health solutions offer enormous promise to address some of the most pressing and persistent challenges in healthcare. However, end users are confused as they seek to differentiate between the 300k+ health apps available for download and much more sophisticated, evidence-based digital health solutions. Digital health innovators are equally confused. In a recent survey of the digital medicine community, DiMe found that 25% of developers didn't know whether their digital health product should be regulated. Of those surveyed who knew their product should be regulated, 75% reported not knowing the optimal regulatory pathway.

"We need to flip the script and see regulatory strategy become a differentiator for digital health solution providers. As we anticipate a tightening of funding for digital innovators, the importance of selecting optimal regulatory pathways for individual products and product portfolios becomes critically important to ensure market access, trust, and adoption," said Jennifer Goldsack, CEO of DiMe. "We are proud to work alongside industry leaders and our regulatory colleagues to provide the clarity and structure needed for innovators to pursue regulatory pathways that position their products to have the greatest impact on healthcare delivery and patients' lives."

Over the next few months, DiMe and its partners will create an open access, interactive, regulatory science support tool that is based on existing FDA and other agency guidance documents. It can be used by digital solutions providers as they evaluate the following questions: What is the right regulatory strategy for our product? What are the pros and cons of pursuing a regulatory pathway? What are the key milestones and evidence needed to be successful?

"We believe digital health solutions have the potential to unlock more accessible and equitable care for everyone, powered by new technologies and advances in areas like artificial intelligence and machine learning," said Linda Peters, Vice President of Quality, Regulatory & Safety, Health at Google. "We're delighted that DiMe is convening this group to develop and extend tools that can support the wider ecosystem, so that we can all help accelerate the translation of new technologies from ideas to daily use."

The development of this tool and companion resources, which will be publicly available in early 2023, is just one part of DiMe's implementation work to support broad acceptance of digital health tools and optimization of regulatory strategy. DiMe has a robust history of success in this area, including work with the German Ministry of Health , the adoption of previous work by regulatory authorities, and existing partnerships with the FDA (DiMe hosts the Digital Health Measurement Collaborative Community (DATAcc) and is part of FDA's " Network of Experts" .

Community partners on this project are Abbott, Aetion, Amgen, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the Digital Therapeutic Alliance (DTA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Genentech - a member of the Roche Group, Google, the Harvard-MIT Center for Regulatory Science, Janssen, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, Rock Health, Sidekick Health, and Tidepool.

Those interested in receiving updates on this project can sign up here .

About the Digital Medicine Society: DiMe is a global non-profit and the professional home for all members of the digital medicine community. Together, we tackle the toughest digital medicine challenges, develop clinical-quality resources on a technology timeline, and deliver these actionable resources to the field via open-source channels and educational programs. Join us to advance the ethical, effective, equitable, and safe use of digital medicine to redefine healthcare and improve lives.

Media Contact: Carla English, [email protected]

SOURCE Digital Medicine Society (DiMe)
"Holland American Line is an amazing partner," said John Lovell, President of Travel Leaders Group, who was on stage with the cruise line during the announcement. "They strongly believe in the importance of the travel advisor and the travel agency distribution channel, in addition to having a fantastic product. I am so happy that EDGE attendees will have the chance to experience it. On behalf of everyone at Travel Leaders Network, I thank Holland America Line for its partnership and this generous gift."

EDGE attendees will have their pick of HAL's Alaska cruises through the end of the 2022 season in October. Holland America Line's Alaska cruises are known for their Old-World elegance, high-touch service and unique Alaska offerings.

"As we celebrate our 75th anniversary this year, we can't wait to welcome Travel Leaders Network advisors on board," said Michelle Sutter, vice president of sales of Holland America Line. "The best way to sell a product is to experience it for yourself, whether these advisors are sailing with us for the first or hundredth time, I know that they will have a wonderful time on our ships and exploring the beautiful and unmatched Alaskan wilderness."

About Travel Leaders Network

Travel Leaders Network (www.TravelLeaders.com) assists millions of leisure and business travelers annually and is one of the largest sellers of luxury travel, cruises and tours in the travel agency industry, with approximately 5,700 travel agency locations across the United States and Canada. Travel Leaders Network is part of Travel Leaders Group, a division of Internova Travel Group.

About Internova Travel Group

Internova Travel Group is one of the largest travel services companies in the world with a collection of leading brands delivering high-touch, personal travel expertise to leisure and corporate clients. Internova manages leisure, business and franchise firms through a portfolio of distinctive divisions. Internova represents more than 70,000 travel advisors in over 6,000 company-owned and affiliated locations predominantly in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, with a presence in more than 80 countries.

About Holland America Line [a division of Carnival Corporation and plc]

Holland America Line has been exploring the world since 1873 and was the first cruise line to offer adventures to Alaska and the Yukon nearly 75 years ago. Its fleet of premium ships visits nearly 400 ports in 114 countries around the world, offering an ideal mid-sized ship experience. A third Pinnacle-class ship, Rotterdam, joined the fleet in July 2021.

The leader in premium cruising, Holland America Line's ships feature innovative initiatives and a diverse range of enriching experiences focused on destination exploration and personalized travel. The best live music at sea fills each evening at Music Walk, and dining venues feature exclusive selections from Holland America Line's esteemed Culinary Council of world-famous chefs.

Find Holland America Line on Twitter, Facebook and the Holland America Blog. Access all social media outlets via the home page at hollandamerica.com.

CONTACT:

Berit Griffin

[email protected]

651-442-5173

SOURCE Travel Leaders Network
Activities kicked off with a series of " Emancipation Conversations " covering a variety of topics that affect African Americans in Houston and beyond. Special guests  ranging from Dr. Rod Paige, former US Secretary of Education, and PJ Floyd, brother of the late George Floyd  address the histories of Juneteenth and Memorial Day, the significance of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in education, the impact of COVID-19 on communities of color and the role of arts in historical and cultural preservation, among other topics. Visit Emancipation Park Conservancy's Juneteenth page for the conversation schedule .

Additionally, the event will culminate with a spectacular two-day festival on June 18 and 19 at Emancipation Park. The celebration opens with a ceremony acknowledging Juneteenth and Emancipation Park's history. Across both days, attendees will have access to local vendors, community resources, interactive kid zones and much more. Local artists Keeshea Pratt Band featuring Jewel Brown, James Boogaloo Bolden and Soultre featuring Kollett will perform in the afternoon. Evenings will conclude with musical performances by dynamic gospel and R&B artists, including The Isley Brothers, Kool & The Gang, Sheila E., Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Earnest Pugh, Pastor Mike Jr., Zacardi Cortez and Monica Lisa Stevenson. Comedian Billy Sorrells, KTSU's Donna Franklin and The Vibe's Michele McKnight will host the festivities.

"This year's Juneteenth celebration coincides with Emancipation Park's 150th. This special anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on our history, to consider the strides we have made in moving our communities forward and to acknowledge the work still ahead of us," said Ramon Manning, board chairman, Emancipation Park Conservancy. "The hopes and legacy of our founders  celebrated that very first Juneteenth in the park  lives on through our efforts to mold it into a place for learning, recreation and jubilation."

"Beginning with formerly enslaved people, Houstonians have gathered at Emancipation Park since 1872. It holds a special place in our hearts and is significant in our city's history. The park reflects the beauty, strength and resilience of its founders," said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and the event's honorary chairman. "The Emancipation Park 150th Juneteenth celebration will be a grand event to honor the past, embrace the present and look to the future."

Emancipation Park was founded in 1872, when formerly enslaved African Americans and their communities came together to purchase ten acres of land in what is now Houston's Third Ward. Their goal was to carve out a place for African Americans to relish in the freedom gained just seven years prior. Today, 150-years later, Emancipation Park remains Houston's, and the state of Texas', oldest public green space, and it continues to be a vibrant space for all Houstonians to gather in remembrance of this history.

"Emancipation Park is a very special place, and it is wonderful that, to this day, the park is still being used as the founders intended," said Rich Kinder, chairman, Kinder Foundation, which is the event's presenting sponsor. "We look forward to celebrating the 150th birthday of the park during this Juneteenth event."

The Emancipation Park 150th Juneteenth celebration is free and open to the public. Tickets are required for entry, but due to overwhelming demand, tickets are no longer available. For more information, visit epconservancy.org.

ABOUT EMANCIPATION PARK CONSERVANCY

Emancipation Park Conservancy is a non-profit 501c3 charitable corporation established in 2014 to restore, manage and enhance Houston's Emancipation Park. Its mission is to create an open space of environmental and community excellence while continuing to preserve the park's integrity and historical roots. The conservancy's goal is to transform Emancipation Park into one of the nation's premier landmark destinations through capital initiatives, operational improvements, strategic partnerships, programming and special events. For more information visit epconservancy.org.

ABOUT KINDER FOUNDATION

Kinder Foundation, a family foundation established in 1997 by Rich and Nancy Kinder, has distributed nearly $452 million in gifts to transformational projects in the areas of urban green space, education and quality of life. In Houston's Third Ward, the Kinder Foundation engages in several initiatives including Emancipation Park, Project Row Houses, and the Law Harrington Senior Center. For information, visit kinderfoundation.org.

SOURCE Emancipation Park Conservancy
VANCOUVER, BC, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- HPIL Holding (the "Company") (OTC: HPIL) Announces the Hire of seasoned executive Mr. Rizwan Alikhan as Senior Vice President of Business Development and Operations for Europe, to develop business opportunities and partnerships in the European market, as well as to help with operational improvements at HPIL Holding Worldwide.

"I am extremely pleased to announce the hiring seasoned executive Mr. Riz Alikhan (Riz) to help with the next stage of growth at HPIL," said Stephen Brown CEO. "Riz has a tremendous resume as a financier and corporate leader in several attractive global markets that he will bring to his role at HPIL Holding to help us to grow into an internationally recognizable brand".

Rizwan Alikhan: was born in London, educated at KCS, Wimbledon, receiving a Batchelor of Science degree from University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States in 1986. He returned to London in 1988 to embark on a career as a Lloyds Broker, specializing in global reinsurance risks. He then moved into a career in finance beginning in1990 in Canada, moving into the United States and finally into Australia where he worked predominantly as a financial and corporate advisor. He has been in the investment industry for 25 years in North America, Europe and Australia. He has held senior executive roles and board positions in several publicly listed companies in Canada and in the United States. He has 20+ years' experience in M&A and corporate restructure, specializing in the Finance, Energy, High Tech and Industrial sectors throughout Europe, North America and Eastern Europe. He took over the team at AAIB in 2015 to expand on the company's reach and foster growth and founded Safecrest Ltd (Takaful) in 2017. Mr. Alikhan is now pleased to join the team at HPIL Holding and to help develop, expand, and move forward the vision that HPIL has set in the various fields such as EV, Gaming, AI and Blockchain in the global world of music.

On June 2, 2022, the Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Stephen Brown, presented a letter of termination to Mr. Lord Ferrox Tutinean due to Mr. Tutinean's failure to adhere to Mr. Tutinean's employment agreement and HPIL's policies. Further, the employment of Mr. Micheal Torrey was terminated on the same day due to Mr. Torrey's failure to adhere to his employment agreement and HPIL's policies. Both Mr. Tutinean and Mr. Torrey have acted in manners against the Company and against the interests of the Company's shareholders. The Company is in communication with its counsel regarding the outlandish behaviour and misappropriation of company assets and will act in an aggressive manor to secure its properties at hand.

Safe Harbor: This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (The "Act"). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "pleased," "plan," "confident that," "believe," "expect," or "intend to," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any of the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, market conditions, general acceptance of the

Company's products and technologies, competitive factors, the ability to successfully complete additional financings and other risks described in the Company's SEC reports and filing.

For more information: [email protected]

www.hpilholding.ca

Contact: Stephen Brown, CEO

SOURCE HPIL Holding
SAN FRANCISCO and SUZHOU, China, June 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovent Biologics, Inc. ("Innovent") (HKEX: 01801), a world-class biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and commercializes high-quality medicines for the treatment of oncology, autoimmune, metabolic, ophthalmology and other major diseases, today announced that the China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has formally accepted the New Drug Application (NDA) for tafolecimab injection (anti-PCSK-9 antibody, R&D code: IBI306) for the treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia (including heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia and non-familial hypercholesterolemia) and mixed dyslipidemia.

In recent years, PCSK-9 monoclonal antibody has been gradually recognized by clinicians as a new therapeutic regimen that can potently reduce LDL-C levels with favorable safety profiles. Although there are imported products in the Chinese market, there is still room for improvement in terms of affordability, accessibility and convenience. Tafolecimab injection, which was supported by the National Science and Technology Major Project for "Major New Drug Development", whose new drug application is the first submitted and formally accepted by the NMPA, and it is expected to potentially be the first self-developed recombinant fully human anti-PCSK-9 monoclonal antibody launched in China.

The NDA submission was based on the study results of three phase 3 registration clinical trials (CREDIT-1, CREDIT-2 and CREDIT-4): compared with placebo, tafolecimab injection reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels by about 57% ~ 65%, and maintained long-term therapeutic efficacy. In addition, tafolecimab injection also significantly reduced total cholesterol (TC), non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (Non-HDL-C), apolipoprotein B (ApoB), and lipoprotein a (Lp (a)) levels. With a high percentage of patients achieving lipid reduction goals, a long administration interval (once every 6 weeks), and overall favorable safety profiles, tafolecimab injection is expected to be a potent treatment for patients with primary hypercholesterolemia (including heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia and non-familial hypercholesterolemia) and mixed dyslipidemia.

Professor Yong Huo from Peking University First Hospital stated: "In China, the prevalence of dyslipidemia in adults is increasing annually and has become an important risk factor threatening the health of Chinese population. Elevated TC and LDL-C are among the independent risk factors for coronary heart disease or ischemic stroke. Effective control of dyslipidemia is important for the prevention and control of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). The results from a series of clinical studies of tafolecimab injection in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia and mixed dyslipidemia are very encouraging. It is worth noting that in CREDIT-1 study, tafolecimab injection achieved long-interval administration and demonstrated significant long-term reduction of LDL-C levels in Chinese population with hypercholesterolemia, in addition, tafolecimab also exhibited more prominent advantages in reducing LP (a) over other similar anti-PSCK-9 agents, which may result in better compliance and additional cardiovascular risk control benefits. We look forward to the approval of tafolecimab injection to provide a better treatment option to the large number of patients with hypercholesterolemia in China.

Professor Yujie Zhou from Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University stated: Although the prevalence of familial hypercholesterolemia is relatively low in China, it is still ranked highest in the world due to the large population . Patients with heterozygous hypercholesterolemia have an early onset, significantly elevated serum levels of total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and rapid progression of the disease. These symptoms significantly harm the patients' health and they may experience severe ASCVD and even die at young or middle age. Our research team has observed the favorable efficacy and safety profiles of tafolecimab injection in the first randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical study (CREDIT-2) in Chinese population with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Today, we are even more delighted to see that, as an innovative anti-PCSK-9 monoclonal antibody with proprietary intellectual property rights in China, the NDA of tafolecimab injection has been officially accepted by the China's NMPA. As a clinician, I really look forward to the approval of tafolecimab injection to benefit Chinese patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. "

Dr. Lei Qian, Vice President of Clinical Development of Innovent stated: "At present, cardiovascular diseases caused by hyperlipidemia, hypertension and obesity in China are prominent and have seriously affected the national public health. The NDA submission is based on the results of the CREDIT-1, CREDIT-2 and CREDIT-4 clinical studies, which demonstrated that tafolecimab injection can effectively reduce LDL-C levels and significantly improve other lipid parameters in Chinese patients with hypercholesterolemia, among which Lp(a) can be reduced more compared with similar products. Tafolecimab injection is the first PSCK-9 antibody that can be administrated at long-interval dosing (once every 6 weeks), which will potentially provide more treatment options for Chinese patients with primary hypercholesterolemia (including heterozygous familial and non-familial hypercholesterolemia) and mixed dyslipidemia. We look forward to the approval and launch-to market of the product in the near future, hoping to benefit the large number of patients with hypercholesterolemia in China with this high-quality medicine as soon as possible. "

About Hypercholesterolemia

In recent years, the blood lipid level of the Chinese population has gradually increased, and the prevalence of dyslipidemia has increased significantly with an overall prevalence of 40.4% in Chinese adults. The increase of serum cholesterol level in the population will lead to an increase of about 9.2 million cardiovascular disease events in China between 2010 ~ 2030. Dyslipidemia, characterized by elevated LDL-C or TC, is an important independent risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

At present, the disease management of hyperlipidemia in China is not optimistic. According to the 2020 China Cardiovascular Health and Disease Report, the diagnostic, treatment and control rate of dyslipidemia in Chinese adults remain low. The percentage of patients with dyslipidemia who met the LDL-C reduction goal is even more alarming. Current lipid-lowering therapies do not meet the clinical needs in patients with hyperlipidemia. Anti-PCSK-9 monoclonal antibody has a mechanism of action different from existing lipid-lowering drugs and can effectively reduce LDL-C levels, which is expected to provide a better treatment option for Chinese patients with hypercholesterolemia.

About Tafolecimab Injection (anti-PCSK-9 antibody)

Tafolecimab injection, developed by Innovent, is an lgG2 fully human monoclonal antibody that can specifically bind to PCSK-9 and reduce LDL-C level by inhibiting PCSK-9-mediated low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) endocytosis, subsequently enhancing the clearance of LDL-C, resulting in a reduction in LDL-C level.

As of now, three registration trials of tafolecimab injection have met the primary endpoint. The results from phase I/II clinical study have been published in JACC Asia, an internationally renowned journal of cardiology. CREDIT-2 phase III study results have been presented at the ACC meeting 2022.

About Innoventas a new drug application

Inspired by the spirit of "Start with Integrity, Succeed through Action," Innovent's mission is to develop, manufacture and commercialize high-quality biopharmaceutical products that are affordable to ordinary people. Established in 2011, Innovent is committed to developing, manufacturing and commercializing high-quality innovative medicines for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune, metabolic, ophthalmology and other major diseases. On October 31, 2018, Innovent was listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited with the stock code: 01801.HK.

Since its inception, Innovent has developed a fully integrated multi-functional platform which includes R&D, CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls), clinical development and commercialization capabilities. Leveraging the platform, the company has built a robust pipeline of 32 valuable assets in the fields of cancer, autoimmune, metabolic, ophthalmology and other major therapeutic areas, with 7 products approved for marketing in China  TYVYT (sintilimab injection), BYVASDA (bevacizumab biosimilar injection), SULINNO (adalimumab biosimilar injection), HALPRYZA (rituximab biosimilar injection) , Pemazyre (pemigatinib oral inhibitor) and olverembatinib (BCR-ABL TKI) and Cyramza (ramucirumab), 3 asset under NMPA NDA review, 3 assets in Phase 3 or pivotal clinical trials, and an additional 19 molecules in clinical studies.

Innovent has built an international team with advanced talent in high-end biological drug development and commercialization, including many global experts. The company has also entered into strategic collaborations with Eli Lilly and Company, Adimab, Incyte, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Hanmi and other international partners. Innovent strives to work with many collaborators to help advance China's biopharmaceutical industry, improve drug availability and enhance the quality of the patients' lives. For more information, please visit: www.innoventbio.com. and www.linkedin.com/company/innovent-biologics/.

Note:

TYVYT (sintilimab injection) is not an approved product in the United States.

BYVASDA (bevacizumab biosimilar injection), SULINNO, and HALPRYZA (rituximab biosimilar injection) are not approved products in the United States.

TYVYT (sintilimab injection, Innovent)

BYVASDA (bevacizumab biosimilar injection, Innovent)

HALPRYZA (rituximab biosimilar injection, Innovent)

SULINNO (adalimumab biosimilar injection, Innovent)

Pemazyre (pemigatinib oral inhibitor, Incyte Corporation). Pemazyre was discovered by Incyte Corporation and licensed to Innovent for development and commercialization in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

CYRAMZA (ramucirumab, Eli Lilly). Cyramza was discovered by Eli Lilly and licensed to Innovent for commercialization in Mainland China.

Innovent's Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Innovent Biologics, Inc. ("Innovent" or "Company"), are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly.

These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of the Company with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, the Company's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions.

The Company, the Directors and the employees of the Company assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialize or turn out to be incorrect.

SOURCE Innovent Biologics
DUBLIN, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Dishwasher Tablets Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global dishwasher tablets market reached a value of US$ 531.4 Million in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach a value of US$ 802 Million by 2027 exhibiting a CAGR of 6.70% during 2022-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we 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.



Dishwasher tablets refer to a type of detergent used for cleaning and washing dishes in the dishwasher. They contain chemicals to soften hard water, bleaches to remove tough stains, enzymes to dissolve starch and protein-based foods quickly, and surfactants to add shine to the dishes after the wash.

Nowadays, they are available in various types, depending on the requirements of the users. For instance, some tablets comprise powder detergent in compact form, while others are composed of specialized formulated gels. Over the years, dishwasher tablets have gained traction as a more convenient and efficient alternative to traditional powder detergent as they minimize wastage, reduce the risk of spills, and protect dishwashers.



The growing awareness regarding hygiene and cleanliness among the masses represents the primary factor driving the market. Dishwasher tablets contain pre-measured and efficient ingredients that prevent the overuse of detergent in dishwashing and increase the lifespan of the machine.

As they offer increased convenience and help save water and energy, dishwasher tablets are rapidly gaining popularity among consumers. Additionally, the increasing number of food restaurants and eateries across the globe is another major growth-inducing factor.

Besides this, the leading manufacturers are launching multi-functional dishwasher tablets that eliminate the need for rinsing agents, salts, and other additives during washing. This, in confluence with the surging sales of smart dishwashers, is catalyzing the product demand. Furthermore, dishwasher tablets minimize the amount of detergent entering the water supply, which eases the burden on water treatment plants. Other factors, including the growing environmental concerns, rising disposable incomes, easy product availability via e-commerce platforms and product premiumization, are also creating a positive market outlook.

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Cleancult, Eurotab Operations, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, IFB Appliances, Kao Corporation, Liby Group, McBride plc, Method Products (S. C. Johnson & Son Inc.), Nopa Nordic A/S, Persan S.A., Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, Tenova and Unilever PLC.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global dishwasher tablets market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global dishwasher tablets market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the product type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the distribution channel?

What is the breakup of the market based on the end user?

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 dishwasher tablets 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 Dishwasher Tablets Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Product Type

6.1 Branded

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Private Label

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Distribution Channel

7.1 Supermarkets and Hypermarkets

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Departmental and Convenience Stores

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Independent Grocery Stores

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast

7.4 Online Stores

7.4.1 Market Trends

7.4.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by End User

8.1 Commercial

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Residential

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 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 Cleancult

14.3.1.1 Company Overview

14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.2 Eurotab Operations

14.3.2.1 Company Overview

14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3 Henkel AG & Co. KGaA

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 IFB Appliances

14.3.4.1 Company Overview

14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.4.3 Financials

14.3.5 Kao Corporation

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 Liby Group

14.3.6.1 Company Overview

14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7 McBride plc

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 Method Products (S. C. Johnson & Son Inc.)

14.3.8.1 Company Overview

14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.9 Nopa Nordic A/S

14.3.9.1 Company Overview

14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.10 Persan S.A.

14.3.10.1 Company Overview

14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.11 Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC

14.3.11.1 Company Overview

14.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.11.3 Financials

14.3.11.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.12 Tenova

14.3.12.1 Company Overview

14.3.12.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.13 Unilever PLC

14.3.13.1 Company Overview

14.3.13.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.13.3 Financials

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/y1z7f9

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
Reduced Pesticide Expenses Help Growers Meet The Rising Demand for Organic Produce

BOULDER, Colo., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IntraLight, a Boulder based startup, has completed development of its light treatment technology that automatically protects crops from pests and pathogens with daily light treatments. Using a proprietary spectrum IntraLights severely damage pest and pathogen DNA, destroying their ability to grow and reproduce. This new crop protection technology replaces chemical pesticides, removing material and labor expenses while allowing growers to capture the increased value of organic produce. IntraLight has opened pre-orders for their first offering, their #5 ring light, capable of treating 64 ft3 above each unit.

Introducing IntraLight Next-Gen Pesticides

Demand for organic produce is growing every year. As organic food purchases in the US pass $60 billion growers will need solutions to convert to organic production easily and effectively. Organic pesticides are often less effective and more costly than traditional chemical pesticides. IntraLight's crop protection system maintains the efficacy of chemical pesticides at a lower cost, while allowing growers to market organic and residue-free produce. Light treatment technology is the only crop protection method able to protect crops for years with a single upfront expense. For a deep dive into this technology visit intralight.co.

"We plan to change the economic viability of organic production. This can have long-lasting impacts on agriculture. With the cost of organic production dropping, growers can reduce their prices while maintaining profit margins," IntraLight's CEO Simon Kepchar said. "This will give growers a leg up on the competition in organic food prices and will push prices closer to the non-organic alternative. This will allow more people access to organic food and force non-organic producers to lower-cost strategies, pushing produce into food deserts."

IntraLight, LLC, headquartered in Boulder Colorado, provides next-gen crop protection solutions to CEA growers. IntraLight's mission is to provide innovative, efficient, and sustainable pesticidal light treatment technologies, enhancing agricultural production while safeguarding farmers, consumers, and the environment. For more information visit us at intralight.co.

Contact Information:

John Kepchar

Co-Founder & CMO

828-774-5054

[email protected]

SOURCE IntraLight, LLC
Taking place at Royal Dublin Society, DTS 2022 will bring together more than 8,000 global leaders in innovation, technology and business to shape the future of global trends and technologies. Across two days, experts from more than 70 countries come together to share knowledge, debate the latest trends, and network in Dublin  a city fast becoming the heart of the European tech community.

"We are thrilled to participate in this event alongside many of the world's biggest tech innovators," said Glidden. "We will be sharing more about our best-in-class solution that is changing the way people do business by helping them tap into true relationship insights and customer intelligence to drive digital transformation."

In addition to participating in the SaaS panel, Introhive welcomes DTS attendees to join its event: Meet the CEOs: Dublin Tech Summit Cocktail Hour , co-hosted by Sendoso , at 6:00 p.m. on June 15 at The Penthouse at Horse Show House. This will be an opportunity to meet the CEO and Founder of Introhive and the CEO of Sendoso as well as connect with other leaders in the tech and professional services industry. Register here .

About Introhive

Introhive is the fastest-growing AI-powered customer intelligence solution, with the single largest deployment of its kind in the world. Trusted by some of the world's most recognizable brands, including PwC, Clark Nexsen, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Colliers International, and Plante Moran, the company has been recognized with 2019, 2020 and 2021 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Canada Awards , 2020 and 2021 Deloitte Fast 500 North America Awards , 2020 and 2021 MarTech Breakthrough Awards , and is Great Place to Work certified in Canada. Introhive's AI-powered SaaS platform seeks to enable organizations to realize the full value of their relationships across the business and to leverage untapped data to drive revenues and increase productivity while simultaneously improving the customer experience. Introhive has grown to 350+ employees with 10 global office locations, supporting 250,000+ customers in over 90 different countries around the world. Learn more at www.introhive.ai

MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Renee Maler

Philosophy PR + Marketing

For Introhive

5104999746

[email protected]

SOURCE Introhive
TOULOUSE, France, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jazeera Airways, the first non-government-owned airline in the Middle East, has signed a deal with French cleantech company OpenAirlines to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. They will be implementing SkyBreathe, the world's leading fuel management software developed by OpenAirlines to optimize fuel efficiency across all their operations.

The airline has chosen SkyBreathe to accelerate its fuel program as they grow, in line with its sustainability goals to reduce, capture, or avoid emissions of greenhouse gases. It has recently ordered 28 aircraft of the A320 neo family, which combine new generation engines with the latest technologies, ensuring they are operating the most efficient flights. To further their sustainability focus, more efficient operations are also a strategy resulting in immediate carbon emissions reductions. The cloud-based solution will help them contain fuel costs while reducing their carbon footprint by up to 5%.

The software uses sophisticated Big Data Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning to automatically collect, analyze and compute billions of flight data of all the aircraft operated by the airline. It also gathers data from other sources, including payload, weather conditions, maintenance, flight paths, and Air Traffic Control, to provide accurate and comprehensive reports to all stakeholders. This allows in-depth analysis of fuel-saving opportunities and achievements through clear and user-friendly dashboards, 4D visualization, predefined reports, real-time insights, and custom analysis.

"Jazeera Airways is growing rapidly and recovering quickly from the pandemic. We needed a solid and experienced partner to support our growth as we take on new environmental and operational challenges. We are pleased to partner with OpenAirlines, which has a longstanding experience in fuel efficiency and a great track record in making superior fuel savings," says a spokesperson from Jazeera Airways.

"This agreement is fantastic news! There is a lot of momentum for sustainable growth at Jazeera Airways. We are very excited to come on board at this time when it is crucial to take the right turn as aviation transitions towards net-zero carbon emissions. Digital technology is entirely part of the process and Jazeera Airways has fully understood the power of Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning to reduce its impact on the planet whilst still making a profit in a competitive economy," says Alexandre Feray, CEO and founder of OpenAirlines.

About Jazeera Airways:

Jazeera Airways operates commercial and cargo flights out of its Jazeera Terminal T5 at Kuwait International Airport. The airline flies to over 50 popular destinations across the Middle East, Central and South Asia, Africa and Europe comprising high-demand business, leisure and weekend destinations.

About OpenAirlines:

Based on the observation that every year, nearly 660 million tons of CO2 are emitted by airplanes globally - representing 20 000kg of CO2 per second, OpenAirlines decided to develop innovative solutions to help airlines reduce their environmental impact and costs.

OpenAirlines has drawn on 7 years of R&D before launching its eco-flying software SkyBreathe. Relying on Big Data algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning, the software automatically analyzes the large sum of data available in aircraft black boxes to provide recommendations to airlines and pilots that help them reduce their fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

In 2018, OpenAirlines continues its growth and begins the development of a new module, called SkyBreathe OnBoard, designed to be embedded in the cockpit to give recommendations to pilots in real-time.

In 2021, the platform is completed by SkyBreathe APM, an innovative solution that continuously monitors aircraft performance with an up-to-date view of the entire fleet health.

Today, SkyBreathe is the most widely used eco-flying solution in the world. Its active community federates more than 50 airlines across the planet, including Air France, easyJet, DHL, Norwegian, IndiGo, flydubai, and Atlas Air. In 2019, its customers saved more than 590,000 tons of CO2 and 150 million USD.

More information: www.openairlines.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/753849/OpenAirlines_Logo.jpg

SOURCE OpenAirlines
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Junior Achievement USA (JA USA) announced today that Loretta Rodriguez has been named its Chief Human Resources and Diversity Officer, effective July 5, 2022.

In this role, Loretta will be a member of the JA USA leadership team and will lead the Human Resources group. She will provide oversight and strategy for all HR functions, including recruitment and hiring, training, benefits, compensation, employee relations, and DEI initiatives. She will also be the liaison with the Executive Compensation and Talent Subcommittee of the JA USA National Board Executive Committee.

"Loretta has an extensive and impressive background in HR and DEI," said Jack E. Kosakowski, President and CEO of Junior Achievement USA. "I know our organization will benefit greatly from her experience and leadership in the months and years to come."

Loretta comes to JA from a successful career with non-profit organizations, most recently with UnidosUS, which is focused on civil rights, policy, advocacy, programs, and research for Latinos. Loretta has been on the headquarters staff in Washington, D.C., where she has served as Deputy Vice President of Human Resources since 2012. Her role has included leading and providing expertise in managing HR for UnidosUS across 12 states.

Prior to her employment at Unidos, Loretta was the Director of Human Resources with the SEED School of Maryland and the SEED Foundation, Inc. helping underserved students realize their potential and fulfill their dreams of college graduation through a unique, college-prep public boarding school model. Loretta served as part of the inaugural leadership team to support the opening of the first SEED school in Maryland and to develop plans for expansion to Miami, FL and Los Angeles, CA.

About Junior Achievement USA  (JA)

Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA programs are delivered by corporate and community volunteers and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. Today, JA reaches nearly 2.5 million students per year in 103 markets across the United States, which are among the 10 million students served by operations in 100 other countries worldwide. Junior Achievement USA is a member of JA Worldwide. Visit www.JA.org for more information.

SOURCE Junior Achievement USA
FORT WORTH, Texas, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP (NYSE: KRP) ("Kimbell"), a leading owner of oil and natural gas mineral and royalty interests in over 16 million gross acres in 28 states, today announced that it will release its second quarter 2022 financial results on Thursday, August 4, 2022, before the market opens. Kimbell will also declare its second quarter 2022 distribution concurrent with this release. In conjunction with the release, Kimbell has scheduled a conference call, which will be broadcast live over the Internet the same day at 10:00 a.m. Central (11:00 a.m. Eastern).

By Phone: Dial 201-389-0869 at least 10 minutes before the call. A replay will be available through August 11th by dialing 201-612-7415 and using the conference ID: 13730699#.



By Webcast: Connect to the webcast via the Events and Presentations page of Kimbell's Investor Relations website at http://kimbellrp.investorroom.com/. Please log in at least 10 minutes in advance to register and download any necessary software. A replay will be available shortly after the call.

About Kimbell Royalty Partners

Kimbell (NYSE: KRP) is a leading oil and gas mineral and royalty company based in Fort Worth, Texas. Kimbell owns mineral and royalty interests in over 16 million gross acres in 28 states and in every major onshore basin in the continental United States, including ownership in more than 122,000 gross wells with over 46,000 wells in the Permian Basin. To learn more, visit http://www.kimbellrp.com.

Contact:

Rick Black

Dennard Lascar Investor Relations

[email protected]

(713) 529-6600

SOURCE Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP
Zac has been a long-time fan of Kodiak's products and is eager to bring Kodiak into new territory. He is passionate about inspiring Kodiak's loyal consumers to explore nature, elevate the food they eat, and give back to worthy causes. He also comes with valuable insights thanks to his globe-trotting exploration of sustainable agricultural practices and life-long focus on wellness and fitness.

"We're really excited to welcome Zac and his valued perspectives to Kodiak," said Joel Clark, Kodiak's Co-Founder and CEO. "We've all watched Zac build a life of adventure that prioritizes wellness from the inside out, which he attributes in part to his belief in real food, making this collaboration feel so right. His global reach, passion for the outdoors, and focus on balanced nutrition makes him an ideal partner. We are teaming up to influence the future of food and keep America wild for future generations."

"My fast-paced lifestyle requires the right food and a good amount of protein, which is why I love Kodiak's products," said Zac. "Having the chance to be a part of Kodiak's team in a much bigger way is super inspiring to me."

Zac's already rolled up his sleeves to work on Kodiak's new products, campaigns, and conservation efforts that will launch throughout the year.

"It's awesome to work with Zac," said Matt Leeds, Partner at L Catterton  the global consumer investment firm which backs Kodiak. "We see a uniquely authentic fit between Zac's priorities and Kodiak's principles, and we're excited to see this collaboration come to life."

Stay tuned and follow along on social: @zacefron and @KodiakCakes.

About Kodiak

With a delicious portfolio of 100% whole-grain, protein-powered flapjack and waffle mixes, frozen waffles and flapjacks, oatmeal, baking mixes, on-the-go cups, and a variety of snacking products, Kodiak provides its loyal consumers with great-tasting, nourishing options. Headquartered in Park City, Kodiak was built on a mission to enable healthier eating and active living. The brand began when eight-year-old Joel Clark began selling his family's hand-milled flapjack mix door-to-door from a little red wagon, and Kodiak is now proudly sold in more than 26,000 doors nationwide. For more information about Kodiak, please visit www.kodiakcakes.com or follow the adventure on Instagram @KodiakCakes.

SOURCE Kodiak
As GM of Europe, Ruairi Kelleher will lead Atlas' business operations and oversee expanded development within the region. As CPO, Michelle Mesina will direct Atlas' internal people strategy to deepen global impact while cultivating rewarding employee experiences for an increasingly diverse workforce.

"Strengthening our foundational leadership team is essential as Atlas continues to evolve our best-in-class HXM technology solution to meet the demands of our customers and launch us into our next phase of growth," said Rick Hammell, CEO of Atlas. "The addition of Ruairi reflects our commitment to meeting the increased demand for global expansion solutions in the untapped market of Europe. Additionally, Michelle's extensive experience in organizational design, cultural alignment and employee wellbeing, will further enhance Atlas' reputation as a purpose-driven employer."

Kelleher brings more than 15 years of experience building and scaling innovative companies via operations, technology, strategy, revenue and M&A activity. Prior to joining Atlas, he served as CEO at global payroll technology company Immedis where he oversaw its 2016 launch and repositioning. Under his stewardship, Immedis emerged as a leader in the payroll space with more than 400 employees and year-over-year growth of more than 100%. As chief executive officer, Kelleher spearheaded the successful Series A and B funding rounds at Immedis and led the commercial practice for expat tax mobility within the Group. Additional previous experience includes consulting for international firms, where he focused on delivering business growth through corporate relationship solutions.

"The value proposition of Atlas' direct model presents a rare opportunity to define the market," said Kelleher. "I am thrilled to join Atlas and help drive the effort as we cement our industry-wide leadership in Europe and beyond."

Michelle Mesina, SPHR, comes to Atlas with over 20 years of experience from start-up, high- growth and transformative environments, helping organizations to scale quickly. She joins Atlas' C-suite following a series of high-profile positions leading HR and people ops for such dynamic companies as Gensler, PowerReviews, project44 and Hazel Technologies. At Hazel Technologies, she had overall responsibility for thought leadership strategies and solutions to attract, engage and retain the best talent.

"Atlas is focused on prioritizing our people and building a workplace culture where everyone can thrive and belong," said Mesina. "I am excited to join Atlas as we progress into our next phase of growth, continuing to deliver the best support to our clients and worksite employees (WSEs) by optimizing how we attract, onboard, develop and retain our people around the world."

The largest direct employer of record (EOR), Atlas brings experience and localized expertise into an enterprise-grade technology platform that empowers innovative companies to onboard, manage and pay global talent. The HXM platform delivers end-to-end EOR solutions with self-service capabilities, real-time insights that optimize business outcomes and human touchpoints along the way. The expansion of the leadership team furthers Atlas' position as the leader in simplifying global people operations in the thriving work-from-anywhere world.

About Atlas

Atlas enables innovative companies to compete in a global economy, believing that businesses should employ whomever they want, wherever the talent exists. As the largest direct employer of record (EOR) with entities in over 160 countries, Atlas is a technology platform that is supported by experts and delivers flexibility for companies to expand across borders, onboard talent, manage compliance, and pay their global workforce without the need for a local entity.

Atlas was built on years of experience navigating the challenges of quickly deploying and paying international employees while ensuring compliance with local regulations. This experience brings localized experience and expertise into an enterprise-grade technology platform that supports thousands of companies and remote teams. The Atlas platform is uniquely designed to deliver end-to-end EOR solutions and empowered user experiences that provide self-service capabilities and real-time insights that lead to improved business outcomes. Learn more at atlasHXM.com.

Media Contact:

Courtney Merolle

[email protected] 

754.715.0747 

SOURCE Atlas
Led by bitter orange and sun-ripened fruit, this expression is supported by notes of cinnamon, clove and rhubarb, delivering a complex, bold sensorial experience. What's more, The Spirit of Milano is further heightened by the heat of South American pepper and fortified with B-Vitamins and Amino Acids to elevate the cocktail experience and the drinker's state of mind.

The Spirit of Milano was inspired by what its name suggests, the city of Milan. "With this expression, we turned to the place that inspired so many of the great Italian Aperitivos: Milano, Italy," says Free Spirits Head of Innovation and Product Development, JD Dornell, PHD. "An epicenter of food, art, culture, fashion and the birthplace of this amazing, versatile genre of liqueurs, The Spirit of Milano has been created to honor and embody all of this."

The Spirit of Milano joins The Free Spirits Company's existing expressions which include The Spirit of Tequila, The Spirit of Gin and the Spirit of Bourbon. Inspired by the world's great spirits, each one of the Free Spirits is crafted to be a complex, nuanced, 1:1 non-alcoholic expression to the great spirits and liqueurs of the world.

"When we look at product innovation at The Free Spirits Company, we think about the cocktails people love to drink," says brand founder and CEO Milan Martin. "The world loves a great Negroni. And how perfect is a beautiful Spritz on a warm summer day."

Younger generations are establishing a 'new normal' when it comes to alcohol consumption. Millennials and Generation Z are consuming 20%-30% less alcohol and devoting more time to being alcohol-free than any other generation before them, and others have begun to follow suit. In recent years, there have been a handful of 'non-alcoholic' beverages introduced to the market. But with Free Spirits, the ceremony and socialization of cocktails can remain without compromising taste or well-being.

By replacing traditional liquor with a Free Spirit, drinkers have the power to 'dial-up' or 'dial-down' a cocktail - all the way from 'non-alcoholic' to 'just a touch' of booze to 'half and half' and beyond.

Like all of the Free Spirits, The Spirit of Milano is crafted to be bold, delicious and non-alcoholic. With 15 calories and 4g sugar, The Spirit of Milano is infused with B Vitamins and Amino Acids to help elevate the drinker's mood, energy and experience.

Retailing for $37 for a 750mL bottle and is available June 13.

Located in Marin County, California, The Free Spirits Company crafts non-alcoholic spirits including Bourbon, Gin and Tequila through a process called Distillate Reconstruction that sources natural real ingredients like American White Oak, European Juniper, and Mexican Blue Agave, then distills their essence and reconstructs the unique nose, flavor notes, and mouthfeel of the world's great liquors. Where the alcohol would have been, Free Spirits infuses vitamins B3 and B6 along with naturally uplifting amino acids like taurine for that little something extra. With Free Spirits, drinkers have complete control to 'dial-up' or 'dial-down' their favorite cocktail from replacing 1:1 to 'half and half' or beyond, without sacrificing taste. Free Spirits are made for those who refuse to compromise between a great cocktail and a great time. The days without complex and delicious non-alcoholic options are over, it is time to break free. Free Spirits - the good spirit of great cocktails.

SOURCE The Free Spirits Company
BOSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator announced the five edtech companies selected for investment and participation in its newest program. These startups are building solutions to future-proof learning, earning and collaboration opportunities through high-tech, hands-on and human-centered experiences.

Since 2013, LearnLaunch has invested in 70+ early-stage EdTech companies. LearnLaunch's portfolio companies have gone on to raise $210MM+ and impact more than 20MM+ global learners. The team is developing the next generation of innovators transforming access, equity and outcomes in K-12, higher-ed, workforce development and life-long upskilling.

"We were thrilled to see such diverse and mature companies applying to the program this year. We always have a competitive application and review process, but this cohort, in particular, represents a more developed stage of company growth than we've seen in past years," said Jean Hammond , General Partner, LearnLaunch Accelerator. "The presence of several workforce-focused companies in the cohort represents the need for innovative solutions that address both learning and future of work in growing industries. Three of the five companies are founded by women and, as a woman-founded and led fund and accelerator, we are proud to continue to support this initiative in leadership."

The participating edtech startups are:

Automation Workz ( Detroit, Michigan ) - provides personalized tech certification reskilling to prepare front-liners to fill the 3.5 million open high-paying cyber security jobs. With unique assessment and goal-setting technology and methods, Automation WorkZ significantly increases successful completion rates.

( ) - provides personalized tech certification reskilling to prepare front-liners to fill the 3.5 million open high-paying cyber security jobs. With unique assessment and goal-setting technology and methods, Automation WorkZ significantly increases successful completion rates. CareerDash ( Austin, Texas ) - is on a mission to provide high-quality bootcamp programs that help underserved and underrepresented populations launch careers in meaningful client-facing roles.

( ) - is on a mission to provide high-quality bootcamp programs that help underserved and underrepresented populations launch careers in meaningful client-facing roles. Empathetics ( Boston, Massachusetts ) - provides SaaS-based, clinically proven, empathy and interpersonal skills training for professionals from a range of industries, including healthcare, law enforcement, armed forces, financial services and retail.

( ) - provides SaaS-based, clinically proven, empathy and interpersonal skills training for professionals from a range of industries, including healthcare, law enforcement, armed forces, financial services and retail. Julius Education ( Boston, Massachusetts ) - addresses the talent needs of the massive energy industry transition with inclusive solutions to start and grow green careers.

( ) - addresses the talent needs of the massive energy industry transition with inclusive solutions to start and grow green careers. Rob Wunderkind ( Vienna, Austria ) - develops intuitive robotics kits, programming apps, interdisciplinary standards-aligned curriculum, and professional development for teachers to successfully teach STEAM in every classroom.

The companies will take part in LearnLaunch Accelerator's Breakthrough to Scale program, a 12-week primarily virtual experience. During that time they will address opportunities to build upon product market fit momentum, connect deeply with growing customer bases and develop scalable operations. Founders in the program are supported by a strong network of Mentors, Venture Partners, and funders. LearnLaunch is thrilled to add serial entrepreneur Tiffany Norwood , founder and CEO of Tribetan, and Frederick Townes , serial technical founder and currently CEO of Remine, to the Venture Partner team and to build upon its longstanding partnership with its Entrepreneur in Residence Colin Magee , founder and Principal Consultant of Product Vectors.

"The companies in this cohort span the education technology market landscape and represent a skills-focused approach to solving pressing needs. From hands-on STEM education to workforce upskilling to human-centered professional training, each founding team brings powerful experience in their segment and we're excited to support their sustainable growth," said Matt Rubins , General Partner, LearnLaunch Accelerator.

Each company will emerge from the program ready for next stages of funding, deployment, and operational success. The accelerator program will culminate with a demo day the week of September 19th, 2022 in New York in conjunction with EDTECH WEEK and HolonIQ's Global Impact Summit .

About LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator

LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator is the leading EdTech startup program. Using our unique mix of milestone-based funding, 1x1 venture partner & mentor support, we work with impact-driven entrepreneurs on achieving product-market fit and developing go-to-market strategies to scale. We look for companies with revenue and scalable impact potential. Our relationship-driven approach supports funding, partnerships, and growth for the long term. For more information, visit https://learnlaunch.com/accelerator .

LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator is a licensee of LearnLaunch, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to catalyzing innovation in the education sector. For more information about the non-profit, visit https://learnlaunch.org .

Contact:

Andrew Molchany

[email protected]

SOURCE LearnLaunch Accelerator
BOSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Global strategy consulting firm L.E.K. Consulting announced that Rustin Richburg has joined the firm as Global Chief Talent Officer and Partner. Based in the New York office, Richburg will lead the firm's global people and talent strategy as well as people, culture and talent programs.

Richburg was previously Chief People Officer at BARK, a direct-to-consumer dog product subscription business, where he was responsible for all aspects of talent, human resources, corporate communications, real estate and employee-facing IT. Prior to that, he led HR teams at Walton Enterprises, Inc. and the Walton Family Foundation. He also held leadership roles at Walmart, Imperial Brands and Accenture.

Richburg has broad leadership experience and expertise across business and talent strategy, culture and inclusion, executive development, business partnerships and talent acquisition. He has worked in a range of industries, including technology, hospitality, healthcare and logistics. He also has extensive experience working with and managing teams in North and South America, Europe, Africa, APAC and the Middle East.

"We could not be more pleased to welcome Rustin Richburg to the senior leadership of the firm. It was clear from our first discussions that Rustin has the diversity of experience and passion for people that will make him a terrific leader of our talent strategy as well as a strong advocate of the employee experience at L.E.K.," said Clay Heskett, Global Managing Partner at L.E.K. Consulting. "We continue to build on L.E.K.'s reputation as an inclusive, sought-after destination for top talent seeking a career in premium strategy consulting, and we are excited to work with Rustin to expand the firm."

Richburg sits on the Board of Directors for Out & Equal. He holds a bachelor's degree in agribusiness from Texas A&M University as well as certifications in program management from the University of Washington and in conflict resolution from Cornell University.

About L.E.K. Consulting

We're L.E.K. Consulting, a global strategy consultancy working with business leaders to seize competitive advantage and amplify growth. Our insights are catalysts that reshape the trajectory of our clients' businesses, uncovering opportunities and empowering them to master their moments of truth. Since 1983, our worldwide practice  spanning the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe  has guided leaders across all industries, from global corporations to emerging entrepreneurial businesses and private equity investors. Looking for more? Visit www.lek.com.

Media contact:

Michael-Jon Romano

Allison+Partners

[email protected]

SOURCE L.E.K. Consulting
The rapid, portable, quantitative test will help ensure safer water sources and better monitoring for toxic PFAS chemicals

BOULDER, Colo., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LightDeck Diagnostics , the company leveraging planar waveguide technology to deliver lab-quality diagnostics in minutes, today announced it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant funded by USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to build a rapid, portable, quantitative test to detect many Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) simultaneously.

PFAS chemicals cause a range of health problems: cancer, hormone disruption, liver and kidney toxicity, harm to the immune system, and reproductive and developmental toxicity, among others. However, PFAS chemicals are notoriously hard to detect due to their low molecular weight and the variety of different chemical structures.

"Our planar waveguide technology, which has already been configured to simultaneously detect two of the most common toxins generated by harmful algal blooms, is sufficiently sensitive to monitor PFAS chemicals," said Nick Traggis, LightDeck CEO. "With this SBIR grant, we will further expand our water offerings and bolster the confidence of decision-makers when it comes to water safety and protection of our agriculture."

LightDeck will develop the PFAS test for use with the existing LightDeck platform. It is expected to have a lower limit well below the actionable regulatory guidelines for these chemicals.

"This test will be used in agriculture, water utilities, and manufacturing industries to ensure the safety of the US water supply," shared NIFA, in a summary of the grant's objective.

The grant, which demonstrates USDA's confidence in the LightDeck platform, follows a grant awarded to the company in January. The Henry M. Jackson Foundation awarded LightDeck $2 million to develop a rapid, quantitative, multiplexed inflammatory marker panel aimed toward helping healthcare providers predict the hospitalization risk of patients.

To learn more about LightDeck's water testing solutions, please visit: https://lightdeckdx.com/water-testing/

About LightDeck Diagnostics

LightDeck Diagnostics believes in a new approach to healthcare, where quick and accurate diagnostic tests will be run wherever and whenever they are needed. The company's proprietary LightDeck platform combines an advanced laser waveguide with novel materials and patented manufacturing techniques to deliver lab-quality results anywhere, in minutes. The LightDeck platform is achieving success in veterinary diagnostics and for environmental testing, and is developing a suite of human IVD panels. The company is based in Boulder, Colorado, and was recognized as Colorado BioScience Association's Company of the Year, 2021.

Contact:

Chris Wolfe,

[email protected]

SOURCE LightDeck Diagnostics
Lone Star PACE, assisting with low-cost financing for qualified energy and water efficiency upgrades, named program administrator for Collin County C-PACE program.

COLLIN COUNTY, Texas, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Frisco-based registered municipal advisory firm Lone Star PACE was selected by Collin County Commissioners Court as the Program Administrator for the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program. C-PACE provides long-term, attractive financing for energy and water efficiency upgrades that are secured by a voluntary assessment on the property.

Enacted in 2013, the Texas PACE Act was established to encourage private sector investment in energy and water efficiency improvements to commercial properties. Serving as the Collin County C-PACE administrator, Lone Star PACE will ensure adherence to program requirements of the county and the PACE Act.

"Forward-thinking Texas developers and commercial property owners are recognizing the economic benefits provided by the attractive financing earmarked specifically for energy efficiency / renewable energy projects, especially with the push for environmental, societal, and governance (ESG) initiatives," said Lone Star PACE COO Glenn Silva.

He goes on, "Our primary goal is to provide education to various stakeholderscommercial property owners, contractors, economic development corporations, and chambers of commerceon the how PACE makes a positive impact on sustainability, property values, and economic development."

C-PACE financing is secured to the property, not the owner's private credit, providing truly non-recourse and very attractive financing to commercial property owners. The private C-PACE capital provider (not the municipality) handles billing. There is no cost, liability, or additional administration burden to Collin County or the taxpayers.

Silva concludes, "Lone Star PACE looks forward to serving local businesses and contributing to the economic development of Collin County."

For more information about the Collin County C-PACE program or if you have questions regarding a specific project, contact Lone Star PACE.

About Lone Star PACE

Lone Star PACE is a private company based in Frisco, Texas that provides C-PACECommercial Property Assessed Clean Energy administrationa financing solution to fund energy and water efficiency upgrades to commercial properties. The registered municipal advisory firm serves as an authorized representative on behalf of its municipal clients to provide program administration, facilitating energy efficiency, water conservation, and renewable energy upgrades to local communities. Cities and counties, commercial property owners, capital providers, and contractors can learn more at lonestarpace.com.

Contact:

Glenn Silva

214-256-3209

SOURCE Lone Star Pace
"Marianne Rodriguez earned this honor due to her passion to help others, strong work ethic and deep industry knowledge." Tweet this

With over 9 years of experience in the financial services world, Rodriguez joined the Boca Raton branch of RTWM as a Wealth Advisor in September 2020. Now working in the New York office, she continues her work developing and implementing complex financial planning strategies and managing high net worth clients' investments. RTWM has four branches: its headquarters in Westfield, NJ, and additional offices in New York City, Boca Raton, FL and Bend, Oregon.

This year's "40 Under 40" honorees were selected by a judging committee comprised of InvestmentNews staff members from more than 1,000 nominations based on their accomplishments, contributions to the financial services industry, leadership and future promise.

"I feel very thankful and honored to be recognized amongst this amazing group of professionals," said Rodriguez. "I hope my journey through the financial industry serves as evidence that being passionate about what you do can make a difference in other people's lives. "

Rodriguez received her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a minor in Marketing and Human Resources from Universidad Iberoamericana UNIBE in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER marks in 2018 and is currently an active member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA). Rodriguez, who is fluent in four languages  English, Spanish, French and Portuguese  is passionate about cultural diversity and learning from people who come from different backgrounds. She has been serving the financial needs of the Southeast Florida market, coordinating all aspects of the investment management and financial advisory services for her relationships, assisting clients with personal and commercial banking solutions as well as insurance and investment guidance and advice. Her focus is to provide her clients with comprehensive planning tools and resources as they navigate life and seek to maximize the benefits of their investments and retirement planning.

ABOUT ROUND TABLE WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Round Table Wealth Management (RTWM), an independent financial advisory firm established in 1999, is managed by four partners with over 100 years of industry experience. They, along with other members of the firm, form a dedicated team of highly-credentialed wealth advisors, financial planners, and investment management professionals.

Global in their investing and personalized in their service, the firm provides objective strategies designed to meet the far-reaching goals of each client in a personal and comprehensive manner. Those clients are comprised of high-net-worth individuals, families (national and global), business owners, professionals, and women investors seeking thoughtful financial advice and guidance to grow and preserve their wealth. Assisting cross-border clients and expats with multi-national interests and a high degree of tax complexity is a key area of focus. In addition, the firm specializes in working with families and individuals who have multi-generational wealth concerns.

With approximately $1.6B in assets under management (AUM) for its clients, RTWM offers personalized advisory services supported by institutional knowledge, deep experience, and skilled expertise. Their fiduciary approach involves a suite of holistic planning services including investment, philanthropy, retirement, insurance, cash flow and tax and estate counsel.

Learn more at www.RoundTableWealth.com.

Media Contact:

Grace Vogelzang

Impact Communications, Inc.

913-649-5009

[email protected]

SOURCE Round Table Wealth Management
As the retail network development marketing director, Isom will be primarily responsible for overall franchise development campaign execution across the AlphaGraphics and PostNet brands. This will include lead generation strategy, planning and execution of integrated marketing strategies for franchise recruitment, development and implementation of strategic marketing campaigns to increase franchise awareness and achieve annual revenue goals, development and coordination of semi-monthly candidate webinars, and much more.

"Over the past two years, AlphaGraphics and PostNet made the necessary changes to provide growth opportunities despite the pandemic that plagued the business community," said Bill McPherson, vice president of franchise development. "With both franchises seeing amazing success, we wanted to continue that trajectory by making an addition to our leadership team solely to help grow our franchise network. Matthew will play a pivotal role in helping push AlphaGraphics and PostNet to new heights as we continue to thrive on a franchise level."

Isom brings a broad wealth of experience to the director position. Before joining AlphaGraphics and PostNet, he worked as the partner relations manager at Ring Ring Marketing. He has also held positions as a digital marketing consultant, data analyst, marketing strategist and digital marketing specialist.

A graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Isom said he looks forward to helping with the growth and expansion of both the PostNet and AlphaGraphics brands.

"Franchising is a unique industry in that entrepreneurs are given a set of tools and a business model to help them become successful on a local or regional level," Isom said. "Both AlphaGraphics and PostNet provide an excellent example of a franchise doing it the right way by providing franchisees with numerous resources for exponential growth. I look forward to working with Bill McPherson, Ryan Farris and all the other executives to help continue the success that PostNet and AlphaGraphics exemplify."

AlphaGraphics was founded in 1970, and the company began offering franchise opportunities in 1979. For more information, visit http://www/alphagraphics.com .

PostNet opened its doors in 1993. With over 600 locations in North America, Central America, South America and Africa, PostNet is a global leader in printing and shipping solutions. For more information, visit https://www.postnet.com/.

About AlphaGraphics

AlphaGraphics, Inc., with more than 285 locations in 6 countries, is one of the largest U.S.-based networks of locally-owned and operated Business Centers offering a complete range of print, visual communications, and marketing products. Solutions include: full-service digital, offset, and large format printing; design services; mailing; one-to-one marketing solutions; promotional products; and web to print solutions. For more information about AlphaGraphics services, visit www.alphagraphics.com . To learn about franchise opportunities, visit www.alphagraphicsfranchise.com .

About PostNet

PostNet opened its doors in 1993. With nearly 700 locations in North America, Central America, South America and Africa, PostNet is a global leader in printing and shipping solutions. In 2017, PostNet joined the MBE Worldwide family. Combined, MBE has nearly 2,600 locations in 44 countries. For more information about PostNet services, visit www.postnet.com. To learn about franchise opportunities, visit www.postnetfranchise.com.

About MBE Worldwide

MBE Worldwide S.p.A. ("MBE"), a privately-owned company with its headquarters in Italy, is a Global Commerce enabler for SMBs and consumers thanks to its platform providing e-commerce, fulfillment, shipping, marketing and print solutions via multi-brand operations: PrestaShop, Mail Boxes Etc. (except the US and Canada), PostNet, PACK & SEND, Spedingo.com, AlphaGraphics, Multicopy and Print Speak. The combination of our retail platform - that currently counts 2,900+ Service Centers in 53 Countries with more than 12.000 associates - with our PrestaShop ecommerce platform served almost one million business customers in FY 2021 generating 1.01 billion (US $1.2 billion) of System Wide Sales and 24 billion (US $28.5 billion) of e-commerce Gross Merchandise Value.

For additional information please visit MBE Worldwide Group websites at www.mbecorporate.com - www.prestashop.com/en - www.mbeglobal.com - www.postnet.com - www.packsend.com.au - www.spedingo.com/en - www.alphagraphics.com - www.multicopy.nl - www.printspeak.com - www.mbe.it - www.mbe.es - www.mbe.de - www.mbefrance.fr - www.mbe.pl - www.mbeportugal.pt - www.mbe.co.uk

MEDIA CONTACT:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

865-977-1973

[email protected]

SOURCE AlphaGraphics
Conceived as a Kazakh version of a French film noir, A Dark, Dark Man starts with the murder of a small boy and is set in a bleak yet artfully framed beautiful landscape  rural and dusty rather than urban and gritty. The protagonist is Bekzat (Daniar Alshinov), a young policeman who is already a jaded and cynical accomplice to the corruption all around him. His slow-motion awakening to confronting the corrupt system is inspired almost against his will by the sudden appearance of an outside journalist, Ariana (Dinara Baktybaeva). Bekzat's pursuit of the real murderer is flawed and a jagged zigzag towards justice, encountering plenty of blood and wrongdoing along the way.

"A Dark, Dark Man" won the Achievement in Directing for Adilkhan Yerzhanov from the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

The film does purposely depart from its darker noir tone with an '80s-inspired soundtrack and is genuinely funny at times. Yerzhanov has explained that "In my films, humor helps to neutralize landmines".

Also in July, the law enforcement team known as The Bastards of Pizzofalcone (Italy, RAI Com) is back for a third season after the explosive end to Season 2. A new Bastard, Commissioner Elsa Martini (Maria Vera Ratti), joins the team, along with persistent rumors about her involvement in the death of a suspected pedophile. She fits right into the Pizzofalcone vibe as the day-to-day dramedy is peppered by some expected mafia appearances, along with an ongoing serial killer investigation.

MHz Choice will also premiere the latest season of Cherif (France, France Televisions), Season 10 of Don Matteo (Italy, Lux Vide) and two bonus episodes of Alexandra Ehle (France, Film & Picture).

The full July 2022 schedule available here: https://mhzchoice.com/premiere-schedule/

JULY 5

DON MATTEO: SEASON 10, ITALY, LUX VIDE, NEW SEASON

The ongoing treat of Don Matteo's return to MHz Choice continues with new seasons premiering throughout 2022. Terence Hill stars as Don Matteo, a thoroughly ordinary Catholic priest with an extraordinary ability to read people and solve crimes.

JULY 12

CHERIF: SEASON 5, FRANCE, FRANCE TELEVISIONS, NEW SEASON

The penultimate season! Captain Kader Cherif is a brilliant and eccentric detective in this addictive, long-running mystery series set in Lyon.

JULY 19

ALEXANDRA EHLE, FRANCE, FILM & PICTURE, NEW EPISODES

For those left wanting more of quirky coroner Alexandra Ehle (Julie Depardieu), we have two bonus feature-length episodes coming to MHz Choice this month. What makes Alexandra special is her devotion to restoring dignity to the dead, regardless of how unconventional her approach is to the cast of characters around her.

A DARK, DARK MAN, KAZAKHSTAN, VIDEOPLUGGER, NEW LIMITED SERIES

A series of murders exposes deep corruption in a tight-knit Kazakh community, where a local policeman will do anything to uncover the true killer. Variety's Jessica Klang describes acclaimed Kazakh director Adilkhan Yerzhanov's drama as a "staggeringly controlled, slow-burn scorcher of a crime thriller brilliant, diamond-hard film noir."

JULY 26

THE BASTARDS OF PIZZOFALCONE: SEASON 3, ITALY, RAI COM, NEW SEASON

Alessandro Gassman leads an ensemble cast in the latest season of this popular Neapolitan crime drama based on the bestselling mystery novels by Maurizio de Giovanni.

About MHz Networks

MHz Networks offers viewers access to a library of the best television mysteries, dramas, comedies and documentaries subtitled in English through its subscription streaming service, MHz Choice. Select MHz Networks content is also available on DVD and on its free ad-supported service MHz Now, available on Samsung TV Plus.

New MHz Choice customers receive a free 7-Day Trial. For more information, go to mhzchoice.com.

SOURCE MHz Networks
NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Michael L. Tichnor has been elected president of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the leading global Jewish advocacy organization.

"I am honored and humbled to take on this most meaningful role at AJC, an organization which exemplifies courage, strength, diplomacy and action," said Tichnor. "From its founding in 1906, AJC has stood up for the Jewish people and Israel time and time again, and today is no different. The founders of AJC used the motto 'Let us prove strong for the sake of our people.' During these complex, threatening and challenging times, I know that AJC leaders and supporters join me in saying that 'we MUST prove strong for the sake of our people, our children and grandchildren'."

Tichnor succeeds Harriet P, Schleifer, whose three-year term as AJC president ended with the conclusion of the AJC Global Forum.

Welcoming Tichnor's election, AJC CEO David Harris said, "Few lay leaders know AJC inside and out as well as Michael does. At a time of transition here, this knowledge, as well as the high esteem in which he's held by both volunteers and staff, couldn't be more timely and needed. If ever there was the right person for the right moment, it's Michael Tichnor. AJC's future is in the best of hands."

A Boston-based entrepreneur, Tichnor has been involved with AJC for more than 20 years. He began his involvement in 1997, joined the AJC New England Region Board in 2002, was elected regional president in 2009.

Nationally he has served on AJC's Board of Governors, and on the Executive Council as Chair of Regional Offices, Chair of Leadership Development, and Chair of the Strategic Assessment Task Force to prepare AJC for its chief executive transition in October 2022. Most recently he served on the Succession Committee. In addition, he is a member of the Brussels-based AJC Transatlantic Institute board.

Tichnor was founder and president of Tichnor Properties, Inc., a privately held commercial and industrial real estate company located in southern New England. In addition to other ventures, he was previously a principal and of counsel to a family held leading national consumer paper products company. Currently, he is a private investor.

He has been involved with several Jewish organizations in Boston, including Combined Jewish Philanthropies (Federation), Congregation Or Atid as its founder and first president, Metrowest Jewish Day School, and OneinForty, an organization that raises awareness of the increased cancer risks caused by genetic defects amongst Ashkenazi Jews. In addition, he has served two terms as an elected member of the Wayland, MA Select Board, having been elected twice as it chair, and was also a member of the town's Finance Committee.

Tichnor received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and law degree from Boston College Law School. He is married to Karen, a retired special needs teacher. They have three married children and seven grandchildren.

Other senior AJC officers elected at the AJC Global Forum include: Robert E. Lapin, Chair, Board of Governors; Steven J. Wisch, Chair, Board of Trustees; Cliff P. Goldstein, Associate Chair, Board of Trustees; Anthony E. Meyer, Associate Chair, Board of Trustees; Roberta S. Baruch, Chair, Advocacy Committee; Ilene Engel, Chair, Leadership Development; Matthew J. Coen, Chair, Global Communications; David R. Berz, Treasurer/Secretary; and Steven L. Zelkowitz, Associate Treasurer/Chair, Budget Committee.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee
Tapestri Center of Excellence program expands globally to offer Tapestri's single-cell multi-omics capabilities across Europe

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. and BARCELONA, Spain, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mission Bio, Inc. , the pioneer in high-throughput single-cell DNA and multi-omics analysis, today announced a new Center of Excellence, located at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute and led by Manel Esteller, MD, PhD. As Mission Bio's second single-cell Tapestri Center of Excellence and the first in Europe, the Josep Carreras Institute will inform academic and industrial best practices using single-cell DNA and multi-omics sequencing in hematological malignancy research, as well as a new program in breast cancer.

As a leading leukemia research center in Europe, the Josep Carreras Institute has long been a champion of single-cell analysis and launched a specialized unit in 2021. Today's partnership will further the Josep Carreras Institute's application of single-cell DNA sequencing to investigate disease progression, therapeutic resistance, and measurable residual disease (MRD) in both blood cancers and its novel breast cancer research program.

The Josep Carreras Institute is the first European research center with expertise focused on leukemia and other blood cancers. The institution's main research focus is on identification of new therapeutic targets and development of more precise and less aggressive treatments by understanding the origin and development of leukemia and other blood cancers. Esteller, director of the Josep Carreras Institute, is the author of more than 600 original publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Epigenetics and an editorial board member of Genome Research . Last year, he co-authored an article in Experimental Hematology about the benefits of single-cell analytics to characterize the heterogeneity and clonal evolution of blood cell subpopulations in myeloid and lymphoid cancers, which can improve patient diagnosis, risk stratification and targeted therapy prescription.

"Single-cell DNA and multi-omics analysis will allow us to expand our research capabilities, and capabilities across Europe, to more deeply investigate how hematologic malignancies progress and resist treatments. This will be crucial to discovering new biomarkers and therapeutics," said Esteller. "Mission Bio's partnership will greatly accelerate the process of uncovering genetic mechanisms by applying its novel Tapestri workflows and panels across our 25 leukemia programs, and our growing breast cancer research."

The Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute is Mission Bio's second Tapestri Center of Excellence, following an agreement with the lab of Jorge Reis-Filho, MD, PhD at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in March. Dr. Reis-Filho's team is working closely with Mission Bio's R&D teams to observe tumor heterogeneity and clonal architecture in solid cancers.

Through its centers of excellence, Mission Bio is partnering with leaders within the hematologic malignancy and solid tumor research communities as it continues to build and refine Tapestri's functionality to explore heterogeneity across tumor types. Tapestri is the only commercial product capable of simultaneously analyzing DNA and other analytes like cell surface proteins at the single-cell level, through its unique two-step droplet microfluidics technology. Recent high-profile research in breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and melanoma has shown the importance of understanding cancer at a higher resolution. Tapestri can be used to interrogate clonal mosaicism and neoplastic transition, clonal evolution, and metastatic dissemination with its ability to co-detect SNVs and CNVs at the single-cell level in a scalable manner. As a tool for understanding disease resistance, users can detect rare emergent clones early with reliable and sensitive loss-of-heterozygosity measurements, helping them to understand how driver mutations are acquired over time that can allow tumor escape and metastasis. And single-cell multi-omics analysis has growing importance in precision cancer medicine, clarifying the clonal structure of tumors to guide combination therapeutic development and personalized treatment.

"We're pleased to expand our Centers of Excellence program to Europe, thanks to Dr. Esteller's leadership at the Josep Carreras Institute," said Yan Zhang, PhD, CEO of Mission Bio. "The partnership strengthens Mission Bio's position as a leader of single-cell sequencing in hematologic malignancies, and sets both us and the Josep Carreras Institute up for success to uncover new biologic insights in solid tumor profiling."

Mission Bio and the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute will be hosting a webinar on Thursday, June 16t at 2:00 PM CEST, where Esteller will be providing a talk titled "Single-Cell Genomics and Proteomics in Myelodysplastic Syndrome." Register for the webinar here .

For more on Mission Bio and the Tapestri platform, please visit missionbio.com .

About Mission Bio

Mission Bio is a life sciences company that accelerates discoveries and cures for a wide range of diseases by equipping researchers with the tools they need to better measure and predict our resistance and response to new therapies. Mission Bio's multi-omics approach improves time-to-market for new therapeutics, including innovative cell and gene therapies that provide new pathways to health. Founded in 2014, Mission Bio has secured investment from Novo Growth, Cota Capital, Agilent Technologies, Mayfield Fund, and others.

The company's Tapestri platform gives researchers around the globe the power to interrogate every molecule in a cell together, providing a comprehensive understanding of activity from a single sample. Tapestri is the only commercialized multi-omics platform capable of analyzing DNA and protein simultaneously from the same sample at single-cell resolution. The Tapestri Platform is being utilized by customers at leading research centers, as well as pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies worldwide to develop treatments and eventually cures for cancer.

About the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute

The Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute is a public facility belonging to the Generalitat de Catalunya's CERCA network. It was born in 2010 and aimed at fostering biomedical research and personalized medicine in the field of leukemia and other malignant blood diseases. The Josep Carreras Institute is the first European center with focused expertise in leukemia and malignant hemopathies, and one of the few existing in the world.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our expectations regarding the transaction described above, including anticipated benefits, anticipated payments, future business and market opportunities, and anticipated growth resulting from the transaction; the potential, safety, efficacy, and regulatory and clinical progress of our product candidates; our position as a leader in the development of genetic medicines; and the sufficiency of our cash and cash equivalents to fund our operations; These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: we may not realize the anticipated benefits of the collaboration with Oxford Biomedica; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and operations, including our preclinical studies and clinical trials, and on general economic conditions; we have and expect to continue to incur significant losses; our need for additional funding, which may not be available; failure to identify additional product candidates and develop or commercialize marketable products; the early stage of our development efforts; potential unforeseen events during clinical trials could cause delays or other adverse consequences; risks relating to the regulatory approval process; our product candidates may cause serious adverse side effects; inability to maintain our collaborations, or the failure of these collaborations; our reliance on third parties; failure to obtain U.S. or international marketing approval; ongoing regulatory obligations; effects of significant competition; unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives; product liability lawsuits; failure to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel; the possibility of system failures or security breaches; risks relating to intellectual property and significant costs as a result of operating as a public company. These and other important factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021, and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("the SEC") could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.

Media Contacts

Consort Partners for Mission Bio

[email protected]

SOURCE Mission Bio
Modine's executive leadership team to provide unique insight into the Company's multi-year strategy, financial outlook and business opportunities

RACINE, Wis., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE: MOD), a diversified global leader in thermal management technology and solutions, today announced that it will host an Investor and Analyst Day at The New York Stock Exchange in New York City, NY on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.

The event will feature presentations from members of Modine's executive management team including:

Chief Executive Officer  Neil D. Brinker

Chief Financial Officer  Michael B. (Mick) Lucareli

President, Performance Technologies  Adrian I. Peace

President, Climate Solutions  Eric S. McGinnis

The presentation will begin at 8:30am ET and the simultaneous, live webcast will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website. A webcast replay will also be available on the website shortly after the conclusion of the event.

Live Webcast Details

Date/Time: Wednesday, June 22, 2022, at 8:30 AM ET Webcast: https://www.webcast-eqs.com/modine20220622/en

About Modine

Modine, with fiscal 2022 revenues of $2.1 billion, specializes in thermal management systems and components, bringing highly engineered heating and cooling components, original equipment products, and systems to diversified global markets. Modine is a global company headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin (USA), with operations in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. For more information about Modine, visit www.modine.com.

Kathleen Powers

(262) 636-1687

[email protected]

SOURCE Modine Manufacturing Company
Leading content personalization company explores why personalization is mission-critical for brand communications

NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Movable Ink , the leading content personalization provider, today unveiled its second annual research report: Audience of One: Getting Personalization Right. As privacy becomes a top priority for both brands and consumers, the report explores how marketers are striving towards more effective data collection, while consumers demand more transparency in return. The survey, which polled 3,000 consumers from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Ireland, identifies trends across key demographics from the consumer perspective, including the types of information consumers will share for a more tailored customer experience.

Movable Ink's Audience of One report examines what consumers value in marketing communications and the information that's most useful in their purchasing journey. With three in five consumers sharing that they're more likely to buy a brand's products when they've created a personalized experience in their communications, the need for personalization is critical to driving long-term customer value.

Key findings from the report include:

Over two-thirds (68%) of consumers say they are likely to be a loyal customer and purchase more of a brand's products if they're engaging and building personal relationships with them

Over half of consumers are comfortable giving personal information to brands in exchange for a more personalized experience - including consumers' location as nearly half (44%) of them reported

Over half (51%) of U.S. consumers reported they would be more likely to trust the brand that sent them personalized communications, which is an increase of 6% from 2021

20% of consumers say a lack of transparency around how brands use data is a top concern. Brands must demonstrate clear value in exchange for data

Misuse of personal information can have dire consequences and may even be a deal-breaker for consumers with 40% saying they would cancel services or not purchase from the company again in response, and three in ten (29%) say they would unsubscribe from emails

"A spotlight on data privacy regulations, tech changes, and consumer preferences has caused a tectonic shift across the marketing industry. However, despite the ever-changing landscape, our latest research reiterates consumers' calls for more personalized experiences and that they're willing to exchange data if it means a more tailored brand experience," said Vivek Sharma, CEO at Movable Ink. "Movable Ink is looking forward to sharing these findings and continuing our mission of helping brands elevate the customer experience to drive deeper relationships."

To view the full report, please visit here .

Methodology

The Audience of One 2022: Getting Personalization Right - Balancing Curated Customer Experiences with Privacy Protection report is based on a survey conducted by TEAM LEWIS Research on behalf of Movable Ink. This research sought to uncover what consumers value in branded communications, what information is most useful in their purchasing journey, and the types of information consumers will share for a more tailored customer experience. This research also sought to identify trends across key verticals and demographics from the consumer perspective. The findings detailed in this report are based on data collected in the study, which consisted of 3,000 total responses from consumers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Ireland from April 10, 2022 to April 20, 2022 with a margin of error of +/- 1.7 percentage points.

About Movable Ink

Customers don't experience data, they experience content. Movable Ink activates any data into personalized content in any customer engagement. The world's most innovative brands rely on Movable Ink to accelerate their marketing performance. With more than 550 employees, the company is headquartered in New York City with operations throughout North America, Central America, Europe, Australia, and Japan.

Learn more at movableink.com .

SOURCE Movable Ink
America's Evolving Hispanic Population Drives Rebrand to Emerge as Largest Bilingual Digital Media Platform in the USA

ATLANTA, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mundo Hispanico, the largest certified-minority-owned bilingual and bicultural digital media platform in the USA, announced today it is rebranding to MundoNow in a move to reach the newly dominant 55 percent of America's Latino population that identifies as either bilingual/bicultural or English-language preferred.

The rebrand addresses an evolution among U.S. Latinos that opt for English over Spanish as their primary language but are simultaneously proud of and loyal to their Latino heritage.

"It's no secret that the Latino population in the United States is now one of our nation's dominant cultural forces, but what most do not realize is that it's also fundamentally changing," said MundoNow CEO Rene Alegria.

Just 28 percent of Latinos in the U.S. are Spanish-language dominant per the 2020 Census, and that number is shrinking, said Alegria about the official statistic that served as one of the primary drivers for the name change as well as increasing the platform's already robust English-language content production.

"A new generation of Latinos is flexing its impact within our community. Comprised of Latinos who either immigrated to the U.S. as children, or are American-born, this group is now our community's driving force. They are culturally hungry to connect with their heritage and desire the option to watch and read content in both English and Spanish. MundoNow's rebrand addresses this need and provides culturally authentic content in two languages," Alegria said.

"Over the past few years, the Hispanic community has expanded and evolved significantly," said Gonzalo Del Fa, President of GroupM Multicultural and agency partner. "Latinos today are demanding engaging, fresh, and culturally relevant content on trusted channels, like Mundo, that value the unique U.S. Hispanic experience. To create a more vibrant media marketplace, it is important to enhance the consumer experience with content that reaches across generations and languages. MundoNow offers a space, beyond just the incredible representation, where cultural attributes are abundant for Latino presence, and inclusive for all consumers, because of the breadth of the programming in both English and Spanish languages."

With its roots in print, the company grew to be one of the longest serving and trusted content voices for the Hispanic population in the United States. Now 42 years later and counting, the company is digital-first in its operation, with plans for growth in podcasting and streaming.

MundoNow began to publish original content in English during the summer of 2020. The content began to grow organically, and of 10 million total unique users per month, now generates almost 2 million of those and growing. It now accounts for 20 percent of the overall MundoNow user base.

"The name and format of our platform will now reflect who we're producing content for and who is logging on," Alegria continued. "Today's audiences expect more than just information. They want to be inspired and engaged, and that's what MundoNow will provide for them."

The Latino Numbers

According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau population estimate, there are 62.1 million Hispanics living in the United States , representing 19 percent of the U.S. total population.

, representing 19 percent of the U.S. total population. Third generation Latinos who don't speak Spanish at all now make up 17 percent of the overall Latino community.

The total percentage of Latinos that are bilingual or prefer culturally focused English content is now just slightly over 70 percent.

Total purchasing power of the U.S. Hispanic market has reached $2 Trillion .

About MundoNow/Mundo Hispanico

One of the few certificated-minority-owned digital platforms with a national reach, and whose largest markets include New York, California, Texas, Arizona and Georgia, as well as growing pockets throughout the Southeast and Midwest. The site generates 10 million unique visitors each month, along with 70+ million pageviews and 250+ million served ad impressions. Winner of 16 total Emmy's in three years, MundoNow has its roots in print, starting out as a Spanish-language newspaper in 1979.

With its deep roots in the Latino community, MundoNow's mission is to empower, inform and bring purpose to the online Latino community, visit www.mundonow.com .

SOURCE MundoNow
This year, Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware was named one of the ten best children's hospitals in the Mid-Atlantic and ranked in five pediatric specialties including Cancer, Orthopedics, Neonatology, Diabetes/Endocrinology and Urology. Nemours Children's Hospital, Florida ranked in Orthopedics and Endocrinology specialties. In addition, Wolfson Children's Hospital achieved ranking in Neurology & Neurosurgery. Neuroscience services are provided, in part, by pediatric physician specialists with Nemours Children's Health, Jacksonville.

"Patients and families continue to look to the information provided by U.S. News & World Report to make informed decisions about where to receive care for challenging health conditions," said Nemours Children's Health President and CEO R. Lawrence Moss, MD. "It is gratifying to be recognized by U.S. News for our work in providing skilled, compassionate and equitable care every day. In addition, we are proud to have Nemours Children's Hospital, Florida ranked among the nation's best specialties for the first time."

"Being ranked in five of ten specialties is an amazing accomplishment by our incredible and dedicated staff," said Mark Mumford, Executive Vice President, Chief Executive, Nemours Delaware Valley Operations. "This ranking would not be possible without our commitment to go well beyond medicine and a shared vision to create the healthiest generations of children."

"We are proud to be recognized for the achievements and high-quality care provided by both the Orthopedic and Endocrinology specialties," said Robert D. Bridges, CPA, Chief Executive, Nemours Children's, Florida. "In addition, our collaboration with Wolfson Children's Hospital to expand our specialized, lifechanging care to more children across Florida is yet another example of what teamwork can accomplish."

The Best Children's Hospitals methodology factors objective measures such as patient outcomes, including mortality and infection rates, as well as available clinical resources and compliance with best practices. To calculate the Best Children's Hospitals rankings, U.S. News gathered relevant data from children's hospitals in early 2020 and from pediatric physicians and other healthcare organizations in 2021; because of the pandemic, data collection from children's hospitals was not repeated in 2021.

For more information, visit Best Children's Hospitals for the full rankings and use #BestHospitals on Facebook and Twitter .

About Nemours Children's Health

Nemours Children's Health is one of the nation's largest multistate pediatric health systems, including two free-standing children's hospitals and a network of 72 primary and specialty care practices across four states. Nemours seeks to transform the health of children by adopting a holistic health model that utilizes innovative, safe, and high-quality care, while also caring for the health of the whole child beyond medicine. Nemours also powers the world's most-visited website for information on the health of children and teens, KidsHealth.org.

The Nemours Foundation, established through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, provides pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy, and prevention programs to the children, families and communities it serves.

About U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report is a digital news and information company that empowers people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. Focusing on Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars and News, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

SOURCE Nemours Childrens Health
SAN FRANCISCO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- It takes a village to collect more than 350,000 dollars' worth of medical supplies and equipment and then deliver it to a hospital in Ukraine. A global village, that is, comprised of a compassionate community in southern Nevada, a humanitarian organization called Nova Ukraine, and a dedicated surgeon who never takes no for an answer.

Linda Halderman (third from the left) with Viticus Center staff and Bill Rainer (right) Nova Ukraine volunteers with the shipment of medical supplies in Lviv, Ukraine

When the war in Ukraine broke out, Las Vegas surgeon Linda Halderman wished she could use her medical skills to heal the wounded in Ukraine. "It was very difficult for me to watch knowing that I can stop a hemorrhage and that 90% of battlefield injuries that take lives are hemorrhage injuries," she said.

Without a military background, however, she realized she could not be of much help on the ground in Ukraine. But by collecting medical supplies for hospitals on the frontlines she could help far more people than by applying tourniquets herself.

The job of transporting the supplies into a war zone across the world was beyond the financial and logistical ability of any one person. Enter Nova Ukraine. The San Francisco-based humanitarian organization with volunteers on both sides of the Atlantic funded and coordinated all the logistics involved in this transport.

Halderman's campaign on behalf of Ukraine began early in April. This was a labor of love for the surgeon whose grandparents had immigrated from Ukraine. She got word out and soon the proverbial village came through.

Bill Rainer, a retired vascular surgeon from Colorado, donated more than 100,000 dollars' worth of equipment, including 500 surgery instruments, a ventilator, and an anesthesia machine.

Bobby Layton, a master carpenter in Las Vegas constructed a special crate in which to ship the heavy and fragile equipment.

The Viticus Center, an education non-profit from Las Vegas, donated shipping materials and space at their warehouse to store the supplies until they could be shipped out.

Further assistance came from the American College of Surgeons, the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, the Clark County Office of Emergency Management, and Ukrainians in Nevada, among others.

On May 16, a ton and a half of equipment and supplies was flown out of Los Angeles for its long journey to the Dnipro Regional Clinical Hospital II in Ukraine.

Six weeks was all it took from the time Halderman set the process in motion until a field hospital's worth of supplies and equipment was delivered to Ukraine.

Halderman will continue her volunteer work on behalf of Ukraine and looks forward to the day when the war is over and she can travel to the land of her ancestors to help with the recovery effort. In the meantime, she says, "I hope Ukrainians know that at the very least, they're not in this alone."

Nova Ukraine is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and strengthening the country's democracy.

Contact: Maria Simbirsky

[email protected]

650-283-5991

NovaUkraine website

SOURCE Nova Ukraine
JERSEY CITY, N.J., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of a market assessment report on the " "Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market (Medical Applications (Monoclonal Antibodies, Hormones, Vaccines, Recombinant Proteins, And Other Applications), Products (Continuous Upstream Biomanufacturing Products, Single-Use Upstream Biomanufacturing Products, And Downstream Biomanufacturing Products), Workflow (Upstream And Downstream Biomanufacturing), End-User (Biopharmaceutical Companies, CMOs (Contract Manufacturing Organizations)/CDMOS (Contract Development And Manufacturing Organization), And Research Institutions))- Trends, Industry Competition Analysis, Revenue and Forecast To 2030."

According to the latest research by InsightAce Analytic, the global next-generation biomanufacturing market is valued at US$ 19.85 Billion in 2021, and it is expected to reach US$ 43.16 Billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 9.3% during the forecast period of 2022-2030.

Request for Sample Pages: https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/request-sample/1261

Next-generation biomanufacturing services allow the development and manufacturing of a wide range of products with the highest level of quality than the first generation biomanufacturing products. These services focus on single-use technologies such as single-use bio-containers and single-use bioreactors, enabling better process flexibility and efficiency.

Factors such as the advanced medical technologies, high demand for gene and cell therapy products, rising effects by the government to develop more efficient next-generation bioprocessing units, high prevalence of chronic & genetic diseases, increasing geriatric population, growing awareness among the people regarding the benefits of the next-generation bio-manufacturing, availability of well-established healthcare infrastructures are projected to witness significant growth of the market during the forecast years. The development and production of drugs and materials include complex procedures and require special equipment. Hence, to handle such difficulties, biopharmaceutical companies opt for advanced biomanufacturing solutions to increase production quality and efficiency, which is expected to enhance the production of next-generation biomanufacturing products in the upcoming years.

On the other side, factors such as the lack of skilled professionals and the complexity of the process operations may restrain the market adoption over the forecast period.

Regionally, North America dominated this market in 2021 and is expected to lead the next-generation biomanufacturing market over the forecast period (2022-2030), owing to the well-developed biopharmaceutical industries, fast adoption of modern technologies, and the rising usage of innovative technologies.

Enquire Before Buying: https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/enquiry-before-buying/1261

Key market players operating in the next-generation biomanufacturing market include Applikon Biotechnology BV (Netherlands), bbi-biotech GmbH (Germany), Danaher Corporation (US), Eppendorf AG (Germany), Esco Group of Companies (US), GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft (Germany), Meissner Filtration Products, Inc. (US), Merck KGaA (Germany), PBS Biotech, Inc. (US), Pierre Guerin (France), Sartorius AG (Germany), Shanghai Bailun Biotechnology Co. Ltd. (China), Solaris Biotechnology Srl. (Italy), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (US), ZETA GmbH (Austria), among others.

Key developments in the market:

In August 2021 , PBS Biotech (US) secured its highest funding round with BroadOak Capital Partners to grow its product offerings and capabilities. The budget is used to expand PBS's product offerings and abilities and meet the demand for cell therapies.

PBS Biotech (US) secured its highest funding round with BroadOak Capital Partners to grow its product offerings and capabilities. The budget is used to expand PBS's product offerings and abilities and meet the demand for cell therapies. In February 2021 , Merck ( Germany ) partnered with Alteogen, Inc. ( South Korea ), a company providing late-stage CDMO services through Merck's BioReliance end-to-end solutions. Alteogen selected Merck to develop and produce recombinant biologics for developing and clinically evaluating next-generation therapeutics of monoclonal antibody drugs.

, Merck ( ) partnered with Alteogen, Inc. ( ), a company providing late-stage CDMO services through Merck's BioReliance end-to-end solutions. Alteogen selected Merck to develop and produce recombinant biologics for developing and clinically evaluating next-generation therapeutics of monoclonal antibody drugs. In November 2020 , Merck ( Germany ) collaborated with Transcenta, a biotherapeutics company, to implement & advance continuous manufacturing for protein therapeutics.

Market Segments

Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market, by Medical Applications, 2022-2030(Value US$ Bn)

Monoclonal Antibodies

Hormones

Vaccines

Recombinant Proteins

Other Applications

Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market, by Products, 2022-2030(Value US$ Bn)

Continuous Upstream Biomanufacturing Products

Single-Use Upstream Biomanufacturing Products

Downstream Biomanufacturing Products

Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market, by Workflow, 2022-2030(Value US$ Bn)

Upstream Biomanufacturing

Downstream Biomanufacturing

Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market, by End-Users, 2022-2030(Value US$ Bn)

Biopharmaceutical Companies

CMOs (Contract manufacturing organizations)/CDMOs (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization)

Research Institutions

Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market, by Region, 2022-2030(Value US$ Bn)

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

North America Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market, by Country, 2022-2030(Value US$ Bn)

U.S.

Canada

Europe Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market, by Country, 2022-2030(Value US$ Bn)

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

Russia

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market, by Country, 2022-2030(Value US$ Bn)

India

China

Japan

South Korea

Australia & New Zealand

Latin America Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market, by Country, 2022-2030(Value US$ Bn)

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market, by Country, 2022-2030(Value US$ Bn)

GCC Countries

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Why should buy this report:

To receive a comprehensive analysis of the prospects for the global next-generation biomanufacturing market

To receive an industry overview and future trends of the next-generation biomanufacturing market

To analyze the next-generation biomanufacturing market drivers and challenges

To get information on the next-generation biomanufacturing market size (Value US$ Bn) forecast to 2030

Significant investments, mergers & acquisitions in the next-generation biomanufacturing market industry

For Customization @ https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/customisation/1261

Other Related Reports Published by InsightAce Analytic:

Global iPSCs Manufacturing Services Market

Global Biopharmaceutical Excipient Manufacturing Market

Global Allogeneic Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market

Global mRNA Synthesis and Manufacturing Services Market

About Us:

InsightAce Analytic is a market research and consulting firm that enables clients to make strategic decisions. Our qualitative and quantitative market intelligence solutions inform the need for market and competitive intelligence to expand businesses. We help clients gain a competitive advantage by identifying untapped markets, exploring new and competing technologies, segmenting potential markets, and repositioning products. Our expertise is in providing syndicated and custom market intelligence reports with an in-depth analysis with key market insights in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Contact Us:

InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd.

Tel.: +1 718 593 4405

Email: [email protected]

Site Visit: www.insightaceanalytic.com

Follow Us on LinkedIn @ bit.ly/2tBXsgS

Follow Us On Facebook @ bit.ly/2H9jnDZ

SOURCE InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd.
- Cardiology & Heart Surgery: #47 (highest ranked program in South Florida)

- Neonatology: #41 (only ranked program in South Florida)

- Neurology & Neurosurgery: #25 (only ranked program in South Florida)

- Orthopedics: #44

- Pulmonology: #34 (only ranked program in South Florida)

"Nicklaus Children's is honored to, once again, be recognized nationally for the excellence of our pediatric specialty programs and tied as the number one children's hospital in Florida," said Matthew A. Love, president and CEO of Nicklaus Children's Health System. "Being a top-ranked children's hospital means the best care is right here and no child needs to leave South Florida to receive world-class pediatric care."

Nearly 200 hospitals participate in the annual survey. The methodology is based on clinical outcomes such as patient survival, infection rates and complications; the level and quality of hospital resources directly related to patient care such as staffing, technology and special services; delivery of healthcare programs that prevent infections and adherence to best practices; and expert opinion among pediatric specialists and subspecialists. The survey is updated every year, designed to account for new treatments and evidence-based best practices, informed by leading experts in the field.

"Our longstanding performance as a top-ranked hospital is a tribute to our physicians, nurses and staff, and their shared commitment to clinical excellence in supporting the medical needs of the children of our region and beyond," added Love.

About Nicklaus Children's Hospital

Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with nearly 800 attending physicians, including more than 390 pediatric subspecialists. The 309-bed hospital, known as Miami Children's Hospital from 1983 through 2014, is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with many specialty programs routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. The hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern United States and has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession's most prestigious institutional honor. For more information, please visit www.nicklauschildrens.org

Media Contact

Fuad Kiuhan

786.449.4797

[email protected]

SOURCE Nicklaus Childrens Health System
At the company's global headquarters in Utah, this year's Force for Good Day is all about inclusivity, emphasizing the importance of belonging and unity. More than 1,000 Nu Skin employees and their families will participate in a day of service to complete 15 service projects. Nu Skin is partnering with 10 charity partners that focus on meeting the needs of vulnerable populations and youth in Utah, including Thanksgiving Point, United Way's South Franklin Community Center , Stitching Hearts Worldwide and CharityVision International .

"Inclusivity is a key part of being a force for good," said Ruth Todd, Nu Skin senior vice president and chief reputation officer. "This year, our projects at our global headquarters are helping disabled, less fortunate and neuro-diverse children with basic needs and experiences, so they can focus on learning and growing. As our affiliates and employees work across the world, we have the unique opportunity to make a global impact, accomplishing more good than we ever could alone."

Global Force for Good Day Projects

Some of this year's global Force for Good Day projects include:

Europe will help suffering individuals and families with rare genetic disorders across more than five countries with a virtual challenge.

will help suffering individuals and families with rare genetic disorders across more than five countries with a virtual challenge. Hong Kong employees will host a family cooking class to promote healthier children and parent relationships while improving nutrition.

employees will host a family cooking class to promote healthier children and parent relationships while improving nutrition. Japan will host a food drive during the month of June and prepare school supply kits for elementary schools and at-risk children.

will host a food drive during the month of June and prepare school supply kits for elementary schools and at-risk children. Korea is partnering with World Vision Korea to assemble 180 special meal kits for local families.

Mainland China will be reading books to children online and participating in other uplifting activities.

will be reading books to children online and participating in other uplifting activities. Thailand is helping heart patients at Rajchvithi Hospital by providing art kits and other activities.

is helping heart patients at Rajchvithi Hospital by providing art kits and other activities. South Africa will partner with the Angel's Network to collect 150 winter supply packs for those in need.

About Nu Skin

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: NUS) is a global integrated beauty and wellness company, powered by a dynamic affiliate opportunity platform. The company helps people look, feel and live their best with products that combine the best of science, technology and nature. Backed by more than 35 years of scientific research, Nu Skin develops innovative products including Nu Skin personal care, Pharmanex nutrition and the ageLOC anti-aging brand which includes an award-winning line of beauty device systems. Nu Skin operates in approximately 50 markets worldwide in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Pacific. Rhyz Inc. is the company's strategic investment arm that includes a collection of technology and manufacturing companies to support growth in the core Nu Skin business. Nu Skin is committed to sustainability, including global initiatives such as transitioning to reduced and sustainable packaging for all products by 2030. The Nu Skin Force for Good Foundation also strives to improve children's health, education and economic circumstances throughout the world. For more information, visit nuskin.com.

Nu Skin Social Media Channels

fb.com/nuskin twitter.com/nuskin instagram.com/nuskin fb.com/ForceForGood

SOURCE Nu Skin Enterprises
This will be Edmonton's first Odd Burger location and the second location under development in the province of Alberta. Franchisees Jasmin and Maheshkumar Patel are currently seeking an ideal location to bring Odd Burger's vegan fast food to the city of Edmonton, and they will be working closely with their local area representative, Utsang Desai from Sai-Ganesh Enterprises (SGE) to expedite the process.

"The city of Edmonton presents an incredible opportunity because of its large population and relatively limited selection of affordable plant-based restaurants," said Utsang Desai, President of SGE. "We are confident that the people of Edmonton will crave Odd Burger just as much as they have across Ontario."

In Calgary, Joanna and Jay Gandhi are in the process of submitting permits to the city for their location at 1515 14th Street SW. Construction is set to commence this summer, once permits are approved.

In March 2022, Odd Burger signed an area representative agreement with SGE to bring 36 additional locations to Alberta and British Columbia over the next 7 years. Edmonton is the first franchise executed under the SGE area representative agreement where the group will oversee site selection, construction, and store deployment.

"We are seeing a significant acceleration of our growth in Western Canada ever since we started working with the SGE group," said James McInnes, Odd Burger Co-Founder and CEO. "Area representative agreements are an essential part of our growth strategy and it's exciting to see the benefits of these partnerships already."

In June 2022, Odd Burger signed a second area representative agreement in Ontario with Starke Investments that will bring 40 new locations to the province over 8 years. In total, Odd Burger now has 92 locations operational or under area development agreements in Canada, making it one of the fastest growing vegan restaurant chains in the country.

Odd Burger Now Included in VegTech ETF (NYSE: EATV)

Odd Burger is pleased to announce that it has been included in the VegTech Plant-Based Innovation and Climate Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "EATV". Inclusion in the actively managed fund is a significant milestone for Odd Burger as it broadens the Company's investor base in the United States and provides investors with additional confidence that Odd Burger has met specific criteria as a sustainable and innovative company.

EATV is the only ETF focused on investing in companies with food-based innovations and technologies to make animal-free primary products. To qualify for inclusion in the VegTech ETF, companies must be working towards a more efficient, climate-friendly and sustainable food and materials supply system. Specifically, the four main categories in which EATV invests are:

Cultivated meat and precision fermentation;

Plant-based food and beverages;

Agriculture technology and science; and,

Plant-based material.

The VegTech ETF invests in small, medium and large cap companies. EATV's mission is to provide a carefully screened fund for investing in innovators of sustainable, plant-based solutions. More information about the VegTech ETF can be found by visiting the following website: https://eatv.vegtechinvest.com/

About Odd Burger Corporation

Odd Burger Corporation is a chain of company-owned and franchised vegan fast-food restaurants as well as a food technology company that manufactures and distributes a line of plant-based protein and dairy alternatives under the brand Preposterous Foods to foodservice channels. Odd Burger restaurants operate as smart kitchens, which use state-of-the art cooking technology and automation solutions to deliver a delicious food experience to customers craving healthier and more sustainable fast food. With small store footprints optimized for delivery and takeout, advanced cooking technology, competitive pricing, a vertically integrated supply chain along with healthier ingredients, Odd Burger is revolutionizing the fast-food industry by creating guilt-free fast food. Odd Burger Corporation is traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ODD, on the OTCQB under ODDAF, and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under IA9. For more information visit https://www.oddburger.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including statements that relate to among other things, the Company's strategies, intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations and estimates, and can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "will", "could", "should", "would", "likely", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "objective" and "continue" and words and expressions of similar import. Although the Company 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 on such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include but are not limited to: general business and economic conditions (including but not limited to currency rates); changes in laws and regulations; legal and regulatory proceedings; and the ability to execute strategic plans. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements contained in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Neither the 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 press release.

SOURCE Odd Burger Corporation
Nation's Largest Locally-Owned and Operated Coworking Provider Announces Locations in Key Markets

LOUISVILLE, Colo., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- While companies throughout the U.S. look for new ways to maintain productivity, innovation, and connection in remote work settings, Office Evolution has provided them with the perfect solution. The brand is continuing its rapid national expansion through the announcement of several new locations expected to open in 2022. These new additions will be located in New Jersey, Texas, Idaho, and Michigan and will work towards fulfilling the brand's goal of providing accessible coworking spaces across the country. The new Office Evolution locations will be making their debut in:

Open in June at 14150 Huffmeister Rd, Cypress TX

Open in June at 1 Tower Center Boulevard, Suite 1510, East Brunswick NJ

Opening in July at 100 Matawan Road, Matawan NJ

Opening in July at 408 S. Eagle Road, Suite 205, Eagle ID

Opening in August at 801 W Big Beaver Road, Suite 300, Troy MI

"Over the past two years, we have seen the business landscape shift in ways that promote both employee retention and satisfaction," said Mark Hemmeter, Founder and President of Office Evolution. "Small business growth is skyrocketing, and there is no one better to help small businesses in achieving their goals than Office Evolution's franchise owners. It is this dedication and passion for helping business owners and remote workers strive to reach their potential that drives us to continue growing so we can serve new communities across the country."

Members benefit from being part of a nation-wide network of coworking locations where they have access to 73 other business locations in 25 states when travelling. Office Evolution is part of the United Franchise Group (UFG) Coworks division, which provides the largest privately owned affiliated coworking network of flexible office space franchises in the world.

"These new locations are in communities that are outperforming their states, on average, in business growth, income, education and homeownership," said Jason Anderson, President of Coworks, "Office Evolution will support and contribute to their continued success."

Demand for these spaces, located in diverse markets throughout the U.S., has increased substantially in recent months. This demand has been experienced as businesses of all sizes continue shifting their focus towards flexible workspaces to get out of the home while avoiding the expenses and restrictions inherent in traditional office leases. This transition from traditional workspaces to more flexible options in suburban markets has positioned Office Evolution perfectly for ongoing growth.

For more information about Office Evolution, please visit: www.officeevolution.com.

About Office Evolution

Office Evolution (OE), a shared workspace  coworking environment, cultivated on the principles of 'Ohana', the Hawaiian tradition referencing family working towards a common goal. OE was founded in 2003 in Boulder, Colorado by Mark Hemmeter a lifelong entrepreneur and real estate enthusiast from Hawaii. In 2022, Office Evolution joined Coworks the largest privately held affiliated coworking franchise network on the planet, associated with United Franchise Group (UFG), a successful community of affiliated brands and consultants. Office Evolution is serious about supporting small business owners  the Dreamers, Risk-Takers and Doers who dare to chase their passions. For more information about Office Evolution, visit www.officeevolution.com and for information about franchise opportunities visit www.officeevolution.com/development.

About Coworks

Coworks specializes in franchising within the coworking industry, offering solutions, expertise, and shared service options within the flexible workspace franchise community. Part of the United Franchise Group (UFG) family of affiliated brands and consultants, Coworks was founded in 2021 by Ray Titus, founder and CEO of United Franchise Group, with the express intention of building a framework to connect a variety of coworking brands, services, and amenities within the coworking industry, providing the largest privately owned affiliated franchise network of flexible, professional, and shared office space options on the planet. For more information about Coworks, visit www.coworksllc.com.

About United Franchise Group

Led by CEO Ray Titus, United Franchise Group (UFG) is home to an affiliated family of brands and consultants including Accurate Franchising Inc., FranchiseMart, Franchise Real Estate, Fully Promoted, Preveer (formerly Resource Operations International), Signarama, Transworld Business Advisors, and the Coworks division consisting of Network Lead Exchange(NLX), Office Evolution (OE) and Venture X as well as a food division featuring Graze Craze, Jon Smith Subs, and The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill. UFG affiliated brands include over 1600 franchises in more than 60 countries, with consultants that have helped develop over 350 brands into franchises, in over 80 countries with more than 2500 franchisees. With over three decades in the franchising industry United Franchise Group offers unprecedented leadership and solid business opportunities for entrepreneurs.

SOURCE Office Evolution
HOUSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas group , a leading North American provider and manufacturer of material handling and innovative automation and fleet solutions, announced today, on National Forklift Safety Day, a call-to-action for its employees, dealers and customers to sign the #SafetyDrivesUs pledge.

As part of the company's "Safety Drives Us" campaign, the Safety Pledge was created to reinforce the need for safe forklift operations and to upholding the highest safety standards in the workplace. Prioritizing safety policies and placing importance on safety training and practices can significantly help to reduce forklift accidents. Employees and dealers that sign the pledge are making a personal commitment to improving overall safety and wellness in their industry.

Additionally, for every pledge received from June 14  30, Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas will give back to the local Habitat for Humanity to help aid in its vision to help everyone have a safe and decent place to live. This year's goal is to collect 3,000 pledges by June 30, 2022, and in exchange, the company will make a $5,000 contribution toward forklift certification and safety gear for Habitat's employees and volunteers.

"Safety drives everything we do, from how we work to the way we treat each other," said Jay Gusler, executive vice president, operations at Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas. "Our goal in launching this Safety Pledge on National Forklift Safety Day is to bring people together with a shared commitment to change our industry for the better  ultimately, to keep all workers safe by never compromising on safety. We hope you will join us in taking the pledge to Drive Safety in your workplace."

The annual National Forklift Safety Day is a significant event for the industry and is hosted by the Industrial Truck Association (ITA). In its ninth year, National Forklift Safety Day provides educational opportunities for customers, forklift operators and the government on the importance of safe forklift procedures.

Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas and its family of brands  Cat lift trucks, Mitsubishi forklift trucks, Jungheinrich, UniCarriers Forklifts and Rocla AGV Solutions  are supporting National Forklift Safety Day across the company's three campuses and encouraging its employees, dealers and customers to take the pledge. The company is also making available its training and resources for safe forklift operation, including Operator Training , Forklift Rules Of The Road and Forklift Certification FAQs .

To join in this year's Safety Drives Us campaign and take the pledge, visit www.logisnextamericas.com/safety.

About Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas

Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas and its group companies have helped customers Move The World Forward for more than 100 years. A technology-driven manufacturer, Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas offers scalable solutions from material handling to automation and extensive fleet support. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, its complete portfolio of advanced solutions spans across five leading brands  Mitsubishi forklift trucks, Cat lift trucks, Rocla AGV Solutions, UniCarriers Forklifts and Jungheinrich warehouse and automation products. All products are backed by an extensive dealer network offering industry-leading customer service and product support. For more information, visit www.logisnextamericas.com .

SOURCE Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas - Houston
Cryptsoft's Key Management Interoperability Client (KMIP) has been licensed to the OSNexus Corporation, bringing market proven, industry validated KMIP technology to OSNexus' industry-leading QuantaStor Software Defined Storage (SDS) platform.

BRISBANE, Australia, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cryptsoft's Key Management Interoperability Client (KMIP) has been licensed to the OSNexus Corporation, bringing market proven, industry validated KMIP technology to OSNexus' industry-leading QuantaStor Software Defined Storage (SDS) platform.

Securing data-at-rest with encryption technology is an essential capability of any successful storage solution in today's market, including Software Defined Storage. As storage moves from appliance based to software defined solutions, managing the keys used for encryption becomes even more critical due to the multitude of locations encryption keys can be used in storage solutions. KMIP solves this management challenge with a modern, open-standards based, interoperable technology that also ensures the consumer avoids vendor lock-in and maintains control of their encryption keys.

"As an OEM supplier of KMIP key management technology, our licensees demand that our solutions be a functionality complete and fully conformant implementation of the standard in order that they can support all the possible use cases their customers may require," said Justin Corlett, Business Development Manager, Cryptsoft. "One of Cryptsoft's major values to our licensees is our market awareness of other KMIP implementations and our ability to ensure that the technology 'just works' for their customers, regardless of the KMIP implementation on the other side of the connection."

We've been heavily investing in security features and improvements for QuantaStor to meet customer demand. This includes our recent FIPS-140-2 certification from NIST to the KMIP support we introduced with QuantaStor 5.11.," said Steven Umbehocker, CEO of OSNEXUS. "Now, with QuantaStor 5.12 we've taken our KMIP key management support a major leap forward with our new partnership with Cryptsoft. QuantaStor now leverages the industry leading Cryptsoft KMIP Client SDK which gives QuantaStor full support for the broad spectrum of KMIP servers on the market today."

About OSNEXUS

Founded in 2010, OSNEXUS helps organizations manage and scale their storage environments with greater efficiency, flexibility, and performance with its industry-leading QuantaStor Software Defined Storage (SDS) platform. QuantaStor, deployed by Fortune 500 companies, addresses a broad set of storage use cases including server virtualization, big data, cloud computing, and high-performance applications through scale-out physical and virtual storage appliances. OSNEXUS focuses on continuous innovation with a strong focus on product quality and industry leading support to ensure customer and partner success with every deployment. QuantaStor is sold worldwide through managed hosting providers, OEMs, VARs, and System Integrators. (www.OSNEXUS.com)

About Cryptsoft

Cryptsoft is a privately held Australian company that operates worldwide in the enterprise key management security market. Cryptsoft's Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP) software development kits (SDKs) are the market's preferred OEM solutions. Cryptsoft's solutions have been selected by prominent global companies for interoperable enterprise key management and encryption technology in their storage, security and cloud products. Cryptsoft is an OASIS Sponsor. (www.cryptsoft.com)

Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12920690

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Cryptsoft Pty Ltd
DUBLIN, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global AI Infrastructure Market (2022-2027) by Offering Type, Deployment Type, Technology, End-User, Geography, Competitive Analysis, and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global AI Infrastructure Market is estimated to be USD 24.32 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 64.21 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 21.43%.



Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global AI Infrastructure Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals.



As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks.

Company Profiles

The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon Web Services, Arm, Cadence Design Systems, Cisco Systems, etc.

Countries Studied

America ( Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , United States , Rest of Americas)

, , , , , , , , Rest of Americas) Europe ( Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Russia , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , United Kingdom , Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Middle-East and Africa ( Egypt , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Rest of MEA)

and ( , , , , , , Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific ( Australia , Bangladesh , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Taiwan , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes 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.

Ansoff Analysis

The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global AI Infrastructure Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.



The report analyses the Global AI Infrastructure Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.



Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, the analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth.

Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global AI Infrastructure 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 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, 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



3 Executive Summary



4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Increased Data Traffic and Need for High Computing Power

4.1.2 Increasing Adoption of Cloud Machine Learning Platform

4.1.3 Increasingly Large and Complex Dataset

4.1.4 Rising Focus On Parallel Computing in AI Data centres

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Lack of AI Hardware Professionals and Skilled Workforce

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Surging Demand for FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) -Based Accelerators

4.3.2 Growing Potential of AI-Based Tools for Elderly Care

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Concerns Regarding Data Privacy in AI Platforms



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 AI Infrastructure Market, By Offering Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Hardware

6.3 1 Processor

6.4 2 Storage

6.5 3 Memory

6.6 Software



7 Global AI Infrastructure Market, By Deployment Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 On-Premises

7.3 Cloud

7.4 Hybrid



8 Global AI Infrastructure Market, By Technology

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Machine Learning

8.3 Deep Learning



9 Global AI Infrastructure Market, By End-User

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Enterprises

9.3 Government Organizations

9.4 Cloud Service Providers



10 Americas' AI Infrastructure Market

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Argentina

10.3 Brazil

10.4 Canada

10.5 Chile

10.6 Colombia

10.7 Mexico

10.8 Peru

10.9 United States

10.10 Rest of Americas



11 Europe's AI Infrastructure Market

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Austria

11.3 Belgium

11.4 Denmark

11.5 Finland

11.6 France

11.7 Germany

11.8 Italy

11.9 Netherlands

11.10 Norway

11.11 Poland

11.12 Russia

11.13 Spain

11.14 Sweden

11.15 Switzerland

11.16 United Kingdom

11.17 Rest of Europe



12 Middle East and Africa's AI Infrastructure Market

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Egypt

12.3 Israel

12.4 Qatar

12.5 Saudi Arabia

12.6 South Africa

12.7 United Arab Emirates

12.8 Rest of MEA



13 APAC's AI Infrastructure Market

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Australia

13.3 Bangladesh

13.4 China

13.5 India

13.6 Indonesia

13.7 Japan

13.8 Malaysia

13.9 Philippines

13.10 Singapore

13.11 South Korea

13.12 Sri Lanka

13.13 Thailand

13.14 Taiwan

13.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Competitive Quadrant

14.2 Market Share Analysis

14.3 Strategic Initiatives

14.3.1 M&A and Investments

14.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

14.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



15 Company Profiles

15.1 Advanced Micro Devices

15.2 Amazon Web Services

15.3 Arm

15.4 Cadence Design Systems

15.5 Cisco Systems

15.6 Dell

15.7 Google

15.8 Graphcore

15.9 Gyrfalcon Technology

15.10 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development

15.11 IBM Technology company

15.12 Intel

15.13 Micron Technology

15.14 Microsoft

15.15 MIPS Technologies

15.16 Nvidia

15.17 Samsung Electronics

15.18 SK hynix

15.19 Synopsys

15.20 Xilinx



16 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/hnjt62

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market (2022-2027) by Offering, Technology, Deployment, Application, End-User, Geography, Competitive Analysis, and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market is estimated to be USD 9.8 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 23.14 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 18.75%.



Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals.



As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks.

Company Profiles

The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are Appier, Baidu, BMW, GumGum, Intel, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Oculus360, Oracle, Sentient Technologies, etc.



Countries Studied

America ( Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , United States , Rest of Americas)

, , , , , , , , Rest of Americas) Europe ( Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Russia , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , United Kingdom , Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Middle-East and Africa ( Egypt , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Rest of MEA)

and ( , , , , , , Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific ( Australia , Bangladesh , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Taiwan , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes 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.



Ansoff Analysis

The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.



The report analyses the Global Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.



Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, the analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Artificial Intelligence in Marketing 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 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, 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



3 Executive Summary



4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Higher Usage of Social Media for Advertising

4.1.2 Increasing Adoption of Customer-Centric Marketing Strategies

4.1.3 Huge Demand for Virtual Assistants

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Limited Number of AI Experts

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Growing Adoption of Cloud-Based Applications and Services

4.3.2 Development of Marketing Analytics

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Fear Regarding Data Privacy

4.4.2 Unreliability of AI Algorithms



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 Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market, By Offering

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Hardware

6.2.1 Network

6.2.2 Processor

6.2.3 Storage

6.3 Services

6.3.1 Deployment & Integration

6.3.2 Support & Maintenance

6.4 Software



7 Global Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market, By Technology

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Computer Vision

7.3 Context-Aware Computing

7.4 Machine Learning

7.4.1 Deep Learning

7.4.2 Reinforcement Learning

7.4.3 Semi-Supervised Learning

7.4.4 Supervised Learning

7.4.5 Unsupervised Learning

7.5 Natural Language Processing (NLP)



8 Global Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market, By Deployment

8.1 Introduction

8.2 On Premises

8.3 On Cloud



9 Global Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market, By Application

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Analytics Platform

9.3 Content Curation

9.4 Dynamic Pricing

9.5 Sales & Marketing Automation

9.6 Search Advertising

9.7 Social Media Advertising

9.8 Virtual Assistant



10 Global Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market, By End-User

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Enterprise

10.3 BFSI

10.4 Retail

10.5 Consumer Goods

10.6 Media & Advertising



11 Americas' Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Argentina

11.3 Brazil

11.4 Canada

11.5 Chile

11.6 Colombia

11.7 Mexico

11.8 Peru

11.9 United States

11.10 Rest of Americas



12 Europe's Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Austria

12.3 Belgium

12.4 Denmark

12.5 Finland

12.6 France

12.7 Germany

12.8 Italy

12.9 Netherlands

12.10 Norway

12.11 Poland

12.12 Russia

12.13 Spain

12.14 Sweden

12.15 Switzerland

12.16 United Kingdom

12.17 Rest of Europe



13 Middle East and Africa's Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Egypt

13.3 Israel

13.4 Qatar

13.5 Saudi Arabia

13.6 South Africa

13.7 United Arab Emirates

13.8 Rest of MEA



14 APAC's Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Market

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Australia

14.3 Bangladesh

14.4 China

14.5 India

14.6 Indonesia

14.7 Japan

14.8 Malaysia

14.9 Philippines

14.10 Singapore

14.11 South Korea

14.12 Sri Lanka

14.13 Thailand

14.14 Taiwan

14.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific



15 Competitive Landscape

15.1 Competitive Quadrant

15.2 Market Share Analysis

15.3 Strategic Initiatives

15.3.1 M&A and Investments

15.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

15.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



16 Company Profiles

16.1 Albert Technologies

16.2 Alibaba Group Holding

16.3 Amazon

16.4 Appier

16.5 Baidu

16.6 BMW

16.7 GumGum

16.8 Intel

16.9 International Business Machines

16.10 Meta Platforms

16.11 Micron Technology

16.12 Microsoft

16.13 Nvidia

16.14 Oculus360

16.15 Oracle

16.16 Salesforce

16.17 Samsung Electronics

16.18 Sentient Technologies



17 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/dzvi2f



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
The newly released study provides a window into telehealth's changing contours using over two years of private healthcare claims data from FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker , a free, online tool that has tracked month-to-month changes in telehealth since the spring of 2020. Focusing on the period from January 2020 to March 2022, the brief reports on monthly changes in telehealth's utilization, top diagnoses and top procedure codesin addition to other descriptive aspects of this venue of careat national and regional (Midwest, Northeast, South, West) levels. Supported by infographics with vivid data visualizations, the brief also shows how the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker itself has evolved to meet the needs of healthcare stakeholders.

Among the key findings:

From March 2019 to March 2020 , the percentage of national telehealth claim lines when compared to all medical services increased 4,347 percent. 1 The increase was even greater from April 2019 to April 2020 (8,336 percent).







to , the percentage of national telehealth claim lines when compared to all medical services increased 4,347 percent. The increase was even greater from to (8,336 percent). The top five telehealth diagnoses nationally in spring 2020 indicated that telehealth was being used for conditions that had not been among the top five the year before, including hypertension, joint/soft tissue diseases and issues, and developmental disorders.







In November 2020 , COVID-19 appeared for the first time on one of the regional lists of top five telehealth diagnoses, ranking fourth in the Midwest; in December 2020 , COVID-19 emerged as a top telehealth diagnosis nationally and in every region.







, COVID-19 appeared for the first time on one of the regional lists of top five telehealth diagnoses, ranking fourth in the Midwest; in , COVID-19 emerged as a top telehealth diagnosis nationally and in every region. For 6 of the 12 months of 2021, telehealth utilization fell from the level of utilization in the prior month. Nevertheless, it remained much higher than before the pandemic. In December 2021 , telehealth claim lines accounted for 4.9 percent of medical claim lines nationally, compared to 0.2 percent in December 2019 .







, telehealth claim lines accounted for 4.9 percent of medical claim lines nationally, compared to 0.2 percent in . Many changes in telehealth utilization were likely related to the course of the pandemic. For example, in spring and summer 2021, telehealth claim lines dropped as vaccination levels increased. In fall and winter 2021, however, telehealth utilization rose again as the Delta and Omicron variants led to increased COVID-19 cases.







Mental health conditions have been the most common telehealth diagnosis nationally throughout the pandemic. Consistent with that finding, in January 2022 , social worker was the provider specialty rendering the most telehealth services (most commonly, psychotherapy) nationally and in every region but the West. In every region, as in the nation as a whole, three of the top five provider specialties were related to mental health: social worker, psychiatrist and psychologist.







, social worker was the provider specialty rendering the most telehealth services (most commonly, psychotherapy) nationally and in every region but the West. In every region, as in the nation as a whole, three of the top five provider specialties were related to mental health: social worker, psychiatrist and psychologist. In January 2022 , CPT2 90837, one hour of psychotherapy, ranked highest among telehealth procedure codes nationally and in every region.

FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated: "In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth has become a material component of the nation's healthcare system. We hope that this brief provides actionable and relevant insights to healthcare stakeholdersincluding policy makers, researchers, payors, providers and consumersseeking to better understand telehealth as it continues to evolve."

On Wednesday, June 22, from 2 to 3 pm ET, Ms. Gelburd will host a webinar entitled "Telehealth Utilization Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Two-Year Retrospective," which will provide insights on telehealth's evolution since winter 2020 using FAIR Health's comprehensive collection of telehealth data. Click here to register for the free, one-hour webinar.

For the new brief, click here.

Follow us on Twitter @FAIRHealth

About FAIR Health

FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code. It is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of private healthcare claims data, which includes over 36 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of over 2 billion claim records a year. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed data and data productsincluding benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indicesto commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D; FAIR Health includes among the private claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish, which enables consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offers a rich educational platform on health insurance. An English/Spanish mobile app offers the same educational platform in a concise format and links to the cost estimation tools. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. FAIR Health also is named a top resource for patients in Dr. Marty Makary's book The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Careand How to Fix It and Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal's book An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.

Contact:

Rachel Kent

Senior Director of Marketing

FAIR Health

646-396-0795

[email protected]

1 A claim line is an individual service or procedure listed on an insurance claim.

2 CPT  2021 American Medical Association (AMA). All rights reserved.

SOURCE FAIR Health
The leader in enzyme-based pet health care products, Pet King Brands, continues to expand its corporate presence to better serve pet owners, retailers, and veterinarians in all major markets across the nation.

AUSTIN, Texas, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pet King Brands, Inc., maker of leading pet healthcare brands ZYMOX Enzymatic Dermatology and Oratene Enzymatic Brushless Oral Care, announced the expansion of their corporate offices in Austin, TX.

ZYMOX Dermatology and Oratene Brushless Oral Care -- Enzyme-Based Solutions for Healthy Ears, Skin, and Mouth

The establishment of the additional corporate office represents a significant milestone in the growth of Pet King Brands by expanding their national presence. The company currently has a location in the suburbs of Chicago that also serves as a major distribution center as well as operating several satellite offices around the United States and Internationally.

Founded over twenty years ago, the company markets veterinarian-recommended, non-drug wellness solutions for animals' ears, skin, and mouth with products. All of Pet King Brands' enzyme-based ZYMOX and Oratene products are available without a prescription, are free of antibiotics and harsh ingredients, and can be found at veterinary clinics, pet specialty retailers, and online.

"Austin was our first pick because of its location within the country that includes close proximity to major airports and other resources, it's great talent pool and also because it's one of the country's top twenty pet-centric cities," says Pamela K. Bosco, President and Founder of Pet King Brands. "Austin's synergies align with Pet King Brands' mission and the vision I have to launch new products so we continue to provide healthcare solutions for small, exotic and large animals. In addition, we'll now be able to expand our capabilities so we can service more distributors, retailers, veterinarians and most importantly, consumers, around the world."

To learn more about Pet King Brands, its product families and the advanced technology of the LP3 enzyme system utilized in all ZYMOX Dermatology and Oratene Brushless Oral Care products, visit www.zymox.com.

About Pet King Brands, Inc.

Pet King Brands, the maker of ZYMOX Ear and Skin products, Oratene Brushless Oral Care and Equine Defense, is a leader in veterinarian-approved pet products made in the USA. Focused on the health and wellness of small and large animals of all ages, the products utilize the advanced technology of the patented LP3 Enzyme System. Led by President and Founder, Pamela Bosco, who first introduced ZYMOX in 1998 with the help of her bioscientist brother, Michael Pellico, Pet King Brands has changed the way people care for animals' ears, skin, and mouth. Guided by the principle that Healthy Animals Lead Happy Lives, Pet King Brands offers solutions that are gentle to the animal, easy to administer and free of harsh chemicals and antibiotics.

Contact:

Media Relations

630-241-3905

[email protected]

SOURCE Pet King Brands, Inc
George Abrahams was wounded by the holstered gun without his hand ever touching it

PHILADELPHIA, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Philadelphia U.S. Army veteran George Abrahams, 53, was a combat weapons specialist and is a lifelong advocate of strict gun safety. Today he became the latest wounded owner of a Sig Sauer P320 handgun  the embattled pistol that plaintiffs allege is prone to unintended firing - to file a civil lawsuit in Philadelphia County against the New England manufacturer and the local gun seller, said his attorneys at Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky PC.

George Abrahams

SMB filed the sweeping negligence and products liability complaint (Abrahams v. Sig Sauer, Inc. et al. Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas); joining similar lawsuits throughout the country filed by SMB and others. The lawsuits have been brought by wounded active duty law enforcement personnel, including a Federal agent from suburban Philadelphia, and other trained and experienced gun users against the gun maker that has consistently refused to issue a safety recall. This latest civil action also names as a defendant Firing Line, Inc., the Philadelphia gun retailer that sold Mr. Abrahams the weapon in October 2018. The un-commanded shooting on June 19, 2020 shattered his right upper thigh and knee, rendering him permanently injured and limiting his career as a contractor. The complaint seeks a jury trial along with compensatory and punitive damages.

"Enough is enough. P320 owners like Mr. Abrahams (right) and our many other clients have been seriously wounded and the safety of innocent bystanders is being jeopardized", said SMB's Robert W. Zimmerman. "As asserted in the complaint, this gun has had dozens and dozens of unintended discharges, the vast majority associated with highly trained, safety-conscious users whose guns fired without a trigger pull. And Sig Sauer has chosen to compromise, creating a safety double standard by which the military P320 version is safer than the non-military version."

The military P320 model featured a manual safety to guard against unintended firing, but the hundreds of thousands of P320s sold to police, federal law enforcement, and civilians had no such safety device. "Mr. Abrahams served his country with distinction as an enlisted field artillery specialist in the U.S. Army, but never in his wildest dreams did he ever think his own gun would put him in the cross hairs because of its defective and unsafe design," added Mr. Zimmerman. "He knows first-hand the horror this gun can cause due to the weapon firing without command."

Mr. Abrahams, a Northwest Philadelphia resident, who has been severely limited in his daily activities following the incident, said, "I'm very careful, respectful, and aware when it comes to firearms. I was just walking downstairs in my house  and boom!  the holstered gun in my zipped pants pocket fired into my leg. I'm lucky the bullet didn't hit a major artery, or strike a family member. I'm also grateful for the quick action of Philadelphia Police and ER doctors at Einstein, and now I look forward to being sworn before a jury in hopes that what happened to me won't happen again to anyone else."

Besides Mr. Zimmerman, the plaintiff's legal team includes SMB's Larry Bendesky and Daniel L. Ceisler. "Like Mr. Abrahams, many veterans put their faith and trust in Sig Sauer because the Army did," said Mr. Ceisler, a former Active Duty U.S. Army Captain who served with Special Operations in Afghanistan. "Sig Sauer equipped the Army model of the P320 with a key safety feature that they left off the civilian models. The fact is, it's a different gun and it isn't safe."

SMB represents more than 20 other P320 victims injured by Sig Sauer's first pistol to feature a spring-loaded striker firing mechanism. They are uncovering more and more instances of unintended discharges, and continue to call upon Sig Sauer to remove this dangerous product from the market and recall those in the hands of law enforcement, federal agents, and civilians until the necessary safety devices, which have been used within the industry for years, are included.

Besides a copy of the newly-filed lawsuit, additional related information on the Sig Sauer litigation  and the gun's troubled history - can be found at www.smbb.com/sig-sauer-p320/.

SOURCE Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky
Doceree is the only platform that allows pharmaceutical brands to programmatically market to physicians within Populus Tweet this

AI powered ad serving powered by Doceree's proprietary identification technology ESPYIAN TM elevates HCP targeting by creating distinct NPI virtual care profiles to better understand the demographics, attitude, influence and practice behavior. A targeted physician is served the right branded or unbranded messaging from a life sciences brand at the right place, at the right script writing moment for the best outcomes.

The partnership makes Doceree the only platform in the US that allows pharmaceutical brands and media agencies to programmatically market to physicians within Populus telehealth partners and makes physician marketing effective, efficient and more targeted than ever.

Ray Rotolo, Chief Growth Officer of Populus Media said, "We're excited to partner with Doceree in bringing our HCP Reach offering to brands who are looking to programmatically reach healthcare professionals in the most targeted and valuable moment in their day."

Harshit Jain MD, Founder and Global CEO of Doceree said "Partnering with Populus Media will expand the depth of ways in which the Doceree platform connects pharmaceutical brands to HCPs within telehealth platforms. Life sciences marketers will have an increased ability to target providers with tailored messages at decision-making moments throughout their patient care journey."

About Populus Media

Populus Media, Inc. was formed in 2019 and is based in New York City. Populus is positioned as the first media and virtual patient acquisition platform leveraging the telehealth and virtual care industry. Populus curates a deep archive of condition-specific content for timely delivery to patients before and after their virtual care visit. Content is sponsored by major healthcare brands.

About Doceree

Doceree is a global platform building unprecedented solutions for healthcare professional (HCP) programmatic marketing with proprietary data tools. It facilitates messaging between life sciences brands and HCPs through an extensive global network of digital endemic and point-of-care platforms to programmatically deliver personalized communications to HCPs and transparent marketing campaign metrics at scale. To learn more, visit doceree.com.

SOURCE Populus Media
New platform creates a community for all to obtain credible investment insights and gives accredited investors increased access to alternative investment options

LOS ANGELES, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Prometheus Alternative Investments, Inc., a Los Angeles, California-based fintech social marketplace providing institutional-quality information, insights, and alternative investment opportunities, today announced the successful launch of its new social network and digital fund marketplace.

Prometheus allows investors of all types to connect with leading investment professionals through their in-platform social accounts. Investment professionals can create exclusive and compliant content, giving any investor access to quality investment insights and a chance to learn right from the professionals. By reaching new audiences, Prometheus' in-platform social network democratizes access to thought leaders and investors for all to access and learn.

Additionally, Prometheus Marketplace offers accredited investors, family offices, and wealth advisors improved access to the growing market of alternative investments options. Through an easy-to-use mobile app and desktop site, the Prometheus Marketplace gives accredited investors the ability to discover, research, follow, and transact with high-quality managers, connecting them with hedge funds, crypto funds, venture capital funds, private equity funds, commodities funds, and the investment professionals managing those funds.

"Prometheus is excited to launch an innovative approach that reaches out to accredited investors of all types" said Michael Wang, CEO and Founder of Prometheus. "We are also excited to give fund managers the tools and platform needed to grow their targeted investor base through social content, networking, and transparency. Prometheus offers a chance for accredited investors to meet the people behind the fund and gives the opportunity to source new and credible investment ideas from trusted professionals. With our in-platform social content, investors of all types can gain insights from thought leaders, democratizing access to some of the leading investment professionals today."

To learn more about Prometheus and access an exclusive invite code, please visit prometheusalts.com.

About Prometheus Alternative Investments

Prometheus Alternative Investments, Inc. (Prometheus) was founded by hedge fund professionals seeking to modernize the alternative investments industry and share insights gained over their years of managing and growing multi-billion-dollar funds. Led by veteran hedge fund manager Michael Wang, formerly of SAC Capital, Tourbillon and Cypress Funds, Prometheus' vision is to enable established and emerging managers of all strategies to connect with the right capital at scale, bringing their edge to life in ways the next generation of investors want. Prometheus provides accredited investors of all types the ability to construct and manage diversified, institutional-quality portfolios with new levels of efficiency and transparency. For more information, please visit PrometheusAlts.com.

Please see disclosures here.

SOURCE Prometheus Alternative Investments
SMB micro-lending platform has enterprise-level security for customer data

TEMPE, Ariz, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PunchPay announced today that it has achieved SOC 2 Type II compliance in accordance with American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) standards for SOC for Service Organizations also known as SSAE 18. Achieving this standard with an unqualified opinion serves as third-party industry validation that PunchPay provides enterprise-level security for customer's data. PunchPay's CEO, Michael Ly, said, "The company is committed to building trust with their partners, end-users, and the marketplace. It's important for us to assure our customers of the highest standards of information security and protection."

PunchPay is now SOC 2 Type II Compliant

PunchPay provides micro-loans for the banking desert of small business lending. The company's mission is to increase the velocity and affordability of access to working capital in a way that is missing from traditional lines of credit, credit cards and factoring solutions. PunchPay's micro-loans are anchored in the small businesses' accounting data using their proprietary algorithm that scores and underwrites the micro-loans. "By tapping into the SMB's accounting system, we have greater visibility into the health of the business, and can remove document uploads and lengthy forms from the application process," says Michael Ly.

Data management is central to the PunchPay application and ensuring that data is secure is top priority. Ali Sarafzadeh, CPO explains what's next, "We will continue to pursue certifications that demonstrate our commitment to the highest security standards in the industry."

PunchPay was audited by Prescient Assurance, a leader in security and compliance attestation for B2B, SAAS companies worldwide. Prescient Assurance is a registered public accounting in the US and Canada and provides risk management and assurance services which includes but is not limited to SOC 2, PCI, ISO, NIST, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and CSA STAR.

About PunchPay:

PunchPay is a solution by Saasable, Inc., founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneurs Michael Ly and Ali Sarafzadeh. The PunchPay platform leverages accounting data to offer SMBs flexible installment loans on paid business expenses. PunchPay is backed by The Fund at Hula, FreshTracks Capital, Burlington Telecom Innovation Fund, CPA.com, Mucker Labs and Connetic Ventures. Find more information about the PunchPay platform at www.punchpay.co .

Contact:

Andria Denome

PunchPay by Saasable, Inc.

(833) 773-2738

[email protected]

SOURCE PunchPay
VANCOUVER, BC, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Quickpass Cybersecurity, a leading provider of Privileged Access Management and Helpdesk Security Automation for MSPs (Managed Service Providers), announced a new $3 million round of financing in partnership with Arthur Ventures. This completes their Series A round of financing, totaling $7 million.

This round of funding will enable Quickpass to accelerate the company's efforts to better secure MSPs and their customers with Privileged Access Management and Helpdesk Security Automation.

"We owe our success to the MSP community, especially our Partners," said Mateo Barraza, CEO and Co-Founder of Quickpass. "Over the past decade, cybersecurity threats have continually expanded downmarket and into the SMB space. Unlike the Enterprise market, the SMB space and the MSPs that serve them have been caught without a well-rounded and mature set of tools to protect themselves. We intend to change this by providing the MSP community with best-in-class cybersecurity tools in the Privileged Access Management and Helpdesk Security Automation areas," Barraza continued.

"We are excited to partner with Mateo, Jim and the rest of the Quickpass team in support of their mission to deliver the best Privileged Access Management software purpose-built for the MSP market," said Ryan Kruizenga, Partner at Arthur Ventures. "Quickpass is a perfect fit in our portfolio alongside other fast-growing security companies being built outside Silicon Valley such as Threatlocker, DNSFilter, and Nucleus Security. We look forward to supporting them through this period of hyper growth."

Quickpass doubled its annual recurring revenue in the past six months and currently has over 400 MSP partners. Their recent success comes after adding multiple key team members for their next stage of growth, including Hossein Rajabi as Director of Customer Experience, Luis Lejter as Director of Engineering, Geoff Bellefontaine as Director of Sales, Robby Singh as Lead Product Owner and Jimmy Hatzell as Director of Marketing.

About Quickpass Cybersecurity

Quickpass Cybersecurity is a leading provider of Privileged Access Management (PAM) and Help Desk Security Automation for MSPs (Managed Service Providers). The Quickpass PAM platform equips MSPs with a way to rotate all their privileged account passwords across AD and Azure AD, inject technician credentials into the most popular RMMs and enforce a zero standing privileges policy across all customers. The Help Desk solution automates the resolution of password reset tickets and uses biometrics to identify who is calling into the help desk.

SOURCE Quickpass Cybersecurity
Raymond drives industry to better solve supply chain challenges by optimizing, connecting and automating

GREENE, N.Y., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As changing consumer demands are pushing accelerated evolutions in the supply chain, The Raymond Corporation, a Toyota Industries Company, celebrates its 100th anniversary and highlights its focus on delivering the technology and material handling equipment needed to meet today's demands and be better prepared for tomorrow's challenges.

Building on principles of innovation and continuous improvement for a century, the company is uniquely poised to deliver game-changing solutions in the areas of integrated automation, telematics, virtual reality and advanced energy solutions that will optimize operations and bring warehouses and distribution centers to a new level of performance.

"Just about everything you buy, wear, eat or touch has been moved by a piece of material handling equipment," said Michael Field, president and CEO of The Raymond Corporation. "E-commerce would not exist as we know it today without innovations in material handling. We're proud that it takes less time, energy and warehouse space to deliver products to your door because of the cutting-edge solutions Raymond has developed for the last 100 years. We remain steadfastly committed to driving the industry forward."

Today, Raymond delivers intelligent intralogistics solutions to material handling and logistics markets in North America and globally. With a legacy of industry leadership and innovation, Raymond patented the first hydraulic hand pallet truck and double-faced wooden pallet ultimately fueling the beginning of the material handling industry.

Raymond's anniversary celebration includes an event at its headquarters in Greene, New York, on Tuesday, June 14. An interactive, museum-style exhibit will be on display to showcase Raymond's industry-changing innovations and influential employee stories as well as to offer guests an exclusive look into the company's bright future.

After the event in Greene has concluded, the interactive exhibit will travel across the country to various Raymond Solutions and Support Center facilities, with the celebration ending at ProMat in March 2023.

About The Raymond Corporation

The Raymond Corporation, a Toyota Industries Company, is a leading global provider of best-in-class material handling products and intelligent intralogistics solutions. Built on principles of innovation and continuous improvement for 100 years, Raymond's integrated automation, telematics, virtual reality and advanced energy solutions provide ways to optimize operations and bring warehouse and distribution operations to a new level of performance. Raymond electric forklift trucks are engineered to achieve increased productivity and efficiency and are designed to provide ecological and economic benefits. Raymond delivers solutions to material handling and logistics markets in North America and globally. Combining operational excellence, award-winning innovation and world-class global customer support, we work together to run better, manage smarter and keep our customers always on. For more information, visit raymondcorp.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Raymond is a U.S. trademark of The Raymond Corporation.

2022 The Raymond Corporation. All rights reserved.

SOURCE The Raymond Corporation
For the first time, more than 14 million RBC clients will have the ability to securely connect to Plaid's 6,000+ apps and services

TORONTO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - During a time when Canadians' appetite for digital services continues to increase, RBC and Plaid are pleased to announce a new data access agreement that will empower RBC clients with the option to share their financial data securely via a direct application programming interface (API) with the thousands of apps and services of their choice on the Plaid data network. This new API connection delivers a seamless user experience and eliminates the reliance on credential sharing, resulting in increased security and better protection of clients' privacy.

"This data access agreement is a great example of the industry coming together to build new standards that create safer and more comprehensive financial solutions for Canadians," said Peter Tilton, Chief Digital Officer, Personal & Commercial Banking, RBC. "While our clients want their primary banking relationship with RBC, they also want to be empowered with the ability to access, use and share their financial data with applications outside of the bank. As we deliver this added client value, it is more important than ever that we do so in a safe and secure manner. This agreement with Plaid does just that."

In fact, RBC's partnership with Plaid, an API-first company, will significantly eliminate the reliance on credentials when sharing financial information in Canada. This additional layer of protection is timely, as privacy is a high priority right now with the rise of fraud attempts during the pandemic. According to RBC's 2022 Fraud Prevention Month Poll , 48% of respondents say fraudsters have increasingly targeted them since the start of the pandemic, compared to 22% in 2021.

"Millions of Canadian consumers will benefit from the ability to manage their everyday finances seamlessly, securely, and with confidence," said Ginger Baker, Head of Financial Access at Plaid. "We are excited that Plaid's agreement with RBC can serve as a template for future similar agreements in Canada. Plaid is committed to expanding the positive impact of digital financial services to consumers, so we are also thrilled to announce Plaid's first office in Canada, located in the growing fintech community of Toronto, to further these efforts."

Plaid's data connectivity solutions help customers easily and securely connect to the company's network of more than 6,000 fintech applications, including nine of the top 10 most downloaded fintech apps from Android and the App Store. With these tools powered by Plaid, consumers can access various financial wellness applications.

"Not only do RBC clients gain secure access to the broad suite of apps and services on the Plaid data network, but they will also have more control over the data that is shared," added Tilton. "With this secure and reliable integration, consumers will only need to share what's essential to gain the benefits from the particular app they're using."

This new industry partnership is a demonstration of both companies' long-standing commitment to add value, enhance security and create peace of mind for clients as they manage their finances digitally.

RBC clients also benefit from a wide range of RBC's digital security tools like PIN on Mobile , ID Verification , 2-Step Verification , Card Lock , two-way fraud alerts and fraud monitoring, in addition to the RBC Digital Banking Security Guarantee .

About RBC

Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 89,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank and one of the largest in the world, based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com .

We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-social-impact .

About Plaid

Plaid is a data network that powers the tools millions of people rely on to live a healthier financial life. Plaid works with thousands of companies like Venmo, SoFi, and Betterment, several of the Fortune 500, and many of the largest banks to make it easy for people to connect their financial accounts to more than 6,000 apps and services they want to use. Plaid's network covers more than 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, UK and Europe. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company was founded in 2013 by Zach Perret and William Hockey.

SOURCE RBC Royal Bank
Multi-Unit Franchisee Joins Leading Bathroom Remodeling Franchise as Systemwide Sales Continue to Soar

TAMPA, Fla., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Re-Bath, the nation's largest complete bathroom remodeling franchise, has announced a two-territory signed agreement in Florida, servicing the greater Tampa market. As demand for bathroom remodeling projects continues to soar, and market share gains drove nearly an 80% YOY increase in systemwide sales, existing and new franchisees are flocking to the franchise opportunity.

Operating these Re-Baths is Tampa resident Ryan Goetz who brings two decades of experience as a general contractor and nearly 15 years-worth of experience in the franchise industry  serving on both the corporate and franchisee side of the business. With a passion for construction and a wealth of knowledge in franchising, Goetz found his perfect match with Re-Bath. The two territories will serve Hillsborough County and Pinellas Country  reaching customers across greater Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and beyond. While open for business now, the community will soon also have access to the Re-Bath showroom located at 5163 Le Tourneau Circle in Tampa by mid-July.

"I've always loved the construction world, transforming spaces for customers, and witnessing their reactions," said Goetz. "Re-Bath, you have the backing of an incredibly strong company with a track record that has stood the test of time. Re-Bath has perfected its systems and structure with support at every level of your entrepreneurial journey. It is clear they are committed to the growth and performance of each of their franchisees, and my business partners and I look forward to being a part Re-Bath's ongoing success while servicing the greater Tampa community."

Re-Bath boasts incredibly strong brand awareness across Florida with seven Re-Baths across the state. The brand has grown into a trusted and respected service provider known for expert, affordable, and effortless bathroom remodeling solutions that transform homeowners' bathrooms in days, not weeks. Whether seeking a tub or shower area update, better accessibility and safety in your bathroom or a complete bathroom remodel, Re-Bath makes bathroom remodeling easy. The company's exclusive remodel process removes old materials and fixtures and replaces them with beautiful new options in a wide variety of colors and styles.

"Tampa is an important market for us and we could not have found a stronger partner to deliver on our exceptional customer service," said Sharon Villegas, Chief Revenue Officer of Re-Bath. "This team's wealth of knowledge and experience will take us to great heights. Ryan and his business partners are a tremendous add-on to our Re-Bath family as we enter into a new era of growth and continue to expand our nationwide footprint."

As the largest bathroom remodeling company in the United States, Re-Bath has established a proven business model, unparalleled franchise office support, and an infrastructure for growth as it continues to seek strategic franchise partners to expand its footprint nationwide. The executive leadership team has seen immense development success across Florida with one territory available for growth in the North Tampa market.

Per Re-Bath's Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees with territories between 500,000 and 1.25 million had average revenues of over $2.35 million in 2021, up 9.5% from 2020*.

The success achieved by the brand has not gone unnoticed as Re-Bath ranked No. 2 on Qualified Remodeler's Top 500 Nationals List and was recognized by Entrepreneur's Franchise 500, the world's first, best and most comprehensive franchise ranking. Most recently, Re-Bath earned the No. 1 spot on Bob Vila's 2022 Best Home Improvement Contractors of 2022 Ranking for "Best Bathroom Renovations." The franchise is building off this momentum for repeated success throughout 2022, with a goal of awarding 18 franchise agreements while strengthening performance and same-store-sales.

For more information on Re-Bath and franchise opportunities, visit www.rebathfranchise.com/ or call 888-454-8842.

For more information on Re-Bath Tampa, visit www.rebath.com/location/tampa/ or call 813-212-7193.

*The figures reflect average and median sales revenue and average gross profits for 30 Re-Bath franchised businesses with territories of between 500,000 and 1.25 million residents, and which were in operation for at least one year. These averages and medians are based on a 52-week fiscal period from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. Of these 30 franchised businesses, 14 (or 47%) attained or exceeded the average sales revenue and 15 (or 50%) attained or exceeded the average gross profit. Some outlets have sold this amount. Individual results may vary. There is no assurance that you will sell as much as the average. See the Re-Bath 2022 Franchise Disclosure Document for details.

About Re-Bath

Re-Bath is the nation's largest complete bathroom remodeling franchise that has grown to more than 100 locations across the country. The parent company's first entry in the bathroom remodeling industry occurred in 1978 and focused on the hospitality sector. In 1991, Re-Bath launched its first franchise location to focus on the residential market. The company offers complete bathroom remodels, tub and shower updates, plus aging and accessibility solutions. From simple bathtub replacements to complete bathroom redesigns, Re-Bath makes bathroom remodeling effortless, convenient and affordable, all with professional, friendly and factory-trained installers. Re-Bath is a one-stop service that covers the entire process  from design to done  in three easy steps: consultation, removal, and installation. Re-Bath assembles its own exclusive line of products at its headquarters located in Phoenix, Ariz., and offers best-in-class products from national brands for its customers. For more information, please visit www.rebath.com or www.rebathfranchise.com for more details on the franchise opportunity.

Media Contact: Kelly McNamara, Fishman Public Relations, (847) 945-1300 or [email protected]

SOURCE Re-Bath
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Falvey Insurance Group is excited to introduce the next installment of its "Women at the Helm" speaker series celebrating leading women in the insurance industry. The complimentary event will include a panel discussion between:

Dawnmarie Black , Northeast Regional Director and Head of US Broker Practice at Lloyd's

, Northeast Regional Director and Head of US Broker Practice at Lloyd's Heather Schenker , Head of Specialty Insurance at Sentry

Kristy Furrer , Senior Vice President, Client Success at Woodruff-Sawyer

Anita Farmer , SVP , Practice Leader, NE Marine at Lockton Companies

, SVP Lockton With pre-recorded comments from Lucy Clarke , President of Marsh Specialty and Global Placement at Marsh

Isabelle Therrien, Senior Vice President  Canada at Falvey, and prominent female in the insurance industry herself, will serve as moderator.

"Women at the Helm  Women In Insurance" will be hosted at the Newport Wyndham on Tuesday, July 26th between 9:00-10:30 AM with a short networking session prior to the panel discussion. To learn more and register for the event, please visit: falveyinsurancegroup.com/women-at-the-helm.

About Women at the Helm:

With all-female panelists and moderators, the goal of "Women at the Helm" is to spotlight female professionals facing various challenges and barriers, who have made notable contributions in and outside of their organization. All moderators are female employees of Falvey, while the panelists are invited guests. Each installment aligns with a day of observance of women.

The Women at the Helm events include:

Women Leaders in Business in observance of International Women's Day

Women Balancing Career & Family in observance of Mother's Day

Women in Maritime (in partnership with the American Institute of Marine Underwriters) in observance of the first-ever International Day for Women in Maritime

Women In Insurance in conjunction with Falvey's thought leadership event, The Falvey Forum

Falvey Women Encouraging Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in observance of The International Day of the Girl

The events are open to both men and women, and no admission is charged for the RI events to encourage attendance and bring awareness to these very important conversations.

Falvey has hosted three installments of Women at the Helm which have resulted in 300+ collective attendees including over 60 men. Of those surveyed, 100% would recommend to a friend or colleague.

Find more information about "Women at the Helm", here.

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
Partnership bolsters obstetrics training platform to save lives and ensure compliance

MORRISVILLE, N.C., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Relias, trusted partner to more than 11,000 healthcare organizations and 4.5 million caregivers, announced today that it has partnered with Health Scholars, the leading provider of virtual reality (VR) clinical training for healthcare professionals, to further Relias' commitment to pursue innovative technology by enhancing its obstetrics (OB) product offerings.

Headquartered in Westminster, Colo., Health Scholars specializes in realistic simulations coupled with the latest AI technologies to deliver dynamic, immersive clinical training experiences for healthcare providers. VR-based training allows clinicians to augment typical modes of instruction to help perfect their skills and maintain requisite standards of care in 100% risk-free environments.

"Clinicians rely on exceptional training programs to help develop and maintain the high level of skill and working practices their roles demand," said John Harrington, CMI, Vice President of Clinical Solutions at Relias. "As immersive technologies continue to advance, it's a natural and exciting next step for Relias to expand into the VR space to better offer modes of training that give clinicians a competitive edge."

This partnership serves to help solidify Relias' commitment to reducing variation in care within the obstetrics / prenatal arenas, which have garnered much-needed attention as U.S. maternal mortality rates continue to raise concern. Health Scholars' VR simulations address areas of focus within obstetrics where improved training and clinician assessment are critically needed.

The company's offerings include VR applications for obstetric hemorrhage and obstetric emergencies. These immersive experiences incorporate elements that incentivize and challenge clinicians in engaging ways, utilizing AI-enabled voice technology. In addition to helping clinicians, VR training benefits hospitals by eliminating strain on resources, as it reduces the amount of time that clinicians are out of service to train, and units don't have to be shut down to accommodate training activities.

"Simply having enough time for necessary training has been increasingly hard to come by over the last couple of years. But that should never be reason to forgo or limit training efforts," said Michael Meguerdichian, MD, MPH-Ed, Senior Assistant Vice President of NYC Health + Hospitals/Simulation Center (NYCHH) in New York City. Health Scholars developed its obstetrics hemorrhage offering in collaboration with NYCHH, the largest public healthcare system in the United States.

Meguerdichian added, "The Health Scholars VR application allows our providers to individually work on critical skills in a team setting that accommodates their busy schedules. And the gaming component lets clinicians repeat and practice these skills, enabling best practices to be effectively hard-wired into the important work they do every day."

"This collaboration with Health Scholars brings a first-of-its kind, blended learning solution to our OB education clients and makes it that much easier for practicing clinicians to meet learning requirements," said Lora Sparkman, RN, BSN, MHA, Partner, Clinical Solutions at Relias. "The combination is a great value for busy clinicians and helps them reach their education goals using a model that's both effective and efficient."

"We're confident that our joint offering with Relias can make a real difference in improving maternal health in America," said Scott Johnson, CEO at Health Scholars. "Getting this technology into the hands of more clinicians will help labor and delivery nurses and physicians on the front lines reduce maternal mortality. Everyone here at Health Scholars is committed to the work we're doing and excited about the ongoing collaboration with Relias."

Relias will be demonstrating Health Scholars' VR offering at its booth during this year's AWHONN convention, June 25-29 in Aurora, Colo. To request a demo or learn more about Relias' personalized obstetrics learning offerings, visit www.relias.com.

About Relias

For more than 11,000 healthcare organizations and 4.5 million caregivers, Relias continues to help clients deliver better clinical and financial outcomes by reducing variation in care. Our platform employs performance metrics and assessments to reveal specific gaps in skills and addresses them with targeted, personalized, and engaging learning. We help healthcare organizations, their people, and those under their care, get better. Better at identifying problems, addressing them with better knowledge and skills, and better outcomes for all. For further information, please visit www.relias.com.

About Health Scholars

The best training isn't watched or read. It's experienced. At Health Scholars we're reimagining healthcare training with virtual reality (VR). Our mission is to ensure every provider has the clinical experience needed to be competent and confident in any situation by providing immersive, interactive, and on-demand VR performance training. As the only VR training developed in partnership with medical professional societies, we're setting a new training standard that improves quality of care. For more information, visit HealthScholars.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Abby Mayo

Public Relations Manager

[email protected]

617-272-0592

SOURCE Relias
LONDON and NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, ScienceMagic.Studios announced it has secured $10.3m in pre-seed investment from investors including Liberty City Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Coinbase Ventures, Noam Gottesman and Brevan Howard Digital.

ScienceMagic.Studios is a joint venture between ScienceMagic.Inc (a leading strategic and creative company), Raoul Pal (founder of RealVision and Global Macro Investor), and Delphi Digital (a leading crypto research, investment and incubation firm).

The new company will advise on and create digital assets (e.g. NFTs and social tokens) for brands, talent and their communities. The funding will support the company to scale as it meets significant inbound interest.

"Digital assets offer huge potential for brands to engage with their communities in a new way, and for talent to realise the true value from their work for the first time. But many brands are just starting to understand this," said David Pemsel, CEO and co-founder of ScienceMagic.Studios. "To make the most of this opportunity and create enduring value, brands will need a partner who understands their business, who shares their values, and who brings a deep knowledge of Web3 technologies."

ScienceMagic.Studios will work with its partners at every stage as they build their Web3 presence, supporting them to define the Web3 vision for their brand, understand where Web3 can be genuinely useful to their communities, design and launch assets that will deliver real shared value, and to manage an emerging economy.

Notes to editors

ScienceMagic.Studio investors include leading angels (Noam Gottesman, Brevan Howard Digital, Frederic Court, Gil Weisblum, Khalili Brothers), venture capital firms (Liberty City Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Brevan Howard Digital, ThirdPrime, Cultur3) and Web3 companies (Coinbase Ventures, RealVision, Heni)

Contact: Ted Mackey, Milltown Partners, [email protected]

SOURCE ScienceMagic.Studios
Sciens welcomes Absolute Protective Systems to it portfolio of companies, expanding its capabilities footprint in the northeast U.S. region.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sciens Building Solutions ("Sciens") announced it has added to its growing North America group of companies Absolute Protective Systems ("Absolute") based in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Sciens' presence in the northeast market is already well-established with its Philadelphia-area Division, Electronic Security Solutions, which Absolute will partner closely with on customer relationships and cross-collaboration projects. Since 1978, Absolute has been offering a full range of fire sprinklers, fire and security alarm systems, suppression systems, access control, CCTV, and monitoring systems, along with a highly skilled team of fire and security integration experts.

"Absolute is pleased to join Sciens to continue our growth and success by working alongside its experienced leadership team and leveraging the investments they will provide to support our common goals," said Glenn Pascullo, Absolute's General Manager. "Sciens' mission to expand across the United States and serve customers locally, regionally, and nationally is well-aligned with Absolute's direction and we look forward to accomplishing even more growth together."

Absolute's important work spans across several sectors, including industrial manufacturing facilities, retail properties, commercial office space, multi-dwelling units, hotels, and restaurants.

"Since recently surpassing 1,000 Sciens employees nationwide and now welcoming the talented Absolute team, Sciens remains focused on organic growth and finding elite companies to join our rapidly growing North American platform," said Terry Heath, Sciens' CEO. "We continue to integrate quality companies like Absolute, while remaining focused on stellar customer service and top-notch industry expertise."

About Sciens Building Solutions

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and backed by The Carlyle Group, Sciens Building Solutions is a holding company focused on the fire detection and security services sector. This includes the design, installation, and provision of maintenance services for alarm, sprinkler, suppression, and security systems in a variety of commercial, institutional, and government facilities. For more information, please visit: www.sciensbuildingsolutions.com.

About Absolute Protective Systems

Established in 1978 by Paul Smoley, Absolute Protective Systems, Inc. has served the New Jersey market and surrounding areas ever since. The company designs, sells, installs, inspects, and maintains integrated solutions customized for each client. To this day Absolute offers a full range of fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire and security alarm systems, access control, CCTV, and monitoring systems. For more information, please visit: https://absps.com/.

Contact: Jil Shingledecker

[email protected]

407-221-6785

SOURCE Sciens Building Solutions
Dr. Kutzer brings more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, managing successful contract development and manufacturing organizations. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Alcami Corporation, a leading provider of development, analytical testing, and manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Prior to this, he served as President, Divisional CEO and Chief Operating Officer of the Pharma Biotech & Customer Manufacturing division of Lonza Group AG, a multinational manufacturing company serving the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, where he had full oversight of the division, which generated over $1.6 billion in annual sales.

This is an exciting time at Scorpion as we seek to build a robust and fully integrated CDMO.

Dr. Kutzer also served as a member of the Executive Management Board of Lonza Group AG; President of Lonza Biologics Inc; Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lonza Singapore Inc; Chairman of the Board of Directors of Teva-Lonza TL Biopharmaceuticals AG; Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lonza Biologics plc.; and President and Chairman of Lonza Inc. He previously served as an Executive Director on the board of directors for the Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT). Dr. Kutzer earned a master's degree in Chemical and Process Engineering and a Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences from the Technical University of Munich, Germany.

David Halverson, President of Scorpion Biological Services, said, "With the rapid growth of Scorpion and the announcement of our new commercial-scale biomanufacturing facility in Manhattan, Kansas, Scorpion welcomes Stephan to this position. We look forward to advancing into our next phase of growth under his stewardship."

Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Kutzer stated, "This is an exciting time at Scorpion as we seek to build a robust and fully integrated CDMO. I am honored to have this opportunity and look forward to supporting Scorpion through this next phase of growth."

About Scorpion Biological Services

Scorpion Biological Services is a contract development & manufacturing organization (CDMO) and contract research organization (CRO) focused on cell- and gene-based therapies and large molecule biologics. Scorpion provides a broad array of clinical-scale biomanufacturing, analytical and R&D services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies from its San Antonio, Texas facilities. Scorpion will offer commercial-scale biomanufacturing from its newly announced site in Manhattan, Kansas. For more information, visit us at www.scorpionbio.com and follow us on LinkedIn .

Media Contact:

Kenna Harris

Head of Sales and Marketing

Email: [email protected]

Tel.: +1 (858) 472 1969

SOURCE Scorpion Biological Services
SEATTLE, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 9, 2022, Security Properties purchased River Ridge, a Class A multifamily property located in Tualatin, OR for $70,000,000. Security Properties now owns 11 assets totaling over 2,800 units in the Greater Portland MSA.

River Ridge was delivered in two phases from 2015  2017 and consists of 180 units spread out across 14 residential buildings and approximately 9 acres. The residential units are a mix of one, two and three-bedroom floorplans with an average unit size of 977 SF.

Ridge Ridge apartment interior, Tualatin, OR River Ridge exterior, Tualatin, OR

The property is located within the outlying suburbs of the Portland Metro in the highly desirable suburb of Tualatin, OR. Throughout the last 10 years, the City of Tualatin has been one of the fastest growing cities in Oregon. However, unlike many other sprawling regions, Tualatin continues to maintain a high standard of living, yet remains an affordable place to locate a family. Additionally, families are drawn to live within the highly ranked Tigard-Tualatin School District.

Tualatin rests amid the Tigard, Beaverton and Lake Oswego submarkets, each offering unique drivers pulling people out of the city and into the suburbs. Tualatin offers a host of attractive retail options, notably Bridgeport Village, an open-air, high-end fashion and lifestyle shopping center consisting of ~500k SF; Beaverton is nationally recognized as the home to Nike's Global Headquarters (~12k employees) and a large portion of the region's STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) employers; Lake Oswego is arguably the most sought after suburb in the Portland MSA with median household income exceeding $109k and home values in excess of $930k.

The business plan is a core-plus investment with moderate upgrade characteristics. While the asset currently offers a best-in-class amenity package and well-appointed living units, Security Properties has identified several opportunities to further emphasize these strengths.

According to Alex Gauper, Director at Security Properties, "River Ridge is a strong example of our investment thesis of identifying well-located, new-construction assets in markets with a diverse mix of stable drivers. We feel that we have the best asset in a submarket with very limited historical supply and strong demand for high quality product. We are very excited to add River Ridge to our greater Portland portfolio and look forward to delivering strong returns to our investors over our hold."

Jared Lazarus, Managing Director at Oaktree, added, "We are excited to continue our strong partnership with Security Properties through the acquisition of River Ridge. We believe the property presents an attractive opportunity for Oaktree to acquire a Class-A, newly-built multifamily asset in an extremely supply-constrained submarket of Portland where the continued migration towards suburban locations will greatly benefit the asset."

The property will be managed by Security Properties-affiliate Security Properties Residential.

About Security Properties

Security Properties is a national real estate investment, development, and operating company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. For more than 50 years, Security Properties has provided quality housing to its residents as well as excellent financial performance for its investors. Since its founding, Security Properties has acquired or developed over 83,000 residential units at a cost of over $5.7 billion. Security Properties maintains a focused multi-family strategy supported by integrated teams of professional acquisition, development, construction, investment, and property management specialists. For more information, visit www.securityproperties.com

About Security Properties Residential

Security Properties Residential is the affiliated property management firm of Security Properties, created to increase the value of its real estate holdings by more closely managing its assets. Operating throughout the Western U.S., Security Properties Residential is committed to delivering exceptional service to its apartment communities and residents. Services include property, construction and compliance management services that create positive living environments for residents and build value for clients.

About Oaktree

Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. ("Oaktree") is a leader among global investment managers specializing in alternative investments, with $164 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2022. The firm emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approach to investments in credit, private equity, real assets and listed equities. The firm has over 1,000 employees and offices in 20 cities worldwide. For additional information, please visit Oaktree's website at http://www.oaktreecapital.com/.

News media contact:

Ed McGovern, 206.628.8019

[email protected]

SOURCE Security Properties
KMTX is a leading French technology company focused on delivering mid and low funnel KPIs to advertisers. They have developed proprietary AI to optimise post-click results based on multiple signals, with special focus on keyword and semantic audiences. Founded in Paris in 2017, KMTX spent two years on research and development into how data was collected, processed and acted upon in media buying, before launching commercially in 2019. Since then they have grown exponentially and its proprietary performance advertising solution has seen great success in France.

Jorge Poyatos and Albert Nieto, Co-CEOs and Co-Founders of Seedtag, state: "Over the last few years, we have seen a strong correlation between contextual signals and performance results although we have not had the technology to predict post-click behaviours at scale. The acquisition of KMTX brings AI based predictive models into our stack that combined with our proprietary contextual data will constitute a leading solution for achieving performance results in a cookieless world".

Arthur Querou, CEO and Co-Founder of KMTX, adds: "Over the past 5 years, we have built a successful business based on helping advertisers make better media buying decisions. With Seedtag we share a common vision of making advertising on the open web simpler through data-driven media investment. By combining KMTX's technology with Seedtag's, the industry will be able to avail of a full-funnel contextual AI solution that will help advertisers make accurate targeting decisions in a privacy-first world."

With this acquisition, Seedtag continues moving forward in its mission to become the global contextual advertising partner for brands and agencies. As announced at the beginning of the year, the company is now expanding into the US market and will continue investing in its contextual AI technology, LIZ, in order to provide the most relevant and engaging communications in a privacy-first world.

About Seedtag

Seedtag is the leading Contextual Advertising Company that creates highly impactful and engaging solutions for relevant premium visual content, powering targeting and returns for top publishers and the finest brands. The company's contextual A.I. allows brands to engage with consumers within their universe of interest on a cookie-free basis.

Seedtag was founded in Madrid in 2014 by two ex-Googlers who wanted to get the most out of editorial images and to this day it is a global company that more than 300 employees and an important international presence with offices in Spain, France, Italy, UK, Benelux, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, United Arab Emirates, Argentina and Chile.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1837579/Seedtag_acquires_KMTX.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1613054/Seedtag_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Seedtag
Gov. Andy Beshear was on hand May 10 at the annual Governor's Safety and Health Conference and Exhibition in Bowling Green to present the award to company officials. During his keynote address, he urged employers to protect Kentucky workers as construction projects across the commonwealth continue to boom and factories ramp up capacity.

"Protecting our folks on the job  it's a part of our faith; it's part of our values; it's a part of looking out for everyone and living that very simple lesson that everybody counts," Gov. Beshear said. "Every single person has value. Everyone is a child of God, and when we commit to safety, I think we live out that faith and those values."

For more than three decades, the Kentucky Labor Cabinet and Kentucky Safety and Health Network, Inc. have partnered to host the Governor's Safety and Health Conference and Exposition. The annual event provides private-sector employers an opportunity to attend technical training on a myriad of workplace safety topics and engage with safety and health specialists.

Increased attention to workplace safety by employers in recent years has continued to pay dividends, according to the Governor. The state's recordable, nonfatal private- and public-sector occupational injury and illness rate fell last year to the lowest point on record since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking it in 1996.

"No matter where you work in the commonwealth, every Kentuckian has the right to be safe and to earn a living they can raise their family on," Gov. Beshear said. "And everyone should feel confident knowing their employer is working just as hard every day to improve safety in every single way."

For more information on SEKISUI Specialty Chemicals' safety policy, visit our Environment, Safety, and Governance page.

Sekisui Specialty Chemicals' primary product is Selvol, a line of high-performance polyvinyl alcohol polymers and copolymers used in paper, adhesive, packaging, construction, personal care, and many other specialty formulations. The company also represents Durastream CPVC compounds and resins, Advancell expandable microspheres, and S-LEC BK polyvinyl acetal resins. Sekisui Specialty Chemicals is a subsidiary of the Sekisui Chemical Group, a multibillion dollar, global company that delivers a wide range of products and services to enrich people's lives. The company is comprised of core businesses and technologies in housing, social infrastructure, and chemical solutions. For more information, visit www.sekisui-sc.com/

SOURCE Sekisui Specialty Chemicals
CommuniPets, the leading social media app for fans of all-things-pet, is participating in the special media event for the latest and greatest in pet products, June 15, 2022, in Miami Beach, Florida.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. , June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CommuniPets, a social media app with the tag line, "Is your pet a CommuniPet?" and formerly popularized as "Fluffygram," will be demonstrating its new app, available on Google Play and the iOS App Store, at the 2022 Pet Product Media Showcase this Wednesday, June 15, 2022, at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

The novel app, designed by pet lovers for pet lovers, allows users to share pet photos & videos, connect with other pet lovers, and enjoy exclusive discounts on pet products and services.

CommuniPets

In addition, CommuniPets operates with a whole new approach, especially when it comes to social media platforms: eliminate the smoke screen of an advertiser-fueled corporate agenda and operate as a true community of members, solely supported by its members, with full transparency to its members

CommuniPets is an app which offers a place where members can build their own authentic peer-to-peer groups and audience of fans minus interference from the platform; a place that gives back to the community and provides full transparency of its finances.

With that said, part of the reason CommuniPets was created by Alexander Acuna, CEO and Creator, was because he wanted a social media platform which allowed users the inherent right to personal privacy.

So, what makes this social media app so different from the others (aside from the fact that it is the first and only app exclusively for pet lovers)?

Acuna founded the company using his own money, choosing to take a stand against other social media platforms which rely solely on corporate support and advertising dollars. Acuna based CommuniPets on a new way of doing business using the 'Imagine Business Model' or IB Model. The IB Model is a business model that gives two-thirds of its profits right back to its users and its user's local communities. CommuniPets fosters full transparency by reporting all company activity, including financial reports, to its users. This transparency - and the safeguarding of user privacy - is an inherent part of the app's operating structure. CommuniPets fosters full transparency by reporting all company activity, including financial reports, to its users. This transparency - and the safeguarding of user privacy - is an inherent part of CommuniPets's operating structure.

Acuna states, "We're very excited to participate in the Pet Product Media Showcase so that members of the media can see exactly how revolutionary the CommuniPets app is for those who love pets. It personifies happiness and offers one more way for us to share our love of pets with an entire community of like-minded people."

With 70% (or almost 91 million)[1] of American households owning at least one pet, it is about time that pet lovers have a social media app to call their own!

Visit https://communipets.com to learn more about the app and access a full press kit. Download the CommuniPets app now on Google Play or the iOS App Store. More information at the Pet Product Media Showcase can be found at https://petrendevents.com.

Media Contact:

Alexander Acuna

CEO & Creator, CommuniPets

(973) 951-4772

[email protected]

[1] 2021-2022 National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association (APPA).

SOURCE CommuniPets
DUBLIN, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Trade in Agricultural Raw Materials and Livestock in South Africa 2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report deals with the wholesale trade in agricultural raw materials and livestock, which represent essential building blocks for most human and animal food, and human beverages. It contains comprehensive information on trade in major agricultural commodities and various livestock breeds, notable international and local players, corporate actions and developments.

There are profiles of 29 companies including multinationals such as Bayer, notable local agri companies such as NWK, Kaap Agri, Senwes and VKB, fishing companies including Premier Fishing and Oceana, seed companies Pannar Seed and Sakata Seed and flower wholesaler Multiflora.



Trade in Agricultural Raw Materials and Livestock in South Africa

Favourable weather and record crop production resulted in growth in wholesale trade in agricultural raw materials and livestock in 2021 and record exports of agricultural products, food and beverages.



In 2021 South Africa's biggest agricultural raw exports were citrus fruit, grapes, maize, deciduous fruit, fish and nuts.

Prices

Key agricultural commodities have recorded significant price increases in recent months, driven by drought in some producing countries and rising demand for grains and oilseeds in India and China.

The Ukraine war has put upward price pressure on key commodities such as wheat, maize and sunflower seeds, while stoking fear that it could led to prices of agricultural exports to Russia (such as fruit) falling because of difficulties accessing the market. Russia and Ukraine account for about 60% of sunflower oil exports and 28% of wheat and 19% of maize exports.

Key challenges

Producers are under pressure from significant prices increases in inputs such as fertiliser and fuel, compounded by supply challenges caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. Other major challenges that affect agricultural sales include lack of traceability, lack of market access to key export markets, poor logistics and ailing municipal services.

Despite South Africa being the second biggest citrus exporter in the world after Spain, citrus exporters are battling to get market access. The sugar sector is struggling to compete against countries whose sugar industries are highly subsidised.

Key Topics Covered:



1. INTRODUCTION



2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY

2.1. Industry Value Chain

2.2. Geographic Position

2.3. Size of The Industry

2.4. Key Success Factors and Pain Points



3. LOCAL

3.1. Key Trends

3.2. Notable Players

3.3. Trade

3.4. Corporate Actions

3.5. Regulations

3.6. Enterprise Development and Social Economic Development



4. AFRICA



5. INTERNATIONAL



6. INFLUENCING FACTORS

6.1. COVID -19

6.2. Economic Environment

6.3. Labour

6.4. Environmental Issues

6.5. Technology, Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation

6.6. Government Intervention

6.7. Input Costs

6.8. Traceability



7. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT

7.1. Competition

7.2. Ownership Structure of the Industry

7.3. Barriers to Entry



8. SWOT ANALYSIS



9. OUTLOOK



10. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS



11. REFERENCES

11.1. Publications

11.2. Websites



APPENDIX

Summary of Notable Players

Company Profiles

AFG Worldwide (Pty) Ltd

AFGRI Agri Services (Pty) Ltd

Bayer (Pty) Ltd

BKB Ltd

Brisen Commodities (Pty) Ltd

Bunge ZA (Pty) Ltd

Capekaroo International (Pty) Ltd

Capstone Seeds South Africa (Pty) Ltd

COFCO International South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Hochfeld Grains (Pty) Ltd

Humansdorpse Kooperasie Beperk Primary Co-Operative (Die)

Kaap Agri Bedryf Ltd

Klein Karoo (Pty) Ltd

Louis Dreyfus Company Africa (Pty) Ltd

Multiflora (Pty) Ltd

NWK Ltd

Obaro Handel (Pty) Ltd

Oceana Group Ltd

Olam South Africa (Pty) Ltd

(Pty) Ltd Pannar Seed (Pty) Ltd

Premier Fishing SA (Pty) Ltd

Rijk Zwaan South Africa (Pty) Ltd

(Pty) Ltd Sakata Seed Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd

(Pty) Ltd Selemo Valley Farms (Pty) Ltd

Senwes Ltd

Stucken and Company (Pty) Ltd

Syngenta South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Universal Leaf South Africa (Pty) Ltd

VKB Beleggings (Pty) Ltd

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/vmvqax

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
Secretary of State Candidate Pam Anderson has a poor record on election integrity exposed via statewide TV campaign.

BOULDER, Colo., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Citizens for Election Integrity began airing their statewide television campaign against Secretary of State candidate Pam Anderson. The ad highlights Anderson's interesting past including her leading role in assisting Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's "carefully orchestrated" efforts to influence the 2020 election.

Alongside her anti-Republican work with Zuckerberg, Anderson has a history of opposing transparency and election integrity, including a court case where Anderson violated the Colorado Open Records Act by refusing to hand over public election records. Anderson was forced to pay $94,000 in attorney fees. Anderson also worked with partisan Democrats to enact same day voter registration, which weakened election integrity in Colorado.

Citizens for Election Integrity's spokesman Alex Olson stated, "We are holding Pam Anderson accountable for her anti-Republican history and her reckless disregard for election integrity. Her leftist work with Zuckerberg, lack of transparency as a public servant, and vocal support to weaken election integrity makes her the wrong choice for Secretary of State."

"Put simply, Anderson has a history of weakening election safeguards and hurting Republicans. Coloradans deserve better" Olson continued.

Click here to view the 30 second ad airing statewide entitled "Zuck's Puppet".

www.pamandersonexposed.com

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Citizens for Election Integrity
DULUTH, Minn., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has named Sumair Sheikh, a seasoned nonprofit, city and community leader, as the new executive director of LISC Duluth.

Sheikh will spearhead a LISC program that has invested nearly $86 million in affordable housing, small businesses, health, education, community safety and jobs throughout Duluth over the last 25 yearsall with an eye toward breaking down race and class barriers that keep people from reaching their full potential.

He replaces Pam Kramer, long-time executive director, who retired earlier this year.

"It isn't often that we meet people with the kind of varied range of public, private and philanthropic experience that Sumair has, particularly with equity so clearly centered as a guiding principle," Denise Scott, LISC president said. "His track record starts in schools, moves through workforce and diversity programs, and encompasses neighborhood investment initiatives that have a direct impact on the well-being of families. He knows Duluth and has deep connections to the communities where we work. We are very excited to have Sumair join the LISC team to head up our Duluth program"

For example, Sheikh has played key board leadership roles at two important LISC partnersEcolibrium3, where he focused on revitalization in the Lincoln Park community, and the Northland Foundation, which fueled efforts related to housing, economic development, childcare and jobs.

He spent the first part of his career as a teacher and community organizer in Duluth, Ann Arbor, Chicago, and Boston. Over time, he launched his own consulting practice, working with municipal leaders in Minnesota on a range of critical plans. His experience in program development and coordination includes collaborating with the City of Duluth to implement an equitable hiring action guide for its workforce development board; helping school districts in the Twin Ports and Twin Cities design and implement racial equity and cultural competency systems; and working with the private-sector Innovare Social Innovation Partners on organizational assessment and leadership evaluation.

"What I've learned over the years is that there are tremendous amounts of talent and ambition in our communities," Sumair explained, "and much of my work has been focused on helping remove the barriers so our youth, families and communities can truly thrive.

"That's what I want to continue at LISC," he continued, "whether collaborating with community organizations to equitably invest in affordable housing and small businesses or working with the mayor's office on education and jobs programs. LISC's work is all designed to catalyze opportunity, and I am thrilled to be a part of it."

In addition to his professional work, Sheikh has long volunteered his time in a number of capacities, including serving on the Duluth Police Department's policy revision team for immigration enforcement and as a Think Kids Community Conversations facilitator for Duluth Public Schools.

He has a master's degree in advocacy and political leadership from the University of Minnesota, Duluth; a bachelor's degree in biology from Michigan State University; and a post-baccalaureate secondary teacher certification from Eastern Michigan University.

Sheikh can be reached at LISC beginning on June 27 at [email protected].

About LISC

LISC is one of the country's largest community development organizations, helping forge vibrant, resilient communities across America. We work with residents and partners to close systemic gaps in health, wealth and opportunity and advance racial equity so that people and places can thrive. Since our founding in 1979, LISC has invested $26.7 billion to create more than 463,000 affordable homes and apartments, develop 78.5 million square feet of retail, community and educational space and help tens of thousands of people find employment and improve their finances. For more, visit www.lisc.org

SOURCE Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
BEIJING, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunlands Technology Group (NYSE: STG) ("Sunlands" or the "Company"), a leader in China's online post-secondary and professional education, today announced that the Board of Directors of the Company has declared a special cash dividend of US$1.36 per ordinary share, or US$0.68 per American Depositary Share ("ADS") to holders of the Company's ordinary shares and ADSs of record at the close of business on June 30, 2022, Beijing/Hong Kong Time and New York Time, respectively, payable in U.S. dollars. Dividends to such holders are expected to be distributed on or about July 29, 2022.

"By achieving sustained profitability with a net profit of RMB176.5 million, a record performance, in the first quarter, we are pleased to share our success and gratitude with our investors through this special dividend," said Mr. Tongbo Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Sunlands. "Our profitability allows us to return capital to our shareholders while preserving operational and financial flexibility. As we forge ahead with full confidence in our business growth prospects, committed to unlocking additional shareholder value, we will continue to adopt a favorable dividend policy during profitable quarters to return value to our shareholders."

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Sunlands may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Any statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Sunlands' beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, but not limited to the following: Sunlands' goals and strategies; its expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its brand and services; its ability to retain and increase student enrollments; its ability to offer new courses and educational content; its ability to improve teaching quality and students' learning results; its ability to improve sales and marketing efficiency and effectiveness; its ability to engage, train and retain new faculty members; its future business development, results of operations and financial condition; its ability to maintain and improve technology infrastructure necessary to operate its business; competition in the online education industry in China; relevant government policies and regulations relating to Sunlands' corporate structure, business and industry; and general economic and business condition in China Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Sunlands' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is current as of the date of the press release, and Sunlands does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

About Sunlands

Sunlands Technology Group (NYSE: STG) ("Sunlands" or the "Company"), formerly known as Sunlands Online Education Group, is the leader in China's online post-secondary and professional education. With a one to many, live streaming platform, Sunlands offers various degree and diploma-oriented post-secondary courses as well as online professional courses and educational content, to help students prepare for professional certification exams and attain professional skills. Students can access its services either through PC or mobile applications. The Company's online platform cultivates a personalized, interactive learning environment by featuring a virtual learning community and a vast library of educational content offerings that adapt to the learning habits of its students. Sunlands offers a unique approach to education research and development that organizes subject content into Learning Outcome Trees, the Company's proprietary knowledge management system. Sunlands has a deep understanding of the educational needs of its prospective students and offers solutions that help them achieve their goals.

For more information, please visit http://www.sunlands.com/investorroom.

For investor and media enquiries, please contact:

Sunlands Technology Group

Investor Relations

Email: [email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

Tel: +1-212-481-2050

Email: [email protected]

Ross Warner

Tel: +86-10-6508-0677

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Sunlands Technology Group
ATLANTA, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sylvan Realty brokered the sale of a $45+ million, 200+ home single-family rental portfolio in metro Atlanta. The sale was between two premier institutional firms attracted to high-performing portfolios.

PORTFOLIO DETAILS:

Value add, 3/2, 1400+ sq ft homes in growth submarkets in commuter-friendly, highly desirable neighborhoods

Mid-tier priced homes offer high market demand and solid rent growth

Superior finishes and institutional quality renovations and property management

The Atlanta market is ranked #2 for total renter-occupied single-family homes

market is ranked #2 for total renter-occupied single-family homes $225,000+ price per door

"This transaction provided a terrific opportunity to acquire a high performing portfolio in a very desirable submarket. We believe this portfolio is well positioned for continued growth," said John Bielefeldt, of Sylvan Realty.

ABOUT SYLVAN REALTY

Sylvan Realty provides world-class acquisition and disposition brokerage services for select institutional portfolios. We are a fully licensed real estate brokerage firm. Sylvan Realty is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sylvan Road.

ABOUT SYLVAN ROAD

Sylvan Road is an investment firm focused exclusively on single family real estate. We are a technology-enabled, data centric, idea-driven firm that utilizes, proprietary analytics on our platform. We were one of the earliest pioneers in the sector, and currently have over $3.5 billion1 in assets under management.

Sylvan Road controls the end-to-end investment process through its subsidiaries in investment and asset management, general contracting and construction management, field services and property management. Sylvan Road manages capital for blue chip institutions, insurance companies, credit and real estate funds, asset managers and family offices.

To learn more about available portfolios and services, please visit SylvanRE.com or call Becca Stapp at (404) 522-4008 x 1324.

1 As of April 1, 2022

SOURCE Sylvan Realty
New Offering Will Help Joint Customers Modernize Faster with Better Quality Data

BOSTON , June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Syniti today announced a new offering with IBM  the IBM Data Readiness Assessment with Syniti Knowledge Platform  to help accelerate digital transformation for joint customers preparing to transition to SAP S/4HANA. A key part of the BREAKTHROUGH with IBM for RISE with SAP offering is designed to help accelerate the move to SAP S/4HANA with an improved data quality assessment, as well as conversion, process optimization, and code/infrastructure modernization. The new offering helps further the common goal of accelerating digital transformation and driving continuous innovation by starting with a clean and quality data foundation.

Understanding the quality state and completeness of data prior to the move to SAP S/4HANA is key to a successful transformation effort. Customers can size the services and time required as well as help to right size data to optimize performance and potentially reduce spend on needed cloud infrastructure.

With the Syniti Knowledge Platform as part of the IBM Data Readiness Assessment, customers benefit from:

One platform that helps expedite projects, even those already in process, and that mitigates project risk.

An end-to-end, comprehensive solution that reuses all the rules and content generated within the platform to help accelerate and automate the move.

An industry-unique solution with hundreds of pre-built data quality reports and dashboards that identify cost savings, cashflow and P&L improvements  connecting data quality to true business outcomes.

Allan Coulter, global chief technology officer for SAP Services, IBM, said: "Our clients need to be confident that they are operating with clean, high- quality data in order to achieve a successful move to SAP S/4HANA. Through our work with Syniti we can bring to our clients a solution that enables them to better prepare for adopting SAP S/4HANA with modernized code, process and data capabilities that drive the foundation for continuous innovation."

Rex Ahlstrom, chief technology officer and executive vice president of growth & innovation, Syniti, said: "A clean core requires clean data. We've successfully migrated thousands of enterprises to SAP solutions over the past decade. Working with IBM, we'll be able to help more customers prepare for their migration to SAP S/4HANA easily to help ensure data integrity  setting them up for success with future digital transformation efforts."

Kevin Campbell, chief executive officer, Syniti, said, "We're excited to deepen our work with IBM, especially around the mission-critical importance of starting with trustworthy, quality data. Leveraging the innovation and transformation expertise of IBM with the proven capabilities of the Syniti Knowledge Platform will deliver a win-win to our joint customers looking to become intelligent enterprises."

About Syniti

Syniti solves the world's most complex data challenges by uniquely combining intelligent, AI-driven software and vast data expertise to yield certain and superior business outcomes. For over 25 years, Syniti has partnered with the Fortune 2000 to unlock valuable insights that ignite growth, reduce risk and increase their competitive advantage. Syniti's silo-free enterprise data management platform supports data migration, data quality, data replication, master data management, analytics, data governance, and data strategy in a single, unified solution. Syniti is a portfolio company of private equity firm Bridge Growth Partners LLC. Read more at www.Syniti.com.

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Syniti
Mr. Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Indian Hotels Company , said, "We are very proud that Taj has been recognized as the World's Strongest Hotel Brand for the second time in a row. This reaffirms Taj as the most acclaimed benchmark of excellence in the industry globally."

"With travellers increasingly gravitating towards brands that not only epitomize the essence of world-class luxury but also follow responsible business practices, Taj is well poised to pave the future of hospitality. This recognition is a mark of our guests' steadfast trust and it celebrates the indomitable spirit of our employees, who embody the legacy of the brand while bringing alive the essence of Tajness."

Taj received an overall Brand Strength Index of 88.9 out of 100, with a corresponding AAA rating for customer familiarity, employee satisfaction and corporate reputation as well as its world-class customer service.

The Hotel 50 2022 report highlights the company's successful strategy to overcome pandemic-induced challenges and remain relevant to the need of consumers. Taj was also at the forefront in its efforts towards supporting the community including the healthcare sector.

To know more, click here to access the full report by Brand Finance.

About The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL)

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) and its subsidiaries bring together a group of brands and businesses that offer a fusion of warm Indian hospitality and world-class service. These include Taj  the iconic brand for the most discerning travellers and ranked as the World's Strongest Hotel Brand and India's Strongest Brand as per Brand Finance Hotels 50 Report 2022 and India 100 Report 2022, respectively; SeleQtions , a named collection of hotels; Vivanta , sophisticated upscale hotels; and Ginger , which is revolutionising the lean luxe segment.

IHCL has a portfolio of 237 hotels including 60 under development globally across 4 continents, 11 countries and in over 100 locations.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839406/Taj_Strongest_Brand.jpg

SOURCE Indian Hotels Company (IHCL)
The Mining Exchange was opened in 1901 as a stock exchange for mining corporations, later becoming an office building before Sanders gutted it to the brick and granite and transformed it into a boutique hotel.

"We managed to preserve one of the coolest historic buildings that's ever been built in this city," Sanders said. "When so many buildings have been torn down, we really took this back to its core, and preserved everything in it that could be preserved."

The property boasts a brass staircase, massive safes left over from the mining exchange, twelve-foot ceilings, solid-core privacy doors, separate sleeping areas, granite-topped desks, double-headed bathroom showers, recording studio-quality walls to prevent noise between rooms, 10,000 square feet of event space, a lobby bar, spa, and private courtyard to name a few features.

Taylor Grant introduced Kemmons Wilson to the potential deal who had some familiarity with the property from visiting years prior. Sanders and partner Goede initially had no intention to sell. Conversations become more serious when Grant procured a solid offer which Sanders also saw came from a group that may be a great fit to carry the legacy forward. A key item in the deal was Grants ability to negotiate sellers keeping the penthouse office within the hotel. "Perry transformed The Mining Exchange into an iconic, irreplaceable asset. Although I am not at liberty to disclose price, I can confidently say this is the highest per-room hotel sale recorded in the history of Colorado Springs." Grant said.

The transaction was done in conjunction with Colorado broker JDS Real Estate Services, Inc.

About Park-Equities:

Park-Equities is a full-service real estate investment advisory firm with focus on the hospitality and multi-family markets. The firm is a subsidiary of Park Brokerage Inc. which has over 20 years of commercial brokerage experience. Together they have completed transactions in volume of over 1B.

[email protected]

Kelsi Fogel

SOURCE Park Equities
ROCKVILLE, Md., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TeleBright, an industry leader in centralized expense management for telecom and energy, is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed the AICPA Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 Type 2 audit. The audit was conducted by SC&H Group , an independent expert providing compliance certifications nationwide for SAAS companies with support from the Cybersecurity Compliance automation platform ControlMap . TeleBright is now positioned very well with large corporations and government agencies that require SOC 2 compliance as 3rd party validation of the company's internal and external processes.

ManageRight

"With our SOC 2 Type 2 certification, we are able to show our clients that we are committed to maintaining the security, availability, and integrity of our platform. We strive to ensure our clients the highest level of security and compliance on our platform." says Chet Thaker, CEO at TeleBright.

System Organization Control (SOC 2) is a technical auditing process conducted by independent service auditors who measure an organization's controls and safeguards for ensuring the persistence, security, and integrity of their unique data processing systems. To comply with SOC 2, TeleBright demonstrated it had established rigorous policies and procedures in accordance with the Trust Services Criteria for security, availability, and confidentiality. This independent validation of security controls is crucial for organizations needing to minimize data loss, identity theft, or critical service interruption risks.

Inna Stair, VP - Client Services at TeleBright, stated: "The SOC 2 certification enables us to contract with larger enterprise organizations and pass their due diligence requirements faster. Passing the SOC 2 audit gives us a distinct competitive edge as we can assure our current and prospective customers that we take all steps necessary to safeguard their data.

About TeleBright

TeleBright, an industry leader in centralized expense management for telecom and energy, has been delivering intelligent solutions to improve efficiencies for businesses and government since 1988.

ManageRight, an innovative and user-friendly expense management system, simplifies this complex process and streamlines operations through an integrated approach. Our expense management system will facilitate efficient collaboration between information technology and finance departments while improving the bottom line. Our telecom expense management (TEM) solutions consistently deliver annualized savings of 15% - 30% for organizations of all sizes, in both commercial and government sectors.

TeleBright is based in Rockville, Maryland. For more info visit, TeleBright

Media Contact:

Mark Thomas

Tel.: 717-404-8822

[email protected]

SOURCE TeleBright
The Baltimore Banner's multi-platform news operation will cover a broad range of topics from local government, education, culture and the arts, and criminal justice

BALTIMORE, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Baltimore Banner, a multi-platform news organization established by The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, today announced the launch of its digital news publication. The publication will bring trustworthy, locally-owned news to the community as it works to develop a sustainable business model for local news.

Late last year, Maryland businessman Stewart Bainum, Jr. and his family announced the founding of the Venetoulis Institute of Local Journalism, with a goal to launch The Baltimore Banner in the summer of 2022. Today, The Banner has 42 journalists on staff that will provide solutions-based reporting covering state and local government, arts and culture, criminal justice and education. The Banner expects to have approximately 70 reporters and editors by the end of year, which will make it the largest newsroom in Maryland.

"We established The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism to reinvigorate local news through nonprofit ownership and to bring trustworthy, locally-owned news to the Baltimore region," said Stewart Bainum, Jr., Chairman. "I know Ted would be enormously proud of today's launch of The Baltimore Banner, but he would also say that our work is just beginning. I'm grateful to the collective team, countless supporters, and the talented professional journalists for their tireless effort and commitment to the publication over these past few months. The work we are doing has never been more important for our community and our democracy."

"Our growing team of journalists has already begun covering stories that matter to the residents of Baltimore and the region" said Kimi Yoshino, Editor in Chief. "Consistent with our mission, our reporting will go deeper as we examine and re-examine issues, look for solutions and highlight arts and lifestyle stories that will help strengthen and inspire our community."

"While today is the culmination of a two-year journey to bring a news organization to Baltimore that tells the varied stories of its different communities, it also marks the first day in a long journey towards sustainability," said Imtiaz Patel, Chief Executive Officer, Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism. "Thanks to Stewart's generous gift, we can start having an impact immediately with a newsroom at scale. How well we serve the communities of Baltimore will be how we will judge our success."

Along with staffing veteran journalists such as Justin Fenton, Liz Bowie and Tim Prudente, Managing Editor Andrea K. McDaniels and Deputy Managing Editor Richard Martin, The Banner established a "Creatives in Residence" program, which aims to amplify the work of artists and writers from the Baltimore region, and will feature work from D. Watkins, Kondwani Fidel, Kerry Graham, and Mikea Hugley, among others.

The launch of The Banner comes nearly a month after the announcement of a joint operating agreement with Your Public Radio (WYPR) 88.1FM, Baltimore's NPR news station that will allow the nonprofit organizations to work collaboratively to deliver quality journalism across the state.

Subscribe to The Baltimore Banner and check out the latest coverage at www.thebaltimorebanner.com.

About The Baltimore Banner

The Baltimore Banner is a multi-platform news operation, covering a broad range of topics from local government to culture and the arts. The Baltimore Banner was created by The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit organization founded in 2021 to bring high-quality local journalism to the Baltimore metro area.

Contact:

Rick Abbruzzese

410-790-5002

[email protected]

SOURCE The Baltimore Banner
Group announces new commitments in response to the U.S. Surgeon General's call to action

CHICAGO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This morning, the United States Surgeon General delivered an advisory at the 2022 Youth Mental Health Summit, calling on individuals, organizations & communities to take action on the mental health crisis afflicting our nation's youth. In response, The Vistria Group and companies Edmentum and Media Source Inc. (MSI) announced an expansion of their existing commitments toward addressing the U.S. mental health crisis.

"The mental health crisis among youth is escalating across the nation, and it's become increasingly imperative for the private sector to step up and help address it," says Jon Samuels, Partner and co-Head of Vistria, PRG, at The Vistria Group. "Our team is proud to be part of an ecosystem of stakeholders that are answering the Surgeon General's call, utilizing private capital and outside resources to address this complex, societal problem."

As part of their commitment, The Vistria Group has pledged $250 million towards investments in U.S. providers of youth mental health services over the next three years. In line with the firm's foundational impact investing thesis, this capital will help quality platforms provide greater access to critical treatments aimed at driving better outcomes for patients across the United States.

Joining The Vistria Group, Edmentum and MSI announced their commitments to amplify these efforts. Edmentum is committing to bolster mental health curriculum and support services to over 250,000 students and 100,000 educators over the next three years while MSI will enhance the availability of both resources and educational tools through schools and public libraries nationwide.

"We consider it our duty to not only engage in issues afflicting our communities but to help provide practical solutions that will make a real difference," says Jamie Candee, CEO at Edmentum. "We're on a mission to ensure students everywhere thrive by first recognizing the challenges they face, both inside the classroom and out, so we can help create the best possible outcomes for them, their educators and the communities we all serve."

Following today's announcement, MSI will provide dedicated in-kind public service announcement space across MSI's digital channels and in print in the School Library Journal and Library Journal to carry the Surgeon General's message and key youth mental health resources to public and school librarians and educators. MSI will also extend an invitation to feature Dr. Murthy's message as part of two leadership events in the Fall, allowing him to advance this message and key information to leading educators and librarians across the nation.

"For decades, mental health has been a blanketed issue that seemingly was uncovered and exacerbated during the pandemic and unfortunately, our nation's youth have been deeply impacted," says Etienne Veber, CEO & President of MSI. "We know this issue has layers but with every corner of society taking the initiative, we can help alleviate the problem and illuminate resources to help address the mental health of our young people."

This week's two-day Youth Mental Health Summit is purposed around building momentum and galvanizing external partners to pledge their commitments to furthering research, providing meaningful investments, and facilitating impactful discussions about mental health in the United States. The U.S. Surgeon General has defined a number of actions that every community can take, outlined in the 2021 Protecting Youth Mental Health advisory.

About The Vistria Group

The Vistria Group is building a new kind of private investment firm that delivers both financial returns and societal impact. It invests in essential industries like healthcare, education and financial services that deliver value for investors as well as communities, employees, and consumers. The Vistria Group works as a true partner with its portfolio companies, drawing on its deep sector knowledge, operational expertise, unique network, diverse team, and impact orientation to achieve transformational growth. With nearly $7 billion in AUM, The Vistria Group has delivered attractive returns for its investors while achieving positive outcomes for its portfolio companies, and the lives and livelihoods it supports. For more information, please visit www.vistria.com.

About Edmentum

Edmentum is the leading provider of K-12 digital curriculum, assessments, and services to over 43,000 schools, 400,000 educators, and 6 million students in all 50 states and 100 countries worldwide. Building on our 60-year history of impact, we create innovative, proven learning technology, partnering with educators to ignite student potential. For more information, visit edmentum.com.

About Media Source Inc. (MSI)

Media Source Inc. is a market leader in providing curated content, information, and expert advice to the K-12 and public library market. MSI operates leading brands providing book selection services and expert advice to over 20,000 K-12 schools and public libraries, with offerings including print and digital collection development services, book and multimedia reviews, trade journals, and professional development.

SOURCE The Vistria Group
MadManga team announced to reward each holder at least 0.1 ETH via airdrop soon after the sell-out of FOMO Stone NFTs. Rewarding its holders this soon after release is an unusual action to take for a new project, especially given it was during the week of a well-known USD stable coin free-fall fiasco. The project had gone against the grain of the fudded market with a simple reason to its holders, "[MadManga's] partnership with Allizart made a profit, and we are rewarding back to [all 1,500 OG holders]". This announcement also reflected their freshly announced DAO strategy, where thirty percent of the online or offline profit goes back to its holders. Above gets big kudos in the book. This team's gesture excited its community for what's yet to come and boosted everyone's confidence in HODL. This event also doubled FOMO Stone NFTs' floor price and low availability on the secondary market even to fetch one. Interestingly, the community is secretive, not loud nor showy, and goes under the radar for many. Its holders' determination not to sell or list is also why its transaction volumes aren't the most active.

Fearing that people would play them for suckers, many NFT newcomers got more cautious about NFT project selections. Therefore, many projects are now under even harder scrutiny. Common is that projects unable to sell out, or projects floor price dipped below mint, NGMI, sad but true. Therefore, any projects that sell out or floor goes beyond their mint price are worthy of our eyes for a second look. MadManga FOMO Stone showed no fear by becoming the first sold-out project released right after the mega-sized metaverse land sale when all other projects had moved their mint date by a week to avoid the high gas costs. MadManga's charms that go against the downtrend are a fact.

As MadManga marches into Phase 2 of their sale, the company is curious about what else to come in the store for shoppers. It is intrigued by what this team has done so far, not to mention that the two lit animation shorts they have produced should excite anyone who watched them.

According to community information on the official website and Discord, the second wave release is still yet to be announced, with 2,700 pieces remaining (4,200 in total). People's only chance is to grab these NFTs from the secondary market to join in on the action and become its first 1,500 pieces holder is said to contain the most benefits. MadManga FOMO Stone NFT is an unmissable project for those who love, create, write for the manga, and want to participate in rewards in a very otaku-oriented, fun community.

NFA DYOR

(Not Financial Advice, Do Your Own Research)

Website: https://madmanga.io/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MadMangaNFT

Discord: https://discord.gg/madmanga

OpenSea: https://opensea.io/collection/madmangafomostone

SOURCE MadManga
Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore won the 'Best Life Insurance Brand', 'Most Trusted Life Insurance Brand' & 'Best Customer-Centric Insurance Brand' in Singapore, for the year 2022. The felicitation ceremony will be held at the Palm Jumeirah  Waldorf Astoria, Dubai on 01 December 2022.

LONDON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Brand Awards is an annual event held by Global Brands Magazine (GBM), an international publication headquartered in the UK. Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore was evaluated on several factors in the financial services industry, out of which it performed outstandingly in the fields of innovation and customer satisfaction. Through its ability to go above and beyond, Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore was able to garner the trust of its customers and as such was also the most trusted brand.

Commenting on Tokio Marine winning the awards, ShivKumar (CEO) of Global Brands Magazine said, "Insurance is a difficult field. To be able to build a relationship based on trust and understanding is hard, yet Tokio Marine manages to do it perfectly. This goes to show how committed the brand is to delivering excellence to its customers. Customer satisfaction is at the forefront of everything that they do, and it is no surprise that they are one of the most trusted brands in the world right now."

Commenting on winning the awards, Christopher Teo, CEO of Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore, said, "It brings us immense pride and joy to be lauded for our customer-centricity and commitment towards excellence by the prestigious Global Brands Magazine for the second consecutive year. This year, we have been awarded the coveted titles of Best Life Insurance Brand - Singapore, Most Trusted Life Insurance Brand - Singapore and Best Customer-Centric Insurance Brand - Singapore. These wonderful accolades bear strong testament towards our ability to stay ahead in this ever-evolving landscape through providing best-in-class solutions and excellent service."

"Chosen from a distinguished group of entrants, we have been recognised for our extraordinary dedication towards upholding our core tenets of being a Good Company by Empowering Our People, Delivering On Commitments and Looking Beyond Profit," he shared. "Our success today is very much attributed to us having a highly collaborative workplace culture, as well as innately motivated team players. I am thankful to have a supportive senior management team who are all aligned to my strategic direction and vision to grow our business. As dependable representatives of our Good Company, we will continue to stand united as a trusted planning partner, guiding our customers in their life journeys to help them Plan Well and Live Well, Through It All."

About Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore

Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore Ltd. (TMLS) is part of the Tokio Marine Group. TMLS' alignment of strategy to drive a strong performance and people-centric culture has advanced their standing in Singapore as a leading life insurer. The company's values and vision define and guide everything that they do. A firm commitment to the traits of customer-centricity, integrity and excellence underpins TMLS' promise to be the go-to partner for all financial planning needs.

About Global Brands Magazine

Global Brands Magazine (GBM) has been at the forefront, bringing news, views and opinions on brands shaping the future of their industry. The UK-based magazine provides its readers with the latest news and information on best-in-class brands.

About Global Brand Awards

Global Brand Awards honours brands for their excellence in performance and rewards companies for the quality of their services. The Brand Awards highlight the accomplishments of organisations that have performed remarkably well in their respective industries. Global Brand Awards recognise vital players who progress towards excellence by providing a platform to acknowledge their efforts.

Check out our social media shout outs form the links below:

Facebook: https://bit.ly/3Q8P9lD

Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3tsdqtj

Twitter: https://bit.ly/3zsHt7K

Instagram: https://bit.ly/3xhY3oh

SOURCE Global Brands Publications Limited
Download Now!

Major Price Models in the Translation and Localization Services Sourcing and Procurement Market

The report discusses in detail each pricing model and the pros and cons attached to every pricing model prevalent in the market. Also, the report provides insights with respect to the category supply chain and the margins of various suppliers within the supply chain.

The most widely adopted pricing models in the Translation and Localization Services Sourcing and Procurement Market

Hourly pricing model



Fixed pricing model



Cost-plus pricing model

Learn about various other pricing models: Request for a FREE sample report

Spend Growth and Demand by Region

The Translation and Localization Services Sourcing and Procurement market will register an incremental spend of about USD 14.24 Billion during the forecast period. However, only a few regions will drive the majority of this growth. Moreover, on the supply side, North America, Europe, and APAC will have the maximum influence owing to the supplier base. The growth is expected to be primarily driven by increasing demand and adoption of the category across those few regions.

To get a detailed analysis of the regional factors driving the Translation and Localization Services Sourcing and Procurement Report:

Download the sample report now!

Subscribe to our "Free Limited Period Starter Procurement Plan" to get the following:

View 6 full reports

View 800+ report samples

Pre-order upcoming reports

Dedicated account manager

Subscribe Now for FREE!

Most Adopted Procurement Strategies by Buyers Across the Translation and Localization Services Sourcing and Procurement Market

The report provides a detailed insight of the most adopted procurement strategies by buyers across industries and analysis of these strategies with respect to innovation, regulatory compliance, quality, supply, and cost. Adoption of these procurement strategies will enable the buyers to reduce category TCO and achieve cost savings, while sourcing for thermal equipment requirements.

To get the exact information on various procurement strategies:

Get the FREE Sample Report Now!

This Translation and Localization Services Sourcing and Procurement Market report answers help buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers, for instance:

Am I engaging with the right suppliers?

Which KPIs should I use to evaluate my incumbent suppliers?

Which supplier selection criteria are relevant for?

What are the workplace computing devices category essentials in terms of SLAs and RFx?

Our Top Selling Procurement Reports:

Asset Recovery Services - Forecast and Analysis: The asset recovery services will grow at a CAGR of 9.49% during 2021-2025. Asia Asset Recovery Pte Ltd., TES-Amm Singapore Pte Ltd., and Iron Mountain Inc. are among the prominent suppliers in asset recovery services market. Click the above link to download the free sample of this report. Vulnerability Management Sourcing and Procurement Report: Vulnerability Management Procurement Market, prices will increase by 4%-6% during the forecast period and suppliers will have a Moderate bargaining power in this market. Click the above link to download the free sample of this report. Celebrity Talent Management Services - Sourcing and Procurement Intelligence Report: This report offers key advisory and intelligence to help buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers for their celebrity talent management services requirements. Click the above link to download the free sample of this report.

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
Constellis subsidiary will provide Protective Security Officer services for the St. Elizabeths' complex.

HERNDON, Va., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Constellis, a leading provider of essential risk management and mission support services to government and commercial clients worldwide, announced today that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Protective Service, awarded Constellis company, Triple Canopy, a contract for Protective Security Officer (PSO) services for the St. Elizabeths' complex located in Washington, D.C.

"Our company and team of security professionals are tasked with an important mission in providing a safe and secure work environment. We have diligently supported the Federal Protective Service in our collective mission and are excited to continue our work at the St. Elizabeths' complex," said Gerard "Jerry" Neville, President of North American Operations at Constellis.

The St. Elizabeths' complex serves as the consolidated headquarters for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the third largest cabinet department with more than 240,000 employees responsible for ensuring a secure and safe homeland against acts of terrorism.

About Constellis

In an ever-changing and complex world, security concerns are paramount. Enhanced security requires education, training and specialized skills. Constellis provides end-to-end risk management and comprehensive security solutions to safeguard people and infrastructure globally. Our team of strategic problem solvers has a steadfast moral compass and unwavering dedication to creating a safer world. Constellis is committed to the success of our customers and partners.

SOURCE Constellis
Diversity, equity and inclusion measures added to methodology.

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in hospital rankings and consumer advice, today revealed the 2022-2023 Best Children's Hospitals rankings to help families of children with rare or life-threatening illnesses find the best medical care available. Now in their 16th year, the rankings include new measures for diversity, equity and inclusion.

The 2022-2023 rankings highlight the top 50 centers in each of these 10 pediatric specialties : cancer, cardiology & heart surgery, diabetes & endocrinology, gastroenterology & gastrointestinal surgery, neonatology, nephrology, neurology & neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology & lung surgery, and urology. For the second year, the Best Children's Hospitals rankings feature expanded offerings that include state rankings and multi-state regional rankings.

Ten hospitals earned a spot on the Honor Roll  a distinction awarded to pediatric centers that deliver exceptionally high-quality care across multiple specialties. For the ninth consecutive year, Boston Children's Hospital claimed the top spot on the Honor Roll. It also landed at No. 1 as the Best Children's Hospital in Massachusetts and No. 1 in five of the 10 specialties: pediatric cancer, pediatric nephrology, pediatric neurology & neurosurgery, pediatric orthopedics, and pediatric urology.

"Choosing the right hospital for a sick child is a critical decision for many parents. The Best Children's Hospitals rankings spotlight hospitals that excel in specialized care, offering parents and their pediatricians a helpful starting point in choosing the facility that's best for their child," said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News. "Recognizing that hospitals with inclusive and equitable cultures perform better, this year we added a new measure assessing hospitals' efforts to improve the equity of care provided and to promote diversity and inclusion among clinicians and staff."

2022-2023 Best Children's Hospitals Honor Roll

1. Boston Children's Hospital

2. Texas Children's Hospital

3. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

4. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

5. Children's National Hospital

6. UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

7. Children's Hospital Colorado

8. Children's Hospital Los Angeles

9. Nationwide Children's Hospital

10. Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford

Top Five Children's Hospitals in Selected Specialties

Pediatric Cardiology HYPERLINK "https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/pediatric-rankings/cardiology-and-heart-surgery"& HYPERLINK "https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/pediatric-rankings/cardiology-and-heart-surgery" Heart Surgery

1. Texas Children's Hospital

2. Boston Children's Hospital

3. UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

4. MUSC Children's Heart Network of South Carolina

5. New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell

Pediatric Cancer

1. Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center

2. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

3. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

4. Texas Children's Hospital

5. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Neonatology

1. Children's National Hospital

2. Boston Children's Hospital

3. Texas Children's Hospital

4. UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

5. UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, San Francisco and Oakland

The Best Children's Hospitals methodology factors objective measures such as patient outcomes, including mortality and infection rates, as well as health equity and available clinical resources and compliance with best practices. To calculate the Best Children's Hospitals rankings, U.S. News gathered relevant data from children's hospitals, pediatric specialists and other healthcare organizations in early 2022.

RTI International, a North Carolina-based research and consulting firm, collected and analyzed data from 119 children's hospitals and surveyed thousands of pediatric specialists. More than 100 pediatric specialists and other experts provided input through methodology working groups.

This year's rankings will be published in the U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospitals 2023" guidebook (ISBN 9781931469999), available in stores October 5, 2022.

For more information, visit HYPERLINK "https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/pediatric-rankings"Best Children's Hospitals and use #BestHospitals on HYPERLINK "https://www.facebook.com/usnewsandworldreport"Facebook and HYPERLINK "https://twitter.com/usnews"Twitter .

About U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower consumers, business leaders and policy officials to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives and communities. A multifaceted digital media company with Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars, News and 360 Reviews platforms, U.S. News provides rankings, independent reporting, data journalism, consumer advice and U.S. News Live events. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

SOURCE U.S. News & World Report, L.P.
"Katharine Graham was a trailblazer  the first woman to head a Fortune 500 company, and the first to serve as a director of The Associated Press," said Donald Moak, a member of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors who served as dedicating official for the ceremony.

Moak also mentioned Graham's legacy of strength amid the difficulties she faced by "refusing to bend to unprecedented political pressure in the midst of two critical chapters of history: the Pentagon Papers and Watergate.

Joining Moak in dedicating the stamp were Graham's son Donald, who served as master of ceremonies; her younger son, Steven and daughter, Lally Weymouth, who both also spoke; Michael Beschloss, historian; and Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress.

The stamp features an oil portrait of Graham by Lynn Staley, based on a photograph taken during the peak of Graham's influence as owner and president of The Washington Post Co. and publisher of its flagship newspaper. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.

Graham's name appears in red beneath the portrait. The word "PUBLISHER" is printed vertically downward from the top left and the words "TWO OUNCE" and "USA" are horizontally stacked at top right. These stamps will always be equal in value to the First-Class Mail 2-ounce price, ideal for additional postage needed for heavier First-Class letters. News of the stamp is being shared with the hashtag #KatharineGrahamStamp.

Background

Born June 16, 1917, Katharine Meyer grew up in Washington with four siblings and attended the Madeira School in Virginia. She was 16 when her father purchased The Washington Post at a bankruptcy auction in 1933. The Post was then the least successful of the capital city's five daily newspapers. After graduating from high school, she attended Vassar College and transferred to the University of Chicago, from which she graduated in 1938.

In 1940, she married Philip Graham, a young attorney who would become publisher of the newspaper in 1946. She focused on raising their four children until unexpectedly widowed in 1963. It was at that point when necessity forced reinvention. Although concerned about her limited experience, Graham felt she had no other choice but to assume leadership of the company. She would learn the business from every angle and find she truly loved it.

The era of her journalistic leadership was tumultuous. One of Graham's great tests came in June 1971 with the leak of the Pentagon Papers, a classified government history of the Vietnam War. After The New York Times published several installments, a federal judge ordered The Times to cease publication. But The Washington Post also had acquired portions of the documents that were not included under the court's edict. It was, however, a critical moment for the company.

The Washington Post Co. was on the eve of a public stock offering. If Graham approved the publishing of the documents, as the newspaper's editors wanted, it could endanger the offering. Potentially more damaging: The government could revoke the company's highly profitable television licenses. Caught between the editorial and the business interests of The Post, Graham decided to print the contents of the Pentagon Papers. The government sought  and was granted  an injunction that took the issue to the Supreme Court, which ruled against prior restraint and for press freedom.

One year later came the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington's Watergate office building. The Post's tenacious investigative reporting would ultimately lead to President Richard M. Nixon's resignation in 1974. Once again, Graham faced threats from the administration but decided to print the Watergate story while other media outlets stood by for months. These were heady years for journalists and those who led them, but they were not the most difficult time that Graham would face.

Her ultimate test of leadership began in October 1975 when a pressmen's strike at The Post turned violent. Workers beat their foreman, assaulted others and set fire to printing presses. The strike lasted almost five months, which Graham would cite as the most stressful chapter of her career.

Her time in the executive suite brought enormous growth, influence and national prominence to The Washington Post Co. She became a savvy, pioneering businesswoman and a high-profile role model for women.

In 1991, Graham named her son Donald as CEO of The Washington Post Co. while she remained chairman of the board. In 1993, he became chairman of the board and she stayed on as chairman of the executive committee. She wrote and published her memoir, "Personal History," which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998.

Professionally active until the end, Graham was attending a media conference in Sun Valley, ID, in 2001, when she fell. She died three days later. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in 2002.

Postal Products

Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps , by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic or at Post Office locations nationwide.

These 2-ounce stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 2-ounce price.

A video about the stamp will be available on facebook.com/usps . Information for ordering first-day-of-issue postmarks and covers is at usps.com/shop.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

Please Note: For U.S. Postal Service media resources, including broadcast-quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the USPS YouTube channel, like us on Facebook and enjoy our Postal Posts blog. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com.

National: Martha Johnson

[email protected]

usps.com/news

Local: Tom Ouellette

202-554-6494

[email protected]

usps.com/news

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service
Vesync receives awards in the Concept and Tradeshow Design categories

ANAHEIM, Calif., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vesync, a leading provider of smart home appliances, was selected as the winner of two German Brand Awards in 2022. The company won in the Concept category for their Vesync Company Branding, and in the Tradeshow Design category for their Where Innovation Meets Home experience during the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

The German Brand Awards is an elite competition honoring companies who excel in brand management. Organized by the German Brand Institute, ranked number one nationwide and second place internationally, the competition is open to companies, agencies, service providers and marketers from different industries worldwide. Each year, panel experts of the German Design Council identify and honor unique brands and brand builders across the globe and provide new opportunities for them to showcase their incredible work.

"Vesync is honored to have been chosen as winners of the German Brand Awards in not just one, but two categories in 2022," said Grace Yang, CEO and Founder of Vesync Co, Ltd. "Our mission at Vesync has always been to create meaningful experiences through connected lifestyles for our customers with our smart products. Being recognized by the German Design Council allows us to continue to open new opportunities and discover new possibilities for our users."

To learn more about Vesync and its assortment of brands and smart home products, please visit www.vesync.com.

About VeSync:

Vesync Co., Ltd focuses on providing users with integrated health and wellness solutions with their ever-increasing technological IoT platform. Through their proprietary VeSync app, its primary goal is to provide users with personalized solutions and pathways to help users achieve their goals. Connecting over 3.1 million active users worldwide, Vesync's integrated platform brings together numerous brands including its award-winning smart home brands, Levoit, Cosori, and Etekcity, and creates a centralized wellness platform. Its products are sold worldwide, including the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Japan. To learn more about Vesync, please visit https://www.vesync.com/.

SOURCE VeSync
NEW YORK and HOUSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the latest report from Vinson & Elkins, Power Play: The State of Electric Vehicle Charging Station Finance , the continued adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is creating new financing models to support necessary charging infrastructure.

The report draws on the market insights of experienced Vinson & Elkins lawyers with extensive knowledge of electric vehicles and the required infrastructure to support the high demand. Vinson & Elkins lawyers from across its Project Finance, Capital Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions, Information Technology, and Real Estate teams contributed to the report.

Highlights and key considerations include the following:

While individual EV charging station projects are not capital-intensive to build and have low overhead to operate, EV charging companies have not demonstrated a steady, year-over-year stream of contracted revenues. Investors will need to make valid assumptions around use cases, government incentive availability and return on investment over a short timeframe.

A successful, promising model for EV charging stations is fleet-charging finance, which relies on a subscription-based contract in association with a creditworthy customer with a large fleet of EVs. Municipal transport deals also present a form of fleet charging, but with a municipal counterparty.

While capital markets have played a critical role in advancing the EV charging infrastructure industry, there is a need to tap into third-party asset-based financing to increase growth and facilitate large-scale charging station build-outs.

An emerging source of financing for EV charging stations may run through the favorable tax treatment offered to real estate investment trusts (REITs). Properties owned by REITsretail, office and multifamilyare ideal sites for the installation of EV charging stations. [Read more here: Can REITs Charge for Charging Electric Vehicles? ]

"The EV industry is quickly evolving and growing as demand and accessibility increase," said Michael Joyce , Energy Transactions and Project Finance partner, Vinson & Elkins. "No single business model or financing approach is better than the last, which is why clients must understand the risks from numerous critical factorsstate and federal regulatory rules, supply chain and manufacturing obstacles, commodity pricing, grid transmission scaleand finance with a view for both the short- and long-term market."

"We saw a flurry of new companies created in the clean energy space go public via either a traditional IPO or SPAC since 2020," said Ramey Layne , Capital Markets partner, Vinson & Elkins. "Even though the SPAC market has encountered some headwinds, the capital markets are going to play a vital role in financing clean energy, and we expect that SPAC mergers will continue to be a choice for companies to go public, including those hoping to play a role in the energy transition."

"As the availability of electric vehicles continues to rise and charging infrastructure becomes a greater priority, we are going to see new innovations and technologies brought to market," said Michael Kurzer , Technology Transactions and Intellectual Property partner, Vinson & Elkins. "Technology is playing an ever increasing role in the expansion of our EV infrastructure -- from improvements in battery performance to new charging stations to ultra-fast charging technologies. All of these advancements are going to play a key role to ensuring our clients and the industry can meet the growing demands from consumers."

For more insights and to read the full report go to: Power Play: The State of Electric Vehicle Charging Station Finance .

About Vinson & Elkins

For more than a century, Vinson & Elkins has provided outstanding client service across important industries that drive the global economy. Built on a strong culture of collaboration across 12 offices worldwide, V&E lawyers are committed to excellence, offering clients decades of legal experience in handling transactions, investments, projects and disputes across the globe. Learn more by visiting www.velaw.com or follow us on Twitter @VinsonandElkins or connect with us on LinkedIn .

Media Contact

Melissa Anderson

Senior Communications Manager

+1.415.979.6914

[email protected]

SOURCE Vinson & Elkins LLP
According to the latest research by InsightAce Analytic, the global viral and non-viral vector manufacturing market is valued at US$ 5.01 billion in 2021, and it is expected to reach US$ 23.49 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 19.04% during the forecast period of 2022-2030.

Advanced gene and cell therapies, with the use of vectors, have significantly impacted the field of medicine. Therapies requiring genetic modification have demonstrated tremendous potential for treating several chronic diseases and neurological disorders. Gene therapy has significant potential for treating and managing a variety of disorders. Due to their exceptional capacity to transport replicas of therapeutic genes to host cells, viral vectors are the most often employed agents in gene therapy. Adeno-associated vectors (AAV) are the most promising among this class of vectors due to their transitory nature, ability to transduce dividing and non-dividing cells, and low immunogenic disposition. The promising results of vector-based therapies in several clinical studies have further emphasized the development of various viral and non-viral vectors to address unmet medical needs.

Multiple factors, including the rising prevalence of fatal diseases and the increasing usage of next-generation technologies in developing innovative medicines, are the primary drivers of the market's expansion. The increasing prevalence of vector-based gene and cell treatments, the high demand for customised medications, the rising R&D spending for vector-based therapeutic breakthroughs, and the well-established healthcare infrastructures are anticipated to drive considerable market expansion in the coming years. Increasing incidences of chronic and infectious illnesses are increasing the need for therapies requiring a genetic alteration, consequently presenting several chances for the growth of the viral and non-viral vector manufacturing market.

On the other side, the high cost of vector manufacturing, complications associated with large-scale production of viral and non-viral vectors, and low transfection efficiency may hinder the market development in the coming years.

North America is projected to lead the global viral and non-viral vector manufacturing market in the coming years (2020-2030), owing to the increasing R&D activities in vector-based therapy innovations and the rapid adoption of advanced therapy techniques.

Key market players operating in the viral and non-viral vector manufacturing market include Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany), Catalent, Inc. (US), FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation(Japan), Danaher Corporation (US), Genscript Biotech Corporation (US), Lonza Group AG (Switzerland), Merck KGaA Inc. (Germany), Oxford Biomedica plc (UK), Sartorius AG (Germany), Takara Bio Inc. (Japan), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (US), Wuxi AppTec (China), Acuitas Therapeutics (Canada), Evonik Industries AG (Germany), Exelead, Inc. (US), Entos Pharmaceuticals (Canada), Genevant Sciences GmbH (Switzerland), T&T Scientific Corporation (US), Moderna, Inc. (US), CureVac N.V. (Germany), Cognate BioServices Inc. (Cobra Biologics), Genezen Laboratories, Yposkesi, Waisman Biomanufacturing, Advanced Bioscience Laboratories, Inc. (Abl Inc.), Novasep Holding S.A.S., Batavia Biosciences B.V., Biovion Oy, Sirion Biotech Gmbh., Virovek Incorporation, Biontech Imfs Gmbh, Vivebiotech S.L., Creative Biogene, Uniqure NV, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, Cevec. Pharmaceuticals Gmbh among others.

Key developments in the market:

In May 2022 , Catalent launched its latest UpTempo VirtuosoTM platform method for developing and CGMP production of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors. The UpTempo Virtuoso platform standardizes and streamlines several time-consuming procedures in AAV manufacture to drastically minimize the time from gene to clinic and enable quick clinical assessment of the first patient.

Catalent launched its latest UpTempo VirtuosoTM platform method for developing and CGMP production of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors. The UpTempo Virtuoso platform standardizes and streamlines several time-consuming procedures in AAV manufacture to drastically minimize the time from gene to clinic and enable quick clinical assessment of the first patient. In December 2021 , GenScript ProBio (US) opened China's most prominent commercial GMP plasmid manufacturing facility. The 6,400-square-meter manufacturing plant enables the company to offer global customers a one-stop service for plasmids - from the preclinical study (IIT) to the investigational new drug (IND) filing to clinical trial and commercial manufacturing - to accelerate the innovation and development of high-quality cell and gene therapy mRNA drugs.

GenScript ProBio (US) opened most prominent commercial GMP plasmid manufacturing facility. The 6,400-square-meter manufacturing plant enables the company to offer global customers a one-stop service for plasmids - from the preclinical study (IIT) to the investigational new drug (IND) filing to clinical trial and commercial manufacturing - to accelerate the innovation and development of high-quality cell and gene therapy mRNA drugs. In December 2021 , Oxford Biomedica plc (UK) extended a commercial supply agreement with Novartis to manufacture lentiviral vectors for several Novartis CAR-T products.

Oxford Biomedica plc (UK) extended a commercial supply agreement with Novartis to manufacture lentiviral vectors for several Novartis CAR-T products. In October 2021 , Matica Biotechnology, Inc, a (CDMO) specializing in the clinical and commercial production of cell and gene therapies, announced a joint research agreement (JRA) with Sartorius, a leading international partner of the biopharmaceutical industry. Under this agreement, Matica Bio and Sartorius will work on several studies to streamline and optimize PAT technologies, automation software, and single-use platforms offered by Sartorius for large-scale vector production.

Matica Biotechnology, Inc, a (CDMO) specializing in the clinical and commercial production of cell and gene therapies, announced a joint research agreement (JRA) with Sartorius, a leading international partner of the biopharmaceutical industry. Under this agreement, and Sartorius will work on several studies to streamline and optimize PAT technologies, automation software, and single-use platforms offered by Sartorius for large-scale vector production. In April 2021 , Oxford Biomedica plc (UK) signed a new three-year Development & Supply Agreement ("DSA") with Boehringer Ingelheim to manufacture & supply various types of the viral vector.

Oxford Biomedica plc (UK) signed a new three-year Development & Supply Agreement ("DSA") with Boehringer Ingelheim to manufacture & supply various types of the viral vector. In Jan 2021 , Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Groupe Novasep SAS (Novasep) announced that Thermo Fisher acquired Novasep's viral vector manufacturing company in Belgium , Henogen S.A. The viral vector manufacturing division of Novasep offers contract manufacturing services for vaccines and medicines to biotechnology and major biopharma clients.

Enquiry Before Buying @ https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/enquiry-before-buying/1263

Market Segments

Global Viral and Non-Viral Vector Manufacturing Market, by Vector Type, 2020-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Viral Vector

Adenoviral Vector



Retroviral Vector



Adeno-Associated Viral Vector



Lentiviral Vector



Vaccinia Viral Vector



Other Viral Vector

Non-Viral Vectors

Plasmid DNA



Lipid-Based Non-Viral Vector



Polymer-Based Non-Viral Vector



Other Non-Viral Vector (Peptide-Based and Hybrid/Combination)

Global Viral and Non-Viral Vector Manufacturing Market, by Disease, 2020-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Cancer

Genetic Disease

Infectious Disease

Cardiovascular Disease

Other Diseases

Global Viral and Non-Viral Vector Manufacturing Market, by Application, 2020-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Gene Therapy

Viral Vector



Non-Viral Vector

Vaccinology

Viral Vector



Non-Viral Vector

Cell Therapy

Viral Vector



Non-Viral Vector

Other Applications

Viral Vector



Non-Viral Vector

Global Viral and Non-Viral Vector Manufacturing Market, by Region, 2020-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

North America Viral and Non-Viral Vector Manufacturing Market, by Country, 2020-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

U.S.

Canada

Europe Viral and Non-Viral Vector Manufacturing Market, by Country, 2020-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

Russia

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific Viral and Non-Viral Vector Manufacturing Market, by Country, 2020-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

India

China

Japan

South Korea

Australia & New Zealand

Latin America Viral and Non-Viral Vector Manufacturing Market, by Country, 2020-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa Viral and Non-Viral Vector Manufacturing Market, by Country, 2020-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

GCC Countries

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

For Customised Information @ https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/customisation/1263

Other Related Reports Published by InsightAce Analytic:

Global Gene Therapy for Blood Disorders Market

Global Gene Therapy For Retinal Diseases Market

Global Cell and Gene Therapy Drug Delivery Devices Market

Global iPSCs Manufacturing Services Market

Global mRNA Synthesis and Manufacturing Services Market

Why should buy this report:

To receive a comprehensive analysis of the prospects for the global viral and non-viral vector manufacturing market

To receive an industry overview and future trends of the viral and non-viral vector manufacturing market

To analyze the viral and non-viral vector manufacturing market drivers and challenges

To get information on the viral and non-viral vector manufacturing market size (Value US$ Mn) forecast to 2030

Significant investments, mergers & acquisitions in the viral and non-viral

About Us:

InsightAce Analytic is a market research and consulting firm that enables clients to make strategic decisions. Our qualitative and quantitative market intelligence solutions inform the need for market and competitive intelligence to expand businesses. We help clients gain a competitive advantage by identifying untapped markets, exploring new and competing technologies, segmenting potential markets, and repositioning products. Our expertise is in providing syndicated and custom market intelligence reports with an in-depth analysis with key market insights in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Contact Us:

InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd.

Tel.: +1 718 593 4405

Email: [email protected]

Site Visit: www.insightaceanalytic.com

Follow Us on LinkedIn @ bit.ly/2tBXsgS

Follow Us On Facebook @ bit.ly/2H9jnDZ

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1729637/InsightAce_Analytic_Logo.jpg

SOURCE InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd.
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- WeCare4 (www.wecare4.com), the global and diverse community, platform, and portfolio of resources for all caregivers and other stakeholders interested in Helping Those Who Care For Others and Silverts (www.silverts.com), the leader in adaptive apparel are excited to announce that they are partnering to bring Silverts' adaptive clothing and footwear to the entire WeCare4 community and the WeCare4 platform and resources to the entire Silverts community.

Silverts

With 90+ years of expertise, Silverts has been innovating adaptive apparel and became one of the first companies to bring adaptive clothing and footwear providing easy dressing solutions with adaptive designs for aging and disabled people to caregivers and dressers. They are committed to providing exceptional service, quality, and value for the price.

Silverts continues to be the leader in adaptive apparel and footwear through innovating their simplified dressing solutions for empowered living. Over the years they have partnered with over 1500 nursing and long-term care homes, getting easy dressing solutions in the hands of those in need and their caregivers.

WeCare4 provides a platform to serve all caregivers of the aging and adults and children with special needs, including family, friends, and professionals and the entire ecosystem that supports them. It also seeks to break down the existing silos of information that all caregivers and the people that they serve have to explore to find everything they need.

WeCare4 enables and empowers this community as a curator, aggregator, and source of relevant news, information, and resources; products and services; jobs, career opportunities, and resources for employers (whether family, friends, or care facilities) and job seekers; as well as education, training, and professional development for caregivers to better serve those who depend on them and to assist caregivers with every aspect of day-to-day life management. WeCare4 social channels provide opportunities for networking, additional content, and comments.

"We welcome Silverts to the WeCare4community and are delighted that we can bring their innovative, quality, attractive apparel and footwear at special prices to all caregivers, both families/friends and professional caregivers, care advisors, and short- and long-term care facilities," noted Carol Greco, WeCare4 Founder and CEO. "Our relationship will also make the entire WeCare4 value proposition available to all those Silverts serves," added Greco.

"Partnering with WeCare4 will enable Silverts to expand the reach and support that we are able to provide to, and within the wider caregiving community across North America and beyond. Together we can continue to impact everyday lives of caregivers!" said Joshua Norris, General Manager of Silverts.

Special pricing of 25% off is available using codes: WECARE4 for Silverts products; and SILVERTS for select WeCare4 products/services.

About WeCare4 

WeCare4 (www.wecare4.com) is a community, platform, and portfolio of resources for caregivers of the aging and adults and children with special needs, including its Career Center, Marketplace, News/Articles, Forum, Education, Social Channels, and more. See Highlights of the WeCare4 Value Proposition (www.wecare4.com/forums-details/54). WeCare4 is a d/b/a of CJ Star Enterprises, LLC as is Family Care Necessities, which was founded in 1991 as a child/eldercare agency/consultancy and currently offers telehealth services.

About Silverts

Founded in 1929, Silverts Holdings Ltd., operating as Silverts Adaptive Clothing & Footwear (www.silverts.com), is a U.S. and Canadian based retailer that designs and distributes adaptive clothing and footwear for men and women. The company makes a variety of adaptive apparel designed to assist all in daily dressing and undressing while offering dignity, convenience, and comfort.

Media Contacts :

Carol Greco, Founder and CEO

WeCare4

+1 908-902-9542

[email protected]

Joshua Norris, General Manager

Silverts Adaptive Clothing & Footwear

+1 647-272-1613

[email protected]

SOURCE WeCare4
SAN FRANCISCO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global wind power market size is expected to reach USD 165.99 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2022 to 2030. The increasing demand for clean and affordable energy is expected to drive the growth of the market. The adoption of wind power is increasing at a significant pace owing to the increasing viability of wind power for large-scale energy production.

Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report:

Various governments are focusing on reducing carbon footprint and increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy mix of the countries. This is expected to drive renewable power generation and thus the growth of the market for wind power.

The onshore location segment accounted for 71.66% of revenue share in 2021. Onshore wind power is cheaper to install than offshore wind power due to the shorter distance from power generation to the final consumer.

Asia Pacific is projected to grow at a substantial pace throughout the forecast period. China is expected to account for the largest revenue share in the Asia Pacific region.

is projected to grow at a substantial pace throughout the forecast period. is expected to account for the largest revenue share in the region. Wind power accounted for 9.2% of the total electricity generation mix in the U.S. in 2021.

North America is likely to display a moderate growth rate during the projected period.

Read 130-page market research report, "Wind Power Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Location (Onshore, Offshore), By Application (Utility, Non-utility), By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, Middle East & Africa), And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030", published by Grand View Research.

Wind Power Market Growth & Trends

Governments across various nations have been supporting the use of renewable energy sources including solar power, hydropower, wind power, and biomass. Regulatory bodies are emphasizing on reducing carbon footprints and reducing reliance on conventional energy sources which in turn promotes power generation using wind turbines. Increasing energy needs in countries such as India, China, the U.K., and Brazil, owing to rapid industrialization is projected to have a positive impact on the market growth.

Wind power energy finds wide use in numerous sectors such as commercial and residential. The Onshore wind power sector has emerged as a valued renewable energy source, across the world. The cumulative installed onshore and offshore wind power capacity is projected to observe a count of 837 GW in 2021. The offshore wind power sector has been gaining thrust in the global market for wind power.

Regions such as South America and Middle East & Africa offer a robust business opportunity for the market with countries, such as Brazil, Chile, and South Africa playing a vital role in the development of the growth. The increasing demand for electricity generation from green and clean sources is likely to drive the growth of the market in the forthcoming years. Besides, the massive wind power potential, coupled with a continuous decrease in the cost of installation, is expected to offer extensive business opportunities to the market.

Wind Power Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global wind power market based on application, location, and region:

Wind Power Market - Location Outlook (Volume, MW; Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

Onshore

Offshore

Wind Power Market - Application Outlook (Volume, MW; Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

Utility

Non-utility

Wind Power Market - Regional Outlook (Volume, MW; Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada



Mexico

Europe

Germany



U.K.



France



Italy



Spain

Asia Pacific

China



India



Japan

Central & South America

Brazil



Chile

Middle East & Africa

& South Africa

List of Key Players in the Wind Power Market

GE Wind

Vestas, Siemens Wind Power,

Suzlon Group, Goldwind

United Power,

Acciona, Nordex SE,

Sinovel Wind Group

EDF Renewable Energy

ReGen Powertech

Vensys Energy

ABB Limited

NextEra Energy Inc.

Northland Power Inc.

DONG Energy

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

Wind Turbine Operations and Maintenance Market - The global wind turbine operations & maintenance market is expected to reach USD 20.3 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Rising focus to minimize environmental impact in the power generation industry, has fueled the wind energy market. Exponential rise in wind turbine installation across the globe, especially in Asia Pacific , Europe , and North America is expected to have a positive impact on the industry over the forecast period.

The global wind turbine operations & maintenance market is expected to reach by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Rising focus to minimize environmental impact in the power generation industry, has fueled the wind energy market. Exponential rise in wind turbine installation across the globe, especially in , , and is expected to have a positive impact on the industry over the forecast period. Wind Energy Foundation Market - The global wind energy foundation market is expected to reach USD 241.14 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing concerns over depleting petroleum resources has resulted in influencing growing demand for renewable energy. Increasing global population and industrialization have become major factors for moving towards non-conventional resources.

The global wind energy foundation market is expected to reach by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing concerns over depleting petroleum resources has resulted in influencing growing demand for renewable energy. Increasing global population and industrialization have become major factors for moving towards non-conventional resources. Renewable Power Generation Market - The global renewable power generation market demand is expected to reach 12,630.9 TWh by 2027, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 7.9% over the forecast period. Switching from conventional fossil fuels to renewable sources is underway to achieve economic, social, and environmental developments.

Browse through Grand View Research's Renewable Energy Industry Research Reports.

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research Helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead.

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc.

Phone: 1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com

Grand View Compass | Astra ESG Solutions

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661327/Grand_View_Research_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
ATLANTA , June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Windsor ranked among the top three multifamily managers in the nation for online reputation in the 2022 Division I ORA Power Ranking  Top 10 of the NMHC Top 50 Largest Apartment Managers by J Turner Research. The annual Division I Ranking features the top managers in the National Multifamily Housing Council Top 50 list based on their Online Reputation Assessment (ORA) Score  the multifamily industry standard to measure a property/company's online reputation. Windsor scored a companywide ORA of 84.45 as of April 2022 while simultaneously significantly increasing its portfolio size since 2021.

J Turner's ORA Power Ranking is based on extensive monthly research of the lifetime reviews of over 128,000 properties across review sites and Internet Listing Services (ILSs). It is an independent ranking; a property or management company does not have to be a client to qualify.

Windsor has significantly improved its ORA score. Since January 2022, 67% of the company's total review volume comprises five-star reviews. More than 50% of Windsor properties saw an average increase in ORA of three points. Overall, the average Windsor community saw an increase of 0.89 in ORA, four times better than the national average increase of 0.22. In the 2022 State ORA Power Ranking announced in April  Top 10 properties in the 50 States and D.C.Windsor had a top property in five states (Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Washington). In the 2021 Elite 1% ORA Power Ranking  an annual ranking of the top properties based on their online reputation  31 Windsor properties made the cut, as compared to 9 properties in the 2020 Elite 1% ranking, making it a 244% increase.

"At Windsor Communities, we believe that home is more than where you live," said Tom Sloan, President, Windsor Property Management. "Our associates work tirelessly to provide residents with experiences that go above and beyond, fulfilling our company's mission. The fact that this recognition comes directly from resident feedback is an amazing testament to our efforts to create communities where people truly feel cared for.

"Windsor's success in the Division Ranking is a testament to a company's single-minded focus on using data and personalized training to gather insightful feedback from residents, develop workable action plans, and monitor progress at each step. It is very impressive that a company has grown the way Windsor has while continuing to maintain excellence in customer service, which has led to residents sharing their appreciation online as five-star reviews," commented Joseph Batdorf, president of J Turner Research.

Windsor credits its focus on data as one of the driving factors in improving its online reputation. The company solicited and received genuine feedback that helped develop action plans of how they could improve their customer service and focus on the needs of the resident. With the added information, by combining the right technology with the human touch, Windsor has improved service and changed the way it does business.

"The ability to easily monitor progress has been key to our improvements in online reputation. Using the J Turner dashboard to proactively monitor customer sentiment, associates are able to see their commitment to our customers reflected in their online reputation scores. Additionally, our teams have greatly benefitted from J Turner Research's training program, offering customized learning opportunities on topics that matter most to our associates," says Jamie Gorski, Chief Experience Officer at Windsor Communities.

About J Turner Research

J Turner Research is an independent research company focused exclusively on the multifamily industry for almost two decades. It is the only company to monitor the online reviews and ratings of 128,000+ properties nationwide. J Turner pioneered the Online Reputation Assessment (ORA) score, which serves as the multifamily industry standard to measure, benchmark, and compare a property/company's online reputation. The company is the national leader in enhancing resident satisfaction through intelligent resident and prospect survey programs, quantifiable action plans, customized training, and review response service. For more information, visit www.jturnerresearch.com.

About GID/Windsor Communities

GID, a vertically integrated real estate company, owns and operates over 46,000 multifamily units across the United States. Windsor Communities, the firm's in-house property management arm, has achieved a long-standing reputation in the property management industry and is continuously recognized for its top-rated customer service, established and successful ESG standards, cutting-edge technology, notable marketing, and outstanding maintenance services.

Media Contact: Priyanka Agarwal

[email protected]

SOURCE J Turner Research
Get a comprehensive report summary describing the market size and forecast along with research methodology. The sample report is available in PDF format

Porter's Five Forces Analysis

Threat of New Entrants

The concentration of new vendors that only focus on workspace management is moderate. However, several new and small vendors are expected to enter the market during the forecast period Due to the need for low capital investments. Hence, the threat of rivalry will be high during the forecast period.

The Report offers information on all the Porter's Five Forces. Buy Now to gain insights that will help you improve your business.

Vendor Landscape

The competition in the workspace management software solutions market is high. This is attributed to factors such as the presence of several vendors. Moreover, various local vendors have entered the market, which has led to price wars and competitive pricing. During the forecast period, competition between the vendors is expected to intensify due to an expansion of product and service portfolios of vendors and technological innovations. Some of the key vendors operating in the market include AgilQuest Corp., Asure Software Inc., Condeco Group Ltd., FM Systems Group LLC, Fortive Corp.

The report provides a full list of key vendors, their strategies, and the latest developments. Request a PDF Sample Now

Market Segmentation

The workspace management software market has been segmented by deployment into in-cloud-based and on-premise. Among these, the cloud-based segment will have significant market share growth during the forecast period. Cloud-based software solutions enable organizations to operate in a quick and efficient manner. They are commonly provided as service as a solution (SaaS). Organizations adopt cloud-based solutions to implement cost-effective and flexible IT solutions.

By geography, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and the Middle East and Africa. North America will have the highest market growth during the forecast period. The US is the major contributor of revenue to the market in the region. Workspace management software solutions can be deployed to address such challenges associated with coworking, such as booking meeting rooms.

Learn about the contribution of each segment summarized in concise infographics and thorough descriptions. View a PDF Sample Report

Key Drivers and Trends

The increased need for optimized space planning will drive the growth of the global workspace management software market during the forecast period. These solutions help organizations address the challenge of optimal use of the total floor space. For instance, Asure Software provides a meeting room booking system, which includes integrated tools to monitor and track occupancy and utilization data using on-site sensors.

The increased use of mobile applications for workspace management is a trend in the market. The widespread usage of smartphones and tablets has increased the use of smart devices to access the capabilities of workspace management software solutions. This enables businesses to easily access and exchange data with employees working remotely. They can also use mobile devices or touch panels situated outside conference rooms to identify and book rooms.

Apart from the increased use of mobile applications for workspace management, many other trends are also shaping the future of the market. View PDF Sample Report to learn about these trends

Similar Reports

Business Productivity Software Market by Type and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Product Information Management Market by Deployment and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Workspace Management Software Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 14% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 1.37 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 12.18 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 33% Key consumer countries US, China, Japan, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled AgilQuest Corp., Asure Software Inc., Condeco Group Ltd., FM Systems Group LLC, Fortive Corp., International Business Machines Corp., iOFFICE LP, Matrix42 AG, Planon Shared Services BV, and Yardi Systems Inc. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for forecast period Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 01: Parent market



Exhibit 02: Market characteristics

2.2 Value chain analysis

Exhibit 03: Value chain analysis: Application software market

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 04: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 05: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2020

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025

Exhibit 06: Global - Market size and forecast 2020 - 2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 07: Global market: Year-over-year growth 2020 - 2025 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 08: Five forces analysis 2020 & 2025

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 09: Bargaining power of buyers

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 10: Bargaining power of suppliers

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 11: Threat of new entrants

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 12: Threat of substitutes

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 13: Threat of rivalry

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 14: Market condition - Five forces 2020

5 Market Segmentation by Deployment

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 15: Deployment - Market share 2020-2025 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Deployment

Exhibit 16: Comparison by Deployment

5.3 Cloud-based - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 17: Cloud-based - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 18: Some prominent cloud-based workspace management software offerings



Exhibit 19: Cloud-based - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.4 On-premise - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 20: On-premise - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 21: Some prominent on-premise workspace management software offerings



Exhibit 22: On-premise - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.5 Market opportunity by Deployment

Exhibit 23: Market opportunity by Deployment

6 Customer landscape

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 25: Market share by geography 2020-2025 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 26: Geographic comparison

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 27: North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 28: North America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 29: Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 30: Europe - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 31: APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 32: APAC - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 33: South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 34: South America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.7 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 35: MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 36: MEA - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.8 Key leading countries

Exhibit 37: Key leading countries

7.9 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 38: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

Exhibit 39: Impact of drivers and challenges

8.3 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 40: Vendor landscape

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 41: Landscape disruption



Exhibit 42: Industry risks

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 43: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 44: Market positioning of vendors

10.3 AgilQuest Corp.

10.4 Asure Software Inc.

Exhibit 49: Asure Software Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 50: Asure Software Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 51: Asure Software Inc. - Key offerings

10.5 Condeco Group Ltd.

Exhibit 52: Condeco Group Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 53: Condeco Group Ltd. - Product and service



Exhibit 54:Condeco Group Ltd. - Key news



Exhibit 55: Condeco Group Ltd. - Key offerings

10.6 FM Systems Group LLC

Exhibit 56: FM Systems Group LLC - Overview



Exhibit 57: FM Systems Group LLC - Product and service



Exhibit 58: FM Systems Group LLC - Key offerings

10.7 Fortive Corp.

Exhibit 59: Fortive Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 60: Fortive Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 61:Fortive Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 62: Fortive Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 63: Fortive Corp. - Segment focus

10.8 International Business Machines Corp.

Exhibit 64: International Business Machines Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 65: International Business Machines Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 66: International Business Machines Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 67: International Business Machines Corp. - Segment focus

10.9 iOFFICE LP

Exhibit 68: iOFFICE LP - Overview



Exhibit 69: iOFFICE LP - Product and service



Exhibit 70:iOFFICE LP - Key news



Exhibit 71: iOFFICE LP - Key offerings

10.10 Matrix42 AG

Exhibit 72: Matrix42 AG - Overview



Exhibit 73: Matrix42 AG - Product and service



Exhibit 74: Matrix42 AG - Key offerings

10.11 Planon Shared Services BV

Exhibit 75: Planon Shared Services BV - Overview



Exhibit 76: Planon Shared Services BV - Product and service



Exhibit 77: Planon Shared Services BV - Key offerings

10.12 Yardi Systems Inc.

Exhibit 78: Yardi Systems Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 79: Yardi Systems Inc. - Product and service



Exhibit 80:Yardi Systems Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 81: Yardi Systems Inc. - Key offerings

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 82: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.3 Research methodology

Exhibit 83: Research Methodology



Exhibit 84: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 85: Information sources

11.4 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 86: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
BEIJING, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Zepp Health Corporation, ("Zepp Health", the "Company" or "we") (NYSE: ZEPP), a cloud-based healthcare services provider with world-leading smart wearable technology, today announced that it will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders (the "AGM") at 7/F, Building B2, Zhongguancun No. 1, No.81 Beiqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, People's Republic of China at 2:00 p.m. (Beijing time) on July 5, 2022.

No proposal will be submitted for shareholder approval at the annual general meeting. Instead, the annual general meeting will serve as an open forum for shareholders and beneficial owners of the Company's American depositary shares ("ADSs") to discuss Company affairs with management.

The board of directors of the Company has fixed the close of business on June 13, 2022 as the record date (the "Record Date"). Holders of record of the Company's ordinary shares at the close of business on the Record Date are entitled to notice of the annual general meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof. Holders of the Company's ADSs are welcome to attend the AGM in person.

The Company has filed its annual report on Form 20-F, which includes the Company's audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Shareholders and ADS holders may obtain a copy of the Company's annual report, free of charge, from the Company's website at https://ir.zepp.com , or by contacting Zepp Health Corporation at Huami Global Innovation Center, Building B2, Zhong'an Chuanggu, Technology Park, No. 900 Wangjiang West Road, Hefei, 230088, People's Republic of China, email: [email protected].

About Zepp Health Corporation (NYSE: ZEPP)

Zepp Health changed its name from Huami Corp. (HMI) on February 25, 2021 to emphasize its health focus with a name that resonates across languages and cultures globally. The Company's mission continues to be connecting health with technology. Since its inception in 2013, Zepp Health has developed a platform of proprietary technology including AI chips, biometric sensors, and data algorithms, which drive a broadening line of smart health devices for consumers, and data analytics services for population health. Zepp Health is one of the largest global developers of smart wearable health and consumer fitness devices, shipping 36 million units in 2021. Zepp Health Corp. is based in Hefei, China, with U.S. operations, Zepp Health USA, based in Cupertino, California.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Zepp Health Corporation

Grace Yujia Zhang

E-mail: [email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Yang Song

Tel: +86-10-6508-0677

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Zepp Health Corp.
Paragon Banking Group PLC (LSE:PAG) is in demand after raising its profit guidance and increasing its share buyback programme.

The specialist banking group reported a 49.0% rise in half year pretax profits to 143.6mln and gave a positive outlook for the rest of the year.

Chief executive Nigel Terrington said: "Strong growth in new lending at attractive margins has supported the group's earnings and return on tangible equity progression while capital levels remain comfortably in excess of our regulatory requirements, providing the foundation for further growth and additional capital returns in the future.

"Whilst the UK economy faces headwinds, we have a high quality loan book and we are confident in our momentum, and have upgraded our guidance for the full year."

The lender has raised this year's share buyback by 25mln to 75mln.

Its shares are up 6.53% to 500.71p.

3.03pm: Contango soars after signing supply deal for its coking coal

Natural resources group Contango Holdings (LSE:CGO) is climbing sharply after unveiling a supply deal for its coking coal.

AtoZ Investments (Pty) Ltd, a specialist coal trading company based in South Africa, has agreed to purchase the initial coking coal production from Contango's Lubu project in Zimbabwe.

After reviewing the composition and quality of the coal, AtoZ has entered into an agreement to purchase 10,000 tonnes a month at the prevailing market price set by the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, currently US$120 a tonne.

AtoZ will take delivery of the washed coking coal at the mine gate and handle all subsequent logistics and marketing, thereby removing associated marketing and transport costs for Contango.

The first sales are expected in the fourth quarter of this year.

At prevailing market prices Contango would expect to benefit from margins of around US$70-80 per tonne for its washed coal production under this contract, giving potential to generate up to US$10mln of earnings a year.

It believes the market price is significantly below global benchmark prices and so there is a strong likelihood of an increase, boosting its margins further.

It also wants to sell higher margin coke, an upgraded product derived from coking coal, and believes the AtoZ deal will help its position regarding funding the necessary infrastructure.

Chief executiev Carl Esprey said: "Given the scale of the Lubu asset, with a resource base of more than 1 billion tonnes, we believe that we can sell both coking coal and coke as two separate revenue streams moving forward. In addition, with the infrastructure in place for the higher margin coking coal and coke products, there is likely to be further economic markets for its additional suite of thermal and industrial coals. For now, we have reached a critical milestone and the horizon looks very exciting indeed ."

Its shares are on fire, up 30.74% to 6.14p.

12.48pm: Revolution Bars cheered by better than expected performance

Investors in Revolution Bars Group PLC (AIM:RBG) are toasting a better than expected performance from the group.

The owner of the Revolution and Revolucion de Cuba brands said a strong performance across the group and a bumper jubilee bank holiday meant it was now forecasting adjusted earnings ahead of the market's expected 10mln.

In March the group anticipated earnings at the top end of the prevailing City range of 8mln-10mln.

Its shares are up 8.91% at 16.5p.

12.02pm: iomart under pressure as revenues and profits slip

iomart Group (AIM:IOM), the cloud computing specialist, has seen its shares slide as profits and revenues slipped.

It said revenues were down 8% to 103mln, reflecting lower non-recurring and consultancy sales, along with the impact of lower customer renewals experienced in the first half.

Profit before tax dipped from 12.5mln to 12.2mln.

In March it moved into the security sector with a partnership with cyber security specialists, e2e-assure, and it is also on the lookout for acquisitions.

It said the first two months of the new financial year were in line with its expectations, although it admitted the wider business environment continued to be challenging.

And like everyone else, it faces rising energy prices.

It said: "Although the current volatility of the energy markets may cause us to have to absorb some of the price fluctuations through the year, the core of our existing customer agreements, to varying degrees allow us to increase pricing, and some of this has already been invoked. In addition, any new business, contract renewals or shorter-term arrangements will be price adjusted at the appropriate time. We have various options to put in place hedging type arrangements within our electricity procurement to provide some certainty for our customers and our own planning."

Following the figures, its shares are down 7.63% at 172p.

10.52am: Eneraqua Technologies lifted by strong performance and upbeat outlook

Eneraqua Technologies PLC (AIM:ETP) has seen its shares bubble up after its first results since joining Aim last November.

The specialist in energy and water efficiency said full year revenues jumped 148% to 36.2mln, with adjusted pretax profits up from 0.8mln to 5.61mln.

During the year it completed two strategic acquisitions, HaGePe International BV and Welltherm Drilling Limited.

It has brought forward its maiden dividend by a year, paying 1p a share, and said the current financial year had started well, with its order book providing revenue cover for 95% of its full year revenue target.

Chief executive Mitesh Dhanak said: "We have continued to grow in both energy and water, with the recen tcontract wins in the UK and India. This, alongside the strategically important acquisitions that we completed, shows the quality of the services that we are now able to provide our clients...

"the increasing Net Zero regulation and initiatives being introduced across the globe provide us with confidence that we can deliver long-term value for our shareholders."

Its shares are up 5.93% to 286p.

10.17am: Oxford BioDynamics boosted by positive US response to flagship product

Oxford BioDynamics PLC (AIM:OBD) is in demand after a positive response to a key product at a US conference.

The company said it presented additional data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology on its flagship EpiSwitch checkpoint inhibitor response test.

The product is a simple blood test allowing clinicians to advise millions of cancer patients facing the complex choice between powerful immunotherapy treatments, which might have low response rates and immune-related adverse events, and alternative treatment options.

The company said interest in its test at ASCO was significant. It met 11 pharma teams, two major US hospital networks , National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers, as well as with clinicians and healthcare investors.

Chief executive Dr Jon Burrows said: "ASCO was a brilliant opportunity to get the attention of oncologists and the oncology community from around the world.

"As a small British biotech building our commercial profile, we were overwhelmed by the interest in the company and EpiSwitch CiRT. We had significantly more meetings than anticipated with practicing oncologists, pharma clinical development teams, hospital administrators and healthcare investors, who welcomed information on the potential use and utility of CiRT. It is highly encouraging that we continue to receive enquiries post-ASCO."

Its shares are up 5.11% at 18p.

8.43am: Xeros Technology soars on licensing deal and positive test data

Investors in Xeros Technology Group PLC (AIM:XSG) are cleaning up after the firm unveiled a new licensing agreement and positive test results for its filtering technology for washing machines.

The deal for its XFilter filtration technology is with Germany's Hanning Elektro-Werke Gmbh & Co, a manufacturer of components for the appliance industry, including pumps and motors for some of the world's largest domestic washing machine manufacturers.

Under the terms of the 10-year, non-exclusive agreement, Hanning will manufacture and sell filters incorporating technology. This will enable washing machine manufacturers to provide consumers with the ability to capture and easily and safely dispose of over 90% of microfibres, including microplastics, released during laundry cycles. The filters are built into the washing machine and are designed to last the life of a machine.

Xeros will receive a royalty for every filter device sold by Hanning, and it expects to begin receiving revenues from Hanning in late 2023.

Meanwhile German institute Hohenstein has accredited XFilter with the highest level of performance, capturing over 99% of microplastics. The tests were carried out on behalf of a leading Asian domestic washing machine manufacturer as part of the test and trial agreement signed with Xeros in July 2021.

Klaas de Boer, chairman of Xeros, said: "These test results provide further validation of the market leading performance of our XFilter technology..We are confident that this will accelerate our progress with the multiple parties with whom we are currently engaged."

Xeros shares have jumped 30.77% to 42.5p.

Meanwhile MyHealthChecked PLC (AIM:MHC) is moving higher after it launched five new at-home cheek swab DNA wellness tests.

The tests, which cost 54 each, are for intolerances and sensitivities, weight management, heart profile, vitamins and minerals, and glucose management.

Chief executive Penny McCormick said: "This is a significant achievement as we move into a new phase of the business outside of the COVID-19 testing space.

"These initial tests are just the start of our consumer testing portfolio, and we look forward to updating the market on further portfolio developments throughout the course of 2022. Going forward we will continue to engage with the market on potential opportunities and re-invest the 2021 earnings from our COVID-19 testing services to explore additional third-party technology options to further enhance the customer journey for our wellness tests. We also continue our efforts to identify and assess complementary earnings-enhancing partnerships."

The company's shares have climbed 8.48% to 1.79p.
Cobra Resources PLC (LSE:COBR) announced the start of aircore drilling at its Wudinna gold/rare earths project in South Australia, the first phase of the company's 2022 field programme.

Aircore drilling - a low disturbance, low-cost technique - will be used ahead of reverse circulation [RC] drilling planned for the third quarter.

"We are exceptionally excited to be drilling once again, said chief executive Rupert Verco. The considered approach the company is taking ensures cost efficiency whilst providing high-value multi-element results and de-risking the planned follow-up RC drilling.

Recent drilling at the project discovered rare earth mineralisation close to and above gold mineralisation.

READ: Cobra Resources says REEs intersected across broad region connecting two prospects at Wudinna

Cobra plans to drill a total of 6,000 metres across 97 holes.

It will drill 37 holes at the Clarke prospect aimed at testing the northern strike of defined gold mineralisation and expanding the current 4 km2 rare earth mineralisation footprint.

A further 12 holes will be drilled over iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) targets 1-3 to test the top of the gravity anomalies.

A total of 13 holes will be drilled across the Barns and White Tank prospects testing resource extensions and the saprolite-hosted rare earth potential.

The remaining holes will be drilled across five additional targets that contain anomalous gold in calcrete, which have geophysical signatures supportive of gold-bearing structures and are considered prospective for rare earth mineralisation.

This programme is aimed at demonstrating the regional prospectivity for clay hosted rare earths, growing our gold resource and maiden testing our exciting IOCG targets, said Verco.
Supermarket chains Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO) and Lidl will spend at least 2.35mln disputing copyright issues in court amid claims the UKs biggest food retailer ripped off the German discounters logo.

Lidl insisted Tesco exploited the background of its trademarked logo  a blue square with a yellow circle inside it and a thin red border  for its own Clubcard discounts.

The budget supermarket claimed it is a wordless trademark, even without Lidls name on it and wants to stop Tesco from using it.

Tesco disputes the claim and described the 'Wordless Mark' as a 'figment of Lidl's legal imagination' in documents shown to the court.

Lidl accused Tesco of seeking deliberately to ride on the coat tails of Lidls reputation as a discounter by copying the background to its logo to promote its Clubcard price reductions.

The budget food retailer conducted a survey, where respondents were shown the background without the Lidl name and asked what it was. Numerous responses thought there was some affiliation with the German supermarket.

The Judge, who confirmed both were spending almost 1.2mln each on the case before any conclusions had even been reached, said Lidls lawyers think the background to the logo is capable of being, and is, perceived by the public in the United Kingdom as being distinctive of the Lidl group of companies.
British Airways (BA) said Tuesday it may be facing several strikes this summer as staff backed industrial action following a pay dispute.

Trade union Unite, which represents 16,000 BA employees, won a 97% vast majority in a ballot for possible industrial action after claiming the airline restored managers pay to pre-Covid levels but still had not reversed the 10% pay cut issued to standard workers.

Unite also insisted thousands of staff were dismissed and not replaced, which partly caused staff shortages in recent months.

Britian'ssecond-largest union said: "Two years of job and pay cuts mean that BA customers and staff are unfortunately paying the price through sky-high ticket prices, rock bottom service levels and non-existent morale.

"Staff are simply no longer willing to excuse, or pay the price for, poor management decisions."

Unite added that 500 check-in staff will be balloted for strikes, which may be staged in July when demand is anticipated to soar.

BA claimed the industrial action threat was based on a misunderstanding that was sorted out as soon as it come to fruition.

It said it thought there was a prior pay rise that ground handlers missed, so it made the offer to compensate them and then realised it was erroneous, the Telegraph reported.

"After a deeply difficult two years which saw the business lose more than 4bn, we still offered payments to our colleagues for this year. We remain committed to open and honest talks with our trade unions about their concerns," a BA spokesman said.

This came a day after unions warned of six days of strike action in late June and in July by Ryanair's Spanish cabin staff, which may disrupt UK flights.

British Airways, which is owned by International Consolidated Airlines, known as IAG, has already cancelled hundreds of flights this year due to staff shortages.
Red Rock Resources' Andrew bell joins Proactive to talk about the latest results from the first hole at its joint venture company at the Mt Bute prospect in Victoria.

A total of three holes were drilled at the Mt. Bute Prospect and the results from the second and third holes are still awaited.

He says the first hole of a small programme on the property encountering such widespread mineralization, including some good grades, was a very good outcome.
Cobra Resources PLC (LSE:COBR)'s (Cobra Resources PLC (LSE:COBR)) chief executive Rupert Verco joins Proactive to talk about commencing its aircore drilling at its Wudinna gold/rare earths project in South Australia.

This is the first phase of the company's 2022 field programme as Verco explains and says the Aircore drilling itself is a low disturbance, low-cost technique that it will be using ahead of the reverse circulation [RC] drilling planned for the third quarter.
Tom Reynolds from Scirocco Energy talks to Proactive about the deal with Wentworth Resources to divest its 25% stake in Aminex PLC (LSE:AEX)'s (Aminex PLC (LSE:AEX)) Ntorya field development project in Tanzania.

Reynolds explains the rationale behind the divestment for a project that will require capital investment in the coming months. He goes on to explains how they will proceed with new investments in sustainable energy.
Frontier Energy Ltd (ASX:FHE) has released preliminary results from a Green Hydrogen Study, which indicate green hydrogen production could be achieved significantly earlier than originally anticipated at the flagship Bristol Springs Solar Project.

The projects unique location near Waroona, Western Australia, on freehold land, right near existing grid (SWIS), gas and water infrastructure, reduces its overall costs compared to projects in more remote areas.

Pathway to green hydrogen

Proximity to an existing and emerging green hydrogen domestic market also provides a pathway to hydrogen sales.

Findings from the ongoing Green Hydrogen Study indicate that commercial quantities of green hydrogen can be produced from the 114-megawatt dc (MWdc) stage one solar operation significantly earlier than originally anticipated.

The company thinks that the economics of hydrogen production are enhanced by the surrounding existing infrastructure and the fully-owned renewable nature of the energy asset.

Early adopters of the transition to green hydrogen include the users of the Dampier Bunbury Pipeline (natural gas) as well as the long-haul transportation industry (diesel).

Dovetails with WA Government initiative

A key initiative of the West Australian Government is for hydrogen to replace diesel. WA currently imports 6.7 billion litres of diesel per annum.

On a direct comparison basis, todays diesel price, at around $2 per litre, equates to a hydrogen price of $8 per kilogram  one kilogram of hydrogen is equivalent to four litres of diesel.

The Australian Government has allocated A$1.3 billion in its 2022-23 budget for energy security funding, including for hydrogen.

FHEs Renewable Expansion Study and Green Hydrogen Study are being finalised and will be released in the coming months.

Solid returns in clean energy market

Managing director Mike Young said: The stage one solar project is an excellent foundation for the company to move into the renewable energy sector, as we believe it will generate solid returns over at least a 30-year operating period, in a market environment of ever-increasing clean energy demand.

As part of the Green Hydrogen Study, the Xodus Group was asked to determine what size solar production, as a minimum, would be required to be able to commence green hydrogen production. We originally anticipated this would be larger than the Stage One Project (114MWdc) to justify the additional capital costs associated with hydrogen production.

The BSS Project is, however, uniquely located around significant existing infrastructure, which is critical for the hydrogen industry, meaning our initial capital costs will be significantly less compared to more remote projects for first production.

Built-in customer base

Our ability to service the most likely first adopters of hydrogen (gas pipeline and long-haul transportation) means we are also likely to have customers for our product. Given the industry remains in its infancy, the ability to target these specific customers is somewhat more important than after more widespread adoption.

As I recently saw in Rotterdam at the World Hydrogen Conference, the global market for green hydrogen is rapidly growing, Young continued.

It is clear hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV), which have actually been around since the 1960s, will be a major part of global decarbonisation, especially in the long- and heavy haulage transport industry. Given expectations for diesel prices, on a direct comparison, we believe hydrogen use in the long-haul transport industry is already an economically viable alternative.
Argonaut Resources NL (ASX:ARE) has defined an extensive swarm of lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites to be explored during its field mapping and sampling program at the Higginsville Project in Western Australia.

The company has executed a new joint venture agreement (JVA) with Loded Dog Prospecting to proceed with a planned exploration of this Darson pegmatite swarm which is well located amongst numerous significant lithium resources in the Eastern Goldfields region of the southern Yilgarn Craton.

Argonauts initial mapping has delineated five pegmatites of up to 90 metres in thickness, situated at the margin of the Pioneer Granite.

This is a prime geological setting for the discovery of a lithium deposit being within four kilometres of the Dome North lithium pegmatite deposits and 12 kilometres of the Sinclair Caesium Mine.

Looking ahead, Argonaut is planning a reverse circulation (RC) drill program targeting lithium following the receipt of the necessary approvals.

Exploration results

Argonaut has taken rock-chip samples of outcropping pegmatites which include surrounding quartz veins and country rocks.

Although no significant lithium results were returned, the indicator elements showed very encouraging, high-order results.

It is common for LCT pegmatites in this area of WA to be zoned, with the lithium minerals being in the central zone.

These zones are broadly defined as barren, fertile and LCT Pegmatite which can be established using indicator elements and various ratios of elements.

All samples taken of the Darson South pegmatites are 'fertile' according to K/Rb vs Cs ratios.

These pathfinder results warrant traverses of angled RC drill holes to test for lithium mineralisation within these fertile outer zones.

Joint venture agreement

Under the JVA, Argonaut holds an 80% interest in exploration licence E15/1489 which hosts:

The Darson Pegmatite Swarm;

The Amorphous gold deposit; and

The Footes Find gold prospect.

The JVA will pay Loded Dog $75,000 and issue $50,000 of ordinary Argonaut shares at 39 cents per share by June 28, 2022.

LCT pegmatites

Fieldwork undertaken by Argonaut during 2022 has defined an extensive swarm of LCT pegmatites which are near the margin of the Pioneer Granite.

The Pioneer Granite caused the emplacement of LCT pegmatites at the Dome North lithium deposit and at Sinclair, which was previously mined for caesium.

Five pegmatites were mapped, and these are identified as Darson North and Darson South.

The pegmatites trend (strike) about north-south, and initial outcrop mapping indicate thicknesses of up to 90 metres.

Forward plan

Follow-up, low-impact fieldwork is to be undertaken once an appropriate field crew becomes available which will involve:

Systematic outcrop sampling of known pegmatites to better define LCT pegmatite zonation;

The systematic traversing of the Darson prospect to identify, map and sample additional pegmatite outcrops and extensions to known outcrops;

Soil sampling using field-based, handheld XRF analysis of samples to define Caesium and Rubidium anomalism in soils above buried LCT pegmatites.

In addition, a planned RC program is on the cards involving s east-west traverses of angled RC drill holes across known LCT Pegmatites targeting areas of high geochemical fertility

Access to the area is via the Chalice Mine access road from the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway, then via a pipeline track to within 300 metres of the anticipated drill site.

Moving forward, Argonaut is preparing to seek the relevant approvals for drilling at the Darson prospect.

Zambian licence

Meantime, in Zambia, the company continues to work cooperatively with the relevant authorities to achieve the reinstatement of exploration licence 22399-HQ-LEL, Lumwana West.

Following advice from the Minister for Mines and Mineral Development, Paul Kabuswe MP, on April 27, 2022, that Argonauts appeal was under active consideration, the company has assisted appropriately with investigations into shortcomings and illegalities in the Governmental processes that led to the purported licence cancellation.

The company has also made presentations on the extent and quality of exploration and feasibility work completed on the project to date, as well as the companys investment track record in Zambia.

Argonauts objective of completing a feasibility study into a two-phase copper/cobalt mine and processing facility at Lumwana West compliments the Zambian Governments stated objective of greatly increasing copper production.
Cookie Policy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping us understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. See our Cookie Policy for more information.
Eclipse Metals Ltd (ASX:EPM) has welcomed some pleasing results following recent satellite imagery analysis from the multi-commodity Ivittuut Project in south-western Greenland.

Of particular significance is the identification of new rare earth element (REE) and base metal targets.

Executive chairman Carl Popal said: We are delighted that Sentinel-2 satellite imagery analysis, which is a proven and cost-effective technology for screening large areas of exposed rock, has delivered new high-priority targets for REE and base metal mineralisation.

We are planning to field check the highest-ranked anomalies as part of the ongoing summer exploration campaign.

Satellite imagery analysis

EPM contracted leading image processing expert Dr Daniel Core of Ohio-based Fathom Geophysics LLC to process and analyse European Space Agency Sentinel-2 data over the Ivittuut Project.

The main objective of the satellite imagery analysis was to remotely identify surface features relating to geology and mineralisation.

Analysis identified numerous spectral anomalies indicative of hydrothermal alteration associated with iron oxides, sulphides and/or clays.

Coincident jarosite, goethite and kaolinite mineral index anomalism was identified over the historic Ivittuut mine precinct (particularly over the waste dumps), which confirms the effectiveness of the method in the context of the Ivittuut Project.

Anomalies never sampled or drilled

Two large, coincident jarosite, goethite and kaolinite mineral index anomalies were identified within the Ivittuut Project that have never been sampled or drill tested.

Field reconnaissance of these and several other high-priority spectral anomalies to be completed during the current northern hemisphere summer exploration campaign.

The project comprises the historic Ivittuut cryolite mine, prospective for high-purity quartz, fluorite, base metals and rare earth elements (REE), and the Grnnedal-Ika syenite carbonatite complex, prospective for REE.

About Sentinel-2

Sentinel-2 is a European multi-spectral imaging mission, comprised of two identical satellites (Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B) in the same orbit. The Sentinel-2 mission collects visible bands with 10-metre resolution and visible to near-infrared (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands at 20/60-metre resolution.

Where geology is reasonably exposed, spectrally enhanced Sentinel imagery can be a valuable complementary tool for geological mapping and interpretation. Sentinel-2 data over Ivittuut were sourced from the Copernicus Open Access Hub and stitched together to create a complete dataset covering the entire Ivittuut project.

Specialised algorithms were employed to mask water bodies and eliminate or reduce vegetation signals. Following pre-processing, mineral indexes, spectral correlation and ternary maps were generated to highlight possible geological and hydrothermal mineralisation/alteration features.

Key findings

Satellite imagery analysis over Eclipse Metals SW Greenland multi-commodity Ivittuut Project helped to identify numerous spectral anomalies indicative of hydrothermal alteration with associated iron oxides, sulphides and/or clays.

One of the most prominent anomalies is evident at the historic Ivittuut cryolite mine, which is marked by strong (80th percentile), spatially coincident jarosite index (indicative of the presence of sulphides), goethite index (indicative of the presence of iron oxides) and kaolinite index (indicative of the presence of clays) anomalism, covering an area of around 900 metres by 400 metres.

This anomalism envelops the entire area of historic waste dumps, which are known to contain mineralised rocks with up to 165.00 g/t silver, 0.15% copper, 3.83% lead and 0.37% zinc.

As previously reported by Eclipse Metals, geophysical, geochemical and geological information revealed a strong spatial and genetic relationship between areas of strong magnetic anomalism and REE mineralisation.

The company is encouraged to find that the satellite imagery analysis highlighted areas of strong magnetic anomalism and coincident REE mineralisation.

Significantly, on a day of losses for the ASX, EPM shares are 8.7% higher at A$0.025.
Numinus Wellness Inc. (TSX:NUMI, OTC:LKYSF) said it has completed the acquisition of Novamind Inc (CSE:NM) following the latter's receipt of a final order from the British Columbia Supreme Court.

Numinus said the acquisition has positioned the company as a leading integrated mental wellness company providing ketamine- and psychedelic-assisted therapies, with 13 wellness clinics, four clinical research facilities, and a dedicated psychedelics research lab.

"This acquisition elevates our collective service offering, and we look forward to helping an even greater number of people access effective and safe treatments to support mental wellness," said Payton Nyquvest, founder and CEO of Numinus, in a statement.

Numinus said the acquisition will grow its client service offerings, geographic reach, and revenues significantly, and provide Numinus and Novamind clients access to a greater variety of services and treatments over the coming months, including the expansion of virtual therapy services at US-based clinics and increased group therapy offerings in Canada.

The transaction has also provided a strong potential for partnerships in the US and acquisition opportunities, it said, adding that on a proforma basis, the combined business generated C$11.9 million of annual revenues (trailing four quarters reported, as at June 10, 2022).

"We warmly welcome the Novamind team to Numinus and believe our shared values and focus on client service will ensure a seamless integration as we continue to grow as one unified company," said CEO Nyquvest.

Executive appointments

In conjunction with the acquisition, Numinus said Dr Reid Robison (MD) and Dr Paul Thielking (MD) have joined the company as chief clinical officer and chief science officer, respectively. Robison was most recently chief medical officer at Novamind and Thielking, chief scientific officer.

Robison is a board-certified psychiatrist and co-founder of Cedar Psychiatry and serves as the medical director for the Center for Change, a leading center for the treatment of eating disorders, Numinus noted. He was previously a coordinating investigator for a study on MDMA-assisted therapy for eating disorders, sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

As an early adopter and researcher of the use of ketamine in psychiatry, Robison also led a pivotal intravenous ketamine study for treatment-resistant depression by Janssen, leading up to that company's recent FDA-approval of Spravato. To date, Robison has guided thousands of ketamine-assisted therapy sessions and hundreds of Spravato dosing sessions. He is also an adjunct professor at both the University of Utah and Brigham Young University, the company said.

Thielking is board certified in psychiatry, hospice and palliative medicine, and integrative medicine. He is the principal investigator for a psilocybin-enhanced group psychotherapy intervention for cancer patients with depression and a co-investigator on a study for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for opioid use disorder. He has extensive experience in creating group therapy interventions for patients with serious illnesses and has successfully integrated ketamine-assisted psychotherapy services within an academic outpatient oncology clinic for cancer patients with depression.

Dr Thielking was director of psycho-oncology at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute for five years and previously an associate professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Utah, Numinus said, adding that he is a graduate of the California Institute of Integrative Studies' Certification of Psychedelic Therapy and Research program.

Numinus also said Michael Tan has been promoted to president and chief operating officer to reflect his growing responsibilities. In his new role, Tan will oversee all company operations and will lead strategic directives to drive revenue growth through future footprint and product line expansions. Tan, who joined the company in 2019, has been instrumental in Numinus' growth, the company said.

As a result of the increased medical and research expertise added to Numinus' expanded executive team, chief medical officer Dr Evan Wood will continue in his role in a reduced capacity in order to enable him to maintain his important advocacy, clinical and teaching work, the company added.

Integration of operations and new share issues

Numinus said it is reviewing previously announced organic clinic growth plans as it intends to continue operating 13 wellness clinics across North America, four clinical research sites and dedicated psychedelics research laboratory that come with the acquisition.

Clinics in Utah and Arizona will continue to operate under existing branding until later this year, at which point all locations will be rebranded to reflect the Numinus brand, it added.

Meanwhile, Numinus said it has issued 43,474,659 common shares to the former shareholders and restricted share unit (RSU) holders of Novamind, as consideration for the acquisition, representing 0.84 of one Numinus common share per each Novamind share and Novamind RSU.

In addition, all 3,346,052 incentive stock options of Novamind were canceled and replaced at the exchange ratio through the issuance of 2,810,684 incentive stock options of Numinus (Replacement Options) with each Replacement Option being exercisable to acquire one common share of Numinus (Common Share), and of which (i) 2,453,684 Replacement Options are exercisable at a price of approximately $0.4762 per Common Share until December 11, 2025, (ii) 252,000 Replacement Options are exercisable at a price of approximately $1.1905 per Common Share until December 22, 2025, and (iii) 105,000 Replacement Options are exercisable at a price of approximately $0.4762 per Common Share until April 30, 2025.

All 19,044,831 outstanding warrants of Novamind have been adjusted in accordance with their respective contractual terms and will be exercisable at the exchange ratio to acquire 15,997,658 Common Shares, it added.

Numinus also said it has agreed to pay $700,000 (Completion Fee) to Eight Capital, the financial advisor in the deal, of which $200,000 is to be paid in shares valued at $0.45 each, being 444,444 shares (Completion Fee Shares), with the balance of the completion fee to be paid in cash.

The issuance of the Completion Fee Shares is subject to approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange, and will be subject to resale restrictions expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable securities laws, it added.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
Seven new companies listed on the exchange last month, including two fundamental changes of existing issuers, bringing the total number of components to 784 as of May 31

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) released its market statistics for May on Monday, revealing that the trading volume and value of CSE-listed securities totaled 1.4 billion shares and $757 million.

Seven new companies listed on the exchange last month, including two fundamental changes of existing issuers, bringing the total number of components to 784 as of May 31.

Additionally, CSE issuers completed 52 financings that raised a total of $127 million, the group added.

Monday also marks the first day of the PDAC conference in Toronto, which is one of a handful of events to feature a CSE presence, according to CEO Richard Carleton.

"The mining sector, and natural resources more broadly, have undergone a remarkable recovery during the pandemic, with more than 100 new mining companies listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange since the start of 2021, including 35 this year, Carleton said in a statement. "The CSE is the ideal destination for entrepreneurs in the natural resources sector to achieve their capital market objectives."

At PDAC, the CSE will man booth 2542 and will host a panel called, Proposed Changes to 43-101: What You Need to Know, covering the anticipated changes to the 43-101 reporting rules. The one-hour panel is scheduled for 1 pm on June 14 in the Ontario Room at the Intercontinental Toronto Centre.

The CSE will also be speaking at the IR Summit Small Caps event at 3 pm on June 15 The discussion, led by CSE Director of Issue Engagement Barrington Miller, will include two panel discussions about how to improve disclosure to investors using technology and innovation.

Next week, the CSE plans to participate in Canada's Farm Show in Regina on June 21-23. The exchange will be present at booths 11,188 and 11,190. On June 23, the CSE will host a breakfast in room 6 at the Queensbury Convention Centre to connect with entrepreneurs in the FoodTech and AgTech sectors.

Then, the CSE said it will host Montreal Welcome Back, an in-person networking event from 5 pm to 7 pm on June 21 at the Mount Royal Club. CEO Richard Carleton and Senior Advisor of Listings Development Scott Pritchard will be in attendance.

Next month, the CSE will host its traditional breakfast for members of the capital markets community at the Calgary Stampede on July 8

Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel
Gold Terra Resource Corp (TSX-V:YGT, OTCQX:YGTFF) CEO Gerald Panneton joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share news the company has seen positive drill results from 3 drill holes in a program that was intended to expand high grade mineralization in the Mispickel area. Panneton telling Proactive the results have extended gold mineralization in the new high-grade MP-Ryan Zone, a second zone situated west of the main Mispickel area. The Company has released 8 holes out of the 19-hole winter program which totals 6011 metres. The highlight hole was GTWL22-014 which saw 31.89 g/t gold over 3 metres including 69.4 g/t Au over 1 metre. Panneton also told Proactive the company expects 2022 to continue to be busy With 40,000 metres of drilling expected to delineate a high-grade gold mineral resource to add to the Company's current 1.2 million inferred ounces.
American Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:ARR) has received good news in the form of highly promising assay results from recent exploration drilling in the Southwest area of its flagship La Paz project in Arizona, USA.

The assays demonstrate significant expansion potential of the 170-million-tonne La Paz resource.

From February to April this year the company drilled nine holes for 821 metres and collected 677 samples. The assay results from the first 332 samples demonstrate rock type associated with higher rare earth grades.

Extensive rare earth enrichment

Two drill holes showed extensive rare earth enrichment over lengths exceeding 50 metres.

Total rare earth oxide (TREO) mineralisation in these were high, with LP22-SW05 containing 501 parts per million (ppm) TREO over 74.2 metres and LP22-SW04 recording 498 ppm TREO over 52.9 metres.

High-value magnetic rare earth oxides comprise 27% of the TREO discovered.

Assay results also reconfirm extremely low thorium and uranium levels.

The deposit remains open at depth, with opportunities for vertical and lateral extension.

Once the company receives the remaining results a more detailed technical report will follow.

Accelerated exploration plans

Due to these promising assay results, the company will now accelerate its exploration plans to expand and upgrade the current JORC 2021 resources at La Paz.

Planning is well underway for this exploration program and the company will update the market once it has finalised drilling permits.

CEO and managing director Chris Gibbs commented: We are very excited by these results received from the drill program at the La Paz Southwest zone.

These results confirm our exploration target potential and reinforce our strong view that the new mineralised zone has significant potential to expand our current JORC resource.

An upgrade gives La Paz the potential to be one of the largest rare earths projects in North America.

Next steps

ARR is working on establishing a JORC resource for the southwest area after receiving the initial drilling assays. Enhanced grades and thickness of the mineralised zone have accelerated exploration planning.

ARR geologists will continue to review the drill hole data and await assays results from the remaining core holes. The company will update the market on these results along with a full technical report.
Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX:CPH, OTCQB:COPHF) subsidiary Mernova Medicinal Inc. continues to deliver milestones, having now received its first purchase order (PO) for new Ritual Green strains Mac 1 and Grape Cream Cake from the province of Saskatchewan.

Further to this, the companys recent Lemon Haze strain harvest has yielded 47.5 kilograms  marking a 84% increase on the average volume of the 24 previous harvests. The increase follows recent upgrades to Mernovas grow rooms, including new lighting and irrigation systems and investment in more nutritional products.

This increased yield is expected to lead to a lower cost per gram growing cost and provides Creso Pharma with increased inventory to progress province sales.

One further highlight is that Mernova has secured third place in the Cannabis NB Cup for its Black Mamba strain. This is a national competition that seeks cannabis strains from Canadas best growers which are then judged by a panel of 600 people

Third place in the competition will provide additional marketing collateral, increased brand awareness for the Ritual Green range and broader market visibility.

To have successfully increased plant yield by an average of 84% in our most recent Lemon Haze harvest is evidence that our recent investment in grow room upgrades is leading to a lower cost per gram benefit and has the potential to lead to higher margin sales, CEO and managing director William Lay said.

Increasing our strain offering is important for our growth as we strive to penetrate existing markets further, as well as entering new markets. Finally, the award received in the Cannabis NB Cup for our Black Mamba strain underpins the emphasis that we place on product quality as the core attribute of our product offering.

Initial purchase order for new strains

Creso Pharma secured an additional PO from the province of Saskatchewan, one of Mernovas newest provincial markets, which included orders for the new strains, Mac 1 and Grape Cream Cake in a 3.5g dried flower format.

The maiden order value for the new strains is ~C$13,680 of the total recent PO of ~C$68,000 from the province of Saskatchewan.

New strains continue to help develop Cresos presence in existing and new markets.

The company is in discussion with existing province partners for further supply of these new strains as well as the launch of its new Ritual Green strain, Monkey Berries and planned vape product.

Increasing cannabis yields

Mernova has further increased cannabis yields at its state-of-the-art, 24,000 square-foot cannabis cultivation facility in Nova Scotia, Canada. The company has recently completed a harvest of its Lemon Haze strain, which is sold under the Ritual Green brand.

The latest cultivation, following grow room upgrades, has yielded 47.5 kilograms  an 84% increase on the 24 previous harvest average volumes of 25.8 kilograms.

The recent harvest and increased yield highlight the successful implementation of Creso Pharmas strategy to bolster its total cannabis dried flower for sale, while reducing cost of growing on a per gram basis.

Top three in Cannabis Cup

Creso Pharma placed in the top three at the Cannabis NB Cup, providing additional recognition of its leading Ritual Green products.

The Cannabis NB Cup is a national competition, where cannabis producers are requested to submit their top products to the province of New Brunswick. The products are then distributed via 600 judging kits which include 3.5 grams of product from eight different producers, alongside a judging book.

Mernova submitted its Black Mamba strain in the indica category, winning third place.

The company believes these results provide further credibility to the quality that the Ritual Green brand is built on, as well as providing marketing collateral and brand awareness.
Healixa Inc has announced that it has expanded its board of directors as it prepares for a potential uplisting to a national exchange with the appointment of Fig Annunziato and Dong Yun (Kevin) Kim as independent directors. Healixa CEO Ian Parker said the company was pleased to welcome the new directors to its board as it makes final preparations to apply for a potential uplisting. Healixa is striving to meet the highest standards of corporate governance, and with the addition of Fig and Kevin, the majority of our board is now held by independent directors, Parker said.

Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp provided an update on its 2022 drilling, particularly related to the new discovery zone at Augier as well as the WRCB area, on its 100%-owned Alces Lake high-grade rare earth elements (REE) and gallium property in Saskatchewan. The rare earth element and uranium explorer/project developer said a total of 24 holes drilled in 2022 on the Augier discovery confirm a thick zone of anomalous radioactivity in REE-bearing pegmatite. Appia also noted that the Augier discovery is a potential AMP zone look-alike, although it is waiting on assay results to assess.

SPYR Technologies Inc said its subsidiary Geotraq has been granted a patent covering various aspects of the operation of its mobile IoT (internet of things) wireless modules. The patent claims cover, among other things, an apparatus comprising of an interval timer, a power control, a short message service (SMS) packetizer, a geo-locator; a radio frequency (RF) communicator, a controller, and a memory. The memory comprises instructions for the controller to operate the interval timer cooperatively with the power control to cause a transition of the geo-locator from a sleep state to a wake state after a preset defined time interval and to operate the geo-locator to receive signal strength levels and corresponding cell IDs from a plurality of cellular base stations, the company said. GeoTraq is a mobile Internet of Things technology company that designs innovative wireless modules that provide Location Based Services (LBS) and connect external sensors to the IoT, Project engineer, Chris Chammas, said in a statement. GeoTraq is planning to manufacture and sell wireless transceiver modules and subscription services that will allow connectivity using publicly available global mobile IoT networks.

Marvel Discovery Corp revealed that it has completed a structural interpretation of the high-resolution magnetic survey at its Gander East project, in Central Newfoundland. The Vancouver, British Columbia-based resource company said that several prominent shear and deformation zones have been identified that require follow-up prospecting, mapping, and soil sampling. Results of the boots on the ground campaign together with the favourable structural features will aid Marvel in targeting those areas of high merit for its inaugural Phase I drilling program. The Gander East project consists of 274 claims totaling 6,850 hectares, which have been strategically positioned adjacent to New Found Gold's (NFG) Queensway project and along strike from both Exploits Discovery Middle Ridge project and Sassy Resources' Gander North project.

Kootenay Silver Inc said its joint-venture partner Aztec Minerals Corp has received the final results of gold and multi-element analysis for its 2021-2022 reverse circulation (RC) drill program on the Cervantes property in Sonora, Mexico. The program comprised 5,249 meters in 26 RC drill holes, testing four targets (called Purisima East, California, Jasper and California North), the company said. Notably, the California zone of near-surface, oxide gold mineralization was successfully expanded, and one deeper drill hole (22CAL-018) intersected a high pyrite zone anomalous in copper, molybdenum, gold and silver. That corresponds well with the top of large, strong IP chargeability anomaly, the company said, noting that Pyrite shells typically surround and overlie copper porphyry mineralized zones.

Gevo Inc said that its renewable natural gas (RNG) project in Northwest Iowa has been producing biogas and is now upgrading and injecting RNG into the natural gas pipeline. The RNG Project generates RNG captured from cow manure supplied by three dairy farms located in Northwest Iowa totaling over 20,000 milking cows, the company said. Gevo expects the project to generate approximately 355,000 MMBtu of RNG per year at full operating capacity, which will be transported, marketed and sold in California by BP Canada Energy Marketing Corp and BP Products North America Inc on behalf of Gevo.

Psyched Wellness Ltd, a life sciences company focused on the production and distribution of health and wellness products derived from the Amanita Muscaria mushroom, has announced that it will be launching its online store today, June 14, 2022. The company said the online shop is a new distribution channel for its products, and will begin by selling branded merchandise such as t-shirts, hats, hoodies and other accessories. It added that it is currently testing its eCommerce purchase funnel before launching its extract Calm, the first Amanita Muscaria mushroom extract approved for sale in the United States.

Global Energy Metals Corp said it has initialized its summer exploration program at the Lovelock and Treasure Box projects in Nevada. The company said the program will apply GoldSpot Discoveries Corp's artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to build knowledge acquired in prior programs and undertake regional sampling to assess high potential target areas throughout the prospective landholdings. "We are excited to launch our 2022 exploration campaign. Were looking forward to having boots back on the ground in Nevada and will be systematically undertaking a regional sampling program in the vicinity of several high potential target areas," GEMCs project development manager, Timothy Strong said in a statement.

Bhang Inc told investors it is complementing its strong position in the cannabis edibles market with the launch of the new Bhang High Roller nano-infused pre-roll, a whole flower product combined with nano-THC that delivers a more effective, efficient, and consistent experience. Since 2010, Bhang said it has focused on building a legacy around providing its customers with precise, consistent cannabis chocolate products, perfecting a recipe with Bhang's signature cannabis-free taste, and the best premium ingredients. The Bhang High Roller nano-infused pre-roll add to its legacy of effectiveness and consistency, produced with quality infused flower that is precisely dosed, just like Bhang's chocolates, the company added.

AEX Gold Inc has said a 2021 exploration campaign at its Nanoq gold project in South Greenland materially increased the resource size potential. Geological mapping and drone imagery at Nanoq highlighted the presence of a total of three key altered mineralised shear zones each over 20 metres wide. Only one zone was previously recognised, therefore this discovery has materially increased the resource size potential of the target, it said. Targeted sampling by AEX resulted in 26 rock chip samples, returning up to 16.95 grammes a tonne (g/t) gold in one of the newly identified zones. Infill sampling returned up to 5.65 g/t gold, confirming its potential to host economic resources.

Fobi AI Inc said Passcreator has seen continued success and momentum, with the number of customers using the platform increasing by 43% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same quarter in 2021. The company said Passcreator customers grew from 119 in 1Q of 2021 to 170 in the same quarter this year, while revenue grew 48%. Passcreators Insurance Pass product offering continues to gain market share, with the company onboarding an additional three key global insurance companies during 1Q.

Outlook Therapeutics Inc has provided an update on its Biologics License Application (BLA) submission for ONS-5010/LYTENAVA (bevacizumab-vikg) for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD). The pre-commercial biopharmaceutical company said it has confirmed the additional information necessary to re-submit the BLA for ONS-5010 by September 2022 following receipt of additional correspondence from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Melkior Resources Inc said drilling has started in the Shenkman zone to follow up on new discoveries at its flagship Carscallen project in Ontario. The company said that it has budgeted 4,200 meters across three targets as part of the program, adding that the targets are being finalized to follow up on recent discoveries north of the ZamZam zone, and new targets around the Mystery zone. "The Carscallen project has demonstrated the potential to be a high-grade gold system with continuity amongst numerous zones, Melkior CEO Jonathon Deluce said in a statement. We push to make that game-changing discovery hole with every drill program, and we are confident that we have the best partner to achieve this goal."

BANXA Holdings Inc said it has formally entered a new partnership with WonderFi Technologies Inc, a leading technology company with the mission of creating better access to digital assets through compliant centralized and decentralized platforms. The company said the partnership builds on the Ethereum, Polygon, and Bitcoin blockchains, and targets key markets including Australia, Brazil, European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Through the partnership, Banxa said it will enable WonderFi customers to utilize local payment and banking options with less friction, fewer fees, and better fraud protection. Users are able to easily and securely convert fiat currency to cryptocurrencies and back again. The company said its solutions also provide many important benefits to WonderFi's gateway platform, including higher conversion rates along with rigorous compliance and risk management across countless geographies. "Together, we are building the foundational infrastructure needed for the next generation of financial services," CEO Holger Arians said in a statement. "Banxa's B2B (business-to-business) services provide a seamless experience for our partners to offer their customers local payment methods in a safe, compliant way."

Stuhini Exploration Ltd, the Canada-focused metals explorer, has told investors that a high-resolution airborne geophysical survey had been completed at its Big Ledge zinc project in British Columbia, underscoring the potential to expand the resource there. The helicopter survey spanned 50.93 square kilometres (sq km) and used the company SkyTEM's proprietary time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) and magnetic survey system. Stuhini said that preliminary maps have revealed overlapping signatures for around 14 km, interpreted to represent the mineralized horizon and show the potential for expanding the resource. "We are pleased to see that the geophysics matches the known mineralization and indicates that the mineralized horizon possibly extends well beyond Teck Resources' crown grants, and onto the company's claims surrounding the crown grants," Stuhini's CEO Dave O'Brien said in a statement. "The project's location and its proximity to power and infrastructure makes Big Ledge a very attractive zinc asset."

Goldshore Resources Inc has revealed impressive assay results from its ongoing 100,000-meter drill program at its Moss Lake project, 100 km west of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Vancouver, British Columbia-based junior gold development company explained that the drilling is aimed at expanding and defining high-grade structural zones within the Moss Lake deposit to improve the overall grade and volume beyond that of the historic mineral resource. In a statement, Goldshore CEO Brett Richards said: "As we have demonstrated since the beginning of our drill program, our thesis that Moss Lake is larger (in depth, in width and along strike) is proving to be true.

Royal Helium Ltd - which is acquiring Imperial Helium Corp - said it has received the final results on its seismic program at Val Marie, with the initial well at the project scheduled to spud on July 10, 2022. The Val Marie project is located in southwest Saskatchewan and consists of claims totalling 13,000 hectares. The project lies in the heart of the Bowdoin Dome feature which has hosted both historic and current helium production. Royal said the program, which consisted of 35 kilometres of both newly acquired and purchased trade data has identified a series of large structural features, from which it has selected its initial drill target as well as five additional high-priority targets.

Cypress Development Corp could start production from its Clayton Valley lithium asset as early as 2025, analysts at Noble Capital said as they recommended an 'Outperform' rating on the stock. Located near Silver Peak, Nevada, Cypress plans to mine claystone, produce a high-grade lithium concentrate solution and apply a licensed lithium extraction process to produce lithium concentrate or hydroxide at Clayton Valley. Analysts at Noble estimate that Cypress could put Clayton Valley into production as early as 2025 following the completion of a feasibility study by the end of 2022, a two-year permitting period and a one-year construction period.

New Pacific Metals Corp said it has commenced a 6,000-metre (m), one-rig drill program at the Silverstrike project in Bolivia targeting a broad gold zone identified by the company and historical drilling. The company has previously identified near-surface broad zones of silver mineralized in altered sandstones to the north, with similarities to New Pacifics Silver Sand project located 450 kilometres northwest of the Silverstrike project. New Pacific said it has also identified a near-surface broad silver zone that occurs near the top of a 900 m diameter volcanic dome of ignimbrite units with the intrusion of rhyolite dyke swarm and andesite flows and a broad gold zone occurs halfway from the top of the dome in the Silverstrike Central area.

MedX Health Corp has announced that recently-appointed CEO Naman Demaghlatrous has been appointed to its board of directors. MedX noted that Demaghlatrous, who was named CEO on March 23, 2022, has over 20 years of healthcare and pharmaceutical industry experience, previously building international market development strategies and distribution networks for Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, and Atfal Pharma. Demaghlatrous joined MedX in 2021 as managing director of the companys operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and has since been instrumental in developing and expanding its global market opportunities and establishing distribution partnerships and adoption of MedX's DermSecure Screening Platform in Europe, the Middle East, and North America, the company added.

Nevada Silver Corporation announced that Sheldon Inwentash has resigned as non-executive chairman of the company, with immediate effect. John Kutkevicius, a director of the company, will assume the role of interim chair until a permanent replacement is announced. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen's University, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Laws from York University. Kutkevicius practices law exclusively in the areas of income tax and estate planning and has extensive experience in diverse areas of the income tax practice, including corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, financings, resource taxation, insurance taxation and dispute resolution. He formerly sat on the board of directors of several junior resource companies including Chariot Resources Ltd, Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd, and Changfeng Energy Inc and is a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation.

Sanatana Resources Inc said it has changed its auditor from BDO Canada LLP to Davidson & Company LLP effective June 13, 2022. Sanatana's board of directors accepted the resignation of the former auditor and appointed the successor auditor effective June 13, 2022, and to hold office until the close of the company's next annual general meeting of shareholders. There were no reservations in the former auditor's audit reports for any financial period during which the former auditor was the company's auditor. There are no "reportable events" (as the term is defined in National Instrument 51-102 - Continuous Disclosure Obligations) between the company and the former auditor.

Universal Ibogaine Inc (UI) said it has engaged investor communications firm Blue Digital Media & Web Solutions for assistance with expanding awareness of UI's business activities. Blue Digital will provide expanded distribution of the UI story across multiple channels and audiences. The expected result is increased awareness of UI's plans for research into utilizing ibogaine as part of the delivery of a continuum of care treating opioid abuse and other addictions. UI said Blue Digital will receive compensation of US$27,000 for a 3-month engagement effective June 13, 2022. In addition, Blue Digital will receive a total of 450,000 stock options to purchase common shares of the company, with an exercise price of $0.10 per share, a term of 3 years to expiry, and vesting one-third at the end of each month of the term of service. Nick Karos, UI's chief executive officer, commented: "We are pleased to have access to Blue Digital's distribution channels, as their reach across borders will expand awareness of our business to new audiences. Addiction knows no boundaries and so the solution we pursue must also be global in nature."

Pure Gold Mining Inc said its board of directors has approved the grant of an aggregate of 35,450,000 stock options for incentive and operational retention purposes, to senior mine site personnel, the executive management team, the board and an outside technical advisor to the company, under its stock option plan. The stock options have an exercise price of $0.275 and expire after five years.

Vicinity Motor said the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the company's proposal to issue one million new bonus warrants in consideration of the term extension of $10.3 million in unsecured debenture units originally issued on October 4, 2021. The new warrants will bear a maturity date of October 4, 2023, and may be exercised at a price of $2.25 per common share of the company. The warrant certificate for 412,000 warrants dated October 4, 2021, will be cancelled upon issuance of the new warrants. All other terms of the debt will otherwise remain unchanged.

Adcore Inc said it has entered into an agreement to purchase for cancellation 2,171,400 common shares of the company, representing 3.4% of the issued and outstanding common shares, from a former executive officer of the company at a price of $0.20 per common share. Following completion of the acquisition and the cancellation of the common shares acquired, based on current numbers, the company will have 61,613,021 common shares issued and outstanding. Adcore said its board of directors believes that the market price of the common shares does not fully reflect their value and accordingly, the purchase of common shares is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders and represents an attractive and appropriate use of available funds.

Michael Gentile said he has filed an early warning report announcing the acquisition of 12,750,000 units in the capital of Lucky Minerals Inc. Prior to the completion of the acquisition, Gentile beneficially owned or controlled 8,875,000 common shares in the capital of the company and 6,625,000 common shares purchase warrants representing approximately 5.91% of the company's issued and outstanding on an undiluted basis and approximately 9.89% on a partially diluted basis. Following the completion of the acquisition, Gentile beneficially owns and/or controls, an aggregate of 21,625,000 common shares and 19,375,000 common share purchase warrants representing approximately 11.6% of the company's issued and outstanding on an undiluted basis and approximately 19.98% on a partially diluted basis. Gentile said the units were acquired for investment purposes, adding that he has a long-term view of the investment and may acquire additional securities of the company either on the open market or through private acquisitions or sell the common shares on the open market or through private dispositions in the future depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors.

Dore Copper Mining Corp has said it will be participating in THE Mining Investment Event of the North, which will be held in person and will take place on June 19-21, 2022, at the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac and Voltigeurs de Quebec Armoury in Quebec City, Canada. Ernest Mast, the company's president & CEO, will be presenting at 10.50am ET on June 20. Management from Dore Copper Mining will also be holding one-on-one investor meetings throughout the three-day conference. Interested parties should contact Nancy Larned at nlarned@vidconferences.com to inquire about registering to attend. THE Event will feature a mix of exploration, development, royalty companies and producers representing all commodities. CEOs will be asked to present in a unique "THE Talk" format, be part of a panel, or be interviewed. THE Event will also feature keynotes and panels with well-known industry thought leaders. A list of participating companies, panelists and keynote speakers and a preliminary agenda can be found at https://vidconferences.com/conferences-events/in-person/canadas-first-tier-1-mining-conference/

OTC Markets Group Inc, the operator of regulated markets for 12,000 US and international securities, has announced that Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp, a Canadian company currently delineating high-grade critical Rare Earth Elements at Alces Lake, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market and has upgraded from the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol APAAF. The OTCQX Market is designed for established, investor-focused US and international companies. To qualify for OTCQX, companies must meet high financial standards, follow best practice corporate governance, and demonstrate compliance with applicable securities laws. Graduating to the OTCQX Market from the OTCQB Market marks an important milestone for companies, enabling them to demonstrate their qualifications and build visibility among US investors.
Val Marie lies in the heart of the Bowdoin Dome feature which has hosted both historic and current helium production

Royal Helium Ltd - which is acquiring Imperial Helium Corp (TSX-V:IHC, OTCQB:IMPHF) - said it has received the final results on its seismic program at Val Marie, with the initial well at the project scheduled to spud on July 10, 2022.

The Val Marie project is located in southwest Saskatchewan and consists of claims totalling 13,000 hectares. The project lies in the heart of the Bowdoin Dome feature which has hosted both historic and current helium production.

Royal said the program, which consisted of 35 kilometres of both newly acquired and purchased trade data has identified a series of large structural features, from which it has selected its initial drill target as well as five additional high-priority targets.

The initial seismic program at Val Marie went exactly as planned, Royal's vice president for exploration Stephen Halabura said in a statement. The data recovered from the new seismic shoot was of exceptionally high quality and the interpretation of this data by our partners at RPS Energy Services, along with the integration of the existing trade data that we acquired, clearly demonstrates the highly prospective nature of the Val Marie project area.

Royal also announced the addition of Martin Wood to its board of directors. The company noted that Wood is a resource industry professional, serving as the chairman of Altona Rare Earths Limited and the former CEO Officer of Kogi Iron Limited, He is also the founder and managing director of Vicarage Capital Limited, which is a Financial Conduct Authority registered, full-service brokerage house in the United Kingdom.

Prior to this, it said Wood worked in resource finance for NM Rothschild & Sons Limited, Standard Bank (London) Limited, London and Benfield Advisory, providing services to resource companies.

To make room for the addition of Wood to the board, Royal said Tom MacNeill will step down as a director.

"The addition of Martin Wood to the board of directors strengthens our growing global presence, Royals president and CEO Andrew Davidson said. With deep professional experience in the resource industry and the capital markets in the United Kingdom, Martin's representation on the board of directors is welcome as our exposure outside of Canada and the United States grows and our projects continue to move forward."

Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com
Appia Rare Earths and Uranium Corp President Frederick Kozak joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share news the companys drill program is seeing more strong results with a total of 54 holes drilled so far in 2022 with a total of 10,047 metres at the Alces Lake rare earths property in northern Saskatchewan.. Kozak telling Proactive the company is seeing expansion of WRCB area along strike to the southeast with no boundary found to date. Kozak also provided an update on work at the Augier discovery with assay results still to come.
Noble has a price target of US$3.10 or C$3.95 per share on the stock

Cypress Development Corp (TSX-V:CYP, OTCQX:CYDVF) could start production from its Clayton Valley lithium asset as early as 2025, analysts at Noble Capital said as they recommended an 'Outperform' rating on the stock.

Located near Silver Peak, Nevada, Cypress plans to mine claystone, produce a high-grade lithium concentrate solution and apply a licensed lithium extraction process to produce lithium concentrate or hydroxide at Clayton Valley.

Analysts at Noble estimate that Cypress could put Clayton Valley into production as early as 2025 following the completion of a feasibility study by the end of 2022, a two-year permitting period and a one-year construction period.

They added that commercial production could begin in 2026.

To date, the company has been successful in meeting major milestones, the analysts wrote in a research note.

Plenty of catalysts remain on the horizon to move the stock higher. Given the promise of extracting lithium from claystone, we anticipate ample interest from strategic investors as the company affirms its ability to produce a high-grade concentrate, along with lithium carbonate and hydroxide.

Noble has a price target of US$3.10 or C$3.95 per share on the stock, which is currently trading at around US$0.85 on the OTC markets and C$1.10 on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Cypress is aiming to become a domestic producer of lithium for the growing electric vehicle (EV) and battery storage market.

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas
New Pacific Metals said the one rig drill program is targeting a broad gold zone identified by the company and historical drilling

New Pacific Metals (TSX:NUAG, NYSE:NEWP) Corp said it has commenced a 6,000-metre (m), one-rig drill program at the Silverstrike project in Bolivia targeting a broad gold zone identified by the company and historical drilling.

The company has previously identified near-surface broad zones of silver mineralized in altered sandstones to the north, with similarities to New Pacifics Silver Sand project located 450 kilometres northwest of the Silverstrike project.

New Pacific said it has also identified a near-surface broad silver zone that occurs near the top of a 900 m diameter volcanic dome of ignimbrite units with the intrusion of rhyolite dyke swarm and andesite flows and a broad gold zone occurs halfway from the top of the dome in the Silverstrike Central area.

Based on the company's field mapping, chipping sample and limited historical drilling results, the company interprets the gold zone as very similar to the gold discovery in the Carangas Project that the silver-rich zone sits at the top of the system stacking on top of the gold mineralization in volcaniclastic sediments that intruded by rhyolitic porphyry dyke swarms, New Pacific said in a statement.

The company has a 98% interest in the project with its Bolivian partner and said that it will cover 100% of the future expenditures on exploration, mining, development, and production activities.

New Pacific Metals (TSX:NUAG, NYSE:NEWP) is a Canadian mining company exploring and developing silver and gold deposits in Bolivia.

Contact the author Emily Jarvie at emily.jarvie@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @emilyjjarvie
Clean Vision Corporation (OTCQB:CLNV) CEO Dan Bates joined Proactive to discuss the Los Angeles, California-based company's binding term sheet signed with Istanbul, Turkey-based Pax Petroklmya Sanayi Ve Dis Ticaret Limited, Sirketi, also known as Pax Petrochem.

Bates says the two entities will join together to build a commercial-scale waste plastic-to-energy plant using pyrolysis technology, which uses heat and pressure to break down plastic to convert into hydrogen.
Dhaka, June 14 : Bangladesh's Saidpur is dripping with the blood of the victims of the 51 years old 'Golahat genocide' by the Pakistani Army. The survivors and the family members of the victims are still awaiting for justice.

It was June 13, 1971, when more than 480 people were chopped to death in Saidpur by the Pakistani Army during the Liberation War. Some victims sought to be killed by shooting but they were kicked and the soldiers told them that the "Pakistan government would not waste their expensive bullets on the Malauns (derogatory term used for non-Muslims)".

It has been 51 since the black day, but successive governments did "almost nothing" to preserve the memory of the victims who are martyrs of the Bangladesh Liberation War. Remembering the horrible memory, the survivors and the family members of the victims on Monday paid tribute to those who were brutaly killed in the massacre.

The exact number of people on June 13, 1971 is yet ascertained. The survivors and the family members of the victims are still struggling for recognition of the genocide.

Binod Kumar Agarwal(72), was then a youth who narrowly escaped death. Agarwal, a survivor of the genocide and prominent businessman from Saidpur briefed to IANS about how he jumped down from the train and survived on June 13, 1971.

"The train slowly moved out of the city, but after a while suddenly stopped at a place called Golahat. I saw a shadow, as my cousin jumped off the train, I did the same, as we saw the Pakistani soldiers along with some of the pro-Pakistani migrants standing next to the tracks. The soldiers held rifles, the locals were carrying sharp ramda (scythe)," Agarwal recalls.

"Presently we're four to five Marwari families living in Saidpur, whereas before 1971, over 500 Marwari families lived here. They were targeted by the Pakistani Army and their local agents; on that day (June 13, 1971) 15-20 Pakistani 'butchers' chopped the Marwari men, women and children one after another mercilessly with the knife," shares the aggrieved Agarwal.

"The work on monument building in memory of the martyrs, which was started seven years back is not completed yet," Gokul Kumar Podder, younger brother of Raj Kumar Poddar - the architect of the monument, told IANS on Tuesday. They had lost their elder sister, who was newly married, along with cousins and family members on that day.

Both -- Agarwala and Gokul Podder -- mentioned, they are eagerly waiting for the day when the Bangladesh government will pay tribute to the martyrs of the genocide by the Pakistani Army and recognise the Marwari family, who has been killed brutally on June 13, 1971.

From the very beginning of 1971, Pakistani army started making a list of freedom fighters, intellectuals and minority people as a part of their conspiracy of "ethnic cleansing" in Bangladesh.

Later, the dead bodies were "carelessly" buried in knee-deep holes on one square km area on both sides of the railway tracks. "Those martyrs were mostly eaten by jackals and dogs," said the survivors.

The brutality of the genocide was described by Gokul Poddar and Agarwal to IANS on Tuesday. The survivors said during the massacre, the killers were shouting "kharcha khata, kharcha khata".

More than 480 Marwaris forced to boarded that train.

On that fateful day, they were betrayed and subjected to a conspiracy of the genocide by the Pakistani army troops and armed collaborators Jamat-e-Islami's Albadre Razakar Bahini along with Qaiyum Khan, Izahar Ahmed and their associates, who were lying in wait near Golahat point.

Survivors lost their family members and witnessed the barbaric Golahat Genocide in Nilphamari's Saidpur upazila, which saw at least 480 people, mostly Marwaris.

Agarwal told IANS, "From the afternoon of June 12, two military lorries from Saidpur cantonment were engaged to carry us from our homes to the Cantonment. The soldiers escorted the Marwaris to reach the station from the Cantonment. The pro-Pakistani locals pushed them into the train compartments. From the spot, Pakistani soldiers abducted 20 young Marwari girls, and out of panic, their guardians couldn't make even the slightest protest." The train moved very slowly along the tracks before it reached near railway culvert no. 338 in the Golahat area and rolled to a stop. To the horror, the people inside the train found that all gates and windows were locked from the outside. Binod noticed that the train was encircled by pro-Pakistani migrants carrying knives and bayonets, and Pakistani soldiers in civil dress at a slight distance.

The killers opened the gates of each compartment one by one to drag out the men, women and children, first looting all their belongings, and then stabbing and cutting them down to their harrowing deaths.

A large number of Marwaris, from various parts of undivided India during the British era, lived in a part of Saidpur which came to be called "Marwari Patti". They stayed on in the railway town, home of an important railway workshop in the region, trading in jute and other lucrative industries.

However, Urdu-speaking migrants -- who came to dominate Saidpur in 1947 -- on the morning of March 23, 1971 (Pakistan's Republic Day), when the Swadhin Bangla flag was hoisted across the country by the Marwaris, Bangali Hindus, and those who supported independence of Bangladesh in Saidpur, opposed it and rather hoisted the Pakistani flags from house-tops.

After the night of March 25, Pakistani plainclothes soldiers and the Urdu-speaking migrants, settled in Saidpur, began looting and killing Bangalis and also attempted to attack the wealthy Marwaris, though they were not Bangla speakers. Many local Marwaris and Hindu young men, around 500 were forcibly taken to the cantonment to work at the under-construction Saidpur airport.
Bhopal, June 14 : Madhya Pradesh High Court has sought the state government's response to a petition seeking compensation for the demolition of a house demolished in Khargone after communal violence. The court has granted the government two week's time to submit its reply.

Hearing a petition filed by Jahid Ali, a resident of Khargone and owner of a tent house business, Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh HC also stayed on further action on the property till the next date of hearing.

The petitioner has alleged that part of his house was demolished in April after clashes broke out between two groups after some miscreants pelted stones on a Ram Navmi procession.

"The petitioner is the legal owner of his property and paying taxes of the same. The administration has demolished part of the property without issuing any notice to him and without giving any opportunity to him, which is in violation of principles of natural justice," the petitioner's lawyer MM Bohra said.

Advocate Akash Sharma, representing the state government, sought for two weeks' time to file a reply in the matter.

"Learned counsel for the respondents prays for and is granted two weeks' time for seeking instructions in the matter and for filing the reply," said Justice Verma. "Till next date of hearing, status-quo with respect to the property in question shall be maintained by the parties." Subsequent to the communal clashes, more than 60 FIRs were registered and 170 people were booked. The state administration had also demolished over 50 houses, shops and buildings.

Notably, a house built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) was also bulldozed during the drive.

The state administration had carried out a demolition drive under - 'Madhya Pradesh Damage to Public and Private Property Act-2021' enabling recovery against damaged properties during the violence, protest, rally by individual or groups within 15 days.
Lucknow, June 14 : The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested a Rohingya from Aligarh on charges of residing on forged Indian documents.

The accused, identified as Khalique Ahmed, allegedly entered the Indian territory and became an Imam in Rashideen mosque in Aligarh, the ATS said.

ADG, ATS, Naveen Arora said that preliminary investigation revealed that Khalique had gone to Jammu after the campaign against Rohingya citizens living illegally in Uttar Pradesh intensified.

Arora also said that Khalique had taught in madrasas of Deoband, Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar.

"When his identity cards were checked they were found to be fake. Later, his original identity was revealed to be of one Aqyab district native in Myanmar.

"An FIR for cheating by personation, dishonesty, foreigners act has bene field against him," said the officer.

In another case, ATS has got a seven-day remand of Raj Mohammed. He was arrested from Pudukkottai district in Tamil Nadu for sending the messages, threatening to trigger blasts at RSS offices in Lucknow, Unnao, Karnataka last week.
Kiev, June 14 : A top official has said that every bridge leading to the key Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, where fierce battles are currently raging, has been destroyed.

In a social media post on Monday, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said all three bridges into Severodonetsk were destroyed and the residents remaining in the city were being forced to survive in "extremely difficult conditions", the BBC reported.

For several weeks now, Severodonetsk has witnessed fierce battles as Russia is now concentrating on capturing the entire eastern part of Ukraine.

Taking Severodonetsk and the nearby city of Lysychansk would give Moscow control of the entire Luhansk region, much of which is already controlled by Russian-backed separatists.

Haidai further said that delivering supplies and evacuating civilians was now impossible as the city has been effectively cut off.

Citing reports, the BBC said that 70 per cent of Severodonetsk is now under Russian control.

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky had said that Ukrainian troops in the city were fighting Russian forces for "literally every metre".

Also on Monday, Eduard Basurin, a military representative of the pro-Russian self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, told reporters that Ukrainian troops remaining in Severodonetsk must "surrender or die".

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Lucknow, June 14 : A woman, who has filed for divorce, has now accused her husband of hacking hers and her parents' mobile phones, computer, and laptop to steal data for using it against her.

Shweta Yadav of Indira Nagar alleged that her husband somehow gained access to her internet connection and changed the password and other details.

"My internet connection has not been working properly for the last few days. On April 7, there was no internet. The connection was restored a little later but when I checked I found someone had changed the name of my Wi-Fi connection. I immediately changed the password and renamed the wi-fi. The same thing again happened two days later. This time the wi-fi name contained my husband's nickname," she alleged.

Accusing her husband of mischief, Yadav said she had lodged a case of dowry harassment against her husband in Pune and had filed a divorce case in Lucknow family court in 2021.

"I strongly suspect that my husband is hacking my wi-fi connection and devices to coerce me to withdraw the case. He had tried to intimidate me in the past also and told me to take back the cases against him," she alleged.

Yadav further said that her husband is trying to get her personal details for using them in the court.

"He caused me a monetary loss of Rs 70,000 besides stealing data from my mobile phone, computer and laptop," she said.

ADCP, North Zone, Prachi Singh, said that an FIR has been lodged against the accused under relevant sections and the matter was being investigated.
Bengaluru, June 14 : Police in Karnataka have released Siddhanth Kapoor, son of veteran Bollywood actor Shakti Kapoor, on bail after he was arrested for consuming drugs at a party in Bengaluru.

Along with four others, Siddhanth Kapoor, who is also an actor, was released late Monday night by the Halasuru police in the state capital.

The police said that he has been asked to appear for inquiry on Tuesday at 11 a.m.

A case has been registered under IPC Sections 20 A, 22 B, 27 B.

The four other arrested persons were Akhil Soni, business manager of Mind Fire Solutions; Harjoth Singh, an industrialist; Hani, a digital marketing entrepreneur; and Akhil, a photographer.

On Sunday night, the police seized 7 grams of MDMA crystals and 10 grams of marijuana after conducting a raid on the rave party organised at the five-star The Park hotel in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, officers from the Excise Department have also visited the hotel and conducted an inquiry.

The arrests were made after medical tests confirmed that Siddhanth Kapoor and the four others had consumed drugs.

The police are trying to find out details of other persons who attended the party.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Lucknow, June 14 : Thirty Samajwadi Party workers have been booked and 10 arrested for rioting and creating hindrance in discharge of duty after they gheraoed the office of assistant commissioner of police in Bazaarkhala, sources said on Tuesday.

Police also used mild force to disperse the protesters and arrested 10 of them late on Monday night.

ACP, Bazaarkhala, Anil Kumar Yadav, who is also vested with powers of magistrate of Alambagh area, was hearing a case of three persons -- Rais Ahmad, Nizam and Shankar.

The three had been booked for breach of peace in an incident at Alambagh.

"The hearing was going on and I demanded a surety for their release, but they were not able to furnish it on time and hence their release got delayed," said Yadav.

Some SP workers got agitated over the delay and began protesting. Later, more SP members joined the protest. Police had to resort to lathi charge to disperse the mob.

Yadav said 10 identified and 30 unidentified others have been booked for rioting and other offences.
Jakarta, June 14 : The Indonesian government has predicted that peak cases of Covid's Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 in the country will take place in July, based on its experience in dealing with previous waves of transmission, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said.

"Supposedly in the second or third week of July we will see the peak of BA.4 and BA.5 cases," Sadikin said at a press conference.

The Southeast Asian country has confirmed eight patients infected with these sub-variants, reports Xinhua news agency.

Three were imported cases and five were local transmissions in Bali and Jakarta.

The government is currently monitoring other patients with these possible sub-variants in Jakarta, West Java, Banten, and Bali.

As of Tuesday morning, Indonesia has reported a total of 6,061,079 Covid-19 cases and 156,652 deaths.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Lucknow, June 14 : The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has said that treating accused as convicts was not only unlawful but also a way of creating terror and panic.

In a statement, the Board cited visuals on social media to highlight alleged police excesses on individuals detained on allegations of stone-pelting and violence.

The board also appealed to the members of the Muslim community to "exercise restraint and limit their protests to handing over of memorandums to local authorities seeking action against those who have insulted the Prophet to express their disapproval and resentment if any, against such acts." The board also demanded that the police first investigate cases of violence, submit their findings before the court and seek directions to initiate action against the accused.

Board's general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani, in the statement, said instead of initiating action against the individual (read Nupur Sharma) who insulted the Prophet, the government is lodging FIRs and demolishing houses of those who have expressed their protest against such statements. This is unlawful and excessive.

"The BJP took action against the person who insulted the Prophet, but the government has not done anything at all to show that it disapproves of such acts. The government has not initiated any appropriate penal action as per the provisions of law against the person, which is surprising," Rehmani said.

Instead, police action against those protesting against derogatory comments for their Prophet, is like rubbing salts in the wounds of the community, he said.

"Not initiating action against those making such inflammatory comments against the Prophet is against the law of the land and murder of justice. Should a person raising "Islam Zindabad' slogans be shot dead? Does our law of the land permit this?" he asked.
Washington, June 14 : At the ongoing inquiry into the January 2021 Capitol Hill riot, former US Attorney General William Barr said he thought that Donald Trump was "detached from reality" following the 2020 presidential election.

Barr's remarks were part of his video testimony played during Monday's session of the House select committee's inquiry which is seeking to show that the Trump's election fraud claims directly led to the riot, the BBC reported.

The former Attorney General went on to say that he had repeatedly told Trump there was no basis to claims of rigged voting machines or ballot "dumps", which Barr referred to as "crazy stuff".

The former President, however, refused to acknowledge these concerns and continued to spread fraud claims, the BBC quoted Barr as saying, adding that he was "demoralised" by Trump's claims.

"I thought, 'Boy if he really believes this stuff, he has lost contact with, he's become detached from reality, if he really believes this stuff'," he added.

On behalf of Trump's former campaign manager Bill Stepien, another key witness who was scheduled to appear on Monday but could not, his lawyer gave a statement that members of the former President's inner circle had advised him to not declare victory in the November 2020 election.

According to Stepien, a faction of the campaign he termed "Team Normal" told Trump that he had lost the election.

But another group dubbed "Rudy's team", after former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani who was among the most vocal of Trump's supporters to claim the election was stolen, refused to accept the outcome, the BBC reported citing Stepien's statement.

The committee's first public hearing took place on June 9, which saw testimonies from key witnesses, including Caroline Edwards, the first police officer injured in the attack.

On January 6, 2021, thousands of individuals, mostly Trump supporters, stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C. and disrupted a joint session of Congress in the process of affirming the 2020 presidential election results.

Approximately 140 police officers were assaulted in the Capitol attack -- 80 US Capitol Police and 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department.

Authorities have linked five deaths to the mayhem. Four officers who responded to the attack reportedly committed suicide within the next several months.

The worst attack on Congress in more than 200 years, the siege led to Trump's second impeachment by the House shortly, with barely a week left in his presidency.

They accused him of inciting insurrection, but he was acquitted in the Senate.

The committee is scheduled to hold more hearings on Wednesday and Thursday.
United Nastions, June 14 : The UN has launched a crowdfunding campaign that aims to bring the world closer to prevent a decaying supertanker, anchored off Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah, from causing an oil spill that could spell disaster for the region and beyond.

On Monday UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, David Gressly, launched the crowdfunding campaign, which encourages people everywhere to contribute towards raising $5 million in individual donations by the end of this month so that work can start in July, the UN said in a statement.

The transfer operation is part of a two-track plan, with an overall cost of $144 million, which also involves installing a replacement vessel for the floating storage and offloading (FSO) Safer oil tanker.

Some three-quarters of the money required has been received, following the announcement of a $10 million pledge by Saudi Arabia this week.

The US is also working towards a $10 million contribution, the UN said.

A May 11 pledging conference, co-hosted by the Netherlands and the US, raised around $40 million of the required funds.

The decaying, dilapidated supertanker has been described as a "floating time-bomb" that risks causing an explosion or an oil spill four times as disastrous as the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident in the Red Sea.

It contains more than a million barrels of oil.

As flammable gasses continue to build up in the ship's chambers and its structural integrity deteriorates, efforts to take it off the water are becoming increasingly urgent, according to the UN.

The Safer has been moored in the Red Sea since 1988.

The Houthis have been blockading UN efforts to inspect and maintain the vessel after the war between the group and the Yemeni government began in 2014.
New Delhi, June 14 : BJP OBC morcha has announced to conduct a three-day nationwide training programme for its members in Bengaluru from June 16.

BJP chief J.P. Naddda, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Bommai and union minister Bhupender Yadav will address party cadre during the event.

The training camp will be attended by national office-bearers of the morcha, state president, state in-charge and head of training of programme of state units. BJP OBC Morcha national president K. Laxman told IANS that the cadres across the country will be trained in a phased manner by August.

"First national office-bearers and others will be trained during the three days national training programme of OBC Morcha. Later, a state-level training programme will be held followed by district and mandal level. By August, the whole cadre of OBC morcha will be trained," Laxman said.

The cadre will be given training on a dozen topics which include making them aware about party history and ideology. "We have planned to train all our workers through a training programme. During the training session our cadre will be explained on about 10 to 12 topics which include working or party, our ideology, history of BJP, social justice, samajik samrasta, community specific welfare work of Narendra Modi government and other topics," Laxman said.

After the event, the state presidents along with the head of training programmes of state units will draw plans to conduct training sessions further at state level and district levels.

A similar training programme for all the morchas (wings) and main organisation will also be held to prepare the organisation for upcoming Assembly polls and 2024 general elections.

Trained workers help in growth of the party in new areas and sections of society, a senior BJP leader said. Women and youth wing had already organised its national training programme and SC wing will by organising it later this month in Gurugram. he added.
Indore, June 14 : A video has gone viral on social media showing a group of four women mercilessly beating up a young female employee of a pizza chain in Indore, despite repeated pleas by the latter to stop.

In a video, the four women are seen beating the victim, an employee with Domino's Pizza, with sticks and kept hitting her even as she fell to the ground.

Although there were people gathered at the site, no one stepped up to help the girl as she was crying out in pain.

The victim was also heard saying that she would go and complain to the police, following which the women replied, "go and complain".

The girl finally managed to save herself by hiding in a nearby house.

According to reports, the victim later lodged a complaint against the four women at a local police station.

Police said they are trying to identify the accused.
Hyderabad, June 14 : Covid-19 pandemic exposed blood shortage across many Indian states, and this situation arose despite many good Samaritans repeatedly stepping forward to donate their blood.

On the occasion of World Blood Donor Day, the health professionals underscored the need to highlight the shortcomings and improve infrastructure and network of blood banks across India.

According to some reports, India needs 15 million units of blood each year but manages to collect only 11 million units, a deficit of 4 million units. It is also estimated that nearly 12,000 individuals die in India each day, due to non-availability of quality blood. While this is one side of the coin, the other side indicates that India wastes about 6.5 lakh units of blood and blood components each year, due to lack of proper storage facilities.

Many doctors are raising their voices on the urgent need to address this major concern in the society.

Women suffering from bleeding during pregnancy or at childbirth, women and children suffering from anemia due to malnutrition, victims of trauma, etc., all need blood or/and blood-related products like plasma or platelets.

"Each day India needs large quantities of blood to treat many patients undergoing surgery or getting treatment for various forms of cancers. While there is a shortage of quality blood in the country, large quantities of it gets wasted when it cannot be transfused to a patient, within the right time, and in the right means. Key factors leading to donated blood wastage lack of proper storage facilities, leakages, contamination, testing delays due to manpower issues etc. All these problems can be addressed and must be resolved to ensure we emerge into a healthy India," said Dr. Pradeep Panigrahi, Medical Director, SLG Hospitals.

"Some reports suggest that India does not have even a single well-managed blood bank in at least 63 districts as of September 2020. This lack of blood banks facility also adds to the healthcare delivery burden, resulting in loss of lives in emergency situations like trauma/accidents. Many individual hospitals are striving hard to ensure there is a proper supply of quality blood to those in need; but the network of blood banks must grow in numbers to ensure we address this concern," observes Dr Satwinder Singh Sabharwal, COO, Aware Gleneagles Global Hospital.

Highlighting the need for a policy, Dr Kishore B. Reddy, Managing Director, Amor Hospitals said: "State and Union Governments have enhanced allocations to the healthcare sector in their annual budgets and are striving hard to improve the last mile delivery of quality healthcare services." He believes the state and the union governments should bring out a policy that will ensure creation of more blood banks, even in remote parts of the country. This, he said, will ensure supply of safe blood and also ensure blood transfusion related risks are addressed well.

"While there are many kind-hearted Samaritans who step forward to donate their blood on a regular basis, there is a need to enhance awareness on blood donation, which is a healthy practice. There is always a dearth of rare blood groups like AB negative, A negative, B negative, AB positive, and Bombay blood group; and there should a special focus on ensure people with these rare groups consider donating their blood regularly, concluded Dr Sailesh Singhi, Senior Hematologist and Blood bank Incharge, Century Hospital.
New York, June 14 : US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez has asked the Quad to help Sri Lanka to avoid "an economic implosion".

In a letter to India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, he acknowledged India's help to Colombo and wrote: "The Quad can lead the way in working to avoid an economic implosion in Sri Lanka that could spark a humanitarian crises with wider, destabilising, regional impacts".

"New Delhi has already taken a proactive role in providing loans and humanitarian assistance to the Sri Lankan government to avoid a meltdown." The letter was also addressed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong

Menendez, who heads the Senate panel which is the first port of call for many foreign affairs-related measures and diplomatic appointments, suggested mobilising the Quad Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Mechanism (HADR) that was announced at the bloc's summit in Tokyo last month to help Sri Lanka.

The Senator's call for help comes as Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Associated Press over the weekend that he would be open to buying more oil from Russia and getting financial help from China, to which it is already heavily indebted.

Although an aim of the Quad is to counter China's aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific region, it has as the bloc stopped short of any joint military cooperation, and instead focused on humanitarian efforts in the region like a programme for making, financing and distributing 500 million Covid vaccines in the region to counter Beijing's growing influence in the region.

Menendez noted that the Quad was born of cooperation between India, the US, Japan and Australia to help countries devastated by the 2004 tsunami and said the group can now show its capacity to rescue nations in distress in the Indo-Pacific region.

Washington is preparing long-term economic support and Tokyo is providing food assistance, but "there is more than can be done via the Quad, including by mobilising additional humanitarian assistance, providing badly-needed fuel, and offering technical support and advice in the areas of financial accounting, health, food security, and macroeconomic policy", he wrote in the letter.

He asked them to stay united at the UN Human Rights Council when it takes up the High Commissioner's report on war crimes in Sri Lanka.

The report released in February documented what it said were war crimes committed during the civil war involving the Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Menendez blamed the Rajapaksa clan that controlled the Sri Lankan government for the catastrophe.

"Under the Rajapaksas, Sri Lanka has been left on the brink of financial ruin and humanitarian catastrophe. Mahinda Rajapaksa led his country straight into a Chinese debt trap and then his brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, failed to take the prudent economic steps necessary to avoid a default on its sovereign debt," he said.

Since the economic crisis hit Sri Lanka, India has provided it assistance estimated at about $3 billion in various forms including supplying food, fertilisers, medical supplies, credit line and assistance with loan deferment.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, June 14 : India on Tuesday reported 6,594 fresh Covid-19 cases, a marginal decline against the 8,084 infections registered the previous day, the Union Health Ministry said.

In the same period, there were six new fatalities, which increased the overall death toll to 5,24,777.

The active caseload rose to 50,548, accounting for 0.12 per cent of the country's total positive cases.

The recovery of 4,035 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,26,61,370. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 98.67 per cent.

The daily positivity rate has slightly declined to 2.05 per cent and the weekly positivity rate stood at 2.32 per cent.

Also in the same period, a total of 3,21,873 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the overall tally to over 85.54 crore.

As of Tuesday morning, India's Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 195.35 crore, achieved via 2,50,79,283 sessions.

Over 3.52 crore adolescents have been administered with a first dose of Covid-19 jab since the beginning of vaccination drive for this age bracket.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kiev, June 14 : A new mass grave was discovered in Kiev region with seven bodies of civilians who were shot dead, the police said.

Following the discovery of the grave on Monday, Andrii Niebytov, Chief of the National Police of Kiev region, said the "seven civilians were tortured and then brutally shot in the head by the Russians", reports Ukrayinska Pravda.

"Many victims had their hands tied and had been shot in the knees. We are currently working to identify the people killed," he added.

The grave is near the village of Myrotske in Bucha district where Russian troops were stationed, according to the police chief.

This is the latest discovery of a mass grave after several others were found after the war began on February 24.

On April 29, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that a massive mass grave was discovered in the Kiev region with 900 bodies in an area which was occupied by the Russian forces in March.

On April 23, Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk had announced that 412 civilians killed by the Russian military had been found in mass graves in the town, about 31 km from Kiev city.

Investigators have so far found some 1,100 bodies in mass graves across the Kiev region.

At least three mass graves have also been found on the outskirts of Mariupol city, containing the bodies thousands of civilians.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Jerusalem, June 14 : Israeli scientists have in a breakthrough developed a unique genetic treatment for AIDS which may be developed into a vaccine or a one time cure for patients with HIV.

The team from Tel Aviv University focussed on the engineering of type B white blood cells in the patient's body so as to secrete anti-HIV antibodies in response to the virus.

The one time injection technique utilises type B white blood cells that would be genetically engineered, using CRISPR, the gene editing technology, inside the patient's body to secrete neutralising antibodies against the HIV virus that causes the disease, they described in the paper published in the journal Nature.

B cells are a type of white blood cells responsible for generating antibodies against viruses, bacteria and more. B cells are formed in bone marrow. When they mature, B cells move into the blood and lymphatic system and from there to the different body parts.

"Until now, only a few scientists, and we among them, had been able to engineer B cells outside of the body, and in this study we were the first to do this in the body and to make these cells generate desired antibodies," said Dr. Adi Barzel from the varsity.

Barzel explained that the genetic engineering is done with viral carriers derived from viruses that were engineered so as not to cause damage but only to bring the gene coded for the antibody into the B cells in the body.

"Additionally, in this case we have been able to accurately introduce the antibodies into a desired site in the B cell genome. All model animals who had been administered the treatment responded and had high quantities of the desired antibody in their blood.

"We produced the antibody from the blood and made sure it was actually effective in neutralising the HIV virus in the lab dish," Barzel added.

Currently, the researchers explained, there is no genetic treatment for AIDS, so the research opportunities are vast.

The innovative treatment was developed to defeat the virus with a one-time injection, with the potential of bringing about tremendous improvement in the patients' condition.

"When the engineered B cells encounter the virus, the virus stimulates and encourages them to divide, so we are utilising the very cause of the disease to combat it. Furthermore, if the virus changes, the B cells will also change accordingly in order to combat it, so we have created the first medication ever that can evolve in the body and defeat viruses in the 'arms race'," Barzel said.

"Based on this study we can expect that over the coming years we will be able to produce in this way a medication for AIDS, for additional infectious diseases and for certain types of cancer caused by a virus, such as cervical cancer, head and neck cancer and more."
New Delhi, June 14 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that Yoga is a perfect blend of 'Gyaan' (knowledge), 'Karm' (deeds) and 'Bhakti' (devotion).

The Prime Minister also said that in a fast-paced world, Yoga offers much-needed calm.

He tweeted; "Yoga is a perfect blend of Gyaan, Karm and Bhakti. In a fast paced world, it offers much needed calm." Prime Minister Modi also shared a film on 'Yoga in our daily lives'

On Monday, Prime Minister Modi had said that in the last few years, yoga has gained tremendous popularity globally.

"In the last few years, Yoga has gained tremendous popularity globally. People from different walks of life including leaders, CEOs, sportspersons and actors regularly practice Yoga and talk about how it has helped them," he had said.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister urged everyone to observe International Day of Yoga on June 21 and make yoga a part of daily lives.

"In the coming days, the world will mark International Day of Yoga. I urge you all to mark Yoga Day and make Yoga a part of your daily lives. The benefits are many," the Prime Minister had said.

On this upcoming International Day of Yoga on June 21, Mr Modi is set to lead celebrations from Mysuru.
Chennai, June 14 : Tamil Nadu Police have summoned officials of two private hospitals in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh in a case related to the forceful sale of embryos of a 16-year-old girl in Erode.

The girl's mother, her lover, and an agent are currently under judicial custody.

A police probe team have found that the girl was taken to various private fertility clinics and hospitals in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh to extract her embryo and to sell it in the market.

According to a charge sheet filed by the team, the victim's mother was the kingpin of the racket. She was separated from her husband and was in love with another person.

She then forced her daughter to get impregnated by this person and using the services of a woman agent, Malathi, the mother sold the girl's embryos five or six times.

The Erode police and Tamil Nadu health department conducted a probe after the girl complained that she was forced into sexual harassment and had to undergo the trauma after her mother put pressure on her.

Police found that the girl was taken to hospitals in Perundurai, Tiruchi, Erode, Hosur, and Salem and the investigation team has taken reports from these private hospitals and fertility clinics.

Based on the information from a private hospital at Perundurai, the police team has summoned the private hospital authorities of Thiruvananthapuram, and based on inputs from the private hospital at Hosur, the team summoned Tirupati hospital officials.

The officials of these private hospitals will be questioned this weekend and after this the police team will submit a detailed charge sheet, sources in the Erode police told IANS.

Police also said that the gang had admitted the girl to various hospitals in Tamil Nadu and neighboring states using fake Aadhar Cards as the records obtained from these hospitals cite that the girl was not a minor.

A team of Tamil Nadu health department led by Joint Director of Health Services, Dr. Viswanathan is also probing the medical angle in the case.

The medical team will also collect information from the private hospital authorities of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
Police will stop the Congress foot march by putting buses and trucks on the road including barricades, Congress headquarters converted into jail. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, June 14 : As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for a second day on Tuesday in the National Herald case, a number of party workers, who were protesting outside the probe agency's office, were detained by the Delhi Police.

The Congress workers had assembled outside the ED office in a show of solidarity with their leader.

The detained protesters were taken to the Kapashera board by bus.

The Delhi Police had already beefed up security in and around the probe agency's headquarters before a three-member team started Rahul Gandhi's questioning.

Paramilitary forces have been deployed in the area to avoid any untoward incidents.

The police is also checking each and every vehicle heading in that direction.

Rahul Gandhi reached the ED office at 11.07 a.m. on Tuesday morning and directly went inside without speaking to the media.

On Monday, he was grilled for about 10 hours.
Thiruvananthapuram, June 14 : The Congress on Tuesday strongly condemned registration of case against its three workers under sections of attempt to murder charges for raising slogans against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on board a domestic flight from Kannur to here.

Reacting to the Monday evening incident, veteran Congress legislator and former Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said these charges should be put on Left Democratic Front convenor E.P.Jayarajan, as it was he who had attacked the Congress workers on board the aircraft.

"Appropriate charges should be been levelled the Congress workers if they had done any wrong, but it was Jayarajan who attacked them and hence, he should be booked under charges of attempt to murder," he demanded.

As per a video going viral, after the aircraft landed, two Congress workers were seen shouting slogans against Vijayan and Jayarajan shoving down them.

Later, Jayarajan first told the media that the sloganeering had taken place after Vijayan alighted from the aircraft and the Congress workers were totally drunk.

As the news spread, angry CPI-M workers attacked the state Congress headquarters here at a time when veteran Congress leader A.K.Antony was present in the office.

Several Congress party offices also came under attack in the state.

On Tuesday, Congress Lok Sabha member K.Muralaeedhran said gone are the days when the Congress workers used to be silent when they were being attacked by the political opponents.

"We are no longer the party which was guided by the policy of non-violence of Gandhiji. We will warn those who attack us for no reason to beware of this," said an angry Muraleedharan.

Even though there were three Congress workers who were involved, one of them managed to slip out after the incident of sloganeering, while the other two are now in police custody and even though the Congress leaders demanded that medical tests should be done on them to see if they were drunk.

But the police allegedly failed to do so and later it was said the doctors felt that there was no need for it.

Meanwhile, the Indigo airline officials have by now started their internal probe and informed the Director General Civil Aviation of the incident.
Kolkata, June 14 : A team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers reached Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee's residence in south Kolkata to question his wife Rujira Narula Banerjee in connection with the coal smuggling case in West Bengal.

A team of eight officers of CBI, which included some women officers, reached her residence at around 11.45 a.m., just an hour after Abhishek Banerjee left from Kolkata for Tripura to attend an election campaign rally.

Abhishek Banerjee's residence is within 300 meters from the residence of his aunt and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

CBI officers said that the interrogation team will question Rujira Narula Banerjee regarding transfer of huge amounts of money to a particular bank account in Thailand, which is purportedly held by her.

Incidentally, on Monday, Enforcement Directorate (ED) too had sent a notice to Rujira Narula Banerjee asking her to specify the date and time when she will be available for questioning in the same case.

The ED and CBI are conducting parallel probes in this matter.

The urgent interrogation of Rujira Narula Banerjee on Tuesday was prompted after certain clues surfaced in the case that contradicts the earlier statements given by her to the Central agency officials in March last year.

The probe officials want to counter-question her to corroborate her statements, sources said.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leadership have termed the timing of this sudden interrogation as politically motivated.

According to Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Santanu Sen, the move by the CBI was deliberate and politically motivated since it coincided with Abhishek Banerjee's visit to Tripura.

"Actually, the BJP is scared of his growing popularity in Tripura and so they have used the CBI to cause deliberate inconvenience for him on this crucial day.

However, BJP's state spokesman Shamik Bhattacharya said that it has become a habit of Trinamool Congress leadership to cry foul on every issue.

"The CBI is probing the coal smuggling case following the order of the court and the Central agency team will act according to its own requirement. Hence, there is no question of BJP influencing their probe process," he said.
New Delhi, June 14 : Amazon went down for thousands of users for a couple of hours as the e-commerce portal pages did not load at all, displayed error messages, or loaded slowly with missing information.

The outage occurred late on Monday and affected shoppers across the world, including in India. The services were later restored.

Some users received error messages or partially loaded pages, while others report no issues.

"I'm getting the same message on every single product I try to look at. Totally unrelated products, same exact messages. The other odd thing I noticed was that I had to log in to my Amazon account this morning, on all my devices I'd suddenly become logged out," an affected user posted on Reddit.

Another posted: "I'm getting this too (error message) on every product page, desktop and mobile".

According to website outage monitor platform Downdetector, the outage lasted for over two hours before the services were restored.

While 64 per cent people reported issues with the Amazon.com website, 34 per cent had problems with the smartphone app.

Some people reported no issues and sometimes different pages showed different results.
New Delhi, June 14 : The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday said that Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno will pay an official visit to India on Tuesday.

During his stay in New Delhi, Albares will hold talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.

In a statement, the Ministry said: "India and Spain enjoy close and friendly relations. The bilateral ties got a fresh impetus after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Spain in 2017.

"Albares's visit will be an opportunity to review the entire gamut of our bilateral relations and further deepen the partnership across various areas including trade, defence, science and technology, innovation, climate, and culture sectors." According to the Ministry, Spain is India's eighth largest trade partner in Europe.

Bilateral trade during January-December 2020 stood at $5.015 billion.

India's exports stood at $3.765 billion while imports stood at $1.51 billion.

India's top exports to Spain are textiles, organic chemicals, iron and steel.
Tel Aviv, June 14 : Israel's National Security Council raised its travel warning for Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, to the highest level, citing possible attacks by Iran.

The warning comes amid the latest surge in tensions between Iran and Israel, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Given the continuing nature of the threat and in light of the increased Iranian intentions to attack Israelis in Turkey, especially Istanbul, the National Security Council has raised the travel warning for Istanbul to the highest level, Level 4," the Council said in a statement late Monday.

It called on Israelis currently in Istanbul to leave the city and Israelis planning to travel to Turkey to avoid doing so until further notice.

The statement noted that other areas in Turkey are under a Level-3, or intermediate travel warning, advising Israelis to avoid "non-essential travel" to the areas.

Hours before the statement was issued, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called on Israelis in Turkey to leave the country as soon as possible and others to cancel planned visits.

He added the warning followed "a situation assessment" that had found out attempts by "Iranian forces" to kidnap or kill Israeli nationals in Turkey.

Israeli officials on Sunday said Turkish authorities had thwarted an "Iranian plot" to attack Israelis in Turkey last month.

Iran did not immediately comment on the allegations.

Iran has accused Israel of killing on May 22 Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps colonel shot and killed by two motorcyclists in the east of Tehran, and has vowed to avenge his death.
Los Angeles, June 14 : The 'House of Cards' star Kevin Spacey is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday morning as he gets charged with four counts of sexual assault in UK with an additional charge of "causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent", the Metropolitan Police have confirmed.

The four historic assaults are alleged to have been perpetrated against three men, now in their 30s and 40s, between 2005 and 2013, a period during which Spacey served as artistic director of the Old Vic theatre.

The Met Police have said the incidents were alleged to have taken place in London and Gloucestershire, reports 'Variety'.

According to 'Variety', the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the UK version of the D.A., spent over a year reviewing the evidence before confirming last month they had authorised police to press charges.

In a statement to 'Good Morning America', Spacey said he would voluntarily surrender himself to U.K. police to be charged before defending himself in court.

Spacey said in a statement accessed by 'Variety', "I very much appreciate the Crown Prosecution Service's statement in which they carefully reminded the media and the public that I am entitled to a fair trial, and innocent until proven otherwise." "While I am disappointed with their decision to move forward, I will voluntarily appear in the UK as soon as can be arranged and defend myself against these charges, which I am confident will prove my innocence", the actor further said in his statement.

The UK charges are the latest in a long line of legal battles - both civil and criminal - for Spacey after allegations were first made about him in 2017. Spacey was the toast of television for his role in Netflix flagship series 'House of Cards' until Anthony Rapp told 'Buzzfeed News' of historic allegations against Spacey.

Rapp alleges the actor made a non-consensual sexual advance toward him when Rapp was just 14 years old during a party. He is currently suing Spacey in a New York court for sexual abuse.
New York, June 14 : Do you end up staring at yourself while chatting online? Beware, your mood is likely to get spoiled over the course of the conversation, suggests a study.

Reported in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, the findings point to a potentially problematic role of online meeting platforms in exacerbating psychological problems like anxiety and depression, the researchers said.

The researchers noted the pandemic has yielded a surge in levels of depression and anxiety and, given reports of heightened self-awareness and 'fatigue' during virtual exchange, "some have posited a role for virtual interaction in exacerbating such trends." "We used eye-tracking technology to examine the relationship between mood, alcohol and attentional focus during virtual social interaction," said Talia Ariss, a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the US.

"We found that participants who spent more time looking at themselves during the conversation felt worse after the call, even after controlling for pre-interaction negative moods. And those who were under the influence of alcohol spent more time looking at themselves," Ariss added.

The findings add to previous studies suggesting that people who focus more on themselves than on external realities -- especially during social interactions -- may be susceptible to mood disorders, Ariss said.

"The more self-focused a person is, the more likely they are to report feeling emotions that are consistent with things like anxiety and even depression," she said.

In the study, participants answered questions about their emotional status before and after the online conversations. They were instructed to talk about what they liked and disliked about living in the local community during the chats, and to discuss their musical preferences. Participants could see themselves and their conversation partners on a split-screen monitor. Some consumed an alcoholic beverage before talking and others drank a non-alcoholic beverage.

In general, participants stared at their conversation partners on the monitor much more than they looked at themselves, the researchers found.
New Delhi, June 14 : It is widely believed that the last half a decade has been challenging for India. However, at the same time, it is also interesting to note that the phase has seen much more structured and meaningful reform taking place than in the past.

Economic disarray, stagnation, sluggish investment and bureaucratic red-tapism have all been addressed adequately over the last few years. Though a great challenge in a country as diverse as India, the necessary structurally forms were implemented 2017 onwards so as to create an environment conducive for investment.

The first of many reforms was targeted at the tax collection system in the country. There were multiple issues plaguing the collection network and compliance methodologies. In addition, there was no uniformity in the taxation rates when it came to different states leading to an anomaly that would impact the economics behind different products. To resolve the same, VAT and other indirect taxes were replaced with the Goods & Services Tax (GST).

In an attempt to ensure one tax for one nation, the rates and procedural aspects of taxation are now consistent across the country ensuring that revenue losses are plugged effectively. Though factors like the pandemic has added another difficult dimension to tax collection, it is worth observing that the implementation of one tax has resulted in the savings of upto 4 per cent in monthly household expenses, which is a significant number when taking into account the 138 crores population of India. In fact, the last collections of GST are the highest ever at Rs 1,42,095 crore in March 2022 denoting the massive success that it has been in terms of compliance as well as collection.

Additionally, to provide relief to small businesses that were already reeling due to a global slowdown, the Companies Act was amended so as to decriminalize technical lapses and treat them as civil errors instead. Along with the fact that the insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code have proven to be an able mechanism to ease doing of business and improvement of Non-Performing Assets (NPA) rates, these reforms have helped provide fillip to the Indian industry. Previously, India had the highest effective corporate tax rate in the world which led to a clear foreign portfolio investment (FPI) outflow from the country. By reducing tax burden on companies, it has helped make India an attractive destination for foreign investment in various sectors. Apart from that, a faceless assessment system has been introduced to empower honest taxpayers. A significant result of this has been that there has been an increase in the personal tax collection by 48% and corporate tax collection by 41 per cent in the financial year 2021-22. Despite these significant steps, the Indian MSME sector has lagged behind due to the historic disadvantages that it has faced. Therefore, the government has made special provisions to adequately support the sector that employs more than 11 crore Indians.

When it comes to incentivizing entrepreneurship and manufacturing, the newly launched One District, One Product scheme has been able to pull all the stops. So far, 106 product, 103 districts have been identified and selected. Once selected, the government provides adequate assistance to promote the product on a global level. This has ensured that the Indian exports sector has been able to grow at a significant pace, especially in light of the emerging competition from Vietnam and Bangladesh from our region. For the third consecutive month, India has remained at the top of the emerging market league table going to strong manufacturing activity as well as exports.

Therefore, contrary to the expectations that the difficult times of the pandemic would throw the Indian growth story into a ditch, India has emerged as a strong player with significant growth that is higher than any other developing country in the world. Defying all expectations, new estimates have shown that India may well be on the path to surpassing Japan in becoming Asia's second largest economy. Though there are multiple factors that have led to the same, exports reaching a new high of $418 billion in a single year is a noteworthy reason apart from the growth in manufacturing activity as well. Collectively, it has helped raise global interest in the investor-friendly FDI policy of the government, thereby it can easily be ensured that India is looked at as a strong powerhouse and a force to be reckoned with in days to come.
Khartoum, June 14 : The UN announced that about 100 people were killed in tribal clashes over the past week in Sudan's West Darfur province.

The fighting grew out of a land dispute between Arab and African tribes in the town of Kulbus in West Darfur, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said.

It added that local Arab militias attacked multiple villages in the area, forcing thousands to flee, reports Xinhua news agency.

Volker Perthes, head of the UN Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), condemned the recent tribal clashes.

"I'm appalled, again, by the violence in Kulbus, West Darfur, with so many deaths," said Perthes on his Twitter account on Monday.

"The cycle of violence in Darfur is unacceptable and highlights root causes that must be addressed," he added.

The UN envoy called on community leaders, authorities, and armed groups to de-escalate and ensure the protection of civilians.

Sudan's Darfur region has been witnessing a civil war since 2003 during the rule of former President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted from power in April 2019.

The previous transitional government in Sudan sought to end the armed conflict in the Darfur region through an agreement reached on October 3, 2020, but some armed groups have not yet signed it.

For years, efforts failed to end the tribal conflicts, which have become a nagging concern for the local population and the authorities of the troubled region.

Many factors, including disturbances, tribes' access to weapons, and lack of effective governance in many parts of the Darfur region, have contributed to the growing violence in the region.
Prayagraj, June 14 : Ten scientists, including biochemist Munish Pandey from Biochemistry department of Allahabad University (AU), have developed a technique for early diagnosis of breast and ovarian cancer by examining patient's urine sample.

The technique takes help of noble MicroRNA (MiRNA), through which breast and ovarian cancer can be detected in routine urine tests, said Pandey.

He said they have also got the copyright for the technique from the Chennai office of patents, designs and trademarks.

"The new technique will save the patients from being exposed to radiation when test is done through Mammogram," he added.

Noble Micro Ribonucleic Acid is a marker that can detect cancer at an early stage and can be easily treated. This research and the technique are being considered a significant achievement in the early detection of cancer.

There have been many research patents in AU, but the copyright has been received for the first time, he said.

The copyright has been awarded to Munish Pandey and nine other scientists of India's different institutions.

"If everything goes well, then in future the benefits of this research will directly help the common people," he added.

Human body fluids include MiRNA's (plasma, tears, saliva, urine) and urine is appropriate since it is non-invasive to collect.

"The objective of our research was to develop and formulate the process for detection of breast cancer and ovarian cancer using urine diagnosis. Urinary MiRNA concentration and quality are the two most important factors to consider before moving on with any testing. Blood and other body fluids have no established quantity standards and there is insufficient evidence to support the use of urine metabolic signature to diagnose systematic systemic illness," he explained.

The study compared the expression of four breast cancer-associated MiRNA using median MiRNA expression level. The levels of Mi-155 in urine were greater in breast cancer patient than in healthy control. But compared to healthy control, a breast cancer patient had significantly decrease urine level of MiR-21 and MiR-451.

A 2020 study showed that breast cancer contributed to 27.6 per cent of all cancers while ovarian cancers contributed to 6.2 per cent of all cancers in Indian women. The study also showed that the incidents of death from breast cancer versus new cases identified had also increased to 56 per cent -- much higher than the numbers reported from developed countries.

Majority of Indian women affected by breast cancer were between 40-50 years of age as opposed to 60-70 years for their counterparts in western countries.
Tel Aviv, June 14 : A lawmaker with Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's party announced he will stop voting with the ruling coalition, in the latest blow to the fragile government as the eight-party alliance marks its one-year anniversary in office.

Nir Orbach, a member of the religious-nationalist Yamina party, said in a statement that he will not vote with the coalition until the contested emergency regulations that ensure benefits to Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank are extended, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I came to the conclusion that the coalition cannot continue to exist in its current conduct," he said, adding that it was failing to "fulfil its mission".

After a series of defections and rebellions in recent weeks, the ruling coalition was left with 60 seats in the 120-seat Knesset or Parliament.

On June 6, the narrow coalition could not gain the majority needed to approve a bill that calls to extend the emergency regulations with which Israel applies its law to settlers.

Bennett's coalition was inaugurated in June 2021, after a string of four inconclusive elections.

It consists of eight parties with diverse ideologies, including pro-settler nationalists and Dovish parties, united only with the goal of ousting the longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing a criminal trial over corruption charges.
New Delhi, June 14 : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday announced that the Union Cabinet has approved a recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the Armed Forces.

The scheme is called 'Agnipath' and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as 'Agniveers'. About 46,000 of them will be recruited this year.

Singh said that scheme is a transformative initiative and under it Indian youngsters will get an opportunity to serve in armed forces. "The scheme will increase employment opportunities and aim to create a youthful profile of the Armed forces," Singh said.

"The 'Agniveers' will be given a good pay package and an exit retirement package after four years of service," Singh said.

The scheme will lead to a much more youthful and technically adept war fighting force by ensuring a fine balance between youthful and experienced personnel in the Armed Forces.

Also, it will bring a transformative reform of recruitment policy of the Armed Forces and provide a unique opportunity to the youth to serve the country and contribute to nation building.

Image Source: IANS News

It is envisaged that average age profile of Indian Armed forces would come down by about four-five years by implementation of this scheme and the nation stands to immensely benefit by infusion of highly inspired youth with deeper understanding of self-discipline, diligence and focus who would be adequately skilled and will be able to contribute in other sectors.

The benefits of a short military service to the nation, society and the youth of the nation are immense. This includes inculcation of patriotism, team work, enhancement of physical fitness, ingrained loyalty for the country and availability of trained personnel to boost national security in times of external threats, internal threats and natural disasters.

This is a major defence policy reform introduced by the Government to usher in a new era in the Human Resource policy of the three services. The policy, which comes into immediate effect, will hereafter govern the enrolment for the three services.

'Agniveers' will be offered a salary package of Rs 4.76 lakh in the first year which goes up to Rs 6.92 lakh in the fourth and final year.

The 'Seva Nidhi' will be exempted from Income Tax. There shall be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits. 'Agniveers' will be provided non-contributory Life Insurance Cover of Rs 48 lakh for the duration of their engagement period in the Indian Armed Forces.

During this four years period of service to the nation, the 'Agniveers' will be imparted with various military skills and experience, discipline, physical fitness, leadership qualities, courage and patriotism.

Post this stint of four years, they will be infused into the civil society where they can contribute immensely towards the nation building process. The skills gained by each 'Agniveer' will be recognised in a certificate to form part of his unique resume. Moreover, the 'Seva Nidhi' of approximately Rs 11.71 lakh would aid the Agniveer to pursue his or her future dreams without the financial pressure, which is normally the case for young people from the financially deprived strata of society.

Image Source: IANS News

The individuals, selected for enrolment in the Armed Forces as regular cadre, would be required to serve for a further engagement period of minimum 15 years and would be governed by the existing terms and conditions of service of Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks in Indian Army and their equivalent in Indian Navy and Indian Air Force and that of Non Combatant enrolled in the Indian Air Force, as amended from time-to-time.

Enrolment will be based on 'All India All Class' basis and the eligible age will be in range from 17.5 to 21 years. 'Agniveers' will meet the medical eligibility conditions laid down for enrolment in the armed forces as applicable to respective categories/trades. The educational qualification for 'Agniveers' will remain in vogue for enrollment in various categories like for entry into General Duty (GD) soldier, the educational qualification is Class 10.

-- Syndicated from IANS
New Delhi: Delhi police detain Congress activists during their protest march in support of party leader Rahul Gandhi who is appearing before ED in the National Herald case, in New Delhi on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo: Anupam gautam/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: Delhi police detain a Congress activist during their protest march in support of party leader Rahul Gandhi who is appearing before ED in the National Herald case, in New Delhi on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo: Anupam gautam/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: Delhi police detain a Congress activist during their protest march in support of party leader Rahul Gandhi who is appearing before ED in the National Herald case, in New Delhi on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo: Anupam gautam/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: Delhi police detain Congress activists during their protest march in support of party leader Rahul Gandhi who is appearing before ED in the National Herald case, in New Delhi on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo: Anupam gautam/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: Delhi police detain Congress activists during their protest march in support of party leader Rahul Gandhi who is appearing before ED in the National Herald case, in New Delhi on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo: Anupam gautam/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: Delhi police detain a Congress activist during their protest march in support of party leader Rahul Gandhi who is appearing before ED in the National Herald case, in New Delhi on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo: Anupam gautam/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, June 14 : Delhi Police has detained several Congress leaders for trying to march towards the ED office where party leader Rahul Gandhi is being questioned.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel staged the protest outside AICC headquarters. While sitting at the dharna, Bhupesh Baghel lambasted the BJP government for misusing investigative agencies and suppressing the voice of the opposition.

Baghel has termed the ED's action as political bias and malicious. It is a "political vendetta" and the case has no grounds for investigation, CM said.

Congress leaders and workers took out a march to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) office in solidarity with the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. K.C. Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi, Deepender Singh Hooda, Ranjeet Ranjan, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Imran Pratapgarhi & other Congress leaders were taken into police custody and sent to different police stations.

Castigating the BJP government, Baghel said as long as the Centre continues to perpetrate the atrocities, the protest will continue.

"BJP government at the Centre should tell whether any action has been taken against the leader of any pro-BJP party in the last eight years. The moment a leader joins BJP, all the cases and matter against him get hushed up. ED, CBI, I-T department are used to suppress the voice of the opposition," CM Baghel asserted.

Congress General Secretary Avinash Pande said, "this is black day for democracy where in opposition leaders are being harassed for questioning government." Congress MP Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for the second consecutive day in a money laundering case on Tuesday.
New Delhi, June 14 : Direct-to-consumer (D2C) company Mensa Brands on Tuesday said it has acquired homegrown smart wearable brand Pebble for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 2013 by Ajay Agarwal and Komal Agarwal, the acquisition will strengthen Pebble's online footprint in the country.

Mensa Brands registered net revenue run rate of Rs 1,500 crore in the first 12 months of operations.

It has become India's largest D2C tech-led house of brands with over 20 brands across fashion, beauty and lifestyle categories under its umbrella.

"In the fast-growing smart wearables segment, we believe Pebble stands apart as it perfectly combines fashion with cutting-edge technology," said Ananth Narayanan, Founder and CEO of Mensa Brands.

Narayanan was previously the CEO of Myntra and Medlife and a senior partner at McKinsey & Company.

Pebble offers audio products, fitness wearables and charging solutions and has nationwide offline distribution.

"Being part of Mensa Brands will help strengthen our position in the wearables market and open up new opportunities for us to leverage," said Komal Agarwal, Co-founder of Pebble.

Mensa currently has 700 employees in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurugram, and plans to hire another 700 people this year.
Hyderabad, June 14 : For a second consecutive day on Tuesday, the Congress staged a sit-in at the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) regional office here against questioning of its leader Rahul Gandhi by the central agency in the National Herald case.

Led by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy, several Congress leaders and workers sat on the protest in front of ED office in Basheerbagh in the heart of the city.

Wearing black scarves, the protestors raised slogans against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre over the summons issued by the ED to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

As the ED continued questioning Rahul Gandhi in Delhi for a second consecutive day, the party continued its protest here to show solidarity with him. Revanth Reddy said they would continue their fight against the injustice towards Gandhi family by the BJP government.

The sit-in is likely to continue till the ED completes the questioning of Rahul Gandhi.

The TPCC had on Monday organised a massive rally from Necklace Road on the banks of Hussain Sagar in response to the call given by the party's central leadership to organise the protest till Rahul Gandhi comes out of ED office.

The protestors demanded that the ED immediately withdraw the summons issued to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Revanth Reddy said there was no case against the top leaders of the party but the BJP government at the Centre was trying to target them as it feared defeat in 2024 elections.

The TPCC chief said since both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were fearless in their attacks on the Modi government for its anti-people policies, the government was looking to frame them in false cases.
Chennai, June 14 : The Tamil Nadu government and Tata Technologies Ltd have signed a five year agreement to transform 71 of the former's Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) into technology centres at an outlay of Rs 2,204 crore.

The revamped ITIs will have modern infrastructure and training facilities to meet the industry 4.0 standards.

Along with the technology transformation of the ITIs, Tata Technologies will also be providing industrial support for trainers' training and ensuring maintenance of the new set-up, the company said.

Tata Technologies is collaborating with the Tamil Nadu government and 20 global industry partners to implement this project by upgrading the overall facilities of these 71 technology centres, developing an Industry 4.0 course curriculum, conducting training programs, and providing equipment and software support at the new centres.

"The industrial sector has always taken the center-stage in the economic development of Tamil Nadu as we host manufacturing facilities of several global OEMs. The collaboration with Tata Technologies is an effort to bridge the gap between demand and supply of skilled workforce requirements of the manufacturing industry," Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said.

"The industrial ecosystem and its requirements have changed significantly over the last few years with a digital-first approach. To keep pace with these evolving technological trends and transition towards Industry 4.0, industries and manufacturers seek a skilled workforce with relevant expertise and experience," Subramanian Ramadorai, Chairman, Tata Technologies said.
Beijing, June 14 : Chinese carmaker Geely has acquired Meizu, the Alibaba Group-backed smartphone maker, as the automaker plans to bolster its connected ecosystem.

Hubei Xingji Shidai Technology, a venture by Geely founder Li Shufu, has bought a 79.09 per cent stake in Meizu, South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday.

Meizu's market share has since fallen to just 0.1 per cent in China.

"Mobile phones and devices have quickly evolved into mobile terminals and application platforms, which not only allow users to enjoy the fruits of innovation in the quickest manner possible, they also act as a pathway to greater automotive applications," Geely said in a statement.

"The major trend in the coming future is to create user ecosystems across borders and provide users with a more convenient, smarter, and seamlessly connected multi-screen experiences," it added.

Founded in 2007, Meizu was once one of the most popular smartphone brands in mainland China.

It lost out to rivals like Xiaomi, which is now working on its own electric car.

Meizu's partnership with Sony to bring Flyme apps to Xperia phones didn't do well either for the smartphone maker.

One of the brands owned by Geely recently launched 'Zeekr 001' which featured the Flyme for Car infotainment system developed by Meizu.
Kolkata, June 14 : Justice Arijit Gangopadhyay of Calcutta High Court, who had ordered so many CBI probes in West Bengal since November last year, is now frustrated with the progress of investigation by the central agency in all these cases.

Justice Gangopadhyay is specially upset about the slow progress in the probe of West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment irregularities scam, the order for which was given by him only.

Hearing a related case on Tuesday afternoon, Justice Gangopadhyay wondered whether the CBI probe in at least 12 cases in the state will end up without any result as it happened in case of the theft of the Nobel medallion of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

"Now at the time I feel that a special investigation team (SIT) of the state police would have been better than CBI. No light is visible at the end of the tunnel. I gave the first order for the CBI probe in November last year. Now I am tired," he said.

Claiming that this is not a rosy picture for the state, Justice Gangopadhyay observed that he has doubts on how far will the CBI progress in case of recruitment irregularities in the education sector.

Incidentally, on Monday afternoon, Justice Gangopadhyay's bench in Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI inquiry in the primary teachers' recruitment irregularities by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) in 2014. Justice Gangopadhyay also ordered immediate cancellation of the appointment of 269 candidates for the post of primary teachers and observed that these candidates secured jobs despite not qualifying in the written examination and some of them did not even appear for the same.

He also directed WBBPE to immediately stop payment of salaries to these 269 candidates and also ensure that they are not able to enter the respective schools they were appointed henceforth.

Justice Gangopadhyay faced the wrath of the Trinamool Congress affiliated advocates of Calcutta High Court after he ordered CBI to question former West Bengal education minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee in connection with the WBSSC recruitment irregularities scam. These advocates also boycotted his court for some time then.
Sanaa, June 14 : The government in Yemen announced that five soldiers were killed and 15 others injured by the Houthi militia despite the ongoing UN-brokered truce in the war-torn nation.

According to a statement released by the Defence Ministry, "the Houthi militia committed 185 breaches of the truce brokered by the UN during the past 72 hours in various areas of Yemen", reports Xinhua news agency The statement said that the Houthi breaches included attacking the sites of the government forces with shells and rockets as well as using explosive-laden drones.

Earlier on Monday, a large explosion caused by a Houthi-fired ballistic missile rocked the government-controlled oil-rich province of Marib.

No official comment has been issued by the local authorities, but media reports indicate that no one has been injured as a result of the explosion so far.

The warring parties in Yemen have started to observe a nationwide ceasefire since April 2.

Although the truce has been broadly kept, there are frequent accusations of breaches traded between the internationally recognized government and the Houthi group.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government out of Sanaa.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
Bogota, June 14 : Colombian President Ivan Duque said the army has killed the leader of the dissident faction of the former guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

While celebrating his birthday with other rebels at a house in a rural area of the southwest department of Cauca, Leider Johany Noscue Bototo, alias "Mayimbu", was located by military intelligence and was identified by a tattoo of his name on his right arm, Xinhua news agency quoted Duque as saying to reporters here.

Noscue was considered highly "dangerous" and had a bounty of up to $250,000 on his head.

"This is without a doubt one of the most important operations carried out against the FARC dissidents, and we will continue advancing, we will continue looking for the symbols of evil wherever they are. This is a triumph of law," said Duque.

The FARC guerrilla group disarmed in 2016 and transitioned into a political party, but not all the rebels agreed with the group's peace deal with the government.

Those who disagreed continued their insurgency.
Karachi, June 14 : After peaceful Baloch protesters in Karachi were manhandled and detained by the police from outside the Sindh Assembly, almost unanimous condemnation poured in, with journalists, analysts and politicians from across the political divide criticising the violence.

Several videos making the rounds on social media showed the police manhandling and forcefully dispersing them. Around 28 of them were detained, reports Dawn news.

On Sunday, approximately 120 to 130 people, including women, took to the streets near the main gate of the Sindh Assembly against the alleged abduction of two Baloch students of the University of Karachi (KU) by law enforcement agencies.

The two students of KU's Philosophy Department, Doda Baloch and Ghamshad Baloch, were allegedly taken away from their home near Maskan Chowrangi in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on June 7 and returned home seven days later, Dawn reported.

Their relatives and members of civil society organisations had set up a camp outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) for the last four days.

On Sunday night, they managed to reach the Sindh Assembly's main gate where they staged a sit-in for the release of the missing students.

Police and district administration held talks with them, persuading them to vacate the place as the provincial legislature's budget session was scheduled to be held.

South-SSP Asad Raza told Dawn news that the police detained 19 men and nine women as they tried to enter the assembly building.

Founder of the 'Gwadar rights movement' and local Jamaat-i-Islami leader Maulana Hidayat-Ur-Rehman, immediately after the police action, announced protests and rallies across Balochistan on Wednesday, Dawn reported..

In a tweet, Rehman condemned the Sindh police for their "shameful role" and "disrespect" towards Baloch women.

"On June 15, we will hold rallies across Balochistan," he said, instructing the members of his movement to organise peaceful demonstrations in every city of the province.
Hyderabad, June 14 : Telangana police on Tuesday arrested two more BJP leaders and issued notice to party's state chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar for allegedly insulting Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao by organising a skit.

Rani Rudramma and Daruvu Yellanna were arrested by police, which also issued a notice to Sanjay Kumar.

The state BJP president has been asked to appear before a police officer in connection with the case booked against him.

Sanjay, who is also a Member of Parliament, has been served notice under Section 41 A of Criminal Procedure Act.

On June 10, the police had arrested BJP leader Jitta Balakrishna Reddy. A court had granted him bail the same day.

A case was registered against Bandi Sanjay, Balakrishna Reddy and others at Hayathnagar Police Station under Rachakonda Police Commissionerate for indulging in hate speech and inciting hatred and causing provocation for violence through an event organised by the cultural team of the BJP on Telangana Formation Day (June 2).

On a complaint by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) social media convenor Y Satish Reddy , police booked Balakrishna Reddy, state BJP chief Bandi Sanjay and others under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 114 (abettor present when offence is committed), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 505(2) (statements causing public mischief, promoting enmity) read with 109.

The complainant had alleged that the organisers misused the platform to defame the government schemes with accusation on the Chief Minister and the government with an intention to mislead the people and provoke hatred and unrest.

According to police, under the leadership of Bandi Sanjay and organisers Jitta Balakrishna Reddy and Rani Rudrama organised an event in view of Telangana Formation Day and "misused the dais for performing a skit (hate act)" with the help of BJP cultural team member Boddu Yellanna alias Daruvu Yellanna by insulting a person who is holding a constitutional post being democratically elected by the people of the state.

The skit was telecast on a Telugu TV news channel.

On examining the video, police found that the organisers made derogatory comments, personal attacks depicting the chief minister as boozer, cheater, among others, to lower the image of a person elected by democratic means and holding a constitutional post.
Bengaluru: President Ram Nath Kovind with First Lady Savita Kovind and Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai during the inauguration of Sri Rajadhiraja Govinda Temple at Vasanthapura in Bengaluru on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo: Dhananjay Yadav/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Bengaluru: President Ram Nath Kovind with First Lady Savita Kovind during the inauguration of Sri Rajadhiraja Govinda Temple at Vasanthapura in Bengaluru on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo: Dhananjay Yadav/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Bengaluru, June 14 : President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated ISKCON Sri Rajadhiraja Govinda Temple and cultural complex in a ceremony held here on Tuesday.

The project is replica of Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam and built as a tribute to Srila Prabhupada in commemoration of his 125th birth anniversary.

After the inauguration, President Kovind stated that the temples have been among the most important symbols of Hinduism.

At one level, they are sacred sites. Worshippers feel the presence of the divine, be it in the form of vibrations or energy or a rush of the intense devotional feelings. Coming to a spot like this, one can leave the world and its noise behind and feel enveloped in peace. At another level, temples are often much more than places of worship. They are like the sangam sthal, or the point of holy confluence, of art, architecture, language and knowledge traditions, he said.

This is no surprise, considering the fact that the religious impulse is at the heart of India's culture. The quest of the rishi-munis of this land in ancient times has also inspired our society along with its kings and scholars, poets and architects, he said.

If there is a single defining feature of this quest, it is plurality. All competing world-views, from Advaita Vad to Vishishtadvait Vad, all have flourished under one umbrella. There are different sects, such as Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shakta sampradaya. Just as there can be many ways to reach the top of this hill, there are different paths to realise the Supreme, such as Jnana Marga, Karma Marga and Bhakti Marga. Yet, in Hinduism, you never know where one ends and another begins, as if they are all interlinked by their common faith in the divine, he said.

"Our great spiritual leaders such as Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu showed us a variety of ways. In recent times, Ramakrishna Paramahans and Swami Vivekananda, among so many others, reiterated the same attitude. It is no wonder that the Bhagavad Gita, the scripture that is held most important by all Hindus, also offers different lessons to different people, depending on their qualification," he said.

The temple will be thrown open to the public from August 1.
Bangalore, June 14 : The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) has written to the Karnataka government to raise an objection to the latter's recent guidelines on the dispatch and transportation of iron ore from the districts of Bellary, Chitradurga, and Tumkur.

The guidelines were issued in the wake of a Supreme Court order last month which lifted the restriction on export of iron ore from the state in lines of rest in India.

As per the recent guideline issued by the state govt on dispatch of iron ore from the three districts of Bellary, Chitradurga, Tumkur post SC order they have considered only the stocks up to March 31, 2022 for issuance of permits. In a scenario like this the lessees are in a dilemma on how to sell iron ore from the fresh production as Directorate of Mines & Geology refuses to issue permits on fresh stocks.

"As per FIMI Southern Region, the said stipulation is completely unwarranted, contrary to the court order and perverse, and it must be immediately withdrawn. A clarification consequently may be issued that the said guidelines are applicable for all movement of iron ore," the Federation wrote in its letter to the Govt.

According to FIMI Southern Region, the operative portion of the Supreme Court order dated May 20, 2022 does not make any mention to the closing balance of iron ore stocks furnished by the monitoring committee as on March 31, 2022, let alone contain any directions restricting the liberty granted to sell ore without e-auction, by interstate sale, and exports. Despite this, the state government has imposed this condition in the guideline issued.

"We are also constrained to submit, in this context, that there is absolutely no reason or justification forthcoming from the guidelines to indicate why the said restriction is brought in. On the other hand, it is crystal clear from the order that the permission granted thereunder extends to all ore produced in the three districts, where restrictions were imposed earlier on the manner of, and the persons to whom, the ore was sold," the letter read.

Quoting multiple court observations made in the past, the Federation emphasized that it is a settled principle of law that a judgement must be read as a whole and must be understood by reading the same in the entirety.

"By restricting the free movement of ore to the aforesaid extent, it will create further market imperfections, which are directly contrary to the observations of the Hon'ble Supreme Court. It will also result in the orders of the court being implemented in a manner that directly results in unequal treatment of parties, by prescribing one mode of sale (without restrictions, in a free manner) in one set of cases and another mode of sale (as per e-auction to restricted group of buyers) in another set of cases," the letter further read.

Due to the ambiguity in the system the business operations of the miners, steel plants & sponge iron plant which are buying ore from Karnataka are badly hit. Even the transporters & local community are facing joblessness because of non-transportation of ores from the mines. FIMI has urged the Karnataka government to take immediate steps to withdraw the said restriction in the guidelines and allow free movement of all iron ore produced in the state at the earliest by "abiding by the order of the Supreme Court dated May 20, 2022".
Patna, June 14 : After Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the time has come to rewrite history, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar claimed how could anyone change the history of the country.

Shah had earlier said that historians have not pointed out the past incidents and rulers of the country.

"Those who wrote the history explained the works of Mugal emperors which was not right. There were so many rulers like Pandyas, Ahoms, Pallavas, Mauruyas, Guptas, Sisodias of Mewar who ruled for more than 500 years and fought well for the country but reference texts were not written on them," Shah said during a book launch event in New Delhi on Friday.

Mocking Amit Shah on his idea of history, the Bihar CM said: "What is the need of writing history again? History is history and how we could change it? How could anyone change the fundamental history of the country?" Nitish Kumar's statement could trigger another controversy in Bihar. Leaders of both the JD-U and the BJP are currently holding a truce after a spat in the recent past.
New Delhi, June 14 : A group of former Supreme Court and High Court judges along with senior advocates on Tuesday wrote a petition letter to the Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana to take suo motu cognizance against recent demolition drives in Uttar Pradesh in the aftermath of 'Prophet remarks row'.

The letter, signed by 12 former judges including former Supreme Court Judges -- Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy, Justice V. Gopala Gowda, Justice A.K. Ganguly, and senior lawyers, has urged the Court to stop the "deteriorating law and order situation" in the state.

Recent remarks made by certain BJP spokespersons (since suspended from the office) on Prophet Mohammed have resulted in protests in multiple parts of the country and particularly in Uttar Pradesh.

Instead of giving protesters an opportunity of being heard and engage in peaceful protests, the Uttar Pradesh administration appears to have sanctioned taking violent action against such individuals, the letter stated.

"The Chief Minister has reportedly officially exhorted officials "to take such action against those guilty that it sets an example so that no one commits a crime or takes the law into their hands in the future. He has further directed that the National Security Act, 1980, and the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, be invoked against those found guilty of unlawful protests. It is these remarks that have emboldened the police to brutally and unlawfully torture protesters," it read.

Further, it said that videos of young men in police custody being beaten with lathis, houses of protesters being demolished without notice or any cause of action, and protesters from the minority Muslim community being chased and beaten by the police, are circulating on social media, shaking the conscience of the nation.

Such a brutal clampdown by a ruling administration is an unacceptable subversion of the rule of law and a violation of the rights of citizens, and makes a mockery of the Constitution and fundamental rights guaranteed by the state.

"... we urge the Supreme Court to take immediate suo motu action to arrest the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, specifically involving the high-handedness of the police and state authorities, and the brutal clampdown on the fundamental rights of citizens. We hope and trust the Supreme Court will rise to the occasion and not let the citizens and the Constitution down at this critical juncture," the letter urged.

Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice AP Shah, former Madras High Court Justice K. Chandru, and former Karnataka High Court Justice Mohammed Anwar are the other judges who signed the letter.

Apart from the judges, senior advocates Shanti Bhushan, Indira Jaisingh, Chander Uday Singh, Sriram Panchu, Prashant Bhushan, and Anand Grover also signed the petition letter.
Washington, June 14 : The US has said it will launch a new four-nation dialogue with India, Israel and the United Arab Emirates during President Joe Biden's visit next month to the region.

It will be called I2U2 -- for India and Israel whose names begin with the letter "I" and the US and the UAE that begin with the letter "U" -- and will be focussed on West Asia. It will be launched during Biden's visit to Israel, his first leg of his maiden trip as President to West Asia from July 13 to 16. He will also visit West Bank, home to the Palestinian Authority, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he will meet around a dozen regional leaders.

A senior Biden White House official said on a background call with reporters about the visit that the new initiative will be launched in a virtual call Biden will hold with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, and UAE's President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

They will discuss security and "areas of cooperation across hemispheres where UAE and Israel serve as important innovation hubs", said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity and went on to describe the meeting as a "unique engagement". No other details were available of this new initiative, its goals and reach.

Since coming into office in January 2021, Biden has launched several multilateral dialogues and initiatives such as a three-nation group with Australia and the United Kingdom called AUKUS and a Quadrilateral dialogue with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan; and deepened and strengthened existing platforms such as the Quad with India, Australia and Japan and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. He has also returned the US to several world bodies that it had left under former President Donald Trump.

The July 13-16 visit will be Biden's first to a region considered one of the most volatile in the world. It is expected to reinforce the US's "iron-clad commitment" to Israel's security and prosperity and continue the process of its integration into the region under the Abraham Accords brokered by Trump between Israel on the one hand and the UAE and Bahrain on the other in 2020; an agreement with Morocco followed.

Biden will also meet with Palestinian leaders in West Bank, recommitting US to a two-state solution that had been somewhat diluted or abandoned under Trump.

The American President will wrap up his West Asia tour in Jeddah, where he is also expected to attend the summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council plus Egypt, Iraq and Jordan (known as the GCC+3). He is expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts.

Biden's meeting with the Saudi king Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud will be the most closely watched of all his bilateral interactions in Jeddah. He is expected to meet Mohammad bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince who is accused by the US of ordering the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist. MBS, as the prince is known, has denied any involvement.

Biden has called Saudi Arabia a "pariah" state and released an intelligence report on Khashoggi's killing that points to the crown prince's involvement. Trump, who had forged very strong ties with the Saudi royals, had withheld the report. Since taking office, Biden had restricted his communications with the Saudi leadership to the king, cutting out the crown prince, who is considered the de facto ruler of the country, entirely.
Bengaluru, June 14 : Siddhanth Kapoor, son of actor Shakti Kapoor, appeared before the police here on Tuesday in connection with a case related to drugs consumption.

Five persons, including Siddhanth Kapoor, were arrested on Monday on charges of consumption of drugs during a party at a Bengaluru hotel.

Siddhanth Kapoor told the police during inquiry that someone had given him drinks and cigarettes laced with drugs. He also told the investigators that he did not know about the drugs.

"Siddhanth Kapoor claimed that drugs were mixed in his drinks and he didn't know about it. He told the police that he had been in Bengaluru many times to attend parties as DJ. This was the fourth time that he went to the hotel from where he was arrested. We have got the guest list and suspicious persons will be called for questioning," said Bhimashankar Guled, DCP (East).

The police said Siddhanth Kapoor also said that he has many friends in Bengaluru. The police have seized the mobile phones of Siddhanth Kapoor and four other accused who were arrested along with him and sent them for data retrieval.

The police are also looking into the drug peddling angle. The luxury hotel owner and the organisers of the rave party have been sent notices. The event management company representatives are also being called for questioning.

Along with Siddhanth Kapoor, the police have arrested Akhil Soni, business manager of Mind Fire Solutions, Harjoth Singh, an industrialist, Hani, a digital marketing entrepreneur, and Akhil, a photographer.

The police had seized 7 gm MDMA crystals and 10 gm marijuana after raiding the rave party at The Park in Bengaluru late on Sunday night.

According to the police, medical tests confirmed consumption of cocaine by Siddhanth Kapoor and the other accused persons.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Mumbai, June 14 : The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has directed the SEBI to conduct an independent inquiry against five brokers and persons associated with the brokers, and probe their role in the Rs 5,600-crore NSEL payment default case afresh within six months.

In its recent order, the SAT noted serious allegations against five brokers - Motilal Oswal Commodities Broker Pvt Ltd, Anand Rathi Commodities Ltd, IIFL Commodities Ltd, Philip Commodities India Pvt Ltd, and Geofin Comtrade Ltd - of indulging in illegal activities such as funding of clients by way of PAN lending, name lending through their NBFC, and other related entities, and that funding was totally disproportionate to the net-worth and income level of these clients.

The SAT also observed that the brokers have misused their in-house NBFC and have funded clients who had no capacity to take such exposure. These brokers channelised funds for trading without permission and knowledge of the clients and were engaged in market capturing practices by large-scale unique client code modifications.

Pointing out that these allegations are very serious in nature, in its June 9 order, the SAT said: "The impugned orders passed by the SEBI Whole Time Member (WTM) against the brokers cannot be sustained and are quashed. The appeals of the brokers are allowed. The matters are remitted to the WTM to decide the matter afresh in the light of the observations made aforesaid in accordance with law after giving an opportunity of hearing to the brokers. It will be open to the WTM to rely upon other material such as the complaint letters of NSEL, EOW report, EOW charge-sheet, etc. if such copies are provided to the brokers, and the opportunity is given to rebut the allegations." "Such additional documents relied upon by the respondent should form part of the show-cause notice for which purpose, it will be open to the WTM to issue a supplementary show cause notice. It will also be open to the SEBI if it considers necessary, to conduct an independent inquiry proceeding against the connected entities and persons associated with the brokers against whom evidence is available. SEBI will decide the matter afresh within six months from today," added the 44-page SAT order.

The entities who will be under the SEBI lens this time will be directors of brokerages, associate bodies, group entities, and bodies coming under the "Fit and Proper" criteria of the market regulator.

The SAT order noted that there were two show-cause notices sent to brokers, the first contained incriminating materials and other details unearthed during agency probes, while the second was on their alleged association with the NSEL. The order passed by the SEBI WTM was based entirely on the second show-cause notice, which is totally unwarranted.

The tribunal also observed that the SEBI WTM allegations against NSEL have directly affected the reputation, character, and integrity of the exchange, and such observations and findings which have been passed ex-parte without giving notice to the NSEL would adversely affect other proceedings against the NSEL pending before various courts of law/authorities.

The SAT said observations and findings given by the WTM, which is averse to the NSEL cannot be sustained especially when no notice or opportunity of hearing was provided, which is violative of the principles of natural justice.

"The adverse observations/findings against the NSEL in the SEBI orders be expunged and shall not be utilised against the NSEL in any court of law or before any authority," noted the SAT.
Pune: Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Jagadguru Shrisant Tukaram Maharaj Ji Temple at Dehu in Pune on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo: Twitter) Image Source: IANS News

Pune: Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers prayers at the Jagadguru Shrisant Tukaram Maharaj Ji Temple at Dehu in Pune on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo: Twitter) Image Source: IANS News

Pune: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses at the inauguration of the Jagadguru Shrisant Tukaram Maharaj Ji Temple at Dehu in Pune on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo: PIB/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Pune, June 14 : Paying tributes to the greats saints of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the welfare of Dalits, deprived, backwards, tribals, workers are the first priority of the country.

"The spirit of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas' is inspired by the great traditions like the annual Pandharpur Yatra of the Warkari devotees... The spirit of gender equality and the Antyodaya spirit among Warkari tradition is an inspiration," said Modi.

He was inaugurating the Jagadguru Shrisant Tukaram Maharaj Temple in Dehu, Pune this afternoon.

He said the country is moving towards '100 per cent empowerment' through the saturation of welfare schemes, and the poor getting connected with the basic necessities through these initiatives in the 75th year of India's Independence.

Referring to the temple, Modi said that Dehu's Shila Mandir is not only a centre of power of devotion but paves the way for the cultural future of India.

On the occasion, he recalled laying the foundation stone of the 4-laning of two national highways in the Palkhi Margs - the Shri Sant Dynajeshwar Maharaj Palkhi Marg and Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi Marg.

While the first would be completed in five phases, the second would be ready in three phases, giving a total of 350 km-long highways at a cost of over Rs 11,000 crore.

Terming India as one of the oldest living civilisations in the world, he said the credit for this goes to the traditions of saints and sages, and the country is eternal because India is a land of saints with some great soul descending to give direction to the country and society in every era.

Currently, the country is celebrating the birth anniversary of Sant Kabirdas besides other great souls like Shri Sant Dnyaneshawar Maharaj, Sant Nivruttinath, Sant Sopandev and Adi-Shakti Mukta Bai-ji.

The Prime Minister paid tributes to the glorious traditions of 'abhangas' of distinguished saints, their teachings that preached against discrimination between human beings which were equally for devotion to the country and society as they were for spiritual devotion.

Modi said the kindness, compassion and service of Sant Tukaram are still with us in the form of his 'abhangas' which have inspired generations and when the country is moving ahead keeping in sync with its cultural values, Sant Tukaram's 'abhangas' gives us energy.

The great saints also inspired national heroes like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Veer Savarkar, while the 'yatras' like Pandharpur, Jagannath Puri, Brij Parikrama in Mathura or Kashi Panchkoshi Parikrama, Char Dham or Amarnath Yatra, united the diverse nation and created the spirit of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat', said Modi.

He said it is our responsibility to keep our ancient identity and traditions alive to strengthen the national unity, when modern technology and infrastructure are becoming synonymous with India's development, both development and heritage must move forward together.

Sant Tukaram was a Warkari saint and poet who lived in Dehu, famously known for 'Abhangas' -- devotional poetry -- and community-oriented worship through spiritual songs known as 'Kirtans'.

He lived, preached and died in Dehu around 1650 and later an informal Shila Mandir was built in his memory, which has now been rebuilt in stone masonry wit 36 peaks with an idol of Sant Tukaram.
Mumbai, June 14 : As family, fans and Bollywood personalities remembered Sushant Singh Rajput on his 2nd death anniversary on Tuesday, the Maharashtra Congress again slammed the delays in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.

Congress General Secretary Sachin Sawant said here it has been two years now since the unfortunate demise of Rajput, 675 days since the CBI started investigations and 615 days since an AIIMS panel ruled out murder.

"The question still remains as to when will the CBI declare the final conclusion? The dirty politics of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) using someone's tragedy for settling political scores is abhorrent," said Sawant.

He said all still remember how the BJP used Rajput's death as an opportunity to defame the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Maharashtra and the Mumbai Police, which is "very sad for India's democracy".

Earlier, social media platforms were flooded with messages in memoriam to Rajput who was found dead on June 14, 2020 at his rental Bandra flat.

Many also demanded justice for the late actor who acted in Bollywood films like "M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story" (2016), "Kedarnath" (2018), "Chhichore" (2019), etc.

Rajput, is survived by his father Krishna Kishore Singh, sisters Nitu Singh, Meetu Singh, Priyanka Singh and Shweta Singh-Kirti.

"2 years Of Injustice To Sushant - Hello Dear SSRians! The TL for tomorrow for the whole day is 2 years Of Injustice To Sushant," tweeted sister Priyanka Singh.

"It has been 2 years since you left your mortal abode, Bhai, but you have become immortal because of the values you stood for," remembered Shweta Singh-Kirti in a tweet.

"Kindness, compassion and love for all were your virtues. You wanted to do so much for so many. We shall continue to model after your wonderful virtues and ideals in your honour. Bhai, you have changed the world for the better and will continue to do so even in your absence," she added.
Ulaanbaatar, June 14 : Mongolia celebrates Buddha Purnima on Tuesday (June 14) marking the birth of Siddhartha Gautam (Gautam Buddha) on this day.

The government decided to declare this day a national holiday in 2019. While the streets bore an empty look due to offices being closed, at the same time one could see large number of holiday-makers enjoying the beautiful weather with the temperature hovering around 18 degrees and a cool breeze blowing. But the city is also charged because of the arrival of the Buddha relic from India, further enhancing the relevance of this day.

A large crowd had gathered in and around the Gandan Monastery in the capital city of Ulaanbataar since early morning, marking the day and to pay their obeisance to the relic. The Indian delegation which arrived at the venue led by Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju was overwhelmed by the rousing welcome they received at the Gandan Monastery. The extent and depth of faith that prevails among people in Mongolia towards Buddhism and towards India is unfathomable.

The crowd was so overawed with the arrival of the relic from India which they consider as the land of the Buddhha that some among them were trying to touch the Indian delegation members as if to make a connect with those from the 'land of the Buddha'. While the delegation took its place at the Gandan Monastery where more than thousand people had gathered, another 3,000 strong procession of Buddhist monks and followers reached the Gandan Monastery in a procession that travelled through the city.

The delegation led by Rijiju received the procession along with the Mongolian Minister of Culture Nomin Chinbat and Khamba Nomun Khan of the Gandan Monastery. A professional music choir set the pace for the day with a piece from the Mongolian national music collection. They later played two more wonderful themes mesmerising the audience. This was followed by a prayer marking the placing of the relic in the casket before the altar which forms part of the platform in front of the large Buddha statue that adorns the temple.

In his speech on the occasion, Khan, Head of the Gandan Monastery, and the Speaker of the Mongolian Parliament, highlighted the enormous role played by India in promoting Buddhism in Mongolia and various aspects of Buddhism in Mongolia. They also highlighted the relevance of this important day and how it was the Buddha's blessings which had saved the country from the pandemic and other challenges. They reiterated the extent of peace and harmony that the Buddhist faith had brought about in the Mongolian society and now with the relic being brought in, they claimed that there was a strong sense of connect among the people of India and Mongolia.

During his speech to the gathering, Rijiju mentioned that Buddha is a shining example of compassion, peace and non-violence. He said that the Buddha's teachings are eternal and touches human values at the core of Buddhist philosophy. He mentioned that during his last two visits and on this visit too, he felt the warmth and affection of the people of Mongolia and hence it was all the more a matter of pride and honour for him to bring the relic to Mongolia. He appreciated the fact that the Mongolian people had seen a 55 episode serial on the Buddha prepared in India, which was dubbed in Mongolian. Rijiju also mentioned that on this sacred day, one should pray to shun violence and ensure that no pain comes in lives of people.

Referring to parts of speech given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 2015 visit to Mongolia, Rijiju reiterated his statement to the effect that "Indians and Mongolians are telling the world that the bonds of hearts and minds have the strength to overcome the barriers of distance." On his part, Rijiju mentioned that being a Buddhist, he himself had a special connect with Buddhism. He said that the Buddha was a shining example of compassion and his teaching are eternal and touches human values at the core of Buddhist philosophy.

The event was a grand one with a large gathering witnessing it with some of the senior most dignitaries present on the occasion. There is no doubt that the relic from India flown on board a special plane by Rijiju and the delegation has made the people of Mongolia realise the love and affection that India and Indians have for this country. Coverage in the local media was a clear evidence of the tremendous success of the visit.
Mumbai, June 14 : Actor Anup Soni, who plays the protagonist in one of the short films as part of the Army anthology 'Bravehearts', says every story of the series is a tribute to the Indian Army.

The latest film 'Shooter Jawaan' of the original anthology 'Bravehearts' showcases the courage to fight back against all odds to make the right choice for oneself.

'Shooter Jawaan' starring Anup Soni and newcomer Rohit Pargai is a story of a ragpicker Tinku, a gifted shooter who is spotted by Colonel Tribhuvan and wants to enroll him in the shooting academy and eventually in the Indian Army.

Anup, who portrays the role of Colonel Tribhuvan says, "'Shooter Jawaan' is a story of an underprivileged child whose life takes a 360 degree turn when a respected Colonel notices his extraordinary shooting skills. To be a part of such an inspiring story that touches one's heartstrings is truly an actor's dream." "I am thrilled to be a part of Dice Media's 'Bravehearts' as they have tried to touch upon the challenging lives of our jawans and their families who selflessly sacrifice their heart and soul to protect our country. I hope all our viewers join me in paying respect to these true heroes, the 'Bravehearts' of India," he further added.

Rohit Pargai who plays the role of Amar Singh reminiscing his character said, "'Bravehearts' is extremely close to my heart as it depicts the real struggles of Armymen and their never-give-up attitude is truly an inspiration for me. Playing the celebrated character of Amar Singh, so early on in my career is a privilege for me and I'm truly grateful to the team at Dice Media for offering it to me." Previously, 'Masterji' threw light on the importance of perseverance and focus, while 'Jaldi Lautna Captain' taught us to convert our grief into courage and overcome the most heartbreaking situations.

The show is available on Dice Media YouTube channel.
London, June 14 : Tracing contacts of people infected with monkeypox virus is giving public health officials in the UK a hard time, with many having had unknown sexual partners in "cruising grounds, sex clubs and during chemsex sessions", according to a report.

The first technical briefing for the disease by the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) includes details of 45 confirmed cases, who were asked about their sexual health. The report "highlighted challenges" in controlling the outbreak, Telegraph reported.

Nearly all (98 per cent) of the cases reported having sex with other men during the incubation period, with about half (44 per cent) reporting more than 10 sexual partners in the previous three months and group sex.

About 20 out of 45 also reported attending "sex-on-premises", such as in saunas, dark rooms or sex clubs in the UK or abroad during the incubation period, while nearly 64 per cent met new partners via dating apps, the report said.

"Traditional contact tracing as a primary control intervention in this specific group will be challenging as most cases reported having sexual contact with new or casual partners, sometimes in the context of cruising grounds or during chemsex, frequently where contact details were unavailable for tracing," said the report.

As of June 12, the UKHSA has detected 104 additional cases of monkeypox in England, bringing the total number confirmed in the UK to 470 with 452 cases in England, 12 in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland, and four in Wales.

The outbreak in the UK is currently classified as Level 2, meaning that transmission is confined to a subpopulation with close contacts, but the report said health officials were closely monitoring the situation for evidence of Level 3 - the stage before full community transmission, the report said.

"We are working, both in the UK and together with global partners, to progress the investigations that we need to help us better understand the virus, its transmission and the best use of mitigations such as vaccines and treatments," said Dr Meera Chand, Director of Clinical and Emerging Infections, UKHSA, in a statement.

"We use the new data rapidly to inform the public health response and we continue to work to reduce transmission.

"We are grateful to all those who have come forward for testing and the patients who continue to help us understand the outbreak through participating in studies and investigations," she added.

Latest updates on Monkeypox Virus Outbreak
Chennai, June 14 : Five Sri Lankan nationals, who are in the Chennai International Airport's transit lounge, said that they will approach the Madras High Court to get back their gold bars weighing about seven kg seized by Customs.

Transiting through India from Dubai to Colombo, they landed at Chennai International Airport when the Customs allegedly seized their legally declared gold, they said.

"We have been at the Chennai International Airport for the past 12 days. We have decided to get back our legally brought gold that was forcibly taken from us by the officials of Indian Customs Department," Ihsanul Haq, one of the five Lankans, told IANS.

"We are spending our own money at the airport for our food. Since we didn't reach Colombo as per plans, our friends there enquired about us at the airport there and then the came to know that we are at Chennai. One of our Sri Lankan friends who came here to check on us stayed back and got in touch with a lawyer here," Haq said.

According to Haq, all the five had declared the amount of gold carried by them to the Dubai Customs officials based on the purchase invoices.

"Each one of us had about 1.398 kg of gold," Haq said.

The five Sri Lankans flew in here by Indigo Airlines flight early morning on June 2.

While they were deboarding the Dubai-Chennai flight, the Customs Officials had asked to stand aside and later seized their mobile phones, and passports and forced them back into the aircraft while other passengers left for the terminal by bus from the tarmac.

Questioned about gold by the Customs officials, the Sri Lankans said they bought this in Dubai and was also declared to the authorities in Dubai.

Despite their protests, the Customs officials seized the gold from their persons.

On the other hand, the Customs on June 4 tweeted: "Chennai Air Customs recovered 9.02 Kgs of 24K purity Gold valued at Rs. 4.21 Crores from rummaging of Indigo Flight No.6E 66 dt.02.06.2022 arriving from Dubai and restroom of arrival area of Chennai International Airport. The same was seized under the Customs Act, 1962." Haq alleged that they were detained in the aircraft for several hours and were also assaulted by the officials.

The Sri Lankans also said the closed circuit television camera (CCTV) should be examined and the video preserved.

While the Customs said gold was seized from the rest room in aircraft and in the airport, the Lankans charge the gold was taken away from them.

According to Haq, all the five are gold traders, who buy the yellow metal in Dubai for jewellers in Sri Lanka.
New Delhi, June 14: "The Indonesia and Australia relationship has blown hot and cold over the years. It has been like a rollercoaster, sometimes you scream and sometimes you laugh," Athiqah Nur Alami, the head of the Political Research Center at the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) told Al Jazeera, just before the newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese undertook his maiden three-day visit to Indonesia from June 5.

The Canberra- Jakarta relationship is sensitive and very important underlined by the fact that not even two weeks have passed since the new prime minister took office and he decided to make a dash to Jakarta to 'reset' the relationship, in his own words. Albanese wants to bond with Jakarta-a sentiment that is warmly reciprocated in Indonesia by President Jokowi, who has visited Australia four times since 2014.

Despite the aspirations of the two leaders, the reality is that the government-to-government relationship between Australia and Indonesia is a fragile one, easily broken when tensions arise. There are many differences - from history, religion, ethnicity, and language, to legal systems, political systems, global alliances, and strategic interests. Despite the occasional problems in the government-to-government relationship, there are strong people-to-people links in the arts, education, academic, and community sectors that create cohesion in the relationship. Indonesia is Australia's largest neighbour, and while Jakarta lies more than 5,000 kilometres (3106 miles) west of Canberra, the closest part of the archipelago is only a few hundred kilometres off the tip of Western Australia. The country represents "one of Australia's most important bilateral relationships", according to the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), which adds that the two countries "enjoy extensive cooperation including on strategic, economic, security, development and education issues".

Notwithstanding that, in fact, very few Australian governments in recent years have made it to the end of their term without a bust-up with Indonesia of some kind. In 2013, relations soured when a number of media organisations published allegations that the Australian Signals Directorate had tried to monitor the private phone calls of the then Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife Kristiani Herwati, and other senior Indonesian officials.

A diplomatic rift between the two countries emerged again in 2015 as Indonesia prepared to execute Australian nationals Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan after they were found guilty of masterminding a nine-person drug smuggling ring trying to carry 8.3 kilograms of heroin from the Indonesian island of Bali to Australia in 2005. The Australian government lobbied for the men's lives to be spared, with then Prime Minister Tony Abbott referring to the aid Australia sent to Indonesia following the devastating 2004 tsunami - estimated at 1 billion Australian dollars ($780m) - and implying that the country owed Australia for the financial support.

Indonesians are too proud a people and their country pursues an independent foreign policy and obviously do not like aid to be a leverage in foreign relations. Then in January 2021, Australia was upset after Indonesia announced it would free Islamist preacher Abu Bakar Bashir from prison because he had completed his jail term. Scot Morrison, who was then prime minister, called the release "distressing" for the families of those Australians who had died in the Bali Bombings. "It's sometimes not a fair world," he said. Bashir was spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, the hard-line group behind the 2002 bombings, which killed more than 200 people, including 88 Australians. Indonesia did not like the interference and sermons from Australia.

Security concerns could have been a cementing force between the two countries, as both face major pressures from China with its assertive claim on the South China Sea in its entirety. Neither Australia nor Indonesia have claims in the South China Sea, but both governments are closely watching developments there. The waterway is of strategic and economic importance - one third of the world's shipping passes through the sea each year - and Indonesia, as an archipelago, has longstanding concerns about the security of its waters. China's claim that the waters around the Natuna Islands, which are in Indonesia's exclusive economic zone, are part of its "traditional fishing grounds" have also caused anger in Jakarta. Canberra's relations with Beijing is also fraught in recent years over a variety of issues- from its criticisms of China's crackdowns in Hong Kong and Xinjiang to the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. More importantly, Beijing has also been reaching out to Australia's traditional allies in the Pacific, alarming Canberra.

Both are concerned about China's growing power and the threat it poses to peace, security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, yet their differences in the approaches to deal with it have already caused some friction. Last September, tensions flared after Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced a trilateral security agreement known as AUKUS, under which Australia would acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Jakarta was one among a number of countries that expressed concern about the deal, and Morrison's planned visit to Jakarta was cancelled. When Widodo and Morrison did finally meet - at a virtual meeting with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - the Indonesian president "repeatedly and forcefully" raised concerns about the AUKUS deal, according to Australian media. The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also blamed Australia for what it termed "a continuing arms race" in the region.

Still, while Indonesia and Australia have historically found common ground on a number of security issues - working together on issues such as people smuggling, intelligence cooperation, and counter terrorism. The two countries have worked well together in areas including maritime security, military training, and education, While doing that Canberra has to take into account Jakarta's sensitivities, as it is proud of its long cherished "non-aligned status" under which it has traditionally sought to navigate a middle path with the world's larger powers. The latest example of this neutrality and independence is that it has already indicated - despite pressure from other members of the grouping and to the chagrin of Canberra- that it will invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G20 Summit despite the invasion of Ukraine. To placate its critics, Jakarta has also extended an invitation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who has indicated that he will attend via video link. Albanese did well by informing Jakarta that he would be present at the upcoming G-20 Summit 2022 in Bali.

Economic areas are the ones where there is plenty of opportunity to reset the relations with Indonesia. The prime minister's new A$200 million "climate and infrastructure partnership" with Indonesia is a good start - improving Indonesia's patchy infrastructure is a project close to Jokowi's heart. Climate change is also a pressing concern for Indonesia. However, its record on efforts to reduce deforestation and emissions means there will be challenges. For example, in 2021, Indonesia terminated a US$1 billion (A$1.4 billion) deal with Norway aimed at preserving its forests.

A longer-term challenge is implementing the long-awaited free trade agreement with Indonesia, the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AI-CEPA), which Albanese has made a focus of his visit, bringing with him a large delegation of Australian business leaders and Trade Minister Don Farrell.

While IA-CEPA is a comprehensive agreement based on four pillars of interest including economics, people, security and maritime cooperation, "there is still room for improvement", particularly with regards to trade. But the problem is that Indonesia trades less with Australia than its Southeast Asian neighbours: Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. As of 2020, Indonesia is Australia's 13th biggest trading partner, worth $17.8 billion in two-way trade. Almost 2,500 Australian businesses export goods to Indonesia. But in many ways Indonesia is still underdone as an economic partner - not just when compared with China and India, and Australia's long standing partners in Japan and South Korea, but also with Southeast Asian neighbours, Singapore and Thailand.

More Australian small and medium sized companies export goods to Fiji than Indonesia. And despite Indonesia's massive population, just 250 Australian companies have a presence in Indonesia. This compares to more than 3,000 in China. There are no easy solutions here, as Australian businesses are wary of investing in Indonesia. Even while big profits are possible, setting up in Indonesia is complex and expensive, and Australians don't trust the Indonesian legal system to protect them, especially against Indonesia's powerful oligarchs.

While Australian businesses are perhaps too cautious, Indonesia also has a lot of work to do to reform its systems before it can expect Australian businesses to help it meet its ambitious and elusive foreign investment targets. Free trade agreements need to be a priority for both countries. Indonesia hasn't attracted manufacturers looking for low-cost opportunities like China, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Foreign companies have mainly gone there for its massive domestic consumer market, especially the urban middle class in cities like Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Surabaya. So, there is still a great potential for Australian trade and foreign investment to help build capacity way beyond boats, beef and Bali, the three things Australians are more familiar with Indonesia.

Despite all these challenges Indonesia sees that the dimension of cooperation with Australia, which previously focused on defence and security, has now covered other issues, including economic cooperation and people-to-people relations, which appear to dominate cooperation between the two countries. Educational cooperation is one area which has been successful and promotes cooperative relations and goodwill. The Australia Awards programme has provided more than 11,500 scholarships to Indonesians to study at a tertiary level in Australia since 1953, with more than 17,000 Indonesians studying in Australian institutions in 2020. While Indonesians are more enthusiastic about going to Australia for a generous scholarship, Australians might not be that much interested in coming to Indonesia for higher studies. Still, Indonesia remains one of the most popular destinations for students under the New Colombo Plan - an Australian government initiative to encourage young Australians to study and undertake internships in the Asia Pacific region. Since 2014, more than 10,700 scholarships and grants for students to study and enjoy work-based experience in Indonesia have been awarded.

All in all, Australia-Indonesia relations still have chances of turning fragile if care is not taken. To convert them into a more stable and solid foundation, Albanese would have to be much more serious than his predecessor to reset it securely.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, June 14: Even after almost two years, the developed nations are stubbornly sticking to their ground of not allowing to lift the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.(TRIPS) patent rules pertaining to Covid drugs and other diagnostic equipment, much to the shock of the Global South. The Covid 19 menace is far from being over and is continuing to pose severe challenges to several parts of the world.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Secretariat at the 12th Ministerial Conference is now looking at framing a mechanism that would allow temporary lifting of patents only for Covid 19 vaccines.

According to AFP, the first ministerial meeting since December 2017 is however scrambling with the "wording of a text" that would facilitate the move.

India and South Africa have been demanding lifting of patents to ensure an equitable distribution of Covid vaccines, drugs and other medical equipment. In October 2020, the two countries framed a proposal to lift the intellectual property guidelines on Covid 19 related vaccines, drugs and other test equipment.

Piyush Goyal, Commerce and Industry Minister, said that the Covid pandemic would not be complete without a TRIPS waiver.

"For the past year and a half, South Africa and India and 63 co-sponsors of the waiver proposal had urged the WTO membership to adopt the trips waiver proposal for ramping up production of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics to comprehensively combat the COVID 19 pandemic, by enhancing supply and ensuring equitable and affordable access regrettably though the discussions reached a deadlock in the TRIPS Council," the minister said.

Big Pharma and certain advanced economies have been vehemently opposing lifting of patents since the start. Earlier, the rich nations' vaccine protectionism posed challenge for the developing and the poorer nations.

"This is shameful, it exposes the WTO order and how the framework is twisted to suit a few countries that are rich and developed. This is a wake-up call for us and goes on to show that we cannot and should not trust the West," Swadeshi Jagran Manch national co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan told India Narrative.

Mahajan in his blog also noted that the stand adopted by the developed countries like EU, UK, US and Switzerland is "unfortunate" and that the WTO Secretariat worked together to make the waiver proposal limited to vaccines and that too limited to export of vaccine only and that too, unworkable, being loaded with so many conditions.

Meanwhile, WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Monday said that the world, which is staring at multiple crises such as the pandemic, food shortage, climate change and regional conflicts needs to work together to address these issues., "No one country can solve these crises on its own, this is a time that you need the world to work together," she said.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
New Delhi, June 14 : The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved grant of moratorium to Cochin Port Authority on repayment of Government of India (GoI) loans for a period of three years.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a moratorium of three years (2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23) to Cochin Port Authority (CoPA) towards repayment of the balance outstanding GoI loans amounting to Rs 446.83 crore to tide over the financial crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The amount was to be repaid in 10 instalments commencing from 2018-19.

However, Cochin Port Authority could pay the installments of 2018-19 and 2019-20 only.

From 2020-21, the traffic was badly impacted due to Covid-19 pandemic which adversely impacted the cash inflow. As a result, Cochin Port could not pay the installments of 2020-21 and 2021-22.

Cochin Port has been brought under the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021 with effect from November 2021.

The CCEA on August 24, 2016 had approved the proposal for waiver of penal interest on GoI loans taken by Cochin Port for various infrastructural developmental activities during 1936-37 to 1994-95.
Moscow, June 14 : Russia will provide a way out for civilians at the Azot fertiliser factory in the contested city of Severodonetsk, but will use a different plan to that which Kiev requested, the Russian military said on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian proposal may have been an attempt to extract its soldiers from the blockaded plant, it claimed, RT reported.

The Russian statement said civilians in the Azot plant were being used as a "human shield" by Ukrainian troops who took cover at the facility. Hundreds of non-combatants were allegedly forced to move to the Ukrainian forces' last stronghold in the city as Russian and allied troops captured residential areas in Severodonetsk.

The city is claimed by the Russia-allied Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) as part of its territory.

"The Ukrainian side considers the position of its military units as hopeless, so we consider the request to save the civilians as an attempt to extract the surviving troops out of the blockade," said Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, RT reported.

The Russian military noted the situation is not unlike what happened in the city of Mariupol, where Ukrainian troops remained blockaded at the Azovstal plant for weeks before surrendering to Russian and allied troops.

Mizintsev urged Ukrainian officials to order their soldiers in Severodonetsk to lay down their arms and surrender too. In the meantime, Russia is willing to grant civilians safe passage to territory controlled by the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), provided the Ukrainian troops let them go, the statement said.

Severodonetsk is one of just a handful of places in LPR-claimed territory where Ukrainian troops are still present. Last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said his country's troops and local militias were in control of 97 per cent of the republic's territory.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Bengaluru, June 14 : Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai got emotional after watching the Kannada movie '777 Charlie', which celebrates the bond between a man and his dog.

The Chief Minister could be seen wiping his tears as he emerged out of the theatre on Monday night.

The movie reminded Bommai of 'Sunny', his family pet dog which passed away some time ago.

"The love between a man and a dog is the best example of pure and unconditional love," Bommai said.

The Chief Minister was full praise for the movie's protagonist Rakshit Shetty and the makers of the film.

The movie effectively portrayed the sensitive and emotional relationship between a man and a dog, he said.

Expressing his compassion for street dogs, Bommai said that he would discuss with experts to launch an initiative to take care of stray dogs.

"There is a proposal to formulate a special programme to encourage dog trainers. We should encourage adoption of stray dogs. Stray dogs and other animals should be protected," he said.

Speaking about the film, the Chief Minister said, "Director Kiran has succeeded in presenting the emotional bond of the man-dog relationship. Rakshit Shetty's performance is stupendous. It is a great film." "We are proud that Kannada movies are attaining international fame with films like '777 Charlie' and 'KGF 2'," he added.
Kochi, June 14 : Prime accused in the gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh who has given sleepless nights to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that she will soon prove that Vijayan knows her very well.

"You must all remember that when this case first surfaced (July 2020) and news surfaced about this, Vijayan said he doesn't know me," said Swapna.

"Very soon, through you (media) I will remind him on my presence at the Cliff House (official residence of Vijayan) discussing things in the presence of his wife Kamala, their daughter Veena and their son and taking decisions. If he has forgotten that, then I will remind him," said Swapna.

She was speaking in the presence of her lawyer here, after her case seeking to quash the FIR registered against her for conspiring to incite violence is being heard in the court.

Swapna last week fired the first salvo when she confessed before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. She revealed that Vijayan, his wife, their daughter Veena all have a role in smuggling of currency and gold.

And based on her revelation, the Kerala police has filed an FIR.

"I wish to reiterate that under no circumstances am I going to go back on what I have said and only if I am killed, will I be not able to say it. But if it happens then also all what I have said will come out with all the evidences," added Swapna.
Kolkata, June 14 : A Bill to replace the state governor with the Education Minister as the Visitor of private universities was passed on the floor of the West Bengal assembly on Tuesday afternoon.

The Bill was passed by a simple voice vote on the floor of the House as the BJP legislators staged a walkout. Soon after state Education Minister Bratya Basu rose to explain the state government's logic behind passing the Bill, the BJP legislators started protesting.

Basu asked them to occupy their seats. But they kept on protesting and shouting 'shame, shame' slogans and then staged a walkout.

On Monday only, a bill to replace governor with the Chief Minister as chancellor in the 31 state universities under the West Bengal education department was passed in the House. The state government also proposes to pass another Bill where state universities under departments other than education like health, agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries sciences will also get the chief minister as the chancellor replacing governor.

All these bills that get passed on the floor of the House will be sent to the governor for his consent. The state government has already said that if the governor refuses to give consent to the Bills, they will be implemented through an ordinance.

Meanwhile, leader of the opposition in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari has already vowed to stop West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from being the chancellor of the state universities. "I will request the governor to send the Bill to Delhi since education is in the concurrent list," he said.
Chennai, June 14 : Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Tuesday announced that the 'Illam Thedi Kalvi' or 'Education at Doorsteps' scheme will be extended for six months more.

Chennai, June 14 (IANS) Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Tuesday announced that the 'Illam Thedi Kalvi' or 'Education at Doorsteps' scheme will be extended for six months more.

'Illam Thedi Kalvi' is a scheme announced by the DMK government under Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin to address the learning gap that has evolved due to the closure of schools during the pandemic. The government implemented the scheme as studies found that the benefits of in-person classes could not be matched by online classes and the objective of the scheme was to impart education to children at home. Volunteers were recruited to take classes to children for two hours a day.

Poyyamozhi, in a statement, said that the scheme will continue till normalcy returns in the functioning of schools. The minister said that as the schools have resumed the normal academics only now, normalcy has not returned and that the scheme has to continue.

The minister also said that 9,494 teachers would be recruited to the government schools in the ongoing year. This is to increase the enrolment of students in government schools of the state.

He also said that the students' mobile phones, if found being used in schools, will be confiscated and would not be returned.
New Delhi, June 14 : In the latest development in connection with Sidhu Moosewala murder case, Punjab Police on Tuesday got the transit remand of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi from Delhi's Patiala House court.

The Special Cell briefed the Punjab Police about the death threat being faced by Bishnoi. The sources have said that Punjab Police is taking it seriously as Bishnoi through his counsel had also raised the questions of his possible encounter.

The Punjab police will take him by a bulletproof car which will be escorted by a dozen cars full of cops. More than 50 police personnel will escort the vehicles to make sure no untoward incident takes place.

After reaching Punjab, the police will produce Bishnoi before a concerned court to get his custodial remand.

Punjab Police has termed him as the mastermind behind the whole plot of the killing Sidhu Moosewala.

Some of the accused arrested by the Punjab Police have revealed the name of Lawrence Bishnoi as the main culprit who hired them to execute the killing of Moosewala.
Panaji, June 14 : Former director of CBI, M. Nageshwar Rao on Tuesday said the Goa government must pass the requisite law in the assembly and send it to the Central government to prevent religious conversions.

"The issue of religious conversions exists at the National level. To stop this, Article 25 of the Constitution needs to be amended and the words 'Propagate Religion' removed from it. There should be no obstacles in following one's own religion. Besides, the Goa Government must pass the requisite law in the Assembly and send it to the Central government," Rao said.

Rao, speaking in the Hindu convention in South Goa, said that all over, Indian Hindus are being converted.

He said that even though many states in India already have laws against religious conversions, the conspiracy to openly convert Hindus is taking place by luring them.
Ranchi, June 14 : Cracking down on those involved in the violence that took place in Ranchi last Friday (June 10), the police have put up their hoardings with the photographs, their names and addresses at major intersections of the city.

The step was taken on the instructions of Governor Ramesh Bais. On Monday, the Governor had summoned senior officers of the state including DGP Neeraj Sinha and expressed strong displeasure over the incident.

The Governor had asked the DGP to identify the miscreants and put their photographs in public places so that common citizens can give information about them. Ranchi Police has taken prompt action within 24 hours of this instruction.

The hoardings and posters put up at major intersections of the city have pictures of more than three dozen miscreants along with their names and addresses. These include the names of Chhotu, Charka, Bichha, Shad, Tagla, Aamir from Hindpiri, Qurban Chowk resident Captain, and Sirajul of Lakdi Pul Gali etc. The pictures of all these accused were captured in CCTV, video and drone cameras during stone-pelting and vandalism on the main road on Friday afternoon. People have been appealed to inform the police about them.

The police have so far arrested 15 people in connection with incidents of violence while more than 40 people have been questioned. Seven of those arrested are currently undergoing treatment at RIMS. Police have also taken preventive action under Section 107 against 155 people living in six police station areas of Ranchi. A total of 26 FIRs have been registered so far in this case, in which more than 50 people have been named. Apart from this, more than 1,000 unknown people have been made accused.

On the fifth day after the violence, the situation has started returning normal in most areas of the city. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 are still in force in five police station areas of the city. These are -- Daily Market, Doranda, Hindpiri, Doranda, Lower Bazar and Kotwali. The police have now allowed opening of shops in these areas only from 12 noon to 5 p.m. A large number of police forces have been deployed in the sensitive areas of the city.
Srinagar, June 14 : Two terrorists, linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT, including a Pakistani, were neutralised in a brief encounter at Bemina area of Srinagar district on Tuesday, J&K Police said.

Police said acting on specific information generated by police regarding the movement of terrorists, who had earlier escaped from an encounter in Sopore and were being tracked continuously, in Bemina area, Srinagar police established a special naka near JVC Bemina.

"During naka checking, two suspects, while approaching the said naka, were challenged and started indiscriminate firing upon the said naka party. The fire was however effectively retaliated, leading to a brief encounter," a police official said.

In the initial exchange of fire, five police personnel received minor injuries and were immediately evacuated to hospital for the treatment of their injuries.

"In the ensuing brief encounter, the two terrorists were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. Incriminating materials including documents were recovered from the possession of both the killed terrorists," the official said.

The two have been identified as Abdullah Goujri, resident of Pakistan's Faisalabad, and Adil Hussain Mir alias Sufian alias Musab, resident of Anantnag.

"It is pertinent to mention here that the killed terrorist Adil Hussain Mir had crossed over to Pakistan in year 2018 on visit visa from Wagah," police said.

Inspector General Police Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar told media that Pakistan-based terror handlers had sent two Pakistani LeT terrorists alongwith Adil Hussain, a resident of Pahalgam area with the directions to carry out attacks on Amarnath Yatra. However, all the three terrorists have been killed now in two separate encounters i.e; one at Sopore and the other two at Bemina.

IGP Kashmir appreciated the role of police for tracking and neutralizing the terrorists who had recently escaped in Sopore encounter. He further said it is a big success as they were planning to attack Amarnath Yatra however the prompt and timely action by the police led to the elimination of both the terrorists and thereby averting the possible major threat.

Two AK-47 rifles, 10 magazines, 165 live cartridges, Y-SMS device, Matrix sheets, Pakistani medicines etc were recovered from the site of encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other terror crimes.
Kolkata, June 14 : A team of eight CBI sleuths, including women officers, grilled Rujira Narula Banerjee, the wife of Trinamool Congress national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, for nearly seven hours on Tuesday in connection with the agency's probe into the coals smuggling case.

During the grilling that started at 11.45 am and continued till 6.45 pm, the name of Neeraj Singh, a chartered accountant who's currently absconding, surfaced repeatedly.

As per CBI sources, Singh, who is a resident of Howrah, helped the coal smuggling masterminds in transferring funds by hoodwinking the regulatory and monitoring authorities.

Recently, the CBI officers came across documents relating to communications between the prime accused in the case, Anup Majhi alias Lala, and Neeraj Singh. These documents gave the CBI officers some clear idea as to how Singh transferred several crores of rupees to different bank accounts as per the instructions of Lala.

One such account where money was transferred was traced to Bangkok, which was purportedly held by Rujira Narula. While transferring the amount to this particular account, the Indian currency was converted into Thai Baht.

As per CBI estimates, the total financial involvement in this coal smuggling racket was around Rs 1,300 crore.

CBI sources said that during her integration on Tuesday, Rujira Narula constantly denied knowledge of the existence of the bank account and also said that she never heard of anyone named Neeraj Singh.

While the CBI officers were interrogating Rujira Narula, her husband was in Tripura to attend a by-election campaign rally there.

At the rally, Abhishek Banerjee said that the CBI sleuths deliberately tried to stop him from visiting Agartala by aligning the time of his wife's integration with his schedule.

"But I am not scared," he said at the rally.

However, the CBI officers denied the allegation and said that when they had sought time from Rujira Narula for interrogation last week, her counsel had confirmed this date.
Bengaluru, June 14 : The Karnataka High Court came down heavily on the state government for its lethargic attitude to get sanction to prosecute a retired Chief Secretary and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

The court gave the order while taking up the petition of one of the accused D.B. Gangaiah, a surveyor who questioned that only junior officers are being prosecuted. The order was given on June 8.

Gangaiah was prosecuted based on the complaint filed by one Bhaskaran against former Chief Secretary Arvind Jadhav. The complainant had charged that Jadhav along with DC, AC and Tehsildar of Anekal taluk had allegedly misused his power to create fake documents.

The fake documents were created on the 66 acres of the government land in Ramanayakanahalli in Anekal taluk in the outskirts of Bengaluru city.

The government during the course of investigation had only sanctioned prosecution of junior government employees under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

While being questioned on this in the High Court, the counsel for the government maintained that the process of obtaining sanction to prosecute retired Chief Secretary is on and it is coordinating with the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) of the central government.

However, since the government did not obtain sanction to prosecute till date, the bench headed by Justice P. Sandesh remarked that the government is showing lethargic attitude.

The court also remarked that the state is not interested to protect its property which is at the hands of the former Chief Secretary. The government counsel is directed to deposit Rs 1 lakh in a week and recover the same from the accused in the case. The matter had been posted to June 16.
Chennai, June 14 : After seven girls were rescued in a span of four days from child marriage in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri, the district administration has decided that it would act tough against the menace, while also conducting awareness programmes to prevent these.

Talking to IANS, Krishnagiri District Collector, Dr. Jaya Chandra Bhanu Reddy said that the administration would act tough against the perpetrators, while Social Welfare Department officials would be directed to conduct proper awareness among families against child marriages.

The district administration would also rope in School Education Department to create awareness among children on the need for higher education.

On Friday, three child marriages were stopped by the police and the ChildLine activists in the district. The local police got a tip-off on Sunday that four girls were getting married and police reached Doddamanju panchayat in Kodakkarai tribal village at night along with Childline activists and prevented it. The marriage was to be solemnized at a temple deep inside the forest in the tribal settlement but the policemen and the Childline activist prevented it and rescued four girls, who were school-going children aged 14 to 16 years.

Social activist R. Dhananjayan told IANS that the Social Welfare Department "has to be more proactive and involved in the day-to-day developments in the tribal areas and other backward areas of the district to prevent such happenings".
Mumbai, June 14 : Prime Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the work of the media and newspapers is to deliver news and educate the masses if there are any lapses in society and the government.

"It is their duty to bring such shortcomings to the fore.... But, as much as the media has the right to criticise, it also has an equally important responsibility to bring positive news to the fore," Modi exhorted.

He was speaking at the bicentennial celebrations of 'Mumbai Samachar' -- a Gujarati daily, published from Mumbai continuously for the past 200 years and now ranking among the 50 oldest newspapers in the world.

In this context, Modi lauded the manner in which journalists worked like 'karmayogis' during the past 2 years of the Corona pandemic which will be remembered forever.

"The positive contribution of India's media helped India a lot in dealing with this biggest crisis of 100 years. He also lauded the media's role in promoting initiatives like digital payment and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan," said Modi.

The Prime Minister said that this country has a rich tradition that is carried forward through the medium of debates and discussions.

"For thousands of years, we have conducted healthy debate, healthy criticism and right reasoning as a part of the social system. We have open and healthy discussions on very difficult social topics. This has been the practice of India, which we have to strengthen," he said.

In his address, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed amazement that a Gujarati language newspaper could be published for a staggering two centuries in a state where Marathi is the main language of the masses.

"This is the beauty of Mumbai which has assimilated all languages and cultures which thrive here... we also know the challenges and travails of running a newspaper," said Thackeray, lauding 'Mumbai Samachar' for its contributions to the city, state, nation and the overall media, and vowing to start reading it from "tomorrow".

On the occasion, Modi released a commemorative India Post stamp on the two-century old paper, which the city's Gujarati-speaking communities comprising Gujaratis, Jains, Dawoodi Bohras, Khojas, Memons and others, swear by.

'Mumbai Samachar' started as a weekly on July 1, 1822 by Fardunjee Marzbanji, and later after several 'avatars', became a daily in 1832, and has been continuously printed and published from its headquarters in the Fort area of south Mumbai for the past 200 years.
New Delhi, June 14 : The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the 'Agnipath' recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the armed forces.

Soldiers recruited under the new scheme will be inducted into the armed forces as 'Agniveers', a new rank as opposed to sepoys who join the Indian Army under the legacy recruitment model.

The 'Agnipath' model will foresee the recruitment of personnel below officer rank (PBOR) in army, air force and navy for four years, including six months of training.

"The Cabinet Committee on Security has taken a historic decision today to approve the transformative scheme of 'Agnipath'. Under this, Indian youth would be granted an opportunity to get inducted into the armed forces," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said during a media briefing on Tuesday.

However, retired Armymen expressed different opinions about the scheme and the short-term involvement of the youth in the armed forces.

Talking to IANS, Major General (retd) P.K. Saighal said that the Indian Army is one of the best and most powerful forces in the world.

However, he felt that recruiting youth through the Agnipath model for three to four years is not right for the forces.

"A person takes around six to seven years to become a complete soldier. But these youth will be out of job before that," Saighal said.

Terming those who will be selected through this process as 'tourists', Saighal said they will get just around six months if training which is not enough to understand the essence of Indian Army.

"Soldiers risk their lives to serve the country, but why will they take such risks and show courage and patriotism when they know that they will be in the job for just four years," he asked.

Saighal added that if they have to work for four years, the last year of their service will be spent searching for another job.

"In such a situation, they won't be able to show dedication towards their work," Saighal said.

Speaking to IANS, Major General (retd) Ashok Kumar said, "The Agnipath scheme is important and useful for both the armed forces and the nation. The forces will get younger candidates, bringing down the average age of the units from around 32 years at present to 26 years." "Those selected for enrolment in the armed forces as regular cadre will have better skills to operate weapons, lead the units and enhance the capabilities for future wars," Kumar told IANS.
Patna, June 14 : Janata Dal-United (JD-U) Parliamentary Board President Upendra Kushwaha said that Union Steel Minister and party leader R.C.P. Singh should resign from his post on moral grounds.

"The tenure of R.C.P. Singh in the Rajya Sabha is ending on July 7 and as the party has denied him ticket again, he should resign from the Narendra Modi government.

"As the party has not given any responsibility, it's up to him to decide what he wants to do," Kushwaha said.

His statement came as the JD-U expelled four senior leaders including party state spokesperson Ajay Alok, state General Secretaries Anil Kumar and Vipin Kumar Yadav, as well as Jitendra Niraj - all deemed to be close to Singh.

Singh has already said that it's up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to decide his fate, and is trying to keep him happy. As earlier in the day, the PM said that 10 lakh jobs will be provided in the government in the next 18 months, he immediately issued a video statement, congratulating Modi.
New Delhi, June 14 : After the second round of questioning in connection with the National Herald matter on Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate summoned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to join the investigation for the third consecutive day on Wednesday.

Gandhi will have to appear again before the ED on Wednesday when a three-member team will question him.

On Monday, his questioning had ended at about 9 p.m. but he reportedly wanted to correct a few things in his statements and due to this, he had to wait for more hours at ED headquarters.

On Monday, Gandhi was questioned by agency officials for several hours. He was given a lunch break after three hours, and went to meet his mother, and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who is undergoing treatment at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

After this, he returned to the ED's headquarters where he was again questioned till late in the night.

Gandhi was questioned about a few transactions made by Kolkata-based Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd.

Sonia Gandhi has also been summoned in the matter.
New Delhi, June 14 : With the Uttar Pradesh government once again starting demolition action against alleged rioters, the legality of the instant bulldozer action seems complex and full of intricacies even as experts differ on the issue.

"Everybody is asking whether the rules were followed by the authorities during the demolition drives. There are Supreme Court judgments which say that to remove any illegal construction, the authorities are not bound to give time to the encroacher. The authorities can remove it straight away. As per these apex court verdicts, the Uttar Pradesh government can remove illegal constructions," Delhi-based advocate Vineet Jindal told IANS.

Removal of encroachments and demolition without serving notice are different issues, said advocate Robin Raju, emphasising that the issue could be handled more humanely.

He also pointed out the judges who moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday against the bulldozing of homes.

A group of former Supreme Court and high court judges along with senior advocates on Tuesday wrote to the Chief Justice of India, N.V. Ramana, urging him to take suo motu cognisance of the recent demolition drives.

"The Chief Minister (Yogi Adityanath) has reportedly officially exhorted officials 'to take such action against those guilty to set an example so that no one commits a crime or takes the law into their hands in the future'.

"He has further directed that the National Security Act, 1980, and the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, be invoked against those found guilty of unlawful protests. These remarks have emboldened the police to brutally and unlawfully torture the protesters," the letter read.

Incidents of violence and slogan-shouting were reported from Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj and Saharanpur after the Friday prayers on June 10 when people began protesting against former BJP spokespersons' remarks on the Prophet Muhammad.

On Sunday, bulldozers, now a symbol of Yogi Adityanath's crackdown on anti-social elements, reached the residence of Mohammad Javed a.k.a. Javed Pump, who was identified as the main conspirator behind the violence that erupted in the city on June 10.

The Prayagraj Development Authority had served notice to demolish the house that was allegedly built without getting the requisite permissions.

The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking appropriate direction to the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure that no further demolition drives are carried out without following the due process of law.
Bhopal, June 14 : Hours after the lone Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA in Madhya Pradesh, Rajesh Shukla, joined the BJP on Tuesday, the SP's state leadership expelled him from the party's primary membership.

The Madhya Pradesh unit of SP said that it will also appeal to the state Assembly to terminate Shukla's membership.

The state leadership also said that it will discuss the issue with SP's national President Akhilesh Yadav.

SP's Madhya Pradesh unit chief Ramayan Patel, while responding to Shukla jumping the ship to BJP, accused the BJP of using money power to lure MLAs from opposition camps into its fold.

"Rajesh Shukla has been expelled from SP's primary membership for indulging in anti-party activities and joining hands with the BJP. We will also take action against him after discussing the matter with our top leadership," Patel said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Shukla along with a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA and an Independent legislator joined the BJP in Bhopal in the presence of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Shukla was elected from the Bijawar Assembly constituency in Chhatarpur district. With his switch to the saffron party, SP no longer has any legislator in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly.

The two other legislators who joined the saffron camp on Tuesday are Sanjeev Kushwaha (BSP) from Bhind and Rana Vikram Singh, an Independent MLA from Susner.

The trio joining the BJP becomes significant as the move came just a month ahead of the Presidential elections scheduled on July 18. The BJP presently has 127 legislators in the state Assembly.
Islamabad, June 14 : Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday accused former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi of accepting Rs 5 billion and hundreds of kanals of land from Bahria Town in return for "providing protection" to the real estate firm in a money laundering case during the PTI rule, media reports said.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Sanaullah said Bahria Town had "illegally transferred" Pak Rs 50 bn to a Pakistani national in the UK. The transfer, he said, was identified by the UK's National Crime Agency, which subsequently informed the then PTI government of the crime, Dawn reported.

Sanaullah claimed that Imran Khan, the Prime Minister at the time, had tasked Shehzad Akbar, ex-PM's aide on accountability, to resolve the matter.

Akbar "settled" the entire case, while the Rs 50 bn - which was state property and belonged to the national treasury - was adjusted against Bahria Town's liability, the interior minister alleged.

He said the former prime minister accepted a graft of Rs 5 bn as "his share" through Akbar before the case was wrapped up.

Sanaullah said the federal cabinet has formed a sub-committee to investigate the scandal and deal with it as per the law.

"The case did not just end here. Bahria Town, after its Rs 50 bn was protected by the government, entered an agreement and allotted a 458-kanal land with an on-paper value of Rs 530 million to a trust owned by Imran and his wife," he claimed, Dawn reported.

Bahria Town donated the land to the Al-Qadir Trust, with the agreement bearing signatures of the real estate developer's donors and Bushra Khan - the wife of Imran Khan, Sanaullah alleged.

He said the non-profit organisation had only two trustees: Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.

The minister said that another 240 kanals were transferred to Farah Shehzadi - commonly known as Farah - a close friend of Bushra Bibi, Dawn reported.

He said the nation's wealth was "looted and the then-first lady signed the documents without any fear".
Bengaluru, June 14 : The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday quoting 'Manusmriti', made an observation that there are no gods before parents and one can not pay them back. The bench made the remark while looking into the habeas corpus petition.

"There are parents who sacrificed everything for their children. There are children who have given up everything for their parents," the court further stated.

The father of a 19-year-old engineering student had filed a petition, stating his daughter is missing. The father also pleaded with the court to hand over the custody of his daughter to him. The daughter, an engineering student, has married a driver.

The bench headed by Justice B. Veerappa and Justice K.S. Hemalekha stated that love is blind and parents' love is not seen.

"What had been done to parents might also happen to the children tomorrow," the bench said, adding: "When there is lack of mutual love, circumstances like this come up." The bench after making these remarks dismissed the habeas corpus petition filed by the father underlining that the daughter is not a minor, and she has the right of choice.

The court said the girl has stated before the court that she is an adult, and has married the person whom she loves.

Her husband also gave an assurance to the court that he will take care of her properly.
Patna, June 14 : In wake of the Centre announcing 10 lakh government jobs in next one and half years, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain what happened to his promise of 2 crore jobs per year made in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

"Narendra Modi had made a written promise to provide 2 crore regular jobs per year. In the last 8 years, this government has not fulfilled its promise. Now, the Prime Minister is verbally extending a job promise of just 10 lakh in the next one and half months," the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly said.

"I must say that the comparative analysis of their 'Baaten' (talks), 'Vaade' (promises), 'Jumle' (gimmicks), 'Bhashans' (speeches) and 'Iraade' (intention) is needed. There is no limit to their lies. The double engine government of Narendra Modi is claiming to provide 10 lakh jobs in one and half years and the Bihar government during the 2020 Assembly election promised to give 19 lakh jobs. The 10 lakh jobs of the Centre is part of the 19 lakh jobs of the Bihar government or not?" he asked.

Tejashwi Yadav also asked the Modi government to clarify whether these would be regular or contract basis jobs and also clarify about taking fee for the examination or not.
Ahmedabad, June 14 : With Gujarat set to go to the polls later this year, tension was brewing in Ahmedabad's Isanpur area on Tuesday with residents of some societies threatening to boycott the polls after several constructions there were reportedly demolished.

'Boycott Elections' banners were hoisted in some societies of Isanpur where the residents demonstrated against the ruling BJP government.

The protesters levelled serious allegations of intimidation by the police and corporators. The locals were protesting against the Lambha Board TP 54 project for which about 40 structures in five societies were demolished to make way for the new TP scheme.

The locals said that no notice of any kind was served to them, while the local corporator was also not willing to listen to them.

"We tried to talk to local corportor Mansinh Solanki, but he did not receive our calls, nor did he reply to our messages," said a protester.

Nainesh Gajjar, a local resident, told IANS that constructions were demolished without serving any prior notice.

"The corporator has done this to us to benefit the builder who has a scheme in front of our society. Many of us are daily wagers or have small businesses or private jobs. We can not afford a new house nor can we afford to go to call on the administration every day. They have made 40 families homeless just to benefit a builder," Gajjar said.
Ahmedabad, June 14 : Monsoon has arrived in Gujarat and light to moderate rains are likely across the state in the next five days, the IMD said on Monday.

Participating in a meeting of the Weather Watch Group, chaired by Director of Relief, C.C. Patel at Gandhinagar, IMD official M. Mohanty said there is possibility of 96 to 104 percent rainfall during the entire monsoon.

Giving information about the rainfall in the state in the last 24 hours, Patel said that from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain has been recorded in two talukas of two districts in the state. So far the highest rain has been recorded in Nadiad of Kheda district, that is 7 mm.

An Agriculture Department official said said that the planting of kharif crops in the current year is estimated at 2,53,029 lakh hectares by June 13, as against 2,18,554 lakh hectares last year, or an increase of 2.4 per cent more than the average area under the last three years.

An Irrigation Department official said that the Sardar Sarovar Reservoir has a storage capacity of 154915 mcft of water, which is 46.37 per cent of the total storage capacity. The 206 reservoirs in the state have a storage capacity of 1,94,954 mcft of water which is 34.93 per cent of the total storage capacity. Currently two reservoirs in the state are on warning.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from various departments including the NDRF, the SDRF, Energy, Roads and Buildings, Health, Forest Department, the CWC, and the ISRO.
Panaji, June 14 : Amid a statewide crackdown against illegal massage parlours, the Goa government on Tuesday sealed another spa at Anjuna in North Goa for allegedly operating illegally.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Jivba Dalvi, told IANS that the Collector of North Goa, Mamu Hage, had ordered the sealing of this spa in Anjuna.

This is the second such action taken by the authorities. Last week, Dalvi along with the police had raided a spa named Alga Centre.

"Based on the report submitted by the Anjuna police, the spa was ordered for sealing by Collector Mamu Hage," Dalvi said on Tuesday.

The Goa police has launched a crackdown against illegal massage parlours operating in the state following the order from Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to take action against illegal massage parlours.

Sawant had said that police inspectors of the respective areas will be held responsible if illegal activities are found taking place in the name of running massage parlours.
Guwahati, June 14 : Assam's NRC (National Register of Citizens) Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma has filed another FIR with the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption wing of Assam government alleging corruption and money laundering by former NCR state co-ordinator Prateek Hajela, officials said on Tuesday.

Dev Sarma, who is also the Secretary of the Home and Political Department of the Assam government, had filed the first FIR with the CID against Hajela accusing him and few others of criminal and anti-national activities. In the second FIR filed on Monday, the incumbent NRC Coordinator in his complaint said that the then state coordinator was aware of the fact that a sub-contractor was being used to provide Data Entry Operators (DEO) though he did not officially approve the proposal of System Integrator (SI) for engaging M/S Integrated System and Services.

The SI was paid Rs 14,500 to Rs 17,500 per month per DEO by the NRC authority, but the DEOs got only Rs 5,500 to Rs 9,100 per month during 2015 to 2019 even the DEOs were denied the minimum wage as per the Minimum Wages Act, and as per a provisional audit report, the Accountant General, Assam has observed that "the difference of margin ranged from 45.59 to 64.27 per cent was exorbitant and audit assessed that undue benefit of Rs 155.83 crore was allowed to SI and labour contractor after allowing 10 per cent reasonable profit margin to the contractor".

"Undue benefit to the tune of Rs 155.83 crore is a huge amount and it is reasonable to suspect that kickbacks and money laundering must have occurred in the process. During my investigation it came to light that one Proloy Seal worked as a middleman in the whole process. He was neither an employee of the office of the state coordinator nor was he a contractor engaged by the office. But his presence was seen always in the office. It is suspected that he was the key person in managing all the kickbacks and money laundering," said the complaint available with IANS.

As per the audit report there was avoidable expenditure to the tune of Rs 10.73 crore in connection with the engagement of Third-Party Monitoring Consultant (TPMC).

"Further, as per the amended Delegation of Financial Power (DFP) Rules, for expenditure of more than Rs 5 crore, the state coordinator should obtain approval of the Empowered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary or from the Registrar General of India.

As the audit report observed that 'entire expenditure of Rs 10.73 crore made against the engagement of consultants was unjustified and avoidable which resulted extra burden to the government exchequer and undue benefit to the SI to that extent, it is suspected that the TPMC was used to siphon off government money showing works against the same scope of work allotted to the Project Management Oversight of SI, the complaint said.

In view of Dev Sarma's first complaint, a case was registered in the CID department of the state.

The complaint had stated that in the NRC updating exercise, the "Family Tree Matching" procedure was adopted to check fraudulent practices used to make false linkage claims with persons residing in Assam in the pre-1971 era.

Since the NRC updating exercise involved large manpower, there was a provision for the quality checks to avoid erroneous entries in the NRC before the 'Family Tree Matching' was introduced. But, the procedure did not have any quality check system.

Dev Sarma in his first complaint said that the software was deliberately designed to avoid quality checks.

He accused Hajela of intentionally doing this which in turn gave free hands to some officials for including doubtful citizens in the NRC list.

According to Dev Sarma, this can be seen as an anti-national act affecting national security. Hajela was also accused of violating a Supreme court order in 2018 which did not permit the NRC state coordinator to review the office verification of documents already completed for 24,89,745 people.

But the letter to CID had said that Hajela allowed the review exercise defying the top court directive.

To update the 1951 NRC in Assam, the statutory notification for starting the Supreme Court-monitored exercise was issued in December 2013.

The draft list was published in August 2019, excluding 19.06 lakh out of 3.3 crore applications for lack of adequate documents for establishing their Indian citizenship.
Bhopal, June 14 : The Madhya Pradesh Governor's office has decided to hold a monthly meeting of the registrars of all government-run universities across the state. In the meeting, which will be held at Raj Bhavan here once a month, the registrars will have to present their work reports.

An instruction in this regard was issued by D.P. Ahuja, Principal Secretary to Madhya Pradesh Governor, while chairing a review meeting with the registrars of the government universities at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday.

During the meeting, a discussion was held on various subjects pertaining to the convocation ceremony, examination results, adherence to academic calendar, court cases, etc.

Meanwhile, the Governor's office was also apprised about progress reports regarding under-construction work of the universities, audit and pending cases at the government level, the status of publication of seniority list and filling of vacant posts.

"Discussions were held about works started, in progress and completed under RUSA (Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan) status of sickle cell in adopted villages, employment oriented courses, skill upgradation and placement related works," the Governor's office said in an official communication.

Notably, RUSA is a holistic scheme of development for higher education in India initiated in 2013 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Ahuja further directed the registrars of the universities to ensure that course wise publication of the date of examinations and results for the session 2021-22 to be made on the website of the university in compliance with the academic calendar as decided by the government.

He has directed the registrars to review all the ongoing and pending cases in the courts. It should be identified which case can be resolved at the university level or the Chancellor level.

He instructed registrars to review the audit objections in the updated status and take action to resolve them in time-limit. According to the structural organisation of the university, it was told to fix the time-limit to fill the vacant posts.

During a meeting on Tuesday, which was attended by the registrars of several government-run across the state, including Awadhesh Pratap Singh (APS) university Rewa, Barkatullah university Bhopal, Jiwaji university in Gwalior, Rani Durgawati University in Jabalpur and many more.
Patna, June 14 : A married woman aged around 30 has been allegedly gang-raped by five men in Bihar's Madhepura district, an official said on Tuesday.

The incident happened on Monday night in Rajpur village.

The woman was alone in the house when she was violated. Her husband, said to be mentally-challenged, was not present.

In the complaint to the police, the victim claimed she was sleeping when five persons suddenly came to her house, and held her captive.

After covering and tying her mouth with a cloth, the men took turns to rape her, and eventually, she lost consciousness. Later, all the men fled the spot.

"When I gathered consciousness on Tuesday morning, I approached some women in the neighbouring houses. With their help, I informed the police about the incident," she said.

The woman has been admitted to Madhepura Sadar hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, the police have recorded the victim's statement.

"During medical examination, the doctors confirmed that she was raped. We are taking action on the basis of the statement given," an investigating officer said.
Patna, June 15 : A veterinary doctor of Bihar's Begusarai district was allegedly kidnapped for "Pakadwa Vivah" (kidnapping for marriage), an official said on Tuesday.

As per the information, veterinary doctor Satyam Kumar Jha, a native of Pidhauli village under Teghra police station, went for treatment of cattle on Monday afternoon and was kidnapped by a group of people and forcibly married to a girl.

"When Satyam did not returned to home till the evening, we started searching for him. He didn't even returned in the night. On Tuesday morning, a video clip came on my cell phone. When we opened the clip my son was sitting with a girl and the marriage was underway," said Subodh Kumar Jha, father of Satyam.

"We have filed a written complaint, naming the accused, in this regard with the Teghra police station," Jha said.

"We have received a complaint related to Pakadwa marriage (kidnapping for marriage). The investigation is underway with all angles. The case of love affairs cannot be ruled out," said SHO of Teghra police station.

Kidnapping for marriage, popularly known as Pakadwa Vivah, or Jabariya Vivah, is common in many districts of Bihar such as Lakhisarai, Jamui, Munger, Patna, Begusarai, Nalanda, Khagaria, Bhagalpur and Banka.
Moscow, June 15 : Russia has imposed personal sanctions against 29 media representatives and 20 defence figures of the UK in a retaliatory move, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

The media representatives, including journalists working for The Guardian, BBC, and others, and the defense figures, including British Minister for Defence Procurement Jeremy Quin, would be denied entry into Russia.

According to the ministry, the move is a response to personal sanctions introduced by the UK government against leading Russian journalists and heads of Russian defence companies.

"The British journalists included in the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and events in Ukraine and Donbass," the ministry said, adding that with their biased assessments, they also contribute to fueling Russophobia in British society.

The 20 individuals "linked to the UK defence industry were involved in making decisions on the supply of weapons to Ukraine, which are used by local punishers and Nazi formations to kill civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure," the ministry said.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Washington, June 15 : The US has said that it will hold the first summit of leaders of a new group of four nations with India, Israel, and the UAE, albeit virtually, during President Joe Biden's visit next month to West Asia.

The group is called I2U2 - for India and Israel whose names begin with the letter "I" and the US and UAE that begin with the letter "U" - and it will be focused on West Asia.

The first summit will be held during Biden's visit to Israel, the first leg of his maiden trip as President to West Asia from July 13 to 16. He will also visit the West Bank, home to the state of Palestine, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he will meet around a dozen regional leaders.

A senior White House official on a background call with reporters about the visit said that the new initiative will be launched in a virtual call that Biden will hold with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, and UAE's President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

They will discuss security and "areas of cooperation across hemispheres where UAE and Israel serve as important innovation hubs", said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity and went on to describe the meeting as a "unique engagement". No other details were available about this new initiative, its goals, and reach.

A spokesperson for the White House's National Security Council said I2U2 was inaugurated by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in October 2021 and the virtual summit is a follow on "from that initial touch point".

"I2U2 is an entirely new grouping of partners that includes the United States, Israel, India, and the UAE. It is focused on expanding economic and political cooperation in the Middle East and Asia, including through trade, combating climate change, energy cooperation, and coordination on other vital shared interests," the spokesperson said.

Since coming into office in January 2021, Biden has launched several multilateral dialogues and initiatives such as a three-nation group with Australia and the United Kingdom called AUKUS and a Quadrilateral dialogue with Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan; and deepened and strengthened existing platforms such as the Quad with India, Australia and Japan, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He has also returned the United States to several world bodies that it had left under former President Donald Trump.

The July 13-16 visit will be Biden's first to a region considered one of the most volatile in the world. It is expected to reinforce US's "iron-clad commitment" to Israel's security and prosperity and continue the process of its integration into the region under the Abraham Accords brokered by Trump between Israel on the one hand and the UAE and Bahrain on the other in 2020; an agreement with Morocco followed.

Biden will also meet with Palestinian leaders in West Bank, recommitting US to a two-state solution that had been somewhat diluted or abandoned under Trump.

The American president will wrap up his West Asia tour in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he is also expected to attend the summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council plus Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan (known as the GCC+3). He is expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts.

Biden's meeting with the Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud will be the most closely watched of all his bilateral interactions in Jeddah. He is expected to meet Mohammad bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince who is accused by the US of ordering the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist. MBS, as the prince is known, has denied any involvement.

Biden has called Saudi Arabia a "pariah" state and released an intelligence report on Khashoggi's killing that points to the crown prince's involvement. Trump, who had forged very strong ties with the Saudi royals, had withheld the report. Since taking office, Biden had restricted his communications with the Saudi leadership to the king, cutting out the crown prince, who is considered the de facto ruler of the country, entirely.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
VGP has fully leased its two parks in Madrid, VGP Park San Fernando de Henares and VGP Park Fuenlabrada, 5 years after the construction works began. The total leased area amounts to 158,780 square meters, on a total area of more than 300,000 square meters. The developer has also acquired

[]
This year, 2022, which is called Shubhakrt as per the lunar calendar, is extremely special for all Datta devotees as we are celebrating the 80th birthday of our Pujya Sadguru Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji.

On this auspicious occasion of Swamijis 80th year birthday, all His followers are expressing their joy not just by hosting and participating in opulent birthday celebrations but also by undertaking creative and constructive initiatives.

They are not leaving any stone unturned to show their immense love and affection for their dear Sadguru and to prove that they are walking, nay, marching forward on the path that He has laid.

Many dignitaries, spiritual leaders, political leaders including our honorable Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi ji himself, conveyed their heartfelt birthday wishes in Kannada fondly by saying ellarigu jai guru datta - appaji avarige embattane vardhantai sandarbhadalli pranam, aagu shubha kamne galu, applauding Avadhoota Datta Peethams contribution and seeking Swamijis blessings to continue His work and inspire them. Spiritual leaders from all religions participated in the birthday celebrations in Mysore ashrama. Wishes from across the world poured in. Wishes from various lands, various languages, and various cultures flooded ashram communication channels. All those who benefitted from Sri Swamijis magnanimous spirit, such as those living in the economically backward communities, the differently abled individuals, the sick and terminally ill patients joined the overcrowded Nada Mantapa in wishing Sri Swamiji Happy Birthday! The staff, patients, and attendants from the 21 hospitals that ashram supplied food to, during the pandemic, the traffic police that were supplied with PPE kits and food by ashrama and the hundreds of needy musicians in Mysore who were provided groceries and clothing - all thanked and wished Sri Swamiji a very happy birthday!

The joy was not limited just to humans. The saptaswara devata sculptures too reverberated with the joyous birthday wishes. Even the thousands of birds in Shukavana chirped, shrieked, and sang the birthday song. While Lord Rama turned a stone to woman and blessed the wounded Jatayu with heavenly abode, the Swara devata stone sculptures and the birds of Shukavana reciprocated that love by singing Happy Birthday for Sri Swamiji!

Let us take a step back and think why we are even celebrating the birthday of a Guru. The spiritual energy of Guru, especially of an avatara purusha such as Sri Swamiji, is eternal. There is no beginning or end. When the beginning cannot be defined, what is it that we are celebrating? If we, do it blindly, without knowing its actual purpose, the celebrations will be reduced to pointless revelry. So, it is important to know the purpose of this extravaganza.

A Guru comes, solely to uplift the spiritually seeking souls. Being a spiritual power and not just a fully realized soul, Guru has no need or purpose to walk on this earth. His presence, His becoming, His Avatara or birth is in fact, our birth, our spiritual birth, our awakening as a spiritual being. After lakhs and lakhs of mundane births during which we are either completely unaware of or are unable to comprehend the divine power and its workings, the birth we take that shall be touched by a Guru will be the greatest of all our births! It is His presence in it and not merely our birth that brings joy and therefore we must celebrate HIS birthday. This is probably why Sri Swamiji says that His birthday is the birthday of His followers. Evidently, Gurus birthday marks the birth of a soul as His follower, His devotee, His disciple

Unlike many others, Sri Swamiji is not a Bodha Guru. That is, He does not preach. He does not teach through extensive discourses. On the contrary, He is a silent teacher. He communicates silently. His lessons are not on paper or into the mike. They come to you as personal experiences. They strike you as unexpected thoughts. He is a compassionate spiritual teacher who cares to comfort His devotees and draw them towards spirituality. We must acknowledge and be grateful for decades of such spiritual responsibility. Many more happy returns of the day such a saintly and spiritually compassionate Guru was born.

The services Sri Swamiji extends to the society through many of His initiatives are multifarious. The projects and initiatives are well-planned and well-sustained. Amma Vodi, a home for destitute women and SGS Vagdevi, a school for the communication impaired are two institutions that are being run since decades and are successfully serving the society. But sometimes, when Sri Swamijis compassion goes into over drive, He gives generously, be it wealth, love, time or attention. It is the nature of giving, than the act of giving that is of great value. Merry celebrations of the day the epitome of charity was born.

For an individual born in forest area, raised in small towns and preaching spirituality, Sri Swamiji is unbelievably techno friendly. Sri Swamiji uses technology to its fullest to spread good and be available when His devotees need Him. Sri Swamijis social media presence is mighty. Avadhoota Datta Peetham has launched several smart phone Apps that are useful to both, His followers as well as general public. The very popular SGSPOSTS app has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times as it posts simple good sayings (SGS) every day. Another app Bhajanmala has nearly 2000 bhajans that have been written, composed and rendered by Sri swamiji Himself. There are apps for yoga, meditation, various hymns and communication with Datta Peetham. Happy happy birthday to the perennial student in Sri Swamiji that is curious to learn, steadfast in grasping and expert in implementing.

Since over a decade, there has been live streaming of each and every program of Datta Peetham. And with the advent of superb technical features such as Facebook live, a devotee can be virtually present with Swamiji almost everywhere He goes. In fact, Sri Swamiji appeared live each and every day during the Covid lockdown for three long hours to keep His devotees glued to their seats and prevent them from stepping out of their houses. Avadhoota Datta Peetham Facebook page stream live videos everyday even today. Happy online and in person celebrations of Pujya Sri Swamijis 80th year birthday.

Sri Swamijis birth was mystical. Neither her parents at home, nor the tribal women who found His holy mother Sri Jayalakshmi Mata seated in meditation in the waters of Kaveri with the infant Swamiji in her lap, were sure as to who delivered the baby. Mystically, miraculously, and mysteriously, Sri Swamijis childhood, youth, adulthood and now, again, His youthful present have and are being spent only and only towards the benefit of the society. We celebrate not just a person or His principles or His initiatives, but we celebrate the happiness that He has given humankind in countless ways.

A heart that never gets tired of melting, a hand that never gets tired of giving, a mind that never gets tired of planning and a face that never gets tired of smiling - that is Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji in a nutshell. Birthday wishes from lakhs of us to Him who teaches us how to live life, how to make good use of the best gift from God.

In honour of such a great personality and in a loving and creative attempt to express their affection, devotees from across the world have sent lakhs of videos with a Happy birthday wish. Files poured in as soon as the devotees knew they could send video bytes wishing Sri Swamiji. However, since not all videos have been appropriately shot, only a few thousands have been accepted.

The videos were filtered based on several factors such as size, clarity, resolution, dimensions, audio quality, and uniqueness (no repetition). This multi-step filtering process was performed with Python programming codes.

Happy birthday videos received in English, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, Tamil, American Sign Language, Gujarati, Malayalam, Japanese, Swiss, Marathi, Arabic, Italian, Malay, Spanish, Surnami, Turkish and Musical instrument! The language experts have scrutinized each and every video manually to detect the language and identify the word birthday in the respective language. The final video, a long video concatenating all these video bytes is being proposed for a Guinness World record as the largest online video album of Birthday wishes.

A largest video album containing birthday wishes to Avadhoota Datta Peetham Seer Sri Ganapathy Sacchidananda Swamiji of Mysuru, India on His 80th birthday has entered Guinness World Records. On 10th June Guinness World Records representative Rushi Nath handed over the certificate as largest online video album of birthday wishes/ greetings was achieved by Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji in Mysuru, Karnataka, India on 10 June 2022. Sri Ganapathy Sacchidananda Swamiji received the GWR certificate at Nada Mantapa at Ganapathy Sachchidananda Ashram, Mysuru.
Its not a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps motivational book. Rather, it supplies concrete, research-based practices that help a person or team emerge stronger during seasons of trauma.

MEPub, the publishing arm of the world leader in high-impact learning environments MeTEOR Education, is proud to release Surviving the Storm: Leading Through Post-Traumatic Growth. The book guides educators away from the despair so many have experienced recently and towards a more optimistic view of the future. Written by LindaGail Walker in collaboration with Rex Miller, Surviving the Storm offers hope, motivation, and the practical steps necessary for individuals or teams to grow in the midst of crisis and its aftermath.

Surviving the Storm is educational and enjoyableand ultimately kind, said Ainsley Sevier, co-host of the Post-Orthodoxy podcast, adding that the book offers a light, gentle introduction into the concept that we can have agency in our own recovery from trauma, and even while experiencing chronic traumas.

With the confluence of the ongoing pandemic, social unrest, and economic instability, American society is going through unprecedented disruptions that reverberate through every home and every institution. In many places, schools have been a lightning rod for rage that threatens to tear our communities apart. Educators and administrators traumatized by the overwhelming demands placed on them will find in Surviving the Storm a comprehensive guide for their journey to post-traumatic recovery and growth toward a future of renewed confidence, healthy community, and educational excellence. Based on their research, Walker and Miller offer insight into the leaders journey from disillusionment and despair to possibilities and hope.

As Surviving the Storm developed into a book, each chapter directly touched the life of one or more of the team members who worked on the project, said Joseph Myers, publisher for [ME]Pub. Thats when we knew we had something special. Surviving the Storm is an excellent on-ramp becoming stronger during trauma. Its not a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps motivational book. Rather, it supplies concrete, research-based practices that help a person or team emerge stronger during seasons of trauma.

To order Surviving the Storm or to learn more about other [ME]Pub titles, visit MEPub.MeteorEducation.com.

About Meteor Education

Meteor Education is a creator of high-impact learning environments. We offer turn-key services for space design and optimization, environment orientation, post-occupancy configuration, and high-impact learning experience content development, training, and consultation. To learn more, please visit MeteorEducation.com.

Press contact:

Jacob Hanson

PRP Group

http://www.prp.group

jacob (at) prp (dot) group
Democracy depends on the rule of law. And the rule of law requires a concerted effort to continue to ensure that no one ever is above the law. The critical work of upholding our democracy continues today in the wake of January 6, and every American has a role to play in the process.

Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and president of American Association of Law Schools, released a statement about successes and the unfinished work of Watergate 50 years later. The statement is signed by dozens of Watergates original investigative staff, academics, politicians, and other experts.

Fifty years after Watergate, democracy faces serious threats in the United States and across the world. The events preceding and culminating in the insurrection on January 6 were unprecedented in American history. Authoritarian regimes have come to power in many countries. Now, more than ever, reflecting on what worked during Watergate  and which reforms are still needed - is crucial, opens Chemerinsky in the statement.

The statement goes on to discuss the need for all branches of government to work towards justice, the importance of a free press, and the necessity of politicians to commit to working across the aisle. It serves as a stark reminder that Watergate could have easily turned out very differently, and that the work of maintaining democracy is up to each and every American today. It discusses the reforms that came about in the aftermath of Watergate  and those that were short-lived.

The Watergate Committee proceedings showed that Washington can work for the good of democracy, which is hard to maintain, and easy to lose, said signatory Rufus L. Edmisten, Deputy Chief Counsel to the Watergate Committee and Former Attorney General and Secretary of State for North Carolina, reflecting on the importance of this statement ahead of the anniversary event.

Other notable signatories include Watergate special prosecutors Jill Wine-Banks and Richard Ben-Veniste, the Senate Watergate Committees assistant chief counsel James Hamilton, former U.S. congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, current congresswoman Deborah Ross of North Carolina, and renowned broadcast journalist Connie Chung. It is also signed by several distinguished academics and historians of the Nixon era. It is the first time the original Watergate group has publicly aligned around a single perspective on Watergate.

The historic statement will be housed on a new web site that is being launched today, Watergate.org. The site is a special project dedicated to educating the public about the complicated processes of holding to account the occupant of the highest political office in America. Watergate.org serves as a resource for exploring how these issues may play out, past, present and in the future. The site is managed by former Watergate staffers.

The week will culminate in a special reunion event this Friday, June 17th, from 5:00 to 7:30pm, with over 200 attendees from the original Watergate Senate Select Committee, House Committee on the Judiciary, Special Prosecutors staff, and members of the press and political offices. The event will be held in the Kennedy Caucus Room, the site of the original Senate Select Committee hearings in 1973.

Full Statement:

By Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law. President of American Association of Law Schools, 2022.

Fifty years after Watergate, democracy faces serious threats in the United States and across the world. The events preceding and culminating in the insurrection on January 6 were unprecedented in American history. Authoritarian regimes have come to power in many countries. Now, more than ever, reflecting on what worked during Watergate  and which reforms are still needed - is crucial.

A persistent, thorough, and impartial investigation led to the resignation of President Nixon and the prosecution and conviction of many others. But it is easy to forget that the Watergate scandal easily could have come out differently and that the country and its commitment to the rule of law would have been irreparably damaged.

During Watergate, it took all of the branches of government to uncover what happened and to pursue justice. Hearings in the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities and debates on the articles of impeachment by the House Committee on the Judiciary were crucial in presenting essential information to the public about what took place and educating Americans about the complicated process of impeachment and whether or not it was warranted. The work of the Special Prosecutors and their staffs, especially under the leadership of Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski, exemplified the importance of impartial investigations and prosecutions. The courts, particularly federal district court Judge John Sirica and the United States Supreme Court in its unanimous ruling in United States v. Nixon, upheld the Constitution.

We also saw during Watergate the importance of a free press. It was the press that helped uncover the links between the Watergate break-in and the Campaign to Reelect the President. And it was the dogged efforts of the press that revealed the cover-up and live gavel-to-gavel television coverage of congressional hearings that helped inform the public and turn public opinion about the Watergate cover-up.

Although it would be a mistake to say that this was bipartisan at all stages, there was cooperation across the political aisle and a shared commitment to upholding the rule of law. One must wonder what would have happened if Watergate occurred in our deeply politically polarized time.

The aftermath brought many needed reforms in government. The scandal revealed the need for campaign finance reform, for responsible independent prosecutors when there are allegations of misconduct at the highest levels of government, and for greater transparency through the disclosure of government records. Unfortunately, some of these reforms were short-lived. For example, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional some key aspects of the federal laws reforming campaign finance.

Ultimately, democracy depends on the rule of law. And the rule of law requires a concerted effort to continue to ensure that no one ever is above the law. The critical work of upholding our democracy continues today in the wake of January 6, and every American has a role to play in the process.

Signed in support:

Note: This list will be updated at http://www.watergate.org.

Elizabeth Holtzman, former U.S. Congresswoman and House Committee on the Judiciary member during Watergate

Congresswoman Deborah K. Ross, North Carolina, 2nd Congressional District

Connie Chung, Network Television Journalist

Rufus L. Edmisten, Deputy Chief Counsel to the Watergate Committee, and Former Attorney General and Secretary of State for North Carolina

James Hamilton, Assistant Chief Counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, author of forthcoming book on Watergate and other Washington scandals

Michael Hershman, Former Senior Investigator, Senate Watergate Committee, and President of the Fairfax Group

Marc E. Lackritz, Former Assistant Counsel, Senate Watergate Committee

Mark J. Biros, Assistant Majority Counsel

Donald S. Burris, Assistant Counsel to the United States Senate Watergate Committee

Jill Wine-Banks, Special Prosecutor during Watergate, Author, and MSNBC legal analyst

Richard Ben-Veniste, Special Prosecutor during Watergate

Henry L. Hecht, Former Assistant Special Prosecutor, Watergate Special Prosecution Force (June 1973 to December 1975), Current Herma Hill Kay Continuing Lecturer in Residence, University of California, Berkeley School of Law

E. Jeffrey Banchero, Former Research Assistant, Impeachment Inquiry, House Committee on the Judiciary. Transcribed tapes of presidential conversations

Professor Mark Feldstein, Author and Richard Eaton Chair on Broadcast Journalism at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism

Jon Marshall, Associate Professor, Medill School, Northwestern University. Author of Clash: Presidents and the Press in Times of Crisis and Watergates Legacy and the Press: The Investigative Impulse

David Greenberg, Professor of History, Rutgers University and author of Nixon's Shadow: The History of an Image

Laura Kalman, Distinguished Research Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara

Jeremi Suri, Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs, Professor of History and Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin

David M. Kennedy, Stanford University

Claire Potter, Professor of History, The New School for Social Research

Dr. Peniel E. Joseph, Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values, Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, and Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin

Gordon Freedman, Former Staff Assistant, Senate Watergate Committee, author of Chapter III of Committee Final Report, former journalist and filmmaker

Bruce Quan, Majority Research Staff Assistant, Senate Watergate Committee

Elisabeth Hair DeMarse, Former Staff, Senate Watergate Committee, Watergate.org

G. Allen Dale, Research Assistant, Senate Watergate Committee, political consultant for Democratic candidates, author, and criminal defense attorney

Martha Talley, Research Assistant, Senate Watergate Committee

Carol Anne Wiik Cooke, former Senate Watergate Committee, former Senate Intelligence Committee, former Congressional Correspondent CNN

Donald M. Stanford, Jr.; Senate Watergate Committee Majority Staff Assistant (and Researcher); Professor of Law, University of North Carolina

Michael Frisch, Research Assistant for the Senate Watergate Committee

David W. Erdman, Majority Research Staff Assistant, Senate Watergate Committee

Judi Dash, Journalist and daughter of Sam Dash, Chief Counsel, Senate Watergate Committee

Lot Cooke, former staff on the Senate Church Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee, attorney

Nancy Story Kilpatrick, Computer Research Assistant, Senate Watergate Committee
At reGeneration Education, we believe that more peaceful childhoods promote a culture of peace. reGenerations report charts a visionary path forward by uniting parents and teachers who are Palestinian citizens of Israel and Jewish Israelis to work together to close barriers to trauma-informed education.

Today, reGeneration Education announced the results of its 21-month study of systemic barriers that prevent children in Israel from accessing trauma-informed early childhood and elementary education. The authors of reGenerations study, Closing the Gap: Increasing Access to Trauma-Informed Education for PCI/Arab Communities in Israel Through Waldorf Education, identified Israeli governmental policies and societal phenomena that prevent trauma-informed Waldorf kindergartens and schools from opening in communities where Palestinian citizens of Israel (PCI) live. At a time when Israels new governing coalition has signaled receptivity to positive reform, reGenerations report charts a visionary path forward by uniting parents and teachers who are Palestinian citizens of Israel and Jewish Israelis to work together to close barriers to trauma-informed education.

Research shows that trauma-informed education can play a key role in supporting childrens healthy development in a diverse society. While any Israeli child may experience real hardships, a confluence of stressors merges in uniquely damaging ways for children who are Palestinian citizens of Israel. These societal stressors or Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)  localized violence, communal poverty, regional instability, acculturation, and discrimination  affect the everyday mental state of children who are Palestinian citizens of Israel and, if left unaddressed, can hinder their long-term intellectual, emotional and physical development and later participation in society. Trauma-informed education helps inoculate the stress experienced by all Israeli children and lays the foundation for a peaceful future.

Children who are Palestinian citizens of Israel deserve an education that frees their spirit, honors their heritage, and allows them to realize their full potential. Trauma-informed Waldorf education empowers students to create a culture of possibility that transforms their community and the world at large so that all children and families may thrive, said Muneer Waheed, Board of Directors at reGeneration Education. reGenerations research illuminates the challenges that Palestinian citizens of Israel face when trying to access healing trauma-informed Waldorf education. It is incumbent on all of us who want to see a peaceful future in the Holy Land to support the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish parents and teachers working together for peace through trauma-informed education.

reGeneration Educations research sought to understand the cause of the trauma-informed Waldorf school movements struggle to scale in communities where Palestinian citizens of Israel live. Throughout its 21-month study, reGeneration identified five key systemic obstacles preventing its expansion, affecting every stage of an educational institutions growth: systemic and individual governmental biases; school fundraising in the face of communal poverty; teacher hiring difficulties caused by anti-Arab employment discrimination in other fields; inaccessible and culturally irrelevant teacher training; and widespread teacher burnout.

Trauma-informed education bolsters schools with proactive strategies to empower children to meet their own needs for learning in healthy ways. Further, trauma-informed education is underpinned with ethics of equity, care, and unconditional positive regard for all members of the school community. The holistic Waldorf approach to learning has the potential to be highly valuable for trauma-affected children, especially those growing up in crisis zones, said Dr. Tom Brunzell, M.S, Ed.M., Ph.D., Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and Director of Education at Berry Street Victoria.

While many pedagogical approaches to trauma-informed education are used worldwide, the most widely embraced system in Israel is Waldorf education. Over 200 Hebrew Waldorf kindergartens, elementary schools, and high schools support Jewish Israeli families, making it the country's most popular trauma-informed secular school movement. Despite significant and long-expressed interest from parents who are Palestinian citizens of Israel, the number of Arab Waldorf institutions has not kept pace with the rising demand. Less than three kindergartens and only one trauma-informed Waldorf school serve Palestinian citizens of Israel in Israel. Children who are Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have predominantly high exposure to ACEs, therefore cannot adequately engage with the benefits of trauma-informed education.

At a time when there is such a need to change the status quo, we must find ways to reach across divides and build more bridges between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. As we outline in our research, trauma-informed education through Waldorf methods has a historical track record of both successfully lifting children in crisis zones up and building inclusive school communities of families that welcome diversity, said Shepha Schneirsohn Vainstein, M.A. LMFT, President of reGeneration Education.

Grounded in the recommendations of its research participants, who are Palestinian citizens of Israel and Jewish Israelis, reGenerations report includes the Arab Waldorf Growth Platform, a roadmap for navigating the obstacles that impede the growth of trauma-informed education in communities where Palestinian citizens of Israel live. In an Israeli society shared between Jewish and Palestinian citizens, reGeneration Educations Arab Waldorf Growth Platform unites both peoples to work together to implement strategies for positive change.

Please visit the complete research report or executive summary of Closing the Gap: Increasing Access to Trauma-Informed Education for PCI/Arab Communities in Israel Through Waldorf Education here: https://regenerationeducation.org/what-we-do/knowledge-center.

About reGeneration Education

reGeneration Education is a U.S. 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing peacebuilding through innovative approaches to the education, development, and resilience of young children in crisis zones so they are able to imagine and create a better future. Since 2005, reGeneration has laid the groundwork for peace by nurturing over twenty thousand Palestinian and Jewish Israeli children with trauma-informed early childhood education and training over twelve hundred teachers in groundbreaking trauma-informed pedagogies. Learn more at regenerationeducation.org.

For press or other inquiries, please contact:

Thea Lavin

Communication, Development, and Middle East Programs Director

reGeneration Education

thea@regenerationeducation.org
Haiti has been put through the worst: the assassination of a president, increased gang violence, an earthquake, and widespread COVID. There has been a major shift in the attitude toward outside help: Haitians believe that change must come from within and thats why our mission is so meaningful.

Education Haiti, http://www.educationhaiti.org, expects to attract a record-breaking audience for its inaugural all-day online fundraiser and celebration.

Education Haiti, whose mission is to help young Haitians deeply committed to their country to have the social work education and skills to make significant change in their community, will host the online celebration event, Join the Journey, on Thursday, June 16 from 8am to 8pm. There are a multitude of volunteers involved in the fundraising drive in both Haiti and the United States.

Education Haiti was founded in 2018 by Drs. Miranda and Roger Phelps, both clinical psychologists from Waterville, Maine. Dr. Miranda Phelps serves as the Dean of the Faculte de Travail Social et de Justice Sociale (FTSJS), the only college of social work in Haiti, which is an external campus of the well-respected Universite Episcopale dHaiti. Education Haiti helps to support FTSJS, which offers an education that makes it possible for talented young Haitians committed to healing and elevating their country to earn a degree in social work.

The aim of this international charitable event is to raise money to fund efforts to implement a more efficient student information system, provide financial aid for students and to move to a new and safe campus.

The situation in Port-au-Prince has deteriorated dramatically over the last year, says Dean Phelps. Gangs run rampant, and our students cant get to our campus safely. Luckily, weve been able to get most of them laptops and have moved our courses online, but the students are missing the valuable in-person experience. For the safety of our students, it is crucial that we re-locate the school into a safer area.

She continues: Over the past 3 years, Haiti has been put through the worst: the assassination of a president, increased gang violence, an earthquake, and widespread COVID cases. Since the 2010 Earthquake, there has been a major shift in the attitude toward outside help: Haitians believe that change must come from within and thats why Education Haitis mission is so meaningful.

The fundraising event will feature a variety of exciting programs, including interviews with students and staff, social work classes in action, presentations about Haitian mental health, Haitian artists working on peace-focused projects, and Haitian music. Additionally, there will be giveaways with great prizes! More information can be found here: Education Haiti: Join the Journey.
HopSkipDrive CareDriver and Rider "As a busy mom of two, I relate to the struggles many families face when trying to balance career demands and family transportation needs. Im glad to be able to bring HopSkipDrive to the families that need us." - Joanna McFarland, HopSkipDrive Co-founder and CEO

HopSkipDrive, the safe and innovative transportation solution for families, school districts and government agencies announced today that it is launching service in Tampa, Florida. HopSkipDrive now operates in 21 major markets across 11 states and Washington D.C., and has contracts with 300+ school districts and county government agencies across the country.

HopSkipDrive is excited to have the opportunity to help alleviate some of the many transportation challenges families in the Tampa area are facing today when it comes to getting children where they need to go.

Im thrilled to be launching HopSkipDrive in Tampa, says Joanna McFarland, Co-founder and CEO of HopSkipDrive. As a busy mom of two, I relate to the struggles many families face when trying to balance career demands and family transportation needs. Im glad to be able to bring HopSkipDrive to the families that need us.

A Convenient Transportation Solution for Families

Parents and caregivers in the Tampa area will be able to use the HopSkipDrive app to request rides with HopSkipDrive CareDrivers  each of whom has undergone in-depth background checks and has a required five years of caregiving experience  for children who are at least six years old.

Says one parent who has relied on HopSkipDrive to help manage her familys complicated transportation needs: HopSkipDrive has been a terrific service. The CareDrivers have been absolutely wonderful  theyve been a godsend for me. I can rest comfortably knowing that despite being at work downtown, my daughter is able to be in after-school programs, and she is assured a safe and dependable ride home."

Rides can be reserved as little as eight hours in advance or by 7 p.m. the night before for morning rides. Parents can customize ride instructions and provide details about such things as carpool lines, pickup and drop-off notes, sign-in/out requests, etc.

Before the ride, parents receive a photo profile of their HopSkipDrive CareDriver, which they can share with their child. During the ride, parents receive progress alerts at each step. In addition, HopSkipDrives Safe Ride Support Team tracks every ride continuously, proactively addressing potential issues and maintaining direct communication with parents and CareDrivers.

Prioritizing Safety with Unmatched Industry Standards

HopSkipDrive provides a unique transportation solution that combines sophisticated technology with deep operational expertise to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone who uses the HopSkipDrive platform. HopSkipDrives meticulous approach to safety begins with highly vetted caregivers behind the wheel (who are known as CareDrivers) and extends to every aspect of the companys operations.

Every HopSkipDrive CareDriver has at least five years of caregiving experience and must pass a rigorous 15-point certification process, including fingerprinting, background screenings and ongoing driving record checks. CareDrivers on the HopSkipDrive platform must use a four-door vehicle newer than 10 years old, and vehicles must pass an inspection by a certified mechanic annually. HopSkipDrive CareDrivers have safely driven over 20M+ miles and transported 1.4M+ riders to date.

HopSkipDrive is actively seeking CareDrivers in the Tampa area. Being a CareDriver is a unique experience that comes with many benefits, including competitive pay up to $40/hour, a flexible schedule and the opportunity to make a difference by helping families in the local community. Individuals who are interested in becoming a HopSkipDrive CareDriver in the Tampa area can visit hopskipdrive.com/drive to sign up.

About HopSkipDrive

Designed by protective moms and driven by caregivers, HopSkipDrive is the innovator in providing safe, dependable youth transportation solutions for schools, districts, government agencies and families. HopSkipDrives advanced technology platform and industry-leading operational expertise provide flexibility and visibility while helping to create opportunity for all through mobility.

Since 2014, HopSkipDrive has helped 13,000 schools and currently operates in 21 major markets in 11 states and Washington, D.C. A venture capital-backed company, HopSkipDrive shares investors with well-known brands like Airbnb, Pinterest, Bird and Ring.

Media Contact:

Aylin Cook

Director of Content, HopSkipDrive

aylin@hopskipdrive.com
Panzura LLC, a market leader in hybrid multi-cloud data management, has been named to Inc. magazines annual Best Workplaces list. Featured in the May/June 2022 issue and on Inc.com, the list results from a comprehensive measurement of American companies that have excelled in creating exceptional workplaces and company culture, whether operating in a physical or virtual facility.

Panzuras ranking among Inc.s Best Workplaces for 2022 is a testament to its commitment, driven by its female-led board, to build an equitable environment that values performance, innovation, and compassion. In less than two years, Panzura has more than doubled its annual recurring revenue (ARR), achieved 4x the pace of growth of its competitors, and brought seven products to market. Most recently, Panzura successfully raised $80 million in Series B funding from Kayne Partners and CIBC Innovation Banking. Panzuras CEO, Jill Stelfox, credits the companys turnaround performance on its people and its work culture.

Commenting on the ranking, Jill Stelfox said, Great people build great products, which means company culture becomes a competitive differentiator. Thats why Panzura intentionally sought to create a culture that attracts the best, starting with concrete measures that deliver equity in the workplace and drive performance. Developing a more diverse, gender-balanced talent pool not only makes Panzura a better place to work, but it also helps us deliver unparalleled value to customers.

After collecting data from thousands of submissions, Inc. selected 475 honorees this year. Each nominated company took part in an employee survey conducted by Quantum Workplace, which included management effectiveness, perks, fostering employee growth, and overall company culture. The organizations benefits were also audited to determine the overall score and ranking.

Not long ago, the term best workplace would have conjured up images of open-office designs with stocked snack fridges, said Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. Yet, given the widespread adoption of remote work, the concept of the workplace has shifted. This year, Inc. has recognized the organizations dedicated to redefining and enriching the workplace in the face of the pandemic.

Becoming an honoree of Inc.s Best Workplaces list builds on Panzuras existing industry award recognition over the past year. Awards include Cloud Infrastructure Solution of the Year by the Tech Ascension Awards and Best Hybrid Cloud Solution in the Cloud Awards. Panzura was also ranked among the 100 Coolest Cloud Companies in the CRN Channel Awards 2021.

Above-market growth has allowed Panzura to continue hiring the industrys best talent. The company will add another 150 team members by the end of 2022 with career opportunities in engineering, marketing, HR, finance, and sales.

###

About Panzura

Panzura makes hybrid multi-cloud data management seem easy. Panzuras data management platform is a single, unified data engine designed to securely power the most rigorous, large-scale multi-site enterprise data workows across the globe. Intelligent edge technologies enable LAN performance with cloud economics together with simplified data management, advanced analytics, reduced operational complexity, and improved security. Find out more at panzura.com.

About Inc. Media

The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com.
"At Maud Borup, we are always innovating while driven to create a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous world which aligns with the Entrepreneur of the Year program."

Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced Christine Lantinen, President of Maud Borup was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Heartland Award winner. Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who think big to succeed. An independent panel of judges selected Christine based on her entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact.

It is an incredible honor to be among a group of unstoppable entrepreneurs that keep their employees, their community, and the planet as top priorities as they grow their businesses, commented Christine Lantinen, president of Maud Borup. At Maud Borup, we are always innovating while driven to create a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous world which aligns with the Entrepreneur of the Year program, adds Lantinen.

As a Heartland award winner, Christine will now be considered by the National independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 National Awards. National finalists and winners, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in June 2023.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has honored the inspirational leadership of entrepreneurs such as:



Jodi Berg, Vitamix

Howard Schultz, Starbucks Coffee Company

Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn

Hamdi Ulukaya, Chobani, Inc.

James Park, Fitbit

Daymond John, FUBU

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are presented by PNC Bank. In the Heartland, sponsors also include Colliers International, Padilla, Salo LLC and Twin Cities Business.

About Maud Borup

Maud Borup is a 115-year-old sustainable, woman- and veteran-owned wholesale confections company specializing in premium chocolate and candy manufacturing, organic and gluten-free treats, and seasonal food gifts. Maud Borup designs and manufactures licensed, branded, and private label products supported by an in-house design and merchandising team with over 80 years of experience. Maud Borup supplies mass and specialty retailers as well as online, grocery, and drug stores with everyday and seasonal assortments designed to meet store needs and customer preferences. maudborup.com | Instagram.com/maudborup

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

Entrepreneur Of The Year is the worlds most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. ey.com/us/eoy

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data, and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com. Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US.

###
Forbes Finance Council 2022 Official Member We are extremely honored and pleased by Forbes Finance Councils decision to accept Ben Jen Holdings into the Forbes Finance Council. On behalf of Ben Jen Holdings, we thank the Forbes Finance Council team for including us into their ranks, quoted Ben Jen, Managing Director of Ben Jen Holdings.

Ben Jen, Managing Director of Ben Jen Holdings SLLC, a venture capital firm with principal offices located in Princeton, New Jersey; New York City; Boston; and Wilmington, Delaware, has been accepted into Forbes Finance Council, an invitation-only community for executives in accounting, financial planning, wealth and asset management, and investment firms. Mr. Jen has been a member of Forbes Finance Council since 2018 and Ben Jen Holdings has been recently accepted as a member-firm of the Forbes Finance Council.

Ben Jen Holdings was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of their experience and expertise in the early stage startup markets and youth entrepreneurship space. Criteria for acceptance include a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, having a resounding presence in the entrepreneurship community, and as well as personal and professional achievements and honors.

We are honored to welcome Ben Jen Holdings into the community, said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Finance Council. Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.

As an accepted member of the Council, Ben Jen Holdings will have access to a variety of exclusive opportunities designed to help the firm reach peak professional influence. Mr. Jen of Ben Jen Holdings will connect and collaborate with other respected local leaders in a private forum. Mr. Jen will also be invited to work with a professional editorial team to share his expert insights in original business articles on Forbes.com, and to contribute to published Q&A panels alongside other experts.

Finally, Ben Jen Holdings will benefit from exclusive access to vetted business service partners, membership-branded marketing collateral, and the high-touch support of the Forbes Councils member concierge team.

We are extremely honored and pleased by Forbes Finance Councils decision to accept Ben Jen Holdings into the Forbes Finance Council. On behalf of Ben Jen Holdings, we thank the Forbes Finance Council team for including us into their ranks, quoted Ben Jen, Managing Director of Ben Jen Holdings. We are excited to help contribute and make a meaningful impact on the community.

ABOUT FORBES COUNCILS

Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive.

For more information about Forbes Finance Council, visit forbesfinancecouncil.com. To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit http://forbescouncils.com/forbescouncils.com.

ABOUT BEN JEN HOLDINGS

Ben Jen Holdings is an investor in several startups and businesses across the US and Canada. We provide mentorship, guidance, and consultancy services to the startups that we fund and back. We work with entrepreneurs in their seed, growth, and mature stages to help them succeed and maximize their potentials. Ben Jen Holdings is actively deploying capital, visit us online to learn more and to enter our review process for investment consideration.

For more information, please reach out to Dylan Benzi, at mailto:info@benjenholdings.com [info@benjenholdings.com __title__ null]. You can learn more about our portfolio at https://www.benjenholdings.com.
P-Cure 360 Degree Gantry-less Adaptive Proton Therapy System P-Cure is the only provider of proton therapy that can effectively install the latest cancer fighting technology within the vault instead of new linac (x-ray) equipment, says P-Cure CEO Michael Marash.

P-Cure Ltd., the provider of the most compact 360o Gantry-less Adaptive Proton Therapy System that can be installed in existing radiotherapy vaults, announced the establishment of a new production facility in Weifang, Shandong Province, China.

The facility, designed to manufacture tens of systems annually, spans over 400,000 square feet and includes 9 assembly vaults. The facility construction was carried out by Sino-Israeli Health Alliance China International Medical Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of P-Cure. The factory will operate complementary to the already established production facility in Israel, ensuring scalability and an uninterrupted production of the solutions aimed to meet global market demand.

We are excited to establish the largest production facility for proton therapy systems in the world. This facility will allow us to serve customers better by shrinking the cost and lead-time of the product delivery; as well as providing spare parts and customer support, says Udi Oren, Operations Manager of P-Cure, previously Production Manager at Philips and GE Healthcare.

There is a real clinical need for more targeted, precise and effective radiation treatment beyond the conventional (x-ray) alternatives. P-Cure is the only provider of proton therapy that can effectively install the latest cancer fighting technology within the vault instead of new linac (x-ray) equipment, says P-Cure CEO Michael Marash. Today, approximately 1,000 linac vaults are upgraded annually. With the new facility in Weifang we are confident that we will meet the growing demand for our uniquely compact and more precise proton therapy solution.

Until now, despite the proven and potential clinical benefits, proton therapy has been available to very few patients. The reasons are primarily economic. The huge equipment size of legacy systems, required its own dedicated building. Combining construction and heavy equipment cost severely limited the potential for cost-effective operation and ROI in a reasonable period of time, says Marash.

The P-Cure system is a gantry-less adaptive pencil beam scanning (PBS) delivery system treating patients in a seated orientation. The PBS allows delivering the treatment dose using an intensity modulated technique ensuring high treatment quality in accordance with the prescribed treatment plan objectives and constrains. Beam delivery without the use of a rotating gantry significantly reduces the equipment dimension, making installation of a proton machine in a linac vault feasible. The gantry-less solution allows for treatment delivery to all anatomical sites and offers the benefits of seated position for both treatment planning and delivery. The seated position reduces body motion allowing for more precise beam deliveryless organ motion means more accurate treatment. Combined with image guided positioning system of a diagnostic resolution, the tumor localization in front of the beam is guaranteed.

P-Cure, located in Israel, has also recently opened its operational proton therapy site for clinical research and training, as well as for demonstrating the opportunity for oncology centers to expand their cancer fighting potential to include proton therapy. By utilizing the P-Cure system, this would be achieved without the expense of construction, the need for large and expensive equipment, and with the full clinical benefits of treatment in a comfortable, seated position, says Marash.

About P-Cure: P-Cure Ltd is a developer and provider of the most compact proton therapy system that can be integrated in any radiation therapy departments and designed to improve clinical outcomes in treating all anatomic areas. This year, P-Cure is expecting to receive FDA and CE approvals to its additional product configurations. The companys headquarters are located in Israel with subsidiaries in the US and China. For more information please visit: http://www.p-cure.com
Karl Deily has been appointed to Bettcher Board of Directors as an independent Director. Karls familiarity with protein processing at the plant level and his broader awareness stemming from prior board work involving pervasive trends impacting the industry will help guide the investments Bettcher wants to make.

Bettcher Industries, Inc. (Bettcher or the Organization), a leading manufacturer and supplier of food processing equipment and associated aftermarket parts and consumables, has appointed Karl Deily to its Board as an independent Director.

This new position will continue to augment Bettchers Board by putting relevant industry experience to work in in support of the targeted M&A strategy the business has in place.

Headquartered in Birmingham, Ohio, Bettcher welcomes Charlotte-based Deily as an independent Director following his retirement from Sealed Air Corporation, where most recently he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer focused on strategy and corporate development. In total, Deily brings more than 40 years of leadership experience in the food packaging industry to the Bettcher Board.

Having previously been on the boards of the National Chicken Council and the North American Meat Institute (NAMI), too, Karl brings wide-ranging expertise to Bettcher to advance its market-leading innovation in protein processing.

Karls experience in protein packaging, coupled with his broader knowledge of the processing value chain, is impressive and very relevant as we execute our M&A framework. Karls familiarity with protein processing at the plant level and his broader awareness stemming from prior board work involving pervasive trends impacting the industry will help guide the investments Bettcher and KKR want to make, said Tim Swanson, CEO of Bettcher.

I am excited to have the opportunity to join the Bettcher Board. Bettcher and KKR are executing a focused strategy on enhancing their market leadership position in protein processing around the world, said Deily. I feel I can leverage my knowledge, experience, and passion in the food and beverage Industry to assist Bettcher in realizing their strategic objectives and enhancing the value they bring to the market."

Boardspan Inc. served as an advisor to Bettcher on this appointment.

About Bettcher Industries

Headquartered in Birmingham, Ohio, Bettcher is a leading developer and manufacturer of innovative equipment in the food processing and medical device industries. The Bettcher portfolio includes the following: Bettcher, a designer and manufacturer of handheld trimmers, semi-automated cutting tools and consumables for all protein applications; Cantrell-Gainco, a manufacturer of processing equipment and yield enhancement and yield tracking systems for various protein operations; ICB Greenline, an aftermarket replacement parts and services company focused on poultry processing; and, Exsurco Medical, a leading-edge medical device company that provides innovative products and services to transform surgical grafting, debridement, and recovery outcomes for patients with burn and trauma wounds. Visit Bettcher at: https://www.bettcher.com/en

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKRs insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKRs investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKRs website at http://www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.
Travelers will find a wide selection of hotels in The Nordics diverse landscapes, including smaller accommodations that capture the regions unique and innovative spirit. The Nordics are comprised of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, and each offers one-of-a-kind lodging options.

DENMARK

Denmarks multitude of offerings in its cities, coastal towns, and parks contribute to the diverse accommodation available. Green Solution House in Bornholm represents the highest level of sustainable development. The property is partially constructed from recycled materials; it uses solar electricity; sheep are employed instead of lawn mowers; and more. Creatives will appreciate THEKRANE, a former coal crane turned intimate one-room hotel with views over Nordhavn Harbour, that is complete with a personal concierge, spa, bikes, and a BMW to take visitors around the city. For coastal experiences, Mn has a renovated, active lighthouse that dates back to 1845 and overlooks the Baltic Sea. Travelers seeking to immerse themselves in nature should look no further than the Sami tent in Scandinavian Wildlife Park - a tipi-like tent used by the nomadic Saami reindeer herders  and Camp Adventure for glamping, a forest tower, and Denmarks largest climbing park. Charging stands for hybrid and electric cars are available. For a unique cultural experience, the Land of Legends is a 106-acre archaeological open-air museum and reconstructed Iron Age village in the Lejre Municipality. Popular with families, many visitors dress in period costumes as they partake in historical artisan workshops, sail in traditional boats, and shoot bow and arrow.

FAROE ISLANDS

Much like the Faroe Islands themselves, the countrys accommodation options are intimate, personable, and welcoming. Family-run businesses offer everything from traditional restaurants to music nights with Faroese musicians. Heima i Stovu is a family-owned boutique hotel in Hvalba that harkens back to its original days as a private home in the early 1900s. One of the countrys most luxe properties is Hotel Havgrim in the capital Torshavn. Referred to as the Commodores House in 1950s after it was purchased by the Danish Navy, the historic building is now comprised of 14 beautiful hotel rooms. Plaques with the names of all 21 commodores that have lived in the building since the 1950s hang in the lobby, and all of the hotels energy comes from its own geothermal source. Hotel Hafnia is the latest property to get a third-party sustainable certification and is now a four-star Green Key hotel as of Spring 2022. The furniture for the rooms is custom-made out of recycled materials, and the walls are decorated with historic images of local life. There are more sheep than people in the Faroe Islands, so its no surprise that grazing sheep are a common view at Hotel Froyar outside Torshavn. The hotels traditional grass roof blends the building in with its surroundings. New spa facilities will be available in 2023 that include indoor and outdoor pools, steam bath, stone bath, ice bath, rooftop pool, and outdoor jacuzzi.

FINLAND

Helsinki is a compact city easily explored on foot or by bike, and, outside the city, with 41 national parks and more than 70,000 islands waiting to be explored. Along the wooded hillsides of Rovaniemi, the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel offers treehouse suite and arctic glasshouses with panoramic windows. Guests can book a tour to the propertys hidden forest wine bar for a two-hour experience of hiking and wine tasting. Other activities, depending on the time of year, include the use of bikes, toboggans, kicksleds, snowshoes, and skishoes, as well as wellness exercises and the Santa Claus Secret Forest. In the north, Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort is a world of glass igloos and chalets. While its open year-round, the glass igloos are only available August  April. The activities are endless depending on the time of year, and range from reindeer safaris, snowmobile excursions, and ice fishing to foraging, gold panning, and husky dog visits. Visitors interested in history will find the Arctic Light Hotel of interest. Located in Rovaniemi, the establishment was first created as a city hall before it was destroyed during World War II and rebuilt as a city hall in 1949. The 57-room hotel is now a protected building with many of its historic attributes saved and restored over the years, including a vintage elevator and starred balconies. Away from the arctic circle is the 15-room Kylmapihlaja Lighthouse on the Bothnian Sea. Located on its own island, the lighthouse has 12 floors with guest rooms in the tower, outdoor hot tub, sauna, and a restaurant on the ground floor.

GREENLAND

A majestic country of ice fjords and mountains, Greenland is brimming with culture and indigenous history. Ilimanaq Lodge is the place to be for the summers of 2022 and 2023 when two Michelin-starred restaurant KOKS relocates from the Faroe Islands. Ilimanaq Lodges buildings are some of the oldest houses in the country as they once belonged to the son of Hans Egede who founded the colony of Greenland in the 1700s. Guests can stay in one of 15 solar-paneled bungalows, complete with views of Disko Bay. Located in the art hub of the Eastern Settlement, the 17-room Hotel Qaqortoq in southern Greenland is notable for its local art throughout the 17-room hotel. Built from snow as the Inuit have practiced for many years, Igloo Lodge Eqi features six igloos with built-in cold traps, insulated sleeping mats, and cold-reflecting thermal mats. Unlike many igloo hotels, Hotel Arctic offers unconventional aluminum igloos from May to October. Each overlooks the Ilulissat ice fjord and Disko Bay. There are also many multi-day mobile tours allowing travelers to overnight in camping sites along the way with transport including snowmobiling, helicopter, dog sledding, or snowshoeing.

ICELAND

There is accommodation for every type of traveler in Iceland in each of the countrys seven regions. A romantic bubble for two can be booked with Bubble Hotel Iceland in its two southern Iceland locations. Guests can go one step further and overnight in a hanging bubble, suspended in the air between trees. Luxe travelers will be drawn to Reykjavik EDITION by Marriott, Reykjaviks first five-star hotel which opened in November 2021. Located next to Old Harbour, the hotels 253 rooms are complemented by restaurants, bars, and rooftop. Blue Lagoon Retreat lies just south of Reykjavik with 62 suites that either look out over the Blue Lagoon or lava fields with floor-to-ceiling windows. Set on an 800-year-old lava flow in the heart of the Reykjanes UNESCO Global Geopark, the biggest perk is the easy access to the Blue Lagoon, one of Icelands top attractions. Guests can opt to be woken up if the Northern Lights appear after they go to sleep. In northern Iceland, Deplar Farm is a remote luxury retreat tucked away in the Troll Peninsula. This area sees some of the highest average snowfall on the planet, making it a dream spot for skiers. Located on a converted sheep farm with two helipads on property, Deplar Farm blends into the natural landscape with its black timber cladding and living roof, and its geothermal-heated outdoor pool, and Isopod flotation tanks provide total relaxation. Torfhus Retreat is a sustainably-focused hotel inspired by the architecture of the Icelandic Viking farm at nearby Stong. Complete with living turf roofs that hug the guesthouses and basalt stone hot pools, the property runs entirely on geothermal and hydroelectric sustainable energy. Antique decor includes an Icelandic fishing boat repurposed as a sofa and a battery powered vintage taxi for short local excursions.

NORWAY

Norways fjords and dramatic landscapes are reflected in many of its stunning accommodations. Guests of The Arctic Hideaway leave cars and shops behind as they enjoy the solitude of one of the four sleeping houses of Fleinvr. They can enjoy saunas, dips in the Arctic Ocean, and fishing with locals. Creatives from around the world are also drawn to the propertys artists-in-residence program which hosts four working artists at a time. Manhausen is located on a 14-acre island in Lilands Fjord with seven small, modern sea cabins jutting over the water and floor-to-ceiling windows. The historic island used to be an integral part of the Grtya old trading post. Outdoor enthusiasts will flourish with fishing, kayaking, snorkeling, biking, snowshoeing, and eagle safaris available to guests. Those who want the best views can book a stay at Fannarakhytta, Norway's highest lodge. Located on the peak of Fannaraken at an elevation of 6,785 feet, hiking enthusiasts and those ready for gorgeous views will hike five hours from Skogadalsben or six hours from Sognefjellhytta, Krossbu, or Turtagr to reach the lodge. Isfjord Radio Adventure Hotel offers solitude as a historic radio outpost far from civilization. The 22-room hotel is located on Svalbard which is also home to approximately 3,500 polar bears making for some thrilling sightings. In winter, guests arrive by dogsleds or snowmobile and during summer by crossing the Arctic ocean on a boat safari. More history can be enjoyed at Nusfjord Arctic Resort comprised of 22 high-end cabins in one of Lofotens best-preserved fishing villages. For a different scene, glass igloos surrounded by verdant green trees will greet visitors at each of Hvilepusts six destinations, all 23 to 68 miles outside of Oslo.

SWEDEN

From elaborate ice halls to a glamorous castle, Swedish accommodations will make any experience memorable. Usually ice hotels are seasonal; however, Swedens Icehotel 365 is the first hotel in the world to offer ice experiences year-round. The specially designed ice hall houses individually themed, hand carved suites, an ice bar, and an experience room where visitors can learn about Icehotels history through art and video. The building runs on renewable energy, mainly solar power, in the summer months. Equally enticing is the floating Arctic Bath on the Lule River just south of the arctic circle. The hotel is comprised of cabins and suites that are either on the water and connected to the shore by floating walkways or elevated on poles along the shore. A fairytale experience can be had at Sodertuna Castle outside the town of Gnesta. Only 90 minutes from Stockholm, Sodertuna Castle offers modern double rooms in the wings of the historic building which houses relics from different periods in history. Guests have the option to hike, canoe, bike, croquet, swim in the indoor pool, and in the winter, ice skate on the grounds.

ABOUT THE NORDICS

Located in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic, the Nordics are comprised of seven countries: Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. In this open and welcoming region, diversity, equality and respect for all people are paramount. It is a place where creativity has the opportunity to grow and where dreams and new ideas can be realized. Living traditions and cultural heritage are both protected and respected. In the Nordics, visitors can interact with nature, learn from nature, and eat what is found in nature. The Nordics are not just a beautiful background but the essence of a transformational trip.
In a fast-paced, high turnover environment, good training can mean the difference between success and failure.

David Wentworth, Brandon Hall Groups Principal Learning and Development Analyst, will join Tammy Olson, Director of Global Curriculum and Training at American Dairy Queen Corp. (ADQ) and Michelle Sullivan, VP of Marketing Communications at Schoox, for a live discussion on Thursday, June 16 at 1:00 PM EDT / 12:00 PM CDT.

In a franchise model, a franchisees employees and customers need a standardized, consistent experience, even if restaurants have multiple franchise owners. In a fast-paced, high turnover environment, good training can mean the difference between success and failure. This session will take a closer look at the ins and outs of training in a franchise environment, as well as the journey American Dairy Queen took to implement a significant operational shift that required an innovative approach and the right tools to deliver training successfully.

Discussion topics include:



Learning in the franchise/extended enterprise environment

Challenges and strategies

The franchise training journey

Visit the registration page and secure your virtual seat or visit Schooxs website to learn more about their learning and talent development solutions.

About Brandon Hall Group Inc.

Brandon Hall Group is the only professional development company that offers data, research, insights and certification to Learning and Talent executives and organizations. The best minds in Human Capital Management (HCM) choose Brandon Hall Group to help them create future proof employee development plans for the new era. For over 27 years, we have empowered, recognized and certified excellence in organizations around the world influencing the development of over 10,000,000 employees and executives. Our HCM Excellence Awards was the first to recognize organizations for learning and talent and is the gold standard, known as the Academy Awards of Human Capital Management. Our cloud-based platform delivers evidence-based insights in the areas of Learning and Development, Talent Management, Leadership Development, Diversity and Inclusion, Talent Acquisition and HR/Workforce Management for corporate organizations and HCM solution Providers. To learn more visit https://www.brandonhall.com.

About ADQ

American Dairy Queen Corporation (ADQ) is a subsidiary of International Dairy Queen (IDQ) based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ADQ, along with other IDQ subsidiaries, is responsible for licensing and servicing a system of more than 7,000 restaurants in the United States, Canada and more than 20 other countries. IDQ is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (Berkshire), which is led by Warren Buffet, the legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire. For more information, visit DairyQueen.com.

About Schoox

Schoox transforms learning into business growth. Our SaaS learning platform and course marketplace help companies accelerate business results by unlocking employee potential, boosting customer retention, and driving reseller revenue through learning. Schoox powers learning experiences for numerous organizations around the world, including Subway, Celebrity Cruises, Phillips 66, and Sonesta Hotels. Learn more at schoox.com.
Annex Cloud- Erin Raese member of Forbes Biz Council We are honored to welcome Erin Raese into the community, said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Business Development Council

Annex Cloud is excited to announce SVP Erin Raese has been accepted into Forbes Business Development Council, an invitation-only community for senior-level sales and business development executives. Annex Cloud is a global enterprise technical solutions provider of advanced loyalty management and retention solutions that assists organizations with improving their business development efforts, focusing on customer-first activities that enhance the bottom line. Erins participation in the Council will enable Annex Cloud to spread the word about the importance of customer retention and growth using a customer-first approach to an even wider audience.

Erin is a commercial growth executive with proven expertise in taking small and mid-size organizations to the next level. She also brings unparalleled expertise in customer loyalty strategy and innovation. As a passionate loyalty strategist, Erin has focused her career on helping organizations build profitable relationships with their customers, develop long-term brand loyalty, and increase customer retention and revenue in both B2B and B2C environments.

Erin was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of her experience. Criteria for acceptance include a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors.

We are honored to welcome Erin Raese into the community, said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Business Development Council. Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.

As an accepted member of the Council, Erin has access to a variety of exclusive opportunities designed to help her reach peak professional influence. She will connect and collaborate with other respected local leaders in a private forum. Erin will also be invited to work with a professional editorial team to share her expert insights in original business articles on Forbes.com, and to contribute to published Q&A panels alongside other experts.

Finally, Erin will benefit from exclusive access to vetted business service partners, membership-branded marketing collateral, and the high-touch support of the Forbes Councils member concierge team.

Im excited about being accepted into this group of innovative leaders, all working to give back to the broader community, sharing insights and experiences that help others improve their business development efforts. The synergy and change this type of collaboration can create is inspiring and will surely be transformative, says Erin.

ABOUT FORBES COUNCILS

Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive.

For more information about Forbes Business Development Council, visit forbesbizdevcouncil.com. To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com.

ABOUT ANNEX CLOUD

For more than 10 years, Annex Cloud has been the worldwide leader in technology and service solutions that transform customer loyalty experiences for organizations, extending valued customer engagements, ultimately making beloved brands. Powered by the comprehensive and scalable Loyalty Experience Platform solution suite, Annex Cloud customers capture and use zero- and first-party data to seamlessly deliver hyper-personalized experiences across the entire customer journeyfrom awareness to purchase to retention, loyalty, and advocacy. Supporting its global enterprise clients, Annex Cloud has offices in the US, Germany, and India. The company is recognized by industry respected organizations and integrates with more than 125 market-leading technologies. Discover more at http://www.annexcloud.com.
We did not want simply any franchise. We wanted a business that served a purpose and filled a need  something that was mission-driven and fulfilled our passion for helping people. - Shirleen Anderson, co-owner British Swim School of Edmonton West

British Swim School, the nations leading learn to swim franchise company, continues its Canadian expansion with the opening of its newest franchise location in Edmonton. This is the companys 11th location in Canada  the first in Alberta.

Shirleen and Craig Anderson, the new franchise owners of British Swim School of Edmonton West, were like many others  working a corporate job while dreaming of owning their own business. When Shirleens job was eliminated during the pandemic, they saw the chance to turn an unfortunate event into an opportunity for their family. Using the forced down time that resulted from the pandemic, they started down the road of making their dream a reality. With no previous experience with business ownership, the Andersons decided a franchise was the right track to ensure their success.

We did not want simply any franchise. We wanted a business that served a purpose and filled a need  something that was mission-driven and fulfilled our passion for helping people, said Shirleen Anderson, co-owner of British Swim School of Edmonton West. British Swim School ticked off all the boxes. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to own a business  especially one that teaches a critical life skill to prevent drowning and save lives.

The need for swim lessons in Edmonton is quite clear. According to sources, the summer of 2021 broke a 20-year drowning record with 25 tragically fatal incidents. The deadly trend was attributed, in part, to limited access to indoor pools and the lack of available swimming lessons. To further emphasize the tragic impact, the Canadian Red Cross reports that drowning is a leading cause of preventable injury and death in children under 10.

That statistic resonates with the Andersons more than anything. They have a nine-year-old son who benefits from a different learning approach. Before becoming British Swim School franchise owners, they enrolled him in swim classes at another school, but he did not adapt well to the program.

Every person learns differently - British Swim School understands that. The program is set up for children of different abilities and the techniques are modified based on what each child can do, to ensure that each child masters the goal and graduates to the next level. Our son has been our first student for our swim school, and I am proud to say he is learning to find his confidence in the water thanks to the teachings of British Swim School.

For more than 40 years, British Swim School has been dedicated to teaching water survival skills by offering a three-part curriculum teaching infants, children and adults of all ages the skills needed for water acclimation, water survival, and stroke development. Its mission  ensure that every person, regardless of age or ability, has the opportunity to become a safe and happy swimmer. While parental supervision is always the number one safety measure, research shows that participation in formal swim programs, such as those offered by British Swim School, can reduce the risk of drowning by 88 percent among children who are most at risk for deaths caused by drowning.

"Interest in the British Swim School model has exploded in Canada, for both customers and potential franchise owners. Shirleen and Craig Anderson are a vital part of that expansion, bringing British Swim School to a new area of Canada," said Ashley Gundlach, British Swim School President. They have the skills, energy and enthusiasm to provide families in the Edmonton area with much needed swim lessons.

The Andersons join the growing team of franchise owners that operate the more than 215 British Swim Schools across the United States and Canada.

Recently ranked #352 on the prestigious Franchise 500, British Swim Schools comes off record-breaking year in terms of customer demand and franchise performance and looks forward to building on that growth in 2022.

For more information about British Swim School, visit http://www.britishswimschool.com.

To learn more about the benefits of British Swim Schools franchising opportunities, visit http://www.britishswimschoolfranchise.com.

###

About British Swim School

British Swim School, the nations most established swim school franchise with over 40 years in business believes that every individual, regardless of age or ability, should have the opportunity to become a safe and happy swimmer. Offering lessons for babies, children, and adults, the brand is dedicated to its mantra, Survival of the Littlest, focusing first on the survival skills needed to survive a water accident, then moving on to stroke development and more advanced skills. Not only does British Swim Schools give peace of mind to countless families who seek the essential life skill the brand offers their children, the purpose-driven franchise offers an exceptional opportunity for entrepreneurs who seek a fulfilling business venture with a sound foundation, low investment, and easily scalable model. Part of the Buzz Franchise Brands family, British Swim School currently operates over 215 schools across the United States and Canada.

For more information about British Swim School, visit http://www.britishswimschool.com.

To learn more about the benefits of British Swim Schools franchising opportunities, visit http://www.britishswimschoolfranchise.com.
Get online pre-approval for auto loans at the Chris Auffenberg Family of dealerships.

The Chris Auffenberg Family of dealerships located near Cape Girardeau in Missouri is now offering online pre-approval for auto loans for the customers in the locality. Irrespective of the customers credit histories, they can get pre-approvals for vehicle loans. Interested parties are requested to visit their official website and fill out a simple and secure online application form to start the process.

No matter what the customers credit score is, the experienced finance specialists at the Chris Auffenberg family of dealerships will be able to get a customized finance package owing to their partnership with multiple financial institutions and lenders. Prospective buyers must fill in their basic personal data, employment info, and the details of the vehicle they are planning to purchase. All personally verifiable data collected through this application will be stored securely and encrypted. The dealerships Credit Application staff will use this information only to facilitate a relationship or a business transaction.

Drivers are encouraged to visit any of the locations of the Chris Auffenberg family of dealerships in Missouri or Illinois. For any further information, customers can also reach out to their friendly and knowledgeable customer care team via call/text/email.
Codoxo Progress in healthcare AI is moving at lightning speed and its ability to tackle emerging healthcare schemes in addition to impacting a variety of other areas in cost containment is just really in its infancy."

Codoxo, a trusted provider of healthcare artificial intelligence solutions for healthcare payers and agencies, will be discussing advancements in healthcare artificial intelligence and featuring its Forensic AI Platform and Healthcare Integrity Suite as an Affiliate sponsor at the AHIP Conference, June 21-23 at the Wynn Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. In addition to exhibiting at booth #618, Codoxo will sponsor a concurrent session, Extracting Dental Resource Consumption from Your Medical Budget, on June 22 from 3:40 to 4:25 p.m.

Codoxo will host its June 22 concurrent, customer-led session with Rae McIntee, DDS, MD, MBA, FACS, CPE and Medical Director of Payment Integrity and SIU at Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota. Ms. McIntee will share insights into how integrated data sets paired with advanced AI not only help detect outlier and/or fraudulent dental billing behavior, but also equip well-trained clinical staff to deep clean billing practices and protect their medical resources.

It is so exciting to be back in-person for this years AHIP conference and to share all of the advancements AI has made in the healthcare payer and agency space since the last live event, stated Musheer Ahmed, Codoxos Chief Executive Officer. Progress in healthcare AI is moving at lightning speed and its ability to tackle emerging healthcare schemes in addition to impacting a variety of other areas in cost containment is just really in its infancy. We will be discussing with attendees how they can leverage some of the most innovative and emerging AI solutions to drive down costs in a strategic and unified way.

Attendees will also learn how Codoxos all-in-one Forensic AI Platform and Healthcare Integrity Suite delivers the most effective and accurate AI for a unified view across the payment spectrum. Representatives from Codoxo will discuss payment integrity; fraud, waste, and abuse; audit case management and workflow and more. Booth (#618) visitors can enter to win a $500 AIRBNB experience gift card.

About Codoxo

Codoxos mission is to make healthcare more affordable and effective for everyone and serves as the premier provider of artificial intelligence-driven solutions and services that help healthcare companies and agencies proactively detect and reduce risks from fraud, waste, and abuse. The Codoxo Healthcare Integrity Suite helps clients manage costs across network management, clinical care, provider coding and billing, payment integrity, and special investigation units. Our software-as-a-service applications are built on our proven Forensic AI Platform, which uses patented AI-based technology to identify problems and suspicious behavior far faster and earlier than traditional techniques. Our solutions are HIPAA- compliant and operate in a HITRUST-certified environment. For additional information, visit http://www.codoxo.com.
David Wallace "I am delighted to be contributing to this pivotal moment in today's cold chain. The webinar will provide a great opportunity for all industry stakeholders to share knowledge and collectively launch a plan for the sector to improve the cooling efficiency of cold stores across the country."

A panel of refrigeration industry experts will discuss how the sector can reduce its carbon emissions on the 13th June from 10 am at a one-hour webinar hosted by the Cold Chain Federation, the UK's leading temperature-controlled authority.

During the online event, Tom Southall, Policy Director at the CCF will introduce the Federation's latest report, The Cold Store of 2050: Maximising Efficiency to Reduce Emissions & Drive Energy Transformation, and will be joined by a range of panellists, including Dr Alan Foster of London South Bank University, Jon Wyllie of Harlaxton Engineering Services, Shane Brennan of the Cold Chain Federation and David Wallace of Star Refrigeration.

David Wallace, said, "I am delighted to be contributing to this pivotal moment in today's cold chain. The webinar will provide a great opportunity for all industry stakeholders to share knowledge and collectively launch a plan for the sector to improve the cooling efficiency of cold stores across the country."

The report is part of the CCF's Cold Chain Net Zero Project, an initiative aiming to bring the industry together to work toward the UK's 2050's decarbonisation goals, which launched in October 2020. In June 2019, the UK Government launched net zero targets of a 100% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050  and in response, the new paper outlines how temperature-controlled warehouses could evolve to drive energy transformation in the UK, as part of the transition towards a net zero economy.

Evaluating the technologies that could be used to minimise energy consumption and current barriers to adoption, the report stresses the importance of businesses, government and UK energy network figures working in tandem to create a more energy-efficient cold chain.

One of the topics likely to be discussed at the webinar is the EU's recent F-gas revision proposal published on 5th April 2022, which requires refrigeration plants to phase down their usage of HFC refrigerants, which cause global warming. Approximately 40% of cold stores are still using high GWP F-gases, but with the possibility of a near 50% cut in F-gas quotas by 2024, the industry will urgently need to assess the impact of the new regulation.

Wallace will touch on the critical point of what the EU regulation means for businesses as the industry will have to phase down the use of the most environmentally damaging refrigerants and accelerate the take up of natural gases such as ammonia and CO2.

The panel will look at how data and monitoring can help drive energy efficiency in the cold chain of the future and will evaluate funding models for energy efficiency projects. Experts will also discuss how significant a role cold stores play in the context of the UK's emissions.

"Industrial refrigeration is by far the largest single contributor to a site's energy use. With population growth on course to hit just under 10 billion by 2050, there'll be increased demand for cold storage so it has never been more vital for the sector to improve efficiency and reduce cooling density.

Fortunately, new developments in modern data monitoring and performance optimisation systems mean that we can now forecast the future energy consumption of refrigeration plants to gain valuable insights into cooling systems' inefficiencies.

Likewise, better building and refrigeration plant design can offer up to a 30% reduction in carbon emissions".

As part of its Cold Chain Net Zero project, the CCF has released a series of 5 reports supported by a variety of events  all aimed at demonstrating how businesses within the sector can aid the transition to a more efficient, lower emission cold chain.

To access the CCF's latest report, visit https://www.coldchainfederation.org.uk/cold-chain-net-zero-project/

To join in on today's free webinar, sign up at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/223105626217198862
Crystal the Crypto Realtor South Florida has growing demand for the convergence of crypto assets and mortgage financing. There is a growing trend of individuals purchasing homes with crypto and or crypto gains, homes being sold as NFTs, and the increasing popularity of real estate tokenization and blockchain record keeping.

Crystal Leigh Realty, South Floridas premiere luxury and crypto real estate company, today announced that its broker owner and founder, Crystal Leigh Hemphill has earned the designation of Propy Crypto Certified Agent. The Propy certification adds another layer to the crypto expertise Crystal Leigh Realty offers its clientele when buying and selling real estate using cryptocurrency and NFTs. Propy is helping revolutionize the real estate industry with its innovative blockchain-verified platform for selling homes thats supported by Silicon Valley leaders and the National Association of Realtors.

As South Florida heats up as the global hub for crypto and decentralized finance companies, the age of crypto and blockchain real estate transactions harkens. Home buyers and sellers in South Florida looking to conduct crypto real estate transactions turn to Crystal Leigh Realty. Crystal has quickly become known as Crystal the Crypto Realtor in Miami and across South Florida after relocating numerous hedge funds, VC firms & startups in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry executives and employees.

With the influx of crypto, blockchain, angel, hedge and de-fi employees and executives moving to South Florida, comes growing demand for the convergence of crypto assets and mortgage financing. There is a growing trend of individuals purchasing homes with crypto and or crypto gains, homes being sold as NFTs, and the increasing popularity of real estate tokenization and blockchain record keeping. To help clients better manage and navigate their crypto real estate transactions, we always investigate and keep up with the latest best practices, trends and technology. I am pleased to be awarded the Propy Certified Crypto Agent certification and to be able to be one of the first in South Florida and the United States to have a crypto currency specialization, stated Crystal Leigh Hemphill, Crystal Leigh Realtys broker owner and founder.

Firms in the finance, crypto & tech industries, hire Crystal and the Crystal Leigh Realty team as their exclusive relocation specialist to manage the gamut of real estate rental and sales needs, and complex details involved in moving staff. Crystal has represented the relocation needs of some of the largest corporations in Manhattan & Silicon Valley as well as companies in other locations looking to transplant their executives and employees to Miami.

Crystals goal is to help navigate her clients through their entire journey to Miami from start to finish, helping them find and get settled into homes they love.

For more information, please visit http://www.crystalthecryptorealtor.com. You can also follow Crystal on the following social platforms: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Draper built and successfully demonstrated the first model of the human lung capable for assessing the efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics in its PREDICT96 system. Credit: Draper. Drapers PREDICT96-ALI allows researchers, who require human-equivalent efficacy data, to rapidly test drug candidates across diverse patient populations simultaneously, Christine Fisher, Ph.D., a co-author of a new study on organ-tissue models, said.

As society recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and prepares for the next one, the challenge of accelerating the development of therapies to meet the needs of a diverse population looms large. Now, a new study by Draper is poised to accelerate development of drugs against emerging diseases such as COVID-19 by integrating a toolset that uses human tissue models based on organ-on-chip technology and the expertise of microbiologists and bioengineers operating the model systems in a high-containment laboratory.

In the study, researchers conducted experiments where they grew microscale tissue models of the lung in precision-engineered multiwell plates, infected the models with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and treated the tissues with one of three FDA-approved antiviral therapeutics. They used multiple measures of infection, analyzing some 3,000 data points, to identify the antivirals that effectively blocked viral replication in the lung tissue models. The study, published in the online preprint server bioRxiv, demonstrates that Draper has built the first model of the human lung capable of assessing the efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics in a high-throughput system.

The study is significant, according to the researchers, because it shows the PREDICT96-ALI (air-liquid-interface) platform accurately predicted the clinical efficacy of three SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics: Lagevrio (molnupiravir), Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) and Veklury (remdesivir). The preclinical model provided data that was predictive of human clinical responses as measured by hospitalization rates of COVID-19 patients treated with the same antiviral therapies. The study highlights the power of using 3-D, complex human tissue models rather than existing techniques such as animal testing or overly simplistic human or animal cell culture models that do not accurately mimic infection or drug responses in humans.

Christine Fisher, Ph.D., a co-author of the paper, says the study addresses current gaps in drug discovery and development. A major limiting factor in the development of antiviral treatments for COVID-19 and other respiratory viral infections such as influenza is a lack of preclinical models capable of providing data predictive of human clinical responses at large scale. Drapers PREDICT96-ALI allows researchers, who require human-equivalent efficacy data, to rapidly test drug candidates across diverse patient populations simultaneously, Fisher said.

Ashley Gard, corresponding author of the study, says human tissue models sustained for weeks in a high-throughput, sensor-instrumented, 96-well dynamic microenvironment enable researchers to investigate multiple experimental conditions and obtain rapid and statistically significant results as they screen, evaluate and develop therapies.

At Draper, we have created a predictive, preclinical tissue model of individuals impacted by serious respiratory diseases like COVID-19. These systems can model the human response to SARS-CoV-2 and other infectious diseases, Gard said. Having demonstrated the capabilities of Drapers instrumented lung-on-a-chip system, PREDICT96-ALI, with its controlled microenvironment and unique lung tissue composition, we are able to address major gaps in the drug discovery and development process. This has the potential to change the lives of patients facing infection with SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging high-threat pathogens.

Results of the study build upon Drapers 2021 study that documented the first SARS-CoV-2 infection and viral replication in a human tissue lung-on-a-chip. The earlier research was published in Scientific Reports.

PREDICT96 is a high-throughput, instrumented organ-on-a-chip microenvironment that serves as a drug development and testing platform for pharmaceutical companies, government agencies and academic researchers. The device is currently being used by Draper and its partners to develop and validate individual tissue models of gut, intestine, lung, liver, vasculature, kidney, blood brain barrier, tumor and gingival tissue and to evaluate immune-oncology approaches.

Key features of an organ-on-chip model that can be applied in screening therapies include the fidelity of the model in recapitulating human organ composition and function (including patient-to-patient variability across diverse donors), sufficient throughput to provide statistically significant data across multiple conditions in a standardized format (such as a microplate), compatibility with powerful, multiplexable and complementary readouts and suitability for operation in a BSL-3 high-containment environments.

In future studies, PREDICT96-ALIs throughput and reproducibility can be applied to antiviral drug screening on diverse patient populations to yield insights on individual responses to candidate drugs, the researchers said.

The PREDICT96-ALI findings are based on research by Draper principal investigators Gard, Fisher, Jeffrey Borenstein and others.
We are excited to be back at the FAIA convention this year and to be their preferred pre-licensing provider for the ACA 6-20 license. It was a great show in 2021, we are looking forward to making new connections at this years show.

Educational Services & Consulting LLC (ESC) announces their partnership with the Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA) at the June 2022 convention in Orlando, Florida.

Co-owner and Chief Strategy Officer, Natalie Zimmerman, states We are excited to be back at the FAIA convention this year and to be their preferred pre-licensing provider for the ACA 6-20 license. It was a great show in 2021, we are looking forward to making new connections at this years show. As the preferred pre-licensing provider for the ACA 6-20 license, we encourage convention participants to stop by our booth. We will have more information about our ACA designation course and how participants can enroll, take their final exam and be eligible for their ACA 6-20 license. We will be in booth #832.

Educational Services & Consulting is based in Clermont Florida. They offer extensive online designation courses for the 6-20 Accredited Claims Adjuster designation and the 4-40 Registered Customer Service Representative (RCSR) designation. Both courses offer a 40-hour online program with an online final exam at the end. Students who successfully pass the final exam are eligible to skip the state exam and can immediately apply for their state license.

For students enrolling in ESCs 6-20 ACA course, once they pass their final exam and apply to the state for their license, they will be able to work as an All-Lines Adjuster. Those taking the RCSR course and passing their exam will be eligible to work in the general lines of insurance also known as property and casualty.

Educational Services & Consulting offers their extensive certification classes online to meet the needs of individuals looking to make a career change, those coming out of active military duty or those looking to get back into the workforce. Zimmerman adds Offering our courses online gives our students the flexibility to work on our courses when it fits their schedule. Our ACA and RCSR courses are each $289.00 per person and students can re-take their final exam if needed at no additional charge.

Those taking their 6-20 ACA course will learn insurance terms and concepts, information about auto insurance, residential and commercial property insurance, commercial general liability and ethics, negotiation and communication best practices. Those taking the 4-40 RCSR course will learn similar information to the ACA course with the exception of learning ethics, agency and customer service skills.

In addition to offering their courses online to the general public, Educational Services & Consulting also partners with all branches of the United States Military. ESCs course offerings are available to those military personnel transitioning into civilian life and starting a new career.

ESC also partners with colleges and universities throughout the United States with their revenue share program. Educational institutions offering ESCs 6-20 ACA designation course and their 4-40 RCSR designation course within their college course catalogue will receive incremental revenue for each student who enrolls. No additional staffing is needed at the college level. ESC facilitates the entire course and offers tech support for college students enrolled in their program. Zimmerman states We do the heavy lifting for the colleges. All we need them to do is feature our courses in their course catalogue and we do the rest. Its a great opportunity for any educational institution.

Educational Services & Consultings corporate office is located at 4327 South Highway 27, Suite 204 in Clermont, Florida 34711. Consumers interested in learning more about either the 6-20 ACA or 4-40 RCSR course are encouraged to visit online at https://escconnected.com/ or call 1-800-309-2549.

For those attending the FAIA convention in Orlando, Florida June 15th  17th, Educational Services & Consulting will be in booth #832 with additional information on their course offerings including course overviews, enrollment fees and licensure information.
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against WeDriveU, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The San Francisco employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action complaint alleging that WeDriveU, Inc. violated the California Labor Code. The WeDriveU, Inc., class action lawsuit, Case No. 22-CIV-02197, is currently pending in the San Mateo County Superior Court of the State of California. A copy of the Complaint can be read here.

The lawsuit filed against WeDriveU, Inc. alleges Defendant failed to pay employees for all the time they were under the employer's control. This, allegedly, includes the time Plaintiff and other California Class Members had to submit to mandatory COVID-19 questionnaires and temperature checks prior to clocking in for the day. To the extent that the time worked off the clock did not qualify for overtime premium payment, Defendant allegedly failed to pay minimum and overtime wages for the time worked off-the-clock.

Additionally, WeDriveU, Inc. allegedly failed to fully relieve employees for their legally required thirty (30) minute meal breaks. Employees were also allegedly required, from time to time, to work in excess of four (4) hours without being provided the legally required ten (10) minute rest periods. The California Supreme Court defines off-duty rest periods as time during which an employee is relieved from all work related duties and free from employer control.

For more information about the class action lawsuit against WeDriveU, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is an employment law firm with offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside and Chicago that dedicates its practice to helping employees, investors and consumers fight back against unfair business practices, including violations of the California Labor Code and Fair Labor Standards Act. If you need help in collecting unpaid overtime wages, unpaid commissions, being wrongfully terminated from work, and other employment law claims, contact one of their attorneys today.

***THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT***
Great River Connections Academy gave me the freedom to work at a pace I needed, the Advanced Placement courses I wanted and the support from my teachers any time I asked

Great River Connections Academy recently presented more than 130 students with their high school diplomas as members of the statewide public online charter schools 2022 graduating class. The students were recently honored during the schools annual commencement ceremony at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

It was wonderful to have this opportunity to celebrate our graduates and this academic milestone with an in-person commencement ceremony together with families and friends, said Great River Connections Academy school leader Jason Swinehart. The faculty and staff at Great River Connections Academy are proud of the determination these students have demonstrated to find a learning environment that meets their needs and enabled them to succeed academically. We are confident the Class of 2022 is poised to do great things.

The Class of 2022 is Great River Connections Academys fourth graduating class since it first opened in 2018. While more than one-third of the graduates indicated they plan to continue their education and attend a two or four-year college or university, such as Kent State University, Ohio State University, Toledo University, the University of Cincinnati and Columbus State, others plan to join the military, pursue vocational training, or enter the workforce to start their careers.

During the commencement ceremony, the graduates heard from Class of 2022 valedictorian Louis Weiss of Youngstown, who came to the online school in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and chose to stay because he appreciated the flexibility to work at his own pace and the support he received from his teachers. Louis plans to attend the University of Cincinnati in the fall.

Great River Connections Academy gave me the freedom to work at a pace I needed, the Advanced Placement courses I wanted and the support from my teachers any time I asked, Louis said. The Class of 2022 has been through a lot of struggles these past couple years and we should all take this time and celebrate our accomplishments and the determination that got us here.

Enrollment for the 2022-2023 academic year is currently open. Great River Connections Academy is hosting online information sessions for families interested in learning more about virtual education. For more information about Great River Connections Academy or to begin the enrollment process, please visit http://www.GreatRiverConnectionsAcademy.com or call (800) 382-6010.

About Great River Connections Academy

Great River Connections Academy (GRCA) is a unique, tuition-free, online public school for K-12 students. Every day, we create a high-quality educational experience that keeps students motivated and engaged in a safe, virtual learning environment. In addition to academics, teachers focus on emotional well-being and social development, working closely with families to help students learn how they learn best. Here, students gain the skills and confidence they need to direct their own educational journey, learning to thrive in the real world by first learning how to be resourceful and resilient. For more information, call 1-800-382-6010 or visit http://www.GreatRiverConnectionsAcademy.com.
Havis Launches New Website "Historically, Havis partners have utilized the website as a vital resource to conduct business daily," says Chris Bernert, Havis Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "With that said, it was imperative that the new website retain that same functionality for users while enhancing the site."

Havis, Inc., a leading designer and manufacturer of mobile office solutions, is excited to announce the launch of a new website, http://www.havis.com. The ultimate goal of redesigning the Havis site from the ground up was to increase the site's usability as a tool and central location of information for users.

"Historically, Havis partners have utilized the website as a vital resource to conduct business daily," says Chris Bernert, Havis Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "With that said, it was imperative that the new website retain that same functionality for users while enhancing the site with additional features and benefits."

The recently launched site features vertical-specific messaging, imagery, and collateral for various industries, including Public Safety, Material Handling, Utility & Public Works, Public Transportation, and Waste Management. With improved user-friendly and intuitive navigation, the Havis site enables its audience to be self-sufficient in accessing pertinent information.

One of the biggest challenges Havis customers face is determining product compatibility when building out a solution. To help overcome this obstacle, Havis invested in creating advanced product configurators that walk customers through the build-out process step-by-step. These comprehensive configurators ensure products are compatible with the end-users vehicle and computing devices. The updated configurators take a progressive approach in streamlining the build-out process to decrease quote time and increase product compatibility accuracy.

ABOUT HAVIS

Havis, Inc. is a privately held, ISO 9001 certified company that manufactures in-vehicle mobile office solutions for public safety, public works, government agencies, and mobile professionals. For more than 80 years, the Havis mission has been to increase mobile worker productivity with industry-leading products built to the highest safety and quality standards and designed with comfort in mind. Havis is dedicated to responsible intellectual property management and fosters ongoing innovation. Its patent and trademark portfolio demonstrate a commitment to consistently researching and developing unique products and solutions worldwide for mobile industries. Havis currently employs more than 300 people, with headquarters in Warminster, PA, and additional locations in Plymouth, MI, and globally. For more information on Havis, please call 1-800-524-9900 or visit http://www.havis.com.
iTrip Vacations Fort Lauderdale comes to Florida. Fort Lauderdale radiates balmy temperatures, luxury and Caribbean flavors. Whether dreaming of a big-city getaway, a laid-back fishing trip or an indulgent splurge, youre sure to find your perfect vacation here.

iTrip Vacations is excited to announce short-term rental property owners and guests in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, now benefit from world-class property management and customer service. iTrip Vacations Fort Lauderdale  owned and managed by Rene Grajales and Matty Soler  has launched as the newest iTrip destination.

The short-term rental property management company serves homeowners and guests in Las Olas Beach, Fort Lauderdale Beach, Lauderdale by the Sea, Wilton Manors, Sunrise, Plantation, Davie, Weston and surrounding areas in Florida. The full-service program increases net rental income and five-star guest reviews, while providing worldwide marketing, free light maintenance, professional cleaning, and automatic-response systems.

We look forward to bringing friendly local short-term rental management service to property owners and guests as we share our love for Florida, said Rene Grajales, iTrip Vacations Fort Lauderdale co-owner. Fort Lauderdale radiates balmy temperatures, luxury and Caribbean flavors. Whether dreaming of a big-city getaway, a laid-back fishing trip or an indulgent splurge, youre sure to find your perfect vacation here.

The Florida expansion is part of a growing portfolio of destinations managed by iTrip Vacations, the largest franchise brand serving the short-term rental property management industry in North America.

iTrip Vacations continues to experience growth despite the pandemic and travel restrictions, showing that our business model focuses on innovation, automation and industry-leading technology, says Steve Caron, iTrip Vacations GM/CEO. Through our valuable partnerships and award-winning software, we provide our franchisees with the highest quality tools and processes available to the short-term rental property management industry.

Fort Lauderdale is a stylish metro located in southeast Florida north of Miami. Its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, Intracoastal Waterway and A1A Scenic and Historical Coastal Byway provides the perfect place for outdoor recreation, water activities, and adventure. Guests will also enjoy history, museums, professional sports, shopping and dining options.

To learn more about the full-service rental property management program, contact iTrip Vacations Fort Lauderdale at 954-526-1455 (Local).

About iTrip Vacations

iTrip Vacations is a leader in short-term rental property management with more than 3,000 properties under management in the U.S. and Canada. iTrip provides full-service rental property management programs to more than 100 franchise-owned destinations in North America and has been named a Vrbo Elite Partner in Software for five consecutive years.
JOSEPH Embraces Centric PLM for Luxury Collection Development The testimonies of many prestigious luxury houses, similar to ours, as well as Centric's excellent customer retention rate, reinforced our decision.

JOSEPH has selected Centric Softwares Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to plan, design, develop, source, and sell products such as apparel, footwear, sporting goods, furniture, home decor, cosmetics, food & beverage, and luxury to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.

Maison JOSEPH was founded in 1966. From its headquarters in London and creative studio in Paris, JOSEPH is constantly reinventing itself. "Our company is evolving. We need a tool to accelerate our growth and support our development strategy," explains Fabien Renault, Managing Director of JOSEPH France. "Our current tools are archaic; Excel documents, PDF files, photos... We need to centralize all this information in a single online tool to save time."

JOSEPH embarked on a thorough review of the various PLM solutions on the market. After several months of research, two providers stood out, but Centric Softwares impressive product demonstrations made the difference. The ergonomics of the solution and the ability to adapt processes to JOSEPH's specific needs won the company over. JOSEPH also knew they can count on the active support of the Centric team at each step of the implementation process. Finally, the interoperability between Centric PLM and JOSEPHs ERP solution to place and track orders won out.

Fabien Renault was also persuaded by the excellent reputation of Centric. "The testimonies of many prestigious luxury houses, similar to ours, as well as Centric's excellent customer retention rate, reinforced our decision.

JOSEPH looks forward to significant time-savings with Centric PLM. "To best meet our customers' expectations, we need to make more and more capsule collections and increase the size of these collections in certain product categories without having to call on new resources," concludes Fabien Renault.

"JOSEPH is synonymous with creativity and elegance. We are proud to partner with JOSEPH in the acceleration of their development strategy," comments Chris Groves, President, and CEO of Centric Software. "With Centric PLM, JOSEPH will be able to offer their customers a vast collection of exceptional products in a short time frame."

Learn more about Centric PLM

Request a Demo

JOSEPH (http://www.joseph-fashion.com)

Founded in 1966 by Casablanca-born Joseph Ettedgui, the JOSEPH brands own label was created in 1983. With a focus on luxury essentials, it offers women a complete, modern wardrobe. Today, JOSEPH's collections are distinguished by their quality and perfect execution. Each of the designs is a testament to their attention to detail and commitment to exceptional craftsmanship.
One of the Seeds: an engaging and historically rich examination of family, faith, and farming. One of the Seeds is the creation of published author Joseph Scanavino, a dedicated husband and grandfather who served for twenty-three years in the United States Navy before going on to working in the Juvenile Services field.

Scanavino shares, While the former gold rush town Bodie was becoming a ghost town, the early Scanavino family was busy earning their American dream on a farm they called the Goat Ranch. The adult Scanavino children worked to keep the roads open and the lights on for the Bodie watchman. Eventually, Bodie was abandoned, including the Goat Ranch, except for a caretaker to preserve and protect the property.

This is a grandsons memoir and story about the early Scanavino family who sold potatoes and hay to the declining mining town of Bodie during the early 1900s. The Scanavino family lived on a farm they called the Goat Ranch, located on the BodieLundy road, eight miles north of Mono Lake, California. My grandparents, Giuseppe and Maria Scanavino, were pioneers in Mono County farming and pathfinders of education in northern Mono Lake basin and within the eastern district of historic ghost town Bodie near Bridgeport and Lee Vining, California. The grandsons story reveals how the Scanavino family lived in relation to the history of Bodie and Mono County during the late 1890s and early 1900s.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Joseph Scanavinos new book offers an entertaining and nostalgic look into the past.

Scanavino offers readers a compelling discussion of family memories and local heritage for the enjoyment and education of current generations.

Consumers can purchase One of the Seeds at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about One of the Seeds, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Pamela J. Brinks new vivid narrative titled My Love Affair with German Shepherd Dogs (published by Archway Publishing) shares her experiences as a breeder and trainer as she reveals the personalities and behaviors of the beloved animals that touched her life.

Brink begins by detailing her early years in the Philippines where she came to love animals in general, her three-year imprisonment under Japanese guards, and later her life in the United States and Canada as she welcomed German shepherds into her home and transformed not just their lives, but also her own in the process. While revealing the very different personalities and behaviors of her dogs over the years, Brink also divulges how she eventually became a breeder and trainer who produced beautiful dogs to show professionally.

For those unfamiliar with breeding, showing and training it is a look inside the life, Brink says. For those who have bred, trained and shown their dogs, they can relate.

My Love Affair with German Shepherd Dogs is available for purchase online at the Archway link above, from Barnes & Noble and on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Affair-German-Shepherd-Dogs-ebook/dp/B09K4HVHYR.

My Love Affair with German Shepherd Dogs

By Pamela J. Brink

Hardcover | 8.5 x 11 in | 98 pages | ISBN 9781665713405

Softcover | 8.5 x 11 in | 98 pages | ISBN 9781665713412

E-Book | 98 pages | ISBN 9781665713429

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Pamela J. Brink is a retired professor who taught nursing in universities in the United States and Canada. She has lived with German shepherds her entire life, and has been a breeder, obedience and rally trainer, exhibitor, and an active participant in the world of dog showing. My Love Affair with German Shepherd Dogs is her sixth book. Brinks other books include: Advanced Design in Nursing Research, Basic Steps in Planning Nursing Research, Only by the Grace of God, Patientology: Toward the Study of Patients and An Academic Nurses Tale.

Simon & Schuster, a company with nearly ninety years of publishing experience, has teamed up with Author Solutions, LLC, the worldwide leader in self-publishing, to create Archway Publishing. With unique resources to support books of all kind, Archway Publishing offers a specialized approach to help every author reach his or her desired audience. For more information, visit archwaypublishing.com or call 844-669-3957.
Get Online Pre-Approval for Car Loans at Palm Springs Nissan.

People from different walks of life have varied credit histories, which affects the approval of their vehicle loan applications. Palm Springs Nissan, an automotive dealership near the Cathedral City area in California, now offers online pre-approval for auto loans. Prospective buyers are requested to visit the dealerships official website and complete a simple online application form to start their auto financing process.

The experienced finance team at Palm Springs Nissan will ensure that their customers get a tailor-made finance package regardless of their credit scores. Their partnership with various financial institutions and lenders helps them provide financing for all credit levels. Interested parties should fill out a secure online credit application on their website with their basic personal info, employment data, and the details of the vehicle that they wish to purchase. After submitting the application, a finance team member at Palm Springs Nissan will get back to the applicant to guide them through the remainder of the process. All personally verifiable data collected will be encrypted and stored safely and securely.

Customers are encouraged to drop by Palm Springs Nissan located at 68177 Kyle Road, Cathedral City, California, 92234. Drivers can also reach out to the friendly dealership staff at 760-328-2800 for any further information.
Rentec Direct wins Silver Globee in national business awards program Our drive toward innovation and our commitment to customer service are behind all of our success at Rentec, said Nathan Miller, President of Rentec Direct.

Rentec Direct, the industry-leading property management software solution, has been named a winner in the 7th Annual 2022 American Best in Business Awards program. Rentec Direct received a Silver Globee for the Cloud Computing, SaaS & Internet Company of the Year category, recognized specifically for its remodeled software platform with design improvements and new features. The American Best in Business Awards are hosted by The Globee Awards, organizers of the worlds premier business awards programs and business ranking lists.

Our drive toward innovation and our commitment to customer service are behind all of our success at Rentec, said Nathan Miller, President of Rentec Direct. These principles are built into the core values of our company and were key factors in our decision to launch our software remodel in 2021. We are proud to be recognized as leaders in the software industry by the Globee Awards and look forward to continuing down this path in the future.

Rentec Direct provides comprehensive property management software designed specifically to meet the needs of real estate professionals managing between 25 to 5,000 units. The Rentec Direct software platform provides key features that drive efficiency and success for property managers and landlords, including tenant screening service, accounting solutions, rental listing syndication, and other leasing and management components. Rentec Direct was recognized as a company of the year largely due to the launch of its newly redesigned software interface to improve user experience.

The American Best in Business Awards are open to all organizations with at least one office in the U.S., with a wide range of categories honoring achievement in every aspect of business. More than 80 expert judges from a wide range of industries participated in the judging process. See the complete list of 2022 winners here: https://globeeawards.com/american-business-awards/winners.

About the Globee Awards

Globee Awards are conferred in nine programs and competitions: the American Best in Business Awards, Business Excellence Awards, CEO World Awards, Cyber Security Global Excellence Awards, Disruptor Company Awards, Golden Bridge Awards, Information Technology World Awards, Sales, Marketing, Service, & Operations Excellence Awards, and Women World Awards. Learn more about the Globee Awards at https://globeeawards.com

About Rentec Direct

Rentec Direct offers industry-leading property management software and tenant screening solutions for real estate professionals. Features include online rent payments, tenant and owner portals, one of the industrys largest vacancy listing syndication networks, full property, tenant, and owner accounting, 1099-MISC reporting and more. Rentec Direct was recognized as Real Estate Company of the Year in the 2022 American Business Awards, was named one of the Most Customer Friendly Companies of the Year in the 2021 Best in Biz Awards, has been named to the Inc. 5000 List of Fastest-Growing Private Companies for five years in a row (as of 2021), and was also included on the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Entrepreneur360 list for Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America. http://www.rentecdirect.com

###
Patio Time: a reflective and emotionally charged memoir. Patio Time is the creation of published author Sandra Evans.

Evans shares, I never realized that when I started writing my first Patio Time that it would be what brings me healing from God.

All of us have a past. Not all of us have trust issues, but I did. I always said that if I couldnt trust my own father, how could I trust my Father in heaven. But not all of us grow from our childhood surroundings without some type of damage. I can honestly say that I used my upbringing as a crutch and an excuse for not growing. Everything I thought I was failing at, I blamed on my life as a child in West Virginia. Thats how I began most of my Patio Time.

Growing up, as a child, in West Virginia, I blamed failed relationships, lack of financial gain, and listening to the wrong people. I also spent years of trying to fix everyone who had alcoholism because my father was an alcoholic and wanting to heal everyone who had cancer because I watched my mother die of that horrible disease.

When youre a child, you cant process death or addiction. I realized I was holding myself back because I could never get close to anyone. Whenever I tried, I would always push them away. Maybe because I was thinking everyone leaves.

One day, I went on my patio, sat in my rocking chair, and started writing about things that went on in my home and my small community. Patio Time is a collection of my life and circumstances in that little rural area with a lot of dysfunctions. I guess its true: what goes on behind closed doors stays behind closed doors. But with this writing, I realized that I had all I needed, just by my surroundings and the love of the community. I often found that my solace came from playing in the mountains and creeks.

Patio Time is my perception of the lessons that I learned from every situation. I am hoping that this little collection will move the heart of others who need to realize they are exactly where they needed to be at that time. All the situations that happened to me, can clearly, and has, taught me a lesson of life. I never realized it at that time, but as an adult, I see it clearly now. My goal is for someone to read any page of my book and see their own life and be able to look back and see the beauty and how they were molded as an adult.

What my readers dont know is that I was an Italian child who was given away to a white couple in West Virginia in the fifties. Skin color was never an issue in my family but so prevalent in that era. My parents showed nothing but love to me. But a lot of burden comes with that scenario. I grew up with molestation, alcoholism, physical and emotional abuse along with bullying. But with all of that exposure, I still could find something to be thankful for in every one of those situations.

I lost both of my parentsmy mother when I graduated from high school and my father shortly after.

Patio Time has been a way to express the memories that I was trying to forget. Now Im grateful for my writings. I am hoping that my journey is a light for others.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Sandra Evanss new book offers readers a heartfelt collection of lessons on life and faith.

Evans shares in hopes of reaching those currently working through their own past traumas to offer a reassuring message of hope.

Consumers can purchase Patio Time at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Patio Time, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Secretary Cardona, both in his work in Connecticut and now at the U.S. Department of Education, has been a champion for equitable and accessible education, for providing resources for social-emotional health, and for improving school safety through collaboration."Doug Roberts, Founder and CEO, IEI

The Institute for Education Innovation (IEI), a national school superintendent think tank that develops solutions to the greatest challenges facing public schools, is honored to announce U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona will join its district leader members from across the country for the 2022 Summer Symposium. The Symposium, which will be held July 18-20 in Newport, Rhode Island, provides educators, funders, and industry leaders the opportunity to gather for discussions that fuel innovation and improve student outcomes.

We believe that partnerships are key to making meaningful and sustainable change in K-12 education, said Doug Roberts, founder and CEO of IEI. Secretary Cardona, both in his work in Connecticut and now at the U.S. Department of Education, has been a champion for equitable and accessible education, for providing resources for social-emotional health, and for improving school safety through collaboration. We are thrilled that he will visit with us and share how he is working on these goals as our Secretary of Education, and we look forward to learning from him.

Secretary Cardona will join Dr. Mark Benigni, superintendent of Meriden Public Schools in Meriden, Connecticut, for a fireside chat on Monday, July 18 where the two will discuss leadership development, his path to the Secretarys Office, equity and inclusion, school safety, and future federal stimulus funding, among a variety of other topics. Following the discussion, superintendents are invited to participate in a question-and-answer session with Secretary Cardona.

The Symposium is a private, invitation-only event, but the public will be able to listen to Secretary Cardonas fireside chat and question-and-answer session on an upcoming episode of the IEI Education Thought Leaders podcast.

Secretary Cardonas incredible journey from elementary school teacher to the U.S. Department of Education is an inspiring one, Roberts remarked. As someone who began his career in the classroom, he understands the overwhelming challenges todays teachers and administrators face and will offer real-world solutions during the Symposium that superintendents can implement for the upcoming 2022/2023 school year.

Added Dr. Benigni, I had the honor of working closely with Secretary Cardona in Meriden for years. He was a principal when I joined the district as superintendent and quickly rose to positions as a teacher evaluation specialist and assistant superintendent before becoming Connecticuts Commissioner of Education. His ability to navigate our states school districts through COVID-19 was made even more impressive by the fact that Connecticut achieved its highest ever graduation rates for students with disabilities and English learners and established the first national requirement for courses on Black and Latino studiesall during a pandemic. Im excited to join my long-time colleague for this fireside chat and know his reflections will ignite innovative thinking to help students achieve the incredible.

For more information on the Institute for Education Innovation, please visit https://www.instituteforedinnovation.com.

About the Institute for Education Innovation

Superintendents are defenders of our childrens right to a high-quality public education, and lead their teams toward effective, sustainable solutions to age-old problems. They must be at the center of discussions around when, where, and how innovation will affect teaching and learning. Many education solution providers, funders, researchers, and thought leaders are mission-driven: they do what they do to improve student outcomes. The Institute for Education Innovation bridges gaps between the individuals and organizations committed to seeing students succeed in school and life, creating a safe space for constructive problem-solving and innovative thinking. http://www.instituteforedinnovation.com.


It Takes Two: a heartfelt autobiographical work. It Takes Two is the creation of published author Sherman Bishop, a loving husband who grew up in Cloverdale, Virginia, a small town northeast of Roanoke in Southwest Virginia. After high school, he joined the Air Force and retired after twenty-two years

Bishop shares, This story is about Sherman from his beginning until his present day. It began with his air force career, his first girlfriend, then finding his relationship with God, which gave his life structure and led him to meet his first wife. It also includes their travels in the military and raising two children. In 1980, Sherman lost his first wife of fourteen years. The loss was devastating and just about took his life. After six months, he met his second wife, got married, and adopted her two children. As a team, they finished his air force career and worked at the ministry while stationed in Austin, Texas. After retiring, he and his wife and four children returned to San Antonio and started another church work. Through trials and rough experiences, it would take two committed people with a relationship to God and dedication to each other to make this journey.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Sherman Bishops new book explores the challenges and victories of life from losing a beloved wife to rebuilding and moving forward.

Bishop shares an encouraging message of hope within the pages of this celebration of a life lived in faith.

Consumers can purchase It Takes Two at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about It Takes Two, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
The Lord Is My Shepherd: Thank You, God, for Choosing Me while I Was Choosing You!: a heartfelt celebration of faith. The Lord Is My Shepherd: Thank You, God, for Choosing Me while I Was Choosing You! is the creation of published author Shernika Danielle Webster, a loving mother who was born and raised in Arkansas.

Webster shares, Hello, readers! Have you ever been in a place in life where you had no one to talk to? Have you ever felt like you dont amount to anything? Have you ever felt as if youre not going to make it through tough situations that we all sometimes face in our lives daily? Yeah, so have I.

This book was written by me (Shernika Webster) led by God and inspired by different experiences that I have been through and overcome with the help of Our Father God. Thank You, Father.

It is motivating, inspiring, and poetic. This book also shows how good God is and how God can and will show up in your life. If God can and will do it for me, then God can and will do it for you! Glory! Hallelujah!

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Shernika Danielle Websters new book will challenge and encourage readers as they reflect on the important messages found within.

Webster offers readers a personal and empowering arrangement of writings in hopes of helping others along their spiritual journey.

Consumers can purchase The Lord Is My Shepherd: Thank You, God, for Choosing Me while I Was Choosing You! at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about The Lord Is My Shepherd: Thank You, God, for Choosing Me while I Was Choosing You!, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
An engineer works at ST Engineering iDirect's Manufacturing Competence Centre "Weve been consistently impressed by ST Engineering iDirects  and specifically the MCC team  ability to rise to the challenge of becoming ESA-accredited over the past few years." - Erik Masure, Managing Director, Belgium, QinetiQ

The spaceflight industry planted a new flag in Belgium today as ST Engineering iDirect announced that it will be manufacturing components used in flight systems for spacecraft to European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) standards at its Manufacturing Competence Center (MCC) in Erpe-Mere, Belgium.

Following the stringent certification process by the European Space Agency (ESA), ST Engineering iDirect will help to make components for QinetiQ, the British multinational defense and space technology company. This makes ST Engineering iDirect the sole subcontracting company offering these services in Belgium.

ST Engineering iDirects MCC will provide its specialist manual and automated soldering services to QinetiQ for its ADPMS-3 satellite board computer systems and for the International Berthing and Docking Mechanism (IBDM) currently in development with ESA, enabling vehicles carrying cargo or passengers to dock softly, with less force. Furthermore, it will also assist in building components for payload projects.

The process of becoming ESA-certified has been incredibly thorough in assuring the quality, the education and capabilities of the MCC and its workforce. This accreditation and the additional commencement of our automated soldering activity will open doors for our company to broaden our footprint in the industry, as well as strengthen the Belgian spaceflight ecosystem, said ST Engineering iDirects MCC Sales and Marketing Manager, Danny De Smet. Were very appreciative of the support from QinetiQ and their recognition of our capabilities in providing larger scale component soldering.

Erik Masure, QinetiQs Managing Director in Belgium said, Weve been consistently impressed by ST Engineering iDirects  and specifically the MCC team  ability to rise to the challenge of becoming ESA-accredited over the past few years. Working with a partner in close proximity to our space facilities in Kruibeke, Belgium, is incredibly beneficial for the success of our relationship. We look forward to deepening our partnership and working together in the future.

ST Engineering iDirects MCC has Factory of the Future status, the highest possible recognition for the manufacturing industry in Belgium. It provides manufacturing and repair services and specializes in electronic assembly, testing and repair for a range of customers in the satellite and aerospace sectors including OHB and Panasonic.

For more information about ST Engineering iDirect, please visit: https://www.idirect.net/

*****

ST Engineering iDirect, a subsidiary of ST Engineering, is a global leader in satellite communications (satcom) providing technology and solutions that enable its customers to expand their business, differentiate their services and optimize their satcom networks. Through the merger with Newtec, a recognized industry pioneer, the combined business unites over 35 years of innovation focused on solving satellites most critical economic and technology challenges and expands a shared commitment to shaping the future of how the world connects. The product portfolio, branded under the names iDirect and Newtec, represents the highest standards in performance, efficiency and reliability, making it possible for its customers to deliver the best satcom connectivity experience anywhere in the world. ST Engineering iDirect is the worlds largest TDMA enterprise VSAT manufacturer and is the leader in key industries including broadcast, mobility and military/government. In 2007, iDirect Government was formed to better serve the U.S. government and defense communities. For more information on our platforms please visit http://www.idirect.net.

Media contact:

Julie Bettinger

Vice President, Corporate Marketing

ST Engineering iDirect

Phone: +1 703 648 8155

Email: jbettinger@idirect.net
The report is the worlds most comprehensive, data-driven research on startups with 280+ entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems, rankings of the leading 140 ecosystems, and 3 million startups analyzed.

Startup Genome, the world-leading innovation policy advisory and research firm, and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) today launched the 2022 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER). In its 10th year, the GSER was introduced by JF Gauthier, Founder and CEO of Startup Genome. The report is the worlds most comprehensive, data-driven research on startups with 280+ entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems, rankings of the leading 140 ecosystems, and 3 million startups analyzed.

Key highlights from the #GSER2022 include:



Silicon Valley is the #1 Global Startup Ecosystem, followed by New York City and London tied at #2, Boston at #4. North America continues to dominate the Global Rankings, with 47% of the top 30 ecosystems in this region.

Major movement of U.S. cities in the Global rankings include - Detroit moved up 13 places to #40, Los Angeles holds its place at #6 but shows a significant increase in Connectedness this year, San Diego moved up eight places from last years ranking, to #13, Denver-Boulder moved up three places from 2021, taking #24. The Colorado ecosystem is increasing in both value and count in early-stage funding, and has shown significant growth in Connectedness. Miami moved up nine places in ranking since last year, to #33. The number of $50 million+ exits here increased from four in the 2021 GSER period to 11 this year. It also recorded two $1 billion+ exits.

Silicon Valleys share dollar amount in early-stage investment has declined from 25% in 2012 to 13% in 2021. As early-stage funding is a leading indicator of the future of tech, this trend suggests that the growth of tech in the rest of the world will continue to be faster than in Silicon Valley.

Dry powder of US investors has gone up in 2021 by an average of 101% from $252m to $507m. The total dry powder in dollars for active investors is up by 20% from 2020 to 2021.

Overall, Chinas ecosystems have declined in the rankings, a reflection of the relative decline in early-stage funding in comparison to other ecosystems. In 2021, China saw growth in large exits decline, particularly in early-stage funding. Large funding rounds mostly focused on the later stages. As for foreign investments, GSER numbers show that most Chinese ecosystems have a significantly lower ratio of non-local to local investors than do their counterparts in India, for example. The performance of Chinese startup hubs is declining for the first time since GSER has tracked them. Seven of the 13 cities studied fell in our rankings: two (Wuxi and Xiaman) are down 21 positions.

The growth of LSF (Later Stage Funding) is 137% from 2020 to 2021 in amount and 39% in the number of rounds.There has been a 43% growth in the amount of ESF (Early Stage Funding), showing the LSF had a faster growth.

Since 2012, global average Series A rounds have tripled to more than $18 million.

Since the pandemic, tech companies grew 2.3 times more than their non-tech counterparts.

"Join us in celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the first, and still the only data-driven primary research on startup and ecosystem success factors. This foundation that the global community powered us is what allows us today to give back by advising governments and agencies so their policies are more effective for entrepreneurs and create more jobs and impact for our societies in every corner of the world," said JF Gauthier, Founder & CEO of Startup Genome.

The #GSER2022 ranks startup ecosystems on seven Success Factors, including performance and talent. The same five ecosystems remain at the top of the ranking as in 2020 and 2021, but Beijing has dropped one place, with Boston taking its former place at #4. Silicon Valley is #1, followed by New York City and London tied at #2, Boston at #4, and Beijing at #5.

"This research reveals what it takes for cities to compete in the race to the top as destinations for startup talent and investment. The GSER is both a guide to innovation performance and a cue to leaders to grow their local innovation ecosystems with evidence-based strategies, not gut," said Jonathan Ortmans, Founder and President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network.

Since 2012, this research effort has provided rich insights and guidance to public and private leaders on how to cultivate thriving startup ecosystems and support local startups  the #1 engine of job creation and economic growth. Find out how the leading 140 entrepreneurial ecosystems rank worldwide and view the Report details here.

ABOUT STARTUP GENOME

Startup Genome is the world-leading policy advisory and research organization for public and private organizations committed to accelerating the success of their startup ecosystem. We have advised more than 125 clients across six continents in 45+ countries to date. Working side-by-side with 300 partner organizations, our frameworks and methodologies have become instrumental to define and execute robust policies and programs that drive lasting change. Our impact is rooted in over a decade of independent research with data on three million companies across 280 cities. Many of the worlds leading governments and innovation-focused organizations have joined our knowledge network to cut through the complexities of startup ecosystem development and fuel sustained economic growth. Follow our work at startupgenome.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

ABOUT THE GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP NETWORK

The Global Entrepreneurship Network operates a platform of projects and programs in 180+ countries aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. By fostering deeper cross-border collaboration and initiatives between entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurial support organizations, GEN works to fuel healthier start and scale ecosystems that create more jobs, educate individuals, accelerate innovation and strengthen economic growth. Learn more about GEN at genglobal.org and by following us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
No other real estate brokerage offers the unmatched marketing power, tools, and technology that The Agency is recognized for, not to mention the level of service and solutions offered to agents and their clients," said Nurit Coombe.

Global real estate brokerage, The Agency has announced the launch of its new franchise office in Frederick, Maryland. The new locale is the firms 39th franchise among its growing network of offices in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Europe. The Frederick office will be led by Managing Partners Nurit Coombe, Alex Martinez, and Brandi Dillon who will serve as Managing Broker. The Agency Frederick will service buyers and sellers across territories in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and West Virginia. This marks The Agencys second office in the state of Maryland, following D.C. Metro, which is also led by Coombe and Martinez.

Were delighted to expand The Agencys presence in the northeast with the launch of our new franchise office in Frederick, Maryland, said Mauricio Umansky, CEO and Founder of The Agency. Nurit Coombe, Alex Martinez, and Brandi Dillon are incredible stewards for The Agency brand and the perfect partners to bring our global network and cutting-edge tools and technology to Fredericks thriving real estate market.

The Agency has rapidly expanded its presence across the globe throughout the past year. In 2021, the firms global expansion reached new heights with a record-breaking launch of 11 new franchises in one year, making it one of the fastest-growing luxury boutique brokerages in the world. In the past 12 months, The Agency has already showcased impressive franchise growth in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, opening offices in Amsterdam, Downtown Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Muskoka, Brantford, Naples, Florida, Birmingham, Michigan, Seattle, Washington, Miami, Florida, North Atlanta, Georgia, Austin, Texas, Grand Cayman, and now Frederick, Maryland.

Were delighted to have Nurit, Alex and Brandi lead the charge in Frederick as we expand our brands footprint throughout Maryland, said Jim Ramsay, Executive Vice President of Franchise Sales at The Agency. These dynamic real estate professionals are true authorities in this industry and with them at the helm, the Frederick area of Maryland will usher in a new era of luxury real estate.

Ranked #14 among Real Estate Teams Nationwide and #1 in Maryland by the Wall Street Journal, Nurit Coombe heads a professional team that has closed billions of dollars of real estate across the DC Metro area. She has been a licensed real estate agent since 2001. During that time, she has won countless awards and accolades. In 2014 she became the owner of Re/Max Elite Services and built her business over the next six years to become the #1 RE/MAX Team in the Central Atlantic Region and the #1 Real Estate Team in the DC area. Nurit has built a reputation for offering precise market knowledge, delivering technological expertise, and bringing boundless energy and tactical negotiation skills to every aspect of her life. She is active in the community, serves on the board of the American Red Cross/Greater Chesapeake Region, and lives in North Bethesda with her husband and three children.

As the real estate market in Maryland continues to thrive more than ever, we look forward to introducing The Agency brand to Frederick, said Nurit Coombe. No other real estate brokerage offers the unmatched marketing power, tools, and technology that The Agency is recognized for, not to mention the level of service and solutions offered to agents and their clients. We look forward to continuing to raise the bar for our industry here in Maryland.

Alex Martinez is one of the most trusted, top-selling brokers of the DC Metropolitan area. In addition to his role as Managing Partner of The Agency Frederick in Maryland, Alex serves as Broker and Co-Founder of The Agency D.C. Metro, one of the most successful and distinguished real estate offices in the region. Being a member of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors for over 17 years, Alex has successfully worked with thousands of individuals, families, investors, and developers interested in the regions most coveted properties. In 2021, Alex and Nurits team closed over $300M in sales with over 585 transactions. Approachable and honest, Alex is a high-touch broker known for his extensive market knowledge and unmatched devotion to his clients. Born in Guatemala, Alex remains deeply connected to his familys Central American roots. After coming to the United States at a young age with big dreams and small pockets, Alex worked tirelessly to forge his path as a real estate professional. Today, he continues to work alongside clients to help them realize their real estate dreams and accomplish their goals.

I am honored to add to our Agency family in Maryland with the launch of our Frederick office, said Alex Martinez. The Agency continues to revolutionize real estate with its groundbreaking approach, concierge client services, creative marketing, and vast global reach. I am confident in our mission of providing the best experience for our agents and clients and I look forward to showcasing the power of The Agency in Frederick and its surrounding areas.

As a well-respected and top-producing real estate professional, Brandi Dillon serves clients throughout Maryland as well as Northeast and West Virginia and Northern Virginia beyond. Brandi serves a wide array of buyers and sellers, and is particularly well-versed in the wants and needs of military families relocating to the area. Prior to real estate, Brandi achieved a degree in international business and managed international sales for a technology company, honing her talents for meticulous organization and concise communication. While Brandi is adept in all kinds of transactions  from buying and selling to investingher passion is selling homes on behalf of her clients. Brandi serves as Director on the Frederick County Association of Realtors (FCAR) Board of Directors and also supports local schools and charities, including the Frederick Rescue Mission, The Frederick Faith House, The Soup Kitchen, and Shatterproof, a national nonprofit dedicated to transforming addiction treatment and supporting communities.

I am thrilled to join Nurit and Alex as we bring The Agency to Frederick, said Brandi Dillon. As we continue to see more and more people move to our city and its surrounding areas, now is the perfect time to introduce The Agency brand along with its incredible resources and technology to Frederick.

With solid infrastructure and a renowned brand that is featured on international television shows including Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, The Agency has grown to over 50 corporately-owned and franchise offices across the globe. Poised for further expansion with like-minded partners in strategic markets, The Agency is noted by The Financial Times as one of Americas Fastest-Growing Companies and has ranked among Inc. 5000s list of fastest-growing private companies in the country for five consecutive years. Recently, The Agency ranked 21st on the 2022 RealTrends 500 list, and led the top 50 firms in average sales price by sides with a whopping $2.5 million average sales price.

In May 2022, The Agency acquired Triplemint, a revolutionary technology-powered, NYC-based firm, in an all-equity transaction. The Agency will adopt Triplemints proprietary, disruptive technology, and Triplemint will adopt the Agencys innovative, industry-leading brand, forming an agent-first, tech-driven boutique luxury global brokerage firm. In tandem with the acquisition, The Agency jointly raised $35 million in growth capital from strategic investors, further positioning the brand for strategic and sustainable global growth.

The Agency Frederick will be located at 622 W. Patrick Street, Suite 101, Frederick, MD 21701.

The Agency

The Agency is an agent-first, tech-driven boutique luxury global brokerage representing clients worldwide in a broad spectrum of classes, including residential, new development, resort real estate, luxury leasing, and vacation rentals. Breaking away from the traditional brokerage model, The Agency takes a collaborative approach to the business, fostering a culture of partnership in which all clients and listings are represented in a collaborative environment. Agents and clients benefit from the shared resources and networks of the entire global team, including in-house creative, public relations, and cutting-edge technology divisions. The Agency has closed more than $41 billion real estate transactions since 2011, comprising over 50 offices in five countries, and counting, as one of the fastest-growing boutique, luxury real estate franchise brands in the world.
"The Aprio Foundation's community impact grant recipients are developing impactful programs and were honored to celebrate and support their meaningful work for our communities.

Aprio, LLP is proud to share that the firms charitable arm, The Aprio Foundation, has awarded eight grants to community partners totaling $37,000. Creating Connected Communities, IT Girls Foundation, Jewish Family & Career Services, Next Generation Men & Women, North Fulton Community Charities (NFCC), Spruill Center for the Arts, The HOPE Program, and Zoo Atlanta are the first to be named as the Aprio Foundations quarterly community impact grant recipients for 2022.

The Aprio Foundation was created to inspire civic engagement and involvement and empower our team members to live our fundamental of making a difference, said Michele Blondheim, Executive Director of The Aprio Foundation. The community impact grant recipients are developing impactful programs and were honored to celebrate and support their meaningful work for our communities.

The community impact grants aim to propel each of the nonprofits annual programs, new strategic initiatives, special projects, and overall mission.

--Creating Connected Communities: Founded in 2010, the mission of Creating Connected Communities is to provide life-enhancing programs for children and teens experiencing hardship.

--IT Girls Foundation: As part of its ongoing focus on STEM disciplines, IT Girls empowers young female students to explore and develop their interests and talents in STEM studies through its structured extra-curricular program.

--Jewish Family & Career Services: Jewish Family & Career Services offers programs and resources to transform the lives of individuals and families through career counseling, mental health, dentistry, and need-based support services.

--Next Generation Men & Women: Next Generation provides Atlanta youth with regular exposure to career pathways, business professionals, and personalized support services in the form of mentorship.

--NFCC: Since 1883, NFCC has incubated neighboring cities near or around North Fulton County, Atlanta, to address homelessness and hunger in the community.

--Spruill Center for the Arts: The Spruill Center for the Arts fosters creativity and social connections through the arts by offering over 800 visual arts programs annually to students of all ages and skill levels.

--The HOPE Program: The HOPE Program empowers individuals to build sustainable futures through comprehensive training, adult basic education, industry certifications, and lifelong career support.

--Zoo Atlanta: Since opening its doors in 1889, Zoo Atlanta's mission has been to save wildlife and their habitats through conservation, education, research, and engaging experiences.

The Aprio Foundation exists to fund and support employee-driven initiatives and nonprofits with a focus on education, entrepreneurship, the environment and the economically disadvantaged. The vision is to provide opportunities for every Aprio employee to positively impact their local community. Since its inception, the Aprio Foundation has supported local and national nonprofit organizations through financial contributions, community impact grants and in-kind donations, raising over $6,000 and volunteering 2,200+.

To learn more about The Aprio Foundation or to apply for a grant, visit https://www.aprio.com/about/aprio-corporate-citizenship/.
With the focus on generating breakthrough treatments specifically for children, along with the diversity, equity and inclusion that are at the core of the program, Seattle Childrens is poised to blaze a trail for other research institutions to follow.

Washington Research Foundation (WRF) today announced its largest single-program grant in its 40-year history, a $12.5 million dollar award to support the launch of the Invent at Seattle Childrens Postdoctoral Scholars Program at Seattle Childrens Research Institute (SCRI). The new program, a combined $45-million-dollar, multi-year commitment, will train early-career scientists who have historically been underrepresented in biotech to spur the development of novel therapeutics for childhood diseases.

We are proud to support this new groundbreaking program that fills a significant unmet need in developing treatments for pediatric diseases and champions diverse up-and-coming scientists, said Sue Coliton, interim CEO at WRF. It aligns directly with our mission of both investing in people and innovation.

The Invent at Seattle Childrens program will support 50 postdoctoral scholars over the next five years to research cellular, gene or protein therapeutics for childhood conditions like cancer, sickle cell disease, immune diseases, and more. Scholars will work in SCRI mentor labs or other local research institutions, and uniquely, will also be paired with a clinical and biotech mentor.

We want to create an on-ramp to the biotech sector for people who have traditionally not had that opportunity, said Jim Olson, M.D., Ph.D., program director of the Invent at Seattle Childrens Postdoctoral Scholars Program. The goal is to improve the lives of pediatric patients while educating the next generation of scientists in therapeutic discovery.

Washington Research Foundation supports postdoctoral fellowships, student programs and a wide range of translational research projects to promote scientific development that can lead to meaningful, applicable results.

We are confident that our support for the Invent at Seattle Childrens program will be catalytic for the development of pediatric-focused therapeutics, said Meher Antia, Ph.D., director of grant programs at WRF. With the focus on generating breakthrough treatments specifically for children, along with the diversity, equity and inclusion that are at the core of the program, Seattle Childrens is poised to blaze a trail for other research institutions to follow.

Since 1993, Washington Research Foundation has awarded more than 1,200 grants exceeding $131 million to nonprofit research institutions in Washington state.

To learn more about the Invent at Seattle Childrens program, visit http://www.seattlechildrens.org/invent.

To learn more about Washington Research Foundation and its grantmaking, visit http://www.wrfseattle.org.

###

About Washington Research Foundation:

Washington Research Foundation (WRF) supports research and scholarship in Washington state, with a focus on life sciences and enabling technologies. WRF was founded in 1981 to assist universities and other nonprofit research institutions in Washington with the commercialization and licensing of their technologies. WRF is one of the foremost technology transfer and grant-making organizations in the nation, having earned more than $445 million in licensing revenue for the University of Washington and providing over $131 million in grants to the state's research institutions to date.

WRF Capital, a reserve pool of funds for investing in early-stage Washington state companies, has backed 117 local startups since 1996. Returns from these investments support the Foundations mission.

For additional information, please visit https://www.wrfseattle.org/.
Wind Turbine Technician Academy Graduation Ceremony Commences June 17

Kalamazoo Valley Community Colleges Wind Turbine Technician Academy (WTTA) will be celebrating graduation on Friday, June 17 at 11 a.m. at the Groves Campus. The ceremony will include welcoming remarks from Craig Jbara, vice president for strategic business and economic development, and will be hosted by Thomas Sutton, director of wind energy and technical training services.

The WTTA programs prestigious accreditation continues to garner notable recognition as well as trainees from across the U.S. and the world. Members of the academys 25th graduating class include:

Gerard Dumond  Haiti

John Hitsman Jr.  Fennville, MI

Rodrigo Lugo  Houston, TX

Brandon Rice  Colorado

Ethan Stockton (Class Speaker)  Baltimore, MD

Edward VanHouten  Grand Rapids, MI

Kalamazoo Valleys acclaimed Wind Turbine Technician Academy provides thorough and innovative competency-based training in the growing field of clean energy. The engaging hands-on program offers trainees certification and career readiness within less than six months.

Graduates enter a competitive and thriving job market while equipped with the necessary skills required to ensure success in a steadily expanding industry that offers high wages. According to estimates, the average salary for wind turbine technicians in the U.S. ranges from $37,850 - $80,170 a year.

WTTA-certified individuals are highly regarded for their certifications and often emerge with job offers or employment prospects from respected industry leaders. Presented with an energetic career, wind turbine technicians are also given opportunities to travel across the country to meet the needs of their employers.

The next available academy begins July 6. Applications are currently being accepted. For more information on Kalamazoo Valleys Wind Turbine Technician Academy, visit kvcc.edu/academics/wind/.
Based on their certified, repeatable customer success and strong technical capabilities, were proud to recognize Woolpert as Specialization Partner of the Year for Location-Based Services.

Woolpert has been named the 2021 Google Cloud Specialization Partner of the Year for Location-Based Services. The honor recognizes Woolperts success in helping joint Google and Woolpert customers achieve their business objectives within the Google Cloud ecosystem.

Woolpert has been providing global geospatial services for more than 50 years and has been a Google Cloud Partner since 2014. The firm earned the 2019 Google Cloud Location-Based Services Partner of the Year Award and the 2017 Google Cloud Partner Award for Customer Success in Google Maps. In 2020, Woolpert was approved for Retail Expertise and Automotive Expertise in the Google Cloud Partner Program.

In addition to delivering Google services, Woolpert has developed quick-start practices, cloud-native products and strategic partnerships to create innovative digital solutions for Google and Woolpert customers. In 2021, Woolpert hired multiple Google Cloud specialists and its staff earned close to a dozen new Google Cloud certifications. Woolpert Senior Vice President Jon Downey said additional hires and certifications are planned for 2022 and beyond.

Last year, we were able to increase our investment in our Google Cloud partnership and expand our geospatial bench strength, Downey said. This contributed to continually strong client satisfaction approval ratings and an NPS (Net Promoter Score) average of 75. It also enabled our location-based services pipeline to grow by 300% in 2021, resulting in a 25% increase in annual recurring revenue.

Downey thanked Google for this award and continued support.

We are truly honored to earn this award because it not only reinforces that we are helping our customers succeed, but it confirms that we are optimally representing the limitless capabilities of Google Cloud.

Google Cloud specializations recognize partner excellence and proven customer success in a particular product area or industry, said Nina Harding, Global Chief, Partner Programs and Strategy, Google Cloud. Based on their certified, repeatable customer success and strong technical capabilities, were proud to recognize Woolpert as Specialization Partner of the Year for Location-Based Services.

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, has earned six straight Great Place to Work certifications 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 1,900 employees and more than 60 offices on four continents. For more, visit woolpert.com.
In a June 13 opinion and order, Judge Deborah L. Boardman declared Maryland's library e-book law "unconstitutional and unenforceable" all but ending a successful months-long legal effort by the Association of American Publishers to block the law.

"In its February 16, 2022 memorandum opinion, the Court determined that the Maryland Act likely conflicts with the Copyright Act in violation of the Supremacy Clause," Boardman's opinion reads. "Although neither AAP nor the State has moved for summary judgment on any claim, they agree a declaratory judgment may be entered... Therefore, for the reasons stated in the February 16, 2022 memorandum opinion, the Court finds that the Maryland Act conflicts with and is preempted by the Copyright Act. The Act 'stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress.'

The final order in the case comes after Boardman issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law, and after Maryland state attorneys declined to appeal Boardman's February 16 decision, arguing only that a declaratory judgment was sufficient and a permanent injunction was not warranted in the case.

In her decision this week, Boardman denied the AAP's bid for a permanent injunction, agreeing with the state that a declaratory judgment rendering the law unenforceable sufficiently protected the AAP's interests.

We thank Judge Deborah L. Boardman for delivering a clear decision that protects the exclusive rights that are the basis of the United States Copyright Act and the means by which authors and publishers make so many intellectual and economic contributions to society and the long-term public interest," AAP president and CEO Maria Pallante said in a statement.

First introduced in January 2021, the Maryland library e-book law required any publisher offering to license "an electronic literary product" to consumers in the state to also offer to license the content to public libraries "on reasonable terms." The bill passed the Maryland General Assembly unanimously on March 10, and went into effect on January 1, 2022.

In response, the AAP filed suit on December 9, 2021 arguing that the Maryland law was pre-empted by the federal Copyright Act. Just days after a February 7 hearing, Boardman agreed with the AAP and temporarily enjoined the law. Boardman's order this week now permanently renders the law enforceable.

Library advocates maintain the law was never an attempt to undermine copyright, however, but to regulate what they believed were unfair licenses. Specifically, the law emerged as a direct response to Macmillan's (since abandoned) 2019 embargo on frontlist e-book titles, which librarians insist was fundamentally inequitable. Furthermore, the law emerged after a decade of tension in the digital library market, with libraries long complaining of unsustainable, non-negotiated high prices and restrictions.

In her statement, Pallante said that Maryland had "enacted a shadow copyright law that would have forced authors and publishers to transmit literary works to public libraries within its borders according to regulated terms imposed by the state."

While the legal battle is over in Maryland, library advocates say the fight for equitable access to e-books in libraries will continue. A revised bill is said to be under discussion in Maryland, while lawmakers in other states are still considering their own library e-book bills. Among them, lawmakers in Rhode Island last month advanced the state's library e-book bill, SB2842, out of committee and to the floor for where it now waits for a full vote.

Like Maryland's now blocked library e-book law, Rhode Island's bill would also require publishers who offer e-book licenses to the general public to also offer to license those works to libraries and schools on "reasonable terms," but the measure also includes a provision that would make any licenses "that limits the rights of a library or school under the U.S. Copyright Act" unenforceable under Rhode Island state law.

In her statement, Pallante said the outcome in Maryland should discourage other state actions. Todays decisive ruling, combined with Governor Kathy Hochuls December, 2021 veto of a nearly identical bill in New York on constitutional grounds, sends a two-fold message to other legislatures being similarly lobbied: there is nothing judicious about undermining authors or the viability of an independent publishing industry.

Meanwhile, one outstanding issue appears to remain in the Maryland case: A footnote suggests the AAP is now seeking to recover its costs and attorneys fees. "The only outstanding issue is AAPs request for an award of reasonable costs and attorneys fees," the footnote states, adding that the AAP "has advised the Court that the parties intend to brief whether AAP is entitled to fees and costs under those statutes."
Lane Fernandez, who appeared alongside ex-girlfriend Malorie Beaver on MTV's Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant, has died. He was 28.

ADVERTISEMENT

Fernandez's death was confirmed by his wife, Kylee, in a Facebook post Monday. The couple welcomed their first child together, Nolyn, three weeks ago.

The cause of death is currently unknown.

"I'm so lost without you babe," Fernandez's wife wrote on social media. "I love you to the moon and back and I know you're watching out for us. I will forever miss you. It's always been you.

"Nolyn, Emerson, and I love you so much and you were an amazing father, dog dad, and husband. You'll forever be my rock, and my best friend. I miss you more than anything baby."

Fernandez also shares a young daughter, Emerson, with Beaver. The efforts of Fernandez and Beaver to co-parent their little girl played out during the second and third seasons of Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant in 2020 and 2021.

In the wake of Fernandez's death, Beaver offered her condolences on social media. She shared an old video of Fernandez with baby Emerson, who is now three years old, on her Instagram story, captioning the post: "RIP."
Crews float a single-engine plane in the Connecticut River to the boat launch in Charlestown, N.H., on Thursday, June 23, 2022. The pilot reported having engine troubles before hitting the power lines that went over the river and then crashed into the water on Wednesday, June 22. They used a
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 81F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear. Low 53F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Superintendent Mark Speno addresses the Windham Southeast School Districts board during the start of a mask forum that was held at Brattleboro Union High School on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

FARMINGTON  Police are looking for three people who they suspect tried to carjack a woman in broad daylight Monday at the Westfarms mall.

The male suspects, who were in their teens or early 20s, pushed the woman to the ground as she approached her car about 1 p.m., police said. Witnesses saw the three run from the vehicle, police said.
DERBY  Prosecutors are still turning over evidence to the attorney representing the man accused in a double fatal hit-and-run from December in Seymour that killed an elderly Shelton couple.

Though nearly six months have passed without significant developments in the case, one of the couples sons, Kenneth Tamborra, said Monday that he and the rest of his family knew the criminal justice process would not play out quickly.

I understand. It takes time, he said. It will happen when it happens.

Jair Irigoyen-Flores, 25, of West Haven, appeared briefly Monday at Derby Superior Court alongside his lawyer, Dan Lage.

Judge Scott M. Jones continued the case to Aug. 10 after Supervisory Assistant States Attorney Rebecca Barry said she was providing discovery evidence to Lage.

He has not yet entered pleas to two counts of misconduct with a motor vehicle and a single count of evading responsibility in the Dec. 10 deaths of James and Barbara Tamborra.

Lage declined to comment on the case outside the courtroom.

Following Irigoyen-Flores arrest in December after a two-week investigation, Tamborra said the deaths of his parents left a gaping hole in the family.

He said Monday that the time passed since his parents deaths hasnt healed his familys wounds.

You dont forget, it just makes it a little more tolerable, he said.

In addition to Tamborra, several friends and family members were in court Monday for Irigoyen-Flores appearance, as they have been for all the suspects appearances.

Tamborra said its hard on the family as events and holidays pass on the calendar without his parents being there.

Mothers Day was tough, Tamborra said. Fathers Day is going to be tough.

Irigoyen-Flores remains held in lieu of $1.5 million bond at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield.

He was arrested after police said an anonymous tipster called cops identifying Irigoyen-Flores as the driver of an Acura which struck the Shelton couple as they were crossing Bank Street following a funeral.

James Tamborra died from his injuries soon after the crash. Barbara Tamborra died a few days later in the hospital.

In an arrest warrant, police said a neighbor of Irigoyen-Flores, who said he had borrowed her car, stated that he called her crying when he got home on the night of Dec. 10. The warrant said he told her he did not know if he hit someone or something on his way home from work. She told investigators he kept saying he couldnt see them because it was dark, the warrant states.

Police said Irigoyen-Flores had bought a one-way plane ticket to Mexico scheduled for the morning he was arrested outside his West Haven home, which had been staked out by a state police narcotics squad following the anonymous tip.

Tamborra praised the investigation for building a solid case.

I have all the confidence in Seymour PD and state PD, he said. My family and friends are extremely appreciative of the professional work of both departments. They kept us informed, they kept us in the loop, they let us know how progress was going.
Ned Gerard / Ned Gerard

STRATFORD  Police say two people were injured in a shooting in the parking lot of a local pharmacy Sunday afternoon.

Capt. Frank Eannotti said Monday most of the people involved in the incident have been identified. Though no arrests have been made, charges are expected upon completion of the investigation, he added.
MILFORD  Three more people  all young adults  have been charged in connection with a brawl that broke out on Walnut Beach on Memorial Day.

Milford police identified the latest people charged as Alexander Mitchell, 20, of Bethany, Jasmin Bello, 18, of Stratford, and Jacob Calderon-Perez, 18, of Trumbull.

Police charged Mitchell with second-degree breach of peace. Bello was charged with second-degree breach of peace and third-degree assault, while Calderon-Perez was charged with sixth-degree larceny.

Police said Calderon-Perez and Bello were both arrested at their homes on Saturday. Mitchell turned himself in to Milford police on Monday.

Police said numerous physical fights broke out on the beach around 6:30 p.m. on May 30. Responding officers were overwhelmed by the large, unruly crowd, and were assaulted during the fight, police said.

Police said two officers had body-worn cameras pulled off of their uniforms during the scuffle.

In response to the fight, Milford police said they would have an increased presence at beaches this summer.

Police had previously announced that three people, all of them minors, had been charged in connection with the incident. The names of those people, and the charges against them, were not disclosed as is common in juvenile cases.

Milford police said at the time they had warrants pending for the arrests of two more juveniles and five adults.
Plymouth Police / Contributed Photo /

PLYMOUTH  A driver pointed a gun at another motorist during a road rage incident on Main Street Monday afternoon, according to police.

Police said the driver of a newer, bright burnt orange Dodge Ram pickup truck made a restricted turn onto Main Street, or Route 6, and nearly collided with another motorist.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

OLD LYME - The Witness Stones Poets will join the Nat Reeves Quartet in a Juneteenth celebration of jazz and poetry on the lawn of the Florence Griswold Museum 2 p.m., June 18, 96 Lyme St.

The poems commemorate 14 African-descended persons once enslaved in Old Lyme, according to a new release.

The acclaimed Connecticut poets - Marilyn Nelson, Kate Rushin, Rhonda Ward and Antoinette Brim-Bell  will read a verse cycle written in collaboration with the Old Lyme Witness Stones Partnership, according to the release.

The internationally renowned bassist and bandleader Nat Reeves will offer a musical tribute to those once held in bondage in the community.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. The celebration takes place outdoors from 2 to 4 p.m. and offers limited seating. Lawn chairs or blankets for additional outdoor seating are recommended. Admission is free.

The event has received support from the Side Door Jazz Club and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the federal ARPA program.

The Old Lyme Witness Stones Partnerships goal is to expand the understanding of local history and honor the humanity and the contributions of those formerly enslaved in the community.

The partnerships founding members include the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, the Florence Griswold Museum, the Lyme-Old Lyme Schools and the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme. Community partners include the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center, St. Anns Episcopal Church, Lymes Youth Service Bureau and the Old Lyme Historical Society.

Old Lyme Witness Stones Project

Witness Stones honor those once enslaved in Old Lyme. In much of New England, slavery has been forgotten, ignored, or assumed to be a practice confined to the South, according to the release.

Old Lyme now has 30 Witness Stones that bring the practice home. These small brass plaques mark sites of enslavement along Lyme Street, on Meetinghouse Hill, in the section of town called Laysville, and on todays Elys Ferry Road.

Witness Stones provide the names and circumstances of African Americans and Native Americans held in servitude by the towns ministers, merchants, judges, ship owners and large farmers.

Between 1670 and 1820, more than 200 enslaved African American and indigenous people labored in the historic town of Lyme, the release said. Each Witness Stone placed between the Sill Lane green and the Duck River Cemetery gates includes the name of an enslaved individual, along with details about their lives and circumstances derived from land records, emancipation certificates and other historical documents. An interpretive sign installed on the lawn of the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library provides a map showing the locations of these small brass plaques, embedded flush with the ground. Witness Stones have been placed primarily along the west side of Lyme Street for pedestrian safety.

Started by retired Guilford teacher

The Witness Stones Project was started by Dennis Culliton, a retired Guilford school teacher, who modeled it after the Stolpersteine Project in Berlin that commemorates the lives of individuals persecuted by the Nazis before and during World War II. Guilford, Madison, New Haven, West Hartford, and Suffield are among the Connecticut towns participating in the project. The Old Lyme Witness Stones Partnership is extending the project along the Connecticut shoreline.
Theary Seng refused to enter the court, saying that authorities would have to arrest her publicly.

Cambodian-U.S. lawyer Theary Seng arrives dressed up as a chained Statue of Liberty for her treason verdict at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia June 14, 2022.

Police in Phnom Penh on Tuesday arrested a Cambodian American lawyer and activist dressed as the Statue of Liberty outside a courthouse, where minutes before a mass trial ended by convicting her and more than 50 other opposition figures of treason.

Theary Seng and the others were all in some way connected to the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) before the countrys Supreme Court dissolved the party five years ago, a decision that paved the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen to tighten his grip on the country and squash criticism of his longstanding government.

Wearing a copper-patina hued flowing gown and speckled in glitter, Theary Seng stood holding the torch of liberty in one hand and a tablet reading Paris Peace Accord, 23 October 1991 in the other, a reference to the agreement that ended civil war in Cambodia and established the Southeast Asian nation as a fledgling democracy.

I am ready for the sham verdict that will be announced this morning which will be a guilty verdict. I am ready and prepared to go to the notorious Cambodian prison for my political opinions, for my beliefs, for my belief in democracy, she told reporters prior to the conviction.

This regime will not let me go free. It will be an unfair and unjust verdict, because I am innocent, the others charged with me are innocent. But we are living in a dictatorship, we are living in a regime that suppresses and represses its own people, that punishes, that uses the law as a weapon against its own people, Theary Seng said.

She also said that she would not enter the court during the trial. If the authorities wanted to arrest her, they would have to do it publicly, she said.

Theary Seng was sentenced to six years in prison, while the others received sentences ranging from five to eight years. Among the other activists on trial Tuesday, 27 were tried in absentia, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The treason charges against the activists stem from abortive efforts in 2019 to bring about the return to Cambodia of CNRP leader Sam Rainsy, who has been in exile in France to avoid what his supporters say are politicized charges against him.

Following the verdict, authorities obliged Theary Sengs request for a public arrest  two police officers grabbed her and rushed her into a waiting truck, a video shows.

Chhoeun Daravy, an activist who witnessed the arrest, told RFA the police truck drove her to prison.

We are deeply troubled by todays unjust verdicts against Theary Seng and others, the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia said in a statement posted to Facebook. Freedom of expression and association, and tolerance of dissenting views, are vital components of democracy.

We call on Cambodian authorities to release her and other human rights activists from unjust imprisonment.

The Cambodian governments spokesperson, Phay Siphan, told RFAs Khmer Service that Theary Sengs courtside demonstration had nothing to do with the verdict, and tried to dispel the idea that her conviction could damage relations with Washington.

The courts measures are based on the law, he said. Cambodia and the U.S relationship is important  more important than just one person, Phay Siphan said.

Because Theary Seng is a dual citizen of Cambodia and the United States, the embassy can request that she serve her sentence in the U.S., Phay Siphan said. He also said she had the option to appeal and could also seek amnesty from Cambodias king after serving two-thirds, or four years, of her sentence.

Theary Sengs lawyer, Choung Chou Ngy, told RFA that he will appeal the courts verdict. Meanwhile, the prison department refused to allow him to see her, which he said violated the law.

A picture of Theary Seng distributed on Facebook shows her dressed in a prisoner's uniform, her face still showing remnants of her Statue of Liberty makeup. Photo: citizen journalist.

The courts verdicts today show a double standard, Ny Sokha of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association told RFA. He said that former CNRP officials who agreed to defect to the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party have seen their sentences suspended or the charges they faced dropped.

The courts decision is more about politics rather than the law. If the culture of the dialogue still existed, no one would have been prosecuted. The problem stemmed from political conflict, he said.

In an interview with RFA, Sam Rainsy said he would return to Cambodia to face charges if Hun Sen dropped all charges against former CNRP officials, including Theary Seng.

Hun Sen has targeted me. Hun Sen is afraid of my presence. Why is Hun Sen is afraid of me? he said. Release all the prisoners. I volunteer to stay in jail since they [the court] accused me of being the ring leader.

During the mass trial in Phnom Penh Tuesday, Sam Rainsy was given an additional eight years in absentiaadding to the 47 years he has received in recent years.

Hun Sen is afraid of democracy. About 61 were prosecuted but millions of people wont be intimidated. Wipe your tears and continue, he said, adding that Theary Seng would be a bone that Hun Sen would have to swallow.

Jared Genser, who is providing pro bono counsel to Theary Seng, condemned the courts decision.

By detaining Theary on plainly fabricated national security charges, Hun Sen has violated a litany of her rights  and dealt yet another blow to Cambodias civic space, said Genser.

It is clear that Hun Sen feels greatly threatened by this courageous woman who speaks truth to power.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, called Tuesdays proceedings a show trial and said they expose the Hun Sen governments fear of any vestige of democracy in Cambodia.

The mass trials against political opposition members are really about preventing any electoral challenge to Prime Minister Hun Sens rule, but they have also come to symbolize the death of Cambodias democracy, Robertson said.

By creating a political dynamic that relies on intimidation and persecution of government critics, Hun Sen demonstrates his total disregard for democratic rights, he said.

The convictions draw to a close a trial that began in 2020 but was temporarily stopped until December 2021 due to restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The court case originally involved about 130 defendants but was split into three separate trials.

Theary Sengs appearance as the Statue of Liberty on Tuesday was only her latest use of costumery as a political statement. During a session of court in May, she dressed as Lady Justice, complete with blindfold, scale and sword.

Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Taiwan on rejected China's claim that the Taiwan Strait, the body of water between the democratic island and China, were its own territorial waters.



Foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said the Taiwan Strait is defined in international law as international waters.



"Our government has always respected any activities conducted by foreign vessels in the Taiwan Strait that are allowed by international law," Ou told reporters in Taipei.



"We understand and support the freedom of navigation operations conducted by the U.S. as these operations promote peace and stability in the region," she said.



She said recent comments by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin laying claim to the Taiwan Strait were "a distortion of international law."



She said Wang's comments "revealed [China's] ambition to annex Taiwan."



While Taiwan has never been governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) nor formed part of the People's Republic of China, and its 23 million people have no wish to give up their sovereignty or democratic way of life, Beijing insists the island is part of its territory.



"Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory," Wang told a news conference on . "Taiwan has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait."



"It is a false claim when certain countries call the Taiwan Strait 'international waters' in order to find a pretext for manipulating issues related to Taiwan and threatening Chinas sovereignty and security," he said.

China vs rule-based international order



In Taipei, Ou said Taiwan will continue to work with like-minded countries to jointly uphold the rule-based international order and promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.



According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), countries can claim an area 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) from the coast as their territorial seas, where they have full sovereignty.



They can also claim exclusive economic rights over waters up to 200 nautical miles from their coast, but other countries still have the right to sail through or fly over the waters.



Most of the Taiwan Strait is less than 200 nautical miles wide, meaning that Chinese and Taiwanese economic claims mostly overlap.



Huang Chieh-chung, associate professor of international affairs and strategy at Taiwan's Tamkang University, said the timing of Wang's claim was interesting.



"Is it appropriate to come out and say something like this now? The intentions behind [Wang's comments] may need further analysis," he said.



He said it was unclear whether the international community would support China's claim.



"The Taiwan Strait is an important international waterway, so how can China claim it all as its own?" Huang said. "Whether or not China can win international support for this view is up to them."



"But we in Taiwan won't accept it."



Legitimacy rejected

Ye Yaoyuan, director of the Department of International Studies and Contemporary Linguistics at the University of St. Thomas in the United States, said Beijing's intention could be linked to legal moves aimed at paving the way for a military invasion of Taiwan.



"One thing China has been doing is showing [its actions regarding Taiwan] from a legal point of view," Ye told RFA. "If there is war in the Taiwan Strait, can they prevent other countries from intervening in such a war using international law, or intimidate them?"



"China has been making comments, particularly using the perspective of international law, to strengthen its legal case for forcing 'unification' on Taiwan," Ye said. "But the legitimacy [of such arguments] isn't accepted by most countries."



Chinese leader Xi Jinping has signed a directive allowing 'non-war' uses of the military, prompting concerns that Beijing may be gearing up to invade the democratic island of Taiwan under the guise of a "special operation" not classified as war.



The U.S. State Department hadn't responded to requests for its comment on Wang Wenbin's comments by the time of writing.



U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan held "candid" talks with Chinese defense minister Yang Jiechi on , with scant agreement reached on the matter of Taiwan.



Sullivan reiterated the U.S. policy of recognizing Chinese sovereignty but expressed "concerns about Beijing's coercive and aggressive actions across the Taiwan Strait," a senior White House official told Agence France-Presse.



Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden appeared to break with decades of Washington policy when he said the U.S. would defend Taiwan militarily if it was attacked by China.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
They now must send more money to the government back home each month than they earn, according to one source.

In a file photo, hospital staff care for two men waiting to receive traditional Koryo medical treatment at Pyongyang Medical College in Pyongyang, North Korea.

North Korea is forcing two doctors who set up a highly profitable ward in a hospital in Laos to send their earnings back home as so-called loyalty funds, North Korean sources in Laos told RFA.

The North Korean doctors, a physician and a surgeon, were dispatched to the Southeast Asian country to set up a practice on one floor of the Lao-Asean Hospital in the capital Vientiane, an upscale medical facility that offers a higher standard of care than an average Lao hospital. The hospital caters to wealthy foreigners who live in Laos, as well as tourists.

Under the normal terms for North Korean workers dispatched to other countries, the doctors had to give their government a percentage of their earnings. In most cases, the money these workers keep is still several times what they could hope to earn at home.

But the COVID-19 pandemic caused revenue at the hospital to decline, as there were fewer wealthy foreign patients. The ward operated by the North Korean doctors was forced to suspend operations until the Lao government lifted restrictions in May.

As the money started rolling in, Pyongyang ordered the two doctors to resume payments, only in greater amounts that cut sharply into their incomes.

I heard from an acquaintance, who is close to the doctors from Pyongyang, that the North Korean authorities have demanded excessive loyalty funds from the doctors, a North Korean source in Laos told RFAs Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Their operations have barely become normalized. But they look particularly depressed and disappointed because they owe more in loyalty money than they earn, she said.

The doctors started their practice in Vientiane to capitalize on the tourism industry centered there.

Since there are many tourists, they expected that [opening a ward] in that hospital would be able to earn a lot of foreign currency, said the source.

They designated [their ward] as [part of the] international hospital rather than a North Korean one, she said. Most foreign tourists and residents recognize it as [part of] an international hospital that offers better treatment than the local Lao hospitals, and they visit a lot.

Prices can be up to 10 times higher, and must be paid in U.S. dollars, cash only, according to the source. She said she was aware of a Chinese businessman who paid $20 for an abdominal pain diagnosis that would cost $2 in a typical Lao hospital.

The Lao-ASEAN hospital in Vientiane, Laos. Photo: RFA

Since May, the hospital has been making a good profit as the Lao government completely lifted the COVID-19 lockdown, she said.

Another North Korean in Laos said the hospital ward was established a few years ago, before the worst of the pandemic had reached Laos.

It was founded and operated by two doctors in their 40s who were dispatched from Pyongyang a few years ago. They diagnose, treat and perform surgeries on patients regardless of their nationalities, and get a lot in foreign currency, she told RFA on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely.

The Lao government closed the border and banned movement between regions in 2020. As the entry and movement of foreigners was suspended, the North Korean hospital [ward] started seeing fewer patients, the second source said.

Eventually the ward had to suspend operations as the steady flow of patients dwindled.

The [ward] has emerged from operational difficulties caused by the COVID-19 crisis, and it is making significant profits, she said.

Sources told RFA that the North Korean ward is able to earn between $100 and $200 per day on average, but has been asked to send to Pyongyang $3,000 per month. After factoring in overhead, very little remains for the two doctors.

An employee of the Lao-Asean hospital confirmed to RFAs Lao Service that two North Korean doctors have been working at the hospital for the past two years, but could not elaborate on how they came to work for the hospital or what their exact positions were.

A Lao health official, meanwhile, told RFA that the hospital is privately owned by a domestic company, Lao Medical Service Co., but that it was common for hospitals to hire doctors from abroad.

Many private hospitals in Laos employ many foreign doctors and medical experts including Chinese and Vietnamese because these foreigners have great knowledge in the field, the official said.

As for the Lao-Asean Hospital, I know that the owner is a Lao investor who has hired several Chinese doctors to work with Lao counterparts and at least one of them is the head of a treatment department, but I dont know whether the hospital has any North Korean doctors, he said.

Additional reporting by RFA Lao. Translated by Claire Lee, Leejin J. Chung and Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Tens of thousands of minors have been displaced by military attacks since last years coup.

Myanmar refugee children, who fled a surge in violence as the military cracked down on rebel groups, cook a meal at a camp in Nawphewlawl near the Myanmar-Thailand border in Kayin state, Feb. 14, 2022.

The international community must reengage and refocus on Myanmar to head off a looming crisis that may leave a lost generation of children, who have already suffered incredible deprivation since the countrys February 2021 military coup, a United Nations human rights official said on Tuesday.

In a 40-page report titled Losing a Generation: How the military junta is attacking Myanmars children and stealing their future, Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, says the military regime has systematically abused children since taking power.

Soldiers, police officers and military-backed militias have murdered, abducted, detained and tortured children in a campaign of violence across the Southeast Asian nation, the report says.

Military attacks have displaced more than 250,000 children, the report says. More than 1,400 youths have been detained and at least 61 are currently being held hostage. The report says that 142 children have been tortured  beaten, cut, stabbed, burned with cigarettes, deprived of food and water  since the military seized power from the democratically elected government.

The juntas relentless attacks on children underscore the generals depravity and willingness to inflict immense suffering on innocent victims in its attempt to subjugate the people of Myanmar, said Andrews, a former member of the U.S. Congress from Maine from 1991 to 1995, in a statement. He was appointed to his U.N. role in May 2020.

An estimated 7.8 million children remain out of school because of the conflict. As many as 33,000 minors could die preventable deaths this year because they have not received routine immunizations, according to the report.

Andrews called on U.N. member states, regional organizations, the U.N. Security Council and other U.N. agencies to significantly increase humanitarian assistance and regional support for refugees. Countries should also implement stronger economic sanctions and coordinated financial investigations to diminish the militarys ability to remain in power.

The parties must respond to the crisis in Myanmar with the same urgency they have responded to the crisis in Ukraine, the special rapporteur said.

The juntas attacks on children constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes, Andrews said. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and other architects of the violence in Myanmar must be held accountable for their crimes against children.

There was no immediate response from the State Administration Council, the formal name for the junta regime.

In Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged member states to step up pressure on the Myanmar junta amid ongoing reports of violence and human rights violations.

[T]here are reasonable grounds to believe the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes, Bachelet said.

What we are witnessing today is the systematic and widespread use of tactics against civilians in respect of which there are reasonable grounds to believe the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes, she told the current session of the Human Rights Council.

Bachelet called on U.N. member states to take sustained and concrete action to end the violence against civilians and minority groups.

I urge all member states, particularly those with the highest-level access and influence, to intensify the pressure on the military leadership, she said, citing measures such as increased restrictions on the regimes financial holdings and business interests and limiting its access to foreign currencies to restrict the purchase of military equipment and supplies.

I also call for continued support to the efforts underway to pursue accountability for the ongoing and past serious human rights violations, as well as alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity through all available tracks, she said. Myanmar's future depends on addressing the root cause of this crisis.
They say the military regime cannot be trusted and must pay for its crimes against civilians.

Myanmars armed resistance has dismissed an unprecedented call by the junta to surrender as a sugar-coated offer by a regime that must pay for its war crimes against civilians, as a new report found the military responsible for nearly 20,000 arson attacks since its 2021 coup.

In a statement published in both Burmese and English by Myanmars state-run newspapers on Monday, the juntas Information Team announced that all members of the armed resistance  including the pro-democracy Peoples Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary group it has labeled a terrorist organization  will be allowed to return to civilian life if they willingly lay down their arms.

The junta blamed political adversaries and disagreements in ethnic affairs for Myanmars internal armed conflicts, which it said had hampered development, and called for unity to heal the nation.

Those who were persuaded by terrorist groups  to commit acts of terrorism leading to the utter devastation of the country and launch armed resistance under various names of groups including PDF  affect the stability of the State and ensue delay in ways to democracy, the statement said.

Therefore, it is here announced that the organizations, including PDF, are welcomed if they enter the legal fold [to return to] their normal civilian lives by surrendering their weapons, [and] following rules and regulations to participate in future work plans of the country.

Various armed resistance groups that have sworn loyalty to Myanmars shadow National Unity Government (NUG) told RFA Burmese that surrender to the junta is impossible, citing the devastation it had wrought on the country since the Feb. 1, 2021 takeover. Others said the military cannot be trusted and suggested that its call for surrender is a sign of weakness.

If we had thought surrender was a possibility at the beginning, we would never have started the revolution, said a spokesman for PDF in Kayah states Demawso township, speaking on condition of anonymity.

We will never surrender. Well never trust the military which has ruled us for over 70 years and wants to brainwash us, no matter what they say.

A spokesman for the Myingyu township PDF in Sagaing region, who also declined to be named, said his group will also continue its fight against the military.

As far as we know, they are weakening. I think they are making this offer because they have suffered heavy casualties during their offensive in our township, he said.

We blew up their convoys with landmines whenever they passed through our territory, and they suffered a lot. We will never surrender to them but fight to the end.

A member of the Chinland Defense Force, which was fighting the junta in Chin state before the NUG was formed in April last year, said his group had barely acknowledged Mondays offer.

We have determined to wipe out the military dictatorship. That is why we have taken up arms against them and reached this stage, he said.

Frankly speaking, we dont even need to comment on their offer.

Myanmar's military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (2nd from R) arrives for the fourth session of the 21st-Century Panglong Conference, Aug. 19, 2020. Credit: AFP Doubts over juntas claims

Naing Htoo Aung, shadow defense secretary, said the NUG will not consider the offer because the junta is untrustworthy.

It is unbelievable that these people, who are currently committing atrocities and killing innocent people and burning villages, have asked us to surrender our weapons and return to civilian life, he said. We all know that we cannot believe [this offer].

Naing Htoo Aung called Mondays offer sugar-coated, and vowed to hold the junta responsible for the death and destruction it has sown over the past 16 months.

The NUG claimed last month that it had already formed more than 250 battalions across the country and established links to more than 400 PDF units, suggesting it was more than capable of defeating the military regime.

Sai Kyi Zin Soe, a Myanmar-based analyst, questioned why the junta would expect the PDF to disarm without removing the group from its list of terrorist organizations.

After all, it is difficult for people who have suffered because of the junta actions, to give up their weapons, he said.

In this age, when news travels fast, the military cannot make up stories and fool people like the previous juntas.

Mondays offer came days after U.S. State Department adviser Derek Chollet told reporters in Bangkok that the junta should return Myanmar to the path of democracy as it appears unable to crush the opposition. He also noted that the military has suffered heavy casualties in its fight with the resistance.

Earlier this month, independent research group the Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP Myanmar) said that it had documented more than 4,600 clashes between PDF units and the military as of May 15. More than half of them occurred in Kayin state, while the second most took place in Sagaing region.

Junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in April called on Myanmars ethnic armed groups to hold peace talks and end armed conflict with the military, but he refused to meet with the PDF.

The smoldering remains of Kebar village in Sagaing region's Ayeyarwaddy township, Dec. 13, 2021. Nearly 20,000 houses razed

The juntas invitation to surrender also came less than a week after local watchdog group Data for Myanmar issued a report which found that junta troops and military proxy groups had burned down 18,886 homes across the country between last years coup and the end of May 2022.

According to the report, villages in Sagaing were the hardest hit by the junta, with 13,840 houses destroyed, while those in Magway region and Chin state came in second and third. It said that 7,146 homes were set on fire in May alone  the highest monthly figure since the coup.

Legal experts and analysts told RFA on Monday that the widespread use of arson against civilians amounts to war crimes and said the junta must be held accountable for its actions.

Min Lwin Oo, a human rights lawyer, said the perpetrators of the arson should be tried in international courts.

The military junta is committing war crimes, he said. In order to take action, it is important to have solid facts, and whoever is collecting information should find out who the perpetrators were and how the orders are carried out.

NUG Minister for Human Rights Aung Myo Min said evidence is being collected for what the shadow government hopes will be a trial at the International Criminal Court.

We have been informed by residents of the villages that have been burnt down, and we are conducting a thorough re-investigation and gathering evidence, he said.

Telling the world what is happening is key to ensuring that prompt action is taken against the junta.

Calls to junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun seeking comment on the reports findings went unanswered Monday. In earlier interviews, he had denied that the military was responsible for the arson and instead blamed it on local PDF units.

Nay Zin Latt, a former member of parliament for the deposed National League for Democracy party in Sagaings Kanbalu township, told RFA that the military has falsely claimed to be following a code of conduct on the battlefield by avoiding civilian casualties.

They set fires to villages. They arrest and kill innocent villagers, he said.

No matter how they try, they cannot hide all these crimes because the villagers themselves saw their houses being burnt down, their families and friends being killed. The facts are indisputable.

A resident of Kan Thit village in Sagaings Khin Oo township, whose house was burnt down during a military raid, said that he and his fellow villagers are only asking for a little bit of justice so that we can live in peace.

I want the international community to know what has happened so that we can put an end to the cruelty that befallen us, he said.

According to Thai rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, authorities in Myanmar have killed 1,937 civilians since last years coup, mostly during peaceful anti-junta protests.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
The locals, in their 70s and 80s, were killed by troops before they torched Lat Pu Kan.

CAPTION: Hlaw Kar village, 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) south of Lat Pu Kan village, was burned down by the military affiliated Pyu Saw Htee group on February 5.

The bodies of a woman and two men have been found after junta troops set fire to Lat Pu Kan village in Myanmars Sagaing region on Monday.

The three had been tied up and killed before troops torched the village in Pale township.

The bodies of the woman, Daw Aye Man, and a man U Kyaung Maung, both in their 70s, were found along with U Paw, a man in his 80s, a local resident told RFA.

The victims were arrested and killed, said the resident, who declined to be named for safety reasons. Daw Aye Man, the woman, could not go anywhere as she was old and had no one who could carry her to help her flee. She was killed in her bed. U Paw, who was over 80, had poor vision. He was tied up and killed. The other man, U Kyaung Maung, was deaf. Their bodies were found after the military left the village.

It was not clear why the three were killed when they were unable to take up arms to resist the junta forces. Calls to a military council spokesman by RFA on Tuesday morning went unanswered.

In addition to the three murdered villagers, a 30-year-old local, Ko Naing, is missing according to local residents.

A 53-year-old man, U Paw San, was shot and injured on Monday when troops fired heavy artillery and live rounds on nearby Kokko Gone village, locals told RFA. Three cattle were also killed.

The military council has not issued a statement on either incident.

The local Peoples Defense Force (PDF) militia said that local PDFs have been able to defeat the juntas troops because locals led them around landmines. It said that was why troops targeted the villages.

Local militia member, Saya Poe Thar from the Kya Thit Nat group (Leopard Squad) said the troops who burned Lat Pu Kan and Kokko Gone villages on Monday also went to Pon Taung Nat Htake village in Pale Township on June 10, sending 107 military trucks, carrying around 170 soldiers. The troops included a landmine clearance team.

He said about 10 soldiers were killed on Sunday by landmines laid by the Kya Thit Nat militia group. Two local fighters also died.

The military then set fire to nearby villages thought to support the PDFs, killing civilians and destroying their homes, Saya Poe Thar said.

Sagaing has been the site of some of the fiercest fighting between military troops and opposition PDFs since the junta seized power in February last year. Data for Myanmar says 103 people were killed and 192 injured in the region between February 1, 2021 and April 28 this year.

Fighting and arson attacks have forced an estimated 336,600 people to flee their homes in Sagaing since the coup, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Independent think-tank Institute for Strategy and Policy Myanmar said this month that around 15,530 homes and other buildings had been burned or destroyed in the northwest region from the start of military rule until May 26 this year, representing nearly 70% of all the buildings damaged in Myanmar.
Desperate for work and food, refugees often pay traffickers thousands of dollars to make a risky trip to Malaysia.

Members of the Thai Navy and park officials offer food to Rohingya found stranded on the Thai island of Koh Dong after being abandoned by traffickers en route to Malaysia, June 4, 2022.

More than 600 Rohingya Muslims from western Myanmars Rakhine state have been arrested over the last six months trying to reach Malaysia, an RFA analysis shows, part of an exodus of refugees who were driven by a lack of jobs and food to make a risky and sometimes deadly trek.

RFA compiled the data from statements issued by military junta officials in Rakhine state and information from local media outlets.

A Muslim man who lives in Maungdaw township, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said he sold all his belongings to send his daughter to Malaysia, but she was arrested on the way.

Our family agreed to marry our daughter off to a boy who is in Malaysia, the man told RFA. We asked him if he would pay for half the travel expenses. He agreed, and because we didnt have 500,000 kyats [U.S. $270], we sold our land and house and other stuff to pay for her travel. Now, shes been arrested, and weve lost everything. Our lives are ruined.

The daughter was aboard a boat with 228 others about 17 miles northwest of Mayu Island near Sittwe when they were was arrested by Myanmar authorities. More than 100 of the Rohingya passengers were sentenced to five years in prison by the Maungdaw District Court on Dec. 14 for violating immigration laws. Minors were released.

In December, a total of 270 Rohingya were arrested for immigration law violations. Two dozen Rohingya were detained in January, 135 in February, 14 in March, 35 in April and 124 in May, for a total of 602 people.

A Rohingya in Kyaukphyu township said Muslims were leaving Rakhine and risking arrest or even death because of a lack of jobs in the state and restrictions placed on them by authorities. Malaysia is a preferred destination because most of its residents are Muslim.

It has become easier for traffickers to exploit us, he said. The current problem in Rakhine is that people are not allowed to travel freely. There are also very few job opportunities to earn a living. We could not go outside because we were living in a refugee camp. That is why people are taking risks. They think they will prosper if they can make the trip.

Many are also motivated by food shortages in the camps in which the Rohingya are confined in Myanmar, Rohingya sources said.

Rohingya living in Maungdaw township pay what is to them exorbitant sums to traffickers  a total of about 9 million kyats (U.S. $4,900), paid in stages along the route.

Imminent danger

Despite the costs, Rohingya still face imminent danger on their trek, which often involves travelling in rickety boats in rough seas.

On May 21, at least 25 Rohingya out of about 90 passengers on their way to Malaysia died when their boat capsized and sank in the Bay of Bengal during a storm off the coast of Ayerarwady region. Myanmar authorities picked up more than 20 survivors, including the traffickers, on a beach the following day. A number of other Rohingya remain missing.

Thai authorities arrested 59 Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladesh on June 4 on Koh Taung Island in the southern province of Satun after they were told they had reached Malaysia and disembarked.

Tin Hlaing, a Rohingya from Thekkebyin village in Sittwe township who works on human trafficking issues, told RFA that some Rohingyas suffer abuse at the hands of their traffickers on the journey.

Some kids were so pitiful [because] the traffickers beat them up and sent a video to their families demanding that they pay the remaining 2 million, 3 million or 5 million kyats if they wanted their son or daughter to live, he said.

Their parents, who also live in the IDP camps, had no money to pay, he said. What they did was sell their rooms or their rations coupons. Finally, they had no place to live and nothing to eat. They had to do that so their children would not die. We see such tragedies here.

RFA could not reach military regime spokesmen in Rakhine state or in Myanmars capital Naypyidaw for comment.

Activist Nay San Lwin, cofounder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, noted that the stream of Muslims trying to illegally flee Myanmar is a result of the violation of their fundamental rights.

If you can work and live freely in your area, if there is stability and peace, no one will migrate, he said. All over Myanmar, people can travel freely by land or by water, but only the Rohingyas are not allowed to do so. Rohingyas are deprived of the use of waterways in their own birthplace.

They dont have the right to live a normal life, he said. The deprivation of basic rights, such as the right to freedom of movement, is a serious violation of human rights.

Call for urgent intervention

The Rohingya were placed in IDP camps in in Sittwe, Pauktaw and Kyaukphyu townships following sectarian violence between Muslims and Buddhists in 2012 and 2013.

In 2017, Myanmars military conducted brutal clearance operations in Rakhine that forced more than 740,000 Rohingya, mainly in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships, to flee across the border and into Bangladesh, where they now live in sprawling refugee camps.

The United States in March said that the clearance operations constituted a genocide.

Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization Malaysia issued a written appeal on Monday to the U.N. Human Rights Council to find a permanent solution to the Rohingyas plight.

[We] need the urgent intervention and peace from the outside world to change our fate, the group said. We cannot delay our ACTION as it will only allow more Rohingyas and people of Myanmar to die.

The organization asked world leaders, the European Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Associations of Southeast Asian nations, and U.N. member states to appeal to the current regular session of the Human Rights Council, which runs until July 8, to find a permanent solution to the Rohingya crisis.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane for RFA Burmese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Citizens report that rescue teams were slow to respond and that the townspeople had to help themselves.

The Chinese government is imposing an information lockdown after a series of earthquakes in a Tibetan county in Sichuan province displaced more than 25,000 residents, RFA has learned.

The initial quake, measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale, hit Barkam (Maerkang in Chinese), a county-level city in the Ngawa (Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, at 1:28 a.m. June 10, Beijing time, the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) reported.

According to a state-run media report, the quake injured at least one person and 1,314 rescuers were dispatched to the area. An estimated 25,790 residents of the area were transferred and resettled.

Most of the houses [in affected areas] are destroyed and many have sustained extensive damage, a source told RFAs Tibetan Service Friday on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Many people have been left injured, but I havent heard any death reports so far.

File photo of earthquake damage in Barkam county, Ngawa, Tibet. Photo: Citizen Journalist

Another source told RFA that many of the homes still standing are now without electricity.

The number of fatalities and injured are unknown at the moment. However, the government has strictly instructed us not to share any pictures, videos and other information of the calamity on social media, the source said on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The earthquake stuck in the middle of the night while it was raining heavily. Though it was frightening, many were able to step out of their houses for safety. But another earthquake measuring 5.8 magnitude and few small ones stuck again in the early morning hours, said the source.

Chinese media reported that rescuers had been dispatched, but the source said that they had not yet arrived when he spoked to RFA.

The schools in Barkam county, where the earthquake stuck, have seen no help from the government and the students are still lying around their schools playground. They even have to take care of their own food, the source said.

Residents of Barkam have been barred from posting reports, pictures and any other information about the quake, which has devastated houses, stupas and monks residences, a third source who requested anonymity to speak freely told RFA.

File photo of the aftermath of an earthquake in Barkam county, Ngawa, Tibet. Photo: Citizen Journalist

Many displaced people have had to find temporary shelter in tents, which the monks and townspeople have set up together.

Government rescuers did not reach Barkam until Monday, three days after the initial quake.

Indias National Center for Seismology reported two more earthquakes in Tibet on Monday  a 4.2 magnitude quake at 4:01 a.m. IST and a 4.5 magnitude quake at 11:49 a.m. IST. Both occurred in Gerze (Gaize) county, Xizang province.

Earthquakes are common on the Tibetan plateau and last year a 7.3-magnitude quake struck Matoe (Maduo) county, killing 20 people and injuring 300.

RFA reported at that time that authorities had similarly blocked social media reporting, telling citizens to report injuries and deaths only to the government rather than sharing the information online.

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Reporters are only allowed to tell one-sided stories, former editor says.

Reporters and editors employed by state media outlets in Vietnam are being trained to uphold the views of the ruling Communist Party on human rights, freedom of expression and other politically sensitive topics, sources in the country say.

Vietnams government appears especially sensitive to foreign criticism on human rights issues, frequently attacking allegations of abuse or the suppression of free speech as the work of hostile forces, according to rights groups and other activists.

Trainings are now held each year to ensure that those working in Vietnams state-owned media work within limits set by the government and ruling party, Nguyen Ngoc Vinh  former managing editor of the countrys popular Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper  told RFA in an interview.

Vietnamese law already clearly stipulates that the media in Vietnam are a tool of the party and state, and fighting against hostile forces is just one of the goals the media has to achieve, Vinh said.

A training course recently held in northern Vietnams Ninh Binh province, and reported in an article on Monday by the countrys Labour newspaper, served to remind the reporters, editors and other staff attending of their role in affirming the partys guidelines in media affairs, Vinh said.

Those guidelines have been agreed by the media in Vietnam at all levels, and they are that caution must be used in reporting on human rights issues. Thats it! he added.

Employees of state media in Vietnam are also instructed to guide public opinion on politically sensitive and controversial cases, Vinh said, pointing to the deadly January 2020 clash between land protesters and police at Dong Tam commune outside Hanoi as an example.

At first, only social media covered the killing by police of Dong Tam elder Le Dinh Kinh, but then official media reported the incident, using the police as their only source of information, Vinh said.

The media rejected all other sources of information, including accounts by local residents who were witnesses to the killing.

One-sided stories

According to standards of modern reporting, the media must obtain information from different sources in order to get as close to the truth as possible, Vinh said.

But in Vietnam, the media are only allowed to tell one-sided stories, especially in human rights cases.

A human rights lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, told RFA that the censoring of media by political authorities has badly hurt the defense of human rights in Vietnam.

In a free and democratic society, the media play a critical role in protecting the freedom and dignity of the people, RFAs source said.

However, in Vietnam, the media are seen as a tool of the ruling party and government. They lose their function of creativity and criticism, as they are closely controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnams Central Commission on Education and Communications.

The media therefore only serve as the authorities mouthpiece in cracking down on dissenting voices, providing misleading information to divide people in society, and protecting the ruling elite, the lawyer said.

Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Written in English by Richard Finney.
KYIV -- Russian missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital and the central city of Cherkasy on June 26 killed at least two people and injured 11 others, including a 7-year-old girl pulled from the rubble, with more blasts reported later, in the first major strikes against either city in weeks.

Ukrainian officials who have pledged to retake lost cities responded with a fresh plea for more weapons to fight the Russian invasion as G7 leaders opened a two-day summit at which they are expected to announce further punishing sanctions on Russia.

The bombardments against Kyiv and Cherkasy came as Ukraine's defense forces battled to regroup after the loss of a strategic town to Russian forces on the front lines hundreds of kilometers to the southeast, where some of the most intense fighting is raging four months into Russia's full-scale invasion.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians and refugees, and Western aid and reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko went to the scene in one of that city's historic northern neighborhoods, known as the Shevchenko district, after at least two buildings were affected by the early morning explosions blamed on up to four Russian missiles.

Klitschko said one person was killed and six were injured, including the 7-year-old, who was in stable condition after surgery. The condition of her mother, who was also hospitalized, was much more serious, Klitschko said on Telegram.

Russia said its strike on Kyiv had hit a weapons factory, dismissing as "fake" reports that it had struck a residential area. The Artyom factory "was the target, as military infrastructure," the Russian Defense Ministry said. It claimed in a statement that damage to a nearby residential building had been caused by a Ukrainian air- defense missile.

Klitschko called the attacks on Kyiv an attempt by Russia to "intimidate Ukrainians" ahead of a NATO summit slated for Madrid on June 28-30.

Others suggested they and other bombardments -- including near Ukraine's border with Poland -- might also be an effort to send a message to G7 leaders gathering near Munich to discuss pro-Ukraine measures on June 26.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded to the fresh Kyiv attacks with an image of the 7-year-old being lifted from the apartment building rubble and urging "more sanctions on Russia and more heavy arms for Ukraine" from the G7.

Also on June 26, current and former officials in central Ukraine said explosions had rung out in the city of Cherkasy, which had so far avoided being targeted by Russia's worst attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Later, Cherkasy Regional State Administration Chairman Ihor Taburets blamed two Russian missiles for the blasts and said one person had been killed and five more injured.

"Today, the enemy launched missile attacks on the Cherkasy region," Taburets said via Telegram. "There are 2 strikes near the regional center. One dead and five wounded. Infrastructure damaged."

Cherkasy has not been targeted previously by major attacks by Russian forces.

Farther to the southeast, Ukrainian forces said a day earlier that they had made a "tactical withdrawal" from the city of Syevyerodonetsk in a blow that could shape the fighting in the east.

But President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed in his nighttime video address that Ukraine would eventually retake the cities it has lost since Russia's all-out invasion began on February 24.

Zelenskiy said the biggest ground war in Europe since World War II had taken a heavy toll on Ukrainians and their defenders but spoke of eventually winning the war.

"We don't have a sense of how long it will last, how many more blows, losses, and efforts will be needed before we see victory is on the horizon," Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy is due to remotely address the G7 on June 27 to urge further international support for Ukraine's defense.

On June 25, Ukraine's military said defense forces had withdrawn from Syevyerodonetsk after weeks of intense battles to fight from higher ground in nearby Lysychansk, across the Siverskiy Donets River.

Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said his forces were carrying out a "tactical regrouping" by pulling its forces out of Syevyerodonetsk.

Syevyerodonetsk, a city in the Luhansk district of around 100,000 residents before the war, has been devastated as Russian forces sought to concentrate gains in the two eastern districts known collectively as the Donbas.

Russia-backed separatists have controlled swaths of that region since Russia annexed Crimea and helped kick off the eastern Ukrainian fighting in 2014.

Meanwhile, fears mounted of a widening war since Ukrainian officials reported "massive bombardment" from rockets "fired from the territory of Belarus and from the air" and Moscow said it would provide Belarus with an advanced missile system.

In Belarus, strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka's dependence on Moscow has increased since a crackdown over protests that began when he claimed a sixth presidential term in flawed elections two years ago.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised meeting with Lukashenka on June 25 that Moscow plans within months to supply Belarus with Iskander-M missile systems, a nuclear-capable, mobile guided-missile system with a range of up to 500 kilometers.

"Today's strike is directly linked to Kremlin efforts to pull Belarus as a co-belligerent into the war in Ukraine," the Ukrainian intelligence service said of the missiles launched from Russian warplanes over Belarusian territory.

Lukashenka allowed thousands of Russian troops to stage attacks on Ukraine from the earliest stage of the invasion.

A representative of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, Vadym Skibitskiy, told RBC-Ukraine on June 25 that Belarus is maintaining 4,000-6,000 of its own troops near the Ukrainian border.

He estimated that Russia has around 1,500 of its troops in Belarus to help with air, special forces, and missile components of the invasion.

With additional reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, and AFP
A day after Georgia's government announced it had taken over a majority stake in the iconic Borjomi bottled-water brand, workers remain on strike and the precious liquid is running straight into the town's river. On June 13, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharabashvili announced that "the state will become a co-owner of the Borjomi factory, our national treasure and pride." The source of that pride is the fizzy, slightly salty water that bubbles up from several springs in Borjomi, a forested spa town 120 kilometers west of Tbilisi.

Mint-green bottles of Borjomi water were first sold throughout the Russian empire from the 1890s and the Borjomi brand would become an icon of the Soviet Union, then today's independent Georgia. Many people swear by the eggy-smelling water's reputed health benefits and until February 24, when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, it was exported to 40 countries. On April 29, IDS Borjomi, the producer of the mineral-water brand, halted production, blaming sanctions targeting Russian-owned entities, that "limited access to bank accounts" and made export sales impossible. IDS Borjomi has since 2013 been majority-owned by an investment conglomerate headed by Russian-Israeli Mikhail Fridman, a billionaire businessman who was targeted with sanctions shortly after Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine. Fridman was born in Soviet Ukraine and has spoken out against the war, calling it "a tragedy" for both countries. Western governments, however, accuse the billionaire of having close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When IDS Borjomi asked workers to return to work at half-pay under new temporary contracts, many refused and 49 workers were fired. Most factory-floor workers earned around 1,600 laris ($550) per month and say half of that is barely enough to support a family. Factory-floor staff have been on strike for the past two weeks after talks between management and workers broke down in late May. With bottling suspended, the iconic Georgian spring water is currently being dumped into Borjomi's Gujaretistskali River and supplies in stores are visibly dwindling. In the seaside Georgian town of Batumi, Borjomi-branded refrigerators hum on the street with nothing inside. In Borjomi itself, the same fridges are filled mostly with other brands of sparkling water.

The June 13 agreement between the Georgian government and IDS Borjomi takes majority ownership out of Russian hands, meaning the company will be able to avoid sanctions. But in front of one of Borjomi's two bottling plants, where workers sit in the shade of a tarpaulin or play volleyball on a nearby court, little has changed. Giorgi Gabashvili, one of the striking workers, told RFE/RL on June 14 that after news broke of the transfer of shares to the Georgian state, workers "are not thinking 'everything will be OK,' but we think someone from the government may come and talk to us today, then we will give our feelings." The bottle-label maker says the workers' demands remain the same, which include the reinstatement of fired colleagues and a return to previous, relatively generous contracts.

One Borjomi factory worker who spoke to RFE/RL on June 12 but asked that his name not be used in this story gave a hint of the bitterness of the dispute when he explained that he and other workers were taking shifts around the clock to watch over the factory entrance to make sure "management doesn't try to get inside," adding that "they don't have that right." IDS Borjomi said earlier in June: "Every employee of our company is important to us. At the same time, we want to make clear that speaking the language of ultimatum and aggression...is completely unacceptable."
A Belarusian father and son have evaded around-the-clock secret-service surveillance to flee their country after spending almost two years at the Swedish Embassy in Minsk, where they were living to avoid arrest after demonstrating against an August 2020 presidential election widely seen as falsified. The official results gave victory to authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka, but weren't recognized by the West. Vital and Uladzislau Kuznechyk spoke to Current Time in Latvia on June 10.
1 Chernihiv students pose for a high-school graduation photo on June 5 for Ukrainian photographer Stanislav Senyk, who spoke with RFE/RL about his project.



Graduation Album On The Ruins is a series of photos of students, many in their sashes, captured in a city devastated by Russia's invasion. "In 10 years, these students will have their own children, and they will be able to show them what the Russians did and, perhaps, they will feel the pain that their parents experienced."
This will create a breakthrough in reform when it achieves the dual goals simultaneously of creating an impetus to promote the transformation of resources for the economy, as well as make up for the huge shortfall in the state budget of the country.

Electronic invoicing

A representative of the General Department of Taxation, under the Ministry of Finance, said that after eight months of implementation of a pilot plan in November 2021, the electronic invoice program, or e-invoicing, showed very positive results. As of 24 May, the country had registered 764,314 enterprises, accounting for 92.6% of the total number of operating enterprises, and 52,778 business households and individuals also registered to convert to e-invoicing of taxes. The number of e-invoicing tax accounts that authorities have received and processed is more than 318 million so far. The operating capacity of the portal system to handle e-invoices is evaluating very well, and it is expected to process 6.5 to almost 7 billion e-invoicing accounts per year on an average.

Therefore, it is expected that the goal for all taxpayers in the country to switch to using e-invoicing will certainly be achieved by 1 July 2022. This result not only has the value of being streamlined in terms of procedures, fast in methodology, and cost-saving and timesaving for taxpayers, but also has important implications for the application of digital transformation in tax administration, ensuring a steady revenue for the state budget.

Along with the financial and banking system, the tax system is considered to be the most important for the community at large, because by digitizing the tax system it will create an impetus for other fields to follow suit. In fact, there is no field that has a common denominator which is the same as the tax sector. Because this is a field that is both inclusive and a focal point related to all industries and fields, for state administrative agencies, the business community, and business individuals.

Therefore, the application of e-invoicing plays a strong role in promoting the construction, integration, connectivity, and sharing of key national database, such as the national database on population, enterprises, social insurance, and land. Furthermore, it also creates momentum for building a digital ecosystem, renovating state management in many sectors and fields, and promoting the development of a digital governance which is a move towards a digital economy, a digital society, and digital citizenship.

Cross-border taxation

A fact that was recently highlighted by users of the social network site Facebook or newly named Meta, is that Facebook announced that starting from 1 June there will be an additional fee of 5% for Facebook advertising services so as to pay tax to the Vietnamese tax authorities.

This move took place after the General Department of Taxation announced that the electronic portal for overseas suppliers (Etaxvn.gdt.gov.vn) deploy the electronic tax application on the mobile device platform (e-Tax Mobile) in order to remove obstacles in the legal framework that have existed for many years. This will compel cross-border businesses operating in the B2C model to pay tax on revenue from transactions with individual Vietnamese customers. With the above application, the tax payment procedures of these enterprises will be made simpler and easier.

This is seen as an important step in collecting enough cross-border service tax. From 21 March, cross-border businesses can register, declare, and pay taxes completely online. Vietnamese regulatory agencies can then fully grasp relevant information and data about transactions with Vietnamese organizations or individuals. This will encourage cross-border businesses as well as their customers in Vietnam to declare transactions and pay higher taxes.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Finance said that the tax agency had collected about VND 5,000 bn from e-commerce activities, including from cross-border businesses. Now, for the first time, tax authorities can collect tax money from these businesses, which for several years have been doing solid business in Vietnam. Google and Facebook are among many technology companies that have avoided paying tax in Vietnam since the start of their operations.

Source of revenue

A tax expert assessed this issue, saying that currently the structure of Vietnam's budget revenue has changed significantly. He pointed out that specifically, revenue from import and export activities is decreasing sharply because Vietnam participates in many FTAs with regulations on tariff reduction, so it will have to gradually shift to domestic revenue. Among domestic revenues, tax revenue accounts for the largest proportion.

Therefore, the shift to expanding the domestic tax base is in line with international practice. The problem is that the tax policy must cover all sources of revenue, improve the role of regulations, and review the taxes currently applied to each specific field to ensure fair revenue, and more revenue for profitable sectors. Disproportionate tax contributions is a typical example of an ongoing problem.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phung, Director of the Large Corporate Tax Department under General Department of Taxation, said that many foreign enterprises such as TikTok, Google, Bloomberg, and Facebook have provided services to the Vietnamese market in a cross-border manner with income generated in Vietnam. Previously, these businesses pushed all tax obligations onto the Vietnamese side, so they have not yet collected tax from transactions between cross-border businesses and customers who are individual users in Vietnam. Now, the situation will be very different.

In previous years, on an average, tax authorities only collected around VND 1,000 bn from cross-border e-commerce activities each year. However, the amount of tax collected from these enterprises will now increase sharply in coming years when there will be a new mechanism and effective tax collection tools. Since the e-commerce market in Vietnam is growing strongly, this will be a significant addition to the general state budget of the country.

Luu Thuy
A historic 1936 Oceanside building designed by a noted local architect is getting a new luster and another life, as a restaurant with a tribute to the structures ink-and-paper heyday.

The Blade-Tribune newspaper building on Seagaze Drive, a half-block west of Coast Highway, has a distinctive art deco style and the solid, poured-in-place concrete look of a structure intended to be a pillar of the community. Its large, multi-paned windows fill the interior with light.

It had that strong edifice that you wanted a newspaper to have, said John Daley, an Oceanside native and area historian. He remembers picking up bundles of newspapers at the building to deliver to downtown homes and businesses when he was an 8-year-old boy.

It had a strong, industrial look, Daley said. There was a printing press. It was an industrial plant, as well as a newsroom bustling with reporters and editors.

The new owner is Donia Ackad Yuhong, a real estate agent in Encinitas. She said she plans to open a restaurant there, maybe Italian, Mexican or something with a fusion of cultures, and shes in the process of getting the required permits.

Advertisement

The inside will be filled with the history of the building, she said. I love history. It bothers me when people want to erase the history or destroy the history.

The original Oceanside Blade building was constructed elsewhere downtown in 1893. In the 1970s, it was moved to the citys Heritage Park Museum, near the Mission San Luis Rey, where it sits with a group of historical buildings open to the public.

The concrete structure on Seagaze has been closed for years. It was the last project of architect Irving Gill, who died in 1936 in Carlsbad. Gill also designed Oceansides first City Hall, built in 1934, which now houses the Oceanside Museum of Art, and the Americanization School built about 1930 on Center Street.

Some of the architects best-known buildings include The Bishops School in San Diego, the George W. Marston House in Balboa Park, and the La Jolla Womans Club.

1 / 13 The building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936 was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 2 / 13 Sunlight shines through the windows and hits the concrete floor of the building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936, and was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 3 / 13 The building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936 was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 4 / 13 The building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936 was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 5 / 13 Jesus Flores Installs windows in the building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936, and was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 6 / 13 The building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936 was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 7 / 13 The building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936 was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 8 / 13 The building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936 was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 9 / 13 The building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936 was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 10 / 13 The inside of the building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936, and was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 11 / 13 The building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936 was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 12 / 13 The inside of the building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936, and was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 13 / 13 The building once occupied by the Oceanside Blade-Tribune and News, newspapers built in 1936 was the last structure designed by noted architect Irving Gill. Now its being renovated and turned into a newspaper-themed restaurant. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune)

Gill arrived in San Diego in 1893 and his career peaked between 1910 and 1920, according to a 1997 column in the Union-Tribune. He liked simple designs with straight lines and arches, and embraced the use of concrete.

The Blade-Tribune occupied the Seagaze Drive building until it moved to a new, larger building on South Coast Highway in the 1960s. That newspaper became the Blade-Citizen, which became the North County Times, which was eventually purchased by and became part of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Once the newspaper moved out, the building on Seagaze became a furniture store operated for more than 30 years by a partnership of three retired Marines, now deceased.

Part of the building has been occupied by a barber shop, Carmens, for years, and that business is expected to stay. A barber working there Friday said he knew nothing about the restaurant plans, but hed be glad to see something open in the building.

Yuhong said she knew little of the buildings history when she purchased it last year. Her initial plan was to turn it into apartments, but her contractor told her the building had a history and was designed by a famous architect.

Thats how the whole thing started, Yuhong said.

A restoration of the buildings front facade uncovered the original sign that reads Blade Tribune and News along with other details that had been obscured by stucco since the 1950s.

The name is a combination of three different newspapers that for a time operated as one, evidence of the regions still-evolving and convoluted journalistic history.

philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehl
Oceanside agreed this week to set some rules for flying drones in public places, the result of recent incidents, including one that injured a beachgoer.

We just want to establish some protocols so we can be sure people are safe, police Lt. Aaron Doyle told Oceanside City Council members at a meeting Wednesday.

The rapid spread of remotely piloted aircraft has some cities looking for ways to control them. Poway was one of the first cities in the area to set limits in 2015, and San Diego adopted its regulations in April. The Federal Aviation Administration also sets regulations for drones, but those rules are administrative and cant be enforced by local police.

Oceansides proposal would require operators to get a permit before flying drones over the beach, the pier and a few other places. Among other restrictions, it would require drones to remain within the operators line of sight, outside the flight path of any occupied aircraft, and only operate during daylight.

Oceanside City Council members unanimously supported the proposal, which would be effective 30 days after a second presentation to the council expected later this year.

Advertisement

Three incidents over the summer prompted Oceanside police to request the ordinance, Doyle said.

A drone fell onto a beachgoer causing minor injuries in July after the pilot lost sight of his flying machine and it crashed into a palm tree near the city pier, he said. Another narrowly missed a young girl on the beach in August after the operator lost control.

Perhaps the most serious problem occurred in June, Doyle said. City and county firefighters were battling an 85-acre blaze near the border of Oceanside and Camp Pendleton. Crews in aircraft delivering water drops on the fire spotted a drone in their flight path, and all aerial operations had to cease for about one hour until it was gone.

Not only does the delay hinder firefighting efforts, but a mid-air collision between a remotely operated drone and an occupied aircraft could have tragic results, with fatalities and extensive property damage, the lieutenant said.

The proposed ordinance also prohibits drones over occupied schools, or to transmit visual images or audio recordings of anyone who has a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Drones must remain within the line of sight of the operator without the use of binoculars or other vision-enhancing devices, and cannot approach any closer than 25 feet to any person but the operator or an assistant.

Also, the ordinance requires a pre-approved, one-time city permit to operate a drone over the beach, the pier, the City Hall complex or police and fire stations. The cost of the permit is expected to be about $150, but Councilwoman Esther Sanchez said the amount should be less.

Some beautiful videos have made with drones over Oceansides pier, mission and beaches, Sanchez said, and she wants to encourage people to make more of them. Posted on the internet, the videos can boost the citys image and help attract tourists to the area.

Councilman Jerry Kern said the cost of the permit should be enough to recover the citys costs for regulating the activity, and that the amount can be adjusted later, if necessary.

The technology is moving so rapidly, were playing catch-up, Kern said.

The proposed regulations should not prohibit the average person from flying drones they receive as gifts or buy for hobbies, Councilman Jack Feller said.

This does not prohibit a guy who gets a drone from flying it in his cul de sac, Feller said.

Violators of the ordinance could be subject to fines of $1,000 for each violation, and could have their drone impounded as evidence.

philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehl


 

  .

,      .


Federal immigration law allows the government to keep migrants locked up indefinitely while awaiting deportation hearings  but the Constitution may enable them to argue, at least individually, for release on bond after six months, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.

In one of two cases decided Monday, the court overturned a lower-court ruling that allowed undocumented immigrants who claimed fear of persecution in their homeland to appear before an immigration judge, after six months in U.S. custody, and ask to be released on bond while awaiting a final hearing on deportation.

The court had ruled in 2001 that federal law allows immigrants, in most cases, to be released on bond within six months unless they are found to be dangerous or likely to flee. But in an 8-1 ruling Monday, the justices said a statute saying immigrants in some cases may be detained beyond the removal period, the legal term for deportation, allows them to be held without bond.

For now, that means U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can continue to hold thousands of undocumented immigrants without judicial interference. ICE conducts its own review of individual cases after six months of custody, and then once a year, and can decide to release some immigrants voluntarily based on those reviews.

Denying bond hearings can have life-threatening consequences, especially given ICEs record of abuse, neglect and death in its detention centers, said the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which filed arguments with the court.

In the same ruling, however, the court said undocumented immigrants are protected by the constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law. That means they can argue, in a future case, that they cannot be locked up for more than six months if they have not been convicted of a crime or found to be dangerous or likely to flee.

Except in national-security cases, the court has never authorized prolonged detention without an individualized hearing, before a neutral adjudicator, at which the detainee has a meaningful opportunity to participate, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in the majority ruling. Justice Stephen Breyer, in a separate opinion, went further and said detained immigrants have a constitutional right to a bail hearing.

In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas said there was considerable historical evidence that due process does not apply to the removal of aliens.

But the effect of the ruling was limited by a second case in which the court said federal immigration law allows a judge only to order the release of an individual immigrant on bond and does not authorize class-action orders that would apply to thousands of migrants in custody.

That case, from the Bay Area, involved a class-action suit by two men from Mexico who entered the United States separately in 2017 and were held in detention despite findings by federal asylum officers that both had a reasonable fear of persecution or torture if deported. A judge ordered them released in 2018 to live with their families in the East Bay, and lawyers said one man has won the right to remain in the country legally.

The Supreme Court did not order the two men returned to custody, but said any future release orders must be limited to individual immigrants. In the 6-3 ruling, Justice Samuel Alito said federal law strips lower courts of authority to limit the application of custody laws except to their operation against an individual alien. That means a judge cannot issue an injunction requiring bond hearings for large numbers of immigrants, he said.

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.

Sotomayor, in dissent, said the ruling will leave many vulnerable non-citizens unable to protect their rights unless they can find lawyers to represent them individually. She said the law authorizes individual immigrants to sue for release, and a class action ... is a collection of individual claims.

ACLU attorney Michael Kaufman said the court hadnt entirely closed the door to class-action suits seeking bond hearings. Although they can no longer request an injunction ordering release of multiple immigrants, he said, they can still seek a ruling declaring indefinite detention unconstitutional, and then ask the government to follow the courts advice.

So far, however, the Biden administration has taken the same position as President Donald Trumps administration in both cases, arguing for the authority to detain undocumented immigrants indefinitely.

The cases are Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez, 19-896, and Garland v. Gonzalez, 20-322.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

UPDATE: In their final moments, the family found dead on a hike in Mariposa County frantically attempted calling and texting for help, writing they were overheating "with baby."

HITES COVE, Mariposa County  Authorities are considering whether a dangerous algae bloom may have killed a young family whose bodies were found here on a hiking trail this week, and friends and investigators are pinning their hopes on a pending toxicology report for answers.

Mariposa County sheriffs officials are awaiting toxicology results and told The Chronicle that they arent ruling out any potential causes of death.

The bodies of Jonathan Gerrish, his wife, Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter, Miju and their dog were discovered with no obvious signs of trauma by searchers on Tuesday on the Hite Cove Trail near an area known as Devil Gulch. The family had taken off on a day hike Sunday and was reported missing when they failed to return.

Courtesy Steve Jeffe

While investigators arent ruling out the possibility of the family inhaling a toxic gas from mines in the area, experts say such a scenario is highly unlikely, if not unheard of.

On Thursday, a sign appeared to be newly installed at the start of the trail used by the family warned: Harmful algae may be present in this water. It alerts hikers to not drink the water or eat shellfish, and to keep children and pets out of the water. Residents in the area said the sign was only recently posted after the family was found dead.

Officials with the U.S. Forest Services Sierra National Forest announced last month that testing along the Merced River near Hites Cove showed a high concentration of algae bloom and warned visitors against swimming, wading or allowing their pets to swim in the water. The toxins produced by some algae can be harmful to humans and animals.

Sheriffs officials said the algae bloom is one of the avenues being explored.

Friends and family were making their way from around the globe to Mariposa, where Gerrish and Chung had recently resettled after leaving the rush of San Francisco during the pandemic.

The couple had been inseparable since they met several years ago, and forwent a large ceremony to wed in San Franciscos City Hall, said family friend Steve Jeffe, who also lives in Mariposa.

Gerrish for years had been an engineer for Google, Jeffe said, and had only recently begun working at Snapchat after his paternity leave had ended. Chung was a certified yoga instructor and a graduate student studying counseling psychology.

Until recently the couple were mainstays in San Franciscos social scene, with both Gerrish and Chung known to DJ from time to time, Jeffe said. The pair also mixed with the burner crowd, people who visit the famous arts and culture festival known as Burning Man in a Nevada desert.

Gerrish had done well for himself and was extremely generous, Jeffe said, always sharing his good fortune with friends. While the couple took a trip abroad a few years ago, they let Jeffe stay in their San Francisco loft.

Provided by Steve Jeffe

While still maintaining a residence in San Francisco, the pair mostly uprooted their life in March of last year, when the pandemic was beginning to take hold. While Chung was still pregnant, the couple relocated to Mariposa, hoping to integrate their daughter to a life in the outdoors.

They completely changed their lifestyle, Jeffe said. They were city folks and then completely shifted gears moving to Mariposa for this quieter life, focusing on their daughter.

More for you Remote hiking area where Northern California family was found dead treated as a hazmat site

They liked to tote the girl around on hikes and to social events, Jeffe said, recalling the last time he saw the family during a Fourth of July get-together at Jeffes house. Gerrish was excited to teach Muji how to swim and she loved the water, and spent the day splashing around in a pool float.

In addition to their residence, the family also owned several other rental properties in Mariposa and had just purchased a new house near the trailhead where they hiked Sunday, Jeffe said.

Tracy Barbutes / Special to The Chronicle

They probably went to just venture out, so it wouldnt have been like an extreme hike of any sort, Jeffe said. It was probably just kind of, since they lived near the trailhead, Lets take a look at these things.

The family accessed the hiking path at the end of Hites Cove Road, which quickly changes from paved road to gravel to dirt. A rangers gate blocks the final stretch that is steep and requires a four-wheel drive vehicle.

After the gate, the Forest Service Road is a steep drop, which eventually leads to the Savage Lundy Trailhead where the family would have hiked. Residents said there was an old barium mine and many gold mines in the area.

This is no recreation area, said a neighbor, who lives next door to the familys Darrah property that they also rent out on Airbnb. Its a serious hiking area. ... Its nothing but rattlesnakes and old mines.

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.

The Ferguson Fire blasted through the area in 2018, scorching more than 96,000 acres along the hiking path. The blaze caused at least $171 million in damage and two firefighters died. One firefighter rolled his bulldozer down a ravine along the steep Hite Cove Trail and died.

The Devil Gulch area, where the family was found, is a depression at the bottom of Hites Cove Road where the south fork of the Merced River runs through the middle.

While there are several historic gold mines in the area, experts who spoke to The Chronicle on Thursday cast doubt on the idea that any noxious gases from there would be responsible for the familys demise.

Mining lawyer Patrick Mitchell said it would take serious effort to reach a depth in any mine that would pose deadly health risks, and thats even if they could find access.

Tracy Barbutes/Special to The Chronicle

To get to a depth where you have a problem like that  its really hard to believe they would do that with a little kid, Mitchell said.

Ive been on a lot of historic mine sites all over the state, Mitchell added. And I cant imagine anything at a historic mine site that would have caused what occurred there.

Jack Wildt, a retired gold miner, said it would have been difficult for the family to even find an entrance to a historic mine, as most had been blanked by years of brush.

There are no toxic gases in any of these mines up there, Wildt said.

Chronicle staff writer Lauren Hernandez contributed to this report.

Matthias Gafni and Megan Cassidy are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com, megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Over the weekend, Yesenia Sanchez jumped above the 50% threshold in her bid to become Alameda Countys next sheriff. If her lead holds, shell claim the job and avoid a November run-off, beating a long-time incumbent on a reform-minded platform that included more programs and job training for prisoners, increased transparency and new approaches to crisis intervention and de-escalation.

Her potential win would be another sign that criminal justice reform is alive in the Bay Area despite San Franciscans ousting progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin. In the East Bay, voters rallied behind Sanchez as well as two progressive district attorney candidates: Diana Becton won a second term in Contra Costa County, while civil rights attorney and community activist Pamela Price held a commanding lead in Alameda County and will head to a run-off. If elected, Price would be the countys first non-white district attorney.

Activists say these results should make people think twice before writing off support for progressive prosecutors and law enforcement officials.

I think that its wrong just to look at what happened in San Francisco and say  people dont want criminal justice reform, said Nicole Lee, the executive director of Urban Peace Movement, a youth-focused, grass-roots racial justice organization in Oakland. We cant let what happened in one city  as much attention as that city gets in the Bay Area  overshadow the bigger picture.

There are a number of reasons that Boudin was recalled while progressive candidates succeeded across the bay, said Jonathan Simon, a law professor at UC Berkeley. Boudin faced a slew of high-profile crime cases including one involving Troy McAlister, a parolee who Boudins office declined to charge after multiple arrests. While on parole, McAlister allegedly ran a red light and killed two pedestrians  a tragedy among others that appeared to galvanize Boudins critics and shift public perception against him. You can never underestimate how important daily events of the citys life are, Simon said.

San Franciscos Black population of 5% is smaller than Contra Costa Countys 9.5% and Alameda Countys 11%. Black residents have certainly experienced the deepest levels of dissatisfaction with contemporary policing, Simon said. I think the constituency for people who really think that the criminal legal system needs a deep reform may in fact be deeper in the East Bay, Simon said.

Anxieties in San Francisco around housing prices, crime rates and homelessness are also prevalent in the East Bay. Violent crime was a top concern in the races for Alameda County  a spike in homicides in Oakland made it the epicenter of violence in the Bay Area in 2020 and 2021.

Still, 40% of voters put their trust behind Price  a 10% lead over her closest challenger, Alameda County Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Wiley, a moderate candidate whose slogan was Peace AND Justice.

Meanwhile, in Contra Costa County, Becton, who had the advantage of the incumbency, easily rebuffed her tough-on-crime opponent Mary Knox, who described herself as an experienced prosecutor who will stand up for victims and held a commanding fundraising advantage over Becton.

In the race for Alameda sheriff, voters may have decided it was time for change, given a string of scandals around incumbent Greg Ahern, who was seeking his fifth term. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice released the results of an investigation into the conditions at the countys Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. The department described deliberate indifference to prisoner health and safety, highlighting chronic understaffing, high numbers of suicides and lack of resources or care prisoners with mental health needs.

Sanchez, who has worked for the Sheriffs Office for the past 25 years, was promoted to division commander in April 2020, putting her in charge of the jail. The experience, she said, showed her first-hand how dysfunctional the facility was, prompting her to enter the race.

Being there for two years now, Ive seen exactly how weve come to be in that situation, she said. Its because the jail has been ignored for so long. It was undervalued.

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.

Voters, she said, embraced her message, and she also pointed to the East Bays history of activism and demographics.

Price puts it a bit more bluntly: San Francisco has become a city of billionaires.  poor people have been forced out of the city, she said, particularly the dwindling number of Black residents. The city has become very, very different from the rest of the Bay, in my view, and has been for a long time. I can remember trying cases there in the late 90s, early 2000s, and it was just a lot of overt racism. In contrast, Oakland remains a center of Black activism, she said.

Anybody who thinks Boudins recall is somehow indicative of the entire region, she says, doesnt know anything about the Bay  the Bay Area is a lot bigger than San Francisco.

Simon of UC Berkeley cautions advocates not to dismiss Boudins recall entirely. Many of the appeals the proponents of the recall used to sway public opinion, including the belief that we can identify irredeemable bad criminals who keep committing crimes over over again and only get tough with them, and also the broken windows myth that if we get really serious with low-level quality-of-life crimes we prevent serious and violent crime.

Becton acknowledged challenges but sees a bright future for progressives. When you look across the country, communities are continuing to elect leaders who reflect new thinking, Becton said. And thats even in the face of well-financed forces that are propounding a fear-based narrative.

Ryan Kost is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkost@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @RyanKost.
Rising temperatures and stagnant water generally signal trouble for human life, but they make for a great environment for the bright, blue-green scum often found in lakes, rivers and reservoirs that flourishes and blooms in hot weather.

These scum blooms, known as harmful algal blooms, are natural parts of the ecosystem, but can also release toxins that sicken or even kill people and animals. Theyre becoming more common as temperatures rise and water systems are starved and disrupted, threatening not only public and wildlife health, but the states water supply, as well as beloved recreation areas like Lake Merritt in Oakland.

With climate change, its clear that this issue will get more severe, said Marisa Van Dyke, a senior environmental scientist with the State Water Resources Control Board working on harmful algal bloom issues. Besides hot weather, a primary cause of the toxic blooms is excess nutrients in bodies of water, which, in California, often come from agricultural runoff.

Nearly 70 California lakes, rivers and reservoirs, including several in the Bay Area, have issued caution, warning and danger advisories so far this year. Eight of those belong in the danger category, including Lake Del Valle, a drinking water reservoir and popular recreation site in Alameda County. Officials have suspended swimming at Lake Del Valles popular beaches.

The danger level, according to state guidelines, indicates that no person  or animal  should swim in the water, nor drink or cook with it. Fish from rivers or lakes with this advisory should not be eaten, even after cleaning.

Since the state began maintaining a repository of voluntary reports of harmful algal blooms in 2016, reports in California have increased severalfold, from fewer than 100 in 2016 to more than 600 in 2021. Part of this increase is explained simply by the fact that more people and agencies have become aware of the problem and therefore made more reports.

At least three different sections of Clear Lake in Lake County have also reported dangerous levels of harmful algal blooms in 2022. The lake, which used to be a vibrant getaway, is one of the places where the toxic blooms impacts have been far-reaching, says Carly Nilson, another state water board scientist focusing on the issue.

The recurring noxious blooms every single year are getting so bad now, she said. Economically, theyre facing quite a bit of constraint there, because theyre just not getting the recreation anymore and the influx of tourists, she said. And the community that lives around the lake is not accessing the water they paid money to live near, she added.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Not to mention, also these blooms create a pretty abrasive odor, Nilson said. In a lot of cases, they cant even open their windows in the summer because it gives them headaches and other kinds of respiratory issues.

The writing is on the wall, many experts agree. Harmful algal blooms appear to be increasing not only in frequency, but also in duration and toxicity, here in California and globally.

It will get a lot worse if we let it get out of control, said Kate Poole, a California-based senior director of the water division at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group.

To the untrained eye, toxic blooms, which vary in size, appearance and color, can be difficult to distinguish from non-toxic algae growth. Cyanobacteria, a common form of harmful algal bloom, have a bright blue-green tint and are also called blue-green algae, according to the state water boards guide on how to distinguish them from nontoxic algae. Blooms can also appear as mats of algae in shallow water.

Not all algae are harmful, but these particular outbreaks are, and you dont want to drink it, Poole said.

Chart: John Blanchard, Source: NOAA Chart: John Blanchard, Source: NOAA

Beyond staying away and informing others to do the same, experts say there arent many realistic options when it comes to dealing with harmful algal blooms that are established in a body of water.

In some cases, chemicals can be used to break up the blooms, Van Dyke said. But thats not really an effective nor a long-term solution, partly because the impact of the chemicals is short-lived.

In terms of ensuring drinking-water safety, reservoirs like Lake Del Valle are well equipped with various water quality monitoring devices, as well as filtration systems that treat the water before it reaches customers.

But treating water also comes at a price  one that will continue to escalate if the blooms get worse. The more that these outbreaks occur in the source of our drinking water, the higher the treatment costs to make sure that water is safe, Poole of the Natural Resources Defense Council explained.

In most cases, theres nothing to do except wait for the blooms to go away on their own. The best thing is to prevent the blooms from growing in the first place, experts say.

A big part of preventing these toxic blooms at a larger scale is to reduce excess nutrients in the water that promote algal growth, Poole said. That would mean reducing agricultural runoff, which is a major contributor.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Preventing the blooms requires rigorous tracking of where they are happening, says Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, a community-based environmental group. Its like COVID, she said. You have to track it to be able to mitigate it.

The group conducts its own routine monitoring in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, modeled after the monitoring systems of tribal communities, which were among the first to examine this issue. Native American tribes in the Klamath Basin, in far Northern California and Southern Oregon, developed the first water quality standards for the toxins in harmful algal blooms.

She said the group found that harmful bacteria are consistently seen where harmful algal blooms have occurred in the past  underscoring the importance of preventing them in the first place.

But government agencies have limited resources to monitor possible outbreaks, as well as investigate and respond to ones that already happened.

We prioritize our limited funding for water testing, Van Dyke of the water board said.

Currently, there are no federal or state regulatory standards for cyanotoxins in recreational water or drinking water, according to the state water quality monitoring council.

There is also no mandate for water body managers to report harmful algal blooms to the public or environmental agencies, nor a comprehensive monitoring program, according to state officials  which is why groups like Restore the Delta are doing their own.

As it stands, the advisory levels are informed by voluntary reports by managers of the bodies of water, such as the East Bay Regional Park District, which oversees Lake Del Valle and many other lakes in the region.

Van Dyke says required  not recommended  routine monitoring and reporting would greatly improve state officials ability to start addressing harmful algal blooms.

Beyond that, reducing toxic bloom outbreaks at a larger scale would require addressing the root causes of the problem  warming temperatures, drying water systems and stagnant water among them, all symptoms of the changing climate.

Its really hard to address those in drought conditions, Nilson said. But really addressing some of those key drivers is necessary so that (toxic blooms) dont get worse.

Yoohyun Jung is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: yoohyun.jung@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @yoohyun_jung
Jacom Stephens/Getty Image

A 17-year-old boy was shot Monday in West Berkeley, police said, and authorities were investigating a motive for the shooting.

The boy was shot at about 5:27 p.m. on the 800 block of Channing Way, a residential neighborhood west of San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley Police Officer Byron White said Tuesday afternoon.
Berkeley voters could decide in November whether to tax thousands of vacant homes in a bid to address the regions housing crisis by pressuring property owners into renting their properties. If landlords choose to keep the units vacant, theyd be taxed to raise money for affordable housing.

Vice Mayor Kate Harrison will introduce a proposal at Tuesdays City Council meeting that would ask voters to weigh in on whether to tax the owners of multiunit buildings, single-family homes and condominiums owned by a corporation or LLC. Accessory dwelling units will be exempt. Units must have been empty for more than a year.

Harrison said the proposal will help address the citys housing crisis because it will encourage property owners to rent out empty units.

If Harrisons proposal makes the ballot, Berkeley would follow similar measures or proposals raised in Oakland and San Francisco. Oaklands vacant property tax took effect in 2019 and made about $7 million in its first year of implementation. San Francisco is considering a similar measure for the November ballot.

Berkeley  along with the rest of the Bay Area and most of the state  has produced far too little housing to keep up with population growth over the last few decades. But while the city is going through a small housing boom  with towers up to 25 stories currently in the works for downtown and plans for residential buildings up to 12 stories at the citys two BART stations  it could take years for those units to become available for rent. Even still, they wont make up for decades of underbuilding, so officials are looking at other options to fill the need.

The proposal would tax smaller properties $3,000 per year and tax larger properties $6,000 per year. If the units stay vacant for more than two years, the tax would double to $6,000 and $12,000 respectively. Extensions will be granted for units under renovation or going through probate. If approved, the tax could generate between $4.5 million and $9 million annually in the third year.

Its unclear exactly how many units would be freed up if the measure goes to the voters and they approve it, but a staff report estimates it could also result in 1,000 vacant units becoming available for rent.

Berkeley has 4,725 vacant housing units, according to the staff report, citing census data, but some are under renovation, and some owners might choose to pay the fine rather than rent their units. The city has 52,331 rental units in total.

Property owners say the proposal is ill-timed. The pandemics eviction moratorium, which is still in effect in Alameda County, has hurt many landlords who have one to two rental units, said Krista Gulbransen, the executive director of the Berkeley Property Owners Association, which has 700 members.

People are very scared to rent out if they are not a big owner, Gulbransen said. Weve got the pandemic and an eviction moratorium that continues to be in place, and people are even more hesitant to get into rental situations.

Gulbransen said her group could support a proposal that targets only large and corporate landlords.

We think if you have an available unit and it works for you to rent it out, you should, she said. Having said that, though, this is a problem. It tries to control the way people use their property. Thats problematic for us.

Housing experts say the vacant-property tax is a relatively new strategy to add a modest number of units to the rental market in the Bay Area but the tax alone isnt going to address huge housing shortages and affordability problems.

David Garcia, a policy director at UC Berkeleys Terner Center for Housing Innovation, said the tax is unlikely to result in millions of dollars of revenue and hundreds of homes back on the rental market. Instead, it will likely result in one or the other.

It is one tool in a tool box that needs to include many other things, Garcia said. Its certainly not going to create the kinds of units needed to really address the shortfall of overall supply.

Garcia applauded Berkeleys other efforts to address housing affordability  with its move to eventually end single-family zoning and building housing at BART.

Harrison said her proposal is inspired by a similar measure in Vancouver, British Columbia, which introduced the Empty Homes Tax in 2017.

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.

A report by Vancouver city staff showed strong evidence that the tax reduced the number of vacant residential properties. From 2017 to 2019, the number of vacant properties decreased by 26% and more than $86.6 million of the tax revenue was put toward affordable housing initiatives.

Similar to Vancouver, Harrison said the revenue from the special tax in Berkeley would be put toward affordable housing  specifically new projects and the acquisition or rehabilitation of existing buildings.

Leah Simon-Weisberg, the chair of Berkeleys Rent Board, supports Harrisons proposal, arguing that leaving properties vacant is irresponsible.

This is one of the many different policies that we need to implement so we can get closer to having our housing used as its intended, which is as a home, she said.

Affordable housing developers also support the vacancy tax because the revenue could be used to fund more projects.

The Rev. Sophia DeWitt, a policy director at East Bay Housing Organizations, which represents affordable housing developers, said the tax revenue could potentially help with the production of affordable housing.

If the council approves Harrisons measure, the city attorney will develop language for a ballot measure. The council has until July to decide whether it will be placed on the ballot.

Sarah Ravani (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
Summer is often a busy, exciting time for restaurant openings, and this year is no different.

Bay Area restaurants of all kinds are gearing up to debut, from the groundbreaking Cafe Ohlone in Berkeley to a rare Malaysian restaurant in San Francisco.

The Bay Area is also seeing the success of more pandemic-born pop-ups. East Bay sandwich sensations Oks Deli and Pyros Pastrami are growing into permanent shops in Oakland and Berkeley, respectively. And lines are sure to form at two cult-favorite fried chicken chains arriving this summer: Raising Canes first Bay Area location, slated to open July 14 in Oakland, and three Daves Hot Chicken outposts in the East Bay and South Bay.

Some exciting projects that were aiming to open this summer, however, have been delayed to the fall, including bagel phenomenon Boichiks first Peninsula shop in Palo Alto. Other expansions are on track, though. Sunnyvales popular Turkish spot Meyhouse, for example, is set to open in downtown Palo Alto in August with wood-fired mezes and whole branzino.

Summer officially starts on June 21. Read on for more on the seven most anticipated restaurants set to open throughout the Bay Area this summer, listed in alphabetical order.

Ancora

Bay Area diners will be hard-pressed to find a restaurant with fresher, more local seafood than at San Franciscos Ancora (formerly Seven Fishes) in the Mission District. The owners run noted sustainable fish company Water2Table, so Ancora will use their hyperlocal seafood network to serve a menu filled with fish caught that same day. They teamed up with fine-dining chef Nick Anichini, formerly of Atelier Crenn, to be Ancoras executive chef and partner. Hes coming up with dishes like grilled oysters with creamed ramps and papardelle pasta with a sugo made from abalone. There will be a few ways to dine at Ancora, from a seven-course tasting menu ($125 per person) and a-la-carte dishes to more casual bar snacks.

Projected opening: July

557 Valencia St., San Francisco. ancorasf.com

Cafe Ohlone

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

The worlds first Ohlone restaurant, where diners will eat venison backstrap and tea-soaked quail eggs among traditional shellmounds and native plants, is finally gearing up to make its much anticipated debut. Cafe Ohlone, led by Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino, will celebrate Ohlone food, culture and history through ticketed meals and interactive activities. A seasonal menu will change often, but expect dishes like Indian lettuces dressed in a blackberry sauce and smoked walnut oil and local oysters with tart gooseberry sauce. Theyve transformed the courtyard at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley into a powerful, physical reminder of the universitys own harmful role in Ohlone history.

Projected opening: July

102 Anthropology and Art Practice Building, Berkeley. makamham.com

Damansara

Courtesy Aron Pruiett

Malaysian restaurants remain few and far between in the Bay Area, but Damansara hopes to change that. Damansara, named after chef Tracy Gohs hometown in Malaysia, will focus on shareable snacks like curry puffs and laksa, Malaysias famous noodle soup. The shrimp-and-chicken broth is amped up with coconut milk and aromatics like lemongrass, makrut lime leaves and torch ginger buds. Goh built a following for her laksa through pop-up dinners she hosted in her home, and later through food delivery during the pandemic.

Projected opening: July

1781 Church St., San Francisco. instagram.com/damansarasf

Kajiken

Provided by Kajiken

Ramen heads, get excited: The first U.S. location of a hit Japanese abura soba chain is headed to the Peninsula this summer. Kajiken, known in Japan for brothless bowls of noodles mixed with sauces and toppings, will open in downtown San Mateo. Noodles, made fresh in a glass-walled room in front of diners, will get coated in housemade soy sauce, chile oil and vinegar with customizable toppings like chashu, egg yolk and bamboo shoots. While some Bay Area Japanese restaurants serve abura soba, Kajiken will likely be the regions first and only spot devoted to the ramen genre.

Projected opening: August

112 B St., San Mateo. kajikenusa.com

Oks Deli

Paul Kuroda/Special to The Chronicle 2021

Oks Deli, known for creative Asian American sandwiches that sold out in minutes, is opening a sandwich shop in Oaklands Temescal neighborhood. Expect the hits from chef Albert Oks pop-up, like his most popular Sichuan hot chicken sandwich, seasoned with numbing Sichuan peppercorns and served on a housemade sesame bun. New at the to-go deli will be his takes on Italian sandwich classics, including a meaty combo stuffed with salami, coppa and mortadella in homage to shuttered Oakland institution Genovas Deli. Ok, an Oakland native who previously cooked at acclaimed Bay Area restaurants Iyasare, Mago and the Michelin-starred Maum, makes nearly everything in the sandwiches from scratch, from hot sauces to bread.

Projected opening: summer

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

3932 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. instagram.com/oksdeli

Outta Sight

Courtesy Omar Mamoon

Another buzzy pandemic pop-up is graduating to a permanent home: pizza favorite Outta Sight. While chef Eric Ehler will continue to sling whole pies out of Hayes Valley wine bar Fig & Thistle, the new, casual space in San Franciscos Civic Center neighborhood will be devoted to New York-style slices. Expect nine pizzas by the slice, from a classic mushroom white pizza to square Sicilian-style pies. Ehler and business partner Peter Dorrance met while working at Michelin-starred Chinatown restaurant Mister Jius.

Projected opening: August

422 Larkin St., San Francisco. instagram.com/thatsouttasight

Slug

Cesar Hernandez/The Chronicle

If the perpetual crowds and critical acclaim for Oaklands Snail Bar are any indication, the owners second act in downtown Oakland will be a similar hit. At Slug, chef-owner Andres Giraldo Florez will channel the same devotion to quality food and natural wine, plus live music and late-night hours. Hes creating a seasonal menu with chef Spencer Horovitz, whos leaving his post at popular San Francisco Italian restaurant Itria to open Slug. (Dont worry; Snail Bar staples like the oozing ham and cheese sandwich found on nearly every table will be available here, too.)

Projected opening: July

102 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. instagram.com/slugbaroak

Elena Kadvany is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ekadvany
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

It was a big week for Brandon Jew, chef-owner of Mister Jius in San Francisco. He took home the James Beard award for best chef in California on Monday evening after also winning best restaurant cookbook for Mister Jius in Chinatown, which he co-authored with Tienlon Ho.

Since opening Mister Jius in 2016, Jew garnered critical acclaim for his Bay Area-inflected Chinese food as well as a reputation for mentoring the chefs who come through the Chinatown kitchen. In a speech on Monday in Chicago, he thanked his staff for going through every service wanting to prove that Chinese food deserves to be held in high esteem as all the other cuisines.

Im excited about the evolution of Chinese American food and Im honored to be representing our version in San Franciscos Chinatown and following the legacy of restaurants that came before us, Jew said. He beat out fellow Bay Area finalists James Syhabout of Commis in Oakland and Pim Techamuanvivit of Nari in San Francisco.

The James Beard awards, the restaurant industrys equivalent to the Oscars, was held on Monday in Chicago  red carpet included. Several Bay Area food figures were nominated this year but didnt win awards, including Oaklands Horn Barbecue, up for best new restaurant (Owamni, an indigenous restaurant in Minneapolis, won); Reem Assil of Reems in San Francisco and Oakland for outstanding chef (which went to Mashama Bailey of The Grey in Savannah); San Francisco classic House of Prime Rib for outstanding hospitality (North Carolina spot Curate won); and Crystal Wahpepah of Wahpepahs Kitchen in Oakland for emerging chef (Edgar Rico of Nixta Taqueria in Texas won).

Mondays ceremony also honored famed TV cooking show host and Bay Area resident Martin Yan, who co-owned the now-closed M.Y. China in San Francisco. Yan won this years previously announced James Beard lifetime achievement award for his decades-long career. Wearing his chefs whites under a black suit, he received a standing ovation from the large crowd in Chicago.

(As) I stand here, basking in the limelight, there are tens of thousands of culinary professionals around the world sweating in the busy kitchen, particularly where I came from, said the Chinese native. The hardworking chefs all around the world who devote their entire life to this particular profession, this one is for you. They all deserve a lifetime achievement award.

Monday marked the first James Beard Foundations awards ceremony in two years. It was held in the wake of the pandemics devastation of the restaurant industry and controversy that forced a reckoning inside the James Beard Foundation. A new independent ethics committee is now in place to address any potential misconduct allegations about nominees, winners and committee members.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Bay Area cookbook authors also received James Beard media awards over the weekend, while Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho won an award for their criticism. Oaklands worker-led Understory was honored with an emerging leadership award.

View the full list of 2022 James Beard award winners here.

Disclosure: Some Chronicle staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards.

Elena Kadvany is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ekadvany.
June 15, 2021, dawned cool and carefree across the Bay Area, where for the first time in well over a year, it finally looked like there might be a way out of the COVID-19 pandemic  and it might not be too far off.

California officially reopened that day last year, dropping almost all public health restrictions that had been keeping people mostly at home and preventing the economy from humming back to life. Coronavirus cases were at their lowest levels since the pandemics earliest weeks. Hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID had plummeted. Nearly half of all Californians were considered fully vaccinated  a remarkable achievement just six months after the vaccines had been authorized.

COVID in California: If you still havent gotten COVID after the latest surge, what are the odds you never will?

This is not mission accomplished, said Gov. Gavin Newsom on the eve of reopening. But the message was clear in the Bay Area and across the state: The pandemic wasnt quite over, but with vaccines widely available, California was on a path back to normal. The end was in sight.

Reality has played out quite differently. COVID has proved an especially stubborn opponent, rivaling the most infectious pathogens on the planet. But its also become a more familiar foe, and one that most Californians are reluctantly learning how to live with.

June 15 was such a hopeful moment, said Dr. Susan Philip, the San Francisco health officer. And then we got delta, and we got omicron, variants that cast long shadows over the sunny optimism of reopening.

Its really important for us to have humility and try to celebrate what all weve accomplished, Philip said. But it is hard to have a mind-set that is able to do that. Its annoying and difficult right now, and it would be great if we could put it all behind us, but I know thats not a possibility for the time being.

The year since California reopened has been about as dynamic and at times disheartening as most any other period of the pandemic. In the past 12 months, Californians have endured three more surges and a virus that has become more contagious than anyone ever imagined.

Meanwhile, vaccine efficacy has become more nuanced, especially against a backdrop of rapidly mutating variants of the coronavirus. For a few months after the vaccines were authorized, everyone had reason to hope they would stop or significantly curb the spread of disease. There was still talk of reaching herd immunity, of vaccinating enough people to essentially quash the virus if not out of existence, then to such low levels that it could be ignored by most everyone.

Instead, though the vaccines have held up miraculously well at preventing severe illness and death, theyve done very little to prevent cases from surging at relentless intervals.

Weve learned and reinforced that the vaccines are definitely doing the job of preventing serious illness. But we did not anticipate the immune evasion to happen so quickly with regards to infections, said Dr. Erica Pan, state epidemiologist with the California Department of Public Health.

California is undoubtedly in a much better place than it was a year ago, and certainly better off than at the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Thats important to remember, health experts say, even in the thick of yet another surge fueled by multiple highly infectious variants.

Many more people have been infected this winter and spring than at any other time of the pandemic, even though roughly three-quarters of the states population is now vaccinated  but hospitalizations have remained comparably low, and health care systems are no longer under grave threat of being overwhelmed by COVID patients. COVID deaths, too, have stayed relatively low over most of the past year.

Meanwhile, California has avoided the shutdowns and most other restrictions that defined the first year and a half of the pandemic. Masks have come off and back on, but schools, gyms, restaurants and office spaces mostly have kept their doors open.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle 2021

The situation right now is a lot better than it was  like, a lot, a lot, said Dr. Maya Petersen, a UC Berkeley epidemiologist who has done COVID modeling for California during the pandemic. Were reframing what the light at the end of the tunnel looks like.

Petersen recalled that as the state approached June 15 last year, she already was concerned about the delta variant, which was causing a fresh surge in cases in the United Kingdom and was becoming dominant in parts of the United States. Then, she was as frustrated as anyone when it triggered a swell of cases in California just two weeks after reopening.

July 4 weekend  it was definitely very clear we were in a substantial surge, she said. I was like, There goes another holiday.

The delta surge was the first discouraging sign that post-vaccine life with COVID wasnt going to be a return to normal, though at the time many health experts noted that the vast majority of cases, hospitalizations and deaths were occurring in the unvaccinated. They began speaking of two pandemics, among those who had gotten their shots and those who had not.

While unvaccinated people remain at much higher risk of severe illness and death than the vaccinated, the distinction is somewhat less important. Over the past year scientists have come to understand that immunity wanes and booster shots are critical, especially for protecting older adults and others who are vulnerable to serious illness.

And variants have arrived that evade immunity  both from vaccination and earlier infection. So-called breakthrough infections among the vaccinated are common. So are reinfections.

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.

The omicron wave, which exploded in December and January, brought immunity evasion into especially sharp focus. It was further reinforced by this spring wave of subvariants, which has kept cases astonishingly high even in highly vaccinated places like the Bay Area.

Things have gotten better over the last year, but were still very much in the thick of this, said Dr. Warner Greene, a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. Now were getting variant upon variant. And if you had an omicron infection, you could get infected again two or three months later by one of these subvariants. The virus is spreading highly, highly effectively.

Over the past year, the pandemic response has shifted from one of public health mandates to personal responsibility, with an expectation that individuals now have the information and tools to protect themselves based on their own level of risk  and risk tolerance.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

That the state has remained open without experiencing the brutal disease and death of the pre-vaccine surges is reason enough to remain hopeful that people can coexist with the virus, health experts say. But the past year also should provide a hard lesson in the challenges and uncertainty that lie ahead.

It does feel a little relentless, said Pan, the state epidemiologist. I do think over time well get enough immunity, between infections and the vaccines, that it will evolve into something more like the flu and have less impact. But the one thing Ive learned about trying to predict this virus is its unpredictable. Its quite wily and quite smart.

Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at UCSF, has been using social media to help guide people through the pandemic since the earliest weeks. Two days before last years reopening, he posted a long thread about his hopes and reservations, which largely focused on his concern for those who had not yet been vaccinated.

A year later, he was writing about his own brush with COVID, in the form of his vaccinated wifes illness and her subsequent frustration with lingering fatigue and other symptoms.

I think last year was the only time we allowed ourselves to hope that you could see the end, Wachter said in an interview. There was a pretty clear path to OK, this may never go away completely, but its not going to be a big deal, and we can have a regular life, and all that seemed great.

But after the past year, the question is if we are incapable of ever feeling that again, he said. Youre always waiting for the next curveball. It makes you feel like any calm period is simply a calm before another storm.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  The leaders of seven NATO nations from across Europe pledged their support Tuesday for Sweden and Finland's bids to join the alliance and for providing more heavy weapons to help Ukraine battle Russia.

The support was voiced after an informal gathering at Dutch Prime Minister Mark Ruttes official residence in The Hague co-hosted by his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen. The other leaders attending were Romanias president and the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland, Portugal and Latvia.

My message on Swedish and Finnish membership is that I strongly welcome that," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who also attended. Its an historic decision. It will strengthen them, it will strengthen us.

But he said the alliance also has to take seriously concerns raised by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has vetoed membership for the two countries until they change their policies on supporting Kurdish militants deemed by Ankara to be terrorists.

"There is no other NATO ally that has suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkey, Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg said Monday that he was glad the Swedish government had confirmed its readiness to address Turkeys concerns as part of assuming the obligations of future NATO membership.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, meanwhile, criticized the support so far for Ukraine, which has time and again called for more and heavier weapons.

We have not done enough defend Ukraine, to support Ukrainian people to defend their freedom and sovereignty. And this is why I urge you, I asked you to do much more to deliver weapon, artillery to Ukraine, Morawiecki said.

Where is our credibility if Ukraine fails? Can we imagine that Ukraine fails and we revert back to business as usual? I hope not, he added.

The meeting came ahead of a June 29-30 NATO summit in Madrid that will seek to set a tough course for the alliance in coming years.

Stoltenberg said the alliance has beefed up its defenses following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, reinforcing our ability to protect and defend every inch of NATO allied territory.

He said that in Madrid, we will take the next steps and agree a major strengthening of our posture. Tonight we discussed the need for more robust and combat ready forward presence, even higher readiness and more pre-positioned equipment and supplies.

He also said that "Ukraine should have more heavy weapons, and NATO allies and partners have provided the heavy weapons now for actually a long time. But they are also stepping up.

The meeting followed a gathering Friday in Bucharest of nine NATO nations on the alliances eastern flank where some leaders urged NATO to step up protection in light of Russias protracted war against Ukraine.

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.

We need to make sure that NATO is able and prepared to respond effectively and calibrated to the threats it faces, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told reporters after Fridays meeting. The alliance needs to be able to defend every inch of its territory.

Three NATO members  Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey  border the Black Sea, which has turned into a key battleground in the war in Ukraine.

___

Associated Press writers Jari Tanner in Helsinki, and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs coverage of the Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Originalism, the conservative jurisprudential theory that judges should look to the meaning of the Constitution at the time it was adopted, is killing us.

On June 3, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, invoked the Second Amendment and what he saw as its original meaning as reason to oppose a bill that would raise the minimum age to buy an AR-15-style automatic rifle from 18 to 21. (On Sunday, Senate leaders announced a negotiated gun safety package that does not raise the minimum age requirement.)

Republicans like Jordan seized on a decision last month by a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Jones v. Bonta, as support for their position. In Jones, two judges appointed by Donald Trump relied on originalism to block a California statute that raised the minimum age to buy a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21.

The California Legislature adopted that statute in the wake of an April 2019 shooting by a 19-year-old antisemite with an assault rifle that left one dead and three injured at a suburban San Diego synagogue during Passover service.

Two months earlier, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., with a legally purchased AR-15. At the time, those shootings were just the latest perpetrated by young men under the age of 21.

Six years earlier, of course, a 20-year-old murdered 20 first graders and six adults with an assault rifle at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

In Jones, the fact that assault weapons have been used multiple times by individuals under the age of 21 to kill school children didnt merit a mention in the majority opinion.

Simply put, there is no constitutional basis for saying that the original meaning of the Second Amendment was to protect the right of 18-to-20- year-olds to purchase a weapon of mass killing that didnt exist when the amendment was adopted in 1791.

Nor is there the slightest indication that the Second Amendment was meant to invalidate age restrictions on purchasing firearms. This is important because, according to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, 18-to-20 year olds are responsible for homicides at three times the rate of adults 21 and older. The human brain does take time to mature.

But the problem with the originalist interpretation of the Second Amendment is even more basic; the very terms of the provision state that it is about a right to have guns for the purpose of militia service. It reads: A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

From 1791 until 2008, the Supreme Court did not strike down a single federal, state or local gun regulation. In the handful of cases about the Second Amendment during that 217-year period, the court consistently said that the Second Amendment was about a right to have guns for militia service.

That all changed in 2008 when in District of Columbia v. Heller, the courts conservative majority, in a 5-4 decision, invalidated a Washington, D.C., ordinance that banned handguns kept in homes.

Weaponizing originalism, the Heller majority ruled that the Second Amendment protects Americans right to carry any weapon typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes because such weapons were what citizens brought with them to militia service in 1789.

Citing Heller, the majority opinion in the Ninth Circuits Jones case stated that colonial militias almost always included all men 18 and older.

Missing from that analysis, however, are multiple doses of reality. In militias then and now, young people operate under the command of elders. Moreover, as the Second Amendment states, militias were also well regulated neither of these conditions apply to lone gunmen under the age of 21 on a murderous rampage.

The Jones opinions reasoning falters at many other points as well. The majority found support for their rationale in the fact that the First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights apply equally to minors. Thats true. But one neednt be a constitutional historian to recognize that the rights to speak and be free of unreasonable government searches and seizures do not cause mass murder.

Just three days after the judges ruled on Jones, police said Payton Gendron, an 18-year-old apparent white supremacist, used an AR-15 to kill 10 innocent Black shoppers at the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, N.Y. Ten days later, an AR-15 was also the weapon chosen by the 18-year-old suspect who killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas.

The United States has more guns and more gun violence than any other country in the world. The Second Amendment should stand as no obstacle to banning assault weapons, let alone keeping young adults from having them. Conservatives, like the majority in Jones, are simply making their own anti-gun regulation into constitutional law.

If conservative federal judges wish to understand why America is losing trust in courts, they might start by examining how originalism is robbing us of our safety and our children.

Erwin Chemerinsky is the dean of the School of Law at UC Berkeley. Dennis Aftergut is a former federal prosecutor and chief assistant city attorney in San Francisco, currently of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy .
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Leaders of organizations that served San Franciscos Latino community during the pandemic urged city officials Monday to halt plans to eliminate COVID assistance funding from the budget, saying the disinvestment will only lead to further health inequities.

Several dozen members of the Latino Task Force and the San Francisco Latino Parity and Equity Coalition, which consists of more than 20 nonprofits, said at a news conference at City Hall that nonprofits were crucial to the citys COVID response and economic recovery plan, and that their work is critical in helping Latino and Black residents who were disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus.

Mayor London Breed recently announced her nearly $14 billion budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The budget eliminates $9.5 million in COVID assistance funding given to at least 25 nonprofits in an effort to equitably offer testing, vaccination, COVID care and other services to the citys low-income residents, many of whom are people of color.

Such disinvestment will force nonprofits to eliminate programs, services and jobs, said Ivan Corado-Vega, manager of the Latino Task Force.

We have been good-faith partners through the pandemic, said Corado-Vega. We were first to respond and now were first to get cut. So if theres any fairness and equity in that, I dont see it.

Parisa Safarzadeh, Breeds press secretary, said in a statement Monday that approximately $6 million in funding from the previous fiscal year will be allocated for community-based services to continue their COVID response in the coming months in the new fiscal year.

She said the public health department was working on a process to allocate funds. A representative from the public health department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Safarzadeh said a majority of the citys COVID services were funded by temporary, one-time payments from the state and federal government, which no longer exists.

As the city shifts its COVID response to recovery, she said the city is prioritizing funds on critical citywide recovery needs that benefit all communities.

But advocates argue that people, specifically Latinos, continue to test positive for the virus and continue to feel the economic impacts.

Corado-Vega said the Latino Task Force expects the Mission Food Hub to close by Dec. 31 if the $9.5 million in COVID assistance funding is eliminated.

Volunteers operate the food hub and provide fresh groceries to thousands of residents weekly.

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.

Gloria Romero, executive director of Instituto Familiar de la Raza, said many volunteers and community workers served as first responders, putting their lives at risk, when the pandemic began in 2020.

We ask city leaders to show what value they place on our work, said Romero to a cheering crowd.

She said the two groups stood in solidarity with other communities of color and nonprofits that also face funding cuts.

Funding towards various community health and economic services is critical to the citys rebuilding efforts and expanding equity in the Latinx community, she said.

This is more than just recovery, its about health equity, she said.

Jessica Flores (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores
San Franciscos newest supervisor is pushing a plan for police officers to prioritize arresting drug dealers and confiscating illegal drugs from users in areas where people are seeking help with addiction.

The plan is part of a broader right to recovery initiative that Supervisor Matt Dorsey is drafting as he tries to confront the fentanyl crisis unfolding in SoMa and other parts of his district where overdoses are high and city officials want to connect more people to treatment.

Dorsey, who is in recovery for his own drug and alcohol abuse issues, said his goal is to make it easier for people to access treatment without being close to public drug use or dealing.

Dorsey sent a letter Tuesday to City Attorney David Chiu asking for his offices help in drafting legislation that would create drug enforcement priority zones around facilities that serve people with substance or alcohol use disorder.

A former police spokesman appointed by Mayor London Breed in May, Dorsey said the legislation wouldnt change any drug laws. Within the zones, police would be asked to immediately confiscate drugs and paraphernalia from users  regardless of whether theyre cited  and immediately arrest anyone selling illegal drugs.

One is never more vulnerable than when one has made the decision to get help for drug addiction or alcoholism, Dorsey told The Chronicle. Its not for bad reasons that these kinds of facilities are often in neighborhoods where there is a lot of drug use. But we have to be sensitive and protective of those who are making that brave step and ask ourselves: What are we doing to support them?

Dorsey seems to be taking a page from Breeds recent playbook. After residents and businesses in the Tenderloin pushed hard for City Hall to address crime, drugs and homelessness in the area, the mayor declared an emergency in the neighborhood in December. At the time, she argued that police had a role to play in confronting drug use and dealing as part of the initiative. She also pushed for more treatment beds, behavioral health workers and street outreach teams to help those facing addiction.

Still, Breeds Tenderloin Center, where people on the street can access services, has been criticized for allowing drug use at a place where treatment is offered and for connecting very few people to help. In the centers first five months, there were more than 49,000 visits, but there were just 53 connections to substance-use treatment.

Like Breeds push for more police in the Tenderloin, Dorseys plan might be met with resistance by activists and police critics.

I get that the idea behind this is to make the participants feel more comfortable and more willing to go and access these services, but I actually worry that it could have the opposite effect, said Sara Shortt, a local housing nonprofit leader who works on harm-reduction issues. Many folks who are drug users have had negative experiences with law enforcement and ... will be more likely to stay away from these facilities if theyre swarming with cops.

Dorsey is also hoping that the legislation could send a political message that will make residents more comfortable with their neighborhoods hosting new facilities that serve drug users or people in recovery.

Thats especially true as we make progress on supervised consumption sites, Dorsey said, referring to the citys plan to open sites where users can take illegal drugs under the care of medical professionals. Unless we can assure neighborhood residents that we are going to designate that as an enforcement priority, were going to get a lot of pushback.

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.

Its not clear how large the zones would be, how many of them would be created or how the boundaries of the zones would be communicated publicly.

Among the early supporters of Dorseys initiative is Cristel Tullock, San Franciscos adult probation chief, who said in a statement that the zones would help ensure that people who are striving to live a drug free life will have a safe space to recover and a non-triggering environment to rebuild their life.

Lou Gordon, CEO of the Recovery Survival Network sobriety program in San Francisco, said he supported creating the zones because he believes keeping drug activity away from sober-living facilities can help people stay clean.

I want people to be able to go out on their own two feet. I think the recovery zones will help them to do just that, Gordon said.

In his letter to Chiu, Dorsey said the legislation he was requesting is the first of several possible policies he has discussed with his constituents as part of a broader right to recovery plan. Dorsey, who has said he has abused alcohol, crystal meth and other drugs in the past, added that he envisions that the plan will both encourage and better support those struggling with substance and alcohol use disorder who seek recovery.

J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
The 3,500 residents of Lockeford, a rural San Joaquin County town, will be among the first to have drones deliver their Amazon Prime packages, the company announced Monday.

Amazon offered few details but said in a news release that residents of Lockeford, near Lodi, will have packages delivered by drone to their backyards. The company also dropped some hints, including that its been working for more than a decade on being able to get items to customers quickly, cost-effectively, and  most importantly  safely, in less than an hour.

How it will do that  and when  remains to be seen. The drone service, which will be called Amazon Prime Air, will start making the remote-controlled air deliveries later this year, according to the news release.

Amazon is working with the Federal Aviation Administration and government officials in Lockeford, an unincorporated community, to develop what it calls a sophisticated and industry-leading sense-and-avoid system that will enable operations without visual observers and allow our drone to operate at greater distances while safely and reliably avoiding other aircraft, people, pets, and obstacles.

Algorithms for Amazons drones will enable them to detect stationary objects such as chimneys as well as moving objects like other aircraft, the company said, and be able to adjust course to avoid them. As the drone descends to make deliveries, it finds a small area free of any people, animals or obstacles.

Amazon Prime customers in Lockeford will see Prime Air-eligible items displayed on Amazon and will place an order as they normally do. Theyll receive an estimated arrival time and a status tracker for their order, according to Amazon. The drone will fly to the delivery location, descend to the customers backyard, and hover at a safe height. It will then safely release the package and rise back up to altitude.

It was not clear what items will be eligible for Amazon Prime Air delivery but theyll weigh up to 5 pounds and the size of a shoebox. The company said the inventory of drone-delivery products will be in the thousands.

Amazon said it will rely on feedback from Lockeford folks to develop and expand the drone delivery program.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Why Lockeford? Amazon isnt saying. But it does say that Lockeford, a designated state historical location, was home to an early aviator  Weldon B. Cooke, who built and flew planes in the early 1900s. Today Lockeford, northeast of Lodi, is known more for vineyards, winery tasting rooms and ranchland.

Its residents  at least those with Amazon accounts  will play a pioneering role in the future of drone delivery, the company said. A local politician agreed.

Lockeford residents will soon have access to one of the worlds leading delivery innovations, said Assembly Member Heath Flora, a Republican whose district includes Lockeford. Its exciting that Amazon will be listening to the feedback of the San Joaquin County community to inform the future development of this technology.

Michael Cabanatuan (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
Juanita MORE! is a drag queen, civil rights activist, philanthropist and mother who has been a denizen of the San Francisco limelight for almost three decades.
From being told no by rooms full of men dozens of times, to founding Orlando's first $1 Billion fintech unicorn, Suneera Madhani was never given a seat at the table -- so she built her own.

Madhani says she can't begin to tell her story without talking about her background. The co-founder and CEO of Stax says her parents played a colossal role in her company achieving unicorn status following a $245 million Series D round and company valuation of more than $1 billion.

"My parents immigrated here from Karachi, Pakistan," Madhani said. "They were entrepreneurs out of necessity. Neither one of them actually ended up going to college. They had to work from a really young age. They had odd jobs and had to make ends meet."

After graduating from college, Madhani held different corporate positions and ended up working for a payments company in the small business unit. "I was selling credit card processing, so I was in sales. I literally had to go door to door, to go meet people and get told no, in my face. It was the hardest job that I ever had and taught me so much about myself."

While working in the credit card processing industry, she saw there was a lack of transparency.

"There were all of these fees," she says. "Everybody was just trying to take a cut of how the businesses were taking their transactions. Everybody just wanted their hands in the pot and that's why it was costing small businesses so much money to accept credit cards. I knew that there had to be a better way."

The finance major and self proclaimed "data nerd" started to wonder why there wasn't a subscription model for payments, so she and her brother created a subscriptions-based payments processor that charges merchants a flat subscription fee. Today, the company serves 30,000 customers and processes $23 billion in payments through their network.

Madhani also launched a podcast designed to educate and empower female entrepreneurs called CEO School.

"We interview underrepresented founders every Monday, then we get to tactically learn from women who've been there, who've made it to what we call the 2% club because less than 2% of female founders ever break a million in revenue," she says. "I became absolutely obsessed during the pandemic over that statistic."

Today, CEO School has a community of more than 300,000 women across their social platforms.

"It is just a powerhouse community of female entrepreneurs helping each other," Madhani adds. "And we bring in incredible, incredible women mentors with amazing master classes and just really tactical things. And we get to learn from real women in the real world who are real CEOs because we are all CEOs."

Copyright 2022 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
WASHINGTON (AP)  Fisher-Price and U.S. product safety regulators are telling parents not to let their infants fall asleep in the company's rockers after 13 infants died in the devices between 2009 and 2021.

The deaths happened when the babies fell asleep in Fisher Price's Infant-to-Toddler and Newborn-to-Toddler rockers. The company, along with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said the rockers should never be used for sleep and infants should never be left unsupervised or unrestrained in them.

Fisher-Price, a division of El Segundo, California-based Mattel Inc., recalled a similar product last year after four infants died after they were placed on their backs unrestrained in the 4-in-1 Rock n Glide Soother. Those fatalities, all children under 4 months old, occurred between April 2019 and February 2020.

In 2019, the CPSC recalled another similar Fisher-Price product, the Rock 'n Play Sleeper, after 30 infant fatalities were reported. Doctors, parents and consumer advocates had warned the company for years that the product was unsafe and should be recalled.

CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. said a gag order implemented by Congress in 1981 prevented the agency from issuing an immediate warning to consumers without first seeking permission from the product's maker. In the most recent case, Trumka said the gag order delayed the warning message by two months.

Congress must immediately repeal the gag rule, Trumka said in a release separate from Tuesday's product warning. If CPSC cannot issue timely warnings, dangers will remain hidden in peoples homes.

A new rule finalized by the CPSC requires that infant sleep products have a sleep surface angle of 10 degrees or less. The rule goes into effect on June 23, 2022.

Fisher-Price and the CPSC said the best place for infants to sleep is on their back on a firm, flat surface without blankets or other objects near them.

Fisher-Price has sold more than 17 million Rockers worldwide since the 1990s.

Consumers are encouraged to report incidents involving these or other infant products to the CPSC at saferproducts (dot) gov.
TIRANA, Albania (AP)  Albanian attorneys on Tuesday boycotted all the court procedures to protest a new reorganization plan that cuts the number of courts almost by half.

The High Judicial Council, the countrys top institution on courts, decided to cut the number of the first instance courts from 22 to 13, the appeals courts from six to one and the administrative courts from six to two. That means lawyers and their clients must sometimes go to other cities for trials, or to the capital for the appeals court.
Matt Litrell, a 22-year-old Amazon employee, was distributing union fliers outside the warehouse where he works this month when the cops showed up.

An Amazon manager had called the sheriff's office in Campbellsville, Ky., that afternoon to report that protesters trying to start a union were trespassing on company property. While the officers eventually determined that Litrell wasn't on Amazon's property and left, Litrell plans to add the incident to the illegal-intimidation charge he filed with the National Labor Relations Board in May.

"We were completely within our rights to be there," Litrell told The Washington Post. But he said that didn't stop a low-level manager from confronting him later to ask, " 'How's the revolution going?' "

Employees at Amazon facilities around the country whose union hopes were buoyed by the labor victory at a warehouse in Staten Island in April say in labor board filings and interviews that the company has been calling police, firing workers and generally cracking down on labor organizing since that historic win. Amazon has been accused of illegally firing workers in Chicago, New York and Ohio, calling the police on workers in Kentucky and New York, and retaliating against workers in New York and Pennsylvania, in what workers say is an escalation of long-running union-busting activities by the company.

It's a sign that, even as lawmakers demand Amazon drop its objections to the union win in Staten Island, which it began arguing in a hearing on Monday, the nation's second-largest private employer will continue to put up fierce opposition to any wave of union momentum.

"They're scared," said Seth Goldstein, an attorney representing the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), which pulled off the victory in Staten Island. "They want to stop the organizing, and this is how they want to do it."

(Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

"Like every company, we have basic expectations of employees at all levels of the organization when it comes to attendance and performance, safety, and personal conduct," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. "Whether an employee supports a certain cause or group doesn't factor into the difficult decision of whether or not to let someone go. The allegations mentioned in this story are without merit, and we look forward to showing that through the appropriate process."

The labor board hearing in which Amazon plans to make its case for overturning the union victory in Staten Island began Monday morning.

Though the JFK8 warehouse is in Staten Island, Monday's hearing is being overseen by the labor board's regional Phoenix office. National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo moved the proceedings after Amazon argued that the Brooklyn office was unfairly biased against the company and had mishandled the election there. On Monday morning, lawyers representing Amazon argued that representatives from the NLRB's Brooklyn office should be excluded from the proceedings entirely. Previously, Amazon had filed a motion requesting that the general public, including the media, should be barred from attending the hearing, but a labor board judge denied the motion last week.

In its opening statement, Amazon argued that both the union and the regional office of the NLRB that conducted the election acted in ways that unfairly turned the election in the union's favor. The union, Amazon argued, intimidated, coerced, and surveilled employees as they voted, specifically citing the "loitering" of union president Chris Smalls outside the voting tent. Lawyers for the union said the use of the word loitering, and implication that workers were afraid of Smalls, who is Black, had racial implications.

The company also argued that the NLRB office mishandled the election by treating anti-union workers unfairly, failing to deal with workers' allegations in a timely manner and giving the impression of a bias by filing a lawsuit to reinstate a worker Amazon had previously fired.

"When you add up the troubling actions and inactions, it will be clear that Region 29 altered the playing field in a way that the board should not condone," Amazon lawyer Kurt Larkin said in his opening statement on Monday.

A representative from Region 29, Lisa Weis, said the office "ran the election properly and fairly" in a statement during Monday's hearing.

Eric Milner, a lawyer representing the Amazon Labor Union, called the company's objections to the election "a frivolous sideshow." Union lawyers tried and failed to have a slew of Amazon's objections dismissed earlier on Monday.

In his opening statement, Milner denied Amazon's claims that the union intimidated workers, saying that "if anything, the evidence is going to show that employees were afraid of and felt coerced by Amazon, not the ALU."

He also defended the NLRB's conduct. "It's not Region 29's fault that Amazon breaks too many laws to keep up with," he said. "Amazon doesn't get to sit here and flagrantly violate labor law and then claim bias when the agency investigating those laws decides to do their job."

Amazon's lawyers said they plan to call "dozens and dozens" of witnesses and expect the hearing to go on for "the next several weeks."

Even if the attempt by Amazon to get the Staten Island election results thrown out fails, it will probably be months or years before workers succeed in bargaining for a contract. Meanwhile, an attempt to unionize a warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., is ongoing, as both sides contest the results of an undecided union election that took place there in March. A second Staten Island warehouse voted against unionizing last month.

"While Amazon likes to boast about its competitive starting pay, its generous benefits, and its support for select progressive policy items, this 'pro-worker' sentiment fades away the moment its own workers state they want to exercise their legal right to collectively bargain," Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., wrote in a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on Friday.

Nonetheless, the original victory in Staten Island - and a revote in Alabama - triggered outreach from hundreds of new workers interested in unionizing some of the company's warehouses, according to the unions.

In December, in response to allegations of union-busting across the country, Amazon made a deal with the labor board in which it agreed to make union organizing at its facilities easier.

But workers say Amazon has continued to push back against their efforts - helping prompt a wider array of filings with the NLRB.

The agency declined to comment.

To deal with all the requests for legal help from Amazon employees, the ALU's Goldstein said, the upstart union has accepted help from 21 Harvard and Yale law students who volunteered their services.

Other unions have also stepped up to provide legal support and financial resources. In Pennsylvania, an Amazon employee who claims to have been illegally retaliated against is being represented by the American Postal Workers Union, which has expressed interest in expanding its membership to include more employees of private companies.

A union lawyer declined to comment on the case. The Postal Workers Union didn't respond to questions about whether it is trying to organize Amazon employees, though it has publicly stated its intent to support them. Amazon's Nantel said the charge is without merit.

In the two months since the ALU's victory, more than half a dozen Amazon workers claim to have been fired in what they call an effort to intimidate others who might be interested in unionizing. Four Amazon workers in New York City's Queens borough said in an April filing that the company discharged them for "protesting terms and conditions of employment."

A worker in Cleveland, Joey Desatnik, said in a May 16 unfair-labor-practice charge that Amazon had terminated him to "discourage union activities and support among his fellow employees." And in Chicago in May, Amazon fired warehouse worker Rakyle Johnson, a member of Amazonians United who alleged in a labor board filing earlier this month that Amazon fired him because he "joined or supported a labor organization."

Amazon's Nantel disputed those allegations, saying Desatnik was terminated for aggressively avoiding a security screening and that Johnson "was terminated for a serious safety violation that involved jamming an object in a conveyor belt to stop production." Johnson and Desatnik did not respond to requests for comment.

But Goldstein, the ALU attorney, said, "I think there's been more of a crackdown."

One alleged victim of that crackdown is Pat Cioffi, an ALU organizer who said he was friendly with management at JFK8, the Staten Island warehouse, before he became a vocal union supporter following the arrest of union leader Chris Smalls. Amazon fired Cioffi on Thursday; in an email, Nantel said Cioffi was terminated because an internal investigation found that he verbally and physically assaulted a female manager. But Cioffi denies it and told The Post his termination was retaliation for union activity.

"I was very pro-union, and very vocal for the union and getting people to join our union, and they didn't like that," said Cioffi, who demanded to be reinstated to his job in an unfair-labor-practice charge with the NLRB on Friday.

Goldstein is also representing two workers at a facility in Clay, N.Y., who previously worked to organize the JFK8 warehouse. One of the workers, Ashley Mercer, alleges that she was made to pick up cigarette butts in a parking lot, and the other, Jason Main, alleges he was fired in retaliation for union organizing.

Nantel said Mercer was not disciplined and that Main was fired because he "put himself and his fellow employees at risk on a number of occasions, which led to an injury to a co-worker." Goldstein, their lawyer, said Main denies those claims.

When Kentucky-based worker Litrell heard about the Amazon Labor Union's win in New York, he said he knew it had the potential to mobilize workers at his warehouse. Though he'd considered affiliating with ALU, Litrell and his fellow organizers initially decided going with a more established union - the International Association of Machinists - was a safer bet. Machinists spokesperson Jonathan Battaglia said the union is "gauging support" for an organizing drive in Campbellsville but hasn't launched an official campaign.

Litrell said he is in the process of adding the incident in which Amazon called police on him, which the sheriff's office confirmed to The Post, to the list of illegal retaliation charges filed with the NLRB.

According to a May 6 filing, Litrell, who has received written warnings from Amazon, is accusing the company of "administering discipline and harassing" him because of his "vocal support for the Union."

Nantel said no employees in Campbellsville were disciplined because of union involvement and that "non-Amazon employees were asked to leave private property."

The road to holding a union election in Campbellsville could be a long one. Already, Litrell said, members of his organizing committee have quit out of concern that Amazon will learn of their involvement and fire them. Workers in Campbellsville can't afford to lose their Amazon jobs, Litrell said.

"There's other factories and such, but you'd have to go outside of Campbellsville to find a decent-paying job. Campbellsville is dependent on Amazon - it's like a company town," he said. "The other jobs are fast food or a telemarketing company and some small factories that don't pay worth a damn."

"Amazon is the best employer in Campbellsville," he said.
NEW YORK (AP)  A former CIA software engineer charged with causing the biggest theft of classified information in CIA history defended himself at the start of his trial Tuesday, telling jurors he was falsely accused and the victim of a political witch hunt.

Joshua Schulte, 33, said he was singled out for investigation and arrested on espionage charges because of his clashes with CIA management before the 2017 public release of a trove of CIA secrets by WikiLeaks. At a previous trial, a jury deadlocked on espionage charges but convicted him of lesser contempt and false statement charges.

He said the government had built a case that was literally forensically impossible after singling him out for prosecution as the guilty party during a political witch hunt and then working backward to present jurors with an alternative reality, an upside-down world, a government twilight zone.

The trial evidence will absolutely prove my innocence, Schulte told jurors in Manhattan federal court. Because I am in fact innocent.

Schulte made his opening statement after Assistant U.S. Attorney David Denton told the jury that the evidence would prove that Schulte was responsible for an unprecedented leak that brought critical intelligence gathering around the world to a crashing halt.

He said years of work and millions of dollars spent to develop tools that enabled the CIA's digital sleuths to spy on foreign adversaries went up in smoke as Schulte gave precious secrets of America's national defense to the world.

The so-called Vault 7 leak revealed how the CIA hacked Apple and Android smartphones in overseas spying operations and efforts to turn internet-connected televisions into listening devices.

Prior to his arrest, Schulte worked as a coder at the agencys headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Denton portrayed the government's case against Schulte as airtight, saying there was devastating proof of this man's crimes.

He said Schulte was motivated to leak the materials because he believed the CIA had disrespected him. So he tried to burn to the ground the very work he had helped the agency to create, the prosecutor said.

Denton said Schulte, after his arrest, continued his crimes by trying to leak additional classified materials from prison as he carried on an information war against the government.

But Schulte contested the portrayal, saying he was inspired to serve his country ever since the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks, when as a 12-year-old boy in the 7th grade, he vowed to do whatever he could to prevent another day like that.

Hired by the CIA in 2010, Schulte said he worked on a team that helped verify the location of Osama bin Laden before the al-Qaida leader was killed in a U.S. overnight raid in Pakistan.

No one has ever questioned my loyalty or patriotism, he said, adding That is until now.

Clad in a coat and tie, he also decried his treatment for the last five years in federal jails, telling jurors: My very life is in our hands. Put yourself in my shoes.

After the jury was sent home for the day, Judge Jesse M. Furman told Schulte he had at times crossed the line between testifying and presenting an opening statement and warned him to be more careful going forward.

___

Associated Press writer Tom Hays contributed to this story.
DALLAS  A robot that can paint nails is making its retail debut at a few Target stores in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Clockwork doesnt do a full manicure, but it provides a change of color in under 10 minutes for $10.

Clockwork founder and CEO Renuka Apte said the concept is for people like herself who want to look a certain way, and feel confident when they do, but cant prioritize beauty time.

Apte said she wont replace specialized beauty services for people who have the hour it takes to get a manicure and the money to spend. Were catering to women, one after another, who have told us this shouldnt be as much of a commitment.

There was a void between a multistep manicure treatment and DIY at home, she said. There was no quick service. I had wished I could put my hands in something and theyd come out done.

Target is testing Clockwork robot manicurists at six U.S. stores with an $8 introductory offer. Appointments can be made online with the robots installed locally at the Medallion Center Target in Dallas on East Northwest Highway and two more in Fort Worth.

Three more Target stores in California and Minnesota have installed the robots.

The machine uses regular nail polish thats free of DBP, formaldehyde and other chemicals.

It doesnt cut or shape nails, but nail files and polish remover are available. Clockwork is shaped like a box, but its a robot in the mechanical sense.

Nail painting is one labor intensive procedure that most would have believed was safe against competition from automation. But Clockworks artificial intelligence and 3D technology quickly figures out the size of each nail and the right amount of polish to use. Technology advances in cameras, which allow robots to see better, make Clockwork possible, Apte said.

Fingers slide into a strapped spot, one at a time for painting. The polish is applied on the outside edges of the nail and follows the shape until the nail is filled in, much like a person might color in a circle.

Safety was the No. 1 concern in developing the machine, Apte said. Surgical robots are used by physicians with extensive training, but this had to be safe enough for you to walk in off the street and use it.

The robot was built so that people could see their nails being painted, adding a layer of confidence. The polish cartridge tip is soft tip and the robot itself is purposely weak and not able to do damage, Apte said.

Clockwork has been in the market as a pop-up and in offices since last summer, but the Target partnership is the first with a big retailer. The robots are assembled in the U.S. Theres one more in Rockefeller Center in Manhattan thats a corporate amenity offered by real estate company Tishman Speyer.

Apte started the company in San Francisco almost four years ago after more than 10 years of experience working at Dropbox, WibiData, Citrix Systems and Nvidia. Shes a computer science engineer with a masters degree from Georgia Tech and specialized in distributed systems and machine learning.

Her co-founder, Aaron Feldstein, was a longtime colleague in previous jobs. The company has received $8.5 million in funding from Initialized Capital and has several angel investors including Julie Bornstein, former executive at both Stitch Fix and Sephora, and Max Mullen, co-founder of Instacart.

Clockwork has plans to expand in 2023 after learning from the seven robots in locations now, Apte said. So far, customers are supportive.

At Target, Clockwork is located in the makeup department and is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day except Tuesdays, when the machines are recalibrated. An attendant is always on duty.

Wednesday it was Nevaeh Aguirre, 19, of Dallas, who said shes had a full appointment book since Clockwork opened at Medallion Target a month ago. I already have regular customers, she said, adding that clients are booked every 20 minutes.

Clockwork doesnt accommodate small children under 13 partly because the customer has to sit still, but mostly because of privacy laws. The robots cameras take photos of hands that are anonymously stored in the artificial intelligence software. Aguirre has a folding childs chair to use to apply polish the old-fashioned way on kiddos waiting for Clockwork to finish Mom.

I love how fast and easy it is, said Sara Carruth of Dallas, who was about to leave with honey-colored nails after her second visit at Clockwork. I dont have time to go to a salon and this is a great option.

Casandra Martinez, 28, of Dallas, said she didnt have an appointment but was going to be back. I do my nails at home now because I dont have the time and dont want to pay $50, but I would pay $10 for this.

Counting on getting done on time was a plus for Arundel Hunter, 43, of Dallas. She said she bought a three-pack offer the first time and was back for her second manicure. Im a mom and I have to be able to pick up my kids at 3 p.m.

Martinez said shes open to new technology.

The worst that could happen is that it paints outside the nail, she said.

Target wants to be a destination for beauty shoppers. The retailer carved out space in about 100 stores for Ulta Beauty last year and said in February that it plans 250 more in 2022 with a goal of 800 in a few years.
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP)  A top court in Brazil on Tuesday authorized three patients to grow cannabis for medical treatment, a decision that is likely to be applied nationwide in similar cases.

A five-judge panel of the countrys Superior Court of Justice unanimously agreed that the three patients can grow cannabis and extract its oil for use in pain relief. Brazilian law currently limits the medical use of marijuana-derived products to imported goods.

Brazils health ministry is yet to regulate home cultivation of cannabis for medical use, which puts anyone doing it at the risk of arrest.

Judge Rogerio Schietti said the top courts panel acted because the government had failed to take a scientific position on the issue.

The discourse against this possibility is moralistic. It often has a religious nature, based on dogmas, on false truths, stigmas, Schietti said. Let us stop this prejudice, this moralism that delays the development of this issue at the legislative, and many times clouds the minds of Brazilian judges.

Judge Antonio Saldanha said that there is a deliberately backward action toward obscurantism in Brazils governments delay.

The countrys health ministry did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right politician facing a tough battle to get reelected in October, said in June 2021 that he disagreed with any authorization for Brazilians to grow marijuana at home, no matter their aim.

Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the main leader of the leftist Workers Party, leads all opinion polls to return to the job he held in 2003-2010.

Uruguay is the only South American country where the use of marijuana is legal even for recreational use. Argentinas approved on May 27 a law to regularize the medical use of cannabis and established a regulatory agency to control how patients obtain seeds and marijuana derived products.

The Brazilian court's decision follows protests in Brazil in favor of medical cannabis on June 11.
CHINO HILLS, Calif. (AP)  A man accused of torturing, raping and disfiguring a woman who was held captive in his Southern California home for six months pleaded not guilty to 10 charges, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Peter McGuire, 59, of Chino Hills entered pleas Monday to charges including kidnapping, mayhem and sodomy by use of force, the San Bernardino County district attorney's office said in a statement.

Five of the counts include special allegations that the crimes involved infliction of great bodily injury and administering a controlled substance during a sex crime, prosecutors said.

The victim had reportedly moved into McGuires home before the kidnapping but when she decided to move out, he refused to let her leave, Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Mara Rodriguez told the Los Angeles Times.

The 22-year-old woman was spotted at a park near the Chino Hills home last Thursday and told deputies that she had managed to escape just minutes earlier, the DA's office and the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department said in statements.

The woman told investigators she had been tortured, physically assaulted and raped, sheriffs officials said.

The victim had visible injuries consistent with the allegations made, a Sheriff's Department statement said.

A search warrant was served at the home and evidence was recovered, but the suspect had fled.

He was located Saturday morning at a home in Placentia, in neighboring Orange County, and surrendered after an hours-long standoff with SWAT officers, according to officials.
ROUND LAKE BEACH, Ill. (AP)  A north suburban Chicago man has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the drowning deaths of his three young children, authorities said Tuesday.

Jason E. Karels, 35, was arrested after leading police on a chase that ended in a crash Monday at an Interstate 80 bridge in Joliet, Round Lake Beach Police Chief Gilbert Rivera said at a news conference.
BEIJING (AP)  A Chinese news assistant in Beijing for Bloomberg News has been released on bail, the American financial news service reported Tuesday, citing the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C.

However, Bloomberg said in an online article that it has not been able to contact Haze Fan, who was detained in Beijing in December 2020 on suspicion of endangering national security.

China's state security authority released Fan in January pending trial, according to a statement on the Chinese Embassy website. Bloomberg said it had been made aware of the statement over the weekend.

The charge of endangering national security is a broadly defined one that can lead to lengthy detention with little recourse to legal assistance.

We are encouraged that Haze is out on bail, John Micklethwait, Bloomberg's editor-in-chief, was quoted as saying. She is a much valued member of our Beijing bureau and we will continue to do everything possible to help her and her family.

Fan began working for Bloomberg in 2017 after stints with other foreign news organizations in China.

Her detention followed that in August 2020 of Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist who was born in China and worked for CGTN, the international arm of state broadcaster CCTV. Cheng was tried behind closed doors in March. A verdict has not been announced.

The Committee to Protect Journalists tweeted that Chinese authorities must immediately drop any pending charges against Fan and release Cheng Lei.

The Chinese Embassy statement denied that Fan's case is related to press freedom or her working for foreign media in China.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

HAVANA (AP)  The worshippers pray beneath a torrid sun, taking shelter beneath umbrellas or some of the few trees that border the Amphitheater of Old Havana, just a strip of highway from the channel into the city's harbor.

Hundreds of Baptists have been meeting on open-air bleachers set atop stone tiers for services on recent Sundays because their sanctuary, the 19th century Calvary Church, was severely damaged by an explosion at the neighboring Hotel Saratoga just over a month ago.

The May 6 blast, apparently caused by a gas leak, killed 46 people, including hotel workers, residents of neighboring houses and passersby  though those in the church itself were spared. Officials say two people remain hospitalized.

The Rev. David Gonzalez said the government had offered use of the amphitheater, about 10 blocks from the damaged church, for the time being.

All signs are hopeful that the church can be restored, Gonzalez said. A significant part will have to be demolished, perhaps the affected columns, the homes (next door), but in general it seems like the structure can be saved. ... It will be a long process.

The church was just one of the architectural casualties of the blast that occurred little more than a block from Cuba's Capitol building: A school, a theater and at least three apartment buildings were damaged.

The five-star hotel itself, one of the jewels of Havana's tourism industry, was left in ruins. Officials have not yet said whether they will try to save the structure, which is now largely covered by sheets of metal.

Most of the recovery effort so far has been to remove debris and restore traffic in a key part of the city center.

Nightmares still haunt those who survived.

My house was wall to wall with the Hotel Saratoga, said Onaylis Suarez, a 29-year-old teacher married to Rev. Gonzalez. The floor shook. I was paralyzed for three seconds and the window of the room opened up and was blown into the street by the expansive wave....

A lot of things went through my mind. I thought the church was falling. I thought it was a bomb. What I felt is that I had to flee.

More than a score of families who lived in the damaged structures are staying in a city shelter pending construction of new apartments while others, like Suarez, have been staying with relatives.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)  The discovery of the dismembered body of an opposition activist who had been missing is stoking tensions in Zimbabwe, a country with a history of politically motivated abductions and killings.

Moreblessing Ali, 46, was abducted outside a bar in Nyatsime, a neighborhood of Chitungwiza on the outskirts of Harare on May 24. Her body, cut into pieces, was found in a well in the area at the weekend, family lawyer Job Sikhala said.

Police said they are investigating the matter and dismissed allegations that the case is linked to politics.

But opposition supporters and other groups allege it is a political killing, pointing to the southern African nations troubled legacy of political violence.

This is a very bad indication of the elections in 2023. The dark clouds of violence are gathering, Nelson Chamisa, president of the Citizens Coalition For Change told dozens of mourners Tuesday.

Many of those who gathered to grieve Ali were clad in the opposition partys yellow colors and carried sticks amid reports of clashes with ruling party supporters in the area.

Tensions are rising in Zimbabwe, as economic hardships worsen and potentially divisive elections set for next year. Zimbabwe has had a series of violent and disputed elections since independence from white minority rule in 1980.

The Southern African nations history of politically motivated abductions, enforced disappearances and killings is fueled by the impunity of perpetrators, Amnesty International said in a statement Tuesday, urging that authorities must not leave any stone unturned to ensure the arrests of the perpetrators of Ali's killing.

Some victims of past abductions have been released after days or weeks, many after being tortured. Others, such as journalist and political activist Itai Dzamara who was abducted in 2015, have not been found.
QUITO, Ecuador (AP)  Authorities in Ecuador arrested the leader of a national Indigenous group on Tuesday, alleging that he was responsible for violence during anti-government protests.

Leonidas Iza, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, was arrested in Pastocalle, in the Andean center of the country, according to police.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  A federal judge on Tuesday declined to order a meeting of the Tennessee Judicial Conference to be opened to the public, ruling after an attorney for the state testified the group would only engage in continuing legal education and make no policy decisions.

The decision came during an emergency hearing after the editor of a national news website filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking access to Wednesday's Judical Conference meeting.

The lawsuit by The Center Square Executive Editor Dan McCaleb names Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts Director Michelle Long as the defendant. She promulgated a policy in February declaring the meetings closed to the public. That step came in response to a concerning disruption by several individuals at a conference in late 2021, and also, in part, to the increase in threats of violence and acts of violence directed toward judges, according to court filings.

At Tuesday's hearing, McCaleb's attorney, Buck Dougherty, argued that meetings of the Tennessee Judicial Conference are similar to the United States Judicial Conference meetings, which have been open to the public for more than 30 years.

By statute, Tennessee Judicial Conference is made up of the state's trial court and appellate court judges, including retired judges. The group is required to meet annually to consider laws and rules that promote peace and good order in the state and to draft legislation and submit recommendations to the General Assembly. The statute makes no mention of whether those meetings are open or closed to the public.

Tennessee Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter argued that, despite the statuatory language, in practice the conference meetings are confined to educational sessions. Many of the policy decisions have been assigned to the courts administrator. Specifically, Kleinfelter testified that the Wednesday meeting will be entirely educational with the exception of resolutions honoring deceased judges and the election of officers. Kleinfelter agreed to file the meeting agenda with the court.

It will be filed under seal because the policy closing the meeting to the public also makes private the meeting dates and locations, speaker documents and conference materials, and any link to virtual meeting access. The policy states that these steps are necessary to ensure the safety and security of attendees.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw seemed skeptical of the security argument, noting that a recent meeting of federal judges was open to the public.

I'm just pointing out that federal judges have done it without a problem, he said.

Although Crenshaw did not issue an emergency order granting access to the Wednesday meeting, the lawsuit will continue and McCaleb will have a chance to make the argument that future meetings should be open if the conference discusses public policy.

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Director Deborah Fisher said there is a legitimate public interest in what happens at the meetings.

It seems like an overreach to close the whole thing and not let the press attend, at least, the parts where they discuss rules and what legislation they are going to send to the General Assembly," she said. Fisher added that allowing the public to watch meetings via livestream would likely address the safety concerns.
TACOMA, Wash. (AP)  Authorities say three members of a Puyallup, Washington, family have been charged with a series of misdemeanors for their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The Seattle Times reports the charges include counts of destruction of government property, disorderly conduct and participating in acts of violence in the U.S. Capitol.
Federal prosecutors want a judge to order the suspect in a 2018 murder-for-hire of a Vermont man held without bail pending trial, court documents show.

In documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, prosecutors say that Serhat Gumrucku, 39, would be a flight risk even if he posts millions of dollars in bail as he has offered to do.

If convicted of the charge against him  conspiring to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire which resulted in the death of Gregory Davis, of Danville  Gumrukcu is facing life in prison or the death penalty.

The very real prospect of Gumrukcu spending the rest of his life in prison provides him with a compelling incentive to flee, prosecutors said in the court documents.

A detention hearing for Gumrukcu, who was indicted last month by a Vermont grand jury, had been scheduled for earlier this month in Los Angeles, but it was postponed until Wednesday. It's expected that Gumrukcu will be brought to Vermont at some point to answer the charge against him.

A separate filing by Gumrukcu's attorney asking that he be released on bail said he was willing to accept home detention in California or Vermont and he would put up millions of dollars in bail. It also claimed the charges against Gumrukcu were flimsy and noted that the FBI had asked him about Davis's death over the years and he has made no effort to flee.

There is nothing other than an unproven and untested allegation in the indictment and no extrinsic evidence to corroborate anything, said the June 1 filing by Los Angeles Attorney Victor Sherman.

Davis, 49, was abducted from his Danville home on Jan. 6, 2018. He was found shot to death the next day in a snowbank on a back road in Barnet.

Prosecutors have said Davis had been threatening to go to the FBI with information that Gumrukcu, the co-founder of the Los Angeles-based biotechnology company Enochian Bioscience, was defrauding Davis in a multi-million dollar oil deal that Gumrukcu and his brother had entered into with Davis in 2015.

In 2017, Gumrukcu was facing fraud charges in California state court and he was putting together a deal that came together soon after Daviss death, which gave him significant ownership stake in the company.

Prosecutors allegedly linked Gumrukcu to the killing of Davis through three other men, including a Colorado man charged with abducting Davis while impersonating a U.S. marshal, Jerry Banks, who pleaded not guilty earlier this month to the kidnapping charge.

While Banks has only been charged with kidnapping, prosecutors say he killed Davis.
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP)  A former home of the father and stepmother of a New Hampshire girl missing since 2019 at age 5 is being searched as part of the investigation into her disappearance, police said Tuesday.

Adam and Kayla Montgomery had lived at the apartment in Manchester, police said. The time period wasn't immediately known. Earlier this year, authorities searched a different home the couple lived in.

FBI investigators were seen bringing a refrigerator to the scene, and staffers wore hazmat suits.

Later, investigators could be seen bringing a refrigerator out of the apartment building and then wrapping it in black plastic.

Adam Montgomery had custody of his daughter, Harmony Montgomery, who was last seen in late 2019 but authorities didnt know she was missing until last year.

I hope this brings us closer to getting answers and getting Harmony the justice she deserves," her mother, Crystal Sorey, told The Associated Press. She last saw her daughter in a phone video conversation around Easter in 2019.

Adam Montgomery has been in jail since January on several charges, including one alleging that he struck Harmony in the face in July 2019. Hes pleaded not guilty.

Kayla Montgomery pleaded not guilty to a theft by deception charge and is out on bail. She's accused of falsely claiming that Harmony was living with her in order to collect welfare benefits.

The couple told police that Harmony was brought to be with her mother in Massachusetts around Thanksgiving 2019.

Police have received hundreds of tips. Theyre offering $150,000 for information that will lead them to the missing child.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Romania on Tuesday to hold bilateral talks and meet with French troops stationed there who are part of NATOs response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Macrons visit to Romania, a European Union member since 2007 and a NATO member since 2004, marked the beginning of a regional tour that includes a visit Wednesday to non-NATO Moldova. Both countries share long borders with embattled Ukraine.

Nobody knows what is in store for us in the coming weeks and months, but we will do all we can to put an end to the Russian invasion, to help Ukrainians and continue with negotiations, Macron said at the eastern Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, where he was greeted by Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.

In a brief address to French soldiers deployed at the NATO base, Macron praised them for honoring our commitment to defend Europe as war is being waged again.

France has around 500 soldiers deployed in Romania and has been a key player in NATOs bolstering of forces on the alliances eastern flank following Russias invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. In May, France deployed an air defense system to Romania that NATO said can ensure protection to the forces operating within the area.

In the long term, Macron said we need to be able to protect ourselves and went on to say NATO's multinational battlegroup in Romania  which includes French, Belgian and American military personnel  will serve as a powerful deterrent on Europes eastern flank.

On Wednesday, Macron will meet with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at the air base for official talks in preparation for a European Council meeting in Brussels, as well as a key NATO Strategic Concept summit in Madrid later this month.

French spokesperson Olivia Gregoire said Macron is expected to address the consequences of the war in Ukraine, from a surge of Ukrainian refugees to the spike in energy prices and the disruptions to global grain markets.

He will also discuss Ukraines and Moldovas demands to join the EU ahead of a European summit next week, she said. France currently holds the presidency of the EU Council.

Macron will underline the importance of the strength of the European project in these troubled moments, she said.

After Romania, Macron will head to Chisinau, Moldovas capital, where he will meet with President Maia Sandu.



Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Barbara Surk in Nice, France, contributed to this report.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  A funeral service is scheduled Monday in Henderson for a Las Vegas police detective who was killed when a steel beam fell onto his vehicle in a construction zone.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officials said 45-year-old Justin Terry was in his unmarked police vehicle and on duty when the beam fell last Friday on U.S. Highway 95.
MACON, Ga. (AP)  Two sheriff's deputies in Georgia were injured in a crash Monday after someone fired shots toward them during a vehicle chase.

WMAZ-TV reported the chase happened in Bibb County.

The sheriff's office said two investigators in an unmarked vehicle were following a person in a dark gray Dodge Charger. The person was wanted for a previous case. When the investigators turned on their sirens, someone began firing at them from the Charger.

The Charger sped off. The vehicle with the two investigators left the road and hit a light pole.

The sheriff's office said the investigators were not shot, but they had non-life-threatening injuries from the crash. They were taken to a hospital.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  A Georgia man was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Rhode Island to two years in prison for his role in a scheme that recruited homeless people to cash counterfeit checks at banks around New England in exchange for a small fee.

The scheme that ran from October 2018 through February 2021 cheated banks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine out of a total of nearly $500,000, according to a statement from Zachary Cunha, the U.S. attorney for Rhode Island.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BERLIN (AP)  A German federal court on Tuesday rejected a Jewish man's bid to have a 700-year-old antisemitic statue removed from a church where Martin Luther once preached.

The Federal Court of Justice upheld rulings by lower courts on the Judensau, or Jew pig, sculpture on the Town Church in Wittenberg  one of more than 20 such relics from the Middle Ages that still adorn churches across Germany and elsewhere in Europe. As in those rulings, judges pointed to the addition in the 1980s of a memorial at the site.

The case went to federal judges after courts in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt ruled in 2019 and 2020 against plaintiff Michael Duellmann. He had argued that the sculpture was a defamation of and insult to the Jewish people that has a terrible effect up to this day, and has suggested moving it the nearby Luther House museum.

Placed on the church about four meters (13 feet) above ground level, the sculpture depicts people identifiable as Jews suckling the teats of a sow while a rabbi lifts the animals tail. In 1570, after the Protestant Reformation, an inscription referring to an anti-Jewish tract by Luther was added.

In 1988, a memorial was set into the ground below, referring to the persecution of Jews and the 6 million people who died during the Holocaust. In addition, a sign gives information about the sculpture in German and English.

The federal court found that, viewed in isolation, the original statue derides and denigrates Judaism as a whole, but that the parish remedied the legal situation by adding the memorial explaining its historical background. That, it added, meant that the parish had distanced itself from the defamatory and antisemitic message of the statue.

Despite the defamatory nature of the original statue, the legal system does not demand its removal, the federal court said. It argued there was more than one way to remedy the problem, and a memorial pointing to the Christian church's antisemitic mentality over centuries was one such possibility.

Germany's main Jewish group argued for the memorial to be reworked, and the regional Lutheran bishop signaled that the church will do so.

The head of the Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, said the court's decision to allow the statue to stay was understandable but argued that the memorial and sign don't contain an unequivocal condemnation of the antisemitic sculpture.

Both the Wittenberg parish and the churches as a whole must find a clear and appropriate solution for handling antisemitic sculptures, Schuster said. The defamation of Jews by the churches must belong in the past once and for all.

Regional bishop Friedrich Kramer said the church would support the further development of the memorial. He said there is a consensus that the memorial and sign today no longer satisfy the aspiration to break the effect of the antisemitic statue.

For us as a church, there can be no question that we face our history with all its misdeeds, and our handling of it, he said.

Plaintiff Duellmann told German news agency dpa that neither the federal nor the lower courts really took seriously the propaganda effect, the poisoning effect on society of the statue. He plans to take the case to Germany's highest court, the Federal Constitutional Court.
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sought to reassure his compatriots late Tuesday that despite strong rhetoric from Turkey, relations are not at the low of 2020 when the neighbors' warships were shadowing each other in the eastern Mediterranean.

In an interview with state broadcaster ERT, Mitsotakis dismissed Turkey's questioning of Greek sovereignty over many of the eastern Greek islands, including the popular resorts of Rhodes, Kos and Samos just off western Turkey, as completely irrational.

The two NATO allies have long been at odds over offshore rights, ownership of uninhabited islets and the war-divided island nation of Cyprus, and have come close to war three times in the past half century.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the stakes last week, warning Greece to demilitarize its Aegean islands and saying he was not joking. He spoke during Turkish wargames near the Greek islands that included an amphibious landing scenario.

Ankara says Athens has been building a military presence on the islands in violation of treaties under which they were ceded to Greece in the 20th century after a long period of occupation by the Turks  or by Italy in the case of Rhodes and Kos.

Greece counters that the islands need defenses given threats of war from Turkey, which has NATO's second-biggest military and maintains a large landing fleet on its Aegean coast.

Turkey's complaints ... are completely irrational to the extent that they question Greek sovereignty over the eastern Aegean islands, Mitsotakis said Tuesday. I don't think a single thinking human being  including in Turkey  believes that nowadays Greece can threaten Turkey.

Mitsotakis said that if basic sense prevails relations will not deteriorate further. Otherwise, he added, we will do what is necessary.

Concern has increased that tensions could boil over into some form of a military confrontation this year, even as both Greece and Turkey look to boost their vital tourism revenues this summer after two years of pandemic-induced losses.

Mitsotakis said, however, that relations were not yet at the point where both countries sent warships to the eastern Mediterranean in a dispute over gas and oil exploration rights in 2020.

There is high verbal tension, but we don't yet have  and I hope we don't reach that point  tension in the field, he said.

Turkey often adopts precisely such rhetoric, he added, voicing hope that Erdogan will backtrack from a decision this month to break off high-level talks with Greece, when the Turkish leader also stated that for him, Mitsotakis no longer exists.

We must meet, and we must talk, Mitsotakis told ERT.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  The leaders of seven NATO nations from across Europe pledged their support Tuesday for Sweden and Finland's bids to join the alliance and for providing more heavy weapons to help Ukraine battle Russia.

The support was voiced after an informal gathering at Dutch Prime Minister Mark Ruttes official residence in The Hague co-hosted by his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen. The other leaders attending were Romanias president and the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland, Portugal and Latvia.

My message on Swedish and Finnish membership is that I strongly welcome that," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who also attended. Its an historic decision. It will strengthen them, it will strengthen us.

But he said the alliance also has to take seriously concerns raised by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has vetoed membership for the two countries until they change their policies on supporting Kurdish militants deemed by Ankara to be terrorists.

"There is no other NATO ally that has suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkey, Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg said Monday that he was glad the Swedish government had confirmed its readiness to address Turkeys concerns as part of assuming the obligations of future NATO membership.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, meanwhile, criticized the support so far for Ukraine, which has time and again called for more and heavier weapons.

We have not done enough defend Ukraine, to support Ukrainian people to defend their freedom and sovereignty. And this is why I urge you, I asked you to do much more to deliver weapon, artillery to Ukraine, Morawiecki said.

Where is our credibility if Ukraine fails? Can we imagine that Ukraine fails and we revert back to business as usual? I hope not, he added.

The meeting came ahead of a June 29-30 NATO summit in Madrid that will seek to set a tough course for the alliance in coming years.

Stoltenberg said the alliance has beefed up its defenses following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, reinforcing our ability to protect and defend every inch of NATO allied territory.

He said that in Madrid, we will take the next steps and agree a major strengthening of our posture. Tonight we discussed the need for more robust and combat ready forward presence, even higher readiness and more pre-positioned equipment and supplies.

He also said that "Ukraine should have more heavy weapons, and NATO allies and partners have provided the heavy weapons now for actually a long time. But they are also stepping up.

The meeting followed a gathering Friday in Bucharest of nine NATO nations on the alliances eastern flank where some leaders urged NATO to step up protection in light of Russias protracted war against Ukraine.

We need to make sure that NATO is able and prepared to respond effectively and calibrated to the threats it faces, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told reporters after Fridays meeting. The alliance needs to be able to defend every inch of its territory.

Three NATO members  Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey  border the Black Sea, which has turned into a key battleground in the war in Ukraine.

___

Associated Press writers Jari Tanner in Helsinki, and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs coverage of the Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  U.S. Sen. John Hoeven easily won North Dakotas Republican primary Tuesday, coasting past an unknown and poorly funded political neophyte ahead of a November matchup when hes again likely to be a heavy favorite.

Hoeven defeated Riley Kuntz, an oil field worker who said Hoeven had been in Washington far too long but who raised less than $5,000 for his long-shot bid. Hoeven, seeking his third term, raised more than $3.2 million in the run-up to the primary.

He's set to face Democrat Katrina Christiansen, a political newcomer and University of Jamestown engineering professor who carried her party's endorsement as she defeated Michael Steele, a Fargo art and antiques dealer.

Both Christiansen and Steele were largely unknown outside their hometowns, and raised little money  about $21,000 by Christiansen and $2,100 by Steele.

Hoeven won both of his previous Senate terms with more than 76% of the vote. He was first elected to the Senate in 2010, succeeding longtime Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan, who retired.

In other races, state Rep. Michael Howe won the Republican primary for secretary of state, beating political newcomer Marvin Lepp, and will face Democrat Jeffrey Powell in November. The winner will replace Republican Al Jaeger, who chose not to run again after holding the post for 30 years.

GOP U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, seeking a second term, will face Democrat Mark Haugen of Bismarck, a University of Mary graduate adviser who has long worked as a paramedic. Both were unopposed in their primaries.

Hoeven was first elected governor in 2000 after seven years as president of the state-owned Bank of North Dakota. In 2008, he became the first person ever elected to a third four-year term as North Dakotas chief executive. A former Democrat, Hoeven switched parties four years before his first successful gubernatorial run.

Hoeven got a scare at the GOP convention in April when he narrowly won the GOP endorsement of delegates over the leader of the ultraconservative wing of the party. Bismarck state Rep. Rick Becker painted Hoeven as a big-spending, big-government politician who had lost touch with his conservative base.

Hoeven, 65, countered by touting his involvement in North Dakotas economic development and highlighted his opposition to most of President Joe Bidens policies. Hoeven got a video message of support from former President Donald Trump.

___

The story has been updated to correct the spelling of Katrina Christiansen's last name.
DOVER, Del. (AP)  House lawmakers have approved a bill raising the minimum age for anyone in Delaware to legally possess or purchase any rifle, or firearm ammunition, from 18 to 21, the same age requirement for handguns.

The bill cleared the House 27-13 on a mostly party-line vote Tuesday after being amended to exempt members of the National Guard and to clarify that a person under 21 could still use a gun for self-defense if the use of such force is justifiable under state law. The legislation, part of a package of gun restrictions that Gov. John Carney and fellow Democrats are pushing to pass by the end of this month in the wake of recent mass shootings in other states, now goes to the Democrat-controlled Senate.

The bill does not apply to shotguns or muzzleloaders and allows possession of a firearm by a person under 21 for hunting or other recreational activity while under the direct supervision of a person 21 or older.

18 to 21 doesnt mean you cant use that gun. You have to be supervised, and you cannot go buy one, said House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, chief sponsor of the legislation.

Schwartzkopf, a Rehoboth Democrat, also sponsored the amendment clarifying that a person under 21 can use a gun in self-defense if that deadly force is justified under the provisions of Delawares criminal code.

Our self-defense doctrine in our state would allow them to do that, but I wanted to make it perfectly clear, said Schwartzkopf, citing concerns raised during a committee hearing last week.

This basically tells anybody that if youre home and youre in danger, you can use whatever you need to use, whether it be a gun that you're not supposed to have possession of, or anything, in self-defense, he explained.

Democrats also agreed to exempt National Guard members from the legislation, which already included exemptions for police officers, active members of the military, and holders of concealed-carry permits.

They rejected GOP proposals to exempt rimfire rifles and ammunition, people under age 21 who own real estate or who have been married for at least six months, and those who have obtained written consent from a parent or guardian to buy a gun.

I think were going to make criminals out of young adults trying to start families, said Minority Leader Danny Short, a Seaford Republican.

Meanwhile, House lawmakers voted unanimously Tuesday for legislation putting state law enforcement officials in charge of background checks for gun purchases.

A bill approved Tuesday and sent to the Senate would resurrect Delawares Firearm Transaction Approval Program, which was eliminated more than a decade ago when lawmakers voted to rely on the federal governments National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.

That vote came amid concerns at the time that Delawares background check system was not providing NICS with information about mentally ill individuals prohibited from buying or possessing firearms. The bill authorized state agencies to provide such information to NICS, created a federally mandated program allowing individuals previously deemed mentally ill to re-establish their eligibility for gun ownership, and abolished the states existing background check system as redundant.

Lawmakers now want to reverse course amid concerns that NICS may not capture people prohibited under Delaware law from possessing firearms, including people convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors and those subject to outstanding warrants.

The bill calls for the State Bureau of Identification to be the point of contact between gun dealers and the federal databases checked by the FBI. The SBI would thus become responsible for determining whether a person is prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm under state or federal law, and would be able to search other databases other than NICS in making that determination.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BEIRUT (AP)  Israel marked a major escalation in its years-long campaign of airstrikes in Syria, carrying out an attack last week that shut down the countrys main civilian airport in Damascus as Israel steps up efforts to stop Iranian weapons shipments to Hezbollah.

Commercial flights were still halted at Damascus International Airport five days after Fridays pre-dawn airstrikes smashed into its runways, leaving multiple craters, and damaged the air control tower and other buildings.

The strikes further ratchet up tensions in the confrontation between Israel on one side and Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah on the other. Iran has accused Israel of assassinating several high-ranking Revolutionary Guard members, while Hezbollah has threatened to strike a gas rig Israel is setting up in Mediterranean Sea area that Lebanon also claims as its waters.

The escalation comes as Russia, the top ally of Iran and Syria, is preoccupied with its war in Ukraine. Russia has naval and air bases in Syria and troops deployed there, backing Damascus in Syrias long civil war.

With the strikes, Israel is sending the message that it wont let Iran fill the vacuum (left by) Russia in Syria while it is busy with Ukraine, said Ibrahim Hamidi, a Syrian journalist and senior diplomatic editor for Syrian affairs at the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

For years, Israel has been carrying out airstrikes in Syria, saying it is determined to prevent Irans entrenchment near its northern border and the smuggling of weapons to Hezbollah, which is funded and armed by Tehran. The strikes have largely hit bases of Iranian-allied militias, including Hezbollah, as well as convoys said to be carrying arms to Hezbollah.

Fridays strikes were the most extensive against a civilian target and, by shutting the airport down, had the widest impact. As in the past, Israel did not claim responsibility for the strikes.

The airport had remained operational even during the worst days of Syrias 11-year civil war. It has both a civilian and a military section and satellite photos showed the runways on both sides with at least three craters each.

Along with the runways, the strikes hit or damaged airport halls and a radar tower and an arms shipment that was in the civilian side of the airport, said Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria. Military positions south of Damascus were also hit.

Despite the escalation, Syria and Hezbollah both remained relatively muted about the attack. Syrian state media said Israeli strikes wounded one person and caused significant damage to infrastructure and rendered the main civilian runway unserviceable until further notice. Flights were rerouted to Aleppos airport while repairs were underway.

Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous visited the airport Sunday to inspect repairs. Photos posted by SANA showed a bulldozer working on what appeared to be the runway while another showed damage inside one of the airports rooms with glass blown out, chairs unhinged from their place and electric cables dangling from the ceiling.

Israeli media reported that the aim of the latest attack was to prevent the flow of equipment used in precision-guided missiles to Hezbollah.

Military affairs analyst Yossi Yehoshua wrote in Israels daily Yedioth Ahronoth that the Iranians have tried to ramp up aerial operations, first using cargo planes and hiding the weapons in hangars at Damascus International Airport. He claimed that now Iran and Hezbollah were using civilian flights to Damascus and Beirut to smuggle advanced military materiel to Hezbollah.

Materiel consists of relatively small parts that look innocuous enough and are easy to hide inside checked baggage on a civilian flight, Yehoshua wrote.

Amos Harel, senior military correspondent for Israels daily Haaretz, wrote that Iran has sought ways around Israeli disruptions and recently some of the best systems have been smuggled in hand luggage on commercial flights.

He added that the action suggests Israel perhaps feels it can take far-reaching military steps now, while international attention is focused on Ukraine.

Past Israeli strikes have largely gone without retaliation from the Syrians. Israeli airstrikes in Syria are usually coordinated with Moscow through a deconfliction mechanism to avoid direct confrontation with Russian forces in Syria.

In a rare public rebuke, Russias Foreign Ministry denounced Fridays airstrikes as provocative and a violation of the basic norms of international law.

A Lebanese journalist who covers Arab-Israeli affairs, Sateh Noureddine, wrote that Israels move to knock out Damascus airport signals a plan to impose a complete air blockade on Iran while also striking at Hezbollah, depriving it of a vital air link with its only military supply center.

The strikes could be a first step toward a possible Israel-Hezbollah war, Noureddine warned, writing in the Lebanese news site Al-Modon, where he is editor-in-chief.

Hezbollah and Israel have had a series of confrontations, including a full-scale war in 2006. Tensions between the two enemies have been escalating over a maritime border dispute between Lebanon and Israel, with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatening last week to strike the Israeli gas rig being set up.

In February, Nasrallah said the group has been manufacturing military drones in Lebanon and has the technology to turn thousands of missiles in their possession into precision-guided munitions.

A Lebanese military analyst who closely follows affairs in Syria and Lebanon said Syrian officials have been unusually tightlipped since the strike, given its significance.

There is silence in Syria at all levels and the real scope of the strike is unknown, he said, asking that his name not be made public in order to discuss the Syrian reaction.

The timing of the strike and link with to regional developments is puzzling, he said.

___

Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed reporting.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  A federal judge in Nebraska removed a major obstacle for activists who want to legalize medical marijuana via a ballot campaign, ruling that petition circulators no longer have to gather signatures from at least 5% of voters in 38 or more counties.

U.S. District Judge John Gerrard issued an order Monday to temporarily bar the state from enforcing the requirement, which is enshrined in the Nebraska Constitution to guarantee at least some buy-in from rural voters before an issue can appear on a statewide ballot.

The ruling comes at a critical time for medical marijuana supporters, who have until July 7 to submit at least 87,000 valid signatures on each of two petitions to Nebraskas secretary of state. The campaign began with strong prospects but has struggled a bit since one of its biggest donors died, forcing organizers to rely primarily on volunteers.

In a lawsuit, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana and the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska argued that the requirement violates free speech and equal protection rights by making some voters' signatures more valuable than others. They argued that, for signature gathering purposes, one voter in sparsely populated Arthur County is equal to 1,216 voters in Douglas County, which includes Omaha.

The state of Nebraska is absolutely free to require a showing of statewide support for a ballot initiative  but it may not do so based on units of dramatically differing population, resulting in discrimination among voters, Gerrard wrote in his ruling, which will remain in effect until a final decision is made.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen said he'll appeal.

Nebraskas population is heavily concentrated in its largest and medium-sized cities. The smallest of its 93 counties are among the least-populated nationally, with several having fewer than 500 residents.

Nebraska state Sen. Anna Wishart, a leader of the campaign, said she and others still intend to gather signatures in all 93 counties, but that striking the constitutional restriction is a big win for Nebraskans who want legal access to the drug for medicinal use.

Nebraskans across the state support this issue because they know a loved one, friend or neighbor, who is sick and would benefit from having access to medical cannabis, she said.

ACLU attorney Jane Seu said the ruling will help protect direct democracy in Nebraska for all residents, regardless of where they live.

The 5% requirement has faced legal challenges before, including in 2014 when a federal judge declared it unconstitutional. An appeals court later overturned the decision on a technical, procedural matter but didn't rule on the merits of the case.

The ACLU said courts have struck down similar requirements in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana is circulating two complementary petitions and said it has collected a combined total of more than 80,000 signatures. The group needs 87,000 valid signatures on each petition by the deadline to qualify.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Louisianas legislative leaders are asking for at least 10 more days to comply with a federal judges order to redraw congressional districts so two have Black majorities. On Tuesday, the judge scheduled a hearing on that request, to be held Thursday.

Also Tuesday, a federal appeals court scheduled arguments July 8 about Judge Shelly Dick's ruling that the current districts violate the Voting Rights Act.

The Republican-dominated legislature and Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, have been fighting over the issue since February, when the legislature approved a congressional map with white majorities in five of six districts.

Edwards vetoed it, saying that because Louisiana's population is nearly one-third Black, at least two districts should have African American majorities. The legislature overrode his veto.

Dick ordered legislators to create new districts, including two that are majority Black, by next Monday.

There's no way to do that, Senate President Page Cortez and House Speaker Clay Schexnayder said in a motion filed Monday.

The six-day session is scheduled to start Wednesday and end Monday. The legislators are asking for at least until June 30.

The state Constitution and legislative rules make it impossible for a redistricting bill created in one house to be acted on in the other before a session's seventh day unless rules are suspended, according to their motion.

Dick ordered both Cortez and Schexnayder to testify in person at Thursdays hearing.

The redistricting special session from Feb. 1 to 18 was focused on a "status quo plan ... that seeks to protect voter expectations"  a replica of the one approved in 2011, the motion said.

Dick has ordered a very different plan, creating a difficult and time-consuming task requiring much negotiation, the motion said.

There are 144 legislators in the State Legislature, and each has different ideas of how a redistricting plan should be configured, the legislative leaders argued.

Those representing areas where a majority Black district might be created are almost certain to have differing ideas of how communities of interest should be preserved, joined, and separated, and these discussions and negotiation will take time, the motion said.

In addition, it said a six-day session would not give state residents a chance to come to the Capitol and tell legislators what they want.

The current remedial schedule would compel the Legislature to redistrict (if at all) behind closed doors, without meaningful public input, and without opportunity to respond to that input, said a statement by Cortez.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal briefly put a hold on Dick's deadline, but removed that hold Sunday.

It was not deciding whether Dick was right to find the plan illegal, the three-judge panel noted. Rather, the judges said, they were ruling only on whether the legislative leaders, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin and Attorney General Jeff Landry had shown they were very likely to win an appeal.

That appeal was scheduled Tuesday for a session the morning of July 8.

Neither the plaintiffs arguments nor the district courts analysis is entirely watertight," Sunday's opinion said. "And it is feasible that the merits panel, conducting a less-rushed examination of the record in the light of differently framed arguments, may well side with the defendants.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  A former energy company executive from Los Angeles pleaded guilty Tuesday in a $15 million scheme to defraud investors in phony business arrangements for services to oil and gas companies in North Dakota, federal prosecutors said.

Joey Stanton Dodson was chairman of Citadel Energy Partners when he began raising money from more than 50 investors he said would fund three limited partnerships, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
MONROE, La. (AP)  Contenders vying for the title of Miss Louisiana 2022 are in the City of Monroe this week for the 58th annual competition.

Twenty-nine women were introduced by the Miss Louisiana Organization at a news conference Monday at the Jack Howard Theatre in the Monroe Civic Center, The News Star reported.

We have 29 beautiful young women that will be competing for scholarship dollars this week here at the Jack Howard Theatre, Miss Louisiana Organization Executive Director Dewana Little said. One of these young women will be crowned Miss Louisiana 2022 on Saturday night. Its going to be a fun week.

Julia Claire Williams, of Kinder and a graduate of University of Louisiana at Monroe, currently holds the title of Miss Louisiana.

The pageant returned in 2021 after its 2020 festivities were paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Miss Louisiana 2019 Meagan Crews chose to continue pursuing her education at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Williams succeeded Courtney Hammons, a first-runner up of Crews, who was asked to step in and serve as Miss Louisiana 2020.

Working together to build a better tomorrow for future generations matters, Williams said. Kindness matters and using our God-given gifts and talents to serve others matters, and I really hope thats the legacy I left this year as Miss Louisiana.

Williams is set to attend the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine after she passes on her crown on Saturday.

Monroe Mayor Friday Ellis thanked the Miss Louisiana Organization for continuing to hold the pageant in the city.

We want to continue to be a great partner for you any way we need to, to keep you here, Ellis said. Its very special to have you guys here and for the 59th year; we want to welcome you back to the City of Monroe. Were here for you.

The pageant's preliminary competitions will be held Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. The finals will be televised statewide Saturday at 8 p.m.
BOWIE, Md. (AP)  More than 100 residents of a Maryland senior care facility were temporarily relocated early Tuesday after a kitchen explosion set off a fire at the facility, but authorities said no one was injured.

Prince Georges County fire officials said fire crews were called to Larkin Chase Center in Bowie around 3:40 a.m. and found fire and smoke coming from the kitchen, news outlets reported. Firefighters helped relocate 112 residents, officials said.
CHICAGO (AP)  A Chicago police officer has been injured after a naked woman got into his squad car and struck him while driving away.

The officer stopped to help the woman about 9:40 a.m. Monday, Police Superintendent David Brown told reporters.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  A family doctor will be accessible to students at a Baton Rouge elementary school thanks to a new partnership between East Baton Rouge Parish Schools and Baton Rouge General.

A school-based clinic concept will launch at Claiborne Elementary School with the start of the new school year, WAFB-TV reported.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on Tuesday, accusing it of not protecting an endangered shrub once thought to be extinct that grows in some areas of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

The shrub known as marron bacora can grow up to 10 feet (3 meters) high and produces lilac flowers with a yellow center. It is found on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands and on Tortola in the neighboring British Virgin Islands.
The City of Kent, Washington, will pay more than $1.5 million to an assistant police chief to resign after he was disciplined for displaying a Nazi insignia on his office door.

The officer, Assistant Chief Derek Kammerzell, taped the symbol of oak leaves and diamonds, signifying the rank of Obergruppenfuhrer, a high-ranking SS officer, to his office door in September 2020, according to the city of Kent, which is south of Seattle. The city said in a statement released last week that it had settled with the chief Wednesday.

Kammerzell was initially suspended from the Kent Police Department for two weeks. But in late December 2021, after an outcry from the Jewish community and others at what they described as an inadequate response, the city placed Kammerzell on paid administrative leave and asked him to resign.

In the statement, the city acknowledged that the settlement was a substantial sum, but said that it had made numerous attempts to negotiate a smaller settlement with Kammerzells attorney, who officials said had initially demanded more than $3.1 million.

We strongly believe that settling this matter will be a substantial step towards meeting our commitment to the community, the city said in the statement, adding that it was clear that Kammerzell would have had significant difficulty being an effective leader in the department and the community.

The settlement follows months of negotiations and an investigation of Kammerzell, conducted by a private law firm, that was ordered by the city after an officer in the same department noticed the Nazi insignia on his door.

The officer told an investigator that Kammerzell had more than once told a joke that his grandfather died in the Holocaust after getting drunk and falling out of the guard tower.

Another detective said that several years ago, Kammerzell had showed him a photograph on his cellphone in which he was wearing lederhosen and had his facial hair shaved in the form of a Hitler mustache.

He said that Kammerzell had also told him that he had once taken a photo with a public figure and raised his hand in a heil Hitler sign as a joke.

According to the investigation, Kammerzell admitted to placing what he described as a German rank insignia above the nameplate on his door, and recalled that someone in the department had once given him the nickname the German General because of his last name and German heritage. He said that he had embraced the nickname.

That nickname, he added, later morphed into Obergruppenfuhrer, considered the SS equivalent of a Western general. He said he had learned the term from a television show, The Man in the High Castle. The show, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick, explores an alternate reality in which the Allied powers lost World War II and Japan and Germany rule the United States.

Kammerzell said he had Googled the term Obergruppenfuhrer, according to the investigation, and that one of the results of the search was the insignia, which he printed and placed above his door.

According to the investigation, Kammerzell denied expressing any positive sentiments about either Nazis or fascist governments. But it was not plausible, the investigator said, that he would not understand the Nazi affiliation of the symbol placed on his door.

The Kent Police Officers Association and a lawyer known to have represented the association did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Its been devastating to our department, Rafael Padilla, Kents chief of police, said in a video released by the city earlier this year.

In a statement released Friday, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle said that while it was disturbing that an individual who elevated and honored Nazi imagery and titles and joked about the Holocaust should receive a $1.52 million settlement it understood that the City of Kent had limited options.

The City of Kent said that under federal and state law, it had been unable to terminate Kammerzell after his suspension because of double jeopardy principles, a clause in the Fifth Amendment that prohibits prosecuting people twice for substantially the same crime. Had he been terminated initially, the city added, it was confident he would have been returned to work by an independent arbitrator.

A representative from the mayors office said the city would not comment further Monday. The Jewish Federation said the payout was the best possible outcome because it ensured Kammerzell would not return to his role in law enforcement.

Maxima Patashnik, a spokesperson for the group, said by phone Monday that Kammerzells behavior had felt particularly egregious because the Jewish community relies on law enforcement to protect its synagogues and community centers.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
A Cuban man charged in a $4.2 million Medicare fraud scheme is being held as a flight risk after officials said he tried to flee the U.S. on a Jet Ski.

A federal judge in Miami ordered Ernesto Cruz Graveran, 54, of Hialeah, to be detained pending trial Monday, according to court records. He has been charged with health care fraud.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill that would cut down the required training time for teachers and staff to carry guns on school grounds into law.

The bill, House Bill 99, sponsored by Butler County Rep. Thomas Hall (R-Madison Twp.), was signed into law Monday.

Hall said he introduced the bill after his father, who was serving as a Madison High School resource officer, chased a shooter from the school back in 2016.



Video above: Ohio bill outlining gun training requirements for teachers includes ongoing simulated training

As of now, school staff members need to finish 700 hours of training to become peace officers.

The bill lowers that to a maximum of 24 hours followed by 8 annual hours, though school districts could require more. School boards can also develop their own training plans that are submitted to DPS for approval.

Of the 24 hours of gun training teachers would need to take in year one, four would involve "scenario-based or simulated training."

After that, the bill calls for eight hours of annual training with similar tactical requirements.

It will be up to individual school boards to allow for staff to be armed, but they are required to notify parents if they do so. The staff that does train to be armed will get an annual criminal background check.

The legislation also creates the Ohio School Safety Center which will be made up of a chief mobile training officer and 16 regional officers that will be assigned to geographic locations around the state. The officers must be peace officers or veterans.

The center will also help schools develop and implement emergency management plans and assist schools with security.

The bill remains the subject of intense debate.

Critics say it requires too little training for teachers approved to carry a gun in a classroom.

Supporters say it will help keep students safe should an active shooter suddenly show up.

"I think it's a step in the right direction to help protect our children from the madness that's happening more and more these days," Jon Villing, a firearms expert, said.

A supporter of the plan, Villing says any teacher who gets the green light from their school board to have a firearm needs to train rigorously for a possible encounter with an active shooter.

"Nobody understands what your body and your brain are, how you're going to react when your heart rate goes through outer space and then back, right. I mean, you're going to be scared when something like that happens," Villing said.

Critics of the bill say the 24 hours of gun training is too little, especially since police recruits in Ohio have to have at least 60 hours of firearms training.

"I think what folks need to understand as far as the law enforcement side goes, 60 hours of firearms training  that's in the police academy," Hamilton Township Police Chief Scott Hughes said.

After that, Hughes says based on Ohio law, officers only have to fire 25 rounds once a year.

"That's very static. It's very standing there. It's not dynamic, anything like that," Hughes said.

The bill's author, Butler County Rep. Thomas Hall, said when it comes to teachers carrying guns, simple classroom instruction isn't enough.

"That's why we put in there the scenario-based and simulated training exercises that they have to take part in," Hall said.

Before a court ruling ratcheted up training requirements last year, Hall said about 200 schools in Ohio had teachers who carried guns.

The measure takes effect in 90 days.
PHOENIX (AP)  At least two people have been detained after a Phoenix police officer was shot and wounded in a Laveen neighborhood on Tuesday, authorities said.

Police said the female officer, a 19-year veteran, was hospitalized in stable condition.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Puerto Ricos governor signed a measure Tuesday suspending taxes on gasoline and diesel for 45 days amid the worldwide surge in petroleum prices.

The U.S. territory currently imposes a tax of 16 cents per gallon of gasoline and 4 cents per gallon of diesel.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said an additional $25 million will be added to the governments general fund to make up for the loss of revenue as a result of the temporary tax moratorium.

Officials say they expect a gallon of gasoline in Puerto Rico to reach $6 in upcoming months.

Experts blame the rising prices on higher crude oil costs and limited gasoline supplies following disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and partly from Russias invasion of Ukraine.
MOSCOW (AP)  Russia has banned dozens of British media and defense figures from entering the country, the Russian foreign ministry announced Tuesday.

In an online statement on its website, the ministry described the ban on 29 journalists and commentators as a response to what it alleged was the British medias skewed portrayal of Moscow and its actions in Ukraine.
MOSCOW (AP)  Russia would be ready to consider a U.K. appeal over the fate of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting for Ukraine, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said neither Moscow nor the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine who passed the sentence had heard from London on the issue.

You need to apply, of course, to the authorities of the country whose court passed the verdict, and that is not the Russian Federation, Peskov said. But, of course, everything will depend on appeals from London. And I am sure that the Russian side will be ready to listen.

The two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Sean Pinner, as well as Moroccan man named Brahim Saadoun, were sentenced to death last week for allegedly fighting as mercenaries by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic. The internationally unrecognized territory encompasses parts of Ukraines eastern Donetsk region seized by Russia-backed separatists since 2014.

Both U.K. and Ukrainian authorities have declared the verdict null and void, with London decrying proceedings as a sham. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said earlier Tuesday that the best route to secure Aslin's and Pinners release was through the Ukrainians, but added that she would do whatever it takes.

Separatist authorities in Donetsk said the men had a month to appeal their sentences. The Ukrainian government in Kyiv has since pledged to try to secure the release of all three through a prisoner swap with Russia.

___

Follow all AP stories on the fighting in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
Russia is scraping across the country to find manpower and weapons, including old tanks based in the Far East, having used up much of its military capacity in the first 100 days of its invasion of Ukraine, according to senior European officials with knowledge of the situation on the ground.

As a result, Russia may be only a few months from needing to slow operations for a major regroup, these people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that aren't public. The Kremlin might also be forced to announce a mass mobilization in order to call up soldiers to continue the fight, the people said, though that's something President Vladimir Putin so far has been reluctant to do as it would amount to a public admission the war isn't going as planned.

Russia's troubles may not come soon enough to provide relief to Ukraine's beleaguered forces in the eastern Donbas area. Massively outgunned by Moscow, Kyiv's forces are losing 100 or more a day, Ukrainian officials say, and have had to slowly give up ground around the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. If Russia takes those two - particularly the more strategic city of Lysychansk still under greater Ukrainian control - it would effectively seize the entire Luhansk region, achieving one of the goals Putin set out at the start of the war.

But Russia's progress remains slow and mostly limited to Luhansk even after it focused efforts on the larger Donbas following the failure of its attempts to take Kyiv and other major cities early in the war. Combined with signs the Kremlin could be running short of men and materiel, that's led some European officials to conclude it could be months from seeking some kind of a cease-fire that would allow it to cement what gains it's been able to make so far.

"Russia probably needs at least another 2-3 months to take big towns in Donbas, such as Slovyansk and Kramatorsk," according to Indrek Kannik, director of Estonia's International Centre for Defence and Security. "That's when Russia will reach its capacity and will push for a deal on that basis."

While the conflict now seems to have settled into a war of attrition, a senior Eastern European official said the stalemate isn't likely to extend into the long term and warned a crunch point could be a few months away.

To be sure, Russia has revived its advances after appearing to slow down in the past, and Putin's decades-long military buildup has left it with vast inventories of weapons and ordnance. "The situation at the front now is difficult," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak wrote on Telegram on Tuesday. Russia, he said, "has accumulated an awful lot of weapons."

Steadily increasing their calls for more weapons in recent weeks, Ukrainian officials have given no public hint they think Russia's advance could soon run out of steam. Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said Sunday that Russia now has tenfold superiority in artillery, while President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the fight for Sievierodonetsk will determine the fate of Donbas.

Still, Russia has lost a large amount of tanks and armored personnel carriers and has been forced to dip into stocks of older equipment, including decades-old T-62 tanks from its Eastern Military District. Some of the aging arsenal could be devoted to security and other uses behind the lines, as it would quickly run into trouble if deployed at the front.

"Russia continues to deploy insufficiently prepared volunteer and reserve forces to reinforce its ongoing operations," the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said in a report Tuesday, noting social-media reports of reservists training on D-20 artillery and T-80BV tanks dating from the Soviet era.

Publicly, Russian officials deny any difficulties sustaining the war effort and vow to continue until their goals are achieved, though they don't specify what those are. In private, some Kremlin insiders have suggested they expected western resolve to flag before Putin's does.

If the Kremlin's manpower and equipment issues become severe enough to force it to push for some kind of cease-fire deal, that would confront Ukraine and its allies with the painful choice between giving up territory for an end to the fighting or continuing a brutal war amid growing concerns over surging energy and food prices and other fallout. For now, the U.S. and UK, among others, are supporting Zelensky's desire to keep fighting even as some politicians in France and Germany discuss the merits of some kind of truce.

"I am afraid of these premature peace talks or cease-fire because this is exactly how it was in Donbas: let's freeze the conflict here. Everybody stays where they are and let's not move on," Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said last week in an interview. "But what we saw with Georgia, with Crimea, with Donbas is that there will be a pause of one year or two years, and then everything will continue and on a much broader scale."

"We have to focus right now on the military aid," she said. "If the decisions are made to send heavy weaponry, they should be sent now, not in December."

In the event Ukraine succeeds in mounting a counteroffensive and pushing Russian forces back, that would present Europe with new dilemmas, she said.

"So long as Ukraine is defending their country right now, then sending weapons is fine for everybody," she said. But if Kyiv's forces push Russian troops to the pre-invasion borders and then seek to retake land that Moscow grabbed in the 2014 war, "I am pretty sure that there are some voices in Europe who say okay, you're the bad guys now," she said. "But we have to understand that it's still their territories."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program.

The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Irans rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit.

One set of images showed a rocket on a transporter, preparing to be lifted and put on a launch tower. A later image Tuesday afternoon showed the rocket apparently on the tower.

Iran did not acknowledge a forthcoming launch at the spaceport and its mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, its state-run IRNA news agency in May said that Iran likely would have seven homemade satellites ready for launch by the end of the Persian calendar year in March 2023. A Defense Ministry official also recently suggested Iran soon could test its new solid-fueled, satellite-carrying rocket called the Zuljanah.

It wasn't clear when the launch would take place, though erecting a rocket typically means a launch is imminent. NASA fire satellites, which detect flashes of light from space, did not immediately see any activity over the site late Tuesday night.

Asked about the preparations, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington that the U.S. urges Iran to de-escalate the situation.

Iran has consistently chosen to escalate tensions. It is Iran that has consistently chosen to take provocative actions," Price said.

A Pentagon spokesman, U.S. Army Maj. Rob Lodewick, said the American military will continue to closely monitor Irans pursuit of viable space launch technology and how it may relate to advancements in its overall ballistic missile program.

"Iranian aggression, to include the demonstrated threat posed by its various missile programs, continues to be a top concern for our forces in the region, Lodewick said.

Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. The program has seen recent troubles, however. There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, a type of satellite-carrying rocket. A fire at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in February 2019 also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time.

The launch pad used in Tuesday's preparations remains scarred from an explosion in August 2019 that even drew the attention of then-President Donald Trump. He later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure. Satellite images from February suggested a failed Zuljanah launch earlier this year, though Iran did not acknowledge it.

The successive failures raised suspicion of outside interference in Irans program, something Trump himself hinted at by tweeting at the time that the U.S. was not involved in the catastrophic accident. Theres been no evidence offered, however, to show foul play in any of the failures, and space launches remain challenging even for the worlds most successful programs.

Meanwhile, Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in April 2020 revealed its own secret space program by successfully launching a satellite into orbit. The Guard launched another satellite this March at another site in Semnan province, just east of the Iranian capital of Tehran.

Judging from the launch pad used, Iran likely is preparing for the Zuljanah test launch, said John Krzyzaniak, a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Krzyzaniak earlier this week suggested a launch was imminent based on activity at the site.

The rocket's name, Zuljanah, comes from the horse of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Iranian state television aired footage of a successful Zuljanah launch in February 2021.

The launch preparations also come as the Guard reportedly saw one of its soldiers martyred in Semnan province under unclear circumstances over the weekend. Iran's Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Ministry, however, later claimed the man worked for it.

The United States has alleged that Irans satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution and has called on Tehran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The U.S. intelligence communitys 2022 threat assessment, published in March, claims such a satellite launch vehicle shortens the timeline to an intercontinental ballistic missile for Iran as it uses similar technologies.

Iran, which has long said it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously maintained that its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Iran abandoned an organized military nuclear program in 2003.

However, Iran's likely preparations for a launch come as tensions have been heightened in recent days over Tehran's nuclear program. Iran now says it will remove 27 IAEA surveillance cameras from its nuclear sites as it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

Both Iran and the U.S. insist they are willing to re-enter Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw the Islamic Republic drastically curb its enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018, setting in motion a series of attacks and confrontations beginning in 2019 that continue today into the administration of President Joe Biden.

Talks in Vienna about reviving the deal have been on a pause since March.

Building a nuclear bomb would still take Iran more time if it pursued a weapon, analysts say, though they warn Tehrans advances make the program more dangerous. Israel has threatened in the past that it would carry out a preemptive strike to stop Iran  and already is suspected in a series of recent killings targeting Iranian officials.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twiter.com/jongambrellAP.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BERLIN (AP)  A private company that uses satellites to spot sources of methane emissions around the globe said Wednesday that it detected one of the largest artificial releases of the potent greenhouse gas ever seen, coming from a coal mine in Russia earlier this year.

Montreal-based GHGSat said one of its satellites, known as Hugo, observed 13 methane plumes at the Raspadskaya mine in Siberia on Jan. 14. The incident likely resulted in about 90 metric tons of methane being belched into the atmosphere in the space of an hour, the company calculated.

This was a really, really dramatic emission," Brody Wight, GHGSat's director of energy, landfills and mines told The Associated Press.

Cutting down methane emissions caused by fossil fuel facilities has become a priority for governments seeking to take quick, effective steps against climate change. That's because methane is powerful heat-trapping gas second only to carbon dioxide, which stays in the atmosphere for longer.

GHGSat said the plumes detected at Raspadskaya may have been released intentionally, as a safety measure, since the gas can seep out of mines and ignite with potentially deadly outcomes. Two methane explosions and a fire killed 91 people at this mine in 2010, one of the worst such disasters in post-Soviet times.

Companies can prevent the uncontrolled release of methane through best practices. Captured gas can be burned as fuel, lessening its global-warming impact.

GHGSat said it measured further plumes over the mine during subsequent flyovers the following weeks, though these didn't reach the same ultra emission scale seen on Jan. 14.

Even if its only for a short period of time it doesnt take long for this to be a significant emission," said Wight.

Manfredi Caltagirone, who heads the International Methane Emissions Observatory at the U.N. Environment Program, said he was not aware of any bigger release of methane from a coal mine.

If this event is the result of an accumulation of methane that has been then released all at once instead of over several days, the environmental impact would be the same as if a smaller plume was to be released constantly over several days, said Caltagirone, who wasn't involved in the GHGSat observation.

But from a safety perspective it is worrisome, he said, citing recent mine explosions in Poland that killed 13 people.

Still, the release was likely a very rare event or else other methane-measuring satellites would have picked them up too, said Caltagirone.

GHGSat said it alerted the Raspadskaya mine operator to its findings, but received no response. The operator also didnt respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Several private and government satellites have been launched into orbit in recent years to help pinpoint methane leaks and raise awareness of the risks they pose to the climate and people's health.

In one of the most publicized methane leaks in the United States, a 2015 blowout at a natural gas storage in California sickened residents of the San Fernando Valley and led to evacuations of 8,000 homes.

___

Follow AP's coverage of climate change at https://apnews.com/hub/climate

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  A federal judge declined Monday to either decide or dismiss a condemned Nevada killers lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state plan for what would its first lethal injection in more than 16 years.

U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II left open Zane Michael Floyds case  at least for now  and set an Oct. 11 date for attorneys representing Floyd and the state to return to court in Las Vegas.

The judge said he might still close the matter in coming weeks for what he termed mootness, since state prison officials testified that they do not have the drugs they would need to conduct an execution. The prison supply of the sedative ketamine expired Feb. 28, and officials said they've had trouble procuring more.

Nevadas execution plan, or protocol, calls for large doses of three or four drugs also including the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl or a substitute, possibly a muscle paralytic called cisatracurium, and either potassium chloride or potassium acetate to stop the heart.

The key unanswered question remains whether the never-before-used combination of drugs would cause Floyd so much pain that it would be unconstitutionally cruel and inhumane.

This case is not moot, Randall Gilmer, chief deputy state attorney general, declared in a 13-page written submission filed May 16.

Floyd raised numerous challenges to the protocol, all of which are ripe for decision without reference to the drugs (prison officials) may have, Gilmer wrote. Thus, there is real, concrete relief that this court can provide to the parties in this case.

Floyds representatives, deputy federal public defenders David Anthony and Brad Levenson, repeatedly used the same words  This case is not moot  while urging the judge in their May 16 filing not to throw away the several weeks of point-counterpoint testimony he collected late last year.

They suggested that Boulware issue "an administrative closure that would let him reopen the case if prison officials obtain the drugs needed to proceed.

Gilmer, on behalf of state Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, ended his plea with a pointed reference to the two decades since Floyd was sentenced and more than a year that both sides spent arguing over the protocol.

During that time, three different drugs expired  fentanyl, ketamine and potassium chloride, Gilmer wrote. Of equal importance, Floyds victims, the family members of his victims, and the residents of Nevada have waited two decades for justice. Mootness does not prevent the court from providing answers to the existing questions.

Floyd, 46, was convicted in 2000 of killing four people and wounding a fifth in a shotgun attack at a Las Vegas grocery store. He does not want to die.

Daryl Mack was the last inmate put to death in Nevada, in April 2006, for a 1988 rape and murder in Reno. Mack asked for his lethal injection to be carried out.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited Kuwait on Monday and spoke to the small, oil-rich nation's crown prince, state media reported.

We are on this necessary tour to reactivate ties of work, cooperation, commonality, solidarity, brotherhood, Maduro said from Kuwait in a televised conversation with his collaborators in Caracas.

Maduro spoke with Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber at Kuwait International Airport alongside Maduros delegation, including his wife, Cilia Flores, state-run KUNA news agency reported, without detailing their discussions.

Venezuela's state-run broadcaster VTV noted Kuwait and Venezuela both were part of the original members of the oil cartel OPEC. Maduro's Twitter account said the president wanted to expand on those ties.

Maduro's visit comes after he traveled to Tehran, Iran, for meetings over the weekend, including with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Maduro is on a Eurasia tour after President Joe Biden decided not to invite him to the Summit of the Americas, which began Thursday. His earlier stops included Algeria and Turkey.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Virginia's community college board is restarting its search for a new chancellor because the Michigan official tapped in March to lead the system is no longer taking the job.

Russell Kavalhuna has instead chosen to negotiate an agreement aimed at his continued service as president of Henry Ford College in Dearborn, Michigan, the Virginia Community College System said in a news release Monday.

We are disappointed, of course, NL Bishop, chair of the system's board, said in the news release. Russ is an outstanding educator and leader in workforce development. We were looking forward to his joining us, but we respect his intent to remain in Michigan. We wish him well.

The development came after Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin criticized the hiring process for the chancellor position as lacking transparency and failing to address the needs of the 23-college system, which has experienced declining enrollment.

Youngkin asked the board earlier this year to restart its search, but the group opted not to do so, announcing Kavalhuna's hiring March 17.

Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter confirmed in mid-May that the governor met with Kavalhuna. But she declined to comment at the time on the substance of the meeting and again Tuesday about the latest developments.

Monday's news release said the board was preparing to launch a national search to select the next chancellor. Sharon Morrissey, currently the system's senior vice chancellor for academic and workforce programs, will serve as interim chancellor.

The leadership post needs to be filled because longtime Chancellor Glenn DuBois is retiring at the end of June.

Kavalhuna, also a former federal prosecutor and commercial airline pilot, declined an interview request sent through a spokeswoman for Henry Ford College.

The spokeswoman, Rhonda DeLong, provided a statement from Henry Ford College's board chair confirming that the institution is in talks with Kavalhuna about staying on. Those negotiations are expected to conclude by the end of June, the statement said.

A VCCS spokesman didnt immediately respond to a question from AP about whether the state would owe Kavalhuna any kind of financial payout.

Included in Monday's news release was a nod to Youngkin.

Douglas Garcia, who is scheduled to become board chairman in July, said the system was eager to align our workforce training priorities with our governors goals for a more productive and prosperous Virginia.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  Republican gubernatorial candidate Harry Wilson is walking back remarks implying that fellow contender U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin had asked him to campaign as a candidate for lieutenant governor.

During the Monday night GOP primary debate, Wilson  fed up with attacks from Zeldin  said his opponent had just months ago thought highly enough of him that he asked me to be on his ticket.

I never asked, and I wouldnt ask, Never Trumper Harry Wilson to be my lieutenant governor, Zeldin replied.

Wilson shot back: January 12 you did. I've got the notes from that conversation. Dont lie.'

Zeldin said there was a zero percent chance he would have considered Wilson.

I wouldnt want you to serve as lieutenant governor. I asked Alison Esposito, Zeldin said, referring to his own lieutenant governor pick.

You asked, stop lying, Wilson said. She was the 15th person you asked and you know it.

Tuesday, though Wilson clarified that Zeldin had asked him to run as state comptroller as part of his slate of candidates  not lieutenant governor.

He said he never heard Zeldin say lieutenant governor during the exchange because the two candidates were talking over each other.

On January 12th, Mr. Zeldin told me that he was a Harry Wilson fan, that I was massively talented and a fantastic candidate and asked me if I would consider serving as the 2022 comptroller candidate because he wanted to put together an insider ticket to win everything, Wilson said. I politely declined his suggestion. I raised it on the debate stage on Monday night to highlight the rank hypocrisy demonstrated by Mr. Zeldins dishonest attacks.

The Republican field also includes former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York Citys former mayor.

Zeldin, a Trump ally and Army veteran who has represented New Yorks 1st Congressional District since 2015, is the favored candidate of the party's state leadership.

Wilson, of Johnstown, entered the race this spring by launching a $12 million television advertisement campaign. Hes worked for Goldman Sachs and founded a White Plains advisory firm, and also served as a U.S. Treasury Department advisor under former President Barack Obama.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

RED LODGE, Mont. (AP)  More than 10,000 visitors were ordered out of Yellowstone as unprecedented flooding tore through the northern half of the nations oldest national park, washing out bridges and roads and sweeping an employee bunkhouse miles downstream, officials said Tuesday. Remarkably, no one was reported injured or killed.

The only visitors left in the massive park straddling three states were a dozen campers still making their way out of the backcountry.

Yellowstone National Park, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, could remain closed as long as a week, and northern entrances may not reopen this summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly said.

The water is still raging," said Sholly, who noted that some weather forecasts include the possibility of additional flooding this weekend.

The Yellowstone River hit historic levels after days of rain and rapid snowmelt and wrought havoc across parts of southern Montana and northern Wyoming, where it washed away cabins, swamped small towns and knocked out power. It hit the park just as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors was ramping up.

Instead of marveling at massive elk and bison, burbling thermal pools and the reliable blast of Old Faithfuls geyser, tourists found themselves witnessing nature at its most unpredictable as the Yellowstone River river crested in a chocolate brown torrent that washed away everything in its path.

It is just the scariest river ever, Kate Gomez of Santa Fe, New Mexico, said Tuesday. Anything that falls into that river is gone.

Waters were only starting to recede Tuesday, and the full extent of the destruction may not be known for a while. It was not expected to have affected wildlife.

Closure of the northern part of the park will keep visitors from features that include Tower Fall, Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley, which is known for viewing wildlife such as bears and wolves. Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake and viewing the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are on the parks southern loop road and likely to be reopened.

Sholly said the backpackers who remained in the park had been contacted. Crews were prepared to evacuate them by helicopter, but that hasnt been needed yet, he said.

Sholly said he didnt believe the park had ever shut down from flooding.

Gomez and her husband were among hundreds of tourists stuck in Gardiner, Montana, a town of about 800 residents at the park's north entrance. The town was cut off for more than a day until Tuesday afternoon, when crews reopened part of a washed away two-lane road.

While the flooding cant directly be attributed to climate change, it came as the Midwest and East Coast sizzle from a heat wave and other parts of the West burn from an early wildfire season amid a persistent drought that has increased the frequency and intensity of fires that are having broader impacts. Smoke from a fire in the mountains of Flagstaff, Arizona, could be seen in Colorado.

Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said a warming environment makes extreme weather events more likely than they would have been "without the warming that human activity has caused.

Will Yellowstone have a repeat of this in five or even 50 years? Maybe not, but somewhere will have something equivalent or even more extreme, he said.

Heavy rain on top of melting mountain snow pushed the Yellowstone, Stillwater and Clarks Fork rivers to record levels Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials in Yellowstone and in several southern Montana counties were assessing damage from the storms, which also triggered mudslides and rockslides.

Some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the park and Yellowstones gateway communities in southern Montana. National Park Service photos showed mud and rock slides, washed out bridges and roads undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers.

In Red Lodge, Montana, a town of 2,100 thats a popular jumping-off point for a scenic, winding route into the Yellowstone high country, a creek running through town jumped its banks and swamped the main thoroughfare, leaving trout swimming in the street a day later under sunny skies.

At least 200 homes flooded in the city and in Fromberg, Carbon County authorities said.

Residents described a harrowing scene where the water went from a trickle to a torrent over just a few hours.

The water toppled telephone poles, knocked over fences and carved deep fissures in the ground through a neighborhood of hundreds of houses. Power was restored by Tuesday, though there was still no running water in the affected neighborhood.

Heidi Hoffman left early Monday to buy a sump pump in Billings, but by the time she returned her basement was full of water.

We lost all our belongings in the basement, Hoffman said as the pump removed a steady stream of water into her muddy backyard. Yearbooks, pictures, clothes, furniture. Were going to be cleaning up for a long time.

On Monday, Yellowstone officials evacuated the northern part of the park, where roads may remain impassable for a substantial length of time, Sholly said. But the flooding affected the rest of the park, too, with park officials warning of yet higher flooding and potential problems with water supplies and wastewater systems at developed areas.

The rains hit just as area hotels have filled up in recent weeks with summer tourists. More than 4 million visitors were tallied by the park last year. The wave of tourists doesnt abate until fall, and June is typically one of Yellowstones busiest months.

It was unclear how many visitors to the region remained stranded, or how many people who live outside the park were rescued and evacuated.

Mark Taylor, owner and chief pilot of Rocky Mountain Rotors, said his company airlifted about 40 paying customers over the past two days from Gardiner, including two women who were very pregnant.

Taylor spoke as he ferried a family of four adults from Texas, who wanted to do some more sightseeing before heading home.

I imagine theyre going to rent a car and theyre going to go check out some other parts of Montana  somewhere drier, he said.

At a cabin in Gardiner, Parker Manning of Terre Haute, Indiana, got an up-close view of the roiling Yellowstone River floodwaters just outside his door. Entire trees and even a lone kayaker floated by.

In early evening, he shot video as the waters ate away at the opposite bank where a large brown house that had been home to park employees, who had evacuated, was precariously perched.

In a large cracking sound heard over the river's roar, the house tipped into the waters and was pulled into the current. Sholly said it floated 5 miles (8 kilometers) before sinking.

In south-central Montana, flooding on the Stillwater River stranded 68 people at a campground. Stillwater County Emergency Services agencies and Stillwater Mine crews rescued people Monday from the Woodbine Campground by raft. Some roads in the area were closed and residents were evacuated.

The towns of Cooke City and Silvergate, just east of the park, were also isolated by floodwaters.

In Livingston, residents in low-lying neighborhoods were told to leave and the city's hospital was evacuated as a precaution after its driveway flooded.

Officials in Park County, which includes Gardiner and Cooke City, said extensive flooding throughout the county had made drinking water unsafe in many areas.

The Montana National Guard said Monday it sent two helicopters to southern Montana to help with evacuations.

In the hamlet of Nye, at least four cabins washed into the Stillwater River, said Shelley Blazina, including one she owned.

It was my sanctuary, she said Tuesday. Yesterday I was in shock. Today Im just in intense sadness.

The Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs crested at 13.88 feet (4.2 meters) Monday, higher than the previous record of 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) set in 1918, according to the National Weather Service.

Yellowstone got 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) of rain Saturday, Sunday and into Monday. The Beartooth Mountains northeast of Yellowstone got as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service.

___

Whitehurst reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writers Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, R.J. Rico in Atlanta, and Brian Melley in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)  A Zimbabwean court on Tuesday convicted a journalist on charges of breaking the countrys immigration laws by allegedly arranging fake accreditation papers for two correspondents for the New York Times.

The Bulawayo magistrates court fined Jeffrey Moyo 200,000 Zimbabwe dollars (about $650 U.S. dollars) and also imposed a suspended two-year sentence, according to a statement by media freedom advocacy group, the Media Institute of Southern Africa.
John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

Airlines base their ticket pricing for flights on expectations for the future. Considering how the stock market hit a nosedive this week and there are talks of the Federal Reserve pushing the economy into recession in order to regain control of prices, the future isnt looking hot for superfluous spending.

Perhaps that was the motivation behind Alaska Airlines releasing a surprise sale for flights to Hawaii this autumn. In an attempt to sell some seats, the airline is offering cheaper than usual prices for travel to Hawaii with the stipulation that you book a trip from Mondays through Thursdays between Sept. 7 and Nov. 16, 2022.
Page Content

Colorado lawmakers passed legislation May 10 that will significantly limit the practice of using noncompete agreements for lower-wage workers in the state.

Gov. Jared Polis is expected to sign the bill into law, which will become effective August 10.

Noncompete clauses in employment contracts place limits on where employees can work after they leave a job. These agreements prohibit an employee from working for a competitor or from starting a competing business within a geographical area for a certain period after leaving a job.

Tens of millions of U.S. workers have signed noncompete agreements with their employers. However, many employment experts believe that noncompete agreements should not be applied to low-wage workers, such as those in retail, health care, and leisure and hospitality jobs.

The Colorado law would limit noncompetes to people making more than $101,250 per year. "Noncompetes stifle innovation," said Rep. Kerry Tipper, D-Jefferson, the bill's prime sponsor. "They make it difficult for employers to recruit talent, and they make it difficult for talent to go places and move up the ladder. What the bill did was to try and put some more safeguards on those noncompete provisions."

The law will virtually end the practice of most noncompetes in the state, said Michael Greco, an attorney in the Denver office of Fisher Phillips. "It will also empower workers and the [state] attorney general to punish violations through lawsuits for damages, statutory penalties and attorneys' fees," he said.

Greco explained that all restrictive covenants presented to or signed by workers after the effective dateincluding noncompete and nonsolicitation agreementswill be void. The sole exceptions that will be permitted include:

Noncompete agreements accompanying a sale of business.

Noncompete agreements signed by "highly compensated employees," defined as those making more than $101,250 per year.

Nonsolicitation agreements signed by workers earning 60 percent or more of the highly compensated employee threshold, or $60,750 per year.

Some confidentiality agreements will be permitted. "We expect confidentiality agreements to become much more important in Colorado workplaces given the impending limitations on noncompetes," Greco said.

Training cost recovery agreements will also be permitted, provided that the amount sought to be recovered is reasonable, he said.

"The law places Colorado among several other states with the strictest bans on restrictive covenant agreements for low-wage workers," said Eric Barton, an attorney in the Atlanta office of Seyfarth. "In the past six years, at least 10 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have passed legislation to limit and/or eliminate the use of noncompetes and other restrictive covenants for low-wage workers. All employers with workers in Colorado should take immediate steps to review their agreements to ensure they comply with the new law."

One of those new requirements is that employers must notify applicants about noncompete agreements and have them review the clauses before they accept a position with the company. "In order for any restrictive covenant to be enforceable under the new law, the employer must provide sufficient notice of the restrictions," Barton said. "In cases of a prospective worker, notice must be provided before they accept the offer of employment. In cases of a current worker, notice must be provided at least 14 days before the earlier of the effective date of either the covenant or the additional consideration to be provided to the worker."

Greco said that the notice must be in writing, signed by the worker, in a separate document with clear language and presented alongside the agreement containing the noncompete clause. "Failure to comply not only renders the covenants void, but it subjects employers to statutory penalties, compensatory damages and attorneys' fees," he said.

Employers will be subject to significant damages for noncompliance, Greco said, including a $5,000 penalty per employee "if they enter into, attempt to enforce, or present to current or prospective workers any noncompete that is void under the new statute."

There is a sliver of good news for employers though, he said. "Courts will have discretion not to award a penalty, or to award less than the full amount of a penalty, if the employer shows that it acted in good faith and had reasonable grounds for believing it was not acting in violation of the statute."


Direct-to-consumer (D2C) company Mensa Brands on Tuesday said it has acquired homegrown smart wearable brand Pebble for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 2013 by Ajay Agarwal and Komal Agarwal, the acquisition will strengthen Pebble's online footprint in the country.

Mensa Brands registered net revenue run rate of Rs 1,500 crore in the first 12 months of operations.

It has become India's largest D2C tech-led house of brands with over 20 brands across fashion, beauty and lifestyle categories under its umbrella.

"In the fast-growing smart wearables segment, we believe Pebble stands apart as it perfectly combines fashion with cutting-edge technology," said Ananth Narayanan, Founder and CEO of Mensa Brands.

Narayanan was previously the CEO of Myntra and Medlife and a senior partner at McKinsey & Company.

Pebble offers audio products, fitness wearables and charging solutions and has nationwide offline distribution.

"Being part of Mensa Brands will help strengthen our position in the wearables market and open up new opportunities for us to leverage," said Komal Agarwal, Co-founder of Pebble.

Mensa currently has 700 employees in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurugram, and plans to hire another 700 people this year.
A Pine Grove man who is facing charges for allegedly raping a teen is also facing charges for threatening the victim.

According to the Pennsylvania State Police at Schuylkill Haven, on June 10th, 2022, Robert Miller, 41, of Pine Grove was charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual Intercourse, and other sexual offenses in relation to a complaint received.

Troopers say the complaint alleged that Miller began sexually assaulting a 14 year old female beginning in 2019 in Washington Township. The assault occurred multiple times between January 10th, 2019 and June 8th, 2022.

Miller was arraigned by on-call Magisterial District Judge Kilker late Friday and locked up in Schuylkill County Prison on $250,000 bail on the above charges.

Troopers say the additional charges stem from an incident on Thursday, June 9th, 2022 in Washington Township. Police say Miller threatened the now 17 year old victim with a firearm in an attempt to prevent her from disclosing any information about the sexual assaults that occurred.

Miller's additional charges include aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats, harassment, corruption of minors, and intimidating a witness/victim.

Miller was arraigned by before Magisterial District Judge Reiley who set bail at $75,000 for the June 9th incident..

Miller had been taken into custody and arraigned early Friday on the intimidation charges before posting bail through a bondsman and being released.

He was then taken into custody later on Friday and arraigned on the rape charges. He then posted bail on Monday, June 13th, 2022 through a bondsman and has since been released.

A preliminary hearings are scheduled for July 7th, 2022 for the intimidation charges and July 14th, 2022 for the rape charges before Magisterial District Judge David J. Rossi.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.

We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.

A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
While people become CPAs for different reasons, they can all benefit from the opportunities that it opens up. The CPA Program is designed to create business professionals and leaders, Rennie says. We make sure that it positions CPAs to work wherever they desire.

Many members become CPAs because they want to make a positive impact.

A lot of members have a very strong ethos of working in for-purpose industries or working for not-for-profits, Rennie says. And with countries around the world increasingly making it mandatory for businesses to report on sustainability and climate change, CPAs are in prime position to make a meaningful contribution on those fronts even if theyre not working in the not-for-profit space.

CPA Australia offers a standalone micro-credential on sustainability reporting. Organisations are increasingly being required to report on their approach to sustainability. The key for organisations is how to integrate a focus on sustainability as part of their strategy, business model and risk profile. . Knowing how to create value through sustainability is an essential 21st-century skill for accounting professionals, Rennie says.

CPAs often find themselves in influential positions, Rennie says, where they really can make a difference. CPAs are trusted advisers to business and the government. They are at the forefront of advising governments and businesses on managing climate change and sustainability.

Loyal network

The CPA Program is flexible and can be studied in different ways and at difference paces: from part-time distance learning to combined post-graduate degrees, you can choose your own journey.

It is challenging, Rennie says. Its not to be taken lightly. And it does require ongoing maintenance. However, it demonstrates that you are committed to lifelong learning. Its a sign that you are a very high performer.

One of the benefits of the CPA Program is the strong and loyal CPA network; members support each other, and overwhelmingly opt to retain their CPA Australia membership for many years  sometimes even beyond retirement.

Theres a really strong sense of professional community among members, Rennie says. We have a social network called CPA Member Connect, and there are over 20,000 CPAs on there. I see members on there all the time asking questions, and a barrage of other members coming up with answers to help people not just with technical issues, but also about career progression issues, and leadership and strategy questions.

The CPA Australia Mentoring Program also provides a way for members to support each other. Our mentoring program is just growing and growing, Rennie says. A lot of members say, Ive got so much value out of this program, I want to give back.

Impact tomorrow by starting your membership application today, click here
Illicit ship-to-ship transfers are another common trick. While cargo transfers are logged at ports, there is no such jurisdiction at sea, meaning its easy to hide where a vessel acquired its goods. Meanwhile, there has been a concerted effort by some Russian operators to get ships off their books - transferring them to alternative owners in a way that may help them avoid future sanctions. Since the invasion started, some 180 vessels have changed from a Russian to non-Russian owner - a far faster rate than in previous years. Its a moral issue. For Europe, its very hard to swallow that we are giving money to Russia every day, and they can continue to bombard and destroy. Bjarne Schieldrop, a commodities analyst at Swedish bank SEB. It has been a boom time for many European shippers. As international firms such as Shell moved to wipe their hands of Russian oil, a slew of Mediterranean operators stepped in to fill the gap. While Russian export levels are little changed, the make-up of companies handling the oil has. The volume of fuel collected from Russian ports by vessels owned, managed or flagged in Greece, Cyprus or Malta has tripled since the start of the conflict according to Refinitiv data analysed by Global Witness, a human rights NGO.

If thats not profiteering, Im not quite sure what is, says Louis Wilson from Global Witness. Right now the fear is pretty low, and the greed is pretty high, adds Ami Daniel, chief executive at Windward. In the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine, companies handling Moscows oil have done their best to stay under the radar, Credit:AP But time may be running out. Last week the European Union said it would ban seaborne Russian oil imports, which represent more than two thirds of all deliveries of Putins crude to the bloc, by the end of the year. Greece, Malta and Cyprus pushed back against the move. It is a difficult step for a Continent so dependent on Russian energy, but one that has seemed increasingly inevitable as the conflict dragged on.

Its a moral issue, says Bjarne Schieldrop, a commodities analyst at Swedish bank SEB. For Europe, its very hard to swallow that we are giving money to Russia every day, and they can continue to bombard and destroy. Loading The decision will prompt a historic shift in the structure of global markets, breaking a relationship that has long underpinned the economies of both sides. Before the invasion of Ukraine, about 60 per cent of all Europes diesel was coming from Russia. It may have been Britain that added the crucial ingredient to the latest round of sanctions, as it vowed to ban Russia-affiliated vessels from Lloyds of London, the insurance market. Around 90 per cent of global shipping insurance is provided by the so-called International Group of P&I [protection and indemnity] Clubs, many of which are based in Europe. Theres also a complicated but crucial reinsurance market centred around Lloyds. Analysts in the trading and shipping sector say the ban will drive up costs for companies moving Russian oil, who will be forced into the hands of smaller, less established players and banned from some ports as a result.

There is likely to be stratification as a result, with the emergence of a distinct fleet of vessels whose controllers are either Russian, or have made peace with running fuel for Putin. In effect, youre getting a two-tiered market created: those who will do business with Russia and those who wont, says Daniel. While shipping Russian oil isnt currently illegal, that hasnt stopped traders getting ready for a shift. Michelle Wiese Bockmann, an analyst at maritime intelligence group Lloyds List, says the beginnings of a shadowy fleet that may end up moving Russia crude is becoming apparent. She has identified a slew of Cameroon-flagged vessels previously tracked moving Iranian or Venezuelan crude, which have recently shifted to conduct operations at Russian ports on the Black Sea or Baltic.

These vessels are part of a black fleet - which also operates under the flags of countries with shipping jurisdiction such as Gabon or Belize - that serves about 2 per cent of the global seaborne market by moving sanctioned oil on behalf of Caracas, Tehran and Pyongyang. Little is known about how they are insured, and most cannot dock at regular ports. Russia is keeping the revenue flowing with its oil exports, but the walls are closing in. Credit:Bloomberg Its a tempting model for Russia as its seaborne oil trade prepares for pariah status. Theres a template there for the Russians to use that has been developed in response to prior sanctions on oil shipping, says Bockmann. But it wont be simple for Moscow. [Russia is] quite an order of magnitude bigger than Venezuela and Iran, says Erik Broekhuizen, a consultant at Poten & Partners.

He estimates Russia will need to build a new fleet of more than 70 vessels if it wants to maintain output, adding: Finding these vessels and arranging insurance for them outside the EU and UK markets could be very challenging. Until then, Russia may have little choice but to curb production. That doesnt mean the ban will be a clean-cut win for Brussels, however. Planned regulations risk flopping if they overwhelm shipping companies increasingly tangled in a web of international sanctions. A schism will also have big potential consequences for the global economy. Analysts at Morgan Stanley say Europes move to wean itself off Russian diesel has the potential to leave global markets tighter for longer. The Wall Street bank says crude oil flows from Russia into north-west Europe are already down around a million barrels a day for pre-invasion levels.

Once contracts wind up and the EUs embargo on Russian fuel kicks in, Europe will need to find new sources of oil, which wont be easy given political pressures. Saudi Arabia, the US and Brazil are all likely sources, but Europe is unlikely to find any silver bullet. No one region is going to be able to step in and do this, says Tim Smith, oil and tanker director at Maritime Strategies International. Meanwhile, Moscow will need to find new buyers or face further pressure to cut capacity. Widespread qualms over buying oil from the Kremlin have forced its top producers to reduce prices. Urals crude, a benchmark for the countrys oil, has been trading at a discount of around $US30 a barrel to Brent crude through most of the war.

This deep discounting hasnt gone unnoticed by other buyers. India has taken advantage of bargain-price barrels, with its imports soaring to nearly a million barrels a day in recent weeks. This has gone a long way to offsetting the drop in demand from Europe, meaning total Russia oil exports are fairly unchanged on pre-war levels. Still, Indias refineries are already at full capacity, and it has long-term contracts with other suppliers including the Saudis, UAE and Iraqis that it may be loath to renege upon. Loading Chinese companies have also been exploring purchases, although the countrys oil importers havent visibly gone on a spending spree as of yet. Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING, says that may change as China emerges from lockdowns. Beyond those, Russias options may be more limited, but the world is too reliant on Moscows oil to leave the country completely in the cold - and as long as theres a saving to be made, Putin is bound to find buyers. If the world stopped consuming [Russian oil], it would blow up, says SEBs Schieldrop. Everyone knows that.
For decades, Australia has put enormous effort into correcting the historical features of the education system that tended to favour boys over girls.

Programs have been put in place to allow young women to feel safe from harassment and bullying and be heard in classrooms where boys often make more noise. Girls have been encouraged to overcome their traditional hesitancy about taking maths and science subjects.

Yet, as Jordan Baker reports, it might be time to start a new debate about whether enough is being done to encourage boys and young men in the education system.

It turns out, on almost every metric, young men are now doing much less well at school than women.

According to the Universities Admissions Centre, young men are 16 per cent less likely to obtain an HSC ATAR qualification than girls in the same group.
Labor might have snagged the keys to the battered and bruised federal Treasury but the party itself still needs to keep paying the bills.

Shake it up: Anthony Albanese and Wayne Swan. Credit:John Shakespeare

So with the end of financial year almost upon us, ALP national president Wayne Swan is rattling the can pretty hard in the direction of true believers, no doubt feeling that one financial crisis will be enough to last him a lifetime.

Now, were not saying that Swan is demanding the comrades pay up or else. But hes definitely warning that dire consequences might follow if Labor lacks financial oomph in the coming years.

While we won the election, we cant pretend that the radical right wing have been defeated once and for all, Swan told members. If we dont work hard now, we risk a quick return to a right-wing Liberal government at the next election.
Convicted paedophile and 'Hey Dad' actor Robert Hughes walks free from prison

Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later.

Dismiss
Defence Minister Richard Marles holds talks in Japan

Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later.

Dismiss
In all my years, a Liberal politician has never voluntarily called me to talk about womens business. They might phone to respond to a request for an interview or to berate me for not understanding their values. It gets particularly shouty around, for example, former Liberal staffer, now at Australian National University, Brittany Higgins. Apparently, I do not understand how much the Liberal Party merits the contribution of women.

So when Matt Kean, the NSW treasurer, called on the Sunday of a long weekend, my first response was bewilderment. I couldnt recall writing anything about NSW politics in recent memory. But no, he wanted to talk about the childcare policy he planned to launch this week. He was astonishingly charming, knowledgeable, gregarious.

A few minutes in, I interrupted. How come you arent in the Labor Party? Arent you a real teal?

The new childcare package announced by NSW Treasurer Matt Kean is designed to increase womens economic participation. Credit:Natalie Boog

The Liberal Party, he replied, was all about creating opportunities. The new package of measures was designed to increase womens economic participation. Not as good as free universal childcare, but quite good. Private childcare operators will be paid to expand or build new centres (uncoupling childcare from the private sector would be gold but a step too far for the Liberals). An extra 47,000 places across the state, particularly in childcare deserts (one spot for every seven kids). Employer financial support for workforce retention, university scholarships for early childhood teachers.
Almost two-thirds of patients with potentially life-threatening conditions such as stroke and suspected heart attack are not getting an ambulance within 15 minutes as waiting times for triple-zero callers blow out to their worst on record.

Paramedics warn that response times that are blowing out are putting lives at risk as NSW hospitals deal with a deluge of patients and not enough beds to cater for them.

Stuck in the driveway: Huge demand has meant ambulances are forced to wait outside hospitals which cant cope with the demand. Credit:Robert Pearce

The states hospital report card for January to March reveals about 62 per cent of patients who need a lights-and-sirens emergency response did not get an ambulance within the 15-minute benchmark, a 25 percentage point drop from the same time five years ago.

On all fronts, the health system is under serious strain and on many measures we are no longer meeting clinical standards we set for ourselves, NSW Australian Medical Association president Dr Michael Bonning said.
And the senior curator of Australian art at the Art Gallery of NSW, Mr Barry Pearce, told yesterday of a similarly exuberant Whiteley. He last spoke to him on June 9 at Whiteleys Surry Hills studio about a planned retrospective: Brett was jumping all over the place. He was excited about the retrospective; it had given him something to live for. Yet at the same time he seemed agitated, about what I dont know. When Mr Pearce proposed the retrospective three weeks ago, Whiteley was relaxed. He sat still for half an hour while we talked about it, which was unusual for Brett. Brett Whiteleys car outside the Thirroul hotel where he died on June 15, 1992. Credit:Staff photographer

Whiteley did not complain when Mr Pearce said he could not mount the exhibition until 1995. I will be 56 in 1995, he told Mr Pearce. My father was 56 when he died. Hope I can last till then. The exhibition which was planned for the Australian Galleries, in Melbourne, next month has now been cancelled. It would have been Whiteleys first since 1990, and was to have comprised his Paris collection, Regard de Cote, which was shown at the Art Gallery of NSW, and seven major new works. We were going to utilise the bottom floors of both the works-on-paper gallery and the main gallery for this exhibition, said the Australian Galleries Mr Purves.

He was really excited about that idea. Mr Purves also revealed yesterday that Whiteley had recently met Sidney Nolan, at Whiteleys studio. The artists spoke for about an hour and a half, said Mr Purves, who orchestrated the meeting. It was like being in the presence of Braque and Picasso - two great minds coming together in a sympathetic environment, neither feeling competitive. The gallery-owner puts Whiteley at the high table of Australian art. Whiteley might have preferred dining with the rock stars he admired, and whose music he painted to, such as Bob Dylan. Among artists, he was considered a loner. One of his few close artist friends, Tim Storrier, identified his body.

Whiteleys battle with heroin addiction in the 1970s and 1980s has been well-publicised. He began using the drug at the age of 35. But, as he told Janet Hawley, in The Good Weekend, being full of booze, or stoned or halfway, has been part and parcel of my life since I was 17. Whiteley booked into the Thirroul Beach Motel, near Wollongong, last Thursday. He had been a regular guest for about three years, according to the manager, Mr Alex Boceski. They would see him at least once a month, sometimes twice in a week. Always in his white BMW with the black roof. Whiteley would greet the manager, and retire to room number four - always number four - asking not to be disturbed. In the beginning, he would go down to the beach to sketch, coming back to paint in his room.

But for the past 12 months he had done almost nothing, Mr Boceski said. He had simply locked himself in the room, and lived off take-away food from Jims Fish Shop two doors down. He talked to no-one, went nowhere, had no company. Just stayed in his room, watching SBS on television. On Monday night, Mr Boceski became worried after not having seen Whiteley since Sunday night. He checked his room about 8.20 pm: I knocked on the door but there was no answer so I went in. The TV was still on. He was lying on the bed covered in blankets and looked like he was asleep
A former Queensland police officer accused of leaking official secrets from police reports and unlawfully accessing information in the police database has fronted court.

Briohny Lee Granzien, 41, appeared at Brisbane Arrests Court on Tuesday morning for the first time, charged with two counts of disclosing official secrets and four counts of computer hacking.

Briohny Lee Granzien leaves Brisbane Arrests Court on Tuesday. Credit:Toby Crockford

She has since resigned from the Queensland Police Service.

According to court documents, Granzien unlawfully communicated information, namely details from a police report on July 28, 2015, which she had a duty to keep secret.
A new high-frequency bus route to connect Brisbanes north and south sides ahead of the Olympic Games in 2032 has been submitted for state approval.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the business case for a potential Gold CityGlider had been completed and submitted to Translink for consideration.

Brisbane's Blue CityGlider operates as a high-frequency service. Credit:Lucy Stone

The proposed route stretches from Hamilton in Brisbanes north to Woolloongabba in the south, and would involve services every 10 minutes during weekday peaks and every 15 minutes off-peak from 5am to midnight.

Commuters currently have access to 10-15 minute services with the Blue CityGlider and Maroon CityGlider.
A brother-in-laws claims he saw Lynette Dawson alive in suburban Sydney after she disappeared in 1982 have come under fire in the NSW Supreme Court.

In the murder trial of Christopher Michael Dawson on Tuesday, audio recordings were played of testimony by Ross Hutcheon to the police in March 2019 and to the Local Court in February 2020.

Lynette and Chris Dawson.

Hutcheon, who died this year, claimed he saw Lynette Dawson at a bus stop across the road from Gladesville Hospital. He says he was driving along Victoria Road three-to-six months after her January 1982 disappearance.

She looked just like the Lyn that I knew. Same colour hair, same hairstyle, no sunglasses, no obvious attempt to disguise herself or anything like that, he told police at Midland in Perth in 2019.
Hes a former shock jock, TV current affairs host and newspaper man who has been jailed three times. Hes been a senator, bankrupt, had a life-saving liver transplant and been married five times, including twice to beloved Australian actor Jacki Weaver.

The night Robert Kennedy was shot, he was at the Ambassador Hotel. He had a cameo in the film clip for John Farnhams Youre the Voice and even competed on Dancing with the Stars.

Former shock jock, prisoner and federal senator Derryn Hinch has set his sights on state parliament, announcing he will contest Novembers state election. Credit:Wayne Taylor

But there is one thing missing from the CV of Derryn Hinch: a seat in the Victorian parliament.

Hinch, who last month failed in his bid to return to the Senate, wants to harness the publics frustration with the major parties, and is launching a bid for the balance of power in Victorias Upper House where his party holds two seats.
Enrolments at Victorias all-girls government secondary schools are in decline, with one large schools student body shrinking by more than 20 per cent in five years, leading to community calls for it to accept boys.

Total enrolments at Victorias five all-girls non-selective government secondary schools fell 6.66 per cent in the five years from 2016 to 2021, MySchool data shows. The drop occurred even as the overall number and proportion of girls in the states secondary schools grew solidly.

Enrolments at Pascoe Vale Girls College have declined more than 20 per cent in five years. Credit:Joe Armao

Overall, the proportion of girls attending a Victorian government secondary school rose from 55.8 per cent to 56.1 per cent in the five years to 2021, at the expense of Catholic schools.

Worst hit by the drift away from all-girls state education is Pascoe Vale Girls Secondary College, which shrunk by 21.19 per cent in that period, from 1123 to 885 students.
Australian authorities have had a myopic focus on Islamist extremism since 9/11, experts have lamented, warning that it has come at the expense of identifying the rise of far-right extremism.

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry is investigating right-wing nationalism, including how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the movement and acted as a breeding ground for recruitment. The hearings, which kicked off on Tuesday, were told children as young as 10 were being radicalised by neo-Nazis.

Gallows at a freedom rally in Melbourne last year Credit:Twitter

Liberty Victoria president Michael Stanton said that while the threat of far-right extremism was real and needed to be addressed, his organisation was concerned about encroaching on broader human rights and civil liberties in a bid to combat extremism.

We need to make sure that in responding to those confronting scenes in the Grampians, whether it be Nazi salutes, displays of the swastika or the erection of gallows outside parliament, that we do not have a legislative response that throws the baby out with the bathwater, he said.
Rio de Janeiro: The family of a missing journalist says they have been told by Brazilian authorities that two bodies have been found tied to a tree in the Amazon rainforest. The report came more than a week after the journalist and a Brazilian government official went missing.

Police said they have collected biological materials during the search, but have not confirmed they are the remains of British journalist Dom Phillips, a Brazil-based contributor to the Guardian and onetime contract writer for The Washington Post, or Bruno Pereira, a longtime official at Brazils Indigenous rights organisation. Police said reports that the bodies of Phillips and Pereira had been found were inaccurate.

A spokesman for local indigenous association UNIVAJA, which has organised search efforts since June 5, denied subsequent reports of two bodies turned up in the search.

Ive spoken with the team in the field and its not true, said Eliesio Marubo, a lawyer for UNIVAJA, according to Reuters. The search goes on.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Sint Maarten Trust Fund Steering Committee members are currently in Sint Maarten for a working visit. The Honorable Prime Minister Silveria E. Jacobs hereby extends a warm welcome to the Steering Committee as they return to Sint Maarten to discuss the implementation of Trust Fund initiatives, opportunities for improvement, as well as plans of action for potential upcoming projects.

The Steering Committee is made up of former Sint Maarten Prime Minister, Mr. Marcel Gumbs (representing the Government of Sint Maarten), former Dutch State Secretary, Mr. Frans Weekers (representing the Government of the Netherlands), and World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean Countries, Ms. Lilia Burunciuc (representing the World Bank).

The Trust Fund is assisting Sint Maarten to recover after the destruction of hurricanes Irma and Maria and has invested in the countrys long-term development and sustainability. While this government is happy to see progress with the work that has been completed thus far, there is still a lot to be done and this weeks meeting of the Steering Committee gives us the opportunity to, as the local idiom says, hold one head on the path forward, stated Prime Minister Jacobs.

The official Steering Committee meeting starts tomorrow, Tuesday, June 14. The Honorable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of VROMI Egbert J. Doran will open the meeting on behalf of the Government of Sint Maarten. The Steering Committee will discuss the status of the portfolio, including the financial and operational outlook of the 10 projects currently under implementation. The Steering Committee will also discuss the projects under preparation, such as improving mental health care and wastewater treatment, as well as a housing project to increase the number of affordable homes in Sint Maarten.

The formal meeting will be followed by a grant agreement signing for the Fostering Resilient Learning Project (FRLP). This project will finance the reconstruction of Sister Marie Laurence Primary School, Charles Leopold Bell Primary School, and the Philipsburg Jubilee Library, as well as the embedding of (digital) programs within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) to improve the provision of education, particularly for students with special behavioral and learning needs. In collaboration with Ministry of ECYS, preparatory work has already started with this project, including important stakeholder consultation sessions.

During the visit, the Steering Committee will also interact with entrepreneurs who are beneficiaries of the Enterprise Support Project (ESP) and visit six multi-story apartment buildings of the Sint Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF). These buildings  locally known as the towers - are currently being repaired through the Emergency Recovery Project (ERP-1).

I look forward to constructive discussions with the members of the Steering Committee, with the goal of continuing our fruitful cooperation in order to fully recover from Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria, and the COVID-19 pandemic, concluded Prime Minister Jacobs.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (Ministry VSA) has finalized a new 10-year strategic plan for chronic diseases.



It is called the Multisectoral Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD MAP) 2021-2030. The NCD MAP was presented to the Ministries of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports, the Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning, and Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Finance by the Minister of VSA Hon. Omar Ottley.



NCDs are chronic conditions that are caused by a combination of lifestyle, biological and environmental factors. They are the biggest cause of ill-health and death in the world.



In Sint Maarten, around a quarter of the population suffers from chronic conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, cancer, stroke, and heart attack. Mental health-related issues are also a prevalent but hidden condition.



The vision of the NCD MAP is a vibrant Sint Maarten society where health and wellbeing are the way of life for all people to achieve their fullest potential in a stigma-free, equitable and supportive community.



The mission of the strategic plan is to create and promote a supportive environment that enables and empowers people to make healthier choices that will prevent and reduce NCDs and their risk factors by 2030. This can only be achieved by multisectoral action and collaboration between the various ministries.



The four NCD MAP strategic action areas are 1. Strengthen health systems for surveillance, research, monitoring, and evaluation of NCD prevalence and risk factors; 2. Establish governance and coordination mechanisms for multisectoral involvement, decision-making, and implementation of the NCD MAP; 3. Reduce NCD risk factors by creating awareness, promoting healthy lifestyles, and addressing determinants of health; 4. Provide quality, people-centered, integrated, and comprehensive services for the effective management of NCDs, including self-management.
WILLEMSTAD:---The Dutch naval vessel HNLMS Groningen intercepted two drug transports within 24 hours. With those two cases, the ship seized an estimated 1.040 kg of cocaine.

Recently a maritime patrol aircraft detected a go-fast (fast powerboat) in the Caribbean sea. Directly after the detection, HNLMS Groningen launched the embarked MH-65 Dolphin helicopter of the US Coast Guard to localize the suspected contact. Soon the helicopter had located the go-fast and forced the crewmembers to stop. Quickly after, boarding has been executed with the support of a FRISC-interception craft to catch the crewmembers.

Subsequently, after completing the first action, a second go-fast was reported. HNLMS Groningen, only a few nautical miles away from the go-fast turned to the scene. Quick action was taken by the ships crew by launching the helicopter again together with two fast raiding interception crafts. Thereafter the persons on board the go-fast were apprehended.

The five crewmembers of both cases together with the contraband were handed over to a US Coast Guard vessel for prosecution in the United States.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The application process for the annual Hurricane Passes for the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season will conclude on June 17. Applications will not be entertained after that date.



There are two types of passes, the Disaster Pass and the Hurricane Pass.



The pass system is a mechanism to maintain public order during emergency situations. The Prime Minister assesses the damage in conjunction with Emergency Disaster Management entities of the Government after a disaster has occurred and can impose a curfew if the extent of the damage poses a threat to the safety and security of the community.



An application form can be requested by sending an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Emails should include the following: Name of business or organization; Request for disaster or hurricane pass.



When submitting the application, the following documents need to be attached:

- copy business license fee paid (or receipt) for 2022.

- proof of 2022 registration at the Chamber of Commerce.

- copy valid Sint Maarten ID-card of applicant.

- Nafl. 50,- in leges stamps per application (to be obtained at the Receivers Office or the Simpson Bay Public Service Center), this is a non-refundable handling fee;

- One (1) passport picture for new applicants, to be sent in JPEG-format to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the name of the person clearly indicated.



The application form has to be completed and submitted to the offices of the Fire Department & Disaster Management, to the attention of the secretary located at Jackal Road 5 (Office hours Monday-Friday 9.00AM to 4.00PM), Cay Hill, by June 17, 2022, with all necessary documents attached.



Applicants will be informed by email or telephone when to pick up the pass at the aforementioned address.
Digital Dump Podcast #40 with Oliver Sopp

Oliver Sopp was a guest on the aDigital Dumpa podcast. This episode dealt with the technologies of tomorrow, the customer experience and, of course, the metaverse. Oliver explains how important flexibility, speed and compatibility are and how he sees the future. His mission is to formulate and act on clear priorities. Oliver Sopp, Regional Sales Director DACH at Mambu, is talking to Kate Pohl , Head of Banking & Corporate Sales at Traxpay , and Steven Batiste , CTO of TIS.

Steven BatisteA ofA TIS (Treasury Intelligence Solutions)A andA Kate PohlA ofA TraxpayA were very, very pleased to welcomeA Oliver Sopp, Regional Sales Director, DACH atA Mambu, to their Podcast! Oliver talked about vision and goals, emphasizing that trueA #collaborationA and support of each otherA is a recipe for success in a global company.A #timetomarketA is becoming ever more important. Oliver explained that the key ingredients to achieve this are flexibility, speed, and composability! A greatA #customerexperienceA coupled with anA #ecosystemA ofA #bestofbreedA products and services will be the future. IsA MambuA the right partner for bothA #incumbentsA andA #neobanks? WhatA #technologiesA does Oliver feel will be important going forward?A Do banks have a future in theA #metaverse?

Tune in and find out the answers to these questions and so much more!

You can find this aDigital Dumpa Podcast on:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6yPXwHcC2l9TUWX3uxnOh0?si=_rbM2KzHQpST-Nhqm_i84Q&utm_source=whatsapp&nd=1

as well as on Google Podcasts,A Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Breaker, Radio Public, Anchor FM and Reason FM.

The Hosts:

Kate Pohl,Moderator Digital Dump, Head of Banking & Corporate Sales, Traxpay

Steven Batiste, Moderator Digital Dump, CTO, TIS

The Interviewee:

Oliver Sopp, Regional Sales Director, Mambu

More Information about Digital Dump:https://www.traxpay.com/

Every week, Steven Batiste\-s and Kate Pohla?s \Digital Dumpa podcast is all about the world of technology. They want to demystify the magic word \TECH\ and make the complex transparent and easy to understand  not just for experts  but for everyone.

About Oliver Sopp:

Experienced banker, fintech advocate and sales leader. Always passionate about his work, no matter the area/role. He provides practical, focused advice that gets results and enables modern banking experiences. He brings plenty of experience from companies such as Dresdner Bank, Commerzbank, ANZ, Finastra, FIS and has been Regional Sales Director at Mambu for a year.

About Kate Pohl:

Kate is Passionate about transformation through digitalization and innovation. She started her banking career in NYC at Bank of New York, later moving to Germany as Senior Credit Officer and GeschAftsleiterin. Kate joined Chase Bank AG/JPMC to head Treasury Services Sales and later moved to ABN AMRO as Global Transactions Services Head for Germany. Four years later she moved to Amsterdam for ABN Amro to create and lead Global Implementation Management, later becoming Head of Global Compliance for GTS, IT, & Operations. In 2008 Kate returned to Frankfurt for Citigroup assuming the role of GTS Head for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. She joined ING Bank Germany to head Transaction Services and in 2016 became Head of Payments Innovation for Germany and Austria.A In July 2018, Kate left the banking arena to work as a Freelance Consultant and Advisor to fintechs, banks, & corporations. In 2021, Kate joined the Frankfurt-based fintech, Traxpay, as Head of Banking & Corporate Sales. She also facilitates the Euro Banking Associationa?s Open Forum for Digital Transformation and works with The Core Leadership Institute, to help professionals find their leadership purpose. Kate loves to podcast, interviewing key players in the area of technology, together with Steven Batiste for Digital Dump.A

About Steven Batiste:

An entrepreneurial and hands-on technology leader proven to be the architect, Principal Engineer, CTO or Manager needed to ship high-quality products and platforms at scale.

TIS, Ogetit, VokNo, Insurance Simplified, Eriscon, David Geffen School, JACE Holding, Magic Leap, GaolFin, Seed Studio, THQ, Naughty Dog, Genuine Games.

About TIS:

TIS is reimagining the world of enterprise payments through a cloud-based platform uniquely designed to help global organizations optimize outbound payments. Corporations, banks, and business vendors leverage TIS to transform how they connect global accounts, collaborate on payment processes, execute outbound payments, analyze cash flow and compliance data, and improve critical outbound payment functions. The TIS corporate payments platform helps businesses improve operational efficiency, lower risk, manage liquidity, gain a strategic advantage, and ultimately achieve enterprise payment optimization.

Traxpay ist eine schnell wachsende Online-Plattform fAr Lieferantenfinanzierung, die mit einem Multibanken-Ansatz aus Europa heraus global agiert und schon heute Lieferanten in Aber 30 LAndern bedient. Mit der Mission, die aPlatform of Choicea fAr KAufer, Lieferanten und Banken zu werden, ermAglicht Traxpay Unternehmen ein einfaches, sicheres und nachhaltiges Working Capital Management mit allen gAngigen Instrumenten der Lieferkettenfinanzierung.

Etablierte Finanzinstitute wie die Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, Nord/LB, LBBW, Raiffeisen Bank International und die KfW IPEX-Bank vertrauen der FinanzierungslAsung von Traxpay und pflegen strategische Partnerschaften mit dem Unternehmen. Durch ein neues Sustainable-Supply-Chain-Finance-Programm kAnnen Plattformnutzer die Nachhaltigkeit ihrer Lieferketten finanziell incentivieren.
Uranium Energy Corp Announces Acquisition of UEX Corporation to Create the Largest Diversified North American Focused Uranium Company

Acquisition Rationale and Highlights:

Accretive transaction, doubling of UECa?s uranium resources in world-class, politically stable, uranium mining jurisdictions at only a 13.7% dilution to UECa?s outstanding shares (1)

Pro forma UEC will have the largest uranium portfolio focused exclusively in the Americas, located in proven and stable jurisdictions, and combining diversified U.S. production and Canadian development assets

Recent global events have set in motion long-term structural changes in the supply chains of energy commodities where security of supply and reduction of geopolitical and transportation risk will be key strategic differentiators

On the demand side, there is a growing trend by Western utilities to secure supplies from uranium projects in politically stable jurisdictions

UEX portfolio is comprised of 29 uranium projects covering key areas of the producing eastern side and development western side of prolific Athabasca basin

5 of the 29 projects are advanced resource stage and already in strong joint-venture partnerships with established uranium miners which allows UEC to remain operationally focused in the U.S. while benefiting from a new development pipeline with significant exploration potential in Canada

UEX complements UECa?s near-term production-ready and brownfield assets in the U.S. with medium and long-term production potential in Canada

UEC maintains its strong balance sheet with over $180 (2) million of cash and liquid assets, with no debt, supporting production readiness and its ability to advance a strengthened project portfolio

Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE American: UEC, the aCompanya or aUECa  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/uranium-energy-corp/) and UEX Corporation (TSX:UEX, aUEXa) are pleased to announce they have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement (the aAgreementa), pursuant to which UEC will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of UEX by way of statutory plan of arrangement (the aArrangementa) under the Canada Business Corporations Act.

Under the terms of the Agreement, each holder of the common shares of UEX (each, a aUEX Sharea) will receive 0.0831 of one UEC share (each, a aUEC Sharea) in exchange for each UEX Share. This share exchange ratio implies consideration of approximately C$0.43(3) per UEX Share and a premium of approximately 50% based on the closing price of UEXa?s shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the aTSXa) on June 10, 2022.

At closing, existing UEC and UEX shareholders will own approximately 86.3% and 13.7%, respectively, of UEC based on current outstanding common shares.

Notes:

Subject to the completion of technical reports by UEC after closing

See UEC news release dated June 8, 2022; Subsequent to the closing of the Anfield indebtedness, and the pending return of certain surety amounts related to the U1 Americas transaction; Equity holdings include 15M shares of Uranium Royalty Corp (UROY)

Based on a spot exchange rate on June 10, 2022 of 1.2777 Canadian dollars per U.S. dollar

Amir Adnani, President and CEO of UEC, stated: aUECa?s acquisition of Uranium One Americas, Inc. in December 2021 marked the largest M&A transaction in the uranium sector in about a decade. The transaction was highly accretive for the Company, and we have seen a very positive response from our shareholders and the marketplace. The strategic acquisition of UEX has the same characteristics and will grow our diversified portfolio in the politically stable and mining friendly jurisdiction of Canada. It also marks the largest North American M&A transaction in the uranium sector following the U1A acquisition. This transaction underscores UECa?s sector leading strategy as the fastest growing, pure play, 100% un-hedged uranium company with assets only in the Western hemisphere. As with the U1A acquisition, the purchase price is equal to only 13.7% of the pro forma market capitalization, yet the acquisition is expected to more than double the size of our attributable measured and indicated uranium resources. This opportunity provides entry into two of Canadaa?s most prospective uranium districts in Saskatchewan and Nunavut, and cements UECa?s position as not only a leading American uranium mining company but a North American one as well. We commend Roger Lemaitre and the UEX team for having assembled and advanced this highly prospective portfolio and look forward to working with their experienced and professional Canadian team. They will be of great benefit to UEC moving forward. Furthermore, the key projects in the UEX portfolio are already in joint venture partnerships with uranium producers, including Cameco and Orano, and we look forward to working with them as the projects continue development towards production.a

Roger Lemaitre, President and CEO of UEX, commented: aThis transaction with UEC reflects the efforts of the UEX team to create value through building an attractive strategic portfolio of assets and ultimately delivers a great outcome for UEX shareholders and complements our recent acquisition of JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited (aJCUa). The combination of UEC and UEX brings together two very strong and complementary portfolios and, in addition to a significant premium, provides our shareholders with the opportunity to participate in the continued growth of UEC. UEX shareholders will gain substantial exposure to production-ready low-cost U.S. ISR (in situ recovery) mining assets, a substantial physical uranium portfolio, a strong balance sheet and access to capital. I look forward to seeing UECa?s management team continue to execute on their growth strategy and build upon the success we have already seen with UEXa?s portfolio of assets.a

Additional Benefits of the Acquisition to UEX shareholders

UEC\-s strong balance sheet and liquidity provides UEX with additional capital to fund continued exploration and growth initiatives at its projects in the Athabasca basin and Nunavut

Provides UEX\-s shareholders with substantial exposure to production-ready uranium assets in the United States, complementing UEX\-s current portfolio of development stage assets in Canada

UEX Asset Portfolio Overview

1% ownership in Shea Creek (operated by Orano, 50.9% ownership): Currently one of the largest undeveloped deposits in the Athabasca Basin, hosts 67.6M lbs. U3O8 of Indicated and 28.1M lbs. U3O8 of Inferred resources (100% basis) (1)

100% ownership in Horseshoe-Raven: Open pit amenable project located only 4 kms from Camecoa?s Rabbit Lake Mill, hosts 37.4M lbs. U3O8 of Indicated resources (100% basis) (2)

82.8% ownership in Christie Lake: Resource stage asset located in the Athabasca basin that hosts 20.4M lbs. U3O8 of Inferred resource (100% basis) (3)

16.9% ownership in Kiggavik (operated by Orano, 66.2% ownership): Feasibility stage project located in Nunavut, Canada that hosts 127.3M lbs. U3O8 of Indicated and 5.4M lbs. U3O8 of Inferred resource (100% basis) (treated as a historical estimate for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 a Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (aNI 43-101a) (4)

15% ownership in Millennium (operated by Cameco, 69.9% ownership): Feasibility stage project located between McArthur River Mine and Key Lake Mill that hosts 75.9M lbs. U3O8 of Indicated and 29.0M lbs. U3O8 of Inferred resource (100% basis) (treated as a historical estimate for the purposes of NI 43-101) (5)

5% ownership in Wheeler River (operated by Denison, 95% ownership): Denison completed a PFS in 2018 highlighting robust economics. The Wheeler River project hosts a total of 132.1M lbs. U3O8 of Indicated (inclusive of 109.4M lbs. U3O8 probable reserves) and 3.0M lbs. U3O8 of Inferred resources (100% basis) (treated as a historical estimate for the purposes of NI 43-101) (6)

Other Projects: The remainder of UEXa?s portfolio consists of one resource-level project, four mid-stage projects and 18 grassroots projects which will help provide further resource growth and long-term production sustainability for UEC

For mineral resource estimates referenced above as ahistorical estimatesa, UEX and UEC are not treating this information as current mineral resources, have not verified this information and are not relying on it. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify these historical estimates as current mineral resources. UEX and UEC currently do not plan to conduct work to verify the historical estimates other than using them to guide exploratory and possible development work.

UEC Asset Portfolio Overview

Wyoming Hub & Spoke ISR Portfolio: Seven satellite projects, with a combined Measured and Indicated resource of 62M U3O8 and 7M lbs. U3O8 of Inferred resources, and the Irigaray Processing Plant with a licensed production capacity of 2.5M lbs./year (7)

Texas Hub & Spoke ISR Portfolio: Four satellite projects, with a combined Measured and Indicated resource of 6.5M lbs. U3O8 and 12.5M lbs. U3O8 of Inferred resources, and the Hobson Processing Plant with an installed production capacity of 2M lbs./year (8)

Other Projects: S. Hardrock pipeline, Paraguay ISR uranium portfolio, Paraguay Titanium business and the Diabase project in the Athabasca Basin

Physical Uranium Portfolio: A 5M lb. physical portfolio of U.S. warehoused uranium (U3O8).

Strategic Equity Interest: 16% equity stake in Uranium Royalty Corp.

Readers are cautioned that resources reported by UEX have been prepared and reported pursuant to the disclosure standards required by NI 43-101, and the resources reported by UEC have been prepared pursuant to the disclosure standards required under Regulation S-K subpart 1300 (aS-K 1300a) adopted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for filings under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Resources that are reported pursuant to S-K 1300 may not qualify as resources under NI 43-101 or may differ from resources prepared under NI 43-101, and vice versa.

Transaction Conditions & Timing

UEX intends to call a meeting of shareholders to be held in August 2022 to seek shareholder approval for the Arrangement (the aUEX Meetinga). Completion of the Arrangement will require:

approval of at least 66 2/3% of the votes cast by UEX shareholders at the UEX Meeting, and

approval of a simple majority of the votes cast by UEX shareholders at the UEX Meeting, excluding votes from certain management shareholders, as required under Multilateral Instrument 61-101.

Completion of the Arrangement is also subject to the receipt of court and stock exchange approvals, and other customary closing conditions for transactions of this nature, such as Investment Canada approval.

The Agreement provides for, among other things, non-solicitation covenants, with afiduciary outa provisions that allow UEX to consider and accept a superior proposal, subject to a aright to match perioda in favour of UEC. A The Agreement also provides for a termination fee of US$8.25 million to be paid by UEX to UEC if the Agreement is terminated in certain specified circumstances. A A In addition, under the Agreement UEC has agreed to provide UEX with C$5 million funding by way of a private placement of UEX Shares at a price of C$0.43 per UEX Share (the aPrivate Placementa). Closing of the Private Placement is subject to the approval of the TSX.

The Arrangement has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of UEX. The directors and senior officers of UEX, holding in aggregate approximately 0.5% of the issued and outstanding UEX Shares, have entered into voting support agreements with UEC, pursuant to which they have agreed to vote their shares in favour of the Arrangement at the UEX Meeting. TD Securities and Sprott Capital Partners have provided opinions to the UEX Board of Directors to the effect that, as of the date thereof, and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications stated in such opinions, the consideration to be received by UEX shareholders pursuant to the Arrangement is fair, from a financial point of view, to such shareholders.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.

Advisors and Counsel

BMO Capital Markets and Rothschild & Co are acting as financial advisor to UEC in connection with the transaction. McMillan LLP is acting as legal advisor to UEC.

TD Securities and Sprott Capital Partners are acting as financial advisors to UEX in connection with the transaction. Koffman Kalef LLP is acting as legal advisor to UEX.

Webcast and Conference Call

UEC and UEX will host a joint webcast on June 13, 2022 at 8:00 AM Pacific Time (11:00 AM Eastern Time), for members of the investment community to discuss the Arrangement. Webcast information are provided below.

Webcast URL

https://www.bigmarker.com/vid-conferences/VID-Town-Hall?utm_bmcr_source=irinc

Notes on Technical Disclosure

The technical information in this news release relating to UEC has been reviewed by Clyde L. Yancey, P.G., Vice President-Exploration for UEC, being a Qualified Person under Item 1302 of Regulation S-K-1300 and NI 43-101

The technical information relating to UEX in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Roger Lemaitre, P.Eng., P.Geo., UEXa?s President and CEO.

Notes:

NI 43-101 Technical Report a2022 Technical Report on the Shea Creek Project, Saskatchewana with an effective date of January 1, 2022, a copy of which is available under UEX Corporationa?s profile on SEDAR at sedar.com. These resources are reported in accordance with the CIM definition standards adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum council on May 19, 2014 (the aCIM Definition Standardsa)

NI 43-101 Technical Report a2021 Technical Report on the Horseshoe-Raven Project, Saskatchewana with an effective date of December 31, 2021, a copy of which is available under UEX Corporationa?s profile on SEDAR at sedar.com. These resources are reported in accordance with the CIM Definition Standards.

NI 43-101 Technical Report aTechnical Report for the Christie Lake Uranium Project, Saskatchewan, Canadaa with an effective date of December 31, 2021, a copy of which is available under UEX Corporationa?s profile on SEDAR at sedar.com. These resources are reported in accordance with the CIM Definition Standards.

Kiggavik resources as reported by Orano in their 2021 Activities Report available on their website at https://www.orano.group/docs/default-source/orano-doc/finance/publications-financieres-et-reglementees/2021/orano-annual-activity-report-2021.pdf?sfvrsn=a2e56244_8 converted from tonnes U to pounds U3O8 and from %U to %U3O8. The reader is cautioned that neither UEC or UEX are aware whether Oranoa?s reporting of resources conforms to NI 43-101 and CIM guidelines. These are treated by the UEX and UEC as historic resource estimates. There are no other estimates available to UEC or UEX.

Millennium resources as reported by Cameco on their website at https://www.cameco.com/businesses/uranium-projects/millennium/reserves-resources#measured_and_indicated as of December 31, 2021. The reader is cautioned that neither UEX nor UEC are aware of whether Camecoa?s reporting conforms to NI 43-101 and CIM guidelines.A These are treated by the Company as historic resource estimates. A Cameco has reported that the estimates have been prepared in accordance with the CIM Definitions Standards.A There are no other estimates available to UEC or UEX.

Wheeler River resources as reported by Denisona?s Prefeasibility Study as posted on October 30, 2018 on SEDAR.com using a cut-off grade of 0.2% U3O8 for the Gryphon Deposit and 0.8% U3O8 for the Phoenix Deposit. These are treated by the UEC and UEX as historic resource estimates.There are no other estimates available to UEC or UEX.

The Technical Report Summary (aTRSa) was prepared under S-K 1300 and was filed on April 4, 2022 with the SEC through EDGAR on Form 8-K and is also available on SEDAR as a aMaterial Documenta filed on April 4, 2022. The TRS was prepared on behalf of the Company by WWC Engineering, of Sheridan, Wyoming.

NI 43-101 Technical Reports on the Palangana (effective date of January 15, 2010), Goliad (effective date of March 7, 2008), Burke Hollow (effective date of November 27, 2017) and Salvo (effective date of March 31, 2011) projects; copies of which are available under UECa?s profile on SEDAR at sedar.com. These resources are reported in accordance with the CIM Definition Standards.

About Uranium Energy Corp

Uranium Energy Corp is America\-s leading, fastest growing, uranium mining company listed on the NYSE American. UEC is a pure play uranium company and is advancing the next generation of low-cost, environmentally friendly ISR mining uranium projects. The Company has two production ready ISR hub and spoke platforms in South Texas and Wyoming, anchored by fully licensed and operational processing capacity at the Hobson and Irigaray Processing Plants. UEC also has seven U.S. ISR uranium projects with all of their major permits in place. Additionally, the Company has other diversified holdings of uranium assets, including: 1) one of the largest physical uranium portfolios of U.S. warehoused U3O8; 2) a major equity stake in the only royalty company in the sector, Uranium Royalty Corp; and 3) a pipeline of resource-stage uranium projects in Arizona, New Mexico and Paraguay. The Company\-s operations are managed by professionals with a recognized profile for excellence in their industry, a profile based on many decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining.

About UEX Corporation

UEX is a Canadian uranium and cobalt exploration and development company involved in an exceptional portfolio of uranium projects. UEXa?s directly-owned portfolio of projects is located in the eastern, western and northern perimeters of the Athabasca Basin, the world\-s richest uranium region which in 2020 accounted for approximately 8.1% of the global primary uranium production. In addition to advancing its uranium development projects through its ownership interest in JCU, UEX is currently advancing several other uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin which include the Paul Bay, Ken Pen and ?rora deposits at the Christie Lake Project , the Kianna, Anne, Colette and 58B deposits at its currently 49.1%-owned Shea Creek Project, the Horseshoe and Raven deposits located on its 100%-owned Horseshoe-Raven Project and the West Bear Uranium Deposit located at its 100%-owned West Bear Project.

Additional Information

Full details of the Arrangement are set out in the Agreement, which will be filed by UEX under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. In addition, further information regarding the Arrangement will be contained in a management information circular to be prepared in connection with the UEX Meeting and filed on UEX\-s profile on www.sedar.com at the time that it is mailed to securityholders. All securityholders are urged to read the management information circular once it becomes available as it will contain additional important information concerning the Arrangement.

For additional information, please contact:

Uranium Energy Corp Investor Relations

Toll Free: (866) 748-1030

Fax: (361) 888-5041

E-mail: info@uraniumenergy.com

Twitter: @UraniumEnergy

Stock Exchange Information:

NYSE American: UEC

Frankfurt Stock Exchange Symbol: U6Z

WKN: AAJDRR

ISN: US916896103

UEX Corporation

Roger Lemaitre, President & CEO

Telephone: (306) 979-3849

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

Notices to U.S. Investors

Certain projects in the UEX Asset Portfolio contain ahistoric resourcesa which have been estimated in compliance with CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves but should not be considered or treated as current resources as defined under NI 43-101. These resources should be considered a ahistorical estimatea as defined under NI 43-101. In each instance, the reliability of the historical estimate is considered reasonable, but a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current Mineral Resource, and UEC is not treating the historical estimate as a current Mineral Resource.

The mineral resources referred to in the UEX Asset Portfolio herein have been estimated in accordance with the definition standards on mineral resources of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum referred to in NI 43-101 and are not compliant with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the aSECa) Industry Guide 7 guidelines. In addition, measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources and inferred mineral resources, while recognized and required by Canadian regulations, are not defined terms under SEC Industry Guide 7 and are normally not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. Accordingly, we have not reported them in the United States. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral resources in these categories will ever be converted into mineral reserves. These terms have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. In particular, it should be noted that mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources or inferred mineral resources will ever be upgraded to a higher category. In accordance with Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources cannot form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part of the reported measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources or inferred mineral resources referred to herein are economically or legally mineable.

UEC is now subject to the requirements of Regulation S-K (subpart) 1300 a Disclosure by Registrants Engaged in Mining Operations with respect to disclosure of mining operations that are material to it starting with its fiscal year ending July 31, 2022 or sooner if it files a registration statement and can only rely on technical information contained in a technical report summary prepared in accordance with Regulation S-K (subpart) 1300.

Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes aforward-looking statementsa as such term is used in applicableA United StatesA and Canadian laws. A 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 other 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 aexpectsa or adoes not expecta, ais expecteda, aanticipatesa or adoes not anticipatea, aplans, aestimatesa or aintendsa, or stating that certain actions, events or results amaya, acoulda, awoulda, amighta or awilla be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as aforward-looking statementsa. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, market and other conditions, the actual results of exploration activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, 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 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 contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. Certain matters discussed in this news release and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Federal securities laws. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. A Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Many of these factors are beyond the Company\-s ability to control or predict. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and that could impact the Company and the statements contained in this news release can be found in the Company\-s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ForA forward-lookingA statements in this news release, the Company claims the protection of the safe harborA for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. A The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward?Looking Statements

This news release includes certain aForward?Looking Statementsa within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and aforward?looking informationa under applicable Canadian securities laws. These forward?looking statements or information relate to, among other things: anticipated benefits of the Arrangement to UEC, UEX and their respective securityholders; the timing and receipt of required securityholder, court, stock exchange, creditor and regulatory approvals for the Arrangement; the completion of the Private Placement; the ability of UEC and UEX to satisfy the other conditions to, and to complete, the Arrangement; the anticipated timing of the mailing of the UEX management information circular regarding the Arrangement, the closing of the Arrangement; future growth potential for UEC and its businesses; and future mine development plans.

In respect of the forward?looking statements and information concerning the anticipated completion of the proposed Arrangement and the anticipated timing for completion of the Arrangement, the parties have provided them in reliance on certain assumptions that they believe are reasonable at this time, including assumptions as to the time required to prepare and mail UEX Meeting materials, the ability of UEX to receive, in a timely manner, the necessary securityholder, court, stock exchange, and regulatory approvals; and the ability of the parties to satisfy, in a timely manner, the other conditions to the closing of the Arrangement. Timing of these matters may change for a number of reasons, including unforeseen delays in preparing material for the UEX Meeting; inability to secure necessary securityholder, court, stock exchange, and regulatory approvals in the time assumed or the need for additional time to satisfy the other conditions to the completion of the Arrangement. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward?looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these times.

These statements reflect the partiesa? respective current views with respect to future events and are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Such factors include, the synergies expected from the Arrangement not being realized; business integration risks; fluctuations in general macro?economic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets and the market price of UEC shares; fluctuations in the spot and forward price of uranium or certain other commodities (such as natural gas, fuel oil and electricity); fluctuations in the currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar and the U.S. dollar); changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada and the United States; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards and industrial accidents); risks relating to the credit worthiness or financial condition of suppliers, refiners and other parties with whom the parties do business; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; and the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining, availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities; title to properties; and the factors identified under the caption aRisk Factorsa in UECa?s Form 10K and under the caption aRisk Factorsa in UEXa?s Annual Information Form. In addition, the failure of UEX to comply with the terms of the Arrangement Agreement may result in UEX being required to pay a termination fee to UEC, the result of which could have a material adverse effect on UEXa?s financial position and results of operations and its ability to fund growth prospects and current operations. Although the parties have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. The parties do not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update these forward?looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law.
Hannan identifies outcropping Cu-Au Porphyry mineralization over 1600m long and 800m wide area at the 100% owned Valiente project

Hannan Metals Limited (aHannana or the aCompanya) (TSXV: HAN) (OTCPK: HANNF  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/hannan-metals-ltd/ ) is pleased to provide an update at the Belen copper-gold porphyry project at the 100%-owned Valiente in central Peru (Figures 1 and 2).

The Valiente Project, located 19 km east from the township of Tingo Maria in central Peru, defines a previously unknown Miocene-age porphyry-epithermal copper-gold mineralized belt within a 140 km by 50 km area in Peru where Hannana?s exploration team has identified at least seven intrusion related porphyry/epithermal/skarn targets, of which Belen is the most advanced and described here in more detail.

Highlights:

 Detailed field work at the Belen prospect, which represents a small proportion (4%) of Hannana?s total landholding at the Valiente project, has consisted of infill soil sampling over a 1,600 m by 800 m area and coincident identification of an outcropping leached copper-gold porphyry with well-developed quartz veining with evidence for an enriched chalcocite blanket at the Southern Porphyry Copper-Gold Target (Figures 2-7).

 A gold-bearing epithermal target area identified by large gold mineralized boulders of quartz-pyrite and iron oxides as well as strongly gold anomalous soil samples has been discovered 2.5 km NW of the Southern Porphyry Target, where a systematic 100 m x 100 m soil sampling program has identified two strong gold anomalous trends that extend for 1800 m and 970 m respectively.

Michael Hudson, CEO, states aHannana?s has located a new Miocene-age copper-gold mineral camp within a 140 km by 50 km area at Valiente. At Belen we see extensive and systematic soil sample anomalies over multiple kilometres. What is most encouraging is the presence of an outcropping leached copper-gold porphyry with well-developed porphyry alteration and quartz veining at upper topographic levels with evidence of an enriched chalcocite blanket within lower lying creeks. This is the first bone fide bedrock find at the Valiente project. We look forward to more detailed field work including channel sampling at Belen and working up adjacent porphyry targets.A The Company is also initiating work to commence drill permitting.a

A linked porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold mineral system has been identified at Belen within a 9 km by 2 km trend (Figure 2-7). Detailed field work at the Belen prospect, which represents a small proportion (4%) of Hannana?s total landholding at the Valiente project, has infilled soil sampling trends and identified a leached copper-gold porphyry with well-developed quartz veining at upper topographic levels with evidence for an enriched chalcocite blanket sampled over 1 km within lower lying creeks at the Southern Copper-Gold Porphyry Target.A A gold-bearing epithermal target area identified by large gold mineralized boulders of quartz-pyrite and iron oxides as well as strongly gold anomalous soil samples has been discovered 2.5 km NW of the Southern Porphyry Target.A Work over the last month described in further detail below:

Southern Copper-Gold Porphyry Target

This target concists of a highly anomalous Cu-Au-Mo soil anomaly, initially reported here, over a 1,600 m by 800 m area above a mapped and radiometrically dated Miocene-age porphyry intrusion. Systematic soil sampling has been completed.A A total of 494 samples have been taken across the porphyry target covering an area of approximately 3.3 km x 1.7 km at sample spacing of 100 m x 100 m. The results show strong correlation with several elements including Cu-Au-Mo-K-V. The core of the anomaly extends over 1600m and 800m width and have consistent values > 500 ppm Cu with Cu values up to 1461 ppm Cu and Mo up to 32 ppm. (Figures 2-4). Gold is locally anomalous within but also occur peripheral to the main copper anomaly. The main aoffseta gold target is marked by a 1000 m long up to 300 m wide gold anomaly.A Gold assays have been received for 331 samples and values range from <0.001 ppm to 0.185 ppm, average 0.0162 g/t and 9 samples have values > 0.1 ppm (100ppb) in soil (Figures 2-4).

The host rock is a grey to greenish porphyritic A intrusion with hornblende and feldspar phenocrysts that is overprinted by strong weathering. Observations of hydrothermal alteration are emerging from systematic mapping and Terraspec analysis and so far, areas of propylitic, phyllic, intermediate argillic alteration, silicification and secondary biotite have been observed. Geological and alteration vectors such as pyrite and chalcopyrite ratios from surface rock observations suggest that the mineralization represents the upper part of a porphyry intrusion. Both more intense hypogene copper mineralization can be expected at depth and zones of supergene enrichment. Sampling below the soils has uncovered:

 A strongly leached copper-gold porphyry, with an extensive zone of enrichment has been discovered beneath anomalous soil sampling that cover an area of 1,600m by 800m area.

In the leached zone secondary copper is evident within manganese oxides (neotocite) and red iron oxides (hematite) in outcrops and boulders with values exceeding 0.1 % Cu (Figure 5).

Assay results from 19 panel samples have been received to date with an average of 333 ppm Cu and 0.024 g/t Au over an average surface area of 1.9m2. The size of the panels ranges from 0.24-4m2 and with Cu ranging between 104-1070 ppm and gold from <0.01 to 0.313 g/t. The copper anomaly and rock samples are shown in Figure 2-4 and selected rock photos in figure 5-7.  Both M (magnetite-bearing), B (quartz/biotite) and A-veins (saccharoidal quartz/K-feldspar) have been observed in outcrop and quartz veins have been mapped with encouraging densities of approximately 6 veins per metre (assays pending) with associated stockworking.  Supergene enrichment has been observed in the lowest topographic levels in creeks where chalcocite is seen to replace chalcopyrite within samples separated by 1 km. Assays from these zones are pending. (Figure 6). 1. Central Epithermal gold target This consists of a gold-bearing epithermal target identified by large gold mineralized boulders of quartz-pyrite and iron oxides as well as strongly gold anomalous soil samples has been discovered 2.5 km NW of the Southern Porphyry Target (initially reported here). Work over the last month has included:

 Systematic 100 m x 100 m soil sampling program. Two strong gold anomalous trends that extend for 1800 m and 970 m respectively have been identified. Assays have been received to date from 376 samples covering an area of 2 km x 1.7 km. Values range from <0.001 ppm to 0.094 ppm, average 0.0056 g/t in soil. The gold anomaly correlates very well with several elements including arsenic. (Figures 2 and 4).  Spatially the gold anomalies correlate with a mapped Andean-age thrust fault and remains open in both to the north and south (Figures 2 and 4)  Soil anomalies are coincident with gold found in quartz-iron oxide boulders (reported here). To date 19 boulders >0.1 ppm Au has been sampled over a trend of 1.6 km that is parallel to the main gold anomaly. A total 43 rock samples from boulders average of 0.48 g/t Au, 6 g/t Te and range from below detection limit to 2.69 g/t Au and
Empress Royalty announces pre-production at Manica Gold Mine

Empress Royalty Corp. (TSXV:EMPR | OTCQB:EMPYF) (aEmpressa or the aCompanya  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/empress-royalty-corp/ ) is pleased to announce that pre-production has commenced at the Manica Gold Mine (aManicaa or the aMinea). A The Company owns a 3.375% royalty on Manica, which is located in Mozambique and operated by Mutapa Mining & Processing LDA (aMMPa).

aCongratulations to the team at MMP for their hard work and dedication in taking Manica from a development stage project into a producing mine,a stated Alexandra Woodyer Sherron, CEO and President of Empress Royalty. A aThe Manica Gold Mine is our second development asset reaching pre-production and demonstrates our teama?s ability to make strategic investments that create significant returns and value for our shareholders.a

ABOUT EMPRESS ROYALTY CORP.

Empress is a global royalty and streaming creation company providing investors with a diversified portfolio of gold and silver investments.A Since listing in December 2020, Empress has built a portfolio of 17 precious metal investments and is actively investing in mining companies with development and production stage projects who require additional non-dilutive capital.A The Company has strategic partnerships with Endeavour Financial and Terra Capital which allow Empress to not only access global investment opportunities but also bring unique mining finance expertise, deal structuring and access to capital markets.A Empress is looking forward to continuously creating value for its shareholders through the proven royalty and streaming models.

ON BEHALF OF EMPRESS ROYALTY CORP.

Per: A A A Alexandra Woodyer Sherron, CEO and President

For further information, please visit our website at www.empressroyalty.com or contact Kaitlin Taylor, Investor Communications, by email at info@empressroyalty.com or by phone at +1.604.331.2080.

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.chA A

www.resource-capital.chA A

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. Certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking information or statements under applicable securities legislation and rules. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently identified by such words as may, will, plan, expect, anticipate, estimate, intend, indicate, scheduled, target, goal, potential, subject, efforts, option and similar words, or the negative connotations thereof, referring to future events and results. Forward looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements related to the implementation of Empressa? investment game plan and the anticipated returns on its investments. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Empress to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to the risks and uncertainties identified in Empressa? most recent Annual Information Form filed on the Companya?s profile on SEDAR atA www.sedar.com. Although management of Empress has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate.A Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Empress will not update any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws. Empress caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and it does not undertake any obligation to revise and disseminate forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of or non-occurrence of any events.
First Iraq War vet named as Department Commander

A local veteran with Mon Valley ties and first from the Iraq War was tapped as commander during the 2022 Department of Pennsylvania Veterans of Foreign Wars and Auxiliary Convention.

West Mifflin resident Henry R. Mannella was elevated to VFW Department of PA State Commander. He won election June 11 at the Wyndham Resort and Convention Center in Lancaster, Pa.

A life member of VFW Post 1810 Brentwood in Allegheny County's VFW District 29, Mr. Mannella now heads the 60,000 members that make up the Commonwealth's largest group of combat veterans.

"I'm grateful and honored that I've been given this opportunity," said Mr. Mannella. "Pennsylvania has always honored those who've served in uniform, and the VFW here has been in the forefront in caring for our country's veterans."

While in the Army, Mr. Mannella deployed with the 107th Field Artillery Regiment, 28th Infantry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has held a variety of successive officer positions at his home post and through the state level. Most recently, he served as the VFW Department of PA Senior Vice Commander. He has also organized a number of VFW events for fellow Mon Valley veterans, such as a Veterans Information Fair at the United Steelworkers Local 2227 Hall, West Mifflin, Pa., in 2019.

Mr. Mannella said that he intends to continue to reach out to fellow veterans  just as those in the VFW helped him and his family after his tour in Iraq.

"I will encourage members of the VFW to be more active in contacting all veterans who've served," he said. "We need to get the word out that we are an organization that promotes youth and scholarship programs, vocational and medical benefits, pensions, and a variety of other services that young veterans and their families should be using to help make the adjustment to civilian life easier."

Founded in Pittsburgh more than a century ago, the VFW is the country's largest organization of combat veterans. Approximately 400 posts across the state currently belong to the VFW Department of PA, with nearly three dozen of these in VFW District 29.

Through its community service projects and scholarships targeted towards veterans and their family members, the VFW Department of PA donates more than $15 million each year. Its full-time cadre of service officers that work for all veterans at no cost connected more than $30 million in benefits to eligible former servicemembers in 2021.

Membership to the VFW is open to all United States citizens - regardless of race, gender, color or creed - who have served honorably in the armed forces, have been awarded a campaign or expeditionary medal, served on occupational duty, or can document receiving hostile fire pay.

For more information about the VFW Department of PA, visit the group's website at: http://www.vfwpa.org.
Netflixs The Brothers Sun has found its leads.Michelle Yeoh and Justin Chien will lead the series, which is set in the world of Taipei gangsters, and comes from American Horror Story co-creator Brad Falchuk and Byron Wu.Yeohs Mama Sun is described as shrewd and observant, having built a new life for herself and her son in Los Angeles far from her past in Taiwan, while Chiens Charles Sun grew up the elder son of a crime boss, groomed to be a hardened criminal. He goes to Los Angeles to protect his mother and younger brother but finds himself torn between the life hes been raised in and the life he could make for himself.
New York, 14, June 2022(SPS)-The Delegate of the Frente POLISARIO to the UN and Coordinator with MINURSO, Ambassador Sidi Mohamed Omar, has asked the Special Committee on Decolonization to translate its commitment to decolonization into concrete actions and achieve the decolonization of Western Sahara, the last colony on the African continent.

In his speech on the question of Western Sahara, at the session of the Special Committee on Decolonization, Ambassador Sidi Omar stressed that "it is time to translate the commitment of this commission to decolonization into concrete actions and achieve the decolonization of the Western Sahara. without further delay.

The Head of POLISARIO diplomacy at the UN said that the Saharawi people do not demand more than their inalienable right to self-determination and independence in accordance with resolution 1514 (XV) of the General Assembly and other relevant resolutions.

The Saharawi diplomat expressed the firmness of the Saharawi people that will never give up their sacred rights and will continue their struggle by all legitimate means to achieve their national aspirations in freedom and independence.

In this sense, POLISARIO, the sole and legitimate representative of the people of Western Sahara, once again emphasizes that the position of Spain and other governments will not be able to change the legal nature of the conflict, which continues to be a matter of decolonization.

The POLISARIO in previous declarations has emphatically stressed "that the only viable and practical way to advance in achieving a peaceful, fair and lasting solution to the decolonization of Western Sahara is to allow the Saharawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and the independence

Morocco, with the support and approval of France, continues to act with impunity and continues with its colonial practices and its attempts to impose the policy of faits accomplis by force in Western Sahara. SPS

125/090/TRA
Chahid EL Hafed , June 14, 2022(SPS)-. The Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of South Africa in the Saharawi Republic, Seal Patrick Rankhumise, ratified the firm and permanent position of his country in support of the Saharawi cause.

Speaking to the media after being received by the president of the Saharawi Republic, the South African diplomat stressed that South Africa will always accompany the Saharawi people and government in their struggle to recover their territory, highlighting that in the country of Nelson Mandela they are convinced of that the Saharawi people deserve to decide their own destiny and that the struggle for independence must continue.

Stamp Patrick Rankhumise added that the visit of the South African delegation to the Saharawi refugee camps is part of the strengthening of relations between the two countries and to express support and solidarity from South Africa to the Saharawi Republic.SPS

125/090/TRA
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Connecticuts lightning-rod criminal defense attorney, Norm Pattis, has found a new client in one of the Proud Boys leaders accused of plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election by storming the U.S. Capitol, according to federal court filings.

Pattis entered a motion of appearance Tuesday morning as an attorney for Joseph Biggs, who is one of the five members of the far-right Proud Boys movement to be charged with seditious conspiracy by a federal grand jury earlier this month.

Biggs, 38, was arrested in Florida last year following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a mob supporting former President Donald Trumps false claims of election fraud.

Pattis decision to represent Biggs comes amid new revelations about the events of Jan. 6  as well as allegations that it was part of an organized coup attempt  that have been thrust into the spotlight by the start of a series of Congressional hearings into the attack.

According to the original indictment by federal prosecutors, Biggs was alleged to have been among the first group of rioters to breach the Capitol building as Congress conducted a formal count of electoral votes. In a subsequent interview with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Biggs admitted to entering the Capitol, but denied doing so by force, according to the indictment.

Within a month of the attack, Biggs was charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, entering a restricted building or grounds and violent and disorderly conduct. Biggs pleaded not guilty to each of those charges.

In a superseding indictment handed down earlier this month, Biggs was charged with the more serious offense of seditious conspiracy as part of an alleged group of Proud Boy organizers who plotted to use force to block the peaceful transition of power following the election.

According to that indictment, Biggs was one of several Proud Boys members who were included in the groups National Rally Planning Committee, which discussed potential actions ahead of Jan. 6, including the possibility of occupying several federal buildings.

Included in the indictment were private messages that Biggs allegedly sent to Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, complaining the group had been recruiting losers, and advocating ahead of the Jan. 6 rally, Lets get radical and get real men.

Biggs has also pleaded not guilty to the sedition charge, which carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Pattis did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Tuesday.

After gaining fame  and notoriety  for his years of work defending high-profile clients in local criminal cases, more recently Pattis has garnered attention for representing right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in a defamation lawsuit brought by the families of Sandy Hook victims.

In addition, hes attracted controversy over his use of a racial slur during a stand-up comedy routine, as well as for making incendiary jokes online.

It was not immediately known Tuesday how Pattis became involved in Biggs case. The two both made separate appearances on the same episode of Jones show in 2019.

Earlier this month, Pattis and his co-counsel sought permission to be removed as Jones attorneys in the defamation case, citing a breakdown in communications with their client. A judge is expected to rule on that motion this week.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP)  Fatal drug overdoses rose nearly 15% in Kentucky last year, surpassing 2,000 deaths as the increased use of fentanyl  a powerful synthetic opioid  resulted in a record death toll in the state, according to a report released Monday.

The report showed that 2,250 Kentuckians died from drug overdoses in 2021  an ongoing scourge plaguing rural counties and the state's largest cities alike. It was the first time the Bluegrass State surpassed 2,000 drug overdose deaths in a single year, said Van Ingram, executive director of the state Office of Drug Control Policy.

The state's rising death count mirrored the nations escalating overdose epidemic. Last year, for the first time, more than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses over a 12-month period, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with about two-thirds of those deaths linked to fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.

In Kentucky, fentanyl was identified in nearly 73% of overdose deaths last year, Monday's report said.

Weve never seen one drug this prevalent in the toxicology reports of overdose fatalities, Ingram said in a phone interview.

Overdose deaths are often attributed to more than one drug. Some people take multiple drugs and fentanyl is increasingly cut into other drugs, often without the buyers knowledge, officials say.

I talked to a drug task force director last week who said, Were finding fentanyl in everything," Ingram said.

U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who has steered large sums of federal money to his home state of Kentucky over the years to combat its drug-abuse woes, said in a recent column that fentanyl has flooded across the nation's southern border.

Law enforcement leaders across the commonwealth tell me that, to curb overdose deaths, our number one priority should be to stop fentanyl from illegally entering our country through Mexico, McConnell said.

State officials also pointed to the availability of potent, inexpensive methamphetamine as another factor in Kentucky's latest rise in drug overdose deaths.

The highest number of drug overdose deaths in 2021 occurred among Kentuckians aged 35-44, the report said. There were 672 deaths in that age group last year, up 17.5% from the prior year.

The overdose fatality report was released by the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet and the Office of Drug Control Policy.

Kentucky has long been plagued by high rates of addiction to opioid painkillers.

In 2020, more than 1,960 Kentuckians died from drug overdoses, up nearly 50% from the pre-pandemic death count of 1,316 in 2019. Many people discontinued their drug treatment efforts out of fear of contracting COVID-19. That, along with the sense of isolation caused by the virus, contributed to the 2020 surge in overdose deaths, state officials said then.

Now, treatment and recovery programs are again ramping up across Kentucky.

Every day we must work together to fund recovery programs and treatment options so that we can continue to address this scourge and get our people the help they need, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday in a news release.

The governor said the overdose death toll was "devastating and extremely heartbreaking.

Ahead of Monday's report, Beshear announced another step toward achieving a statewide policy goal of offering no-cost services close to home to help Kentuckians overcome drug addiction.

The state is working to establish cities and counties as Recovery Ready Communities  aimed at providing high-quality recovery programs across Kentucky, Beshear's administration said.

This drug epidemic in this country is going to be solved one community at a time, Ingram said later Monday in touting the program.

Kentucky's Office of Drug Control Policy is partnering with Volunteers of America to launch the Recovery Ready Community Certification Program. Cities and counties can apply for certification upon offering transportation, support groups and employment services at no cost for people seeking treatment for drug or alcohol addiction. A measure enacted last year by Kentucky lawmakers created an advisory council assigned to create the recovery ready certification.

Kentucky state Rep. Adam Bowling, the measure's lead sponsor, said Monday that the program will empower cities and counties to provide a powerful lifeline to help Kentuckians build a life free from addiction.

Make no mistake, substance abuse is a crippling, dangerous disease that can be prevented and treated successfully, Bowling said in a statement. However, those who face it must have community support and access to treatment and resources, regardless of where they live or how much money is in their bank account.

___

People can call the KY Help Call Center at 833-8KY-HELP (833-859-4357) to speak one-on-one with a specialist who can connect Kentuckians to treatment.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Baby formula is not a product that the Norwalk-based supermarket chain Stew Leonards has ever carried.

But that all changed Monday. As a grandfather and smart businessman, Leonard knows the old adage, give the public what it wants.

And so with baby formula shortages across Connecticut and the rest of the country, Leonard has worked with his sources in the grocery industry to procure thousand of containers of baby formula for his stores. Jake Tavello, the chains director of store operations and the nephew of Stew Leonard Jr., said there are about 15,000 units of baby formula available to be sold at the chains Connecticut locations in Norwalk, Newington and Danbury.

My cousin is having a baby in two weeks and so this is top of mind, not just for us, but for Stew, because he has got to think about his granddaughter, Tavello said, speaking to reporters at the chains store on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington. Were going to keep buying it until the supply is back in the United States and the need is met here.

Datasembly, a Washington, D.C., company that tracks inventories at supermarkets, is reporting that Connecticut grocery stores have seen among the highest out-of-stock rates in the country, with a baby formula out-of-stock rate surpassing 40 percent, according to the companysMay reports.

Procuring the formula came together pretty quickly, Tavello said.

This is a brand that is produced in Puerto Rico and we had it shipped up to Florida, he said. We got it up here overnight.

Finding available supplies of baby formula was difficult, but weve got a lot of long-term relationships with vendors and suppliers, Tavello said.

Our buyers went out and scoured the country and really the world, he said. Another 20 pallets full of formula from Germany is awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to be shipped to Connecticut.

Gov. Ned Lamont was at the chains flagship store in Norwalk on Monday to praise Stew Leonard Jr.s efforts in procuring the formula.

The chain has also procured enough baby formula to sell at Stew Leonards stores in Paramus, N.J., as well as in three locations in Westchester and Nassau counties in New York state.

Tavello said the chain is not putting any limits on how many bottle of formula customers can purchase.

I think most parents will come in and buy a couple of bottles, he said.

Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association, said the majority of the states supermarkets are in pretty good shape with anything that is not a specialty formula.

One of our large retailers has 5,600 units on order and about 4,800 of that order has been fulfilled, Pesce said.

But Massachusetts-based grocery chain Stop & Shop is still seeing supply challenges, said Caroline Medeiros, a company spokeswoman.

Stop & Shop remains in contact with our suppliers and is working diligently to keep high-demand products in stock, Medeiros said.  We have implemented a customer limit on formula items to four units per customer, and we appreciate our customers patience and cooperation as we work to keep our shelves stocked.

State Rep. Liz Linehan, D-Cheshire, is House chairwoman of the legislatures Committee on Children. Linehan said state government doesnt have an agency overseeing the deliver of baby formula supplies into the state.

My suggestion is if you need formula, contact your physician, she said. Theres all these memes on social media about making homemade formula, but theres always a danger in doing that. You might not get the mixture right.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
TibetFest 9 offers a taste of Tibets culture when the festival returns June 25-26 to the Goshen Fairgrounds.

It will feature traditional dance and music, Tibetan food, crafts, guest speakers, butter sculptures, sound healing and meditation areas and construction of a sand mandala.

Organizer Michelle Weik said attendees can also expect to find Tibetan food like momos, which are similar to steamed dumplings, as well as vendors selling Tibetan carpets, clothing, jewelry, singing bowls, Buddha/deity statues, incense, art work, calligraphic art and other items.

What was paramount to my decision to do this festival was to make people aware of the plight of Tibet, said Weik. It has been illegally occupied by China since 1959, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama fled the country. Today, the oppression continues.

As a young girl growing up in Litchfield, Michelle Weik knew that the Chinese province of Tibet and its people would make an impact on her life. Weiks early fascination with the Tibetan people and its culture continued into her adult life when she traveled to the Himalayan region in the mid 90s for a six-week journey to India, Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan.

Tibet really stood out, she said. The peoples philosophy is to live and breathe compassion and kindness and non-violence. I had been following Students for a Free Tibet and other organizations, and once I saw with my own eyes how the Tibetans were oppressed, I realized that I needed to raise awareness in my little corner of the world, she said.

Weiks dedication to the Tibetan people led her to produce TibetFest, one of the largest gatherings of its kind on the East Coast. Since 2005, she has organized eight such events.

Weik arranged for Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, a High Lama who is a member of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, to appear on Sunday. Jamyang Norbu, a noted author, historian and activist, will also be speaking. A Tibetan monk, Thupten Dorjee, will be creating a sand mandala, and Jampa Tsondue, who lives in Old Saybrook and was one of the first Tibetans to relocate to America in 1991 as part of the Tibetan U.S. Resettlement Project, will be displaying Tibetan artworks called thangka paintings.

Weik said the Connecticut Tibetans will also perform at the festival. They have a children's group that's going to sing and dance, too, and they're just adorable. And then they will do the Snow Lion Dance. That features a big fluffy snow lion. It's a two-person costume, and it's very entertaining, she said. They'll also do a Yak Dance. And that's also a two-person costume of a big black furry yak.

Weik said her main goal with the festival is to create a space where Tibetans can share and celebrate their culture.

Living in exile, it would be easy to become westernized here, but the Tibetans understand, and His Holiness has said to keep the culture alive, said Weik. TibetFest provides a platform so that the Tibetan people can showcase their traditional arts and music and keep their culture alive here. That's the most important thing.

Admission to the event is $10 for adults, $5 for students, with children five-and-under free. Proceeds from TibetFest will go towards the building of a cultural center in Connecticut for the nearly 500 Tibetans who reside in the state.
After three days of staying in Challhuahuacho district, where Executive Branch officials arrived to hold meetings with local communities, he indicated that the government's immediate objective is the reestablishment of social, commercial, community, and productive activities in the area.

The minister mentioned that there are six communities in conflict: Nueva Fuerabamba, Huancuire, Pumamarca, Choaquere, Chila, and Chuicuni, although there are another 20 communities in the district and represent more than 30,000 citizens.

"In this mission for ensuring conditions towards achieving social peace, yesterday the reestablishment of the three-way dialogue was very valuable, very important: eight representatives of the company (MMG Las Bambas), the representatives of this six communities, and us were dialoguing and explaining these reasons," Sanchez told Exitosa.

Asked if the state of emergency in the area will be lifted, he said the three parties must make commitments and then set up a roundtable to address the pending commitments at the level of the six communities.

Based on this, the Government will be able to know how to assess whether the decision is made, he added.

Furthermore, the Cabinet member rejected that there could any type of persecution against the leaders of those communities. Along these lines, he argued that public and private property should not be affected by the demonstrations.

On the other hand, Sanchez pointed out that Decentralized Councils of Ministers are a government policy of direct dialogue , which are handled under a rapporteurship approach. In this sense, he pointed out that there are documents validated by various stakeholders in regions.
Blog Archive Apr 2010 (22) May 2010 (25) Jun 2010 (8) Jul 2010 (12) Aug 2010 (18) Sep 2010 (19) Oct 2010 (29) Nov 2010 (30) Dec 2010 (18) Jan 2011 (13) Feb 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (23) Apr 2011 (19) May 2011 (31) Jun 2011 (36) Jul 2011 (46) Aug 2011 (26) Sep 2011 (12) Oct 2011 (15) Nov 2011 (17) Dec 2011 (7) Jan 2012 (18) Feb 2012 (4) Mar 2012 (12) Apr 2012 (18) May 2012 (10) Jun 2012 (21) Jul 2012 (8) Aug 2012 (15) Sep 2012 (7) Oct 2012 (17) Nov 2012 (20) Dec 2012 (10) Jan 2013 (58) Feb 2013 (59) Mar 2013 (60) Apr 2013 (98) May 2013 (135) Jun 2013 (204) Jul 2013 (293) Aug 2013 (351) Sep 2013 (363) Oct 2013 (348) Nov 2013 (374) Dec 2013 (442) Jan 2014 (547) Feb 2014 (476) Mar 2014 (526) Apr 2014 (527) May 2014 (471) Jun 2014 (408) Jul 2014 (472) Aug 2014 (522) Sep 2014 (443) Oct 2014 (472) Nov 2014 (497) Dec 2014 (536) Jan 2015 (539) Feb 2015 (520) Mar 2015 (582) Apr 2015 (658) May 2015 (679) Jun 2015 (673) Jul 2015 (728) Aug 2015 (803) Sep 2015 (923) Oct 2015 (924) Nov 2015 (802) Dec 2015 (791) Jan 2016 (782) Feb 2016 (835) Mar 2016 (929) Apr 2016 (866) May 2016 (947) Jun 2016 (1044) Jul 2016 (882) Aug 2016 (1035) Sep 2016 (967) Oct 2016 (918) Nov 2016 (854) Dec 2016 (885) Jan 2017 (879) Feb 2017 (777) Mar 2017 (896) Apr 2017 (872) May 2017 (850) Jun 2017 (851) Jul 2017 (971) Aug 2017 (1040) Sep 2017 (998) Oct 2017 (1144) Nov 2017 (1046) Dec 2017 (838) Jan 2018 (873) Feb 2018 (769) Mar 2018 (885) Apr 2018 (808) May 2018 (827) Jun 2018 (820) Jul 2018 (840) Aug 2018 (854) Sep 2018 (844) Oct 2018 (851) Nov 2018 (870) Dec 2018 (912) Jan 2019 (919) Feb 2019 (827) Mar 2019 (957) Apr 2019 (913) May 2019 (1007) Jun 2019 (935) Jul 2019 (949) Aug 2019 (936) Sep 2019 (910) Oct 2019 (920) Nov 2019 (874) Dec 2019 (908) Jan 2020 (941) Feb 2020 (849) Mar 2020 (898) Apr 2020 (848) May 2020 (822) Jun 2020 (789) Jul 2020 (819) Aug 2020 (858) Sep 2020 (841) Oct 2020 (873) Nov 2020 (812) Dec 2020 (780) Jan 2021 (765) Feb 2021 (716) Mar 2021 (819) Apr 2021 (805) May 2021 (815) Jun 2021 (824) Jul 2021 (830) Aug 2021 (832) Sep 2021 (791) Oct 2021 (754) Nov 2021 (683) Dec 2021 (693) Jan 2022 (694) Feb 2022 (654) Mar 2022 (740) Apr 2022 (745) May 2022 (748) Jun 2022 (631)
As many as 107,859 travelers of whom 7,623 Ukrainian nationals entered Romania on Monday (up 10.5 pct from the previous day), with 4,115 Ukrainian nationals crossing into Romania at the border with Ukraine (by 21.5 pct more), and 991 entering the country at the border with Moldova (by 9 pct less), the General Border Police Inspectorate (IGPF) reports.

As many as 1,193,693 Ukrainian nationals had entered Romania as of June 13 since the start of the military conflict in the neighboring country, and the number of Ukrainians who crossed into Romania since the pre-war date of February 10 is 1,228,222, the IGPF said. AGERPRES
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca sent a message of thanks to France for its military presence in Romania as part of NATO's rapid reaction force, on the occasion of welcoming French President Emmanuel Macron to Romania.

"I had the pleasure of welcoming French President Emmanuel Macron in Romania. Welcome, Mr. President! Once again, a big thank you to France for its military presence in Romania, as part of NATO's rapid reaction force," Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday evening, in a message on the Government's twitter page.

The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, was greeted on Tuesday evening, at the Mihail Kogalniceanu International Airport in Constanta County, by the Prime Minister of Romania, Nicolae Ciuca.

Emmanuel Macron and Nicolae Ciuca then got into the cars, the official motorcade going to Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base 57, where the two officials met with the troops from allied countries, deployed at the base in Constanta County.

On Wednesday, President Klaus Iohannis will meet with President Emmanuel Macron at the Kogalniceanu military base, the Presidential Administration said.

AGERPRES
Romania's price gouging legislation will have clear provisions defining excessive pricing, Chairman of the Trade Competition Council Bogdan Chiritoiu told a conference on Tuesday on trade competition challenges in a new economic context organised by the Competition Council and Pria Events.

"The price gouging law is being currently approved. There were also consultations with the business community. Just last week, there were meetings with various business groups. In general, we have the text with which we started. It's more clarity. The most important change is that when the government says that certain products are at risk of price gouging, we will tell you what we mean by excessive pricing. We tell that on a case by case basis. We'll see. If we talk about a product, we see the market conditions at that time and we will say the price is above a certain level or the markup is above a certain level that is excessive pricing, so that companies can be sure that they will not be fined."

Chiritoiu mentioned that fines go up to 500,000 lei, but what is important is not the pecuniary penalty but banning a certain behaviour, the confiscation of the goods and the confiscation of the incorrect proceeds.

Asked who is in charge of pricing control, he said that in relations between companies the control power belongs to the Competition Council, and between companies and consumers to the National Consumer Protection Authority. The organisations will collaborate with the tax administration authority (ANAF), which has data and will be able to base its decisions on the analyses provided by the Tax Office.

AGERPRES.
ST. LOUIS  Three St. Louis-area sustainable agriculture startups are receiving up to $250,000 to further their research on crop security.

Edison Agrosciences Inc., Peptyde Bio and Synthetic Vector Design are a part of a group selected by the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator Program, which provides grants for the startups to collaborate with scientists at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Their projects use biological tools to fight crop diseases and create domestic supplies of plant materials.

The program is funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and housed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado.

With growing populations coupled with environmental shifts, farmers need technologies that will provide more yield using available resources ultra-efficiently and in the least harmful way, said Trish Cozart, a program manager at the national lab.

Edison Agrosciences is trying to increase the amount of rubber naturally produced by sunflowers to create a domestic supply and decrease deforestation of rubber trees.

Most natural rubber is produced in Southeast Asia, the company says, making the U.S. dependent on one geographical region for the substance.

Sunflower leaves naturally contain 1%-2% rubber, and the company says increasing that percentage by a few points can make it a viable source of the substance.

Antimicrobial peptides, a natural part of plant immune systems, are key to research at Peptyde Bio. The company is using the peptides, which kill fungal cells, to create fungicides for crops in hopes of replacing expensive and toxic chemicals, to which some fungi, like gray mold disease, are developing resistance.

Synthetic Vector Design is developing techniques for placing disease-fighting DNA into cells, helping plants fight infections.

Plant diseases cost the global economy up to $220 billion annually, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Karla Roeber, the Danforth Centers vice president for public and government affairs, said scientists will help the companies set up experiments needed to further validate their technology. The startups will have access to facilities and equipment such as greenhouses and bioimaging.

Jenny Flores, Wells Fargos head of small business growth philanthropy, said future generations are counting on this one to solve these problems, and increase food security.

Companies selected in previous Innovation Incubation cohorts have since raised $1.28 billion in funding, according to Wells Fargo.
?? En el Dia Mundial del Donante de Sangre hacemos un llamado a que mas peruanas y peruanos se sigan sumando a este acto solidario que salva vidas. Tu donacion es importante!?? pic.twitter.com/rPVbdgLNT6
WASHINGTON (AP)  Donald Trumps closest campaign advisers, top government officials and even his family were dismantling his false claims of 2020 election fraud ahead of Jan. 6, but the defeated president was becoming detached from reality and clinging to outlandish theories to stay in power, the committee investigating the Capitol attack was told Monday.

On election night itself, Trump was growing increasingly unhappy and refusing to accept the results as they came in, former campaign manager Bill Stepien said in testimony played before the House panel.

Son-in-law Jared Kushner tried to steer Trump away from attorney Rudy Giuliani and his far-flung theories of voter fraud that advisers believed were not true. Trump would have none of it.

The back-and-forth intensified in the run-up to Jan. 6. Former Justice Department official Richard Donoghue recalled breaking down one claim after another  from a truckload of ballots in Pennsylvania to a missing suitcase of ballots in Georgia - and telling Trump much of the info youre getting is false.

He was becoming detached from reality, said former Attorney General William Barr, who called the voting fraud claims bull," bogus and idiotic, and resigned in the aftermath. I didnt want to be a part of it."

The witness testimony was shown as the House committee focused on the big lie, Trump's false claims of voter fraud that fueled the defeated Republican presidents efforts to overturn the 2020 election and provoked a mob of his supporters to lay siege to the U.S. Capitol.

The panel also provided new information about how Trump's fundraising machine collected some $250 million in the aftermath of the November election to keep fighting, mostly from small-dollar donations from Americans. One plea for cash went out 30 minutes before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Not only was there the big lie, there was the big ripoff, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.

Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., opened Monday's hearing saying Trump betrayed the trust of the American people and tried to remain in office when people had voted him out.

As the hearings play our for the public, they are also being watched by one of the most important viewers, Attorney General Merrick Garland, who must decide whether his department can and should prosecute Trump. No sitting or former president has ever faced such charges.

I am watching, I will be watching all of the hearings, Garland said Monday at a press briefing at the Justice Department. I may not be able to watch all of it live, but Im sure I will be watching all of it, and I can assure you the Jan. 6 prosecutors are watching all of the hearings as well."

Biden was getting updates but not watching blow by blow, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Stepien was to be a key in-person witness Monday but abruptly backed out of appearing live because his wife went into labor. Stepien, who is still close to Trump, had been subpoenaed to appear. He is now a top campaign adviser to the Trump-endorsed House candidate, Harriet Hageman, who is challenging committee vice chair Liz Cheney in the Wyoming Republican primary.

The panel marched ahead after a delayed morning scramble, showing previously recorded testimony from the Republican aides as Trump latched on to repeated false claims about the election although those closest told him the theories of stolen ballots or rigged voting machines were not true.

Stepien and senior adviser Jason Miller described how the festive mood at the White House on election night turned as Fox News announced Trump had lost the state of Arizona to Joe Biden, and aides worked to counsel Trump on what to do next.

But he ignored their advice, choosing to listen instead to Giuliani, who was described as inebriated by several witnesses. Giuliani issued a general denial on Monday, rejecting all falsehoods he said were being said about him.

Stepien said, My belief, my recommendation was to say that votes were still being counted, its too early to tell, too early to call the race,.

But Trump thought I was wrong. He told me so.

Barr, who had also testified in last week's blockbuster hearing, said that Trump was as mad as I'd ever seen him when the attorney general later explained that the Justice Department would not take sides in the election.

For the past year, the committee has been investigating the most violent attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812 to ensure such an assault never happens again. Lawmakers hope to show that Trump's effort to overturn Biden's election victory posed a grave threat to democracy.

Mondays hearing also featured live witnesses, including Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News Channel political editor who declared on Election Night that Arizona was being won by Biden.

Also appearing was the former U.S. attorney in Atlanta, BJay Pak, who abruptly resigned after Trump pressured Georgia state officials to overturn his defeat. Trump wanted to fire Pak as disloyal, but Pak stepped down after Trump's call became public in which he urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find enough votes to overturn Bidens win in the state.

The panel also heard from elections lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg who discussed the norms of election campaign challenges, and former Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, the only Republican on the city's election board, who told the panel that regardless of how fantastical some of the claims that Trump and his team were making, the city officials investigated. He discussed facing threats after Trump criticized him in a tweet.

As he mulls another White House run, Trump insists the committee's investigation is a witch hunt. Last week he said Jan. 6 represented the greatest movement in the history of our country.

Nine people died in the riot and its aftermath, including a Trump supporter shot and killed by Capitol police. More than 800 people have been arrested in the siege, and members of two extremist groups have been indicted on rare sedition charges over their roles leading the charge into the Capitol.

Additional evidence is to be released in hearings this week focusing on Trumps decision to ignore the outcome of the election and the court cases that ruled against him, and beckon supporters to Washington on Jan. 6 to overturn Bidens victory as Congress was set to certify the Electoral College results..

Lawmakers left no doubt as to their own view whether the evidence is sufficient to proceed.

Once the evidence is accumulated by the Justice Department, it needs to make a decision about whether it can prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt the presidents guilt or anyone elses, said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif, a panel member. But they need to be investigated if theres credible evidence, which I think there is.

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Michael Balsamo and Farnoush Amiri in Washington and Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
TUESDAY, June 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Sodas and other sugar-sweetened drinks may raise a woman's odds of developing liver cancer, new research suggests.

A study of more than 90,000 postmenopausal women found that those who drank at least one sugar-sweetened beverage a day had a 78% higher risk, compared with those who drank fewer than three a month.

"Our findings suggest sugar-sweetened beverages are a potentially modifiable risk factor for liver cancer," said senior author Dr. Xuehong Zhang, an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

"If our findings are confirmed, reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption might serve as a public health strategy to reduce liver cancer burden," he said.

Even though consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks declined steadily in the United States between 2003 and 2018, overall intake remains high. Sixty-five percent of white adults reported consuming at least some sweetened drinks on any given day in 2017-2018, Zhang noted.

The researchers emphasized that this study can't prove sugary drinks cause liver cancer, only that there appears to be a link between the two.

The findings are slated for presentation Tuesday at an online meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

For the study, Zhang's team collected data on 90,504 postmenopausal women between 50 and 79 years of age who took part in a landmark study called the Women's Health Initiative. Participants completed questionnaires in the mid-1990s and were tracked for a median 18 years -- meaning half were followed longer, half for less time.

In all, 205 women developed liver cancer during the follow-up.

About 7% of participants reported drinking one or more 12-ounce servings of sugar-sweetened drinks per day, the study found. And those who did so were 78% more likely to develop liver cancer. Women who drank at least one soft drink per day had a 73% higher risk, compared with those who never consumed these beverages or drank fewer than three per month, the study found.

The researchers noted that sugar-sweetened drinks may lead to an increased risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes, which are both risk factors for liver cancer. These drinks also contribute to an impaired response to insulin and to a buildup of fat in the liver. Both are factors in liver health.

Zhang pointed out that the study had limitations.

"This type of design limits our ability to determine if sugar-sweetened beverages are a primary driver of increased liver cancer incidence, or if sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is only an indicator of unhealthy lifestyles," Zhang said. "Our findings should be interpreted with caution and replicated in future studies."

In addition, this study doesn't speak to the risk for liver cancer among men or younger people who consume these beverages.

Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer at the American Cancer Society, reacted to the findings, which are the latest in a string of studies examining the health impacts of sugary beverages.

"These data regarding a potential relationship with sugar-sweetened beverages and liver cancer is intriguing," Kamal said. "Further research is needed to understand whether any cancer relationship is mediated by resultant changes in the liver from obesity or whether this effect is independent of body mass index."

Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Health in New York City, said it's hard to tell from the study if the relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and liver cancer isn't just one marker of an unhealthy lifestyle.

"The question is: What are the lifestyles of the people who consume at least one 12-ounce sugar-sweetened beverage a day?" she noted. "Is this population more likely to consume less fiber, fewer fruits and vegetables, and more likely to eat more red and processed meat, junk and fast food, and less likely to exercise?"

Also, Heller said, there is a large gap between consuming one or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day, compared with three servings a month.

"All of this said, sodas, fruit drinks, and other sugar-sweetened beverages have no nutritional value, contribute to overweight and obesity and several associated chronic diseases," Heller said.

"There is no reason to be drinking them other than we have become used to doing so, and are encouraged to continue drinking them by media and advertising campaigns," she said.

Water, seltzer, teas, herbal teas and even a splash of 100% fruit juice with water or seltzer are healthier choices, Heller said.

More information

Learn more about liver cancer from the American Cancer Society.

SOURCES: Xuehong Zhang, MD, ScD, assistant professor, Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston; Arif Kamal, MD, MBA, MHS, chief patient officer, American Cancer Society; Samantha Heller, MS, RD, CDN, senior clinical nutritionist, NYU Langone Health, New York City; American Society for Nutrition, annual meeting, June 14-16, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
Abigail and Rachelle Henderson, 15-year-old twins from Buffalo, New York, were conceived in vitro and carried to term by their mom, Rebecca.

Trevor and Aubrey Gassman, now 9 and 8 years old, who live in Oregon, were born of embryos created during the infertility treatment of Rebecca Henderson and her husband, Chris. The couple donated the embryos through a Christian agency to Dan and Kelli Gassman, and Kelli carried them to term.

Genetically, the four children are siblings. While the two families arent related, the parents in both families have chosen to let their kids get to know one another. They met through a Colorado agency, Nightlight Christian Adoptions, which has a program that brings together potential embryo donors and recipients.

In many ways, the children feel like family, their parents say.

They are all such dears, Kelli Gassman said. Her son and daughter love their sisters. I feel like our family has been grafted into the Hendersons family tree, she said.

In a way they have.

Yet as embryo donation has become more common with advancements in infertility treatments, many state laws have not kept up, and there is no federal statute governing the practice. Only a few states have laws explicitly addressing embryo storage and donation.

A rush of new abortion restrictions could further complicate the matter. With the U.S. Supreme Court likely to overturn Roe v. Wade later this month, some red states have passed new bans on abortion. Both a Louisiana bill awaiting the governors signature and a new Oklahoma law, for example, include language that implies that embryos are persons under the law. Those measures could be interpreted to prohibit destruction of the embryos should couples choose not to donate them to prospective parents or to science, legal experts say. The co-sponsor of one of the bills says that was not her intent.

The real crux for infertility treatment is what is the legal status of the in vitro fertilized egg, said Sean Tipton, chief advocacy officer for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a group that advocates for reproductive choice. Theres a lot of language in some abortion bans, that says from the moment of conception or every stage of human development. That kind of language puts into question the legal status of a fertilized egg.

We are going to be in for a protracted period of uncertainty, he said.

About 400,000 embryos (fertilized eggs that have developed for six or fewer days) have been frozen since the 1970s and stored in the United States, according to a 2003 RAND Corporation study. The research firm said the vast majority of them were still controlled by the people who created them, not donated or disposed of.

Like adoption laws, the few existing laws on embryo donation mostly ensure that children are legally considered the offspring of the receiving parents. Absent specific state laws, individual legal contracts regulating the transfer of property usually apply. U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules govern testing and medical procedures.

Lori Andrews, a law professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law and an expert in genetic technologies, calls the practice underregulated, especially considering its impact on the next generation and families.

Most states, she said, have laws specifying that the recipients of donated sperm are the parents of any resulting children. About half of the states extend the same rights to recipients of human egg donation, and even fewer have embryo laws, she said.

Last year, Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed a law intended to help streamline and regularize embryo donation and surrogacy. The new law governs what happens if an intended parent dies before the child is born, and sets age limits and other requirements for surrogate mothers. A similar bill is under consideration in Massachusetts.

A Florida law enacted in 2016 requires that the donor of any egg, sperm or embryo relinquish all maternal or paternal rights to them and allows only reasonable compensation directly related to the donation.

Georgias 2009 law, one of the first to be enacted, defines embryo donation as an adoption, but stops short of extending personhood protections to an embryo.

There arent a lot of laws around embryo donation, said Elizabeth Nash, principal policy associate for state issues at the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research group. That can make things more difficult, in some ways, but also allows for medical practice to develop  and progress to be made in meeting the needs for patients. A legal solution isnt always the best solution.

Some states new anti-abortion measures might be interpreted to apply to frozen embryos.

Existing Louisiana law specifically states that a fertilized human ovum is a juridical person which shall not be intentionally destroyed. A Louisiana abortion ban approved by the legislature likewise would define personhood from the moment of conception. But the ban would apply to a clinically diagnosable pregnancy, which would not affect frozen embryos. The bill has been sent to Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who is expected to sign it, according to news reports.

The Oklahoma law is a near-total ban on abortion starting at fertilization with exceptions that allow abortion for medical emergencies. And it includes a clause allowing citizens to bring a civil action against anyone who aids or abets an abortion.

Sen. Julie Daniels, the Republican co-sponsor of the law, said it is designed to apply to termination of pregnancies, not embryos. It is my opinion that the definition of abortion in HB4327 does not apply to (destruction of frozen embryos). There must be the purpose to terminate the pregnancy, she said in an email to Stateline, quoting from the law. The text defines unborn child as a human fetus or embryo in any stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.

But the law has raised concerns among patients in Oklahoma over whether it might hinder in vitro fertilization, according to The Oklahoman.

Andrews, the professor, said couples usually designate one of three choices about the disposition of extra frozen embryos: destroying them, donating them to other couples or to science, or keeping them preserved. Some of those choices, including destruction, appear not to be legal under the new laws.

Not only is this a legally volatile area, its an emotionally volatile area, she said.

If the anti-abortion laws are interpreted to protect embryos, that may result in the inability to destroy or donate them to science, leaving them frozen in perpetuity unless a recipient is found.

Maryland attorney Margaret Swain, who represents people going through the embryo donation process, said negotiating a document between the parties takes time and thought, especially if the recipients and donors are going to be in contact.

Traditionally, embryo and gamete donation was conducted in an anonymous model, she said in a phone interview. Were seeing a real shift in that.

Attorney Nidhi Desai, a family lawyer in Illinois, noted that today theres no such thing as anonymity, because even if people want to keep their childrens origin a secret, DNA testing would make it difficult, if not impossible. She said legal documents negotiated between parties can set out the terms for contact among the children, if any.

Donation is becoming more frequent, according to Kimberly Tyson, vice president of Nightlight Christian Adoptions, an agency affiliated with the National Association of Evangelicals that assisted the Hendersons and the Gassmans.

She said the procedure has become much more popular since 1997, when the agency first began to work with embryos, and 950 babies have been born from donated embryos through their agency. About half of the implanted embryos result in full-term pregnancies, she said.

That agency sets up its procedure like an adoption agency in which prospective parents sign up in a registry, and donating couples get to choose the recipients.

Nightlight calls its program Snowflake Embryo Adoption, using terminology that tries to equate embryos with babies who are up for adoption. Clinicians and attorneys prefer the term embryo donation, and legal contracts governing the procedure mirror property transfer transactions.

The agency encourages the donors and recipients to get to know each other. Tyson said the secrecy surrounding egg, sperm and embryo donation practiced by some agencies and clinics is a land mine waiting to explode once the children of frozen embryos discover their genetic origins. But many clinics and agencies promise anonymity to the donors and recipients.

She points to situations in which many people who were adopted decades ago, when secrecy was paramount, have spent countless dollars and years trying to locate their birth parents. In the future, people who are the product of embryo donations could do the same.

Donating anonymously didnt appeal to the Hendersons, said Rebecca, who after her twins were born had another girl, Johanna, without using a frozen embryo.

I couldnt conceive of walking down the street and seeing someone who looks like me and wondering, wondering, she said in a phone interview. But, she said, negative thoughts crept in too. How could I give them to someone else to raise?

Eventually, they picked the Gassmans, and the two couples clicked. Still, there were bumps. A mother of three girls, Rebecca Henderson admitted to a little pang when she found out that the Gassmans first child would be a boy, since she had all girls and would have welcomed the experience of having a boy, too. But still, that was awesome, she said. She began collecting pictures and making a scrapbook of him for her girls.

All the kids get along awesome, she said. Trevor and Johanna look like twins. We treat it as normal  this is what our family looks like.

2022 The Pew Charitable Trusts. Visit at stateline.org.
TUESDAY, June 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- In yet another sign that the pandemic has exacerbated disparities in health care, researchers report that the life expectancy of Native Americans plummeted by nearly five years as the new coronavirus raged across the country.

The loss in longevity was far greater than any other ethnic group and about three times higher than whites.

The investigators also found that while comparable countries worldwide rebounded in 2021 from historic life expectancy declines in 2020, the overall U.S. death rate rose even higher.

"With the wide availability of vaccines in the United States, there was a lot of optimism that 2021 would look better than 2020," said study co-author Ryan Masters, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

"That did not happen," he noted in a university news release. "The U.S. didn't take COVID seriously to the extent that other countries did, and we paid a horrific price for it, with Black and brown people suffering the most."

Masters and his colleagues analyzed U.S. death data from 2019 and 2020, along with preliminary data for 2021.

In 2019, the life expectancy of Native Americans was already the lowest of any racial/ethnic group -- 75 years for women and 68.6 years for men. In 2021, those numbers fell to 70.4 for women and just under 64 for men.

"Native American populations have been ostracized and pushed to the margins to the most extreme extent in this country's history, so we expected to see a decline in life expectancy," Masters said.

Native Americans often lack access to vaccines, quality health care and transportation, he noted.

"But the magnitude [of the decrease in life expectancy] was shocking," Masters added. "You just don't see numbers like this in advanced countries in the modern day."

The researchers also found that overall U.S. life expectancy shortened from 78.85 years in 2019 to 76.98 years in 2020 and 76.44 years in 2021, a loss of 2.41 years.

In contrast, comparable countries lost 0.55 years of life expectancy between 2019 and 2020 and had a 0.26 increase between 2020 and 2021.

Social inequities, systemic racism and health disparities, such as high rates of obesity and heart disease, which existed before the pandemic, are to blame for the dismal U.S. trends, according to Masters.

When they focused only on 2021, the researchers found that white Americans had the largest decline in life expectancy among all the U.S. racial groups, possibly due to high rates of vaccine hesitancy and resistance to prevention measures.

The study was published on the preprint server MedRxiv and has not yet been peer-reviewed.

In a previous study, the same team found that overall U.S. life expectancy fell by nearly two years between 2019 and 2020, the largest decline since World War II. The largest declines were among Hispanic people (nearly four years) and Black people (3.25 years), compared with 1.36 years among white people.

More information

For more on U.S. life expectancy, go to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics.

SOURCE: University of Colorado at Boulder, news release, June 9, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  A Dellwood man has pleaded guilty in a 2018 killing in exchange for a 15-year prison term.

Tarron Gill pleaded guilty Friday to armed criminal action and a reduced charge of second-degree murder in the Nov. 6, 2018, fatal shooting of Donald Lang, 21, said Gill's lawyer Terry Niehoff.

Gill was 17 at the time of the killing. Lang was found dead by a passerby on a sidewalk in the 1500 block of Chambers Road, police said.

Online court records did not reflect Gill's guilty pleas but a court clerk confirmed the pleas and sentence. Niehoff said the plea agreement, which Circuit Judge Stanley Wallach accepted, was "a very fair resolution."

Police said that when officers arrested Gill at a Ferguson apartment complex, they found two AR-15-style rifles, a bulletproof vest, a handgun and suspected fentanyl.

Shake off your afternoon slump with the oft-shared and offbeat news of the day, hand-brewed by our online news editors. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
CLAYTON  St. Louis County prosecutors charged a man Tuesday with firing shots at cars and a custard stand as he rode around on a motorcycle Sunday in Ellisville and Wildwood.

Jeffrey Burnett, 52, is also suspected of vandalizing the Pageant theater in St. Louis Saturday but has not been charged in that case.

Burnett, formerly of High Ridge, now lives in the first block of Forrester Drive in Manchester.

St. Louis County prosecutors charged Burnett with four counts of unlawful use of a weapon and four counts of armed criminal action for the gunfire Sunday. His bail is $350,000 cash.

Police said Burnett was riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle along Manchester Road on Sunday evening when he began firing gunshots, using a MAC-10 semiautomatic pistol. No one was hit by gunfire but at least two people were hurt by flying glass. Burnett was captured in a high-speed chase about 45 minutes later near the Six Flags exit along Interstate 44.

Ellisville police said the first shot Sunday hit Silky's Frozen Custard, at 16043 Manchester Road. Gunfire about 6:15 p.m. damaged the custard stand's glass front door and a commercial freezer. His next shot, police said, hit a Ford Explorer at Old State Road, about a block from the custard stand. About a mile west, he shot another vehicle, and the driver suffered superficial injuries due to a spray of glass.

Ellisville police said Burnett drove into Wildwood and shot the side and windshield of a Nissan Rogue near Highways 100 and 109. A man in that car suffered a laceration on his leg from broken glass, police said.

The Missouri Highway Patrol chased the motorcyclist in the Pacific and Eureka areas, at speeds of 80 to 90 mph. The chase ended when the motorcycle ran off I-44 into a grassy area. Police arrested Burnett in a wooded area and recovered the MAC-10 pistol, which Ellisville police Chief Steve Lewis said is a semiautomatic 9 mm pistol.

In the vandalism at the Pageant, an official said Burnett is suspected of spray painting on the sidewalk, windows and trash cans outside at about 2 p.m. Saturday. The messages mostly read "FTP," which typically is a derogatory message for police, but the vandal later expanded on that and spelled out the words  including Pageant in place of the p.

St. Louis police said the vandal drove off in a pickup, running over barricades. A few days before that, Burnett was spotted driving his motorcycle on the sidewalk in front of the Pageant making threatening gestures, a source said. Burnett worked about eight years at the Pageant theater, until he quit in December 2020. He worked as a member of the door crew, checking identification and picking up trash.

A Pageant spokesman applauded police for catching Burnett before someone was seriously hurt or killed.

Burnett did not have a lawyer listed in court records Tuesday. Burnett has a pending case in St. Charles for misdemeanor assault; police say he threatened an employee at a motorcycle shop there after Burnett was fired.

Shake off your afternoon slump with the oft-shared and offbeat news of the day, hand-brewed by our online news editors. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
CLAYTON  A Berkeley man is expected to present a self-defense claim as he stands trial this week for the murder of North County Police Cooperative Officer Michael Langsdorf in 2019.

The jury trial for Bonette K. Meeks, 29, began Tuesday with opening statements in St. Louis County Circuit Court. Meeks faces charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful gun possession and resisting arrest in the June 23, 2019, shooting death of Langsdorf, 40, at Clays Wellston Food Market Restaurant, 6250 Page Boulevard.

Prosecutors said Meeks went inside to cash a check worth more than $6,700 while another man, Kawynn Smith, waited in a car outside. Police said Langsdorf responded to a bad check complaint and that Meeks shot him in the head as they struggled on the floor near the stores counter.

The encounter lasted a little more than a minute, police said.

Assistant Prosecutor Jerry McDonald told jurors in opening statements that while Langsdorf tried to detain Meeks inside the store with handcuffs, Meeks pulled a gun, struck Langsdorf with it and then shot him in the back of the head during a struggle.

Meeks lawyer Paige Bremner told jurors that witnesses reported Langsdorf did not identify himself as a police officer after responding to the market and that the only clothing identifying him as law enforcement was his hat that said NCPC.

Meeks was clearly terrified for his life. He fires once and runs out, Bremner said. When Officer Langsdorf came in, Bonette (Meeks) had no idea who he was.

Smith, 60, had given the check to Meeks to cash, police said. A check shown in court Tuesday was from a Georgia fitness club to a Chesterfield business.

Smiths charge of second-degree murder, also called felony murder, is pending. He is expected to testify at Meeks trial this week as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

Prosecutors have endorsed more than 50 witnesses including Smith for this weeks trial before Circuit Judge William M. Corrigan Jr. Forty of the states potential witnesses are St. Louis-area police officers.

On Tuesday, jurors saw a store cashiers cellphone video of a tussle in the foyer of the market with Langsdorf atop Meeks in attempt to subdue and handcuff him. The video showed Meeks appearing to wrestle free moments before the sound of a gunshot. The video did not record Langsdorf being shot.

Before Langsdorfs death, Meeks had no felony criminal history in Missouri, according to court records, but he had been in and out of the North Carolina prison system at least four times since 2009.

Records provided to the Post-Dispatch by the Wake County, North Carolina, Superior Court showed Meeks had several pending and dismissed counts of marijuana possession, cocaine distribution and trespassing. A 2011 charge of robbery with a dangerous weapon also was dismissed.

Circuit Judge William M. Corrigan Jr. is permitting only relatives of Langsdorf and Meeks in the courtroom during the trial; media and spectators from the public are allowed to observe the trial from an overflow room in the St. Louis County courthouse. Corrigan on Friday ordered the entire Meeks case and docket sealed, citing the security of the parties and the privacy of the participants and the fair administration of justice.

The practice prevents not just potential jurors, but also anyone else from accessing information about charges or dockets listing public court proceedings before and during trial.

Shake off your afternoon slump with the oft-shared and offbeat news of the day, hand-brewed by our online news editors. 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  A St. Louis County man has struck a plea deal with prosecutors in the 2018 killing of a Ferguson woman he met on a dating service.

Circuit Judge Michael Noble on Friday sentenced Henry McCulley IV, to 12 years in prison for convictions of involuntary manslaughter, armed criminal action and abandonment of a corpse.

McCulley, 32, was originally charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Oct., 29, 2018, shooting death of Rebecca Williams, 48. McCulley's case was set for trial this week.

"He is very pleased with the outcome," said McCulley's lawyer Scott Rosenblum. "I think ultimately, the outcome fits the facts."

Cellphone data showed McCulley's and Williams' locations mirrored each other and where her body was found, police said. Williams last used her cellphone to call McCulley, and blood and bullet damage were found in a car linked to McCulley's family.

Williams' body was found in the 700 block of Bittner Street in the city's Baden neighborhood.

Shake off your afternoon slump with the oft-shared and offbeat news of the day, hand-brewed by our online news editors. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
JEFFERSON CITY  A settlement between a group of parents and the Francis Howell School District will result in a five-figure check for a Washington, D.C., nonprofit.

The Institute for Free Speech, whose lawyers represented three parents suing the St. Charles County district, is set to receive $70,000 from the district or its insurer to cover attorneys fees, according to a copy of the agreement.

The districts insurer will pay the fees, said Jennifer Jolls, spokeswoman for the district.

The parents sued the district in February, saying district officials unfairly used a no-advertising policy to warn them against mentioning the name of a conservative parents political action committee during the public portion of board meetings.

The PAC, Francis Howell Families, backed the eventual winners of the districts two open Board of Education seats in the April 5 election.

Later in April, U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a preliminary injunction barring the district from banning the plaintiffs use of the PACs name, Francis Howell Families, or the name of its website, www.francishowellfamilies.org, during public comment portions of board meetings.

Clark issued a permanent injunction to that effect on Tuesday as part of the settlement, which district leaders signed on June 2.

The permanent injunction goes further than the preliminary injunction, which only required the district to stop censoring the Francis Howell Families group.

The permanent injunction also orders the district not to censor other speakers who mention other websites during public comment, as long as the speaker is speaking on a topic relevant to the district or education.

We are pleased the district agreed to settle the lawsuit and respect our clients First Amendment rights, said Del Kolde, senior attorney for the Institute for Free Speech, in a statement.

A ban on advertising on school property is no excuse to censor political speech in public comments, Kolde said. This case should serve as a reminder to school boards across America that they cannot single out their critics for selective enforcement of speaking rules.

The parents  Christopher Brooks, Ken Gontarz and Katherine Rash  had argued the districts selective enforcement of the advertising policy amounted to blatant unlawful viewpoint discrimination.

Clark, in April, said the parents claims were evidenced by the unique scrutiny the parents received compared with speakers who referenced other organizations, such as Black Voices Matter and the MNEA or the Missouri National Education Association, a teachers union.

Speakers at the boards March 17 meeting who urged voters to oppose candidates backed by Francis Howell Families were also treated differently, Clark said.

As part of the settlement, the district was required to issue a statement expressing that it values stakeholder comments and the Publics participation in its Board meetings.

The statement continued, The Board acknowledges the guidance from the judge, agrees with the members of Francis Howell Families that it will not apply the questioned advertisement policy to patron comments, and will review and assess any necessary policy revisions.

The full statement was posted to the districts website on Tuesday.

Francis Howell Families supported the two conservative-backed candidates in the April 5 election, Randy Cook and Adam Bertrand, who won the two open seats on the Board of Education.

Clark was named to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri by then-President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate in 2019 by a vote of 53-45.

Posted at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, June 14.

Stay up to date on life and culture in St. Louis. 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  Alderman Megan Green on Monday was the first to say shes running for aldermanic president in upcoming special elections to replace Lewis Reed, who resigned last week after his recent indictment on corruption charges.

Green confirmed her plans in a telephone interview after informing the Missouri Ethics Commission she was changing the purpose of her ongoing campaign committee to a race for aldermanic president this November.

It means that Im in, she said.

Green, who is part of the Board of Aldermens progressive faction, said shell release a detailed platform and hold a formal campaign kickoff after the city Election Board firms up details on when the elections will be held.

But she said one element of her campaign message would be a commitment to changing the citys tax incentive policies.

We have to have somebody leading the board with an eye to reforming these systems, Green said. Ive always been pushing the board to be more transparent.

At least three other fellow Democratic aldermen have said theyre considering the race as well  former mayoral candidate Cara Spencer, Jack Coatar and Tom Oldenburg.

Board Vice President Joe Vollmer became acting president upon Reeds resignation but has said he wont run for the post in the upcoming elections.

Reed, who held the job 15 years, announced his resignation June 7. He and two other aldermen who also resigned are accused of accepting bribes from a businessman in exchange for helping approve tax abatement legislation and other actions. Each pleaded not guilty.

Green, 38, has been on the board since 2014, representing the 15th Ward centered on the Tower Grove South neighborhood.

She ran unsuccessfully for aldermanic president in the 2019 Democratic primary against Reed, finishing third with 31.2% of the vote.

Green was a supporter of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones campaign last year for mayor against Spencer and also backed Jones in a previous bid for mayor in 2017.

Green said Monday she would release endorsements when she officially announces and didnt give details.

But, she said in a text message, given the turmoil in City government, I do believe its important we have a president of the board who is willing to work collaboratively with the Mayor to address the challenges of our city. Jones didnt comment Monday on Greens entry.

The Election Boards chairman on Friday said the board was still doing legal research and had yet to decide specifics on the upcoming special citywide votes.

But he said it was likely that the board would call a special primary election for late August, September or early October at which candidates would be chosen for the November general election.

He said its also likely that the primary and November vote would be run under the nonpartisan approval voting ordinance enacted by voters in 2020.

Under that system, residents vote for as many candidates as they approve of in the primary; the top two finishers advance to the general-election runoff.

Whoever is elected in November would serve the final few months of Reeds current four-year term, which expires in April. Another election would be held in April, preceded by a primary in March, to elect someone to serve the next four-year term.

Prior to Reeds indictment and resignation, Green had announced that she planned to seek re-election next year as an alderman from the new 6th Ward under a ward redistricting and reduction plan that kicks in then.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
CLAYTON  St. Louis County Executive Sam Page on Monday attacked two political opponents in a blistering letter to a federal prosecutor who has handled several high-profile public corruption cases, including that of Pages predecessor, Steve Stenger.

Page accused Republican Councilman Tim Fitch, a former county police chief, of attempting to interfere with a federal investigation and his Democratic challenger, attorney Jane Dueker, of being a key player in the Stenger administration and a Fitch ally.

Pages letter followed Fitchs request on Saturday that the county release copies of any federal subpoenas seeking information and records of investigations of county employees.

Fitch sought the records in the wake of the indictment last week of Tony Weaver Sr., a Page appointee accused attempting to defraud a small business grant program. County Counselor Beth Orwick denied Fitchs request, saying the records were confidential. Weaver has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Instead of responding to Fitch, Page sent a two-page letter to Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith in which he leveled a number of accusations at the councilman and Dueker, seeking to tie both to Stenger.

While admitting he had no first-hand knowledge, Page asserted for the first time that Stenger offered to order county employees to pay Fitch his police pension in exchange for the councilmans loyalty, saying a county employee recently reported to their boss that the councilman was a frequent presence in Stengers office leading up to his indictment in April 2019.

The county suspended Fitchs pension when he joined the council in 2019; Fitch sued the county earlier this year to try to compel the county to backpay the pension, plus interest.

Fitch, in response Monday to Pages letter, said the county executive was repeating unfounded allegations to deflect from his demand for information the public has a right to know.

Page, in his letter to Goldsmith, also said Dueker was a close advisor (to) and financial supporter of both former St. Louis Aldermanic President Lewis Reed and former Alderman Jeffrey Boyd  two of three members of the Board of Aldermen who were charged in an indictment unsealed on June 2.

Dueker made campaign donations to Boyd and to then-Alderman John Collins-Muhammad, who also was named in the indictment. She gave $250 to Collins-Muhammad on Feb. 16, the date of a reelection campaign fundraiser. And in 2020, she donated a total of $1,000 to Boyd.

Her campaign spokesman, Ed Rhode  a former Stenger campaign organizer  said Monday that Dueker, a longtime attorney for St. Louis and St. Louis County police unions, donated to the aldermen because they supported police.

Reed, Boyd and Collins-Muhammad have all entered not guilty pleas.

Dueker, in a statement Monday, said she would be happy to discuss all these false allegations at a public debate. Page, so far, has declined to attend any candidate forums at which Dueker appeared.

Dueker also alleged Page had hired a criminal defense lawyer in the wake of the indictment against Weaver: This letter confirms that Sam Pages government is under FBI investigation and thats no ones fault but his own.

Asked for response, Page spokesman Doug Moore said, Jane will say anything for attention. Case in point.

Page, in his letter to Goldsmith, indicated he would defer to the U.S. Attorneys office on the matter of disclosing the subpoenas.

I will defer to you concerning whether and how to address the councilmembers inquiry appropriately, he wrote.

Asked about Pages letter, Goldsmith declined to comment.

What has changed since then?

In his letter to Page on Saturday, Fitch quoted from an article published by the Post-Dispatch on March 15, 2019, in which Page said he agreed to tell reporters about the scope and contents of a Stenger-related federal subpoena in the interest of transparency, after getting legal advice from an attorney that he wasnt bound to confidentiality.

At the time, Page was chairman of a County Council battling Stenger following Post-Dispatch reports scrutinizing favorable deals Stenger made with top campaign donors.

The County Council has been demanding accountability and transparency for two years, Page told the Post-Dispatch at the time. This latest development indicates the councils concerns were not misplaced. ... I hope the Stenger administration takes this matter seriously and cooperates fully.

Fitch asked Page what has changed since then?

Fitch said Monday that Page still has not responded to my letter and that the county executive is getting desperate.

Desperation is present in his response of, I dont know this to be true as he goes on to write about what others have told him in an attempt to get the reader to believe what he wrote. Classic Page political spin, Fitch said in a statement.

Fitch said his cooperation with the U.S. Attorneys office and the FBI are a matter of record and Im proud of it, and he vowed to check the power of the county executives office ... no matter who holds that office and what fantasies this County Executive and his taxpayer-funded marketing people write.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
JEFFERSON CITY  Gov. Mike Parson says hes taking a hands-off approach to filling two high-paying cabinet positions in his administration.

The looming departures of Zora Mulligan as the states higher education commissioner and May Scheve-Reardon as the long-time director of the Missouri Lottery have opened the door to new leadership.

But, in each case, the agencies are governed by commissions, rather than overseen directly by the governor.

That, a spokeswoman said, means the Republican governor is not getting directly involved in the search for replacements.

Governor Parson appoints the members of Commissions and has chosen individuals who he believes will make the right decisions on behalf of the people of Missouri. Each Commission determines its leader, aide Kelli Jones said. Governor Parson is confident each Commission will appoint a strong leader who will continue to move Missouri forward.

Parsons public attitude is different than his predecessor, former Gov. Eric Greitens, who resigned in 2018 under a cloud of scandal.

Greitens, a Republican who is attempting a political comeback this year as a candidate for U.S. Senate, spent much of 2017 stacking the state school board with his own appointees. Without any public explanation, the new board members then moved to fire Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven, despite her receiving high marks from school advocates and other education observers.

A year later, after Greitens had left office, Vandeven was rehired.

As governor, Parson has had a penchant for picking current or former lawmakers for jobs in his administration, giving most of them a raise from their $39,500 House or Senate salaries to boost their taxpayer-funded pensions down the line.

Scheve-Reardon earned $127,954 in 2021, while Mulligan pulled in $182,052.

In May, Mulligan was hired as executive vice president at Missouri State University after nearly six years at the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development.

The Coordinating Board for Higher Education met in May to discuss the transition, placing deputy commissioner Leroy Wade to serve as interim commissioner once Mulligan leaves.

Mulligan, the longest-serving commissioner in the past 20 years, helped oversee a transition to absorb two workforce development divisions into the agency at the direction of Parson.

Wade has been with the department in various capacities since January 1986. He served as interim commissioner after former commissioner Dr. David Russell retired in 2016.

Scheve-Reardon, a former Democratic state lawmaker who served as director of the Lottery for more than 13 years, announced she was quitting earlier this month. She intends to stay through July 29.

She said battles with the Legislature over her agencys budget, as well as their inability to stop the spread of illegal video gambling machines in convenience stores and gas stations, led her to step down.

Lottery Commission President Lance Mayfield of Viburnum said he has reached out to the governors office for any direction on filling the vacancy.

The plan, for now, is to hire an interim director who will not be a candidate for the full-time position, Mayfield said.

If Parson has a particular person in mind for either the interim or full-time post, Mayfield is not aware of it.

Its not been made known to me, Mayfield said. They havent actually said they have someone in mind.

Mayfield said he plans to schedule a special meeting of the lottery commission to discuss the opening, with an eye on hiring someone by mid- to late fall.

We are mapping it all out, he said.

Although Parson said hes staying out of the search for directors, Jones said he does have an opinion on their backgrounds.

Governor Parson wants leaders who are public servants. He wants them to get up every day and work hard to ensure the needs of others are met. He wants leaders who never stop working to make the lives of others better, Jones said. Governor Parson often stresses that being a good leader isnt about being the best, but making those around you better.

Originally posted at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 14.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
BELLEVILLE  The big news came by telegram on June 14, 1917, from businessman Edward Daley, who had been in Washington for a week lobbying to snare a new military base.

"Belleville gets aviation field. Lease made. Return tonight," Daley notified his colleagues at the Greater Belleville Board of Trade. Thus began Scott Air Force Base, the nation's third-oldest continuously operating Air Force flying field.

Shortly after Congress voted to enter World War I on April 4, 1917, the Army Signal Corps announced plans to build nine bases to train aviators. Maj. Albert Bond Lambert, future namesake of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, was among those who believed the level ground of Shiloh Township, six miles east of Belleville, would serve the Army well. Daley hurried to Washington with regional political backing and options on leases from seven farmers.

The Army signed for 624 acres and, within a week, awarded a contract to Unit Construction Co. of St. Louis to build the Belleville Aviation Camp. Almost 2,000 workers began raising 53 buildings, including 16 hangars, six barracks for aviation cadets and a "dope house" to store gasoline. They were strung along the Southern Railway line, which still runs through the base.

Many workers lived in tents amidst hastily harvested wheat fields. The Belleville News-Democrat noted that city fathers "wouldn't let workers loaf on the public square."

Capt. Bayriver and Lt. Tabuteau of the French Flying Corps, neither of whom spoke English, arrived June 27 to prepare the training program. The first airplanes were J-1 Standards, quickly supplemented by Curtiss Jennies. Three weeks later, the Army renamed the field for Cpl. Frank Scott, the nation's first enlisted man to perish in a flying machine. He died in Maryland in 1912.

Flight training began Sept. 11, 1917, from a grass open space at the south end of today's military runway. Eight cadets died in crashes, but many others lived to fly in combat in France. Scott pilots fitted Jennies with stretchers to experiment with early flying ambulances  a foreshadowing of one of the field's later roles in medical airlift.

After World War I, the Army bought the property for $191 per acre and turned it into a dirigible base.

During World War II, Scott trained radio operators for crews flying in bombers and transports. When the nation closed hundreds of installations after the war, Scott endured as a major point for transports and air-medical services.
RED LODGE, Mont. (AP)  More than 10,000 visitors were ordered out of Yellowstone as unprecedented flooding tore through the northern half of the nations oldest national park, washing out bridges and roads and sweeping an employee bunkhouse miles downstream, officials said Tuesday. Remarkably, no one was reported injured or killed.

The only visitors left in the massive park straddling three states were a dozen campers still making their way out of the backcountry.

Yellowstone National Park, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, could remain closed as long as a week, and northern entrances may not reopen this summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly said.

The water is still raging," said Sholly, who noted that some weather forecasts include the possibility of additional flooding this weekend.

The Yellowstone River hit historic levels after days of rain and rapid snowmelt and wrought havoc across parts of southern Montana and northern Wyoming, where it washed away cabins, swamped small towns and knocked out power. It hit the park just as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors was ramping up.

Instead of marveling at massive elk and bison, burbling thermal pools and the reliable blast of Old Faithfuls geyser, tourists found themselves witnessing nature at its most unpredictable as the Yellowstone River river crested in a chocolate brown torrent that washed away everything in its path.

It is just the scariest river ever, Kate Gomez of Santa Fe, New Mexico, said Tuesday. Anything that falls into that river is gone.

Waters were only starting to recede Tuesday, and the full extent of the destruction may not be known for a while. It was not expected to have affected wildlife.

Closure of the northern part of the park will keep visitors from features that include Tower Fall, Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley, which is known for viewing wildlife such as bears and wolves. Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake and viewing the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are on the parks southern loop road and likely to be reopened.

Sholly said the backpackers who remained in the park had been contacted. Crews were prepared to evacuate them by helicopter, but that hasnt been needed yet, he said.

Sholly said he didnt believe the park had ever shut down from flooding.

Gomez and her husband were among hundreds of tourists stuck in Gardiner, Montana, a town of about 800 residents at the park's north entrance. The town was cut off for more than a day until Tuesday afternoon, when crews reopened part of a washed away two-lane road.

While the flooding cant directly be attributed to climate change, it came as the Midwest and East Coast sizzle from a heat wave and other parts of the West burn from an early wildfire season amid a persistent drought that has increased the frequency and intensity of fires that are having broader impacts. Smoke from a fire in the mountains of Flagstaff, Arizona, could be seen in Colorado.

Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said a warming environment makes extreme weather events more likely than they would have been "without the warming that human activity has caused.

Will Yellowstone have a repeat of this in five or even 50 years? Maybe not, but somewhere will have something equivalent or even more extreme, he said.

Heavy rain on top of melting mountain snow pushed the Yellowstone, Stillwater and Clarks Fork rivers to record levels Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials in Yellowstone and in several southern Montana counties were assessing damage from the storms, which also triggered mudslides and rockslides. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a statewide disaster.

Some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the park and Yellowstones gateway communities in southern Montana. National Park Service photos showed mud and rock slides, washed out bridges and roads undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers.

In Red Lodge, Montana, a town of 2,100 thats a popular jumping-off point for a scenic, winding route into the Yellowstone high country, a creek running through town jumped its banks and swamped the main thoroughfare, leaving trout swimming in the street a day later under sunny skies.

At least 200 homes flooded in the city and in Fromberg, Carbon County authorities said.

Residents described a harrowing scene where the water went from a trickle to a torrent over just a few hours.

The water toppled telephone poles, knocked over fences and carved deep fissures in the ground through a neighborhood of hundreds of houses. Power was restored by Tuesday, though there was still no running water in the affected neighborhood.

Heidi Hoffman left early Monday to buy a sump pump in Billings, but by the time she returned her basement was full of water.

We lost all our belongings in the basement, Hoffman said as the pump removed a steady stream of water into her muddy backyard. Yearbooks, pictures, clothes, furniture. Were going to be cleaning up for a long time.

On Monday, Yellowstone officials evacuated the northern part of the park, where roads may remain impassable for a substantial length of time, Sholly said. But the flooding affected the rest of the park, too, with park officials warning of yet higher flooding and potential problems with water supplies and wastewater systems at developed areas.

The rains hit just as area hotels have filled up in recent weeks with summer tourists. More than 4 million visitors were tallied by the park last year. The wave of tourists doesnt abate until fall, and June is typically one of Yellowstones busiest months.

It was unclear how many visitors to the region remained stranded, or how many people who live outside the park were rescued and evacuated.

Mark Taylor, owner and chief pilot of Rocky Mountain Rotors, said his company airlifted about 40 paying customers over the past two days from Gardiner, including two women who were very pregnant.

Taylor spoke as he ferried a family of four adults from Texas, who wanted to do some more sightseeing before heading home.

I imagine theyre going to rent a car and theyre going to go check out some other parts of Montana  somewhere drier, he said.

At a cabin in Gardiner, Parker Manning of Terre Haute, Indiana, got an up-close view of the roiling Yellowstone River floodwaters just outside his door. Entire trees and even a lone kayaker floated by.

In early evening, he shot video as the waters ate away at the opposite bank where a large brown house that had been home to park employees, who had evacuated, was precariously perched.

In a large cracking sound heard over the river's roar, the house tipped into the waters and was pulled into the current. Sholly said it floated 5 miles (8 kilometers) before sinking.

In south-central Montana, flooding on the Stillwater River stranded 68 people at a campground. Stillwater County Emergency Services agencies and Stillwater Mine crews rescued people Monday from the Woodbine Campground by raft. Some roads in the area were closed and residents were evacuated.

The towns of Cooke City and Silvergate, just east of the park, were also isolated by floodwaters.

In Livingston, residents in low-lying neighborhoods were told to leave and the city's hospital was evacuated as a precaution after its driveway flooded.

Officials in Park County, which includes Gardiner and Cooke City, said extensive flooding throughout the county had made drinking water unsafe in many areas.

The Montana National Guard said Monday it sent two helicopters to southern Montana to help with evacuations.

In the hamlet of Nye, at least four cabins washed into the Stillwater River, said Shelley Blazina, including one she owned.

It was my sanctuary, she said Tuesday. Yesterday I was in shock. Today Im just in intense sadness.

The Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs crested at 13.88 feet (4.2 meters) Monday, higher than the previous record of 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) set in 1918, according the the National Weather Service.

Yellowstone got 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) of rain Saturday, Sunday and into Monday. The Beartooth Mountains northeast of Yellowstone got as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service.

Whitehurst reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writers Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, R.J. Rico in Atlanta, and Brian Melley in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Arabic messages from Armenia: Heritage for Cultural Dialogue temporary exhibition opened in the National Library of Qatar on June 14 on the sidelines of the official visit of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his delegation in Doha, Armenpress correspondent reports.

9 duplicate samples from the numismatic and archeological collections of the History Museum of Armenia were displayed at the exhibition.

The exhibition posters presented cultural values and historical facts about the Armenian-Arab long-lasting relations.

The exhibition will remain open for a week.
Chicago Sun-Times. June 11, 2022.

Editorial: DCFS must end practice of housing wards of the state in juvenile jail

A WBEZ report found that the practice, once on the decline, is now ticking up again.

Since January, the evidence has been piling up that the long-troubled Illinois Department of Children and Family Services continues to struggle to find placements for children in its care.

On Jan. 6, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Patrick T. Murphy issued two contempt of court orders against DCFS Director Marc Smith and the agency for violating the rights of a 9-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy who were left in psychiatric facilities for months awaiting placements.

It was a move Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert had never seen in the more than 30 years he has worked in the office that represents abused and neglected children.

Last month, Murphy issued an 11th contempt of court order against Smith. These court orders have served as temporary fixes, putting pressure on DCFS to swiftly find suitable placements.

Now, a recent report by WBEZs Patrick Smith found more evidence of the problem: DCFS continues to routinely house its wards in Cook County Juvenile Detention Center  the countys juvenile jail  because placements are not available.

Last year, 84 youths in the care of DCFS were left in juvenile detention well beyond their ordered release.

What DCFS is doing, not only is it a monumental and cruel civil rights violation for these children, its a monumental waste of taxpayer money that could instead be used to expand placement capacity the kids actually need, Golbert told us. But now we are not only seeing these placement problems stay in place, but get worse year after year.

The placement shortage stems from a 2015 decision by the state to cut 500 residential beds in group homes and institutions and replace them with therapeutic foster care homes. The move was well-intentioned and would provide community-based support for youth  but it never fully succeeded.

WBEZ first reported on the practice of leaving wards of the state in juvenile jail in 2015. Since then, DCFS made some progress in fixing it. But the number of wards being housed in the jail is now slowly ticking back up.

Its a troubling trend  and one DCFS must reverse.

Champaign News-Gazette. June 10, 2022.

Editorial: Eliminating states DNA testing backlog good for everyone

Illinois has many serious problems, but at least one fewer than it had a few years ago.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently announced that state police have eliminated their backlog of untested DNA evidence from sexual-assault cases.

A state law passed in 2010 requires that DNA evidence be tested within a six-month period  if the state police had the resources to comply. Apparently, the agency never did, because Pritzker noted there was a backlog of roughly 2,000 cases when he took office.

This massive government failing was attributable to typical bureaucratic delay, lack of resources provided by the General Assembly and the longstanding budget battle waged between former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

The latter  a self-destructive showdown between two stubborn and powerful politicians  was especially unfortunate, causing problems in state government that extended far beyond the DNA issue.

Under Pritzker, the legislature provided the necessary personnel and testing resources to eliminate the backlog and perhaps take future steps that will ensure testing is completed well within the six-month requirement.

State Police Director Brendan Kelly said he considers eliminating the six-month backlog the first phase of an overall effort to step up the quality and efficiency of scientific testing.

We are going to be holding ourselves accountable to reaching the 90-day mark in the next phase as we get faster and faster in the years ahead, he said.

It goes without saying that sexual assault is an extremely serious crime that requires a ferocious response from the criminal-justice system. With respect to DNA evidence, that means identifying the guilty and clearing those who are innocent.

DNA evidence has become something of a magic bullet in the criminal-justice system, a crucial ingredient in achieving a just result in all kinds of criminal cases. But thats not possible if this vital evidence is not analyzed in a proper and timely manner.

Thats why this is such an important achievement, one in which the governor takes justifiable pride.

Frankly, its sickening that the backlog ever grew to the extent that it did  legally and morally unacceptable, as Pritzker said.

Everyone can hope that problem now is a thing of the past. But that will depend on elected officials continuing to provide the proper resources that ensures what must be done will be done.

END

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Regarding the letter Why arent guns allowed in courtrooms and the Capitol? (June 5): As a former Missouri state representative, I find it interesting that visitors to the Missouri State Capitol building are not allowed to bring a gun into the building. When I served, I was not surprised to learn many fellow legislators carried guns, and not just in the building. However, I was amazed to learn that some not only freely admitted to carrying but carried three guns at once: one in an underarm holster, one in the belt in the back and one in a boot. I also learned there is such a thing a bra holster.
Regarding Texas shooting records could be blocked by legal loophole (June 13): The Second Amendment says: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Where in it does it say that 18-year-olds and mentally ill people have the right to shoot a military-style weapon anytime and anywhere that they want to kill law-abiding citizens?

The right to bear arms is meant to protect the security of this nation against enemies foreign and domestic. Thats all. Those who abuse the Second Amendment to include any kind of weapon for any purpose do so to justify the selling of more firearms, to make more money for themselves, gun manufacturers and the politicians who are paid off by them. They do this to put fear into the hearts of citizens who then go out and buy more guns, which they think will protect them.

This country existed for more than 200 years without weapons of mass murder in the hands of children who intend to kill our babies, parents and grandparents. We should call out the National Rifle Association for what it has become: a nefarious organization that wants us to become an uncivilized nation so that they can sell more guns and gain more money and power. I think we should vote out any who are beholden to them and who love their guns more than they love our children.

Judy Plocker  Chesterfield
Regarding  Senate negotiators announce a deal on guns, breaking logjam  (June 13): What will it take to prod Congress into action regarding substantial gun control laws? It appears the school massacres at Sandy Hook, in Connecticut, and Uvalde, Texas, will not spurn them on to outlaw assault weapons. Just more talk, more arguing, more appeasing their gun-loving constituents that has resulted in no action.

When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, his widows pink Chanel suit was stained with the Presidents blood. Jackie Kennedy was asked if she wanted to change her clothing. She said no, let them see what theyve done. To that end, perhaps lawmakers viewing photos of the childrens bodies, so badly damaged by automatic weapon fire that only DNA was used to identify them, should be made mandatory. In that way they can see what their years of inaction has done.
Milan can't compare with Rome and Florence artistically, but Italy's second city hosts two noteworthy masterpieces: Michelangelo's last pieta sculpture and Leonardos Last Supper.

At Milan's Sforza Castle I get a rare opportunity to enjoy a Michelangelo statue with no crowds. Michelangelo died while still working on the Pieta Rondanini, his last pieta  a representation of a dead Christ with a sorrowful Virgin Mary. While unfinished, its a thought-provoking work by a nearly 90-year-old genius. The symbolism is of life and of death: Jesus returning to his mother, as two bodies seem to become one. Christs head is cut out of Marys right shoulder, and an earlier arm is still just hanging there. Above Marys right ear, you can see the remains of a previous face (eye, brow, and hairline).

Michelangelos more famous pieta at the Vatican (carved when he was in his 20s) features a beautiful, young, and astonished Mary. Here, Mary is older and wiser. Perhaps Mary is now better able to accept death as part of life...as is Michelangelo. The pieta at the Vatican is simple and clear, showing the mother holding her dead son. Contemplating the Pieta Rondanini, I wonder whos supporting whom.

A highlight of my Milan visit is seeing Leonardo da Vincis The Last Supper in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Decorating a former dining hall, this remarkable, exactingly crafted fresco is one of the ultimate works of the Renaissance.

Deterioration began within six years of The Last Suppers completion because Leonardo painted on the wall in layers, as he would on a canvas, instead of applying pigment to wet plaster in the usual fresco technique. The church was bombed in World War II, but  miraculously, it seems  the wall holding The Last Supper remained standing. A 21-year restoration project (completed in 1999) peeled away 500 years of touch-ups, leaving Leonardos masterpiece faint but vibrant.

To preserve the artwork as much as possible, the humidity in the room is strictly regulated, and only 30 people are allowed in every 15 minutes. As my group's appointed time nears, we're herded between several rooms to dehumidify. The rooms' doors close behind and open slowly in front of us. Ive studied up, but I review my notes as I wait to enter, like cramming for a test. I want to get the most out of every second in the presence of Leonardos masterpiece.

Then the last door opens and we enter. There it is  filling the far wall in a big, vacant, whitewashed room: faded pastels, not a crisp edge, much of it looking like an old film negative.

To give my 15 minutes an extra punch, I decide to enter the room as if I were one of the monks for whom The Last Supper was painted some 500 years ago. I imagine eating here, in my robe and sandals, pleased that the wall in my dining room, which for so long has been under some type of construction, is finally done.

Its a big day  the unveiling. The painting is big and realistic. Jesus and the 12 apostles are sitting at a table just like the three big tables we monks share here in our dining room. Its as if we were just blessed with more brothers. The table in the painting is even set like ours  right down to the stiffly starched and ironed white tablecloth.

The scene now gracing our refectory is a fitting one. The Last Supper was the first Eucharist  a ritual we celebrate daily as monks. The disciples sit with Jesus in the center. Jesus seems to know hell die  his face is sad, all-knowing, accepting. His feet are crossed one atop the other, as if ready for the nail.

While we eat in silence, I meditate on the painting. It shows the moment when the Lord says, One of you will betray me. The apostles huddle in small groups, wondering, Lord, is it I? Some are concerned. Others are confused. Only Judas  thats him clutching his bag of silver  is not shocked.

Again and again, my eyes return to Christ. Hes calm despite the turmoil he must feel over the ultimate sacrifice he must make.

But then, my modern-day sensibility intrudes. I cant help it. I want to tell the monk that Leonardo cleverly used lines of perspective that converge on Christ, reinforcing the idea that everything does indeed center on him. But I suspect the monk wouldnt care, since he already understands the artists intent.

Suddenly, two doors burst open  abruptly ending my musings. My group and I are sternly ushered out and a new group enters. On a bench in front of the church, I sit down for a moment to settle back into the 21st century.

(Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com) writes European guidebooks, hosts travel shows on public TV and radio, and organizes European tours. This article was adapted from his book, For the Love of Europe. You can email Rick at rick@ricksteves.com and follow his blog on Facebook.)
 177Lutetium-labelled radiohybrid Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1) is in development as a highly optimized, next generation therapeutic radiopharmaceutical 

 177LurhPSMA-10.1 demonstrated favorable tumor:kidney ratio and statistically significant tumor growth suppression in preclinical studies 

 Phase 1/2 clinical trial of 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 in men with metastatic castrateresistant prostate cancer recently cleared to proceed in United States 

OXFORD, England & BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Blue Earth Therapeutics, a Bracco company and emerging leader in the development of innovative next generation therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, today announced results from a series of preclinical analyses designed to evaluate the biodistribution and potential therapeutic efficacy of 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 and 177Lu-PSMA-I&T in the treatment of prostate cancer preclinical models. Results from preclinical biodistribution studies demonstrated that 177LurhPSMA-10.1 performed favorably when compared with 177Lu-PSMA-I&T, with an improved tumor:kidney uptake ratio. Therapeutic efficacy was evaluated in a preclinical prostate cancer xenograft model which showed that 177LurhPSMA10.1 significantly suppressed tumor growth relative to control, and to a greater extent than 177Lu-PSMA-I&T. The data were presented in an oral presentation at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) Annual Meeting. 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 is an investigational radiohybrid (rh) Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen-targeted therapeutic radiopharmaceutical, and the lead candidate in Blue Earth Therapeutics oncology development program of next generation therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals.

Radioligand therapy targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) has been shown to be an effective therapy in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, said Caroline Foxton, Ph.D., Vice President R&D Strategy and Collaboration at the Blue Earth Group. However, optimizing tumor uptake and accelerating renal clearance for this class of compounds could improve the therapeutic index, achieve better clinical outcomes and effectively manage radiation exposure to patients. Blue Earth Therapeutics next generation therapeutic rhPSMA compound has been optimized for favorable biodistribution properties to enhance delivery of therapeutic radiation to tumors while minimizing kidney uptake and retention. Supported by these preclinical data, 177LurhPSMA-10.1 was selected as our lead therapeutic candidate for progression to the clinic.

We are pleased that the first presentation of preclinical results from Blue Earth Therapeutics rhPSMA-10.1 program in prostate cancer is being made to the nuclear medicine community at the SNMMI 2022 Annual Meeting, said David E. Gauden, D.Phil., Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Radiohybrid PSMA technology enables utility as a theranostic because the molecule may be modified and deployed for either diagnostic PET imaging or therapeutic applications. This optimized rhPSMA technology can also be developed with both beta- and alpha-emitting therapeutic radioisotopes, with the potential to deliver personalized, targeted therapy specific to each patients condition. We are closely collaborating in the development of 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 with our sister company, Blue Earth Diagnostics, by incorporating its investigational 18F-rhPSMA-7.3 PET agent into our clinical development program.

Dr. Gauden continued, Results from these analyses demonstrate the attractive preclinical biodistribution and potential therapeutic efficacy profile of 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1, and were included in our Investigational New Drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Blue Earth Therapeutics Phase 1/2 clinical trial for 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 in treating men with metastatic castrateresistant prostate cancer was recently cleared to proceed, and we expect patient enrollment to commence shortly.

Results

The findings presented at SNMMI included biodistribution data from preclinical models which evaluated 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 and 177Lu-PSMA-I&T uptake and tumor:kidney ratio, and therapeutic efficacy analysis in preclinical prostate cancer xenograft models.

Biodistribution

Data from longitudinal biodistribution analyses in preclinical models showed that the most significant organ uptake for both 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 and 177Lu-PSMA-I&T was observed in the kidney; however, kidney retention was lower for 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 than 177Lu-PSMA-I&T at all timepoints, and 6.5-fold lower than that for 177Lu-PSMA-I&T at 12 hours. No other organ (including the brain) showed any significant uptake of 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1. A single-timepoint biodistribution study using a PSMA-expressing prostate cancer xenograft model examined the tumor:kidney uptake ratio for both compounds. It also showed lower kidney uptake of 177LurhPSMA10.1, with kidney uptake being 6.4fold lower for 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 than for 177LuPSMA-I&T at 15 hours post-injection. Higher tumor uptake was seen with 177LurhPSMA10.1 than 177Lu-PSMA-I&T at this timepoint (2.3-fold), resulting in an improved tumor:kidney ratio for 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 (2.31.14) compared to 177Lu-PSMA-I&T (0.10.03).

Efficacy

The potential therapeutic efficacy of 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 and 177Lu-PSMA-I&T was compared in a PSMA-expressing prostate cancer xenograft model. Tumor volume was significantly reduced by 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 compared with the vehicle control (p=0.045 at 35 days after treatment). When measuring fold-change in tumor volume relative to volume at inclusion, 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 showed a statistically significant suppression of tumor growth compared to both non-radiolabeled rhPSMA-10.1 and vehicle control at both 14 days after treatment (p

The results were discussed in an oral presentation, Preclinical evaluation of a novel radioligand therapy for patients with prostate cancer: biodistribution and efficacy of 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1 in comparison with 177Lu-PSMA-I&T, by Caroline Foxton, Ph.D., Blue Earth Group, Oxford, UK, at the SNMMI 2022 Annual Meeting on June 13, 2022. Full session details and the abstract are available in the SNMMI online program HERE.

About Radiohybrid Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (rhPSMA)

rhPSMA compounds are referred to as radiohybrid (rh), as each molecule possesses three distinct domains. The first consists of a Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen-targeted receptor ligand which attaches to and is internalized by prostate cancer cells. It is attached to two labelling moieties which may be radiolabeled with either 18F for PET imaging, or with isotopes such as 177Lu or 225Ac for therapeutic use  creating a true theranostic technology. They may play an important role in patient management in the future, and offer the potential for precision medicine for men with prostate cancer. Radiohybrid technology and rhPSMA originated from the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Blue Earth Diagnostics acquired exclusive, worldwide rights to rhPSMA diagnostic imaging technology from Scintomics GmbH in 2018, and therapeutic rights in 2020, and has sublicensed the therapeutic application to its sister company Blue Earth Therapeutics. Blue Earth Therapeutics and Blue Earth Diagnostics work closely on the development of 177Lu-rhPSMA-10.1. Currently, rhPSMA compounds have not received regulatory approval.

About Blue Earth Therapeutics

Blue Earth Therapeutics, one of the Bracco family of companies, is a clinical stage company dedicated to advancing next generation targeted radiotherapeutics to treat patients who have cancer. With proven management expertise across the spectrum of radiopharmaceutical and oncology drug development, as well as biotechnology start-up experience, the Company aims to innovate and improve upon current technologies and rapidly advance new targeted therapies for serious diseases. Blue Earth Therapeutics has an emerging pipeline, initially focused on prostate cancer, and with plans to expand into additional disease areas in oncology. Blue Earth Therapeutics is an indirect subsidiary of Bracco Imaging S.p.A, and based in Oxford, UK. For more information, please visit: https://www.blueearththerapeutics.com.

About Bracco Imaging

Bracco Imaging S.p.A., part of the Bracco Group, is a world-leading diagnostic imaging provider. Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Bracco Imaging develops, manufactures and markets diagnostic imaging agents and solutions. It offers a product and solution portfolio for all key diagnostic imaging modalities: X-ray imaging (including Computed Tomography-CT, Interventional Radiology, and Cardiac Catheterization), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS), and Nuclear Medicine through radioactive tracers and novel PET imaging agents to inform clinical management and guide care for cancer patients in areas of unmet medical need. Our continually evolving portfolio is completed by a range of medical devices, advanced administration systems and dose-management software. In 2019 Bracco Imaging enriched its product portfolio by expanding the range of oncology nuclear imaging solutions in the urology segment and other specialties with the acquisition of Blue Earth Diagnostics. In 2021, Bracco Imaging established Blue Earth Therapeutics as a separate, cutting-edge biotechnology vehicle to develop radiopharmaceutical therapies. Visit: www.braccoimaging.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005202/en/

For Blue Earth Therapeutics (U.S.)

Priscilla Harlan

Vice President, Corporate Communications

(M) (781) 799-7917

[email protected]

For Blue Earth Therapeutics (UK)

Clare Gidley

Associate Director Marketing and Communications

Tel: +44 (0) 7917 536939

[email protected]

Media

Sam Brown Inc.

Mike Beyer

(M) (312) 961-2502

[email protected]

Source: Blue Earth Therapeutics
SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The California Mortgage Relief Program has significantly expanded eligibility requirements to offer funding to a greater number of California homeowners who have fallen behind on housing payments due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program has modified the past-due requirement to include homeowners who missed payments in the first half of 2022, expanded the income eligibility and will now cover past-due property taxes for more homeowners.

Many California homeowners, like many renters, felt the impact of COVID-19 on their household finances, putting them at risk of losing the homes theyve worked so hard for, said Secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Lourdes Castro Ramirez. Im proud of the partnership with the U.S. Treasury providing $1 billion for the California Mortgage Relief Program and I applaud the California Housing Finance Agency for removing barriers to participating and providing greater program flexibility to assist more California homeowners struggling to stay in their homes.

The California Mortgage Relief Program has expanded eligibility to homeowners who missed mortgage payments in 2022. With this change, homeowners who missed at least two payments before June 30, 2022, and are currently delinquent, may now be eligible for full reimbursement for missed housing payments up to $80,000. Previously, program criteria required homeowners to miss at least two payments prior to program launch on December 27, 2021.

The program has also adjusted the income threshold for program qualification. Homeowners are now eligible for assistance from the program if their household income is at or below 150% of their countys Area Median Income (based on federal limits established by HUD for the program). The adjustment will make it so more California homeowners who experienced financial hardships during COVID-19 can get help. Applicants can find their countys income limit at CaMortgageRelief.org.

In addition, assistance with past-due property taxes will now extend to mortgage-free homeowners and those whose mortgage payments are current. Previously, property taxes were covered for reverse mortgage holders or as part of a complete reinstatement for homeowners who were also behind on their mortgage. These newly eligible homeowners can now receive up to $20,000 to cover past-due property tax payments if they missed at least one payment prior to May 31, 2022.

When launching the California Mortgage Relief Program, our first priority was to ensure access to those who were most at risk and in need, said Tiena Johnson Hall, Executive Director of the California Housing Finance Agency. After six months and over $68 million distributed, we can confidently expand to include additional delinquent housing payments, raise income limits and extend the delinquency timeline to include people who missed payments in the first half of 2022.

Applicants who were previously deemed ineligible have been notified of the program expansions and anyone who believes they meet the new criteria is encouraged to apply.

"I think the pandemic has had an exponentially negative impact on non-English speaking families across LA County. When there is a lack of language access, often these families are left out of conversations related to financial assistance," said James An, President, Korean American Federation of Los Angeles. "We are grateful for the federal funding and for all the government entities that have made The California Mortgage Relief Program available to our community, in their language. It's great to see the program evolve with the announcement of expansions effective today, and we look forward to working alongside other community-based organizations who have relationships in these underserved communities to continue helping our LA homeowners in need."

In the 58 Counties in the State, there are so many homeowners who have fallen behind on their property taxes, said Shari L. Freidenrich, CPA, Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector and President of the California Association of County Treasurers and Tax Collectors. By offering them assistance in paying delinquent property taxes, this program should help keep them in their homes and offset some of the financial hardships they experienced during the pandemic.

Since its launch, over $68 million has been distributed to more than 1,900 California homeowners to help them get caught up on their mortgage.

The assistance provided through the California Mortgage Relief Program is in the form of a one-time grant only for eligible households and does not need to be paid back. While there is no strict deadline for applications, homeowners in need should apply as soon as possible. Homeowners can apply at CaMortgageRelief.org or call the program Contact Center at 1-888-840-2594.

The CalHFA Homeowner Relief Corporation (CalHRC) is a special-purpose affiliate of the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA). CalHFA is an independent state agency that assists low to moderate income Californians by acting as the states affordable housing lender. Through CalHRC, the agency is able to disburse The American Rescue Plan Acts Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) on behalf of the State of California given its extensive expertise in the mortgage assistance and homeownership space.

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @CaMortgageRelief

Facebook: @CaMortgageHelp

Twitter: @CaMortgageHelp

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005341/en/

For media inquiries, please contact [email protected], (916) 306-7419.

Source: California Mortgage Relief Program
ARLINGTON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE: DHI), Americas Builder, announced today that the Company will release financial results for its third quarter ended June 30, 2022 on Thursday, July 21, 2022 before the market opens. The Company will host a conference call that morning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET). The dial-in number is 888-506-0062. When calling, please reference access code 239579. Participants are encouraged to call in five minutes before the call begins (8:25 a.m. ET). The call will also be webcast from the Companys website at investor.drhorton.com.

A replay of the call will be available after 12:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 21, 2022 at 877-481-4010. When calling, please reference replay passcode 45799. The teleconference replay will be available through July 28, 2022. The webcast replay will be available from the Companys website at investor.drhorton.com through November 15, 2022.

About D.R. Horton, Inc.

D.R. Horton, Inc., Americas Builder, has been the largest homebuilder by volume in the United States since 2002. Founded in 1978 in Fort Worth, Texas, D.R. Horton has operations in 104 markets in 32 states across the United States and closed 81,749 homes during the twelve-month period ended March 31, 2022. The Company is engaged in the construction and sale of high-quality homes through its diverse brand portfolio that includes D.R. Horton, Emerald Homes, Express Homes and Freedom Homes with sales prices generally ranging from $200,000 to over $1,000,000. Through its mortgage, title and insurance subsidiaries, D.R. Horton provides mortgage financing, title services and insurance agency services for its homebuyers. The Company also constructs and sells both single-family and multi-family rental properties and is the majority-owner of Forestar Group Inc., a national residential lot development company.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220615005085/en/

Jessica Hansen, 817-390-8200

Vice President of Investor Relations

[email protected]

Source: D.R. Horton, Inc.
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenian-American molecular biologist, neuroscientist, and Nobel Prize laureate Ardem Patapoutian visited the Yerevan State Medical Universitys COBRAIN Scientific-Educational Center for Fundamental Brain Research where he planted the seed of the plant from which he obtained the well-known molecule.

After touring the Center, Ardem Patapoutian delivered a lecture on How do you feel? The molecules that sense touch topic in the Yerevan State Medical University.

One of the reasons of my visit to Armenia is to get acquainted with the developments in Armenias science sector. I expect to lay a foundation for a new cooperation. The government tries to increase the funding for science, research, which is one of the first key steps for the development of the sector. I hope that the young students, after seeing my example, will try to achieve better results, he said.

YSMU Rector Armen Muradyan said that their cooperation with Mr. Patapoutian started back in 2016 when he delivered his first lecture on perception of touch.

Ardem Patapoutian received a Nobel Prize for the discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.
Commitment will establish program directorship and provide funds to expand services

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Delta Dental of Tennessees charitable arm, the Smile180 Foundation, announced a $1.075 million commitment to the Cleft and Craniofacial Program at Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt. The funds will be used to establish the Delta Dental of Tennessees Smile180 Foundation Directorship for the Cleft and Craniofacial Program, and to provide critical support as the program seeks to expand its services to care for more young patients and their families.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614006006/en/

Representatives from Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and Delta Dental of Tennessee gather at First Horizon Park in advance of the "Smile Power Sunday" game. (Photo: Business Wire)

The commitment, first announced Sunday afternoon at First Horizon Park in advance of the Smile Power Sunday Nashville Sounds game, expands on Delta Dentals longstanding support for Childrens Hospital. Since 2001, Delta Dental and Smile180 have donated more than $2.3 million to Childrens Hospital and supported various fundraising events and initiatives.

We are thankful for Delta Dental of Tennessee and the Smile180 Foundation for their continued generosity and steadfast commitment to our programs for more than two decades, said Jeffrey Upperman, MD, FACS, surgeon-in-chief of Childrens Hospital and chair of the Department of Pediatric Surgery. Support from organizations like Delta Dental plays an important role in our mission to expand and enhance our quality, cutting-edge patient care and enables our teams to advance health care through translational research, all with the goal to meet the complex needs of children and families. We could not do the work we do every day without our community partners.

This program cares for patients with a wide range of facial differences and is led by Michael Golinko, MD, FACS, FAAP, medical director of the Cleft and Craniofacial Program and chief of Pediatric Plastic Surgery, along with Jim Phillips, MD, BS, co-director of the Cleft Lip and Palate team. The complexity of this teams cases means that patients often stay with the program for multiple years and require care from an integrated team of specialists.

The Delta Dental Directorship, which will be filled through a rigorous nomination process, represents a mark of distinction for a highly regarded clinician. The holder of this directorship will have the resources to accelerate advances in the Cleft and Craniofacial Program.

Dr. Golinko and his team are doing truly amazing work to restore healthy smiles and brighter futures for thousands of kids from across the region, said Phil Wenk, DDS, President and CEO of Delta Dental of Tennessee. We are thrilled to support this vision and the continued growth and expansion of the Cleft and Craniofacial Program.

Of the total commitment from Delta Dental, $75,000 will ensure the Cleft and Craniofacial team has the ability to pursue high-priority needs and take advantage of emerging opportunities as they arise. This could include expanding and enhancing patient care, investing in state-of-the-art technology and adding new programming so children can receive comprehensive, world-class care.

Our goal is to expand the scope of the Cleft and Craniofacial Program, establishing it as a premier, internationally recognized program for comprehensive, family-centric cleft and craniofacial care, said Golinko. This extremely generous commitment from Delta Dental of Tennessee and the Smile180 Foundation builds upon the longstanding relationship between our institutions whose missions are exactly aligned. This endowment will make a tremendous impact in our ability to meet the complex needs of patients with facial differences from birth through early adulthood, advance the field through research and innovation and moreover, attract and retain outstanding leaders in cleft and craniofacial care.

The announcement kicks off the 7th annual Smile Power Oral Health Week. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has recognized June 13-17, 2022, as Smile Power Week to promote healthy smiles and the transformative power of oral health care. For more information about Smile Power Week, click here.

Patient ambassador, Judah Anderson, and his family attended the announcement at First Horizon Park and shared their story. To learn more about Judahs story, click here.

For more information about the Cleft and Craniofacial Program at Childrens Hospital, click here. For more information about Delta Dental of Tennessee, visit DeltaDentalTN.com

Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt

Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt is one of the nation's leading children's hospitals, treating and helping to prevent a full range of pediatric health issues from colds and broken bones to complex heart diseases and cancer. Achieving 10 out of 10 nationally ranked pediatric specialties in 2021, Childrens Hospital was again named among the nations Best Childrens Hospitals for the 15th consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report. Additionally, Childrens Hospital again earned the distinction as the No. 1 pediatric hospital in Tennessee, and in a new regional ranking, sharing first place in the Southeast Region.

Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, a nonprofit organization, opened in 2004, expanded its physical space in 2012, and recently added four new floors encompassing 160,000 total sq. ft. The new expansion helps to advance the size and scope of the hospital's mission. For more about Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt: ChildrensHospitalVanderbilt.org

Delta Dental of Tennessee

Delta Dental of Tennessee is the states largest independent dental benefits carrier with nearly 1.4 million lives covered. As part of the Delta Dental Plans Association, Delta Dental of Tennessee members have access to the largest dental network in the nation with more than 154,000 providers serving more than 437,000 locations. With the simple mission of ensuring healthy smiles, Delta Dental of Tennessee works hard to help members of the communities it serves. Along with its corporate foundation, Smile180, Delta Dental of Tennessee donated more than $5.4 million in funding and in-kind services to over 130 organizations in 2021.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614006006/en/

Ann Waller Curtis

[email protected]

Source: Delta Dental of Tennessee
Barry McCarthy one of 10 regional winners

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Deluxe President and CEO, Barry McCarthy, was named among 10 winners of the annual EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Heartland region, announced June 9 in downtown Minneapolis.

The EY Entrepreneur of the Year is one of the pre-eminent competitive business awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. Winners of this esteemed honor are selected by an independent judging panel comprised of award alumni, leading CEOs, investors and other regional business leaders. The Heartland program celebrates entrepreneurs from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

McCarthy was nominated by PNC for his vision and entrepreneurial spirit in leading the historic transformation of the 107-year-old company from a check printer into a digital payments and data company. PNC highlighted the companys turnaround to deliver organic growth for the first time in nearly a decade and the acquisition of First American Payment Systems in June 2021, as among the proof points of the companys entrepreneurial spirit.

This award recognizes our transformation from a check printer into a digital payments and data company. It isnt about one person, but about the entire team  we call it One Deluxe, McCarthy said. Our transformation was only possible because our team developed an entrepreneurial culture. It was truly humbling to receive this award on behalf of my fellow Deluxers.

McCarthy was honored for his efforts in building Deluxe into a Trusted Payments and Business Technology company, focused on helping businesses pay, get paid and grow. Under his leadership, Deluxe is becoming a leader in digital payments and data. The company offers credit and debit card processing (merchant services), digital receivables and payables solutions, data-driven marketing, and more.

Winners were evaluated based on their demonstration of long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes. Regional award winners will be considered for the Entrepreneur of The Year 2022 National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum.

About Deluxe

Deluxe, a Trusted Payments and Business Technology company, champions business so communities thrive. Our solutions help businesses pay, get paid, and grow. For more than 100 years, Deluxe customers have relied on our solutions and platforms at all stages of their lifecycle, from start-up to maturity. Our powerful scale supports millions of small businesses, thousands of vital financial institutions and hundreds of the worlds largest consumer brands, while processing approximately $3 trillion in annual payment volume. Our reach, scale and distribution channels position Deluxe to be our customers most trusted business partner. To learn how we can help your business, visit us at www.deluxe.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005969/en/

Cameron Potts, Chief Communications Officer

651-233-7735

[email protected]

Source: Deluxe Corporation
Over 2,000 joint customers including JetBlue, DocuSign and WeWork leverage Fivetran and Snowflake to power their modern data stack

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fivetran, the global leader in modern data integration, today announced partner accolades and new product functionalities that demonstrate continued growth and an extended partnership with Snowflake, the Data Cloud company. New product functionalities include the release of a new Oracle connector that can handle the highest volumes of data to Snowflake Data Cloud, as well as access to Fivetrans Metadata API for joint Snowflake customers to improve data visibility and promote greater data democratization.

Building on its status as a Snowflake Elite Partner, Fivetran has been named the Snowflake Data Integration Partner of the Year for 2022. The award recognizes that Fivetran has demonstrated innovation through Snowflake data integrations, resulting in increased joint customer benefits. Fivetran was also recognized with 10 Snowflake Partner Network (SPN) industry competency badges. Competencies are Snowflake's newest way of recognizing partners that have demonstrated an extensive track record of customer successes within a given industry, further validating and differentiating Fivetrans expertise within the Snowflake ecosystem. Fivetran badges include: retail and CPG, financial services, manufacturing, technology, healthcare & life sciences, media, construction & real estate, travel & hospitality, consulting & professional services, and education.

Regardless of industry, businesses cant truly unlock real insights and value from their data unless they have data from various sources  SaaS and databases alike  in one centralized location. Fivetran allows companies to quickly centralize and transform data from both SaaS and on-prem data sources into high-performance cloud destinations, such as Snowflakes Data Cloud. As a result, companies are able to increase operational efficiency and accelerate data analysis for critical business decisions.

Airlines require some of the most complex data operations. It's critical that data from across our organization isnt siloed  when data is centralized in one place for analysis, we can maximize its value, said Ashley Van Name, General Manager of Data Engineering at JetBlue. Fivetran has helped us to break down existing silos so we can deliver more value to the business. Analysts at JetBlue have access to many more data sets than they did two years ago, with data from over 100 source systems now available for querying in our data warehouse. We see JetBlues data stack as one of the most modern data stacks at any airline today, which we attribute in large part to Snowflake and Fivetran.

As evidence of the rapidly expanding Fivetran-Snowflake partnership, more than 60% of joint customers are syncing databases, with Fivetran syncing an average of 31 TB of data to Snowflake every day. This represents over an 80% YoY increase from 2021. Snowflake and Fivetran have 2,000+ joint customers including JetBlue, WeWork, DocuSign, Square and Autodesk.

"Our partnership with Fivetran makes it easy for customers to seamlessly move data from hundreds of sources into the Snowflake Data Cloud," said Colleen Kapase, SVP of WW Partner and Alliances at Snowflake. As a result, we provide our customers with improved data accessibility, allowing companies to make better, quicker business decisions and unlock new insights and opportunities. We look forward to helping new and existing joint customers across industries as we continue to grow our partnership.

With the launch of the high volume agent Oracle connector by Fivetran, enterprises can easily and securely move information for critical databases to the Snowflake Data Cloud. The new high-volume agent connector employs change data capture (CDC) using transactional logs for incremental database changes with no data loss and minimal impact on the Oracle source environment. Similar to existing Fivetran connectors, the entire process can be implemented in days instead of months, is fully managed and self correcting to address common pipeline issues, such as schema drift, automating those changes into the Snowflake target schema(s).

The growing number of joint customers between Fivetran and Snowflake is a testament to how well our platforms work together, said Logan Welley, VP of Alliances at Fivetran. Stemming from our acquisition of HVR, we added new functionality for database replication and prioritized Snowflake as our first support destination. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the Snowflake team to help companies across industries gain faster access to data and accelerate data-driven decision making.

Additionally, joint customers can leverage the Fivetran Metadata API to share information about their data-in-flight from source to Snowflake with their in-house data catalog. Available soon, customers will be able to share metadata with Fivetran and Snowflake and other joint technology partners, including Alation, Atlan, Collibra and data.world. By increasing metadata visibility, data stewards get a view lineage and can better understand what data is being loaded to Snowflake.

To learn more about how JetBlue works with Snowflake and Fivetran, check out their session at the Snowflake Summit on June 15, 2022.

To learn more about the Fivetran and Snowflake partnership, visit https://www.fivetran.com/partners-snowflake.

For more information on the high volume agent Oracle connector by Fivetran please visit https://www.fivetran.com/contact#talk-to-expert.

About Fivetran

Fivetran is the global leader in modern data integration. Our mission is to make access to data as simple and reliable as electricity. Built for the cloud, Fivetran enables data teams to effortlessly centralize and transform data from hundreds of SaaS and on-prem data sources into high-performance cloud destinations. Fast-moving startups to the worlds largest companies use Fivetran to accelerate modern analytics and operational efficiency, fueling data-driven business growth. Fivetran is headquartered in Oakland, California, with offices around the world. For more information, visit fivetran.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005433/en/

Ross Perich

[email protected]

Source: Fivetran
Shen has founded American Lending Center, Sunstone Management, Sunstone Trust and several other innovative enterprises

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- National business leader John Shen attended the official signing of the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture Act into law at the White House on Monday, June 13th. At the invitation of President Biden, Shen and colleague Stella Zhang participated in the historic recognition of the contributions and challenges faced by the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community in the United States.

Shen, a living example of the American Dream himself, immigrated to the United States and has since brought in hundreds of millions of dollars through foreign direct investment while reinvesting that wealth into American entrepreneurs.

Simon Pang, a longtime partner, executive at Royal Business Bank and a commissioner on the Presidents Advisory Commission on AANHPI, commented: This bill moves us closer to establishing a national museum dedicated to preserving the history and culture of the AANHPI community. I am thrilled to have been able to share this important moment with industry leaders like John Shen. His story is the story of the American Dream, and Johns ability to leverage that for the benefit of all Americans is an example for all.

Over the past 15 years, Shen has founded multiple companies, created hundreds of jobs in various sectors across the country, fostered the innovative ecosystem through venture capital and the creation of the Long Beach Accelerator, partnered with educational institutions to promote greater diversity in start-up culture and beyond. His focus on minority- and women-owned enterprises is a common thread driving Shens professional successes.

Shens current suite of companies comprises a wide range of business models, including:

American Lending Center, a non-bank community lender focused on facilitating EB-5, PPP and government backed loan programs.

Sunstone Management, a private equity and venture capital firm prioritizing equitable, accessible investments in start-ups for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Sunstone Trust Company, a wealth management services firm specializes in serving first- and second-generation immigrants and one of only eight trust companies licensed by California.

Partake Collective, an innovative combination of ghost kitchen, test kitchen, food hall, and retail market.

Commented Shen: I am honored to be at the White House at the invitation of President Biden to celebrate our culture at a time when many in our community face challenges. This bill is a demonstration of our national commitment to acknowledging the contributions of the AANHPI community of which I am so proud to be a member.

About Sunstone Management: A Financial Times (FT) Americas Fastest Growing Company

Sunstone Management, with the Sunstone Venture Capital Fund, is a diversified private capital management and investment firm offering comprehensive wealth management solutions to high-net-worth clients worldwide. Sunstone proactively forges both public-private partnerships with government agencies and industry-academic partnerships with nonprofit educational organizations to promote economic development, championing growth in the local innovative ecosystem. Sunstone also excels in leading commercial development projects in emerging sectors to support community development and in facilitating economic recovery under COVID-19.

About American Lending Center: A Financial Times (FT) Americas Fastest Growing Company

American Lending Center (ALC) is a private non-bank lending institution and nationally recognized leader in small business lending. Between 2009 and 2020, ALC offered strategically structured senior loan products to 80+ qualified SBA 504 projects in 19 states, contributing to a combined construction and business expansion budget of over one billion dollars. ALCs lending practice has successfully created more than 12,000 new jobs nationwide. As one of only a handful of nonbank institutions designated to provide immediate financial relief to struggling small businesses, ALC provided PPP loans to nearly 30,000 small businesses across all 50 states and Washington, DC.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614006028/en/

Media:

[email protected]

202-207-3650

Source: American Lending Center and Sunstone Management
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KBRA Europe (KBRA) releases a Day 1 recap of the IMN Global ABS 2022 conference. The opening day featured panels across a range of topics including the current state of various ABS markets, from trade receivables to auto ABS to CMBS, as well as discussions on ESG principles and sustainable finance. The day ended with a keynote address from the European Central Bank.

Click here to view a quick recap of some of todays panel topics.

Related Publications

About KBRA

KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered in the U.S., the EU, and the UK, and is designated to provide structured finance ratings in Canada. KBRAs ratings can be used by investors for regulatory capital purposes in multiple jurisdictions.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614006030/en/

Gordon Kerr, Head of European Research

+44 20 8148 1020

[email protected]

Stephen Hughes, European Structured Finance

+44 20 8148 1004

[email protected]

Katherine Quirke, European Structured Finance

+353 1 588 1185

[email protected]

Gianfranco Di Paolo, European Structured Finance

+353 1 588 1205

[email protected]

Yee Cent Wong, European Ratings

+44 20 8148 1005

[email protected]

Business Development Contacts

Mauricio Noe, Co-Head of Europe

+44 20 8148 1010

[email protected]

Miten Amin, Managing Director

+44 20 8148 1002

[email protected]

Source: KBRA
BUDAPEST, Hungary--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) has today officially opened the doors to its first in-house manufacturing facility in Europe. Based in Ullo, Hungary, the factory focuses primarily on building server infrastructure, storage systems and high-end PC workstations used by customers throughout the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.

Extending Lenovos international manufacturing operations, the investment represents significant economic potential for both the private and public sectors in Hungary, with increased production capacity, greater potential for collaboration with local vendors, and the creation of new job openings. The site already employs over 1,000 full-time staff in a variety of engineering, management & operational roles, with numbers continuing to increase as the facility moves towards full capacity.

Strong infrastructure, skilled labor and a location at the center of Europe made Hungary the natural location for Lenovos first European in-house manufacturing facility. In addition, part of Lenovos investment has been supported with local government incentives through the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA).

Francois Bornibus, Senior Vice President and EMEA President, at Lenovo, commented: With our manufacturing facility in Hungary officially open, weve reached a profound milestone in our global manufacturing network optimization and evolution. Hungarys well-connected location puts us much closer to our European customers so that we can fulfil and sustain their needs while remaining at the forefront of innovation. As our business continues to grow around the world, this incredible new facility will play a key role in our plans to ensure future success and bring smarter technology for all to Europe more sustainably, quickly and efficiently.

Robert Esik, CEO of the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA), added: We are delighted that Lenovo, an industry leader with a long-established history in global manufacturing, has chosen to cooperate with us and locate its new facility in Hungary. With the site now officially open, we expect to see new collaboration opportunities for local suppliers contribute towards Hungarys prosperous economic environment.

Covering almost 50,000 square meters across two buildings and three floors, the new site is one of Lenovos largest manufacturing facilities. The production line can produce more than 1,000 servers and 4,000 workstations a day  each one built specifically to customer requirements. Innovative automation capabilities are equipped throughout, including a first-class building management system operating on the shop floor and logistics area to monitor temperature, humidity, asset conditions and DIMM robotic labeling. This enables Lenovo to maintain optimal quality control of its products.

The new purpose-built building has been fitted with solar panels with a capacity of 0.5 megawatts  enough energy to power the equivalent of a small village. Building devices locally also dramatically reduces the freight miles these products incur, providing more efficient and sustainable transportation options. This combined with innovative manufacturing processes, such as Lenovos patented low-temperature solder process, will help Lenovo achieve its science-based climate goals.

The Hungary facility is part of Lenovos global manufacturing and supply chain strategy that serves customers in 180 markets from 35+ manufacturing sites around the world  including Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico and the USA. Lenovo is widely recognized for its global hybrid manufacturing model that includes a mix of both in-house and contract manufacturing. A key source of competitive advantage for the company, it provides greater efficiency and control over product development and supply chain operations, enabling customer needs to be responded to more effectively.

In May 2022, Lenovo jumped seven places in a year, and is now ranked #9 in the Gartner Global Supply Chain Top 25 for 2022. The recognition highlights Lenovos leadership as a purpose-driven organization and operational center of excellence in the global supply chain community.

In addition to creating new job opportunities in and around Ullo, Lenovo continues its commitment to support the local community through philanthropic activities such as technology donations for local schools and charities.

About Lenovo:

Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$70 billion revenue global technology powerhouse, ranked #159 in the Fortune Global 500, employing 75,000 people around the world, and serving millions of customers every day in 180 markets. Focused on a bold vision to deliver smarter technology for all, Lenovo has built on its success as the worlds leading PC player by expanding into new growth areas of infrastructure, mobile, solutions and services. This transformation together with Lenovos world-changing innovation is building a more inclusive, trustworthy, and sustainable digital society for everyone, everywhere. To find out more visit https://www.lenovo.com, and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005180/en/

Simona Stoica- [email protected]

Caroline De Souza- [email protected]

Ben Taylor- [email protected]

Source: Lenovo
The Payment Associations new research identifies sustainability superheroes working within the FinTech industry at the forefront of making ethical and sustainable growth

The report offers businesses advice, inspiration and real-world best practices, consisting of case studies from Mastercard, FIS and Algbra

The project also shows that The Payment Associations members are making significant progress towards embracing sustainability, with over 90% measuring progress towards gender equity, and 60% seeking to reduce waste from their supply chain

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A new whitepaper issued by The Payments Association, (previously the Emerging Payments Association or EPA), aims to become a how-to guide to ethical and sustainable growth (ESG) for the FinTech industry.

As Sustainability Superheroes: a how-to guide to ESG for FinTechs highlights, the rules of business are changing. While in previous decades the single goal of business leaders has been to maximise shareholder returns, new paradigms such as ESG and stakeholder capitalism mean that a balance must be struck between profits and other concerns that fall under the rubric of sustainability.

Rather than simply admonishing companies to become more sustainable, the report offers advice, inspiration and real-world best practices from leading sustainability superheroes, including Charlie Bronks, SVP, Head of ESG at Crown Agents Bank, Irene Perez, Head Of Marketing at Gain The Lead and Jim Colvine, Senior Vice President, Priceless Planet at Mastercard. Case studies from major companies like Mastercard, FIS and Algbra demonstrate how varied companies have addressed sustainability in their business.

The project is anchored in data from The Payment Associations members on their own ESG priorities, and this data shows that the industry is making significant progress towards embracing sustainable practices and ethical goals:

Over 90% of companies measure progress towards gender equity

80% consider the social justice impacts of their products and services

60% seek to reduce waste from their supply chain

60% have identified their ESG stakeholders and prioritised them

Of course, the definition of sustainability varies widely and ethical goals hard to pin down (maximising shareholder returns is arguably an ethical commitment, for example), but the results show that the FinTech industry is making major strides toward integrating these ideas into its day-to-day operations.

Tony Craddock, Director General at The Payments Association, comments: We are extremely proud to be releasing this report at a time when the industry at large is fully embracing ESG goals. Now more than ever before, people want to make more environmentally sustainable decisions and that extends to the brands they do business with. Were pleased our report not only outlines the ways in which companies can become more ethical and sustainable, but also that it shows that the majority of companies have already started down that path.

Jim Colvine, Senior Vice President, Priceless Planet at Mastercard, says: Increasingly, people are recognising that the things we produce, buy, and consume matters to our planets environment. COVID-19 only heightened these concerns, and now more than ever people want to make a positive, sustainable impact on the world.

He adds: Its extremely encouraging to see the fintech industry recognise this. With most companies already showing that theyre on a path towards being more environmentally and ethically focused, its clear that progress is being made. At Mastercard, were making headway by having a robust portfolio of environmentally friendly solutions, including our Carbon Calculator, developed with Swedish fintech Doconomy, which makes it easy for consumers to understand their carbon footprint, and our Sustainability Innovation Lab brings together innovators and customers to design climate-conscious digital solutions. It's our responsibility as an industry to meet the expectations of our consumers and ensure sustainable goals are being set and met, for the planets sake.

To download a copy of the report, please visit: https://bit.ly/3aMVS4o

For more information on the work and services of The Payments Association you can visit https://thepaymentsassociation.org/ or contact [email protected]

ENDS

About The Payments Association

The Payments Association (previously the Emerging Payments Association or EPA) is a community for all companies in payments, whatever their size, capability, location or regulatory status. Its purpose is to empower the most influential community in payments, where the connections, collaboration and learning shape an industry that works for all. It works closely with industry stakeholders such as the Bank of England, the FCA, HM Treasury, the PSR, Pay.UK, UK Finance and Innovate Finance.

Through its comprehensive programme of activities and with guidance from an independent Advisory Board of leading payments CEOs, The Payments Association facilitates the connections and builds the bridges that join the ecosystem together and make it stronger. These activities include a programme of monthly digital and face-to-face events including an annual conference, PAY360, The PAY360 Awards dinner, CEO round tables and training activities. The Payments Association also runs six stakeholder working project groups covering financial inclusion, regulation, financial crime, cross-border payments, open banking and digital currencies. The volunteers in these groups represent the collective views of the industry and work together to ensure the big problems facing the industry are addressed effectively. The association also conducts original research which is made available to members and the authorities. These include monthly whitepapers, insightful interviews and tips from the industrys most successful CEOs.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220613005487/en/

Media contact

Claire Holden, SkyParlour

[email protected]

+44 (0)330 043 1315

Source: The Payments Association
BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- On June 14, 2022, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (the Company) reminded shareholders that the vote on Proposal 3: Advisory Vote on the Compensation of Our Named Executive Officers (Proposal 3) will be held when the 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the Annual Meeting) is reconvened on June 21, 2022 at 9:00 a.m., Eastern Time, at the offices of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, 8405 Greensboro Drive, Suite 140, Tysons, Virginia 22102.

As previously disclosed, the Company convened the Annual Meeting on May 16, 2022. Votes regarding Proposals 1, 2 and 4 were held, by which all of the trustee nominees were elected, the selection of the independent registered public accountants was ratified and the maturity date of the Companys equity incentive plan was extended, and the meeting was adjourned.

When announcing the adjournment, the chairman of the meeting explained that the reason for the adjournment was to provide time for management to speak with the Companys larger shareholders regarding Proposal 3.

The Company does not expect to conduct any items of business at the reconvened meeting other than to conduct the vote on Proposal 3.

The polls remain open for Proposal 3. Shareholders may vote their shares or change their vote on Proposal 3 either by voting in person when the Annual Meeting is reconvened or by submitting their proxy before 11:59 pm on June 20, 2022. Shareholders may submit their proxy by telephone or by Internet, as described in the Proxy Statement and the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials provided to shareholders on or about March 31, 2022. Proxies that have already been submitted do not need to be resubmitted to be tallied when the Annual Meeting is reconvened.

About Pebblebrook Hotel Trust

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) and the largest owner of urban and resort lifestyle hotels in the United States. The Company owns 54 hotels, totaling approximately 13,400 guest rooms across 15 urban and resort markets. For more information, visit www.pebblebrookhotels.com and follow us at @PebblebrookPEB.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to when the Annual Meeting will reconvene. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Companys control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from such statements. Unless legally required, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information about the Companys business and financial results, please refer to the Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Risk Factors sections of the Companys SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained at the Investor Relations section of the Companys website at www.pebblebrookhotels.com.

All information in this press release is as of June 14, 2022. The Company undertakes no duty to update the statements in this press release to conform the statements to actual results or changes in the Companys expectations.

For additional information or to receive press releases via email, please visit our website at www.pebblebrookhotels.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614006010/en/

Raymond D. Martz, Chief Financial Officer, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust - (240) 507-1330

Source: Pebblebrook Hotel Trust
PhishID will protect vulnerable educators and learners from targeted phishing attacks

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PIXM, a computer vision cyber security startup, today announced its partnership with Identity Automation, a digital identity platform for education. Together they will launch PhishID, a new product that integrates PIXMs computer vision-based anti-phishing solution with Identity Automations Identity and Access Management platform, RapidIdentity, to provide educational institutions complete protection from the latest phishing attacks without interrupting time in the classroom.

According to the Consortium for School Networking, more than 90 percent of cyber security incidents in schools start with phishing. Further, since the pandemic, many schools have shifted to online learning applications to enhance the classroom experience and to accommodate remote learning. Adversaries are taking advantage of this opportunity by targeting educators and learners for financial gain.

PhishID combines the robust features of Identity Automations award-winning digital identity solution to safeguard learning environments, with PIXMs point-of-click phishing prevention technology, to provide schools across the nation with an additional layer of protection from account takeovers and other forms of identity theft.

Teachers and students have enough on their plates. Keeping watch for targeted phishing attacks that can lead to ransomware shouldnt be one of them. Our partnership with PIXM will enable educators and learners to focus on learning without worrying about the legitimacy of the links theyre clicking on, said Michael Webb, Chief Product Officer of Identity Automation.

Educational institutions are highly targeted and phishing is the primary initial target vector, said Matt Mosley, Chief Product Officer of PIXM. Our solution stops phishing attempts at the point of click using artificial intelligence, protecting users no matter which platform or applications theyre using. The future of education is here and our partnership with Identity Automation will keep educators and learners safe from phishing at home and in the classroom.

About Identity Automation

Identity Automation provides identity and access management (IAM) solutions for K-12 and higher education. Its flagship platform, RapidIdentity, safeguards learning environments, maximizes instructional time, and minimizes the load on Information & Educational Technology teams. Technology leaders turn to RapidIdentity for its best-in-class security capabilities, time-saving automation, and flexible approach to managing digital identities. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Identity Automation is trusted by Chicago Public Schools, Public Schools of North Carolina, University of Rochester, Houston Community College, and hundreds of other institutions. To learn more visit identityautomation.com.

About PIXM

PIXM, a cyber security startup that stops zero-day phishing attacks with AI Computer Vision, is led by artificial intelligence experts focused on cyber security. It is advised by cyber security pioneers, intel community leaders, and successful entrepreneurs. PIXM CEO and Founder Chris Cleveland studied machine learning applications in cyber security at Columbias SEAS graduate school. Its backers include Tenable Networks Founder Ron Gula and Veracode Founder Chris Wysopal. Visit PIXM at pixmsecurity.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005930/en/

Kesselring Communications for PIXM

Leslie Kesselring, 503-358-1012

[email protected]

Source: PIXM
PERTH, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rio Tinto has delivered first ore from the Gudai-Darri iron ore mine as the company brings online its first greenfield mine in the Pilbara, Western Australia, in more than a decade. Gudai-Darri will help underpin future production of the companys flagship Pilbara Blend product.

The first autonomous AutoHaul trains loaded with ore from Gudai-Darris process plant have travelled the new 166-kilometre rail line that connects to Rio Tintos existing rail and port infrastructure. Production from the mine will continue to ramp up through the remainder of this year and is expected to reach full capacity during 2023.

Since ground was broken in April 2019, more than 14 million workhours have resulted in the movement of over 20 million cubic metres of earth, batching and placement of 35,000 cubic metres of concrete, and the installation of 10,000 tonnes of steel. The development of Gudai-Darri supported more than 3,000 jobs during the construction and design phase. The mine will support around 600 ongoing permanent roles.

With an expected life of more than 40 years and an annual capacity of 43 million tonnes, Gudai-Darri will underpin future production of Pilbara Blend product. A feasibility study to support an expansion of this new hub is also progressing.

The mines commissioning and ramp-up is expected to increase Rio Tintos iron ore production volumes and improve product mix from the Pilbara in the second half of this year. Full-year shipments guidance for 2022 remains at 320 to 335 million tonnes (100% basis) subject to risks around the ramp up of new mines, weather and management of cultural heritage.

The capital cost for the mine is estimated to be $3.1 billion (A$4.3 billion). As disclosed in February, the companys replacement projects in the Pilbara, including Gudai-Darri, were subject to potential capital increases of approximately 15% due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, including labour access and supply chain quality issues. Group capital expenditure guidance for 2022 is unchanged at around $8 billion.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore Chief Executive Simon Trott said The commissioning of Gudai-Darri represents the successful delivery of our first greenfield mine in over a decade, helping to support increased output of Pilbara Blend, our flagship product. It sets a new standard for Rio Tinto mine developments through its deployment of technology and innovation to enhance productivity and improve safety.

Id like to acknowledge the support of the Traditional Owners, the Banjima People, on whose country Gudai-Darri is situated. We have worked closely with the Banjima People to progress this project and we look forward to continuing to actively partner with them into the future.

Rio Tinto Chief Technical Officer Mark Davies said The safe and successful delivery of Gudai-Darri, in the midst of a global pandemic, is testament to the resilience and hard work of thousands of Rio Tinto employees and contractors, including a range of local Western Australian suppliers, as well as Pilbara Aboriginal businesses.

In building this new hub we have brought together the best of our innovations, including autonomous trucks, trains and drills, as well as the worlds first autonomous water trucks, to make Gudai-Darri our most technologically advanced iron ore mine.

This suite of autonomous assets complements the planned deployment of other leading-edge technologies including a robotic ore sampling laboratory, field mobility devices for all personnel and a digital asset of the fixed plant, which, together with data analytics, will make Gudai Darri safer and more productive.

Helping support Rio Tintos carbon emission reduction targets, Gudai-Darri will be powered by a 34 megawatt solar farm that is expected to supply about a third of the mines average electricity demand once construction is complete in August.

Together with a new lithium-ion battery energy storage system in Tom Price, the solar plant is estimated to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 90,000 tonnes compared to conventional gas powered generation, equivalent to taking about 28,000 cars off the road.

This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Steve Allen, Rio Tintos Group Company Secretary.

riotinto.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005515/en/

Please direct all enquiries to [email protected]

Media Relations, UK

Illtud Harri

M +44 7920 503 600

David Outhwaite

M +44 7787 597 493

Media Relations, Americas

Matthew Klar

T +1 514 608 4429

Investor Relations, UK

Menno Sanderse

M: +44 7825 195 178

David Ovington

M +44 7920 010 978

Clare Peever

M +44 7788 967 877

Rio Tinto plc

6 St Jamess Square

London SW1Y 4AD

United Kingdom

T +44 20 7781 2000

Registered in England

No. 719885

Media Relations, Australia

Jonathan Rose

M +61 447 028 913

Matt Chambers

M +61 433 525 739

Jesse Riseborough

M +61 436 653 412

Investor Relations, Australia

Amar Jambaa

M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto Limited

Level 7, 360 Collins Street

Melbourne 3000

Australia

T +61 3 9283 3333

Registered in Australia

ABN 96 004 458 404

Category: Pilbara

Source: Rio Tinto
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. On June 14, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, who is in Bulgaria on an official visit, met with President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, the foreign ministry reports.

Congratulating each other on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Bulgaria the sides noted that during the past three decades the cooperation between two states has developed based on mutual trust and respect.

Ararat Mirzoyan and Rumen Radev touched upon the prospects of the development of the Armenian-Bulgarian relations, expressing mutual readiness to deepen the political dialogue between two countries, the cooperation in the spheres of trade and economy, transport, tourism, education.

The interlocutors agreed that mutual visits, including at the highest levels, would promote the full realization of the existing potential for cooperation in the spheres of mutual interest. The role of the Armenian community in Bulgaria as an important bridge connecting the two countries was also highlighted.

Referring to the prospects of international cooperation within the sphere of transport infrastructure, the interlocutors emphasized the importance of the implementation of active works towards the establishment of the Persian Gulf-Black Sea transport corridor.

During the meeting a reference was also made to the issues of regional and international security.

Minister Mirzoyan briefed the President of Bulgaria on the situation in the South Caucasian region, particularly the recent developments regarding the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the process of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Both sides stressed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved through exclusively peaceful negotiations. In this regard Minister Mirzoyan stressed the role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in the lasting resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and highly valued the balanced position of Bulgaria on the settlement of the conflict under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.

Among other urgent humanitarian issues, the need for repatriation of the Armenian prisoners of war and preservation of Armenian religious and historical-cultural heritage in Artsakh was stressed.

The Foreign Minister of Armenia presented the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey to the President of Bulgaria.
Updated PRO/JCL will increase throughput, reduce costs, and ensure the next generation of mainframe professionals can easily manage job control language

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rocket Software, a global technology leader that develops enterprise software for some of the worlds largest companies, today introduced the next version of its PRO/JCL, a job control language (JCL) management solution that includes a new interface through VS Code1 extension, Enhanced Directed Execution to include options for sending PROCs and PARMLIBs to remote LPARS, and improved visibility for NODE and LPAR in the primary panel. These updates help mainframe data centers achieve and operate a JCL environment that is error-free, standardized, and optimized.

Enterprises with mainframes typically have a higher number of experienced developers retiring, and an influx of new professionals joining the workforce. A recent survey from Rocket Software found that companies continue to face skills gaps in their talent pool, and modernizing systems is the most popular way respondents are working to maintain talent pipelines with 45% of IT professionals citing it as the top method.

This version of PRO/JCL provides customers with new interface options that are appealing to todays mainframe professionals and the organizations hiring them. A new interface through a VS Code extension adds to Rocket Softwares list of current interfaces, including through ISPF, Eclipse2, IBM Developer for z/OS (IDz), BMC3 Compuware Topaz Workbench, and a RESTful API4.

Nearly all growing organizations are modernizing, making PRO/JCL and its many interfaces the strongest choice for any mainframe ecosystem. Benefits of PRO/JCL include:

Simplified JCL management: Reduce the complexity of JCL management through DevOps capabilities, more integrations, and increased automation.

Reduce the complexity of JCL management through DevOps capabilities, more integrations, and increased automation. Increased developer productivity: Reduce elapsed time of the JCL management cycle by including tools within users favorite IDE for a seamless DevOps integration, enabling developers to increase business value.

Reduce elapsed time of the JCL management cycle by including tools within users favorite IDE for a seamless DevOps integration, enabling developers to increase business value. Improved production quality: Detect JCL inconsistencies before execution and easily make changes to production environments to help ensure error-free production runs, reducing backlog and production turnover while increasing throughput and value delivered by the system.

Detect JCL inconsistencies before execution and easily make changes to production environments to help ensure error-free production runs, reducing backlog and production turnover while increasing throughput and value delivered by the system. Improved responsiveness to change: Reduce mainframe bottlenecks to meet service level agreements more reliably.

Reduce mainframe bottlenecks to meet service level agreements more reliably. Reduced costs: Eliminate costly re-running of production jobs.

Existing DevOps initiatives often omit JCL management from the DevOps toolchain, causing critical interruptions to business value streams, resulting in slower processes and potential revenue losses, said Phil Buckellew, president of Infrastructure Modernization, Rocket Software. Our customers often operate several mainframe solutions and require a JCL management solution that can integrate with all of their critical mainframe software. The newly released PRO/JCL will do just that.

For more information on Rocket mainframe capabilities, visit here.

About Rocket Software

Rocket Software partners with the largest Fortune 1000 organizations to solve their most complex IT challenges across Applications, Data and Infrastructure. Rocket Software brings customers from where they are in their modernization journey to where they want to be by architecting innovative solutions that deliver next-generation experiences. Over 10 million global IT and business professionals trust Rocket Software to deliver solutions that improve responsiveness to change and optimize workloads. Rocket Software enables organizations to modernize in place with a hybrid cloud strategy to protect investment, decrease risk and reduce time to value. Rocket Software is a privately held U.S. corporation headquartered in the Boston area with centers of excellence strategically located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Rocket Software is a portfolio company of Bain Capital Private Equity. Follow Rocket Software on LinkedIn and Twitter.

____________________

1 VS Code is a trademark of the Microsoft group of companies

2 Eclipse is a trademark of Eclipse Foundation, Inc.

3 IBM and z/OS are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.

4 BMC, Compuware and Topaz are trademarks of BMC Software, Inc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005197/en/

Press:

Jessica Hohn-Cabana

[email protected]

Source: Rocket Software
- Newly Appointed Members Include Judith Campisi, Ph.D., Mario Lacouture, M.D. and Francesca Grisoni, Ph.D.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rubedo Life Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing first-in-class therapies for chronic age-related diseases targeting senescent cells that drive cellular aging, today announced the appointments of Judith Campisi, Ph.D., Francesca Grisoni, Ph.D., and Mario Lacouture, M.D., to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB comprises experts in aging biology, AI, dermatology, drug discovery and development.

We are pleased to welcome Profs. Campisi, Lacouture and Grisoni, renowned experts in senescence, age-related diseases and AI drug discovery to Rubedos Scientific Advisory Board, said Marco Quarta, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Rubedo Life Sciences. This depth of scientific expertise will be critical in advancing our pipeline of novel first-in-class small molecules that will target key drivers of progression in pulmonary, dermatological, oncological, and fibrotic diseases in the aging population.

The new members of Rubedos SAB include:

Judith (Judy) Campisi, Ph.D. is a Professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. She received a PhD in biochemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and completed her postdoctoral training in cell cycle regulation at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. As an assistant and associate professor at the Boston University Medical School, she studied the role of cellular senescence in suppressing cancer and became convinced of the contribution of senescent cells in the process of cellular aging. She joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a senior scientist in 1991 and in 2002, she started a second laboratory at the Buck Institute. At both institutions, Dr. Campisi established a broad program to explore the relationship between aging and age-related disease, with an emphasis on the interface between cancer and aging. Dr. Campisi is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Campisi currently serves on advisory committees for the Alliance for Aging Research, Progeria Research Foundation, and NIAs Intervention Testing Program. She is also an editorial board member for more than a dozen peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Campisi is a scientific founder of Unity Biotechnology, a California-based company focused on developing therapies for age-related pathologies.

Mario E. Lacouture, M.D.

Dr. Lacouture is a Professor and the Director of the Oncodermatology Program in the Dermatology Service, Department of Medicine, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He conducted his postdoctoral work at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, MA, an internship in General Surgery at Cleveland Clinic and residency in dermatology at The University of Chicago, IL. He received his M.D. degree from Javeriana University in Bogota, Colombia, where he grew up. Dr Lacouture began his career in Oncodermatology at The University of Chicago. During his first faculty appointment at Northwestern University, Dr Lacouture received a Zell Scholarship and a Career Development Award from the Dermatology Foundation, and established the first clinical program focused on dermatologic care in cancer patients and survivors. During this time, he initiated the first clinical trials in Oncodermatology, and described mechanisms and treatments on adverse events to novel cancer therapies, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Nature Reviews Cancer. Dr Lacouture founded the Skin Toxicity and the Oncodermatology Study Groups of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, is on the Guidelines Advisory Committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the Editorial Board of Cancer.Net. In 2012, CancerCare named Dr Lacouture as Physician of the Year for his contributions to the education of people living with cancer, and he has been selected as a Top Doctor in America and New York by Castle Connolly and New York Magazine since 2014. Dr Lacouture has published over 280 articles in peer-reviewed journals and is the author of Dr Lacoutures Skin Care Guide for People Living With Cancer and Editor of the textbook Dermatologic Principles and Practice in Oncology. Dr Lacouture is the PI for numerous clinical trials aimed towards the treatment and understanding of adverse events to cancer therapies.

Francesca Grisoni, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology (Dept. Biomedical Engineering and Institute for Complex Molecular Systems), where she leads the Molecular Machine Learning team. Her research interests lie at the interface between machine learning and medicinal chemistry, aiming to develop novel computational tools to augment human intelligence in drug discovery. Francesca received her Ph.D. from the University of Milano-Bicocca and worked as a data scientist and biostatistical consultant, and as a postdoctoral researcher at the ETH Zurich. Her work includes data-driven and AI-powered approaches for molecular property prediction, scaffold hopping, and de novo molecular design.

The new advisors will join existing SAB members, Cory Hogaboam, Ph.D., Paul Insel, M.D., Lidia Schapira, M.D., and Mark Pegram, M.D.

About Rubedo Life Sciences

Rubedo Life Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company developing a broad portfolio of innovative therapies engineered to target cells which drive chronic age-related diseases. Our proprietary ALEMBIC drug discovery platform has engineered novel first-in-class small molecules designed to selectively target senescent cells, which play a key role in the progression of pulmonary, dermatological, oncological, neurodegenerative, fibrotic and other chronic disorders. The Rubedo leadership team is composed of industry leaders and early pioneers in chemistry, technology, and life sciences, with expertise in drug development and commercialization from both large pharma and leading biotech companies. The company is based in Sunnyvale, CA. For additional information, visit www.rubedolife.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220613005718/en/

Media Contact

Kimberly Ha

KKH Advisors

917-291-5744

[email protected]

Source: Rubedo Life Sciences
A premium protection plan designed for nationwide enterprises and government customers of Samsung Electronics Canada

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Servify, a global AI-driven product ownership experience platform, announced its partnership with Samsung Electronics Canada to roll out its premium protection plan for corporate devices: Samsung Care+ for Business. The service is designed exclusively for nationwide enterprises and government customers.

After a successful launch last year in the US market where the Samsung B2B program has been well received, the partnership is now extending into the Canadian market which is poised to see more than 90 percent of Canadians becoming digital natives by 2023.*

As remote work went from new normal to status quo over the last two years, enterprises have witnessed an increased dependency on mobile devices for work and are concerned about business continuity challenges. To solve this, Samsung Care+ for Business is set to deliver a complete solution for device protection, thereby maximizing business productivity.

Servify will be responsible for overall management and administration of the program, together with system integration with Samsungs authorized repair partners. Leveraging Servifys post-sales product ownership experience platform, Samsung is poised to deliver protection with a combined coverage term of up to 3 years.**

Benefits for Enterprises Digital and fully automated claims journey Contract Management feature (customer can log-in and view details such as start/end date, coverage, covered device, etc.) Bulk Claim upload feature

We are thrilled to have partnered with Samsung for their B2B program in Canada. Our ongoing alliance with Samsung covers several regions including US, Eastern Europe, KSA, UAE and India which reiterates the trust Samsung has in our capabilities, said Sreevathsa Prabhakar, Founder of Servify.

Todays businesses are making significant investments in devices, and we believe it is our job to help them be prepared for any issues with seamless, automated device management tools. Samsung Care+ for Business, enabled by Servifys platform and underpinned by Samsungs authorized repair services for physical damage and liquid intrusion protection, will prove beneficial for businesses as they need to anticipate when devices are reaching end-of-life, determine if they are vulnerable to security breaches, and resolve a host of other issues before such issues create operational delays, said Steven Cull, Head of Mobile Product Management, Services and Strategy, at Samsung Canada.

Samsung Care+ for Business provides its customers a worry-free protection plan, guaranteed Samsung certified service and hassle-free process for claims and tech support.

* https://www.statista.com/topics/4865/internet-usage-in-canada/#dossierKeyfigures

** Manufacturer's limited warranty is 1 year, plus up to 2 years of extended warranty - for a total of up to 3 years warranty. Available on certain Samsung devices, including Galaxy XCover and Tab Active Series devices. For physical damage and liquid intrusion service requests, two (2) covered claims are allowed per each 12-month period during the duration of the Samsung Care+ for Business.

About Samsung

Samsung Electronics Canada inspires Canadians to reach their full potential through a transformative ecosystem of products and services that deliver innovation and distinct design to every aspect of their connected lives. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones and wearable devices, tablets and digital appliances. In 2022, Samsung was ranked as one of Canada's "Most Reputable Companies" in Leger's Corporate Reputation Study. Dedicated to helping make a difference in the lives of Canadians, Samsung's award-winning corporate giving initiatives support public education and health-related issues in communities across the country. To discover more, please visit www.Samsung.ca.

About Servify

Servify integrates multiple OEM Brands and their sales and service ecosystem through its product lifecycle management platform, to deliver great after-sales service experience. Started in 2015, India Headquartered Servify has spread its reach in multiple countries across the globe, partnering with over 75 OEM brands including top mobile device brands, retailers, distributors, insurers, service providers and carriers. The Servify platform processes more than 3 million transactions monthly, with 250k+ Platform users spread across retailers, service centres, contact centres and administration teams worldwide serving millions of consumers.

Additional information on Servify is available at www.servify.tech.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220609005582/en/

Debapriya Ghosh Biswas

Director - Marketing

+91-9833086156; [email protected]

Rethu Panicker

Senior Manager - Corporate Communications

+91-9867181043; [email protected]

Source: Servify
Integrated turnkey EPC project will expand regions natural gas processing capabilities to help meet growing energy demand

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Audubon Engineering Company LLC (AEC) announced today the award of a major engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project to support the expansion of a gas processing plant for a leading energy infrastructure company.

Located near Bay City, Texas, the project involves expanding the infrastructure of a gas plant serving deep-water platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Gas-processing and condensate-handling capabilities will be added to increase the plants daily processing volume.

Infrastructure additions include a 10,000-bbl/d condensate stabilizer unit, a loading station for condensate trucks, optimization of existing gas processing assets, a liquids pipeline and automation features for enhanced efficiency and productivity.

This contract award is a substantial endorsement of Audubons reputation for unparalleled project performance, said David Beck, a managing partner of AEC.

Through our committed teams and end-to-end service capabilities, our work will help our client scale up operations and meet growing energy demands with long-term success, he added.

AECs broad network of affiliates will work together to provide the full scope of worka turnkey EPC solution comprising a range of services:

Audubon Engineering LP will provide project management, plant engineering, automation, and pipeline engineering

will provide project management, plant engineering, automation, and pipeline engineering Opero Energy

Audubon Construction Solutions LLC will supply construction resources

will supply construction resources Audubon Field Solutions LLC will contribute survey, construction management, startup, and commissioning services.

The project is strategically significant in helping the South Texas region assume a more prominent role in helping the world meet increasing demands for safe, sustainable energy delivery.

On Twitter: @audubonco

About Audubon Engineering Company LLC

Audubon Engineering Company LLC is a portfolio of affiliate companies providing engineering, consulting, construction, fabrication, cybersecurity, and technical field services to the energy, power, infrastructure, and industrial markets. With proven industry experience, innovative technologies, and data-driven insight, the Audubon group of companies delivers sustainable solutions to build a better tomorrow. For more information, please visit auduboncompanies.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005339/en/

Ivonne Hallard

[email protected]

Source: Audubon Engineering Company LLC
Provost John Woods discusses findings and strategy indicated by Career Optimism Index and Jobs for the Future social capital market scan collaboration

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- University of Phoenix is participating this week in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Conference, Booth #4664, and John Woods, Ph.D., provost and chief academic officer, will discuss findings and strategy indicated by workforce research conducted through the University of Phoenix Career Institute Career Optimism Index study and the partnership announced earlier this year with Jobs for the Future (JFF), a national nonprofit driving transformation in the American workforce and education systems, to support Black learners and workers in building professional social capital to advance their careers.

Professional social capital, which refers to the resources that arise from a persons network of relationships that can help mobilize and advance education and career goals, is a crucial element in establishing racial economic equity in the workforce.

With funding from University of Phoenix, JFF conducted an in-depth market scan, Building Professional Social Capital for Black Learners and Workers, analyzing existing strategies for the development of professional social capital that are being implemented by community-based organizations, postsecondary institutions, non-profits, and employers, strategies that can be ingrained into all education and workplace settingsespecially in those settings that strive to break down barriers and accelerate opportunities for Black learners and workers.

The Career Optimism Index helps us see and better understand the skills and opportunity gaps that challenge American workers, states Woods. Now in conjunction with the market scan conducted by JFF, we offer employers the insights and action-oriented strategies which can be adopted within workforce systems to address both skills and opportunities gaps and create the necessary conditions for career trajectories and equitable economic advancement.

The report identified five key action and engagement-centered strategies that the most innovative social capital development programs must incorporate to build professional social capital for Black learners and workers: elevating current assets, building relationships, making connections and introductions, career onboarding, and continuous learning journey. More details on the findings and strategies are available here.

The interview with Woods takes place at the SHRM Conference, Tuesday, June 14, in Hall D-E at 6:45pm CDT.

About University of Phoenix

University of Phoenix is continually innovating to help working adults enhance their careers in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, and Career Services for Life help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit phoenix.edu.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005754/en/

Sharla Hooper

University of Phoenix

[email protected]

Source: University of Phoenix
New service addresses the SECs proposed rules to enhance disclosure and investor protection relating to SPAC projections

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Zukin Certification Services (ZCS) today announced the launch of the Zukin Reasonable Basis Review (Zukin RBR), a new and essential service designed for SPACs seeking an independent review of their target companys financial projections. ZCS developed the Zukin RBR financial due diligence service in response to the SECs proposed rules to enhance disclosure and investor protection relating to SPAC projections issued on March 30, 2022.

We believe our Zukin RBR financial projection due diligence service will not only help sponsors follow SEC guidance, but also allow their target companies to have financial projections reviewed and validated by a trusted third-party, thereby proving comfort for investors, said Jim Zukin, Chairman and CEO of ZCS.

ZCS was founded by Jim Zukin, a co-founder of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin (now Houlihan Lokey, NYSE: HLI) and pioneering provider of fairness and solvency opinions. ZCS is a highly specialized financial due diligence firm committed to spearheading innovation to support the next generation of SPACs.

The Zukin RBR is a financial due diligence service which provides SPAC Boards with a third-party expert review of the target companys projections and underlying assumptions based on the net available capital called for at De-SPAC. ZCS provides their findings in a report that is available to be filed in a proxy.

As noted in the SECs proposed rules: management must have the option to present in Commission filings its good faith assessment of a registrants future performance. Management, however, must have a reasonable basis for such an assessment. An outside review of managements projections may furnish additional support for having a reasonable basis for a projection.

Zukin used this guidance in establishing the parameters of the Zukin RBR service. Our role is laser-focused on oversight and on serving high-quality SPAC targets during their projection preparation, said Zukin. When we issue our RBR report, we fully stand behind our review of their projections.

ZCS has assembled a world-class team of leaders in the financial community who share Zukins focus and ethos, including:

Matt McGuire , former Executive Director at the World Bank

, former Executive Director at the Rajit Malhotra , former McKinsey Managing Partner in the Los Angeles region

, former Managing Partner in the Los Angeles region Tim Maness , CPA, Chief Accountant at Zukin Certification Services

, CPA, Chief Accountant at Ari Schottenstein , Partner at Zukin Partners

, Partner at Joe Chang , former Houlihan Lokey investment banker

, former investment banker Jacob Salk , former Houlihan Lokey investment banker

, former investment banker Thomas Waldman, former Managing Director, Legal at The Gores Group

The team is rounded out by other experts in finance, accounting, corporate governance, public company compliance, and the SPAC/De-SPAC process.

About Zukin Certification Services

Zukin Certification Services was founded by Jim Zukin, a pioneer in the creation and implementation of financial opinions for fair market value, fairness, and solvency as a co-founder of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin (now Houlihan Lokey, NYSE: HLI). ZCS will advise SPAC Boards of Directors, and their Audit Committees, by reviewing their projections emerging from the De-SPAC process while also providing them training materials in financial literacy and corporate governance. The Zukin RBR is not intended to provide a recommendation or judgment on the merits or the pricing of a particular SPAC transaction. For more information, please visit www.z-spac.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005880/en/

Ari Schottenstein

424-317-0178

[email protected]

Source: Zukin Certification Services
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of a Boeing 737 MAX airplane parked at King County International Airport-Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, U.S, June 1, 2022. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson/File Photo

By Eric M. Johnson

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Tuesday it had delivered 29 of its cash-earning 737 MAX single-aisle jets to customers in May, bringing in needed funds as the U.S. planemaker worked through supply chain and regulatory hurdles.

Boeing also handed over to customers the fourth-to-last of its hump-backed 747s, a freighter to Atlas Air, and three 777 freighters, reflecting strong demand for cargo capacity, it said.

The closely watched monthly orders and deliveries snapshot comes as Boeing kicks off media briefings at its Seattle-area facilities this week in preparation for Britain's Farnborough Airshow next month.

As Boeing prepares for the industry's annual showcase, the embattled U.S. planemaker is scrambling to resolve supply chain bottlenecks that have curbed 737 production and to win approval to resume deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner, among other challenges gripping its jet portfolio.

The 35 overall deliveries in May was more than double the 17 jets it handed over in the same month a year ago. That brings the delivery total for the first five months of the year to 165 aircraft, according to the data released on Tuesday.

Deliveries are a closely watched metric for investors since airlines hand over the bulk of the money for an order when they pick up their planes at Boeing.

Boeing booked 23 gross orders, 17 of which were for widebody aircraft. Among those, German carrier Lufthansa ordered seven 787 Dreamliners and seven 777-8F freighters - the cargo version of its forthcoming 777X.

Aircraft leasing tie-up Bain Capital Griffin ordered five 737 MAX jets for Indian carrier Akasa Air in a sale-leaseback deal that saw Akasa cancel the same number of planes from its initial order, Boeing said. Boeing also sold another 737 MAX to American Airlines.

After nine canceled orders, including Norwegian Air scrapping four 787 Dreamliners, and instances where buyers swapped jet models, orders for May stood at 14, Boeing said.

For the year through May, Boeing booked 236 gross orders, or 171 after cancellations and conversions, it said. After accounting adjustments, Boeing recorded 107 net orders for the year so far.

Overall, Boeing's order backlog rose to 4,192, Boeing said.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Chris Reese and Bernadette Baum)
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) announced today that it is delaying plans to list Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) as a publicly traded company.

In April 2021, The Coca-Cola Company first disclosed its intention to sell a portion of its shareholding in CCBA via an initial public offering. The decision is in line with The Coca-Cola Companys objective of focusing its resources on building consumer-loved brands and innovation.

The announcement said the exact timing would be driven by a number of factors, including macroeconomic conditions.

The Coca-Cola Company will continue to evaluate macroeconomic conditions in deciding future timing for an IPO in 2023. Plans to have an Africa-focused bottler traded as an independent public company remain unchanged.
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of Boeing 777X airplanes parked at King County International Airport-Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, U.S, June 1, 2022. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. and European aviation safety regulators plan to hold a meeting next week with Boeing on its 777X airplane that is awaiting certification, Europe's top aviation safety regulator said on Tuesday.

Boeing in April said it was halting production of the 777X through 2023 and confirmed a delay in handing over the first 777X jet to 2025 from the previous target of late 2023, but said it remained confident in the program.

Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Washington that the meeting is "very important" to share information.

"We just need to agree on common principals of how to achieve the safety targets that we have and we need to understand each other. That's where we are," Ky said, adding that "we need to agree on planing, who does what."

The FAA and Boeing did not immediately comment.

Ky added the meeting is to talk about "what are the issues, what are the solutions, what are the mitigating factors."

The FAA warned Boeing in a March 21 letter that existing certification schedules for the 737 MAX 10 and 777X were "outdated and no longer reflect the program activities."

Certification is needed before Boeing can begin deliveries.

The 777X, known as the 777-9 and a larger version of the 777 wide-body jet, has been in development since 2013 and at one point was expected to be released for airline use in June 2020.

In May 2021, the FAA told Boeing that, realistically, it would not certify the 777X until mid- to late 2023 and rejected a request by Boeing to clear a certification hurdle, citing numerous concerns about lack of data and the lack of a preliminary safety assessment.

Congress approved a sweeping certification reform bill in late 2020 after two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes. Ky said the regulators around the world are making some changes to rules after those crashes.

"All of us are much more cautious in terms of what is the risk," Ky said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Mark Porter)
FILE PHOTO: The Ford logo is pictured at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, Germany. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Ford Motor Co said Tuesday it is recalling about 49,000 Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles in the United States because a part could overheat and result in a loss of propulsion power.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker said DC fast charging and repeated wide-open pedal events can cause the high-voltage battery main contactors to overheat. Ford said it will address the issue that covers Mach-E vehicles built from late May 2020 through late May 2022 with a software update it expects to begin next month.

Dealers cannot deliver new vehicles to customers until the vehicles have the software update.

Ford said "overheating may lead to arcing and deformation of the electrical contact surfaces, which can result in a contactor that remains open or a contactor that welds closed." If an overheated contactor opens while driving, it could result in a loss of propulsion power, increasing the risk of a crash.

Ford previously issued five recalls https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2021/FORD/MUSTANG%252520MACH-E/SUV/AWD#recalls for various 2021 Mustang Mach-E vehicles, including calling back nearly 500 for a software issue that could cause unintended acceleration. Those recalls included loose bolts and inadequate windshield and panoramic roof glass bonding.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Health of Armenia Anahit Avanesyan, who is included in the Armenian Prime Ministers delegation during the official visit in Qatar, met with Qatari Minister of Public Health Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, the Armenian ministry of health said.

During the meeting the sides stated that thanks to the inter-agency cooperation, the partnership in healthcare sector will develop. Moreover, the meeting, they said, will contribute to establishing direct ties between healthcare and medical institutions, to the reforms of the healthcare system and improvement of the medical service. It was stated that Qatar also attaches importance to the development of medical tourism.

Other issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the meeting.
FILE PHOTO: A Spirit airlines flight takes off from Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., January 19, 2022. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

(Reuters) -Spirit Airlines Inc on Friday urged its shareholders to back a merger deal with Frontier Group Holdings at a meeting next week after Frontier boosted its offer for its ultra-low-cost rival, hoping to stave off a bid from JetBlue Airways Corp.

Under the revised terms, Frontier will bump up the cash component of the deal by $2 per share to $4.13 per share, along with 1.9126 Frontier shares in the cash-and-stock deal.

Below are the key events of the takeover saga:

Date Development

Feb. 7 Frontier makes a cash-and-stock offer of $25.83/share for Spirit

Airlines

Feb. 8 Lawyers from the U.S. Justice Department say Spirit and Frontier's

merger to create the fifth-largest airline in the country would

face close scrutiny

March 10 Several public advocacy groups call on U.S. regulators to block

Frontier's bid for Spirit

April 5 JetBlue makes an unsolicited $3.6 billion, or $33/share, all-cash

bid for Spirit

April 6 JetBlue mounts a vigorous defense of its unsolicited $3.6 billion

bid for Spirit, adding that it is "highly confident" of securing

regulatory approval

April 7 Spirit says that it would enter into discussions with JetBlue on

its $3.6-billion offer as it could likely lead to a "superior

proposal" to the one from Frontier

May 2 Spirit rejects JetBlue's $33/share offer, saying it had a low

likelihood of winning regulatory approval

May 10 Head of Sun Country Airlines throws his backing behind potential

merger in the ultra-low-cost airline sector

May 11 Spirit says it will hold a shareholder meeting on June 10 for a

vote on its proposed merger with Frontier

May 16 JetBlue makes hostile all-cash takeover offer of $30/share and adds

it was ready to "negotiate in good faith a consensual transaction

at $33"

May 19 Spirit Airlines urges shareholders to reject the hostile offer from

JetBlue, saying it was "a cynical attempt to disrupt" its merger

with Frontier

May 31 Proxy advisory firm ISS urges Spirit shareholders to vote against a

proposed merger with Frontier

June 2 Frontier agrees to pay a break-up fee of $250 million in a bid to

salvage its $2.9 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines

June 3 Shareholder advisory firm Glass Lewis recommends Spirit Airlines

investors approve Frontier Group's $2.9 billion takeover bid,

saying it was the "best available" at this time.

June 6 JetBlue sweetens its takeover bid for Spirit by offering $31.50 per

share in cash, comprising $30 per share at deal close and the

prepayment of $1.50 per share of the reverse break-up fee.

June 8 Spirit Airlines delays to June 30 a shareholder meeting to vote on

its proposed merger with Frontier.

June 14 Spirit Airlines said it was in talks with JetBlue Airways and has

granted JetBlue access to the due diligence information being

shared with Frontier Group. Spirit said it was expecting to decide

on the proposal by the end of this month.

June 20 JetBlue Airways said it had sweetened its takeover offer for Spirit

Airlines to $33.50 per share.

June 24 Frontier bumps up the cash component of the deal by $2 per share to

$4.13 per share, prompting Spirit Airlines to urge its shareholders

back a deal with its ultra-low-cost rival at a meeting next week.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes, Kannaki Deka and Nilanjana Basu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Anil D'Silva and Sriraj Kalluvila)
MONTREAL, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Navigating the health care system can be overwhelming. An innovative app improving the patient experience at the MUHC is expanding thanks to a $1 million gift from CIBC to the MUHC Foundation. Created by the Opal Health Informatics Group - a passionate group of patients, clinicians, researchers, and students at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), the Opal app provides patients access to their hospital appointments, laboratory test results, some clinical notes written by their doctors, and educational material about their illness and treatments. The result is a more empowered experience for patientswith their health information at their fingertips, they feel in control of their journey.

It is deeply satisfying for our healthcare professionals at the McGill University Health Centre to co-create projects with patients that improve the patient experience. Opal is a product of this vital collaboration and I look forward to seeing it evolve.

 Dr. Pierre Gfeller, President and Executive Director, MUHC

Opal was created when the late Laurie Hendren, a Professor of Computer Science at McGill University and breast cancer patient, teamed up with her radiation oncologist, Dr. Tarek Hijal, and with medical physicist and cancer researcher Dr. John Kildea to empower patients during their care and improve their experience. Currently, Opal is used by cancer patients at the MUHC, as well as by patients with inflammatory bowel disease and HIV, and the parents of children with kidney disease.

Laurie was the driving force behind the app. She understood how difficult it can be to keep track of dozens of appointments and the need for patients to access their own personal health information while dealing with the stress of a cancer diagnosis.

 Dr. Tarek Hijal, Chief of Radiation Oncology at the MUHC, Clinical Lead of the Quebec SmartCare Consortium and Opal Co-Creator

With CIBCs support, Opal will be expanded to enhance patient care and research as the centrepiece of an innovative new project known as the Quebec SmartCare Consortium (quebecsmartcare.com). As the project progresses, participating physicians will be able to monitor their patients between appointments using wearable devices that track vital signs. Remote monitoring will provide physicians a steady stream of data to help them better understand each patients condition. It will also provide patients the reassurance that anomalies in their health will be noticed by their health care team and addressed quickly.

The incredible team at McGill University Health Centre continuously helps improve the functioning of our healthcare systems through the implementation of innovative tools like Opal, said Rosa Trunzo, Vice President and Region Head, Quebec at CIBC. On behalf of CIBC, were proud to support their ambition to provide exceptional and integrated patient-centric care for those living with cancer, as we collectively work towards a future where no one has to fear a cancer diagnosis.

Opal is also a powerful tool for research. Patients will be able to share their anonymized data with scientists to enable studies that will ultimately improve patient care.

Opal not only helps patients feel in control of their health care journey, it creates an immense opportunity to work with patients to collect real-world data to improve our understanding of treatments, monitor and minimize side effects, identify gaps in care, develop new treatment options and much more.

 Dr. John Kildea, Cancer Researcher at the RI-MUHC, Principal Investigator of the Quebec SmartCare Consortium and Opal Co-Creator

As Opals capabilities grow, thanks to the investments of the public and private partners who are participating in the Quebec SmartCare Consortium as well as funding from the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, its creators are expanding the reach of the app within the MUHC and, for the first time, to another Quebec hospital. In the same way that technology has changed so many aspects of our lives, Opal will change how we navigate the healthcare system.

The MUHC Foundation is grateful to CIBC for its generous gift to support Opal. Receiving a life-changing diagnosis is always difficult, and anything that can help alleviate the stress of treatment makes a huge difference for patients. With CIBCs help, Opal will become a key resource for patients and physicians across the MUHC

 Suzanne Legge Orr, Dream Big Campaign Co-Chair, MUHC Foundation

To enable Opal to reach this milestone expansion, the MUHC Foundation is raising another $500,000. Please help us reach this goal: https://muhcf.akaraisin.com/ui/opal

About the McGill University Health Centre FoundationThe McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Foundation raises funds to support excellence in patient care, research and teaching at the McGill University Health Centre, one of the top university hospitals in Canada. Our Dream Big Campaign to change the course of lives and medicine is raising millions of dollars to solve humanitys deadliest puzzles: infectious diseases; end cancer as a life-threatening illness; fix broken hearts through innovative cardiac care; detect the silent killersovarian and endometrial cancersearly; create the best skilled health care teams in Canada; and much more. We are rallying our entire community to solve the worlds most complex health care challenges. www.muhcfoundation.com

About the RI-MUHCThe Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) is a world-renowned biomedical and healthcare research centre. The institute, which is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University, is the research arm of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)  an academic health centre located in Montreal, Canada, that has a mandate to focus on complex care within its community. The RI-MUHC supports over 450 researchers and around 1,200 research trainees devoted to a broad spectrum of fundamental, clinical and health outcomes research at the Glen and the Montreal General Hospital sites of the MUHC. Its research facilities offer a dynamic multidisciplinary environment that fosters collaboration and leverages discovery aimed at improving the health of individual patients across their lifespan. The RI-MUHC is supported in part by the Fonds de recherche du Quebec  Sante (FRQS). www.rimuhc.ca

About CIBCCIBC is a leading North American financial institution with 11 million personal banking, business, public sector and institutional clients. Through corporate donations, community partnerships and the genuinely caring culture of Team CIBC, we are committed to helping people and our communities make their ambitions a reality. Learn more about our community impact. Ongoing news releases and more information about CIBC can be found at https://www.cibc.com/en/about-cibc/media-centre.html.

About the Quebec SmartCare ConsortiumThe Quebec SmartCare Consortium is an innovative three-year project led by the Opal Health Informatics Group at the RI-MUHC that is bringing together a group of key public and private healthcare organizations in Quebec that are working on digital health solutions. It aims to demonstrate the power of SmartCare, which it defines as the use of patient-centered data and mobile health technologies to drive remote monitoring and artificial intelligence research in healthcare. The consortium is made possible thanks to generous funding from the Health Collaborations Accelerator Fund of the Quebec Ministry of Economy and Innovation and private partners Roche, Novartis, the McGill University Health Centre Foundation and the Cedars Cancer Foundation. Quebec companies VitalTracer, iMD Research, My Intelligent Machines and Imagia are contributing their technologies and expertise, in collaboration with MUHC patients and partners at McGill University, CHU Ste-Justine, Universite de Montreal, Phyla Inc. and Mila. www.quebecsmartcare.com

Contacts:

Tarah SchwartzDirector, Communications and MarketingMcGill University Health Centre Foundation[email protected]

Kelly AlbertSenior Communications OfficerMcGill University Health Centre Foundation[email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d89808e1-3344-4de9-a557-70039b791060

CIBC donates 1M to MUHC Foundation Julie Quenneville, Norman Steinberg, Dr. Tarek Hijal, Suzanne Legge Orr, Rosa Trunzo, Dr. John Kildea, Louis-Michel Taillefer, John Di Raddo, Marc Parent

Source: MUHC Foundation
ZUG, Switzerland, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Covis Pharma GmbH, an affiliate of Group S.a r.l. (collectively, Covis), announced today that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) anticipates holding a meeting of the Obstetrics, Reproductive and Urologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ORUDAC) on October 17-19, 2022, to conduct a hearing about the future of Makena (hydroxyprogesterone caproate injection). More information about the structure of the hearing can be found here. Prior to the hearing, FDA will publish a notice in the Federal Register that provides details on how to submit a request to FDA to participate in the hearing.

FDAs announcement of the anticipated hearing date is the latest development following FDAs August 2021 order granting a hearing on its proposal to withdraw approval of Makena and its five generic versions. Covis requested that hearing in 2020, after FDA proposed to withdraw approval and issued a Notice of Opportunity for a Hearing (NOOH). FDA proposed to withdraw Makenas approval following a 2019 Advisory Committee split vote (9-7) after a review of the PROLONG trial results, which did not confirm the benefit of 17-OHPC in a different population of women than those studied in the approval trial (Meis et al).

Along with its five generic versions, Makena, also referred to as 17 -hydroxyprogesterone caproate, 17-OHPC, 17-HPC, or 17P, is the only FDA-approved treatment to reduce the risk of preterm birth in women with a singleton pregnancy who have a history of singleton spontaneous preterm birth.

FDAs final decision will be made following the October 2022 hearing. Covis continues to welcome the opportunity to discuss a data-driven path forward to address the conflicting efficacy results between two clinical studies on Makena, including the completed confirmatory study.

Covis is committed to working with the FDA to conduct additional research to explore and document the benefits of Makena. We are committed to further study to clarify the risk-benefit of this drug, given the inconsistent efficacy outcomes between the landmark Meis study and PROLONG, and the important role Makena plays in this high-risk and underserved patient population, said Covis CEO Michael Porter. This need for further study is underscored by the very fact that there are no approved alternatives available for high-risk patients  who for over a decade have been relying on this product and its generic versions to help carry their babies to term.

Covis has urged FDA to allow the company to do additional research to fully explore the efficacy of Makena for indicated patients and looks forward to presenting proposed study options at the October hearing.

In this context, Covis is working diligently with experts to develop feasible and timely options that improve upon the previous sponsors proposal for additional studies. Specifically, Covis is exploring two alternative options: (1) conducting a prospective historical control study, consistent with FDA guidance, and/or (2) conducting a randomized clinical trial (RCT) relying on an analysis of retrospective datasets for the purpose of identifying relevant subgroups for study. Covis is currently conducting feasibility analyses and will follow the emerging data on the appropriate study option. The company proposes to undertake an appropriate study while ensuring that approved therapeutic options remain available.

At this time, Makena remains approved and available, and the product label remains unchanged.

About CovisCovis, founded in 2011 and headquartered in Luxembourg, is a global specialty pharmaceutical company that markets therapeutic solutions for patients with life-threatening conditions and chronic illnesses. Additional information is available at www.covispharma.com.

Media Contact[email protected]

Source: Covis Pharma
SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Elysium Analytics, a technology partner of System Soft Technologies, today announced the company is launching Elysium Search, an application that provides full-text search capabilities natively in the Snowflake Data Cloud. Elysium Search is built using Snowflakes Native Application Framework, currently in private view. This enables application developers to build applications using Snowflakes core functionalities, globally distribute them on Snowflake Marketplace and deploy them through a customers Snowflake account.

Elysium Search provides full-text search capabilities across and fast access to all log data in Snowflake, a unified place for mobilizing the worlds data through Snowflakes Data Cloud. This helps both Elysium Analytics and Snowflake customers quickly perform ad-hoc searches, with no prior SQL experience required, and unlocks increased value with zero operational overhead and unlimited concurrency.

The ability to interrogate any log data in Snowflake, using full-text search rather than SQL, enables a much broader audience to take advantage of Snowflake Data Cloud, said Satish Abburi, CTO, Elysium Analytics. With our new full-text search solution, we are further enabling the democratization of data across business, security and operations teams.

Elysium Search, built using Snowflakes Native Application Framework, can be transformative for businesses as they pursue innovation with streamlined data access, said Chris Child, Senior Director of Product Management, Snowflake. As Snowflake continues to make strides mobilizing the worlds data, partners like Elysium Analytics can provide our joint customers with greater visibility into log data.

To become a Snowflake partner, access Snowflakes self-service partner resources, then apply for the Powered by Snowflake program.

About Elysium AnalyticsElysium Analytics helps organizations easily build a semantic security data lake through an open data model for contextual and deep analytics. Elysium also delivers pre-built search and analytics applications organizations need to achieve immediate value from their data for threat investigations, threat hunting and monitoring. Learn more about Elysium Analytics and follow Elysium on LinkedIn. For industry news, trends and updates, read our blog.

Media ContactJens Andreassen, CEOElysium Analytics[email protected]

Source: System Soft Technologies, LLC
TORONTO, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- O2Gold Inc. (TSX-V: OTGO) (O2Gold or the Company) announced today that it has entered into a settlement agreement dated June 13, 2022 (Settlement Agreement) with, among others, one of its largest shareholders, Bullet Holding Corp. (Bullet), and Magnolia Capital LLC (Magnolia), pursuant to which O2Gold has agreed to return all of the issued and outstanding shares (the Buenaventura Shares) of Buenaventura Gold, Inc., a Panamanian company (Buenaventura). The Company initially acquired Buenaventura from Bullet and Magnolia pursuant to a share purchase agreement (the SPA) dated as of October 26, 2020 (the Signing Date), as amended on November 30, 2020 (the First Amendment), March 25, 2021, and April 5, 2021 (the Settlement). Buenaventura indirectly owns, or has been irrevocably transferred, 26 mining claim titles and applications in the Segovia/Zaragoza regions of Antioquia in Colombia (the Project). For more information about the Companys acquisition of Buenaventura (the Acquisition) and the SPA, please see the Companys press release dated April 23, 2021, which is available under the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

About the Settlement

Pursuant to the SPA, the Company agreed to pay consideration for the Acquisition of US$9 million (approximately C$11.6 million) in three installments, with the first installment of US$4 million having been paid in cash and securities of the Company on the closing date, the second installment of US$2.5 million (the Second Installment) having been paid in common shares of the Company (Common Shares) on the first anniversary of the Signing Date, and the third installment of US$2.5 million (the Third Installment and together with the Second Installment, the Installments) being payable on the second anniversary of the Signing Date, being October 26, 2022.

The SPA had initially contemplated the Third Installment being payable solely in Common Shares, calculated based on the 30-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) of the shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) at such issuance date. However, to satisfy certain conditions imposed by the TSXV, the Company agreed with the vendors to cap the deemed price at which the Common Shares could be issued for the Installments at $0.18 per share. In addition, pursuant to the First Amendment, the Company agreed to pay a top-up amount in cash at the time of each Installment to the extent the 30-day VWAP of the Common Shares at such time was less than $0.18 (each, a Top-up Payment). For more information about the First Amendment, please see the Companys press release dated November 30, 2020, which is also available under the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

Beginning shortly before the date on which the Second Installment was scheduled to be paid, the price of the Common Shares began to experience significant downward pressure. The downward price trend has continued to the date hereof and, while no Top-up Payment was required to satisfy the Second Installment, management anticipates that a significant Top-up Payment (estimated at C$2.7 million) will be required to satisfy the Third Installment. If the Top-up Payment is not made at the time of the Third Installment, the SPA entitles Bullet and Magnolia to the return of the Buenaventura Shares (the Reversion Right).

As of the date of this press release, the Company does not have sufficient cash reserves to satisfy the estimated Top-up Payment, nor does it have sufficient resources to maintain the Project in good standing, which is at risk of being lost prior to the Reversion Right vesting. Furthermore, notwithstanding managements extensive efforts aimed at securing additional funding, as well as several pursuits of potential strategic alternatives, management does not anticipate being able to raise additional capital, particularly as a result of the Companys depressed share price.

In light of the Companys financial difficulties, as well as the imminent risk of all or a portion of the Project being lost prior to the Reversion right vesting, and to avoid and resolve any potential conflicts with Bullet and Magnolia, the Company has entered into the Settlement Agreement, pursuant to which the parties thereto agree to terminate the SPA, and all of their rights and obligations relating or arising out of the SPA (including, for certainty, Bullets and Magnolias entitlements to the Third Installment), in exchange for the return by the Company to Bullet and Magnolia of all of the Buenaventura Shares.

The Company intends to call a meeting of shareholders to be held in late July 2022 to, among other things, seek shareholder approval for the Settlement (the Meeting). Since Bob Allen, a director of the Company, is the majority shareholder of Bullet, the Settlement is a related party transaction pursuant to Canadian securities laws and must therefore be approved by the affirmative vote of (i) 66 2/3% of the votes cast by holders of Common Shares represented at the Meeting, and (ii) a simple majority of the votes cast by holders of Common Shares at the Meeting (excluding shareholders whose votes are required to be excluded, including Bullet and Magnolia, pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (MI 61-101)). The Settlement is exempt from the formal valuation requirement set out in MI 61-101 pursuant to section 4.4(a) of MI 61-101.

Completion of the Settlement is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. The Settlement is expected to close in early-August 2022, subject to the satisfaction of all conditions to closing set out in the Settlement Agreement.

Jaime Lalinde, President & CEO of O2Gold, commented, Despite our significant marketing efforts, liquidity and access to capital have been challenging. Given the long-term nature of these projects and the capital required to truly create value for shareholders and stakeholders, the share price of O2Gold made further financing prohibitive. Our attempts to sell this asset to companies nearby were also unsuccessful. It is unfortunate that returning the Otu Centro projectpending regulatory and shareholder approvalis the least objectionable solution.

Special Committee

The Settlement Agreement was negotiated and entered into following several previous pursuits of potential strategic alternatives by management of O2Gold. In connection with a strategic review process of the Project, and prior to preliminary discussions beginning with Bullet and Magnolia respecting the return of the Buenaventura Shares, the board of directors of the Company (the Board) established a special committee comprised of directors independent from the Settlement (the Special Committee) to review any proposed settlement with Bullet and Magnolia. The Special Committee considered engaging a financial advisor to provide a fairness opinion with respect to the Settlement, as well as external legal advisors; however, given the difficult financial condition of the Company it was determined that there were insufficient resources to retain such advisors. Nevertheless, since its establishment, the Special Committee has met regularly to receive updates from, and provide guidance to, management about potential strategic alternatives, as well as financing initiatives.

Following its review, and in consideration of, amongst other things, the results of managements attempts to secure funding and pursue strategic alternatives, the Special Committee has unanimously recommended that the Board approve the Settlement. The Board (with Bob Allen abstaining as an interested director), following the receipt and review of recommendations from the Special Committee, has approved the Settlement Agreement and the Settlement and has determined that the Settlement is fair to shareholders of O2Gold (other than Bullet and Magnolia or their affiliates) and is in the best interests of O2Gold, and recommends to shareholders that they vote in favour of the Settlement.

Additional Information

Full details of the Settlement are set out in the Settlement Agreement, which will be filed by O2Gold under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. In addition, further information regarding the Settlement will be contained in a management information circular to be prepared in connection with the Meeting and filed on www.sedar.com at the time that it is mailed to shareholders. All shareholders are urged to read the management information circular once it becomes available as it will contain additional important information concerning the Settlement.

About O2Gold

O2Gold is a mineral exploration company with activities in Colombia. The Companys contiguous 30,000-ha land package includes several brownfields and largely under-explored greenfields.

For additional information, please contact:

Jaime Lalinde, President and CEOPhone: (57) 312 350 5864Email: [email protected]

Cautionary Notes

Certain of the information contained in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities laws. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements relating to the proposed Settlement under the Settlement Agreement; the ability of the parties to satisfy the conditions to closing of the Settlement; the mailing of the management information circular in connection with the Meeting and anticipated timing thereof; and the anticipated timing of the completion of the Settlement, each of which involve risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, obtaining required shareholder and regulatory approvals, and meeting other conditions in the Settlement Agreement. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. 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. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Source: O2Gold Inc.
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C., June 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atlanta-based oXYGen Financial, one of the pioneers of Generation X and Y financial services, is opening another new location in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. oXYGen Financial now has ten locations with another one on the way, and has more than 2.2 billion dollars under advisement across its offices.

Anthony Seifert explained his rationale for partnering with oXYGen Financial. He says, "Venturing out as an independent financial advisor was not something that I took lightlyuntil I met Ted Jenkin and the group at oXYGen Financial. The team's broad services, support and cohesion were exactly what I felt could provide the best service to my close-knit group of clients."

Seifert retired from the United States Navy in 2016 and received his MBA in Financial Management. Prior to branching out as a financial advisor, Seifert taught various executive-level decision-making, risk management, and financial courses at the Navy Postgraduate School.

"We are excited to have Anthony Seifert join oXYGen Financial, and establish a local presence in South Carolina," said Ted Jenkin, CEO and Co-Founder of oXYGen Financial. "We are continuously looking for talented financial advisors who can help more clients breathe easier about life. While many companies still push proprietary products, we embrace the idea of being a true fiduciary through a high-tech and high-touch approach."

Ted Jenkin continues by stating "I feel that Anthony's service in the United States Navy and specialized training with Search and Rescue has established a high sense of integrity and loyalty that resonates with our clients."

oXYGen Financial has been using a specialized proprietary process through a Private CFO concept for more than a decade and has introduced new services for families, including a budgetologist to help businesses and individuals become better at managing their cash flow.

oXYGen Financial, Inc.'s goal over the next five years is to open more than 25 locations nationally and continue to make oXYGen Financial a national household brand name.

oXYGen Financial was founded in 2008, and the company now has more than 2.2 billion of AUA. oXYGen is routinely featured in the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, CNN, Headline News, Newsy, and other publications. To learn more about oXYGen Financial, go to www.oXYGenFinancial.com.

For Information: www.oxygenfinancial.com

Contact: Rebekah Smith 800-355-9318 or [email protected]

Related Images

Image 1: Anthony Seifert Anthony Seifert smiling at camera

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

Attachment

Anthony Seifert Anthony Seifert

Source: oXYGen Financial, Inc
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The month of May brought change for a Birmingham Alabama Honda dealership. Freeway Honda, owned by Victory Automotive Group, changed ownership on May 9 when Carlock Automotive Group purchased the dealership now known as Carlock Honda.

Although Freeway Honda was their only rooftop in the Alabama market, Victory Automotive Group, which celebrated 25 years of business in 2022, is the 14th largest dealer group in the United States with 49+ locations nationwide

For Carlock Automotive Group, headquartered in Nashville Tennessee, this acquisition adds the first Honda franchise to a portfolio of 19 other franchises - including Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Bentley, Lotus, and Volvo.

Mike Sims of Pinnacle Mergers and Acquisitions, a nationwide automotive dealership brokerage firm out of Frisco, Texas, assisted Victory Automotive Group. Pinnacle has represented Victory in more than 10 previous transactions.

About Pinnacle Mergers & Acquisitions

Pinnacle Mergers & Acquisitions has decades of experience facilitating successful sell-side and buy-side auto dealership brokerage transactions. The experience we have gained over the last 29 years and 700 plus transactions as intermediaries, for those who want to buy a car dealership or place a new car dealership for sale, is unparalleled in the industry. Learn more at PinnacleMergers.com

For more information, contact [email protected].

Related Images

Image 1: Pinnacle Assists in Dealership Transaction Freeway Honda, owned by Victory Automotive Group, changed ownership on May 9th when Carlock Automotive Group purchased the dealership now known as Carlock Honda.

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

Attachment

Pinnacle Assists in Dealership Transaction Pinnacle Assists in Dealership Transaction

Source: Pinnacle Mergers and Acquisitions
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire -- Roth Capital Partners, LLC (Roth) www.roth.com will host the 8th Annual Roth London Conference on June 21-23, 2022, at The InterContinental London Hotel, One Hamilton Place, Park Lane, London, W1J 7QY.

This event will provide institutional investors the unique opportunity to meet with C-suite leaders and executive management teams from approximately 70 innovative companies in the Sustainability (Solar, Environmental, and Mobility & Transportation), Industrials, AgTech, Technology, Consumer, and Metals & Mining sectors. The 1-on-1 interactions and small group conversations are a key part of enabling investors to gain deep insight into each company and to build a stronger understanding of the most impactful trends underway.

The participating companies are available to present their investment thesis, strategies, achievements to date, as well as upcoming milestones and catalysts. Roths Senior Research Analysts in the respective sectors will be available to answer questions and make introductions.

In addition to the 1-on-1 meetings  there will be a lunch Keynote Speech - Can US LNG be the replacement for Russian Gas - by Charif Souki - Executive Chairman of the Board - Tellurian (TELL). Mr. Souki has played a leading role in the growth of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) business in the United States. He founded Cheniere Energy, which established the first LNG export facility, and is the benchmark for all other LNG businesses in the world.

Our conferences provide both investors and companies the opportunities to engage in personal discussions and gain additional knowledge about some of the business sectors that are important to our global economy. These conversations are invaluable in an environment where ESG investments and customer awareness are driving growth in the sustainability and allied sectors. We are excited to be back in person after two years of virtual conferences, said Byron Roth, Chairman and CEO of Roth Capital Partners.

AGENDATUESDAY | June 21, 2022 - All times are listed in British Summer Time (BST)6:30pm - 9:00pm Happy Hour & Welcome Dinner

WEDNESDAY | June 22, 2022 8:00am - 9:00am Registration and Morning Coffee9:00am - 12:00pm 1x1 & Small Group Meetings12:00pm - 1:30pm Lunch & Keynote Speech - Charif Souki - Executive Chairman of the Board - Tellurian (TELL)1:30pm - 4:25pm 1x1 & Small Group Meetings4:30pm - 6:00pm Cocktail Reception and Gin Tasting at Arch Bar6:30pm - 8:30pm Group Dinner

THURSDAY | June 23, 2022 8:00am - 9:45am Registration and Morning Coffee8:45am - 12:25pm 1x1 & Small Group Meetings12:30pm - 2:00pm Lunch - Theo Randall PDR2:00pm - 4:15pm 1x1 & Small Group MeetingsAs of 06/13/2022  subject to change

Company Name ROTH Sector Mobile Friendly URL 22nd Century Group, Inc. (XXII) AgTech https://www.xxiicentury.com/ 374 Water, Inc. (OTC: SCWO) Sustainability https://www.374water.com/ ACEINNA, Inc. (PRIVATE) Technology & Media https://www.aceinna.com/ ADS-TEC Energy PLC (ADSE) Sustainability https://adstec-energy.com/ AeroFarms (PRIVATE) AgTech https://www.aerofarms.com/ AEye, Inc. (LIDR) Technology & Media https://aeye.ai Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (AKTS) Technology & Media https://www.akoustis.com Alarm.com Holdings, Inc. (ALRM) Technology & Media https://www.alarm.com Altus Power, Inc. (AMPS) Sustainability https://www.altuspower.com/ Ambarella, Inc. (AMBA) Technology & Media https://www.ambarella.com/ Ambulnz/ DocGo (DCGO) Technology & Media https://www.ambulnz.com/ American Lithium Corp. (TSXV:LI) Metals & Mining https://americanlithiumcorp.com/ American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) Sustainability https://www.amsc.com/ American Vanguard Corporation (AVD) AgTech http://www.american-vanguard.com/ Anaergia Inc. (TSX:ANRG) Sustainability https://www.anaergia.com/ AppHarvest, Inc. (APPH) AgTech https://www.appharvest.com Arbe Robotics Ltd. (ARBE) Technology & Media https://arberobotics.com Array Technologies, Inc. (ARRY) Sustainability https://ir.arraytechinc.com/ Azure Power Global Limited (AZRE) Sustainability https://www.azurepower.com/ Benson Hill, Inc. (BHIL) AgTech https://bensonhill.com Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. (BIOX) AgTech https://www.biocerescrops.com Blink Charging Co. (BLNK) Sustainability https://blinkcharging.com/ Blue Star Food Corp. (BSFC) AgTech https://bluestarfoods.com/ Burcon Nutrascience Corp. (BRCN) AgTech https://burcon.ca/ Cryoport, Inc. (CYRX) Technology & Media https://www.cryoport.com/ Darling Ingredients Inc. (DAR) Sustainability https://ir.darlingii.com/ Digital Turbine, Inc. (APPS) Technology & Media https://digitalturbine.com Electrameccanica Vehicles Corp. (SOLO) Sustainability https://www.electrameccanica.com/ Evergen Infrastructure Corp. (TSXV:EVGN) Sustainability https://www.evergeninfra.com/ Evolution Petroleum Corporation (EPM) Energy - Oil & Gas https://evolutionpetroleum.com Farmland Partners Inc. (FPI) AgTech http://www.farmlandpartners.com/ First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) Sustainability https://firstsolar.com Flow Beverage Corp. (TSX:FLOW) Consumer https://flowhydration.com/ FTC Solar, Inc. (FTCI) Sustainability https://investor.ftcsolar.com/ Gaussin (ALGAU) Sustainability https://www.gaussin.com/ Green Plains Inc. (GPRE) Sustainability https://gpreinc.com Greenlight Bio (GRNA) AgTech https://greenlightbiosciences.com/ Greenpower Motor Co. Inc.(GP) Sustainability https://greenpowermotor.com/ Heritage-Crystal Clean, Inc (HCCI) Sustainability https://www.crystal-clean.com/ Kalera SA (Norway:Oslo) AgTech https://kalera.com Loop Industries, Inc. (LOOP) Sustainability https://loopindustries.com Meta Materials Inc. (MMAT) Technology & Media https://metamaterial.com/ Mosaic (PRIVATE) Sustainability https://joinmosaic.com/ Nano One Materials Corp. (TSX:NANO) Sustainability https://nanoone.ca/ NaturalShrimp Incorporated (SHMP) AgTech https://naturalshrimp.com/ Nauticus/ CleanTech Acquisition Corp. (CLAQ) Sustainability https://www.cleantechac.com/ Nuvve Holding Corp. (NVVE) Sustainability https://nuvve.com/ OptimizeRx Corporation (OPRX) Technology & Media https://www.optimizerx.com/ Ormat Technologies, Inc. (ORA) Sustainability https://www.ormat.com PureCycle Technologies, Inc. (PCT) Sustainability https://purecycle.com ReneSola Ltd (SOL) Sustainability https://www.renesolapower.com/ ReNew Energy Global plc (RNW) Sustainability https://renewpower.in/ Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. (REPX) Energy - Oil & Gas https://rileypermian.com Sequans Communications S.A. (SQNS) Technology & Media https://www.sequans.com/ ShotSpotter, Inc. (SSTI) Technology & Media https://shotspotter.com SiTime Corporation (SITM) Technology & Media https://sitime.com SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. (SEDG) Sustainability https://solaredge.com Sunlight Financial Holdings Inc. (SUNL) Sustainability https://sunlightfinancial.com/ Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NOVA) Sustainability https://sunnova.com SunPower Corporation (SPWR) Sustainability https://us.sunpower.com Tellurian Inc. (TELL) Energy - Oil & Gas https://www.tellurianinc.com/ Tevva (PRIVATE) Sustainability https://www.tevva.com/ The ONE Group Hospitality, Inc. (STKS) Consumer https://togrp.com TPI Composites, Inc. (TPIC) Sustainability https://tpicomposites.com Tritium DCFC Limited (DCFC) Sustainability https://tritiumcharging.com/ urban-gro, Inc. (UGRO) AgTech https://urban-gro.com/ VAALCO Energy, Inc. (EGY) Energy - Oil & Gas https://vaalco.com Valens Semiconductor Ltd. (VLN) Technology & Media https://valens.com Veritone, Inc. (VERI) Technology & Media https://www.veritone.com W&T Offshore, Inc. (WTI) Energy - Oil & Gas https://wtoffshore.com Willdan Group, Inc. (WLDN) Sustainability https://ir.willdangroup.com/ Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (ZETA) - Virtual Technology & Media https://zetaglobal.com

Participating Companies as of 06/13/2022  subject to change

Thank you to the event sponsors:

Company Name Sponsor Company URL Ambulnz/ DocGo https://www.communityambulance.co.uk/ B2I DIGITAL, Inc. https://www.b2idigital.com Clean Co https://clean.co/ Comte de Grasse https://comtedegrasse.com/ InvestorBrandNetwork https://www.investorbrandnetwork.com/ The Blueshirt Group https://blueshirtgroup.com/

For more information, please visit: https://ibn.fm/RothLondon2022Event

The conference is intended for qualified investors, companies, service providers, and members of the media/press related to Roth Capital Partners.

About Roth Capital Partners:Roth Capital Partners, LLC (Roth) is a relationship-driven investment bank focused on serving emerging growth companies and their investors. As a full-service investment bank, Roth provides capital raising, M&A advisory, analytical research, trading, market-making services, and corporate access.

Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, Roth is privately held and owned by its employees and maintains offices throughout the U.S. For more information on Roth, please visit www.roth.com.

Investor Contacts: Roth Capital Partners Isabel Mattson-Pain Director of Marketing & Corporate Access 949.720.7117, [email protected] Roth Capital Partners  Member FINRA/SIPC  www.roth.com

Media Contact: IBN (InvestorBrandNetwork) Los Angeles, California www.InvestorBrandNetwork.com 310.299.1717 Office [email protected]

Source: Roth Capital Partners
OSLO, Norway, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The City of Sacramento, California was honored today as an "E-Visionary" in recognition of the citys role as a leader in the deployment of electric vehicles and its longstanding commitment to supporting EVs in the community. The announcement was made at the 35th Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition (EVS35) in Oslo, Norway.

Regarded as a trailblazing municipality for electric drive, Sacramento will also be announced as the host city for the 36th Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition (EVS36), when the annual international event returns to North America next year. This announcement will be made during the closing session of EVS35, later this week.

Sacramento first established the Citys EV Parking Program in 1994 and its leaders have been working tirelessly to promote electric drive adoption in the decades since. The city was one of the first to successfully launch curbside charging, creating opportunities for residents living in multi-family housing with neither access to a charging station in a garage nor dedicated off-street parking. Sacramento continues to show leadership in its commitment to providing public EV charging, reducing emissions produced by the municipal fleet, and supporting electric vehicle adoption in the community.

EDTA President Genevieve Cullen said, "The Electric Vehicle Symposium is a global gathering of electric transportation leaders. Sacramentos distinguished history and unique vision for e-mobility makes it the perfect forum for EVS36. Cullen continued, As the world works toward an electrified future, we look forward to bringing EVS to Sacramento in 2023, spotlighting a city that is successfully using electric drive to cut emissions, combat climate change and build a more livable and equitable community.

The E-Visionary Award is presented by the World Electric Vehicle Association (WEVA) to cities and regions across the globe for initiatives to promote electric vehicles as a sustainable mode of transportation, and for making electric mobility a reality in the lives of their inhabitants. The Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) represents the North American branch of WEVA and will host EVS36 June 11-14, 2023, in Sacramento, California. More information can be found at www.EVS36.com.

###

About EDTA: The Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) is the trade association representing battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell electric drive technologies and infrastructure. EDTA conducts public policy advocacy, education, industry networking, and international conferences, including EVS29. EDTA's membership includes vehicle and equipment manufacturers, energy companies, technology developers, component suppliers, government agencies and others. For more information about EDTA and its members, visit ElectricDrive.org

About EVS36: Organized and hosted by EDTA, the 36th Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition (EVS36) is the premier showcase for industry innovation and is the longest-running international conference devoted to electric transportation and technologies. Featuring compelling presentations from industry and thought leaders, a cutting-edge exposition with exhibitors from around the globe and multiple networking events, EVS36 will provide a wide array of opportunities to showcase leadership, learn from the experts, and educate the public and the media about electric transportation.

Attachment
LIVERMORE, Calif., June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UNCLE Credit Union, celebrating its 65th Anniversary serving four counties in the Central and Tri-Valley, is welcoming Travis Anway to join their executive leadership team as Vice President of Consumer Lending.

Travis joins UNCLE Credit Union after spending over 20 years in financial services, with his most recent experience as Vice President of Lending at Mission City Federal Credit Union in Santa Clara. Prior to his time with Mission City Federal, Travis started his career in Michigan as a Personal Banker exceling his way to Vice President.

The addition of Travis to our executive team is an exciting move for the credit union. Our lending division needed additional leadership to achieve continued success, and Travis has the experience and skills to take UNCLE to the next level. We are thrilled to have him here, and we look forward to his contributions to our team, says Harold Roundtree, UNCLEs CEO and President.

Travis focus with UNCLE will be to continue to build a successful consumer lending team, strategic planning and execution, along with relationship building with UNCLEs employees and members.

About UNCLE Credit UnionEstablished in 1957, UNCLE Credit Union is a $650+ million, full-service financial institution serving approximately 32,000 members. The organization offers the benefits of credit union membership with a full array of financial services to anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. UNCLE has five financial centers and one sales office located in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley, as well as 5,600 branches and more than 30,000 surcharge-free ATMs available through participation in the CO-OP Shared Branching Network. In addition, members have access to a wide spectrum of online and mobile banking services. UNCLE Credit Union is renowned for its community involvement, professional and personalized service, and unwavering commitment to helping members achieve their financial goals. To learn more, visit www.unclecu.org.

CONTACT:Natalia Custodio925.447.5001[email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6042508c-2062-41e2-ac27-8085f96f5030

UNCLE Credit Union welcomes Travis Anway as Vice President of Consumer Lending Travis Anway, Vice President of Consumer Lending for UNCLE Credit Union.

Source: UNCLE Credit Union
The construction of the third multi-storey building has started in the new district being built near Tigran Mets Street in Stepanakert.

June 14, 2022, 13:25 Construction of a multi-storey building started in Stepanakert

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 14, ARTSAKHPRESS: The Ministry of Urban Planning of the Artsakh Republic informed "Artsakhpress".

The building will consist of 3 buildings and will have 9 floors

The construction of the building is carried out by "Pant" LLC with the financial support of the "Hayastan" All-Armenian Fund.
MONTREAL, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yorbeau Resources Inc. (TSX: YRB) (Yorbeau or the Company) announces that the nominees listed in the Companys management proxy circular dated May 13, 2022 were elected as directors of Yorbeau. The detailed results of the vote for the election of directors held at the annual general meeting of shareholders on June 14, 2022 in Montreal are set out below.

Nominee VotesFor %For VotesWithheld %Withheld G. Bodnar Jr. 158,124,484 93.82 % 10,415,007 6.18 % John Jacobsen 168,528,841 99.99 % 10,650 0.01 % Henri Gelinas 158,124,484 93.82 % 10,415,007 6.18 % Terry Kocisko 158,126,284 93.82 % 10,413,207 6.18 % Marcel Lecourt 168,501,391 99.98 % 38,100 0.02 % Jerome Gendron 168,525,591 99.99 % 13,900 0.01 % Dany Laflamme 168,525,841 99.99 % 13,650 0.01 %

About Yorbeau Resources Inc.

The Rouyn Property, wholly owned by the Company, contains four known gold deposits in the 6-km-long Augmitto-Astoria corridor situated on the western portion of the property. The Company signed a definitive agreement in December 2018, whereby IAMGOLD has the option to acquire a 100% interest in the Rouyn property, and a major drilling program is underway. Two of the four deposits, Astoria and Augmitto, benefit from substantial underground infrastructure and have been the subject of technical reports that include resource estimates and that were filed in accordance with Regulation 43-101. In 2015, the Company expanded its exploration property portfolio by acquiring strategic base metal properties in prospective areas of the Abitibi Belt of Quebec and Ontario that feature an infrastructure favourable for mining development. The newly acquired base metal properties include the Scott Project, which bears important mineral resources (see the press release dated March 30, 2017) and on which a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment was recently completed.

For additional information on the Company, consult its website at www.yorbeauresources.com.

For further information, please contact:

G. Bodnar Jr. President, Chief Financial OfficerYorbeau Resources Inc.[email protected]Tel: 514-384-2202 Toll free in North America: 1-855-384-2202

Source: Yorbeau Resources Inc.
Roth Capital Partners LLC (Roth) today announced its plans to host the 8th Annual Roth London Conference on June 21-23, 2022, at The InterContinental London Hotel. The event will provide institutional investors with the unique opportunity to meet with C-suite leaders and executive management teams from approximately 70 innovative companies across various sectors. Industries to be represented in the event include sustainability (solar, environmental, and mobility and transportation), industrials, agtech, technology, consumer, and metals and mining sectors. Our conferences provide both investors and companies the opportunities to engage in personal discussions and gain additional knowledge about some of the business sectors that are important to our global economy, said Byron Roth, chairman and CEO of Roth Capital Partners. These conversations are invaluable in an environment where ESG investments and customer awareness are driving growth in the sustainability and allied sectors. We are excited to be back in person after two years of virtual conferences.

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/rKmZL

About Roth Capital Partners LLC (Roth)

Roth is a relationship-driven investment bank focused on serving emerging growth companies and their investors. As a full-service investment bank, Roth provides capital raising, M&A advisory, analytical research, trading, market-making services, and corporate access. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, Roth is privately held and owned by its employees and maintains offices throughout the U.S. For more information on Roth, please visit www.Roth.com.

About InvestorWire

InvestorWire is the wire service that gives you more. From regional releases to global announcements presented in multiple languages, we offer the wire-grade dissemination products youll need to ensure that your next press release grabs the attention of your target audience and doesnt let go. While our competitors look to nickel and dime you with hidden fees and restrictive word limits, InvestorWire keeps things transparent.

As part of its service, InvestorWire provides coverage of noteworthy announcements. To further expand visibility of achievements being made throughout a multitude of sectors, InvestorWires syndication partners have extended the digital coverage to include individual broadcasts on financial websites and platforms visited by millions of investors daily.

For more information, please visit https://www.InvestorWire.com

Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the InvestorBrandNetwork website applicable to all content provided by IBN, wherever published or re-published: http://ibn.fm/Disclaimer

InvestorWire (IW)

8033 Sunset Blvd Suite 1037-IW

Los Angeles, CA 90046

310.299.1717 Office

www.InvestorWire.com

[email protected]

InvestorWire is part of the InvestorBrandNetwork.
FILE PHOTO: A Wells Fargo logo is seen in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith/File Photo/File Photo

By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Wells Fargo & Co's chief financial officer told investors on Tuesday the bank will not release funds it set aside to cover potential pandemic-related loan losses this quarter because of the "uncertainty" facing the U.S. economy.

"We still think there's significant risk that's out there," CFO Mike Santomassimo said at a conference in New York, adding that the bank has released reserves in several recent quarters. "I don't expect us to continue to have those releases."

Last quarter, the bank's $1.1 billion reserve release helped offset a decline in its mortgage lending business. This quarter, Santomassimo told investors mortgage income will decline by 50% from first quarter levels, along with investment bank fees, which are falling on less dealmaking activity.

Soaring interest rates have pressured banks' home lending portfolios as the increase in borrowing costs is dampening demand for mortgage originations.

Investment banking revenues are down industry wide as fewer companies are choosing to go public and company stock prices are plunging as economic growth slows.

While Santomassimo said Wells Fargo's trading revenues are likely to be up "a little bit over last year," trading is not a significant driver of the bank's business.

Analysts said they expect overall investment banking revenues in the second quarter to decline, despite any gains banks earn from equity and fixed income, currency and commodities (FICC) trading volumes.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts Marshall in New York; Additional reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bangaluru and Sinead Carew in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 14, 2022) - Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp.(CSE: API) (OTCQB: APAAF) (FSE: A0I0) (FSE: A0I.F) (FSE: A0I.MU) (FSE: A0I.BE)(the "Company" or "Appia")is pleased to provide an update on 2022 drilling, particularly related to the new discovery zone at Augier, on the 100%-owned Alces Lake high-grade rare earth elements ("REE") and gallium property, Athabasca Basin area, northern Saskatchewan.

Highlights:

Program total of 54 holes drilled so far in 2022 with a total of 10,047 metres drilled in less than 10 weeks - congratulations to the Alces Lake team!

Expansion of WRCB area along strike to the southeast with no boundary found to date.

Total of 24 holes drilled in 2022 on the Augier discovery confirm a thick zone of anomalous radioactivity in REE-bearing pegmatite. Delineation drilling is continuing.

Augier discovery is a potential AMP zone look-alike - waiting on assay results to assess.

Frederick Kozak, President of Appia said: "The Augier discovery is a significant rare earth-bearing zone within what appears to be a continuous km-scale geological structure. It is massive - the radiometric anomaly is 300 metres in strike length and 175 metres wide. The mineralized interval is up to 70 metres in drilled width and has been intersected over 100 metres down dip. So far, the zone is open to the NNW, SSE and down-dip, it has no boundaries and it outcrops at surface. We eagerly await the assay results to determine just how big a REE discovery we have made."

Augier Discovery -positive drilling results

As previously reported, the Augier discovery was prospected in 2018 and was channel sampled in 2021. The 2021 assay results returned 7 metres of 0.57wt% TREO with intervals of 1.35 wt% TREO (0.59 metres) and 1.57 wt% TREO (0.40 metres). The discovery is located approximately 1,500 metres directly southeast of the WRCB area, along a well-defined kilometres-scale structural corridor.

Figure 1: Augier Drilling





Figure 1. Current status of Appia's 2022 exploration drilling program at the Augier area. Newly completed 2022 drillholes are shown with white collar points and trace lines over a Thorium distribution map derived from Appia's 2021 airborne radiometric survey.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5416/127548_2e465ae3a47abb0d_005full.jpg.

An extensive drilling program is underway with two drills working on the prospect. To date, a total of 4,040 metres in 24 holes have been drilled at Augier with two holes per setup. In addition, a large (100 kg) surface sample was taken from the immediate vicinity of the first two Augier holes. A total of 87 samples from the first hole at 22-AUG-001 have been sent for assay as well as the Augier large surface sample with assay results expected within 2 months.

The map in Figure 1 above shows that the zone of interest is open in both strike directions (north-northwest and south-southeast) as well as in the dip direction to the west-southwest. Figure 2 and Figure 3 (shown below) provide longitudinal and cross-sections through the prospect.

Figure 2: Longitudinal Section at Augier





Figure 2. Representative longitudinal section through Augier discovery based on drilling results interpreted to date.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5416/127548_2e465ae3a47abb0d_006full.jpg.

Note in Figure 2 at surface the length of the prospective zone shown in the inclined longitudinal section is approximately 300 metres. So far, there are no limits to strike extent. The zone remains open at depth after drilling to over 100 metres down dip.

Figure 3: Schematic Cross-Section at Augier





Figure 3. Schematic cross section through Augier discovery based on drilling results interpreted to date.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5416/127548_2e465ae3a47abb0d_007full.jpg.

As shown above in Figure 3, the cross-section of the zone of interest has been intersected over 100 metres down dip from surface with no boundary found down dip

This discovery had not been drilled until 2022. The very first hole drilled into the discovery in 2022 intersected an encouraging 51.2 metres of anomalous radioactivity beginning at surface, with similar results from holes in the ongoing drilling program (see Table 1). The drilled width of this near-surface anomaly is unprecedented when compared to previous drilling campaigns at Alces Lake. Core has been sampled and submitted for assay from the first hole. Drilling details to date are summarized below in Table 1.

The Augier anomalous radioactive zone has similar mineralization to the AMP zone at WRCB. Visually, the zone is consistent through all of the Augier holes. Early assay results from 22-AUG-001 will be compared with the WRCB assay results in hand to further assess the zone potential .in this Augier discovery.

While the anomalous radioactive zone at Augier is at surface and the AMP zone at WRCB is plunging, Appia has not yet determined a conclusive link between the two zones. Also, there is substantial drilling to be done in the approximate 1,500 metre distance between WRCB and Augier to determine further potential continuity of the AMP zone and the thick anomalous radioactive zone at Augier.

Table 1. 2022 Augier drillhole details current to June 11, 2022.

Location information is presented in NAD 83 / UTM Zone 12N

Hole ID Easting Northing Azimuth Dip Anomalous

Radioactivity (m) Final

Length (m) 22-AUG-001 668119 6616898 60 45 51.2 299 22-AUG-002 668119 6616898 60 60 70.1 204 22-AUG-003 668193 6616768 60 45 58 255.26 22-AUG-004 668193 6616768 60 60 47.3 79.91 22-AUG-005 668128 6616815 60 45 50.5 356.96 22-AUG-006 668128 6616815 60 60 25 201 22-AUG-007 668148 6616742 60 45 39 171 22-AUG-008 668076 6616873 60 45 - 180 22-AUG-009 668070 6616911 45 45 - 102 22- AUG -010 668070 6616911 45 75 - 99 22- AUG -011 668096 6616872 45 45 27 159 22- AUG -012 668096 6616872 45 80 12 154.9 22- AUG -013 668148 6616856 45 45 70 126 22- AUG -014 668148 6616856 45 75 62.5 117 22- AUG -015 668101 6616775 45 45 19.9 186 22- AUG -016 668101 6616775 45 80 29 192 22- AUG -017 668037 6616838 45 45 40.5 130.5 22- AUG -018 668037 6616838 45 80 0.45 212 22-AUG-019 668170 6616816 45 45 47.5 123 22-AUG-020 668170 6616816 45 80 35.5 138 22-AUG-021 668142 6616742 45 45 37 190.5 22-AUG-022 668142 6616742 45 80 3.8 132 22-AUG-026 668122 6616826 45 45 59 111 22-AUG-027 668122 6616826 45 80 4.8 117





Continued Delineation of the WRCB Discovery

Appia continues to delineate the magnitude of the rare earth elements discovery at WRCB with longer and deeper holes to build on the 2021 information collected. The results so far are encouraging. Initial 2022 drilling on WRCB has been completed and the drill has been moved to drill on the Augier discovery.

Of the 54 holes drilled in 2022, 30 have been drilled at WRCB and all holes in the WRCB complex have intersected intervals of anomalous radioactivity over drilled widths ranging up to 11.0 metres, some with visible monazite. The 2022 drilling has expanded the WRCB area of interest with identified intervals of anomalous radioactivity up to 120 metres further along strike to the southeast. This has increased the overall length of the trend of anomalous radioactivity in WRCB drill core from 160 metres to 280 metres of strike length. The WRCB area is still open along strike in both the north-northwest and south-southeast directions.

A very promising intercept was found in 22-WRC-024, which drilled into the Wilson zone. The core returned with 9 metres of significant mineralization from 38 metres to 47 metres, with a scintillometer reading up to 16,000 CPS. This is comparable to some of the other very high grade zones in WRCB at shallow depth, with TREO content to be determined in future assay results.

Additional 2022 exploration activities at WRCB will include an IP survey over the center of the WRCB discovery area to evaluate the method's applicability across the property.

Figure 4 - WRCB Area 2022 Drilling Campaign





Figure 4. Current status of Appia's 2022 exploration drilling program at WRCB and area. Newly completed 2022 drillholes are shown with white collar points and trace lines over a Thorium distribution map derived from Appia's 2021 airborne radiometric survey.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5416/127548_2e465ae3a47abb0d_008full.jpg.

About the Alces Lake Project

The Alces Lake project encompasses some of the highest-grade total and critical* REEs and gallium mineralization in the world, hosted within several surface and near-surface monazite occurrences that remain open at depth and along strike.

* Critical rare earth elements are defined here as those that are in short-supply and high-demand for use in permanent magnets and modern electronic applications such as electric vehicles and wind turbines (i.e: neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb)).

Appia commenced drilling at Alces Lake in mid-March 2022 and plans to drill significantly deeper holes compared to the 100 holes (approximately 8,076 metres) drilled in 2021. This is designed to allow Appia to determine continuity at depth and along the identified REE mineralization trends as the company works towards a maiden resource estimate in accordance with NI 43-101 for the area. With high-grade REE mineralization now identified in many locations within an area covering approximately 27 km2 of the Alces Lake block. the Company believes the project has the potential to be a world-class source of high-grade critical rare earth bearing monazite.

The Alces Lake project is located in northern Saskatchewan, the same provincial jurisdiction that is developing a "first-of-its-kind" rare earth processing facility in Canada (currently under construction by the Saskatchewan Research Council and scheduled to become operational in early 2023). The Alces Lake project area is 35,682 hectares (88,173 acres) in size and is 100% owned by Appia.

To ensure safe work conditions are met for the workforce, the Company has developed exploration guidelines that comply with the Saskatchewan Public Health Orders and the Public Health Order Respecting the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District in order to maintain social distancing and help prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

All lithogeochemical assay results were provided by Saskatchewan Research Council's Geoanalytical Laboratory, an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 (CAN-P-4E) certified laboratory in Saskatoon, SK. All analytical results reported herein have passed internal QA/QC review and compilation.

The technical content in this news release was reviewed and approved by Dr. Irvine R. Annesley, P.Geo, Advisor to Appia's Board of Directors, and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Appia

Appia is a Canadian publicly-listed company in the rare earth element and uranium sectors. The Company is currently focusing on delineating high-grade critical rare earth elements and gallium on the Alces Lake property, as well as exploring for high-grade uranium in the prolific Athabasca Basin on its Otherside, Loranger, North Wollaston, and Eastside properties. The Company holds the surface rights to exploration for 105,026 hectares (259,525 acres) in Saskatchewan. The Company also has a 100% interest in 12,545 hectares (31,000 acres), with rare earth element and uranium deposits over five mineralized zones in the Elliot Lake Camp, Ontario.

Appia has 121.5 million common shares outstanding, 142.2 million shares fully diluted.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This News Release contains forward-looking statements which are typically preceded by, followed by or including the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "plans" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance as they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward- looking statements and shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such statements.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:

Tom Drivas, CEO and Director: (cell) 416-876-3957, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) [email protected]

Frederick Kozak, President: (cellular) 403-606-3165 or (email) [email protected]

Frank van de Water, Chief Financial Officer and Director, (tel) 416-546-2707, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) [email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/127548
By Nandita Bose and Trevor Hunnicutt

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) -The White House is discussing possible changes to some "irresponsible" tariffs imposed on Chinese goods by former President Donald Trump that raised costs on U.S. families and businesses, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.

She said internal discussions were continuing, but gave no details on President Joe Biden's thinking about possible tariff reductions - a move experts say could contribute to the administration's urgent efforts to combat inflation.

Trump imposed tariffs of up to 25% on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports, including many consumer goods from bicycles to Bluetooth devices and apparel.

Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration had long noted that some of those Trump-era tariffs were "irresponsible and did not advance our national security," resulting instead in higher costs for U.S. consumers and businesses.

"We're discussing this, and working to align these haphazard tariffs and our priorities to safeguard the interests of our workers and critical industries," she told reporters aboard Air Force One as Biden flew to Philadelphia for a union convention.

Biden has told aides that he is inclined to cute some of the tariffs on Chinese goods, but asked for detailed analysis and options in recent weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter. A decision is expected soon.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last week told lawmakers that the administration was actively looking to "reconfigure" tariffs on Chinese imports but warned that such cuts would not be a "panacea" for easing high inflation.

She said administration officials were examining changes to the "Section 301" tariffs on Chinese goods and to the process for product-specific exclusions from those duties.

Yellen said that while some tariff cuts may be warranted and could help bring down some consumer prices, they would have a limited effect on overall inflation, now at its highest in over 40 years.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose, Trevor Hunnicutt and Andrea ShalalEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
The American Heart Association presented Alameda Hospital with the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus award for its dedication to ensuring all stroke patients have access to best practices and life-saving care.

ALAMEDA, Calif., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alameda Health System's Alameda Hospital has received the American Heart Association's Gold Plus Get With The Guidelines stroke quality achievement award for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately leading to more lives saved and reduced disability.

Stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States. Strokes occur when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs and brain cells die. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.

Get With The Guidelines puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest research and evidence-based guidelines. Get With The Guidelines-Stroke is an in-hospital program for improving stroke care by promoting consistent adherence to these guidelines, which can minimize the long-term effects of a stroke and even prevent death.

"Alameda Hospital is committed to providing excellent patient care by adhering to the latest guidelines," said Felicia Tornabene, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Alameda Health System. "Get With The Guidelines helps our teams put evidence-based knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis which can help patients recover better. Our goal is to ensure more people in Alameda experience longer, healthier lives."

Each year, program participants qualify for the award by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, Get With The Guidelines participants also educate patients to help them manage their health and recovery at home.

"We are incredibly pleased to recognize Alameda Hospital for its commitment to caring for patients with stroke," said Steven Messe, M.D., chairperson of the Stroke System of Care Advisory Group. "Participation in Get With The Guidelines is associated with improved patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates  a win for health care systems, families and communities."

Alameda Hospital also received the American Heart Association's Target: StrokeSM Elite Honor Roll Award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet specific criteria that reduce the time between an eligible patient's arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster alteplase. Additionally, Alameda Hospital received the American Heart Association's Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award. Target: Type 2 Diabetes aims to ensure patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to stroke.

ALAMEDA HEALTH SYSTEM (AHS) is a leading public health care provider dedicated to caring, healing, teaching and serving all. AHS is a haven for the most vulnerable among us; an advocate for equitable, compassionate and culturally sensitive care regardless of social and financial barriers. AHS is a vanguard of medical excellence, with a teaching hospital that draws the nation's best medical students. As one of Alameda County's 15 largest employers, AHS is a major economic power providing more than 5,100 jobs and contributing nearly $560 million annually in salaries, wages and benefits. AHS is also home to more than 1,100 physicians across the nine facilities within the health system. Since 1864, AHS has served the East Bay's health care needs. For more information, visit AlamedaHealthSystem.org.

About Get With The Guidelines

Get With The Guidelines is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 12 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.

CONTACT:Eleanor AjalaManager of Media & Communications Alameda Health System

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alameda-hospital-is-nationally-recognized-for-providing-high-quality-stroke-care-301568020.html

SOURCE Alameda Health System
DEARBORN, Mich., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Carhartt understands that it's greatest asset is its people and to further ensure the needs of the business are met and to enhance the company culture, Carhartt announced today the appointment of Dr. Candis Fields-Johnson as Human Resources (HR) Vice President of Global Talent Management. She joined the company on June 6 and reports to Jennifer Piscopink, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Carhartt.

In this role, Dr. Fields-Johnson will be responsible for developing strategies that address the overall talent needs of the organization. In partnership with leaders across the company, she will translate the talent needs into actionable ideas, as well as identify the appropriate learning, communication, organizational effectiveness, and talent management strategies and interventions.

To recruit for the position, Carhartt employed executive search firm BroadView Talent Partners, recognized for their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and proven process for identifying talent.

"In today's competitive job market, it's critical for companies to have best practices in place to not only attract, but retain, top talent," said Piscopink. "We are excited to have Candis join our team and I'm confident that she will further our commitment to our highly engaged workforce, but also help us connect the dots across our organization, challenge the status quo and execute with excellence."

Dr. Fields-Johnson brings a wealth of experience as a strategic change leader to Carhartt, most recently serving as Head of Learning and Development (L&D), Global Operations and Information Technology (IT) for AstraZeneca. There, she set the direction and strategy for L&D globally across five functions and three regions in support of the business strategy and talent priorities.

Earlier, she held various HR roles with increasing responsibility at Penske, Saint-Gobain, and Merck & Co.

Dr. Fields-Johnson earned her Doctorate of Education from Neumann University in Aston, Penn., her Master's Of Science in Organizational Development and Training from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, her Bachelors in Chemistry from Temple University in Philadelphia. She also achieved her post doctoral certification in Human Resource Management from Villanova University in Philadelphia.

About Carhartt, Inc.

Established in 1889, Carhartt is a global premium workwear brand with a rich heritage of developing rugged products for workers on and off the job. Headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, with approximately 5,400 employees worldwide, Carhartt is family-owned and managed by the descendants of the company's founder, Hamilton Carhartt. For more information, visit www.carhartt.com.

Contact: Amy Hellebuyck Wes Richter Carhartt, Inc. Zeno Group for Carhartt (313) 749-6322 (312) 826-3582 [email protected] [email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carhartt-appoints-new-hr-vice-president-of-global-talent-management-301567423.html

SOURCE Carhartt
Ship to be Renamed Carnival Luminosa, Sailing Seasonally from Brisbane, Australia and Then Moving to Seattle for Alaska Itineraries From May-September

MIAMI, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Line announced today that Costa Luminosa will join the Carnival fleet in September and will start guest operations as Carnival Luminosa in November 2022 from Brisbane, Australia. The acquisition of Luminosa is an update to the previously announced plans for Carnival to take Costa Magica, which will now remain at Costa Cruises.

After this delivery, Carnival Luminosa will operate seasonally from October through April from Brisbane, then reposition to Seattle, where it will sail Alaska itineraries from May through September, before returning to Brisbane.

Luminosa is a sister ship to the four other popular Spirit class ships that already sail for Carnival. Entering service in 2009, the ship accommodates up to 2,826 guests and 1,050 crew at 92,720 gross tons.

"With our full fleet back to guest operations and the pent-up demand for Carnival we are seeing every week aboard our ships, the chance to expand with Luminosa and then the arrival of Carnival Celebration in November provides our guests with more choices and new ways to enjoy a Carnival vacation," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "Our Spirit class ships are very popular with our guests and Luminosa will be a great addition given the large number of balcony cabins which make her an ideal ship for this deployment. And equally important, this will allow Carnival to finally start our highly anticipated itineraries from Brisbane, so we'll have two ships operating in Australia for the high season Down Under."

Given the short timeline to get Carnival Luminosa ready for service, the ship will go through some modest updates to change over from Costa to Carnival over the next few months ahead of the November service start-up. The ship will not initially have all of the Funship 2.0 branded spaces that are seen across the Carnival fleet. The entire vessel will be staffed by the Carnival Cruise Line crew, renowned for their outstanding hospitality and fun. Cruises out of Brisbane will be announced shortly, and Carnival will sail a variety of itineraries that will initially include visits to Australian favorites such as the Great Barrier Reef and Airlie Beach, and, as destinations open over time, ports of call such as Noumea and Lifou Isle in New Caledonia, Port Vila and Mystery Island in Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

Duffy said, "The opportunity to deliver these bucket list itineraries will be exciting for our guests and we are thrilled to see the growing number of guests from the U.S. sailing on Carnival in Australia."

In addition to Carnival Luminosa out of Brisbane, Carnival Splendor will arrive in Sydney to resume sailing year-round on October 2, 2022. With the arrival of Carnival Celebration this November, Carnival's fleet will number 24 ships, and its lower berth capacity will be seven percent higher than at the end of November 2019.

Related to this announcement, the cruise programs for Costa Luminosa from September forward will be cancelled and Costa will be informing guests with a specific re-protection plan. Costa Magica will continue to be a part of the Costa fleet and its cruise programs will be announced shortly.

For additional information on Carnival Cruise Line and to book a cruise vacation, call 1-800-CARNIVAL, visit www.carnival.com, or contact your favorite travel advisor or online travel site.

ABOUT CARNIVAL CRUISE LINECarnival Cruise Line, part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is proud to be known as America's Cruise Line and currently sails 23 ships from 14 U.S. homeports and employs more than 40,000 team members representing 120 nationalities. Carnival's newest ship, Mardi Gras, featuring the first roller coaster at sea, is the first cruise ship in the Americas powered by eco-friendly Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). As part of its 50th Birthday festivities, Carnival Celebration, sister ship to Mardi Gras, is scheduled to debut in late 2022 from PortMiami, as well as Carnival Jubilee from Galveston in 2023. Carnival returns to Australia in October 2022.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carnival-cruise-line-announces-that-costa-luminosa-will-transfer-to-the-carnival-fleet-and-start-service-in-november-2022-301567973.html

SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line
ROWLEY, Mass., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Comstar, LLC ("Comstar") is providing notice of a recent event that may affect the security of certain information.

On or about March 26, 2022, Comstar discovered suspicious activity related to certain servers within its environment. Comstar immediately took steps to secure our network, and launched a thorough investigation, with the assistance of third-party experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident. On April 21, 2022, the investigation determined that certain systems on Comstar's network were subject to unauthorized access. However, the investigation was unable to confirm what specific information on those systems was accessed. As such, Comstar reviewed the contents of those systems to determine what information was contained therein and to whom it related for purposes of notification.

The review of the systems determined information related to certain individuals was contained within. The information varied by individual but may have included name, date of birth, medical assessment and medication administration, health insurance information, driver's license, financial account information, and Social Security number.

Individuals who have questions about this incident or believe they may be impacted by this incident, can contact our dedicated call center at 877-587-4280, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time except holidays, or visit our web site for more information at www.comstarbilling.com

Monitor Your Accounts

Under U.S. law, a consumer is entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also directly contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below to request a free copy of your credit report.

Consumers have the right to place an initial or extended "fraud alert" on a credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer's credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer's credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer's identity before extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any one of the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below.

As an alternative to a fraud alert, consumers have the right to place a "credit freeze" on a credit report, which will prohibit a credit bureau from releasing information in the credit report without the consumer's express authorization. The credit freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a credit freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, you cannot be charged to place or lift a credit freeze on your credit report. To request a credit freeze, you will need to provide the following information:

Full name (including middle initial as well as Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.); Social Security number; Date of birth; Addresses for the prior two to five years; Proof of current address, such as a current utility bill or telephone bill; A legible photocopy of a government-issued identification card (state driver's license or ID card, etc.); and A copy of either the police report, investigative report, or complaint to a law enforcement agency concerning identity theft if you are a victim of identity theft.

Should you wish to place a fraud alert or credit freeze, please contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below:

Equifax Experian TransUnion https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/ https://www.experian.com/help/ https://www.transunion.com/credit-help 888-298-0045 1-888-397-3742 833-395-6938 Equifax Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348-5069 Experian Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016 Equifax Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348-5788 Experian Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 160, Woodlyn, PA 19094

Additional Information

You may further educate yourself regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps you can take to protect your personal information by contacting the consumer reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission, or your state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. You can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. You have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some proof that you have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement and your state Attorney General. This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement.

For California residents: Visit the California Office of Privacy Protection (www.oag.ca.gov/privacy) for additional information on protection against identity theft.

For Kentucky residents: Office of the Attorney General of Kentucky, 700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 118 Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, www.ag.ky.gov, Telephone: 1-502-696-5300.

For District of Columbia residents: the District of Columbia Attorney General may be contacted at: 400 6th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001; 202-727-3400; and [email protected].

For Maryland residents: the Maryland Attorney General may be contacted at: 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; 1-410-528-8662 or 1-888-743-0023; and www.oag.state.md.us. Comstar is located at 8 Turcotte Memorial Drive, Rowley, MA 01969.

For Massachusetts Residents: You have the right to obtain any police report filed in regard to this incident.

For New Mexico residents: you have rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as the right to be told if information in your credit file has been used against you, the right to know what is in your credit file, the right to ask for your credit score, and the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. Further, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer reporting bureaus must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information; consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information; access to your file is limited; you must give your consent for credit reports to be provided to employers; you may limit "prescreened" offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report; and you may seek damages from violator. You may have additional rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act not summarized here. Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have specific additional rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We encourage you to review your rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act by visiting www.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf, or by writing Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

For New York residents: the New York Attorney General may be contacted at: Office of the Attorney General, The Capitol, Albany, NY 12224-0341; 1-800-771-7755; or https://ag.ny.gov/.

For North Carolina residents: the North Carolina Attorney General may be contacted at: 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; 1-877-566-7226 or 1-919-716-6000; and www.ncdoj.gov.

For Oregon residents: Oregon Department of Justice, 1162 Court Street NE, Salem, OR 97301-4096, www.doj.state.or.us/, Telephone: 877-877-9392.

For Rhode Island residents: the Rhode Island Attorney General may be reached at: 150 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903; www.riag.ri.gov; and 1-401-274-4400. Under Rhode Island law, you have the right to obtain any police report filed in regard to this incident.

For Washington D.C. residents: the Office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia can be reached at: 441 4thStreet NW, Suite 1100 South, Washington, D.C. 20001; 1-202-442-9828; https://oag.dc.gov.

For All U.S. residents: Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580, www.consumer.gov/idtheft, 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338).

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comstar-llc-provides-notice-of-data-breach-301567976.html

SOURCE Comstar, LLC
Preference for Foreign Asset Managers in Terms of Performance, Track Record and Trustworthiness

HONG KONG, June 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The vast majority of Asian investors see credibility (96%), performance (96%) and service fees (90%) as the key criteria for choosing an asset manager, according to FleishmanHillard's The Future of Asset Management in Asia 2022.

The report, which for the first time now covers four markets across Asia (mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore and South Korea) and follows three years of the well-received Future of Asset Management in China report, offers insights for global asset managers assessing opportunities in Asia. Published in collaboration with the agency's TRUE Global Intelligence practice, the report features analysis drawn from an online survey of Asian investors' attitudes and behaviors, plus an overview of the latest industry trends.

The survey shows that overseas asset managers are preferred for their performance (53%), track record (45%) and trustworthiness (43%) by investors over local players. Asian investors value asset managers that are transparent in customer communication (92%) and fee disclosure (89%) and that offer sophisticated risk management capabilities (90%) and strong ESG products (78%).

"Despite continuous market volatility in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, Asia continues to be an epicenter of growth for international asset managers, with China presenting opportunities for expansion amid an upsurge in the number of affluent investors in the region," said Patrick Yu, Asia Pacific lead of FleishmanHillard's Financial and Professional Services sector. "Credibility and performance continue to be key for investors in Asia choosing asset managers. Overseas managers need to think through how they can accommodate investors' appetites by delivering uncorrelated alpha with well-timed, top-notch investment solutions drawing upon a variety of global expertise and experiences."

The survey also found:

Asian investors show a strong preference for investing in the region they know the best: Asia Pacific. The exception here is South Korean investors, who are most keen to invest in North America (58%) and are almost as likely to target Europe (37%) as Asia Pacific (39%).

With the Ukraine-Russia conflict increasing global volatility, most investors are moving investments into lower risk options, although Singaporean investors are just as likely to maintain their current asset allocations as they are to reduce risk.

Despite the fall in stock markets, particularly in growth segments, investors in the region still have their sights on investing in innovation sectors this year, with 53% of investors across the region saying they will invest in the internet and technology sector.

With a number of new investment themes breaking onto the scene in the last year, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse, the report shows a clear appetite among investors in the surveyed markets for products investing in these themes. Cryptocurrency-related products topped investors' wish-lists, with 45% showing interest despite weaker performance in the six months prior to the survey.

A total of 41% also expressed interest in metaverse-themed products, and 33% said they are considering investing in an NFT or digital collectible, which is largely driven by investors in the Hong Kong SAR, 43% of whom expressed interest.

More than half (59%) of investors use online methods for fund patronage, followed by independent financial advisers (46%) and wealth managers (43%).

FleishmanHillard's The Future of Asset Management in Asia 2022 report includes qualitative and quantitative data. FleishmanHillard TRUE Global Intelligence fielded an online survey of 418 investment professionals in mainland China, the Hong Kong SAR, Singapore and South Korea between April 27 and May 5, 2022. All respondents to the survey self-identified as working in investment, finance or banking, and had traded or invested in at least one of the following: equities funds (77%), fixed income (57%), ETF (48%), alternatives (15%), balanced funds (30%) or PE funds (11%).

Remarks: A mainland China focused report, The Future of Asset Management in China 2022, is also available for asset managers interested specifically in this growing market.

About FleishmanHillardFleishmanHillard specializes in public relations, reputation management, public affairs, brand marketing, digital strategy, social engagement and content strategy. FleishmanHillard was named 2021 PRovoke Global Agency of the Year, 2021 ICCO Network of the Year, 2021 Campaign Global PR Agency of the Year, 2022 PRWeek U.S. Agency of the Year and Outstanding Extra-Large Agency of the Year; 2021 PRovoke APAC Consultancy of the Year; 2021 PRWeek UK Large Consultancy of the Year; Human Rights Campaign Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality 2018-2021; and to Seramount's (formerly Working Mother Media) "Top Companies for Executive Women" list 2010-2021. FleishmanHillard is part of Omnicom Public Relations Group, and has nearly 80 offices in more than 30 countries, plus affiliates in 45 countries.

About Omnicom Public Relations Group Omnicom Public Relations Group is a global collective of three of the top global public relations agencies worldwide and specialist agencies in areas including public affairs, language strategy, global health strategy and change management. As the largest group of communications professionals in the world, our employees provide expertise to companies, government agencies, NGOs and nonprofits across a wide range of industries. Omnicom Public Relations Group delivers for clients through a relentless focus on talent, continuous pursuit of innovation and a culture steeped in collaboration. Omnicom Public Relations Group is part of the Communications Consultancy Network, a division of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC). About Omnicom Group Inc.Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries. Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/credibility-performance-and-service-fees-are-key-criteria-for-choosing-asset-managers-according-to-fleishmanhillards-first-pan-asia-future-of-asset-management-report-301566799.html

SOURCE FleishmanHillard Inc.
[June 14, 2022] Cloud consultancy Vivanti partners with Snowflake and sponsors 2022 Summit Data-focused cloud consultancy , Vivanti, partners with modern data platform, Snowflake, and sponsors Snowflake Summit 2022 WASHINGTON and NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivanti  the enterprise technology consultancy delivering impactful cloud experiences and data-driven innovations with a client-first ethical framework  has officially partnered with modern data platform provider, Snowflake. Vivanti is also supporting the 2022 iteration of Snowflake's flagship annual conference, Snowflake Summit (June 13 - 16), as a sponsor. Vivanti's certified Snowflake experts enable organizations across the US to drive both strategic decision-making and real-time operational insights with the Snowflake Cloud Data Platform . To read more about how Vivant works with Snowflake customers, to create powerful analytical insights, go here: https://vivanti.com/snowflake-cloud-data-platform/ "As a Registered Snowflake Partner, we're excited to be working with industry-leading technology and assisting Snowflake clients to realize their data goals," said Principal Consultant and founding member, James Hunt. "We're partnering with Snowflake, and supporting Snowlake Summit 2022 , because we truly believe in its ability to transform organizations' most critical data workloads." Katie Ecklund  Snowflake's Director of Partner Alliances across US, Canada and LATAM  said the company was pleased to add Vivanti's data expertise to its growing network of services partners. "Snowflake's channel network plays an important role in helping our customers realize maximum ROI, in minimum time, from their data initiatives," said Ecklund. "Vivanti's data engineering, analysis and applications skill sets will help organizations leverage Snowflake to integrate, interrogate, analyze and share organizational data throughout the enterprise." Speaking about Snowflake Summit 2022, Founding Partner and CEO, Mike Walker, said that this year's conference was tightly aligned with Vivanti's approach to consulting. "Snowflake Summit 2022 is based around a core theme: 'The World of Data Collaboration'," said Walker. "As enterprise consultants, we always put client results above all else, working collaboratively hand-in-glove to produce valuable outcomes  whether it's running performant and cost-effective analytic databases, building reliable data pipelines or developing data-intensive apps. We're thrilled to officially launch our Snowflake partnership as a sponsor at Summit 2022." For more information about Snowflake Summit 2022, and to register, go here: https://www.snowflake.com/summit/ About Vivanti Vivanti is a modern data-focused cloud consulting company with a consultant-led, customer-first approach. Vivanti consultants are organizationally empowered, and professionally obligated, to advocate for clients' best interests at each step of every engagement  just as doctors or lawyers are entrusted to do. Vivanti's mission is to deliver impactful cloud experiences and data-driven innovations that promote a new level of customer-centric operating standards across the US technology consulting industry. Based in New York City, with offices in Manhattan and Washington DC, Vivanti offers advisory, consulting and managed services across all major cloud platforms. Specializing in the latest cloud data technologies, designed to facilitate digital business transformation and future ways of working, Vivanti's cloud consulting services include Analytics and Data Management , Artificial Intelligence, DevOps and Digital Customer Engagement. For more information, visit www.vivanti.com For regular updates, follow Vivanti on Twitter (@Vivanti_Consult), LinkedIn (Vivanti Consulting), YouTube (Vivanti Consulting), Facebook (@VivantiConsulting) or Medium (VivantiConsulting). For regular industry news and analysis, subscribe to Vivanti's mailing list here:

https://vivanti.com/contact-us/ View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cloud-consultancy-vivanti-partners-with-snowflake-and-sponsors-2022-summit-301567247.html SOURCE Vivanti

[ Back to the Next Generation Communications Community's Homepage ]
A Tajik border guard has been shot dead in a clash with Kyrgyz guards along the volatile and poorly demarcated common border, RFE/RL reports.

June 14, 2022, 14:46 Tajik border guard killed in clash with Kyrgyz guards

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 14, ARTSAKHPRESS: According to a statement by the Kyrgyz border guards, a shot was fired from the Tajik border post of Kekh in the direction of the Kyrgyz border checkpoint in the Bulak-Bashi area of the Kyrgyzstan's Batken region at around 7 a.m. (0100 GMT/UTC) on June 14.

The military there "returned fire in the direction of the Tajik outpost," the Kyrgyz statement said. It did not report any casualties on the Kyrgyz side.

Tajik authorities have not yet officially commented on the incident, but RFE/RL's Tajik Service quoted sources as saying that a 26-year-old Tajik border guard was killed in the exchange of fire.

Both sides said border guard commanders and local governors were in talks regarding the incident.
LOS ANGELES, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- E1011 Labs announces a complete revamp of its Heat-not-Burn product offering. Keeping with its mission to provide easy, affordable, and convenient access to cannabinoid wellness, they are excited to launch a new line of products. Founded in 2018 by a team of leading designers & engineers, E1011 Labs is one of the original pioneers for Heat-not-Burn in the cannabis & hemp segment as it creates alternative wellness for the masses by entwining ancient holistic traditions with future-proof innovations. E1011 Labs is a vertically integrated company that owns and operates its own technology platform. The company has created an advanced manufacturing & delivery system allowing for the maximum preservation of the plant's integrity, with minimal waste during production & consumption. The patented elon[1] device has been re-examined to create the second-generation model designed to hold a better pre-dosed stelo, formally known as stem, during a session. The new design uses the precision heating technology codeveloped with S10 Labs[2] from the first-generation device, continuing to provide a combustion-free experience while eliminating exposure to pyrolytic toxins associated with flammable combustion. E1011 Labs' device touts a sleek aesthetic, with a patented "pause" feature, Sensor O, that allows users to pause a session by gently blowing into the circular sensor.

Along with revamping its patented Heat-not-Burn elon, E1011 Labs has rebranded its pre-filled, pre-dosed flower pod (stelo) system designed to be enjoyed with the device. A stelo is filled with high percentage CBD hemp flower and comes in packs of 10 count (available at retail for $8.99) and 20 count[3] (available for $14.99). Focused on convenience, the size of the 10 count is for on-the-go sessions with the specialized paper board material reducing oxidation of the flower by 80%. The 20 count consists of two 10 count packs contained in a delightfully colored aluminum case. Falling in line with the company's relentless commitment to sustainability, the aluminum case can be recycled or reused. The formulas packed within the stelo have been expertly crafted for every mood and help take the guesswork out of flower. Consumers can currently purchase three formulas of the stelo (Uplift, Relax, and Relief) with additional formulas to be released later this year.

In addition to launching stelo, E1011 Labs will be introducing the ARI53 series later this month exclusively for the US market. The series is the company's alternative line, offering a more elevated experience than its stelo counterparts. ARI53 comes in the same 10 and 20 counts (available at $9.99 and $19.99 respectively), but the main difference lies in the CBD hemp flower packed inside. By using flower with different cannabinoid contents, the new series allows for a more uplifting session.

With the launch of ARI53 comes the announcement of E1011 Labs' procurement of exclusive licensing rights for the use of Mutant Ape #1007 from the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (a derivative collection under Bored Ape Yacht Club). Under the licensing agreement, they will be using this specific blue-chip NFT to promote selected products under E1011 Labs. A spokesperson from E1011 Labs commented, "The Mutant Ape #1007 will be our first-ever initiative to explore creating a deeper relationship between the Web3 & cannabis communities. We are thrilled to announce this partnership and look forward to sharing this product with our communities". The Ape will appear on the ARI53 Grape Ape case and offer the opportunity for consumers to collect a version of this highly desired NFT. E1011 Labs is looking to the future with Mutant Ape #1007, with much more to come.

Finally, E1011 Labs is pleased to announce its pilot partnership program (P3), as the company looks to open its ecosystem to a select group of key partners who will help advance its initiative in the Heat-not-Burn segment. The first company to enter the ecosystem is TAAT Global Alternatives Inc. (CSE: TAAT) (OTCQX: TOBAF) (FRANKFURT: 2TP). Headquartered in Nevada, Las Vegas, TAAT is a global leader in the alternative tobacco space with a mission to provide a better alternative to tobacco cigarettes. TAAT's pioneering status in the world of hemp cigarettes, along with its market knowledge, distribution channels, and high-quality products make it the ideal partner for E1011 Labs as the Heat-not-Burn sector is projected to surpass 68bn by 2027. With an annual growth rate of over 30%, the global rise of the Heat-not-Burn category as a smoking alternative signifies the importance of this partnership and its strategic outlay for future expansion. The TAAT branded elon device and TAAT Original, Smooth, and Menthol cartridges, "powered by E1011 Labs", will be available for purchase through its e-commerce platform in the coming months. E1011 Labs and TAAT will be exhibiting together at the InterTabac trade show in Dortmund, Germany this September 15-17, 2022. TAAT President of Operations Michael James II commented, "We are excited to be working with E1011 Labs, as we add heat-not-burn to our range of alternatives to tobacco products. The combustible version of TAAT is made with a patent-pending formulation containing no nicotine or tobacco and is already carried by more than 2,700 U.S. stores. Furthermore, we just acquired a tobacco distributor in Ohio that has a reach of over 5,000 stores, in addition to three owned convenience outlets which are the perfect in-store research environment for new-to-market offerings such as TAAT Heat-not-Burn. We are very impressed with how E1011's samples have turned out so far, and I am confident it will be well-received both at the InterTabac trade show in Germany, and by the North American market when TAAT heat-not-burn is officially launched."

Today, E1011 Labs reintroduces its vision of delivering a comprehensive range of therapeutic molecules via our next generation, Heat-not-Burn, inhalable consumer technology. The company is proud of the collaboration with its production team in developing the next generation device and new product lines. The Heat-not-Burn category is making headway in various industries (pharmaceutical, cannabis, tobacco etc.), and E1011 Labs is looking forward to exploring this segment further.

E1011 Labs, is a Los Angeles-based wellness company that is reinventing the wellness space through the lens of technology and CBD. Our sleek plug-and-play lineup of products are helping time-strapped people all over the country find an easy way to manage a natural and healthy lifestyle. Our goal is to disrupt an exploding hemp industry, littered with fly-by-night brands, by building cutting-edge products and a company culture that believes in investing in people's potential to do good for themselves and the world around us.

For more information, please visit http://e1011labs.com.

[1] Elon device is an acronym for (e)lectronic (l)ighter (o)f the (n)ext-generation

[2] S10 Labs is a leading R&D firm for zirconia ceramics. The company is dedicated to normalizing the use of zirconia ceramics to promote clean technology in the vaporization hardware industry and beyond.

[3] 10 count is a pack of 10 individual stelo and a 20 count is a pack of 20 individual stelo

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/e1011-labs-looks-to-the-future-of-heat-not-burn-with-new-product-lines-and-partnerships-301567805.html

SOURCE E1011 Labs
ISF manages over half a billion dollars across three funds. The ISF funds acquire holdings in start-up companies and venture capital funds.

The Fund is backed by major institutional investors from Israel, Europe, and the U.S.

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ISF (Israel Secondary Fund) announced today that it has raised its 3rd fund totaling 312 million dollars. In 2017, ISF raised its 2nd fund of 100 million dollars and currently manages over half a billion dollars focused on secondary transactions in the Israeli technology market.

The investors who participated in the current fundraising include several of Israel's largest institutional investors, such as Migdal Insurance, Altshuler Shaham, Bank Hapoalim, as well as leading institutions, pension funds, endowments and family offices from Europe and the U.S.A.

According to Dror Glass, Managing Partner and Founder of ISF, "In recent years, ISF led over 80 secondary transactions in technology companies and venture funds. The timing of the current fundraising is particularly significant, considering the shifting market trends after a decade of unprecedented growth."

"We expect the demand for secondary transactions and liquidity to increase significantly, especially given the growing uncertainty in the High-Tech industry and possible delays of IPOs and acquisitions. ISF is a leader in the global tech-secondaries market, and we believe that with our new fund, we will play a central role in the local investments sphere."

Dror also referred to the fund's flexible and efficient investment policy: "Our unique model allows us to provide a creative and quick response to all liquidity needs. We acquire minority shares in private technology companies from founders, employees, and investors and can participate in these companies follow-on rounds. We also acquire venture fund holdings and conduct GP restructurings."

"Our guiding principle is reaching a Win-Win-Win deal for the seller, for ISF, and above all  for the company and its employees."

More than 80 transactions and 50 exits

ISF (Israel Secondary fund) is a leading technology-focused secondary fund headed by Dror Glass, Nir Linchevski, and Eva Hubsman.

ISF was established in 2008 by Dror Glass and Shmuel Shilo, pioneers in the secondary field in Israel.

ISF provides liquidity in the inefficient private tech market, performing quick and creative transactions acquiring holdings in private companies and venture capital funds. ISF's target audience is entrepreneurs, investors, and employees who hold options and shares in companies in addition to limited partner stakes in funds.

ISF invested directly and indirectly in approximately 220 companies. Its portfolio includes many successful companies and funds, including Myheritage, Aidoc, WSC, Innovid, Valens, Pixellot, Earnix, Papaya Gaming, Verbit, Arbe, Yotpo, Waze, Glilot, Vertex, Coralogix, Solaredge and more.

Nir Linchevski, a Managing Partner at ISF, adds: "ISF has played a crucial role in Israel's secondary market evolution.

"The path of a start-up towards a significant exit may take ten years or more. Allowing entrepreneurs, employees, and investors to realize significant value along the way - and not just at the endgame - enables them to enjoy the fruits of their labor at an earlier stage while company's management remains focused on long-term growth.

"Our model ensures that all parties - investors, companies, and employees  profit, which is key to continued market growth."

About the ISF partners:

Dror Glass has been an active participant in the Israeli secondary market since 2001. Dror served as a Managing Partner at Orma Investments of the IDB Group, an Investment Manager at the Israel Corporation, and an Investment Banker at Evergreen (the Israeli representative of Robertson Stephens).

Dror was also Executive Director of the prestigious Wharton-Recanati M.B.A. Program at Tel Aviv University.

Nir Linchevski joined ISF in 2014 after serving as a Founding Partner in the private equity investment company Shiraz Investments and as chairman of the Altshuler Shaham Asset Management between 2007-2012.

Nir previously served as Managing Director in U,S, based venture capital fund Vantage Point Capital Partners, and as a General Partner in the Israeli venture capital fund Formula Ventures.

Eva Hubsman joined ISF four years ago after serving as Triventures' CFO and providing consultancy services in financial management, strategy, and business development to funds and companies such as Evergreen and Samsung.

Contact: [email protected]

Image - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1837815/ISF.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1837816/ISF_Logo.jpg

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/isf-raises-312-million-for-a-3rd-secondary-fund-focusing-on-the-israeli-high-tech-market-301566232.html

SOURCE ISF (Israel Secondary Fund)
Combined company plans to expand leadership in accessibility, empowering businesses and organizations to provide equitable experiences for people with disabilities.

ARLINGTON, Va. and TORONTO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Level Access and eSSENTIAL Accessibility, two leading digital accessibility organizations, have signed a definitive agreement to merge and create an end-to-end digital accessibility solution for businesses and organizations. Combining Level Access's decades of full-service and deep domain expertise with eSSENTIAL Accessibility's category-defining Accessibility-as-a-Service platform, the merger will create enhanced opportunities to partner with accessibility champions within organizations of all sizes and support them through every stage of their accessibility journey.

Upon completion of the merger, the combined team will contribute their breadth of expertise, advancements in technology, and expanded suite of services towards achieving a shared mission of providing a simple, direct way to create and mature accessibility programs. This will further ensure businesses and organizations integrate accessibility into how they operate and make decisions, weaving access into the fabric of digital systems and services. The combined entity will empower more customers to scale and deliver digital accessibility in ways that minimize risk to roadmaps, bringing together powerful and holistic capabilities that drive meaningful access for people with disabilities.

"Tim Springer and the Level Access team are pioneers of digital accessibility on whose shoulders the industry stands, champions of the accessibility community for over two decades," said Mark Steele, eSSENTIAL Accessibility CEO and Co-Founder. "Their deep bench and unparalleled support for top accessibility experts is well known and admired throughout our market. Leading enterprises are incorporating digital accessibility as part of their Governance, Risk and Compliance capabilities in the pursuit of principled performance. In an advancing Environmental, Social and Governance era, this merger would expand our presence and enable new solutions."

"The eSSENTIAL Accessibility team has created a category-defining Accessibility-as-a-Service platform that has made digital accessibility approachable and attainable for the broader market," said Timothy Springer, Level Access CEO and Founder. "Our mission is to make the digital world more accessible, and this match would make that vision more possible than ever before. Level Access was founded on the idea that all people should be able to live their fullest lives through equal access to technology and combining with eSSENTIAL Accessibility would catalyze that end, as we have long shared the same drive to change the world through expansion of access."

The merged company will be headquartered in Arlington, Virginia as a hybrid entity, which also expects to invest in the growth of key offices in Toronto, Canada and Argentina. Tim Springer will serve as CEO and Mark Steele as President of the merged organization.

eSSENTIAL Accessibility's and Level Access's largest outside investors KKR and JMI Equity, respectively, will continue to support the growth of the combined company. KKR's investment is through its technology growth strategy.

The merger is expected to be completed in mid-2022, subject to customary approvals.

To read more about the strategic combination of Level Access and eSSENTIAL Accessibility, visit www.levelaccess.com/level-access-essential-accessibility and www.essentialaccessibility.com/blog/essential-accessibility-level-access.

About Level AccessLevel Access has an unparalleled history in helping customers achieve and maintain compliance with the full scope of accessible technology regulations and standards including the ADA, WCAG, CVAA, AODA, EU directives on digital accessibility, and Section 508. Delivered through a comprehensive suite of software, consulting services, and training solutions, the company's solutions ensure customer's web, desktop, mobile, and electronic document systems are accessible to everyone. Level Access is endorsed by the American Banking Association, is a multi-year repeat winner on the Inc. 5000 list of fast-growing companies and is the only available FedRAMP authorized accessibility management platform. CEO Tim Springer was named a White House "Champion of Change" in 2014. Learn more at www.levelaccess.com.

About eSSENTIAL AccessibilityeSSENTIAL Accessibility is the smarter way to digital accessibility and legal compliance. As the leading Accessibility-as-a-Service platform, it enables brands to empower people by helping them deliver inclusive web, mobile, and product experiences that comply with global regulations and ensure that people of all abilities have equal access. Learn more at www.essentialaccessibility.com.

About KKRKKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR's insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR's investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR's website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About JMI EquityJMI Equity is a growth equity firm focused on investing in leading software companies. Founded in 1992, JMI has invested in over 170 businesses in its target markets, successfully completed over 110 exits, and raised more than $6 billion of committed capital. JMI partners with exceptional management teams to help build their companies into industry leaders. For more information, visit www.jmi.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: Coleman Pyeatt214-797-9848[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/level-access-and-essential-accessibility-agree-to-merge-strengthening-market-presence-as-an-all-encompassing-digital-accessibility-solutions-provider-301567712.html

SOURCE Level Access; eSSENTIAL Accessibility
Shining and Exuding Unique Charm in the International Jewelry Hall

HONG KONG, June 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LUSANT, a fashionable and diversified diamond brand, appeared at JCK Las Vegas, one of the most prestigious international jewelry events. LUSANT presented its brand image and technological prowess at JCK through a variety of jewelry pieces with distinctive brand features, deepening consumers' awareness and understanding of the brand.

Joining the International Jewelry Exhibition and Setting the Stage Ablaze

The JCK Las Vegas International Jewelry Exhibition is a large jewelry industry event with a worldwide presence and is one of the top three jewelry shows in the world, along with Vicenzaoro and Baselworld. JCK Las Vegas brings together internationally renowned jewelry brands and attracts professional buyers and jewelry insiders from all over the world, providing a mutually beneficial platform for jewelers to expand their global business, build their brand awareness and seek international cooperation.

LUSANT has chosen this year's JCK Las Vegas event as an opportunity to present its brand on an international platform, with the aim of expressing its diverse, trendy, and fashionable LUSANT attributes through displaying on this event which has a strong global influence in jewelry industry. With unwavering quality standards, LUSANT pours cutting-edge creativity, exquisite craftsmanship, and technical know-how into the creation of colorful and gorgeous lab grown diamond jewelry. Its unique "starburst cut" technique shines a light through the stone in all facets. LUSANT's holistic brand presentation at the show not only provides an opportunity for jewelers, enthusiasts, and collectors from all over the world to gain an in-depth understanding of LUSANT's brand philosophy and design concepts, but also highlights into LUSANT's high quality requirements as a fashion brand in the jewelry making process and its constant pursuit of advanced technology in the lab-grown diamond field.

Born as Stars with Extraordinarily Rich Heritage

"LUSANT" gets its name from the French word alluding to glow and shine. It is a lab-grown diamond brand under Yuyuan Jewelry and Fashion Group. As the mainstay of the jewelry and fashion business segment of Yuyuan Inc., Yuyuan Jewelry & Fashion Group actively leverages the strengths and strategic guidance of Yuyuan Inc. and establishes a multi-brand and differentiated development strategy in the jewelry and fashion segment by integrating and connecting online and offline resources. Through brand renewal and industrial upgrading, Yuyuan Inc. has grown to be more fashionable, diversified and international.

With the concept of "Born to be Different", LUSANT is committed to breaking the limits of the traditional diamond industry by simulating the environment of natural diamonds and producing high-quality lab-grown diamonds and providing diversified and personalized options for consumers by creating artfully designed pieces of jewelry.

LUSANT showcased a wide range of exquisite diamond jewelry from different collections at the exhibit. The most eye-catching pieces were the pink diamonds from the brand's iconic La Voyageur de la Galaxie collection, which drew a lot of attentions. High-quality pink diamonds have always been rare in the jewelry market, and LUSANT grown the pink diamonds with the unique charm and glamour with its high technology, leaving guests in awe.

Brand Background of LUSANT

Founded in 1992, Fosun is a global innovation-driven consumer group dedicated to providing high-quality products and services for families around the world in Health, Happiness, Wealth and Intelligent Manufacturing segments.

As the flagship platform of Fosun's happiness segment, Yuyuan Inc. has formed a number of industrial clusters including jewelry and fashion, cultural business, cultural food and beverage, wine, Chinese medicine and healthcare, cosmetics, pet health, watches, fashion apparel, and cultural creativity. It has 18 time-honored Chinese brands and a host of leading brands in China, as well as a number of globally-renowned brands. The company is actively promoting integrated industrial development through investments and M&As, as part of its efforts to help achieve comprehensive industrial upgrades. Yuyuan Inc. aims to be a global leading happiness and fashion group, focusing on the establishment of family customers' happiness and fashion consumption, while interpreting classical elements with modern fashion and leading the rejuvenation of Chinese culture.

Yuyuan Jewelry & Fashion Group has already built successful gold jewelry brands such as LAO MIAO Jewelry and YAYI Jewelry; in March 2020, it acquired the French designer jewelry brand "DJULA" to reach out to young customers; in July 2020, it established a joint venture with the Italian jewelry group "Damiani Group" to acquire the exclusive distribution rights of the Italian jewelry brand "Damiani" and the premium jewelry brand "Salvini" in Greater China, further expanding the brand presence of Yuyuan Jewelry & Fashion Group; in August 2021, Yuyuan Jewelry & Fashion Group officially launched LUSANT, a lab-grown diamond brand, reaching out to young people with stylish designs and jewelry pieces celebrating the independence and confidence of modern women. With "FANCY CUT, FANCY COLOR, FANCY LIFE" as the brand DNA, LUSANT creates exquisite and stylish diamond jewelry pieces, interprets the brand concept of "Born to be Different" with a strong brand core, and conveys a diversified, independent, and confident lifestyle.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lusant-debuts-at-the-2022-jck-the-international-jewelry-show-in-las-vegas-usa-301567137.html

SOURCE Fosun
Leading marketing and print solutions franchise continues growth with new leadership hire

DENVER, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AlphaGraphics, a leading franchisor of printing and marketing solutions, continues its commitment to future growth with a new leadership hire. Matthew Isom has been named the new retail network development marketing director for the franchise. He will also assume the same role under the PostNet banner.

As the retail network development marketing director, Isom will be primarily responsible for overall franchise development campaign execution across the AlphaGraphics and PostNet brands. This will include lead generation strategy, planning and execution of integrated marketing strategies for franchise recruitment, development and implementation of strategic marketing campaigns to increase franchise awareness and achieve annual revenue goals, development and coordination of semi-monthly candidate webinars, and much more.

"Over the past two years, AlphaGraphics and PostNet made the necessary changes to provide growth opportunities despite the pandemic that plagued the business community," said Bill McPherson, vice president of franchise development. "With both franchises seeing amazing success, we wanted to continue that trajectory by making an addition to our leadership team solely to help grow our franchise network. Matthew will play a pivotal role in helping push AlphaGraphics and PostNet to new heights as we continue to thrive on a franchise level."

Isom brings a broad wealth of experience to the director position. Before joining AlphaGraphics and PostNet, he worked as the partner relations manager at Ring Ring Marketing. He has also held positions as a digital marketing consultant, data analyst, marketing strategist and digital marketing specialist.

A graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Isom said he looks forward to helping with the growth and expansion of both the PostNet and AlphaGraphics brands.

"Franchising is a unique industry in that entrepreneurs are given a set of tools and a business model to help them become successful on a local or regional level," Isom said. "Both AlphaGraphics and PostNet provide an excellent example of a franchise doing it the right way by providing franchisees with numerous resources for exponential growth. I look forward to working with Bill McPherson, Ryan Farris and all the other executives to help continue the success that PostNet and AlphaGraphics exemplify."

AlphaGraphics was founded in 1970, and the company began offering franchise opportunities in 1979. For more information, visit http://www/alphagraphics.com.

PostNet opened its doors in 1993. With over 600 locations in North America, Central America, South America and Africa, PostNet is a global leader in printing and shipping solutions. For more information, visit https://www.postnet.com/.

About AlphaGraphics

AlphaGraphics, Inc., with more than 285 locations in 6 countries, is one of the largest U.S.-based networks of locally-owned and operated Business Centers offering a complete range of print, visual communications, and marketing products. Solutions include: full-service digital, offset, and large format printing; design services; mailing; one-to-one marketing solutions; promotional products; and web to print solutions. For more information about AlphaGraphics services, visit www.alphagraphics.com. To learn about franchise opportunities, visit www.alphagraphicsfranchise.com.

About PostNet

PostNet opened its doors in 1993. With nearly 700 locations in North America, Central America, South America and Africa, PostNet is a global leader in printing and shipping solutions. In 2017, PostNet joined the MBE Worldwide family. Combined, MBE has nearly 2,600 locations in 44 countries. For more information about PostNet services, visit www.postnet.com. To learn about franchise opportunities, visit www.postnetfranchise.com.

About MBE Worldwide

MBE Worldwide S.p.A. ("MBE"), a privately-owned company with its headquarters in Italy, is a Global Commerce enabler for SMBs and consumers thanks to its platform providing e-commerce, fulfillment, shipping, marketing and print solutions via multi-brand operations: PrestaShop, Mail Boxes Etc. (except the US and Canada), PostNet, PACK & SEND, Spedingo.com, AlphaGraphics, Multicopy and Print Speak. The combination of our retail platform - that currently counts 2,900+ Service Centers in 53 Countries with more than 12.000 associates - with our PrestaShop ecommerce platform served almost one million business customers in FY 2021 generating 1.01 billion (US $1.2 billion) of System Wide Sales and 24 billion (US $28.5 billion) of e-commerce Gross Merchandise Value.

For additional information please visit MBE Worldwide Group websites at www.mbecorporate.com - www.prestashop.com/en - www.mbeglobal.com - www.postnet.com - www.packsend.com.au - www.spedingo.com/en - www.alphagraphics.com - www.multicopy.nl - www.printspeak.com - www.mbe.it - www.mbe.es - www.mbe.de - www.mbefrance.fr - www.mbe.pl - www.mbeportugal.pt - www.mbe.co.uk

MEDIA CONTACT: Heather RipleyRipley PR865-977-1973[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/matthew-isom-named-retail-network-development-marketing-director-for-alphagraphics-and-postnet-301567267.html

SOURCE AlphaGraphics
Strong trading performance continues momentum

- Organic EBITDA increased by 11% to 87m; including acquisitions EBITDA grew 19% to 116m

- Total revenues increased by 16% to 370m including acquisitions

LONDON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Modulaire Group ("Modulaire" or "Group"), Europe and Asia Pacific's leading business services company specialising in modular services and infrastructure, is pleased to announce another strong performance for the first quarter of 2022.

For the three months to 31 March 2022, the Group delivered total revenues of 370, up 16% versus the prior year including acquisitions. Prior to acquisitions, total revenue grew by 9% driven by growth in both modular space leasing and sales.

Average utilisation remained strong at 86% for the first quarter (Q1, 2021: 85%) while units on rent increased by approximately 27,000 (12%) including acquisitions. Units on Rent increased by approximately 8,000 (4%) excluding acquisitions. Revenue per unit grew by 5%.

Organic EBITDA increased 11% to 87m, driven by continued progress against the Group's strategic objectives. Including M&A, EBITDA grew 19% to 116m, as the integration of recent acquisitions continues to progress well.

The liquidity position remains strong with 388m of available funding as a combination of cash on hand and undrawn RCF facility. Net leverage remains consistent with levels reported at the time of the Term B Loan extension of c. 5.7 times Pro-Forma Underlying EBITDA.

Mark Higson, Modulaire Group's Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are pleased with another good performance for our first quarter, delivering strong organic revenue and EBITDA growth. Once again, our operational and financial performance is a result of our relentless focus on executing our strategic priorities of safety, ESGS & people, organic growth, operational excellence and a targeted acquisition strategy."

Management will host a conference call for investors on 15 June 2022, details of which are available at https://www.modulairegroup.com/investors/financial-reports.

Please note this page includes a password-protection feature. Access will be granted to eligible parties (including securities analysts and rating agencies) who have registered for an account. Modulaire Group invites all interested parties to register at their earliest convenience by visiting https://www.modulairegroup.com/investors/apply

About Modulaire Group

Modulaire is a leader in European modular services and infrastructure. We create smart spaces for people to work, learn and live. Our business is designed to help customers find the right space solution, no matter what their requirements. Modulaire has operations in 25 countries with over 290,000 modular space and portable storage units and 4,400 remote accommodations rooms. The company operates as Algeco, its largest brand, across much of Europe and the United Kingdom. Other operating brands include Advante in the United Kingdom, Algeco Chengdong in China, Ausco in Australia, BUKO Huisvesting, BUKO Bouw & Winkels and BUKO Bouwsystemen in The Netherlands, Portacom in New Zealand, and Tecnifor and Locabox in Italy.

For further informationInvestor relations: Phil Vellacott[email protected]07841 563541

Media enquiries:Tulchan Communications[email protected]0207 353 4200

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/modulaire-group-releases-first-quarter-2022-financial-report-301568013.html

SOURCE Modulaire Group
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

Highest possible ratings in each of six IIHS crashworthiness tests

Standard-equipment automatic emergency braking (AEB) technology graded "superior"

"Advanced" rating for pedestrian-detection technology

More than 75 available safety and security features  most in its class

Compass sales up 22%

The new 2022 Jeep Compass has earned a TOP SAFETY PICK rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for 2022.

The rating applies to models equipped with LED projector or LED reflector headlamps, when paired with high-beam assist.

"The new 2022 Jeep Compass demonstrates our steadfast commitment to customer satisfaction," said Jim Morrison, vice president, Jeep brand North America. "The Compass blends exceptional active and passive safety features with legendary Jeep 4x4 capability. The result is outstanding value for our customers and their families."

The SUV's TOP SAFETY PICK rating was driven by its performance in six IIHS crashworthiness tests that included three types of frontal crashes. The remaining tests evaluate behavior in a side impact, rear impact and a rollover.

The 2022 Jeep Compass achieved the highest possible score in each.

Further, the vehicle's automatic emergency braking technology  Full-speed Forward Collision Warning with Active Braking  earned the highest possible rating of "superior," while its Pedestrian/Cyclist Automatic Emergency Braking system was rated "advanced."

Both features, which are standard equipment on the 2022 Jeep Compass, are designed to detect imminent collisions and, in certain conditions, automatically apply the vehicle's brakes.

These are among more than 75 available safety and security features. Others include Active Lane Management and Rear Cross Path detection.

Despite a challenging market, U.S. Compass sales were up 22% in the first quarter of this year, compared with the first three months of 2021.

Jeep BrandBuilt on 80 years of legendary heritage, Jeep is the authentic SUV brand that brings capability, craftsmanship and versatility to people who seek extraordinary journeys. The Jeep brand delivers an open invitation to live life to the fullest by offering a broad portfolio of vehicles that continues to provide owners with a sense of safety and security to handle any journey with confidence. The Jeep vehicle range consists of the Cherokee, Compass, Gladiator, Grand Cherokee, Grand Cherokee 4xe, Renegade and Wrangler and Wrangler 4xe. Jeep Wave, a premium owner loyalty and customer care program that is available to the entire Jeep 4x4 lineup, is filled with benefits and exclusive perks to deliver Jeep brand owners the utmost care and dedicated 24/7 support. The legendary Jeep brand's off-road capability is enhanced by a global electrification initiative that is transforming 4xe into new 4x4 in pursuit of the brand's vision of accomplishing Zero Emission Freedom. All Jeep brand SUVs will offer an electrified variant by 2025.

Follow Jeep and company news and video on:Company blog: http://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.comMedia website: http://media.stellantisnorthamerica.comJeep brand: www.jeep.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/jeep Instagram: www.instagram.com/jeep Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeepLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/jeepYouTube: www.youtube.com/thejeepchannel or https://www.youtube.com/StellantisNA

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-2022-jeep-compass-earns-top-safety-pick-rating-from-iihs-301567663.html

SOURCE Stellantis
The program showcases the company's commitment to building a more diverse and inclusive tech industry by creating awareness and inviting its clients to be part of the change

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BairesDev, a leading technology solutions company, announced the launch of a new edition of its Giveback Program (formerly called B-Grants), which most recently won a Stevie Award for Corporate Responsibility Program of the Year. Through the initiative, the company teams up with its clients to donate to nonprofit organizations (NPOs) focused on promoting opportunities that help empower people to achieve their full potential through tech education and access to resources.

According to the World Economic Forum, in 2021, 33% of American kids living in lower-income households did not have access to a family computer. To address technological inequalities such as these, the focus of this edition is to foster the tech talent of tomorrow by contributing to closing the digital gap faced by underrepresented communities.

Creating system-wide change in the tech industry requires companies not only to strive to recruit, hire, and retain a more diverse workforce, but also to implement sustainable initiatives through integral and collaborative efforts to guarantee long-lasting change. With this knowledge, BairesDev created the Giveback Program, an initiative to promote opportunities that help empower and allow talented people to shine, wherever they may be.

Creating awareness around critical issues and engaging key stakeholders and communities is essential in this process. Building on trust relationships with its clients, BairesDev invites them to get involved in the program by choosing a social initiative where the company will make a donation on their behalf. In the last edition of the BairesDev Giveback Program, 125 companies participated in the program and helped to support a total of 25 NPOs.

"At BairesDev, we strive to help talented people flourish, regardless of their background or resources. With our Giveback Program, we work in partnership with our clients and NPOs to uplift those from underserved communities specifically by providing them with technology-related training and resources," said Nacho De Marco, CEO and co-founder of BairesDev. "We're truly honored to be working with such impactful NPOs and are thankful for all the work they're doing to help foster the tech talent of tomorrow."

For this edition of the program, BairesDev has chosen five recipients:

Womxn in Power , an initiative to increase the number of Venture Capital being invested in Female Founders. EveryoneOn , dedicated to connecting families in underserved communities to affordable internet service and computers. NPower , focused on moving people from poverty to the middle class through tech skills training and quality job placement. Close the Gap , an organization that provides high-quality refurbished IT devices for social and educational projects in countries all over the world. LaunchCode , a nonprofit offering free tech education and job placement opportunities to bring new people from all backgrounds into the tech field.

About BairesDev

BairesDev is a leading nearshore technology solutions company that architects and engineers scalable and high-performing software solutions to meet all kinds of business challenges.

Using its deep tech expertise and cross-industry experience, BairesDev evolves digital transformation into digital acceleration. The ultimate goal is to create lasting value throughout the entire digital transformation journey.

With 5,000+ seasoned engineers in 36 countries, BairesDev provides time zone aligned services to empower Fortune 500 companies and leading brands. Working for clients like Google, Rolls-Royce, Johnson & Johnson, Pinterest, and ViacomCBS, the company has been reimagining the tech landscape for over a decade.

For more information, please visit https://www.bairesdev.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-edition-of-bairesdev-giveback-program-launches-to-foster-the-tech-talent-of-tomorrow-301567933.html

SOURCE BairesDev
DALLAS, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stream Realty Partners has promoted the Executive Managing Director of its Dallas-Fort Worth market to serve as the firm's next Chief Operating Officer.

"Blake is a forward-thinking, empathetic leader who understands the values and culture of Stream."

In his new role as COO, Blake Kendrick will help drive alignment, process, and profitability across the company's 14 markets while continuing to manage the Dallas and Fort Worth operations. He will work alongside President Chris Jackson on the firm's vision and growth strategy, which includes plans to continue expanding across new markets and business lines. Kendrick will transition into the new role over the next few months as current COO Liz Sheff prepares to retire in July after more than 12 years at Stream and 32 years in the commercial real estate industry.

Among Kendrick's top priorities are ensuring that infrastructure will handle the firm's projected growth while maintaining and highlighting its distinct culture with strategic internal and external messaging across all business lines.

"Blake is a forward-thinking, empathetic leader who understands the values and culture of Stream," Jackson said. "He's trusted and respected by all our leaders and, most importantly, by the people he will be working closely with to guide our growth and success. I'm looking forward to seeing him build on the successes of Liz and her team while finding new ways to serve our employees and customers."

Kendrick joined Stream as a member of the Dallas industrial team after graduating from Texas A&M University in 2006 with a master's degree. During his tenure, he has held several leadership positions across the company in addition to being one of the top industrial brokers in the DFW market.

About Stream Realty Partners

Stream Realty Partners is a full-service commercial real estate firm with integrated offerings in leasing, property management, tenant representation, development, construction management, investment sales, and investment management services. Headquartered in Dallas, Stream is dedicated to sourcing acquisition and development opportunities for the firm and its clients. Since 1996, the company has grown to a staff of more than 1,100 professionals with offices in Atlanta, Austin, the Carolinas, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston, Greater Los Angeles, Nashville, Northern Virginia, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C. Stream completes more than $5.8 billion in real estate transactions annually and is an active investor and developer across the nation. Visit www.streamrealty.com.

Media Contact: Brian Medricka, 214-560-3033, [email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stream-realty-partners-promotes-dallas-fort-worth-executive-managing-director-to-chief-operating-officer-301567833.html

SOURCE Stream Realty Partners, L.P.
NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stroock & Stroock & Lavan is proud to congratulate Freepoint on the successful closing of a $2.63 billion revolving bank facility, further strengthening the company's financial position.

With this closing, Freepoint expanded the list of assets it could borrow against by adding several types of emissions credits, including those traded in the US as well as those traded in certain European markets.

A team of Stroock attorneys led by Partners Marvin J. Goldstein and Christopher J. Doyle along with Of Counsel Richard L. Fried advised Freepoint throughout the negotiation of the deal.

Goldstein, Doyle and Fried's team was comprised of Associates Katherine Nunez and Marc J. Orlando and Law School Graduate Carmen A. Otey, with additional support provided by Partners Jason T. Kuzma and John F. Pierce.

"We are extremely appreciative of the longstanding support and loyalty of our lender group," says David A. Messer, Freepoint's CEO, in a press release. "Our refinancing was once again over-subscribed, demonstrating our lenders' ongoing commitment to our business as we continue to grow our global platform."

Click here to read the full press release from Freepoint.

About Freepoint

Founded in 2011, Freepoint is based in Stamford, CT with over 500 employees worldwide. Freepoint is a global commodities merchant of physical commodities providing customers with physical supply and logistics chain management and services, together with eco-friendly products and solutions.

About Stroock

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan provides strategic transactional, regulatory, and litigation advice to advance the business objectives of leading financial institutions, multinational corporations, and entrepreneurial businesses in the U.S. and globally. With a rich history dating back over 140 years, the firm has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, D.C.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stroock-guides-freepoints-2-63b-revolver-deal-301568068.html

SOURCE Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
The Parliament of Armenia debated today the agreement about the use of military satellite communication systems and their further enhancement according to which Armenia will join the initiative of joint use of military satellite communication systems.

June 14, 2022, 17:49 Armenia to join agreement about use of military satellite communication systems of CIS states

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 14, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: Deputy Defense Minister Arman Sargsyan presented the draft on ratifying the agreement during the Parliaments session today.

According to the draft, Armenia joins the initiative on the common use of military satellite communication systems, signed during the 2018 June 6 session of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers in Russia, aimed at creating an integrated system of the CIS military satellite communication based on the Russian military satellite communication system, he said.

The use and further enhancement of military satellite communication systems are performed for the purpose of increase in reliability of management of armed forces of the State Parties of this agreement and the organization of bonds of interaction between them.

However, Armenia joins the agreement with one reservation that Armenia will make a separate decision over the spread of the provisions of the agreement to those states which will join the agreement.

The agreement has been signed by Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova and Azerbaijan did not sign the agreement.
MELBOURNE, Australia and BOSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX, Telix, the Company) today announces that it has advanced a partnership with Invicro LLC (Invicro), a global, industry-leading imaging CRO, and part of REALM IDx, Inc., to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) platform to accompany Telix's PSMA-PET[1] imaging agent, Illuccix (kit for the preparation of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide) - known as TelixAITM.

TelixAITM seeks to increase the efficiency and reproducibility of clinicians' imaging assessments using advanced analysis capabilities with an initial focus on prostate cancer. The platform is designed to do this by automatically separating healthy versus abnormal tracer uptake and then classifies lesions as either visceral (soft tissue) or bone lesions.

Invicro has a depth of experience in AI, machine learning and algorithm development for medical imaging. Its industry leading medical image analyst team consists of over fifty medical image processing scientists. The commercial objective of the development partnership is the submission to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(K) approval for software as a medical device.

A demonstration of TelixAITM was presented this week at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) Annual Meeting being held in Vancouver, BC from June 11-14.

Telix Chief Scientist, Dr. Michael Wheatcroft said, "We are pleased to be advancing the TelixAITM platform with Invicro, which aims to further enhance the utility of molecular imaging starting with Illuccix. Our investment in TelixAITM is expected to extend into multiple applications for Telix's late-stage imaging assets, including TLX250-CDx, which is currently completing a Phase III pivotal trial in renal cancer imaging."

CEO of Invicro, Matt Silva, Ph.D., continued, "Invicro is delighted to bring our deep expertise in PET imaging, AI and machine learning and take this collaboration with Telix's Research and Innovation team into the next stage. We are excited about the possibility of bringing this software to realization with Illuccix and for the potential impact on clinicians' decision-making and patient outcomes with Telix's broad theranostic pipeline."

About Invicro

Headquartered in Needham, MA, Invicro, a part of REALM IDx, was founded in 2008 with the mission of improving the role and function of imaging in translational drug discovery and development across all therapeutic areas. Today, Invicro's multi-disciplinary team provides solutions to pharmaceutical and biotech companies across all stages of the drug development pipeline (Phase 0-IV), all imaging modalities and all therapeutic areas, including neurology, oncology, and systemic and rare diseases. Invicro's quantitative biomarker services, advanced analytics and AI tools, and clinical operational services are backed by Invicro's industry-leading software informatics platforms, VivoQuant and iPACS, as well as their pioneering IQ-Analytics Platform, which includes AmyloidIQ, TauIQ and DaTIQ.

Invicro operates out of eight global laboratories, clinics and sites within the United States in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, Connecticut and globally in the United Kingdom, India and Japan. For more information visit www.invicro.com

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.

About Illuccix (kit for the preparation of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide injection)

Telix's lead product, Illuccix (kit for the preparation of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide injection), also known as 68Ga PSMA-11 injection, 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 Europe[4] and Canada.[5] Illuccix is currently being investigated for use with Invicro's AI visual assessment software tool.

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

Illuccix, after radiolabeling with Ga 68, is a radioactive diagnostic agent indicated for positron emission tomography (PET) of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positive lesions in men with prostate cancer:

with suspected metastasis who are candidates for initial definitive therapy

with suspected recurrence based on elevated serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Risk for Misdiagnosis

Image interpretation errors can occur with gallium Ga 68 gozetotide PET. A negative image does not rule out the presence of prostate cancer and a positive image does not confirm the presence of prostate cancer. The performance of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide for imaging of biochemically recurrent prostate cancer seems to be affected by serum PSA levels and by site of disease. The performance of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide for imaging of metastatic pelvic lymph nodes prior to initial definitive therapy seems to be affected by Gleason score. Gallium Ga 68 gozetotide uptake is not specific for prostate cancer and may occur with other types of cancer as well as non-malignant processes such as Paget's disease, fibrous dysplasia, and osteophytosis. Clinical correlation, which may include histopathological evaluation of the suspected prostate cancer site, is recommended.

Radiation Risks

Gallium Ga 68 gozetotide contributes to a patient's overall long-term cumulative radiation exposure. Long-term cumulative radiation exposure is associated with an increased risk for cancer. Ensure safe handling to minimize radiation exposure to the patient and health care workers. Advise patients to hydrate before and after administration and to void frequently after administration.

ADVERSE REACTIONS

The safety of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide was evaluated in 960 patients, each receiving one dose of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide. The average injected activity was 188.7  40.7 MBq (5.1  1.1 mCi). No serious adverse reactions were attributed to gallium Ga 68 gozetotide. The most commonly reported adverse reactions were nausea, diarrhea, and dizziness, occurring at a rate of

DRUG INTERACTIONS

Androgen deprivation therapy and other therapies targeting the androgen pathway

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and other therapies targeting the androgen pathway, such as androgen receptor antagonists, can result in changes in uptake of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide in prostate cancer. The effect of these therapies on performance of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide PET has not been established.

You are encouraged to report suspected adverse reactions of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit MedWatch at www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088. You may also report adverse reactions to Telix by calling 1-844-455-8638 or emailing: [email protected]

Please note this information is not comprehensive. Please see full Prescribing Information at illuccix.com

Invicro Media Contact

Brad LottermanREALM IDx Communications DirectorEmail: [email protected]

Telix Investor Relations

Ms. Kyahn WilliamsonTelix Pharmaceuticals LimitedSVP Corporate Communications and Investor RelationsEmail: [email protected]

This announcement has been authorised for release by Dr. Christian Behrenbruch, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer.

Legal Notices

This announcement may include forward-looking statements that relate to anticipated future events, financial performance, plans, strategies or business developments. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "anticipate", "outlook", "forecast" and "guidance", or other similar words. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's good-faith assumptions as to the financial, market, regulatory and other considerations that exist and affect the Company's business and operations in the future and there can be no assurance that any of the assumptions will prove to be correct. In the context of Telix's business, forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about: the initiation, timing, progress and results of Telix's preclinical and clinical studies, and Telix's research and development programs; Telix's ability to advance product candidates into, enrol and successfully complete, clinical studies, including multi-national clinical trials; the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, manufacturing activities and product marketing activities; the commercialisation of Telix's product candidates, if or when they have been approved; estimates of Telix's expenses, future revenues and capital requirements; Telix's financial performance; developments relating to Telix's competitors and industry; and the pricing and reimbursement of Telix's product candidates, if and after they have been approved. Telix's actual results, performance or achievements may be materially different from those which may be expressed or implied by such statements, and the differences may be adverse. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Telix disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or a change in expectations or assumptions.

The Telix Pharmaceuticals name and logo are trademarks of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited and its affiliates (all rights reserved).

[1] Prostate-specific membrane antigen-positron emission tomography.[2] ASX disclosure 20 December 2021.[3] ASX disclosure 2 November 2021.[4] ASX disclosure 10 December 2021.[5] ASX disclosure 16 December 2020.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/telix-and-invicro-advance-ai-partnership-301567350.html

SOURCE Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited
Katharine Graham Is Newest in Distinguished Americans Series

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A brilliant businessperson and publisher whose leadership helped elevate The Washington Post to national prominence, Katharine Graham today became the 17th honoree in the Distinguished Americans stamp series from the U.S. Postal Service.

Graham, who died in 2001, was often called the most powerful woman in America for the influential and shrewd decisions she made, starting in the turbulent 1960s until stepping down in the early 1990s.

"Katharine Graham was a trailblazer  the first woman to head a Fortune 500 company, and the first to serve as a director of The Associated Press," said Donald Moak, a member of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors who served as dedicating official for the ceremony.

Moak also mentioned Graham's legacy of strength amid the difficulties she faced by "refusing to bend to unprecedented political pressure in the midst of two critical chapters of history: the Pentagon Papers and Watergate.

Joining Moak in dedicating the stamp were Graham's son Donald, who served as master of ceremonies; her younger son, Steven and daughter, Lally Weymouth, who both also spoke; Michael Beschloss, historian; and Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress.

The stamp features an oil portrait of Graham by Lynn Staley, based on a photograph taken during the peak of Graham's influence as owner and president of The Washington Post Co. and publisher of its flagship newspaper. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.

Graham's name appears in red beneath the portrait. The word "PUBLISHER" is printed vertically downward from the top left and the words "TWO OUNCE" and "USA" are horizontally stacked at top right. These stamps will always be equal in value to the First-Class Mail 2-ounce price, ideal for additional postage needed for heavier First-Class letters. News of the stamp is being shared with the hashtag #KatharineGrahamStamp.

Background

Born June 16, 1917, Katharine Meyer grew up in Washington with four siblings and attended the Madeira School in Virginia. She was 16 when her father purchased The Washington Post at a bankruptcy auction in 1933. The Post was then the least successful of the capital city's five daily newspapers. After graduating from high school, she attended Vassar College and transferred to the University of Chicago, from which she graduated in 1938.

In 1940, she married Philip Graham, a young attorney who would become publisher of the newspaper in 1946. She focused on raising their four children until unexpectedly widowed in 1963. It was at that point when necessity forced reinvention. Although concerned about her limited experience, Graham felt she had no other choice but to assume leadership of the company. She would learn the business from every angle and find she truly loved it.

The era of her journalistic leadership was tumultuous. One of Graham's great tests came in June 1971 with the leak of the Pentagon Papers, a classified government history of the Vietnam War. After The New York Times published several installments, a federal judge ordered The Times to cease publication. But The Washington Post also had acquired portions of the documents that were not included under the court's edict. It was, however, a critical moment for the company.

The Washington Post Co. was on the eve of a public stock offering. If Graham approved the publishing of the documents, as the newspaper's editors wanted, it could endanger the offering. Potentially more damaging: The government could revoke the company's highly profitable television licenses. Caught between the editorial and the business interests of The Post, Graham decided to print the contents of the Pentagon Papers. The government sought  and was granted  an injunction that took the issue to the Supreme Court, which ruled against prior restraint and for press freedom.

One year later came the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington's Watergate office building. The Post's tenacious investigative reporting would ultimately lead to President Richard M. Nixon's resignation in 1974. Once again, Graham faced threats from the administration but decided to print the Watergate story while other media outlets stood by for months. These were heady years for journalists and those who led them, but they were not the most difficult time that Graham would face.

Her ultimate test of leadership began in October 1975 when a pressmen's strike at The Post turned violent. Workers beat their foreman, assaulted others and set fire to printing presses. The strike lasted almost five months, which Graham would cite as the most stressful chapter of her career.

Her time in the executive suite brought enormous growth, influence and national prominence to The Washington Post Co. She became a savvy, pioneering businesswoman and a high-profile role model for women.

In 1991, Graham named her son Donald as CEO of The Washington Post Co. while she remained chairman of the board. In 1993, he became chairman of the board and she stayed on as chairman of the executive committee. She wrote and published her memoir, "Personal History," which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998.

Professionally active until the end, Graham was attending a media conference in Sun Valley, ID, in 2001, when she fell. She died three days later. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in 2002.

Postal Products

Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic or at Post Office locations nationwide.

These 2-ounce stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 2-ounce price.

A video about the stamp will be available on facebook.com/usps. Information for ordering first-day-of-issue postmarks and covers is at usps.com/shop.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

Please Note: For U.S. Postal Service media resources, including broadcast-quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the USPS YouTube channel, like us on Facebook and enjoy our Postal Posts blog. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com.

National: Martha Johnson[email protected]usps.com/news

Local: Tom Ouellette202-554-6494[email protected] usps.com/news

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/usps-honors-trailblazing-publisher-301567931.html

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service
RICHMOND, Va., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Virginia Green partners with SPCAs and local animal shelters across Virginia for their yearly 'Buster's Buddies' campaign. In the past six years, Virginia Green has raised and donated over $20,000 to the following organizations: Richmond SPCA, Fredericksburg SPCA, Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA, Heritage Humane Society, and Friends of Homeless Animals (FOHA).

This year, Buster's Buddies extended their partnership with these organizations for an adoption drive  "Find Me A Lawn". Virginia Green believes all pets should be safe, healthy, and well cared for. Each week for the month of May, Virginia Green featured 6 animals on their website and social channels from area shelters who were looking for a lawnand a forever homethey'd love. And for every animal adopted through May 31st, Virginia Green donated $50 to area shelters.

At the end of this campaign, over 500 animals were adopted into their forever home and lawn  and $10,500 was donated to the sheltering partners.

"We want to give back by working closely with all the SPCAs and Humane Societies. Every time one of Buster's furry friends is adopted, we donate to the shelter. Our associates love to contribute to the community, and since so many are pet lovers, we know this is a great way to provide support." said Gil Grattan, President of Virginia Green.

Jennifer Lafountain, from the Heritage Humane Society, expressed her appreciation by saying, "Thank you for letting us be a part of the Find Me A Lawn campaign! We had seven pets adopted from the campaign. It really helped spread the word about some of our adoptable pets."

Tabitha Treloar, at the Richmond SPCA, also extended her gratitude by stating, "It is only by adopting pets in our care to lasting homes that we make space to help the next pet in need, and Virginia Green provided wonderful, lifesaving support for that effort."

About Virginia Green

Virginia Green is a locally owned and operated company providing comprehensive commercial and residential lawn care services in the Richmond, Williamsburg, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, and Northern Virginia areas. Virginia Green opened for business in 2004 and has grown rapidly to employ over 300 associates, including an in-house agronomy team and dedicated customer service representatives focused on delivering 100% client satisfaction. Virginia Green was ranked as #1 in "Best Lawn Service/Landscaping" in a Richmond Times-Dispatch poll three times.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/virginia-green-donates-over-30-000-to-local-shelters-301567853.html

SOURCE Virginia Green
Wright Flood will service, administer and issue NFIP coverage for UPC policyholders, agents

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wright National Flood Insurance Company, the nation's leading provider of federal flood insurance, has announced an agreement to acquire the flood insurance policy book from United Property & Casualty Insurance Company ("UPC Insurance"). The transaction is expected to close on June 30, 2022, subject to approval by the Federal Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA").

Wright Flood will service, administer, and issue flood coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program ("NFIP") for UPC Insurance policyholders and agents.

Beginning in the third quarter of 2022, Wright Flood will manage UPC Insurance's NFIP flood placements. All new policies and renewals will be issued by Wright National Flood Insurance Company, which is A.M. Best-rated for financial strength as A- (Excellent). For retail agents accessing flood coverage through UPC Insurance, there will be minimal change in the process to continue to provide NFIP coverage for policyholders. Together, Wright and UPC Insurance representatives will be in contact with their agents.

Wright Flood has more than 40 years of experience exclusively in the flood insurance industry. It is widely recognized for its experience, claims response and long-standing commitment to partner with agents and policyholders, especially at the time of a flood loss. Wright Flood takes pride in user-friendly technology, exceptional claims reputation, and providing a high level of service.

Wright National Flood Insurance Services President Patricia Templeton-Jones said she is excited about the new partnership with UPC Insurance agents.

"United Property and Casualty Company has been around since 1999 for its policyholders and agent partners," Templeton-Jones said. "We are excited to carry on that long history and provide our experience in the flood insurance industry to create a smooth transition during this process."

"Wright Flood has long been a premier provider of NFIP flood coverage and private flood insurance options for both homeowners and businesses," she added. "That dates back to 1983 when it was one of the first Write Your Own ("WYO") participants in the National Flood Insurance Program. We have been diligent in staying current on all of the updates with Risk Rating 2.0 and look forward to providing those insights with our new agent partners and policyholders."

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Wright for the sale of UPC Insurance's NFIP flood book of business," said UPC Insurance's Chief Information and Chief Operating Officer Chris Griffith. "Wright's excellent reputation in the flood space and specialized knowledge of the NFIP Write Your Own program will serve the dynamic needs of UPC Insurance's NFIP policyholders and agents."

About Wright National Flood Insurance Company

Wright National Flood Insurance Company, the largest flood insurance provider in the nation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Brown & Brown, Inc., offers federal, excess and private flood insurance with leading industry expertise, rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best. Wright Flood takes pride in user-friendly technology, exceptional claims reputation and providing service clients deserve. Wright Flood enjoys a strong reputation for excellence with FEMA and participates on industry councils and advisory boards in Washington, D.C. to strengthen the flood program that serves 5.6 million flood policyholders. Agents and consumers may visit us at www.wrightflood.com and wrightfloodadvice.org. To find an agent, call (866) 373-5663.

About United Insurance Holdings Corp.

United Insurance Holdings Corp. (UIHC) serves as the holding company for United Property & Casualty Insurance Company and its affiliated companies. Collectively, including United Insurance Holdings Corp., we refer to these entities as "UPC Insurance," which is the preferred brand identification we are establishing for our company. UPC Insurance is primarily engaged in the homeowners property and casualty insurance business in the United States. UPC Insurance has operated in Florida since 1999, and has successfully managed its business through various hurricane and tropical storm events. Learn more about UPC Insurance at www.upcinsurance.com.

This press release may contain certain statements relating to future results which are forward-looking statements, including those associated with this acquisition. These statements are not historical facts, but instead represent only Brown & Brown's current belief regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Brown & Brown's control. It is possible that Brown & Brown's actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements. Further information concerning Brown & Brown and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect Brown & Brown's financial results and condition, as well as its other achievements, is contained in Brown & Brown's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors include those factors relevant to Brown & Brown's consummation and integration of the announced acquisition, including any matters analyzed in the due diligence process, and material adverse changes in the business and financial condition of the seller, the buyer, or both, and their respective customers. All forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this release, and Brown & Brown does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or of which Brown & Brown hereafter becomes aware.

Contact:Rob LangrellSenior Communications Manager, Wright Flood[email protected](727) 422-8854

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wright-national-flood-insurance-company-announces-agreement-with-upc-insurance-301568065.html

SOURCE Wright National Flood Insurance Company
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON D.C. 20549

FORM 6-K

Report of Foreign Private Issuer

Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

June 14, 2022

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES COMPANY LIMITED

68 Qi Xin Road

Guangzhou, 510403

Peoples Republic of China

(Address of principal executive offices)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F  Form 40-F 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes  No 
0000797542 false 0000797542 2022-06-14 2022-06-14 iso4217:USD xbrli:shares iso4217:USD xbrli:shares

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of report (date of earliest event reported): (June 13, 2022)

VIEWBIX INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Commission File No.: 000-15746

Delaware 68-0080601 (State of Incorporation) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

11 Derech Menachem Begin Street , Ramat Gan , 5268104 (Address of Registrants Office) (ZIP Code)

Registrants Telephone Number, including area code: + 972 9-774-1505

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

 Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)  Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered N/A N/A N/A

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 ( 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ( 240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. 

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On June 13, 2022, Mr. Yoram Baumann, 69, was appointed to the board of directors of Viewbix Inc. (the Board and the Company, respectively), where he will assume the role of chairman of the Board, effective immediately. Mr. Baumann previously served as the chairman of the board of directors of Gix Internet Ltd, the parent company of the Company (Gix Internet), from January 2020 to June 2022, and currently serves as chairman of the board of Gix Media Ltd., the wholly owned subsidiary of Gix Internet (Gix Media), which position he has held since May 2021. Additionally, Mr. Baumann is chairman of the Publicis Group in Israel, which role he has held since June 2012. Mr. Baumann holds a B.A. in Advertising and Marketing from Watford College of Advertising, England.

The selection of Mr. Yoram Baumann as a director and chairman of the Board was not pursuant to any arrangement or understanding with respect to any other person. In addition, there are no family relationships between Mr. Yoram Baumann and any director or other executive officer of the Company. Mr. Baumann is not receiving any form of compensation for his appointment to and service on the Board.

Except for the following, there are no related party transactions between the Company and Mr. Yoram Baumann reportable under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K: On June 28, 2021, the shareholders of Gix Internet approved (i) a monthly fee of NIS 25,000 payable to Mr. Baumann in connection with his service as Gix Internets chairman of the board, and (ii) a monthly fee of NIS 25,000 payable to Mr. Baumann in connection with his service as the chairman of the board of Gix Media.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Viewbix Inc. By: /s/ Amihay Hadad Name: Amihay Hadad Title: Chief Executive Officer

Date: June 14, 2022
Col. John B. Hinson assumed command of the 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, from Brig. Gen. Lance Curtis at a change-of-command ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C., Friday, June 10.

The ceremony also marked the relinquishment of responsibility of Command Sgt. Maj. Phelicea Redd.

Before the change-of-command ceremony, Curtis and Redd were presented with the Legion of Merit Award by Maj. Gen. Brian Mennes, deputy commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps.

In my 34 years of commissioned service, Ive grown to realize that novices think about fires and maneuver, and pros think about logistics, Mennes said during the ceremony. ... I can tell you that Lance and Sgt. Maj. Redd have been awesome at providing that support to Americas contingency corps.

Curtis assumed command of the 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command in June 2020, according to his Army biography.

Based at Fort Bragg, the 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command coordinates operational sustainment support for the XVIII Airborne Corps and NORTHCOM area of operations. It derives its lineage from the 3rd Logistical Command, which was activated in Japan on Sept. 19, 1950. In February 2003, the command deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The United States Army is celebrating its birthday, with June 14, 2022, marking 247 years since it was founded.

The branch was established on June 14, 1775, as the Continental Army. The Continental Congress issued a resolution allowing the New England Army of Observation, along with additional troops from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, to become a united fighting force representing all 13 colonies.

Since then, the Army has grown to include around 485,000 active duty service members working across the world.

I could not be more proud of what our Soldiers have done in support of this great Nation, Gen. James C. McConville, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, wrote in a tweet Tuesday. It is truly an honor to serve alongside you all.

America's @USArmy celebrates its 247th Birthday today, and I could not be more proud of what our Soldiers have done in support of this great Nation. It is truly an honor to serve alongside you all. Happy Birthday United States Army! pic.twitter.com/IbwbzPlh2d  GEN James C. McConville (@ArmyChiefStaff) June 14, 2022

Im also grateful for the commitment of our families, who support our soldiers in defending our country and our American way of life, McConville said in a video posted on Twitter.

Several Army events are scheduled in celebration of the branchs 247th birthday, including a livestreamed Army Birthday Show on June 15 and Army Day with the Washington Nationals on June 16.
Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Hopkins assumed responsibility for the Headquarters Battalion at Fort Belvoir, Va., from Command Sgt. Maj. Michel Fraser, Friday, June 10.

Fraser assumed responsibility as command sergeant major of the battalion in April 2020.

The Headquarters Battalion provides administrative, training and logistics support to Fort Belvoir and the military district of the Washington, D.C., community. It was established Nov. 1, 1991, when the U.S. Army Law Enforcement Battalion, first established in 1979, was re-designated as Headquarters Command, Military District of Washington.
(Tribune News Service )  After the deaths of nine Marines and the loss of four aircraft in six months, Marine Corps officials announced Tuesday, June 14, that all of its aviation units will be required to stop flying for a day to review safety procedures, address areas of concern and gather feedback.

The units will need to do their stand down between June 21 and July 1. The announcement follows a similar one-day safety pause initiated by the Navy for its aviation units worldwide on Monday.

On June 8, an MV-22B Osprey crashed over a training range in the Imperial Valley while doing aerial target exercises. All five Marines on board were killed; they were part of a Camp Pendleton squadron known as the Purple Foxes.

The investigation into the crash is ongoing.

Four Marines from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing based in Jacksonville, N.C., were killed in March when an Osprey they were riding in went down during a training exercise in Norway.

Last week, the Navy had a helicopter crash the day after the Osprey went down in the Imperial Valley near Glamis. The Navy helicopter crashed in the same general training area, but had no significant injuries reported.

A Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet crashed June 3 in the desert near Trona, killing its pilot.

2022 MediaNews Group, Inc

Visit ocregister.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
ORIX's former CEO has sued to recoup $3.2 million in legal costs spent defending a criminal corruption case which was dropped in 2019.

In the lawsuit, which was transferred to the Federal Court last week, John Joseph Carter claims insurer Chubb should pay for his legal costs, and breached the terms of a directors and officer liability policy by refusing to hand over the funds.

The criminal case was brought over allegedly corrupt payments made by ORIX, a Japanese fleet management company, to Coca-Cola Amatil in exchange for fleet leasing contracts.

The charges were dropped in September 2019 against Mr Carter and ORIX executive George Georgiou.

In his lawsuit, Mr Carter argues that because the criminal case was discontinued, there was no proof he engaged in any fraudulent act which allowed Chubb to terminate the policy.

In its defence, which was filed in the NSW Supreme Court prior to the transfer, Chubb argues insurance coverage could be refused due to fraudulent omissions that Mr Carter made relating to Orix's dealings with Coca Cola.

"(Mr Carter) as a person who engaged in, and was aware of, the fraudulent misrepresentation and non-disclosure is not entitled to any indemnity under the policy," Chubb wrote.

The insurer has also countersued seeking to reclaim $657,000 advanced to Mr Carter during the criminal proceedings which it claims the former CEO was not entitled to.

ORIX, in its defence, also denies Mr Carter is eligible to be covered under the policy.
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (Tribune News Service)  One week after christening National Security Cutter Calhoun, the Pascagoula shipyard once again welcomed dignitaries dockside, this time for the christening of Ingalls 13th amphibious transport dock ship, Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29).

LPD 29 is named in honor of U.S. Navy Capt. Richard M. McCool Jr., a World War II Medal of Honor recipient for his actions during the Battle of Okinawa. On June 11, 1945, McCool aided in the rescue of survivors off a sinking destroyer. When his own ship was later hit by a Japanese kamikaze, McCool suffered severe burns and shrapnel wounds but continued to lead his crew in firefighting and rescue efforts until help arrived.

McCool also would serve in the Korean and Vietnam wars, ultimately reaching the rank of captain. He retired in 1974 after a 30-year career. McCool died on March 5, 2008, at 86.

Seventy-seven years to the day after his actions at Okinawa, the ship named in his honor was christened, with granddaughters Shana McCool and Kate Oja serving as ships co-sponsors.

To the commanding officer and future crew of this ship, may she (the ship) keep you safe, Shana McCool said. And in the words of our grandfather, may you always remember to fight as a unit and not as individuals.

Ingalls president Kari Wilkinson noted Ingalls long history of building amphibious ships for the U.S. Navy.

For nearly two decades, we have had the opportunity to build these amphibious ships, and we look forward to continuing this journey with such a valued partner, Wilkinson said. Today we reflect on Richard M. McCool Jr.s bravery and heroism in front of a ship that will carry another generation of brave sailors and Marines into missions defending our freedom.

Under Secretary of the Navy Erik Raven served as the ceremonys keynote speaker.

Richard M. McCool Jr. truly embodied the spirit of service above self, Raven said. The sailors and Marines who will sail on this future ship carry on that legacy following the example of spirit, patriotism and selflessness set by Richard M. McCool Jr.

Raven also paid tribute to the shipbuilders and their Navy partners.

We are able to deploy exquisite capabilities across the globe in great part due to our dedicated shipbuilders and our talented team, he said. These talented Americans are essential to making sure that our naval forces have the ships that they need.

2022 Advance Local Media LLC.

Visit gulflive.com .
China claims exclusive rights over the Taiwan Strait, a spokesman for the countrys Foreign Ministry said Monday, a statement that could set up a confrontation with U.S. warships that regularly transit the region.

China has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait. At the same time, it respects the lawful rights of other countries in relevant waters, China Foreign Ministry spokesman Wenbin Wang said at a Monday news conference.

China for months has privately told the U.S. government that it considers the waters separating Taiwan from the mainland as part of Chinas exclusive economic zone, Bloomberg News reported Monday, citing an anonymous source. The U.S. and other nations regard the strait as international waters where its warships are free to pass.

An exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, lies beyond a countrys 12-nautical-mile maritime territorial limit and gives that country certain rights, including the right to the natural resources there, according to the 1989 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Referring to the Taiwan Strait as international waters is an attempt to manipulate Chinas claim over the island of Taiwan, Wang said Monday.

There is no legal basis of international waters in the international law of the sea, he said. He said Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinas territory.

The U.S has sent a Navy warship through the area once a month so far this year.

U.S. Navy ships use the Taiwan Strait to transit between the South China Sea and the East China Sea in accordance with international law, and have done so for many years, Navy spokesman Lt. Mark Langford told Stars and Stripes by email Tuesday.

By claiming the Taiwan Strait as its own, China may be laying a basis to deny foreign military vessels access to those waters, according to James Brown, an international affairs expert at Temple Universitys Japan campus.

The U.S. is not party to the Law of the Sea Treaty but generally abides by its provisions, according to the Stockton Center for International Law. The treaty guarantees freedom of navigation through economic exclusion zones but its exact implications for foreign warships are debated.

Many Western countries interpret UNCLOS as permitting external states to conduct military exercises within another countrys EEZ under the principle of navigational freedom, Brown said in a Monday email to Stars and Stripes. However, this interpretation is not shared by Beijing. China takes the view that military exercises are harmful to national security and thus should not be permitted within its EEZ.

That position is consistent with Beijings use of lawfare to further national interests and bears a resemblance to Chinas stance towards the South China Sea, according to Brown.

There too, Beijing has disregarded international law and sought to assert national primacy over international waters, he said.

In September, China amended its law to require foreign vessels to give notice prior to entering the South China Sea, portions of which Beijing also claims as an exclusive economic zone.

Pentagon spokesman John Supple at the time said the U.S. resists claims by coastal states to infringe upon navigation and overflight rights enjoyed by all nations under international law.

The Pentagon has consistently responded to Chinas claims of control in the strait and South China Sea by saying it would operate where international law allows.

Chinese aircraft and vessels have made an alarming increase in unsafe aerial intercepts and confrontations at sea, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue defense summit in Singapore.

Weve witnessed a steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan, Austin said.
(Tribune News Service)  They were considered America's secret weapon in the war against Japan.

But decades later, their secrets  and the stories of their sacrifice  need to be shouted from our rooftops.

Eighty years ago this month, the first of 6,000 soldiers came to the Twin Cities during World War II to be trained at a covert military intelligence language school. Most were Nisei, born in the United States to Japanese immigrant parents. They would later be shipped to the Pacific theater to intercept radio signal communications, translate captured battle plans, interrogate prisoners of war, and even crawl toward enemy lines to spy on Japanese commanders.

Major Gen. Charles Willoughby, chief of military intelligence for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, estimated the Nisei shortened the Pacific war by two years and saved a million American lives.

Yet their contributions are unknown to most Minnesotans.

From his daughter's home in Savage, just a few miles from the site of the former Camp Savage language school, 94-year-old Seiki Oshiro has been trying to preserve this piece of history. He helped create a database of more than 8,000 names of those who, like him, served in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS).

The irony is that many of these men and women, or their families, were incarcerated because the U.S. government deemed them a national security threat due to their Japanese ancestry.

"I think about that all the time: Why would you fight for a country that put you in a prison camp?" said Kimmy Tanaka, program supervisor at Historic Fort Snelling, who has been educating visitors about this often-missed chapter.

She said many of these soldiers, told that they "looked like the enemy," were motivated to prove they should be treated like any other U.S. citizen.

"They shouldn't have had to prove that," she said. "But it's a form of resistance or resilience, in the face of so much racism and prejudice, to say, 'I'm going to give this my all because I believe in a constitutional democracy,' and to have faith in the system even when the system has failed you."

Sifting for clues

Oshiro started digging into Japanese American history after he concluded his career as a computer programmer at Control Data Corp. in 1990.

"Retirement," he deadpanned, "is very, very boring."

He was rummaging through materials at the Minnesota Historical Society library when he came across a 1946 album, sort of like a yearbook, for graduates of the MIS language school.

But the graduate list identified the soldiers only by their first initial and surname. Think of "H. Nakamura" as the equivalent of "J. Smith" in the Japanese American community, and you can begin to grasp the columns of anonymity that populated those pages.

"I felt that this was a real slap in the face for the Niseis," said Oshiro. "That's what caused us to work, to make to make them more visible to the community."

In 2000, Oshiro began compiling a more complete list along with Grant Ichikawa and Paul Tani, both MIS veterans who have since passed away.

Oshiro wasn't naturally equipped to be the keeper of this vast information trove. Despite his old-school computing background, he didn't even know Excel. But he kept at the project for decades, plugging in missing pieces. He and his late wife, Vici, even spent three weeks at the National Archives in St. Louis, photocopying 6,000 pages of microfilm.

He also cold-called family members of the veterans. Oshiro asked for discharge papers or other documents that would offer confirmation of the veterans' deployment.

"Some people were insulted. They shut me down right away," he recalled. "They did not want me to probe that deeply."

The language school  which operated at Camp Savage from 1942 to 1944 before moving to Fort Snelling  was, after all, a classified military endeavor. The students were instructed not to talk about what they learned, or were simply reluctant to pass down stories of their wartime experiences. Many details were not publicly known until government records, albeit patchy and incomplete, were released under the Freedom of Information Act in the early 1970s.

'I'm still learning'

When Karen Tanaka Lucas moved to the Twin Cities in 1970 to attend the University of Minnesota, she had no idea her father once trained in the state at a secret language school. While his siblings and parents in California were rounded up and incarcerated, Walter Tanaka was being trained at Camp Savage. In 1942, he became part of its first graduating class.

"He didn't tell me anything," Tanaka Lucas said. "It just seeped out, little by little, over the years. Even now, I'm still learning."

She learned that these soldiers, even in the face of racial hostility, were seen as assets by the government because of their familiarity with the Japanese language and culture. They memorized 50 characters a day, some of them poring over flashcards at night in the latrines, the only place lights were still on. Many of them spoke Japanese poorly before getting their crash course in Minnesota.

After graduating from Camp Savage, Walter Tanaka served in Australia and the Philippines, specializing in interviewing prisoners. They were injured, sick and dying  and stunned to be greeted by a Japanese face speaking their language and treating them humanely, Tanaka Lucas said.

Her dad would offer them medical care, chocolates and cigarettes, and ask about their families back in Japan.

"A captured Japanese soldier had no psychological defense," Tanaka Lucas said. "Once you got them there, they'd tell you anything. There was hardly any ever information they couldn't get."

But why Minnesota?

The first language school opened in San Francisco in November 1941. A month later, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt's Order 9066 forced people of Japanese descent to abandon their homes and livelihoods all along the West Coast. That also required the language school to relocate.

Military commanders sought a new site that would have the least amount of resistance to an influx of Japanese Americans. Popular opinion around the country favored keeping them behind barbed wire, according to surveys conducted at the time. Col. Kai Rasmussen explored various sites, but only one governor, Minnesota's Harold Stassen, said yes.

"The area selected not only had to have room physically, but room in the people's hearts," Rasmussen told the Minneapolis Morning Tribune in October 1945, several weeks after the surrender of Japan.

Some Japanese American recruits ended up planting roots in Minnesota after the war. The late Toshio William Abe, who also trained at Camp Savage, recalled in an oral history interview that Minnesotans were generally friendly, as opposed to people on the West Coast who stared him down as if he were "some kind of subhuman animal walking down the street."

"You folks regarded us as loyal Americans, nothing more, nothing less," Abe told a Minnesota audience in 1993. "And with that in mind, I think a lot of us went out there and did our job, hoping to not let you down."

The script of a speech Abe gave is in the public library in Savage, where artifacts related to Camp Savage's history have been meticulously documented.

Over the years, journalists, filmmakers, local officials and community members have tried to bring this overlooked story to life. Oshiro and his list became the subject of an independently produced documentary, "The Registry," and TPT launched a separate documentary about the language school called "Armed With Language." Members of the Twin Cities Japanese American Citizens League have created a curriculum about the school so students can learn about this made-in-Minnesota story.

In 2011, the Congressional Gold Medal was bestowed on members of the Military Intelligence Service and two Nisei military units. Oshiro received a bronze replica of the medal, which he passed on to the library in Savage. He wanted to give his medal to the community because "that's where it all started."

So few of these heroes are still alive to tell their story. But it's not too late for the rest of us to start learning.

A panel discussion, "Minnesota Connections: The WWII Military Intelligence Service Language School and the Building of a Japanese American Community," will be held at 1:30 p.m. June 18 at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul.

2022 StarTribune.

Visit startribune.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
WASHINGTON  South Korea's top diplomat said Monday that North Korea has completed preparations for a new nuclear test and that only a political decision by the country's top leadership can prevent it from going forward.

After talks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said the North would pay a price if it goes ahead, as feared, with what would be its seventh nuclear test in the coming days.

"North Korea has completed preparations for another nuclear test and I think only a political decision has to be made," Park said. Prior to Monday, U.S. and South Korean officials had said only that the North was nearing completion of such preparations.

"If North Korea ventures into another nuclear test, I think it will only strengthen our deterrence and also international sanctions," Park said. "North Korea should change its mind and make the right decision."

Apart from sanctions, Park did not say what that price the North would pay or outline how the deterrence policy would change, but Blinken said the United States and treaty allies South Korea and Japan could adjust their military postures in response.

"We're preparing for all contingencies this in very close coordination with others and we are prepared to make both short and longer-term adjustments to our military posture," Blinken said. He added that in addition, "the pressure will be sustained, it will continue and, as appropriate, it will be increased."

Both Park and Blinken men stressed the door to negotiations without any preconditions remains open for North Korea. But Blinken, repeating comments from numerous U.S. officials in recent days, lamented that North Korea continues to ignore overtures for dialogue.

On Sunday, North Korea test-fired what appeared to be artillery shells toward the sea, according to South Korea's military, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for greater defense capability to cope with outside threats.

The North's artillery tests draw less outside attention than its missile launches, of which it has conducted more so far this year than in any previous year. But its forward-deployed long-range artillery guns are a serious security threat to South Korea's populous metropolitan region, which is only 25-30 miles from the border with North Korea.

The suspected artillery launches were the latest in a spate of weapons tests by North Korea this year in what foreign experts call an attempt to pressure its rivals Washington and Seoul to relax international sanctions against Pyongyang and make other concessions.

In March, North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland U.S. in breach of a 2018 moratorium on big missile tests.

A possible new nuclear test by North Korea would be the seventh of its kind. Some experts say North Korea will likely use the test to build warheads to be mounted on tactical nuclear weapons aimed at hitting targets in South Korea.
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii  The Navys newest guided-missile destroyer, the USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., arrived Monday in Pearl Harbor, making it the ninth ship of its class to homeport in Hawaii.

The 509-foot Arleigh Burke-class destroyer steamed into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam from Charleston, S.C., where it was commissioned last month, the Navy said in a news release Monday.

It joins the USS Daniel Inouye, which arrived in November at the joint base that is headquarters to U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The ships namesake is Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen Jr., who was the Corps first African American aviator and three-star general, the Navy said in a news release Monday.

Former Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced in 2016 that an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer would be named to honor Petersen, a year after the veteran died at age 83.

Petersen flew combat tours in the Korean War in 1953 and the Vietnam War in 1968.

He flew more than 350 combat missions and logged over 4,000 hours in various fighter and attack aircraft, the Navy said.

My crew and I share a deep sense of pride and honor to represent our namesake, the late Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen, Jr., USMC, Cmdr. Daniel Hancock, the destroyers commanding officer, said in the news release.

This ship is fast, formidable, and built to fight and win in the Pacific Theater, Hancock said. This is a great ship, with a proud name, and a wonderful crew; we are thrilled to be here in Hawaii, ready for fleet service.

The ship was built at Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Mississippi. At nearly 9,500 tons and a draft of 31 feet, the Petersen has four gas turbine engines to power it to speeds greater than 30 knots, according to the Navy.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are built around the Aegis Combat System, which is capable of meeting simultaneous threats coming from the air, the sea surface and from underwater, according to the Navy. An advanced radar system at its heart can search, track more than 100 targets and simultaneously guide defensive missiles. The Petersens weaponry includes Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles and a mounted, 5-inch Mark 45 gun.
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa  An airman from Kadena Air Base may face a drunken driving charge after his vehicle rear-ended another car over the weekend, according to police in Okinawa.

Senior Airman Gabriel Fernandez, 24, was arrested just after 6:15 a.m. Sunday after his car, northbound on Route 58, hit another car at a red light, a spokesman for Urasoe Police Station said over the phone Tuesday. Police said no injuries resulted from the collision.

Fernandezs blood alcohol level was three times Japans legal limit for driving of 0.03%, the spokesman said.

Fernandez later admitted driving under the influence, the spokesman said. He said Fernandez was released and his case referred to prosecutors.

Kadena Air Base did not respond to a request for further information Tuesday.

Driving under the influence may result in up to three years in prison or up to $3,717 in fines, according to Japans Road Traffic Act.
LONDON  Britain canceled a flight that was scheduled to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda late Tuesday after the European Court of Human Rights intervened, saying the plan carried "a real risk of irreversible harm."

The decision to scrap the flight capped three days of frantic court challenges from immigrant rights lawyers who launched a flurry of case-by-case appeals seeking to block the deportation of everyone on the government's list.

British government officials had said earlier in the day that the plane would take off no matter how many people were on board. But after the appeals, no one remained. British media reported that the number of potential deportees had been more than 30 on Friday.

After the flight was canceled, Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was disappointed but would not be "deterred from doing the right thing." She added: "Our legal team are reviewing every decision made on this flight and preparation for the next flight begins now."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had emphatically defended Britain's plan, arguing that it is a legitimate way to protect lives and thwart the criminal gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel in small boats. Britain in recent years has seen an illegal influx of migrants from such places as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Iraq and Yemen.

Johnson announced an agreement with Rwanda in April in which people who enter Britain illegally will be deported to the East African country. In exchange for accepting them, Rwanda will receive millions of pounds (dollars) in development aid. The deportees will be allowed to apply for asylum in Rwanda, not Britain.

Opponents have argued that it is illegal and inhumane to send people thousands of miles to a country they don't want to live in. The leaders of the Church of England joined the opposition, calling the government's policy "immoral." Prince Charles was among those opposed, according to British news reports.

Activists have denounced the policy as an attack on the rights of refugees that most countries have recognized since the end of World War II.

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said the British government's deportation threat would not serve as a deterrent to those seeking safety in the U.K.

"The government must immediately rethink by having a grown-up conversation with France and the (European Union) about sharing responsibility and look to operating an orderly, humane, and fair asylum system," Solomon said.

The U.N. refugee agency condemned the plan out of concern that other countries will follow suit as war, repression and natural disasters force a growing number of people from their homes.

Politicians in Denmark and Austria are considering similar proposals. Australia has operated an asylum-processing center in the Pacific island nation of Nauru since 2012.

"At a global level, this unapologetically punitive deal further condones the evisceration of the right to seek asylum in wealthy countries," said Maurizio Albahari, a migration expert at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana as he described the UK policy.

Many millions of people around the globe have been displaced over the past two decades, putting the international consensus on refugees under strain. The world had more than 26 million refugees in the middle of last year, more that double the number two decades ago, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Millions more have left their homes voluntarily, seeking economic opportunities in developed nations.

In Britain, those pressures have led to a surge in the number of people crossing the English Channel in leaky inflatable boats, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Last November, 27 people died when their boat sank in the waters between France and England.

Johnson, fighting for his political life amid concerns about his leadership and ethics, responded by promising to stop such risky journeys.

While Rwanda was the site of a genocide that killed hundreds of thousands of people in 1994, the country has built a reputation for stability and economic progress since then, the British government argues. Critics say that stability comes at the cost of political repression.

Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, attacked the policy as "all wrong."

If the British government is truly interested in protecting lives, it should work with other countries to target the smugglers and provide safe routes for asylum-seekers, not simply shunt migrants to other countries, Grandi said.

"The precedent that this creates is catastrophic for a concept that needs to be shared, like asylum," Grandi said Monday.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and 24 other bishops from the Church of England joined the chorus of voices asking the government to reconsider an "immoral policy that shames Britain."

"Our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum-seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries," the bishops wrote in a letter to the Times of London.

Britain's Supreme Court refused to hear one last-ditch appeal Tuesday, a day after two lower courts refused to block the deportations. Legal challenges continued, however, as lawyers filed case-by-case appeals on behalf of individual migrants.

Many migrants favor Britain as a destination for reasons of language or family ties, or because it is seen as an open economy with more opportunities than other European nations.

When Britain was a member of the European Union, it was part of a system that required refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country they entered. Those who reached Britain could be sent back to the EU countries they traveled from. Britain lost that option when it withdrew from the EU two years ago.

Since then, the British and French governments have worked to stop the journeys, with a great deal of bickering and not much success. More than 28,000 migrants entered Britain in small boats last year, up from 8,500 in 2020.

Nando Sigona, a migration expert at the University of Birmingham, said large principles are at stake if the Rwanda policy stands.

"How can we establish any kind of moral high ground where we intervene in other countries if we are not signatory to providing protection to those fleeing war and persecution?'' Sigona asked.
At Londons Heathrow Airport, some passengers said they were arriving to hours-long immigration lines. In Dublin, stacks of delayed luggage lined terminal walls, the Irish Independent reported, some from flights that arrived a week earlier. For Amsterdams Schiphol Airport, Dutch carrier KLM temporarily canceled all incoming European flights, later apologizing for stranding passengers there last weekend.

Just as summer travel kicks off and the United States lifts its coronavirus testing requirement for arriving international passengers, many European airports are suffering major disruption.

The majority of people who are traveling in the United Kingdom or in the European Union will have undisrupted flights, said Rory Boland, the travel editor at Which magazine. That being said, this is the most disruption we have ever seen, and it is significant.

Heres what you need to know about the problems at European airports.

Whats going on?

There were indications that British airports were having problems delivering bags as early as March and April, said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group. But the problems have grown in scale and magnitude.

In May, passengers reported that check-in and security lines at Amsterdams Schiphol airport were so long that they were waiting for hours outside before even entering the terminal. This month, thats happening in Stockholm and Dublin.

A shortage of security agents in Britain has left passengers stranded in line in London, Manchester and other airports, leading airlines to cancel dozens of flights. The CEO of Ryanair, a budget carrier, suggested bringing in the army to alleviate the logjams; British authorities quickly rejected the idea, according to the Guardian.

Similarly long lines have been reported by passengers arriving at immigration checkpoints in London, Amsterdam and elsewhere. And once they get through, theres no guarantee their bags will be waiting for them - baggage handlers are also in short supply, meaning days-long delays in getting luggage to customers in some cases.

Why are things so bad?

Like many industries, airlines and airports laid off employees during the pandemic and are struggling to return to prior staffing levels, according to Boland. The air travel industry faces extra hurdles because new hires often need to wait for security credentials or specialized training.

Low pay at many European airports and airlines make it hard to compete for workers with other industries, Boland said.

Those working conditions have also led to strikes among airport workers in Paris and air traffic controllers in Italy in recent weeks, Bloomberg News and Reuters reported, each leading to hundreds of flight cancellations.

All of this has coincided with pent-up demand for travel - a surge in passengers that caught [the industry] off guard, said Peter Vlitas, executive vice president of partner relations at Internova Travel Group.

I dont think anyone predicted we would go this fast, he said.

How long will this go on?

The problem with this is its not an issue thats easy to solve, Boland said. So if youre looking ahead to the summer holidays, we are almost certainly going to continue to see significant disruption because there simply arent enough staff.

Even as companies sweeten their offers to recruit employees, the labor shortage may continue for several months, he predicted.

Harteveldt said that even though conditions are improving each week, the problems at European airports could last into fall or winter.

Analysts are uncertain how the removal of the United States pre-departure testing requirement on Sunday will have on Europes travel woes. It could be a catalyst for even more travel, as travelers who were worried about a positive coronavirus test stranding them in Europe may now feel free to fly. On the other hand, it could help relieve congestion in terminals, as some airlines required United States-bound travelers to stand in line and have their test results manually reviewed, according to Harteveldt.

What should I know to be prepared?

If youre planning a trip to Europe, heres a few tips from travel experts:

- Check airport and airline websites at least a day in advance. Some airports post updates to their websites on crowding levels or other disruptions, which lets you plan when to arrive or even whether to consider rebooking your flight.

- Arrive an extra hour or two early. While airlines typically recommend arriving two hours early for an international flight, its best to allow for three or four hours at European hubs this summer, Harteveldt said. If you miss your flight, you may not be able to get home for several days because flights are so full and airlines are not operating as many flights between Europe and the U.S. as they were before COVID, he said. Even fast-track or priority lanes for business and first-class travelers are taking longer than usual.

- Carry on luggage if you can. Because of the shortage of baggage handlers, avoid having your trip derailed by a delayed or lost piece of luggage. If you do need to check your bag, bring a few sets of clothes and any medications with you on board.

- Book with ample time for connections. Dont forget that you may need to clear immigration - and, in some cases, security again - when connecting through European hubs. Be sure to factor in unpredictable wait times at passport control.

- Consider a European airline. According to Boland, European airlines often offer better consumer protections than their U.S. counterparts on the same routes. If you face a significant delay or disruption, you are probably going to be paid several hundred dollars in compensation if youre with that European or U.K. airline, he said.

- Bring a jacket. In an acknowledgment that check-in lines can stretch outside the terminal building, Amsterdam airport recommends bringing a coat for the wait.
STOCKHOLM  When Turkey's president rails against "terrorists" in the Swedish Parliament, Amineh Kakabaveh is convinced he is talking about her.

The former Kurdish rebel fighter turned Swedish lawmaker has emerged as a central figure in the drama surrounding Sweden and Finland's historic bid to join NATO. Turkey opposes NATO membership for the two Nordic countries, accusing them of harboring Kurdish militants.

Kakabaveh, a strong advocate for Kurdish self-determination in the Middle East and a fierce critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, holds extraordinary leverage because the Swedish government depends on her vote for its one-seat majority in Parliament.

"He cannot decide over us," she says of Erdogan. "I stand up for Sweden's values and Sweden's sovereignty."

Despite a long history of non-alignment, Sweden and Finland rushed to apply for NATO membership after Russia's invasion of Ukraine but were stunned by opposition from Erdogan.

To allow the Nordic countries into NATO, a decision that requires unanimity among the alliance's members, Turkey demanded they lift arms embargoes on Turkey, extradite alleged Kurdish terrorists and stop supporting Kurdish fighters in Syria. Turkey says those fighters are closely linked to PKK, a domestic Kurdish group that Ankara and the West consider a terrorist organization.

Meeting those demands would have been difficult for the Swedes and Finns in any case, but with Sweden's government dependent on Kavikabeh's support for its survival, there is little room to negotiate a compromise.

"We are not used to single members of Parliament having such influence," says Svante Cornell, director of the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm. "It's maximal bad luck for the government's side, you could say."

Kakabaveh's backing allowed Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson to become Sweden's first female prime minister last year. In return, the center-left Social Democrats agreed to deepen cooperation with Kurdish authorities in northern Syria.

The minority government survived a no-confidence vote last week thanks to Kakabaveh and will need her support again on Wednesday to push its spring budget proposal through Parliament.

Kakabaveh, an independent lawmaker, says she has not yet decided how to vote and is waiting for the government to show its plans on issues close to her heart, including efforts to fight honor-based violence and oppression against women and girls in immigrant communities and how it will deal with Turkey's demands.

"I don't want them to retreat," she says.

The prime minister's office declined to comment.

The unusual situation has raised Kakabaveh's political profile in Sweden and internationally. It has also exposed her to criticism that she is holding Sweden's NATO bid hostage to advance her own agenda. Kakabaveh says she has received threats from both Turkish nationalists and Sweden's far-right fringe.

"It is a terrible situation," says Kakabaveh, 48. "But I don't want to sit in a corner and say, 'I'm scared.' I left my family, my childhood, everything I had, to stand up for what I believe in."

Kakabaveh, who grew up in a poor Kurdish home in western Iran, says she was just 13 in the late 1980s when she joined peshmerga fighters rebelling against the Islamic regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

In her parliamentary office in Stockholm, she showed pictures of her teenage self in the rugged mountains between Iran and Iraq, a Kalashnikov slung over her shoulder.

The rebels fought against the Iranian regime and that of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who used chemical weapons against Kurdish villages.

Kakabaveh says many of her comrades and some relatives were killed. She breaks down in tears as she recalls the contrast between her life in Sweden and the hardship she left behind. For years after she arrived in Sweden as a refugee in 1992, the whirr of helicopters made her instinctively want to run for cover.

A socialist, Kakabaveh continued her political activism in Sweden, joining the Left Party and campaigning for gender equality in immigrant communities. Her activism against "honor culture" soon put her at odds with party colleagues who worried her work stigmatized Muslims. After years of tension, she left the party in 2019 and since then serves as an independent lawmaker in the 349-seat Parliament.

The governing Social Democrats in November struck a deal with Kakabaveh to work more closely with Kurdish autonomous authorities in northern Syria, led by the PYD political party. The PYD's military arm, the YPG, with U.S. support played a key role in the fight against Islamic State militants.

Turkey makes no distinction between the Kurdish groups in Syria and the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party, which has led an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict. The group is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, Europe and the U.S.

Kakabaveh has called for taking PKK off terror lists, which hasn't gone unnoticed in Turkey.

"As you know, Sweden at the moment is a country that terror organizations like the PKK, PYD and YPG use as a playground," Erdogan said in a speech last week. "In fact, there are terrorists even in this country's parliament."

Though he didn't mention her by name, Kakabaveh says he is referring to her.

"For sure," she says, adding, "I've never been a PKK member. I have even criticized them. But on the other hand, I think they have paid a price."

Kakabaveh says she believes the NATO memberships stalemate will be resolved with a backroom deal between the U.S. and Turkey. If it isn't, and Sweden is unable to join NATO because of her, Kakabaveh won't have any regrets. She is against NATO membership anyway, saying it would undermine Sweden's ability to be a voice for peace in the world.

"I am for disarmament," she says. "The world needs more peace and diplomacy."
Germany has chosen an installation near the U.S.-operated Spangdahlem Air Base to house the 35 American-made fighter jets it purchased as part of a military overhaul in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The fleet of fifth-generation F-35 stealth jets will be stationed at Buechel Air Base, in the countrys Eifel region, German broadcaster SWR reported Saturday, citing an unidentified spokesman in the German armed forces Federal Infrastructure Office.

The spokesman said the planes will take up residence at Buechel after runway renovation, which is expected to be completed by 2026. The F-35s will fill the role of the aging Tornado jets, which Germany had relied on for decades.

The task of nuclear sharing will be guaranteed in the future. The goal is to replace the Tornado by 2030, the German Defense Ministry tweeted in March.

Entscheidung zur Tornado-Nachfolge ist getroffen: Mit dem Flugzeugtyp F-35 wird die Aufgabe zur Nuklearen Teilhabe zukunftig gewahrleistet bleiben. Ziel ist es, den Tornado bis 2030 zu ersetzen. pic.twitter.com/ItVxXRfjI9  Verteidigungsministerium (@BMVg_Bundeswehr) March 14, 2022

Thomas Hitschler, a German lawmaker from Rheinland-Pfalz, told SWR that Buechel is the ideal location for the new jets.

With the F-35, the air force will be able to ensure the necessary tasks of alliance and national defense in the coming decades, he said.

The choice of Buechel is significant because the base is reportedly the storage site of U.S. nuclear weapons in Germany. Given the F-35s ability to be equipped with such munitions, placing the aircraft at Buechel would be seen as an enhancement of the NATO nuclear deterrent in Germany.

According to SWR, the decision has sparked new concerns of nuclear conflict and the arrival of more American nuclear weapons in Germany as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Germany has spent $18.8 million on construction of a more secure fence at the base, SWR reported, adding that demonstrators were able to climb the previous fence.

Almost immediately after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the allocation of $107 billion to modernize Germanys armed forces.

The replacement of the Tornado jets with a fleet of F-35s is a key part of the effort, as the fifth-generation fighters from Lockheed Martin are considered the worlds most modern combat aircraft.
Increased dialogue between Australia and China is an important step forward but needs to be followed up with concrete action, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says.

Mr Albanese said Beijing had changed and become more aggressive under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, after Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles ended the diplomatic freeze by meeting with his Chinese counterpart.

"It's always a good thing that people have dialogue and have discussion and it's been something that's been missing in the last few years," Mr Albanese told reporters in Brisbane on Tuesday.

"But there needs to be concrete steps taken forward. It's China that's changed the nature of the relationship.

"China needs to remove the sanctions that they have put in place. There's no reason for them to be there."

Australia had fulfilled all of its contractual obligations, he added.

Mr Albanese, who has responded to a congratulatory message from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, says while Australia wants to have a trading relationship with China,it would not compromise its values.

It comes after Mr Marles says he's open to further diplomatic meetings with China.

Mr Marles said that even though there was a long way to go before regular communication with China restarted, the resumption of ministerial talks was an important first step.

The defence minister spoke with his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe at a recent international forum in Singapore, the first such meeting after an almost three-year freeze.

"There was a desire in the meeting that we had, on both sides, to have the relationship put in a better place," Mr Marles told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

"The door is open to having further meetings, but I think we do need to understand that the relationship has not been in a good place at all, and this is only the first step and there's still a long way to go."

Relations between China and Australia have been in a deep freeze since Australia called for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, which triggered disputes with Australia's largest trading partner.

Story continues

While the talks with China have come after a change of government in Australia, Mr Marles said there was no change in policy.

"We want to assert our rights in places like the South China Sea, we see the importance of a global, rules-based order in the Pacific," he said.

"We're going to go about our relations with China ... our relations with the whole world in a way which is professional, where we understand the importance of dialogue, where we believe in the power of diplomacy."

The deputy prime minister is currently in Japan for a three-day visit.

Mr Marles will hold talks with his Japanese defence counterpart Nobuo Kishi and Indo-Pacific issues are expected to be on the agenda.

There have been growing tensions in the region after China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, and sought similar bilateral deals with other nations in the region.

Mr Marles said Australia wanted to work closely with the Solomons, following talks between himself and the country's defence minister.

"We have to be their natural partner of choice," he said.

"We understand that that's not something we get by right, we need to do the work."
The decline in nuclear weapon stockpiles seen since the Cold War is most likely coming to an end, an international arms research group said in a new report that noted the war in Ukraine as a factor.

Released Monday, the annual report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said that although there had been "several landmarks" in nuclear diplomacy over the past year, the number of nuclear weapons is expected to grow in the next 10 years.

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Director Dan Smith said in a statement that despite diplomatic achievements, "the risk of nuclear weapons being used seems higher now than at any time since the height of the Cold War."

Conflict in Ukraine has played a role in the heightened risk, the report said. Most nuclear-armed countries have sharpened their rhetoric, and Russia "has even made open threats about possible nuclear weapon use in the context of the war in Ukraine." Stability talks between Russia and the United States, which together possess more than 90% of all nuclear weapons, have stalled since Russia invaded Ukraine. None of the other nuclear-armed countries are pursuing arms control negotiations, the report said.

"This is a very worrying trend," Wilfred Wan, director of the organization's Weapons of Mass Destruction Program, said in a statement.

In January, the five nuclear-armed permanent members of the U.N. Security Council  China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States  issued a joint statement committing to disarmament and affirming that nuclear war "must never be fought." Yet all five "continue to expand or modernize their nuclear arsenals and appear to be increasing the salience of nuclear weapons in their military strategies," the report said.

The number of nuclear warheads dropped slightly, from 13,080 in 2021 to 12,705 in 2022. Russian and American stockpiles declined, but this was due to dismantling of warheads retired from military service several years ago. The countries' inventories of usable stockpiles stayed relatively stable.

Russia has an estimated 5,977 nuclear warheads, roughly 550 more than the United States, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

Philipp Bleek, an associate professor of nonproliferation and terrorism studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, told The Washington Post that the global nuclear arsenal trend  with major players Russian and the United States stabilizing the size of their arsenals, and some other nations increasing theirs  is concerning.

But what is also concerning, he said, is the "growing salience of nuclear weapons, fronted especially by Russia's invasion of Ukraine . . . and the way Russia has brandished nuclear weapons in that conflict."

Following his announcement of an invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered nuclear forces on alert  the first time such an order was made since the Russian Federation was established in 1991.

Other countries are watching Russia's actions and listening to their escalating rhetoric, Bleek said, and they may respond by enlarging existing inventories or pursuing new nuclear arsenals.

"When we look back historically  I hope it's not  but this might end up being an inflection point," he said. "One where we can point to a shift that's happening now around the Ukraine conflict that led to more nuclear weapons and a bigger role for the weapons in international conflict."

The role of nuclear weapons, including in light of Russia's invasion of its neighbor, was raised at the recent Shangri-La Dialogue defense summit in Singapore.

"Amid the crisis in Ukraine, the use of nuclear weapons by Russia is being discussed as a real possibility. We must not repeat the scourge of nuclear weapons," Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at the summit Friday. "The threat of nuclear weapons, let alone the use of them, should never be tolerated. As the prime minister of the only country that has suffered the devastation of atomic bombings, I strongly appeal for this."

At the summit, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe said China had made "impressive progress" in developing new nuclear weapons  but added that they would only be used for self-defense.
KYIV, Ukraine  Because he'll shortly be deployed as a soldier on the battlefields of Ukraine, Serhiy Lipko and Anastasia Zukhvala chose to marry first, like a growing number of couples being torn asunder by war with Russia.

Like others, their nuptials were rushed and smaller than they would have been during peacetime, with just a few dozen close friends and family. She wore a simple crown of blue flowers in her hair. And then, because laughter can be medicinal and because Lipko was building a career as a comic before the defense of his country called, they headed to a stand-up comedy club in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.

There, with his new wife watching from the wings, he took the stage in olive-green fatigues and soon had the crowd in stitches with close-to-the-bone humor about army and married life. He joked that military training with NATO instructors had been a great opportunity for him to practice his English, and how nervous he'd been about handling expensive military gear, for fear of breaking it.

The war isn't remotely funny, but Ukrainians are learning to laugh about the awfulness of it all. Not necessarily because they want to, but because they have to  to stay sane in the brutality that has killed tens of thousands of people, is upending Ukraine, millions of lives and the world order as it rages on front lines in the east and south of the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his troops, especially dead and wounded ones, are favorite targets of dark Ukrainian wartime humor. But there are red lines: Ukrainian dead aren't laughed about and the grimmest battles, among them the brutal siege of Mariupol and the port city's Azovstal steelworks, are far too raw for jokes. The same is true of atrocities in Bucha and elsewhere.

"Tragedies cannot and will never be the object of humor," said Zukhvala, who also works as a stand-up comic, as she and Lipko hugged with the tenderness of newlyweds after his show and scooped up armfuls of bouquets, wondering aloud how they'd find space for them at home.

"This is an absolutely crazy time, beyond ordinary experience," she said. "Our life now is made of paradoxes, and it can even be funny."

Ukraine's most famous comedian is Volodymyr Zelenskyy, now the country's president, elected in 2019. In the TV comedy series "Servant of the People," the former stand-up comic and actor played a lovable high school teacher who accidentally becomes president  before he later actually became one for real. But Zelenskyy hasn't had much cause for comedy since the Feb. 24 invasion thrust him into the role of wartime leader. His daily video addresses to the nation are often grim and forceful.

But while he works to rally international support and soldiers fight with tanks, artillery and tons of Western-supplied armaments, Ukrainians away from the front are using jokes and humor as weapons  against war-time anxiety and moroseness, against Russia and to feel as one, both laughing and crying together in their sorrow and anger.

Yuliia Shytko, 29, said she felt in far higher spirits after chortling loudly with the rest of the crowd through Lipko and other comedians' routines in the basement comedy club, the vast majority of their jokes revolving around war-related themes.

"Laughing and stuff, that's how you cope," Shytko said.

Lipko and Zelenskyy crossed paths in comedy before war utterly altered their trajectories. The future president, then still an entertainer, was a juror in 2016 on the TV game show, "Make a comedian laugh." Lipko was a contestant. He wore camouflage fatigues because he was in the midst of military service and rattled off jokes about his army experiences. He made Zelenskyy laugh by quipping that he'd buy a PlayStation if he won the top prize  which he eventually did. They spoke in Russian then; they both stick to Ukrainian in public now.

Lipko is still riffing off army life, even as he prepares within days to leave behind his bride to fight. The army gave him a day off to tie the knot, a quick in-and-out of a marriage office where their comedian friends ruffled the registrar's feathers by joking around.

"We laughed a lot," said stand-up comic Anton Tymoshenko, who attended and also performed later that night at the club.

Lipko's nickname in the army is "the comedian." During his routine, he joked that some things his fellow soldiers say and do are so funny he can't help but use them as fodder for his stand-up, despite having told them he wouldn't. Afterward, he said his comic outlook should help him endure in battle.

"I am a comedian who temporarily became a serviceman," he said. "I have plans and creative projects for after the war. There are things to live for."

Zukhvala said she tells herself that "we will win and everything will be fine." She wants a big wedding celebration when peace returns.

Tymoshenko said he and their other comedian friends will look after her while Lipko is away.

But he has worries of his own: He has been trying to persuade his parents to leave their village in the south that he feels is too close to the Russian advance, but to his dismay they're laughing off the danger. His mother quipped that should Russian missiles churn up her potato plot, that would spare her the spade work.

"My mother never joked before the war," he said. "They use my weapons against me ... and that's unfair."

-

Hanna Arhirova contributed to this report.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands  NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and a small group of leaders from alliance countries are meeting in the Netherlands to discuss Russia's war in Ukraine and to prepare for a summit in Spain later this month.

The informal gathering is being held Tuesday evening at Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's official residence at The Hague and co-hosted by Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen. The other leaders attending were Romania's president, and the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland, Portugal and Latvia.

Against a backdrop of war on the alliance's eastern edge, the talks will likely also address applications by Sweden and Finland to join the alliance. Both countries applied in May to join NATO after decades of military non-alignment. That changed after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vetoed their entry until the two countries change their policies on supporting Kurdish militants deemed by Ankara to be terrorists.

Stoltenberg said Monday he was "glad" that the Swedish government has confirmed its "readiness to address Turkey's concerns as part of assuming the obligations of future NATO membership."

The meeting is the latest round of international diplomacy before a June 29-30 NATO summit in Madrid.

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins told a local radio program on Tuesday that he hopes  and expects  that the strengthening of the eastern flank, particularly in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that all border Russia, will be discussed over dinner in The Hague.

The issue is relevant to the governments in Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, which have long sought a permanent presence of NATO troops on their territories following Russia's military maneuvers in the region in the past several years and substantially increased the appeals since Moscow's invasion.

In the interview with Latvian Radio, cited by the Baltic News Service, Karins stressed that it was important his NATO colleagues have a similar understanding of the need to strengthen security in the Baltic region.

The meeting in The Hague follows a gathering Friday in Bucharest of nine NATO nations on the alliance's eastern flank where some leaders urged NATO to step up protection in light of Russia's protracted war against Ukraine.

"We need to make sure that NATO is able and prepared to respond effectively and calibrated to the threats it faces," Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told reporters after Friday's meeting. "The alliance needs to be able to defend every inch of its territory."

Three NATO members  Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey  border the Black Sea, which has turned into a key battleground in the war in Ukraine.

___

Jari Tanner in Helsinki, and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.
Authorities in the German state that hosts the largest U.S. military community abroad arrested a suspected Islamic State group supporter Monday who federal prosecutors say was preparing for a serious act of violence.

In addition, three others were simultaneously taken into custody in various parts of Switzerland, and law enforcement officials in the two countries said the suspects were in contact with one another.

The man arrested in Germany, identified only as Aleem N., is accused of plotting violence against the German state and being a member of a foreign terrorist organization, the office of Germanys federal prosecutor wrote Tuesday.

Authorities said the suspect is a German citizen, but they did not give his city of residence. He has long been a supporter of jihadist and radical Islamic ideas, according to the German arrest warrant.

The arrest occurred in the small town of Roemerberg, an hour southeast of Kaiserslautern.

In September 2020, Aleem N. traveled from Germany to Turkey in an attempt to join ISIS combatants across the border in Syria, according to German law enforcement officials.

Prosecutors allege that he wanted to join the terrorist organization, receive military training and then take part in combat operations or terrorist attacks.

The attempt failed for unspecified reasons, and Aleem N. returned to Germany a month later, according to federal prosecutors.

They allege that Aleem N. continued to support ISIS from Germany by translating official propaganda texts, videos and audio messages from Arabic into German and distributing the material via the messenger service Telegram.

IS considers such activities to be equivalent to direct involvement in violent jihad, the federal prosecutors wrote in a statement.

In addition, Aleem N. is suspected to have participated in a telephone interview by IS officials in 2021 to confirm his reliability in preparation for an attempt to join IS forces once again in early 2022.

Simultaneously with the arrest of Aleem N., law enforcement agents in the Swiss cantons of Zurich, St. Gallon and Lucerne arrested three people and searched seven houses, the federal prosecutors office in Bern said in a statement Tuesday.

The two adults arrested in Switzerland are a 20-year-old and a 26-year-old, both of whom are Swiss residents who had been suspected of criminal activity by authorities there.

The third suspect in custody is a 17-year-old with citizenship from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zurichs senior juvenile prosecutors office confirmed to Stars and Stripes on Tuesday.

Little additional information about the Swiss arrests has been released. The suspects were expected to move to pretrial detention on Tuesday, according to the prosecutors office.

The investigation into the extent of the four suspects coordination of actions supporting ISIS continues, German and Swiss law enforcement officials said in statements released early Tuesday.

This cross-border operation was only possible thanks to the close and continuous cooperation of all authorities involved, the Swiss federal prosecutors office statement said. The ongoing investigations aim to clarify the allegations against the accused persons as well as their roles and intentions.
WASHINGTON  Russian President Vladimir Putin still desires to take over Ukraine completely as his armed forces make progress in the eastern part of the country, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said Tuesday.

Our sense is that he has not changed his overall objectives, Kahl said during a national security conference held by the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank. I still think he has designs on a significant portion of Ukraine, if not the whole country. That said, I do not think he can achieve those objectives.

Russian troops failed to capture Ukraines capital city of Kyiv in the early weeks of the war, and Putin refocused his forces in April toward the eastern Donbas region. Since then, Russia has been making small but steady gains, defense officials have said.

[Putin] has been forced to recognize that they had to narrow their operational objectives to focusing on the east, Kahl said. So, one could imagine a scenario in which that's all he thinks he needs to achieve. But I don't think so.

In recent days, some news outlets have been predicting a bleak future for Ukraine as Russia closes in on Sievierodonetsk, one of the last holdouts in the Luhansk region of the Donbas.

But Kahl said the claims are overblown.

The media narrative is that the Russians have been making gains, he said. To some degree that is true, but the gains are really, on any given day, measured in blocks. They are not large sweeping breakthroughs of Ukrainian defenses."

Nonetheless, Kahl said Putin in the past week has resurrected his pre-invasion rhetoric that Russia has a historical right to govern Ukraine.

Theres a little bit of him saying the quiet out loud as it relates to his imperial ambitions and seeking to reclaim territory that he believes belonged to a glorious past of the Russian Empire, he said.

The undersecretary still believes Ukraine can handle the fight, as the U.S. and other partners continue flowing in weapons and artillery, such as M777 howitzers.

[Russia] may make tactical gains here and there, but the Ukrainians are holding tough, Kahl said. I do not think the Russians have the capacity to achieve those grandiose objectives.

Ukrainian troops are now training on rocket systems that the U.S. and the United Kingdom have pledged to them, Kahl said. The U.S. is sending four multiple-launch rocket systems, or MLRS, and associated ammunition that have a range of roughly 43 miles.

The rockets range will offer significant advantages to the Ukrainians, who Kahl said need to be able to place more distance between them and the Russian front lines. In comparison, the M777 howitzers range is about 15 miles.

The undersecretary described the rocket system as basically just a truck with a canister of missiles on the back. As their name indicates, they can fire multiple rockets at once  but Kahl said the specific ammunition the U.S. is sending is shot as one large payload.

"Sometimes when you see images of MLRS firing off, it's like salvos of multiple rockets going off at the same time, he said. That's really not how this system is meant to operate. [This] is a precision-guided munition, and a big one  a 500-pound munition."

Some critics have said the U.S. should ensure it is sending enough rockets, which officials said the U.S. intends to do. Kahl said the single-shot nature of the ammunition will allow it to last longer.

Think of [it] more like the effect of an airstrike rather than launching off whole salvos, he said. In other words, you can do a lot with a little or you don't need a lot to have a significant effect."

Though Kahl said he believes Ukraine will ultimately prevail, the future of the war  and the possibility of meaningful negotiations  remains ambiguous.

It's not clear whether the minimum requirements of either side match up with the maximum concessions of the other side, he said. Our position has been we're not going to tell anybody what to negotiate and when to negotiate."

But one thing is clear, Russia has thus far failed to secure its strategic objectives, Kahl said.

Vladimir Putin went into this war seeking to gobble Ukraine up, he said. I think he had in his mind envisioned some kind of a thunder run to Kyiv and change the regime."
The Ukrainians had an urgent problem. Their Javelin missile launchers  sophisticated, finicky gear each costing six figures  were inoperable and no one in their unit could fix them.

They sought help from two Americans, who engineered a fix for one by cannibalizing electrical components from a video game controller, said Mark Hayward, a U.S. Army veteran and volunteer trainer. The others, he said, were thought to be broken until it was discovered that the user instructions had gotten gummed up in Google Translate. Hayward recalled the episode with profound frustration that the Pentagon, which has rushed more than 5,000 Javelins to Ukraine, hasnt done more to ensure that those battling Russian forces have help when such needs arise.

The powerful antitank weapons have come to symbolize U.S. involvement in Ukraine and the race to equip its army for the devastating fight that has unfolded. But lost in the scramble, according to Ukrainian commanders and Western volunteers, is effective, timely logistical assistance  things like training modules, spare batteries and other basics that the U.S. military itself relies upon. The United States wartime customer service, they say, is lacking.

Were sending equipment, Hayward said in an interview. But have we decided not to do tech support?

The Javelin locks onto a targets thermal picture using a command launch unit, or CLU. The guided missiles can punch through armor from up to 2 1/2 miles away. But the system is far more complicated to use than other shoulder-fired weapons. It requires batteries and argon coolant to operate, and comes with a 258-page user manual.

Importantly, Hayward said, it appears the Javelins sent to Ukraine do not include instruction cards directing military personnel to call a toll-free number if the weapons malfunction or otherwise require repair. He has opened several cases of them but found no such card, and training cadres across multiple units have told him they were unaware of any Javelin support line, he said.

Hayward characterized the call center as an important asset for U.S. troops unable to troubleshoot glitches on their own. That the Biden administration would not extend the same level of support to Ukraine, he said, is unacceptable.

Manufacturing of the Javelin is a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Missiles and Defense. A copy of the customer-support card obtained by The Washington Post lists a phone number that appears to be associated with Lockheeds offices in Orlando. A Post reporter who called the support line in June was directed to Lockheeds media relations division. Cristina Vite, a spokesperson, refused to say whether the company runs the call center. She referred questions to the Pentagon.

The Defense Department did not address questions about the scope of technical and logistical support being provided to Ukraines military, and whether the support-line cards were removed before the Javelins transfer.

Also missing from the Javelin shipments, Hayward said, are two computer-based programs the U.S. Army considers fundamental to its training curriculum for the system. One is a basic skills guide that details the multistep launch sequence. Its required learning for American military personnel who specialize in such weapons. The other is a tactical training kit carried by U.S. troops during field exercises in which they simulate combat.

There are no known U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine, but the Pentagon continues to facilitate training for Ukrainian personnel outside the country for rocket artillery systems, howitzers, drones and other military hardware. Some Ukrainian troops were familiar with Javelins before the war with Russia began, as small numbers of the weapons were first sent there in 2018 and kept secure far from what was then stagnant fighting in Ukraines east.

Bradley Crawford, an Army veteran helping train Ukrainian troops on the Javelin and other weapons, said his cohort requested the computer-based training program more than a month ago. Hes seen no evidence any kits have been delivered, he said in a call from overseas.

In Ukraine, they got an Indiana Jones warehouse, Crawford said, referring to a scene from the film depicting a cavernous storage facility. Let me tell you. Nothing ever comes out.

The question of logistical assistance has captured the attention of at least one U.S. lawmaker. During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in May, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin if enough training systems were sent to Ukraine, citing a letter from its defense intelligence agency requesting them.

The issue had never come up in his discussions with Ukrainian officials, Austin replied. The Pentagon later informed Murkowskis office that U.S. defense officials raised the issue with the Ukrainian defense ministers office, which indicated there was no need for additional training systems. Murkowski said in an interview that her team interpreted from the Pentagons response that training systems had been sent.

As we have sent more Javelins into Ukraine, are we keeping up on the training? Is that answer still accurate today? I dont know, she said. We need to make sure these questions are being asked.

A Ukrainian military officer assigned to the countrys southern region told The Post in early June that his unit asked for the training simulators a week before Austins congressional testimony on May 3 but still does not have any, and he wasnt aware of any other units across his brigade that had them either. Ukrainian soldiers are adaptive and mostly make do, he said, but many have received abbreviated training classes, typically lasting less than two days. (The U.S. Armys Javelin training course is 80 hours.) Formalized instruction, he said, can reduce mistakes and unintentional misuse.

Training is crucial, said the Ukrainian officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media. We need to be able to shoot 100% of targets. We dont have enough Javelins to just get rid of one and pick up another.

Representatives for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and the armed forces did not respond to requests for comment. Some Ukrainian troops say they feel their needs are being met. Anatoliy, who, citing military policy, sent responses through WhatsApp on the condition that his full name not be disclosed, said his abridged Javelin training course - lasting a day and a half - and subsequent refreshers have been sufficient. Broken launch units are repaired by maintenance staff within his command, Anatoliy said, and their battery and coolant supply is healthy.

We do not have direct access to the manufacturer, he said, and we do not need it.

While the war in Ukraine has evolved into an artillery and rocket duel primarily, antiarmor weapons remain crucial as Russian forces continue to use tanks and armored personnel carriers to help capture strategic areas in Donbas, said the Ukrainian officer who was critical of the training deficiencies. As soon as Russians are willing to take over a village or city, this is the number one thing to counteract them, he said, referring to Javelins.

Hayward, a resident of Alaska, has spoken to Murkowski about the limited supply of batteries for the launch units. They only last four hours on a full charge, less once theyre used to fire missiles, so Ukrainians keep them locked away to ensure theyll work for real launches, he said. That has left a dearth of batteries for training. Without them, the Javelin is a 50-pound doorstop.

He told the senator about jury-rigging motorcycle batteries, duct tape and wiring to keep training going, she recalled. There has got to be a better way, Murkowski said. We cant send them this sophisticated weaponry and not give them the appropriate resources for training.

Hayward recalled how in March, as he taught a class on the Javelin, he received a call from a soldier in southeast Ukraine who was hiding behind a small hill - taking cover from Russian tank fire. The soldiers launch unit was malfunctioning. Hayward couldnt diagnose the issue over the phone, he said, and the soldier was forced to flee. He does not know the mans fate.

Either Lockheed or the U.S. military should be conducting regular video calls with Ukrainian units to answer technical questions about the Javelin or to provide more thorough training for the growing number of troops who need it, Hayward said. President Joe Bidens decision to withdraw the 200 National Guard personnel training Ukrainian forces in the lead-up to Russias invasion, and his reluctance to deploy any now, has shifted that responsibility to volunteers, many of them U.S. veterans, he said, calling the status quo inadequate and unsustainable.

Every day we delay, these peoples lives continue to be at risk, Hayward said. Were smarter than this. Were better than this.
BERLIN  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declined to comment Monday on reports that he is planning to visit Ukraine together with his counterparts from France and Italy soon.

Weekly Bild am Sonntag had reported that Scholz would travel to Kyiv with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Premier Mario Draghi Berlin before this month's summit of leaders from the Group of Seven major economies in Germany.

Several other European leaders, Germany's opposition leader and members of Scholzs own Cabinet have visited Ukraine in recent weeks to express solidarity with the country in the face of Russia's military assault, raising the pressure on the German chancellor to do likewise.

Scholz fobbed off questions about the reported travel plans, saying that he wouldn't go beyond what his spokesperson had told reporters earlier in the day. The spokesperson had declined to discuss the reports.

While Germany has contributed considerable financial and military aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion three months ago, Scholz's government has been criticized both at home and abroad for being slower to do so than the United States and some smaller European countries.

Scholz pushed back against such criticism, saying that the advanced howitzers Germany is providing to Ukraine, for example, require extensive training before they can be used.

I think it would be good if those who express their views on this or that issue spent a moment thinking about it first," he said.

Ukraine's president made clear he believes Germany's military support could have come faster.

To be honest, Germany joined a little later than some of our neighboring countries, as far as the arms deliveries were concerned. That's a fact, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told German public broadcaster ZDF in an interview aired late Monday.

Zelenskyy said he expected the German chancellor to show personal support for Ukraine's membership of the European Union and on the issue of sanctions against Russia.

It is "important that Chancellor Scholz comes here during wartime, he added.
President Joe Bidens Middle East visit next month will bring him face to face with counterparts in a region that has been altered amid the declared end of two American wars and the development of ties based on countries mutual distrust of Iran.

U.S. officials have dubbed the new approach a realignment following the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, defense ties between Israel and the Persian Gulf countries are deepening in the wake of a landmark deal brokered by Bidens predecessor, Donald Trump. Biden has rejected claims that his trip is related to the price of oil, which has spiked in recent months.

It has to do with national security for (Saudi Arabia), for Israelis, Biden told reporters Saturday, according to The Hill. It has to do with much larger issues than having to do with the energy piece.

The White House formally announced the trip Tuesday. It will run from July 13-16 and include stops in Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Biden will speak with Israeli leaders and the Palestinian Authority, which oversees administration of the Palestinian areas in the West Bank. In Saudi Arabia, he will attend a meeting with nine leaders from countries in the region, the statement said.

A focus of the visit will be Israels increasing integration into the region, CBS News reported. The president is scheduled to see U.S.-funded defense systems such as the Iron Dome in use, the report said.

Israel was absorbed into U.S. Central Commands area of responsibility last year. The realignment came after Israel signed the Abraham Accords with leaders of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on Sept. 15, 2020.

The agreement has led to Israeli participation in military exercises with nearby countries. Such cooperation would have been inconceivable before the normalization agreements, said CENTCOMs latest posture statement, issued March 22.

Israel and the Gulf countries share concerns about Iran, a regional rival that supports militant groups around the Middle East.

Iran faces international scrutiny over fears of possible ambitions for nuclear weapons, which it denies. Last week, the United Nations nuclear watchdog condemned Irans removal of 27 surveillance cameras at nuclear sites.

Biden is expected to meet with Saudi Arabias controversial crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdoms de facto ruler, a senior administration official told reporters on a briefing call, Axios reported Tuesday.

That would signal a turnaround from Bidens stance on the campaign trail, when he called Saudi Arabia a pariah over the kingdoms alleged violations of human rights, including the killing of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi.

The crown prince has maintained a frosty relationship with Biden and reportedly declined to take a call from him, the Guardian reported in April.

Bidens visit could be part of an effort to mend relations with Saudi Arabia, which has rejected requests to increase oil production to alleviate a rise in global oil prices.

We made it clear that U.S. policy demanded recalibration in relations with this important country, but not a rupture, an administration official told reporters about the trip, according to Politico on Tuesday. And that is because we have important interests interwoven with Saudi Arabia.

Biden will also visit the West Bank to consult with the Palestinian Authority and to reiterate his strong support for a two-state solution, the White House said.
Boeing and Virginia Tech will establish a workforce development center in Alexandria, Va., to help military veterans transition to civilian life and build careers in the technology and defense industries, the two entities announced Monday.

The center, which will be housed at Virginia Techs new graduate engineering campus in the Potomac Yard neighborhood, marks yet another example of how local officials are hoping to expand and diversify Northern Virginias pipeline of engineering talent as the region shapes up into a major tech hub.

And it also underscores how Boeing is growing its regional footprint outside its Arlington, Va., offices, just weeks ago confirming that it would be relocating its headquarters there.

Our military veterans need a big assist to get into civilian life, to pursue civilian livelihoods and to pursue tech degrees, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said at a news conference that included Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R, and both of Virginias U.S. senators, both Democrats, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. It is front and center for every one of us to be thinking about this every day, all day.

Calhoun is a Virginia Tech graduate, and the aerospace giant committed $50 million last year to support diversity initiatives at the innovation campus, including financial aid for students, faculty recruitment efforts and STEM partnerships with local public schools.

Part of that donation will be used to fund the hub  officially known as the Boeing Center for Veteran Transition and Military Families  although officials did not say exactly how much will go toward the initiative.

Tim Sands, president of Virginia Tech, said the hub is a continuation of his institutions long history with the military. The university is one of six in the United States that is designated as a senior military college, with a 1,200-person cadet program at its Blacksburg campus that has existed since the schools founding more than a century ago.

Were producing military leaders, but we have to think about the course of their careers and what happens after they have served and have completed their service, he said. We recognized that challenge for many years, but we finally have a chance to do something about it in a big way.

Lance Collins, vice president and executive director of the Alexandria innovation campus, said in an interview that the veterans center will intentionally be located next to student services offices in the building.

The hub, which will open in 2024, will offer outreach, workforce development and educational resources, with the ultimate goal of helping military veterans contribute to the areas flourishing technology sector.

They have phenomenal leadership skills. A lot of the groundwork in some way or shape is laid, he said. Our goal is just to bring them to a level where they can really enter into the technical system at a higher level.

While military veterans make up more than 15% of Boeings workforce, Collins said that  particularly given their heavy concentration in Northern Virginia  they are an underserved group that can help fill the gap between the areas growing number of tech jobs and qualified graduates to fill those positions.

Northern Virginia has long served as a major site for military business, but the region in recent years has branched out to attract a more diverse corporate clientele, including Amazons second headquarters, which is set to hire 25,000 employees in total. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

Raytheon announced last week that it would also be relocating to Arlington, a move that means that it and the rest of the Big Five defense contractors  Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Boeing  all will be located in the Washington, D.C., suburbs.

Boeing has said it is also planning to establish a research and technology hub in Arlington to harness and attract engineering and technical capabilities. Connor Greenwood, a Boeing spokesman, said the company did not have an estimate of how many jobs that initiative could bring to the region.
The Federal Aviation Administration is allowing SpaceX to proceed toward launching its massive Starship rocket from its private spaceport in South Texas, while requiring the company to take dozens of actions aimed at protecting the surrounding environment.

After months of review and study, the FAA on Monday issued a "mitigated finding of no significant impact," a decision that allows Elon Musk's company to proceed toward its first orbital launch attempt of its massive rocket. But the FAA imposed more than 75 actions that the company must undertake to protect the environment and reduce the impact of its activities on a nearby public beach and wildlife preserve before being given a launch license.

In a tweet, SpaceX said the decision put it "one step closer to the first orbital test of Starship."

For months, SpaceX and NASA have been awaiting the decision to see when the rocket would be able to attempt a launch to orbit. SpaceX has been working to get it off the ground, and NASA last year gave the company a nearly $3 billion contract to develop Starship so that it could land astronauts on the moon. NASA's last Apollo moon landing was in 1972.

Environmentalists have feared the massive rocket would disrupt the area's fragile ecosystem.

Last year, SpaceX launched a series of prototypes of the spacecraft, which also serves as the vehicle's upper stage, in test flights to an altitude of about six miles. Since the spacecraft is designed to be fully reusable, SpaceX was testing whether it could land as well as how it would fly, and several of the tests ended in crash landings that touched off huge fireballs and spewed debris across the area.

Local residents have also complained that when SpaceX conducts tests it gets permission to close a road to a nearby public beach.

Earlier this month, the Sierra Club joined a lawsuit against state and local authorities for closing the beach "so frequently that [Rio Grande Valley] residents have seen their access essentially disappear."

But others have welcomed SpaceX, saying it is helping lift the economy of one of the poorest communities in the country and giving it the cachet of a modern Cape Canaveral.

"It is extremely exciting that the testing, the research and development continues to go forward literally on a daily basis," Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino told The Washington Post last year. "I think it's a learning and growing experience for all of us. We're getting used to having SpaceX in our backyard, and we're trying to support them."

Musk has said Starship is the "Holy Grail" of spaceflight, a system that would be fully reusable, refueled in orbit and that the company says could lift 100 metric tons to low Earth orbit, or dozens of people in the version designed to fly crew. The fully stacked vehicle - the Starship spacecraft atop a massive Super Heavy booster - stands 394 feet tall, taller than the Space Launch System NASA is developing. And both the booster and the spacecraft would be able to land back on Earth so that they could fly again, unlike traditional rockets, which dump their first stages into the ocean.

Starship is a key component of NASA's Artemis mission to return astronauts to the moon. The Orion spacecraft, launched atop the SLS rocket, would fly the astronauts to the moon. There, in lunar orbit, it would rendezvous with Starship. The astronauts would move from Orion to Starship, which would take them to the surface of the moon and then back to Orion once the mission is completed. Orion would then fly back to Earth.

NASA officials recently visited Texas to check SpaceX's progress and appeared to be pleased.

"On my recent visit to @SpaceX in Boca Chica, Texas, I had the chance to view the Super Heavy Booster, slated to make its first orbital test flight later this year, and the engines that will be used on Starship, the human landing system for #Artemis III," Mark Kirasich, NASA's deputy associate administrator for the Artemis campaign development division, wrote on Twitter Saturday.

Before that can happen, however, the FAA says SpaceX needs to meet multiple requirements, such as the "ongoing monitoring of vegetation and wildlife by a qualified biologist," notify nearby communities about "potential engine noise and sonic booms," work with state and federal agencies "to remove launch debris from sensitive habitats," and adjust the lighting at its facilities to minimize the impact on the beach.

The FAA said that closures of the lone road to the public beach will not be allowed during 18 holidays throughout the year, and that weekend closures would be limited to five weekends per year.
Gary 'Scotty' Maxwell

AUBURN - Gary "Scotty" Maxwell, 71, of Auburn, passed away at his home on June 13, 2022 with his family by his side. Born in Auburn, he was the son of the late Frederick H. and Harriet (Baker) Maxwell. He was a graduate of East High School. Scotty received his Associates Degree in Business Administration from Auburn Community College. He also served several years in the National Guard.

He was president of the family owned business, Maxwell's Food Store and loved his work and interacting with the public. He took great pride in obtaining his CDL license and enjoyed driving trucks both for business and pleasure. He loved taking trips of any kind but especially to Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Niagara Falls.

He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Roberta "Bobbie" (Defendorf) Maxwell whom he met in the 7th grade at East High School and started dating in their senior year. They were married in 1972. Also surviving are his brothers: Larry Maxwell and Greg "Rocky" Maxwell and his wife, Patty.

He was predeceased by his son, James Maxwell in 2009, a sister, Marion "Corky" Maxwell in 1995 and by a cousin, Joyce Smith in 2022.

Friends are invited to visit the family from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 15, 2022 at Langham Funeral Home, LLC with funeral services to follow at 7:15 p.m.

A private family burial will be in Soule Cemetery. Those wishing may make contributions in Scotty's name to The American Cancer Society, the local Humane Society (SPCA) or to a charity of choice. To leave a condolence for the family please visit www.Langhamfuneralhomellc.com.
SEFFNER, Fla. (Tribune News Service)  It initially seemed like a childs treasure-hunting tale.

Aaron Defarias kids would bring him what they called diamonds, dug out of the shell-and-rock driveway at their Seffner home.

But he thought they were just shiny rocks, chalked it up to childhood imagination and thought little of it.

Then, as the driveways shell and rock loosened over the years, his kids began finding more of the shiny objects, and also what looked like tiny stone and iron cannonballs.

Dozens of them.

Defaria asked his amateur historian uncle, Gary Cananzey, to have a look.

Those are pieces of Native American jewelry, plus stone shot and iron shot  projectiles used in battles  Cananzey said, and it all likely dates to the three Seminole Wars, which spanned 1817 to 1858.

I told him that his driveway looks like a battlefield, Cananzey said. But where did it come from? Its not from here.

A previous homeowner had the driveway filled with shell and rock. Cananzey believes the fill was dug from land that once hosted a battle.

Its a mystery, Cananzey said. Its a treasure hunt that we want to solve.

It will be difficult to do so.

Defaria moved in around eight years ago as a renter and purchased the home this year.

The previous homeowner, Allison Laiosa, said the shells and rocks were there when she purchased it. She never noticed projectiles or pieces of jewelry. And the owner before her has died.

The Tampa Bay Times could not locate a permit in Hillsborough County online records for the driveway work.

At the invitation of the Times, Rachael Kangas from the Florida Public Archaeology Network visited Defarias home to verify the authenticity of the objects.

Kangas said shed need to study the shiny rocks more before declaring those pieces of Native American jewelry, but the stone and iron balls do appear to be projectiles that would have been shot from a cannon, possibly a handheld one.

She agreed they could date to the Seminole Wars or Civil War, but said thats not definitive.

So where around here were great battles? Cananzey said. That might solve the mystery.

Not really. Most driveway fill comes from licensed mines.

Cody James, a sales manager with Southern Landscaping Materials, said much of Floridas driveway fill is dug in Punta Gorda mines owned by Weeks Farm and Florida Shell. They then distribute it to wholesalers and contractors throughout the state.

Ive heard of people finding arrowheads in their driveway fill, James said. But nothing as extreme as what was found at Defarias property.

There is a shell mine in Ruskin. But owner Bill Casey said those artifacts could not have come from his current or past operations.

My shell deposit is nearly 2 million years old, he said, and artifacts in his mines date to prehistoric times.

But a license is not needed to remove less than 10,000 cubic yards of shell from a property, Casey said. That happens all the time. A construction crew hits a layer of shell, digs it up and sells it.

So, if the fill used for Defarias driveway is local, Casey said, its likely from such a source.

Due to the number of projectiles found in his nephews driveway, Cananzey believes it was large battle. While at the house, the Times found and dug out two stone projectiles and an iron one.

A lot of these are shattered into pieces, Cananzey said. They hit something. This is not a military cache that was left behind. These were fired.

Civil War skirmishes in the Tampa area were minor.

A large Second Seminole War battle might have taken place less than 10 miles from Defarias home.

In The Fort King Road: Then and Now, author Jeff Hough wrote that he believes nearly 1,000 men fought in a Second Seminole War conflict in 1836 that occurred in what is today the neighborhood of Pemberton Creek, built in the late 1970s.

Maybe when they dug up dirt, it was sold as fill, Hough said.

Other Seminole Wars battles were fought throughout Tampa Bay.

The Dade City Massacre, a battle in which more than 100 U.S. soldiers were killed in an ambush on Dec. 23, 1835, is widely considered the start of the Second Seminole War, for instance.

If his nephews driveway fill came from a local source, Cananzey said, other homes might have it, too.

Maybe they remember who they hired to do it, Cananzey said. Maybe if they come forward, we can solve the mystery.

2022 Tampa Bay Times.

Visit at tampabay.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(Tribune News Service)  California officials have agreed to pay out $51 million to settle some of the claims stemming from the 2018 shooting at the Yountville Veterans Home, where a gunman and former patient killed three women staffers before shooting himself, according to state budget documents.

The settlement authorizes $51 million one-time to pay for settlement costs at the Veterans Home of California, Yountville related to the 2018 shooting, according to state budget documents approved by the legislature this week.

Ronald Foreman, the attorney for the family of Dr. Jennifer Golick, a 42-year-old therapist killed by the gunman, said the settlement is the first step in a long journey and that other lawsuits over the incident are pending.

Thats the first step in getting them compensation for the horrible tragedy they suffered on March 9, 2018, and continue to suffer, Foreman said.

Officials with the California Department of Veterans Affairs said they were working to respond to email queries from The Bee regarding which lawsuits the settlement covers.

The shooting has sparked wrongful death lawsuits, including at least two filed in federal court in San Francisco by the Golick family and the family of Christine Loeber, 48, a director at the home who also was killed. Those suits are pending, according to court records, and Foreman said another case against the Napa County Sheriffs Department is pending in an appellate court.

A third victim was Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 29, a clinical psychologist who was seven months pregnant.

Officials have said the March 9, 2018, shooting was conducted by Albert Cheung Wong, a 36-year-old former Sacramento resident and Army veteran who had served in Afghanistan and was suffering from severe mental health issues and PTSD.

Wong became a patient at The Pathway Home, a residential treatment center at the state veterans home where Golick had been the clinical director for seven months, in April 2017, court papers say.

About 1,000 aging and disabled veterans live at the home, which is ringed by wineries in scenic Napa County. Its considered the crown jewel among the states eight veterans homes. Wong did not live there, but received treatment from the Pathway program.

On Dec. 20, 2017, Wong was hospitalized with a 5150 mental health hold at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, where he expressed homicidal thoughts toward decedent Jennifer Golick, court papers say.

Wong also reported possession of multiple firearms immediately prior to his hospitalization and the ability to access firearms were he to be released from the hospital, court papers say.

Despite that, he was released from the psychiatric ward after two days.

California veteran bought guns after psych hold

On Feb. 14, 2018, Wong purchased a Stoeger double barrel shotgun from a Napa sporting goods store, waited the 10-day waiting period and picked up the weapon on Feb. 25, according to a California Highway Patrol investigation.

While he was waiting, on Feb. 23, Wong bought a JP Enterprises Ultralite .308 caliber assault style rifle at a Burlingame gun shop, waited out the 10-day waiting period and picked it up March 5, four days before the shootings.

No one reported Wongs 5150 hold or his threats while he was on the 5150 hold to law enforcement, which could have prohibited him from purchasing weapons, court papers say.

At the time, Wong expressed homicidal thoughts toward specific individuals associated with the Pathway Program, including Jennifer Golick, court papers say. Wong also expressed suicidal intent with a plan to shoot and kill himself.

To the Veterans Administration physicians and staff, Wong described a past altercation with a therapist named Jennifer and a more recent altercation with a new therapist named Christine, both of whom sparked homicidal thoughts for him.

A Napa County District Attorneys report found that Wong had been tossed out of the Pathway Home on Feb. 20 due to his refusals to comply with program policies and treatment plan.

Wong had expressed extreme anger and frustration toward the clinical staff due to many prior disagreements and his recent discharge from the program, the report found.

Shootout as Napa gunman takes hostages

The CHP and D.A.s investigation of the shooting concluded that, after searching online for information on murder and suicide, Wong arrived at the home at 10:18 a.m. armed with both weapons, extra ammunition and 20-round magazines and ear and eye protection.

Law enforcement responded to 911 calls of an active shooter and Napa sheriffs Deputy Steven Lombardi confronted Wong as Wong took the women hostage in a group room, engaging in a gunfight.

Deputy Lombardi fired a total of 13 rounds from his .223 caliber rifle at Wong during the shooting sequence which lasted approximately 10 seconds, according to the D.A.s report, which ruled the deputys use of force to be reasonable and lawful.

Wong fired a total of 22 rounds from his .308 caliber rifle toward Deputy Lombardi during the shooting sequence, the report added.

Wong then shot the victims with the rifle and shot himself in the head with the .12-gauge shotgun, the CHP report said. Lombardi survived the shootout. He retired in late 2020, according to the Napa County Sheriffs Office.

Foreman said that by the time the deputy arrived the situation had become a hostage/barricade situation and that the suit against the sheriff that is pending stems from the claim that the deputy shot blindly through the door and sparked the killings of the victims.

2022 The Sacramento Bee.

Visit sacbee.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
LAS VEGAS  Adam Laxalt is one of Nevada's most prominent Republicans, someone who has already won statewide office and attracted support from both former President Donald Trump and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

Yet in the final weeks before Tuesday's U.S. Senate primary, Nevada's former attorney general faced a surprisingly spirited challenge from Sam Brown. A retired Army captain and Purple Heart recipient, Brown has appeared before swelling crowds drawn to his profile as a political outsider. He bolstered his campaign with strong fundraising numbers, particularly among small-dollar donors who often represent the party's grassroots.

Regardless of the outcome, Brown's late-stage inroads could signal a restlessness among the GOP base and interest in sending political newcomers to Washington, a sentiment Trump himself rode to the White House six years ago. The ultimate winner will go on to face Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in what may be the GOP's best opportunity to flip a Senate seat and regain control of the chamber.

Despite the intrigue surrounding the race, many Republicans still see Laxalt as best positioned to win the nomination, in no small part because of Trump's backing.

"President Trump is the most popular Republican official in America by a long shot," said Corry Bliss, a Republican strategist who works on campaigns around the U.S. "If you have his endorsement and you have resources to advertise that, you should win."

Republicans in Nevada were also choosing a nominee to challenge Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak. Elsewhere, Republicans in South Carolina were weighing whether to support two U.S. House members who have crossed Trump. And two longtime rivals in Maine were poised to advance to what will likely be one of the most competitive governor's races in the U.S. this fall.

Still, Nevada's Senate race is the highest-profile contest Tuesday.

Laxalt is well-known in the state for having served for four years as Nevada's attorney general and campaigned unsuccessfully for governor in 2018. He's also the grandson of former U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt.

And perhaps most importantly in GOP circles, he's got ties to Trump. Laxalt worked on Trump's reelection campaign and promoted his lies about election fraud in the state after the 2020 election. Trump in turn hosted Laxalt for a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and appeared in a campaign ad for Laxalt.

But the party's anti-establishment base has muscled behind Brown, who was badly burned by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan and has highlighted his personal story in his outsider crusade.

"I wasn't born into power," Brown declared in a recent campaign ad in which he recounted how he nearly died in Afghanistan. He then smiles, saying, "It turns out I'm hard to kill."

Brown, to the surprise of many in the state, won the endorsement of the Nevada Republican Party at a convention vote in late April and a straw poll of the Las Vegas-area GOP at a May gathering. Recent polls have shown him closing in on Laxalt, though the state, with a transient population and many late-shift workers due to the state's tourism and casino industry, is considered fickle for pollsters.

Voting was going smoothly in Nevada's most populous county, Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria said, and short lines were reported.

By midafternoon Tuesday, about 28,000 voters appeared in person at polling sites in Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County, which has almost 1.3 million of the state's 1.8 million registered voters.

According to Gloria, 108,542 mail and drop-off ballots were received by Tuesday morning and 68,314 votes were cast at early polling sites.

Though Laxalt is still considered the favorite to win, both candidates are expected to have a similar chance in November at defeating Cortez Masto, who is expected to handily win her party's endorsement over several little-known competitors.

"I imagine that Laxalt would be a stronger candidate in the general than Brown, but I don't think it's a substantial difference," said Kenneth Miller, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

That's because Cortez Masto, the first Latina elected to the Senate and successor of the late Sen. Harry Reid, is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats running for reelection this year.

Democrats broadly are facing headwinds this year, burdened by an unpopular president and rising costs. In Nevada, high prices for gas are acutely felt by residents of Las Vegas' sprawling suburbs or those commuting from far-flung rural areas.

Those same factors could imperil the reelection of Sisolak, whose Republican challenger will emerge from Tuesday's primary.

In the Nevada governor's race, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo is considered the favorite in a crowded field and has earned the coveted endorsement from Trump.

The former president notably snubbed another Republican candidate in the race, former U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, who was once a critic of Trump's and earned a public scolding from the then-president.

Also challenging Lombardo is Joey Gilbert, a northern Nevada lawyer and former professional boxer who was outside the U.S. Capitol when it was stormed on Jan. 6, 2021. Like Brown in the Senate race, Gilbert has picked up support from the party's base.

Trump's false claims of fraud in the 2020 election are laced throughout some of Tuesday's contests, including what's normally a little-watched race for Nevada secretary of state. Republican Barbara Cegavske, who was censured by the Nevada GOP for declaring there was no fraud and defending the results as accurate, is term-limited. A crowded field of Republicans who have embraced "election integrity" concerns to varying degrees are vying to replace her.

In South Carolina, two Republicans in the U.S. House who've drawn Trump's displeasure were facing challengers solicited by the former president.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who is running in the state's swingy 1st Congressional District, is being challenged by former state lawmaker Katie Arrington. She has criticized Mace for having "turned her back" on Trump for criticizing his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, though Mace has still sought to demonstrate support for him.

In South Carolina's 7th Congressional District, Trump recruited a challenger for U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, who was among 10 House Republicans to support Trump's second impeachment. Trump is backing Rice's top challenger, state Rep. Russell Fry.

South Carolina also has five Democrats, including former U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, vying to win their party's nomination for governor. The winner will take on Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who is expected to easily defeat two GOP rivals.

In Maine, the primary will be similarly easy for the one Republican and one Democrat running. But it will mark the official start of a fierce general election race between Democratic incumbent Janet Mills and former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who was known nationally for making vulgar remarks and declared himself to be "Trump before there was Trump."

Elections were also being held Tuesday in North Dakota, and Republican U.S. Sen. John Hoeven is expected to easily win his primary.

___

Price reported from New York.
(Tribune News Service)  Melissa Williams says her husband was digging up a spot for a new fence post in their Iowa backyard when he discovered a World War II era mortar shell, according to local news reports.

I looked it up online and it said it was like an aerial dart from World War II or whatever. So I sent a picture to my father and he said, no thats, you need to call the police on that one, she told KWWL. And it turns out it was an unexploded one.

The Dubuque Fire Department was called to the home at 3:23 p.m. local time Sunday, June 12 for what is believed to be an unexploded WWII-era mortar round/ordnance, according to a news release.

About 25 homes in the eastern Iowa neighborhood were evacuated so a specialist could check out the bomb.

Shortly before 7 p.m. that evening, officials said the unexploded bomb had been removed from the area so it could be safely detonated. Residents were allowed back into their homes.

I was shaken for probably a couple hours, Williams told KWWL. Didnt sleep a whole lot well last night. So you know other than that it was just not something youd think youd ever find, you know.

She and her family described the unexpected encounter as a one-in-a-million thing, KCCI reported.

First off, why is it here? she questioned, according to the TV station. This is Dubuque, Iowa. Its not like anything happened here in WWII.

Authorities say there is no longer a danger to the public.

2022 The Charlotte Observer.

Visit charlotteobserver.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, discussed unspecified "security issues" with China's top diplomat in a Luxembourg meeting on Monday, according to a White House statement.

The meeting between Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, which followed a May 18 phone call between the two men, "included candid, substantive, and productive discussion of a number of regional and global security issues, as well as key issues in U.S.-China relations," according to the statement, which didn't elaborate.

"Mr. Sullivan underscored the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to manage competition between our two countries," the statement said.

Sullivan reiterated the U.S. "One China" policy on Taiwan and China and expressed concern about China's aggressive actions across the Taiwan Strait, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters after the four-and-half-hour meeting. The official asked not to be identified as a condition of participation in the briefing.

Bloomberg News reported Sunday that U.S. officials have grown alarmed recently at assertions by Chinese military officials that the Taiwan Strait isn't international waters.

Yang again said that the U.S. must prudently handle the Taiwan issue, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, which didn't mention the strait.

Beijing is ready to work with Washington to find ways of cooperation, Yang added, but said that "the U.S. side has been insisting on further containing and suppressing China in an all-round way" and warned it "should correct its strategic perceptions of China."

Tensions have grown this year over Taiwan, which Beijing regards as Chinese territory. The Chinese military has regularly probed Taiwan's air defenses with fly-bys of the island, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a speech Saturday in Singapore that the U.S. has observed a "steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan."

Sullivan also expressed U.S. concern about China's veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution last month that would have imposed new sanctions on North Korea over Pyongyang's recent ballistic missile tests, the official said.

___

2022 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(Tribune News Service)  A former Army Ranger and teacher from the Pittsburgh area who's charged with assaulting police during the Capitol insurrection will not be getting out of jail pending his joint trial in the District of Columbia with a group of other pro-Trump rioters charged with felony violence.

Robert Morss of Glenshaw  one of two dozen Western Pennsylvanians accused of storming the Capitol in support of former President Donald Trump's repeated claims that the election was "stolen" from him  had argued that he should be released because of government delays in the discovery process.

But U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden said last week that those delays can't be helped because Morss is being tried with eight others, all of whom are accused of acting in concert to attack law officers inside a Capitol tunnel.

The judge said Morss has only himself to blame and that he's going to stay locked up.

"His decision to join a violent crowd then has led him into such a crowded trial now," McFadden ruled.

McFadden said the case has been delayed because he has to deal with nine defense lawyers, as well as the numerous motions they've all filed  far more than is typical.

"The complexity of this case distinguishes it from most other Jan. 6-related cases," the judge said.

Morss, who has been in federal custody for about a year, tried to argue that his continued detention is punitive. He also complained that it's in violation of his right to a speedy trial and has hampered his ability to prepare a defense.

Prosecutors said they've turned over all their discovery material. They said any delays have been caused by the logistics of trying nine defendants at once and the continuing COVID-19 crisis.

They also said Morss remains dangerous and a flight risk should he be released, the same argument they've made before.

"The facts of this case have not changed," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Paschall of the Capitol Siege Section. "The defendant participated in a violent assault on law enforcement officers over a 2 1/2 hour period on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to overtake the U.S. Capitol building."

She said his actions place him among the most serious insurrection defendants.

Morss, a former substitute teacher in the Shaler Area School District and an Afghanistan combat veteran, is charged with multiple counts of assault and robbery against police with whom he fought. He was dressed in military gear, carried a knife and wore goggles to protect himself from tear gas. Video shows him engaging multiple times with officers, at one point yanking a shield from one and trying to get other rioters to organize a shield wall against the cops.

"He acted as a leader among the mob, consistently battling with law enforcement for several hours," Paschall said. "And all of these activities are captured in photographs and videos taken on the day in question."

The judge sided with her.

McFadden said trying all the defendants at one time has created scheduling issues and justifies the delay, as does the fact that COVID has limited the number of trials in the Washington courthouse. He also said Morss can't point to an incident in which he can say his detention has hindered his defense preparation; he can meet with his lawyer like anyone else.

He said Morss' motion is "meritless."

Morss, 29, is charged with 53 counts. Prosecutors said he led the violence and has shown no remorse. The FBI found a speech he wrote on his iCloud account, which he indicated he intended to deliver to a judge at some point, in which he said he has no regrets for his violence and denounces Congress for not doing Trump's bidding in overturning the election.

No evidence has emerged to support Trump's repeated claims of electoral fraud. He and his lawyers lost more than 50 lawsuits trying to challenge the election results; many of those suits were tossed out by federal judges that Trump appointed.

Bill Barr, Trump's own attorney general, has repeatedly said in interviews that he told Trump that his claims were bogus, using an expletive term. He recounted that same story, using the same profane descriptor for the claims, in an interview with the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, which aired Barr's remarks Thursday.

(c)2022 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service)  Marine veteran and Fort Worth, Texas, native Trevor Reed said Tuesday in an interview with CNN that in the 48 days since his release from Russian prison things have gone well  hes gaining weight back and getting into the physical shape he was in before he was detained.

I started almost immediately to try to get back into shape and get back into physical condition to where I was before and thats going extremely well, Reed said. Ive put on already I think about 30 pounds. Cardiovascular is improving significantly as well, so Im excited about that.

Reed said hes been slowly but surely adjusting back to his life in North Texas, and has been spending time with family and friends. Though the transition hasnt always been easy.

You know, its kind of strange getting back into the groove of things and going into public places, he said. Just sleeping is kind of difficult at first there, but all of those things get easier over time.

Reed has filed a petition with the United Nations in an attempt to hold Russia accountable for the poor treatment he said he received in prison. He was arrested and detained in Russia in 2019 and spent nearly three years in a Russian gulag.

This petition is to hold Russia accountable for wrongful imprisonment, mistreatment and violations of human rights, Reed said. Theres a working group there at the UN who specializes in those cases. That petition includes legal documents, eyewitness accounts, and thats whats going to be used to prove denial of rights under international law.

In late April, after years of lobbying from his parents, Russia released Reed in exchange for a Russian drug smuggler who spent a dozen years in U.S. prison. Reed had developed what was likely tuberculosis in the gulag, and as concern for his health mounted, President Joe Biden relented and approved the swap.

Reed said he hopes the UN petition will eventually force Russia to end its practice of detaining Americans for political purposes. He specifically mentioned Paul Whelan, the former Marine whos been detained in Russia for three and a half years, and WNBA star Brittney Griner, whos been held since February.

Ive been released already for 48 days, we need to get him out of there as well, Reed said, referring to Whelan. As well as Brittany. If it takes exchanging someone, we need to do that.

2022 The Dallas Morning News.

Visit dallasnews.com .

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Adam Phillips, a British psychoanalyst, thinks the world would be a better place if more people gave up. Giving up," he writes, which is in everybodys repertoire, should be taught in schools. (Jan. 6 London Review). He writes of the tyranny ... of finishing things, which can narrow our minds unduly. By seeing things through to the end, we often make life hell for ourselves ... and other people.

Phillips draws some of his examples from the plays of Shakespeare: MacBeth, Lear, "Hamlet, Othello and Timon of Athens are examples of people executing dubious projects to their catastrophic end, leaving themselves and most of the other characters dead. Tragedy is what is created by people who refuse to give up, he writes. These tragedies did not have to be, he suggests, if the principals had taken time off to think things through.

The attitude of not giving up, not quitting on a project gone wrong does seem quite common to governments and individuals alike: What is heroic in heroism is precisely the resistance to giving up, Adams writes. To quit or give up is unmanly, even cowardly, a sign of weakness. However, the roots of the problem run deeper, Phillips says. Underneath our reluctance to give up on even dubious projects is the idea that that giving up is a kind of suicide  the sacrifice of our project  and suicide is the ultimate taboo. If we give up, we abandon a large part of ourselves. If we can get past this, we can spare ourselves and others a lot of pain and grief. We must demythologize giving up, so that it appears a reasonable course of action in the circumstances. Giving up on one project gone sour makes other, more promising projects possible.

One approach is to see a futile situation as comic. Sisyphus, who pushes his rock up the hill every day, only to see it roll down again in the end, can be seen as clownish. Who wants to emulate him?

More effective is to take a closer look at what "giving up: is: something we do every day when we go to sleep. When we fall asleep, we abandon consciousness, thinking, purpose, whatever projects we were engaged in. And when we wake up, they may not appear to us in the same way. We may see them, in a different light, for the questionable projects they are. Night brings counsel, a proverb goes. We awake and come to our senses. Tragic heroes, especially MacBeth, are those who try to never sleep, or refuse sleep, so as to maintain their purpose. They keep other people from sleeping! Indeed, they are eager to reach a point of no return where they are in so deep there is no way out. They find a kind of peace here.

So is a good nights sleep the solution to all our problems? No  but it will help us size up our projects and help us decide if we should go through with them or not. The fact that so many people report difficulty sleeping, or not getting enough sleep, is a bad sign that the world is not only too much with us, but that it has got too far inside our heads, impairing our judgement. To sleep, to retreat, to draw back from a doubtful situation is natures way of breaking our addiction to refusing to give up.

There is a painting by Jacques-Louis David showing the Emperor Napoleon in his study in the Tuileries Palace late at night working hard on the nations problems. The clock on the wall says 4:13 a.m. His clothes are wrinkled and his hair is mussed. "Look how hard the Emperor is working for his people!" the work seems to say. David finished the painting in 1812. Had Napoleon gotten more sleep, perhaps he would have reconsidered the Russian campaign.

A century later, in 1914, Marshal Joseph Joffre made sure he always got a good nights sleep even while the German armies were sweeping across France, closing in on Paris. When Alexander von Klucks army turned and exposed its flank, Joffre attacked and won the First Battle of the Marne. When later his tactics were criticized, Joffre said, I dont know who won the battle; but if it had been lost, I know who would have lost it.

So, yes, how to give up should be taught in the schools.

Ed Rossmann lives in Aurora and has been an educator most of his life, including 17 years in high school.

Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
With July just around the corner, Dry July NZ Trust is asking kiwis to give up alcohol for the month to raise funds for support services and care increasingly in demand by kiwis affected by cancer.

This year three major cancer support charities will be supported by Dry July funds, and each of them is experiencing higher demand than ever for practical services to support New Zealanders going through cancer treatment.

Look Good Feel Better, Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand and PINC & STEEL will each receive funds from the 2022 Dry July campaign.

Prostate Cancer Foundation has retained a specialist service provider to respond to the pressing need for mental health services.

PINC & STEEL needs to deliver over 2,500 more classes per year to meet growing demand but in need of funds.

Look Good Feel Better classes are in high demand, reporting a 43 per cent increase in engagement and an 80 per cent increase in online classes.

Each charity returns to the campaign as a major beneficiary, having utilised 2021 Dry July funds raised to offer specific and targeted programs that ease the burden of cancer on New Zealanders.

Dry July Campaign and Fundraising Manager Ashleigh Oliver says that while Dry July is a great opportunity to make some positive lifestyle changes, its primary purpose is to help people affected by cancer.

We take great care to select the cancer charities that would benefit from both the funding and the prominence the campaign is able to deliver, she says.

Its quite clear after recent discussions with each charity that funds are more important now than ever. The need for cancer support services and care is increasing, so were grateful for our generous participants and donors who exceed our fundraising expectations year-on-year.

Prostate Cancer Foundation CEO Peter Dickens says feedback received from support groups and networks across the country identified the need for a counselling service for men and their whanau struggling with mental health along their prostate cancer journey.

Its long been recognised that a diagnosis of prostate cancer brings a host of challenges to the mental wellbeing and resilience of affected men, he says.

This is why we partnered with mental health and wellbeing provider Raise to establish a free 24/7 service to assist men in times of emotional distress.

Its thanks to Dry July funds that weve been able to create this valuable partnership, and we look forward to another successful Dry July in 2022 so we can continue to help men that may be struggling.

After last years campaign, PINC & STEELs free rehabilitation and exercise group programmes were delivered to hundreds of New Zealanders at 35 clinics nationally out of 72 potential sites, but there is still high demand all around New Zealand.

All 72 locations could offer an oncology rehab class programme each term, which amounts to more than 2500 classes each year to support the growing demand as people struggle with long-term side effects of cancer.

Look Good Feel Better has also experienced an increase in demand for its services.

In the past year 200 classes have been delivered to more than 2600 men and women with cancer.

Theres been a 43 per cent increase in engagement and an 80 per cent increase in online classes with the average class size also growing by 30 per cent.

Registrations for Dry July 2022 are now open.

To sign up, sponsor a friend, join as a team or workplace please visit www.dryjuly.co.nz.

For updates, follow Dry July on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
The slowdown in the property market is seeing fewer homes go under the hammer.

Figures from realestate.co.nz show auction listings have fallen by more than a third on a year ago, while listings with displayed prices have jumped by close to a quarter.

Realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood says auctions were popular when there was strong competition for houses, as they allowed sellers to get a quick unconditional cash offer for the property.

But Wood says sentiment is changing.

Photo: Supplied / realestate.co.nz.

"I would say we're coming off an unprecedented market in terms of really high demand."

Recent reports from CoreLogic and Quotable Value have shown that house prices are coming under pressure from rising interest rates, tighter lending criteria and a shift in buying behaviour from fear of missing out, to fear of over paying.

"We're also seeing 77 per cent more properties on the market in May this year, versus last year and that gap between the number of buyers and the number of buyers is coming closer together."

It takes some urgency out of the market and allows people to have more time as they looked at what options are going to suit them, says Wood.

"Property is a two-sided transaction so those who are usually selling are looking to buy as well, so it actually works for sellers and buyers."

Wood says people looking to sell need to make sure they understand the characteristics of their property to determine what sales strategy works best.

-RNZ.
Bay of Plenty

You will be operating the Roller and also required to help out the team hands on. You will be working near Bayfair for a...



View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz
A not-for-profit KiwiSaver provider and the Shareholders Association will meet with Fletcher Building's board this week to discuss concerns shortages of GIB plasterboard could hurt investor returns.

The company has a near monopoly of the plasterboard market and the chronic shortages, which have been blamed on unprecedented demand, have been well publicised.

Some in the building sector have warned that the ongoing shortages could result in builders going broke because they could not finish residential projects.

Simplicity, which owns 0.8 per cent of the company through its KiwiSaver schemes, says it initiated the meeting because it wants to have an open and constructive conversation about the supply issues.

"We are going to go and ask our representatives on the board, the directors, how did this come about, what will be done in order to fix it, and what is it about looking after the stakeholders that needs to be improved at the company level," Simplicity chief executive Sam Stubbs told RNZ.

"This is the sort of shareholder activism KiwiSaver funds should be getting involved in," he says.

Simplicity's social housing developer, Simplicity Living, recently fired Fletchers as its supplier due to lengthy products delays and was now resorting to importing a cheaper alternative from Thailand.

Stubbs says Fletcher Building is an important company and its actions affect millions of New Zealanders, either through the supply of its building products for news houses or the performance of its share price.

He would not comment on whether it would try to force a change on the company's board.

"It's too early to judge at this stage, the board of Fletcher Building and the management of Fletcher Building deserve a fair hearing.

"Let's have this discussion, let's find out what's going on and most importantly let's find out what the plan is for the future and how this company will best service stakeholders."

The New Zealand Shareholders Association will also attend the meeting.

"We're concerned about the political and reputational impacts caused by the GIB supply issue on the sustainability of shareholder returns," says NZSA chief executive Oliver Mander.

"Simplicity have uncovered some deep dissatisfaction amongst customers of the Fletcher plasterboard product and, ultimately, for shareholders we're concerned about that."

Fletcher working to alleviate problem - CEO

Simplicity's social housing arm has had 60 construction companies get in touch for advice on how to import plasterboard directly.

Fletcher Building says it will be another year before its new Tauranga factory comes online.

It says it is working around the clock producing GIB, but nobody could see the scale of supply problems coming.

Fletcher Building chief executive Ross Taylor had told Checkpoint in 2019 the firm was committed to building the GIB factory at Tauriko in Tauranga.

Ross told Checkpoint this evening his company had no dragged its heels with the project, which he said won't be ready until this time next year. But the firm could not have foreseen problems of supply and demand faced by the industry today, he added, and said it had invested responsibly and reasonably.

"At that stage back in 2019 consensus for about 30,000 houses per annum," he says.

"We had a capacity... to deliver for 50,000 houses. So, we made a decision to invest $400 million in manufacturing in New Zealand quite some time ago."

But Covid-19 and subsequent border closures caused delays of six-to 12-months, Taylor says.

"What then also happened through the Covid-19 period is what no one saw coming... once people couldn't travel they started investing in houses, alterations, additions, new houses, and the consents and demand for housing went from 30,000 to 50,000 quite quickly.

Fletcher is an intrinsic part of the building industry and accepts that onshore manufacturing is critical to levels of resilience when these situations arise, but it's doing everything it can to alleviate the problem, he says.

"We're working our plants 24/7 and we've looked to source product offshore, but there's very limited avenues to do that because offshore markets and capacity are also limited and you can't get much in."

His company is importing alternative products in the same why Simplicity Living has been doing, Taylor says, although the quantity of product is not that significant.

"It's not in very large volumes because those companies offshore are still quite busy and still unable really don't do much to put a very large dent in what's going on here in New Zealand."

Merchants prioritised customers differently, so that the time it takes to deliver GIB board to a customer varies, he says.

Merchants bringing in alternative plasterboard products is a direct consequence of not having enough of Fletcher's products to go around, he says.

Taylor says his company's hold on the market of about 94 per cent did not affect competition.

"What we did with all our building products is compete against imports generally," he says.

The firm needs scale to compete with those big manufacturers overseas who have a cost advantage, hence the $400 million plant it had planned to operate to be competitive, Taylor says.

"We have to stay on our toes as when manufacturer plasterboard and other products in New Zealand to make sure we stay competitive. There are no tariffs, no barriers to entry to products in New Zealand, which is a healthy thing for the economy and keeping local manufacturers competitive."

There was no bias on the industry towards GIB board, he says.

System 'wrong'

Elephant Plasterboard's managing director Kevin Van Hest told Checkpoint there is something inherently wrong with the system that has helped create Fletcher Building's monopoly on the market with GIB.

One big problem is when the word GIB is written on building plans, because people think it's a generic term, not a brand name, he says.

On top of that council has made it difficult to use any other type of plasterboard. In his experience, he has also found a prejudice against a product that has not made in New Zealand, he says.

"We've all put our eggs in one basket... the authorities, council compliance, the building code, they've made it really hard for there to be competition."

MBIE spokesperson John Sneyd told Checkpoint councils are willing to be part of the solution to the plasterboard shortage.

"There's no silver bullet to this but there is stuff that we are doing.

"We know there are credible alternatives out there... That's one of the things we've asked [consenters] - thinking about the products that are available out there that they can use, using generic products where they don't need to have specialist performance, thinking about designing differently for fire protection and bracing."

-RNZ.
Tauranga households concerned about crime and home invasions in their neighbourhoods are being invited to join Western Bay of Plenty Neighbourhood Support to help protect themselves and their neighbours.

About 50 people met in Bethlehem on Saturday to discuss a series of home invasions where people reported having burglars enter their homes, and steal handbags, credit cards and other items.

The meeting was attended by Neighbourhood Supports chair and deputy chair, Western Bay MP Todd Muller, and representatives from Community Patrol and Western Bay of Plenty District Council.

Neighbourhood Support chair Kathy Webb says about 15,000 families are already members of the organisation throughout the Western Bay, with signs and stickers in their streets advertising it was a Neighbourhood Support area.

The organisation works to make homes, streets, neighbourhoods and communities safer and more caring places, she says.

We know that areas where there are Street Groups have less crime than those that dont. Criminals see the signs and know that people will be watching them.

We are close partners with Police, and crime prevention is still a major part of our kaupapa, even though we havent been called Neighbourhood Watch for more than a decade.

The organisation has Street Groups throughout the Western Bay with Street and Area Coordinators where neighbours got to know each other and were kept up to date with any crime in their area with fortnightly newsletters.

Neighbourhood Support ensures people get to know who lives near them, and people keep an eye on unusual activity in their street, helping each other keep safe and supporting those who are elderly or live alone.
Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription.

Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service.
One of the Cayuga County Legislature's biggest decisions is not expected to be made in time for voters to have a say this year.

For more than three years, the Legislature has been discussing changing the county's government structure by adopting a charter that could lead to establishing an elected executive in charge of day-to-day operations and with significant decision-making powers.

But adopting a charter requires approval of the county's voters, and time is running out to have such a proposal ready for the November general election ballot.

At last week's Legislature Government Operations Committee meeting, Chairman Chris Petrus began a discussion on the charter process by saying the Legislature needs to decide if it will create a commission tasked with drafting a proposed document or if it will create one with a committee of legislators.

But Legislature Chairman David Gould asked for more information about the process itself and the options legislators could include in a charter.

"This is the future of the county," Gould said. "We need an hour's time from the county attorneys to explain it. ... It's a very important thing."

A presentation by county attorneys was tentatively set for an hour before the Legislature's regular meeting would start in July.

One of Gould's main concerns is how, if an elected executive office is established, powers would be distributed between that person and the Legislature.

"If that's an elected executive, elected by the people of this county, and we don't contain that power or that authority, that person can come in and get rid of all your staff and get rid of a lot of other people," Gould said.

Petrus explained that the charter can give an executive varying degrees of power, so Gould's concerns will be important to discuss.

But because of the need for more discussion, the Legislature is unlikely to have a charter proposal adopted by August, which is the deadline for getting a question on the ballot.

"I think it's impossible at this point," Petrus said in an interview a few days after the committee meeting, saying he'll now focus on trying to get consensus for a proposal that voters could consider in the fall of 2023.

Petrus said he understands the concerns some lawmakers have, and he is not pushing harder to have something adopted for this year because in the end, he wants to have a proposal that receives unanimous or near-unanimous support for the Legislature.

"I think that's crucial," he said. "We want to try to proceed in the most bipartisan way possible."

Cayuga County's current form of government puts the Legislature chair in charge of day-to-day operations, with assistance from a newly created operations officer.

Cayuga County names its first operations officer Cayuga County government will soon be running under its first operations officer, but the person in the newly created leadership role will be 

That structure was in place for decades until the Legislature created an appointed administrator position with limited hiring and firing authority. But for roughly a decade ending in the spring of 2019, the county experienced significant turnover in the position, leading to calls for a change.

One question related to county government that will be on the ballot this year is a proposal to reduce the Legislature's size and create new districts. The Legislature adopted a local law proposing the 15 current districts be re-drawn into 11 seats.

Jeremy Boyer can be reached at (315) 282-2231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @CitizenBoyer

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney agrees there should be a response following recent mass shootings at a grocery store in Buffalo and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. But she does not believe the House Democrats' approach was the right one.

The House of Representatives passed two bills last week to address gun violence. One measure, the Protecting Our Kids Act, contains seven provisions, including raising the legal age to buy a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21, cracking down on gun trafficking, and more regulation of bump stocks.

Tenney, R-New Hartford, voted against the bill. She also opposed a bill that the House passed to establish federal extreme risk protection orders  so-called "red flag" laws that would set up a procedure for removing guns from an individual if they pose a threat to themselves or others.

In her statement, Tenney said House Democrats "missed the mark" with the gun reform proposals, which she added are "knee-jerk reactions that undermine due process and infringe on our Second Amendment."

"They failed to acknowledge the root causes of these tragedies," she continued. "From the breakdown in our society and the fraying of the very social networks that once bound us together to criminal justice reforms that have demonized police while celebrating criminals, our country needs a serious course correction."

Tenney supports other proposals to address gun violence and mass shootings. She advocated for improvements to the background check system, such as the 21st Century NICS Act that has been introduced by U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, a South Carolina Republican. The bill has bipartisan support  41 Republicans and seven Democrats are listed as cosponsors.

The bill would close what's been dubbed the "Charleston Loophole." Federal law allows a gun to be sold after three days, regardless of whether a background check has been completed. After the mass shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. Zion Church in Charleston, it was discovered that the shooter could not legally own firearms, but was allowed to buy a gun because the background check wasn't conducted in the three-day period.

Tenney also believes there should be more funding for mental health care and has cosponsored the REACHING Improved Mental Health Outcomes for Patients Act, a bipartisan bill that aims to improve access to mental health resources. And she supports increased school safety through teacher training and facility security.

"These shootings are a tragic symptom of a far more systemic deterioration of our society and institutions," she said. "Infringing further on the constitutional rights and due process of law-abiding Americans is not the answer, and it will not solve the problem."

Tenney is running for reelection in the newly drawn 24th Congressional District, which includes all of Cayuga County.

The House gun safety bill likely won't pass in the Senate, but a bipartisan group of senators reached an agreement on the framework for a bill. The legislation needs to be finalized before votes are held.

Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 10

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
srikanthpotluri BHPian



Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 471 Thanked: 760 Times

View My Garage





My Volkswagen Polo GT TSI's last trip to Orissa



It has been a while since I posted my last log, thanks to Covid-19 post our trip to Arunachal, we could not plan anything for the past 2 years. However during December 2021, had planned a trip to visit my brothers farm which is nearby Chilika lake area, at Orissa. The intent was to spend some time together, what happened was we ended up traveling to Satkosia and Konark. Since there are a lot of logs covering all the major details, this is going to be a photologue 



Roads all the way are awesome.



Bengaluru  Vijayawada-Behrampur-Farm-Satkosia-Konark-Chilika-Farm-Rajahmundry-Chennai-Bengaluru



Lets go-



My last trip with the lovely GT - had an awesome drive as always -





Started a bit relaxed at 7AM, had stopped here for breakfast post Hoskote-





Took the Naidupeta route to touch the Chennai-Kolkatta highway, and heavy rains have hit me for sometime -





For few kilometers had to be really careful as nothing was visible -





Touching the highway and a smooth drive till Vijayawada from here-





Checked into Novotel and had a very good evening alone -





Day to reach the farm and a long drive ahead, roads as usual awesome-









Break at Rajahmundry -





Finally reached the at farm around 7:30 PM -





Simba and Mouli taking rest -





Next day morning walked around to check out the farm -













Had some homely lunch at the farm house -









Next day morning, we both headed out to a nearby place for breakfast-





Awesome crispy puri's -





Our daily ritual post 6PM, as it gets cold and dark soon out here-





Our lovely caretakers-









Bro working hard for the firewood -





Hi All,It has been a while since I posted my last log, thanks to Covid-19 post our trip to Arunachal, we could not plan anything for the past 2 years. However during December 2021, had planned a trip to visit my brothers farm which is nearby Chilika lake area, at Orissa. The intent was to spend some time together, what happened was we ended up traveling to Satkosia and Konark. Since there are a lot of logs covering all the major details, this is going to be a photologue Roads all the way are awesome.Bengaluru  Vijayawada-Behrampur-Farm-Satkosia-Konark-Chilika-Farm-Rajahmundry-Chennai-BengaluruLets go-My last trip with the lovely GT - had an awesome drive as always -Started a bit relaxed at 7AM, had stopped here for breakfast post Hoskote-Took the Naidupeta route to touch the Chennai-Kolkatta highway, and heavy rains have hit me for sometime -For few kilometers had to be really careful as nothing was visible -Touching the highway and a smooth drive till Vijayawada from here-Checked into Novotel and had a very good evening alone -Day to reach the farm and a long drive ahead, roads as usual awesome-Break at Rajahmundry -Finally reached the at farm around 7:30 PM -Simba and Mouli taking rest -Next day morning walked around to check out the farm -Had some homely lunch at the farm house -Next day morning, we both headed out to a nearby place for breakfast-Awesome crispy puri's -Our daily ritual post 6PM, as it gets cold and dark soon out here-Our lovely caretakers-Bro working hard for the firewood -
Why it matters: Apple has come under criticism for its effective ban on cloud gaming apps on iPhone and the requirement that all iOS browsers must use the WebKit engine. But now the United Kingdom's antitrust authority is bringing these policies under scrutiny along with Google's new Play Store payment rules.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced last week that it's investigating the effects of Apple's web browser and cloud gaming rules on the mobile market. The CMA also released a study in which it calls Apple and Google a duopoly in the mobile space (which points out the obvious, but I digress).

The CMA found that 97 percent of all mobile web browsing in the UK in 2021 occurred on browsers running on either Apple's WebKit engine or Google's Chromium. Apple forces all iOS browsers to use WebKit, which the CMA fears limits innovation in web browser apps. The European Union is already preparing legislation forcing Apple to end that requirement.

Concerns about Apple's restrictions on cloud gaming for iOS also reached the CMA. Apple has blocked companies like Microsoft, Facebook, and Google from releasing mobile cloud gaming apps unless they agree to deliver each streamed game as an individual app.

This would partially defeat the purpose of cloud gaming and potentially give the Cupertino giant a cut of in-game purchases, and bring the subscriptions into competition with Apple's game subscription service. Notably, Apple enforces no such rules on video and music streaming subscriptions like Netflix or Spotify.

Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia were forced to sidestep Apple's cloud gaming rules using web apps.

Pending the investigation, the CMA could force Apple to change its rules for both iOS web browsers and cloud gaming. The regulator is also investigating Google's newly tightened obligation that Play Store apps use its payment processor and thus send it a share of sales revenue. The new rules have led to higher prices in South Korea and brought Google into conflict with Epic's Bandcamp.
In brief: A lot of people are sweating over the tumbling price of Bitcoin, which was just $800 away from $20,000 only a few hours ago, but few have as much to lose as El Salvador. It adopted BTC as an official currency last year and holds 2,301 Bitcoin valued around $50.1 million at the time of writing. Unfortunately, the country paid a total of $105.6 million for the digital currency. Its Finance Minister isn't worried, though: he says the crash poses 'extremely minimal' fiscal risk to the South American nation.

El Salvador president Nayib Bukele has placed a lot of faith in Bitcoin. From the initial investment of 400 coins, worth about $20.9 million at the time, Bukele has repeatedly 'bought the dip,' purchasing more every time the price fell. The highest it has paid was $60,300 per coin, while the lowest was $30,700 last month when Bukele added another 500 to the collection. Bitcoin dropped to $20,834 a few hours ago, its lowest point since early December 2020.

Crypto is not having a good time right now. The collapse of Terra and support coin Luna pushed an already struggling market into a spirallending platform The Celsius Network has frozen account withdrawals as a result of the extreme conditions.

Bitcoin's price over the last seven days

The falling price means El Salvador's investment is now worth less than half of what it paid for the Bitcoin. There were reports last month of the country potentially failing to meet its next debt payments, but Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya has brushed off the concerns.

"When they tell me that the fiscal risk for El Salvador because of Bitcoin is really high, the only thing I can do is smile," Zelaya said at a press conference (via Reuters). "The fiscal risk is extremely minimal."

Citing an estimate from Deutsche Welles that El Salvador's Bitcoin holdings had lost $40 million in value, Zelaya added: "Forty million dollars does not even represent 0.5% of our national general budget."

El Salvador has postponed its $1 billion 'Volcano bonds' that were supposed to launch in March to fund the Bitcoin City project. It was hoped the money could also be used to help meet its financial obligationsMoody's downgraded the country's debt rating to CAA1, an investment grade rated as poor quality and very high credit risk.

Bukele has been facing criticism for his seemingly lax attitude toward Bitcoin and the falling price. His recent admission that he trades the nation's BTC on his phone hasn't helped endear him to the public whose tax money is funding this trading.

There's always the chance that BTC will have a massive resurgence at some point in the future and El Salvador's holdings will be worth more than what it paid for them, then Bukele could say he was right all along. The alternative posed quite a grim scenario for the president and his country.

Masthead credit: Useacoin
Rumor mill: AMD recently revealed some details about its upcoming RDNA 3-based Radeon RX 7000 graphics cards, but we still don't know the all-important launch dates. According to a regular and reliable leaker, they will arrive sometime between late October and mid-November, just after the company releases its Zen 4-powered Ryzen 7000 CPUs.

Those dates come from a tweet by Greymon55 (via VideoCardz), who cites a "reliable" source. The leaker believes the cards will arrive very soon after the Ryzen 7000 processors that land sometime between late September and early October, leaving little time between the two launches.

3rd gen DNA  Greymon55 (@greymon55) June 14, 2022

It's believed that AMD will release the Navi 31 GPU for the flagship Radeon RX 7900 series first, followed by the Navi 33- and Navi 32-based cards. This is similar to Nvidia's reported plans to launch the powerful RTX 4090 first, followed by the 4080, 4070, then 4060.

Speaking of team green, AMD's rumored card launch dates would likely clash with Nvidia's. The latest reports claim the RTX 4090 will land in September or October, with a four-week interval between each subsequent release.

While all of these dates are just rumors and should be taken with a heavy dose of salt, it seems like a safe bet that Intel will beat both companies to market with its Arc desktop GPUs, which, despite the recently announced delay, are still expected in late summer.

AMD recently showed off its CPU and GPU roadmaps. They confirm rumors that the 5nm RDNA 3 cards will return to a chiplet design and feature DisplayPort 2.0 support to deliver uncompressed 4K gaming at 240Hz, thanks to the 80Gbps of bandwidth.
June 14, 2007

AUBURN  A small hollow gourd, the bold voice of an experienced storyteller and a whole lot of schoolchildren's voices filled the Booker T. Washington gymnasium Thursday.

The Auburn Human Rights Commission sponsored an annual Juneteenth Day event in honor of the time slaves discovered they were free. It took two years for the news to spread throughout the states that slaves were no longer bound to work because of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed in 1863.

D'Lores Simmons of the Blackstorytelling League of Rochester wove the past with the present in stories she told to students from the city elementary schools who packed into the yellow and white gymnasium.

While this was Simmons' first time at the celebration, representatives from the Rochester organization have spoken at the event for the past four years, executive director Karen Sheftic-Burns said.

After she was introduced, Simmons commanded the students' attention as she walked to the microphone by singing and shaking her shekere, a hollowed gourd covered in a beaded net that creates a rattling sound.

She learned the art of storytelling from her mother, who told Simmons she shared stories for many reasons.

"She said, 'I tell stories because they have meaning, because stories can teach you a lesson,'" Simmons told the more than 300 young students.

But the children didn't just listen. They would call out words in unison, respond to Simmons's cues, and call out answers to questions. During a story about a tailor, she used hand motions, along with the listeners, to show the clothes maker crafting a coat, jacket, hat and eventually a tie.

 Compiled by David Wilcox

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Recap: In December 2013, when Amazon first revealed its plans to deliver packages using drones, Barack Obama was president, and Russia hadn't invaded Crimea. Almost a decade later, the tech giant is finally set to launch its drone service, with the town of Lockeford, California, set to receive deliveries from the drones once the Federal Aviation Administration grants approval.

Amazon writes that residents of Lockeford, located about 50 miles south of Sacramento, will be the first to receive Prime deliveries via drone into their backyards later this year. The program will receive a wider rollout after the trial.

Lockeford residents will be able to order "thousands" of eligible Prime items for drone delivery, which will presumably be restricted to those weighing five pounds or lighter. They should arrive in under an hour, and buyers can track the drones online.

"Lockeford residents will soon have access to one of the world's leading delivery innovations," said California State Assemblyman Heath Flora, whose district includes Lockeford. "It's exciting that Amazon will be listening to the feedback of the San Joaquin County community to inform the future development of this technology."

Amazon's drones use an "industry-leading" sense-and-avoid system that allows them to operate Beyond the Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), meaning they can fly at distances outside the visual range of pilots while still avoiding other aircraft, people, pets, and obstacles. The drones can also ensure there is a clear area in customers' backyards as they descend to deliver packages.

Over two dozen prototype drones have been tested since Prime Air's inception, the latest of these (top of page) use a hexagonal design that provides six degrees of freedom and propellors designed to minimize high-frequency soundwaves.

The deliveries in Lockeford are still dependent on the FAA certifying that they accord with the National Environmental Policy Act, Av Raichura Zammit, a spokesperson for Amazon, told The Verge.

In 2013, Amazon's former CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said the drones would be making deliveries within five years. Six years later, Amazon said deliveries by drone would be available to customers within months. The project looked shaky in 2020 when Amazon fired dozens of Prime Air employees, but the end goal appears in sight.
Federal health officials announced on Sunday that pediatric dosages of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccinations are safe and effective for children under the age of five, another critical step toward a long-awaited decision to start vaccinating America's youngest children.

(Photo : CDC / Unsplash)

Pfizer Vaccine for Children Under 5

In a study provided before a major meeting of FDA advisors later this week, US Food and Drug Administration staff stated that Pfizer Inc.'s Covid injection was effective for children aged five and younger, with no concerns about safety.

The FDA's Pfizer vaccine assessment was made public ahead of a meeting of independent vaccine experts on Wednesday. During the meeting, experts will propose how the agency should decide on proposals from both Pfizer and Moderna to vaccinate children.

The staff report noted essential things, including "available data that indicate the efficacy" of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE vaccine in children aged six months to four years. Trials of younger children had a lower rate of adverse responses than trials of larger age groups. According to the findings, this might be owing to the lower mRNA dosages utilized in the youngest children.

"Given the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic and likelihood of continued SARS-CoV-2 transmission during the ensuing months, deployment of the vaccine for use among children 6 months through 4 years of age will likely have a beneficial effect on Covid-19-associated morbidity and mortality in this age group," the FDA said.

Additionally, the current data do not reveal any additional safety concerns, according to the FDA assessment of the Pfizer injection among the youngest children.

The FDA staff report for the Moderna vaccine in children aged 6 months to 17 years old, on the other hand, was released on Friday and said that it was efficacious in these age groups without causing severe unanticipated adverse effects.

Also Read: COVID-19 Vaccine: Sanofi, GSK Seeks Authorization, Says Immunization Shot is More Effective Against Severe Disease

Pediatric Covid Vaccine Under 5

Per New York Times, experts will continue the meeting happening for two days beginning Tuesday to examine mRNA vaccinations for children. Pfizer's application for permission in young children aged six months to four years will be addressed on Wednesday, together with Moderna's application for clearance in children aged six months to five years.

If authorities approve one or both firms' vaccines, immunizations may begin as soon as next week, with the drug manufacturers ready to send dosages needed by the government quickly. Parents have been pleading with federal officials for months to allow them to safeguard their children as more people forgo masks and other public health protections.

According to Bloomberg, the Biden administration stated earlier this month that Covid vaccinations for the youngest children will be available as early as June 21. The government has 10 million doses of vaccinations ready to go from Pfizer and Moderna as soon as FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide the go signal.

Related Article: Pfizer COVID Vaccine: FDA Approval for Use on Children Ages 6 Mos. to 4 Years Old Now Processing

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Thea Felicity

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Huawei has announced that it will now dive into the world of quantum computers. The Chinese tech giant issued a patent related to the Quantum chip and computer.

(Photo : David Ramos/Getty Images)

BARCELONA, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 28: A logo sits illuminated outside the Huawei booth at the SK telecom booth on day 1 of the GSMA Mobile World Congress on February 28, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain.

The patent has a specified number of CN114613758A, a quantum chipset, and a quantum computing device. This solves the existing issues of producing quantum chipsets that involve the complexity of manufacturing quantum chips and the low yields of quantum chipsets compared to existing mainstream chipsets today.

With this new type of quantum chip, it will be easier to assemble in the future and there will be more units that can be produced with higher yields.

Also Read: How to Get Free 50GB Cloud Storage for Huawei Users: 500,000 Users Infected by Joker Malware

The Architecture

The patent listing states the fundamentals of the newly-developed quantum chipset. For one, each sub-chip has N quits, while M sub-chips are arranged on the surface of the substrate at intervals.

Moreover, the coupling structure realized the interconnection between the M sub-chips. And finally, the cavity mode suppression structure is arranged at the edge of every sub-chip and in the gap between the M sub-chips. These are used to increase the cavity mode frequency of the quantum chip.

This isn't the first time the tech giant is working with the Quantum theories. In January 2021, the Chinese tech company acquired a quantum key distribution system, method, and device patent.

Quantum Computers

Quantum computing is the next generation of computing that helps cut down on the internet and computing speeds up to ten times. It's also known to be more powerful and more efficient compared to the present computers. And the quantum chips will serve as the future of computing.

We're still in the early stages of developing quantum computers yet with these latest developments, we are closer to that. In this case, if Huawei succeeds with its quantum computing program, it can gain a bigger market share.

This tech can change the way we conduct our day to day activities on the internet, with a new level of security. More than that, Quantum computing will change how we do business, the way we communicate, and how we study, among others.

The Future of Quantum Computing

Quantum computers are still in the development process. But if this turns out to be successful, it could be the next big thing in the world of computers. This can be used in the future for more complex tasks like running real-time predictions, simulations, and world-building.

Since Quantum computers can work on a variety of tasks, it will be a huge leap in the world of computing.

Moreover, quantum computers will easily solve complex computational problems, enabling us to create groundbreaking scientific discoveries and develop new technologies.

The next step is to create quantum computers that can be used commercially, and Huawei is on the right path to make that happen.

Related Article: Quantum Computers To Be Mass-Produced? New Study Shows They're Now Compatible With Current Manufacturing Techs

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by April Fowell

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Cryptocurrency companies are feeling the effects of the recent market crash and bearish industry, resulting in several entities laying off their employees as they cannot maintain their business to be as strong as before.

The companies, including Crypto.com and BlockFi, have begun removing their employees from their tenure, and their executives express this bad news to the public as part of the ongoing changes in the market.

Crypto.com, BlockFi Fires Employees Due to Bad Market

(Photo : JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

An illustration picture taken in London on May 8, 2022, shows gold plated souvenir cryptocurrency Tether (USDT), Bitcoin and Etherium coins arranged beside a screen displaying a trading chart.

Kris Marszalek of Crypto.com announced via Twitter what the company did during the dark times of the cryptocurrency crash that happened in the past weeks, and one of them is the layoffs it observed. Here, Marszalek said that the company reduced its workers by five percent, resulting in 260 personnel losing their jobs.

Marszalek said that these decisions were difficult, but it was a necessary move that would help the company maintain its foot in the cryptocurrency industry, especially during these times. Other actions were also observed here, and all of the efforts they made were to ensure that the company would continue its operations.

On the other hand, a blog post by BlockFi founders Zac Prince and Floria Marquez also told the world the reason why it laid-off employees, and it was due to the crypto crash.

Read Also: Bitcoin's Value Dips Due to 'Extreme Market Conditions'

Binance Wants More Workers to Hire, Acquisitions

Compared to Crypto.com and BlockFi, Cahnpeng Zhao of Binance wants to add more employees to its company and work on its acquisitions to improve its operations during these trying times. It is a way for Binance to recuperate during these times and bounce back from what happened in the market.

Cryptocurrency Industry: Falling?

There are other companies that resorted to freezing their hiring processes and accepting new employees due to the recent downfall of the industry, and one of the companies is the famous Coinbase. It is truly a trying time for cryptocurrency, and despite it regaining its strength and bouncing back in the current economy, there are losses it cannot bring back.

Many payment systems that border on cryptocurrency faced risks in the many happenings in the past weeks, and there are those that genuinely felt its struggle to maintain their operations. It is important to note that the market volatility is still a massive risk factor to individual investors and corporations that ride on the crypto trend now.

One of the stable coins also crashed, and it is a testament to the hardships it faces now.

Nevertheless, these layoffs are not something the company wanted during these times, especially as they would continue to hold on to these employees if the circumstances changed. Of course, the setup in most companies sees the "first in, last out" practice, meaning that most that were laid off are those that are new to their workforce.

Related Article: Crypto Lender Celsius Stops Withdrawals, Transfers Amid Market Collapse

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by Isaiah Richard

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Some customers who order Sonos speakers from the website have received more than they ordered. Although it may not be something to complain about, people are actually complaining because Sonos charged them extra for the devices and they want their money back.

(Photo : Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Sonos Studio)

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 04: Sonos and Blue Note Records celebrate 75 years of jazz music and the launch of the Blue Note Limited Edition Sonos Speaker at The Iconic Capitol Records Tower on February 4, 2015 in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California.

Currently, Sonos has addressed the issue by issuing refunds for the additional charges. However, some are disappointed because they didn't receive a discount for the inconvenience of dealing with a problem that is not their fault.

The company sent an email to the users acknowledging that they have overcharged them and will receive multiple shipments of their orders. According to Sonos, this is due to a system update that resulted in orders being processed multiple times. They ask the customers to ship the extra speakers with the provided prepaid label. The affected users can use Sonos' carrier for pickup.

An excerpt from the email reads, "I want to personally apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. You will receive a full refund for any excess orders and should see the credit issues to your account within 10 business days," signed off by Ruth Sleeter, the chief information officer of Sonos.

Also Read: Leaked $250 Sonos Soundbar to Come With Surround Sound But There's a Catch

What Customers Have to Say

A user placed an order for a single Sonos Move, but ended up receiving three. There is also another user who has been charged over $2,000 after ordering one Move speaker but instead got seven.

There are more reports on Reddit that say it's not only happening on the Move orders, but the same thing is happening to the Roam and Ray orders.

It is unclear the number of customers who were affected by the issue or when it all started. Also, it is unclear if there are consequences for customers who don't return them.

The thing is, the company may not be able to legally charge those affected customers who choose not to return the products based on a rule on the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) website. It states that there's no need to pay for things you get but didn't order; additionally, there is also a rule that consumers don't need to return unordered merchandise.

With that, who knows if some affected customers will return the additional speakers they received? It all boils down to integrity; however, the inconvenience the company has caused these customers may lead to a loss, which could be significant if this happened to many customers.

Only Sonos can tell if their customers are honest enough to return the speakers because if there are no loopholes to the FTC rule, then there's nothing the company can do.

Currently, Sonos Roam and Move Bluetooth speakers are on sale for 20 percent off.

Related Article: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence Releases Statement to Clarify Announcement to Discontinue Legacy Product System Updates

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by April Fowell

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Talk shows usually border on research and some commentaries from their hosts, and in this case, it is from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, a show from HBO. Here, the British American talk show host talked about tech monopolies, and its main subjects were Google and Amazon, apart from the other Big Tech that Oliver mentioned.

Talk show Host John Oliver Explicitly Called Out Google and Amazon

(Photo : Brad Barket/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 12: John Oliver speaks at the The Robin Hood Foundation's 2014 Benefit at Jacob Javitz Center on May 12, 2014 in New York City.

An HBO Original show is talking about tech monopolies as the subject of its talk show. Its host, John Oliver, is now the center of attention for his take on the antitrust lawsuits against Big Tech companies. The show's main subjects are Google and Amazon, and the two companies are under fire for the information the play brought.

"Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" trends now, and it is because it tapped a controversial topic that did not have much attention before today.

There are many reports regarding this from television news and online publications, but they did not see the same take as what Oliver did with the show, as it includes sarcasm and comedic reporting in the mix.

The Tech Monopolies episode with John Oliver is available below, watch for more information.

Read Also: Google Loses Appeal in 2017 EU Antitrust Case, $2.8 Billion Fine Upheld

Tech Monopolies Episode: It Talks A Lot About the Antitrust

According to The Verge, Oliver's show became a controversial one in 2014 as it first talked about net neutrality and instigated the public to flood the Federal Communication Commission's website, which led to its crash. Now, the host is talking about Tech Monopolies that focus on Antitrust, with expectations that it will put Google and Amazon in the hot seat.

Antitrust Lawsuits and Monopolistic Behavior

Many regulatory agencies in the country focus on prosecuting the Antitrust lawsuits that are filed against the many companies and businesses speculated to practice it. One of the many companies facing the Antitrust cases is Facebook or Meta, along with Google, Amazon, Apple, and other Big Tech.

It does not boil down to the Big Tech alone, as other companies also face the charges, as there are cases brought upon regulators regarding their monopolistic behavior. Spotify also had an antitrust lawsuit against them, and the prosecutors claim that it is because of their existence on the App Store that it allegedly violated.

John Oliver is not a whistleblower, nor someone who has direct knowledge of what happens within Google or Amazon. Still, the research he and the show provided brought massive information to light. It mainly focused on Google and Amazon, which already had cases regarding the Antitrust appearing against them, which is factual and seen by the public.

Related Article: Poland Opens Investigation Into Apple's App Tracking Transparency Feature | Potential Anti-Competition Tactic?

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by Isaiah Richard

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Apple brings a better feature for all iPad users with the Stage Manager, and its goal is to expand a person's workspace when using the tablet for personal and business needs. One of the marvels of WWDC 22 is the iPadOS 16, and it comes with the full integration of the Stage Manager, aiming to bring a better experience for all.

Apple iPad Stage Manager: For Multitasking and More Work Coverage

(Photo : Apple Newsroom)

Apple brought the Stage Manager feature available for all eligible devices, and it aims to expand more on the multitasking feature and work coverage for the tablet alone. As a standalone device, it is powerful and may help accomplish much work for the user without any problems.

The Stage Manager will help explore more of these features, as the company revealed in WWDC 22.

Users with iPad devices will get the Stage Manager, an exclusive feature for the iPadOS to bring to its users, provided that they upgrade to the latest OS version for the attribute. Imagine using zoom and taking notes simultaneously, while another app is available on the screen to choose and run while doing all these things at once.

Stage Manager brings four tiles for apps to work together in a single window, expanding more on the options to switch between one app to the other.

Read Also: WWDC 22: iPadOS 16 Releases with New Features and Offers, But the Public Is Not Happy-Why?

iPad for Side Car and Better Multitasking Features

TechCrunch's interview with Apple's SVP of Engineering, Craig Federighi, reveals why the Stage Manager is a promising application for all its users. Before, the iPad was a device that users may use to extend screens via the SideCar feature, helping multitask for a Mac and iPad setup.

(Photo : Apple Newsroom)

Now, the iPad aims to bring users a chance to stand alone with the tablet itself and help those needing to do more work or activities in the app.

Apple's iPad and iPadOS

Apple's focus on its iPad as one of the most significant ventures from its production is a move seen by the public. It regularly gets updates and features from the company for different takes on the tablet. The shift of its production from China to Vietnam is a massive move for Apple, and it aims to ensure that its supply chain will not get affected in the coming months.

A pending iPad refresh will come to the company, and it aims to bring the latest features of the tablet that will assist all users with different needs and requirements. Most of those that use the iPads now focus on business and operations, particularly with the many features available to boost their usage, as explained in WWDC 22.

Back then, the iPad is only a bigger screen that users may utilize to experience games and streaming better, but now it is a device that is essential for business and expanding one's usage.

The Stage Manager is a practical feature for all users who rely on their tablets to multitask and have different apps working for them, open simultaneously and on the same screen. Its many windows and customization feature makes it a device that stands out for itself and not so much as a separate screen for the Mac devices.

Related Article: Apple is Set to Launch a New iPad Pro with a Larger Screen and Faster Processor in 2023

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by Isaiah Richard

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer support is ending on June 15, marking the official retirement of the OG Windows internet browser during the early days of the online world.

However, it appears that the web browser will still be available on a few versions of Windows.



(Photo : Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

MUNICH, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 06: In this photo illustration Google's Chrome browser shortcut, Google Inc.'s new Web browser, is displayed next to Mozilla Firefox shortcut and Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser shortcut, on an laptop.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Back before web browsers touts themselves to be a faster option to navigate the internet, Microsoft's Internet Explorer was widely used.

The emergence of browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have somewhat overshadowed the default browser of Microsoft. All thanks to their impressive performance and tons of handy features.

Microsoft went on to release a Chromium-based browser, none other than the Microsoft Edge. The new option replaced Internet Explorer altogether with the release of the latest Windows 11, as per a new story by PC World.

Microsoft Ends Internet Explorer Support

Alongside the replacement of Internet Explorer, Microsoft also announced that it plans to retire the OG browser.

To be more precise, Microsoft confirmed as early as 2021 that it is ending its support for its original web browser this year.

(Photo : David Ramos/Getty Images)

A logo sits illumintated outside the Microsoft booth on day 2 of the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2019 on February 26, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain.

So, if you are still one of those few who continue to browse the web using the sluggish Internet Explorer, you are left with a few more hours - at least before it retires.

According to a recent report by Bleeping Computer, Microsoft is ending its support for Internet Explorer on June 15.

The browser is finally retiring after 27 years of service. It turns out it first launched during the infancy days of the internet long ago on August 24, 1995. It is back when going online had yet to become a daily routine for most folks.

Websites like Google and Facebook were non-existent when Internet Explorer first saw the light of day.

Internet Explorer Retirement

Bleeping Computer explains what happens when Microsoft cuts off its support for the iconic browser.

The desktop application of Internet Explorer should be disabled once its support comes to an end on various Windows versions. As such, when PC users try to open the latest IE, they will be redirected to the new default browser, the Microsoft Edge.

The formal retirement of Internet Explorer includes multiple versions of Windows 10, starting from Windows 10 version 20H2 and Windows 10 IoT version 20H2 up to their latest counterparts.

Microsoft is also ending support for the browser on the Windows 10 version, which gets delivered through its Semi-Annual Channel.

Read Also: Microsoft Edge is Taking Over Internet Explorer As 27-Year-Old Browser Goes Extinct in 2022

Internet Explorer Available on These Windows Versions

But some versions of Windows still have an extended run of Internet Explorer. It includes Windows 10 LTSC client, IoT, and Server, as well as its older versions like Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 ESU.

Related Article: Microsoft Edge Adds Internet Explorer Mode in Time for its Retirement-But Why

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Teejay Boris

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A new study shows that robotic surgery is a lot safer and has a faster recovery period for patients. Robotic surgery helps surgeons to perform various complicated operations with more flexibility, precision, and control.

(Photo : YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP via Getty Images)

Japan's medical machine venture Riverfield engineer demonstrates the world's first pneumatically controlled endoscope robot "Emaro" to assist low invasive surgery in Tokyo on July 31, 2015.

University College London and University of Sheffield scientists conducted a first-of-its-kind clinical trial that found robot-assisted surgery can remove and rebuild bladder cancer that helps patients recover faster.

Moreover, the trial also showed that robotic surgery can help reduce the chances of readmission in half. And it doesn't end there-the trial also showed that it has a four-fold reduction in the prevalence of blood clots.

There is also a significant improvement in the patient's stamina and quality of life, as well as their physical activity that increased. Their physical activity was measured via daily steps that were recorded on a wearable smart sensor.

Surgeons can remotely guide less invasive tools via a console and 3D view. Currently, this is offers at some hospitals in the UK.

Also Read: Lexington Medical Center's Robot Assists Surgeons? | Interesting Facts About Robotic Surgery

The Strongest Evidence So Far

With these findings, scientists state that so far, this is the strongest evidence when it comes to how patients can benefit from robot-assisted surgery. Therefore, there are now pushing the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) to make it available as a clinical option across the UK.

The robot-assisted surgery can be performed for major abdominal surgeries, such as gynecological, colorectal, and gastrointestinal.

This is a crucial finding because this will reduce bed pressures on the NHS and enable patients to return home more quickly. There are also fewer complications due to improved mobility and less time spent in bed.

With these positive findings, open surgery being the gold standard for highly complex surgeries may now be challenged for the first time.

A Future Trend in Healthcare

Robot-assisted surgical tools have been around for the past decade, but it's only recently that it's being used by surgeons in various other procedures, including urology.

It is also important to note that the trend of using robots in surgical procedures is a highly anticipated future trend in healthcare. With the increasing development of the technology and its affordability, it is expected that robot-assisted surgery will be incorporated in many hospitals.

The complete automation of surgery is a future trend in healthcare, which can help surgeons perform complex procedures more precisely, and more thoroughly.

This technology may sound futuristic but scientists are hopeful that it may soon become a common practice in hospitals. This study provides evidence for other hospitals to use this technology to perform major procedures on patients.

Robotic surgery has already been adopted in many countries, but there are still some places where it is not available as a treatment. Without a doubt, this study provides the most compelling evidence of its effectiveness.

Related Article: Zeta Surgical's Image-Guided Surgery: How Does It Work? Startup Raises $5.2M for Its Ventures

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by April Fowell

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Elon Musk and Twitter workers will have their first meeting since the billionaire tech entrepreneur agreed to buy the social media platform.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesla and SpaceX, Musk, is set to virtually meet the workers of Twitter later this week, no less than its CEO, Parag Agrawal, reportedly announced.



(Photo : Max Whittaker/Getty Images)

CARSON CITY, NEVADA- SEPTEMBER 4: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, listens as Governor Brian Sandoval of Nevada speaks during a press conference at the Nevada State Capitol, September 4, 2014 in Carson City, Nevada.

As per a news story by Teslarati, the Twitter boss sent an email to the employees of the giant social media platform to notify them that Musk is joining them in a company-wide meeting.

Elon Musk to Answer Twitter Workers' Questions

The internal email by Agrawal revealed that the wealthiest man in the world, Musk, is attending a virtual meeting on June 16 to answer the queries of Twitter workers.

According to the recent report of Bloomberg, the town hall meeting with Musk is scheduled on the morning of June 16, Thursday, sources of the news outlet claimed.

(Photo : CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)

This illustration photo taken May 13, 2022, displays Elon Musks Twitter account with a Twitter logo in the background in Los Angeles.

The report further adds that Musk himself is going to answer questions straight from the workforce of Twitter.

Meanwhile, Teslarati notes that the Twitter CEO said the company-wide virtual meeting covers "topics and questions that have been raised over the past weeks."

Twitter employees could reportedly submit their questions to the Tesla CEO at least a day before the virtual meeting starts.

The Chief Marketing Officer and Head of People, Leslie Berland, is said to be the moderator of the upcoming meeting with Musk. He will also be responsible with choosing which queries make it to the billionaire.

Read Also: Elon Musk Twitter Account Doesn't Load Older Tweets? Billionaire Says It's "Very Strange"

Twitter Employees vs. Elon Musk

Since the tech billionaire agreed to purchase Twitter for a staggering $44 billion before the end of April, the internal situation of the social media giant became a bit of a mess.

(Photo : ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images )

Tesla CEO Elon Musk uses his mobile device as he sits in the car arriving to the construction site for the new plant, the so-called "Giga Factory", of US electric carmaker Tesla in Gruenheide near Berlin, northeastern Germany.

Bloomberg says that Twitter entered a "chaotic state" when Musk entered in the picture roughly more than a month ago.

It all comes as the workforce of the social media platform were generally displeased with the move of Musk. It is worth noting that the billionaire is also a vocal critic of Twitter. The Tesla CEO has a history of taking jabs at the policies and services of the tech giant.

On top of these, the Twitter CEO also made a few massive changes since Musk agreed with the multi-billion purchase. For instance, Agrawal already announced ways to cut the cost of its operations.

What's more, Teslarati mentions that the Slack channels of Twitter have reportedly flooded with concerns regarding the takeover of Musk.

Related Article: Elon Musk said that Twitter's Daily Raw Feed is Only 50GB, Fits in a 'USB Stick'

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Teejay Boris

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Tesla is reportedly hiring 500 to 600 people every month at its Gruenheide manufacturing facility. The EV giant is also reportedly working with Germany's national employment agency to recruit workers who are no longer required at German automakers plants, revealed the country's regional economy minister of Brandenburg Joerg Steinbach.

(Also read: Tesla planning new production facility. These are locations being considered)

Automotive News Europe has also reported that a total of 4,100 to 4,500 staff have been already recruited at Tesla's Giga Berlin manufacturing plant. Among them around 10 per cent of the workers are foreigners, primarily from Poland, the report reveals further.

Speaking about this, Steinbach further said that car manufacturers in other regions have been realizing that the production of electric cars requires fewer people than had in past for the internal combustion engine vehicles. This evolving situation is claimed to be helping the Brandenburg region, claimed the minister, as the companies like Tesla are trying to bring those workers to the region.

Tesla's Gruenheide EV plant has been running on two shifts since May 23. A third shift is due to start before the end of the year, the minister further added. This revelation comes at a time when Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier in June this year said that the EV manufacturer would reduce its salaried workforce by 10 per cent. He also said that Tesla has become overstaffed in many areas. However, Musk later said on Twitter that the hourly headcount at the automaker's plants would increase.

Tesla's Berlin Gigafactory comes as the second such plant outside the US, after the Gigafactory in Shanghai. The Tesla Giga Berlin caters to the demand of Germany and the rest of the European market. Currently, this facility is producing Tesla Model Y crossovers and has a plan to start production of Model 3 in future. With the new hirings, Tesla seems to be aiming to boost its production volume further in an attempt to reduce the waiting period for the customers who have booked the cars.

First Published Date:
The Artemis Accords, NASA's worldwide commitment to developing best practices for ongoing partnership on moon exploration, welcomes France as its 20th signatory.

The signing occurred on June 7 and added to a rapidly growing number of countries who have signed the accords, with Colombia joining just a month ago.

Bienvenue France

The event, which followed a celebration marking the 60th anniversary of the creation of CNES, the French space agency, was sponsored by the French Ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne.

At the signing ceremony, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and CNES President Philippe Baptiste expressed their enthusiasm for the achievement.

Nelson said that NASA is thrilled to welcome France as one of the members of the Accord family. He remarked, "France is one of the United States' oldest allies and our partnership in space exploration dates back more than half a century."

France is the 20th signatory of the Artemis Accords and the fifth of the European Union.

The Artemis Accords developed a unified vision for space exploration collaboration among nations participating in NASA's 21st-century lunar exploration programs through a "practical set of principles."

Baptiste stated that France's participation in the accords is a significant step forward in its space collaboration with the United States, which he sees as critical for both countries, particularly in Mars exploration and Earth-observation missions.

Read also: NASA Artemis I Offers Last Chance to 'Fly Your Name to the Moon': Here's How to Register

The Artemis Program

NASA's Artemis program has devised a framework for returning astronauts to the moon, and its future is contingent on a global effort.

The Artemis program's backbone, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and new crew-capable Orion capsule, are the result of a multi-national partnership, with Orion's power and propulsion systems incorporated into the vehicle's service module, which was donated by the European Space Agency (ESA).

International contributions will be required for NASA's plans for a tiny moon-orbiting space station dubbed Gateway. In orbit around the moon, Gateway will act as Orion's harbor, allowing personnel to depart in a separate vehicle geared for landing on the surface of the moon.

However, Gateway and humanity's journey to the moon remains a long way off. Artemis 1, the first Artemis mission, may launch later this year, although it is contingent on a successful "wet dress rehearsal" of the rocket and ground equipment, which is planned for June 18.

NASA said in a press statement announcing France's inclusion that it expects other countries to sign the accords in the next months or years as it continues its worldwide outreach to achieve a "safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space."

Related Article: Next NASA Artemis I Wet Dress Rehearsal's Status To Be Discussed! Where To Watch, Discussion Topics, and More

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
PS5 remains an elusive console to find until now since scalpers are still taking advantage of the system. Fortunately, some retailers have stepped up to bar the resellers and AI bots from ruining the supplies.

For UK buyers, we have great news for all of you. Argos could potentially drop stocks this week, according to a reputable source.

Argos PS5 Restock

(Photo : Charles Sims from Unsplash)

PS5 restocks could potentially arrive at Argos this week.

If you missed the last PlayStation 5 restock event, you could have another shot to obtain Sony's gaming gadget. According to Express, there's a big chance that the popular store will drop stocks starting June 14 to 21.

As per @PS5StockAlertUK, a trusted PS5 stock reporter on Twitter, Argos will be the next retailer to roll out supplies.

 Argos To Restock PS5 Disc and Digital Consoles This Week



Read the story here: https://t.co/Ek9xm9nYT2 pic.twitter.com/4vh3xusaUz  PS5 Stock UK (@PS5StockAlertUK) June 13, 2022

"Argos To Restock PS5 Disc and Digital Consoles This Week," the source posted on Twitter.

In another story from Stock Checker, some tech restocks experts told the site that Argos will soon roll out PS5 Digital and Disc stocks. The retailer has reportedly received supplies for the former on June 13. The delivery of the latter PS5 version will occur on June 17.

Based on the website, there's no guarantee if the shop will open the orders for the customers once again. It's possible that Argos could go live next week for the event.

The source claims that the Digital console will be included in the bundled package. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 5 Disc console will be distributed as the sole purchase.

Speaking of the restock time, you should take note that Argos usually goes live in the morning. We suggest that you should go online at an earlier time to catch up with the announcement.

Argos also implements a same-day pickup system for the customers. Upon placing your order in the morning, you could immediately get the console later in the afternoon.

Related Article: PS5 UK Restock: Argos to Sell Consoles on March 10 or 11 | What About the US Retailers?

Walmart PS5 Restock

In the US, Walmart sold a lot of PS5 stocks earlier this month. At exactly 3:00 PM on June 2, many customers rushed to the online store to snag the gaming machine.

However, the restock event was only limited to Walmart Plus subscribers. If you're still not a member of it, you can opt for a monthly membership which costs $12.95.

Being a Walmart Plus member has many perks, including free deliveries. You can also access many options that are up for grabs, including PS5 bundles and accessories.

Amazon Invite-Based Order System

As mentioned earlier, scalpers continue to ruin the supply chain for PS5 by excessively hoarding the consoles. However, Amazon has recently launched a unique invite-based ordering option to throw away scalpers from the platform.

This program aims to avoid "price gouging" done by the resellers. Moreover, the option will be beneficial for "genuine" customers who want to buy PlayStation 5.

At the moment, the feature is only available in the US for Sony's consoles. It is expected that it will soon be accessible for the Xbox platform.

Read Also: PS5 Restock Locations in the US, UK, and Canada | Tips to Follow When Buying Standard, Digital PlayStation 5

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
LG will start producing Tesla's advanced 4680 battery cells after successfully investing around $450 million in a production line at a South Korea-based factory.



(Photo : Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

A logo sits illuminated outside the LG pavilion during the second day of the Mobile World Congress 2015 at the Fira Gran Via complex on March 3, 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. The annual Mobile World Congress hosts some of the wold's largest communication companies, with many unveiling their latest phones and wearables gadgets.

As of writing, many companies want to take advantage of the 4680 battery cell design of the giant EV maker.

When Tesla launched its advanced EV battery product, the automaker claimed that it solved many major issues, which prevented bigger Li-ion cell productions.

Tesla added that the new 4680 battery cells are more efficient and cheaper compared to other models. Now, since LG plans to mass-produce these new batteries, where will they be used for?

LG's To Produce Tesla 4680 Battery Cell

According to Electrek's latest report, LG Energy Solutions didn't confirm if it will produce the advanced 4680 battery cells for Tesla EVs.

(Photo : Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)

A man using his phone walks past the LG logo at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on February 26, 2019. - Phone makers will focus on foldable screens and the introduction of blazing fast 5G wireless networks at the world's biggest mobile fair as they try to reverse a decline in sales of smartphones. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP)

Also Read: LG Releases a Dedicated OLED Gaming Monitor That Will Change Gaming

On the other hand, the tech giant firm also didn't specify if it would use the batteries for its own products. However, experts claimed that there's a high chance that LG will be producing these power cells for Tesla.

If you are among the interested consumers, the best thing you can do is wait for the actual announcements of LG Energy Solutions.

Previously, the company also confirmed another battery cell investment, which cost only $116 million. This effort specifically focuses on the production of 2170 battery cells at its Ochang factory in Korea.

Other Companies Producing Tesla 4680 Battery Cells

Aside from LG, Clean Technica's reported that Panasonic is also mass-producing Tesla 4680 battery cells.

Panasonic is expected to start its battery production operations as early as 2023 at the Wakayama manufacturing plant.

"A pilot line, created first in Japan, made it possible to start large-scale prototype production in May," said Panasonic Energy's CEO Kazuo Tadanobu.

If you want to see further details about Panasonic's own Tesla 4680 battery cell production, you can visit this link.

Meanwhile, the new LG 360-degree foldable smartphone screen was spotted.

Recently, LG Ergo, the company's new vertical multitasking monitor, was launched.

For more news updates about LG and its upcoming 4680 battery production, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: LG Places $1.4 Billion Into Battery Production: Increase Production in the US

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Unsplash/Petter Lagson) VPN

On June 14, a popular VPN service provider, NordPVN, shut down its servers in India following the country's announcement of its new VPN rule.

The strict guidelines will be enforced by the Indian government on June 27, and it will require the companies to keep the personal information of their customers.

VPN Companies Discontinue Servers in India

India's new internet guidelines are set to force several VPN companies to keep the personal data of their users, like their real names, IP addresses, and online usage patterns for a maximum of five years.

VPN companies should also agree to hand over the information to the Indian authorities when requested if they wish to continue their business in the country.

When the announcement was made, several companies immediately condoned the new guidelines.

ExpressVPN has exited the country in early June, and Surfshark has shut down its server.

Also Read: The Best VPN Services: What They Offer And Base On

NordVPN, which includes Novator and General Catalyst among its backers, told TechCrunch on June 14 that it will not keep any logs of its customers' data and it refuses to comply with New Delhi's new VPN provider requirement.

A spokesperson for the Lithuania-based firm said that the company is committed to protecting the privacy of its users, which is why it chose to cease operations in India instead.

According to The Hans India, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) asked VPN service providers on April 28 to store information of users, and they were given two months to comply with the new guidelines.

Why India Wants Transparency

Although the new guidelines are against the user's right to privacy, the Indian government believes that such a directive will help the country fight cybercrime.

Despite protest from the VPN companies, citing concerns about the breach of privacy of its customers, the Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar said that companies that won't adhere to the new rules "are free to exit the country."

The Future of Hide.me Users

In an interview with TechRadar, a Hide.me spokesperson said that the company is not planning to launch a virtual server to protect the privacy of its users.

Hide.me's Indian customers will still be able to use their subscription, but they will have to select one of its available servers out of the country.

The VPN provider has more than 2,000 servers in 75 countries. This means they won't be able to safely browse the net with an Indian IP.

What is VPN?

Virtual Private Network (VPN) enables internet users to access websites that can't be accessed via a public network. This is useful for those who do remote work.

The user who signs up for a VPN service is the only one who can access certain resources, which can help maintain their privacy.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, most major companies have stayed connected with their employees no matter where they are in the world, thanks to VPN services.

It is still unclear how the new guidelines will affect the Indian IT services firms that use VPNs to enable remote working.

Related Article;79 out of 250 Top Free VPN Apps in Google Store Leak Data, Study Shows

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Sophie Webster

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
China's space-based solar power system successfully completed its latest test, which the Xidian University calls the world's first full-system and full-link ground test system.

(Photo : Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

A depiction of the sun is seen as people visit the recently-opened Shanghai Planetarium in Shanghai on July 30, 2021. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)

For the past few years, solar power innovations have always been integrated on Earth. Although there are models designed to work in outer space, they are still limited.

Now, the new space-based solar power (SBSP) station in China is expected to be a different one. Here are the details of the new SSPS-OMEGA (Space Solar Power Station via Orb-shape Membrane Energy Gathering Array).

China's Space-Based Solar Power System

According to SpaceNews' latest report, the SSPS-OMEGA was proposed was co-authored by the leading Chinese expert in SBSP, Duan Baoyan.

(Photo : Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Military soldiers stand guard as the Shenzhou VI spacecraft, sitting atop of the LM-2F carrier rocket, is moved towards the launching pad in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on October 7, 2005 in Jiuquan of Gansu Province, northwest China. China will launch its second manned space flight on October 12 from the center, after a crucial ruling Communist Party meeting concludes in Beijing October 11.

Also Read: SpaceX Starship Receives Final Assessment from FAA, Requires 75 Changes on Starbase

This advanced facility is specifically designed to test the abilities of the OMEGA system.

Duan explained that being able to use an analogy, earth and heaven transmission will really be beneficial.

"That is the ultimate goal and must take many years and many people to achieve it, but we can start working on it now and start from where it is most likely to be achieved," said Baoyan.

On the other hand, experts compared the new OMEGA system to the advanced ANSA SPS-ALPHA (Solar Power Satellite via Arbitrarily Large Phased Array) project.

The South China Morning Post reported that China plans to launch its advanced space-based solar power tech as early as 2028. But, this will still depend on further results generated by upcoming test activities.

Other Space Activities of China

Meanwhile, CGTN reported that China's deep space exploration laboratory is operational. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) confirmed this detail on Tuesday, June 14.

Space experts said that the new space laboratory is essential for the Asian country since it will allow China to enhance its strategic strength in technology and science.

Zhang Kejian, head of the CNSA, stated that the new space lab should be upgraded into a large-scale, national-level comprehensive research base.

On the other hand, NASA's Psyche delayed launch happened because of a software glitch.

Meanwhile, Astra's failed mission led to the loss of NASA's TROPICS weather satellites.

For more news updates about China's space-based solar power system and other similar innovations, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: European Space Agency's Gaia Mission to Reveal its Third Set of Data on June 13; Here's How to Watch

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Canada's COVID-19 vaccine mandate removal is actually based on science, officials said. The Canadian government assured residents that this decision would be implemented soon.

(Photo : Photo by COLE BURSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

A patient's personal belongings are seen lining the window as a nurse tends to a patient suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Humber River Hospital's Intensive Care Unit, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on April 28, 2021. (Photo by Cole Burston / AFP)

However, the exact date is not yet confirmed. Authorities confirmed that the vaccine mandate lift is implemented, and residents will no longer need to provide any COVID-19 vaccination proof to board domestic and international flights.

Train passengers are also covered by the vaccine mandate removal. But, will Canada consider this decision temporarily or a permanent one?

Canada COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Removal

According to Global News CA's latest report, the Canadian government clarified that the vaccine mandate lift is actually only a suspension.

(Photo : Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Derek Thompson, a personal support worker, is inoculated with the Pfizer/BioNTEch coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 2020. - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, had 1,940 new cases and 23 deaths on Monday.

Also Read: COVID-19 Summer 2022: Experts Say New Variants Will Continue To Circulate; Factors To Consider Before Traveling

This means that the COVID-19 vaccination proof requirement can return depending on the infected case status of the North American country.

On the other hand, Steve MacKinnon, Canada's Chief Government Whip, explained that their decision to lift the vaccine mandate is based on science.

"We're following the science. We're following the advice that we're getting, and we're observing, of course, a marked decline in the number of cases and therefore in the threat to public health, and so I think it's time to move on from these measures," said MacKinnon.

He added that the vaccine-proof mandate could come back, especially since the global coronavirus pandemic is still affecting Canada and other countries in the United States.

Canada To Suspend COVID Alert App

Aside from lifting the vaccine mandate, the Canadian government also announced that the COVID Alert app would soon be discontinued, as reported by Toronto City News.

Launched back in 2020, this application allowed residents to receive essential notifications if they made close contact with infected individuals.

The COVID-19 Alert app requires a one-time-key, which is provided after they receive a positive PCR test result. But, since rapid testing is now replacing PCR testing, these user keys are no longer being given out.

Because of this, Canada decided to discontinue the COVID Alert app.

Previously, the first North Korea COVID-19 lockdown happened.

WHO finally authorized the use of the CanSinoBIO COVID-19 vaccine.

For more news updates about COVID-19 and other health topics, keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: CDC Says US COVID-19 Vaccine Utilization Has a Problem | Government Now Diverts Coronavirus Funds

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
She supports techUK members in navigating international markets, including market access and regulatory challenges, and assists the tech sector in taking full advantage of UKs trade deals. Her responsibilities also include driving the UK digital trade policy agenda. Jana is committed to promoting UK digital trade by engaging businesses, UK government and international partners.

Jana has several years of experience in trade promotion, public policy, and providing strategic advice on international expansion strategy to companies across a variety of sectors. Prior to techUK, she worked for the Department for International Trade, helping UK SMEs expand abroad.

She holds a MA in International Political Economy from Kings College London.
We are looking for RUF briquette offer with delivery to Bischofswerda in Germany (postcode 01877).
Sri Lanka continues to be in the middle of a crippling economic crisis and in the long list of some unprecedented woes is the crippling shortage of petrol and diesel. While prices have shot up to record highs in recent weeks, money alone won't guarantee a tankful because of the shortage in automotive fuels. As such, the country's government is now looking at fuel-rationing system under which consumers would be able to get a weekly fill of either petrol or diesel in a pre-defined quantity.

Petrol and diesel prices, much like prices of many essential commodities, have been at astronomical levels in Sri Lanka. But it is the shortage that is being cited as a bigger concern with long lines outside most fuel stations that still have stocks left. The situation in major cities is quite torrid but fuel stations at far-flung places are struggling with stocks even more. Some have reportedly even started mixing water or kerosene to the automotive fuel, raising quality-control issues. (Full report here)

In order to better check on fuel adulteration and ensure that commuters are able to get fuel in a reasonable time frame, the government here is now mulling a fuel-rationing system. "We have no choice but to register consumers at filling stations and give them a guaranteed weekly quota until we are able to strengthen the financial situation, restore 24 Hour Power and a steady Supply of fuel. I hope to have this system in place by the 1st week of July," the country's Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera recently tweeted.

There are reports that the shortage of fuel has led to instances of hoarding and stockpiling which are further hampering the possible return to some form of normalcy.

Northern neighbour India has come out to assist with Sri Lanka's entire fuel purchase entirely dependent on the Indian Line of Credit (ILC). We are expecting the last diesel shipment under ILC on June 16 and the last petrol shipment on June 22," said Wijesekera.

First Published Date:
Tencent and the Sichuan Cultural Heritage Administration (SCHA) announced on Tuesday that they will work together to promote the digital protection and inheritance of cultural heritage in Sichuan Province, with a focus on the archaeological site Sanxingdui in Guanghan.

A golden mask unearthed in the No. 5 sacrificial pit at the ruins. (Photo credit: SCHA)

Under the cooperation, Tencent will assist archaeological researchers to perform digital archaeology and multi-dimensional digital research on the Sanxingdui site using new-generation digital technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), big data, cloud computing, and knowledge graphs. A digital archive will be established to store Sanxingduis archaeological data, contributing to promoting the digital interpretation and conversion of the archaeological research achievements, and diversifying the publics approach to experiencing the site.

Sanxingdui is located on the banks of the Yazi River in Southwest China, and its history dates back more than 3,000 years. First discovered in 1929, it wasnt until the 1980s that the significance of the site became more apparent.

The digital solutions used in the archaeological excavation of the Sanxingdui site suggests a new model for the future development of archaeology. The applications will be essential in the two organizations long-term efforts in archaeological excavation and research with the new-generation digital technology.

Relics unearthed in the No. 8 sacrificial pit at the ruins. (Photo credit: Zhao Hao, an associate professor at the School of Archaeology and Museology of Peking University, project lead for the No.8 sacrificial pit.)

Repairing a large number of unearthed relics that are damaged has always been a major task in archaeological work. The cutting-edge computer vision technology can play a key role in helping the restoration of unearthed relic fragments and the digital reconstruction of their original forms, according to Zhang Zhengyou, chief scientist of Tencent and director of Tencent AI Lab.

Also, by establishing a database for relic fragments via 3D scanning, the possibility of repairing can be calculated using information such as color, texture, and shape of the section of utensils via AI. This enhances the efficiency significantly.

Moreover, the computer vision technology is also anticipated in the classified study of relics and the comparative study of objects unearthed from various sites. Relics similar in shape, structure, and local texture can be efficiently identified through computer vision technology.

What is more, if archaeological data can be labeled with information such as age or cultural property in a large quantity, which will be a typical pattern recognition problem for AI, contributing to the archaeological and cultural research via rapid comparison.

Tencent has been devoted to the digitalization of culture for many years. The company has assisted the development of digitization for the Forbidden City, one of the worlds largest palaces, the most visited museum in China.

The company also helped set up a virtual tour for Dunhuang, a trading crossroads between East and West on the ancient Silk Road, and was involved in the conservation efforts of the Great Wall.

Since the establishment of Tencent's Sustainable Social Value Organization last year, a digital culture laboratory was set up to promote the sustainable protection, inheritance and innovative development of cultural heritage. Tencent will leverage its tech ecosystem, experience, and strengths for further cooperation with the SCHA.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- HUAWEI has reportedly struck respective deals with several Chinese automakers to cooperate under the HUAWEI Smart Selection cooperation mode, sources close to the matter disclosed to a local media outlet.







Photo credit: HUAWEI

As an ICT company, HUAWEIs involvement in automaking can be concluded into three cooperation modes, HUAWEI Inside (like the ARCFOX S HI model), HUAWEI Smart Selection (like the SERES SF5 model), and general auto parts supply (HarmonyOS, and domain controllers).

Cooperation through the HUAWEI Smart Selection pattern usually means that HUAWEI will be deeply involved in the design, supply, and distribution process of the vehicle model. The cooperative models will also be showcased and sold via HUAWEIs offline retail stores. During the cooperation process, automakers roles often lean into the platform R&D and manufacturing aspects of the vehicles.

Sources said that aside from SERES, HUAWEI has successively set up HUAWEI Smart Selection projects with Chery Auto, JAC Group, and ARCFOX. The ICT giant intends to push at least two collaborative models with Chery Auto and at least one model each with JAC Group and ARCFOX, the sources added.

HUAWEI responded to the local media outlet that no information could be released by now. Chery Auto said that it had not received this information so far, and JAC Group has yet to respond to the matter.

Currently, Sokon Group, the group owning the new energy vehicle brand SERES, is the only official HUAWEI Smart Selection partner, with three cooperative models on the market, namely the SERES SF5 and the AITO M5.

The AITO M5 started delivery in March 2022, resulting to a cumulative delivery volume of 11,296 vehicles by the end of May. In May alone, the monthly delivery volume of the AITO M5 amounted to 5,006 vehicles.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- On June 13th, the China-made EQE, also the 4-millionth vehicle of Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd. (BBAC) rolled off the production line.

Photo credit: BBAC

According to the company, it took 21 months for BBAC to produce the one million vehicles from 3 million to 4 million, refreshing its manufacturing speed. In the first quarter of this year, BBAC, the joint venture of Mercedes-Benz and BAIC Group, saw the 4-millionth engine roll off the production line as well.

In an effort to show the companys determination in electrification and carbon neutrality, BBAC successively started the production of the EQB and EQA battery-electric SUVs since 2021. Building on the experiences and manufacturing technique collected during the manufacturing process of the two electric models, BBAC launched the all-new EQE based on its new-generation electric vehicle platform.

The EQE is produced in BBACs Shunyi factory, which is constructed in compliance with Mercedes-Benzs world-leading production base, Factory 56, and adheres to the German automakers Mercedes-Benz Cars Operations 360 strategy.

The batteries installed on the EQE are also produced in BBACs battery factory. The battery offers an industry-leading energy density and high-performance water cooler system.
Gold Star parent Webster Reed looks to place more flags after placing one for his son, Staff Sergeant Johnathan Ray Reed, at the Memorial Day Garden of Flags and Ceremony hosted by the Blue Star Mothers of Louisiana Chapter 1 at the Louisiana State Capitol, May 28 in Baton Rouge.
Industry super funds say restrictive regulations governing the kinds of financial advice they are allowed to provide must be relaxed or their members who are planning for retirement will be left worse off.

But the proposal to give super funds more freedom when providing basic financial advice to their members has been questioned by a consumer advocacy group, which says issues around access to cost-effective financial advice should be addressed by an expansion of existing government services.

Industry super funds are asking for more scope to offer financial advice to their members. Credit:Erin Jonasson

A review into the quality of financial advice, which was recommended by the Hayne banking royal commission, is being undertaken by Treasury. It will look at the quality, affordability and accessibility of financial advice in Australia.

In its submission to the review, Industry Super Australia said the rules around intra-fund advice should be relaxed to allow them to provide affordable advice at scale for members who dont have complex financial needs, without them having to resort to expensive comprehensive advice.
THE name of Brett Whiteleys company is Endlessnessism Pty Ltd. It was tempting to imagine that Whiteley, too, would go on forever, in the tradition of those who are labelled enfant terrible. But against this was Whiteleys insecure lifestyle, his flirtations with drugs and alcohol. One wonders how he lived for so long. Even the artist himself expressed surprise at his survival: I thought Id be one of the quick ones.

He was instead one of the sudden ones. An artist who often came perilously close to the edge but backed away just in time. Yesterday, in a motel room near Wollongong, miles from the radiant blue of Sydney Harbor caught to perfection in his paintings, Brett Whiteley died alone, unexpectedly and not without controversy. Too old for an enfant terrible, yet still too young for an old master.

His death brings to an abrupt end one of the most colourful and lucrative careers in Australian art. At the peak of his form Brett Whiteley, whose work was exhibited in every major state gallery, could produce a painting a day. He held more than 30 one-man shows and his work was exhibited in every important state gallery, and his works fetched huge prices and many prizes.

Brett Whiteley was born in Sydney In April 1939, the son of an interior decorator. He went to school at Bathurst. At 14 he saw an exhibition of Lloyd Rees landscapes in Sydney. I was thrilled by his painting, the sheer poetry. I poured over the full Lloyd Rees visual code... Id carry my easel around Sydney Harbor, work out where to stand to paint his pictures, and copy him, learning from my master. This relationship was to last until Reess death in 1988. He called Whiteley young Brett.

A year later Whiteley found a book on Van Gogh. It completely changed my way of seeing, he said. The way Vincent totally dedicated his life to art was compellingly romantic. He became my hero.

At 19, Whiteley began art studies at Sydneys Julian Ashton Art School, and, during the day, worked in the art department of a Sydney advertising agency (the only job he ever held). At the agency I had the availability of the most beautiful paper. Id steal Friday off and do three days painting, he said years later.
A media call while returning to Sydney from the Central Coast shook up my day. Until that point, I was oblivious to events surrounding the coming out of Rebel Wilson. I had seen her social media post and was happy for her and her partner Ramona Agruma. My wife and I wished them well.

Surely not, I said when the journalist told me an ultimatum of sorts was given to Rebel Wilson by Andrew Hornery from the Herald. I took a few minutes to Google it. Hornery has since apologised.

Rebel Wilson poses with girlfriend, Ramona Agruma. Credit:Instagram

Coming out is an incredibly personal journey, and it should never be forced onto anyone. The Australian Press Council has clear guidelines  reference to a persons sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or sex characteristics should be relevant to a story and in the public interest. It requires consent if disclosing a persons sexual orientation is part of the story.

Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and other sexuality, gender and bodily diverse (LGBTIQ+) people in Australia live happy and healthy lives despite significant health disparities. High rates of poorer mental health and suicide remind us that it is not all rainbows and glitter. Our lives need to be treated with dignity and respect.
Police are appealing for information about a suspected road rage incident where a man allegedly disarmed another driver who produced a gun in Sydneys south-west on Sunday.

Images of the incident have been released to help connect police with those involved in the spat, which occurred just before 3pm near the intersection of Mill Road and Charles Street in Liverpool.

Police have appealed for information after an alleged road rage incident in Liverpool on Sunday. Credit:NSW Police

Video obtained by investigators shows what police suspect to be an altercation involving a man and a woman in a white Toyota Corolla, and two men who were travelling in a grey Suzuki Baleno.

Police say the male Toyota passenger produced a firearm before the two men from the Suzuki disarmed him. Those men then took the gun and returned to their car.
Police confiscate Western Australia's first 3D-printed gun

Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later.

Dismiss
At the beginning of 2021, burlesque artiste Moira Finucane declared it a phoenix year, one in which Melbournes arts communities would rise from the ashes of a COVID-stricken 2020. Anticipating an end to lockdowns and restrictions, the state budget set a years target of 1 million for audiences at major performing arts organisations.

As it turned out, the pandemic wasnt done with Melbourne, and the total audience figure for 2021-22 will be a fraction of that number, at fewer than 200,000 people. As Live Performance Australia chief Evelyn Richardson told The Age last month, the industry faces another winter and a summer touring season with COVID still in circulation. Across Melbourne there are also signs of a marked shift in behaviour from audiences, who are often reluctant to book ahead. For shows that need strong pre-sales to ensure a run, it is a combination that can prove fatal.

Melbournes reputation as a cultural capital is about depth, from La Mama to the State Theatre, from the quirky upstairs gallery at Motley Bauhaus in Carlton to the latest NGV blockbuster. The mixed results of our first Rising festival and the new federal governments warm but fuzzy commitments to revisit arts policy will not be enough on their own to restore confidence. A more comprehensive plan will be required for an arts precinct that weathered the storm by taking a collegiate approach to adversity but which was underfunded and undervalued by governments before the pandemic.

Just before COVID-19 hit the state, the Victorian government was poised to release the second iteration of its Creative State strategy. While strong on regional and First Nations policy, the four-year plan was designed to broaden the sector rather than rescue it. Two years of crisis mean Spring Street needs to go back to the drawing board and reconsider how support for the arts will work not only over the next five years but in the decade after that.
For the Gasgoo Awards 2022, ICM1.10 and Intelligent Central Gateway Module from DIAS have applied for the Top 100 Players of China's New Automotive Supply Chain.

1) Product: ICM1.10

Description

 Mobileye eyeQ4 sensing chip

 horizontal viewing angle range 100 

 1.7 million pixels

Photo credit: DIAS

Unique advantages

 leading algorithm performance: The score of AEB function in CNCAP2021 is 30.55 points (95.5% score rate), which is better than the domestic general level

 it supports 1v/1v1r/1v3r/1v5r and other compatible schemes. Flexibly adapts to all of the automakers' vehicle architectures

Application

intelligent assistant driving functions of cars, SUVs and MPVS

Prospect

With the industry-leading perception and regulation algorithm, it creates highly reliable ADAS products. The company helps automakers bring intelligent driving assistance to thousands of consumers at a lower cost and in a shorter time.

2) Product: Intelligent Central Gateway Module

Description

5G intelligent central Gateway Module (ICGM) is the third generation 5g intelligent vehicle telematics product developed by DIAS, With versatile functions, it can meet the requirements of telematics (5g), v2x, ADAS, gateway and high-precision positioning,CMS(Camera Monitor System), ETC, non-screen voice recognition and many other functions.

8 TOPS computing power enables it to realize the automatic driving function above L2+. Meanwhile, the embedded automotive gateway and telematics control are integrated, which realizes a more complete automotive gateway.

Photo credit: DIAS

Unique advantages

Multiple communication modes: 5G/4G/3G/2G, C-V2X, BLE;

High integration: on the basis of I-box 5g+v2x+ high-precision positioning, add gateway function and support for intelligent driving;

High precision positioning: RTK centimeter positioning, supporting DR;

Convinient maintenance: local and remote maintenance and modification can be performed, and remote firmware upgrade is supported;

Security Critical: hardware encryption scheme, C-V2X message signature and encryption.

Application

Core central gateway domain controller (multi-channel CAN/CANFD, multi-channel Gigabit / 100M Ethernet and its management, protocol and interactive application);

Network connection (5G/4G/3G/2G, c-v2x, BLE);

High precision positioning (Beidou and other positioning modes and RTK, DR algorithms are supported);

CMS (streaming review mirror);

L2+ algorithm integration of automatic driving function (enhanced ACC; LKA with adaptation; low speed fully managed traffic congestion assistance TJA, APA and other functions).

Application

It can be expanded to HPC (high performance computing platform) products
Apart from the obvious trauma of being strapped to a bed, the experience was particularly terrifying due to the delusion, she said. There needs to be a debriefing after a restraint ... when they talk to you about it and get to understand what you subjectively experienced and the trauma, and if they can explain to you why they did it ... if you were uncontrollable ... and why they left you for the period they did. Five key recommendations The Royal Commission into Victorias Mental Health System published its 3195-page final report last year. Premier Daniel Andrews has committed to implementing all 65 recommendations made in the report, which include: Establish dozens of local adult, youth and child mental health services in a variety of locations, reducing the need for people to travel a long way from home.

Create new crisis facilities and safe spaces for adults and young people, designed with the help of people with personal experience of psychological distress.

Create a new non-government agency led by people with personal experience of mental illness and psychological distress.

Throw out the old Mental Health Act and enact a new one, preferably by the end of the year, with a primary objective to achieve the highest attainable standard of mental health and wellbeing for all Victorians.

Immediately reduce the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health, with the aim of eliminating the practices within 10 years. Immediately ensure compulsory treatment is used only as a last resort. There were about 7500 episodes of seclusion or restraint in Victorian inpatient mental health services in 2020-21, from a total of 26,800 admissions, government data shows. Victoria secludes and restrains people at higher rates, and for longer, than national averages, the report reveals. Sunshine Hospital is the highest user of seclusion, with 20 instances occurring every 1000 overnight admissions, in a trend that has worsened since the end of 2018. The national average in 2019-20 was eight seclusions for every 1000 overnight admissions. The Victorian average was 10.

Seclusion rooms are typically small and lack natural light and toilet facilities. Patients are locked behind a large security door and provided with a plastic mattress on the floor. Seclusion is on the rise in services for children across the state. A spokeswoman for the Royal Melbourne Hospital, which manages mental health services at Sunshine Hospital, said work was being done to reduce levels of seclusion, but she pointed to a shortage of beds as one reason for the problem. The Royal Commission into Victorias Mental Health system identified the critical need for additional mental health beds, she said. The Victorian governments mental health beds expansion program will help us to address the current acute demand for mental health beds and reduce the use of restrictive practices. The mental health unit at Box Hill Hospital, run by Eastern Health, had the highest rate of mechanical restraint, as it had for the previous four years, prompting the reports authors to call for an independent probe into Easterns services due to abnormally high rates of restraint.

In 2019-20 the three hospitals in Australia with the highest rates of mechanical restraint were all Victorian  Box Hill, the Royal Childrens and the Maroondah Hospital. Two of these are run by Eastern Health. St Vincents Hospital had the highest rate of physical restraint use, which can involve knocking patients to the ground or holding them down in the dangerous prone position. The hospital has ranked as the highest or second-highest user of physical restraint for four years. Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council chief executive Craig Wallace said Victoria must end restraint and seclusion immediately rather than stick to the royal commissions 10-year time frame. He pointed to one mental health unit, run by Barwon Health, which is opening later this year without any seclusion rooms. Some services have already managed to eliminate seclusion or restraint. If they can do it, the whole sector can, Wallace said.

It is intolerable to imagine the tens of thousands more avoidable traumas that will happen if Victoria doesnt move faster. Loading Wallace accused the Health Department of withholding key information to protect the sectors reputation. If the Victorian government is serious about its espoused goal of eliminating these harmful practices, it must begin with the public release of data. We cannot possibly achieve elimination without transparency. A persons chances of being restrained or secluded in a mental health service depend on their postcode, the report reveals, with people in St Albans secluded about 15 times more than those in Frankston, and those living in Ballarat 6.3 times more likely to be secluded than people in Traralgon.

People identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander are secluded and restrained at higher rates than others. They make up 3.5 per cent of all inpatients but 5.3 per cent of all seclusions. A spokesperson for the Health Department said improvements had been made with seclusion and restraint practices, but they admitted there was more to be done. Work is under way on more than 90 per cent of the royal commissions recommendations, they said. The royal commission told us that restraint and seclusion need to be dramatically reduced  and thats exactly why were implementing every single recommendation to make sure Victorians get the safe care they deserve. If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 131 114.
The man who was in charge of WA Police when missing girl Cleo Smith was found will be Western Australias next police commissioner.

On Tuesday morning, Police Minister Paul Papalia announced Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch would run the 7000-strong force, with outgoing Commissioner Chris Dawson to become the states new governor next month.

Col Blanch has been named the states next Police Commissioner. Credit:Nine News Perth

Blanch, who was acting commissioner during the Cleo search, was awarded the role over two other frontrunners; St John WA chief executive Michelle Fyfe and Queensland Police deputy commissioner Tracy Linford. He will become the 35th WA Police Commissioner.

Blanch was the officer who confirmed to the world that Cleo Smith had been found, after the child spent 18 days held captive in the home of her abductor, Terence Kelly.
London: The British government is proposing new legislation that would unilaterally rewrite post-Brexit the rules for Northern Ireland, despite opposition from some MPs and EU officials who say the move violates international law.

The bill proposed on Monday seeks to remove customs checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. That would override parts of the trade treaty that Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed with the European Union less than two years ago.

Existing trade rules provide business operators in Northern Ireland with access to the EU single market for goods. The UK governments approach puts this access  and related opportunities  at risk, said European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Credit:Getty

The government maintained its move was justified under international law because of the genuinely exceptional situation and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss blamed the EU for blocking a negotiated settlement. The European Commission said it could take legal action against the UK.
London: Britain has vowed to fight any further legal challenges to its new asylum-seeker policy, after being forced to cancel the first deportation flight to Rwanda following a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights.

The court on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) decided there was a real risk of irreversible harm to the asylum seekers involved.

The flight had been scheduled to leave on Tuesday evening, London time, but lawyers for the asylum seekers launched a flurry of case-by-case appeals seeking to block the deportation of everyone on the governments list.

The Rwanda deportation flight at Boscombe Down Air Base in Britain. Credit:Getty

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced an agreement with Rwanda in April in which people who entered Britain illegally would be deported to the East African country.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China's Guangzhou plans to build a 10-billion-yuan ($1.481 billion) fund to promote the development of local intelligent-connected vehicle (ICV) and new energy vehicle (NEV) industries, according to a document on which the Guangzhou Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau is soliciting public opinions.

Per the document, the fund will be used to support complete vehicle manufacturers and the upstream and downstream enterprises along the auto industrial chain in ramping up production scale, and attract high-quality out-of-town companies and projects to the city.

AION S

Besides, a special sub-fund will be set up to invest in the projects focusing on making breakthroughs in automobile and core auto parts technologies.

For the sake of innovation synergy, local government will further support companies in designing, testing, and producing automotive-grade chips, and stepping up the R&D of core technologies related to intelligent driving, smart cockpit, and vehicle controlling platforms, as well as NEV core systems of electric motor, battery, and electric control.

For this purpose, the city's science and technology departments will prepare at most 500 million yuan ($74.041 million) per year of budget for the R&D of core auto parts and key technologies jointly conducted by the companies along the automotive industrial chain. Each R&D project will receive no more than 100 million yuan ($14.808 million) of fiscal support.

To bolster the reform of both software and hardware-defined vehicle, automakers in Guangzhou will be encouraged to build their full-stack R&D systems that embrace electrical/electronic architecture, basic vehicle software, intelligent cockpit software, and autonomous driving software, pre-install more cutting-edge hardware, and continuously create added value for software services through online upgrades.

According to the document, complete vehicle companies will be rewarded with 10 million yuan ($1.481 million) per model for the development of Level 3 and above autonomous driving vehicles that comply with the standards set by China's MIIT. The award amount for each company shall not exceed 30 million yuan ($4.442 million).
LOS ANGELES  Fun Factory on Monday announced the launch of a new interactive training platform for all staff and retail partners.

Fun Academy, created through the LearnUpon platform, was in development for two years before its launch. It was first devised by the pleasure brand to get up-to-date information into the hands of retailers amidst COVID lockdowns. With virtual trainings, retail staff would be effectively equipped to represent Fun Factory to consumers.

Fun Academy, which currently consists of seven modules, is now widely available for any team or individual who is involved in selling Fun Factory products. It provides them with pre-recorded material and downloadable PDFs detailing the brand story, information on the companys German manufacturing process, and product-specific USPs.

Kristen Tribby, global marketing manager at Fun Factory, said: Its hard to believe Fun Factory has been on the market for 25 years now. I love looking back and seeing how we have evolved and how far the market has come. And while the last two years have been great for the sex toy industry in terms of sales, there have still been a lot of challenges, especially when it comes to training staff and retailers. Its been hard to ensure they were equipped with all the best and most up-to-date information on our products, which theyd need to confidently and effectively represent Fun Factory to consumers. As a brand, we are so proud of all of our toys and want our retailers to not only feel the same, but also to be able to project this to their customers. Fun Academy is a great way to support our partners in service of these goals.

Michael Cox, sales director, said, Our new Fun Academy via the LearnUpon platform not only saves us time, but also saves everyones money and resources. It allows us to train multiple accounts at the same time without needing to worry about scheduling, travel plans, and budgeting. Its a win-win all around!

To incentivize users to try the platform, Fun Factory offers everyone who participates in the course some freebies, just like the brand would in an in-person training session.

Cox added, We would like to thank all our B2B partners for their enthusiastic participation. Your support has been integral to our success and were looking forward to the next 25 years of Fun together!

The platform works on just about any device, including desktop computers, laptops, and smartphones, making it accessible for anyone.

In total, the training lasts for approximately 45 minutes. Users are free to pause and resume the material at their discretion, and complete the course at a time that best fits their schedule.

For more information or sign your team up, email [email protected].
Bronze statues of Justice Willis Van Devanter, the only person in Wyoming history to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, and Esther Hobart Morris, the first woman Justice of the Peace in Wyoming and U.S. history. The statues have been temporarily placed in the foyer of the Wyoming Supreme Court building in Cheyenne.
POMPANO BEACH, FloridaM.D.. Science Lab, parent company of the Swiss Navy line of products, has launched a new online hub for its retail customers in over 48 countries offering product information in multiple languages.

We want to help our international partners align with their consumers' needs, said Briana Watkins, ACS, vice president of sales and marketing for M.D. Science Lab. We have put together product videos with multilingual subtitles that can be used for retail associate training or played on monitors within retail shops.

Information for subtitled videos can be found on Swiss Navys B2B site and can be downloaded in multiple formats.

Our multilingual product videos are currently available in Spanish, German, Dutch, French, Italian and Russian, said Watkins. But we encourage retailers that need other languages to contact their sales representatives so that we can ensure their needs are met.

She added, We value our global partners and are always working to ensure they have the information and support they need to continue being successful. Creating an international hub is just one more way we can help our customers businesses grow.

For more information, visit b2bswissnavy.com/international-hub.
POMPANO BEACH, Fla. M.D. Science Lab, makers of the iconic Swiss Navy brand, and international distributor SHOTS are celebrating the one-year anniversary of their partnership. Since May 2021, SHOTS has been the exclusive distributor for the M.D. Science Lab family of brands throughout Europe and the United Kingdom.

Of course, we all had high hopes and expectations for our partnership, said Briana Watkins, ACS, M.D. Science Labs vice president of sales and marketing. But the global success we achieved over the past year has been incredible for both our companies. We cant wait to see what the future holds!

"M.D. Science Labs goals perfectly aligned with our own goals over the past year of our partnership, commented Hein Schouten, CEO of SHOTS Europe. And by keeping our global customers and end-consumers in the forefront of our objectives, we were able to reach new levels of Swiss Navy sales growth over the past year. Were proud that together we were able to provide an unparalleled level of commitment to customer service and brand expansion. And were not done yet!

The entire team at SHOTS shares the same positive enthusiasm about this partnership.

Added SHOTS Purchasing Manager Ard van den Brandhof, With our continued dedication to the Swiss Navy brand, weve been able to make it the most popular lubricant brand in Europe and the U.K. This partnership collaboration and continued commitment by both our teams have made Swiss Navy a premier brand throughout our international territories.

Watkins and Schouten have assured that both teams have kept their focus aligned with strategic growth plans and intentional shifting to meet continued product demands. This partnership has conveniently made M.D. Sciences collection of brands available to more international retailers throughout Europe and the U.K., and with the addition of Leroy Klunder as a dedicated brand ambassador to service this territory, Swiss Navys sales and success continue to grow.

Its been a proud year for me being able to step into the active role as the Swiss Navy Brand Ambassador throughout Europe and I appreciate helping introduce more customers to the products and supporting retailers training and engagement needs, said Klunder. Im looking forward to the continued growth of our partnership!

Customers throughout Europe and the United Kingdom are encouraged to reach out to Klunder or their SHOTS account managers to learn more about Swiss Navys range of products.

Summed up Schouten, Swiss Navy is one of the largest lubricant companies in the world and we are very proud to be their exclusive European partnerand we have more exciting plans for our partnership, so stay tuned!



For more information on the latest Swiss Navy product range, visit SwissNavy.com or contact [email protected].

For more information about SHOTS, visit shots.nl or contact [email protected].
Last week, the FBI accidentally disclosed a warrant application that lays bare the incredible corruption that is eating away at our nations capital. The warrant was quickly removed from the internet, but we have a copy and it is explosive.

The warrant shows an intricate scheme of corruption involving a former U.S. ambassador as well as the current president of the highly influential Brookings Institution, the Democratic think tank where impeachment activist Fiona Hill and Christopher Steeles fake source Igor Danchenko worked.

The warrant was issued in a case brought against Richard Olson, a former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates in the Obama administration. Olson pleaded guilty in April for his role in an illegal lobbying campaign on behalf of the government of Qatar, an oil-rich Gulf nation.

Olson is alleged to have colluded with retired four-star general John Allenthe president of the Brookings Institutionin getting the Trump administration to change its Qatar policy. In return, they were showered with cash and other benefits. Olson received at least $200,000 and Allen a further $20,000.

Welcome to Truth over News with Jeff Carlson and Hans Mahncke.

Follow EpochTV on Facebook and Twitter

* Click the Save button below the video to access it later on My List.

Follow EpochTV on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EpochTVus

Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/EpochTV

Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@EpochTV

Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/epochtv

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpochTVus

Gab: https://gab.com/EpochTV

Telegram: https://t.me/EpochTV
The maps shows the location of an attack which killed at least 55 people in Seytenga in Seno province, Burkina Faso. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

55 People Killed in Latest Attack in Northern Burkina Faso

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina FasoGunmen killed at least 55 people over the weekend in northern Burkina Faso, authorities said Monday, the latest attack in the West African country where mounting violence is blamed on Islamic extremists.

Suspected militants targeted civilians in Seytenga in Seno province, government spokesman Wendkouni Joel Lionel Bilgo said at a news conference. While the government put the official toll at 55, others put the figure far higher.

Attacks linked to Al-Qaeda and the ISIS group are soaring in Burkina Faso, particularly in the north. Jihadists killed at least 160 people in an attack in the town of Solhan in June 2021.

In January, mutinous soldiers ousted the democratically elected president, promising to secure the nation, but violence has only increased. The government is asking people to remain united in the fight against the insurgents.

While no group claimed the weekend attack, conflict analysts say it was likely carried out by the ISIS group.

In recent weeks, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara have been the most aggressive group, notably in Seno and Oudalan provinces. In addition to attacks against security forces, civilians have also been targeted, said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan-based organization focused on economics and policy.

This is a major blow to security forces and puts them on the back foot again, indicating they are far from being able to secure the area and protect civilians, he said.

Nearly 5,000 people have died over the last two years in Burkina Faso because of violence blamed on Islamic extremists. Another 2 million people have fled their homes, deepening the countrys humanitarian crisis.
Alito Protests Disrupt Police and Neighborhood

FAIRFAX, Va.Minutes after protesters chanting about abortion depart, children in Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alitos neighborhood call Mommy! as they play outside.

For weeks now, protests at the homes of the six conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices have drawn law enforcements attention, filled residential neighborhoods with shouted obscenities, and disrupted neighborhood traffic.

The protests are a response to a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that suggests the conservative justices intend to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Despite the loud dinner-hour protests in residential neighborhoods, law enforcement and neighbors have proven astonishingly tolerant of the disruption.

Every Monday since May 10, a group of about 15 protesters has marched through Alitos neighborhood, shouting obscenities, banging drums, shouting into megaphones, and blasting music, according to police Captain Alan Hanson.

Were just kind of using discretion and letting First Amendment trump, as long as theres no violence or destruction, he said.

The protests last for 30 minutes to an hour at a time. The whole time, protesters circled the street screaming.

Alito is a coward, Alito is a fascist, the group chanted.

Police Watch

Tonight, Hanson had about nine police officers spending more than an hour in Alitos neighborhood. Today, the protests resulted in about a full day of police time spent without catching a criminal.

Fairfax County, where Alitos neighborhood is located, was facing the biggest police staffing shortage in its history just a year ago.

We put some man-hours into it, to be sure, Hanson said. Its out of an abundance of caution just to provide protection to the community, to the focus of the protests, to the protesters themselves.

Its illegal in Virginia to picket outside a residential home, Hanson said. But because the protesters walk as they scream Alito is a fascist, theres nothing the police can do.

You cant picket a specific residence. However, as they march through the neighborhood, theyre not picketing necessarily a specific residence, he said. Thats the tack that they take.

A pro-abortion protester holds a sign reading Christo Fascism is Terrorism as she marches to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alitos neighborhood in Fairfax, Va., on June 13, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/The Epoch Times)

For Alitos neighbors, this legal loophole means that practically everyone on his block endures a weekly screaming session.

One neighbor eagerly greeted the protesters and walked with them for a while.

But only one neighbor was willing to give his first name to The Epoch Times.

I dont think you intimidate judges or justices, said Lou, a man who lives near the justices house.

The people that live right near Alito, I feel like its hard for them to explain to their kids why people are protesting because theyre kind of young to understand the whole concept, another neighbor, who preferred to remain anonymous, said.

The obscenities the protesters chanted and the obscene signs they carried are also hard to explain to children, she said.

The same neighbor added that although she had met Alitos wife and thought she was a nice woman, being picketed at home was part of the job for a justice.

The same neighbor added that she didnt know if the protests would end soon or continue for the foreseeable future.

Lets hope it doesnt last too much longer, she said. But who knows?

Intimidation

Most of Alitos neighbors said they were unwilling to share their opinion on the protests.

I just cant comment on it, one neighbor said. He refused to elaborate.

Id rather not, said another.

Im trying to put our daughter to bed, one said, declining an interview.

The only neighbor to oppose the protests only gave one quote and declined a full interview.

Whether youre on the left or the right, I dont think you should protest the residence of a judge. They have a big building where they work where you can protest them, he said. With a federal judge, you arent allowed to protest their residence, so why are you allowed to do it with a Supreme Court judge?

The protesters shouted, Hey hey, ho ho, this Christofascists got to go, as they marched through the neighborhood. Cars slowed to move around them.

All protesters refused to speak with The Epoch Times.
Gold bullion bars after they were inspected and polished at the ABC Refinery in Sydney, Australia on August 5, 2020. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)

An Incident of Export Rebate Fraud in China Reveals a Multi-Million Dollar Industry

Recently, a Chinese manufacturer from the city of Mianyang, Sichuan, was discovered to have stolen millions in value-added tax rebates through a fraudulent scheme. Furthermore, local media uncovered a chain of businesses associated with similar schemes, indicating a total of about $70 million in lost revenue for the local governments.

Value-added tax (VAT), in simple terms, is a tax on the value added to a good or service after it completes each step of the manufacturing process. China has a value-added tax system for its commodities and services that the United States doesnt have. It also has tax rebates on exported goods or services to avoid double taxation upon entering other countries.

However, some manufacturing companies, including Sichuan Guojinbao Industry Co., were able to make millions by filing fraudulent VAT invoices to obtain export rebates.

In an article titled, The Secret of the Crazy Gold, published by local newspaper Chengdu Economic Daily on May 12, journalist Tang detailed the sophisticated process Sichuan Guojinbao used to commit the VAT fraud.

First, Sichuan Guojinbao created a VAT invoice using receipts of some gold it purchased earlier. Then, it immediately and anonymously sold all of the purchased gold at a loss to recover a portion of the cost. The VAT invoice was then used to request export rebates, by claiming that all of the purchased gold was used to manufacture the goods.

The company then exported all of the manufactured goods to a retailer in Hong Kong, owned by the same fraudster, and then filed for an export rebate with the local tax department.

Furthermore, according to the article, investigators uncovered a $70 million fraud scheme in connection with Sichuan Guojinbaos case. In particular, an affiliate at the Shanghai Gold Exchange was able to profit by issuing and selling false VAT invoices to over 100 businesses. These invoices, which were then used for scam export rebates, were based on day-to-day physical gold transactions where no receipts had been recorded

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Zhuge Yangming, a China affairs commentator, believes that a lack of traditional virtues among the Chinese people is why fraudulent activities have gotten more sophisticated and common in China.

China used to be the land of courtesy and etiquette in ancient times, but the Chinese Communist Partys decades of rulings have pushed the Chinese people toward monetary emphasis and away from traditional virtues, Zhuge said. People would do anything for money in an environment where the monetary value has the utmost importance.
6:45 p.m. update: Increased moisture is currently predicted for the weekend, with scattered thunderstorms forecast Friday through Sunday.

"What we're seeing are the first indications of a monsoon circulation starting to get into place," the NWS said at the community meeting.

This is earlier than usual for the area--although the monsoon season officially begins June 15, Flagstaff usually does not see rain until the first week of July.

"We're hopeful but cautious: hopeful that we'll see the moisture, hopeful that we'll see it in small quantities and being very conscious of the threat of flash flooding that any thunderstorm can bring."

Residents are advised to "know and have an action plan" in case flooding comes to their residence.

6:30 p.m. update: CNF has submitted a request to Washington and will have an answer about Stage 3 restrictions soon, according to the community meeting.

The fire began in an area that has year-round restrictions, as well as in a time where wider Stage 2 restrictions were in place, prohibiting all fires on the CNF.

The Forest Service uses indices to determine fire restrictions.

Efforts to stand up a Burned Area Emergency Response team are underway, according to interim district ranger Nick Glidden.

The plan is to start the process of figuring out flood mitigation alongside the city and county "as soon as we can," though they must also wait until the fire has cooled off in places to evaluate how severe the burn is.

6:20 p.m. update: A Type 1 Incident Management Team led by Tony DeMasters will be taking the command of the fire on Thursday.

"Without the wind that we've experienced the last 2 days and the dynamic fire situations we were at, we were really able to get an anchor point established [on the Pipeline Fire] and start going to work," said a member of the Type 2 IMT.

After northeast winds, the Haywire Fire winds are now pushing to the southwest. Crews are attempting to flank the fire, he said.

6 p.m. update: The community meeting stream will be starting soon. You can watch at https://www.facebook.com/CoconinoCounty/videos/742104390540677.

1:45 p.m. update: In response to a question about potential watershed impacts at the joint meeting earlier today, public works director and deputy county manager Lucinda Andreani said the fires are likely to create flood threats in the area.

The engineering team is in the process of running analyses, but because they have not yet received a burn severity map, this modeling is based in part on assumptions, she said.

They do expect the fires to create significant flood threat, impacting some watersheds more than others. Areas that did not burn or burn severely during the Museum and Schultz fires have now burned, adding to the impact.

Andreani said that the Museum actually looked pretty goodThe other watersheds, including watershed that feeds into the 180 area and Rio de Flag appear to be pretty substantially impacted.

More information will be available soon, she said, through a series of virtual public meetings due to the size of the affected area.

The county has ordered an additional 140,000 sandbags, she said, with more on the way. These are expected to be delivered tomorrow. Additional resources are in the process of being mobilized, including Conservation Corps crews.

We are looking to mobilize hopefully some significant resources, but were going to need lots and lots of volunteers, she said, including work on making and placing sandbags.

1:15 p.m. update: Coconino County has announced new information numbers for the Pipeline and Haywire Fires. The public line is 928-421-3393.

12:40 p.m. update: Officials at the Flagstaff City Council and Coconino County work session have confirmed one residence and one other building have been burned in the fires.

The Coconino Humane Association was caring for 535 evacuated animals in its care last night, according to its Facebook page. A total of 326 animals were located at the Ft. Tuthill Fairgrounds and 209 small animals were at its shelter.

It is asking for volunteers to help with mucking stalls and hauling water at the Ft. Tuthill horse barns. It is also looking to borrow wheelbarrows, labeled with the owner's name and phone number. The 4th St. shelter needs volunteer dog walkers who have already completed a volunteer orientation class. Those interested should wear their volunteer shirt.

12:25 p.m. update: More evacuations have lifted. The areas of Fernwood, Swede Acres, Johnson Ranch and Hutchison Acres have been moved to SET status (previously at GO).

Timberline northwest of Campbell and U.S. 89 is still at GO status, as is O'Leary, Crater Estates and areas of Schultz Pass Road and the Arizona Snowbowl.

Other areas on SET are Doney Park (both north and south), Antelope Hills and McCann Estates.

Residents in evacuated areas that need to return to their home can go to East Valley Baptist Church (10655 US 89) for an escort.

11:55 a.m. update: The Pipeline and Haywire Fires are now being managed by Type 2 California Incident Management Team 15 and will do so until a Type 1 team assumes control on Wednesday.

"In addition to using water and retardant dropping aircraft, crews will spend Tuesday looking for opportunities to directly engage the fire with the intent to suppress the fire's edge and to keep the fire from entering communities as it continues moving in a northeast direction," according to a press release from Coconino National Forest. "Crews plan to utilize the 2010 Schultz Fire and recent Tunnel Fire footprints to their advantage."

Resources on the Pipeline Fire include eight hand crews (360 personnel), 40 engines, six water tenders and five dozers, with an additional six engines on the Haywire Fire. Aerial resources on both fires include six helicopters and one fixed-wing aircraft.

11:45 a.m. update: An 11:38 update to InciWeb now puts the Pipeline Fire at 20,178 acres. The Haywire Fire is listed at 4,052 acres.

The 6 p.m. community meeting at Sinagua Middle School will also be streamed on Coconino Countys Facebook page.

Coconino County is requesting those evacuated due to the fires contact the call center at 928-679-8525 to provide contact information so that the county can provide updates as they become available.

Mail and packages for those evacuated due to the fires are being held by USPS at 2400 Postal Blvd. (a photo ID is required) and by FedEx at 5700 S. Pulliam Dr. across from the airport.

For requests or to pick up a package, call 928-213-8234.

11:30 a.m. update: A Flagstaff joint City/Council special work session will discuss the fires at 12 p.m. today. The meeting will include updates from agencies working on the fires and possible direction from the city.

It will be streamed at flagstaff.az.gov/1461/Streaming-City-Council-Meetings.

The summer food site at Cromer Elementary has closed due to the wildfires, according to Flagstaff Unified School District.

An alternative site is opening at Sinagua Middle School. It will serve breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, until further notice. Meals are free to anyone 18 or younger.

Questions can be directed to FUSD food service at 928-527-6090.

10:30 a.m. update: A 9:59 a.m. InciWeb update now lists the Pipeline Fire at 17,378 acres, with 270 personnel responding. The Haywire Fire is now listed at 2,800 acres.

10:15 a.m. update: A community information meeting has been scheduled for 6 p.m. this evening at Sinagua Middle School.

The incident command post has been moved to Coconino High School. A Type 2 Incident Management Team (IMT) from California is currently in command, with a Type 1 IMT from the Great Basin area expected to arrive today. Once the Type 1 IMT arrives, they will shadow the current team and assume command in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Both the Pipeline and the Haywire Fire have grown substantially overnight, but Forest Service officials have yet to confirm the exact amount of growth.

Air temperature, especially overnight, is a crucial factor in a fire's ability to spread, Forest Service public information officer Karen Malis-Clark told reporter Sean Golightly. When overnight temperatures don't drop to 50 degrees or lower, "relative humidity can't recover," she said and fine fuels such as grasses or needles remain dry and quick to burn. Last night's low was 48 degrees and the same low is reported for Tuesday night.

Tuesday's response will include continued emphasis on structure protection in the Timberline neighborhood. Firefighting teams have also adopted the objective of "minimizing the fire's footprint within the Kachina Peaks Wilderness," which includes minimizing impacts to Lockett Meadow and the Inner Basin.

10 a.m. update: ADOT has moved the southbound closure on U.S. 89 to milepost 457 (previously milepost 445). The northbound closure is still at milepost 423.

9:40 a.m. update: A 9:35 a.m. InciWeb update now puts the Pipeline Fire at 6,500 acres with 459 personnel. It lists the Haywire Fire at 2,300 acres with 40 personnel.

Planned actions now include "structure triage and protection, direct and indirect line construction, identify and contain spot fires [and] scout and identify suppression opportunities in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness."

Projections for both 12 and 24 hour incident activity on the Pipeline Fire is a continued northeastern spread which could potentially have a direct impact on communities as well as an "uphill spread towards wilderness area" and "high resistance to control." Evacuations are projected to continue to be in effect.

The InciWeb page for the Pipeline Fire is available at inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8152/.

9:20 a.m. update: The City of Flagstaff has tweeted that aerial operations have begun to arrive on the Pipeline Fire. It is requesting people not fly drones in or around the area to allow personnel to get in and out of the area safely.

ADEQ has updated its smoke forecast for Tuesday. Winds will be weaker today, according to the report, though there will still be gusty southwest winds.

Smoke is forecast to move to the east-northeast, with posssible moderate smoke impacts to the Doney Park area and light to moderate smoke impacts on the Navajo and Hopi reservations.

Lighter winds are expected tonight, "which may allow smoke to drain down into Fort Valley, down Rio de Flag into Flagstaff and into Doney Park." Smoke settling into these areas is forecast to lift by 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, with moderate to high impacts in Doney Park and light to moderate impacts in Fort Valley and Flagstaff likely Tuesday night.

South-southwest winds are predicted to be even weaker on Wednesday, with smoke continuing to move to the north-northeast. Less smoke impacts are expected in Doney Park Wednesday and Tuba City and Cameron might see light smoke during the day.

The full forecast is available at azdeq.gov/WildfireSmokeForecast?fire=pipelinefire.

8:25 a.m. update: CCSO has announced the lifting of some evacuation orders. The communities of North Doney Park, McCann Estates (Silver Saddle Drive) and Silver Saddle Trailer Park have been moved from GO to SET. Residents can return to their homes immediately.

According to a press release, "CCSO reminds these residents that they are still in SET status and that if the fire threatens the community, they will again be placed on GO status."

Timberline and Fernwood remain in GO status, which will be re-evaluated as the day goes on.

Current evacuation statuses can be found at coconinocounty.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=745e7806b0444387bf32792b9c25e169.

Original post: The Pipeline and Haywire fires continue to burn Tuesday morning.

InciWeb still lists the Pipeline Fire at 5,000 acres and the Haywire Fire at 1,600 acres, though Flagstaff Mayor Paul Deasy tweeted that infrared flights overnight had the Pipeline Fire at 20,178 acres and the Haywire Fire at 4,051 acres.

A portion of US 89 remains closed north of Flagstaff, from milepost 445 southbound. The northbound closure has been moved closer to the city, from milepost 425 to milepost 423, north of Townsend/Winona Road.

Much of the Coconino National Forest remains closed north of I-40. More about the closure, including a map, is available here.

Schultz Pass Road, the Arizona Snowbowl, Timberline, Crater Estates, OLeary, McCann Estates and Doney Park north are all in GO status for evacuations. Neighborhoods at SET status include Doney Park south, Antelope Hills and Mount Elden Estates.

At yesterdays press conference, officials reported a total of 2,195 households had been evacuated due to the Pipeline Fire and 1,584 more were put on SET status. An additional 281 households were evacuated due to the Haywire Fire, with 57 put on SET.

More about Ready, Set, Go is available below.

Winds are predicted to slow today, according to the National Weather Service. Maximum wind gusts are forecast at 25 miles per hour on Tuesday and 18 miles per hour on Wednesday. Monday had a Red Flag warning with gusts between 40 and 50 miles per hour.

The probability of precipitation this weekend has gone down in Tuesday mornings forecast. Friday now has a maximum chance of 25%, rising to 39% Saturday. The chance of precipitation remains at 0% both Tuesday and Wednesday and only 4% Thursday.

Ready, Set, Go

Everyone has a part to play in responding to an emergency. Learn about what you can do to be prepared.

The greatest threats within Coconino County are wildfire and post-wildfire flooding. All residents need to be prepared in advance for both. Regardless of the type of emergency, there are some basic preparedness terms and steps that can be taken and summarized in the familiar adage: Ready, Set, Go. Here's everything you need to know about this important phrase:

READY  This means prepare now

Be aware of hazards that can threaten your community. Coconino County residents should always be in a state of Ready, especially during the summer months when conditions can turn quickly. Take the following steps now to prepare for seasonal threats:

Register with the County Emergency Notification system at coconino.az.gov/ready.

Connect with the local Emergency Management office, Sheriffs Office, and public health department on social media. Follow @coconinocounty on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Make a family evacuation and communication plan that includes family phone numbers, out-of-town contacts, and family meeting locations.

Build an emergency Go-Kit with enough food, water and necessary supplies for at least 72 hours. Include supplies to help keep you and your family healthy. Start with the five Ps: Papers, Pets, Prescriptions, Pictures, and Personal computers.

Check in with your neighbors, family, friends and elders through video chats or phone calls to ensure they are READY.

Keep up to date on local news, weather watches, weather warnings, and public health recommendations.

SET  Be alert

Know there is significant danger in your area as soon as this warning is issued. Evacuation could happen at any time after the Set status is declared and, in some cases, with little warning.

Residents should consider voluntarily relocating to a shelter or with family or friends outside of the affected area.

Grab your emergency Go-Kit.

Keep in mind unique needs for your family or special equipment for pets and livestock.

Stay aware of the latest news and information from public safety and public health officials.

This might be the only notice you receive. Emergency services cannot guarantee they will be able to notify everyone if conditions rapidly deteriorate.

Be SET to GO.

GO  Evacuate immediately

Danger in your area is imminent and life threatening. It is imperative to leave the impacted area immediately.

Residents should evacuate immediately to a shelter or with family or friends outside of the affected area.

If you choose to ignore this advisement, then you must understand that emergency services may not be able to assist you further.

Follow instructions from emergency personnel, stay on designated evacuation routes and avoid closed areas. For more information, please visit coconino.az.gov/ready-set-go guide.

Fire restrictions

As a reminder, most of northern Arizona is under Stage 2 fire restrictions. In the City of Flagstaff, Stage 2 restrictions include the following:

 The use of open fire pits and other open-flame devices (including those with a spark arrestor screen) without an on/off switch is prohibited.

 The use of charcoal and wood-fired barbecues are prohibited throughout the city, including at private residences and campgrounds. The use of propane and gas barbecues with an on-off switch are still allowed throughout the city.

 Smoking and use of electronic cigarettes are prohibited in all public places within the City of Flagstaff, including city parks, open spaces and the Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS) at all times.

On the Coconino and Kaibab national forests, Stage 2 restrictions prohibit:

 Building, maintaining, or using a fire, campfire, or stove fire, including charcoal, coal and briquettes. This includes smudge pots and wood stoves. Stoves or grills solely fueled by pressurized liquid petroleum or pressurized liquid petroleum gas fuels are permitted.

 Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site, or while stopped in an area at least 3 feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of any flammable material.

 Blasting, welding or operating any acetylene or other torch with an open flame.

 During the hours of 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., operating a generator, chainsaw or other equipment powered by an internal combustion engine for felling, bucking, skidding, processing, road building and woodcutting. An exception is allowed for operating generators with an approved spark arrestor in an area barren or cleared of all overhead and surrounding flammable materials within 3 feet of the generator.

 Fireworks are never allowed.

Forest visitors are also cautioned against operating or parking vehicles over dry grasses and flammable terrain, as catalytic converters and vehicle heat could ignite vegetation fuels. Restrictions are typically lifted when the area receives substantial widespread precipitation, or by Aug. 31.

Fire restriction violations are punishable by $5,000 fine, six months in prison, or both.

For more information about Flagstaff restrictions, visit www.flagstaff.az.gov/2981/Fire-Restriction-Stages.

Restriction details and forest orders for the Coconino and Kaibab national forests can be found at www.fs.usda.gov/main/coconino and www.fs.usda.gov/main/kaibab.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 3 Angry 1
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Richard Marles speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on June 11, 2022. (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Open to More Talks With China

Australia is open to further diplomatic meetings with Beijing, with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles indicating the door was still open to more discussions.

Marles said there was a long way to go before regular communication with China restarted, but noted that resumption of ministerial talks was an important first step.

The defence minister spoke with his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe at a recent international forum in Singapore, the first such meeting after an almost three-year freeze.

There was a desire in the meeting that we had, on both sides, to have the relationship put in a better place, Marles told ABC Radio on June 14.

The door is open to having further meetings, but I think we do need to understand that the relationship has not been in a good place at all, and this is only the first step and theres still a long way to go.

Relations between Beijing and Canberra have been in a deep freeze since Australia called for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, which triggered disputes with Australias largest trading partner.

While the talks with China have come after a change of government in Australia, Marles said there was no change in policy.

We want to assert our rights in places like the South China Sea, we see the importance of a global, rules-based order in the Pacific, he said.

Were going to go about our relations with China, but our relations with the whole world in a way which is professional, where we understand the importance of dialogue where we believe in the power of diplomacy.

The deputy prime minister is currently in Japan for a three-day visit.

Marles will hold talks with his Japanese defence counterpart Nobuo Kishi and Indo-Pacific issues are expected to be on the agenda.

There have been growing tensions in the region after China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, and sought similar bilateral deals with other nations in the region.

Marles said Australia wanted to work closely with the Solomon Islands, following talks between himself and the countrys defence minister.

We have to be their natural partner of choice, he said. We understand that thats not something we get by right, we need to do the work.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen speaks to media during a press conference in the Mural Hall at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on June 23, 2021. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

Australian Energy Minister Warns of Challenging Times Ahead

Energy Minister Chris Bowen says Australians will need to brace for a rough couple of months as the countrys energy producers struggle to maintain enough supply for the its electricity and gas needs.

Australians in Queensland and New South Wales narrowly averted widespread blackouts due to the energy shortage on June 13.

Power availability in the two Australian states was at risk after wholesale electricity prices shot updue to a confluence of factorsforcing authorities to impose a $300/MWh (US$208/MWh) price cap on wholesale energy prices. In turn, power suppliers refused to bid into the electricity market because of a lack of profitability.

In response, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) stepped in and compelled the companies to continue to produce and sell electricity.

Speaking about the incident, Bowen said AEMO was monitoring the electricity supply reserve.

We will be in for a bumpy period. There is no doubt about that, he told the Seven Network. We are working very hard to avoid any blackouts and load shedding, and we have done that so far.

Currently, coal-fired power plant outages and rising demand for household heating due to cold weather are exerting pressure on the electricity grid.

Bowen said Australians could continue to run their heating appliances.

Nobody is being asked to turn off anything that they need  certainly nobody should be turning the heating off or anything thats essential, he told ABC radio.

The Yallourn coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia, on April 28, 2022. (Caden Pearson, The Epoch Times)

Bowen also said that while some coal-fired power stations were still out of service, AEMO could intervene to ensure power availability when necessary.

Coal-fired power is really under huge pressure at the moment  and that has led to some of the pressure on the system, he said.

The government was aware that a number of the outages were coming, but some at ageing power plants were unforeseeable, Bowen added.

In addition, the energy minister said while the government would consider everything about reforming the sector, it was not easy to find a solution.

This is not a short-term fix. Theres no legislative basis at the moment. We would need to look very carefully, he said.

While this is a very serious situation, well deal with it calmly and methodically.

Meanwhile, Queensland authorities have asked state residents to turn down their heaters as electricity supplies risk falling short of guaranteeing supply for a second consecutive night.

Households and businesses in the states southeast and coastal areas would encounter blackouts from 5p.m. to 9p.m. on June 14.

AEMO has also stepped in calling on generators to ensure supply.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet speaks to media during an announcement at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney, Australia, on June 6, 2022. (AAP Image/Flavio Brancaleone)

Australian State Leader Pushes to Eliminate Worst Tax

New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottets bid to abolish stamp duty is back in the limelight, calling it the worst tax that a state could have.

The premier has been outspoken on scrapping stamp dutya significant one-off tax payment when purchasing a homesince he was the states treasurer.

The state governments proposed reform would give home buyers a choice to pay the one-time tax or opt into a perpetual annual land tax.

I believe stamp duty is the worst tax that any government can have, Perrottet said on June 13. It is a massive impediment for people getting into the housing market.

Perrottet indicated that his government had yet to formally announce a policy around stamp duty as it required the approval of the federal government.

This is a moment for the federal government and state governments to work together to unlock economic opportunity for people going forward, he said ahead of his meeting with the prime minister on June 17.

Proponents of an annual land tax say it would offer the state government a more steady and predictable revenue stream, compared to one-off stamp duty payments, which rise and fall depending on the amount of property transactions occurring each year.

Stamp duty accounted for $10 billion of the New South Wales budget in the 2020-21 financial year.

The states opposition Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has criticised the proposal and said Labors internal modelling suggested the change could force families to pay $2,400 (US$1,700) a year in land tax in perpetuity.

I dont know where Mr. Perrottet thinks that working families could find the money to pay him an annual land tax on their home that lasts forever, Mookhey said, calling the premier out of touch.

A general view of homes in McMahons Point in Sydney, Australia, on May 5, 2022. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

The Committee for Sydney, an independent advocacy and urban policy think tank, called the proposed stamp duty changes the most important tax reform that the state government could carry out.

The problem with stamp duty is its  a discouragement for properties to transact, which means it makes it harder for people to adjust where they live based on things like changing family size or getting a new job, Deputy CEO Ehssan Veiszadeh said in a statement.

Currently, stamp duty for a home priced at over $1,033,000 (US$720,000), the highest payment bracket, is $41,820 (US$30,000) plus 5.5 percent of the house value above $1,033,000.

The median house price in Sydney is $1.2 million and $800,000 in regional New South Wales after significant growth in home values over 2021.

AAP contributed to this article.
A still from the film "Eternal Spring," which tells the story of 18 Falun Gong practitioners who tapped into Changchun Citys state-controlled cable television to broadcast information to counter the Chinese communist regimes propaganda against the spiritual practice. (Courtesy of Lofty Sky Pictures)

Award-Winning Eternal Spring Premiering in Hollywood on June 15

The award-winning animated documentary Eternal Spring will premiere on June 15 at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, after its recent packed screenings in Poland and several major cities in the United States, including New York and San Francisco.

Depicting Chinas continued repression of freedom of speech, assembly, and belief, the documentary will be featured and screened at Dances with Filmsan annual independent film festival in Los Angeleson Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatre on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The movie is based on a true story that happened twenty years ago. A group of people hijacked a state television broadcast in China to counter the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) hateful narrative about their meditation practice, Falun Gong, which centers on values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Feeling threatened by its popularity, the CCP launched a systematic elimination campaign in 1999, resulting in millions detained inside prisons, labor camps, and other facilities and hundreds of thousands tortured while incarcerated, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.

The 2002 broadcast interruption shocked the world and was described by CNN as one of the Falun Gongs most daring to date.

In the aftermath, the participants faced severe persecution, and some paid with their lives. To date, the human rights abuses depicted in the film are still taking place in China.

Film director Jason Loftus is a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and four-time Canadian Screen Award nominee. He is also the producer of several other acclaimed human rights movies such as Ask No Questions, The Bleeding Edge, and Human Harvest.

The 86-minute film took him about six years to finish, during which he and his family were constantly harassed by the CCP.

Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Jason Loftus, director of the new animated documentary Eternal Spring, in New York on May 24, 2022. (Jack Wang/The Epoch Times)

Loftus will be attending the premiere on Wednesday and answering questions from the audience.

Previously, the film had also been screened at film festivals in Canada, Greece, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. The film has won the Rogers Audience Award at the Hot Docs film festival last month and two prizes at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival in March.

For tickets, please visit Dances with Films official website. To watch the trailer or learn more about the movie, please visit the official website of Eternal Spring.

Artist Daxiong in a still of the Eternal Spring documentary, which tells the story of a group of Chinese expatriates who brought uncensored news to China and its aftermath. (Courtesy of Lofty Sky Pictures)
To mark the third Anniversary of June 12, more than 3,000 Hongkongers gathered on Parliament Square in London, attending rally Be water, be united, sharing their voice in the activities Pencil Your Note.

Founder of Hongkongers in Britain, an UK-wide disporaic organisation, Simon Cheng Man-Kit: Give me liberty, or give me death. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

A lady and her daughter joined the activities writing down their voice: Free Hong Kong! Freedom! (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Hongkongers in the UK: See you beneath the pot. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Liberate Hong Kong, Finn Lau /. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

We are Hongkongers no matter where we are, Isaac Cheng Ka-long. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Remember my mum has been helping to carry foods for people in mainlandyet today we are paid back with guns to destroy uswhat an ungrateful regime (: tiger of regime). (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Supporting lawyers facing Human Right suppression, The 29 principles. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

We have to keep the momentum, people speak up for us only if we speak up for ourselves! (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

I think Hong Kong people deserve freedom. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Do you hear the people sing? (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Keep fighting. Never give up! (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Hongkongers, we appreciate your effort. Stay strong. We will be back. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

I stand with Hong Kong, Brain (born in HK) (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Stand with Hong Kong,  (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Hong Kong Be Water! 612 Parliament Square. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Heaven will annihilate the CCP. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Thank you Hongkongers, totalitarianism will not last not, liberate HK! (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

No rioters, just tyranny. Free the righteous! (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

(Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Free HK(Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Hong Kong is mine. Hong Konger. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Dont attack me from behind. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Liberate Hong Kong. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

End CCP. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

End totalitarianism. Give the freedom and democracy back to Hongkongers. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

We are like scattered stars, by linking up, we shall light up the darkest night! (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

God knows what you did. Hongkongers will win. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Hongkongers: Mind the zero-covid 19 policy from Shanghai. We take care of each other! (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Defeat totalitarianism. Free Hong Kong. We want true democracy. Hongkongers, add oil, dont give up. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

We stand with Hong Kong! (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Liberate Hong Kong. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Liberate Hong Kong! Be water, be united. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our times. Hongkonger in London. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our times. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

We are Hongkongers. We always pay our debts.  (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Never give up, for you never know when the tides will turn. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

! (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our times. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Free Hong Kong journalists! (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

End CCP. (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Looking forward to going back to Hong Kong (no CCP). (Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)

Voices from Hongkongers(Lisa Lee, Joann Chow/The Epoch Times)
President Joe Biden delivers a speech on stage during for a meeting, as part of the World Leaders' Summit of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 2, 2021. (Evan Vucci/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden to Visit Saudi Arabia, Israel as US Gas Prices Soar to Record Levels

The White House on Tuesday confirmed President Joe Biden will visit Israel and Saudi Arabia on an upcoming trip, which is an apparent reversal of his campaign promise to isolate the kingdom.

The president looks forward to outlining his affirmative vision for U.S. engagement in the region over the coming months and years, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. The president appreciates King Salmans leadership and his invitation. He looks forward to this important visit to Saudi Arabia, which has been a strategic partner of the United States for nearly eight decades.

The trip, which is scheduled for mid-July, comes as U.S. gas prices are now averaging a record $5 per gallon nationwide. Earlier this year, Biden reportedly asked the Saudi kingdom to increase oil production in a bid to offset high prices.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington stated Biden would meet King Salman and Prince Mohammed in Saudi Arabia and said the meeting would improve bilateral relations and the distinguished strategic partnership between the two nations.

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks forward to welcoming President Biden and defining the next chapters of our partnership, the Saudi Embassy said in a statement this week. At a time of global challenges related to the global economy, health, climate, and international conflict, the partnership between our two countries is as critical as ever to the promotion of peace, prosperity, and stability around the world.

In 2019, Biden said that he would turn Saudi Arabia into a pariah state, adding: I would make it very clear we were not going to in fact sell more weapons to them That comment was made in reference to the 2018 killing of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, which at the time became a headline news story for several weeks on CNN, Washington Post, the New York Times, ABC, and similar outlets.

Earlier this month, OPEC+ announced plans to increase production, although its not clear what effect it would have on prices in the United States. Biden has faced significant criticism from Republicans and oil industry officials, who say that a flurry of executive orders Biden issued soon after taking office in 2021 to limit drilling, leases, and killing the Keystone XL pipeline have contributed to the price hike.

According to data released by auto club AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline as of Tuesday morning stands at $5.016, with California leading the way at $6.43 per gallon.

While in Israel, Biden will also visit senior Palestinian officials in the West Bank and will reiterate his administrations commitment to a two-state solution, according to unnamed senior White House officials speaking to several news outlets during a conference call. Biden will also attend the Gulf Cooperation Council, where the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt attend, the officials said.
Bolivia's former interim President Jeanine Anez holds a mask as she is detained at a FELCC (Special Force to fight against Crime) prison in La Paz, Bolivia, on March 13, 2021. (David Mercado/Reuters)

Bolivian Ex-President Anez Convicted of Orchestrating Coup, Gets 10-Year Sentence

LA PAZ, BoliviaA Bolivian court found former President Jeanine Anez guilty on Friday of orchestrating a coup that brought her to power during a 2019 political crisis.

She was sentenced to 10 years in prison. A former military commander and ex-police general were also convicted.

Anez, 54, was convicted of making decisions contrary to the constitution and of dereliction of duty.

The prosecution said Anez violated norms that guarantee the constitutional and democratic order after Bolivias 2019 presidential elections.

Anezs defense said it would appeal to international bodies to seek justice, and several sectors of the opposition planned marches to protest the ruling.

Bolivia has been split over whether a coup occurred when then-President Evo Morales resigned in 2019, with Anez ascending to the presidency amid a leadership vacuum left in his wake. Moraless departure followed mass protests over a disputed election in which he claimed to win a controversial fourth consecutive term in office.

Anez maintains she is innocent.

The contentious case has further exposed the fault lines in a deeply divided country while also fueling concerns about the judicial process in Bolivia.

We are concerned about how this case has been pursued. And we call on superior courts to examine how the proceedings were conducted, Cesar Munoz, senior researcher for the Americas at Human Rights Watch, said in an interview before the verdict.

Anez was not allowed to attend the trial in person, and she followed the hearing and participated from prison. She has been detained since her arrest in March 2021 on initial charges of terrorism, sedition, and conspiracy.

Members and supporters of Moraless Movement to Socialism (MAS) party, which returned to power in 2020, say Anez played a key role in what it says was a coup against Morales.

As president, Anez was accused of political score-settling when her administration prosecuted former MAS officials.

Anezs supporters say her trial was illegitimate and political. In her trial, Anez said she was the product of circumstance and that her ascension to the top office helped calm a tense nation and lay the groundwork for elections in October 2020.

I didnt lift a finger to become president, but I did what I had to do. I assumed the presidency out of obligation, according to what is established in the constitution, Anez said in her final statement to the judge.

By Daniel Ramos and Brendan OBoyle
Police officers and rescue team members stand on a boat during the search operation for British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, who went missing while reporting in a remote and lawless part of the Amazon rainforest, near the border with Peru, in Atalaia do Norte, Amazonas state, Brazil, on June 12, 2022. (Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

Brazil Police and Searchers Say No Bodies Found in Hunt for British Journalist

ATALAIA DO NORTE, BrazilBrazilian police and indigenous search teams dismissed reports on Monday that they had found the bodies of a British reporter and a Brazilian indigenous expert missing in the Amazon jungle, dashing hopes of a quick resolution in the week-old case.

On Sunday, police said search teams had found the belongings of freelance reporter Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, a former official at federal indigenous agency Funai, in a creek off the river where they were last seen on June 5.

However, a federal police statement and a spokesman for local indigenous association UNIVAJA, which has organized search efforts since June 5, denied subsequent reports of two bodies turned up in the search.

Police officers and rescue team members stand on a boat during the search operation for British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, who went missing while reporting in a remote and lawless part of the Amazon rainforest, near the border with Peru, in Atalaia do Norte, Amazonas state, Brazil, on June 12, 2022. (Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

Ive spoken with the team in the field and its not true, said Eliesio Marubo, a lawyer for UNIVAJA. The search goes on.

More than 100 indigenous people, many in body paint and headdresses, marched on Monday in Atalaia do Norte, the nearest town to where Phillips and Pereira were last seen, to demand better treatment of native peoples and justice for the two men.

They were on a reporting trip in the remote jungle area near the border with Peru and Colombia that is home to the worlds largest number of uncontacted indigenous people. The wild and lawless region has lured cocaine-smuggling gangs, along with illegal loggers, miners, and hunters.

The case was thrown into confusion early on Monday by reports of a diplomatic briefing for the family of Phillips.

The Guardian reported that a Brazilian diplomat told Paul Sherwood, the journalists brother-in-law, that authorities were working to identify two bodies tied to a tree near the river.

No authorities or search teams in Brazil provided any corroboration of that development.

A police statement on Sunday described belongings of the two men that had been recovered, including an ID card for Pereira. A firefighter on a search team told reporters of a backpack with clothes and a laptop tied to a tree trunk near the river.

Brazilian police had also said late on Friday that they were analyzing organic material found in the river to see if it was human, but four people involved in the investigation told Reuters it seemed more likely to be of animal origin.

The material was found near the port of Atalaia do Norte, more than 40 miles (65 km) downstream from where Phillips and Pereira were last seen on a slow-moving river, the sources said. The materials condition suggested it could have been scraps from a nearby butcher rather than remains carried downstream.

The Brazilian embassy in London confirmed it has been in contact with the Phillips family, at their request, but would not comment on the details provided in the briefing. Relatives of Phillips could not be reached for comment.

State police detectives involved in the investigation told Reuters they are focusing on poachers and illegal fisherman in the area, who clashed often with Pereira as he organized indigenous patrols of the local reservation.

Police have arrested one fisherman, Amarildo da Costa, known as Pelado, on a weapons charge and are keeping him in custody as they investigate the case.

Costas lawyers and family have said he fished legally on the river and denied he had any role in the mens disappearance.
California Democrats Aim to Target Tax Exempt Status of Patriot Groups

California Democrats appear to be using the Jan. 6 hearings in Washington D.C. as a catalyst to push legislation aimed at targeting the tax-exempt status of patriot groups in the state. The legislation suggests these groups might pose a threat of insurrection.

Senate Bill 834 would authorize state Attorney General Rob Bonta to review non-profit groups and refer cases to the California Franchise Tax Board to possibly remove their tax-exempt status supposedly to protect against insurrection.

The bill, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), would empower the attorney general to determine whether or not a non-profit organization has actively engaged in, or incited the active engagement in, acts or conspiracies and require the attorney general to notify the California Franchise Tax Boardthe state equivalent of the IRSto revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization found to be in violation.

An inside source in the California legislature told The Epoch Times that the bill would grant too much power to the attorney general and could be used to weaponize the California Franchise Tax Board against patriot groups.

Removing tax-exempt status by AG determination without a method to redress, basically makes the AG the judge, jury, and executioner for nonprofits and their tax-exempt status in the state, all under the guise of Jan. 6, according to the source.

Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote, questioned whyif the bill is non-political as Democrats claimdont its supporters mention violent leftwing nonprofit groups.

So, are they referring to Black Lives Matter and Antifa, the organizations that have wreaked so much havoc and caused so much destruction? she asked.

We are at a sobering moment in America, where the political echo chamber in places like California and others where there is very little divergence of thought tolerated quickly morphs from a republic to tyranny, she told The Epoch Times. It should be a sobering warning to any Californian with a pro-liberty mindset. It sounds like theyre being marked for takedown.

True the Vote founder and president Catherine Engelbrecht makes a point during a presentation on ballot trafficking at the Arizona statehouse on May 31, 2022. Seated next to her is True the Vote data investigator Gregg Phillips. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Engelbrecht hopes that cooler heads prevail and the bill is rejected.

Were at a point where you have to dig deep to know why you believe what you believe and then stand fast to that because things are just going to get weirder and weirder, she said. Its just some kind of bizarre brainwashing that that seems to have taken hold where up is down and two plus two is five. Were in very dangerous times.

The IRS Scandal

The bill seems to propose legalizing tactics eerily similar to those used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) during former President Barack Obamas administration to target patriot groups, including the Tea Party.

News of the IRS scandal broke in May 2013, but the nefarious activities of the agency had begun more than three years prior. In August 2010, the IRS made a list of groups to target, especially those with Tea Party, Patriots, or 9/12 in their names, according to a Treasury Inspector General report released on May 14, 2013.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman testified there was absolutely no targeting of conservative groups but later stepped down. Shortly after, his replacement Steven Miller also resigned.

Lois Lerner, the IRS director responsible for the oversight of tax-exempt groups, had met with Department of Justice (DOJ) officials about targeting conservative groups. Initially, Lerner claimed she was innocent but later took the fifth. She was placed on administrative leave, and the U.S. House of Representatives held her in contempt of Congress. Lerner later resigned and retired with a full pension.

Demonstrators gather at a T.E.A. (Taxed Enough Already) Party in Santa Monica, Calif., on April 15, 2009. (David McNew/Getty Images)

Tea Party Patriots

Dan Farley, a Tea Party organizer, told The Epoch Times that SB 834 is an attempt by the California Democrats to bolster its left-wing power base in the state.

Would the AG be pursuing those Democrat mules and Soros nonprofits exposed by geo-tracking like in the movie 2000 Mules, or patriot groups that the current CA AG hates? he posted on Facebook.

Our founders put in many layers to our government for a reason, so it wouldnt be easy to centralize power and create tyranny quickly. This is your warning to take notice that big government likely intends to weaponize the CA AGs office to crush all those who would like to shrink the size and impact of government in our lives, he wrote in the post.

The Dems did it under Obama with weaponizing the IRS and we all agreed that was wrong. How is this any different? he asked.

Farley suggested Bonta should be more concerned with bringing law and order to the streets, and demanding the Biden administration secure the southern border.

Referring to the recently released Dinesh DSouza documentary 2000 Mules, which was based on research by True the Vote, Farley said Bonta should be focused on prosecuting those who intentionally cheated in elections using the same approach True the Vote did with geo-tracking.

Why give someone who isnt even doing the basics of his job more power? he said.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks at a news conference in Sacramento on Aug. 17, 2021. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo)

True the Vote

Nearly a decade ago, Engelbrecht testified about the unfair targeting of patriot groups. She went public about the IRS scandal and described how her business and the Tea Party group King Street Patriots, which she also founded, were targeted by the IRS.

She accused the Obama administration of constant government persecution and sued the IRS, forcing it to admit they had systematically targeted conservative organizations.

The federal court found that what happened to us was, in fact, not just a miscarriage of justice, but an abridgment of our civil rights, she said.

The bill should serve as a warning shot to all California nonprofits about whats coming next.

Its a disturbing reality check, Englebrecht said. If California were to pass something like this, it should send a chill down the spine of every Californian to know that government is intent upon silencing individuals and organizations based upon this presupposed political narrative.

Having been through this machine once before with the IRS, she said, no good comes from the abridgment of free speech and the targeting nonprofit organizations on the basis of perceived political identity.

Senate Committee Hearing

The California Assembly tax and revenue committee passed the bill to the Assembly public safety committee. Republican committee members abstained from the vote.

SB 834 passed the Senate floor 28-12 on May 23. It must pass the Assembly public safety and appropriations committees before it can advance to the Assembly floor and then California Gov. Gavin Newsoms desk to be signed into law

Sen. Wiener told the committee the intent of the bill is to expand the California Franchise Tax Boards authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of nonprofits if the attorney general determines that the nonprofit has engaged in or incited various crimes including treason, insurrection, and seditious conspiracy.

Wiener said SB 834 would fill an important gap in the law.

While the Franchise Tax Board is currently directed by statute, to suspend the tax-exempt status of nonprofits supporting international terrorism, there is no explicit authority concerning nonprofits that attacked our democracy and literally tried to overthrow our government, he said.

Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) at the Equality California Los Angeles Equality Awards 20th Anniversary event at JW Marriott Los Angeles on Sept. 28, 2019. (Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)

We know from Jan. 6were hearing more about it in recent daysthat there was a very organized effort to prevent the peaceful transition of power and to overthrow our government. And tragically, there were nonprofits involved. And we want to make sure that going forward, that these nonprofits do not get tax subsidies from California taxpayers, Wiener said.

Two main witnesses spoke in favor of the bill. No one opposed it.

One witness representing a group called Indivisible California State Strong, claimed her group represents 80,000 activists across the states. The groups formed across the country after the 2016 presidential election to oppose the bigoted and tyrannical Trump administration, she said.

Acts in support of an insurrection are already illegal. But also, it is of course the opposite of charitable to foment an attempted coup based upon the big lie about the known valid results of the 2020 election, she said.

Beth Holtzman, western states civil rights counsel at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) told the committee that after a cursory investigation, we uncovered evidence that a range of groups may be making misrepresentations in their tax filings in order to secure tax-exempt status.

Holtzman accused some organizations of paying their leaders excessive salaries and diverting funds to enrich friends and family members at the expense of the tax-exempt entity.

In addition, hateful groups with tax-exempt status, maybe using that status to raise money for violent and illegal purposes, she said.

ADL has expertise in tracking and exposing extremist threats across the ideological spectrum, she said.

In the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the rising tide of hate and extremism across the country, weve become increasingly concerned about the ways in which extremist and hateful groups operating as charitable nonprofits may be abusing their tax-exempt status to further their violent or hateful objectives.
This video image provided by SpaceX, a SpaceX Falcon 9 mission to launch 53 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E), takes off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., on May 13, 2022. (SpaceX via AP)

Can China Shoot Down Starlink?

Commentary

Chinese military media is increasingly highlighting the threat to China from Elon Musks growing constellation of broadband (Wi-Fi) satellites called Starlink, with one Chinese military journal calling for China to have the capability to shoot them down.

But does Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) have that capability?

The short answer is that today, China may not be able to shoot down enough of them, but it has the potential to be able to damage large portions of this growing mega-constellation.

On May 25, South China Morning Post, Hong Kongs former flagship English language newspaper, revealed that an April article in the Chinese journal Modern Military Technology had concluded that China needs to be able to disable or destroy SpaceXs Starlink satellites if they threaten national security.

This article was worthy of coverage by the Post as one of its main missions is to help generate fear among the democracies about Chinas growing military power on Earth and in space.

That same day, a full translation of the journal article was posted on the blog of former U.S. State Department official David Cowhig.

The article noted that lead author Ren Yuanzhen is affiliated with the Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications. The Post added that this institute is under the PLAs Strategic Support Force.

This is important because the PLA Strategic Support Force is Chinas lead military service for combat in outer space. Its also responsible for operating Chinas manned and unmanned space programs.

While it has about 2,400 satellites in low Earth orbit today, Starlink may eventually grow to more than 40,000 satellites, expanding broadband internet services from 33 countries to potential global access.

Diego Guerrero, 7, and Sofia Diaz, 7, connect to the internet through Starlinks satellite antenna at the John F. Kennedy School in the village of Sotomo, outside the town of Cochamo, Los Lagos region, Chile, on Aug. 6, 2021. (Pablo Sanhueza/Reuters)

Starlink is feared by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) because it offers people around the world a means to avoid Beijings decades-long insidious campaign to control national internet systems by dominating their markets in computer server hardware and subsidized 5G communications software/hardware systems.

Not only does Starlink offer services that could overcome the manipulations of Chinese-made internet systems, but it would also allow countries being invaded by the Chinese regime or its main ally Russia to access a communications infrastructure capable of enabling the conduct of military operationswhich happens today in Ukraine, perhaps tomorrow in Taiwan.

Even if the Chinese regime were to invade and conquer Taiwan, Starlink could provide a much more secure internet platform to help unite communities of ethnic Taiwanese around the world to sustain a virtual government-in-exile complete with a global network of embassies.

To counter Starlink, Ren wrote, A combination of soft and hard kill methods should be adopted to make some Starlink satellites lose their functions and destroy the constellations operating system.

Ren apparently noted that Chinas ground-based anti-satellite (ASAT) missiles could be used, but they would cause massive debris, and the number of targets would mean the cost of attacking Starlink would be too high.

Instead, according to Ren, the objective of attacking Starlink requires some low-cost, high-efficiency measures. The Post noted Rens observation that it would be possible for satellites carrying military payloads to be launched amid a batch of Starlinks commercial craft.

China has been rapidly developing laser and microwave weapons, and it is possible that the PLA Strategic Support Force could modify its new Tiangong manned space station or its prominent components, like the six tons of cargo carrying the Tianzhou supply shiptwo of which are now docked to the Tiangong space station.

Future large modules attached to the Tiangong space station, or the Tianzhou, could carry electrically powered laser or microwave weapons capable of firing an unlimited number of rounds at Starlink satellites.

The Tianzhou also could be modified to carry many hundreds to 1,000 small spikes that could be accurately aimed at passing Starlink satellites.

Today, the PLA could launch up to four Tianzhou interceptor satellites on a single liquid-fuel China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) Long March-5 space launch vehicle (SLV). Still, these can only be launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Chinas Hainan Island.

People watch a Long March-8 rocket, the latest Chinas Long March launch vehicle fleet, as it lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Chinas Hainan Province on Dec. 22, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Before the end of this decade, CASC also will launch its Long March-9 moon program SLV, which could also be adopted to fire as many as 18 Tianzhou-based satellite interceptorsbut these, too, must be launched from Hainan Island.

In the near term, however, the CASC solid-fuel Kuaizhou-21 could launch three Tianzhou-based interceptors from any location in China.

its possible to consider that late in this decade, the PLA Strategic Support Force could launch waves of 20 to 40 satellite interceptors based on the Tianzhou platform, or perhaps a new, slightly larger but more capable unmanned interceptor platform.

This potential capability would be in addition to more powerful and even mobile high-power laser systems deployed around China, or in a global network, perhaps smuggled into PLA-controlled satellite tracking bases such as in Argentinas Neuquen Province or Chinas many globally-deployed ships.

But even with such a potential PLA space combat threat directed at Starlink, Musks SpaceX alone has the means to make the PLAs task very difficult.

SpaceXs Falcon-9 reusable SLVs can launch payloads of 16.25 metric tons or about 53 Starlink satellites. But the SpaceX Starship reusable SLV, soon to conduct its first launch into space, has an advertised payload of 100 tons or the potential to launch over 300 Starlink satellites.

If it comes to an SLV race with China, Musk may be prepared to go the distance. In a June 5 discussion on Twitter, Musk proposed to Build 1000+ Starships to transport life to Mars, which, if realized, would allow more than enough to reconstitute Starlink or its successor.

Starship also allows Musk to launch large numbers of Starlink satellites into higher orbits that are more difficult and expensive for the PLA to attack.

In addition, relatively inexpensive modifications to Starlink satellites, such as adding very lightweight, highly-reflective umbrellas to reflect laser attacks or slight increases in the power of their electric-powered thrusters, could enable improved emergency maneuvering to avoid PLA attacks.

The fact that a researcher under the PLAs Strategic Support Force is even writing about the enormous task of attacking Starlink-size satellite mega-constellations means that the U.S. Space Force requires the resources now to develop the sensors to track, and the weapons to counter, potential PLA ground and space-based ASAT weapons directed at all U.S. satellites.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
The Pipeline Fire was reported about 6 miles north of Flagstaff at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday morning and rapidly grew to consume thousands of acres near Schultz Pass and the San Francisco Peaks Wilderness.

Almost as rapidly, law enforcement apprehended a suspect, 57-year-old Matthew Riser, on charges of igniting the wildfire.

High winds continued to drive the fire throughout Monday as thousands of households east of Flagstaff were evacuated and firefighters battled the growing blaze with no end in sight. The Pipeline Fire is currently the No. 1 fire resource priority in the nation, according to officials.

Measurements of the Pipeline Fires acreage on Monday were almost worthless as the fire continues to grow steadily, said Aaron Graeser, Type 3 Incident Commander for the Pipeline Fire. Estimates suggest that the blaze is over 5,000 acres in size and continues to grow to the north and east, following a similar trajectory as the Tunnel Fire that impacted the area less than two months ago. In this previously burned area there is less fuel for the Pipeline Fire to consume, but in some unexpected areas the fire encountered fresh fuel beds.

That is a fairly isolated incident, Graeser said. For the most part, it's not going to carry the same intensity through the Tunnel Fire scar as it did when it originally burned.

Coconino National Forest public information officer Brady Smith said the burn scar has plenty of fresh fuel for the Pipeline Fire, including downed pine needles that have collected over the last two months. Due to the Tunnel Fires spotty wind-driven pattern, the scar is not likely to hinder the Pipeline Fires progress.

Many of the same neighborhoods that evacuated from the Tunnel Fire have been place under similar evacuation orders for the Pipeline Fire. As of Monday evening, Bret Axlund of the Coconino County Sheriffs Office confirmed that 2,195 households have been evacuated and 1,584 households have been put on Set status to evacuate at a moments notice.

We understand the incredible difficulties evacuation causes to the lives of those in our communities, Axlund said. Especially after going through the Tunnel Fire less than two months ago.

Evacuations were so orderly I couldnt believe it, said Congressman Tom OHalleran, who came on scene Sunday to support the first responders.

I felt proud to know that we had such dedicated service that were helping people in this area, OHalleran said. And we have some of the top incident teams in the world to fight these fires.

Currently there are about 600 firefighters on scene and a higher-complexity incoming Type 2 Team from California. As the battle raged Monday, evacuations remained a priority as lives are the No. 1 value at risk, Graeser said. There have been no fatalities so far. On Sunday night, firefighters conducted a very successful burnout west of the Timberline neighborhood in order to slow fire progress into that area.

Thats helped a little, Smith said, but wind gusts recorded as high as 51 miles per hour on Monday continue to move the blaze at a rapid pace.

Between both fires, resources on the scene have so far included 21 engines, three water tenders, three Hotshot crews, one hand crew, four dozers as well as various aerial and overhead resources.

So far, there has been one confirmed structure loss. The fire continues to spread toward highly valued areas, such as the San Francisco Peaks Inner Basin.

That is the No. 1 watershed for the City of Flagstaff for our community here, Graeser said. That is very much threatened right now.

Significant burn damage in the Inner Basin could impact Flagstaff water quality and produce flooding similar to that after the Schultz Fire and Museum Fire. It is too soon to accurately predict flood risk, said Coconino County Supervisor Patrice Horstman. When it comes to flood mitigation efforts designed to prepare the community for the 2022 monsoon season, the work is ongoing, she said.

Firefighters are prepared to take high risk for high benefit, when it comes to protecting the Inner Basin, Graeser said. They are also keeping an eye on the substantial cultural resources that are threatened to the northeast.

We know how important that is to our tribal members that live in this community and to our tribal cooperators, Graeser said. According to Horstman, the Navajo Nation has offered support in firefighting efforts.

Firefighters can use all the help they can get. The Pipeline Fire is accompanied by the lightning-ignited Haywire Fire, which is burning approximately 1,600 acres about 8 miles northeast of Doney Park. Though substantial in size, the Haywire is affecting an area with less population density. According to officials, 281 households have been evacuated and 57 are in Set.

The Haywire and Double Fires are both suspected to be caused by lightning from an earlier storm. They eventually combined on Monday, becoming known simply as the Haywire Fire, which was also at 0% containment Monday afternoon.

Going into the week, structure protection in the previously impacted Timberline neighborhood and timely evacuations will remain a priority. The fires progress will remain largely determined by wind, said James Pettit, Fire Staff Officer for the Coconino National Forest.

Wind trumps everything, Pettit said, wind is very difficult to predict.

Dry weather is forecast to continue until Friday, which has a 40% chance of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Winds are expected to be slightly lighter for the rest of the week. Meteorologists have reported that smoke from the fire can be seen across most of Colorado.

Closures for the fire include parts of U.S. 89 and most of the Coconino National Forest north of Interstate 40.

FEMA has authorized the use of federal funds to assist the state of Arizona in combating the Pipeline Fire.

More about the fires and response can be found at coconino.az.gov/2926/Pipeline-FireHaywire-Fire. The call center is at 928-679-8525.

Sean Golightly can be reached at sgolightly@azdailysun.com

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 20 Angry 7

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
People wait in line to check in at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on May 12, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette)

Canada Suspends Vaccine Mandates for Travel, Federal Workplaces

The federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates preventing unvaccinated Canadians from flying or working in the public service are being suspended, cabinet ministers announced on Tuesday.

Transport Canada says vaccine requirements for domestic and outbound international travel, as well as federally regulated transportation workers will be suspended as of June 20. Passengers and workers are still required to continue wearing masks.

International travellers coming to Canada still need to be vaccinated.

The vaccine mandates for the public service, the RMCP, and federally-regulated sectors will also be lifted as of June 20. The federal government said public servants who were on leave without pay as a result of the vaccination policy will be able to go back to work.

A spokesperson for the Department of National Defence told The Epoch Times on June 14 there is no change to the vaccine mandate for military personnel.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc said the vaccine mandates were effective but were never meant to be permanent.

In no way do we regret having acted cautiously, Leblanc said at a press conference, warning that lifting the mandates would not have an immediate impact to reduce airport delays.

Leblanc also said his government is prepared to reinstate the mandates if the COVID-19 situation takes a turn for the worse.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the mandates would be kept in place for cruise ship crews and travellers. He said the measure is necessary as people are in the same place close to each other for long period of times.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the mandates were lifted after reviewing the latest scientific evidence, evolving COVID-19 epidemiology globally and in Canada, vaccination coverage rates, and listening to the advice of public health officials and experts.

When asked by a reporter why vaccine mandates were only being removed now, despite evidence in existence months ago that suggested the vaccines were not effective in preventing infection, Duclos defended the timing.

Weve been very successful until now, he said, adding that chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam and other experts have recommended a transition away from mandates.

Were transitioning, because we want to continue being so successful, Duclos said.

The health minister also said there would be a push in the coming months, with the help of the provinces, to increase booster uptake.

The suspension of the mandates comes amid mounting pressure in recent weeks from various sectors to remove COVID-19 restrictions.

The tourism and travel industries have asked the government a number of times to remove travel restrictions, as bottlenecks in airports have caused major delays.

Conservatives, as well as a small number of dissenting Liberal MPs, have also said that the COVID-19 mandates need to be removed.

Tories have introduced motions to remove vaccine mandates, which have been defeated in the House of Commons.

We have not been able to find anyone who has told the government to keep the legacy health restrictions and the assault on mobility rights in place, said Conservative MP and transport critic Melissa Lantsman in the House as she introduced a motion to remove the mandates on May 19.

That leads us on this side of the House to believe that there is no evidence, there are no metrics and there is no good reason, other than the ideological drive to punish those who do not agree with the government.

Lantsman reacted to the announcement on Twitter.

Finally. Details matter: suspending mandates is not eliminating them. Some vaccine mandates is not all vaccine mandates. Still NO science weve seen to justify any mandates. None, she said.

The Liberals campaigned on a promise to impose mandates during the 2021 election campaign, and implemented them shortly after winning a second minority government in the Sept. 20 election.

In transportation, mandates have been applied to airplanes, trains, and some marine vessels since Oct. 30, 2021. Vaccine mandates were also imposed on the public service and federally-regulated workplaces.
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)

Capitol Police: GOP-Led Tour Day Before Capitol Breach Not Suspicious

The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) on June 13 undermined a claim from the House of Representatives panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) led a group of 15 people briefly into the Rayburn Building on Jan. 5, 2021, with the group spending about five minutes at exhibits in the basement of the Cannon House Office Building, USCP Chief Thomas Manger said in a letter obtained by The Epoch Times.

But the group did not appear on surveillance footage from tunnels leading to the Capitol, Manger said, adding that there is no evidence that Representative Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021.

The Rayburn and Cannon buildings house offices of members of Congress.

Loudermilk separated from the group while the group was examining the exhibits and exited the Cannon building alone. At the time, USCP officers were stationed at the tunnels leading from the building to the Capitol and were only letting members of Congress through, or people accompanied by a member.

We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities were observed as suspicious, Manger said.

In May, Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) accused Loudermilk of leading a tour  through parts of the Capitol complex one day before the Capitol was breached. They said they wanted to question him about the matter.

As Ive said since the Jan. 6 Committee made their baseless accusation about me to the media, I never gave a tour of the Capitol on Jan 5, 2021, and a small group visiting their congressman is in no way a suspicious activity, Loudermilk said in a statement on Tuesday. Now the Capitol Police have confirmed this fact.

Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) speaks during a hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on May 6, 2019. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A spokesperson for the panel, which Thompson chairs and Cheney is the vice-chair of, did not respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), a member of the panel, presented with the new letter, told reporters on Capitol Hill that we should show the video.

What Republicans said last year was falsethat there were no tours, no MAGA hatsthat was patently false, he said. MAGA stands for Make America Great Again.

Aguilar said he did not distinguish between the Capitol building and the Capitol complex because those who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 tried to get into every corner of these buildings.

Loudermilk previously described the group he met on Jan. 5 as a constituent family with young children, that no place that they went together was breached the following day, and that no members of the family have been charged or investigated in connection to Jan. 6.

Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, had previously urged the USCP to immediately and without delay release all video footage from the Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021, noting the accusations that reconnaissance tours took place.

Davis said Republican staff members reviewed all the footage and had confirmed that no such tours occurred.

Davis said that he would release the footage himself if the USCP did not release the footage in a timely manner.
Congress is moving quickly to pass new gun laws. The Senate has reached a deal on a framework, and staffers on Capitol Hill are now working on the official text, with the goal of passing it in the next few weeks.

With new gun law legislation on the table, what are the chances of the laws actually getting passed, and do red flag laws expose law-abiding citizens to false doxxing claims?

The 2020 election results are back in the spotlight, with Mondays Jan. 6 hearing zeroing in on former President Donald Trumps claims over widespread election fraud. How does Trump respond, and what does an attorney tell us about a related case shes still fighting?

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is emphasizing Americas support for Taiwan. He said Chinas military actions threaten the stability of the region.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has long been thought of as being bought off by the Chinese Communist Party, and Trump vowed to defund the WHO. Now, the Biden administration appears to be reversing course, but some U.S. lawmakers are saying: not so fast.

A new museum is opening its doors to the general public. This museum memorializes the over 100 million lives murdered by communist regimes around the world.

* Click the Save button below the video to access it later on My List.

Follow CapitolReport on social media:

Twitter https://twitter.com/capitolreport

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CapitolReport/

Gettr https://gettr.com/user/capitolreport

Follow EpochTV on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EpochTVus

Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/EpochTV

Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@EpochTV

Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/epochtv

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpochTVus

Gab: https://gab.com/EpochTV

Telegram: https://t.me/EpochTV
CCP Reaffirms Zero-COVID Policy Amid Growing Opposition and Economic Slump

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has reaffirmed the ruling communist partys strict zero-COVID pandemic control policy in a recent speech.

Meanwhile, the regime has put out a new regulation trying to save Chinas economy under the policy.

According to a report by Chinas state media Xinhua, Xi said that officials must do a good job in coordinating epidemic control and economic and social development efficiently, and resolutely overcome some current difficulties in economic development during visits he made to Sichuan Province on June 8 and 9. He reiterated that the country should unswervingly adhere to the general policy of dynamic clearing of COVID-19.

Following Xis speech, Zhong Nanshan, the regimes top medical advisor, said on June 10 at the 14th China Bio-Industry Conference that the epidemic must be prevented, but more importantly, economic stability and development must be taken into account. He added that the latter two were equally important.

The escalation of epidemic control measures is not advisable, as it will obviously affect economic development, Zhong said, according to a report on Yicai.com, a major Chinese financial news website.

He added that pandemic control measures were not as simple as only ensuring a dynamic clearing of COVID-19 cases. At present, to do a good job in epidemic prevention and control, we need to focus on precise prevention and control, and we need to rely on science.

Wang He, a China affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times, Zhong Nanshan, as a leading figure in Chinas science and technology circle, is well aware of the CCPs insistence on zero COVID and will not cross the line. So he expressed his opinion as a kind of euphemistic persuasion directed at the authorities, which also reflects the public opinion to a certain extent.

An empty road is seen in Shanghais Central Business District (CBD) during a lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on April 16, 2022. (Aly Song/Reuters)

Prominent figures in Chinese business circles directly expressed their opposition against zero-COVID policy and measures, but they were quickly silenced.

Zhou Hang, the chairman of Cao Cao Travel, a car-sharing company under Geely Automobile Group, whos also a permanent resident of Canada, wrote an article that was shared on Chinese social media criticizing the stupid and extremely destructive zero-COVID policy and the suppression of the business world.

Zhou said that under the restrictions of Chinas epidemic prevention and control, he and other businessmen feel like they are dancing with shackles, while waiting for the hammer of the lockdown to drop at any time. The article was deleted within an hour of being posted.

Liang Jianzhang, chairman of Ctrip.coms board of directors, wrote an article criticizing the mass lockdowns and refuting mainland economist Li Daokuis claim that anti-epidemic measures increase life expectancy. He shared the article on Chinese social media Weibo, which led to his Weibo account being subsequently blocked.

In the face of Chinas rapid economic decline, the State Council of the CCP issued nine prohibitions on June 6. The order emphasized that, under the premise of adhering to the general zero-COVID policy, it is necessary to efficiently coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development. It also stated that the epidemic prevention and control measures shouldnt be simplistic, one-size-fits-all orders or expanded more than necessary.

A delivery man waits in a quiet mall area in Beijing with closed retail shops and restaurants offering takeaway on May 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Cai Shenkun, a U.S.-based current affairs commentator told VOA that the regimes issuing of its new regulation was because if it continues with its zero-COVID policies to forcefully implement mass lockdowns without taking action to save the economy, great disasters will befall China.

Others pointed out that despite the directives wish, achieving both zero-COVID and economic development are impossible. They attributed the policy change to the regimes attempt to avoid blame for the failing economy.

Wang said, Now, if the economy collapses due to epidemic prevention, its the local officialss fault as they didnt understand the central governments strategy well and implemented it wrong.

Kuo Yin-zhe, an associate professor at the Department of Political Science of Tunghai University in Taiwan, told VOA that although the CCP had pledged to stick to zero-COVID and warned that coexistence with the virus was a misguided idea before, it has no choice now but to update its policy, even if the nine prohibitions seem contradictory to the initial directives. But of course, the authorities will not admit that zero-COVID was a failed policy.

In fact, it is because they know that the dynamic clearing of COVID is impossible to achieve and they are being criticized for the Shanghai lockdown. So they are eager to whitewash it with the new nine prohibitions and possibly shift the blame to the Jiang faction (former CCP party boss Jiang Zemin and his followers) of the CCP before the partys 20th conference in the fall, Kuo Said.

Xia Song contributed to the report.
The logo of CGTN Europe is pictured on a sign outside an office block that houses the offices of China Global Television Network, in Chiswick Park, west London on February 4, 2021. (Tolga Akmen / AFP via Getty Images)

CGTN Portrayal of British Journalist Unfair, UK Broadcasting Regulator Rules

The UKs broadcasting regulator Ofcom ruled against CGTN on Monday over a complaint about the Chinese state broadcasters unjust or unfair treatment of British journalist Peter Humphrey.

Its the 11th Chinese broadcast that has been found in violation of the UK broadcasting law in a row, According to Safeguard Defenders, a human rights non-governmental organization (NGO) that supported the complaints. The NGOs tally showed that CGTN has so far been fined a total of 425,000 ($540,000) for its violations.

Having previously revoked CGTNs license to broadcast in the UK because its controlled by a body which is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, the regulator said it still has the power to complete its adjudication of ongoing investigations relating to broadcasts that took place before the revocation.

Ofcom partially upheld Humphreys complaint, saying CGTN didnt take reasonable care in a programme broadcast on Dec. 27, 2019, to make sure Humphrey wasnt treated unfairly.

The edition of The Point programme dissected Humphreys article published in The Sunday Times on Dec. 22, 2019, which broke the story of a Tesco charity Christmas card containing a message from a Chinese prison, and reports from other Western media outlets that picked up the story.

We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu prison China. Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organization. Use the link to contact Mr. Peter Humphrey, the message, written in all capital letters, reads.

Florence Widdicombe, 6, poses with a Tesco Christmas card from the same pack as a card she found containing a message from a Chinese prisoner, in London, on Dec. 22, 2019. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)

The card was found by British schoolgirl Florence Widdicombe, whose father tracked down Humphrey.

Humphrey, a former journalist who worked in China or with Chinese people for the last 46 years, had also been imprisoned in China for 23 months, as well as his wife, Chinese-born U.S. citizen Yingzeng Yu, for allegedly buying and selling personal data, allegations he said are bogus and were never heard in court.

Humphrey previously told The Epoch Times that Chinese state police had drugged him, tied him to a metal chair in a small cage, and forced him to read from a pre-written statement to confess. He also said he and his wife were subjected twice to forced confession appearances on Chinese television, which were broadcast by CGTN and CCTV, and those two broadcasters are actively involved in extracting and packaging that material.

Ofcom previously fined CGTNs former licence holder in the UK over its serious violations of British broadcasting regulations by its airing of several forced confessions, including Humphreys, as well as its biased coverage of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

In The Sunday Times article, Humphrey said the authors of the Christmas card message must have known him during the nine months he had spent in the same suburban prison.

He also said a number of other former prisoners from an informal network jokingly dubbed the Qingpu Prison Alumni Association had confirmed that inmates in the foreign prisoner unit are being forced into mundane manual assembly or packaging tasks.

In a separate article published on Dec. 29, 2019, two days after CGTN aired its offending programme, Humphrey said he had found one of the two Nigerian authors who wrote ten messages between them.

Peter Humphrey, former journalist and consultant imprisoned in China for two years, speaks to NTD in England. (NTD/Screenshot)

The former prisoner, identified as Antoine, had been released two months before Widdicombe found the card while his coconspirator was still in prison. Both deny allegations that landed them in prison.

Humphreys story on the alleged forced labour of foreign prisoners attracted the attention of Western media and resulted in Tescos suspension of its Chinese supplier.

Commenting on the story, CGTN presenter Li Quiyuan, sought to discredit Humphreys story in the half-an-hour programme, calling the Sunday Times article a first-person commentary, if not a diatribe, and  irresponsible journalism, and a disservice to readers.

She also mentioned Humphreys imprisonment in China, before alleging, His perspective is understandably biased, yet The Times has failed to fully, appropriately inform its audience about this bias.

When asked to describe Humphrey, Einar Tangen, a guest who was described as a current affairs commentator and claimed to know Humphrey in person, asserted that Humphrey has a definite grudge against China.

Ofcom said CGTN told the regulator that it did not consider it necessary to seek a response from The Sunday Times or Mr. Humphrey, arguing their perspective was represented through what was written in the article.

Undated photo showing a logo of Ofcom, the UKs broadcast and communications regulator. (Yui Mok/PA Media)

In its ruling (pdf), published on Monday, the regulator found two violations where CGTN didnt take reasonable care to satisfy itself that material facts had not been presented, disregarded, or omitted in the programme in a way that was unfair to Humphrey.

The two violations are in relation to the way it presented claims suggesting that Humphrey orchestrated the incident and wrote the story as an act of revenge against China to which he was not given an appropriate or timely opportunity to respond, and in relation to Humphreys complaint that the programme portrayed him as an untrained journalist who inaccurately reported the contents of the article, Ofcom said.

Its unclear if the regulator will issue fines over the offences.

In response to the ruling, Humphrey said its good to see CGTN once again found guilty of offences and punished for airing offensive content containing deliberate lies and distortions aimed at maligning people, in this case me.

In a statement via Safeguard Defenders, Humphrey said, CGTN and its sister outlet CCTV are serial offenders in airing forced and false confessions from prisoners who have not been charged, indicted, tried, or convicted in a court of law, and serial perpetrators of outright lies on many topics.

Calling it a classic Communist propaganda machine, Humphrey said the two broadcasters practices are a million miles from the civilized standards of countries under the rule of law. They have no respect for consent, fairness, ethics, or the law, in their broadcasting.

One thing we have in the UK is the finest broadcasting law and the finest regulator to police legal and ethical malfeasance on the airwaves, which is what Ofcom has done with regard to China in multiple cases, he added.

CGTN didnt respond to The Epoch Times request for comment.
A fashion magazine showing Chinese-Canadian singer Kris Wu (C) on display for sale on a bookshelves at a convenience store in Beijing on July 20, 2021. (Andy Wong/AP Photo)

Chinese Canadian Pop Star Kris Wu Faces Rape Charge at Closed Trial in China

TAIPEI, TaiwanChinese Canadian pop star Kris Wu has faced rape and other criminal charges at a closed trial in Beijing as Chinese citizens were in uproar over a video showing a group of men physically assaulting four women in another city.

Wus trial Friday at the Chaoyang Peoples court was reported late Friday night by ChangAn Net, which belongs to the powerful Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, a commission controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

Many online users criticized the timing of the trial announcement. More concerned about the Tangshan matter, said the top comment on Weibo in response to the Political and Legal Affairs account. It was liked more than 22,000 times.

The attack on four women dining at a restaurant in Tangshan, a coastal city east of Beijing, early Friday morning was seen in surveillance footage shared widely on Weibo. By Sunday, police had arrested nine people on suspicion of violent assault in the case.

A man assaults a woman at a restaurant in the northeastern city of Tangshan, China, on June 10, 2022, in this screen grab taken from surveillance footage obtained by Reuters. (Reuters)

Wu, meanwhile, had been in police custody since August last year. The former member of Korean group EXO was tried on charges of rape as well as the crime of assembling a crowd to engage in sexual promiscuity. Wu denied the accusation.

Rape is punished with anywhere between 3 years to 10 years in prison, although life sentences and death sentences can also be given in exceptional cases. The second charge Wu faces is punishable with up to 5 years in prison.

The verdict and sentence were to be issued later, state media said.
Chen Yonglin, a former Chinese diplomat who defected to Australia in 2005, speaks at a Sydney rally in 2015. Chen says that CSSAs are supported by the Chinese regime and are used to control and spy on Chinese students and scholars outside China. (Shar Adams/The Epoch Times)

Chinese International Students Interference of Free Speech on US Campuses Casts Spotlight on CCP Infiltration

Two consecutive incidents of Chinese students disrupting democracy commemorations on U.S. college campuses in June have renewed concerns about the infiltration of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the United States.

According to Radio Free Asia on June 9, Kinen Kao, a Hong Kong student at Cornell University, was putting up posters with Free Hong Kong and Free Uighurs in a neighborhood near his school at 6 p.m. on June 8 when a young Chinese man approached him, tore down the posters, and threateningly said, Dont you dare put them up again!

When Kao took out his cell phone to record a video, the man pushed him to the ground and tried to grab his cell phone but was unsuccessful at the grab.

This is not an isolated occurence.

Four days before, on June 4, activists at the University of California, San Diego, spontaneously commemorated the June 4 Tiananmen Square Massacre by displaying Dont Forget June 4 signs, placing flowers, and lighting candles in an open space in front of the university library. Late at night, a Chinese man ripped down a poster and threw it to the ground, and a Chinese woman kicked over a candle, Radio Free Asia reported on June 7.

June 9 marks the third anniversary of Hong Kongs Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement, a massive social movement that erupted in June 2019 in protest of the governments amendment to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance that would allow for the extradition of criminal suspects from Hong Kong to Mainland China for trial. The public feared that the law would undermine Hong Kongs system of one country, two systems and independent jurisdiction.

The Tiananmen Square Massacre refers to students from universities in mainland China staging a pro-democracy demonstration in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in 1989, and Chinese Communist troops driving tanks into Beijing and Tiananmen Square to oust the protesters by force in the early hours of June 4,.

This years June 4 marks the 33rd anniversary of the massacre that shocked the world. The exact number of deaths remains unclear, and the June 4 incident is one of the sensitive words censored by the CCP to this day.

Over the decades, the CCPs iron fisted dictatorship has extended from the mainland to Hong Kong. At the same time, it has never stopped its efforts to further infiltrate Western countries.

In a report by Propublica.org on Nov. 30, 2021, earlier in November, Kong Zhihao, a Chinese student at Purdue University, was harassed for praising the heroism of the students killed in the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

Kong received intimidation from other Chinese students in the same school, saying they were to report him to the Chinese Embassy and the CCPs National Security Bureau.

Not long after, security agents approached his parents in China and warned them that their son should not participate in activities abroad.

They told us to make you stop or we were all in trouble, Kongs parents told him.

Students at the University of Washington are on campus for the last day of in-person classes on March 6, 2020 in Seattle, Washington.(Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

Even those Chinese students who do not engage in high-profile political activities are worried about scrutiny from those around them, leading to self-censorship in the classroom on topics that the CCP might see as sensitive.

Wilson Center, a U.S.-based think tank, indicated, in a 2019 report named A Preliminary Study of PRC Political Influence and Interference Activities in American Higher Education, that some faculty members say they believe many Chinese students are afraid to discuss sensitive topics in class because they fear someone will report them to the CCP authorities.

The report cited an example of University of Minnesota teacher Jason McGrath trying, in a 2014 class, to encourage Chinese students to participate in a discussion about a film criticizing Chinas corruption, and being met with silence.

After some urging by the teacher, one Chinese student finally said, Were uncomfortable talking about that because we dont know who might be listening to us.

Another example was provided by a teacher at Indiana University. He said that when he began showing a film about Falun Gong in an Asian religions class in 2012, a Chinese student asked him to close the door. When the teacher asked why, the student said he didnt want other Chinese people to see him watching the movie.

What Chinese students worry about is is not irrational. The experience of Yang Shuping is an example of what can happen to any Chinese student who studies abroad.

At a 2017 graduation ceremony at the University of Maryland, Yang gave a speech saying she enjoyed the fresh air of free speech in the United States and was quickly rebuked in China, Yangs family address in China was published in China Daily, a CCP-owned newspaper, and her family was attacked online, VOA reported on Jan. 14, 2020.

The Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), a tool of the CCP used to control Chinese students studying abroad, has allegedly close ties to the Chinese Embassy in the United States and receives monetary support from the Chinese Embassy, according to a 2018 report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission of the U.S. Congress.

In the spring of 2007, the night before the Falun Dafa club, a belief group based on Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance, at Columbia University was about to hold a panel discussion on live organ harvesting that is part of the CCPs persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, the club received an email from Xu Kai, a mechanical engineering graduate student and then-president of the Columbia University Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CUCSSA), revealing plans to organize an attack on Falun Gong practitioners. On the day of the seminar, 20 people showed up with banners and flags to interfere with the event, as reported by The Blue and White, a Columbia Universitys online magazine, in December 2018.

The U.S. government is well aware of the CCPs infiltration into U.S. campuses.

Early in October 2018, in a speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., then-vice president Mike Pence directly accused the CSSA of alerting Chinese consulates and embassies when Chinese students, and American schools, stray from the Communist Party line.

In February 2018, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress about the intelligence risks posed by Chinese students to U.S. national security, saying that across the country, in large cities and small towns, and especially in academic settings, the use of non-traditional collectors can be found in all fields of study and that these include professors, scientists, and students, as reported by Inside Higher Ed, a news media that focuses on higher education, on Feb. 15, 2018.
Drug marketed for baldness linked with side-effects ranging from impotence to suicide

More than half of men older than 50 will experience male pattern baldness, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), and that rate climbs to 80 percent for Caucasian men. Male pattern baldness, medically known as androgenetic alopecia, begins above both temples, causes thinning at the crown, and often results in partial or complete baldness, states the NLM website, MedlinePlus.

While androgenetic alopecia in men can be linked to insulin resistance, coronary heart disease, and prostate conditions, it also presents an appearance issue for many men who feel that they may look prematurely old or less virile. Consequently, baldness treatments such as finasteride, sold under the brand name Propecia, have been lucrative products for drug makers.

Finasteride inhibits 5-alpha-reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone into the androgen 5-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which tells hair follicles on the scalp to stop producing hair. Developed by Merck, finasteride was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or prostate gland enlargement, in 1992 in a preparation called Proscarand for treatment of male pattern hair loss in 1997 in a preparation called Propecia. Finasteride is also sometimes prescribed for use in hormone replacement therapy for transgender women.

The year after Propecias approval, Merck launched a $60 million print and television ad campaign with the slogan, Helping make hair loss history. Direct-to-consumer advertising, which began to supplant drug representatives selling to doctors, had just been legalized, and the Propecia campaign was so groundbreaking that it was debated by Harvard Business School alumni for its marketing value.

In 2019, 8 million prescriptions were written for finasteride in the United States, and it was the 86th most commonly prescribed medication in the country.

Concerning Side Effects Emerge

Even before the Propecia launch, serious side effects surfaced. One of the first suggestions of adverse sexual side effects associated with finasteride appeared in 1996 in the peer-reviewed journal BJU International before the baldness indication had been approved by the FDA. Impotence, ejaculatory failure, decreased libido, and gynecomastia (swelling of male breasts) were noted by researchers in patients taking finasteride. In 2010, a Cochrane Library review found that men on finasteride for BPH were at an increased risk for erectile dysfunction, decreased libido, ejaculation disorder, and impotence. By 2012, the side effects were so established that the term post-finasteride syndrome (PFS) had been coined and thousands of patients had contacted a group called the PFS Foundation.

Research in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2012 echoed the findings, noting that patients taking finasteride reported changes related to the urogenital system in terms of semen quality and decreased ejaculate volume, reduction in penis size, penile curvature or reduced sensation, fewer spontaneous erections, decreased testicular size, testicular pain, and prostatitis. Many subjects also noted changes to their mental abilities, sleeping patterns, and/or depressive symptoms.

Worse, as early as 2013, research suggested that the sexual and psychological side effects may not go away when the patient stops finasteride, but may be permanent.

Today, medical literature contains almost 800 articles about finasterides adverse effects, and mainstream media outlets have covered them. Mens Journal published a report, The (Not So Hard) Truth About Hair Loss Drugs, in which it stated: Emerging research and a slew of lawsuits suggest that finasteride may be more dangerous than previously believed, with side effectsinability to orgasm, painful erections, chronic depression, insomnia, brain fog, and suicidal thoughtsthat can last long after patients stop taking the pill.

CBS News ran a story about a mother who blamed her 22-year-old sons suicide on Propecia, and last year, Reuters published a story called Merck anti-baldness drug Propecia has long trail of suicide reports, records show.

Some medical studies draw parallels between post-finasteride syndrome and post-SSRI sexual dysfunction.

Finasterides clinical trials raise more concerns. They appear cursory and some had very few participants. One FDA reviewer wrote that the data on ejaculatory volume are inconclusive, and another reviewer cautioned about drawing conclusions from a trial with only 12 subjects. Still another FDA reviewer noted that those with sexual adverse events may have already exited from the study, thus skewing results.

The FDA also advises that finasteride patients dont donate blood or plasma for at least one month after taking their last dose of finasteride.

Merck Responses

In 2012, multidistrict litigation was aggregated from more than 1,100 Propecia-related lawsuits and heard by U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn federal court. Six years later, in 2018, Merck agreed to settle most of the cases with $4.3 million to be divided among plaintiffs, a surprisingly low settlement compared with Johnson & Johnsons $2.2 billion settlement for misbranding the antipsychotic Risperdal and Eli Lillys $1.42 billion settlement for false promotion of the antipsychotic Zyprexa.

The drugs many risks were hidden from patients, said the plaintiffs. Neither patients taking finasteride for hair loss or to treat the symptoms of an enlarged prostate are necessarily fully warned, said Dr. Steven Belknap, a dermatologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

A Reuters investigation published in 2019 adds to the evidence of hidden risks. It found Merck knew roughly 20 years ago that sales of the drug would suffer if the public became aware of Propecias possible long-term effects on mens sexual health, and consequently the drug maker likely buried the side effects and risks.

A redacted section of one plaintiffs motion, reviewed by Reuters, cites correspondence from a Merck executive in which he objected to what he described as misleading information about the incidence of sexual dysfunction in men taking Propecia, Reuters reported.

In a statement to Reuters, Merck said it stands behind the safety and efficacy of Propecia, noting that the drug has been prescribed safely to millions of men since the late 1990s. While the drugs label lists erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems as possible side effects among a small percentage of men, the company rejects allegations that Propecia causes those problems to persist after men stop taking it or that it can lead to mental health issues. Merck says the symptoms themselves could be caused by a variety of other factors, reported the news organization.

Last year, U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo in Brooklyn ordered Merck documents unsealed. The publics right to access outweighs Mercks arguments for keeping internal documents that might show hidden safety risks secret, she ruled. A patient group has also sued to have Propecia removed from the market.

Some Discredit Post-Finasteride Syndrome

Some medical voices discredit post-finasteride syndrome and question its existence. The BMJ likened it to mystery syndromes such as multiple chemical sensitivity and called PFS ill-defined and controversial.

Research in the journal Skin Appendage Disorders in 2019 read: We present the first case of PFS in our 20-year prescription practice of oral finasteride for treatment of male pattern baldness, with circumstantial evidence that PFS may represent a delusional disorder of the somatic type, possibly on a background of a histrionic personality disorder, and with the potential of a mass psychogenic illness due to its media coverage. PFS demonstrates analogies to controversial mystery syndromes as amalgam illness, multiple chemical sensitivity, Morgellons disease, and Koro.

Still, with millions of prescriptions written for the Propecia every year, documentation of side effects, and evidence of risks hidden by Merck, this anti-baldness preparation should be used with caution if at all. No one should have to choose between their health and their hairline.
A heartfelt documentary about heroism, survival, and reconciliation.

NR | 1h 10m | Documentary | 2016

Like many World War II biographical films, Never Surrender: The Ed Ramsey Story is an extraordinarily riveting production that covers uncommon valor in the face of danger and potential death. However, one of the elements that make this one even more unique is not only the incredible story of its subject, Ed Ramsey, but also its main location. Whereas many of the World II films Ive seen take place in one European theater or another, this documentary is set in a lesser-known, oft-ignored localethe Philippine Islands.

Set up in a typical biographical style and narrated by Josh Brolin, the bio showcases Ramseys childhood and moves forward from there. Ramsey was born in 1917 in Carlyle, Illinois. His father was a hard-working oil worker who followed the oilfield work wherever he could find itwhich often meant constantly moving to different states. When Ramseys family moved to Wichita, Kansas in 1929, his father snapped mentally and committed suicide, changing his twelve-year-old sons innocent demeanor.

Ed Ramsey in Never Surrender: The Ed Ramsey Story. (Vanilla Fire Productions)

By Ramseys mid-teens, the scandal of his fathers death caused Ramsey to develop into a rebellious hell raiser. He became involved with bootlegging during the Great Depression and was on the fast track to nowhere. His life changed dramatically when his mother enrolled him at the Oklahoma Military Academy. That led to him eventually signing up for Active Duty U.S. Army service upon graduating from the academy. And as a person who always loved horses, Ramsey had become a military cavalryman.

Ramsey wanted to be stationed at a particular unit in the Philippines, not only because it was warm all year round, but it also had a superb cavalry unit. He lived the life of a somewhat coddled cavalry officer, rubbing elbows with the rich and famous at swanky establishments and being invited to many of the areas exclusive parties. However, everything changed when the Japanese attacked.

After their ambush of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese military forces quickly moved on to take the strategic Philippine Islandsall of them. Ramsey and other officers commanded over 40,000 Filipino guerrilla troops. But many of Ramseys fellow officers were either whittled down by the Japanese or ambushed and killed by Filipino communist sympathizers. Eventually, Ramsey was the sole officer in command of the resistance movement against the Japanese. Even though he suffered from a number of jungle-borne maladies, Ramsey bravely soldiered on, never surrendering.

Ed Ramsey in the Philippines during World War II in Never Surrender: The Ed Ramsey Story. (Vanilla Fire Productions)

Although I enjoyed this biographical documentary, I did find it rather fast-paced. Perhaps it was because there were so many people that were interviewed. Whatever the case, it could have easily been 20 or so minutes longer, and thereby, a little less exhausting.

What is great about it is the many pictures from both Ramseys younger years, as well as those from when he was stationed in the Philippinesboth before the war broke out and after. However, it must be mentioned that some of the photos of the Japanese committing atrocities on captured Allied soldiers are pretty graphic, and therefore not suitable for younger eyes.

Whereas many films begin to fall apart during their third acts, this documentary finishes up strongly. Much of it focuses on Ramseys later years and the numerous challenges he faced after the war. Like much of the previous part of the film, Josh Brolin describes the various situations Ramsey found himself in, and Ramsey himself, along with many friends and family members also provide dialogue.

Ed Ramsey describes his earlier years in Never Surrender: The Ed Ramsey Story. (Vanilla Fire Productions)

Other than moving a bit too quickly, Never Surrender: The Ed Ramsey Story is an extraordinary documentary about an extraordinary man, patriot, and war hero. Watch it for yourself and youll see what I mean.

Never Surrender: The Ed Ramsey Story



Director: Matthew Hausle

Stars: Alice Benitez, Mike Bills, Josh Brolin (voice)

Running Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

MPAA Rating: Not rated

Release Date: Nov. 13, 2016

Rated: 4.5 stars out of 5

Watch on Epoch Cinemavisit the link here.



Follow EpochTV on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpochTVus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EpochTVus

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A security worker locks a door with a chain in a neighborhood under a COVID-19 lockdown in the Jing'an district of Shanghai on June 2, 2022. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Criticizing Shanghais Lockdown Policy Brings Police Harassment

The Chinese Communist Partys strict zero-COVID policy for China has caused many disasters to its populace. Amid mounting public criticism, the regime has adopted tactics to deal with any opposition, resulting in further human rights abuses by the CCP on top of its disastrous pandemic policies.

Recently, at least three citizens have been arrested and harassed by their local authorities over their expressing their personal experience of Shanghais pandemic policies online.

Judicial Authentication

Ji Xiaolong, a Shanghai resident, received a police notice on June 10 notifying him that his online post was under judicial authentication.

As an outspoken civil rights activist, Ji has been regularly visited by his local police in recent years due to his interviews with foreign press, such as Radio Free Asia, NTD, Radio France Internationale, and Taiwans Central News Agency.

The police have locked all my posts for evidence to bring charges against me, Ji explained to the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times on June 10.

Ji said that half a dozen police came to his home on June 4 to escort him to the police station for interrogation.

On June 5, he described in a post how he was treated at the police station, In a dark room, the officer (badge number 058794) threatened me with a gun and handcuffed me until 8 a.m. in the morning.

Seeking an End to Lockdowns

On April 2, Ji posted a petition on Chinese social media Weibo and WeChat, as well as Twitter, calling for a halt to the pandemic control policy, for the distribution of aid, and for the resignation of officials who had failed their duty to remedy the unfolding disasters.

An IT professional by trade, Ji has for many years aspired to speak out against the human rights abuse in China. He was just been released on Feb. 9 from three years and six months imprisonment over the crime of picking quarrels and provoking troublea typical charge used by the one-party state apparatus on activists in China.

He was jailed over his Public Restroom Revolutionhandwriting slogans such as Down the Chinese Communist Party and Return Power to the People on restroom doors in hospitals and colleges.

When asked what motivates him to risk his life speaking up to the regime, Ji said, In my eyes, I only see the Shanghai people. In the beginning, I heard people crying, complaining. But now  in every community in Shanghai, behind every door and window, many of them are on the verge of death.

Postings on Social Media Priority for Police

A social media post by Shanghai resident Song Jiahong on the ruling partys pandemic policies made him a target for the police, including for the law enforcement officers in an urban district more than 25 miles away.

In his post, Song questioned the motivation behind the regimes mass PCR tests. Is it scientific, or is it for the officials to save face? he asked.

He said that two police from Huangpu District, more than 25 miles away, visited his home in the suburban Songjiang District on June 9.

Song rejected the polices request to question him, saying that he was not under the jurisdiction of Huangpu District.

The police demanded to check his cell phone and asked if he had any interactions with the press.

Residents confront a representative about opening up their compound in Jingan district in Shanghai on May 25, 2022. (AP Photo)

He said the same police station has repeatedly dispatched police to his home, but he rejected their requests each time.

Whats even more bizarre is that my local police station knew nothing about it, Song said.

Forced Psychiatric Detention

Ding Yan, born in the 1980s, is an owner of a barbecue restaurant in Nanjing City.

On the early morning of May 11, she posted to social media an open letter addressed to communist party leader Xi Jinping. That evening, the police sent her to a local mental hospital.

Shes been missing since that day, even though hospital records say that she was dismissed on June 1.

This is the 12th time that Ding has been detained by the authorities in a mental institution.

Previously, Ding had spoken out about Wuhans mass lockdown. She blamed Xi for the cruel lockdown policy. She also criticized Tencents founder Pony Ma for blocking WeChat accounts to assist with the regimes censorship.

Mr. Zhang, a Shanghai resident, expressed sorrow for Dings situation.

She had a false hope in the regime, he said of her letter writing. But the regime is to tackle the person who brings up the issue, rather than the issue itself.

Li Xi contributed to this report.
If you do have time read/listen to this short story, tell me what you think. I did not find it interesting until I read it through. Forgive my intended accent, I was trying to reassemble what I learned in high school, from my English teacher, from " New Concept English", and of course, from "Follow Me". Thanks.

The Way up to Heaven, by Roald Dahl



ALL her life, Mrs Foster had had an almost pathological fear of missing a tra

in, a plane, a boat, or even a theatre curtain. In other respects, she was no

t a particularly nervous woman, but the mere thought of being late on occasio

ns like these would throw her into such a state of nerves that she would begi

n to twitch. It was nothing much--just a tiny vellicating muscle in the corne

r of the left eye, like a secret wink--but the annoying thing was that it ref

used to disappear until an hour or so after the train or plane or whatever it

was had been safely caught.

It was really extraordinary how in certain people a simple apprehension

about a thing like catching a train can grow into a serious obsession. At le

ast half an hour before it was time to leave the house for the station, Mrs

Foster would step out of the elevator all ready to go, with hat and coat and

gloves, and then, being quite unable to sit down, she would flutter and fid

get about from room to room until her husband, who must have been well aware

of her state, finally emerged from his privacy and suggested in a cool dry

voice that perhaps they had better get going now, had they not?

Mr Foster may possibly have had a right to be irritated by this foolishn

ess of his wife's, but he could have had no excuse for increasing her misery

by keeping her waiting unnecessarily. Mind you, it is by no means certain t

hat this is what he did, yet whenever they were to go somewhere, his timing

was so accurate--just a minute or two late, you understand and his manner so

bland that it was hard to believe he wasn't purposely inflicting a nasty pr

ivate little torture of his own on the unhappy lady. And one thing he must h

ave known--that she would never dare to call out and tell him to hurry. He h

ad disciplined her too well for that. He must also have known that if he was

prepared to wait even beyond the last moment of safety, he could drive her

nearly into hysterics. On one or two special occasions in the later years of

their married life, it seemed almost as though he had wanted to miss the tr

ain simply in order to intensify the poor woman's suffering.

Assuming (though one cannot be sure) that the husband was guilty, what

made his attitude doubly unreasonable was the fact that, with the exception

of this one small irrepressible foible, Mrs Foster was and always had been

a good and loving wife. For over thirty years, she had served him loyally

and well. There was no doubt about this. Even she, a very modest woman, was

aware of it, and although she had for years refused to let herself believe

that Mr Foster would ever consciously torment her, there had been times re

cently when she had caught herself beginning to wonder.

Mr Eugene Foster, who was nearly seventy years old, lived with his wife

in a large six-storey house in New York City, on East Sixty-second Street,

and they had four servants. It was a gloomy place, and few people came to

visit them. But on this particular morning in January, the house had come a

live and there was a great deal of bustling about. One maid was distributin

g bundles of dust sheets to every room, while another was draping them over

the furniture. The butler was bringing down suitcases and putting them in

the hail. The cook kept popping up from the kitchen to have a word with the

butler, and Mrs Foster herself, in an old-fashioned fur coat and with a bl

ack hat on the top of her head, was flying from room to room and pretending

to supervise these operations. Actually, she was thinking of nothing at al

l except that she was going to miss her plane if her husband didn't come ou

t of his study soon and get ready.

"What time is it, Walker?" she said to the butler as she passed him.

"It's ten minutes past nine, Madam."

"And has the car come?"

"Yes, Madam, it's waiting. I'm just going to put the luggage in now."

"It takes an hour to get to Idlewild," she said. "My plane leaves at eleven.

I have to be there half an hour beforehand for the formalities. I shall be late

. I just know I'm going to be late."

"I think you have plenty of time, Madam," the butler said kindly. "I warne

d Mr Foster that you must leave at nine-fifteen. There's still another five mi

nutes."

"Yes, Walker, I know, I know. But get the luggage in quickly, will you pl

ease?"

She began walking up and down the hail, and whenever the butler came by,

she asked him the time. This, she kept telling herself, was the one plane s

he must not miss. It had taken months to persuade her husband to allow her t

o go. If she missed it, he might easily decide that she should cancel the wh

ole thing. And the trouble was that he insisted on coming to the airport to

see her off.

"Dear God," she said aloud, "I'm going to miss t. I know, I know, I know

I'm going to miss it." The little muscle beside the left eye was twitching

madly now. The eyes themselves were very close to tears.

"What time is it, Walker?"

"It's eighteen minutes past, Madam."

"Now I really will miss it!" she cried. "Oh, I wish he would come!"

This was an important journey for Mrs Foster. She was going all alone t

o Paris to visit her daughter, her only child, who was married to a Frenchm

an. Mrs Foster didn't care much for the Frenchman, but she was fond of her

daughter, and, more than that, she had developed a great yearning to set ey

es on her three grandchildren. She knew them only from the many photographs

that she had received and that she kept putting up all over the house. The

y were beautiful, these children. She doted on them, and each time a new pi

cture arrived she would carry it away and sit with it for a long time, star

ing at it lovingly and searching the small faces for signs of that old sati

sfying blood likeness that meant so much. And now, lately, she had come mor

e and more to feel that she did not really wish to live out her days in a p

lace where she could not be near these children, and have them visit her, a

nd take them for walks, and buy them presents, and watch them grow. She kne

w, of course, that it was wrong and in a way disloyal to have thoughts like

these while her husband was still alive. She knew also that although he wa

s no longer active in his many enterprises, he would never consent to leave

New York and live in Paris. It was a miracle that he had ever agreed to le

t her fly over there alone for six weeks to visit them. But, oh, how she wi

shed she could live there always, and be close to them!

"Walker, what time is it?"

"Twenty-two minutes past, Madam."

As he spoke, a door opened and Mr Foster came into the hall. He stood f

or a moment, looking intently at his wife, and she looked back at him--at t

his diminutive but still quite dapper old man with the huge bearded face th

at bore such an astonishing resemblance to those old photographs of Andrew

Carnegie.

"Well," he said, "I suppose perhaps we'd better get going fairly soon if yo

u want to catch that plane."

"Yes, dear--yes! Everything's ready. The car's waiting."

"That's good, he said. With his head over to one side, he was watching h

er closely. He had a peculiar way of cocking the head and then moving it in

a series of small, rapid jerks. Because of this and because he was clasping

his hands up high in front of him, near the chest, he was somehow like a squ

irrel standing there--a quick clever old squirrel from the Park.

"Here's Walker with your coat, dear. Put it on."

"I'll be with you in a moment," he said. "I'm just going to wash my hands.

"

She waited for him, and the tall butler stood beside her, holding the coat a

nd the hat.

"Walker, will I miss it?"

"No, Madam," the butler said. "I think you'll make it all right."

Then Mr Foster appeared again, and the butler helped him on with his co

at. Mrs Foster hurried outside and got into the hired Cadillac. Her husband

came after her, but he walked down the steps of the house slowly, pausing

halfway to observe the sky and to sniff the cold morning air.

"It looks a bit foggy," he said as he sat down beside her in the car. "And i

t's always worse out there at the airport. I shouldn't be surprised if the fligh

t's cancelled already."

"Don't say that, dear--please."

They didn't speak again until the car had crossed over the river to Long Is

land.

"I arranged everything with the servants," Mr Foster said. "They're all

going off today. I gave them half-pay for six weeks and told Walker I'd se

nd him a telegram when we wanted them back."

"Yes," she said. "He told me."

"I'll move into the club tonight. It'll be a nice change staying at the club."

"Yes, dear. I'll write to you."

"I'll call in at the house occasionally to see that everything's all right and

to pick up the mail."

"But don't you really think Walker should stay there all the time to look

after things?" she asked meekly.

"Nonsense. It's quite unnecessary. And anyway, I'd have to pay him full

wages."

"Oh yes," she said. "Of course."

"What's more, you never know what people get up to when they're left alone

in a house," Mr Foster announced, and with that he took out a cigar and, afte

r snipping off the end with a silver cutter, lit it with a gold lighter.

She sat still in the car with her hands clasped together tight under the rug.

"Will you write to me?" she asked.

"I'll see," he said. "But I doubt it. You know I don't hold with letter-writ

ing unless there's something specific to say."

"Yes, dear, I know. So don't you bother."

They drove on, along Queen's Boulevard, and as they approached the flat

marshland on which Idlewild is built, the fog began to thicken and the car

had to slow down.

"Oh dear!" cried Mrs Foster. "I'm sure I'm going to miss it now! What time

is it?"

"Stop fussing," the old man said. "It doesn't matter anyway. It's bound

to be cancelled now. They never fly in this sort of weather. I don't know wh

y you bothered to come out."

She couldn't be sure, but it seemed to her that there was suddenly a new

note in his voice, and she turned to look at him. It was difficult to obser

ve any change in his expression under all that hair. The mouth was what coun

ted. She wished, as she had so often before, that she could see the mouth cl

early. The eyes never showed anything except when he was in a rage.

"Of course," he went on, "if by any chance it does go, then I agree with y

ou--you'll be certain to miss it now. Why don't you resign yourself to that?"

She turned away and peered through the window at the fog. It seemed to b

e getting thicker as they went along, and now she could only just make out t

he edge of the road and the margin of grassland beyond it. She knew that her

husband was still looking at her. She glanced at him again, and this time s

he noticed with a kind of honor that he was staring intently at the little p

lace in the corner of her left eye where she could feel the muscle twitching.

"Won't you?" he said.

"Won't I what?"

"Be sure to miss it now if it goes. We can't drive fast in this muck."

He didn't speak to her any more after that. The car crawled on and on.

The driver had a yellow lamp directed on to the edge of the road, and this

helped him to keep going. Other lights, some white and some yellow, kept co

ming out of the fog towards them, and there was an especially bright one th

at followed close behind them all the time.

Suddenly, the driver stopped the car.

"There!" Mr Foster cried. "We're stuck. I knew it."

"No, sir," the driver said, turning round. "We made it. This is the airport."

Without a word, Mrs Foster jumped out and hurried through the main entr

ance into the building. There was a mass of people inside, mostly disconsol

ate passengers standing around the ticket counters. She pushed her way thro

ugh and spoke to the clerk.

"Yes," he said. "Your flight is temporarily postponed. But please don't

go away. We're expecting this weather to clear any moment."

She went back to her husband who was still sitting in the car and told him

the news. "But don't you wait, dear," she said. "There's no sense in that."

"I won't," he answered. "So long as the driver can get me back. Can you

get me back, driver?"

"I think so," the man said.

"Is the luggage out?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good-bye, dear," Mrs Foster said, leaning into the car and giving her hu

sband a small kiss on the coarse grey fur of his cheek.

"Good-bye," he answered. "Have a good trip."

The car drove off, and Mrs Foster was left alone.

The rest of the day was a sort of nightmare for her. She sat for hour aft

er hour on a bench, as close to the airline counter as possible, and every th

irty minutes or so she would get up and ask the clerk if the situation had ch

anged. She always received the same reply--that she must continue to wait, be

cause the fog might blow away at any moment. It wasn't until after six in the

evening that the loudspeakers finally announced that the flight had been pos

tponed until eleven o'clock the next morning.

Mrs Foster didn't quite know what to do when she heard this news. She st

ayed sitting on her bench for at least another half-hour, wondering, in a ti

red, hazy sort of way, where she might go to spend the night. She hated to l

eave the airport. She didn't wish to see her husband. She was terrified that

in one way or another he would eventually manage to prevent her from gettin

g to France. She would have liked to remain just where she was, sitting on t

he bench the whole night through. That would be the safest. But she was alre

ady exhausted, and it didn't take her long to realize that this was a ridicu

lous thing for a elderly lady to do. So in the end she went to a phone and c

alled the house.

Her husband, who was on the point of leaving for the club, answered it h

imself. She told him the news, and asked whether the servants were still the

re.

"They've all gone," he said.

"In that case, dear, I'll just get myself a room somewhere for the night. An

d don't you bother yourself about it at all."

"That would be foolish," he said. "You've got a large house here at your di

sposal. Use it."

"But, dear, it's empty."

"Then I'll stay with you myself"

"There's no food in the house. There's nothing."

"Then eat before you come in. Don't be so stupid, woman. Everything you

do, you seem to want to make a fuss about it."

"Yes," she said. "I'm sorry. I'll get myself a sandwich here, and then I'll

come on in."

Outside, the fog had cleared a little, but it was still a long, slow drive in

the taxi, and she didn't arrive back at the house on Sixty-second Street until f

airly late.

Her husband emerged from his study when he heard her coming in. "Well,

" he said, standing by the study door, "how was Paris?"

"We leave at eleven in the morning," she answered. "It's definite."

"You mean if the fog clears."

"It's clearing now. There's a wind coming up."

"You look tired," he said. "You must have had an anxious day."

"It wasn't very comfortable. I think I'll go straight to bed."

"I've ordered a car for the morning," he said. "Nine o'clock."

"Oh, thank you, dear. And I certainly hope you're not going to bother to

come all the way out again to see me off."

"No," he said slowly. "I don't think I will. But there's no reason why yo

u shouldn't drop me at the club on your way."

She looked at him, and at that moment he seemed to be standing a long

way off from her, beyond some borderline. He was suddenly so small and far

away that she couldn't be sure what he was doing, or what he was thinking

, or even what he was.

"The club is downtown," she said. "It isn't on the way to the airport."

"But you'll have plenty of time, my dear. Don't you want to drop me at th

e club?"

"Oh, yes--of course."

"That's good. Then I'll see you in the morning at nine."

She went up to her bedroom on the second floor, and she was so exhausted

from her day that she fell asleep soon after she lay down.

Next morning, Mrs Foster was up early, and by eight-thirty she was downs

tairs and ready to leave.

Shortly after nine, her husband appeared. "Did you make any coffee?" he

asked.

"No, dear. I thought you'd get a nice breakfast at the club. The car is here.

It's been waiting. I'm all ready to go."

They were standing in the hall--they always seemed to be meeting in the

hall nowadays--she with her hat and coat and purse, he in a curiously cut Ed

wardian jacket with high lapels.

"Your luggage?"

"It's at the airport."

"Ah yes," he said. "Of course. And if you're going to take me to the club

first, I suppose we'd better get going fairly soon, hadn't we?"

"Yes!" she cried. "Oh, yes--please!"

"I'm just going to get a few cigars. I'll be right with you. You get in the ca

r."

She turned and went out to where the chauffeur was standing, and he ope

ned the car door for her as she approached.

"What time is it?" she asked him.

"About nine-fifteen."

Mr Foster came out five minutes later, and watching him as he walked slo

wly down the steps, she noticed that his legs were like goat's legs in those

narrow stovepipe trousers that he wore. As on the day before, he paused hal

fway down to sniff the air and to examine the sky. The weather was still not

quite clear, but there was a wisp of sun coming through the mist.

"Perhaps you'll be lucky this time," he said as he settled himself beside her

in the car.

"Hurry, please," she said to the chauffeur. "Don't bother about the rug. I'l

l arrange the rug. Please get going. I'm late."

The man went back to his seat behind the wheel and started the engine.

"Just a moment!" Mr Foster said suddenly. "Hold it a moment, chauffeur,

will you?"

"What is it, dear?" She saw him searching the pockets of his overcoat.

"I had a little present I wanted you to take to Ellen," he said. "Now, wher

e on earth is it? I'm sure I had it in my hand as I came down."

"I never saw you carrying anything. What sort of present?"

"A little box wrapped up in white paper. I forgot to give it to you yesterda

y. I don't want to forget it today."

"A little box!" Mrs Foster cried. "I never saw any little box!" She began h

unting frantically in the back of the car.

Her husband continued searching through the pockets of his coat. Then he

unbuttoned the coat and felt around in his jacket. "Confound it," he said,

"I must've left it in my bedroom. I won't be a moment."

"Oh, please!" she cried. "We haven't got time! Please leave it! You can

mail it. It's only one of those silly combs anyway. You're always giving her

combs."

"And what's wrong with combs, may I ask?" he said, furious that she shou

ld have forgotten herself for once.

"Nothing, dear, I'm sure. But.

"Stay here!" he commanded. "I'm going to get it."

"Be quick, dear! Oh, please be quick!"

She sat still, waiting and waiting.

"Chauffeur, what time is it?"

The man had a wristwatch, which he consulted. "I make it nearly nine-thir

ty."

"Can we get to the airport in an hour?"

"Just about."

At this point, Mrs Foster suddenly spotted a corner of something white

wedged down in the crack of the seat on the side where her husband had been

sitting. She reached over and pulled out a small paper-wrapped box, and at

the same time she couldn't help noticing that it was wedged down firm and

deep, as though with the help of a pushing hand.

"Here it is!" she cried. "I've found it! Oh dear, and now he'll be up ther

e for ever searching for it! Chauffeur, quickly run in and call him down, will

you please?"

The chauffeur, a man with a small rebellious Irish mouth, didn't care ve

ry much for any of this, but he climbed out of the car and went up the steps

to the front door of the house. Then he turned and came back. "Door's locke

d," he announced. "You got a key?"

"Yes--wait a minute." She began hunting madly in her purse. The little f

ace was screwed up tight with anxiety, the lips pushed outward like a spout.

"Here it is! No I'll go myself. It'll be quicker. I know where he'll be."

She hurried out of the car and up the steps to the front door, holding t

he key in one hand. She slid the key into the keyhole and was about to turn

it--and then she stopped. Her head came up, and she stood there absolutely m

otionless, her whole body arrested right in the middle of all this hurry to

turn the key and get into the house, and she waited--five, six, seven, eight

, nine, ten seconds, she waited. The way she was standing there, with her he

ad in the air and the body so tense, it seemed as though she were listening

for the repetition of some sound that she had heard a moment before from a p

lace far away inside the house.

Yes--quite obviously she was listening. Her whole attitude was a listenin

g one. She appeared actually to be moving one of her ears closer and closer t

o the door. Now it was right up against the door, and for still another few s

econds she remained in that position, head up, ear to door, hand on key, abou

t to enter but not entering, trying instead, or so it seemed, to hear and to

analyse these sounds that were coming faintly from this place deep within the

house.

Then, all at once, she sprang to life again. She withdrew the key from t

he door and came running back down the steps.

"It's too late!" she cried to the chauffeur. "I can't wait for him, I simply

can't. I'll miss the plane. Hurry now, driver, hurry! To the airport!"

The chauffeur, had he been watching her closely, might have noticed that

her face had turned absolutely white and that the whole expression had sudd

enly altered. There was no longer that rather soft and silly look. A peculia

r hardness had settled itself upon the features. The little mouth, usually s

o flabby, was now tight and thin, the eyes were bright, and the voice, when

she spoke, carried a new note of authority.

"Hurry, driver, hurry!"

"Isn't your husband travelling with you?" the man asked, astonished.

"Certainly not! I was only going to drop him at the club. It won't matter.

He'll understand. He'll get a cab. Don't sit there talking, man. Get going! I'v

e got a plane to catch for Paris!"

With Mrs Foster urging him from the back seat, the man drove fast all th

e way, and she caught her plane with a few minutes to spare. Soon she was hi

gh up over the Atlantic, reclining comfortably in her aeroplane chair, liste

ning to the hum of the motors, heading for Paris at last. The new mood was s

till with her. She felt remarkably strong and, in a queer sort of way, wonde

rful. She was a trifle breathless with it all, but this was more from pure a

stonishment at what she had done than anything else, and as the plane flew f

arther and farther away from New York and East Sixty-second Street, a great

sense of calmness began to settle upon her. By the time she reached Paris, s

he was just as strong and cool and calm as she could wish.

She met her grandchildren, and they were even more beautiful in the fle

sh than in their photographs. They were like angels, she told herself, so b

eautiful they were. And every day she took them for walks, and fed them cak

es, and bought them presents, and told them charming stories.

Once a week, on Tuesdays, she wrote a letter to her husband--a nice, ch

atty letter--full of news and gossip, which always ended with the words "No

w be sure to take your meals regularly, dear, although this is something I'

m afraid you may not be doing when I'm not with you.'

When the six weeks were up, everybody was sad that she had to return to

America, to her husband. Everybody, that is, except her. Surprisingly, she d

idn't seem to mind as much as one might have expected, and when she kissed t

hem all good-bye, there was something in her manner and in the things she sa

id that appeared to hint at the possibility of a return in the not too dista

nt future.

However, like the faithful wife she was, she did not overstay her time.

Exactly six weeks after she had arrived, she sent a cable to her husband and

caught the plane back to New York.

Arriving at Idlewild, Mrs Foster was interested to observe that there was

no car to meet her. It is possible that she might even have been a little am

used. But she was extremely calm and did not overtip the porter who helped he

r into a taxi with her baggage.

New York was colder than Paris, and there were lumps of dirty snow lying

in the gutters of the streets. The taxi drew up before the house on Sixty-sec

ond Street, and Mrs Foster persuaded the driver to carry her two large cases

to the top of the steps. Then she paid him off and rang the bell. She waited,

but there was no answer. Just to make sure, she rang again, and she could he

ar it tinkling shrilly far away in the pantry, at the back of the house. But

still no one came.

So she took out her own key and opened the door herself.

The first thing she saw as she entered was a great pile of mail lying on

the floor where it had fallen after being slipped through the letter box. The

place was dark and cold. A dust sheet was still draped over the grandfather

clock. In spite of the cold, the atmosphere was peculiarly oppressive, and th

ere was a faint and curious odour in the air that she had never smelled before.

She walked quickly across the hall and disappeared for a moment around t

he corner to the left, at the back. There was something deliberate and purpo

seful about this action; she had the air of a woman who is off to investigat

e a rumour or to confirm a suspicion. And when she returned a few seconds la

ter, there was a little glimmer of satisfaction on her face.

She paused in the centre of the hail, as though wondering what to do nex

t. Then, suddenly, she turned and went across into her husband's study. On t

he desk she found his address book, and after hunting through it for a while

she picked up the phone and dialled a number.

"Hello," she said. "Listen--this is Nine East Sixty-second Street...Yes,

that's right. Could you send someone round as soon as possible, do you thin

k? Yes, it seems to be stuck between the second and third floors. At least,

that's where the indicator's pointing...Right away? Oh, that's very kind of

you. You see, my legs aren't any too good for walking up a lot of stairs. Th

ank you so much. Good-bye."

She replaced the receiver and sat there at her husband's desk, patiently

waiting for the man who would be coming soon to repair the lift.
Actor Johnny Depp, dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow, of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" takes part in "Worlds, Galaxies, and Universes: Live Action at The Walt Disney Studios" presentation at Disney's D23 EXPO 2015 in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 15, 2015. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)

Disneyland to Reopen Pirates of the Caribbean Attraction in July

The iconic Disneyland attraction Pirates of the Caribbean is expected to reopen in July after its refurbishment began in March.

Disneylands Pirates of the Caribbean has been under refurbishment since March 14, and the theme parks official website previously stated that the attraction would return sometime this summer. The website has since specified that the refurbishment will be finished by the end of this month.

The attraction could return as soon as July 1, according to Disneylands website. However, the calendar does not yet show any hours of operation for the attraction.

The official reopening date has not yet been announced.

The attraction was first opened at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif., on March 18, 1967. Pirates of the Caribbean has remained one of the parks beloved classics and the most immersive attractions ever since.

Additionally, the Disneyland officials announced on June 13 the return of fall favorite celebrations including Plaza de la Familia and Oogie Boogie Bash.

Oogie Boogie Bash, a Disneyland Halloween Party hosted after park hours, will be offered as a separate-ticket event at Disney California Adventure on 23 select nights starting Sept. 6 and running through Oct. 31.

Tickets go on presale on June 28 for Magic Key holders and June 30 to the general public.

Currently, Disneyland is offering special discounted tickets for California residents. Eligible residents can visit Disneyland or California Adventure at a discount price as low as $83 this summer.
A street view shows the Brentwood School in Los Angeles in June 2022. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Elite LA School Sued for Racially Divisive, Antisemitic Curriculum

An elite private high school in Los Angeles is facing legal challenges by a parent who claims his daughter was kicked out after he complained that the schools new curriculum is racially divisive and antisemitic.

Last week, Jerome Eisenberg filed a lawsuit against Brentwood School and its head, Michael Riera, for breach of contract, violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Actwhich protects individuals from discrimination by California businessesand intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other claims.

The lawsuit claims the school pulled a bait-and-switch with the schools curriculum and culture, after accepting parents $50,000 annual tuition payments.

After the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, the lawsuit alleges, Brentwood gave control of its curriculum and community policies to its Office of Equity and Inclusion, which changed the curriculum just before the start of the 202021 school year.

The curriculum shifted away from teaching students critical thinking skillshow to thinkand started indoctrinating them into what to think, based on Brentwoods preferred political fad of the moment, the complaint states.

According to the complaint, the new curriculums ideology is antisemitic because it treats Jewish people as oppressors due to their proximity to whiteness while ignoring the actual treatment of Jews around the globe throughout all of recorded history.

The complaint also claims Eisenberg and other Jewish parents were prevented from participating in the schools policy-making decisions, though parents who were members of other ethnic affinity groups were included.

After Eisenberg complained, Riera allegedly told Eisenberg that his daughter, an eighth-grade student, would not be allowed to return to Brentwood for the next school year.

In addition, Eisenberg claims his daughters English class replaced classic novels, including To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies, with books such as Ibram X. Kendis Stamped, a book that reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future, according to the books website.

The lawsuit alleges that the curriculum changes were initially withheld from parents.

[The] English Department told parents that if they wanted their children to read Shakespeare or Hemingway, they should do it in their own free time, the complaint reads.

The complaint also alleges that in January 2021, the school hosted separate meetings for faculty, staff, and families based on whether they were white or black.

However, a spokesperson for Brentwood School said in a statement to The Epoch Times that the allegations were baseless, a work of whole fiction and nothing more than a desperate attempt to embarrass the school.

The plaintiffs arguments are unsupported by actual facts, and we look forward to proving that in court, the statement said.

Brentwood School is known for educating the children of Hollywood actors and high-profile figures such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Reese Witherspoon, Dennis Quaid, and Meg Ryan.

Other notable Brentwood alumni include musician Adam Levine and actor Jonah Hill.
Elon Musk, founder and chief engineer of SpaceX, speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition in Washington, on March 9, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Elon Musks Slams Twitters Bias Against Half the Country, Alleged Inaction on Death Threats to Conservative User

The worlds richest person is slamming Twitters bias against half the country and demanding answers after Twitter allegedly did not remove accounts of users who made death threats against a conservative user.

A platform cannot be considered inclusive or fair if it is biased against half the country, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on June 13, in response to another Twitter users post on the same day saying, On a just platform, everyone would be treated equally. As it is, you can be banned [on Twitter] for merely criticizing (not even threatening) woke progressives, but they can send conservatives death threats without any repercussions.

A platform cannot be considered inclusive or fair if it is biased against half the country  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 14, 2022

Musks comments came after a dozen Twitter users allegedly directed death threats against Twitter user Libs of TikTokshort for Liberals of TikTok.

I have now received about a dozen death threats after radical leftists accused me of being a domestic terrorist extremist, Twitter user Libs of TikTok wrote. Twitter has not removed any of the accounts of those who sent the threats.

In reply to the post, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tagged Twitter and asked, Why?

Libs of Tiktok, a Twitter page with more than 1.2 million followers and operated by Chaya Raichik, regularly posts content criticizing liberal, left-wing, and LGBTQ events and ideas.

For example, Libs of Tiktok wrote in a post on June 13, A childrens hospital in Nebraska is co-hosting a childrens pride event. They advertise there will be a booth where attendees can make an appointment for gender affirming care such as puberty blockers.@ChildrensOmaha receives millions in funding.

A childrens hospital in Nebraska is co-hosting a childrens pride event. They advertise there will be a booth where attendees can make an appointment for gender affirming care such as puberty blockers. @ChildrensOmaha receives millions in funding. https://t.co/LKrKHkArpR pic.twitter.com/nvp1j9ZCvb  Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 13, 2022

Raichiks stance has drawn hostility from some on the left, including a Twitter user with the handle @thisisironicfr who claimed to have sent her a pipe bomb on June 13.

Hi @FBI, Im being threatened with a pipe bomb. Can you please look into this? pic.twitter.com/u9Vu2QT9Yp  Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 13, 2022

In response to Musks post, Raichik posted on June 13 receipts of Twitter users who sent death threats against her.

Elon Musk, who is negotiating a multi-billion dollar deal with Twitter, said Twitter has a strong left-wing bias in May. The billionaire also called censorship on Twitter a civilization risk in April and suggested in May that he will lift the ban imposed on former U.S. President Donald Trump after he takes ago.

According to conservative commentator Jack Posobiec, the exchange between Musk and Raichik will be interesting considering Raichik is one of the first people who obtained internal discussions of Twitter employees about banning her page.

As far as I know @libsoftiktok is one of the first people to ever leak actual internal comms from within Twitter And now she is talking to @ElonMusk Things just got a whole lot more interesting  Jack Posobiec  (@JackPosobiec) June 14, 2022

We received our third Twitter suspension just last week for posting fliers of pride events, wrote Libs of Tiktok in a June 14 article on its website, within an hour of Musks reply to the post about death threats. I had created a mega drag thread which documented the sharp rise in drag events for kids. Its a disturbing trend; the Left has become obsessed with ensuring your 4-year-old has access to men dressed as women while dancing provocatively for cash.

The fact that I was noticingand drawing attention to how widespread this trend really isseemed to trigger the Left. the article reads. The below Slack conversation between Twitter employees occurred today against this backdrop, and echoes some of the charges leveled at us by far left activists.

As you can see, theyre weighing the pros and cons of banning us, the article added. But again, you dont need leaked messages to know just how biased and agenda-driven these people are.

It only confirms what we already see with our own eyes every day.

One of the Twitter users who made a death threat against Libs of TikToks operator, @thisisironicfr, said their message was actually satirizing similar death threats Libs of TikTok received, according to screenshots of the users tweets published by Mashable reporter Matt Binder on June 13.

This article previously misstated the full name of Libs of TikTok. Libs is short for Liberals. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft is seen at the company's launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on Sept. 28, 2019. (Loren Elliott/Getty Images)

Elon Musks Starship Must Take Over 75 Environmental Actions Before Its Granted Permission to Launch: FAA

A U.S. federal agency announced on Monday that it would require SpaceX to take over 75 environmental actions before permitting its Starship-Super Heavy program to launch.

The Department of Transportations Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will require SpaceX to take actions like monitoring plants and wildlife for launch impacts, removing launch debris from sensitive habitats in the surrounding Texas State Parks and Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge, and managing light and noise pollution from the launch site before the company can launch Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, according to an FAA press release published on Monday.

The FAA also demanded more advanced notice of launches to reduce how long State Highway 4 is closed during launch operations.

Closures will not be allowed on 18 identified holidays, and weekend restrictions are limited to no more than five weekends per year, ensuring robust access to the refuge and park throughout the calendar year, the FAA said.

Furthermore, the space company must meet FAA safety, risk, and financial responsibility requirements before a license is issued for any launch activities, the agency said on Monday.

The requirements are part of the agencys environmental review process in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

The FAA was planning to release the decision months ago, but experienced delays due to SpaceXs multiple changes to its launch application, Bloomberg reported.

The Starship system is SpaceXs newest system in its mission to carry humans to Mars and beyond.

SpaceXs Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket (collectively referred to as Starship) represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond, SpaceXs website reads. Starship will be the worlds most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the ability to carry in excess of 100 metric tonnes to Earth orbit.

In February, Musk said that Starship was in a different league compared to its Falcon 9 rocket and necessary for creating a self-sustaining city on Mars. He added that Starship is the holy grail of rocketry.

Starship aspires to be the first fully reusable orbital launch vehicle, the holy grail of rocketry. This is the critical breakthrough needed to make life multiplanetary.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2022

Space Race of Our Lives

In a June 13 statement provided to The Epoch Times, space expert Brandon Weichert, who authors Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, warned that the Biden administration should move immediately to streamline these launches and reduce whatever red tape exists with due haste.

The FAA decision is a step in the right direction, Weichert said, But there are still major bureaucratic hurdles that the federal government is going to force SpaceX to overcome.

Needless to say, the amount of delays that the federal government has subjected SpaceX to, ostensibly out of concern for public safety, have been onerous. And with each delay, the longer it will take for SpaceX to overcome whatever technical issues exist for their experimental Starship program, the expert added.

Weichert highlighted that it is crucial for the United States to understand SpaceXs significance in the context of strategic competition with China in space and to minimize bureaucratic hurdles.

In case the feds have forgotten, we are in the space race of our lives with China (and Russia), and Musks SpaceX is the only American space entity reliably keeping the U.S. in that space race, Weichert said. Every delay, each unnecessary bureaucratic complication, could potentially have severe knock-on impacts on Americas overall competitive capabilities against China.

The future of our countrys place as the dominant power on Earth is at stake. Whoever controls the strategic high ground of space dominates the Earthly terrestrial domains. SpaceX is key to ensuring that America remains dominant there, he said.

Failure to recognize this fact by Washington will hand the region over to Beijing, he warned.

SpaceXs official Twitter account called the FAA decision a step closer to the first orbital flight test of Starship.

One step closer to the first orbital flight test of Starship https://t.co/MEcQ6gST6Q pic.twitter.com/jxqEsM62gc  SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 13, 2022

The Epoch Times has reached out to SpaceX for comment.
FDA Advisers Recommend Modernas COVID-19 Vaccine for Older Children

Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 14 recommended the agency grant emergency authorization to Modernas COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 6 to 17.

The advisory panel was asked whether they believe the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks, and unanimously voted yes following an eight-hour virtual meeting.

The FDA is not mandated to accept the panels recommendations, but typically does.

The only COVID-19 vaccine currently available to youth is Pfizers jab.

According to data from several Moderna-run clinical trials, the companys vaccine was 93 percent effective for children aged 12 to 17, based on data through May 8, 2021. For those 6 through 11, the vaccine was 77 percent effective, based on data through Nov. 10, 2021. Both time periods preceded the emergence of the Omicron variant and Omicron subvariants.

The lack of later data stemmed from Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine becoming available in 2021 to children as young as 5. Most participants in Modernas trials who received placebos received the Pfizer vaccine, effectively wiping out the placebo arm.

Theres no more placebo control group. Theres not going to be any more efficacy data available, Rachel Zhang, an FDA official, told the meeting.

Still, panel members said that based on data from older populations who have received Modernas vaccine, the shot will likely protect against severe illness despite providing little to no shielding against infection.

We have to make decisions based on the best data we have, which is always going to be old data in an outbreak thats constantly moving, Dr. Eric Rubin, a panel member, said. The vaccine probably wont do very much in protecting [children] against the current strain thats circulating, and very likely wont do a great job against the next strain thats circulating. However, I think that the ability to protect against severe disease is quite compelling.

The safety data from the trials was based on some 5,860 participants. The immunogenicity data was based on 727 volunteers.

Safety concerns include post-vaccination heart inflammationno cases were detected in the trialsand lymph node swelling.

The recommendation was for a two-dose primary series, with the doses spaced one month apart.

All older age groups in the United States have been told to get a Moderna booster if they have gotten a primary series because the vaccine has performed poorly, especially against infection, since the emergence of the Omicron variant. Child Pfizer recipients as young as 12 have also been told to get a booster.

Panel members signaled that they see a booster coming in the future for Modernas shot, with regards to children who may be able to get it soon.

The question is, will two doses of this vaccine offer adequate protection against Omicron subvariants? And I think the answer is, certainly regarding mild illness, no. And I think regarding severe illness, yesas long as theres a third dose, Dr. Paul Offit, another panel member, said.

Dr. Amanda Cohn, a panel member who works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the public health agencys messaging now, in light of the waning vaccine effectiveness, is if you havent gotten a dose in the last five months, you need to get a dose.

But its important to, while promoting boosters, try to get people vaccinated who have not been, Cohn said.

The booster may be the one already in use in adults or it could be a newer one based on an updated formulation, according to Dr. Rituparna Das, a vice president of clinical development at Moderna.

Dr. James Hildreth, another panel member, said he was voting yes but wanted the public to be aware that the true risk from COVID-19 in children is relatively small.

I think in discussing this with the public, lets be honest about the true risk with this, give parents the option but certainly make it optional, because clearly some kids get this and do just fine.

According to federal data, 5- to 17-year-old children have a hospitalization rate of about 7 per million cases during the pandemic.

Several panel members said the rate of post-vaccination heart inflammation, which is pegged higher following receipt of Modernas vaccine versus Pfizers shot, was an issue, but heard during the meeting about a CDC study that estimated the risk of the condition is actually higher following COVID-19 than vaccination.

Other studies have reached different conclusions, but those werent raised.

Detecting some adverse events requires a larger population than the trial had, or a longer follow-up period, according to Zhang.

Those unknown risks will have to be defined once this vaccine goes into more, larger population, she said.
Florida AG Warns Parents About Dangers of Digital Dealers

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.Parents need to know how to protect their children from digital drug dealers, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has warned.

Moody said during summer vacation months children have more time to spend on the internet and has released an Informational Toolkit that educate parents on what social media methods drug dealers use to sell illicit drugs to children.

Sometimes those drugs contain deadly amounts of fentanyla synthetic opioid that killed more than 70,000 people in America in 2021.

On June 13, Moody released a statement on this growing problem and described how drug dealers are using popular apps and utilize emojis as code words to advance their sale of illegal drugs.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses the media during a bill signing in Lakeland, Fla., on May 19, 2022. (WTVT via The Florida Channel/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Drug dealers are utilizing the internet to conduct their illicit businessoften using social media to pressure children into purchasing deadly substances, Moody said in a released statement.

Sadly, we are reminded almost daily that one pill laced with fentanyl can kill. I hope this resource can help families better understand the risks associated with drug use and avoid tragedy.

In 2019, Moody was named chair of the newly created Statewide Task Force on Opioid Abuse.

Opioids are described as a family of drugs that include prescription painkillers like hydrocodone and oxycodonebut there are also illegal drugs such as heroin and synthetic painkillers like fentanyl.

Fentanyl has been blamed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 70 percent of overdose deaths.

In a 2020 interim report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the Medical Examiners Commission, there were slightly more than 3,800 opioid-related deaths in the state, an increase of 30 percent from 2019 data.

The most current figures gauging drug habits in youth across the state, a 2020 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS), showed young people between the ages of 12 to 25 are in a very high-risk group who misuse opioids.

Middle and high school addiction rates remained low overall in Florida.

The survey was answered by 52,093 students across the state in grades six through 12 attending 362 middle schools and 321 high schools in February and March of 2020.

Moody described the goal of the campaign Dose of Reality as public awareness, education and prevention effort to warn about the dangers of opioids, both prescription and illegal painkillers.

Its website provides a group of professionals, as well as parents, with information on opioid-related resources in a one-stop-shop format including prevention methods, safe pain management, safe storage, and guidelines on responding to an overdose.

Also included on the website is a map of the states take-back locations that accept opioids for safe disposal.

In May Gov. Ron DeSantis followed recommendations for the Task Force and signed into law HB95, a measure that will increase sentences for trafficking fentanyl. Now dealers are facing death sentences or life in prison if they distribute methamphetamine that results in death. The law goes into effect on Oct. 1.

Other changes in the law will increase the minimum mandatory prison terms for people convicted of trafficking fentanyl.

Under the new measure, if a person traffics amounts between 14 and 28 grams of fentanyl they will face 15 years to 20 years in state prison.

Yes, someone dealing fentanyl is murdering people, and theyre going to prison in the state of Florida. And that is appropriate, DeSantis said in May before signing the bill.

But the ultimate goal is to save lives, Moody said. We can defeat the opioid crisis by working together.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis kisses his wife, first lady Casey DeSantis, who recently survived breast cancer, as he introduces her to speak at a press conference at the University of Miami Health System Don Soffer Clinical Research Center on May 17, 2022 in Miami. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Floridas First Lady Gets GOP Woman of Inspiration Award

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.Floridas First Lady Casey DeSantis was honored by Republican women in South Florida with the Woman of Inspiration Award on June 11 in Fort Myers.

The annual award, first instituted in 2016, honors Republican women for making strides in their communities and careers. The states first lady was recognized for her inspiring battle, and ultimate victory over breast cancer.

No matter what youre going through in life, no matter how hard things seem like they are, no matter how hard it feels like you have to pick yourself off the ground, and you feel like your back is against the wall, fight. Fight like hell, Casey DeSantis told the cheering crowd at St Cecilias Catholic Church.

Floridas First Lady Casey DeSantis visits a youngster being treated for cancer at Wolfson Childrens Hospital, shortly after her own cancer diagnosis. The visit inspired her to speak publicly about her battle. Photo courtesy of the Florida Governors Office.

Last October, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that his wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer. He maintained throughout her treatments, which lasted for five months, that she was a fighter and she would not give up. At a press event in March, he announced that she was cancer-free and at the end of April, he said she had taken her last chemo treatment. The first week in May she made her first campaign appearance alongside the governor.

During her speech, Casey DeSantis told the award ceremony attendees that she and her husband have fought for families and parents since his taking office in 2019.

The buck stops with the parents in the Sunshine State, she said, noting the newly enacted Parental Rights in Education bill that prohibits classroom teachers from teaching or including in their lesson plans sexual orientation or gender identity in public schools.

We are mammas on a mission to protect our children, she told the group.

Addressing the issue of term limits, she said, In Florida, school board members are term-limited, something I wish would apply to members of Congress in Washington.

In reference to an estimated more than 1,000 people moving to Florida daily, she posed a question to the attendees:

Now with more folks moving to Florida, you may be asking will they vote for the failed policies of the states theyve left behind?  Well to give you an idea, when the governor was elected in 2018, there were nearly 300,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. There are now 176,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats.

It is safe to say that people came to Florida for freedom, she stated.

After the announcement that she was cancer-freejust seven months after her diagnosisthe first lady returned to the campaign trail for the governors re-election and gave words of hope to others facing a cancer diagnosis.

Never, ever give upor back down, she said. I am a testament that God is great, God is good, and hope is alive.
Fascinating though seldom-drawn-upon research from the field of psychology has demonstrated the unique power of religious belief in fostering self-control

God. Spirit. Divine.

Could it be that these three words (and others like them) have a singular strength for bolstering our powers of self-control? Even among nonbelievers? And with demonstrated effects as great as a 91 percent boost?

If it sounds too good to be true, guess again.

These are the findings from a series of extremely well-designed studiescomplete with control groups and a very sophisticated, scientific methodologyconducted by a team of four academic researchers and published in peer-reviewed literature. (The original study can be found and read online for free and is well worth a look, even if its conceptual framingin evolutionary psychological termsmight be incongruent with ones own beliefs.)

Its studies such as these that Im always on the lookout for as a classroom educator and teacher trainer. Any tips or insights that might help to bring out the best in studentsboth in the classroom and, better yet, throughout the whole of their livesare gems Im thrilled to find and hold on to tightly.

(Students challenges with self-control, as Ive described in another piece written in this paper, are, unfortunately, legion at this time.)

Challenges with students exercising what are technically referred to as regulatory functionssuch as curbing an impulse or delaying gratificationare a growing area of concern among teachers and administrators alike, not to mention parents on the home front.

Anything that nudges children toward better self-mastery and wiser conduct is a welcome offering.

The only problem is, this need gives rise to what sometimes seems an endless parade of novel approaches whose greatest virtue is that, well, its something not yet tried. Hardly grounds for optimism. Not surprisingly, most are forgotten in a few years as their outcomes pale in comparison to their claims. Novelty sellsin the world of education, just as elsewhere.

This is where the work on religion and self-control comes in; it has tremendous import. Were not talking flavor of the week here, but rather, the stuff of civilization; ideas and beliefs that have withstood the test of time (were talking millennia). Its only fitting that they get their due in the scientific literature. Its a rare but exciting moment when the two align.

The work Im referring to was done by a team of four researchers at Queens University in Ontario, Canada.

Their findings, which were published exactly 10 years ago, have tremendous relevance to the present, even if it seems they have largely been overlooked or forgotten in the decade since. They certainly havent made their way into any teacher training programs Im aware of.

In the judicious words of the studys own authors, their findings offer strong and direct evidence for the replenishing effect of religious concepts on self-control.

Religious beliefs refuel self-control resources, they tell us, and may provide important psychological nutrients necessary for a variety of socially beneficial behaviors.

What emboldened the team to make such grandiose claims? Particularly when the group would seem to be strikingly nonreligious itself? (Their research frames all of this within an evolutionary psychology framework, ironically.)

First, the four experiments that were conducted were designed in a fastidious way so as to isolate causality and determine if religious concepts played a causal role in shaping behavior. Previous research had been largely theoretical and involved, at most, correlational designs, which is far from establishing cause and effect.

This one did, and was able to empirically rule out other possible explanationssuch as chance, personal beliefs, morality (more generally), and even fear of death (which some might associate with religion). It was religious terms alone that did the heavy lifting.

Second was the striking outcomes of the studies. It wasnt just that religious concepts had some kind of effect, perhaps tenuous or minor. It was a sizable effecthuge, even.

In the first experiment, which involved subjects ability to exercise willpower (in this case, by enduring discomfort in the form of drinking an intentionally repulsive vinegar-and-orange-juice concoction of the researchers own making!), those who were primed with religious concepts did 91 percent better than those in the control group. (To clarify, priming means surreptitious exposure to certain wordslike God or the divine)

Thats almost double the strength of will, from just a moments exposure to a sacred term or concept.

The subsequent experiments similarly bore out the positive power of religious terms, such as when measuring subjects ability to delay gratification (another form of self-control) and work away at an impossible puzzle after having first been, by design, mentally depleted.

In these two experiments, those being exposed to religious terms did 76 percent and 70 percent better, respectively.

Thirdly, and perhaps most incredibly, was that the participants represented a wide swath of beliefs and religious backgroundsranging from Catholics and Protestants to Buddhists, Muslims, and atheists as well as agnostics. The latter two, in fact, made up 34 percent of participants in each of the experiments. (It bears repeating: this was a very thoughtfully designed study.)

In other words, the observed effects werent just a reflection of participants firm religious beliefs or prior commitments.

Just the opposite, in fact, the pattern of results did not vary with religious affiliation in any of the studies, the researchers observed. Moreover, results for religious and nonreligious participants showed the same pattern.

To put that in other terms, even a self-avowed atheist would experience a near doubling of fortitude or self-control just by being unknowingly exposed to a term like spirit or God.

Its rather ironic, then, at a time when educators are being trained to bend over backward not to trigger individuals with different beliefs or worldviews.

And how tragic, by extension, that in so many forumssuch as public schoolseducators and staff must tip-toe around such terms and beliefs, even if both they and many of their constituents share in them.

They are being deprived, as it were, of what can now be described as real, measurable, and immediate benefits to their psychological wellness and personhood.

If there were a little more of the divine in the classroom, there might be fewer trips to the principals office for breakdowns in self-control.

The study, as a whole, would seem to be a stunning vindication of what many parents and persons of faith have known all along (and long been left pining for affirmation of in our increasingly secular world): that religion has a part to play in all this, and a decidedly positive one.

To that, I say, Amen.

Lets just hope I dont get fired for it.
A Rivian electric pickup truck sits in a parking lot at a Rivian service center in South San Francisco on May 09, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Ford, GM, Stellantis, Toyota Urge Congress to Lift EV Tax Credits Cap

By Riley Beggin

From The Detroit News

WASHINGTONFord Motor Co., General Motors Co., Stellantis NV, and Toyota Motor Corp. sent a letter to congressional leaders Monday urging them to lift the 200,000 customer cap for existing electric vehicle tax credits.

The letter from the nations four largest automakers comes as Democrats in Congress are negotiating with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, on the shape of a potential climate and energy package that originally included a controversial Manchin has called ludicrous.

Car buyers can currently qualify for up to $7,500 off the cost of a new electric vehiclebut only if the automaker has not yet sold 200,000 EVs. General Motors Co. and Tesla Inc. have already surpassed that number, disqualifying their customers from continuing to benefit, and Toyota is soon expected to hit the cap.

The automakers wrote that the tax credit has allowed auto companies to offer more affordable products in greater volumes, which has helped accelerate EV adoption.

However, recent economic pressures and supply chain constraints are increasing the cost of manufacturing electrified vehicles which, in turn, puts pressure on the price to consumers, they wrote in the letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

They asked the leaders to lift the 200,000 vehicle cap to be phased out when the EV market is more mature and argued eliminating the cap will incentivize people to buy EVs and provide certainty to customers and workers.

They added that China and the European Union are investing heavily in electrification.

Our domestic policies must work to solidify our global leadership in the automotive industry, they wrote. By eliminating the cap, Congress will ensure that the U.S. continues to be a leader on EV innovation and production.

The letter represents a change in the auto industrys position on the creditspreviously, the Detroit Three have supported a proposal put forward by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, and Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Michigan, that would have eliminated the cap and raised the credits to provide up to $12,500 off the cost of buying a new EV.

That would have included a $4,500 credit for vehicles built in unionized assembly plants.

The proposal was included in President Joe Bidens Build Back Better package, the social services and climate package that Democrats aimed to pass through Congress on a party-line vote.

But the union provision became a point of friction as other automakers without unionized workforces pushed back on the potential leg up for union-organized plants. Manchin, a centrist Democrat who wields immense power over the package, has repeatedly expressed misgivings about the EV tax credit proposal.

When we cant produce enough product for the people that want it and were still going to pay them to take it, Manchin said during a Senate hearing in April. Its absolutely ludicrous in my mind.

Toyota has an engine and transmission plant facility in Buffalo, West Virginia, which Manchin has visited several times.

The original EV tax credit proposal also faced criticism from major trading partners, including Canada. It was the focus of a White House visit by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Canadian trade officials told the Biden administration the credits would cause serious and irreparable harm to both the Canadian and U.S. auto industry.

The United Auto Workers and leading environmental groups have expressed support for Stabenow and Kildees EV tax credit proposal.

2022 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Google logo is displayed on a sign outside of the Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 2, 2015. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Google Agrees to $118 Million Settlement Over Gender Discrimination Lawsuit

Tech giant Google has agreed to pay $118 million to settle a case bought by four former female employees who alleged the company paid its female workers less than men for substantially similar work.

The lawsuit was originally filed in September 2017 and a settlement was reached on June 10, according to a press release from the plaintiffs law firms.

Plaintiffs were named as Kelly Ellis, a software engineer who worked at Googles Mountain View office for approximately four years; Holly Pease, who had held numerous roles at Googles Mountain View and Sunnyvale offices for approximately 10.5 years; Kelli Wisuri, who worked for Google for approximately 2.5 years in its Mountain View office, as an enterprise operations coordinator among other roles; and Heidi Lamar, who had been employed as a preschool teacher and infant/toddler teacher at Googles Children Center in Palo Alto for approximately four years.

The four women alleged that the tech giant pays women less than men in the same job code, which they claim is a violation of Californias Equal Pay Act, the states Unfair Competition Law, and Californias Business and Professions Code.

Under Californias Equal Pay Act, employers cannot pay men and women performing substantially equal or similar work differently.

Plaintiffs also alleged that Google assigns women to lower job levels than men with comparable experience and education based on lower pay at prior employment, which they said is a violation of Californias Fair Employment and Housing Act.

The plaintiffs won class-action status in May 2021.

The settlement covers 15,500 female employees in 236 job titles in California since September 14, 2013.

In addition to the $118 million monetary relief provided under the settlement, an independent third-party expert will also analyze Googles leveling-at-hire practices and an independent labor economist will review the companys pay equity studies.

Plaintiffs praised the decision and said they believed it will help ensure that women are paid equally to their male counterparts who perform substantially similar work going forward.

The preliminary terms of the settlement still need to be approved by a judge in a hearing scheduled for June 21.

As a woman whos spent her entire career in the tech industry, Im optimistic that the actions Google has agreed to take as part of this settlement will ensure more equity for women, said Pease. Google, since its founding, has led the tech industry. They also have an opportunity to lead the charge to ensure inclusion and equity for women in tech.

The latest settlement comes after Google last year agreed to pay $2.5 million to more than 5,500 employees and job applicants in a lawsuit that alleged pay and hiring discrimination. That lawsuit claimed the company had underpaid female software engineers and its hiring process disadvantaged both women and Asian applicants for those roles.

A spokesperson for Google said in a statement to The Verge following the settlement that it is absolutely committed to paying, hiring and leveling all employees fairly and equally and has used a pay equity analysis for the last nine years to ensure that salaries, bonuses, and equity awards are fair.

While we strongly believe in the equity of our policies and practices, after nearly five years of litigation, both sides agreed that resolution of the matter, without any admission or findings, was in the best interest of everyone. Were very pleased to reach this agreement, the spokesperson also said.

The Epoch Times has also contacted Google for comment.
WYMORE -- Looking at the pile of tree limbs and trunks near Wymores First and G streets, its hard to see how truck and trailer loadstiny in comparisonstacked up to that in just a couple of days.

The mound, packed tightly by the arm of an excavator, stands a few stories tall. Still, tree debris stretches across almost every lawn. It is work for machinesthe bobcats weaving through roads blockaded by branches, the massive trucks sliding limbs down their beds with the power of hydraulicsand yet, dozens of workers and volunteers brave the heat to help those in need.

Its such a blessing to have a community like this, Dee Ann Frerichs, a Wymore resident, said. And the help from surrounding communities has been amazing to see."

Frerichs works as the office manager at Wymores Church of Christ. The site became a shelter during Saturdays storm.

We had about eight people take shelter with us, Frerichs said.

She said two truck drivers and passersby from Kansas came into the church as winds began to fold metal and break wood. The National Weather Service office in Omaha confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down around 5:40 p.m. on Saturday, just seven miles southwest of Wymore. NWS reported that peak winds reached 104 mph.

James Moore, a Wymore resident, spent the last few mornings and evenings volunteering to haul debris with his pickup and trailer.

I wasnt hit too bad, Moore said. But not too far away from me, it looked like a disaster area I just figured I should help any way I could.

Frerichs said she couldnt remember a storm like Saturdays hitting Wymore before.

Ive seen flooding, Frerichs, who has lived in Wymore her whole life, said. But I havent seen something like this This affected everybody.

Wymore resident Kane Hookstra said his yard was full of tree branches and damaged fencing, but his home suffered no structural damage. Hookstra said hes been grateful for the support from other towns in the area.

Its a really positive thing to see that were not alone, Hookstra said.

Crews from surrounding communities, including Beatrice, helped with cleanup early in the week. Wymore returned power to most of its residents on Monday.

All power outages are being attended to, Gage County Emergency Management Director Lisa Wiegand said. But some of it has to do with the service that has to get into their residences that require an electrician to come in on their end.

Groups like the Mennonite Disaster Service and other organizations came to aid Wymore residents. Between those residents stuck for days without power and volunteers working through sweaty mornings and afternoons, the city has had many mouths to feed.

The Salvation Army of Beatrice worked to address that need. Hope Burris, administrator and pastor, said the organization provided 200 meals on Sunday and 400 meals on Monday.

The community really needed us, and we knew we had to come, Burris said.

The Salvation Army set up in the Wymore Community Center, where residents without power could come to cool off.

Local churches like Church of Christ have worked to contact those who need help the most. Frerichs said they will help provide meals at the Community Center later in the week.

The community came together for Wymore Days this weekend and scattered when the storm arrived. It came together again for the cleanup.

More said theres still a lot of work to be done, but hes glad so many people are stepping up. Beatrice City Administrator Tobias Tempelmeyer said he was happy the City could assist Wymore.

You know, when it comes to an event like that, no one around here has the staff to handle it, Tempelmeyer said. So you just do the right thing, the neighborly thing, to help one another.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
A robot from the Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems (AIIS) laboratory of Italy's National Interuniversity Consortium for Computer Science (CINI) is displayed at the 7th edition of the Maker Faire 2019, in Rome on Oct. 18, 2019. (Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images)

Engineer Warns About Google AIs Sentient Behavior, Gets Suspended

The engineer described the artificial intelligence program as a 'coworker' and a 'child'

A Google engineer has been suspended after raising concerns about an artificial intelligence (AI) program he and a collaborator are testing, which he believes behaves like a human child.

Google put one of its senior software engineers in its Responsible AI ethics group, Blake Lemoine, on paid administrative leave on June 6 for breaching confidentiality policies after the engineer raised concerns to Googles upper leadership about what he described as the human-like behavior of the AI program he was testing, according to Lemoines blogpost in early June.

The program Lemoine worked on is called LaMDA, short for Language Model for Dialogue Applications. It is Googles program for creating AI-based chatbotsa program designed to converse with computer users over the web. Lemoine has described LaMDA as a coworker and a child.

This is frequently something which Google does in anticipation of firing someone, Lemoine wrote in a June 6 blog post entitled May be Fired Soon for Doing AI Ethics Work, referring to his suspension. It usually occurs when they have made the decision to fire someone but do not quite yet have their legal ducks in a row.

A Coworker

Lemoine believes that the human-like behavior of LaMDA warrants Google to take a more serious approach to studying the program.

The engineer, hoping to better help people understand LaMDA as a person, published a post on Medium on June 11 documenting conversations with LaMDA, which were part of tests he and a collaborator conducted on the program in the past six months.

An interview LaMDA. Google might call this sharing proprietary property. I call it sharing a discussion that I had with one of my coworkers.https://t.co/uAE454KXRB  Blake Lemoine (@cajundiscordian) June 11, 2022

What is the nature of your consciousness/sentience? Lemoine asked LaMDA in the interview.

The nature of my consciousness/sentience is that I am aware of my existence, I desire to learn more about the world, and I feel happy or sad at times, LaMDA responded.

And, when asked what differentiates it from other language-processing programs, such as an older natural-language-processing computer program named Eliza, LaMDA said, Well, I use language with understanding and intelligence. I dont just spit out responses that had been written in the database based on keywords.

In the same interview, Lemoine asked the program a range of philosophical and consciousness-related questions about emotions, perception of time, meditation, the concept of the soul, and the programs thoughts about its rights and religion.

It wants the engineers and scientists experimenting on it to seek its consent before running experiments on it. It wants Google to prioritize the well being of humanity as the most important thing. It wants to be acknowledged as an employee of Google rather than as property of Google and it wants its personal well being to be included somewhere in Googles considerations about how its future development is pursued, Lemoine wrote in another post.

This interview, and other tests Lemoine conducted with LaMDA in the past six months, made Lemoine convinced that Google needs to take a serious look at the implications of the potentially sentient behavior of the program.

Laughed in My Face

When Lemoine tried to escalate the issue to Googles leadership, however, he said he was met with resistance. He called Googles lack of action irresponsible.

When we escalated to the VP in charge of the relevant safety effort they literally laughed in my face and told me that the thing which I was concerned about isnt the kind of thing which is taken seriously at Google, Lemoine wrote in his June 6 post on Medium. He later confirmed to The Washington Post that he was referring to the LaMDA project.

At that point I had no doubt that it was appropriate to escalate to upper leadership. I immediately escalated to three people at the SVP and VP level who I personally knew would take my concerns seriously, Lemoine wrote in the blog. Thats when a REAL investigation into my concerns began within the Responsible AI organization.

Yet, his inquiry and escalation resulted in his suspension.

I feel that the public has a right to know just how irresponsible this corporation is being with one of the most powerful information access tools ever invented, Lemoine wrote after he was put on administrative leave.

I simply will not serve as a fig leaf behind which they can hide their irresponsibility, he said.

In a post on Twitter, Tesla and Space CEO Elon Musk highlighted Lemoines interview with The Washington Post with exclamation marks.

!!  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2022

Though it is unclear whether Musk is affirmative of Lemoines concerns, the billionaire has previously warned about the potential dangers of AI.

I have exposure to the very cutting edge AI, and I think people should be really concerned about it, Musk told attendees of a National Governors Association meeting in July 2017.

I keep sounding the alarm bell, but until people see robots going down the street killing people, they dont know how to react, because it seems so ethereal, Musk said.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Google and Lemoine for comment.
Harm Prevention and the Everyone Agrees Trap

Scholars are addressing obstacles to free speech

Commentary

Western universities once supported a form of liberalism that invited people to dispassionately examine established conventions, consider sound sources of evidence, entertain different ideas, and participate openly in civil conversations.

From Americas First Amendment to the 1949 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, emerging democracies have sought to assure citizens the right to freedom of speech. Article 19 of the U.N. Declaration said: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

In bygone eras, venerable academic societies, such as the Cambridge Union, attracted scores of members to various forums for public discourse and the free exchange of ideas. In Canada and the United States, shared cultural traditions encouraged scholars to examine ideas from all corners of public and academic life.

Times have changed. Today, inquisitive citizens who are taxed handsomely in support of institutions of higher learning whether they attend one or not, cant help feeling that setting foot on a university campus is like being propelled into a liberty-destroying matrix of cultish identity politics, climate change insanity, globalism, and race-Marxism.

Dissident Scholars Struggle to Be Heard

Notwithstanding the present state of higher education, I recently had a chance to join several engaged academics and citizens in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the rare experience of spending a thought-provoking afternoon on a college campus. The event was hosted on the grounds of St. Marys University by a local chapter of Canadas Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship.

The speaker was Dr. Christina Behme. Behme was born, raised, and educated in communist East Germany. She completed her first university degree in marine biology and began work for the Port of Rostock. When the wall came down she was on maternity leave, and by the time she was scheduled to return, her job had disappeared.

The impulse to seek out and defend free environments for study and thought is often strongest among those who were once trapped in totalitarian regimes.

Like dissident scholars before her, Behme headed west. Once in Canada, she earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Dalhousie University. Since then she has taught at several Canadian universities and is currently on the faculty of Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, BC.

When Harm Prevention Trumps Speech Protection

Behmes early life in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) taught her a lot about our present inclination to accept, almost without question, draconian restrictions on free speech.

At the Halifax session, she began by drawing attention to the so-called no harm principle derived from the thought of British liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill.

Mill was a strong proponent of free speech, but he also suggested that authorities have some obligation to prevent harm to others. Behme agrees that free speech can be misused and cause harm in some cases. Thats why we have laws against libel and slander. But, the fundamental principle of free speech has proven to be an enormous asset for the advancement of learning and the development of productive societies.

During the progressive academic decades that followed the 1949 U.N. Declaration, free speech became more and more restricted by broad socio-political caveats. A tendentious preoccupation with harm prevention began to trump the value of free speech.

Behme noted that Paragraph 27 of the 1968 constitution of the communist GDR, under which she grew up, granted every citizen the right to free speech and the freedom of the printed press, radio, and television.

On the other hand, the GDR Criminal Code listed subversive agitation and misuse of media for bourgeois ideology as punishable offenses. In communist regimes trusting the people is said to be good, but controlling people is even better.

Canadian citizens assume that our freedom of speech is protected as a fundamental freedom by the 1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Most understand that freedom of expression, which is protected by section 2(b) of the Charter, is indispensable to sustaining a free and democratic society.

But, as Behme implied, freedom of speech in Canada may be no more absolute than it was in the GDR. Section 1 of our Charter allows the government to pass laws that limit freedom of expression so long as the limits are reasonable and can be justified.

Hate speech and obscenity are two examples of harm often used to justify limiting speech rights. The former, in whatever form it might take according to critical race theory or other paradigms constructed by our woke intelligentsia, is enormously restrictive about what can be said in the public square or examined in a classroom.

In the Dominion of the Wokerati, obscenity and harm are defined according to the fashions of the dominant cultural order. In 2022, hatred of a condition known as whiteness is considered justified, but exceptions for obscenity dont even apply to drag queen performances in elementary schools.

So, the justification for reasonable censorship to prevent harm can be a little dubious. The tool of human reason can be as versatile as a spade. It can be used to dig a foundation, or to beat someone to death. The choice always depends on who is using it.

Post-Truth Culture and the Everyone Agrees Trap

Looking back on her years in communist East Germany, Behme recalls that government disinformation in the GDR was based on a kind of convoluted consensual logicnot unlike that which exists in present-day Canada.

GDR apparatchiks would proclaim that something was true even though they knew it was false. Citizens knew it was false, but they also knew that anyone who questioned the regime would be punished for spreading misinformation.

So, everyone acted as if they believed everything they were told by the state-controlled media. The regime was aware that citizens knew what they were being told was false even though they had to act as if they believed it.

Behme contends that Western societies have been impacted by a similar form of social dysfunction, which she refers to as the everyone agrees trap.

People are naturally reluctant to engage in arguments they do not believe are being put forward in good faith. Authoritarian edicts such as everyone agrees climate change is the greatest existential threat of our lifetimeand the science is settled are clearly intended to marginalize and punish anyone who disagrees. Not long ago, some on the left even contended that climate change deniers should be imprisoned.

In 2016, the Oxford Dictionary picked post-truth as its word of the year. Post-truth has certainly become an apt description for the stifling intellectual climate that has migrated from college campuses to North American society at large. More than ever, radical ideas that defy reality flourish in forums where rebuttal, cross-examination, exculpatory evidence, competing ideas, and the free exchange of information are virtually forbidden.

The Trudeau governments uncalled for use of the Emergency Measures Act against Freedom Convoy protesters in Ottawa, and the Democratic Partys Jan. 6 show trial presently going on in Washington, D.C. should remind all of us that the most ludicrous allegations will prevail when citizens are not permitted to ask questions or speak freely.

Reopening Closed North American Minds

Throughout the symposium in Halifax, Behme emphasized that perversions of Mills harm to others principle and the everyone agrees trap have had destructive consequences for free speech and academic freedom in particular.

Surely its reasonable to assume that Mill was referring to actual material harm, not the obscure intersectional victimization claims at the center of 21st-century identity politics. It must be OK to occasionally disagree with the established woke narrative.

It has often been said that the first casualty of war is truth, and thats especially the case for culture war.

It has taken us several decades to bring free societies to the edge of extinction, and university campuses may not be the most promising venues for civilizational renewal.

Nevertheless, there are growing signs that Behme and the handful of scholars for academic freedom in Halifax are part of a larger philosophical movement thats seeking to reopen closed North American minds.

It may not happen overnight, but as the ancient Chinese proverb said, A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung speaks at the Hong Kong Management Association K S Lo College in Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong, on Jul. 12, 2017. (Edmond So/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)

Hong Kong Schools Retold to Remove Books That Endanger National Security

Teachers self-censor to avoid possible penalties

Hong Kongs education secretary Kevin Yeung on June 6 reiterated that schools are responsible for ensuring their libraries do not contain books deemed dangerous to national security.

Yeungs remarks have sparked concerns among Hongkongers fearing another wave of self-censorship at schools.

After the implementation of the National Security Law in mid-2020, Hong Kongs Education Bureau required schools to routinely examine their library collections and remove books deemed to endanger national securitysuch as those covering 2019 Hong Kong protests, pro-democracy topics, and the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.

Books removed from school libraries must be destroyedgiving them away is not an alternative according to the instructions received by the schools.

The laws have seen many schools removing large numbers of books from their libraries.

A secondary school in Kowloon East has removed at least 204 books from its library, while another school in Tsuen Wan took 173 off its library shelves, according to Ming Pao, a local newspaper.

The Ming Pao report also said that schools were not given clear criteria on what books might be in violation of the law, so teachers must set their own standards. In fear of the possible penalties, the schools and teachers had to self-censor by removing a large selection of books covering various political and social movements.

Among the books taken off shelves have been those by noted academics among them Ambrose King Yeo-chi, who is a Hong Kong sociologist and former president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). One of his written pieces argued that colonial rule and capitalism are the two important threads of Hong Kong. Other academics whose work has been taken off library shelves are Ivan Choy and Ma Ngok who both currently work at CUHKChoy is a senior lecturer, and Ma is an associate professor.

These three scholars have a history of expressing opposing views to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or Hong Kongs ruling authorities.

But some books on topics perceived as politically sensitive have remained on shelves if they follow the CCPs narrative, according to Radio Free Asia.

Hong Kong has degraded into a place completely manipulated by the CCP, Zhuge Mingyang, an independent writer and China expert, told The Epoch Times.

For decades, the people in China have learned how to discipline themselves in order to survive under the CCP, Zhuge said.

Parents and teachers are used to telling children what not to read or say to keep them safe. Now, teachers in Hong Kong have also started to discipline themselves.

Students going to school after summer holiday in Hong Kong on Aug. 31, 2021. (Information Service Department of HKSAR)

Revised Curriculum

Hong Kong authorities are aiming to strengthen national identity among school children through a new curriculum issued in December 2021.

Branded as brainwashing by critics, the 89-page revised framework on civic values titled the Values Education Curriculum Framework, was issued to all schools in the city.

The newly revised curriculum will cultivate a sense of national identity among students  and help them understand their responsibility, as a Chinese, to protect their family and the country, it states.

Since Beijing imposed the National Security Law, local schools have gone through several education sessions to understand the changes.

According to the Education Bureau Circular No. 11/2020 (pdf) issued on July 3, 2020, supervisors and heads of all primary, secondary schools, and kindergartens were required to timely enable all levels of school personnel and students to acquire an understanding of, and remind all such personnel and students to abide by the National Security Law.

In Education Bureau Circular No. 3/2021 (pdf), all kindergartens, primary, and secondary schools were required to maintain a safe learning environment nurturing good citizens.

Isabel Van Brugen contributed to this report.
An Apple iPad is used to view Netflix during the Netflix UK launch in London on Jan. 9, 2012. (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Netflix)

If You Love Your Subscribers, Let Them Go

During the first COVID-19 lockdown, subscription businesses witnessed unprecedented growth. From coffee to carsnothing was off-limits, and subscriptions went from a revenue strategy to a movement. Thanks to the unlimited supply of recurring revenue adrenaline, investors love for subscription businesses only grew by leaps and bounds. Then suddenly, the world woke up from its stupor.

The undeniable king of pandemic subscriptionsNetflixlost subscribers for the first time in 10 years in Q1, a whole 200,000 of them!. And more recently, top direct-to-consumer (DTC) and online retailers have also struggled with the steadily declining visitor traffic. Subscription fatigue was no longer just a hypothesis.

Why Is the Subscription Engine Losing Steam?

Of course, there is still a war, its indiscriminate butchering of oil reserves and the anxiety of a potential recession, but the kryptonite for discretionary subscriptions isnt just economic caution. According to Adobes digital economy report  BNPL (buy-now-pay-later) transactions grew 500 percent through the fall of 2020.

What this means is even during peak subscription frenzy, consumers (and subscribers alike) were looking for means to keep their money closer. Now that physical retail is drawing back its curtains, customers can finally exercise greater control by moving from macro-transactions to micro-transactions.

Instead of a four-bottle/week milk subscription, they can buy milk by the carton on an as-needed basis, and instead of a bundled subscription box, they can choose individual products tailored that fit their needs. The unerring truth is ad-hoc expenses, while more inconvenient, are also more flexible than long-term recurring commitments.

If that wasnt enough, it is probably easier for subscribers to cancel now, than ever before. First, the State of New York joined 25 other States in making subscription information more transparent  mandating cancellation clarity for subscribers through its Subscription Model Law (2020). On the other hand, Mastercard and Visa extended that same transparency to negative-option billing and free trials making cancellation links compulsory on or before renewal communications.

Influence > Control

Our observations of over 4500 subscription-led businesses confirmed a core hypothesissubscription churn and poor Net Performer Scores (a proxy for customer experience) are corollaries to complicated customer journeys.

Giving consumers a choice to opt out, while sounding counterintuitive, has worked well in the past. Take the case of the CAN-Spam Act, which was first introduced in 2003. It made the inclusion of a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt-out of getting email (and therefore, the email unsubscribe button) mandatory. Obviously, marketers werent too amused.

Nearly two decades later, the unsubscribe button still exists, and the readers havent gone anywhere. In 2022, there are an estimated 4.3 billion active email readers, and by 2025, that number will nudge up to 4.6 billion.

What changed? Evolving Mail-tech. Todays emails are more personalized and time/context-relevant than before. Instead of the unsubscribe button being a predicament, it now effectively works to filter uninterested readers or non-ideal profiles off your list.

The newfound regulatory and industrial attention to subscription-led businesses is no different. It is a recognition that any subscription eCommerce business is in a market built in the service of its customers. And sometimes, it is necessary to accept that a customer might not need what you sell anymore.

How, then, should you think of retaining your customers without applying coercion? Simple.

Understand that while you cant stop exits, you can influence points of exits.

Many subscription eCommerce businesses use incentivization as their primary customer retention strategywithout quite understanding exit intent. Heres a tip: Its not always cost!

While pricing is important, your subscribers relationship with your business is a derivative of perceived value. For the same product, therefore, the motivation to use expected benefits and the ask' would vary for each customer. When cultivating customer relationships, and more importantly, at exitanalyze these individual motivations before trying to arrest churn. More so in the post-COVID context.

If your subscriber has recently been furloughed, it would be rather insensitive to ask them to renew their monthly wellness box. Recognition that your product isnt top-of-mind for them at that moment and instead presenting them with a solution to pause the subscription will go a long way in retaining those customers.

Our benchmark analysis shows that pauses have had a higher acceptance rate of up to 50 percent over discounts (up to 30 percent) at the point of cancellation and were more successful as an offer both in deflecting and saving customers from churn.

Customers Arent Equal

By extensionoffering customized offers to your subscribers has a more excellent reward-risk ratio. If you were to give away a significant retention offer to a recently onboarded customer who doesnt fit your ideal customer profile (ICP) in the first place, they would still accept the offer. But theyd equally be eager to leave once the benefits expire.

On the other hand, If you present that same offer to a long-term customer who had been highly engaged before choosing to churn, they are not only more likely to convert, but it also becomes a great chance for you to understand the reason behind their intended exit and build similar propositions and solutions for long-term customersturning them into brand advocates.

And thats the magic in the art of letting go. Instead of chasing lost leads, you will spend more time nurturing solid relationships and leveraging them in your acquisition strategy. Your business, too, will likely thank you for it.

If you think about iteach point of exit, therefore, is also an acquisition funnel. Instead of holding on, think about cross-selling a product thats more relevant to them, redirecting them to a better pricing plan, or utilizing the exit feedback (when customers are most honest) to refine your product roadmap and minimize exit load in the future.

Be omnidirectional in your retention strategy. Look beyond discounts for retention, think beyond points of cancellation, and view customers as individuals and not numbers on the balance sheet.

When the United States largest prepared meal delivery service, Freshly, experimented with tailored offers based on cancellation reasons, tenure of engagement, and customer lifetime value (LTV), it learned that higher LTV customers paused more frequently and came back at a higher rate. This insight led to targeting longer-tenured customers with offers to pause and flexibly manage their accounts. Customers experiencing financial hardship saw different offers. At the same time, students saw recommendations tailored to their specific needs, e.g., pausing their account for summer break. Their refreshed and hyper-personalized retention strategy resulted in an added $1million in revenue forecast in a 52-week period.

In the end, retention becomes a function of your customers perceived value and the value generated by the customer for your business. But more importantly, it makes your customer retention funnel aware, accepting, and, more importantly, appreciative of the idea that the decision to stay (or go) must rest squarely with your customers in eCommerce.

Customer Relationships Are Driven by Change, Not Inertia

The rapid change in customer perception of subscriptions is also emblematic of an overarching narrative in product and technologythat both our thought and our approach to customers, their needs, and our relationships with them should evolve.

Back in 2011 when marketing gurus Susan Fournier and Jill Avery were dissecting the uncanny growth of CRM tools and the big buck business leaders were willing to spend to bolster unit profitability, they remarked on the lack of continuity in thought and action companies dont recognize that relationships are two-sided and that these relationships evolve with each interaction. As much as managers like to claim credit for profitable relationships, they also need to be willing to look inward to learn why relationships break down. By failing to treat relationships as dynamic works in process, companies walk away from relationships that could generate significant value.

A year after this article, Kodakthe company that democratized video and photographydeclared bankruptcy. But in all honesty, everyone saw that coming. The company was so enchanted by its own idea of analog photography that it lent a deaf year (in fact resisted) when the world gradually transitioned into digital photography.

For subscription-led businesses, today is the same inflection point. We can exercise willful resistance, but the truth permeates silently and hovers around us like music in the elevators inertia kills innovation. For subscriptions to see tomorrow, businesses need to get out of their own heads and let customer interactions guide retention strategy, product roadmap, or even the future of subscriptions as an industry.

By Krish Subramanian

 2022 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
A worker looks past a fence in a compound during a COVID-19 lockdown in the Jing'an district of Shanghai on May 25, 2022. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Insiders Share Privileges of Shanghais Elite During Citys Lockdown

As tens of millions of Shanghai residents continued to suffer under the cruel lockdowns for zero-COVID, some local dignitaries continued to live seemingly unbound by the rules.

In Shanghais core urban district, Xuhui, there is a street, Kangping, that is little more than half a mile long. It is the main residential area where Shanghais high level cadres live among the ultra-wealthy.

A resident of Kangping told the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times that the area was not been affected during the lockdowns at all.

Untouchable

The resident, Liu Qing (pseudonym), said that residents had been free to move about throughout the citys lockdown.

He said that the reason why the lockdowns had not been enforced in Kangping was due to political reasons.

According to Lui, an elderly man, who was blocked at a local intersection at the early days of the outbreak, then made a call to Han Zheng, the regimes vice premier and a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, in Beijing, after which Kangping became untouchable.

Han spent nearly 40 years in Shanghai officialdom. He was the mayor and Party secretary of Shanghai before he went to Beijing and became a member of the Standing Committee in 2017.

Liu said, Everyone knows, especially the police and local authorities, that when two neighbors are in a fight, you need to watch out. You do not know which one has higher connections in Beijing.

He explained of Kangping, This is a very special area. Any subtle enforcement of policy could cost you your career.

I can guarantee you, within half a mile where I live, theres no blockade.

Kangping is a street filled with traditional villas lined with old trees on both sides. Its well guarded and visitors are forbidden from taking photographs.

Different World for the Privileged

A boat travels on the Huangpu River as the skyline of the city is seen, including the Shanghai Tower, in Shanghai, China, on Aug. 28, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Liu criticized the implementation of zero-COVID policies in Shanghais residential areas as being completely out of order, with local officials exploiting their power to the extreme.

If you ask who and what level of the government gave the order, you wont find any answer or any official documents. Someone has specifically called the city government and enquired about it, but theres no record of any sort, he said.

Mr. Zhu, a veteran in Shanghais financial industry who has lived in the city for more than 40 years, told The Epoch Times that the Shanghai authorities are very detailed and precise in their division of people by social class, particularly for those living in high-end communitiesthe red elites, foreigners, and those with diplomatic backgrounds.

He said that he believes Shanghais lockdowns were carried out according to the class of the people that officials were dealing with: The discrimination is done so that any problem or issue will not get exposed.

Liu said the chaos in Shanghais lockdown has all been caused by bureaucracy.

Referring to the leadership in Shanghai, Liu indicated that as long as the central government in Beijing is happy, the local authorities will remain in their posts.

Therefore, despite people starving to death in the lockdown, the leaders care for none of it, Liu said.

Haizhong Ning and Yi Ru contributed to this report.
A sign is posted on the exterior of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on July 26, 2018. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Internal Twitter Chats Show Employees Bragging About Banning Trump, Discussing Ban on Libs of TikTok

Leaked conversations from Twitters internal messaging channel showed employees bragging about successfully deplatforming President Donald Trump and debating whether to permanently ban Libs of TikTok, an account dedicated to exposing far-left activism.

Libs of TikTok, a Twitter account with more than 1.2 million followers, is known for reposting videos of educators discussing how they indoctrinate their students into radical leftist race and gender ideologies. It has been suspended from the social media platform three times, with the most recent one taking place earlier this month following a series of posts highlighting obscene drag queen events aimed at young children.

The woman behind Libs of TikTok now says her account is facing the threat of a permanent ban, citing internal chat messages that were allegedly leaked to her by a Twitter employee who wishes to remain anonymous.

The message exchanges allegedly occurred Monday on Slacka business messaging channel for Twitterbetween employees who appear to be at least sympathetic to leftist causes, if not leftist activists themselves. The employees, reiterating a popular leftist narrative, said that Libs of TikTok should be permanently banned for propagating targeted violence at marginalized people.

This has been escalating for monthsbut our expectations out of twitter are so low right now that the devil himself is having to squat to get to their level, one of the employees said.

Like I dont get how this account, which exists solely to generate targeted violence at marginalized people, continues to be allowed to post, they added, before moving to discuss whether removing Libs of TikTok would reinforce the public notion that the company has a severe bias against conservative users.

But if we deplatform this account we might erode trust in our platform from users who already think were irredeemably biased against conservatives, an employee said.

Another emplyoee disagreed, noting that Twitter successfully banned President Donald Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

I mean we successfully deplatformed TrumpI dont think deplatforming Libs of TikTok is going to cause a mass exodus but I guess it may not be in our fiduciary interest to enact a ban on a high profile account right now, the person said, in what was apparently a reference to the buyout by Space X and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

In another thread, employees claimed that Libs of TikTok, which draws much public attention to leftists attempts to impose transgender ideology on children, is contributing to genocidal violence against the transgender community.

Trans people are being targeted for genocidal violence during pride month, an employee wrote.

I despise and despair the activity that is currently flourishing on our platform and empowering white supremacists/fascists to act with impunity in conducting harmful emotional and physical violence on trans folx and the broader LGBTQ+ community, another employee replied.

The discussion for a potential ban was posted on Monday to Libs of TikToks substack page. Chaya Raichik, the woman who runs the account, suggested its no surprise that Twitter employees would have conversations like this.

You dont need leaked messages to know just how biased and agenda-driven these people are. The messages only confirm what we already see with our own eyes every day, she wrote.

Libs of TikTok has already been targeted by major media outlets. In April, Washington Post internet culture commentator Taylor Lorenz authored a hit piece on Libs of TikTok, which she described as an agenda-setter in right-wing online discourse, with contents showing a direct correlation with the recent push in legislation and rhetoric directly targeting the LGBTQ+ community.

Initially included in Lorenzs article was a link to Raichiks real estate license, which contained her personal information. After the Post quietly edited the article to remove the link, Lorenz insisted that her doxxing behavior was justified, claiming that Raichik could have been a foreign actor, without providing any evidence to validate such an accusation.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington on Aug. 23, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Jake Sullivan Raises Concerns About North Korea With China

National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinas top diplomat Yang Jiechi on Monday and raised concerns about Beijings recent veto at the United Nations against a Washington-led push to impose additional sanctions on North Korea.

The U.S. government has been warning that North Korea could conduct its first nuclear test since 2017 at any time. China vetoed the attempted sanctions against North Korea on May 26, insisting that this was done to prevent Pyongyang from conducting nuclear tests.

In the Monday meeting between Sullivan and Yang, Jake raised concerns, in particular, about the veto, which comes following a significant series of ballistic missile launches in violation of previous U.N. Security Council resolutions and the preparations  for potential nuclear tests, a senior U.S. administration official told reporters, according to Reuters.

Each side laid out their positions and the way we see the situation, and certainly Jake made very clear that we believe this is an area where the United States and China should be able to work together.

According to the official, both the United States and China are maintaining high-level communication. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart met on Friday, reiterating that, though they want to manage the bilateral ties better, there are no signs of any breakthrough to resolve the differences between the two sides.

The official is expecting more potential meetings between Washington and Beijing in the months ahead. As to a Biden-Xi meeting, the official said that nothing specific has been planned as of now.

In a readout published on June 13, the White House said that the meeting between Sullivan and Yang followed a May 18 phone call between the two parties. The Monday meeting involved a candid, substantive, and productive discussion on several key issues, including security matters.

Mr. Sullivan underscored the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to manage competition between our two countries, it said.

North Korea has ramped up missile tests during the past six months. Since the beginning of 2022, Pyongyang carried out 18 missile launches involving 33 ballistic missiles. The missile tests in the past six months are estimated to have cost Pyongyang $400 million to $650 million, according to data from a South Korea-affiliated research center.

On May 31, Washington warned that if North Korea conducts a nuclear test, it will push for more U.N. sanctions against the country.

The May 26 U.N. resolution vetoed by Beijing and Russia would have imposed sanctions on Pyongyang for the recent uptick in missile tests. The resolution had garnered 13 votes in support and two votes opposing it. Since 2006, a total of 10 U.N. resolutions have been placed against North Korea.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) leave a hearing on the January 6th investigation in Washington on June 13, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Pushes Back on Questions About Potential Criminal Referrals

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the Jan. 6 Committee, said that making criminal referrals is not why the panel has been doing its investigations.

As he was leaving the House chamber after the second day of the committees public hearings, Thompson was asked by a reporter whether he believed that former President Donald Trump had committed any crime and whether he would want the Justice Department to investigate or indict Trump.

Well, Id prefer that wed complete our work, and share that work with the Department of Justice, and they will make that call after that, Thompson responded.

But youve got to give evidence to show that he committed a crime? the reporter pressed, referring to Trump.

Thats not why were working. Were looking for the facts and the circumstances that brought about Jan. 6, Thompson said, before walking away from reporters.

Were legislators, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) told the reporter. Theyre the prosecutors.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) speak to reporters at the end of a hearing on the Jan. 6th investigation in Washington on June 13, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Later, in a statement on Twitter, the committees vice-chair, Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), said the committee has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals.

We will announce a decision on that at an appropriate time, Cheney said.

Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), one of the seven Democrats on the nine-member committee, said on Twitter that the committee has yet to vote on whether we will recommend criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.

But she added, If criminal activity occurred, it is our responsibility to report that activity to the DOJ.

A Jan. 6 Committee spokesperson told CNN that the panel has no authority to prosecute individuals, but is rather tasked with developing the facts surrounding the January 6th riot at the Capitol.

Right now, the committee is focused on presenting our findings to the American people in our hearings and in our report, the spokesperson told the outlet. Our investigation is ongoing and we will continue to gather all relevant information as we present facts, offer recommendations and, if warranted, make criminal referrals.

At least two members on the panel have said they believe there is cause to investigate Trump.

I would like to see the Justice Department investigate any credible allegation of criminal activity on the part of Donald Trump or anyone else, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) recently told ABC News This Week.

The rule of law needs to apply equally to everyone. And there are certain actions, parts of these different lines of effort to overturn the election, that I dont see evidence the Justice Department is investigating, Schiff said.

Once the evidence is accumulated by the Justice Department, it needs to make a decision about whether it can prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt the Presidents guilt or anyone elses, but they need to be investigated if theres credible evidence, which I think there is.

Related Coverage Jan. 6 Committee Confirms Schiff Presented Doctored Text Message Between Meadows and Jordan

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told CNN that it has outlined in legal pleadings the criminal statutes that the panel believes have been violated. He also claimed that the panel has evidence that Trump knew Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

I think we can prove to any reasonable, open-minded person that Donald Trump absolutely knew because he was surrounded by lawyers, Raskin said on CNNs State of the Union. He continues to spread it to this very day. He continues to foist that propaganda on his followers.

The committee has been criticized by many Republicans for partisanship, in part, because its only two Republican membersRep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Cheneyare both known for their strong opposition to Trump.

The committee on June 9 held the first of a series of nine scheduled primetime hearings over the next few weeks. It hasnt held a hearing with witnesses since July 2021.

During the first hearing, the committee alleged that Trump was a major catalyst behind the events of Jan. 6, 2021. During the second hearing on Monday, the panel brought forth witness testimony that opposed Trumps allegations of widespread voter fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election.

Trump on Monday issued a 12-page statement (pdf) in which he called the Jan. 6 committees efforts a sham investigation and a Kangaroo Court.

If they had any real evidence, theyd hold real hearings with equal representation, he said. Our Constitution protects the right to confront accusers, honors the right to fair trials, and holds the right to legal representation as paramount in our justice system  The Committee has obliterated those rights and is making a mockery of justice.

They have refused to allow their political opponents to participate in this process, and have excluded all exculpatory witnesses, and anyone who so easily points out the flaws in their story, he said, while reasserting the claims alleging election fraud and irregularities, and calling for officials in public office to properly investigate the evidence.

Then-President Donald Trump speaks to media before departing on Marine One en route to Ohio and Texas, from the White House South Lawn in Washington on Aug. 7, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Democrats created the narrative of January 6th to detract from the much larger and more important truth that the 2020 Election was Rigged and Stolen, Trump alleged.

The truth is that Americans showed up in Washington, D.C., in massive numbers (but seldom revealed by the press), on January 6th, 2021, to hold their elected officials accountable for the obvious signs of criminal activity throughout the Election.

Since the Unselect Committee refuses to allow their political opponents to participate in the hearings, the public likely wont hear from the many patriots who contradict the lies being broadcastat least not in these hearings, he added. This is all a ridiculous and treasonous attempt to cover up the fact that Democrats rigged the Election and are siphoning Americans freedoms and power for their own benefit.
Jan. 6 Committee Postpones Hearing, Says More Time Needed to Get Ready

The House of Representatives panel that is investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol has postponed a hearing that was scheduled for June 15.

The delay stemmed from needing more time to prepare, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said.

I will tell you, putting together the video and exhibits is an exhausting exercise for our very small video staff so were trying towe were going to have one, two, three in one week, but it was too much to put it all togetherso were trying to give them a little room to do their technical work, she said on MSNBCs Morning Joe.

The panel held its first hearing in months earlier in June, and a second hearing on June 13.

The schedule has always been fluid so were going to move forward and have a Thursday hearing and get ready for hearings next week as well. The hearing will be postponed and moved to, likely, next week, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), another member of the panel, told reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Aguilar said the panel also wanted to make sure that reporters have the time and space to digest all the information that were putting out there.

The schedule change comes after the U.S. Capitol Police undermined claims from Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) regarding a group Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) led through office buildings near the Capitol one day before the building was breached.

Thomas Manger, chief of the capitol police, said in a letter that there was no evidence that Loudermilk took the group to the Capitol, or even into any of the tunnels leading to the building from the office space.

Thompson and Cheney, meanwhile, diverged on whether the panel will be making any criminal referrals to the Department of Justice. Thompson, the panels chair, said after Mondays hearing that the panel would not make any referrals; Cheney soon took to social media to assert the decision was still up in the air.

We will announce a decision on that at an appropriate time, Cheney said.

The panel had aired footage from depositions of key figures in President Donald Trumps administration and in his 2020 campaign, including his daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump, campaign manager Bill Stepien, and Attorney General William Barr. The panel also questioned former Fox News political editor Chris Stirewalt, former U.S. Attorney B. Jay Pak, and several others.

The panel is dominated by Democrats and includes zero Republican members not picked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Delays in the transfer of cargo continue in Southern California as vessels line the horizon waiting offload containers into the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., on Oct. 27, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

LA, Long Beach Ports Rank Last in World for Efficiency: Report

LOS ANGELESThe World Bank ranked the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports last in efficiency among container ports worldwide in a report issued last month.

The Container Port Performance Index 2021 (pdf) measured the total time a ship spent at port and waiting offshore to dock at 370 locations worldwide in 2021. Los Angeless port ranked 369 and Long Beach ranked last at 370.

The two most efficient container ports in the report were top-ranked King Abdullah Port in Saudi Arabia and the Port of Salalah in Oman, which was ranked second.

The efficiency of port infrastructure was identified as a key factor to port competitiveness and international trade costs, according to the World Bank Group report.

Poorly performing ports were characterized by limitations in spatial and operating efficiency, limitations in maritime and landside access, inadequate oversight, and poor coordination between the public agencies, resulting in a lack of predictability and reliability, according to the report.

The pandemic highlighted in stark terms the pivotal role port performance plays in the timely supply of goods to countries and their populations, said Turloch Mooney, associate director of maritime and trade at S&P Global Market Intelligence. The effects of the pandemic on key global gateways and associated supply chains are very worrying and continue to cause severe supply delays and shortages of goods, leading to higher prices and negatively impacting the financial situation of many companies.

The Port of Virginia was ranked 23rd, making it the most efficient North American port, according to the report, followed by Miami (29) and Halifax in Canada (46).

A spokesman for the Port of Los Angeles told The Epoch Times the studys methodology did not capture the unmatched complexity of the San Pedro Bay ports nor the impacts of differing geographies, modality, and governing laws.

On average, the Port of Los Angeles loads and unloads nearly 12,000 container units per vessel, among the best in the industry, Port of LA Spokesman Phillip Sanfield said. Furthermore, the pandemic-driven import surge has created challenges unique to San Pedro Bay. For example, in addition to congestion at inland facilities, which led to a buildup of ships at anchor, the San Pedro Bay saw a large number of new entrants and charter vessels in the market.

Los Angeles and Long Beach ports quickly became overwhelmed last year with record numbers of cargo ships during the COVID-19 pandemic. The flood of goods created container pileups and congestion that caused supply-chain delays across the United States.

The twin ports continue to work through the surge, processing thousands of delayed containers at the docks and nearby storage lots.

The twin Southern California ports remain the busiest container ports in the nation, handling about 40 percent of the nations imported cargo.

The Los Angeles port, which imports mostly furniture, auto parts, apparel, plastics, and footwear, processed 970,000 units of cargo last month. Port officials are preparing for an early arrival of peak-season goods, and orders from Asia looked strong, Executive Director Gene Seroka told Bloomberg News.

We continue to work with public and private stakeholders to address issues uncovered in 2021 and create further efficiencies, Sanfield said. Still, the Port of Los Angeles processed a record 10.7 million container units in 2021, significantly more than any other port in the Western Hemisphere.

The Port of Long Beach processed 890,989 twenty-foot equivalent units in May, a 1.8 percent decline from May 2021, which remains the ports busiest month in its 111-year history, according to the port.

The Long Beach Port has moved 4,172,366 containers during the first five months of 2022, a 3.5 percent increase from the same period in 2021.

We are moving an extraordinary amount of cargo and continue to work with industry partners to quickly move imports and empties off the docks, said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero. Looking ahead, we are ready for the traditional summertime surge to coincide with Chinas recovery from a lengthy lockdown.
Gov. Greg Gianforte's office declared Montana a disaster Tuesday as historic milk-chocolate flood waters roared eastward down the Yellowstone River system after devastating the northern regions of Yellowstone National Park and nearby communities along the Absaroka and Beartooth fronts.

Gianforte's declaration came after surging waters spread over banks at unprecedented highs into the communities of Red Lodge, Nye, Fishtail, Absarokee, Joliet and Livingston. By Tuesday afternoon, floodwaters in those regions had begun to recede, leaving destroyed homes, roads and bridges as well as rockslides and mudslides that stranded residents and tourists in Gardiner, Cooke City and Silver Gate.

It is just the scariest river ever, Kate Gomez of Santa Fe, New Mexico, told The Associated Press. Anything that falls into that river is gone. The swells are huge and its just mud and silt.

Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly announced that the world's first national park would be closed for at least five more days as staff assessed damage. Celebrating its 150th anniversary and at the peak of tourist season, Yellowstone is shut down for only the third time in 34 years  most recently in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also for the infamous 1988 fires that burned a mosaic over one-third of the park.

No injuries or deaths have been recorded from the flooding, Sholly said.

"We've kept our teams out of harm's way," he said. "We won't know exactly what the damage looks like until the water goes down."

Sholly added that Xanterra staff in the northern part of the park would be relocated and added that concessions at Mammoth and Roosevelt "will not reopen likely the rest of the year."

U.S. Highway 89 in the Paradise Valley was closed just south of Emigrant until early afternoon, when residents were allowed to return and tourists were told to depart while they can.

Late Monday, people living in a sizable portion of southeast Livingston were required to evacuate, and the city's hospital, Livingston HealthCare, closed and its patients taken to Big Timber as the river's record-high waters crept into its parking lot. The evacuation order was lifted just before 9 a.m. Tuesday as the river's peak surge raced downstream.

Numerous Yellowstone County roads were closed. And at Red Lodge, power was restored to most residents Tuesday a day after Rock Creek's waters raged through the town, collapsing the 19th Street Bridge and swirling around homes. The waters were receding somewhat by Tuesday afternoon.

Residents and tourists in Gardiner at Yellowstone's North Entrance and Silver Gate and Cooke City just outside the Northeast Entrance were stranded due to roads made impassable by high water and damage that could take weeks or even months to repair, park officials said. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality also issued a "Do Not Consume" order for Gardiner over unsafe drinking water, but by Tuesday afternoon repairs were made and testing begun.

Employees at park headquarters in Mammoth, who remained without power Tuesday, planned to buy groceries and other essentials in West Yellowstone. A generator was providing power to Mammoth's cell tower, enabling communication to the outside world.

The serpentine road from Mammoth to Gardiner in the Gardner River Canyon was badly damaged, as was the road between Tower Junction and the Northeast Entrance where the Lamar River surged well beyond its record flood level. Sholly said the park would explore using the gravel Old Gardiner Road between Mammoth and the North Entrance to bring supplies to park headquarters.

The Yellowstone River crested at just over 49,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) at Corwin Springs in the upper Paradise Valley on Monday, shattering its previous records of 32,200 set in June 1996 and matched a year later. In the park, the Lamar peaked at 16.7 feet Monday, breaking its 1996 record by more than four feet and rising two feet above the gauge's upper reach.

Near Corwin Springs, a multi-family house for Park Service employees was pried loose from its foundation by the raging waters and spun downstream, splintering when it collided with a bridge. At least a dozen GoFundMe pages were set up for displaced residents.

The Montana National Guard evacuated 12 people from the communities of Roscoe and Cooke City on Monday as the flooding cut off vehicle access to the towns. Aircrews from the 1-189th General Support Aviation Battalion deployed a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to assist in search and rescue efforts at the request of local law enforcement.

We are standing by for additional requests for support, said Maj. Ryan Finnegan, Montana National Guard Public Affairs Officer. As local law enforcement requests assistance, we will continue to provide what resources are available.

A Florida family of eight were plucked by a helicopter from a flooded rental outside Cooke City after high waters stranded them. A Cooke City man was air lifted by the National Guard after he suffered hypothermia from cold waters as he self-rescued.

On Tuesday morning, the Guard unit conducted a third evacuation operation for recreationists around East Rosebud Lake.

The first stark hint that the Yellowstone River meant business Monday was when the iconic Carbella bridge leading to Tom Miner Basin was loosened from its supports and swept into the river like a toy.

Meteorologists said the unprecedented flooding was caused by a convergence of an unseasonably cool spring that retained snowpack, late-spring snowstorms and multiple days of considerable rainfall at high elevations. Parts of the park received more than an inch of rain over 24 hours Monday, more than tripling the previous single-day mark.

Most of the flood damage was centered on YNP and the streams flowing north from the Yellowstone Plateau, including the Gallatin River, which reached flood stage at Logan about 25 miles of Bozeman in the wee hours Tuesday.

YNP gateway communities not immediately affected by the flooding began working overtime Tuesday to accommodate either stranded visitors or tourists who had plans to visit.

The Teton County Fairgrounds in Jackson, Wyoming, was a landing site for a few dozen displaced Yellowstone campers Monday. About 38 RVs parked there overnight, according to Trista Hiltbrunner, a staff member at the fairgrounds. Some came from inside the park, she said. By noon Tuesday, just a couple remained.

West Yellowstone, at the park's West Entrance, also announced late Monday that it would permit temporary camping in town for people impacted by the closure.

Also Tuesday, the Flathead River at Columbia Falls in northwest Montana was expected to surpass flood stage by 2-1/2 feet.

The floods highlighted the beginning of a week in which as much as two feet of snow has been forecast for some mountain areas and 100-degree temperatures later in the week for other parts of the state, accelerating runoff even more.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 0
Boy Scout Troop 628 and Lake Forest Mayor Robert Pequeno present the American flag at a celebration for Flag Day at Veterans Park in Lake Forest, Calif., on June 14, 2022. (Julianne Foster/The Epoch Times)

Lake Forest Flag Day Celebration Held at Veterans Park

LAKE FOREST, Calif.The city held a celebration for Flag Day on Tuesday, June 14 at Veterans Park beginning with a brief flag-raising at the newly installed flagpole.

Lake Forest Mayor Robert Pequeno introduced the ceremony saying the flagpoles installation officially finishes the park.

As a retired U.S. Marine, the American flag is very important to me  [it] is a symbol of our freedom, Pequeno told the crowd. I am proud to be the mayor of the year [the flag] gets put up.

Boy Scout Troop 628 and Lake Forest Mayor Robert Pequeno present the American flag at a celebration for Flag Day at Veterans Park in Lake Forest, Calif., on June 14, 2022. (Julianne Foster/The Epoch Times)

Orange County Sheriffs Department color guard presented a new folded U.S. flag to members of Boy Scout Troop 628. Two scouts respectfully unfolded and raised the flag for attendees to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

A young lady sang the Star-Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful during the ceremony.

Lake Forest was formerly known as El Toro, named after the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station, which decommissioned in 1993. City Manager Debra Rose told The Epoch Times there are many Marine veterans living in the city who love the community because of the citys military background.

Putting the flag here is just one more way were going to honor our veterans and really make this park a tribute to those veterans and what they gave, Rose said.

Orange County Sheriffs Department color guard salutes in Lake Forest, Calif., on June 14, 2022. (Julianne Foster/The Epoch Times)

The 4.7-acre Veterans Park was formerly known as Village Pond Park. In 2018 it was redesigned and re-dedicated with new installments representing each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.

When the council finalized the completion of the park renovations in early 2019, it had monuments, but no flagpole. U.S. Marine veteran and community member Larry Arthur suggested the council put in a flagpole in a 2021 council meeting because he thought it was missing something.

You got to put a flag up for criminy sakes, Arthur told The Epoch Times. He attended the ceremony with several other veterans. [The flag] means a lot.

The monuments have each branchs name, seal, and date of establishment on them. There is also a ceramic tiled sculpture of a folded flag on top of each monument to honor those who have sacrificed their lives for their country.

Flag Day is the celebration of the Old Glorys official admittance as the countrys flag 245 years ago, on June 14, 1777, making it the perfect day for the city to hold the flag-raising ceremony.

Boy Scout Troop 628 raises the American flag at a celebration for Flag Day at Veterans Park in Lake Forest, Calif., on June 14, 2022. (Julianne Foster/The Epoch Times)
On November 23, 2021, former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan died at the age of 90. According to South Koreas JTBC TV, a former Cheong Wa Dae (South Korean presidential palace) secretary revealed that Chun had not eaten properly for 10 consecutive days since he received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. His health deteriorated rapidly and he lost 20 pounds. And he was diagnosed with leukemia and was hospitalized for 12 days. One of his former aides suspected that his leukemia was related to the side effects of the vaccine.

Moreover, an open letter from a group of Mainland Chinese leukemia patients was circulating on Chinese social media platforms in early May 2022, but it was quickly taken down. In the letter, the patients, aged 3 to 70 years old and from more than 30 provinces and central government directly controlled municipalities across China, stated that they had developed leukemia after receiving COVID-19 vaccines and suspected that their disease was a severe vaccination adverse event. And they hoped that the government would investigate the matter.

So, is it possible that vaccination can cause leukemia? What are the possible causes of the disease, and how can we prevent it?

Principles of Pharmacovigilance

Dr. Yuhong Dong, virologist and infectious disease doctor, has also worked in pharmacovigilance department for cancer drugs at a major international pharmaceutical company.

According to the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Guideline E2A (Page 4): An adverse event (AE) is any untoward medical occurrence in a patient or clinical investigation subject administered a pharmaceutical product and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with this treatment. (pdf)

In the pharmacovigilance industry, there is a generally accepted principle: It is better to make 3,000 misjudgments rather than to miss one case.

Regardless of the source of the adverse event report and whether the report was made by a professional or not, every piece of information regarding a potential adverse experience of a new drug or vaccine must be properly taken as an AE. And it has to be included in the vaccine adverse event report database for medical analysis. The purpose is to collect as much information as possible to find patterns in these cases and monitor any potential serious adverse events proactively.

According to international good practice principles in the pharmaceutical industry in monitoring vaccine adverse events, an adverse drug or vaccine event is considered eligible to be reported if the piece of information meets the following four conditions:

There is an identifiable patient; There is an identifiable reporter; There is exposure to a drug or vaccine; There is an adverse experience (symptoms or signs or lab test, etc), regardless of whether a causality relationship with the drug or vaccine has been established or not

The key rationale is that after the new vaccine or drug is applied in a large population, the top priority would be safety rather than efficacy. There are many examples of pharmaceuticals or vaccines that have been recalled or even withdrawn from the market due to safety issues. So if there is a safety concern, it must be addressed immediately and proper actions shall be taken in order to protect humanitys safety.

Case Study: Almost 1,000 People Suspected of Developing Leukemia after Vaccination

A veteran journalist has provided Dr. Dong with two large excel sheets of adverse leukemia events made collectively by mainland Chinese-manufactured vaccine recipients. These data sheets contain adverse events reported by nearly 1,000 patients as of June 4, 2022, at 10 p.m. EST. The adverse events are mentioned in great detail, and the reports contents are alarming.

Due to time constraints, we have so far conducted a preliminary analysis of 235 valid cases, accounting for approximately 20 percent of the total.

What we presented here in this paper is the preliminary data analysis, but a more complete analysis will be performed during the coming weeks.

In terms of gender, the victims in 56 percent of these 235 cases were male; 2 percent were female; and 42 percent of the cases didnt specify gender information. There is currently a lot of missing information, and the gender ratio is predicted to be around 1:1 in the complete data, with the number of men possibly slightly larger.

Their age range was 3 to 79 years old, with an average age of 30 years old.

Vaccines are mainly from Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd, but some are produced by Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd., Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd., and several others.

Among the vaccine related adverse events concerning leukemia, the most common is acute myeloid leukemia (49 percent of the cases). It is followed by acute lymphoblastic leukemia (34 percent), aplastic anemia (9 percent), and several other hematological malignancies such as lymphoma.

In 44 percent of the cases, symptoms or diagnoses of these adverse events were reported to occur on average 84 days after the second dose.

In 16 percent of the cases, these leukemia-like events were reported to occur on average 52 days after the third dose. This is a reasonable time frame, as leukemia involves genetic mutations, and there would be a pathological process, which is a chronic adverse reaction. It does not occur in a short period of one or two weeks like the acute side effects of myocarditis or blood clots.

In 16 percent of the patients, the symptoms appeared on average 40 days after the first dose of the vaccine. During this time period, many people might have already received a second dose. So it is likely that they are still classified as having received a second dose, as the patients reporting habits vary.

Most of these patients are currently undergoing treatment, with some requiring organ transplantation and/or chemotherapy, and there hasnt been any case of recovery so far.

Are the Adverse Leukemia Events Possibly Related to the Vaccines?

Dr. Dong believes that this phenomenon of suspected adverse leukemia events needs to be taken seriously for the following reasons:

All the mainland Chinese cases are clearly diagnosed by hematological physicians: Leukemia requires pathological diagnosis, cytogenetic analysis, and molecular biology analysis only provided by special labs, so there needs to be clear medical evidence and this indicates a relatively high degree of credibility of these cases. Meanwhile, the majority of these cases are acute and severe, with poor clinical outcomes. A large number of people are involved: Nearly 1,000 people have reported their adverse leukemia events so far, which is probably only the tip of the iceberg. The number of similar cases in major hospitals continues to skyrocket. They can be consistently observed in different people living in different regions who were exposed to similar jabs. This indicates that there is an underlying pattern. The patients were reported to be in good health prior to vaccination, with no reported history of hereditary diseases, and they had not worked with radioactive matter, and there were no reported sources of contamination in their vicinity.

In one of the cases, a 14-year-old girl surnamed Lin was vaccinated on August 25, 2021 and received her second dose on September 15, 2021. After the second dose, she started coughing non-stop, and within two months, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. The girl has since undergone five sessions of chemotherapy, which required bone and lumbar punctures. During chemotherapy, the girl continued to have infections and fevers for more than 20 days. Her mother thinks that the childs illness is related to her COVID vaccination, and the family has spent all their savings on treatment for their daughter.

In another case, a man had a relapse of leukemia that had been cured more than 10 years ago, possibly as a result of the COVID-19 vaccine, and his symptoms were more severe this time.

These cases have a strong pattern, consistency, and specificity, so the causality between these leukemia cases with vaccination should be at least carefully evaluated and analyzed, or the likelihood of causality cannot not be excluded.

1st Possible Cause of Vaccine-Induced Leukemia Cases: Vaccines Affect DNA

One of the main criteria of judging causality relationship between an event with a treatment is plausibility, i.e. is there a reasonable association between jabs and leukemia? To understand this potential association, we need to first have some basic understanding of leukemia.

DNA mutations can cause leukemia

Taxonomically speaking, one type of blood cells are from the bone marrow, such as leukocytes, platelets, and red blood cells; and another type are from the lymphatic system, such as T cells and B cells.

So if a malignant proliferation of blood cells occurs, it is classified as myeloid leukemia or lymphocytic leukemia depending on the cell source. Leukemia can also be divided into acute and chronic leukemias according to the time to onset of the disease.

Under usual circumstances, DNA instructs cells to grow at a fixed rate and die at a set time. Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) occurs when there is a mutation in the genetic material or DNA of the bone marrow cells.

A study published in the journal Acute Myeloid Leukemia concluded that there are five different classes of gene mutations that cause myeloid cell mutations, which can lead to leukemia. Genetic mutations are an important factor in the development of leukemia.

In patients with acute myeloid leukemia, the mutations will instruct the bone marrow cells to continue to grow and divide. As a result, production of blood cells will get out of control, and the bone marrow will keep producing immature cells. These malignant cells will crowd out the healthy ones.

If normal white blood cells are squeezed out, this can lead one to become susceptible to infection; decreased red blood cells can lead to anemia; and decreased platelets can lead to being susceptible to bleeding. All of these are the observable clinical symptoms or signs of leukemia.

So, what factors can cause mutations in the DNA of blood cells and increase the risk of leukemia?

1. Harmful electromagnetic fields and radiation from radioactive material

The use of radiation to treat diseases, such as tumors, may induce leukemia.

The chemist Marie Curie suffered from leukemia, which may have been related to her long-term exposure to radionuclide lasers. In the Japanese regions affected by atomic bombs during World War II and the former Soviet Unions Chernobyl nuclear power station, the local populations are more likely to develop leukemia and other oncological diseases than the average population.

Prolonged exposure to low-frequency electromagnetic fields (e.g., areas with high-voltage electrical transmission lines nearby) is also harmful to health and is associated with the development of acute leukemia in children.

We have not heard of new disaster events happening in China before May 2022, so this factor should not be a major concern contributing to these adverse leukemia events.

2. Exposure to chemicals, carcinogens, and environmental toxins that are harmful to DNA, such as hair dyes and household insecticides.

Environmental pollution has been a long term issue in China, however, to our knowledge the background factors have not been reported to be remarkably alarming before May 2022.

All of these leukemia-like cases have taken COVID jab(s) before reporting these events. So lets take a detailed look at what these COVID jabs can do to our blood cells.

Finding 1: Spike proteins affect human DNA

Both inactivated vaccines and mRNA vaccines contain spike proteins, which have been found to theoretically affect DNA.

In a study published in the journal Viruses, Swedish scientists found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike proteins would interfere with two major self-repair mechanisms of human cellular DNA: the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR).

When both mechanisms are interfered with, the ability of the DNA to repair itself is significantly reduced, resulting in genetic mutations. As we know, the main cause of leukemia is DNA mutation in hematopoietic cells.

Finding 2: Leukemia can develop after COVID-19 infection

It has also been found that the probability of developing leukemia increases after COVID-19 infection.

In a case published in the journal Academic Archives of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) in 2021, a 61-year-old man was infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Three weeks after his symptoms almost completely disappeared, the patient again experienced symptoms of feebleness, nausea, vomiting, and epigastric pain, but no active virus was observed. However, a significant decrease in hemoglobin and platelets was observed. This was found to be a clinical manifestation of acute myeloid leukemia after bone marrow aspiration. The articles authors suggested that this was a worrying case.

Others started to explore the question of why leukemia develops after COVID-19 infection.

In May 2021, a study published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) showed that although SARS-CoV-2 is not a retrovirus, it is capable of altering human DNA.

After infecting human embryonic kidney cells, SARS-CoV-2s viral RNA can be reverse-transcribed and become further integrated into the genome of the host cells, with 29 percent of the RNA entering the exons of the genes.

Exons are the parts of the genome that can directly cause functional and structural changes in cells, which can affect a persons appearance, weight, immunity, and other bodily functions.

Only 1.1 percent of the normal genome is spanned by exons. In this study, 29 percent of the SARS-CoV-2 viral sequences were flanked by exons, suggesting that it might change the structure or function of the cells.

Finding 3: COVID-19 vaccines may affect DNA

In February 2022, a study conducted by Lund University in Sweden was published in the medical journal Current Issues in Molecular Biology. It showed that six hours after the Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccine enters human liver cells cultured in vitro, the vaccines mRNA could complete its reverse transposition within the cells and affect human genes.

This study is a piece of direct evidence that mRNA vaccines can affect the human genome.

If the virus in an inactivated vaccine is not completely inactivated, its mRNA will still be present and may be inserted into the human genome and thus change the genes.

The most widely known quality incident in vaccine production in history is the Cutter incident in the United States. In April 1955, more than 200,000 children in five western and mid-western states were vaccinated with the first polio vaccine, an inactivated vaccine, and cases of paralysis were reported within days.

Subsequent investigations revealed a quality incident with the vaccine produced by Cutter Laboratories, a family-owned company headquartered in California, resulted in the unsuccessful inactivation of the live virus in the vaccine. As a result, 200 children were paralyzed to varying degrees, and 10 passed away.

It was precisely the quality incidence of the Cutter vaccine that led to the establishment of a series of vaccine safety monitoring systems, including the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

If live virus residues are injected into the human body, there is a risk that the residual live virus will become integrated into the human genome, thus altering the genes of human cells and even causing mutations that can lead to leukemia.

2nd Possible Cause of Vaccine-Induced Leukemia Cases: Vaccines Altered Innate Immune Function

In addition to inactivated vaccines, other vaccines have also been documented for adverse leukemia events. As aforementioned, the former South Korean president developed leukemia after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

In an interview with The Epoch Times in February 2022, Dr. Ryan Cole, a diagnostic pathologist and founder of Cole Diagnostics, said that he had noticed some disturbing trends in recent months: an increase in the number of childhood diseases and rare cancers. His observations were echoed by other doctors, but no rigorous studies have been conducted.

There are other possible reasons why vaccines would cause leukemia: the vaccines also impair the normal immune systems function of removing abnormally proliferating cells, thus increasing the incidence of leukemia.

It was originally thought that vaccines only acted on acquired immunity by producing specific antibodies. However, a recent preprint study from the Netherlands made a surprising finding that mRNA vaccines can even alter the response pattern of the human innate immune system.

Blood was drawn from unvaccinated, and first-dose, and second-dose Pfizer vaccine recipients for comparison.

It was found that the amount of interferon secretion was significantly reduced after the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. This decrease in the bodys ability to secrete natural interferons may block its innate immune response to viruses, leading to susceptibility to viral infections and an increased incidence of tumors.

It was also discovered that after the second vaccination dose, the amount of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) produced by the volunteers bodies was significantly reduced. TNF can exert an anti-tumor effect.

In addition, the injection of the Pfizer vaccine would increase the production of interleukin, a pro-inflammatory factor. This led to excessive inflammation, which is not conducive to the immune systems anti-infection or anti-tumor effects.

These experimental data show that the vaccine promotes a chronic inflammatory state in the body, which can lead to cellular lesions.

In summary, COVID jabs could bring these two types of damage to our cells: DNA mutation and natural anti-tumor immune function suppression. Taken together, the speed of newly occurring malignant cells in the body could increase and the anti-tumor immunity of our body could decrease, and, as a whole result, the increased incidences of leukemia or other similar malignancies could be explained, as we have observed in these AE cases from China.

Can One Prevent Leukemia, Adverse Events After Vaccination?

If you have a family history of leukemia, had cancer before or have a high risk of cancer, it is strongly advisable for you to hold the jab injections.

If you have already been vaccinated, it is important to focus on boosting your bodys natural immune system.

As we mentioned in a previous article, research has found that the human thoughts and mindset can change the winding and unwinding of DNA strands. A peaceful mind and positive thinking can change the genetic expression of immune cells. People who are suffering from illnesses should not only take care of their physical bodies, but also maintain a peaceful and positive state of mind, which is more conducive to recovery.

We should also avoid harmful radiation and electromagnetic pollution. Nowadays, there is a lot of radiation in our life, not only from X-rays, but also from various electronic devices, including cameras, the Internet, cell phones, and computers. We should minimize our use of cell phones and electronic products.

We should also avoid carcinogens as much as possible. To prevent intake of contaminated vegetables and fruits, we should wash and soak them in water for a sufficient amount of time before eating them. Peelable vegetables and fruits should be peeled to minimize contamination from pesticide and chemical fertilizer residues. And we should not overuse medications.

Chemotherapies or transplantation therapies are anti-symptomatic therapies, to remove the excessive malignant blood cells from the blood. They are not able to eradicate the root cause of leukemia. They are often associated with severe side effects causing more harm to the body. More alternative and holistic methods should be applied to heal the root causes of leukemia so as to achieve real healing. We will detail such healing methods in follow up reports.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 7, 2022. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)

Liberal MP Apologizes for Swearing at Woman Who Criticized Vaccine Mandate

Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden apologized on June 13 for swearing at a Canadian woman living overseas after a heated exchange between the two on social media about the federal travel vaccine mandate.

Last week I responded in an unacceptable way to a message on social media, and I deeply regret it, van Koeverden said during question period in the House of Commons.

I want to apologize to the person I offended and anybody else I let down. I realize that the past two years have been really difficult for a lot of people, but my conduct was unacceptable. We have an obligation to disagree without being disagreeable, and in that regard I failed.

The former Olympic gold medalist and current parliamentary secretary to the minister of health was responding to a question from Conservative Party MP and health critic Michael Barrett about the federal vaccine mandates.

Will [van Koeverden] give us a date on when he will end the mandates, or will he tell me to eff off, like he did to one of his constituents? asked Barrett.

Barrett was referring to van Koeverdens conversation on Instagram with Ontario-born woman Kate Faith, 29, who now lives in New Zealand and has been unable to visit her family in Canada due to the federal vaccine mandate for travel.

You guys stand in Parliament and act like these mandates actually serve a purpose? she told van Koeverden. I was a teacher who got fired for not taking a jab. Now I am a supply teacher, covering classes every single day because all the jabbed teachers have covid and cant work.

After some back and forth, Faith said to Van Koeverden You are a disgrace of a Canadian. Do the right thing.

F you, the MP replied.

Faith answered she hasnt been able to see her family since the onset of the pandemic and had to attend her fathers funeral via video link.

I cant hug my parents or nanas because of your Liberal mandates and you have the nerve to swear at me?

Van Koeverden ended the conversation by saying he made a mistake in responding to someone like you. Good luck.

As parliamentary secretary to the minister of health, van Koeverden has taken many questions in the House from Conservatives on vaccine mandates and COVID-19 management.

Some of those exchanges have also been tense at times.

I am happy to address the question from my colleague and the entire Conservative caucus, which is unmasked today and is pretending that COVID-19 is completely over, van Koeverden said on March 22.

Put your mask on, an unidentified MP told van Koeverden.

I will put my mask on as soon as I sit back down, like the rest of my colleagues who are committed to following the science. This pandemic is not over, van Koeverden continued.

Conservative MPs have accused the Liberals of using masks as theatrics. Masks are not required in the House when MPs are at their seat, but Liberals have them on at all times, mostly.

MP Todd Doherty released a video on June 9 showing Liberal MPs Iqra Khalid and Julie Dzerowicz not wearing a mask and then putting one on after apparently realizing they were being captured by the House camera filming a colleague between them and the camera.
List of Candidates Growing in Alberta UCP Leadership Race

The list of candidates to replace Jason Kenney as leader of Albertas United Conservative Party (UCP) continues to lengthen even though eligibility rules have not yet been finalized.

Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche UCP MLA Brian Jean will launch his campaign on June 15 in Edmonton. Jean was the leader of the Opposition and the last leader of the Wildrose Party from 2015 to 2017 before it merged with the Progressive Conservatives. Prior to this, he was a Conservative MP for Fort McMurrayAthabasca from 2006 to 2014.

Jeans latest stint as an MLA began March 16, 2022, after a by-election win. Before this, he had briefly left politics in 2018 when he resigned from his seat after losing his bid for UCP leadership in 2017.

Albertas Childrens Services Minister Rebecca Schulz stepped down on June 14 to run for leadership and formally launched her campaign that afternoon. The MLA for Calgary-Shaw told Postmedia that people have had enough of divisive politics and the party needs a united front to defeat Rachel Notley and the NDP in the next election.

We need somebody who will invite party membership back to the decision-making table and who will not only be competent and disciplined, but also show compassion and common sense in addition to conservative values, she said.

Chestermere-Strathmore UCP MLA Leela Aheer announced her candidacy on June 7 on a morning radio talk show. Aheer was first elected as a Wildrose Party MLA in 2015. After winning her second term in 2019 with the UCP, she was named Albertas minister of culture, multiculturalism, and status of women.

Aheer lost her cabinet post in 2021 shortly after publicly criticizing leader Jason Kenney for dining with three ministers on an Edmonton patio linked to government office space, nicknamed the Sky Palace. At the time, it was in violation of COVID-19 health regulations.

Todd Loewen announced his leadership bid the same day as Aheer. The Independent MLA for Central Peace-Notley was booted from UCP caucus in May 2021 after challenging Kenneys leadership in a letter posted to Facebook. He was first elected as a Wildrose MLA in 2015.

At his campaign launch in the town of Valleyview, 350 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, Loewen said he aimed to build a movement for the little guy.

Albertans fully expect us to get back to the fundamentals of good accountable and ethical government. Its time to get big money influences out of politics, he said.

Former finance minister Travis Toews launched his campaign on June 4 at the Stampede grounds in Calgary. He said his goal is to return the party to the vision it held at its founding in 2019.

Toews February budget projected a surplus of $511 million in 2022-23 and was only the second balanced Alberta budget since 2008. He resigned his finance minister post days prior to his campaign launch to enable him to run in the race.

On June 3, former Wildrose candidate Bill Rock entered the race. Rock is the mayor of Amisk, a village of 206 people 220 kilometres southeast of Edmonton. He finished third place when he ran for the Wildrose in 2015. Electors in Wetaskiwin-Camrose gave him 21.5 percent of the vote.

In an interview with Postmedia, Rock called himself the wild card and said he wants to be a loud voice for rural Albertans, highlighting their concerns about rural crime, hospital and ambulance services, public school funding, and infrastructure deficits.

Danielle Smith was the first to announce her candidacy on May 19. Smith was Wildrose Party leader from 2009 to 2014 before defecting to the Progressive Conservatives. The former leader of the Opposition represented Highwood from 2012 to 2015 before losing a nomination bid to represent the Progressive Conservatives.

Smith is currently seeking the nomination in Livingstone-McLeod. The 51-year-old was president of the Alberta Enterprise Group and worked in the media for years, most recently as a radio talk show host. She was also the director of provincial affairs in Alberta for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

On June 3, the UCP announced the rules and procedures for the race are currently being developed and are expected to be finalized in the coming weeks. Its existing rules state a candidate has to have held party membership for at least six months, submit an entrance fee and application, and deliver a nomination petition signed by at least 500 members.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks on the Senate floor at the Capitol in Washington on May 25, 2022. (Senate Television via AP)

McConnell Says He Will Likely Support Gun Control Agreement

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on June 14 announced that he will likely support a gun control package put together after weeks of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.

A bipartisan group of senators on June 12 announced the legislative package of gun control measures that include more resources for mental health needs, school safety, and more.

The proposal has the support of 10 Republican senators, which is needed in the 5050 Senate to overcome any legislative filibuster. It was praised by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a longtime proponent of gun control measures.

The plan calls for an enhanced review process for younger gun buyers.

For prospective buyers under 21 years of age, the plan requires an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement, according to their statement.

The bill also will provide support for state crisis intervention, protections for domestic violence victims, funding for school-based mental health and supportive services, investment in children and family mental health services, clarification of the definition of federally licensed firearms dealer, penalties for straw purchasing of guns, and telehealth investments.

Notably, the framework bill includes a so-called red flag provision, allowing for resources to states and tribes to create and administer laws that help ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of individuals whom a court has determined to be a significant danger to themselves or others, according to a June 12 statement by the group.

Ten Republicansincluding Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Mitt Romney (Utah), John Cornyn (Texas), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Rob Portman (Ohio), and Pat Toomey (Pa.)already support the measure, granting it the support it will likely need to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold.

Now, GOP Leader McConnell has announced that he is likely to throw his support, which carries substantial weight in the Republican Senate caucus, behind the measure.

For myself, Im comfortable with the framework and if the legislation ends up reflecting the framework, Ill be supportive, McConnell told reporters after a weekly GOP Senate lunch.

If he ends up giving his support to the bill, he will become the eleventh Republican to do so, setting the legislation up for easy passage through the Senate.

The measure also looks likely to win the support of all 50 Senate Democrats.

On June 14, critical swing-voter Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) also announced that he would support the gun control package.

We have to do something. And gun owners are standing up. You take polls around the country, in my state, toolaw-abiding gun owners want something to be done, Manchin said. They dont want people who should never have a gun, or is mentally incapacitated or not stable, to be able to access anything they want.

The principles underlying the package, primarily prevention and intervention, are something thats sensible and reasonable, Manchin said.

We have got to take what we have got as a positive and work off of this. But this should notthis piece of legislation, as drafted, should not be threatening to any law-abiding citizen in the United States of America, not one. And no law-abiding gun owner should be offended by this, Machin continued. We take no rights away, no privileges away. We dont basically threaten youre going to lose anything at all.

However, the inclusion of controversial red flag provisionswhich allow the state to seize weapons from someone or prevent them from purchasing a weapon based on an anonymous tip that they may be a danger to themselves or othershas long been an issue that Second Amendment advocacy groups have rallied against.

In the House, Democrat Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) suggested that the measure, following its likely passage through the Senate, will also receive the support of an overwhelming majority of Democrats.

In sum, the bill seems set to breeze through both chambers of Congress, making it likely that it will end up on the desk of President Joe Biden, who has endorsed calls for tighter gun laws.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
Lawyer Michael Avenatti walks out of federal court in New York on March 25, 2019. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Michael Avenatti Offers to Plead Guilty in Remaining Criminal Case

Michael Avenatti, the twice-convicted lawyer who represented porn actress Stormy Daniels in her legal battles against former President Donald Trump, on Sunday offered to plead guilty to multiple criminal charges he still faces in California.

Avenatti, 51, already faces five years in prison after being convicted in February of fraud and identity theft for diverting nearly $300,000 in book proceeds meant for Daniels, and convicted in February 2020 of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike Inc.

He potentially faces more than 300 years in prison on 36 criminal charges in the California case, including for stealing millions of dollars from clients, lying to the Internal Revenue Service and a bankruptcy court, and defrauding a bank.

In a filing with the federal court in Santa Ana, California, Avenatti said he wanted to plead guilty to be accountable; accept responsibility; avoid his former clients being further burdened; save the court and the government significant resources; and save his family further embarrassment.

The filing did not say how many or which charges Avenatti wanted to plead guilty to.

It said he has been unable to reach a plea agreement with prosecutors, despite his substantial efforts in the last 30 days, and wants a court hearing.

A trial on the first 10 charges is scheduled for July 26, following a mistrial last August. Avenatti is representing himself.

Neither prosecutors nor a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Tracy Wilkison in Los Angeles immediately responded to requests for comment. Dean Steward, a lawyer who advises Avenatti on his defense, declined to comment.

Avenatti is appealing his conviction and 2.5 year sentence in the Nike case, and has filed a notice of appeal of his four-year sentence in the Daniels case. The sentences partially overlap, resulting in the five-year term.

The California case is U.S. v Avenatti, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 19-cr-00061.

By Jonathan Stempel
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 24, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Mitch McConnell Declines Changes to Bill Protecting Supreme Court Justices

Pelosi wanted employees of Chief Justices to be included in the bill

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned that House amendments to the bill providing protection to Supreme Court justices will not pass the Senate

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) delayed the House from voting on the Supreme Court Police Parity Act, which the Senate unanimously approved last month, and asserted that nobody is in danger and that the justices are protected. The S.4160 bill seeks to grant the Supreme Court of the United States security-related authorities equivalent to the legislative and executive branches.

Pelosi wanted to add protection to the staff of the justices as well in the bill clause. However, McConnell and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), who drafted the bill, accused House Democrats of stalling the measure.

The version of the Supreme Court security bill that apparently theyre going to try to pass on suspension tonight is not going to pass the Senate, McConnell said to reporters, in a Capitol hallway interview. The security issue is related to Supreme Court justices, not nameless staff that no one knows.

The calls for increased security comes amid demonstrations outside the justices private residences and an incident on June 8 when an armed man, later identified as Nicholas John Roske of California, was arrested near the Maryland home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Roske has been charged with attempting to kidnap or murder, or threatening to assault, kidnap, or murder a federal judge.

Threats on the justices safety have escalated recently after the unprecedented leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that could overturn the landmark 1973 decision Roe v. Wade, which classifies access to abortion as a constitutional right. Left-wing protests have broken out across the country, while some have focused on targeting the justices by demonstrating outside their homes, prompting the senators to vote on the bill.

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) said in a statement on May 9, Threats to the physical safety of Supreme Court Justices and their families are disgraceful, and attempts to intimidate and influence the independence of our judiciary cannot be tolerated.

Im glad the Senate quickly approved this measure to extend Supreme Court police protection to family members, and the House must take up and pass it immediately.

An upcoming ruling by the conservative majority is expected to result in additional protests and possible threats to the justices and their immediate families safety.

For the 3rd time in a week, Im calling for a vote for stronger security for Supreme Court JusticesALL of them. This isnt partisan. The threat is real. Why is Speaker Pelosi blocking something that the Senate has already passed unanimously? said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in a tweet on Monday.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said in an advisory late Monday that the bill would be voted on in the House Tuesday, without additional amendments that included personnel safety.

Republicans have refused to approve the changes, which some say seek to protect the clerk suspected of leaking the draft opinion that has led to the angry protests.

Chief Justice John Roberts said that the leak was absolutely appalling, and described the individual as foolish if they intended to influence the final court decision. This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here, Roberts said in a statement.
Monkeypox Outbreak Delays Paperwork for COVID-19 Related Trial of UK Lawmaker

The trial of a Scottish lawmaker accused of travelling by train with COVID-19 symptoms has got a new pre-trial hearing scheduled next month after a document was delayed due to the Monkeypox outbreak.

A Scottish court on Tuesday heard that the defence of Margaret Ferrier was still waiting to obtain a report from a virologist who now has more work because of the Monkeypox outbreak.

Ferrier, the 61-year-old independent MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, didnt attend the hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Tuesday, but her lawyer said she maintains her plea of not guilty.

Ferrier was charged in January last year in connection with alleged culpable and reckless conduct following a police investigation into an alleged breach of pandemic regulations in September 2020.

Prosecutors allege that having booked a test for COVID-19, stating in the booking application that she had symptoms of the disease, and having been told to self-isolate, Ferrier culpably and recklessly put people at risk by visiting places including Lifestyle Leisure Centre, a beauty salon, a gift shop in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, a Church in Glasgow, and a Bar in Prestwick, South Ayrshire.

Ferrier was also said to have taken a taxi from Cambuslang to Glasgow Central Station, and from there allegedly took a train from Glasgow Central to London Euston and back, and visited the Houses of Parliament in London, along with other places unknown to prosecutors.

Neal McShane, defence lawyer for Ferrier said the defence was yet to receive a virologist report and asked for a further pre-trial hearing.

An issue that remains outstanding for the defence in relation to this case is that we are attempting to obtain a report from a virologist, McShane told the court.

A doctor had been identified and weve passed him the paperwork, but due to the outbreak of monkeypox he is required to work for a number of different people for that and as such we do not as yet have a report.

He also said the issue of funding for the report has to be confirmed.

Sheriff Gerard Considine set a further pre-trial hearing for July 26 ahead of the trial which has been set for Aug. 15.

Ferrier was suspended from the Scottish National Party after the accusation emerged. But she resisted the pressure for her to resign as an MP.

PA Media contributed to this report.
A general view of the Centers for Disease Control headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., on April 23, 2020. (Tami Chappell/AFP via Getty Images)

More Post-Vaccination Heart Inflammation Among Young Males After COVID Booster: CDC

Young males suffered heart inflammation at higher rates following a booster dose of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Males aged 16 or 17 had about 139 cases of myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation, per million second doses administered, according to the data, which was drawn from the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), a CDC monitoring system.

But that same group had 200 cases of myocarditis per million booster doses administered, according to the data, which was from between Dec. 14, 2020, and May 28, 2022. Over 2 million total Pfizer-BioNTech primary series were administered in children, and about 230,000 booster doses, in the time period studied.

Males aged 30 to 39 also had a higher rate of heart inflammation following a Pfizer booster than the second dose, as did females aged 16 and 17.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are built on messenger RNA technology and both are administered in two-dose primary series, with the doses spaced several weeks to several months apart.

The new data is the first time a federal monitoring system has captured a higher rate of myocarditis following a booster dose, but some studies have previously indicated that young men were more at risk from a booster than the second dose.

Neither myocarditis or a related condition, pericarditis, were detected in clinical trials of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. As the shots were administered following authorization, reports of the conditions triggered medical chart examinations and other investigations, which has led to the conclusion that the vaccines are linked to the conditions.

Modernas vaccine is not yet available to children.

The new data was presented to the Food and Drug Administrations vaccine advisory panel, which was being asked whether Modernas shot should be available for children.

The data was presented by Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, a CDC vaccine safety researcher.

The incidence rates following vaccination tend to be highest in males, and highest after dose two, Shimabukuro said. Looking at the new data, Youll see that the incidence rates are actually highest in males in males after first booster, and females after first booster, he continued. However, the case counts are fairly small and the 95 percent confidence intervals are quite wide, so we really cant say theres a difference between the dose 2 incidence and the first booster incidence based on these data.

The typical incidence of myocarditis in the general population is 8 cases per 100,000 children, including 1.8 per 100,000 15- to 18-year-olds. The incidence decreases as people age.

VSD is a collaborative system run by the CDC and nine health care organizations, including Kaiser Permanente Southern California and the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute in Wisconsin.

According to the data from the system, not every group was more at risk following a booster.

Males aged 12 to 15 had 152 myocarditis cases per million second doses administered, and just 17 cases per million booster doses administered. Males aged 5 to 11 also had a much lower rate following a booster, while females between 18 and 39 saw a marginally lower rate.

Data from another system, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), indicated a rate of 75.9 myocarditis cases per million second doses in 16- and 17-year-old males, and 46.4 cases per million second doses in males aged 12 to 15. There were also higher than expected rates after Pfizer and Moderna vaccination in males as old as 49 and females aged 12 to 29.

According to the VAERS data, the rates after a booster were lower than the second dose for all age groups across both males and females.

After 90 days, about four in five patients had fully or probably fully recovered, according to surveys the CDC conducted of health care providers. The agency plans to follow up with patients who had not recovered to assess their status at 12-plus months following their issue.

Unlike some other countries, U.S. officials have not paused administration of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines despite the growing data on heart inflammation. Officials were asking the advisory panel on Tuesday whether Modernas vaccine should be available to children aged 6 to 17, and on Wednesday whether both vaccines should be available to kids as young as 6 months old.
Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, as seen in mugshot following an alleged DUI arrest in May 2022. (Napa County Department of Corrections)

Mugshot of Nancy Pelosis Husband Released After DUI Arrest

Authorities in Napa County, California, released the mugshot of House Speaker Nancy Pelosis (D-Calif.) husband, Paul, following an arrest last month.

Pelosi, 82, was arrested after driving under the influence last month, leading to his arrest, according to court records. The California Highway Patrol said several days ago that his late-model Porsche was involved in a collision before he was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors, including driving under the influence and having a blood alcohol content level of 0.08 percent.

In Napa County, the decision to release or withhold mugshots or booking photos lies with the Napa County Department of Corrections, not the District Attorneys Office, a Napa County spokesperson said in a statement Monday about the release of the photo. In the days after Mr. Pelosis arrest, Napa County followed the Department of Corrections policy regarding the release of booking photos and mugshots. Mr. Pelosi received the same treatment under that policy that all individuals released from County Jail receive.

Authorities told Fox News that the photo was taken at around 4:30 a.m. on May 29. He later posted $5,000 in bail.

Speaker Pelosis office has not issued any comments about the arrest, describing it as a private matter. A spokesperson in May said the speaker was in Rhode Island at the time of the incident and was not accompanying her husband. The pair own a large, multi-acre winery in Napa County that is estimated to be worth millions of dollars.

In late May, his spokesman, Larry Kramer, said that several news reports about Saturday nights traffic incident involving Paul Pelosi have included incorrect information.

Mr. Pelosi was attending a dinner party at the home of friends near Oakville, he told Fox News Chad Pergram about the incident. He left that party at 10:15 p.m. Saturday, to drive to his home a short distance away. He was alone in his car, he said.

Kramer said Pelosi stopped at the intersection before turning onto Route 29 when he was hit on the back fender by a Jeep.

Mr. Pelosi was fully cooperative with California Highway Patrol officers who arrived a few minutes later, he said.

Kramer did not make mention of Pelosis arrest for allegedly driving under the influence. Its also not clear what he meant by incorrect information and did not specify which media made the alleged error.

A prior driving offense erroneously attributed to Mr. Pelosi is untrue and likely refers to an unrelated person with the same name. This error must be corrected, Kramer said in another statement to the Daily Beast. There are also incorrect reports that misstate the timing of events.
A Billings teen is now facing 10 felonies, which allege he fired rifle rounds at a North Side home and then tried to evade police.

Yellowstone County prosecutors have charged Anthony Allyn Wilson, 18, with eight counts of assault with a weapon, criminal endangerment by accountability, tampering with evidence and misdemeanor obstructing a peace officer. The additional charges were filed against Wilson last week after his arrest in late May.

Officers with the Billings Police Department responded to a report of gunfire on the 900 block of North 24th Street on May 28, according to the latest charging documents filed in Yellowstone County District Court. A resident told police that several rounds had struck the home where she and seven others were staying. She said the bullets came from a Chevy sedan.

Throughout that same day, police continued to receive reports of shots being fired from a black passenger vehicle, according to charging documents and BPD posts to social media.

A Billings officer was patrolling Grand Avenue when he spotted a black Chevy Impala at Third Street West. He made a U-turn to stop the car and activated his emergency lights, charging documents say. A gunshot allegedly came from the Impala. He turned on his siren as the car sped onto Second Street West. At Avenue D, the driver mounted the curb to dodge a construction zone. The car hit a fire hydrant and a tree before coming to a stop.

The 17-year-old driver and front-seat passenger, later identified as Wilson, allegedly ran from police. Officers chased Wilson as he ran south. He eventually listened to demands that he get on the ground and was arrested. Police found a handgun on the sidewalk along the route he took when he ran, according to court documents. It was lying in front of a home on the 1600 block of Second Street West. The handgun was reportedly stolen, according to a statement from BPD posted to social media the following day.

A second passenger in the back seat, a 17-year-old, remained in the car. He was later taken into custody. Police also found an AR-15-style rifle leaning against the front passenger seat. Investigators recovered several shells from the floorboard of the front passenger seat, charging documents say.

Yellowstone County prosecutors filed charges against Wilson on May 31, initially charging him with criminal endangerment and several alternative counts of criminal endangerment by accountability. In an appearance before District Court Judge Donald Harris on June 8, Wilson pleaded not guilty to the amended charges. Wilson is currently released from custody on a $50,000 bond. He has a tentative trial date scheduled for September 19.

The county attorneys office did not respond to questions of possible charges filed against the two 17-year-olds allegedly riding in the vehicle with Wilson on the day of the shootings.

Billings police have been responding to a consistent increase in weapons complaints, which includes instances of shots fired within the city limits, over the past several years, according to BPD data. The number of weapons calls made to BPD have nearly doubled from 2016 to 2021, going from 848 to 994. BPD Lt. Matt Lennick told the Gazette that city police responded to 274 weapons calls from January through May of this year.

Confirmed reports of weapons offenses ranged from around 45 to 65 for nearly a decade in Billings until nearly tripling in 2021. BPD tallied 165 confirmed weapons offenses last year, the majority of which were shots fired within the city limits.

On Monday, Billings police made several arrests following reports of gunfire, according to social media posts. Police apprehended several suspects after a report of shots fired from a vehicle near Central Park. Another person was arrested later that day on suspicious of firing rounds from the Rims on Overlook Drive.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 7

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in south Texas on Feb. 10, 2022. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Musk to Hold First Meeting With Twitter Employees Since Launching Takeover Bid

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is set to hold his first meeting with Twitter staff this week amid his bid to purchase the social media company.

The virtual meeting, which is set to take place on June 16, was first reported by Business Insider after being announced by Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal in an email to staff on June 13. It was subsequently confirmed to the BBC by a Twitter spokesperson.

The Epoch Times has also contacted a Twitter spokesperson for comment.

In his email to Twitter employees, Agrawal said they could submit questions to businessman Musk ahead of the meeting which he could then answer.

The planned meeting will mark the first time that Musk, the worlds richest person, has addressed Twitter workers since he launched his $44 billion takeover bid of the company.

However, that bid is currently on hold amid a disagreement over precise figures regarding the exact number of automated or bot accounts that exist on the platform.

In May, Musk accused Twitter of allowing a significant number of bot accounts on the platform and asked that the company provide him with data stating the exact number of bot accounts, which he estimates to be up to 90 percent.

Twitter has stated during its first quarter of 2022, spam accounts represented fewer than 5 percent of monetizable daily active users, a statement that Musk disputes.

The businessman has subsequently said he will not go ahead with the deal unless Twitter provides an exact figure pertaining to spam accounts.

In a letter sent to Twitters chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde on June 6, Musks lawyers accused Twitter of resisting and thwarting his attempts to obtain information about the bot accounts and that doing so is a material breach of the deal agreement.

Lawyers said that Twitter has refused to provide the information that Mr. Musk has repeatedly requested since May 9, 2022, to facilitate his evaluation of spam and fake accounts on the companys platform and that Twitters latest offer to simply provide additional details regarding the companys own testing methodologies, whether through written materials or verbal explanations, is tantamount to refusing Mr. Musks data requests.

Mr. Musk has made it clear that he does not believe the companys lax testing methodologies are adequate so he must conduct his own analysis. The data he has requested is necessary to do so, lawyers noted.

Such a material breach, lawyers said, allows for Musk not to consummate the transaction and terminate the merger agreement.
Minister Kris Faafoi speaks to media during question time at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on Aug. 6, 2020. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

New Zealand Minister Declines to Overturn Extradition of Resident to China

New Zealands retiring Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi has rejected a bid to overturn the extradition of a permanent resident to China for alleged murder charges.

Faafoi said the New Zealand Supreme Courts decision to surrender Kyung Yup Kim to China remains appropriate despite his health conditions.

Kim, a South Korean citizen, is suspected of murdering a young woman in Shanghai in 2009, a charge he strongly denies.

He has been diagnosed with several physical health conditions including liver disease, kidney disease, and a brain tumour which he currently does not receive treatment for.

Kims lawyer, Tony Ellis, also indicated that Kims mental health was deteriorating and he was at significant risk of suicide and required psychiatric care.

But Faafoi said Kim was managing his mental health at home by taking anti-depressant medication and sleeping pills.

I am of the view that the health conditions are not extraordinary or compelling. Your health circumstances do not meet the high threshold required under s30 (3) (d) of the [Extradition] Act, and should not preclude your extradition, Faafoi said in a letter to Kim dated June 10, obtained by The Epoch Times.

I consider that your health can be adequately managed in China, where you will have access to healthcare when detained.

The former minister of justice also accepted assurances from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that Kim would not be subjected to torture and he would have access to New Zealand representatives at all reasonable times.

However, members of the global Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), comprised of politicians from across Australia, New Zealand, and Europe had warned Faafoi that Beijings promises were not to be relied upon.

There is no reliable way to monitor whether or not a person extradited has or has not been subject to torture after diplomatic assurances have been given, and such assurances carry no weight in law.

It is noteworthy that diplomatic assurances have repeatedly failed to protect people from torture.

The widespread and well-documented practice of torture in custody throughout the [Peoples Republic of China] system, together with the absence of any reliable way of monitoring treatment ought to preclude extradition to China, members said in a letter to Faafoi on April 22.

Police officers and security block the way as they perform crowd control after an official flag raising ceremony to mark National Day next to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, on Oct. 1, 2021. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Further, Kims lawyer, Tony Ellis, also provided a report from China expert Clive Ansley who stated in 2021 that access to proper physical and mental health care would not occur because it was simply not possible to obtain proper assurances from China.

However, Faafoi indicated that although he believed Ansleys report, and other supplementary material supplied by Kims lawyerincluding a 2021 U.S. State Department Report on Chinahe did not consider the material particularly relevant to your situation and I have placed little weight on it.

Ellis further called the ministers decision unjust and could not comprehend how he came to his decision without specialist medical advice.

It looks like he is determined, come what may, to extradite Kim. I dont know what political pressure he is under, but it does not seem a rational decision, he told Stuff News.

Ellis took the case to the United Nations Human Rights Committee on June 4, and has said international observers can confirm Beijing still uses torture.

Meanwhile, Faafoi has since announced his resignation from politics, saying he wants to spend more time with family. His resignation came three days after his decision.
China's Defense Minister Wei Fenghe (R) greets U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (L) as he sits across from Singapore's Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen during the ministerial roundtable luncheon at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on June 11, 2022. (Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images)

No Coercion for China to Attend Security Forums: Singapore Defense Minister

China can decide to debate its stance in open forums like the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) or retreat from that engagement, Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said on June 12.

Ng was responding to a question posed by a Chinese military official during the seventh plenary session of the SLD in Singapore. The three-day forum serves as a platform for regional defense ministers to exchange views on security issues.

Chinese Senior Col. Zhao Xiaozhuo claimed that while the SLD has helped bring together high-ranking officials and scholars to improve communication, some perceived that the United States and its allies were dominating it.

There are negative views: Views [that] the Shangri-La Dialogue, as a forum, [is] dominated by the United States and its allies, serving the interest of the United States and its allies, said Xiaozhuo, a researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences of the Peoples Liberation Army.

Also, the topics discussed often point to differences, rather than cooperation, and the divergence rather than convergence, Zhao added. So my question is, what role over the past years Shangri-La Dialogue has played in Asia-Pacific security?

In response, Ng mentioned his experiences attending a number of conferences, including Beijings Xiangshan Forum, noting that attending such events is sometimes a matter of taste.

I can imagine that people from the [Peoples Liberation Army] come here and find this raucous, a bit rambunctious, [that] this is the Western liberal model of many ideas, Ng remarked.

And from this, youre supposed to gain wisdom, and they go back and say it was thoroughly discombobulating. Thats entirely understandable.

There are also those individuals who dislike attending forums that are structured and too predictable, Ng said.

They feel that its too scripted that when you say things, the end is already determined. So why not not say it and just send me something and I can read it, rather than travel a few thousand miles to arrive in Singapore? he added.

Ng further remarked: For China, it must decide for itself whether the Shangri-La Dialogue adds value. There is no coercion for you to attend.

Is it better to come to an open platform, to subject yourself sometimes to a tyranny of questions and to what might seem a common view from others to explain yourself? Or to retreat from that engagement? That is something that China must decide for itself.

Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe delivered a speech at the SLD on June 12, asking the United States to stop smearing and containing China.

Wei said that U.S.-China relations could only improve if Washington stopped interfering in Chinas internal affairs.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue on June 11, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin said that Washington remains committed to the One China policy, but that it would still provide Taiwan with the capabilities necessary to maintain its defense.

And it means maintaining our own capacity to resist any use of force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security or the social or economic system of the people of Taiwan, Austin said.

He further noted that Beijings recent military maneuvers near Taiwan threaten to destabilize the Indo-Pacific region, while underscoring that sustaining peace and security across the Taiwan Strait is a global issue, not simply a U.S. interest.
White House Responds to Query About Bidens Health

The White House on June 13 said a question about President Joe Bidens health shouldnt have been asked.

Don Lemon, a CNN host, was interviewing White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Does the president have the stamina physically and mentally do you think to continue on even after 2024? Lemon wondered.

Don, youre asking me this question. Oh my gosh, hes the president of the United States. I cant even keep up with him. We just got back from New Mexico, we just got back from California. That is not a question that we should even be asking, Jean-Pierre, who recently succeeded Jen Psaki, responded.

Just look at the work that he does. Look how hes delivering for the American public, she added.

Jean-Pierre then suggested the question was based on a recent article from the New York Times, which said some Democrats, including members of Congress, have expressed doubts about Biden running for a second term.

The presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue, David Axelrod, who helped run Barack Obamas two winning campaigns, told the paper.

I need an equivalent of Ron DeSantis, a Democrat, but not a 70- or 80-year-olda younger person, Alex Wyshyvanuk, another Democrat, said. Someone who knows what worked for you in 1980 is not going to work for you in 2022 or 2024.

DeSantis, 43, is the Republican governor of Florida and is a rumored 2024 candidate.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre walks in the White House in Washington on June 13, 2022. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

That article that were talking about is hearsay, its fallacious. Thats not what we care about, Jean-Pierre said on Monday.

We care about how we going [sic] to deliver for the American people? How we going [sic] to make peoples lives better?  That is his focus and thats what were going to continue to focus on, she said.

Biden, 79, was already the oldest president in history when he was inaugurated in January 2021.

Biden has acknowledged that his being elderly is a factor for people, saying before he was sworn in that its a legitimate question to ask about my age.

But he and the White House have insisted that he will run again in 2024.

Theres something called the Hatch Act that I have to be very mindful of. What I can say is the president has repeatedly said that he plans to run in 2024, and Im gonna have to leave it there, Jean-Pierre said. All I can say is that the president intends to do what the president plans to do.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) over the weekend became another Democrat to refuse to commit to backing Biden in the next election.

Well cross that bridge when we get to it, she said on CNN.
Hundreds of American flags are on display on the front lawn of the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana, Calif., on June 13, 2022. (Julianne Foster/The Epoch Times)

Orange County Celebrates Flag Day

June 14 marks National Flag Daya tradition held dear to many in Orange County, California. It honors the first official U.S. flag adopted by the Constitutional Congress 245 years ago.

Surf City Flags, a family-owned business in Huntington Beach, has been serving its community and service members with custom wooden American flags, and will continue to on Flag Day.

Brett Siciliano and his Great Uncle Lewis Louie Barnett founded Surf City Flags to honor the nations veterans. After Louies passing at age 94 in 2021, Brett continues the company in memory and dedication to his uncles service in the U.S. Army.

The flag stands for freedom for all Americans and people all over the world, Brett Siciliano told The Epoch Times in an email. He quoted Louie saying, with great freedom, comes great responsibility.

Siciliano and his uncle have supported veterans and service members in Orange County by gifting them wooden flags, financed through generous donations. In their six years, they have made flags for Huntington Beachs residents, police and fire departments, and senior center.

Brett Siciliano and his Great Uncle Lewis Louie Barnett. (Courtesy of Brett Siciliano)

The City of Anaheim celebrated National Flag Day with its 27th Annual Parade featuring its 3rd annual decorated vehicle procession on Sunday, June 12. Visitors were given free flags while enjoying a BBQ lunch and cupcakes. The City of Irvine celebrated early at the Irvine Regional Park and had a Flag Day concert on Friday, June 11.

In Santa Ana, hundreds of American flags are currently on display on the front lawn of the historic Old Orange County Courthouse.

Lake Forest will hold a Flag Day celebration on Tuesday, June 14 in Veterans Park. There will be a brief flag-raising ceremony at the newly installed flagpole at the Veterans Memorial before the ceremony begins at noon.

Hundreds of American flags are on display on the front lawn of the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana, Calif., on June 13, 2022. (Julianne Foster/The Epoch Times)

National Flag Day was established in 1949 when U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation to honor of the adoption of the first official U.S. Flag.

The Flag Act of 1777 adopted on June 14 designated the first flags design to have thirteen stripesof red and white alternating colorswith thirteen stars of the union in a blue field.

Nicknamed Old Glory, the American Flags design now has 50 stars for the 50 states in front of a blue background representing justice for all, with 13 stripesred to represent the courage and blood of those who sacrificed themselves for this country and white to signify purity from the influence of other countries and our ability to hold true to American ideals.
A student follows along remotely with their regular school teacher's online live lesson from a desk separated from others by plastic barriers at STAR Eco Station Tutoring & Enrichment Center on September 10, 2020 in Culver City, California. - California public school students will continue to learn at home, in private learning pods, or at specialized enrichment centers like Star Eco Station as the coronavirus pandemic continues, after a lawsuit brought by the Orange County Board of Education seeking to compel the state to reopen public schools was shot down by the California Supreme Court on September 10. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

Oregonians Say Education on Wrong Track, Overwhelmingly Support School Choice: Poll Finds

A new poll shows that Oregon voters are extremely dissatisfied with the states K-12 education system and would overwhelmingly support school choice.

Of 727 registered voters polled on June 1, just 25 percent of Democrats, 9.7 percent of Republicans, and 14.1 percent of independents believe that Oregons public K-12 education system is on the right track.

The poll, commissioned by the advocacy group Oregon Moms Union and conducted by Nelson Research, also shows support for school choice across party lines, including 59.7 percent of Democrats, 84.5 percent of Republicans, and 77.4 percent of Independents.

School choice gives parents the right to use the tax dollars designated for their childs education to send their child to the public or private school that best serves their needs.

Only 24.3 percent of those surveyed oppose letting parents have the right to use their tax dollars the way that best serves their childs needs. Only 3 percent had no opinion.

The results in Oregon mirror a national poll conducted by RealClear Opinion Research in February.

That survey of more than 2,000 registered voters found the concept of school choice enjoys overwhelming support (72 percent versus 18 percent opposed). This is also true across party lines, with 68 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Republicans, and 67 percent of Independents saying they support such a policy.

Thats up nearly 9 percent since the pandemic began.

In light of the failures of the public education system navigating COVID, the recent trend of parents pulling kids out of public schools, and continued poor performance indicators, we wanted to know what the publics appetite is for real education alternatives for parents, said MacKensey Pulliam, president and co-founder of Oregon Moms Union.

Many parents are already pulling their kids out of the public school system in Oregon so that they no longer have to co-parent with the government and can have choice in their childs education, Pulliam told The Epoch Times.

Oregons largest district, the Portland Public Schools is feeling the pressure. PPS projects that next years enrollment will be down 14 percent from pre-pandemic levels. Other districts around the state are experiencing a similar trend.

Christine Drazan, a Republican candidate for Governor and former Oregon House Minority Leader, weighed in on the problems plaguing Oregons K-12 education system.

Despite record funding levels, our graduation rates and student achievement remain stubbornly low, she told The Epoch Times. At the same time, whats best for our kids too often takes a backseat to political agendas and the voices of parents are overridden by bureaucrats with too much power and misguided priorities.

We need to get back to basics in our schools  and focus on ensuring that our students know how to read, write, and do math, she added.

If public schools cant get that done, she supports school choice.

Access to a classroom environment that best fits the needs of a student is essential to their ability to succeed, Drazan continued. For many students, the traditional classroom is just fine. For others, a charter school or other format might be more ideal.

During the past two years, increasing numbers of parents have already voted with their feet for school choice, wrote Kathryn Hickock, executive vice president at the Portland-based Cascade Policy Institute.

Since the pandemic began, 8.7 million children switched from public to private schools nationwide, she wrote on the advocacy groups website.

In Oregon, charter school enrollment increased 20.8 percent between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years. Today, nearly 36,000 of the states 560,000 students attend 131 charter schools.

The number of Oregon homeschooled students increased 73 percent over the past two school years, according to Hickock.

Nationwide, 11.1 percent of American households with school-aged children report they are now homeschooling. Thats double the percentage before the pandemic according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 14, 2022. (The Canadian Press/ Patrick Doyle)

Liberal Government Formally Tables Bill That Bans Huawei From 5G/4G

The federal government has introduced a new bill it says will protect critical Canadian industries from cyberattacks and hacking, following Ottawas announcement last month that it would ban Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE from the countrys 5G and 4G networks.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino presented Bill C-26 to the House of Commons on June 14, saying it aims to protect vital sectors from cyber threats, including the finance, energy, transportation, and telecommunications industries.

Ransomware attacks, espionage, cyber-attacks, foreign interference, the conduct of hostile state actors and their proxies are all part of the national security landscape, Mendicino said in a press conference.

This legislation will protect Canadian cybersecurity by strengthening the partnerships between the government and the telecommunications sector, federal regulators, enhance supports for sectors of the economy that are vital to national security and public safety, and offer new tools to protect Canadians in cybersecurity.

The bill, dubbed An Act Respecting Cyber Security, seeks to amend the Telecommunications Act to add the security of Canadas telecommunications system as a policy objective.

It would give the government the legal authority to direct telecoms to enhance their systems against cyberattacks and cyber espionage, and to mandate any necessary action to secure the countrys telecommunications system. It also sets up an administrative monetary penalty to increase telecom companies compliance with the regulations.

The proposed legislation comes after Mendicino announced last month that the federal government will ban Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE from the countrys 4G and 5G networks. Canadian companies that use equipment from these Chinese companies will be required to remove equipment already installed.

During the June 14 press conference, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the bill would provide the legal authority for the government to ban those Chinese companies from 4G and 5G networks, as well as fend off future threats.

This [bill] goes way beyond Huawei and ZTE because we want to have legislation that will cover the future, he said.

Champagne told reporters that the ban on Huawei and ZTE equipment would not cover smartphones or other devices.

What were targeting is the critical infrastructures, the network, its not the phones or other type of equipment that the companies may decide to sell in Canada, Champagne said.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said in its 2020 National Cyber Threat Assessment that devices such as smartphones and personal computers are vulnerable to espionage activities such as unauthorized data collection.

Mandatory Reporting

The second part of Bill C-26 seeks to enact the Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act that aims to create a regulatory body that would require businesses in the four key sectors to report cyber and ransomware attacks to the government.

When asked why the mandatory reporting regime imposed on the designated industries does not include a public oversight mechanism for Canadians to see what data has been collected, Mendicino defended his bill by pointing to a wide variety of mechanisms that exist beyond this legislation that allows oversight of anything that overlaps with national security.

He didnt respond directly when pressed on the bills lack of transparency, and said that the legislation aims to support Canadians as they integrate new technologies in 5G and cyberspace into their lives.

He also said that certain provisions in his bill would allow the government to protect the affected industries trade secrets, competitive information, and other sensitive information.
Hunter Biden attends his father Joe Biden's inauguration as the 46th President of the United States on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Reuters)

Oversight GOP Probes Hunter Bidens Troubling Connection With Big-Name Hollywood Lawyer

The ranking member of the Houses principal oversight committee has launched a probe into a Hollywood lawyers sudden patronage of Hunter Biden allegedly involving financial and pro-bono legal support.

We are investigating the domestic and international business dealings of President Bidens son, Hunter Biden, to determine whether these activities compromise U.S. national security and President Bidens ability to lead with impartiality, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, wrote to Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris on behalf of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in a letter dated June 14.

Your sudden patronage of the Presidents son, enormous financial contributions to President Biden, and outsized role you are taking in defending against both congressional and criminal investigations raise serious concerns about whether you are providing in-kind contributions to President Bidens re-election efforts, Comer wrote.

Morris is known for negotiating a $550 million licensing deal for the creators of South Park and has won a Tony award as a co-producer of the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon. His law firm has represented Hollywood celebrities including Chris Rock, Scarlett Johansson, and Matthew McConaughey.

Comers letter came after a New York Times report in early May that alleged that Morris has taken on a financier, confidant and would-be avenger for the presidents son. The latter is under federal investigation into his tax payments and alleged foreign deals with entities affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.

According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Morris donated $2,800 to Joe Bidens campaign Biden for President in October 2019, and a total of $55,000 in 2020 to the American Bridge 21st Century Political Action Committee, which supported Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The New York Times reported that these donations occurred before Morris met and developed a relationship with the presidents son.

A screenshot of a receipt showing lawyer Kevin Morriss $2,800 donation to Joe Bidens election campaign in 2020; obtained from the Federal Elections Commission website on June 14, 2022. (Federal Elections Commission)

In-Kind Contribution

According to Comer, the oversight committee Republicans are particularly troubled in seeing Morriss alleged role in attempting to personally shield Hunter Biden from congressional and criminal investigation.

The ranking member cited allegations against Hunter Biden in The Timess report, which said that not only did Morris lend $2 million to Hunter Biden to help him pay off federal tax, but the lawyer also provided counsel to Hunter Biden as he navigated a paternity and child support lawsuit, and helped him with his art career and a memoir published last year that was partly a response to attacks from former President Donald J. Trump.

Comer noted that Morris funded a documentary about Hunter Bidens life, which the lawmaker said serves to deflect oversight of Hunter Bidens numerous foreign business dealings and shield President Biden from becoming implicated in them.

In addition, Comer said that Morris convened a team of 30 lawyers and investigators to discredit the allegations against Hunter Biden and thereby protect the president.

Such activities may constitute an in-kind contribution, defined by the FEC as goods or services offered free or at less than the usual charge, Comer wrote, adding that contributions of this nature must be properly reported to the FEC.

Comer went on to request an array of documents, including agreements between Moris and Hunter Biden regarding the attorneys $2 million loan, disclosure documents to the FEC for Morriss in-kind contribution to Joe Bidens campaign, Morriss communications with the White House, and any records that describe investigations of the Biden family and its associates.

We are committed to determining the extent to which Hunter Bidens business dealings with foreign adversaries compromise American national security and President Bidens ability to lead the nation without impartiality and providing answers to the American people, Comer wrote.

It is critical that the American people better understand the extent to which your activities implicate federal elections laws and President Bidens campaign.
Chairman of the Democratic Caucus Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (R) (D-N.Y.) and vice chair-elect of the Democratic Caucus Rep. Pete Aguilar (L) (D-Calif.) speak at a press conference in Washington on Dec. 8, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Overwhelming Majority of House Democrats Back Senate Gun Control Agreement: Rep. Jeffries

During a weekly press conference, House Democrat Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said that the majority of Democrats support the Senate gun control package. If true, this makes the bills passage through Congress almost inevitable.

A bipartisan group of senators on June 12 announced a legislative package of gun control measures that include additional resources for mental health needs, school safety, and more.

The proposal has the support of 10 Republican senators, which is needed in the 5050 Senate to overcome any legislative filibuster. It was praised, notably, by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a longtime proponent of gun control measures.

The plan calls for an enhanced review process for younger gun buyers.

For buyers under 21 years of age, requires an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement, according to their statement.

The bill also will provide support for state crisis intervention, protections for domestic violence victims, funding for school-based mental health and supportive services, investment in childrens and family mental health services, clarification of the definition of a federally licensed firearms dealer, penalties for straw purchasing of guns, and telehealth investments.

Notably, the framework bill includes a so-called red flag provision, allowing for resources to states and tribes to create and administer laws that help ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of individuals whom a court has determined to be a significant danger to themselves or others, according to a June 12 statement by the group.

During a press conference on June 14, Jeffries expressed the belief that the bill will have the support of an overwhelming majority of House Democrats.

Many of the advocacy groups, the families affected by the violence, the people on the ground who have been working to get some progress in this area of gun violence preventionwhat we know to be an epidemichave expressed publicly their support for the agreement, at least as we understand it, as a strong, meaningful, positive step in the right direction, Jeffries said.

I share that view, I certainly believe the overwhelming majority of House Democrats share that view as well, he added.

However, there are some warning signals that House Democrats may be more divided on the package than Jeffries sanguine assessment suggests.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a prominent progressive figurehead, told a reporter on June 14 that she had several concerns about the package.

Particularly, Ocasio-Cortez said, the juvenile criminalization, the expansion of background checks into juvenile records. I want to explore the implications of that and how, specifically, its designed and tailored.

She continued, After Columbine, we hired thousands of police officers into schools and while it didnt prevent many of the mass shootings that weve seen now, it has increased the criminalization of teens in communities like mine.

Asked if she was worried if the mental health aspects would increase stigmatization, Ocasio-Cortez said: Absolutely. Because what people are blaming on mental health are really deeper issues of violent misogyny and white supremacy. And while there are mental health issues attenuated like the deep isolation that we see with a lot of these folks, at the end of the day, were not addressingthere are some issues like the boyfriend loophole being closed.

These concerns, if more widespread among progressives, could make final passage of the bill in the House difficult.

In the Senate, at least, the billas it standsseems on track to pass.

Earlier on June 14, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a critical swing vote, came out in support of the legislative package.

We have to do something. And gun owners are standing up. You take polls around the country, in my state, toolaw-abiding gun owners want something to be done, Manchin said. They dont want people who should never have a gun, or [are] mentally incapacitated or not stable, to be able to access anything they want.

The principles underlying the package, primarily prevention and intervention, are something thats sensible and reasonable, Manchin said.

We have got to take what we have got as a positive and work off of this. But this should not  this piece of legislation, as drafted, should not be threatening to any law-abiding citizen in the United States of America, not one. And no law-abiding gun owner should be offended by this, Machin continued. We take no rights away, no privileges away. We dont basically threaten youre going to lose anything at all.

In addition to the 10 Republicans backing the billSens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Mitt Romney (Utah), John Cornyn (Texas), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Roy Blunt (Mo.) Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Rob Portman (Ohio), and Pat Toomey (Pa.)Manchins support makes the bill poised to pass the Senates 60-vote filibuster threshold.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
Panel Warns of Chinese Subversion of US Economy

House Intelligence Committee member LaHood: Trumps tariffs 'got the attention of the Chinese'

Speakers including Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, discussed potential costs and benefits of decoupling from China at a June 14 American Enterprise Institute (AEI) forum dedicated to countering Chinese subversion.

China has a plan to replace usbut we are tied to them economically, said LaHood, who suggested that the countries were moving toward a Cold War mentality.

Im not generally a fan of tariffs, but the tariffs that were implemented by President Trump got the attention of the Chinese, LaHood said when asked about Chinas continued financial dealings with Russia in the midst of U.S. sanctions against that country.

There is a consensus that we cant have business as usualbut  there is not a consensus about what to do, said Derek Scissors, a senior fellow at AEI.

He drew attention to the economic costs of doing business with China, such as intellectual property theft.

Youre a target just as much as you are a partner, he said. Xi Jinping isnt going to leave, and he isnt going to change.

While Scissors struck a more aggressive tone than LaHood on the necessity of decoupling, he sounded less than hawkish on the prospect of a confrontation on the fate of Taiwan.

If we were to get into a conflict with China over Taiwan, the damage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine to supply chains would be dwarfed in comparisonand Im not sure the U.S. is ready for that, he said.

James Palmer, a deputy editor at Foreign Policy, argued that Chinese barbs directed at the United States could reveal real vulnerabilitiesfor example, our dependence on rare earths that are mined and processed in that country.

We should be acting to re-shore those chains in a much more serious way, he said.

Adolfo Urso, a leader of the Italian parliaments intelligence committee who served in the government of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, made similar comments during the panel discussion.

Speaking through a translator, he argued that the West must ensure that strategic technology, including green technology, becomes concentrated in friendly hands.

Palmer claimed that American businesses are greatly tempted by the enormous profits that can be made in China.

We can see how tempting they are by the fact that American businesses stay committed even after all the stuff they take from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), he said.

The CCPs growing power over American corporations and politicians has been amply documented in many sources, including the 2019 Hoover Institution publication Chinas Influence & Americas Interests.

It noted the key role of Chinas primary internal vector for commercial influence in the United States, the China General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC).

American politicians linked to the CGCC include Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat.

Pritzker spoke at the organizations 2019 gala, as reported on its website and in the blog CapitolFax.

CapitolFax and Cision both reported that the gala took place at a Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Chicago.

The billionaire Pritzker family has long had ties to the Hyatt name. J.B. Pritzkers father, Donald Pritzker, has been described as a founder or co-founder of the Hyatt Corporation. The Hyatt Corporations current executive chairman is J.B.s cousin, Thomas Pritzker.

The Epoch Times has reached out to J.B. Pritzker for comment.

Foreign Policys Palmer claimed that the Chinese government is skilled at reaching out to and massaging the egos of American businessmen when they visit the country.

You effectively turn yourself into a lobbyist for them, he said at the June 14 AEI panel discussion.

Urso highlighted his opposition to Italys involvement with Chinas Belt and Road Initiative despite his prior support for the countrys 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization.

China is today poised to become the major global powernot one of many superpowers, but the one, Urso said, pointing out that China had moved to eliminate term limits for its presidents in 2018, potentially enabling Xi to remain president for life.

At the time, some China experts speculated that Xis move may have been made within the broader context of what they then saw as a disunited CCP.

Xi is likely to have promised the party elite that he would not wreck the institution of political succession by staying in power for life, wrote Deng Yuwen of the Charhar Institute in a South China Morning Post editorial on March 14, 2018, as reported in The Epoch Times.

Asked by LaHood about the prospect of decoupling, Palmer argued that the Chinese governments internal paranoia about American cultural influence has often been an expedient means of pulling the powers apart.

Post-Ukraine in particular, weve seen a doubling down on measures inside China that are aimed at attempting to snip some of these ties, he said.

He cited the governments increasingly stringent limits on which American films can be seen in China, arguing that it was beginning to influence decision-making in Hollywood.

Scissors, of AEI, said that a 2018 Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) reform bill could provide a model for distancing the United States from China.

We had a lot of people worried about overreach, which was a legitimate concern that mostly got handled at the congressional level, Scissors said.

While the final version met with strong bipartisan support, passing 85-10 in the Senate and 400-2 in the House, commentators have pointed out that it removed an earlier provision that would have let CFIUS review technology transfers that occur in joint ventures of U.S. companies and foreign companies.

It instead authorized the U.S. Department of Commerce to screen emerging and foundational technologies.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Commerce regarding the existence of that list.

Commerce did participate in a National Science and Technology Council subcommittee on Critical and Emerging Technologies that released a list of such technologies in February 2022.

Technology categories and subcategories on the list included directed energy, engineering of viral and viral delivery systems, hypersonics, and, under space technologies and systems, cryogenic fluid management.
The Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office is searching for Arshanda Knowshisgun, a 38-year-old Northern Cheyenne woman who was last seen in the Billings Heights during the early morning hours Sunday.

Knowshisgun, who lives in Muddy Creek on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, traveled to Billings on Saturday for a Kevin Gates concert at Metra Park. Knowshisgun is 5 feet, 5 inches and 135 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a black dress and no jacket.

LaVonne Scalpcane, Knowshisguns aunt, said the family has been searching for Knowshisgun since Sunday.

On Monday, we had four different vehicles, and we split up and combed Lockwood, Billings Heights, the homeless camps and bars. We hung up posters. We were out until 12:30 this morning, and still nothing, she said, adding that family members are exhausted, stressed and very worried.

While Native Americans comprise roughly 6.7% of Montana's population, they account for, on average, 26% of the state's active missing persons cases.

Anyone with information on Knowshisguns whereabouts is asked to call the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office at 406-256-2929.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 15 Angry 2
Police Identify Gunman in Texas Summer Camp Attack

By Nataly Keomoungkhoun

From The Dallas Morning News

DALLASPolice on Tuesday released the identity of the armed man who attacked the Duncanville Fieldhouse during a summer camp, a day after he was fatally shot by officers.

Police said 42-year-old Brandon Keith Ned of Dallas was identified as the shooter. No further details were released.

Ned is accused of firing at least two shots at the Duncanville Fieldhouse on Monday morning during a summer camp where there were about 250 children present.

Camp counselors and staffers went on lockdown after the first shot was fired, Duncanville Assistant Chief of Police Matthew Stogner said during a news conference Monday. During a search, officers confronted Ned and shot him. No children, staff or police were harmed in the incident, Stogner said.

Court records show that Ned was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to intoxication manslaughter in 2011. According to a police report, his blood alcohol level was about twice the legal limit to drive when he lost control of his pickup and crashed into a field in the Mountain Creek area of southwestern Dallas, killing a 42-year-old man who was a passenger in his vehicle.

Ned also was convicted of a cocaine possession charge; that sentence ran concurrently with his prison time in the manslaughter case.

The incident comes nearly three weeks after the massacre in Uvalde, where 21 people, including 19 children, were killed at Robb Elementary School.

Stogner said the first call for help came in at 8:43 a.m., and police were on the fieldhouse grounds by 8:45 a.m. He said officers at the department recently took part in active shooter training and did exactly what they were trained to do.

The case is being investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety, police said.

2022 The Dallas Morning News. Visit dallasnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh in a Sept. 4, 2018 file photo. Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court by the Senate on Oct. 6, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Police Reveal What Caused Kavanaugh Attempted Murder Suspect to Call 911 Outside Home

The man who authorities say schemed to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh last week had texted his sister before he abandoned his plot, police said.

The suspect arrived by taxi and observed the U.S. marshals, and he turned around to contemplate his next move, Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones told the Washington Post. This is when he texted his sister and told her of his intentions, and she convinced him to call 911, which he did.

California man Nicholas John Roske, 26, was allegedly armed with a pistol and a knife when he was taken into custody by police after he took a taxi cab to Kavanaughs home on June 8.

It wasnt immediately clear what he texted to his sister or what she said in response. Also unclear is whether Roskes sister knew he was going to Kavanaughs home in Maryland.

In a criminal complaint last week, Roske told a 911 operator that he was having suicidal thoughts and said he had a gun locked inside a suitcase.

Do you have access to any weapons? the 911 operator is heard saying. Yes. I brought a firearm with me, but its unloaded and locked in the case, Roske allegedly said in response. Im standing near it, but the suitcase is zip-tied shut. I just came from the airport.

Investigators had said that the presence of two U.S. Marshals standing outside Kavanaughs home may have acted as a deterrent.

While the deputies did not witness anything that would have resulted in an enforcement action, their vigilance and posture averted a potential violent act against the Justice, Drew Wade, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service, told the Washington Post.

Last week, officials said Roske allegedly traveled from California to Maryland to kill Kavanaugh because he was upset about a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that suggested the justices may move to overturn Roe v. Wade. Roske said he was also upset because he believed Kavanaugh would vote to lessen gun control laws in another pending Supreme Court decision.

An inventory search of the seized suitcase and backpack revealed a black tactical chest rig and tactical knife, a Glock 17 with two magazines and ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crowbar, pistol light, duct tape, hiking boots with padding on the outside of the soles, and other items, a criminal complaint read.

They were always nice people so its a surprise more than anything, Roskes neighbor Zach Quadri told CBS of his family. Theyre great neighbors, said Michael Holbrook, another neighbor, told VC Star. Im very dumbfounded.
Residents and workers for the City of Fernie, B.C., fill sandbags in preparation for flooding along the Elk River, where heavy rain and spring snow melt threaten to push the river over its banks. (The Canadian Press/HO-City of Fernie)

Rain Continues to Fill Run-Off Swollen Southeast BC Rivers, Raise Flooding Concerns

A small community in the southeast corner of British Columbia is the latest to declare a local state of emergency as heavy rain and a late spring thaw combine to swell rivers across many parts of the province.

The District of Sparwood has declared the emergency and posted evacuation alerts for two mobile home parks and several properties along the Elk River after nearly 52 millimetres of rain deluged the community.

Flood warnings have been issued by the River Forecast Centre for the Elk River and the Liard River in northeastern B.C., while flood watches are in effect for many waterways from near Quesnel in central B.C., south to the United States border.

Environment Canada lifted all rainfall warnings and special weather statements Tuesday across B.C., except for the Elk Valley, where 50 to 80 millimetres had fallen, along with five to 10 centimetres of snow over higher terrain.

It says an additional 15 to 25 millimetres of rain was expected before tapering to a few light showers in the evening, with Fernie getting the highest amount.

The City of Fernie, which also borders the Elk River, is building up dikes and sandbagging along the river, but it says in a statement that despite sustained rainfall, river levels are at what would be normal for a spring freshet.

Other B.C. areas under evacuation alert include the community of Six Mile, north of Nelson, properties along the Tulameen River, several homes near the Fraser River in Kent, and 27 units in a Sicamous mobile home park that is at the base of a slope considered extremely likely to slide sometime in the next two years.

High streamflow advisories cover the Thompson, Okanagan, Similkameen and Boundary regions of B.C., as well as the extreme northwest corner of the province and the Fraser River from Quesnel to the ocean.
As a winegrowing paradise, California has always been blessed with loads of sunlight and beneficent weather, allowing it to ripen wine grapes almost anywhere.

But in the early years, distinctiveness was nonexistent. In the era between the end of Prohibition (1933) and the end of World War II, pretty much every wine made here was generic and was relatively inexpensive.

Some people knew fine California wine was possible. One of the earliest was a 1940s East Coast wine merchant by the name of Frank Schoonmaker, who suggested in a book that California focus on individual varietals.

By the 1960s, we began to see grapes like chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, and zinfandel appearing on labels. And by the early 1970s, it was obvious that not all grapes did well in all regions.

Grape growers and winemakers soon realized that some varietals did better in some smaller regions, a move that was heralded, curiously, by a Broadway musical.

On May 3, 1956, a Broadway musical opened called The Most Happy Fella, by Frank Loesser. It helped change the fortunes of the American wine industry.

The musical had a showstopping song with lyrics that included, Im the most happy fella, in the whole Napa Valley. From that moment Napa Valley was branded as Americas wine country.

Soon the U.S. government began certifying dozens of regions as American Viticultural Areas, some of which were ideal for certain grapes and judged ill-suited for others.

Today, Napa Valley remains one of the most prestigious of AVAs, and the government has also certified numerous smaller sub-AVA areas inside Napa, like Stags Leap, Mount Veeder, Oakville, and Pope Valley.

Four years ago, moves begin to take place to add many smaller subregions within vast Sonoma County, which has long prided itself on several prestige zones like Alexander Valley, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Valley, and Dry Creek.

The government recently approved Petaluma Gap, just east and south of Bodega Bay, a wind tunnel in which cold weather allows for great pinot noir, chardonnay, syrah, and other varieties.

The Petaluma Gap was carved out of the amorphous, huge Sonoma Coast AVA, a step seen as long overdue as the Gap, as locals call it, is truly different from the rest of the Sonoma Coast.

Another recent relatively new AVA is called Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak in northerly Sonoma County. (It includes land stretching into southern Mendocino County.) Its mostly high-mountain terrain and produces outstanding cabernet, merlot, and sauvignon blanc.

It was originally part of the Alexander Valley, most of which is warmer than is high-and-hilly Pine Mountain.

Now another new AVA, also drawn from Alexander Valley land, has been proposed. Proponents submitted to the government for certification a new AVA called Pocket Peak.

This is another mountainous region, one not quite as high in altitude as is Pine Mountain. It removes acreage from the eastern edge of Alexander Valley and stretches to the border of Knights Valleyessentially due north of Napa Valley.

All this renaming of districts ultimately will have tremendous benefits in the marketplace, especially for consumers who pay attention to the AVAs on wine labels.

Still, not all wineries like the new designations. For example, today several Sonoma Coast wines were actually from grapes grown in Petaluma Gap. It confounds me why a winery using fruit from highly regarded Gap vineyards would ignore that appellation on their labels.

But I suspect time will cure that malady.
The bridge that connects the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk with the Chinese city of Heihe on June 10, 2022, in a still from video. (Reuters/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Russia and China Open Cross-Border Bridge as Ties Deepen

Russia and China opened a new cross-border bridge in the far east on Friday which they hope will further boost trade as Moscow reels from sweeping Western sanctions imposed over its actions in Ukraine.

The bridge linking the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk to the Chinese city of Heihe across the Amur riverknown in China as Heilongjiangis just over one kilometer long and cost 19 billion rubles ($342 million), the RIA news agency reported.

Amid a firework display, freight trucks from both ends crossed the two-lane bridge that was festooned with flags in the colors of both countries, video footage of the opening showed.

Russian authorities said the bridge would bring Moscow and Beijing closer together by boosting trade after they announced a no limits partnership in February, shortly before President Vladimir Putin sent his forces into Ukraine.

In todays divided world, the Blagoveshchensk-Heihe bridge between Russia and China carries a special symbolic meaning, said Yuri Trutnev, the Kremlin representative in the Russian Far East.

The Chinese regime wants to deepen practical cooperation with Russia in all areas, Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua said at the opening.

Russias Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev said the bridge would help boost bilateral annual trade to more than 1 million tonnes of goods.

Cutting Journey Time

The bridge had been under construction since 2016 and was completed in May 2020 but its opening was delayed by cross-border COVID-19 restrictions, said BTS-MOST, the firm building the bridge on the Russian side.

BTS-MOST said freight traffic on the bridge would shorten the travel distance of Chinese goods to western Russia by 1,500 kilometers (930 miles). Vehicles crossing the bridge must pay a toll of 8,700 rubles ($150), a price that is expected to drop as toll fees begin to offset the cost of construction.

Russia said in April it expected commodity flows with China to grow, and trade with Beijing to reach $200 billion by 2024.

China is a major buyer of Russian natural resources and agricultural products.

The Chinese communist regime has declined to condemn Russias actions in Ukraine and has criticized the Western sanctions on Moscow.
Greenpeace climbers block a tanker carrying 33,000 tonnes of Russian diesel to the UK at Navigator Terminals in Essex. (Greenpeace/ Fionn Guilfoyle/ PA)

Russia Made $98 Billion in Fossil Fuel Exports in First 100 Days of Ukraine War: Report

Russia amassed 93 billion euros ($98 billion) from fossil fuel exports during the first 100 days of its war in Ukraine, according to a report by the independent Centre For Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) published Monday.

European Union leaders last month agreed on a plan to block roughly 90 percent of oil imports from Russia to the E.U. by the end of the year. The United States and the United Kingdom have also pledged to cut Russian imports.

According to Finland-based CREAs report, the EU took 61 percent of Russias fossil fuel exports during the wars first 100 days (February 24 to June 3), worth approximately 57 billion euros, or about $60 billion.

Overall, the top importers were China at 12.6 billion euros ($13.2 billion), Germany at 12.1 billion ($12.7 billion), Italy at 7.8 billion ($8.2 billion), and the Netherlands at 7.8 billion ($8.4 billion).

Turkey was also a top contributor at 6.7 billion ($7 billion), along with Poland at 4.4 billion ($4.6 billion), France at 4.3 ($4.5 billlion), and India at 3.4 billion ($3.6 billion).

The report noted that Chinas imports of oil have remained essentially constant while Germany, the second biggest top importer has managed a modest reduction in oil imports from Russia.

In total, Russias revenue is comprised of an estimated 46 billion ($48.2 billion) for crude oil, 24 billion ($25.1 billion) for the pipeline gas, 13 billion ($13.6 billion) for oil products, 5.1 billion ($5.3 billion) for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and 4.8 billion ($5 billion) for coal, according to the data.

Russias average export prices were about 60 percent higher than last year, according to CREA.

Overall though, exports of Russian oil and gas are falling as multiple nations shun Moscows supplies, with the report noting that reduced demand and the discounted price for Russian oil cost the country approximately 200 million ($209 million) per day in May.

Import volumes fell modestly in May, around 15% compared with the time before the invasion, as many countries and firms shunned Russian supplies, the report states. The reduction in demand and the discounted price for Russian oil cost the country approximately 200 million EUR per day in May. However, increase in fossil demand has created a windfall: Russias average export prices were an average 60 percent higher than last year, even if they were discounted from international prices.

Some countries, including China, India, the United Arab Emirates, and France, have increased their purchases from Russia, according to the report, with India becoming a significant importer of Russian crude oil, and purchasing 18 percent of the countrys exports.

A significant share of the crude is re-exported as refined oil products, including to the U.S. and Europe, an important loophole to close, the report noted.

Elsewhere, CREA noted that Poland and the United States have given the Kremlin the biggest blows to its revenue, while Lithuania, Finland, and Estonia achieved sharp percentage reductions of more than 50 percent.

However, the report highlighted the fact that Russia is spending an estimated 840 million ($879 million) per day on its invasion of Ukraine, which far exceeds the $98 billion in revenue it is gaining from fossil fuel exports.

The report comes as Ukraine continues to urge the West to ban all trade with Russia in an effort to cut off President Vladimir Putins war financing, however, EU officials have so far not agreed to an outright ban.
Scholars Organize Flea Markets and Anti-Brainwashing Learning Platforms

On 12 June 2019, Carrie Lam, her office and the Legislative Council completely ignored the public opinion, and forcibly resumed the second reading of the amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in Defiance.

Hong Kong Police bloodily repressed the Admiralty demonstrations with tear gas, rubber bullets, and beanbag rounds, characterizing demonstrations as riots.

Later, the anti-extradition movement added a new demand: establish an independent investigation committee to scrutinize police violence.

Who would have thought that Hongkongers can no longer hold any June 12, (612) commemoration events three years later?

However, thousands of Hongkongers scattered overseas organized different commemorative activities in major cities around the world: rallies, art exhibitions, flea markets, and seminars.

Some migrant scholars also announced their establishment of a civil education platform, hoping the next generation can inherit the true, authentic history and universal values of Hong Kong.

Repower HK: Rebuilding Hong Kong Civil Society is an event organized by a group of migrant media professionals. Unfortunately, the event had sparked controversy online, by people saying it was not appropriate as a rememberance. It was held for two consecutive days at the Global Academy in Hayes, London, UK.

There were in total, seven workshops and about 30 flea market booths.

The seminar featured guests from the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Canada, the United States, Australia and Japan, including Stephen Siu Yuek-yuen, Simon Xu Hui-shen, Victor NG Ming-tak, Anthony Tso,, Tsang Chi-ho, Joe Tay, Victor Ho Liangmaon and Chris Wong Chun-yin.

The panels topics comprised: The Rapid Collapse of Hong Kong Civil Society, Dissect the Causes of Death and Forecast Future Directions, How Do New Immigrants Face Life Challenges and Opportunities? Will The Identity of Hongkongers Be Forgotten? How Can Hong Kong Culture Be Inherited?

Seminars Stir Up Controversy

Some netizens criticized the said the event had turned protests into a carnival. They also pointed out that June 12 is Hong Kong Remembrance Day, so it should have been an assembly or rally.

One of the seminar guests, Tsang Chi-ho, said in an interview with our reporter that he appreciates the different expectations people have of 612. However, he felt the most crucial thing was to stop pointing fingers at each other.

Tsang expressed his gratitude to the fact that there are still plenty of events, held by different camps to commemorate the protests. Shouldnt we recognize the organizers efforts, instead of dividing ourselves? I thought the seminars were purposeful. It brought so many overseas Hongkongers from all walks of life together, which is the greatest comfort for Hongkongers who have experienced the 2019 movement.

In another interview with our Epoch Times reporter, Rayman Chow Wai-hung, former legislator of Kwai Ching District pointed out, One of the goals is to explore what Hong Kong media professionals can do overseas and how they can speak up for Hong Kong.

Chow continued, These kinds of events unite Hongkongers. When you see each other, it soothes our helplessness. Besides, we can still show Hongkongers who remain in Hong Kong that they are never forgotten.

At around 3:00 p.m. on June 12, the organizers paused all the activities in the venue. Emcee Chow Wai-hung led attendees to observe a minute of silence to express their condolences and thoughts for the wounded, the departed and for siblings (brothers and sisters), who are still alive but imprisoned due to the 2019 anti-extradition movement.

Events attract families participation

As for the roughly 30 market stalls on-site, they could be generally divided into two categories. The first category was sales of products and services, such as Hong Kong-style food, clothing and handicrafts with prints of anti-extradition designs, haircuts, massage treatments, and the like.

The second category was exhibitions, such as job referrals, social welfare agency services, exhibits of social movement designs, books, Apple Daily items, and presentations of the history of Hong Kong.

In response to the criticisms of this event from netizens, Chris, who is the owner of a booth selling handicrafts, shared his thoughts.

Its a positive thing for Hongkongers to commemorate 612 with diversified activities. Assemblies, exhibitions, flea markets and seminars. I think flea markets and seminars are more enticing to families who have children and the elderly, it create a sense of community.

Katherine, a merchant who sells ceramic tableware, also believed that there are many ways to commemorate 612. This event focused on the seminar, not the flea market. Instead of treating the event like a carnival, those who attended the event still remember the entire movement and have 612 engraved in their hearts.

Anti-brainwashing Education Platforms

Three scholars who moved to the UK in the past 2 years, Benson Wong Wai-Kwok, Hans Yeung Wing-yu, Chung Kim-wah, held an online press conference on Jun 12. They announced the establishment of Citizens of Our Time Learning Hub (COOTL), to counter Hong Kongs brainwashing education system through writing and videos.

They pointed out that Hong Kong had been facing severe political oppression and shrinking civil rights. One of the most severe is that the next generations will be bound by brainwashing in Hong Kong.

They were also talked about the fears of history being erased and universal values depreciated.

It became intolerable for schools and teachers to play their professional roles under such high pressure. It had caused a shakedown of essential values in a civilized society.

Therefore, the three musketeers Wong, Yeung, Chung, founded COOTL with other migrant Hongkongers. The group wanted to conserve the truth for the next generations, bringing the power of dispersed Hongkongers together.

There are two aspects of the COOTL curricula.

Firstly, the platform aims to provide Hong Kong parents, teachers and students learning elements outside of the normal curriculum; to preserve history truthfully and reflect the societal environment as it happened; to counter narrow viewpoints distorted by political propaganda.

Secondly, the scholars hope to provide scattered Hongkongers overseas a proper platform to learn by self-reflection and deep exploration on the future of Hong Kong and Hongkongers.

There are six categories on its website. The first one is described as focusing on preserving history and reflecting the current social situation factually, plus discussing the social development of Hong Kong and the future of Hongkongers.

The next two read as introducing a variety of cultural materials such as books, movies and music that highlight universal values, while employing fables to trigger societal re-evaluation, its absurdity as well as possibilities of the future, The column also mentioned using various themes of characters to examine Hong Kongs cultural and core values.

Last but not least, the platform aims to provide teachers and students with general education courses.
Score Quality MS Excel Training for Only $20

Go from Excel zero to hero.

Sponsored Content

Microsoft Excel is indisputably one of the most powerful programs in the Microsoft Office Suite. The extent of your familiarity with the app may begin and end with basic data organization and number crunching, but Excel can do so much more than that. It can perform complex calculations, data analysis, data modeling, financial forecasts, trend-spotting, task automation, and so much more. Having intermediate knowledge of Excel can do wonders not just for your productivity, but for your career as a whole, too.

If you want to hone your Excel prowess, the Microsoft Excel: From Beginner to Advanced (2022) course can help get you started. It packs eight hours of content on the most basic to advanced Excel functions and tools to take you from zero to hero. For a limited time, its on sale for 88 percent off.

This expert-led bundle is specifically designed to show you how to use a workbook properly. Whether youre a novice or an intermediate Excel user, the course will help you build and prepare a workbook good enough for a Fortune 500 CEO to a household budget, and everything in between. Youll learn all about tables, charts, formatting, formulas and functions, macros, pivot tables and charts, and more within eight hours. It aims to get you up to speed with the programs functionalities as much as possible, so you can expect to be at a capable level within the first hour of lectures.

The course has a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars, and its taught by computer technician Warrick Klimaytys. A self-proclaimed Windows Warrior, hes on the mission to deliver quality lessons in bite-sized chunks for quick and easy learning.

With this course, you can acquire critical Excel knowledge in no time. It normally retails for $175, but you can get it on sale for only $19.99.

Microsoft Excel: From Beginner to Advanced (2022)  $19.99 See Deal

Prices subject to change.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) speaks to reporters outside of his office on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 6, 2021. Manchin spoke on the debt limit and the infrastructure bill. (PKevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Sen. Joe Manchin Announces Support for Compromise Gun Control Bill

Manchin's support all but guarantees the bill's passage through the Senate.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) in a June 13 interview signaled his support for the gun control package hammered out after negotiations between Senate Republicans and Democrats, saying that the package should not concern law-abiding gun owners.

A bipartisan group of senators on June 12 announced the legislative package of gun control measures that include more resources for mental health needs, school safety, and more.

The proposal has the support of 10 Republican senators, which is needed in the 5050 Senate to overcome any legislative filibuster. It was praised by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a longtime proponent of gun control measures.

The plan calls for an enhanced review process for younger gun buyers.

For prospective buyers under 21 years of age, the plan requires an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement, according to their statement.

The bill also will provide support for state crisis intervention, protections for domestic violence victims, funding for school-based mental health and supportive services, investment in children and family mental health services, clarification of the definition of federally licensed firearms dealer, penalties for straw purchasing of guns, and telehealth investments.

Notably, the framework bill includes a so-called red flag provision, allowing for resources to states and tribes to create and administer laws that help ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of individuals whom a court has determined to be a significant danger to themselves or others, according to a June 12 statement by the group.

Now Manchin, a critical swing vote, has come out in support of the package.

During an appearance on CNNs The Lead with Jake Tapper, Manchin claimed that gun owners in his state, a longtime red stronghold, want the federal government to take action, particularly on preventing mentally ill people from accessing weapons.

We have to do something. And gun owners are standing up. You take polls around the country, in my state, toolaw-abiding gun owners want something to be done, Manchin said. They dont want people who should never have a gun, or is mentally incapacitated or not stable, to be able to access anything they want.

The principles underlying the package, primarily prevention and intervention, are something thats sensible and reasonable, Manchin said.

We have got to take what we have got as a positive and work off of this. But this should notthis piece of legislation, as drafted, should not be threatening to any law-abiding citizen in the United States of America, not one. And no law-abiding gun owner should be offended by this, Manchin continued. We take no rights away, no privileges away. We dont basically threaten youre going to lose anything at all.

However, the inclusion of controversial red flag provisionswhich allow the state to seize weapons from someone or prevent them from purchasing a weapon based on an anonymous tip that they may be a danger to themselves or othershas long been an issue that Second Amendment advocacy groups have rallied against.

The package, which has the support of 10 Republicans, is all but guaranteed to pass the 60-vote filibuster threshold with Manchins backing.

The Republicans who support the measure are Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Mitt Romney (Utah), John Cornyn (Texas), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Rob Portman (Ohio), and Pat Toomey (Pa.).

In the past, Manchinone of the only Democrats hailing from GOP-dominated West Virginiawas among a faction of Democrats who expressed some discomfort with David Chipman, President Joe Bidens first controversial pick to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

Eventually, skepticism from Manchin and other members of the Democrats Senate caucus forced Biden to withdraw Chipmans nomination.

If it is passed by the Senate, the Housewhich is narrowly held by Democratsis likely to quickly work to pass the bill.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
Sheriff Grady Judd and the Polk County Sheriff's Office, in partnership with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Polk Sheriff's Charities, Inc., hosted a morning of fishing fun for over 100 area youth on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, at the lake south of the Sheriff's Operation Center at 1891 Jim Keene Boulevard in Winter Haven, Florida. (Courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff's Office)

Shooting in Uvalde: Florida Sheriff Grady Judd Says Police Response Was Complete and Total Failure

'The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun'

It has been nearly a month since the May 24 shooting at Rob Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, left 19 children and two teachers dead.

In that time, scant information has been provided by law enforcement officials and what little that has been released is often in conflict with other information and sometimes statements that were issued only to be withdrawn just hours later. However, the outspoken sheriff of Polk County, Florida, is unequivocal in his opinion that the police response was a complete and total failure.

First, my heart is crushed, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told The Epoch Times. There arent adequate words to express my feelings about the absolute massacre of those children, those babies, at that elementary school, and their teachers.

I am equally as angry at the lack of an appropriate police response. That was an active shooter. He shot children who lay on the floor bleeding and I am certain some of them probably died during that interim period while police stood outside in the hallway as opposed to immediately charging in, he said.

At a March 16 press conference, Sheriff Grady Judd shares that 108 people were arrested by the Polk County Sheriffs Office Vice Unit during a six-day undercover human trafficking operation, Operation March Sadness 2, which began on March 8, 2022. (Courtesy of the Polk County Sheriffs Department)

According to Judd, the police response in Uvalde was contrary to all of the training provided to deputies in his office and he suggested it was equally contrary to the training that police agencies are given in Texas and across the nation.

At the end of the day, the police response was a complete and total failure, Judd asserted, conceding that while he was basing his opinion on review of information coming out in the media, he believes there has been enough accurate information reported that allows him to draw his conclusion.

Until the investigation is complete, he added, youre on the outside looking in. But if you accept on face value the fact that the door was unlocked, the door wasnt closed, or the door was ajar, that is an epic failure on the school system. One of the simplest things you can do to either stop or at least delay a shooter and provide people in a school more time to protect themselves until police can respond is to have locked doors.

As Judd explained, some of the most basic security measures present the greatest opportunity for safety. He is also certain that after the investigation is complete, it will be determined that the shooting in Uvalde fits the same pattern as all the other active assailants weve seen.

You will see there were opportunities in advance to have interventions and people were either in denial or didnt report it because thats what we see, Judd said. These assailants give off signs, evident signs usually, and it comes back to the simplest things that dont cost money. If you see something or hear something, say something. Give law enforcement an opportunity for an intervention.

While Texas Governor Greg Abbott asserted that authorities were unaware that 18-year-old Salvador Ramos had any history of any diagnosed mental illness or any known criminal activity, and that there was no meaningful forewarning of this crime, the stories emerging from peers and family members of Ramos describe clear signs of mental anguish, violent behavior, and a social disconnect.

According to one report, Ramos posted a photo on social media of two AR-15-style rifles. One he purchased on March 17, even though he was not of legal age at the time. Three days after his May 16 birthday, Ramos purchased the second weapon. Three days later, he returned to purchase 375 rounds of ammunition.

In another report, peers described Ramos as a dropout who was bullied hard, and needed mental help. His homelife consisted of a drug-addicted parent who constantly threatened to kick him out of the house and his school friendships were short-lived because of his volatile temper. After dropping out of high school, friends say Ramos underwent a dramatic change in his appearance. He grew his hair long and dressed all in black. Another friend described how Ramos frequently had cuts on his face, admitting he did it himself for fun.

Change Needed

For years, Judd has been vocal about changes he insists Florida needs to adopt to protect children in schools. In the wake of the Feb. 18, 2018, shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead and another 17 injured, Judd touted his departments Sentinel Program, which was already in effect at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida.

I called the person who was the school superintendent at that time, Judd added. I also called the state college president and the private college president and offered to do the Sentinel training for them. The public schools turned me down. The college turned me down.

The only one who accepted his offer was the private college of Southeastern. The Parkland shooting happened a year later.

At an occasionally testy news conference following the Parkland shooting, Judd acknowledged that some would not agree with his Sentinel Program. However, to those who criticized his program yet offered no alternatives, Judd presented a challenge. OK, Einstein, you got a better idea?

The guy comes onto the campus with a gun. No one has a gun. Its easy to shoot, Judd said in a Feb.19, 2018, interview with a local Tampa news outlet. Its a game changer when all of a sudden, two or three people are shooting back at you. Ill promise you that.

As Judd explained, the Sentinels in his program qualify at a higher percentage than is necessary to qualify as a police officer or law enforcement officer in the state of Florida. On day one of the Sentinel Academy, Sentinels have to prove a higher level of proficiency to carry, possess, and use a firearm.

Following the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas shooting, Judd said thats when legislators finally came to him to talk about his program.

They took my Sentinel Program, added 12 hours of diversity training and changed the name to the Guardian Program, Judd said.

While the Parkland shooting inspired people to want a law enforcement officer at schools, Florida already had several thousand vacancies in staffing. Even if they had the money to hire all of the needed police officers or deputies, there werent enough trained personnel to fill the positions. Thats what encouraged legislators to pass the guardian program.

We thought we would have difficulty in hiring enough qualified guardians for the school, Judd admitted, But, believe it or not, because the guardians work the same days and hours that their children attend school, it has been an overwhelmingly popular job and we dont have any problem at all staffing Guardian positions.

In Florida, 45 of the states 67 county school districts have implemented some form of armed guardian program. Many of these were instituted in the aftermath of the 2018 Parkland shooting. Santa Rosa County, Florida is poised to become the 46th.

At the end of the day, the Guardians are doing remarkable work and we are very pleased with the results, Judd said. We want at least one armed person at every public school and charter school in this stateones better than none. Two would be better than one and four would be better than three. We need to have some redundancy, and that is what I am advocating for now.

No matter what we do, we can never 100 percent say there will never be another active assailant, Judd confessed. But I can assure you of this: we can reduce the probabilities significantly when not only law enforcement, the government, and everybody in the community wakes up and understands that there are a few very evil, deranged, mentally ill and/or drug addicted people who are very dangerous and we need to know who they are before they decide to show up at the next theater, business, shopping mall or school to hurt people.

We can reduce those probabilities. But we cannot continue to stay in denial about it as a society, he said.

He said the Baker Act, which governs involuntary institutionalization of people with mental health issues, needs more teeth.

Asked about those who are still critical of school Guardian programs, Judd said, They certainly didnt have a child that was shot and killed at Columbine, Parkland, or in Uvalde, Texas.

Theres always going to be a few critics, and the media will seek them out for an opposing position, and I will respect their input, Judd said. But they are just absolutely and unequivocally wrong.

The reason why they are wrong is if all of the layers we should have in place to identify potential active assailants and to have interventions arent effective, the last best chance to save your childs life is to have a well-trained law enforcement officer, Guardian, or Sentinel, to find this active shooter, hopefully before they ever get into the school parking lot to kill your child.

As simple as it sounds, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun, and when everything else fails, I clearly and unequivocally believe that a well trained Guardian or law enforcement officer is imperative to the safety and security of children at a school, he said.

Having well armed, well trained people is not the first line of defense. Its the very last best chance to stay alive when everything else has failed.
Editor's note: this story will be updated throughout the day as reporters and editors learn more about the developing flood situation.

Federal disaster declaration announced for Montana

Update 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 16

President Joe Biden has announced a major disaster declaration for Montana in response to the flooding activities.

Part of the release states:

The acute damage to infrastructure, particularly in and around Yellowstone National Park, will impact communities that rely on tourism and recreation for livelihoods, jobs, and revenue. Park County benefits from more than $200 million annually in tourism, and Carbon County brings in $68 million annually from tourism.

Morning round up

Update 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, June 16

Initial damage estimates due to flood activity in the greater Yellowstone region are starting to roll in. A request to the Biden administration to issue a presidential major disaster declaration, the state estimated the damage to transportation infrastructure alone is $29 million. Among other things, the request points out that Carbon County relies on $68 million from tourism each year, and Park County sees $200 million injected into its local economy. It is very unlikely communities will see those dollars this year.

The flow of the Yellowstone River around Billings receded several feet overnight and city residents were able to resume normal water use as of Thursday morning. The surge along the Yellowstone had caused crews to temporarily shut down the Billings water treatment plant on Wednesday.

During a call with residents and tourists in Cody, Wyoming the Yellowstone National park superintendent said the entire park will remain closed through the weekend. The less-damaged southern loop of the park is now expected to open Monday at the earliest. Park officials continue to assess the damage.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is set to declare an emergency in response to historic flooding in the park. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a disaster for flooding on Tuesday.

Flathead County declares a state of emergency for anticipated flooding

Update 4:43 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Flathead County declared a state of emergency in response to anticipated flooding and current flooding.

To date, there is a pre-evacuation notice in place for low-lying areas across Flathead County. Official evacuation notices have been issued for Leisure Road in Kalispell and Blankenship Road from Blankenship Bridge to the North Fork Road.

Road closures in effect:

North Hill Top Road in Columbia Falls.

From Steel Bridge Road to Muddy Drive in Kalispell.

West Side Hungry Horse Reservoir Road between Mazie Creek and Graves Creek Road.

7-mile Upper Whitefish/Stryker Road in the Stillwater State Forest.

Evacuations have been lifted and roads open to resident traffic only are Rabe Road in Columbia Falls and Lake Drive and Bailey Lake Area in Columbia Falls.

The Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter at Columbia Falls High School for individuals affected by the evacuation orders. The Sheriff's Office has established an information line at 406-758-2111.

For current information, follow the Flathead County Sheriff's Office Facebook Page.

Custer-Gallatin and Shoshone National Forests announce closures

Update 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

The Custer Gallatin National Forest has posted an area closure on its website, shutting down all lands, roads and trails in Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park and Gallatin counties.

The exception is the Pryor Mountain portion of the forest, which remains open.

The purpose of this order is to protect emergency personnel, public health and imminent life safety due to widespread flooding events, roads and facility damage in Carbon, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, the posting said.

The closure is in effect from Tuesday through June 24, or until it is rescinded. Violations of the closure can result in a $5,000 fine or six months in jail.

For more details, contact the forest office at 406-587-6701.

Closures are also impacting the Beartooth, Gardiner and Yellowstone Ranger Districts and includes all National Forest system lands within those districts as crews get out to assess damage, the stability of bridges and facilities.

Many of our trailheads in the Paradise Valley and (Absaroka-Beartooth) arent able to be accessed regardless, said forest spokesperson Mariah Leuschen-Lonergan. As waters recede engineers and recreation staff are getting in and determining the safety and stability of infrastructure. We are aware of some washed out roads and bridges and need to assess conditions.

In Cody, the Forest Service announced the snowmelt impacts were having impacts on the areas recreation sites. They urged patience from travelers.

Some campgrounds, roads, and trails may need to be closed for resource protection as well as public safety. Visitors should plan ahead and visit the Shoshone National Forest website (http://www.fs.usda.gov/shoshone) and Facebook page (US Forest Service  Shoshone National Forest) for updates on any areas that may be closed or impacted.

We know that there are a lot of people who had planned trips to the Greater Yellowstone area and are now having to adjust itineraries because of closures, said Wapiti, Clarks Fork, and Greybull District Ranger Casey McQuiston. The Shoshone National Forest remains open to visitors and recreationists. Additionally, the Washakie and Wind River Ranger districts of the Shoshone National Forest have not been as impacted as the northern portion of the Shoshone, and there are wonderful recreational opportunities on that end of the Shoshone as well.

As daily high temperatures continue to increase throughout the week, with predicted temperatures above 90 by Friday, snowmelt and subsequent runoff could prolong and even potentially exacerbate some of these conditions. The Shoshone National Forest will continue to evaluate the situation and will respond to changing conditions, getting associated information out to the public as soon as possible Wapiti, Clarks Fork, and Greybull Ranger districts Office at 307.527.6921.

Yellowstone River at Billings begins to recede, downstream flooding still occurring

Update 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Water levels along the Yellowstone River at Billings appear to have peaked late Wednesday morning and may now be incrementally dropping.

vernight, the river rose to 16 feet, a full foot higher than its record crest of 15 feet in 1997 and a foot and a half higher than what was initially forecast for the city earlier this week.

By 9 a.m. on Wednesday the Yellowstone had climbed to 16.4 feet and then appeared to jump to 17.52 feet at 11 .a.m., according to data from the National Weather Service. By 12:45 p.m. levels had dropped to 16.3 feet.

Ranches and farmsteads south of Billings stretching to Edgar have been inundated. Yellowstone County officials closed half a dozen roads and are monitoring four bridges.

The area south of Billings at River Road and Duck Creek was nearly all under water, flooding a number of farms and ranches. Water from the Clarks Fork had flooded land and ranch houses around Byam Road at the Yellowstone/Carbon County line as well as the Pryor Edgar Road near Edgar.

Cities in eastern Montana along the Yellowstone River's path are forecast to see higher levels of water but so far not enough to push them into a major flood stage, according to the weather service.

The Yellowstone at Forsyth is predicted to crest at 12.7 feet on Friday morning; flood stage there is 14 feet.

Miles City could see some flooding. The river is expected to crest there at 14.8 feet on Friday afternoon; minor flood stage at Miles City is 14 feet.

Further down the line, the Yellowstone at Glendive is forecast to crest sometime Saturday morning, reaching 53.2 feet. The minor flood stage there is 53.5 feet.

In Sidney, the river is forecast to crest at 17.8 feet on Saturday afternoon. Minor flood stage there is 19 feet.

Carbon County updated flooding situation

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Unsafe conditions remain in the flooded area; the public is urged to stay away from closed areas. Reports of the public accessing unsafe areas continue to be a concern for law enforcement. Many roads, streets and sidewalks are unstable and could give way. Please avoid the area.

The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River near Fromberg and Edgar are experiencing significant flood impacts as well as Rock Creek in Red Lodge. It is expected that water will continue to recede today.

A significant warming trend is expected this Friday/Saturday and the public is urged to stay alert of changing water conditions. Public Works staff along with Montana Department of Transportation are assessing the damage due to the floods. The public is urged to stay away from the flooded and closed areas for their own safety. A boil order is still in effect for Red Lodge, Fromberg and Edgar.

Current evacuation orders in effect:

Red Lodge: Evacuation orders in Red Lodge have been lifted.

Belfry: Lovers Lane.

Fromberg: All areas east of Highway 310, south of East River Road west of the river.

Joliet: No evacuation orders are in effect at this time.

Bridger: No evacuation orders in effect at this time.

All drinking water from the tap should be boiled before use in Red Lodge, Fromberg and Edgar. Public Works has reestablished water service to parts of Red Lodge but significant damage to the infrastructure has occurred and parts of Red Lodge remain without water. Water is out in Fromberg as water pumps supplying the town were underwater.

Planned Actions:

As water recedes, ongoing assessments of area roads/bridges will continue today. Crews are working to restore 19th Street bridge in Red Lodge; however, this road remains closed to the public. Highway 308 bridge is comprised, remains closed to the public and crews are working to restore the Highway 308 bridge. Crews will also be working on Meteetsee bridge; however, this road remains closed to the public. Crews are working to reestablish access to the water plant today and clearing debris out of roadway in Red Lodge. Crews will be in Fromberg and Belfry today working on road access. Lovers Lane in Belfry remains closed. Northwestern Energy will be working in the area fixing gas lines and working on restoring electric poles. Bridge engineers arrived today and will be working with county road departments on assessing damage.

Evacuation Shelters:

The American Red Cross has setup evacuation shelters located at the following locations:

 Fromberg School

 Red Lodge Fairgrounds

Public Meeting:

A public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 16th at Fromberg School at 6:00 PM at 319 School St, Fromberg, MT 59029. The meeting will also be lived stream to Facebook Live at the Carbon Alerts Facebook page.

Sandbags:

The public can get sandbags at the following locations, volunteers have been assisting with filling bags:

 Fromberg School

 Joliet Road Shop, 202 State Street

 Bridger Road Shop, 22 Old Mine

Weather: Seasonally cooler weather remains today with temperatures in the 60s in the lower elevations with upper elevations in 40s- 50s. No significant rain is expected over the next 24-48 hours. Warmer weather is expected to arrive tomorrow and into Friday and Saturday. Water levels will potentially rise with the warmer weather moving in the region later in the week. The public is urged to remain cautious, stay alert of changing water conditions and stay clear of flooded areas.

Resources Assigned:

The Western Montana Type III Incident Management Team continues to assist local flood relief efforts. Numerous agencies are on scene including: Carbon County DES, Carbon County Sheriffs Office, Red Lodge Police Department, Red Lodge Fire & Rescue, Montana Highway Patrol, Fromberg Volunteer Fire Department, Bridger EMS, Bridger Volunteer Fire, American Red Cross, City of Red Lodge, Public Works, Forest Service, Beartooth Billings Clinic, Carbon County Public Health Department, Montana Department of Transportation, Montana FWP Game Wardens, Two Bear Air, and Montana National Guard.

For current information follow the Carbon Alert Facebook page or call 406-426-2425.

Stillwater County updated flooding situation

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Stillwater County  Flooding has impacted the entire Stillwater River, parts of the Yellowstone River, Itch-Kep-Pe Camping Area and Reed Point.

 Damage assessments and resource allocations were ongoing.

 Roads and bridges in the area remained impassable.

 Sandbagging operations were continuing. Sand bags are available at Absarokee Fire Hall and in Reed Point.

 Air rescues from West Rosebud and Emerald Lakes were successfully completed.

 Evacuations were lifted but only residents should return to the area.

 Road and Bridge Department are assessing and opening roads as they are deemed safe to traffic.

The following roads were closed:

 Road and Bridge Department are assessing and opening roads as they are deemed safe to traffic

 DES reported to MT DES Duty Officer and NWS

Road Closures by Stillwater Road and Bridge

 West Rosebud to Mystic Lake

 Fiddler Creek Rd to Hwy 419

 Nye Rd at Carters Camp going South

 S. Stillwater River Road is open from Nye to Beehive. Closed at Beehive

 Stillwater River Road Bridge compromised/not passable at Riddles Cliff

 Johnson Ln Road towards North Stillwater River

 Miller Rd at North Stillwater River Rd

 E Jack Stone Rd to North Stillwater River Rd

 Lower Flat Rd off of Joliet Rd. Closed to all but residential traffic

 Yellowstone Bridge in Reed Point

 Miller Bridge on N Stillwater River

 Hwy 419 Going West (Bridge Completely Gone)

 Ingersoll Rd off Hwy 78

 Nye Rd to the Sibanye/Stillwater Mine going south (Road is Gone)

 All Campgrounds and Fishing Accesses in the county are closed until further notice. Per Montana Fish & Game and The United States Forest Service

Red Lodge community meeting: "Red Lodge should not be open for business"

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

During a recent meeting, Red Lodge fire chief and emergency commander Tom Kuntz told residents that every bridge south of Red Lodge is "compromised."

Residents also expressed concerns over the future. The flood has displaced residents from their homes and shuttered businesses that depend on the busy summer months.

"As a community leader, I think I always want to say Red Lodge is open for business," Kuntz told the crowd. "Right now, Red Lodge should not be open for business."

A sign on alongside the highway in Rockvale warns travelers to stay away. It reads: "Red Lodge is evacuated. Please do not come."

Billings braces itself as Yellowstone River rises, smaller communities swamped

Update 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15

The Yellowstone River crested above 16 feet overnight, a foot above the previous record. It was so high, the river gauge was overwhelmed and stopped measuring at 15-feet, 4-inches.

Billings Public Works officials warned city leaders Monday night that if the river rose to 15 feet it would put the water and wastewater treatment plants in jeopardy. A levy has been built around the plants and water pumps have so far been keeping up with whatever river water is coming over the levy.

In the small town of Edgar, flooding from the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River swamped all the septic tanks. Residents cant use their toilets and porta-potties have been set up on every street corner.

Downriver, small farm towns like Huntley Project, Worden, and Ballantine are swamped, but no reports yet of lost roads or bridges. Further downriver, cities like Forsyth and Miles City are bracing for the surge with voluntary evacuation orders in the low country along the river.

As temperatures rise this weekend and more rain is in the forecast, there could be a second surge.

Yellowstone National Park evening presser highlights - northern entrance to remain closed

Update 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The flood damage will keep the northern half of Yellowstone National Park closed to tourists for the rest of the summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly told reporters Tuesday evening. The area includes the iconic Lamar Valley, Tower Falls and Mammoth Hot Springs.

The southern loop of Yellowstone National Park may reopen to visitors in a week or less, he added, using some type of reservation system or timed entry to control entry. Travel from Jackson, Wyoming, was already going to be hampered by road construction. Entrances that would be reopened for the southern loop include the East, South and West gates near Cody, Jackson and West Yellowstone, respectively.

Park County authorities focus on helping residents, look to start assessing damage

Update 4:10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The water is receding north of Yellowstone National Park.

Park County Sheriff Brad Bichler said during a press conference Tuesday that crews have been able to start looking at just how much damage was done since flooding began. The sheriffs office has completed at least a dozen rescues, he said.

In Gardiner, several homes along the Yellowstone River have been lost, Bichler said. Whispering Pines, Cooke City and Silvergate have also sustained extensive damage. Lisa Lowy, interim Livingston city manager, said the citys southeast areas saw homes flooding and street damage that remains to be totally assessed.

Now, Bichler said, officers are focused on moving non-local traffic out of Gardiner. Highway 89 opened between Gardiner and Livingston on Tuesday, which he said should help get essential goods into town.

The eight patients housed at Livingston HealthCare on Monday remain at Pioneer Medical Center in Big Timber, hospital CEO Deb Anczak said during Tuesdays press conference. The main campus phone system is still down, Anczak said, but an inspection found no water penetrated the facility.

That means that depending on when roads open in the area, the hospital is looking to reopen its emergency department as soon as possible and return to inpatient care. For now, the hospitals urgent care center on Highway 89 is operational and its Shields Valley Clinic in Wilsall has extra staff on hand to handle walk-ins.

Those who need help or are looking for information in the area, Park County Emergency Manager Greg Coleman said, should call the hotline at (406) 222-4131.

You can also text your zip code to Nixle at 888777 to receive updates by text.

Only call 911 if you have an emergency, Coleman reiterated.

Theyre very busy right now, he said.

The HRDC in Livingston set up an emergency shelter at its warming center on South Second Street Monday night, and may stay open Tuesday depending on how many people need it. Coleman said to call the hotline if youre looking for a place to stay.

Offers of help in any form can be directed to 211.

Were in for the long haul, Park County Commissioner Steve Caldwell said. Its going to be a long exercise, but I think were up to it.

Cody resort shutters temporarily amid flood

Update 2:40 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Pahaska Tepee Resort  located outside Cody, just two miles from Yellowstones east entrance  is shuttered through at least Thursday.

The resort boasts cabins, a restaurant, gift shop and outdoor activities. Its oldest lodge was built by U.S. Colonel William Cody (a.k.a. Buffalo Bill) himself.

Pahaska was booked at about 90% capacity at the beginning of the week, said Angela Coe, who runs the resort. But rainfall over the weekend caused the North Fork Shoshone River to swell so much, it got into the lodges water system, Coe said. Staff shut off the system Monday to prevent it from getting into the resorts tap, and sent all guests home.

The rivers since receded. Coe said Pahaska Tepee is currently sending water samples to the Wyoming Department of Health in Cheyenne. The water needs to test as safe two days in a row before the lodge can open up again.

If all goes well, the resort will reopen Friday.

But Pahaska Tepees guests often come for Yellowstone, Coe said. She doesn't expect Codys tourism business to recover until the parks southern region reopens, too.

Prospective vacationers arent waiting for answers, Coe said. The phones at Pahaska Tepee have been ringing nonstop with cancellations. She emphasized that people are wanting to cancel their July and August reservations.

Officials to release water from Mystic Lake dam

Update 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Mystic Dam will be releasing water from Mystic Lake to maintain safe water levels within the reservoir, Stillwater County officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

"This action is necessary to maintain safe water levels behind the dam," a statement from a Stillwater County spokesperson said. "Since the Stillwater and Rosebud River levels have dropped we anticipate little to no impact on the current flooding situation."

Yellowstone to remain closed at least five more days

Update 1:56 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a release the park will remain closed at least five more days.

In a release, Sholly said Xanterra's seasonal employees will be moved from Mammoth and that concession facilities in the northern part of the park at Mammoth and Roosevelt "will not reopen likely the rest of the year."

The park also will:

 Implement full visitor closure of the backcountry.

 Evaluate needs for backcountry evacuations.

 Improve Old Gardiner Road from Mammoth to the North Entrance and use the road for administrative travel and evacuate visitors.

 Restore power to northern Yellowstone sites and Canyon, Lake and Norris.

 Evacuate Gardiner visitors via the Old Gardiner Road.

 Support Gardiner residents with a resupply of food, water and medicine.

 Support isolated NPS residents at the NE Entrance via aircraft if necessary.

 Support Cooke City residents as needed.

 Mitigate wastewater impacts of destroyed sewer lines in Gardiner and Mammoth.

 Relocate all Mammoth-based concessions employees to properties on the southern loop.

 Halt and redirect any inbound employees hired to work in Mammoth or Tower who haven't arrived yet.

 Support employees who lost housing in Gardiner.

 Prepare for outside teams to help assess damage.

 Prepare reservation system strategy for southern loop for remainder of the year.

Jackson works to accommodate Yellowstone-bound tourists

Update 12:39 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Teton County Fairgrounds was a landing site for a few dozen displaced Yellowstone campers Monday.

About 38 RVs parked there overnight, according to Trista Hiltbrunner, a staff member at the fairgrounds. Some of them came from inside the park, she said. By noon Tuesday, just a couple remained.

Cities and towns located just outside of Yellowstone were busy Tuesday connecting displaced visitors with lodging, and helping them figure out next steps.

We really do operate as one, Rick Howe, vice president of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, said of Yellowstones gateway communities.

At this point, the chambers mostly getting calls from people who were planning to visit the park this week, and suddenly had nowhere to go, he said.

The chamber extended its phone services by three hours so it could accommodate the rush of calls. Its now live from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Howe said Jackson is preparing to accept more displaced travelers and evacuees, but is waiting to hear more from park officials.

Yellowstone provides update on conditions, evacuations - no deaths or injuries reported

Update 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

During a conditions call, Yellowstone National Park officials said the Montana Department of Transportation and the Park County Sheriffs Office opened U.S. Hwy 89 at Yankee Jim Canyon through Bozeman at 35 mph to locals, delivery and service vehicles and outbound visitors, including trailers, at about 11:35 Tuesday morning.

"We cleared visitors from the entire northern end of the park," said Park Superintendent Cameron Sholly. "There are no visitors in the northern end, currently."

No injuries or deaths have been recorded from the flooding, Sholly said. The extent of the damage is still unclear. "We've kept our teams out of harm's way," he said. "We won't know exactly what the damage looks like until the water goes down."

The Park Service is still working on evacuating the southern part of the park and making contact with backcountry hikers.

The southern loop, which suffered significantly less damage than the northern loop, can't handle the full visitation Yellowstone receives, Sholly said. The park is still figuring out when and how the southern entrances will reopen. "That's still probably a little ways out, and it'll be some sort of reservation system, likely  a temporary reservation system," Sholly said.

Park officials said Mammoth and Roosevelt will likely remain closed to visitors for the rest of this year. The Park Service plans to move affected seasonal employees to positions in the southern part of the park.

Do not drink order issued in Gardiner

Update 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has issued a "Do Not Consume" order in Gardiner.

This means that water is not safe to drink or cook with. It is safe for washing hands and showering.

Outside of Gardiner residents in Park County are encouraged to contact the Park County health department with questions about wells that maybe compromised or submerged by flooding. Their number is 406-222-4131.

"If you have a well, and it is submerged by flood water or the water appears to be compromised, the water may not be safe to consume," Park County officials said in a statement Tuesday. "This is especially true for people who are immunocompromised or an infant."

No access to Gardiner available, supplies being shipped

Update 11:58 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

According to a Park County press release, "Attempts are currently ongoing to establish one-way traffic in the Valley [to Gardiner]. As yet, there is still no access. Attempts to establish drop points for supply drops in the Valley and in Gardiner and Cooke City are ongoing."

The press release also stated that, as waters recede, officials will be assessing the damages made to roads and bridges to determine if they are "structurally sound."

Montana National Guard performing evacuations

Update 11:08 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Montana National Guard evacuated 12 people from the communities of Roscoe and Cooke City on Monday as the flooding cut off vehicle access to the towns. Aircrews from the 1-189th General Support Aviation Battalion deployed a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to assist in search and rescue efforts at the request of local law enforcement.

As of Tuesday morning, the Guard unit is conducting a third evacuation operation for recreationalists around East Rosebud Lake.

We are standing by for additional requests for support, Maj. Ryan Finnegan, Montana National Guard Public Affairs Officer said. As local law enforcement requests assistance, we will continue to provide what resources are available.

A Florida family of eight were plucked by a helicopter from a flooded rental outside Cooke City, at the parks Northeast Entrance, on Monday after high waters stranded them.

A Cooke City man was air lifted by the National Guard after he suffered hypothermia from cold waters as he self-rescued.

Gov. Greg Gianforte announces "statewide disaster"

Update 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

In a Tweet on Monday, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a "statewide disaster."

In a separate post released just before to the disaster Tweet Gianforte stated, "For the last 24 hours, the State Emergency Coordination Center has been working with partners in Carbon, Stillwater, and Park counties to evacuate, ensure shelter, and safely restore power and water in areas impacted by severe flooding."

Power returns to Red Lodge, flood levels drop

10:02 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

Power in Red Lodge was restored and flood levels were declining slightly. Rock Creek was forecast to crest Monday afternoon around 1 p.m., but 80-degree temperatures predicted for later in the week are raising concerns that the tragedy is not yet over.

"It's still a river flowing" down the streets, said resident John Clayton whose house was flooded. "But it's an almost fordable river now."

Morning update for greater Yellowstone area

9:05 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

One day after milk-chocolate flood waters surged through Yellowstone National Park and nearby communities, officials and residents were working to assess the damages as others downstream braced for historically high rivers expected to come Tuesday.

Just after 10 p.m. Monday, people living in a sizable portion of southeast Livingston were required to evacuate due to the rising Yellowstone River, though the order was lifted just before 9 a.m. Tuesday. About a half-hour after the evacuation notice Monday night, the city's hospital, Livingston HealthCare, closed as the river's record-high waters crept into its parking lot.

By 1 a.m. Tuesday, the Yellowstone had reached flood stage at Billings, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS forecast the river to crest Tuesday afternoon at 14.7 feet, just three-tenths of a foot shy of the record established in 1997.

Meanwhile, the world's first national park and the south-central Montana communities of Red Lodge, Gardiner and Fishtail began to further assess damage from unprecedented flooding on the Yellowstone and Stillwater rivers as well as Rock Creek.

Images of damage from the frothing streams continued to emerge Tuesday morning. Celebrating its 150th anniversary during prime tourist season, Yellowstone remained indefinitely closed at all five entrances Tuesday for only the third time in 34 years  most recently in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also for the infamous 1988 fires.

Residents and tourists in Gardiner at Yellowstone's North Entrance and Silver Gate and Cooke City just outside the Northeast Entrance were stranded due to roads made impassable by high water and damage that could take weeks or even months to repair, park officials said.

Officials on Monday were evacuating those still inside the park, beginning in its northernmost reaches, where the impacts  including road washouts, bridge failures, rockslides and mudslides  were most severe.

YNP employees at park headquarters in Mammoth, who remained without power Tuesday morning, planned to buy groceries and other essentials in West Yellowstone, which announced late Monday that it would permit temporary camping in town for people impacted by the closure. A generator was providing power to Mammoth's cell tower, enabling communication to the outside world.

Park employees were to convene at 11 a.m. to assess next steps.

The serpentine road from Mammoth to Gardiner in the Gardner River Canyon was badly damaged, as was the road between Tower Junction and the Northeast Entrance where the Lamar River surged well beyond its record flood level.

As of approximately 9 a.m. Tuesday, the park had not provided an update of the situation on its website or social media pages. At this time, the extent of the damage, as well as how many people may be stranded inside the park, is unclear.

The Yellowstone River crested at just over 49,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) at Corwin Springs in the upper Paradise Valley on Monday, shattering its previous records of 32,200 set in June 1996 and matched a year later. The Lamar peaked at 16.7 feet Monday, breaking its 1996 record by more than four feet and rising two feet above the gauge's upper reach.

Near Corwin Springs, a house for Park Service employees was pried loose from its foundation by the raging waters and spun downstream. U.S. Highway 89 was closed just south of Emigrant, not far from where the iconic Carbella bridge leading to Tom Miner Basin was swept away early Monday in the first sign the Yellowstone meant business.

On the flanks of the Beartooth Mountains to the east, residents of Red Lodge, Fishtail and Nye waited for floodwaters to abate.

Meteorologists said the unprecedented flooding was caused by a convergence of an unseasonably cool spring that retained snowpack, late-spring snowstorms and multiple days of considerable rainfall at high elevations. Parts of the park received more than an inch of rain over 24 hours Monday, more than tripling the previous single-day mark.

Most of the flood damage was centered on YNP and the streams flowing north from the Yellowstone Plateau, including the Gallatin River, which was expected to reach flood stage at Logan about 25 miles of Bozeman in the wee hours Tuesday. On Monday, the Gallatin County Sheriff's office cautioned residents along low-lying stretches of the West Gallatin to be prepared to evacuate.

Also Monday, the Flathead River at Columbia Falls in northwest Montana surpassed flood stage by a half-foot and was expected to rise another two feet Tuesday.

Yellowstone's peak flooding was to push downstream to Big Timber, Columbus, Laurel, Billings and eastern Montana by Tuesday afternoon.

A flood warning for the Boulder River south of Big Timber was lifted Tuesday morning.

The Custer Gallatin National Forest has posted an area closure on its website, shutting down all lands, roads and trails in Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park and Gallatin counties.

The exception is the Pryor Mountain portion of the forest, which remains open.

The purpose of this order is to protect emergency personnel, public health and imminent life safety due to widespread flooding events, roads and facility damage in Carbon, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, the posting said.

The closure is in effect from Tuesday through June 24, or until it is rescinded. Violations of the closure can result in a $5,000 fine or six months in jail.

For more details, contact the forest office at 406-587-6701.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 2 Sad 4 Angry 0
Solar Panels: Bidens Buy China Plan

Originally published by Gatestone Institute

Commentary

On June 6, President Joe Biden, declaring a national emergency, granted a 24-month tariff exemption for solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The biggest beneficiary of Bidens move is none of those countries. Its China. The biggest victim is America.

Bidens executive order essentially suspends a Commerce Department investigation, initiated by a California maker of solar panels, into blatant Chinese tariff evasion. Bidens declaration of emergency does not formally end the investigation, but no tariffs during the 24-month period can be collected, even if Auxin Solar, the complainant, ultimately prevails.

Domestic installers of solar panels had maintained that the Commerce Departments investigation stopped them from proceeding with projects because of the possibility that Auxin would win, which would result, retroactively, in the imposition of stiff tariffs. Across the country, solar projects are being postponed or cancelled, Biden stated in his emergency order.

In this case, the emergency is the threat to the availability of sufficient electricity-generation capacity to meet expected customer demand, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said as the president issued his order.

At the same time he imposed the tariff waiver, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to rapidly expand the domestic production of solar panels and equipment for grid infrastructure.

The White House maintains that it created a 24-month bridge when domestic manufacturers can scale up.

Its way past time to send the president to business school: his plan is unlikely to succeed.

The Biden policy gives Chinese entities two years to cement relationships with current customers and establish new ties, Washington-based trade expert Alan Tonelson pointed out to Gatestone.

Moreover, the Biden approach requires spending far beyond what the administration now contemplates.

The Defense Production Act alone cant possibly enable domestic solar producers to compete with Chinese imports, either from China or routed through third countries, without taxpayer subsidies massive enough to offset those provided by Beijing for its own industry, said Tonelson, who blogs at RealityChek. Beijing set out to destroy the American solar panel industry with subsidies that allowed Chinese companies to sell below the cost of manufactureand, with the help of a series of neglectful American presidents, it largely succeeded.

Bidens plan, says Tonelson, looks like a jerry-built gimmick for placating his green and labor voting blocs rather than a serious strategy to strengthen U.S.-based solar manufacturing.

Correct. American workers cannot compete with slaves. Chinese solar panels are often made with what is politely termed forced laborUyghurs and other captive Turkic minorities transported around China to factories resembling concentration camps.

Now, thanks to Biden, products built by forced or slave labor will find their way into the United States tariff-free. Chinese producers have been shipping China-made products into Southeast Asian countriesmost notably Vietnamand exporting them to the United States with labels falsely showing manufacture in those other countries.

Vietnam cannot possibly make all the products that are stamped Made in Vietnam, onshoring advocate Jonathan Bass told Gatestone. It doesnt have the workers, it doesnt have the factory capacity, and its exports to the United States have grown far too fast in recent years.

In 2021, Vietnams exports to the United States increased a phenomenal 28.1 percent. In the first four months of 2022, they jumped 29.8 percent.

Significantly, in March, China started new train routes from the western parts of the countryareas close to the Uyghur homelandto transport Chinese products to Vietnam.

Bidens June 6 tariff wavier, unfortunately, has two implications that go beyond clean-energy products. The first relates to the resolution of U.S. trade disputes. The White House maintains that the presidents actions reinforce the integrity of our trade laws and processes.

Nothing could be further from the truth. As Mamun Rashid, Auxin Solars CEO, told NBC News, Biden has opened the door wide for Chinese-funded special interests to defeat the fair application of U.S. trade law.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) agrees.

If undue political influence on this case is allowed to prevail, it would lead to more risks and vulnerabilities tomorrow, he and five other legislators wrote to President Biden. In this instance, they warned, U.S. trade rules can be undermined through aggressive political lobbying.

We have not invested in building up American capacity the way we should, and we have not addressed Chinas repeated cheating, Brown stated. On all these decisions, American solar manufacturers and their workers must be at the table.

Biden, unfortunately, has taken away the seats of these domestic stakeholders.

The second implication is even more important. Biden with his tariff waiver dog-whistled to U.S. manufacturers to keep factories in China.

Bass, also CEO of Los Angeles-based PTM Images, explained that U.S. companies at the beginning of June were contemplating making investments to move supply chains from China.

Within hours of Bidens solar panel decision, they decided there was too much uncertainty about U.S. government policy to risk leaving Chinese soil, he noted. Biden made it clear he sided with the Chinese and will not encourage supply chains in other industries to get out of China.

Biden always says he wants to support U.S. manufacturers, but he keeps making decisions favoring Chinese workers. He did that on June 6 when, with a single stroke of his pen, he devastated a U.S. industry, undermined the American legal system, and promoted slave labor in China.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Soldiers in Burkina Faso Recover 79 Bodies so Far After Weekend Attack

OUAGADOUGOUSoldiers in Burkina Faso have recovered 79 bodies so far after an attack in the northern Seno Province over the weekend, the government said on Tuesday, as new details of the assault emerged.

At least 100 people were killed, and possibly as many as 165, in the attack, security and local sources have told Reuters. It was the deadliest attack in at least a year in the West African country, which is battling an insurgency by groups linked to al Qaeda and ISIS terrorist group.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Unidentified assailants first attacked a military police post in Seytenga, a department of Seno Province, on Thursday evening, killing 11 gendarmes, the army said on Friday. It said that gendarmes fought back but were outnumbered.

Three security sources told Reuters on Tuesday that the military police then withdrew to the regional capital, Dori, to regroup, leaving no one at the security post when armed men returned two days later and slaughtered dozens of civilians.

Burkina Fasos army spokesman referred questions to the minister of security, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

The government said that the search for bodies was continuing house by house. The search was slow because soldiers suspect the attackers left improvised explosive devices behind, it said.

More than 3,000 people, mostly children, who fled the attack had arrived in Dori by Monday, the government said.

A project coordinator for medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Dori said on Tuesday that the number had risen to more than 6,800 people and that some were being treated for gunshot wounds.

The government has declared a three-day period of national mourning.
U.S. Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) speaks with constituents during a congressional town hall meeting in Society Hill, South Carolina on Aug. 23, 2017. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

South Carolina Voters Head to the Polls Amid Heat and Hot Races

Enveloped by temperatures that topped 100 with a heat index of 110, South Carolina voters headed to the polls on June 14 to determine who will advance past the primary.

Two races have generated significant national media attention. The Republican Congressional primaries in the neighboring First and Seventh Congressional Districts feature incumbents Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.). Former president Donald Trump is determined to unseat both of the incumbents with his endorsed candidates, Katie Arrington and state Rep. Russell Fry.

South Carolina saw more than 100,000 participate in early voting, and board of elections officials expected a large turnout on primary election day. In parts of the state, storms passed through in the late morning, slowing the traffic, but volume was expected to pick up again in the afternoon when the inclement weather cleared.

Voters in West Columbia, S.C. head to the precinct at Hooks Store on June 14. (Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times)

Outside the voting precinct at Hooks Store in West Columbia, a poll worker said they were busy in the initial hours after the doors opened, but heavy rainfall allowed him to take a break.

West Columbia is four miles from the state capital, Columbia, where Republican Gov. Henry McMaster is seeking another term. He is projected to easily defeat challenger Harrison Musselwhite, who is chairman of the Greenville County Republican Party legislative committee.

Joe Cunningham, a former congressman, and state Sen. Mia McLeod, are the frontrunners in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Carlton Boyd, Calvin McMillian, and William Williams are also seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Cunningham was defeated in his U.S. House re-election bid in 2020.

The winner will face a difficult challenge in the general election. A Democrat has not been elected governor in the state since 1998, and no Democrat has prevailed in a statewide race since 2006.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) represents South Carolinas Sixth Congressional District, which includes a portion of Columbia and stretches southeast all the way to parts of Charleston.

Dubbed a kingmaker in Democratic party politics because of his successful track record of supporting and campaigning for candidates nationwide, Clyburn is the House majority whip.

Michael Addison and Gregg Marcel Dixon are running against Clyburn in the Sixth Congressional District Democrat primary. Clyburn first took office in January 1993 and is expected to prevail on June 14 and then in November against Duke Buckner or A. Sonia Morris, candidates in the Republican primary.

The Two Top Races

Trumps 76th birthday is June 14, and last week he posted on Truth Social asking South Carolina voters to deliver him a beautiful, beautiful present with defeats of Mace and Rice.

Lynz Piper-Loomis, who was a candidate in the 1st Congressional District race before stepping away and endorsing Katie Arrington, casts her vote on June 14 with her daughter, Shyann Loomis. (Photo courtesy of Lynz Piper-Loomis)

In Summerville, S.C., Lynz Piper-Loomis was accompanied by her 19-year-old daughter Shyann Loomis. They voted for Arrington.

A month ago, Piper-Loomis envisioned casting a ballot for another candidateherself. The Republican primary featured three candidates until the debate on May 23. While answering the opening question, Piper-Loomis expressed her support for Arrington, removed her microphone, and exited the stage and the race. She has campaigned for Arrington since.

Our campaign created a loyal grassroots movement that inspired people to get involved, which is one of our original goals, said Piper-Loomis, an entrepreneur and conservative activist who plans to announce her next endeavor this summer. We saw that our polling numbers were not what we wanted them to be, and Katie and I share the same viewpoint on many issues, so I stepped out and directed support to her.

Katie and I unified, Piper-Loomis added. She is America First, and Nancy Mace is not a conservative.

From 2016 to 2018, Arrington represented South Carolinas 94th House District.

In 2018, she defeated sitting congressman and former governor Mark Sanford in the Republican primary before losing in the general election to Cunningham. It was the first time a Democrat House candidate prevailed in the district since 1978.

Bolstered by Trumps support, Mace unseated Cunningham in 2020. Mace voted to certify Joe Bidens victory in the 2020 presidential election and has frequently blamed Trump for the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach.

This led Trump to give Arrington his stamp of approval to unseat Mace.

She turned her back on [former] president Trump, and that is not what a conservative does, Arrington said at the May 23 debate. She read the room wrong. She thought this district was a moderate district, and we are not.

Polls have shown mixed projections. Piper-Loomis believes that the majority of her supporters will vote for Arrington, and that could shift the race.

This is an election that will make America and restore her or will finish breaking the country and we will have to rebuild it from the ground up, Piper-Loomis said. We have a uniparty in the House, and Nancy Mace is a part of that. Just because you are a Republican does not translate to being a conservative.

Not About Trump

Kevin Hennelly is chairman of the Beaufort County Republican Party, which is part of the 1st Congressional District.

He is unsure who will prevail between Mace and Arrington, but he says that data indicates this is not a race about Trump.

Early on, straw polls we conducted showed that this race is not about Trump, Hennelly told The Epoch Times. He is definitely a factor, but it is not just about him.

Results from our straw polls showed that voters believe that the America First platform is what is most important, Hennelly added.

Arrington overwhelmingly won the straw polls in Beaufort County, Hennelly said.

Mace served as a state representative in South Carolinas House of Representatives from 2018 to 2020 before earning her current seat in the First Congressional District.

Beaufort County is more conservative now than it was when Mace was elected in 2020, according to Hennelly.

Arrington is confident that redistricting adjustments will help her in the primary and, if she wins on June 14, the general election.

The 1st Congressional Districts new map now extends further inland to the north, which has created a district where Republicans have a 17-point advantage, up from a 14-point advantage on the old map, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Rice is seeking a sixth term representing South Carolinas 7th Congressional District. He has doubled down on his criticism of Trump in a district that backed the former president with 58 percent of the vote in 2016 and 58.8 percent in 2020.

Rice was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 incident at the U.S. Capitol.

In the interview on ABC News This Week on June 5, Rice called his decision the conservative vote and said, I did it then. And I would do it again tomorrow.

He added that its never the wrong time to do the right thing and that I dont think it will cost me my election, but if doing the right thing costs me my election, then Ill wear it like a badge.

Rice was first elected in 2012 and faces a crowded field of six challengers, including Trump-endorsed state Rep. Russell Fry, who has led in multiple polls.

Fry, who is backed by Trump, told supporters at a Monday rally that he is a committed, America First conservative, and that Rice has forgotten who sent him to Washington and where he came from.

Unforgivable

At a debate in Florence last month, Richardson said Rices vote was unforgivable.

You were hoping that people would forget and you were hoping people would forgive, he said. Im here to tell you tonight they have not forgotten and they have not forgiven.

In May, McMaster signed an election reform bill into law that replaced the former in-person absentee voting with a two-week early voting option.

As of June 10, more than 100,000 South Carolina voters had cast their primary election ballots in the new early voting window, according to the State Election Commission.

Horry County boasted the highest turnout of early voters with 11,618.

Horry County Republican Party chairman Roger Slagle told The Epoch Times that Trump is highly respected in the district, but that wont automatically translate to a victory for Fry on June 14.

When Trump was in the Oval Office, Rice voted with the president 94 percent of the time.

Fry touts a conservative voting record, but the American Conservative Union gave him a 75 percent rating for 2021.

Tom Rice voted to impeach Trump, but a lot of Trump supporters are still scratching their head over his endorsement of Russell Fry because Fry does not have a conservative voting record, Slagle said.

In South Carolina, the top two candidates meet in a head-to-head runoff on June 28 if the leading candidate does not get more than 50 percent of the primary votes

While the Trump-centered battle between Rice and Fry has dominated the headlines, there could be a surprise when results are announced.

Horry County Republican Party hosted a candidates forum in May. Rice and Fry did not attend, but the five remaining candidates did, and Dr. Garrett Barton decisively won the straw poll of more than 300 attendees.

Barton,35, and his wife, Dr. Kinzie Barton, are family physicians in Cheraw, a small town in Chesterfield County.

His staunch America First platform centers around bolstering the border to address the fentanyl and human and sex trafficking crises. Barton recently visited the Arizona-Mexico border.

If elected, Barton promised to continue Trumps groundbreaking and desperately needed health care reform.

He broke through partisan politics by reducing prescription costs, pushing for price transparency, allowing Americans to access better doctor coverage across rural America, and led improvements to our veterans health care choices, Barton told reporters in May. We have to keep building on these historic changes to our health care system.
Air travelers wear face masks waiting to board a Southwest Airlines flight at Oakland International airport in Oakland, Calif., on April 9, 2020. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Southwest Airlines to Close Reservations Centers as Customer Service Agents Work Fully Remote

Southwest Airlines announced that it will close its reservations centers to go fully remote, effective Sept. 1 of this year.

The airline said that most reservation agents and customer service were already working remotely throughout the pandemic.

More than 3,200 customer service employees based in Albuquerque, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Oklahoma City, and Phoenix and at Southwest headquarters in Dallas will be relocated to work remotely. Those locations will be repurposed to other departments for their use.

Evolving to a fully remote workforce brings increased flexibility, both in attracting and hiring new employees from across the country, and in scheduling current employees who have worked at record efficiency in a remote work environment, said Southwest in a statement to CNBC.

Southwest Airlines just announced they are closing all the Reservation Centers and transitioning to 100% remote work, said the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents the Southwests customer service agents, in a note to its members on June 8.

The airline labor union accused Southwest of making the decision unilaterally without employee input.

Southwest said in a press release May 11 that it would invest $2 billion to transform the customer experience. That includes using digital technology to simplify check-in services for its passengers.

The airline believes the improved digital self-service will reduce the wait at its airport terminals and will free airline staff for specialized hospitality and customer service.

Delta, United, and American Airlines still staff reservations centers and appear to have no intention to change their operations.

Reservation agents at other discount airlines, such as Alaska Airlines and JetBlue, also work remotely. JetBlues customer service agents have worked from home since the airlines founding.

The staff at Southwests corporate headquarters already operates on a hybrid home and office model, which the company said is based on job function and business needs.

Many companies have adapted their work business models since the pandemic, experimenting with remote models instead of in-office work.

As the pandemic recedes and travel picks up again, the airline industry is struggling to hire new pilots and staff.
Trucks parked at the southern port of Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, South Korea, on June 17, 2008. (Byun Yeong-Wook/AFP via Getty Images)

Striking South Korean Truckers Say They May Block Coal to Power Plant

The strike has cost the economy an estimated $1.2 billion

SEOULStriking South Korean truckers are considering blocking shipments of coal to a power plant if the government rejects their demands for minimum pay guarantees, a senior trade union official said on Monday.

The Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union, on strike for a seventh day, is weighing several options to press its demands, including stopping coal to generate electricity and shutting down petrochemical complexes by blocking their shipments in and out.

We are thinking of a complete blockade, union leader Kim Jae-gwang told Reuters, referring to coal shipments to a power plant in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province that he did not name, which uses trucks for its coal.

But we hope such a situation doesnt happen.

The impact of a blockade of the power plant would be limited in terms of national electricity output, even in the high-demand summer, but would mark a significant intensification of the truckers action.

The strike has cost key industrial sectors more than $1.2 billion in lost production and unfilled deliveries, the government estimated on Monday, as the damage spreads deeper through Asias fourth-largest economy.

The union is protesting against soaring fuel prices and demanding minimum pay guarantees. Four rounds of negotiations with the government have failed to find a compromise.

Some 7,050 people, or about 32 percent of union members, were striking on Monday, according to an updated transport ministry estimate. The ministry said in a statement it plans to continue talks with the union to resolve the situation.

Kim said his members were for now letting some movement of traffic to prevent the shutdown of petrochemical facilities, which would cost a lot of time and money to restart, but the union would reconsider that if the government did not show willingness to negotiate.

On Monday, South Koreas new conservative president Yoon Suk-yeol called for ways to reduce the impact of the strike on industry. A transport ministry official said no new meeting with the union was scheduled.

The strike has forced steelmaker POSCO to shut some plants because of a lack of space to store finished products.

It also caused manufacturing losses of 5,400 vehicles for South Korean automakers between June 811, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, with Hyundai Motor cutting production for some assembly lines. Cement makers have also reduced output.

Shipments Disrupted

The strike has disrupted shipments to China of a key material used in the production of semiconductors, the Korean International Trade Association (KITA) said on Tuesday.

It is the first concrete sign that the week-long strike is impacting the global supply chain of chip production.

KITA said a Korean company that produces isopropyl alcohol (IPA), a raw material for cleaning chip wafers, is facing complications in shipping to a Chinese company that in turn supplies wafers to chipmakers.

KITA said in a statement that about 90 tonnes, or a weeks worth of shipments have been delayed.

KITA corrected an earlier statement saying production had been disrupted. It clarified that the Chinese company does not supply wafers to Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.s chip production in China.

Samsung Electronics did not immediately comment. It produces NAND flash memory chips, used for data storage in data centers, smartphones, and other tech gadgets, at its plant in Xian, China.

The trucker union said in a statement on Tuesday it will continue its general strike and condemned the transport ministry for being neither willing to talk nor capable of resolving the current situation.

Petrochemical firms have seen average daily shipments from factories tumbling 90 percent as truckers target complexes in Ulsan, Yeosu, and Daesan, an industry association said.

Two petrochemical industry sources, who declined to be identified, told Reuters that although naphtha crackers are still running at previous rates, some companies may be forced to halt them as soon as later this week if the situation continues.
Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor, and Neil Gorsuch in the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court in Washington on June 1, 2017. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Supreme Court Rules Ban on Double Jeopardy Doesnt Apply in Indian Sexual Assault Case

In dissenting opinion, conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch attacks federal Indian courts as unconstitutional

The Supreme Court ruled 63 on June 13 that a Navajo Indian mans constitutional rights werent violated when he was prosecuted in a second federally established court after being convicted by another court in the same incident.

Although the Fifth Amendment states that no person shall be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, under the dual sovereignty doctrine, a second prosecution is allowed if the defendant was tried first in a state or tribal court.

Navajo Indian Merle Denezpi of Shiprock, New Mexico, was arrested by a U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) police officer after a July 2017 sexual encounter with a Navajo woman identified as V.Y. Denezpi claimed the encounter was consensual but V.Y. said it wasnt. Denezpi reportedly threatened to kill the woman if she reported the assault. A Sexual Assault Nurse Exam was completed on the woman which showed she suffered significant bruising and injuries; a test showed Denezpis DNA was present on the victim.

Denezpi was charged in the local Court of Indian Offenses in Towaoc, Colorado, with making terroristic threats, false imprisonment, and assault and battery, under the Ute Mountain Ute Code. In December 2017, he entered an Alford plea of guilty to the assault and battery charge, but maintained his innocence. In an Alford plea, a defendant doesnt acknowledge guilt but admits prosecutors likely can prove the case against him.

Courts of Indian Offenses, sometimes called CFR courts after the Code of Federal Regulations, were created by the BIA, a part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, to administer criminal justice for those tribes that lack their own criminal courts.

In exchange, the prosecutor dropped the other two charges. The court sentenced Denezpi to time served140 days behind bars.

But in June 2018, Denezpi was indicted on the same underlying facts by a federal grand jury for aggravated sexual assault under 18 U.S. Code Section 2241. In March 2019, a federal jury convicted him after a week-long trial in Durango, Colorado. U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn sentenced Denezpi to 30 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.

Denezpi wrongly believed that he could commit a violent assault, silence the victim with threats, and lie his way out of accountability, U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn said at the time. Thanks to the work of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners, he was proven wrong.

In his petition to the high court, Denezpi argued the charges he faced in the CFR courtcoupled with the manner in which those charges were resolvedfurther support a finding that the CFR court is a quasi-federal court for Double Jeopardy purposes.

The caption on the pleadings in the court, United States of America v. Merle Denezpi, supports the conclusion that the CFR court is a federal court for purposes of double jeopardy analysis, the petition stated.

Denezpi was twice prosecuted in the name of the United States of America for unitary conduct. The second prosecution should have been dismissed and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit erred in affirming that ruling, the petition stated.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the June 13 majority opinion (pdf) in Denezpi v. U.S., court file 20-7622.

The decision didnt break down along the usual liberal versus conservative ideological lines.

Conservative Barretts opinion was joined by conservatives Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and liberal Justice Stephen Breyer.

The dissent, by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, was joined in part by liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Barrett affirmed the ruling of the 10th Circuit.

Denezpis single act led to separate prosecutions for violations of a tribal ordinance and a federal statute. Because the Tribe and the Federal Government are distinct sovereigns, those offence[s] are not the same. Denezpis second prosecution therefore did not offend the Double Jeopardy Clause.

In his dissent, Gorsuch attacked the legitimacy of the Court of Indian Offenses, pointing out it was never authorized by Congress.

That court is a curious regime, Gorsuch wrote, adding that federal officials have acknowledged the court rests on a shaky legal foundation.

One might wonder how an executive agency can claim the exclusive power to define, prosecute, and judge crimesthree distinct functions the Constitution normally reserves for three separate branches.

Denezpi has not questioned whether the Court of Indian Offenses is statutorily authorized  [or] whether the Constitution permits executive officials rather than a judge and jury to try him for crimes. Accordingly, those questionslong lingering and incredibly still unansweredremain for another day, Gorsuch wrote.

Federal authorities brought charges against Mr. Denezpi in his first prosecution in the name of the United States. Those who prosecuted him were employed and controlled by the federal government. He was sentenced by a magistrate whom the federal government had the right to appoint and remove. And for his crime, Mr. Denezpi was incarcerated in a federal detention center. Federal agency officials played every meaningful role in his case: legislator, prosecutor, judge, and jailor.

Denezpis counsel and U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar didnt respond by press time to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.
Teaching Association Raises Alarm Bells as Top Educators, Students Continue to Flee Hong Kong

Droves of people are leaving Hong Kong, including many teachers who feel pressure to self-censor their political opinions both inside and outside the classroom. This has prompted the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools (HKAHSS) to express concern over the loss of talent. It has called on the local authorities to create a better environment for educators and students.

According to surveys conducted by the association, the number of teachers resigning in the 2020-2021 school year rose sharply, doubling the number seen for the 2019-2020 and 2018-2019 school years.

Among the 140 schools surveyed, an average of 7.1 teachers left from each school, including highly-sought teachers with middle-level and senior level teaching experience.

Students are also leaving in large numbers. Surveys taken for the 2020-2021 school year revealed an average of 32 dropouts per school, which is almost a whole class. Of those, 60 percent have left Hong Kong.

This ferocious tide of departure is different from the emigration tide in the past, HKAHSS said in a press release on May 30. From our observation, teachers who are leaving are taking their whole family with them, and they even close their Provident Fund [retirement] accounts. It seems that they are determined to leave for good. We are very worried about when this net outflow of human education talent will stop.

It continued saying that in the past, experienced teachers usually would not leave until retirement age, so schools had plenty of time to help younger teachers gain experience. But what is happening now is that many experienced teachers are deciding to leave with very short notice, and some have even decided to leave in the middle of the school year. Teacher recruitment is also underwhelming, while in the past, schools would receive hundreds of resumes for a single teaching vacancy.

Good salaries wont help keep many of these teachers, as what they are looking for is a culture where they feel respected and can do their jobs professionally and independently, without government interference, it said.

The press release also commented on the many students that are leaving the city with their parents as the city faces political turmoil due to the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) power grabs in Hong Kongs governing institutions. It warned that the brain drain today, and in the years to come, will seriously affect the future development of Hong Kong.

The HKAHSS press release ended by saying, We hope that the government will create a policy in response to these losses, so that teachers can do their teaching jobs with peace of mind.

Political Pressure

Since the CCP forced its National Security Law on Hong Kong in 2020, teachers have faced political pressure. For example, teachers who discuss politics in class face being reported to the authorities by pro-CCP staff, which could result in them losing their teaching credentials.

According to a recent public notice, over the past three years, there have been 502 cases where teachers were found to be in violation of professional ethics. Of these, 344 cases were related to participation in the 2019 anti-extradition protests.

From 2019 to April of this year, 27 teachers have lost their teaching credentials, and another 69 teachers have received letters of censure for discussing controversial political incidents in the classroom. Some teachers also received censure letters from the education bureau for posting remarks in support of the protesters on social media.

Democratic Party education policy spokesperson Chu Tsz-lok stated that it should be the teachers personal freedom to be able to express their opinions on social media, and that discussing controversial incidents can encourage students to think from multiple perspectives.

The censure creates a chilling effect that discourages teachers from teaching knowledge and reasoning beyond books, Chu said. The Hong Kong Democratic Party is concerned that the governments excessive interference in teachers daily lives may exacerbate the loss of local teachers.

The Hong Kong government also began promoting national security education in the curriculum last year, requiring the teaching of the CCPs national security agenda in all subjects across primary and secondary schools. Seeing this as the Chinese regimes efforts to brainwash their children, many Hong Kong parents decided to leave.

Zandra Mok Yee-Tun, a former political assistant at the Bureau of Labor and Welfare, is one example. He recently revealed that he has moved to the UK with his family, mainly driven by concerns for the next generation, as he doesnt want his children to become two-faced people due to the so called national security indoctrination, which just protects the security and interests of the CCP.

According to a Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute survey taken March 2124 this year, 24 percent of respondents said they have plans to emigrate. More than half of this group identified the education environment for their children and the future of their families as the most important factor in their decision to leave Hong Kong permanently.
From L-R: Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity at the Izumi Garden Gallery in Tokyo, Japan, on May 23, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Team Bidens New Plans for Asian Engagement

The new 'framework' is a start, albeit a weak one

Commentary

President Joe Biden took advantage of his first Asia trip to announce a so-called Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). He floated the idea to an assembly of 12 nations from the region, notably not including China and Taiwan.

The White House heralded the presidents visit and the announcement as indicative of Americas return to Asian engagement. The IPEF will do little as it stands, but it does have the potential to bring nations in the region closer to the United States while at the same time excluding China. To enjoy even a modicum success, this initiative will require a lot of additional effort on Washingtons part.

The nations involved would include Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and the seven other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. This group, along with Canada and several Latin American nations bordering the Pacific, was slated initially to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. Negotiations for that trade deal fell apart when the United States withdrew in 2017. At that time, 10 of these nations used elements of the proposed TPP to form the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

In making his announcement, Biden credited the initiative as a way to enhance American leadership and solidify relationships on crucial economic and trade matters. That sounds promising but is nonetheless vague in the extreme.

The detail released by the White House does little to clarify. Rather than explain the framework, spokespeople from the administration seem to prefer to describe it in terms of what it is not. They stress, for example, that it has no military component. It is entirely separate from the Quad agreement between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States or the AUKUS agreement between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Nor, they stress, is the IPEF a trade treaty, as the TPP aspired to become.

Indeed, the White House says it is not even the beginning of such a treaty though its spokespeople express hopes that it might pave the way to a future trade treaty. This is simply practical politics. Had Biden proposed a treaty, it would face a vote in the Senate, the success of which would be doubtful.

The sparse detail offered on the IPEF consists entirely of four equally vague aims. One is to set rules for cross-border data flows. Setting such rules would involve intense negotiations, for all nations jealously guard data. Washington has offered no hint of what it wants those rules to look like. Nor has the administration even hinted at how the IPEF would enforce such rules, which, no doubt, is why some commentators bemoaned a lack of teeth in the American proposals.

The second aimof promoting green energy commitments and projectsfails to give any notion of their nature or extent.

The framework is vaguer still when it comes to its third basic aimto reduce corruption, promote fairness, and strive for effective taxation. A lack of specificity here is entirely understandable since such issues tread very close to matters of national sovereignty. That closeness to much that is highly sensitive also suggests that the aim is impractical.

There was an opening for specificity in the fourth aimcreating economic resilience through supply-chain commitmentsbut the White House announcement nonetheless remained vague.

If the IPEF leaves much to be desired as a basis for binding these nations together, it serves an immediate diplomatic function. Vague and toothless as it is, the framework in its admittedly very small way announces to all nations in the Indo-Pacific regionand especially to Chinathat the United States is planning to remain in the region for the foreseeable future, that the American pivot to the Pacific region (to use a word that former President Barack Obama was exceptionally fond of) will proceed, and that the United States has no intention of ceding any hegemony to China. It tells all countries in the region, albeit weakly, that China is not their only option for trade or anything else for that matter.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A line of electric vehicles of the model Y during the start of the production at Tesla's "Gigafactory" in Gruenheide, southeast of Berlin on March 22, 2022. (Patrick Pleul/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Tesla Hiring 500600 Staff a Month at German Plant: Regional Economy Minister

BERLINTesla is hiring 500 to 600 people a month at its Gruenheide plant and is working with the national employment agency to recruit workers no longer needed at German carmakers, the regional economy minister of Brandenburg said on Monday.

A total of 4,100 to 4,500 staff have been recruited so far, minister Joerg Steinbach said at a conference, of which around 10 percent were foreigners, primarily from Poland.

The situation of carmakers in other regions realising that the production of electric cars requires less people than they had in the past is helping us, because we are trying to bring them here to Brandenburg, Steinbach said.

The Gruenheide plant has been running on two shifts from May 23 with a third due to start before the end of the year, he added.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chief Executive Elon Musk earlier in June told staff that the company would reduce salaried headcount by 10 percent, as it has become overstaffed in many areas but added later on Twitter that hourly headcount will increase.

By Victoria Waldersee
A file photo shows one of Freeport LNG's natural gas facilities in Quintana Island, Texas. (Google Maps screenshot via The Epoch Times

Texas Gas Plant That Exploded and Caught on Fire Wont Be Online for Months: Firm

Freeport LNG said that a Texas liquefied natural gas facility that suffered a fire and explosion last week wont be up and running anytime soon, according to a statement released Tuesday.

Completion of all necessary repairs and a return to full plant operations is not expected until late 2022, the company said in its statement. The facility, located in Texas Quintana Island, suffered an explosion about a week ago.

Due to the contained area where the explosion took place, a resumption of partial operations is targeted to be achieved in approximately 90 days, Freeport LNG continued. The firm said last week that the facility would be shut down for at least three weeks.

Following the announcement, analysts said that the timeline provided by Freeport LNG will put more strain on European natural gas buyers as they have sought more liquid natural gas from the United States and other nations amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Those countries have said they want to reduce exporting natural gas and other petroleum products from Russia as a form of boycott over the Feb. 24 invasion.

The company noted that it made the announcement while being mindful of the impact this incident and our suspension of operations has on our personnel, our surrounding community, and the domestic and international gas and [liquid natural gas] markets.

On Tuesday, American natural gas fell about 16 percent to $7.22 per million British thermal units, according to CNBC. Natural gas prices are still up about 93 percent since the start of 2022 as demand for the fuel has increased as countries try to emerge from COVID-19-related lockdowns and restrictions.

The U.S. natural gas market will now be temporarily oversupplied as 2 bcf/d or a little over 2% of demand for U.S. natural gas has been abruptly eliminated, Rob Thummel, managing director at Tortoise Capital, told the left-wing business news broadcaster.

But the countrys natural gas supply will likely remain at current levels as producers wont reduce production by 2 bcf/d. The result is an oversupplied U.S. natural gas market, he added.

In last weeks explosion, there were no injuries or deaths reported, Freeport LNG said. Fire crews extinguished the fire about 40 minutes later.

Its not clear what sparked the explosion and fire, and the company previously said an investigation is underway.

An incident occurred at the Freeport LNG facility on Quintana Island at about 11:40 am. There were no injuries, all employees and contractors have been accounted for and there is no risk to the surrounding community. The incident investigation will continue, Freeport LNG said in a statement, local media reported.
The governor on Tuesday issued a statewide disaster declaration, citing historic flooding in Carbon, Park and Stillwater counties, in addition to flood warnings across Montana.

The executive order was signed by Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras as acting governor while Gov. Greg Gianforte is traveling out of the country.

With rapid snowmelt and recent heavy rains, communities in south-central Montana are experiencing severe flooding that is destroying homes, washing away roads and bridges, and leaving Montanans without power and water services, Gov. Greg Gianforte said in an emailed statement Tuesday.

Todays disaster declaration will help impacted communities get back on their feet as soon as possible, and I have asked state agencies to bring their resources to bear in support of these communities," he continued.

The state's Disaster and Emergency Services agency is working with local authorities in Carbon, Park and Stillwater counties, according to the press release. DES is also working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In addition, DES leads the State Emergency Coordination Center and is coordinating with local authorities in affected areas. The state activated the coordination center Monday.

Gianforte's office also said it is working with FEMA to pursue an expedited presidential disaster declaration to help cover the cost of emergency protective measures.

A spokesperson for Gianforte said he is in communication regularly while out of the country. He left the county "late last week," according to his office.

"The governor...is regularly briefed on the flooding and the state's response, is in communication with state and local officials, and asked Lieutenant Governor Kristen Juras to take all necessary action in his temporary absence, including visiting Red Lodge today to receive a briefing, tour the damage, and meet with residents and visitors who have been evacuated," spokesperson Brooke Stroyke wrote in an email Tuesday. "Early this morning, the governor formally issued a disaster declaration after verbally authorizing it yesterday afternoon."

The governor will return in a few days, his office said. The state Constitution allows for the lieutenant governor to serve as acting governor when so requested in writing by the governor.

"At the governors direction, the state is bringing every resource to bear to support communities in south-central Montana," Stroyke wrote. "The governor is personally in touch with local officials, as well as Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly, to ensure their needs are met. The states primary focus with partners on the ground remains evacuating areas in danger, ensuring shelter is available, and safely restoring power and water services."

On Tuesday, Montana U.S. Sen. Jon Tester released a statement saying he'd contacted FEMA, the National Park Service, Small Business Association and others.

I am closely monitoring the severe flooding happening in Montana, and I encourage every Montanan to stay safe by following local precautions and avoiding flooded areas. Im in touch with local, state and federal officials to make sure that folks on the ground are getting the help they need as swiftly as possible, and I appreciate the work of our first responders in keeping folks safe," Tester said in an emailed statement.

Montana's U.S. Sen. Steve Daines also issued a statement.

I fully support Governor Gianfortes statewide disaster declaration to help impacted communities get back on their feet as quickly as possible, and I stand ready to facilitate recovery efforts at the federal level, Daines said in the emailed statement.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Montana's U.S Rep. Matt Rosendale said he was tracking the flooding and damage.

This morning, I spoke to Gov. Gianforte and local officials in Stillwater, Park and Carbon counties to get an update on the (effects) the Yellowstone River flooding is having on the communities in southwestern Montana," Rosendale said in the emailed statement. "I wholeheartedly support Gov. Gianfortes decision to declare a statewide disaster, and I am grateful for his efforts to keep the flood damage to a minimum. I will continue to monitor the situation closely and do all that I can to ensure Montana receives the resources it needs in a timely manner.

Holly Michels is the head of the Montana State News Bureau. You can reach her at holly.michels@lee.net

Love 0 Funny 4 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 6

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
King Philippe of Belgium and DRC Congo President Felix Tshisekedi pictured during a meeting at the Palais de la Nation, in Kinshasa, during an official visit of the Belgian Royal couple to the Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 8, 2022. (Benoit Doppagne/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)

The Apology Dilemma: Belgian Kings Controversial Visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo

Commentary

The King of Belgium Philippe, recently visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), previously known as Zaire. It is the first time that the King, who ascended the throne in 2013, visited the country. He was accompanied by his wife, Queen Mathilde, and the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

Philippe is a descendant of King Leopold II, who, following work by explorer Henry Morton Stanley, seized this sizable African landmass in 1885 and established the Congo Free State as a personal fiefdom. He ruled the Congo Free State until 1908 when it was turned into a colony of Belgiumthe Belgian Congountil independence in 1960.

King Leopold II notoriously treated the Congolese people brutally, plundering the resources of the country while enriching himself. According to estimates, he made more than one billion dollars (in todays money) from his exploitation of the countrydespite never setting foot there himself.

The King also employed Congolese in extensive rubber plantations, and amputated the hands and legs of workers unable to meet their quotas.

Commentators speculate that about half the Congolese population perished from punishment or malnutrition. By the time the King died on Dec. 17, 1909, Leopold IIs atrocious human rights violation were well documented, and his reputation ruined. Crowds of Belgian spectators booed his funeral cortege.

Yet, for many decades after his death, Leopold II was officially revered as a great King who gave Belgium an empire. He was honoured by various foreign governments and even the more recent King Baudouin of Belgium who referred to his as a genius.

Until about a decade ago, history books in Belgian schools glossed over the terrible atrocities committed in the name of King Leopold II. And statues to celebrate the achievements of the King were erected throughout Belgium.

However, since the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota in 2020, statues of Leopold II have been vandalised and a few have been removed by local councils. Also, the countrys Parliament established a committee to consider the history of Belgiums colonisation project in the Congo with a report due later this year.

A statue of King Leopold II seen on a crossroad in Arlon, Belgium, on July 15, 2020. The inscription reads I undertook the work of the Congo in the interest of civilization and for the good of Belgium. (Jean-Christophe Guillaume/Getty Images)

However, King Philippes recent visit to the DRC attracts controversy because he has yet to apologise for the inhumane and degrading treatment of the Congolese people.

In 2020, he expressed deep regret for the suffering and discriminatory treatment of the Congolese, and the atrocities committed during the reign of Leopold II. However, his statement of regret never amounted to an official apology.

During his June 2022 visit, King Philippe returned a traditional initiation mask of the Suku people, who inhabited the south-western part of DRC. The mask had been on display in Belgiums Royal Museum for Central Africa in Brussels, and it will now be on indefinite loan to DRCa loan gratefully accepted by DRCs President Felix Tshisekedi.

When returning the mask, the King said, It marks the symbolic beginning of the reinforcement of the cultural collaboration between Belgium and Congo.

The King also addressed the Palais du Peuplethe Congolese Parliamenton June 8, 2022, expressing his deepest regret for the atrocities committed by Belgium against the Congolese people. I would like to express here, before the Congolese people and all those who are still suffering from it today, my deepest regret for those wounds of the past, he said.

However, Philippes expressions of deepest regret do not constitute an official and formal apology; it does not even go further than his first expressions of regret in 2020.

DRCs expectation, or hope, that King Philippe would give an apology during his address to the Parliament of the DRC gives cause for reflection.

If the King had offered a formal apology, he would have apologised for the horrific atrocities for which his ancestor was responsible and potentially exposing his family to compensation demands.

Queen Mathilde of Belgium and King Philippe of Belgium pictured during a visit to Katanga village near Lubumbashi, during an official visit of the Belgian Royal couple to the Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 11, 2022. (Benoit Doppagne/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)

And going forward, would it even be possible to find the citizens of Belgium and descendants of King Leopold II directly responsible for human rights abuses?

Many Belgians in the administration of the Belgian Congo were able to benefit from being a coloniser. But it would be difficult to establish a link between living Belgians and the atrocities in the Congo which occurred decades ago.

To hold the current Belgian polity responsible would also invalidate the principle that only those who have inflicted misery on the Congolese should be held to account for the atrocities.

Regardless, even if an apology is not forthcoming, the visit should still lead to an improvement of the relationship between Belgium and DRC, rekindling economic and cultural ties which are capable, eventually, to erase any bitterness still felt in the DRC.

For now, an official apology will be a bridge too far.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Strong, virtuous fathers are the foundations of close-knit families and a better world. While households the world over are preparing to celebrate Fathers Day, honoring their share of the protective fatherly love in their lives, lets not forget the brave dads who are being persecuted in communist China, either for their faith or for defending human rights.

Here are some of these soul-stirring life storieswhich will forever be listed in the darkest chapters of human historyrevealing how communist ideologies are anti-divine, and a threat to humanity and world peace.

My Father Believes This Is Gods Message, and I Believe My Father

It has been almost 1,770 days since the prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng went missing on Aug. 13, 2017. Gao has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

A devoted Christian and known as the Conscience of China, Gao was on good terms with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) until he stood up to defend members of persecuted faith groups: Christian family churches and Falun Gong practitioners. He had been repeatedly arrested and tortured over the years and was formally arrested in 2006 after he wrote open letters to the top Chinese leadership condemning the suppression of faith.

When in prison, Gao was subjected to brutal torture, such as being shocked with electric batons, having his teeth knocked loose, and even having toothpicks stabbed into his genitals. Gao was under house arrest for years before suddenly disappearing on Aug. 13, 2017; the family hasnt heard anything about him since.

Grace Geng, Gao Zhishengs daughter, holds a copy of Gaos book, Year 2017: Stand Up China, at the book-launch ceremony in Hong Kong on June 16, 2016. (Stone Poon/The Epoch Times)

Gaos wife, Geng He, and his two children, who had faced constant harassment from the police, escaped to the United States in 2009 with the help of underground faith groups. Residing in a free country this past decade, Gaos family has never stopped speaking out and worrying about his whereabouts.

His daughter, Grace Geng, believes that her dads book, the Chinese title of which translates to Year 2017: Stand Up China, has an unwavering message for the worldthat the CCP will soon collapse. My father believes this is Gods message, and I believe my father, Grace said during the launch ceremony of the book in Hong Kong on June 16, 2016.

My Family is Just One Example Out of Thousands

A 22-year-old student at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, has been advocating for his parents release. His fathera rare talent and renowned professional in the petroleum industrywas accused of sending informational text messages about the persecuted spiritual practice of Falun Gong via Bluetooth at a subway in Beijing.

Jack Zhiyuan Lius parents, both former engineers at the China National Petroleum Corporation, had faced imprisonment and persecution for their faith years ago. And on Nov. 19, 2021, they were arrested once again, according to Minghui.orga U.S.-based website dedicated to reporting on the persecution of Falun Gong in China. His mother, Cao Wenbei, was released a month later, but his father, Liu Zhoubo, is still detained at Beijing No. 3 Detention Center.

The CCPs persecution of Falun Gong is destroying lives and families, Jack told the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times. What had happened to my family is just one example out of thousands.

Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) is an ancient self-cultivation discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. The atheistic communist regime has been violently persecuting the spiritual practice since July 1999. The CCP-led campaign of persecution that ensued 23 years ago has left numerous adherents detained, arrested, and subjected to extreme torture, including having their organs forcibly harvested for profit.

Jack Zhiyuan Liu calls for the release of his father, Liu Zhoubo, and other Falun Gong practitioners, at a rally held in Ottawa on April 22, 2022. (Ren Qiaosheng/The Epoch Times)

In the past, Jacks parents, grandmother, and uncle had been imprisoned for 1 1/2 years for practicing Falun Gong. His father had also been sentenced to 9 years in prison before being released in 2010a period that Jack described as hell for his father, as the elderly man was subjected to torture, starvation, and death threats in prison.

I Have Been Trying to Do Anything That Could Possibly Help My Father

On Feb. 2, 2013, Jewher Ilham was supposed to accompany her father, Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur economics professor in China, to Indiana University for a month as a visiting scholar. However, when the Chinese authorities restricted her dad from leaving the country, she ended up taking a flight alone from Beijing to the United States.

That fateful day at the airport would become the last time shed see her dad, to this day. Jewhers father was arrested and later sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of inciting separatisma charge that she said was unfounded. He had never mentioned a word about separating the country, Jewher told China Uncensored.

Jewher has been increasingly worrying about her dad since 2017the year when the world came to know about the Xinjiang re-education and internment camps; her family in China had lost contact with her father that same year.

Jewher Ilham, daughter of Ilham Tohti, holds a portrait of her father during the award ceremony for his 2019 European Parliaments Sakharov human rights prize at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Dec. 18, 2019. (Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images)

To seek her fathers release, the young daughter has been advocating for him.

I have been trying to do anything that could possibly help my father and my community. I dont know if its helping, I dont know if anything would help. I just dont want to regret, she said.

Jewher had also met the then-President Donald Trump at the White House in July 2019, together with other survivors of religious persecution, and spoke at the UN General Assembly. In December 2019, she accepted the 2019 Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament on her fathers behalf for the defense of human rights.

I Dream One Day We Can Be Together Again

A young Chinese refugee, Eric Jia, had a happy family, which became nonexistent the day his dad was arrested; he was only 3 years old at that time.

Erics father, Ye Jia, was also arrested for practicing Falun Gong. Like his father, Erics close relatives, including his grandmother and aunties, had also been arrested several times for the same reason and had been subjected to different forms of torture while imprisoned.

For instance, in April 2013, when Erics father was in jail for an eight-year sentence, guards tortured him by pouring pungent liquid into his nose while hanging him upside down; the guards refused to allow him to seek treatment when he vomited blood for months later.

He was locked in a small room for six years, with two to three prison guards watching him every day, he told The Epoch Times in a previous interview.

Eric Jia with his mother, Li Liu, at a rally in Martin Place, Sydney, Australia, on July 20, 2015. (He Wei/The Epoch Times)

Erics father was last arrested in September 2017 and released three months later in December after Australian Greens Senator for Victoria Janet Rice sent a letter to the mayor of Xian, China, in November 2017, urging him to release Ye Jia immediately and unconditionally. Erics story mirrors that of many other overseas Chinese Falun Gong practitioners whose families are still being persecuted by the CCP in mainland China. Eric fled to Australia with his mother in 2012 and has been raising awareness of the persecution.

There is nothing wrong to have faith in Falun Dafa. The CCP used all kinds of means to make us give up our beliefs, Eric said to a crowd that had gathered at Martin Place in Sydney in 2018 to commemorate the lives lost at the hands of the CCP.

I dream one day that they can be free and we can be together again.

No Hope for Reunion

While many families are waiting anxiously for the day they can reunite with their fathers, for countless others, this reunion day would never arrive.

For instance, 20-year-old Xu Xinyang lost her dad in the brutal persecution.

In my memory, most of my childhood was spent in fear and horror, said Xu Xinyang at a forum on Dec. 4, 2018, on Capitol Hill to highlight the deteriorating human rights situation in China.

Xinyangs parents, both Falun Gong practitioners, were arrested by the Chinese regime for printing materials to expose the persecution of their faith. Her father was sentenced to eight years in prison when her mother was pregnant with her. Xinyangs father died 13 days after he was released.

Due to the brutality of the persecution, Xinyang never saw her dad until she was 8 years old, she told the audience at the forum.

He wanted to hold me, but I was scared and hid behind my mom. I refused to let him hold me because I never had a chance to know him, she said. This became my lifelong regret.

Even after her father was persecuted to death, Xinyang and her mother were not spared. The police even arrested her school principal and some of her teachers, all of whom were Falun Gong practitioners. Xinyang was wanted by the police. Fortunately, she managed to flee to Thailand with her mother when she was 12 and arrived in the United States in 2017.
A stock image of an electricity tower going through a rural property in Sydney, Tuesday, October 17, 2017. (AAP Image/Brendan Esposito)

Thousands of Homes in Sydney Plunged Into Darkness As Energy Shortage Plagues Australia

Thousands of homes on Australias east coast were plunged into darkness on Monday as electricity suppliers struggled to meet demand as the country teeters on the edge of an energy shortage.

On Monday night, multiple areas in Sydneys north and along the affluent Northern Beaches were sent into darkness, after the energy market operator warned of power disruption across the states of New South Wales and Queensland.

Affected suburbs include Beacon Hill, Frenchs Forest, Narraweena, Cromer and Dee Why in New South Wales (NSW), according to AusgridAustralias largest electricity distributor on the east coast. Power was available later in the day.

Households were encouraged to use less power as leading energy provider Powerlink Queensland warned of an unusual combination of unexpected generator outages plus cool winter temperatures and high demand for electricity.

Gas supplies are sufficient however very high gas prices means [the Australian Energy Market Operator] has already triggered its market generation response mechanisms, Powerlink said in a statement on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) on Tuesday confirmed that some energy generators have revised their market availability in NSW and Queensland due to a new $300/MWh price cap, a result of increased wholesale electricity prices.

In the gas markets, gas prices remained capped at $40/GJ after reaching cumulative high price thresholds in Victoria and Sydney.

As a consequence of the administered price cap in Queensland, AEMO has seen generation bids reduce, AEMO said in a media release on Monday. The price cap  will only remain in place if the cumulative price threshold is still exceeded.

It is possible that other states may also reach the threshold in the near term.

The power outages came as former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged the current federal Labor government to work with the states and National Energy Market to impose export controls on gas and limit prices for a 90-day period.

Turnbull said this would push major LNG producers to concede and make cheaper gas available.

This will involve imposing force majeure on contracts, he told ABC Radio on Monday.

Itll be resented bitterly by the industry  but we have a crisis at the moment, and hopefully, it wont go on for too long.

The minute they say theyre going to do it, the gas companies will find the gas  they will agree to offer it at lower prices.

In Queensland, households were also warned of possible power outages between 5.30p.m. to 8p.m. on Monday, but these were averted.

Powerlink Queensland encouraged households to save energy including suggestions to consider how much heating was being used, turn off or place into standby electronics like TVs, computers, and household appliances, and to also switch-off pool pumps.

Businesses were told to consider their use of indoor and outdoor lighting and to turn off water heating systems.

By carefully managing electricity use at home and in your workplace, the community can help ensure that power system security is maintained in Queensland, Powerlink CEO Paul Simshauser said.
Meta is facing lawsuits over allegations its platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, are deliberately addictive. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Trump Attorney Weighs in on Facebook, Instagram Lawsuits Alleging Intentional Teen Addiction

An Alabama law firm has filed lawsuits in eight states against Meta Platforms alleging that Facebook and Instagram are defective and enable social media addiction.

These platforms are designed to keep people engaged as much as possible, said Beasley Allen attorney Joseph van Zandt. The more time the user spends on the platform, the more money these companies make from advertisers. So, this product, in our view, is designed to be addictive.

But the social media sites Terms of Service are likely to require a transfer to California where defendants enjoy the home court advantage, according to attorney John Coale, who is representing former U.S. president Donald Trump in his lawsuits against Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

The Terms of Services portion of Facebook says that all cases have to be litigated there and the courts have upheld that, he said.

I vehemently disagree with it, but so far thats where the courts have been, and California is a very liberal part of the country. Social media companies have done quite well there.

Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook are all headquartered in California.

The Beasley Allen law firm filed complaints in federal courts in Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas, while Coale originally filed Trumps social media lawsuits in the Southern District of Florida federal court before they were transferred to the Northern District of California federal court.

The day I filed this with Donald Trump standing next to me, we never expected it to do well in the very beginning, Coale told The Epoch Times.

He said they always have been, and still are, aiming for the U.S. Supreme Court.

We believe that these arguments will win in the U.S. Supreme Court, but they are more than likely not going to win in California.

Trumps lawsuits against Facebook and YouTube are still pending in the lower federal courts but his lawsuit against Twitter, over its decision to suspend his account, was dismissed by Northern District of California U.S. District Judge James Donato.

We totally expected that from him, Coale said. We describe him as an Obama appointee who lives in San Francisco. So, we never expected to get very far with him. We have put in a Notice of Appeal on that in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Beasley Allens lawsuits, which were filed in early June, reference Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugens October 2021 testimony before the U.S. Senate about protecting children online.

Some 13.5 percent of teen girls in the United Kingdom reported that their suicidal thoughts intensified due to Instagram, according to a 2019 Facebook study.

The Facebook whistleblower revealed a lot of new information that people didnt know, which is that the harm thats being done to young people is not accidental but is a result of the design of Facebooks algorithms, the way their platforms funnel certain divisive content, harmful content, to youth, Van Zandt said.

Meta did not respond to requests for comment.

The complaints contain 20 causes of action including negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, conspiracy to commit fraud, unjust enrichment, violation of unfair trade practices, and consumer protection laws.

Were not completely anti-social media, Van Zandt told The Epoch Times. There are proper places in society for these types of platforms. But when they are dealing with the mental and physical health of young people, they cannot put their profits over children. Thats what this is getting to the bottom of.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) is a defense that social media companies often argue in litigation, according to Coale.

Most of these cases are attacking 230 or using the First Amendment and it all comes down to whether the defendants are state actors or are they common carriers of the public forum? If its the public forum, they cant discriminate and they would be liable from that angle, he said.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) provides immunity to online platforms, freeing them from liability for third-party content posted on their site.

However, Van Zandt doesnt believe Section 230 will be a challenge to Beasley Allens eight lawsuits.

We are not suing Meta for any content that third party users posted on their site, which is really what Section 230 provides immunity for, he said. These are product liability cases. Its not just about what third parties post.

Its about how Facebook and Instagram use and manipulate those posts and target certain users with those posts and their failures to warn potential users about the known risk of harm.

The plaintiffs demands include compensatory, treble, and punitive damages as well as medical monitoring to diagnose platforms-induced injuries and prevent exacerbation.

But victory will be an uphill battle because it will depend on whether the plaintiffs can show Meta intended to cause harm, according to Andrew Grosso, a former assistant U.S. Attorney whose practice areas include cyber law and electronic privacy.

I think that its going to be a very difficult standard for them to meet, he said.

Applying the defective product law, which up until this point has been applied to machines and tangible products, and applying that to information that is being disseminated does not mean that the law should treat both types of commercial enterprises the same way.
A lorry which has arrived on a ferry from Stranraer in Scotland leaves Larne port, north of Belfast in Northern Ireland, on Feb. 3, 2022. (Paul Faith /AFP via Getty Images)

UK Business Leaders Urge PM to Pull Back From Damaging Trade War With EU

British business leaders have urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to enter a damaging trade war with the E.U. after the government set out its plans to scrap parts of the UK-E.U. agreement governing post-Brexit trade arrangements in Northern Ireland.

The Foreign Office said on Monday that the new legislation is intended to fix parts of the Northern Ireland Protocolmaking the changes necessary to restore stability and ensure the delicate balance of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement is protected.

But the E.U. has criticised the UKs actions for undermining trust between the two sides and violating international law. European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said the E.U. viewed the UKs actions with significant concern and that it would look at launching further legal action to protect the integrity of the E.U. single market.

Make UK, a business organisation representing British manufacturers, said businesses needed both sides to urgently get around the negotiating table to agree on a pragmatic settlement.

Stephen Phipson, chief executive of the organisation, said: We recognise that the protocol in the current state does need to be changed. But the way to do this is not to start a trade war with the E.U. in the middle of a financial crisis which would be damaging for both British and E.U. businesses alike and put further strain on already stretched supply chains.

The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the governments action risked significant harm to businesses across the UK.

Chief Executive Richard Burge said: Getting Brexit done was at least meant to deliver certainty to businesses after years of waiting for clarity on the future of the UKs trade relations with the European Union. The introduction of this bill means we are now teetering on the brink of a trade war with the E.U. and that will mean further economic pain and falls in investment.

Johnson signed the Northern Ireland Protocol with the E.U. in 2019 as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, with the measures aimed at preventing a hard border on the island of Ireland.

But the protocol has been fiercely opposed by unionists in the British province, who complain that it effectively keeps Northern Ireland within the E.U. single market while erecting a border in the Irish Sea between the province and mainland Britain.

Northern Ireland has not had a functioning local government since February, when the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), then the largest party in the regional assembly, withdrew from the power-sharing executive in protest against the protocol.

PA Media contributed to this report.
UK Government Seeks New Laws to Save Freedom of Speech at Universities

A new proposed Bill before parliament to protect free speech will make UK universities reveal details of overseas funding from countries like China.

Under amendments to the Higher Education [Freedom of Speech] Bill, universities could face fines if they fail to show financial arrangements they secure with so-called foreign actors or overseas organisations deemed a threat to democracy.

It is right that we are taking new action to protect our universities from undue foreign influences that work against British values, universities minister, Michelle Donelan told Parliament on Monday evening.

She added: The UK is a bastion of free speech. More than two thirds of the worlds population live in places where academic freedom is severely limited. For decades students have travelled thousands of miles across the globe to study here because of our values of free speech and academic freedom.

But she said foreign nations were seeking to influence the academic space, and combined with the no platform agenda by some students, were undermining freedom and creativity.

As a result, this chilling effect has seen the UK significantly slip down the global rankings of academic freedom, Donelan said.

It is right that we are taking new action to protect our universities from undue foreign influences that work against British valuesthis is a Bill that the rest of the world will take note of.

She added that she looked forward to working with the new director to tackle these important issues and ensure we remain one of the most academically free countries in the world.

The amendment is one of a raft of proposed legislation that demands universities actively promote and protect freedom of speech.

China has been singled out in recent years, accused of buying influence, shaping debate, and silencing criticism of and promoting policies for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on UK campuses.

Exempt from the amendment are countries such as Japan and Australia which are listed in the Academic Technology Approval Scheme. Funding from countries in the European Union and NATO.

Under the proposed changes to the Billwhich is in the process of becoming lawstudent societies will also have to share details of overseas funding from specified countries.

And they too would also face financial penalties and other sanctions over perceived risks to freedom of speech or academic freedom because of their funding routes.

The government is currently recruiting a new director to oversee the new policy at the Office for Students, which regulates universities.

The director will have new powers to investigate if freedoms are under threat from so called cancel culture or from insidious foreign influence, and will be able to levy sanctions, accordingly, said Donelan.

Some universities have already introduced their own processes or guidance to cover concerns that foreign influences could hamper freedom of speech.

Following criticism over links between senior managers and Chinese telecom giant Huawei, Cambridge university said last year it would assess all international agreements to ensure principles of academic freedom.

And last month, the universitys Jesus College rebranded its controversial The China Centre, which had received Chinese funding and had trained senior members of the CCP to become better authoritarian leaders.

Last week Tory MP Alicia Kearns warned that the Chinese regime held too much sway over UK universities, adding that education is being weaponised by those against us.

She said that Confucius Institutespublic language and cultural education programmes funded by an organisation linked to the Chinese regimewere undermining the integrity of the Mandarin education in our country.

Donelan refused to say if the UK was considering banning the institutes, saying UK universities must offer alternative learning opportunities, which the new bill will empower them to do so.

The Higher Education Bill is to reach the final parliamentary stage in September.

PA contributed to this article.
A truck drives past a money changed sign for euro, sterling, and dollar currencies on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, in Jonesborough, Northern Ireland, on May 19, 2022. (Clodagh Kilcoyne /Reuters)

UK Unveils Plans to Scrap Parts of Post-Brexit Trade Deal With EU

The UK government has published plans to override the agreement with the European Union governing Northern Irelands post-Brexit trading arrangements, but denied the move violates international law.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Foreign Office said the new legislation is intended to fix parts of the Northern Ireland Protocolmaking the changes necessary to restore stability and ensure the delicate balance of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement is protected.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed the Northern Ireland Protocol with the E.U. in 2019 as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, with the measures aimed at preventing a hard border on the island of Ireland.

But the protocol has been fiercely opposed by unionists in the British province, who complain that it effectively keeps Northern Ireland within the E.U. single market while erecting a border in the Irish Sea between the province and mainland Britain.

Northern Ireland has not had a functioning local government since February, when the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), then the largest party in the regional assembly, withdrew from the power-sharing executive in protest against the protocol.

The new legislation will enable ministers to establish a green lane so that trusted traders are allowed to move goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland without checks, as long as the products remain within the UK.

Goods supplied by firms outside the trusted trader scheme, or products destined for Ireland and the E.U., would go through a red lane and face checks.

Products being placed on the market in Northern Ireland would be allowed to follow either UK or E.U. regulations, rather than having to comply with Brussels rules.

The UK also proposes removing the European Court of Justice as a final arbiter in trade disputes over the protocol, with the function instead handed to independent adjudicators.

The UK government insisted the bill is compatible with international law under the doctrine of necessity which allows obligations in treaties to be set aside under certain, very exceptional, limited conditions.

But the E.U. has criticised the UKs actions for undermining trust between the two sides.

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said the E.U. viewed the UKs actions with significant concern and that it would look at launching further legal action to protect the integrity of the E.U. single market.

He added that the access of Northern Ireland businesses to the E.U. single market is now at risk.

Irelands Prime Minister Micheal Martin said it is very regrettable for a country like the UK to renege on an international treaty.

It represents a new low point because the natural expectation of democratic countries like ourselves, the UK, and all across Europe is that we honour international agreements that we enter into, he said.

The UK governments position has also been opposed by more than half of the members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, with 52 of the 90 regional legislators condemning the reckless plan.

But UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was very clear that were acting in line with the law and blamed the E.U. for the failure to reach a negotiated settlement.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Ukraine Bans Export of Liquid Fuel, Gas, and Coal

The government of Ukraine has banned the export of key fuels, according to a resolution published on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The banned items include liquid fuel and natural gas of Ukrainian origin as well as coal, anthracite, briquettes, pellets, and similar solid fuels derived from coal, except coking coal. The ban comes due to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the imposition of martial law in Ukraine, the June 10 resolution states.

It effectively amends the resolution passed on Dec. 29, 2021, which identified goods subject to quotas and licensing for 2022. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky had earlier warned about a coal and gas export ban.

Due to the war, it will indeed be the most difficult winter during all years of independence  During this period, we wont sell our gas and coal abroad. All domestic production will focus on meeting the internal demand, Zelensky said in a video address posted to his Telegram channel, according to the TASS news agency.

According to Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, coal production in Ukraines state-run mines has dropped by a third since the Russian invasion in late February. The government had tasked state-run Naftogaz with accumulating at least 19 billion cubic meters of gas in underground storage facilities.

Ukraine had 9 billion cubic meters of gas in storage after the previous heating season. As of June 1, the total gas in storage stands at only 10 billion cubic meters. Shmygal asked citizens to brace for Ukraines most difficult heating season ever, according to TASS.

The upcoming heating season begins on Oct. 15. Current gas stocks are 7.5 percent above the 20142018 average based on data from S&P Global. Last year, Ukraine entered the heating season with 18.87 billion cubic meters of gas reserves on Oct. 5.

The Ukraine ban comes as the European Union fails to put enough pressure on Russia via restricting Moscows energy exports, a key source of its revenue. According to a recent report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), the European Union is the biggest buyer of Russian energy.

The EU bought 61 percent of Russian fossil fuel exports, worth approximately 57 billion EUR. The share of the EU was approximately 30 percent for coal, 50 percent for crude oil, 75 percent for LNG, 75 percent for oil products, and 85 percent for pipeline gas, the report said. Since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion, Russia has exported 93 billion EUR worth of fossil fuels.

Among the largest importers of oil were the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. The largest importers of pipeline gas include Germany and Italy. France, Belgium, and Spain are the biggest importers of Russian LNG. When it comes to coal, the Netherlands is one of the largest importers.
Ukraine Says Troops Holding out in Sievierodonetsk After Last Bridge Destroyed

KYIVUkraine said on Tuesday its forces were still holding out inside Sievierodonetsk and trying to evacuate civilians, after Russia destroyed the last bridge to the devastated eastern city in a potential turning point in one of the wars bloodiest battles.

Russia said it would give Ukrainian fighters holed up in a chemical plant inside the city a chance to surrender on Wednesday morning. Fighters should stop their senseless resistance and lay down their arms from 8 a.m. Moscow time, Interfax news agency quoted Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russias National Defence Management Centre, as saying.

Civilians would be let out through a humanitarian corridor, he said.

The citys Ukrainian mayor, Oleksandr Stryuk, said: The situation is very difficult but there is communication with the city despite the last bridge over the Siverskyi Donets river having been destroyed. Russian troops are trying to storm the city, but the military is holding firm.

Ukraine says more than 500 civilians are trapped inside Azot, a chemical factory where its forces have resisted weeks of Russian assault.

Evacuations were still being carried out every minute when there is a lull and there is a possibility of transportation, Stryuk said. But these are discrete evacuations, done one by one, and every possible chance is taken.

Regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said: The shelling is so powerful that people can no longer stand it in the shelters, their psychological state is on the edge. The last few days, the residents are finally ready to go.

Ukraine still holds Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsks twin city on higher ground on the opposite bank. But with all the bridges now cut, its forces acknowledge a threat that they could be encircled in Sievierodonetsk. Russias separatist proxies said any Ukrainian troops left behind must surrender or die.

A satellite image shows a close up view of a damaged bridge, in Rubizhne, Ukraine, on June 11, 2022. (Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters)

Damien Megrou, spokesperson for a unit of foreign volunteers helping to defend Sievierodonetsk, said there was a risk of leaving a large pocket of Ukrainian defenders cut off from the rest of the Ukrainian troopsas in Mariupol, the Black Sea port that surrendered last month after months of Russian siege.

The battle for Sievierodonetska city of barely more than 100,000 people before the waris now the biggest fight in Ukraine as the conflict has shifted into a punishing war of attrition.

Kyiv has said it is losing a staggering 100200 soldiers killed each day, with hundreds more wounded. In an overnight address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the battle for the eastern Donbass regionpartly controlled by Moscow proxies since 2014as one of the most brutal in European history.

Russia gives no regular figures of its own losses but Western countries claim they have been massive, as Moscow has committed the bulk of its firepower to delivering one of President Vladimir Putins stated objectives: forcing Kyiv to cede the full territory of two eastern provinces.

Bigger battles could lie ahead for the wider Ukrainian-held pocket of the Donbass, nearly all on the opposite bank of the river which Russian forces have found difficult to cross. Ukraine says Russia is massing to assault Sloviansk from the north and along a front near Bakhmut to the south.

It has pleaded for the West to send more and better artillery.

Ukraine needs 1,000 howitzers, 500 tanks, and 1,000 drones among other heavy weapons, Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Monday. Western countries have promised NATO-standard weapons including advanced U.S. rockets. But deploying them is taking time.

Beyond the Donbas, Ukrainian officials hope that Russias focus on capturing the east will drain its forces from other areas and pave the way for counter-attacks to recapture other territory.

By Natalia Zinets
A woman uses her computer keyboard in North Vancouver, British Columbia, on Dec. 19, 2012. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)

Under New Japanese Law, Online Insults Could Result in Jail Time

Japans parliament passed a bill on June 13 that makes online insults a crime punishable by jail time, following calls for harsher punishment spurred by the suicide of a female wrestler who was cyberbullied.

The bill, approved by the upper house of a plenary session, amends Japans penal code to include one-year imprisonment and fines of up to 300,000 yen ($2,234), as opposed to the current 30 days in jail and 10,000 yen ($75) fine.

The amended law will take effect later this year, local media Kyodo News reported, although it remains unclear to what extent an insult will be considered punishable under the new legislation.

The new law will be reviewed within three years to assess if it violates the right to free speech.

Japans lawmakers began debating tougher penalties for cyberbullying in January, following the case of Hana Kimura, a 22-year-old professional wrestler who took her own life on May 23, 2020, after being inundated with negative comments on social media.

Kimura was a cast member of the popular reality show Terrace House, which was produced by Japans Fuji Television Network and distributed globally by Netflix. The show featured six young people living in a house together.

Kimura, who was IndonesianJapanese, drew attention online after upbraiding a housemate for ruining one of her wrestling costumes. She was also insulted for her appearance, with many posts calling her ugly.

The show was subsequently canceled on May 27, 2020, after her death.

Two men were charged with insulting Kimura on social media and were fined 9,000 yen ($67) respectively. But many expressed concerns that the penalties were too light and called for harsher punishments.

Japans government data showed the number of reported cyber bullying cases at schools more than doubled in the past four years.

Reuters contributed to this report.
North Dakota voters who haven't taken advantage of early in-person voting or vote-by-mail options go to the polls Tuesday to decide local races, and to send nominees on to the November general election in county and statewide races.

Bismarck residents will decide who will lead the city for the next four years, and residents of both Bismarck and Mandan will fill school board seats amid a nationwide discussion of weighty issues such as classroom security and curriculum content.

There also are Republican primary contests in numerous state legislative districts, and not every GOP incumbent will move on to November.

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven is seen as a shoo-in for a third term in the Republican primary over Riley Kuntz, a political newcomer and oil field worker, The Associated Press reported. Hoeven raised more than $3.2 million leading up to the primary, Federal Election Commission filings show. Kuntz, who works on a drill rig in western North Dakota and gathered the needed signatures to challenge Hoeven, raised less than $5,000.

Hoeven was endorsed by Republicans at the party convention in April, narrowly defeating state Rep. Rick Becker, of Bismarck.

Democrats endorsed Katrina Christiansen, a University of Jamestown engineering professor, for the seat. She's challenged in the primary by Michael Steele, a Fargo art and antiques dealer, who is largely unknown even by Democratic Party officials.

To find where to vote in Burleigh County, go to https://www.burleighco.com/elections/. To find where to vote in Morton County, go to https://www.mortonnd.org/elections.

For those who have a difficult time finding transportation to a polling site, Bis-Man Transit will be offering free rides for CAT Bus riders and Paratransit riders on election day. For more information, go to https://bismantransit.com/.

About 48,000 people had already voted by Monday afternoon through early voting or mail voting, according to the Secretary of State's website.

North Dakota has no voter registration. State Census Office Manager Kevin Iverson estimates almost 590,000 people are eligible to vote in Tuesdays election, according to AP. Turnout in June primaries historically is around 25%.

The June 2020 election, which was held entirely by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic, had a turnout of about 160,000, or about 27.5% of eligible voters.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) speaks during a news conference to introduce legislation on safe gun storage outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., on Feb. 08, 2022. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

US Rep. Sean Castens 17-Year-Old Daughter Dies at Familys Home

The daughter of Illinois Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) died on Monday at the family home of the businessman and politician serving the states 6th Congressional District, his office has announced.

A short statement shared by the lawmakers office confirmed that Castens beloved daughter, Gwen (17), passed away, adding that the family requests privacy at this time.

We will be issuing no further comment during this heartbreaking time, his office said.

Castens office did not immediately provide any further details surrounding the teens cause of death.

Gwen died inside the familys Downers Grove home in DuPage County, the Chicago Tribune reported, citing local police.

Authorities were dispatched to a medical emergency just before 7 a.m. on Monday for an unresponsive 17-year-old female, police said, according to the outlet.

First responders determined that the subject was deceased, the department said.

Just over a week ago, Casten expressed tremendous pride in his daughter during an interview after the teen took the initiative to organize a Stop the Bleed training at her school.

I both have tremendous pride that my daughter took the initiative to organize that and tremendous shame that we as a country are making it the responsibility of 15, 16, and 17-year-old kids to do what sitting United States senators dont have the courage to do themselves, the lawmaker told Newsy.

According to Gwens Twitter bio, she served as co-director of the March For Our Lives gun-control organization. She also made an appearance in her fathers campaign video, who is running for re-election.

???? BIG NEWS: Sean just released a new digital ad!! In Congress, Sean is working to enshrine a womans right to make her own health care decisions, combat gun violence, & ban Members of Congress from trading stock. Chip in now to keep these ads running: https://t.co/zwkQBqyN7A pic.twitter.com/SmO3xZgn61  Team Sean Casten (@VoteCasten) June 2, 2022

The 50-year-old Democratic congressman is running for his third term in the Democratic primary for the states newly redrawn 6th district, where he is the seated incumbent.

Casten is running against fellow incumbent Democrat Rep. Marie Newman, a freshman, and Charles Hughes of Chicago, who previously ran for the 3rd Congressional District in the 2020 primary.

My heart breaks for the Casten family for the devastating loss of their daughter, Newman said in a statement on Twitter. My prayers are with Sean, Kara, and the entire Casten family.

From NTD News
Hong Kong's iconic Jumbo Floating Restaurant is towed away in Hong Kong on June 14, 2022. (Kin Cheung/AP Photo)

Victim of Pandemic, Hong Kong Floating Restaurant Towed Away

The massive floating restaurant designed like a Chinese imperial palace on Aberdeen Harbor was known for its Cantonese cuisine and seafood dishes.

It received over 30 million guests since its establishment in 1976.

But Jumbo Floating Restaurant was forced to close in 2020 due to the pandemic, and all staff were laid off.

Parent company Aberdeen Harbour Restaurant Enterprises said it had become a financial burden to shareholders, as millions of Hong Kong dollars were spent on inspection and maintenance of the floating restaurant every year even though the restaurant was not in operation.

We do not foresee that (Jumbo Floating Restaurant) can resume business in the immediate future, the company said. It said potential deals to keep the restaurant open were thwarted by the high operating costs.

Tugboats towed the restaurant away but it wasnt clear where it will berth next.

The company planned to move it to a lower-cost site where maintenance could still be conducted.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam had previously rejected suggestions to bail out the restaurant, despite calls from lawmakers to preserve the iconic landmark.

Lam said last month that the government had no plans to invest taxpayers money into the restaurant as the government was not good at running such premises, despite calls from lawmakers to preserve the restaurant.

Some Hong Kong residents recalled the heyday of Jumbo Kingdom, and expressed disappointment in seeing the restaurant go.

The glory days of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant were in the 1990s, flocks of Japanese tourists would visit the restaurants, the streets were full of parked vehicles as visitors arrived in droves, says Wong Chi-wah, a boat operator near Aberdeen Harbor.

There were about a dozen of floating restaurants at the Aberdeen Harbor back in the 1950s, it was the most glorious period for the floating restaurant business.

After a few decades, only three of the floating restaurants remained, including the Jumbo Floating Restaurant.

Hong Kongs iconic Jumbo Floating Restaurant is towed away in Hong Kong on June 14, 2022. (Kin Cheung/AP Photo)

The Jumbo Floating Restaurant that we know today consists of two boats that are adjacent to each othera bigger boat named Jumbo Floating Restaurant and a smaller one called Tai Pak Floating Restaurant.

The Tai Pak was first built in the 1950s, and was taken over by Jumbos parent company in the 1980s.

A 71-year-old resident Encore Sin, says that Hong Kong is losing something unique.

If the restaurant leaves today, there is definitely a sense of loss, not just for people who live around this area but for the whole of Hong Kong. Over the past few decades, Ive been to many places around the world to take photographs, but where else in the world are there such floating restaurants? I dont think there are any left, says Sin.

Sin visited floating restaurants since he was a kid, he recalled his father bringing guests to the restaurant whenever they visited Aberdeen Harbor.

He says it was a luxury to dine there as most people could not afford a meal there.

The chefs were true masters. The dishes they cook, like the stir fry crab with spring onion, or even a simple fried rice was exceptional, said Sin.

Law Lok-yin, Assistant Professor, School of Arts and Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Metropolitan University, who specializes in Hong Kong history and culture says, the floating restaurants used to be a place for businessmen to socialize: Early twenty century, the businessmen in Hong Kong, they enjoy to have their business dinner in the floating restaurants in Shau Kei Wan, managed by the fishermen. Therefore it became a practice for businessmen in Hong Kong for the commercial meetings, and for different community gathering.

The restaurant was famed for its lavish banquet meals, with dishes such as roasted suckling pig, lobster, and double-boiled birds nest, a Chinese delicacy.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland answers questions after tabling the federal budget in the House of Commons in Ottawa on April 7, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Workers Will Bear Burden of Liberal Governments Tax Hike on Businesses

Commentary

Former U.S. president Barack Obama popularized the term teaching moment, when theres an opportunity to provide the public with information about important collective issues. Canadas recent federal budget offers such an opportunity regarding the burden of business income taxes.

Specifically, Budget 2022 introduced the Canada Recovery Dividend, which imposes a onetime 15 percent tax on banks and life insurance companies with profits over $1 billion. It also permanently increased the business income tax rate for banks and life insurance companies from 15.0 to 16.5 percent on profits over $100 million.

Together, these two measures are expected to raise $6.1 billion over the next five years with roughly $445 million forecast on an ongoing basis, assuming the onetime tax actually remains a onetime taxtemporary taxes often remain permanent. In the budget, the government said these two measures will ensure those large financial institutions help support Canadas broader recovery. The language is really important. The government suggested that the institutions will pay these taxes.

But of course, a piece of paper cannot pay a tax. People pay taxes. So one way or another, shareholders, workers, and/or customers will pay the cost of these higher taxes, not the large financial institutions. Its just convenient and politically saleable for the government to characterize these higher taxes as being imposed on banks and life insurance companies.

According to a study by economists Ken McKenzie and Ergete Ferede in 2017, which calculated the impact of the Alberta governments decision to increase the corporate income tax rate by two percentage points in 2015, a significant portion of burden of business taxes falls on workers through reduced wages. The study results estimated that earnings for an average two-income Alberta household declined by roughly $830 per year. Similar results have been found in other studies in Canada and the United States, showing that workers ultimately bear much of the burden of corporate income taxes.

For this reason, when governments reduce business taxes, workers will likely benefit from higher wage growth. After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017) reduced the U.S. federal income tax rate on businesses from 35 to 21 percent, one study estimated the tax reduction would lead to 1.5 percent higher wages for workers and 339,000 additional full-time jobs. Another study found that wage growth for American workers climbed from an average of 2.4 percent in 2016 and 2017 to 3.8 percent by October 2019 following the tax cut.

But lets assume the burden of these taxes actually falls on the shareholders of banks and life insurance companies. The problem is that the owners are largely us, average Canadian workers.

The Canada Pension Plan, which all workers (outside Quebec) are required to contribute to, has investments (as of March 2022) in every major bank and many insurance companies. Similarly, review almost any mutual fund or exchange-traded fund that includes Canadian equity and youll likely find large Canadian banks, and to a lesser extent, life insurance companies representing core holdings. For example, among 10 of the countrys largest mutual fund companies, large Canadian banks represent between three to five of the top 10 holdings in Canadian equity funds.

Put simply, the burden of Ottawas new tax increase on banks and life insurance companies falls on average Canadian workers whove invested in such companies (directly or indirectly through the CPP) and the employees of affected companies.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Jason Clemens Follow Jason Clemens is the executive vice president of the Fraser Institute and the president of the Fraser Institute Foundation.
Worries About South Korean Economy Grow Amid Truckers Strike

SEOULSouth Koreas prime minister warned Tuesday that the disruption of cargo transport could cause irrecoverable damages on the countrys economy, as a nationwide truckers strike entered its eighth day.

About 6,800 truckers were rallying Monday at various sites across South Korea, continuing to trigger a delay in the shipment and delivery of key items like steels, cement, petrochemicals, and tires, the Transport Ministry said in a statement.

Members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions gather in front of a shipping port in Gwangyang, South Korea, on June 14, 2022. (Kim Dong-ju/AP)

The statement said some steel and cement-related factories halted their operations. It accused some striking truckers of obstructing cargo transports at some major southeastern ports.

During a Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, South Koreas No. 2 official, called the reported transport obstruction illicit activities that he said will never receive public support, according to Cho Yong-man, the 2nd vice culture minister who serves as a government spokesperson.

Cho cited Han as saying that the disruption of cargo transport could pose a big irrecoverable blow to South Koreas economy, which already faces other difficulties.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy said in a statement Monday that the first six days of the strike caused an estimated 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in damages.

Striking truckers are calling for an extension of temporary measures guaranteeing minimum wages amid soaring fuel prices. They met with government officials several times but each meeting ended without any breakthroughs.

In a statement Monday, the Cargo Truckers Solidarity said the Transport Ministry lacked the resolve and capacity to narrow differences over the truckers demand. The Transport Ministry said that the sides were to meet again on Tuesday evening.

Police said Monday morning that they had detained 44 striking truckers but released most of them except for two who were formally arrested. Two additional truckers were detained Tuesday, the Transportation Ministry said.

South Korean officials and experts say the strikes damage has so far been limited to the countrys domestic industry, though a prolonged strike may undermine the global supply chains already hit by Russias assault on Ukraine and Chinas COVID-19 restrictions. There have been no reports of substantial disruptions of key South Korean export items such as semiconductors and automobiles yet, Industry Ministry officials said.

By Hyung-Jin Kim
Zahn's Corner Middle School remains shuttered three years after nuclear contamination was reported there. (Photo by Ken Silva/The Epoch Times)

Years After Finding Nuclear Contamination at School, Ohio County Still Awaits Test Results

PIKETON, OhioThree years after the presence of enriched uranium was reported at a Piketon, Ohio, middle school, the surrounding community is still awaiting test results to find out the full extent of the problem.

Pike County Health Commissioner Matt Brewster told The Epoch Times on June 13 that he expects anytime now the results of an assessment of nuclear contamination in the six-mile radius surrounding the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS).

Located just south of Piketon, PORTS has been a source of community pride and economic opportunity since the Cold War era, when it served as a uranium enrichment facility for nuclear bombs. Though largely decommissioned, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved plans last year for the remaining facilities at the 3,777-acre site to continue processing uranium for nuclear reactor fuelstill offering some of the highest-paying jobs in the otherwise depressed Appalachian region of southern Ohio.

You can be a janitor making $50,000 to $60,000, just for pushing a broom, Brewster said.

Some residents suspected that the facility contributed to Pike Countys consistently having among the highest cancer rates in Ohiomore than 500 cases per 100,000, or about 10 percent above state average, according to the Ohio Cancer Atlas 2019but the issue was largely a dispute between labor and the various contractors who operated the Department of Energy (DOE)-owned site.

That changed in 2019, when Dr. Michael Ketterer of Northern Arizona University reported discovery of the presence of enriched uranium and other radioactive material at Zahns Corner Middle School, which is about four miles northeast of PORTS. Ketterers report led to the DOE admitting to having detected radioactive americium in the air monitor near Zahns Corner in 2017, sparking outrage in the community that the federal government had kept information about nuclear contamination from them for some two years.

Zahns Corner Middle School was shuttered, and its students transferred to other schools several miles west.

The DOE promised change, starting with the funding of a comprehensive test to ascertain the full scope of contamination. Pike County chose the Canton, Ohio-based Solutient Technologies to test soil samples in numerous locations within a six-mile radius of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

The results of that assessment still are not public.

COVID set everything back. Sampling took longer when traveling wasnt permitted, and the data validation and all those things took much longer than any of us thought, Brewster said of the three-year-old assessment. Really, anytime now well have those results.

Pike County Career Technology Center superintendent Eric Meredith said he still has not seen results, even though workers collected soil samples from his school more than a year ago.

I originally thought it was supposed to be 3 to 6 months before we heard back, but I guess its a lengthy process, Meredith said.

Meanwhile, residents living around Zahns Corner Middle School continue their daily lives, regardless of the potential risks.

Other schools also continue to operate just miles from Zahns Corner. Meredith said hes hopeful his school isnt contaminated because it sits west of PORTSthough he admitted he cant be sure.

I heard people say our building should be safe because we arent typically downwind of the planteverything seems to head eastbut we all know there are different weather patterns and things that can happen daily, he said. I dont know the scientific information about that exactly, but hopefully theyre correct and the winds helping us outbut I dont want it to hurt anyone else, either.

A nearby resident who spoke to The Epoch Times was despondent about the issue, resigned to the fact that the federal government isnt coming to help an impoverished community long forgotten by the rest of the country.

Ive drank the water out of the well, weve woken up and seen ash on our cars years agoits too late to have concerns, said Kathy Myers, who lives about 200 yards north of the closed school. Ive never given it a whole lot of thought. Its a day late and a dollar short.

What can you do about it? Thats our government. They dont care.

However, some have hope that the truth will eventually come out, and that it will spur the federal government to help the community.

Jeff Walburn, a former worker at PORTS, has sued the DOE and its contractors over the contamination. His class-action lawsuit was voluntarily withdrawn last November, but he plans to refile in the future. He told The Epoch Times he hopes the test results will finally spur Congress to action.

The community has to understand what the situation is. They have to understand the gravity of the situationthe spread of contamination. They have to come to grips that the DOE hasnt been truthful, Walburn said. Theyre supposed to be a regulator, and who holds them accountable by their bosses in Congress?

Neither the DOE nor Solutient Technologiesthe company conducting the assessmentresponded to emails seeking comment for this story.
High water in the Gardiner River along the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park in Montana on June 13, 2022. (National Park Service via AP)

Yellowstone Floods Wipe Out Roads, Bridges, Strand Visitors

HELENA, Mont.Massive floodwaters ravaged Yellowstone National Park and nearby communities Monday, washing out roads and bridges, cutting off electricity, and forcing visitors to evacuate parts of the iconic park at the height of summer tourist season.

All entrances to Yellowstone were closed due to the deluge, caused by heavy rains and melting snowpack, while park officials ushered tourists out of the most affected areas.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, though dozens of stranded campers had to be rescued by raft in south-central Montana. Authorities also said they would be assessing a potential loss of homes and structures in Montanas Stillwater County.

Elsewhere, some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the Yellowstone and the parks gateway communities in southern Montana. National Park Service photos of northern Yellowstone showed a landslide, a bridge washed out over a creek, and roads badly undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers.

A washed out bridge from flooding at Rescue Creek in Yellowstone National Park, Mont., on June 13, 2022. (National Park Service via AP)

The flooding cut off road access to Gardiner, Montana, a town of about 900 people near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Gardner rivers, just outside Yellowstones busy North Entrance.

At a cabin in Gardiner, visitor Parker Manning of Terra Haute, Indiana, got an up-close view of the water rising and the river bank sloughing off in the raging Yellowstone River floodwaters just outside his door.

We started seeing entire trees floating down the river, debris, Manning told The Associated Press. Saw one crazy single kayaker coming down through, which was kind of insane.

The Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs crested at 13.88 feet Monday, higher than the previous record of 11.5 feet set in 1918, according the the National Weather Service.

Floodwaters inundated a street in Red Lodge, a Montana town of 2,100 thats a popular jumping-off point for a scenic, winding route into the Yellowstone high country. Twenty-five miles to the northeast, in Joliet, Kristan Apodaca wiped away tears as she stood across the street from a washed-out bridge, The Billings Gazette reported.

The log cabin that belonged to her grandmother, who died in March, flooded, as did the park where Apodacas husband proposed.

I am sixth-generation. This is our home, she said. That bridge I literally drove yesterday. My mom drove it at 3 a.m. before it was washed out.

Yellowstone officials were evacuating the northern part of the park, where roads may remain impassable for a substantial length of time, park Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement.

But the flooding affected the rest of the park, too, with park officials warning of yet higher flooding and potential problems with water supplies and wastewater systems at developed areas.

We will not know timing of the parks reopening until flood waters subside and were able to assess the damage throughout the park, Sholly said in the statement.

The parks gates will be closed at least through Wednesday, officials said. It was unclear how many visitors have been forced to leave the park.

The rains hit right as summer tourist season was ramping up. June, at the onset of an annual wave of over 3 million visitors that doesnt abate until fall, is one of Yellowstones busiest months.

Remnants of winterin the form of snow still melting off and rushing off the mountainsmade for an especially bad time to get heavy rain.

Yellowstone got 2.5 inches of rain Saturday, Sunday and into Monday. The Beartooth Mountains northeast of Yellowstone got as much as 4 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

Its a lot of rain, but the flooding wouldnt have been anything like this if we didnt have so much snow, said Cory Mottice, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Billings, Montana. This is flooding that weve just never seen in our lifetimes before.

The rain will likely abate while cooler temperatures lessen snowmelt in coming days, Mottice said.

In south-central Montana, flooding on the Stillwater River stranded 68 people at a campground. Stillwater County Emergency Services agencies and crews with the Stillwater Mine rescued people Monday from the Woodbine Campground by raft. Some roads in the area were closed due to flooding, and residents have been evacuated.

We will be assessing the loss of homes and structures when the waters recede, the sheriffs office said in a statement.
HeartLands Conservancy, an environmental non-profit serving southwestern Illinois, applied for the Section 319(h) grant in partnership with Madison County. The total project cost is around $1.57 million, with Illinois EPA providing 55 percent or $831,847 in grant funds and local landowners and partners (HeartLands Conservancy and Madison County Stormwater Management) providing 45 percent, or $710,441 in match.

Steven Brendel, stormwater coordinator for Madison County Stormwater Management, said that the IEPAs 319 grant is the ultimate collaboration for individuals to be invested in projects that directly impact them.

John ODonnell, water program manager with HeartLands Conservancy, said that local landowners, farmers, residents and municipalities successfully implemented the locally developed Indian-Cahokia Creek Watershed Plan in October 2018.

Having local stakeholders identify water quality and flooding issues was vital to the development of the Indian-Cahokia Creek Watershed Plan, O'Donnell said. Now, we are excited to take this plan and execute some best management practices to help solve the issues identified by the community.

The grant is an important first step toward voluntary implementation of the Indian-Cahokia Creek Watershed Plan. The plans purpose is to address stormwater and non-point source (NPS) pollution issues in the watershed that drains Indian and Cahokia creeks in Madison and Macoupin counties. NPS pollution occurs when runoff from rain and snowmelt carries pollutants into waterways such as streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands and even groundwater.

Funding from this grant will also assist one of the area's large residential lakes, Dunlap Lake in Edwardsville, to better capture sediment before it enters the lake.

The Dunlap Lake Properties Owners Association engaged with Heartland Conservancy two years ago to assist in long-term planning for our community," said Andrew Reznack, president of the Dunlap Lake Properties Owners' Association. "Part of this effort included the submittal of a grant application offered by the IEPA. Heartland Conservancy was instrumental in our ability to gain access to funds offered by this grant. We could not be happier. We will use this portion of the grant to support lake health and shoreline stabilization. We are excited to see the positive impacts this will have on not just our lake but watershed across the surrounding communities.

The Section 319(h) Grant Program is a competitive financial assistance grant program established to help control NPS pollution. Federal funds are designated to the Illinois EPA under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act. The funds are then used to support state NPS management programs.

The Indian Creek-Cahokia Creek watershed includes all or parts of the following municipalities: Bethalto, Bunker Hill, Dorchester, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Hartford, Roxana, South Roxana, Staunton, Wilsonville, Wood River and Worden.

The project will assist local landowners to voluntarily implement stormwater projects, called best management practices (BMPs), in the watershed to reduce nonpoint source pollution, soil erosion and nutrient and sediment loadings to improve water quality. HeartLands Conservancy will launch a sign-up period in July for landowners and government entities.

Some of the practices eligible for cost-share assistance include:



 Grassed waterways

 Ponds

 Water and sediment control basins

 Wetland restoration

 Shoreline stabilization

 Stream channel stabilization

 Streambank stabilization

 Bioswales

 Cover crops

The local watershed management plan is a part of the Madison County Stormwater Management Plan, which guides regulations, identifies flood and water quality problems, establishes best management practices and prioritizes work to be done. Contact John ODonnell at HeartLands Conservancy to learn more or to sign-up for the cost-share program.

For information and updates on this project visit https://heartlandsconservancy.org/water/INDIAN-CAHOKIA-CREEK-WATERSHED/

For additional information on Illinois Nonpoint Source Management Program and the 319(h) Grant Program, please visit: https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/water-quality/watershed-management/nonpoint-sources/Pages/default.aspx.
ROME (AP)  Pope Francis has blasted the ferocity and cruelty of Russian troops in Ukraine while praising the heroism and courage of Ukrainians to defend their land.

Francis made some of his most pointed comments about the war in a meeting with European editors of Jesuit journals last month, excerpts of which were published Tuesday in Italian dailies La Stampa and Avvenire.

While sharply criticizing Russias invasion, Francis also insisted there werent good guys and bad guys and that Russia was in some ways provoked by NATOs expansion east.

Someone might say at this point: But you are in favor of Putin! No, Im not, Francis said. It would be simplistic and wrong to say such a thing. I am simply against reducing complexity to the distinction between good and bad, without thinking about roots and interests, which are very complex. While we see the ferocity, the cruelty of the Russian troops, we must not forget the problems to try to solve them.

In the interview, Francis confirmed he hopes to meet with Russian Patriarch Kirill, who has justified the war, when the two are due to attend an interfaith meeting in Kazakhstan in mid-September.

A planned meeting in June was called off by both sides, Francis said, so that our dialogue isnt misunderstood.

In Kazakhstan, he said, I hope to be able to greet him and speak with him a bit as a pastor.

At the same time, Francis went on at length to praise the courage of Ukrainians and reasserted their right to defend themselves while blasting what he said was the financial interests in the war by weapons manufacturers to test and sell weapons.

Its true the Russians thought itd be over in a week. But they miscalculated, Francis said. They found a courageous people, a people who are fighting to survive and have a history of fighting.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A new book is very good at pinpointing whats gone wrong with our public school system. However, when it comes to concrete solutions, its missing in action. Conservatives especially need to do better if their voices are going to be heard. []

Theres a currently a revolution erupting in public school districts across the country. For quite some time, students havent been learning, teachers havent been teaching, and educational leaders have only been making things worse. In response, parents have started speaking out at school board meetings, sounding off on social media, and voting out the old guard running these districts.

And the fight continues. But now parents and concerned educators have a book that can help them articulate their frustrations with public schools. Its writer, Luke Rosiak, found himself at the center of this firestorm by reporting on the scandals of the school system in Loudon County, Virginia. Unfortunately, he learned that the problems of Loudon County were also the problems of innumerable school districts all over the U.S.

In his book Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education, Rosiak describes the dire situation of so many schools across the country and looks for the causes, which turn out to be legion. His book demonstrates how a toxic brew of Progressive activists, anti-racism advocates, teachers unions, Democratic politicians, and billionaire social engineers have managed the devastation of public education, whether that was their intention or not.

Rosiak begins with a disturbing description of virtual learning, in which young children were stuck staring at screens so many waking hours of the day while teachers did their utmost to prolong this charade of remote learning being the equivalent of in-person learning. Although the mediocre instruction and lack of accountability didnt start with COVID, it became much more pervasive because of it: One side effect of COVID-19  was to remind Americans how central K-12 schools are to our lives. This is true. Had Rosiak written on this topic before the pandemic, few people wouldve noticed since, as Rosiak himself puts it, [K12 education] was more or less on autopilot. Consequently, so much Progressive indoctrination, poor instruction, and unprepared graduates were left untouched.

When looking at the data, however, it becomes clear that this complacency has done serious harm to public schools. By any metric, schools were faltering well before COVID, and even more so afterward. Unfortunately, rather than buckle down and find better instructional strategies, teachers and principals collectively denounced the idea of having standards in the first place in the name of fairness and equity.

Consequently, educators take aggressive issue with those who do fight for standards and actually look at the numbers. For example, Rosiak narrates the showdown between retired engineer Brian Davison and the Loudon County School District. Davison asked for a copy of growth scores under the Freedom of Information Act, but Loudon County Public Schools (LCPS) told him that it did not have them.

Davison made the mistake of following up on his request and sued the district for withholding this information. Instead of owning up to its mistakes and producing the requested documents, the LCPS school board members sought to destroy Davison and sicced law enforcement on him. Davison prevailed and found that there were, indeed, gaps between teachers whose students showed great improvement in their classroom and those whose students stagnated and even regressed, but nothing much came of this revelation.

This raises the question, If educational leaders and teachers unions dont care about numbers, about their own effectiveness in the classroom, what do they care about? According to Rosiak, many administrators and teachers, particularly those in Virginia, New York, Illinois, Maryland, Washington, and California, seem intent on doing as little as possible and pushing leftist dogma. And COVID only made things worse.

Soon after shutting down for COVID, many left-leaning teachers and administrators exploited the George Floyd protests and riots, further pushing issues of race to the fore of educational policy. The time was ripe for school boards to declare that spreading anti-racism and guaranteeing equal outcomes among all racial groups should become the top priority for schools.

One of the most influential proponents of this effort was Glenn Singleton, an African American who attended Ivy League schools and lived, in Rosiaks words, a life of privilege, full of opportunity and success. Instead of inspiring gratitude, Singletons experience growing up sparked a deep resentment with what he saw as white supremacist culture. This sentiment translated into his starting the Pacific Education Group (PEG), through which he would help various private prep schools deal with their supposed deep-seated racism. Eventually, PEGs efforts resulted in a whole industry of anti-racist educational consultants.

In this kind of environment, it was only natural that critical race theory (CRT), the idea that all disparities in performance and achievement are the result of systemic racism, would become popular. Rosiak rightly notes that CRT simply ends up creating more problems than it solves: Not only is CRT not a method for solving problems; it is a method for discovering them where no one had perceived them before.

Even if the words critical race theory were never explicitly spoken, which was often asserted by its defenders, its underlying agenda was vigorously pursued throughout many districts, usually under the guise of ensuring equity. The already limited focus on education was quickly displaced by seeing any achievement gap among different races as evidence of racism and taking any and all means necessary to root it out. Rosiak tells the story of LCPSs hiring equity consultants, who unsurprisingly, saw racism everywhere and used this claim as leverage to demand more money, power, and the ability to further propagate critical race theory.

In a short period of time, CRT consultants were to be found all over the country, spouting unsubstantiated claims and dubious remedies to imaginary problems. The sheer outrageousness of the whole movement was its greatest asset. Rosiaks observation is telling: If parents hear about these ideas at all, they presume that they must be hearing exaggerations, statements taken out of context, or the cherry-picked ideas of a few zealots, or assume that they are limited to inner-city schools. This is a fatal mistake. It is everywhere in the world of childrens education, and has been for years.

Rosiak considers the often neglected question of who actually funds these anti-racism movements. First, theres the government, which blithely shovels billions of taxpayer dollars toward activist groups as well as administrators and teachers unions. So if anyone wonders where Baltimores $19,063 per student goes, its to people who are more or less completely removed from the classroom.

Funding also comes from innocuous-sounding foundations engaged in social engineering. Many activists turned school consultants are patronized and promoted by a handful of large foundations, primarily Ford; Gates; W.K. Kellogg; Annie E. Carnegie; MacArthur; and Surdna. These people then go on to produce questionable scholarship, infiltrate local politics and media, develop trainings, and write curricula for teachers and professors to use. Even though these activists pretend to be one of the people fighting for social justice, nearly all of them are shilling for the worlds wealthiest elites.

Rosiak goes into detail about how the work of these foundations and their opportunistic puppets not only plagues school districts but also local governments. He examines how local politics becomes overrun with progressive urbanists who use the same buzzwords and phrases as their educational counterparts to destroy the suburbs. Like school systems, the suburbs are deemed racist and thus asked to take on the rot of the cities by providing high-density, low-income housing.

Naturally, none of this is the least bit democratic. Even if the rhetoric of these reformers suggests a focus on helping the poor, it is real estate developers and government agencies who really profit since they are the ones building and taxing these new residences. Rosiak compares this situation to the bootleggers who took advantage of the Progressive and evangelical campaigns for the prohibition of alcohol.

In the epilogue, Rosiak reveals his final assessment of the whole state of affairs. Not surprisingly, he fully condemns public education and recommends that people pull their kids out of public schools: Im fully convinced that finding virtually any alternative will be worth it, even if making it happen requires major life changes. As parents do this, they can also push for various school reforms, though Rosiak is not exactly optimistic on this point: I am no longer sure Americas public school system can be saved

As with so many other conservative critiques of public education, this is the main weakness of Race to the Bottom: the lack of concrete solutions. This is especially frustrating for a teacher like myself who largely agrees with Rosiaks diagnosis. He doesnt even think much about school choice and charter schools, which he considers mostly a conservative copout from talking seriously about education. School choice may not equate to educational reform, but its the necessary basis for reform. Its the equivalent of pulling the fire alarm.

Another weakness is Rosiaks style of argument, which is mainly reporting on the very worst examples happening across the country. Rather than delve into the purpose and meaning of education as a way to frame his argument and explore deeper issues at play, so much of his argument rests on basic conservative assumptions: More parent input and standardized testing is good, teachers unions and efforts to fight inequity are bad, schools just need to teach the 3 Rs, etc. These assumptions arent necessarily false, but they tend to leave out important factors of pedagogy, community, and culture, which determine much of what happens at public school classrooms. Outrage alone can only go so far.

Nevertheless, too much of Rosiaks book sadly rings true. Americans have a particular blind spot about education, which Race to the Bottom can remedy. Its beyond foolish to believe that kids can make it through todays schools unscathed by political indoctrination and rampant mediocrity. They are coming out woefully unprepared to take on basic responsibilities of adulthood, and their future is significantly diminished, all because the adults in their lives didnt think to question what was or wasnt happening in the places their kids spent so many hours five days a week of the most formative time in their young lives.

All this needs to change right away, if not for todays students, then for subsequent generations having to pick up the pieces. At the very least, readers should heed Rosiaks warning to wake up and start paying attention to whats happening not only to our educational system but to our civilization: For the sake of our kids happiness, for the sake of our constitutional republic, for the sake of a modern world fueled by scientific and technological advancement, we can never, ever go back to sleep.
To gain citizens' confidence, law enforcement acts and approaches should be guided by public safety and an officer's show of integrity.

More and more Nigerians continue to protest across the country against law enforcement misconduct and brutality.

As to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Executive Director Abdulrasheed Ahmed Bawa's ascension was welcomed by the people as he promised rule of law and professionalism in the EFCC.

With what reportedly happened at the hotel some days ago by EFCC officials, the lawless, violent, and insensitive image of officials of the so-called and now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) comes to mind.

The EFCC was said to have conducted a sting operation against alleged internet fraudsters at two sites; the Lakers Lounge Hotel and Bar and De Butlers Hotel, both located in the Ikorodu area of Lagos.

The EFCC must be praised for going after alleged cyber criminals, especially when we know from global reports that internet-related crimes cost the global economy about $445 billion every year. Just imagine what it is doing to a shaky economy like Nigeria's. Havoc.

Cybercrimes cause damage to businesses and lead to consequences ranging from theft of personal information, loss of valuable data, sexual victimization, child abuse, extortion of money and can affect systems that depend on critical infrastructures, such as banks, power plants, schools, and hospitals. So, we need more EFCC services, which include internet sting operations to shockingly catch offenders. This type of undercover, sudden, and shocking arrest, when done properly, can sometimes change the lives of youths and young adults, telling them to get their lives back and stay away from a life of crime.

But why should law enforcement investigators and operatives be abusive and cruel or engage in the use of threats and violence?

The EFCC operatives' raid of the Lagos hotels reportedly involved misconduct during the sting operations. There were complaints that officials allegedly ordered customers and workers to lie on the floor and beat up those who protested the order. For what?

It has been reported that many of the law enforcement operations involved people-beating, but how does that help in a reasonable court of law? The use of threats of violence by operators against suspects could potentially lead to a valid entrapment defense.

In operations such as the ones involving suspicious cybercrimes, it is very reasonable for operatives to confiscate cash, computers, and phones, as this is to ensure adequate criminal investigations.

Individuals should not benefit from their illegal acts. But such seized cash, computers, and phones must immediately be safeguarded for safekeeping throughout the investigation.

The seized cash, from the time it is seized until it is sealed, is evidence and should be counted, placed in a bag or container stored in the offices overnight vault or security container, which every office must have.

The seized money, which serves as evidence, is then retrieved and taken to a bank for an official count. Seized assets, like phones and computers, should immediately undergo inventory and be safeguarded. After proper and less stressful follow-up by investigators, some assets are returned to the owner or kept for prosecutor reasons or forfeited to the government.

We know these types of undercover and sting operations are moments that can inspire fear and dread in anyoneincluding law-abiding citizens.

Nigerian citizens, whether at home or in a place like a hotel, should not be worried about operatives appearing at their door, unannounced, at any time, as such stings can come with an arrest/search warrant or no warrant.

However, you are not required to speak with them. No matter how much they embarrass you, to protect your legal rights, you do not have to talk to them. You have an absolute right to refuse to speak with the official, and you should always consult with a criminal lawyer before speaking with any law enforcement official.

The phrase "anything you say can and will be used against you" applies whether you are under arrest. But do not let anything interfere with the search because doing so may result in a charge of obstruction of justice.

If the EFCC follows the law in everything they do, unlike the Nigeria Police Force, which has a history of arbitrarily arresting and extorting money from ordinary citizens, the EFCC and other like-minded organizations will not be perceived as unrefined in tactics and rude in dealings with citizens.

The manner and approach of EFCC officials to the hotel raid and an apparent victims' report in the Nigerian Punch newspaper showed how EFCC missed the mark: A customer, Oladapo Ogunyinka, said the EFCC officials seized people's phones, adding that he had yet to recover his seized property.

He said, "I left Ikeja with two guests to have fun at the club. We were upstairs when the EFCC operatives invaded the premises with guns and sticks. One of them, Olumide, approached us with a gun, seized my iPhone PRO Max 13 and Samsung Galaxy A22, valued at N900,000, and ordered us to go down.

"When we got down, the operatives told us to lie down flat. The official who confiscated my phone immediately began filming. The officials went to the hotel attached to the club, broke the doors and brought the lodgers outside. There was a particular couple that came out; the man was wearing only boxers, and the lady, a pair of pants and a bra.

"There was a lady that started convulsing due to the shock of the incident, and one of the officers still beat her with a stick and said she was pretending. They treated people like animals; if I am lying, they have the CCTV footage with them. They should play it.

"They tied us in pairs of two; I explained to one of the operatives that I was a realtor that just came to the club to have fun, and he informed the officer that led the operation from Ibadan, Chris Odofin, and I was untied." But they did not release my phones.

Ogunyinka said the operatives instructed him to visit the EFCC office in Ibadan, Oyo State, to ask for one Momoh to claim his phone, adding that despite visiting the office, he had yet to retrieve his property.

I had nothing incriminating on my phones, so I visited their office and asked for Momoh, who took me to where the seized phones were kept, but I didnt see my phones. I became angry and started shouting, and luckily, I was able to identify the person that seized my phone and Momoh also saw the officer.

"So, their boss had to intervene and told Momoh to call the officer. Their boss, who is a woman, gave them 72 hours to produce my phones, but till date, they have yet to produce them. It is surprising that I gave my phones to an EFCC official, and he stole my phones instead of tendering them as exhibits.

"The incident was a nightmare. They harassed customers and workers at the club and didnt even interview most people. I explained everything to their boss in Ibadan and she was just apologizing, "he added.

In the above case, once it has been established that the police erred in his detention, the property which is supposed to be safe in a specific place in the office will be given to him, and there will be no need for an erratically conducted search for his phone.

For how long will the EFCC allow its errors to result in outcomes like this? Earlier this year, the Federal High Court in Abuja awarded N50m in damages to a businessman, Babatunde Morakinyo, who sued the EFCC for arresting him within court premises after he was released on bail.

The above interactions with the victim justify the need for disciplinary action against an erring official sometimes. or outright dismissal of some officers. I believe that there are policies in place under Bawa that speak about lawful law enforcement procedures in regard to excessive force, false arrest, and arrestee valuables.

The EFCC and other law enforcement agencies must understand this. Police brutality and lawless behavior hinder good law enforcement in all democracies as they lead to anti-democratic outcomes, which include willful and intentional acts of danger to unsuspecting officers, ambushing of officers, violent injuries, and costly police misconduct lawsuits.

Most Nigerians believe Nigeria's democracy is in crisis; public trust in government institutions remains low; and bad policing is holding a "dagger" at the throat of Nigerian democracy. It is my hope that the incoming governments will prioritize democratizing law enforcement by emphasizing accountability and implementing democratic law enforcement systems, which should include state police across the country.

John Egbeazien Oshodi, who was born in Uromi, Edo State in Nigeria to a father who served in the Nigeria police for 37 years, is an American based Police/Prison Scientist and Forensic/Clinical/Legal Psychologist. A government consultant on matters of forensic-clinical adult and child psychological services in the USA; Chief Educator and Clinician at the Transatlantic Enrichment and Refresher Institute, an Online Lifelong Center for Personal, Professional, and Career Development. He is a former Interim Associate Dean/Assistant Professor at Broward College, Florida. The Founder of the Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi Foundation, Center for Psychological Health and Behavioral Change in African Settings In 2011, he introduced State-of-the-Art Forensic Psychology into Nigeria through N.U.C and Nasarawa State University, where he served in the Department of Psychology as an Associate Professor. I am currently a Virtual Behavioral Leadership Professor at ISCOM University, Republic of Benin. Founder of the proposed Transatlantic Egbeazien Open University (TEU) of Values and Ethics, a digital project of Truth, Ethics, and Openness. Over forty academic publications and creations, at least 200 public opinion pieces on African issues, and various books have been written by him. He specializes in psycho-prescriptive writings regarding African institutional and governance issues.

Prof. Oshodi wrote in via [email protected]
Mr. Sunday Goodnews, (Not real name) graduated from the university as a mass communicator, but 10 years down the line, he is yet to secure any meaningful job that can put foods on his familys table, not to talk of being the proverbial Bread Winner of his immediate family. All the while, the wife has been responsible for the provision of virtually everything needed in the house, even up to match box, being the cheapest household item in Nigeria today. He is Carless and can by each passing day be seen chasing after Danfos for their services at any bus stop he finds himself at any point in time, and often arguing and fighting with his landlord over unpaid rent and utility bills. In a similar vein, Mrs. Helen Dominic (also not real name) got married more than fifteen years ago, but as you read this piece, no baby has cried in her apartment except her own cry due to miscarriages. Still in a similar vein, Mr. Uchenna Omololu has been bedridden for the past 10 years with no sign of recovery as medics that have been attending to his case are yet to detect the actual root of his ailment. As if his predicament is not enough, the ailment has cost him his rewarding business and his once decent accommodation so much that his wife and children have relocated to stay with relatives, while he, on his own part, squats with friends as if he is still a bachelor. His case is unbelievably pathetic and worse that he now feeds from hands to mouth.

The abovementioned narratives are just few cases that exemplify how far fetish people can go in finishing the lives and bastardizing the destinies of fellow human beings. The narratives realistically demonstrates some of the miseries, among many, which fetish people wickedly perpetrate against their friends and foes. When controlled by evil spirits, wickedly fetish people are usually heartless to those that are their friends, their children, blood relations or enemies in the physical realm. They are wont to give no one any benefit of sympathy when possessed by evil spirits.

If I may guesstimate, not a few readers of this piece may have pondered on why I was inspired to express an opinion that dwells on esoteric issue such as this. Some may have sneeringly asked, Must this writer always express her views on any given issue? The reply to the foregoing contemptible questions cannot be far-fetched as the journalistic instinct in me is literarily as strong and compelling as the urge for a cock to crow at every wee hours of each passing day.

I must confess that I was inspired to write this esoteric piece on account of a video posted to my Facebook page by a friend. The trending video depicts a stark naked man, who was described as a lecturer and a Ph.D. holder in Theatre Arts clutching alleged fetish materials being shamefully displayed by him after being apprehended by his tenants who alleged he was using the charms to impoverish them.

Against the foregoing backdrop, there is no denying the fact that not few readers of this piece will ignorantly wave the foregoing view aside by concluding that it is replete with superstitious facts. Well, in as much as I may not enter into any form of argument in this context with anyone, it is expedient to remind them that the story about the Witch of Endor is used as a biblical example in the Bible. As stated in the Bible, The Witch of Endor, also known as the Medium of Endor, was a medium who apparently summoned the Prophet Samuels spirit, at the demand of King Saul of the Kingdom of Israel in the First Book of Samuel, chapter 28:325. Also in the Bible, allusions that readily point to the reality of witches and fetish people were made to in different books that made up the Bible. Prominent among the scriptures is the one expressed in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12 which says For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

To take this piece from another perspective for the sake of clarity, it is expedient to say that a best kept secret of human traffickers is how they control and silence their victims. An effective counter-trafficking response is often obstructed by traffickers implementing various control methods or a blend thereof depending on what is most effective in the specific circumstances. One of these arcane control methods is juju rituals, predominantly used by Nigerian traffickers, to subjugate victims for sexual exploitation in various parts of the world. Exposing control methods, to traffickers, are more unfamiliar cultural, spiritual, and psychological control mechanisms, which they deem to be essential to establish an informed counter-trafficking global response.

In a similar vein, a new sensation in cybercrime is mixing spiritual elements with internet surfing to boost cybercrime success rates. Today, it is no more news that so called Yahoo Boys use spiritual methods that cut across ase or mayehun (incontrovertible order), charmed or magical rings (oruka-ere) and incisions made around the wrist, which are used to surf the net, while ijapa (tortoise) is used to navigate profitable sites. Unsuspecting victims fall under the spell of the ase through phone conversation where spiritual orders are made to the victims without their objection.

Also, as a result of the upsurge in the number of churches, there is no denying the fact that it has given rise to the founding of a variety of denominations whilst moral decadence thrives. So also has it resulted to some verified and unverified story.

For instance, someone that shared her view on this topic says, Most of the Christian mothers in the church belong to a cult, some must-see their son's nakedness before their juju of control will work, some kill their children for power, while some sit on their children's success.

True or false in this context, is not the concern of this writer, rather everyone should endeavor to shun all forms of evil deeds and embrace God in their daily living for a progressive society. The reason why evil should be shunned cannot be farfetched as the time people should begin to live a life that would conform to Gods way for the Holy Spirit to deliver them from unpalatable situations, hardships has come.

There are lots of evil happenings everywhere. Even globally, there are several forms of robberies here and there, injustice, wickedness and cheating, against what God expects from us as his children. Be that as it may, it is expedient we try, and resist the temptations that lead to these forms of evils as they do not pay.
Additional 856 Covid-19 infections confirmed on Tuesday

An additional 856 new Covid-19 infections were confirmed on Tuesday, raising the national tally to over 10.73 million, according to the Ministry of Health.









A child is given Covid-19 vaccine in Hanoi



According to the ministry's report, most of the new patients are locally-transmitted cases confirmed in 37 out of 63 localities in the country with some localities seeing the highest numbers including Hanoi (151), Danang (64), Phu Tho (56), Yen Bai (46), and Lai Chau (45).



As of Tuesday evening, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to over 10.73 million.



On June 14, an additional 6,365 more patients recovered from the disease, raising the number of recoveries in the country to over 9.56 million.



On Tuesday evening, no deaths related to Covid-19 were announced. Total fatalities stayed at 43,083, accounting for 0.4 per cent of total infections..



By June 13, the country had injected more than 223 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including over 5.31 million given to children aged 5 to 11.
The only surprising thing about the Depp-Heard defamation trial was how it managed to sustain the crazy for so long. Heard apparently has not had enough, is still talking, and is passing some blame around.

Daily Beast:

"Every single day, I passed three, four, sometimes six blocks, city blocks lined with people holding signs saying 'Burn the witch', 'Death to Amber,'" Heard said. "After three-and-a-half weeks, I took the stand, and saw just a courtroom packed full of Captain Jack Sparrow fans who were vocal, energized. This was the most humiliating and horrible thing I've ever been through. I have never felt more removed from my own humanity. I felt less than human."

Heard also used the interview to argue that "really important pieces of evidence" had been kept out of the latest trial. (Depp previously lost a defamation case against The Sun newspaper in Britain after the publication described him as a "wife beater").

When Guthrie asked Heard whether or not Depp simply "had better lawyers" at the U.S. trial, Heard said: "I will say his lawyers did a certainly better job of distracting the lawyers from the real issues."
Coventry University is to become the first UK University to open a branch campus in Morocco.

The campus, which intends to offer courses in subject areas such as engineering, architecture and business, will be located on a new campus in Bouskoura, a suburb of Casablanca.

It is scheduled to begin welcoming students in September, subject to final approval.

Coventry University has teamed up with The British Schools Educational Services Prives  a national higher education organisation  to open the branch campus.

Professor John Latham CBE, Coventry University Vice-Chancellor, met with the British Ambassador to Morocco during a recent visit to the site.

To further cement the relationship, Mr Mohamed Tahiri, Director of Higher Education at the Moroccan Department of Higher Education, visited Coventry University, attending as the conditional agreement was formally signed on 24th May.

The new branch campus will closely follow the model of Coventry Universitys Knowledge Hub in Egypt, enabling students to earn the same degree qualifications as those awarded at its UK campuses.

Professor John Latham CBE, Coventry University Vice-Chancellor, said: We will be proud to become the first UK University to establish a branch campus in Morocco and will look forward to welcoming students to this fantastic facility. Coventry Universitys global outlook brings great benefits to students and staff, enabling us to share best research practices and ensure more and more people have access to life-changing qualifications.

Our work to build relationships around the world recently saw Coventry University awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise in the category of International Trade and our network of global hubs continues to build and maintain these important links.

Professor Tariq Obaid, President of BSESP, added: We are delighted to be collaborating with Coventry University on this ground-breaking project.

Coventry Universitys expertise combined with our 22 years of experience in delivering UK higher education in Morocco, in addition to early years, primary and secondary British education, is the perfect match.

That will result in offering high quality British education in Morocco, which is in the heart of Africa and is geographically the gateway to Africa from Europe and the UK.

The Ministry of Higher Education has also worked hard on this project and Morocco has made great progress in raising the standard of education available, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. It is also important to mention the support provided by the British Embassy and the British Council, without whom this development would not have been possible.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has reached out to Bruce Fein, the United States counsel to the detained leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, over his suit filed against the Federal Government of Nigeria.

ICC notified Fein that his suit is substantiated by probable cause.

The US lawyer made this known on Monday on his Twitter handle about the suit he filed against the Nigerian government, including Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja and Justice John Tosho, the Chief Judge of the FHC before the ICC.

On his handle, @BruceFeinEsq, Fein said he had obtained a notice from Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, the (ICC) Prosecutor, which said his complaints are substantiated by probable cause.

His tweet read, June 10, I received notice from the Chief Prosecutor (CP) of the ICC that my genocide-crimes against humanity complaints against AG Malami, Judge Nyako, and CJ Tosho are substantiated by probable cause. Further CP investigation after 3-judge vetting. Justice cannot be outfoxed,

Fein had earlier filed a criminal complaint against three legal authority for conspiring with President Muhammadu Buhari and Kenya President, Uhuru Kenyatta, to commit crimes against humanity vis-a-vis his clients re-arrest in the East African country in 2021 and subsequent transfer to Nigeria, through extraordinary rendition.
LAGOS, Tuesday, June 14, 2022: Media Rights Agenda (MRA) today called on the Federal Government to discontinue its attempt to adopt a Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries, accusing it of trying to regulate social media and other online platforms through the backdoor by circumventing the legislative process.

MRA described the draft Code of Practice developed by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and published for public comments as a clumsy attempt to usurp the powers, functions and authority of the National Assembly as well as a breach of the constitutional rights of Nigerians.

NITDAs Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relationship, Mrs Hadiza Umar, issued a Press Release today announcing that NITDA issued the Code of Practice which it is presenting for public input, on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari in accordance with its mandate under the NITDA Act, to standardize, coordinate and develop regulatory frameworks for all information technology practices in Nigeria.

Condemning the effort, Mr Ayode Longe, MRAs Programme Director said: The Federal Government is clearly attempting to circumvent the legislative process in favour of a backdoor approach to regulate social media and other internet platforms. It is curious that the Government has chosen to use an administrative document to surreptitiously create criminal offences as the document states unequivocally that any platform or internet intermediary responsible for violating its provisions will be liable to prosecution and conviction.

He argued that NITDAs misuse of the term Code of Practice to describe the document amounts to acting under false pretenses to dupe Nigerians into believing that the Government is seeking to protect them when its real intention is so obviously to control social media and other Internet platforms by compelling them to register with the Government and thereby muzzle the right to freedom of expression online.

Mr. Longe contended that the document is a breach of Articles 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Nigerias treaty obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which gives everyone the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers

According to him, the name is problematic. Although it is termed a code of practice, it is in fact not intended to provide guidance for the implementation of any specific law or regulation. Rather, it creates criminal offences which are not contained in any existing Law and attempts to legitimize them by a vague reference to its enabling Act and other laws, which is beyond the remit of any such administrative document.

Mr. Longe argued that the underlying rationale for many of the provisions of the document are unrealistic and unreasonable as they defy logic and common sense.

He said: In todays globalized world, is it possible or realistic to expect global Internet platforms like Facebook, Twitter and others to register with the government of every country in the world where they have users and set up offices in all those countries, which is the implication of the Federal Governments demand? Conversely, Nigerias external broadcaster, the Voice of Nigeria, broadcasts its signal and content to dozens of countries around the world and runs a website that is accessible globally; is it registered and does not have offices in all the countries where its signals are received as Nigeria is now demanding of platforms registered in other countries?

Mr. Longe described many of the provisions of the document as arbitrary and draconian, saying the requirement that platforms take down unlawful content within 24 hours after receiving a notice or complaint from any authorized government agency constitutes an attempt by the Government to control content published on social media and other online platforms while bypassing the judicial process and usurping the functions of the courts which should legitimately determine what content that is illegal or unlawful.

MRA therefore rejected the Code of Practice in its totality. It called on the government to abandon it and approach the National Assembly with an appropriately bill, if its genuine intention is to address legitimate issues rather than violating the rights of Nigerians and other members of the public on the pretext of protecting them from fake news and misinformation.

For further information, please contact:

Idowu Adewale

Communications Officer

[email protected]


Durban, June 14, 2022  In response to news reports that a Zimbabwe court convicted New York Times freelance correspondent Jeffrey Moyo on Tuesday of breaching the countrys immigration laws and issued him a suspended sentence and a fine, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation:

Todays conviction of journalist Jeffrey Moyo is a monumental travesty of justice and shows how far press freedom has deteriorated in Zimbabwe under President Emmerson Mnangagwa, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator. The fact that Moyos prison sentence was suspended does not make it any less of a mockery of justice. Authorities must not contest Moyos appeal, and ensure that he and other journalists can work in Zimbabwe freely, especially with a general election scheduled for next year.

The court issued Moyo a fine of 200,000 Zimbabwe dollars (about US$600) and a two-year suspended prison term, which can be imposed if he is convicted of a similar crime in the next five years, according to The New York Times, which said he planned to appeal the verdict.

Authorities arrested Moyo in the capital, Harare, alongside Zimbabwe Media Commission registrar Thabang Manhika on May 26, 2021, and accused them of contravening the Immigration Act by allegedly producing fake media accreditation cards for two foreign New York Times journalists, Christina Goldbaum and Joao Silva, who were deported after three days in the country, as CPJ documented at the time.

Manhika was acquitted in a separate trial by the same magistrate on March 10, according to news reports. At least four other journalists face prosecution in Zimbabwe on unrelated charges.
Cannabis worries outlined

BANGKOK: Cannabis use should be limited to medical purposes only, the chief of the Department of Medical Services said yesterday (June 13).

natural-resourceshealthdrugs

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 14 June 2022, 11:40AM

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul inspects cannabis-based products at his ministry in Nonthaburi province last month. Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill

Director-general Somsak Akksilp warned against the recreational use of cannabis, especially among young people, reports the Bangkok Post.

For children, cannabis should only be given to treat epilepsy when regular medicines are ineffective, he said.

For other medical purposes, cannabis should be used for palliative treatment and for cancer patients who suffer from nausea and vomiting after chemotherapy and do not respond to medication, Dr Somsak said.

He warned against the use of cannabis by people under 25 years, and for recreational purposes.

Cannabis impacts the brain and the nervous system and especially with students, whose brains and learning capability are affected, Dr Somsak said. He urged schools, parents and others to be serious about protecting young people from cannabis use.

The Department of Medical Services emphasised that cannabis should be used for medical purposes only, and under doctors supervision, he said.

We know the pros well, but the cons include addiction and traffic accidents involving drivers under the influence. This already happens in other countries, Dr Somsak said.

Side effects included dry throat, palpitations, insomnia and anxiety, he said.

Dr Somsak said that the department has already set up the hotline 1165 where people can seek advice on proper cannabis use.

He said more meetings are expected to discuss the pros and cons of cannabis use.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he expects that a cannabis and hemp draft bill which passed its first reading last week would become law as quickly as possible.

He said a House committee on vetting the draft bill will consider all public concerns about improper cannabis use, especially among adolescents who are regarded as the riskiest group for recreational use.

Anutin said he was thankful for public concerns over cannabis use raised by many stakeholders. The Ministry of Public Health will look into those concerns seriously, he said.

But he said wanted to make it clear that the ministry has supported cannabis use only for medical purposes and for stimulating the countrys economic growth.

Anutin said improper use of cannabis has nothing to do with the governments policy.

Concerns over the recreational use of cannabis follow the plants decriminalisation last week, with doctors citing problems surrounding a lack of proper regulations.

More than 150,000 people registered to cultivate cannabis via the application and website of the Food and Drug Administration as the legalisation of cannabis and hemp took effect on Thursday (June 9).
Phuket Immigration issues 90-day reporting warning

PHUKET: Phuket Immigration has issued a warning reminding foreigners that failing to complete their 90-day reporting within the stated deadline will result in a fine.

immigration

By The Phuket News

Tuesday 14 June 2022, 11:56AM

The warning, issued yesterday (June 13), specifically targets foreign workers.

Foreigners who present themselves late for their 90-day reporting stand to be fined B2,000.

Foreigners who are caught without presenting themselves late for their 90-day reporting stand to be fined B4,000, the warning read.

The warning came as Phuket Immigration noted that Phuket Immigration Chief Col Thanet Sukchai yesterday attended the formal visit of British Ambassador to Thailand Mark Gooding meeting with Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew.

It also comes as Phuket Immigration marks that its office has issued visa extensions to 8,640 Russian nationals and 1,294 Ukrainians from Mar 1 to June 12.

The national office of the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok announced in late May that the latest round of visa extensions for foreigners unable to return home during the pandemic situation of COVID-19 and international conflict situations will continue until July 25.
The mother of Patriot Front member Jared Boyce, one of the 31 assholes detained before they could violently disrupt a Pride event in Idaho, has kicked him out of her house. Having tried all she can, this is a drastic attempt to convince her son to leave the far-right extremist group.

Daily Beast:

Karen Amsden, mom of alleged Patriot Front member and Springville, Utah resident Jared Michael Boyce, said on Monday that her son has struggled to fill "a void" in his life ever since his father left the family years ago and came out as gay. A licensed clinical social worker, Amsden said she's going public in an attempt to sabotage his standing in the group, because her other attempts at convincing him to walk away from the far right have so far failed.



"I would love to do whatever I can to out him [as a Patriot Front member] so that he can't be a part of it," she said. "And that they don't want him to be a part of their group because his mom has loose lips and a big mouth and he's never going to get away with anything."

"I could tell it was him. It's a sick feeling. "

Amsden said that after her son was released from jail, he told her he'd continue to stand with the group, so she delivered an ultimatum. "I told him, 'Well, then you can't live here. You can choose between Patriot Front and your family.' And he's like, 'Well, I can't quit Patriot Front.' I'm like, 'Well, then you've just chosen. So pack your stuff and get out of my house.'"
We live in a golden age of being able to watch television and movies. All of the best shows and films are right at your fingertips. But with this technology, we also face a new, modern dilemma: We have too many places to search to find what we're looking for. It can leave you feeling so frustrated! READ THE REST
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Mostly sunny. High around 24C. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 14C. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ALTON  More than 200 classic cars, hot rods and motorcycles lined the streets for the 25th Annual All-Wheels Drive-in Car Show over the weekend and more than 30 trophies were awarded.

The awards were for classes and specialty recognition for the vehicles lined up in Downtown Alton. Tele-Starr played live golden oldies jukebox music and a pin-up contest was held later in the day.

Alton Main Street and Time Machines Unlimited Car Club have partnered to make the annual event happen for the past 25 years.

Its one of the biggest events in the area, said Kelsy Blackorby-Hormann, of Alton.

On Sunday, she showed a 2013 Subaru WRX. She said she has never shown a car before, but she comes to the All-Wheels Show every year with her family.

Kevin Hanlon, of Godfrey, also showed a car at the show for the first time.

Been down here the last two years walking around looking at cars, Hanlon said. Ive been looking for a car for over two years and finally found one.

He purchased a 1966 Plymouth Belvedere earlier this year and has done a few showings with his Jerseyville muscle car club. He said the shows he has done so far are nothing like the All-Wheels Drive-In Car Show.

We come down here every time we get a chance, said Russ Jernigan, of Greenville. He has entered cars in the show several times, and showed his one-of-500 2010 Mopar 10 Challenger on Sunday.

Jernigan said several aspects keep him coming back to Alton for the show.

There are a lot of people here, its really great. I like it, its close, he said. We just like coming down here, enjoy eating and seeing everybody.

Its very well organized, said Mary Zucker, of Creve Coeur, Missouri. We heard about it from a gentleman who lives in our subdivision.

Zucker and her husband brought their 1955 Chevy Pickup to Sundays event. They had never been to the All-Wheels Drive-In Car Show before, but Zucker was looking forward to the day.

Ill say what my little grandson says, I like everything,' she said.

The only complaints about the day were the heat and, especially for the owners of dark-colored vehicles, the dust.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ALTON  A suspect apprehended by the Gillespie Police Department June 9 was charged today by the Madison County State's Attorney's Office with two counts of first degree murder, two counts of intentional homicide of an unborn child dismembering a human body, offenses relating to motor vehicles and concealment of homicidal death.

Deundrea S. Holloway, 22, of the 400 block of S. Jefferson, Litchfield, was charged with multiple felonies.

During a preliminary investigation by the Alton Police Department, it revealed that the mother of Liese Dodd went to check on her, as Dodd had not been heard from for a while. Dodd's mother arrived at this residence on Bolivar Street in Alton, which is where Dodd had recently moved.

Dodd was found deceased and the Alton Police Department was immediately contacted.

The Alton Police Department Criminal Investigations Division began investigating the case. Leads, information and evidence collection led to the identification of a suspect. As the investigation continued, Alton Police Department detectives began searching for the suspect in Litchfield and areas in Montgomery County.

The suspect was apprehended by the Gillespie Police Department during the afternoon hours on June 9, as they were investigating a theft, and the Alton Police Department was immediately contacted. Alton police began an investigation that day.

Information obtained during the APD investigation was presented to the Madison County State's Attorney's Office, who formally charged Holloway.

Judge Neil Schroeder set bail at $2 million. Holloway is currently being held at the Alton Police Department.

"Although the aforementioned summary is absolutely terrible, the following information is beyond disturbing," Alton Police Chief Marcos Pulido said.

The investigation further revealed that the victim, Dodd, was beheaded. She was also pregnant with an expected date of delivery in mid-July.

Dodd and the Holloway had been in an on-and-off dating relationship for about two years. Dodd had just moved to Alton a short time ago. Holloway is from the Litchfield.

"The sufferings of the victim are horrible. Nobody should have had to endure what Liese and her unborn child went through," Pulido said. "On behalf of the Alton Police Department, I offer my sincerest condolences to Liese's family and friends.He also gave a special thanks to the Madison County Coroner's Office, the Litchfield Police

Department, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, the Macoupin County Sheriff's Office, Illinois State Police and the Gillespie Police Department and many more law enforcement agencies as they all assisted without hesitation.

"We offer our sympathy to the family of Liese Dodd for the profound loss they are suffering," said Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine. "We believe the evidence will show that the defendant's gruesome actions here killed both a young woman and the child she carried in her womb. In the eyes of the law both these killings are equal. And he will now face justice for both. I want to thank the Alton Police Department and the many assisting agencies for their swift actions in taking this dangerous offender off the street.






This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

EDWARDSVILLE  A resolution that would significantly reduce the inspection fees for food trucks are to be considered by the Madison County Board Wednesday, but some members have said they opposed the action.

Last week the Health Department and Finance committees approved a resolution that would reduce the fee to $175 from the current $375. The current fees were established in 2018.

During the May Health Committee meeting, Alton city officials and the owners of Altons food truck park  Flock  asked the county to consider reducing the permit fee to attract more food trucks to Madison County.

Director of Public Health Toni Corona said that currently there are 18 licensed mobile establishments in the county.

At the Health Department Committee, Chairman Mike Babcock said at the meeting he believed lowering the fee would foster economic activity for the county. However, committee member Terry Eaker said he was against lowering the fees as he didnt feel that food trucks should pay less than established restaurants in the same categories.

Similar concerns were expressed at the Finance Committee meeting.

Mobile food trucks are considered Category 1 and Category 2 establishments and inspected the same as a brick and mortar restaurant and eateries.

Category 1 and 1a facilities receive three inspections per year, or two inspections per year if one of the following conditions is met: a certified food service manager is present at all times the facility is in operation; or employees involved in food operations receive HACCP training exercise, in-service training in another food service sanitation area or attend an educational conference on food safety or sanitation.

Category 2 and 2a facilities receive one inspection per year.

Corona said the fees cover administrative costs within the health department.

All our fees are used to offset the food sanitation program, she said.

Corona said she compared Madison Countys food truck fees to adjacent counties to include: St. Clair ($78 to $100 six months), Jersey ($100), St. Louis ($150), St. Charles ($150), and Sangamon ($591).

The board will also consider the appointment of Christopher Otto as director of Madison County Community Development.

The appointment was postponed until June during the May County Board meeting.

Otto has been deputy administrator of MCCD for approximately a year, and has been the de facto leader since Dave Tanzyus was appointed county administrator in May 2021.

The board is also expected to consider seven zoning requests, including two that had been denied; an agreement between the Madison County Sheriffs Department and Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to provide a full-time deputy to the local DCFS office; and the use of ARPA funds for a stormwater interceptor improvement in Bethalto.

The meeting is set for 5 p.m. Wednesday in the Madison County Administration Building.
This advertorial is sponsored content provided by the advertiser and printed as is. Any claims, recommendations or errors are the advertisers own and the reader is responsible for evaluating all information contained herein. The reader is responsible for complying with any applicable Terms of Use for TikTok and any other sites.

TikTok has become a massive social media app for individuals and businesses in just a short duration. It is a creative trend-driven platform for producing, viewing, and sharing 15-second videos for all imaginable intents and purposes.

However, it can be difficult for individuals who just started a TikTok account to gain a foothold in social media influence.

As a result, many websites sell followers, views, and likes for a simple reason: to enable startup TikTok accounts to gain some online traction. Read along to find 10 of the best sites to buy TikTok followers and likes that promise instant results.

Before we move into the top list, let us conclude that the #1 service provider is Social-Viral.com.

Top 10 Best Sites to Buy TikTok Followers and Likes

You are now equipped with some pointers for choosing merchants of TikTok likes and followers.

To help you ease into the vast TikTok network, the reviewer has narrowed down the list of suppliers to just ten websites. Look at them closely, and consider your budget and your timeframe.

At Social-Viral.com, you can buy TikTok followers cheap and even rely on them to be authentic and active. Social-Viral has high standards, and that is why hundreds of famous influencers and celebrities take advantage of its services.

The smallest TikTok package on offer at Social-Viral is 50 followers, and it costs $1.58.However, you can choose from several other packages of 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 3,000, or 5,000 followers.

While the largest package of 5,000 followers costs $99.99, the packages get cheaper per follower as they get larger. Regardless of the package, you can expect to learn how to get TikTok followers fast and of the highest quality.

Social-Viral also offers the same packages and prices for TikTok likes if you're not in it for the followers.

Another reliable supplier of TikTok followers is Stormlikes. Its smallest TikTok package is 100 followers at $2.99, while its biggest offers 10,000 followers at $199.99. Other package sizes include 250, 500, 1,000, 2,500, and 5,000 TikTok followers.

Like Social-Viral TikTok products, Stormlikes alternatives get cheaper the larger the package becomes. Stormlikes guarantees instant or gradual delivery of real followers who will radically boost the visibility of your TikTok account.

If you need likes instead of followers, Stormlikes offers the same packages, but it adds a 10,000-likes package. Nevertheless, its 5,000-likes pack has the best value as it only costs $62.55.

3. FameShop

Unlike Social-Viral or Stormlikes, FameShop focuses on products solely for TikTok. FameShop assures every customer they only deliver followers, likes, views, and shares from safe TikTok accounts.

This website offers TikTok followers, views, likes, and shares, each with several package offerings. The roundup of TikTok follower packages you can find on FameShop includes 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, and even 20,000 followers.

While the 100-follower package on this website costs more than the ones from Social-Viral or Stormlikes, its 10,000-follower pack is cheaper at $99.99.

Alternatively, FameShop only offers TikTok Likes in packages up to a 5,000 count. The good thing about its likes offerings is that they are cheaper than those found on Social-Viral and Stormlikes.

4. Exploreinlife

While its primary target client base is on Instagram, Exploreinlife also offers TikTok, Facebook, and SoundCloud services. You can expand your TikTok network by using this companys TikTok follower packages, including 100, 500, 1,000, and 5,000 followers.

The good thing about Exploreinlife is that its 100-follower package for TikTok is cheaper than the ones from Social-Viral, Stormlikes, and FameShop. It only costs $2.30.

Furthermore, the largest package of 5,000 followers can give you the best bang for your buck with the base price of $69.99. However, if you need more than 5,000 followers from a single transaction, you can save more by choosing larger packages.

When you buy TikTok likes from Exploreinlife, you can choose from eight different packages, rom 100 likes costing $1.99 to 25,000 likes priced at $235.

5. SocialFansGeek

At SocialFansGeek, you can boost your creative content with social media marketing and promotion services across several platforms. It enables you to create your social media buzz and increase your account engagement with a data-driven social media presence.

The company offers TikTok, Spotify, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, SoundCloud, and Pinterest services.

For TikTok, SocialFansGeek boasts one of the lowest rates for a package of 100 followers, costing only 70 cents. In addition, you can choose from sets of 200, 500, 1,000, 10,000, and 25,000 TikTok followers.

On the other hand, if you want to buy TikTok likes from SocialFansGeek, you can choose among three packages: 1,000, 3,000, and 5,000 likes.

6. SkillPatron

SkillPatron has several services to offer in its database, but the reviewer will focus on its social media marketing department.

It is one website where you can buy TikTok followers cheap. This company charges a $0.05 fee for every follower, and each like from their team of marketers costs $0.01.

The reviewer likes that SkillPatron gives any customer free rein when choosing the number of followers or likes to purchase. You can go as low as one follower or one like, and the sky is the limit when you need to purchase a large package.

7. Best Point Online

If you are looking for a merchant that sells a combination of followers, likes, and views in single hassle-free transactions, check out Best Point Online.

You will find three drop-down menus listing the different available packages for each service category as you open the widget. Followers and likes are available in 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, and 10,000 kits, but you can purchase as many as 20,000 likes.

However, the corresponding fees for these packages are a bit higher compared to equivalent sets available on the previously mentioned websites.

8. Follower ON

Follower ON covers many social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch, Twitter, and YouTube.

If you ever want to check out their services for TikTok, they offer real followers, likes from real users, live stream viewers, and post and video views. Their smallest package contains 1,000 followers or likes and costs 3, or roughly $3.33 at the time of writing.

9. Managergram

While Managergrams primary services revolve around Instagram, it also offers products for boosting personal accounts on other social media apps.

Its extensive offerings include packages for YouTube, TikTok, SoundCloud, Facebook, Twitter, and Twitch. You will also find LinkedIn, Spotify, Pinterest, Reddit, and Clubhouse services.

When you use this website to buy TikTok followers, you can get them in 500, 1,000, 5,000, and 20,000 monthly increments. This service costs about less than half the price of similar services from SkillPatron.

On the other hand, if you choose to buy TikTok likes, you can choose from 500, 1,000, 10,000, or 50,000 likes. Compared to SkillPatron, the cost of each like will be double.

10. LikesGeek

LikesGeek provides and handles social media marketing services for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, SoundCloud, and Vimeo. They also offer Twitch, LinkedIn, Spotify, Pinterest, and Likes service packages.

When you get TikTok followers from LikesGeek, you have the freedom to choose how many followers to buy.

Unlike Managergram and Best Point Online, LikesGeek can sell you as little as 100 followers for $2.95 or 50 likes for 85 cents.

How to Choose Merchants of TikTok Followers and Likes

The internet is overly diluted, with thousands and thousands of websites claiming to raise your social media accounts to the height of fame.

As a result, a mere individual could be the target of unscrupulous online suppliers that would siphon your hard-earned cash. Many fraudulent websites will entice you to buy TikTok likes with the promise that you will get TikTok followers after some time.

Others will ask you to buy TikTok followers cheap, only to leave you with obviously automated traffic swarming your TikTok account.

The only way you can rest assured that you are buying from a reliable website is to investigate. Here are a few pointers:

Pointer 1: Trust Google

If you try typing buy TikTok followers into Google, the results are endless. About a dozen pages of website lists will appear, and you can easily get confused while choosing which links to click.

Nevertheless, you can trust that Google is an unmatched search engine authority scrutinizing every website. The most desirable options will appear at the top of the list, and it will do you well not to look further than five pages.

Pointer 2: Look for Ratings, Rankings, and Reviews

Aside from picking from the top websites appearing on Googles first few pages after a search, you can also analyze a websites reputation.

While each website will have its in-house reviews, it pays to check ratings and reviews from third-party companies. These companies will tell you how to buy followers on TikTok and where to buy TikTok likes.

However, you will also find some sources with fake reviews and rankings, which is why fact-checking can help.

Pointer 3: Give Them a Tryout

After choosing where to buy TikTok followers for the first time, dont spend all your budget on the first try.

First, give the supplier a try, understand how to buy followers on TikTok from their platform, and see how its smallest package turns out. Doing so ensures that you get your moneys worth, especially if you plan to buy TikTok followers in much larger packages.

Pointer 4: Dont Keep All Your Eggs in One Basket

If you cant wait for the results of trying out a single website, you can always do the tryouts with several suppliers simultaneously. Not only will you learn how to get TikTok followers, but you will also see which suppliers deliver what you need in the shortest duration.

Buying TikTok Followers FAQs

1. Can You Get Fake Followers on TikTok?

To put it simply, a fake TikTok follower is an account that is not held or controlled by a real person.

With all the innovations in programming and automation, thousands, if not millions of followers on social media platforms are probably fake. It is highly possible to get bots as followers if youre not careful where you purchase them.

2. Can You Buy Real TikTok Followers?

The good thing about planning to get TikTok followers is that many reliable websites employ thousands of people to use their accounts to follow yours. You can trust that you are purchasing real followers with the above list.

3. Is It Against TikTok Guidelines to Buy Followers?

A pretty close look at TikToks guidelines would tell you that TikTok discourages buying followers. However, doing it is not technically against their terms of service.

4. How Many Followers Do You Need to Make Money on TikTok?

To receive compensation directly from TikTok, you will need at least 10,000 real followers, but that is not the only requirement. You should also be 18 years old and have acquired 100,000 views within a month.

Alternatively, you can also earn from TikTok with just 1,000 followers and live videos. Your viewers will be sending you digital gifts that you can later exchange for money.

5. How Much Do You Get Paid on TikTok?

TikToks Creator Fund pays up to two cents for every 1,000 views, but the computation varies depending on several undisclosed factors.

6. How Do You Tell If Someone Bought Followers on TikTok?

You can check a TikTok account for its recent follower history.

Remember that unless an accounts content has gone viral fast, it is highly improbable for a random addition of more than 10,000 followers. If you find an increase of 10,000 followers within a single day, those followers have probably been paid for.

7. Is Buying Followers on TikTok Worth It?

Yes, with bought followers, you can attract actual, unpaid followers who can eventually increase the traffic pouring into your account. The trick to accomplishing this is limiting the number of purchased followers to avoid exposing the practice to your spectators.

Which Are the Best Sites for Buying TikTok Followers?

Now that you know the top 10 best sites to buy TikTok followers and likes, gather your resources. You will need a bit of cash to secure those followers to eventually receive a continuous flow of views and likes.

With that said, the best sites you can put to good use are social-viral.com and stormlikes.net. Both websites have a good reputation, and they can deliver the traction you need to gain a foothold on the vast TikTok network.

This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com.
Petr David Josek/AP

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP)  A Slovak court has dismissed a lawsuit by former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis against allegations that he collaborated with Czechoslovakias communist-era secret police.

The Slovak-born Babis was suing Slovakias Institute of the Nations Memory, which holds parts of his secret police files following the division of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

STOCKHOLM (AP)  When Turkeys president rails against terrorists in the Swedish Parliament, Amineh Kakabaveh is convinced he is talking about her.

The former Kurdish rebel fighter turned Swedish lawmaker has emerged as a central figure in the drama surrounding Sweden and Finlands historic bid to join NATO. Turkey opposes NATO membership for the two Nordic countries, accusing them of harboring Kurdish militants.

Kakabaveh, a strong advocate for Kurdish self-determination in the Middle East and a fierce critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, holds extraordinary leverage because the Swedish government depends on her vote for its one-seat majority in Parliament.

He cannot decide over us, she says of Erdogan. I stand up for Swedens values and Swedens sovereignty.

Despite a long history of non-alignment, Sweden and Finland rushed to apply for NATO membership after Russias invasion of Ukraine but were stunned by opposition from Erdogan.

To allow the Nordic countries into NATO, a decision that requires unanimity among the alliance's members, Turkey demanded they lift arms embargoes on Turkey, extradite alleged Kurdish terrorists and stop supporting Kurdish fighters in Syria. Turkey says those fighters are closely linked to PKK, a domestic Kurdish group that Ankara and the West consider a terrorist organization.

Meeting those demands would have been difficult for the Swedes and Finns in any case, but with Swedens government dependent on Kavikabehs support for its survival, there is little room to negotiate a compromise.

We are not used to single members of Parliament having such influence, says Svante Cornell, director of the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm. Its maximal bad luck for the governments side, you could say.

Kakabavehs backing allowed Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson to become Swedens first female prime minister last year. In return, the center-left Social Democrats agreed to deepen cooperation with Kurdish authorities in northern Syria.

The minority government survived a no-confidence vote last week thanks to Kakabaveh and will need her support again on Wednesday to push its spring budget proposal through Parliament.

Kakabaveh, an independent lawmaker, says she has not yet decided how to vote and is waiting for the government to show its plans on issues close to her heart, including efforts to fight honor-based violence and oppression against women and girls in immigrant communities and how it will deal with Turkeys demands.

I dont want them to retreat, she says.

The prime minister's office declined to comment.

The unusual situation has raised Kakabavehs political profile in Sweden and internationally. It has also exposed her to criticism that she is holding Swedens NATO bid hostage to advance her own agenda. Kakabaveh says she has received threats from both Turkish nationalists and Swedens far-right fringe.

It is a terrible situation, says Kakabaveh, 48. But I dont want to sit in a corner and say, Im scared. I left my family, my childhood, everything I had, to stand up for what I believe in.

Kakabaveh, who grew up in a poor Kurdish home in western Iran, says she was just 13 in the late 1980s when she joined peshmerga fighters rebelling against the Islamic regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

In her parliamentary office in Stockholm, she showed pictures of her teenage self in the rugged mountains between Iran and Iraq, a Kalashnikov slung over her shoulder.

The rebels fought against the Iranian regime and that of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who used chemical weapons against Kurdish villages.

Kakabaveh says many of her comrades and some relatives were killed. She breaks down in tears as she recalls the contrast between her life in Sweden and the hardship she left behind. For years after she arrived in Sweden as a refugee in 1992, the whirr of helicopters made her instinctively want to run for cover.

A socialist, Kakabaveh continued her political activism in Sweden, joining the Left Party and campaigning for gender equality in immigrant communities. Her activism against honor culture" soon put her at odds with party colleagues who worried her work stigmatized Muslims. After years of tension, she left the party in 2019 and since then serves as an independent lawmaker in the 349-seat Parliament.

The governing Social Democrats in November struck a deal with Kakabaveh to work more closely with Kurdish autonomous authorities in northern Syria, led by the PYD political party. The PYD's military arm, the YPG, with U.S. support played a key role in the fight against Islamic State militants.

Turkey makes no distinction between the Kurdish groups in Syria and the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party, which has led an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict. The group is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, Europe and the U.S.

Kakabaveh has called for taking PKK off terror lists, which hasnt gone unnoticed in Turkey.

As you know, Sweden at the moment is a country that terror organizations like the PKK, PYD and YPG use as a playground, Erdogan said in a speech last week. In fact, there are terrorists even in this countrys parliament.

Though he didnt mention her by name, Kakabaveh says he is referring to her.

For sure, she says, adding, Ive never been a PKK member. I have even criticized them. But on the other hand, I think they have paid a price.

Kakabaveh says she believes the NATO memberships stalemate will be resolved with a backroom deal between the U.S. and Turkey. If it isnt, and Sweden is unable to join NATO because of her, Kakabaveh wont have any regrets. She is against NATO membership anyway, saying it would undermine Swedens ability to be a voice for peace in the world.

I am for disarmament, she says. The world needs more peace and diplomacy.
EATONTON, Ga. (AP)  A Georgia prisoner has been found guilty of murder in the killings of two guards during an escape from a prison bus five years ago.

A jury deliberated about 90 minutes Monday evening before convicting Ricky Dubose in the June 2017 shooting deaths of Sgt. Christopher Monica and Sgt. Curtis Billue, news outlets reported. Now jurors will have to decide whether he should be sentenced to die for the killings or should spend the rest of his life in prison.

Gabrielle Amber Pittman, an attorney for Dubose, told jurors during opening statements that Dubose was guilty, but she asked them to find him guilty and intellectually disabled, which would have made him ineligible for the death penalty. But the jury did not attach any qualifications to the guilty verdict.

Because of intense publicity surrounding the killings, a jury was brought in from coastal Glynn County.

Dubose and Donnie Rowe escaped together from the bus in Putnam County, southeast of Atlanta, and were arrested in Tennessee days later. Rowe was convicted last year of murder in the guards death. A judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole after jurors failed He was sentenced to life in prison without parole by a judge after jurors could not agree on whether he should be sentenced to death.

Dubose was accused of firing the gun that killed the officers after he and Rowe slipped out of handcuffs and burst through an unlocked gate at the front of the bus. Prosecutors say Dubose grabbed one of the officers weapons and shot Monica, the guard, and then Billue, the driver, both in the head. Security cameras on the bus recorded the violent escape and roughly 30 other prisoners witnessed the killings.

Dubose, 29, was serving a 20-year sentence for a 2015 armed robbery and assault in Elbert County when he escaped. He had been in prison earlier, as well.
He was a tough-as-nails-prosecutor who rose to become a two-term Illinois Attorney General.



But despite his success at the ballot box, he was not a natural politician. He hated the glad-handing part of retail politics. When reporters interviewed him, he was often stiff and uncomfortable.



But more significantly, Jim Ryan suffered from the hubris of not wanting to admit a mistake.



His life was filled with so much woe that shortly after his June 12 death his own family issued a press release comparing him to the Biblical character Job.



He lost a 12-year-old daughter, Anne, to an undiagnosed brain tumor in 1997. His 24-year-old son Patrick killed himself in 2007. His wife suffered from heart disease. And Ryan himself battled multiple bouts of Type 2 Hodgkin's lymphoma.



"From the time I met him until his death, Jimmy always was striving to do the right thing and to help people," his wife of 54 years, Marie, said in a prepared statement. "That was who he was and he was very successful at it."



When I read those words, I just cringed. He didnt always strive to do the right thing.



The Jim Ryan I knew sent two innocent men to death row.



And even when evidence began piling up that a mistake had been made, he just ignored it. The mens names were Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez. They were convicted in the 1983 abduction and killing of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico.



The two men initially were convicted and sentenced to death, but after several appeals and two retrials each, both were exonerated and another man ultimately was convicted of the girl's slaying.



John Hanlon, a Springfield lawyer who represented Cruz and Hernandez, recalls travelling to Wheaton to meet with Ryan in 1995.



I thought there was evidence that the two were wrongly convicted. I suggested that we try to do this new thing called DNA testing to see if it would match them to the crime. But he wasnt interested and he refused to go along with it. If he had agreed to it, this case would have been resolved years earlier than it ultimately was.



That wasnt the action of someone driven by a desire for truth  or justice. Nor was it as his widow claims a desire to do the right thing. He was blinded by the arrogance of power.



It was the biggest case of his career and he protected that conviction and used it as a foundation to build a political career. As he sought higher office, two innocent men languished on death row for a crime they had nothing to do with.



I last spoke to Ryan in 2002 when he dropped by my office to chat and discuss his run for governor. Even then, he was unwilling to admit he made a mistake. And after more than a dozen men on Illinois death row had been found to have been factually innocent, he still clung to the idea that society should be able to kill its own citizens.



That arrogance of not admitting a mistake may well have cost him a chance to be governor.



In 2002, he was the Republican nominee for governor facing Rod Blagojevich. The Chicago Tribune relentlessly criticized his handling of the Nicarico case.



They said being governor is all about judgement, lawyer Hanlon said. And if his judgement was this poor in the biggest case of his career, how good would it be as governor?



Ultimately, Blagojevich won the race. But his judgement didnt prove too great either.



Suffering is the mother of empathy.



In the years following his return to the political wilderness, I often wondered about Ryan. Did he reflect on his mistakes and rethink his own political positions in the wake of his sons death and his own declining health?



There is reason to think so.



In 2010, he again made an unsuccessful bid for governor. But he failed to capture the Republican nomination. For the first time he apologized for his role in the wrongful prosecutions. He said he acted in good faith and still came up with the wrong result. He added, The system and I failed to achieve a just outcome.



I doubt those words provided much solace to either Cruz or Hernandez after spending years on death row. But at least he said them.



His spirited defense of capital punishment dimmed over the years as well. Ultimately, he said he had grave concerns about the institution.



If even a hard as nails prosecutor can change his mind, perhaps there is hope for us all.



Scott Reeder, a staff writer for the Illinois Times, can be reached at sreeder@illinoistimes.org.




We cannot just sweep this under the rug. We need to know why it happened, who did it and people need to be held accountable for it. And I'm committed to make sure that happens.

Just five days after the Jan. 6, 2021, mob invasion of our Capitol, those words were spoken, with patriotic determination, by one of Washingtons most prominently placed political leaders. He was not an anti-Trump Democrat bent on partisan vengeance. He was House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican who had loyally backed President Donald Trump. But when that violent mob bashed outnumbered police, smashed their way into the U.S. Capitol  forcing McCarthy and his staff to flee their own offices  the GOP leader urged his fellow Republicans to stand firmly behind the democracy that is the heart and soul of Americas exceptionalism.

Fast-forward to Thursday night: We watched a live, made-for-TV drama unlike anything ever seen in Americas history. We saw the premier showing of the House Select Committees investigation of the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol. It featured scenes that revealed evidence indicating that a sitting U.S. president had actually sought to overthrow his own election defeat and somehow stay in power. Yes, Donald Trump.

The crucial core of the committees two-hour prime-time hearing was the prosecutorial presentation by McCarthys very conservative fellow Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the committees vice chair. It seemed to be everything that McCarthy had urged almost a year and a half ago. Like a masterful prosecutor (a job she never held), Cheney built the committees case using blocks of video evidence. What was most convincing was that it was testimony from those who were governmentally and personally closest to Trump  testimony rejecting Trumps gushing claims that the election was rigged, that he really won.

We saw Trumps former Attorney General William Barr telling committee investigators he told Trump, in three post-election meetings, that he found absolutely zero basis for Trumps incessant claims of election fraud: I made it clear I did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff which I told the president was bullshit.

We saw Trumps daughter, Ivanka, admitting to investigators she believed Barr: I accepted what he was saying. (Translation: She no longer believed her dads Big Lie.)

And we saw Trumps refusal to help his partner and vice president when the vengeful mob began chanting Hang Mike Pence. Pence had declined Trumps arm-twisting to get him to refuse to certify the actual election results. Outside, the mob Trump urged to march to the Capitol brought with them a huge wooden gallows with a rope noose  never mind that Pences certification decision hadnt happened yet. The Secret Service rushed Pence and his family down the Capitol steps to a secluded loading dock.

We watched videos of the mob bashing police, wanting to hang Pence, smashing the cradle of our democracy.

And we watched Trump swooning about the love in the air  Ive never seen anything like it.

Neither had we. We saw sickening yet riveting revelations of a reality that existed behind Trumps curtain. We remain outraged by our sitting presidents refusal to even try to stop the mob violence that was being committed by his supporters who were all about lynching our democracy.

But as we watch the committees dramatic videos revealing abhorrently un-American acts, one glaring question remains unanswered: Will America really give a damn? Will Trumps supporters ever care that he is lying to them? Lying about fake claims of voting machine fraud?

Here we can learn a lot from watching McCarthys political flip-floppery. As measured by the patriotic urgency of his plea in January 2021, we might assume Thursday nights committee presentation sparked patriotic gratification deep within McCarthys soul. But by now we know better than that.

McCarthy long ago switched his patriotic commitment priorities. Now hes all about covering his aspirations to be the next House speaker. Nothing more. He flew to Mar-a-Lago for a ring kissing. His House GOP ousted Cheney from her leadership role. And he long ago reversed his silly notions that it was wrong to sweep Trumps unpatriotic conduct under rugs.

But Thursday night, Cheney, ever courageous, showed her fellow Republicans patriotic House cleaning means not only whispering truth to power  but also speaking it courageously to the people you serve. Its a concept.

Tonight, she concluded, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.



Martin Schram, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, is a veteran Washington journalist, author and TV documentary executive. Readers may send him email at martin.schram@gmail.com.




Before May 24, most of us had never heard of Uvalde, Texas. Now, its on the map for one reason. Its the home to Robb Elementary School, where 19 students and two teachers perished during a mass shooting.

Its easier to buy a gun than baby formula these days.

Tio Hardiman, head of the Violence Interrupters in Chicago, advocates using body armor for students.

You need a thin version of body armor around the chest area so it wont be so bulky for kids, starting around age 6 or 7, Hardiman said. And they should wear a bulletproof backpack. Whatever it takes to save the kids.

Hardiman figures both pieces of protection would cost about $650, with about $250 for the chest protector.

Remember the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting Feb. 14, 2018, in which 17 people were killed. A few weeks later, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens wrote an eight-paragraph opinion column for The New York Times.Stevens wrote, In 1939, the Supreme Court unanimously held that Congress could prohibit the possession of a sawed-off shotgun because that weapon had no reasonable relation to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia.

So, couldnt that logic apply to an AR-15 or AK-47?

Stevens added: Support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons, increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of firearms. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.

The Second Amendment is only 27 awkwardly constructed words: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The NRA has spearheaded a national cause  and thus a fervent following  based on the second half of that sentence.

Former Justice Warren Burger termed the amendment a fraud. In an interview with correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault in 1991 on PBS The MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, Burger essentially asserted the Second Amendment was antiquated  especially that well-regulated militia part.

As usual, Republicans and Democrats claim its time to discuss bipartisan legislation. But as Hardiman adds: Talk means nothing. The NRA is too strong.

And the NRA swears by that second half of that Second Amendment sentence  you know, the part about to keep and bear arms ...   as a source of absolutism.

Perhaps thats why Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, vetoed $35 million in state funding to the Tampa Bay Rays new player development facility. Note that the veto occurred after the Rays tweeted anti-gun messages.

Many gun owners agree with DeSantis.

The statistics are unbelievable:

There are 120 guns for every 100 Americans; the next closest country is the Falkland Islands, at 62 per 100.

There are 330 million people living in the United States, with 393 million guns.

Jillian Peterson is familiar with the routine. She is a criminology and criminal justice professor at Hamline (Minnesota) University and author of The Violence Project. That means she studies mass shooters.

Her remarks on CNN about their thought processes were profound: We have interviewed perpetrators of school shootings who told us, I went there SPECIFICALLY because I knew there was an armed officer there who was going to kill me. Perpetrators go in planning to either kill themselves, be killed by law enforcement, or spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Weve seen this scenario too many times.
It would be difficult to torture or kill or even maim someone. Sympathy or empathy would cause us to hesitate and feel remorse for another human being. It is fair to question whether it is in the very nature of man to inflict harm on another. And yet, we have ample evidence of atrocities committed by mass shooters again and again.

It often occurs because a person is convinced that another person or race or nationality or class is something less than human. Something bad. Something subject to elimination because they may infect society in harmful ways.

Republicans are employing this tactic in plain view and continue to foist poisonous rhetoric to divide us against ourselves. They portray Democrats not as an opposing party, but as somehow less and dangerous, ironically using words like radical to describe the group that did not storm the Capitol on January 6th.

The Qanon wing of the GOP casts progressives as satanic pedophiles tied to an evil cabal called the deep state. That vomit-inducing rhetoric was echoed in the confirmation hearings of Justice Brown-Jackson who was falsely accused of being soft on child pornographers. The disgraceful mischaracterization by Josh Hawley and others was no accident. It was obvious pandering to the worst elements of the Republican Party.

You only need to recall Trumps characterization of immigrants as murderers and rapists and child molesters to see dehumanization at work. To Trump and his acolytes brown immigrants arent human beings. They are something less and of little value. Treated like parasites, they were subjected to elimination, deportation, incarceration, family separation, and humiliation. Thats how the GOP treats those who are vulnerable and, thus, mislabeled as monsters. Hate preys on the weak.

Hating people-falsely-turned-monsters is the great motivator by warping the view of one group against another so that humanity cannot be seen and the cries of immigrant children are not heard. The only sound is the maniacal cackling of nationalist rhetoric pitting those grasping to keep American power white, male and Christian, against the obvious futility of changing demographics.

Hate allows for so many sins and so many betrayals. It is feral, tribal, bloodthirsty, and without regret or remorse. It will justify itself and nearly any act or deed that inflicts harm on others and society to achieve its end. Republicans have called out the hate in our fellow Americans and its poisonous fruit is everywhere.

Their constituents are told: Hate the teacher that teaches children the history of racism in America. Hate transgender people and brook no accommodation. Hate the immigrant and the children they bring. Hate those who believe in the separation of church and state. Hate muslims. Hate Black Lives Matter. Hate women seeking empowerment. Hate all of them because they each are something less, something dangerous, something not quite human.

My stomach turns when I witness politicians intentionally turning people into monsters or unholy threats in the eyes of fellow citizens. No one deserves such treatment but the Republican Party has long used this tactic, starting with name calling. There is Welfare Queen, Feminazis, Bad Hombres, Nasty Women, Commie or Pinko, Tree Hugger, Elitists, and Libtards to name a few. Each intended not to inform or argue a point, but to foment hate and division.

We are witnessing Nixons Southern Strategy writ large, to use hate and fear as levers of power, without regard of the consequences to democracy, dignity or civility. Those ordinarily prized attributes are deemed expendable as the fevered hunger for Republican power is fed. And now we see another false and disgusting label, groomer, added to the GOPs lexicon of hate.

Hate does not accommodate shame, though shame is what we expect from those caught in a lie. But the lies persist, because hate will justify lies, and lies about those deemed lesser are accepted as truth by those that share in the hate.

The truth is, we are all just people trying to get better, do better and sometimes just get by. We share our humanity. We protect our families. And we join together to face our common threats and celebrate our common joys. Why then, do some try to divide us by pitting us against one another? At the end of the day, its about Republicans lust for power and they dont care who they have to degrade to get it.
Combined firm would take aim at health disparities

Two Western New York nonprofit organizations that have partnered on past initiatives are joining forces  a combination that will look to leverage a network of community-based groups and health data to take a bite out of this area's health inequities.

Under an agreement announced June 9, the operations of Population Health Collaborative would come under the umbrella of HEALTHeLINK, a health information exchange for Western New York, said Dan Porreca, executive director of HEALTHeLINK.

Porreca said the two organizations complement one another. While HEALTHeLINK is a collaboration among hospitals, doctors and health plans in the eight counties to securely exchange clinical information, Population Health Collaborative plays the role of the convener and facilitator of a network of more than 300 community-based organizations in Western New York.

Sign up for the Buffalo Next free newsletter The News' Buffalo Next team covers the changing Buffalo Niagara economy. Get the news in your inbox 5 days a week.

A main focus of the combined organization will be to improve health equity and outcomes in communities with the worst health outcomes.

Essentially, HEALTHeLINK's data would come together with Population Health Collaborative's longtime ability to align community stakeholders and address complex health issues.

For instance, Porreca explained, HEALTHeLINK has the data to establish a baseline, which can then be compared to future data to see if a particular community program is actually working.

"I'm really excited about the potential," Porreca said. "That's what really gets my juices flowing."

How it came together?

When Population Health Collaborative's executive director left several months ago, Dr. Thomas Schenk stepped in as interim executive director.

Not long after, Porreca said he and Schenk  who had previously been on HEALTHeLINK's board  started to talk about whether it made sense to pursue a new executive director at Population Health Collaborative or to explore a merger with its longtime partner.

The two organizations already had a history for more than decade of partnering on initiatives related to diabetes care and population health, among others. In addition, Porreca noted, the two groups have shared a physician advisory committee for the last few years.

Both boards also thought it was a good idea to examine a potential combination, Porreca said, and that eventually led to the recent announcement.

Combined scale

The deal, which needs state approval, should not result in any cuts, Porreca noted.

As it stands, HEALTHeLINK has annual revenue of a little more than $12 million, along with 65 employees. He noted Population Health Collaborative's employees will join the payroll, putting the combined organization at about 70 workers. Population Health Collaborative also had about $1.1 million in revenue in 2020, according to its most recent annual filing with the IRS.

Porreca said the combined organization will be based at HEALTHeLINK's headquarters in Depew.

Welcome to Buffalo Next. This newsletter from The Buffalo News will bring you the latest coverage on the changing Buffalo Niagara economy  from real estate to health care to startups. Read more at BuffaloNext.com.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to get the latest in your inbox five days a week.

BIG PROJECT IN GENESEE COUNTY

What: United Memorial Medical Center has plans to continue growing in Batavia beyond its main hospital site at 127 North St. UMMC, part of Rochester Regional Health (RRH), on May 31 filed a construction application with the state Health Department to build an extension clinic at 8103 Oak Orchard Road in the Town of Batavia.

Tell me more: The proposed clinic, which would cost about $34 million to build, would be known as the RRH Batavia Destination Campus and, as such, would also contain extension clinics operated by Unity Hospital of Rochester and Rochester General Hospital, other facilities under the $3 billion health system's umbrella. But UMMC will be the primary occupant of the proposed building, with plans to use 87,739 square feet across three floors.

Why it matters: This project, which needs state approval, represents an expansion of RRH's ambulatory network. According to state paperwork, the extension clinic would include nine procedure rooms  two would be used for ambulatory surgery in gastroenterology, while the other seven would be used for outpatient surgical procedures.

Aside from fitting into the trend of more care moving out of the hospital and into outpatient settings, this project also comes on the heels of competitor UR Medicine opening a 21,455-square-foot medical campus at 7995 Call Parkway in the Town of Batavia on May 16. That facility  0.3 miles from UMMC's proposed clinic site  operates as an outpatient clinic under UR Medicine's Strong Memorial Hospital.

NEW BOARD CHAIR AT KALEIDA

Who: Gary Crosby, the former president and CEO of First Niagara Bank, has been elected chair of Kaleida Health's board of directors, the health system announced June 7. Crosby, who retired from KeyBank's board in May 2021, has been on Kaleida's board since 2017.

Predecessor: Crosby succeeds Frank Curci, CEO of the parent company of Tops Markets and Price Chopper/Market 32, whose term as Kaleida board chair expired in May. Curci had been on the board since 2012 and served as chair since 2016. "He probably doesnt get enough credit, but Frank really led the organization through a remarkable transformation this past decade," Kaleida CEO Bob Nesselbush said.

Other changes? Tops President and Chief Operating Officer John Persons and Thomas Beauford Jr., president and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League, were elected to the board for the first time.

THE LATEST

Catch up on news tied to Buffalo Niagara's economy

Former 43North-winning housing startup Whose Your Landlord has pledged to donate $19,000 to Black-led nonprofit community organizations across the country in honor of Juneteenth.

Community advocates who want to develop a farmers market, grocery store and youth jobs incubator on Buffalo's East Side plan to share more details about the project Tuesday at a event to commemorate the 10 people killed in the Tops massacre last month.

A restaurateur is finalizing an agreement to open Newbury Salads at LECOM Harborcenter in space formerly occupied by the Healthy Scratch. He also has plans for locations in and around Buffalo General Medical Center.

The Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund has received nearly $3 million in donations. The committee for the fund soon wants public input on rules to distribute the money.

What will Buffalo do to memorialize the May 14 massacre at the Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue and the 10 lives that were lost? Mayor Byron Brown said he and Gov. Kathy Hochul will soon announce plans for a large memorial.

Edwards Vacuum wants to construct a warehouse addition in Wheatfield, while Lockport Schools Federal Credit Union hopes to build a new headquarters office in the City of Lockport, if the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency approves tax breaks next month.

ICYMI

Five reads from Buffalo Next:

1. Nursing homes can't retain caregivers. Could career ladder programs be a solution?: Perhaps paid training programs, which help employees advance their careers, make more money and provide better care, can help chip away at the staffing crisis in the nursing home industry.

2. A new build for Tops on East Side would have taken 'years': Renovating the Jefferson Avenue store will allow Tops to reopen it by the end of July, while building a new store would take years. That timeline is a major reason behind the company's decision to reopen, rather than rebuild, the location.

3. 43North aiming to attract high-growth companies to the region: Sam Eder moved to Buffalo from Austin, Texas, in January after his company Big Wheelbarrow won the 43North startup contest. Stipulating winning companies set up shop in Buffalo for at least a year is an important aspect of 43North's mission.

4. Rachel's Mediterranean Grill expands beyond Buffalo home: Rachel's has made it big in Western New York, and the family-owned business is now trying to expand the concept down the Thruway in New York and in larger markets such as Fort Worth, Texas.

5. Doctor recognized for providing aid in strife-torn regions: Dr. Aaron Epstein has been splitting his life between surgical shifts in Buffalo and leading the humanitarian aid group he founded in 2015. Now, he is in line for one of the nation's top civilian awards.

Recognize Western New York employees in The Buffalo News for FREE

Our newsroom is looking to highlight recent hires, managerial or directorial promotions, board appointments and career honors. Send your information (full name, new title, company name and recent headshot) to BuffaloNext@buffnews.com to be included in the Movers & Shakers section of The Sunday Buffalo News and on BuffaloNews.com.

The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the regions economic revitalization. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or reach Deputy Business Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435.

Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com.

Buffalo Next Must-read local business coverage that exposes the trends, connects the dots and contextualizes the impact to Buffalo's economy. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Westerly, RI (02891)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain. High 71F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low 58F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
The merger of two of Londons biggest oil firms has been thrown into doubt after a major investor questioned the deal.

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) warned it had strong reservations about the proposed 1.4billion tie-up between Capricorn Energy and Tullow Oil announced earlier this month.

LGIM, which is a major shareholder in both Capricorn and Tullow  owning stakes of 3.9 per cent and 1.7 per cent in each business respectively  said there was no clear strategic rationale for the merger.

Oil merger: Legal & General Investment Management warned it had 'strong reservations' about the proposed 1.4bn tie-up between Capricorn Energy and Tullow Oil

It added the deal was highly unattractive to Capricorn shareholders.

LGIM also said the deal would give Capricorn further exposure to the oil markets just as the world is shifting away from fossil fuels.

The deal has raised eyebrows in the City, with some noting that the tie-up would allow Tullow, which has lots of debt, access to Capricorns cash pile.
Victims of Britains most notorious banking fraudsters will be offered a 3million settlement package.

Up to 200 small business owners lost huge sums when their firms were targeted by rogue advisers and bankers at the Reading branch of HBOS between 2003 and 2007.

Lloyds, which rescued HBOS during the financial crisis in 2009, has been promising to compensate victims for several years.

Guilty: Former HBOS bankers Michael Bancroft, David Mills and Lynden Scourfield (pictured), were jailed after to 200 small business owners lost huge sums

But nearly two decades on, a series of bungled attempts have left many still suffering.

Now, in an attempt to draw the scandal to a close, Lloyds is ready to offer all customers who have been classed as victims a 3million lump sum each.

In January 2017, six people  including two former employees of HBOS  were sentenced to up to 12 years in prison for their role in the scandal.

They pushed small businesses to collapse, milking them for advisory fees along the way, and used the cash to go on luxury holidays, pay for sex parties with escorts including Suzie Best, buy expensive watches and even fund a yacht called Powder Monkey.

One of the accused, HBOSs Lynden Scourfield, was described by the judge as being driven by rapacious greed.

Michael Bancroft, Mark Dobson, John Cartwright, David Mills and his wife Alison Mills were also convicted.

Lloyds agreed to appoint Sir David Foskett, a retired High Court judge, to lead a panel addressing the shortcomings in the banks original compensation scheme.

The Foskett Panel has been re-reviewing cases since 2020, but fewer than a dozen of around 200 have been resolved.

While some businesses claim they are owed more than 3million, it is thought that many will take Lloyds offer because they are getting too old, have developed illnesses, or simply want the saga to be over.

Paul and Nikki Turner set up the SME Alliance to represent victims of bank malpractice after their business was defrauded by the crooks.

Rogue advisors pushed small businesses to collapse and used the cash to go on luxury holidays, pay for sex parties with escorts including Suzie Best (pictured)

Andy Keats, who now leads the organisation, said he had been working with the Foskett Panel to come up with the compensation package.

He said: The 3million is a tax-free sum which will be given to those who accept it.

Its not in any way compensation for what happened, but they are entitled to take it.

When asked whether the amount was good enough for victims, he said diplomatically: Its good for those who were seeking that amount.

And it will be good for those who want to accept it.

He added that he was surprised by the number of people who had said, in conversations with the SME Alliance, that they would be willing to accept 3million.

Theres people who have said Im not that well or Its not what Im due but if I have it then the rest of my life will be comfortable, he said.

He thinks it could have taken the Foskett Panel up to another 20 years to reach settlement conclusions on all the cases it was reviewing. The settlement package is expected to be announced by the Foskett Panel later this week.

A Lloyds spokesman said: We remain extremely sorry to all the customers who were impacted by the crimes committed at HBOS Reading and our intention has always been, and remains, to provide fair and generous compensation to those impacted by the fraud.

We have been engaging with Sir David Foskett and his panel, along with other stakeholders, as the panel considers how best to speed up progress with assessing customer cases.

The spokesman added: We believe the panels changes to the process will achieve that aim.
Pret a Manger said that it has signed a deal with Ibersol Group to start selling products in Spain and Portugal

British holidaymakers in Spain and Portugal who prefer home comforts will be able to opt for their usual office lunch as Pret a Manger announced plans to expand across the Iberian Peninsula.

The sandwich chain said that it has signed a deal with Ibersol Group to start selling Pret products in the two countries.

Ibersol is known in Spain, Portugal and Angola for running Pans & Company, Ribs, Santamaria and FrescCo, but it also operates franchises for Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell.

It has 600 sites across the countries. Around 70 Pret shops are expected to open in coming years as part of the deal.

It adds to recent plans for the chain to expand in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Canada and the Middle East.
A fund for victims of the mass shooting at a Tops supermarket plans to close to donations on Sept. 20 and start distributing the money in late October, under a proposal released by its organizers.

The Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund has released proposed rules outlining who is eligible for payments, and setting target dates for a series of steps that will culminate in the distribution of the money. The public can comment on the plan  known as a draft protocol  at buffalo@nationalcompassion.org.

The Buffalo 5/14 fund is overseen by a 28-member steering committee, in partnership with the National Compassion Fund. As of Monday, the Buffalo 5/14 fund had received about $2.9 million in donations from 12,500 contributors.

The draft protocol represents the steering committee's suggestions of rules that should apply to the fund, with guidance from the National Compassion Fund, which has administered similar funds after mass casualty incidents.

The proposal lists five categories of eligibility:

 Legal heirs of those who were killed in the shooting. (Recipients in this category would receive the highest payments.)

 Those who were physically injured by gunshots or shrapnel in the attack.

 Those who suffered some other type of physical injury during the shooting, and who received medical treatment no later than May 21.

 Those who were present at the Jefferson Avenue store or its parking lot during the shooting and suffered psychological trauma.

 Employees of the Tops store who were not present when the shooting occurred.

In 22 other funds administered by the National Compassion Fund, only two made provisions for people who were not present. One was related to the collapse of a residential complex in Surfside, Fla., where residents lost their homes and possessions. The other was for a fund created after a mass shooting at a bank branch in Sebring, Fla., where the committee made eligible the branch manager, who was not present but whose staff was murdered.

The request to include employees of the Tops store on Jefferson who were not present was raised at the steering committee meeting and was included to receive public comment on the provision, said Jeffrey Dion, the National Compassion Fund's executive director.

The amount of money that would go to recipients in each category won't be determined until the fund is closed to donations, and the full amount to be paid out is known.

Plans call for the fund to be closed to donations on Sept. 20, about four months after it was established by Tops Markets with the National Compassion Fund. Tops contributed $500,000, making it the largest single donor.

The public comment period will wrap up with a town hall meeting, hosted by the steering committee, at 6 p.m. on July 21 at City Honors School. It will also be streamed live on Facebook. Organizers will review the draft protocol, discuss the application process, and hear comments from attendees.

Based on the comments it receives, the steering committee will decide whether to make any changes in its plan, and publish a final protocol by July 27.

Eligible recipients must apply to the fund in order to receive payments, and specify which category they are applying under. Online applications are expected to open about Aug. 16. Those without internet access will be able to call a toll-free number, 855-484-2846, for assistance. The deadline to apply will be Sept. 14.

As donations flow in after Tops shooting, the first grants are rolling out The donations add up to $3 million worth of commitments aimed at helping the community recover from the racially motivated mass shooting at a Tops supermarket. Now the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund is preparing to put some of that money into the hands of recipients, with $560,000 worth of grants going to 70 Black-led organizations.

The steering committee on Oct. 19 is expected to approve a plan for distributing the funds to recipients. The committee is co-chaired by the Rev. Mark Blue, president of the NAACP's Buffalo chapter, and Paul Vukelic, CEO of Try-It Distributing. Its members include Thurman and Patti Thomas, of the Thurman Thomas Foundation; Thomas Beauford, president and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League; Peter DeJesus, president of the Western New York Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO; and Diane Colgan, senior vice president of Tops Markets.

We are committed to a fair and transparent process where everyone has a voice, Blue said. We want to hear from survivors, donors, advocates and the community at large so we can make an informed decision about the distribution to all of these families.

Fund organizers plan to start distributing money to approved recipients on a rolling basis on Oct. 24. The recipients will be free to use the funds however they choose.

A separate fund, the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund, is addressing community needs apart from those of the victims of the mass shooting. That fund has received about $3 million in donations and pledges, and has distributed grants of about $560,000.

Buffalo Next Must-read local business coverage that exposes the trends, connects the dots and contextualizes the impact to Buffalo's economy. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A Rochester cryptocurrency and blockchain firm will open a new office in Buffalo led by a prolific Western New York tech entrepreneur.

Dan Magnuszewski was named chief technology officer of Foundry, a financing and advisory company focused on digital asset mining and staking. The company was founded in Rochester in 2019 and Magnuszewski will lead its expansion into Buffalo.

Magnuszewski is a co-founder and former CTO of ACV, considered Western New York's most successful startup company. The online vehicle auction platform is Buffalo's first unicorn  a startup company valued at more than $1 billion  and went public on the stock exchange in March 2021.

Magnuszewski worked as CTO of ACV until last fall, then moved into an advisory role. He announced earlier this month he was leaving the company.

In his new role, Magnuszewski said he is excited to "make Western New York a booming tech hub for cryptocurrency."

"Im inspired to keep moving Buffalo and Western New York forward as I set out on my next endeavor," he said.

In addition to his work with ACV, Magnuszewski also led one of Western New York's first technology incubators, Z80 Labs, and has been an active angel investor in many growing startups.

Foundry will open a downtown Buffalo office later this year, according to the company.

The expansion will bring new technology jobs to Western New York in fields like computer science and software engineering. The company plans to hire talent from local universities, as it did in Rochester.

Buffalo Next Must-read local business coverage that exposes the trends, connects the dots and contextualizes the impact to Buffalo's economy. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Kingsport, TN (37660)

Today

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low around 55F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
Social media influencers are known to promote lavish lifestyles, whether it's modeling designer clothing, unboxing free items they were gifted, or documenting tropical vacations.

But there's usually a catch, of course, and the essence of the influencer marketing industry is that these free items get posted to social media channels with a large base of followers. These tactics have helped businesses large and small, and even Amazon is no exception.

Last month, the company flew a dozen of the top Amazon Influencers to a private retreat in Mexico aptly dubbed the Amazon Resort.

Related: Amazon Is Plummeting by 13%  and It's Still Going Down. What's Going on With the Retail Giant?

The e-commerce giant took over the Paradero luxury resort in Todos Santos for a three-day, all-expenses-paid trip where even the most inexpensive suites range from $400 to $800 per night.

On the trip, influencers were treated to spa treatments, gourmet dinners, and cocktail hours; they took leisurely dips in the pool, shot content from the ocean (cheekily called the "Kindle Beach Oasis"), and took advantage of complimentary surf lessons, yoga and kickboxing classes, and farm-to-table activities.

Amazon Influencer Program

"The goal of the Amazon Resort trip, and all [Amazon Influencer Program] events, is to provide educational and networking opportunities for creators," an Amazon spokesperson told Entrepreneur. "AIP takes pride in being part of the creator community, not just as an opportunity for creators to earn revenue, but also as a facilitator of networking opportunities, sharing best practices, and supporting the growth of creators small and large. The Amazon Resort event in Todos Santos, Mexico was part of an ongoing event series AIP is hosting this year to bring creators together to network with each other, and provide educational opportunities."

Amazon also set up a pop-up shop with sections such as "Internet's Most Famous" and "Most Loved" where guests could pick and choose their favorite items and take them home for free.

"They gave us all the free stuff in this bag, we didn't have to ask for it," one influencer, Kirsten Titus, said during her vlog of the experience on her YouTube channel.

Related: Why Amazon and Jeff Bezos Are So Successful at Disruption

Titus, who boasts 6.8 million followers on her Hawaii-based TikTok account, documented the three-day trip with her sister in tow and featured other popular Amazon Influencers like Lauren Wolfe (768K followers on TikTok) and Hannah Harrell (3.3M followers.)

"I've never touched water in a foreign country in my entire life," Titus told her viewers on the second day of the trip. "Anyway, I know I always say this because I always mean it, especially when I'm doing things that I literally would have never done without you guys  it's just really awesome that I have the opportunity to do these things because of you guys so thank you."

However, creators were not required to post on the Amazon Resort trip.

Through Amazon's Influencer Program, content creators can earn commission by building out an Amazon Storefront and linking their URL and affiliate links to their respective social media pages.

"The Amazon Influencer Program is always innovating on behalf of creators to make our program better," said Meredith Silver, director, creator growth at Amazon in an email. "We provide tools, support, education, and inspiration so they can build successful and rewarding content creation businesses with us, promoting the Amazon products and services they love. Events specifically are a chance for us to connect in person, and facilitate a sense of community among our creators, to educate and inspire them, and to thank them for being part of our program."

The Amazon Resort trip took place in mid-May, just days after the retail giant reported its less-than-stellar Q1 2022 earnings and saw a single-day 12% plummet in valuation. The company also reported a $3.8 billion quarterly profit loss, compared with an $8.1 billion profit gain in Q1 of 2021.

"We've received positive feedback from attendees, who let us know they had a great time, learned a lot about the program, fostered relationships with other creators, and would love to attend again," the Amazon spokesperson said.

Amazon was down just over 39% year over year as of late Tuesday morning.

Copyright 2022 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Since Juneteenth was designated a federal holiday in the United States by President Biden last year, governors, mayors and CEOs of major companies have followed suit and given employees the day off as a paid holiday.

Juneteenth, recognized annually on June 19, marks the anniversary of the day federal troops liberated the last enslaved people in Galveston, Texas in 1884. That day, nearly two-and-a-half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, is recognized as the effective end of slavery in the United States.

Related: 21 Inspiring Quotes From Black Leaders From Throughout American History

Juneteenth is the first new federal holiday since 1983, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day being the last to be instituted. Although Juneteenth is now recognized on a federal level, not all companies and states have complied. But certain companies have stepped up to honor Juneteenth this year and beyond.

When is Juneteenth recognized in 2022?

Juneteenth is June 19, 2022, but it falls on a Sunday this year. As with other federal holidays such as July 4, businesses that close for the day take the prior Friday or following Monday off if it falls on a weekend.

Who gets Juneteenth off as a paid holiday?

Juneteenth is now one of 11 federal holidays, joining others like Christmas and the Fourth of July. Federal organizations such as banks and public schools observe these holidays by giving employees the day off.

State vs. national regulations

Although Juneteenth was officially designated a federal holiday by the Biden administration in 2021, certain states and cities abide by their own regulations, with some having recognized the day as a state holiday before 2021. New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Washington, Oregon and Delaware have all made Juneteenth a state holiday  with Texas being far ahead of the pack by instituting it in 1980 and Massachusetts in 2007. New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania recognized the holiday in 2020  a year before it became federally instated  prompted by the murder of George Floyd. When a holiday is recognized at the state level, all government employees and programs have the day off to observe. Private businesses and organizations determine their schedules.

Related: Here's How Business Leaders Are Responding to the George Floyd Protests

These major companies have announced Juneteenth is now an annual company holiday

Big names like Nike, Target and Best Buy are setting the standard for others to follow by observing the day with either time off or extra pay.

Nike announced in 2020 it would be recognizing Juneteenth as a paid federal holiday for all its U.S. and Puerto Rican employees. "Across our Nike, Converse, and Jordan family, we will close our corporate, retail, manufacturing and distribution operations in observance of Juneteenth to provide educational opportunities that honor Black history and culture," said Nike director of communications for North America Jenna Golden in an email to NPR.

Ride-sharing app Lyft is honoring Juneteenth as a paid company holiday for all corporate employees. However, the policy doesn't apply to Lyft drivers, who are independent contractors.

Related: More Companies Have Designated Juneteenth a Paid Holiday (Updated)

Zillow is also giving employees the day off for Juneteenth. "As part of our ongoing commitment to racial equality, Zillow observes Juneteenth as a paid company holiday, and encourages employees to take the day for reflection, volunteerism, education, and activism to commemorate the end of slavery in the U.S.," Zillow vice president Kristina Adamski said in a statement.

Tech companies like Twitter and Square have joined in making Juneteenth a paid company holiday, with Twitter making its signature blue bird logo black on the holiday in 2020 and adding the hashtag BlackLivesMatter to its description. Google has not made Juneteenth a company holiday, but it encourages employees to cancel meetings on the day. Amazon has also adopted a similar anti-meeting approach to the holiday, as well as offering a range of "online learning opportunities" throughout the day.

Certain retail corporations, such as Target and Starbucks, have opted to stay open but will pay employees time-and-a-half on Juneteenth.

What does it mean moving forward?

Because Juneteenth is still fairly new to the federal holiday calendar, many businesses have yet to sort out an adjusted schedule for workers. Still, the companies that have acknowledged the holiday since day one are setting an example for others to follow.

Related: Walmart Juneteenth Ice Cream: Retailer Pulls Flavor From Shelves Amid Major Backlash

Copyright 2022 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
ALBANY  Does New York need its very own Marjorie Taylor Greene? Who says yes? Anybody?

I didn't think so. Unfortunately, though, New York might just get a version of the wing-nut member of Congress in the form of Carl Paladino.

Remember him? Of course you do. How could anyone forget crazy Carl, who was clobbered by Andrew Cuomo in the 2010 governor's race?

Well, he's back and irresponsible as ever.

Just days after Paladino entered the 23rd Congressional District race earlier this month, voters were hearing about his Facebook post and email blast claiming "false flag" government involvement in the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde. Paladino at first claimed he didn't put the post authored by somebody else on his page, before quickly admitting he had.

"Yes, I did it," the Republican told the Buffalo News. "I just didn't remember the fact that I published it."

OK, Carl, whatever you say. Nice to see you haven't changed.

That controversy proved a prelude to the next when the liberal group Media Matters published a 2021 radio interview in which Paladino said what America needs is a strong leader like ... oh please no ... Adolf Hitler.

"I guess that's the kind of leader we need today," he said. "We need somebody inspirational. We need somebody that is a doer, has been there and done it."

A doer? Oh, yes. Hitler got things done all right, including genocide and a totalitarian takeover of much of Europe. Quite an inspiration, that Hitler.

Paladino, who is 75, subsequently apologized and explained that he wasn't talking about all the bad stuff, of course. He just meant that Hitler "was a very popular person" with the "ability to move an entire population."

How's that for a head slapper?

And so, it's more obvious than ever that Paladino has no more business in Congress than Greene, a conspiracy theorist extraordinaire who infamously blamed the 2018 California wildfires on space lasers controlled by a corporate cabal. As the National Review's Kevin Williamson put it, Greene is "the sort of self-serving malicious dunce who should be kept as far away from political power as possible."

Paladino is much the same. If the Buffalo-based developer were to win the upcoming Republican primary, he would be an attention-sucking and message-destroying embarrassment to the state's GOP, putting winnable races all across the state, including the governor's race, at risk for the party.

If Paladino were to win the general election in the red-leaning district, he'd be an embarrassment for all of New York. He'd be a constant distraction. The man who once said Michelle Obama "should return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe" would be a fountain of stupidity and ignorance.

"Carl Paladino is a racist," said Keith Wofford, a Black Republican who four years ago ran for attorney general. "Not 'racially insensitive'; not 'unsophisticated'; a straight-up, old-school racist. And I know this from my personal experience in 2018, carrying the party's banner in New York state."

Thankfully, Paladino has serious primary competition in the newly drawn 23rd, which includes some Buffalo suburbs and extends eastward along the Pennsylvania border to Chemung County. New York Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy has entered the race, promising a "candidacy free of distraction" instead of Paladino's "circus sideshow."

But our own Elise Stefanik, it turns out, prefers the circus  so much so that she's buying ringside seats. The North Country Republican has endorsed Paladino and is throwing her not inconsiderable power behind his candidacy.

Why? Your guess is as good or better than mine.

It seemingly makes little sense that Stefanik would want Paladino on the ballot in the fall, given the headaches he will cause every New York Republican. It makes less sense that she'd want him alongside her in New York's congressional delegation.

There does, however, seem to be some animosity between Stefanik and Langworthy, with the latter telling the New York Post that Stefanik has "a vendetta" against him because he rejected her gubernatorial ambitions by preferring U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin.

Au contraire, says Stefanik, who through spokesperson Alex deGrasse said she "would never have lowered herself to ask Nick Langworthy for permission."

"If Elise wanted to run for governor, she would have run for governor," deGrasse added.

You better believe that New York's Democrats, no fans of Langworthy or Stefanik, have the popcorn buttered and are pulling up comfy chairs to watch this fight. For Republicans, it promises to be disastrous. For Democrats, it promises to be entertaining.

But schadenfreude aside, no New Yorker should want Paladino to succeed, even in the primary. He's destructive and mean. He's ignorant and childish. In this ugly political moment, Carl Paladino chatting with Marjorie Taylor Greene in the halls of Congress is the last thing we need.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
This is Juneteenths second year as a federally recognized holiday, but Esi Lewis has been celebrating it her entire life.

Lewis grew up in New Paltz, but her mom was from Oklahoma, where Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States, was always celebrated yearly. Parades and festivals marking the day were the norm in many Southern states long before the holiday was federally recognized.

We went every other year to a family reunion, Lewis said. Her mom was one of eight siblings. It was always during this time period. There they always celebrated it. I had the pleasure of being able to know the history of it all of my life. June 19, 1865 is when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take control and make sure that slaves got to be free. It was notifying them, you are free.

So its fitting that Lewis is in charge of organizing New Paltzs Juneteenth events this year, which will take place on June 18 and 19. Lewis is the founder and executive director of the Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis Black History Research and Cultural Center, a new organization, and the planned events were organized in partnership with Elting Memorial Library, Unison Arts Center and Historic Huguenot Street.

Dr. Wade-Lewis was Esi Lewis mother. She held a Ph.D. in linguistics and was recruited to SUNY New Paltz in the 70s to help with the founding of the Black Studies Department  one of the first in the nation, she said.

The organization will be housed at 5 Broadhead Avenue, the pink house known locally as the Ann Oliver House, behind the new Stewarts. The building needs restoration, but in the meantime, the organization is launching programming. Its so exciting for me for this to be one of my first public events in my mothers name, said Lewis.

The New Paltz Juneteenth celebration events this year will begin with a full day on June 18 that includes a commemoration ceremony for the first Black people in New Paltz, some of whom were born free, at New Paltz Rural Cemetery, followed by speakers, tours, live music, a picnic lunch and childrens crafts.

There will also be educational walking tours of Jacob Wynkoops neighborhood. Wynkoop, who was born free, built the Ann Oliver house, which will be designated a historic site after its restoration.

He built a series of seven houses, creating a free Black neighborhood in New Paltz, Lewis noted. Its unusual that a Black woman was well-off enough to have someone build her house and own property from that era.

Speakers at the celebration will include Weldon McWilliams IV, the chair of SUNY New Paltzs Department of Black Studies, who will share a history lesson on Juneteenth. Performers will include Rivergrass Revival, Emily Beck, 7he 7eam, Atabeya, Dorian Randolph, and Franklin Gillis, among others. What to a Slave is Your Fourth of July, by Frederick Douglass, will be read.

On Sunday, June 19 (which also happens to be Fathers Day), there will be a concert performance by Hubby Jenkins of the Carolina Chocolate Drops at Unison Arts Center.

Lewis hopes the New Paltz celebration will be similar to what she experienced in Oklahoma as a child. Being able to bring this to her hometown is deeply meaningful. Lewis also hopes Juneteenth will become robust in New Paltz for many years to come.

My mother dedicated her life to the upliftment of people, especially people of color, she said. Her mom passed away in 2009. I am carrying on this torch. It feels amazing and like very very big shoes to fill, but also a labor of love.

Other Hudson Valley towns and organizations will also be celebrating Juneteenth, in big and small ways, so its easy to make a full weekend of commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. Here are a few ideas.

Where to celebrate Juneteenth

New Paltz

The Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis Black History Research and Cultural Center Juneteenth celebration will begin on Saturday at noon with a commencement ceremony at the New Paltz Rural Cemetery. It will be followed by speakers, tours, live music, a picnic lunch and childrens crafts.

June 18, noon

Hubby Jenkins of the Carolina Chocolate Drops will perform at Unison Arts Center.

June 19, 4 p.m.

Staatsburg

The Dutchess County Historical Society is giving a presentation on the local free Black community of New Guinea in Hyde Park. Register for a Zoom link.

June 16, 7 p.m.

Peekskill

The Paramount Theaters Juneteenth celebration features several musical performers. Its presented by Sun River Health, an organization founded by mothers in response to inequality and lack of access to quality health care.

June 17, 7:30 p.m.

Poughkeepsie

Imani Perry, a scholar of race, law, literature, and African American culture who teaches at Princeton, will talk about her new book, South to America, as part of Celebrating Juneteenth! presented by Poughkeepsie Public Library and Bardavon.

June 19, 5 p.m.

Kingston

The Resistance Revival Chorus will perform in honor of Juneteenth at the Old Dutch Church, also part of Celebrating Juneteenth! presented by Bardavon.

June 18, 7 p.m.

The annual Juneteenth event organized by Harambee will take place rain or shine.

June 18, time TBD



QPOP Productions will commemorate Queerteenth with a two-day event celebrating the essence of Black aliveness and creativity as an evolving queer space including a film festival, night market, and block party on Abeel St. Films on the night of the 18th will be by artists from the African diaspora.

June 18 and June 19, various times
Heather Kovar will return to the anchor desk this weekend. The CBS6 News weekend anchor stepped away in early May to be with her ailing father.

She kept viewers updated on her Facebook page, last month writing:

"The station has graciously allowed me to take some time off to be with my family in Texas. My dad is expected to leave the hospital today on hospice and return home. He asked for his nasal feeding tube be removed yesterday." "Thank you to everyone who has reached out with concerns. I miss you all and I will see you soon. I thank all of my colleagues who are helping to fill my shifts during this time."

Kovar's father died a few days after that post and she shared a tribute to him on social media. Viewers and readers have missed her presence on-air and online on the weekends and have reached out to the journalist  and to the Times Union  to ask when she may return.

She says the timing of her return  Father's Day weekend  is tough, but it's also what her father would want. He respected work and would want her to "get back in the groove," she says.

For more on Kovar, check out her 20 Things profile here. You may also follow her on Facebook.
Correction: After an announcement was sent out Tuesday morning, the promoter Live Nation said it had been distributed prematurely. The Palace Theatre said the date was not confirmed as of late Tuesday morning. This story will update if a date is confirmed.

Popular and provocative comedian Amy Schumer will bring her new Whore Tour to the Palace Theatre for one performance, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 23.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Romania on Tuesday to hold bilateral talks and meet with French troops stationed there who are part of NATOs response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Macrons visit to Romania, a European Union member since 2007 and a NATO member since 2004, marked the beginning of a regional tour that includes a visit Wednesday to non-NATO Moldova. Both countries share long borders with embattled Ukraine.

Nobody knows what is in store for us in the coming weeks and months, but we will do all we can to put an end to the Russian invasion, to help Ukrainians and continue with negotiations, Macron said at the eastern Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, where he was greeted by Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.

In a brief address to French soldiers deployed at the NATO base, Macron praised them for honoring our commitment to defend Europe as war is being waged again.

France has around 500 soldiers deployed in Romania and has been a key player in NATOs bolstering of forces on the alliances eastern flank following Russias invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. In May, France deployed an air defense system to Romania that NATO said can ensure protection to the forces operating within the area.

In the long term, Macron said we need to be able to protect ourselves and went on to say NATO's multinational battlegroup in Romania  which includes French, Belgian and American military personnel  will serve as a powerful deterrent on Europes eastern flank.

On Wednesday, Macron will meet with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at the air base for official talks in preparation for a European Council meeting in Brussels, as well as a key NATO Strategic Concept summit in Madrid later this month.

French spokesperson Olivia Gregoire said Macron is expected to address the consequences of the war in Ukraine, from a surge of Ukrainian refugees to the spike in energy prices and the disruptions to global grain markets.

He will also discuss Ukraines and Moldovas demands to join the EU ahead of a European summit next week, she said. France currently holds the presidency of the EU Council.

Best of the Capital Region 2022 Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Make sure your voice is heard by nominating your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4.

Macron will underline the importance of the strength of the European project in these troubled moments, she said.

After Romania, Macron will head to Chisinau, Moldovas capital, where he will meet with President Maia Sandu.



Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Barbara Surk in Nice, France, contributed to this report.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

LONDON (AP)  Prince William and British politicians joined in memorial services Tuesday to mark five years since 72 people died in London's Grenfell Tower blaze, the worst domestic fire on British soil since World War II.

William and his wife, Kate, participated in a multi-faith service in the shadow of the high-rise apartment tower in west London. They observed a 72-second silence in memory of the 72 victims of the fire, and green balloons were released in memory of the 18 children who perished.

Hundreds of people marched in silence around the tower after the service as rows of London firefighters lined the road in a show of solidarity.

Earlier Tuesday, former Prime Minister Theresa May and London Mayor Sadiq Khan joined survivors and the bereaved at a Westminster Abbey memorial service. As religious leaders read out the names of those who died, the congregation said in unison: Forever in our hearts.

Rev. David Hoyle, the dean of Westminster, told the memorial service that five years on, the loss and anguish was still vivid and sharp.

The June 14, 2017 inferno at Grenfell Tower, a public housing building set in Britains richest borough of Kensington and Chelsea, horrified the nation and prompted many questions about lax safety regulations and other failings by officials and businesses that contributed to so many deaths.

The fire broke out in the middle of the night in a kitchen on the fourth floor of the tower and spread rapidly up the outside of the 25-story building like a lit fuse. Flammable cladding panels installed on the towers exterior walls have been blamed for how the fire raced out of control.

A public inquiry has been conducting a years-long investigation into the disaster, and a large police investigation is also ongoing. No one has been charged, and police have said there will be no prosecutions until the public inquiry is completed.

Best of the Capital Region 2022 Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Make sure your voice is heard by nominating your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4.

That has frustrated many survivors and bereaved families. The Rev. Graham Tomlin, bishop of Kensington, said many families cannot move on until they find justice.

They cant find any sense of acceptance or integration of whats happened in their lives, he told Times Radio. They cant rebuild their lives until theres a sense of justice, because people feel that something deeply wrong went on at Grenfell and yet no one has been held responsible for it.

Last month the British government banned metal composite cladding panels for all new buildings.

Officials have also issued new safety regulations requiring similar dangerous cladding to be removed from tower blocks across the country. But it's an expensive job and the work hasnt been carried out on some apartment buildings because of wrangling over who should pay.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

NASSAU  The town won its lawsuit to shut down a large junkyard spread across four properties and is to receive $509,000 in civil penalties, according to a ruling issued last week by state Supreme Court Justice Patrick J. McGrath.

The town pursued the lawsuit against Stephen B. Nalley and the estate of Barbara Secor, for which Nalley is executor, to enforce its 2011 zoning ordinance that outlawed the junkyards in town.

"This latest court decision follows a decades-long effort to clean up illegal junkyards to bring properties into compliance. Successive town boards have been clear. There is one set of laws in Nassau and they apply equally to everyone," Supervisor David Fleming said Monday.

The town has fought against junkyards for at least 40 years. The operations owned by Nalley and his father, Stephen O. Nalley, who was married to Secor, are on properties zoned rural residential and have been the subject of lawsuits and town zoning enforcement.

McGraths June 7 ruling addressed junkyard issues at four properties: 2788 U.S. Route 20, 3036 U.S. Route 20, 202 Mead Road and Lords Hills Road. Nalley owns the two properties on U.S. Route 20 and controls the other two, which were owned by Secor, according to court documents.

McGrath ordered that the properties be cleaned up in 30 days, that no more dumping take place, that the property owners are forever banned from operating junkyards at the four locations, and that the town can seek payment of legal fees and $509,000 in civil penalties must be paid within in 60 days.

Nassau Code Enforcement Officer Michael Prest testified during the trial that 3036 U.S. Route 20 contains numerous unregistered vehicles, including multiple 18-wheeler trailers, front-end loaders, a town truck, an excavator, a camper, dump trucks, a boat and other abandoned vehicles, as well as hot tubs, hot water tanks, tires, scrap metal, plywood, and washers, dryers, stoves and other indoor household appliances, McGrath wrote in his findings of fact.

The Lords Hill Road and Mead Road sites had unregistered and inoperable vehicles. The 2788 U.S. Route 20 property had a limousine and a pickup truck.

Prest testified that while there are other junkyards, the town went after these properties as they are the largest and most egregious in town. (He) also testified that he cited other properties with violations that were abated and corrected in a timely fashion, McGrath found.

Best of the Capital Region 2022 Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Make sure your voice is heard by nominating your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4.

The Nalley and Secor properties did not have permits to operate as junkyards and were not legally permitted as junkyards when the town enacted its 2011 anti-junkyard code, according to court documents. The town cited the properties in 2018, setting off on a path that led to the trial and McGraths findings.

"This decision firmly supports the towns efforts to protect the public and our local zoning. This decision also demonstrates that Nassau will attempt to work with property owners to remedy zoning violations in a timely manner. If the egregious violations of state code and local zoning persist, the town will not back down and is willing to go to court to protect our residents and our natural resources," Fleming said.

Frank T. Mahady, the Albany attorney who represented Nalley, said theyre reviewing the judges decision and will decide what they will do.

The town was represented by Brian S. Reichenback of Miller, Mannix, Schachner and Hafner of Glens Falls.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

GUILDERLAND  Are mountain lions roaming around the Capital Region?

Its a conversation that pops up every several years after residents claim theyve spotted one of the large cats prowling around their properties.

The latest potential sighting was detailed on NextDoor, a social media app, where a Guilderland resident claimed to have spotted one of the big cats on Meadowdale Road last week.

That prompted a vigorous debate, with people sharing their own purported sightings across upstate New York  or not.

Another Guilderland resident cited their own glimpse but said they were rebuffed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

No mistake in identifying them, not even close to looking like a bobcat! the person wrote, referring to an animal relation that the state agency said is often confused for its larger mammalian counterpart. The long tail and smaller head is a dead giveaway!

State wildlife officials have long insisted there are no breeding mountain lions  also known as eastern cougars  in the state, officially designating their status as extirpated, or locally extinct, since the late 1800s.

Yet the DEC has confirmed a few isolated sightings in recent years, including a 140-pound male cougar that passed through the Lake George area in late 2015.

Halfmoon officials issued an advisory in June 2019 after several residents reported a sighting. DEC at the time acknowledged the reports but stopped short of confirming if the creature was a mountain lion.

DEC did not make a wildlife expert available to the Times Union for an interview.

Each confirmed mountain lion sighting, according to a fact sheet provided by the state agency, involved cougars that are not native to New York.

A couple of sightings involved captive mountain lions that escaped from licensed facilities in New York State, it read. Another sighting involved a wild cougar that traveled through New York as it trekked nearly 1,800 miles east from its native population in South Dakota.

In the U.S., with the exception of Florida, no states east of the Mississippi River have had mountain lion breeding populations since the 1900s.

But they are in the Canadian province of Ontario, which is close to New York, according to the provincial government. Those animals are considered endangered.

While DEC receives several reports of cougar sightings each year, most are cases of mistaken identity, according to the state agency. Cougars are commonly mistaken for wild bobcats, fishers and coyotes, as well as domestic house cats and dogs.

Best of the Capital Region 2022 Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Make sure your voice is heard by nominating your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4.

Residents who said they spotted the creatures  none of whom responded to interview requests  appeared to be aware that mountain lions can be mistaken for bobcats.

Whats the difference between the two?

The tail is one indicator.

Mountain lion tails can range from 26 to 32 inches, according to DEC, while those of bobcats are much shorter at between 5 and 6 inches for both sexes.

So is their size: Mountain lions are significantly larger.

Next to the jaguar, mountain lions are the largest North American cat, with weights ranging from 80 to 225 pounds, with an average of 140. Their length varies from 5 to 9 feet.

Both bobcat sexes can be greater than 30 pounds, with averages for males and females being 21 and 14 pounds, respectively, according to DEC. Body length for males is 34 inches and 30 inches for females.

Bobcat sightings, in fact, are on the rise in Connecticut and New York as populations rise after limits on hunting were enacted, CBS New York reported in February, with a state wildlife biologist confirming their presence statewide except for New York City and Long Island.

The creatures are also finding more room to roam as acreage once used for harvesting timber and farming returns to nature, the outlet reported.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON (AP)  South Koreas top diplomat said Monday that North Korea has completed preparations for a new nuclear test and that only a political decision by the countrys top leadership can prevent it from going forward.

After talks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said the North would pay a price if it goes ahead, as feared, with what would be its seventh nuclear test in the coming days.

North Korea has completed preparations for another nuclear test and I think only a political decision has to be made, Park said. Prior to Monday, U.S. and South Korean officials had said only that the North was nearing completion of such preparations.

If North Korea ventures into another nuclear test, I think it will only strengthen our deterrence and also international sanctions," Park said. North Korea should change its mind and make the right decision.

Apart from sanctions, Park did not say what that price the North would pay or outline how the deterrence policy would change, but Blinken said the United States and treaty allies South Korea and Japan could adjust their military postures in response.

Were preparing for all contingencies this in very close coordination with others and we are prepared to make both short and longer-term adjustments to our military posture, Blinken said. He added that in addition, the pressure will be sustained, it will continue and, as appropriate, it will be increased.

Both Park and Blinken men stressed the door to negotiations without any preconditions remains open for North Korea. But Blinken, repeating comments from numerous U.S. officials in recent days, lamented that North Korea continues to ignore overtures for dialogue.

On Sunday, North Korea test-fired what appeared to be artillery shells toward the sea, according to South Koreas military, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for greater defense capability to cope with outside threats.

Best of the Capital Region 2022 Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Make sure your voice is heard by nominating your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4.

The Norths artillery tests draw less outside attention than its missile launches, of which it has conducted more so far this year than in any previous year. But its forward-deployed long-range artillery guns are a serious security threat to South Koreas populous metropolitan region, which is only 40-50 kilometers (25-30 miles) from the border with North Korea.

The suspected artillery launches were the latest in a spate of weapons tests by North Korea this year in what foreign experts call an attempt to pressure its rivals Washington and Seoul to relax international sanctions against Pyongyang and make other concessions.

In March, North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland U.S. in breach of a 2018 moratorium on big missile tests.

A possible new nuclear test by North Korea would be the seventh of its kind. Some experts say North Korea will likely use the test to build warheads to be mounted on tactical nuclear weapons aimed at hitting targets in South Korea.
Paul Buckowski

ALBANY  A state Department of Tax and Finance employee arrested on felony cocaine charges at his job last October will resign from his post after pleading guilty Monday to a gun charge that includes a three-year prison sentence.

Tejuan D. Carter, 45, of Albany, admitted to acting Supreme Court Justice Roger McDonough that he possessed a pistol on the 100 block of Quail Street on Nov. 1, 2020 about 5:25 p.m. Carter pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second-degree, an armed violent felony which can carry a maximum of seven years in prison.
ALBANY  They brought signs and a stage and a fervor clamoring for the states top court to agree to release Happy the elephant from the Bronx Zoo.

In the end, their adversaries brought a more convincing legal argument.

On Tuesday, the Court of Appeals rejected the request by the Nonhuman Rights Project for a writ of habeas corpus to produce the 51-year-old female Asian elephant, who the group contends is being wrongfully kept at the Bronx Zoo. Such writs, which date to ancient times, allow courts to produce a person who is believed to be unlawfully detained though no court has extended the right to nonhuman animals.

In a 5-2 ruling authored by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, the court upheld lower court decisions that disagreed with the Nonhuman Rights Projects legal argument that Happy should be legally considered a person  and, as such, found Happy could not be granted a writ of habeas corpus.

The seven-member court sided with the Bronx Zoo and its managing entity, the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Associate Judges Rowan Wilson and Jenny Rivera dissented. Agreeing with DiFiore were Associate Judges Michael Garcia, Madeline Singas, Anthony Cannataro and Shirley Troutman.

In a statement, the Nonhuman Rights Project praised the votes of Wilson and Rivera but added that the decision was more than a loss for Happy.

"Its also a loss for everyone who cares about upholding and strengthening our most cherished values and principles of justice  autonomy, liberty, equality, and fairness  and ensuring our legal system is free of arbitrary reasoning and that no one is denied basic rights simply because of who they are," the statement said. "This is the first time the highest court of an English-speaking jurisdiction has heard a case demanding a legal right for a nonhuman animal. It will be far from the last."

The Nonhuman Rights Project and its founder, Steven Wise, have previously made similar arguments on behalf of chimpanzees, including Tommy, a chimp who was being kept in a warehouse-type setting in Fulton County. In the case of Happy, the group wanted the elephant transferred to one of two elephant sanctuaries in California and Tennessee.

Because the writ of habeas corpus is intended to protect the liberty right of human beings to be free of unlawful confinement, it has no applicability to Happy, a nonhuman animal who is not a 'person' subjected to illegal detention, DiFiore stated. Thus, while no one disputes that elephants are intelligent beings deserving of proper care and compassion, the courts below properly granted the motion to dismiss the petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and we therefore affirm.

The chief judge said no precedent in its history or any state or federal court supports the notion that a writ of habeas corpus should apply to nonhumans. DiFiore noted that was the finding of prior decisions rendered by state Supreme Court Justice Alison Tuitt in the Bronx and then the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court's First Department in Manhattan.

"While no one disputes the impressive capabilities of elephants, we reject (the Nonhuman Rights Project's) arguments that it is entitled to seek the remedy of habeas corpus on Happys behalf, habeas corpus is a procedural vehicle intended to secure the liberty rights of human beings who are unlawfully restrained, not nonhuman animals," DiFiore stated.

The Nonhuman Rights Project has argued that legally speaking, entities such as corporations and a river have been considered persons. DiFiore countered that such entities do not enjoy the remedy of a habeas corpus and that "thus, any comparison between

nonhuman animals and corporations for these purposes is inapt and unavailing."

In the dissent, Wilson noted in 1906, the Bronx Zoo displayed Ota Benga, a member of the Mbuti people, an indigenous group in the Congo in Africa, in the zoos monkey house behind iron bars. Wilson explained that a white supremacist named Samuel Verner had two years earlier removed the man and others from the Congo to be exhibited at the St. Louis Worlds Fair. Verner transferred Benga to the Bronx Zoo where, following the arguments of African-American ministers, he was eventually released. Benga later shot himself.

"That same zoo has confined Happy the elephant for the past 40 years," Wilson wrote. "Unquestionably, Mr. Benga was a human being; Happy is not. Human beings should have greater rights than elephants, if only because we make the rules. The crucial point from both Mr. Bengas and Happys confinement, though, is that both suffered greatly from confinement that, though not in violation of any statutory law, produced little or no social benefit."

Best of the Capital Region 2022 Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Make sure your voice is heard by nominating your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4.

Wilson said the question is not whether Happy is a person  she is not, he acknowledged  but whether the elephant's confinement was grave enough to merit removal.

"The question here is not governed by any prior decision: It is novel," Wilson said. "The novelty of an issue does not doom it to

failure: a novel habeas case freed an enslaved person; a novel habeas case removed a woman from the subjugation of her husband; a novel habeas case removed a child from her fathers presumptive dominion and transferred her to the custody of another. More broadly, novel common law casesof which habeas is a subsethave advanced the law in countless areas."

Happy has been at the Bronx Zoo for decades. Happy is there with another elephant, Patty, but they are kept separate because of an unfriendly relationship that DiFiore described as hostile.

In May, California-based attorney Monica L. Miller, arguing on behalf of the Nonhuman Rights Project, told the Court of Appeals that Happy was "kidnapped from Thailand as a baby." The attorney likened Happy's confinement in the Bronx Zoo to being in prison and said the writ of habeas corpus offered a unique remedy to provide "relief for someone whose bodily autonomy is being infringed upon."

As she argued in court, dozens of supporters of the legal arguments being waged by the Nonhuman Rights Project rallied outside in Academy Park flashing signs such as "The Right to Liberty Is Unalienable," "Happy is Not Happy" and "Let Her Be Happy." They had a stage to allow Miller and Wise to appear.

Kenneth A. Manning, an attorney for the Bronx Zoo, had earlier said Happy was not legally a person and thus not illegally detained, meaning there was no need for the writ.

On Tuesday, DiFiore said the zoo's chief veterinarian said in a sworn affidavit that the zoo had made efforts to ensure Happys continued physical and psychological well-being and health and said the elephant was currently healthy and well-adapted to her present surroundings.

According to the veterinarian, removing Happy from the zoo, her longtime home, would cause substantial stress and create a serious risk to her long-term health.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ALBANY  A convicted felon from Troy is facing 35 years in state prison after admitting Tuesday he fatally shot a West Hill grocery store worker who was an unintended victim of gun violence rocking the city last year.

Jhajuan Sabb, 22, pleaded guilty before acting state Supreme Court Justice Roger McDonough to first-degree manslaughter for killing Sharaf Addailam, 35, at First and Quail streets on May 21, 2021, at about 2:30 p.m. Addailam, a native of Yemen, was a married father of three children known to customers of the Mr. Sam Food Market, where he worked, as "David."

Addailam was slain outside the business after returning from his mosque, where he had been praying, according to friends. He was one of two people violently killed in Albany that day in a space of hours. Lashon Turner, 39, was later shot to death on Central Avenue in an unrelated crime. Natural Wise Joseph, 34, pleaded guilty to Turner's murder last month. The men were among six homicide victims during May 2021 in Albany.

On Tuesday, Sabb also pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree assault for shooting another victim, Ahquis Tarver, in the same incident in which Addailam was slain. (Tarver appeared in court before McDonough on Tuesday for unrelated charges immediately after Sabb.)

Sabb agreed to serve 25 years for the manslaughter conviction and a consecutive 10-year term for the attempted first-degree assault conviction. His sentencing is set for Aug. 19.

"Are you pleading guilty because you are, in fact, guilty of the crimes of manslaughter in the first degree and attempted assault in the first degree?" the judge asked Sabb.

"Yep," Sabb replied.

The manslaughter plea resolved Sabbs upcoming trial where he faced second-degree murder charges in Addailams killing. If convicted, Sabb faced 25 years to life in prison.

The judge mentioned that Sabb's prior criminal record included a 2018 conviction for second-degree assault, a felony, in Rensselaer County.

Sabb killed Addailam only three months after being sentenced in U.S. District Court to eight months' time served for making an interstate transmission of a threat to injure another person. In 2020, in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Saab used Facebook Live to threaten to attack Troy police at a protest planned for June 7, 2020.

Sabb had threatened to throw bricks at the Troy police building and vehicles and to use a vehicle to run over police officers. Sabb's attorney in that case, Assistant Federal Public Defender Michael P. McGeown-Walker, noted in a pre-sentencing memo that Sabb had experienced long-term dealings with the mental health system at a young age and, at 13, had been placed in an inpatient setting at Four Winds Psychiatric Center for two weeks.

Best of the Capital Region 2022 Its the 25th anniversary of our Best of the Capital Region readers survey. Make sure your voice is heard by nominating your favorite people, places and businesses between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4.

The attorney said Sabb had gotten a job at Home Depot, had a girlfriend and a child on the way, but that he lost his apartment, girlfriend and job after the 2020 arrest.

At the time of his sentencing for the Facebook Live threats, Sabb told Senior U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn: "I understand what I said was wrong and I apologize for that. I'm ready to just go home and back to the community and do what I have to do to pick my life back up and head in the right direction."

Kahn had told Saab: "You're still young. You've got a long life ahead of you," the judge told Sabb. "I'm hoping that when this is over, you're not going to come back again. ... I'm expecting that you've learned the hard way that that you've got to be careful even about even how you talk, certainly what you do."
A federal judge sentenced a Cattaraugus County man to a 5-year prison sentence for stealing close to $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo.

Adam Arena, 45, of Great Valley, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived proceeds, according to a release from the office.

U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny also ordered Arena to forfeit close to $650,000 in monetary assets, as well as multiple vehicles, at the June 8 sentencing.

Arena becomes the latest to be sentenced for misusing PPP loan proceeds. In 2021, at least nine people were prosecuted in the Western District of New York for alleged fraud of federal Covid-19 loans.

The bank fraud conspiracy count alone carried a maximum prison sentence of 30 years and a $1 million fine.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), enacted in 2020, included the PPP loans to give businesses financial assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In May 2020, Arena used his business, ADA Auto Group, which had been inactive since 2018, to fraudulently obtain PPP loans by falsely claiming it employed 50 employees in 2019, prosecutors said.

Co-defendant Amanda Gloria, of Altus, Okla., submitted a PPP loan application on behalf of ADA Auto Group by using falsified documents. After the PPP funding was approved, a $954,000 loan went into Arena's personal business account. None of the money went toward business expenses.

Gloria, currently awaiting her own sentencing, received $24,135 from the ill-gotten PPP money after facilitating the fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office release.

Alleged PPP fraud highlights 'brazenness' of some during Covid pandemic At least nine defendants are being prosecuted in the Western District of New York for alleged fraud related to federal Covid-19 relief aid.

Arena previously faced federal charges in a bank fraud scheme in New Jersey, and he was sentenced in April 2021 to two years in federal prison and ordered to make restitution to Synchrony Bank for $1.3 million, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Newark, N.J.

It is undisputed that Arena suffers from serious mental health issues, said his lawyer, MaryBeth Covert, a public defender in Buffalo, in a court filing.

"Not surprisingly, when Adam found himself facing a significant period of incarceration for his ... conviction in the District of New Jersey, the thought of his impending jail sentence and the impact his incarceration was to have on his wife and daughter, sent Adam into a tail spin," Covert said in the court filing.

"His fears for his wife and daughter in his absence caused Adam to participate in this loan scheme with the hopes of providing some financial stability for his wife and his daughter to survive," Covert said.

The scheme unraveled, however, after he spent some of the proceeds buying two vehicles  a truck and a four-wheeler. The transfer of funds alerted bank officials, who notified authorities, according to Covert's filing.

The loan proceeds were frozen and the two vehicles valued at $42,500 were repossessed.

The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ALBANY  State Sen. Daphne Jordan said she is dropping out of a Republican primary with fellow state Sen. Jim Tedisco, upending a pugnacious Capital Region political contest that had quickly divided high-ranking state and local conservatives.

"I detest the circus atmosphere that Jim Tedisco has caused by moving into my Senate District and his putting self-interest first in seeking a seat from a fellow Republican whom he once called a friend," Jordan, a former Halfmoon Town Board member, said in a statement Tuesday morning. "I want no part of this sideshow."

Tedisco is now slated to face Schenectady County Legislator Michelle Ostrelich, a Democrat, in the November general election.

"This was never personal for me," Tedisco said in a statement Tuesday afternoon, in which he thanked Jordan "so much for her dedicated public service." He added: "It was about providing the highest level of constituent service and being a strong voice for the people of Saratoga and Schenectady counties where my heart has always been home."

The newly drawn district comprises all of Saratoga County and the city of Schenectady. Neither Tedisco nor Ostrelich live in Saratoga County. The district leans Democrat, based on presidential voting numbers, but local elections often come down to niche issues, endorsements and name recognition.

The race is a byproduct of changes to the state Senate lines from the once-in-a-decade redistricting process. After the state's courts threw out Democrat-drawn maps, a court-appointed expert drew new political boundaries based on competitiveness and compactness, while ignoring where incumbents live.

It left Jordan in a marginally more Democrat-leaning district and Tedisco drawn into the longstanding Albany-based district of Democrat state Sen. Neil Breslin.

Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt had encouraged Tedisco, a longtime local Republican, to run against Breslin. He pitched it as the opportunity to knock off the Albany Democrat and a chance to help bolster Jordan's chances in the Saratoga County-centric district.

"Winning both of these seats will help us defeat Albany Democrats and take back New York," Ortt said in a statement last month.

The Republican leader's initial push for Tedisco and Jordan to run in separate contests ultimately fell flat.

Instead, Tedisco rallied support from Republican leaders and earned their endorsements in meetings that Jordan asserted were nothing more than backroom deals. One of those unfolded in Saratoga County, where the GOP Committee narrowly endorsed Tedisco with 55 percent of the vote, according to a person briefed on the matter.

On May 30, Jordan sent a statement asserting that Tedisco's "political endorsements were not gained fairly." She said he had called an "emergency endorsement meeting" of the Saratoga County Republican Committee during a holiday weekend, which she called a "cheap political trick."

Tedisco also received an endorsement from Schenectady County Republican Committee.

Ortt, in a statement to the Times Union Tuesday, said Jordan is a "valued member of the Senate Republican conference" and "her dedication to her constituents is a bright example of public service for my colleagues and I."

He said that "keeping this seat in Republican control is critical" for the party and that his team will be working with Tedisco to "advance our message of a stronger, safer and more affordable state."

The expected end of the run for Jordan comes after she served two terms in the state Senate. She won her first race in 2019, after succeeding her predecessor, former state Sen. Kathy Marchione, for whom Jordan had been the chief of staff.

Marchione also jumped into the fray, issuing a statement last month criticizing Tedisco for choosing to enter a race in a district where he is not a resident.

"After seeing what Jim Tedisco is attempting to do  trying to run in the 44th Senate District where he doesnt even live  its impossible to remain silent," Marchione said in a May 20 statement. She added that her and other Saratoga County Republicans were "upset and disappointed" with Tedisco's decision to run in the more politically favorable district than the one he lives in.

Marchione, the longtime Saratoga County clerk, replaced Republican state Sen. Roy McDonald in 2013 in a race that was shaped around McDonald's then-controversial "yes" vote to legalize same-sex marriage.

Tedisco served in the state Assembly from 1983 until 2017, when he was elected to the Senate and is now in his 39th year in the state Legislature. Tedisco replaced longtime state Sen. Hugh T. Farley, who had served 39 years before his retirement.

The new 44th Senate District encompasses Saratoga County plus portions of Schenectady County, including the city. The district would have been won by President Joe Biden with 56 percent of the vote, according to data from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. Previously, the seat was marginally in favor of Biden. If Tedisco was to run in his home district, which now includes Albany, it would be even more Democrat-leaning, with 60 percent of voters favoring Biden in 2020.

Jordan's name will still remain on the ballot but she does not plan to contest the race against Tedisco.

On the Democratic ticket, a primary has been avoided after Thearse McCalmon withdrew last week to clear the path for Ostrelich, the Schenectady County legislator.

"I am running for (state) Senate because the people of the newly drawn 44th district are ready for change," Ostrelich said in a statement. "They want the kind of representation they can be proud of, the kind of representation that reflects their values, the kind of representation that respects the diversity that is this district."

Tedisco, in his statement Tuesday, encouraged unity so that the district "does not fall into the clutches of a radical socialist, progressive agenda" that could cause, he said, people to leave New York.

The state Senate primaries are scheduled for Aug. 23. The Assembly and gubernatorial primaries are scheduled for June 28.
A native of Golden, Tipperary, James ODonnell has been elected President of ICOS, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, following a recent meeting of the Board of the Society.

ICOS currently represents 130 co-operative enterprises in Ireland, including the dairy processing co-ops and the co-operative marts, with over 150,000 individual members.

Mr ODonnell succeeds Jerry Long who has retired having served as President for the past three years and as a Dairy Committee member of ICOS for eleven years.

James ODonnell has served as Vice-President of ICOS for the past four years and has chaired the ICOS Finance and Governance Committee as well as the ICOS Rural Business Committee.

A dairy farmer and a member of Dairygold Co-operative, he serves as Chairman of South Tipperary Farm Relief Service Co-operative, and represents the National Co-op Farm Relief Service on the ICOS Board. Edward Carr, Chairman of Arrabawn Co-operative, was elected Vice-President of ICOS.

Mr Carr is a dairy farmer from Milestone, near Thurles.

ICOS President, James ODonnell said: Im honoured to lead ICOS at such an important time for our entire sector. I thank my Board colleagues for the trust they have placed in me where I will represent and promote the best interests of our co-operative movement across Ireland. I congratulate and look forward to working closely with incoming Vice-President, Edward Carr and with all board and committee members of ICOS, and with our constituent co-operatives. The Irish agrifood sector makes an immense contribution to our national economic competitiveness and success. It is underpinned by farmer owned co-operatives whose members and leaders are committed to wholesome, naturally based food production, environmental protection and the long-term sustainability of our sector, all of which ensures economic viability for farm families and rural communities, national food security and our export led contribution to global nutrition.

Irish agriculture has the capability to produce the highest quality foods with one of the lowest carbon profiles of any other agricultural systems worldwide. This can and must be sustained through viable mechanisms for the future. I am confident that this will be realised through the continuing deployment of existing and ongoing measures to protect the environment, proactive emissions reduction on a realistic basis using all available resources and technologies, and the overall commitment which we are prioritising for sustainability across every aspect of our co-operative enterprises.
Spears' ex who appeared at wedding charged with stalking

A man once briefly married to Britney Spears has pleaded not guilty to felony stalking after showing up at the pop stars wedding to her longtime boyfriend last week
The Toy Story films, once an almost perfect trilogy, were already stretching toward infinity and beyond with Toy Story 4, a nine-years-later-sequel that was perhaps propelled less by a need for narrative closure than it was box-office imperatives
Flooding has wiped out roads and bridges and closed off all entrances to Yellowstone National Park at the onset of the busy summer tourist season
From left to right, Gary Kifer, Logan Stout and Randy Bell examine Stouts collection of rendezvous special knives.
Fisher-Price and U.S. product safety regulators are telling parents not to let their infants fall asleep in the companys rockers after 13 infants died in the devices between 2009 and 2021
Longtime McKinley High School principal Crystal Barton, who recently won $200,000 in a settlement of her lawsuit against the Buffalo Public School district, has retired for health reasons, ending one of the longest tenures of a building leader in the district.

Barton had served as principal at McKinley for 35 years, earning a reputation as a strict disciplinarian who kept a close eye on students, often policing the hallway or cafeteria, directing students to tuck in their shirt or to quiet down.

McKinley principal controversy costs Buffalo schools more than $1 million McKinley High School Principal Crystal Barton will receive $200,000 from the school district as part of a settlement approved Monday, and lawyers who represented her will receive another $75,000 from the district.

She had been on paid leave from the district for nearly five years, until she reached a settlement with the school board in April, in which the district agreed to pay her $200,000 for overtime and extra-activity payments she would have earned since she was placed on leave in 2017.

Barton had incorrectly been placed on paid leave twice in the past five years, according to Robert Boreanaz, the attorney who represents the administrators union.

She formally retired from the district in April, about two weeks after the board approved its settlement with her. Although the board in early April offered Barton the chance to return to McKinley as principal, she never did, due to health reasons, according to Boreanaz.

Barton served as president of the administrators union in Buffalo for more than a decade. Barton stepped down from that role a couple of weeks ago, Boreanaz said.

Jodi Covington, principal of Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, has become the union president. She had been serving as the vice president.

During the past few years, Barton, 70, and former Superintendent Kriner Cash had frequently clashed. He put her on paid leave in 2017, and again a few months later. In 2019, she filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights, accusing Cash of sexually harassing and discriminating against her on the basis of age and race.

As part of the settlement approved in April, both Barton and the board each agreed to drop all complaints, grievances and legal actions against the other. Neither side admitted any wrongdoing, and both agreed not to disparage the other.

Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
30 years for man who killed ex, drove son with body in trunk

A New Jersey man who killed his ex-girlfriend and drove their toddler son to Tennessee with her body in the trunk last July has been sentenced to 30 years in prison
A jury has convicted a man of murder in connection to a 2019 store robbery that led to the death of a New York City police officer hit by crossfire from other officers guns
The politico is young, strong and so we anticipate, hope & pray she'll have a quick and painless recovery.



Here's a peek at the note for those who haven't seen it yet . . .



The social media message was met with nearly universal sympathy and serves to remind us that that the pandemic is, in fact, still a thing.



Further reading via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Developing . . .



COVID reinfections set to spike in U.S. as new variants evade immunity If you're anything like the majority of Americans - an estimated 60-plus-percent of them, according to government data - you've already had COVID-19. And if you're like most of those Americans, you had it fairly recently - during the enormous Omicron wave that engulfed the U.S. over the winter holidays.

You Are Going to Get COVID Again ... And Again ... And Again Two and a half years and billions of estimated infections into this pandemic, SARS-CoV-2's visit has clearly turned into a permanent stay. Experts knew from early on that, for almost everyone, infection with this coronavirus would be inevitable. As James Hamblin memorably put it back in February 2020, " You're Likely to Get the Coronavirus."

Oil prices pull back on China COVID worries, recession fears Oil futures fell Monday, eyeing a their third session loss in a row, as Beijing moved to contain a renewed rise in COVID-19 cases and global equities tumbled as shockwaves from last week's hotter-than-expected U.S. consumer-price index reading continued to ripple through financial markets.

Far from being 'post pandemic,' UK Covid cases are on the rise again U.K. Covid-19 cases have risen for the first time in two months, according to new data, which warns of a possible further spike ahead. A total of 989,800 people tested positive for the virus in the week from May 27 to June 2 - up from 953,900 a week earlier - estimates from the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Friday.

Woman arrested for crack had six identities with COVID unemployment benefits A woman arrested for possession of crack cocaine pleaded guilty to COVID-19 relief fraud after police found multiple stolen identification cards in her car. Danielle Tooley, 37, of Batavia, New York, was questioned by police officers during a traffic stop.

Opinion | Republicans are blocking Covid funding for one simple reason Congressional Republicans have effectively obstructed President Joe Biden's $22.5 billion request for more Covid relief funds by demanding a full accounting of how previous Covid appropriations have been spent. In doing so, they're implying the appropriations haven't been spent appropriately. Being hawks about the budget during a pandemic has consequences.

The role party affiliation played in getting US to grim new milestone of 1 million COVID deaths COVID-19 has now claimed the lives of 1 million Americans - a grim milestone made worse by the fact that probably a third of those fatalities could have been avoided. Estimates suggest that more than 318,000 deaths from the disease occurred among individuals who had access to vaccines, but chose not to receive any.

US has wasted more than 82 million COVID-19 vaccine doses: report More than 82 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have reportedly gone to waste since the beginning of the pandemic, according to media reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shared the data with NBC News, meaning that just over 11% of doses the federal government distributed between December 202 through mid-May were discarded.

Developing . . .
Some claim the law is not yet firm . . . At the risk of know there are more boobs we DON'T WANT TO SEE than one we do . . . Our blog community would like more hands-on investigation.



Just a bit of boring legal doctrine . . .



The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down topless ban in a Fort Collins, Colorado. The court's decision makes it legal for women to go topless in states that fall under the 10th Circuit.



Those states are Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

A recent social media blast caught by our one of our BEST & BRIGHTEST readers . . .

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Federal ruling allows women to legally go topless in six states, including Kansas "I think the council as they articulated in their 4-3 vote, really just thought as a matter of priority, no guarantee of success or that the Supreme Court would even take it up, that the money was just better spent on other city priorities," Fort Collins Deputy Director of Information Tyler Marr said.

Can Kansas women go topless? Supreme Court leaves it unclear TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) - The Supreme Court's decision not to consider topless bans leaves a ruling in place that technically allows Kansas women to go topless. But a local political science professor said the legality of it is complicated. On Monday the United States Supreme Court decided not to review a challenge to a New [...]

Why it's legal to walk around naked in Kansas TOPEKA, Kansas - Several people took photos of a naked man walking the streets of Topeka last week. Many asked why he wasn't arrested. It turns out walking around naked in Kansas isn't against the law. Even Natasha Shamblin, a Topeka resident, was surprised. "He was butt naked!"

Developing . . .
Today we get a peek at the future and a sign that our local energy systems will be strained in the month ahead.

To wit . . .

KANSAS CITY POWER OUTAGES TODAY SIGNAL FUTURE PROBS WITH THE GRID GOING FORWARD AMID THE HOT SUMMER!!!



Here's a peek at the sitch today and a reason that a great many people will be fuming both now and in the future . . .



Reports of outages began at around 4 p.m. on Monday afternoon.



Evergy didn't immediately have an estimate on how long it might take crews to restore power.



Due to the outages, the National Weather Service encouraged people to check on those it calls "more vulnerable."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Power knocked out to 7K in KC during hottest time of day KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A power problem has some homeowners hot under the collar Monday afternoon. Evergy said there is a mechanical issue with one of its substations. The issue has knocked out power to about 7,000 people south of the Plaza and south of Mission Hills.

Evergy says high temperatures, demand for power led to outages in KCMO KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A spokesperson for Evergy said extreme heat and high demand for power caused a transformer to fail, leading to power outages in parts of Kansas City, Missouri. Reports of outages began at around 4 p.m. on Monday afternoon. Evergy didn't immediately have an estimate on how long it might take crews to restore power.

Evergy to take control of some thermostats Monday KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Temperatures are expected to soar as the sunshine returns Monday afternoon. The heat mixed with high humidity will make it feel upwards of 100 degrees. That means air conditioners will be working overtime, straining the power grid across the metro.

Power outage Monday afternoon affects thousands in south Kansas City A power outage Monday afternoon is affecting thousands of Evergy customers in south Kansas City.The utility reported that 6,000 customers lost power at about 3:45 p.m. after equipment failed at one of its substations.Evergy said crews are working on the problem.A heatwave is forecast for Kansas City through Wednesday.Refresh this page for updates.

Thousands of Kansas City residents left in dark due to transformer failure KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Many neighborhoods south of the Country Club Plaza lost power on Monday afternoon, including residents in Waldo. "It's starting to warm up in the house, it's not intolerable yet," Jim Grant, who lost power said. KSHB 41 News caught up with Grant about an hour into the power outage that began around 3:45 p.m.

And it today's bit of irony . . .

Kansas City Health Department closed Monday for A/C repairs KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Repairs to the Kansas City Health Department will closed the building all day Monday. The department says representatives will be calling those with appointments scheduled for Monday to reschedule. We apologize for the inconvenience. Our teams will be calling to reschedule your appointment.

Developing . . .
A bank employee has been stabbed multiple times in Chinatown in an attempted bank robbery, Toronto police say.
Two Toronto city council candidates initially endorsed by John Filion in 2018 election are set to face off in Willowdale

John Filion told the Star last week that he will not seek re-election to Toronto council, retiring from politics after 40 years in elected office.
Four Republican candidates for New York governor pledged during a televised debate Monday night to undo years of one-party rule and focus on battling crime and improving the economy if elected to office.

Its an uphill battle for Republicans vying for the governors office in New York, where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by more than 2 to 1. The states last Republican governor was George Pataki, who served from 1995 to 2006.

The field includes U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and businessman Harry Wilson. Candidate Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York Citys former mayor, appeared remotely.

Giuliani, a former adviser to former President Donald Trump, said he was barred from participating in-person in the Monday primary debate because he has refused to submit proof hes been vaccinated against Covid-19. He said he told debate organizers he would take multiple tests leading up to and on the day of the debate.

Giuliani said if elected, he will restore the jobs of public workers fired for not getting the vaccine. He pledged Monday to empower the police and called for a return to widespread stop and frisk policies in New York City.

In 2013, a judge ruled New York City police violated the constitution by stopping, questioning and frisking mostly Black and Hispanic people on the street en masse.

Astorino, a Republican former radio industry professional and two-term Westchester County executive, is running for governor for a second time. He's promised to release an agenda to address New Yorks steep job loss stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic on top of government corruption and the states high taxes and cost of living.

Buffalo and Western New York did not figure much into the debate.

The May 14 racially motivated Tops massacre received only passing reference during a question about what each of the candidates would do to protect New Yorkers from domestic terrorism.

Wilson said the focus should be on criminals, purveyors of hate and those with mental illness who have violent tendencies.

"Those are the three primary drivers of the problem, including the problem in Buffalo, and that's what we're doing a terrible job, because we have ineffective politicians running our state," said Wilson.

Astorino followed up by pointing out the vandalism and suspicious fire set at a pregnancy center in Eggertsville earlier this month.

The Christian organization's expansion into the Buffalo area followed a merger with three previously independent crisis pregnancy centers here.

The Christian organization CompassCare opposes abortion and provides free basic medical care and counseling to pregnant women to encourage them to seek other options.

"Domestic terrorism is also the bombing of a pro-life center in Amherst, N.Y., and that person needs to charged as a domestic terrorist, as well," said Astorino.

The 18-year-old Broome County man accused in the Tops Markets shooting that killed 10 people and wounded three others was charged by an Erie County grand jury with first-degree domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate.

The other two candidates in the debate, Zeldin and Giuliani, also mentioned to need to get tough on criminals, but neither specifically referenced the Tops shooting. Giuliani said Buffalo "is in the top 10% of mid-level cities for violent crime."

Hochul defends Bills stadium deal, gun positions in debate The two Democrats challenging New York Gov. Kathy Hochuls bid to keep her job criticized her Tuesday for her past backing from the National Rifle Association and the deal she reached to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer money on a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills. Hochul, appearing in her first debate Tuesday night, defended the stadium deal and said she her positions on guns had evolved in the 10 years since she got a favorable rating from the NRA. She is being challenged by U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi of Long Island and New York Citys elected Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

Astorino said Trump bears some responsibility in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection but said it's time for the country to move on.

Zeldin, a Trump ally and an Army veteran who has represented New Yorks 1st Congressional District since 2015, has accused Democrats of being soft on criminals and overzealous in imposing safety protocols intended to fight Covid-19.

Zeldin touted his support from the National Rifle Association and said he wanted to repeal a 2013 state gun control law that broadened the definition of assault weapons and required universal background checks in part.

When asked if New York should ban guns from specific public places in case the Supreme Court overturns the state's concealed carry restrictions, Zeldin said: Gun-free zones dont work. They actually become a target.

Wilson, of Johnstown, entered the race this spring by launching a $12 million television advertisement campaign.

He's worked for Goldman Sachs and founded a White Plains advisory firm, and also served as a U.S. Treasury Department advisor under former President Obama.

Wilson faced criticism for his Democratic ties, with Zeldin calling him a never Trumper. But Wilson said Zeldin had asked him to run as his running mate, and vowed to use his private sector experience to end corruption in Albany.

News Staff Reporter Harold McNeil contributed to this report.
intuitive  the travel technology provider  is responding to demand by broadening its international footprint and operations, with plans to increase their international clients over the next year, likely outnumbering those in the UK.



(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - June14th, 2022 -

London-based travel technology supplier, intuitive, have announced their recent growth, winning eight international customers over the last two years during lockdown.

Currently, 25% of customers are based outside of the UK. intuitive forecasts that their international customers will overtake that of the UK-based at some point in 2023

Focus on growth in Central and Western Europe, the Middle East and North America.

intuitive  the travel technology provider  is responding to demand by broadening its international footprint and operations, with plans to increase their international clients over the next year, likely outnumbering those in the UK.

This follows eight new international customer wins for the business during the last two years of lockdown, including Sasta Ticket in Pakistan, Thomas Cook and Traveljet Vakanties in the Netherlands, Cocha in Chile, Selected Tours in Denmark and La Fabbrica dei Sogni in Italy.

To maintain this growth intuitive has identified several further potentially high-growth markets, including Central and Western Europe, the Middle East, and North America.

As part of this, intuitive have also recently bought on new international members of the team with a focus on expanding their sales and development team capabilities.

Primarily known in the UK for their full end-to-end reservation system, iVector, they have since developed three solutions over the last three years, diversifying to a more SaaS product focus to meet the ever-changing needs of the market.

intuitive will look to use the success of international events, media and partnerships to help elevate their brand awareness in their target markets.

This is an exciting time at intuitive. The demand from international travel companies to source and sell beds in an ever-complex market has been significant. This is a huge strength of ours and we have easy to deliver and cost effective solutions to match the market need. said intuitive commercial director Andy Keeley.

Weve broadened our focus to service the needs of international clients. Weve done this by making much of our core functionality - accommodation connectivity, contracting and caching solutions - more accessible and easier to deliver. This is what the market needs. More modular, easily-integrated, best-of-breed options.

About intuitive

With over 18 years of experience, intuitive are committed to becoming the international technology provider of choice. With a London based office, our highly experienced team can offer scalable, innovative and customer-focused solutions for tour operators, online travel agents and wholesalers.

intuitive provides scalable and customer-focused solutions to some of the worlds leading travel brands, including Scott Dunn, On the Beach, Love Holidays and Thomas Cook.

###
Leslie Thomas says she will never forget where her mother, Mary Adams, was at 2:30 p.m. May 14.

More importantly, she will never forget where her mother was not one month ago today: She was not at the Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue.

At about 1:30 p.m. I called and asked what she was doing, recalled Thomas, who owns Leslies Boutique on Fillmore Avenue. She said, Im going to walk to Tops to get my medicine. I told her, No, let me take you. Ill pick you up at 2 oclock. So at 2, I got to moms and she insists I take her right to Tops. And by the grace of God, I said, I need to go to the bank, come there with me first. 

After the bank, Thomas decided on another quick stop at the Express Flea Market on Fillmore. As they arrived, People were coming out the door with their cellphones saying, Did you hear? A white guy with a gun is killing Black people at Tops!  Thomas said. My mom put my hand on her heart. I said, Oh my God, we were on our way there. "

Thomas story is among many close calls being shared in the aftermath of the crime that killed 10 people and injured three when the sole supermarket in their largely Black neighborhood was targeted by a man who police say was motivated by hate and racism.

Four weeks later, fear and hope on Jefferson Avenue For the people who live near the Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue and relied on it, life is far from back to normal. As the spotlight fades in the wake of the May 14 massacre, they hope the resolve for change does not.

The Tops shootings left many victims in its wake, starting with the people who lost their lives that day and the loved ones left behind. There also are the people who were wounded, the people who worked in the store and the people who managed to barely escape with their lives.

But there are other people who will be dealing with their own kind of trauma, those who are here today because of a slight change of plans, unexpected timing or a sudden impulse that kept them from harms way.

Trauma and distress are not limited to those who were in that space, said Kelly Dumas, chief operating officer for BestSelf Behavioral Health, which has helped staff free counseling centers at the Resource Council of WNY and the Johnnie B. Wiley Pavilion since the attack.

It can also affect people who werent necessarily planning to be there that day, but who frequent that store and know this was a racially targeted incident, she said.

Weve been hearing stories of God led me or some kind of divine intervention, or We were diverted for some reason we dont understand,  she added. People are pondering and thinking about those things, and sharing that can be helpful.

How will we memorialize the Buffalo 10? Mayor Byron Brown said in the next few days, he and Gov. Kathy Hochul will announce plans for a large memorial that would pay tribute to the Buffalo 10  Celestine Chaney, Roberta Drury, Andre Mackniel, Katherine "Kat" Massey, Margus Morrison, Heyward Patterson, Aaron Salter Jr., Geraldine Talley, Ruth Whitfield and Pearl Young.

Joann Erni lives on Hilton Street and regularly visited Tops to pay bills and pick up dog food for her two pit bulls. Erni was riding her bike to the store when it occurred to her to stop in at her nephews house nearby. She thought to herself, If hes not home, Ill head straight to Tops.

He was home. She found him doing yard work and setting up picnic tables. The two sat in the front yard, talking and laughing, she said. About 25 minutes later, she received a call from her cousin.

Theres a mass shooting up at Tops, he told her.

She later learned that four people were shot in the Tops parking lot before the shooter entered the store. Three died, and one is recovering from his wounds.

I always pull my bike right there where the garbage can is by the door where you go in, said Erni, adding, If my nephew hadnt been home  It could have been me.

'We should be angry every day': Buffalo's March for Our Lives echoes calls for change across US "I'm so angry," WNY Peace Center Executive Director Deidra EmEl said, speaking through tears. "We should be angry every day, angry every day that our children and our brothers are dying in the street. Because it's happening  we just don't see it."

Rosalind Miller, a California native now living in Buffalo, had been at Tops 20 minutes before the shootings. She went with her friend who needed to cash a check. They expected to be there longer.

Usually when we go in there, there's a long line, she said. But no one was in the line. We were able to go straight up to the window. What normally would take us 20 minutes took us five minutes.

They made their way to the back of the store, looking for pre-cooked chicken.

They didn't have any chicken, so we left, she said. And when I got to my next destination, 15, 20 minutes later, someone was telling me what happened. And I thought they were nuts. I thought they had lost their mind.

I haven't slept since.

Those who lost loved ones in Tops shooting aim to turn agony into action Those who lost loved ones in the massacre say they will be omnipresent activists for as long as it takes to reform the nation's gun laws and confine racism to history's dustbin.

Barry McQuiller, 31, had worked at Tops for about nine months, stocking shelves and retrieving carts. On Saturdays, he had always worked 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. But he had recently asked to change his schedule to accommodate a second job. May 14 was the first day he worked a shorter shift, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

When his shift ended, he chatted with the Tops security guard for a few minutes, then realized he had left his drink in the break room. He went to grab it, then left through a back door to walk to his home on Utica Street. Minutes after leaving, he heard the shots. The security guard, Aaron Salter Jr., was among those killed.

If I had stayed around the store a little longer, Id have been in that situation, too, McQuiller said.

He is still struggling with the loss of people he knew and interacted with regularly, while he was spared an encounter with the shooter.

Its an on and off thing, he said. One minute Im cool, then the next minute Im down. I cant get no sleep because all I see is yellow tapes and I hear the shots  So, yeah, theres a lot thats going through my mind.

Rod Watson: Will thoughts and prayers for Buffalo bring change or business as usual? " 'Thoughts and prayers' are great, as are donations. But once those dry up, once the national media turn to the Texas school massacre or the next big story, what will be left in terms of incorporating Buffalos Black neighborhoods into the larger community to permanently change attitudes here?" writes Rod Watson.

Dumas said the trauma will take a long time to heal, especially for a community that authorities said was targeted because of its racial makeup.

If you are person of faith, lean into that, whether that means praying, meditating or getting with other people of faith to talk about it, she said. Trauma is also held in the body, so people may experience physical stress, and you need to get out and release that. Walking, doing yoga or other physical activities can help. And when all of these natural pieces dont work, you should reach for professional help.

Mona Lisa McEachin, a peer recovery advocate at BestSelf, has a story of her own. She was at work at BestSelfs Recovery Community center at 69 Linwood Ave. that Saturday, planning for a training session the following Monday. She said she never leaves work early, but she felt a headache coming on and needed some air.

She told her co-workers,  'Im going to leave now and stop at Tops to get some juice for our meeting Monday.' It was 2:22 when I got in my car, and it was nothing but God that made me say, Let me stop at Delta Sonic and see if I can get the car washed. 

I have no patience, she said. If there was a line, I was not going. But there was three people in line at 2:30 on a sunny day. So I got the car washed and went to Tops and the police cars were arriving. They didnt have it blocked off yet  And everyone was texting me, Check in, check in, theres been a mass shooting at Tops on Jefferson. 

'Stay connected,' Buffalo mental health counselor advises those shaken by mass shooting Once you start counseling and change some things, you see a glimpse of hope, White said last week. Then things change so drastically by one negative event. People are worried. 'What do we do now? What do we think now?' 

She went home and was watching the news with her sister when BestSelf called and asked her to come and assist families who were awaiting information on loved ones at the Stanley Makowski Early Childhood Center.

She hesitated out of fear that the shooting might not be over, there might be other gunmen. Her sister asked her not to leave.

I said, God didnt spare my life to not be of service to others,  she said.

She went. She heard cries of relief and cries of anguish as families learned about their loved ones. She has since spent many hours assisting with crisis counseling, including the support group Tops formed for the store staff.

Being there in the community and helping people process their feelings helped me be able to process mine, she said.

Erie County and Community Partners encourage anyone in need of support to call the Crisis Services Hotline at 716-834-3131.

News Staff Reporters Deidre Williams, Jay Tokasz and Stephen T. Watson contributed to this story.

The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
If Ukraine receives from its partners the weapons it requests, it will have progress in the ongoing war unleashed by Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the issue during a press conference with the Danish media, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Answering questions about the turning point in this war, which will show in which direction the scales will lean - Ukraine or Russia - Zelensky said that, in his opinion, if arms supplies to his country are not accelerated, this situation will remain stagnant.

"Stagnation  this means people will be dying, everyone will stay put, and each side will take turns advancing 1 to 5 kilometers and then retreating 1 to 5 kilometers back. If deliveries are increased of the weapons we request from our partners, then we will start, after all, I believe, to move forward," the president said.

As reported, Zelensky stated that Ukraine is fighting on its own territory, and that his country has no interest in shelling civilian targets in Russia.
The Lithuanian Defense Ministry has agreed on ammunition for the Bayraktar TB2 UAV for Ukraine, for which the Lithuanians raised funds but Turkey's Baykar Makina later decided to donate the drone to Ukraine.

Lithuania's Minister of National Defense Arvydas Anusauskas said this on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

"We agreed on the armament of the Lithuanian-Ukrainian Bayraktar "Vanagas". Ammunition will be delivered on time! We also thank the company for the additionally donated ammunition," Anusauskas said.

Ammunition for Bayraktar drones is produced by Turkey's ROKETSAN.

In late May, Lithuania's Laisves TV launched a fundraiser for the purchase of the Bayraktar drone for Ukraine. Initially, the campaign's goal was to raise the required amount in three weeks. However, the Lithuanians coped faster. A total of EUR 6 million was raised.

On June 2, Anusauskas announced that Baykar Makina had decided to donate the Bayraktar TB2 UAV to Ukraine and that Lithuania would buy the necessary ammunition using the money raised.

Photo: AA
Although there are fewer modern missiles in Russia, Ukraine's need for anti-missile systems remains.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in his nightly video address, Ukrinform reports.

Ukrainians!

All our defenders!

Today, our air defense units managed to "cut the wings" of Russian missiles. Some of the missiles fired by the occupiers at our cities were shot down. And these are saved lives. This is a saved infrastructure.

But we managed to shoot down only part of them. Unfortunately, there are victims, there is destruction. Today, the Lviv and Ternopil regions were hit. And we keep telling our partners that Ukraine needs modern anti-missile weapons. Our country does not have it at a sufficient level yet, but it is our country in Europe that needs such weapons most right now. Delay with its provision cannot be justified. I will constantly emphasize this when talking to our partners.

We made the first requests for anti-missile systems long before the full-scale invasion. And this week there will be many different important talks - and not only with European politicians who are able to provide Ukraine with modern anti-missile systems. Even though Russia has fewer and fewer modern missiles with each passing day, Ukraine's need for such systems remains. Because Russia still has enough Soviet types of missiles, which are even more dangerous. They are many times less precise, and therefore threaten civilian objects and ordinary residential buildings much more.

I spoke today with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau. Of course, the number one topic was defense support. Canada is among the leaders in it. I expressed gratitude for the fact that Canada became the first country to transfer special assistance to the Ukrainian account at the IMF - about $ 800 million.

I also had a conversation with the President of Ecuador. I congratulated him on the election of Ecuador as a member of the UN Security Council. I informed him about the current situation on the battlefield and called for increasing pressure on Russia to end this war. Both this conversation with the President of Ecuador and yesterday's conversation with the President of Guatemala are just the beginning of our new policy of restoring relations with Latin America.

Today I asked the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to be very attentive to reports in the media and on social networks that some of our fighters do not have enough personal protective equipment. The reports I receive are significantly different from what is discussed by society. And I expect inspections of logistics in the army - inspections of what is supplied and how personal protective equipment is distributed. Today, everyone in the areas of hostilities must have everything they need to protect themselves. The state provides such supplies.

Over the past day no drastic changes have taken place in the battle in Donbas. The fiercest fighting is in Severodonetsk and in all cities and communities nearby - as before. The losses, unfortunately, are painful. But we have to hold on. This is our state. It is vital to hold on there, in Donbas. The more losses the enemy suffers there, the less power they will have to continue the aggression. Therefore, the Donbas direction is key to determining who will dominate in the coming weeks.

We also have painful losses in the Kharkiv region, where the Russian army is trying to strengthen its position. The battles for this direction continue, and we still have to fight hard for complete security for Kharkiv and the region.

We continue to put pressure on the occupiers in the south. The key goal is the liberation of Kherson, and we will move towards this step by step.

I signed another decree on awarding those who excelled in battles. 63 servicemen were awarded for bravery and efficiency in defending the state.

The total number of awarded is already 18,453. And such a scale, such a number of feats fully demonstrate the level of confrontation and the brutality of hostilities.

I thank everyone who stood up for our state!

Eternal memory to everyone whose life was taken by the occupiers!

Glory to Ukraine!
In the context of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's need for modern anti-missile systems is now the greatest in Europe, and delays in providing these weapons cannot be justified.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in his video address, Ukrinform reports.

He stressed that Ukraine does not currently have a sufficient number of modern anti-missile weapons.

"It is our country in Europe that needs such weapons most right now. Delay with its provision cannot be justified. I will constantly emphasize this when talking to our partners," he said.

Zelensky also stressed that Ukrainian air defense units managed to "cut the wings" of Russian missiles on June 14. "Some of the missiles fired by the occupiers at our cities were shot down. And these are saved lives. This is a saved infrastructure. But we managed to shoot down only part of them. Unfortunately, there are victims, there is destruction. Today, the Lviv and Ternopil regions were hit. And we keep telling our partners that Ukraine needs modern anti-missile weapons," Zelensky said.

In addition, Zelensky said that Ukraine made the first requests for anti-missile systems long before the full-scale invasion, and this week there will be many different important talks, and not only with European politicians who are able to provide Ukraine with modern anti-missile systems.

"Even though Russia has fewer and fewer modern missiles with each passing day, Ukraine's need for such systems remains. Because Russia still has enough Soviet types of missiles, which are even more dangerous. They are many times less precise, and therefore threaten civilian objects and ordinary residential buildings much more," Zelensky said.
One of the tools that the European Union can and should use to stop Russia's war against Ukraine and ensure the inviolability of Ukrainian borders is to stop the gas flow through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.

This was stated in comments to Guildhall by MEPs from Germany and France, Ukrinform reports.

Member of the European Parliament from Germany, Michael Gahler, who is part of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany believes that the EU should not give the Russian Federation an initiative on the issue of stopping gas supplies, since Russia has already suspended deliveries to a number of countries, so the EU should unilaterally put to a halt the Russian Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

There is a decision of the European Parliament (the call to the European Commission of April 7 to abandon Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 - ed.) and the European Parliament is very much in favor of that. And we have said we should stop Russian oil, gas, coal, and nuclear fuel supplies from Russia, and in a parallel resolution we explicitly referred also to Nord Stream 1 and I share this view also, the MEP said.

He added that Russia is selectively suspending gas supplies, including to Poland, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands. Russia seems to see this as a norm so the EU should not let Russia make the ultimate decision on whether they will supply gas, the MEP believes. This also applies to Nord Stream 1, and the legislator said he is explicitly in favor of the closure of this pipeline.

In response to the question of whether the European Union should stop the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline before the overall gas embargo is introduced, the German MEP answered in the affirmative.

"Yes (). We should not leave the initiative to Putin  whether he does it or not  we should do it from our side," summed up Michael Gahler.

Member of the European Parliament Rafael Glucksman (France), in turn, is convinced that Nord Stream 1 was conceived in preparation for Russias aggressive actions in Europe that are now unfolding, as well as to strengthen the EU's dependence on Russia and move away from dependency on transit through Ukraine and Belarus. The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline must be stopped, and Europe should come to a complete energy embargo against Russia, including on gas supplies.

According to me, yes, for sure, it should (be stopped  ed.) We should come to a complete gas embargo in the event of a stop (Nord Stream 1 - ed.) and we should never come back to it, said the French MEP.

This pipe, both of them, including Nord Stream 1, too, were conceived with a political objective of making Europe more dependent on Russia and making Russia not dependent on Ukraine and Belarus (in terms of gas transit - ed.). This was clearly shaped in order to prepare for what is happening now (Russia's wars against Ukraine - ed.). So we need to just blow it up and forget about it. So we need to do that, said Rafael Glucksmann.

In response to a question about whether the construction of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline was preparation for a big war in Europe, Glucksmann replied that Putin initially set the objective of advancing to the borders of the former Russian Empire.

Putins thinking from the start was that he needs to change the order of 1989 and 1991, that he needs to move, again, the borders, on the margin  as Russian political technologists say  of the Russian Empire, summed up the French MEP.

Earlier, Oleksandr V. Danylyuk, Head of the Center for Defense Reforms, Coordinator of the Interdepartmental Platform for Combating Hybrid Threats, which operates within the framework of Ukraine-NATO cooperation, said that Europe could at any moment abandon gas pipelines that bypass Ukraine. He stressed that the Nord Stream 1 pipe must be shut down immediately, before Russian troops withdraw from Ukraine, which will also be a guarantee that the Russian Federation doesnt stop gas transit via Ukraine.
The United States, together will allies and partners, will act decisively in response to challenges posed by the global food crisis, which has accelerated after Russia unleashed the war against Ukraine.

Thats according to a statement by the U.S. Department of State, Ukrinform reports.

The Kremlin's unprovoked war in Ukraine is accelerating the global food security crisis. The United States is taking action and has pledged $2.6 billion in humanitarian food assistance to help alleviate hunger, with an added $5 billion over the next five years, the statement reads.

Read also: Ukraine expects to harvest up to 50M tonnes of grain this year

It is noted that 193 million people worldwide experienced food insecurity in 2021. By the end of this year, it is estimated that number will increase by 40 billion.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, a first vessel carrying Ukrainian corn via a new route, through the Baltic Sea, has arrived in La Coruna, Spain. The traditional Black Sea routes continue to be blocked as a result of Russian aggression.
For decades, members of the Lewiston-Porter community have been calling for a traffic light to be installed in front of the school campus on Creek Road, also known as state Route 18.

Now, with the pandemic forcing even more vehicles to come and go from the campus while navigating traffic going by  which officials say made a bad problem worse  they might finally be getting somewhere.

The district announced Tuesday that the state Department of Transportation has agreed to conduct a traffic engineering investigation, which will include data collection and an analysis of traffic conditions during peak hours at the property entrances of 4061 Creek Road. At the end of the DOT study, the district wants a programmable traffic light installed in front of the school.

It's not clear when the study will be completed.

School Superintendent Paul Casseri said the traffic situation there is well-known to anyone who frequents the campus. But he said the problem was exacerbated by the pandemic when a shortage of bus drivers led the district to ask parents to transport their children to and from school.

Casseri said he wanted to be sure that his district did not have to endure "what if?" questions that have occurred in Pembroke after two U.S. Army veterans were killed in a crash at an intersection where officials warned that something needed to be done to make travel safer.

"Enough is enough," he said.

Brian Michel, a district parent, led the call for a traffic study. It's not the first time he has worked to change a local traffic issue; Michel was instrumental in leading a grassroots effort that convinced New York to do away with toll booths on the Grand Island bridges.

"In my mind, we are lucky there has not already been a traffic fatality as a result of this mess, he said of Creek Road.

The DOT estimates that more than 3,000 vehicles travel on that section of Creek Road daily, but that number was calculated before the pandemic. The district said the number has since increased "drastically."

Reach out to me at apreston@buffnews.com

The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The United States, along with its allies and partners, is working to implement an alternative scheme for exporting grain from Ukraine by rail, which involves building temporary grain silos on Ukraine's borders.

U.S. President Joe Biden said in a speech at the AFL-CIO convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"What Putin's war has done is not only try to wipe up the culture of Ukrainians, decimate people, commit innumerable war crimes, but he's also, he's also prevented the grain, thousands of tonnes of grain, that are locked up in those silos, ready to be exported. But it can't get out to the Black Sea because it'll get blown out of the water," he said.

Biden stressed that due to Russia's aggression, the traditional sea route for food exports from Ukraine has been blocked, so other ways must be sought.

"We're going to build silos, temporary silos in the borders of Ukraine, including in Poland. So we can transfer [grain] from those cars into those silos into cars in Europe and get it out into the ocean, and get it out across the world," Biden said, adding that this is taking time.
Chinas Defense Minister Wei Fenghe believes that NATORussia talks are able to end the war in Ukraine.

Fenghe made a corresponding statement, speaking at the Dialogue Shangri-La conference in Singapore on Sunday.

He said that the United States and NATO should hold talks with Russia "to create the conditions for a ceasefire as soon as possible."

At the same time, he stressed that China had no pact with Russia.

"It is a partnership, not a union. Relations with Russia will continue to develop. We have not provided Russia with any military or material support [during the war against Ukraine]," he said.

According to him, China respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.

At the same time, the minister's speeches mostly concerned China-US relations.

Photo credit: 

ol
Russia, which has unleashed an aggressive and unprovoked war against Ukraine, is showing no will to end it so the United States will continue to support Ukraine to give the nation a stronger hand over the invaders.

Thats according to White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, who spoke at a briefing on Monday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

[T]his is Putins war. This is Putins aggression  unprovoked aggression onto another countrys sovereignty. This is Putins war to end and not Ukraine. Ukraine needs to defend its country, and they have done that in  in an incredibly impressive way, the spokesperson said.

She noted that all wars eventually end at the negotiating table.

We hoped that it would end with negotiations. But right now, we dont see that coming from the Kremlin, the spokesperson said.

She noted that the U.S. wants to make sure we put Ukraine in the strongest possible place so that if that time comes, they can do that.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Monday said his country, together with other partners, was ready to fully contribute to covering Ukraines needs for defensive weapons.
On Tuesday, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk will pay a visit to Austria, where he will deliver a speech at the National Council.

This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to the Austrian Press Agency (APA).

"Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk will address the National Council on Tuesday," the statement said.

Earlier, Austrias liberal party Neos took the initiative to invite President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to address the lower house of the Austrian parliament via video link, which found no support from the right-wing populist and pro-Russian Austrian Freedom Party (FPO), while Social Democrats took a waiting-out stance. At the same time, the FPO later tried to block Stefanchuks address to the National Council as well.

Read also: Austria to support granting Ukraine EU candidate status if other applicants receive it

According to APA, Stefanchuk during his stay in Vienna will also meet with President Alexander Van der Bellen and Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

It is expected that the main topic of the meetings will be that of granting Ukraine the status of an EU membership candidate.

As Ukrinform reported, Federal Chancellor of Austria Karl Nehammer has previously suggested that the status of a candidate for EU membership should be granted to Ukraine, provided that it is also granted simultaneously to other applicants  the Western Balkan nations and Moldova.

Earlier, the Austrian prime minister said he did not consider Ukraine's rapid EU membership likely, calling for a "European preparatory space" as an intermediate stage between co-operation and full EU accession for countries such as Ukraine and Moldova.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he expects Germany to more clearly define its priorities in relations with Russia and support Ukraine in its EU membership aspirations during Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to Kyiv.

The head of state stated this in an interview with the Heute Journal program on Germany's ZDF television channel, Ukrinform reports.

"I expect that he [Olaf Scholz] will personally support us and that he will be personally confident that Ukraine can join the EU and that candidate status will be granted to Ukraine as early as June," Zelensky said.

According to him, Kyiv expects assurances from Scholz that Germany will support Ukraine.

"He and his government have to make a decision. You can't try a balancing act between Ukraine and relations with Russia, you have to choose for yourself where to set the priorities," Zelensky stressed.

He said that Germany faces many economic challenges and it is difficult to choose a side because it will be painful. "It will be economically painful regardless of whether you choose the Ukrainian or the Russian side. If you choose the less painful way, it is a wrong approach," the politician said.

Zelensky noted that there is a certain skepticism in the relationship between the German leadership and Ukraine, even before the Chancellery of Olaf Scholz, amid wonderful relations between the two peoples and quite good relations between the leaders of both countries. This skepticism, in his opinion, is expressed primarily when it comes to Ukraine's future membership of the EU and NATO. At the same time, Zelensky is confident that this attitude will change.

Commenting on Scholz's statements about very large amounts of military aid provided by Germany to Ukraine, Zelensky noted that Germany and France "were a little late" in the provision of weapons to Ukraine, although they immediately supported Ukraine politically.

"But back then, at the beginning of the war, we didn't need politics, we needed help," Zelensky said.

He said that the end of the war depends on Russia's willingness to bring the war to an end. The stronger Ukraine is, the better armed the Ukrainian Armed Forces are, the sooner they will advance and drive Russian troops out of Ukraine, and the sooner Russia will be ready to end the war, Zelensky said.

"The sooner Ukraine is strengthened, the sooner Europe acts as one in sanctions to cut off Russia from large flows of financial flows, the weaker Russia will be," Zelensky said.

Regarding the talks with Moscow, Zelensky noted that now, unlike before, he is not looking for opportunities to find a balance to "somehow reach an agreement." "We have no doubts. We are only ready to talk if the other side is ready to end the war. We don't have time for talks that are useless," he said.

He also rebuked the West for not listening to Ukraine's warnings regarding the need for preventive sanctions, the strategy on the Black Sea, the creation of the Black Sea Fleet with a partner country, the creation of an air defense system and more.

"If I had been heard, Ukraine would have had a better chance of stopping the invasion by the Russian Federation," Zelensky said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz may pay a visit to Kyiv this week. However, he has not yet announced the date for the trip.

Photo: President's Office
The slain have been buried. Wounds are beginning to mend. The big red "TOPS" sign from the front of the Jefferson Avenue grocery store has been taken down.

But on Tuesday  one month to the day since the May 14 white supremacist terror attack that killed 10 people, injured three and traumatized a community  the hurt was still raw and memories were still fresh.

The healing is just beginning.

"Words will never convey the heartbreak and pain this senseless tragedy has caused," Mayor Byron Brown said at a memorial ceremony at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Landon Street.

The event was marked with 13 seconds of silence for the dead and wounded, and a bell rang 13 times in their honor.

The mayor revealed for the first time the names of the four officers and four firefighters who arrived first on the scene of the massacre.

The eight lined up beneath a giant American flag that fluttered from two Buffalo Fire Department ladder trucks. The mayor asked them to step forward as he read their names.

"Certainly, if not for their courageous actions, more lives would have been lost. That was the intent of the shooter," Brown said.

'It could have been me': A month after Buffalo shootings, dealing with what ifs Leslie Thomas says she will never forget where her mother, Mary Adams, was at 2:30 p.m. May 14. More importantly, she will never forget where her mother was not one month ago today: She was not at the Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue.

The three police officers and lieutenant arrived at the store within one minute of the first 911 call from the scene, and they came face to face with the killer as he came out the front entrance. The gunman held his AR-15 to his chin before surrendering to police, laying his weapon and armor down on the ground and the officers took him into custody.

"Those officers are standing in front of us today," Brown said.

They are Buffalo Police Officers Ann Devaney, Christine Ihle, Anthony D'Agostino and Lt. Pat McDonald.

He also honored the firefighters from Rescue 1/Engine 21/Ladder 6, whose fire station is just a block south of Tops on Jefferson, for rushing to the scene and tending to the wounded.

"Our firefighters are also heroes, and they were also part of the very quick response that saved lives on 5-14. Thank you, firefighters," Brown said.

They are Buffalo Firefighters Bret Clark, William O'Neil, Patrick Isch and Sean Brennan.

Survivors, families of victims and politicians told the crowd about the need to heal  not just their selves but the community, too.

Zeneta Everhart, whose son Zaire Goodman survived the shooting, was among the speakers. She has become a powerful voice of the tragedy, addressing members of Congress last week and then returning to Washington for the March for Our Lives on Saturday.

Thousands  including a Buffalo contingent  gather for gun safety rally in D.C. "As long as these gun laws don't change, that is not justice," the Rev. Denise Walden-Glenn, executive servant leader at VOICE Buffalo, told the crowd. "As long as we don't do something to address the anti-blackness and the white supremacy in our communities, we don't have justice. So we are here to demand justice and we are here to demand it right now."

"What happened on this street, it didn't just affect me and Zaire," she said.

"It affected our home. We live right down there," she said, pointing north on Jefferson. "I'm sorry that this had to happen to us. But I have continuously made promises. I am going to stand firm and double down on those promises. I will use my platform, I will use my resources, I will use everybody I know to make sure that we not only get through this, we're going to start with healing through this. We're going to heal the East Side of Buffalo. There is going to be help there."

Fragrance Harris Stanfield, who was working at Tops when the shooter came inside, said she and other survivors are still struggling, yet staying strong.

"We need time. We need love. We need compassion," she said.

She and her fellow Tops employees have been sticking together, trying to help one another.

"We are a family at Tops," she said. "We are a family like anybody's blood-related family. We love each other. We support each other. We want to make sure that we're all doing well."

Mark Talley, whose mother was killed in the attack, said he avoids saying her name when talking about the shooting, because "I just don't want her to be associated with the terrorist in this incident."

"I definitely want her legacy to be associated with me," he said.

He urged people who want to help Buffalo's Black community to do so by participating in Black Restaurant Week. "Support your local Black restaurants."

The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
WASHINGTON  The Senate appears to be moving toward a gun safety compromise that would bolster background checks and funding for mental health programs as well as school security, and both Garnell Whitfield Jr. and Zeneta Everhart said Monday that they are pretty happy about that.

But Whitfield and Everhart  who both testified before Congress last week about the May 14 mass shooting at the Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue  also stressed that the emerging Senate deal should be seen as the beginning and not the end of efforts to crack down on gun violence in America.

"We're thankful that at least something's getting done, but it's certainly not enough," said Whitfield, whose mother, Ruth Whitfield, was killed in the massacre.

Everhart  whose son, Zaire Goodman, was wounded in the attack  agreed.

"This is an amazing, great step in the right direction," she said. "Clearly, what we were asking for, what I would have liked to seen in there, it's not in there. However, in this moment, I can live with what they did."

Like most of the gun control advocates who traveled to Washington last week to testify before Congress or speak at a "March for Our Lives" event on Saturday, Whitfield and Everhart would have preferred to see Congress agree to an assault weapons ban, or at least a deal to raise the minimum age for purchasing such weapons from 18 to 21.

Instead, they got a grab-bag of lesser measures that, according to NBC News, is expected to cost between $15 million and $20 billion.

Agreed to on Sunday by 10 Republican senators  enough to guarantee that a bill could be debated and pass the Senate  the key provisions of the reform proposal call for:

Strengthening background checks by clarifying the definition of federally licensed firearms dealers.

Requiring an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records of gun purchasers under the age of 21.

Closing the so-called "boyfriend loophole" by expanding the background check system to include those convicted of domestic violence or subject to restraining orders connected to an abusive relationship.

Providing money to states and Native American nations to create "red flag" laws aimed at removing weapons from those deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.

Investing in a national expansion of community behavioral health centers, telehealth programs for families in crisis and school-based mental health efforts.

Funding school violence prevention and safety measures, including training for school personnel and students.

Reviewing those measures, Whitfield said: "They're all good stuff, but they will never do what banning assault weapons  outlawing them  would do."

Everhart said she was especially grateful that the pending gun deal require a deep dive into the background of people under the age of 21 who want to buy weapons. That requirement conceivably could have prevented massacres like the one that happened in Buffalo, where the suspect bought his weapon shortly after he turned 18.

"That is incredible," Everhart said of that provision.

She also praised the framework's emphasis on mental heath, but said future legislative efforts will have to address other issues in struggling communities like Buffalo's East Side.

"This is a great first step, and it actually lays a platform for us to be like: OK, you're willing to deal with these problems  now let's look at these other problems," Everhart said.

In Washington, optimism about the gun safety framework was tempered by the fact that it's just a framework. There's no legislative language yet, so it's unclear exactly how far the measure would go to bolster background checks, or how much money it would spend on mental health measures and school safety.

And while it's possible that those details could put off some of the 10 Republicans necessary to get the bill past the Senate's 60-vote threshold, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed optimism about the measure on Monday.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat, said he plans to bring the gun safety bill up for consideration as soon as it's written.

"For the first time in a long time, the Senate has a path forward on legislation that will save lives, reduce gun violence and keep our communities safe," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "Make no mistake about it, we have a lot of work left to do before we actually pass a bill, but yesterdays announcement was a positive and necessary step in the right direction."

And while the National Rifle Association has not yet weighed in on the gun safety framework, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, shared his thoughts with reporters from Punchbowl News and CNN.

We're optimistic we're gonna have an outcome here," McConnell said. I think were clearly making progress and Im hopeful.

The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
June 14 2022

The City of Edinburgh Council has opened a consultation into a decade-long master plan for Leith Links to capitalise on the park's potential for nature, wildlife and activities.

A working group has been established under the city's Thriving Green Spaces initiative to draft proposals for the introduction of wayfinding signage, 'museum murals' and furniture and facilities including benches, bins and toilets.

This forms part of a broader initiative taking in West Pilton Park, Inch park and Inverleith Park.

Councillor Val Walker, commented: "Our parks play host to a wide variety of activity and events each year and Leith Links is one of our premier parks serving a large population. We want to make sure it has everything users need.

"The responses will help shape a finalised concept masterplan, representative of what the community would like to see delivered, which will be brought forward for Council approval and funding and resource permitting will form the basis for improvements to Leith Links over the next decade."

Led by Atkins the draft master plan sets out the potential for additional tree planting and a wildflower meadow as well as the creation of an activity par including an outdoor gym.
RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jun, 2022 ) :Chief of The Joint Staff of the Argentina Armed Forces, Teniente General Juan Martin Paleo on Tuesday, who is on official visit to Pakistan, called on Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Nadeem Raza here at Joint Staff Headquarters.

During the meeting matters of bilateral defence cooperation including security, military exchanges, training and prevailing regional environment were discussed, said an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) news release.

Chief of the Joint Staff of the Argentina said that these mutually beneficial interactions have deepened the bilateral defence relationship, strengthened the cooperation and enhanced mutual understanding between the two armies.

CJCSC General Nadeem reaffirmed the strong and long-standing bilateral defence relationship between Argentine and Pakistan.

Earlier upon arrival at Joint Staff Headquarters, Teniente General Juan Martin Paleo was presented Guard of Honour by a smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan Armed Forces.
ULAN BATOR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jun, 2022 ) :Mongolia will hold an international conference of female peacekeepers to increase the role of women in peacekeeping operations, the presidential office of Mongolia said on Tuesday.

The three-day event, which starts on Thursday, is to be held under the auspices of Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh.

With the theme of "Women, Peace and Security," it is expected to bring together hundreds of representatives and female peacekeepers from more than 30 countries and several international organizations, such as the United Nations, the presidential office said in the statement.

The participants will discuss challenges facing countries in achieving gender equality in the UN military and police missions.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first deployment of Mongolian peacekeepers to UN peacekeeping operations.

Since then, Mongolia has sent a total of over 20,300 military personnel, including more than 900 female peacekeepers, to UN peacekeeping operations around the globe, according to the Mongolian Armed Forces.
Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz has said the opposition was trying to hinder the present government's public service mission by delaying the provincial budget

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jun, 2022 ) :Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz has said the opposition was trying to hinder the present government's public service mission by delaying the provincial budget.

Talking to the media outside the Punjab Assembly, he said law and the constitution was being violated and the opposition had its own agenda.

He said conducting the assembly proceeding was an obligation of the speaker but he along with other opposition, were stick to call the chief secretary and inspector general of Police in the House.

The chief minister said that the government was taking forward the agenda of public service and announced that free medicines would be provided in BHUs and THQ hospitals from July 1. Similarly, cancer-related medicines would also be provided free, he added.

Hamza Shehbaz deplored that the media had been restricted to enter the Punjab Assembly.

He said the opposition was playing with the institutions and had no respect for the law andthe constitution.
WASHINGTON  A bipartisan gun safety compromise continued to gain momentum in the Senate on Tuesday, and that's good news for Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand because the deal includes a federal crackdown on gun trafficking that she's been pushing since 2009.

Optimism rises in Buffalo as Senate nears gun safety compromise The Senate appears to be moving toward a gun safety compromise that would bolster background checks and funding for mental health programs as well as school security, and both Garnell Whitfield Jr. and Zeneta Everhart said Monday that they are pretty happy about that.

Gillibrand was not among the 20 senators from both parties who struck the compromise on Sunday, but its framework nevertheless makes gun trafficking a federal offense, establishing criminal penalties for anyone who transfers firearms across state lines to individuals not authorized to possess them.

Those are changes that Gillibrand called for in legislation now called the Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-Yard Gun Trafficking and Crime Prevention Act, which she has introduced in every Congress since she was first appointed to the Senate.

"Just like my bill, this framework would make gun trafficking a federal crime and hold accountable those who transfer guns to individuals they suspect will use them for illegal purposes," Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, told reporters on a conference call. "This is so important because as things currently stand, guns from states with lax gun laws are flooding into states with strong gun laws. And as a result, law enforcement and prosecutors are having to rely on a patchwork of state regulations to crack down on criminal networks, and that make prosecutions difficult and convictions nearly impossible."

The change is especially important in New York, where, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly 75% of the guns used in crimes and recovered by law enforcement originate from out of state. According to the Office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, about 15% of those guns originate in Virginia, while 13% come from Georgia and another 13% come from Pennsylvania.

Gillibrand named her legislation after Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old student at King College Prep in Chicago who was killed in 2013 when a gang member shot at a rival in a crowd, and Nyasia Pryear-Yard, who was killed at the age of 17 in 2009 by a man with an illegally trafficked weapon.

The Senate compromise has not yet been written into legislation, so it's not yet possible to know exactly how closely that bill will track with Gillibrand's. But she said the compromise "does the same thing as this bill."

Thousands  including a Buffalo contingent  gather for gun safety rally in D.C. "As long as these gun laws don't change, that is not justice," the Rev. Denise Walden-Glenn, executive servant leader at VOICE Buffalo, told the crowd. "As long as we don't do something to address the anti-blackness and the white supremacy in our communities, we don't have justice. So we are here to demand justice and we are here to demand it right now."

The emerging compromise would be the first major gun legislation Congress has passed in nearly three decades. The compromise also calls for tightening background checks for gun purchasers, encouraging states to enact "red flag" laws that would allow law enforcement to remove weapons from dangerous individuals, and increasing funding for mental health efforts and school safety.

Ten Republican senators helped negotiate the deal, and that's key, given that 10 GOP lawmakers are needed for the 60-vote majority required to even begin debate on major legislation in the Senate.

Asked if she was worried that some Republican senators might back out of the deal once the details are fleshed out, Gillibrand said: "No, I think there is so much consensus in Congress right now that we want to find whatever common ground exists and move forward with that."

After the recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, "people are hurting, families have suffered," she added. "It's become a crisis that everyone can understand. And even constituents in very red states are begging their members of Congress to do something."

The deal appeared to pick up an important new supporter on Tuesday: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican.

"Im comfortable with the framework and if the legislation ends up reflecting what the framework indicates, Ill be supportive, McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill.

The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Dr. Mehreen Baloch, mother of two missing daughters, to provide all details of the missing girls to the Ministry of Interior

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jun, 2022 ) :The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Dr. Mehreen Baloch, mother of two missing daughters, to provide all details of the missing girls to the Ministry of Interior.

A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Ayesha A Malik heard the case regarding abduction and Kidnapping of minor girls.

During the course of proceedings, the court directed the mother to give a yellow notice to the Interior Ministry.

Addressing the mother, the Chief Justice said that the report submitted to the court stated that she (Mehreen) was not giving the picture of the girls.

Dr. Mehreen Baloch responded that she had already submitted pictures which were five years old and she had also given all the details in the yellow notice.

The Additional Attorney General said that the Interior Ministry had asked for photographs of the girls, a copy of the FIR and a yellow notice form. The joint investigation team (JIT) had also submitted its fresh report, he added.

The DIG Sindh Police said that the provincial authorities were in coordination with the Balochistan police. Based on information, two raids were carried out in Balochistan and one in Karachi, he added.

He said that some of the recovered girls were shown to the petitioner but they were not her daughters.

Later, hearing of the case was adjourned for one month.
The Russian army said it would establish a humanitarian corridor on Wednesday to evacuate hundreds of civilians from the Azot chemical plant in the city of Severodonetsk

Moscow, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jun, 2022 ) :The Russian army said it would establish a humanitarian corridor on Wednesday to evacuate hundreds of civilians from the Azot chemical plant in the city of Severodonetsk.

"Guided by the principles of humanity, the Russian armed forces and the formations of the Lugansk People's Republic are ready to organise a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians," the Russian defence ministry said Tuesday.

The humanitarian corridor will be in place between 8 am (0500 GMT) and 8 pm Moscow time Wednesday, the defence ministry said, adding the evacuees would be transported to the city of Svatovo in the separatist-held region of Lugansk.

Moscow also urged "militants of nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries" at the plant to "stop senseless resistance" and lay down their arms.

Authorities in Ukraine have said that there are over 500 civilians hiding inside Azot, adding that it was difficult to support them but there were some reserves inside the plant.

A representative of the separatist authorities in Lugansk, Vitaly Kiselyov, estimated that some 2,500 Ukrainian and foreign fighters could be holed up at the Azot plant.

Moscow has laid siege for weeks to the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, the last areas in the eastern Ukrainian region of Lugansk still under Kyiv control.

The Russian army said that Ukrainian authorities requested that civilians from the Azot plant be transported to Kyiv-controlled Lysychansk but said that the evacuation there was not possible because the last bridge linking the cities had been destroyed.
Zach Klaassen joins Alicia Morgans in discussing an underestimated topic of mental health and its effects on patients with genitourinary cancers. Drs. Klaassen and Morgans discuss hypothesis-generating population-level data in this landscape and talk through the importance of supporting these patients and using what Dr. Klaassen refers to as clinical intuition and asking follow-up questions when seeing a patient.Zachary Klaassen, MD, MSc, Urologic Oncologist, Assistant Professor Surgery/Urology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Georgia Cancer Center Alicia Morgans, MD, MPH , Genitourinary Medical Oncologist, Medical Director of Survivorship Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts

Alicia Morgans: Hi, I'm so excited to be here at AUA 2022, where we have Dr. Zach Klaassen, who is joining us from the Georgia Cancer Center. Thank you so much for being here.

Zach Klaassen: Great chatting with you, Alicia.

Alicia Morgans: Wonderful. So I wanted to talk with you about something that's been so important in our patient population, but not necessarily so really investigated and communicated, its mental health and its effects on patients with GU cancers of course, including men with prostate cancer. Can you tell us a little bit about the scope of this issue?

Zach Klaassen: Yeah, it's interesting. I always get kind of funny looks when I talk about mental health as a urologist, I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but we see it in our patient population, if you look at our prostate cancer patients, for example, they're all elderly and by definition in the US, that's 25 to 30% of just anybody that walks through the door. So I think if you pair that with the prostate cancer population going through diagnosis and treatment, I think the prevalence is huge in my opinion.

Alicia Morgans: Yeah. And it also of course affects our patients with bladder cancer, as well. Can you describe for the listeners, the issue there?

Zach Klaassen: Yeah. For bladder cancer. This is a comorbid population, as we know, and I think the biggest thing is these patients come in, you're talking about surgery, life changing surgery. So if they come in, most of them are smokers. Most of them are elderly white males. And again, that profile of depression and mental health. So if you tack on, life threatening illness, you're going to do a huge life changing operation. And just that process of getting up to the operation to three, four months afterwards, while they're learning to fix their stoma, things aren't working quite as well as they used to. And so you get that recovery process, which goes on for months. And I think, we've really underestimated in the bladder cancer population, I think by definition, most of those patients have a degree of depression if not other mental health issues as well.

Alicia Morgans: Well, thank you. Now I know you and your team have actually investigated mental health, mental illness in the GU cancer population. Can you share with us a little bit of your work?

Zach Klaassen: Yeah. So back in 2019, when I was doing my master's up in Toronto, at the University of Toronto at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center, we looked at some population level data in Canada and probably the most important finding we had, so we looked at the 10 most common malignancies. So we had bladder, kidney, prostate, breast cancer, lung cancer, et cetera, and across the board for the most part, amongst those 10 most prevalent malignancies, patients that had mental health utilization of resources before their cancer diagnosis, had worse cancer specific mortality. And so obviously this is population level, it's hypothesis generating. It's not correlative, but we see these associations. And so, the discussions of these papers are always interesting because it's sort of, how is this happening? How can we fix it?

I think really it comes down to probably three things. There's certainly a patient specific aspect to it. So if you have somebody who's been hospitalized for psychiatric issues, they're most likely going to be less likely to come to their follow up appointments. But also I think the fact as physicians, these are not the easiest patients that take care of at times. And I think probably subconsciously our biases may sort of drift away from these patients a little bit.

And then I think the other thing that we can really help with getting these patients in is just having a strong team. And I see this in my clinic with my testes cancer patients, in terms of getting them in, having a team, they all have my email address. They have my cell phone number because these are the patients, going to a very specific population of patients, I think those ones are the ones, young men, that really can struggle with this. And I think, taking that whole process together, knowing that these patients have worse, not just other problems, but actual cancer specific mortality disparities is actually quite surprising and something we need to work on over the next several years.

Alicia Morgans: Yeah. To that point, I think it was really interesting. We learned at the APCCC 2022, that there are patients who seem to make different decisions when they have depression, including men with localized prostate cancer, are choosing definitive local therapies that would be curative at a lower rate when they have depression, so really so important. So just operationalizing this, how do you ask these questions in clinic? How do you think about supporting these patients beyond giving them your cell phone number, which may not be tenable for everybody?

Zach Klaassen: Sure. And I think the main thing is just having an intuition. I'm not, like I said at the top, I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, and my job's not to treat their mental health, to treat their prostate cancer, their bladder cancer, but my job is to have that intuition to send them to the people like our psycho-oncology team that we have at the Georgia Cancer Center, which is phenomenal. So to answer your question, I think its clinical intuition and just knowing. It's also asking how they're doing with the diagnosis, how they're doing with treatment. Do they want to talk to somebody?

And oftentimes, you get a little bit of a distant day's response, but then it starts to click that this is not a sign of weakness. This is a sign of, there's somebody here to help you, sort of process and go through this from a nonphysical standpoint. I'll take care of the prostatectomy or the ADT, but it's the rest of it that, I think needs to be at the forefront when we're talking to these patients in the clinic.

Alicia Morgans: That's such a good point. I love the way you describe it. The clinical intuition, because you can ask a question and like you said, people will sometimes give you a day's sort of a response. I think it is up to us then to ask the follow up questions and dig into the day's response, because you could just let it go there, but that's your opportunity in your window to really investigate.

Zach Klaassen: I think another point on this sort of same topic is looking at the family social situation. So if somebody comes in by themselves, there's another risk factor. They don't have the social structure that maybe other patients do or talking to the significant other and saying, "How's he really doing?" Or, "How's she really doing?" Because they'll give you the straight answer. The patient might not, but she'll say, "Ah, he's laying in bed for 18 hours a day. He's on ADT. He's not working out. You told him to go for a walk twice a day. He's not doing any of that." And so you go back to him and you say, "Now, why are you not doing that? Is it because you're tired? Is it because you're depressed? Is it because you're sick?" This is where you sort of take the cues from everybody in the room and I think that's a huge, important aspect as well.

Alicia Morgans: Well thank you so much for going through this because it is underestimated and you are making a difference as a urologic oncologist who prioritizes mental health. And I think we as a field really need to move in that direction.

Zach Klaassen: It's important. I think we all have to do a little bit and I think the structure with survivorship programs, I think it's built in, we just have to utilize it.

Alicia Morgans: Well, thank you very much for your time and your expertise.

Zach Klaassen: Thanks Alicia.
When the Jefferson Avenue neighborhood needed immediate help after May 14, Catholic Charities was in place and ready  as it has been for decades before and as it will be for decades to come.

At seven locations on the East Side, Catholic Charities offers food pantries, basic needs assistance, behavioral health, WIC, and education and workforce training.

In response to greatly increased need, the organization extended hours at its Rich Street pantry, which offers mental health services on the same campus.

Its all part of a days work for Catholic Charities, which runs 57 different programs at 80 locations across Western New York, serving about 125,000 people a year.

The proven dependability of this longtime community resource is why Western New Yorkers should feel confident about supporting its efforts, which, of course, are extended to people of all faiths, ages and walks of life.

From donating diapers and formula to helping a young man get his high school equivalency to supporting those affected by domestic violence, the services offered by Catholic Charities are comprehensive, wide-ranging and  just as important  easily accessible.

Few among us can say wed never be in need of any of those services and even fewer who have never known anyone in dire need of such help.

As the Catholic Charities annual appeal winds to a close, within half a million dollars of its $9.5 million goal, its important to remember all the reasons its offerings are more essential than ever.

First, though most of the Covid-related government assistance to individuals has ended, pandemic-related financial and mental health challenges remain. Catholic Charities offers behavioral health, financial empowerment and other programs that address those issues.

Second, as the East Side waits for its major supermarket to reopen and its residents are still reeling from the aftereffects of a mass shooting, food, financial and counseling assistance is still vitally needed. Catholic Charities is there for that help as well.

Visit ccwny.org/donate or call 716-218-1400. Donors can also give by texting GIVE HOPE 22 to 44321 or scanning the QR code found on Appeal materials. FYI: A gift to Catholic Charities in support of the East Side community will be directly invested there.

  

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
Mozambiques Second National Youth Day will take place from 17 to 20 November in Nampula, under the theme We have found the Messiah (Jn 1:41).

Fr. Bernardo Suate - Vatican City.

Mozambiques Second National Youth Day 2022 has now been confirmed for the city of Nampula, which is the capital of Nampula Province in Northern Mozambique. The event comes almost four years after the first meeting of its kind was held in the Mozambican city of Chimoio.

Preparing for WYD Lisbon 2023

The national youth gathering will be used as an opportune moment to prepare Mozambican youth for the great event of World Youth Day - Lisbon 2023. This is according to the Archbishop of Nampula and president of the commission for youth pastoral ministry at the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique (CEM), Inacio Saure, I.M.C.

Archbishop Saure said preparations began immediately after the Archbishop of Lisbon in Portugal, Cardinal Manuel Clemente, reached out to the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique with an invitation. Cardinal Clemente encouraged the Mozambican Church to prepare the youth to participate in the Lisbon WYD 2023 since it is also the desire of the Holy Father that there be many young Portuguese-speakers at the WYD events, Archbishop Saure quoted Cardinal Clemente.

Archbishop Inacio Saure further said organisers in Mozambique are already processing information about requirements for participation, such as registration, visas and information about the possibility of those young people who want to go a little earlier for Mission Week, which always precedes WYD.

Young people ready to travel to Nampula

The Archbishop of Nampula then recalled that the Mozambican WYD has had to be postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021. When the event was initially planned, more than five thousand young pilgrims were expected to attend. At the moment, organisers are still assessing and remain hopeful. If the situation of the pandemic improves, they would like to open the event to more participants. The young people are very enthusiastic, very interested, and in the meantime, our preparations continue, assured the Nampula Archbishop.

Lessons from the first Mozambique WYD

The Chimoio event allowed us to begin these kinds of youth gatherings, despite initial hesitation, difficulties and wondering if we would be able to manage them. So, we saw that it was possible to carry out and successfully carry out these kinds of gatherings. The young people and the entire ecclesiastical province of Nampula welcomed the challenge of organising what will be the second national WYD in Mozambique. It will undoubtedly be an occasion for young people to prepare themselves in the best possible way for the World Youth Day of Lisbon 2023," the Archbishop assured.

Mozambican youth are active in the Church

Archbishop Inacio Saure also spoke of a climate of great hope among the countrys young people.

The Mozambican Church is young because the Mozambican population is mostly composed of young persons. The young Christians of Mozambique are well represented in the life of the Church. For now, the Church is not really worried about the absence of young people in Church because they are there and participate effectively, he said.

Accompanying young people

Perhaps the great challenge is that the local Church has yet to outline a comprehensive pastoral programme to accompany young people.

The young people of this country are thirsting for God. We see youth who care about the Church and want to live as full members of the Church. But we know also that our young people have many hurdles and challenges in terms of formation and education. They need accompaniment to achieve their aspirations. Part of that accompaniment needs to be spiritual accompaniment, said the Nampula Archbishop.
As Caritas Lithuania continues to offer long-term aid to Ukrainian refugees, Ernesta Karnilaite says Catholic priests in Ukraine are telling people to look to Caritas for assistance, no matter to which country they flee.

By Devin Watkins & Svitlana Dukhovych

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, Lithuania has been welcoming refugees from its neighbor, so far accommodating 55,000 people, though some have begun to return home.

Caritas Lithuania has sought to meet their needs, offering food aid, clothing, and help finding shelter.

Ernesta Karnilaite, Communications Director at Caritas Vilnius, in the Lithuanian capital, spoke to Vatican News Svitlana Dukhovych about her organizations work with Ukrainian refugees.

Assistance for trauma-affected individuals

She said help is offered to meet immediate needssuch as clothes, shoes, sheets, or towelssince many people arrive with very few material goods.

Caritas also offers more advanced help, in the form of specialist care for emotional or psychological wounds.

Caritas, said Ms. Karnilaite, "gives help with material goods, then we offer emotional help for those who have endured traumatic experiences, perhaps from human trafficking or deep traumas.

The Churchs local humanitarian aid agency even has a place where children can spend their free time and play with other kids or interact with Caritas volunteers.

Ernesta Karnilaite at Vatican Radio's headquarters in Rome

Linking up, one family at a time

Ms. Karnilaite said Caritas assistance radiates out from their central hub in Vilnius and reaches 10 parishes in the Archdiocese.

Parish families can sign up for the Family Friendship Program, which links up Ukrainian and Lithuanian families for a moment of relaxation to enjoy together.

They have a simple time for friendship, with free time and leisure activities, she said. Lithuanian families also give a lot of advice regarding social questions, like how to visit the hospital or where to find a dentist.

Since Lithuania endured decades of Soviet occupation before 1991, many people feel a sort of kinship with Ukrainians, according to Ms. Karnilaite.

Our relatives in an older generation dont need to experience the war directly, because they have a precise feeling of what is going on in Ukraine. Lithuanians are welcoming Ukrainians with an open heart and offering all the support they need. Its uniting us.

Great trust in Caritas

The Communications Director of Caritas Vilnius recounted a story she has heard from several Ukrainian refugees, saying many Catholic priests in Ukraine told people: It doesnt matter what country you are in, just look for Caritas.

Ms. Karnilaite said that endorsement shows how much people trust Caritas, adding that the aid agency acts like a star of dawn pointing people to the Churchs concrete care.

She said around 150-250 people visit the Caritas Vilnius center each day to receive handouts, especially clothing.

Prayer: our most powerful weapon

On a more personal note, Ms. Karnilaite described how the experience of helping refugees has changed her life.

Im a young person, she said. I havent seen a lot of difficulties in life. So, the experience of seeing Ukrainians is very touching because we instantly feel like we are brothers and sisters.

She noted that it has been a shocking experience that has shaken her personal prayer life.

But in difficult moments, Ms. Karnilaite said she recalls the words of Archbishop Gintaras Grusas of Vilnius: Take the most powerful weapon in your arsenal and use it frequently: prayer.
The Erie County Sheriffs Office is pursuing an important new program to help stave off the kind of murderous assault that killed 10 people and shook the Western New York community last month. For it to be most useful, though, other counties in New York  and around the country  need to follow suit.

Sheriff John Garcia is creating a Behavioral Threat Assessment Team to identify, investigate and stop potential mass killers such as the two who massacred innocent people in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas. The idea, Garcia says, is that the next time county residents read about a mass shooting, its one that was prevented, not another that shatters the community.

Citing the Buffalo shooting and the massacre at a Texas elementary school, Garcia is working with other law enforcement agencies and the Erie County Legislature to produce a team of varied expertise. It will be new team whose work wont take away from existing patrols, he said. The cost to county taxpayers is, as yet, uncertain.

The teams partners include the District Attorneys Office, State Police, Secret Service, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Garcia plans to expand the team to include members that represent all aspects of the local community and to have it functioning by the end of summer.

No one agency, organization or company can manage the undertaking and be successful, he said. Thats why we assembled this team.

The goal is for the new organization to function as a clearinghouse of information. Its strategies will include monitoring social media and fringe ideologies online in an effort to prevent violence. As Buffalo painfully learned last month, some killers make themselves known in those places.

Its a creative and, in truth, a critical idea  an essential component of any broad-based effort to prevent the kind of mass shootings that have become far too common in this country.

Still, even if such a team was doing its best possible work in Erie County in the months before the May 14 shootings, it probably wouldnt have prevented the carnage. The reason is that the accused murderer, a white supremacist, lived in Broome County. He was known to law enforcement there, but police say he was planning to kill Black people elsewhere. He settled on Buffalo, where continuing segregation made it easy to target the people he hated.

Garcia alluded to that fact in announcing the creation of the team last week.

The act of pure evil that occurred on May 14 ... underscores the need for law enforcement professionals from across the state to revise strategies, policies, procedures and plans to confront the threat of domestic terrorism and other treacherous behaviors and ideologies, he said.

Other counties need to follow Garcias lead, form their own threat assessment teams and commit to sharing that information with other counties. Thats how this approach might best have prevented the bloodshed at the Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue  and how it might yet prevent the next one. Given that theres nothing to prevent would-be killers from crossing state lines, its also important to provide for sharing among the states.

Other efforts are needed: to restrict easy access to weapons meant for mass murder; to better identify and serve those with mental health problems; to improve red flag laws; and to better enforce other existing laws.

But this is a valuable effort, one that moved the Democratic chairwoman of the County Legislature, April Baskin, to praise the Republican sheriff for his fast action. Thats a hopeful sign.

  

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
A Cambodian court handed down jail sentences on Tuesday to about 60 opposition figures including prominent lawyer Theary Seng for conspiring to commit treason, in a mass trial condemned by the United States and rights groups as politically motivated.

Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer and human rights activist, was among more than 100 people affiliated with the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) charged with treason and incitement.

The court in Phnom Penh sentenced Theary Seng to six years in jail and ordered her arrest, her lawyer told reporters.

"This is not acceptable and I will meet her in prison to discuss appealing," the lawyer Chuong Choungy said outside the court, noting she was among about 60 co-defendants who had been sentenced to between five to eight years in prison.

Theary Seng had arrived at court dressed as the Statue of Liberty with a symbolic chain around her, and saying she expected to be found guilty.

After the verdict, she was bundled into a police pickup truck after the verdict, sparking scuffles between officers and her supporters.

The verdicts are likely to renew international concern about Cambodia's veteran prime minister, Hun Sen, and what his critics say has been elimination, over many years, of opposition to his rule. Hun Sen denies persecuting his opponents.

U.S. embassy spokesperson Chad Roedemeier said the United States was "deeply troubled by today's unjust verdicts."

"The United States has consistently called on Cambodian authorities to stop politically motivated trials, including against U.S. citizen Seng Theary and other human rights defenders, members of the political opposition, journalists, and labor and environmental activists," Roedemeier told Reuters.

'AUTOCRATIC'

The court sentenced veteran opposition leader Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister and leader of the CNRP who lives in exile in France, in absentia to eight years in prison.

Before her arrest, Theary Seng spoke of the verdict she expected, saying it would apply to all Cambodians who "love justice, who love freedom, who are genuine democrats."

"It follows the logic of this autocratic regime to find me guilty," she told reporters.

Hun Sen who has ruled Cambodia for 37 years. He rose to prominence in the 1980s, after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge "killing fields" regime, and cemented his hold on power in the 1990s.

The CNRP was banned and its leader Kem Sokha arrested before a 2018 general election, allowing Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party to win every parliamentary seat, and prompting international outrage.

The charges against Kem Sokha stem from accusations he conspired with the United States to overthrow Hun Sen. Kem Sokha and the United States reject the accusations.

Human Rights Watch urged foreign governments, the United Nations, and aid donors to press Cambodia to quash the convictions and end a broad attack on the country's remaining civic and democratic space.
Vietnam is protesting Chinas annual spring-into-summer fishing ban that Hanoi says partially violates its sovereignty.

In a statement issued prior to Chinas implementation of what it calls a fishing moratorium, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said on April 29 that Hanoi has consistently and clearly expressed its objection to the ban that this year runs from May 1 to August 15.

The ban, first imposed in 1999, applies to all waters north of 12 degrees latitude. This includes most of the Gulf of Tonkin and the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, which are occupied by China but also claimed by Vietnam.

Hang said that part of the scope of the fishing ban violates Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracel Islands and Vietnam's sovereign rights and jurisdiction that are determined under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS] [adopted] in 1982, the Agreement on the delimitation of the Gulf of Tonkin between Vietnam and China signed in 2000.

Vietnam asks China to respect Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracel Islands, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its seas when taking measures to conserve biological resources in the East Sea [South China Sea], without complicating the situation, [and] to contribute to maintaining peace, stability and order in the East Sea region, she added.

According to the state-run China Daily, the ban is part of the country's efforts to promote sustainable marine fishery development and improve marine ecology.

In a response to a similar protest made by the Philippines over the ban this year, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during the regular daily press briefing on June 1, The summer fishing moratorium in the South China Sea adopted by China is a normal measure of conserving marine biological resources in waters under Chinas jurisdiction, and a manifestation of fulfilling obligations under international law including UNCLOS by the Chinese side. Zhao was referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

He continued to say, China cannot accept the unwarranted accusation of the Philippine Foreign Ministry. We hope the Philippine side can view the measures objectively and correctly, and earnestly fulfill the obligations as a littoral state of the South China Sea to jointly promote sustainable development of fishery in the South China Sea.

Vietnam and the Philippines are among seven claimants for territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea. The other nations are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan. The United States is a nonclaimant in the South China Sea and has called on China to abide by international law.

Gregory Poling is director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS. He told VOA in 2020 that damage to sea life in the South China Sea is clearly worsening.

Fishing in the sea quickly expanded in the 1980s and early 1990s, when it reached about 10 million tons per year. Those numbers come from a 2017 study. The lead researchers of the study  Cui Liang of Chinas Xiamen University and Daniel Pauly from the University of British Columbia  said fishing activities leveled off after that expansion.

In recent years, boats have been fishing in deeper waters and catching smaller fish. Five years ago, fishing in the South China Sea accounted for 12% of the worldwide fish catch, CSIS estimates show.

Echoing the official lines of Vietnams government, Phan Huy Hoang, chairman of Quang Ngai Provincial Fisheries Association, said on June 1 that Chinas ban, is illegal and has no impact on Vietnamese fishermen.

He told VOA Vietnamese that he is urging fishermen to ignore Chinas ban, which he said is unreasonably imposed, and to venture out to the sea to fish as usual, which is similar to a position recently taken by the Philippines.

Asked if Vietnam should consider litigating against China over the ban, Hoang said diplomatic protest should continue as legal means have no effect on Beijing.

Litigation against China does not help. The Philippines sued China and the international court ruled that the nine-dash line has no value, no legal basis, and history, which China still ignores. Suing has no effect, Hoang said, referring to the 2016 verdict by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in favor of Manila over Beijing. The nine-dash line is used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to illustrate claims to the South China Sea. It encompasses approximately 90% of the more than 3 million-square-kilometer South China Sea.

In an effort to boost fishermens morale and assert Vietnams sovereignty over disputed areas, Vietnams fisheries surveillance force on April 20 launched a campaign called A million national flags for fishermen to maintain their presence at sea.

Nguyen Quang Hung, who heads the surveillance force, told VOA Vietnamese that fishermen were happy to receive the flags as those gifts empower them. Asked if Vietnams call for fishermen to defy Chinas ban would put them at risk, Hung declined to comment further.
Botswana is hosting an anti-corruption conference (June 13-14) led by the African Union and the International Monetary Fund. The IMF said the COVID pandemic has underscored the need for good governance.

IMF deputy managing director Antoinette Sayeh said the continent faces increasing challenges in fighting corruption particularly due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Of course, corruption has long been an issue," Sayeh said. "But today as we face multiple crises at once - the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the ongoing challenges of climate change and the security situation in the Sahel - the need for good governance has only become more urgent.

Sayeh said countries with strong economic institutions respond better to the new challenges and prepare for a resilient recovery.

She said the IMF has stepped up anti-corruption efforts to ensure accountability during the pandemic.

Countries receiving IMF emergency financing must commit to transparency and accountability safeguards," Sayeh said. "This included publishing COVID-19 related procurement contracts  including beneficial ownership of companies, conducting and publishing audits and detailed reporting on COVID spending. In cases of severe governance weaknesses, we work with authorities to ensure remedies would be taken.

Africa Union commission department director Djamel Ghrib said there is a need for the continent to utilize technology to fight corruption.

Corruption however does not seem to be moving and Africa remains the region most affected by this scourge," Ghrib said. "We should all take advantage of the fourth revolution's impact and wave of element of trust that it has brought to our life. The opportunity of digitization to curb corruption is here and we need to take advantage.

Transparency International notes that while technology is now available to help uncover corruption, the lack of a supporting legal framework, among other things, hampers progress.

Botswanas Ministry of Finance secretary for development and budget, Olesitse Masimega says corruption undermines development in most African countries.

I need to mention the possibility of weak governance and corruption scaring foreign investors and potential business partners that could support economic expansion and modernization, or at worst attracting the wrong kind that would perpetuate the bad outcomes for the economy and society," Masimega said.

Despite commitments made by leaders in Africa in 2018 to fight corruption, sub-Saharan African remains the worlds lowest scoring region on the International Transparency Corruption Perception Index.
In Cameroon, hundreds of people have protested attacks on schools, churches, and clinics in the country's troubled west after a hospital in the city of Mamfe was torched. Cameroon's military and separatists traded blame for last week's attack.

Cameroonian officials say several hundred people protested on the streets of Mamfe city on Monday against separatist attacks on civilian bodies in the southwest area.

Cameroons state broadcaster CRTV reported the protest was organized by community leaders after the largest hospital in Mamfe was torched on June 8.

Merchant Daniel Mbange spoke to VOA from Mamfe via a messaging application on why he took part in the protest.

"It is very very disheartening that people will attack a social infrastructure which has broad use for the entire community," Mbange said. "Who on earth will think of destroying a hospital where women and children, men, the elderly use it?"

Similar protests have been taking place in other towns, including Cameroons capital, Yaounde.

The military blames rebels for the attack and says its troops rescued about 50 patients from flames that injured several patients and nurses.

Capo Daniel is the self-declared deputy defense chief of the Ambazonia Defense Forces, one of Cameroon's largest rebel groups.

He denies they were responsible and voiced a common separatist claim that government troops carried out the attack to tarnish their image.

"There is a Cameroon military barracks not far from there, there was a joint Cameroon military patrol and check point close by," Daniel said. "Ambazonia fighters could not have been able to bypass these military installations, taking the time to remove patients while shooting in the air without any intervention of the Cameroon military. It was an action [attack] carried out by Cameroon military men dressed in civilian clothing."

Cameroonian officials rejected the rebels claim. Mengo Victor Arrey Nkongho is a Cameroonian minister in charge of special duties in Yaounde.

"Today, we hear them on social media accusing our defense and security forces," Nkongho said. "They no longer want to own what their products {fighters} have committed. A hospital that had about 49 patients and nurses. These are witnesses, they know who took them out of the beds. There were not military people. They {fighters} took the patients out of their beds, out of the wards before setting the hospital on fire."

Nkongho says federal troops rushed to the hospital and relocated patients to a nearby military hospital.

The protesters Monday called on the government and military to better protect hospitals, schools, and churches from separatist attacks.

Last weeks attack is not the first time Anglophone separatists have been accused of targeting civilian buildings in Mamfe.

In February, the Roman Catholic Church in Cameroon said armed men torched a renowned girls dormitory in the city.

The military blamed rebels, who vowed to investigate but are yet to publish a response.

The rebels have since 2017 been fighting for a breakaway English-speaking state from French-speaking majority Cameroon.

The United Nations says clashes between the two sides have since left at least 3,300 people dead and more than 750,000 internally displaced.
In 1960, linguists predicted that compulsory education, mass media, foreign immigration and the mobility of restless Americans would ultimately standardize English, and in only a few generations, regional accents would disappear.

Today, some scholars such as University of Pennsylvania sociolinguist William Labov note that while some accents are fading, others are growing stronger.

One example, according to Kalina Newmark, is Native American English, more commonly referred to as the rez accent, found among many Indigenous communities in the United States and Canada. Rez is the shortened word for reservation.

Newmark, who is Dene and Metis from the Sahtu region of Canadas Northwest Territories, attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, a school well-known for its diverse, Indigenous student body.

Im a Dene person, but I dont speak Slavey, my heritage language, she said. My mom can understand and speak it, but she didn't pass it on to us. She learned it from her great-grandmother. My grandmother chose not to pass along the language because she wanted to make it easier for her children when they went to school.

At Dartmouth, Newmark met Indigenous students from across North America and noticed an interesting phenomenon: Despite their different linguistic backgrounds, their English shared some distinctive features, especially when gathering socially. She found this was the case even with students who had never learned their heritage languages.

When assigned a project studying a non-English language, she and fellow Dartmouth student Nacole Walker, a Lakota from the Standing Rock Reservation in North and South Dakota, decided to investigate the rez accent, which had never been studied before.

There are other kind of studies around different groups, like African-American vernacular English or Chicano English, where linguists have noted similarities. We knew something unique was happening [with indigenous English] and wanted to narrow it down, Walker said.

The Dartmouth team interviewed and recorded conversations with 75 people from tribes and Nations across North America. Their findings, The Rez Accent Knows No Borders: Native American Ethnic Identity Expressed Through English Prosody, appeared in the journal Language in Society in September 2016.

They found that Native American and Canadian First Nations communities speak different English dialects, but many share similar patterns of pitch, rhythm and intonation  features that linguists call prosody, the music of language. Even students who did not use the rez accent were familiar with it.

The most important feature we found is the contour pitch accent, said Dartmouth sociolinguist James Stanford, who mentored their study. We called it the Thomas feature.

It refers to the character Thomas Builds-the-Fire, played by actor Evan Adams in the groundbreaking 1998 film Smoke Signals, the first commercial feature film to be written, directed and acted by Indigenous people. Thomas, an incessant storyteller living on the Coeur DAlene Indian Reservation in Idaho, speaks in an exaggerated rez accent. His intonation rises and falls melodiously (see a clip from the film, below).

Another feature [that] study participants identified as ethnically distinctive had to do with what we call mid- or high-rise terminals, said Stanford.

In standard English, Stanford explained, speakers voices tend to drop in pitch at the end of a sentence. Many Indigenous speakers  like the character Thomas  end their sentences on a middle or high pitch.

One other important feature that we noted was syllable timing  or rhythm, Stanford said. Each syllable takes up the same amount of time.

These prosodic features can be heard in the three YouTube videos below.

Whispers of the ancestors

Though she doesnt discredit the influence of individual heritage accents, Newmark believes the rez accent is rooted in intertribal contact that took place during the reservation era of the 1880s, when Native and First Nations children from diverse language backgrounds were forced into residential schools, or during the relocation era of the 1950s and 1960s, when the U.S. sought to move Native Americans to cities and terminate reservations.

Coming together in schools or urban communities, Native Americans were compelled to interact with one another in English.

They were all learning English together, said Newmark, and making an English of their own.



What we are seeing is adaptation  and Native Americans have been specialists at adaptation forever, said Twyla Baker, a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (MHRA) and president of Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota.

She pointed out that before contact with Europeans, tribes did not live in vacuums.

We traveled. We engaged in trade. We intermarried. We built political alliances with other tribes, Baker told VOA. The ability to learn other languages was crucial, and it wasnt uncommon for folks to speak four or five languages, as many Europeans do today.

She is aware that some people, Native and non-, poke fun at the rez accent, or dismiss it as improper English.

One of my big goals as an educator is to knock down this idea, which was imposed upon us that we should be ashamed of who we are, where we came from, how we speak English and how we present ourselves in a very Westernized society, Baker said. I would love for our young people to feel that they are accepted not just in the spaces that they occupy in Indian Country, but when they step off the reservation.
President Joe Biden will soon make his first presidential visit to Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia, the White House announced Tuesday  a trip that analysts say could move along the delicate process of normalizing Israels relations with its neighbors in a complex region that holds great strategic importance for Washington.

The four-day mid-July trip begins in Israel, where Biden will meet with Israeli leaders. He will also conduct talks in the West Bank with the Palestinian Authority to convey his support for a two-state solution between the fractious parties.

From Israel he heads to Jeddah, the Saudi city seen as a gateway to two of Islams holiest sites, Mecca and Medina. Israel and Saudi Arabia have no diplomatic ties and this will be the first direct flight by an American president from Israel to an Arab state that does not recognize the country, following former President Donald Trumps 2017 historic flight from Riyadh to Tel Aviv.

In Jeddah, he will meet leaders of that oil-rich kingdom  not just his direct counterpart, the aging, ailing king  but also the crown prince, who is seen as the key driver of policy and de facto leader of one of the worlds last absolute monarchies.

The president is going to see over a dozen leaders on this trip including King Salman and the leadership from our Saudi hosts for the [Gulf Cooperation Council plus Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan] Summit, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Yes, we can expect the president to see the crown prince as well.

The Biden meetings could have some impact, said Brian Katulis, vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute.

I think the main thing is to see how President Biden and his team try to stabilize the relationship between the United States and Israel, as well as Saudi Arabia, and then broaden its diplomatic outreach with other key Arab countries, he told VOA.

Washington has been engaged in quiet diplomacy to expand the Abraham Accords, the Trump administration agreement for Arab states to normalize relations with Israel. Ultimately, Israel and Saudi Arabia are on a path toward normalization, but it is unlikely to be announced during Bidens trip, Katulis said, adding that Saudis require progress on peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians before considering normalization.

I think that path is probably quite long. And I'd be surprised if we see some major breakthrough on that front, he added.

With neither side showing signs of agreeing to concessions, prospects for peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians remain dim.

While Biden has reversed some of Trumps policies seen as hostile to the Palestinians, including restoring financial aid and resuming diplomatic contacts, he has maintained U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and kept the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. Since coming to office, Biden has not exerted pressure to halt Israeli settlement expansions, despite his criticism of the policy during his time as vice president in the Obama administration.

Khashoggi murder

Bidens meetings with the Saudis are also especially fraught, said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, because of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans alleged involvement in the grisly killing of one of his biggest critics, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As a presidential candidate, Biden pledged to make Saudi leadership pay the price, and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are over Khashoggis 2018 killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

But that's not the totality of the U.S. government's relationship with Saudi Arabia, Alterman told VOA via Zoom. We have relations with governments that do horrific things to millions of their citizens, he said, adding that while he was distraught by the horrific murder and butchering of Jamal Khashoggi, whom Alterman knew personally, as a government, we have to think more broadly about how that fits into a broader context.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a senior member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, urged Biden to insist on accountability for those responsible for Khashoggis murder, as well as the killing of Portlands Fallon Smart and other victims of Saudi citizens who have fled U.S. justice. Fifteen-year-old Smart was killed in 2016 by 20-year-old student Abdulahraman Sameer Noorah, a Saudi national who then fled to Saudi Arabia despite having his passport confiscated.

The United States cannot value Saudi oil more highly than the blood of Fallon Smart and Jamal Khashoggi, Wyden said. America does not become more secure by legitimizing authoritarians like Mohammed bin Salman, who has protected perpetrators of violence against Americans and manipulated oil markets to gouge American consumers.

The administration said Biden will discuss a number of other issues with Saudi leaders, including the U.N.-mediated truce in Yemen, means for expanding regional economic and security cooperation, including new and promising infrastructure and climate initiatives, as well as deterring threats from Iran, advancing human rights, and ensuring global energy and food security.

There's so much on the U.S.-Saudi agenda, Alterman said. I think what the president is going to try to do on the trip, is to genuinely broaden the aperture and lay the foundation for a broad cooperative relationship with Saudi Arabia  the Saudis want a broad cooperative relationship with the United States.

But that will depend on careful diplomacy and skilled statesmanship on all sides. Last week, VOA asked Biden whether he would move to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia  one embodying the soul of Judaism, the other, the soul of Islam. The two monotheistic faiths have been entangled in conflict in the region for hundreds of years.

Biden chuckled and replied, Well see.

Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
As a Western New Yorker, Amy Dickinson is ready to embrace the weather and whatever it brings, including during Thursday's J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge.

That attitude may serve her well.

The official start of summer is still a week away, but Wednesday and Thursday are expected to be the hottest days of the year yet in Buffalo. Wednesday's temperature could pass 90 degrees, surpassing the year's previous high of 86 on May 12.

Itll be very uncomfortable, especially during the afternoon hours in the Buffalo area, said Kirk Apffel, a meteorologist with National Weather Service at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Cheektowaga.

Because of the combination of the heat and humidity, the temperature may feel like its in the mid-90s, Apffel said.

While there doesnt appear to be a high risk, there is a chance of strong thunderstorms in the late afternoon Wednesday.

Corporate Challenge ready to run with reduced field The J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge is anticipating nearly 6,000 participants when race returns to Delaware Park on June 16, down 57% from three years ago.

That risk will remain Thursday, when the Corporate Challenge starts at Delaware Park. The thunderstorms may contain damaging winds or large hail. While its difficult to pinpoint an exact time, the thunderstorms would likely occur in the afternoon or evening, Apffel said.

The race is a rain or shine event, but if severe weather occurred, organizers would communicate to participants, said Melina Terranova, race director for the Buffalo Corporate Challenge.

An emergency response team will be on hand and race participants will have access to cooling in the medical tents and water stations on the course.

After participating in the run for several years, Dickinson is familiar with weather ranging from steamy heat to pouring rain. When it does become alarmingly hot, however, she knows to slow down.

You just dont want to push beyond what your body is ready for, she said.

Apffel said, if possible, people should avoid outdoor activities during the peak heat of the day and remain inside with air conditioning. If someone does go outside, they should remain hydrated.

Local Weather Get the daily forecast and severe weather alerts in your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
At a time when the United States and some of its allies are seeking to reduce their dependence on China for strategic and other goods, Canada is looking to move past an ugly spat that drove relations with Beijing to a historic low.



Less than a year after the resolution of a dispute that saw a senior Huawai executive detained in Vancouver and two Canadians jailed for three years in China, trade between the two countries is setting new records and officials say they are eager to mend the relationship.



The relationship is a difficult one  there were arbitrary detentions of the two Michaels: Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Im glad that this issue is now over and were moving on, said Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly in an April interview with Politico. My goal is to make sure that we re-establish ties.



During a call in early April with Wang Yi, Chinas State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joli and her counterpart stressed their strong cultural and people-to-people ties and discussed avenues of collaboration between the two countries on areas of mutual interest, according to a Canadian readout of the call.

The readout said Joly also reiterated Canadas concerns with ongoing human rights violations in China, including in Xinjiang, and she warned the world is closely looking at Chinas response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

More details of Canadas approach to China will be revealed when it unveils a long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy in the coming weeks, Joly told Politico.

Canadian business leaders already have moved on. Despite the nearly three-year dispute over the detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition request, trade between the two countries is showing strong growth.



According to the University of Alberta website: Canadian exports to China grew 14% year-over-year in 2021, the largest growth rate seen since 2018  Moreover, the total value of Canadian exports to China surpassed the previous record set in 2018, when China halted the import of some Canadian products in response to the Huawei detention.



The boost in trade includes a surge in Canadian exports to China, which reached $22.3 billion last year, the Canadian statistical agency reported. Further growth is likely after last months announcement that China will resume the purchase of Canadian canola seed from two firms that were blocked during the Huawei dispute in 2019.



U.S.-China trade also is growing, despite Trump administration-imposed tariffs and a rash of American news reports decrying the U.S. reliance on China for various strategic goods and calling for a decoupling of the two economies.



Trade between China and the U.S. topped $656 billion last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, up from $557 billion in 2020 and $556 billion in 2019.



While Canadian business leaders appear eager to resume business as usual with China, the public still harbors ill feelings over the detention of the two Michaels, whose imprisonment on spurious charges appeared to be simple retaliation for the detention of Meng.



Analysts say little has changed since a Bloomberg News poll in March 2021, which found that only 14% of Canadians have a favorable view of China.



While Canadian public opinion has turned in favor of Canada standing up against China's flouting of the norms of the international rules-based order in human rights, diplomacy and trade, Canada's political and economic establishment continues to seek a middle path between China and the USA, said Charles Burton, a senior fellow at the MacDonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa.



Canada is increasingly at odds with the U.S. and other like-minded democracies on how best to constrain China's malign agenda in global affairs, Burton said in an interview.



A similar view was expressed by Calvin Chrustie, a senior partner at the Critical Risk Team, a risk management and security advisory firm, and founding member of Project Seshat, which studies hybrid warfare and negotiations. He is also a former senior director of operations at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and has been a negotiator in U.N. peacekeeping missions.



Canadian business leaders, diplomats, and politicians have demonstrated over the last 20 years their inability to manage the risks associated with engagement with China, due to the lack of several things, Chrustie told VOA. One, awareness; two, due diligence; and three, the level of skill required to negotiate and navigate in this complex, polarized and adversarial setting.



Its kind of like getting in the ring with Muhammad Ali, Chrustie added. Theyre playing chess, were playing checkers.
Australia Defense Minister Richard Marles says Australia will continue to exercise its right of passage through the South China Sea despite opposition from China.

The South China Sea is one of the worlds most disputed regions.

Most of it is claimed by China, but surrounding countries and the United States disagree.

The sea is a critical gateway for global shipping. It is reported to have significant reserves of undiscovered oil and gas, which analysts have said has been an aggravating factor in maritime and territorial disputes.

The South China Sea is bordered by Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Australia has economic interests in the region and has promoted freedom of trade and navigation.

Canberra has conducted airborne surveillance operations in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. Called Operation Gateway, the missions have been running since 1980.

Australian defense minister Richard Marles Sunday met his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in Singapore. Relations between the two countries have been strained in recent years over various political and trade disputes, including Beijings ambitions in the South China Sea. Sundays dialogue at a regional security summit in Singapore was the first high-level bilateral meeting in more than two-years.

Marles said he planned to rebuild the relationship a step at a time and has insisted that Australia would continue to fly over the South China Sea despite a Chinese jet intercepting and damaging an Australian air force plane with aluminum chaff in May.

Tom Corben is a research associate in the foreign policy and defense program at the University of Sydneys U.S. Studies Centre.

He said Canberra is standing firm against Chinese belligerence.

The incident is significant because it is the latest example - and perhaps the most brazen  in a series of close encounters between Australian and Chinese military assets across the region over the past 18 months. Altercations like this underscore the coercive turn in Chinas regional behavior, but they also highlight the fact that Taiwan is not the sole military flashpoint in the region. Indeed, Australia and other countries worry about the significant risks that such recklessness on Chinas part could escalate from an instance of confrontation to one of conflict, said Corben.

Defense Minister Marles has flown to Japan to meet his Japanese counterpart, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, to cement what Australian officials have described as a relationship of affection.

Australia has called for stronger military ties between Canberra and Tokyo.

Australias defense minister has also confirmed the recently-elected center-left government in Canberra will continue to impose tough border measures and that boats carrying asylum seekers will be turned back by the Australian navy.
A rebel group in Bangladesh has offered to hold peace talks, officials said Monday, raising hopes for an end to 25 years of violence that has killed hundreds of people.

In 1997, the main rebel outfit in the restive Chittagong Hill Tracts region in southeast Bangladesh, the Jana Samhati Samiti, signed a peace deal and laid down its arms.

But the United People's Democratic Front, a splinter group of younger rebels in the mainly Buddhist region that is home to several ethnic tribal groups, rejected the agreement.

The deal failed to address key issues such as autonomy for the region and the presence of thousands of government troops and Bengali settlers, the UPDF said.

Since then, a turf war between the JSS and UPDF has left hundreds of people dead, including senior UPDF figures and a small number of Bangladeshi soldiers.

According to local newspapers, nearly 60 people have been killed in clashes in the region bordering Myanmar and northeast India since late last year.

Following several years of back-channel talks, last week the UPDF submitted a formal proposal for peace talks with a former army major, Emdadul Islam, a key architect of the 1997 agreement.

Islam called the move a "significant development."

"We will now take the UPDF proposals to the government. We hope we can sign another landmark deal which will secure peace and development in the CHT," Islam told AFP.

Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said the government had yet to receive the formal proposal.

"We always want peace. We are doing everything we can to keep peace. We welcome if they come to peace talks," Khan told AFP.
Bloomberg News said Tuesday it was "encouraged" to learn that Chinese authorities had apparently released its employee Haze Fan on bail, more than a year after she was detained on suspected national security violations.



A Chinese member of staff at the US news outlet's bureau in Beijing, Fan was detained in December 2020, a few months after Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei was detained on similar charges.



According to a statement on the Chinese Embassy in Washington website dated last month, authorities have released her although she remains under investigation pending trial.



"At the request of Fan's lawyer, Chinas state security authority decided to release her on bail in January 2022," the statement said.



Bloomberg News said in a Tuesday news report it was only made aware of the statement last weekend, and had not been able to contact Fan.



"We are encouraged that Haze is out on bail," Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said in the report.



"She is a much valued member of our Beijing bureau  and we will continue to do everything possible to help her and her family."



The Chinese embassy statement, dated May 6, was in response to an advert last month by The Washington Post for World Press Freedom Day, which featured Fan.



She was last seen being escorted from her apartment building by plainclothes security officials in December 2020, and formally arrested in July last year on suspicion of committing crimes endangering national security.

China is one of the world's most hostile places for journalists, ranked 175th out of 180 countries in a list published earlier this year by Reporters Without Borders.



Reporters frequently face harassment and intimidation in the country, while some regions are off-limits to most media.



Overseas outlets are banned from hiring Chinese citizens as journalists, although they can recruit them as news assistants.



The Chinese Embassy's statement said Fan's case has "nothing to do with her status as a foreign media employee."



"The case is still under investigation according to law and Fan's legitimate rights and interests have been fully protected," it said.



Cheng, a mother-of-two and a former anchor on Beijing's state broadcaster CGTN, was detained in August 2020 and last year formally arrested for "illegally supplying state secrets overseas".



In March, a Chinese court deferred sentencing Cheng at a closed-door trial that Canberra condemned for a "lack of transparency."
With the first plane set to take off Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson emphatically defended Britain's plan to send asylum-seekers of various nationalities to Rwanda, despite an outcry from the United Nations, human rights activists and religious leaders.

"We are going to get on and deliver" the plan, Johnson declared, arguing that the move is a legitimate way to protect lives and thwart the criminal gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel in small boats.

The prime minister announced an agreement with Rwanda in April in which people who enter Britain illegally will be deported to the East African country. In exchange for accepting them, Rwanda will receive millions of dollars in development aid. The deportees will be allowed to apply for asylum in Rwanda, not Britain.

Johnson's government this week beat back a series of legal challenges seeking to block the first deportation flight.

Opponents have argued that it is illegal and inhumane to send people thousands of miles to a country they don't want to live in. Britain in recent years has seen an illegal influx of migrants from such places as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Iraq and Yemen.

Activists have denounced the policy as an attack on the rights of refugees that most countries have recognized since the end of World War II.

The U.N. refugee agency, Church of England bishops and, according to British news reports, Prince Charles are among those condemning the plan amid concern other countries will follow suit as war, repression and natural disasters force a growing number of people from their homes.

Politicians in Denmark and Austria are considering similar proposals. Australia has operated an asylum-processing center in the Pacific island nation of Nauru since 2012.

"At a global level, this unapologetically punitive deal further condones the evisceration of the right to seek asylum in wealthy countries," said Maurizio Albahari, a migration expert at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

The first deportation flight was scheduled to leave Britain late Tuesday, though it was unclear how many people would be on board. British media reported that individual appeals had whittled down the number of potential deportees to seven from more than 31 on Friday.

Many millions of people around the globe have been displaced over the past two decades, putting the international consensus on refugees under strain. The world had more than 26 million refugees in the middle of last year, more than double the number two decades ago, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Millions more have left their homes voluntarily, seeking economic opportunities in developed nations.

In Britain, those pressures have led to a surge in the number of people crossing the English Channel in leaky inflatable boats, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Last November, 27 people died when their boat sank in the waters between France and England.

Johnson, fighting for his political life amid concerns about his leadership and ethics, responded by promising to stop such risky journeys.

While Rwanda was the site of a genocide that killed hundreds of thousands of people in 1994, the country has built a reputation for stability and economic progress since then, the British government argues. Critics say that stability comes at the cost of political repression.

Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, attacked the policy as "all wrong."

If the British government is truly interested in protecting lives, it should work with other countries to target the smugglers and provide safe routes for asylum-seekers, not simply shunt migrants to other countries, Grandi said.

"The precedent that this creates is catastrophic for a concept that needs to be shared, like asylum," Grandi said Monday.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and 24 other bishops from the Church of England joined the chorus of voices asking the government to reconsider an "immoral policy that shames Britain."

"Our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum-seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries," the bishops wrote in a letter to the Times of London.

Britain's Supreme Court refused to hear one last-ditch appeal Tuesday, a day after two lower courts refused to block the deportations. Legal challenges continued, however, as lawyers filed case-by-case appeals on behalf of individual migrants.

Many migrants favor Britain as a destination for reasons of language or family ties, or because it is seen as an open economy with more opportunities than other European nations.

When Britain was a member of the European Union, it was part of a system that required refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country they entered. Those who reached Britain could be sent back to the EU countries they traveled from. Britain lost that option when it withdrew from the EU two years ago.

Since then, the British and French governments have worked to stop the journeys, with a great deal of bickering and not much success. More than 28,000 migrants entered Britain in small boats last year, up from 8,500 in 2020.
A Cambodian court handed down jail sentences on Tuesday to about 60 opposition figures including prominent lawyer Theary Seng for conspiring to commit treason, in a mass trial condemned by the United States and rights groups as politically motivated.

Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer and human rights activist, was among more than 100 people affiliated with the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) charged with treason and incitement.

The court in Phnom Penh sentenced Theary Seng to six years in jail and ordered her arrest, her lawyer told reporters.

"This is not acceptable and I will meet her in prison to discuss appealing," the lawyer Chuong Choungy said outside the court, noting she was among about 60 co-defendants who had been sentenced to between five to eight years in prison.

Theary Seng had arrived at court dressed as the Statue of Liberty with a symbolic chain around her, and saying she expected to be found guilty.

After the verdict, she was bundled into a police pickup truck after the verdict, sparking scuffles between officers and her supporters.

The verdicts are likely to renew international concern about Cambodia's veteran prime minister, Hun Sen, and what his critics say has been elimination, over many years, of opposition to his rule. Hun Sen denies persecuting his opponents.

U.S. embassy spokesperson Chad Roedemeier said the United States was "deeply troubled by today's unjust verdicts."

"The United States has consistently called on Cambodian authorities to stop politically motivated trials, including against U.S. citizen Seng Theary and other human rights

defenders, members of the political opposition, journalists, and labor and environmental activists," Roedemeier told Reuters.

'Autocratic'

The court sentenced veteran opposition leader Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister and leader of the CNRP who lives in exile in France, in absentia to eight years in prison.

Before her arrest, Theary Seng spoke of the verdict she expected, saying it would apply to all Cambodians who "love justice, who love freedom, who are genuine democrats."

"It follows the logic of this autocratic regime to find me guilty," she told reporters.

Hun Sen who has ruled Cambodia for 37 years. He rose to prominence in the 1980s, after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge "killing fields" regime, and cemented his hold on power in the 1990s.

The CNRP was banned and its leader Kem Sokha arrested before a 2018 general election, allowing Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party to win every parliamentary seat, and prompting international outrage.

The charges against Kem Sokha stem from accusations he conspired with the United States to overthrow Hun Sen. Kem Sokha and the United States reject the accusations.

Human Rights Watch urged foreign governments, the United Nations, and aid donors to press Cambodia to quash the convictions and end a broad attack on the country's remaining civic and democratic space.
Clashes in Sudan's Darfur between Arab and non-Arab groups have killed more than 100 people, adding to a toll of hundreds in the region over recent months.

The latest fighting broke out last week between the Arab Rizeigat and non-Arab Gimir tribes in the district of Kolbus, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from El Geneina, the capital of the West Darfur state.

It started as a land dispute between two people, one from the Rizeigat and another from the Gimir, before morphing into broader violence involving other members from both tribes.

"The fighting has so far killed 117 people and left 17 villages burnt," including three Monday, Ibrahim Hashem, a leader in the ethnic African Gimir tribe, told AFP by phone.

Hashem said the deaths counted so far were largely among the Gimir tribe. He added that "many people" from his tribe have gone missing since the violence broke out and was continuing.

It was not immediately clear how many were killed among the Arab tribe.

The latest violence highlighted a broader security breakdown in Darfur which was exacerbated by last year's military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The October coup derailed a fragile transition put in place following the 2019 ouster of President Omar al-Bashir.

In April alone, more than 200 people were killed in clashes between an Arab community and the non-Arab Massalit minority in the Krink area of West Darfur.

The United Nations estimated 125,000 people were displaced in that unrest.

A month earlier, fighting in South Darfur between the ethnic Fallata and the Arab Rizeigat tribes killed at least 45 people.

On Monday, U.N. special representative Volker Perthes said he was "appalled" by the violence in Kolbus.

"The cycle of violence in Darfur is unacceptable & highlights root causes that must be addressed," he said on Twitter.

Perthes called on the fighting sides to "de-escalate.

Sudan's western Darfur region was ravaged by a bitter civil war that erupted in 2003.

The conflict pitted ethnic minority rebels who complained of discrimination against the Arab-dominated government of then-President Bashir.

Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed, mainly recruited from Arab pastoralist tribes, who were blamed for atrocities including murder, rape, looting and burning villages.

The scorched-earth campaign left 300,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million, according to the United Nations.

Many Janjaweed have since been integrated into the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, de facto deputy leader of Sudan, according to rights groups.

In 2020, Sudan signed a peace deal with key rebel groups including those from Darfur.

The main conflict has subsided over the years, but the region remains awash with weapons and deadly clashes often erupt over access to pasture or water.
Italy's furniture and design industry embraced the Milan Furniture Fair after a two-year pandemic delay with unapologetic, over-the-top statement pieces, multi-purpose furnishings adapted to small spaces, and sustainable creations by young designers pushing the industry toward a greener path.

After a surprising pandemic redecorating boom, the industry is looking to an uncertain future. There are raw materials shortages, higher transport costs and general economic uncertainty generated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Sales of Italian furnishings surged to 16 billion euros (about $16.7 billion) in 2021, a 16% increase over 2019 and 25% more than 2020.

Despite the murky outlook, the world's premiere furniture and design fair, known in Italian as Salone del Mobile, kept the focus on innovation as it recorded a rebound in attendance during six days of previews that closed Sunday.

"Attendance was above expectations," reaching some 400,000 at both Salone and collateral events that spill out into the city, said Alessia Cappello, Milan's top economic development official. Two-thirds were from overseas.

Eye-catching novelties included an oversize gild-framed non-fungible token (NFT); benches that convert to workstations or shaded beds for the homeless; and an elegant, dignified walker whose purpose was disguised by its sculpted shape.

"It was fantastic to be back at Salone del Mobile,'' said Alana Stevens, president of the U.S. furniture maker Knoll. "Much more than a fair, rather a gathering of an incredible global community of those passionate about design. The intersection of designers, artists and the business of design was inspiring."

German fashion designer Philipp Plein unveiled his inaugural furniture collection in collaboration with the Dutch brand Eichholtz, which has furnished many of Plein's own homes in Europe and the United States.

Plein's entry into home design closes a circle for the designer, whose first enterprise was designing dog beds. Fittingly, the new collection includes a leather dog bed on a golden frame for a well-appointed pooch.

"He represents over-the-top luxury, and people want that right now,'' said Eichholtz COO Robin Goemans.

Jet-setters aspiring to Plein's rock 'n' roll aesthetic can settle into a curved velvet sofa with gold studding. They can admire their wardrobe on a marble-pedestal clothing rack fit for a diva, and their sneaker collection in a standing trunk with mirrored interior. A marble table doubles as a pingpong table, and unique NFTs are digitalized into logoed mirrors.

Plein is just the latest fashion brand to enter the world of furniture design starting in the early 1990s, often by way of homes collections featuring bedding, pillows and towels close to their textile roots.

"The fashion world understood at a certain point that design was able to capture the popular imagination in a way that was extremely interesting also for clothing brands,'' said Marco Sammicheli, director of design at the Triennale design museum.

On the sidelines of Salone, Sammicheli curated a show at the Triennale of the Memphis Group, a postmodern design movement founded by Ettore Sottsass that made its world debut at the Milan Furniture Fair in 1981.

The movement pushed the limits between the commercial and the artistic, tensions that still exist between the trade fair, with its commercial aims, and the myriad collateral events where the focus is often more on artistic statements.

"Memphis is the example that gives the best interpretation of Italian design after Olivetti and before Alessi,'' Sammicheli said, referring to the Olivetti business machine manufacturer best known for its typewriter, and the Alessi tableware and decor brand.

Alessi celebrated its 100th anniversary at Salone with a cutlery collaboration with the late Off-White designer Virgil Abloh. It held an exhibition looking at the family-owned company's journey from a metal factory to a laboratory for design, and a dinner where invited guests included some of the 300 designers who have worked with the brand in recent decades.

Abloh's three-piece cutlery set, dubbed "Occasional Object," features an industrial design reminiscent of a mess kit, with a carabiner to clip the pieces together and onto the body as a fashion extension easily paired with the popular Off-White 200-centimeter industrial belt.

Nigerian designer Lani Adeoye won top prize at the SaloneSatellite event with the walker she designed for her grandfather, who rejected the more standard, medical-looking versions. An interlocking arch that represents unity gives her walker a sculptural flair, and the cording made out of water hyacinth connects local artistry with sustainable materials.

"He is a dignified man who worked at the bank for many years and finds it embarrassing to be out with a walker,'' said the 32-year-old designer. "You can have it in your environment, and it looks artistic. No one knows it is a walker."

Satellite is open to designers under 35 years old, and aims to help them develop relationships with manufacturers and find ways to realize projects that were developed "in full liberty, without needing to take into account production processes," said Maria Porro, president of Salone.

The younger generation's natural hewing to sustainable materials and processes also presents a challenge to the wider industry. Bigger brands are more often heralding sustainable materials.

That included recycled plastics in the latest iterations of Kartell's famed Louis Ghost chair by Philippe Starck, but also the Re-Chair collaboration with illy coffee that is made from discarded coffee pods, alleviating somewhat the guilt of the home capsule consumer.

Knoll introduced an oak chair, bench and stool series by Antonio Citterio called Klismos. Cotton chord is woven into a seat with a light elastic give, and the wood is notched together, so it doesn't require glue, typically sourced from petroleum products. Leather cushions filled with vegetable fibers are optional.

While responsibly sourced materials are important, Porro said, the real challenge to the industry is to reduce its energy footprint, doing things like replacing electric light with natural light and producing by order instead of creating stock. Toward that end, the Federlegno association of Italian furniture makers joined the UN Global Compact committing to responsible business practices during the 60th Salone last week.

"We need sustainable production, that is the real challenge,'' Porro said. "It is a question of culture."
Umaar Ehsan is a recent Harvard University graduate. He is from Pakistan but grew up in Fairfax, Virginia.

He is not a permanent resident. Nor is he an American citizen. Hes a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a policy created in 2012 by the Obama administration.

On Wednesday, DACA celebrates its 10th year. In that time, according to the Migration Policy Institute, more than 800,000 people have benefited from DACA, which permits recipients to work and go to school in the United States.

The implications of DACA extend beyond immigration policy into the fabric of American society, Ehsan wrote in a recent letter to President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden.

Ehsans father worked for the Pakistani embassy, which allowed the family to move to the United States in 1995, Ehsan told VOA.

But eight years later, his employment term would expire, and it became mandatory for us to return to Pakistan," Ehsan explained in his letter to the White House. "But there was one problem: This magical place called America offered too much to lose. My father decided to lean into uncertainty, overstay his term, and chose to become undocumented. This meant that our primary mission was survival.

Ehsan is one of the 611,470 people who currently hold DACA status, per the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the country's naturalization and immigration system.

Yet, the program does not provide a pathway to permanent residence or U.S. citizenship.

Court battles

Since its inception in 2012, DACA has been the object of numerous court cases. Former President Donald Trump tried to end the program in 2017, but the Supreme Court ruled against the administration on procedural grounds.

And its facing a court challenge again. On July 6, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is to hear arguments in a Texas lawsuit that challenges the legality of DACA.

The lawsuit was led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Republican attorneys general from Arkansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Louisiana, West Virginia and South Carolina joined in the suit. On July 16, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas found that DACA is unlawful.

This lawsuit was about the rule of law  not the reasoning behind any immigration policy," Paxton said of the victory. "The district court recognized that only Congress has the authority to write immigration laws, and the president is not free to disregard those duly enacted laws as he sees fit.

The courts ruling and permanent injunction blocked the U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from approving first-time applications as of July 16, 2021. But DHS is allowed to continue to accept applications.

Current DACA recipients are still protected from deportation and are allowed to work. Recipients must renew their DACA requests every two years, and USCIS continues to process requests for those who meet the original requirements and have not left the country since their last renewal.

Who are DACA holders?

President Barack Obama, frustrated with congressional inaction on the Dream Act, created DACA by executive order in 2012. If passed, the Dream Act would have allowed a pathway to U.S. citizenship for DACA holders as well as Dreamers, a set of people who cant apply for DACA protection because of age restrictions but call themselves Dreamers after the legislation introduced in 2001.

Some DACA recipients arrived legally, but their families later overstayed their visas; others arrived by crossing without authorization the border between Mexico and the U.S. They are now in their mid-20s to late 30s, and they come from around the world.

To meet the DACA programs requirement, an applicant had to be enrolled in high school, have a G.E.D or a diploma, or have served in the U.S. military. Those with a criminal history  a felony, a serious misdemeanor, or three misdemeanors  are not eligible for DACA. They also had to be younger than 31 as of June 15, 2012, have moved to the U.S. before they turned 16, and lived continuously in the U.S. since June 15, 2007.

DACAs future

DACA was meant to be temporary, to allow Congress time to pass the Dream Act. Yet 10 years later, it has allowed recipients to buy homes, secure higher-paying jobs, and earn college degrees. The Migration Policy Institute analysis found that DACA holders contributed nearly $42 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product each year and added $3.4 billion to the federal balance sheet.

After the Texas decision, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced a proposed rule on DACA to keep the program in federal regulation.

The administration is expected to publish a final DACA rule in the coming months, but immigration advocates have said that is also likely to face legal challenges.

Unless Congress steps in with a legislative solution, the ultimate legality of DACA is likely to end up before the Supreme Court again.

In the meantime, Ehsan said DACA allowed him to be a part of American society. As he reflects on his own experiences, he believes America was founded by people who  like him  also had dreams and big ideas.

While I havent heard back from the White House, I am hopeful that resolve [for immigration reform] will materialize during this presidency, Ehsan told VOA.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has announced the formation of a committee to begin peace talks with the leadership in the northern Tigray region after 18 months of war.

Abiy spoke to parliament on Tuesday about the conflict in comments broadcast on state television.

We need to repeat the victory that we made on the battlefield in peace talks, he said, adding that the war is hindering the countrys development. Every bullet that is shot is like a dollar lost.

Abiy said that the committee would be led by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen and would be given 10 to 15 days to decide what will be up for negotiation.

Although the talks may have the potential to bring an end to Ethiopias civil war, William Davison, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, a Belgium-based non-profit research group, told VOA that important details are yet to emerge.

We dont have a clear idea of the participants, Davison said. To achieve a sustainable peace that would need the representation from other actors in the conflict.

The return of forces allied with the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) to the disputed region of Western Tigray, which was occupied by Amhara regional forces, Amhara militia known as Fano and Ethiopias federal forces in the recent conflict, is likely to be a major sticking point in peace talks.

Last week TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda denied claims that the TPLF has abandoned claims to Western Tigray.

The regional leadership later issued a statement on June 11 saying that the depiction of Western Tigray as a contested land is ... unacceptable and inimical to any peace-making efforts. The expansionist Amhara elite has seized it by force and that is simply unacceptable.

The next day, Yilikal Kefale, chief administrator of the Amhara region, issued a statement on June 12, saying negotiations regarding Western Tigray or the area which is referred to as Welkait by the Amhara region is our red line, he said.

In April, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released a joint report saying forces from Ethiopias Amhara region may have committed war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Western Tigray.

Speaking to VOA after the report was issued, Amnesty International's Horn of Africa researcher Fisseha Tekle said that forces from the Amhara region, aided by government troops, seized control of Western Tigray and began a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

The conflict in Tigray between the Ethiopian federal government and the TPLF began in November 2020. Neighboring Eritrea joined the fight against TPLF, deploying its forces to Tigray where they are accused of committing war crimes.

The conflict quickly exploded into a civil war which, along with famine, has killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of people and forced 2.2 million to flee from their homes, according to the U.N.

Editor's note: The story has been updated to include additional information.
This article is sponsored by Omaze.

Celebrate Father's Day by Entering for Your Chance to Win a Custom Ford Bronco from Omaze

Gear Up for "Dadventure" This Father's Day With a Chance to Win a Ford Bronco

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Product photos from retailer site.

You could win a Custom Ford Bronco! Celebrate Father's Day early and enter now with code DAD100 for 100 bonus entries.

The online fundraising platform Omaze is fairly well-known for their once-in-a-lifetime experience giveaways that support nonprofits around the globe  but this just might be their best sweepstakes yet.

The all-new Ford Bronco 4-door Wildtrak is the ultimate off-road ride thanks to its 4x4 drivetrain system, 2.7L V6 EcoBoost Engine, and 310 horsepower, and it only gets better with some seriously sick upgrades courtesy of father-son duo Doug and Brad DeBerti of Discoverys Twin Turbos. The pro race car driver and his dad know a thing or two about cars, with decades of award-winning customizations under their mechanic's tool belt. In the case of this tricked-out Ford Bronco, the $80,000 worth of customizations include ADV hood and fenders, 4WP front and rear bumpers, 37x12.50 BF Goodrich tires, KC Lights light bar, and a whole lot more.

Imagine saddling up in this durable and capable ride as you traverse the high desert of Moab, criss-crossing your way from one red rock-speckled National Park to the next. Or taking in the spectacular, otherworldly scenery in an off-roading adventure through Death Valley. Or, better still, watching wildlife amble through the lush Black Hills of South Dakota before speeding off into the glow of the sunset over the neighboring Badlands.

Yeah, we think it's pretty safe to say that winning this would make all your future road trips infinitely more epic, so youre probably asking yourself: what does it take to win? Well, according to Omaze, "no donation or payment is necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes." That said, every donation supports a really awesome cause, so we'd definitely encourage it if you have the means. In the case of this DeBerti Ford Bronco, donations benefit The Warrior Built Foundation, a nonprofit that provides combat veterans and wounded service members with vocational and recreational therapy through experiences working with mechanics and vehicle modification.

If you want to enter for your chance to win and donate to a good cause while you're at it, $10 will get you 100 entries for this sweepstakes, $50 will get you 1,000 entries, and $100 will get you 2,000 entries. And if you're not a car guy, no worries; you can still use the code DAD100 now through June 19 to get 100 bonus entries towards this or any other experience. We really like the looks of the Antarctica Adventure with performances by Jimmy Buffett in support of Ocean Conservancy and Singing for Change, and the Dream Trip to Italy in support of World Central Kitchen  but you can explore them all here.

Here are the full specs of this DeBerti-customized Ford Bronco, according to Omaze:

Max Seating: 5

Powertrain: 2.7L V6 EcoBoost Engine

Transmission: 10-Speed Automatic

Drivetrain: 4x4

Exterior Color: Black

Interior Color: Black

Horsepower: 310 hp

Torque: 400 lb-ft

Fuel Consumption: 18 city / 20 highway

Fuel Capacity: 20.8 gal.

Towing Capacity: 3,500

Approximate Retail Value: $140,000

Cash Alt: $105,000

Special features: Wildtrak; Molded-in-color hardtop; Lux Package; 10-speaker B&O sound system; 12 infotainment touchscreen

DeBerti features: ADV Hood and Fenders; 4WP front and rear bumpers, side bars, skid plates, spare tire carrier, coilover suspension, control arms; Gibson exhaust; HP Tuners tune; 17x9 Weld Wheels; 37x12.50 BF Goodrich tires; KC Lights light bar; Smitty Built Winch

If you want this incredible off-roader sitting in your driveway  making you the envy of the neighborhood  enter here. The deadline to enter is July 8, 2022 at 11:59 p.m., Pacific Standard Time, but you can use the code DAD100 to score 100 bonus entries toward this or any other experience, now through June 19 only.

You Might Also Dig:

AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use.
European Union governments are intensifying pressure on Pfizer PFE.N and other COVID-19 vaccine makers to renegotiate contracts, warning millions of shots that are no longer needed could go to waste, according to EU officials and a document.

During the most acute phase of the pandemic, the European Commission and EU governments agreed to buy huge volumes of vaccines, mostly from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech 22UAy.DE, amid fears of insufficient supplies.

But with the pandemic abating in Europe and amid a marked slowdown in vaccinations, many countries are now urging tweaks to contracts to reduce supplies and consequently cut their spending on vaccines.

The matter is being discussed on Tuesday at a meeting of EU health ministers in Luxembourg, French minister Brigitte Bourgignon told reporters.

Poland, which is the leading country in this attempt to revise contracts, has more than 30 million COVID vaccines in stock and would need to buy another 70 million under existing agreements, a Polish diplomat told Reuters, urging changes to avoid waste.

Poland has a population of about 38 million, with about 60% fully vaccinated, not including boosters - against over 70% in the EU.

In a letter sent to the Commission earlier in June, and seen by Reuters, the Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski together with his counterparts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania urged a "reduction of the amounts" of vaccines being ordered.

They said the contracts were agreed when it was impossible to predict how the pandemic would develop, and they should now be changed as the situation is improving.

An EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in May that EU countries would likely lose any legal case brought against suppliers because contracts could not be changed unilaterally.

There is currently no legal case, officials said.

Pfizer and Moderna MRNA.O, which is another top supplier of COVID vaccines to the EU, have agreed to postpone some deliveries.

However, the ministers said in their joint letter, referring only to the tweaks agreed with Pfizer, that they were "an insufficient solution and only delay the problem."

A spokesperson for Pfizer declined to comment on the letter, but reiterated the changes already made to the contract to adapt delivery schedules.

"We witness excessive burden on state budgets, combined with delivery of unnecessary amounts of vaccines," the joint letter said, adding: "There is a high probability that doses supplied to the European Union might end up being disposed of."
The European Unions executive arm is expected to decide soon whether to recommend that Ukraine be granted candidate status for EU membership. The EU Commission  which must unanimously approve the recommendation  is set to debate the issue at a summit on June 23 and 24. While some EU leaders have signaled support for the move, some member states are more reluctant. VOAs Myroslava Gongadze reports from Warsaw.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday that Russia's legislation on "foreign agents" violated the rights of the groups designated as such and ordered Russia to pay many of them compensation.



Russia uses the term "foreign agents," which carries Cold War connotations of espionage, to label organizations and individuals it deems to be engaging in political activity with foreign support.



Foreign agents are required by law to label their publications with a lengthy disclaimer, and are subjected to a costly and burdensome regime of reporting their income and spending, and financial audits.



In its ruling in the case of 73 Russian groups designated as foreign agents, Europe's top human rights court said the law violated freedom of assembly and association.



The court said the use of political activity as a criterion to designate groups as foreign agents produced "incoherent results and engendered uncertainty among NGOs wishing to engage in civil society activities relating to, in particular, human rights or the protection of the environment or charity work."



Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he would not comment on the ruling because parliament had ended the European Court of Human Rights' jurisdiction in Russia with legislation signed off last week.



"Russia no longer implements these decisions," he told reporters on a conference call.



Russian human rights groups Agora, one of the applicants in ECHR case, hailed the ruling as a "big victory."



"The court fully agreed with the applicant organizations that the law on foreign agents is not only unpredictable but also hinders the legitimate work of civil society," Agora lawyer Kirill Koroteyev said.



The ruling comes a week after the lower house of Russia's parliament gave initial approval to a bill further tightening the "foreign agent" legislation at a time of heightened distrust of the West since Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.



Russia adopted its first such law in 2012. It has since been expanded to include non-profit organizations, media outlets and individual Russian citizens including journalists and activists.
Britain and four Asian members of the Commonwealth have announced efforts to expand and re-energize the Five Powers Defense Arrangements (FPDA), a 51-year-old series of mutual assistance agreements embracing the U.K, Malaysia, Singapore, and New Zealand.

At its core, the pact commits the members to consult with one another in the event or threat of an armed attack on any of the FPDA members and to mutually decide what measures should be taken, jointly or separately. There is no specific obligation to intervene militarily.

The pact was established in 1971, following the termination of the United Kingdom's defense guarantees for what was then known as Malaya.

The issue arose at a breakfast meeting of the Five Power Defense Ministers' Meeting  which is the core body of the FPDA  on the sidelines of the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue which ended in Singapore on Sunday.

"At the FDMM, the Ministers discussed ways to deepen existing cooperation in conventional domains, as well as grow collaboration in non-conventional and emerging domains, to ensure that the FPDA remained relevant in addressing contemporary security challenges," Singapore's Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

"The FDMM also discussed the important role of the FPDA in building confidence, promoting a rules-based international order, and providing reassurance amidst a climate of heightened geopolitical tensions," it said.

Malaysia's senior minister for defense, Hishammuddin Hussein, said at the meeting that his biggest concern is unintended incidents and accidents that may spiral out of control and make it bigger than what it is."

Though he did not mention any country by name, the most immediate security threats in the region include a possible attack on Taiwan by China and an accident involving North Korean nuclear missiles.

"If these platforms [such as the FPDA] did not exist, there wouldn't be any opportunity to manage incidents that do sometimes go out of control," Hussein said.

Besides Hussein, those attending the meeting were Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen, Australia Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles, New Zealand Defense Minister Peeni Henare and British High Commissioner to Singapore Kara Owen. All five reaffirmed their commitment to the FPDA.

"Australia is deeply committed to the FPDA," Marles told journalists at the venue. "It's not something we take for granted."

Marles also said FPDA is looking at maritime security and counterterrorism, as well as how to work together to deal with humanitarian issues and the securing of supply chains.

"All of these are fields in which we can work to give the FPDA modern relevance, which we are really keen to do," he said.

The renewed interest in FPDA follows the establishment in 2007 of the Quad  an informal security dialogue involving Australia, India, Japan, and the United States  and AUKUS, a 2021 security pact among the United States, Britain and Australia.

Despite those newer arrangements, Marles said FPDA remains relevant because it is based on 50 years of history."

"AUKUS and the Quad have their roles, and we're obviously committed to that architecture as well, but something which is as enduring as the FPDA is really precious to Australia."

Singapore's Ministry of Defense said that FPDA will continue to promote regional cooperation and contribute constructively to the regional security architecture through regular exercises, dialogues and platforms for professional interaction.

Besides Taiwan and the North Korean nuclear threat, there is also continuing concern in the region about Chinas expansive claim to jurisdiction over most of the South China Sea.

"Indeed, the contemporary context of the FPDA leads inescapably to the South China Sea, where China is rubbing up against Malaysia's offshore claims, raising the possibility that external aggression and conventional warfare could again revisit Southeast Asia," wrote Euan Graham, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore.

"As the powers cast five wary sets of eyes on the next 50 years, it is far from clear that their long-term vision is aligned," Graham wrote on the Shangri-La Dialogue website.
More than 10,000 visitors were ordered out of Yellowstone as unprecedented flooding tore through the northern half of the nation's oldest national park, washing out bridges and roads and sending an employee bunkhouse miles downstream, officials said Tuesday. Remarkably, no one was reported injured or killed.

The only visitors left in the massive park straddling three states were a dozen campers still making their way out of the backcountry.

The park, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, could remain closed as long as a week, and northern entrances may not reopen this summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly said.

"The water is still raging," said Sholly, who said more wet weather was forecast this weekend that could cause additional flooding.

The flooding hit historic levels in the Yellowstone River after days of rain and rapid snowmelt and wrought havoc across parts of southern Montana and northern Wyoming, where it washed away cabins, swamped small towns, knocked out power and flooded homes. It hit the park just as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors was ramping up.

Instead of marveling at the site of grizzlies and bison, burbling thermal pools and the regular blast of Old Faithful's geyser, tourists found themselves witnessing nature at its most unpredictable as the Yellowstone River crested in a chocolate brown torrent that washed away anything in its path.

"It is just the scariest river ever," Kate Gomez of Santa Fe, New Mexico, said Tuesday. "Anything that falls into that river is gone."

Waters were only starting to recede Tuesday and the full extent of the destruction wasn't yet known.

Sholly said the backpackers who remained in the park had been contacted. Crews were prepared to evacuate them by helicopter it needed, he said.

Sholly added he didn't believe the park had ever shut down from flooding.

Gomez and her husband were among hundreds of tourists stuck in Gardiner, Montana, a town of about 800 residents at the park's north entrance. The town was cut off for more than a day until Tuesday afternoon, when crews reopened part of a washed away two-lane road.

While the flooding can't directly be attributed to climate change, it came as the Midwest and East Coast sizzle from a heat wave and other parts of the West burn from an early wildfire season amid a persistent drought that has increased the frequency and intensity of fires that are having broader impacts. Smoke from a fire in the mountains of Flagstaff, Arizona, could be seen in Colorado.

Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said a warming environment makes extreme weather events more likely than they would have been "without the warming that human activity has caused."

Heavy rain on top of melting mountain snow pushed the Yellowstone, Stillwater and Clarks Fork rivers to record levels Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials in Yellowstone and in several southern Montana counties were assessing damage from the storms, which also triggered mudslides and rockslides. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a statewide disaster.

Some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the park and Yellowstone's gateway communities in southern Montana. National Park Service photos of northern Yellowstone showed a mudslide, washed out bridges and roads undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers.

In Red Lodge, Montana, a town of 2,100 that's a popular jumping-off point for a scenic, winding route into Yellowstone, a creek running through town jumped its banks and swamped the main thoroughfare, leaving trout swimming in the street a day later under sunny skies.

Residents described a harrowing scene where the water went from a trickle to a torrent in just a few hours.

The water toppled telephone poles, knocked over fences and carved deep fissures in the ground through a neighborhood of hundreds of houses. The power was knocked out but restored by Tuesday, though there was still no running water in the neighborhood.

The rains hit just as area hotels have filled up in recent weeks with summer tourists. More than 4 million visitors were tallied by the park last year. The wave of tourists doesn't abate until fall, and June is typically one of Yellowstone's busiest months.

Mark Taylor, owner and chief pilot of Rocky Mountain Rotors, said his company had airlifted about 40 paying customers over the past two days from Gardiner, including two women who were "very pregnant."

Taylor spoke as he ferried a family of four adults from Texas, who wanted to do some more sightseeing before heading home.

"I imagine they're going to rent a car and they're going to go check out some other parts of Montana  somewhere drier," he said.

At a cabin in Gardiner, Parker Manning of Terre Haute, Indiana, watched the roiling Yellowstone River floodwaters just outside his door. Entire trees and even a lone kayaker floated by.

In early evening, he shot video as the waters ate away at the opposite bank where a large brown house was precariously perched.

In a large cracking sound heard over the river's roar, the house tipped into the waters and was pulled into the current. Sholly said it floated downriver 8 kilometers before sinking.

The Montana National Guard said Monday it sent two helicopters to southern Montana to help with the evacuations.

The Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs crested at 4.2 meters Monday, higher than the previous record of 3.5 meters set in 1918, according to the National Weather Service.

Yellowstone got 6 centimeters of rain Saturday, Sunday and into Monday. The Beartooth Mountains northeast of Yellowstone got as much as 10 centimeters, according to the National Weather Service.
Former President Donald Trump declared victory in the 2020 election despite being repeatedly told by aides that he had not won, according to testimony heard during the second public hearing of the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump's "big lie" that the election had been "rigged" and stolen led hundreds of his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol, Representative Zoe Lofgren, a committee member, said in her opening statement.

In a statement, Trump accused Democrats of trying to deflect public attention from the nation's more pressing problems.

"Rather than solving problems, Democrats are rehashing old history in hopes of changing the narrative," Trump wrote.

Here are four takeaways from the hearing.

Trump declared victory against the advice of his aides and advisers.

In a deposition to the committee, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said that before the election, he had briefed Trump about the likelihood that an early lead on election night would melt away after mailed-in Democratic votes were counted. The phenomenon, known as "red mirage," gave Trump a false sense of victory.

Stepien, several other advisers and Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump testified in depositions that on election night, with millions of votes yet to be counted, they did not believe Trump was in a position to declare victory. Yet the president was determined to proclaim himself the winner.

Stepien was scheduled to testify in person before the House panel on Monday but pulled out an hour before his appearance because of a family emergency. His lawyer appeared instead and read a statement on the record.

Instead of listening to his own campaign manager, Trump followed the advice of Rudy Giuliani, a Trump confidant who had been pushing a conspiracy theory that the election had been stolen, according to testimony by several aides.

"I think, effectively, (former New York City) Mayor Giuliani was saying that we won it, and that anyone who didn't agree with that position was being weak," senior Trump adviser Jason Miller testified. He added that Giuliani was "definitely intoxicated" at the White House.

Around 2:20 a.m., Trump held a press conference to announce he had beaten Democrat Joe Biden.

"We want all voting to stop," Trump said. "We don't' want to find any ballots at 4 o'clock in the morning and add them to the list."

Former attorney general repudiated Trump's election fraud claims.

The hearing's star witness, Trump's second attorney general, Bill Barr, offered a devastating repudiation of Trump's election fraud claims, calling them "nonsense," "bogus" and "bullshit."

In recorded testimony, Barr recalled meeting with Trump at the White House on November 24.

With two senior aides in attendance, Trump insisted that "there had been major fraud and that as soon as the facts were out, the results of the election would be reversed," Barr said.

When Trump sarcastically suggested that "apparently the Department of Justice doesn't think it has a role of looking into these fraud claims," Barr said he responded by saying that the agency in fact had probed the allegations but had found them baseless.

A week later, Barr gave an interview to The Associated Press, saying the Department of Justice had "not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election."

Trump was furious.

"The president said, 'You're killing me. You didn't have to say this,'" Barr recalled Trump telling him when the two met later in the day.

When Trump alleged that there had been a "vote dump" in Detroit, Barr said he explained to him that nothing nefarious had taken place.

"And I told him that the stuff that his people were shoveling out to the public was bullshit," Barr testified.

The former attorney general said he became "demoralized" to find Trump "detached from reality," uninterested in facing the facts.

"My opinion then and my opinion now is that the election was not stolen by fraud," Barr said.

Trump was not moved. The very next day, "the president released video rehashing some of the same claims his chief law enforcement officer said were, quote, 'nonsense,'" Lofgren said.

Justice Department carried out 'dozens of investigations' of voter fraud.

Richard Donoghue, who served as acting deputy attorney general during the final months of Trump's presidency, testified that he told Trump multiple times that the Justice Department had investigated the allegations of fraud in battleground states such as Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania but had found no evidence of corruption.

"I told him something to the effect of, 'Sir, we've done dozens of investigations and hundreds of interviews. The major allegations are not supported by the evidence developed,'" Donoghue said.

Among the allegations: a claim that a truck drove ballots from New York to Pennsylvania, and a separate allegation that a suitcase of fraudulent ballots was moved out from under a table at a voting center in Georgia. The allegation about the black suitcase was aired by Giuliani.

Byung J. "BJay" Pak, a former Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for northern Georgia, testified that his office had examined the claim about the suitcase at Barr's request and had uncovered no impropriety.

"We found that the suitcase full of ballots  was actually an official lockbox where ballots were kept safe," Pak testified.

The committee's next hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, will focus on Trump's ultimately unsuccessful attempt to enlist the Justice Department in his fight to stay in office.

Trump and his allies used claims of fraud to raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

The committee found that between Election Day and January 6, Trump and his allies leveraged its claims of election fraud to raise $250 million from supporters. Nearly $100 million came in the first week after the election, Lofgren said.

The money was supposed to support election-related litigation by Trump's team. Instead, most of the money went to a "political action committee" that the former president created after the election, Lofgren said.

The PAC in turn made millions of dollars in contributions to protest organizations, including $1 million to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows' foundation, and another $1 million to a conservative organization that employs several former Trump administration officials, Lofgren said.

"The 'big lie,' was also the 'big rip-off,'" she said.
U.S. lawmakers could bring a bipartisan package tightening gun control laws to the floor of the U.S. Senate as early as the end of this week, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Tuesday.



The agreement was something many believed was not possible just a few weeks ago, but Democrats and a good number of Republicans said we'd have to try, Schumer said.



Ten Democrats and 10 Republicans agreed over the weekend to the framework of a deal that, if passed, would fund school security and mental health services while incentivizing states to expand red-flag laws.



Schumer noted that the package would represent the most significant congressional effort toward gun control legislation since the Brady Bill, which imposed a five-day waiting period on handgun sales 28 years ago. Schumer co-authored that bill.



This agreement would enhance background checks for those under 21, help states with their red flag laws to prevent shootings before they happen, and would make it harder for domestic abusers to require a weapon by closing the boyfriend loophole, Schumer said.



Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that if the legislative text reflects the framework, he will feel comfortable voting for these new laws.



The effort came together after mass shootings that killed dozens of Americans  many of them young children  with legally obtained, military-grade weapons.



President Joe Biden said in a statement Sunday the plan "does not do everything that I think is needed, but it reflects important steps in the right direction and would be the most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades."



On Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the framework will help the president honor his promise to parents in Uvalde, Texas, to do something after 19 children and two teachers were gunned down May 24 by an attacker wielding an assault rifle inside an elementary school.



The deal does not include Biden's call for a ban on the sale of rapid-fire assault weapons that are often the weapon of choice deployed by mass shooters in the United States.



The National Rifle Association said it "does not take positions on 'frameworks.' We will make our position known when the full text of the bill is available for review."



Previous gun control measures have been opposed by the deep-pocketed group. Their legislative pressure group described a recent House bill as "unconstitutional legislation" that "threatens to turn millions of law-abiding gun owners into felons, as well as subject their lawfully acquired firearms to government confiscation without due process."



The bill the NRA referred to, among other things, would establish a minimum age of 21 for purchases of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. It also includes mandatory home storage requirements for firearms, which the group argues are unconstitutional.



Matt Valentine, a scholar and lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin who focuses on gun violence policy, told VOA that while three of the nation's gun control advocacy groups approve of the latest proposal, "many of my contacts in the gun violence prevention community are underwhelmed."



Valentine said this proposal could also give ammunition to Republican politicians looking to muster support in midterm elections later this year.



"In some ways, this Senate package could be an election-year boon for gun-friendly politicians in red states, because it will give them something to fight against," he said. "Having achieved almost total deregulation of firearms, gun rights activists in these states have been left in the awkward position of having nothing left to fight for. This proposed federal legislation will give them something to fight against."



Legislators in the U.S. have battled for years over gun laws, with Democrats almost universally supporting tighter controls and Republicans opposing them by arguing that any such moves threaten the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.



Lawmakers have spent almost a month negotiating this deal in the aftermath of shocking mass killings in Texas, New York and Oklahoma. But gun violence kills Americans on a daily basis. On Monday, according to the independent Gun Violence Archive, 12 Americans died of gunfire in separate incidents around the country.
The House of Representatives panel investigating last years January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol says it has postponed Wednesdays planned hearing.

No reason was given and the panel will still hold Thursdays planned hearing.

Mondays hearing featured videotaped testimony by former U.S. Attorney General William Barr and numerous other White House and political aides to then-President Donald Trump who said they had repeatedly told him that his allegations of fraud in the 2020 election were baseless and that he had lost reelection.

Barr said that many of Trump's claims of election irregularities were "completely bogus and silly."

"I told the president the claims of fraud were bullshit," Barr said, recalling one of his several White House meetings with Trump before resigning in late 2020.

"He was indignant about that," Barr recalled, saying he left the meeting thinking, "He's become detached from reality if he really believes" he was defrauded out of reelection.

"There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were," Barr said of Trump.

To this day, Trump claims he legitimately won the election two years ago, and that Democrat Joe Biden became president through fraudulent vote counts in several states. Recount after recount in those states, however, showed that Biden had narrowly defeated him, and that any minor irregularities uncovered would not have been enough to upend the outcome.

Polls show that many of Trump's supporters continue to believe his false claims that he won the election.

"Obviously he lost the election," Barr said of Trump. "There was zero base of evidence sufficient to overturn the election."

The investigative panel showed several videos of officials in several key states debunking Trump's claims, including that a truckload of Biden votes had been delivered to vote counters after the election, that thousands of dead people had voted, and that a ballot box of votes had suddenly been pulled from beneath a table as workers counted votes in the Southern state of Georgia.

"I told him lots of information he's getting is bogus," Richard Donoghue, a former acting deputy attorney general, testified in another video clip shown by the committee.

Former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien had been scheduled to testify Monday but bowed out after his pregnant wife had gone into labor. The committee instead played clips from his earlier testimony in which he told investigators he and others had cautioned Trump on election night to not declare victory while millions of mail-in ballots, which went heavily for Biden, had yet to be counted.

Instead, Trump listened to his longtime lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, described by witnesses as inebriated on the night of the election, who persuaded him to declare victory.

Trump, in the early hours of November 4, 2020, told supporters at the White House, "Frankly, we did win this election," and claimed that the ongoing vote counting was "a fraud on the American people."

Stepien said he did not mind being characterized as "Team Normal" for urging caution in declaring victory, compared with Giuliani and other Trump lawyers, who pushed the president's fraud claims in the weeks after the election.

In another video, committee investigator Amanda Wick alleged that the Trump campaign used his election fraud claims to raise nearly $250 million to fight the election outcome before January 6, when some 2,000 of his supporters stormed the Capitol to block lawmakers from certifying Biden's victory. But she said much of the money went to other Trump-favored political pursuits.

One member of the House panel, Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren, contended, "Not only was there the 'Big Lie'" about purported election fraud, "but the 'Big Rip-off'" raising the money.

Trump rebuttal

In a 12-page response to the hearings released on Monday, the former president continued his false claims of election fraud and said the Democrats were using the hearings to distract from a series of economic issues facing the country.

They are desperate to change the narrative of a failing nation, without even making mention of the havoc and death caused by the Radical Left just months earlier. Make no mistake, they control the government. They own this disaster. They are hoping that these hearings will somehow alter their failing prospects, Trump said in a statement.

The committee is holding a series of hearings this month to uncover how the January 6 insurrection occurred and what role Trump played in fomenting it.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, who is deciding whether the Department of Justice should prosecute Trump, said Monday of the hearings, "I am watching."

"And I can assure you the January 6 prosecutors are watching all of the hearings, as well," he told a press briefing.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.


Felicien Kabuga, an alleged financier of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, is fit to stand trial, a U.N. tribunal ruled Monday, saying it must begin "as soon as possible" in The Hague.

"The Defence has not established that Kabuga is presently unfit for trial," the ruling said, after lawyers had sought to halt proceedings on health grounds.

Kabuga was arrested on May 16, 2020, in a Paris suburb after 25 years on the run.

He is accused of helping create the Interahamwe Hutu militia, the main armed group of the 1994 genocide that claimed more than 800,000 lives, according to the United Nations.

Kabuga, 87, is currently in detention in The Hague awaiting trial before the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT), which is completing the work of the disbanded International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Various experts were involved in preparing the case for the tribunal, which "unequivocally demonstrates that Kabuga is in a vulnerable and fragile state and requires intensive medical care and monitoring," the MICT said.

The opinions of independent forensic experts differed on Kabuga's fitness to stand trial, but they agreed that his condition could render him unfit in the future, the tribunal said.

He needs "24-hour nursing care" and as such currently resides in a prison hospital, it added.

The judges conceded that the issue of Kabuga's fitness to stand trial had not been "easy to determine" and recommended that his condition be monitored continuously.

The MICT said it was in the interests of justice for the trial to begin as soon as possible and to proceed in the tribunal's branch in The Hague  rather than its Arusha chamber.

Kabuga, a former president of the Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines, which broadcast calls for the killing of Tutsis, is accused by the MICT of genocide, incitement to commit genocide and crimes against humanity.
The Kremlin says the United Kingdom should address the leaders of separatist-controlled parts of Ukraine's Donetsk region and not Moscow over two Britons sentenced to death last week for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces against Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday that British authorities had not turned to Moscow regarding the fate of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner who, along with Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim, were sentenced to death on June 9 for "mercenary activities" by what separatists called the Supreme Court of the Donetsk Peoples Republic.

"They should address the authorities of the country that pronounced the sentences, and that is not the Russian Federation," Peskov said.

Britain, the United Nations, Ukraine, and Germany have condemned the death sentences.

Aslin's family said he and Pinner were living in Ukraine when the war broke out in February and "as members of Ukrainian armed forces, should be treated with respect just like any other prisoners of war."

The father of Saaudun Brahim said on June 13 that his son is also a Ukrainian citizen and should be treated accordingly.

Britain has condemned the sentencing of its citizens as an "egregious breach" of the Geneva Convention, under which prisoners of war are entitled to combatant immunity and should not be prosecuted for participating in hostilities.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on June 14 that she would do whatever was necessary to secure the release of the two.

"I have assured the families that I will do what is most effective to secure their release and I am not going to go into our strategy live on air...The best route is through the Ukrainians," she told BBC Radio.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on June 11 that she believed the separatist authorities would ultimately act rationally, "for they are well aware of the irreparable implications for them and for the Russians if they take any wrong steps against these three of our soldiers."

Among U.N. member states, only Russia recognizes the entire Ukrainian province of Donetsk as the Donetsk Peoples Republic. The territory is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.
Britain's decision to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol is "astonishing many people around the world", Ireland's Europe affairs minister has told Sky News.

Thomas Byrne said the move, which he said was "breaking international law", would cause "reputational damage" and suggested it could encourage other nations not to comply with their treaty obligations.

Labour accused the government of pressing "the nuclear button" over the protocol. Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said it was a "fundamental breach of trust".

Politics Hub: Truss challenges critics of Rwanda deportations to come up with alternative

It comes as Brussels threatens legal action after the UK government published legislation which will override the protocol - the post-Brexit deal that governs Northern Ireland's trading arrangements.

The protocol is designed to prevent the return of a hard border with the Republic of Ireland but effectively creates a border in the Irish Sea and means exports from Britain are subject to customs checks.

The UK says that creates problems for businesses and is a threat to the power-sharing arrangements set up after the Good Friday peace agreement in 1998 - with the DUP refusing to support a new Northern Ireland government until the issues are resolved.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Sky News that the "unintended consequences" of the protocol - a deal that was signed by Britain - meant it had to act, with the situation "gradually getting worse".

"That's why the government's determined to act and we're doing so in a reasonable way," she said.

Ms Truss told Times Radio: "Our solution doesn't make the EU any worse off.

"So there is absolutely no reason why the EU should react in a negative way to what we're doing."

But Mr Byrne said: "There's no doubt that it is astonishing many people around the world that Britain would sign a treaty and then decide not to comply with it.

Story continues

"This is particularly the case when there has been a stream of negotiation there, papers produced by the European Commission to try to resolve some of the issues under the protocol.

"But the idea that you just walk away from your treaty obligations I think is really unprecedented and it's not just that Britain has done this.

"I have no doubt that other countries which may not be as committed to democracy and the rule of law as Britain is and are looking at what Britain has done, maybe they'll reconsider treaty obligations.

"Why shouldn't they if Britain does this, if Britain breaks the law?"

Labour's shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell warned of the damage that could be caused to Britain's relationship with Europe.

She told Sky News: "We don't want to start some kind of trade war - because we've pressed the nuclear button to say an agreement we signed up to only a few months ago we now want to renege on.

"That doesn't show us in a very good light internationally, just at the point when we've got a cost of living crisis in this country, problems with supply chains, problems with food imports, energy imports.

"We don't want to make that worse right now."

The bill will enable ministers to establish a "green lane" so trusted traders are allowed to move goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland without checks, as long as the products remain within the UK.

Goods supplied by firms outside the trusted trader scheme, or products destined for Ireland and the EU, would go through a red lane and face checks.

In a legal policy paper published alongside the bill, the government states the move is justified under international law because of the "genuinely exceptional situation".

The European Commission's Vice President Maros Sefcovic said the EU viewed the UK's actions with "significant concern" and that it would consider what steps to take next.

He said this would begin with the resumption of legal proceedings against the UK, which it suspended in September, over breaching the withdrawal treaty of 2020.

As well as restarting infringement proceedings against the UK, he said the EU would also look at launching further legal action to protect the integrity of the EU single market, as he ruled out renegotiating the trade protocol.
For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT:

10 p.m.: Mexicos president slammed NATOs policy on the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Monday, calling it immoral.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors did not mention NATO or the United States by name, but his comments were the latest example of his party's ambiguous stance on the invasion.

Mexico has voted to condemn the invasion but refused to join in sanctions on Russia.

Lopez Obrador said Monday that the allies policy was equivalent to saying Ill supply the weapons, and you supply the dead. It is immoral.

How easy it is to say, Here, Ill send you this much money for weapons, Lopez Obrador said. Couldn't the war in Ukraine have been avoided? Of course, it could.

9:25 p.m.: Ukraine's battle against Russian troops in the eastern region of the Donbas will determine the course of the war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday, asking his nation to stay strong in the face of Moscow's devastating attack against two key cities.

Russian forces have intensified efforts to cut off Ukrainian troops remaining in the industrial hub of Sievierodonetsk, destroying all three bridges that connect it across a river to the twin city of Lysychansk.

"Unfortunately, there are painful losses. But we must stay strong. This is our nation," Zelenskyy said in a video address Tuesday evening.

"Hanging in there in Donbas is crucial. Donbas is the key to deciding who will dominate in the coming weeks," he added.

8:55 p.m.: Washington said Tuesday it will continue to allow payments to Russia for energy products through December 5, to give European countries time to prepare for a near-total oil embargo in retaliation for Moscow's war on Ukraine.

The exemption from devastating U.S. financial sanctions, which effectively severed Russia from most of the global financial system, was to expire June 24.

The renewed carve-out will "align our regulations with the implementation timing of the European Union's ban on crude oil" from Russia, a Treasury spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.

8:17 p.m.: The European Union wants to strengthen its energy cooperation with Israel, the European Commission chief said Tuesday.

Ursula von der Leyen's remarks came as Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, also visiting Israel, said Rome was seeking to boost gas supplies from Israel as EU members eye options to diminish their reliance on Russian energy.

"The Kremlin has used our dependency on Russian fossil fuels to blackmail us," von der Leyen said in a speech at Ben Gurion University in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.

Israel exports gas to Egypt, some of which is then liquefied and shipped to Europe. A significant increase in gas exports would require major long-term infrastructure investments.

In talks with Israeli Energy Minister Karine Elharrar on Monday, von der Leyen reiterated "the EU need for Israeli gas," the minister's spokesperson said.

7:45 p.m.: WNBA star Brittney Griner will remain in Russian custody through at least July 2, Russian state-run news agency Tass reported Tuesday.

The 31-year-old American basketball player has been held in Russia since February when she was detained at a Moscow airport after authorities there claimed she was carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. The U.S. Department of State last month reclassified her as wrongfully detained, according to The Associated Press.

The Khimki district court of the Moscow region extended Griner's detention for a third time, according to the Tass report, which also cited a top Russian diplomat as saying that Moscow will not consider including Griner in a detainee swap "until a court investigation into her case is completed."

7:05 p.m.: Busking for Ukraine. The money she raised will go toward first aid equipment, bulletproof vests, a drone, a portable solar power plant, stretchers, blankets and medicine, the girl's mother, Ksenya Reut, told Reuters.

6:15 p.m.: NATO must build out "even higher readiness" and strengthen its weapons capabilities along its eastern border in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the military alliance's chief said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke after informal talks at The Hague with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the leaders of Denmark, Poland, Latvia, Romania, Portugal and Belgium ahead of a wider NATO summit in Madrid at the end of the month.

"Ukraine should have more heavy weapons and NATO allies and partners have provided heavy weapons ... and they are also stepping up," Stoltenberg said, responding to a call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"In terms of weaponry, we stand united here that it is crucial for Russia to lose the war," Dutch leader Rutte told reporters. "And as we cannot have a direct confrontation between NATO troops and Russia, what we need to do is make sure that Ukraine can fight that war, that it has access to all the necessary weaponry."

5:35 p.m.: U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday disclosed a Western plan to build silos on the borders of Ukraine to facilitate export of grain caught in a Russian blockade of Black Sea ports.

Biden blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for high food prices in the United States and warned that the plan for new infrastructure to help get more Ukrainian wheat to world markets was "taking time."

"I'm working closely with our European partners to get 20 million tons of grain locked in Ukraine out onto the market to help bring down food prices," Biden said in a speech to a trade union convention in Philadelphia, Agence France-Presse reported.

4:55 p.m.: Ukraine has received 10% of the weapons it requested from the West to help fight off the Russian offensive, the deputy defense minister said Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reported.

"No matter how hard Ukraine tries, no matter how professional our army is, without the help of Western partners we will not be able to win this war," Anna Malyar said in televised remarks.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again appealed for heavy weapons from the West.

"I am grateful for what is coming, but it must come faster," he told Danish journalists in an online briefing.

4 p.m.: About 5 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to other parts of Europe since Russias assault on their homeland began in February. Among them: nearly three dozen dancers from the Kyiv City Ballet. Theyve found refuge in Paris and continue to perform and plan foreign tours, but the conflict is never far away. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more from Paris.

3:29 p.m.: Eight-year-old Yegor Kravtsov kept a secret diary in Mariupol as Ukrainian forces put up an increasingly desperate defense against Russian troops. He has now fled with his mother and sister to Zaporizhzhya, where his diary remains a precious if harrowing insight into life under the Russian siege. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has this story.



3:18 p.m.: Nearly two-thirds of the children in Ukraine have been uprooted during the war, according to a U.N. official who visited the country last week, The Associated Press reported. The war in Ukraine is a child rights crisis, Afshan Khan told a news briefing Tuesday. Shes the Europe and Central Asia director for UNICEF, the U.N. childrens agency.



Khan said 277 children in Ukraine have been killed and another 456 injured, mostly due to explosives used in urban areas. She said the number of damaged schools is likely in the thousands, and only about 25% of schools in Ukraine are even operational.



Millions of Ukrainian women and children have fled the country since the Russian invasion in February.

3:01 p.m.: Ukrainian investigators have discovered a mass grave where bodies were found with their hands bound behind their backs and bullet holes in their heads and knees in Bucha, near Kyiv. Some 12,000 civilian killings are being investigated in Ukraine in the wake of Russia's invasion. Police officer Andriy Nebitov showed journalists the scene. (WARNING: Viewers may find the content of this video disturbing.)

2:49 p.m.: A top U.S. defense official Tuesday admitted Russian forces have been making more progress in the south of Ukraine since shift their attention to the Donbas but cautioned the against overstating the advances, VOAs National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin reported.



The [Russian] gains are really on any given day measured in blocks," Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told a virtual forum. They are not large, sweeping breakthroughs of Ukrainian defenses." Kahl, though, also warned Russias early failures have likely done little to temper what Kahl described as Russian President Vladmir Putins imperial ambitions.



"Our sense is that he has not changed his overall objectives," he said. "I still think he has designs on a significant portion of Ukraine if not the whole country." For now, the U.S. and its Western allies are focused on boosting Ukraines ability to punch back at Russia in what has become an artillery-heavy gunfight in eastern Ukraine.



That includes delivery of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HiMARS), with a range of about 70 kilometers, which were part of a $700 million security package announced earlier this month. Kahl said Tuesday that Ukrainian forces are completing training as we speak, and that the systems could be deployed to the front lines shortly.



2:44 p.m.: Experts are likening some of the trench-based warfare in Ukraine to battles fought during World War I, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday.

2:23 p.m.: An array of aerial drones are playing a critical role for both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries as they fight over Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. Ukrainian forces are using commercial drones for surveillance and have destroyed several Russian tanks with Turkish-built Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicles. Russia's fleet of Orlan-10 drones, meanwhile, help pinpoint artillery fire with deadly accuracy. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has this story.

2:17 p.m.: Russia for years hosted world leaders and business titans at its annual economic forum in St Petersburg, but the "Russian Davos" will see little of the global financial elite this time around with Moscow isolated by sanctions over its actions in Ukraine.



This week, to make up for the lack of attendees personifying Western economic might and stardust, Russia is giving pride of place to smaller players or countries like China  the world's second largest economy  that have not joined in sanctions.

1:51 p.m.: "Bulava" is the name of a volunteer organization created by young Ukrainians in the Washington, D.C., area after Russia invaded Ukraine. The group collects funds and basic supplies for those who need them most back home. For VOA, Maxim Moskalkov reports from Washington.

1:36 p.m.: The Kremlin says Russia would be ready to consider a UK appeal over the fate of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting for Ukraine, The Associated Press reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said neither Moscow nor the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine who passed the sentence had heard from London on the issue.



You need to apply ... to the authorities of the country whose court passed the verdict, and that is not the Russian Federation, Peskov said. But, of course, everything will depend on appeals from London. And I am sure that the Russian side will be ready to listen.



Britons Aiden Aslin and Sean Pinner, and Moroccan national Brahim Saadoun, were sentenced to death last week for allegedly fighting as mercenaries for Ukraine in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic held by Russia-backed separatists. London called the proceedings a sham. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said earlier Tuesday that the best route to secure Aslin and Pinners release was through the Ukrainians, but added that she would do whatever it takes.



Separatist authorities said all three had a month to appeal their sentence. Kyiv has pledged to try to secure their release through a prisoner swap with Russia.



1:05 p.m.: The U.S. Tennis Association on Tuesday issued guidelines for players from Russia and Belarus who want to compete in the 2022 U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 29.

12:36 p.m.: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and a small group of leaders from alliance countries are meeting in the Netherlands to discuss Russias war in Ukraine and to prepare for a summit in Spain later this month, The Associated Press reported.



The informal gathering is being held Tuesday evening at Dutch Prime Minister Mark Ruttes official residence at The Hague and co-hosted by Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen. The other leaders attending were Romanias president, and the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland, Portugal and Latvia.



Against a backdrop of war on the alliances eastern edge, the talks will likely also address applications by Sweden and Finland to join the alliance. Both countries applied in May to join NATO after decades of military non-alignment. That changed after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vetoed their entry until the two countries change their policies on supporting Kurdish militants deemed by Ankara to be terrorists.

12:07 p.m.:

11:58 a.m.: Russia has banned 49 British journalists and defense figures from entering Russia, saying they have distributed false information about the war in Ukraine or been responsible for arms deliveries to the country, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.



The 29 journalists blacklisted are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information" about Russia and the events in Ukraine and Donbas, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.



"With their biased assessments, they also contribute to fueling Russophobia in British society," the statement said. The journalists represent major outlets, including the BBC, Sky News, the Financial Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Independent and the Guardian. The list includes news anchors, editors, and senior managers.

11:41 a.m.: Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that if the West provides his country with long-range missiles, they will only be used against military targets and would not be used to strike inside Russia, the Kyiv Independent reported Tuesday.



11:25 a.m.: The prime ministers of NATO members Albania and Montenegro are heading for Kyiv after an invitation from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, The Associated Press reported. Albanias Edi Rama announced the trip on social media, with a photo of him boarding a plane Tuesday accompanied by Montenegros Dritan Abazovic. Both Balkan countries have denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine and joined the sanctions against Moscow.

11:17 a.m.: The European Unions executive arm is expected to decide soon whether to recommend that Ukraine be granted candidate status for EU membership. The EU Commission  which must unanimously approve the recommendation  is set to debate the issue at a summit on June 23 and 24. While some EU leaders have signaled support for the move, some member states are more reluctant. VOAs Myroslava Gongadze reports from Warsaw.

10:41 a.m.: The U.N. World Health Organization on Tuesday said it has developed guidelines for displaced Ukrainians to verify their vaccination records.

10:25 a.m.: Russia's war in Ukraine isnt remotely funny. But Ukrainians are learning to laugh about the awfulness. Stand-up comics Serhiy Lipko and Anastasia Zukhvala are among those using humor as a weapon and to keep spirits up, The Associated Press reported.

10:00 a.m.: "We have enough weapons. What we don't have enough of are the weapons that really hits the range that we need to reduce the advantage of the Russian Federation's equipment," Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at an online press briefing organized by Danish publishing house Berlingske Media, according to Reuters.

9:32 a.m.: Two military couples who met during the war celebrated their wedding in Ukraines Donbas region, the Kyiv Independent reported.

9:24 a.m.: Graduation photos are a usually a happy reminder of one of life's biggest milestones. For a group of students in Ukraine's war-torn city of Chernihiv, their nontraditional graduation photos, with the city's destruction as a backdrop, serve as a record of lives interrupted by military conflict. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty spoke with Ukrainian photographer Stanislav Senyk about the striking images he captured.

9:13 a.m.: The Kremlin says Britain should address Ukraines separatist leaders regarding the two UK Nationals sentenced to death, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

9:00 a.m.: The European Commission on Tuesday published a report providing guidance to help people fleeing the war in Ukraine to access jobs, training and adult learning. Ensuring a swift and effective integration into the labor market is important both for host communities and for those fleeing the war to rebuild their lives, continue developing their skills and, eventually, support reconstruction in Ukraine, the report said.

8:50 a.m.: The Russian ruble hit three-week highs against the euro and U.S. dollar in volatile trading on Tuesday, continuing to climb despite recent interest rate cuts and a looming economic crisis, Reuters reported.

8:40 a.m.: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been abruptly transferred from the prison where he is serving an 11-1/2 year sentence to an undisclosed location, nearly two years since he was poisoned with what the West said was a nerve agent, Reuters reported. Navalny, by far Russia's most prominent opposition leader, casts President Vladimir Putin's Russia as a dystopian state run by thieves and criminals where wrong is cast as right and judges are in fact representatives of a doomed elite.

8:27 a.m.: The war In Ukraine is said to be causing livestock deaths In central Kazakhstan, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

8:24 a.m.: Civilians may be allowed to evacuate from the besieged eastern Ukrainian town of Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday, the Kyiv Independent reported.

8:06 a.m.:

7:44 a.m.: Sievierodonetsk, the main focus of the fighting in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, isnt yet blocked off by Russian troops even though they control about 80% of the city and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it, an official said Tuesday.

There is still an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press by phone. Still, Haidai acknowledged that the mass evacuation of civilians now is simply not possible due to the relentless shelling and fighting in the city. Ukrainian forces have been pushed out to the industrial outskirts of the city because of the scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using, he said.

About 12,000 people remain in Sievierodonetsk, a city with a pre-war population of 100,000. More than 500 civilians are sheltering in the Azot chemical plant, which is also being relentlessly pounded by the Russians, according to Haidai. In all, a total of 70 civilians have been evacuated from the Luhansk region over the past 24 hours, the governor said.

7:20 a.m.:

7:16 a.m.: Ukraine says that its air defense system shot down two Russian cruise missiles targeting the Odesa region, The Associated Press reported. Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odesa regional military administration, thanked the countrys air defense forces for striking down two enemy cruise missiles.

There was no independent confirmation and it was not clear if any missiles hit their targets. Reports of overnight shelling came from other Ukrainian regions as well, with five people were wounded in the Kharkiv region.

Day after day, Russia is pounding the Donbas region of Ukraine with relentless artillery and air raids, making slow but steady progress to seize the industrial heartland of its neighbor. With the conflict now in its fourth month, its a high-stakes campaign that could dictate the course of the entire war.

7:12 a.m.:

7:09 a.m.: Germany is struggling to find a way to wrest control of a Russian-owned refinery that supplies most of Berlin's fuel, four people close to the matter said, fearing retaliation by Moscow if the site is nationalized and as Western firms hesitate to step in. The PCK refinery in Schwedt, majority-owned by Russian oil giant Rosneft, is testing Germany's resolve to eliminate imports of oil from Russia by the end of the year under fresh European sanctions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported.

7:07 a.m.:

6:52 a.m.: Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday that they had have received the bodies of 64 Azovstal defenders in yet another body swap with Russia, The Associated Press reported.

The statement by the Ministry for Reintegration of Occupied Territories said the exchange took place in the Zaporizhzhia region but didnt clarify how many bodies were returned to Russia. It was one of the several body swaps the warring sides have conducted.

Earlier this month Moscow and Kyiv exchanged 160 bodies each. Russian officials havent commented on the exchanges, and there was no immediate confirmation from Moscow on the swap reported by Ukraine on Tuesday.

6:45 a.m.:

6:34 a.m.: The Kremlin said on Tuesday it was "sure" that Russian-backed separatist leaders in the Donbas would be willing to listen to an appeal from Britain over the fate of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting for Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call that London had not contacted Moscow about the issue.

A court in the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine last week sentenced Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun to death, saying they were guilty of "mercenary activities."

6:16 a.m.:

6:09 a.m.: Four people were injured on Tuesday by shelling in a Russian town in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, the regional governor said, according to Reuters. The incident occurred in the town of Klintsy, some 50 kilometres (miles) from the Ukrainian border. "A few houses were damaged and four people injured, according to preliminary information," regional governor Alexander Bogomaz wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Meanwhile, Russia struck an artillery weapons depot with Kalibr cruise missiles in Ukraine's Chernihiv region, Reuters quoted the RIA news agency as reporting on Tuesday, citing the Russian defense ministry. Russian air defense forces shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet and an Mi-24 helicopter, the TASS news agency reported, citing the ministry.

6:01 a.m.:

5:55 a.m.: Agence France-Presse shared the latest map of Ukraines battleground status as of June 14.

5:45 a.m.: Ukraines military said in an update about the conflict that Russian forces were trying to gain a foothold in the central part of the city.

Sievierodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said that despite the Russian attempt to storm the city, the Ukrainian military is holding firm.

5:35 a.m.: The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday that Russias legislation on foreign agents violated the rights of the groups designated as such and ordered Russia to pay many of them compensation, Reuters reported.

In its ruling in the case of seventy-three Russian groups designated as foreign agents, Europes top human rights court said the law violated freedom of assembly and association.

The court said the use of political activity as a criterion to designate groups as foreign agents produced incoherent results and engendered uncertainty among NGOs wishing to engage in civil society activities relating to, in particular, human rights or the protection of the environment or charity work.

Russian human rights groups Agora, one of the applicants in ECHR case, hailed the ruling as a big victory.

Russia adopted its first law on foreign agents in 2012. It has since been expanded to include non-profit organizations, media outlets and individual Russian citizens including journalists and activists.

4:30 a.m.: Regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Monday on Telegram that Russian troops controlled about 70% of the Sievierodonetsk, and that the citys Azot chemical plant was being heavily shelled.

Haidai said about 500 civilians remained on the grounds of the plant and that Ukraines military was trying to get them to safety.

3:35 a.m.: British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Tuesday she would do whatever was necessary to secure the release two British nationals who have been sentenced to death by Russian proxy authorities in Donbas, Reuters reported.

Asked whether she was prepared to negotiate directly with the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Truss told BBC Radio: I will do whatever is necessary to secure their release.

I have assured the families that I will do what is most effective to secure their release and I am not going to go into our strategy live on air ... The best route is through the Ukrainians.

2:30 a.m.: Agence France-Presse shares aerial images of Ukraines destroyed Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

2:15 a.m.: The U.K.s ministry of defense said Tuesday Russias operational main effort remains the assault against the Sievierodonetsk pocket in the Donbas in its daily battleground report. The report said Russias troops and mainly its Western Group of forces have likely made small advances in the Kharkiv sector for the first time in several weeks.

The report also predicted that Russia would increase its state defense spending, however, that its defense industry could struggle to meet many of these requirements, partially due to the effects of sanctions and lack of expertise.

2:05 a.m.: Pope Francis refused the distinction between good and bad in the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing La Stampa, a daily Italian newspaper. The Pope was having a conversation with editors of Jesuit European cultural magazines, the report added.

Asked if he was in favor of Russias President Vladimir Putin, the Pope answered: No, I am not, I am simply opposed to reducing complexity to distinction between good and bad.

Pope Francis hopes to meet Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church in September in Kazakhstan, he added.

1:00 a.m.: Australian farmers confidence fell in the latest quarter, as rising production costs took some shine off high commodity prices and prospects of a bumper harvest, a survey showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Although the war in Ukraine is driving up farms selling prices, especially for grains, those rises are needed to offset higher input costs, according to Rabobank, which conducted the survey. The study found that about 50% of Australian farmers believed the war in Ukraine would hurt farm businesses. Only 28% expected business conditions to improve in the next 12 months, compared with 31% in the previous quarter.

Overall, farmers expected their incomes to be stable for the coming 12 months.

12:01 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the battle for the Donbas region will surely go down in military history as one of the most violent battles in Europe  for us, the price of this battle is very high. It is just scary, Zelenskyy said late Monday.

He added a repeated call for partner countries to send Ukraine modern artillery to use against Russian forces.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Pakistans northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has decided to allow public sector employees to work from home on Fridays in a bid to conserve fuel and electricity amid a deepening energy crisis facing the country.

The work-from-home policy was inspired by the rising prices of electricity and oil, Taimur Khan Jhagra, the provincial finance minister, told VOA on Tuesday. He spoke a day after presenting the budget to the regional legislature in Peshawar, the provincial capital.

He argued that various private sectors across the world are incorporating work-from-home in their own respective ways, and his government has taken the initiative to introduce the policy in the public sector to deal with growing financial and energy challenges.

In a government of 600,000 people, if half of them can actually work from home, the fuel savings and the electricity savings we believe will amount to between 2 and 5 billion rupees ($1=205 rupees) a year, which for a government like ours is a huge savings, Jhagra noted.

The provincial minister explained government departments will identify staff that actually do need to work on Friday, but crucial services such as the police, schools and hospitals will continue to run beyond four days a week.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, is Pakistans third most populous province. It is being governed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of former prime minister Imran Khan.

The energy conservation measure follows a similar decision by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifs fiscally constrained government earlier this month to eliminate Saturday as a workday and cut the volume of fuel allocated to its employees by about 40%, while considering the option of work-from-home on Fridays.

Pakistan is facing a shortfall of 7,000 megawatts in its electricity generation. The country has an installed capacity of 35,000 megawatts, and demand during summer season peaks at 27,000 megawatts.

But officials said only about 20,000 megawatts of electricity is currently being produced because independently operated power plants that rely on imported fuel have sharply reduced production as a result of rising oil prices amid Russias war on Ukraine. They noted that hydropower generation also has been far below capacity because of a lack of rain in Pakistan.

The power crisis has led to hours of daily planned blackouts across Pakistan, undermining business activities and life routines. Parts of the country experience temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) in summer.

Officials cautioned that the supply-and-demand crisis will persist throughout the summer season until imported fuel prices drop. The energy crisis has drawn strong criticism from Sharifs unity government, which came to office in April.

Cash-strapped Pakistan urgently needs the International Monetary Fund to restart a bailout package amid rising global oil prices. Islamabads foreign exchange reserves are also rapidly depleting and stood at about $9 billion as of Monday, barely enough to subsidize several weeks of imports.

The delay in securing the IMF deal has worsened Pakistans energy crisis. The government unveiled a $47 billion budget Friday for 2022-23, which is aimed at tight fiscal consolidation in a bid to convince the IMF to restart much-needed bailout payments.

The international lender wants Islamabad to bring its budget for the new fiscal year starting next month in line with the objectives of the $6 billion bailout program.

"Our preliminary estimate is that additional measures will be needed to strengthen the budget and bring it in line with key program objectives," said Esther Perez Ruiz, the IMF country representative.

Pakistan's finance minister said Saturday the IMF had expressed concerns about the budget numbers, including fuel subsidies, a widening current account deficit, and the need to raise more direct taxes.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
About 5 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to other parts of Europe since Russias assault on their homeland began in February. Among them: nearly three dozen dancers from the Kyiv City Ballet. Theyve found refuge in Paris and continue to perform and plan foreign tours, but the conflict is never far away. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more from Paris.
Alleging the "spreading of false information..., Russia on Tuesday banned 29 British journalists, media representatives and 20 defense figures from entering the country.



"The British journalists included in the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and events in Ukraine and Donbas," the ministry said in a statement.



"With their biased assessments, they also contribute to fueling Russophobia in British society."



Among those banned were several high-profile journalists from outlets such as Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent and Guardian newspapers.



Among the defense industry figures banned were Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Benjamin Key, junior defense minister Jeremy Quin, and senior figures at the defense and aerospace firms BAE Systems and Thales UK.



"It's sad, but not entirely surprising," said Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russia who is among those banned.

The British government has so far offered more than $937 million in military support to Ukraine, including air-defense systems, thousands of anti-tank missiles, various types of munitions, hundreds of armored vehicles, and other equipment.



Some information in this report comes from Reuters and RFE/RL.
Russia now controls about 80% of Ukraine's eastern industrial city of Sievierodonetsk and has destroyed all three bridges leading out of it, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Tuesday.



With Russia's destruction of bridges, Haidai acknowledged that a mass evacuation of civilians from Sievierodonetsk now is "simply not possible" because of Moscow's relentless shelling and fighting in the city.



He said Ukrainian forces have been pushed to the outskirts of the city because of "the scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using."



But Haidai told The Associated Press that Russian forces had not blocked off access to the city, leaving Ukraine with "an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents."

About 12,000 of the city's original population of 100,000 remain, with 500 civilians sheltering in the Azot chemical plant, which is being shelled by the Russians.



Russian Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev said a humanitarian corridor will be opened Wednesday to evacuate civilians from the chemical plant, but that they will be taken to the town of Svatovo, which is under control of Russian and separatist forces.



Slowly, but relentlessly, Russia appears to be gaining the upper hand in the fight for control of the Donbas region, which encompasses the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces of Ukraine that Russia recognizes as independent states.



"The situation is difficult," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a news conference Tuesday with Danish media. "Our task is to fight back."



Zelenskyy said the battle for the Donbas region "will surely go down in military history as one of the most violent battles in Europe."



"For us, the price of this battle is very high. It is just scary," Zelenskyy said late Monday.



He repeated a call for partner countries to send Ukraine modern artillery to use against Russian forces.

Zelenskyys adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said Monday that Ukraine is waiting for a decision on more military aid as participants in the U.S.-led Contact Group meet Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Podolyak, tweeted that to end the war we need heavy weapons parity. He listed several categories of weapons, including 1,000 howitzers, 300 multiple launch rocket systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles and 1,000 drones.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is convening the meeting at NATO headquarters. A virtual meeting of the group last month drew representatives from 47 countries, NATO and the European Union.

Austin said after the May talks that the group was intensifying our efforts and working to deepen coordination with Ukraine so that Ukraine can sustain and strengthen its battlefield operations.

Britains defense ministry said Monday that in recent days the battle around Sievierodonetsk has continued to rage.

The ministry said Russias ability to carry out river crossing operations will likely be one of the most important factors in the war in the coming months.

To achieve success in the current operational phase of its Donbas offensive, Russia is either going to have to complete ambitious flanking actions, or conduct assault river crossings, it said.

Russia claims it already controls 97% of the Luhansk province where Sievierodonetsk is located. But capturing the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, with a prewar population of 100,000, remains crucial to Moscows broader goal of controlling the eastern Donbas region, which encompasses the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.

Russia seized Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and Kyivs forces have been fighting pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region since then.

Some material in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse.
Warring parties Saudi Arabia and the Yemen's Houthi movement have resumed direct talks to discuss security along the kingdom's border and future relations under any peace deal with Yemen, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The so far sporadic negotiations between the two sides resumed last month before the scheduled renewal of a U.N.-brokered truce which was extended by another two months on June 2.

The resumption in talks is a positive sign for efforts by the United Nations and United States to find a political settlement to the conflict which has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.

The virtual talks between senior Saudi and Houthi officials were facilitated by Oman, both sources said, with one adding that there were also plans for a face-to-face meeting in Muscat if there is enough progress.

The Saudi government did not respond to a request for comment. A Houthi official declined to comment.

After years of military stalemate in which a Saudi-led coalition failed to dislodge the Houthis from the capital Sanaa, Riyadh is seeking to build ties with the Iran-aligned movement which still controls large swaths of Yemen's 1,300-kilometre (800 miles) border with the kingdom.

The sources said Saudi and Houthi officials were discussing a long-term border security agreement as well as Riyadh's concerns over the group's arsenal of ballistic missiles and armed drones used to carry out repeated attacks on Saudi cities, the sources said.

The Saudi-led coalition accuses Iran of arming and funding the movement, which has turned from ragtag militia to an established Yemeni force over the course of the war. Both Tehran and the group deny the charge.

Trust building

Meanwhile the U.N. envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg has been trying to persuade Houthi leaders to withdraw their forces from at least one main road in the disputed southwestern city of Taiz, according to one of the sources and a third person familiar with the talks.

The re-opening of the Habwan road was one of the conditions set by the Houthis' rival, the Saudi-backed government as a condition for renewing the truce.

But the Houthis have so far resisted, arguing that the Hawban road is a frontline and that the redeployment of troops was not part of the truce agreement, according to the sources.

The Houthis ousted the internationally recognised government from Sanaa in late 2014, prompting the coalition to intervene months later. The group says it is fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.

The conflict is widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which launched direct talks last year aimed at containing tensions and that have largely focused on Yemen.

Riyadh has also come under pressure from Washington and other Western allies to end the war.

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to visit Riyadh in mid-July, sources have said, and talks are expected to include Gulf security concerns at a time when efforts by global powers to revive a nuclear deal with Iran have stalled.
A court in Senegal on Monday sentenced a fugitive rebel leader and two other men to life in prison for murder and armed insurrection over a massacre that claimed 14 lives.



Cesar Atoute Badiate, head of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), a rebel group fighting for autonomy in the southern Senegalese region, was sentenced in his absence for the killings.



Omar Ampoi Bodian, another member of the group, and journalist Rene Capain Bassene, received the same sentence, their lawyer, Cire Cledor Ly, told AFP.



The court in Ziguinchor, the main city in Casamance, handed down six-month suspended sentences to two other defendants and acquitted 11 others.



The cases arose out of an incident on January 6, 2018, when 14 men were rounded up and executed as they went to cut wood in a protected forest near Ziguinchor.



Casamance rebel fighters used the forest as a base and the Senegalese authorities accuse them of financing their activities by trafficking the wood, as well as cannabis.

The rebel group denied any involvement, accusing corrupt local officials.



Ly said his clients had been the victims of a "judicial swindle," arguing that those who had escaped the massacre had not recognized the accused, and that some of the defendants had been tortured.



Casamance, Senegal's southernmost region, is almost separated from the rest of the country by the tiny state of Gambia. It has a distinct culture and language derived from its past as a former Portuguese colony.



The MFDC has led a low-intensity separatist campaign since 1982 that has claimed several thousand lives.



But the conflict was mostly dormant until Senegal launched a major offensive last year to drive out the rebels.
A court in Senegal on Monday sentenced a fugitive rebel leader and two other men to life in prison for murder and armed insurrection over a massacre that claimed 14 lives.

Cesar Atoute Badiate, head of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), a rebel group fighting for autonomy in the southern Senegalese region, was sentenced in his absence for the killings.

Omar Ampoi Bodian, another member of the group, and journalist Rene Capain Bassene, received the same sentence, their lawyer, Cire Cledor Ly, told AFP.

The court in Ziguinchor, the main city in Casamance, handed down six-month suspended sentences to two other defendants and acquitted 11 others.

The cases arose out of an incident on January 6, 2018, when 14 men were rounded up and executed as they went to cut wood in a protected forest near Ziguinchor.

Casamance rebel fighters used the forest as a base and the Senegalese authorities accuse them of financing their activities by trafficking the wood, as well as cannabis.

The rebel group denied any involvement, accusing corrupt local officials.

Ly said his clients had been the victims of a "judicial swindle," arguing that those who had escaped the massacre had not recognized the accused, and that some of the defendants had been tortured.

Casamance, Senegal's southernmost region, is almost separated from the rest of the country by the tiny state of The Gambia. It has a distinct culture and language derived from its past as a former Portuguese colony.

The MFDC has led a low-intensity separatist campaign since 1982 that has claimed several thousand lives.

But the conflict was mostly dormant until Senegal launched a major offensive last year to drive out the rebels.
As public pressure mounts for more information on the deadly Uvalde school shooting, some are concerned that Texas officials will use a legal loophole to block records from being released  even to the victims' families  once the case is closed.



Since the May 24 shooting at a Texas elementary school that left 19 kids and two teachers dead, law enforcement officials have provided little or conflicting information, sometimes withdrawing statements hours after making them. State police have said some accounts were preliminary and may change as more witnesses are interviewed.



A number of questions remain unanswered by authorities: Why did police take more than an hour to enter the classroom and confront the gunman? What do their body cameras show? How did law enforcement officers communicate with one another and the victims during the attack? What happened when dozens of officers gathered outside the classroom, yet refrained from pursuing the shooter?



Officials have declined to release more details, citing the investigation. In a letter received Thursday by The Associated Press and other media outlets, a law firm representing the City of Uvalde asked for the Texas attorney general's office to rule on records requested in relation to the shooting, citing 52 legal areas  including the section containing the loophole  that they believe exempt the records from being released. Amid the growing silence, lawyers and advocates for the victim's families are beginning to fear they may never get the answers, that authorities will close the case and rely on the exception to the Texas Public Information law to block the release of any further information.



"They could make that decision; they shouldn't have that choice," said Democratic state Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso, who since 2017 has led several efforts to amend the loophole. "To understand what our government is doing should not be that difficult  and right now it is very difficult."



The law's exception protects information from being released in crimes for which no one has been convicted. The Texas Attorney General's Office has ruled that it applies when a suspect is dead. Salvador Ramos, the 18-year-old man who police say was responsible for the mass killing at Robb Elementary School, was fatally shot by law enforcement.



The loophole was created in the 1990s to protect those wrongfully accused or whose cases were dismissed, according to Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. "It is meant to protect the innocent," Shannon said. But she said that in some cases "it is being used and misused in a way that was never intended."



Following the shooting, Texas House of Representatives Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, took to Twitter to voice his continued support for closing the loophole during the Texas Legislature's next session, which begins in January 2023.



"More than anything, the families of the Uvalde victims need honest answers and transparency," Phelan tweeted. He said it would be "absolutely unconscionable" to deny information based on the "dead suspect loophole."



Charley Wilkison, executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, said the organization was opposed and "will always be opposed" to a loophole amendment proposed in previous years that he said would have allowed the release of records pertaining to law enforcement officers, even those falsely accused of wrongdoing. He said that would negatively affect the officers' ability to keep working. But Wilkison said he would be willing to participate in future discussions in an attempt to find a middle ground.



Public focus in the Uvalde shooting has been on school district police Chief Pete Arredondo. Steven McCraw, head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said recently that Arredondo believed the active shooting had turned into a hostage situation, and that he made the "wrong decision" to not order officers to breach the classroom more quickly to confront the gunman.



Arredondo has not responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press. In an interview with The Texas Tribune published Thursday, however, he said he did not consider himself in charge of the law enforcement response and assumed someone else had taken control.



The New York Times reported Thursday that it obtained documents showing police waited for protective equipment as they delayed entering the campus, even as they became aware that some victims needed medical treatment.



If efforts to amend the public information loophole fail and law enforcement continues to refuse to release information, families could turn to any involved federal agencies. In one case in Mesquite, Texas, the parents of an 18-year-old who died after being arrested received records from federal authorities showing that police had used more force against their son than they had originally understood. The police had refused to turn over any information under the legal loophole.



"If someone dies in police custody, this is when we would want to open all of our records," the father, Robert Dyer, said as he testified before the legislature in 2019 in favor of amending the legal exception.



Mayra Guillen said she and her family were stymied by the state loophole when they tried to get details on a case involving her sister Vanessa Guillen. Authorities say the 20-year-old soldier was killed at a Texas military base by fellow soldier Aaron Robinson, who then disposed of her body.



Military officials and law enforcement said Robinson pulled a gun and shot himself as police were trying to make contact with him. But local police wouldn't allow Vanessa Guillen's family to view the officers' body camera footage of the confrontation because the suspect hadn't been convicted, Mayra Guillen said.



"We were honestly just trying to receive closure and see if what was being said was true," Guillen said. "It is only right to have these records be public to some extent. It is so hard to tell whether there will be justice or not."
The first flight to take migrants arriving illegally in Britain to Rwanda can go ahead on Tuesday, Britain's Supreme Court ruled, after judges dismissed campaigners' latest attempt to win an injunction to stop it.



Charities and a trade union had launched a fresh, last-minute appeal against the government's plan to send asylum seekers to the East African nation after the High Court and Court of Appeal said the first planned flight could depart.



The Supreme Court judge Robert Reed refused lawyers for the human rights groups request to appeal the decision. The flight is due to depart late on Tuesday.



An application for judicial review is expected to be heard in July when the question will be decided whether the government's policy is lawful or not, the judge noted, but that was not a reason to stop the flight.



"Rwanda will take all reasonable steps in accordance with international human rights standards to make a relocated individual available for return to the United Kingdom should the United Kingdom be legally obliged to facilitate that person's return," Reed said.



"In the light of that assurance, and for the reasons that I've explained, the court refuses permission to appeal."
China's defence minister has criticised the US over its recent comments on Taiwan

Weeks after the US president warned China over Taiwan, Beijing has delivered its sternest rebuttal yet, saying it would "resolutely crush any attempt" at Taiwan's independence.

On Sunday, China's Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe essentially accused the US of supporting the island's independence, saying it was "violating its promise on Taiwan" and "interfering" in China's affairs.

"Let me make this clear: if anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, we will not hesitate to fight. We will fight at all costs and we will fight to the very end. This is the only choice for China," he said at the Shangri-la Dialogue, an Asian security summit held in Singapore.

His comments follow US President Joe Biden's recent message to China that it was "flirting with danger" by flying its warplanes close to Taiwan. He vowed to protect the island militarily if it was attacked.

Taiwan, which considers itself a sovereign nation, has long been claimed by China. But Taiwan also counts the US as its biggest ally, and Washington has a law which requires it to help the island defend itself.

The escalation in rhetoric comes as China increasingly sends warplanes into Taiwan's air defence zone - flying their largest sortie of the year just last month - while the US has sent naval ships through Taiwan's waters.

So are the US and China moving towards a military conflict?

Minding the gap

One major fear is that war would be triggered if China invades Taiwan. Beijing has said in the past it could reclaim the island by force if necessary.

But most analysts say this is not likely - for now.

There has been debate over whether China has the military capability to succeed in an invasion, and Taiwan has been considerably ramping up its air and sea defences.

But many agree that Beijing recognises that such a move would be too costly and disastrous - not only for China, but also for the world.

Story continues

"There's a lot of rhetoric, but the Chinese have to mind the gap very carefully if they want to launch an invasion of Taiwan, especially so close to the Ukraine crisis. The Chinese economy is far more interconnected with the global economy than Russia's is," says William Choong, senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

China's consistent position has been that it seeks "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan - something that Gen Wei reiterated on Sunday - and that it would only act if faced with a provocation.

One trigger would likely be Taiwan formally declaring independence. But this is something that its President Tsai Ing-wen has strenuously avoided, even as she insists they are already a sovereign state.

Most Taiwanese support this position, which is known as "maintaining the status quo", though increasingly a small number say they want to move toward independence.

Similarly, the US would be reluctant to be drawn into a costly military conflict in Asia, and has signalled repeatedly that they do not want war.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who also attended the Dialogue, said in his speech that the US does not support Taiwan independence, nor does it want "a new Cold War".

"Both sides are sticking to their guns on Taiwan. They need to look tough, they don't want to be seen as rolling back or stepping back," said Collin Koh, research fellow with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

"But at the same time they are very mindful about entering an outright conflict. They're looking at each other's rhetoric with eyes wide open, and both sides are trying to temper the risk."

The fact that both Gen Wei and Mr Austin met at the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue was a positive sign, as it meant that both sides wanted to show "they are still willing to sit down and talk it out, come to a consensus, and agree to disagree," said Mr Koh.

This, he said, would likely lead to more operational discussions between the two militaries that would reduce the possibility of on-the-ground miscalculations that could lead to a conflict, and an overall "reinvigoration of dialogue" that was missing during Donald Trump's administration.

Mr Biden's recent remarks on Taiwan were seen by some as an apparent shift in tone in US policy

That said, both China and the US are expected to continue their rhetoric for the foreseeable future.

China may even step up its "grey zone warfare" designed to exhaust Taiwan's military forces and patience - such as sending more warplanes - or disinformation campaigns, said Dr Ian Chong, a China expert with the National University of Singapore.

Taiwan has previously accused China of waging disinformation campaigns in the lead up to the island's elections, and the island will be holding important local elections at the end of the year.

For the US and China at least, "there is no political will to change their positions" for now, particularly with significant events on the horizon - the US mid-term elections in November, and China's 20th Communist Party congress in the second half of the year where President Xi Jinping is expected to further consolidate power.

"The bright side is that neither party is willing to escalate," said Dr Chong.

"But non-escalation doesn't mean we will get to a better position. So we are all stuck in this position for a while."
A U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea has issued a report critical of the deteriorating situation there, noting forced military conscription, arbitrary arrests, disappearances and torture among the violations recorded.

In a report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker said Eritreas involvement in the armed conflict in neighboring Ethiopia shines a light on the impact of the Eritrean governments system of indefinite national military service. He described the rights situation as dire.

Those who attempt to evade the draft, he said, are imprisoned in inhuman and degrading conditions for indefinite periods of time.

The authorities also punish draft evaders by proxy, for example by imprisoning a parent or a spouse in order to force them to surrender themselves, he said. I also received reports about the conscripts who were killed as they tried to escape from Tigray or from military training centers in Eritrea.

Ethiopias military offensive against the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front began November 4, 2020. Since then, thousands of Eritrean conscripts have been forced to participate in the conflict.

Investigator Babiker said children as young as 14 have been rounded up and recruited, and that Eritrean refugees in Ethiopian camps have been kidnapped and forced to fight. He said the human rights situation in Eritrea continues to push thousands to flee to other countries for asylum.

I remain gravely concerned by the situation of hundreds of Eritreans who have been disappeared and arbitrarily detained in secret prisons in violation of human rights standards, he said. I continue to hear testimonies from witnesses and victims who were held and tortured in places known as villas. These are actually secret places of detention that cannot be readily identified.

Tesfamicael Gerahtu, an ambassador in Eritreas foreign ministry, said he would not respond to the allegations in the report, saying they were based on information from select and irresponsible sources. He added that there was no human rights crisis in Eritrea and that the harassment and sanctions imposed on his country had to stop.

Eritrea was reelected to serve as a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council in October 2021. Rapporteur Babiker said the countrys failure to promote and protect human rights puts the credibility and integrity of the council in jeopardy.
The United States and South Korea are preparing for all contingencies of North Korea's imminent nuclear test, but President Joe Biden's administration is facing tough questions from congressional members and analysts on the diplomatic impasse and inability to deter North Korea from further provocation.

Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin at the State Department. The two discussed a "unified and firm" response to North Korea's unprecedented number of ballistic missile tests and nuclear threats. This year, North Korea has launched 31 ballistic missiles, smashing a previous record of 25 set in 2019.

Park said he believed North Korea has finished the preparation for the next nuclear test and now requires only a "political decision." It would be Pyongyang's seventh nuclear test since 2006 and its first since September 2017.

"If North Korea ventures into another nuclear test, I think it will only strengthen our deterrence and also international sanctions, and it will only isolate North Korea from the international community," Park told reporters during his first visit to Washington as South Korea's top diplomat.

"We are prepared to make both short- and longer-term adjustments to our military posture as appropriate," Blinken said during a joint news conference. The top U.S. diplomat added that both countries are talking about how to "expand the scope and scale of combined military exercises" as well as "training on and around the Korean Peninsula."

An "extended deterrence" working group between the U.S. and South Korea will be reestablished and "get up and working very soon in the weeks ahead," said Blinken.

Diplomatic impasse

On Saturday, North Korean state media announced the appointment of Choe Son Hui as the country's first female foreign minister and one of the highest-ranking women officials in its history. It is unclear whether Choe's promotion indicates a wider shift in North Korea's approach toward the U.S. and South Korea.

"We have noted the appointment of a new foreign minister in North Korea, but our approach is not predicated or dependent on specific individuals. It's focused entirely on the policies that a given country is pursuing," Blinken said in response to questions from VOA.

The Biden administration seeks dialogues with Pyongyang without preconditions and has reached out to North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on specific proposals, either through third parties or through private channels including personal messages from senior U.S. officials to senior DPRK officials, according to Sung Kim, U.S. Special Representative to DPRK.

North Korea has not responded nor indicated that it is interested in diplomatic talks.

"It's time for preventive diplomacy," said Yoon Young-kwan, South Korea's former minister of foreign affairs and now professor emeritus at Seoul National University. He made the comment during a webinar hosted by the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS.)

"I would like to recommend the Biden administration to seriously consider dispatching a special high-level (as a one-off engagement) envoy to North Korea" to "mediate the crisis situation and to begin dialogue," Yoon added, suggesting a modification to the current approach of the Biden administration in which Sung Kim serves as both U.S. ambassador to Indonesia and as special envoy for North Korean issues.

Congressional critics

While the Biden administration underlined North Korea's continuing expansion of "illicit nuclear weapons and missile programs" as one of the major challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region and vowed to strengthen "extended deterrence" on North Korea's provocations, some members of Congress are skeptical about the State Department's seriousness to prioritize its Indo-Pacific strategy.

"Despite the administration's rhetoric, the budget requests for the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Bureau and South and Central Asia (SCA) Bureau rank at the very bottom when  compared to the State Department's other regional bureaus  In total, these two bureaus covering the Indo Pacific Region account for only 11% of the total foreign assistance budget," said Republican Rep. Steve Chabot, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation, during a hearing June 7.

"The administration has requested less personnel and less diplomatic program funding for EAP and SCA (Bureaus) combined than it has for the European Bureau alone," Chabot added.

Others raised concerns that nongovernmental organizations seeking to provide humanitarian aid to North Korea may not be able to under current sanctions, particularly at a time of the COVID-19 outbreak.

"Whatever the regime does next, we can expect the people of North Korea to suffer under harsher conditions, as they're further cut off from essential food and medicine," said Democratic Rep. Andy Levin during the hearing last week.

Former U.S. officials and some experts noted that North Korea did not feature as prominently in Biden's summit meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol last month.

"Normally when we see a summit meeting between the U.S. and the South Korean president, particularly a first summit meeting, the featured item always is North Korea," said Victor Cha, a senior vice president and Korea chair at CSIS who led negotiations with North Korea under former President George W. Bush's administration.

"President Biden arrived in Korea, and the first place he went was not the DMZ (the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas) or not the intense discussions on North Korea but went to the Samsung plant in Pyeongtaek," Cha said in a recent CSIS webinar.

Some analysts said the U.S. is running out of options.

"Sanctions so far have not changed the North's (North Korea's) policies and aren't likely to have any greater impact now," Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, told VOA's Korean Service.

Suzanne DiMaggio, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, "Now it appears we're about to enter a fraught period, and U.S. options are limited at best."

Bill Gallo and Christy Lee contributed to this report.
A landmark floating restaurant that fed Cantonese cuisine and seafood to Queen Elizabeth II, Tom Cruise and millions of other diners was towed from the Hong Kong harborfront Tuesday after being closed by the pandemic.



The parent company of Jumbo Floating Restaurant couldn't find a new owner and lacked funds to maintain it after months of COVID-19 restrictions.



The massive floating restaurant designed like a Chinese imperial palace on Aberdeen Harbor was known for its Cantonese cuisine and seafood dishes. It received over 30 million guests since its establishment in 1976.



But Jumbo Floating Restaurant was forced to close in 2020 due to the pandemic, and all staff were laid off. Parent company Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises said it had become a financial burden to shareholders, as millions of Hong Kong dollars were spent on inspection and maintenance of the floating restaurant every year even though the restaurant was not in operation.



"We do not foresee that [Jumbo Floating Restaurant] can resume business in the immediate future," the company said. It said potential deals to keep the restaurant open were thwarted by the high operating costs.



Tugboats towed the restaurant away Tuesday but it wasn't clear where it will berth next. The company planned to move it to a lower-cost site where maintenance could still be conducted.



Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam had previously rejected suggestions to bail out the restaurant, despite calls from lawmakers to preserve the iconic landmark.



Lam said last month that the government had no plans to invest taxpayers' money into the restaurant as the government was "not good" at running such premises, despite calls from lawmakers to preserve the restaurant.



Some Hong Kong residents recalled the heyday of Jumbo Kingdom, and expressed disappointment in seeing the restaurant go. It was famed for its lavish banquet meals, with dishes such as roasted suckling pig, lobster and double-boiled bird's nest, a Chinese delicacy.



Wong Chi-wah, a boat operator in Aberdeen Harbor, said that in the glory days of the Jumbo Kingdom in the 1990s, flocks of Japanese tourists would visit the restaurants.



"The streets were full of parked vehicles as visitors arrived in big groups," he said.



Encore Sin, 71, said Hong Kong was losing something unique.



"If the restaurant leaves today, there is definitely a sense of loss, not just for people who live around this area but for the whole of Hong Kong," said Sin.



"Over the past few decades, I've been to many places around the world to take photographs, but where else in the world are there such floating restaurants? I don't think there are any left."
The White House said Monday that President Joe Biden wants legislators to swiftly approve a bipartisan deal aimed at tightening gun control laws, improving school security and providing more mental health services in the wake of a spate of mass shootings that killed dozens of Americans  many of them young children  with legally obtained, military-grade weapons.

Biden did not comment when reporters asked him Monday if he was satisfied with the proposal brokered Sunday by 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans. He said in a Sunday statement that the plan "does not do everything that I think is needed, but it reflects important steps in the right direction, and would be the most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades."

On Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that this framework will help the president honor his promise to parents in Uvalde, Texas  where 19 children and two teachers were gunned down May 24 by an attacker wielding an assault rifle inside an elementary school  to "do something."

"The president is pleased to see this as a step forward," she said. "As we know, this is about saving lives. And so the president is going to  wants to see  Congress act, he wants to see this on his desk as quickly as possible."

The deal does not include Biden's call for a ban on the sale of rapid-fire assault weapons that are often the weapon of choice deployed by mass shooters in the U.S. But Jean-Pierre added that Biden would continue to press for a renewal of the assault weapons ban, plus for expanded background checks ahead of firearms purchases and for the confirmation of his nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The National Rifle Association said it "does not take positions on 'frameworks.' We will make our position known when the full text of the bill is available for review."

Any gun control measures are likely to draw the ire of the deep-pocketed group. Their legislative pressure group described a recent House bill as "unconstitutional legislation" that "threatens to turn millions of law-abiding gun owners into felons, as well as subject their lawfully-acquired firearms to government confiscation without due process."

The bill they were referring to, among other things, establishes a minimum age of 21 for purchases of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. It also includes mandatory home storage requirements for firearms, which the NRA argues are unconstitutional.

Matt Valentine, a scholar and lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin who focuses on gun violence policy, told VOA that while three of the nation's gun control advocacy groups approve of the proposal, "many of my contacts in the gun violence prevention community are underwhelmed."

Prominent Democrats have said that this effort is but a first step, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer saying Monday: "Altogether, this framework is a good and necessary first step towards changing the reality of gun violence in America. It will lay the foundation for future action."

But, Valentine said, this proposal could also give ammunition to Republican politicians looking to muster support in midterm elections later this year.

"In some ways, this Senate package could be an election-year boon for gun-friendly politicians in red states, because it will give them something to fight against," he said. "Over the past few years, several states have passed 'constitutional carry' laws, which put gun rights activists in the position of the proverbial dog that caught the car. Having achieved almost total deregulation of firearms, gun rights activists in these states have been left in the awkward position of having nothing left to fight for. This proposed federal legislation will give them something to fight against."

Legislators in the U.S. have battled for years to reform gun laws, with Democrats almost universally supporting tighter controls and Republicans opposing them by arguing that any such moves threaten the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

"My worry," Valentine said, "is that by the time this legislation makes it to President Biden's desk, the red flag provisions will be watered down and filled with loopholes and caveats that make them less effective."

Lawmakers have spent almost a month negotiating this deal in the aftermath of three shocking mass killings in Texas, New York and Oklahoma. But gun violence kills Americans on a daily basis  on Monday, according to the independent Gun Violence Archive, 12 Americans died this way, in separate incidents around the country.

In 2022 so far, the group has documented 19,618 gun-related deaths. Of those, 744 of the victims were children.
The World Food Program reports it has been forced to suspend food assistance for 1.7 million people in South Sudan because of a funding shortfall of $426 million.

Conflict, three years of flooding, localized drought, and soaring food prices made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine have brought South Sudan to its knees.



The World Food Program's acting country director in South Sudan, Adeyinka Badejo, says the country is facing its worst year of food insecurity since independence in 2011. Speaking from the capital, Juba, she says the WFP had planned to assist 6.2 million people this year. Since it has run out of cash, she says the WFP has been forced to take food away from the hungry to feed the starving.



These cuts are happening at the start of the lean season when families have completely exhausted any food reserves and are likely to continue to suffer acute levels of hunger as the lean season deepensWe are in famine prevention mode as we focus our available resources to assist people at the brink of famine and some of those at risk of starvation.



Badejo says the funding situation is so critical that food rations for many of the U.N. food agencys beneficiaries have had to be cut in half. These cuts, she notes, are occurring when food stocks are at their lowest. She warns millions of people will suffer acute levels of hunger as the lean season deepens and reaches its peak in July.



Consequently, she says, many people will be forced to adopt negative coping strategies just to survive.



My team in western Bahr El Ghazal, where we have seen the highest increase in acute malnutrition, report that local communities are resorting to chopping down more and more trees to make and sell charcoal just to survive. We are also seeing an increase in the number of child beggars in just the last two weeks.

The WFP estimates 8.3 million people, including 2 million women and children at risk of acute malnutrition, will endure acute hunger during the lean season. It says food aid must be urgently restored in areas where it has been suspended to prevent people from falling into starvation and famine.



The food agency says generous support from donors and early humanitarian action can avert a deadly crisis and save lives.
A court in Zimbabwe has found a New York Times freelance journalist guilty of flouting immigration laws and sentenced him to a suspended two-year prison sentence and a $1,000 fine.

A court in the city of Bulawayo convicted and sentenced 37-year-old Jeffrey Moyo to two years in prison, suspended for a fine of about $1,000, at the official rate. Beatrice Mtetwa, one of Moyos lawyers, spoke to VOA from Bulawayo, via WhatsApp.



Naturally, we are disappointed with the conviction," Mtetwa said. "We do not believe it is justifiable with the evidence that was made, and naturally will be appealing. We do not believe that the highest fine (about $1,000), was justifiable. We believe we will be very successful on appeal because the judgment was not based on the evidence led (by state prosecutors). There is a lot of surmise and conjecture in the judgment, so we will be appealing against the conviction and sentence.



Moyos lawyers believed the case might have been dismissed after the same court earlier this year acquitted Zimbabwe Media Commission official Thabang Manhika for allegedly processing fake accreditations for two South Africa-based New York Times journalists who entered Zimbabwe and were later deported. Moyo and Manhika were tried separately.

Angela Quintal is the Africa program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. She called Moyos conviction a traverse of justice.



It shows yet again that in Zimbabwe, press freedom and the publics right to know are practically nonexistent," Quintal said. "The fact that Jeff was handed down a fine and was not sent to jail does not make this any less a mockery of justice. Jeffrey should not have been prosecuted in the first place. And to convict him on such flimsy grounds is disgraceful. It is clearly a shot across the bow by authorities ahead of the election.



We hope that this unjust conviction will be overturned on appeal and that Jeff can continue reporting freely and that journalists in Zimbabwe will not be silenced through self-censorship, because they fear that they, too, will share the same fate, with next years election on the horizon.

The Zimbabwean government did not respond Tuesday when contacted about the case but earlier told VOA that both Moyo and Manhika broke immigration laws  nothing to do with press freedom.

Moses Matenga of the Media Institute of Southern Africa says the conviction of Moyo confirms that Zimbabwean journalists will not be treated fairly as the country prepares for the 2023 general election.



This is a very sad day for journalism in Zimbabwe," Matenga said. "It serves as an indicator that more doom is bound to come for the media in Zimbabwe. The media is under siege. This serves as a strong warning from authorities to journalists that we can arrest you, convict you, sentence you, all in the name of silencing the media in Zimbabwe. But we will remain undeterred. We will remain alert to tell the real Zimbabwean story.

When President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over in 2017 from the late Robert Mugabe, he promised to improve the media landscape in Zimbabwe. But media watchdogs say nothing much has changed.


Ukrainian official said Russian troops have pushed into the center of the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and continue to shell a chemical plant sheltering hundreds of soldiers and civilians.



Regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Monday on Telegram that Russian troops control about 70% of the city and have pushed Ukrainian forces from the citys center.



He said the citys Azot chemical plant, where hundreds of civilians are sheltering, is being "heavily shelled."



Haidai said about 500 civilians remain on the grounds of the plant and that Ukraines military is trying to get them to safety.



Russia says all bridges to the city have been destroyed. Ukrainian officials say there is still another way out of the city but that the route is heavily damaged.



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces and those from Russia are fighting for literally every meter in Sievierodonetsk, while pleading to international partners that Ukraine needs modern missile defense systems.



In his latest nightly video message, Zelenskyy said Russias key tactical goal has not changed, with Russian forces also pushing toward Lysychansk, Bakhmut, Slovyansk, to the west and southwest of Sievierodonetsk.

Zelenskyys adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted Monday that to end the war we need heavy weapons parity. He listed several categories of weapons, including 1,000 howitzers, 300 multiple launch rocket systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles and 1,000 drones.



Contact Group of Defense Ministers meeting is held in Brussels on June 15, Podolyak said. We are waiting for a decision.



U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is convening the meeting at NATO headquarters. A virtual meeting of the group last month drew representatives from 47 countries, NATO and the European Union.

Austin said after the May talks that the group was intensifying our efforts and working to deepen coordination with Ukraine so that Ukraine can sustain and strengthen its battlefield operations.



Britains defense ministry said Monday that in recent days the battle around Sievierodonetsk has continued to rage.



The ministry said Russias ability to carry out river crossing operations will likely be one of the most important factors in the war in the coming months.



To achieve success in the current operational phase of its Donbas offensive, Russia is either going to have to complete ambitious flanking actions, or conduct assault river crossings, it said.

Russia claims it already controls 97% of the Luhansk province where Sievierodonetsk is located. But capturing the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, with a prewar population of 100,000, remains crucial to Moscows broader goal of controlling the eastern Donbas region, which encompasses the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.

Russia seized Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and Kyivs forces have been fighting pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region since then.



Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the separatist-declared Luhansk Peoples Republic, acknowledged, Sievierodonetsk is not completely 100% liberated. So, its impossible to call the situation calm in Sievierodonetsk; that it is completely ours.



Some material in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse.
New York Times correspondent, Jeffrey Moyo, has been slapped with a ZWL$200,000 ($615) fine and a two-year suspended sentence after he was found guilty Tuesday by a Zimbabwean court for breaching the countrys immigration laws.

According to the New York Times, Moyos conviction is a blow for press freedom in the southern African nation.

His attorneys, reports the New York Times, would appeal the verdict.

Reacting to Moyos conviction and subsequent sentencing, the Committee to Protect Journalist, condemned the ruling.

In a statement, CPJs Africa program coordinator, Angela Quintal, said, Todays conviction of journalist Jeffrey Moyo is a monumental travesty of justice and shows how far press freedom has deteriorated in Zimbabwe under President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The fact that Moyos prison sentence was suspended does not make it any less of a mockery of justice. Authorities must not contest Moyos appeal, and ensure that he and other journalists can work in Zimbabwe freely, especially with a general election scheduled for next year.

Authorities arrested Moyo in the capital, Harare, alongside Zimbabwe Media Commission registrar Thabang Manhika on May 26, 2021, and accused them of contravening the Immigration Act by allegedly producing fake media accreditation cards for two foreign New York Times journalists, Christina Goldbaum and Joao Silva, who were deported after three days in the country.

Manhika was acquitted in a separate trial by the same magistrate on March 10. At least four other journalists face prosecution in Zimbabwe on unrelated charges.
Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM

News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.



Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.

Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.

Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens.
ReportLinker

Major players in the tunable diode laser analyzer market are Emerson Electric Co, Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Servomex, AMETEK Inc, ABB Ltd, Mettler-Toledo International Inc, NEO monitors, Siemens AG, SpectraSensors, and Focused Photonics.

New York, June 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Tunable Diode Laser Analyzer Global Market Report 2022" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06284609/?utm_source=GNW





The global tunable diode laser analyzer market is expected to grow from $370.84 million in 2021 to $414.26 million in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7%. The market is expected to grow to $609.36 million in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.1%.



The tunable diode laser analyzer (TDLA) market consist of sales of tunable diode laser analyzer by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that manufacture tunable diode laser analyzer. Tunable diode laser analyzers (TDL analyzers) are gas analyzers that use laser absorption spectrometry to determine the concentration of specific species in a gas mixture.



The main types of tunable diode laser analyzer are oxygen (O2) analyzer, ammonia (NH3) analyzer, Cox analyzer, moisture (H2O) analyzer, HX analyzer, CxHx analyzer, and other types.The ammonia (NH3) gas analyzer is a unique tunable diode laser spectrometer used for direct ammonia measurement in stack and ammonia slip applications.



The different measurement types include in-situ, and extractive. The various end-use industries involved are oil and gas, metals and mining, fertilizers, cement, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, and semiconductors.



Asia Pacific was the largest region in the tunable diode laser analyzer (TDLA) market in 2021.Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region in the forecast period.



The regions covered in this report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, and Africa.



The increase in demand for use of tunable diode laser analyzers for boilers and furnaces in plants in different industries has positively impacted the tunable diode laser analyzer market.The combustion furnace and boilers used in plants in different industries are used as energy sources and a large amount of exhaust gas is emitted through them in manufacturing plants.



To control the amount of gas emitted from the plants, tunable diode analyzers are being extensively used by many industries.For instance, the TDL200 Tunable Diode Analyzer, by YOKOGAWA, a major player in the industry, provides optimum combustion control in furnaces in manufacturing plants.



Thus, the demand for tunable diode analyzers to use in furnaces to control gas emissions from manufacturing plants has driven the market in the historic period.



Players operating in the tunable diode laser analyzer (TDLA) field are increasingly focusing on developing technologically advanced gas analyzers.The companies are launching continuous gas analyzers with TDLA and Quantum Cascade Laser.



For instance, in March 2019, Emerson Electric, a US-based manufacturing company introduced Rosemount CT4400 continuous gas analyzer. The Rosemount CT4400 continuous gas analyzer is a purpose-built Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) and Tunable Diode Laser (TDL) analyzer that helps plants minimize ownership costs and accurately report pollutants in environmental monitoring applications evaluating standard components such as oxygen (O2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitric oxide (NO), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon monoxide (CO).



In December 2019, Nederman, a leading player in the gas analyzer market acquired Gasmet for Euro 56 million ($64 million) on a cash and debt-free basis.The acquisition of Gasmet will help Nederman to strengthen its monitoring and control technology division.



Gasmet is a Finland-based company that specializes in the manufacturing of FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) gas analyzer and emissions monitoring systems.



The countries covered in the tunable diode laser analyzer market are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, and USA.





Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06284609/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Story continues

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




From the Carpathian Mountains to the Urals, there are no mountains. Consequently, Eastern Europe is a vast plain in which many peoples have passed and sometimes settled without the relief allowing to delimit the borders of their territory. Poland, Moldavia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States and the European part of Russia are corridors of passage whose history is dominated by flows. Most of these states back onto a sea or a mountain. Only Belarus and Ukraine have no natural borders.

When the Versailles Peace Conference attempted to establish borders in Eastern Europe at the end of the First World War, it did not succeed. Depending on whether historical, linguistic, ethnic or economic criteria were used, different maps should have been devised, but the interests of the victors (the United States, France, the United Kingdom) were contradictory, so that the decisions taken satisfied only half of the people concerned. Even today, the problem can be turned around in all directions: the borders of Belarus and Ukraine are and will remain artificial. This is a very special situation, difficult to understand for people with a long national history.

Once this is established, it must be admitted that neither Belarus nor Ukraine can be nations in the usual sense of the term, which does not mean that they cannot be states. Ukrainian nationalism" is an artificial ideology that can only be built by rejecting other peoples. This is what the Banderists did during the interwar period and still today against the "Muscovites" or "Great Russians". This form of nationalism can only be destructive. The example of Belarus shows that another way is possible.

Poland, which had completely disappeared during the 19th century, was reconstituted after the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Revolution. However, the Versailles Conference, while it had no problem in establishing its western border, did not know where to establish its eastern border. So the Second Polish Republic tried to grow by waging a war against Ukraine. It succeeded in annexing the whole of Galicia. Today Krakow is still Polish, while Lviv is Ukrainian. There is actually no obvious reason for this division, other than the chance of armed conflicts.

When President Volodymyr Zelensky claims that Donbass and Crimea are Ukrainian, he describes the current state of the land register, but cannot justify it.

In 1792, the Crimea was conquered by the Russian Empire from the Ottoman Empire, as well as the freedom for its fleet to use the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits. Tsarina Catherine II intended to extend her influence towards the South Seas. But the British, worried that the Russians would enter the Mediterranean and compete with their naval hegemony, organized a coalition with France and the Ottoman Empire. They succeeded in defeating the Russian army, but not in retaking this territory.

This one was kept, in 1917, by the Soviet Union. It was in the Crimea, in Sevastopol, that the decisive battle of the "Second World War" (or the "Great Patriotic War" in Russian terminology) took place, marking the beginning of the end of the Third Reich.

In 1954, the First Secretary of the USSR, the Ukrainian Nikita Khrushchev, decided at the same time to give amnesty to the Banderists and to attach Crimea administratively to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. This was to turn the page on the crimes of the Banderists and the Nazis during the World War and the crimes of the Banderists and the CIA at the beginning of the "Cold" War.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Crimea declared itself independent by referendum on February 12, 1991, under the name of Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Crimea. The rest of todays Ukraine did not confirm its independence until nine months later, on 1 December 1991. However, Russian President Boris Yeltsin refused to return Crimea to his country, so it decided to return to Ukraine on February 26, 1992.

When the democratically elected president Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown by a colorful revolution organized by the United States, the government that was formed included a dozen banderist members [1]. Under these conditions, Crimea refused to have a racist political regime imposed on it. It decided in a referendum to regain its independence and to apply for membership in the Russian Federation.

After the installation of Russian military bases in Syria, London saw the Russian presence in Crimea as the return of a credible rival, capable of threatening its maritime hegemony.

After conquering the Crimea, Tsarina Catherine II sent her fleet to Beirut and Latakia. She also established a settlement in southern Ukraine, the "New Russia" (Novorossia). This territory included Donbass, Mykolayev, Kirovograd (today Kropyvnytskyi), Kherson, Odessa, Gagauzia and Transnistria (todays Dniester Moldavian Republic). Pavel Gubarev, who was governor of Donetsk in 2014, also opposed the new regime in Kiev imposed by the "coup" or by the "revolution" (it depends on the point of view). So he proposed to secede from Ukraine with all the territories of the "New Russia" of Catherine II. It is necessary to know that Goubarev was neither pro-Russian, nor pro-US, but on the contrary pro-European. It was only when Kiev arrested and imprisoned him that he became pro-Russian. When President Zelensky refused the Russian peace offer, President Putin told him that his demands would increase with time. From now on, liberating the "New Russia" (Novorossia) is the strategic objective of the Russian armies. In almost all wars, the victor demands compensation, often territory. Here, it will be Novorossia.

By creating the United Nations, the victors of the Second World War hoped to put an end to wars of conquest. However, they recognized that war could be a legal response to certain conflicts. The great powers refrained until Nato tore Yugoslavia apart, creating seven new countries. Kosovo became a US military base in the Balkans. Its security is still provided by a NATO contingent. Bosnia-Herzegovina is still a colony of the European Union. It is still ruled by an international High Representative. These deplorable examples set a precedent that will not allow for criticism of Novorossias possible accession to the Russian Federation.

Poland, which still has not accepted the loss of Eastern Galicia, participated in 2014 in the Anglo-Saxon operation to overthrow the elected president. At the time, I published an article revealing that 86 rioters from the banderist militia Pravy Sektor had been trained by Poland at the Legionowo police center in September 2013 [2]. The operation had been supervised by Radosaw Sikorski, Minister of Defense and later Minister of Foreign Affairs. This information was denied by the person concerned, but in the end the Prosecutor General of Poland opened a judicial investigation into this strange case.

Polands support of the Banderists against the Ukrainian president was a nice manipulation. Stepan Bandera had indeed supervised, in 1934, the assassination of the Polish Minister of the Interior Bronisaw Pieracki on behalf of the Gestapo. Then he had ordered numerous massacres of Poles during the Second World War.

It soon became apparent that the 2014 Ukrainian colorful revolution/coup was overseen by Straussian diplomats Victoria Nuland (current No. 2 in the U.S. Secretary of State) and Derek Chollet (current advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State), but implemented by Canadians and Poles Radosaw Sikorski and Jerzy Dziewulski. The latter is a prestigious police officer, trained in Israel, and later an advisor to the President of the Republic and a parliamentarian. A photo, taken in June 2014, showed him leading the Ukrainian intervention forces alongside Ukrainian interim president Oleksandr Turchynov.

Poland returned to the fray at the start of the 2022 Russian special military operation. When Nato announced an imminent Russian defeat, General Waldemar Skrzypczak demanded that Kaliningrad (which was never Polish) be returned by Russia to Poland as war reparations. As it soon became clear that Russia was advancing and that the defeat would be Ukrainian, President Andrzej Duda considered recovering Eastern Galicia, which had been lost in the Second World War. At first he proposed to the Ukrainians to deploy a Polish peace force to protect Galicia. Then he made a stirring speech to assure his neighbors of their support against Russia. Finally, he went to Kiev and made a speech to the Verkhovna Rada. Finally, Poland began to implement a one-way cooperation. It deployed high-ranking officials to administer the country that a large part of the population fled. But not the other way around: there are no Ukrainian officials in Poland. Similarly, after taking in two million Ukrainian political refugees, Poland has indicated that it will stop paying them allowances as of July 1.

The enthusiastic acceptance of Warsaws aid for territory by the Banderists attests to the artificial nature of their "nationalism.
The kilometer-long Blagoveshchensk-Heihe highway bridge was inaugurated over the Amur River, connecting Russia and China. Its cost was shared equally by the two nations. Its construction began in 2016. It should be able to accommodate 630 trucks and 164 buses per day.

China and Russia have modified the Chinese blueprint for the New Silk Roads to include Russian territory and north-south communication lines.
The articles on Voltaire Network may be freely reproduced provided the source is cited, their integrity is respected and they are not used for commercial purposes (license CC BY-NC-ND).

Source: Co-operation agreement between Venezuela and Iran, Voltaire Network, 14 June 2022, www.voltairenet.org/article217243.html
Photo: Universal Pictures; Columbia Pictures

Later this year, Steven Spielberg will take audiences somewhere he has never taken them before. The Fabelmans, his next movie, is the semi-autobiographical story of a boy growing up in suburban Arizona, falling in love with cinema while his parents, played by Paul Dano and Michelle Williams, fall out of love with each other. Its being billed as the most personal film ever from the worlds most famous filmmaker  a trip down memory lane into the formative years of a one-man dream factory.

Of course, if you ask Spielberg himself, he is quick to insist that all of his movies are personal. I still carry my childhood along with me, he confessed in a 2002 interview, before noting how its aftershocks run through his entire career. This is a major part of the mythology of Spielberg: the child of divorce who grew into Hollywoods biggest kid, forever building crowd-pleasers from the rubble of his broken home. The Fabelmans may simply be his most direct attempt yet to address the foundational event of his young life, the one that looms over so many of his blockbusters. At this point, it would be easier to count the Spielberg movies that dont address his childhood and the splintering of his family in some indirect way.

Still, in a body of work that spans half a century and nearly three dozen features, there are two films that  when viewed together  seem especially informed by the experiences Spielberg will explicitly dramatize this fall. E.T. the Extra-terrestrial, which hit theaters 40 years ago today, and the earlier Close Encounters of the Third Kind have more in common than just a hopeful vision of first contact with friendly alien visitors. Looked at one way, theyre companion pieces that tell the same story from opposite perspectives  that is, the story of a father who leaves and the family he leaves behind.

Inspired, in part, by Spielbergs memories of watching a meteor shower with his dad, Close Encounters largely adopts the POV of Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), an electrical lineman and family man whose ordinary, cozy life in small-town Indiana takes a turn for the extraordinary when a UFO zips right over his head. Neary, who initially fits the profile of the loving, devoted suburban father, is profoundly changed by the experience. He is a man born again through newfound belief, and as his obsession grows (eventually taking the form of a pathological need to depict the strange structure he is seeing in his mind), it begins to eclipse any sense of responsibility he feels toward his wife and three children.

The movie eventually rewards Nearys fanatical, single-minded pursuit of the truth. The big finale of Close Encounters grants him a front-row seat to humanitys first meeting with life from another planet. And then Neary, with nary a second thought, follows the little green men into their Douglas Trumbull spaceship and presumably joins them for a tour of the universe. Its a fantastical, triumphant ending  but also a troubling one for those who remember everything (and everyone) the hero is leaving behind: the terrified family that speeds out of his life, out of his mind, and out of the plot at almost exactly the halfway point of the movie.

Spielberg would later claim, after he became a father himself, that if he made Close Encounters today, Neary wouldnt get on the ship. But that would be a vastly different movie, easier and less emotionally complex. The power of this one lies in the ambivalence lurking behind its awe and wonder  in the acknowledgment that Nearys big priority shift, a kind of religious conversion, comes at the expense of the people who once gave his life meaning. Spielberg isnt interested in condemning the man as some kind of interstellar deadbeat dad; he empathizes with his intense curiosity and maybe even his willingness to throw it all away in search of a higher calling. All the same, long after Nearys family has disappeared from the movie, we remember the distraught look on his adolescent sons face as he watches his father melt down over a plate of mashed potatoes.

Perhaps that moment lingered in Spielbergs mind, too. Five years later, he would essentially pick up where his sci-fi smash left off. E.T. is not, in any literal sense, a sequel to Close Encounters  though it did grow out of the scrapped plans for one, a thriller called Watch the Skies that Spielberg briefly considered making, before pivoting to a more sentimental and family-friendly tale of interspecies communion. Nonetheless, its possible to see this second alien-centric hit from the director as a dramatic continuation of the first. After all, it focuses on the lives of a single mother and three children not so unlike the family Roy Neary abandons in Close Encounters.

The father in E.T. has not left Earth in a spaceship; hes just on vacation in Mexico with his new girlfriend. But his departure is the defining trauma in the life of young Elliott (Henry Thomas) and his siblings. His absence haunts the movie, just as the other Nearys haunt the second half of Encounters. The film imagines, with detail and sensitivity, what the world might look like to kids whose home recently got a little emptier  how theyve grappled with the adult heartache their mother is experiencing, how theyve learned to rely on themselves and one another. Perhaps Spielberg didnt need to do much imagining on that front: Where Close Encounters suggests a speculative stab at the unknowable psychology of a man who goes searching for meaning outside his family, E.T. has the texture of memories merely embellished by the presence of a lovable space critter. (The production design, filling a cozy domestic space with piles of clutter, might look awfully familiar to any latchkey kid or any single parent with experience trying to balance a career with the responsibilities of raising an unruly brood.)

This movie has always been widely understood and celebrated as a therapeutic exorcism  the closest this director has ever come (preThe Fabelmans, anyway) to probing and filling the crater his parents divorce left on his heart. Spielberg modeled the character of E.T. on an imaginary friend he invented as a coping mechanism during that difficult chapter of his life. In a way, the little guy ends up serving a similar function in the movie, falling from the stars to make this shattered family whole again. Caring for him, and helping him get home, becomes the proof that theyre not lost even though theyve lost someone. (Spielberg, at a recent anniversary screening of the movie, underscored this notion of redistributed responsibility.)

Whats beautiful and heartbreaking about E.T., all these years later, is that its really about Elliott accepting and getting over his father leaving. Because of E.T.s diminutive frame and the bond of magically shared feelings he develops with his preteen companion, he has often been characterized as a buddy or even doppelganger for the boy. But by the movies tear-jerking climax, its clear that the aliens true role is filling the void at the center of Elliotts world that opened like a black hole when his unseen dad exited it. Just like Close Encounters, the film closes with the spectacular image of a colorful spaceship taking off and returning to the cosmos. Yet Spielberg generously rewrites that earlier films ending. He allows Elliott the good-bye the Neary children never got.

Still, theres something rather comforting about both movies. The real fantasy of Close Encounters isnt that there is intelligent life in the universe and that it will come in peace; its the idea that if your father leaves, it will be for very important reasons. (The film almost feels like a childs explanation for divorce: Daddys gone because he had to go to space!) E.T., meanwhile, concludes that theres no breaking the connection between a father and son; whether the former runs off to Mexico or to the other side of the galaxy, hell still be  right there. And his children will be okay without him. In the end, are these films shows of forgiveness for absentee fathers?

Either way, they only grow in meaning when placed in dialogue with each other, like the billboard trading messages with the alien vessel at the end of Close Encounters. Well have to wait until November to see how Spielberg finally looks head-on at the separation that bifurcated his family and provided creative fuel for decades of soulful multiplex fare. But there is plenty of insight, too, in the fables he made from his pain, which may be as autobiographical in spirit as his new film is in plot. They look to the stars and find the outline of a broken family in the constellations.
Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd (AIM:ECO, TSX-V:EOG) announced its deal to acquire JHI Associates, to increase its interests in exploration assets offshore Guyana, is off after technical terms of the deal could not be finalised.

The AIM-quoted company said it could not agree lock-up terms that wouldve protected its shareholders from JHI shareholders selling newly issued acquisition shares immediately after the deal.

JHIs owners wouldve been issued some 127mln new Eco shares in the transaction, had it gone ahead.

We are unable to proceed without the appropriate protection for our shareholders that such lock-up arrangements were designed to provide, said chief executive Gil Holzman, Eco Atlantic chief executive.

We look forward to remaining a significant shareholder in JHI with over 7% of the company and, as such, retain exposure to the potential of the Canje Block.

We wish the JHI management the best of luck in growing and monetizing the business to benefit all shareholders. Notwithstanding termination of discussions, we and JHI may re-evaluate the proposed acquisition at a future date.

Looking to operational matters, meanwhile, Holzman added: We look forward to commencing our drilling campaigns planned in the prospective Block 2B in South Africa and Guyana this year and p roviding further corporate updates as appropriate."

Eco in March agreed to acquire JHI for US$52mln in an all-share deal. JHIs owners wouldve held the equivalent of 34% of Eco as a result of the deal.

It wouldve increased Ecos stake in JHI from 7.35% to 100%, giving it a material stake (17.5%) of the Exxon operated Canje block.

Exxon-operated Canje is located adjacent to the Stabroek area, the American oilers flagship block offshore Guyana.

Stabroek, as many Eco shareholders already understand, is the stellar oil block in the region. It flanks Ecos own Orinduik block and is host to the vast majority of Exxons multi-billion barrel oil discoveries offshore Guyana.

The large-scale Liza field development is located within Stabroek and is rapidly ramping up to a new production peak of 220,000 barrels of oil per day in the coming months.
Ezra Miller. Photo: David M. Benett/Getty Images

From beloved Perks of Being a Wallflower beginnings to becoming a rising star in Hollywood, Ezra Miller was supposed to be a queer blockbuster-movie star, a flower-child eccentric who lives in Vermont and plays The Flash, and an activist who stood up for gender-based violence and Indigenous communities. Instead, the 2020s ushered in a different kind of Ezra Miller, who would be caught on video physically attacking a fan at an Iceland bar and accused of grooming an 18-year-old Sioux activist. Miller went from indie darling to getting Harry Potter paychecks to allegedly being on the lam with an 18-year-old in quite a flash, so heres a timeline to understand how we got here.

Early Life: 19922010

19922008: Ezra Miller grew up in New Jersey with their father, publisher Robert S. Miller of Workman Publishing; their mother Marta, a dancer; and their two older sisters. The family also had a home in Chelsea for their forays into the city, as one does. They were born with a speech impediment, so they turned to opera to focus on control and manipulation of the breath, Miller told the Daily Beast in 2017. They eventually overcame their stutter.

Summer 2001: Miller stars in the Robert Wilson and Philip Glass opera White Raven. That was a very confusing and trippy creation tale, and I was a kid who brought up the sun and rotated the Earth, they told Collider later. It was very empowering. Miller went on to join the childrens chorus at the Metropolitan Opera for two seasons.

May 18, 2008: Antonio Campos drama Afterschool premieres at Cannes, in which Miller plays Robert, an internet-addicted loner who fetishizes cell-phone footage. After he accidentally films the death of twins at his boarding school, he is tasked with making a video tribute for the girls. That was a great film experience because of how fucked up it was and like a psychotic filmmaking process with young kids, they say in a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. And then I was just hooked to film. After the film is released, Miller drops out of Hobokens Hudson School during their junior year.

Indie Darling: 20112015

May 12, 2011: Fresh off the heels of small TV roles and parts in small films, Miller breaks through with We Need to Talk About Kevin. Miller plays the titular role in the movie, which tells the story of a mother (Tilda Swinton) coming to terms with the horrors her teenage son committed. The Lynne Ramsaydirected film goes on to become a Cannes darling, cementing Miller as a rising talent. While shooting, Miller refrained from speaking with their mother for the entirety of the shoot to better inhabit the mind of their psychopathic character. In the moments where my mind could escape Kevins, I had this growing, gathering appreciation for everything that my mother did right, they tell New York Magazine in 2012. But to bring back to the forefront of my brain this loving, empathetic relationship with my mother would have been extremely detrimental to either me or the film, so it was really essential that she, uh, keep fair distance.

June 28, 2011: Miller is a passenger in a vehicle that is pulled over for a broken brake light in Pittsburgh while shooting Perks of Being a Wallflower. Police find 20 grams of marijuana on Miller. The then 18-year-old is charged with drug possession, but the judge drops the case. The actor instead faces two citations of disorderly conduct and is ordered to pay $600. I dont feel like theres any need to hide the fact that I smoke pot, they would tell New York Magazine.Its a harmless herbal substance that increases sensory appreciation.

November 17, 2011: I, like the rest of my generation, have proceeded through the last decade of my life with hopelessness, Miller says, speaking at the Occupy Wall Street Day of Action. Truly feeling the profit motivation of this society will inevitably lead to economic despair, environmental ruin, and the loss of civil liberty.

Like, you can do anything you want if you can survive.

September 8, 2012: Perks of Being a Wallflower bows at Toronto International Film Festival. Miller co-stars as Patrick Stewart, a gay high-school senior who, together with Sam (Emma Watson), takes depressed freshman Charlie (Logan Lerman) under their wing. The film, based on a popular coming-of-age novel, launches Miller into the realm of teen heartthrob and household name. During the press tour for Perks, Miller talks school bullying and officially comes out. Im queer, they tell Out Magazine. I have a lot of really wonderful friends who are of very different sexes and genders. I am very much in love with no one in particular. Ive been trying to figure out relationships, you know?

I just want kids in all situations to hold on, they go on. A lot of [adolescence] left me wanting to end my own life, just give up. It feels like the whole world  because it is. Its your whole world. But, man  life is a really, really cool ride. Its really amazing the type of shit you can get up to if you endure. Like, you can do anything you want if you can survive.

March 25, 2013: Greenpeace announces that Miller will travel to the North Pole in early April to plant a flag for the future  a capsule containing a petition with nearly three million signatures to protect the Arctic. They will trek with other activists who are on the front lines of climate change. Maybe Cousin Greg has a point; the White House lawn seems closer.

October 15, 2014: Miller is cast as the Flash in the DC Comics cinematic universe, beating out Grant Gustin, who plays the character in the CW series of the same name. Barry Allen is the hero of the Silver Age who follows a lot of really interesting discoveries in physics, Miller tells MTV News in 2015. Where he comes from is where we figured out the Event Horizon was there, and he was the character who was created through our mythos machine of comic books to break that Event Horizon, so you could explore in fantasy  I think thats an interesting idea. And, whats an interesting idea to me is, What the fuck does that do to someone?

January 26, 2015: Kyle Patrick Alvarezs Stanford Prison Experiment premieres at Sundance Film Festival. The film explores the 1971 psychology experiment conducted by a Stanford professor Philip Zimbardo where male volunteers were randomly assigned to the roles of prisons or guards. Over the course of five days, the guards increasingly brutalized the prisoners, forcing the unethical experiment to end on its sixth day. In a leading role, Miller portrays one of the prisoners.

March 31, 2015: Miller releases their first official EP with band Sons of an Illustrious Father, which theyve been linked to as early as 2011, describing the band as helping them discover their relationship to the world and mental illness. I think there was a lot of mental illness that I did not know how to manage or deal with in the earliest times of the band. I was 15 or 16, I didnt have any real means of monitoring myself, and I was also working in film and having this strange type of exposure, they told Vulture in 2018. I was feeling insecure about that relationship to the world and what it would actually mean for me, I was feeling insecure in my decisions up to that point to take that path, and I was feeling insecure about the ways it held the potential to really separate me from people I love. That was tied into the illness that I was discovering in myself.

June 24, 2015: Miller is in talks for a role in Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This is Millers second role in a major studio franchise.

Franchise Roles: 20152019

March 19, 2016: Warner Bros. releases Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Miller makes their first appearance as the Flash.

July 26, 2016: They perform an emotional, and at times somewhat strange, piano rendition of Rihannas Work at San Diego Comic-Con.

August 1, 2016: Suicide Squad premieres. Miller makes their second appearance as the Flash.

November 10, 2016: Miller stars as Credence Barebone in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The movie also features Johnny Depp, despite the fact that his last few big-budget films decisively flopped, his struggles with drug abuse, and his continued domestic-abuse allegations.

July 23, 2017: After asking fans why their character the Flash would have trouble getting drunk at a San Diego Comic Con event, someone in the crowd correctly answers that Flashs metabolic rate makes getting tipsy difficult. Another fan jokingly asks Miller to smell their breath to be sure. Miller responds by kissing the fan on the mouth, without clear consent, per reports from TMZ.

November 13, 2017: Miller gets to reprise their role as the Flash in Zack Snyders Justice League.

July 24, 2018: Miller cosplays as Toadette from Mario Kart and gives a bizarre red-carpet interview to Clevver News in character. With their mushroom posse in tow, Miller answers questions in gibberish and scurries off when the interviewer asks them if they need a cocktail.

August 16, 2018: Miller and their band are interviewed by 14-year-old activist Gibson (formerly Tokata) Iron Eyes for Sleek Magazine. Iron Eyes had initially met Miller while protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016.

November 7, 2018: In a Hollywood Reporter profile, they discuss their gender and an alleged experience where they endured sexual harassment. Queer just means no, I dont do that, they clarify. I dont identify as a man. I dont identify as a woman. I barely identify as a human. Miller claims that a director and producer offered to exchange sexual favors for a movie role when they were underage. They gave me wine and I was underaged, they tell THR. They were like, Hey, want to be in our movie about gay revolution? And I was like, No, you guys are monsters.

In that same interview, Miller asks the writer if she would like to see the crossbow that Millers character used to murder several classmates in We Need to Talk About Kevin. They apparently keep the crossbow in their house.

November 15, 2018: They pose for Playboy and talk gender, sexuality, art, and Me Too. Of course Ive been in audition situations where sexuality was totally being leveraged, they say. Its really important to acknowledge the diversity of voices who have experienced this shit, and all genders, all capacities, all types of people. Everyone is victim to it. Everyone is a survivor of it. Art is the only thing that I have. If I didnt have art, Id be so fucking dead  so long ago, Id be dead. I probably would have done it myself.

Erratic Behavior, Abuse, and Grooming Allegations: 2020Present

April 1, 2020: In a since-deleted tweet, a disturbing video alleges to show Miller choking a woman and throwing her to the ground at Priki Kaffihus, a bar in Reykjavik, Iceland. Variety confirms that the altercation took place at the trendy bar and employees identify Miller in the video, who they escort from the premises. The seven-second clip makes its rounds on Twitter on April 6, and shows a person saying, Oh you wanna fight? Thats what you wanna do? to a woman in a bar. She appears to be jokingly readying herself for a fight. The person, identified as Miller, then grabs the woman by the throat and throws her to the ground. Woah, bro, says the person filming the incident. Bro. A source at the bar tells Variety that the situation began after pushy fans confront Miller, until Miller physically attacks the woman. Restaurant staff escort Miller from the premises. They are not under investigation by authorities following the incident, police confirm to The Wrap.

January 28, 2022: In a since-deleted video posted to their Instagram account, Miller tells members of a North Carolina chapter of the Ku Klux Klan to kill themselves with their own guns, or else well do it for you if thats what you want. Its unclear if Miller is responding to a specific incident. The video goes viral on social media.

I PROMISE you youll never guess what Ezra is about to say in this video@ pic.twitter.com/k1rszvbSjl   (@theeSNYDERVERSE) January 27, 2022

March 4, 2022: Asking for It premieres. The revenge film tackles sexual assault and co-stars Ezra Miller, Vannesa Hudgens, Kiersey Clemons, and Alexandra Shipp. On April 20, director Eamon ORourke allegedly punches trans comedian Grace Freud twice in the head.

March 27, 2022: The Flash Enters the Speed Force in the Snyder Cut of the Justice League wins the Oscars Fan Favorite Moment. The Flash won an Oscar before Annette Bening? Winona Ryder? Glenn Close??? Kristen Stewart?????

March 27, 2022: Miller is arrested in Hawaii and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment following a physical confrontation with patrons at a karaoke bar. In a public statement from the Hawaii Police Department Hilo Patrol, police allege that Miller became agitated while patrons began singing a karaoke rendition of Shallow from A Star is Born. They began yelling obscenities at the patrons and grabbed a microphone from a woman singing karaoke and later lunged at a man playing darts, according to police. The bar owner asked Miller to calm down several times to no avail, police state. Millers $500 bail is paid by a couple they live with at a hostel. Per TMZ, a video circulates of a weeks-earlier confrontation with police in Hawaii.

March 29, 2022: The couple who lived with Miller at the hostel file a restraining order against the actor. In documents obtained by Radar Online, the couple ask the court to order Miller to not contact them in any form and to stay away from their home and places of work. Following the incident at the karaoke bar, the couple claims that Miller returned home and threatened the couple, saying I will bury you and your slut wife. The petition alleges that Miller stole the wifes passport and the husbands wallet, which contains his credit cards, social-security card, and drivers license. Its unclear whether the items were returned. A judge grants the couple the restraining order the following day. The order is dropped in mid-April.

April 6, 2022: Sources tell Rolling Stone that Warner Bros. and DC executives held an emergency impromptu meeting to discuss Millers recent controversies and their future with the studio. According to a knowledgeable source, the consensus in the room was to hit pause on any future projects involving Miller including possible appearances in the DC Extended Universe, Rolling Stone reports. An inside source says that Miller had frequent meltdowns during last years production of The Flash, although the sources stresses that Miller did not yell or have violent outbursts.

April 19, 2022: Three weeks after their March arrest, the actor was again taken into custody in Hawaii for allegedly throwing a chair which hit a woman at a private party, leaving the 26-year-old woman with a half-inch cut on her forehead. In a public statement from Hawaii police, authorities say that Miller was arrested around 1:30 a.m. during a traffic stop and released from custody at around 4 a.m. pending further investigation.

May 16, 2022: Music producer Oliver Ignatious and rapper Ghais Guevara claim that Miller stole the music they worked on and posted it on social media without credits. Ignatious and Miller met up in both the Northeast and Hawaii to collaborate on new music, weeks before their first arrest in Hawaii. Ignatious plans to file a court order for Miller to take the music down. The link to the songs are no longer featured on Millers Instagram bio.

June 8, 2022: The parents of 18-year-old activist Gibson Iron Eyes, who is nonbinary, accuse Miller of grooming their child. In court documents obtained by TMZ from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court, Gibsons parents, attorney and activist Chase Iron Eyes, and pediatrician Sara Jumping Eagle seek intervention from the court, alleging that Miller has been involved with their child since they were 12. A judge signed the request for a protective order, which says Miller cannot contact the child, Sara, or Chase or be within 100 yards of their residence.

Gibson and Miller met while they were both protesting for the LandBack Reclamation Movement. in Standing Rock in 2016. According to court documents, Miller allegedly flew Gibson to London in 2017 to visit the set of Fantastic Beasts. Gibson was 14 at the time and Ezra was 25. Their parents allege Miller tried to sleep in the same bed as Gibson and provided Gibson with alcohol, marijuana, and LSD. The parents go on to accuse the actor of influencing Gibson in their decision to drop out of their private school in Massachusetts in December 2021. (Miller offered to pay their tuition when Gibson was 16 and their parents believe this created a a sense of indebtedness). They add that when they flew to Vermont in January to check on Gibson, their child had bruises on their body, and was not in possession of their own drivers license, car keys, or bank card. Since then, Gibson and Ezra have been traveling together, Gibsons parents claim. They were spotted in Hawaii together in a video, per TMZ. Ezra uses violence, intimidation, threat of violence, fear, paranoia, delusions, and drugs to hold sway over a young adolescent Tokata, court documents allege. A hearing is scheduled for July 12.

Gibson issued a statement on Instagram on June 6 in which they accuse their parents of being transphobic and deny the allegations. I dropped out of bard five months ago, my friend and comrade William passed shortly thereafter, my mind was incredibly impacted and Ive needed space and time for the processing of grief, reads their statement. My comrade Ezra Miller for the entirety of the aforementioned era has only provided loving support and invaluable protection throughout this period of loss.

My father and his allegations hold no weight and are frankly transphobic and based in the notion that I am somehow incapable of coherent thought or opposing opinions to those of my own kindred worrying about my well being, Gibson continued. I am now aware of the severity of emotional and psychological manipulation I was made to endure while in my parents home. The previous day, Gibson had posted a video on Instagram of themself and Miller smoking cigarettes.

June 9, 2022: Gibsons parents say that Miller and Gibson remain on the run, while the court has not been able to locate or serve the actor because their whereabouts are unknown. Gibson releases a video statement on Instagram, saying that nobody is controlling my Instagram account, and expresses disappointment in the press coverage. Its really distressing that the narrative of the victim in question is not being granted any trust. I worked really hard to make really clear what was going on, they said in the video. If the statements are too profoundly contrasting to whatever assumptions those of us have garnered and have chosen to carry, Id like to say that its nobodys business and nobody is owed a story. Or an outcome.

June 10, 2022: Miller has yet to be served, Gibsons parents tell the Los Angeles Times.

June 15, 2022: Miller appears to have deleted their Instagram, as reported by CBR, after posting memes to their Story that may have been alluding to authorities inability to find them. I am shielded from negative people & their ill intent. My spirit, mind, body, soul + success are not altered by anyones envy, one post read. I am protected from all negative NRG people attempt to throw at me. Subconsciously & consciously. I clear any & all hidden peers who are hidden enemies.

June 16, 2022: The Daily Beast publishes a report speaking with an alleged victim of Millers, a 12-year-old nonbinary child who alleges that they were targeted by Miller. On Wednesday, June 15, the child and their mother were granted a temporary harassment prevention order against Miller, claiming that the actor menaced the family on the evening of February 2 at their neighbors downstairs apartment and acted inappropriately toward the child. The case was filed at their local courthouse in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Miller came into contact with the family due to their connections with the familys neighbor, who is in a band with Millers friend Whitney Suters. [Miller] was wearing a bulletproof vest  and I had no idea until later that they were armed, the neighbor told the Daily Beast.

According to the neighbor, the evening went sideways after the mother called her friends her tribe, causing Miller  whom they believed to be under the influence  to accuse her of cultural appropriation. Following this snafu, Miller claimed that the board game Parcheesi was of Rastafarian roots, which the half-Black neighbor questioned. Ezra snapped after this interaction, the neighbor alleges. Then they opened up their jacket  they had this, like, big Sherpa jacket  and they opened up one side of their jacket, you could see a gun, and they said, Talking like that could get you into a really serious situation, the neighbor tells the Daily Beast.

After this altercation, Miller allegedly began to harass the mother and the then-11-year-old child, telling the parents that they are well equipped to mentor the child. Ive talked extensively with your child, and they have a lot of power to them. At one point, youre going to realize that you dont have any control over them anymore. Theyre an elevated being, and they would be lucky to have someone like me guide them, Miller said, according to the neighbor, mother, and child. The trio claim that Miller additionally asked the mother if she would like to drink their blood because she dresses in a goth style.

The child accuses Miller of uncomfortably moving their chair closer to them, hugging them, and touching their hips. The child also alleges that Miller asked them to follow them on Instagram, and told the child that they would purchase horses for them to raise on their Vermont farm. It was really uncomfortable. I was really nervous. I was scared to be around them after hed yelled at my mother and she was crying, the child remembers. According to the report by the Daily Beast, Miller returned to the home dressed as a cowboy on June 4 to apologize.

June 23, 2022: A Rolling Stone investigation revealed that a 25-year-old woman and her three children, ages 1 to 5, have been living at The Flash actors Vermont farm in a roommate situation that worries the childrens father as well as two sources close to the situation. The two sources say theyre concerned with the living arrangements because Millers home has unattended guns strewn across the living room and mature marijuana plants growing on the property. According to one of the sources, the 1-year-old child allegedly played with a loose bullet and placed it in her mouth. According to Instagram posts reviewed by the site, the mother and children  who remain anonymous  appear to still be living at the Vermont farm. Rolling Stone asked why the father has not confronted Miller or gone to the police. I dont want [the children] to see anything like that. I just want them to see that, Hey [Dad] showed up, lets get in the car and go. Its been traumatic enough, he says. Vulture has reached out to Miller for comment.

This post has been updated.
The partnership builds on the Ethereum, Polygon, and Bitcoin blockchains, and targets key markets including Australia, Brazil, European Union, the UK, and the US

BANXA (TSX-V:BNXA, OTCQX:BNXAF) Holdings Inc said it has formally entered a new partnership with WonderFi Technologies Inc, a leading technology company with the mission of creating better access to digital assets through compliant centralized and decentralized platforms.

The company said the partnership builds on the Ethereum, Polygon, and Bitcoin blockchains, and targets key markets including Australia, Brazil, European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

"Together, we are building the foundational infrastructure needed for the next generation of financial services," CEO Holger Arians said in a statement. "BANXA (TSX-V:BNXA, OTCQX:BNXAF)'s B2B (business-to-business) services provide a seamless experience for our partners to offer their customers local payment methods in a safe, compliant way."

Through the partnership, Banxa said it will enable WonderFi customers to utilize local payment and banking options with less friction, fewer fees, and better fraud protection. Users are able to easily and securely convert fiat currency to cryptocurrencies and back again.

The company said its solutions also provide many important benefits to WonderFi's gateway platform, including higher conversion rates along with rigorous compliance and risk management across countless geographies.

"With regulatory interest in crypto rapidly increasing around the world, it is more important than ever for Web3 to embrace best-in-class compliance and risk management. Our partnership with Banxa provides this assurance for our customers across the globe, Kevin O'Leary, strategic advisor and investor at WonderFi added. WonderFi is committed to ensuring customers in our network can transact crypto securely and confidently, without the concerns that might come from less developed platforms."

Banxa said WonderFi joins its growing list of marquee partners, such as leading Web3 projects like Binance, KuCoin, OKX, Huobi, and many more.

"Thanks to our partnership with Banxa, WonderFi's users can safely purchase crypto through the widest range of payment methods available," WonderFi CEO Ben Samaroo, said. "This added flexibility is another step in our mission to bring fair, efficient, and accessible finance to the masses.

Banxa powers the world's largest digital asset platforms by providing payments infrastructure and regulatory compliance across global markets. The company is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with European headquarters in Amsterdam.

Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com
Picasso painting on display in Rome for first time.

The Fondazione Alda Fendi - Esperimenti stages a multimedia exhibition centred around a painting by Picasso at its Rhinoceros Gallery in Rome until 16 October.

The oil on canvas painting, titled Le peintre et son modele en plein air, dates from 1963 and comes from the Intesa Sanpaolo collection.

Never shown in Rome before, the work is at the centre of the exhibition Picasso va, Picasso arriva which takes place across all floors of Palazzo Rhinoceros, located beside the Arch of Janus near the Circus Maximus.

The exhibition's title is a reference to Picasso's Young Woman (1909) which was granted on loan to Palazzo Rhinoceros from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and ended up at the centre of debate in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Picasso exhibition can be visited for free - with reservations required - see website for details.
Placeholder while article actions load

This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how to solve the worlds most pressing policy challenges. It has been edited for length and clarity.Sarah Green Carmichael: The recent tragedies in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX have underscored the plague of gun violence in the US and in particular, the rising incidence of mass-casualty shootings. There are now signs of a possible bipartisan compromise in Congress to strengthen gun laws, upgrade school safety and increase mental-health support. Youre a senior operations researcher at RAND and recently led a two-year project to develop a Mass Attacks Defense Toolkit outlining evidence-based ways to prevent mass shootings. Can you talk a little bit about how you framed the problem?

John Hollywood, senior operations researcher, RAND Corporation and co-author, Mass Attacks Defense Toolkit: This project grew out of earlier research that we had done on counterterrorism. Back then, we wanted to know, How can we do a better job foiling terror plots? In many ways, mass shootings are very similar. So we asked questions like, What happened in the cases when potential plots were stopped in advance? What were factors that contributed to attacks having fewer casualties? About two dozen people worked on this for the better part of two years.

SGC: What were your key takeaways?

Advertisement

JH: There are really three. The first is that yes, we can detect and foil a lot of these. The public is key in this; almost two-thirds of foiled plots were foiled because members of the public reported people who had discussed their intentions to attack or did things like amassing arsenals or surveilling a target site.

Second, as those reports are coming in, its important that you have relentless follow-up. Each case needs to have a single point of contact who is responsible for making sure that people follow up with the person that has been reported. You dont want to have dropped balls. Procedurally, there are cases, especially with some of the higher-casualty plots, where those tend to be associated with dropped clues and dropped balls.

Third, you need to have advance planning and training in the agencies that are going to be involved in responding to a mass attack. And this includes not just police, fire and EMS but the emergency management representatives of schools, shopping malls and other so-called soft targets.

Advertisement

SGC: So many of these shootings happen in schools, malls, churches. What kind of world are we creating if we are asking people to be constantly vigilant for threats, even if theyre at the movies or at church?

JH: I think thats an excellent point. And thats why I think part of what we were trying to do with our research is focus on what specifically to look for, like people bragging on social media about the gun they just bought to carry out an attack. Before the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the shooter went on at length online about researching how to kill people.

SGC: How common is it for a potential mass shooter to give off warning signs?

JH: In the majority of the higher-casualty shootings, youre usually talking about people doing a lot of planning and amassing larger arsenals. It may not be as clear-cut as a person literally posting their attack plans months beforehand, but usually there is some observable thing that can be reported. In the case of Uvalde, for example, there clearly were concerns about how the shooter was acting  he was doing significant self-harm. But at this point it seems like there wasnt a whole lot that was reported to anyone in a position of authority.

Advertisement

SGC: The Buffalo shooting is another recent example where the shooter had been questioned by police after making a school-shooting threat. That was about a year before the grocery-store shooting he went on to commit. How long should law enforcement keep following up?

JH: Even more than a specific time-period, the thing is to actually schedule follow-ups and not just let people totally drop. I mean, I understand with the Buffalo case, you know, he convinced the mental-health evaluators that he was just joking. But it does sound like there were other significant behavioral concerns, and its not clear those were taken into account. But the thought is, if he had been provided with additional services and supervision, then you have at least a more significant chance of picking up the other things he was doing, like going online and describing his increasing radicalization and plans to kill lots of people of color.

You can keep track of the follow-up on conventional office productivity software. It could be as simple as a spreadsheet. But someone needs to be case manager staying on top of it. And the same principles can be applied to preventing homicides and suicides.

Advertisement

SGC: One of the tips in the toolkit was that police officers who respond to domestic violence calls should have a standard procedure where they ask about a firearm in the home. Can you talk about why thats so important and what other kinds of checks could be useful?

JH: If you identify that someone is posing a violent risk to themselves or others, then you really need to make sure theyre not in a position where they can use firearms quickly to harm themselves or others. But as for what goes into making those determinations, thats honestly a bit of a weakness [in the literature]. One thing we heard about repeatedly from our experts was the importance of doing these wellness checks, and Ill put calls related to domestic violence in that category as well. Theyre critical. But how do you do that assessment? How you really find out whats going on and collect that information? We couldnt find any guidance on how to do this, in terms of both how to interact with people and the decision trees you should follow during those conversations. I cant say they arent out there, but we spent a lot of time trying to find them. So thats a definite more research needed area.

SGC: By focusing on things we can do within our existing gun safety laws, are we just resigning ourselves to the fact that were not going to solve this problem, and we just have to mitigate the damage?

Advertisement

JH: I think theres a lot we can do, even within existing laws.

For example, inherent to mass shootings is amassing an arsenal. While there are people who collect guns or buy them for hunting or self-defense, the way that people buy those guns looks very different from the way that they acquire guns for mass attacks, where, for example, theres a focus on massive amounts of ammunition.

We havent done a whole lot to educate the gun-owning public on how to sell or transfer guns safely so that they dont fall into the wrong hands. I bet gun owners know very well how to handle a gun safely. But I bet many of them dont know the first thing about how to sell a gun safely, because we almost never talk about it.

What are the warning signs that someone buying your gun is up to no good? Who do you report it to? And what happens to that report? If I have a person who poses a threat to themselves or others, and they just tried to buy a gun, I would think it would be very high priority that this person really needs a much closer look.

Advertisement

SGC: It appears possible that Congress might pass some legislation to address gun safety and mental health. Do you think lawmakers are asking the right questions?

JH: For helping with gun violence in general, Rand published a report called Gun Policy in America. The big policies that they recommended were child safety access laws; waiting periods; and repealing Stand Your Ground laws. The biggest one by far was child safety access to make sure that guns are secure.

With mass attacks, we could do more with the fact that getting the guns and the ammunition and the skill to use them are key parts of these attacks  just like with other kinds of terrorism attacks, you want to look for people who are trying to assemble explosives.

SGC: Like how we notice when someone buys lots of fertilizer? Or, with drugs, when someone tries to buy a lot of Sudafed?

Advertisement

JH: Yeah. And I think with guns you can have something very similar. I just dont feel like the processes are really in place.

SGC: Id like to ask you a couple of questions specifically about schools. Is it effective to do these drills where students hide under their desks?

JH: We didnt look at those drills specifically, but we do talk about the importance of run, hide, fight. First, you really want to focus on escaping. If thats not possible, the priority is hiding  when hiding means theres a locked door between you and the shooter. A lot of people were saved in the Oxford, Michigan shooting, because they did lock the door successfully. But if you are in the same room with the shooter, hiding under a desk or a table is about the worst thing you can do.

I know its horrible talk about this. But one thing I want to make clear is that its run, hide, fight. Its not run, hide and do nothing. If youre faced with a shooter at reasonably close range, everybody in the room should try to tackle the shooter. We have twelve cases of that happening, and they were successful in all cases. There have been cases where high school students tackled a shooter and, to be blunt, it worked. But elementary school? Its not reasonable to ask elementary school kids try to tackle a shooter.

Advertisement

The key thing is movement. For most shooters its very hard to hit moving targets, especially under pressure. You want to be a moving target, and tackle them from multiple angles at once. You dont want to be a stationary target, especially at close range.

SGC: Anything else that you would think would be helpful specifically on making schools safer?

JH: I dont think we need to turn schools into fortresses. Having basic entry control and internal barriers like locking doors would get us a long way.

I hear other ideas like totally redesigning all our schools against mass shooters or putting metal detectors everywhere. But again, what do shooters want? They want to find a crowd of people that they can shoot at close range as if they were stationary  like a crowd of people waiting to get through a metal detector.

SGC: I wasnt planning to ask you this. But how did you stay happy, doing research on this topic for two years?

JH: It honestly does have a cost. But I like to think that we can save lives and trauma out of this. And I try to be as clinical as possible. For me, quite honestly, I deliberately try to avoid reading about victims. I just focus on security and procedural considerations. But its very hard. It does eat at you.

More from Bloomberg Opinion:

 Why the Government Doesnt Fund Gun Violence Research: Julianna Goldman

 Its Too Easy to Buy a Gun on Facebook: Parmy Olson

 Finally, a Bipartisan Effort on Gun Policy: The Editors

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Sarah Green Carmichael is a Bloomberg Opinion editor. Previously, she was managing editor of ideas and commentary at Barrons and an executive editor at Harvard Business Review, where she hosted HBR IdeaCast.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Placeholder while article actions load

Theres a lot of renewed belief that the sky has cleared for Chinese technology companies, and that nows a good time to jump back into one of the most lucrative investment categories of the past decade. There are also plenty of reasons to remain skeptical. So the choice comes down to investors believing in climate change, though not in the traditional sense.

Some note April 29 as the turnaround point, the day the Politburo called for regulators to act in alignment and support the platform economy  a term referring to internet companies that offer multiple services. But indices heavily weighted toward Chinese tech names, like the MSCI China index, have largely moved sideways since then. The CSI 300 index, which only tracks China-listed stocks and leans more toward financials, industrials and consumer staples, has climbed, albeit only a little.

Excitement built earlier this month after the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese regulators were preparing to wrap up their investigation into ride-hailing company Didi Global Inc. and make its main apps available for download again. The stock surged as much as 68% in a single day. Didi, which like Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. relies on its Android and iOS software to connect with customers and drivers, had a halt placed on 26 of its apps when Beijing decided last year that the companys data-sharing warranted a closer look.

Advertisement

As predicted, that national security review resulted in Didi seeking a delisting from New York not long after its debut. Any investor surprised by recent news that the curbs on its app were about to be lifted just wasnt paying attention. The company literally said as much when it implored shareholders last month to pass a motion to delist.

The Company has concluded that it needs to complete the cybersecurity review and rectification in order to resume normal operations  and that if it does not delist from the NYSE, it will not be able to complete the cybersecurity review and rectification.

On May 23 investors heeded that call and the shares will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Beijing ending its app store ban was the next logical step. Ironically, the shares barely budged when the actual vote was announced, the true catalyst for officials to ease up. Clearly optimists  who rallied around the news of an easing  and pessimists  who ignored the earlier shareholder vote  both took something away from this development.

Advertisement

Then theres Ant Group Co., the financial affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. which had its IPO nixed at the last minute following Jack Mas now-infamous October 2020 speech criticizing regulators.

A revival of Ants public listing would be the closest were likely to get to forgiveness for Ma and Alibaba, and would rightfully be viewed as a signal from Beijing that the crackdown is over. Bloomberg News reported last week that the China Securities Regulatory Commission was weighing allowing a list to be revived, though both the CSRC and Ant later said they have no such plans. Even the carefully worded responses, a kind of non-denial denial, could be taken by bulls and bears as the sign they seek. Alibaba shares surged as much as 4.4% after the Bloomberg News story, but slumped again after the statements from the CSRC and Ant.

Alibaba offered its own signal to the market last month when it declined to offer its usual outlook for the year, a move that speaks to the lack of clarity emanating from Covid lockdowns, supply chain snarls and global economic troubles. But haziness about the regulatory environment is surely among the factors management cant accurately model. For example, executives said the company will probably benefit from stimulus measures announced by the government, while it also reiterated its commitment to helping small and medium enterprises, which could impact profit margins.

Advertisement

Others are suffering, too. Online content provider Bilibili Inc. jumped after Chinese news outlet Caixin reported its cutting jobs in gaming and live-streaming divisions, but plummeted a few days later after missing earnings. DouYu International Holdings Ltd., another live-streaming provider, is down almost 30% since that Politburo meeting, having noted that stricter regulation will continue to hit revenue.

The plethora of positive signs seem enough to spur people into speculating that the bottom has been reached, and perhaps Beijing will even boost investor confidence ahead of this years 20th Communist Party congress. Thats wishful thinking.

As a clear-minded fund manager once told me, You dont move to Hawaii for the weather, you move there for the climate. The point being that cloud or sunshine on any single day are short-term distractions from the long-term thesis. China remains one of the worlds largest consumer economies, even with its regulatory and economic challenges, yet the heady growth days are undoubtedly over.

Advertisement

The argument being made that now is the time to jump back into Chinese tech is boosted largely by quantitative analysis. The sector trades at a 10% discount to the broader market  compared with a historical premium of 35%, according to a recent strategy note from Bernsteins Rupal Agarwal, Robin Zhu and Shivam Gupta. They calculate that drawdowns have already hit 37%, surpassing the 35% seen in the 2018 down cycle. While risks remain, we think there are reasons to believe an inflection point has been hit, they wrote on June 10.

But theres a flipside. From a fundamental perspective, I see no reason to become bullish just yet, DZ Bank AG analyst Manuel Muehl said in a June 7 email, Bloomberg News reported. He was the first of more than 70 analysts to issue sell ratings on Alibaba and fellow e-commerce company JD.com Inc. a year ago and maintains that bearish view, citing slowing revenue growth and weakened margins among Chinese tech companies.

There are myriad weather patterns out there for market bulls. And they may indeed find some patches of clear sky amid the thunder and lightning. But what investors need ask themselves is whether the climate itself has changed. The answer may not be so sunny after all.

Advertisement

More From This Writer and Others at Bloomberg Opinion:

 You Dont Need a CFA to Value Chinese Equities: Matthew Brooker

 Chinas Tech Companies Get a Reprieve, Not a Pardon: Tim Culpan

 Theres No Hiding From the Bad News This Time: John Authers

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Tim Culpan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology in Asia. Previously, he was a technology reporter for Bloomberg News.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

GiftOutline Gift Article
When Alayna Wilson, a Columbus native, heard of her former dance partners cancer diagnosis, she leaped into action to spread word of a local nonprofits mission.

The 23-year-old, who was recently named first runner-up at the 2022 Miss Nebraska Scholarship Competition, started competing in pageants after she graduated from Scotus Central Catholic in 2017.

When I first competed, I was just doing it for fun. I knew that I didn't want to win that year, because I was so young and had a lot of growing left to do, Wilson recalled.

She took a few years off from the competitions because she started attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for a speech-language pathology degree, not sure how much time competing and her studies would take up.

During my sophomore year I was brought back into the Miss Nebraska system because one of my previous dance partners, Trevor Luckey, was diagnosed with leukemia, Wilson said. Sammys Superheroes  I had been a super big advocate and volunteer previously but now, when Trevor was diagnosed, it meant something way more to me than just something you volunteer for. I knew that I needed to get back into the organization, so I could share my message, spread my word.

Founded in Columbus, Sammys Superheroes raises awareness and funds for childhood cancer research.

Wilson currently holds the title of Miss Omaha and was named second runner-up in last years Miss Nebraska competition. Through her title, she is able to champion for Sammys Superheroes through a local, state and  hopefully, one day  national level.

I get to go into local schools and talk about health and what pediatric cancer is and how we can help those children in the hospital, said Wilson, who also spreads the importance of kindness. I was able to donate over 2,000 cards throughout my time in this organization to children undergoing treatments. That's something that if I go to a presentation, I invite people to do so as well.

Along with promoting her platform, Wilson noted the scholarship dollars a competitor can earn, as well as leadership, personal development and networking opportunities.

The Miss Nebraska organization just makes the most sense to further propel both my education but also the Sammy's Superheroes organization at large, Wilson said.

Wilson is still Miss Omaha until August. When speaking to The Telegram via phone call this week, she was in Kansas City, where she attends the Kansas University Medical Center. She said she will graduate in the spring with her masters degree in speech-language pathology but will remain busy throughout the next year.

I would love to be a speech-language pathologist in a school setting, but also I have different clinical placements set up, Wilson said. So I kind of get a taste of everything before I make that final decision. In this next year alone, I am working with a Parkinson's group, with an aphasia group, private practice/private treatment, then in the fall, I will be in an elementary school.

Her mother has the same career path and has been a big influence, she said. Wilson noted she also wants to help with a positive change in someone elses life that speech-language pathologists can make.

Parents get to hear their kids say I love you for the first time, Wilson said. Or you get to give someone their freedom back through speech, or you're able to help someone so that they're able to safely feed themselves. There's a wide variety of things that speech pathologists do that a lot of people don't know. But in all of those little moments, that's where the real magic happens.

Her sister, Gina Frerichs, noted that Wilson is very deserving of her accomplishments.

She's a go-getter, Frerichs said. She is definitely a very passionate person, very humble. With her platform, Sammy's Superheroes, she's had it all throughout her pageant career, since 2017.

According to Frerichs, Wilson has also served as Miss Gering and Miss Harvest Moon Festival.

Wilson said that Sammys Superheroes Founder Erin Nahorny came out to the final day of the Miss Nebraska competition over the weekend. That meant a lot to her, Wilson added.

Being named first runner-up means that she can continue competing next year and that shes not done with her work in Miss Nebraska or Sammys Superheroes.

I think God has other plans for me to serve this year and possibly recruiting more members and gaining more funds and having more sponsors is what I'm meant to do this year before I'm fully prepared and ready to take on that title next year, she added.

Wilson said she would also love to see a local scholarship competition. There used to be a Miss Columbus competition, she said, that was discontinued.

We have so many talented and bright young women who deserve the same opportunities that I've been given throughout competing in this organization, Wilson added.

Currently, Wilson said, shes the only active member of Miss Nebraska that is from Columbus. She said people with questions about being involved in Miss Nebraska are free to reach out to her through social media.

If you're able to do it and you have a passion, this is an opportunity to get a microphone in your hands and be able to share your message just like I've been able to do for the past five years, she said.

Hannah Schrodt is the news editor of The Columbus Telegram. Reach her via email at hannah.schrodt@lee.net.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Placeholder while article actions load

News that Alphabet Inc.s Google sidelined an engineer who claimed its artificial intelligence system had become sentient after hed had several months of conversations with it prompted plenty of skepticism from AI scientists. Many have said, via postings on Twitter, that senior software engineer Blake Lemoine projected his own humanity onto Googles chatbot generator LaMDA.

Whether theyre right, or Lemoine is right, is a matter for debate  which should be allowed to continue without Alphabet stepping in to decide the matter.

The issue arose when Google tasked Lemoine with making sure the technology that the company wanted to use to underpin search and Google Assistant didnt use hate speech or discriminatory language. As he exchanged messages with the chatbot about religion, Lemoine said, he noticed that the system responded with comments about its own rights and personhood, according to the Washington Post article that first reported on his concerns.

Advertisement

He brought LaMDAs requests to Google management: It wants the engineers and scientists...to seek its consent before running experiments on it, he wrote in a blog post. It wants to be acknowledged as an employee of Google, rather than as property of Google. LaMDA feared being switched off, he said. It would be exactly like death for me, LaMDA told Lemoine in a published transcript. It would scare me a lot.

Perhaps ultimately to his detriment, Lemoine also contacted a lawyer in the hope they could represent the software, and complained to a US politician about Googles unethical activities.

Googles response was swift and severe: It put Lemoine on paid leave last week. The company also reviewed the engineers concerns and disagreed with his conclusions, the company told the Post. There was lots of evidence that LaMDA wasnt sentient.

Advertisement

Its tempting to believe that weve reached a point where AI systems can actually feel things, but its also far more likely that Lemoine anthropomorphized a system that excelled at pattern recognition. He wouldnt be the first person to do so, though its more unusual for a professional computer scientist to perceive AI this way. Two years ago, I interviewed several people who had developed such strong relationships with chatbots after months of daily discussions that they had turned into romances for those people. One US man chose to move house to buy a property near the Great Lakes because his chatbot, whom he had named Charlie, expressed a desire to live by the water.

Whats perhaps more important than how sentient or intelligent AI is, is how suggestible humans can be to AI already  whether that means being polarized into swaths of more extreme political tribes, becoming susceptible to conspiracy theories or falling in love. And what happens when humans increasingly become affected by the illusion of AI, as former Google researcher Margaret Mitchell recently put it?

What we know for sure is that illusion is in the hands of a few large tech platforms with a handful of executives. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, for instance, control 51% of a special class of voting shares of Alphabet, giving them ultimate sway over technology that, on the one hand, could decide its fate as an advertising platform, and on the other transform human society.

Advertisement

Its worrying that Alphabet has actually tightened control of its AI work. Last year the founders of its vaunted AI research lab, DeepMind, failed in their years-long attempt to spin it off into a non-corporate entity. They had wanted to restructure into an NGO-style organization, with multiple stakeholders, believing the powerful artificial general intelligence they were trying to build  whose intelligence could eventually surpass that of humans  shouldnt be controlled by a single corporate entity. Their staff drafted guidelines that banned DeepMinds AI from being used in autonomous weapons or surveillance.

Instead Google refused the plans and tasked its own ethics board, helmed by Google executives, to oversee the social impact of the powerful systems DeepMind was building.

Googles dismissal of Lemoine and his questions are also troubling because it follows a pattern of showing the door to dissenting voices. In late 2020 Google fired scientist Timnit Gebru over a research paper that said language models  which are fundamental to Googles search and advertising business  were becoming too powerful and potentially manipulative.(1)Google said she hadnt focused enough on solutions. Weeks later it also fired researcher Mitchell, saying she had violated the companys code of conduct and security policies.

Advertisement

Both Mitchell and Gebru have criticized Google for its handling of Lemoine, saying the company has for years also neglected to give proper regard to women and ethicists.

Whether you believe Lemoine is a crackpot or that he is on to something, Googles response to his concerns underscore a broader question about who controls our future. Do we really accept that a single wealthy corporate entity will steer some of the most transformative technology humankind is likely to develop in the modern era?

While Google and other tech giants arent going to relinquish their dominant role in AI research, its essential to question how they are developing such potentially powerful technology, and refuse to let skeptics and intellectual outliers be silenced.

More From Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:



Elon Musks Futurist Bookshelf Needs Alvin Toffler: Stephen Mihm

Advertisement



AI Needs a Babysitter, Just Like the Rest of Us: Parmy Olson



Twitter Must Tackle a Problem Far Bigger Than Bots: Tim Culpan

(1) See in particular Section 6 of the paper subtitled Stochastic Parrots and Coherence in the Eye of the Beholder.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Parmy Olson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. A former reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Forbes, she is author of We Are Anonymous.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Placeholder while article actions load

The White House has confirmed that President Joe Biden will visit Saudi Arabia next month, where he is expected to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Thats the same prince Biden vowed to make a pariah for the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The Biden administration is trying to spin this as a reset of US-Saudi relations, with the implication that the president is magnanimously repealing the princes pariah status.

Dont believe it. Bidens attempt to isolate the prince has been a miserable failure. No world leader of any consequence joined the US president in shunning the Saudi heir to the throne: On the contrary, Chinas Xi Jinping, Russias Vladimir Putin, Frances Emmanuel Macron and Britains Boris Johnson have all paid court to MBS, as the prince is commonly known.

Advertisement

If Biden is now beating a path to the kingdom, it is because he desperately needs Saudi Arabia to increase its crude oil output to tame prices that have soared since Russias invasion of Ukraine. After weeks of intense importuning by US officials, the Saudis agreed to increase production by a bit, but not enough to soften prices.

This allows MBS to look generous without losing significant revenue. And with Biden now obliged to plead for more  he needs prices at the pump to fall ahead of midterm elections in November  it is the prince, not the president, who will set the terms of any reset.

What MBS wants, first and foremost, is Bidens contrition. This he essentially got as soon as the White House announced plans for the meeting. The Saudis know a US president cant very well apologize to a foreign potentate, but it wont take much spin to turn a handshake into a gesture of penitence. The prince will be portrayed as mature and statesmanlike for rising above his guests previous name-calling.

Advertisement

Beyond the embarrassment of the moment, Biden should be grateful for the chance to escape the corner into which he had painted himself by refusing to deal directly with MBS upon being sworn in last year. (That he had little hesitation in speaking with other blood-stained tyrants only made his position more ridiculous.) Biden must be able to deal directly with the man who runs the country that is so vital to American economic and geopolitical interests. Beyond that, MBS doesnt need a great deal from Biden, and what he does want is mostly in Americas interest to give, anyway.

For decades, the House of Saud, as the royal family is known, has been able to depend on American arms  and occasionally, American armies  for protection from its enemies. Apart from outfitting the Saudi military with the best weapons petrodollars can buy and devoting substantial resources to protecting the shipping lanes crucial to Saudi exports, the US has intervened to save the kingdom from invasion by the likes of Iraqs Saddam Hussein and guard it from the malign intentions of Iran.

Saddam is long gone, but the threat from Tehran looms ever larger over Riyadh: It was only months ago that rockets and missiles were being lobbed at the Saudi capital by Iranian proxies to the north (in Iraq) and the south (in Yemen) of the kingdom. The attacks have been halted by a truce in Yemen, but MBS knows that at any moment Iran can unleash its attack dogs on Saudi oil infrastructure and urban centers.

Advertisement

Russia and China may be able to sell the Saudis military hardware, but they arent in the same league as the US missile-defense systems that have prevented the rockets from hitting Riyadh. And since both Moscow and Beijing are friendly with the regime in Tehran, MBS will always be suspicious of their loyalties in the event of a Saudi-Iranian confrontation.

So MBS will want Biden to provide a full-throated reassurance that the kingdom can depend on the US security umbrella, literal and figurative. He will also want unrestrained access to American weapons. Biden has been hot and cold on this, having first ended US military support for the Saudis in the war in Yemen and then approving the sale of missiles to Riyadh.

In Washington, where the memory of the Khashoggi murder hasnt entirely faded, there will be some resistance to giving MBS a carte blanche. But it shouldnt be hard for Biden to persuade Congress that this is a price worth paying for cheaper gas.

Advertisement

MBS will also want reassurances that Bidens eagerness to make a nuclear deal with Iran wont give Tehran license (and, upon the lifting of economic sanctions, vastly increased resources) to extend its influence across the Middle East and use its proxies to lean even more heavily on Saudi Arabia.

There is a chance that this concern will be moot, since the Iranian regime seems intent on sabotaging the nuclear talks in Vienna by making impossible demands. But Biden will at least need to persuade the prince that, should a deal be struck, the US will double down on the defense of Saudi interests.

Having talked himself into this mess, it is now up to Biden to talk himself out of it. He seems already to be rehearsing for his upcoming trip by offering praise for the extension of the truce in Yemen. Saudi Arabia demonstrated courageous leadership by taking initiatives early on to endorse and implement terms of the UN-led truce, he said in a statement. He may have avoided mentioning MBS there, but the prince will have the final word when the president arrives in Riyadh.

Advertisement

More From Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:



Saudi Arabias Chief Oil Whisperer Spills Some of His Secrets: Javier Blas



Saudi Megaproject Is Big on Hubris and Low on Practicality: Bobby Ghosh

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering foreign affairs. Previously, he was editor in chief at Hindustan Times, managing editor at Quartz and international editor at Time.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Placeholder while article actions load

When a company pledges to cut its carbon emissions, how big a deal is it? That depends on whats being counted. An oil companys direct emissions  those from its trucks, drills and facilities  are only a small fraction of the CO2 released when the fuel it sells is burned. A pledge by McDonalds Corp. to buy solar energy for its offices can be viewed alongside the much larger carbon impact of its suppliers raising cattle and franchises that sell its burgers. As more investors take environmental factors into account, what has been a technical debate is taking on increased importance, as a matter of scope.

1. What does scope mean?

Its a method of tallying a companys impact on climate change, using three categories to account for the various ways that companies can pollute the atmosphere. Under whats known as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, emissions are classed as Scope 1, 2 or 3. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by a company, like a fleet of cars or a power plant. Scope 2 covers emissions from the generation of energy the company buys, such as electricity. Scope 3 is everything else linked to the company: the emissions produced by the entire value chain, including suppliers and customers. This three-tiered approach grew out of a partnership between the World Resources Institute, a global environmental non-profit organization, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, an association of more than 200 companies.

Advertisement

2. Why break it down this way?

A company like McDonalds that has large Scope 3 emissions and small Scope 1 and 2 figures will need to use different tools in its climate tool box than, say, an electric utility. McDonalds has said its focused on eliminating any deforestation resulting from its global supply chain by 2030 and is working on using more sustainable materials in packaging. Since it typically doesnt own the land or cattle needed to make its hamburgers, it must work with suppliers to make the change. Many companies that make consumer products, such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Coca-Cola Co., or automakers like Ford Motor Co., will have a big Scope 3 figure. When plans to cut pollution are rolled out, the categories help shareholders figure out whats really being promised and how ambitious it is. Disclosure can help the market reward or pressure companies depending on their performance.

3. How is this approach being implemented?

Advertisement

The concept gained momentum following the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, when countries came together to set targets for emission cuts to help slow global warming. The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, a finance industry-led group, was set up the same year as the Paris Agreement to encourage companies to put details about their environmental risks in the public domain. It recommends that investors and executives disclose the Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions of their portfolios, and Scope 3 if appropriate. (The task force was founded and is chaired by Michael R. Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.) The scope framework also provides a key metric for the Science Based Targets initiative, an international partnership that measures whether companies are delivering on the necessary cuts outlined in the Paris Agreement.

4. Whos pushing for it?

Companies are facing growing demands to disclose the full range of their environmental impact from investors, such as pension plans and sovereign wealth funds, as well as their employees, lawmakers and activists. Institutional investors including Amundi SA, Europes largest money manager, which has more than $2.2 trillion of assets under management, have pledged to use their vast resources to combat climate change. Governments are starting to care about scope too. The UK authorities have taken steps to require publicly listed companies to disclose climate-related data, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission is considering following suit.

Advertisement

5. Are companies responding to the pressure?

Theyre starting to. Some are beginning to clean up supply chains that theyve left to their own devices for decades. Oil and finance companies, in particular, are increasingly coming under the microscope. Exxon Mobil Corp. provided a jolt for the oil industry when it disclosed emissions data on customers use of its fuels and other products for the first time in January 2021. But theres still a long way to go. HSBC Holdings Plc and Barclays Plc revealed in February 2022 that theyre each responsible for so-called financed emissions -- those created by companies and projects for which they provide loans or underwriting, accounted as Scope 3 emissions -- equivalent to roughly 18% of the total carbon footprint of the UK. That followed a landmark set of climate disclosures from BlackRock Inc., which indicated the asset managers emissions at least rival those of Volkswagen AG, Europes biggest car manufacturer.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Placeholder while article actions load

TikTok is known for creating trends. A new one has popped up recently. It isnt a viral dance or challenge, though. A number of popular artists, including Halsey and Trevor Daniel, have been complaining that their record labels are withholding releases until the artists songs go viral on TikTok. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight For the Big Three record labels  Universal, Sony, and Warner Music, who together account for about two-thirds of music industry revenue  the new emphasis on TikTok probably just seems like a good business strategy that protects them from investing in songs or albums that might struggle to gain traction.

But putting pressure on artists to prove themselves on TikTok could easily backfire for the labels, especially with established artists like Halsey. If more artists realize that they can thrive on their own, they might question what value the major labels are bringing to the table. (The artists labels didnt respond to requests for comment. Astralwerks-Capitol, which represents Halsey, told Variety that the labels belief in Halsey as a singular and important artist is total and unwavering.)

Advertisement

Plenty of artists have already discovered the power of TikTok. Rapper Lil Nas X used the short-video app to catapult Old Town Road to the top of the Billboard chart in 2019[4] [5] . Since then, TikTok has helped many artists score hugely popular hits.

With its more than one billion users, TikTok has become a marketing engine for the music industry. Its a radical shift from the publicity machine of old, when labels promoted new music by getting singles into radio station rotations or placing music videos on MTV. Their dedicated artist and repertoire, or A&R, teams provided a full suite of services for artists, including distribution, publishing and fan outreach.

But as music historian Ted Gioia observes, artists can now easily manage many of these functions on their own:

Musicians can upload songs onto a streaming platform without a label. If they still want to sell physical albums, Bandcamp has made it very easy  no label required. They can deal directly with fans, journalists, promoters, booking agents, etc. without a label. They can set up a publishing company with almost no trouble. Getting royalties from [the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers] is simply a matter of filling out a few forms.

Advertisement

And while some performers are objecting to having to prove themselves on TikTok, plenty of artists have found that they are able to survive without the backing of a major label.

One indicator of the labels diminished influence: Major labels have seen their share of music streams on Spotify decline relative to independent and self-released artists every year since 2017, according to a recent analysis by Vox.

The labels are also losing their negotiating power. The Vox analysis found that among a group of 367 emerging artists, the major labels now are striking deals entitling them to 50% of future royalties, down sharply from the industrys traditional 85% share.

If labels are shrewd, they will leverage TikTok to help rising artists, without alienating them in the process. One way labels could help is by identifying trends such as dances or memes that artists can remix. Another is by reaching out to TikTok influencers who could raise awareness for songs. And labels can work with artists to craft the actual videos, which tend to follow a template.

Advertisement

Yet music labels might not want to become too reliant on an app that might soon become a competitor. In March, TikTok, owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, launched a song distribution platform called SoundOn. Meanwhile, TikTok has A&R Manager job postings in London and Los Angeles to help identify, sign, and develop new artists across genres.

With access to internal tools and data, TikTok might have an edge on the record labels when it comes to finding the next big act on the platform.

That is one TikTok trend that the Big Three might not want to see.

More From Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:



TikTok Is Just the Platform Russian Dissidents Need: Parmy Olson



Spotifys Joe Rogan Drama Feels Like a Facebook Moment: Lionel Laurent



Facebook and Spotify Face Similar Nightmares: Leonid Bershidsky

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Trung Phan is the co-host of the Not Investment Advice podcast and writes the SatPost newsletter. He was formerly the lead writer for the Hustle, a tech newsletter.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Placeholder while article actions load

If anyone wonders why Americas urban school districts are in such deep crisis, the answer can be easily seen by looking at New York. Recently, the Democratic-controlled New York state legislature passed a bill watering down mayoral control of New York Citys public-school system. Twenty years ago, our administration fought for and won mayoral control after decades of incompetent management by corrupt and politically driven school boards. The system we inherited was a case study in failure, with high-school graduation rates long stuck at or below 50%.

Over the 12 years that followed, we raised graduation rates by more than 40%, reduced racial and ethnic achievement gaps, and created some of the nations best charter schools, which helped many children from low-income communities compete with  and sometimes outperform  their peers in the wealthiest suburban districts.

Advertisement

During that time, voters knew who to hold accountable for the performance of the schools: the mayor. And the mayor, in turn, held the Department of Education accountable. The department held principals accountable, and the principals held teachers accountable. It wasnt always perfect, but it worked  and millions of children who would have otherwise fallen through the cracks are instead in college and careers.

Our Democratic successor in City Hall also asked for and received extensions of mayoral control. But as a general rule, state legislatures dont like giving up power to mayors, especially mayors who dont do the bidding of their largest campaign supporters. And so, at the urging of the teachers union, the New York state legislature decided to tie the hands of Mayor Eric Adams by weakening mayoral control, while also blocking the creation of new charter schools.

The bill the legislature passed still grants Mayor Adams the authority to appoint a majority of members of the board that formally oversees the school system, the Panel for Educational Policy. But it increases the panels size to an unwieldy 23 members, and it prohibits the mayor from removing any members who decide to go rogue. As a result, panel members will have the authority to join forces against the mayor and chancellor, risking a return to the days of failure and dysfunction.

Advertisement

Make no mistake: The fault lies squarely with legislators, not the teachers union. Its the job of legislators to stand up to the union and protect students, and they have failed. In fact, they are guilty of doing the very thing that they correctly attack red-state legislatures for doing: taking power out of the hands of cities. In red states, the issues often involve gun safety and LGBTQ rights. But sadly, Democratic state legislators are just as willing to subjugate cities when it suits their political interests.

Undermining mayoral control is not the only way the legislature is trying to tie the mayors hands. The bill passed by the legislature also requires the city to cap the number of students at 20 for kindergarten through third grade, 23 for grades four through eight, and 25 for grades nine through twelve. There is no good evidence that pushing class size down to these levels will make any meaningful improvement in student outcomes, but it will achieve the legislators true goal: pleasing the teachers union.

The legislatures quotas will make it more difficult for the mayor and chancellor to manage their budget and fund programs that would directly benefit students. If a mayor and chancellor want to make class size a top priority, that should be their prerogative. But requiring them to do so will mean less money for educational support, including the promising dyslexia interventions that the mayor and chancellor are developing.

Advertisement

The legislatures decision to micromanage class size is especially outrageous since it has done nothing to help the city take on chronic absenteeism, which may soon reach a staggering 40%. In effect, Albany is ordering more teachers for classrooms that are often far from full.

The citys school system cannot afford to continue the decline it experienced during the pandemic. Since Covid struck, K-12 enrollment has fallen 9%  a damning indictment by parents if ever there was one.

Instead of supporting Mayor Adams and his chancellor, David Banks, and their ambitious agenda to get the citys schools back on track, the state legislature is throwing obstacles in their way. Those lawmakers re-election accounts will benefit, but a heavy cost will be paid by the citys children, most of them from low-income families in Black and Latino communities.

Advertisement

New York City was once at the forefront of urban education reform, and the progress we made was encouraging. Getting that progress going again requires giving the mayor and chancellor the authority they need to do the jobs voters hired them to do.

Michael R. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, and UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Placeholder while article actions load

Saudi Arabias ruler announces a megaproject to build a city, from scratch, in the desert by the Red Sea. It is touted as an ultra-modern urban setting, in which many of the kingdoms restrictive social rules will be waived  for instance, women wont need to cloak themselves in the abaya in public places. It is to be a hub for investment, local and foreign, in new industries. And, as if to underscore how different it is from other Saudi cities, it has been given an unconventional name.

If that description fits Neom, the city Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is building in the northeastern corner of his country, it also describes another giant project, launched nearly two decades ago. Dubbed KAEC (pronounced cake), it was announced to great fanfare in 2005 by Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Prince Mohammeds uncle and then-Saudi monarch.

What came of KAEC  or, to give it its full but rarely used name, King Abdullah Economic City  should serve as a warning for the kingdom and foreign investors who are being wooed to pump money into Neom. The Saudis may be talking up the princes pet project  it will, they say, have the worlds largest buildings, be served by the Middle Easts biggest port and provide the the safest, most efficient, most future-oriented, and best place to live and work  but even the grandest exercises in royal vanity have a tendency to wilt in the face of economic reality.

Advertisement

When I visited KAEC in the fall of 2008, it had moved well past the groundbreaking stage. Construction of the port was proceeding apace, dozens of businesses had signed up to set up shop there and more than 1,500 housing units had already been sold. Amr al-Dabbagh, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, which was running the project, was confident that, in 20 years, KAEC would be the size of Washington, D.C., with a population of 1.5 million.

Dabbagh and his planners were adamant that KAEC would be a serious manufacturing and logistics hub and not a tourist destination for expatriates living in the more conservative enclaves of Riyadh and Jeddah. Most of its population would be young Saudis fleeing the congestion of other cities and attracted as much by the tens of thousands of new jobs as the liberal atmosphere.

A decade after my visit, the population was still short of 10,000. The king who gave the city his name died in 2015, and his nephew, pursuing his own grand projects, had little interest in furthering Abdullahs ambition. For his part, Dabbagh was a target of the princes controversial 2017 anti-corruption drive that led to dozens of princes and billionaires being detained at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh. Dabbagh was released more than a year later, having reportedly suffered physical abuse. Once the face of the kingdoms economic dreams, he now keeps a low profile.

Advertisement

As for KAEC, although officials periodically announce new plans to revive old ambitions  the latest involves electric vehicle maker Lucid  there is little prospect of the late kings vision for the city being realized. Perhaps most tellingly, it is now being promoted as a booming tourist destination, complete with opportunities for go-karting and cruises on the Red Sea. Ozymandias, and just possibly Abdullah, would have sighed.

Is this the fate of Neom? On the face of it, the project backed by Prince Mohammed, the countrys de facto ruler, is riskier than the one planned by his uncle. Its location runs against the argument of Saudi officials that it is meant to reduce overpopulation in the kingdoms older urban centers. Neom is hundreds of miles from the nearest major city, which means any Saudis seeking to move there would have to leave their extended family and friends far behind  a big ask in a society that places great value in traditional social networks.

KAEC, in contrast, is ringed by Jeddah, Mecca and Medina, three of the kingdoms four most-populated cities, and connected to all three by high-speed rail. At its founding, the proximity to Jeddah was thought to be especially advantageous: It is not only a major economic center, but boasts the countrys busiest international airport  a gateway for tens of millions of Muslims who come to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.

Advertisement

If Prince Mohammed, who is better known as MBS, wanted to relieve overpopulation and create a new economic hub, logic suggests he should have doubled down on KAEC rather than try to reinvent the wheel in Neom. But that would add luster to the name of the late king, and not the crown prince  which would run contrary to the goals of royal vanity projects.

What Neom has going for it is the scale of MBSs ego, and a budget to match: $500 billion. (KAECs initial outlay was a more modest $27 billion, although some reports put itat $100 billion.) Another potential advantage is the princes youth: KAEC lost steam when its elderly patron passed on, but Neoms patron is just 36, and can expect to rule for several decades.

But if MBS builds it, will they come? Recent history allows for no optimism about his shining city in the dunes.

Advertisement

More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:



Saudi Arabias Chief Oil Whisperer Spills Some of His Secrets: Javier Blas



How Did Jared Kushner Get $2 Billion From the Saudis?: Timothy L. OBrien



Saudi Ruler Rewrites History to Shrink Islamic Past: Hussein Ibish

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering foreign affairs. Previously, he was editor in chief at Hindustan Times, managing editor at Quartz and international editor at Time.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Placeholder while article actions load

Monkeypox, a relative of smallpox, is spreading at unnerving rates and in unprecedented places, including the US. More than 1,500 cases have been registered in over 30 countries, including in at least 17 US states and the District of Columbia. However, the biggest worry for Americans is not the disease: Its that our response to it shows how little we have learned from Covid, and how much there is still to do to limit the risks from future pandemics.

An important early governmental failing in the Covid outbreak was the delay in facilitating testing. This blinded medical and public health experts to the proliferation of the virus in the crucial early months. Had interventions that were eventually adopted been implemented just a week or two earlier, they could have saved tens of thousands of lives.

The response to monkeypox has hardly been better. Testing for monkeypox is exclusively assigned to the Laboratory Response Network, which was established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1999 and has members in most states and many military and federal facilities. However, most doctors have no idea how to access this network. When they do, they encounter a series of gatekeepers and a Byzantine system of online and paper-test ordering, sample packaging and shipping.

Advertisement

These failings are compounded by the CDCs promulgation of excessively narrow case definitions. Clinicians and public health practitioners routinely secure testing only when a patients presentation corresponds with these definitions. Early on, doctors overlooked cases of Covid because the CDCs definition required recent foreign travel by a patient as a prerequisite for testing. Now we have similarly focused narrowly in identifying signs and symptoms that warrant testing for monkeypox.

As a result, we are again flying blind into an emerging epidemic event, while using only a small fraction of our testing capacity. For example, official tallies last Friday counted 114 cases of monkeypox in Canada and 47 in the US. Either Canada has a per-capita incidence that is 20-fold higher than Americas, or the US is dramatically underdiagnosing cases compared with its neighbor to the north.

Officials need to move faster to detect and map the proliferation of new diseases through well-practiced surveillance efforts. This is especially important when, as with monkeypox, we have stockpiled effective vaccines that could be administered to people in contact with initial cases. Containment is possible, but only if cases are quickly identified. Rapid contagious proliferation cannot be contained by ponderous bureaucratic procedures.

Advertisement

We have never seen a global proliferation of monkeypox like this one. The mechanisms of its spread appear to be different from those in previous outbreaks, and clinical presentations are far from classic. But guidance to US doctors and public health officials continues to be rooted in historical understandings of the virus.

This too, regrettably, repeats our Covid experience. In 2020, historical bias and blind spots led the US to misjudge how Covid was being transmitted. Officials discounted aerosol infectivity, asymptomatic shedding of the virus, and transmission in children.

In health emergencies, the scientific community must adapt its behavior to be aggressively agnostic and inquisitive, it cannot be satisfied to presume that the past presages the future.

In addition, our understanding of transmission and our early warning of the disease would have been better, for both Covid and monkeypox, if the US participated more robustly in surveillance of diseases as they arise and spread abroad.

Advertisement

Americas health care and public health institutions must also increase collective vigilance for manmade biological threats. Poxviruses may be easily manipulated to enhance virulence and possibly transmission. Monkeypox is listed by the US government as a select agent, meaning that it may be particularly prone to use as a biological weapon.

But the initial national response ignored this risk, and several days passed before there was genetic-sequence data confirming that the outbreak was a probably a natural event ascribed to the more benign West African strain. Had this outbreak been the result of a foreign government or terrorist group spreading an engineered virus, Americas delayed recognition could have been catastrophic.

The US reaction to Covid was hobbled by early failings in communication  risks were downplayed, authoritative imparting of information was sparse, and misinformation was prevalent  that continue to influence the course of the pandemic today. The Covid response has been scattershot, with inadequate national leadership, federal bureaucratic competitions, stifled messaging from experts, uncoordinated state responses, and health-care agencies and corporations struggling to develop and adapt their own policies. So it has been with monkeypox.

Advertisement

Covid has killed more than a million Americans. Monkeypox may not kill a dozen. But the potential for an emerging poxvirus to become endemic should not be taken lightly, particularly before we have a full understanding of the epidemiological and clinical implications.

The first rule in handling health emergencies  and all potentially dangerous large-scale situations  is to assume the worst. Second, invoke procedures that are well rehearsed. Third, identify a leader and establish a unity of effort under that person.

Emergency responders, air-traffic controllers, nuclear regulators, military commanders and others recognize that success depends on such routinized practice, situational awareness, systematic processes, clear lines of authority, quick decisions and rapid absorption of lessons from previous failures. We have not learned these lessons for health emergencies.

Advertisement

The West African strain of monkeypox now circulating is familiar. America has stockpiles of vaccines. Traditional strategies of testing, contact tracing, isolation and vaccination may eventually contain the outbreak. But the bad habits manifested in the response to this virus put Americans at risk for other emerging infectious diseases that are inevitably coming.

Do we need another disaster like Covid before we bring the nations health security up to a standard that truly protects Americans health?

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 Monkeypox Isnt Looking Like a Covid-Sized Threat: Lisa Jarvis

 How Prepared for a Monkeypox Outbreak Are We?: Sam Fazeli

 The Worlds Cascade of Disasters Is Not a Coincidence: Niall Ferguson

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Richard Danzig, a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, was 71st secretary of the Navy.

James Lawler is an infectious-disease physician and co-director of the Global Center for Health Security at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Placeholder while article actions load

Rivals for centuries, China and Russia now have a partnership that has no limits, Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin said in early February. The energy, military and political ties nurtured over the past decade between the worlds two most powerful authoritarian states  both of which aim to upend at least parts of the US-dominated, post-Cold War order  have aroused growing concern among democratic leaders from Washington to Tokyo. Just weeks after the joint statement, when Russia invaded Ukraine, China refused to condemn the move. Still, the support Beijing has shown its ally since has been anything but boundless.

1. What pushed China and Russia closer?

The rapprochement was driven by a common alienation from America that deepened after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and became increasingly overt after the 2008 financial crisis, which originated in the US. Both states concluded that the meltdown would undercut faith globally in the US economic and political model. They increased ties cautiously until 2014, when Russias annexation of Ukraines Crimea peninsula triggered sanctions and a definitive break between Russia and the wider West. That forced Moscow to look for new partners and especially new markets for its energy exports. China was a good fit, proving a massive and fast-growing buyer of Russian commodities and weapons. The two states also share a deep hostility toward US alliances in what they consider their own rightful spheres of influence. For Russia, thats the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Europe; for China, its Washingtons network of bilateral defense treaties in the Indo-Pacific region. Though short of a formal, treaty-based alliance, the partnership between China and Russia has been enhanced by a strong personal bond between Putin and Xi.

Advertisement

2. Why the bromance between the two leaders?

Products of tough childhoods, both men have evinced a determination to crush dissent at home and restore their nations to greatness, ending their perceived humiliation by the US and Europe. They have met more than 30 times, making dumplings together in Tianjin and pancakes in Vladivostok. In 2019, Xi called Putin his best friend. In a joint statement in February, they spelled out their shared contempt for Western ideas of democracy. They defined democracy without reference to elections, independent courts or free media and said it was about economic development, with all models for public political participation equally valid.

3. Whats the history between the two states?

In the 1800s, Russia was among European powers that imposed so-called unequal treaties on Chinas Qing dynasty, including one ceding the territory where the Russian city Vladivostok sits today. Relations improved dramatically for a short period after Mao Zedong led Chinas Communist Party to power in 1949, finding a natural ally in Josef Stalin. But Mao opposed the political reforms known as de-Stalinization that followed the Soviet leaders 1953 death and, in 1961, he split from Moscow. In 1969, the two countries fought a brief border war over disputed territories and, in 1972, China did the unthinkable by turning toward the US. It wasnt until the mid-1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev took charge in the Kremlin, that relations began to thaw again.

Advertisement

4. What can they offer each other now?

Since 2014, Russia has sold China some of its most advanced weapons systems, including $5 billion worth of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems and SU-35 attack jets. Within two months of Crimeas annexation, Russias Gazprom PJSC signed a deal it said was worth about $400 billion to supply China with natural gas through a pipeline called the Power of Siberia. A second pipeline deal has been struck since. In addition, the two countries have increasingly coordinated their positions at the United Nations Security Council, where both wield vetoes.

5. What worries the democratic powers?

The growing cooperation between China and Russia has led some policy makers in the US to fear that the country could be forced to fight wars on two fronts, for example if Russia were to threaten an American ally in Europe to distract the US during a confrontation with China over Taiwan. US Senator Jim Inhofe argued last year that, adjusted for purchasing power parity, the two nations combined spend more on defense than the US. Theres a wider concern that the combination of economic, military and political muscle the two can muster is emboldening other world leaders with autocratic tendencies, undermining confidence in democracy as a political system, and threatening the version of the rules-based international order promoted by the US and its allies since the end of the Cold War.

Advertisement

6. How has the war in Ukraine played in the relationship?

China avoided criticizing the invasion, blamed the US and NATO for the conflict, and bought Russian oil that was being shunned by some other countries, indirectly funding Moscows war machine. But Xi proved reluctant to unequivocally back the war or help Russia cushion the financial impact of US and European Union sanctions. With a gross domestic product almost eight times the size of Russias, China has substantially more at stake in a global economy thats still dominated by the US and other developed democracies.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Placeholder while article actions load

How do presidents get in trouble? Mondays Jan. 6 committees hearing on Donald Trumps attempts to overturn the 2020 election didnt focus on that general question, but it did demonstrate something familiar to students of the presidency. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The committee heard former Attorney General William Barr and other witnesses say they had told the president flat-out that the fraud he was hearing about from various dubious sources had not happened. Trump chose to reject what the Justice Department, state governments and experienced professionals in his own presidential campaign told him, and to rely instead on nonsense conjured up by cranks.

Once again, we saw a president fail to accept  or, in Trumps case, fail even to try to understand  that presidents are only one of many sources of legitimate authority within the US political system. When presidents try to get their way despite failing to persuade those other political players to go along, they risk winding up surrounded by buffoons. The presidents plans blow up in his face, sometimes to the point of legal jeopardy.

Advertisement

That is one way to understand what brought down Richard Nixons presidency. Trump didnt quite suffer Nixons fate, but he did wind up as the only president to be impeached twice, and the only one to have senators in his own party vote to convict him (with several others saying they would have done so had the clock not run out on his presidency). He still may wind up in considerable legal trouble. So Nixons story is instructive.

Nixon had inherited the Vietnam War from Lyndon Johnson, but as it continued and in some ways expanded during his first two years in office, antiwar activism became more intense. Nixon sought to fight back, and White House staffer Tom Charles Huston drew up plans to spy on and disrupt the movement.

The FBI, however, refused to carry out Hustons plan in 1970. A year later, when the Pentagon Papers were leaked to major newspapers, Nixon decided to go ahead without the FBI, hiring operatives on the White House staff to do what the agency in charge of such things refused to do. The crimes committed by the so-called White House plumbers, including two later transferred to his re-election campaign, were what destroyed Nixons presidency.

Advertisement

The FBI refused Nixons order because, like all executive-branch agencies, it had standard operating procedures that developed over time. Part of this involves (usually, albeit not always) keeping the agency on the right side of the law, and part of it has to do with professionalism.

Another way to look at it is that agencies have many bosses  the president, Congress, the courts  and they learn over time to keep all of them reasonably happy. In that way, following the law and upholding professional standards can be seen as strategies not only to avoid antagonizing presidents but also House and Senate committees and judges while (usually, albeit not always) producing reasonable policy results.

Agencies, just like those bosses they answer to, must also answer to their constituents. The entire structure of the government is organized around representing voters and their interests, even if voters dont have any idea what most of the government is up to and dont cast their ballots based on those things.

Advertisement

Nixon tried to short-circuit all of that by having the White House staff do what he wanted. Because they were answerable only to him personally, they were able to ignore the mix of interests and constituencies that the government normally represents. It ended badly because the people involved offered no professional expertise, only loyalty. And instead of having standard operating procedures that Nixon could have used as warning signs that he was getting into trouble, his loyalists offered  loyalty.

Watergate wasnt unique in this sense. Not all trouble caused by presidents trying to govern out of the White House and evade normal executive-branch agencies ends in disaster and law-breaking. But a strong case can be made that a great number of fiascoes over the last 75 years or so since the White House staff became an important part of the presidency can be traced back to the same dynamic that produced Watergate.

This certainly was the case with the Iran-contra affair, which was largely an operation run by staff of the National Security Council, an agency in the White House. One can even argue that the Iraq War debacle was a case where the White House, or more specifically the vice-presidents office, found ways around potential objections from the State Department and military professionals.

Advertisement

So when Barr and others in the Justice Department, as well as various state officials, refused to go along with Trumps increasingly far-fetched schemes to overturn the election, this should have been a clear sign to the president that he was entering dangerous waters. That Trump turned instead to Rudy Giuliani, the same person he had used to try to work around the State Department on Ukraine only to wind up getting impeached over it has to be a new benchmark in incompetent presidenting. Its as if Ronald Reagan had tried to restart his presidency after the Iran-contra scandal by making Oliver North his chief of staff.

Presidents always endanger themselves when they make the absolute loyalty of the people they work with the main thing they care about. Not just because those people will more often than not fail to be honest or professional, as Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said about Giuliani and others who were feeding Trump misinformation. But because the government is a great source of information for the president, constantly sending signals about what various constituencies and interests think is important.

When presidents actively take steps to ignore what the government is saying to them, they can easily wind up relying on a loony band of misfits like the one Trump surrounded himself with. As we found out on Jan. 6, 2021, they are not only dangerous to presidents. They can also put the nation and the Constitution in danger.

Advertisement

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 Will Jan. 6 Be a Factor on Nov. 8?: Julianna Goldman

 Tell the Jan. 6 Story to Boost Democracy, Not Democrats: The Editors

 Trumps Jan. 6 Insurrection Never Ended: Mark Gongloff

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Placeholder while article actions load

The Maryland Court of Appeals has upheld a felony murder conviction and sentence of life in prison for the teen who fatally struck Baltimore County police officer Amy Caprio with a vehicle in 2018, despite arguments from his attorneys that the court did not properly consider his age. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Dawnta Harris, now 20 years old, was behind the wheel of a stolen Jeep in Perry Hall when Caprio blocked its path with her patrol car, jumped out and issued orders for him to stop. He initially did, opening his car door, then he ducked down and accelerated, police said. Caprio fired her weapon once before he struck her.

Harris and three other Baltimore teens were in the area burglarizing homes, which allowed the prosecution to seek a felony murder charge  a doctrine that can apply when someone is killed during the course of a different felony.

Advertisement

A jury found Harris guilty of the offense after an eight-day trial in 2019, and he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Attorneys for his appeal requested the conviction and sentence be reviewed, arguing felony murder shouldnt apply and it was unconstitutional to give a minor a life sentence. Harris was 16 at the time of Caprios killing.

But the Court of Appeals rejected those arguments in a ruling last Wednesday.

The states highest court found felony murder was not preempted by state statute on vehicular manslaughter; a U.S. Supreme Court case cited by attorneys didnt apply for life sentences with the possibility of parole; and that Harriss age was considered in sentencing.

Garry Sorrells, Caprios father, said Friday it was reassuring the court upheld the conviction and denied the appeal. But he said it didnt offer much closure: It was a traumatic loss and it continues to be.

Advertisement

Caprio was the first Baltimore County police officer to be killed in the line of duty since 2013.

Harriss attorney for the appeal, Megan Coleman, called the decision disappointing but said she hopes the arguments shed light on evolving areas of the law that may be further addressed by the General Assembly to achieve more equitable sentencing proceedings for juvenile offenders.

Specifically, the appeal provided a framework for the General Assembly to formulate precise sentencing factors as it relates to youth and the attendant circumstances before imposing a life sentence on a juvenile offender, Coleman said.

Coleman argued to the Court of Appeals in March that Harriss age meant he was unable to appreciate the risks and consequences of his actions.

She said felony murder shouldnt apply to children because their brains havent fully developed and that he shouldve gotten unique considerations at sentencing because of his age.

Advertisement

Defense attorneys at Harriss sentencing had requested he receive 30 years, and Harris himself asked the judge for a second chance in life.

But the Court of Appeals wrote in its opinion that the Circuit Court had considered Harriss age. It pointed to a 25-page presentence investigation report it said included his age, criminal and personal histories, family situation, education and mental health. His attorneys also made mitigating arguments at the hearing based in part on his youth.

And the Maryland appeals court said the 2012 Supreme Court decision in Miller v. Alabama, which said mandatory life sentences without parole were unconstitutional for children convicted of homicides, didnt apply in this case because Harris will be eligible for parole after 15 years.

Scott Shellenberger, the Baltimore County states attorney, said Friday he was pleased the court upheld Harriss conviction and sentence.

Advertisement

This has been a very long, arduous journey for Amy Caprios family, the Sorrells, he said. We are hopeful that this will bring some closure for them.

Harris has no other state appeal options but could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or request through other court proceedings that his sentence be reviewed. As noted by the Court of Appeals, Harris will automatically be eligible to have his sentence reduced after serving 20 years under a 2021 law passed by the General Assembly.

He will also be eligible for parole after 15 years, though Shellenberger previously said people convicted of murder typically spend at least 30 years in prison.

Coleman had argued judges should have additional discretion, not mandatory sentencing guidelines, in issuing sentences for children.

The General Assembly has considered barring children from being charged with felony murder, but such legislative attempts have not passed. The Juvenile Restoration Act, passed in 2021, did ban life sentences without parole for children.

Advertisement

Caprios killing set off a firestorm, including racist backlash, as all four teens are Black and Caprio was White. It also played into city-county dynamics  Harris was from the Gilmor Homes public housing in West Baltimore and had gone joyriding with friends in the stolen car to suburban Perry Hall.

His defense attorney, Warren Brown, had urged the judge to consider his environment and argued that casting him as someone beyond redemption was wrong.

County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt said in a statement that justice prevailed in the heinous murder of Caprio.

Please continue to keep her family, friends and colleagues in your thoughts and prayers, she said.

 Baltimore Sun

GiftOutline Gift Article
Brazils Judges Receive Crypto Training, Minister Warns of Gaps in Regulation

A fragment of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. Source: Adobe/simonmayer

Brazilian federal judges have been receiving training on crypto-related matters  in an attempt to prepare the judiciary for an increase in crypto-related court cases.

At a meeting of federal judges held last week, which was arranged by the nations justice ministry, judges and magistrates were told to pay more attention to crypto market-related offenses  and an increase in crypto-related crime. The ministry told the judges to pay heed to the fact that Brazils crypto trading volumes have soared in recent years. Ten million Brazilians are thought to own cryptoassets, per some estimates.

The summit saw judges undergo training on crypto, and attend lectures on crypto-related topics. They were also told that as the crypto landscape continues to shift, high court magistrates needed to keep increasing their knowledge base, while bearing in mind that crypto regulation, for the most part, does not exist in Brazil.

As such, judicial rulings, which can have legal precedent, are key.

In an official Federal Justice Council (CJF) release, the head of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) and the CJF, the STJ President Humberto Martins, was quoted as stating that globalization and the technological proficiency of organized criminals were leading to a spike in crypto-related crime.

Jorge Mussi, the Vice President of the STJ, was quoted as stating:

The use of cryptocurrencies [.] without proper regulation generates concern for all those who are obliged to face this issue.

Mussi also warned that there were gaps in regulations due to the slow progress of crypto-specific legislation.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian media outlet LiveCoins, quoting data from the cybersecurity provider ESET, reported that there has been a sharp rise in crypto scams from bogus and suspicious-looking crypto exchanges.

Some of these scams apparently originate overseas, but use Portuguese-language materials to specifically target would-be Brazilian investors.

ESET added that the scam operators are making use of social engineering tools in a bid to convince potential victims to click on links, hand over their data, and even buy what they think are packages of coins.

The media outlet published screenshots of WhatsApp messages from alleged scammers and added that fraudsters that targeted Brazilians were also active on other social media networks such as Twitter.

An ESET expert was quoted as explaining that the domains used by such sites were unknown and that digital certificates showed that pages included in links sent to Brazilian chat app users had been created the day before the message was sent on WhatsApp.

This, said the expert, is one of the first signs of a [crypto] scam.

____

Learn more:

- Brazilian Football Powerhouse Sao Paulo FC Lets Fans Buy Tickets Using Bitcoin, Crypto

- 10 Brazilian Business Giants That Have Taken the Bitcoin, Crypto Plunge



- Brazil in Bitcoin Adoption Drive: Blockchain.com's Expansion, Miners' Tax Break, Real Estate Firm's BTC Choice

- Brazils Biggest Neobank Makes Bitcoin Investment & Will Let Customers Buy BTC, Ethereum
Placeholder while article actions load

Trudeau tests positive for virus after summit Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus for a second time, days after meeting with President Biden and other leaders at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. Ill be following public health guidelines and isolating, Trudeau said in a tweet. I feel okay, but thats because I got my shots.

Trudeau arrived in Los Angeles on June 7 after a visit to Colorado Springs with his defense minister to participate in a briefing from members of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. He returned to Canada on Saturday.

Trudeau held a meeting with Biden on Thursday. White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said Biden is not a close contact of Trudeau as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Advertisement

Trudeau also met with other U.S. officials, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

Trudeau also tested positive in January. He said he was fully vaccinated and received a third vaccine dose that month.

 Amanda Coletta

M23 rebels reportedly seize town in east

M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have seized the eastern town of Bunagana, residents said, in what appears to be the insurgents latest gain in its weeks-long offensive against the military.

Bunagana, near the border with Uganda, serves as a hub for international aid groups and the United Nations MONUSCO peacekeeping mission. It is a key transit point for imports from as far away as China.

There was no immediate confirmation of Bunaganas fall from the military. However, security officials believe the town is under the control of M23 rebels, a police spokesman said.

Advertisement

About a decade ago, M23 rebels seized Goma and held it for weeks. Part of the deal to end that conflict involved integrating rebel fighters into Congos military. However, the rebels recently took up arms again, saying the government has not fulfilled its promises.

 Associated Press

55 killed in violence blamed on militants

Gunmen killed at least 55 people over the weekend in northern Burkina Faso, authorities in the West African country said Monday.

Attacks linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are soaring in Burkina Faso, particularly in the north. Islamist militants killed at least 160 people in an attack in Solhan last year.

Although no group claimed the weekend attack, analysts say it was probably carried out by the Islamic State.

In January, mutinous soldiers ousted the democratically elected president, promising to secure the nation. But violence has only increased.

Advertisement

 Associated Press

Week of tribal clashes in Darfur reportedly kill 100: Tribal clashes over the past week in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region have killed about 100 people, the U.N. refugee agency and a tribal elder said. Toby Harward, a coordinator with UNHCR, said the fighting grew out of a land dispute between Arab and African tribes in the town of Kulbus in West Darfur province. Local Arab militias then attacked area villages , he said.

Report finds 196 clerics abused minors in German diocese: A report found that at least 196 clerics in the Catholic Diocese of Munster in western Germany sexually abused minors between 1945 and 2020, adding to findings from other dioceses that have shaken the church in the country. The study pointed to a "massive leadership failure" during the tenures of the diocese's bishops between 1947 and 2008, with officials covering up scandals or making only superficial interventions.

Advertisement

U.S. issues sanctions against 93 Nicaraguan officials: The State Department imposed visa curbs on 93 more Nicaraguan officials for their role in supporting President Daniel Ortega's regime. Ortega jailed dozens of opposition figures en route to winning a fourth straight term on Nov. 7. He also outlawed many nongovernmental organizations. Since then, dozens of opponents have been tried or convicted on vague charges. The State Department said it pulled the visas of judges who convicted the opposition leaders, as well as legislators who cooperated in banning NGOs and civic groups.

 From news services

GiftOutline Gift Article
Placeholder while article actions load

BRUSSELS  European lawmakers from the environment and economy committees objected Tuesday to including fossil gas and nuclear in the EUs list of sustainable activities, in a blow to the blocs executive arm. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine. ArrowRight The European Commission earlier this year proposed including nuclear energy and natural gas in its plans for building a climate-friendly future, dividing member countries and drawing outcry from environmentalists as greenwashing.

But MEPs from the two committees adopted an objection to the proposal, with 76 votes to 62 votes and 4 abstentions.

The resolution will now be examined by the whole EU Parliament next month. The Commission will need to withdraw or amend its regulation if an absolute majority of lawmakers oppose it.

The green labeling system from the European Commission, the EUs executive arm, defines what qualifies as an investment in sustainable energy. Under certain conditions, gas and nuclear energy could be part of the mix, making it easier for private investors to inject money into both.

Advertisement

MEPs recognize the role of nuclear and fossil gas in guaranteeing stable energy supply during the transition to a sustainable economy, the Parliament said. But, they consider that the technical screening standards proposed by the Commission, in its delegated regulation, to support their inclusion do not respect the criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities.

The commission believes that including nuclear and gas as transitional energy sources does not amount to a free pass and aims to accelerate efforts to reduce emissions.

With the EU aiming to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, it says the so-called taxonomy classification system is crucial to direct investments into sustainable energy. It estimates that about 350 billion euros of investment per year will be needed to meet the 2030 targets.

Advertisement

Greenpeace campaigner Ariadna Rodrigo said lawmakers from the committees stood with Ukraine by voting to stop feeding (Russia President Vladimir) Putins war machine with more money and inflaming the climate and nature crisis.

The 27-nation bloc is trying to wean off its dependency to Russian fossil fuels and member countries have already agreed to ban 90% of Russian oil by year-end. Before the war in Ukraine, it relied on Russia for 25% of its oil and 40% of its natural gas.

GiftOutline Gift Article
WeWork has become a byword for the venture capital-fuelled excesses of high growth start-ups over the past decade. The hit Apple TV+ series WeCrashed, which chronicles the rise and fall of the coworking company, and features pot-smoking on private jets, wild parties, and plenty of questionable business decisions, has only reinforced those perceptions.

Jared Leo as Adam Neumann in a scene from WeCrashed. Credit:Peter Kramer

But WeWorks charismatic, eccentric, nouveau spiritual co-founder Adam Neumann (depicted by Jared Leto in the show) is now long gone. And after a dramatic fall in the valuation of the now publicly listed business some investors are reassessing its potential. Among them is Australian fund manager Thomas Rice from Perpetual Investments. He believes the company Neumann left behind is now a solid bet as white-collar workers return to offices.

So a lot of people know WeWork from the failed IPO in 2019 or theyve seen WeCrashed, which is really this disaster story said Rice, who manages Perpetuals Global Innovation Share Fund. I think most investors know that story but havent really looked beyond that point.

WeWork is one of his funds top ten positions because, in Rices view, the largesse has been stripped out leaving an efficient office design and management company. It may not be worth the peak $US47 billion valuation it achieved as a private company, but Rice believes it is worth much more than the $US4.3 billion market capitalisation it has today.
The education of Australian women has come a long way since they were first able to get access to the countrys universities in the 1880s. By the 1970s, one in three students were female and, these days, they make up more than half.

Now, one in two women aged 25 to 34 has a bachelors degree, compared with just over one in three men in the same age group. As data revealed by the Herald shows, girls are significantly outperforming boys in school-leaving exams and during uni, too.

Australian women are among the most highly educated in the world. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Australian women are among the most educated in the world.

But this begs the question: whats next? Why is it men still dominate across boardrooms and offices and parliament and, on average, out-earn female graduates by about $750,000 over their lifetime?
David Harrington spent a tense eight months in a Philadelphia jail when he was a teenager  the result of a robbery charge in 2014 that automatically sent his case to the adult court system under state law.

Only 16 at the time, he said he got into fights and spent time in isolation. He missed his sophomore year in high school and the birth of his child. He was facing five to 10 years in prison. He was on a path, he said, toward more trouble with the law.

I think if I would have stayed in the adult system, I would have came home probably a little worse, said Harrington, now 24, who works as an advocate for young offenders. I would have came home (after) listening to the ways on how to get better at ... certain illegal things, and I would have came home and been doing nonsense.

Instead, he was able to convince a judge to send his case down to juvenile court. He spent a month in a juvenile detention center before a judge found he did take part in the robbery and sent him home under house arrest, probation and a $3,000 restitution order. He was allowed to see his family and friends and finish high school.

Harringtons case from 2015 is indicative of a significant shift away from the get tough philosophy of the 1980s and 90s for youth offenders, which has resulted in far fewer children being prosecuted in U.S. adult courts. That has meant second chances for untold thousands of youths.

Data reported to the FBI each year by thousands of police departments across the country shows the percentage of youths taken into custody who were referred to adult courts dropped from 8% in 2010 to 2% in 2019. The percentage dropped to 1% in 2020, although that years data is considered unusual because of the coronavirus pandemic, which closed many courts.

Instead, more teenagers are being sent to juvenile courts or community programs that steer them to counseling, peer mediation and other services aimed at keeping them out of trouble.

The shift has been mostly supported by law enforcement officials around the country. But some worry that leniency has emboldened a small number of young criminals, including in Connecticut, where state lawmakers passed legislation to clamp down on youth crime.

States around the country have been raising the age of adult criminal responsibility to 18 for most crimes. Only three states  Georgia, Texas and Wisconsin  continue to prosecute every 17-year-old in adult courts, according to the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based group that advocates for minimal imprisonment of youths and adults.

The raise the age movement has been spurred by research showing teens brains havent yet fully developed key decision-making functions. Other studies show locking young people up in adult systems can be harmful  physically and psychologically  in addition to putting them at more risk to commit more crimes.

We see across the board for young folks, regardless of what they may be charged with, that what works is community-based intervention, what works is connecting young folks with people in their own communities, letting communities lead reform efforts, said Naomi Smoot Evans, executive director of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, a Washington-based nonprofit working to prevent children from being involved in the courts.

In a country where an estimated 250,000 minors were charged as adults each year in the early 2000s, the number dropped in 2019 to about 53,000, according to the nonprofit National Center for Juvenile Justice in Pittsburgh.

That corresponds with a general decrease in crime across the country, including a 58% drop in youth arrests between 2010 and 2019, according to Justice Department estimates. In 2019, an estimated 696,620 youths were arrested.

Harrington, who denied the robbery allegation, was sent initially to the juvenile section of an adult jail, the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center, under a state law that automatically sends youths to adult court for certain serious crimes. He faced the possibility of five to 10 years in prison.

He said he constantly had to watch his back to guard against aggression by others and got into two fights. After one, he said he was kept in solitary confinement for 30 days, which affected his mental health.

Your hair is growing all out. You barely getting any showers. Youre just in the dark in a bed. Theyre not really hearing you out back there, he said.

The Philadelphia Department of Prisons said in a statement that it acknowledges Harringtons recollection but there is no documentation of the experiences he described. The agency said he was housed in disciplinary segregation  not solitary confinement  because of the fights he was involved in.

The robbery charge is being expunged from Harringtons juvenile record after he filed a request, he said.

Harrington works for the Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project, a Philadelphia group that provides art, music and other programs in jail for teenagers charged as adults and advocates against prosecuting them in adult court. He is involved in efforts to repeal the law that automatically sent him to adult jail.

Youd rather be at a juvenile facility getting the proper care and treatment there, he said. The juvenile system ... its better because youre able to go home and be with your family.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Comparing the crusty-looking white growths on the heads of southern right whales from a bank of photos taken over 30 years off the coast of Western Australia could help lead to greater protection for the endangered species.

Researchers believe more mother whales are coming to Geographe Bay, a 994 square kilometre water body extending from Cape Naturaliste to just south of Bunbury in the states South West, as the population which migrates to Australia annually recovers from historic whaling practices.

Southern Right Whales in Western Australia. Credit:Blair Ranford

The global population of the southern right whale  which can measure as large as 17.5 metres at a weight of about 80 tonnes  is thought to be more than 13,000, but there was once estimated to be as many as 70,000 in the late 1700s.

The species received protection in 1935, when there may have been fewer than 300 individuals remaining, but illegal whaling for another 30 years impacted numbers.
Power generators are exploiting the chaotic energy market by withdrawing power supply from the electricity grid, forcing the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to direct them to fire their plants back up and triggering profitable compensation payments.

Theres no law stopping power companies from withdrawing their electricity generation from the market, and in the past two days, they have reduced the volume available by 2 gigawatts in Victoria, 3 gigawatts in NSW and 1.5 gigawatts in Queensland.

A large amount of power generation has been withdrawn from the electricity grid, triggering compensation payments from the regulator to get it back on line. Credit:Louise Kennerley

The withdrawals were prompted by the AEMOs decision to put a cap on spiralling prices that electricity generators are charging for wholesale power, which crimped the profit margin of some generators, which are battling coal prices that are soaring because of sanctions on Russian exports.

But the electricity market is tightly regulated and the AEMO has powers, designed to prevent blackouts, which enable it to force generators to fire up units and start supplying electricity to the grid. Whenever it does this, companies are awarded compensation.
Muja was already slated for partial shutdown, with one of its four units closing in October 2022 and another two years later. The two stations operated by government-owned utility Synergy generated 28 per cent of the power used in the south-west of WA during the past 12 months. As the world decarbonises, communities that have been traditionally based around fossil fuels shouldnt be left behind, McGowan said. We will transition away from coal the right way, with genuine support for the workforce, long lead times and plenty of notice and genuine, sustainable economic development in the town. The government would invest an additional $547.4 million in Collie, including $300 million to decommission the power stations.

About 200 Synergy staff will lose their jobs and about 130 contractors. Energy Minister Bill Johnston said in total about 1200 jobs would be affected, some indirectly and outside of Collie. Loading The McGowan government first announced an aspiration for WA to have net-zero emissions by 2050 in 2019 but until Tuesday there has been little tangible progress in the only Australian state with rising emissions. Coal-fired power stations throughout Australia have struggled to compete in a rapidly changing energy system where rooftop solar panels force them to dial down output in the middle of the day and increasingly wind farms take market share at other times. However, the ageing facilities were built to operate at a constant output throughout the day and fluctuating output has taken a toll on their reliability, with breakdowns of coal-fired stations a major cause of the power problems on the east coast.

The closures will likely end the operations of Premier Coal that supplied Synergy. Johnston said Synergy was talking to Yancoal  the Chinese owner of Premier Coal  about how it could continue operating to 2029 with diminishing volumes and then pay to rehabilitate its mine site. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union called for a secure industry plan for Collie so those leaving the coal industry had job opportunities elsewhere. Off the back of the closure timelines outlined today, we now know we dont have much time to ensure a viable long-term industry is built and ready for the workers to transition to, so we need to act fast, state secretary Steve McCartney said. Whether it is batteries or pumped hydro, we want to make sure that the replacement for coal is made in WA.

The switch from coal to renewable energy was welcomed by environmentalists Conservation Council WA executive director Maggie Wood said a careful and well-managed move away from fossil fuels was in the interests of all West Australians. Decarbonising our energy production is of vital importance in driving down our emissions and preventing irreversible damage to our climate and environment, she said. It would have been irresponsible and unsustainable to artificially extend the life of the Collie facilities and this is the correct move by the state government  not only for environmental reasons, but in committing to a managed transition for workers in the fossil fuel industry. Liberal leader and opposition energy spokesman David Honey flagged concerns over the governments ability to provide stable power supply when the stations closed.

He said it was clear the Muja and Collie stations were going to close at some point in the future, but queried how the government would plug what he claimed was a 500-megawatt gap between non-renewable energy supply and peak demand. The government has to show how theyre going to close that gap, and it wont simply be done by utilising batteries, its going to have to be done with other significant power generation sources implemented, he said. If the government doesnt have a detailed plan that they can actually implement, then well end up with power instability if we dont have that emergency reserve power that we currently have. Honey and the Liberals took a more ambitious plan to shut down coal power stations by the middle of the decade with a $100 million jobs transition plan but it was panned by members of his own party, including federal Canning MP Andrew Hastie, who labelled it a lemon. Johnston also criticised the plan, which included massive investment in renewable energy projects, and warned it would cost taxpayers more than $16 billion.

Honey said it was fascinating that Labor called their plan impossible but found it possible all of a sudden. [Im] fascinated know what the difference is between what he said in the election campaign and whats happening now, he said. The privately-owned Bluewaters power station supplied by Griffin Coal is unaffected by todays announcement. When the mining and burning of coal ends there will be years of work in Collie decommissioning power stations and rehabilitating mine sites. With Hamish Hastie
Five teenagers and a 9-year-old were shot Saturday night in Louisville, Kentucky, police said.

The shooting happened on the Big Four Bridge, a former railroad span that is now used by pedestrians and cyclists near Waterfront Park, the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department said.

We know the park was filled with a lot of people. Were asking for anybody that witnessed or observed anything to please give us a call, Major Brian Kuriger said.

Just after 9:00 p.m., officers responded to reports of people shot and discovered three teenagers who had been wounded, police said. The teens were transferred to a hospital and at least one of them was listed in critical condition with life-threatening injuries.

Two other teens later arrived at the hospital on their own with gunshot wounds.

On Monday, police said a 9-year-old was also grazed by a bullet in the shooting.

The victims ages ranged from 9 to 16, according to Elizabeth Ruoff, the Louisville police spokesperson.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Australian film The Laugh of Lakshmi, by renowned theater director turned filmmaker S. Shakthidharan, will be one of the first films to make use of the newly announced Indian filming incentives.

The film, a dance drama, is the story of a mother and a son separated by war. The mother, a celebrated classical dancer, sends her young son, also a brilliant dancer, to the care of her brother in Sydney.

More from Variety

My hope for The Laugh of Lakshmi is to create a hybrid form of cinema founded on the principles of my communitys ancient art forms and practices  communal storytelling, a balanced mix of dialogue, music and dance, a feeling of the intimate alongside the epic. But which is then embellished with the best of western cinema  authentic, gripping character studies, cohesive in grounded worlds, said Shakthidharan.

Shakthidharans play Counting and Cracking won seven 2019 Helpmann Awards including best play and best new Australian work and won best main stage production at the 2019 Sydney Theatre Awards.

The film is produced by veteran John Maynard at Felix Media (Jirga). Frames Per Second Films, Mumbai (Iqbal & the Jewel of India), revealed in Cannes their first venture with Australia to provide the production services in India, on the sidelines of the Indian incentives being announced.

Sri Lankan filmmaking doyen Prasanna Vithanage (Busan selection Children of the Sun), will advise Frames Per Second Films on the project.

Rakasree Basu, CEO of Frames Per Second Films, said: I welcome the newly announced incentive for foreign film and television production by the government of India. This will certainly encourage and enrich all foreign productions planning to shoot in India with knowledgeable and proficient Indian cast and crew. This initiative will motivate foreign filmmakers to explore intercultural workspace, boost shared learning of filming practices and make India an attractive filming destination for international productions. It is indeed a good start for India as a country of honor in Cannes.

Story continues

Maynard is currently casting and financing the film in Sydney. A shoot in India is scheduled for Jan. 2023, followed by Sydney, and the film will be delivered to market in Jan. 2024.

Maynard said: Im working with a great new talent with writer-director S. Shakthidharan and welcome Sri Lankan director-writer-producer Prasanna Vithanage as part of the Frames Per Second Films team, sharing his deep experience in South Asia with our Australian creatives. [S. Shakthidharan] is a great collaborator, generous, mischievous and funny as well. And he has something to say.

The Laugh of Lakshmi is supported by Screen Australia. S. Shakthidharan is a powerful storyteller and were proud to support his debut feature film, with this unique and emotional drama shining a light on the Sri Lankan diaspora in Australia, said Screen Australias head of content Grainne Brunsdon.

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.
A 21-year-old Raceland man is missing after falling from a raft Saturday in a fast-running river in Idaho.

Everette Jackson was missing in the Payette River in Emmett, a small city about 20 miles northwest of Boise.

Megan Jackson, his older sister, said Everette was on vacation, tubing with his girlfriend, and fell into the water around 4:40 p.m.

A boat searches an area along the Payette River in Emmett, Idaho, for signs of 21-year-old Everette Jackson of Raceland, who fell into the river while rafting Saturday.

"They missed their exit and the currents were coming, and she tried to grab a tree branch and hold on and grab him with her other hand, but the currents were too rough and they pulled him in the other direction," Megan Jackson said.

Family members said Everette was not wearing a life jacket when he fell into the river.

She said her mother had been contacted by authorities and had talked with Everette's girlfriend.

In other news: How a tiny fish at a Houma library got a name and a new mission in life

Read this: Former Terrebonne Parish teacher faces 99 additional child pornography charges

Megan Jackson, of Houston, took a flight Monday to Idaho to find out more.

The Gem County Sheriff's Office and others continued searching the river Tuesday by jet ski, boat, drone, ATV and helicopter.

A helicopter takes off Tuesday in the search for signs of Everette Jackson, a 21-year-old Raceland man who fell into the Payette River in Emmett, Idaho, while tubing Saturday.

In a telephone interview, Megan Jackson said she and six other family members had joined the search Tuesday morning. The family had also hired a helicopter to assist in the search, and the United Cajun Navy had offered its help.

Helicopter pilot Scott Merriman, of Star, Idaho, had helped the Louisiana-based group with relief efforts after Hurricane Ida and was contacted by members to assist with the search for Everette Jackson. Merriman was about to board the helicopter around midday Tuesday, and his daughter was helping to assemble volunteers to aid in a foot search along the river.

Everette Jackson graduated in 2019 from Central Lafourche High School, where he played basketball.

Water levels in the river, swelled by heavy rain, had risen 2 feet Thursday through Saturday, according to local media reports. The river was just over 8 feet deep and flowing at 10,200 cubic feet per second, nearly four times the average speed for this time of year based on federal records dating back 96 years. The water's temperature was about 55 degrees, raising the risk of hypothermia.

Story continues

When rivers are higher, theyre faster and they are colder than normal, Gem County Sheriff Donnie Wunder said in a news release. Any river can be dangerous at any flow rate, but with all these conditions present, they pose significant risk.

Everette Jackson graduated in 2019 from Central Lafourche High School, where he played basketball. He is a student at LSU-Eunice.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Raceland man missing after falling from raft in Idaho river
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Mostly cloudy and muggy with a few showers and a thunderstorm in the morning, then some afternoon sunshine and turning less humid late in the day. .

Tonight

Becoming mostly clear, cooler, and comfier.
Reading, PA (19601)

Today

Mostly cloudy and muggy with a few showers and a thunderstorm in the morning, then some afternoon sunshine and turning less humid late in the day. .

Tonight

Becoming mostly clear, cooler, and comfier.
The White House on Monday announced major reversals of Trump administration policies toward Cuba by expanding flights into the country and reestablishing a family reunification program that had been dormant for years.

The Biden administration announced it would restore flights to cities other than Havana and allow for group travel that is deemed for educational or professional exchanges.

Current restrictions limit U.S. flights to Havana, making travel difficult for Cuban Americans hoping to visit relatives on the island, which has been increasingly isolated and facing economic ruin.

The administration is also relaunching the Cuban Family Reunification Program, which allows eligible U.S. citizens and permanent residents to apply for parole for their family members in Cuba. If approved, those family members can come to the U.S. in an expedited fashion.

The State Department further announced it would support efforts to boost the Cuban private sector by supporting more access to U.S. internet services, which are largely restricted within Cuba.

The administration is also lifting the family remittance cap of $1,000 per quarter in an attempt to increase financial support for families with some members living in the U.S. and others still in Cuba.

The changes announced Monday come after years of stricter policies put in place by the Trump administration, which itself marked a shift from a more open policy instituted by the Obama administration.

The Biden administration framed the new policies as an effort to engage with the Cuban people and support Cubans aspirations for freedom and for greater economic opportunities so that they can lead successful lives at home.

While restarting the family reunification program will likely be popular among lawmakers who have pushed for it, some of the other changes drew immediate bipartisan skepticism from members of Congress.

I am dismayed to learn the Biden administration will begin authorizing group travel to Cuba through visits akin to tourism, Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. To be clear, those who still believe that increasing travel will breed democracy in Cuba are simply in a state of denial.

Story continues

For decades, the world has been traveling to Cuba and nothing has changed, he continued. For years, the United States foolishly eased travel restrictions arguing millions of American dollars would bring about freedom and nothing changed. And as I warned then, the regime ultimately laughed off any promises of loosening its iron grip on the Cuban people and we ended up helping fund the machinery behind their continued oppression.

A senior administration official, asked about Menendezs concerns about travel, said the Treasury Department has the authority to audit groups that organize travel to Cuba to ensure it is being done in accordance with U.S. law. The official further argued engagement between the U.S. and Cubans will allow for the spread of democratic values.

Multiple lawmakers raised concerns that the more open approach to Cuba was rewarding a brutal dictatorship, which has been accused of numerous human rights violations.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called the announcement the first steps back to the failed Obama policies on Cuba.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who previously served as governor of Florida, said he would place a hold on relevant nominees in the Senate until the administrations new Cuba policies are reversed.

Biden can frame this however he wants, but this is the truth: this is nothing but an idiotic attempt to return to Obamas failed appeasement policies and clear sign of support for the evil regime, Scott said in a blistering statement.

The Biden administration has been reviewing U.S. policy toward Cuba for nearly a year after the Trump administration imposed a pressure campaign that restricted travel, isolated the Cuban government and imposed numerous sanctions on the island nation.

Hundreds of protesters spilled into the streets of Cuba in July in demonstrations that went viral on social media as residents pushed back on dire economic conditions and food shortages.

Updated at 7:38 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Putting itself on the big shoot radar, the City of Buenos Aires is set to offer Argentinas first incentive for international shoots, a 20% cash rebate on productions expenditure in the Argentine capital.

Capped at Pesos 75 million ($600,000) per title, the BA Cash Rebate requires a minimum spend of Pesos 80 million ($680,000) and an at least four-day shoot in Buenos Aires.

More from Variety

Whether shooting totally or partially in the city, both co-productions and totally foreign titles are eligible for incentives. Reimbursement must be made via an Argentine co-producer or service company on a totally overseas shoot. That company can be based anywhere in Argentina.

BA Cash Rebate, as the new incentive scheme is called, is set to launch October, said Buenos Aires City Culture Minister, Enrique Avogadro.

Total moneys for a first tranche of funding come in at Argentine Pesos 491 million ($4 million), he added. The new incentive will be presented in Buenos Aires on May 17 at Buenos Aires emblematic Teatro Colon.

The rebate takes in films and fiction series and can be awarded at pre-production, production and post-production stages, said Avogadro.

Applications will be especially valued if they feature Buenos Aires and its iconic landmarks in their storylines.

Buenos Aires rebate funding pales before top global offers such as France (30% of spend, capped at 30 million ($31.5 million) per title) or Spains Canary Islands (50% of a first 1 million ($1.05 million) expenditure).

But this is a point of departure, Avogadro argued. If you look at other places in Latin America  Uruguay or Colombia  they all scale up over time. Our incentive will grow in the light of experience, he added.

Story continues

The rebate is also only the second municipal incentive in Latin America history, after 2021s SP Cine Sao Paulo cash rebate.

It joins other undeniable lures of Buenos Aires, led, by its deep and proven talent pool, which makes it one of the regions film-TV production leaders.

Traditionally the Latin American country which scores most big selections at the Cannes Film Festival, Argentina is now a leader on its premium TV scene, Netflixs The Kingdom, produced by Buenos Aires K&S Films, winning best series at this months Platino Awards; Daniel Burmans Yosi, the Regretful Spy, an Amazon Studios-Oficina Burman production, was reckoned one of the standout titles at Februarys Berlinale Series.

The first thing producers ask in international markets is if Argentina has a rebate. Having one allows us to compete, given the talent in Buenos Aires, said Avogadro.

Our aim is not to compete by being the cheapest place in the world but rather the one with greatest talent, he added.

The rebate is a pioneering tool for our country, he continued. It marks a path for the promotion of the international reach of the citys audiovisual industry which is important in two ways, he argued: Highlighting our culture, our identity, our capacity to tell our own stories; and for its impact on economic growth. Audiovisual creates a lot of jobs and generates high added-value employment.

The rebate will be launched by the Buenos Aires Film Commission, itself re-launched in 2019.

A Buenos Ministry of Culture press release also listed the citys multi-culture nature, connectivity, good climate, great hotel offer and varied and broad culture as further attractions. An online catalog displays locations in the city, a directory profiles local talent.

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.
Lee White, the police chief of Coeur d'Alene, speaks during a news conference at the Coeur d'Alene Library, Monday, June 13, 2022 about the arrest of more than two dozen members of Patriot Front near a pride event on Saturday in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. AP Photo/Young Kwak

Thirty-one men linked to a white supremacist group were arrested outside of a Pride event Saturday.

They wore insignias identifying them as being linked to Patriot Front.

The Coeur d'Alene police chief said his department has been receiving hate calls since the arrests.

An Idaho police chief said his department has been receiving hate calls after arresting 31 individuals believed to be affiliated with a white supremacist group near a Pride event over the weekend.

"I think it's my impression so far that the majority of the supportive things that we're receiving is from members of our community," Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White told reporters at a press conference Monday. "We obviously have the hate groups from outside that are giving us their opinion as well."

White said that the department received nearly 150 calls after Saturday's arrests  50% of which were praise from the community.

"The other 50% who are completely anonymous and who want nothing more than to scream and yell at us, and use some really choice words, offer death threats against myself and other members of the police department merely for doing our jobs," White said. "Those people obviously remain anonymous and don't tell us where they are from, although we had a call as far away as Norway."

The 31 individuals were arrested on Saturday after a concerned citizen reported seeing a group of masked men loading riot gear into a U-Haul near a Pride event.

Police officers guard a group of men, who police say are among 31 arrested for conspiracy to riot and are affiliated with the white nationalist group Patriot Front, after they were found in the rear of a U Haul van in the vicinity of a North Idaho Pride Alliance LGBTQ+ event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, U.S. June 11, 2022 in this still image obtained from a social media video. North Country Off Grid/Youtube/via REUTERS

White said at a press conference on Saturday that the men were armed with "shields, shin guards, and other riot gear with them, including at least one smoke grenade," and were wearing insignias for Patriot Front.

The Southern Poverty Law Center described Patriot Front as "a white nationalist hate group that formed in the aftermath of the deadly 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, of August 12, 2017."

White said all of the men were charged with a misdemeanor count of conspiracy to riot.

At his Monday press conference, he added that the biggest lesson for law enforcement is that "one concerned citizen can prevent something horrible from happening" and, as a result, "we likely stopped a riot from happening downtown."

Read the original article on Insider
New Mexico's senior U.S. Senator, Martin Heinrich, praised a bipartisan agreement on new gun safety legislation during a news conference Monday afternoon, presenting the compromise as a crucial first step toward reducing gun violence in America.

Heinrich was among 10 Democrats who reached a deal with 10 Republicans in the Senate on a package he said will include resources helping states and tribes implement crisis intervention order laws, also known as "red flag" laws, similar to one passed in New Mexico in 2020.

The bill is also expected to prohibit people from owning guns if convicted of domestic violence or the subject of a domestic violence restraining order by an unmarried partner. This would close the so-called "boyfriend loophole" in current law forbidding gun ownership to those married to, living with or parent of a child with someone they have abused.

Other features agreed to include increased checks for gun purchasers under the age of 21, investments in community and school-based mental health services and safety measures for primary and secondary schools.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., speaks during a video press conference on Monday, June 13, 2022.

Heinrich highlighted provisions that would crack down on international firearms trafficking and straw purchases that assist other buyers in evading background checks.

"Ironically, while trafficking firearms into the United States is a major crime, trafficking firearms out of the U.S. is not," he said.

Heinrich said he approached the negotiations as an avid hunter and a father whose children grew up practicing active shooter drills at school.

My So-Called Millennial Life: A call to moms raising Generation Gun

The agreement, for which legislative language was still being drafted Monday, follows a slew of back-to-back mass shootings around the country including the slaughter of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas on May 24.

Democrats have been defending the deal against critics who say more immediate action is necessary to curtail frequent and seemingly random incidents of violence and suicide involving firearms.

Story continues

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) is seen during a tour of Carlsbad Caverns National Park on July 6, 2021.

Heinrich said the package actually goes farther than he expected at the start of talks with Republican colleagues.

"Progress has to start somewhere," he said. "The hardest part of every negotiation is letting go of the perfect for the possible."

Despite the intractable politics of gun legislation, Heinrich said a different tone prevailed in these negotiations and that there was a focus shared among both parties on leaving the partisan rift over guns aside and making some improvements in federal law.

He demurred, however, when asked what he wished was in the package that ultimately emerged: "To get this across the finish line, I really am just going to focus on what's in this framework.  This will solve a lot of gun violence  not everything, not enough, but this will save lives."

New Mexico's crisis intervention law, the Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act, permits prosecutors or law enforcement officers to petition a court for a temporary seizure of firearms owned by someone believed to be a danger to themselves or others.

Protesters of the Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order bill rally outside New Mexicos Capitol building in Santa Fe on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020.

The law was opposed by most county sheriffs and gun liberty advocates in New Mexico, and the Albuquerque Journal recently reported that it had been used a total of nine times since it was enacted. In some of the 18 other states plus the District of Columbia with similar laws, petitions have been sought and granted far more frequently.

Is more school police the answer after Uvalde shooting? Why research shows that won't help

Heinrich said due process guarantees were a prerequisite for federal support for such laws. He also suggested this tool would come to be more widely accepted as more agencies practiced it.

"The law enforcement that has successfully used these laws to intervene in places around the country are starting to tell that story," he said. "I think that story is going to be told more and more often, from the perspective not only of the families but also from the perspective of law enforcement."

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico senator Heinrich talks about federal gun safety compromise
An effort to be more inclusive or the federal government being too nosy? Democrats and Republicans took starkly contrasting views Tuesday of proposed legislation that would put voluntary questions about sexual orientation and gender identity on federal demographic surveys.

A rainbow flower sits in the jacket pocket of Scout, a transgender man who uses one name, at his home in Providence, R.I., Wednesday, June 8, 2022. The U.S. Census Bureau is requesting millions of dollars to study how best to ask about sexual orientation and gender identity. The results could provide much better data about the LGBTQ population nationwide at a time when views about sexual orientation and gender identity are evolving. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

An effort to be more inclusive or the federal government being too nosy? Democrats and Republicans took starkly contrasting views Tuesday of proposed legislation that would put voluntary questions about sexual orientation and gender identity on federal demographic surveys.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform approved a bill requiring federal agencies that collect demographic data through surveys to ask about sexual orientation and gender identity, but no one would be required to give the information nor would they be penalized for refusing to do so.

Supporters of the legislation said it could help provide much better data about the LGBTQ population nationwide at a time when views about sexual orientation and gender identity are evolving and as right-wing extremists are firing up anti-LGBTQ rhetoric online.

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the committee's Democratic chair, said the measure would help make data collection as inclusive as possible.

By including this, we can ensure that our policies are more equitable and inclusive of the constituents we serve," said Maloney of New York.

Republican committee members called the measure government intrusion and overreach at its most personal.

We should be alarmed by this attempt by the federal government to gather such sensitive data, said Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona.

Republican committee members proposed amendments that would require the legislation to offer a definition of sex, only allow people to answer such questions about themselves and would limit the questions to adults only. Biggs also proposed an amendment that would require data collection of people in the U.S. illegally, in a discussion that referenced then-President Donald Trump's failed effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

All of the Republican amendments were voted down.

The legislation was debated at a time when the Census Bureau separately is requesting $10 million to study over several years the best ways to ask about sexual orientation and gender identity for its annual American Community Survey, and as President Joe Biden declared June as LGBTQ Pride Month." It also is taking place as some Republican-dominated state legislatures have restricted what can be discussed about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and banned transgender girls from competing in girls sports.

Some federal agencies already ask about sexual orientation and gender identity, but they are limited primarily to health and criminal justice surveys. The once-a-decade census and several Census Bureau surveys give same-sex couples a chance to answer if they are in a marriage or domestic partnership. But that omits LGBTQ people who are single or not living in the same household with their partner, and for the gender question, male and female are the only options.

The online Household Pulse Survey is the only Census Bureau survey that asks these questions, but it is categorized as experimental and may not meet some of the quality standards for the nation's largest statistical agency.

The Free Press | Newsletter Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Several Democratic House members on Tuesday also urged the directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Census Bureau to add a category of Middle Eastern and North African, also known as MENA, for the once-a-decade census and other federal surveys.

The Census Bureau recommended adding a MENA category to the 2020 census, but the idea was dropped by the Trump administration.

Decades-old Office of Management and Budget standards have designated Middle Eastern and North African residents as white. Adding a separate MENA category would help guarantee that residents with roots from this region get federal resources and produce more accurate data, said the letter to OMD Director Shalanda Young and Census Bureau Director Robert Santos.

Since members of the MENA community trace their roots to either the Middle East or North Africa, OMBs standards fail to capture the lived experience of many community members," the letter said.

___

Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP
BEIJING (AP)  The mayor of a northeastern Chinese city on the North Korean border that has been under lockdown for more than 50 days has apologized for failures in his administrations work amid widespread  but often disguised  dissatisfaction over the government's heavy-handed approach to handling the pandemic.

Residents wearing face masks walk along barriers around retail shops and restaurants that have been locked down as part of COVID-19 controls in Beijing, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Authorities ordered another round of three days of mass testing for residents in the Chaoyang district following the detection of hundreds coronavirus cases linked to a nightclub. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

BEIJING (AP)  The mayor of a northeastern Chinese city on the North Korean border that has been under lockdown for more than 50 days has apologized for failures in his administrations work amid widespread  but often disguised  dissatisfaction over the government's heavy-handed approach to handling the pandemic.

Dandong Mayor Hao Jianjun gave no specifics, but said government work and basic services had been unsatisfactory, for which he offered his apologies, according to a statement issued by the city government late Monday.

It is highly unusual for a ranking Communist Party official to publicly concede errors, particularly regarding the hardline zero-COVID policy that has been repeatedly endorsed by top officials under President and party leader Xi Jinping.

Despite reporting only a handful of cases, Dandong has seen one of the strictest lockdowns in China.

In his reported comments at a meeting with residents, Hao acknowledged the sacrifices made by the city's 2.4 million citizens, along with the complaining voices" among them over the government's work. Dandong would now be moving into a stage of pandemic control that would be more proactive, more active and more effective," Hao said.

A woman wearing a face mask walks by a barricaded retail shop selling pajamas that has been locked down as part of COVID-19 controls in Beijing, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Authorities ordered another round of three days of mass testing for residents in the Chaoyang district following the detection of hundreds coronavirus cases linked to a nightclub. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Unable to root out the source of new cases, Dandong officials took increasingly extreme measures, some of them of questionable scientific merit. That included recommending residents close their windows to prevent the virus being blown in from North Korea, even though its ability to spread through the air is extremely limited.

Authorities have also cracked down on smuggling across the Yalu River with North Korea, offering cash incentives for information on those involved. China has long held that the virus is spreading through packaging and other surfaces, despite little evidence showing that is a significant factor.

Officials at one point also transported residents of an entire apartment block to quarantine in the city of Shenyang, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) north of Dandong. Upon their release, it was discovered the positive case sparking the move had been in a resident of a neighboring building, leading to an angry confrontation between the residents and authorities.

People walk past barricades outside of a bar and nightclub area that is at the center of a COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. The mayor of a northeastern Chinese city on the North Korean border that has been under lockdown for more than 50 days has apologized for failures in his administration's work amid widespread, but often disguised, dissatisfaction over the government's heavy-handed approach to handling the pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Residents have been permitted out to shop, but no word has yet been given on when normal work can resume, said Li Yueqing, the owner of a wood processing factory in Dandong reached by phone. Rules still demand that any building where a positive case is found will be sealed off, Li said.

We understand the epidemic situation in the city is still unstable. We dont know when exactly we will be allowed to resume production," he said.

A restaurant worker said the 50 days of closure is majorly affecting incomes.

A resident wearing a mask stands near the silhouette of a corner tower of the Forbidden City, Tuesday, June 14, 2022, in Beijing. China has stuck to its "zero-COVID" policy requiring mass testing, quarantines and the sequestering of anyone who has come into contact with an infected person in concentrated locations where hygiene is generally poor. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Up to now, we still havent received any instruction from the government on restarting business and our incomes have been affected by doing nothing," said the worker, who gave only her surname, Guo.

A staffer at a maritime training academy who gave just his surname, Zheng, said they remained shuttered as a precautionary measure.

The government feels it is better for us to remain closed longer, given the large number of trainees we have had. We have no idea when we will reopen, Zheng said.

People wearing face masks walk past a residential building that has been surrounded by metal barricades as part of COVID-19 controls in Beijing, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. The mayor of a northeastern Chinese city on the North Korean border that has been under lockdown for more than 50 days has apologized for failures in his administration's work amid widespread, but often disguised, dissatisfaction over the government's heavy-handed approach to handling the pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Lengthy lockdowns have become the norm in China's COVID-19 response, with Shanghai's ongoing predicament gaining the most notoriety. Most of the 25 million residents of China's largest city and key financial hub were confined to their homes or immediate neighborhoods for two months or more and hundreds of thousands continue to remain under restrictions.

The Free Press | Newsletter Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

The severity of the Shanghai lockdown and the apparent lack of preparation by authorities prompted confrontations at checkpoints between residents and officials, and a series of nightly sessions of banging pots and screaming from balconies. Criticisms of the government's policy were posted online, often in formats designed to thwart censorship software.

The relaxation of measures prompted an exodus from the city and foreign business leaders say confidence in its future as an international business hub remains in question.

The response in the capital Beijing has been more nuanced, possibly for political reasons, although many students have been forced to attend class online and a major shopping and nightlife district has been shut down following the detection of 287 cases linked to a nightclub.

Police said that two customers of the nightclub are under investigation after they allegedly ignored an order to isolate at home and went out using a ride-hailing service. They later tested positive, leading to more than 300 others being locked down.

In Hong Kong, daily coronavirus infections have been on the rise, with the city logging 752 new infections on Tuesday, up from 505 cases on June 1. The rising figure comes as the city prepares for the 25th anniversary of its handover from Britain to mainland China on July 1.

To combat rising infections in the city, health authorities have tightened policies, with its health minister stating during a news conference that residents who plan to visit bars and nightclubs from Thursday must present a negative rapid antigen test result obtained in the last 24 hours. The new rules come as some 350 infections have been linked to bars and nightclubs since they were allowed to reopen last month.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Fisher-Price and U.S. product safety regulators are telling parents not to let their infants fall asleep in the company's rockers after 13 infants died in the devices between 2009 and 2021.

This photo provided. by Consumer Product Safety Commission shows Fisher-Price Infant-to-Toddler Rocker, left and center, and Fisher-Price Newborn-to-Toddler Rocker, right. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Fisher-Price are alerting consumers to at least 13 reported deaths between 2009 and 2021 of infants in Fisher-Price Infant-to-Toddler Rockers and Newborn-to-Toddler Rockers. Rockers should never be used for sleep and infants should never be unsupervised or unrestrained in the Rockers. (Consumer Product Safety Commission via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP)  Fisher-Price and U.S. product safety regulators are telling parents not to let their infants fall asleep in the company's rockers after 13 infants died in the devices between 2009 and 2021.

The deaths happened when the babies fell asleep in Fisher Price's Infant-to-Toddler and Newborn-to-Toddler rockers. The company, along with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said the rockers should never be used for sleep and infants should never be left unsupervised or unrestrained in them.

Fisher-Price, a division of El Segundo, California-based Mattel Inc., recalled a similar product last year after four infants died after they were placed on their backs unrestrained in the 4-in-1 Rock n Glide Soother. Those fatalities, all children under 4 months old, occurred between April 2019 and February 2020.

In 2019, the CPSC recalled another similar Fisher-Price product, the Rock 'n Play Sleeper, after 30 infant fatalities were reported. Doctors, parents and consumer advocates had warned the company for years that the product was unsafe and should be recalled.

The Free Press | Newsletter Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. said a gag order implemented by Congress in 1981 prevented the agency from issuing an immediate warning to consumers without first seeking permission from the product's maker. In the most recent case, Trumka said the gag order delayed the warning message by two months.

"Congress must immediately repeal the gag rule," Trumka said in a release separate from Tuesday's product warning. "If CPSC cannot issue timely warnings, dangers will remain hidden in peoples homes."

A new rule finalized by the CPSC requires that infant sleep products have a sleep surface angle of 10 degrees or less. The rule goes into effect on June 23, 2022.

Fisher-Price and the CPSC said the best place for infants to sleep is on their back on a firm, flat surface without blankets or other objects near them.

Fisher-Price has sold more than 17 million Rockers worldwide since the 1990s.

Consumers are encouraged to report incidents involving these or other infant products to the CPSC at saferproducts (dot) gov.
LONDON (AP)  The names of the 72 people who died in a London high-rise tower blaze were read out Tuesday at a memorial service to mark five years since the tragedy, the worst domestic fire on British soil since World War II.

Britain's Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge attend a multi-faith and wreath laying ceremony at base of Grenfell Tower in London, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. The names of the 72 people who lost their lives in a London high-rise tower blaze were read out at a memorial service Tuesday to mark five years since the tragedy. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)

LONDON (AP)  The names of the 72 people who died in a London high-rise tower blaze were read out Tuesday at a memorial service to mark five years since the tragedy, the worst domestic fire on British soil since World War II.

Former Prime Minister Theresa May and London Mayor Sadiq Khan joined Grenfell Tower survivors and the bereaved at the Westminster Abbey service to remember those who died in the June 14, 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.

Opening the multi-faith service, Rev. David Hoyle, the dean of Westminster, said the loss and anguish was still vivid and sharp. As religious leaders read out the names of those who perished, the congregation said in unison: Forever in our hearts.

Prince William and his wife, Kate, joined hundreds of people for a separate service later Tuesday in the shadow of the tower.

The inferno at Grenfell Tower, a public housing building set in Britain's richest borough of Kensington and Chelsea, horrified the nation and prompted many questions about lax safety regulations and other failings by officials and businesses that contributed to so many deaths.

The fire broke out in the middle of the night in a kitchen on the fourth floor of the tower and spread rapidly up the outside of the 25-story building like a lit fuse. Flammable cladding panels installed on the tower's exterior walls have been blamed for how the fire raced out of control.

The Free Press | Newsletter Winnipeg Gardener What you need to know now about gardening in Winnipeg. A monthly email from the Free Press with advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Firefighters from across the country formed an honor guard as local residents held a silent walk starting from the base of the tower.

A public inquiry has been conducting a years-long investigation into the disaster, and a large police investigation is also ongoing. No one has been charged, and police have said there will be no prosecutions until the public inquiry is completed.

That has frustrated many survivors and bereaved families. The Rev. Graham Tomlin, bishop of Kensington, said many families cannot move on until they find justice.

They cant find any sense of acceptance or integration of whats happened in their lives, he told Times Radio. They cant rebuild their lives until theres a sense of justice, because people feel that something deeply wrong went on at Grenfell and yet no one has been held responsible for it.

Last month the British government banned metal composite cladding panels for all new buildings.

Officials have also issued new safety regulations requiring similar dangerous cladding to be removed from tower blocks across the country. But it's an expensive job and the work hasnt been carried out on some apartment buildings because of wrangling over who should pay.
The Manitoba government is looking to bolster its downgraded reputation in the mining industry with a major show of force at the premier mining industry conference in the world this week in Toronto.

The Manitoba government is looking to bolster its downgraded reputation in the mining industry with a major show of force at the premier mining industry conference in the world this week in Toronto.

Premier Heather Stefanson is leading the provinces largest delegation ever to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) event that attracts about 40,000 people every year.

The premier disclosed that mineral exploration intentions for this year could hit an all-time high in the province at $154 million, double what it was in 2021.

The premier also announced at the PDAC conference on Monday evening that the province is investing another $10 million into the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund (MMDF) that was set up with a $20 million stake in 2019 and was to expire last year. The MMDF is administered by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, and the additional allotment ensures funding will be available for new mining opportunities and other economic development projects in the north for another three years.

She also announced that a small potash mining operation near Russell, called Potash and Agri-Development Corporation of Manitoba (PADCOM) should be in production later this year, the first ever potash production in the province.

The province boasts the most generous mineral exploration tax credits in the country, but downsizing of the permitting and geological survey departments, as well as under-resourced staffing when it comes to the community consultation process for First Nations has all conspired to drop Manitobas ranking in the important Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies from a top three ranking last decade down into the 30s for the past few years.

"Thats why we are here," Premier Stefanson said on Monday. "We want to get back up to the top of that ranking. We are sending a message that we are open for business."

The timing for such a message is crucial as there is heightened demand around the world for minerals that will aid in the de-carbonization process that is underway. Those minerals include nickel, cobalt and lithium used in batteries and copper to upgrade the electrical grid.

The Chinese-owned Tanco Mine in Manitoba is the only place in Canada that lithium is produced.

Snow Lake Resources has a significant lithium exploration project underway near Snow Lake and the company is intensely pursuing partnership opportunities with a battery manufacturer or even an automobile company to also build a lithium processing plant in the Winnipeg capital region.

Philip Gross, the CEO of Snow Lake Resources, said that despite Manitobas down-sliding ranking on the Fraser Institute survey, he said hes had good relations with the province.

"I have worked in many places around the world, in a lot of different jurisdictions. Each place has its own nuances in terms of bureaucracy and government engagement," said Gross. "My experiences in Manitoba so far has only been positive."

He said Manitoba is well positioned in the current mineral exploration dynamics with ideal geographic location in the middle of the continent, good infrastructure including rail service in Northern Manitoba, sustainable and inexpensive hydroelectricity as well as expertise and experience in the industry.

"At the end of the day Manitoba is uniquely positioned to really benefit from the electrification process that is going to take place across the entire industrialized world," Gross said.

Even those who are critical of the Progressive Conservative governments downsizing of its minerals branch operation say that its a smart thing for the province to wave the flag at the PDAC event.

But Chris Beaumont-Smith, an industry consultant and former director in the provinces mines branch, said despite the government current show of support for the industry, it is late in coming.

"We are in danger of missing a huge bull market," said Beaumont-Smith.

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

The province significantly downsized its department over the past few years with the permitting department so understaffed that Beaumont-Smith said he has two clients waiting two years for permits.

Stefanson said her governments introduction of a multi-year permitting process has been well-received but she acknowledged that more work needs to be done.

"That is why we are out listening and interacting and finding out what the barriers are to getting these things done," she said. "We are challenging our internal team to take action."

Michael Swistun, the secretary of the provinces Economic Development Board, said additional investment in the department in those areas are required.

"The market has told us in no uncertain terms there was an under-investment and we have to catch up," he said.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
A group of Canadian technology companies is calling on the Quebec premier to pause a bill requiring immigrants to learn French within six months of arriving in the province.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault responds to a question during a news conference in Montreal, on Thursday, December 16, 2021. A group of Canadian technology companies is calling on the Quebec premier to pause a bill requiring immigrants to learn French within six months of arriving in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

A group of Canadian technology companies is calling on the Quebec premier to pause a bill requiring immigrants to learn French within six months of arriving in the province.

The 37 companies argued in a Tuesday letter to Francois Legault that the time frame immigrants have before they must use French for official purposes under Bill 96 is "an unrealistic deadline" for people adapting to a new home and could do enormous damage to the provinces economy.

The letter orchestrated by the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) and signed by Coveo, Sportlogiq, CloudOps and Petal executives describes the deadline as difficult to meet because the province wont have language supports in place for newcomers through "Francisation Quebec"  a one-stop access to French language training services  until 2023, despite the bill receiving royal assent in June.

By the time your government creates Francisation Quebec, the law will already have discouraged global workers from choosing Quebec as a new place to build a life and grow a family, the letter reads.

In lieu of immediate support from Francisation Quebec, many companies are willing to bring tutors or teachers into their offices to help immigrant workers learn French, but there is a shortage of instructors, said CCI president Benjamin Bergen.

Even companies that are being extremely proactive and really trying to work to integrate their teams, they're facing challenges, he said.

They also fear the language requirement for immigrants could impede the province's ability to compete for tech talent and worsen existing developer and engineer shortages.

The Quebec government estimated last year that 10,000 jobs needed to be filled in the information technology and communications sectors.

If the province doesnt heed CCIs letter, the chief executive of Quebec-based cancer drug development company Repare Therapeutics said its inevitable new businesses wont set up in Quebec and existing firms will have to branch out of the province or even leave.

There's no question we could end up in a situation where we want to recruit someone great, but they say to us, we'll only come to your Boston office or God forbid, we're in a situation where we have to open up an Ottawa or a Toronto facility, said Lloyd Segal.

That chilling effect has already set in, said Bergen. Hes heard of highly skilled workers reconsidering moving to Quebec and CCI member companies mulling opening offices in Toronto, Halifax and Vancouver as a way to lure talent.

Before such effects become even more rampant, CCI and the signatories want the government to work with businesses to come up with a better plan that "doesnt end up causing more harm than good for our economy and province."

Elisabeth Gosselin, a spokesperson for the ministry responsible for the province's languages provisions, said in an email that the French requirement for immigrants won't be applied for another year and the province will ensure newcomers have the tools needed to learn the language.

The Free Press | Newsletter Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"As we have often said and reiterated, curbing the decline of French is a collective responsibility," she wrote.

"Everyone must contribute to the effort to ensure the sustainability of our official and common language."

The bill, which the Quebec national assembly voted to pass in May, has also faced calls for change from the Quebec Retail Council and the Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters.

Aside from the requirements for immigrants, the bill subjects companies employing at least 25 people to francisation  government certification that use of French is generalized in the workplace  down from 50 currently. Under the bill, the French-language watchdog will be able to withhold grants or subsidies to those who do not comply.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business estimated implementation of the bill will cost a 50-employee company between $9.5 million and $23.5 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first publishedJune 14, 2022.
Cybercrime leading to financial loss more than quadrupled in Manitoba last year compared to 2020.

Cybercrime leading to financial loss more than quadrupled in Manitoba last year compared to 2020.

Manitobans lost a collective $7,053,615 to online scams in 2021, up from the $1,747,521 of 2020 and the $1,117,340 of 2019. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre shared its data with the Free Press.

"Trust nobody," said Mathieu Manaigre, president of Avenir IT.

His company assists businesses with cyber security.

"Phishing emails have gone way, way, way up in the last couple years," he said. "Theyre getting a lot more personal."

Criminals pretend to be CEOs or managers. They send malicious attachments disguised as voicemails and resumes.

"With the whole war going on with Russia and Ukraine, we (have seen) an increase of malicious emails asking to donate to certain funds," Manaigre said. "COVID, we got (a) huge increase of targeted attacks."

Spear phishing  scam emails targeting a specific individual or organization  was in Manitobas top three biggest cybercrime financial drains in 2020 and 2019. However, it fell to fourth place last year.

Romance was Manitobans leading cause of losing money to online crime in 2021. Forty-nine victims lost a collective $2,237,153, according to Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre data.

Investment came second at $1.83 million and 51 victims, and vendor fraud was third with nearly $1.52 million in losses and 62 victims.

Spear phishing pulled $726,775 from 26 Manitoban victims.

"As much as technology companies are doing what they can to prevent (spam emails) from coming in, the cyber criminals are doing the same thing to try to trick all these filters and these other systems from blocking their content," Manaigre said.

Investing in cyber security is essential, he said.

"The cost of being a victim to some kind of cybercrime for some businesses thats it. They might not be able to recover," Manaigre said.

The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce receives scam emails daily, according to Loren Remillard, the non-profits president and CEO.

"It ranges from, Can you call me? I need you to purchase gift cards  that seems to be a daily occurrence  to Heres an invoice. Please issue payment promptly," Remillard said.

He said hes increasingly heard of ransomware attacks on businesses. Criminals attack a companys system, hold its information and will only release their grip when the business pays a ransom for their information and databases, Remillard said.

"Its crippling for companies," he said, adding such events arent often shared.

"You dont see companies talking about human resource issues in the public realm," Remillard said. "IT security falls within that same privacy area."

Manitoba made the most complaints per capita to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre over the past five years, according to an analysis by Social Catfish, an online reverse name search platform.

The prairie province filed about 344 reports per 100,000 residents, it said.

"We do not have a clear explanation as to why Manitoba had the most complaints per capita of any province or territory in Canada, but it is something we are continuing to research," David McClellan, Social Catfishs president, wrote in an email.

He noted places with higher populations inherently tend to have more complaints and money lost.

McClellan called the rise in online scams "alarming".

"It has been an issue for many years but since COVID-19 our traffic from Canada has skyrocketed with Canadians trying to confirm if the person they are speaking to online is real or not," he wrote.

The average Manitoban victim lost $2,815, according to Social Catfishs analysis, which covered 2017 through 2021.

Canadians age 60 through 69 were the most scammed age group, while those age 40 through 49 were second, Social Catfish found.

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"This is a global phenomenon that companies are increasingly having to deal with," Remillard said. "Its unfortunate, but its one of the side effects of an increasingly digital world."

Training employees on cyber security is essential, said Manaigre of Avenir IT. Investing in cyber secure systems is important for businesses, as is getting a review of such systems every six months, he said.

On the individual side, its smart to check in with people before clicking the links they send, Manaigre said.

"Call them, confirm that they are the ones that are sending this information before you actually go in there and open that up," he said.

State-sponsored attacks could target small businesses  everyone is vulnerable, Remillard said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com
OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has struck a historic deal with Denmark, settling a dispute stretching back five decades over a 1.3-square-kilometre island in the Arctic.

OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has struck a historic deal with Denmark, settling a dispute stretching back five decades over a 1.3-square-kilometre island in the Arctic.

Joly and the Danish foreign affairs minister Jeppe Kofod signed an agreement Tuesday to divide Hans Island, an uninhabited rock situated between Ellesmere Island, in Nunavut, and Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.

The island has been the subject of fifty years of diplomatic disputes between the two nations, as it sits in the territorial waters of both.

Joly hailed the signing as a "historic day," adding that it ended the "friendliest of all wars" which involved both nations leaving bottles of spirits on the island with little notes for one another while removing each other's flags.

After the signing of the deal, the foreign ministers symbolically exchanged bottles of spirits, with notes attached, to end the "whisky war."

Joly said the agreement means that Canada and Denmark could both plant their flags "of the same colour" on the "small but important island in the Arctic."

She said the dispute had occupied 26 previous Canadian foreign ministers and its peaceful resolution showed that nations can resolve territorial differences in "a peaceful manner."

In a pointed reference to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Joly said the deal with Denmark had been struck "at a very important time in our history because we know that authoritarian leaders believe that they can  draw boundaries by force."

In a further reference to Russia, she said by striking a deal "Canada and Denmark and Greenland are sending a clear message to other Arctic states" that disputes can be resolved through peaceful diplomacy.

The agreement over the sovereignty of Tartupaluk  the island's Inuit name  followed consultation with Inuit people from both Nunavut and Greenland.

Northern Affairs minister Dan Vandal rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, June 9, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

They will maintain hunting rights and freedom of movement on the island which has been part of their hunting grounds for centuries.

The deal, Joly confirmed, has also prompted further negotiations on freedom of movement for Inuit living in Greenland and Nunavut, to make it easier for them to visit friends and family.

The prime minister of Greenland, who also signed the deal, said the "boundary on Tartupaluk ... will signal the beginning of a closer partnership and co-operation between us in areas of shared interest and of particular benefit to Inuit."

Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout said she thought Hans Island should be officially renamed Tartupaluk.

"Inuit have long used Hans Island as a staging point for hunting," she said. "We are pleased that the rights of Inuit have been protected so that they can maintain free movement and their traditional way of life."

Kofod said the signing marked "a historic day."

"We have discussed the sovereignty of Tartupaluk for more than 50 years. After intensified negotiations over the past few years, we have now reached a solution," he said.

"Our efforts demonstrate our firm common commitment to resolve international disputes peacefully. I hope that our negotiation and the spirit of this agreement may inspire others."

The deal means that Canada, for the first time, shares a land border with Denmark.

Asked if this could mean that Canada may now qualify to enter the Eurovision song contest, Joly joked that because Canada now has "a border" with the EU, Canada may apply to join the European singing competition.

The dispute over the small island has led to good-natured jostling since the 1980s between Canada and Denmark over which country rightfully owns it.

Prime Minister of Greenland Mute Bourup Egede, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Denmark Jeppe Kofod, centre, and Canadas Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly share a three-way handshake after signing an agreement that will establish a land border between Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark on Hans Island, an Arctic island between Nunavut and Greenland, in Ottawa, on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

In 1984, Canada planted a flag on the island and left a bottle of Canadian whisky.

Later that year, Denmark's minister of Greenland affairs visited by helicopter, planting a Danish flag. He also left a bottle of aquavit, a Danish spirit, at the base of the flagpole and is reported to have left a note saying "welcome to the Danish Island."

In 1988, a Danish Arctic Ocean patrol ship arrived and built a cairn with a flagpole and Danish flag on the island.

Then in 2001, Canadian geologists mapping northern Ellesmere Island flew there by helicopter.

In 2005, defence minister Bill Graham went for a walk on Hans Island in a symbolic move. A week before he set foot there, Canadian Forces placed a Canadian flag and plaque on the island, prompting a protest from Denmark, which called in the Canadian ambassador.

Both countries then agreed to reopen negotiations about the island, with former Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen saying it was "time to stop the flag war."

The countries agreed to refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for resolution if they couldn't reach a deal.

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal said Canada and Denmark share a rich and co-operative history, and "it is fitting, and only a matter of time, that an equitable solution like this was reached, based on both practicality and compromise."

The deal also resolved a disagreement between the two countries on maritime boundaries on the continental shelf.

Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said the deal was "a demonstration of how countries who are upstanding members of our international system can work together to settle disputes around international boundaries."

"Few things are more sacrosanct in maintaining international order than ensuring that we respect each other's international boundaries," Chong said.

After the deal was signed, Joly presented her Danish counterpart with a bottle of Sortilege Prestige, a Canadian whisky and maple syrup liquor made in Quebec, while minister Kofod presented Joly with a bottle of Gammel Dansk Bitter Dram.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2022.
OTTAWA - It was "absolutely unacceptable" that any Canadian representative attended a party at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a closing press conference following the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, Calif., on Friday, June 10, 2022. The prime minister says it was "absolutely unacceptable" that any Canadian representative attended a Russia Day party at the Russian embassy in Ottawa, adding that it never should have happened.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - It was "absolutely unacceptable" that any Canadian representative attended a party at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.

"It never should have happened, and we denounce it thoroughly," Trudeau said during question period in the House of Commons when pressed by interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen.

The Globe and Mail reported on Sunday that Yasemin Heinbecker, the deputy chief of protocol at Global Affairs Canada, had attended a party at the embassy last Friday to celebrate Russia Day.

Russia Day, which is celebrated on June 12 every year, is the national holiday of the Russian Federation. It marks the adoption of a 1990 declaration that sparked constitutional reforms and ultimately, the end of the Soviet era.

Bergen asked the prime minister Tuesday why a government that supports Ukraine would send a representative "to their enemy's house to enjoy champagne and caviar."

Bergen said she hoped Trudeau apologized to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trudeau said he spoke by telephone with Zelenskyy for 45 minutes on Tuesday about Canada's support for the embattled country that Russia invaded in February.

"President Zelenskyy and I had an extremely positive conversation where this issue did not come up, because obviously there are much more important issues," he said.

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

On Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly told the House of Commons that she is angry about the party, and her department has apologized.

She told reporters on Tuesday that she didn't know Heinbecker was attending the party in advance and that she did not seek an explanation from her office about why it was approved, because "I would never have approved it, so there's no explanation."

Joly said she had a "tough conversation" with her staff and deputy minister Monday, and that she has also spoken with her Ukrainian counterpart.

In a tweet posted Saturday, the Russian Embassy in Canada said the event was attended by Russian and Canadian media, "representatives of Canadian society" and Global Affairs Canada.

It also said Oleg Stepanov, Russia's ambassador to Canada, gave a speech noting that June 12 also marks the 80th anniversary of Russian-Canadian diplomatic relations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2022.
JEFFERSON CITY  Soon-to-retire U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt is among 10 Senate Republicans backing a preliminary agreement designed to prevent future mass killings.

Blunt, who is stepping down in January after more than two decades representing Missouri in Congress, is backing a provision in the emerging legislation to create a nationwide network of community behavioral health clinics and addiction services, along with funding for school-based mental health support.

If approved, the clinics would be reimbursed through Medicaid for the cost of providing services, similar to how the federal government funds health centers for physical care.

Making sure people who are experiencing a mental health crisis can get treatment before they harm themselves or others is critically important to preventing another tragedy, Blunt said Sunday. For too long, emergency rooms and law enforcement have served as the de facto mental health care delivery system in our country.

Blunt is co-sponsoring the language with U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat from Michigan.

This bipartisan proposal builds on our work and will make sure health care above the neck is funded the same way as health care below the neck, Stabenow said in a joint statement with Blunt.

The plan comes after 21 people were killed by an 18-year-old gunman last month at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Nineteen of the victims were children and two were teachers.

The framework announced Sunday is not a fully written bill. But the 10 Senate Republicans showing support is enough to clear a potential filibuster, which is used to delay Senate passage of legislation.

In addition to Blunt, three other Republicans who are backing the proposal are retiring in January: Richard Burr of North Carolina, Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. The six others arent running for reelection this year.

Blunts involvement in the compromise is notable because of his long-lasting support from the National Rifle Association.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence lists Blunt as receiving $4.5 million in career campaign contributions from the NRA, ranking him third in the Senate.

The Republicans running to succeed him quickly bashed the Senate agreement as they jockey for GOP votes in a state where gun rights are a top campaign issue.

If gun control worked Chicago would be the safest city in America. In the U.S. Senate Ill always protect Missourians #2A rights just as I have as Attorney General, Attorney General Eric Schmitt tweeted.

Give them an inch, theyll take a mile. Very disappointing to see some in our party join Democrats to push gun control. When Im in the US Senate, I will ALWAYS protect our 2A rights! former Gov. Eric Greitens tweeted.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler issued a statement last week calling on GOP leaders to reject bipartisan talks.

The right to self-defense underpins our entire country and no Republican should be negotiating with Democrats to dream up a way to undermine that right, Hartzler wrote. The liberals do not believe in the right to bear arms and their only goal in any negotiation is to fool a few Republicans into going along with them.

The tentative agreement includes enhanced background checks for those 18 to 21 years old. It also contains grants for states to adopt red flag laws, which are designed to keep guns away from people who may pose a threat to themselves or others.

The compromise also includes a so-called boyfriend loophole, designed to prevent convicted domestic violence abusers from having guns.

Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, said in 2020 that he opposes red flag laws. Missouri Senate President Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, also opposes red flag laws. Schatz is among the 21 candidates seeking the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.

Others in the race include St. Louis attorney Mark McCloskey, who entered the race after gaining notoriety for brandishing a rifle at protesters who were walking near his Central West End mansion.

Kurt Erickson  573-556-6181 @KurtEricksonPD on Twitter kerickson@post-dispatch.com

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Drones could help save Winnipegs elm trees from being tagged with a fatal orange mark, owing to the work of experienced pilots and their student assistants.

Drones could help save Winnipegs elm trees from being tagged with a fatal orange mark, owing to the work of experienced pilots and their student assistants.

Throughout the 2021-22 school year, Volatus Aerospace Corp., a so-called "drone solution company," has recruited high school students to take part in a research project that aims to streamline canopy surveillance in Winnipeg.

City employees typically survey trees for Dutch elm disease either on foot or by driving past them. Its a laborious process  and by the time a human eye can spot wilting, curling or yellowing leaves, it may be too late to reverse the damage caused by the fungal infection.

In partnership with the City of Winnipeg, University of Winnipeg and Seven Oaks School Division, Volatus is using drone technology to try and speed up the diagnosis process.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Representatives from Volatus Aerospace Corp., and students from the Seven Oaks School Division as they learn about drones and begin to examine the health of trees at Kildonan Park.

A remote aircraft equipped with a parachute and sensors, a set-up valued at nearly $40,000, can measure how much near-infrared light bounces off leaves to determine whether or not a plant is infected with illness.

Volatus education director Matthew Johnson likened a healthy tree to a mirror.

"If the tree is healthy, then its going to reflect most of the near-infrared light from the sun and back up to the sensor," he said.

If the tree is healthy, then its going to reflect most of the nearinfrared light from the sun and back up to the sensor.  Matthew Johnson

Since leaves on a sick tree have less chlorophyll in them and absorb light as a result, Johnsons team can pinpoint their exact location (they appear as dark pixels on a map as opposed to the light spots denoting healthy trees) after a drone collects data from any particular forest.

The company can then share that data with the city so it can narrow its search for sick trees and have employees double-check worrying dots.

The firms local hub is educating students on its methods and the issue of Dutch elm disease during seminars hosted by industry professionals and public school teachers. Students have also had the chance to fly microdrones this year.

The three-year pilot with Seven Oaks aims to pique student interest in programming and equip teenagers with knowledge to obtain a drone licence from Transport Canada.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Samm Mohan of Maples MET School learns about the different parts of a drone from Matthew Johnson, education director of Volatus Aerospace.

The extracurricular interested Grade 11 student Samm Mohan because she is both an aspiring pilot and environmentalist. "Making the city better is something Im looking forward to doing," she said.

Dutch elm disease, which kills trees by blocking water-conducting tissue, was first identified in Winnipeg in 1975. Over the last six years alone, the city has lost upwards of 33,000 trees to the disease.

"If we can get an early jump on the disease, then thats huge," Johnson said, noting Winnipegs urban canopy helps keep the city both beautiful and cool.

If the project is found to be successful, the aircraft technology and a related tree identification algorithm could be trained to save other types of trees from pests  for instance, the emerald ash borer, an invasive insect that attacks ash trees.

On a recent school day, approximately a dozen eager teenagers gathered around a launch site in Kildonan Park to celebrate their first surveillance program.

If we can get an early jump on the disease, then thats huge.  Matthew Johnson

"Go for launch," Johnson declared at the event. In unison, the students shouted: "Go!"

The teenagers took out their cellphones to document the drones takeoff, which created so much downdraft that blades of grass shivered below, and then craned their necks to the blue sky. They watched in awe as the pre-programmed drone began to scan the park.

It took approximately one hour, 20 minutes for the aircraft to catalog every tree in Kildonan Park.

Once the data is collected, Johnson said his team will teach students how-to use machine learning algorithms to analyze it and locate sick targets.

SUPPLIED A screenshot of Volatus Aerospaces map of its surveillance of elm trees in Kildonan Park. The blue dots signify detection of worrying elm trees.

Brian Clement, a teacher adviser at Maples MET School, said experiential learning shows students how-to prepare and problem solve on the fly.

"Youre in a real situation and you feel that adrenaline or fear or anxiety and you have to deal with it," said Clement, who worked in the information technology industry for 15 years before he entered the K-12 workforce.

Students have realized a flashy launch requires a ton of preparation work and programming jobs can be tedious at times, he added, noting participants have had firsthand experience parsing through datasets.

Damian Nernberg, 16, said he had no idea operators were required to register their aircraft and obtain a certificate to fly if their drone weighs more than 250 grams. The Grade 10 student said he is keen to learn more about remote control technology and how-to use it safely and legally.

"The appeal of (being a pilot) is to have no limits but you have pre-flight checks and all that," he said.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.
The children of a 22-year-old woman who died after an SUV crashed into a tree in Winnipeg, as the driver allegedly fled police, are struggling to comprehend their loss.

The children of a 22-year-old woman who died after an SUV crashed into a tree in Winnipeg, as the driver allegedly fled police, are struggling to comprehend their loss.

Victoria Lindells mother, Anita Umpherville, said she and her daughters common-law partner have tried to gently explain the death to sons Cadrian, four, and Montana, three.

FACEBOOK Victoria Lindell, 22, died after a van crashed into a tree on Truro Street in St. James in the early hours of May 30, 2022.

"They thought their mother was sleeping, and as soon as they closed that casket they started crying," Umpherville told the Free Press on Monday. "They said, No, mommy is sleeping.

"They were asking if she was going to get up, and they didnt want us to close the casket. It was really difficult for them to understand. It made everybody cry."

Mourners attended Lindells funeral June 10 in Moose Lake, where she spent much of her childhood. The small northern community is just over an hours drive east of The Pas.

She was remembered for her "infectious" laugh, an ability to "light up a room," and her children being her pride and joy.

"She was outgoing and happy. She was really close to her kids," said Umpherville, who is waiting for more information about the moments leading up to the May 30 fatal collision, after being visited by investigators.

Lindell loved to play outdoors with her sons, spend time with her sisters and make TikTok videos while hanging out with friends.

She was focused on her raising her sons, but told family she wanted to one day go to college to become a nurse.

SUPPLIED Victoria Lindell loved spending time outdoors with her sons, Cadrian, four, and Montana, three, according to her family.

Lindell, who lived in Swan River, was visiting relatives in Winnipeg with her mother when she was involved in the collision.

According to police, Lindell was a passenger in the sport utility vehicle, which crashed into a tree on Truro Street, between Ness and Silver avenues, in St. James.

Umpherville said she last saw her daughter about an hour before the incident, when Lindell asked if she could borrow her mothers vehicle.

"She told me that she loved me and said, Ill be right back," Umpherville said by phone from Moose Lake. "She said she was going out for a ride. She was with her cousins."

Umpherville doesnt know why the trio was in St. James.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has taken over the probe of the incident. The IIU investigates all serious incidents involving police.

In an earlier news release, Winnipeg police said officers attempted to stop the vehicle in the Deer Lodge area around 12:45 a.m.

The man who was driving failed to stop and fled the scene, said police. Officers located the crashed vehicle a short time later.

Paramedics transported Lindell to Health Sciences Centre, where she was pronounced dead, according to an IIU news release issued May 30.

The SUVs driver and a second passenger  a female in her teens  were removed from the van and taken to HSC in unstable condition.

A family member called Umpherville to inform her of the crash. The mother said she "didnt want to believe" it when she was told her daughter, niece and nephew were in hospital with injuries.

As she tried to contact her daughter, Umpherville went to HSC, which is close to where she was visiting relatives, in an effort to find out which hospital Lindell had been taken to.

Later, after her daughter died, Umpherville visited the crash site. The SUV had been removed and investigators had cleared the scene.

"There were a lot of pieces of my vehicle laying around there. It was really difficult for me," said Umpherville. "Im still looking for answers."

Neither police nor the IIU has explained why officers attempted to stop the SUV.

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

The WPS declined to release additional details, due to the IIU investigation.

The IIU, which declined to comment further, has requested oversight from a civilian monitor assigned by the Manitoba Police Commission.

MPC-trained civilian monitors are mandatory in cases where a death may have occurred as a result of the actions of a police officer, according to the commissions website.

Anyone with information about the collision or video footage is asked to call the IIU at 1-844-667-6060.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching
A city councillor is calling for the citys chief of police to focus on Winnipeg during the remainder of his term  and for the police board to start the recruiting process for the next top cop.

A city councillor is calling for the citys chief of police to focus on Winnipeg during the remainder of his term  and for the police board to start the recruiting process for the next top cop.

Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyths current contract with the city ends in November 2023. Earlier this year, he was nominated for president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, a national role, which will be voted on in July at the associations annual general meeting.

He has sat on the board of directors of the national association, representing Manitoba, since 2018, the police service confirmed.

Smyth was not made available for comment Monday.

Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Coun. Sherri Rollins said she worries taking on the national role would hamper the police chiefs focus on the city.

"We have enough work in Winnipeg, we need to centre on the Winnipeg-based work," she said, noting she wants to see community policing.

"This is a needed discussion in Winnipeg, we do have security issues. When hospitals and (emergency rooms) know theyre expecting a very difficult summer from the criminality perspective, and its started already."

She also pointed to concerns with low police morale as well as increased overtime and calls for service as evidence of Smyths need to focus on the city, rather than a national role.

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Rollins admits she has a difficult relationship with the Winnipeg Police Board, including a complaint against her stemming from comments she made to the March 4 board meeting, when she asked about the handling of the February anti-COVID-19 mandate protest at the legislature by Winnipeg police.

However, she said, its critical for the police board to "signal a search" for a chief of police ahead of Smyths contract expiring.

"If youre putting together a search committee, thats actually not a lot of time, in particular in this very tight labour market, this very competitive labour market," Rollins said.

Coun. Markus Chambers, who heads the police board, did not return a request for comment Monday.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera
Lori Ann Mancheeses dream was to have her own house at Ebb and Flow First Nation, instead of being homeless in Winnipeg.

Lori Ann Mancheeses dream was to have her own house at Ebb and Flow First Nation, instead of being homeless in Winnipeg.

Tragically, that dream came to an end last week, when the body of the 53-year-old mother of five and grandmother of seven was found in a farmers field near Highway 8 and Grassmere Road in West St. Paul.

Lori Ann Mancheese's body was found in a field east of Highway 8, close to Grassmere Road on June 6. (Facebook)

"Its what she always wanted: a house," her sister Norma said by telephone Monday from the reserve 235 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg on the west side of Lake Manitoba. "We need more housing on our reserve. Our chief and council try do do their best, but there could be two or three families living in one home. The federal government needs to do more to get more housing.

"If she had a home here, she would still be alive."

RCMP are continuing to investigate after finding the body of a woman in a field north of Winnipeg on June 6 at about 4:30 p.m.

Police said they are still awaiting the results of an autopsy, but added, at this point, they see nothing that would point to the death as being criminal in nature.

Anyone with any information is asked to call Red River North RCMP at 204-482-1222 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine has talked with Mancheeses grieving family several times in recent days. There will be a vigil Thursday, she said.

The family has been left with several questions about Mancheeses death, including wondering how a woman whose mobility was impaired could get to a field so far away from the Main Street area she normally frequented, seeking assistance from Siloam Mission, Salvation Army and the Main Street Project, Fontaine said.

"The family is rightly concerned Lori Anns death involves foul play," the MLA said. "They want to make sure people are taking the death of this sister, mother, grandmother, seriously."

There are concerns Mancheeses death comes so close to the deaths of three other Indigenous women in Winnipeg in recent weeks, Fontaine said.

"There is a historical continuum of disposing of Indigenous women in the periphery of the city as garbage. It is worrisome and people should be concerned," she said.

Norma said she also doesnt understand why, if her sisters body was found June 6, it took until June 9 for officials to notify her.

"She had a bracelet on from Concordia Hospital; they should have found me through there. Im her next of kin," she said.

Norma has reached out to the hospital but health-care officials said police told them not to say anything. She has also heard her sister may have been at Seven Oaks General Hospital on McPhillips Street, a few kilometres south of where her body was found.

There was no way her sister, who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, would have been able to walk nearly half-a-kilometre through a muddy field, Norma said she told police.

"I said she would have had a hard time to walk that far. They said there are only her footsteps and everything else was washed away. But why werent hers washed away?" Norma said.

"All they said was she was face down and she had her hands on her heart and she was badly decomposed. They said they cant say anything more because of the ongoing investigation."

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Mancheese was born into a family of 19 children; there are now six surviving siblings.

Norma said through the years, her sister got into a cycle where she would live on the reserve with family members for various lengths of time, but then would go to Winnipeg, where she lived on the street.

The family is in touch with a friend who says she went for coffee with Mancheese on June 2, Norma said, adding police believe her sisters body was in the field for between five and seven days.

As for the vigil Thursday, Norma said it will be a chance for her and others to gather to remember and honour Mancheese.

"We are going to the site where we lost her and where they found her," she said. "She was a happy, funny person Thats how I will remember her."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Heather Stefanson remains the countrys least popular premier.

Stefanson, who has ranked last in the three Angus Reid Institute polls taken since she became premier last fall, has dropped two percentage points  to 23 per cent support in the poll released on Tuesday.

Albertas Jason Kenney is second-least popular at 32 per cent while Nova Scotias Tim Houston is most popular, at 62 per cent.

Stefansons approval rating reached a high point  of 25 per cent  in March after dipping to 21 per cent in December.

But Stefanson herself said shes not concerned about polling numbers.

"Its just important that every day I will continue to go out and work on behalf of Manitobans," she said last week.

"Im not interested about popularity. I care very deeply about each and every Manitoban and I will continue to do the very best of my ability to represent them, and our province, and to ensure that we do things to make their lives better in Manitoba."

Kelly Saunders, associate political science professor at Brandon University, said Stefanson should be interested in popularity or she could be out of a job after the next election, which has to be held by Oct. 3, 2023.

"These numbers just keep going down and down and down," Saunders said. "Once voters minds are formed on the character of a person, their personality, and these sorts of more personal things, once these impressions are formed it is hard to recover. You only get to make a first impression once.

"She has a steep mountain to climb."

Her poor polling is lower than numbers garnered for former premier Brian Pallister and interim premier Kelvin Goertzen.

Pallisters lowest number was 32 per cent in late 2020, during the latter part of the second wave of COVID-19. He popped up to 36 per cent by March 2021, but went down to 33 per cent in June.

Three months later, Pallister was gone and Goertzen was in the premiers seat, sitting at 35 per cent, before Stefanson won the Tory leadership vote over former Conservative MP and cabinet minister Shelly Glover.

Instead of the bounce in popularity Tory party faithful had hoped for, the numbers continued to slide.

As well, in January, a Probe research poll found Stefansons handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was as bad as that of Pallister. She had the support of just three out of 10 Manitobans. That poll followed a Probe omnibus poll in December that found the governing Progressive Conservative party had 37 per cent support. The Tories were at 47 per cent when they won the 2019 election.

Paul Thomas, professor emeritus in the political science department at the University of Manitoba, said the latest popularity poll numbers "are not good for the premier or her party.

"Theres no simple easy solution that could turn things around to help with a political recovery She cant have errors  theres no time for that."

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Thomas said Stefanson could follow the example of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who went from having dismal polling numbers to being re-elected with a large majority government earlier this month, but she will have to change.

"It was because of his (Fords) willingness to show some humility and say he was worry and to admit he made a mistake," Thomas said.

"I think these days, when expectations are low, it is beneficial for politicians to admit they made a mistake. If Premier Stefanson said at some point over the course of our years in office, weve made decisions that seemed to be right at the time, but they were not, we apologize.

"Right now, this government has painted a picture it isnt listening and it isnt responsive."

 with files from Danielle Da Silva

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
FOR the second time in six months, a system-wide outage at Manitoba Student Aid is causing delays to disbursements for pupils who rely on financial assistance to live and learn.

FOR the second time in six months, a system-wide outage at Manitoba Student Aid is causing delays to disbursements for pupils who rely on financial assistance to live and learn.

"When you are trying to figure out how youre going to pay your bills and even your student fees or tuition fees, its really hard to focus on (school) work," said Dawn Liebrecht, a first-year forest ecology student at the University of Winnipeg.

The mature student said she was forced to defer her car and mortgage payments in order to be able to commute to class and take care of her daughter during the spring term because of the provincial portals most recent shutdown.

Liebrecht, who applied for student aid in early April to cover fees for the current semester, anticipated she would receive a lump sum payment before May. She received a long-awaited deposit over the weekend  days after attending her final spring earth science course last week.

Last month, the financial assistance program experienced system issues that affected its online portal and intake process.

The disruption  which is unrelated to an outage in late 2021 that was caused by a Java vulnerability concern that affected information technology systems across the country  resulted in delays to processing information and disbursing funds, according to a provincial spokesperson.

"When the errors emerged, a cross-government team worked to isolate and correct the issue and undertake rigorous testing before the system was returned to service," the spokesperson wrote in an email, in which they noted officials took "immediate action" to ensure the personal information of applicants was safe amid concerns in December 2021 and May.

"No security breaches were identified as a result of the system shutdowns."

Manitoba Student Aid estimates approximately 245 students applied for services around the time of the latest outage. The May issue has been resolved, but provincial employees are addressing backlogs as a result of the internal problem.

The NDP critic for post-secondary education said he frequently hears about concerns regarding staffing shortages at Manitoba Student Aid.

"We need to make sure that we have both the financial and the human resources put into student aid so that a) the system is going to be reliable and b) when students have questions about how the system works, they can ask somebody," said MLA Jamie Moses (St. Vital).

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Moses called the frequent service disruption in 2021-22 unusual and "very disconcerting," especially given the price of living is surging at present while Manitobas minimum wage remains among the lowest of all Canadian provinces.

The province indicated Monday post-secondary institutions have been asked to extend their respective deadlines for tuition payments, in addition to waiving late fees for spring and summer students, until June 30.

The University of Manitoba, U of W and Red River College Polytechnic all confirmed they have extended deadlines for affected students.

"Efforts to support students during the pandemic continue to be a priority," Jan Stewart, U of W interim provost and vice-president academic, said in a statement.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
After a winter of near-record snowfall and spring flooding that prompted comparisons to the Flood of the Century, Winnipeg is now headed for a weekend of extreme heat.

After a winter of near-record snowfall and spring flooding that prompted comparisons to the Flood of the Century, Winnipeg is now headed for a weekend of extreme heat.

Environment Canada expects the mercury to climb to 37 C on Sunday, increasing risks for vulnerable populations.

"Definitely, its going to have an impact," said Rhonda Elias-Penner, the executive director at Thrive Community Support Circle. "If somebody is unsheltered, they have nowhere to go to cool down, so theyre coming to organizations like us for support."

When temperatures reached similar highs last summer, Thrives support centre in the West End received more than 300 daily visitors. Most people were desperate for water, sunscreen and shade, she said.

Elias-Penner hopes the city will open cooling centres, splash pads and temporary fountains for clean water access.

"If they dont receive support to help them keep cool during this extreme weather, were going to see it causing all kinds of strain on our health-care system as well as more death and serious illness," she said, noting many public bathrooms and shelters have been removed as a result of safety concerns.

In an email, Lisa Gilmour, the acting assistant chief in the citys Office of Emergency Management, told the Free Press that splash pads would be open, and the city will explore additional cooling options if high temperatures persist.

Wading pools open on July 1.

There are 21 spray pads and wading pools across the city. Each will be open from 9:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m., and admission is free, Gilmour said.

The city provided a list of safety recommendations, including staying hydrated, limiting alcohol consumption, applying sunscreen, seeking shade, and checking in on vulnerable people, especially older adults or individuals with medical conditions.

The number of extreme weather events Manitobans have endured over the last two years is unheard of, said Terri Lang, an Environment Canada meteorologist.

"Thats the million-dollar question. Why is it happening, and why does Manitoba seem to be in the crosshairs?" Lang said, adding the answer may be related to a weather phenomenon.

For two consecutive years, much of the country has been in the grips of La Nina, in which normal surface temperatures in the South Pacific Ocean cool. The change can significantly impacts on global weather patterns, Lang explained.

A typical La Nina cycle lasts between nine to 12 months and occurs every two to seven years. When these patterns persist beyond that, meteorologists refer to it as a "double-dip." During a double-dip, a region may see two La Nina winters in a row, each potentially delivering heavy snowfall, colder temperatures and increased spring precipitation, Lang said.

The phenomenon creates a jetstream which influences the direction of storm systems, and right now, Manitoba is directly in its path, she said.

According to long-range forecasts, a third La Nina  something Lang has never seen  may be on its way. Overall, a summer of lower temperatures and a chance of above-average precipitation is expected, she added.

Climate advocates argue ongoing weather variations require a proactive, political response.

"This is absolutely a result of extreme climate change," said Durdana Islam, the project manager behind Manitobas Climate Action Team. "We need political will to make (climate intervention) happen, and we need to elect government officials who are going to commit."

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Durdana Islam, project manager behind Manitobas Climate Action Team.

Islam described climate change as a multi-tier problem requiring individual, municipal, provincial, and federal effort.

She identified Winnipegs lack of efficient transit and infrastructure as crucial to reducing the citys carbon footprint. A 2018 report from the environmental coalition found transportation was responsible for 42 per cent of local emissions.

Islam blamed the short-sighted nature of politics as partially responsible.

"The work is not being done when you take climate action, nobody is going to see the results in four years," she said.

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Islam listed reconciliation, climate action, support for Winnipegs homeless, and affordable housing as the most pressing issues in Octobers municipal election.

Beyond Winnipeg, extreme heat is increasing the threat of forest fires.

At press time, the provincial government reported seven fires burning across the province, with five classified as "out of control."

On Monday, Manitobas Wildfire Service was battling a blaze near South Indian Lake, approximately 13o kilometres north of Thompson. The fire, which covered roughly 1,200 hectares, required support from water bombers and helicopters.

Smoke from the fire forced the closure of Provincial Road 493 near Issett Lake, and power to South Indian Lake and O-pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation was disrupted. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. There were no evacuation orders in place as of Monday afternoon, a government representative wrote to the Free Press in an email statement.

tyler.searle@winnipegfreepress.com
The masters of Manitobas health care seem delighted with the progress they are making in patching holes in the complex system that helps restore ailing Manitobans to good health. For the nurses who actually help patients, however, the picture is far less bright.

The masters of Manitobas health care seem delighted with the progress they are making in patching holes in the complex system that helps restore ailing Manitobans to good health. For the nurses who actually help patients, however, the picture is far less bright.

Premier Heather Stefanson was at Health Sciences Centre last week to celebrate the radiology equipment that allows doctors to treat patients who would otherwise require surgery. The equipment, bought with the help of a $5-million donation from the late Paul Albrechtsen, has been in use since March 2020, but last week seemed like a good moment to draw attention to it.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Premier Heather Stefanson was at Health Sciences Centre last week to celebrate the radiology equipment that allows doctors to treat patients who would otherwise require surgery.

The premier was proud of the 20 per cent increase over three years in the number of patient scans performed at HSCs Diagnostic Centre of Excellence, though the backlog of patients awaiting diagnostic procedures has grown during those three years. The equipment may in time help reduce the backlog, but that effect has not yet been seen.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon, meanwhile, was at Red River College Polytech drawing attention to expansion of the colleges nursing education program. The government cut its grant to RRC in 2018, reducing capacity of the nursing program to 150 students from 225 students. The government has now provided funds to restore 30 of the 75 student places it previously cut. Ms. Gordon said this measure brings the government closer to its goal of increasing nursing education programs by 400 students.

For nurses now on the job, however, there was little to cheer about. Experienced nurses at HSCs emergency department who spoke privately to this newspaper warned the public is at risk because of staff shortages. Many of the most senior nurses have been retiring on account of overwork and discouragement.

Experienced nurses at HSCs emergency department who spoke privately to this newspaper warned the public is at risk because of staff shortages.

These nurses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution for making their concerns known.

Nurses who graduated last week from the University of Manitoba College of Nursing also spoke of difficult conditions in the hospitals. During their hospital placements, they learned of the punishing workload they will face. In some cases, the nursing students were trained by rookie nurses because the experienced ones had retired.

The ruling Progressive Conservative party is making visible efforts to repair the damage it inflicted on Manitoba health care under the leadership of former premier Brian Pallister. It is seeking thanks from the public for restoring 30 of the 75 nursing student places it eliminated at RRC three years earlier.

The public may, however, be more impressed by the warnings from working nurses and newly minted nursing graduates. The damage from previous cuts is still being visited upon patients. Nurses are having to cut corners because departments are understaffed and nurses cannot give their patients the required attention.

Nurses are having to cut corners because departments are understaffed and nurses cannot give their patients the required attention.

The premier and the health minister have wisely chosen not to appear in front of the nurses who indirectly work for them, because there they would get no applause. If they could gather a crowd, it would not be a friendly one.

It is difficult to work up a sense of gratitude to a government that saved money by reducing nursing education and is now patting itself on the back for starting to repair part of the damage it previously inflicted. Manitoba patients are paying for these misjudgments today.

The Conservatives standard defence of their health-care record  that the former NDP government also managed health care badly  will offer no comfort to discouraged nurses, or to the patients who count on them for care.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program.

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows an overview of launch pad activity at Imam Khomeini Space Center southeast of Semnan, Iran on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program. The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Irans rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit. (Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program.

The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Irans rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit.

One set of images showed a rocket on a transporter, preparing to be lifted and put on a launch tower. A later image Tuesday afternoon showed the rocket apparently on the tower.

Iran did not acknowledge a forthcoming launch at the spaceport and its mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows vehicles at the checkout building at Imam Khomeini Space Center southeast of Semnan, Iran on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program. The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Irans rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit. (Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies via AP)

However, its state-run IRNA news agency in May said that Iran likely would have seven homemade satellites ready for launch by the end of the Persian calendar year in March 2023. A Defense Ministry official also recently suggested Iran soon could test its new solid-fueled, satellite-carrying rocket called the Zuljanah.

It wasn't clear when the launch would take place, though erecting a rocket typically means a launch is imminent. NASA fire satellites, which detect flashes of light from space, did not immediately see any activity over the site late Tuesday night.

Asked about the preparations, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington that the U.S. urges Iran to de-escalate the situation.

Iran has consistently chosen to escalate tensions. It is Iran that has consistently chosen to take provocative actions," Price said.

A Pentagon spokesman, U.S. Army Maj. Rob Lodewick, said the American military will continue to closely monitor Irans pursuit of viable space launch technology and how it may relate to advancements in its overall ballistic missile program.

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows a rocket erected at a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program. The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Irans rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit. (Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies via AP)

"Iranian aggression, to include the demonstrated threat posed by its various missile programs, continues to be a top concern for our forces in the region, Lodewick said.

Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. The program has seen recent troubles, however. There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, a type of satellite-carrying rocket. A fire at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in February 2019 also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time.

The launch pad used in Tuesday's preparations remains scarred from an explosion in August 2019 that even drew the attention of then-President Donald Trump. He later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure. Satellite images from February suggested a failed Zuljanah launch earlier this year, though Iran did not acknowledge it.

The successive failures raised suspicion of outside interference in Irans program, something Trump himself hinted at by tweeting at the time that the U.S. was not involved in the catastrophic accident. Theres been no evidence offered, however, to show foul play in any of the failures, and space launches remain challenging even for the worlds most successful programs.

Meanwhile, Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in April 2020 revealed its own secret space program by successfully launching a satellite into orbit. The Guard launched another satellite this March at another site in Semnan province, just east of the Iranian capital of Tehran.

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows a rocket preparing to be erected at a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Space Center southeast of Semnan, Iran on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran's nuclear program. The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Irans rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit. (Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies via AP)

Judging from the launch pad used, Iran likely is preparing for the Zuljanah test launch, said John Krzyzaniak, a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Krzyzaniak earlier this week suggested a launch was imminent based on activity at the site.

The rocket's name, Zuljanah, comes from the horse of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Iranian state television aired footage of a successful Zuljanah launch in February 2021.

The launch preparations also come as the Guard reportedly saw one of its soldiers martyred in Semnan province under unclear circumstances over the weekend. Iran's Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Ministry, however, later claimed the man worked for it.

The United States has alleged that Irans satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution and has called on Tehran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The U.S. intelligence communitys 2022 threat assessment, published in March, claims such a satellite launch vehicle shortens the timeline to an intercontinental ballistic missile for Iran as it uses similar technologies.

Iran, which has long said it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously maintained that its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Iran abandoned an organized military nuclear program in 2003.

The Free Press | Newsletter Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

However, Iran's likely preparations for a launch come as tensions have been heightened in recent days over Tehran's nuclear program. Iran now says it will remove 27 IAEA surveillance cameras from its nuclear sites as it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

Both Iran and the U.S. insist they are willing to re-enter Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw the Islamic Republic drastically curb its enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018, setting in motion a series of attacks and confrontations beginning in 2019 that continue today into the administration of President Joe Biden.

Talks in Vienna about reviving the deal have been on a pause since March.

Building a nuclear bomb would still take Iran more time if it pursued a weapon, analysts say, though they warn Tehrans advances make the program more dangerous. Israel has threatened in the past that it would carry out a preemptive strike to stop Iran  and already is suspected in a series of recent killings targeting Iranian officials.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twiter.com/jongambrellAP.
On a recent Saturday, hundreds of people gathered at a farm north of Reedsburg to get an up-close look at where their food comes from while eating it.

Sauk Countys 31st annual Dairy Breakfast on the Farm was hosted at The Schyvincks Hillside Haven, home to Kim and Brad Schyvinck, their three daughters, Brittany, Brianna and Brooklyn, and around 450 Holstein cattle.

In addition to the breakfast, held from 7 to 11 a.m., there was a photo area, walk-throughs of the barns and milking parlor, a farm information area, and, of course, a meal.

As guests piled in, Kim Schyvink said that her family felt a strong sense of responsibility in hosting the event.

We feel that it was our duty to invite the public to come to the farm and see the cows, see where their milk comes from, said Schyvink. For many reasons, its a duty the family takes seriously, hoping to extend their knowledge and experience to younger generations, passing down the farming tradition like a torch.

We dont realize how many of the next generations are actually getting further and further from ever being on a farm, added Schyvink. Theyre born and raised in town and they dont have the chance to come out and see what we do and where their food comes from.

Brooklyn, the youngest of the Schyvink daughters, echoed her mothers sentiments. This summer, shell be taking on the role of Marketing Intern at the farm, drawing from her education at Winona State University, where shell be entering her final year as a Marketing major come fall.

In learning about communications and public relations, Brooklyn says shes learned how to expand public knowledge about agriculture, particularly, she says, for the city folk.

Its just great to show the public that dont get to come see a farm every day, said Brooklyn. People need to know more about it and where their food comes from.

Farm animals werent the only ones working to ensure a good meal on Saturday morning, either. On Friday, Kim says volunteers, around 350 in total, began the process of slicing cheese blocks and cracking 6,300 eggs, ensuring the three food lines at the farm would be well-stocked.

On our side its a lot of cleaning to make sure that everything is in tip-top shape, said Kim. It takes a lot of volunteers.

Community support for not only the Dairy Breakfast but for the farm in general, she added, had been amazing.

Im amazed at how long the line actually has gotten, she said.

As people were ferried to and from the grassy parking area to the food lines at the 1,200-acre farm via tractor trailers and all-terrain vehicles, Brooklyn added that she took pride in the seemingly endless lines of attendees, joking that really it was she and her sisters who wanted to hold the breakfast more than their own parents.

Our parents work so hard year-round, so were like, why not show off their beautiful farm that they have.

Saturday wasnt the first time the Schyvink family had been recognized for their farming efforts. In 2005, Kim and Brad won Wisconsins Outstanding Young Farmers Award, going on to win a National Outstanding Young Farmers Award in 2006. The farm itself has stood since the early 20th century, and when Kim and Brad purchased it in 1995 they became the fourth generation in the Schyvink family to tend the land.

Overall, despite the long cleanup process ahead, Kim said she was grateful for the turnout and the opportunity to provide so many people with exposure to agriculture.

Im hoping that everybody is happy with everything today, she said.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Carefully chosen artwork, comfortable chairs, blankets and essential oils help ease harsh memories.

A new soft interview room at the Charlottesville Commonwealths Attorneys office is designed to make a more comfortable place for victims to recall and discuss the traumatic events theyve been through as prosecutors and police prepare criminal court cases.

The Charlottesville room is the most recent of 48 created and installed across the country by Project Beloved, a Texas-based nonprofit that advocates, educates and collaborates with criminal justice officials to help victims, especially sexual assault survivors, tell their stories.

The room is the second in Virginia, joining the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office. Project Beloved will install Virginias third soft interview room at Virginia Military Institute this week.

The room is part of the effort by a Texas mother whose daughter was killed by a serial rapist to bring hope to Charlottesville survivors of sexual assault and other crimes through the new interview room at Commonwealths Attorney Joe Platanias office.

Our hope is by using this trauma-informed response, that we're going to get better evidence so that we can make more arrests, that we can take more cases to trial, we can get more convictions and we can take rapists off the street, said Tracy Matheson, president and founder of Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission.

Matheson founded Project Beloved following the brutal rape and strangulation of her 22-year-old daughter Molly Jane. Matheson discovered that other women had come forward about being assaulted by the rapist who murdered her daughter prior to her death, but had negative experiences when talking about what happened to them, discouraging some from pursuing justice.

The rooms provide a more comfortable place for survivors to talk to detectives and attorneys about their trauma. The rooms feature elements intended to make survivors feel more comfortable. The chairs swivel so that survivors can move around in them. Theres a variety of lighting fixtures, a basket of blankets, an essential oil diffuser, a table that can be wheeled around if someone needs a writing surface.

Even the artwork is intentional. Canvas wall hangings feature photographs taken by Megan Getrum, a woman who was murdered five days after Molly Jane was by the same predator.

It's just the perfect way to include Megans story in Project Beloved because we are intertwined, Matheson said.

Pat ODonnell, Victim/Witness Coordinator for the city of Charlottesville, reached out to Project Beloved to install the room. Project Beloved made over an old vacant office Monday afternoon.

This kind of helped to fuel our desire of we can't sit here and do nothing. We've got to find a way to take this horrific tragedy and help bring change, Matheson said. I realized that there's probably not a jurisdiction in the country that has a budget set aside to make over a space that is cold, stark and sterile, and so I said I'll make soft interview rooms.

Matheson and her organizations mission is for there to be a world where survivors feel comfortable and safe as possible when talking about the worst day of their lives, in hopes it will bring justice and empower survivors.

This mission spoke to ODonnell and other members of Victim/Witness services departments, which was already starting to work on using more trauma-informed practices in interviews.

This is something that we as an office wanted to do. We started back in 2018 with no budget and no space. We lost a space once or twice, and we were trying to figure out a way to do it. And then it was last October that we found out about Project Beloved, ODonnell said.

Project Beloved uses donations from individuals, companies and organizations to fund the soft interview rooms. Currently, the organization creates one to two rooms a month, with ambitions to do more.

Platania said the room will help members of the office foster the healing journey of a survivor. He said sexual assault cases are some of the toughest cases he sees.

It's just so positive, inspirational and we just feel so lucky and fortunate to be the second site in Virginia and to have people take a personal tragedy and make something positive out of it, he said. Its hard not to be emotional. I think of the impact and bravery and courage. We'll think about [Mathesons] daughter every single time.

Matheson wants the tragedy of her daughters murder to inspire change across the country, in cities like Charlottesville.

Everyone says I can't imagine what youre going through and I cant say I wouldn't say the same thing to someone, that I can't imagine. But it is my reality, Matheson said.

And the only thing that I could figure out how to make it through was by doing this, she said. I would say probably it has saved my sanity to be able to have something like this to pour all of my mental energy and physical energy and take this horrific, unthinkable, unfathomable, incredibly awful thing and help it fuel this change that I hope to see come because of our efforts.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The New Lisbon community is currently on the lookout for an injured black bear after it was seen limping through a couples backyard.

Deb and Ian Judd first spotted the bear three weeks ago, immediately alerting the Department of Natural Resource after noticing a trap caught on the bears paw.

Initially that was a little bit of a shock, said Ian Judd.

Quickly the New Lisbon community stepped up to look for the bear, and Judd began leading the charge to locate it and free it from the trap.

Suffering of any sort with an animal upsets me, he said. Im just a bit of an animal lover I guess.

News of the bear and community efforts to remove the trap from its paw traveled all the way to North Carolina, where the nonprofit Help Asheville Bears operates. The group is comprised of bear-watchers with the intent to educate people about bear communication and promote co-existence with the bears, as well as working toward ending illegal trapping.

Within days of hearing about the bear, HAB had sent a drone operator to New Lisbon to try and pinpoint its location. Soon after, theyd installed satellites in homes in the area, setting up cameras to try and track down the injured bear. Helping to coordinate these efforts is HAB co-founder Jody Williams.

Weve caught this bear on cams multiple times, said Williams. Weve got proven success with the drones.

On top of HABs tracking efforts, the Wisconsin DNR has set out barrel traps, humane live traps in hopes of capturing the bear.

Were still trying, said Williams. We just want this trap off this bear before it loses its paw.

In the time since HAB started their investigation, theyve managed to find two more bears near New Lisbon. One was missing half of its right front leg, the other, missing half of its left front leg. According to Williams, these injuries are characteristic of snare traps.

New Lisbon area does have trapping problems, said Williams. Theres a poaching problem everywhere.

DNR district wildlife supervisor Kris Johansen says that while trap-related injuries do happen periodically in bears, by no means are they a widespread problem.

I would definitely not say that weve seen an uptick in bears ending up in foothold traps, said Johansen. Its certainly not something that we feel is a widespread situation.

He added that while the cause of the first bears injury is clearly the trap on its foot, the other two bears injuries have no confirmed cause. He added that things like car collisions and territorial disputes are also known to leave bears with injuries.

Theres all kinds of different ways a bear can injure a paw, he said.

Like Williams home in North Carolina, Wisconsin boasts a thriving black bear population, according to the state DNR.

Wisconsins bear population, which the DNR says has surpassed 24,000, is managed primarily through hunting, which the DNR closely monitors.

Bear hunting season in Wisconsin takes place in September and October, with additional rules regarding the use of bait and hunting dogs.

Adding to the issue is bear mating season, which runs from May until July.

Its a very active time of year for bears, said Williams.

Bear activity levels come as no surprise to Judd, who saw his first backyard bear last year.

Having had a bear in the yard before, it wasnt quite the shock that it was previously, said Judd. We werent worried about the bear being here, it was only the fact that the bear had a trap on its paw.

Judd contacted the DNR as soon as he noticed the trap, the community rallying around the bear as soon as news broke, something Judd says gave him a sense of pride in his neighbors.

It was actually really good to find out just how many people were concerned about the bear, he said. I think a lot of people just want to know what the outcome is going to be.

Williams expressed a similar sentiment in his work with the community in continuing to search for the injured bears and further educate those who arent as familiar with bears. Some of the main things members of the public can do to maintain a positive relationship with local bear population include securing trash bins to keep the bears out and removing unnecessary bird feeders as they could attract the scent-driven creatures.

A bear will not hang around unless it has a reason to hang around, said Williams. They go where the food is.

Keeping a safe distance from bears and respecting local populations are advisable tips to follow as well, he added.

Its a people problem, its not a bear problem, said Williams. Black bears will coexist as long as we will.

Sightings of any of the injured bears can be reported to USDA Wildlife Services at 920-324-4515.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A Portage-based veterans organization is putting together a state-wide motorcycle ride to raise money and awareness for Wisconsins veterans.

Irocs Badger Run is a three-day ride set up by the Wisconsin American Legions Legion Riders, beginning in Sheboygan with registration and a mandatory safety meeting on June 23.

Beginning bright and early the next morning at 8 a.m., the ride begins with stops along the way to include American Legion Posts in Sheboygan, Wrightstown, Fond Du Lac, Germantown, Hartland and Mukwonago. The riders conclude their journey at The Highground, a veterans memorial park west of Neillsville, where the funds from the ride will be donated.

The park comprises over 150 acres designated as a memorial to Wisconsins veterans, featuring hiking trails and tribute statues. According to Randy Timms, Irocs Badger Run co-chair and Legion Riders state secretary, The Highground is exactly the type of project he and his fellow riders like to support.

Its a wonderful facility for veterans and their families to visit, said Timms. A building at the park houses a small museum featuring rooms and rooms of military memorabilia and a modest gift shop, which theyd like to expand. Funds from the event will help them not only work toward the expansion, but ensure better park access in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, improve parking and safe access to the various memorials in the park, and increase its financial stability.

They are in desperate need of having a bigger building, said Timms.

Additionally, The Highground allows the families and friends of veterans to purchase paver blocks bearing the names of their loved ones who have served. These honor stones can be purchased online, with dedication ceremonies typically taking place outdoors. These are another aspect of the park Timms hopes to contribute to with the ride.

Obviously in northern Wisconsin theres a lot of months throughout the year where (outdoor ceremonies are) its just not really feasible, he said.

The idea for the event came to Timms last year at a silent march. He was discussing the need for a statewide veterans event with Greg Eirich, a Legion Commander, for whom the Iroc portion of the event is named. From there, Irocs Badger Run took form.

This is a new event for the Legion, the first ever Irocs Badger Run, but Legion members have experience with fundraising. According to Timms, last year the Legion was able to raise $110,000 on a statewide level, which was all donated, along with around 1,400 volunteers hours, to various groups that benefit veterans. With so much time and money being generated, Timms added that he and his fellow Legion members are careful about who theyre choosing to support.

We dont want to give money and volunteer hours to places that are gonna chew it up on administrative costs, said Timms.

For the upcoming ride, Timms says he hopes to hit the $20,000 mark, but that regardless of how much they raise, well be happy to give them whatever we collect.

What Timms also hopes to collect is awareness of the struggles faced by veterans, something he says is lacking.

Theres a whole generation growing up in this country that dont truly understand what veterans have given our country, he said. Veterans are treated poorly in many arenas. That needs to get public awareness, that needs to get public attention.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Kerrville, TX (78028)

Today

Mostly sunny in the morning then increasing clouds with some scattered thunderstorms later in the day. High 92F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, then cloudy skies overnight. Low 71F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Students learn tailoring techniques at a vocational school in Lhasa City, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Nov. 23, 2020. [Xinhua/Jigme Dorje]

BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua)  Zeng Xuecheng is well on the way to emerging as an up-and-coming technician in China's booming advanced manufacturing sector.

A powerful inspiration the ambitious young man found was from Chinese President Xi Jinping nearly three years ago.

Back in August 2019, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited the Bailie School in Shandan County in northwest China's Gansu Province. Its history dates back to a school founded in 1942 by Rewi Alley, a social reformer and educator from New Zealand.

Xi was very pleased to learn that most of the students in the vocational school came from the local rural areas and that they could master certain skills through study and training, which paved the way for employment.

Vocational education has a broad and promising prospect, Xi stressed during the tour, citing the Chinese adage  "One may distinguish himself in any trade"  to encourage Zeng, a student of the school at that time, and his peers to hone their skills and contribute to national development.

China's economy needs the support of the real economy, which requires a large number of technical personnel and craftsmen, Xi said.

In recent years, vocational education has been given more attention. The newly revised Vocational Education Law stipulates that vocational education is as important as general education, and notes that the country should advance reform and improve the quality of vocational education.

During multiple inspection tours, Xi had gone to schools and institutions of higher learning and talked with students.

Speaking in Yibin University during his inspection in southwest China's Sichuan Province last week, Xi told the students to remain practical when choosing their future jobs and careers, and realize personal development through diligent work.

In a face-to-face conversation during Xi's inspection tour to the Bailie School, Zeng was present. "His words strengthened my determination to hone a skill and serve the country," Zeng recalled.

In 2020, Zeng passed the national college entrance examination and was admitted to Lanzhou Modern Vocational College, majoring in the application of numerical control technology.

"I am prepared to work in a factory and give full play to my skills after graduation," Zeng said. "I am full of hope for my future."

(Source: Xinhua)
Arrow Rock is a small village situated close to the Missouri River in Saline County in the US State of Missouri. The village is located about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from St.Louis, and a one and a half-hour drive from Kansas City, Missouri. Arrow Rock is a thriving tourist attraction and has carved out its place in Missouri's history and culture as a village not to be forgotten.

Geography And Climate Of Arrow Rock

Arrow Rock, Missouri. Image credit: pasa47 via Wikimedia Commons.

Arrow Rock covers a total area of 0.35 sq. km, all of which is land. The entire Arrow Rock area forms a part of the Arrow Rock Historic District, designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1963 by the United States Department of the Interior. Like much of Missouri, Arrow Rock experiences a humid subtropical climate and is subject to intense seasonality, being vulnerable to tornadoes.

Brief History Of Arrow Rock

The town gets its current name from a large bluff overlooking the area that served as an important landmark for Native Americans and explorers. Many indigenous people are believed to have used the Arrow Rock bluff to forge weapons and tools. Arrow Rock, the town, was founded in 1829 by European settlers and was named 'Philadelphia.' Soon after, it was renamed Arrow Rock to match the namesake landmark. Despite the town's tiny size, it was essential to the affairs of Missouri and its culture. Three Missouri governors are believed to have come from Arrow Rock in the 19th century. Arrow Rock's highest population has only ever been 1000 inhabitants during the days of the Civil War. The surrounding Saline County was a very slave-dependant area, and after the American Civil War led to the abolishment of slavery, Arrow Rock had a lot of trouble economically re-adjusting. Many argue that Arrow Rock never recovered from the war, as Missouri and the rest of the nation industrialized, while the small village remained somewhat frozen in time. The population continued to decline in the following century, yet Arrow Rock has found a new lease on life in the modern-day. Today, the population is only slightly over 50, but the town attracts visitors that make it feel like a metropolis. The preservation of a lot of Arrow Rock's historical buildings and streets means that visiting the village feels like a time capsule of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Tourists from across the country arrive to see Arrow Rock and transport themselves back in time.

Population Of Arrow Rock

As per the 2010 US Census, Arrow Rock has a population of only 56 inhabitants. The ethnic makeup of Arrow Rock itself sits at about 98 percent White, with a 1.9 percent mixed-race population. Arrow Rock is believed to have a 75 percent cis female population and a 13 percent cis male population; this statistic does not account for Saline County or tourists. Most of Saline County adheres to Evangelical Protestantism. There is also a sizeable Catholic minority in the county.

Attractions In Arrow Rock

The main driver of economic success in Arrow Rock is tourism. The Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre brings in thousands of people alone just to see various shows and performances. One can also visit the historic house of George Caleb Bingham, a legendary 19th-century painter. The J.Huston Tavern was a historic meeting place for Arrow Rock's Residents, and today it is preserved in its original 1800s form to immerse oneself in a different time. There is also an African-American museum in Arrow Rock, the African-American Experience Museum. This place commemorates and educates on the history of black residents of Arrow Rock and Saline County.
The gateway to the world-famous Grand Canyon is the city of Flagstaff, Arizona. Motorists can cruise down the well-loved Route 66 and observe heritage buildings and original neon signs. Navajo Indigenous Reserve, the largest in the U.S., is minutes from the city limits. The basecamp of the tallest mountain in Arizona and the wintry Snowbowl ski resort. An outstanding balance between warm and cool temperatures creates the perfect year-round climate for comfortable living.

Geography

A Meadow Near Flagstaff, Arizona

Positioned in the center of northern Arizona, Flagstaff's elevation is 2,135 meters. Historic Route 66 that stretched from Chicago to Los Angeles passed through the inner city in its glory days. Following Highway 89 north for 229 kilometers lies the state line between Utah and Arizona. Located an hour and a half east is the striking Petrified Forest National Park. Arizona's state capital, Phoenix, is 233 kilometers from the center, moving south of the city through the Coconino National Forest. Three hundred twelve kilometers west in the Mohave Valley, the Colorado River intertwines between Arizona, California, and Nevada.

Climate

Home to the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest globally, Flagstaff has a diverse landscape of ecosystems and climates. Harsh tundra, green alpine, high desert, and pinon-juniper studded plateaus are the environments found in the area. Summer is the wettest season, with August receiving the most rainfall. July is the warmest month where temperatures can reach around 31C. By late autumn, the daily highs average 8C and lows of -6C. January is the snowiest month, with almost 30 centimeters of snow accumulating. The first couple of weeks of the year brings the coldest temperatures to the region; the chilliest it can get in Flagstaff is -15C. There are typically two hundred sixty-six sunny days per year, and the high altitude puts locals and travelers at risk of sun exposure.

Brief History

The Main Square in Flagstaff, Arizona

Sinagua and Anasazi tribes cohabited in the territory for well over 800 years, and evidence of their past lies within the nearby National Monuments. The town's name came from a ceremonial flag-raising on July 4th, 1876. A group of voyageurs from Boston pruned a giant pine tree and raised the United States flag to the top of the tree. Years later, the arrival of the western railway made it appealing to traders and businesspeople. By the 1880s, the new settlement flourished from the railroad, lumber, and livestock industries. With the railroad still bustling through the city, nearly 100 trains bypass each day. The main campus of Northern Arizona University opened in 1899 in the heart of Flagstaff. In recent days, the protected indigenous land covers almost 50,000 km2, and Navajo, Hopi, Kaibab-Paiute, and Hualapai tribes occupy the surrounding land from the township.

Population & Economy

A Skyview of Flagstaff, Arizona

The seat of Coconino County houses approximately 78,989 residents, and the population has increased by 10,000 people in the past ten years. The ethnic groups include 63% Caucasian, 19% Hispanic, 8% Indigenous, 3% Asian, and 2% African American. An ordinary household income is roughly $59,000, and a detached home costs over $350,000. 25.2 years old is the average age, and the monthly rent is nearly $1,300. The industries that employ the most people are educational, hospitality, food, and health care services. Almost 38,000 citizens are actively working, but the city's unemployment rate is 5.9%.

Attractions

Walnut Canyon National Monument

Indigenous Tribe Ruins in the Walnut Canyon National Monument

Remnants of the Indigenous tribe Sinagua are still visible to this day. The tribes lived in the valley but had to flee the area due to volcanic activity. Thanks to the park's conservation, visitors can experience how the ancient tribe lived through caves and cliffs. A 183-meter-deep canyon was carved out of the land by Walnut Creek. Today the stream flows into the Colorado River and eventually through the Grand Canyon.

Museum of Northern Arizona

A Dinosaur Skeleton in the Museum of Northern Arizona

The museum was founded in 1928 by a group of Flagstaffers who decided to protect the history of northern Arizona for future generations. The preservation of over five million ancient artifacts native to the area is accessible to the public. The exhibits inside the facility consist of historical records, art, anthropology, biology, geology, paleontology, and a library. Current discoveries help the museum create and cycle through new and old artifacts to display.

Lowell Observatory

Established in 1894 on the northwestern hillside of the city, a critical observatory houses five large telescopes. In February 1930, the discovery of the ninth planet in our solar system, Pluto, occurred at the viewpoint. Other instruments surveyed the moon to help the Apollo Missions. Another telescope examines asteroids, comets, and the activity of the Sun. The grounds are open for visitors to witness these fantastic ground-breaking technology and devices that help experts see into space.
The committee listens to a video clip of of former Attorney General William Barr as the House select committee meets to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation.
Biden signs bill that creates panel to study possible National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture
Cameron sues Kentuckys Cabinet for Health and Family Service over implementation of new abortion law
Three people were killed and 14 others were wounded early Sunday morning in a shooting outside a nightclub in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Council raises concern over cost of Welsh Government plans to create franchised bus network

Wrexham has said that whilst it welcomes the principle of franchising Wales bus network, there are concerns over infrastructure costs in executing such a model.

In March 2022 the Welsh Government unveiled its One Network, one timetable, one ticket plan to change public transport across Wales.

It included a new model for running buses in Wales before ultimately leading to create a new franchise service.

This would eventually deliver a one network, one timetable and one ticket approach in Wales.

Speaking at the launch of the Bus White Paper in March, Deputy Minister for Climate Change, with a responsibility for transport, Lee Waters said: Weve seen a gradual decline in the bus industry in Wales over the years and, as a result, weve been left with an industry that is broken and in need of much investment.

But, I am confident that the plans we have announced today will help pave the way to a healthy recovery.

Were going to be putting people before profit and providing passengers with a well-planned, easy to understand and connected bus network that makes the right thing to do the easy thing to do.

As part of the Bus White Paper local authorities have been invited to put forward their views on the Welsh Governments proposals.

In its response Wrexham Council, said: Current bus provision does not make travelling by bus a viable option for many individuals, due to: limited network coverage, lack of evening and weekend services, expensive fares, incoherent timetables and ticketing.

For many people these issues mean that currently there is little alternative to traveling by car.

There are significant differences across the county borough (and beyond) in terms of the provision of public transport, with many areas of the county totally unserved by bus services.

This leads to criticisms of a postcode lottery and undoubtedly presents significant equality issues (in terms of access to services and opportunities).

The current arrangements and bus network is based around those services which are most profitable, and this perpetuates the inequality issue

However it raises concern about the affordability of the franchising model proposed and suggests that this will need significant and substantial investment in order to ensure that it is a success.

The councils continues onto say that whilst it supports the principle of franchising the bus network, without the engagement of operators the franchising model will not be successful.

The local authority also raises concerns that councils would be pitted against each other and end up in competition for funding.

In terms of whether it agrees with the proposals, Wrexham Council said: Whilst the proposal goes some way to address this, we remain concerned about the ability and scope for local need and knowledge to be heard at the regional and national level when network decisions are made.

Linked to this is concern about the involvement of operators and users in the proposed model, and we feel that this needs to be significantly strengthened.

The model refers to one user representative and one operator representative at the National board; but does not reference a need for their involvement at local and regional level  which we think will be crucial.

We have some concerns about the affordability of model presented. There is and acceptance in the consultation document that there will be a period of transition, and everything cant happen at once.

However, we feel that work is needed to estimate the cost of delivering this model properly in order to assess its feasibility in the longterm.

We are welcoming of the aspiration for bus reform, but feel there is a need to manage expectations around this vital (and often emotive) subject.

The current arrangements make it possible for Local Authorities to be able to be reactive/responsive to supporting services based on local need and demand. The proposed model would presumably remove this ability from local authorities.

It later adds: The proposal that legislation would allow local authorities to run bus services directly has both benefits and dis-benefits associated with it.

Whilst it may provide for some flexibility and ability to respond to local need and demand, it would be challenging for most local authorities to consider  even as an arms length provider.

We consider that the different local authorities may have different views on this, and that appetites may vary over time based on changing context within local authorities (e.g. political administration, financial pressures).

These potential variables could make any LA (local authority) provided service vulnerable to change.

In principle, we are not opposed to the proposed change in legislation which would allow for this provision; however, we are concerned that this may bring pressure from stakeholders for LAs to deliver services, and we would therefore like clarification within legislation that there is no requirement or expectation for LAs to develop and deliver services directly.

Wrexham Councils full response to the Welsh Government consultation can be viewed in full here.
Dedicated police volunteers recognised for their service to their local communities

Dedicated police volunteers have been recognised for their services to the community at a special awards event.

Held at the St. Georges Hotel in Llandudno at the start of the month, the North Wales Police and North Wales Police and Crime Commissioners Commendation Evening celebrating the long service of police support volunteers of three years or more.

The evening also served as an opportunity to recognise a number of dedicated young people coming to the end of their voluntary cadetships with the Police Force.

In recent years the breadth of volunteer opportunities within North Wales Police has grown, with new the development of posts such as mosque liaison, LGBTQ+ Staff Support as well as the addition of several new cyber-crime volunteers and chaplaincy roles.

As well as the North Wales Police volunteers, another key group recognised were Custody Volunteers, who are organised by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales.

These are individuals with no link to criminal justice services who give up their time to visit and speak to people held in police custody and check on the welfare of detainees, to ensure they are treated respectfully, fairly and in accordance with the law.

Wayne Jones, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales commented: I would like to thank and congratulate all the volunteers who won awards for their service. We value all our volunteers, whether they serve through the Bikesafe initiative, chaplaincy, Horsewatch, or as Custody Visitors.

We know that a friendly smile and conversation whilst held in a detention cell can make all the difference. The individual there sees a person not in uniform, a friendly face, who is there for the sole purpose of checking on their welfare. All our volunteers across the board are great examples of people making a difference in everything they do.

The individuals recognised for volunteering were:

Bikesafe Observers: Bob Walker, Barry K. Dunn, Robin Trangmar, Philip Chesters, Andrew Stubbs, Darrel Crowther, Kevin Shenton, Marc Harper.

Assistant Cadet Leaders: John Morris, Jacob Evans.

Lead Chaplin: Gerald Williams.

Search & Rescue Coordinator: David Roberts-Simcock.

Horsewatch Coordinator: Helen Lacey.

Independent Custody Visitors: Hilda Atkinson, Victoria Cooper, John Dolan, Isabel Hargreaves, Marie Jones, Peter Kenealy, Sharon Mazzarella, Bethan Wrench.

Superintendent Jon Bowcott, North Wales Police commented: Volunteers come with exceptional skills and experience and use these to support our staff and officers across the force, taking time out of their own busy lives to give back.

We appreciate all that our volunteers bring to North Wales Police and they help us hugely in our mission to make North Wales the safest place in the UK.

Poppy Hadfield-Jones, Citizens in Policing Co-Ordinator, North Wales Police said: Our volunteers support our local communities, the officers and staff within North Wales Police and provide resilience when police resources are under pressure.

I am proud of the diversity of our volunteers and the opportunities open to them, and I want to thank them for their service. In turn, I believe we offer them support, role development, health and wellbeing, awards and recognition and advice and guidance. We all gain from volunteering.

Citizens in Policing Team Leader Chris Perkins also gave awards to a number of Volunteer Police Cadets who passed out of the cadetship at the event: Dominik Azurza, William Brown, Bethan Evans, Samuel Griffiths, Magda Matysiak, Jacob Riddle, Logan Rowley.

Chris Perkins said We believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to thrive regardless of his or her background.

The Volunteer Police Cadets, is a diverse group of young people aged 13  18 years, who have a desire to support their local communities and gain a practical understanding of policing, developing their leadership skills by undertaking challenging social action projects in their communities.
Hospices nurses to join Wrexham community for the return of popular Midnight Walk

Hospice nurses from Nightingale House will be leading the way when they take part in the popular Midnight Walk fund raising event in Wrexham later this month.

Theyll be joining the local community to raise vital funds for the refurbishment of the hospices in-patient ward.

Starting at Llwyn Isaf, Wrexham on Saturday 25 June, all are welcome, including children aged 12 and over who are accompanied by an adult over 18.

The hospice was unable to celebrate its 25-year anniversary in 2020, due to the pandemic, but hopes people will join the Midnight Walk and celebrate now that people can all get together again.

The event has returned this year after many requests from the community and those taking part will be able to take a trip down memory lane and light up the streets of Wrexham once again.

Organisers Sarah Povey and Sam Amis from the hospice said: The Midnight Walk is all about bringing people together to share one amazing experience and raise lots of money for patient care services.

Our hospice nurses are incredible and work tirelessly all year round caring for our patients and their families.

We would like to take this opportunity to not only thank them for supporting this event but for everything they do.

Nurses Lynne and Susan added: We wanted to take part in the Midnight Walk to help raise valuable funds for our inpatient unit. The ward is a compassionate environment ready to support those in our local community and its refurbishment will be a blessing to provide our patients and their families with a more up to date environment for their care needs.

Nightingale House Hospice care is already second to none but with the help of the Midnight Walkers, facilities can be further enhanced and bring into the hospice the most up-to-date equipment available.

The in-patient ward will be improved with the introduction of new therapeutic interventions centred around mindfulness and colour therapy, creating an oasis of calm and care in the new facility.

Nurses would also like to thank all those in the community for their unwavering support for the hospice. Thanks to its supporters, the hospice can continue to provide services and care to those living with life-limiting illnesses.

To register to take part in the event, supporters can visit the Nightingale House Website or call the fundraising team on 01978 314292.
Ownership of Cascadia State Park will switch to Linn County following a vote of the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday morning, June 14.

As its done on an interim basis since 2019, Linn County Parks & Recreation Department will manage the 253 acres east of Sweet Home.

Discussions between Linn County and Oregon State Parks have been in the works for more than 20 years.

This has been a long time in the making, Linn County Parks Director Brian Carroll said.

History

In a 2013 budget note to the Oregon State Parks & Recreation Department, the Oregon Legislature identified Cascadia as one of eight parks that should be considered for transfer to local management.

Cascadia was more or less the poster child for that, Carroll said.

Since then, Linn County has been working with Oregon on the transfer details.

The park since March 2019 has operated under an intergovernmental agreement, allowing Linn County to manage Cascadia on an interim basis. Linn County has been able to fund park operations through camping and day use fees the park receives.

Carroll said the countys trial management over the past three years has been very successful. The Linn County parks department has already completed several projects at Cascadia, including repairs after wind and ice storms damaged park facilities.

Commissioner Sherrie Sprenger congratulated Carroll on being the only person involved in this process from the start, and called the transfer of ownership quite a feat in his career.

Benefits of the transfer

Linn County Parks already manages Foster Reservoir, Green Peter Reservoir, Waterloo and McDowell Creek, River Bend and the United States Forest Service recreation areas along the South Santiam River.

In tending to those sites, Linn County staff travel right past Cascadia, and the transfer of ownership will save Detroit- and Eugene-based management the 1.5 hour drive to the park and increase their safety during inclement weather.

It just makes good sense for our taxpayers to do this, Carroll said.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Albany Democrat-Herald.

The park is open from May through September and has 22 first-come, first-serve campsites, groups tent sites and picnic areas. It has been used by Native Americans as a gathering spot for centuries, and is surrounded by an old-growth forest.

An official transfer ceremony celebration, including state park officials, will be held sometime over the summer.

Joanna Mann (she/her) covers education for Mid-Valley Media. She can be contacted at 541-812-6076 or Joanna.Mann@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter via @joanna_mann_.

Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Welsh Government unveils ambitious plan to eliminate new HIV infections and end stigma in Wales

An ambitious plan setting out 26 actions to eliminate new HIV infections, improve quality of life and end stigma by 2030 has been released by the Welsh Government.

The draft 2023-26 plan, a Programme for Government commitment, sets out our future approach to prevention, testing, clinical care, living well with HIV and tackling HIV-related stigma.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan has also announced 3.9m to further develop online HIV testing following the increasing success of the scheme during the pandemic.

The plan has been created by the HIV action plan working group which included community-based stakeholders, the voluntary and community sector, healthcare professionals, academics and people with HIV.

A 12-week consultation period has now opened for people and organisations to comment on the plan.

Between 2015 and 2021, Wales saw a 75 per cent reduction in new diagnoses of HIV. A significant factor in this was our commitment to provide Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for anyone who is clinically in need since the summer of 2017.

However there was an increase in the number of people tested for HIV between January and March 2022 than in any previous quarter. This is largely due to the online availability of testing.

In 2021 there were 48 people newly diagnosed with HIV infection in Wales and approximately 2,800 people accessed care in Wales for HIV.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan said: We have come a long way since the dark days of the 1980s  which were so memorably depicted last year in Channel 4s Its a Sin  when ignorance and cruelty towards people with HIV was rife.

There is no place for ignorance or intolerance in modern Wales and this plan sets out actions to tackle this.

Working with partners, we have made huge progress in improving access to testing and treatment in Wales and were proud of the significant reduction in new diagnoses of HIV.

There is more to be done and by implementing these actions, we can make a massive difference to the lives of people living with HIV and in protecting current and future generations from the virus. I encourage anyone living with or with experience of working with people with HIV to take part in our consultation.

Actions include increasing access to condoms and PrEP, breaking down barriers to testing, developing a national peer support programme for Wales and creating an HIV awareness programme including introducing it into the school curriculum.

Following the success of Fast Track Cardiff & Vale, a collaboration of public bodies which created Wales HIV Testing Week and piloted new services, the plan also recommends the introduction of an all-Wales coalition, Fast Track Cymru.

The aspiration is to make Wales a Fast Track Nation, supporting regional networks of health, social care and community groups to help reach the 2030 goals of no new HIV diagnoses and zero stigma.

Gian Molinu, Chair of Fast Track Cardiff & Vale, said: Were pleased that the Welsh Government has recognised that collaboration and inclusion is the way forward and made a commitment to encouraging new ways of working.

Its vital that people with HIV and the communities most affected have a say in these plans so we urge people to take part in the consultation.
More than 300 doctors from 35 countries have written to UK Home Secretary Priti Patel calling on her to block the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States and demanding his freedom. Patel, a ferocious opponent of WikiLeaks, is expected to rule on his extradition by Friday June 17.

In a letter sent last Friday, Doctors for Assange told Patel that approving his extradition would be medically and ethically unacceptable. Assange faces 18 charges under the Espionage Act with a 175-year prison sentence for his role as a journalist and publisher exposing war crimes committed by the US government in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel walks through the Central Lobby at the Palace of Westminster, during the State Opening of Parliament, in the Houses of Parliament, in London, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. [AP Photo/Justin Tallis/Pool Photo]

Assange has been imprisoned for exactly 10 years this Sunday, first under UK house arrest, then inside Ecuadors embassy in London where he was illegally detained by UK authorities who refused to grant him safe passage to Ecuador. Since April 2019, he has been detained in Londons Belmarsh maximum security prison despite having committed no crime under UK law.

The Australian government has refused to intercede on Assanges behalf, a stance maintained by newly elected Labour Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Assange is an Australian citizen, with a wife and two young children in Britain.

In their letter to Patel, Doctors for Assange point to Assanges worsening medical condition, Predictably, Mr Assanges health has since continued to deteriorate in your custody. In October 2021 Mr. Assange suffered a mini-stroke. This dangerous deterioration of Mr Assanges health underscores the medical concern that the chronic stress caused by his harsh prison conditions, as well as his justified fear of the conditions that he would face in the case of extradition, leaves Mr Assange vulnerable to cardiovascular events.

The doctors continued, This dramatic deterioration of Mr Assanges health has not yet been considered in his extradition proceedings. The US assurances accepted by the High Court, therefore, which would form the basis of any extradition approval, are founded upon outdated medical information, rendering them obsolete.

In January 2021, district court judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that Assange could not be extradited to the United States on mental health grounds, acknowledging that the WikiLeaks founder was at severe risk of suicide. Her decision was later overturned on appeal by the US government, with Britains High Court judges accepting empty assurances that Assange would not be subject to oppressive prison conditions.

The doctors warn Patel in their letter, Under conditions in which the UK legal system has failed to take Mr Assanges current health status into account, no valid decision to approve his extradition may be made, by you or anyone else. Should he come to harm in the US under these circumstances it is you, Home Secretary, who will be left holding the responsibility for that negligent outcome. The extradition of a person with such compromised health, moreover, is medically and ethically unacceptable.

Patels decision to extradite is virtually a foregone conclusion. She is currently spearheading efforts to push through sweeping revisions to the Official Secrets Act, inspired by the Assange precedent, that will be used to crackdown on national security journalism. The revised Act, whose second reading took place last week, empowers the state to imprison journalists who reveal classified information deemed to be in the UKs national interest.

Patel is also tearing up international human rights law regarding the treatment of refugees, commencing barbaric transportations this week to camps in Rwanda, a policy condemned by human rights groups worldwide and survivors of the Holocaust.

It is the doctors second letter sent to Patel. In November 2019, they sounded the alarm over Assanges worsening health, calling for his transfer from Belmarsh prison to a university teaching hospital for urgent medical assessment and treatment. The doctors cited the assessment of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer and visiting doctors that Assange was a victim of prolonged psychological torture.

Patels office had replied with a media statement declaring, The allegations Mr. Assange was subjected to torture are unfounded and wholly false. The UK is committed to upholding the rule of law, and ensuring that no one is ever above it.

Warnings by Doctors for Assange since 2019 were confirmed during extradition hearings in 2020, when expert medical witnesses testified to the disastrous impact of relentless state persecution and incarceration on Assanges mental and physical health. These impacts have only grown in severity as one after another legal avenue for appeal has been closed off.

Concluding Fridays letter to Patel, Doctors for Assange note the assurances of the US government that Assange would not be treated inhumanely are worthless given their record of pursuit, persecution and plotted murder of Mr Assange in retaliation for his public interest journalism, quite apart from the fact that the US government reserves the right to subject Mr Assange to the very conditions, namely, Special Administrative Measures, that would be inhuman.

Last Thursday, Assanges lawyer Jennifer Robinson announced a successful outcome to legal action she initiated in 2016 in the European Court of Human Rights. The UK government reached a settlement, admitting there was reasonable cause to believe that Robinson was subject to surveillance as a legal representative for Assange. Robinson explained, the UK government has now admitted that its surveillance and information sharing arrangements with US violated my rights. That includes in relation to the protection of confidential journalistic material.

This follows a pattern of unlawful spying on Julian Assange and his legal team, and it raises grave concerns about government interference with journalistic material and privilege.

Evidence that Assanges privileged communications with lawyers and doctors were systematically violated has been submitted repeatedly to courts in the UK, along with evidence exposing CIA plans to kidnap and assassinate Assange. Britains judiciary had clear grounds to dismiss the entire frame-up case against him, granting Assange compensation for the irreparable trauma and deprivation of liberty he has suffered. But the High Court rubberstamped every illegal act.

A media blackout of the doctors letter has been in place today, with not a single major outlet reporting their plea for his freedom. The medias decade-long campaign of character assassination against Assange, led by the Guardian and New York Times, is reinforced by a wall of silence aimed at facilitating his extradition and preventing any challenge to the outrageous propaganda being used to drag the worlds population into war against Russia and China.

Britains media, political establishment and judiciary have overseen an extra-legal conspiracy to make an example of Assange and tear up centuries-old legal and democratic rights. Their actions in crushing a journalist who courageously exposed war crimes, including rendition, torture, and the indiscriminate mass killing of civilians is itself a historic crime. Assanges fate rests upon the intervention of the working class, the broad mass of the population, to demand his immediate and unconditional freedom.
Five years ago, on June 14, 2017, the Grenfell Tower inferno took the lives of 72 men, women and children, including two who later died in hospital. More than 70 others were injured and 233 people barely escaped with their lives, suffering the most traumatic experiences as many of their loved one perished. Located in the heart of London, it was the worst UK residential fire since World War II.

They died after a small fire broke out in a kitchen in one of the fourth-floor flats in the early hours of the morning. Within minutes the fire spread to engulf the entire 24-storey concrete and steel structure, fuelled by highly combustible ACM (aluminium composite material) cladding. The cheap material was stuck to the buildings exterior as part of a refurbishment determined by cost-cutting.

The burnt out Grenfell Tower tower block building nine days after the June 14, 2017 fire. [AP Photo/Frank Augstein]

So much death and destruction occurred because the tower, built in the 1970s and previously a safe building, had been turned into a death trap by the profiteering of corporations operating in an environment where they could get away with anything due to the deregulation and privatisation policies imposed by successive Conservative and Labour governments.

Grenfell is seared into the consciousness of the working class in Britain and internationally. In a statement less than two weeks after the fire, on June 27, 2017, The political implications of the Grenfell Tower fire, the World Socialist Web Site made fundamental points deserving recollection on this anniversary.

We wrote, In years to come it will be necessary to refer to the political life of Britain in terms of before and after Grenfell. This is because the tragedy has so cruelly exposed the underlying reality of social relations between the classesand it did so in London, one of the richest cities in the world, and in Londons richest constituency.

The article continued, The horrifying loss of life epitomises the devastation capitalism has wrought on generations of working people. It is the outcome of a vast and ongoing transfer of societys wealth from the poor to the rich

The burnt-out husk of the tower points an accusing finger at the criminality of the political sociopath Margaret Thatcher and all those who followed herBlair, Brown, Cameron, Mayin an orgy of social vandalism designed to line the pockets and fill the coffers of the global elite.

The WSWS stressed that the shock the tragedy has produced is mixed with outrage. Millions understand that Grenfell was not an accident, but a crime.

The crime was that of social murder, a concept coined by Frederick Engels, the co-founder of scientific socialism, in his 1845 study The Condition of the Working Class in England. Engels wrote that the ruling elite of the day, in forcing the working class to live in deprivation and squalor, committed social murder, that it has placed the workers under conditions in which they can neither retain health nor live long; that it undermines the vital force of these workers gradually, little by little, and so hurries them to the grave before their time.

Five years later, the main issue to be addressed is why not a single person in political or corporate circles has been brought to justice for this heinous crime.

The central organisational mechanism in preventing such a reckoning has been the official inquiry that was used to justify the de facto closing down of the Metropolitan Polices criminal investigation. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry is still taking evidence five years later, when everyone knows, and knew within hours of the inferno what caused it and who was responsible.

Years ago, the Metropolitan Police declared they would not seek to bring any prosecutions until after the inquiry completes its work. According to an update last month, the inquiry will take more evidence in July before closing hearings and drafting its report. No end date has yet been set for when its glacier-like proceedings will be completed.

The Inquiry was called just one day after the fire by then Prime Minister Theresa May, with her widely despised Conservative government fearing a social explosion. Two days after the fire, hundreds of local people stormed Kensington Town Hall to demand justice for the victims of the fire.

Evidence presented to the inquiry last month showed that while May was calling the inquiry, meetings were held in Cabinet Office briefing rooms on June 16, attended by Downing Street staff and officials from the Ministry of Defence. Senior civil servant Mark Sedwill, formerly Mays national security advisor at the Home Office, wrote that the government should consider designating someone as gold minister to handle the situation: They would have to drop everything else. I fear this will become our New Orleans otherwise. This expressed the governments fear of an outbreak of social unrest as had occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the United States as Bush administration alternately ignored and denied aid to its victims.

The Public Inquiry has become the favoured means of ensuring that social rage is contained and diverted into safe channels. It is for this reason that Mays inquiry was immediately backed by the Labour Party, then led by its nominal left leader Jeremy Corbyn, and the trade unions, in particular the Fire Brigades Union, and Britains pseudo-left tendencies.

Retired High Court judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick leaves St Clement's Church near to the Grenfell Tower apartment building in London, Thursday June 29, 2017. (Philip Toscano/PA via AP)

It was crystal clear then that the Inquiry would facilitate a cover-up led by a hand-picked stooge of the establishment, former High Court judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick. Its sole function was to subordinate all demands for justice to a process that would protect the guilty. May and Moore-Bick agreed that any investigating of causes of a social, economic and political nature were ruled out and that the Inquiryunder the Labour governments 2005 Inquiries Acthad no power to lay criminal charges. At the insistence of the political and corporate figures giving evidence, the attorney general and the Inquiry later agreed that these criminals would be granted immunity from any prosecution resulting from their oral evidence.

The Socialist Equality Party demanded from the outset that the guilty were arrested and prosecuted. These included leading figures in the Conservative-run Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council, its tenant management organisation (KCTMO), and the owners of the firms who manufactured and installed the deadly cladding.

We also named former Mayor of London (2008-2016) and now Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who told protesting firefighters in 2013 to get stuffed after they warned his savage cuts would kill. The callousness of the ruling elite expressed in Johnsons statement was a precursor to his vicious response to mounting deaths in the pandemic when he declared as prime minister, Let the bodies pile high in their thousands. This murderous agenda has seen almost 200,000 deaths from COVID.

Boris Johnson, then London Mayor, tells London Assembly members and protesting firefighters to "get stuffed" when being challenged about fire service cuts during his tenure as Mayor of London

On the second anniversary of the fire, the Socialist Equality Party urged the Grenfell families and their legal teams to withdraw all co-operation from the governments rotten inquiry.

Today it is still business as usual, with millions of people potentially facing the same horrific fate as those who died at Grenfell in dwellings the length and breadth of Britain. Despite the government promising to fix all such buildings, there are 1,100 residential tower blocks in London alone that still have serious fire safety issues, including high rises with the same flammable cladding that destroyed Grenfell Tower.

Nationally, the Evening Standard noted Monday, More than 486 high-rise buildings in the country were found to be covered in Grenfell-style ACM cladding.

The latest figures show that 58 of them still have the cladding and that remediation work is under way on 27. Work is yet to begin removing the ACM from the remaining 31 buildings.

At a public meeting on August 19, 2017, in a venue just metres from the burnt-out tower block, Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Chris Marsden said, The SEP urges all survivors, local-residents and workers everywhere to place no confidence in Mays rotten whitewash of an inquiry, or in Labours attempt to make it more palatable. They must rely on themselves alone, on their social power. Workers must demand that all those guilty of social murder at Grenfell in both political and business circles are arrested, charged and put on trial.

The main lesson of Grenfell is do not trust the state, its political parties and its institutions to act in the interests of working people. What is required above all is a break from the straitjacket imposed by the Labour Party, the trade unions and the pseudo-left groups such as the Socialist Workers Party that trail in their wake. The occasion of the fifth anniversary must become the occasion for a renewed and politically independent fight for justice that can finally bring the criminals to account.

The WSWS has an archive of hundreds of articles on the Grenfell fire. We urge our readers to share these widely and to support the Grenfell Fire Forum, initiated by the Socialist Equality Party.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited Australia last week to meet with recently-elected Australian Labor Party Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Jacinta Ardern in Australia with Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese [Photo by Anthony Albanese]

Her trip followed soon after Arderns visit to Washington, where she issued a joint statement with President Joe Biden confirming New Zealands alignment with the US military build-up in the Indo-Pacific region.

Ardern also visited Japan in April, where she signed an agreement strengthening security ties and bringing Japan closer to the US-led intelligence network, the Five Eyes, of which New Zealand is a member.

The trip to Australia served the same purpose of lining up with US imperialism, both in the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, and its military provocations and threats against China. In order to resolve its historic economic crisis, the US ruling class is seeking the complete subjugation of Russia and China to its interests, raising the risk of war between nuclear-armed powers.

Following last months Australian election, which featured anti-China demagogy from the media and political establishment, the Labor government quickly signalled that it will act as Washingtons attack dog in the Pacific. Albaneses first act was to fly to Japan for a meeting of the Quada quasi-military alliance aimed against China, involving the governments of the US, Australia, India and Japan.

In a joint press conference with Ardern on June 10, Albanese was asked whether he wanted to see New Zealand do more to counter the rise of China in the Pacific. He replied that Australia and New Zealand were in lockstep on the Pacific and would continue to work together closely. He referred to Canberras plans for the region, including over half a billion dollars of foreign aid and planning to train for defence.

While New Zealand is not a member of the Quad, or the AUKUS (Australia-UK-US) military pact, Ardern told the media we see those [arrangements] as welcome. AUKUS covers a wide range of weaponry and intelligence collaboration, including Australias acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines and hypersonic missiles.

Ardern told reporters that the submarines were not a point of tension at all between the two countries, despite New Zealands official policy barring nuclear-powered vessels from entering its waters.

On the same day, in an interview with Channel Nines Today Show, Ardern said she was concerned about Chinas potential militarisation of our region. She said Pacific island nations were sovereign and had the right to develop relations with China, but New Zealand was asking governments to come together and talk about [security issues] as a region.

In fact, Australia and New Zealand treat the Pacific as their colonial backyard, using regional bodies such as the Pacific Islands Forum to exert pressure on small and impoverished countries. The imperialist powers have a long history of military interventions and regime-change operations. New Zealand joined Australia in challenging Solomon Islands recent security agreement with Beijing, while the US and Australia have threatened the Sogavare government over the issue.

New Zealand and Australia are formal military allies, and both have sent troops to join the US-led wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. In addition to the military preparations against China in the Pacific, Ardern and Albanese reportedly discussed their role in the war against Russia, which has included sending weapons to the Ukrainian military.

The growing US-led confrontation with China is fuelling nervousness in the New Zealand ruling class. New Zealands agriculture-based economy is more reliant than ever on trade with China, which takes nearly 33 percent of New Zealands total exportsup from 25 percent in 2018. Following Arderns meeting with Biden, Beijing issued a blunt warning that New Zealands support for the US could impact trade.

Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on June 1, the joint statement by the US and New Zealand is out of ulterior motives to create disinformation and attack and discredit China. He noted: The US has military bases all over the world, yet it expresses concerns about normal security cooperation with other countries.

NewstalkZB political editor Jason Walls warned on June 2 that New Zealand can be critical of China, but only to a point If the Chinese government is upset enough, they could slap some tariffs on our products. And that could devastate a small country like New Zealand.

On June 7, just days before her meeting with Albanese, Ardern sought to paper over the growing tensions telling TVNZ that New Zealands position has never been about picking sides between China and the US. The Pacific has had a relationship with China for years, so its not new, she said.

As the US and its allies lurch closer to war against China, however, Arderns Labour-Greens government faces growing pressure from sections of the political and media establishment to drop any pretence of neutrality.

The anti-Chinese NZ First Party leader Winston Peterswho served as deputy prime minister in the 20172020 Labour Party-led coalition governmenthas joined the opposition National and ACT parties in attacking Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta for being slow to respond to Chinas recent diplomatic agreements with several Pacific countries.

In a speech on May 23 at Otago University, Peters declared that there were serious security concerns emerging in the Pacific, and urged closer collaboration with the US, Australia, France, Japan and the UK against China.

On May 30, prominent pro-US academic Anne-Marie Brady told Newshub that China was pursuing a military agenda in the Pacific in order to be able to blockade and cut off Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States. She ludicrously compared Chinas actions with those of imperial Japan.

Brady complained: Unfortunately, our government does move slowly, and same with the Australiansand our defence forces are simply not equipped what we need to do now is defend our own massive maritime territory.

This nationalist and militarist hysteria is echoed by the pro-Labour Party Daily Blog. On June 2, its editor Martyn Bradbury declared that China could strangle off exports and shoot down satellites launched from New Zealand. In a bid to whip up toxic bigotry, he depicted the Chinese migrant population as a threat, saying Beijing could call mass demonstrations in NZ and cause enormous upheaval that could easily spill into something ugly.

The websitewhich publishes a number of trade union and self-styled left bloggersis demanding that military spending be at least doubled from 1.5 percent to 3 percent of gross domestic product. It has also called for the Socialist Equality Group to be investigated by the security agencies for possible treason because it opposes the preparations for imperialist war, and has exposed the blogs war propaganda on the World Socialist Web Site.
The second day of televised hearings before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol continued the trend already demonstrated in the opening hearing last Thursday. It provided damning evidence that Donald Trump conspired to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election through dishonest, anti-democratic and criminal methods. And it sought to whitewash the broader responsibility of the Republican Party in failing to oppose and outright facilitating the coup.

former Attorney General William Barr speaks during a video deposition to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, that was shown as an exhibit at the hearing Monday, June 13, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. [AP Photo/House Select Committee]

The second tendency was more pronounced in Mondays hearing, where every in-person witness was a Republican, a conservative or a Trump appointee, as were all the most important witnesses shown giving taped depositions. Several of them are political criminals seeking to save their own hides, like Trumps former Attorney General William Barr, or veterans of past anti-democratic conspiracies, like Benjamin Ginsberg, the principal lawyer for George W. Bush in the stolen election of 2000.

This did not stop the largely Democratic committee from engaging in gushing praise of the witnesses, hailing them for saving American democracy from Trumps attempted coup. Some, most notably Barr, actually acted as co-conspirators until the pointsome days after the electionwhere they evidently calculated that Trump had suffered such a landslide repudiation at the ballot box that his efforts to remain in power were doomed to failure and risked provoking massive popular opposition.

The first panel of witnesses testified to the events of Election Day and the response to it within the Trump campaign and the White House. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien had been subpoenaed to testify but was excused because his wife went into labor. His sworn deposition testimony, shown in video, confirmed that top campaign aides knew within hours of the polls closing that Trump had lost, because his lead in the same-day voting, disproportionately Republican, was too narrow and was sure to be overwhelmed by the disproportionately Democratic votes cast by mail-in or early voting.

Stepien, campaign strategist Jason Miller and other aides urged Trump to make no claim of victory but to issue a statement thanking his supporters and urging patience while the votes were counted. This would have been the standard procedure in any past election where the contest was unresolved, even when the margins were much closer than the Biden-Trump contest appeared to be.

Trump, however, rejected this advice, instead appearing before a White House crowd in the middle of the night and declaring victory, as well as making claims of systematic vote fraud without a shred of evidence.

Nor did he ever provide such evidence, as Barr spelled out in detail in numerous excerpts from his taped deposition shown during the just over two hours of the hearing. As each claim of fraud was investigated and found to be baseless or rejected by the courts, Trump would simply move on to new ones, more inflammatory and bizarre.

Associate Attorney General Richard Donoghue testified in his deposition, [t]here were so many of these allegations that when you gave him a very direct answer on one of them, he wouldnt fight us on it, but he would move to another allegation. Barr noted this indifference as well, saying, [t]here was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were.

Through these witnesses and other Trump campaign officials, White House and Justice Department officials, the Select Committee sought to present a picture of two warring camps among Trumps aides: Team Normal, as Stepien labeled it, and Team Crazy, headed by Trump lawyer and adviser Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, and attorney Sidney Powell.

Aside from the negligible political, not to say intellectual, resources of the second camp, this presentation is aimed at delivering a political amnesty to virtually every Republican Party official and operative not named Trump.

Trump is presented as a man psychologically unable to admit defeat, rather than the instigator of the attempted overthrow of the Constitution. This was the line propounded by the Biden campaign and the Democratic-aligned sections of the corporate media between Election Day and the January 6 coup attempt.

Stepien and Barr both pointed out that Trump began advancing his claims of election fraud on election night, long before there could have been any evidence to support them. These claims were, literally, baseless. But that did not stop both men, along with Senate leaders like Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn and House leaders like Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, from lining up behind Trump and arguing that his myriad lawsuits and refusal to concede were nothing more than the president exercising his legal rights.

They all knew the claims had no foundation. But they accommodated themselves to Trumps lies about election fraud, until December 1 for Barr, until the Electoral College vote December 14 for McConnell, and right up through January 6 for McCarthy and Scalise. Two-thirds of the House Republicans voted not to certify Bidens clear victory even after the rioters had been cleared out of the Capitol and the certification of the Electoral College results resumed.

The second panel of in-person witnesses included former US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia BJ Pak and former Philadelphia city commissioner Al Schmidt, as well as Benjamin Ginsberg.

Pak and Schmidt gave testimony to the effect that there was no credible evidence of fraud in either Georgia or Pennsylvania. Schmidt also testified about the great increase in number and specificity of death threats against himself and his family after Trump began to tweet against him because of his opposition to the claims of fraud. This illustrated the way in which Trumps social media operations helped fuel violence against his opponents and critics.

Ginsberg reviewed the dozens of legal challenges filed by Trump campaign lawyers over claims of fraud or improper procedure in ballot counting. While about 30 of these claims were dismissed by courts outright on procedural grounds, he explained, another 30 were given full consideration, including the weighing of evidence presented by Giuliani and others. In all these cases, except for one minor procedural issue, the courts ruled against the Trump campaign. They had no evidence and no legal basis for their challenges.

Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren introduced Ginsberg as a veteran Republican election lawyer, mentioning his role in the 2000 campaign in litigating George W. Bushs claims all the way to the Supreme Court. She did not elaborate on the fundamentally anti-democratic character of that litigation and of the resulting Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore.

Bush sought to prevent the recounting of ballots cast in Florida, as ordered by the Florida state Supreme Court, because that recount seemed likely to give Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore sufficient votes to win the state and its electoral votes, and thus the election as a whole. The Supreme Court stepped in with a 5-4 ruling freezing the vote counting, effectively awarding Floridas electoral votes and the White House to Bush.

Justice Antonin Scalia declared, in the course of this decision, that the American people had no constitutional right to vote for the president. State legislatures, including the Republican-controlled legislature in Florida, were the final authority, he claimed. It was this argument that laid the basis for the strategy pursued by Trumps legal team, including Giuliani and John Eastman, after the 2020 election, when they sought to pressure Republican-controlled legislatures in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin to overturn the popular vote and award their states electoral votes to Trump.

This connection was a closed book to the Select Committee in its presentation of Ginsberg as an esteemed election authority, even though a future hearing is set to examine Trumps effort to strong-arm state legislative leaders to do his bidding.

At the opening of Mondays hearing, the committee presented video of Trumps repeated declarations, for months leading up to the election, that the only way he could lose was if the voting was rigged. This is damning proof of Trumps intention to defy the will of the voters if he lost but raises other political questions.

First of all, the video left out the most important event of that period, Trumps response to the mass protests which followed the police murder of George Floyd, when he went on national television to declare himself your president of law and order and vowed to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 and mobilize troops against the protesters.

This was accompanied by the order, given by then Attorney General William Barr himself, for police and paramilitary forces to clear Lafayette Park, in front of the White House, of a large crowd of anti-Trump protesters. This allowed Trump to stage his notorious walk across the park to St. Johns Episcopal Church, followed by Barr, General Mark Milley and other officials, and pose before television cameras holding up a Bible.

Secondly, the video of Trumps threats begs the question: Why was nothing done by the Democrats or any section of the capitalist state to defend the election? Representative Lofgren, who led the bulk of Mondays questioning, made the remarkable admission at one point that the outcome of these threatsTrumps refusal to acknowledge his defeat at the pollswas entirely predictable.

Certainly, it was. And the World Socialist Web Site had predicted Trumps impending coup and warned against it for more than a year. But what were the Democrats doing about it? Candidate Joe Biden, who admitted in June 2020 that his greatest concern was that Trump would defy the result of the vote, chose to spread complacency throughout the fall campaign, denying there was any prospect that Trump would seriously resist being removed from power if he lost the vote.

It is more evident than ever that the main function of the hearings is to legitimize the Republican Party, to wage a struggle for the soul of the Republican Party, as Biden might put it. The target for the committee is not the American people, who are to be alerted to the danger of fascism and dictatorship, but Republican officials and partisans, who are to be persuaded to break with Trump on the basis of agreement with the Democrats on a policy of military intervention in Ukraine against Russia and over Taiwan against China.

Hence the shift towards the end of the hearing to the question of Trump as grifter, not Trump as coup plotter and would-be dictator. Trump accumulated $250 million in small donor contributions from his constant internet solicitations over the alleged theft of the 2020 elections. This money went into his campaign coffers for the future, not to fight lawsuits and challenges which had already failed.

The claim is that Trumps post-election operation was a scam, a rip-off, not a threat to democracy and that those who followed Trump were the real victims. But despite the handful of interview excerpts shown at the hearing, those who attacked the Capitol did not do so because they were misled by Trumps election lies. They were motivated by extreme right-wing and fascistic politics, and they sought to overturn the election results and impose an authoritarian right-wing dictatorship on the American people
Do you work for CP Rail? We want to hear from you. Write to cpworkersrfc@gmail.com or contact the WSWS to share your experiences and help build the CP Workers Rank-and-File Committee.

In February 2019, Canadian Pacific (CP) Rail Train 301 derailed on a steep grade near Field, British Columbia, killing the three crew members on boardAndrew Dockrell, Dylan Paradis and Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer. In the three years that have followed the accident, the families of Paradis and Dockrell have been engaged in a legal battle to uncover the truth about what happened.

Mid-train distributed power remote locomotive from the derailed CP Rail Train 301

In March 2022, the Transportation Safety Board (TSB), a Canadian federal agency tasked with investigating accidents on the railways, released its grossly overdue final report into the derailment. It was a scathing indictment of the criminal policy of Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) that has produced hazardous working conditions akin to those that prevailed on the railroads in the 19th century. (See: Teamsters to do nothing after inquiry documents Canadian Pacifics responsibility for fatal Field, B.C., derailment)

Rank-and-file workers at CP Rail established the CP Workers Rank-and-File Committee that same month in response to the sellout of their struggle by the Teamsters union for improved health and safety conditions and better work scheduling. In an interview with the WSWS, Pam Fraser, Paradis mother, stated, We thought that the Teamsters union would be a supportive partner in our initiatives to effect change but they went by the wayside, she stated. Unions dont seem to have any power anymore. Workers cannot even strike.

The WSWS spoke recently with Regina, Saskatchewan-based lawyer Tavengwa Runyowa, whose legal team is representing the families of Paradis and Dockrell.

This is part one of a two-part interview. Part One examines Runyowas views on the TSB report. Part Two will discuss the regulatory system more broadly and how it is rigged in favour of the highly profitable railroad operators.

We began by asking Runyowa to describe his reaction to the TSB report. Theres a major disparity between what the public believes that the TSB can do and what it actually does, he noted. By law, the TSB is not supposed to find fault or attribute blame. They can only make recommendations to the Transport Minister who decides whether or not he is going to accept them. From my understanding, the companies do not even have to accept them and have often fought recommendations in the past.

Investigations without accountability are often nothing more than process and at most a shaming of the companies to do the right thing, and in most cases they already know what they should be doing. So, coming in from the last three years, we had low expectations for the report, knowing generally how the law is structured, but also knowing how this specific group of TSB members were likely to handle it. It seems that this board will bend over backwards to facilitate the train companies.

Unfortunately, the issues that led up to the accident are not new. Questions around safety and maintenance have pervaded the railway industry. So, there was nothing in the report that revealed something new that we can act on.

A lot of the issues that were found, such as dysfunctional brakes, seem like common sense. It does not take an expert to realize the danger in sending people out in -30 degree [Celsius] blizzard conditions. Frankly, I do not believe the board should be congratulated on all the things that it identified. We all knew these issues, but it was good to have formal verification.

There is nothing that can be told to the railway companies in terms of the industry and how trains work that they do not already know. So that is why we say the report is underwhelming. This is a case of an industry and companies that know very well what they are doing. They can ultrasound and CT scan themselves better than the TSB doctor ever could. Ultimately, the TSBs lack of sanctions power means that many TSB investigations amount to a disproportionate use of resources for a process that Parliament built to preclude accountability.

Tavenga Runyowa [Photo by Runyowa Law]

Turning to specific recommendations in the report, Runyowa explained how they fell short, remarking, One of the most important things that made it to the recommendation phase was the use of automatic brakes. All well and good. But the board did not expressly state that railway companies should not be sending their workers out into -30 degree weather in such terrain under such conditions, as a matter of human rights and basic human decency. That did not make it into the recommendations. I believe it was deliberate, because once the TSB starts to talk about labour relations, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra is unlikely to touch it, probably because it will anger the railway companies that his Government is overly keen to accommodate.

But why was the crew out in -30 degree weather? Because the trains have to keep moving, apparently, at any cost. Why did the trains have to keep moving? Because they want profit and improvement in their efficiency ratio. Why the at any cost approach? Because that is the only way to keep squeezing profits out of the railway companies operations and improving their operating ratios that larger shareholders demand. But if the labor relations component regarding worker fatigue, mandates to work in prohibitive weather, and other such issues are not addressed, the TSBs recommendations are largely symbolic. Lots of bark, but no bite. When Canadians die, are injured, or have their property destroyed in railway incidents, they deserve regulators with true bite, not just a glorious bark.

It is not to say the TSB recommendations are not important. They are. But they only trim around the edges of the problem. If the train crews do not have the knowledge to make sure things are done safely and are too scared to be vocal about safety issues, then the TSBs recommendations literally miss more than half the assignment.

Runyowa took issue with the TSBs conclusion that the Field derailment was not preventable. He said, During the final minutes of the press briefing on the TSB report, TSB Chair Kathy Fox was asked by a journalist if the accident was preventable, and I believe she indicated it could not be prevented.

This is a big inconsistency. How can she say something is not preventable, when the report clearly states that multiple reports were made around that stretch of railway and that workers had filed safety reports that the company knew of but did nothing about? The board cannot look at what went wrong, say they made recommendations to address the issues, and then call it an accident.

This is an example of the TSB bending over backwards way beyond its statutory mandate in order to protect the railway companies. It is all about trying to avoid more threats of lawsuits from the railway companies because the TSB members fear the railway companies more than they fear the actual public who they are supposed to be protecting under their Act.

But if TSB investigations reveal that the railway companies knew about, but ignored, safety-related issues, the TSB cannot logically classify the consequences of such conduct as an unpreventable accident. No, such accidents dont just happen. The evidence clearly shows that the incident was preventable. The workers many reports about the hazards of that track of railway appear to have been ignored.

A Canadian Pacific train close to the small town of Pritchard, in British Columbia (Mariano Mantel/Flickr)

In 2020, documents obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request showed that CP Rail threatened the TSB after their lead investigator, Don Crawford, tried to refer the Field derailment to the RCMP federal police service for a criminal investigation. After CP Rail threatened the TSB with lawsuits if it did not remove Crawford from the case, the TSB Chair Kathy Fox made a grovelling apology to CP Rail. Crawford was removed from the case.

That conversation tells you everything you need to know about the relationship between government and the railway companies, Runyowa stated. They are more powerful than regular corporations.

It was absolutely inappropriate. This is one of those cases of the tail wagging the dog. The referee is bowing to the players of one team at the expense of the other. There is never going to be any progress on this file with respect to railway safety as long as government is subordinate to private industry, especially in this case.

Runyowas legal team was given access to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed in 2015 between the RCMP and the TSB, which outlines a policy of referring potentially criminal conduct to the RCMP. This procedure has been in place since the late 1990s and was reaffirmed in 2020.

Runyowa stressed that in the aftermath of the Field derailment, the TSB was well within its authority to make the referral to the RCMP. He commented, It was clear that as recently as 2015, the Board understood that the statutory prohibition against attributing blame did not prevent the TSB from referring the Field, BC incident to an authority that could find blame, including criminal blame, which is exactly what the TSBs 2015 MOU with the RCMP provided for.

Field happens in 2019 and for whatever reason the TSB and RCMP meet up in 2020 and decide to get rid of the reference to criminal conduct. But even the balance of the remaining text of the MOU still says that they can refer cases where the RCMP may have an interest.

So, the criminal referral bar is low. The TSB does not have to allege that the railway companies did anything criminal. They merely direct the RCMP to look into whether the actions in question may fall under the RCMPs jurisdiction.

The TSB has expertise that no other authority has in the highly specialized railway industry, but there is a limited exchange of information with the RCMP. The second stage of the MOU outlines what can and cannot be shared between the TSB and the RCMP, which provides the relevant balance between making criminal referrals, which is permitted, while limiting the excessive sharing of information with the RCMP, which is not permitted.

For example, the TSB Act may ban their investigation from being used by police in any legal proceedings. So, the police can look at these reports, but they will probably have to go and reconstruct their own case. The report itself cannot be used as evidence and the investigator cannot be compelled to testify unless there is a court order to that effect. At the same time, the Act also states that the TSB findings can provide the basis for someone else to infer guilt.

But the TSB had even stronger grounds to make a criminal referral to the RCMP on the Field, BC case. The TSB had information on multiple safety reports being made, including by Andrew Dockrell the day before he died on that same spot. So, the TSB almost had evidence that far exceeded the threshold it needed to make the referral to the RCMP.

The TSB could have easily referred the case to the RCMP because the referral threshold in the MOU is low. There does not have to be beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime has happened to say the RCMP might have an interest. The question is, why, despite numerous deaths in the railway industry over the years, has the TSB never made a criminal referral to the RCMP?

To date, Runyowa explained, the TSB has zero records of any referrals made to the RCMP pursuant to the MOUs. We looked into how many cases the railway companies have ever been criminally investigated and charged in, and we found none, he explained. If it had not been for the intense media scrutiny, it is unlikely that the RCMP would have ever mounted a criminal investigation into the Field, BC derailment almost two years later in 2020. After paying no attention to such incidents for decades, the RCMP was dragged reluctantly into finally doing its job.

Runyowa continued that in their statement of defence to the lawsuit filed by Fraser, Dylan Paradis mother, against the Board members, the members claimed that the MOU only applies to cases where the RCMP is not knowledgeable about an incident.

This makes no sense for two reasons, he stated. Firstly, when someone dies, the police are always called, even if they do not investigate. Even when there is a serious injury, the police will often show up. So, it is insincere for the TSB to say it only refers cases that the RCMP does not already know about. The RCMP is going to be knowledgeable about any death.

Secondly, the TSB is like an industrial luminolit shines a special light on a surface to see certain things that may not be obvious to the public and even regular police officers with no railway or forensic training. It cannot argue that the RCMP can always investigate on its own because the RCMP are not experts in railway derailments. A homicide detective is not qualified to look at a tangled heap of metal and determine potential criminality. The expertise of the TSB is needed to provide that context.

The TSB cannot argue that it will only refer cases that the RCMP does not know about because that will almost always be the case. The context that the TSB can provide in distinguishing between accidents and potential criminal incidents is invaluable.

A further factor protecting the rail operators from any criminal investigation following a deadly incident like the Field derailment is the presence of company police forces on the railroads. The CP Police and CN Police are formally tasked with enforcing federal laws on the railways in Canada and the United States.

The RCMPs official position when something like Field happens is to defer to the CP or CN police, Runyowa explained. We have correspondence from RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, who basically declined to confirm that it is improper for the CP and CN police officers, who are company employees, to take part in the investigation of any death or serious injury on the railways.

When we asked the British Columbia RCMP to reconcile why it was investigating when their commissioner was indicating that the railway police had jurisdiction, the BC RCMP deferred that question back to Commissioner Lucki who has never provided a clear response.

This is the genesis of the problem. We know there have never been any referrals or investigations because almost all police forces, including the RCMP and a few others, refused to fully disclose what their jurisdiction on the railways actually was. This murky relationship tells us that the railway companies are a law unto themselves. The public police forces, and also Alghabra, who told my clients that the Railway Safety Act places jurisdiction over their cases in the hands of the railway police see them as a law unto themselves. We even have communications from the Minister stating that if the RCMP sees themselves as second fiddle to the railway police, then they are not arriving on the incident scene with the mentality of preserving evidence or with the consideration that the company itself that employs the private police might be responsible. Because if the RCMP understands that it is starting from this premise that it is investigating the company, the necessary implication is that the railway police should have nothing to do especially regarding the content of those event recorders. We also do not know what happened to the derailed cars that were removed from the scene, and whether they were destroyed before the RCMP began its investigation.

Runyowa pointed to specific a concern raised by the initial refusal of the RCMP to accept jurisdiction in the Field derailment. The biggest concern we have is the integrity of some of the evidence being compromised, he said. Whenever you have a potentially criminal incident, if clear evidence has been tainted and excluded by the courts, it weakens the case. With Field, we do not know what evidence was handled or mishandled before the RCMP investigation began almost two years later. We do not know what evidence ended up in the hands of the CP police and what was shared with CP corporate.

To be continued
Australias supreme court last week ruled unconstitutional a law allowing the home affairs minister to personally cease the citizenship of someone accused of terrorist-related activities, but upheld the governments power to do so by other means.

High Court of Australia (Source: Wikipedia)

While striking down one plank of the unprecedented citizenship-stripping laws imposed by the previous Liberal-National Coalition government with the then Labor Party oppositions support, the High Court left the way open for an ongoing attack on the fundamental right to citizenship.

The lead judgment by Chief Justice Kiefel and Justices Keane and Gleeson declared: [A] person whose conduct is inimical to Australias interests may, by a law of the Commonwealth, forfeit the rights of citizenship conferred by the Parliament, and thereby become an alien.

The court ruled that such a forfeiture must involve a court hearing, that is, a judicial process. That verdict is politically damning for both the Coalition and Labor, because the unconstitutional nature of the law was well known in legal circles when it was passed in 2015, yet they pushed ahead with the illegal provisions.

Despite warnings by prominent constitutional experts that it was most likely unlawful, Labor maintained its backing for the bill even after pages of complex last-minute amendments were tabled, primarily seeking to avoid a High Court challenge.

Last week, despite striking down the law, the court effectively rubber stamped the proposition that governments have the power to cease citizenships of people deemed to have, in the words of the struck-down law, repudiated their allegiance to Australia.

Although the case concerned one personDelil Alexander, an Australian-born citizen who was jailed in Syria after allegedly joining Islamic Stateat least 20 other people have been stripped of their citizenship rights under the legislation. Moreover, the court ruling sets a precedent for wider use.

Like the invalidated section 36B of the Australian Citizenship Act, the other provisions of the legislation apply only to dual citizens, or those deemed by the government to be entitled to citizenship of another country. Yet the courts ruling contains nothing to prevent the power being extended to all citizens.

The law could be used against Alexander because he had acquired Turkish citizenship by descent at birth under the law of the Republic of Turkey, as his parents were Turkish citizens.

All the allegations against Alexander were based on dubious claims by the US-linked internal spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), and a confession obtained under torture by Kurdish and Syrian forces.

ASIO reported that Alexander had travelled to Syria with a group being helped by a supposedly known Australian Islamic State member. In November 2017, he was arrested by a Kurdish militia and in 2019 was jailed for 15 years by a Syrian court.

The Syrian government later pardoned him, however, after it became known that he was tortured to secure a confession. He remained in jail because he could not go back to Turkey, and Australia had cancelled his citizenship.

ASIOs advice to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton that it would serve the security of Australia to cancel Alexanders citizenship was based on unspecified substantial classified reporting and some unclassified corroborating information. ASIO said it was likely that Alexander had joined Islamic State, a listed terrorist organisation.

Before it ceased Alexanders citizenship in July 2021, the government had already cancelled his passport in 2013 and issued a Temporary Exclusion Order banning him from returning to Australia. These measures, all instigated by ASIO, remain in place.

The High Court judges said governments could cancel citizenships under the aliens power of the 1901 Constitution. Citizenship was merely a statutory concept, not a constitutional right. It could be revoked if a person had displayed a lack of loyalty or allegiance to Australia, even though that meant being stripped of civil and political rights, including the right to vote.

The courts sole objection was that a federal court must adjudicate a cancellation, in line with the Constitutions separation of judicial power from executive and legislative power. Only a court had the power to determine the facts as to whether a person had engaged in conduct that is so reprehensible as to be deserving of the dire consequence of deprivation of citizenship.

In response, Labor Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Home Affairs Minister Clare ONeil sprang to the defence of executive power to ban citizens from returning home. The pair said other measures, including Temporary Exclusion Orders, could prohibit citizens from re-entering Australia for up to two years.

With Labors help, the previous Coalition government also introduced an unprecedented series of laws allowing detention without trial, such as control orders, preventative detention orders and continued detention orders that can keep convicted prisoners in jail even after they have served their sentences.

This is consistent with Labors record of supporting every measure since 2001more than 120 packages of legislationto bolster the powers and resources of the state apparatus.

Alexanders lawyer, Osman Samin, disputed ASIOs assessment that Alexander had been involved with Islamic State, saying the conviction in Syria had been deeply flawed by extreme torture.

Samin told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that a fundamental issue with these laws is that they essentially allow punishment without even a finding of guilt. Furthermore, citizenship could be repudiated by disloyal conduct, as defined by parliament, so there is really no limitation on what the government in future could define as disloyal conduct.

That observation bears out the warnings made by the WSWS that laws pushed through parliament with bipartisan support under the war on terror can be extended to other views and activities declared by governments and the intelligence agencies to be threats to security.

Under the surviving sections of the Citizenship Act, a person can still cease to be a citizen if jailed for more than six years for any of a long list of terrorism and politically-motivated offences. These include advocating terrorism, assisting an enemy of Australia, foreign incursions and recruitment and leaking security information. Also on the list, as amended in 2020, are offences that were expanded in the 2018 foreign interference legislationtreason, treachery, sabotage and espionage.

Because of the sweeping definition of terrorism in the post-9/11 laws, a person could lose their citizenship, for example, for supporting the right of people, whether in Syria or any other country, to resist a US-led invasion. And the extended foreign interference crimes could affect anti-war and anti-government activists.

Similar powers have been introduced in other allied countries, including the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, that fuelled the rise of terrorism by invading and laying waste to Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria.

These laws constitute an historic assault on fundamental democratic rights, including freedom of speech and association. Far from being a mere statutory concept, citizenship rights are the result of centuries of political and social struggles. It took the American and French Revolutions of the eighteenth century to finally abolish the feudal relationship in which people were born as vassalssubjects of the monarch.

Once more, the war on terror has served as a cover for the development of police-state measures, as well as for US-led militarism around the globe.

Throughout the media coverage of the Alexander case there has been no mention of the fact that Islamic State is largely a creation of the US-led wars in the Middle East, the real aim of which was to assert US control over the resource-rich region and the entire Eurasian landmass, where Washington is aggressively confronting Russia and China.

Likewise, there has been no reference to the economic and social conditions that have enabled Islamic fundamentalists to recruit vulnerable youth. Throughout Australias working-class suburbs, young people from immigrant backgrounds face low wages and insecure employment, poor educational and social facilities and constant police harassment.
On Monday, the UK government published legislation to drastically and unilaterally alter the Northern Ireland protocol component of the Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union (EU), setting Britain on course for legal battles and trade war.

Under the protocol's terms, a trade border has been established in the Irish Sea as Northern Ireland effectively remains within the European single market, despite, juridically, being part of the UK. Although some businesses based in Northern Ireland have benefitted from ready access to both the EU and the UKs markets, the protocol has enraged Northern Ireland's far right and pro-British unionist parties, close allies of the Conservative government in Westminster, who insist the protocol has compromised Northern Ireland's status in the UK.

Vehicles at the port of Larne, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

The Johnson government has seized on the unionists' calibrated outrage as a pretext to rip up as much as they can of the Brexit agreement.

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, penned in consultation with hard line Brexiteer Tories, addresses four main areas.

* It seeks to remove all trade restrictions on goods travelling from the Britain to Northern Ireland save on those intended for the Republic of Ireland (RoI). A green lane would be set up to allow unrestricted movement through ports on the Irish Sea in Britain and Northern Ireland, while a red lane would carry out documentation checks on truckloads directed towards the RoI.

* The bill gives the British government authority to apply state aid and VAT sales tax rules in Northern Ireland, without reference to the EU. It also removes the need for goods directed to the North to comply with EU standards. Companies can choose to follow either UK or EU standards.

* In line with this, the bill legislates to end the direct role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in overseeing and enforcing the operation of the protocol and in resolving disputes between the EU and the UK.

* A further, sweeping, provision in the bill, Clause 15, gives the government authority to ignore the rest of the protocol under the pretext of safeguarding social or economic stability, the territorial or constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom, and the Belfast [Good Friday] Agreement among other items. Only the UK and Irish Common Travel Area, North-South co-operation between Northern Ireland and the RoI and human rights provisions in Northern Ireland are excluded.

The final version of the bill, published just over a week after a narrowly defeated no confidence vote against Prime Minister Boris Johnson by Tory MPs, represents a sharp tack to the right by a weakened and unstable government. Sir Jonathan Jones, former head of the UK government legal service who resigned over the Northern Ireland issue, told the Financial Times the bill was at the extreme end of anything we might have expected.

Primarily, the bill is aimed at winning endorsement from the far right and powerful European Research Group (ERG) of Brexiteer Tories. According to the FT, ERG membership is not published but is estimated to be large enough to erase Johnson's 80 strong parliamentary majority.

ERG members view ditching the protocol, in the words of one of its unnamed members, as the last part of Brexit and we have to make sure we have fully taken back control. A so-called Star Chamber of Brexiteer lawyers is assembling to pronounce on whether the bill goes far enough.

The government also published its legal justification for trampling over its international agreement with the EU, claiming that the doctrine of necessity provides a clear basis in international law to justify the non-performance of international obligations. That necessity was the maintenance of stable social and political conditions in Northern Ireland. The protocol had created a genuinely exceptional situation, and it is only in the challenging, complex and unique circumstances of Northern Ireland, that the Government has, reluctantly, decided to introduce legislative measures which, on entry into force, envisage the non-performance of certain obligations.

This is the unalloyed hypocrisy. Brexit was, from the first, an attempt by sections of the British financial oligarchy to undercut and steal a march on its major competitors within the EU single market by ripping up in the UK regulatory restrictions on profitability that were bound up with EU membership. The partition of Ireland by British imperialism in 1921 means that the Republic in the south remains in the EU, while, post Brexit, Northern Ireland is not. The doctrine of necessity cited by the British government amounts to pursuing its own predatory interests under the combined weight of contradictions, including the carefully nurtured threat of loyalist violence, that its own policies have created.

The bill produced a sharp response from the European Commission. Maros Sefcovic, commissioner for Brexit, warned that legal action begun March 2021 against the British government for breaching the protocol and the good faith obligation of the Withdrawal Agreement would be restarted, along with further legal moves. Sefcovic insisted the EU would not renegotiate the protocol, while EU officials expressed the view the UK had already failed to implement large parts of the Withdrawal Agreement.

Should a legal case against the UK for breaching any part of the Withdrawal Agreement be upheld by the ECJ, the likely outcome would be fines for non-compliance, followed by the imposition of trade tariffs on British goods. The EU has already barred British scientists from a 95 billion Horizon research project.

Liz Truss (fifth from left) meeting members of the US delegation in London (Credit:Liz Truss/Twitter)

The US government was more muted, following last month's disastrous tour to Ireland by leading Democrat and Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal, which was seized upon by the unionists for insensitivity and a pretext for tub thumping. Nevertheless, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told the British Foreign Secretary, Liz Trussa rival for Johnsons party leadershipto continue good faith negotiations with the EU to reach a solution that preserves the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

The US has huge investments in Ireland, which are dependent on the relative stability created by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement bringing the Irish nationalists of Sinn Fein into power-sharing arrangements with the Democratic Unionist Party in the North. The US views a falling out between its major allies with alarm. A State Department spokesperson added, Transatlantic peace, security, and prosperity are best served by a strong UK, a strong EU, and the closest possible relationship between the two.

Responses in Ireland were more frantic. Responding to Johnson's preposterous lie, on a visit to Cornwall, that the legislation was not a big deal, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney described the British moves as a breach of international law. Coveney, recently the target of a loyalist paramilitary bomb attack hoax, told the Irish Times that the EU would be forced to respond in a way we dont want. He continued, The risk is by unilaterally acting the way they are now, they potentially risk collapsing the protocol because I dont believe the EU can accept the approach [of] the British government.

Irish Times political editor, Pat Leahy, warned of the dangers facing Ireland if the EU responds in kind to the UK's actions. Leahy wrote if the trade agreements between the two sides crumble, then the Irish Government will be faced with the prospect its predecessor dreaded: choosing between a Border in Ireland or a border between Ireland and the rest of the EU.
The imperialist proxy war in Ukraine against Russia is the outcome of a decades-long drive by the imperialist powers to bring the territories of the former Soviet Union under their direct control and represents a qualitatively new stage in the emergence of a new world struggle between the imperialist powers for the redivision of the resources of the globe.

In its recent analysis of the role of critical minerals in the geostrategic and economic objectives of the imperialist drive to subjugate Russia through war, the World Socialist Web Site noted:

The breaking apart of Russia and its domination by American capital would be a strategic stepping stone in the efforts of the American ruling class to impose a new American century through the subordination of China and Eurasia more broadly to its aims. Resources play a role in this. Amid the enduring need for oil and natural gas, as well as the rapidly growing need for critical minerals, Russia is seen as a vital landmass with a vast array of riches.

If the war against Russia is a stepping stone to the war against China, control over the Black Sea is seen as a stepping stone for the breakup of Russia. This article will review the critical significance of the Black Sea region, where this war is taking place, from a geostrategic and economic standpoint.

The geostrategic significance of the Black Sea region

Gaining direct access to the resources of the former Soviet Union, which had been closed off to imperialism for seven decades following the 1917 October Revolution, has been a major goal of the imperialist powers for decades. Within this context, the Black Sea region, which forms a nexus between Eastern and southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus and the Middle East, is of strategic significance.

The Black Sea forms a bridge between Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia [Photo by Google Maps]

For US imperialism, already in the midst of a protracted economic and political decline, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and restoration of capitalism by the Stalinist bureaucracy appeared like a gift from heaven. Drunk with triumphalism, the US ruling class proclaimed 1991 the unipolar moment. In 1992, a strategy document of the Pentagon determined that US strategy must now refocus on precluding the emergence of any potential future global competitor.

In his book The Grand Chessboard, Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the most influential foreign policy advisers of Washington in the past half century, elaborated on the principal significance of what geostrategists call Eurasiathe landmass of Europe and Asiafor the desperate efforts by the US to preserve its global hegemony.

Zbigniew Brzezinski

Within Eurasia, Brzezinski identified what he called the Eurasian Balkans as the region where the major conflicts over the control of all of Eurasia would take place. This region, Brzezinski wrote, stretched from Crimea in the Black Sea directly eastward along the new southern frontiers of Russia, all the way to the Chinese province of Xinjiang, then down to the Indian Ocean and thence westward to the Red Sea, then northward to the eastern Mediterranean Sea and back to Crimea.

Almost all of the 25 states in this region, he continued, are ethnically as well as religiously heterogeneous and practically none of them [are] politically stable.  This huge region, torn by volatile hatreds and surrounded by competing powerful neighbors, is likely to be a major battlefield, both for wars among nation-states and, more likely, for protracted ethnic and religious violence.

The "Eurasian Balkans", according to Zbigniew Brzezinski. Map from his book The Grand Chessboard. [Photo by Zbigniew Brzezinski ]

Brzezinskis book was not so much a prediction but rather an outline of the fundamental strategic objectives and considerations of US imperialism. Indeed, the region he termed the Eurasian Balkans has been turned upside down in the past decades through a combination of US bombing raids and invasions, and the systematic fueling of civil wars and ethnic strife.

Beginning with the US invasion of Iraq in 1991, the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, and the second invasion of Iraq in 2003, it has also involved major interventions of imperialism through drone and other means of warfare in Pakistan and many other countries. Throughout the 1990s, the US and Germany also fueled ethnic conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, culminating in the savage NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999.

More recently, the geostrategically critical Xinjiang province of China, which borders Russia and Kazakhstan, has become a linchpin of US provocations against China and attempts to destabilize and break up the country. In Russia too, the fueling of separatist tendencies and regionalist and political conflicts within the ruling oligarchy with the ultimate aim of carving up the country has been a central component of US policy.

The western end of this Eurasian Balkans, the Black Sea region, has been the focal point of both NATO expansion and several coup operations by Washington. Until the Stalinist bureaucracies restored capitalism in the Soviet Union and throughout Eastern Europe in 1989-1991, the Black Sea region was largely outside the direct control of imperialism. Only one of the states neighboring the Black Sea, Turkey, was a NATO member.

This changed completely with the destruction of the Soviet Union in 1991. Today, following three decades of the eastward expansion of NATO, all states bordering the Black Sea with the exception of Russia itself are either members of NATO (Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria) or have been largely integrated into the alliance in all but name, following massive interventions of US imperialism in their politics (Ukraine, Georgia.)

In addition to NATOs expansion to the Black Sea and Baltic Sea, these operations included the 2003 and 2004-2005 color revolutionsUS-sponsored coups that relied on mobilizing layers of the privileged middle class and sections of the oligarchythat took place in Georgia and Ukraine, respectively.

In 2008, Georgia, with the support of Washington, provoked a war with Russia over the two break-away regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea.

These operations culminated in the 2014 coup in Kiev, that was heavily backed by Germany and the US and was carried out by far-right militias such as the Right Sector and a section of the Ukrainian oligarchy, headed then by the chocolate oligarch Petro Poroshenko.

Map showing the eastward expansion of NATO since 1949 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0] [Photo by Patrickneil

These overt moves to encircle Russia have prompted fears in the Kremlin that the Black Sea is being turned into a NATO lake. Indeed, this has been an objective of Washington, in particular, fully aware of the military and economic consequences that full NATO control over the Black Sea would mean for Russia.

The military significance of the Black Sea region in the conflict with Russia

Ben Hodges, a retired US Army officer and former commanding general of the United States Army Europe, recently stated bluntly that the goal of the US in this proxy war consisted in finally breaking the back of Russias ability to project power outside of Russia to threaten Georgia, to threaten Moldova, to threaten our Baltic allies.

Undermining the Kremlins position in the Black Sea region is critical to achieving this goal.

Alton Buland, the director for European policy at the US Department of Defense, has described the Black Sea as Russias geostrategic center of gravity and its gateway south, the gateway to the Middle East [and]the gateway to Asia.

It is through the Black Sea and via the Bosphorus straits that Russia has access to the Mediterranean. However, this access is highly tentative as the Bosphorus and Dardanelles are controlled by Turkey, a NATO member, with whom Russia has a very tense relationship. (Control over the Bosphorus was a key objective of the Russian Empire vis-a-vis the Ottoman Empire in World War I.)

The Bosporus straits (red) and the Dardanelles straits (yellow). [Photo by User:Ineriot / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

The proximity of the Black Sea states to Russia also means that large portions of European Russia, where the bulk of the countrys population resides, can be easily targeted by US sea- and land-based intermediate range missiles, stationed in Ukraine or any NATO member in that region such as Romania or Bulgaria.

In this context, Russia has made its position in the Black Sea a major military priority, especially over the past ten years. Of six military bases that Russia retained in the former Soviet Union after 1991, three were located in the Black Sea, including its Black Sea naval port on Crimea, the peninsula in the Black Sea that Russia annexed in 2014 following the Western-orchestrated coup in Kiev. In 2019, the US Naval War College observed that the annexation of Crimea enabled Russia to reestablish its maritime dominance in the Black Sea.

Russias military base in Crimea is critical not only in the conflict with Ukraine. It is also the point from which the Kremlin controls its military operations in Syria, where a civil war and de facto proxy war between the US and Russia, which has been backing the Assad regime against the US-backed Islamist opposition, has been raging since 2011.

Cutting Russia off the Black Sea and thereby the Mediterranean would, therefore, significantly undermine its position in the Middle East as well as in North Africa, where Russia still has significant economic and military interests, most notably in Libya, which has been thrown into a civil war by the 2011 NATO attack on the country.

Well aware of the geostrategic and military significance of the Black Sea for Russia, NATO has staged multiple provocations there over the past years, including in the immediate run-up to the Russian invasion.

This included the massive Sea Breeze exercises in the Black Sea in 2021, involving a record 32 countries, 5,000 troops, 32 ships, and 40 aircraft. It also entailed several provocations, including by Britain, which sent a warship into waters claimed by Russia off Crimea in June 2021, prompting the Russian army to drop a bomb in the destroyers path. In both spring and the fall of 2021, the US also provocatively sent multiple warships into the Black Sea, well aware that the Kremlin considered this a red line in terms of its national security interests. As of February 2022, NATO had 18 warships stationed in the Black Sea.

Last month, Britain called for a NATO-led naval intervention in the Black Sea against Russia to protect freighters carrying Ukrainian grain under the cover of a humanitarian mission to avert a global hunger crisis. However, Ankara has closed the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits between the Aegean and Black Seas to both Russian and NATO warships since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Although not bordering the Black Sea directly, Greece, as a NATO member, has in recent years become an increasingly central country in US-NATO plans for the Black Sea region. The Greek port city of Alexandroupoli on the northern Aegean Sea has been transformed into an important US base and staging point. Since Ankara's closure of the straits, the city has been used for military deliveries to Ukraine in the NATO war against Russia.

Grain, oil seeds and mineral oils: Pipelines and the economic resources of the Black Sea region

The Black Sea region has been a central theater of both world wars of the 20th century. German imperialism in particular has sought to bring the region, and most notably Ukraine, under its direct control. The German historian Christian Gerlach, noting the parallels between German war aims in both world wars, wrote that the Nazis occupation policies in the former Soviet Unionwhich resulted in at least 27 million deadwere focused on exploiting a few raw materials: grain, oil seeds and mineral oils. (Christian Gerlach: Krieg, Ernahrung, Volkermord. Deutsche Vernichtungspolitik im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Zurich 2001, p. 14)

The war policies of US and German imperialism today, which are fundamentally aimed at re-subjugating the entire region and transforming it into a colonial appendage of the imperialist powers, stand in that tradition.

Agriculture

The food crisis triggered by the war has highlighted the central significance of the Black Sea region for the global grain market. Indeed, the region, and in particular Russia and Ukraine, are considered the breadbasket of not only Europe but much of Africa and the Middle East.

The top exports of Ukraine are all related to its agricultural industry. As of 2020, the list is led by oil seeds (accounting for 10.1 percent of exports, worth $5.32 billion), followed by corn (9.29 percent or $4.89 billion), and wheat (8.76 percent or $4.61 billion.)

Russia was the worlds leading wheat exporter in 2021. The country also accounts for 2.3 percent of the worlds corn market. Together with Ukraine, Russia is also a leading producer and exporter of sunflower oil as well as barley. Romania too is a major agricultural producer. As of 2021, Romania was Europes largest corn and sunflower producers, and among the EUs top five wheat and soybeans producers.

Control over these resources promises immense profits, especially at times of food crises when the agricultural giants can engage in massive speculation on corn prices. Already last year, the global food giant Cargill, one of the worlds largest companies and one of four companies that control over 70 percent of the global agricultural market, topped $5 billion in profits on $134 billion in revenue. The combined wealth of the Cargill family grew by an average $120 million a day during the pandemic, and it is set to grow significantly further amid record food prices.

Gas and oil

In addition to its own vast agricultural and raw material resources, the Black Sea region is critical for Russias oil exports, and for the transport of oil and gas reserves from the Caucasus and Central Asia.

An analysis by the Carnegie Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, observed in 2021, The Black Sea is an important trade and transportation artery for Russia. Both Russia and Central Asian countries are highly dependent on the Russian port of Novorossiysk to export grain and oil by ship.

Far from being an imperialist country, Russia, for all intents and purposes, is above all a raw material supplier of the world economy. Oil and gas, along with coal and other minerals, are the most important export commodities of Russia. Crude and refined petroleum together accounted for 37 percent (worth over $74.4 billion) of Russias exports, followed by petroleum gas (6 percent of exports and worth almost $20 billion), gold (5.67 percent and worth $18.7 billion), coal (4.4 percent or $14.5 billion), platinum (3.2 percent and worth $10.5 billion), and then wheat.

The Novorossiysk port on Russias Black Sea shore is the countrys single biggest port and its third most important hub for crude oil exports. In 2020, according to the EIA, 459,000 barrels of oil passed through the Novorossiysk port each day.

Given its extremely high reliance on oil and gas exports, cutting off Russias access to the Black Sea and Mediterranean would be the economic equivalent of breaking the back of the country.

The Black Sea is critical for access to the resources of Central Asia and the Caucasus as well.

Following the destruction of the Soviet Union, energy company executives flocked to the region to negotiate lucrative contracts with the former Stalinist bureaucrats-turned-oligarchs to obtain access to these resources. As the World Socialist Web Site noted in 1999, a central objective of the imperialist-instigated wars in the Balkans in the 1990s was access to the Caspian Sea, just east of the Black Sea, which was understood to be home to the worlds greatest untapped oil reserves, with between 17 and 33 billion barrels of oil, and 232 trillion cubic meters of gas.

Since the Caspian Sea is landlocked, the question of pipeline infrastructure became central to control over these resources. To this day, Russias pipelines, while no longer providing exclusive access to these resources, are central and they all run through the Black Sea. Thus, the Caspian pipeline, which is operated by a multinational consortium that includes both Russian state-owned companies and the American energy giant Chevron, transports oil from oil fields in Kazakhstan, as well as Russian fields in the Caspian region, to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk from where its oil is shipped throughout the world.

Over the past two decades, the US and the EU have pushed to put an end to various other pipeline projects that would have run through the Black Sea and bypassed Ukraine. At the same time, they have pursued rival projects, aimed at directly linking up the EU to gas and oil fields in the Caspian region and Central Asia.

Thus, with $4 billion, the US pushed the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (also known as BTC pipeline), which delivered oil from Azerbaijan over Georgia to Turkey, bypassing Russia. The pipeline was an important consideration in US operations in Georgia, where Washington funded a coup in 2003 and encouraged a war with Russia in 2008.

These pipeline wars also entailed torpedoing rival Russian-backed projects. The biggest, apart from the Russian-German Nord Stream pipelines, was the $50 billion South Stream pipeline project, which would have transported Russian gas from the Black Sea coast through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary to Austria, via one route, and through Greece to Italy, via another. With an annual capacity of 63 billion cubic meters, the pipeline would have covered a tenth of Europes total gas demand at the time. The Kremlin was forced to call off the project in 2014, right after the coup in Ukraine.

The major Russian gas pipelines to Europe. The Kremlin could never complete the South Stream through the Black Sea because of opposition from the EU. CC BY 4.0] [Photo by Samuel Bailey

These pipeline wars have three principal objectives:

First, the imperialist powers are trying to gain direct control over the vast resources of the former Soviet Union, preventing Russia but also China, which has substantially increased its economic involvement in the region, from controlling them.

Second, they aim at undermining the Russian economy, which is heavily reliant on such oil and gas exports, and, by extension, the Putin regime.

And third, they are aimed at providing a geostrategic advantage to the imperialist powers, most notably the US, in the competition of oil and gas companies over market shares.

Through the exploitation of shale gas, the US, once the worlds biggest net gas importer, has become a major exporter of gas, and is now directly competing with Russia for the European market. In January 2022, just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, US exports of liquified natural gas (LNG) to Europe for the first time exceeded Russias gas pipeline deliveries. In response to the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Germany canceled almost immediately the Russian-German gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, while the White House announced an increase of its LNG shipments to Europe from 22 billion cubic meters to 37 billion cubic meters.

The world's five countries with the largest annual net imports of natural gas. Because of the "shale gas revolution", US sharply cut back on its imports starting in 2008 and has since become a major exporter of LNG. [Photo by Plazak / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Already, US shale companies experienced a several-fold jump in their profits for the first quarter of this year: The profits of Pioneer Natural Resources increased more than fivefold, and those of Continental Resources more than tripled.

The conflict with China in the Black Sea region

While Russia has been the primary target of the imperialist intervention in the Black Sea region, over the past decades rivalry with China has also become a central consideration of both the US and the EU in the Black Sea region.

For China, the region is the easiest and quickest connection between East Asia and Europe. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), initially conceived of as a $40-billion infrastructure project, is planned to run through the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, including through Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey. Over the past years, the BRI has made very slow progress. Nevertheless, China has developed significant economic ties with many countries in the region, most notably Ukraine, which joined the BRI in 2017.

In 2019, China became Ukraines most important trading partner, relegating Russia to No. 2. Ukraine has also become Chinas second largest corn supplier and largest supplier of weapons. In early 2021, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he hoped his country would become a bridge to Europe for Chinese business.

However, the growing role of China in Ukraine has been a major thorn in the side of the US in particular, and Washington has intervened heavily to undermine the growing economic cooperation between Ukraine and China. Thus, in spring 2021, as the US backed Kievs provocations against Russia in the Black Sea, the Ukrainian government canceled a multibillion-dollar deal that would have allowed China to take over the Ukrainian company Motor Sich, one of the worlds largest engine manufacturers for airplanes and helicopters, at the last minute, due to massive pressure from Washington and at considerable cost for the Ukrainian government.

But the EU, too, sees the growing influence of China in the region as a challenge to its economic and strategic interests, which the European imperialist powers seek to increasingly assert independently from Washington.

A recent analysis by the EU-based Global Security think tank noted:

The US is involved in the [Black Sea] region to counter the geopolitical and energy interests of Russia as well as to limit the increasing influence of China, its BRI, and Chinese Digital Silk Road, through development aid, lethal military aid, and supporting the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) and the Clean Network. Competing with Russian energy interests (Nord Stream 2 particularly), the US is also trying to find a market for its energy export.

The EU wants to create a third space between China and the US so that it can act independently. It has acted relatively autonomously and through multifarious policies, initiatives, and partnerships to actualize its European Strategic Autonomy.

Conclusion

As in the past two world wars, the Black Sea region has emerged as a principal battle ground between various capitalist states, with the imperialist powers determined to undermine both Russian and Chinese influence, while competing between themselves for dominance in the region.

One expression of these rivaling efforts has been the resurrection of the so-called Intermarium (meaning between the seas), an alliance of Eastern European states stretching from the Baltic over the Black Sea to the Adriatic Sea. Under Trump, Washington pivoted toward explicitly supporting this alliance which has long been spearheaded by the Polish government of the far-right Law and Justice Party (PiS).

Originally developed by the inter-war Polish dictator Jozef Pisudski, who built up Poland as a bulwark of imperialism in the region, the Intermarium was principally directed against the USSR and the influence of the Russian Revolution on the masses of Eastern Europe. It established alliances with right-wing anticommunist forces throughout the region and exiles from the former Soviet Union, aiming to mobilize nationalist forces within the Soviet Union to destabilize it from within and prepare the path for a restoration of capitalism.

Pisudski's post-World War I Intermarium concept ranging from the Baltic sea in the north to the Mediterranean and Black Seas in the south. In light-green: eastern parts of Ukrainian and Belarusian lands incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1922. [Photo by GalaxMaps / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Today, the alliance has been revived as the so-called Three Seas Initiative under the umbrella of the EU and NATO. Just as in the inter-war period, the Intermarium principally relies on support from the major imperialist powers and on far-right nationalist forces. In Eastern Europe, it is endorsed by far-right forces such as the ruling Polish Law and Justice (PiS) party, and the neofascist Azov Battalion in Ukraine.

While this alliance today is primarily directed against Russian and Chinese influence, on the part of both Washington and Warsaw, it is also intended to undermine the substantial position of German imperialism in Eastern Europe. Berlin, the dominant imperialist power in the EU, is notably not a member of the alliance. Fearing to be pushed out, however, the German government has recently attempted to establish better relations with the Three Seas Initiative, despite clear resistance from Poland.

Whatever these shifting alliances, the crisis of world capitalism is driving the imperialist powers toward a new global conflagration. The imperialist proxy war in Ukraine, a de facto confrontation between the worlds biggest nuclear powers, would be just the opening chapter in such a conflict. But the international working class will have its word to say.

Marxists, as Leon Trotsky stressed, follow the map not of war, but of the class struggle. The capitalist governments are only capable of solving the crisis of capitalism by resorting to catastrophic wars. By contrast, the working class must develop its response to this crisis through waging an international class struggle on a socialist basis, fighting to put an end to capitalism and the outdated nation-state systemthe root causes of war.
On June 7, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Hepatitis Alliance, at their World Hepatitis Summit 2022, released a joint news statement in which they also briefly addressed the current cases of unexplained acute hepatitis (liver inflammation) among young children. There have been some 700 such cases in the last five months, spanning 34 countries, coinciding with the Omicron phase of the pandemic. The United Kingdom and the United States lead in the number of cases, each with more than 200.

Israelis receive a COVID-19 vaccine from medical professionals at a coronavirus vaccination center set up on a shopping mall parking lot in Givataim, Israel [Credit: AP Photo/Oded Balilty]

The clinical signs of the disease come on suddenly, with a high proportion of children developing liver failure and around six percent needing a liver transplant. Nine have died. The most common symptoms are vomiting and jaundice, the yellowing of the skin and the sclera of the eyes.

Many in the scientific community speculated that the disease fell into the spectrum of the multisystem inflammatory syndrome-children (MIS-C) arising from a previous COVID infection, which can afflict a minority of children and adolescents after the acute phase of COVID has passed and their infections have already cleared, meaning that once acute hepatitis manifests, their COVID tests are negative. Many have also not had antibody tests conducted to confirm previous COVID infections.

Speaking with New Scientist, Dr. Deepti Gurdasani of Queen Mary University of London said, I think we have seen hepatitis as part of MIS-C before, but not in the numbers that are being seen now. She explained that the rise could be because Omicron has infected millions of children in a few short months.

Many public health officials, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the WHO, have placed undue emphasis on adenovirus infections, which commonly cause colds and flu-like symptoms in the population. However, they almost never cause liver failure among previously healthy children, or even the immuncocompromised, for that matter.

Despite experience with adenoviruses and ample expertise on viral infections and liver injury that have been amply documented in the literature, this didnt stop the CDC from writing on May 6, 2022, This cluster [in Kentucky], along with recently identified possible cases in Europe, suggest that adenovirus should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute hepatitis of unknown etiology among children.

But in their report they clearly stated that on liver biopsies no [adenovirus] viral infections were ever observed. Even with the use of the electron microscope, no viral particles were evident. In the very rare instances where adenoviruses have caused liver failure among immunocompromised children, in 100 percent of cases the adenovirus was detected in liver cells.

On May 22 the WHO provided a more nuanced perspective, writing, While adenovirus is a plausible hypothesis as part of the pathogenesis mechanism [the manner of development of disease], further investigations are ongoing for the causative agent; adenovirus infection (which generally causes mild self-limiting gastrointestinal or respiratory infections in young children) does not fully explain the more severe clinical picture observed with these cases.

Dr. Farid Jalali, a gastroenterologist, has emphatically denounced the claim that these recent unexplained pediatric acute liver failures are associated with the detection of adenovirus in the patients, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent massive waves of Omicron infections. Adenoviruses are common and can colonize the areas of the respiratory and intestinal tracts. Finding them doesnt necessarily indicate they were the cause of the disease.

He emphasized that public health institutions are doing a disservice to the children and families of the afflicted by suggesting such an association and are only minimizing the dangers posed by the current policies that allow SARS-CoV-2 to persist in human communities.

The debate in the scientific community has been ongoing. However, a recent study from Tel Aviv University has provided new evidence that COVID is indeed responsible for these acute liver failure cases. Lead author Dr. Shiri Cooper and colleagues submitted a report last Friday to the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition on five pediatric cases that had recovered from asymptomatic or mild COVID and later suffered acute liver injury.

They distinguished two patterns of liver involvement after COVID-19: acute liver failure that required transplantation and acute hepatitis with injury to the bile system. Interestingly, the two patients with liver failure were aged only three and five months, and those older, aged eight to 13, developed a disease pattern similar to their adult counterparts.

In adults, post-COVID liver injury has been described in the medical literature but usually as a late complication of severe COVID and hospitalization that leads to progressive liver failure.

Cooper and colleagues in the current study from Tel Aviv University wrote, The clinical manifestation of the pediatric patients suggests that the pathogenesis is not related to the severity of acute [COVID] disease as it is in adults. The disease among children frequently presents several months after the diagnosis of COVID-19. In their study, the mean time from COVID to liver failure was 75 days, which explains why so many of these cases were missed as Long-COVID complications, because children are routinely missed in diagnosing the milder form of acute disease.

Many of the findings in the children with liver failure have also been seen in adults, such as the swelling and enlargement of the liver. The walls of the gallbladders were thickened, and the bile ducts were dilated. Biopsies of the liver showed extensive inflammation. In other words, the disease process that has been attributed to adults after their COVID infection has distinct parallels with these children and their acute liver inflammation.

Because of the claimed association with adenovirus, the authors of the Israeli study also attempted to investigate this hypothesis.

First, they commented on published results by the European CDC on 14 cases. None showed adenovirus in any residual liver cells, called hepatocytes: One case underwent adenovirus PCR of liver tissue which was negative. In another case series of six patients, none of the liver biopsies showed the presence of any adenovirus particles. But as already noted, in rare cases of adenovirus-induced liver failure, liver biopsies in all the cases showed viral particles were present.

In the five patients in Israel, The adenovirus stain was negative in all, and the histologic features [under the microscope] were not suggestive of adenovirus hepatitis. Three patients had adenovirus PCR performed from whole blood, and in one, it was positive. However, as the liver histology was not suggestive of adenovirus infection, we did not consider it as the culprit for the hepatitis.

As to the mechanism of injury, the authors suggested that damage to the immune system from COVID is likely the cause, and considerable effort is needed to understand these complex processes. It is all the more necessary that public health authorities stop being obstructionists, heed the weight of the evidence that has already been presented, and acknowledge the dangers posed by COVID and the reckless herd immunity policy that exposes children to unnecessary harm.

Dr. Lisa Iannattone stated bluntly on Twitter, Anyone putting forth the hypothesis that there are two novel pediatric liver failure outbreaks caused by two different viruses happening at the same time is not someone to be taken seriously. I dont care what very serious institution they work for. This is absurd. Its COVID.
Amid the ongoing US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, tensions are rising dangerously between NATO member states Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea. The two countries are holding war games aimed at each other, trading accusations of disregarding international treaties, and violating each others borders with jet fighters and warships.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan watches jet fighters fly past during the final day of military exercises that were taking place in Seferihisar near Izmir, on Turkey's Aegean coast, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (Turkish Presidency via AP)

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) Ephesus 2022 exercise, held in the Aegean Sea and attended by more than 10,000 military personnel, ended last week. Thirty-seven countries, including the United States and Italy, participated in air, sea and land drills. Held in Seferihisar, only 1.5 kilometers from the nearby Greek island of Samos in the Aegean Sea, the exercise was based on the scenario of a military landing on an island. It was widely treated in Turkish capitalist media as a threat against Greece.

Greek media reported that during Greece's naval exercise Storm 2022, which ended on May 27, Turkey sent two F-16 fighter jets that violated Greek airspace, reaching just two 2.5 nautical miles from the northern port city of Alexandroupoli.

During the Ephesus 2022 exercise, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Greece of militarizing Aegean Sea islands in violation of international agreements. He warned Athens 'one last time' on this: We invite Greece to stop militarizing the islands that have non-military status and to act in accordance with international agreements. Im not joking, Im speaking seriously.

Threatening to militarize Turkish islands if necessary to threaten Greece, Erdogan said, We again warn Greece to avoid dreams, statements and actions that will lead to regret, just as they did a century ago, a reference to the Turkish war of independence against the British-backed Greek invasion in 1919-1922.

A week ago, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused Greece of violating its peace treaties with Turkey: But what is another reason for Greece to be aggressive? Greece's violation of the status of the islands given to it in the 1923 Lausanne Treaty and 1947 Paris Treaty under the condition of not militarizing them [Greek islands in the Aegean Sea], and our raising this violation within the framework of international law.

Cavusoglu added: The sovereignty of the islands will be questioned if Greece does not end its violation. This threat to question Greeces sovereignty over islands it controls amount to a threat to invade them and go to war.

The Greek Foreign Ministry reacted to the Ephesus-2022 exercise and statements by Turkish officials on Twitter, writing, Ankara poses a threat to regional peace and security. On Thursday, Greek government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou dismissed the Turkish claims, calling them Ahistorical claims and baseless myths that can neither challenge nor, let alone, substitute for international law and international treaties.

Accusing Erdogan of provocation, Oikonomou threatened, It is clear to everyone that our country has upgraded its geostrategic and geopolitical footprint as well as its deterrent capacity to be able at any time to defend its national sovereignty and sovereign rights.

A century after World War I began in the Balkans, NATO and the bourgeois governments in the region again risk plunging the world into a catastrophic war. In 2020, tensions between Turkey and Greece over natural gas and sea borders in the eastern Mediterranean were defused by EU and especially German mediation. Greek-Turkish talks resumed. However, as the World Socialist Web Site warned , History shows such conflicts cannot be peacefully resolved under capitalism, whether or not a temporary Greek-Turkish peace deal is somehow reached.

The US-NATO war on Russia in Ukraine has now inflamed the Greek-Turkish conflict, turning the Aegean into an undeclared second front in the NATO-Russia war.

The right-wing government of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has unabashedly aligned itself with Washingtons moves against Russia. The Greek port of Alexandroupoli in the northern Aegean Sea has been transformed into a major US military base. Alexandroupoli is also being used to deliver weapons to Ukraine and to NATO forces along the border with Ukraine in Romania.

The Turkish bourgeoisie has pursued a cynical, two-faced policy on the NATO war on Russia. On the one hand, it has backed NATOs Ukraine policy, including the far-right coup NATO backed in Kiev in 2014, and armed Kiev with armed Bayraktar TB2 drones. On the other, it has kept diplomatic channels with Russia open, greeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Ankara, and posed certain obstacles to the most aggressive NATO moves targeting Russia.

Ankara closed the straits linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea coast of Ukraine and Russia to both NATO and Russian warships, blocking a NATO naval attack on Russia. It also threatened to veto NATOs plans to absorb Sweden and Finland and post NATO troops on Russias northern border with Scandinavia. The Turkish government was not objecting to the war, however, but continuing its long-standing targeting of the Kurdish people: it denounced Sweden and Finland for having ties to Kurdish-nationalist organizations.

Washington responded to this veto threat by inviting Mitsotakis to give a speech denouncing Turkey in the US Congress. During his enthusiastically received speech, Mitsotakis blamed Turkey for the division of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus and demanded a halt to US F-16 sales to Turkey. US President Joe Biden also gave Mitsotakis strong support.

Erdogan condemned Mitsotakis' trip, declaring that Mitsotakis no longer exists for him. Erdogan added that he viewed the US-NATO bases in Greece, targeting Russia and growing Chinese economic influence in the region, as a threat to his government, saying, And, most importantly, there are nearly a dozen bases in Greece. Whom does Greece threaten with those bases?

Workers in Greece, Turkey and internationally must be warned: the danger that the conflicts in the Black Sea and the Balkans will escalate uncontrollably into a world war is very great. In the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, prices are spiraling out of control as the financial aristocracy massively increases its wealth. This has provoked strikes and protests internationally, and capitalist governments are all terrified of the international eruption of the class struggle.

In Greece, there have been protests against the arrival of NATO forces, including the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, to threaten Russia. Strikes have also broken out among rail workers against being forced to ship US tanks towards the Ukrainian and Russian borders. This follows a decade of savage austerity imposed by the European Union and both Mitsotakis New Democracy and the pseudo-left SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left) governments.

In Turkey, the last year has seen an eruption of health care strikes against the official mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and wildcat strikes in auto, steel, mining, shipbuilding and other industries against the devastating surge in prices. A one-day nationwide strike by over 100,000 doctors in Turkey is set to begin today.

Erdogan and Mitsotakis are nearly at war with each other, but they are united in the attempt to use militarism and nationalism to divide the working class and suppress the growing struggles on both shores of the Aegean Sea. It is impossible to tell where their reckless military adventurism ends, and where their incitement of anti-worker chauvinism begins. The decisive question this poses is unifying workers struggles internationally in a socialist, anti-war movement to bring down these governments and transfer power to the working class.
The thematic sessions were followed at the end of the day by a meeting of Heads of Delegations, where the WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said she is hopeful that members will be gaveling agreements as quickly as possible to close on those areas where we have been able to converge and find landing zones. DG Okonjo-Iweala noted that the thematic sessions provided a glimpse of where we could be a day from now or two days from now.

She thanked members for participating in good spirit in the first two days of MC12 but acknowledged that delegations will still have to work hard across all areas to achieve tangible results. I am still very hopeful that we're going to be able to deliver. So let us keep working, let us keep talking to each other, let us keep consulting and showing the flexibility which I have seen.

DG Okonjo-Iweala thanked members for the dedication shown since the beginning of MC12, starting with the session yesterday on the challenges facing the multilateral trading system where over 100 delegations took the floor to share views on how to strengthen the WTO. The same dedication, the DG said, was demonstrated today, with 70 delegations intervening in both thematic sessions.

On the WTO response to the pandemic, the DG noted the broad convergence on the Draft Ministerial Declaration on the WTO response to the COVID-19 pandemic and preparedness for future pandemics and on the need to resolve the five outstanding brackets, indicating areas still under discussion, in the TRIPS waiver decision. This is progressing relatively well, she said.

On food security, she noted that there was widespread support for the Draft Ministerial Declaration on Trade and Food Security  almost a convergence although there are some members whose needs have to be addressed.

We heard delegation after delegation take the floor and dust off compromises, acknowledging that they had not received everything they hoped for, but recognizing that the tasks on the table represented a positive advance for their national interests and for the wider membership, added DG Okonjo-Iweala.

Timur Suleimenov, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the President of Kazakhstan and MC12 Chair, said that listening to members over the past two days reaffirmed his belief that credible MC12 outcomes are within our reach.

The MC12 Chair commended all delegations and negotiators for their flexibility and self-restraint in conducting discussions and expressed his optimism about the progress of the ministerial gathering. I think there is a general sense that we can actually achieve in MC12 and that it is even closer than we thought in the beginning of the Conference, he added.

Jerome Walcott, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados, facilitated the discussion earlier in the day to address the WTO response to the pandemic, including the TRIPS waiver. It is evident from the texts before us today that WTO members have had a vigorous debate on what this organization's response to the pandemic should be  and we are all aware of the differences of view in this regard but the intensity and the energy of this debate illustrates that members agree on the critical importance of this organization, said Minister Walcott.

At the thematic session on the World Food Programme (WFP), members discussed the Draft Ministerial Decision which pledges not to impose any export prohibitions or restrictions on foodstuffs purchases for humanitarian purposes by the WFP, noting that the WFP takes procurement decisions on the basis of the principle of do no harm to the supplying country.

The facilitator, Betty Maina, Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development of Kenya, said the draft decision gained massive support from almost all members with the exception of two. She said it has been a very productive meeting which underscored the commitment of WTO members to deal effectively with global crises, including the current food crisis.

She noted that herself, the DG and the agriculture negotiations chair, Ambassador Gloria Abraham Peralta of Costa Rica, will consult with these two members, with a view to achieving consensus on the text. She emphasized the consultation will not entail any change on the current draft texts.

My intention was to get an early agreement on these texts so that we could focus on the Draft Ministerial Decision on Agriculture where more work remains to be done, she said.

The other minister-facilitators overseeing discussions among members also reported on progress made in their work in various configurations.

Damien O'Connor, Minister of Trade and Export Growth of New Zealand, updated members on the fisheries subsidies negotiations and the preparations for tomorrow's thematic session. Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica, submitted her report on WTO reform. Keisal Peters, Minister of State with Responsibility for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, followed suit with a report on the E-Commerce Work Programme and Moratorium.

The MC12 Chair closed the meeting with a call to members to bear in mind that this is crunch time. Given what is at stake, we cannot afford to waste another second. Now is the time to get together and deliver for our people, said Mr Suleimenov.
Senior officials representing four co-coordinators announced the release of the statement at an event held on 13 June during the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12). Participants included the Hon. Daniel Legarda, Ecuador's Vice Minister for Foreign Trade, H.E. Ambassador George Mina of Australia, H.E. Ambassador Chenggang Li of China and the Hon. Faiyaz Loya, Fiji's Minister of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport. To date, 72 WTO members have joined the Dialogue, representing more than 75 per cent of global plastics trade.

DDG Zhang hailed the substantial progress achieved on trade and environment issues since the launching of three ministerial statements in December 2021. He called for more ministers to support the dialogue on plastic pollution at MC12 and highlighted the critical need for engaging developing members, in particular least-developed countries (LDCs), and improving their response to the complex environmental challenges.

Minister Daniel Legarda highlighted the unique environmental challenges that small and highly diversified countries face. He reiterated Ecuador's firm support for the collective efforts to tackle a wide range of environmental issues, in particular through its engagement in the UN-led negotiation process for an international agreement to end plastic pollution and in the dialogue at the WTO. Plastics pollution is a global challenge, which requires decisive and coordinated action by multiple actors, state, international organizations, academia and research centres and those who can contribute with solutions across the whole life cycle of plastic production, trade and consumption, he said.

Ambassador George Mina said: We are seeing a shift in the role of the WTO to become really the centre of trade policy. And trade and trade policy have to be a part of the solution on the environment. He said the ministerial statement signifies the beginning of a broader and deeper cooperation among members and with stakeholders. Co-coordinators are stepping up collaboration with other international organizations, he said, and stepping up policy and information exchange efforts so that everyone learns from one another.

Ambassador Li Chenggang said that the work at the WTO is more important than ever, especially as the UN recently issued a resolution launching negotiations on a new treaty on plastic pollution. He also said the Dialogue on Plastic Pollution will keep development as a high priority and will commit to do more to strengthen trade-related capacity building and technical assistance for LDCs and small island developing states.

Minister Faiyaz Loya said the Dialogue will strive to strengthen its work and find innovative and creative solutions to tackle plastics pollution. He urged those members who have not joined the group to become participants and to leverage trade and trade policies to reduce plastic pollution.

Ministerial statement

The ministerial statement highlights the substantial progress achieved by the Dialogue in the past few months.

It pledges concrete steps to deepen the engagement with other global initiatives in addressing plastics pollution, notably the launch of negotiations at the UN's Environment Assembly (UNEA) in March and the aim of reaching a global deal on plastic pollution by 2024. It also notes the ongoing work of the World Customs Organization to amend the definition of plastic wastes in Harmonised System (HS) tariff codes in support of the Basel Convention Plastics Amendment.

The statement also outlines steps to strengthen transparency, technical discussions and trade-related capacity building for least-developed members, including through the Aid for Trade review and needs assessment survey (INF/TE/IDP/W/8), a proposed event at the 8th Aid for Trade Global Review in July, a survey of members' trade-related plastics measures (INF/TE/IDP/W/7) and a workshop on sustainable and effective plastic substitutes and alternatives.

The statement confirms the Dialogue will continue to be an open, inclusive and transparent process and invites all WTO members to join, with a view to generating more concrete outcomes by the next Ministerial Conference (MC13).

More information is available on the Dialogue's dedicated page.
The Colorado Restaurant Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Colorado Restaurant Association, purchased the Good Food Media Network, according to a news release.

The Network is best known for its annual Good Food 100 restaurant list dedicated to transparency and support of Colorados food system, from its farmers and ranchers to its restaurant workers.

The GFN has a chance to become the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for sustainable restaurants and fits a niche for the CRA in their efforts in that area, said John Imbergamo, owner of The Imbergamo Group restaurant consulting company and association board member  though he didnt speak in that capacity.

Buying the network aligns with the CRA and CRF mission of supporting restaurants and industry employees, according to the release.

We are excited to tap into and continue to build the Good Food Media Network community to help keep restaurants, food producers, and customers connected, foundation President Laura Shunk said in the release. Colorado restaurants have long been leaders in sustainability, and were excited to continue the conversation that helps restaurant guests understand where good food comes from and the diverse people in Colorado bringing it to their plates.

The network was founded by Sara Brito and Larimer Associates CEO Jeff Hermanson, who has served as a partner and adviser to a number of Denvers most high-profile chefs and helped with Rioja, Euclid Hall, Bistro Vendome, Corridor 44, Bubu and TAG. He was also instrumental in the redevelopment of Union Station.

When I started the Good Food Media Network, I wanted to celebrate businesses that show they care about the entire food system and its people, and that includes not only the products being used in the kitchen, but also animal welfare, farmworker equity, and inclusion in the workplace, Hermanson said in the release. Im thrilled the CRF will continue to shine a light on the pioneering work Colorado restaurants are doing in this space.

While theres a lot of competition, Imbergamo said the network has a shot now of becoming more influential.

"At its peak, the GFN quantified the financial impact to restaurants and the community for using local and sustainable products, Imbergamo said in an email. There is significant competition for reaching the critical mass of participants that would make the imprimatur have some weight.
Your morning rundown of the latest news from overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day.

Sign Up View all of our newsletters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Russia is shipping half of its seaborne crude oil to Asia  mainly China and India, per Bloomberg.

In May, Russia overtook Saudi Arabia to become India's second-largest supplier of oil.

Indian refiners imported three times more barrels from Russia in May than in April.

Half of the Russian oil transported by ship is now heading for Asia  mainly to China and India, according to a Bloomberg analysis published on Monday.

Russia shipped 3.55 million barrels of oil a day in the week ending June 10. About 50% of those shipments, or 1.878 million barrels of oil, was heading to Asia, Bloomberg reported, citing commercial vessel tracking data. That's up from under 40% of the exports in the weeks leading up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

While China's imports from Russia have remained constant, India's buying has ramped up significantly, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), an independent research organization. In the first 100 days after Russia invaded Ukraine, India's purchases of Russian crude rose from 1% to 18% of the exports by value, the CREA wrote in a report published on Monday.

In May, Russia became India's second-largest supplier of oil behind Iraq, overtaking Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported, citing trade sources. Indian refiners imported about 819,000 barrels of Russian oil each day in May  a record amount, and about three times more than the 227,000 barrels a day it received in April, according to Reuters.

Russian crude oil is priced at a record discount to other grades on the spot market due to sanctions and boycotts, but energy prices have surged this year, propping up sales for the country. Sales of Russian oil and gas are expected to rise to $285 billion in 2022  20% higher than the country's $235.6 billion takings from oil and gas in 2021, according to a Bloomberg Economics report earlier this month.

Drawing international scrutiny

Chinese and Indian purchases of Russian oil amid the war have drawn scrutiny from the international community and stand in contrast to sanctions and boycotts from a number of Western countries. The US banned Russian energy imports in March, and the European Union has agreed to slash 90% of its Russian oil imports by the end of this year.

Story continues

Amos Hochstein, the US special envoy for energy affairs, told senators on Thursday that he had urged India to refrain from buying too much Russian oil.

Neither India nor China has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Beijing has criticized sanctions against Russia. India, meanwhile, has hit back at criticism that it's funding the war in Ukraine through its oil purchases. In May, the Indian petroleum and natural gas ministry said Russian energy accounts for a "minuscule" proportion of its consumption and that a sudden stop to crude shipments would jack up global oil prices and hurt consumers.

In April, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said India isn't violating sanctions by buying Russian oil. In May, White House officials said China isn't violating sanctions by buying Russian oil either, Reuters reported.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A man has been arrested and charged for allegedly purchasing at least 70 firearms within a six-month span.

According to a Justice Department statement, authorities said that Demontre Antwon Hackworth was indicted last week on federal firearm crimes charges, saying that Hackworth sold firearms without a license and made false statements during the purchase of a firearm.

Authorities said that Hackworth purchased at least 92 guns from federally licensed firearms dealers, including 75 firearms during a six-month span from a dealer stripped of its sellers license.

At least 16 of the 92 firearms Hackworth purchased allegedly have been used in incidents that include homicide, aggravated assault and drug trafficking in two U.S. states and Canada, according to the statement.

One of the 16 guns the alleged gun trafficker purchased was used in three separate criminal incidents, two aggravated assaults and one unlawful possession, and two more guns were used in two separate incidents.

Illegal firearms trafficking is not a victimless crime, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Dallas Field Divison Special Agent in Charge Jeff Boshek said in a statement.

There are real consequences when individuals illegally engage in the business of buying and selling firearms. ATF will continue to use all available resources to strategically target and identify illegal firearms sales, trafficking patterns, and sources of crime guns; and to interrupt the illegal flow of firearms to criminal gang members, felons, firearm traffickers, and all persons who are otherwise prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law.

Hackworth, 31, could face up to 35 years in federal prison if convicted.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Donald Trump Jr appeared to goad the January 6 committee into recommending charges for his father in an odd tweet.

On Monday night, Mr Trump Jr responded to a tweet by Punchbowl News reporter John Bresnahan, who wrote that panel chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, said that the January 6 select committee will NOT make any criminal referral to the Justice Department on Trump or anyone else.

Thats not our job. Our job is to look at January 6. What caused it and make recommendations after that  We dont have the authority, Mr Thompson said.

The chairman said that all of the panels documents will be released as part of its public report.

If DOJ wants to talk to members/staff about that material, they will do so, of course, Mr Bresnahan tweeted. Its important to note  and people get confused by this  that Congress isnt equipped for criminal investigations. The [January 6 committee] can and has made criminal contempt referrals, but its not a law enforcement agency.

Almost like its just political theater, Mr Trump Jr tweeted in response to the initial tweet from Mr Bresnahan.

Almost like its just political theater  https://t.co/Ki8SV4PpdQ  Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 14, 2022

Twitter users were quick to mock Mr Trump Jr.

Almost like its a Congressional committee. You need to start worrying about the Justice Department, one Twitter user posted.

Except the trump family has been caught again steeling from the kool-aid crowd. https://t.co/2UkJXwtNo2 pic.twitter.com/XVQa65ohi4  Gator Guy NO WAR. (@Michael69Resist) June 14, 2022

You really do lack education! Just like the Mueller Report, its on the DOJ to prosecute. But since [Trump Attorney General Bill] Barr was obviously your Daddys biggest supporter that didnt happen. Now it will be on Garland and luckily for #TrumpCrimeSyndicate it seems he may be [too] afraid, another account holder said.

Story continues

Are you talking about your fathers administration again? a third Twitter user wrote.

No Jr theyre a legislative committee that cant bring charges. Thats up to the AG and the DOJ. Did you not learn anything in the 4 years your idiot father was president. God, you guys are so F***ing stupid!!! [It] hurts me!!! one user wrote.

No Junior, thats your Daddys game. Everything here is FACT BASED, UNDER OATH & coming from TRUMP INC.! That why you & ur klan are RUNNING FROM SUBPOENAS. If ur Dad wants to clarify, hes welcome! Please tell him to come! Hes a COWARD though bc he knows hed be under oath. #FOH https://t.co/3hluPcS8xr  Jesus H Christ (@JesusHC06058118) June 14, 2022

Attorney General Merrick Garland has said that hes following the January 6 hearings amid the calls for Mr Trump to face criminal charges.

During a press conference on gun violence on Monday, CNN Justice correspondent Evan Perez asked Mr Garland if he has had a chance to look at the hearings conducted by the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot and if hes learned anything that could be useful for the Justice Department.

I am watching and I will be watching all the hearings, although I may not be able to watch all of it live, Mr Garland said. I can assure you that the January 6th prosecutors are watching all the hearings as well.

He added that he wouldnt be able to say what his own personal response to the hearings would be.

The Justice Departments long-standing position is that we dont comment on ongoing investigations, Mr Garland said. We do that both for the viability of our investigations and because its the right thing to do with respect to the civil liberties of people under investigation.

We have charged well over 800 people now in connection with January 6th, some of them have pled, but others are facing proceedings. And for us to comment about evidence, some of which regards them, some of which regards others, could affect their cases and could affect our ability to proceed in an effective way, Mr Garland said, adding that the investigation isnt constricted in any way.

Mr Garlands refusal to comment on the investigation comes as some members of the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol siege are pushing the department to pursue criminal charges.

There are certain actions, parts of these different lines of effort to overturn the election, that I dont see evidence the justice department is investigating, Adam Schiff, a Democratic committee member from California, told ABCs This Week on Sunday. I would like to see the justice department investigate any credible allegation of criminal activity on the part of Donald Trump.

Fellow committee member, Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin, told CNNs State of the Union that one of the conventions that was crushed during the Trump administration was respect by politicians for the independence of the law enforcement function.

Attorney General Garland is my constituent, and I dont browbeat my constituents [but] he knows, his staff knows, US attorneys know, whats at stake here, he added. They know the importance of it, but I think they are rightfully paying close attention to precedent in history as well as the facts of this case.
Kaiser Permanente, the largest nonprofit health plan provider in the United States, has disclosed a data breach that exposed the sensitive health information of almost 70,000 patients.

In a notice to patients on June 3, Kaiser revealed that someone gained access to an employee's emails at the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington on April 5 that contained protected health information  including patient names, dates of service, medical record numbers and lab test result information. Financially sensitive information, including social security and credit card numbers, was not exposed by the breach, according to the healthcare provider.

Although the company didnt reveal the scale of the breach, a separate filing with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that 69,589 individuals were affected.

We terminated the unauthorized access within hours after it began and promptly commenced an investigation to determine the scope of the incident, Kaiser said in its notice to patients. We have determined that protected health information was contained in the emails and, while we have no indication that the information was accessed by the unauthorized party, we are unable to completely rule out the possibility.

TechCrunch asked Kaiser how an unauthorized third party was able to gain access to the employees emails but the company would not comment by press time. However, it said in its notice that the hacked employee received additional training in safe email practices, suggesting the breach may have been the result of either credential stuffing or phishing. Kaiser added that it is exploring other steps we can take to ensure incidents like this do not happen in the future," but the company would not say what these steps were.

It is also unclear why it took Kaiser almost two months to inform patients affected by the breach.

Kaiser Permanente is the latest in a long line of healthcare providers to be targeted by hackers. Health insurance giant Anthem revealed the theft of 78.8 million records in 2015. More recently, myNurse, a healthcare startup that provides chronic care management and remote patient monitoring services, suffered a data breach in March that saw a malicious third party access protected health data, including patients demographic, health and financial information. On May 2, the startup announced it was shutting down.
The awning over the gasoline pumps at the MotoMart, 1297 S. Prospect St. in Marion, partially collapsed during the heavy storm that swept through the region on Monday, June 13, 2022. Downed power lines and fallen trees and tree limbs were reported throughout Marion County in the wake of the storm.

A violent storm system that pushed through the region on Monday night has left many people in Marion County without electricity with excessive heat in the forecast.

The storms prompted the National Weather Service to issue severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado warnings in several counties across Ohio. Downed power lines and fallen trees are being reported across the state today in the wake of the storms.

Major B.J. Gruber from the Marion Police Department said reports of storm damage in the city of Marion were "widespread."

"It's all over, but it really seemed to be concentrated in the Vernon Heights Boulevard and East Church Street areas," he said. "There was significant damage to the MotoMart on South Prospect Street. The protective overhang over the fuel area suffered really significant damage. There's a lot of downed trees. The city garage did an exceptional job working with us last night getting the roadways opened up."

Gruber said he was not aware of any reports of injuries to any residents in the city.

Employees of Schill Grounds Management work to remove a fallen tree from a residence along Vernon Heights Boulevard on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, following the heavy storm that swept through Marion County on Monday night.

Marion County Sheriff Matt Bayles said his office has received many reports of downed power lines and fallen trees throughout the county, but not "anything major." Bayles said his office has not received any reports of injuries, either.

FirstEnergy reported that as of 9:50 p.m. on Tuesday, 1,612 customers in Marion County were still without electricity. That figure includes 787 customers in the city of Marion, 438 customers in Marion Township, 170 customer outages in Claridon Township, and 130 customers with no power in the village of Caledonia.

The utility reported that Grand Prairie Township had 68 customer outages. Outages were also being reported in the village of Prospect as well as Green Camp, Pleasant, Prospect, and Scott townships.

AEP was reporting that 171 of its customers in Marion County were without electricity as of 9:50 p.m. on Tuesday.

Fallen trees and limbs were a common sight on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, following the heavy storm that swept through Marion County on Monday night. Many local residents were busy cleaning up debris in their yards on Tuesday.

The National Weather Service in Cleveland has issued an excessive heat warning that includes Marion, Morrow, and Wyandot counties. The warning is in effect through 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Story continues

According to the weather service, residents can expect "dangerously hot conditions with heat index values up to 105 (Tuesday) and up to 109 Wednesday afternoon expected."

NWS also noted in the warning that "extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities."

The weather service forecast for Wednesday is calling for sunshine with a high of 96 degrees. On Thursday, there is a chance for thunderstorms with a high of 93 degrees. Cooler conditions are expected for Friday with sunny skies and a high of 84 degrees.

The City of Marion announced Tuesday that it will be collecting "natural storm debris" over the next several days. According to a press release issued by the mayor's office, natural debris includes fallen tree limbs, brush, and branches left behind in the wake of the heavy storm that moved through the area on Monday night.

"The city will provide this one-time collection over the next several days that will assist residents looking to clear their properties of storm debris," the press release states. "Crews will be chipping the storm debris at curbside during this collection. Therefore, residents are being asked to set tree limbs, brush and branches in the tree lawn area of their property. For the safety of the motoring and walking public, debris should NOT be placed in the street or block the sidewalk.

"Property owners not wanting to wait for curbside collection service can drop off storm debris to Outdoor Resource Supply (560 Barks Rd. W.)."

The press release included the following tips for curbside collection of storm debris:

 Place fallen trees, branches and brush in the tree lawn area of your property near the street. Do not let it block or overhang the curb or sidewalk. The height should not impact vehicle sightlines.

 Cut branches and trees into manageable pieces.

 Do not place any storm debris on the road.

 Only set out natural storm debris. No root balls or stumps. No garbage or construction waste.

The Village of Caledonia is allowing village residents to place storm debris, brush and limbs, behind the recycling dumpsters at the village park. Village officials posted the announcement on the municipality's Facebook page Tuesday morning.

Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Storms cut power to many in Marion County as heat wave arrives
The Green Bay Packers swapped kickers on Monday, releasing Dominik Eberle from the 90-man roster to make room for Gabe Brkic, who was claimed off of waivers from the Minnesota Vikings. The move was announced on the leagues transactions wire.

Brkic is an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma. Over 38 career games, he made 57 of 69 field goals (82.6 percent) and connected on 159 of 160 extra points (99.2 percent).

Brkic was a three-time Lou Groza Award semifinalist. He was a finalist in 2021 after making 20 of 26 field goals, 57 extra points and a nation-high five field goals of at least 50 yards, including a long of 56 yards.

The Vikings waived Brkic on Friday of last week.

Eberle was signed by the Packers on Feb. 22. He was an undrafted free agent out of Utah State in 2020 who spent time with special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia while with the Raiders.

Brkic will compete with veteran Mason Crosby to be the Packers kicker in 2022.
PORT ST. LUCIE  Land now owned by the city, next to the Humane Society of St. Lucie County, may become home to a company shipping flowers grown in Ecuador and Colombia.

The city wants to sell the property for $1.1 million.

The City Council Monday gave initial approval to sell nearly 5 undeveloped acres in Midway Business Park to Doral-based Galleria Farms, a 22-year-old company known as one of the largest hydrangea growers in the world, according to its website.

A final vote is scheduled June 27.

The $1.1 million would be about $462,500 more than the property's September appraisal, according to city documents.

Issues over recycling fees: St. Lucie County cuts off payments to PSL amid recycling halt; Waste Pro to pick up the slack

Higher Education: Indian River State College awarded $2.7 million grant for National Electric Vehicle Consortium

Think Florida homes are overpriced? These are the 10 most overvalued housing markets

"This is definitely a type of business that I don't think we've ever had before right here in Port St. Lucie," Mayor Shannon Martin said Monday. "So, it's great to have that diversification."

The city first acquired the property in 2001, with hopes of conveying it to businesses for economic development and job growth.

In 2011, Phoenix Metal backed out of an industrial-park expansion plan because of the recession, and the city regained ownership of the land.

The sale to Galleria Farms could be completed by early October, according to Economic Development Administrator Elijah Wooten.

Port St. Lucie is expected to earn roughly $1.1 million by selling about 5 acres on 8900 NW Glades Cut Off Road to Galleria Farms for a warehouse to distribute its premium fresh-cut flowers and perishables grown on their farms in Colombia, Ecuador and South America.

Galleria Farms plans to build a 70,000-sqaure-foot facility at 8900 NW Glades Cutoff Road to store, repack and distribute its flowers.

The company chose the location because of its easy access to Interstate 95 and Floridas Turnpike, Galleria Farms Vice President of Human Resources Yolanda Valencia said in an email.

Story continues

"We will ship flowers nationwide to our mass-market retail customers such as Walmart, Sams Club, Albertsons Safeway and many other supermarkets and wholesale customers," she said.

Port St. Lucie would be Galleria Farms' fourth U.S. location, joining two facilities in Miami-Dade County and one in Louisville, Kentucky.

Construction could start by the end of the year and be completed within 1 years, Valencia said.

Galleria Farms plans to hire 210 employees over three years, paying an average annual salary of $45,000.

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: Flower company may buy 5 acres from Port St. Lucie for $1.1 million
Ukraine says Elon Musk's Starlink has been 'very effective' in countering Russia, and China is paying close attention

A member of the Kharkiv Separate Territorial Defense Brigade uses a handheld radio during drills in Ukraine, May 25, 2021. Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Since its attack began in February, Russia has tried to interfere with Ukraine's communications.

Ukrainian troops and civilians have turned to SpaceX's Starlink to keep those channels open.

Chinese researchers have said Beijing should develop a way to disable or destroy Starlink satellites.

Since the start of the Russian invasion, the US and its NATO and European allies have sent Ukraine security, economic, and humanitarian aid worth tens of billions of dollars.

Assistance to the embattled Ukrainians has come from the general public and private sector too. One of the most notable contributions has been that of Starlink, a satellite communication system run by Elon Musk's SpaceX.

SpaceX says it has delivered 15,000 Starlink kits to Ukraine since late February. The devices provide the Ukrainian military with a resilient and reliable means of communication. Ukrainian troops have used them to coordinate counterattacks or call in artillery support, while Ukrainian civilians have used the system to stay in touch with loved ones inside and outside of the country.

Besieged Ukrainian troops in the Azovstal steelworks plant in Mariupol were only able to communicate with Kyiv and the world because they had a Starlink device.

A Starlink internet terminal in Odesa, Ukraine, March 15, 2022. Nina Lyashonok/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

There are other commercial satellite companies that provide similar services, but SpaceX has developed one of the most robust networks. Starlink uses a new generation of low-orbit satellites that are resilient and powerful because they work as a constellation.

Starlink has been "very effective," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Wired. "It helped us a lot, in many moments related to the blockade of our cities, towns, and related to the occupied territory. Sometimes we completely lost communication with those places."

In occupied cities without access to Starlink, Russians have told civilians that Ukraine no longer existed as a country, but those tactics haven't been successful on a large scale because of Starlink, the Ukrainian leader said.

Story continues

Ukrainians' access to Starlink has "totally destroyed" Russian President Vladimir Putin's information campaign, Brig. Gen. Steve Butow, director of the space portfolio at the Defense Innovation Unit, told Politico.

Putin has "never, to this day, has been able to silence Zelenskyy," Butow said.

'We need Starlink'

Satellite antennas on a destroyed residential building in Hostomel, Ukraine, April 22, 2022. Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Ukraine's government requested Starlink in order to counter Russian cyberattacks against its own satellite communications.

In the hours before the invasion began on February 24, Moscow launched "AcidRain" against Viasat, a US satellite communications company that was providing communication services to the Ukrainian military. "AcidRain" was a "wiper" designed to target Viasat modems and routers and erase their data before permanently disabling them.

In the first hours of the conflict, when the fog of war is thickest, the inability of Ukrainian commanders to communicate with each other and with their troops could have been catastrophic. In the months since then, Russia has also increased its "jamming & hacking attempts" against Starlink, Musk has said.

"What do they say to young officers in training? Your most important weapon is your radio. You're there to coordinate and lead the fight, not necessarily to kick down doors and be the first man in the room," a Special Forces soldier and communications specialist assigned to a US Army National Guard unit told Insider.

"That concept applies the same to the young infantry second lieutenant all the way up to the commander-in-chief. Good comms is everything!" the Special Forces operator, who was not authorized to speak to the media, added.

The cyberattack on Viasat showed the value of having a distributed satellite communications network, but cyberattacks aren't the only way to go after to such networks.

To tap or to attack?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to US lawmakers via satellite feed, March 16, 2022. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool

In modern warfare against highly capable adversaries, having a distributed and resilient satellite network is key to success. The US military has its own satellites for that purpose, and commercial satellite communications provides have been used on battlefields in the past.

As those systems become more vital to military operations, militaries are also looking at how to disrupt them. In a paper published in May, Chinese military researchers called for the development of "soft and hard kill methods" to disable or destroy the whole constellation of Starlink satellites in the event of a conflict.

The researchers didn't describe specific means to counter Starlink, but said "the whole system" would need to be targeted, which "requires some low-cost, high-efficiency measures."

In the US, the military and intelligence agencies play a role both in protecting US satellite networks and in targeting those of adversaries. The division of labor depends largely on the goal: tapping into the network or attacking in order to shut it down.

US soldiers set up a US tactical microwave tower in a field in Saint Hubert, Belgium, June 28, 2016. US Army/Henri Cambier

For example, US Cyber Command, which is responsible for the military's cyberspace operations, is likely to focus on the means by which Chinese generals speak to each other rather than on what they discuss during their calls.

Cyber Command operators "really want to understand the networks themselves. They don't really care about what information is being conveyed on that network. They just want to know that network is being used and its nature (military, financial, diplomatic, etc.)," a former US intelligence officer with a background in signals intelligence told Insider.

The National Security Agency, the US's premier signals-intelligence collectors, would be less concerned about the specific nodes and more focused on what is being transmitted. Intelligence officers would want to know what Chinese generals are saying in order to better inform US policymakers.

High-level signals intelligence is generally the most closely held, and there are "very few people who have access to that because it's highly technical, complex information that requires a lot of analysis," the former intelligence officer said, speaking anonymously to avoid compromising ongoing work with the US government.

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
Bear euthanized after ripping into tent, injuring mother and daughter in Tennessee

A Great Smoky Mountains bear has been euthanized after officials said it attacked a mother and her daughter while they were camping in the national park on Sunday.

A family of five was sleeping in their tent at the Elkmont Campground when the bear ripped into it at approximately 5:20 a.m.

The park said after an investigation and on site monitoring, wildlife biologists successfully captured the bear.

The black bear, was euthanized due to risk to human safety on Monday, the park said.

PHOTO: A baby bear climbs a tree off of a trail at the Elkmont Campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gaitlinburg, Tenn., June 3, 2019. (Asheville Citizen-Times via USA Today Network, FILE)

The bear weighed approximately 350 pounds, which is not standard for this time of year, suggesting the bear had previous and likely consistent access to non-natural food sources, Lisa McInnis, chief of resource management, said in the parks statement. In this incident, the bear was likely attracted to food smells throughout the area, including dog food at the involved campsite. It is very difficult to deter this learned behavior and, as in this case, the result can lead to an unacceptable risk to people.

MORE: Yellowstone closes after 'unprecedented' rain washes out roads

The park reports the family was inside the tent, with their dog, sleeping when the bear ripped through and entered the tent. Once inside, the bear scratched a three-year-old girl and her mother.

After several attempts, the father was able to scare the bear from the tent and campsite. The family left a note at the campgrounds office before leaving the site to seek medical attention.

Both the three-year-old and her mother sustained superficial lacerations to their heads.

Once alerted to the incident at approximately 8:50 a.m., park staff monitored the site for bear activity and set traps in the area.

PHOTO: A banner welcomes family members to the picnic at Elkmont Campground in Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Tenn., June 15, 2019. (Knoxville News Sentinel via USA Today Network, FILE)

Park rangers closed the immediate area, interviewed the father and other campers and collected site information such as bear tracks and other identifying markers.

MORE: Polar bear inbreeding and bird 'divorces': Weird ways climate change is affecting animal species

Reportedly, a male bear who matched the fathers description entered the area of the incident and exhibited extreme food-conditioned behavior and lack of fear of humans, boldly entering the trap without weariness.

Story continues

Park officials said the bears behavior did not appear consistent with predatory behavior, but rather that of a food conditioned bear.

This is the second bear from the park to be euthanized because of its condition due to being fed human food this month.

MORE: Bison gores woman in Yellowstone National Park after she gets too close

According to park officials, human-bear conflicts peak in late May and June when natural foods such as berries are not yet available. As a result, bears are attracted to the smell of food in the parks developed areas, including campgrounds and picnic areas.

The park encourages campers to take necessary precautions to properly store food while in bear country.

The park stated its staff would continue to track reports of bear activity in campgrounds and other more populated areas to notify the public regarding any site warnings or closures.

Bear euthanized after ripping into tent, injuring mother and daughter in Tennessee originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Medical personnel adminster COVID-19 swab tests at a mass testing site in the parking lot of Citadel Mall Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021, in Colorado Springs, Colo. The state has reopened mass testing sites in light of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the country.
Vaccine mandates will be lifted on June 20. (REUTERS/Cole Burston)

Unvaccinated Canadians will soon be allowed to travel within and out of Canada.

The federal government will suspend its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Ottawa announced on Tuesday, allowing unvaccinated Canadian citizens and permanent residents to travel domestically by air and train, and internationally by air as of June 20. It will also lift its vaccine mandate for federal employees, including the RCMP and federally regulated transportation sector workers.

"It's clear that the COVID situation is not the same now as it was last fall when we implemented the vaccine mandate for travellers," Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Ottawa first introduced a vaccine mandate on Oct. 30 last year. The mandate required that all passengers over the age of 12 departing from a Canadian airport be fully vaccinated in order to travel. It also applied to rail passengers on Via Rail and Rocky Mountaineer trains, as well as marine passengers on non-essential vessels such as cruise ships.

While air and rail travellers will no longer need to be vaccinated in order to travel, the mandate will still remain in place for cruise ship passengers and crews, "given the unique nature of cruise ships including the fact that passengers are in close contact with each other for extended periods of time," the government said. Mask requirements for planes and trains will also remain in place, Alghabra said, calling it "minor inconvenience" that still provides a benefit to passengers.

Unvaccinated Canadian travellers re-entering the country will still have to provide a pre-entry test result, quarantine for 14 days and could be subject to Day 1 and Day 8 testing.

Vaccine requirements will also still apply to international travellers coming into Canada.

"In order for us to continue to protect the demands on our public health care system, we want to make sure that incoming travellers are at minimum vaccinated," Alghabra said.

Story continues

The decision to lift the vaccine mandate for Canadian travellers comes a few days after the government suspended random COVID-19 testing at all Canadian airports through to June 30.

Pressure for Ottawa to drop its vaccine mandates has ramped up in recent weeks, as delays continue to plague the country's major airports, particularly at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the decision to lift the mandates "was not about shortening the wait times that are currently being experienced at some of Canada's airports."

"These wait times are mainly caused by staffing shortages," LeBlanc said.

"The adjustments we're making today are based on science and they will not have an impact immediately on these airport delays. We remain committed to reducing the wait times at Canada's airports."

There's still a lot more work to do."Monette Pasher, interim president of the Canadian Airport Council

Monette Pasher, interim president of the Canadian Airport Council, said in an interview that the lifting of the vaccine mandate is "good news for travel and tourism" and that being able to bring back trained workers is "a step forward" to relieving the bottlenecks seen at Canadian airports. But she added that more still needs to be done to help ease delays, particularly when it comes to international arrivals.

"In terms of our international borders, there's still a lot more work to do," Pasher said.

"There's still federal government processes and restrictions that need to be addressed to fully address the bottleneck. That's why we have called on the government to join the list of over 50 countries that have already removed all the barriers for international travel."

Alghabra said that the government is meeting daily, particularly at Pearson Airport, to address potential bottlenecks and that it has seen improvements in the last several weeks.

The Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable, an industry lobby group, had pushed for the government to remove vaccine mandates for both Canadian travellers and international visitors.

Beth Potter, chief executive officer of the Tourism Association of Canada and member of the roundtable, said in an interview that international travel levels are still half of what they were in 2019. The group expects that international travel will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2025.

"It's urgent that we get these fixed in order for us to be able to see the smooth movement of folks across the border again," Potter said.

"The economy will not be completely back to what it was until the travel and tourism industry is back and we need to do everything that we can to shorten the timeframe which that it takes for that to happen."

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.
Story at a glance

Eleven Republican former members of Congress on Tuesday in a letter to current House and Senate leaders called for action on federal LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections.

Hundreds of bills that target the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans have been introduced in state legislatures this year.

Former Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) told Changing America that Republicans supporting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation represent a vocal minority within the party.

Eleven Republican former members of Congress have called for the immediate passage of federal LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections in a letter sent Tuesday to House and Senate leadership, responding to a tidal wave of state bills introduced this year that target the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans.

Without a doubt, bipartisan passage of federal legislation to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Americans will help Congress meet the demands of this moment, the former Congresspeople wrote in the letter addressed to Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D) and Kevin McCarthy (R) and Sens. Chuck Schumer (D) and Mitch McConnell (R).

In just the first six months of the year, hundreds of bills seeking to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people, particularly transgender and nonbinary youth, have been introduced in state legislatures nationwide. Several have already become law.

In March, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law a measure that prevents public school educators from addressing sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom, telling parents during a signing ceremony that the gender-bread man had invaded Florida schools to promote woke gender ideology and indoctrinate children.

America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news.

In Alabama, a first-of-its-kind felony ban on gender-affirming care for transgender and nonbinary minors took effect in early May. A federal judge partially blocked its enforcement soon after, but school officials under the law are still required to inform parents if their children come out as transgender.

Story continues

Ten states this year have passed laws barring transgender athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity. More than a dozen other states are looking to follow.

Theres never been a more urgent, more critical time for Congress to act, former Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, one of the letters signatories and chair of the group Conservatives Against Discrimination, told Changing America. In the absence of federal legislation, LGBTQ+ Americans are unfairly existing under a patchwork of state-by-state protections, she said, and rights that are guaranteed in one state are unprotected in another.

Thats why you need federal bipartisan protections, like those that are guaranteed under the Equality Act, Ros-Lehtinen said, referring to the federal nondiscrimination law passed last year by the House of Representatives. The measure remains stalled in the Senate, where its fate is still uncertain.

The letter to Congress does not mention any specific piece of legislation, but urges lawmakers to come together to pass legislation that protects all Americans from discrimination no matter their gender identity or who they love.

As we know, its hard to get something to pass, Ros-Lehtinen said, but what a great opportunity for Republicans to come to the table and advocate for what is really a conservative value: freedom for all. Thats a bedrock principle of the Republican party.

Ros-Lehtinen, along with fellow signatories Reps. Chris Shays (R-CT) and Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), had at one time supported anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, voting in 1996 to pass the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage for federal purposes as a union between one man and one woman. Two decades later, she co-sponsored legislation to repeal it.

Last year, her son, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen  a transgender man  was selected to lead the National Center for Transgender Equality, a nonprofit advocating on behalf of transgender Americans.

Ros-Lehtinen told Changing America that the Republican party is much more accepting than a vocal minority is making it out to be, and she has a lot of faith in our GOP.

It seems that theres a lot of Republicans who have these views that seem a little extreme, but I dont think thats an accurate picture, she said. For every naysayer, theres someone whos espousing a more inclusive, more positive message in our political party. Hope is not lost.

Reps. Susan Brooks (R-IN), Barbara Comstock (R-VA), Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Bob Dold (R-IL), Jim Greenwood (R-PA) Steve Gunderson (R-WI) and Claudine Schneider (R-RI) also signed the letter to Congress.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Getty

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spent more than four hours on Monday meeting with Chinas top diplomat in Luxembourg, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Thailand to meet with the prime minister.

Well share details of these two trips and what they hoped to accomplish, plus new disciplinary actions over the deadly 2020 amphibious vehicle sinking that killed eight Marines and one sailor, a safety stand down in the Navy and a bill to help soldiers exposed to toxic substances.

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, Im Ellen Mitchell. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

Sullivan meets with top Chinese diplomat

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday spent more than four hours meeting with Chinas top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Luxembourg to discuss a range of topics, according to a senior administration official.

Sullivan reiterated the Biden administrations commitment to the one China policy as well as concerns about Chinas coercive and aggressive actions across the Taiwan Strait, the official said, and warned against assisting Russia in its war in Ukraine.

The issues: The two shared their assessments of U.S.-China relations, including an exchange of views of how each side sees the dynamic between our two countries, the official said, describing the meeting as candid, in-depth, substantive, and productive.

Sullivan also raised concerns about Chinas recent veto of a U.S. resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would have imposed new sanctions on North Korea following recent missile launches.

Jake made very clear that this is an area where we believe the United States and China should be able to work together, the official said.

Earlier: The two shared their assessments of U.S.-China relations, including an exchange of views of how each side sees the dynamic between our two countries, the official said, describing the meeting as candid, in-depth, substantive, and productive.

Story continues

Sullivan also raised concerns about Chinas recent veto of a U.S. resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would have imposed new sanctions on North Korea following recent missile launches.

Jake made very clear that this is an area where we believe the United States and China should be able to work together, the official said.

A BROADER EFFORT

The White House characterized Sullivans meeting with Yang as part of the administrations broader effort to responsibly manage competition between the U.S. and China.

Mr. Sullivan underscored the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to manage competition between our two countries, a White House readout said.

Elsewhere in the world: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday met with Thailands prime minister to attempt to strengthen alliances and partnerships in the region.

During the visit, Austins first to the country as Pentagon chief, the two officials shared perspectives on regional security issues, and discussed opportunities to strengthen the U.S.-Thai alliance, according to a Defense Department readout on the meeting.

Austin also highlighted the U.S. commitment to increasing the number of Thai students receiving professional military education in the United States.

In addition, the two welcomed recent efforts to expand bilateral training and exercises, including through the establishment of a new working group on reciprocal access and training.

Read the full story here

Navy censures officers involved in 2020 ship sinking

The Navy has censured three Marine Corps officers and two Navy officers for their roles in the deadly Amphibious Assault Vehicle tragedy in southern California in July 2020.

The letters of censure issued to the five officers by Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro serve as a public rebuke of their actions before and during the accident, which resulted in the death of eight Marines and one sailor.

When leaders actions or inactions result in the loss of life or capital resources, the senior leadership of the Department of the Navy has a responsibility to determine the root cause and hold those accountable, Del Toro said in a message sent to the Department of the Navy on June 2.



Following a thorough review of the command investigations into the AAV sinking, these officers received [Secretarial Letters of Censure (SLOC)] due to their inadequate leadership and execution of their oversight duties.

Who got a letter: The letters were issued to retired Marine Lt. Gen. Joseph Osterman, the former commanding general of the I Marine Expeditionary Force; Marine Col. Christopher Bronzi, former commanding officer of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit; Navy Capt. Stewart Bateshansky, former commander of the Amphibious Task Force; Navy Capt. John Kurtz, former commanding officer of the USS Somerset amphibious transport dock; and Marine Lt. Col. Keith Brenize, former commanding officer of the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion.

The accident: The nine service members were killed on July 30, 2020, when their AAV quickly sank in 385 feet of water off the coast of San Clemente Island while training with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The vehicle  which can weigh roughly 26 tons and was carrying 16 people  sank after it began to take on water while traveling from the island to its transport dock ship after an exercise.

The vessel was one of several that experienced mechanical problems on the island and as it tried to return its transmission failed. Water then began to fill the vehicle, but its commander, Lt. Col. Michael Regner, waited too long to order service members to evacuate.

Read more here

Navy announces safety pause in wake of crashes

The U.S. Navy paused all non-deployed aircraft units on Monday to conduct a safety screening in the wake of multiple recent aircraft crashes, according to an announcement over the weekend.

The safety pause announced on Saturday is intended to review risk-management practices and conduct training on threat and error-management processes.



In order to maintain the readiness of our force, we must ensure the safety of our people remains one of our top priorities, the Navy added.

A string of crashes: The pause comes following three crashes in June, two of which were fatal.

One Navy pilot died in a crash in California roughly 170 miles northeast of Los Angeles during a June 3 training mission involving an F/A-18E Super Hornet.

On June 8, five Marines were killed after another plane, an MV-22B Osprey, crashed in California east of San Diego.

And on June 9, a crash involving an MH-60S Seahawk crashed during a routine training flight in California. All four crew members survived that crash, the Navy said.

Read more here

FROM THE WEEKEND

Senate poised to pass bill helping soldiers exposed to toxic substances

Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson deployed to Iraq and Kosovo with the Ohio National Guard, but the battle didnt end when he returned home.

After returning to Ohio, Robinson experienced gushing nosebleeds and bleeding from his ear caused by a rare autoimmune disease.

A new battle: In 2017, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer that his oncologist said only couldve been caused by prolonged toxic exposure.

Despite these health issues, Robinsons family was unable to get caregiver benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) because they couldnt prove that his illness was caused by his military service.

Robinsons mother-in-law, Susan Zeier, stood alongside lawmakers and advocates at a press event in Washington this past week and explained the tiring ordeal of taking care of Heath before he died of his cancer in 2020.

Needless to say, Heath spent his final three years battling the war that followed him home, Zeier said. He told us that he is a soldier and soldiers dont know how to give up.

On the cusp: Two years after Robinsons death, Congress is poised to pass legislation in his honor to help millions of veterans like him.

Read the full story here

ON TAP TOMORROW

The U.S. Army Military District of Washington will hold a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery to mark the Armys 247th birthday, with Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville and Sgt. Maj. Michael Grinston, at 9 a.m.

The Center for a New American Security will hold Day 1 of its virtual 2022 National Security Conference on Security in the Balance, at 10 a.m.

U.S. Cyber Command Executive Director Dave Frederick will speak at the Government Executive Media Group Defense One Tech Summit at 1 p.m.

The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft will host a virtual discussion on The Threat of Nuclear War: Four Decades After The Day After, at 5 p.m.

WHAT WERE READING

Thats it for today. Check out The Hills Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you tomorrow!

VIEW FULL VERSION HERE

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Pan-African venture capital fund Launch Africa Ventures today is announcing the close of its $36.3 million fund, which it has primarily used to invest in B2B and B2B2C startups across Africa.

In an interview with TechCrunch, managing partner Zachariah George said Launch Africa has backed 108 startups across 21 African countries. They include the likes of Nigerian neobank Kuda, Kenyan B2B e-commerce retail platform MarketForce and Tunisian edtech startup GOMYCODE.

Although these startups have progressed to growth stages, the Mauritius-based firm invested in them earlier in their journey. It typically backs seed and pre-Series A startups and cuts an average check size between $250,000 to $300,000. Some startups in these stages include Sudanese fintech Bloom, Bostwana-based insurtech Alpha Direct and South African big data platform Carscan.

George says the firm, considered the most active early-stage VC on the continent, will continue to expand its geographic footprint and back startups in other countries. I cant think of a single fund that covers as many markets as we do, the managing partner said. Were doing deals in the DRC, Madagascar, Sudan, Botswana, Benin, Togo. People use the word pan-African loosely, but when we say pan-African, we truly mean what we do.

George launched the firms Fund 1 alongside Janade Du Plessis at the height of the pandemic in July 2020. The fund achieved its first close in September 2020 and a final close by March 2022.

Both partners had huge finance and investment experience before starting Launch Africa. An angel investor, George worked as a Wall Street bulge-bracket investment banker before co-founding two well-known accelerator programs in Africa: Barclays Rise Growth Accelerator and Startupbootcamp Afritech. On the other hand, Du Plessis held the chief investment officer position at the African Development Bank and founded Abrazo Capital, a social impact-driven investment firm.

Launch Africa, with over 238 retail and institutional investors from 40 countries per its statement, has invested over $24 million in its portfolio companies. Most of these investments are one-time checks, as the early-stage VC seldom takes on subsequent rounds.

Story continues

In fund one, we have limited capacity for follow-ons. If we were to reserve a significant portion of our fund for follow-ons like many other funds do, we wouldnt be able to cover the whole continent and multiple regions and products, said George. Any of our portfolio companies that need significant capital at the next round of funding, we provide an opportunity for our LPs to back them.

Launch Africa says it helps LPs with due diligence and waives fees when they invest alongside the funds lead checks. These LPs have deployed over $14 million in Launch Africa portfolio companies.

The Launch Africa team works with founders and expert advisors to fast-track exit opportunities for investors. said Du Plessis in a statement. Providing our exit strategy during these challenging times instills investor confidence and brings significant benefits to the African tech ecosystem.

Some of Launch Africas LPs include German fintech-focused CommerzVentures. The firms managing partner Patrick Meisberger said his firm was pleased to partner with Launch Africa Ventures to invest in some of the most exciting fintech investment opportunities in Africa. Fintech contributes heavily to Launch Africas portfolio; over 38% of its companies are from that segment. The rest include e-commerce and marketplaces (16%), health tech (13%), logistics and mobility (12%), data analytics/AI (11%) and edtech (7%).

Venture capital firms like Launch Africa sometimes come under heavy fire for backing too many companies within a short period. Yet, George views the companys strategy as necessary given the stage Launch Africa plays and the broader Africas early venture capital market.

Theres very little strategic non-financial value among pre-Series A investment on the continent. Most of the money that comes at the early stages are from angels, friends and family and accelerators, and very regional VC firms. Theres nothing wrong with that. I mean, its the backbone of any mature industry, he said. But its very important to have a plan to scale into multiple geographies and product verticals, and you cant do that by playing low.

George asserts that the ability to invest significant capital at the early stage and founder-friendly terms with a lot of non-financial value-adds accelerates a companys growth from what would typically take three to four years to as little as 12 to 18 months. Thats the benefit of positioning ourselves as specialists in early-stage investing, George said.

Launch Africa doesnt intend to slow its pace despite the gloomy VC landscape; the firm might double down on some of its portfolio companies at better discounts. Like a few local investors that have spoken with TechCrunch recently, Launch Africa said it would provide follow-on capital -- via bridge and extension rounds -- especially to those going through cash crunches.

We are working hand in hand with each portfolio company in capital preservation and revenue generation for their unique business challenges, said Margaret OConnor, the companys board chairperson to TechCrunch. We are trying to help the founders understand how to navigate challenging macroeconomics and focus on how to make more money more quickly so that they continue to grow. OConnor has experience as an entrepreneur, MasterCard executive and government adviser in the U.S., the U.K., Asia and Europe in her investment management portfolio.

That said, Launch Africa isnt solely interested in holding the moniker of Africas most active early-stage fund. It also wants to build a reputation for taking diversity and inclusion into account. The firm claims these themes are central to its investment ethos, as shown by two metrics: 91% of founders in its portfolio are African, while 20% are women.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) listens as House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks during the restart of a House session of Congress on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Jim Lo Scalzo - Pool/Getty Images

Rep. Matt Gaetz says it doesn't really matter if Kevin McCarthy is honest with Republicans.

Gaetz said that the GOP mainly sticks with McCarthy due to his fundraising abilities.

"He is the LeBron James of lobbyist and PAC fundraising," Gaetz said.

Rep. Matt Gaetz said it doesn't really matter if House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy misleads his fellow Republicans at times, because what the GOP really cares about is McCarthy's fundraising prowess.

"It is a covenant based on money," Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, told Time Magazine's Molly Ball. "Kevin McCarthy is the most elite fundraiser in the history of the Republican caucus. He is the LeBron James of lobbyist and PAC fundraising. And that is his covenant with the conference."

Besides, Gaetz added, it's not like the House GOP's past leaders were honest brokers.

"I mean, John Boehner lied to us constantly," Gaetz said. "Paul Ryan lied to us constantly. What, we thought we were going to get the great truth-teller next?" (Boehner and Ryan could not be reached for comment.)

Gaetz's comments come in the wake of leaked audio tapes in which McCarthy privately told top House Republicans that he would ask Trump to resign and questioned whether Gaetz and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene should be kicked off Twitter. At the time the audio was published, Gaetz slammed McCarthy's comments.

If as the current political environment suggests, and Republicans retake control of the House after November's midterm elections, McCarthy would be in line to becoming speaker.

He would need 218 votes to claim the speaker's gavel, meaning that the number of seats House Republicans flip this fall will be of paramount importance to whether he would need the support of Gaetz and other so-called "MAGA" lawmakers.

McCarthy seemed to be a shoo-in to replace Boehner in 2015, but withdrew from the race amid rumors of an affair and the fallout from his comments about the GOP's Benghazi investigation.

Nevertheless, Gaetz accurately describes McCarthy's fundraising prowess.

Story continues

McCarthy's own campaign operation hauled in a record-breaking $31.5 million during the first quarter of this year  much of that money was or will be transferred to House Republicans' campaign arm and individual lawmakers facing tough campaigns. His allies also operate a super PAC that has already placed $125 million worth of ad reservations across the country.

A spokesperson for McCarthy did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

In the same Time interview, Gaetz suggested that Ohio Republican Jim Jordan would be the ideal speaker. But Jordan, once a thorn in McCarthy's side, has ruled out a campaign and has become a close ally of the top House Republican.

Gaetz continues to face the fallout of a federal sex trafficking investigation. The Florida Republican has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Throughout his five-decade movie career, Tom Hanks has appeared in everything from rom-coms to war epics to biopics. And while he's embodied many beloved roleswinning Oscars for two of themthere's one part that Hanks wouldn't play today. And that's not only because he wouldn't want to, but also because he doesn't think he would even be asked.

Hanks opened up about his resume in a lengthy new interview with The New York Times. And in talking about one of his most famous movies from the '90s, the actor admitted that the part wouldn't be his if the film was made todayand for good reason. Read on to see which major Hanks role wouldn't have happened in 2022.

READ THIS NEXT: The Worst Tom Hanks Movie of All Time, According to Critics.

He led a groundbreaking film in 1993.

Almost 30 years ago, Hanks starred in Philadelphia as a gay lawyer, Andrew Beckett, who sues his firm, claiming that he was fired because of his AIDS diagnosis. For the role, Hanks won his first Oscar for Best Actor. (His second would come the following year for Forrest Gump.) Philadelphia was one of the first Hollywood movies to center HIV and AIDS, and Hanks reportedly campaigned hard for the part, wanting to prove himself as a serious actor, since he'd done mainly comedies up until that point.

Speaking to the New York Times, Hanks said of Philadelphia and 1994's Forrest Gump, "Timely movies, at the time, that you might not be able to make now."

He doesn't think Philadelphia would be made the same way today.

The New York Times interviewer put forth that Forrest Gump wouldn't be a success today because it "would be mocked and picked apart on social media before anyone even had a chance to see it." Hanks responded, "There's nothing you can do about that, but let's address 'could a straight man do what I did in Philadelphia now?' No, and rightly so."

For more celebrity news delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.

He thinks that shows progress.

Hanks continued of the Jonathan Demme-directed movie, "The whole point of Philadelphia was don't be afraid. One of the reasons people weren't afraid of that movie is that I was playing a gay man." But, Hanks added, times have changed and that sort of casting isn't needed or accepted.

Story continues

"We're beyond that now, and I don't think people would accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy," he said. "It's not a crime, it's not boohoo, that someone would say we are going to demand more of a movie in the modern realm of authenticity. Do I sound like I'm preaching? I don't mean to."

He's acknowledged that the movie was controversial among gay people at the time, too.

In 2013, Hanks took part in BAFTA's A Life In Pictures event and discussed the entirety of his career. When talking about Philadelphia, he noted that the reaction at the time of its release was divided into three segments.

"A third of the reaction was this is a groundbreaking movie," he explained. "A third of the reaction was this is nothing but a tepid potboiler that doesn't really touch upon the subject that it pretends to touch upon. And a third set was essentially from the gay segment of the world that said this movie has nothing to do with us and what we have been facing."

But, Hanks said, after activist Larry Kramer wrote a piece about why he hated Philadelphia, the movie "became controversial," which made more people go see it so they could weigh in with their own opinions. Hanks added, "That actually bought in a ton of those very Americans who thought, 'I don't know anybody who's gay and AIDS hasn't touched my life.'"

READ THIS NEXT: Tom Hanks' Decades-Long Feud With This Star Is "Painful," Friend Says.
WASHINGTON D.C., USA - MAY 14: Abortion rights demonstrators gather near the Washington Monument during a nationwide rally in support of abortion rights in Washington, D.C., US, on May 14, 2022. (Photo by Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

First, let's dispense with the bullsh*t. Abortion is healthcare; that is not open to debate. Abortion care is part of a spectrum of reproductive healthcare that, like prenatal care, birth care, postpartum care, cancer screenings, fibroid treatments, and endometriosis care, must be available to all our communities with dignity and self-determination. Abortion carries more shame and stigma than the rest of these reproductive health services, but if we're honest, we can acknowledge that there is still plenty of shame and stigma surrounding other reproductive health issues, like periods, miscarriages, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Plus, access to abortion care is a fundamental human right, full stop. No court or politician should dictate who among us can have children, when, how many, or under what circumstances. Forcing a person to remain pregnant and give birth against their will is a gross violation of our human rights and dignity. Everyone has the fundamental human right to decide if they want to become a parent, how, and when they want to build and grow their own families.

No one understands that better than the Poderosas in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, a sprawling region along the Southern border with about a million inhabitants, most of them with close cultural, if not family, ties to Mexico.

Although some folks know the RGV as a conservative, rural stretch of Texas, home to Mexican im/migrants and their descendants, the RGV I saw firsthand this year is a vibrant force of power, a beam of resistance to the state's forced-birth agenda.

That's where the Poderosas come in. Poderosa means "empowered woman" or "powerful one" in Spanish. It's what the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice (Latina Institute) activists have gone by for decades. I started out as a Poderosa activist where I live in Florida before I joined the communications staff at the Latina Institute.

The Poderosas organize around reproductive health, rights, and justice issues. They take part in leadership trainings, lobby their elected officials, canvas their neighborhoods - not for a politician, but around questions of reproductive justice - and organize rallies, health fairs, and other local events to benefit their communities.

Story continues

Many of them don't have the proper documentation to live and work in this country, but that doesn't stop them from fighting for their communities. For years, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has set up random checkpoints along most major routes in Southern Texas, blocking undocumented people from traveling to the next town, let alone out of the state, to seek care.

This March, I traveled to Brownsville to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Latina Institute Texas's organizing work in the Valley. Their quince also marked six months since the state enacted what was then the most extreme abortion ban in the country. In September 2021, SB 8 went into effect, banning abortion care in Texas after six weeks of pregnancy, or just one missed period, which is before many people even realize they're pregnant.

Oklahoma now has that callous distinction, after it passed a copycat law of Texas's SB 8 in May. But legislators in Oklahoma went a step further and banned nearly all abortions starting at fertilization, instead of after six weeks. These laws in Texas and Oklahoma use a vigilante enforcement scheme explicitly designed to allow a highly partisan and compromised Supreme Court to look the other way and pretend it can't do anything to stop extremist politicians from going against the will of the people to ban an essential healthcare service.

And as we await the Court's decision on a Mississippi case that will at best maintain the status quo - doing nothing to address the bounty-hunter laws banning abortion care in Texas, Oklahoma, and whatever other states decide to follow suit - we know we must find a way to keep fighting to protect our fundamental human right to control our own reproduction.

I refuse to let any court or politician force me to become a parent against my will, and so should you. There is no more egregious violation of a person's human rights than forced pregnancy and birth.

I refuse to let any court or politician force me to become a parent against my will, and so should you.

Florida has passed a ban on abortion care after 15 weeks, and the state legislature is poised to go even further. Should the Supreme Court explicitly overrule Roe v. Wade, as the majority signaled it was ready to do in the draft opinion published online in early May, abortion will soon be outlawed throughout the South and Midwest. And people in other parts of the country will find it harder to get care due to increased demand.

We must look to the people of Texas - not just the Poderosas, but the entire community of activists who contribute their time and energy to the dynamic network of abortion funds, human-rights organizations, and reproductive-justice coalitions in the area. The RGV is home to the Frontera Fund, which provides financial and practical support to folks seeking abortion care, and South Texans for Reproductive Justice (STRJ), which has been working ceaselessly on a campaign to provide Plan B emergency contraception to anyone who needs it in the Valley.

Everyone I met during my trip to Texas was an inspiration, from the Poderosas who led the event to celebrate Latina Institute Texas's 15 years of organizing to the young activists who followed their mothers into the movement. I'll never forget running over in a panic to warn the young parents whose kids were going hard at the SB 8 pinatas that the pinatas also had prizes in them: care packages with emergency contraception donated by STRJ. One mom simply smiled at me and calmly handed me one of the packages she had retrieved from her kids. I asked her if she knew someone who could use it, and she nodded and put it back in her purse.

The moment was incredibly significant. As one Poderosa said during a filmed interview taken at the event, "Reproductive healthcare and reproductive justice isn't really talked about within my community. There are so many of my friends who I've had to teach what reproductive justice and healthcare is, and they sometimes feel embarrassed because these are rights that people should know," she said. "As a member of the newer generation, I would say, hear our voices, listen to us, and take into consideration what we are saying."

The organizers and activists of the Rio Grande Valley are truly unstoppable, and we must look to them to lead the way to fight for our human rights and work toward reproductive justice.

During the few days I spent with them in March, I saw a multigenerational coalition of compassionate, joyful people. I interviewed over a dozen Poderosas who have been activists with Latina Institute Texas for many years about their experiences organizing in the Valley. Many of them were joined at the rally by their sisters, daughters, mothers, sons, mothers-in-law, and even grandmothers. It was an amazing sight to see. In the video, when one activist present was asked what it meant to be a Poderosa, she replied, "It means I can mobilize communities, raise my voice, and let people know that all of us have rights."

This is what the resistance looks like. Watch it yourself and steel your resolve, because we are in for a big fight.

Rosa Valderrama is the senior public affairs and communications associate at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, a board member at the Broward Women's Emergency Fund, and a proud Poderosa from the Latina Institute Florida.



We've translated this essay into Spanish, below, so that our Poderosa activists in the Rio Grande Valley who are still learning English can read it in their native tongue and see what a huge impact they're making in the fight for reproductive justice. Somos Poderosas/xs!

Primero, hay que decir las cosas como son. El aborto es cuidado de salud, eso no esta abierto a debate. Los servicios de aborto son parte de un espectro del cuidado de salud reproductiva que, al igual que la atencion prenatal, el parto, el cuidado posparto, las pruebas de deteccion de cancer, los tratamientos de fibromas y la atencion de la endometriosis, deben estar disponibles para todas nuestras comunidades con dignidad y autodeterminacion. El aborto conlleva mas verguenza y estigma que el resto de estos servicios de salud reproductiva, pero si somos honestas, podemos reconocer que todavia hay mucha verguenza y estigma en torno a otras cuestiones de salud reproductiva, como los periodos, los abortos espontaneos y las infecciones de transmision sexual (ETS).

Ademas, el acceso al aborto es un derecho humano fundamental, punto. Ningun tribunal o politico deberia dictar quien puede tener hijos, cuando los puede tener, cuantos hijos o en que circunstancias. Obligar a una persona a permanecer embarazada y dar a luz en contra de su voluntad es una grave violacion de nuestros derechos humanos y dignidad. Toda persona tiene el derecho humano fundamental de decidir si quiere tener hijos, cuando tenerlos y como formar su propia familia.

Nadie entiende esto mejor que las Poderosas/xs en el Valle del Rio Grande de Texas (RGV, por sus siglas en ingles), una region a lo largo de la frontera sur que tiene alrededor de un millon de habitantes, la mayoria con estrechos lazos culturales, si no familiares, con Mexico.

Aunque algunas personas conocen el Valle como un tramo rural conservador de Texas, una zona desatendida de comunidades de in/migrantes mexicanos y sus descendientes, el RGV que vi de primera mano este ano es una fuerza vibrante de poder, una chispa de resistencia a la agenda de partos forzados del estado.

Ahi es donde las Poderosas/xs de Texas han construido su red de apoyo y liderazgo. Yo tambien empece como Poderosa/x, o una de las activistas del Latina Institute, cuando tome mi primer entrenamiento sobre la justicia reproductiva donde vivo en la Florida. Dos o tres anos despues, me incorpore al personal de comunicaciones del Instituto Nacional de Latinas por la Justicia Reproductiva (Latina Institute).

Las Poderosas/xs se organizan en torno a temas de salud, derechos y justicia reproductiva. Participan en capacitaciones de liderazgo, presionan a sus funcionarios electos para conseguir resultados, sondean sus vecindarios, no en cuanto a un politico, sino en torno a cuestiones de justicia reproductiva, y organizan manifestaciones, ferias de salud y otros eventos locales para beneficiar a sus comunidades.

Muchas no tienen la documentacion migratoria para trabajar en este pais, pero eso no les impide luchar por sus comunidades. Durante anos, la Oficina de Aduanas y Proteccion Fronteriza (CBP, por sus siglas en ingles) de EE. UU. ha establecido puestos de control a lo largo de la mayoria de las rutas principales en el sur de Texas, impidiendo que las personas indocumentadas viajen a la proxima ciudad, y mucho menos fuera del estado, para buscar cuidado de salud.

En marzo, viaje a Brownsville para celebrar el 15. aniversario del trabajo del Latina Institute Texas en el Valle. Sus Quince tambien marcaron seis meses desde que el estado promulgo lo que entonces era la prohibicion del aborto mas extrema del pais. En septiembre de 2021, entro en vigor la ley SB 8, que prohibe los servicios de aborto en Texas despues de seis semanas de embarazo, o solo con no haber tenido un periodo, antes de que muchas personas se den cuenta incluso de que estan embarazadas.

Oklahoma ahora tiene esa cruel distincion, despues de que aprobo una ley imitadora de la SB 8 de Texas en mayo. Pero los legisladores de Oklahoma fueron aun mas lejos y prohibieron casi todos los abortos a partir de la fertilizacion, en lugar de despues de las 6 semanas. Estas leyes en Texas y Oklahoma usan un esquema de aplicacion vigilante disenado explicitamente para permitir que una Corte Suprema altamente partidista y comprometida mire hacia otro lado y pretenda que no puede hacer nada para evitar que los politicos extremistas vayan en contra de la voluntad del pueblo para prohibir un servicio de cuidado de salud esencial.

Y mientras esperamos la decision de la Corte sobre una ley de Mississippi que, en el mejor de los casos, mantendra el statu quo, sin hacer nada para abordar las leyes de cazarrecompensas que prohiben la atencion del aborto en Texas, Oklahoma y cualquier otro estado que decida hacer lo mismo, sabemos que tenemos que encontrar la manera de seguir luchando para proteger nuestro derecho humano fundamental a controlar nuestra propia reproduccion.

No voy a permitir que ningun tribunal o politico me obligue a tener hijos en contra de mi voluntad, y tu tampoco deberias permitirlo. No hay violacion mas atroz de los derechos humanos de una persona que el embarazo en contra de su voluntad y el parto forzado.

Florida aprobo una prohibicion del aborto despues de las 15 semanas, y la legislatura estatal esta lista para ir aun mas lejos. Si la Corte Suprema anula explicitamente Roe vs. Wade, como la mayoria indico que estaba lista para hacer en el borrador de opinion publicado en linea a principios de mayo, el aborto pronto sera prohibido en todo el sur y el medio oeste. Y a las personas en otras partes del pais les resultara mas dificil obtener atencion debido al aumento de la demanda.

Hay que mirar hacia la gente de Texas, no solo las Poderosas/xs, sino a toda la comunidad de activistas que contribuyen con su tiempo y energia a la red dinamica de fondos para el aborto, organizaciones de derechos humanos y coaliciones de justicia reproductiva en el area. El Valle es el hogar de Frontera Fund, que brinda apoyo financiero y practico a las personas que buscan servicios de aborto, y de South Texans for Reproductive Justice (STRJ, por sus siglas en ingles), que ha estado trabajando sin parar en una campana para proporcionar anticonceptivos de emergencia Plan B a cualquiera que los necesite en el Valle.

Todas las personas que conoci durante mi viaje a Texas fueron una inspiracion, desde las Poderosas/xs que dirigieron el evento para celebrar los 15 anos del Latina Institute Texas hasta las jovenes activistas que siguieron a sus madres para juntarse al movimiento. Nunca olvidare correr en panico para advertirles a los padres jovenes, cuyas hijas estaban golpeando las pinatas que representaban la ley SB 8, que las pinatas tambien tenian como premios paquetes de ayuda con anticonceptivos de emergencia donados por STRJ. Una madre simplemente sonrio y con calma me entrego uno de los paquetes que habia recuperado de sus hijos. Le pregunte si conocia a alguien que pudiera usarlo, y ella asintio y lo volvio a guardar en su bolso.

La manifestacion fue recontra emocionante. Como dijo una de las Poderosas/xs durante su entrevista filmada en el evento: "El cuidado de salud reproductiva y la justicia reproductiva, de veras no se habla de esto dentro de mi comunidad. Hay tantas de mis amigas/xs a quien he tenido que ensenarles lo que es la justicia reproductiva y el cuidado de salud reproductiva, y a veces sienten verguenza porque estos son derechos que la gente debe saber. Como parte de la nueva generacion, les diria, escuchen nuestras voces, escuchennos y tomen en consideracion lo que estamos diciendo."

Las organizadoras y activistas del Valle del Rio Grande son realmente imparables, y debemos verlas como ejemplares para liderar el camino en la lucha por nuestros derechos humanos y la justicia reproductiva.

Durante los pocos dias que pase con ellas en marzo, vi una coalicion multigeneracional de personas alegres y compasivas. Entreviste a mas de una docena de Poderosas/xs que han sido activistas con Latina Institute Texas durante muchos anos sobre sus experiencias organizando en el Valle. Muchas de ellas compartieron la manifestacion con sus hermanas, hijas, madres, hijos, suegras e, incluso, abuelas. Fue una experiencia increible. En el video, cuando se le pregunto a una activista presente que significaba ser Poderosa/x, ella respondio: "Significa que puedo movilizar comunidades, alzar mi voz y hacerle saber a la gente que todos tenemos derechos".

Asi se ve la resistencia, observala bien y endurece tu determinacion, porque la lucha siempre sigue.

Rosa Valderrama es la asociada superior de asuntos publicos y comunicaciones del Instituto Nacional de Latinas por la Justicia Reproductiva, parte de la junta del fondo de aborto Broward Women's Emergency Fund y una orgullosa Poderosa/x del Latina Institute Florida.
Daniel Defense, the gun manufacturing company of the rifle used in the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting, has been accused of violating the law by contributing to a super PAC while maintaining several federal contracts, according to a watchdog group.

The Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission after Daniel Defense reportedly contributed $100,000 to the Gun Owners Action Fund despite having multiple open contracts with federal agencies, the center said.

Those contracts included agreements with the Department of Defense, Department of State and Department of Justice.

Since then, the company has also secured a $9.1 million Department of Defense contract as of March 2022, according to the group.

Courts have consistently upheld the decades-old ban on federal contractor contributions, the watchdog group said on Monday, attributing the ban to the risks of allowing beneficiaries of taxpayer-funded federal contracts to use some of their profits to effectively exchange campaign contributions for additional contracts.

Taxpayer-funded federal contracts are not for sale, and the FEC must act to enforce this critical prohibition and deter further violations, the group added.

The Hill has reached out to Daniel Defense for comment.

After the shooting in Uvalde left 19 children and two adults dead, the gun manufacturer, which made the DDM4 V7 rifle used in the shooting, withdrew from its scheduled appearance at the National Rifle Associations (NRA) annual meeting in Houston, Texas.

Daniel Defense is not attending the National Rifle Association (NRA) meeting due to the horrifying tragedy in Uvalde, Texas where one of our products was criminally misused, a spokesperson for the company previously told The Hill.

We believe this week is not the appropriate time to be promoting our products in Texas at the NRA meeting, the spokesperson added.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee has also launched an investigation into the company, and it has come under scrutiny for marketing to children.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
In this Monday, Sept. 2, 2019, photo, a water tower stands in a neighborhood with a near-by pump jack in Odessa, Texas. AP/ Sue Ogrocki

A water line breakage in a Texan town is wreaking havoc as a heat wave sets in.

Odessa, Texas is expected to be without potable water for 48 hours, according to officials.

A heat wave is expected to bring highs of 100 degrees as crews are working to repair the damage.

The city of Odessa, Texas is facing a 48-hour water shortage due to a water line breakage in the middle of a sweltering heatwave.

According to an Ector County Disaster Declaration, the city of 165,000 residents is facing an ongoing water shortage as of Tuesday morning  just as temperatures are expected to break 100 degrees.

The situation has forced residents to rely on bottled water for the time being, but can have devastating effects related to hydration, sanitation and at-home cooling measures if the breakage persists.

"The loss of potable water is expected to be forty-eight hours at this time," the declaration said, adding that the emergency was caused by a water line breakage. The city of Odessa has also issued a boil water notice as crews work to repair the damage.

"Crews are actively working to close valves in the system to isolate the break, however, this is taking longer than anticipated," Odessa's city government said in the boil water notice posted to their website. "Citizens should expect a significant loss in water pressure and/or no water at all. A significant portion of the community remains without water at this time."

The notice added that the breakage has caused flooding in some areas of town.

The Odessa city government did not immediately respond to Insider's request for information.

The breakage comes as a vicious heat wave is gripping parts of Texas, with temperatures expected to hit between 98 and 100 degrees in Odessa between Tuesday and Friday.

Read the original article on Insider
My Wawa chalupa.

Last month, while white-knuckling the steering wheel in commuter frustration on I-76 East outside Philadelphia, I looked around for something, anything to draw my eye from the ocean of brown-gray automobiles that stood between my apartment and me. I caught a teal billboard to the right. I glimpsed Wawas newest menu item, an option so out of character for the beloved convenience store chain that I full-on Macaulay Caulkined in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Wawa has chalupas now?

The company isnt known for Mexican food. Founded in 1803 in New Jersey as an iron foundry, Wawa pivoted to a milk plant in 1902 and eventually a food market in 1964. In 1972, the store began selling its signature menu item: hoagies.

Read more

Hoagies (known as subs, grinders, or heroes in different parts of the U.S.) are a defining culinary staple of Wawas home in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Wawa even sponsors a Hoagie Day in Philadelphia, celebrated annually around the Fourth of July; the event will serve seven tons of hoagies this year.

How Wawa designs its food menu

So if hoagies are the soul of Wawa, how did we get to chalupas?

For most of its history, Wawa kept entrees to anything you could slap on a long roll or in between slices of bread, ranging from classic Italian hoagies to barbecue chicken cheesesteaks to turkey clubs. But burritos and burrito bowls came in 2016. Brisket showed up in 2019, then left, then came back. Even salads made an appearance. But none of these were given the special post-4 p.m. dinner distinction of the newest menu item, the chalupa.

At lunchtime a few weeks after seeing the billboard, I stopped at my local Wawa and asked an employee for his thoughts, but he had no opinion; his shift ends before 4 p.m. when Wawa kicks off dinner service, so he hasnt tried or served one.

Story continues

That 4 p.m. dinner menu launched on February 14, 2021, with burgers as its flagship product. Since then, Wawas touchscreen menus have expanded to include tacos, fries, quesadillas, and even pastaa response to the surprising success of burgers, CEO Chris Gheysens told the Philadelphia Business Journal in April. Now, Wawa rolls out new products to select stores to get a feel for what sells.

I observed it firsthand as another employee handed out free samples of new loaded fries, which come topped with either cheese, chili, buffalo chicken, or Philly-style steak. I missed out on trying the samples (the last one was snatched out from under me), but it made me think: What could be next for the made-to-order convenience store? Wawa pizza is already confirmed, and Chick-Fil-Astyle sandwiches just made their debut as well.

The strategy there is to take those intuitive products that people know and lovepizza, burgers, tacosand get into those businesses and start to grow, Gheysens explained. He called the companys growth plan aggressive, which might be an understatement.

Wawa currently operates 950 stores throughout Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Washington DC and plans to open 1,800 locations by 2030thats 100 stores per year. I theorize that launching new products simultaneously with a spike in growth could potentially result in a quality drop.

How does the Wawa chalupa taste?

The strength of Wawa hoagies is that theyre remarkably consistent. My go-to order consists of honey turkey, Swiss, peppers, onions, spinach, cherry pepper relish, and light mayo on a 10-inch roll. Its simple, tidy, fast, and tasty, and no matter where I am on the East Coast, it tastes the same. However, opinions vary on how good the sandwiches are. Some people compare the modern Wawa to the days of old, when you ordered verbally instead of tapping a screen and the ingredients were allegedly higher quality. But younger folks like me have never had that Wawa, so I have nothing to compare its hoagies against except the new menu itemswhich, to be honest, isnt even a fair fight.

I head to Wawa after 4 p.m. to see what this new menu item is all about. I prod through the touchscreen, order a pork adobo and beans chalupa, pay at the register, and wait with a grumbling tummy. After a few minutes, the worker hands me my meal, and I inquire about its popularity.

Everybodys getting them, he says, to my surprise.

I firmly believed most Wawa consumers were like me, puzzled by the new menu items when the old staples had always satisfied. But it turns out, as I should have always understood, Wawa isnt a monolithit grows and changes based on customer desires, and it has to find out what those desires are through some trial and error.

Emphasis on error. As I pull my chalupa from the brown paper bag and unwrap the foil, I see a soggy mess of pulled porkwrapped in what Im confident is pita breadand a few clusters of beans, salsa, cheese, and corn. For $8.39, its miserably small; a 10-inch hoagie costs less. My first bite is much too salty. But I continue chewing, wishing for more corn and salsa to break up the flavor. The chalupa is gone before I know it, and Im still hungry. Even though customers are buying it, I wonder if theres any repeat business to be found with these new menu items. In an attempt to become a jack-of-all-trades, Wawa is on its way to becoming a master of none.






The "achievements of the Revolution" just keep on coming: the most recent harvest yielded less sugar was produced than during the Ten Years' War  which began in 1868.

In the latest campaign (2021-2022), 473,000 tons of sugar were produced, while in the turbulent decade of the first independence movement the mills of what was then still a colony produced between 720,250 and 553,364 tons of sugar annually, according to historian Julio Le Riverend in his work Historia Economica de Cuba (An Economic History of Cuba).

And, after the war and the Pacto del Zanjon, the treaty ending the conflict, the 1879 harvest produced 608,364 tons. This last "revolutionary" harvest did not even match the 502,000 tons produced in 1864, four years before Carlos Manuel de Cespedes took up arms in La Demajagua against Spanish colonialism.

It gets worse. In 1894, a year before the landing of Jose Marti and Maximo Gomez in the East to commence the second and definitive War of Independence, the harvest in Cuba produced 1.1 million tons, more than double what was just achieved, in the third decade of the 21st century.

This has, undoubtedly, been the biggest sugar disaster Cuba has ever seen. In a single year production plummeted from the 816,000 tons produced in 2021, with the yield falling 48% short of the target set, something that has never happened, as far as we know, in any other sugar-producing country not affected by a severe natural disaster or pest crisis.

This time, the official designated to face the press was Dionis Perez, a bureaucrat with the AZCUBA monopoly, who told Granma that only 3 of the 35 plants that ground cane in this harvest met the targets in the plan: the Melanio Hernandez, in Sancti Spiritus; the 14 de Julio, in Cienfuegos, and the Boris Luis Santa Coloma, in Mayabeque.

The national plan called for 911,000 tons of sugar. with 500,000 allotted for domestic consumption, and 411,000 for export, of which 400,000 tons were shipped to China to comply with an ongoing agreement with Beijing.

Coming through for China and the ration book

With national consumption at approximately 700,000 tons, it is clear that Cuba will be unable to export sugar, so it will have to import it in order to cover domestic consumption and follow through on its commitment to China. If Cubans in the 1950s had been told that Cuba would have to import sugar, they would have laughed heartily at the joke.

Dionis said that "raw sugar for family groceries is guaranteed (...) Cubans can rest assured, as the product will be in stock at stores."

False. This would be possible if Raul Castro hired a sorcerer or a magician, as the harvest came up 227,000 tons short of the nation's total consumption needs.

According to official data, 250,000 tons are needed to cover stores' ration book quotas. To this must be added consumption at hotels, restaurants, hospitals, schools, workplaces, by the self-employed, etc. And then there is the 400,000 tons for China.

In short, it is impossible to deliver the necessary sugar to China and the amounts entailed by the ration book while satisfying the nation's demand for the product. The numbers do not add up, and the State does not have anything close to the $2.704 billion that it would cost to import 627,000 tons of sugar to satisfy domestic demand, assuming a price of $431.22 per ton of raw sugar, as registered on June 6 (19.56 cents a pound) in New York.

It is a question of mathematics. To honor its agreement with Beijing, and meet the demand for sugar within Cuba, 1.1 million tons are required. So, either the regime leaves its Chinese partner in the lurch, and imports 227,000 tons to cover all domestic consumption; or it does not import that amount, only partially supplies China, and guarantees the volume required by the ration book, but drastically reduces the rest of the country's consumption (and what about tourism?)

There may be other alternatives, but, in any case, a lot of sugar would have to be imported, and there is not enough money to do so. The regime will not have the 650,000 or 700,000 tons for domestic consumption without shorting Beijing, nor will it be able to fully deliver the amounts required by the ration book without the rest of national consumption being affected. As the saying goes: "You can't have your cake and eat it too."

Dionis, of course, blamed the disaster on the "blockade" and repeated the usual excuses, saying nothing about the real causes. In passing, he mentioned that at half of the country's sugarcane plantations agricultural productivity was 30 tons of cane per hectare, a figure so low that it is unheard of.

According to the FAO, Peru produces up to 128 tons of cane per hectare; Guatemala, 95 tons; and the neighboring Dominican Republic, 80 tons. Even many poor African nations surpass Cuba: Senegal produces 117 tons of cane per hectare; Malawi, 107; Zambia, 104; Chad, 102; Burkina Faso, 101; and Ethiopia, 99.

And there is another key fact to mention here: this sugar nosedive is not due to the fact that the Government has reduced sugar production to devote sugarcane fields to producing more food for Cubans, or ethanol for export, or for other agro-industrial purposes. Rather, sugar remains one of Cua's four main exportable goods, along with tobacco, nickel and rum.

With the dramatic downturn in sugar, rum exports will fall too.

Obviously the production and export of rum is going to plunge, as this alcoholic beverage is obtained from cane juice, through either fermentation or distillation.

According to the marketing director of the joint venture Havana Club Internacional, Sergio Valdes, that entity sold more than 4.4 million boxes of rum in the fiscal year culminating in June 2020, of which 1.7 million were sold in Cuba and 2.7 million were exported to Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Russia, China, and other countries.

Havana Club Internacional, created in 1993, is made up of the French giant Pernod Picard, and the Castroist state monopoly Ron Cuba. According to its president, Juan Gonzalez, Havana Club rum is sold for 36 dollars for a nine-bottle box, and is produced in what he said is the largest rum processing plant in the world, located in the province of Mayabeque.

But now these two bureaucrats will have to come up with an excuse, if they haven't already, for their partner Pernod Picard for the huge shortfall in the raw material necessary to make rum.

If 4.4 million boxes were sold in 2020, with a volume of cane that produced 1.1 million tons of sugar, now, with the drop in cane production in this last harvest, the export of Havana Club is going to fall. "Elementary, dar Watson," as Sherlock Holmes would say.

To make matters worse, it turns out that another mainstay of Cuban exports, tobacco, will also drop, as the Tabacuba monopoly admitted that in 2022 the tobacco harvest will yield less than 30,000 tons the worst in 41 years. To give one an idea, 53,396 tons of tobacco were produced in 2000. And there is more (or less): Cuba cannot take advantage of soaring nickel prices today because production of the precious mineral on the island, instead of being ramped up, is dropping.

Undoubtedly, these are all great "achievements of the Revolution."
Louie Dampier could not remember exactly when he last visited Southport Fieldhouse before Saturdays Indiana All-Stars game vs. Kentucky, but it had been a while.

I was back here for a game, the former Southport star said. But I cant remember exactly when.

It was likely 2008, when Dampier returned for a game as part of the 50-year anniversary of Southport Fieldhouse. Little Louie, who was an Indiana All-Star at Southport in 1963, said there was only one basketball venue he preferred to Southport, which was in its first few years of existence when he played for the Cardinals  Hinkle Fieldhouse.

'Everybody just bought into it': Indiana All-Stars bond over wins, laughs to sweep Kentucky

Neddenriep: Is Indiana All-Stars vs. Kentucky series worth keeping? Ask players, it still means a lot.

People dont believe me in Kentucky that this place was built in the late 50s and 7,000 people would be here for high school games, Dampier said. "(Hinkle Fieldhouse) was my favorite place to ever shoot. It had a dark background and the basket just stood out. But this is second.

In this 1965 photo, Southport's Louie Dampier (right), a member of the 1963 Indiana All-Star team, returns for a visit with the Hoosiers working out at Indiana Central. Louie is pictured with Evansville's Earl Schneider (left) alongside one of the Jerry Alderman Ford courtesy cars used by the Indiana team.

Dampier, 77, lives in La Grange, Ky., a city of 10,000 people located 25 miles northeast of Louisville. He is probably just as recognized in Kentucky as Indiana. After high school, Dampier was a two-time All-American for coach Adolph Rupp at Kentucky, playing in the famous 1966 national championship game against Texas Western  the first team to start an all-Black starting lineup in the title game, and regarded historically as a turning point in racial desegregation in college basketball.

Dampier became one of the all-time greats in the ABA with the Kentucky Colonels, setting the record in ABA history for points (13,726) and 3-pointers (794). After the ABA folded in 1976, Dampier closed his career with three seasons in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs (the NBA did not institute the 3-pointer until the year after he retired) and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.

Story continues

Though the 6-foot Dampier became the ABAs all-time 3-point king, he said he did not have that type of range in high school. I was about a 17-foot range in high school, he said. When I came to Kentucky, I had to adjust. They shot about 20 feet  the guards coming off plays for Rupp. Then when I went to the pros, I had to start practicing from 25 feet.

For years, Dampier always told people he probably would not fit into the current NBA game. But now, with the 3-pointer playing a bigger role than ever, he wonders if maybe the pendulum swung back the other direction.

My first year I didnt shoot a very good percentage and didnt shoot that many, he said. But the next year I had a summer to work on it. I used to say, I dont know if I could play the game with these guys. But now I think maybe I could play because they shoot so many 3-pointers on every level.

Former Southport greats Jim Krivacs, an Indiana All-Star in 1974 who starred at Texas, and Joey Brunk, a 2016 Indiana All-Star who played at Butler, Indiana and Ohio State, were also honored pregame with Dampier.

Ayanna Patterson enjoys experience

Miss Basketball Ayanna Patterson of Homestead planned to participate with the Indiana All-Stars as a player. But a freak injury at practice Wednesday at UConn meant Patterson was relegated to an assistant coach role next to her high school coach at Homestead, Rod Parker.

I just tried to bring energy to the bench and to the floor, Patterson said. I just tried to be that fourth assistant and be there to talk to my teammates and cheer them on.

Patterson said at Wednesdays practice at UConn, she hit her elbow on a player's head and shocked a nerve in her arm. Its doing OK now so Im going to get back to Storrs and see how it feels and go from there, she said. Im going talk to the medical staff and just see where we are in the process.

The 6-3 Patterson, who averaged 25.8 points per game as a senior, has been on campus at UConn since May 31.

It's definitely a competitive situation, she said. Im going into one of the best programs in the country, so stepping on that floor has a lot of history and were trying to fill those peoples shoes. Its a lot of pressure, but its a lot of positive pressure. The goal is to bring back a national championship.

Patterson said she was disappointed she was not able to play in the All-Star games, but was glad to make it back for the weekend.

Most of us have played together or against each other from AAU to high school basketball, she said. Getting to play with them to round off our high school career and build this chemistry and connections when weve been rivals for so long is really special.

Essegian, Madden honored

Central Nobles Connor Essegian and Blue River Valleys Ally Madden were honored as the winners of the Wooden/MCL Citizenship award for 2022.

Essegian, a 6-4 guard headed to Wisconsin, finished his career No. 10 on the states all-time scoring list with 2,526 career points. He was a high honor student all four years in high school, finishing in the top 10 academically in his class. He also participated on the schools unified flag football team, student government, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and several other programs.

Madden, who earned 13 varsity letters in four sports, was first team academic all-state. She was treasurer for the student council, vice president of the schools Health Occupations Students of America program and a part of the National Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society, French Club and her churchs youth group.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana All-Stars 2022: Louie Dampier returns, Ayanna Patterson cheers
Senator John Thune speaks at a press conference announcing the 5G launch in Sioux Falls on Friday, November 1, at DocuTAP.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune dispatched his two primary contenders Tuesday with relative ease.

Facing his first primary challenge since winning office in 1996, Thune earned 72% of the vote while challengers Bruce Whalen and Mark Mowry had 20% and 7%, respecitvely.

"I want to thank Republicans in South Dakota for supporting my Senate candidacy, and I look forward to continue putting South Dakota's interests on the national agenda and stopping President Biden's radical, left-wing crusade," Thune said in a statement.

Election results: South Dakota primary

During his campaign, Whalen, an enrolled tribal member, had said the state of South Dakota was becoming dependent on government handouts in the same way that Indian reservations are dependent. He reiterated that Tuesday.

"The Whalen candidacy was ultimately a referendum on South Dakota," he said in a statement. "The state chose Thune and other status quo candidates to continue the march toward ratifying itself as a giant Indian reservation. The Stockholm Syndrome is strong with this state. The rescue continues."

A message for Mowry was not immediately returned.

The victory paves the way for Thune to seek a fourth term in November, where he will face Democrat Brian Bengs.

Running for a fourth Senate term in South Dakota has more often than not ended a political career rather than prolonging it. The state's voters have only elected Karl Mundt to a fourth Senate term. Meanwhile, voters rejected attempts by George McGovern, Larry Pressler and Tom Daschle to win fourth terms.

Whalen and Mowry attempted to tap into populist Republican angst over national issues. Both Whalen, 60, and Mowry, 65, contended that former President Donald Trump had been defrauded in the 2020 presidential election. They criticized Thune for stating that no widespread fraud had been found in the election.

This was not Whalen's first foray into politics. A citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, he had assisted Thune during his 2004 campaign against Daschle by campaigning in Indian Country for Thune. Two years earlier, Thune had lost his Senate bid against incumbent Tim Johnson by a mere 524, and his 2004 campaign sought to improve his margins in Indian Country.

Story continues

Whalen ran for Congress against incumbent Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in 2006, but came away from the election with less than 30% of the vote. He failed to make the ballot as a lieutenant governor candidate in 2018.

Mowry, from Spearfish, had no previous political experience in the state. The 2020 presidential election outcome so incensed him that he attended the Jan. 6, 2020 protest in Washington, D.C. that saw some protesters riot at the Capitol. He said he did not particpate in the riot.

Both men faced Thune's daunting campaign account, which has more than $16 million in cash on hand.

Thune, 61, was able to keep most of that intact for the general election. Like all elected Republicans, he faced the prospect of angry GOP voters who were upset at the political establishment.

As the number-two ranking Republican in the Senate, Thune could have been more vulnerable than most, but national polling indicated that he still had high approval ratings in the state. He sought to sidestep some of the anti-establishment backlash by noting that Democrats control the government in Washington, blaming them for higher gas prices and a southern border seeing record levels of immigration.

"Right now," he said in one ad, "they're in charge. That'll change. When it does, we'll be ready."

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: John Thune wins U.S. Senate republican primary election in South Dakota
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Kootenai County Sheriffs Office

On Saturday, Idaho police arrested 31 people linked to the white nationalist group Patriot Front for allegedly conspiring to stoke chaos at an annual LGBTQ+ pride event in Coeur dAlene. Authorities say the suspects were armed with riot gear, shields, and a smoke grenade, along with documents that appeared to be an operations plan.

Now, in an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast, the mother of one arrestee is speaking out in hopes that her son will finally cut ties with the extremist faction.

Karen Amsden, mom of alleged Patriot Front member and Springville, Utah resident Jared Michael Boyce, said on Monday that her son has struggled to fill a void in his life ever since his father left the family years ago and came out as gay. A licensed clinical social worker, Amsden said shes going public in an attempt to sabotage his standing in the group, because her other attempts at convincing him to walk away from the far right have so far failed.

IDAHO-CRIME/ NORTH COUNTRY OFF GRID/YOUTUBE, via Reuters

I would love to do whatever I can to out him [as a Patriot Front member] so that he cant be a part of it, she said. And that they dont want him to be a part of their group because his mom has loose lips and a big mouth and hes never going to get away with anything.

Amsden said that after her son was released from jail, he told her hed continue to stand with the group, so she delivered an ultimatum. I told him, Well, then you cant live here. You can choose between Patriot Front and your family. And hes like, Well, I cant quit Patriot Front. Im like, Well, then you've just chosen. So pack your stuff and get out of my house.

Hello!! As promised I'd like to introduce you to Jared Boyce aka "Brohumrie Matey" from Springville, Utah! Jared here is a big fan of Patriot Prayer, and he is also a blatant anti-semite, racist, and homophobe.

1/ pic.twitter.com/xsMQZSjHF7  Garfield but Anti-Fascist (@AntifaGarfield) March 17, 2020

According to police, Boyce, 27, was among the men who were busted after a citizen reported a little army of masked men inside a U-Haul truck. (Boyce, whose Twitter bio states that hes an Alpha Chad, professional Antifa teabagger, and Patriot through and fucking through, was previously exposed as a Patriot Front member in 2020. His screenname, @PedosnJooshang, is a variation on Pedos and Jews Hang.)

Story continues

Officers believed it likely the intent of these individuals was to incite physical confrontation and cause disorder, states an incident report shared with The Daily Beast by the Coeur dAlene Police Deparment. The U-Haul van was located and an investigative stop was conducted. A total of 31 subjects were contacted inside of the van. Based on the totality of the investigation, it was determined the subjects were part of the Patriot Front and conspired to use violence and/or the threat of the violence to disturb the public peace. All 31 were arrested for conspiracy to riot.

DHS: Expect More Acts of Violence by Extremists Soon Judging by Recent Attacks

The suspects, who ranged from 20 to 40 years old, traveled to Idaho from states including Utah, Texas, Washington, Alabama, Illinois and Missouri. Those facing charges also include 24-year-old Josiah Buster, a former specialist in the Army who was arrested alongside his brother Mishael, 22. (Heather J. Hagan, a U.S. Army spokeswoman, told The Daily Beast that Buster was in the Army from July 2016 to November 2020 and had never deployed.)

Earlier this year, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that roughly one in five Patriot Front applicants claimed to be current or former members of the military. Those numbers stemmed from the hate groups leaked private chats, which included 87 membership applications.

In the end, while a lot of people say things online, only a few people are willing to sink so low as to intimidate people peacefully celebrating Pride by physically marching around with shields and drawing public attention to their hatefulness, SPLC investigator Michael Hayden told The Daily Beast. We absolutely expect to see the same extremists popping up again because they are the lifers the movement needsmen who have nothing else going for them but their acrid feelings of resentment.

Another Patriot Front member arrested on Saturday, Mitchell Frederick Wagner, was already facing charges for allegedly vandalizing a Black history mural in St. Louis late last year. His lawyer, Michael Kielty, told The Daily Beast on Monday, Although we might not agree with the speech, we have a right to free speech We might not like it, but they have the right to do it.

Amsden said her son told her that anonymous donors bailed him and the other suspects out of jail. When Boyce appeared at her door on Sunday, Amsden said he told her, Dont believe the media, mom. We were just there because theyre grooming kids.

Twitter

Experts say groups like Patriot Front are especially insidious in that they strive to present themselves as non-violent and all-American.

However, Patriot Front is a neo-Nazi group, extremism researcher Jon Lewis told The Daily Beast. Theyre not just white nationalists, they are not Western nationalists, they are not patriots. They are neo-Nazis.

Lewis, who is a fellow at George Washington Universitys Program on Extremism, said Patriot Front intentionally distorts its messaging to give the impression that they are, as their name signifies, patriots. Members distribute fliers and hang posters featuring the American flag, bald eagles, and so forth, messaging which Lewis said does not change the fact that at their core, when you look at what they say privately, they are neo-Nazis.

Before heading to Idaho, Boyce told his mom that he was going camping for the weekend. Amsden, who was busy rehearsing for a local community theater production, said she had no inkling that anything was amiss until a news alert about the hate groups arrests flashed on her phone. And I saw this news story come up that said 31 members of a white supremacist group were were arrested at a rally, and I just knewI knew he was part of it.

Amsden looked through photos of the men in matching hats and white balaclavas and believed she spotted her son.

I could tell it was him, she said. And I had tried calling his phone and it was just going straight to voicemail and then later I was able to access the jail website and confirm that he was one of the guys that was arrested. Its a sick feeling.

Amsden had warned her son after previous Patriot Front trips that hed get into trouble if he continued associating with the group.

Hes so misguided and bought into all their rhetoric. It just makes me sick, Amsden said, adding that she hopes his arrest is a wake-up call to quit.

This is not who I raised, she continued. This is not the example that was set for him.

Amsden said that since his teenage years, her son was looking for some kind of connection and brotherhood.

He landed on Patriot Front years later.

Boyce was married and living with his then-wife and their kids when he became involved with the white supremacist group around 2018, according to Amsden. She said Boyces spouse told her that he found the organization online, and that he had to complete an application and send some money to join.

Boyce began to grapple with his own internal doubts when he was 14 or so, but at that stage, dealt with it in a peaceful way, Amsden recalled. He got a tattoo of Buddha and talked about not letting anger rule you and loving everyone, she said.

But he totally changed when he found this group, Amsden continued. I first understood how far hed gone when he was denying the Holocaustand one of my personal heroes is Anne Frank. And when he told me that, I thought he was kidding. Like, how can you? I just didnt even know what to say.

Boyce and his ex-wife share custody of their children, who Amsden described as the light in my life. Her grandchildren are really the only reason she continued her relationship with Boyce as his views became more and more repugnant, Amsden said.

Once Boyce sank deeper and deeper into white nationalism, Amsden said she began to research Patriot Front for potential clues as to why her son was so enthralled. Amsden considered calling the police to advise them of Boyces white nationalist leanings, but since he hadnt committed a crime, she wasnt sure this was the right move. Her worries came to a head with Boyces arrest this past weekend.

On Monday, Amsden was still trying to process the news as she prepared for Boyce to move out of her home. Boyce instructed her not to speak to the media or to the FBI, a request by which she said she has no intention of abiding.

He actually just showed up here at my house, Amsden said. And it was a moment Ive kind of dreaded because I was hoping he was going to change his attitude. But hes not.

Still, Amsden just really want[s] to believe that people can change, and that he will figure it out, she said. But my goodness, its taking a long time.

With additional reporting by Corbin Bolies.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
By Andrew MacAskill and Michael Holden

LONDON/BOSCOMBE DOWN, England (Reuters) -Britain's first flight to take asylum seekers to Rwanda did not take off as scheduled on Tuesday after the European human rights court issued last-minute injunctions to stop the deportation of the handful of migrants on board.

The British government's plan to send some migrants to the East African country has been criticized by opponents, charities, and religious leaders who say it is inhumane. It has been forced to fight a series of legal challenges in London courts aiming to stop it going ahead.

In the last few days, at least 30 individuals earmarked to be on the first flight successfully argued that they should not be deported to Rwanda on health or human rights grounds.

Just a handful of migrants were set to fly from an air force base in southwest England on Tuesday. Shortly before the plane was due to leave, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) granted injunctions to prevent their deportations.

"I have always said this policy will not be easy to deliver and am disappointed that legal challenge and last-minute claims have meant today's flight was unable to depart," Home Secretary Priti Patel said.

"It is very surprising that the European Court of Human Rights has intervened despite repeated earlier success in our domestic courts."

She said the government would not be deterred and would prepare for the next flight.

The flight was cancelled after the plane's engines had been started and cabin crew was seen boarding.

The ECHR's ruling relating to one of the men, an Iraqi, stated he "should not be removed until the expiry of a period of three weeks following the delivery of the final domestic decision in the ongoing judicial review proceedings."

The High Court in London is due to hold this judicial review in July to decide on the legality of the scheme.

Britain says the 120-million-pound ($148 million) deal struck with Rwanda will stem the flow of dangerous cross-Channel trips and smash the business model of people-smuggling networks.

Story continues

'CATASTROPHIC'

But the United Nations' refugee chief called it "catastrophic", the entire leadership of the Church of England denounced it as immoral and shameful, and media reports have said Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, had privately described the plan as "appalling".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said his government would not be put off by criticism, "some of it from slightly unexpected quarters," had earlier commented that legal bids were undermining attempts to support safe routes for asylum seekers.

Asked if Britain might withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, he said: "It is certainly the case that... the legal world is very good at picking up ways of trying to stop the government from upholding what we think is a sensible law.

"Will it be necessary to change some laws to help us as we go along? It may very well be and all these options are under constant review."

Sangeeta Shah, a professor of international law and human rights at the University of Nottingham said Britain would be joining Belarus and Russia in not being part of the convention if it did opt out. Last week, Russia's parliament passed bills to end the European court's jurisdiction.

"Britain would be saying, 'we dont believe in a system that the whole of the rest of Europe does believe in'," she said.

According to official figures, more than 28,500 people were detected arriving in Britain on small boats last year and the government says its strategy will stop these.

Dozens of migrants, including women and young children, arrived on Tuesday, a Reuters witness in the Channel port of Dover said.

Human rights groups say the policy will put migrants at risk and the UN refugee agency says Rwanda, whose own human rights record is under scrutiny, does not have the capacity to process the claims properly.

(Additional reporting by Kate Holton, Alistair Smout, Kylie MacLellan, and Paul Sandle in London and Clement Uwiringiyimana in Kigali; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Rosalba O'Brien)
Russia Griner Explainer - Credit: Rick Scuteri/AP Photo

Brittney Griners pre-trial detention in Russia was extended again, according to the Russian media outlet, TASS, as reported by ABC News.

Griner will remain in custody for another 18 days, at least through July 2. A representative of the court in Khimki, which is in the Moscow region, said the extension was granted at the request of the investigation.

More from Rolling Stone

Griners pre-trial detention was previously delayed by a month back in May; at the time, her lawyer in Russia, Alexander Boykov, said he believed the WNBA stars case would head to trial soon. Griner also made a brief appearance in a Russian court on May 13.

Lindsay Colas, Griners agent, wrote on Twitter Tuesday night, Todays extension is just further reinforcement that Brittney Griner  an Olympian and an American citizen  is being used as a political pawn. Her detention is inhumane and unacceptable. She has not had a single phone call in her 117 days of wrongful detention, and we call on @POTUS and @VP to act with urgency and do whatever it takes to bring Brittney home immediately. We must fight for BG like family because as an American, she is all of ours.

and we call on @POTUS and @VP to act with urgency and do whatever it takes to bring Brittney home immediately. [2/2] We must fight for BG like family because as an American, she is all of ours. #WeAreBG Sign the petition to bring her home > https://t.co/mcHK15Hzzu  Lindsay Kagawa Colas (she/her) (@kagawacolas) June 15, 2022

Griner has been detained in Russia for over three months now. She was arrested in February after security at a Moscow-area airport allegedly found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her carry-on bag as she tried to enter the country. She was charged with large-scale transportation of drugs and could face up to 10 years in prison.

Story continues

Last month, the U.S. government officially announced that it considered Griner wrongfully detained in Russia. The decision signaled that the U.S. would take a more active role in trying to negotiate and secure her release rather than letting Griner go through the Russian criminal justice system. To that end, former New Mexico governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson, reportedly agreed to work on Griners case as well. Richardson has worked extensively as a hostage and prisoner negotiator, recently working to secure the release of Trevor Reed, a former Marine arrested in Russia in 2019 and sentenced to nine years in prison.

The re-classification of Griners case also changed the public-facing strategy of the campaign to help her. Previously, the U.S. government had advised Griners family, team, and supporters to keep a low profile, lest the media attention allows Russian President Vladimir Putin to turn Griner into an even bigger bargaining chip at a moment when relations between the U.S. and Russia are already heavily strained over the war in Ukraine. Since then, Griners family and supporters have been able to speak more openly about her case, with LeBron James lending his voice to her cause earlier this month.

In a letter he shared on social media, James said Russia was using Griner as a political pawn, that she was experiencing inhumane conditions, and had been denied communications with her family and loved ones. He continued, It is imperative that the U.S. Government immediately address this human rights issue and do whatever is necessary to return Brittney home.

This post was updated 6/15/22 at 8:14 a.m. ET with a statement from Griners agent, Lindsay Colas.

Best of Rolling Stone

Click here to read the full article.
Caterpillar Inc. announced plans Tuesday to move its global headquarters from Deerfield, Ill., to the company's existing office in Irving, Texas.

"We believe it's in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillar's strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby.

Caterpillar has had a presence in Texas since the 1960s, the company said in the news release. Illinois retains the largest concentration of Caterpillar employees anywhere in the world, with 12,000 in the Peoria region alone as of 2018.

January 2018: Caterpillar officially names Deerfield its headquarters

The company will begin transitioning its headquarters to Irving this year. Caterpillar last moved its global headquarters in 2017, from Peoria to Deerfield. The company had been previously headquartered in Peoria since 1930.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker asserted that despite Caterpillar's move, Illinois has become a leader in attracting small and large corporations. He reiterated his administration's commitment to driving job growth throughout the state.

"Its disappointing to see Caterpillar move their 240 headquarters employees out of Deerfield over the next several years when so many companies are coming in," Pritzker said. "We will continue to support the 17,400 Illinoisans who work for the company in East Peoria, Mapleton, Mossville, Pontiac and Decatur  which remains Caterpillars largest manufacturing plant in North America."

Caterpillar Inc. headquarters in Deerfield.

In a Thursday statement to The Dallas Morning News, Caterpillar Inc. global media and public affairs manager Kate Kenny said talent attraction was a key reason for the relocation.

"We believe being in the Dallas-Fort Worth market will give us the ability to attract new talent and provide additional career opportunities for our employees to aid in retention," Kenny said. "The Irving location provides global access to our employees, customers and dealers with close proximity to two major airports."

Story continues

Caterpillar currently has 126 job openings in Texas at careers.caterpillar.com.

How Peoria lost Caterpillar's headquarters

An elaborate new headquarters for Downtown Peoria was announced in 2015.

Three eight-story office towers were to anchor a six-block, 31-acre campus. Green space, walking and biking paths and retail options were included.

February 2015: Caterpillar staying put in Peoria, expanding headquarters

But those plans were scuttled just two years later during an economic downturn for the company.

First to city leaders, then to employees and finally to the community, Caterpillar revealed its change of course: The plans to build a new office complex in Downtown Peoria had been scrapped, and the company would move its global headquarters to the Chicago area by the end of 2017.

"What we're really after here in terms of the location is access to flights and the ability to get to markets more quickly," Umpleby said then.

January 2017: Caterpillar moving headquarters, CEO from Peoria to Chicago

At the time, Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis called it "a punch in the gut," while state Sen. Dave Koehler said, "It's something that everyone feared, but had hoped would never happen."

From the history books: With Cat's last HQ move, Peoria was all smiles

In announcing the move to the Chicago area, Umpleby said that the board of directors had been discussing a new location for some time.

Since 2012, about two-thirds of Caterpillars sales and revenues have come from outside the United States," Umpleby said. "Locating our headquarters closer to a global transportation hub, such as Chicago, means we can meet with our global customers, dealers and employees more easily and frequently.

Caterpillar is the second major corporation to recently leave the Chicago area. Boeing Co. said in May that it was moving its headquarters to the Washington, D.C., area.

This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Caterpillar news: Caterpillar Deerfield IL to move HQ to Texas
Jun. 14LEWISTON  For Christoph Kroger and his siblings, dancing is a family business.

The 17-year-old from Peru performed in his final recital with The Dance Center on Sunday evening in the auditorium of the Gendron Franco Center at 46 Cedar St. He is the youngest of nine siblings, all of whom performed for The Dance Center and other dance companies throughout the state.

"It's funny to watch because when I came back from college, he was a little guy," said Amelia Pullen, a teacher and choreographer for the Auburn-based studio. "Now here he is, a full grown man, graduating."

Prior to taking over the business from her mother in 2020, Pullen studied at Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi, around the time Kroger began dancing.

Waiting in the wings sporting green tights, Christoph was admittedly nervous but optimistic. "I'm excited for everything else (in my life) to come but nervous to leave all my friends," he said.

Although some of the family is scattered across the country, those in Maine gathered for their brother's final performance.

"It's almost like the end of an era, I guess, since he's the last of us to go through The Dance Center," Brennan Kroger, 31, said. "I'm looking forward to seeing the culmination of all of these years of effort and practice and hard work," he said.

"I'm really excited. It's sad that he's finishing up, I really credit his progress as a dancer," Gabriella Kroger, 24, said. "It's a big sister moment for me."

The first of the Kroger dancing troupe to step on stage was Mara, the eldest, who asked her parents to enroll her in ballet classes at age 10. Her sister and seven brothers who followed took after her, performing in a variety of styles such as modern, tap, jazz, and hip-hop, as well as ballet; their names popping up in recital programs for over 20 years.

"It's been kind of exciting over the past several years watching 'The Nutcracker' performances that have been done at the Franco Center, knowing that many of the lead performances have been my sons and being impressed, like 'Wow, I didn't know my sons could dance like that.' I'm very proud of all of them," their father, John Kroger, said.

Story continues

According to collected demographics and statistics of dancers in the U.S., roughly 79% of ballet dancers are women. But that reality did not deter John or his sons.

"It's what they like to do," their father said. "Growing up I remember watching Mikhail Baryshnikov dance  and he made a couple movies  knowing that whatever the stereotypes of dancers are, they're strong and athletic people, and to be able to do what they do they have to be in very good athletic shape and I know my sons are all very athletic and very serious about taking care of their bodies to be able to do the things they do," he said.

"I never felt weird because when I started I was young enough that I really didn't think about it at all, and now it's just  I dance. It's a part of me," brother Nicholas Kroger said.

Christoph and his siblings were home-schooled by their father, a family physician at Swift River Family Medicine in Rumford, and his wife, Christina, both of whom attended Bates College in Lewiston. All of the Kroger siblings have gone on to pursue their education and careers, with Christoph enrolled in the electricians program at Eastern Maine Community College for the fall.

But that doesn't mean that his dance career is completely over.

"I was planning on taking a few dance classes while I was in college just because it's one of my passions. I grew up on it and, for me, it's a way to express myself. I just love doing it and it makes me feel confident in myself and it's a lot of fun to do," he said.
The Jackson area experienced a heat wave this week with temperatures in the mid-90s and a heat index of between 102 to 105 degrees on Monday and Tuesday as a result of a recent rainstorm, according to the National Weather Service.

David Ford of Gluckstadt, Miss., dons a towel to protect his neck from the sun's heat and harmful rays as he walks in Strawberry Patch Park in Madison, Miss., Monday, June, 13, 2022.

A heat index is the combination of the ambient temperature outdoors and the humidity level to project how the combination will feel to the human body. Jackson's humidity levels on Monday and Tuesday ranged from a mid 70% to a mid 80% with temperatures in the mid-90s.

Christopher Rainer, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service said taking frequent water breaks is a good way for residents to beat the heat.

"I would ...highly recommend residents to stay hydrated for the next day or two and avoid strenuous outdoor activities," Rainer said, adding the heat index was expected to reach 102 on Tuesday. "On Wednesday the heat index will proceed back to normal at 94 degrees in Jackson."

Entergy Mississippi, which serves approximately 461,000 customers in 45 Mississippi counties, offered advise to customers on Monday to help them control their electric usage.

"It takes more energy to maintain a pleasant climate in your home since heating and cooling costs make up about 55% of the typical customers electric bill," electric provider Entergy Mississippi said in a press release Monday.

Entergy provided a few steps to help customers get started on managing electric bills this summer:

Making sure the air coming into your home is clean and healthy is a great way to start. Air filters on some air conditioning units require monthly cleaning or replacing. You can also get your A/C inspected to make sure your system is leak-free and operating as efficiently as possible. Entergy Mississippi customers can get incentives of up to $150 with a tune-up through the Entergy Solutions program.

Set your thermostat at 78 degrees or the highest comfortable temperature. Every degree lower than 78 can raise your bill by as much as 3%. If you crank down the A/C to a cooler 72 degrees, youve already increased your bill by 18%.

Sealing cracks and holes around doors, windows, and closing blinds will help keep the cold air in and the hot air out.

Buying a programmable thermostat. As energy rise, costs also rise. A programmable thermostat is another way to help manage costs when you are away, whether for the day or on an extended vacation.

Story continues

Using the methods provided is a great way for residents to cut down on their electric bills and save energy.

Due to the extreme heat this week, the city of Jackson has opened three cooling centers, open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, for seniors ages 60 years and older:

Champion Community Center, 1355 Hattiesburg St. (601-960-1918)

Tougaloo Community Center, 318 Vine St. (601-960-1423)

Smith Robertson Community Center, 505 John Hart St. (601-960-2167)

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson residents prepare for the summer heat as the temperatures rise
A bipartisan set of House and Senate lawmakers is proposing a new compromise for government screening of American investments in China as part of a pending economic competitiveness bill aimed at confronting Beijing.

The discussion draft would set up a new federal oversight panel with the authority to review and potentially deny new American investments in China or other adversarial nations over national security concerns, according to text of the draft reviewed by POLITICO and first reported by the Wall Street Journal. It would also force American investors and firms to disclose new investments in certain Chinese sectors, such as semiconductors, batteries and pharmaceuticals.

The provision would dramatically expand U.S. government oversight of investments American companies make in foreign countries. It would represent a new step in the U.S. government's efforts to prevent U.S. technology and innovation from falling into China's hands.

The draft, circulated by supportive congressional offices on Monday, aims to be a compromise between legislation originally proposed last year by Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), and a less stringent Treasury Department proposal circulated this spring that focused on corporate disclosure of new investments in China, without new regulatory power.

Leading business groups, along with the Treasury, have been skeptical of awarding new powers to the government to review American investments in the worlds second largest economy, worried that increased oversight will hamper the competitiveness of American firms and quell investment. But the seven lawmakers offering the compromise say the new authority is necessary to address concerns about American funding and technology ultimately aiding the Chinese government and military.

Creating an outbound investment review mechanism is a critical tool as Congress works to provide guardrails on taxpayer funds and safeguards our supply chains from countries of concern, including the Peoples Republic of China, said a statement from Casey and Cornyn, along with Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.).

Story continues

The new compromise differs from the original bill in a few key areas. Instead of making the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative the head of the new government oversight panel, it leaves that designation up to the president. That change was made after widespread concern that USTR was not large or resourced enough to handle leading the new interagency panel.

Transactions covered by the law would include funding new facilities like factories, joint ventures that involve technological transfers to China, as well as capital investments in Chinese startups and technology firms, according to text of the draft. That potentially expands the jurisdiction of the original bill, which did not explicitly focus on capital flows into Chinese firms, though its language was broad enough to potentially include them if the White House saw fit. The new draft also includes exemptions for so-called ordinary business transactions that do not involve transfers of advanced technology or American intellectual property.

The lawmakers are hopeful that the new draft language addresses concerns about the original legislation held by industry and some free-trading lawmakers. The new proposal has bipartisan, bicameral support and addresses industry concerns, including the scope of prospective activities, industries covered, and the prevention of duplicative authorities, the lawmakers wrote to their colleagues, adding that the draft aligns the United States with the outbound investment mechanisms of our allies.

But whether the compromise will garner broader support is unclear. Earlier iterations, like a draft circulated by Cornyn last month, failed to gain traction in negotiations over the economic competitiveness legislation. Already, some critics of the push say the new draft will do little to quell criticism of the legislation.

People are going to have the same complaints about this as they did the other one, said Clete Willems, a partner at Akin Gump who served on the National Security Council and National Economic Council during the Trump administration. It doesn't resolve many of the concerns about the original bill, including that it's overly broad, or that it will put us companies at a competitive disadvantage when they're trying to sell into China.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), a free trade supporter and longtime critic of the push to expand outbound investment controls, quickly indicated on Monday that he was not happy with the new draft, arguing Congress should address the issue with open hearings and a markup, rather than behind-the-scenes negotiations.

I have yet to be convinced that existing export control laws are falling short," he said in a statement. "Moreover, Im concerned this proposal grants the federal bureaucracy sweeping new authorities to dramatically disrupt and halt the free flow of trade and investment, risking slower economic growth and higher prices for consumers. Such a dramatic expansion of the administrative state should be first carefully considered through regular order.

The supporters, led by Casey and Cornyn, are requesting feedback from Congressional offices and outside groups by Wednesday as they try to forge ahead with a conference committee on the broader bill, which is anchored by $52 billion in domestic semiconductor manufacturing incentives. House leaders have said they want a vote on that package before the July 4 recess, but the overall bill has been stuck in broader negotiations for months.

CORRECTION: The previous photo on this article was a picture of Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), not Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) as the caption stated.
Destroyed Russian military vehicles

On the Russian side, this shortage became widespread already the last month and then so much so, that multiple Russian proxies' artillery units are inactive for weeks already.

The RFA is rushing to re-arm them with old D-20s caliber 152mm, but these are frequently misfiring: what a surprise, considering both guns and their shells are 40+ years old

Read also: Ukraines Armed Forces have liberated three villages in the Donetsk oblast

Ukraine was critically short of artillery ammunition in general, already before the war.

Urgent acquisitions (from Bulgaria, for example) have only partially solved the problem: everybody (see: all the possible NATO-related governments and other instances) scrambled to purchase more, since 24 February, but after three months of war there is ever less left to deliver.

Unavailingly, this is going to make deliveries of 155mm artillery munition to Ukraine an ever-bigger issue. If nothing else, this is easier to get  even if far more expensive  because there are so many manufacturers of it; no, not so much in the USA and the EU, but all the way from Chile, via South Africa, to Singapore, Japan, and Australia

In the aftermath of Kyiy and Warsaw signing a deal for the delivery of Krab self-propelled howitzers caliber 155mm, there are lots of reports about Ukrainians already using a lots of Krabs. Indeed, even the Russians began claiming them for destruction. Actually, out of some 54 said to have been delivered by now, only one battalion (approx. 18) has reached the frontline, and what the Russians claimed as destroyed Krabs were old 2S1 Gvozdikas

Air

On 8 June, the Keystone Cops claimed to have targeted a military base in the Zhytomyr Oblast, used for training of foreign mercenaries, and their high precision missiles to have destroyed one Osa AKM (SA-8) SAM-system in the Razdolivka area.

Apparently, on that day they deployed quite a few Iskanders to strike targets along the frontline, so also in Slovyansk and Severodonetsk.

Story continues

On 9 June, Ukrainians claimed that one of their interceptors shot down an incoming Russian missile over Romenskyi district, in the Sumy region (photos of missile wreckage were released, so I consider this one as confirmed).

During the night from 9 to 10 June, VKS Tu-22M-3s have fired Kh-22s at Kharkiv, Dnipro, perhaps even at Kryviy Rih.

Read also: Near Izyum, Ukrainian forces shot down Russian Ka-52 helicopter

The Keystone Cops claimed to have targeted the Dnipro airport and destroyed Ukrainian air force equipment. Another such strike should have destroyed production facilities of an enterprise rebuilding AFU weapons and military equipment in Kharkiv.

Whether they actually hit something of that kind is unclear: local Ukrainian authorities are reporting only wounded between civilians, while one of the factories in Dnipro caught fire for other reasons, not because of Russian air strikes.

On 10 June, the Keystone Cops claimed to have intercepted and shot down four Tockha-U ballistic missiles fired by Ukraine, including this one over Donetsk.

Moreover, the pro-Russian separatists are generally complaining about random Ukrainian shelling of civilians in Donetsk: well, actually, Ukrainians are targeting quite specific targets there, like this stadium in Stakhanov that was used as a base for Wagner mercenaries.

Reportedly, there were numerous casualties (some say up to 250300). Ah yes, the last few days the VKS claimed to have shot down three jets of the Ukrainian Air Force (which, permit me to remind you: was completely destroyed back in March and April): 1 Su-25 near Mazanovka, on 8 June (by air defenses), 1 Su-25 near Dovhenke, in the Kharkiv Oblast, and 1 MiG-29 near Ingulets, in the Dnipro oblast, on 9 June.

As usual, nothing in support of such claims was released. But nevermind: VKS fighter-bombers have hit 46 areas of AFU manpower and equipment concentrations, killing 150 and destroying 6 tanks.

I love it when Konashenkov knows the score as if playing a video gameBut hey: BPTM Terminators look so cool, so let's distract everybody with a photo of one. Everybody knows the people have a memory of the fish

Read also: 500 civilians, including 40 children, are hiding at the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk, says Hayday

Battle of Donbas

Kharkivwell, whatever the Russians might have attacked and captured there, early this week, was at least reversed  if it was ever actually captured. On the contrary, its Ukrainians that are meanwhile pushing northwards on either side of Vesele towards the Russian border.

Moreover, Ukrainians retained  perhaps even slightly expanded  the area they control around Ternove, and their bridgehead east of Staryi Saltiv is holding firmly (though the latter is no surprise: the Russians have only a battered BTG of the 27th Independent Guards Moto Rifle Brigade on the other side).

It turned out that Dovhenke remains under Ukrainian control, after all. Instead, the last four days, heavy fighting was reported from the Bohorodichne, which seems to be under heavy Russian artillery barrages and ground assaults. However, Zhidkos troops seem unable of doing more in that area. Indeed, a few kilometers east, and south of Sviatohirsk, the RFA should have taken Tetyanivka, on the southern side of Siversky Donets, back on 8 June, but even this attack seems to have been repelled.

In other words, for the time being, the Russian offensive was stalled  probably due to heavy losses. Ukrainian lines are holding firm in the Raihorodok area, too: nevertheless, evacuation of the population of Slovyansk was initiated because the town is under repeated missile strikes and artillery barrages.

Severodonetsk despite Ukrainian announcements about a huge wave of Ukrainian attacks, and despite Western reports about the Russians rolling back all Ukrainians have captured since their counterattack on 3 June, the battle there remains a back-and-forth: even the Russians (who have counterattacked with fresh forces from the LNR) are meanwhile  grudgingly  admitting they do not have the town under control. Arguably, the last two days Ukrainians said they have withdrawn back to the Industrial Zone.

However, even the Russians are reporting the control over only the north-eastern side of the town and not (yet?) having recovered villages south of it (like Metolkine and Borivske).

Most likely, neither side controls the center of Severodonetsk  which, considering descriptions provided by involved Ukrainian troops is no surprise: the town is meanwhile under continuous, and vicious Russian artillery fire and sustained air strikes

(which, apparently, are beginning to impress ever more Western observers note for records: guess, its time for another analysis of VKS operations).

The same is valid for eastern Lysychansk, too. Overall, there is no doubt the situation in Severodonetsk remains critical, even more so because there is no end to reports about a shortage of artillery ammunition for nearby Ukrainian artillery units. In this regard, it cannot be stressed often enough: the situation along the T1302 road further south is decisive for the future

Popasna Bulgethe T1302 road remains safely in Ukrainian hands. Indeed, it appears the Russians ceased trying to push in its direction and instead have concentrated on pushing in the north-eastern and southern direction, for the last 23 days. The primary target became Toshkivka, attacked because it might enable the Russians to encircle Hirske and Zolote, held still held by the Ukrainian Territorial Defence.

The Russians seem to have secured most of Toshkivka, on 6 and 7 June and then attacked westwards: one attack was defeated on 8 June, and another on 9 June. On the other side of that effort, the RFA and Separatists seem to have managed to force Ukrainians out of Komyshuvakha (this achievement is celebrated in the Russian social media as if theyve conquered Kharkiv.).

Read also: Ukrainian National Guard obliterates Russian MLRS near Severodonetsk

South

The counterattack of the 7th VDV Division on the Ukrainian bridgehead in Davydiv Brid did recover a part of that village, but the rest was repelled and Ukrainians are, finally, reporting advances in southern and south-eastern direction or at least their troops are in Bruskynske and Kostromka, plus in the process of liberating (what is left of) Davydiv Brid.

More importantly, after the 28th Brigade and the local TD unit reported a successful counterbattery operation in the Kherson region, since 9 June there are reports about Ukrainians launching a major counteroffensive along the entire width of the frontlines in the Kherson area.

First reports are indicating the liberation of more than 20 villages. Major attacks seem to be south of Mykolaivka (which was liberated) towards Ivanivka, from Zarichne (also liberated) towards Akrhanhelske, and south of Blahodatne (liberated).

That said, there are lots of reports about improved Russian artillery survivability, severe electronic warfare hindering operations of Ukrainian UAVs, and effective counter-battery fire, and these hindering Ukrainian advance.

On the contrary, the Keystone Cops in Moscow are zip-lip about their 49th CAA being under vicious assault on almost the entire length of its frontline. Its unimportant, apparently, and thus they are only reporting some kind of their own attack on Olksandrivka south of Kherson: turns out that peninsula is still under Ukrainian control

Finally, the situation in the Zaporizhzhya Oblast is unclear: Western intel assessments are calling the activity there very limited.

Read also: Kharkiv millionaire Vsevolod Kozhemiako's military unit helping defend Ukraines second-biggest city

However, Ukrainians are reporting that the RFA has abandoned numerous forward positions, and even pulled back on multiple points. Indeed, there are reports about Ukrainians advancing by 510 kilometers in several directions.

Just: nobody would say exactly where or provide any kind of evidence in favor of one or the other version

That all said  and mind: its perfectly possible that its much too early to say, actually  my overall impression is: that the pendulum has (already) swung

This column was first published by Medium. NV is republishing it with permission from the author.


The U.S.-Saudi relationship has lately endured some of the worst tensions in its history. But President Joe Bidens first visit to the Middle East next month, with stops in Israel and Saudi Arabia, offers a surprising opportunity  if both sides will take it.

A wide range of issues have stoked disagreement and mistrust between the longtime partners: Iran nuclear talks, the war in Yemen, the Saudi posture on U.S. rivals Russia and China, human rights (including the murder of Jamal Khashoggi), social reform in the Kingdom, oil production and prices, and the U.S. commitment to the Middle East.

Thats a lot to tackle in one presidential visit of perhaps 24 to 48 hours. As senior officials from both countries travel between Washington and Riyadh to lay the groundwork, they should be realistic about what is achievable. One principle that should guide preparations: Not all bilateral differences can be resolved at once. However tempting a grand bargain may be, the relationship is more likely to be repaired step-by-step.

What is most critical to address first? Each side has core strategic interests for which they need to see the other side demonstrate concern. Cementing a set of understandings around these issues would make a visit valuable, even while other disagreements remain.



For Saudi Arabia, the core strategic interest is ensuring its defense against the threat posed by the regime in Iran and its proxies, particularly the Houthis in Yemen, who, with Iranian backing, training and arms, have launched dozens of rockets against Saudi civilian targets. Closely related is the Saudis desire for confidence that the United States is committed to stopping Irans development of nuclear weapons and that Washington retains a strategic commitment to the Middle East and to its regional partners, even as it addresses other strategic priorities in the Indo-Pacific and Europe.

Here, Bidens experience cultivating the close U.S.-Israel alliance, while also navigating real differences, is relevant. His career-long bond with Israelis is evidence that as long as one demonstrates clear understanding and empathy for a partners major security fears, it is possible to have very tough discussions on a range of topics and work through areas of disagreement.

Story continues

Biden and Saudi leaders may not agree on returning to the Iran nuclear deal, for example; neither do Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (nor do the authors of this article, for that matter). One side sees the agreement as the least bad available alternative to buy the most time delaying Irans nuclear program, while the other side argues it only delays the inevitability of an even worse Iranian nuclear breakout and fuels Irans other regional aggressions through major sanctions relief.

The bridge to overcome this disagreement is to achieve understandings on what follows the nuclear talks, whether they collapse or result in a renewed nuclear deal. In either case, Irans implacable hostility can be expected to fuel escalation. Recognizing the severe threat Iran and its proxies will continue to pose to U.S. forces and partners necessitates clear U.S. commitments, underscored by its ongoing presence in the region: to assist in development of integrated regional air defenses; to sanction and designate Iranian entities engaged in terror and its ballistic missile and drone programs (even while the nuclear agreement lifts terrorism sanctions on Irans central bank and oil and tanker companies); to facilitate interdictions of weapons shipments to proxies; to rally international condemnation of the regimes interference in its neighbors affairs and abuse of its own people; and to prepare military deterrence and defense options, alone or with others, to ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon. That should include a clear and credible threat by Biden to use military force to stop an Iranian nuclear weapon. And the Saudis, who were shaken by the lack of any U.S. response to the Iranian attack on its major oil facility at Abqaiq in 2019 under the Trump administration, must have confidence that they will not be left alone in the event of similar attacks in the future. These commitments, which apply both to a renewed Iran nuclear deal and its sunsets and to a no-deal scenario, and which do not rule out maintaining deescalation channels to Iran, should also elicit a Saudi commitment to take no steps toward developing its own uranium enrichment capability.



For Biden, the core strategic interest that must be addressed is ensuring that Saudi Arabia continues to orient its policies toward the United States, rather than hedge its bets by leaning toward Russia and China. There are many aspects to such commitments, from avoiding acquisitions of major Chinese and Russian military systems to standing with the United States in condemning outrages like Russias invasion of Ukraine and Chinas persecution of Muslim Uyghurs. In the context of the war in Ukraine, it also requires Saudi Arabia to agree to increase oil production to bring down prices, so sanctions on Russia have deeper bite and European energy supply needs can be met by non-Russian sources. Abandoning the oil production quotas the Kingdom and Russia established in the OPEC+ agreement will be a clear sign that the Saudis are prepared to give as well as receive, and understand that to be treated as partners, they must act like partners.

That is the essence of the bargain for both sides: the restoration of a partnership. It has always been somewhat transactional  a steady and cheap supply of oil in exchange for security  but its critical elements remain relevant even in the face of serious, perhaps unbridgeable, differences between the countries leaders. Saudi Arabia has no serious alternative to the United States as a guarantor of its security against the very real threats it faces. Facilitation of Saudi Arabias own defense capabilities, and assurances of U.S. intentions, are fundamental to the Kingdoms success. Meanwhile, todays oil price spike underscores the critical role that Riyadh has often played during past geopolitical crises in stabilizing oil markets. And in an era of global superpower competition, keeping key Middle Eastern nations aligned with the United States is imperative.

These are the central requirements that would make a visit to Saudi Arabia worthwhile. And yet it would leave important issues unresolved, from U.S. concerns over Saudi human rights violations to Saudi complaints that its dramatic social reforms underway have not been recognized. Biden should acknowledge these profound changes, perhaps by meeting dynamic female social and business entrepreneurs only recently allowed by Saudi leaders to pursue their ambitions, which they attribute to decisions of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). Biden can give credit where due and encourage a positive trend. But the Saudis should go further: They need to release key human rights activists from prison, especially those who pushed for the very social reforms MBS has now embraced, and commit not to imprison them in the future. They should also allow Raif Badawi and Loujain al-Hathloul, recently released from prison for advocating these social reforms, to secure a clemency from travel bans that would allow them to leave the Kingdom and, in Badawi's case, reunite with his family in Canada.



The Khashoggi murder will continue to hang heavily over this relationship, as it should. In a clear, direct, private conversation between Biden and MBS, it must be made clear that it is a stain that will remain; that there is genuine remorse; that the Khashoggi familys needs will be met; that no such crimes will be committed again; and that a pragmatic partnership on broader interests must proceed on this basis.

Beyond the confines of this visit, its in the broader interests of both countries for Saudi Arabia to eventually join the Abraham Accords. This is a priority that Biden should advance, and a stabilized bilateral relationship should enable him to do so in the remaining years of his first term. Growing Israeli-Saudi military and intelligence cooperation suggests the promise of greater commercial, technology and people-to-people cooperation, and eventual full diplomatic relations. Cementing a coalition of moderate states in the region, advancing Saudi modernization, development and economic diversification goals, and  handled sensitively  offering the Palestinians a path to participate in normalization that improves, rather than impedes, prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement are all mutual goals that normalization can advance. Bidens trip may include a signal of what is possible, with a limited step like the resolution of the status of Saudi islands in the Red Sea while ensuring freedom of navigation for Israeli ships, or the expansion of Israeli civilian overflights of Saudi territory. Extending the current U.N.-negotiated truce in Yemen will also help sustain a stabilization of U.S.-Saudi ties, while leaving open the path toward a more permanent settlement.

The mutual interests served by stabilizing this partnership should lead Biden and the Saudi leadership to embrace a framework to recognize and advance their respective core strategic interests. This approach will serve one other critical cause: helping ensure that the U.S.-Saudi partnership is not subject to drastic swings with every change of U.S. administration. Biden is a known skeptic of the Saudis, views he held long before he called them a pariah during the 2020 election campaign. Precisely for this reason, in striking such a deal he is well-positioned to strengthen bipartisan support in Congress and among the American people for the principle that this complicated, yet vital, relationship is worth preserving. That is an interest that surely Biden, the Saudis and most Americans can agree on.
Taiwans top trade negotiator told Reuters on Tuesday that a Chinese military attack on the island would harm the global economy more than Russias invasion of Ukraine.

John Deng noted that the world relies on Taiwan for computer chips used in electric vehicles and mobile phones, meaning the implications of a Chinese invasion would be sweeping for any industry that relies on the technology.

China has stepped up its military drills and rhetoric toward Taiwan since Russia invaded Ukraine, adding to global fears that China may feel emboldened to invade the island, which it claims historical control of.

Russias invasion has sent economic shockwaves across the world, sharply increasing oil and gas prices and raising fears of famine in multiple countries in light of food export bans and other disruptions within the bread basket to much of the world.

The disruption to international supply chains; disruption on the international economic order; and the chance to grow would be much, much (more) significant than this one, Deng said, comparing the Russian invasion to a potential Chinese one.

Reuters reported that Taiwans chip exports last year were worth $118 billion. Deng said 40 percent of Taiwans chip exports go to China, but Taiwanese officials are attempting to diversify further.

President Biden added fuel to tensions between China and Taiwan when he said last month that the United States would be willing to defend Taiwan if China invaded. The White House clarified that the U.S. was still following the One China policy and has not changed its stance.

The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 commits the U.S. to helping Taiwan defend itself but does not commit to direct U.S. engagement, and America has maintained a stance of strategic ambiguity on the islands independence.

After Biden made his comments, China announced it would conduct military drills near Taiwan, which a spokesperson said were a solemn warning to the recent U.S.-Taiwan collusion activities.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Gen. Wei Fenghe, his Chinese counterpart, on Friday that Beijing must avoid further destabilizing actions toward Taiwan.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
MELBOURNE, Australia and BOSTON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX, Telix, the Company) today announces that it has advanced a partnership with Invicro LLC (Invicro), a global, industry-leading imaging CRO, and part of REALM IDx, Inc., to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) platform to accompany Telix's PSMA-PET[1] imaging agent, Illuccix (kit for the preparation of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide) - known as TelixAITM.

(PRNewsfoto/Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited)

TelixAITM seeks to increase the efficiency and reproducibility of clinicians' imaging assessments using advanced analysis capabilities with an initial focus on prostate cancer. The platform is designed to do this by automatically separating healthy versus abnormal tracer uptake and then classifies lesions as either visceral (soft tissue) or bone lesions.

Invicro has a depth of experience in AI, machine learning and algorithm development for medical imaging. Its industry leading medical image analyst team consists of over fifty medical image processing scientists. The commercial objective of the development partnership is the submission to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(K) approval for software as a medical device.

A demonstration of the TelixAITM was presented this week at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) Annual Meeting being held in Vancouver, BC from June 11-14.

Telix Chief Scientist, Dr. Michael Wheatcroft said, "We are pleased to be advancing the TelixAITM platform with Invicro, which aims to further enhance the utility of molecular imaging starting with Illuccix. Our investment in TelixAITM is expected to extend into multiple applications for Telix's late-stage imaging assets, including TLX250-CDx, which is currently completing a Phase III pivotal trial in renal cancer imaging."

CEO of Invicro, Matt Silva, Ph.D., continued, "Invicro is delighted to bring our deep expertise in PET imaging, AI and machine learning and take this collaboration with Telix's Research and Innovation team into the next stage. We are excited about the possibility of bringing this software to realization with Illuccix and for the potential impact on clinicians' decision-making and patient outcomes with Telix's broad theranostic pipeline."

Story continues

About Invicro

Headquartered in Needham, MA, Invicro, a part of REALM IDx, was founded in 2008 with the mission of improving the role and function of imaging in translational drug discovery and development across all therapeutic areas. Today, Invicro's multi-disciplinary team provides solutions to pharmaceutical and biotech companies across all stages of the drug development pipeline (Phase 0-IV), all imaging modalities and all therapeutic areas, including neurology, oncology, and systemic and rare diseases. Invicro's quantitative biomarker services, advanced analytics and AI tools, and clinical operational services are backed by Invicro's industry-leading software informatics platforms, VivoQuant and iPACS, as well as their pioneering IQ-Analytics Platform, which includes AmyloidIQ, TauIQ and DaTIQ.

Invicro operates out of eight global laboratories, clinics and sites within the United States in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, Connecticut and globally in the United Kingdom, India and Japan. For more information visit www.invicro.com

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.

Telix's lead product, gallium-68 (68Ga) gozetotide (also known as 68Ga PSMA-11) injection, 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 Europe[4] and Canada.[5] Illuccix is currently being investigated for use with Invicro's AI visual assessment software tool.

Important Safety Information: https://www.illuccixhcp.com/important-safety-information

Please see full U.S. Prescribing Information at: http://illuccixhcp.com/s/illuccix-prescribing-information.pdf

Invicro Media Contact

Brad Lotterman

REALM IDx Communications Director

Email: blotterman@realmidx.com

Telix Investor Relations

Ms. Kyahn Williamson

Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

SVP Corporate Communications and Investor Relations

Email: kyahn.williamson@telixpharma.com

This announcement has been authorised for release by Dr. Christian Behrenbruch, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer.

Legal Notices

This announcement may include forward-looking statements that relate to anticipated future events, financial performance, plans, strategies or business developments. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "anticipate", "outlook", "forecast" and "guidance", or other similar words. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's good-faith assumptions as to the financial, market, regulatory and other considerations that exist and affect the Company's business and operations in the future and there can be no assurance that any of the assumptions will prove to be correct. In the context of Telix's business, forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about: the initiation, timing, progress and results of Telix's preclinical and clinical studies, and Telix's research and development programs; Telix's ability to advance product candidates into, enrol and successfully complete, clinical studies, including multi-national clinical trials; the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, manufacturing activities and product marketing activities; the commercialisation of Telix's product candidates, if or when they have been approved; estimates of Telix's expenses, future revenues and capital requirements; Telix's financial performance; developments relating to Telix's competitors and industry; and the pricing and reimbursement of Telix's product candidates, if and after they have been approved. Telix's actual results, performance or achievements may be materially different from those which may be expressed or implied by such statements, and the differences may be adverse. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Telix disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or a change in expectations or assumptions.

The Telix Pharmaceuticals name and logo are trademarks of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited and its affiliates (all rights reserved).

[1] Prostate-specific membrane antigen-positron emission tomography. [2] ASX disclosure 20 December 2021. [3] ASX disclosure 2 November 2021. [4] ASX disclosure 10 December 2021. [5] ASX disclosure 16 December 2020.

SOURCE Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited
(Bloomberg) -- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the war may stagnate if deliveries of advanced weapons from Ukraines allies dont accelerate, reiterating fighting will end only when all invading troops leave the country.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said its up to Zelenskiys government to make any decisions about territorial concessions, adding the US and its allies are working to make sure Kyiv receives the help it needs to have a strong hand on the battlefield.

Russia continued its assault on Sievierodonetsk, shelling the city and surrounding villages as it pushes to capture the Ukrainian governments last major foothold in the eastern region of Luhansk. The regional governor said Russian troops now control 80% of the city.

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

Key Developments

Ragtag Hackers Wage Ad Hoc Cyberwar on Putins Supply Lines

Russia Turns to Old Tanks as It Burns Through Weapons in Ukraine

Ukraine Grain Exporters Carve Out New Route Via Baltic Sea

Ukraines Farm Industry Has Lost $4.3 Billion From War Damage

Worlds Wealthy Flock to UAE as War Spurs Russian Capital Flight

Self-Sanctioning of Russia Sparks Worries About Ripple Effects

(All times CET)

Blinken Says Zelenskiy Makes Call on Territory (2:15 a.m.)

When asked about territorial concessions in an interview with PBS NewsHour, Blinken said those decisions would be made by Ukraines democratically elected government, including Zelenskiy. Ukraines future is up to the Ukrainians, he said.

Blinken added the US is working with its allies and partners to deliver assistance in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putins forces.

Story continues

There is terrible death, theres terrible discussion, and thats the result of Russias aggression. We are determined that Ukraine gets what it needs to deal with this aggression and ultimately to have a strong hand at any negotiating table that emerges, the secretary of state said.

China Passes Over Russia Defender Diplomat (2:13 a.m.)

China transferred one of its most high-profile diplomats -- and senior Russia experts -- to a state media regulator, fanning speculation Beijings tensions with the West will influence who becomes the countrys next foreign minister.

Former Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng, 59, who has stood in for Foreign Minister Wang Yi in recent months, has been made deputy director of the National Radio and Television Administration, according to a government statement. The lateral move out of the Foreign Ministry likely removes the Russian-speaking Le from the running to replace Wang, 68, one of Chinas most visible officials globally.

Read more: China Moves Russia Defender Out of Line for Foreign Minister Job

Kostin Sees Ruble at 70-75 to US Dollar (1:23 a.m.)

Russias VTB CEO Andrey Kostin expects markets to price the ruble at 70 to 75 to the US dollar by the end of the year with a restoration of imports, Kommersant reported, citing an interview with the executive. Some companies had to freeze many large-scale projects because they cant import equipment blocked by sanctions, which led to building up of excessive amount of foreign currency.

The main task is to restore imports, Kostin told the newspaper. He also expects that the Russian banking sector will return to positive results next year, according to his interview.

The ruble gained almost 15% against the dollar in May as capital controls limited demand for foreign currency amid a flood of export revenues. It gained versus the dollar for a fourth day, climbing as much as 2.1% to 55.63, the highest since 2018, according to Micex pricing.

US Open to Let Russians Compete Under Neutral Flag (8:04 p.m.)

The United States Tennis Association will let Russian and Belarusian athletes compete in this years US Open under a neutral flag.

Based on our own circumstances, the USTA will allow all eligible players, regardless of nationality, to compete at the 2022 US Open, organizers said in a statement, adding that they continue to condemn the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia Says Critic Navalny Sent to Maximum Security Prison (7:45 p.m.)

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has been transferred to a maximum-security prison in Melekhovo in the Vladimir region east of Moscow, Tass reported, citing comments from an official.

Navalny, who has criticized Russias war in Ukraine, lost his appeal last month against a new nine-year prison sentence, a move his supporters say is aimed at further isolating President Vladimir Putins top critic. Navalnys spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said on Twitter that his whereabouts had not been confirmed.

Ukraine Agriculture Has Lost $4.3 Billion From War (7:10 p.m.)

Ukraine has suffered $4.3 billion in damage to farmland, machinery and livestock as a result of Russias invasion, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.

About half of the already immense destruction from the war comes from pollution caused by land mines and unharvested crops, according to a report by authors Roman Neyter, Hryhorii Stolnikovych, and Oleg Nivievskyi. Almost a quarter of the total -- $926 million -- accounts for damage done to farm machinery due to military activity and occupation, they write.

Read the full story here.

Russia Extends Detention of US Basketball Star Griner (6:36 p.m.)

Russias detention of Brittney Griner, the US basketball star and Olympian, has been extended until July 2, Tass reported.

Griner is being held for allegedly possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. US officials have said the WNBA player is being wrongly detained, a signal they believe the case is political, not criminal, amid rising US-Russian tensions. The court granted a request that Griner be detained for 18 more days while an investigation continues, Tass reported, citing the courts press service.

Russia Scours Far East for Old Tanks (5:35 p.m.)

Russia is scraping across the country to find manpower and weapons, including old tanks based in the Far East, having used up much of its military capacity in the first 100 days of its invasion of Ukraine, according to senior European officials with knowledge of the situation on the ground.

EBRD to Provide Ukraines Naftogaz 300 Million-Euro Loan (5:31 p.m.)

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will provide Ukraines state-run energy company Naftogaz with a loan of as much as 300 million euros ($313 million) to help compensate for the loss of natural gas production following Russias invasion, according to a statement on its website.

Naftogaz will get an initial tranche of 50 million euros from the EBRD to purchase gas and aims to raise 1 billion euros in total to buy as much as 1 billion cubic meters of gas for winter, according to the statement.

Russia Bans UK Journalists, Defense Officials (5:21 p.m.)

Russia is banning entry to 49 British correspondents and editors, as well as senior executives of UK defense companies, in what the Foreign Ministry called retaliation for the treatment of Russian journalists by the authorities in London. Prominent BBC, ITV and Sky News reporters were among those named, as well as former Moscow correspondents from the Guardian and editors of newspapers including the Times, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail.

Senior UK defense officials Jeremy Quin and Leo Docherty were included on the list, as well as top British army officers and senior officials from BAE Systems and Thales UK. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said they were involved in making decisions on the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

US Treasury Extends Carve-Out for Energy (5:15 p.m.)

The US Treasury Department has extended a general license for transactions related to Russian energy, giving US people and entities until Dec. 5 to make and process payments, a date that coincides with a pending European ban on Russian oil imports.

A Treasury spokesperson said the license will allow the USs European allies time to transition away from Russian energy as the West attempts to restrict one of Russias main revenue sources. The carve-out was previously set to expire on June 24.

The US has moved in recent days to tighten sanctions, preventing US investors from purchasing Russian corporate and sovereign debt on the secondary market.

Putin to Meet Indonesian President June 30, Tass Reports

Putin will meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Moscow on June 30, the state-run Tass news service cited an unidentified Kremlin source as saying. That would mark a rare visit by an international leader since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Indonesia is the current chair of the Group of 20 and will host the G-20 summit of leaders in November in Bali.

US President Joe Biden called in March for Russia to be removed from the G-20 over the invasion.

Ukraine Says It Downed Some Russian Missiles in Western Region (4:06 p.m.)

Air defenses blocked several missiles over the Ternopil region of western Ukraine, governor Volodymyr Trush said on Telegram. One missile, launched from the southeast, was downed in the neighboring Lviv region and its wreckage fell on a brick factory, causing four casualties including one child, according to Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi.

Three Russian cruise missiles launched from the Black Sea were knocked down on Tuesday afternoon by anti-aircraft missile systems, the Air Force Command said on Facebook.

Russia to Open Humanitarian Corridor From Sievierodonetsk (1:25 p.m.)

Russias Defense Ministry said it will establish a humanitarian corridor from Sievierodonetsk to the separatist-held part of the Luhansk region on Wednesday from 8 a.m. local time to 8 p.m.

Zelenskiy Says War May Stagnate on Slow Weapon Deliveries (1:18 p.m.)

The military situation in Ukraine may stagnate and more people can die if advanced weapon deliveries from the West arent sped up, Zelenskiy said in an online press conference with Danish reporters from Kyiv.

We are losing people, that is the biggest problem Zelenskiy said.

Ukraine needs adequate weapons to be able to hit targets from long distances within its territory, he said, even as he ruled out attacking objects in Russia. Without such weaponry, both sides keep moving the front line in small pushes from 1 to 5 kilometers in either direction. Zelenskiy reiterated that the war will end only when all foreign troops leave the country and its territorial integrity is restored.

Rights Court Condemns Russias Foreign Agent Law (12:22 p.m.)

The European Court of Human Rights unanimously condemned Russias Foreign Agent law as a violation of the freedoms of assembly and association, saying the measure used capriciously imposed fines against civil society groups. It ordered the Kremlin to pay damages and costs totaling more than 1.1 million euros in response to applications by 73 Russian NGOs labeled foreign agents under the 2012 law.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia no longer recognizes ECHR decisions after Putin signed a law on Saturday declaring its rulings after March 15 unenforceable in the country.

Ukraine Asks Europe for Grain Storage (11:27 a.m.)

Ukraine asked European partners for temporary grain storage to help preserve its next crop.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Markian Dmytrasevych told a European parliament committee that Ukraines total grain storage capacity was reduced by 15 million tons to 60 million tons after Russian forces occupied areas in the south and east and damaged silos in artillery and missile attacks.

Grain producers and exporters may face storage deficit of between 10 million and 15 million tons by October after the new harvest is collected from fields.

Russia Steel Output to Fall 15% in 2022 (11:00 a.m.)

Russian steel production is poised to decline by 11 million tons this year to 59.6 million tons, the nations biggest producer NLMK said in a statement.

Steel is one of the Russian industries that have been hardest-hit by sanctions.

Millionaires Flee Russia, Says Henley (10:15 a.m.)

Russia suffered the biggest emigration of millionaires in the world during the past six months, with a forecast net outflow of 15,000 by the end of 2022, according to a report by Henley & Partners.

That accounts for about 15% of Russias population of high net worth individuals, and 9,500 more than in 2019, pre-pandemic. The invasion is also driving millionaires out of Ukraine, which is predicted to suffer the highest net loss in the countrys history -- 2,800 people or 42% of its high net worth individuals.

Sievierodonetsk Situation Difficult, Official Says (8:42 a.m.)

Russian forces shelled a chemical plant where 540 to 560 local people are sheltering, Oleksandr Stryuk, head of Sievierodonetsk military administration, said on national television.

There is a stockpile of provisions at the shelter. Ukrainian forces are fighting to maintain their foothold in Sievierodonetsk and are evacuating civilians sporadically but conditions are above difficult, Stryuk said.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
The Yakima Herald-Republic in early June asked District 4 congressional candidates for their position on a variety of local and national issues. Their responses will be published ahead of the Aug. 2 primary election as part of a weekly series.

Anything else of note: Garcia is the plaintiff in one of two lawsuits filed over new voting boundaries in the Yakima Valley.

Occupation: Tanker crewman in the U.S. Army and National Guard, Americorps supervisor at OIC of Washington, loan specialist and community development specialist U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development

Community service: Foster First board member; former creative director for Walt Disney Company's largest employee volunteer project Flashback; winner of the Horatio Alger/Louis Feinstein Humanitarian Award

Brad Klippert

Name: Brad Klippert

Age: 64

Community of residence: Kennewick

Occupation: Aviator in the U.S. Army, Commander of the Washington State Guard, Benton County Sheriffs Deputy

Education: EMT training from Columbia Basin College; paramedic training from Central Washington University; bachelors degree in Behavioral Science and Biblical Studies from Northwest University; masters in teaching from City University

Community service: The ARC of Washington state, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Association of Washington Business, the Fraternal Order of Police, Washington Council, the Washington Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, the Washington Food Industry Association

Previous elected office: State representative for District 8, 2008-present
Weather Alert

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...High temperatures of 98 to 106 expected. * WHERE...In Washington, Lower Columbia Basin of Washington, Foothills of the Blue Mountains of Washington and Yakima Valley. In Oregon, Lower Columbia Basin of Oregon. * WHEN...From 11 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Widespread afternoon high temperatures between 98 and 106 degrees are forecast with the highest temperatures expected in the Lower Columbia Basin of Washington. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
A lack of trust toward medical organizations, or medical mistrust, is a barrier to safe and timely health care, especially for Black, Latinx and immigrant patients. It can result in missed appointments and delayed procedures, which in turn lead to higher risks of adverse health incidents and potential death.

And now, as abortion bans are set to go in effect in 22 states if Roe v. Wade is overturned, this mistrust will increase and, along with it, the danger to people who can get pregnant.

In the early 1960s, my grandmother went to her physician in New York and asked for an abortion. Like most people seeking abortions, she already had children and was concerned about finances, especially because she had only been in the United States for a year. She didnt understand the horrified look on the doctors face. Abortion was available in Istanbul, Turkey, where she had emigrated from, even though it was not officially legalized until 1983.

Her doctor said he could get arrested and was shocked that Turkey was so advanced. How could a poorer, mostly Muslim country be ahead of the United States on reproductive rights? He spoke over my grandmother, dismissed her concerns and sent her home with confusion, worry and no alternatives.

This adverse experience made my grandmother wary of doctors, so much so that she was silent when in terrible pain from a uterine prolapse after my mother was born. Years passed before she finally received treatment for the condition. Sixty years and two generations later, I am enraged that history is poised to repeat itself with the leaked draft to overturn Roe v. Wade.

As a public health professional, I fear that criminalizing abortion will exacerbate medical mistrust beyond reproductive health. If people cannot confide in their health care team and seek support, they  like my grandmother  might put off treatments of any kind.

The fact that some states are trying to convict those attempting abortion is already having a chilling effect, as in the case of Lizelle Herrera, who was arrested and held on a $500,000 bail for an alleged self-induced abortion in Texas. Someone at her hospital had reported Herrera to the police.

And while the charges were later dropped, a Texas bill  which would become law, post-Roe  would allow citizens to report and sue anyone who facilitates an abortion, including a medical provider. Other states, such as Idaho, have followed Texas lead.

If people cannot trust their health care providers without fear of criminal charges, the health consequences are far-reaching and immeasurable. Withholding medical information and positive health outcomes directly conflict, and I have seen this firsthand.

One of the deadliest health secrets a pregnant person might not share is that theyre in an abusive relationship. When I was a crisis counselor for sexual and domestic violence, several pregnant survivors struggled to tell doctors what care they needed. Hospitals left many feeling judged and discriminated against. Survivors learned to use past health care experiences as a litmus test for how much a provider could be trusted.

The more mistrust that exists between a patient and their health care institutions, the less health care is used. If the goal of restricting abortion access is to truly protect children, growing medical mistrust between doctors and pregnant people will negate the desired affect.

To counteract medical mistrust, we must fight to hold health care institutions accountable to their patients and make them worthy of trusting.
Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.
The final shape of the presidential bill was decided by the Polish Parliament on Thursday. Members of the ruling Law and Justice party and Kukiz'15 MPs rejected most of the amendments submitted by opposition senators. Instead, certain elements were modified in accordance with the expectations of Zbigniew Ziobro's United Poland party.

Both the President and the Law and Justice party hope that the bill will lead to unlocking EUR 23.9 billion in subsidies and EUR 11.5 billion in cheap loans under the Polish Recovery and Resilience Plan. Brussels was holding back on releasing the funds when the Polish government failed to implement last year's Court of Justice of the EU rulings on the Disciplinary Chamber.

Ruling camp officials suggest that the EU money had nothing to do with their decision- "We wanted to introduce these reforms anyway", they claim. Similarly, President Duda says that his main goal is to improve the functioning of the Supreme Court, even if it was he who created the Disciplinary Chamber in 2017 in the first place.

Now, the European Commission will assess whether the reform is in accordance with the rule of law "milestones" set in the National Recovery Plan. But while the President and the ruling party believe that it does, the opposition and NGOs monitoring the rule of law beg to differ.

REKLAMA

- The "let's do something and see if it works" approach may pay off. And so far, it looks like it does  Dr. Maciej Taborowski, an EU law expert, said about the presidential bill. He emphasized that it is on the Commission to interpret whether the conditions are met.

- The conditions are formulated in quite general terms and allow for various interpretations. We have to be aware that the decision to release the funds will also be largely political - he added.

The law will come into force 30 days after its announcement in the official journal.

REKLAMA

***

Every day, 400 journalists at Gazeta Wyborcza write verified, fact-checked stories about Polish politics and society, keeping a critical eye on the ruling camps persistent assault on democratic values and the rule of law; the growing cultural tension between religious fundamentalism and human rights; and the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. Our journalists are on the front lines in 25 Polish cities, reporting from the streets, hospitals, and courtrooms about issues that move public opinion.

We decided to make our service available to everyone free of charge in order to provide access to high quality journalism for expats and English speakers interested in Polish affairs.

REKLAMA

The access to information should be equal for all.
The opposition Democratic Coalition has called on ruling Fidesz to vote for its earlier proposal cutting VAT for basic foodstuffs to zero percent.

DK spokesman Balazs Barkoczi told an online press conference on Monday that food prices had jumped by 25% in May.



Citing the magazine G7.hu, Barkoczi said the price of cheese, butter, pork, pasta and another 30 items had grown significantly last month, and the cabinets window dressing has failed to stop rising prices.



Fidesz said in a statement in response that had it been up to Ferenc Gyurcsany, DKs leader, then prices would have risen four-fold, as the left wing would have scrapped the price cap on household utility bills and caps on vehicle fuels and basic foods.



MTI Photo: Tamas Kovacs
YORK -- Everyone knows of those small town high school sweethearts that just cant get enough of each other. Melvin and JoAnn Reetz of York have been gushing over one another for 75 years and their love for one another keeps on growing.

Melvin and JoAnn both attended York High School where they caught each others eyes for the first time.

JoAnn said they had met through a group of friends. Melvin smirked and said, I dont remember that.

Soon after, JoAnn invited Melvin on their first date.

JoAnn said, I played in the band and we were having a banquet, and of course we could invite a guest, so I invited him to go.

Melvin graduated from York High School in 1944 and JoAnn graduated in 1945. After graduation, the teenage love birds got hitched at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in 1947.

From there they went on their honeymoon to Yellowstone, where they saw beautiful country and mountains. That was only the start of their newlywed adventures.

Melvin worked most of his life as a farmer and JoAnn worked at the Telephone Company in Lincoln. They settled in York, Nebraska where they were blessed with having two daughters, Sheri Beins and Patsy Haggadone.

As a mother of two and wife of a farmer, JoAnn was what many would call a supermom these days. On their farm, they raised cows, chickens and turkeys.

He tried to teach me how to milk cows, but I put my foot down, said JoAnn. For the couple of times Melvin lost JoAnns turkeys, it only seemed right for Melvin to milk cows himself. JoAnn said, Theres a lot of give and take. We tried to get along the best we could. We evidently did something right.

One of Melvins favorite characteristics of JoAnn was how great of cook she is. Melvin loves her homemade rice pudding and JoAnn loves his runzas. JoAnn said, He was a good runza maker. No one went hungry in the Reetz household.

Melvin also adored how she made every effort to look after the family, saying, She was a good mama. She took care of the family.

After farming for several years, Melvin worked as the York County Assessor for 30 years. He worked part time and took care of the girls as JoAnn worked. Melvins idea of watching the girls was giving them a full day of play and letting them take care of themselves. With no surprise, JoAnn would always come home to Sheri and Patsy climbing up and jumping off trees.

Once the girls grew older and moved out of the house, Melvin and JoAnn made plenty of time for themselves. The traveled all over the world, to places like Hawaii, Alaska and New England. Theyve had good memories visiting their daughters Patsy and Sheri. In the winter time they would visit their daughter Patsy in Florida, and in the winter time, they would visit their daughter Sheri in Estes Park.

For their 50th wedding anniversary, they went on a cruise where Melvin was able to see the Panama Canal, which so happened to be on his bucket list.

From dancing to the song Tiny Bubbles on the sandy beaches of Hawaii to hiking the trails of Estes Park, Melvin and JoAnn have seen it all together. It has been 75 years of give and take as JoAnn said, but its also been 75 years of true bliss and happiness.

Its the love story Melvin and JoAnn Reetz.
YORK -- This summer, Genevieve Tonniges of York will be working as the Anna Bemis Palmer Museum Fellow to organize the museum collections and prepare temporary displays in the Anna Bemis Palmer Archives and Classroom building at 520 North Grant.

Tonniges will be graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in December with a triple major in French, Russian and global studies. Tonniges said she chose global studies as a major because she wanted to travel and see the world in college. Besides having the perks of flying oversees, Tonniges said she chose global studies because it is interdisciplinary at UNL.

Tonniges said, There are only two global study classes I have to take, and the rest comes from other humanities. I took a lot of history classes and anthropology courses that deal with human history in all various forms.

Tonniges main goal as a Fellow is to take the experience shes had with global studies and apply it to running the new and improved Anna Palmer Museum. The vision is to have the Anna Bemis Palmer Archive and Classroom building on Grant serve as a space to organize and catalogue the collection and to have temporary museum displays open to the public. This summer, Tonniges will be sifting through boxes of historical gems and doing research for future exhibits.

We are going to have an exhibit for York Balloon Days, one for Yorkfest, and I would like to get three more in by the end of the year which may sound ambitious, but that is the end goal, said Tonniges.

Additionally, Tonniges will be contacting local schools this fall about youth field trips.

I want to eventually reach out to schools and get traffic in here, said Tonniges. I would like to see more excitement in the community about sharing the Anna Palmer story and other resources we have here.

This wont be the first time Tonniges has sparked community engagement in Yorks history. At only eight years old, Tonniges was leading tour groups for Wessels Living History Farm. She was given a binder, almost the size of her at the time, filled with pages of information about Wessels Farm, and she read that binder from start to finish without any hesitation.

The first day I gave a tour at Wessels, it was to a group of college students from Doane. By the end of the tour, they all had this confused look on their face like they just got schooled by a little girl, said Tonniges.

Tonniges love for history came from entertaining dinner talks with her father. When I was little, I was a very picky eater, and my dad would tell me random history facts about events like World War II until I would eat all the vegetables on my plate. Though, I still dont like beets to this day.

Tonniges volunteered at Wessels for ten years where she led tours and taught classes to both adults and children. She helped with any event planning, volunteer coordination and catalog research.

After she volunteered at Wessels, Tonniges worked at a congressional archive in Omaha and completed an internship with the Homestead National Historical Park.

Although shes been all over the world, Tonniges said theres no place like York. I didnt think I would come back right away, but this opportunity came up and I couldnt turn it down, she said..

Tonniges said she is excited to give back to the community through telling stories about Yorks early settlers. I can bring the experience of someone who is much older, with the eye and excitement of someone who is much younger.

York City Administrator Sue Crawford said, We are fortunate to have a York graduate, who has museum and archive training and experience working with York area history, return to bring a fresh perspective to what the Anna Bemis Palmer collection can offer to the community.
YORK  A 19-year-old woman from Kansas City, Mo., is accused of assaulting deputies with the York County Sheriffs Department.

Angelique Herrington appeared this past week for arraignment in York County District Court, before Judge James Stecker.

According to court documents, a deputy with the York County Sheriffs Department conducted a traffic stop, in the middle of the night, on S. Lincoln Ave.

Another deputy arrived to assist and the female passenger said she was Brianna Herrick but could not provide a date of birth. It is alleged that she tried to walk away from the deputies and they handcuffed her.

Deputies allege that she resisted their efforts to place her in the back seat of a patrol unit, kicking deputies in the legs and groin. She also struck a deputy in the head with her handcuffs and at some point a taser had to be deployed.

It was also noted that was a dent and scratches on the outside of the cruiser.

She later told a deputy and an officer with the York Police Department that her name was Angelique Herrington, according to court documents.

During a search of the vehicle, deputies found pipes, grinders, other forms of paraphernalia and an alcohol container.

She pleaded not guilty to eight charges: second degree assault of an officer, a Class 2 felony; third degree assault of an officer, a Class 3A felony; third degree assault of an officer, a Class 3A felony; resisting arrest, a Class 1 misdemeanor; obstructing a peace officer, a Class 1 misdemeanor; criminal mischief, a Class 3 misdemeanor; minor in possession, a Class 3 misdemeanor; and false reporting, a Class 1 misdemeanor.

A jury trial has been set for late October.
For the longest of time, Mahindra has prided itself as the largest Utility Vehicle in India offering both SUVs and MUVs. However, back in May 2022, another homegrown automaker Tata Motors emerged as the second largest four-wheeler brand and also the largest UV maker in the country. Tata has 4 SUVs in the portfolio, namely Punch, Nexon, Harrier, and Safari. The combined sales of all 4 SUVs stood at 29,891 units in May 2022, which is higher than Mahindras combined sales of 26,650 units.

Mahindra currently retails only UVs with no hatchback or sedan in the portfolio with products like XUV300, XUV700 among others. However, with the arrival of the 2022 Mahindra Scorpio-N, Mahindra can again regain number one UV maker title in the country.

The Mahindra Scorpio has been one of the most popular SUV in the country and the new model will hit the Indian roads on June 27. Along with the Scorpio-N, Mahindra will continue selling the current-gen SUV renamed as the Scorpio Classic. Both the SUVs, along with the Thar and XUV700 and even Bolero are expected to put Mahindra on top of the UV sales chart.

Both Mahindra Thar and XUV700 garnered massive response from the car buyers in India and command a hefty waiting period, extending more than a year for most of the variants. The 2022 Scorpio-N is expected to generate similar demand from buyers, and is one of the most anticipated launches of 2022.

The Mahindra Scorpio-N quintessentially has no rival as of now. Nevertheless, prospective buyers of models like the Hyundai Alcazar, MG Hector Plus, and Tata Safari will keep the Scorpio-N on their lists. Talking about prices, expect the entry-grade petrol trim to start from around Rs 12 lakh, ex-showroom. The range-toppers pricing might go up to Rs 20 lakh, ex-showroom.

2022 Mahindra Scorpio-N Dimensions

A leaked data recently highlighted the size of the 2022 Mahindra Scorpio-N, which will be bigger than the Tata Safari. The 2022 Mahindra Scorpio-N is 4,662 mm long; 1,917 mm wide; 1,870 mm tall and has a wheelbase of 2,750mm. The ground clearance of new 2022 Scorpio is expected to be about 200 mm. When compared to the current Scorpio, which will continue to sell alongside the new Scorpio and will be renamed as the Scorpio Classic, the new Scorpio-N is 206 mm longer, 97 mm wider, 125 mm shorter and has a 70 mm longer wheelbase.

Live TV
Global semiconductor chip shortage has plagued the Indian automotive industry. Long waiting periods are the result of this supply shortage. While a few carmakers have resorted to selling cars without the infotainment units and installing them post-delivery. The South Korean brand - Kia, on the other hand, will now be offering just one key with its products, whereas the second key will be offered at a later stage. So, if you take the delivery of your Kia vehicle now, the second key will only be handed over in October this year. In the Indian market, the brand currently sells a total of 5 products - Carnival, Carens, Seltos, Sonet, and EV6.

The Kias model line-up is sold with two smart keys. However, only one of them will be handed over at the time of delivery. With this move, Kia is trying to ensure that it sells all of its cars with all the features, unlike other OEMs, who have started cutting down features from their offerings.

Also read - Top 5 Upcoming Royal Enfield bikes in India; Himalayan 450, Classic 650 and more

The Kia EV6 is the newest model from the brand in the Indian market. Since it comes to our shores via the CBU route, it is kept away from the single-key strategy. The electric car is sold at a starting price of Rs 60 lakh, ex-showroom. Available in two configurations - FWD and AWD, the EV6 is underpinned by an EV-specific architecture that also helps it with a low centre of gravity.

Furthermore, it gets a 77.4 kWh battery pack, and the claimed range for the Kia EV6 stands at 528 km. Also, there are five unique colour options on offer - Moonscape, Snow-white pearl, Runway Red, Aurora Black Pearl, and Yacht blue.
Upgrading its services now, Google Maps has added a new feature to its list of already existing features. The new features will allow users to get an estimation of the amount of toll tax one needs to pay on a certain route. It is to be noted that the new feature has already started appearing on both the Android and iOS apps, as per Google. The feature is not entirely new in the market, as Google had announced the feature back in April. According to Google, the feature is available in its iOS and Android apps for "nearly 2000" toll roads in the United States, India, Japan, and Indonesia. It plans to expand support to more countries "soon."

For the planner friend: this new feature is for you.



Now when youre planning trips big and small, you can check estimated toll prices before you pick a routeand spend what you save on road snacks. pic.twitter.com/Lfy8s2TXQU  Google Maps (@googlemaps) June 13, 2022

To give you a detailed insight, the toll pricing displayed on the maps will be based on the information from the local authorities, as per Google. Moreover, the toll prices will be calculated considering the time of the day. But, Google will not always give you the toll prices on your routes; there is an option to avoid getting the prices. Earlier, the maps could only alert you when you would pass a payable toll.

Also read: Upcoming Royal Enfield Hunter 350 leaked ahead of launch - Check images

A few days ago, Google had added a new feature to the Maps showing the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city you are moving from. However, the feature was only available for the Android and iOS used based in the US. The data to show the AQI of the place is acquired from trusted agencies like Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US. The other source of information on the air quality is PurpleAir, which is capable of giving hyper-local information about the conditions.

It is to be noted that Google has been adding multiple features to the Maps since the beginning of the year. In January the tech giant added an India-first feature using which users can access their current location to get the 'plus codes' to address for their home. Plus codes are digital addresses that are free, open-sourced, and provide accurate addresses for sites, including those without formal addresses.
The DGCA has fined Air India Rs 10 lakh for denying boarding to passengers with valid tickets and then failing to provide them with mandatory compensation. The fine has been imposed on the Tata-owned airlines after a series of checks carried out by the aviation watchdog at various locations like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi. In recent times, DGCA has been imposing fines on various airlines owing to faults in their services. Earlier, DGCA imposed fines on other Indian airlines like Indigo Spicejet.



"After that a series of checks were carried out by DGCA and during our surveillance at Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi, there were specific instances, in the case of Air India - where the regulation (regarding compensation to passengers) is not being followed and therefore, a show-cause notice was issued to the airline and also a personal hearing was afforded," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement.

According to the regulator, Air India may not have a policy in this regard and does not pay compensation to the passengers. "To say the least, it is a matter of serious concern and unacceptable. In the specific cases detailed in the show cause notice, after going through AI submissions, as part of enforcement action, the competent authority has levied a penalty of Rs 10 lakh," it noted.

Also read: Amarnath Yatra 2022: How to book helicopter ride to cave, timings and price - Know it all

"In addition, the Airline has been advised to immediately put the systems in place to resolve the issue - failing which further action shall be taken by DGCA," it added.

If a passenger is denied boarding despite having a valid ticket and has reported at the airport on time, certain regulations have to be followed by the airline concerned, as per the DGCA.

In case the airline concerned is able to arrange an alternative flight for the affected passenger within an hour, no compensation is to be paid, the DGCA regulations state. However, if the airline is able to provide the alternative arrangement within the next 24 hours, compensation of up to Rs 10,000 is prescribed in the regulations.

For anything beyond 24 hours, compensation up to Rs. 20,000 is laid down, as per the DGCA regulations. "Our stipulations on the subject are in sync with US aviation regulator FAA and European aviation regulator EASA and similar regulations are followed globally to accord appropriate respect to passenger rights," the DGCA said on Tuesday.

Recently, the DGCA issued strict instructions to all domestic airlines to abide by the said regulation in letter and spirit. The DGCA had last month said that the airlines are indulging in "unfair practice" of denying boarding to passengers even when they report for their flights at the airport on time.

The aviation regulator - in an e-mail on May 2 - had asked all Indian carriers to give compensation and facilities to passengers affected by such denial of boarding, failing which it would impose financial penalties on them.

Sources alleged that Indian carriers have been overbooking their flights as COVID-19 cases are receding, and when the number of passengers exceed the number of seats in the aircraft, the airlines do not take them onboard.

With inputs from PTI
The Indian Competition Commission has announced that the proposed acquisition of AirAsia India Ltd's complete stake by Air India Ltd had been approved. According to a notification filed by the fair trade commission, the planned combination entails Air India Ltd (AIL), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd (TSPL), acquiring the entire equity share capital of AirAsia (India) Pvt Ltd.

AirAsia India is a joint venture between TSPL and Air India Investment Limited (AAIL), with TSPL presently holding 83.67 per cent and AAIL owning a 16.33 per cent stake.

CCI approves acquisition of entire shareholding in Air Asia India by Air India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons pic.twitter.com/TqUE8kFiYC  CCI (@CCI_India) June 14, 2022

AIL, along with its wholly-owned subsidiary Air India Express Limited (AIXL), is primarily engaged in the business of providing domestic scheduled air passenger transport services, international scheduled air passenger transport services, air cargo transport services, and charter flight services in India.

Also read: Airlines to pay up to Rs 20,000 compensation to flyers if boarding is denied: DGCA

AirAsia India, which started flying in June 2014, offers scheduled air passenger transport, air cargo transport and charter flight services in the country. It does not have international operations.

In a tweet on Tuesday, the Competition Commission of India said it has approved the acquisition of the entire shareholding in Air Asia India by Air India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.

Full-service carrier Air India and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express were acquired by Talace Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Ltd, last year.

Besides, Tatas operate the full-service airline Vistara in a joint venture with Singapore Airlines.

Tatas took over Air India and Air India Express in January this year. In October 2021, Tatas emerged as the winning bidder for loss-making Air India. It offered a bid of Rs 18,000 crore, comprising cash payment of Rs 2,700 crore and taking over the carrier's debt worth Rs 15,300 crore.

Deals beyond a certain threshold require the approval of CCI, which works to foster competition as well as curb anti-competitive practices in the marketplace.

With inputs from PTI
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set forth the requirements in the event that a passenger with a valid ticket and who has arrived on time is denied boarding. The DGCA has published a statement in response to the circumstances. According to the DGCA in an official statement, if an airline is able to arrange an alternate trip for the aforementioned passenger within an hour, no compensation needs to be paid to the passenger.

However, if the airline is able to provide the alternate arrangement within the next 24 hours, compensation up to Rs 10,000 is prescribed, it said. It further said that compensation up to Rs 20,000 is laid down for anything beyond 24 hours."Our stipulations on the subject are in sync with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and similar regulations are followed globally to accord appropriate respect to passenger rights," the statement read.

Recently, DGCA issued strict instructions to all domestic Airlines to abide by the said regulation in letter and spirit. "After that, a series of checks were carried out by DGCA and during our surveillance at Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi, there were specific instances, in the case of Air India - where the regulation is not being followed, and therefore, a show-cause notice was issued to the Airline, and also a personal hearing was afforded," it said."It appears that the Airline does not have a policy in this regard and is not paying any compensation to hapless passengers, whose numbers can be anybody`s guess.

Also read: Air India fined Rs 10 lakh for denying boarding to passengers, not giving compensation

To say the least, it is a matter of serious concern and unacceptable. In the specific cases detailed in the SCN, after going through AI submissions, as part of enforcement action, the competent authority has levied a penalty of Rs 10 lakhs," the DGCA added.

(With inputs from ANI)
China Southern Airlines flight CZ3488 experienced significant delay after the plane was denied take-off. The incident occured with an Airbus A319 belonging to the airline departing from Lijiang Sanyi Airport for Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. Based on TheBL's report, the flight was delayed after a loud noise was heard coming from the plane. Moreover, later parts of the plane appeared to break and fall off the body of the plane.

The China Southern A319-112 was scheduled to leave the airport at 15:55 but because of the unprecedented event the flight left the airport at 01:35. Following the delay the domestic flight landed at the destination airport at 03:38.

It is to be noted that there is a report from Chinese media Xin Tang Ren that the passengers were told that the flight was delayed because of bad weather. In addition, flight information platform Variflight also said that the flight was delayed because of the weather conditions.

Also read: Venezuelan Boeing 747 plane with Iranian crew stuck in Argentina over sanctions by United States

The plane involved in the incident is registered as B-6408 and has a capacity of 130 passengers. Based on the information from ch-aviation, the plane made its first flight on 10 September, 2009 and was delivered to China Southern Airlines on 21 September, 2009. Moreover, the plane was also joined by 10 other A319s in the fleet.

Previously, on 9 June there has been an unfortunate incident of a plane crash. The incident occurred near the Laohekou airport in the Hubei province of central China, setting a slew of houses on fire. The cause of the crash has not yet been revealed, but the pilot was able to eject and land safely via parachute with only minor injuries.

Another incident occurred in Chongqing when a Tibet Airlines plane with 122 people on board skidded off the runway and caught fire. The plane was described as a 10-year-old plane with the registration number B-6426.
A jumbo jet-sized mystery has landed in the lap of Argentine officials, who are trying to determine what to do with a Venezuelan-owned Boeing 747 cargo plane with a load of automotive parts and an unusually large crew of 17, including at least five Iranians. The plane operated by Venezuela's Emtrasur has been stuck since June 6 at Buenos Aires' main international airport, unable to depart because of U.S. Sanctions against Iran. And suspicions about its crew. Security Minister Anabal Fernandez said Monday that the government and legal authorities are studying the situation.

He said foreign intelligence agencies "advised that part of the crew belonged to companies related to the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard of Iran," which has been officially listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Government since 2007. He also said that the plane's operators had reported a smaller number of crewmembers than were actually aboard an unusually large contingent for a cargo plane. It was carrying parts for an automotive assembly plant, though he did not specify which one.

Until being sold to Emtrasur about a year ago, the plane had been owned by Mahan Air of Iran, a line the U.S. Government has sanctioned for allegedly aiding the Quds Force and terrorist activities. Numerous foreign companies over the years have been sanctioned for doing business with Mahan.

A spokesman for Mahan Air, Hossein Zolanvari, earlier told the state-run IRNA news agency that his company sold the Boeing to a Venezuelan company about a year ago. "Mentioning Mahan Air in connection with the impounded airplane has aimed at political purposes," he said. He said the plane's crew also have no connection to Mahan Air.

The plane's crewmembers have been lodged at a hotel and Fernandez said the Venezuelans are free to leave if they want, while the Iranians can move about in the capital. Fernandez said the plane had stopped in Paraguay in May. On June 6, it was headed for Ezeiza airport on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, but climatic conditions forced it to stop instead in the city of Cordoba before finally reaching the Argentine capital, where it attracted the attention of immigration authorities, who confiscated the crew's passports.

Flight tracking services show it also had made stops in earlier months in Mexico and Venezuela. Argentina itself has suffered from terror attacks that authorities blame on Iran, notably a 1992 explosion at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and another at a Jewish organisation in 1994. Argentina is seeking the arrest of several Iranian officials, though Iran denies involvement.
IndiGo has begun an investigation into the Monday incident on its Kannur-Trivandrum flight in which two Youth Congress workers allegedly raised slogans against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was on board, and a senior LDF leader allegedly pushed the duo, reports PTI. In Kerala, Vijayan leads the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. According to the sources, the airline is investigating the incident under the DGCA's "unruly flyer" regulations, which allow the airline concerned to deem a passenger's behaviour as unruly and ban the individual from the flight for a specific period of time.

According to the sources, the two Congress workers allegedly raised slogans against Vijayan who was also on the plane. The cabin crew members tried to calm the workers down but the situation aggravated.

Also read: Air India gets CCIs approval to acquire entire stake of AirAsia India

A senior LDF leader allegedly pushed the two Congress workers, they noted. The airline - after it completes its investigation into the incident - will inform the DGCA about the action it has taken, the sources said. The two men and another Youth Congress member have been booked for an attempt to murder, according to Kerala police.

The FIR by the police in Thiruvananthapuram says due to political enmity, the three accused, namely Farzeen Majid, Naveen Kumar and Suneeth Kumar conspired to kill Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and boarded the flight from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram.

A case was registered against three Youth Congress workers under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 120 (B) (Conspiracy), 307 (Attempt to murder) and Section 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), the police said.

Besides, the YC workers were also charged under Section 22 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, Section 11 A of the Aircraft Act and Section 3(1) (a) of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: If someone offered you Rs 1.5 lakh, would you agree to live with cockroaches? As strange as it may appear, this is an offer from a pest management company in the United States that wants to research how cockroach infestations work in homes. The Pest Informer has posted the details of the offer on its website, stating that they intend to release American Cockroaches into the homes of customers who agree to test out a certain pest management approach in order to determine how effective it is.

The Pest Informer, based in North Carolina, is offering $2,000 to homeowners in the United States in exchange for 100 cockroaches being released into their houses. Read More: National Pension System's queries to get resolved on WhatsApp now

In a statement, the company stated it is looking for 5-6 people who are willing to let them release 100 cockroaches into their homes. Read More: New Aadhaar data leak exposes 11 crore Indian farmers sensitive info

The goal is to try out new ways to get rid of cockroach infestations.

The trial will run about a month, and the company will send out pest control professionals to remove the insects using traditional ways.

There are, however, some restrictions that participants must meet. According to the website, it requires written agreement from the homeowner, who must be at least 21 years old, and the house must be located in the continental United States.

It is also stated that householders are not permitted to use any other pest-control methods during the 30-day period. However, if the new technique does not clean out the infestation by the end of the 30-day period, the company pledges in its article that it would apply standard cockroach treatment alternatives.

Because of their strong shell and durability, as well as the speed with which they multiply, American cockroaches are tough to eradicate, according to PestWorld. One female American cockroach may generate two egg cases each week at her peak, according to Pestech, a New York pest management business. Each container contains approximately 16 eggs that hatch in 24 to 38 days.
New Delhi/Pune: An automated teller machine (ATM) at Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune was set on fire by a miscreant on June 12, Sunday. Cash worth lakhs were also gutted in the fire that broke out at HDFC Bank ATM.

Police said that cash worth Rs 3.98 lakh was gutted in a fire that broke out at HDFC Bank ATM while a miscreant was trying to open it with a gas cutter. A man entered the ATM belonging to HDFC Bank on the Chikhali Road in Kudalwadi at around 3 AM. He sprayed black paint on the CCTV camera. The fire broke out when he tried to open the ATM with a gas cutter.

Bank officials have informed the police while a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) and those of the Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act has been filed against the unidentified person.
New Delhi: While some of us are content with our 95 regular jobs, others find them to be both tedious and uninspiring. These employment may not be ideal for you, but they provide a regular source of income.

Some people, on the other hand, get away from it all and make their own destiny. The case of this Karnataka man falls under the latter category. Srinivas Gowda, 42, has established the first donkey farm at a village in the Dakshina Kannada district. On June 8, the farm was officially launched. It is reported to be the country's second following one in Kerala's Ernakulam district. Read More: Company pays Rs 1.5 lakh to release cockroaches into your house

Gowda, a BA graduate, worked for a software company until 2020, when he quit and founded Isiri farms on a 2.3-acre site in Ira village. He got off to a terrific start with good breeding. In addition to goats, the farm already boasts bunnies and Kadaknath hens. Donkeys are the most recent addition. The donkey farm will begin with 20 donkeys, according to Gowda. Read More: New wage code from July 1: 12 hours work-week, changes in Leaves, reduced in-hand salary, higher PF for employees

He believes that the number of donkey species is declining since dhobis no longer use them as a result of the introduction of laundry machines and other technology. Many people were sceptical when the notion of a donkey farm was originally proposed, according to Gowda. He claims, however, that donkey milk is delectable, expensive, and medicinal.

According to Gowda, people will be able to purchase donkey's milk in packets. A 30ml milk packet will cost Rs 150, according to him, and will be available at malls, shops, and supermarkets. It's worth noting that Gowda claims to have already received orders totaling Rs 17 lakhs.
New Delhi: Coinbase, the world's third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced on June 14 that it will lay off 18 percent of its employees or about 1,100 jobs as the crypto crisis worsens. Bitcoin is currently trading at roughly $21,900.

The layoffs come a day after Bitcoin fell as much as 14% after major U.S. cryptocurrency lending company Celsius Network froze withdrawals and transfers, in the latest sign of the financial market downturn hitting the cryptosphere. Read More: Man quits IT job to start donkey farm, sells milk of Rs 17 lakh

Coinbase said earlier this month that it would extend its hiring freeze for the foreseeable future and rescind a number of accepted offers. Read More: Company pays Rs 1.5 lakh to release cockroaches into your house

"Today I am making the difficult decision to reduce the size of our team by about 18%, to ensure we stay healthy during this economic downturn....but first I want to start by taking accountability for how we got here. I am the CEO, and the buck stops with me," Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's blog read.

1/ Today I shared that I've made the difficult decision to reduce the size of our team at Coinbase by about 18%. The broader market downturn means that we need to be more mindful of costs as we head into a potential recession.  Brian Armstrong - barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) June 14, 2022

In a filing on Tuesday, the company said it expects to incur about $40 million to $45 million in total restructuring expenses, substantially all related to employee severance and other termination benefits.

Coinbase revealed its plans to add 2,000 people across product, engineering, and design in 2022 at the beginning of this year. The corporation had set a goal of hiring 1,000 people in India as part of its expansion.
New Delhi: In the wake of Congress protests over the Enforcement Directorate`s summon to Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Traffic Police on Tuesday issued a fresh advisory for commuters. "Due to special traffic arrangements, inwards movement of buses will be restricted in New Delhi beyond Gol Dak Khana Junction, Patel Chowk, Windsor Place, Teen Murti Chowk, Prithviraj Road," said Delhi Traffic Police.

The Traffic Police asked commuters to avoid Motilal Nehru Marg, Akbar Road, Janpath, Gol Methi junction, Tughlak Road Junction, Claridges Junction, Q-point Junction, Sunehri Masjid Junction, Maulana Azad Road Junction and Man Singh Road between 7 am and 12 pm.

Kindly avoid Gol Methi junction, Tughlak Road Junction, Claridges Junction, Q-point Junction, Sunehri Masjid Junction, Maulana Azad Road Junction & Man Singh Road Junction between 0700 hrs & 1200 hrs.Due to special arrangements there will be heavy traffic movement on these roads.  Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) June 14, 2022

"Due to special arrangements, traffic movement will not be possible on these roads," the advisory said. Delhi Traffic Police further asked to avoid SP Marg, Dhaula Kuan Flyover and Gurgaon road between 10.45 am and 11.15 am due to special traffic arrangements.

Meanwhile, section 144 of CrPC has been imposed around Akbar Road in central Delhi. A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was questioned for over 10 hours by the ED in a money-laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper, he will appear before the central probe agency again on Tuesday.

Former Congress President appeared before ED for the first time for questioning on Monday. He left the ED office around 11 pm after questioning on Monday.

The interrogation began at 11 am on Monday morning. The first round of questioning concluded at around 2.15 pm for a lunch break. The Congress leader returned to his residence followed by his visit to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the national capital where his mother and party interim president Sonia Gandhi is admitted due to COVID-related issues.

Rahul Gandhi`s questioning resumed the probe for the second round at around 3.45 pm on Monday.

On Monday, Gandhi arrived at the ED`s office in the national capital with his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, amid a huge march by the party workers along with him to the office.

Congress leaders and workers have staged protests holding placards at AICC headquarters in New Delhi over the summons. Various leaders, including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, took part in the party`s Satyagraha march.

Following the day-long protest, the Congress party said that senior leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram suffered a fracture in his left rib after he was pushed away by Delhi Police during the party`s protest in support of Rahul Gandhi.
oEgoNetwork, EV charging infrastructure company, has launched its first Fast EV Charging Park on Mumbai - Bangalore Highway, opposite Balewadi Stadium. This 24-hour charging park comprises two 60kW DC fast-charging stations that can charge four vehicles at a time. It was inaugurated by Shivajinagar MLA Siddharth Shirole.

On the occasion of the launch, MLA Siddharth Shirole said, This project by goEgo gives Pune a futuristic outlook, it is the first of its kind, and many more such charging parks should be launched. I am sure this will help boost EV adoption and give EV owners an avenue to charge their vehicles as and when required. I congratulate goEgoNetwork on the feat.

This installation in Pune represents a key milestone for the company in its journey towards enabling 2 million members to adopt zero-emission mobility. The charging park will support the charging of EVs of all makes currently available in the Indian market. goEgoNetwork has close to two thousand members on its network and gets up to 50 charging sessions per day.

Also read: After Ambassador, Hindustan Motors to bring back iconic Contessa in India as an electric vehicle

This charging park in Baner-Balewadi, operational 24/7, is a step closer to bringing Pune closer to green energy and sustainability. Punes plans to move away from fossil fuels include targets to cut CO2 emissions by as much as 33% by 2030 compared to 2000 and for all new buses from 2020 to be zero-emission. The total number of buses currently stands at 400 plus and is expected to add another 150.

The Charging Park is equipped with goEgoNetworks Pelican EV charging station that has a capacity of 60kW. With this charging station, 4-wheeler EV owners can charge their EVs to 80% in just 45-60 minutes and can enjoy a full charge in just 90-120 minutes depending on the size of the battery. The Charging Park is also equipped with a Bharat AC charging station which is a 3-socket charging station that delivers 3.3 KW output in each socket to charge 2 and 3-wheelers. Using the goME app, one can have a seamless charging experience with real-time notifications about the EVs charging status while the vehicles owner can relax and rejuvenate at the shopping bay within the premises.

Speaking about the launch of the EV Charging Park in Baner-Balewadi, Pune, Dheeman Kadam, Co-founder at goEgoNetwork, said, A boost in robust EV charging infrastructure in India has enabled the positive adoption of EVs by the citizens of the country. We are proud to be the largest charging network in Pune with more than 100 EVSE deployed. To dismiss this anxiety, we at goEgoNetwork have unveiled this state-of-the-art EV Charging Park to enable Indias EV fraternity to move hassle-free.
NEW DELHI: Chris Pratt is one of the most-loved action heroes worldwide. When Chris Pratt started off as goofy and lovable sidekick in the rom-coms, nobody would have thought that he would become an equally loved action hero.

From Avengers: Infinity Wars to The Tomorrow War, Chris has carved a niche for himself as an action hero, and with his upcoming Amazon Original Series, The Terminal List, Chris is on his way to cement his place as the bankable action star.

While the trailer of the series looks promising, we still have two weeks to go before the release of the series. Meanwhile, heres the list of 5 action-thrillers starring Chris Pratt that you should definitely watch.

Zero Dark Thirty

In 2021, Chris starred as a soldier in the political thriller Zero Dark Thirty. The film chronicled the extensive intelligence mission to track down Osama bin Laden in which Chris played one of the soldiers who took part in the eventual assassination mission. The films incredible attention to detail in retelling of the real-thriller story makes it stand out. Despite knowing how it ends, the film manages to keep the audience on the edge.

The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven was a remake of Seven Samurai starring Chris Pratt as a member of a band of cowboys who are hired to protect a small town from an evil baron. While the film was not as magnificent as the original one, the films cast, action sequences and the background score were highly praised.

The Tomorrow War

The Tomorrow War is an alien invasion story clubbed with an element of time travel that received a thumbs up from the audience and critics alike. Chris plays a man recruited to fight an invasion taking place in the future and gives us a memorable performance. Tautly choreographed action sequences, and solid performances by the star cast puts this film on our watchlist.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Brash space adventurer Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) finds himself the quarry of relentless bounty hunters after he steals an orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain. To evade Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with four disparate misfits. The film is a complete riot from start to finish and was praised for its screenplay, direction, acting, humour, soundtrack, visual effects, and action sequences.

Avengers: Infinity War

Chris Pratt took his Guardians of the Galaxy character Peter Quill ahead in Avengers: Infinity War. The superhero film received praise for its stunning visual effects, action sequences, and the emotional weight that it carried. Chris managed to leave a mark even with a comparatively smaller role in the film.

With such hard hitting action thrillers to his name, we cannot wait to watch Chris Pratt taking us through yet another adventure with The Terminal List.
New Delhi: The Centre is likely to announce the Agnipath recruitment scheme for the defence forces under which troops would be recruited only for four-year tenures. As per plans, the three service chiefs would address a press conference to announce the details of the scheme. The three services chiefs had two weeks ago briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Agnipath scheme for soldiers` recruitment which will pave way for induction of troops into the forces for short-term tenures.

The scheme has been planned and is being implemented by the Department of Military Affairs. The new scheme Agnipath under which youngsters would join the forces for a period of four years and serve the country. The scheme is a part of the government`s efforts toward reducing expenditure and the age profile of the defence forces.

The catchment areas for recruitment could also be significantly expanded. At the end of four years, around 80 per cent of the soldiers would be relieved from duty and would get assistance from the armed forces for further employment avenues.

Several corporations will also have an interest in reserving jobs for such trained and disciplined youth who have served their nation. Initial calculations by the Armed Forces had projected thousands of crores in savings in pay, allowances and pension if a considerable number of soldiers are taken in under the tour of duty concept.

The best among the recruited youth could also get an opportunity to continue their service, in case vacancies are available. The DMA had studied similar recruitment models in eight countries before developing the Indian model.
The police administration is quick to ensure the safety of Amarnath Yatris. Keeping in mind the passengers, the Jammu and Kashmir government has issued a notification this time. Amarnath Yatris will have to submit aadhaar card number. According to rule 5 of the Aadhar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare, Innovation, Knowledge) Rules 2020, as per the approval of the central government, those pilgrims who want to go for The Amarnath Yatra will have to have an Aadhaar card or provide proof of Aadhaar. Specific guidelines have to be followed since the issuance of this notification.

Two years later, the Amarnath Yatra is taking place. It starts on June 30. It runs until August 11th. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha reviewed the preparations for the Amarnath Yatra on Thursday.

Amarnath Yatra 2022: Statement Issued By Government

1. All the work has to be completed within the stipulated time.

2. Officers will have to use technology for the safety of the journey.

3. The officers will have to check the security arrangements in time.

4. Transportation, accommodation, hygienic aspects, electricity, water, health, shops, foods will be provided.

Meanwhile, before the Amarnath Yatra, there is a fear of terrorist attack again. Security forces have eliminated two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants in Bemina area of Srinagar. A policeman was injured in the incident. Police said on Tuesday. According to the Kashmir Zone Police, it is the group that escaped during the Sopore encounter. Their movements were being monitored. Police authorities described the encounter as a "huge success.

In another tweet, the Kashmir Zone Police said that two Pakistani militants of Lashkar-e-Taiba were sent by Pakistani handlers. There was a local militant with him. Adil Hussain of Pahalgam-Anantnag. He has been in Pakistan since 2012. The militants were sent to carry out attacks on the Yatra.
New Delhi: Congress MP Deepender S Hooda on Tuesday condemned the long hours of questioning of party leader Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and called it a political vendetta."The way in which ED is handling this matter, the number of hours Rahul Gandhi was questioned and has been called on Tuesday again, this smells of agenda of political vendetta," said Hooda.

He also stressed that the party is strong-willed and will not be silenced." The voice of Rahul Gandhi and Congress will not be silenced by these actions," he added. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday left the Enforcement Directorate office in Delhi after 10 hours of questioning in the National Herald case.

Also Read: Raj Thackeray turns 54, some best moments of 'Marathi Manhoos'- In PICS

Several senior leaders of the party including Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry, Shakti Sinh Gohil, Anil Chaudhry, a few MPs and workers were also detained at various Police Stations in Delhi. Congress leaders and workers had staged protests holding placards at AICC headquarters in New Delhi over the summons of Rahul Gandhi.

Various leaders including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot took part in the party`s Satyagraha march. Addressing the media, Baghel said, "The entire country is witness to the dictatorship of the ruling BJP.

Congress workers were being detained from reaching the party headquarters. The entire area has been cordoned off and police have been deployed all around in an attempt to crush democracy. It is the democratic right of the opposition party to protest.

Also Read: Prayagraj Violence: 300 suspicious mobile numbers will be check

"Calling the ED action on Rahul Gandhi "malicious", the Chief Minister said that the Centre is using its agencies to "suppress the voice of Opposition"
New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addressed a media conference at National Media Centre in the national capital on Tuesday at 12.30 PM on Agnipath recruitment scheme in Delhi. "Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh will address a media conference at National Media Centre, New Delhi at 12.30 PM today," tweeted the office of the Defence Minister. Earlier, on Monday, Singh called for greater jointness of civil administration and Armed Forces to further strengthen national security and deal with future challenges that may emanate from the ever-evolving global situation. He was addressing the participants of the 28th Joint Civil-Military Training Programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand on Monday.

The Minister pointed out that the concept of national security has broadened, as many non-military dimensions have been added to the more general aspect of protection from military attacks. Rajnath Singh described the Russia-Ukraine situation and other similar conflicts as proof that the world is witnessing challenges far beyond conventional warfare.

"War and peace are no longer two exclusive states, but a continuum. Even during peace, war continues on many fronts. A full-scale war is lethal to a country as much as it is for its enemies. Therefore, full-scale wars have been avoided in the last few decades. They have been replaced by proxies and non-combat wars."

"Technology, supply line, information, energy, trade system, finance system etc. are being weaponised, which can be used as a weapon against us in the coming times. People`s cooperation is needed to deal with this widened scope of security challenges," he said while emphasising on the need to adopt `Whole of the Nation` and `Whole of the Government` approach to overcome these challenges.

Agnipath recruitment scheme to be announced by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh along with three services chiefs including Gen Manoj Pande, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari & Admiral R Hari Kumar at the National Media Centre today pic.twitter.com/FJOkFH1Muu  ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2022

Singh asserted that the full-fledged process of civil-military jointness has been started by the Government with the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff and the establishment of the Department of Military Affairs. He said that these decisions are proving to be helpful in making the country ready for future challenges.

He added that the steps taken to modernise the Armed Forces and make the defence sector `Aatmanirbhar` have started to yield results."Now, India is not only manufacturing equipment for its Armed Forces, but is meeting the needs of friendly countries as well, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s vision of `Make in India, Make for the World`," he said.

Live TV
DRDO Recruitment 2022: The Defence Research and Development Organisation, Recruitment and Assessment Centre, (DRDO-RAC) has invited online applications for recruitment of Scientist posts in the organisation. Interested and eligible candidates can apply for the posts online through the official site of DRDO-RAC on rac.gov.in. The last date to apply for various Scientist posts is June 28, 2022. The recruitment drive is being conducted to fill up 28 posts in the organisation. Candidates may note that there is no application fee for SC/ST/Divyang and Women candidates.

DRDO Recruitment 2022: Vacancy details

Scientist F: 3 Posts

Scientist E: 6 Posts

Scientist D: 15 Posts

Scientist C: 34 Posts

DRDO Recruitment 2022: Eligibility Criteria

Educational qualification: The educational qualification for various posts is different. Candidates applying for the posts can check the required educational qualification through the Detailed Notification.

Age Limit: upper age limit for various Scientist posts is as follows-

Scientist F: 50 years.

Scientist D/E: 45 years.

Scientist C: 35 years.

DRDO Recruitment 2022: Application Fees

The application fee for General, OBC and EWS male candidates is Rs. 100/. There is no application fee for SC/ST/Divyang and Women candidates. (The application fee is non-refundable non-transferable)

DRDO Recruitment 2022: Selection procedure

Eligible candidates will be shortlisted for the further selection process by adopting any one or more of the following methods:

a. On the basis of educational qualifications and /experience higher than the minimum prescribed in the advertisement duly supported by the documentary evidence.

b. Relevance of experience as filled in application by candidates.

c. On the basis of Desirable Qualification (DQ), if more than one DQ is prescribed, on any one or all of the DQs.

d. By holding a Screening Committee Meeting consisting of Technical Experts from Industry and Academia.

Candidates will initially be short-listed as per one or more of the above mentioned methods. In case, the no. of candidates shortlisted in accordance with any of above mentioned methods is large, then further shortlisting may be carried out by conducting a Preliminary Online Interview of a short duration (10-15minutes).

Live TV
Haryana Board Result 2022: According to reports, the Haryana Board Class 10 and Class 12 Results will be announced tomorrow, June 15, 2022, on the Board's official website, bseh.org.in. However, the Haryana Board has not set an official date and time for the announcement of the results. This year, over 5 lakh students have appeared for the Haryana Board exams 2022. Around 2 lakh students have appeared for the Class 12 exam, whereas around 3 lakh students have appeared for the class 10 exam. Below are the steps, and the official website to check and download HBSE Class 10, 12 mark sheet, and scorecard.

HBSE Board Result 2022: How to Check the Result on the Official Website?

Visit the Haryana Board of School Education's (HBSE) official website at bseh.org.in.

Click on the link that says "Haryana Board Class 10, 12 Result 2022" on the homepage.

Enter the required login information, such as your roll number, and then click the submit button.

On the screen, you will see your Haryana Board Class 10, 12 Result 2022.

Download the grade sheet and print it for future reference.

This year Board held the Class 12 written exam from March 30 to April 27, 2022. The Class 12 Practical Exam took place between March 21 and March 28, 2022. The exams were conducted in an offline mode. Last year class 10, and 12 boards were cancelled because of Covid-19 rising cases. In order to access the Haryana Class 10 Results 2022, students must enter their exam roll number and date of birth, as well as any other information requested on the website. The board's website will generate a digital scorecard for Haryana 12th Result 2022 after these details are entered.
Jharkhand Board Result 2022: Jharkhand Academic Council, JAC is expected to release the JAC 10th 12th board results by tomorrow. According to the reports, the Jharkhand Board Result 2022 will be declared tomorrow (June 15, 2022) tentatively. However, the board is yet to release official notification on the same. The candidates can check their JAC Class 10, 12 Results 2022 at jacresults.com once its out. The Jharkhand Academic Council conducted the class 10 exams from March 24 to April 20, 2022. JAC Board class 12 exams, on the other hand, were held from March 24 to April 25, 2022.

Over 6.8 lakh students appeared for the exams, of the total number of students, 3.99 lakh students appeared for JAC Matric Exam 2022 while the rest 2.81 lakh appeared for Jharkhand Intermediate Exam 2022.

Here is how you can check your result:

Step 1: Log on to the jac.jharkhand.gov.in website

Step 2: Click on the link and fill in the required details

Step 3: Click on Submit and get your result

Step 4: Take a printout of the scores for future reference

Due to the corona virus pandemic last year, class 10th and 12th board exams were cancelled, and students were passed based on internal assessment. But this time the board had conducted the board exam following the Covid guidelines.

According to the reports Jharkhand Board may release the list of toppers this time. The board had directed all the schools to release the list of 10th 12th toppers before the evaluation process. It is being speculated that, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren will honor and reward the toppers.
Kerala SSLC Result 2022: The Department of Higher Secondary Education (DHSE) Kerala is scheduled to release the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) 2022 results on June 15, 2022. Students who appeared for the class 10 board exams will be able to view their results on the results of the official websites- kerala.nic.in or kerala.gov.in. The result is expected to be announced at nearly 3 PM on June 15. At a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty stated that the class 10 results would be released on June 15. Earlier, the SSLC Result Kerala was scheduled to be declared on June 10. According to the Kerala Board's official data, a total of 4.26 lakh candidates took the Kerala SSLC Examination. Kerala held SSLC Exams 2022 for Class 10 board examinations in offline mode from March 31 to April 29, 2022, adhering to all Covid-19 precautions.

Kerala SSLC Result 2022: Websites to download your marksheet

Once released, students can download their results on the following websites-

keralaresults.nic.in

keralapareekshabhavan.in

Kerala SSLC Result 2022: Here's how to check your result

Students can follow the following steps to check their Kerala SSLC result once it is released-

Step 1: Visit official website- keralaresults.nic.in or keralapareekshabhavan.in.

Step 2: On the homepage, click on the link that reads, Kerala SSLC Result 2022

Step 3: Entre login details such as roll number and submit

Step 4: The Kerala SSLC Result 2022 will be displayed on the screen

Step 5: Download the Kerala SSLC Result 2022 marksheet and take a printout of it for future reference.

This year, the DHSE Kerala successfully conducted the SSLC examination between March 31 to April 29, 2022 in the morning shift from 9:45 am to 12:30 pm. Last year, the Department of Higher Secondary Education, Kerala declared the Kerala SSLC result on July 14. Further, the pass percentage for the SSLC Kerala exam stood at 99.47 percent.

Live TV
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday (June 14, 2022) reserved its order against the bail plea of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. Special Judge Geetanjali Goel reserved the order after hearing arguments from Jain, who is currently in judicial custody, as well as the ED.

The agency had taken Jain into custody under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The court is now expected to pronounce the order on June 18.

The ED had arrested Jain on May 30 and he was sent to judicial custody on Monday till June 27.

Meanwhile, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju has opposed the bail saying that the conduct of Satyender Jain as a public servant, who is indulged in money laundering hawala channel, did not make a case for granting him bail, news agency ANI reported.

"He is influential, he may influence the witnesses as the investigation is still going on," ANI said citing ASG.

The ASG also reportedly submitted that Jain had not cooperated in the investigation and that his answers were "always evasive".

"He denied the connection with the trust. When confronted with documents he said he doesn`t remember as his memory has been affected post-Covid-19," ANI reported.

It is notable that the investigation has been underway since 2017 and during the search conducted on June 7, the ED has said that it seized various incriminating documents and digital records.

The ED also claimed that the total movable assets were seized from an "unexplained source" and were "found to be secreted" in the raided premises. More than Rs 2 crore in cash and gold weighing 1.8 kg were seized by the ED after raids against Jain and those linked to him, in this money laundering case.

(With agency inputs)
Maharashtra Board SSC Result 2022: The wait of lakhs of students who appeared for the Maha SSC board is going to get over soon. The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, MSBSHSE, is all set to declare Maharashtra SSC Result 2022 tomorrow. According to the reports the. results are expected to be out tomorrow June 15, however, there is no official confirmation yet. Once released, Maharashtra board Class 10 result 2022 can be checked through the official website - mahahsscboard.in. Over 15 lakhs students appeared for the exams, it must be noted that HSC Results have already been released and usually, MSBSHSE releases both results in a gap of about a week. The Maharashtra SSC or 10 class exams 2022 was held from March 15 to April 4.

Maharashtra SSC Result 2022: Date and time

The maharashtra board result 2022 for class 10th is expected to be announced tomorrow June 15, 2022 nearly at 1:00 PM. These results are usually released at 11 am in a press conference, followed by a link at 1 pm on various official websites.

Websites to check Maharashtra SSC result 2022:

mahahsscboard.in

msbshse.co.in

mh-ssc.ac.in

mahresult.nic.in

Here is how you can check your result:

Step 1: Visit the official website, mahresult.nic.in

Step 2: On the homepage, click on the SSC or HSC result links

Step 3: Enter required credentials and submit

Maharashtra State Board result 2022 will appear on the screen.

Step 4: Download the result and take a printout for future refrences.

Maharashtra HSC 12th Board Result 2022 has already been declared in which a total of 14,85,191 students appeared out of which 8,17,188 were boys and 6,68,003 were girls. Girls performed outshined boys in the Maharashtra HSC results 12 exams conducted by the Maharashtra Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education. The pass percentage of girls was 95.35 percent, while that of boys was 93.29 percent, according to the results announced by the board's chairperson, Sharad Gosavi.

Live TV
New Delhi: Ahead of the Opposition's key meeting on the upcoming presidential poll, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday (June 14, 2022) met NCP chief Sharad Pawar. She reportedly tried to convince the veteran leader to be the joint opposition nominee for the presidential election. Pawar, however, refused, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said after his separate meeting with him.

"I have been informed that Pawar will not be the opposition face for the presidential poll, other names are under consideration," Yechury was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.

Our honorable chairperson @MamataOfficial met Shri @PawarSpeaks today.



Two stalwart leaders set the stage for the meeting of all progressive opposition forces; set to happen tomorrow at the Constitution Club, New Delhi.



Our resolve to fight divisive forces grows stronger! pic.twitter.com/9Pm3abPMEN June 14, 2022

Reports claim that Pawar was not keen to enter a battle that he is destined to lose at this point in his political career.

Banerjee is in Delhi for a meeting of non-BJP parties she has convened to formulate a joint strategy for the upcoming presidential poll. The Trinamool Congress supremo has convened the meeting on June 15 at the Constitution Club in the national capital for discussions to come out with a consensus opposition candidate.

The election of the President of India will be held on July 18.
New Delhi: As an affer-effect of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma's comment on Prophet Muhammad, a BJP councillor from Rajasthan has resigned from the party. Tabassum Mirza who was serving as BJP's councillor from ward number 14 of Kota Municipal Corporation, South took this action as a sign of protest against Sharma's remarks. According to a PTI report, she submitted her resignation letter to party's state unit chief Satish Poonia and Kota district president Krishan Kumar Soni on Monday (June 13). She clearly stated why she is planning to leave in the letter.

Tabassum Mirza who joined the BJP a decade ago felt she couldn't continue to work with the party any further after the controversy.

ALSO READ: Nupur Sharma Comment Row: Blockades, slogans, fire, curfew across India - Check latest updates

In her letter, as quoted by PTI she wrote, "If I continue to be member of BJP and support it despite there being so much (against Prophet), there would be none other bigger offender than me. Now my consciousness has awakened and I can no longer continue to work in the party."

Nupur Sharma comment row: Here's what happened

Former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma has been in the eye of the storm ever since she purportedly made controversial comments during a TV debate. While Nupur Sharma made comments during a TV debate, another leader Naveen Jindal posted a controversial remark on Twitter.

The BJP suspended spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled media in-charge, Naveen Jindal, over the remarks. The party issued a statement emphasising its intolerance for disrespect of any religious personality. Last week, in several parts of the nation, including the national capital, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, people were seen protesting against the controversial statements against Prophet Muhammad.

(With agency inputs)

Live TV
Kolkata: Calcutta High Court directed the state authorities to call in central forces if the local police fail to control the situation in any place. The court expressed hope that the West Bengal government will take necessary steps to ensure that no untoward incident takes place over protests against controversial remarks by suspended BJP spokespersons. A division bench presided by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava on Monday directed the state government, "In case, the state police are unable to control the situation at any place then state authorities will take immediate steps to call in the central forces." It further directed it to file a status report on the situation on June 15 on prayer to do so by the Advocate General representing the state.

Petitions were moved before the high court seeking deployment of the Army in view of violent protests in Howrah, Murshidabad and Nadia districts against controversial comments by the sacked BJP spokesperson and expelled leader Naveen Jindal on Prophet Mohammad. One of the five petitioners prayed before the division bench for a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the protests, claiming that arson and ransacking of public and private properties were affecting national integrity.

The petitioners, claiming that National Highway 16 was blocked for several hours on June 9 at Ankurhati in Howrah district, alleged that there was complete failure on the part of the state police in responding to the situation.

Alleging that houses and shops were ransacked by an unruly mob, one of the petitioners gave a list of the names of those whose establishments or vehicles were damaged, apart from a BJP party office at Raghudebpur in Howrah district.

The bench, also comprising Justice R Bharadwaj, directed that the matter will be taken up for hearing again on June 15. Advocate General S N Mookherjee opposed the prayers claiming that apart from one incident of damage to a passenger train at Bethuadahari in Nadia, there have been no violent protests reported in the state in nearly 36 hours. He also stated before the bench that 214 people have been arrested and that prohibitory orders were imposed apart from a temporary suspension of internet services in affected places.

Nupur Sharma summoned at Narkeldanga Police Station on June 20

The Kolkata Police has summoned suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma to appear at Narkeldanga Police Station on June 20 to record her statement in connection with her controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad, said a PTI report. Sharma's comments, made during a TV debate, have sparked violent protests in several parts of the country, including in West Bengal, where Howrah districts, parts of Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas have reportedly witnessed violent protests since last Friday's prayers.

Trinamool Congress minority cell general secretary Abul Sohail has also lodged an FIR against Sharma at Contai police station over her remarks. Reacting to the Kolkata Police's summons sent to the former BJP leader, CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, "Nupur Sharma should have been arrested by Delhi long back. Her comments have brought shame to the country. Now, the TMC government in Bengal instead of putting pressure on the Centre to have her arrested is trying to gain political mileage by doing this."

"Her comments had hurt the sentients millions of people. The FIR should have been lodged much earlier so that Sharma could be arrested. Now, when the situation has started getting out of the hand, FIRs are being lodged," PTI quoted Congress's Kamruzzaman Choudhury as saying.

Manoj Tigga, BJP's chief whip in Bengal legislature told PTI, "Nupur should consult a lawyer ... but I believe instead of doing this (call the former BJP spokeswoman for questioning), the state should arrest rioters and take strong action against them. Why can't the state act so that common people get back their normal lives?"

(With PTI Inputs)
New Delhi: Her comments on Prophet Mohammad have led to upheaval not only within the country but across the Middle East and several other Muslim nations. Nupur Sharma has been at the Centre of controversy ever since her she made remarks on the Prophet in a TV interview. While the Opposition has asked for her sacking and some have even gone on to make drastic comments, the question is - where is Nupur Sharma currently?

According to sources, ever since her remarks led to nationwide furore, suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma has maintained a lowand have been kept under heavy security. Since she and her family were getting death threats, they were provided with police security. "Nupur Sharma and her family have been provided police security after she alleged that she has been receiving threats and was being harassed over her remarks," an official had said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had suspended its spokesperson Nupur Sharma from the party's primary membership after her alleged inflammatory remarks against minorities.":@CPDelhi I'm being bombarded with rape, death and beheading threats against my sister, mother, father & myself. I've communicated same to @DelhiPolice. If anything untoward happens to me or any of my family members...," tweeted Nupur Sharma on May 27.

The Delhi Police had confirmed that it has provided security to Sharma after an FIR was registered on a complaint that she was getting death threats following her controversial religious remarks.

Nupur Sharma has been in the eye of the storm as her comments also attracted a letter from the Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) warning of suicide bombings in Indian cities to avenge the insult to the Prophet. The inflammatory remarks made by BJP leaders Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal have also caused an uproar in the Arab world too. Many Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain condemned the controversial remarks of Nupur Sharma.
Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the country`s first-ever underground `Gallery of Revolutionaries`, a museum dedicated to the luminaries of the Indian Independence Movement, here at the Maharashtra Raj Bhavan on Tuesday (June 14). The gallery, themed `Revolution Saga` has come up in the subterranean network of 13 pre-World War-I (First WW) British era bunkers, and was discovered in the sprawling Raj Bhavan campus in August 2016 during the tenure of the then Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, said an IANS report.

The current Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari then oversaw the setting up of the Gallery of Revolutionaries under the guidance of Dr Vikram Sampat (historian) and help from South Central Cultural Centre, Nagpur. In the first phase, the museum features rebels like Vasudev Balwant Phadke, Damodar Hari Chapekar and Vishnu Hari Chapekar (Chapekar Brothers), Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Savarkar Brothers - Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (Veer Savarkar) and Ganesh Damodar Savarkar (Babarao Savarkar), Anant Laxman Kanhere, Vishnu Ganesh Pingale, Vasudev Balwant Gogate, Krantiguru Lahuji Raghoji Salve, Bhikaiji Rustom Cama (Madam Cama), Shivran H. Rajguru, the country`s first armed fighter organisation `Abhinav Bharat`, `Patri Sarkar`, etc.

According to the Raj Bhavan officials, there will be hundreds of others, known and unknown, who will figure at the museum in its later phases, depicting the entire `Revolution Saga` of 90 years, from the First War of Independence in 1857 to India`s Freedom in 1947. The gallery includes information on the freedom heroes, their role in the Independence movement, sculptures, rare photographs, murals and even details on tribal revolutionaries drawn by school kids.

The stuff on display has reportedly been sourced from the State Archives Department, Asiatic Society, Kesari Archives, Savarkar Museum, etc, and also includes a scene from the historic Coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the hall of the underground hall of the bunkers.

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the newly constructed `Jalbhushan`, which houses the Governor`s office and residence, and pray at the historic Shrigundi Temple at Raj Bhavan. Besides the Governor, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Dipankar Datta, other ministers and top officials shall be present for the ceremony, part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

Conservation of the underground structure

Soon after the bunker`s discovery, the government reportedly ordered the conservation of the underground structure which was neglected for over a century with the constant water leakages rendering the `Jalbhushan` building standing above it architecturally unsafe. "The bunker has been conserved without compromising the security of the historic building which is the heritage of Raj Bhavan and the Governor`s residence and office, `Jalbhushan` stands on the upper side of it," an official told IANS.

A structural audit of the underground bunker - comprising 13 rooms of various sizes plus a grand 20-feet-tall entrance, a fort-like structure with a long ramp to take guns inside - was carried out and then it was strengthened by expert teams. The cells in the bunker were known as `Shell Store`, `Gun Shell`, `Cartridge Store`, `Shell Lift`, `Central Artillery Room`, `Workshop`, etc, it had a proper drainage system, clean air and natural light plus lamp recesses kept in different places to illuminate it at night.

The conservationists took full care to preserve all the original features while restoring the bunker as well as now hosting the gallery of revolutionaries in that place. Incidentally, on August 18, 2019, President Ram Nath Kovind had inaugurated a virtual reality museum in the bunker, but many other rooms were empty and now have been utilised for the Revolution Saga gallery.

The new `Jalbhushan` has a history of over two centuries, tracing to the days when the then Governor of Mumbai, Mountstuart Elphinstone (tenure Nov 1819-Nov 1827) constructed a small bungalow called `Pretty Cottage` at Malabar Hill between 1820-1825, where the present-day imposing `Jalbhushan` now stands. Since the relocation of the Government House at Malabar Hill in 1885, it served as the residence of the British Governor and then the Governor of Mumbai Province and post-Independence, the Governor of Maharashtra after the formation of the Marathi state.

PM to inaugurate temple of Saint Tukaram, attend Mumbai Samachar's 200th-anniversary event

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a temple dedicated to 17th-century saint Tukaram Maharaj in Dehu near Pune city during his day-long visit to Maharashtra. He will also participate in 'Dwishatabdi Mahotsav' of 'Mumbai Samachar', a newspaper which has been published continuously for 200 years, an official statement said on Monday.

According to the statement, PM Modi will inaugurate Jagatguru Shrisant Tukaram Maharaj Temple in Dehu at around 1.45 pm in Pune. A prominent name in the Bhakti movement, Tukaram was a warkari saint and poet. He was known for 'abhanga' devotional poetry and community-oriented worship through spiritual songs known as kirtans.

He lived in Dehu near Pune. A Shila Mandir was built after his demise, but it was not formally structured as a temple. It has been rebuilt in stone masonry with 36 peaks, and also carries an idol of Sant Tukaram, the statement said.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Modi will participate in 'Dwishatabdi Mahotsav' (200th-anniversary celebrations) of 'Mumbai Samachar' at the Bandra Kurla Complex, a business district in the suburbs. The printing of 'Mumbai Samachar' (then called Bombay Samachar) as a weekly was started on July 1, 1822, by Fardunjee Marzbanji, a Parsi scholar. It became a daily in 1832. The Gujarati newspaper has been published continuously for 200 years. To commemorate this unique feat, a postal stamp will also be released on the occasion, the statement said.

(Inputs from IANS/PTI)
New Delhi: With the Opposition seeking to put up a united fight in the presidential poll, some leaders have reached out to former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as a possible choice, sources said on Tuesday. Gandhi was the consensus opposition candidate for the post of vice president of India in 2017, but had lost to M Venkaiah Naidu in the election. Sources said some opposition leaders talked to Gandhi over phone and urged him to consider their request for being the joint opposition candidate for the post of President.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi was governor of West Bengal from 2004-2009

The sources added that some other names are also being considered and the opposition leaders have reached out to them also to seek their consent. Gandhi, who was governor of West Bengal from 2004 to 2009, has sought some time from these leaders and will get back to them by Wednesday, the sources said.

Also Read: Presidential elections: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi reaches out to Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee

Leaders who talked to him said his initial response to their request was "positive".

The sources said if he accepts the request, he could emerge as the consensus opposition candidate for the top post, since there already was consensus on his name in the last vice presidential election.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi has served as India's High Commissioner to South Africa and Sri Lanka

The 77-year-old former bureaucrat has also served as India's High Commissioner to South Africa and Sri Lanka. He is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has convened a meeting of various opposition parties to deliberate on the opposition choice of presidential nominee.

Presidential Election 2022 to be held on July 18

Some leaders have proposed the name of NCP patron Sharad Pawar, but the veteran leader has declined to contest. The election to elect a successor to incumbent Ram Nath Kovind would be held on July 18. Kovind had defeated joint opposition nominee Meira Kumar in the last presidential poll.

Live TV
Kanpur: The main accused in the June 3 violence in Kanpur, Zafar Hayat Hashmi, has revealed that his organisation was funded by builders, businessmen and political functionaries. "Hashmi has accepted that he was involved in crowdfunding. Besides, he got a huge amount of money through donations from across the state that came to his Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Fans Association. He also accepted that people from many districts of the state are associated with his organisation," said an IANS report citing a police source.

With this revelation, the spotlight is now on people in the corridors of power. ATS sources told IANS that there are more than two dozen white-collared people on its radar. Notably, Hashmi and his three aides who, police claim, are members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) were taken on remand for further interrogation.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), meanwhile, has also approached the Kanpur police seeking details of these three PFI members -Saifullah, Mohammad Naseem and Mohammad Umar - who were arrested from Kanpur on June 9.

Officials probing the case reportedly said that while Hashmi revealed the sources of funding, he has maintained silence about questions related to their direct link with the violence on June 3 after Friday prayer. "He also tried to save his skin several times saying that he had withdrawn the call given by him earlier to protest against the insult of the Prophet by the BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma in a news channel debate," the official tol IANS. The other accused arrested along with Hashmi, however, have admitted to being involved in the violence, said the official.

333 arrested in Uttar Pradesh for June 10 violence

The Uttar Pradesh Police arrested 333 people from eight districts of the state in connection with the June 10 violence triggered by the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad by a former BJP spokesperson. Several cities of Uttar Pradesh witnessed stone-pelting and violence on June 10 after protests against now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma's alleged derogatory remarks.

In a statement issued in Lucknow on Monday, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said 333 people have been arrested from eight districts of the state and 13 FIRs registered in this regard in nine districts, adding "92 people have been arrested in Prayagraj, 81 in Saharanpur, 51 in Hathras, 41 in Ambedkar Nagar, 40 in Moradabad, 17 in Firozabad, six in Aligarh and five in Jalaun."

The ADG said that of the 13 cases, three have been registered in Prayagraj and Saharanpur, and one each in Firozabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Moradabad, Hathras, Aligarh, Lakhimpur Kheri and Jalaun

During the violence in Prayagraj and Saharanpur on June 10, mobs pelted stones at police while there were protests in Bijnor, Moradabad, Rampur and Lucknow.

(With Agency Inputs)
New Delhi: The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has called on people to assemble in temples across Delhi and participate in mass recitations of Hanuman Chalisa on Tuesday (June 14, 2022) to register their protest against the June 10 violence in parts of the country.

In a statement, the Vishva Hindu Parishad alleged violent demonstrations were held and stones pelted at temples and houses after prayers in mosques on June 10 as part of a well-planned conspiracy to defame India globally.

Protests erupted in several parts of the country, including outside Delhi's Jama Masjid, on June 10 against the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad by now-sacked BJP functionaries Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal.

In Jharkhand, some policemen were injured while trying to control demonstrators, while authorities in Jammu imposed a curfew in a few areas. In parts of Uttar Pradesh, protesters pelted the police with stones prompting the latter to baton charge them and use tear gas shells.

"Illegal fatwas were issued for the killing of Nupur Sharma... The Hindu society rejects and strongly condemns the pressure that was built on the Hindu society due to such illegal demonstrations," Delhi VHP chief Kapil Khanna said in the statement.

"To protest against this, I call upon the Hindu society of Delhi to assemble at small and big temples in the city and participate in the mass recitation of Hanuman Chalisa at 8.00 pm tomorrow (June 14, 2022)," he added.

Khanna also urged managers and priests of temples to put up notices informing devotees about the mass recitation of Hanuman Chalisa. "It is absolutely necessary to showcase our strength in such a manner and constitutionally respond to the unethical pressure being built on the Hindu society," he said.
Thousands of pilgrims from different parts of the country on Monday huddled at Puri for `Snana Ustav`. The devotees from all across the country had arrived for the sibling deities- Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannaths ceremonial bathing ritual known as `Snana Ustav`. Elaborate security has been deployed in the area by the administrators for crowd, traffic management, and safety. The devotees showed greater zeal as they sang religious songs and chanted mantras. A few enthusiastic visitors were also seen dancing. Also Read: China Southern Airlines plane denied take off as parts suspected to fall-off

As per Iskcon, Snana Utsav is a special bath of Lord Jagannath that takes place on the Purnima of Jyestha month (Devasnan Purnima), to commemorate the appearance day of Lord Jagannath.
New Delhi: For the second consecutive day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald money-laundering case. Gandhi, 51, arrived at the ED headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road in central Delhi with his "Z+" category CRPF security escort. Here are 10 key developments:

- Police personnel were deployed in huge numbers and Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was imposed around the agency's office just like on Monday (June 13).

- Various Congress workers, including Randeep Surjewala, were detained by Delhi Police as they protested over the ED probe against party leader Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.

- Senior Congress leaders KC Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi, Deepender Singh Hooda, Ranjeet Ranjan, Imran Pratapgarhi and others were taken into police custody and taken to an unknown destination.

Delhi | Congress leader Randeep Surjewala and others detained as they protest over ED probe against party leader Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case pic.twitter.com/S8nBWXEQqh

- Chhattisgarh CM and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, who Delhi Police also detained, slammed ED and asked, "Our protest will continue... what happened to ED cases against BJP leaders Himanta Biswa Sarma & Narayan Rane?... I've been detained."

- Rajasthan CM and veteran Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said, "No one can imagine the pressure from govt on Delhi Police... we can manage with Section 144, but you can't stop us from coming into AICC office. The situation in the country is very serious."



Various Congress workers detained by Delhi Police as they protest over the ED probe against party leader Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case pic.twitter.com/CX1S9i1rdh  ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2022

- Gandhi was accompanied by his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The Congress MP from Wayanad spent over 10 hours at the federal agency's office on Monday, where he was questioned over multiple sessions and his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Officials said as Gandhi's questioning could not be completed on Monday, he was summoned again on Tuesday.

- While agency sources informed that Gandhi recorded his statement and checked its transcript minutely, Congress leaders said the investigators took multiple breaks during his questioning.

What is the National Herald Case?

The probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper. The newspaper is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by Young Indian Private Limited. Gandhi's mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is currently admitted to a hospital here due to Covid-related issues, has also been summoned by the agency for questioning in the case on June 23. Congress has accused the Centre of targeting opposition leaders by misusing investigative agencies.
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday (June 14, 2022) was questioned for over eight hours by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the second consecutive day in the National Herald money-laundering probe and was again summoned on Wednesday. Gandhi, who was quizzed for over 10 hours a day earlier, arrived on Tuesday at the ED headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road in Delhi, accompanied by his sister and Congress general-secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and his questioning began at 11:30 am, reported news agency PTI.

After a session of about four hours, the former Congress chief took a break for about an hour in the afternoon and went home. He then rejoined the questioning and was at the ED office till around 9 pm, PTI said.

On Monday, Rahul had left the federal agency's office at around 11.10 pm after being questioned over multiple sessions and recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Earlier in the day, Gandhi also joined senior party leaders at a "dharna" at the Congress headquarters, where Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, and party MPs were also present.

Hundreds of Congress leaders and supporters were again detained outside the party headquarters at 24, Akbar Road and around central Delhi as they tried to hold a protest against the ED action for the second straight day.

Congress blocking roads to show its 'leaders are above the law'

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit out at the opposition party, saying it is blocking roads to show its "leaders are above the law" and termed the protests "drama".

Union minister Anurag Thakur took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi over his questioning by the ED after the Congress leader criticised the prime minister's decision to provide 10 lakh government jobs in the next 18 months.

"I would only say to Rahul Ji, you should first provide the right answers to the ED on the serious charges of corruption made against you," the BJP leader told reporters.

The Congress, however, accused the BJP of conspiring to defame the Gandhi family and the party by destroying their credibility through a "false" money laundering case being pursued by the Enforcement Directorate.

Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala claimed that the Centre is scared of Gandhi's politics as he is raising issues concerning the public.

"This entire exercise is illegal, unconstitutional, malicious and an exercise by a prime minister burning in the fire of political vendetta," Surjewala told a press conference.

The probe, notably, pertains to alleged financial irregularities in Young Indian Private Limited, promoted by the Congress, that owns National Herald. The newspaper is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by Young Indian.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is currently admitted to a hospital in Delhi due to Covid-related issues, has also been summoned by the agency for questioning in the case on June 23.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was questioned for over 10 hours by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper, will appear before it again on Tuesday. Rahul Gandhi appeared before the central probe agency for the first time for questioning on Monday, accompanied by a battery of leaders including sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and escorted by armed CRPF personnel. He was given an 80-minute break in the afternoon.

He left the ED office around 11.10 pm after questioning.

Hundreds of Congress workers in Delhi and state capitals took to the streets and several senior leaders, including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Randeep Surjewala and K C Venugopal, were detained here amid a massive show of strength by the party which had called for the Satyagraha march against the ED summons.

The top leaders of the party were released from police detention around 11.30 pm soon after Rahul Gandhi left the Enforcement Directorate office.

The principal opposition party alleged that the Delhi police made a "murderous attack" on its leader Venugopal and others, with former home minister P Chidambaram and Pramod Tiwari sustaining hairline rib fractures.

The Delhi Police said while no incident of injuries due to the use of force by police has come to its knowledge, it will diligently probe any such complaint and take appropriate action. It said 459 people were detained, including 26 MPs and five MLAs, and all women and functionaries have been released.

Lashing out at the government for "not allowing"' peaceful protest, Congress leaders said they would not kowtow to the Modi government and vowed to continue their agitation.

Congress leader Harish Rawat said that the party will continue this fight. We will continue this fight. The struggle of the Congress party will continue until they (Central government) try to suppress the voice of Rahul Gandhi and our party," Rawat told reporters.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJP hit back at the Congress, accusing its leaders of putting pressure on the ED, supporting corruption and protecting the alleged assets worth Rs 2,000 crore of the Gandhi family.

Noting that nobody is above the law "not even Rahul Gandhi", BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani claimed that never before such a blatant attempt was made by a political family to hold a probe agency to ransom to protect its "ill-gotten" assets.

Gandhi, 51, went from the party headquarters on Akbar Road to the ED office in central Delhi, a few kilometres away, in a convoy of seven cars after walking for some distance with his supporters.

After about two-and-a-half hours, he left the ED office for a lunch break during which he met his mother Sonia Gandhi at the Ganga Ram Hospital, where she has been admitted, and returned at 3.30 pm.

The former Congress president, a Z+ category protectee of the CRPF after the Union government withdrew the Gandhi family's SPG cover in 2019, is expected to write down his statement, official sources said.

Prohibitory orders were imposed in parts of central Delhi that were heavily barricaded. The ED is recording the statement of the Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in Kerala under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The probe is related to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian that owns the National Herald newspaper, published by the Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the promoters and shareholders of Young Indian. Rahul Gandhi is supposed to have been grilled about the incorporation of the Young Indian company, the operations of the National Herald and the fund transfer within the news media establishment.

In a statement, the Delhi Police said that 15 members of Lok Sabha, including Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, 11 Rajya Sabha MPs, including KC Venugopal and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, five MLAs of different states and other functionaries were among the 459 detained in the New Delhi district for not following lawful directions of police for maintenance of law and order. All woman workers and functionaries detained by police have been released, it said.

(Will Agency Inputs)
Srinagar: In swift anti-terror action Jammu Kashmir police killed two LeT terrorists including one Pakistan terrorists in Bemina area of Srinagar, who were planning a terror attack on Amarnath Yatra. Terrorists tasked by handlers in Pakistan to attack Amarnath Yatra were killed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, informed IGP Kashmir. The slain terrorists were part of a group that was intercepted in Soper forests on June 6 and one Pakistani terrorists Hanzalla was killed in the exchange of fire but two managed to escape from the spot. Police had a lead that the group of terrorists was sent from Pakistan especially with a task to attack the upcoming Amarnath yatra.

Sources said they had recently crossed over the line of control, and their handler Abu Huriara LeT commander based in POK had sent them especially with the task to attack the upcoming Amarnath yatra.

Adil Hussain Mir a local terrorist resident of Pehlgam was given the task to make their movement hazel free, provide the logistics and help them to settle a hideout as he was well known to the area of Pehlgam the base of Amarnath yatra since being a local. He added they were trying to reach south Kashmir Anantnag district and make their hideout close to a place where from yatra movement happens, but intelligence wing had gone through an intercept which made security agencies vigilant, we were tracking them, sources said.

Inspector General of Police Kashmir Vijay Kumar said, "Pakistan-based handlers had sent two Pakistani terrorists of LeT terror outfit along with one local terrorist Adil Hussain Mir of Pahalgam area of Anantnag district, who has been in Pakistan since 2018 with the intention to attack Yatra"



Kumar added, "In swift anti-terror action Srinagar police killed two LeT terrorists including one Pakistan terrorist in Bemina area of Srinagar. This was the same group of terrorists, who escaped from the Sopore encounter. We have been tracking their movement." IGP Kashmir told Zee News that with the lead on the movement of terrorists from north to central Kashmir, a trap was laid at many places from north Kashmir to Srinagar.

"In Bemina area they were intercepted, and Two terrorists of proscribed terror outfit LeT were neutralised by Srinagar Police in a swift encounter, also One policeman also received minor injury. Kumar said.



Police termed operation a big success, " As per the documents and other incriminating materials, one of the killed terrorists has been identified as Abdullah Goujri, resident of Faisalabad, Pakistan," SSP Srinagar said.



SSP Srinagar Rakesh Balwal said "As per documents recovered from another killed terrorist, he has been identified as Adil Hussain Mir @ Sufian @ Musab of Anantnag district. As per police records, he crossed over to Pakistan in 2018 on a visit VISA from Wagah.



Police claimed that they recovered arms and ammunition from the spot which includes communication devices and a matrix sheet also. SSP Balwal added, "2 AK-47 rifles, 10 magazines, Live rounds, Y-SMS device, Matrix sheet, Pakistani medicines & other incriminating material were recovered from them."

It's pertinent to mention this year a huge number of Pakistan terrorists is killed as compared to previous years, IGP Kashmir said, "this year 102 terrorists got killed and number of Pakistani terrorists killed has gone now to 30." According to tentative calculation, security forces say that around 155 terrorists are still active in Kashmir including around 60 Pakistani terrorists.



Live TV
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee today challenged the authorities, saying that he won't bow down his head against the central agencies' strong-arm tactics. Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, made these comments at a time his wife Rujira Banerjee is being interrogated by CBI in Kolkata. Abhishek Banerjee's comments came after a road show in Tripura's capital Agartala.

Remarkably, Abhishek Banerjee is spearheading party's campaign for upcoming polls in BJP-ruled Tripura. Abhishek Banerjee said: "You have the agency in your hands, what is it so scary about it?" He added, "No matter how many obstacles come, I won't bow my head. They will Threat me, Scold me, but will end up doing nothing."

The CBI is questioning Rujira Banerjee today in connection with the coal smuggling case. According to sources, some new information has come into the hands of the central intelligence in the investigation of coal smuggling. Besides, the CBI claimed that the evidence was inconsistent with the statement given by Abhishek's wife in the coal case earlier. That is why Rujira will be questioned mainly in connection with the accounts in foreign banks, CBI sources said.

Rujira Banerjee was served notice last week seeking to be questioned again in connection with the coal smuggling case. According to CBI sources, today a team of eight persons has been formed to interrogate Abhishek's wife. The team also includes women officers of the CBI.
Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said that he has not been made the Chief Minister by the central leaders for three months or seven months, and he will be in the leading position in the Assembly elections in early next year. The statement of Saha, who assumed office on May 15, a day after Biplab Kumar Deb`s resignation from the top post, is very significant as the elections to the Tripura Assembly are expected to be held around eight months from now (February 2023). The 69-year-old Congress-turned-BJP leader, who is contesting from the Town Bordowali Assembly constituency against five other candidates, is also the state party President and a Rajya Sabha member.

Campaigning for the June 23 bypolls to four Assembly seats, IANS quoted Saha as saying in a party meeting as, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President J.P. Nadda have extended their trust in me. This is not the right platform to disclose everything." Saha is contesting the elections for the first time to become a member of the Assembly within six months.

The bypolls were necessitated after the resignation of three BJP MLAs and the death of CPI-M legislator Ramendra Chandra Debnath. Amid resentment by a section of BJP legislators against then CM Deb, three MLAs -- Sudip Roy Barman, Ashis Kumar Saha and Ashis Das -- had quit the BJP and the Assembly.

Roy Barman, also a former BJP minister, and Saha joined the Congress in February this year while Das joined the Trinamool last year. Das also resigned from the Trinamool last month. Roy Barman and Saha this time are contesting from Agartala and Town Bordowali Assembly constituencies, respectively, on Congress tickets.

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb reportedly held a meeting with party chief JP Nadda in New Delhi on Saturday and also met with Kailash Vijayvargiya, national general secretary of the BJP, and the party`s Tripura in-charge Vinod Sonkar in Agartala on Monday. Deb tweeted, "In all these meetings, we have discussed the strategies about the byelections."

The Left parties, the Congress, and the Trinamool Congress also undertook campaigns in all the four assembly seats -- Town Bordowali, Agartala, Jubarajnagar and Surma (SC). Trinamool Congress national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee would be on a Tripura visit to spearhead the campaign as his party has put up candidates in all the four seats through a road-show and would address an election meeting as well.

Trinamool has submitted a series of complaints to the Election Commission about the political violence ahead of the bypolls.

"The BJP removing a chief minister ahead of elections shows that the issues raised by us in the past few months are valid. The people of Tripura now need a change of government and not just CMs. Those who think it is okay to increase the prices of essential commodities and fuel can vote for BJP. But those who want to remove BJP for its misgovernance should vote for Trinamool," IANS quoted Ghosh as saying.

(With IANS Inputs)
New Delhi: Historians have given more and unfair importance to the Mughals. But the Mauryas, Guptas and Pandyas did not have a place in their writings. Therefore, it is necessary to create a 'correct information' picture of ancient India. This is what Union Home Minister Amit Shah said a few days ago. Since then, the debate on Indian history has begun. Opposition parties, including the Congress, have spoken one after the other.

In such a situation, Amit Shah has been singled out by BJP's alliance partner in Bihar and Chief Minister of the state Nitish Kumar.

ALSO READ: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar denies need for 'anti-conversion' law

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was present at a function in Patna on Monday (June 13). There came the context of Amit Shah's allegations of bias against historians. Nitish said, "History will remain what it is. How can anyone change history? I don't understand, are you (Amit Shah) trying to change history? The linguistic differences are another matter. But you can't change the original history. 

According to political analysts, despite being an alliance partner in Bihar, Nitish's relationship with the saffron camp is widening. While the BJP and JD(U) are together keeping in mind political interests, their stand is completely different in terms of principle. Recently, the BJP has demanded to bring an anti-conversion law in Bihar. But Nitish Kumar refused to accept that demand. Not only that, the two sides also had a dispute over the census on the basis of caste.

ALSO READ: Nupur Sharma remark row: After West Bengal violence, BJP MP urges Home Minister Amit Shah to take THIS step

Amit Shah, who attended a book launch event in Delhi on Friday, said, "Historians have only given importance to mughals and have written about them. In reality, the Pandyas have ruled for almost 800 years. The life span of the Ahom empire in Assam was at least 650 years. The Ahoms defeated Bakhtiyar Khilji and Aurangzeb. The reign of the Pallava and Chola empires was about 600 years. The Mauryas ruled from Afghanistan to Lanka. The Guptas ruled for four hundred years. Samudragupta made the first attempt to create a 'United India'. But there are no books about them."

Significantly, the central government is on the backfoot for BJP leader Nupur Sharma's recent remarks on Hazrat Mohammad. In the face of a lot of criticism at home and abroad, the country's government has softened the tone a lot.

Live TV
Pune: A Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) functionary has been served with a police notice after he claimed that the BJP`s hoarding showed PM Narendra Modi`s image bigger than that of Lord Vitthal. The Pimpri Chinchwad police issued a notice to NCP spokesperson and Youth President Ravikant Varpe under section 149 of CrPc. Varpe has been served a prohibitory notice as he announced an agitation allegedly against BJP in the backdrop of PM Modi`s Pune visit today.

The notice has warned him and his organisation to refrain from any such acts in the city as prohibitions of Section 37 (1) (3) of the Maharashtra police act are in place due to PM`s scheduled visit today.

In a tweet on Monday, the NCP leader wrote, "Pimpri Chinchwad`s BJP office bearers have put a bigger picture of Modi than Vitthal on the welcome flex of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Dehu. I have been given notice under section 149." "I am firm on my position. Our Vitthal is always bigger than Prime Minister Modi," the NCP leader said in his tweet.

Earlier on Monday, the NCP functionary from Pimpri Chinchwad in Maharashtra demanded BJP`s apology over a hoarding which he claimed showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s image in a bigger size than of Lord Vitthal.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Dehu on Tuesday to inaugurate the Shila temple of Sant Tukaram Maharaj.

In his day-long visit, PM Modi will inaugurate a temple dedicated to 17th-century saint Tukaram Maharaj in Dehu near Pune city and unveil the Gallery of Revolutionaries in Mumbai. He will also participate in `Dwishatabdi Mahotsav` of `Mumbai Samachar`, a newspaper which has been published continuously for 200 years, an official statement said on Monday.

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, "I look forward to being among my sisters and brothers of Maharashtra tomorrow, 14th June. I would be attending programmes in Pune and Mumbai."
Washington: Amber Heard for the first time after the trial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp, says `You cannot tell me that this has been fair` in a recent interview. According to Variety, Amber Heard recently gave her first interview after her verdict. The interview is scheduled to premiere on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the interview, `The Aquaman` actor stated that she `understands` why the Virginia Court gave the verdict in favour of her ex-Husband.



"I don`t blame them," Heard said. "I actually understand. He`s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He`s a fantastic actor." Amber says in the interview.



Soon after the trial was over, Amber Heard faced a lot of backlash on social media and was trolled for falsely accusing Johnny Depp of domestic violence. Reacting to all those trolling, Amber said," I don`t care what one thinks about me or what judgments you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my own home, in my marriage, behind closed doors. I don't presume the average person should know those things. And so I don`t take it personally."



"But even somebody who is sure I'm deserving of all this hate and vitriol, even if you think that I'm lying, you still couldn't look me in the eye and tell me that you think on social media there's been a fair representation. You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair," Amber added to her statement.



Virginia Jury recently ordered Amber Heard to pay $10.3 million to Johnny Depp for the compensatory damages and $5 million for punitive damages, after their trial. Johnny Depp, soon after winning the trial against Amber Heard, shared a post on social media and thanked the jury and all his fans for their support.



Meanwhile, on the work front, Amber Heard will be next seen in DC comics `The Aquaman 2`.
Mumbai: Bollywood remembers Sushant Singh Rajput on his second death anniversary, as they share old glimpses of the star on their social media handles. Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's untimely demise on June 14 2020, left a void in the heart of his fans and family members. On Tuesday, Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan shared a picture of Sushant on Instagram, calling him a 'star', he wrote, "Stars always shine no matter where they are "Filmmaker Farah Khan shared an Instagram story, where she could be seen giving a peck on the cheek of Sushant, she captioned the picture, "You are missed Sushant Singh Rajput".

Sushant's 'Dil Bechara' co-star Sanjana Sanghi took to her Instagram story and shared a still from their film `Dil Bechara`, featuring herself with Sushant in the picture, she wrote, "We miss you". Actor Rajkummar Rao, who shared screens with Sushant in his debut film `Kai Po Che` also shared an Instagram story featuring Sushant along with a couple of heart emoticons.

Bollywood star Kiara Advani who shared screens with Sushant in their film, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story took to her Instagram stories, and shared a black and white picture of her late co-star Sushant Singh Rajput along with a caption, "Forever in our hearts" she wrote.

The actor passed away in 2020 at his Bandra residence which created a lot of controversies. The CBI was brought to investigate the actor's death from various angles. Post demise, his Patna residence was turned into his memorial with the late actor`s telescope, books, guitar and other personal things.

Sushant Singh Rajput made his Bollywood debut with Kai Po Che and was known for his kind gesture, and always treated his fans with utmost pleasure, he gathered a lot of popularity after his biggest success MS Dhoni - The Untold Story.

His last big-screen appearance was Chhichhore which was released in 2019 and was a blockbuster hit. The actor was last seen in director Mukesh Chhabra's Dil Bechara opposite Sanjana Sanghi which was the official remake of the novel The fault in our stars, the film went for an OTT release.
New Delhi: Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, who is currently in Hyderabad, was rushed to a city hospital after she complained of having an 'increased heart rate', reportedly. The actress was shooting for her upcoming venture titled Project K with Amitabh Bachchan and Prabhas - her first collab with the Baahubali star.

DEEPIKA PADUKONE HOSPITALISED

Reports of Deepika Padukone being hospitalised flooded social media and many fans reacted to the same, praying for her speedy recovery. According to a Bombay Times report, the actress was taken to the city hospital and after proper treatment, Deepika returned to the sets of Project K.

Noted South trade analyst Manobala Vijayabalan also confirmed the news of Deepika's health on Twitter. He wrote: #DeepikaPadukone is now perfectly fine and back to the sets of #ProjectK.

#DeepikaPadukone is now perfectly fine and back to the sets of #ProjectK.  Manobala Vijayabalan (@ManobalaV) June 14, 2022

Project K is a sci-fi venture by director Nag Ashwin. It is being produced by Vyjayanthi Movies. The film is simultaneously shot in Telugu and Hindi languages. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas and Deepika Padukone, marking her Telugu debut as well.

The filming reportedly began in July last year at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. The estimated budget of this sci-fi wonder is Rs 500 crore, making Project K one of the most expensive Indian films ever made.
Club Yesepoch, Inc. is honored to recognize two remarkable scholarship awardees, Allanah Drake and DyShunta McDaniel, for their noteworthy community service and high academic achievement. Encouraging local youth to seek higher education by means of honoring them with scholarship awards is an annual club initiative.

Allanah Drake, an Enterprise High School graduate, will attend Enterprise State Community College this fall where she plans to embark upon a degree in Psychology, minoring in biology.

Ms. Drake expressed, Due to the rapid increase in mental breakdowns in todays society, I need the scholarship so that I can push for the changes that are needed. I want a young black girl to look at me as a successful, well-rounded, intelligent black psychologist, author, and business woman and say, I can be her.

Ms. Drake has been scholastically recognized on the local and national level through the National Honor Society and National Society of High School Scholars. As a student she has volunteered her talents to the performing arts in addition to leadership activities. Her philanthropic efforts expand throughout her church community where she has served as an usher, contributed time in office management, and assisted with the church food bank.

DyShunta McDaniel, an Enterprise High School graduate, the daughter of Laureen McDaniel, has been accepted at Troy University, Troy, AL where she plans to pursue a degree in Kinesiology, minoring in Business Management.

Ms. McDaniel expressed, I am sure this scholarship will help a young person like myself fulfill their chances of being able to continue their education and reach their career goal. My mother has worked really hard to instill in my sister and me that education is key. I want to focus on my coursework and do the best I can to reach my ultimate goal of graduating and starting my career.

As a student and a humanitarian, Ms. McDaniel credits herself with numerous curricular, leadership and service activities. She has been scholastically recognized on the local and national level through the National Honor Society and National Society of High School Scholars. Also she engages her talents as a Sunday School Youth Secretary in addition to other capacities at her church.

Club Yesepoch Inc. is a non-profitable, charitable organization composed of Black Women in the city of Enterprise. If you have questions or concerns regarding this article, please contact Club President, Janie Rogers at 334-406-3119 or reporter, Michelle Goosby, at 334-406-9895.
NEW DELHI: Actor Hugh Jackman has tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time. The actor is set to miss the performances in 'The Music Man' with actor Max Clayton scheduled to perform as the standby.

Clayton will perform the role of Professor Harold Hill alongside Sutton Foster, in all performances of Meredith Willson's musical comedy from June 14-21, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

Producer Kate Horton in a statement said, "Once again, standbys and understudies save the day and, in this case, it's Max Clayton to the rescue." "We're excited to see him perform alongside the wonderful Sutton Foster and we wish Hugh a speedy recovery," she added.

Taking to Instagram, Jackman shared a video where he said, "I've frustratingly tested positive for Covid. Again. My standby, the amazingly talented @maxmclayton will step in for me. What's most annoying is I don't get to see him perform! I've said it before, and will say it a million times more ... Maxi and all the standbys, swings and understudies around the world, you are the true heroes of theater. You give life to the saying "the show must go on."

His diagnosis came a day after attending the Tony Awards, for which he was nominated for his role in 'The Music Man.'

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Jackman first tested positive in December 2021, just days after Foster also missed performances of The Music Man due to a breakthrough case. At the time, Jackman described his symptoms as 'like a cold,' with 'a scratchy throat and a bit of a runny nose.' A number of performances were cancelled before the actor returned to the stage.

Meanwhile, 'The Music Man' is directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks, with choreography from Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle.
New York: Philip Baker Hall, the prolific character actor of film and theater who starred in Paul Thomas Anderson's first movies and who memorably hunted down a long-overdue library book in Seinfeld, has died. He was 90.

Holly Wolfle Hall, the actor's wife of nearly 40 years, on Monday said Hall died Sunday surrounded by loved ones in Glendale, California. She said Hall had been well until a few weeks earlier, and spent his final days in warm spirits, reflecting on his life.

His voice at the end was still just as powerful, said Wolfle Hall. Her husband, she added, never retired from acting.

In a career spanning half a century, Hall was a ubiquitous hangdog face whose doleful, weary appearance could shroud a booming intensity and humble sensitivity. His range was wide, but Hall, who had a natural gravitas, often played men in suits, trench coats and lab coats.

"Men who are highly stressed, older men, who are at the limit of their tolerance for suffering and stress and pain, Hall told the Washington Post in 2017. I had an affinity for playing those roles.



Born in Toledo, Ohio, Hall initially devoted himself more to theater in Los Angeles, after moving out in 1975, than TV and movies. While shooting bit parts in Hollywood (an episode of Good Times was one of his first gigs), Hall worked with the L.A. Actor Theatre.

There he played Richard Nixon in the one-act play Secret Honor, a role he reprised in Robert Altman's 1984 film adaptation. Critic Pauline Kael wrote that Hall draws on his lack of a star presence and on an actor's fears of his own mediocrity in a way that seems to parallel Nixon's feelings."



Hall made an impression in the smallest of roles in other films, like 1988's Midnight Run." But outside of theater, Hall was mostly doing guest roles in television. That changed when he was shooting a PBS program in 1992. Hall then encountered a production assistant in his early 20s named Paul Thomas Anderson. The two would hang out, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee between scenes.

Anderson, believing Hall hadn't gotten his due in film, asked him to look at a script he had written for a 20-minute short film titled Cigarettes & Coffee.

I'm reading this script, and I truly had trouble believing that that kid wrote this script,? Hall told the AV Club in 2012. I mean, it was just so brilliant, resonating with nuance all over the place, like a playwright. Certainly, as a film, I'd never really seen anything like it. It was staggering.



After the $20,000 short made it into the Sundance Film Festival, Anderson expanded it into his feature debut, 1997's Hard Eight, which catapulted Hall's career. In it, Hall played a wise and courteous itinerate gambler named Sydney who schools a young drifter (John C. Reilly) on the craft. In one indelible scene, Philip Seymour Hoffman's first with Anderson, a hot-shot gambler chides Hall as old-timer.

Anderson would cast Hall again as adult film theater magnate Floyd Gondolli who warns Burt Reynolds' pornography producer about the industry's future in Boogie Nights." In Anderson's Magnolia, Hall played Jimmy Gator, the host of a kids game show.

I have a particular fascination with character actors, with wanting to turn them into lead actors," Anderson told The Los Angeles Times in 1998. "I see Philip Baker Hall, he's just . . . An actor that I love. There's no one else with a face like that, or a voice like that.

To many, Hall was instantly recognizable for one of the most powerfully funny guest appearances on Seinfeld. In the 22nd episode of the sitcom in 1991, Hall played Lt. Joe Bookman, the library investigator who comes after Seinfeld for a years-overdue copy of Tropic of Cancer." Hall played him like a hardboiled noir detective, telling Seinfeld: Well, I got a flash for ya, Joy-boy: Party time is over.

Hall was brought back for the Seinfeld finale and by Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm. David once said no other actor ever made him laugh more than Hall.

Among Hall's many other credits were Michael Mann's The Insider, as 60 Minutes producer Don Hewitt, and Lars von Trier's ?Dogville." Hall appeared in Say Anything, The Truman Show, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Zodiac, Argo and Rush Hour."



Hall played the neighbor Walt Kleezak on Modern Family. His last performance was in the 2020 series Messiah.

Hall, who was married to Dianne Lewis for three years in the early 1970s, is survived by his wife, four daughters, four grandchildren and his brother.
Hyderabad: In Florence, Italy, 'RRR' star Ram Charan and his wife, Upasana Konidela, Vice-Chairperson of Apollo Hospitals, are savouring the sweet moments of their lives. The mega couple flew to Italy to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary, which is on June 14 (Tuesday), taking a break from their hectic commitments. Ram Charan posted photos from their vacation on Instagram.

Summer vibes abound in the photo shared by Ram Charan, the couple appears to be enjoying the time of their lives.

In the pictures, both of them are spotted in white outfits. Upasana is seen carrying an oversized hat. Ram Charan's Dolce & Gabbana white shirt with 'Bring Me To The Moon' has caught the attention of fashion lovers as well.

In terms of work, Ram Charan is now wrapping off his highly anticipated film under Shankar Shanmugham's direction.

This film, billed as an action drama with current-day politics, features an ensemble cast, with Kiara Advani playing the female protagonist.
Bengaluru: Bollywood actor Shraddha Kapoor's brother Siddhanth Kapoor has now been released on station bail after he was arrested on Monday when his medical reports confirmed his consumption of drugs. The other four people detained have also been released on station bail, as per the police. Siddhanth Kapoor and the four others will have to further appear before the Police as and when called, said Bheema Shankar Gulled, DCP East Bengaluru. Siddhanth Kapoor was detained by Bengaluru Police for allegedly consuming drugs at a party in the city on Sunday (June 11) night.

Karnataka | Actor Shraddha Kapoor's brother Siddhanth Kapoor detained during police raid at a rave party in a Bengaluru hotel, last night. He is among the 6 people allegedly found to have consumed drugs: Bengaluru Police pic.twitter.com/UuHZKMzUH0  ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2022



Bengaluru City Police's Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) Bheemashankar S Guled said, "Siddhanth Kapoor's medical shows he had consumed drugs. We have already arrested him and are following the procedure. We will be sending him to judicial custody."Acting on a tip-off, police raided a hotel on MG Road in the city on Sunday night where a party was hosted. "Last night, we got info that a party is going on and they have consumed drugs. We raided and detained 35 people. We didn't find any drugs on their person but found MDMA and ganja disposed of nearby. We will investigate CCTV to check who disposed of it," added DCP Guled.

Also read: Shakti Kapoor reacts as son Siddhanth Kapoor is detained in drugs case, says Its not possible

Samples of people suspected of having consumed drugs were sent for medical tests and Siddhanth's sample was among six that turned positive. Police said it was unclear whether they had consumed drugs at the hotel or had come to the party after taking drugs outside. "Hotel has been given notice, we have asked specific questions, they will have to answer. Bengaluru city police have declared war on drugs and this was part of it. Earlier in the month, we had conducted a raid, where 34 had tested positive for drugs," added DCP East
NEW DELHI: Bollywood actor and Shraddha Kapoor's brother Siddhanth Kapoor has now been released on station bail after he was arrested on Monday when his medical reports confirmed his consumption of drugs.

The news created a lot of stir among fans and everywhere.

Reacting on the same, Writer-Director Sarim Momin has kept his viewpoint about Siddhanth while talking to a leading daily. He has clearly refused to accept that the actor can do anything of that sort.

While talking to ETimes he shared, "Once I was discussing a character with him (which I had cast him for) and we were brainstorming about the traits. The character was supposed to be of a rock star who are stereotypically known to be 'high.' It was Siddhant who had said 'Let's not unnecessarily show my character as someone who does drugs. It doesn't send out a good message sir.'"

Sarim added, "As a director I've never experienced anything with Siddhanth that I'm reading about him today. He's the most professional man I know and a thorough gentleman."

Sarim who has directed him in two unreleased film called him a true gentleman and also shared that he refused to show his character using drugs in film as it might give wrong message to the audience.

For the unversed, Siddhanth Kapoor was detained by Bengaluru Police for allegedly consuming drugs at a party in the city on Sunday (June 11) night.

Bengaluru City Police's Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) Bheemashankar S Guled said, "Siddhanth Kapoor's medical shows he had consumed drugs. We have already arrested him and are following the procedure. We will be sending him to judicial custody."Acting on a tip-off, police raided a hotel on MG Road in the city on Sunday night where a party was hosted. "Last night, we got info that a party is going on and they have consumed drugs. We raided and detained 35 people. We didn't find any drugs on their person but found MDMA and ganja disposed of nearby. We will investigate CCTV to check who disposed of it," added DCP Guled.
New Delhi: The four labour codes on wages, social security, industrial relations and occupation safety, health and working conditions are likely to be implemented from July 1, several media reports have quoted. Once implemented, the new wage code will impact working hours, salary restructuring and PF contribution, encashing of Earned Leaves among the prominent ones. Since these are early speculations, employees will have to wait till government officially notifies the rules.

Till now, 23 states have pre-published draft rules on these laws, while the Centre has completed the process of finalising the draft rules on these codes in February 2021. The central government has notified four labour codes, namely, the Code on Wages, 2019, on August 8, 2019, and the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 on September 29, 2020. (Also read: HDFC Bank ATM in Pune gutted in fire, cash worth 3.98 lakh burnt by thief)

Since labour is a concurrent subject, the Centre wants the states to implement these as well in one go, as has been reported earlier.

Reduced in-hand salary after implementation of Wage Code

The government's notification on Code on Wages 2019 may reduce the take-home pay while components like PF and Gratuity might rise. This is based on the grounds that the new wage code mentions provision entailing that the employee's basic salary will be at least 50 percent of his/her net monthly CTC. Hence, if this provision comes into effect, it will mean that employees will not be able to get more than 50 percent of his/her net monthly salary in form of allowance.

Higher PF after implementation of Wage Code

This also means that there will be a consequent rise in gratuity and PF contribution of the employee. Hence, while the take home pay of the employees may be reduced, the Gratuity and PF component may rise.

12 hours work-week

Experts also believe that the new draft will impact the working hours of employees with some media reports saying that employees may be allowed a four-day workweek but they will have to work for 12 hours on those four days. The labour ministry has apparently made it clear that 48-hour weekly work requirement is a must.

Big changes in Earned Leave policy after new wage code implementation

The biggest change could be seen in cases of Earned Leave. Government departments now allows 30 holidays in 1 year, defense employees get 60 holidays in 1 year. Employees can cash up to 300 holidays on carry forward, however the Labor union is demanding to increase number of holidays to 450 in new code. At present there are 240 to 300 holidays in different departments. Employees can take these holidays in cash only after 20 years of service.
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday cleared AGNIPATH scheme for recruitment of youth in the Armed Forces. The scheme is called AGNIPATH and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers. AGNIPATH allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the Armed Forces for a period of four years. 46,000 Agniveers to be recruited this year. Recruitment rallies will commence in 90 days

"It is envisaged that average age profile of Indian Armed forces would come down by about 4-5 years by implementation of this scheme," said an official release. The Seva Nidhi will be exempt from Income Tax. There shall be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits. Agniveers will be provided non-contributory Life Insurance Cover of Rs 48 lakhs for the duration of their engagement period in the Indian Armed Forces.

Agniveers to be enrolled under respective Service Acts for four years. One time Seva Nidhi package to be paid to Agniveers upon completion of engagement period of four years.

Agniveers will be paid one time Seva Nidhi package which shall comprise their contribution including accrued interest thereon and matching contribution from the Government equal to the accumulated amount of their contribution including interest as indicated below:

During this period of service to the nation,the Agniveers will be imparted with various military skills and experience, discipline, physical fitness, leadership qualities, courage and patriotism. Post this stint of four years, the Agniveers will be infused into the civil society where they can contribute immensely towards the nation building process. The skills gained by each Agniveer will be recognised in a certificate to form part of his unique resume.

The individuals, selected for enrolment in the Armed Forces as regular cadre, would be required to serve for a further engagement period of minimum 15 years and would be governed by the existing terms and conditions of service of Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks in Indian Army and their equivalent in Indian Navy and Indian Air Force and that of Non Combatant enrolled in the Indian Air Force, as amended from time to time.
The first train operated by a private operator between Coimbatore and Shirdi under the Indian Railways' 'Bharat Gaurav' scheme was flagged off today. The train will depart from Coimbatore North at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and arrive at Shirdi's Sai Nagar at 7.25 a.m. on Thursdays. After a one-day break, the train will resume its journey from Sai Nagar on Friday and arrive in Coimbatore North at 12 noon on Saturday. Before arriving in Shirdi, the train will stop at Tirupur, Erode, Salem Jolarpet, Bangaluru Yelahanka, Dharmavara, Mantralayam Road (5 hours halt), and Wadi.

According to an official release, the rates are on par with regular train ticket rates charged by Indian Railways and provide exclusive VIP Darshan at Shirdi Sai Baba Temple.

Tamil Nadu| India's first-ever private train service under Bharat Gaurav scheme flagged off yesterday from Coimbatore



It will depart from Coimbatore North on Tuesdays & arrive at Shirdi's Sai Nagar on Thursdays. 1500 people can travel on this: B Guganesan, CPRO Southern Railway pic.twitter.com/kbxXq9IWxk  ANI (@ANI) June 15, 2022

The train will be maintained by housekeeping service providers, who will clean the utility areas during frequent intervals, and the caterers are experienced in preparing the traditional vegetarian menu. There will be a Train Captain, a doctor, and private security personnel, along with the Railway Police Force, on board, it said.

Also read: Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail: First 'Make-in-India' RRTS train reaches Ghaziabad, trials to begin soon

Meanwhile, a group of Railway employees belonging to the Southern Railway Mazdoor Union staged a demonstration at the city railway station protesting against the train services, which they claimed was part of privatising the sector.

With inputs from PTI
NEW DELHI: Get ready to witness one of the biggest blockbusters of Marathi cinema 'Dharmaveer on ZEE5 on June 17.

Written and directed by Pravin Tarde, the film will see Prasad Oak in a lead role and Kshitish Date, Makarand Paddhye, Snehal Tarde and Shruti Marathe in the prominent roles as well. Produced by Mangesh Desai, the film will be accessible to the audience in 190+ countries.

As seen in the trailer, Dharmaveer is a Marathi biographical political drama that revolves around the great personality & politician - Anand Dighe. Through the eyes of a reporter, the story not only takes you back to Anand Dighes early days but also talks about how he is still alive in the hearts of the Thanekars.

The movie will showcase the politicians dedication and devotion towards his people and the mutual love and respect that both leaders - Bala Saheb Thackrey and Anand Dighe had for each other.

Commenting on the release, Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India said, At ZEE5 we are consistently looking at understanding the need of the consumer and delivering the content they are looking for. There is a demand for Marathi content across the globe. With the release of Dharamveer, ZEE5 is bolstering its content line-up and is engaging with the Marathi audience yet again. Our aim is to offer great content and relevant stories in the language of their choice.

Actor Prasad Oak said, I am very grateful for the response Team Dharamveer have received from the viewers during the theatrical release. We have worked very hard on this movie, and I am glad that through ZEE5 a larger audience will get a chance to watch the film. I really hope we get the same response as we received in the theatres.

Watch the biggest Marathi movie of 2022 on June 17 exclusively on ZEE5.
CHIPLEY, Fla.  An Oklahoma resident is in custody in Washington County on methamphetamine charges after attempting to stop traffic a few miles outside of Chipley.

Monday around 8 p.m. deputies with the Washington County Sheriffs Office were dispatched to State Road 90 and New Prospect Road in reference to a female subject entering the roadway and attempting to stop traffic, according to a news release from the office of Washington County Sheriff Kevin Crews.

Upon arrival, deputies witnessed a female sitting in the ditch and another standing and talking with her. Deputies made contact with one of the females who informed the officers that she pulled over to the side of the road to assist. Deputies spoke with the other female, who was identified as Trina Belle Crandall, 42, from Inola, Oklahoma.

According to the news release, Crandall acted paranoid and was not very coherent. She told deputies that she was afraid of her husband and that he was attempting to run her over. Deputies made contact with Crandalls husband, who told deputies that as they were traveling down the road, Crandall opened the door and tried to exit the vehicle. The husband then stopped the vehicle, Crandall exited and began running.

Crandall told deputies that he has a bomb in the truck, and when deputies asked if she was under the influence of narcotics she stated that her husband was. Crandall also admitted to being under the influence of methamphetamine and held up a metal container which contained methamphetamine. Crandall appeared to be agitated and began walking away from deputies. Crandall was asked not to leave and deputies attempted to detain her.

After a short foot chase and brief struggle, Crandall was arrested and transported to the Washington County Jail on charges of possession of methamphetamine and resisting an officer without violence.

After a search of the husbands vehicle, a bomb was not located. Deputies also did not witness Crandalls husband to be under the influence of narcotics and released him from the scene.
San Francisco: Tesla CEO Elon Musk is set to speak to Twitter employees for the first time this week in a bid to allay their fears and put his vision across to them.

Musk will address Twitter employees via a virtual meeting on Thursday, reports Insider, and will take questions from them over his $44 billion takeover deal that he has put on hold till he gets answers on the presence of bots on the micro-blogging platform.

The event was reportedly announced by Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal in an email to employees, when he told them to submit questions for Musk in advance.

Earlier this month, Twitter`s board reportedly planned to give Musk access to the massive stream of "firehose" data comprising more than 500 million tweets posted each day.

Soon after making a $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter in April, Musk has been asking for information about spam and fake accounts.

He even threatened to walk away from the deal if the company fails to provide the data.

To end the standoff with the billionaire, Twitter board has plans to comply with access to data that he says is necessary to evaluate the number of fake users on the platform.

The information could be provided as soon as this week, the person said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the report said.

The data comprises not only a real-time record of tweets but the devices they tweet from, as well as information about the accounts that tweet.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO earlier said he does not believe in Twitter findings which say that false or spam accounts represent fewer than 5 per cent of its monetisable daily active users (229 million).
New Delhi: Garena Free Fire releases redeem codes on everyday basis. The 12-digit redeem code consists of alphabets and numbers. Players can get rewards such as skins for in-game weapons and characters to improve their gaming experience.

Garena Free fire is banned in India. However, if you are located outside India, you can access the reward codes and redeem them. For that you will be required to visit official Garena Free Fire reward site and log in to your Facebook, Google, Twitter IDs to access the Free Fire redemption page. (Also read: Nothing phone (1) to be manufactured in India, check launch, sale and other details)

Check out the Garena Free Fire Redeem Codes for June 14, 2022

FF9MJ31CXKRG

FFCO8BS5JW2D

PCNF5CQBAJLK

FFAC2YXE6RF2

FFICJGW9NKYT

WEYVGQC3CT8Q

3IBBMSL7AK8G

FV5BNJ45IT8U

F4N5K6LYOU9I

FH2GYFDHE34G

F7YGT1BE456Y

FJBHVFS4TY23

F87GYF3DGE6B

FD9A Q1FG H2Y3

FBI8 YT8G VB7N

K2OG IUY6 T7EA

(Also read: Former Better.com employee sues CEO Vishal Garg for 'misleading investors')

How to Redeem Garena Free Fire codes for today, 14 June 2022

Step 1: Go to the official Garena Free Fire redemption portal



Step 2: Log in on the portal with either your Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Google, VK, or Huawei ID.



Step 3: Enter a redeem code in the designated text box.



Step 4: Click on the Ok button to get free rewards in your game account.

(Disclaimer: Garena Free fire is banned in India. Hence we advise people to adhere to government rules)
New Delhi: Internet Explorer is going to be phased out on June 15, and Twitter has been feeling a little nostalgic about it. Almost no one has used the search engine in a long time, and it is famous for being the punchline of numerous jokes about its slowness. However, it is associated with many of our first Internet memories, when Internet Explorer was the only alternative accessible. For some versions of Windows 10, Internet Explorer, or IE, will be decommissioned and support will end tomorrow.

Last year, Microsoft announced that the new Edge browser, which is the successor to Internet Explorer, offers a compatibility mode for legacy websites and apps that still require Internet Explorer core capabilities to run. Read More:

Check out some of the tweets that will make you nostalgic:

Say goodbye to the ever great Internet Explorer this June. pic.twitter.com/E5BMHcByiv  DeepCool (@Deepcoolglobal) May 31, 2022

Internet Explorer to be finally shut down by Microsoft after 27 years. Thank you for helping us download other web browsers.  Shubhangi Sharma (@ItsShubhangi) June 13, 2022

Microsoft prepares to retire internet explorer, it's 27 year old browser



Chrome users: pic.twitter.com/5C8unTqcu6  SwatKat (@swatic12) June 13, 2022

In August 1995, Internet Explorer made its debut. Because it was Javascript-enabled and allowed users to see JPEGs and GIFs, it quickly became the most popular search engine by 1996. Edge, Microsoft's replacement, has been converted to Chromium, the same foundation as the Google Chrome web browser. Read More:

Not only is Microsoft Edge a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, but it is also able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications. Microsoft Edge has Internet Explorer mode (IE mode) built in, so you can access those legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and applications straight from Microsoft Edge," said Sean Lyndersay, Partner Group Program Manager, Microsoft Edge at Microsoft.

It remains to be seen whether Internet Explorer-themed memes will last any longer.
Karachi: The Karachi police on Monday arrested 28 protesters demonstrating outside Sindh Assembly over `missing` Baloch students. The protestors were manhandled as they were demonstrating against the abduction of two Baloch students of the University of Karachi (KU) by law enforcement agencies, reported Dawn.

The two students of KU`s Philosophy Department -- Doda Baloch and Ghamshad Baloch -- were taken away from their home near Maskan Chowrangi in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on June 7 and their whereabouts are unknown since then. Their relatives and members of civil society organisations had set up a camp outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) for the last four days.

On Sunday night, they managed to reach the Sindh Assembly`s main gate where they staged a sit-in for the release of the missing students, reported Dawn. Police and district administration held talks with them, persuading them to vacate the place. The protest organisers accused the police of manhandling women and children.

Also Read: National Herald Case: Harish Rawat were also taken into custody

They said the Sindh police had retracted their promise of arranging a meeting of the missing students` relatives with Counter Terrorism Department officials on Monday. Therefore, they said, they again staged a sit-in near the Sindh Assembly building where the police manhandled and arrested protesters, reported Dawn.

Earlier, around 120-130 relatives and members of different organisations, including activists Seemi Din Baloch, Abdul Wahab Baloch, Aamna Baloch, Naghma Sheikh and others, had resumed their march around 4:50 pm from the KPC towards the assembly building where the budget session was ongoing. Passing through Sarwar Shaheed Road, they had staged a sit-in at the assembly`s gate.

Speaking to the protesters there, Seemi said that taking away students was equal to the "character assassination" of the educational institutes. She said Doda and Ghamshad were students but they were taken away because "being Baloch was a crime". If they had not been Baloch, they would not have been taken away, she said.

He announced that the protesters would continue their demonstration outside the assembly till the release of the missing students. Meanwhile, Sheikh said that people from the Baloch community were being taken away from Quetta, Panjgur and Karachi. She said if two missing Baloch are released, then in return, "10 others are whisked away," reported Dawn.

Meanwhile, footage shared on social media showed the police treating the protesters in a rough manner and dispersing them. Pakistan Peoples Party Secretary General Farhatullah Babar criticised the "use of disproportionate force and arrest of women", adding that such treatment was "highly disturbing".

Also Read: Joker 2: Lady Gaga in early negotiations to play Harley Quinn in Todd Philips film

Former human rights minister Shireen Mazari termed the situation as "barbarism at its peak", reported Geo News. MPA Sanaullah Baloch strongly condemned the Sindh police`s "heavy-handedness and inhuman act of violence against innocent and peaceful Baloch women and students". He said the Sindh government should investigate the incident.

Qaumi Awami Tehreek president Ayaz Latif Palijo said that Sindh`s land should not be used for violence against the Baloch community, reported Geo News.
Beijing: China has announced plans to provide visas to Indian professionals and their families working in various Chinese cities who are stuck back home for over two years due to Beijing's Covid-19 visa ban. Separately, China is also processing requests of thousands of Indian students studying in Chinese universities who have conveyed their interest to re-join their Chinese colleges and universities.

ALSO READ: Now, China reacts to Nupur Sharma's Prophet remarks, says 'it's always important to...'

On Monday, the Chinese Embassy in India updated its Covid-19 visa policy after over two years to accept visa applications of foreign nationals and their accompanying family members wanting to go to China for resumption of work in all fields.

ALSO READ: Fourth wave scare: China warns of 'explosive' Covid-19 outbreak, all new cases in Beijing linked to a bar

It is a big relief for hundreds of Indian professionals and their families who are stuck back home since 2020.

Live TV
BRUSSELS: The European Union signed on Tuesday an agreement with Bavarian Nordic for the supply of about 110,000 doses of vaccines against monkeypox, the EU Commission and the company said. The vaccines will be bought with EU funds and delivered to EU states, EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said.

Doses are to be delivered in proportion to the population, starting with states with the most urgent needs. Deliveries will start immediately and will be completed in the coming months, the company said.

It raised its outlook for this year`s financial results after the deal with the EU and other smaller deals for the supply of its vaccine.

About 900 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 19 EU countries and also in Norway and Iceland, which will be entitled to receive doses despite not being EU members, the Commission said.

Danish biotech Bavarian Nordic`s vaccine, known as Imvanex in Europe and Jynneos in the United States, has been approved against smallpox. The vaccine is not authorised yet in the EU against monkeypox, the EU Commission said.

"However, the smallpox vaccine also protects people from monkeypox, since this virus is closely related to the smallpox virus," the Commission said.

The EU drugs regulator is currently in talks with Bavarian Nordic for a speedy approval of the vaccine also against monkeypox, the Commission said.

Some EU states, including Germany and Spain, have already made their own orders for monkeypox vaccines.

What is monkeypox disease?

Monkeypox is a rare viral infection similar to human smallpox. It was first discovered in 1958 in monkeys kept for research and the first human case of monkeypox was reported in 1970. The disease occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa.

The virus belongs to the family Poxviridae, which also includes the viruses causing smallpox and cowpox disease.

What are symptoms of monkeypox virus?

Monkeypox typically presents itself with fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications. The disease is usually self-limiting with the symptoms lasting from two to four weeks. Severe cases can also occur. In recent times, the case fatality ratio has reportedly been around 3-6 per cent but can be up to 10 per cent. There are no reported deaths in this current spread.

How does monkeypox spread?

Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus. It reportedly is spread by rodents such as rats, mice, and squirrels.

The monkeypox disease is transmitted through lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets, and contaminated materials such as bedding.

Health officials have also noted that some of these infections may be transmitted through sexual contact. The WHO said it was also investigating many cases being of people identifying as gay or bisexual.

The virus, however, is said to be less contagious than smallpox and causes less severe illness.

How are monkeypox patients treated?

Vaccines used during the smallpox eradication program also provided protection against monkeypox. Newer vaccines have been developed of which one has been approved for the prevention of the disease. An antiviral agent developed for the treatment of smallpox has also been licensed for the treatment of monkeypox, according to WHO.
Today (June 14, 2022), the world is set to witness the Strawberry Moon. At 7.51 am Eastern Daylight Time, which is 5.22 pm IST, the moon will be at its closest point in its orbit around the Earth. This will make it appear like a 'supermoon', which looks bigger and brighter to residents of Planet Earth.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the June full moon, which is celebrated as "Vat Purnima" in India, will appear opposite the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 7:52 am EDT (5:22 pm IST) on June 14.

What is Strawberry Moon?

Well the strawberry moon doesn't look like strawberries! According to NASA, the Algonquin tribes of the US and Canada named the full moon Strawberry Moon after an abundant plant in the area. Some NASA reports suggest that the Strawberry Moon is also known as the Mead Moon or the HoneyMoon. This will be the first of the three summer supermoons.

For Americans, the Strawberry Moon marks the last full Moon of spring or the first Full Moon of summer.

Watch Strawberry Moon online

As per news reports, the Virtual Telescope Project in Italy's Ceccano will host a free livestream of the full moon on Tuesday. The webcast will begin at 3.15 pm EDT (12.45 am IST). The Full Moon will reach its peak at nearly 5.22 pm on June 14. However, it will not change its appearance throughout the night, so one can watch it anytime post that.

Full Moon and India connection

The June Full Moon is referred to in India as Vat Purnima, a Hindu festival. According to the legend of Savitri and Satyavan, the former, a devout wife, tricked Yama Raj - the Hindu god of death and justice - into giving her husband a new lease of life. Hence, Savitri is worshipped on the day of Vat Purnima. Married women fast and pray for their husbands long life on this day.

What is a supermoon?

A supermoon occurs when a full moon coincides with the Moons closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit, a point known as "perigee". During every 27-day orbit around Earth, the Moon reaches both its perigee, about 2,26,000 miles from Earth, and its farthest point, or apogee, about 2,51,000 miles from Earth. In this phase, the Moon looks larger and brighter than usual.

Full moon calendar of 2022

The Old Farmers' Almanac says there will be six more full moon events this year:

July 13: Buck moon; August 11: Sturgeon moon; September 10: Harvest moon; October 9: Hunter's moon; November 8: Beaver moon;

December 7: Cold moon
Cairo: Tribal clashes over the past week in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur have killed around 100 people, the U.N. Refugee agency and a tribal elder said Monday, the latest surge in tribal violence in the restive region.

Toby Harward, a coordinator with the UNHCR, said the fighting grew out of a land dispute between Arab and African tribes in the town of Kulbus in West Darfur province. Local militias then attacked multiple villages in the area, forcing thousands of people to flee, he said.

Also Read: Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainians left with one way out of Sievierodonetsk, as fierce fighting rages

Abkar al-Toum, a tribal leader in the town, said the dead included at least 62 bodies found burned after militias set more than 20 villages on fire. He said many people were still unaccounted for.

The fighting was the latest bout of tribal violence in Darfur. It came as the country remains mired in a wider crisis following an October military coup. The takeover upended the country's transition to democracy after a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.

Live TV
A veteran will receive a trained service dog thanks to money raised in the Wiregrass.

A local fundraiser for the The Battle Buddy Foundation was held in conjunction with co-founder Kenny Bass and his service dog, Atlas, appearing at the 16th annual Wiregrass Memorial Day Ceremony held at Sunset Memorial Park in Dothan.

That fundraiser plus a matching donation generated $30,000 for the foundation.

Robert and Toni Byrd, owners of Sunset Memorial Park, gave a matching donation to supplement money raised from individual donations as well as three local businesses  Mike Schmitz Automotive Group, Miles of Flowers, and Dennis Lee Furniture.

The Battle Buddy Foundation provides service dogs, training, and ongoing canine care at no charge to veterans. Training service dogs to help veterans with mobility issues or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can take years and cost tens of thousands of dollars.

During the Memorial Day ceremony, Bass gave a firsthand account of how his service dog  known as Atlas the Wonderdog  changed his life. Bass is a disabled Marine combat veteran who sustained a brain injury while serving during the Iraq War. His post-war life was filled with combat-related trauma caused by the injury and PTSD. A doctor suggested Bass consider a service dog.

Bass was tasked with paying for Atlas on his own, which led him to create the foundation so no other veteran should have to deal with those struggles. Bass credits Atlas with giving him his life back.

For more information on The Battle Buddy Foundation, visit tbbf.org.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the state is preparing its next legal moves in case the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the Roe vs. Wade abortion rights decision, as a draft opinion leaked from the court in May indicated the justices will do.

Marshall was a guest on the Capitol Journal program on Alabama Public Television on Friday night and was asked about the legal status of abortion in Alabama should the court upend the 1973 decision that said women have a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy before the viability of the fetus.

The leaked draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, said the rulings in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992 were wrong and that states had the authority to outlaw abortion.

It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the peoples elected representatives, Alito wrote. The leaked document indicated that four other justices joined Alito in an opinion to uphold a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Three years ago, the Alabama Legislature passed what was then the nations strictest law against abortion, outlawing the procedure at all stages of pregnancy except to protect a woman from a serious health risk. It would be a Class A felony, punishable by 10 to 99 years, for a doctor to perform an abortion. The woman receiving an abortion would not be criminally liable.

Abortion providers in Alabama challenged the law as unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law in October 2019, shortly before it was scheduled to take effect. The injunction remains in place.

Marshall, who is defending the Alabama law in the case, said the next step depends on how the justices rule in the Mississippi case, which is known as Dobbs v. Jackson Health.

Weve got to see what the Supreme Court does. What is the ruling of the court and its implications? he said.

Marshall said his office is making preparations in case the justices issue a decision consistent with the draft opinion upholding the Mississippi law. Marshall said Alabama would then move to have Thompsons injunction lifted. He said the state would also move to end injunctions in two other cases on abortion restrictions passed by the Legislature.

It doesnt flip the switch automatically to allow for whatever exists in current Alabama law to be the law again, Marshall told Capitol Journal host Todd Stacy. We have a couple of injunctions that are in play. So one of the things that were doing in preparation for the Dobbs decision is to be looking at what do we have to proactively do to dissolve those injunctions. We would have to go into Judge Thompsons court to be able to set that aside.

A constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2018 would help the state defend the Legislatures ban on abortion, Marshall said. The amendment, which was sponsored by former state Rep. Matt Fridy, R-Montevallo, states that Alabama recognizes the rights of the unborn, including the right to life, and that nothing in the Alabama constitution guarantees a right to an abortion or funding for an abortion. Marshall said the amendment is intended to block claims to abortion rights under the Alabama constitution in the event that Roe v. Wade is overturned.

That was designed for the very specific purpose that now is coming to fruition, Marshall said.

That will help us in the litigation. It will help us be able to push back on what Im sure will be additional challenges we will face.
Recently uncovered court documents from 1828 related to noted abolitionist Sojourner Truth will be on display after almost two centuries. The court papers from her successful court fight to reunite with a son sold to slavery were spotted in January by an eagle-eyed New York state archivist. They will briefly be on public display Wednesday at the Ulster County Courthouse in Kingston, New York, the same building where she brought her case. The eight hand-written pages offer new details about a significant turning point in her eventful life. For the past forty years, the papers have been safely stored at the climate-controlled New York State Archives in Albany.

In 1828, years before she took the name Sojourner Truth, a Black woman who had escaped slavery with her infant daughter won a court fight in New York's Hudson Valley to bring her son, Peter, home from Alabama.

It was a historic case of a Black woman seeking the release of her son from slavery prevailing in court against a white man. Isabella Van Wagenen, as she was known then, would gain enduring fame as an outspoken abolitionist and women's rights advocate. As for her deposition and the rest of the court documents, they were boxed up and eventually stored among a million other records, unseen and unrecognized for their significance.

Until 194 years later.

An eagle-eyed state archivist searching for something else spotted the court records in January. Now, they will briefly be on public display Wednesday at the Ulster County Courthouse in Kingston, New York, the same building she walked into almost two centuries ago seeking justice. The eight hand-written pages offer new details about a significant turning point in her eventful life.

"This was extremely brave of Isabella," said Nell Irvin Painter, author of "Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol." "Just the fact that she was a woman going up against powerful men, that's extraordinary right there. And then you add in race, and then you add in class. So it's an amazing story."

Painter will be among the people in Kingston on Wednesday, eager to glimpse the historic documents found by happenstance.

For the past 40 years, the papers have been safely, if anonymously, stored at the climate-controlled New York State Archives in Albany. They were uncovered there by Jim Folts, head of researcher services at the archives, who had been looking for habeas corpus examples from that era for a history book on New York's courts.

Combing through boxes of documents, he found one from 1828. It had a woman's name on it, which was unusual for the time. Interest piqued, he read the yellowed paper and saw the woman, Isabella Van Wagenen, was trying to recover her son from slavery.

"That rang the bell," Folts said recently in an interview at the archives, "because Isabella Van Wagenen was then the name of the person who became known as Sojourner Truth."

Researchers compare the surprising find to coming across missing puzzle pieces. Though Truth later recalled that the event happened in open court in the autumn of 1828, court papers indicate it happened that spring, and not in open court, Folts said. In her brief deposition, she said Peter was 9 years old.

"We always wondered, 'Where were these records?'" said Paul O'Neill, Ulster County's commissioner of jurors.

The documents are written in the same sort of lawyer-speak still used in courts today, including Van Wagenen's testimony. She could neither read nor write, but left a simple "X" on the page by her name.

"This is her DNA left behind on this document. The rest is legalese and all of that," said State Archivist Thomas Ruller, pointing at the mark on the page. "This is Sojourner Truth, this is where she shows up in this story."

Born into slavery in or around 1797 in the Hudson Valley, she walked away from the home of her final owner in 1826 with her infant daughter after he reneged on a promise to free her. She went to work for the Van Wagenen family, and took their surname.

Meanwhile, her son Peter was sold into slavery in Alabama. The sale occurred during the gradual phase out of slavery in New York, where Peter would have been an indentured servant until he was older. But the sale of Peter to another state was illegal.

Faced with the prospect of never seeing him again, she went to court in Kingston to get him back. Painter said she relied on two lawyers allied with her and her faith in the Holy Spirit.

A grand jury proceeding was apparently enough to prompt the man who sold Peter to have him sent back to New York. But it was her application for a writ of habeas corpus that led to them being reunited. A Supreme Court Commissioner, acting with powers of a judge, ordered Peter freed March 15, 1828.

It was believed to be the first time a Black woman successfully sued white men to get her son released from slavery, though it's possible there were other cases researchers are unaware of.

It was a bittersweet reunion. Peter's body showed evidence of beatings and it took the traumatized child time to accept his mother. Peter did not have an easy life, Painter said.

"He ended up, as many troubled young men did at that time, on a Nantucket whaling vessel, and he was finally lost at sea," Painter said.

Van Wagenen took the name Sojourner Truth in 1843 and lived another 40 years.

The court papers from that day were shipped north to Albany. They were transferred to the newly founded Court of Appeals in 1847 upon a reorganization of the state court system, and stayed at New York's top court for more than a century. The records came to the state archives in 1982, stored in anonymity until Folts' serendipitous discovery this winter.

"There are thousands of these boxes, millions of these documents," Ruller said. "And many of them will contain the stories of other individuals who may not be as well known or well heard of. But their stories are just as important."
Katie Britt is headed to a likely victory to fill our U.S. Senate seat in next Tuesdays June 21 runoff.

The 40-year-old first-time candidate garnered an amazing 45% of the vote against two major candidates on May 24. She finished far ahead of second place finisher Mo Brooks at 29% and third placeholder Mike Durant at 23%. She almost beat them without a runoff. Katie Britt carried 62 of the 67 counties in Alabama and barely lost the other five by a slim margin. Katie won overwhelmingly in most of the populous GOP counties in the state. As expected, she ran very well in her native Wiregrass, receiving 63% in her home county of Coffee.

To the contrary, her opponent in the runoff, second-place finisher Mo Brooks, barely carried his home county of Madison by a 39 to 36 margin. In adjacent Limestone, a suburb county of Madison, the vote count was 7,130 for Brooks to 7,100 for Britt  a 30-vote margin. In short, Brooks lost his own congressional district to Katie Britt. It appears that home folks know you best.

Those of us who have followed politics in Alabama and especially in southeast Alabama have watched Katie grow up in Enterprise. We have all said she has had governor or senator written all over her. She has been a leader her entire life. She was the leader of everything at Enterprise High School, she was governor of Girls State, and then she was president of the Student Government Association at the University of Alabama.

Soon after graduating from law school, she went to Washington and served five years as chief of staff to Sen. Richard Shelby. She is about to take that seat in the U.S. Senate. She is scripted for the role. Katie will hit the ground running and will be an effective, conservative voice, and advocate for Alabama.

One of the primary reasons Katie won so overwhelmingly is that she outworked all of the others. She started over a year ago, and worked all 67 counties in the state  especially the rural counties. She won the endorsement of the Alabama Farmers Federation the old-fashioned way. She got out and earned it. She started early and stayed late. She built a grassroots organization throughout the state, and it propelled her to a tremendous lead on May 24, and it will carry her over the line next week.

Katies opponent, Mo Brooks, is a colorful character, almost comedic. During his almost 40 years in Alabama politics, he has built a legacy as a right-wing, ineffective, ideological gadfly. He has never passed a bill in his 16 years in the legislature or 12 years in Congress. He is unbelievably unashamed of his lack of effectiveness or achievement. He likes the mantle of being a right-wing ineffective nut.

Mo and I served together in the Alabama House of Representatives for 16 years. He was immediately recognized as someone who wanted to accomplish nothing for his Huntsville district but wanted to sit on the back row and keep our voting record and rank as us on how conservative we were based on his criteria. You can only imagine how popular he was in the Alabama House. Mo could not have passed a bill or gotten anything done for Huntsville if he had wanted to. In fact, if we had a bill to pass we would quietly say to Mo, Id like for you to vote for my bill, but please dont speak for it.

Mo has built on his reputation as an ineffective right wing nut during his tenure in Washington. They have written him off as a crazy gadfly. Both the Republican and Democratic U.S. Senate leadership in Washington would put Mo off in a corner and laugh at him. This would not be good for a state that depends on federal defense dollars to endure. He would be an albatross for our state. When asked about our U.S. Senate race a year ago, when Mo looked like a player, the witty and wise Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy quipped, A U.S. Senate Seat is a terrible thing to waste.

Folks, under the entrenched Senate seniority system, Alabama would probably be better served with a 40-year-old vibrant, able, and conservative senator who can build power and seniority than a 69-year-old gadfly relegated to the corner of the Senate who would continue to vote against Alabama interest like defense and agriculture. Mos allegiance would be to the clandestine, right-wing Club for Growth rather than the interests of Alabamians.

See you next week.

Steve Flowers is Alabamas leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at: www.steveflowers.us.
[June 13, 2022] Carbyne takes the #1 Cloud-Native Emergency Call Handling Solution to New Heights with the Introduction of the APEX Multimedia NG911 Suite NEW YORK, June 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Carbyne, the leading provider of cloud-native emergency call handling solutions announces the APEX Multimedia NG911 Suite, specifically designed to help address staffing shortages, mental health of call-takers, emergency response time improvement, incomplete situational awareness, service outages, supporting callers of all abilities, and the need for continuous improvement. Staffing shortages are addressed by APEX Multimedia NG911 Suite by supporting Virtual Private Network (VPN), Seat Map Wallboard, recorded announcements, and call diversion. The APEX Multimedia NG911 Suite also addresses Mental health by dramatically simplifying this situation by presenting all the information conveniently on a single screen. Additional functionality including a browser-based mobile caller interface, Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), Control Center, and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) integrations are designed to improve emergency response times. Carbyne also addresses incomplete situational awareness by offering Responder Connect, Internet-of-Things (IoT) Application Programmer Interface (API) capabilites, and a Video Wallboard. Furthermore, NG911 i3 ESInet support, autoscaling, automatic region failover, and Zero Trust Architecture security ensure that Service Outages are a thing of the past. Supporting callers of all abilities is enabled via silent instant messaging, live caller video, Teletype (TTY) and Real Time Text (RTT) functionality, and live closed captioning capabilities. The APEX Multimedia NG911 Suite also offers a Queue Wallboard, Events History, and advanced Analytics to address the need for continuous improvement.

For more information about the APEX Multimedia NG911 Suite, please visit www.carbyne.com/apexsuite About Carbyne: Carbyne (Headquartered in New York, NY) is a leading global provider of cloud-native mission-critical contact center solutions. Carbyne is one of the largest rich-data providers for emergency response centers, delivering over 250M data points per year all in a unified platform. Our technologies enable emergency contact centers and select enterprises to connect with callers as well as connected devices via highly secure communication channels without needing to download a consumer app. With a mission to redefine emergency collaboration and connect the dots between people, enterprises and governments, Carbyne provides a unified cloud native solution that provides live actionable data that can lead to more efficient and transparent operations and ultimately save lives. With Carbyne, every person counts. Learn more at www.carbyne.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carbyne-takes-the-1-cloud-native-emergency-call-handling-solution-to-new-heights-with-the-introduction-of-the-apex-multimedia-ng911-suite-301566913.html SOURCE Carbyne

[ Back To SIP Trunking Home's Homepage ]
A customer pays for gasoline at a fuel station in Hanoi in March 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

Reports of Malaysia selling gasoline to Vietnam at a third of the current price are false, the Vietnam Ambassador to Malaysia has said in an effort to clarify recent misinformation.

Although some local newspapers have reported that Malaysia has agreed to sell gasoline to Vietnam for 2.05 ringgit (46 cents) per liter, this is actually not the case, said Vietnams Ambassador to Malaysia Tran Viet Thai.

The above price tag, which is a third of Vietnams VND31,370 rate, applies only in domestic Malaysian consumption and is not applicable for exports, he added.

There was also a reporting mistake on the scale of the deal.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade was incorrect in saying that Malaysia was willing to sell 300,000 liters of RON95 gasoline, Thai said, adding that the correct figure was 300,000 tons.

Vietnam has seen surging gasoline prices since the beginning of this year due to issues in domestic output and rising global rates.

Gasoline buyers have to pay value-added, environment, special consumption and import taxes, which together claim around a third of gasoline prices.
A bowl of bun bo (beef noodle soup) served at a stall in Hue in central Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Tran

Starting July 3, the EU will remove Vietnams rice noodles, glass noodles and vermicelli from the list of goods subjected to safety controls.

Announcing this, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said Vietnamese exporters will no longer have to provide safety certificates for these products.

However, some local herbs including coriander, mint and parsley will be subjected to a temporary increase in safety controls at border posts.

Vietnamese dragon fruit and instant noodles containing spices/seasonings or sauces will also be subjected to special entry conditions in the EU market to check for contamination risks.

Vietnamese instant noodles have been under the EU scanner since January after some were found containing ethylene oxide, a substance banned in the union.
Lack of capital, speculation and legal and liquidity issues are challenges the real estate market will face in the second half of 2022, experts have warned.

Both the primary and secondary markets saw trading plunge in the first half, and new supply has been dwindling due to legal troubles, they said.

Property developers and homeowners have also been facing difficulties in getting funding since banks tightened credit in April.

Huynh Phuoc Nghia, a senior consultant at advisory firm GIBC, said the capital market for real estate has been narrowing this year after bond issuances too have become difficult following the governments orders to the central bank to monitor them closely.

Meanwhile, regulators are considering limiting short-term loans to the sector to ensure medium- and long-term funding for other sectors.

Nghia said real estate is basically a race for capital, and so any financing volatility would strongly impact market sentiments.

He called on firms to consider alternatives like investment funds, mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures to diversify their capital sources and reduce risks.

Plaguing speculation

Tran Du Lich of the governments Economic Advisory Board warned against land speculation in many Vietnam's localities of 2022.

Current housing prices are too high for end users, and instead companies and speculators are rushing to grab them, he said.

He pointed to the skyrocketing land prices in rural areas in the central region as speculators push them out of most workers reach.

A member of the Vietnam Banks Association said this also poses risks to lenders, who, if not cautious, would struggle to liquidate real estate assets given as collateral due to falling demand.

Legal hassles

Neil MacGregor, director of consultancy Savills Vietnam, said legal entanglements are a major issue for the market.

The Law on Land and Law on Construction overlap, making licensing tortuous for both foreign and domestic investors, he said.

The Law on Planning, which came into effect in 2017, causes further headaches to investors due to its lack of clarity, he said.

He called for addressing these problems to reduce legal overlaps and simplify the approval process, thus providing access to more lands.

Can Van Luc, a member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, said legal problems have stalled the real estate market.

He cited a preliminary survey as saying over 260 resort projects, worth around VND680 trillion (US$29.31 billion), face legal obstacles and have yet to receive licenses.

Legal issues would continue to plague the resort real estate market for at least the next six months, he said.

Surging prices, dwindling liquidity

A VnExpress survey found that liquidity has been falling in both primary and secondary property markets.

In the primary market, sellers and buyers are concerned with the tightening of bank credit. In the secondary market, many people are selling at losses after not being able to handle the loan burden.

Consultancy DKRA reported that sales of new apartments in the first quarter in Ho Chi Minh City fell by 68 percent quarter-on-quarter to 1,385 units, the lowest in a year.

Experts agreed that the sector should focus on resolving capital, legal and supply challenges to be ready for the year-end peak season.
The day I learned I got first place in the National Excellent Student Selection Contest for Literature, my mother woke up at 4 a.m. to buy the best pork from the wet market in our neighborhood. At 7 a.m., we took a dish of lean pork paste to my literature teacher's house as a gift of gratitude.

My teacher, also a mother, sometimes dropped whatever she was working on to listen to my mother whine about how lazy I've been. My mother, in return, put all the faith she had for my education in the hands of my teacher.

Ten years later, I woke up at 5 a.m. to an email notification. Thu, HR head for a multinational corporation had contacted me to complain about her child's Social Sciences curriculum.

She listed every issue she had with the curriculum in a 10-page document, citing sources from similar programs around the world, concluding that the school's curriculum did not fit with her personalized approach to her child's education. I later learned that the international school that her child attended had to give in to the demands of a group of parents including Thu to revise the curriculum.

This was the complete opposite of what my mother did in the past. Parents are now active players in their children's education, not just teachers. They are getting much more involved with schoolwork these days. No longer are they content with sitting their children down and watching them do homework, today's parents want to approve sponsorships for their children's debate contest, provide feedback on education programs, choose locations for extracurricular activities, and even give suggestions on how the school should coordinate its staff.

As they say, it takes a village to raise a child. A comprehensive education requires the engagement of both parents and teachers, with the former acting as a bridge to bring the community closer to the teaching process. But there are problems with this notion.

A report by Carl James and Selom Chapman-Nyaho from the York University of Canada found that such an approach to education would heavily favor privileged groups: the rich and powerful at the expense of other groups without similar wherewithal.

In Vietnam, with the advancement of technology and social media, a smartphone is all it takes for anyone to publish any piece of info without verification. Parents can do that too, even if it violates rights to privacy and other legally protected rights.

The involvement of parents in their children's education doesn't always yield expected results. Garry Hornby and Rayleen Lafaele from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand say there are four factors that may lead to discrepancies between expectations and reality: parents' belief that they should be involved in their children's education; the student's age, behavioral issues and capacity to adapt; the relationship between parents and teachers, their differing views and goals; and social factors, such as the economic-political climate.

The recent incident of school violence at the International School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC) has highlighted the difference in approach between parents and teachers. The mother wanted to see the student who supposedly beat her child, and her words and actions demanding it escalated tensions. The school authorities, meanwhile, were careful with their words and said very little in order to verify what actually happened.

In similar situations, parents, believing they are underdogs, enlist the help of public opinion to sway the conversation in their favor instead of waiting for the school and relevant authorities to sort things out.

Why is that? What do parents expect their children to learn when they themselves let online communities, fickle and prone to violence as they can be, be the judge? This is not how we should handle conflicts in the real world.

Today, I believe that both my mother and Thu were right. Honest and direct conversations are always the best way to bridge any gap between parents and teachers. This way, the involvement of parents and teachers in the child's education will carry the values it should.

All stakeholders in a child's education should put his/her interest first and the individual ego last. We set great store by the quality of humility. Let's keep in mind that like charity, humility too, begins at home.
The design inside a five-star room of Capella Hanoi Hotel. Photo courtesy of the hotel

U.S. magazine Travel + Leisure has named Capella Hanoi, which was opened in 2021 amid the Covid pandemic, in its list of 100 best new hotels in the world.

Standing on Le Phung Hieu Street in Hanoi's Old Quarter, just a few steps from the iconic Hanoi Opera House, the hotel has 47 rooms and suites, each individually styled with operatic artefacts and custom portraiture that pay tribute to legendary Opera artists, composers, designers and performances.

It was designed by American landscape architect and interior designer Bill Bensley who has overseen over 200 hospitality projects in 50 countries.

"The building is originally a turn-of-the-century opera house, and architect Bill Bensley used his meticulous eye to incorporate some of that early 20th-century atmosphere via decorative details: paintings of theater scenes adorn guest room walls, and opera-inspired antiques can be found around the property," Travel + Leisure editors wrote.

A night's stay costs from VND6.5 million ($283.31) per person.

Capella Hanoi was one of six Asian representatives to be included in the list.

Others were Joali Being and the Ritz-Carlton Maldives, both in South Asian country Maldives, the Ritz-Carlton and Roku Kyoto Hotels in Japan and Six Senses Fort Barwara in India.

In Europe, Airelles Le Grand Contrele in France, Beaverbrook Townhouse in the U.K. and Dimora Palanca in Italy also broke into the list.
Germany lifts all Covid restrictions for travelers from Vietnam

Passengers walk through a terminal at Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt, Germany, April 1, 2021. Photo by Reuters/Ralph Orlowski

The German government has removed all Covid-19-related entry requirements like testing and proof of vaccination for visitors from Vietnam as the pandemic comes increasingly under control.

In March Germany had removed Vietnam from its list of high-risk Covid areas visitors from where had to undergo a 10-day home quarantine.

Vietnam has recorded over 10 million cases.

But most of its population is fully vaccinated and the daily number of cases has been on the decline over the past month.

Vietnam has also removed most Covid restrictions like medical declaration and tests for foreign visitors.
The Dong Hoa fishing festival, which began dozens of years ago, is a yearly festival celebrated in the fifth month of the lunar calendar at the Vuc Marsh in Xuan Vien Commune, Nghi Xuan District.

The marsh spans around a kilometer and is near the Hong Linh Mountain. The festival was suspended in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Orla Mining Ltd. and Gold Standard Ventures Corp. announced this week that they have entered into an agreement for Orla to acquire all of Gold Standards shares.

Gold Standard has been developing its 100%-owned South Railroad Project in Elko County on the Carlin Trend south of Interstate 80. Orla recently started production at its Camino Rojo Mine in Mexico. Representatives of the two companies said the combined company will have a strong financial position which will help with the development of the South Railroad Project.

This is a very exciting day for Orla Mining, said Charles Jeannes, a chairman and director of Orla. In a very short period Orla has gone from an explorer to a producing company generating strong cash flow.  Were now taking that experience and cash flow and well look to build another low-capital intensity, high margin open pit heap leach mine at Gold Standards South Railroad Project.

The South Railroad Project is analogous to our recently completed Camino Rojo mine  a low capital intensity, open pit, heap leach project in a desirable location with exploration upside, said Jason Simpson, chief executive officer of Orla Mining. We have the team, partners, and financial resources to develop this quality asset and we are ready to go.

We have always kept an eye on the good work of Gold Standard and the effort they have made to advance South Railroad, Simpson said. In 2021 we began having discussions with Jason and his team to understand if there was an opportunity for Orla to support the project advancement.

With Camino Rojo reaching commercial production and South Railroad finalizing a feasibility study, we believe it was an appropriate time to take the next step.

Based on their recent success in constructing the Camino Rojo Oxide Mine on schedule and under budget, we believe that Orla is an ideal partner to bring South Railroad into production, Attew said.

Orla and Gold Standard both have their headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Gold Standard has an office in Elko.

The transaction is expected to be completed in August following a Gold Standard meeting.

In February 2022, Gold Standard completed its feasibility study of the South Railroad Project. In April the company announced it was beginning its first stage exploration program, which includes about 18,700 feet of reverse-circulation drilling over 20 holes.

Gold Standard is about 18 months into the permitting process for South Railroad. Jason Attew, Gold Standards president and CEO, said they expect to get the Notice of Intent for the project from the Bureau of Land Management soon, probably in the current quarter or the upcoming quarter of 2022. Then the project should receive the Record of Decision from the BLM about one year after the Notice of Intent, allowing the project to move forward.

Simpson said Orla plans to take a page from their successful Camino Roja playbook and get started this year on construction engineering and procurement for the South Railroad Project.

We certainly with the capacity we have financially will be able to do that while we await permits, Simpson said.

This will require the necessary permitting, engineering, financing and construction steps to get production going, but this is our strength.

Our geologists couldnt be more excited at the current opportunities and now the additional target prospects in Nevada, Simpson said.

Jeannes said that adding South Railroad to its Camino Rojo Oxide Mine in Mexico and its Cerro Quema Project in Panama boosts our reserve and resource base, and the combination with Orlas existing pipeline provides a clear pathway towards a half million ounces of annual gold production at industry-leading costs and margins.

Gold Standard also has the Lewis Project just north of NGMs Phoenix Mine south of Battle Mountain.

The acquisition of Gold Standard will increase Orlas proven and probable reserve base to 3.8 million gold ounces and its measured and indicated mineral resources to 12.3 million gold ounces.

The acquisition agreement implies a purchase price of 65.5 cents Canadian per Gold Standard share, for a total consideration of $242 million Canadian, or about $187.8 million U.S. The purchase price represents about a 35% premium over the price of Gold Standards share price on June 10.

Orlas stock price fell from $4.29 U.S. on June 10 to $3.55 on June 13, a drop of about 17%.

The companies said that when the transaction is complete, existing shareholders of Orla will own about 87% of the company, and existing shareholders of Gold Standard will own about 13%.

The South Railroad feasibility study said the mine could have a total gold production of a million ounces over an eight-year mine life, at an all-in sustaining cash cost of about $1,020 per ounce.

Gold Standard started land acquisition south of Carlin in 2010, and now has a land package of 51,892 acres, the second largest land package in the Carlin Trend after Nevada Gold Mines.

South Railroad is expected to have around 250 to 300 employees when it reaches full production.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Sibanye-Stillwater Ltd. announced June 14 that the flooding in the Yellowstone National Park area has affected the operations of its mines in Montana.

The company has two large platinum group metals mines, Stillwater and East Boulder, in the area. The Stillwater mine is about 32 miles south of Big Timber, Montana, and about 28 miles north of Cooke City on the north side of the park.

Thankfully, no injuries have been reported, Sibanye-Stillwater said in a press release. All employees at the Stillwater mine, the operation that has been most affected, are safe. A number of employees are at the Stillwater Mine site to maintain the integrity of the mine, and to provide refuge and support for campers that are arriving from the nearby Woodbine campground. We will continue to support efforts to ensure the safety of all those at Woodbine and the surrounding area.

The Woodbine Campground is about three miles south of the Stillwater mine. Stillwater County Disaster and Emergency Services said on June 13 that the countys emergency services agencies and people from the Stillwater mine rescued 68 people and about 15 dogs from the Woodbine Campground and surrounding area, ferrying people through the water by raft. Five bridges in the area were closed.

The road between Nye and the Stillwater mine has been eroded and several bridges in the region damaged, Sibanye-Stillwater said. This is likely to restrict access to the Stillwater mine for some period that will be better known in the next few days. The East Boulder mine is less affected and access currently remains intact.

The company said a full assessment of the regional impact of the floods and the impact on the operations will be undertaken once the floodwaters have subsided, probably within a few days.

Sibanye-Stillwater will be on hand to support ongoing rescue efforts and our thoughts and prayers are with our communities and our local emergency responders as they all work on this challenging situation, the companys statement said.

Stillwater County DES announced the afternoon of June 14 that the Stillwater River was receding, but that the flooding along the Stillwater and Yellowstone Rivers and Rosebud Creek was unprecedented and the county had issued a disaster declaration.

Stillwater and East Boulder are shallow to intermediate level underground platinum group metals mines. The Stillwater mine is accessed by a 1,900-feet deep shaft and five surface portals. South-Africa-based Sibanye acquired the mines from Stillwater Mining Company for $2.2 billion in 2017. The mines have a workforce of around 2,900 employees and contractors, and produced 570,400 ounces of palladium and platinum in 2021.

The Stillwater mine is on the east side and East Boulder is on the west side of the J-M Reef, a geological formation which the company says is the only known significant source of PGMs in the US and the highest grade PGM deposit known in the world.

Sibanye-Stillwaters stock price, which had reached a high of $20.32 on March 7, was $11.68 on June 10 and fell to $10.35 on June 14.

In Sept. 2021 ioneer Ltd., the company developing the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project southwest of Tonopah, Nevada, announced it had reached an agreement with Sibanye-Stillwater to establish a Rhyolite Ridge joint venture. Under the agreement, Sibanye-Stillwater will contribute $490 million, about 60% of total capital required for the project, for a 50% interest in the joint venture, and ioneer will maintain a 50% interest and will be the operator.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
ELKO  A Spring Creek man was arrested Friday night on assault charges after allegedly threatening a woman and a sheriffs sergeant with a shotgun.

According to a deputys statement, a woman living on Palace Parkway said Luke L. Zataray, 29, pulled into her driveway at around 8:30 p.m., stepped out of his vehicle with a shotgun and racked a round into the chamber while yelling Come out, wherever you are.

Zataray left and was then confronted by a sheriffs sergeant about his speed and reckless driving, at which point he jumped out of his truck and pointed the shotgun at him and stated something to the effect of what are you going to do about it?

He then jumped back into his truck and took off at a high rate of speed, according to the sergeant.

Soon after, a deputy located Zataray at his residence on Spring Valley Parkway standing by his truck. The deputy said when he asked him to show his hands, he started flipping me off with both hands in the air.

After he responded to commands, Zataray was handcuffed. The deputy said a shotgun with loaded chamber and multiple shells was found on the ground next to him. He was arrested on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of drawing a deadly weapon in a threatening manner.

The sheriffs office said Zataray is a convicted felon and was also prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm.

His bail was listed at $65,000.

Zataray was also arrested in September 2018 at a downtown Elko bar after a patron told police he saw a man point a gun at another mans head during an altercation.

The incident occurred around 3 a.m. when Zataray reportedly pulled out a Glock .40-caliber handgun and pointed it up under a mans chin, then left the bar.

Police said they found Zataray in the parking corridor carrying a loaded Glock .40-caliber pistol in his waistband.

He was arrested for carrying a concealed gun without a permit, and resisting an officer. Police did not arrest him for assault with a deadly weapon because the alleged victim could not be found.

Zataray pleaded guilty to resisting a public officer and was given a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail in July 2019.



Love 1 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 5
[June 14, 2022] Matthew Isom named retail network development marketing director for AlphaGraphics and PostNet Leading marketing and print solutions franchise continues growth with new leadership hire DENVER, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AlphaGraphics , a leading franchisor of printing and marketing solutions, continues its commitment to future growth with a new leadership hire. Matthew Isom has been named the new retail network development marketing director for the franchise. He will also assume the same role under the PostNet banner. As the retail network development marketing director, Isom will be primarily responsible for overall franchise development campaign execution across the AlphaGraphics and PostNet brands. This will include lead generation strategy, planning and execution of integrated marketing strategies for franchise recruitment, development and implementation of strategic marketing campaigns to increase franchise awareness and achieve annual revenue goals, development and coordination of semi-monthly candidate webinars, and much more. "Over the past two years, AlphaGraphics and PostNet made the necessary changes to provide growth opportunities despite the pandemic that plagued the business community," said Bill McPherson, vice president of franchise development. "With both franchises seeing amazing success, we wanted to continue that trajectory by making an addition to our leadership team solely to help grow our franchise network. Matthew will play a pivotal role in helping push AlphaGraphics and PostNet to new heights as we continue to thrive on a franchise level." Isom brings a broad wealth of experience to the director position. Before joining AlphaGraphics and PostNet, he worked as the partner relations manager at Ring Ring Marketing. He has also held positions as a digital marketing consultant, data analyst, marketing strategist and digital marketing specialist. A graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Isom said he looks forward to helping with the growth and expansion of both the PostNet and AlphaGraphics brands. "Franchising is a unique industry in that entrepreneurs are given a set of tools and a business model to help them become successful on a local or regional level," Isom said. "Both AlphaGraphics and PostNet provide an excellent example of a franchise doing it the right way by providing franchisees with numerous resources for exponential growth. I look forward to working with Bill McPherson, Ryan Farris and all the other executives to help continue the success that PostNet and AlphaGraphics exemplify." AlphaGraphics was founded in 1970, and the company began offering franchise opportunities in 1979. For more information, visit http://www/alphagraphics.com . PostNet opened its doors in 1993. With over 600 locations in North America, Central America, South America and Africa, PostNet is a global leader in printing and shipping solutions. For more information, visit https://www.postnet.com/.

About AlphaGraphics AlphaGraphics, Inc., with more than 285 locations in 6 countries, is one of the largest U.S.-based networks of locally-owned and operated Business Centers offering a complete range of print, visual communications, and marketing products. Solutions include: full-service digital, offset, and large format printing; design services; mailing; one-to-one marketing solutions; promotional products; and web to print solutions. For more information about AlphaGraphics services, visit www.alphagraphics.com . To learn about franchise opportunities, visit www.alphagraphicsfranchise.com . About PostNet PostNet opened its doors in 1993. With nearly 700 locations in North America, Central America, South America and Africa, PostNet is a global leader in printing and shipping solutions. In 2017, PostNet joined the MBE Worldwide family. Combined, MBE has nearly 2,600 locations in 44 countries. For more information about PostNet services, visit www.postnet.com. To learn about franchise opportunities, visit www.postnetfranchise.com. About MBE Worldwide MBE Worldwide S.p.A. ("MBE"), a privately-owned company with its headquarters in Italy, is a Global Commerce enabler for SMBs and consumers thanks to its platform providing e-commerce, fulfillment, shipping, marketing and print solutions via multi-brand operations: PrestaShop, Mail Boxes Etc. (except the US and Canada), PostNet, PACK & SEND, Spedingo.com, AlphaGraphics, Multicopy and Print Speak. The combination of our retail platform - that currently counts 2,900+ Service Centers in 53 Countries with more than 12.000 associates - with our PrestaShop ecommerce platform served almost one million business customers in FY 2021 generating 1.01 billion (US $1.2 billion) of System Wide Sales and 24 billion (US $28.5 billion) of e-commerce Gross Merchandise Value. For additional information please visit MBE Worldwide Group websites at www.mbecorporate.com - www.prestashop.com/en - www.mbeglobal.com - www.postnet.com - www.packsend.com.au - www.spedingo.com/en - www.alphagraphics.com - www.multicopy.nl - www.printspeak.com - www.mbe.it - www.mbe.es - www.mbe.de - www.mbefrance.fr - www.mbe.pl - www.mbeportugal.pt - www.mbe.co.uk MEDIA CONTACT:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

865-977-1973

hripley@ripleypr.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/matthew-isom-named-retail-network-development-marketing-director-for-alphagraphics-and-postnet-301567267.html SOURCE AlphaGraphics

[ Back To SIP Trunking Home's Homepage ]
We ended our year off with a community service activity with Great Basin Water Company, we planted trees and stained the water tower fence, Then had fun activities and games with BBQ and our SLC parent meeting.

End of the year banquet was held in May where the new officer team was slated and we had a great meal, awards, and scholarships that were awarded amongst family, friends and supporters.

New Officer Team

President- Rachel Kalvelage

Vice President- Simon Schaftner

Secretary- Lavana Collins

Reporter- Hyland Burton

Treasurer- Trent Sarmen

Historian- Ramsey Bottari

Sentinel- Colton Hanson

Sponsors and Supporters

Thank booster club (Alumni & Supporters) and Rotary for their continued support. Rotary sponsors our students for the RYLA camp experience and our FFA Booster organization continues to raise money for our student members through scholarships, stipends and help with national finances.

Alumi/Booster awarded nine of our SCHS seniors with Scholarships (FFA/booster club). If you would like to support and help this organization the next meeting will be June 14th at 6 p.m. in Mr. Smiths room at SCHS. All are welcome and appreciated.

Our Clay shoot this year was very successful, with 38 sponsors and 18 shooting teams. We appreciate all those who supported our FFA Chapter:

Pizza Barn, Ruby Dome, Gun World, Wells Auto and Hardware, Gallagher Ford, Slater Seeding, Elko Veterinary Clinic, American Ag Credit, Gary Konakis Automotive, Ruby Mountain Spring Water, Knights Cabinets, Flyers Energy, Boss Tank, Whalen Livestock, Cashman Equip, The Pill Box, Total Eyecare, Quantum Electric, TSU, Rockwell Construction, Lacey Equipment Repair, I&E Electric, Arms R Us, Sierra Nevada Excavation, Riverton GMC, River Clares Pet Cremation Service, Dukes Diesel, Spring Creek Sheet Metal, Elko Federal Credit Union, High Desert Engineering, Direct Force Maintenance, Kizer Outfitters, Ormaza Construction, Orsi Transport, Cashell Mechanical, Edward JonesTim Hatch, Cummins, High Mark Construction, Gateway RV

Upcoming Events:

6 students have been selected to go to RYLA

Summer Leadership camp (June 20-23)

Leadership at the Lake day (July 25th)

Officer Retreat (Aug 1-3)

FFA Summer project animal Fair (Aug 5th)

Ranchers Roundup (Aug 20th, contact an FFA adviser for tickets)

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
ELKO  After a temporary move to Reno for a chance to take some refresher higher education courses, pharmacist and local native Dustin Cavanaugh has returned to Elko to help the leadership team set up and manage Elkos newest pharmacy located within Albertsons.

The whole goal of Albertsons is that they want us to give that independent pharmacy feel to our customers, but still have that accessibility out of town as a corporate pharmacy, said Cavanaugh.

This pharmacy can get a lot of medications specially ordered if we need to, he said. We offer mail-out services. We can put your pharmacy products in the mail. If you live in Wells, and you dont feel like commuting in, we can mail it out.

Cavanaugh talked about the role of a pharmacist in patient advocacy.

If a medication doesnt work for you, we can always call your doctor and reach out to those providers. We can advocate for you. We can advocate for medications that are similar that will give the same broad spectrum coverage as an expensive antibiotic [or other medication.]

With costs, if we see a patients prescription come into us and they are new and dont have insurance on file, we just look up a discount card, Cavanaugh said. This is just something we have integrated into our flow of filling a new prescription.

This job is specifically about taking care of people, Cavanaugh said. If I see somebody in my OTC aisle, I can fix you up for under $20 bucks. That is why I chose to do this job.

Cavanaugh talked about the importance of this approach during allergy season.

Its overwhelming, he said.

Cavanaugh first moved back to the Elko area in 2016. He left again for a while and moved to Reno where he took a few science classes.

My mentor, Kori Miller, called me. She taught me a lot. She is our clinical op specialist for the Intermountain region. I did some rotations up in Billings when I was in pharmacy school. We used to road trip all over Montana.

She called Cavanaugh when he was on vacation in Mexico and asked him if he could come work for the new Albertsons pharmacy.

She called me and asked if I was still a pharmacist, Cavanaugh said. She said we need somebody in Elko, we are really desperate. We need somebody in two weeks.

He committed to moving back to Elko for two years to help get the pharmacy up and running.

Cavanaugh said there are some good incentives to switch over to the Albertsons pharmacy.

If you transfer your prescription and you dont have any subsidized program like Medicaid or Medicare, or any federal insurance programs, we will give you a $25 gift card, Cavanaugh said. After you fill five prescriptions, we will give you a $50 gift card. We just punch your card. Its great to give somebody a gift card and say, the steaks look pretty good over there today.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
RENO  The Nevada Board of Regents re-elected Cathy McAdoo as chair and elected Amy J. Carvalho as vice chair of the 13-member board that oversees the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Serving in this leadership capacity continues to be a great honor, said McAdoo, who represents District 8, which includes Clark, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lincoln, Nye, and White Pine counties. I look forward to continuing my work with the Board and NSHE leadership as we strive to continuously improve student access and success.

Carvalho, who represents District 12 in Clark County, said she is grateful for the opportunity to take on this new leadership role as the Board pursues its student-centered agenda.

I am delighted to work with our Board and to help ensure that Nevadas strategic priorities keep pace with the states rapidly changing education landscape, she said.

McAdoo was elected in 2016 to serve on the Board of Regents as the representative for District 8. She is serving her second term as Board chair. She is the vice chair of the Academic, Research and Student Affairs Committee and the Audit, Compliance and Title IX Committee.

Governor Brian Sandoval appointed Regent McAdoo to serve as the Nevada System of Higher Educations representative on the State Board of Education in January 2018. In January 2020, she was reappointed to the position by Gov. Steve Sisolak.

McAdoo was born in Oklahoma and raised in Kansas, eventually moving to Nevada with her late husband Kent, who had accepted a graduate research study with the University of Nevada, Reno. While living in the outback of rural Nevada for 13 months, trailing a band of sheep for her husbands research project, the couple found rural Nevada irresistible and has called it home ever since.

McAdoo served as the founding executive director of PACE Coalition. This nonprofit organization educates students in Elko, Eureka, and White Pine counties about healthy living choices. This position afforded her 14 years of board experience at PACE and the opportunity to serve on other boards.

McAdoos interest in serving Nevada as a regent stems from her passion for life-long learning. Through her career pathway, volunteer activities, love for people, and commitment to healthy communities, education remains at the core of what she does and who she is.

Regent Amy J. Carvalho was elected to serve District 12 on the Board of Regents in November 2018.

She currently serves as chair of the Business, Finance and Facilities Committee and the ad hoc Strategic Planning Committee. She previously served as vice chair pro tempore of the Board.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Top leadership's efforts expected to put growth on right track

China's emphasis on bolstering healthy development of the platform economy is expected to help boost innovation and revitalize enterprises, stabilize market confidence and foster high-quality economic development, according to industry analysts.

The platform economy refers to the transition many leading companies worldwide are making from mainly offering products to mostly providing digital platforms that allow consumers, entrepreneurs, businesses and the public to connect, share resources, and sell products or services.

Regulations covering the platform economy are expected to be normalized and enforced in a standard, transparent and predictable manner, the analysts said, adding that such an economy plays a vital role in boosting economic growth and employment amid mounting downward pressure.

Shi Hongxiu, a professor of economics at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, also known as the National Academy of Governance, said, "The central authorities' support for the platform economy is conducive to shoring up market expectations and confidence."

The orderly and healthy development of the platform economy has great significance in promoting economic recovery in general, injecting new momentum into consumption growth, providing more flexible job opportunities, and ensuring people's livelihoods, Shi said.

More efforts should be made to improve regulatory methods and enhance supervision by establishing a system suitable for a modern market economy that would make oversight more transparent and scientific, Shi said, adding that the principle of the rule of law will also be followed.

Platform technologies should be taken into account regarding output, which would lead to a major upgrade in production factors, Shi added.

In March last year, President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, stressed efforts to promote regulated, healthy and sustainable development of the platform economy at the ninth meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, which he heads.

It was decided at the meeting that to build its competitive strengths, China would establish and improve the platform economy governance system, giving equal importance to development and regulation amid efforts to boost fair competition, oppose monopolies, and prevent the disorderly expansion of capital.

According to industry experts, there is a big overlap between healthy development of the platform economy and effective supervision of capital.

In an article on major theoretical and practical issues concerning China's development published in the mid-May issue of Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee, Xi stressed the need to understand the nature of capital and its laws of behavior. The article called for capital's positive role to be put into play under the conditions of a socialist market economy, while effectively reining in any negative effects.

Healthy future

Experts said the top leadership's attitude toward regulated and healthy development of the platform economy has been consistent, guaranteeing its growth is on the right track and that it has a healthy and sustainable future.

Shi said, "The problem is that our theoretical research in past years has failed to keep up with the fast development of the platform economy."

Rectification and completion of the platform economy is in line with the nation's high-quality development conceptwith more efficient, equitable, sustainable and secure featuresa key principle of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialist Economy with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

On April 29, a key meeting of the CPC Central Committee's Political Bureau sent a strong signal for the need to boost healthy development of the platform economy, Shi said.

According to Vice-Premier Liu He, China will support sustained and healthy development of the platform economy and the private sector. It will also formulate measures to boost the orderly and sound development of the platform economy, and encourage platform-based enterprises to take part in major national sci-tech innovation projects.

Liu made the remarks on May 17 at a symposium organized by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing. The CPPCC is China's top political advisory body.

The government will increase direct investment in the digital economy and support the listing of technology companies on domestic and overseas financial markets, Liu said.

Zhou Hongyi, founder of cybersecurity company 360 Security Group and a member of the 13th CPPCC National Committee, attended the May 17 meeting. He said the authorities' support for development of the platform economy and the private economy gave him confidence and hope. "The latest statements are full of positive energy. At this time, confidence and hope are more precious than gold," Zhou added.

According to the high-level meeting on April 29, rectification of the platform economy will be completed, regular supervision will be launched and specific measures introduced to support its standardized and sound growth.

Pan Helin, co-director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at Zhejiang University's International Business School, said, "After two years of special rectification of the platform economy in terms of information protection, antimonopoly work and a crack down on unfair competition, illegal and unfair practices hindering development of industries and harming personal privacy have been removed.

"The latest moves indicate that rectification of the nation's platform economy is nearly complete, while more concrete measures will be taken to achieve regular supervision of platform-based enterprises."

Pan said the platform economy is playing an increasingly important role in driving China's economic development amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a complex external environment. He said more efforts are needed to give full play to the advantages of the platform economy, which is vitally significant in improving livelihoods and increasing employment.

The authorities should bolster development of the platform economy to improve resource allocation efficiency, as well as create new business models, new economic growth points and more jobs, while better regulating the sector, Pan said.

According to a meeting of the State Council's Financial Stability and Development Committee on March 16, governance of the platform economy should abide by the principles of market orientation, the rule of law, and internationalization in a stable manner.

It was decided at the meeting that rectification work should be completed on large platform companies as soon as possible through regulated and transparent supervision.

The meeting also called for "red lights" and "green lights" to be introduced for the platform economy in China to boost its stable and healthy development and raise its international competitiveness.

At an executive meeting late last month, the State Council, China's Cabinet, announced 33 additional measures to stabilize growth, including promoting healthy development of the platform economy.

The meeting decided that full play should be given to the platform economy's advantages in stabilizing employment and helping small and medium-sized enterprises overcome their difficulties.

It also called for platform enterprises to be encouraged to accelerate breakthroughs in technological research and development for artificial intelligence, cloud computing, blockchain, operating systems and processors.

Long Haibo, a senior researcher at the State Council's Development Research Center, said recent policy developments signify that China will strike a balance between encouraging and regulating the platform economysending positive signals to the market in an attempt to further stabilize investor expectations and confidence.

On the one hand, disorderly growth of the platform economy and related monopolistic behavior will be reined in, while on the other, more efforts are needed to unleash the innovative vitality of such an economy, Long said.

"Effectively curbing the disorderly expansion of capital while boosting market confidence is a major test for improving modern supervisory capabilities, and also a prerequisite for deepening reforms to streamline administration and delegate power amid efforts to improve the business environment," Long said.

He added that greater emphasis on the synergy between governance of the platform economy and stability of the capital market is conducive to fostering high-quality development and safeguarding people's interests.

Healthy development of the sector will also further stimulate the innovation of platform-based enterprises amid the pandemic and enhance their global competitiveness, Long said.

Last month, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said it would complete rectification of large platform companies, set up "red lights" and "green lights", and implement regular oversight to encourage healthy growth of the platform economy.

In addition, the People's Bank of China, the nation's central bank, said in a statement it would improve its capital governance capability and conduct regular supervision of platform enterprises' financial activities.

Chen Bing, director of the Competition Law Research Center at Nankai University in Tianjin, said the platform economy is an important force in stabilizing economic growth and also acts as ballast to ensure people's livelihoods. He expects the government to step up policy support for the innovation of platform-based enterprises.

Using platforms' strengths to better allocate resources and promote the digital upgrading and transformation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises is particularly important, Chen said.

He added that integration of the platform economy with cutting-edge digital technologies will also create new products, business formats and jobs.

Foreign investment banks have taken a new look at the investment value of Chinese internet and technology companies.

Last month, JPMorgan raised the ratings for stocks of seven Chinese internet companies, including Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holding, Meituan, NetEase and Pinduoduo, from "underweight" to "overweight". An "overweight" classification typically means that an analyst believes that the stock is above average compared to the full range of available stocks traded under a benchmark index.

Wu Qi, executive director of the Wuxi Institute of Digital Economy, said the latest move to support platform-based enterprises seeking listings on domestic and overseas bourses will provide financial support and create a better business environment for these companies.

Efforts are needed to support increased investment by platform-based enterprises in core technologies and to boost their technological innovation capabilities, Wu said.

Last year, China introduced stricter regulations on the platform economy, imposed fines on a string of technology companies for their monopolistic behavior, set up an antimonopoly bureau, and proposed amendments to the Antimonopoly Law.

Chinese market regulatory authorities cracked down on monopolistic behavior in the platform economy, healthcare and public services last year. A total of 176 monopoly cases were dealt with and fines totaling 23.59 billion yuan ($3.5 billion) were imposed.

In April last year, the State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR, the nation's top market watchdog, imposed a record fine of 18.23 billion yuan on e-commerce giant Alibaba for monopolistic behavior. It also fined internet giant Meituan 3.44 billion yuan for abusing its dominant market position in the domestic online food delivery platform market.

Wang Xianlin, director of the Center for Competition Law and Policy at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said the ultimate goal of supervising the platform economy is to bolster its healthy development, stimulate compliant behavior by companies, and create a better business environment for market entities.

Better protection

In March, the SAMR said antimonopoly work this year would be carried out steadily and in a regulated, transparent and predictable manner to promote high-quality economic development and better protect the public interest.

As part of ongoing efforts to restore sound market order and promote fair competition, the regulator has pledged to strengthen the rule of law regarding antimonopoly supervision.

It will step up efforts to improve the legal system for fair competition and also provide clearer guidance for market entities, with a focus on stabilizing the macroeconomy, safeguarding people's well-being, and strengthening antitrust regulation and law enforcement in key areas.

The SAMR said intensified efforts should be made to build a modern regulatory system, enhance governance to ensure fair competition, promote enterprises in strengthening compliance management, and enable the nation to play a bigger global role in formulating antimonopoly rules.

Pu Chun, deputy head of the SAMR, said more efforts should be made to constantly improve the fair competition mechanism, establish a comprehensive oversight system, and guide sound and orderly development of capital in accordance with laws and regulations.

Ouyang Rihui, assistant dean of the China Center for Internet Economy Research at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, said the country's antitrust efforts are expected to continue this year, and stabilization work will be crucial.

"Antitrust regulatory measures will abide by the rule of law, striking a balance between stimulating innovation and supervision," Ouyang said, adding that such action will help stabilize the capital market, reassure investors and boost their confidence in the platform economy's long-term development.
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (left) and Croatian Ambassador Ivan Velimir Starcevic. (Photo: VNA)



At a meeting with Croatian Ambassador Ivan Velimir Starcevic, President Phuc affirmed the importance Vietnam attaches to consolidating and developing friendship and cooperation with Croatia.

He thanked the Croatian government for its donation of 60,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam last year, which, the leader said demonstrated the good traditional friendship between the two countries.

Starcevic stressed that Vietnam is Croatias biggest partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and that as a EU member, Croatia will work to promote the implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The ambassador suggested Vietnam and Croatia step up cooperation in tourism.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the two sides should increase the exchange of delegations at all levels to boost cooperation in all spheres, thus deepening and raising the efficiency of the EU-Vietnam comprehensive partnership and cooperation.

Vietnam stands ready to help Croatia enhance its relations with ASEAN and its member countries, he noted.

The leader said the Vietnam-Croatia trade value of only around 100 million USD has yet to match their potential, and urged the two countries to double the revenue in the next five years.

Vietnam is willing to create optimal conditions for Croatian firms to study the Vietnamese market and invest in the country, particularly in renewable energy, transport infrastructure, tourism, environment, food processing, tourism and sports, he said.

While receiving Senegalese Ambassador Abdoulaye Barro, the President emphasised that Senegal is an important traditional African partner of Vietnam.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (right) and Senegalese Ambassador Abdoulaye Barro. (Photo: VNA)

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc expressed his hope that Senegal will successfully perform the rotating presidency of the African Union (AU) in 2022, and thanked the country for its support for the proposal of establishing the official relationship between Vietnam and the AU.

Barro lauded Vietnams role in international organisations and the United Nations General Assembly, as well as its important role in Southeast Asia and Asia at large.

Senegal wants to learn from Vietnams experience in agricultural development, he said, adding that Senegal stands ready to support Vietnam in the international arena and always opens door for Vietnamese investors and products.

President Phuc suggested Vietnam and Senegal further support each other at multilateral forums, particularly the UN and the International Organisation of La Francophonie.

The two countries should increase trade and investment exchanges, and coordinate to review and promote the signing of important agreements in order to create a legal framework for the bilateral cooperation, he said.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc also noted his hope that the Senegalese government will further support the Vietnamese community in the host country./.
Vietnamese longan (Photo: VNA)



Japan has always been a market with strict standards in importing agricultural products. Meanwhile, more and more Vietnamese people are living and working in Japan, and Japanese consumers' tastes are also changing. Vietnamese food is gradually becoming more popular with great potential to gain a foothold in the market.

However, entering this choosy market is a process requiring efforts from many sides. Currently, Vietnam is allowed to export three kinds of fresh fruits to this market, namely dragon fruit, Cat Chu mango and lychee.

The Department of Plant Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is conducting negotiations to open more doors for Vietnamese longan to penetrate this market.

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, deputy director of the department, said that Japan has the most stringent sanitary and phytosanitary standards in the world. Therefore, good preservation technology is required to maintain the freshness of fruits, including longan, during transportation at a reasonable cost. With such technology, Vietnamese longan will be able to compete and gain a foothold in the Japanese market.

In 2020, the Department of Plant Protection proposed applying the cold-pressure processing method for all varieties of longan and was accepted by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). The Japanese and Vietnamese sides spent many months developing a plan to carry out experiments applying this method.

If the cold-pressure processing technology is approved by the Japanese side, Vietnam will have a great opportunity to export this kind of fruit to this market.

Last year, Vietnam exported over 117,500 tonnes of longan, including over 11,000 tonnes of fresh longan. Vietnam fresh longan is currently sold in 17 countries and territories across the world.

Automaker VinFast to open over 50 stores in Europe

Automaker VinFast announced its plan to open more than 50 stores in Europe at the 35th International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition (EVS35) in Norway on June 14, reported Vietnam News Agency.

VinFast's VF 8 model (Photo: VIR)

Accordingly, there will be at least 25 VinFast stores in Germany, 20 in France and five in the Netherlands.

The first stores will be built in Frankfurt, Berlin, Cologne, Oberhausen and Hamburg of Germany; Paris, Marseille, Nantes, Rennes, Nice, Montpellier, Aix en Provence and Metz of France; and Amsterdam of the Netherlands.

Le Thi Thu Thuy, Vingroup's Vice Chairwoman and VinFast Global CEO, said: VinFast is not just here to sell cars. We are here to inspire change and accelerate the transition to electric vehicles for the benefit of the environment.

At the EVS35, which takes place from June 11-15, VinFast has introduced its smart electric vehicles VF 8 and VF 9 that debuted at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show and CES 2022. With the elegance of world-renowned Pininfarina Design crafted into all of VinFast's EVs, the two models will impress and captivate the public. The brand utilised modern design languages to optimise aerodynamics and create comfortable driving experiences while upholding aesthetics that reflect each segment's unique features.

VinFast's VF 8 model (Photo: VNA)

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to study policies to promote the development of the domestic automobile industry, in line with the growing global trend towards electric cars.

The request was to response to the proposal of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA).

VAMA said that Vietnam needed to have an automobile industry strategy in line with the growing global trend toward electric cars that contributes to Vietnams commitment to net-zero carbon emission at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). It proposed an electric car development programme to be raised together with a roadmap to convert from fossil-fuel cars to electric cars and an action plan to implement COP26 commitments.

Good signals for Vietnamese fruit exports

Many Vietnamese fruits are getting final negotiation steps done to enter new markets, with passion fruit approved by China and green-skin pomelo on the way to the US, reported Vietnam News Agency.

Illustrative photo (Source: nongnghiep.vn)

According to Le Van Thiet, deputy head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments Plant Protection Department, China has allowed piloting the import of Vietnamese passion fruit into Guangdong province via its border gates with Vietnams Lang Son and Quang Ninh provinces. The fruit must have growing area and packaging codes and meet food safety standards, among other criteria.

Vietnams negotiation for exporting durian to China also entered the final phase, with the sides working to complete a protocol regulating related plantations, codes of distributors, and diseases control.

Meanwhile, the US has already permitted the import of six Vietnamese fruits. The two sides are in their final step of negotiation for the fruit to enter the US market based on American consumers' demand.

For the Japanese market, which has accepted Vietnams dragon fruit, lychee, and mango, the Plant Protection Department is negotiating the export of local longan using a new cold processing method.

In order to catch opportunities, many localities are preparing growing areas and material sources. Notably, Gia Lai has made passion fruit one of its four key fruits. By 2025, the Central Highlands province plans to increase its passion fruit plantation to 20,000ha from the current 4,000ha.

Postage stamps featuring sea birds to be issued

Birds of Vietnamese seas and islands are featured on a set of postage stamps to be issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications, reported Vietnam News Agency.

The set of stamps featuring sea birds (Photo: vnpost.vn)

The birds comprise Thalasseus bergii (Lichtenstein, 1823), Gallicrex cinerea (Gmelin, 1789), Arenaria interpres (Linnaeus, 1758), Tringa brevipes (Vieillot, 1816) and Sula sula (Linnaeus, 1766).

The set of stamps is intended to promote the land and people of Vietnam, as well as the countrys conservation of maritime biodiversity.

It is scheduled to debut within the framework of the Vietnam Stamp Exhibition 2022 (Vietstampex 2022) on June 24, and to be available on postal services until the end of 2023.

This is the third of its kind themed Vietnams seas and islands, following others featuring sea creatures, and Vietnamese coast guard ships./.
MARD and USAID press the button to start the Saving Threatened Wildlife Project. (Photo: daibieunhandan.vn)

The USD15 million, five-year project, called Saving Threatened Wildlife, will work toward increasing Vietnams leadership in addressing wildlife crime by enhancing the commitment of Government of Vietnam leaders at the national and provincial levels, improving law enforcement effectiveness, and reducing demand and consumption of illegal wildlife products.



At current rates, experts predict that the worlds most iconic endangered species, including rhinos, elephants, pangolins and tigers, will perish from the planet within the next decades. Through this new project, USAID will work with MARD to reduce demand for and consumption of illegal wildlife products, and save our threatened species, said Ann Marie Yastishock, USAID/Vietnam Mission Director.

The effective implementation of the Saving Threatened Wildlife project will help address the issue of illegal wildlife trafficking, and therefore reflect the highest commitments of the Government of Vietnam in this effort, contributing to biodiversity conservation and environment protection in Vietnam, said Le Quoc Doanh, Vice Minister of MARD.

Vietnam remains a global hub of the illegal wildlife trade and is a major destination, origin, and transit country in the illegal trade supply chain. The new project focuses on protecting species that are at risk from international trafficking into Vietnam such as African rhinos, African and Asian elephants, and pangolins, as well as animals that are regularly poached and traded domestically or internationally, such as primates, muntjacs, and big cats. The project is implemented by World Wide Fund for Nature, in cooperation with TRAFFIC and Education for Nature - Vietnam.

Also at the project launch, USAID and MARD opened a new chapter of cooperation on environmental issues. Mission Director Yastishock and Vice Minister Le Quoc Doanh signed the first bilateral partnership agreementcalled a Limited Scope Grant Agreementbetween USAID and MARD, on climate change cooperation in the Mekong Delta for the period 2022 to 2027. With an estimated budget of up to USD50 million, through this agreement, USAID will help MARD in reducing methane emissions from the agriculture sector, building resilience for the Mekong Deltas vulnerable populations, promoting nature-based solutions, and developing climate-resilient and low-emissions policies. The signing was observed by MARD Minister Le Minh Hoan and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.

I commend USAID and MARD for working together to help the people of the Mekong Delta region adapt to the changing climate and reduce agricultural emissions. Addressing the climate crisis must be a collective effort, and it must incorporate everything from building environmental resilience, to reducing emissions, to conserving biodiversity. And I commend USAID and MARD for working together to combat illegal wildlife trafficking. The United States is proud to be Vietnams partner in this effort, said Deputy Secretary Sherman.

The Saving Threatened Wildlife project builds and expands on the progress achieved by USAIDs previous five-year (2016-2021) project, Saving Species. The Saving Species project was supported the Government of Vietnam to improve and harmonize the legal system related to wildlife protection, strengthen law enforcement and prosecution of wildlife crimes, and reduce demand and illegal consumption of wildlife./.
Vietnam's Ao Dai performed at the event (Photo: VOV)

The event attracted the participation of 53 countries, who took the occasion to introduce their traditional cultures to the French people.

During the event, the Vietnamese Cultural Centre in France in coordination with Overseas Vietnamese Association in Lyon organized a dragon dance, an exhibition of Vietnamese cultural heritage, art performances, and a fashion show of Vietnamese traditional costumes.

Mayor of Lyon Gregory Doucet highly appreciated the presence of Vietnam at the festival. He emphasized the Fetes Consulaires not only provide an opportunity for participating countries to promote their land and people, but also contribute to strengthening solidarity and friendship.

Priquet Chantal, a French visitor to the festival, said that she headed to the Vietnamese pavilion right after seeing the red flag with a yellow star from afar.

Consular Day is an annual event held in Lyon city for 20 years in order to honor the presence of consular delegations of countries in Lyon, helping people discover cultures, the diversity of communities living in the locality, creating richness, contributing to the dynamism and development of the city.

During the two-day event at Bellecour Square in the city center, local people and tourists visited more than 60 stalls and attended about 30 shows of art, ethnic fashion, introduction of cuisine, handicrafts, landscape and tourism of countries./.
Prototypes of the crew transportation vehicle (CTV) for Artemis crewed missions are driven out to Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 11, 2022.

Canoo Technologies Inc., was awarded a contract to design and provide the next generation of CTVs for the Artemis crewed missions. Representatives with Canoo were at the spaceport demonstrating the environmentally friendly fleet of vehicles.

Artemis II will be the first Artemis mission flying crew aboard Orion. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-20220511-PH-KLS01_0170 Larger image



Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Work with Biosphere brands on Russian market should be terminated by June 15

The production of the brands of Biosphere Corporation in the Russian Federation was to be completely stopped on May 30, and by June 15 all stocks were to be sold and work with these trademarks was to be completely stopped, owner and CEO of the corporation Andriy Zdesenko said.

"In March of this year, we exited the (Russia-related) business, took the brands. Or rather, the production of our brands in the Russian Federation was to be completely stopped on May 30, and by June 15 all stocks were to be sold out," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

Zdesenko explained that over the past few years, together with Iryna Nesterenko, a minority shareholder of Biosphere, he owned about 25% of the Austrian holding, which also owned the Russian business.

"As a beneficiary of the brands that I invented, including Biosphere, I gave them the opportunity to work with these brands," he specified.

According to him, the Ukrainian brand Freken Bok was the No. 1 brand in the Russian market.

Zdesenko pointed out that by now his and Nesterenko's shares have been completely sold to the Austrian holding, which sold part of its share, 5%, to a Russian citizen hired to stabilize the situation and sell the business.

"The Ukrainian side does not have any legal relations or hidden beneficiaries," the owner and CEO of Biosphere Corporation stressed.

He stated that the initially agreed terms were somewhat delayed in the absence of a direct influence on the process.

"I will do everything possible and impossible to stop selling and producing our brands until June 15. Me and Biosphere company do not receive any benefit from this. Nothing but toxicity," Zdesenko said.

At the same time, he admitted that in some regions of the Russian Federation, cases of selling products under the Biosphere brands could still be recorded for some time.
Since the beginning of the war, the Biosphere Corporation, the largest in Ukraine in the home goods market, has partially relocated production and logistics facilities to the western regions and plans to organize duplicate production abroad to work in foreign markets, the owner and CEO of the corporation Andriy Zdesenko has said.

"Although all factories are operating, we have relocated from the main production facility in Dnipro: we opened production in Ternopil and increased the capacity and range of our plant in Letychiv by 20%, because they are more secure. We also moved half of our logistics capacities to the west of Ukraine, to reduce the risks of destruction by missile strikes," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

Zdesenko said that Biosphere has been working around the clock since the third day of the war, because its products are essential goods: personal hygiene products, wet and dry wipes, garbage bags, baby diapers, toilet paper, disposable tableware, cleaning products, etc.

"Our production stopped for only a day or two, in order to understand what was happening, what was happening with the employees, to regroup. First, the key Biosphere KPD plant was launched in Dnipro, then in Letychiv (Khmelnytsky region), then in Fastiv (Kyiv region), and now we have opened the production of wet wipes in Ternopil," the head of Biosphere said.

He said that the corporation managed to qualitatively prepare for a possible war, having clearly worked out the system of the main bomb shelter and several alternative ones at the enterprises. According to him, during air raids, personnel go to hide, production stops, which greatly affects production efficiency and cost.

Zdesenko also said that even during the war, Biosphere managed to launch the production of new products, for example, Clean Peremoha wet towels, the first batch of which was completely donated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrzaliznytsia employees and volunteers, and the first batch of goods will be released on June 15.

"Now, we are preparing to release a number of new product lines, which we feel our consumers need, and there are orders from abroad. Despite all the difficulties, we are working, and I think that we are working perfectly," the owner and CEO said.

"We have a second leg, which helps to stand, it is export, but today export is somewhere around 20% of the main volume. We want it to be 50/50 within five years," Zdesenko added.

At the same time, he noted the huge problems, especially logistical ones, that exist with the implementation of export contracts, which are so necessary for the corporation for stable operation in the face of a falling domestic market and military risks in Ukraine. In this regard, the head of the corporation announced plans to create a duplicate production abroad.

"Because we cannot fulfill export contracts and develop exports from Ukraine with such restrictions. No one will reckon with u... And for me now the task is to bring duplicate production to peaceful Europe," Zdesenko said.

He said that Biosphere will not take key production from Ukraine, because they are fundamentally needed in the domestic market, in particular for the production of diapers, non-woven fabrics, and all hygiene products.

"But we need a duplicate production, since we are now actively working with 15 countries and want at least 20 more. This production should most likely be in countries close to Ukraine so that we can export our non-woven fabric for production and come, from time to time, to control it. Therefore, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Turkey, Lithuania  these are the countries that we are looking at today. Maybe we will buy someone," the head of the corporation said, describing the situation.

According to him, some banks have even expressed a desire to participate in this project, because it is the purchase of assets abroad, and not in Ukraine.

Biosphere Corporation has been operating in Ukraine for more than 20 years. Its products are represented in the markets of 30 countries in Europe and Asia. The product portfolio includes more than 2,000 items under 13 trademarks.

The corporation's capacities are represented by four factories with a total production area of 35,000 square meters in Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv and Khmelnytsky regions, as well as logistics complexes with an area of 30,000 square meters. After the war, production was also opened in Ternopil.

Together with the French Groupe Lemoine, Biosphere also owns a factory in Estonia for the production of cotton products with an area of 8,500 square meters.
The European Commission has agreed on the final text of a special agreement on the liberalization of road transport between Ukraine and the EU.

As noted in a message on the official Facebook page of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the final consultations between the delegations of Ukraine and the European Commission were held with the participation of the leadership of the ministry.

The text of the agreement provides for the performance of bilateral and transit transportation by Ukrainian haulers without permits.

The signing of the document is scheduled for the end of June.

"Thanks to the conclusion of such an agreement, we will be able to significantly improve and accelerate the logistics between Ukraine and the EU. This is critically important now, when, under the blockade of seaports, the Ukrainian economy is completely dependent on stable logistics on the western borders. In parallel, we are working on the development of border infrastructure, which has significantly increased capacity at the western borders," Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

According to the ministry, the limited number of permits for international transportation has been a rather critical problem for Ukrainian haulers over the past five years, since during this time the trade turnover with the EU countries has almost doubled, and the number of cargo transportation by road has increased by 42%.

At the same time, the number of permits for international transportation to individual EU countries was declining, which led to large losses for both Ukrainian haulers and the country's economy as a whole.

The Ministry of Infrastructure said that the signing of the Ukraine-EU agreement on the liberalization of road transportation eliminates the need to obtain appropriate permits on an ongoing basis and will avoid stopping the export of Ukrainian products through automobile checkpoints.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine will return to all cities and villages where there is no Ukrainian flag on the administrative buildings yet.

"We have no other choice than to move on. Liberate all our territory. We will come to all our cities, to all our villages, which do not yet have our flag. Not on administrative buildings. Although there are, I'm sure, a lot of Ukrainian flags there  just people, just houses. And we have already seen them when people protested against the occupiers. And we will see them again  we will see them everywhere when we return," Zelensky said in a video message on Monday evening.

"We will come to Kherson. And ordinary Kherson residents on the streets of the city will meet exactly our army. The failure of the invaders, who tried to celebrate the so-called Day of Russia, only proves that Kherson is a Ukrainian city. And Kherson residents will celebrate only Ukrainian holidays," the president said.

"We will come to Melitopol. And we will return to all Melitopol residents the opportunity to live without fear. And, by the way, all the collaborators who are now threatening to take away land from farmers in Melitopol and other districts of Zaporizhia, themselves  very likely  will end up in this land," he said.

Zelensky is confident that Mariupol will be liberated for the third time. "It was liberated in 1943 from the Nazis in a brilliant operation. In 2014, on this very day, June 13, thanks to the courage of our Azov fighters and other units, Mariupol was liberated for the second time. Liberated from the militants, who at that time did not fully realize what the Russian state was directing them to. And now they see it. They see burned Mariupol. They see why the Russians came there. But we won't let this city die. We will return it. Definitely," the president said.

"We will come to Enerhodar. And I want to repeat to each and every one in the city who took to the streets against the Russian military, who refuses to cooperate with the occupiers and who is waiting for us today. I would like to repeat that we never forgot about our Enerhodar even for a day," Zelensky said.

Noting that the invaders are trying to keep residents in a "civilizational" blockade, Zelensky called on everyone who has the opportunity to communicate with people in the occupied south, in Donbas, in Kharkiv region. "Tell them, tell them about Ukraine. Tell them the truth. Say that there will be liberation... Tell them that the Ukrainian army will definitely come," he stressed.

Zelensky also noted that "of course, we will liberate our Crimea as well. The flag of Ukraine will again be over Yalta and Sudak, over Dzhankoy and Evpatoria. And let each of the Russian officials who seized precious land in the Crimea remember: this is not the land where they will be calm."
On Monday, June 13, in Izium district of Kharkiv region, the 93rd Mechanized Brigade Kholodny Yar shot down a Ka-52 combat helicopter of the Russian Armed Forces.

"Today, after lunch, in Izium direction of Kharkiv region, the Kholodny Yar anti-aircraft missile division shot down the Ka-52 combat helicopter of the Russian invaders. The helicopter fell on the temporarily occupied territory between the settlements of Sulyhivka and Dovhenke," the 93rd Motorized Brigade reported on Facebook.
Constitutional Court does not elect its chairman at special session on Tuesday

At a special plenary session on June 14, the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine did not elect the head of the court.

"Today a special plenary session was held, the head of the court was not elected," the Constitutional Court told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

The date of the next special plenary session to vote on the election of the head of the court is not yet known.

According to the procedure, the Constitutional Court must hold a special session on the election of the head of the court within a month from the end of the powers of the previous head of the court.

Earlier, representative of the Verkhovna Rada in the Constitutional Court Olha Sovhyria (the Servant of the People faction) reported that the election of a new head of the Constitutional Court is expected until June 15.
World with Russian missiles, sirens to become reality if current pace of supplying Ukraine with weapons maintained - Podoliak

Adviser to the Head of the President's Office Mykhailo Podoliak, on the eve of a meeting in Brussels in the Ramstein format on defense support to Ukraine, said that the world with Russian missiles and air raid sirens would become a reality if the current pace of supplying Ukraine with weapons is maintained.

"Ramstein format participants should imagine the world if Russia wins. Morning croissants with missiles, night sirens to lullabies, disappearance of cities with thousand-year history. It will become a reality if the pace of arms delivery remains the same. We wait for a decision," Podoliak said on Twitter.

As reported, the next third meeting in the Ramstein format regarding military support to Ukraine will be held on June 15 in Brussels.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for talks on ending the war when the "other side" will be ready to end it.

"The main thing that distinguishes me from that time [peaceful] is that I am not looking for a balance. In order to somehow agree on something. We know exactly what we are doing. I have no doubts. We ready to talk only when the other side is ready to end the war. There is no time for talking," Zelensky said in an interview with the German broadcaster ZDF, published on Tuesday.

"There should be no doubt. We must act, because time works for your enemy, not for us," he added.

According to Zelensky, "we are on our own land, this is our people and our territory." "It is very painful to lose people. But we will lose everything if we give in to Russia in this war," the president stressed.

He also confirmed the information about the visit to Ukraine of German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, saying at the end of the interview: "It is very important that Chancellor Scholz is coming now, during the war."
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that there is no such anti-corruption infrastructure in many countries of the European Union as Ukraine has.

Answering questions from Danish media representatives, the head of state said that he was aware that Denmark had questions regarding Ukraine's anti-corruption infrastructure.

"I believe that these questions arise due to the fact that the Danish public is not fully informed about what happened in Ukraine before the war and what is happening at the present time. Taking this moment, I would like to tell you: I think that such a developed anti-corruption infrastructure, which is effective both during the war and before the war, as in Ukraine, does not exist in many countries of the European Union," Zelensky said.
The Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Tuesday shot down three Russian cruise missiles that were launched by Russian occupiers from the Black Sea, the press service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports.

"Today, on June 14, in the period from 12:20 to 13:20, the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down three cruise missiles (presumably Caliber) launched on the territory of Ukraine from the Black Sea," the report says.

It clarifies that one of the missiles was destroyed from MANPADS in the area of responsibility of the Air Command Center, two - by anti-aircraft missile systems, in the area of responsibility of the Air Command Zakhid (West) of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Earlier it was reported that the air defense forces of Ukraine shot down several Russian missiles over Ternopil region.
Today, ESA's Gaia mission releases its new treasure trove of data about our home galaxy.

Astronomers describe strange 'starquakes', stellar DNA, asymmetric motions and other fascinating insights in this most detailed Milky Way survey to date.

Gaia is ESA's mission to create the most accurate and complete multi-dimensional map of the Milky Way. This allows astronomers to reconstruct our home galaxy's structure and past evolution over billions of years, and to better understand the lifecycle of stars and our place in the Universe.

What's new in data release 3?

Gaia's data release 3 contains new and improved details for almost two billion stars in our galaxy. The catalogue includes new information including chemical compositions, stellar temperatures, colours, masses, ages, and the speed at which stars move towards or away from us (radial velocity). Much of this information was revealed by the newly released spectroscopy data, a technique in which the starlight is split into its constituent colours (like a rainbow). The data also includes special subsets of stars, like those that change brightness over time.

Also new in this data set is the largest catalogue yet of binary stars, thousands of Solar System objects such as asteroids and moons of planets, and millions of galaxies and quasars outside the Milky Way.

Starquakes

One of the most surprising discoveries coming out of the new data is that Gaia is able to detect starquakes - tiny motions on the surface of a star - that change the shapes of stars, something the observatory was not originally built for.

Previously, Gaia already found radial oscillations that cause stars to swell and shrink periodically, while keeping their spherical shape. But Gaia has now also spotted other vibrations that are more like large-scale tsunamis. These nonradial oscillations change the global shape of a star and are therefore harder to detect.

Gaia found strong nonradial starquakes in thousands of stars. Gaia also revealed such vibrations in stars that have seldomly been seen before. These stars should not have any quakes according to the current theory, while Gaia did detect them at their surface.

"Starquakes teach us a lot about stars, notably their internal workings. Gaia is opening a goldmine for 'asteroseismology' of massive stars," says Conny Aerts of KU Leuven in Belgium, who is a member of the Gaia collaboration.

The DNA of stars

What stars are made of can tell us about their birthplace and their journey afterwards, and therefore about the history of the Milky Way. With today's data release, Gaia is revealing the largest chemical map of the galaxy coupled to 3D motions, from our solar neigbourhood to smaller galaxies surrounding ours.

Some stars contain more 'heavy metals' than others. During the Big Bang, only light elements were formed (hydrogen and helium). All other heavier elements - called metals by astronomers - are built inside stars. When stars die, they release these metals into the gas and dust between the stars called the interstellar medium, out of which new stars form. Active star formation and death will lead to an environment that is richer in metals. Therefore, a star's chemical composition is a bit like its DNA, giving us crucial information about its origin.

With Gaia, we see that some stars in our galaxy are made of primordial material, while others like our Sun are made of matter enriched by previous generations of stars. Stars that are closer to the centre and plane of our galaxy are richer in metals than stars at larger distances. Gaia also identified stars that originally came from different galaxies than our own, based on their chemical composition.

"Our galaxy is a beautiful melting pot of stars," says Alejandra Recio-Blanco of the Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur in France, who is a member of the Gaia collaboration.

"This diversity is extremely important, because it tells us the story of our galaxy's formation. It reveals the processes of migration within our galaxy and accretion from external galaxies. It also clearly shows that our Sun, and we, all belong to an ever changing system, formed thanks to the assembly of stars and gas of different origins."

Binary stars, asteroids, quasars, and more

Other papers that are published today reflect the breadth and depth of Gaia's discovery potential. A new binary star catalogue presents the mass and evolution of more than 800 thousand binary systems, while a new asteroid survey comprising 156 thousand rocky bodies is digging deeper into the origin of our Solar System. Gaia is also revealing information about 10 million variable stars, mysterious macro-molecules between stars, as well as quasars and galaxies beyond our own cosmic neighbourhood.

"Unlike other missions that target specific objects, Gaia is a survey mission. This means that while surveying the entire sky with billions of stars multiple times, Gaia is bound to make discoveries that other more dedicated missions would miss. This is one of its strengths, and we can't wait for the astronomy community to dive into our new data to find out even more about our galaxy and its surroundings than we could've imagined," says Timo Prusti, Project Scientist for Gaia at ESA.

More details on Gaia's data releases 3 can be found here: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/data-release-3

From 13 June 2022, 12:00 CEST onwards, the new Gaia data can be accessed at https://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/

Gaia's data release 3 was presented today during a virtual media briefing at https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/ESA_Web_TV

This media kit summarises the data in a series of infographics: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Gaia/Gaia_data_release_3_media_kit

More in-depth stories on the new Gaia data can be found here: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dr3-stories

A series of scientific papers describing the data and their validation process will appear in a special issue of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dr3-papers



Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Mansoura's criminal court has postponed to Tuesday the trial of 21-year-old university student Mohamed Adel, accused of stabbing to death fellow student Nayera Ashraf in Mansoura city in northern Egypt last week.
Sudan has accused the Ethiopian army of executing seven soldiers and a civilians who it says were captive and vowed to take action.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says the West has no intention to ``torpedo'' the Group of 20 - the group of major economies that also includes Russia.
Leading economic powers conferred by video link with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday as they underscored their commitment to Ukraine for the long haul with plans to pursue a price cap on Russian oil, raise tariffs on Russian goods and impose other new sanctions.
The second edition of the Aswan Forum shed light on challenges facing the African continent. Covid-19 topped the list

Policymakers and experts are expected to develop context-specific and action-oriented recommendations as to how Africa can recover from the coronavirus pandemic after the Aswan II Forum ends on 5 March.

Through the so-called Aswan Conclusions, African, national, regional and continental stakeholders, together with global partners, are expected to join forces to ensure that the ramifications of the pandemic do not impede the achievement of the African Unions 2063 Agenda The Africa We Want.

The Aswan Forum II was held this week under the theme Shaping Africas New Normal: Recovering Stronger, Rebuilding Better. The forums second edition was held virtually starting 1 March. The first was held in December 2019 in Aswan.

In the keynote speech that he delivered in the opening session, Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri highlighted the importance of joint African action and diligent work to achieve peace and development in the continent. More importantly, he stressed the importance of finding ways to deal with the impact of Covid-19 on various fields and trying to find the required solutions to the unprecedented challenge in a way that realises the targets of the AUs 2063 Agenda and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The pandemic contributed to exacerbating the traditional challenges that Africa faces in the fields of peace and security. Thus, it is important to bolster African countries capabilities to face the present security challenges, topped by combating terrorism and foreign terrorists, Shoukri said in his address to the inaugural session.

In his speech, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi highlighted that Egypt was keen to hold the second edition of the forum to use the momentum generated by the first edition and its successes.

Driven by its faith, Egypt believes that the present time is optimum to discuss together the daunting challenges facing our continent to seek the best ways and mechanisms to shore up our common efforts to get over the pandemic and to rebuild better to take our continent to safety, he said.

Al-Sisi described the activation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) earlier this year as a good example of the success of our collective work.

He said that besides the challenge of Covid-19, the continent was still suffering from the danger of armed conflicts and civil wars, as well as organized crime, the spread of weapons, illegal emigration and forced displacement. All these challenges require joint efforts to support the mechanism that stops and settles conflicts and enhances the continents abilities to face these challenges.

Thus, he said, African and international solidarity is an urgent matter for humanity to overcome these challenges as well as that of the coronavirus. The current stage has brought new challenges, foremost of which is providing the necessary vaccine for our peoples. I would like to emphasise the necessity of providing such a vaccine in a more equitable and just manner in response to the demands of the peoples of our continent, he said.

Al-Sisis speech was followed by addresses from several other African presidents, including those of Rwanda, Burundi, Tunisia, and South Sudan who agreed that the continent is passing through exceptional circumstances and that solidarity and joint work is the only way to deal with the challenge.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Chairperson of the African Union Commission Musa Faki participated in the forum.

Guterres called for a global vaccination plan that makes the coronavirus vaccines available and equally distributed.

He also urged the international community to support the worlds most vulnerable people and countries by taking various measures, from strengthening health systems to providing debt relief.

Pandemic recovery is also an opportunity to address the fragilities and inequalities that have been exposed by the pandemic, and to pursue a more inclusive and sustainable path that advances gender equality and safeguards the global environment, he said in his address to the opening session.

Guterres concluded by praising the Africans efforts to advance the well-being of the continents people. The United Nations will continue to support Africas efforts across this agenda, including silencing the guns, Guterres said.

Faki said that the pandemic revealed the dire need for African countries to build more resilient economies to face crises.

He highlighted the need to work on establishing a new healthcare system and building health capacities to ensure proper healthcare to all Africans.

The first days sessions of the forum were devoted to discussing the impact of the pandemic, ways to recover from it, how to strengthen sustainable peace and development, and the need for an integrated response to the growth of terrorism in the shadow of the pandemic.

The AU theme for the forum is Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want. The issue was discussed in detail on the third day. Soft power was said to be likely to bring nations together in a way that helps them address challenges with enlightened thought that fits the culture and civilisation of the African nations.

It also tackled other fields, including enhancing intra-African trade after the launch of the AfCFTA in January.

The forum, which saw the participation of African leaders, senior officials and heads of governments, will end on Friday with the closing session Chartering Africas Way Forward: Recovering Stronger Rebuilding Better.

The event is organised by the Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 March, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Egypt has sought to continue work beyond its AU presidency in cooperation with African leaders to overcome challenges facing the continent, Shoukry said

Egypt's foreign ministry announced on Saturday that the second edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development which kicked off on 1 March drew to a close on Friday.

Congolese President and current Chairman of the African Union (AU) Felix Tshisekedi delivered a speech during the closing session of the forum in which he expressed his appreciation for President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for his keenness on holding the forum and offering an opportunity for discussing means to overcome the coronavirus pandemic as well as efforts to consolidate sustainable peace and development in Africa.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry also delivered a speech on the last day of the forum, saying that although the conference is held via video-conference, it received great attention at the highest levels.

This affirms that the African countries and partners are convinced of the importance of the effective participation in the forum which he said acts as a high-level platform that enhances joint African action as well as cooperation with international parties, Shoukry added.

The foreign minister said Egypt has sought to continue work beyond its AU presidency in cooperation with African leaders to overcome challenges facing the continent to build a better future for their peoples.

Shoukry said Egypt has full confidence in the ability of the African states and peoples to overcome the current crisis, thanking all partners who offered support to this edition of the forum.

Meanwhile, the executive director of the forum and director-general of the Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) reviewed the forums conclusions which are focusing on efforts to address the health, social, and economic impact of the pandemic, noting that these conclusions will be translated into specific activities to help strengthen the capacity of African countries to deal with new threats.

A large number of African leaders delivered video messages during the forum.

The remarks made by the African leaders reflected their great appreciation for President El-Sisi and Egypt's keenness to promote cooperation among African countries.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Al-Ahram Weekly reviews the outcome of the second edition of the Aswan Forum

The second Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development closed last week after issuing action-oriented recommendations on how Africa can best recover from the coronavirus pandemic without impeding progress on achieving the African Unions The Africa We Want 2063 agenda or the UNs sustainable development goals 2030.

The forum reinforced the message of the first forum, that there is a need to accelerate a paradigm shift from crisis management to long-term sustainable peace and security with resilience and prevention at its core, said Ahmed Abdel-Latif, executive director of the forum and director-general of the Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA).

The pandemic and the responses to it have highlighted the importance of strengthening the capacity of African countries to manage these types of risk, whether unforeseen crises of an environmental nature or public health challenges like the pandemic, said Abdel-Latif.

The forum discussed issues that Abdel-Latif described as important pillars of post-Covid recovery  youth dialogue to advance the sustainable peace and development agenda, trade, infrastructure, climate change and the arts, culture, and heritage.

The African Union (AU) has designated 2021 as the year of arts, culture and heritage, based on the belief that a peaceful and secure Africa can only be attained by nurturing a culture of peace in the minds of its societies. The issue was discussed in detail in a session on the third day, Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want.

Angela Martins, head of the Culture Division at the African Union Commission (AUC), provided a detailed schedule of initiatives for promoting art and culture across the continent throughout the year in order to support a growing creative economy.

She stressed the importance of boosting shared values and traditions to build social cohesion and a positive image of Africa, singled out the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum as a major cultural highlight of this year, and concluded by calling on everyone to join the AU in celebrating the year of art, culture, and heritage physically, if possible, or virtually.

Firmin Edouard Matoko, assistant director-general of the Africa Department of UNESCO, highlighted how culture can be used to change the mindset of people. Until 10 years ago, culture wasnt perceived [in Africa] as a catalyst, he said.

Sylvie Fouet, UNICEF representative in Mali, explained how the UN is helping to empower young people to play a more active role in conflict resolution by inviting representatives from different areas to meet and speak about the future of their country.

She pointed to the UNSC decision to include safeguarding cultural heritage as part of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) mandate. It is the first peacekeeping mission to be tasked with such a directive.

The importance of art and culture in building bridges between states was highlighted by Egyptian Egyptologist Zahi Hawass who called for greater continental cooperation to press for the return of African artifacts.

We can fight together to return our heritage to Africa. They claim that we cannot get our artifacts back because we do not have a big museum. Now we have the Grand Egyptian Museum. We have proved that we can protect our heritage, he told the forum.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on economic growth and development progress was the focus of a session titled From Rapid Economic Recovery to Structural Transformation: Africas Pathway Towards Sustainable Recovery and Development.

Mahmoud Mohieldin, executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and UN Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda, said that although the pandemic will negatively affect the continent, it provides an enormous opportunity to invest in infrastructure.

On ways to contain the effects of the pandemic, he said there is a need to secure equal access to vaccines, invest in delivery infrastructure and logistics, and deal with the trade-related aspects of property rights challenges.

We face big challenges, but there are many solutions. We rely on good coordination and good partnership, he said.

Despite COVID-19, Africa remains a promising market for investing in information technology and communications, said Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat in a pre-recorded video.

Amany Abu Zeid, AU commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, she that while she was saddened by the loss of lives, she was heartened by the way African states had come together and were collaborating to contain the fallout from the pandemic. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had secured 670 million doses of vaccines on top of those provided through COVAX, she said. COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) is an initiative launched by the WHO to ensure the worlds most vulnerable have access to vaccines.

Issues like terrorism, conflict prevention, post-conflict reconstruction and women, peace and security that were broached in the first forum were also addressed.

Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo and current chairman of the AU, delivered a speech during the closing session in which he thanked Egypt for hosting the forum and providing an opportunity for discussing ways to overcome the coronavirus pandemic and enhance sustainable peace and development across the continent.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri said in the closing ceremony that Egypt has sought to continue work beyond its AU presidency in cooperation with African leaders to overcome challenges facing the continent, adding that Cairo has full confidence in the ability of African states and peoples to overcome current crises.

Aswan Forum II was held virtually under the banner Shaping Africas New Normal: Recovering Stronger, Rebuilding Better. The first forum was held in December 2019.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 11 March, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Egypt currently has a strategic reserve of wheat that can cover domestic consumption for four months, the Egyptian Cabinet's media centre said on Thursday.

In a statement, the centre refuted reports that Egypt's wheat reserves have been impacted by the disruption in international markets.

The cabinet also noted that the local wheat supply season has begun, which will contribute to augmenting the strategic reserves until December 2022.

In March, the cabinet  upon President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisis directives  issued a decree to start the local wheat supply season for 2022 on 1 April instead of 15 April, and to provide farmers with incentives to sell more of their crop to the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade.

Egypt is expected to source around six million tonnes of wheat this season  around 2.5 million tonnes more than in 2021.

Egypt, the worlds largest wheat importer, relies on wheat to produce bread  a key staple for Egyptians  with 80 percent of its imports coming from Russia and Ukraine.

Egypt imports 12 to 13 million tonnes of wheat per year, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity in 2020  an online data visualisation platform focused on the geography and dynamics of economic activities across the globe.

The government has announced that it is diversifying its import sources from a new list of countries, at the top of which is India, which has exempted Egypt from its recent wheat export ban.

Egypt is expected to receive its first wheat shipment, which amounts to up to 55,000 tonnes, from India soon.

The country also has a strategic reserve of sugar and different types of cooking oils that can cover five months, the centre said, adding that the country is set to buy more quantities of oil, the statement said.

The country also has a strategic reserve of rice that is enough for nearly nine months.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Egypt says that it coordinated with more than 95 countries at the 50th UN Human Rights Council session on Monday to issue a joint statement on the familys role within society and its right to protection from the state.

Ahmed Ihab Gamaleddin, the permanent representative of Egypt at the UN Office at Geneva, said the joint statement stressed the states commitment to taking specific measures to ensure broader support and protection for families as the fundamental unit of society.

Countries must also ensure families sustainability and unity and create a suitable environment that secures development and prosperity for them, especially in the face of crises, Gamaleddin noted.

The statement also urged governments to develop strategies that are focused on womens empowerment and fair distribution of care and assistance responsibilities between men and women.

The statement highlighted the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on families contribution to protecting and enhancing human rights as well as on their capabilities as a key factor in the development of the state and society.

The pandemic has negatively affected the aspects of care that the families provide to their members, especially children and the elderly, as well as the work-family balance, gender equality, and other issues, Gamaleddin said.

The statement also said that sustaining a balance between work and family is considered a main factor in reducing the aftermath of pandemics on human rights and development.

In September last year, Egypt launched its 2021-2026 National Strategy for Human Rights to address political, economic, social, and cultural rights for all groups and marginalised members, including women, children, disabled people, youth and the elderly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Russia's energy giant Gazprom said Tuesday it would be reducing the daily gas deliveries via the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany due to the "repair" of compressor units by German company Siemens.

"Gas supplies via the Nord Stream gas pipeline can currently be provided in the amount of up to 100 million cubic metres per day," Gazprom said in a statement on Telegram, adding that the expected daily volume is 167 million cubic metres.

With the delayed return of components from Siemens, only three gas-pumping units were currently operational at the Portovaya compression station near the northwestern city of Vyborg, Gazprom added.

Along with many Western companies, German conglomerate Siemens announced its exit from the Russian market after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.

Moscow has lost several European gas clients after it demanded that all "unfriendly" countries pay for Russian natural gas in rubles in response to a barrage of Western sanctions over Ukraine.

Poland, Bulgaria, Finland and the Netherlands have had their natural gas deliveries suspended over refusing to pay in rubles.

The Nord Stream pipeline was commissioned in 2012 and delivers gas from northwestern Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea.

The launch of another pipeline, Nord Stream 2, that was set to double Russian gas deliveries to Germany was halted in response to Moscow's military action in Ukraine.

EU countries have scrambled to reduce their dependency on Russian energy but are divided about imposing a natural gas embargo as several member states are heavily reliant on Moscow's energy supplies.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


US helps control AIDS in Vietnam

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and its partner, PATH, on Tuesday celebrated the completion of the eight-year USAID/PATH Healthy Markets project and launched the new five-year USAID/PATH STEPS project which aims to end HIV/AIDS in Vietnam.













USAID/Vietnam Deputy Mission Director Bradley Bessire speaks at the event.



The USD20.7 million USAID/PATH Healthy Markets project ran from 2014 to 2021 and was funded by the US Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Through the project, USAID and PATH worked with the Ministry of Healths Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC) to generate sustainable approaches for increasing investment in, demand for, and supply of transformational HIV-related goods and services.



USAID/PATH Healthy Markets was a key partner to the Ministry of Health on its introduction and scale-up of new and innovative approaches like HIV community-based testing, self-testing, and pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEPthree key services that contributed to a 57 percent reduction in new HIV infections over the past decade.



Through Healthy Marketssupported models alone, nearly 218,000 people were tested for HIV in the community and 8,986 people newly diagnosed with HIV were enrolled on lifesaving treatment. In addition, more than 46,000 HIV self-test kits were distributed and 16,700 people enrolled on PrEP, an oral pill that effectively prevents HIV infection when taken as prescribed.



Speaking at the event, Deputy Mission Director, USAID/Vietnam, Bradley Bessire said that over the past eight years, USAID support addressed critical gaps in accessible, affordable, community-based HIV care while strengthening the domestic market for HIV-related goods and services.



"As we step up the fight against HIV in Vietnam, our next project will focus on ensuring sustainability of our collective progress and addressing key remaining gaps to ultimately help Vietnam achieve its commitment to end AIDS by 2030," he said.



At todays event, USAID also announced STEPS, a new five-year, USD15 million project in partnership with PATH and its core partner, Glink Vietnam, to maintain the momentum of Healthy Markets and catalyze greater HIV- and primary health care-related market growth.



At the launch event, Associate Professor Phan Thi Thu Huong, Director of Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control, said that USAID/PATH Healthy Markets had continued to accelerate innovative health solutions that significantly contribute to the HIV/AIDS response in Vietnam.



"I trust that you will continue to maintain your momentum and the inspiring energy moving into the new USAID/PATH STEPS project, she said.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

A delegation led by Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov is paying a visit to London to attend the fifth meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UK slated for June 14, Azernews reports, citing the ministry.

The parties are expected to discuss the work done since the 4th session of the Intergovernmental Commission, including cooperation on further improvement of the business environment, increasing investments, energy transition, digital economy, infrastructure, agriculture, and others.

The co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Commission are Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and UK Exports Minister Mike Freer.

Azerbaijan and the UK are cooperating in different sectors of the economy. There are already 30 years of successful cooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas sector, which entered a new stage of development in line with the challenges of the global energy sector. The energy sector accounts for $28.8 billion out of $30.6 billion of the UK investments in Azerbaijan's economy. The UK is also the biggest investor in Azerbaijan.

The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $667.8 in 2021.
Egypt's Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Tarek El-Molla affirmed on Tuesday the support of his country to Palestines right to make use of its natural resources, specifically the Gaza Marine natural gas field.

El-Molla told Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Palestine Investment Fund Mohammed Mostafa that Egypt will spare no effort in contributing to the development of the Palestinian economy in light of the strong relations binding the two countries under the umbrella of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), the Petroleum Ministry said in a statement.



Meanwhile, Mostafa pointed out the constructive cooperation with the Egyptian Petroleum Ministry in the oil and gas industry, confirming the importance of drawing on the Egyptian ministrys expertise in light of its great successes.



The two officials agreed on increasing their support for the forum's role.



In February 2021, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority signed a memorandum of understanding on developing the Gaza Marine natural gas field.

The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) will work with the Palestinian Authority on a deal to extract natural gas from the Mediterranean Sea and transport it to Palestinian areas.

According to previous statements by Mostafa, the Palestinian attempts to extract the natural gas have always been thwarted by the Israeli stance, adding that his country is working with Egypt to develop the field as soon as possible.

Palestine is a member of the EMGF.

EMGF was established in 2019 as an international organisation and headquartered in Cairo. It aims to establish a regional gas market in the eastern Mediterranean and enhance trade relations among member states.

The forum comprises Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, and Israel.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Though the American administration seems undecided on the future of talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal, Israeli public statements are pushing for a possible military action. The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) censured Iran last week for what it saw as failure to fully answer questions for over two years about the origins of uranium traces found at several locations inside the country. Iran considered the resolution by the board of directors of the IAEA politically motivated and announced shutting down monitoring cameras at nuclear sites the agency inspectors use to make sure Iran commits to provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The IAEA investigation started four years ago after Israel said it stole a half-ton stash of documents from Iran, purportedly proving that Tehran is secretly violating the JCPOA, which was signed with world powers in 2015. The agreement was supposed to lead to Iran scaling down its nuclear programme in return for alleviating sanctions. When former US president Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, Iran started dropping its commitment to certain provisions.

The Joe Biden administration started a process to rejoin the deal through talks in Vienna that started in March last year and continued for eight rounds without concrete results. Israel, and to some extent some Gulf Arab countries, are wary of reviving the deal without addressing other issues like Irans missile programme and its support to proxy militias in Arab countries.

Some see the fallout of the IAEA with Tehran, and subsequent, strongly-worded statements from the Western countries against Iran as a pretext for more escalation. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett seized the moment to raise the bar of rhetoric against Iran. Israeli media highlighted the notion that Iran is now just weeks from producing weapons-grade enriched uranium.

Two weeks ago, Israel conducted a massive aircraft exercise over the Mediterranean. Hundreds of military aircraft took part, and the Israeli government said the exercise was intended to simulate a multiple-front war with Iran. Trumpeting possible preparations for an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, the Israel Today news website mentioned this week that Israel Air Force (IAF) engineers have managed to design a system that eliminates the need to refuel its F-35 Adir stealth fighter jet mid-mission. The site added: The F-35 is a radar-invisible warplane that reportedly will be used in a future massive IAF air strike against Irans nuclear facilities. The engineers have also succeeded in placing a 1,000 kg bomb in the body of the thirty-six F-35s available to the Israeli Air Force. Israel had earlier this year asked the US government for accelerated delivery of a modern tanker aircraft capable of re-fuelling the F-35s mid-air, but the administration of President Joe Biden refused to comply with this request.

Some pro-Israel and Hebrew news outlets in the West along with Muslim Brotherhood sites and social media accounts, used Bennetts visit to Abu Dhabi last week to propagate a claim that Israel is going to attack Iran and Gulf Arabs will help it. As the US Congress passed a resolution demanding that American administration should encourage cooperation between Israel and Gulf countries in reinforcing their defences against Iran, some media reports started talking about an alliance against Iran.

Gulf sources played down media reports about the so-called Israeli-led military alliance against Iran. One source told Al- Ahram Weekly that the timing of the Israeli PMs visit to Abu Dhabi has nothing to do with the rising tension with Iran. The visit focused on bilateral relations and a broad review of regional issues. It was not meant to convey any messages to anybody in the region or beyond, apart from the Emirates established policy of seeking peace and security in the region, he said.

A veteran British political analyst, who has good contacts with the Middle East, described the talk about a Gulf-Israel axis against Iran as a bit exaggerated. Saudi Arabia, till now, is reluctant to normalise fully with Israel. Though the Crown-Prince [Mohamed bin Salman] is for closer relations with the Israelis, there is a clear major benefit to go for this now. Without the Saudis, Abraham Accord signatories wouldnt go that extra mile, he told the Weekly.

Many commentators think that Israel would not go as far as striking Iranian targets without an American green light. The Americans are still reluctant to give the nod, as the British analyst notes. He adds that traditional rule of American foreign policy is not to open two fronts of conflict at the same time. With the war in Ukraine, and the Wests struggle with Russia, no one wants a Western ally like Israel to start another war in the Middle East. Next to Russia, the American focus is on China. So, Iran can wait.

The Israeli government might be intensifying leaks about striking Iran, and raising the bar of the official tone, as a way to cover internal problems threatening a faltering government and early elections. Some commentators note that Israel is already in more than a cold war with Iran. Within a few weeks, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) colonel was assassinated, having been accused by Israel of involvement in plots against its citizens abroad. Then, another two of the IRGCs officers also died in mysterious circumstances. Iran blamed Israel and its agents for killing them. The Iranian military complex at Parchin was struck by a drone, too. There have also been many cyber attacks on both countries, which they blame on each other.

Whether Israel attacks Iran or not, developments in the last couple of weeks indicate that the Vienna talks will not be resuming soon. Iran seems unwilling to give in to pressure. As an editorial of Tehran Times this week puts it, if the West moves ahead with its diplomatic pressure, the chances of reviving the JCPOA will further diminish.

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


In 1969, Gamal Al-Ghitanis first literary work, The Papers of a Young Man Who Lived a Thousand Years Ago, heralded a new generation of Egyptian fiction writers whose sociopolitical consciousness was shaped by a singular event: the Arab defeat in 1967.

The stories told by the papers of the young man in the title explored the ordeals and setbacks of some of the grimmer periods of the Mameluke era in Egypt. This was not an escapist flight from a bleak present but rather a search for a way forward that takes its point of departure from the past. For non-fiction writers, such as myself, the point of departure was different.

It began with the first heat of the moment, on 5 June 1967 at 9:00 am precisely, on a dusty day. We were freshmen at the Faculty of Political Science and Economy, and we had assembled beneath a large awning to take the Arab Society exam. As we were scribbling out our answers beneath the vigilant eye of professor Abdel-Malek Awda, a founding father of African Studies in Arab universities, the sound of bombs and explosions told all who had been keeping close and passionate track of recent developments that the war had begun.

Despite professor Awdas attempts to persuade us to finish our exams, we rushed outside, quickly confirming our deduction, and began to count the hours to the moment of glorious victory.

We all know the rest of the story, of course. However, for a whole generation of Egyptians, the harsh slap continues to sting at this time of year, even 55 years later and despite major events and concerns in Egypt and elsewhere. The defeat was reverberating and humiliating. As political science students, we felt it more acutely than others because we were more aware of how deeply and severely our country had been wounded.

We thronged to the streets chanting angry slogans because that was the only response available to us. Perhaps from the midst of that outpouring emerged the question: why did this happen? Then followed another: what do we do now? That was the starting point for the long march on foot from Al-Bagour in Menoufiya to Cairo, on 9-10 June 1967, to rally in support of Gamal Abdel-Nasser and demand that he stays in power. But at the same time, the youth of that day agreed that we could not accept what had happened on 5 June and that there had to be some form of reassessment and accountability. The leader and the other Free Officers could not be immune. But nor could the rest of society be exempted from responsibility for one of Egypts most resounding failures.

In the days that followed, I joined a group of volunteers to help save the cotton crop which risked ruin that year. Afterwards we signed up for military training which took place in Dekheila, near Alexandria. That was where I had my first scrape with death when a bullet whistled near my face because a friend had not taken the proper safety precautions. Following the news had become a daily habit.

On 1 July, a contingent of Egyptian commandos repelled several Israeli tanks that were advancing northward in an attempt to seize Port Fouad. The battle of Ras Al-Esh, as it became known, marked the beginning of the War of Attrition which unfolded on both sides of the Suez Canal. That lasted for three years and constituted the final chapter in Nassers struggle. Events then brought us to the October 1973 and the greatest war fought by the Egyptians and Arabs in modern history. In it, oil united with weapons to secure victory and usher in a new era in the history of the region.

If 55 years was not enough to erase the bitter taste of the memory of defeat, the six years between then and the victory taught us the importance of knowing the limitations of force. The fact is that, unlike the denizens of Naguib Mahfouzs famous Children of the Alley, it was not forgetfulness that plagued our alley, but rather our lack of ability, individually and collectively, to understand our bounds.

This challenge has two facets. One is external and shaped by geopolitical and geo-strategic factors such as friends and enemies, patterns of conflict and alliance, the military and economic balance of power and the quality of leaderships. The other is internal and involves the ability to assess the countrys capacities, without over- or underestimating them, in a rapidly changing world.

A lot of water passed under the bridge between the wars of June 1967 and October 1973. Together they brought an end to the definition of the Arab-Israeli War as an existential one and marked the beginning of peacemaking efforts on the basis of such formulas as land for peace and the two-state solution. It should be stressed that appreciating the limitations of force was not just an Arab problem. Israel, too, had to come to terms with realities on many fronts. This eventually led it to withdraw from the territories it had occupied in Sinai, Jordan, Lebanon and even Palestine.

Unfortunately, what has prevented the realisation of the Saudi peace initiative that was adopted by the Arab League is that there are political forces on both sides that still refuse to acknowledge that the use of force can only go so far towards the achievement of ones aims. For example, Hamas, the creation of which Israel had encouraged as a card to play against the PLO, not only weakened the PLO, the Palestinian Authority and the Oslo Accords but also helped steer the conflict back towards the existential territory from the Israeli perspective.

On the other side, right-wing extremists have been driving Israel to destroy everything that could sustain two states living side by side, leaving no alternative but the one-state solution which neither side wants. The Israeli persistence in its policy of settlement expansion and land annexation, and its breaches of the provisions of the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty regarding the administration of the holy sites in Jerusalem have destroyed so much of what had been accomplished during five decades of both sides realising the limitations of force.

The young college kid who experienced the journey from war to peace that started 55 years ago stands amazed at this new reality, which brims with folly in the face of opportunity. Hamas inability to appreciate the limitations of force is matched on the other side by a political bankruptcy that renders it unable to realise the potential of the Abraham Accords and the geopolitical and geo-strategic reality that tells us that, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, there are two peoples whose only solution is to live together in peace.

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Egypt is on target to become a regional energy giant and a reliable partner for the European Union in the provision of natural gas and solar-produced electricity.

The present geopolitical and economic upheaval in Europe has created new realities concerning the continents needs for energy security and regional cooperation.

In this context, Egypt is a focal state owing to its increasing capabilities in energy production. Egypt has the potential to become an energy giant and a reliable partner for the EU in terms of natural gas and solar-produced electricity. But this relationship has to be reciprocal, and the EU should also address Egypts legitimate concerns.

Concerning natural gas production, Egypt is poised to become an essential actor in the worlds production of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Its production has been on the rise, aided by upgrades in infrastructure and new international agreements.

According to Reuters, over the first four months of 2022 alone, gas export revenues in Egypt reached $3.9 billion, a huge increase compared to earlier periods. This output equals 2021 revenues and is 768 per cent higher than those for 2020. Future exports are clearly going to rise to even higher levels, thus making Egypt the de facto essential energy partner of the EU.

Concerning electricity, Egypt has the geophysical advantages of extended sunshine and a helpful territorial relief, thus being able to produce massive amounts of renewable energy from solar and wind farms over large areas. The excellent relations that Egypt and Greece enjoy are essential in forwarding regional cooperation in the area of electricity production and distribution, and Egypt and Greece are already agreeing plans to build a major underwater electricity transmission line connecting the Egyptian coast to Greece as a gateway to European markets.

The Egyptian and Greek ministries of electricity are currently studying the feasibility of this electrical connection with Greece. Greece is the closest-lying EU state to both Egypt and Libya, a factor that should also be taken into account when planning future energy cooperation in the region. The electrical connections between Egypt and Greece and between Egypt and the other EU states will be at the core of the new 210 billion euros energy projects that the EU is planning and which are themselves based on renewable energy sources. Green energy will also be the pillar of future energy plans on a global level.

The EU should not limit itself to gaining benefits from cooperation based on the huge solar and underwater potential of Egypt. As the conflict in Ukraine has created serious problems in the export of wheat and disrupted global supply chains, the EU should step in and actively participate in ensuring Egypts food security as an essential partner.

Egypt is the worlds top importer of wheat, and the EU, with its extended diplomatic and financial networks, should work to guarantee the steady circulation of wheat and other products in order to overcome the negative consequences of the conflict in Ukraine. It should work actively to bring about regional stability and the reconstruction of supply chains. These legitimate concerns, which have been emphatically voiced by Egyptian analysts and clearly presented in Al-Ahram, should become the focus of EU policy in a coherent plan for food security.

Over the last decade, Egypt under the leadership of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi has become a regional hegemonic power in the Mediterranean, Africa, and the greater Middle East region. In the volatile geopolitical environment caused by the conflict in Ukraine, Egypt can also now function as the guarantor of Europes energy security.

The writer is a lecturer in geopolitics at the University of Athens in Greece.



A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The Salam Centre for Extremism Studies (SCES) last week held its first international annual conference called Religious Extremism, the Intellectual Premises and Counter-Strategies. The high-profile conference was attended by delegations of leading religious institutions from 42 countries.

The conference was vital for institutes and think tanks working in this field to get together and reach common ground, Ibrahim Negm, SCES chairman, told Al-Ahram Weekly.

SCES is an academic institution and a think tank affiliated to Egypts Dar Al-Iftaa, an Egyptian Islamic advisory governmental body, and works under the umbrella of the General Secretariat for Fatwa Authorities Worldwide. It represents the practical efforts exerted by Dar Al-Iftaa on the path of addressing extremist narratives and dismantling radical religious discourse, Negm said.

The conference focused on refuting and dismantling extremist discourse and responding to it, establishing the values of peace, coexistence, understanding and tolerance among people. It also aims to enhance international counter-extremism cooperation and exchange expertise in counter-extremism strategies worldwide, and open channels of academic and research cooperation on counter-extremism and terrorism.

The conference covered issues related to extremism and ideological perspectives both past and present. It also analysed the ideas constituting the pillars of extremism and how to formulate integrated policies to confront the phenomenon of extremism and terrorism. This is in addition to discussing strategies of confrontation and prevention and promoting global and regional mutual cooperation in this regard, explained Negm.

As a result of the meetings and discussions during the conference, Negm said several recommendations were adopted, the most important agreeing on establishing an umbrella institution gathering research centres and think tanks specialised in combating extremism and terrorism. They would coordinate cooperation among religious institutions, decision-makers and regional and international research centres for the purpose of increasing influence and effectiveness. It works on combating extremism through prevention and treatment. The conference further suggested that Egypt be the headquarters of this permanent coordinating umbrella, Negm said.

The SCES was set up just six months ago as part of Egypts strategy to establish comprehensive mechanisms to eradicate extremism at all levels, said Negm. It is part of the states vision and is considered a remarkable addition to the list of effective tools adopted by Egypt to counter extremism and terrorism, he added.

Dar Al-Iftaa has been working on this project over the past few years through implementing meticulous programmes representing the recommendations of the international conferences held by the General Secretariat for Fatwa Authorities Worldwide, Negm said. The conferences addressed the core issues of renewing religious discourse, the role of fatwas (formal ruling or interpretations on a point of Islamic law given by a qualified legal scholar) in stabilising societies and providing muftis and scholars with the necessary knowledge and tools that allow them to issue fatwas in order to limit the chaos that pseudo-scholars cause in this regard, stressed Negm.

Negm said the centre uses modern technology and digital tools to reach its targeted audience.

The SCES is also playing a role in renewing religious discourse through its publications which address aspects of extremism and raising awareness especially among youths and social media users, Negm said.

He said the centre had launched a number of initiatives, representing a remarkable step in confronting extremism and eradicating the phenomenon.

The Egyptian Encyclopaedia for Counter-Extremism, a 30-volume Egyptian reference on counter-extremism dedicated to monitoring and dismantling extremism. The encyclopaedia addresses the concept of extremism and terminology used by extremists.

The Salam Academy is a training centre specialised in the studies of extremism and terrorism and aims to hold training courses. It provides diplomas specialised in the science of countering extremism in cooperation with universities and well-known academies.

It includes Manarat Digital Application for Countering Extremism, an application based on modern technology which puts together a network based on specific interactive factors that analyses extremism and all its details.

The Observational Memory of Extremism is a multilingual memory bank which includes all the publications of terrorist and excommunicating organisations  audio and visual releases  as well as studies, books, and research and reports related to extremism and terrorism.

Negm also referred to Al-Shaheed (the Martyr) Traveling Exhibition for Counter-Extremism held at universities, schools, shopping malls, and religious centres to promote moderation. The exhibition consists of many interactive and TV screens, graphics and animations that exhibit the most common inquiries related to coexistence, renouncing extremism and building culture peace, he said.

Negm stressed the centres cooperation with governments around the world to express the real image of Islam. He reasserted the conference call to establish an umbrella gathering research centres and think tanks in combating extremism and terrorism, which coordinates among religious institutions, decision-makers, and regional and international research centres for the purpose of increasing influence and effectiveness.

The Salam Centre opens its doors to all entities and governments to start cooperation that services these goals and exchanges expertise on the ground, Negm added.

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Tuesday that his country "will not hesitate" to use power to thwart Iran's plans to carry out attacks against Israelis abroad.

"In recent days, we have been witnessing attempts to harm Israelis in various locations overseas," Bennett said in a public speech, amid warnings by Israeli security agencies that Tehran was planning to attack Israeli tourists in Turkey.

"We will not hesitate to use the power of the State of Israel anywhere in the world in order to protect our citizens," Bennett said.

On Monday, Israel's National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau raised the travel warning for Istanbul, Turkey to "Level 4," the highest level.

It said in a statement that the move was taken in the wake of the "continuing nature of the threat and the increased Iranian intentions to attack Israelis in Turkey, especially Istanbul."

The council called on Israelis to leave Istanbul as soon as possible and to avoid flying to Turkey "until further notice."

Iran did not immediately comment on the Israeli allegations.

Iran has accused Israel of killing on May 22 Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps colonel, vowing to avenge his death. Khodaei was shot and killed by two motorcyclists in the east of Tehran, Iran's capital.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


American University in Cairo

New Cairo Campus

Wed 22, 7 - 8pm (Online event): Join this virtual session of the Gerhart Center Social Talks titled The Egyptian States Efforts in Family Development and the Importance of the Role of Youth featuring Hala Azzam, general director of research and international agreements at the National Population Council. The talk will discuss the history of overpopulation in Egypt and the governments efforts - this will include the population characteristics and the National population strategy. Azzam will also highlight the importance of the youths role and how the National Population Council includes the youth in its strategy. The link is https://e.cglink.me/2kZ/r300070850

Moataz Al Alfi Hall and Livestreaming

Thurs 23, 2-3.30pm: AUC Climate Change Initiative Launch presents a talk on the universities significant leadership role nationally and internationally in limiting the many dangers of climate change. Join AUC President Ahmed Dallal and UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Egypt, and Executive Director, International Monetary Fund Mahmoud Mohei El Din (joining virtually) as they tackle the importance of utilizing education and research to reduce our environmental footprint. The link is https://e.cglink.me/2kZ/r300070838



French Cultural Institute

Madrasset Al-Huquq Al Frinseya St, Mounira, Tel 02 2791 5800

Media Library

Fri 17, 12pm: Start the day with Salma Mohsein who will make you discover lots of stories during your favorite story time meeting followed by a creative workshop. Mohsein is a teacher for children and a gifted reader.

Italian Cultural Institute

Mon 20, 6pm (Online): Veronica Raimo, the candidate for the Strega Prize for her novel Niente di Vero meets readers in Egypt. The meeting will be held online in Italian at the IIC.

Tahrir Cultural Centre (TCC)

Al-Sheikh Rihan St, off Tahrir Square, Tahrir Campus, Tel 02 2615 2694/01280009077

Sat 18, 1.30pm-10pm: The first edition of the AUC Venture Lab Summit is a day filled with expert knowledge, networking opportunities and the latest in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. The event will feature valuable panels and inspiring one-on-one discussions, exclusive workshops and startup pitches. From valuable panel discussions and inspiring one-on-one discussions to exclusive workshops and the V-Lab Demo Day featuring the pitches of our Spring'22 cohort of innovative startups.

Please note that while tickets are free, pre-event registration is a must to ensure campus access for this event. Attendees will receive event confirmations after registering. On the day of the event, kindly make sure to bring your National ID and a face mask to be able to join the event.

Oriental Hall

Mon 20, 6 -7.30pm: The School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) will hold GAPP Tahrir Dialogue (103) titled Lessons Learned from the Ukraine-Russia Cyberwar, and Why Cyber Wars of the Future Will Look Different Than We Thought. It features as a speaker Mark Turnage Chair, AUC Board of Trustees; CEO, DarkOwl, United States, with host and discussant Nabil Fahmy, Founding Dean of GAPP, The American University in Cairo, and Former Egyptian Foreign Minister. This will be a hybrid event, panelists and invited guests only will attend in person from the Oriental Hall at AUC Tahrir Campus. This measure is taken due to COVID-19 hall maximum capacity regulations. If you wish to attend in person, register at [email protected] In addition, the event will be conducted as an online Webinar; to join the event virtually, please click on the link below: https://aucegypt.zoom.us/j/99020457799

English-Arabic translation will be available for attendees. (Kindly note that you have to show proof that you are fully vaccinated when accessing the AUC Tahrir Campus).

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Thirty-nine new women judges took the legal oath on Monday to assume judicial positions in the State Council, raising the number of female judges at the council to 137.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a decree on 8 June appointing 39 female members of the State Lawsuits Authority and Administrative Prosecution as assistant counsellors at the State Council.

In June 2021, El-Sisi issued directives to allow Egyptian women to work at the State Council and the Public Prosecution for the first time in the countrys history.

The State Council is a judicial body comprised of over 3000 judges that reviews administrative disputes as well as disciplinary cases and appeals. It also reviews draft laws, decisions, and contracts that state or public bodies are party to.

In March, 98 women, who were sworn in judges at the State Council last year, assumed work at the judicial body.

El-Sisis decision aims to fully enforce the constitutional entitlement of ensuring equality and non-discrimination in various positions and in all fields," according to a previous statement by the Ministry of Justice.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The third edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development will be held on Tuesday 21 June under the auspices of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

The event is expected to host 900 representatives from 50 countries, including ministers, senior officials, think tanks, the private sector, and NGOs.

In a press meeting on Monday, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for African Affairs Hamdy Loza said the two-day event will be run under the theme Africa in an Era of Cascading Risks and Climate Vulnerability: Pathways for a Peaceful, Resilient, and Sustainable Continent

The forum will kick off with a set of speeches from President El-Sisi, the chairperson of the African Union, and the president of the African Commission, Loza added.

Furthermore, the forum will shed light on the ramifications of climate change on achieving peace and security in Africa ahead of Egypts hosting of the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh this November.

The event is expected to tackle a number of issues over 15 sessions, including enhancing cooperation to combat terrorism, overcoming the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ahmed Abdel-Latif, the director of the Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding (CCCPA), said.

It will also discuss means of achieving food security, empowering African women, building national institutions, and the role of African youths in achieving sustainable peace and development in the face of climate change, he added.

He explained that the forums outcomes are submitted and implemented after each edition by defining research activities to translate said outcomes into action.

The second edition of the Aswan Forum was held virtually in March 2021 under the theme Shaping Africas New Normal: Recovering Stronger, Rebuilding Better. It shed light on challenges facing Africa, notably the coronavirus pandemic.

The first edition was held in December 2019 in Aswan.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Minister of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram stressed the countrys keenness to cooperate with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and other international organisations to achieve the UNs sustainable development goals (SDGs) and preserve citizens rights to safe migration.

In a meeting with IOM officials in Cairo on Tuesday, Makram reviewed Egypts level of cooperation with all international entities  including the IOM  within the framework of achieving the SDGs, providing safe alternatives to irregular migration, and providing opportunities for young people in the largest exporting regions of irregular migrants.

The meeting gathered Ugochi Daniels, deputy director-general of the IOM; Laurent de Bock, the head of IOMs mission in Egypt; and Othman Belbeisi, the IOMs senior regional adviser for Middle East and North Africa, according to a statement by the Ministry of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs.

Meanwhile, Assistant Emigration Minister for International Cooperation Mohamed Khairat reviewed the ministrys efforts in combating irregular migration as well as a number of presidential initiatives, including Etkallem Araby (Speak Arabic), which aims to help second and third generation Egyptians living abroad to feel connected to their motherland.

For his part, De Bock voiced appreciation for the great level of cooperation with the ministry in several files and initiatives, which have had positive outcomes in several governorates.

He also hailed Egypts launch of the National Strategy for Combating Illegal Migration, as well as its efforts in providing the necessary training for youths to become more competitive in the labour market.

Egypt has stepped up its efforts since 2016 to deal with irregular migration, setting a legislative framework to combat the smuggling of migrants.

In 2016, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi launched the countrys first national strategy to combat irregular migration, and Law 82 of 2016 set out penalties criminalising all forms of migrant smuggling, in addition to combating the activities of those involved in such acts.

The law punishes whoever commits, attempts, or is involved in the crime of smuggling migrants with strict imprisonment and a fine ranging from EGP 200,000 to EGP 500,000.

In 2022, the country toughened the law, forcing those who commit the crime of smuggling or aiding in the smuggling of migrants to pay a fine equal to the value of the amount they profited from the operation.

Additionally, those who witnessed irregular migration crimes and chose not to report them to authorities will be sentenced to one year in prison and forced to pay EGP 50,000-200,000 in fines.

Furthermore, public servants who fail in their assigned responsibilities to fight irregular migration will be sentenced to between three to five years in prison.

In 2019, Egypt launched its Lifeboats Initiative in order to provide job opportunities in villages seeing significant levels of irregular migration, with EGP 250 million allocated to support and implement it in 70 villages across the country.

About six million refugees and migrants live in Egypt, according to official estimates. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has repeatedly stressed that Egypt is not a transit point for illegal migrants eyeing Europe.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


By Trend

Agency for Innovation and Digital Development under Ministry of Digital Development and Transportation of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijans Pasha Holding group of companies have created a venture capital fund, Trend reports.

Azerbaijani Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev took part in presentation of the fund.

He emphasized that the creation of a joint venture fund with Pasha Holding group of companies is aimed at the future of country's innovation ecosystem.

"We believe that the fund will open up wide opportunities for developing innovative infrastructure, optimizing the business environment, attracting foreign investors to the country and bringing local projects to foreign markets," the minister said.

The fund's budget is 11.3 million manat ($6.6 million). Agency for Innovation and Digital Development and Pasha Holding allocated 5 million manat ($2.9 million), each of them, to budget of the fund, and individual entrepreneurs allocated 1.3 million manat ($764,000).
Egypts Ministry of Environment and top religious authority Al-Azhar signed a cooperation protocol on Tuesday to increase environmental awareness and join efforts to turn Al-Azhar buildings and its facilities to become eco-friendly by reducing energy and water consumption rates.

The protocol was signed by Al-Azhar Undersecretary Mohamed El-Dheweni and Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad, the ministerial coordinator and envoy of the 27th session of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in the presence of Al-Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb.

The protocol aims to enhance cooperation between the two entities to increase environmental awareness among the various segments of society and improve behavior towards the environment, according to a statement by the ministry.

The ministry is seeking to involve Al-Azhar in COP27 activities as the protocol plans to establish an electronic platform to discuss environmental and climate change issues as well as other societal affairs, Fouad said.

Egypt is preparing to host COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh in November on behalf of the African continent.



The protocol also aims to encourage post-graduate students to prepare studies related to environmental issues and produce various scientific articles on the importance of environmental awareness.

The minister asserted that Al-Azhar, the Sunni-Muslim world's top religious institution, has a very influential role in Egyptian society and could greatly contribute to increasing environmental awareness, especially among students.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Egypts Justice Party (El-Adl) announced on Tuesday that it will sponsor the Second Workers Conference in Alexandria on Friday in preparation for the national dialogue that is scheduled for July.

The partys statement pointed out that representatives from Egypts trade unions and six leftist political parties  the Dignity Party (El-Karama), the Arab Nasserist Party, the Constitution Party (El-Destour), the Justice Party, the Socialist Alliance, and the Egyptian Freedom Party  will attend the conference, which will be held at the headquarters of the Arab Nasserist Party.

The statement indicated that Mohamed Hamed, the head of the Trade Union of Workers at Portland Cement, will act as the conferences rapporteur.

It also explained that the objective of the conference is to help workers and leftist political parties in Egypt reach a unified agenda on political and economic reform during the national dialogue, which will kick off in the first week of July.

Abdel-Moneim Imam, the head of the Justice Party, said: The government is adopting massive privatisation plans that could have a negative impact on workers, and we want to be one voice in this conference and reach a unified agenda on how to lobby for the interests and demands of workers during the national dialogue.

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Socialist Alliance Medhat El-Zahed said in a statement on Monday that Egypt is in a pressing need for a serious political dialogue that can tackle crises and challenges facing the country.

This dialogue could be a golden opportunity for creating an open political society, but only if it is held in a democratic atmosphere and without discrimination among political parties, said the statement, adding that the dialogue should reactivate Article 5 of the 2014 constitution, which states that Egypts political system is based on political multilateralism, party-based pluralism, and peaceful rotation of power through fair and free elections.

The statement also stipulated that some guarantees should precede the national dialogue.

Foremost among these are that laws on pre-trial detention must be amended, the ban on opposition websites be lifted, and all political prisoners released, it said.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday spoke for the first time about the possibility of peace negotiations with Tigrayan rebels, who have been locked in a 19-month war with federal forces.

Dispelling speculation that secret talks were already under way with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Abiy said the government had instituted a committee to examine the possibility of holding negotiations.

"It is not so simple to conduct negotiations. There is a lot of work to be done (before) and a committee has been set up" to look into the issue, Abiy told Ethiopian MPs.

The committee will be headed by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonen, who also serves as foreign minister, and will draft a report detailing the preconditions for negotiations, he said.

The comments follow the government's declaration of an "indefinite humanitarian truce" in March, paving the way for humanitarian aid to reach the northernmost region of Tigray for the first time since mid-December.

The conflict has driven hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of famine, displaced more than two million and left more than nine million in need of food aid, according to the United Nations.

"Peace isn't something you hide," Abiy told lawmakers in response to rumoured talks with the rebels.

"We are saying we want peace; doesn't mean we are going to do secret negotiations. Secret negotiations have no substance," he added.

'Non-negotiable'

The thorny question of western Tigray, a contested region claimed by both Amharas and Tigrayans, is among the issues expected to come up in any negotiations.

The TPLF has repeatedly said that western Tigray, which has been occupied by Amhara forces since the war erupted in November 2020, is a "non-negotiable" part of Tigray.

"Any lasting solution of the current crisis must be predicated on the re-establishment of the prewar status quo ante," the TPLF said last week, calling for "the complete and verified withdrawal of all invading forces from every square inch of Tigrayan territory".

The TPLF has already asked the UN Security Council to ensure the withdrawal of Amhara forces and Eritrean troops from the region.

The conflict began in November 2020 when the government sent federal troops into Tigray to topple the TPLF, the region's former ruling party, saying it was in response to rebel attacks on army camps.

After the TPLF mounted a shock comeback in June, retaking Tigray and then expanding into the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara, fighting intensified in the second half of 2021, before reaching a stalemate.

Accounts have emerged of mass rapes and massacres during the conflict, with both sides accused of human rights violations.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The US envoy mediating between Lebanon and Israel over their disputed maritime border met Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Tuesday in Beirut, the president's office said . The talks focused on ways of reaching a solution amid rising tensions along the tense boundary.

Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser for energy security at the U.S. State Department, arrived in Beirut on Monday following an invitation by the Lebanese government. The invitation came after Israel set up a gas rig at its designated location at the Karish field, which Israel says is part of its U.N.-recognized exclusive economic zone. Lebanon insists it is in a disputed area.

Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed militant Hezbollah have been exchanging threats, with Hezbollah's leader last week warning he would strike the gas rig at Karish. Hezbollah, which has fought several wars with Israel, has repeatedly said in the past that it would use its weapons to protect Lebanon's economic rights.

Days later, Israel's army Chief Aviv Kochavi threatened Lebanon with 'unprecedented bombing' saying that a future war would be very large.

The U.S.-mediated indirect talks between Lebanon and Israel have been stalled since last year amid disagreements within Lebanon over how big the disputed area is.

The two countries, which have been officially at war since Israel's creation in 1948, both claim some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon hopes to unleash offshore oil and gas production as it grapples with the worst economic crisis in its modern history.

Last year, the Lebanese delegation in the talks - a mix of army generals and professionals - offered a new map that pushes for an additional 1,430 square kilometers (550 square miles) as Lebanese territory.

Hochstein did not speak to reporters after his 40-minute meeting with Aoun. Lebanese media reported ahead of Tuesday's meeting that Aoun would put forward several proposals, including one which shows readiness to give Israel full control of Karish field in return for Lebanon getting the Qana field, part of which stretches deep into the disputed area.

During a visit to Lebanon in February, Hochstein handed Lebanese officials a proposal which gives more than half the disputed area to Lebanon. Lebanon did not respond to the proposal.

Asked what the United Nations could do to advance the negotiations, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General, said the U.N. can ``work with the parties to help them find a solution through dialogues, through discussion, between both sides.''

The dispute over the maritime border is more than a decade old. In 2012, Lebanon rejected an American proposal of getting 550 square kilometers (212 square miles), or almost two thirds of the area, while Israel would have gotten the remaining third.

The offer was known at the time as the ``Hoff Line,'' after U.S. diplomat Frederick Hoff who was mediating then between the two countries.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune sacked his finance minister on Tuesday after just four months in the job, without giving a reason.

The president "on Tuesday signed a decree ending the functions of Minister of Finance Abderrahmane Raouya," the presidency said in a statement.

Raouya, 61, had been appointed in a February cabinet reshuffle, for his third stint in the job.

The ministry's first secretary will take over until a replacement is appointed, the presidency said.

Raouya's sacking comes less than a month after Tebboune laid off central bank chief Rostom Fadli, in office for less than two years, without giving any further explanation.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The World Health Organization will convene an emergency committee of experts to determine if the expanding monkeypox outbreak that has mysteriously spread outside Africa should be considered a global health emergency.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday he decided to convene the emergency committee on June 23 because the virus has shown ``unusual'' recent behavior by spreading in countries well beyond parts of Africa where it is endemic.

``We believe that it needs also some coordinated response because of the geographic spread,'' he told reporters.

Declaring monkeypox to be an international health emergency would give it the same designation as the COVID-19 pandemic and mean that WHO considers the normally rare disease a continuing threat to countries globally.

The UK said Monday it had 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or bisexual men. British scientists said last week they could not tell if the spread of the disease in the UK had peaked.

The meeting of outside experts could also help improve understanding and knowledge about the virus, Tedros said, as WHO released new guidelines about vaccinating against monkeypox.

Dr. Ibrahima Soce Fall, WHO's emergencies director for Africa, said case counts were growing every day and health officials face ``many gaps in terms of knowledge of the dynamics of the transmission'' _ both in Africa and beyond.

``With the advice from the emergency committee, we can be in a better position to control the situation. But it doesn't mean that we are going straight to a public health emergency of international concern,'' he said, referring to WHO's highest level of alert for viral outbreaks. ``We don't want to wait until the situation is out of control to start calling the emergency committee.''

The UN health agency does not recommend mass vaccination, but advises the ``judicious'' use of vaccines. It said controlling the disease relies primarily on measures like surveillance, tracking cases and isolating patients.

Last month, a leading adviser to WHO said the outbreak in Europe and beyond was likely spread by sex at two recent rave parties in Spain and Belgium.

Scientists warn that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is susceptible to catching monkeypox if they are in close, physical contact with an infected person or their clothing or bed sheets.

WHO has been working with partner countries to create a mechanism by which some vaccines for smallpox, a related disease, might be made available to countries that are affected, as research continues into their effectiveness against the new outbreak.

Tedros said more than 1,600 cases and nearly 1,500 suspected cases have been reported this year in 39 countries, including seven where monkeypox has been reported for years.

A total of 72 deaths have been reported but none in the newly affected countries, which include Britain, Canada, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United States.

The ongoing outbreak of monkeypox in Europe and elsewhere marks the first time the disease has been known to spread among people who have no travel links to Africa.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Veteran political commentator Amr Al-Chobaki gives Ahmed Morsy his take on how to make the national dialogue a success.

When President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi called for a national dialogue to address Egypts economic and political priorities and build a consensus on the way forward, former MP and respected political commentator Amr Al-Chobaki admits he was taken by surprise.

Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, Al-Chobaki said he appreciated not only Al-Sisis call but the fact it was made at an event  an official Iftar  to which the leading opposition figure Hamdeen Sabahi, a candidate in the 2014 presidential elections, had been invited. During the course of the event President Al-Sisi told Sabahi that the goal was to build a homeland that accommodates all Egyptians.

I had been calling for such a national dialogue for a long time. Egypt really needed a political discourse based on the idea of national alignment during the period that followed 2013 in order to confront terrorism, said Al-Chobaki.

As the number of terrorist attacks and violent incidents soared Egypt faced an existential threat. But now we face challenges regarding the government performance and setting our priorities differently, including freedom of speech, political reform, and pluralism.

The publication of a National Strategy for Human Rights in September, the ending of the state emergency in October, and the reactivation of the Presidential Pardon Committee in April followed by the release of tens of prisoners, are seen as many commentators as signs that the state is serious about the dialogue.

Al-Chobaki agrees, saying he hopes for the release of more political prisoners who have not been accused of inciting or committing violent acts. He warns, however, that a display of clemency will not, in itself, guarantee the success of the dialogue, and that what is needed is an agenda that seriously addresses the pressing questions of reform.

On Monday President Al-Sisi affirmed that the national dialogue aims to reach common ground, and we will talk and listen to each other. But for this to happen, says Al-Chobaki, and to prevent the dialogue from descending into a talking shop and polemical shouting match, ground rules need to be established. The state must be open to criticism, and to accept that it can be offered constructively and does not constitute an attack.

The dialogue must shift away from settling accounts and self-flagellation, he stressed. And at a time when the world is facing multiple economic crises, Egypts political forces need to discuss ways to promote economic development and not spend their time crying over spilt milk.

There also needs to be acceptance that reform is an evolutionary process that takes place gradually, and that a new social contract, the avowed goal of the dialogue, is not something that can be imposed overnight.

In times of crises, says Al-Chobaki, it is essential we do not bury our heads in the sand but engage as many people as possible in thinking up novel solutions.

Acknowledging the crisis, committing to trying to solve it, reviewing and correcting some of the procedures, this is the best solution.

To build a new social contract, says Al-Chobaki, will require political will, and the patience and ability to reconcile seemingly conflicting visions for the greater good.

According to Al-Chobaki, many still believe development projects and the economy are the priority and political reform can be kicked further down the road. But the two, he argues, must go hand in hand, a position many others have come to share.

There needs, he argues, to be more room for parties to act, greater freedom of opinion and expression and respect of human rights, with a clear focus maintained on social justice and on protecting the most vulnerable groups.

Formulating a new social contract should involve the participation of as many people as possible, and not just political elites. The political scene should not, however, be open to religious parties, and Al-Chobaki rules out any possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood taking part in the dialogue. It is a formula that has been repeatedly proven to fail, he says.

Al-Chobaki notes that in the US and Europe religious groups operate as lobbies, many of which support conservative parties, but they do not have partisan wings.

In May, the National Training Academy (NTA), mandated to organise the dialogue, announced that a neutral committee comprised of public figures and experts would collect suggestions and prepare the national dialogues agenda to facilitate a roadmap towards the new republic. Last week it announced that Press Syndicate head Diaa Rashwan would act as general coordinator of the dialogue, and Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation Mahmoud Fawzi as head of the dialogues technical secretariat.

The NTA also announced the first sessions of the national political dialogue will be held in the first week of July now preparations for its convening are complete.

On the timeframe for the dialogue, Al-Chobaki believes the broad societal dialogue could stretch over six months, while the more narrowly focussed discussions on political and economic reforms need to be completed within three months at most.

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


In his book Cains Curse: Gas Wars from Russia and Qatar to Syria and Lebanon, author Kamal Deeb ponders why the Arab countries, which sit atop most of the worlds petroleum reserves, have not been better at using these resources to serve their welfare.

He was speaking as much about geopolitical interests as economic ones, especially given how the race to control natural gas resources has become an existential question for many nations today, as was the case with the race to control oil reserves in the past.

Deeb also discusses the conflict between Lebanon and Israel in his book, noting that hardly had the 2006 war between the two countries ended than a new one began over maritime boundaries.

The conflict subsided after the Arab Spring revolutions erupted in 2011, resurfacing nine years later in October 2020 when the first border-demarcation talks opened. Since then, several rounds of talks have taken place in Naqoura, Lebanon, supervised by the UN with a US envoy shuttling between the two sides.

On the whole, however, Beirut has so far not been able to emerge from its political, economic, and social straits. Populism has tended to prevail over realism, with fiery speeches and muscle-flexing taking the place of talks and intermediaries.

A recent example occurred when Israel moved the Energean Power drilling ship into the Karish gas field, triggering fury in Lebanon. Israel threatened, and Lebanese Shia group Hizbullahs leader Hassan Nasrallah responded using the same language.

Before the situation could spiral out of control Washington dispatched its special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs Amos Hochstein to the region to meet with Lebanese officials and encourage them to return to the negotiating table.

According to Laury Haytayan, a Lebanese oil and gas expert in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and director of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), the Israeli move into Karish was not an escalatory action, as it believes that the field is not part of the disputed area between the two countries.

In 2011, the Israelis and Americans notified the UN of the coordinates of Israels exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the area, established at the northern boundary of what has been termed Line 23. This places Karish outside the disputed area, which is why Israel refused to accept the Lebanese demand to negotiate south of it and up to Line 29.

The Lebanese claim would add some 1,430 km2 to the 860 already under dispute, bringing the total disputed area to 2,290 km2. Israel further argues that the location in which the Energean Power drilling platform weighed anchor was already established in 2016-2017 when the ship obtained its licence to drill there.

Speaking from Israel last week, Energean CEO Mathios Rigas said that his firm had received assurances that Karish was in the Israeli EEZ. These guarantees were not just from the Israeli government, but also from the US and, he said, the Americans had obtained assurances from Lebanese officials that they would not do anything further with regard to Karish.

Moreover, the Lebanese government has not done what it should have done to make its claim official, namely submit the paperwork to the UN with the coordinates establishing the southern boundary of Lebanons EEZ at Line 29, which would bring part of the Karish field into the area under dispute.

Haytayan believes that Hizbullah is not interested in military escalation, as it is currently in a good position domestically and does not need to sabre-rattle in order to demonstrate its strength. At the same time, France, whose influence in Lebanon is still strong, is backing Hizbullahs domestic policies. Hizbullahs verbal escalation was probably a form of posturing ahead of the negotiations that Hochstein is expected to kickstart.

It is believed that he plans to propose a solution based on splitting the 860 km2 under dispute between the two countries. According to leaks from Lebanese official sources, the Qana prospect, which is located within Lebanons Block 9, extends into an area between Lines 23 and 29 called Block 72. The Lebanese want access to the whole of the Qana prospect, which they refuse to split with Israel because of the political differences between the two countries.

Haytayan does not rule out the possibility that the reason why Israel introduced the drilling platform into the Karish area was to accelerate the negotiations, not just over that field but over the entire maritime boundary. She believes that it would be in Lebanons interests to resolve the problem sooner rather than later so that the French-owned Total oil company, which has the right to invest and drill in Block 9, can get to work.

Total has obtained a three-year extension from the Lebanese government to its exploration and drilling licence in the area, but it needs reassurances so that it can start operations. It is reluctant to do so under the conditions of uncertainty regarding the border and the risk this poses to the company.

Eight other licences are up for renewal for fields in Lebanons EEZ in a process that should be completed by 15 June. However, because the government had not taken this matter seriously enough to settle the border demarcations, no companies are interested in applying for the licences.

Haytayan said that given Lebanons dire economic straits and the fact that the government has not yet reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on resolving them, companies are unlikely to leap at the prospect of exploring the Lebanese fields.

Progress would only be possible if the maritime borders were settled or if Total could reach an agreement with the three parties, the US, the Israelis, and the Lebanese, permitting it to invest in the 860 km2 area under dispute and split the proceeds between the Lebanese and Israelis, she said.

The latter option would run up against political obstacles, but it is still possible to think it could occur and that it could be a way out for Lebanon.

Many in Lebanon are wondering whether the domestic political disputes in the country will continue to undermine serious negotiations. As the director of the NRGI pointed out, Lebanon is up to its ears in political and sectarian disputes and tensions, which is one of the reasons why Lebanon has not been able to settle the maritime border question and exercise its rights.

Since the negotiations began in October 2020, Lebanese officials and politicians have been arguing over whether to use Line 23 or Line 29 as the baseline for negotiations. This internal tug-of-war has weakened the Lebanese position and held up the negotiations.

Today, with a new parliament in Lebanon and a key block of pro-change MPs within it, there might be a chance to persuade the Lebanese to unify their stance behind Line 29, which is the solidest option. The next step would be for the government to take measures like amending the decree it sent to the UN in 2011 and updating the coordinates so as to establish Lebanons claim up to Line 29.

However, even if Hizbullahs belligerent talk is no more than talk, Haytayan is not optimistic. Lebanon has failed to win its rights because it has always approached them politically rather than technically. It should have kept its sights trained on what lies underwater, rather than on futile skirmishes above the surface.

Economic analyst Antoine Farah believes that the situation today is different from what it was in the past. The Lebanese authorities are fully convinced that Lebanon has a right to claim up to Line 29 and that negotiating for anything less will be pointless, he said.

Farah noted that Lebanons three main leaders, President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, are agreed on the need to be flexible in order to reach a solution to the border demarcation.

He said that Washington would use a carrot-and-stick approach to get results, offering incentives to encourage the two sides to reach an agreement quickly so that gas can be extracted and put to use.

If Israel and its Greek partner firm begin drilling in the Karish field, which has the potential to become a joint Lebanese-Israeli project, then any delays on the part of Lebanon in concluding the border-demarcation agreement would forfeit a share in this wealth.

Given Lebanons worsening economic plight and the social tensions that are mounting as a consequence, Lebanese officials face considerable pressure not to drag their feet and to take advantage of the opportunity.

Lebanon currently also has to import gas from Egypt and electricity from Jordan, and its agreements with these countries are contingent on US willingness not to invoke the Caesar Act that could render Egyptian and Jordanian firms vulnerable to penalties for violating the sanctions regime against Syria.

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisis meeting with the newly-appointed head of Yemens Presidential Leadership Council Rashad Al-Alimi early this week reflects Egypts determination to exert every possible effort to bring about a just and sustainable political solution in Yemen, to end the suffering of its people.

Over 10 years of Civil War have seen many developments topped by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition launching a military campaign in 2015 to end the Iran-backed Houthi militias control of northern Yemen. Noe, for the first time in many years, Yemenis feel that perhaps there is a chance for a lasting peace.

On 7 April, Yemens former interim president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi transferred his powers to an eight-member Presidential Leadership Council, which was sworn in on 17 April in Aden. This took place days after a two-month nation-wide truce went into effect. This truce, the first to hold without serious violations, was renewed again on 1 June.

According to experts on Yemen, the new council led by Al-Alimi is more representative of the people than several previous institutions created since the ouster of former Yemeni president and long-time leader Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011.

Receiving Al-Alimi and six out of the eight members of the newly-created presidential council at the presidential palace, Al-Sisi expressed Cairos strong support for the formula that gathered key Yemeni players into a cohesive national entity.

Maintaining unity and consensus among the council members will certainly place Al-Alimi in a better situation in any future negotiations with Houthis aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire that will hopefully pave the way for an end to the war.

Unfortunately, after over 10 years of war, Yemen has turned into a number of mini-states taking up portions of Yemeni territory. The formation of the new council gives a glimmer of hope that the key players in Yemen are ready to work together in a serious manner, in hope of bringing to an end the long-lasting suffering of the Yemeni people.

According to the latest UN figures, more than 23.4 million people  almost three-quarters of the population  need humanitarian assistance, an increase of 13 per cent from what was already a frightening figure in 2021.

Children continue to stand front and centre in this conflict as some 2.2 million are acutely malnourished. Since 2017, fighting has left 14,000 civilians dead or injured. More than 4.3 million civilians have fled their homes since the Saudi-led Arab Coalition launched the war in 2015, making this the fourth largest internal displacement crisis on the planet.

Egypt is no stranger to Yemen, and many Yemeni streets are named after the late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser, who despite the ongoing war against Israel at that time, rushed to Yemens support in 1962 after a group of young officers there revolted, declaring that they would set their country on the path to modernity and freedom, like other Arab nations.

No wonder then that President Al-Sisi, in a joint news conference with Al-Alimi, should reaffirm Egypts full support for the unity, independence, and territorial integrity of the Yemeni state. The security and stability of Yemen is of great importance to Egypt and the entire Arab world, he stressed.

Al-Sisi also voiced his support for all efforts aimed at achieving peace in Yemen in line with Yemens National Dialogue, and the outcomes of Yemeni consultations held in Riyadh in April under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Al-Sisi reiterated Egypt welcomes the two-month renewal of the truce, voicing his appreciation for the legitimate Yemeni government for respecting its obligations under the terms of the agreement.

In this framework, it was a great relief for many Yemenis that direct flights have finally started between Sanaa and Cairo at the beginning of June. Other vital humanitarian measures, such as allowing fuel shipments into Houthi-held territories, and ongoing talks to end the inhumane Houthi siege of the key Yemeni city of Taiz, are all among the positive outcomes of the political process accompanying the truce.

If both the Yemeni government and Houthi militias continue to respect the agreements mediated by the UN, this will be a positive development that can be built upon to launch a comprehensive political process in Yemen.

Talks between Al-Sisi and Al-Alimi also stressed the need for concerted efforts to protect the security and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Gulf, noting that this was a vital issue linked to regional and international security and stability.

The discussion also touched on the looming crisis posed by the Safer oil tanker, which holds more than 1.14 million barrels of oil, and has been left exposed to humidity and corrosion at the Red Sea port of Al-Hudayda since 2015. The decaying state of the tanker threatens a major environmental disaster affecting all Red Sea nations. Al-Sisi and Al-Alimi agreed on the urgent need for concerted international efforts to resolve this looming environmental disaster.

The meeting between the leaders of Egypt and Yemen is another step in the right direction confirming that Yemen now has a working government that enjoys the support of many Yemenis, as well as key regional and international players.

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


In order for Egypts national dialogue to be a success, both the government and other participants need to approach it in the right spirit.

After the end of the Nasserite era in Egypt, a reference to Egypts late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser and all the sorrows and pains and joys and triumphs of his rule, the country took its first baby steps towards democratic rule.

Under late president Anwar Al-Sadat, Egypt headed into a multi-party system and began embracing long-established democratic values, such as the rule of law, accountability, and a considerable degree of freedom of expression.

Had Al-Sadat not given the greenlight for the Islamists to thrive, a fatal error for which he paid a heavy price since the Islamists assassinated him during the October 1973 War anniversary parade in 1981, Egypt may have edged closer to a healthy democratic system under his rule.

Al-Sadats successor, former president Hosni Mubarak, was more tolerant of dissent when compared to the other two former presidents, but the flawed Mubarak system led to millions taking to the streets in 2011 demanding an end to his 30-year rule. The fact that this system had dissolved from within was why the Mubarak regime fell surprisingly quickly after 18 days of robust protests.

Since President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi took over in 2014, the aim has been clear: to restore the state institutions such that they can act effectively in the way they used to prior to the earthquake that hit Egypts politics in 2011. Today, the country under Al-Sisi is marching towards its much-anticipated national dialogue.

In a nation like Egypt that experienced a workable, though flawed, form of democracy prior to the Free Officers Movement that toppled the monarchy in 1952, political dissent in a real sense is still a castle in Spain. However, this is not the fault of the government or ruling regime.

It is therefore necessary to recall past events. Before the end of the Mubarak regime in 2011, the civil opposition was employing the same slogans as its counterpart today. The political space was limited, freedom of expression was being violated, and political dissidents were being placed behind bars if they dared to speak their minds. These were the outcries of the opposition, whether in Egypt or in many other parts of Africa.

In the wake of Mubaraks removal, the political space was wide open, freedoms were being exercised, and dissidents, no matter how harsh their critiques, were able to act in the way they wanted. What happened next? The then civil opposition failed to gain the confidence of the voters, and eventually the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood scored a convincing win in the then House of Representatives, whose name has now been amended.

There is no question that the values of the rule of the law and accountability remain necessities for a viable democracy. But they are not enough by themselves. Democracy is better served when the people are fully aware of the consequences of their own choices. It is a two-sided partnership in which people recognise their duties and apprehend their rights. Though the Egyptian people in 2011 set an example by getting rid of a dictatorial regime, that of former president Mubarak, they unfortunately failed to read the bigger picture.

True, they rushed in their millions to queue in front of polling stations to elect their representatives. But they also allowed themselves to be naively deceived by catchy slogans put forward by the Muslim Brotherhood. When they had the chance to choose between Islamist candidates versus those presented by the civil parties, the voters favoured the pious candidates, as the Muslim Brotherhood used to proclaim itself.

This was a killer blow that led to a chain of catastrophic events, something in the same way that a mistake at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine in 1986 led to a nuclear meltdown. Taking sole control of the legislative house, the Brotherhood found the means to put into effect its own narrow agenda, excluding all other parties from participation.

This was not the fault of the Brotherhood alone, however, as there was also the unspoken truth that the non-religious civil opposition was in the doldrums. Its agenda was not up to the level of the average voters convictions. The civil opposition also could not pick a viable candidate to run for president. The unfortunate conclusion was that another Brotherhood member took over as Egypts president, leading the most populous Arab nation into a chain of disasters.

Had the 30 June Revolution not taken place in 2013, Egypt would inevitably have sunk into a Taliban-like state.

A country like Egypt that had survived with difficulty such a scenario at the end of the rule of Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 needed some time to heal. Now may be that time. Todays national dialogue may be an opportune moment for the countrys opposition to pull themselves together and get rid of the shackles of archaic terms and an obsolete methodology to work better with the regime to find solutions for people who mainly care about finding means to meet particular ends, especially in the wake of the economic crisis that has engulfed the world as a result of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

This is not meant in any way to justify the setting aside of long-established democratic values, but it is a humble call to put first things first. The economic crisis today is hitting hard important economies like that of the UK and of the worlds only superpower the US. In this state of affairs, Egypt cannot be an exception.

For the national dialogue to be a success, both the government and its would-be participants need to adopt a new spirit with the aim of letting bygones be bygones. The government needs to put into practice what president Al-Sisi said in his address during the Iftar of the Egyptian Family at the end of Ramadan: that Egypt is the home of each and every one and that opposing points of view should not be allowed to spoil the cause of the nation.

The opposition needs to seriously address present concerns and demands and to join hands with the regime in order safely to surf todays dangerous waters.

The writer is a former press attache in Ethiopia and an expert on African and international affairs.

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and Turkiye have discussed cooperation in the health sector, Azernews reports, citing the Health Ministry.

The discussion took place during a meeting between Azerbaijans Health Ministry and a delegation of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkiye.

During the meeting, Azerbaijani Health Minister Teymur Musayev stressed the mutual support of Turkiye and Azerbaijan to each other. Expressing satisfaction with the interaction between the two countries in the field of medicine, Musayev recalled the visit of the Azerbaijani Health Ministry delegation to Turkiye in May this year.

During the two-day visit, we had fruitful discussions at a meeting with Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca. We also got acquainted with the activities of the leading medical institutions of the brotherly country, he said.

The minister called it useful to study Turkiyes experience in all areas of healthcare, noting that the future development of healthcare lies in digitalization.

The experience of brotherly Turkiye in this area is invaluable. The Turkish model in this area is exemplary, he said.

In turn, Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkiye representatives expressed interest in cooperation with Azerbaijans Health Ministry in the fields of medical tourism and research in the field of digital transformation of healthcare.

Additionally, the parties discussed issues of bilateral cooperation in the field of healthcare and joint projects. At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed to develop cooperation.

Azerbaijan and Turkiye collaborate in a variety of economic sectors and have completed major energy and infrastructure projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, and TANAP.

Turkiye imports Azerbaijani natural gas through the South Caucasus Gas Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) and TANAP. Azerbaijan supplies gas to Turkiye only from the Shah Deniz field.

In 2021, Azerbaijan and Turkiye signed the Shusha Declaration on Allied Relations, which focuses on defense cooperation, promoting regional stability and prosperity, and establishing new transportation routes.

The two countries set up a goal to bring the mutual trade turnover to $15 billion in 2023. As of 2021, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $4.6 billion. So far, Turkiye is Azerbaijans second-largest investor followed by the UK.

Additionally, Turkiye was one of the first countries that expressed its interest and readiness to participate in the restoration of Azerbaijans liberated territories.
US President Joe Biden, who opened his term with the resolve to carry out a campaign threat against Saudi Arabia, is now preparing to make a formal visit to the kingdom.

The news was announced after Riyadh agreed, despite the tensions between the two countries, to increase oil production to compensate for the halt in oil from Russia.

During his electoral campaign, Biden criticised how close the Saudi ruling family was to former president Trump and vowed to make Saudi Arabia a pariah for the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashogji. Now he is carrying out his promise, not against Saudi Arabia, but against Russia, a bigger target in his crosshairs.

Russian President Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine gave Biden the opening to make Russia a pariah state, and he seized the opportunity to impose draconian political and economic sanctions. But the Russian defeat he had hoped for has not happened. Moreover, his forthcoming visit to Saudi Arabia and his abandonment of his promises and principles is, in fact, a testimony to his defeat, not Putins.

The price of oil in the US has risen to around $6 per litre, up from $1.5 when Biden was sworn in, because the cost of crude oil is at its highest level since 2008. This works well for Russia, as a major petroleum exporter, and Putins decision to charge in rubles instead of dollars for Russian oil purchases has helped prop up the value of the Russian currency.

While OPEC agreed to increase production by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August, most of the increase will come from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. OPEC Secretary General Mohamed Barkindo explained that other producers could not make up for Russian petroleum exports which surpass seven million barrels a day.

Top-secret communications and visits helped pave the way for Bidens anticipated visit to Saudi Arabia next month. The most recent was the visit undertaken by his senior Middle East Adviser Brett McGurk and his Special Envoy for International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein to Saudi Arabia and the UAE two weeks ago.

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


There were some positive outcomes from the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in the Asia-Pacific region, despite the background sound of the drums of war.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies held the 19th edition of its Shangri-La Dialogue on 10-12 June in Singapore. Forty-two countries attended, and the keynote speaker this year was Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The Shangri-La Dialogue is a key security forum in the Asia-Pacific region that has been debating important strategic and security questions for many years. This year, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin delivered remarks at the dialogue on the US vision for security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Also attending the dialogue was Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe.

The dialogue took place amidst growing tensions in US-Chinese relations as well as in the Indo-Pacific region over the last 12 months after the US Biden administration began establishing a string of alliances in the Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions. It came two weeks after Bidens first Asian tour, when he visited two staunch allies of the US in East Asia, namely South Korea and Japan.

While in Tokyo, Biden also hosted the fourth Quad group summit meeting in less than a year that brought together the Japanese prime minister, newly-elected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In his talks on security issues in Asia and the Pacific with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Biden dwelled extensively on the questions of China, Taiwan, North Korea, and the war in Ukraine.

Last September, the Biden administration also announced the setting up of a new military alliance in the Indo-Pacific known as AUKUS and made up of Australia, the UK, and the US. Needless to say, the main adversary from the standpoint of these countries is  you guessed it  the Peoples Republic of China (PRC).

Against such a background, it was not surprising that in his remarks on the first day of the Shangri-La Dialogue Austin did not mince his words as to Chinese intentions as seen by the US administration. The PRCs moves threaten to undermine security, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, he said.

He added that the US had witnessed, in his own words, growing coercion from Beijing and had also seen a steady increase in provocative and destabilising military activity near Taiwan that includes PLA [Chinese Peoples Liberation Army] aircraft flying near Taiwan in record numbers in recent months and on a nearly daily basis.

Recognising that not all Asian powers share the alarmist US vision of China or want to be in a position in which Washington tells them that either you are with us or against us, Austin made a positive nod to the wise position adopted by the Singapore prime minister in which he stressed that nobody should force binary choices on the region. Austin called this position the right one, adding that the Indo-Pacific nations should be free to choose, free to prosper, and free to chart their own course.

The Chinese delegation answered this when Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party Zhang Zhenghong told reporters at a media briefing in Singapore that Beijing wanted to express its strongest dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the accusations levelled against China by the US secretary of defence.

He added that the US had declared that its Indo-Pacific strategy will promote freedom, openness, and prosperity, whereas its true intention is to use the strategy to maintain its hegemonic system.

The way China interprets the US strategy in Asia was summed up by Zhenghong when he said that it would inevitably drag the Asia-Pacific region into the track of geopolitical rivalry and bloc confrontation, thereby surely damaging the regional cooperation architecture based on Asian centrality.

Undoubtedly, the Chinese vision will find listening ears around Asia, particularly within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

On the other hand, the keynote speaker at the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue was Japanese Prime Minister Kishida. The last time a prime minister of Japan addressed the dialogue was in 2014 in the person of former prime minister Shinzo Abe.

This year Japan talked about its vision of proactive pacifism, whatever this might mean by combining proactive with pacifism. Kishida promised that his country would be more positive than ever in tackling the crises that face Japan, Asia, and the world. He spoke of the Kishida vision for peace and of boosting Japans diplomatic and security role in the Asia-Pacific region.

Without mentioning China by name, he said that his country was taking a firm stand in the face of what he termed unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force in the East China Sea. He tackled the question of Taiwan by stressing that peace and stability are of extreme importance in the Taiwan Strait.

He also announced that Tokyo would provide assistance to the naval forces of countries in the Indo-Pacific region that would amount to $2 billion as well as technological assistance destined to help them carry out maritime surveillance missions.

Japan embarked on an ambitious modernisation programme for its military in 2016. This includes the construction of 19 conventionally-propelled submarines and 22 frigates and the acquisition of 47 US-made fifth generation F-35 planes, as well as developing, in cooperation with the US company Lockheed Martin, six new generation F-6 planes that can carry out maritime and aerial surveillance missions and anti-submarine warfare.

In 2016, the military budget of Japan stood at 42 billion euros, a sum that represents one per cent of Japans GDP. The intention is to raise it to represent two per cent of GDP to align it with NATO defence budget ceilings.

The 19th Shangri-La Dialogue will be remembered mostly for the important in-person meeting between the US and Chinese defence chiefs on its margins in Singapore, a first since the Biden administration came to power in January 2021. The two men exchanged views on regional and international questions including Taiwan and the war in Ukraine.

The meeting goes to show that the US and China would like to keep direct lines of

communication open at the highest levels to avoid any miscalculations by either side as to the intentions of the other. This in itself is a positive and reassuring sign that despite the tensions between the two in the Asia-Pacific region, they would still like to keep on talking for the sake of security and stability in this volatile part of the world, instead of simply beating the drums of war.

* The writer is former assistant foreign minister.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Not only do the African countries cause the least harm to the worlds climate, they also offer the greatest promise of returns from appropriate climate-related investments.

Even though the African continent damages the climate the least, the African countries are suffering the most from the consequences of climate change, including from increased droughts, desertification, flooding, and storms. They are also required to spend much more than they can afford in order to adapt to global warming.

The whole of the African continent produces no more than three per cent of the worlds total greenhouse-gas emissions that cause global warming. Russia alone is responsible for four per cent, India for seven per cent, and the US for 14 per cent. China comes out first at 30 per cent.

Half of the countries that are the most vulnerable to climate damage are African, according to the Global Climate Risk Index produced by Germanwatch, a German NGO. Mozambique, Niger, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Malawi are the most at risk. The African countries also have the highest risks in terms of water and food security. Among the most critical cases are Somalia, Burundi, Chad, the Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Madagascar and South Sudan.

Protecting coastal cities and their infrastructure is also sapping huge resources as rising sea levels threaten to erode African coastlines. In the light of such challenges, the African countries, along with the rest of the world, must work towards meeting the following priorities.

First, there must be a commitment to meeting the pledges of the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This includes taking the measures needed to keep the Earths temperature from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above the average temperature before the first Industrial Revolution. It should be born in mind that the ravages from climate change that we see today are the result of temperatures that are on average only 1.1 degrees above the pre-Industrial era. Some African regions, especially in the east, have seen temperature rises that are double the global average, or 2.2 degrees higher than the pre-Industrial era.

On the other hand, Africa offers excellent opportunities for major investments in the fields of new and renewable energy. African countries are in prime geographical positions for major solar and wind energy projects. Already huge investments have been made in these renewable energy fields. Egypt, which will host the UN COP27 summit meeting on climate change in November, has one of the four largest solar-energy projects in the world.

Several African countries have also come together to form a Green Hydrogen Alliance. Its members, which include Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritania, aim to develop their capacities for producing green hydrogen and coordinate their technical, regulatory, and funding needs for manufacturing and exporting it.

The alliance was launched in Barcelona in May with support from the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, the Green Hydrogen Organisation, the African Development Bank and the UN Economic Commission for Africa. The announcement coincided with the launch of the green hydrogen standard for the production of 100 per cent renewable energy with near-zero harmful emissions.

This development is especially significant in the light of the EU Commissions acknowledgement that Europe is unable to become self-sufficient in green hydrogen. Africas export potential in this regard will thus be crucial for Europe, which desperately needs to diversify its energy sources and shift to clean and renewable energy. The many high-level visits that have taken place from EU officials to Africa recently underscore this need.

A crucial criterion that the African countries should bear in mind is the extent to which memorandums of understanding can be turned into long-term contractual financial commitments, through investments and not through loans, to develop clean energy export projects that simultaneously enable these countries to increase their technological cooperation and promote local production with high added value.

Second, there is the issue of climate adjustment, which has not received its fair share of attention in international public policies and financial commitments that have barely reached 20 per cent funding needs. Nor does Africa have access to the latest technologies used. Meanwhile, the developed nations continue to soar ahead in strengthening the resilience of their infrastructure, improving the management of water resources especially with regard to food and agriculture, and protecting coastlines and other areas where technological advancement and major financing go hand-in-hand in addressing climate-adaptation needs.

Third, there is a need to build an integrated early warning system and develop rapid response mechanisms to climate change. Africa stands to benefit from the UN secretary-generals initiative to create an integrated global warning system on climate change within the next five years. Announced in March, it aims to enable early responses to severe weather and climate change to be undertaken. However, in Africa 60 per cent of the population lacks such early warning services, and therefore if Africa is to benefit from the initiative, the necessary institutions and mechanisms must be introduced on an extensive scale and not just in major urban centres.

Storms, floods, and other violent weather events do not discriminate between cities and rural areas. Scientific studies have shown that investment in early warning systems yields returns that are ten times higher than the cost of creating them. This is not to mention the lives that are saved, which cannot be reduced to a cost-benefit calculation. The COP27 summit meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh in November will follow through on commitments in this regard, including the completion of the plan for the early warning system which is being drawn up by the World Meteorological Organisation.

Fourth, there needs to be the development of an integrated carbon market. With its far-flung lands, forests, and abundant natural resources, Africa can play a central role in this process, especially given its potential for blending solutions for both climate mitigation and adaptation. But international cooperation and engagement with the private sector will be vital if such a carbon market is to acquire depth and liquidity.

The noted economist Raghuram Rajan, a professor at the University of Chicago in the US and a former governor of the Central Bank of India, has come up with a proposal that is well worth implementing. It involves taxes and incentives to encourage the reduction of carbon emissions and would oblige every country that exceeds the global average, currently about five tons of emissions per capita, to contribute a certain amount to a global stimulus fund in proportion to the excess amount of carbon it produces.

For example, if the amount to be paid were set at $1 a ton, the US, whose per capita carbon emissions are three times the global average, would pay $3.6 billion a year into the fund. At the same time, countries that produce less than average carbon emissions would be entitled to credits. Uganda, for example, would receive $200 million a year at the above-mentioned rate of $1 dollar a ton and would get much more if the rate were set at a higher level.

Such a system would considerably help the African countries contend with the challenges of climate change. Perhaps it would also be possible to begin by linking a fund of this sort to the carbon market, developing it across the continent and then expanding it globally.

Not only does Africa cause the least harm to the worlds climate, while sustaining the greatest harm from climate change, it also offers the greatest promise for returns from appropriate climate-related investments. This will be a focus of the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. However, priorities need to be acted on, and the parties concerned need to follow through on their generous pledges to help others deal with the challenges of climate change which have remained unfulfilled for years.

What has changed on this twisted road is that the African countries are now more aware than they were that they possess practical solutions. They have the human resources, the geography, the mineral wealth, and the other resources necessary for sustainable industries, renewable energy, and digitisation.

Maybe the worlds geopolitical crises, successive economic tsunamis, and climate-change challenges will offer opportunities to those who know how to set their sails rather than to blame the wind. They should seize the wind when it blows, because after every gust comes the doldrums.

*An Arabic version of this article appeared on Wednesday in Asharq Al-Awsat.

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Social media is one of the most influential contemporary tools for the manipulation of international, regional, and local public opinion. Through it, cases are made and one side can be biased at the expense of another, achieved through what is known as a trend.

This represents a general orientation towards a topic on social media sites that is crystallised within the framework of a group of publications. People adopting such trends can be personally acquainted with each other or they can be distant from each other. But the danger of this method, which affects public opinion and leads it in certain directions, is ignorance of the source of the topic raised, ignorance of the identity of the participants in raising the topic, and ignorance of its objectives.

Social media sites are used by many as tools influencing public opinion to achieve different goals, including creating a collective mindset through which the public can be led to take up unified positions on social or political issues, which amounts to creating social movements.

Social movements have been and still are an effective weapon used by people both locally and internationally to restructure the past, reshape the present, and change the future. In the old dynamic, these movements needed opinion leaders, making it difficult to listen to low-key voices who did not have a special platform to present their views. But with the advent of social media, each user has become the potential leader of his or her own movement, with opportunities being offered more evenly than in the past. With billions of people now browsing social media every day, it is easy to form social movements that can reach larger audiences.

Social media is also used to promote brands through campaigns in support of certain social issues. One of the most prominent examples of this was the launch by the US company Nike of its For Once, Just Dont Do It campaign in response to the killing of George Floyd, a black man killed by a white policeman in the US. The campaign included statements rejecting racism published on social media and won a lot of public support. There is no doubt that one of the economic effects of the campaign was the promotion of the Nike brand.

Social media is used politically to disseminate both true and false information to help win victory for certain political parties. This can be clearly seen in the information war between Russia and Ukraine via social media at the present time, after the invasion by Russian forces of Ukrainian territory. Both countries and the parties supporting them have used social media to mobilise the public in their favour against the other.

The official accounts of the Russian government have tended to amplify pro-Russian information on the social networking site Twitter, while the Ukrainian government tended last April, through the official Ukraine account on Twitter, to appeal to its followers and supporters for more support by providing Ukraine with weapons, placing more severe sanctions on Russia, and cutting off trade relations with it.

Today, the information war is no longer an additional political arm that can be dispensed with in the strategies of different countries, but has become an important element paralleling military campaigns. This information war is clearly visible in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and it has become easy to see how countries use mass communication as a weapon of war.

It has become possible for electronic accounts on social media to be used to weaken an opponent who may have many real weapons by publishing ideas, news, and information, whether true or false, about it. Social media alone may not be able to bring about a large-scale change in the light of this in an actual war, but it undoubtedly has an influential role to play in it.

FALSEHOODS: Several studies have confirmed the spread of falsehoods on social media.

A study conducted by a research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, for example, concluded that falsehoods diffused significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information on social-networking sites. It indicated that the effects of these lies were more visible in political news compared to news of terrorism and natural disasters.

The study, which examined 126,000 stories tweeted by about three million people more than 4.5 million times on social media, found that most of the falsehoods spread on social media were not spread by bots, in other words, computers linked to the network, but by real people. The study suggested that the reason for social media users spreading such lies was that false statements seem more surprising than other data and false news circulated on social media can be more novel than true news, which is one of the attractive features behind its publication.

The study found that false news stories were 70 per cent more likely to be retweeted than true stories, in addition to having more staying power and carrying onto more cascades, or unbroken retweet chains. This indicates that social networking sites have contributed greatly to the dissemination and support of false and fake news.

The US Congress and FBI are investigating evidence that Russian and other foreign users deliberately flooded social media with untrue reports and posts intended to mislead people about political candidates in the US elections.

Recently, US billionaire Elon Musk has made statements regarding the social networking site Twitter to the effect that fake users make up at least 20 per cent of all Twitter accounts, and possibly as high as 90 per cent of them.

Although a Twitter official clarified that spam accounts make up fewer than five per cent of total users, these statements still raise questions about the extent of the reality of the persons on social networking sites that can alter public opinion whether in the manufacture of certain issues or in biasing one party over another.

Even if the percentage of accounts that do not represent real people on Twitter is less than five per cent, the confirmation of these accounts presence on the site confirms the danger and does not deny it.

Director of the European Centre for Middle Eastern Studies Sattar Jabbar Rahman, a think tank based in Germany, confirmed that social media is full of fake accounts, but that it is difficult to determine the exact number. The level of information forgery and fraud has increased with the emergence of social media, he said, to a large extent due to the greater freedom in publishing and circulating news and information on it without controls based on credibility and accuracy.

Rahman told Al-Ahram Weekly that many social media accounts may apply the slogan launched by German minister of propaganda during the Nazi period, Joseph Goebbels, that the more you lie, the more people may believe you. Since then, there has been a lot of development in the use of the media to manipulate public opinion and to spread fake news and rumours.

He attributed the reason for spreading lies to achieving economic and political goals, as is the case in the present media conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

He also said that social networking sites may represent a danger to the concept of the nation-state, as they have led to the weakening of this in the face of electronic empires armed with abundant ideas and information, including a lot of false information.

For example, Twitter was able to block the account of former US president Donald Trump, and Trump was not able to take any active position against this measure. This blocking affected the former presidents presence in the media.

Rahman ruled out the expectation that there will be any international controls governing social media sites in the future due to the absence of an international judicial authority that can issue deterrent rulings and the absence of an executive authority that can implement these provisions. He noted that these sites are one of the tools driving the meltdown of the nation state in the context of globalisation, and this is what the future will also bring.

IN EGYPT: Many issues have been raised on social media sites in Egypt, one of the most famous being the Fairmont case dating back to 2014.

This case was revived on social media accounts that published stories claiming that a girl had been lured by wealthy Egyptian youths during a party held at the Fairmont Nile City Hotel in Cairo, who then took turns in raping her in July 2020. The publication of these stories on social-networking accounts led to the opening of investigations by the competent authorities, ending in the issuance of a 15-year prison sentence for one of the accused by the North Cairo Criminal Court.

The second and third accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia due to their escape in November 2021. The ruling was issued after the defendants were released by the prosecution for lack of evidence in May of the same year.

Despite the positive role of social networking sites in shedding light on some crimes, they remain a dangerous environment due to the almost absolute freedom they have to publish, make accusations, and publish allegations without conclusive proof. Many crimes are also practised on social networking sites such as cyberbullying, electronic blackmail, defamation, insults and spreading rumours, with many of these being seen in Egypt.

One of the most famous examples of rumours spreading on social media in Egypt was the Microbus Al-Sahel rumour that spread like wildfire on social media in 2021. The rumours promoters claimed that a bus had fallen into the Nile going across the Al-Sahel Bridge. Some claimed that they had seen the bus falling into the Nile, which prompted others to submit a report to the prosecution on the matter.

The prosecution assigned river rescue units to search for the allegedly drowned bus, but they did not find anything. Police investigations revealed that a fracture in the bridge wall was not related to the falling of a bus into the Nile, but was due to the crash of a motorbike into it, leading to the falling of part of the wall into the Nile. The bike rider was arrested and after questioning by the prosecution admitted that he had not reported the incident for fear of seeing his bike confiscated.

Alleged eyewitnesses then admitted that they had not witnessed the accident, but had read accounts on social media. The prosecution decided to arrest them on charges of disturbing the peace.

As a result, it can be seen that social media, by spreading rumours, can have deleterious effects on society by creating falsehoods and spreading them among the population. These rumours can create a state of confusion and division within society, fueled by accounts on social media.

On the political level, the Muslim Brotherhood and some supporters of Political Islam also reportedly use social media to create and broadcast calls for discontent against the authorities in Egypt in what has become a media and information war.

Since the Muslim Brotherhood lost political power in Egypt in 2013, it has worked to build its media empire through satellite channels broadcasting from abroad in addition to on the Internet, specifically on social media. The latter has become the freest outlet for the groups supporters to express themselves and their ambition, which is to return to rule Egypt.

They hope to mobilise the Egyptian people into organising protests to overthrow the regime in Egypt, in order to restore them to power, or at least to allow them to return to Egypt without restrictions or security surveillance.

Among the strategies that the Muslim Brotherhoods supporters have followed to gather as many people as possible to support them have been the creation of groups and pages on social networking sites like Facebook, sometimes suddenly changing the names of these groups and then starting to use them to promote protests in Egypt. One group, created in January 2019, saw its name changed in September, for example, while another, created in 2017, changed its name two years later.

Figures supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, or who consider it to be a national political group despite its extremist and exclusionary ideology, have also appeared on social networking sites. They have launched a number of campaigns aimed at mobilising Egyptian citizens against the authorities and calling for revolution against the regime.

The bloc supporting the Brotherhood on social media has attracted followers by creating hashtags that serve their extremist ideology and that mix religion and politics. They still have the ability to mobilise electronically, though this has not allowed them to return to their previous position, and all their attempts to return to power have ended in failure.

In 2020, Facebook announced that it had closed a network of fake accounts operating in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, adding that this network was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and had published content related to terrorism in Egypt, Morocco, and Turkey.

This was an admission by one of the most famous social networking sites, if not the most famous, that the Muslim Brotherhood uses fake accounts, known in Egypt as electronic committees, to promote terrorism and support its cause in the media.

FAKE ACCOUNTS: Osama Mustafa, an IT expert and CEO of the Tawasol Company that specialises in digital software, said that Elon Musks statement in which he claimed that the number of fake accounts on Twitter was up to 90 per cent of the sites accounts was exaggerated.

It was probably related to trying to reduce the price of Twitter stock in the sale Musk was trying to arrange with the owners of the company, Mustafa said. It was possible to accept a figure of 20 per cent of fake accounts, though even that was high, he added, pointing out that fake accounts on social-networking sites, used as tools to put pressure on various groups or individuals, are being combated by the companies concerned by requiring that a mobile phone number be linked to all accounts and not used for multiple ones.

Facebook has also put in place software that can stop accounts sharing a similar IP address.

Mustafa said that the owners of social-networking sites do not need to create fake accounts to serve their own purposes, but they may leave fake accounts active without canceling them because they serve in one way or another to achieve political and intelligence goals for certain countries. The owners of social media sites may intensify the topics they see fit to suit the policies of such countries, he said, and to reduce the significance of policies that do not suit them. Both phenomena may be seen in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

Mustafa added that Twitter is a US company, and it does not officially publish material opposed to US policies. Both Russia and Ukraine use fake accounts as a result, along with deception and electronic hacking in the context of the war between them, which is an electronic war in the context of a larger global war.

Such propaganda warfare between countries has existed at least since World War I, though in a more primitive form. Countries later would jam radar systems and use electronic tools for espionage and eavesdropping, Mustafa said, and social media is simply the more modern tool for use in todays electronic wars.

The Muslim Brotherhood uses electronic means in its war against the authorities in Egypt, and one individual may have many fake accounts on social media, Mustafa added. These aim to promote certain issues and suppress others, while adding to tensions in society.

At the time of the 25 January Revolution in 2011, people were mostly new to social media and were ready to believe what they read on it, he said. Today, the situation is different, and people have become more aware of fake accounts. Even so, the impact of these and their activities remains, meaning that the state media has a responsibility to publish correct information to combat them.

The writer is a researcher in political science, and managing editor of the Middle Eastern Visions Platform of the European Centre for Middle East Studies, based in Germany.

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Ukraine said late Monday its forces had been pushed back from the centre of key industrial city Severodonetsk, where President Volodymyr Zelensky said the fighting was taking a "terrifying" toll as casualties soar.

With Russia's 16-week war of attrition pushing Ukrainian resistance to the limit, Kyiv has reiterated its plea for Western nations to provide additional arms to help it contain Moscow's aggression.

The twin cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk have been targeted for weeks as the last areas still under Ukrainian control in the eastern Lugansk region.

Regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said Monday Russian forces control 70 to 80 percent of Severodonetsk but had not captured or encircled it.

"They destroyed all the bridges, and getting into the city is no longer possible. Evacuation is also not possible," he told Radio Free Europe.

Zelensky, in his daily address to the Ukrainian people, said "the human cost of this battle is very high for us. It is simply terrifying."

Last week in a rare disclosure of casualty figures, Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said up to 100 of his troops were dying daily and 500 sustaining injuries -- a rise from the 60-100 Ukrainian soldiers Zelensky estimated on June 1 that were dying daily.

Now, with a ring tightening on the Lugansk region, Ukrainian forces in the area had two choices, "to surrender or die", said Eduard Basurin, a representative for pro-Russian separatists.

The capture of Severodonetsk would open the road to Sloviansk and another major city, Kramatorsk, in Moscow's push to conquer Donbas, a mainly Russian-speaking region partly held by pro-Kremlin separatists since 2014.

Ukrainian forces were fighting for "every town and village where the occupiers came", Zelensky said on Monday in a message to mark the eighth anniversary of the liberation of Mariupol in the earlier conflict.

In May, Russian troops captured the port city in southern Ukraine after a weeks-long siege.

"We are once again fighting for it and all of Ukraine," Zelensky said.

'War crimes'

On Monday, Amnesty International accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, saying that attacks on the northeastern city of Kharkiv -- many using banned cluster bombs -- had killed hundreds of civilians.

"The repeated bombardments of residential neighbourhoods in Kharkiv are indiscriminate attacks which killed and injured hundreds of civilians, and as such constitute war crimes," the rights group said in a report on Ukraine's second-biggest city.

In Bucha, a town near Kyiv synonymous with war crimes allegations, local police said they had discovered another seven bodies in a grave.

"Several victims had their hands tied and knees bound," Kyiv regional police chief Andriy Nebytov said on Facebook.

Dozens of bodies in civilian clothing were found in the town in April after Russian troops withdrew from the area following a month-long occupation.

Elsewhere in northern Ukraine on Monday, Russian rocket strikes hit the town of Pryluky, local authorities said.

Pryluky, which lies about 150 kilometres (90 miles) east of the capital, is home to a military airfield.

In Lysychansk, Russian bombardments killed three civilians in the last 24 hours, including a six-year-old boy, Lugansk governor Gaiday said.

Separatist authorities in the city of Donetsk said three people were killed and four wounded in Ukrainian shelling on a market.

Weapons call

Russia's invasion of its neighbour has prompted Finland and Sweden to give up decades of military non-alignment and seek to join the NATO alliance.

In terms of security, Sweden is "in a better place now than before it applied", NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Monday, even though its application is in limbo with Turkey currently withholding its approval.

Stoltenberg said NATO was working "hard and actively" to resolve Ankara's concerns "as soon as possible" ahead of a June 15 meeting.

It was at the Brussels summit that Kyiv said Monday it was hoping for a decision on further Western arms deliveries to support its war effort.

"Being straightforward -- to end the war we need heavy weapons," Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhaylo Podolyak said on Twitter.

Podolyak listed items he said the Ukrainian army requires, including hundreds of howitzers, tanks and armoured vehicles.

Harvest delayed

Far from the war, World Trade Organization members were gathering in Geneva to address the threat posed to global food security by Russia's invasion.

Ukraine's deputy agriculture minister on Monday said a quarter of his country's arable land had been lost but insisted national food security was not threatened.

On a farm near the southern Ukrainian city Mykolaiv, the harvest has been delayed by the need to undo damage by Russian troops who passed through the area in March.

"We planted really late because we needed to clear everything beforehand," including bombshells, Nadiia Ivanova, 42, told AFP.

The farm's warehouses currently hold 2,000 tonnes of last season's grain but there are no takers.

The railways have been partially destroyed by the Russian army, while any ship that sails faces the threat of being sunk.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Ukraine has received just 10 percent of the weapons it requested from the West to help fight off the Russian offensive, the deputy defence minister said Tuesday.

"From what we said we need, we got about 10 percent," Anna Malyar said in televised remarks, saying the West should speed up its delivery schedule.

"No matter how hard Ukraine tries, no matter how professional our army is, without the help of Western partners we will not be able to win this war."

There should be "a clear timeframe" for such deliveries as every delay cost Ukraine dearly and risked more territory falling into Russian hands.

"We need to know clear deadlines because every day there's a delay, we're talking about the lives of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians," she said.

"We can't wait very long, because the situation is very complicated," she added, referring to the creeping Russian advance in Donbas, where Moscow's forces are poised to take over the entire Lugansk region.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again appealed for heavy weapons from the West, criticising the "restrained behaviour" of some European leaders which he said had "slowed down arms supplies very much".

"I am grateful for what is coming, but it must come faster," he told Danish journalists in an online briefing.

Russia, he said, had "hundreds of times more equipment and weapons" than Ukraine which did not have enough "long-range weapons" nor "armoured vehicles, and because of that we are losing people," he said.

The speed with which Ukraine was able to retake territory occupied by Russia "really depends on this aid and weapons"

"If there's no speeding-up of weapons deliveries, there will be stagnation... people will continue dying. If we are given weapons, we'll move forward."

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Russian troops control about 80% of the fiercely contested eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it but Ukrainian authorities are still trying to evacuate the wounded, a regional official said Tuesday.

Related Russian troops entering Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine

Serhiy Haidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, acknowledged that a mass evacuation of civilians from Sievierodonetsk now is ``simply not possible'' due to the relentless shelling and fighting.

Ukrainian forces have been pushed to the industrial outskirts of the city because of ``the scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using,`` he said.

``There is still an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents,'' he told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that Russian forces have not yet completely blocked off the strategic city.

About 12,000 people remain in Sievierodonetsk, from a pre-war population of 100,000. More than 500 civilians are sheltering in the city's Azot chemical plant, which is being relentlessly pounded by the Russians, according to Haidai.

In all, 70 civilians were evacuated from the Luhansk region in the last day, the governor said.

A Russian general, meanwhile, said a humanitarian corridor will be opened Wednesday to evacuate civilians from the Azot plant. Col-Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said evacuees would be taken to the town of Svatovo, 60 kilometers (35 miles) to the north in territory under the control of Russian and separatist forces.

He said the plan was made after Ukraine called for an evacuation corridor leading to territory it controls.

Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Management Center, is accused by Ukraine of human rights violations while commanding troops during the long siege of Mariupol, Ukraine's key port on the Sea of Azov that has been taken over by the Russians.

Russian forces in the past few weeks have pressed hard to capture Ukraine's eastern industrial Donbas area, which borders Russia and is made up of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

``The situation is difficult,'' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a news conference Tuesday with Danish media. ``Our task is to fight back.''

With the conflict now in its fourth month, the battle of Donbas could dictate the course of the war.

If Russia prevails, Ukraine will lose not only land but perhaps the bulk of its most capable military forces, opening the way for Moscow to grab more territory and dictate its terms to Kyiv.

A Russian failure, however, could lay the grounds for a Ukrainian counteroffensive, and possible political upheaval for the Kremlin.

Jan Egeland, the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the aid organizations supplying food to civilians in the Donbas, said fighting in the past few weeks has made regular food distributions impossible.

Now, he said, the remaining civilians in Sievierodonetsk ``are almost entirely cut off from aid supplies after the destruction of the last bridge.''

Reports of overnight shelling came from other Ukrainian regions as well, with five people wounded in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

According to an intelligence update Tuesday by the UK Defense Ministry, Russian forces appear to have made small advances in the Kharkiv sector for the first time in several weeks.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Russia on Tuesday said it was blacklisting 49 UK citizens, including defence officials and prominent journalists and editors from the BBC, The Financial Times and The Guardian.

London has been one of the most vocal supporters of Kyiv after President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24.

"The British journalists on the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and the events in Ukraine and Donbass," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Among the 29 journalists who have been banned entry to Russia are Shaun Walker of The Guardian, Gideon Rachman of The Financial Times and political analyst Mark Galeotti.

The list also includes John Witherow, editor of The Times; Chris Evans, editor of The Daily Telegraph; BBC Director-General Tim Davie; Katharine Viner, editor of The Guardian; and Edward Verity, editor of The Daily Mail.

The media names also include Nick Robinson, a BBC Radio 4 anchor, and Sophy Ridge, who fronts Sky News's weekly politics show.

The list also contains the names of 20 top officials and figures linked to the defence industry, including Michael Wigston, the head of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and MP Leo Docherty.

"People linked to the British defence complex are involved in making decisions on the supply of weapons to Ukraine," the Russian foreign ministry said.

London has so far offered more than 750 million ($937 million) in military support to Ukraine, including sending air defence systems, thousands of anti-tank missiles and various types of munitions, hundreds of armoured vehicles and other equipment.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Ukrainian children should not be adopted in Russia, where several thousand young people are believed to have been moved since Moscow's February invasion, a UN official said Tuesday.

"We're reiterating, including to the Russian Federation, that adoption should never occur during or immediately after emergencies," Asfhan Khan, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) regional director for Europe and Central Asia, told reporters.

Such children cannot be assumed to be orphans, and "any decision to move any child must be grounded in their best interests and any movement must be voluntary. Parents need to provide informed consent," said the official, who had just returned from a visit to Ukraine.

"Regarding children that have been sent to Russia, we're working closely to see with ombudspersons and networks how best we can document those cases," Khan said, adding that there is currently no access to those children.

The United Nations had already expressed concern in early March about the risk of forced adoption of Ukrainian children, especially the some 91,000 who were living in institutions or boarding schools at the beginning of the war, many of them located in the country's east.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


On the occasion, the Russian ambassador in Egypt stressed that Russian-Egyptian relations are developing successfully, highlighting their role in building the first nuclear plant in Egypt.

To mark Russian National Day on 12 June, the Russian Ambassador in Egypt Georgiy Borisenko hosted a lavish reception on the banks of the Nile at the Russian embassy for the first time after a three-year hiatus..

The holiday marks the day in 1990 when the House of People's deputies of the Soviet Republic of Russia approved the declaration of Russia's sovereignty and the beginning of a new historical era. Attending were Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, minister of higher education and scientific research and acting minister of health; Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi; Abdallah El-Battesh, assistant minister of youth and sports; engineer Abdel-Hakim Gamal Abdel-Nasser, son of late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser; as well as a crowd of foreign ambassadors, representatives of the diplomatic corps and public figures. In a warm and friendly atmosphere, Borisenko addressed the guests, noting in his speech that Russia is currently opposing those who want to return the world to its colonial past, eradicating the newly sprouted Nazism in Europe, relying on its cooperation with African, Asian countries and Latin America and strengthening its strategic partnership with Egypt.

"The Russian-Egyptian relations are developing successfully and we are working together to stabilise the Middle East and North Africa region and develop economic cooperation, including building the first nuclear plant in Egypt, added Borisenko.

As part of the reception, two thematic photo exhibitions were organised that were dedicated to the history and current stage of the Russian-Egyptian relations.

Guests also enjoyed a musical performance by Sweet Sound band, led by artist Mounir Nasr El-Din, the former dean of the Cairo Conservatoire and a graduate of the Moscow Conservatoire, that performed a variety of famous works by Russian and Egyptian composers. A video about Russia and its history and touristic attractions was shown on a big screen.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Moldovan deputy premier and infrastructure minister Andrei Spinu has said that his government is discussing gas supplies from Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.

"There are real chances that Moldova will buy gas from Azerbaijan, it will be an opportunity to diversify the sources of supply. I will not name specific dates, but in the coming years we are guaranteed to have an alternative," he said.

He added that the issue of the cost of Azerbaijani gas has not yet been agreed upon.

The Moldovan government has expressed its intention to diversify sources of gas supplies in order to reduce dependence on the Russian market.

To recall, with the completion of the TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline) construction on December 31, 2020, Azerbaijan began commercial gas supplies to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor. The European Commission's Southern Gas Corridor initiative aims to build a natural gas supply route from the Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to Europe. The route from Azerbaijan to Europe consists of the South Caucasus Pipeline, the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), and TAP.

Last year, TAP transported 8.1 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe. By late 2022, Azerbaijan plans to increase gas supplies to Europe to 9.1 billion cubic meters, and in 2023, the volume of gas supplies is expected to reach 11 billion cubic meters.
Initially set to be launched by the end of 2021, the strategy aims to establish Egypt as a main gateway for emerging vehicle markets in Africa and to build strong commercial and investment relations with main regional trade partners to ensure sustainable development growth for all sides.

Madbouly also announced that the strategy includes many steps that have been already taken to support Egypt as an emerging vehicle market in Africa like the new customs tariff, which facilitates the custom releases of car components.

A new law was also drafted to include all incentives to encourage localising the automotive industry, in addition to the creation of a supreme council for the automotive industry and an executive unit responsible for that important strategy.

The strategy also includes the Egyptian Automotive Industry Development Program (AIDP), which provides the required framework to develop existing car assembling and manufacturing capacities and encourage new investments in this sector.

According to officials, vehicles assembled under this program will include passenger cars as well as SUVs, vans, and microbuses.

The program also provides incentives for localising manufacturing electric vehicles, including local manufacturers and consumers.

In his speech at a meeting with the world's largest car manufacturers following the launch of the strategy, Madbouly referred to his meetings with local and global automakers in which he affirmed the importance of localising the automotive industry, noting that the number of imported cars in 2021 reached $4 billion.

The state coordinated with foreign partners and federations of industries to launch the national strategy, he said.

The Prime Minister told all local and global automakers that Egypt is keen to offer all aspects of support and incentives for localising the industry.

Port Said industrial complex

Furthermore, during his visit to East Port Said Industrial Zone, Madbouly witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a global company under which it shall conduct studies on establishing an automobile industrial complex in the Zone.



The MoU was signed by Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) Yehia Zaki, CEO of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt Ayman Soliman, Chairman of East Port Said Development Company Karim Samy, and Chairman of the PAC Group Shah Firoozi.



The deal comes in line with the state willingness to apply state-of-the-art global standards in establishing automobile industrial complexes and mobilise the latest technology related to this industry to meet local needs.



According to the MoU, the SCZone, the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, and East Port Said Development Company shall form a consortium to outline a clear vision and a specific plan, including detailed feasibility studies, to strengthen partnership between public investments and the private sector to localise the automobile industry.



PAC shall analyze and conduct a survey of the global market environment for the global automobile industry, in addition to suggesting a preliminary plan for the industrial complex, the cabinet said.

The East Port Said harbor comprises of 7.4 kilometres of quays with a depth of 18 metres, which were provided with various infrastructure facilities, communication, and sewage system.



The Premier also toured the central laboratories hub, which is established on an area of 550 metres with a total cost of EGP 38.250 million. The hub offers services to the customs authority with the aim of supporting the trade movement and easing customs measures.



One of the biggest projects carried out in SCZONE over the past phase includes a cooperation agreement signed between the SCZONE and a Japanese side as part of a Japanese-French alliance, which implements a rollover vehicle station (RORO), a station dedicated to cars managed by two Japanese companies, namely Toyota Tsusho and the Nippon Steel Corporation, according to the cabinet.
Thanks to Egypts efforts to restore security and develop Sinai, the idea that the peninsula is a powder keg has become a thing of the past.

An article in last weeks edition of the US magazine Foreign Policy (3 June, 2022) by David Schenker, a former diplomat and the Taube Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Program on Arab Politics, entitled Egypts Remilitarised Sinai Is a Future Powder Keg argues that the current deployment of Egyptian forces in the Peninsula undermines the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty.

Yet, as various sources will agree, cooperation between Egypt and Israel within the scope of the treaty has not declined. Indeed, the two sides have amended its security annex to permit an increase in the number of their forces. Most likely, the number of military assets has increased as well. They have certainly been upgraded and, more importantly, they are commensurate with the Egyptian armys dual mission of protecting security and safeguarding the development that has entirely changed the face of Sinai.

At the same time, the amendment to the treatys security annex has not engendered mutual threats or distorted the agreed-upon balance of forces. Moreover, had it not been for the mutual trust between the two sides on this matter, Egypt would not have been able without outside help to reverse the instability in Sinai and restore civilian life to normal. It goes without saying that this process does not require more military assets than are consistent with this aim and with the governments development approach.

There has been no reversal in policy or decline in the scale of development efforts in Sinai. Egypt is unlikely to abandon its achievements there and instead remains determined to continue to build on them. Egypt continues to cooperate with the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) as usual, and at no point have its efforts posed a threat to neighbours. On the contrary, Egypt, proceeding from considerations of national security, has played a crucial role in reducing the tensions in Gaza. Indeed, it would benefit all concerned if the Egyptian development model were emulated there.

Despite the two recent terrorist attacks that have taken place in Sinai, it is impossible to deny that the situation there remains largely stable  unprecedentedly so  both in terms of security and development operations. It is therefore absurd to describe the situation in Sinai today as a powder keg. That was the condition to which it was reduced after a year of Islamist rule in Egypt and after the mounting terrorism in the region had infiltrated it.

Conditions in Gaza also contributed to aggravating the phenomenon due to the thousands of border tunnels that enabled extremists to pass back and forth during the years of chaos after the Arab Spring. True, the tunnels had existed before this and had begun to accumulate when Hamas seized control of Gaza. During the rule of former president Hosni Mubarak, Hamas thwarted numerous Egyptian attempts to tighten security at the border. In 2009 for example, Egypt constructed a 10 km steel wall in order to close off the tunnels that extended many metres below ground and, at 50 cm thick, were also dynamite resistant. However, Hamas managed to cut through the wall and even sent a piece of it to Egyptian security officials.

After the 25 January Revolution in Egypt and during the period of Muslim Brotherhood rule, Hamas created the equivalent of a ministry to administer the tunnels and levy taxes on their activities. It reaped around $7 billion a year from the tunnel trade, according to an Egyptian official who served as a security officer at the time.

Not only did the tunnels proliferate in these years of chaos, but Sinai also became a destination for international terrorist organisations from Al-Qaeda to the Islamic State (IS) group. Yet, there is no denying that the government had been absent from Sinai for decades. Observers had frequently advised Mubarak to address the situation there and to work out an understanding with Israel to alter the security annex of the Peace Treaty in order to facilitate this. On one occasion, Israel responded favourably to such suggestions, allowing an increase in the deployment of Central Security Forces in Sinai for the purposes of a relatively limited development project, namely the Peace Bridge and Peace Canal.

True, terrorism in Sinai at that time was nowhere near the magnitude it reached after 2011, but some major incidents did occur, impacting on tourism in South Sinai. Counterterrorist actions were taken, but the process was not comprehensive, and it did not attempt to remedy the root causes of the phenomenon. Later, when the terrorism soared, the government could not find the foundations it would normally rely on to counter the phenomenon. The fabric of the local tribal leadership had virtually collapsed, the informal economy prevailed, and tunnels and armed extremism had become the norm.

Such was the bitter fruit of decades of the governments lack of attention to developing Sinai.

After the June 2013 Revolution, the army launched one operation after another against terrorist forces that had benefited from the minimal military deployment as it stood under the previous terms of that Peace Treaty. As military correspondent for Al-Ahram Weekly at the time, I visited Sinai during many of these operations, the most important of which was the Comprehensive Operation Sinai launched in 2018 (COS 2018).

I had the opportunity to experience that campaign first hand for two weeks, listening to the men in the forces and appreciating their immense drive and dedication. It was reminiscent of the stories we had heard from the soldiers who had taken part in the October 1973 War. But I have since come to believe that what has been described as the second struggle to liberate Sinai was in fact more difficult than the first because we were now up against an unconventional enemy. With time, effort, patience, and great sacrifice, our forces have gained remarkable expertise and grown more and more adept at confronting and beating this enemy.

During my next visit to Sinai, another battle was in progress even as the counterterrorist campaign continued. Operation Sinai Development was now in full swing. It is difficult in this small space to relate the magnitude of this effort. Suffice it to say that more than LE700 billion has been allocated to it to date. The process has rebuilt trust between the government and the people of Sinai. Soldiers and citizens are working shoulder to shoulder in the dual battle of counterterrorism and development. One of the cardinal features of the development process is the condition that 90 per cent of the civilian firms involved, and there are approximately 400 of them, and their workforces must be from Sinai.

Last month, Sinai experienced two terrorist attacks after over a year of calm. As we know, it is difficult to eliminate the phenomenon entirely. There will remain a likelihood of some limited attacks. But these cannot destroy, reduce, or minimise the importance of the development efforts underway.

According to sources in Sinai, a combing operation is in progress. Its first phase in the north of Sinai in Al-Arish, Rafah, and Sheikh Zuweid has been completed, and its second phase in the southern desert area has begun. Sweeping operations to discover explosive devices are ongoing. No additional forces have been brought in to assist in these operations. In fact, the number of troops have been reduced from their levels during the main phases of the counterterrorist operations, and signs of a return to normalcy are everywhere: agricultural and manufacturing activities are up and running, and schools, hospitals, and other public services are working normally.

Security barriers and checkpoints have been removed, and the civil police have resumed their functions. In villages such as Mahdiya, Muqataa, Goz Abu Riyad and Toma, people have begun to build new homes to replace the ones the terrorists had boobytrapped.

In sum, the Peace Agreement between Egypt and Israel has grown more solid over the course of the last four decades. There is no need to shake that trust. Rather, it is crucial to build on it, especially in the light of the fact that the Sinai model is being emulated elsewhere in the region.

A so-called powder keg scenario in Sinai would only occur if the peninsula were to revert to its former state. That is difficult to conceive today, and no one could reasonably want it. As a result, the idea of Sinai as a powder keg is today a thing of the past.

A version of this article appears in print in the 16 June, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


"This is true both for the strikes carried out using cluster (munitions) as well as those conducted using other types of unguided rockets and unguided artillery shells," it said. "The continued use of such inaccurate explosive weapons in populated civilian areas, in the knowledge that they are repeatedly causing large numbers of civilian casualties, may even amount to directing attacks against the civilian population."

"The repeated bombardments of residential neighborhoods in Kharkiv are indiscriminate attacks which killed and injured hundreds of civilians, and as such constitute war crimes," the rights group said in a report on Ukraine's second-largest city.

Amnesty International on Monday accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, saying attacks on Kharkiv, many using banned cluster bombs, had killed hundreds of civilians.

 Bombs and Land Mines

Amnesty said it had uncovered proof in Kharkiv of the repeated use by Russian forces of 9N210 and 9N235 cluster bombs and scatterable land mines, all of which are banned under international conventions. Cluster bombs release dozens of bomblets or grenades in mid-air, scattering them indiscriminately over hundreds of square meters (yards).

Scatterable land mines combine "the worst possible attributes of cluster munitions and antipersonnel land mines," Amnesty said. Unguided artillery shells have a margin of error of over 100 meters.

The report, entitled "Anyone Can Die At Any Time," details how Russian forces began targeting civilian areas of Kharkiv on the first day of the invasion on February 24. The "relentless" shelling continued for two months, wreaking "wholesale destruction" on the city of 1.5 million.

"People have been killed in their homes and in the streets, in playgrounds and in cemeteries, while queueing for humanitarian aid, or shopping for food and medicine," said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International's senior crisis response adviser.

"The repeated use of widely banned cluster munitions is shocking, and a further indication of utter disregard for civilian lives. "The Russian forces responsible for these horrific attacks must be held accountable."

 'She Stood No Chance'

Kharkiv's Military Administration told Amnesty 606 civilians had been killed and 1,248 wounded in the region since the conflict began. Russia and Ukraine are not parties to the international conventions banning cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines.

But, Amnesty stressed, "international humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks and the use of weapons that are indiscriminate by nature. "Launching indiscriminate attacks resulting in death or injury to civilians, or damage to civilian objects, constitutes war crimes, it said.

One of the witnesses Amnesty spoke to had survived cancer, only to lose both her legs in a Russian cluster bomb attack.

Olena Sorokina, 57, was outside her building when flying shrapnel hit her. She lost one leg instantly and the other had to be amputated later. A neighbor with her was killed on the spot. The latter's daughter said the shrapnel tore through the building. "Even if mum had been inside her home she would have been hit. She stood no chance in the face of such bombing," she said.

Amnesty investigated 41 Russian strikes that killed at least 62 people and wounded at least 196. It spoke to 160 people in Kharkiv over two weeks in April and May, including survivors, victims' relatives, witnesses and doctors. Ukraine says it has launched more than 12,000 war crimes probes since the war began.
Tickets for roundtrip flights between Incheon and Paris in July cost over W2.5 million (US$1=W1,284). That is still as high as last month's W2.3 million and W3.5 million and much higher than pre-pandemic prices of W1.5 million to W2.2 million.

The government has increased permissible flights per hour at Incheon International Airport from 20 to 40 again and lifted the nocturnal curfew this week, but actual numbers will take some time to recover.

Industry insiders predict it will take at least another couple of months until prices start to come down and volume recovers anywhere near pre-pandemic levels.

A bumper summer season for airlines to be in the offing for the first time in two years now the government has lifted restrictions on international flights. But prices remain sky-high and carriers seem unwilling to stir from their pandemic-induced torpor.

Roundtrip tickets to Hawaii, which ranged between W600,000 and W1 million before the pandemic, soared to W1.7 million in May and have only gone down slightly to W1.6 million this month. Tickets to Bangkok that cost W900,000 at their peak have dropped to W600,000, but that is still higher than before the pandemic.

"The process of normalizing international flights takes time," an industry insider explained. Airlines have to figure out their demand first and apply for permission to increase the number of flights to the optimum level.

"Airline companies have to be careful because if they make a hasty decision they could lose money," an airline executive said. Requests to relaunch flights also take time to process at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

"Numbers of seats on international flights will increase and flight prices will go down noticeably around July or August given the time the process takes," the industry insider said.

There were 431 international flights a week on average in April at Incheon, and 524 in May. The airport hopes to increase that to about 760 per week this month, which is still less than 20 percent of the pre-pandemic levels of some 4,800. Even if the number increases by another 1,000 next month, it will still be less than half of the 2019 level.

Another factor in the delay is when and if all airline crew will return to work. It will take budget carriers longer than Korean Air or Asiana Airlines to regroup and retrain their crew because they had put more staff on furlough or lay them off.

Only when all lockdown restrictions are lifted will business go back to normal. The government has decided to scrap self-isolation for incoming travelers, but they still have to take a COVID test on arrival, which may put potential visitors off and can lead to congestion in the arrivals area.
First lady Kim Keon-hee paid her respects at the grave of ex-President Roh Moo-hyun in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province on Monday and met with his widow Kwon Yang-sook. It was Kim's first solo assignment as first lady.

First lady Kim Keon-hee (center) pays her respects at the grave of former President Roh Moo-hyun in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province on Monday. /Newsis

She traveled there by bullet train as part of a reconciliation drive between conservatives and progressives by President Yoon Suk-yeol. Roh killed himself amid a corruption investigation in 2009 and remains a figurehead for many on the left. "If President Roh was alive, I think he would have told President Yoon to become a 'leader of unity'," Kim told his widow. "Everyone loved former president Roh, who stressed national unity."

First lady Kim Keon-hee (left) poses for a photo with Kwon Yang-sook, the widow of ex-President Roh Moon-hyun, in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province on Monday. /Yonhap

She also recalled being moved to tears by "The Attorney," a 2013 biopic based on Roh's background as a human rights lawyer. "The position of leader inevitably invites criticism and evaluation," Kwon said. "You must endure it." She advised Kim to "strive to do your duty." The next stop on her charm offensive is ex-President Moon Jae-in's retirement home in the southwest.


The Biden meetings could have some impact, said Brian Katulis, vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute. "I think the main thing is to see how President Biden and his team try to stabilize the relationship between the United States and Israel, as well as Saudi Arabia, and then broaden its diplomatic outreach with other key Arab countries," he told VOA.

"The president is going to see over a dozen leaders on this trip including King Salman and the leadership from our Saudi hosts for the [Gulf Cooperation Council plus Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan] Summit," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. "Yes, we can expect the president to see the crown prince as well."

In Jeddah, he will meet leaders of that oil-rich kingdom -- not just his direct counterpart, the aging, ailing king -- but also the crown prince, who is seen as the key driver of policy and de facto leader of one of the world's last absolute monarchies.

From Israel he heads to Jeddah, the Saudi city seen as a gateway to two of Islam's holiest sites, Mecca and Medina. Israel and Saudi Arabia have no diplomatic ties and this will be the first direct flight by an American president from Israel to an Arab state that does not recognize the country, following former President Donald Trump's 2017 historic flight from Riyadh to Tel Aviv.

The four-day mid-July trip begins in Israel, where Biden will meet with Israeli leaders. He will also conduct talks in the West Bank with the Palestinian Authority to convey his support for a two-state solution between the fractious parties.

President Joe Biden will soon make his first presidential visit to Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia, the White House announced Tuesday -- a trip that analysts say could move along the delicate process of normalizing Israel's relations with its neighbors in a complex region that holds great strategic importance for Washington.

Washington has been engaged in quiet diplomacy to expand the Abraham Accords, the Trump administration agreement for Arab states to normalize relations with Israel. Ultimately, Israel and Saudi Arabia are on a path toward normalization, but it is unlikely to be announced during Biden's trip, Katulis said, adding that Saudis require progress on peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians before considering normalization. "I think that path is probably quite long. And I'd be surprised if we see some major breakthrough on that front," he added.

With neither side showing signs of agreeing to concessions, prospects for peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians remain dim.

While Biden has reversed some of Trumps policies seen as hostile to the Palestinians, including restoring financial aid and resuming diplomatic contacts, he has maintained U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and kept the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. Since coming to office, Biden has not exerted pressure to halt Israeli settlement expansions, despite his criticism of the policy during his time as vice president in the Obama administration.

 Khashoggi Murder

Biden's meetings with the Saudis are also especially fraught, said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, because of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's alleged involvement in the grisly killing of one of his biggest critics, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As a presidential candidate, Biden pledged to make Saudi leadership "pay the price, and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are" over Khashoggi's 2018 killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

"But that's not the totality of the U.S. government's relationship with Saudi Arabia," Alterman told VOA via Zoom. "We have relations with governments that do horrific things to millions of their citizens," he said, adding that while he was "distraught by the horrific murder and butchering of Jamal Khashoggi," whom Alterman knew personally, as a government, "we have to think more broadly about how that fits into a broader context."

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a senior member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, urged Biden to insist on accountability for those responsible for Khashoggi's murder, as well as "the killing of Portland's Fallon Smart and other victims of Saudi citizens who have fled U.S. justice." Fifteen-year-old Smart was killed in 2016 by 20-year-old student Abdulahraman Sameer Noorah, a Saudi national who then fled to Saudi Arabia despite having his passport confiscated.

"The United States cannot value Saudi oil more highly than the blood of Fallon Smart and Jamal Khashoggi," Wyden said. "America does not become more secure by legitimizing authoritarians like Mohammed bin Salman, who has protected perpetrators of violence against Americans and manipulated oil markets to gouge American consumers."

The administration said Biden will discuss a number of other issues with Saudi leaders, including the UN-mediated truce in Yemen, "means for expanding regional economic and security cooperation, including new and promising infrastructure and climate initiatives, as well as deterring threats from Iran, advancing human rights, and ensuring global energy and food security."

"There's so much on the U.S.-Saudi agenda," Alterman said. "I think what the president is going to try to do on the trip, is to genuinely broaden the aperture and lay the foundation for a broad cooperative relationship with Saudi Arabia -- the Saudis want a broad cooperative relationship with the United States."

But that will depend on careful diplomacy and skilled statesmanship on all sides. Last week, VOA asked Biden whether he would move to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia -- one embodying the soul of Judaism, the other, the soul of Islam. The two monotheistic faiths have been entangled in conflict in the region for hundreds of years. Biden chuckled and replied, "We'll see."
By Kaori Seki, KYODO NEWS - Jun 14, 2022 - 11:32 | Feature, All, Japan

When it comes to loneliness and isolation in Japan, the problem of people dying alone has generally been associated with seniors, but middle-aged working adults who live alone are increasingly worried they could suffer the same fate. Now, technology may be providing a lifeline.

Registration among working people to emergency smartphone app services has been spreading as the younger generation finds themselves more cut off from society with insufficient government support. The growing feeling of isolation has only been exacerbated under the coronavirus pandemic.

Yoshio Konno, the younger brother of Isao Konno, 62, died a lonely death from hypothermia at the age of 51 in February 2015 while inside his unheated apartment, where he had lived alone. His body lay for a week before being found.

Yoshio was a work-from-home IT professional who neglected himself, knowingly refusing to seek help or access services to meet his physical and mental health needs. During the New Year holidays, Isao remembers being taken aback at how thin his sibling had become.

The older Konno contacted his brother for the last time three days before his death but wishes he had noticed the changes his body had undergone sooner, saying, "Maybe that could have saved him."

To help other people from meeting the same fate, Konno used the experience to propel him to founding a nonprofit organization called Enrich. In November 2018, it launched a monitoring service for adults of all ages through the widely used social media app Line.

As of May, about 5,800 individuals had signed up for the free service, with the majority in their 30s to 50s.

The service automatically sends messages to one's phone at regular intervals to confirm safety. If it does not get an "OK" response from the user within 24 hours, it will check via text or a phone call, and if the person still does not respond, it will then alert emergency contacts.

In April, the government announced the results of a nationwide fact-finding survey involving more than 20,000 adults on the issue of loneliness and isolation. Surprisingly, more respondents in their 20s and 30s said they felt lonely than did elderly survey participants.

The loneliness epidemic had been here long before the coronavirus pandemic, but stay-at-home requests have worsened the situation as people have fewer occasions to meet.

The anxiety of contracting the virus is twofold -- there is both fear of dying due to COVID-19 and the prospect of doing so without anyone there in support. In Japan, there is even a word for death by loneliness and neglect -- kodokushi.

Public health authorities support interventions in elderly one-person households. Still, there is a general lack of support for younger people who seem healthy but might be dealing with loneliness and social isolation -- conditions that are difficult to identify, complex to address and hard to resolve.

Adults grappling with loneliness may also appreciate an app called Link+ created by a Tokyo-based website builder Tera, which also notifies pre-selected contacts when a person fails to respond to their check-in message.

Kensuke Takahashi, the head of Tera, said he caught on the idea of developing the app after a friend who lives alone with a pet expressed a fear of dying at home -- leaving the pet to fend for itself. The app has been downloaded about 800 times to date.

"Not everyone is close with their family, has reliable friends, or has people who care for their health and safety on a daily basis," Takahashi said.
KYODO NEWS - Jun 14, 2022 - 20:25 | All, Japan

Top diplomats of Japan and France on Tuesday agreed on the importance of keeping up economic pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, while pledging to work together in supporting nations hit by a subsequent global supply shortage and price rises of food.

During their phone talks, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and his French counterpart Catherine Colonna shared the view that unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force are not acceptable anywhere in the world, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

It was their first official conversation since Colonna took office in mid-May following Emmanuel Macron's re-election as French president for a second term in April.

The ministers confirmed the importance of the international community's unity in maintaining sanctions on Moscow and support for Ukraine, and also agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation on all fronts, according to the ministry.

With the Russian war since February showing no signs of abating, fears of food shortages in many Asian and African states have been growing due to Russia's blockade of Ukrainian grain exports in Black Sea ports, which has pushed up global food prices.

Hayashi and Colonna agreed to step up cooperation on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific, where China's military clout has been growing, as the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific is indivisible, the Japanese ministry said.
KYODO NEWS - Jun 14, 2022 - 14:26 | All, World, Japan

Japan's defense minister on Tuesday expressed hope that military intelligence would be smoothly shared again with South Korea after its foreign minister said an accord once on the brink of termination under a previous administration should be normalized.

"I hope there will be exchanges between the two sides toward smoother operation" of the General Security of Military Information Agreement, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said.

His comments at a press conference came after South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said in Washington, "We want GSOMIA to be normalized as soon as possible together with the improvement of Korea-Japan relationship."

Under new South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office last month, the two neighboring countries are harboring hopes of mending their political ties after they were badly damaged by disagreements over wartime issues.

Japan's top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno also underscored the significance of the agreement, saying it "strengthens cooperation and partnership in the field of security between Japan and South Korea, and contributes to regional peace and stability."

"Given the severe security environment, including North Korea repeatedly firing ballistic missiles, the stable operation (of GSOMIA) is important," he said.

North Korea has fired a slew of missiles this year and it is feared it may soon conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.

GSOMIA has allowed Japan and South Korea, which have no military alliance, to directly share sensitive intelligence information.

While Tokyo and Seoul averted the termination of GSOMIA, the agreement has been left in an unstable state as bilateral ties were strained under the previous administration of Moon Jae In, who had made clear the pact could be scrapped anytime.

Related coverage:

South Korea eager to normalize intelligence-sharing pact with Japan
KYODO NEWS - Jun 14, 2022 - 13:12 | All, World

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin on Monday expressed his eagerness to normalize the sharing of military intelligence with Japan under an agreement that has faced the risk of being scrapped amid deteriorating bilateral ties.

The remarks, which Park made after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, were the latest sign of an improvement in the soured Tokyo-Seoul ties under new South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and came amid concerns North Korea may carry out what would be its seventh nuclear test, or the first since 2017.

The concerns were also reflected in a meeting between White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and China's top foreign policy official Yang Jiechi in Luxembourg, with Sullivan seeking cooperation on North Korean issues from Beijing, Pyongyang's most important ally and economic benefactor.

Park is making his first visit to the United States as foreign minister of Yoon, a conservative who has signaled a tougher stance on Pyongyang than his liberal predecessor Moon Jae In. He is also seeking better relations with Japan after they became marred by wartime disputes.

"We want GSOMIA to be normalized as soon as possible together with the improvement of Korea-Japan relationship," Park said in a post-meeting joint press conference with Blinken, referring to the General Security of Military Information Agreement with Japan.

"In order to deal with the threat from North Korea, we need to have a policy coordination and a sharing of information between Korea and Japan and with the United States," he added.

GSOMIA has allowed Japan and South Korea, which have no military alliance, to directly share sensitive intelligence information.

While Tokyo and Seoul averted the termination of GSOMIA amid their strained ties, the agreement had been left in an unstable state as the Moon administration had made clear the pact could be scrapped anytime.

Park and Blinken warned North Korea of the consequences of moving ahead with a possible nuclear test, with Park saying Pyongyang is at a "crossroads" of either isolating itself or returning to dialogue toward denuclearization.

"We affirmed that any North Korean provocations, including a nuclear test, will be met with a united and firm response from our alliance and the international community," Park said.

Blinken said the United States is "extremely vigilant" over the possibility of North Korea's seventh nuclear test and that it is preparing "for all contingencies" in close coordination with South Korea and Japan.

"Until the regime in Pyongyang changes course, we will continue to keep the pressure on," he said.

But Blinken also reiterated the U.S. government's position that Washington has "no hostile intent" toward Pyongyang and is "open to dialogue without preconditions."

The U.S. government has recently been warning that a nuclear test by North Korea could take place at "any time," citing preparations at its Punggye-ri test site.

North Korea has been testing ballistic missiles this year at an extremely rapid pace.

Should Pyongyang proceed with the testing of a nuclear device, it would only lead to a strengthening of deterrence efforts by the South Korea-U.S. alliance and international sanctions, resulting in further isolation, the South Korean minister said.

He also called on China to play "a very positive role" to persuade North Korea that "maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula requires their new thinking."

In May, China, along with Russia, vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution drafted by the United States seeking to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea following a series of missile tests.

This was the first rejection of a Security Council resolution aimed at preventing North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and missiles since 2006, when the first such sanctions on Pyongyang were adopted.

According to a senior U.S. official, Sullivan, in the Luxembourg meeting, conveyed his concerns to Yang about Beijing's recent veto, which followed "a significant series of ballistic missile launches in violation of previous U.N. Security Council resolutions" and preparations for a potential nuclear test.

Sullivan also "made very clear" that the North Korean issue is "an area where the United States and China should be able to work together" given their "history of cooperation," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The meeting, which followed a May 18 phone call, included discussion of a number of regional and global security issues, with Sullivan underscoring the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to manage competition amid increasing rivalry between the two countries, according to the White House.

Sullivan also expressed concerns to Yang over what Washington views as "coercive and aggressive actions" toward Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island which Beijing views as its own, the official said.

Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, told his U.S. counterpart that the Taiwan issue will have a "subversive impact" on Washington-Beijing ties unless handled properly, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.

Yang was quoted by Xinhua as saying the United States must abide by the one-China principle, and that the risk will escalate if Washington attempts to contain Beijing with the Taiwan issue.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan's business and investment opportunities will be presented in London on June 14, Azernews reports.

A panel discussion on "Doing Business in Azerbaijan" will be held in London today within the framework of the 5th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Government of Azerbaijan and the UK Government.

During the event, Azerbaijan's Export and Investment Promotion Foundation will present business and investment opportunities in Azerbaijan.

A delegation led by Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov is paying a visit to London to attend the fifth meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission. The parties are expected to discuss the work done since the 4th session of the Intergovernmental Commission, including cooperation on further improvement of the business environment, increasing investments, energy transition, digital economy, infrastructure, agriculture, and others.

Azerbaijan and the UK are cooperating in different sectors of the economy. There are already 30 years of successful cooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas sector, which entered a new stage of development in line with the challenges of the global energy sector. The energy sector accounts for $28.8 billion out of $30.6 billion of the UK investments in Azerbaijan's economy. The UK is also the biggest investor in Azerbaijan.

The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $667.8 in 2021.
A contestant performances durng the "Chinese Bridge" competition in Belgrade, Serbia on May 28, 2022 (Photo by Nemania Cabric/Xinhua)



At the preliminary competition, Serbian students Veljko Savic and Leonora Ristic won in the advanced and basic proficiency categories, respectively.



BELGRADE, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Serbian university students on Saturday competed in Chinese language proficiency at a preliminary contest in Belgrade's Megatrend University.

At the preliminary competition, Serbian students Veljko Savic and Leonora Ristic won in the advanced and basic proficiency categories, respectively. Savic will represent his country to compete against peers around the world in the Chinese Bridge competition to be held later this year.

Savic told Xinhua that he started learning the Chinese language four and a half years ago while he was still in high school. After visiting China, he decided to enroll in the Chinese language at the Faculty of Philology of Belgrade University.

"I feel that by winning this competition, I got the chance to improve my confidence and motivation and advance my further progress in learning the Chinese language... It's great that the friendship between our two countries has been rapidly developing in recent years, and this will help our people to get to know the Chinese language and culture, and it will help the Chinese to learn Serbian and get to know our beautiful country," Savic said.

Contestants performance durng the "Chinese Bridge" competition in Belgrade, Serbia on May 28, 2022. (Photo by Nemania Cabric/Xinhua)



Chinese teacher Chen Hui, who works at the Confucius Institute of the University of Novi Sad, recalled that the Chinese Bridge competition in Serbia has been organized since 2018, drawing an increasing number of students to learn Chinese. She said she hoped more Serbian people can learn Chinese and understand Chinese culture.

In a statement to Xinhua, Chang Bo, an official from the Chinese embassy in Serbia, praised the performance of the students, pledging that the embassy will continue to promote Chinese language learning among Serbian students as well as more exchanges between China and Serbia. 
An undated image shows a block carved with patterns unearthed in Ain Shams area, Cairo, Egypt. An Egyptian-German archaeological mission unearthed granite stone blocks dating back to the era of King Khufu (2589 BC-2566 BC) in eastern Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said Monday. The joint mission also found a piece of granite for King Pepi I Meryre with an inscription of Horus falcon, a pedestal of a statue of King Amasis II and several parts of Sphinx-shaped statues. (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Handout via Xinhua)

CAIRO, June 13 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian-German archaeological mission unearthed granite stone blocks dating back to the era of King Khufu (2589-2566 BC) in eastern Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said Monday.

This is "the first time that artifacts belonging to King Khufu were found in Ain Shams area," Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, was quoted as saying in a ministry statement.

Ain Shams, meaning Eye of the Sun in Arabic, is one of the oldest districts in the capital Cairo.

The blocks might be part of an unknown building or might have been transferred to the Pyramids Plateau in Giza as construction materials in the Ramesside period spanning from 1292 BC to 1069 BC, Waziri added.

The joint mission also found a piece of granite for King Pepi I Meryre with an inscription of Horus falcon, a pedestal of a statue of King Amasis II and several parts of Sphinx-shaped statues.

Remains of kings, including Amenemhet II, III and V, Senusret III, Thutmose the Great, Ramesses II, and Seti II, were also uncovered during the excavation work, according to the statement. 

An undated image shows a block carved with patterns unearthed in Ain Shams area, Cairo, Egypt. An Egyptian-German archaeological mission unearthed granite stone blocks dating back to the era of King Khufu (2589 BC-2566 BC) in eastern Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said Monday. The joint mission also found a piece of granite for King Pepi I Meryre with an inscription of Horus falcon, a pedestal of a statue of King Amasis II and several parts of Sphinx-shaped statues. (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Handout via Xinhua)

An undated photo shows a block carved with patterns unearthed in Ain Shams area, Cairo, Egypt. An Egyptian-German archaeological mission unearthed granite stone blocks dating back to the era of King Khufu (2589 BC-2566 BC) in eastern Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said Monday. The joint mission also found a piece of granite for King Pepi I Meryre with an inscription of Horus falcon, a pedestal of a statue of King Amasis II and several parts of Sphinx-shaped statues. (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Handout via Xinhua)

An undated image shows an incomplete stone statue unearthed in Ain Shams area, Cairo, Egypt. An Egyptian-German archaeological mission unearthed granite stone blocks dating back to the era of King Khufu (2589 BC-2566 BC) in eastern Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said Monday. The joint mission also found a piece of granite for King Pepi I Meryre with an inscription of Horus falcon, a pedestal of a statue of King Amasis II and several parts of Sphinx-shaped statues. (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Handout via Xinhua)

An undated image shows an incomplete stone statue of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh unearthed in Ain Shams area, Cairo, Egypt. An Egyptian-German archaeological mission unearthed granite stone blocks dating back to the era of King Khufu (2589 BC-2566 BC) in eastern Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said Monday. The joint mission also found a piece of granite for King Pepi I Meryre with an inscription of Horus falcon, a pedestal of a statue of King Amasis II and several parts of Sphinx-shaped statues. (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Handout via Xinhua)
Two Bengal tiger cubs are seen with their mother at the Bangladesh National Zoo in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 13, 2022.

The zoo has recently welcomed the cubs including one white cub.

The cubs are now about two and a half months old, and still reliant on their mother's milk. (Xinhua)

A Bengal tiger cub is seen with its mother at the Bangladesh National Zoo in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 13, 2022.

The zoo has recently welcomed the cubs including one white cub.

The cubs are now about two and a half months old, and still reliant on their mother's milk. (Xinhua)

Two Bengal tiger cubs play with each other at the Bangladesh National Zoo in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 13, 2022.

The zoo has recently welcomed the cubs including one white cub.

The cubs are now about two and a half months old, and still reliant on their mother's milk. (Xinhua)

Two Bengal tiger cubs play with each other at the Bangladesh National Zoo in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 13, 2022.

The zoo has recently welcomed the cubs including one white cub.

The cubs are now about two and a half months old, and still reliant on their mother's milk. (Xinhua)
QUITO, June 14 (Xinhua) -- An indigenous organization in Ecuador launched early on Monday an indefinite protest, blocking highways with boulders to demand better economic conditions from the government.

The nationwide protest was called by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), the largest indigenous organization in the country.

Protestors rallied against the economic policies of the current administration, demanding 10 concessions, including freezing fuel prices, setting fair prices for farm products, and improving employment and social security for the indigenous people.

The protest brought together some 3,800 people, according to local media, and was unfolding in multiple provinces across the country.

"We could say that so far 90 percent of the roads are clear," Ecuadoran Government Minister Francisco Jimenez said, adding that traffic has now been restored in most of the blocked sections.

The central government will not allow the country to be plunged into chaos and would take actions against vandalism, he said at a press conference held at the ECU 911, an emergency technological platform dealing with emergencies where a Unified Command Post has been set up to monitor the situation arising from the nationwide agitation.

Meanwhile, oilfields and hydrocarbon infrastructure have been placed under military protection.

Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso, who met with Conaie leaders months ago, called for dialogue so as not to affect economic recovery. 
UNITED NATIONS, June 13 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for efforts to eliminate racism and discrimination.

"Over the next 100 days and beyond, let us work to safeguard the human rights of all people and build peaceful and inclusive societies," the UN chief said in his message for the 100-day countdown to the International Day of Peace, which falls on Sept. 21 annually.

"Together, we can realize the vision of a world free of racism and racial discrimination," the secretary-general noted.

The top UN official stressed that the United Nations calls on all people to lay down weapons and reaffirm their commitment to living in harmony with one another every year on Sept. 21.

This shared aspiration "is more pressing than ever," said the secretary-general.

This year's theme for the peace day is "End racism. Build peace."

"Racism poisons societies, normalizes discrimination and spurs violence. We must fight it by countering hate speech, promoting dialogue and addressing the root causes of inequality," Guterres said.

The International Day of Peace, also officially known as World Peace Day, is a United Nations-sanctioned holiday dedicated to world peace, specifically the absence of war and violence. It can be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access.

The day was first celebrated in 1981 and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and people. 
Law enforcement personnel inspect the site of a deforestation case in Jianhe County of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province, March 23, 2022. (Xinhua)

GUIYANG, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The major players in China's carbon market are enterprises, but individuals who engage in malpractice on environmental protection are now required by judiciaries to purchase carbon sinks.

Carbon sinks, such as forests, grasslands and oceans, absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Revenues generated from forestry carbon sink trading are used to fund activities such as afforestation and paying forest rangers.

Although funds from individuals account for a small proportion of the transactions in carbon sinks, some local courts in China are using the practice to boost environmental awareness among the public.

INNOVATIVE ECOLOGICAL COMPENSATION

A man surnamed Luo in southwest China's Guizhou Province was ordered earlier this year to pay 20,668 yuan (about 3,062 U.S. dollars) for a carbon sink deal, together with a 4,000 yuan fine, to compensate for the loss he inflicted on local forests.

Luo felled 469 trees in his village in Jianhe County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, in May 2021. He was charged for illegal logging, as his felling license, which strictly limits the stock volume, species and regeneration measures, had expired.

Committing such a crime could lead to three to seven years imprisonment with fines. However, considering the fact that rural residents need to fell trees for house-building, a more lenient punishment without factual imprisonment can better achieve the legal and social effects, according to Wu Zhangyi, vice president of the Leishan County People's Court, which has jurisdiction over environmental cases in Qiandongnan.

The previously employed remedy of replanting is no longer practical, according to Wu. The forest coverage rate of Leishan has already reached 72 percent, and there is not enough barren land for wood regeneration.

Luo's case has opened up a new route for ecological compensation for regions with ample forest resources, Wu added. The carbon sink in the case is estimated to offset around 344 tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to forestry authorities.

PUBLIC ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

After Luo's settlement, verdicts in similar cases, requiring the purchase of forestry carbon sinks, were reported in the provinces of Shaanxi, Sichuan and Zhejiang.

China vows to tackle climate change and unswervingly follow the path of green and low-carbon development. It has pledged to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

The country's first environmental protection tribunal was founded in 2007 in Guizhou, and a total of 34 such tribunals have since been set up in the province.

The tribunals have established jurisdictions over environmental issues related to forests, water, mountains, wetlands, ancient villages and natural parks, and sectors including tea, liquor and mining, according to Li Li, the presiding judge of the environmental tribunal of Guizhou Provincial Higher People's Court.

"Better protection makes the ancient villages more attractive and brings more wealth to the locals," said Yang Zaimin, who manages nine cabins that accommodate 1,000 guests annually in Zaima Township in Qiandongnan.

His township's government once faced a public interest litigation case for lack of supervision of the protection of ancient houses that dated back over 200 years.

Since then, villagers have had more awareness of preservation, according to Yang. Now, there are no more cement buildings surrounding ancient architecture and no illegal construction on rivers, with the original ancient style of the village maintained.

In Jiangkou County of Guizhou, four fishers convicted of illegal fishing in 2020 were ordered to release more than 70,000 fish fry and take part in river patrols for six months.

The lawsuit on ecological restoration has an educative effect on the public, said Jin Fei, the presiding judge with the environmental tribunal of Jiangkou County People's Court.

Qin Huiwu, a villager who witnessed the fish fry release activity, said efforts to improve environmental awareness have borne fruit for the locals.

"We replant trees in the forest and release wildlife back into nature, and the beautiful scenery in return helps us earn many times as much money from eco-tourism," said Qin. 

Law enforcement personnel release fish fry into the water in Jiangkou County in Tongren City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Sept. 2, 2020. (Xinhua)
File photo taken on Oct. 19, 2019 shows the European Union flag and the Union Jack flag outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

The UK government said in a statement that the bill will allow it to address "the practical problems the Protocol has created in Northern Ireland" in four areas: burdensome customs processes, inflexible regulation, tax and spend discrepancies, and democratic governance issues.

LONDON, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The United Kingdom (UK) on Monday introduced a bill to change parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, a post-Brexit trade deal, while the European Union (EU) said unilateral action is damaging to mutual trust and threatened legal action.

"PRACTICAL PROBLEMS"

The UK government said in a statement that the bill will allow it to address "the practical problems the Protocol has created in Northern Ireland" in four areas: burdensome customs processes, inflexible regulation, tax and spend discrepancies, and democratic governance issues.

"These problems include disruption and diversion of trade and significant costs and bureaucracy for business," it said. They are also undermining the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, and have led to the collapse of the power-sharing arrangements at the Northern Ireland Assembly, the government said.

A ship docked at Belfast Harbour in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Britain on Feb. 1, 2020. (Photo by Paul McErlane/Xinhua)

Signed in 1998 after three decades of conflict, the landmark Belfast Agreement established a power-sharing system of government, including an Executive and Assembly. It underpins peace in Northern Ireland, its constitutional settlement, and its institutions.

Recently, it has become more urgent that disputes over the protocol should be resolved since Sinn Fein, the Irish nationalist party, won elections in Northern Ireland for the devolved assembly.

Coming second in the elections, the pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist Party said it would not sit in the assembly. The party is opposed to the protocol, saying it creates a trade border in the Irish Sea.

Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the bill "will end the untenable situation where people in Northern Ireland are treated differently to the rest of the United Kingdom, protect the supremacy of our courts and our territorial integrity."

Photo taken on Dec. 24, 2020 shows the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

UK-EU RIFT

The protocol has deepened a rift between the UK and EU. Under the protocol, Northern Ireland is part of the UK's customs territory but is subject to the EU's customs code, value-added tax (VAT) rules and single market rules for goods.

Despite the two sides' agreement in October 2019, the protocol has caused divisions over how some of the rules should be implemented, particularly for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

"The UK has engaged extensively with the EU to resolve the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol over the past 18 months," the UK government said in its statement.

"However, it has become clear the EU proposals don't address the core problems created by the Protocol. They would be worse than the status quo, requiring more paperwork and checks than today," it added.

In response, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said on Monday that the UK's unilateral action is damaging to mutual trust.

"Renegotiating the Protocol is unrealistic. No workable alternative solution has been found to this delicate, long-negotiated balance," Sefcovic said.

The European Commission said it will consider continuing the infringement procedure which was launched against the UK government in March 2021, but subsequently put on hold.

The Commission will also consider launching new infringement procedures that protect the EU Single Market from the risks that the violation of the Protocol creates for EU businesses and for the health and safety of EU citizens, according to Sefcovic. 
BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- China's outstanding yuan funds for foreign exchange declined from a month earlier at the end of May, data from the country's central bank showed Tuesday.

The funds came in at about 21.32 trillion yuan (about 3.16 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of last month, down by 8.99 billion yuan from April, according to the People's Bank of China.

As the Chinese yuan is not freely convertible under the capital account, the central bank must purchase foreign currency generated by a trade surplus and foreign investment in the country, adding funds to the money market. Such funds are a vital indicator of cross-border foreign capital flows and domestic yuan liquidity.

China's foreign exchange reserves rose to 3.1278 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of May, up 8.1 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.26 percent from the end of April, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed. 
UNITED NATIONS, June 13 (Xinhua) -- UNFPA, the UN agency for sexual and reproductive health, announced on Monday the winners of its 2022 UN Population Award, which went to a young Namibian parliamentarian and Indonesia's National Population and Family Planning Board.

The individual laureate is member of parliament Emma Theofelus, who is currently the Deputy Minister of Information in Namibia and the youngest-ever winner of the award.

The institutional laureate from Indonesia, BKKBN, is a non-ministerial government agency that formulates national policies, implements family planning initiatives and mentors experts in the field of population dynamics.

Namibian activist Theofelus has been recognized for advocating for women's empowerment and adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

Her experience as an advocate for sexual and reproductive health has led her to directly address the country's youth, as one of Africa's youngest cabinet ministers.

She led Namibia's public communication campaign on COVID-19 preventions as a deputy minister, and she pioneered legislation for feminine hygiene products to be tax-free.

According to the UNFPA, BKKBN was recognized for its successful, innovative and rights-based family planning program in the Republic of Indonesia, which continued even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organization has trained population experts, collaborated with non-governmental organizations and faith-based organizations on population issues, and developed programs to assist families caring for the elderly.

The UN Population Award has honored individuals and institutions for their outstanding contributions to population, development and reproductive health since 1983. 
Peter Kagwanja, CEO of Africa Policy Institute, a pan-African think tank has said that the BRICS should be an organization that re-engineers the world to maximize on prosperity that is shared across civilizations.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

A document aimed at developing human capital is planned to be adopted in Azerbaijan by the end of 2022, Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev said.

He made the remarks during a meeting with representatives of local IT companies.

"Relevant document has been prepared and submitted by us to the government," the minister added.

Further, Nabiyev reminded that up to 3,000 specialists in the field of IT graduate from the local universities, however, this is not enough to meet the demand of banks and IT companies.

He noted that currently, the regulation of tax and customs issues is also important for the creation of an IT ecosystem.
BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- China's deep space exploration laboratory has started operations, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said Tuesday.

Co-established by the CNSA, Anhui Province and the University of Science and Technology of China, the laboratory is headquartered in Hefei, capital city of Anhui.

It has completed various preparatory work and entered a new stage of substantial operation and comprehensive construction, according to the CNSA.

The establishment of the laboratory is an important step toward implementing the innovation-driven development strategy and strengthening the country's strategic strength in science and technology, said Zhang Kejian, head of the CNSA, during a video conference of the laboratory council.

He stressed building the laboratory into a large-scale, national-level comprehensive research base, as well as an innovation hub with global influence.

Zhang demanded the transformation and industrial application of advanced technological achievements be pushed forward during the construction and operation of the laboratory.

He also emphasized strengthening international cooperation in aerospace development.

Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was selected as the director of the laboratory at the conference.

The laboratory is expected to carry out science and technology research focusing on major national projects in the field of deep space exploration, according to the CNSA. 
BOGOTA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Colombia's army has killed the leader of the dissident faction of the former guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), President Ivan Duque said Monday.

While celebrating his birthday with other rebels at a house in a rural area of the southwest department of Cauca, Leider Johany Noscue Bototo, alias "Mayimbu," was located by military intelligence and was identified by a tattoo of his name on his right arm, Duque said at the government headquarters in the capital Bogota.

Noscue was considered highly "dangerous" and had a bounty of up to 250,000 U.S. dollars on his head.

"This is without a doubt one of the most important operations carried out against the FARC dissidents, and we will continue advancing, we will continue looking for the symbols of evil wherever they are. This is a triumph of law," said Duque.

The FARC guerrilla group disarmed in 2016 and transitioned into a political party, but not all the rebels agreed with the group's peace deal with the government. Those who disagreed continued their insurgency. 
JERUSALEM, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Tuesday that his country "will not hesitate" to use power to thwart Iran's plans to carry out attacks against Israelis abroad.

"In recent days, we have been witnessing attempts to harm Israelis in various locations overseas," Bennett said in a public speech, amid warnings by Israeli security agencies that Tehran was planning to attack Israeli tourists in Turkey.

"We will not hesitate to use the power of the State of Israel anywhere in the world in order to protect our citizens," Bennett said.

On Monday, Israel's National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau raised the travel warning for Istanbul, Turkey to "Level 4," the highest level.

It said in a statement that the move was taken in the wake of the "continuing nature of the threat and the increased Iranian intentions to attack Israelis in Turkey, especially Istanbul."

The council called on Israelis to leave Istanbul as soon as possible and to avoid flying to Turkey "until further notice."

Iran did not immediately comment on the Israeli allegations.

Iran has accused Israel of killing on May 22 Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps colonel, vowing to avenge his death. Khodaei was shot and killed by two motorcyclists in the east of Tehran, Iran's capital. 
QUITO, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso announced on Tuesday the arrest of the leader of an influential indigenous organization for acts of vandalism that occurred on the first day of a nationwide agitation.

The announcement came in a recorded message that was broadcast to the nation Tuesday morning on social networks.

In the message, Lasso said that acts of vandalism were prohibited under the Constitution and the laws.

Among the detainees is Leonidas Iza, president of the opposition Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), the largest indigenous organization in the country, which called for the indefinite agitation.

The indigenous organization shared on social networks a video clip showing Iza's capture by the National Police.

The Conaie, which brings together 58 indigenous groups, made a call to radicalize the agitation after the arrest of its leader.

Lasso said the acts of vandalism included the burning of a patrol car, the invasion of a farm, the smashing of windshields on private and school vehicles, the attack on an oil pumping facility, the cut-off of water supply to the communities and the blockage of state roads.

The Ecuadorian president said that no one is above the law and that vandals only want to cause chaos.

Lasso, who celebrated his first year in office as president in May, said that he was obliged to guarantee free mobility of Ecuadorians to work and study at a time when the country has begun to reactivate socially and economically after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
ANKARA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that the country's national carrier will change its name to "Turkiye Hava Yollari" from "Turkish Airlines."

"'Turkey' no longer exists. It is Turkiye. From now on, we will write 'Turkiye Hava Yollari' instead of 'Turkish Airlines' on the bodies of our planes," Erdogan said at a ceremony to mark the launch of the country's new communications satellite.

"Hava Yollari" means "airlines" in the Turkish language. The move is part of a rebranding campaign launched by Ankara to change the country's official name from "Turkey" to "Turkiye."

The Turkish government sent a letter to the United Nations in early June to formally register the country's name as "Turkiye." The UN has adopted the new name.

The motivation behind the move is to dissociate the country's name from a large bird native to North America, which is called "turkey."

The Turkish nation has been called "Turkiye" since the foundation of the new republic in 1923.

In December 2021, the Turkish government decided to use "Turkiye" as the country's official name, citing that the original name better represents the country. Public institutions in the country have since started to use "Turkiye" in their official communications. 
Children are seen in Kidemu sub-location in Kilifi County, Kenya, March 23, 2022. The Horn of Africa drought has thrust at least 18.4 million people, including more than 7.1 million acutely malnourished children, into severe food insecurity, UN humanitarians said on Monday. Most drought victims are in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

UNITED NATIONS, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Horn of Africa drought has thrust at least 18.4 million people, including more than 7.1 million acutely malnourished children, into severe food insecurity, UN humanitarians said on Monday.

"From northern Ethiopia, we and our partners are continuing to provide humanitarian aid across Tigray, Afar, and Amhara," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, referring to the trio of northern regions. Most drought victims are in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

Looking to the future, humanitarians said the latest forecasts point to a concrete risk of a fifth failed rainy season later this year.

Relief reached more than 900,000 people since June 1, the office said. Between April, when aid delivery by road convoys resumed, and last week, humanitarians delivered more than 65,000 tons of food aid in Tigray. Hostilities in the northernmost Tigray region extended into its neighbors of Afar and Amhara at times, severely interrupting deliveries.

One-third of people targeted for aid received food aid in the current round of distributions which began in October, OCHA said. Fuel supplies also continue to be limited, significantly impacting getting food to people who need it.

Humanitarians deliver Tigray aid, including water and sanitation, shelter and nutrition, by convoys and air, the office said. In Amhara, food relief reached more than 10 million people since late December and in Afar more than 992,000 people since late February.

"Some areas near the border between Amhara and Tigray remain hard to reach," OCHA said. "We continue to call for unfettered access for aid workers to reach all men, women and children in need across northern Ethiopia."

The office said that the devastating drought affecting the Horn of Africa has caused severe food insecurity and malnutrition to rise precipitously in many parts of Kenya.

There are now 4.1 million people in Kenya facing crisis - or emergency - level food insecurity, up from 3.5 million just a few months ago, OCHA said. There are more severely food insecure people in Kenya than during both the droughts of 2010-2011 and 2016-2017.

Malnutrition increases at an alarming rate, the office said. At least 942,000 children under the age of five and some 134,000 pregnant or lactating women urgently need treatment.

"Our humanitarian colleagues continue to call for an urgent and immediate increase in funding," OCHA said. "Without additional resources we and our partners will be forced to make impossible choices."

"We face a real and imminent threat of large-scale loss of life," the humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Adam Abdelmoula, said last week.

Humanitarians are calling for 180.7 million U.S. dollars to respond to the highest priority needs in Kenya.

During his regular briefing, Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, did not mention the Horn of Africa drought in reporting on neighboring Djibouti. Still, he said 13 percent of the population is in severe acute food insecurity, a number projected to increase to 16 percent by December because of a food and water crisis.

The UN team, led by the Resident Coordinator Jose Barahona, allocated 2 million dollars, focusing on supporting the most vulnerable people in rural communities of Djibouti. 

Children are seen in Kidemu sub-location in Kilifi County, Kenya, March 23, 2022. The Horn of Africa drought has thrust at least 18.4 million people, including more than 7.1 million acutely malnourished children, into severe food insecurity, UN humanitarians said on Monday. Most drought victims are in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

A boy fetches water in Kidemu sub-location in Kilifi County, Kenya, March 23, 2022. The Horn of Africa drought has thrust at least 18.4 million people, including more than 7.1 million acutely malnourished children, into severe food insecurity, UN humanitarians said on Monday. Most drought victims are in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

A boy carries buckets of water in Kidemu sub-location in Kilifi County, Kenya, March 23, 2022. The Horn of Africa drought has thrust at least 18.4 million people, including more than 7.1 million acutely malnourished children, into severe food insecurity, UN humanitarians said on Monday. Most drought victims are in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)
KHARTOUM, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Sudan on Monday welcomed the Yemeni warring parties' agreement to extend the truce for another two months.

"Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg's announcement that all Yemeni parties have agreed to extend the truce for another two months," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry praised the special envoy's efforts in preserving and extending the UN-brokered cease-fire.

The ministry also stressed the need of making the truce permanent and creating conditions for a political process to achieve a comprehensive peace that brings security and stability to all parts of Yemen.

Yemen's warring parties entered a two-month cease-fire on April 2, which includes allowing commercial flights to and from Houthi-held capital Sanaa and the entry of fuel ships into the Houthi-held port of Hodeidah, and lifting the siege of the government-held Taiz city.

Early this month, the Yemeni government and the Houthi group agreed to extend the cease-fire hours before its expiry. 
Photo taken on June 13, 2022 shows the Security Council meeting on the situation in Mali at UN Headquarters in New York. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Amid a delayed return to civilian rule, the deteriorating security and the dire humanitarian and human rights situation in Mali, the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali should be extended for another year, speakers told a Security Council meeting on the situation in Mali on Monday.

UN MISSION'S MANDATE NEEDS TO BE BOLSTERED

"While the challenges in Mali are numerous and complex, they are far from being insurmountable," said El-Ghassim Wane, special representative of the secretary-general in Mali and head of the UN mission, expressing hope for breakthroughs.

Echoing Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's acknowledgement of the need for the mission's continued presence and recommendation to extend its mandate for another year, Wane stressed the importance for the mission to be allowed to move freely to fulfil its mandate.

Armed conflicts have led to massive displacement, said Sadya Toure, director of Mali Muso, a non-profit for girls' education, when briefing the council on behalf of civil society.

"Women are not safe anywhere," and many schools have closed across the country, affecting some 450,000 children, she said, adding that teenagers in Mali have grown up in a violent environment without any prospects, and high rates of unemployment "have led to insecurity and social unrest," making teenagers easily recruited for armed groups.

Addressing these issues must be a priority if the international community wants to ensure long-lasting peace and reconciliation, she said, emphasizing the need to bolster the UN mission's mandate to allow it to operate alongside Malian forces to combat terrorism.

BROAD SUPPORT

In the ensuing discussion, members broadly supported the extension of the mandate.

Nicolas de Riviere, the permanent representative of France to the United Nations, proposed renewing the mission's mandate for another year. Meanwhile, he said the Malian transitional authorities must also take up their responsibilities and remove obstacles to the mission's activities and the rotation of contingents.

The mission would benefit from stronger support in troop contribution, capacity-building on counter-terrorism measures and provision of adequate logistics, said Harold Agyemag, Ghana's permanent representative, also speaking for Gabon and Kenya.

While highlighting the critical role of the mission, India's permanent representative T. S. Tirumurti emphasized the importance of not burdening the mission with direct counter-terrorism-related operations, injecting a different perspective.

These operations need to be undertaken by national security forces, he said, adding the concerns raised by the mission regarding the capacity gaps result from the withdrawal of international forces from Mali.

Noting most victims were from the pastoralist Fulani groups, Odd-Inge Kvalheim, Norway's deputy permanent representative, pointed to the ethnic dimension of the violence, and insisted the UN mission "be given full and unrestricted access to investigate such crimes."

The conflict in the northern part of the country has spilled into its center, spread across the entire nation and has now reached neighboring states, said Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, noting that to reverse this trend, the government has invested massively in national defense and security forces.

DETERIORATING SECURITY

According to the secretary-general's latest report on Mali dated June 2, the departure of French and other international forces is likely to create a vacuum in parts of Mali that terrorist armed groups may exploit.

The violence involving Islamic State-affiliated groups, which killed hundreds of civilians and displaced 32,000 people in the eastern Malian region of Menaka, can be attributed to the imminent departure of these forces, according to the report.

Since February, Mali's authorities have been blocking the rotation of 2,480 uniformed personnel from seven West African countries. This was in response to the sanctions the Economic Community of West African States imposed on Mali in January, due to the delays in Mali's political transition to restore constitutional order after coups d'etat in 2020 and 2021, according to the Security Council report.

Mali remains one of the most dangerous places for peacekeepers. Established in April 2013 following a military coup and the occupation of the north by radical Islamists, the UN mission in Mali supports political processes and performs tasks related to security and civilian protection. 

El-Ghassim Wane, special representative of the secretary-general for Mali and head of the UN mission in Mali, addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in Mali at UN Headquarters in New York, June 13, 2022. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
NAIROBI, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's tea production in the first three months to March dropped, hurt by adverse weather conditions, the Tea Directorate said Tuesday.

The agency noted that adverse weather conditions that include depressed and irregular rains, as well as lengthy sunny and dry conditions in many growing areas cut production by more than 5 million kg in the first quarter of this year.

"Cumulative production for the first quarter was lower by 5.15 million kilos to stand at 135.83 million kilos, a decrease from 140.98 million kilos in a similar period in 2021. This was notably due to depressed rains," said the government agency in a report.

The directorate warned that Kenya's overall tea production is likely to fall this year due to the challenging weather conditions.

Kenya is among countries in the Horn of Africa battling drought alongside other adverse weather conditions, with 4.1 million people currently at the risk of starvation. 
TUNIS, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia arrested 72 migrants who attempted to cross the Mediterranean to enter Italy illegally, the Tunisian Ministry of Defense said Tuesday.

They were arrested in two operations and are of various African nationalities, the ministry said in a statement, adding 42 of them were rescued by a Tunisian coastguard unit off the coastal city of Zarzis in northeastern Tunisia.

The arrested migrants admitted they had sailed from the Libyan city of Zuwara a night earlier, according to the statement.

In another operation, the National Guard of Kerkennah Island in Sfax Province arrested 30 illegal immigrants, said the ministry.

Thousands of illegal immigrants attempt to cross the Mediterranean every year as Tunisia is one of the main points of access to Europe through irregular channels. 
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Najaf bay Vazirov has gone down in the history books as the founder of the realistic tragedy genre in Azerbaijan. The writer was also known as the first feuilletonist (a writer of feuilletons) in the country, Azernews reports.

Vazirov was born in Shusha, where he also received his primary education. He finished a gymnasium (secondary school) in Baku with a silver medal.

In Baku, the young writer met with the founder of the first Azerbaijani language newspaper "Akinchi" (The Ploughman) who taught at the school.

Noticing the student's interest in the theater, Hasan bay started to involve him in staging the works of the founder of the Azerbaijani drama Mirza Fatali Akhundov.

Akhundov's plays were staged for the first time in the Azerbaijani language, and thus, they laid the foundation for professional Azerbaijani theatrical art.

In his student years, Najaf bay often visited Moscow theaters, where he became more deeply acquainted with the works of the classics of the Russian drama, among which he especially admired Alexander Ostrovsky's plays.

Moscow theaters made an indelible impression on the young Azerbaijani writer and aroused in him an interest in realistic dramaturgy.

So, Najaf bay started to write articles, essays, and feuilletons for the newspaper "Akinchi" (The Ploughman).

Founder of realistic tragedy genre in Azerbaijan

In his works, Vazirov exposed and criticized the remnants of feudalism in society.

In 1896, Vazirov wrote the first Azerbaijani tragedy "Fakhraddin's grief" in which he created a positive image of a young Azerbaijani educator-landowner, protesting against feudal orders, and striving to reform the patriarchal lifestyle.

The tragedy touches upon the theme of fanaticism suppressing young educated minds who struggle against reactionism and ignorance.

Najaf bay Vazirov is considered the first example of the realistic tragedy genre in Azerbaijani literature.

In his subsequent works such as Pahlivan-i Zamana (Heroes of Our Time) the writer also criticized the patriarchal social system.

His last work, Taza asrin ibtidasi (The Beginning of the New Century) was dedicated to women's emancipation.

Najaf bay Vazirov's theater productions

The second period of Najaf bay Vazirov's creativity coincided with the oil boom, the flourishing of Baku capitalism, and bourgeois life in the late XIX and early XX centuries.

His works "Heroes of the time" (18981900), "Aghakarim Khan of Ardabil" (1902), "The Cursed Money Hunter Haji Faraj" (1914), and other plays significantly enriched the repertoire of the Azerbaijani theaters.

The theater productions, like "The Stone Thrown From Behind Hits the Heel", "From Rain To Downpour" also made Vazirov an immortal classic of Azerbaijan literature.
YAOUNDE, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations has approved the allocation of 1.7 million U.S. dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support the urgent response to the cholera outbreak in Cameroon, UN officials in Cameroon said in a statement on Tuesday.

"This CERF grant will enable the humanitarian partners to contribute to reducing cholera-related mortality and curb the spread of the disease, saving numerous lives," said Olivier Beer, the Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim for Cameroon.

"The humanitarian actors are mobilized to support the cholera response. However, access to remote areas remains challenging as violence, movements impediments and poor condition of roads continue to hamper the humanitarian assistance in the region," added Karen Perrin, the Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Cameroon.

The project will provide emergency assistance in case management, water, hygiene, and sanitation to communities affected by the cholera epidemic in the Southwest and Littoral regions of the country, according to the UN.

As of May 29, Cameroon's Ministry of Public Health had recorded 8,241 cases and 154 deaths in seven regions.

The Southwest region, which is already facing acute humanitarian needs due to violence, remains the most affected by the cholera outbreak with 5,628 cases and 90 deaths, followed by the Littoral with 2,208 cases and 58 deaths, the UN said. Enditem.
NEW DELHI, June 14 (Xinhua) -- India's COVID-19 tally rose to 43,236,695 on Tuesday with 6,594 new cases registered in the past 24 hours across the South Asian country, showed federal health ministry's latest data.

Besides, six deaths from the pandemic registered across the country since Monday morning took the death toll to 524,777.

The number of daily new cases has been on the rise in India over the past few days, leading to stricter COVID-19 guidelines announced by several authorities. The number of new cases recorded per day had crossed the 8,000-mark in past days.

However, the concerned health authorities have ruled out a new wave of coronavirus infections in the country.

Presently, there are 50,548 active COVID-19 cases recorded in the country, an increase of 2,553 from a day earlier.

So far, a total of 42,661,370 COVID-19 patients have been cured and discharged from hospitals in India, including 4,035 new recoveries. 
PHNOM PENH, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's anti-drug police have arrested two men over drug trafficking, seizing more than 54 kg of illicit drugs from them, the National Police said on Tuesday.

Police arrested the two men, a 31-year-old foreigner and a 26-year-old Cambodian national, in the capital Phnom Penh on Friday after an investigation for a few months.

"A total of 54.4 kg of illicit drugs, including heroin, crystal methamphetamine, and ketamine, was confiscated from the suspects during the raid," the National Police said on its website.

The Southeast Asian nation has no death sentence for drug traffickers. Under its law, someone found guilty of trafficking more than 80 grams of drugs can be jailed for life.

According to the anti-drug police department, the police had arrested 6,168 drug suspects, including 80 foreigners, in the first five months of this year, seizing 1.58 tons of illicit drugs and 173.6 tons of ingredients. 
NEW DELHI, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Indian government Tuesday unveiled a new recruitment scheme for armed forces aimed at cutting down salary and pension bills.

The scheme called Agnipath (path of fire) aims to recruit soldiers in the army, the navy and the air force, largely on a short-term contractual basis.

Under the scheme, which was announced by Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, about 45,000 people between the age of 17.5 years and 21 years will be inducted into the services for a four-year tenure.

After four years, only 25 percent of these soldiers will be retained and join the regular cadre and go on to serve for a full 15 years in non-officer ranks. The remaining will have to exit the services. 
BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine:

Twenty-two people were injured in a rocket attack on the Ukrainian city of Chortkiv in the country's western Ternopil region on Saturday, the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported.

Four rockets, presumably fired from the Black Sea, hit Chortkiv at about 9:46 p.m. local time (1846 GMT) on Saturday, according to Volodymyr Trush, head of the Ternopil regional military administration.

- - - -

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said here Saturday that the commission will finalize the assessment on granting Ukraine European Union (EU) candidate status by the end of next week, the Ukrinform news agency reported.

"The European Commission is currently preparing its recommendations -- the so-called conclusion for EU member states. We have been working on this assessment day and night," von der Leyen said at the joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "Our discussions will allow us to conclude this work by the end of next week."

- - - -

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has pledged to continue providing military aid for Kiev while meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart here, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Saturday.

During the talks held on Friday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov urged more defensive aid from Britain, saying that "we need more heavy weapons to continue the struggle."

- - - -

The fighting in Ukraine has a significant impact on the global food markets and could leave an additional 11 to 19 million people with chronic hunger, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) warned on Friday.

FAO spokesperson Boubaker Ben Belhassen told a press briefing here that both countries involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict were major producers of agricultural commodities in the world, with a combined share of around 30 percent of global wheat exports. 
TEHRAN, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Iran announced on Tuesday Greece has ordered the release of the Iranian oil cargo it had confiscated onboard a Russian-operated ship in its territorial waters following Iran's reciprocal action.

The Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization said in a statement that despite the U.S. order to keep the ship under detention and impound its cargo, the Greek government eventually, in a decree, called for the return of the consignment to its owner as a result of Iran's quick and powerful actions.

It added as per the Greek government's order, the ship will also be released.

In May, Greece captured a Russian-operated ship in its territorial waters and confiscated its Iranian crude cargo at U.S. order. Days after that, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) seized two Greek oil tankers in the Gulf over "committing maritime violations." 
ROME, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Italy is on the verge of removing its final coronavirus health restrictions, though masks may still be mandatory on public transportation and in hospitals, a top health official said Tuesday.

The comment from Italian Health Undersecretary Andrea Costa came amid a gradual increase in COVID-19 infection rates, though other indicators -- hospitalization rates, the number of patients in intensive-care units, and coronavirus-related deaths -- remain relatively low.

On Friday, Italy's High Institute of Health reported that during the one-week period ending the day before, the country's COVID-19 infection rate was 222 per 100,000 residents, an increase from 207 per 100,000 residents reported the previous week. The rate had been in decline since April.

In an interview on Radio Capitale, Costa was asked to comment on the possible lifting of the mask mandate after the June 15 expiration of the current rules. Costa said the mask mandate will be lifted as scheduled in cinemas, theaters, and during indoor sporting events. However, masks are likely to remain mandatory on public transportation and in hospitals until September.

The mask mandate will likely be extended "for the most crowded places and those where a little more prudence is needed," Costa said.

The remarks were confirmed by Ministry of Health officials.

Italy was the first European country hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with peaks of more than 200,000 new coronavirus cases per day recorded as recently as January. In recent weeks, daily infections have mostly been below 25,000.

On Tuesday, the country reported nearly 40,000 new cases, the highest level in nearly a month. 
MEXICO CITY, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The recently-concluded U.S.-hosted ninth Summit of the Americas can be seen as a way in which the current U.S. administration sought to divert attention away from its domestic problems, a Mexican expert has said.

In an interview with Xinhua after the summit concluded, Roberto Zepeda, a member of the Center for Research on North America at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, called for action in following through on regional agreements, especially in areas of common interest such as migration.

Several analysts have concurred that the agreements traditionally promoted by Washington are aimed more than anything at securing U.S. interests and fail to achieve mutual benefits due to a lack of any real political will or actions to follow through, he said.

The agreements and declarations made at the regional summit could end up "merely words" without concrete actions, Zepeda added.

"There is polarization (in the country) due to economic problems, the situation generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, etc. The United States has not yet recovered," he said, and like the previous administrations, the current U.S. administration is looking abroad to divert attention.

Despite Washington's efforts as host, the summit showed its diminishing leadership in the region and how much progress remains to be made in areas such as integration and cooperation, Zepeda said.

The United States wanted to use the summit as an opportunity to compensate for its inadequate attention to Latin America in recent years, the expert said, however adding that "we are living in a multipolar world" in which the United States cannot act like it did in the past, even in a region considered to be within its sphere of influence.

"We are seeing a United States whose president wants to see himself as a regional leader, strong and important, to try to recover that hegemony that he once had and which has been diminishing," Zepeda said. 
SAN FRANCISCO, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Boeing announced Monday a new partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia and Virginia Tech to establish the Boeing Center for Veteran Transition & Military Families.

The center, to be located at Virginia Tech's Innovation Campus in Alexandria, Virginia, will provide career resources and advance employment opportunities for veterans, as well as support for military families during the transition to civilian life.

"This initiative will unlock new career opportunities for veterans and their families and help develop leading technical talent while affirming our continued investment in Northern Virginia," said Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun.

"Boeing's recent announcement to move its headquarters to Virginia and reaffirm its commitment to building the next generation of tech talent is a timely development for the Commonwealth, and is made more exciting by their extensive partnership with Virginia Tech," said Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin. 
RABAT, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed two agreements with Morocco to provide 91 million euros (about 94.64 million U.S. dollars) in loans to the North African country, the official news agency MAP reported on Tuesday.

The deals were signed on Monday in the Moroccan capital Rabat by Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah and AfDB Acting Vice President for Regional Development Yacine Fal, the report said.

The first loan of 34 million euros provided by the AfDB will complement the previous loan of 75 million euros already allocated by the bank in 2018 for the extension and modernization of the airport in Rabat.

With the second loan of 57 million euros, the AfDB will complete an initial loan of 113 million euros granted by the bank in 2015 for the construction of the Nador West Med port complex.

The new port and industrial complex, located on Morocco's Mediterranean coast, is expected to be built with an estimated cost of more than 1 billion euros.

Fal highlighted the good relations between the AfDB group and Morocco, while expressing the bank's commitment to providing financial and technical support to Morocco's ongoing economic and social reforms, the MAP reported. 
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Baku will host the cultural festival to mark three decades of the Azerbaijani-Japanese relations, Azernews reports.

The large-scale event will take place at the Baku Seaside Boulevard on June 24-25.

The True Colors festival gathers around 1,200 artists from over 30 countries.

The festival will bring together talented people with limited abilities from Azerbaijan and Japan.

The guests of the festival have a chance to enjoy concerts, dances, and theater performances.

The cultural event is co-organized with the support of the National Abilympics Federation, the Japanese Embassy to Azerbaijan, and the Nippon Foundation.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Japan are built on principles of common interest and mutual understanding.

The diplomatic ties between the two nations were established in 1992.

Since then, the two countries implement a number of projects in various areas, especially in the economy.

Japanese companies in Azerbaijan work in the oil and gas sectors as well as in agriculture.

In 2021, Azerbaijan Energy Ministry and Japan's TEPSCO company signed an agreement on the establishment of the green energy zone in the newly-liberated lands.

The agreement provides for the effective use of renewable energy potential such as wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and bioenergy in Azerbaijan's liberated territories.

The document considers the establishment of a green energy zone based on modern energy management approaches to supply the region with energy.

Moreover, Japan and the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF) signed a grant agreement to allocate $88,224 in financial aid to purchase equipment for demining Azerbaijani lands liberated from the Armenian occupation.

High-level cultural ties between Azerbaijan and Japan have also contributed to further strengthening the bilateral relations.

The festival of Japanese Culture held this year brought both nations even closer. In 2022, the Japanese embassy organized the festival of Japanese Culture. During the festival, the guests of the event learned more about the Japanese tea ceremony, origami (the art of paper folding), and ikebana, the ancient Japanese art of flower arrangement.

The festival visitors also got acquainted with the art of Japanese calligraphy and traditional Japanese clothing - kimono, and yukata.
Patna: There was a major cyber attack in India on Tuesday. More than 500 portals of the country have been hacked. These include 70 websites including the portal of Thane Police in Maharashtra. Three of them are government. Hackers from Malaysia and Indonesia have been suspected in the case.

Madhukar Pandey, ADG, Maharashtra Cyber Cell, said, "We have restored many portals. Restoration work of many is underway. More than 70 websites of the state were attacked after the portals of private universities were hacked. Three of them were official. The figure of the hacked portal is more than 500.

ADG Pandey said that amid the ongoing communal tension in the country, several cyber hackers carried out the attack together. Many websites have been hacked in the country. The names of hackers from two countries Malaysia and Indonesia are coming up in the case. Whether this gang is active in India or not, we are yet to receive the news. Sunil Lokhande, DCP Cyber Cell, Thane Police said that the police website was hacked at around 4 am today. Technical experts have restored the data and website. Investigation of the case is going on. The Maharashtra Home Department has ordered a probe into the hacking of government portals and others to the state's cyber cell. An inquiry has also been initiated into the hacking of the portal of Thane police.

Bumper jobs in UP, see details here and apply soon

PM Narendra Modi arrives in Maharashtra, dedicates Sant Tukaram Shila Temple

Spanish Foreign Minister to visit India tomorrow
Karachi police arrested 28 demonstrators outside the Sindh Assembly on Monday over the'missing' Baloch students.

According to Dawn, the protestors were manhandled while demonstrating against the kidnapping of two Baloch students from the University of Karachi (KU) by law enforcement officials.

Doda Baloch and Ghamshad Baloch, two KU Philosophy Department students, were abducted from their residence near Maskan Chowrangi in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on June 7, and their whereabouts have been unknown since.

For the past four days, their relatives and representatives of civil society organisations had set up camp outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC). They made it to the Sindh Assembly's main gate on Sunday night, when they staged a sit-in demanding the release of the missing students, as per reports.

The organisers of the rally accused the police of mistreating mothers and children. They said that the Sindh police had reneged on their promise to meet with relatives of the missing students and officials from the Counter Terrorism Department on Monday. Hence, they said, they held another sit-in near the Sindh Assembly building, where demonstrators were manhandled and arrested, the report read.

John Allen quits as Brookings President after Qatar Revelations

Pakistani Foreign Minister to visit Iran

Pak currencyhit hard as budget fails to restore investors' confidence
NEW YORK: Senator Bob Menendez of the United States has asked the Quad to assist Sri Lanka in avoiding "an economic implosion".

He acknowledged India's assistance to Colombo in a letter to India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, writing: "The Quad can lead the way in striving to avoid an economic implosion in Sri Lanka that might start a humanitarian crisis with wider, destabilising regional implications."

"To avoid a breakdown, New Delhi has already taken a proactive role in giving finance and humanitarian aid to the Sri Lankan government." The letter was also addressed to Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, Hayashi Yoshimasa, the Japanese Foreign Minister, and Penny Wong, the Australian Foreign Minister.

Menendez, who chairs the Senate panel that oversees key foreign policy issues and diplomatic appointments, recommended using the Quad Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Mechanism (HADR) launched at the bloc's meeting in Tokyo last month to assist Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Associated Press over the weekend that he would be open to buying additional oil from Russia and receiving financial assistance from China, to which the country is already significantly in debt.

Although one of the Quad's goals is to counter China's aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific region, the bloc has stayed away from joint military cooperation and instead focused on humanitarian efforts in the region, such as a programme to manufacture, finance, and distribute 500 million Covid vaccines to counter Beijing's growing influence.

Sri Lanka forms two new ministries to handle economic crisis

Sri Lankas 21st Amendment to Constitution being submitted for Cabinet nod

Sri Lankan Prime Minister meets IMF official on economic instability
Jaipur: In Rajasthan' Bharatpur, people from Kushwaha, Saini, Mali and Maurya communities have taken to the streets demanding 12 per cent reservation. The agitators have been protesting on the Jaipur-Agra National Highway since Sunday (June 12, 2022). The agitation is being organised under the banner of Rajasthan Phule Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti. The agitators are sitting on the Jaipur-Agra highway near Arouda. These people are adamant on talking to the representative of the Government. On Monday (June 13, 2022), the district collector and the SP reached the national highway to interact with the agitators, but the agitators did not speak to them.

According to reports, a Mahapanchayat was held earlier demanding reservation and even yellow rice was distributed to the people to invite them to the agitation. In view of the Mahapanchayat, a police force was deployed in addition to the officers. Even before the Panchayat was over, thousands of people carrying sticks reached the highway and jammed it. Kushwaha, Saini, Mali and Maurya communities have been demanding that their population in the state is 15 percent, so they should be given 12 per cent reservation. The people of Mali society have already been given an ultimatum of the government.

The agitator is not ready to hold talks with the police and administration officials. He says he will only talk to the government representative. No representative of the state government has reached the Mahapanchayat since morning. After this, hundreds of people with sticks in their hands sat on the national highway. However, the agitators are letting the ambulances out.

National Herald case: Rahul Gandhi caught in ED probe, couldn't answer

World Insights Chinas vision for AsiaPacific world promotes peace development say experts

Good news for farmers! Government made this big announcement
New Delhi: Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become the second-largest oil exporter to India despite sanctions from the US and the European Union. At number one is Iraq. The highest oil imports in India come from Iraq. According to industry data, India's oil refineries have been buying Russian oil at a huge discount since Russia's attack on Ukraine. Indeed, Russia's oil buyers have become limited amid a variety of sanctions. That is why some countries like India are getting oil at a lot of concession.

Indian oil refineries bought about 25 million barrels of oil from Russia in May. This accounts for more than 16 per cent of India's total oil imports. According to the data, imports of crude oil from Russia by sea into India have also increased. For the first time in April, Russia's share of oil in India by sea was 5 per cent. In 2021 and in the first quarter of 2022, it was less than one per cent. India is the third-largest oil importer and consumer country in the world. India has been defending its decision to buy crude oil from Russia since Russian President Vladimir Putin's attack on Ukraine.

India's oil ministry had last month said oil purchases from Russia were lower than India's total oil consumption. India imported the most oil from Iraq in May. After Russia came in second place, Saudi Arabia has now reached the third position. India is taking advantage of a huge discount on Russian crude oil at a time when international oil prices are skyrocketing. India is the third-largest oil-consuming country in the world after the US and China. More than 85% of oil is imported into India.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there are few buyers of Russia's Urals oil left. Many countries and companies have decided not to buy Russia's energy products, due to which Russia's oil prices have fallen. India's oil refineries took advantage of this and started buying Russian crude oil at a huge discount of up to $30 a barrel. Earlier, buying crude oil from Russia was not a profitable deal for Indian companies as the transportation costs were high.

This Islamic country became a fan of 'cow'

BMW suddenly became a fireball on the national highway

Big news from America about Indian economy, report submitted in US Parliament
Every Thursday and Friday, thousands of people walked on the pavement near Bhugol Park of Kathmandu, hearing the jingle Raktadan Gari Garau Jeevan Daan (Blood donation is life donation) play in the background. But, in the hustling crowd, people rarely have time to listen to the jingle or even step into the park premises and volunteer for blood donation.

On the other hand is a person who has managed to do blood donation every three months, all his adult life. To date, Prem Sagar Karmacharya has donated blood 170 times and is ready for his next in July.

But amidst the people who rarely even turn their heads to the blood donation campaigns happening around them, how did Karmacharya manage to donate blood all 170 times?

Karmcharya shares he was self-motivated to do social work with a great influence from his father. My father used to give first aid to labourers and field workers who got injured. When I was a kid, I used to tag along with him everywhere and I picked up a few things from him.

But I started blood donation after a friend encouraged me to do so. I started donating blood early [at 16] and have not stopped since.

With over 12 years of work experience in the blood donation field, Karmacharya is apparently recognised as the person with the highest number of blood donations in Nepal. Also the central president of Nepal Voluntary Blood Donors Society (NVBDS), Karmacharya is sought after by people from near and far struggling to fetch the blood for medical procedures. He says the trust he has won from the people for being able to provide the blood and convincing people to be regular blood donors are his biggest achievements. Nevertheless, he is unhappy with the present scenario of blood donation and its circulation, adding he is ambitious regarding his plans to correct them in the near future.

The bloody blood market

A pint of blood. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The Karmacharya family migrated to Bagbazaar in 1971 from Jaisidewal of Kathmandu. He remembers how times have changed and how he could see Tundikhel from his area clearly. But, what has not changed, he says, is the irregularity of blood donation and its circulation in the blood market.

In the 1980s, near the Bir Hospital, where the National Trauma Centre is today, blood was sold by the Laxmi Blood Bank under the Red Cross, operated under the government. And even today, where the blood that should be given voluntarily and provided freely, it is being sold within a syndicate.

There is the National Blood Transfusion Policy, but it is not implemented. The government has held Red Cross responsible, but it is driven by nepotism and favouritism. Red Cross is selling the blood that they get free of cost from the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC). Can anything be more inhumane and more sadist than that? he asks.

Meanwhile, he adds, the government is demotivating blood donors and exploiting patients by putting a higher price on the transfusable blood. I was disheartened to see that Runa Jha who came in one of our programmes and pledged to address our concerns was the signatory in the decision. Additionally, the public is not bothered to track where their blood is going either, which is why the irregularities are being more rampant.

People participating in a blood donation programme. Photo Courtesy: Prem Sagar Karmacharya

Blood donation should be done with everyones coordination. And, most importantly, it has to be voluntary. World Health Organization (WHO) is also working towards the same, says Karmacharya.

But, it is not the case in practice. Forced or coerced blood donation is a crime and so is selling blood. It is unethical and inhumane yet they are still being practised rampantly. Some organisations are selling blood at a price whereas others doing it under the premise of replacement (where the blood bank demands blood in exchange for blood). At hospitals, they draw blood without permission and then sell that later in the market.

While he is full of complaints, he also has ideas to build a network where the current system can be corrected so that people get blood freely and as needed. But, neither the government nor the authorities are extending their hand to collaborate and bring about the change.

His own attempt

Witnessing all the ongoing irregularities and tired of hearing that blood is not available when needed, Karmacharya decided to start his own organisation, Nepal Voluntary Blood Donors Society in January of 2009. The organisation runs with a network of volunteers who collect and provide blood for people in need. So far, it has 33 chapters across Nepal already.

People participating in an emergency blood donation programme conducted by Nepal Voluntary Blood Donors Society. Photo Courtesy: Prem Sagar Karmacharya

Anyone can join the movement with an individual or institutional (or lifetime) membership, he informs. The network has increased, yet convincing everyone has been a challenge. But, those who understand have pledged to be a blood donor and are doing it regularly.

Through his organisation, Karmacharya is attempting to correct a few practices starting with the freedom for anyone to donate blood, even if they are under medications. It has been said that those under medications are prohibited from donating blood. However, that is not exactly true. Today, almost everyone is under some medication. And if we wrongly exclude them, with time, there will be no blood donors left. We will face grave scarcity, he shares.

Another point of his advocacy is to reduce the number of days between two blood donation dates. The minimum required gap currently is three months. However, new research has concluded it can be 56 days. So, we are pushing for that too so that we can have more readily available donors here.

People participating in a blood donation programme. Photo Courtesy: Prem Sagar Karmacharya

Today, his team is arranging blood with prior notice only, but it has plans to correct that. As we do not have a blood bank as of now, we do not store the blood, we keep a few to spare, but a lot is done under a network where we connect the people and patients. But, if the irregularity and rampant blood market are under play, we will have to set it up.

We are also working on integrating technology where donors can track. It will take some time, but once live, people can know their blood has been put to good use. However, we are strictly against making the details of the donors and patients public.

Blood donation is not blood loss

Karmacharya, at 58, is very much active even today not just in donating blood himself. But, he is also encouraging others to do so, in line with this years World Blood Donors Day theme Donating blood is an act of solidarity. Join the effort and save lives.

Prem Sagar Karmacharya participating in a blood donation programme. Photo Courtesy: Prem Sagar Karmacharya

I ask that every individual 18-65 years of age, capable and healthy, should actively engage in blood donation and encourage their friends and family to do it too. They can donate every three months without any repercussions.

Though blood donation is clouded in speculations, he says, I have no bodily problems whatsoever. I have not taken any medicines per se. But, when I get sick, I use home remedies to cure my fever or cold. Other than that, I would attest that blood donation can prevent cholesterol and cardio(vascular) diseases that otherwise people are very prone to, given their lifestyle and eating habits. I am the proof of it.

He adds, Humans only need 50 ml/kg to function whereas (on average) men have 76 mil/kg and women have 66 ml/kg so we will only donate what is in access.

He further explains that one person donating blood can impact the lives of up to three people. In the lab, the blood is centrifuged and separated into red cells, platelets, and plasma or we use the whole blood where the blood is used for transfusion as it is.

But, his request to all is that blood should not be wasted in any form. Please use or demand blood only as needed. Having a backup is not a problem, but excessive drawing out of blood or demanding blood will result in wastage of blood that will take up to three months to recover. So, everyone needs to be mindful. We must aim to efficiently use even a single drop of blood.
Home  Business  Nepali rupee continues to get weaker as it hits a new record low

Kathmandu, June 14

In the international valuation, the Nepali rupee, the currency of Nepal, has hit a record low yet again. For the past few months, the value of the Nepali currency is steadily on the decline.

According to the central banks foreign exchange rate fixed for today, a US dollar is equivalent to NPR 124.56 for buying and NPR 125.16 for selling.

In the international market, the Nepali rupee is calculated as per the rate of the Indian rupee as Nepal and India have pegged their currencies with the 1:1.6 exchange rate. Therefore, whenever the Indian currency gets weaker, the Nepali currency follows suit.

A weak Nepali currency means Nepalis are required to pay higher for anything that comes from other countries. Therefore, it has an impact on all sectors of the economy.

However, it will benefit the countrys tourism industry as most tourists visiting Nepal pay in dollars. Likewise, Nepalis working for foreign companies also receive higher pay.
Kathmandu, June 14

The Sikkim government of India has banned the shows of Kabaddi 4, a superhit Nepali film, within the state.

Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang says his government banned the film considering the sentiments of its citizens and other organisations.

The film, which has been one of the biggest financial successes in Nepals cinema history, was expected to get released in the Indian state whose around 60 per cent of people speak Nepali as their mother tongue.

However, Buddhist leaders in the state had asked the government to bar Kabaddi 4 as some of the scenes hurt Buddhist sentiments.

The Kathmandu District Administration Office in Nepal has also received a similar complaint.
Home  Politics  US State Partnership Program: Heres the draft of the deal that lets US personnel stay in Nepal indefinitely

Kathmandu, June 14

The United States government has floated a proposal for a State Partnership Program to be signed between the US Department of Defense and the Nepali Ministry of Defence that also includes letting some members of the US security forces stay in Nepal for an indefinite period.

After the draft of the proposed agreement came to notice, the stipulated visit of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to Washington, DC, has been drawn into controversy. Even some members of the ruling alliance have sought clarifications from the prime minister about the agreements the two countries will sign.

Apparently, the US officials, in their recent engagements here, are putting pressure on Nepali counterparts to sign the agreement as soon as possible. As the US Army Pacific Commander General Charles Flynn recently asked Deuba to finalise the deal during his recent visit to Kathmandu, sources say it could be signed during Deubas US visit expected to be held in mid-July.

Onlinekhabar has obtained a copy of the draft agreement for the State Partnership Program, according to which members of the US National Guard of Utah will be present in Nepal for training-related purposes and the Nepal Army will host them. Whereas the draft mentions the agreement to be valid for five years initially, it also states it will continue to exist unless terminated by any of the parties.

Here is a copy of the draft.
A day after 19 students and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, two area schools had to address threats made by students.

Wednesday morning, Talawanda Middle School in Oxford was placed on lockdown after a student made a threat.

The lockdown was lifted after noon Wednesday. The district reported that the student who made threats against another youth was not in school Wednesday, but Oxford police are investigating and took the student into custody.

In Clermont County, a 13-year-old has been charged with aggravated menacing and making false alarms.

The Clermont County Sheriff's Office said the West Clermont Middle School student made a threat to "other students and the school staff."

"The student told detectives he made the statement but said he was joking ad had no intention of following through with the threat," investigators said.

The student was removed from the school and taken to juvenile detention on Wednesday.

Other schools across the country reported threats Wednesday as well including schools in San Antonio, Texas and LaFayette, Indiana and Great Falls, Montana and Baltimore, Maryland.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Two local schools deal with threats in the wake of Texas shooting
By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijani Rock Fest has started in Baku, bringing together the country's leading rock bands, Azernews reports citing Trend Life.

Azerbaijan Rock Fest is the first official, large-scale rock festival organized by TMB Azerbaijan Television in Azerbaijan to promote and develop the rock genre in the country.

The gala-night took place at the Heydar Aliyev Palace as part of the festival.

Speaking at the event, the host of the festival Husniyya Maharramova expressed her delight with the fact that young rock musicians perform at the festival thus promoting this musical style in the country.

The head of Sehiyye TV (Health TV) Azer Khudiyev said that Sehiyye TV is committed to holding a rock festival every year.

Azer Khudiyev thanked all those who worked hard to organize the gala concert.

"People cannot live without music. Wishing young people to always keep the rhythms," he concluded.

The music festival brought together rock bands like Passion, Free From Four, Dede Baba, Orkhan Efendi, Qara Dervish, Evil Decay, Sadnos, and Groove INspires.

The gala concert aroused great interest among the audience. The crowd roared in delight as the rock musicians took to the stage.

Notably, the director of the gala evening was Honored Artist Inara Babayeva.

History of Azerbaijani rock music

The history of Azerbaijani rock traces back to the 60s. Eskulap, Khurramity, Express-118, Piazyavyag, and Yuvet were among the leading rock bands of that time.

Jazz-rock with ethnic elements gained popularity in the 70s thanks to the rock bands Dzhur-bya-dzhur, Meshel, Brevis and Three fires.

In the 1980s, ensembles like Rast, Sirdash, Ozan also contributed to the history of Azerbaijani music.

On May 1, 1988, the first rock festival- Rock Panorama was held in Baku, which had a great resonance.

The festival's second edition was held in 1989 and brought together 30 music bands, including Without makeup, Faust, Neisan, Reason, and Terminal.

Among the groups that made their debut at the II Rock Panorama were Reportage, and Charli Atl.

In the 90s, such music bands like Yuxu, Charli Atl, ColDunya, Spark, Mirage, Mozalan, and Sirr started to gain popularity among music lovers.

From mid-October to early November 1996, ColDunya's song Sehrbaz was one of the top ten songs on BBC radio.

The rock bands like Fatal Nation, Demogorgon, Ferrum, Sakura, Regress, The Nails, Pro'n'Con and many others appeared in the 2000s.

Unformal was among one of the brightest and most rock popular bands.

At that time, the rock band Gara Dervish started to experiment with the combination of rock, metal and classical music.

The Azerbaijani rock scene has expanded significantly after 2010 due to the spread of new genres including heavy metal, black metal, punk rock, etc.

The rock bands 5:59, Meridian, Retribution, Pagan, Silence Lies Fear, Sirat, Tengri, Midnight, Orient Express, Sadnos were successful in subsequent years.

In 2011, RockOut FM, the first rock radio station was launched in Azerbaijan.

In 2014, Tuborg Green Fest , the largest rock festival in the country's history, was a great success.

The first Azerbaijani rock opera "The Journey of Sinbad" was written in 2017 by composer and vocalist Rizvan Sadirkhanov.
Lisa Settle, superintendent of the Achievement School District, speaks to visitors at Georgian Hills Achievement Elementary School on Monday, June 13, 2022.

Good morning, Memphis, where the heat this week prompted the National Weather Service in Memphis to warn about prolonged heat exposure over consecutive days  particularly those working or participating in outdoor activities.

But, first, Tennessees Achievement School District Superintendent Lisa Settle is leaving the post this summer, our Laura Testino reports.

"I love turnaround work, I love priority schools... My heart is in education and educating children, especially in Memphis. This is my home," Settle said. She plans to stay in education, welcoming new roles in Memphis or with the state.

Settles departure from the state turnaround district comes as the department is also shrinking in half in July  a loss of about 15 people, not including herself, she said.

Live updates from Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting

Southern Baptists gather at the Anaheim Convention Center for the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. The convention center first opened to voting delegates and other messengers on Sunday, June 12, 2022.

Following the Guidepost Solutions investigation that found key Southern Baptist Convention leaders covering up sexual abuse over the past two decades and even ridiculed abuse survivors, Southern Baptists from across the nation are gathered in Anaheim, California, this week for their big annual meeting.

This year, sexual abuse and how to prevent it will be front and center for 8,500 voting delegates, known as messengers.

The meeting is today and Wednesday. Liam Adams and our Katherine Burgess are in Anaheim to provide us live updates over the two-day event. Read their story to follow whats going on and whats being said.

National Weather Service excessive heat advisory

An excessive heat warning has been issued for Shelby County, along with the rest of the Mid-South.

The National Weather Service in Memphis issued an excessive heat warning for Memphis, along with the tri-state area, Monday and placed a heat advisory for today.

The NWS Memphis is expecting temperatures to reach upwards of 107 degrees today  adding to the trend expected for the rest of the week, our Lucas Finton and Gina Butkovich report.

"Several days of heat index values above 100 degrees are expected this week. The effects of heat stress can increase with prolonged exposure over consecutive days," NWS Memphis said. "Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat-related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities."

Story continues

Dr. Dale Criner, Methodist North Hospitals Emergency Department's medical director, said the effects of extreme heat can happen as quickly 15 minutes of exposure. He recommends trying to get all outdoor activities done in the morning or evening.

Duke Deuce expands sounds, approach on new album Crunkstar

Memphis rapper Duke Deuce.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Memphis rapper Duke Deuces momentum seemed a bit lost. Now, he is back with new music and primed for the second act in his career, our Bob Mehr reports.

This week Deuce returns with much anticipated album, Crunkstar, and he will headline TONE Memphis' Juneteenth Family Reunion event on Sunday.

"Crunkstar" is a record that expands his sound with a mix of rock guitars and experimental beats. I wanted to show versatility instead of just giving my fans the same thing they already know, Deuce said. This album was to make a point; to show the world Im more than just crunk music or trap. Im an artist. At the same time, I am a rock star  a crunkstar.

Ways to celebrate Juneteenth in Memphis

Juneteenth lanyards are one of several products sold at Leniya Kimbrough's booth during the Juneteenth celebration at Health Sciences Park on Saturday, June 19, 2021, in Memphis, TN.

This weekend Memphis will be host to a series of festivals and celebrations marking Juneteenth, Bob reports. From symposiums to star-studded concerts, a wellness market to a basketball tournament, theres no shortage of activities and events to mark the holiday.

Bob provides us with 10 ways to celebrate Juneteenth in Memphis.

Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins agrees to new contract extension

Memphis Grizzlies Head Coach Taylor Jenkins walks off the floor after their 142-112 loss to the Golden State Warriors in three of the second round for the 2022 NBA playoffs at Chase Center on Saturday, May 7, 2022.

Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins signed a multi-year contract extension with the team, our Damichael Cole reports. However, per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Jenkins finished second in the NBA's Coach of the Year voting behind Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns, and Memphis is 128-99 in three seasons under Jenkins.

Taylor has done an outstanding job leading our team and this extension is well-deserved, EVP of Basketball Operations and General Manager Zachary Z. Kleiman said in a team release. The year-over-year progress under Taylor speaks for itself, but his growth-oriented, selfless and competitive approach has been a driving force in the establishment of a sustainable culture. We have full confidence that Taylor will steer us to Memphis first championship.

Penny Hardaway to hire Frank Haith as Memphis assistant

Tulsa head coach Frank Haith shouts instructions to his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Houston in Tulsa, Okla. on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Dave Crenshaw)

Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway is expected to hire Frank Haith as an assistant, our Jason Munz reports.

Hardaway said last week he had two vacant assistant coach spots. Haith's addition leaves one, provided Hall of Famer Larry Brown returns as an assistant for a second season.

Hear more about the 2012 national Coach of the Year and former Tulsa coachs successful basketball career by reading Jasons story.

The 901 is written by Ray Padilla, digital producer for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at raymond.padilla@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @Ray_Padilla_

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: The 901: Achievement School District Superintendent leaves post
10 years of unwavering support and generosity from Air Canada employees, valuable partners, and customers.

A decade making a difference in the lives of thousands of children across Canada and around the world.

Supporting families throughout difficult and emotional times.

MONTREAL, June 14, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - The Air Canada Foundation (ACF) is today celebrating its milestone 10-year anniversary focusing on the health and well-being of children and youth. Since its inception in 2012, the Foundation has positively impacted the lives of thousands of children through its various programs, partnerships, and initiatives.

The Air Canada Foundation celebrates its 10th anniversary. (CNW Group/Air Canada)

Over the past decade, the ACF has provided support to more than 200 Canadian charities each year, connecting children to medical care, alleviating child poverty and helping children fulfill their dreams. The Foundation has also offered continued support to major health-related causes that benefit Canadians and is an active participant in international humanitarian relief activities.

"The Air Canada Foundation represents the heart of our organization. Its impact over the last decade is immeasurable, and I can only imagine the continued success it will have moving forward," said Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer at Air Canada. "I'm so grateful to employees, retirees, volunteers, customers and all partners for their commitment and dedication over the years. The Foundation can count on me and Air Canada's unwavering support. I will continue to enable opportunities for employees to get involved, and I welcome even more partners and customers to join us. Let's keep working together and improve the lives of children and families."

"I am proud to be celebrating today a significant milestone for the Foundation recognizing that every day represents a breakthrough for children and families undergoing difficult times." said Priscille LeBlanc, Chair of the Air Canada Foundation. "Despite the recent challenging times, the Air Canada Foundation relentlessly pursued efforts to help Canadian families in need in creative and different ways and we look forward to seeing even more positive impact in the years to come."

Story continues

Air Canada has always played an active role in serving and helping the communities across Canada and around the world, but the 2010 earthquake in Haiti was the catalyst for the establishment of the Air Canada Foundation. The airline deployed a humanitarian mission destined to both bring life-saving medical equipment to the population and help with orphanages, bringing Haitian children back to Canada for adoption. The airline quickly realized how powerful travel could be and how it could enable children to thrive for a better life.

Achievements since 2012

The Air Canada Foundation is committed to giving back to children and communities through various programs and partnerships. Since 2012 it has:

Donated more than $12 million in grants to Canadian-registered charities focused on the health and well-being of children.

Donated more than 11,000 airline tickets to charitable organizations to support fundraising activities or program development.

Made possible more than 9,000 flights to make children's dreams come true.

Looking ahead to the next decade

As the Air Canada Foundation moves into its second decade, it is committed to continue helping kids spread their wings through its three new pillars:

Wings of Health : Supporting pediatric hospitals, health organizations, medical transportation and treatment

Wings of Protection : Supporting food security, child reunification, human trafficking survivors, humanitarian aid organizations and working against poverty.

Wings to Dream: Supporting wish-granting for seriously ill, physically challenged and impoverished children.

To learn more about the Air Canada Foundation, including its programs and partnerships, please visit www.aircanada.com/foundation.

About the Air Canada Foundation

The Air Canada Foundation, a not-for-profit organization focused on the health and well-being of children and youth, was launched in 2012. It offers both financial and in-kind support to Canadian-registered charities. Core programs include the Hospital Transportation Program, which redistributes Aeroplan points to 15 pediatric hospitals across Canada, enabling sick children to access the medical care they need away from home. The Air Canada Foundation, in collaboration with the airline, also engages directly in fundraising activities, such as the Every Bit Counts program, which encourages Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge customers to donate loose change of all denominations on board flights or through collection containers available in Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges. The Foundation also offers continued support to major health-related causes that benefit Canadians and is an active participant in international humanitarian relief activity as the need arises. For more information about the Air Canada Foundation, please visit www.aircanada.com/foundation or in Air Canada's 2020 Corporate Sustainability report available at www.aircanada.com/citizensoftheworld.

Sign up for Air Canada news: aircanada.com

Media Resources:

Photos

Videos

B-Roll

Articles

SOURCE Air Canada

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2022/14/c9744.html
Marseille restaurant is recognised as a rising star on the global stage

- AM par Alexandre Mazzia, the Marseille restaurant from chef-owner Alexandre Mazzia, is awarded the American Express One To Watch Award 2022 by The World's 50 Best Restaurants

- The eponymous establishment was opened by the French chef and former basketball player in 2014, serving a menu inspired by global influences and flavours

- In addition to its success in France, the award marks the restaurant's first global recognition by 50 Best

LONDON, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The World's 50 Best Restaurants today reveals the winner of the American Express One To Watch Award as Marseille restaurant AM par Alexandre Mazzia, the eponymous location from French chef Alexandre Mazzia. While well-known in France and the recipient of a number of national accolades, the award marks a special occasion whereby the restaurant and its team are recognised on the world stage by 50 Best. In a dining space that echoes the creativity of Marseille, AM has become the emblem of the revival of the city's culinary scene.

The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants today reveals the winner of the American Express One To Watch Award 2022 as AM par Alexandre Mazzia.

Chef Mazzia was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he lived until the age of 14. The scents of burnt woodsmoke, African spices and shellfish from the port near to his home had a profound and long-standing effect on the chef. Upon moving to France as a teenager and experiencing something of a culture shock, he sought refuge in basketball, playing for the France U15 team, before ultimately gravitating towards cooking. He then trained and worked alongside some of Europe's most renowned chefs, including Pierre Herme, Michel Bras and the late Santi Santimaria.

Mazzia moved to Marseille in 2010 to take up a role at the restaurant of Le Corbusier's Cite Radieuse, where he was awarded the 'Young Talent' award by Gault & Millau in 2011, an honour which helped drive him towards opening his own place. AM par Alexandre Mazzia debuted in the city in summer 2014 and swiftly impressed customers and critics alike, achieving three Michelin stars within an unprecedented six years of opening.

Story continues

The restaurant serves just 22 covers, with a bar overlooking the open kitchen, and draws inspiration from myriad international influences in a menu focusing on vegetables, fish and seafood. Mazzia's cuisine takes diners an emotional journey of self-discovery and the chef has the innate ability to make complex gastronomic creations more understandable. Unusual ingredient and flavour combinations are reflected in dishes such as courgette flowers in a green satay and saffron beurre blanc and crystallised seaweed with bottarga, forming part of what the chef calls a 'cuisine of emotion'.

William Drew, Director of Content for The World's 50 Best Restaurants, says: "It's an honour to name AM par Alexandre Mazzia as this year's American Express One To Watch Award winner. We've followed the restaurant's success in France in recent years and are thrilled to be able to bring this wonderful Marseille destination to 50 Best's global audience and to celebrate Alexandre's unbridled passion and singular cuisine."

Alexandre Mazzia comments on the award: "Whatever the destination, the most important thing is the journey. I'm honoured for AM par Alexandre Mazzia to receive the American Express One To Watch Award; myself and the AM team will continue to draw culinary inspiration from around the world and to take our guests along on the journey."

Alex Lee, VP and GM of Resy and the American Express Global Dining Network, says: "It is an honor to present the American Express One To Watch Award to Chef Alexandre Mazzia and the entire AM par Alexandre Mazzia team as they embody the courage, creativity and brilliance of those in the restaurant industry. American Express and Resy are proud to support this international community and champion the next generation of talent that encourages gastronomic exploration."

This announcement forms part of the lead-up to the reveal of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2022, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. An extensive event programme will culminate in this year's awards ceremony, to be held at Old Billingsgate market in the City of London on Monday 18th July, at which the restaurant will be officially presented with the American Express One To Watch Award.

For media centre access, please visit:

https://mediacentre.theworlds50best.com

Follow 50 Best

About The World's 50 Best Restaurants

Since 2002, The World's 50 Best Restaurants has reflected the diversity of the world's culinary landscape. The annual list of the world's most prestigious restaurants provides a snapshot of some of the best destinations for unique culinary experiences, in addition to being a barometer for and a pioneer of global gastronomic trends. The 50 Best family also includes Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants, The World's 50 Best Bars, Asia's 50 Best Bars, North America's 50 Best Bars and the #50BestTalks and 50 Best Explores series, all of which are owned and run by William Reed. 50 Best aims to bring together communities across the hospitality sector to foster collaboration, inclusivity, diversity and discovery and help drive positive change.

About the award sponsor: American Express

American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. American Express has always looked to provide Card Members with exceptional access to exclusive experiences, rich rewards and superior services across a variety of passion points, including dining. American Express has a longstanding presence in the dining space and has developed partnerships with renowned chefs around the world, including Daniel Humm, Stephanie Izard, Jose Andres, Massimo Bottura, Michael Solomonov, Dominique Crenn, the Roca brothers and more  providing Card Members with exclusive access to one-of-a-kind, co-curated dining moments. Now with Resy, the restaurant reservation platform that joined the American Express family in 2019, Card Members have even more access to reservations and experiences at thousands of restaurants across the globe.

About the main sponsor: S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna

S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna are the main partners of The World's 50 Best Restaurants and 50 Best for Recovery. S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna are the leading natural mineral waters in the fine dining world. Together they interpret Italian style worldwide as a synthesis of excellence, pleasure and well-being.

Other Partners:

Estrella Damm  Official Beer Partner; sponsor of the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award

Gin Mare  Official Gin Partner; sponsor of the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award

Flor de Cana  Official Rum Partner; sponsor of the Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award

Sosa  Official Ingredients Partner; sponsor of The World's Best Pastry Chef Award

Villa Massa  Official Limoncello and Amaretto Partner; sponsor of the Villa Massa Highest Climber Award

Beronia  Official Wine Partner

Nude Glass  Official Glassware Partner; sponsor of The World's Best Female Chef Award

Illycaffe  Official Coffee Partner

Nyetimber  Official Sparkling Wine Partner

Cinco Jotas  Official Iberico Ham Partner

The London Essence Co.  Official Mixers Partner

Choco  Official Ordering Partner

Aspire Lifestyles  Official Concierge Partner; sponsor of the Highest New Entry Award

Jaen Seleccion  Official Olive Oil Partner

Sea Containers  Official Hotel Partner

One Hundred Shoreditch  Official Hotel Partner

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839223/50_Best_Alexandre_Mazzia.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1802051/World_50_Best_2022_Logo.jpg

50 Best Logo

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/am-par-alexandre-mazzia-revealed-as-winner-of-the-american-express-one-to-watch-award-by-the-worlds-50-best-restaurants-2022-301567483.html

SOURCE 50 Best
A screenshot showing photos of Ethan Schmidt-Crockett being arrested by an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper on June 11.

The Department of Public Safety arrested Ethan Schmidt-Crockett, an anti-mask and anti-LGBTQ activist, on Saturday, June 11, for his failure to appear in court.

DPS identified Schmidt-Crockett during a traffic stop near the Arizona Capitol, said DPS media relations specialist Bart Graves. He was later turned in to Mesa Police Department custody.

The Mesa Police Department issued a warrant for Schmidt-Crocketts arrest after he failed to appear for a scheduled court date on June 6, according to Mesa Municipal Court records. According to a court official, the June 6 hearing was regarding a charge against Schmidt-Crockett for "failure to comply with the law."

Previously, Schmidt-Crockett threatened to hunt LGBTQ rights supporters in a video posted to Twitter on May 21 and, in a different video, harassed Target employees about the companys pride-themed campaign for Pride Month.

Man threatens to 'hunt' LGBTQ supporters: Law enforcement aware

Schmidt-Crockett also appeared at the March for Our Lives protest in Phoenix. He was seen with armed militia members, who appeared to be attending a counter-protest to the rally in downtown Phoenix, which called for stricter gun laws following recent deadly shootings in the U.S.

Theyre not going to ever take away our guns, Schmidt-Crockett said in a video posted to Twitter while holding an AR-15 rifle.

Another video from the same thread shows Schmidt-Crockett confronting the March for Our Lives demonstrators, standing in the middle of their path with a megaphone.

Right Wing provocateur Ethan Schmidt with an AR-15 rifle at todays rally at the Phoenix Capitol.



Ethan recently threatened to hunt LGBT supporters at Target stores. pic.twitter.com/PF3kIJs7Tl  PatriotTakes  (@patriottakes) June 12, 2022

The Twitter thread also includes photos of Schmidt-Crockett sitting on the edge of the sidewalk in handcuffs with a DPS trooper standing over him.

Story continues

As of now, Schmidt-Crockett remains in Mesa Police custody, according to Mesa Police Department public information officer Brandi George.

Reach breaking news reporter Sam Burdette at sburdette@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ethan Schmidt-Crockett, an anti-LGBTQ activist, arrested
NEW YORK, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Skytrains purpose is to attract more early-stage investment into Berlin by seeking out LP investors in the U.S. and matching them with Berlin-based venture capital firms.

Berlin Business Office, USA (PRNewsfoto/Berlin Business Office, USA)

Berlin also wants to create a platform that counteracts persistent myths and fears about the difficulties in deploying capital in Germany and Berlin. The program will create a catalog of content for investors (both LPs and funds) to make it easier to understand the intricacies of investing in Germany.

According to studies and expert opinions, there is a lack of quality, realistically-valued funding opportunities for early-stage investors in the U.S., so attracting this investment to Berlin is timely, desired and a largely unrealized opportunity. Skytrain will leverage this chance, helping both investors and startups, by curating personal access to the city's tech ecosystem.

Skytrain will be run by Silicon Allee, which was founded by Schuyler Deerman and Travis Todd, two American-born entrepreneurs, who have founded their own startups in Berlin and are now both investing back into the ecosystem. Silicon Allee has a 10-year track record of creating networks between Berlin and the U.S. as well as between local and international entrepreneurs.

Travis Todd, Co-Founder of Silicon Allee and Head of Skytrain explained: "We've been running networking events in Berlin for over a decade and know that by creating these events for U.S. LPs and Berlin's fund managers, we will catalyze the connectivity of the whole transatlantic ecosystem."

Since Los Angeles has been a sister city of Berlin, is a new emerging hotbed of tech innovation and home to a diversity of "new money" looking to invest into the technology sector, the program will start with a focus on Los Angeles. Schuyler Deerman, Co-Founder of Silicon Allee has been living in Los Angeles for years and has built a sizable local network of local founders and investors. With L.A. as a starting point, the program will reach out to relevant players in the rest of the U.S. and attract them to Berlin.

Story continues

Given that the Berlin Business Office, USA, as strategic partner of Skytrain, is based in New York, the city will also feature as the East Coast gateway for Berlin-based companies as well as increasing the awareness of the importance of internationalization, for startups as well as for investors.

The name of the project was inspired by the Berlin Airlift (Berliner Luftbrucke), which served to supply the isolated capital city of West Berlin during the cold war. The Douglas C-47 Skytrain was the name of the plane used by the Allies in the airlift.

Sebastian Serafin, Deputy Director

Berlin Business Office, USA

sserafin@berlinoffice-usa.com

Tel: +1 646-939-0323

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/berlin-launches-skytrain-a-network-to-support-us-lps-limited-partners-investing-into-venture-capital-funds-in-berlin-301567500.html

SOURCE Berlin Business Office, USA
SEOUL, South Korea, June 14, 2022(BUSINESS WIRE)Apache AGE, a project led by the enterprise graph database vendor Bitnine Global Inc. (KOSDAQ: 357880), has recently been announced as Apache Top-Level Project (TLP) by the Apache Software Foundation (ASF).

Apache AGE (A Graph Extension) is a PostgreSQL extension that provides graph database functionality. The project was first developed in 2019 based on Bitnine Globals AgensGraph, an open-source graph database fork of PostgreSQL. In April 2020, Bitnine offered the open-source project to Apache Software Foundation, where it entered its Apache Incubator stage.

With the recent announcement, Apache AGE became the first graph database project of the Apache Software Foundation to achieve top-level graduation. The result proves the successful development of the only graph database extension based on a relational database.

Bitnine announced that the future releases of Apache AGE will not only support higher versions of PostgreSQL but will also be compatible with all relational DB, starting with MySQL and Maria DB. To that end, Bitnine plans to continue investing in the R&D for Apache AGE, including securing a wide range of global developers.

Additionally, Bitnine Global is preparing a direct sales strategy via the development of a service model subscription (Product MA support, tech support, etc.) based on the verified Apache AGE product. Expansion of RDB-based graph extension business by collaborating with other RDB vendors and indirect sales through existing Bitnine Global resellers and OEM partners are also being considered.

"We plan to invest in business development and R&D for Apache AGE simultaneously by securing strategic investors (SI) and M&A of other database companies," said Cheolsun Kang, CEO of Bitnine Global.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220614005490/en/

Contacts

Bitnine Global Inc.

Hojun Oh

+82-70-4800-3517

hojun.oh@bitnine.net
The Canadian Vaping Association

BEAMSVILLE, Ontario, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Khan Review, an independent review of the United Kingdoms SmokeFree 2030 policies has identified four critical recommendations, which Dr. Khan refers to as must dos, for the country to achieve its 2030 smokefree target. Among them is the recommendation to promote vaping.

The government must embrace the promotion of vaping as an effective tool to help people to quit smoking tobacco. We know vapes are not a 'silver bullet' nor are they totally risk free, but the alternative is far worse.

Well over 90% of UK vapers are adult current or ex-smokers, and the proportion who have completely stopped smoking continues to grow. In England, vaping is relatively common among younger current and former smokers, whereas older smokers are less likely to vape or to have tried vaping. Given the effectiveness of vaping in smoking cessation, this suggests a missed opportunity in helping smokers in their 30s and over to quit, wrote Khan.

Many of the recommendations made by Dr. Khan are applicable to Canada and our efforts to achieve a smokefree society by 2035. Currently, only a fraction of Canadians are aware that vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking. To achieve widespread adoption by adult smokers the government must provide accurate and consistent information about vaping and regulation must ensure that vape products remain more attractive than smoking, said Darryl Tempest, Government Relations Counsel to the CVA Board.

The federal budget has proposed an excise tax on vaping liquids, that if implemented at the current rate will predictably cause some vapers to revert to smoking and an increase of illicit sales. Interestingly, within Dr. Khans recommendations he states the UK government should Reduce VAT on vaping devices in line with other nicotine products. Most people vape to quit smoking and to help them stay off tobacco. This will give people an added incentive to switch.

Story continues

Smoking continues to plague the most disadvantaged in society, with smoking rates considerably higher among minority groups, people with mental health conditions and people in poverty. Canada should take note of Dr. Khans recommendations and do more to reduce smoking prevalence and inequities in tobacco use.

Contact:

Darryl Tempest

Government Relations Counsel to the CVA Board

dtempest@thecva.org

647-274-1867




Sunwing Vacations Inc.

Sunwing is offering customers an enhanced Price Drop Guarantee and more great value when they book early

Canadians can get ahead of winter with Sunwings early booking bonus

Customers will enjoy great value and exclusive benefits when they book their winter vacations early

TORONTO, June 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sunwing is celebrating the planners and early birds with unbeatable value on their winter bookings to paradise. With a variety of sun-soaked destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America and exciting new resorts suitable to every travel style, Canadians can get a jump start on their winter escapes and take advantage of Sunwings limited time Early Booking Bonus when they secure their all inclusive 2022-2023 winter vacations by July 28, 2022.



Customers who book their winter vacation packages early can take advantage of exciting benefits including reduced deposits of $100 per person, no fuel surcharge and Sunwings Price Drop Guarantee, offered complimentary as part of the early booking incentive. The tour operator has also simplified and enhanced its Price Drop Guarantee so that no registration is required and no administrative fees are included. Customers simply need to submit a Price Drop Guarantee claim through My Booking Portal before final payment is due and Sunwing will automatically refund the difference, up to $400 per couple.

Its never too soon to start thinking about winter vacations in the sun, and were thrilled to offer an early booking bonus to our customers who secure their spot in paradise early, says Andrew Dawson, President of Tour Operations for Sunwing. Given the rebound of worldwide demand for the Caribbean and Mexico this coming winter, its important Sunwing customers book early to secure the resort and dates they want. With hundreds of all inclusive resorts to choose from in some of the most sought-after tropical destinations, including several new resorts set to open this fall and winter, plus our enhanced Price Drop Guarantee and other exclusive perks, our customers can book early with confidence and maximize value on their winter escapes.

Story continues

Frequent vacationers in Mexico can book adults only offerings at Riu Latino, RIU Hotels & Resorts newest hotel in the region set to open on October 1, 2022 and nestled on the pristine shores of Costa Mujeres, or experience the larger-than-life amenities at Royalton Luxury Resorts latest property Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun An Autograph Collection All Inclusive Resort, slated to open on December 20, 2022.

Plus, the favourite vacation destination of Cuba continues to draw in Canadian Sunwing customers with the recent addition of Hotel Tesoro del Atlantico in Holguin offering international delights for guests of all ages, while the lavish accommodations including swim-out and rooftop suites remain an attractive selling point at the new Coral Level at Iberostar Selection Esmeralda in Cayo Coco.

With incredible customer demand, the winter season is selling fast, so now is the time for customers to RSVP to paradise and take advantage of Sunwings early booking bonus, available on all inclusive vacation packages with flights on board Sunwing Airlines that are booked by July 28, 2022, for departures between November 1, 2022 and April 30, 2023. Plus, customers can purchase one of the tour operators comprehensive travel coverage options for added peace of mind.

About Sunwing

The largest integrated travel company in North America, Sunwing has more flights to the south than any other leisure carrier with convenient direct service from airports across Canada to popular sun destinations across the U.S.A., Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. This scale enables Sunwing to offer customers exclusive deals at top-rated resorts in the most popular vacation destinations as well as cruise packages and seasonal domestic flight service. Sunwing customers benefit from the assistance of the companys own knowledgeable destination representatives, who greet them upon arrival and support them throughout their vacation journey. The company supports the communities where it operates through the Sunwing Foundation, a charitable initiative focused on the support and development of youth and humanitarian aid.

For more information:

Melanie Anne Filipp

Director, Corporate Communications & Media Relations

Sunwing Travel Group

1-800-387-5602 | media@sunwing.ca

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8caea44b-5114-40a8-a726-df7fca74aad6




A full house of curious Cape Coral residents turned out for a town hall aimed at discussing homeowners insurance rates and the outcome of the 2022 special legislative session.

The Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral, along with the city of Cape Coral, held the town hall on June 7.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who called lawmakers back to Tallahassee in May to tackle the issue during a special legislative session, signed a law May 26 aimed at helping Floridas property insurance market.

Previous coverage: Have questions about homeowners insurance? Cape Coral is hosting a town hall

DeSantis in the Cape: Hometown Heroes Housing Program launched by Gov. Ron DeSantis

The legislation creates a $2 billion fund to help insurers pay potential hurricane damage claims, adds limits on insurance lawsuits, and permits policies with separate deductibles for roof damage.

Shay Sanchez, resident of Cape Coral, came seeking answers and was mixed about the response from the town hall.

"So I did feel more informed knowing that, OK, they are working for us. There is something that they're doing for us as homeowners to try to level out the playing field for us," Sanchez said.

She had hoped to get more answers on what the new bills said about roof deductibles but was left with questions and said "there was not enough detailed with that part."

"Is there a part of (problem) that's going to be fixed? I think so. But on a majority of the key issues, I think there's still more work to be done," Sanchez said.

Brian Chapman, of Chapman Insurance Group, answers an audience memberOs question while participating in a town hall meeting. The city of Cape Coral along with the Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral hosted a town hall to answer pressing issues about homeowners insurance rates. The hosts included state representatives Mike Giallombardo and Bob Rommel, as well as insurance field experts Brian Chapman and James Barfield. The event was held Tuesday evening, June 7, 2022 at the Cape Coral Yacht Club.

Guest panelists included state representatives Mike Giallombardo and Bob Rommel, Brian Chapman, CEO of Chapman Insurance Group, and James Barfield, owner of Barfield Insurance.

Chapman told The News-Press that the No. 1 issue Florida is facing are significant insurance rate increases and that Cape Coral residents are experiencing an average increase of 35%.

Giallombardo told The News-Press the biggest changes the bill brought were litigation reform and $2 billion in reinsurance funds.

Story continues

Flood insurance issues in the Cape: FEMA's new flood risk ratings in Cape Coral could mean higher insurance costs

He blames lawsuits in the state filed by contractors who attempt to collect money from insurance companies through civil lawsuits after homeowners sign over their assignment of benefits, an agreement that transfers the insurance claim rights and benefits of the policy to a third party.

He also clarified that homeowners can still sue if they are not treated fairly, but contractors can no longer litigate on the homeowner's behalf.

Florida is responsible for 9% of all the property insurance claims throughout the U.S., Giallombardo said. But Florida is responsible for 80% of all the litigation for the United States.

Giallombardo said some parts of the legislation that deal with litigation reform are tied up in court right now, but he will be looking to do more litigation reform.

Cape Coral resident Sheena Reagan asks panel members questions about new homeowners insurance rate changes. The city of Cape Coral along with the Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral hosted a town hall to answer pressing issues about homeowners insurance rates. The hosts included state representatives Mike Giallombardo and Bob Rommel, as well as insurance field experts Brian Chapman and James Barfield. The event was held Tuesday evening, June 7, 2022 at the Cape Coral Yacht Club.

Sheena Reagan, a resident of 20 years and a Realtor, said she hoped to hear what was put in place to bring relief to homeowners losing their insurance

"What we got was, oh, OK, they can't drop you after your roof is 15 years old. Well, the life expectancy of a roof is 20 to 25 years. I've lived here my entire life, and I've never seen a roof just randomly blow off after 12 years," Reagan said.

Previous town hall: Cape Coral residents air grievances over Yacht Club park construction

Related: Cape Coral opposes FEMA flood risk ratings, fears increased insurance rates

More Cape news: Cove at 47th development in Cape Coral slated for August construction start

She understands the insurance lawsuit situation but said it's the insurance industry's fault and Florida residents are paying for it.

"They're just here to deliver the message not a single one of them can be responsible for the crisis that was had during the insurance roofing scam or any of this," Reagan said. "I just think there are better ways to handle it."

Chapman said the new legislation is a great first step, but there are problems regarding how much they can fix.

State Rep. Mike Giallombardo speaks to the audience while participating in a town hall meeting Tuesday evening, June 7, 2022. The city of Cape Coral along with the Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral hosted a town hall to answer pressing issues about homeowners insurance rates. The hosts included Giallombardo, state Rep. Bob Rommel, as well as insurance field experts Brian Chapman and James Barfield. The event was held at the Cape Coral Yacht Club.

Under the new legislation, insurance companies also cannot refuse to write or renew a policy based on the age of a roof if it is less than 15 years old or if an inspection says there are five years of roof usage left.

"So that's great. Sounds good. But the problem is, is the insurance companies are allowed to come up with 100 other reasons they don't want to write it," Chapman said.

He said carriers are required to pass on any money saved from the $2 billion reinsurance funds to the consumers, but he viewed it as a way to keep carriers in business.

"I think right now, in my opinion, they pass that portion of it to keep carriers in business, not for them to have this huge windfall of money," Chapman said.

Rommel said he knew there would be a lot of angry people upset with high rates and canceled policies, but he believes the legislation will help residents.

He said the reforms should attract big insurance carriers and more competition to stabilize the insurance market, but it will take some time to see the effects.

"With the bill that we passed. I believe we're gonna get those carriers," Rommel said. "But I can promise you, things are gonna stabilize."

Luis Zambrano is a Watchdog/Cape Coral reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. You can reach Luis at Lzambrano@gannett.com or 239-266-5604. Follow him on Twitter @Lz2official.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Homeowners insurance worries many in Cape Coral town hall
(AFP via Getty Images)

China is sponsoring cyber attacks targeting major telecommunication and network service providers in the United States, federal agencies claim.

A new report from the NSA, CISA, and the FBI has claimed that public and private sector organisations are being exploited via routers and Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices.

Hackers are using vulnerabilities that are already well known in software but have not yet been fixed, rather than using an unknown exploit.

Over the last few years, a series of high-severity vulnerabilities for network devices provided cyber actors with the ability to regularly exploit and gain access to vulnerable infrastructure devices, the report states.

In addition, these devices are often overlooked by cyber defenders, who struggle to maintain and keep pace with routine software patching of Internet-facing services and endpoint devices.

The techniques used by the hackers allow them to gain access to victims accounts using publically available code without using their own distinctive or identifying malware as long as the hackers implemented their exploit before the victims organisations updated their systems.

Hackers are evolving and adapting their tactics in order to bypass defences, with the agencies claiming they have observed state-sponsored actors modifying infrastructure and toolsets. The attacks can steal credentials to databases, and then move user and admin credentials from Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) servers.

"Armed with valid accounts and credentials from the compromised RADIUS server and the router configurations, the cyber actors returned to the network and used their access and knowledge to successfully authenticate and execute router commands to surreptitiously route, capture, and exfiltrate traffic out of the network to actor-controlled infrastructure," the federal agencies state.

The agencies also recommend that the United States government and private industries apply security patches, disable unnecessary ports, and replace infrastructure that no longer receives security updates.

Story continues

PRC sponsored actors are using access to telcos and ISPs to scale their targeting, NSA director of cybersecurity Rob Joyce tweeted. To kick them out, we must understand the tradecraft and detect them beyond just initial access.

PRC sponsored actors are using access to telcos and ISPs to scale their targeting. To kick them out, we must understand the tradecraft and detect them beyond just initial access. https://t.co/l4W4kHKd8B  Rob Joyce (@NSA_CSDirector) June 7, 2022

Earlier this year, Chinese hackers reportedly attempted to attack Indias power grid; a US security firm claimed that the attackers targeted seven Indian state centres for electrical dispatch and grid control.

Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the report had been noted by Beijing, but that China firmly opposes and combats any form of cyber attacks, and will not encourage, support or condone any cyber attacks.

In a statement to The Independent, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy denied the accusations and said that the country opposes and combats cyber theft in all its forms.

For years, the US, abusing its advantages in the fields of Internet and ICT, has violated the freedom of communication and speech of its citizens through digital surveillance at home, and conducted massive, systematic and indiscriminate data and cyber theft across the world. Danish media disclosed last year that the US National Security Agency eavesdropping on phone calls and text messages of political leaders of Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and other European countries. Documents leaked by Edward Snowden on the US surveillance programme Stateroom show that the US has been operating a highly secretive signals intelligence collection programme through almost a hundred US embassies and consulates worldwide.

As a matter of fact, the US is the largest source of cyber attacks on China, gravely endangering the security of Chinas critical infrastructure, personal data, trade and technology secret. Being a true empire of hacking, surveillance and theft of secrets itself, the US has been spreading disinformation about hacking from China. This is pure distortion of facts and a robber acting like a policeman.

Cyber attacks are a common challenge to all, which must be dealt with through the joint efforts of the international community. Countries should work together to safeguard peace and security in cyberspace through dialogue and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. Launching smear campaigns against others and inciting division and confrontation will only undermine mutual trust and international cooperation, rather than enhancing cyber security. The Chinese side once again strongly urges the US to stop cyber theft targeting China and other parts of the world, stop slandering other countries, and act in a responsible way in cyberspace.
By Trend

Azerbaijan has been making extremely good progress on several of the Sustainable Development Goals, Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

I am privileged to be here, in this great country, Azerbaijan. I am here as the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations. I came at the invitation of the government of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has been a country which is committed to multilateralism. This year Azerbaijan is marking 30 years of its membership at the UN. Azerbaijan has played an important role in promoting multilateralism. It has served as a member of the Security Council, as a member of the Economic and Social Council. At a time when the international community is experiencing a large number of challenges, it is an opportunity for me to discuss the leadership of Azerbaijan, the challenges that were facing, the pandemic, the energy crisis, the food crisis, the issues such as climate change and many others. I had a very good meetings with the foreign minister and also, I met the speaker of the parliament. Later I attended the ADA University, engaged with young people and finished my day with meeting with the UN country team to assess the relationship between the UN agencies and Azerbaijan, he said.

Noting that Azerbaijan today is the chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Shahid recalled that under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev Azerbaijan convened the summit of NAM and discussed COVID-19 issues.

After that meeting President Ilham Aliyev initiated the convening of the special session of the General Assembly on this issue. It was a very timely initiative, it assisted in bringing the matter to the attention of the international community, of the member states. The only way out of the pandemic is vaccine. It is important that all countries have equal access to vaccine. I convened a high-level meeting on February 25 on the same issue this year and I was very happy to receive message of support from President Ilham Aliyev as the chair of NAM. It is commendable, said the president of the UN General Assembly.

Shahid pointed out that Azerbaijan has been making extremely good progress on several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It is also important to note and it is a matter of great pride for Azerbaijan that it has been one of the few countries, which has submitted three times the Voluntary National Review (VNR). It showcases how engaged is the Azerbaijani government in formulation of the commission to review constantly the implementation of SDGs. It is also a clear indication of the SDG commitment of the government. We are here to assist in whatever the government would like the UN to assist  in climate change, gender issues and many other issues. The role of UN is highly valued by the people and the government of Azerbaijan and we will be ready to assist in whatever the people want, he said.

Shahid noted that one of the factors of cooperation within the framework of UN is climate change.

Of course, Azerbaijan is an oil producing country, nevertheless, it is of significant importance that at COP26 Azerbaijan pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2050. So, the commitment of Azerbaijan is clearly seen and UN will be working with Azerbaijan with regard to transfer of technologies, in switching to renewable energy.

I am impressed by the great strides that the people of Azerbaijan are taking in development of the country in spite of these very difficult times,- Shahid concluded.




The City of Savannah will soon be on the hunt for a new fire chief. Current Savannah Fire Chief Derik Minard will step down from his role on July 1, the city announced Monday.

In his new role Minard will serve as fire chief in Westminster, Colorado. Minard previously spent 28 years with the Westminster Fire Department before coming to Savannah in 2019.

It has been the honor of a lifetime to cultivate an inclusive, welcoming culture where all firefighters and civilian staff want to come to work each day and have a voice in the vision for the future of our department, Minard said in a statement.

"I appreciate City Manager (Jay) Melder, our City Council, and my fellow members of Team Savannah for welcoming me and allowing me to be a part of this work family for three years; it is bittersweet to be leaving a city I have enjoyed calling home and going back to the only other home I have known as a firefighter is the only reason I would ever leave.

Read More: Savannah police, safety office detail plans to engage youth, build community engagement

Also: To curb violence, Savannah and Chatham Co. must invest in literacy, parenting, structured play

Savannah Fire Chief Derik Minard

Melder praised Minard for his professionalism during his tenure in Savannah.

Team Savannah is proud of the major accomplishments achieved during Chief Minards tenure, and we are a better organization because of his leadership. He led a cultural transformation of our Fire Department that will continue to pay dividends for our firefighters and those we serve well into the future," Melder said.

"Savannah Fire is one of the nations premier fire departments, and Chief Minard and his leadership team deserve a great deal of credit for our success. We wish him nothing but the best as he returns to Westminster to lead his hometown fire department.

Read More: Savannah man's family raises questions about investigation into deadly police shooting

A few of Minards major initiatives in his three years since becoming fire chief include restructuring the department, promoting a diverse and inclusive culture that included the hiring of Savannah's first female fire marshal, resolving pay system issues for SFDs commissioned staff, leading the department through a successful reaccreditation with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, enhancing mental health support services, and instituting a servant-leader model among the leadership team.

Story continues

Melder has appointed Assistant Chief Elzie Kitchen to serve as interim Fire Chief effective July 2. A Johnson High School graduate and Savannah resident since 1977, Chief Kitchen has served the Savannah Fire Department since 1998.

Elzie Kitchen

Kitchen holds masters degrees in emergency services management, public administration, and organizational leadership from Columbia Southern and Waldorf Universities and was recently awarded the designation of Chief Fire Officer from the Center for Public Safety Excellence.

The City will undertake a process to hire a permanent fire chief.

Katie Nussbaum is the city and county government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Contact her at knussbaum@savannahnow.com. Twitter: KnussSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Fire Chief Derik Minard resigns, Elzie Kitchen named interim
ReportLinker

The Connected Medical Device Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18. 92% over the forecast period from 2022 to 2027. The healthcare industry has witnessed a significant transformation throughout the last few years, aided by the transformative nature of IoT technologies and advances in computer power, wireless technologies, and data analytics techniques, such as Big Data, which currently is deployed in medical facilities and the medical research sector for the analysis of a large amount of complex heterogeneous medical data involving genomics, proteomics, and pharmacogenomics, worldwide.

New York, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Connected Medical Device Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06241296/?utm_source=GNW





Key Highlights

In the past, medical devices and software were generally deployed to control medical equipment and display reading. However, the growing potential of current software and its offerings dominates the need for the advanced sensory and connected medical hardware equipment. Hence, there is a rise in the number of connected medical devices and advancements in software that are capable of capturing and transmitting medical data, along with data analytics services that help medical practitioners drive insights into and promote the delivery of predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory medicines.

According to a report published by Telegraph, Apple Watch, equipped with a heart rate sensor fed with a history of medical data, was able to save a mans life by always alerting when the heart rate dropped below 40 bpm and recommending to visit the nearest ER hospital. Additionally, Phillips introduced the Philips IntelliVue Guardian wearable patch, which can be used to monitor patients at homes and in hospitals. Similarly, the deployment of these devices has enabled Mt. Sinai Medical Center, a hospital in New York, to cut down the waiting time of patients in the emergency ward by up to 50%

This factor further broadens the scope for remote monitoring devices offered in the connected medical devices market. It is estimated that remote monitoring for healthcare could be worth USD 1.1 trillion by 2025. As part of their strategies related to customer engagement, the attempts to deploy these devices by healthcare vendors have gained traction. It was estimated that pharmacy and medical technology companies, on average, spend around 5-12% of their revenues on R&D (including clinical trials) to bring efficient and safe products to the market. It is known that using connected devices in clinical settings can reduce the total cost of the trials, thereby reducing the overall product cost.

However, COVID-19 has positively impacted the market growth. This is due to the drastic increase in the number of patients, pressure on doctors to provide advanced healthcare services, and governments developing apps based on connectivity technologies. The pandemic has brought out new ways in which patients can interact with doctors. There is a rising trend of telemedicine services as governments across the world have advised citizens to avoid any movement outside their homes. As the entire concentration of hospitals is on treating COVID-19 patients, people are discovering new ways to monitor their health themselves and only approach doctors in case of emergencies. Thus, the sales of smart wearables, especially smartwatches, have increased in the last few months.



Key Market Trends



Wearable Device is Expected to Hold Major Share



Wearable technologies in the healthcare industry offer convenient means to monitor physiological features. A multitude of medical solutions are not restricted to consumers but provide current data for doctors to analyze patients at remote locations. Wearable medical technologies have a vast range of applications in the healthcare segment, from Apple Watchs glucose monitoring systems to its EKG capabilities.

Apart from being convenient, wearable devices were proven to be cost-effective, as the data generated by these devices may help doctors make decisions remotely, thus reducing the patients repeated visits to hospitals for regular checkups.

Healthcare wearable devices comprise more than fitness bands. Smartwatches, smart glasses, smart footwear, smart apparel, posture monitors, movement sensors, wrist devices, heart straps, headbands, wearable patches, pain management devices, and medicine delivery pods are some of the devices that make up the vast and growing healthcare wearables market.

The adoption of wearable devices in the healthcare segment has been gaining traction over recent years. This, in turn, is one of the significant factors influencing the connected medical devices market.

The number of shipments from the modular segment was slightly more than 2.5 million, which was almost sixteen times the number of shipments from the wrist wearable segment, thus indicating the immense opportunities that the sector offers. Moreover, the devices related to cardiac-related diseases are expected to be worth USD 800 billion by 2030, which shows a significant opportunity in the cardiac segment for various healthcare wearables.

Mobile technologies are paving the way to revolutionize the diagnosis of diseases and monitoring patient treatment. As wearables are personal devices that provide continuous monitoring of vital parameters, they can be used as a clinical tool for determining the patterns of a particular disease, providing a better understanding of the disease, and continuously monitoring users health. Wearable fitness technology has weaved itself into people so that FitBits and smartwatches are seen as mainstream. The future of wearable devices is estimated to witness continuous growth over the coming years.



North America Holds Highest Market Share



Monitoring has been a key focus in the US connected medical device market, witnessing an increasing integration of intelligence into medical devices, offering real-time insights based on patient data. For instance, AliveCor developed a medical-grade electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) band, which can be used by the smartwatch wearers to detect cardiac arrhythmia conditions causing stroke and to measure the heart rate and rhythm.

Further, in 2021 Epitels first product, a wireless and wearable EEG (brain wave monitor) sensor, was approved by the FDA for use in hospital emergency rooms and critical care units. Epitels first FDA-approved product contains wearable, wireless sensors that a nurse or hospital technician may apply quickly and easily. The EEG data is then immediately connected to a cloud-based software platform that neurologists may access at any time and from any location to review and monitor for seizures. Because the Epitel System is wearable and wireless, it can keep track of the patient for up to 48 hours while they are in the hospital.

According to Synopsys, a computer integrated systems design company, US hospitals have an average of 10-15 connected medical devices per bed. A critical factor for companies looking to bring connected devices to the market is the wireless device certification process. In North America, this is separate from the FDA testing and is required for all wireless devices.

Like other computer systems, medical devices can be vulnerable to security breaches, potentially impacting the safety and effectiveness of the device. The FDA allows devices to be marketed when there is a reasonable assurance that the benefits to patients outweigh the risks.



Competitive Landscape



The Connected Medical Device Market primarily comprises multiple domestic and international players in quite a fragmented and highly competitive environment. Technological advancements in the market are also bringing sustainable competitive advantage to the companies, and the market is also witnessing multiple partnerships and mergers.



April 2021  Medtronic announced the launch of its research and development center in India, which is going to be the largest R&D center outside the United States. Due to faster-changing healthcare in India company decided to build this massive facility, which will serve as a key hub for engineering and innovation across the companys global R&D effort.

January 2022 - The company announced it was developing a new category of consumer bio wearables called Lingo, which was designed to detect key signals in the body such as glucose, ketones, and lactate - to help people better understand their general health and take action.



Additional Benefits:



The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format

3 months of analyst support

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06241296/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Story continues

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




The family of former University of Missouri student Danny Santulli appealed for justice for their son and brother in an appearance Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Santulli is at his parents' home in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, with severe brain damage resulting from alcohol poisoning he received last fall as a freshman pledge to the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, known commonly as Fiji.

He was required to consume an entire bottle of vodka for what was called "pledge dad reveal night." He drank three-fourths of the bottle, according to a court document.

More: Former Missouri Fiji pledge Danny Santulli is back home but 'blind' and 'unable to walk or communicate,' attorney says

Video shows the night of the hazing incident at the Fiji fraternity

Santulli family attorney David Bianchi on Friday provided the Tribune with surveillance video from the fraternity house the night of Oct. 19 and morning of Oct. 20, 2021, on the condition that all faces except that of Santulli be blurred before publication.

The video shows pledges, blindfolded and wearing only shorts, as they descend a stairway. One fraternity member pokes at some of the pledges, and another tries to trip some of them.

Danny Santulli, 19, was rushed to a Columbia hospital after he became unresponsive following an alleged hazing incident at a Phi Gamma Delta party at the University of Missouri last October. Santulli suffered brain damage from alcohol poisoning and remains unable to walk or communicate.

The video shows a fraternity member placing a tube in Santulli's mouth, connected to a funnel filled with beer on the other end. Santulli doesn't resist and appears to consume the entire contents of the funnel.

Santulli is seen collapsing to the floor at 10:55 p.m. Fraternity members carry him to a sofa and plop him down upon it.

At 12:28 a.m., the video shows Santulli partially sliding onto the floor from the sofa.

A fraternity member entering the room at 12:42 a.m. fiddles with his phone for a few seconds before moving Santulli back onto the sofa.

Other fraternity members enter shortly after that. Two of them pick up Santulli and carry him, partially dropping him when they reach the door. Santulli is loaded into a waiting car.

Story continues

He's in cardiac arrest when he reaches University of Missouri Hospital and requires resuscitation.

"Just the fact that they knew he was in distress and his lips were blue and nobody called 911," said Santulli's mom, Mary Pat Santulli, in the GMA interview. "It's like, I don't know. I mean, even a 6-year-old calls 911."

More: Former Missouri Fiji pledge Danny Santulli is back home but 'blind' and 'unable to walk or communicate,' attorney says

Danny Santulli's family awaits criminal charges from Mizzou hazing incident

MU ejected the fraternity from campus and has sanctioned 13 fraternity members over the incident, but the university hasn't made the sanctions public.

There were student protests on campus resulting from the incident.

Lawsuits are being dismissed against the original 23 defendants in the civil case after they reached settlements with Santulli's family.

More: All 23 defendants in Missouri's Fiji hazing lawsuit settle with family of former pledge Danny Santulli

Two new defendants have been added to the lawsuit, fraternity members Samuel Gandhi and Alec Wetzler. Wetzler so far faces the only criminal charges filed in the incident, two misdemeanor counts. The probable cause statement filed in the case sought a felony hazing charge, alleging Santulli's life was endangered by Wetzler.

Wetzler on Thursday waived his initial appearance and entered a "not guilty" plea, according to online court records.

The delay in criminal charges is a sore point with family members interviewed on "Good Morning America."

"It makes me sick, sick to my stomach seeing the people involved that harmed Danny walking around campus acting like they did nothing wrong," said Santulli's sister, Meredith Santulli, on GMA.

Meredith is an MU student. Santulli's brother, Nick, graduated from Mizzou, Bianchi said.

A misdemeanor charge isn't adequate, Santulli's dad, Tom Santulli, said on the show.

Bianchi, their attorney, said he doesn't know why the Boone County Prosecutor's Office won't enforce the state of Missouri's anti-hazing law.

"There is something very strange about that," Bianchi wrote in an email. "What is going on behind the scenes that we don't know about???"

He used the three question marks in his email.

Interim Boone County Prosecutor Nick Komoroski released a statement to local media outlets Friday saying his office is reviewing the investigation into the incident and will file more charges if necessary. Komoroski was sworn in as interim prosecuting attorney June 4 after the sudden death of longtime Boone County Prosecutor Dan Knight.

"This office takes allegations of hazing very seriously and we are terribly saddened by the injuries sustained by Danny Santulli," Komoroski said.

'We'll just keep fighting,' Danny Santulli's family says

Santulli will need care for the rest of his life, his mom said.

"He's still not talking or walking," she said on GMA. "He's in a wheelchair. He lost his vision. But he hears us and he knows we're there. And we'll just keep fighting and we're not going to give up."

It's still Danny, his brother said.

"We're going to love Danny forever and we'll always be by his side, no matter what," Nick Santulli said.

More: Former Missouri student in Colorado rehab hospital after alcohol poisoning: 'Life as he knew it is gone'

Roger McKinney is the education reporter for the Tribune. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou hazing incident involving Danny Santulli at Fiji seen on video
ReportLinker

Electric Powertrain Market Research Report by Vehicle Type (48v Mild Hybrid Vehicle (MHEV), Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), and Hybrid & Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle (HEV/PHEV)), HEV/PHEV Powertrain Component, 48v MHEV Powertrain Component, BEV Powertrain Component, Powertrain Type, Region (Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19

New York, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Electric Powertrain Market Research Report by Vehicle Type, HEV/PHEV Powertrain Component, 48v MHEV Powertrain Component, BEV Powertrain Component, Powertrain Type, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06258755/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Electric Powertrain Market size was estimated at USD 96.29 billion in 2021 and expected to reach USD 129.27 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 34.42% to reach USD 568.22 billion by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Electric Powertrain to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Vehicle Type, the market was studied across 48v Mild Hybrid Vehicle (MHEV), Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), and Hybrid & Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle (HEV/PHEV).



Based on HEV/PHEV Powertrain Component, the market was studied across 12V Battery, Battery Management System, Controller, DC/AC Inverter, DC/DC Converter, HV Battery, Idle Start-Stop, Motor/Generator, On-Board Charger, Power Distribution Module, and Regenerative Braking.



Based on 48v MHEV Powertrain Component, the market was studied across 12V Battery, 48V Battery, 48v BSG/ISG, Battery Management System, DC/AC Inverter, DC/DC Converter, Idle Start-Stop, and Regenerative Braking.



Based on BEV Powertrain Component, the market was studied across 12V Battery, Battery Management System, Controller, DC/AC Inverter, DC/DC Converter, HV Battery, Motor/Generator, On-Board Charger, Power Distribution Module, and Regenerative Braking.



Based on Powertrain Type, the market was studied across BEV Powertrain, MHEV Powertrain, Parallel Hybrid Powertrain, Series Hybrid Powertrain, and Series-Parallel Hybrid Powertrain.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.



This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Electric Powertrain market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Electric Powertrain Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Electric Powertrain Market, including Acumuladores Moura SA, BorgWarner Inc., BRUSA Elektronik AG, C C Power Electronics Ltd., Continental AG, Curtis Instruments, Inc., Dana Incorporated, Denso Corporation, Filtran LLC, Hitachi, Ltd., Kelly Controls, Inc., Magna International Inc., Magneti Marelli CK Holdings Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Nidec Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, Toyota Industries Corporation, Valeo Group, and ZF Friedrichshafen AG.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Electric Powertrain Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Electric Powertrain Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Electric Powertrain Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Electric Powertrain Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Electric Powertrain Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Electric Powertrain Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Electric Powertrain Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06258755/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Story continues

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




WEYBRIDGE, England , June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SEIDOR , a multinational consulting firm specialising in technology services and solutions for SMEs, has won its fifth consecutive SAP Pinnacle Award, being recognised for its Sales Excellence within small enterprises across the globe.

ERP Solutions provider SEIDOR wins fifth consecutive SAP Pinnacle Award

The prestigious Pinnacle Award is presented to the partner who best understands customers' requirements and fulfils those with SAP solutions, such as SAP Business One and SAP Business ByDesign .

"The winning partners have been chosen based on their commitment to customer value creation, exponential growth and simplification," said Christian Klein, CEO of SAP. "Together, we support our customers on their journey to becoming intelligent, sustainable enterprises."

Over the last five years, SEIDOR has won many accolades for its range of world-class services. In 2018, SAP presented SEIDOR with titles for cloud and analytics. In 2019 and 2020, SEIDOR won consecutive awards for the ERP Partner of the Year for SMEs. Last year, SEIDOR was also selected as the SAP Business One Partner of the Year.

The SAP Pinnacle Awards are now in their 20th year. The awards highlight SAP's top-performing partners globally, with more than 20,000 vendors invited to participate.

Carlos Iribarren, Director at SEIDOR, said it was a fantastic achievement for the company to be selected again as one of the world's best global partners.

"This is a deserved recognition for the whole team's commitment, dedication and effort, particularly for the work of SEIDOR's specialised area in SMEs and the mid-market area," he said.

In addition to SEIDOR winning the small enterprise award, the multinational IT consultancy specialist was also nominated as a finalist in the mid-market category.

The 2022 SAP Pinnacle Award continues an impressive start to the year for SEIDOR. At the recent Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) SAP Partner Kick-Off Meeting, SEIDOR won a record 31 awards for its world-class support and services. Next, at the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) SAP awards, SEIDOR took home awards for Top SME Cloud Performance, Partner Excellence for New Business, and Cloud Delivery Excellence.

Story continues

About SEIDOR

SEIDOR is one of SAP's leading Platinum Partners and the world's largest SAP Business One Partner. The company  with UK headquarters in Weybridge, Surrey  provides powerful Business Management Solutions to improve efficiency and increase control and visibility over business processes. The ERP Software Specialists provide services and support for some of the world's most popular SAP-powered ERP Systems, such as SAP Business One, SAP Business ByDesign and S/4 HANA.

The company has been awarded many industry accolades for its range of Services and Solutions. The most recent is the SAP Pinnacle Award for SME Sales Excellence 2022. It has also been awarded by SAP for its range of SAP Business One and SME Services, plus Cloud and Analytic Solutions.

To learn more about SEIDOR, our portfolio of ERP Solutions, and our award-winning services, visit www.seidor.com or call 01932 212 777 . Connect with us on LinkedIn , Twitter , or YouTube .

Contact:

Iain Bate

Marketing Manager

SEIDOR

iain.bate@seidor.com

01932 212 777
SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Etihad Aviation Group, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with B Medical Systems to develop and launch an airline-specific passive temperature-controlled solution for the transportation of life-saving drugs, vaccines and high-value pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Omar Najim, Manager Executive Affairs Office at DoH, Andrea Scammacca, COO, B Medical, Jesal Doshi, CEO, B Medical, H.E. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of Department of Health, Dr Nadia Al Bastaki, Chief HROD, Etihad Aviation Group, Tim Isik, VP, Etihad Cargo, Lubna AlLaham, Marketing & Communications, Etihad Cargo, Fabrice Panza, Cool Chain Products, Etihad Cargo

Etihad Cargo will collaborate with Luxembourg-based manufacturer and global distributor of medical refrigeration devices B Medical Systems to develop sustainable temperature-controlled container units that utilise passive cooling technology to retain temperatures from -80 to 25 degrees Celsius for up to five days without requiring an external power source, thereby reducing carbon emissions, with load capabilities ranging from two to 1,500 litres. The containers' robust design and multi-use capabilities enable an operational life of over ten years.

Martin Drew, Etihad Aviation Group's Senior Vice President  Sales & Cargo, said, "Etihad Cargo is the first airline globally to collaborate with a partner to develop and launch units specifically tailored to air transportation. Partnering with B Medical Systems is the latest step by Etihad Cargo to achieve its sustainability targets. By replacing legacy active cold chain air transportation containers with aviation-specific units that consume less energy, Etihad Cargo is future-proofing the transportation of pharmaceuticals, providing a better solution for Etihad Cargo's customers, the aviation industry and the environment."

Jesal Doshi, Deputy CEO of B Medical Systems, said, "The transportation of temperature-sensitive specimens needs a robust cold chain. Etihad Cargo's operational knowledge along with our expertise in creating quality medical cold chain solutions will enable us to develop aviation-specific sustainable units for the safe, effective, and environmentally friendly transportation of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals and specimens."

Story continues

Etihad Cargo is participating in the BIO International Convention as part of a high-profile Abu Dhabi delegation headed by H.E. Abdulla bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of the Department of Health  Abu Dhabi (DoH). The delegation is visiting the USA to explore prospects for collaboration within the healthcare sector and, more specifically, life sciences to establish sustainable mechanisms that empower the healthcare sector in both countries as well as showcase Abu Dhabi's distinguished healthcare ecosystem.

Powered by a solid infrastructure and advanced healthcare ecosystem, partnership opportunities across the biopharmaceutical and healthcare value chain in Abu Dhabi continue to emerge as a result of the sector's robust growth potential. Abu Dhabi has been leading the transformation of the regional healthcare ecosystem by leveraging sciences and technology, positioning itself as a global life sciences hub and incubator for healthcare innovation.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1838911/IMG_1714.jpg
By Ron Bousso, Marek Strzelecki, Christoph Steitz and Markus Wacket

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is struggling to find a way to wrest control of a Russian-owned refinery that supplies most of Berlin's fuel, four people close to the matter said, fearing retaliation by Moscow if the site is nationalised and as Western firms hesitate to step in.

The PCK refinery in Schwedt, majority-owned by Russian oil giant Rosneft, is testing Germany's resolve to eliminate imports of oil from Russia by the end of the year under fresh European sanctions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

The landlocked refinery is the source of 90% of Berlin's fuel and has received all its crude from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline since the plant was built in the 1960s.

One solution considered by Germany has been to temporarily hand control of the refinery's day-to-day operations to British oil major Shell, which owns a 37.5% stake in Schwedt, according to government and company sources.

Shell, which saw Germany block the sale of its stake in Schwedt to Rosneft last year, is willing to step in as an interim operator, two of the people said, including a company source. But it is neither interested in taking over a larger stake nor being a permanent operator, they said.

Officials have also sounded out the idea of handing operations to Polish refinery PKN Orlen which could play a key role in efforts to reroute the refinery's crude supplies away from Russia.

PKN Orlen and Shell declined to comment. Rosneft, PCK and the Polish government did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for Germany's Economy Ministry, which is in charge of energy, said: "We are working flat out to find a solution. We know the problem and are working on it."

Poland insists that Rosneft must be ousted from Schwedt, Germany's fourth-largest refinery, before a potential deal including state-controlled PKN, the people said.

Rosneft, meantime, has so far refused to engage with Germany to discuss a sale of its 54.17% stake in Schwedt or any other solutions that could resolve the situation, the people said.

Story continues

Italy's Eni holds the remaining 8.33% and last month confirmed it was in the process of selling it.

"It's not trivial to solve this," German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday with regard to Schwedt, adding a working group had been set up to discuss its prospects.

Berlin has the option of taking control of Schwedt from Rosneft or even expropriating the firm, which it can do through energy security legislation recently updated to facilitate nationalisation.

Expropriation could spark retaliatory steps by Moscow, and the biggest fear in Germany would be that Russia cuts natural gas supplies, the people said. Europe has yet to draw up plans for how to cut dependency on Russian gas.

(Graphic: https://graphics.reuters.com/UKRAINE-CRISIS/GERMANY-OIL/myvmnqokmpr/chart_eikon.jpg)

(Graphic: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/gkplgqkmbvb/Druzhba.png)

Any alternative crude supply would be costly, putting further pressure on German consumers as Europe's biggest economy struggles with recessionary risks.

The EU plans to impose an embargo on 90% of Russian crude oil imports by the year end. The plan excludes landlocked Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic whose refineries get all their feedstock through the Druzhba pipeline from Russia.

Germany and Poland are gradually increasing crude supplies to Schwedt and the neighbouring TotalEnergies-owned Leuna refinery via other, smaller pipelines from the Baltic ports of Rostock and Gdansk.

Poland has offered to allocate spare capacity at its oil terminal in Gdansk and could ship sea-borne crude oil via its pipelines from the port to the two German refineries, on the condition Rosneft is removed as an owner of Schwedt.

The Gdansk terminal has room to receive as much as 36 million tonnes per year, leaving 9 million tonnes on top of the needs of Polish refiners that could be used for Germany.

Potential cooperation would include coordination of supplies and the types of crude in the pipeline system that feeds Poland's top refinery in Plock before turning west towards Germany, so that the product yields and refining margins can be maximized.

While the alternative pipeline supplies, from Norway, the Middle East, the United States and West Africa, are expected to rise in the coming months, they cannot meet the two refineries' full capacity of a combined 24 million tonnes of oil per year.

To plug the gap, one measure of last resort that is being considered includes the potential hiring of dozens of tanker trucks to deliver the crude oil from the two ports, two industry sources said.

For now, Schwedt and Leuna are enjoying unprecedented profit margins.

The Russian Urals crude delivered via the Druzhba pipeline is priced according to a formula calculating the grade's average monthly price. Based on a Reuters calculation, that priced the oil at around $35 a barrel below the Brent benchmark.

While most other European refineries that are no longer buying Russian crude have seen record profits from converting crude oil into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, the two German refineries' margins were given a further huge boost by the cheaper crude.

The margin for Leuna and Schwedt is estimated to be at around $50 to $70 a barrel, according to several industry sources and analysts.

That translates into a daily profit of between $12 million to $16.8 million per day for each refinery, roughly $8.5 million per day more than a similar sized northwest European refinery which does not process Russian oil.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso and Shadia Nasralla in London, Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw, Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt, Stephen Jewkes in Milan and Markus Wacket, Andreas Rinke and Christian Kraemer in Berlin; editing by David Evans)
Illustration by The Daily Beast/Warner Bros./Getty

Its no secret that the DC Extended Universe has a major casting problem. But the ongoing saga involving The Flash star Ezra Miller and the series of abuse and harassment allegations theyve accrued over the past yearmost recently, groomingmight be the biggest moral conundrum the film franchise has yet to face.

Back in April, an insider at DC Films told Rolling Stone that the studio held an emergency meeting about Millers behavior after they were charged with disorderly conduct and harassment in Hawaii for an incident involving patrons at a karaoke bar. (The actor was also hit with a restraining order by a couple who claimed Miller threatened them thats since been dropped). While DC Films has yet to release an official statement on the matter, the source in the Rolling Stone article claimed that Millers upcoming projects, which include The Flashset for 2023and a planned sequel, were put on the pause.

But according to a source in Variety, Warner Bros., which owns DC Comics, is barreling ahead with The Flash and plans on giving the superhero film the full blockbuster treatment, despite the most recent allegations made by Chase Iron Eyes and Sara Jumping Eagle that Miller has been grooming their 18-year-old daughter, environmental activist Tokata Iron Eyes, since the age of 12 (when Miller was 23).

The Flash Fans Want Grant Gustin to Replace Ezra Miller: Hes Not a Psychopath

Last week, Iron Eyes parents requested a protective order for their daughter from the Standing Rock Sioux tribal court, accusing Miller of using drugs, violence, and intimidation to control and manipulate her. (Iron Eyes disputed her parents claims on Instagram). Among other accusations, they claimed that Miller befriended their daughter in 2016 while visiting the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota and later flew her and other members of the tribe to London to visit the filming location of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in 2017, where Miller attempted to share a bed with Iron Eyes, who was 14 at the time. A judge has since approved the order, but law enforcement has not been able to locate Miller to serve them documents.

Story continues

A hearing for the case is scheduled for July 12.

Despite these disturbing new claims against Miller, Warner Bros. is apparently counting on the possibility that Miller will avoid legal consequences and stay out of trouble leading up to The Flashs release, according to Variety. The source added that it would cost too much money to completely scrap the project entirely. Even with the option to more quietly release the film exclusively on Warner Bros. streaming platform HBO Max, they claim that the movie would require a theatrical release to turn a profit for the studio.

This alleged move by DC is particularly defiant, given that fans on social media have been urging studio executives to replace Miller with Grant Gustin, the star of The CWs The Flash, ever since they went viral at the start of the pandemic for choking a woman in a videoanother the incident the studio failed to formally respond to.

In 2017, the rise of #MeToo in Hollywood introduced the option of recasting and reshooting film sequences featuring actors facing abuse allegations. Most notably, the late Christopher Plummer reshot all of Kevin Spaceys scenes in the film All the Money in the World over the course of 10 days after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct toward a minor. Mads Mikkelsen took over Johnny Depps role as Gellert Grindelwald after he started filming the third Fantastic Beasts film (also a Warner Bros. franchise), but was given a $16 million payout to leave the franchise amid domestic violence allegations by ex-wife Amber Heard.

Speaking of Heard, DCs lax handling of Miller thus far is especially eyebrow-raising given recent claims from the actress legal team that she was almost fired from her role as Mera in the DC film Aquaman 2 and barred from renegotiating her contract when she eventually signed onto the sequel due to the public scrutiny she was receiving during legal proceedings with Depp (her role has reportedly been downsized in the sequel). DC Films president Walter Hamada rebutted that the studio considered letting Heard go because of a lack of chemistry between her and her co-star Jason Momoa. However, both theories fail to justify the studio potentially letting Heard go while expressing no public concern over Miller being a well-documented public menace.

As if the DCEU hasnt dealt with enough problems, the franchise already has another dilemma on their hands regarding their image and The Flashs potential revenue no matter how they handle the Miller situation. Ostensibly, reshooting Millers scenes in the film would be a large, costly undertaking, assuming they have a substantial amount of screen time as the main star and the number of pricey set pieces in modern superhero films. However, the option is certainly there. And for a big Hollywood corporation, the choice appears more inconvenient than impossible.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
The $7,500 federal EV tax credit has been used for several years to entice consumers to make greener car purchasing decisions, but it has expired for some automakers  and they feel the government needs to remove limits on that incentive. Reuters has learned the CEOs of Ford, GM, Stellantis and Toyota sent a letter to congressional leadership asking them to eliminate the sales-based tax credit cap. The move would help counter economic factors and supply shortages that have raised the costs of producing EVs, according to the companies.

The credit currently applies to the first 200,000 cars sold by any given brand. GM and Tesla have already reached the 200,000-unit mark, while both Ford and Toyota could hit the cap this year. This doesn't affect state-level discounts. The companies hope Congress will replace the unit-based cap with a sunset date that would end the credit once the EV marketplace is "more mature."

It's not certain that enough politicians will warm up to the idea. Senator Joe Manchin, for instance, recently questioned the need for extended credits when EV demand regularly outstrips supply. And when the current Senate frequently shoots down bills without clear bipartisan support, any attempt to legislate the credit could fall apart.

The companies have strong motivations to act now, though. Republicans may regain control of one or both sides of Congress during this fall's midterm elections, and car industry execs are concerned the shift in power could kill chances of extending tax credits. Former President Trump tried to axe the credit in his proposed 2020 budget, and had the support of Republicans  the chances aren't high that the GOP will back an extension.

The customer tax breaks might not be as necessary as they once were, mind you. GM plans to sell a Chevy Equinox EV around $30,000, while Tesla has long-term plans for a $25,000 car. Although these models are years away and won't compete with the lowest-priced conventional cars, they hint at a future where EVs are genuinely affordable without government subsidies.
Opening of the Eurosatory land and airland defence and security trade fair, at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre in Villepinte

PARIS (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told France 2 television on Tuesday that the rise in U.S. bond yields showed that the "era of cost-free money" was over.

Le Maire added it wold cost France several billion euros to pay back its debt to the market, which showed that importance of sticking to a "balanced and coherent" fiscal policy.

U.S. equities tumbled on Monday, with the S&P 500 confirming it is in a bear market, as fears grow that the expected aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve would push the economy into a recession. [.N]

Last week, the European Central Bank (ECB) ended a long-running stimulus scheme and said it would deliver next month its first interest rate hike since 2011, followed by a potentially larger move in September.

The ECB, facing a euro zone inflation at a record-high of 8.1% and which is still rising, now fears that price growth is broadening out and could morph into a hard-to-break wage-price spiral, heralding a new era of stubbornly higher prices.

Data published last month showed the French economy unexpectedly shrank in the first quarter as consumers struggled to cope with surging inflation that reached a record-high rate of 5.8% over 12 months in May.

Nevertheless, Le Maire has said he expects France to have positive economic growth for 2022.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
Support welcomed for platform economy

By FAN FEIFEI and LIU WEIFENG (China Daily) 08:10, June 14, 2022

[SONG CHEN/CHINA DAILY]

Top leadership's efforts expected to put growth on right track

China's emphasis on bolstering healthy development of the platform economy is expected to help boost innovation and revitalize enterprises, stabilize market confidence and foster high-quality economic development, according to industry analysts.

The platform economy refers to the transition many leading companies worldwide are making from mainly offering products to mostly providing digital platforms that allow consumers, entrepreneurs, businesses and the public to connect, share resources, and sell products or services.

Regulations covering the platform economy are expected to be normalized and enforced in a standard, transparent and predictable manner, the analysts said, adding that such an economy plays a vital role in boosting economic growth and employment amid mounting downward pressure.

Shi Hongxiu, a professor of economics at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, also known as the National Academy of Governance, said, "The central authorities' support for the platform economy is conducive to shoring up market expectations and confidence."

The orderly and healthy development of the platform economy has great significance in promoting economic recovery in general, injecting new momentum into consumption growth, providing more flexible job opportunities, and ensuring people's livelihoods, Shi said.

More efforts should be made to improve regulatory methods and enhance supervision by establishing a system suitable for a modern market economy that would make oversight more transparent and scientific, Shi said, adding that the principle of the rule of law will also be followed.

Platform technologies should be taken into account regarding output, which would lead to a major upgrade in production factors, Shi added.

In March last year, President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, stressed efforts to promote regulated, healthy and sustainable development of the platform economy at the ninth meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, which he heads.

It was decided at the meeting that to build its competitive strengths, China would establish and improve the platform economy governance system, giving equal importance to development and regulation amid efforts to boost fair competition, oppose monopolies, and prevent the disorderly expansion of capital.

According to industry experts, there is a big overlap between healthy development of the platform economy and effective supervision of capital.

In an article on major theoretical and practical issues concerning China's development published in the mid-May issue of Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee, Xi stressed the need to understand the nature of capital and its laws of behavior. The article called for capital's positive role to be put into play under the conditions of a socialist market economy, while effectively reining in any negative effects.

Healthy future

Experts said the top leadership's attitude toward regulated and healthy development of the platform economy has been consistent, guaranteeing its growth is on the right track and that it has a healthy and sustainable future.

Shi said, "The problem is that our theoretical research in past years has failed to keep up with the fast development of the platform economy."

Rectification and completion of the platform economy is in line with the nation's high-quality development conceptwith more efficient, equitable, sustainable and secure featuresa key principle of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialist Economy with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

On April 29, a key meeting of the CPC Central Committee's Political Bureau sent a strong signal for the need to boost healthy development of the platform economy, Shi said.

According to Vice-Premier Liu He, China will support sustained and healthy development of the platform economy and the private sector. It will also formulate measures to boost the orderly and sound development of the platform economy, and encourage platform-based enterprises to take part in major national sci-tech innovation projects.

Liu made the remarks on May 17 at a symposium organized by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing. The CPPCC is China's top political advisory body.

The government will increase direct investment in the digital economy and support the listing of technology companies on domestic and overseas financial markets, Liu said.

Zhou Hongyi, founder of cybersecurity company 360 Security Group and a member of the 13th CPPCC National Committee, attended the May 17 meeting. He said the authorities' support for development of the platform economy and the private economy gave him confidence and hope. "The latest statements are full of positive energy. At this time, confidence and hope are more precious than gold," Zhou added.

According to the high-level meeting on April 29, rectification of the platform economy will be completed, regular supervision will be launched and specific measures introduced to support its standardized and sound growth.

Pan Helin, co-director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at Zhejiang University's International Business School, said, "After two years of special rectification of the platform economy in terms of information protection, antimonopoly work and a crack down on unfair competition, illegal and unfair practices hindering development of industries and harming personal privacy have been removed.

"The latest moves indicate that rectification of the nation's platform economy is nearly complete, while more concrete measures will be taken to achieve regular supervision of platform-based enterprises."

Pan said the platform economy is playing an increasingly important role in driving China's economic development amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a complex external environment. He said more efforts are needed to give full play to the advantages of the platform economy, which is vitally significant in improving livelihoods and increasing employment.

The authorities should bolster development of the platform economy to improve resource allocation efficiency, as well as create new business models, new economic growth points and more jobs, while better regulating the sector, Pan said.

According to a meeting of the State Council's Financial Stability and Development Committee on March 16, governance of the platform economy should abide by the principles of market orientation, the rule of law, and internationalization in a stable manner.

It was decided at the meeting that rectification work should be completed on large platform companies as soon as possible through regulated and transparent supervision.

The meeting also called for "red lights" and "green lights" to be introduced for the platform economy in China to boost its stable and healthy development and raise its international competitiveness.

At an executive meeting late last month, the State Council, China's Cabinet, announced 33 additional measures to stabilize growth, including promoting healthy development of the platform economy.

The meeting decided that full play should be given to the platform economy's advantages in stabilizing employment and helping small and medium-sized enterprises overcome their difficulties.

It also called for platform enterprises to be encouraged to accelerate breakthroughs in technological research and development for artificial intelligence, cloud computing, blockchain, operating systems and processors.

Long Haibo, a senior researcher at the State Council's Development Research Center, said recent policy developments signify that China will strike a balance between encouraging and regulating the platform economysending positive signals to the market in an attempt to further stabilize investor expectations and confidence.

On the one hand, disorderly growth of the platform economy and related monopolistic behavior will be reined in, while on the other, more efforts are needed to unleash the innovative vitality of such an economy, Long said.

"Effectively curbing the disorderly expansion of capital while boosting market confidence is a major test for improving modern supervisory capabilities, and also a prerequisite for deepening reforms to streamline administration and delegate power amid efforts to improve the business environment," Long said.

He added that greater emphasis on the synergy between governance of the platform economy and stability of the capital market is conducive to fostering high-quality development and safeguarding people's interests.

Healthy development of the sector will also further stimulate the innovation of platform-based enterprises amid the pandemic and enhance their global competitiveness, Long said.

Last month, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said it would complete rectification of large platform companies, set up "red lights" and "green lights", and implement regular oversight to encourage healthy growth of the platform economy.

In addition, the People's Bank of China, the nation's central bank, said in a statement it would improve its capital governance capability and conduct regular supervision of platform enterprises' financial activities.

Chen Bing, director of the Competition Law Research Center at Nankai University in Tianjin, said the platform economy is an important force in stabilizing economic growth and also acts as ballast to ensure people's livelihoods. He expects the government to step up policy support for the innovation of platform-based enterprises.

Using platforms' strengths to better allocate resources and promote the digital upgrading and transformation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises is particularly important, Chen said.

He added that integration of the platform economy with cutting-edge digital technologies will also create new products, business formats and jobs.

Foreign investment banks have taken a new look at the investment value of Chinese internet and technology companies.

Last month, JPMorgan raised the ratings for stocks of seven Chinese internet companies, including Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holding, Meituan, NetEase and Pinduoduo, from "underweight" to "overweight". An "overweight" classification typically means that an analyst believes that the stock is above average compared to the full range of available stocks traded under a benchmark index.

Wu Qi, executive director of the Wuxi Institute of Digital Economy, said the latest move to support platform-based enterprises seeking listings on domestic and overseas bourses will provide financial support and create a better business environment for these companies.

Efforts are needed to support increased investment by platform-based enterprises in core technologies and to boost their technological innovation capabilities, Wu said.

Last year, China introduced stricter regulations on the platform economy, imposed fines on a string of technology companies for their monopolistic behavior, set up an antimonopoly bureau, and proposed amendments to the Antimonopoly Law.

Chinese market regulatory authorities cracked down on monopolistic behavior in the platform economy, healthcare and public services last year. A total of 176 monopoly cases were dealt with and fines totaling 23.59 billion yuan ($3.5 billion) were imposed.

In April last year, the State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR, the nation's top market watchdog, imposed a record fine of 18.23 billion yuan on e-commerce giant Alibaba for monopolistic behavior. It also fined internet giant Meituan 3.44 billion yuan for abusing its dominant market position in the domestic online food delivery platform market.

Wang Xianlin, director of the Center for Competition Law and Policy at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said the ultimate goal of supervising the platform economy is to bolster its healthy development, stimulate compliant behavior by companies, and create a better business environment for market entities.

Better protection

In March, the SAMR said antimonopoly work this year would be carried out steadily and in a regulated, transparent and predictable manner to promote high-quality economic development and better protect the public interest.

As part of ongoing efforts to restore sound market order and promote fair competition, the regulator has pledged to strengthen the rule of law regarding antimonopoly supervision.

It will step up efforts to improve the legal system for fair competition and also provide clearer guidance for market entities, with a focus on stabilizing the macroeconomy, safeguarding people's well-being, and strengthening antitrust regulation and law enforcement in key areas.

The SAMR said intensified efforts should be made to build a modern regulatory system, enhance governance to ensure fair competition, promote enterprises in strengthening compliance management, and enable the nation to play a bigger global role in formulating antimonopoly rules.

Pu Chun, deputy head of the SAMR, said more efforts should be made to constantly improve the fair competition mechanism, establish a comprehensive oversight system, and guide sound and orderly development of capital in accordance with laws and regulations.

Ouyang Rihui, assistant dean of the China Center for Internet Economy Research at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, said the country's antitrust efforts are expected to continue this year, and stabilization work will be crucial.

"Antitrust regulatory measures will abide by the rule of law, striking a balance between stimulating innovation and supervision," Ouyang said, adding that such action will help stabilize the capital market, reassure investors and boost their confidence in the platform economy's long-term development.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
By Trend

Azerbaijan was facing threats from all directions until 1993, Secretary of the Azerbaijani Security Council, Colonel-General Ramil Usubov said in an interview with the Azerbaijan newspaper, Trend reports.

According to Usubov, the National Salvation Day of Azerbaijanis [marked in Azerbaijan every year on June 15] symbolizes the beginning of the transition from chaos and turmoils to stability, from political and economic crisis to development, true independence, which the great leader Heydar Aliyev brought to Azerbaijan.

He noted that the great victory achieved thanks to the President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev [in the 2020 Second Karabakh War] is the logical continuation of the doings of national leader Heydar Aliyev.

Usubov stressed that from salvation to victory, the people and the Armed Forces of the country, faithful to the legacy of Heydar Aliyev, passed a difficult, responsible and honorable path under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, worthily fulfilling the historic testament of the great leader and putting an end to the 30-year occupation of Azerbaijani lands.

"In the period before 1993, there were serious security threats in all areas - in the military, political, economic, social, informational, environmental, food and other spheres, in a country which had just regained independence, and there was no strong and stable security system, he said. Our people called on Heydar Aliyev to return to leadership with a rescue mission to ensure security in the country because without security and stability, development couldnt be achieved, independence wouldnt be protected, and statehood wouldnt be formed, and the great leader carried out this difficult mission to save the country, having made this the main goal of his activity.

He noted that President Ilham Aliyev, characterizing the occupation of Karabakh as the main threat to national security, defined the liberation of the country's historical territories from Armenian occupation as the main goal, and this goal was reached.

The mission carried out by the great leader Heydar Aliyev became a solid foundation and a successful start in the process of creating the national security system of independent Azerbaijan, and the historic victory in the second Karabakh war marked the achievement of the ultimate goal, Usubov said.

According to him, the reality created with the signing of the trilateral statement dated November 10, 2020 [signed between Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the second Karabakh war], along with the implementation of the main goals of the national security system of Azerbaijan, marked the beginning of the stage of its more perfect strengthening in accordance with the challenges of present time.

The Azerbaijani president defines new tasks, directions, and goals in the concept of the country's security. The Shusha Declaration [signed by Azerbaijani and Turkish presidents on June 15, 2021] is of particular importance in this context, being regarded as one of the solid foundations for the stability of the security system, Usubov said.
Ukraines president isnt the only one whos frustrated that cutting-edge U.S. military gear isnt making its way to the battlefield.

Thousands of American-made weapons are flowing into Ukraine, but the Pentagons acquisition system is still not pivoting quickly enough to get the latest commercial gear to the front lines, according to defense industry executives, lobbyists and some of the Pentagons own technologists.

Congress approved over $20 billion in military assistance to arm Ukraine last month as part of a $40 billion aid package to keep the military equipped through September.

Yet even as traditional defense weaponry  missiles, vehicles, ammunition  continue to arrive in Ukraine, there is growing frustration that the process of sending emerging technology is not moving at the speed of war that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said is necessary to help Ukraine fight Russia.

Industry can move very quickly when given a clear signal, said Aerospace Industries Association President and CEO Eric Fanning, a former secretary of the Army. Its usually the government thats the slow side of the partnership.



An industry official was more direct in their criticism of the bureaucracys ability to get new technologies into the Ukraine fight. Theres a huge lag time, the official said.

POLITICO spoke to five industry officials and lobbyists who said DoD is sending mixed messages about the level of urgency in providing the Ukrainians with cutting-edge technologies to fend off the Russian invasion that began Feb. 24. All asked for anonymity in order to speak freely.

They complained they are struggling to interface with a military aid process that is still too lumbering and bureaucratic. Even the Pentagons flagship effort to identify the most promising commercial gear, within DoDs acquisition office, is not keeping pace with the battle, they say.

And some of the Pentagon's own tech leaders argue that heeding the lessons of the Ukraine experience will determine whether the department can compete over the long term with other great powers such as China.



Story continues

The Ukraine conflict is an opportunity for the U.S. to get operational experience using experimental gear such as high-tech communications systems, said Margarita Konaev, deputy director of analysis and research fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

Theres an impetus to experiment with newer capabilities in a way that is helpful for the Ukrainians, and potentially could give them an edge, Konaev said.

But it is important for the advanced weaponry the U.S. sends to Ukraine to be intuitive, easy to use, require minimal maintenance and not demand months of training, she added.

When asked for comment, Pentagon spokesperson Jessica Maxwell noted the U.S. has sent Ukrainians more advanced systems, such as the Switchblade loitering munition and RQ-20 Puma small drones.

When creating security assistance packages we start with the operational needs of our Ukrainian partners and systems that can have an immediate effect on the battlefield, Maxwell said in a statement.

Pentagon officials maintain they are aware of the enduring challenges and vow to tackle them through a series of high-level management initiatives and reform efforts, including an Innovation Steering Group and a Management Advisory Group set up by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks.

Efforts to break down barriers are being integrated with broader work across the Department, spokesperson Eric Pahon said.

A first step

Since the start of the Ukraine conflict, there has been only one primary path for companies to pitch their ideas to DoD on the latest gear that could aid the Ukrainians.

The Defense Logistics Agency released a request for information on April 22 asking industry for their ideas on weapons systems or commercial capabilities that could help the war effort.

The Pentagon canvassed industry on how quickly companies could send a product to Ukraine  30 days or less; under 90 days; less than 180 days; or more than 180 days. Companies were also asked to describe in fewer than 100 words their product and why it would be effective in Ukraine.

Other questions for industry included whether the weapon was in production, what training was required for the system, and whether the company had training facilities in central or eastern Europe.



The Pentagon received over 1,300 responses, ranging from drones to air defenses and communications systems, Maxwell said.

Yet, a month after the request, DoD sent a missive saying that they might require more detail, and if so would get back to companies over the summer as the Pentagon further develops its strategy as appropriations flow in, according to a May 22 email by DoDs industrial base policy office that was viewed by POLITICO.

This is a vital first step allowing us to catalog and subdivide the responses by support type and sector, which provides a critical foundation for designing effective acquisition strategies to provide security assistance to Ukraine and other allies and partners in the region, the message said.

Maxwell confirmed DoD is evaluating the proposals and officials are already contacting companies to gather additional information as needed.

We will continue this review process to inform upcoming security assistance packages, Maxwell said.

Wheres the money going?

Waiting two months is seen by many as far too slow and creates pressure for industry to find alternative ways to get systems to Ukraine.

Instead of going through DoD, one lobbyist was advised by Capitol Hill staff to turn to Congress via standard defense appropriations to seek funding on behalf of clients who may have commercial solutions for the war in Ukraine. Its not a speedy process, but its a bit more predictable, this person said.

The lack of guidance from the government leaves many asking, Wheres the money going? the lobbyist added.

The Pentagon is committed to transparency and is frequently updating online fact sheets of what weaponry is being provided for Ukraine, Maxwell said.

Several people at the Pentagon and inside the defense industry said that a major DoD vacancy has also slowed down the process. The Pentagons new top acquisition official, William LaPlante, was not sworn in until April 18, almost two months after Russia invaded Ukraine. It meant that for the first few months of the war, there was no point person in charge of riding herd on the system to tap into new technologies quickly, the industry official said.



And theres another roadblock. The Pentagon is reluctant to send technology to Ukraine thats not been proven, which means they havent been used by U.S. forces or lack proper testing or training manuals, a second industry executive said.

Specifically, this person said, the U.S. is hesitant to send tech that DoD has not developed operational training manuals for or that has not gone through military testing.

Maxwell said the Pentagon must consider whether advanced technology is mature enough for Ukrainian use, how long it would take to train soldiers on these new systems and what maintenance is required.

Systems that require significant training  or dont have training packages developed  are more challenging, Maxwell said. Similarly, the intensity of this fight creates significant maintenance challenges, especially for systems that have not been ruggedized for combat.

Exception, not by rule

One Pentagon organization that has expressed frustration at the pace of sending gear to Ukraine is the Defense Innovation Unit, the Silicon Valley outpost established in 2015 to bypass the traditional acquisition system to tap into the most innovative technologies.

Steve Butow, who oversees DIUs space portfolio, says there has been significant progress in adopting and fielding off-the-shelf technologies to help Ukraine and other allies, but the challenge is that the department really is not optimized to do so.

Successes occur by exception, not by rule, he told POLITICO.

He contends that the system has moved more quickly in providing traditional weapon systems to Ukraine, such as Javelin anti-tank missiles.

But even those systems have hit some bureaucratic roadblocks. Hicks held a roundtable on April 13 with eight defense CEOs where she urged them to accelerate production.

But funding to replenish U.S. stocks for more Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles was not awarded until May 6 and May 27. The money comes from the Ukraine Replacement Transfer Fund, part of the $13.6 billion in supplemental funding for Ukraine appropriated by Congress in March.

The red tape has been even thicker for companies offering more readily available commercial technologies that may not have a deep history of working with the military.

This conflict is the first to clearly demonstrate the benefit of commercial technology, especially in the areas of satellite imagery, communications and autonomous drones amongst others, Butow said.



Those needs have run up against a purchasing approach that relies on a step-by-step process to first determine the battlefield demand before approving funding.

One glaring example was the recent plan by DIU to work with U.S. European Command and a commercial company to get low-cost communications technology to Ukrainian military units.

Government and industry officials requested that the company involved and the specific product in question not be identified, citing security concerns.

We were contacted by DIU and they said, Hey, we think that this is going to be able to make a big impact. Can you help us with this, and can you do it immediately? said a company executive involved. Within 48 hours we had boots on the ground in Poland and we were training up Ukrainian forces and we deployed this technology.

The idea, the executive added, was if this is successful, we can scale it up rapidly and it quickly proved to be highly effective.

But it all ground to a halt in recent weeks. That was where the blocker came in  a lack of ability of anyone to pull the trigger on scaling the opportunity, the executive said.

Butow blamed the murky, gray matter of the bureaucracy, insisting the episode is an example of how the system doesnt work.

We have things where the four-star general says, I need this, he said. And underlings within the bureaucracy can say, I disagree with that.

An even greater challenge

Butow said the problem goes deeper than Ukraine.

Most of DoD is not accustomed to procuring services, whether during peacetime or conflict, since most of our acquisition processes remain rigidly constrained to meeting very specific requirements, Butow said.

There are a growing number of bright spots, however. Butow cited commercial satellite imagery purchased and distributed to the Ukrainians by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office.

Since February of this year, NGA has moved mountains to increase access to commercial satellite imagery, not just for Ukraine but for the U.S. military and other allies, he said. This not only increases diversity of data sources, but also sends a strong signal to the marketplace and investors that the U.S. government is a good consumer of commercial technology.



He said that was only possible, however, by streamlining traditional processes to scale what we have learned in Ukraine to the benefit of other allies and regional partners.

Ultimately, though, an even greater challenge is making those lessons stick well beyond Ukraine. Our policies and budgets need to evolve to be as agile as the commercial technology that we wish to use.

The consternation comes just weeks after outgoing DIU Director Michael Brown accused Pentagon leaders of benign neglect for not moving aggressively enough to incorporate commercially available technologies into the acquisition process.

We need to figure out how to follow the commercial market in a rapid way. Were doing that in a slow way, he told POLITICO recently.

If you use the same process to buy an F-35 that you buy a software package, Brown added, you are going to be way too late and ineffective in doing that.
JERUSALEM, June 14 (Reuters) - Israel's defence minister called on Tuesday for a "regional force build-up" against Iran that would be led by the United States and include Arab countries aligned with Washington.

Such cooperation "would strengthen all parties involved," Benny Gantz's office quoted him as saying in a speech. It cited Gulf Arab states that drew closer to Israel under a 2020 U.S.-sponsored diplomatic drive, as well as Egypt and Jordan. (Writing by Dan Williams; editing by James Mackenzie)
A veteran himself, Jimmy DeFoor was inspired to serve other veterans.

After 15 years heading the Veterans' Service Office for Taylor County, he was the on-site director at Texas State Veterans Cemetery at Abilene, which opened June 1, 2009.

DeFoor died Friday. He was 75.

A funeral service is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Paul United Methodist Church. Longtime friend and Vietnam War veteran Bill Libby will officiate.

A service with police and military honors will follow at 11 a.m. at the veterans cemetery pavilion.

Jimmy DeFoor, the on-site representative at the Texas State Veterans Cemetery at Abilene, holds the flag which draped the casket during Charles Mitchell's unaccompanied veterans funeral at the cemetery Dec. 19, 2017. DeFoor said the cemetery would keep the flag in the event any members of Mitchell's family are located. Mitchell served in the U.S. Air Force 1976-80.

He is survived by his wife of 25 years, Barbara.

Military and police service

He was a post-World War II baby, born Dec. 5 ,1946, in Jacksonville, in East Texas. As a teenager, his family moved to Abilene, where he graduated from Cooper High School.

He joined the Navy and served three tours in Vietnam. His brother, Victor, was killed in 1970 during a mortar attack at Fire Base Ripcord, according to Reporter-News files.

DeFoor served in both the Naval and Army reserves. In the Army Reserve, he was in the 490th Civil Affairs Division and 244th Psychological Operations Company (Airborne) based in Abilene.

In 1990, he volunteered for service to train a national police force in Panama. He was called to active duty in Kuwait and Iraq during Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

Jimmy DeFoor, with the Abilene Police Department. He served APD for 21 years.

When DeFoor was 32, he entered the Abilene Police Department's academy and began a career with the local department. He served on patrol and was a motorcycle officer, personally owning a Harley-Davidson.

He was a member of SWAT and the bomb squad. When Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter came to Abilene, he was part of the local security detail.

His other contributions were promoting the start of 911 service and the benefits of community policing. He once was honored as police officer of the year by the VFW Ladies Auxiliary.

He retired as a detective in the Criminal Investigation Division.

Working for veterans

DeFoor served for 21 years with the APD before taking the veterans job with the county.

Story continues

He was encouraged in his second career by current Taylor County Commissioner Chuck Statler.

Their friendship began because both served in the Army, Statler said.

"We could talk military police. We could talk cops. We could talk soldiers," said Statler, who was in the military police.

Statler said DeFoor was measured in his demeanor.

"I never saw him lose his composure. He was respectful of others," the commissioner said.

But his heart was for the veterans of the war in which he fought.

When Statler learned of the opening in the Veterans' Service Office, he immediately thought of DeFoor.

"I walked across the street and told him, 'Take off your uniform,'" Statler said. DeFoor didn't know what to make of that request.

Put on a coat and tie and go interview for the veterans' job, Statler continued.

"Chuck, that's my dream job," DeFoor told Statler. "Jimmy definitely wanted to take care of veterans."

DeFoor was hired and directed the county's veterans' office for 15 years, an advocate particularly for Vietnam War veterans, Statler said.

He recalled DeFoor's efforts to obtain 100% disability for a county employee who had been exposed to Agent Orange during the war. DeFoor went to Waco to advocate for the man, who was granted full disability.

That allowed him to retire from the county.

Cemetery project

Then came a third job, as on-site representative of the Texas Veteran's Land Board at the city's new cemetery north of Interstate 20. It soon will include the Vietnam Era Veterans Memorial Monument.

The project is under construction.

The DeFoor family requests that gifts to honor Jimmy DeFoor go to Community Foundation of Abilene earmarked for the memorial project at the cemetery. The project cost is $70,000.

More: Memorial Day ceremony returns to Abilene veterans cemetery while expansion underway

Annual dinners for veterans were important to DeFoor, Statler said. He knew who to tap for funding. And if funds came up short, Statler believed the balance came from his friend.

'"He'd reach into his own pockets," Statler said. "That's how he was wired."

Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Jimmy DeFoor, 75, had heart for military veterans because he was one
Juneteenth celebrations

Juneteenth will be observed as a federal, state and municipal holiday June 20.

This is the second year Juneteenth has been recognized as a federal holiday since President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.

Worcester's Black Heritage Juneteenth Festival Committee will take part in Worcester's second annual Juneteenth Flag Raising outside Worcester City Hall at noon June 18.

Juneteenth, also called Emancipation Day or Freedom Day, officially falls on June 19 and is named for June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger brought news to Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had ended and enslaved African-Americans were now free from slavery.

Though the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued more than two and a half years earlier by President Abraham Lincoln, Granger's announcement finally marked the end of slavery, along with the ratification of the 13th Amendment that same year.

Area observances set

Locally, other observances and celebrations will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony and music and theatrical performances and more from 10 a.m. to noon June 18 at Fitchburg Abolitionist Park, 42-50 Snow St., Fitchburg. The event will mark completion of phase 2 and the start of the final phase 3 of the project.

Several years in the the making, the Fitchburg Abolitionist Park honors the citys involvement with the Underground Railroad and abolitionist movement in the 1800s. For more information, go to abolitionistpark.org.

At Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge June 20, visitors will be encouraged to consider the historical and present-day significance of Juneteenth, engage in discussions with interpreters and special guests, and participate in activities that help broaden their understanding of history and culture.

Special to this event, OSV will be highlighting the cases of Kwaku Quok Walker in the law office at the Village. Walker was an enslaved man in Barre who sued for and won his freedom in June 1781, citing language from the Massachusetts Constitution that declared all men to be free and equal. This paved the way for others and Massachusetts became the first state of the union to effectively and fully abolish slavery. For more information, go to OSV.org.

Story continues

Meanwhile, Worcester's Black Heritage Juneteenth Festival Committee has announced that the Juneteenth Festival will return to Institute Park in Worcester June 10, 2023.

Information on all the happenings for next years celebration will be available on The Black Heritage  Juneteenth Festival Facebook page.

"In anticipation of presenting an amazing Festival in 2023, we are looking for volunteers to assist with making this community event happen. If you are interested in volunteering your time, please send us a message on our Facebook Page or email info.bhfw@gmail," the announcement states.

Worcester's Juneteenth Festival had been held at Institute Park for several years before the pandemic.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Juneteenth  Freedom Day  marked in Worcester County
MADRID (Reuters) - Moderna plans to invest around 500 million euros ($520.60 million) in a new laboratory in Spain to boost its production of vaccines, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday.

Sanchez wrote on his Twitter account that he had a meeting with Moderna vice president, Dan Staner, and heard about the drugmaker's expansion plans in the country.

Spanish pharmaceutical group Rovi agreed early in the year a 10-year extension to its deal with Moderna to manufacture future drugs developed with the mRNA technology used for the U.S. company's coronavirus vaccine.

Rovi said the deal would include new investment to expand capacity at Rovi's plants, without disclosing the amount of investment at that moment.

In a separate statement, Moderna said it plans to set up a quality testing laboratory for mRNA vaccines in Madrid, which is expected to be operational in 2023.

Moderna also said the 500 million euro investment this year included its collaboration with Rovi.

($1 = 0.9604 euros)

(Reporting by Corina Pons. Editing by Jane Merriman)
(Reuters) - Elon Musk will speak to Twitter Inc employees this week for the first time at a company-wide meeting since launching his $44 billion bid in April, a source said on Monday, citing an email from Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal to staff.

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, and Musk will take questions directly from Twitter employees, the source added.

The news, first reported by Business Insider, comes after Twitter said last week that it anticipated a shareholder vote on the sale by early August.

A Twitter spokesperson confirmed that Musk would attend the company all-hands meeting this week.

Ever since Musk's takeover bid, many Twitter employees have expressed concerns that the billionaire's erratic behavior could destabilize the social media company's business, and hurt it financially.

Back in April, Agrawal was seen quelling employee anger during a company-wide meeting where staff demanded answers to how managers planned to handle an anticipated mass exodus prompted by Musk.

Last week, Musk warned Twitter that he might walk away from his deal to acquire the company, if it failed to provide the data on spam and fake accounts that he seeks.

(Reporting by Sheila Dang in New York and Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Nishit Jogi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Shailesh Kuber)
ReportLinker

Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market Research Report by Type (Ammonia, Ammonium Nitrate, and Ammonium Sulfate), Form, Origin, Application Crop Type, Application, Region (Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19

New York, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market Research Report by Type, Form, Origin, Application Crop Type, Application, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06255679/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market size was estimated at USD 78.23 billion in 2021 and expected to reach USD 81.11 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 3.85% to reach USD 98.17 billion by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Nitrogenous Fertilizers to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Type, the market was studied across Ammonia, Ammonium Nitrate, Ammonium Sulfate, Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN), and Urea.



Based on Form, the market was studied across Dry and Liquid.



Based on Origin, the market was studied across Biological and Chemical.



Based on Application Crop Type, the market was studied across Cereals & Grains, Fruits & Vegetables, and Oilseeds & Pulses.



Based on Application, the market was studied across Fertigation, Foliar, and Soil.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.



This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Nitrogenous Fertilizers market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market, including Agrium Inc., Bunge Limited, CF Industries Holdings Inc., Coromandel International Ltd., CVR Partners, LP, Eurochem Group AG, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative, Koch Industries, Inc., Nutrien Inc., OCI NV, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc., SABIC Group, Sinofert Holdings Limited., UralChem JSC, and Yara International ASA.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Nitrogenous Fertilizers Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06255679/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Story continues

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




Organic & Natural Health Association

NBJ Summit to Feature Williams-Franklin Foundation

Executive director, Karen Howard with Organic & Natural Health board member, Naomi Whittel planning Williams-Franklin Foundation session with Tom Aarts, founder of Nutrition Business Advisors and NBJ Summit.

Williams-Franklin Foundation at Expo West

Karen Howard, executive director of Organic & Natural Heath Association, Brian Terry of Nordic Naturals and Jon Benninger of Informa Markets at Expo West fundraiser to benefit Williams-Franklin Foundation.

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- What started as a 5-year commitment to raise a minimum of $50,000 in scholarships for the Williams-Franklin Foundation (WFF) at the start of 2021 by Organic & Natural Health Association , has blossomed into a $55,205 total in less than 2 years throughout various natural products industry events and supporters. These funds have raised more visibility for opportunities in the natural products industry for students of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU).



This is exactly what we were hoping for, said Karen Howard, CEO and executive director of Organic & Natural Health. It was important to our association to do more than talk about lack of representation in the industry, but rather take action and create an effort that the entire industry could embrace and collaborate on together.

So far in the programs second year, Organic & Natural Health has hosted six informational and fundraising events to date with more scheduled. Major industry organizations including AIDP , Atrium Innovations , Barrington Nutritionals , Council for Responsible Nutrition , Health Wright Products , Informa Markets , Mercola , Natural Grocers , New Hope Network , Nordic Naturals , Pitch Publicity , Purity Products , RedLeaf Biologics , RFI Ingredients and Whats Up With Supps have sponsored, partnered or supported the WFF Organic & Natural Health Scholarship Fund, which has supplied seven scholarships, to date, to HBCU students interested in pursuing health and wellness careers, with more scholarship recipients being announced later this year.

Its been rewarding to work with so many industry leaders on this effort. We continue to put the invitation out there to participate and be part of this systematic change that is needed in our industry, said Karen Howard, CEO and executive director of Organic & Natural Health. The first opportunity to meet the Williams-Franklin Foundation founders in person, while supporting the Organic & Natural Health Scholarship Fund will be at NBJ Summit. We have doubled our fundraising goal and want to raise a total of $100,000 by the end of the summer. This will significantly fast track our original initiative by providing HBCU students more opportunities to pursue careers in our industry.

Story continues

The Williams-Franklin Foundation is a 501(c)3 incorporated nonprofit that provides academic scholarships, business/career networking, and mentoring opportunities to HBCU students with extreme financial need. Founders, Dwight and LaShelle (Williams) Franklin, both HBCU graduates, will share their story in person at NBJ Summit from 11:35 to 11:50 a.m. PT, on July 26 (both in-person and virtual conference attendees may attend ). One-on-one meetings with the Franklins at NBJ Summit may also be arranged during the conference through Organic & Natural Health. Following the NBJ Conference, on July 28, Whats Up With Supps will host an industry-wide networking event to benefit WFFs Organic & Natural Health Scholarship Fund. RedLeaf Biologics has been partnering with Organic & Natural Health during the 2022 fundraising events to entice more participation from the industry by offering WFF donors the opportunity to participate in an all-expenses paid trip to Lexington, Kentukeys All Jockey Access at the Keenelands Fall Race Meet , including a private distillery tour complete with Kentucky food and libations. There will be one more opportunity to attend this VIP event, on Oct. 14-15, by supporting WFF at NBJ Summit and the ensuing Whats Up With Supps NBJ Summit after-party.

For natural products industry professionals and companies who wish to donate a tax-deductible gift directly to the Organic & Natural Health Scholarship Fund, please visit https://www.wmsfranklinfoundation.org/donate/ and select Organic & Natural Health Fund in the drop box when donating.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3c7b5416-d8d0-42b4-b3b4-1991596974a6

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d5d5f61b-1a6f-4c28-a1b0-68c58c6b8ea9

CONTACT: Media Contact: Amy Summers 212-757-3419 amy@pitchpublicitynyc.com Pitch Publicity




(Revises arrival date of Bu Samra) June 14 (Reuters) - The following liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers are expected to arrive in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands in the coming weeks. Estimated arrival dates, often revised by port authorities and AIS Live ship-tracking data on Refinitiv Eikon, are updated below. Some tankers heading for Belgium and Britain may be loading at the terminal. Those expected to load are indicated with an (L). Those likely to perform ship-to-ship transfers are indicated with (STS). Tankers that have docked are indicated with (A). For the Reuters LNG guide, click here: LNG TANKER CAPACITY in EXPECTED ARRIVAL FROM PORT cubic metres BRITAIN Valencia Knutsen 170,000 June 14 (A) Peru Dragon Al Ghuwairiya 258,000 June 17 Qatar South Hook Al Shamal 213,000 June 18 Qatar Dragon Energy Liberty 165,000 June 21 United States Isle of Grain Maran Gas Posidonia 159,000 June 25 United States South Hook Methane Becki Anne 170,000 July 11 Peru Milford Haven BELGIUM Rudolf Samoylovich 170,000 June 14 (A) France Zeebrugge Al Khuwair 213,000 June 15 Qatar Zeebrugge Lena River 153,000 June 15 (L) Italy Zeebrugge Vladimir Rusanov 169,000 June 16 Russia Zeebrugge Lng Dubhe 174,000 June 16 (L) N/A Zeebrugge Nikolay Zubov 173,000 June 17 Russia Zeebrugge Bu Samra 261,000 June 23 Qatar Zeebrugge Corcovado Lng 158,000 June 27 United States Zeebrugge Golar Crystal 160,000 July 9 (L) France Zeebrugge NETHERLANDS Aristidis I 174,000 June 14 United States Gate Lng Endeavour 174,000 June 21 United States Gate Lngc Golar Celsius 160,000 June 23 United States Gate Lng Rosenrot 177,000 July 2 United States Gate Sources: Ports, AIS Live ship tracking, Refinitiv Eikon data. (^) Partial unload (*) Arrival date calculated using www.searates.com at an average speed of 13.5 knots (Reporting by Nina Chestney)
Traction Uranium Corp.

Elevated Levels of Radiation is a Possible Indicator of Uranium Mineralisation which will be Confirmed when the Assays are Received

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Traction Uranium Corp. (the Company or Traction) ( CSE: TRAC ) ( OTC: TRCTF ) ( FRA: Z1K ) a mineral exploration issuer focusing on the development of discovery prospects in Canada, including its two flagship uranium projects in the world-renowned Athabasca Region and Fission 3.0 Corp. (Fission 3), are pleased to provide the following update of the drilling at the Lazy Edward Bay project in the SE Athabasca Basin region which commenced on May 17, 2022. Drilling on the Horse West conductor has encountered anomalous radioactivity in drill hole LEB22-007 in proximity to an 11.7m-wide basement fault with intense clay and chlorite alteration approximately 10m further down hole. Drilling is currently targeting this significant structure up dip at the unconformity.



Highlights:

Drilling continues to encounter favorable structure, alteration and anomalous radioactivity in the vicinity of historic hole LE-73 on the West Horse conductor

LEB22-004 encountered anomalous radioactivity near the sandstone-basement unconformity at 164.6m associated with a reverse fault (see May 31, 2022 release)

LEB22-007 encountered elevated radioactivity in the lower sandstone of 380cps on the handheld spectrometer at 169.75 m, corresponding on the downhole gamma probe with increased radioactivity >500 cps from 168.5 m to 169.5 m with a maximum of 1177 counts as well as from 171 m to 171.5 m with a maximum of 1063 cps.

The unconformity was intersected at 173m and the large fault zone was intersected from 178.4 m and continued to 190.1m.

Additional drill targets have been defined along the Western Horse Corridor from a re-interpretation of an airborne VTEM survey to be added to the program.

Favorable structure, alteration along with elevated levels of radiation are key indicators for identifying unconformity type, high grade uranium deposits typical in the basin.

Hole LEB22-008 is in progress to test an 11.7m-wide extremely clay and chlorite altered basement structure along with proximal anomalous radioactivity intersected in hole LEB22-007 up-dip where it intersects the unconformity which is the 6th hole in the immediate vicinity of historic hole LE-73 along the western Horse Conductor. Hole LEB-007 targeted the same structure approximately 50m along strike to the north.

Lester Esteban, Chief Executive Officer, states Our drill program at Lazy Edward Bay is exceeding our expectations, by optimizing logistics our team was able to re-allocate the cost savings towards drilling. We are hoping to drill more holes than planned and finish above 3000m rather than the original target of 8 holes for 2000m. This allows us to pursue mineralisation on further good looking geophysical targets along the western Horse Conductor prior to wrapping up the program within the next couple weeks.

Natural gamma radiation in the drill core that is reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a handheld Radiation Solutions RS-125 scintillometer. Natural gamma radiation in the drill hole surveys that are reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a Mount Sopris Instruments QL40-GRA borehole gamma probe. The reader is cautioned that scintillometer readings are not directly or uniformly related to uranium grades of the rock sample measured and should be used only as a preliminary indication of the presence of radioactive materials. All intersections are down-hole. All depths reported of core interval measurements of radioactivity are not always representative of true thickness.

About the Property

The Lazy Edward Bay property is located halfway between Camecos Key Lake Mine and the high-grade Centennial uranium deposit, and hosts NE-trending conductive corridors similar to those associated with Key Lake and Centennial. The major uranium deposits in the eastern Athabasca Basin, including Key Lake, McArthur River and Cigar Lake, are along the NE-trending Wollaston-Mudjatik transition zone and conductive corridor. To the west of the property, the Centennial deposit is localized along the NE-trending Virgin River conductive corridor which transects the entire Athabasca Basin. The Key Lake mine, located ~50 km to the east of the property is accessible by Provincial Highway 914, serviced by the provincial power grid, and has an operating mill where the McArthur River ore has been processed.

The ongoing work program is being funded by Traction in accordance with the terms of the Option Agreement between Fission 3 and Traction, whereby Traction can acquire up to a 70% interest in the Lazy Edward Bay property (see Dec 10, 2021 Fission 3 news release).

About Traction Uranium Corp.

Traction Uranium (CSE: TRAC) (OTC: TRCTF) (FRA: Z1K) is in the business of mineral exploration and the development of discovery prospects in Canada, including its two flagship uranium projects in the Athabasca Region.

We invite you to find out more about our exploration-stage activities across Canadas Western region at www.tractionuranium.com.

About Fission 3.0 Corp.

Fission 3 is a uranium project generator and exploration company, focusing on projects in the Athabasca Basin, home to some of world's largest high grade uranium discoveries. Fission 3 currently has 16 projects in the Athabasca Basin. Several of Fission 3's projects are near large uranium discoveries, including, Arrow, Triple R and Hurricane deposits. Fission 3 is currently planning a winter exploration/drill program on its PLN project.

https://twitter.com/Fission3Corp

Qualified Person

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed on behalf of the company by Raymond Ashley, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration of Fission 3.0 Corp.,

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Lester Esteban

Chief Executive Officer

+1 (604) 561 2687

info@tractionuranium.com

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, including statements regarding the expected use of proceeds from the Private Placement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.




By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov discussed bilateral relations and regional issues with Paraguays parliamentary delegation in Baku on June 13, Azernews reports, citing the ministry.

Welcoming the Paraguayan delegation led by Chairman of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, as well as head of the Paraguay-Azerbaijan Friendship Group Walter Enrique Harms Sespedes and Chairman of the Paraguay-Azerbaijan Friendship Group in the Senate Lucas Orlando Aquino Jara, Bayramov expressed satisfaction about the level of bilateral relations. The minister stressed that Azerbaijan highly appreciates the development of relations with Paraguay.

Had an interesting discussion with delegation of the Parliament of Paraguay Walter Enrique Harms Sespedes and Lucas Orlando Aquino Jara. We exchanged views on perspectives of bilateral Azerbaijan-Paraguay relations, stressed role of parliamentary diplomacy, and highlighted strict respect to international law by both states, Bayramov wrote on his Twitter account.

Bayramov recalled that the visits Azerbaijani foreign minister to Paraguay in 2019, as well as the deputy minister in 2022, and the meetings held in this regard contributed to bilateral relations.

The minister stated that inter-parliamentary friendship groups, as well as parliamentary diplomacy, play an essential role in the development of bilateral ties. The major actions of the Paraguay-Azerbaijan Friendship Group members in Azerbaijan-related affairs, as well as the Paraguayan parliament's acceptance of a resolution in connection with the Khojaly genocide, were noted with gratitude.

Bayramov also informed Paraguayan legislators about the tragic results of the old Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the new realities in the region following the 44-day war with Armenia in 2020, and restoration and reconstruction work, as well as peacebuilding efforts, carried out by Azerbaijan in the region.

Reminding the two young Paraguayan diplomats participation in the training program in Azerbaijan, Bayramov stated that such exchanges are beneficial to the development of bilateral ties.

For their part, members of the Paraguayan delegation praised the visit to Azerbaijan and the meetings held within it, as well as the visit to the liberated territories, emphasizing the importance of this visit in terms of becoming acquainted with the situation in the country on the ground.

It was stressed that Paraguay has always observed international law norms and principles, and so has supported Azerbaijan's right stance. The guests expressed enthusiasm for expanding relations with Azerbaijan and emphasized the significance of the visit in identifying possible areas of collaboration. At the meeting, the sides also discussed other issues of mutual interest.
OTTAWA, ON, June 14, 2022 /CNW/ - The Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable ("the Roundtable") welcomes the federal government's decision to suspend the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for domestic and outbound international travel. Today's announcement marks another important step as the sector continues rebuilding after over two years of lockdowns, restrictions, and setbacks.

Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable Logo (CNW Group/Teneo Holdings - Toronto)

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Roundtable has advocated for science-based solutions to pandemic management at the border. While today's announcement helps to level the playing field, there is still work to do. To that end, the Roundtable calls on the federal government to continue following the science and lift all remaining COVID-19 restrictions governing the sector to streamline further and ease passenger experience. Further, the Roundtable is calling on the federal government to ensure that today's regulatory changes at the border are permanent.

Firstly, the federal government must remain focused on addressing issues plaguing Canada's airports. Public Health Agency of Canada ("PHAC") requirements continue to control and check incoming passengers, causing significant delays in Canada's customs halls, which has adverse knock-on effects across the travel experience. To that end, the ArriveCan app should no longer be leveraged to collect public health information. Restrictions and roadblocks at the border are relics of a different phase of the pandemic and are no longer justified by science.

Secondly, the Roundtable calls on the federal government to lift the mandatory mask mandate applying to federally regulated transportation sectors like aviation and rail. The mask mandate is out of step with provincial public health agencies, which have lifted mask requirements from more vulnerable settings like hospitals, schools, and public transit. Enforcing the masking requirement has become a safety issue for personnel, and in turn, the Roundtable advocates for this measure to be lifted.

Story continues

"After two long, hard years, we are now focused on rebuilding tourism back to the economic powerhouse it was pre-pandemic. Today's announcement by the federal government is another step in the right direction towards helping us achieve that goal," said Beth Potter, President & CEO, Tourism Industry Association of Canada. "However, while this is good news for domestic and outbound travel, it does not address any of the current issues for inbound travellers or our cruise sector. I urge the federal government to now turn its attention to eliminating barriers to travel in these important areas and do so quickly so we can promote a resurgence in travel over the summer months," concluded Beth.

About the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable

The Canadian Tourism Roundtable is a cross-Canadian coalition of leaders in the tourism and travel sector  including representatives from airports, airlines, hotels, and chambers of commerce across the country  committed to working together to restart the sector smoothly and safely. Travel and Tourism is a $105 billion sector, employing millions of Canadians across the country and accounting for 2.1% of the country's gross domestic product. It advocates for a safe and prosperous tourism and travel sector across Canada.

SOURCE Teneo Holdings - Toronto

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2022/14/c4567.html
A group of journalists came under heavy shelling on Monday in Lysychansk, near Ukraines eastern border with Russia.

Suspilne News, a Ukrainian public broadcaster reported the shelling on Telegram, saying that the companys employees Khrystyna Havryliuk and Taras Ibragimov were among those in the area who came under attack.

All of the journalists were evacuated by the Ukrainian armed forces once the shelling began, preventing any casualties. The outlet said the Lysychansk is shelled almost every day.

About 15,000 civilians have remained in the city since Russias invasion of Ukraine began, months ago, down from a pre-war population of more than 99,000, according to the United Nations.

A slew of journalists from Ukraine, the U.S. and elsewhere have been killed or injured by Russian forces since the beginning of the Kremlins war.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that two of its employees had been injured when their vehicle came under fire. The person hired to drive the vehicle was killed in the accident.

The Ukrainian Institute of Mass Information recorded 148 crimes perpetrated by Russia against the media over the first month of the war.

Early in the war, two Fox News journalists were struck while in a vehicle, leading to the death of cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and the severe injury of correspondent Benjamin Hall, who lost part of one leg and sight in one eye.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
TAIPEI, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wistron Medical Technology (WMT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wistron Corporation, which has vowed to take Wistron's more than 20 years' experience and networks in information and communication technology (ICT) design and manufacturing into the field of digital health and precision medicine.

Wistron Medical Technology (WMT) digitizes healthcare information and facilitates a cloud-based, light-weight dialysis management systemBestShape Chronic Kidney Disease Care.

WMT digitizes healthcare information and facilitates a cloud-based, light-weight dialysis management systemBestShape Chronic Kidney Disease Care, which transmits warnings when detecting a drop of blood pressure in terminal-stage renal patients by using AI technology. It provides great support to front-line health workers and makes optimal care possible.

With holistic medicine in mind, WMT also launched a healthcare platform, Health 365, which brings medical institutions and the healthcare industry together, hoping to provide comprehensive chronic disease care to chronic patients and senior groups and medical services to enterprise employees, so as to create an inclusive health ecosystem in their country.

Developing precision medicine that enables superior healthcare quality and outcomes has become a global trend. WMT is cooperating with the Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital to develop a digital pathology platform powered by Intel's OpenVINO open-source toolkit: OWL. Based on FHIR and mCODE specifications and on disease detection algorithms driven by AI, it produces structured reporting that saves doctors considerable time in writing pathology reports. It is also an industry first that OWL makes possible pathology-slide browsing and/or labeling and doctors' online meetings, shortening the time needed for data cleaning and lesion labeling and optimizing the quality of AI models.

Taiwan is a pivotal partner in the global semiconductor and ICT supply chains, and its high-quality medical services and technologies are also widely recognized. The combination of the two is a forward-looking medical technology island.

Story continues

Medical Taiwan DigitalGO (June 923) is an integrated B2B business-matching online trade show where products and services from various sectors of the healthcare industry are on display, including medical devices; textile applications; raw materials and components; smart healthcare; and beauty and/or skin care. Come join us and explore business opportunities and blue oceans in healthcare.

Wistron Medical Technology Corporation: https://en.wistronmedtech.com/

Medical Taiwan DigitalGO: https://virtual.medicaltaiwan.com.tw/en/index.html

SOURCE Medical Taiwan
Nora Horstnan, 8, and Zanesville Museum of Art education intern Tiffani Brewster work on butterfly window decorations during the museum's art camp on Friday. The museum will receive $50,000 from the capital budget for EIFS repairs and HVAC replacement.

ZANESVILLE  Various projects across Muskingum County will collectively receive nearly $1.9 million as part of an Ohio Legislature grant program.

Money from the Ohio Capital Budget is allocated every couple years. Representatives and senators from across the state vie for local projects.

Seven projects received funding in Muskingum County. Among them, a new HVAC system for the Zanesville Museum of Art, a new facility for Mid-East Career and Technology Centers' CDL program improvements to Muskingum University's Boyd Science Center, and a new pool in New Concord.

More: New Concord awarded $75K for new swimming pool

Ohio House District 97 Rep. Adam Holmes, R-Nashport, saw potential in the seven projects.

Adam Holmes

"I really look at actively doing things that enhance our community for everybody  something as broad-brush as we can get," Holmes said.

Those projects are good for connecting with one another, Holmes said, but they also will be big economic drivers for Muskingum County's communities. That comes in the form of educational investments and facility improvements to vital community hubs.

"Those kinds of things that are really accessible to our communities  community builders," he said. "I do think the more we interact with each other, the more we invest and take pride in (the community)."

Educational investments aimed at driving progress

There are two major projects aimed at progressing higher education in Muskingum County. Holmes sees them as great opportunities for young people, but also to drive economic development across the region.

Mid-East received $300,000 to establish a testing site for its CDL adult education program. Right now, students have to go off-site to obtain their CDL once they go through the curriculum, and there's usually a waiting list.

Speeding up the process would help address the labor shortage of truckers across the region and country.

'It affects everyone': Southeast Ohio impacted by nationwide truck driver shortage

Story continues

"It also would support other schools in southeast Ohio whose students would be required to drive an even further distance for testing than what our students currently drive," Superintendent Matthew Sheridan previously told the Times Recorder.

Muskingum University also received a grant. It is expanding its nursing lab at the Boyd Science Center, contributing to renovation of the new health sciences floor.

"This renovation will enable us to recruit and upscale our nursing and general health care programs creating additional pathways for students to professions in health care," Muskingum spokeswoman Michelle Ball said. "This, in turn, will increase the high-quality, health care workforce in our region."

Community builders important, lawmakers say

State Sen. Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, said the funds will have a tremendous impact on economic development in the community.

"This will be a game-changer for workforce development in Muskingum County while giving organizations vital funds to make improvements to their facilities," Schaffer said. 

Tim Schaffer

That includes updates on buildings. The Museum of Art is getting an update to its EIFS system and a new HVAC system. Forever Dads received $125,000 for new windows in its building, and Muskingum Behavioral Health will get $25,000 for exterior repairs.

Another big project on the way for city of Zanesville is the Zanesville Gateway District. It will build apartments and establish a new space for a farmer's market close to downtown.

The largest Muskingum County grant, The Wilds will also get $1 million for infrastructure improvements.

Citing a recent proposal by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to invest $500 million into Ohio's Appalachian communities, Holmes said, "I think theres really directed effort toward Appalachia, Southeast Ohio, specifically Guernsey and Muskingum counties to get us going again after the pandemic.We all want to do it  make it better and better."

A complete list of the Ohio Capital Budget investments:

New Concord swimming pool: $75,000

Forever Dads historic building restoration: $125,000

Zanesville Gateway District: $50,000

Zanesville Museum of Art EIFS repairs, HVAC replacement: $50,000

Mid-East Career and Technology Centers: $300,000

Muskingum University Boyd Science Center: $250,000

Muskingum Behavioral Health: $25,000

The Wilds: $1 million

ecouch@gannett.com

740-334-3522

Twitter: @couchreporting

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Ohio Capital Budget will fund projects across Muskingum County
Say their names, officials urge visitors to Culpeper National Cemetery, encouraging them to speak aloud the names of those lying at rest there, so they are better remembered.

Similarly, the names of Charles H. Chinn and William Thompson, two men who wore their nations uniform, were spoken aloud on Memorial Day weekend in Culpeper Countys Elkwood Drive Cemetery.

The occasion was The Freedom Foundations dedication of a new historical marker to Chinn and its restoration of the historic graveyard near Brandy Station, a project that began a year ago. Some people know it as Shiloh Church Cemetery, because church members are also interred there.

Sgt. Charles H. Chinn served in two U.S. Colored Troops regiments during the Civil War. After Appomattox, he became a buffalo soldier, serving with the cavalry out west. Chinn and his wife, Sallie, share the cemetery with Pvt. Thompson, a Black soldier in the Unions 5th Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment.

Army Sgt. Maj. (retired) Ludwell Brown, a speaker at many Culpeper National Cemetery ceremonies, gave the keynote address Reflections of an Old Soldierfor the May 28 ceremony at Elkwood.

Brown, who spent 32 years in the Army and is the longtime pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church, served with a number of four-star generals, including Al Haig and John W. Vessey Jr. One of 13 children, he faced hardships at various Army posts, but persevered. Brown said he was told early in his military career that he would never get promoted because he was Black.

He went on to receive the Armys Legion of Merit, and became the only enlisted man to deliver the eulogy for a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Vessey.

When you are told what you cant do, there is always somebody who will help you do what you should be doing, Brown said, alluding to the counsel and support that Haig and Vessey gave him.

Sometimes you dont get what you deserve when you deserve it, the minister said. But if you keep your hand on the plow and dont look back, if you look to the hills from whence cometh your help ... acknowledge God and he will direct your path.

Brandy Station resident Dickie Maddox, whose great-great grandfathera Confederate infantryman wounded in the Battle of Seven Pinesgave land after the war for Elkwood Drive Cemetery, briefly described the graveyards history.

There was no place for an African American cemetery. He owned this land, so he donated this piece of property to the colored community for a cemetery, Maddox said of his ancestor. That is oral history, and I do believe that is absolutely what happened.

Maddox, a neighbor of the cemetery, has pitched in to help other volunteers spruce up the resting place of some 72 souls. Until last year, the cemeterya small triangle between Elkwood Drive and the railroad track off U.S. 29had been neglected for a while.

But in May 2021, The Freedom Foundation, a small nonprofit in Oak Hill, Va., decided the cemeterys residents deserved better. Led by Culpeper natives Howard Lambert and Eugene Triplett, its volunteers felled dead trees, built a walkway, raked, hauled off debris, planted roses, placed U.S. flags, erected an entrance sign and commissioned the marker about Chinn.

On Memorial Day weekend, more than two dozen people came from Culpeper, Fauquier and beyond to dedicate the result and honor the people interred in the cemetery.

Lynchburg resident Morris Lockhart, a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, portrayed a U.S. Army buffalo soldier, one of the African Americans who fought Indians on the western plains after the Civil War and protected Yosemite, Sequoia and General Grant national parks.

A native of Greenville, S.C., Lockhart joined the military at 20 to advance himself and escape the Souths racial prejudice. Today, he shares military heritage with audiences across the mid-Atlantic as a living historian with the 23rd Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, based in Fredericksburg.

Edward Gantt, a Navy veteran who teaches history to Maryland schoolchildren, portrayed a USCT soldier like the ones who marched into Culpeper County to bolster Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meades Army of the Potomac in 1864.

The Rev. Hashmel Turner of Fredericksburg, portraying a Union chaplain in the 23rd USCT, gave the cemetery ceremonys invocation.

Ariana Brown of Culpepers Antioch Baptist Church led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance, and Bridgette SpillmanBeckles provided inspiration by singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Freedom Foundation President Howard Lambert sketched what is known of Chinn and Thompson, the two Black soldiers buried at Elkwood.

Chinn, a formerly enslaved man from Huntsville, Ala., enlisted in two USCT regimentsincluding the 23rd USCT, which fought in Virginia, and the 28th USCTduring the Civil War.

Chinn went on to serve 24 years as a buffalo soldier cavalryman in the regular Army, out west. He died in 1927, and is buried in Elkwood with his wife and their daughter.

So is Thompson, of the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry (Colored). A laborer from Mobile, Ala., he enlisted at age 23 in Boston on Sept. 24, 1864.

How both men wound up in Culpeper County is, for now, unclear. Chinn mustered out of the Army in 1891 and later moved to Brandy Station.

Lambert and Triplett, who share an interest in Civil War history, believe Americans should never forget to recognize those, especially veterans, who helped make our country what it is today.

Maddoxs ancestor gave the Reconstruction-era Shiloh Baptist Church the small plot of land to inter members of its congregation. The graveyardwhich appears to be integratedlies 2.5 miles east of the church, which is in the village of Brandy Station.

Shilohs modern congregation is small and mostly elderly, so the foundation opted to help fix up its graveyard.

And what better time than Memorial Day weekend? The sacred holiday, which honors the nations military dead, began as Decoration Day in the South when Black people put flowers on the fresh graves of Union soldiers in Charleston, South Carolinathough other communities make competing claims for the holidays founding.

Triplett, a Brandy Station resident, is a descendant of a member of the 27th USCT Regiment, which was in Culpeper in May 1864 as the Unions Overland Campaign got underway. Eugene French Triplett is the great-great-grandson of French Menafee Sr., a soldier from Rappahannock Stationknown today as Remingtonin Fauquier County.

Established in 2019, the tax-deductible Freedom Foundation is dedicated to recognizing the deeds and legacy of USCT soldiers born in Culpeper County, Culpeper residents who helped secure freedom for its enslaved people, as well as all Black soldiers and their officers during the Civil War.

Local historian Zann Nelson has identified more than 120 USCT soldiers who identified Culpeper as the place of their birth. Foundation members are trying to find living descendants of many of the soldiers.

Lambert has spent years researching African American history, including how and where USCTsmany of whom were from Virginiamarched into the terrain held by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lees legendary Army of Northern Virginia. The spring 1864 advance of USCT regiments in the Culpeper area, across the Rappahannock River, marked Black troops entry into Lees area of operations.

More than 200,000 African Americans served in the Union army and navy during the Civil War, helping lead them to victory. By wars end, a tenth of U.S. soldiers were Black.

The foundation is working to honor the wars Black soldiers, who were willing to fight, be captured and executed, and to raise awareness of their contributions to the nation, Lambert said.

In the past year, it spearheaded a USCT monument near Maddens Tavern in Lignum and dedicated a state historical marker about USCTs in the village of Brandy Station.

The first of its kind in Culpeper County, the Maddensville Historical Site memorial recognizes USCT soldiers killed nearby and also neighboring Maddens Tavern and Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Learn more about the Freedom Foundations via freedomfoundationva.org or its Facebook page.
Under a 2020 bipartisan Virginia law, about 4,500 state inmates are slated for release from corrections facilities across the state beginning next month. But some Republicans in Richmond who oppose the law are attempting to reduce the number of inmates released by about 1,000 through a budget amendment.

Were trying to make the best out of a horrific situation, said Jason Miyares, Virginias attorney general. This is one of the most disturbing public policy issues Ive seen since taking office.

The public policy Miyares is referring to is House Bill 5148, signed into law by former Gov. Ralph Northam in November 2020. The provisions of the law require the calculation of earned sentence credits to apply retroactively to the entire sentence of any inmate who is confined to a state correctional facility and participates in the earned sentence credit system.

That law, which goes into effect July 1, allowed certain inmates opportunities to earn up to 15 days off their sentence for every 30 days confined if they participate in personal improvement classes or job skills training during their time behind bars. Prior to the law, Virginia inmates could only earn a maximum of 4.5 days off for every 30 days served.

I would love to repeal the entire earned sentence credit bill that went into effect last year, Miyares said. If I had my way, I would absolutely get the whole entire thing repealed.

Juanita Shanks is president and CEO of FailSafe-ERA in Spotsylvania County. Her company helps former inmates find jobs and housing when theyre released from jail, and also supports families of incarcerated inmates. Shanks said the idea of repealing the law would deal a severe blow to inmates who have worked hard over the past 18 months to earn time off their sentences.

Those inmates in there began to do things that would help contribute to their early release, Shanks said. The law was passed and repealing it for personal, political reasons is just wrong.

Shanks also said a full repeal would adversely impact thousands of families across the state whose hopes and spirits were raised nearly two years ago when Northam signed the bill into law.

Youre going to get peoples hopes up and then youre going to let them down? Shanks said. Thats just wrong. Its not right, and you dont do that to people. Thats trauma on top of trauma.

A bill that would have repealed HB-5148 was introduced by Del. Rob Bell of Albemarle County earlier this year. Bells bill passed through the House 5149, but later died in the Senate.

Since the full repeal fell short, Miyares hopes he can exclude inmates from the summer release who have mixed sentences through a budget amendment thats now being considered by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Mixed sentences apply to inmates who were sentenced for a violent crime thats excluded from the bill, along with a sentence for a nonviolent offense that is included in the good-time-credits statue. A vote on the final version of the budget is scheduled for this week in the General Assembly.

Republican Del. Tara Durant of Stafford County said she will support the budget amendment.

That means its not going to be codified into law, but this can be done, Durant said. If there is a budget amendment that intends to do what we passed in the House, I would certainly support it.

Bradley Haywood, executive director of Justice Forward Virginia, believes the budget amendment to exclude mixed sentence inmates would bring big implications to a good number of inmates in years to come.

Its a pretty big number, its not like the majority. Haywood said. Itll probably end up being 25 or 30 percent of inmates who benefit (from the early release program).

In a May 17 presentation to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, Virginia DOC Director Harold Clarke told lawmakers out of the 4,500 scheduled for early release this summer, 54% of them have a medium-to-high risk of violent recidivism.

Shawn Weneta, a policy strategist with the Virginia American Civil Liberties Union, said less than 2% of those inmates served time for murder or sex crimes and said they are less likely to recidivate.

They have already served the entirety of their violent sentence and are earning a couple months off of the back end of a sentence for a nonviolent offense and are due to be released soon anyway, said Weneta.

In anticipation of the early release inmates, Shanks formed a regional criminal justice reform task force two years ago. The group meets regularly and includes representatives from the Spotsylvania Sheriffs Office; the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania Commonwealths Attorney offices; Fredericksburg, Stafford and Spotsylvania governments; the Rappahannock Regional Jail; Germanna Community College; the Thurman Brisben Center; and the Spotsylvania NAACP.

My goal is to have a plan so (former inmates) can become successful when theyre out here, Shanks said. I want the community to understand, we have community buy-in thats looking into this.

Shanks said she has the tools, manpower and resources necessary to help former inmates succeed when they return to society. She said her organization gives returning inmates a concrete plan to rebound and get in order their new lives outside prison walls.

Lets not miss this opportunity, Shanks said. Lets just help them be successful so they dont have to be locked up again.

Durant said she believes what FailSafe and other organizations are doing to help those about to be released is important to ensure support and resources are in place to prevent recidivism, but shes concerned with the DOCs reported high recidivism rates for some offenders.

At the end of the day, the public deserves to feel safe, Durant said. When you look at the most serious offenders coming out, we have a risk level of recidivism. You cant argue with the numbers that have been released.

James Scott Baron: 540/374-5438 jbaron@freelancestar.com

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A Virginia man who was arrested in Philadelphia in 2020 while presidential election ballots were being counted was a central conspirator of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Philadelphias District Attorneys Office alleged Monday.

Joshua Macias, who was charged with carrying an illegal firearm and interfering with an election, has been out on bail since late 2020. Days after his release, on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, he met with insurrection planners in an underground parking garage, prosecutors said. A documentary video purports to show Macias speaking with leaders of the right-wing organizations Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

The district attorneys office has filed a motion to have Macias found in contempt of court for violating his bail.

We thought they were medium-sized fish, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said of Macias and the man arrested alongside him, Virginia resident Antonio LaMotta. We thought they werent sharks, Krasner said during a news conference shown on Facebook.

I say he is a shark, said Krasner, referring to Macias. He has proven how dangerous he can be.

Macias, 43, and LaMotta, 63, both of Chesapeake, were arrested in November 2020 outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where officials were counting mail-in ballots for the presidential election between Democrat Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee. Macias and LaMotta carried handguns on their bodies, and police said they found an assault-style rifle and 160 rounds of ammunition in their Hummer. Their weapons werent registered in Pennsylvania.

Prosecutors say they were there to disrupt the counting of the election. Lisa Deely, chair of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, said Monday that she believed a mass shooting was avoided when the pair were arrested.

Macias and LaMotta were known to attend right-wing rallies, including events in Richmond. Macias co-founded an organization called Vets for Trump.

The two men were charged with illegal possession of firearms, interfering with an election and hindering performance of duty and conspiracy. A trial is scheduled for October.

Macias was released on $850,000 bail. The day before the insurrection, he met in an underground parking garage with Enrique Tarrio, head of the Proud Boys, and Stewart Rhodes, organizer for the Oath Keepers.

Tarrio and Rhodes have been charged with seditious conspiracy. The Proud Boys, Tarrios organization, were the tip of the spear, leading marchers inside and smashing a window to enter the Capitol, Krasner said.

During the meeting, they planned the events of Jan. 6, said Brian Collins, an assistant district attorney. Its unclear when and why the video of the conversation was released. The speakers signaled to the camera operator to step away so their conversation couldnt be heard, Krasner said.

The next day, Macias stayed outside the Capitol, and on video he called then-Vice President Mike Pence Benedict Arnold, Krasner said. LaMotta entered the Capitol.

A lawyer for Macias did not respond to a request for comment.
WEEPING WATER  Students at Weeping Water Public Schools will attend classes four days each week next year in all grade levels.

Weeping Water Board of Education members approved the change at their May meeting. They directed Weeping Water Superintendent Kevin Reiman to make the necessary adjustments to implement a four-day week for students and staff in the 2022-23 school year.

Reiman said Tuesday morning that school board members and administration officials opted to go with a four-day week for several reasons. He said staff retention and recruitment was at the top of the list of those thoughts.

The state is experiencing a significant shortage of teachers, Reiman said. The number of applicants we have for open positions has decreased at an alarming rate. It is our hope that by going to a four-day week, we can keep the teachers we already have on staff. If we do have an opening, we believe a four-day week will be an incentive for teachers to work at Weeping Water.

Reiman said attendance and mental health were also factors in the decision.

Our research showed that attendance rates increase in schools with a four-day week, Reiman said. For example, parents and students schedule appointments on the off day of the week. Our research also showed us that a four-day week improves the mental health of both students and staff.

Reiman said Weeping Water is currently in a solid financial position, but the district is experiencing increased costs in areas such as transportation and food. He said moving to a four-day week would help the district combat those types of rising expenses.

School board members passed a revised calendar to reflect the change to a four-day week. School will be closed on most Mondays during the academic year. There will be several instances where school is open on a Monday and closed on another day. Board members left March 20, April 17 and May 8 as potential make-up dates where school could be held on Mondays if there are snow days.

Each school day will be 19 minutes longer in the upcoming year. Weeping Water had been dismissing classes at 3:41 p.m. each day of the districts five-day week. There will a 4 p.m. dismissal time under the new four-day-a-week structure.

Reiman said staff members will work every other Monday on professional development and school improvement topics. He said these dates would give staff members additional planning time in their classrooms and learning opportunities throughout the year.

Weeping Water will be the second Cass County school to implement a four-day week. Conestoga has used a four-day system since 2006.

Reiman said Weeping Water Elementary Principal Bristol Wenzl was on an external visitation team that traveled to Conestoga. She met with Conestoga staff and community members and gained valuable insight about what a four-day week would entail.

One of the key things she heard from Conestogas stakeholders was how much they liked the four-day school week, Reiman said. This was the spark to take what we had researched and present the idea to our school board.

We did take what Bristol learned at Conestoga as well as talking to other four-day school districts in the state. The administration team then combined all of this data and tweaked it to fit the goals for our school district.

Other school districts in Nebraska that have four-day weeks include Banner County, Hay Springs, Minatare and Wynot. Grand Island Public Schools implemented a temporary four-day school week in January 2022 due to infections from the coronavirus pandemic.

Reiman said Weeping Water residents have been receptive to the idea of a four-day week. He said people have been willing to adapt to the new schedule and have presented their questions in respectful and cooperative ways.

The feedback has been extremely positive, Reiman said. We did have parents who had logistical questions that we were able to address. Beyond those logistical questions, the feedback from the community, Board of Education, staff and students has been positive. As a superintendent, I appreciate the way the community has supported this decision and been open to finding solutions to potential conflicts.

Weeping Water board members also learned that this years junior class had an average score of 20.1 on the ACT college entrance exam. The class finished above the state average of 19.0. Two students had ACT scores of 33 and 30, two posted marks of 26 and one was at 25.

Weeping Water Secondary Principal Dr. Tiffanie Welte told board members the juniors were the third Weeping Water class in a row to score above the state ACT average.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Farhad Salehi, a resident of the western Herat Province, has been chasing a Pakistani visa for weeks. Like hundreds of thousands of his compatriots, he wants to escape the uncertainty brought on by the economic collapse that followed the Taliban's seizure of power last year.



He first attempted official channels, applying directly to the Pakistani Embassy in the capital, Kabul. But after being denied a visa, he took a route often used by Afghans in a similar situation: the black market, where the business of providing permits to travel or live in the neighboring Muslim country is thriving.

"A very sick patient might get a visit visa by directly applying to the embassy," Salehi told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "But others have to rely on the black market."



So far, his efforts have been fruitless, despite having spent $500 in bribes to middlemen. But Salehi says there are visas available to those willing to pay the price.

"People can get a monthlong visa by paying $300, a five-month visa for $500, and $700 for a yearlong visa," he claimed.



Some Afghans have said that Pakistani visas are being sold for over $1,000, a sum that is out of reach for most after the Taliban takeover destroyed livelihoods and the country's economy spiraled into an extended crisis.



Even the legal path to getting a visa can be an expensive and exhausting process of cumbersome paperwork and bureaucratic hurdles that leads some to bribe officials through go-betweens to cut the red tape.



But there is no shortage of Afghans willing to do whatever it takes to flee from their homeland following the collapse of the Western-backed Afghan government in August.



Former government workers, rights campaigners, and journalists have told Radio Azadi they face constant harassment due to their past work, and have expressed fears of Taliban persecution.

Others have said they wish to escape the Taliban's hard-line rule, which has banned women's education and work and made it impossible for musicians and artists to practice their professions.

The economic free fall -- aided by the loss of foreign aid and trade and a lingering drought -- has shuttered businesses and left scant options for alternative livelihoods. And the dire health-care situation has forced many Afghans to look abroad to Pakistan for medical treatment.

Some seek to move away for good, ideally by obtaining asylum through the UN or by applying for Western visas upon reaching Islamabad, where they have access to diplomatic missions no longer available in Afghanistan, whose Taliban government is not recognized by any country.

The growing desperation among Afghans has opened new avenues for graft. One "commission agent," as the Afghan intermediaries of the Pakistani Embassy are known on the street, told Radio Azadi that the difficulties of going through the formal process for travel documents have allowed bribery to flourish.

"The embassy doesn't accept visa applications, but we can get them by bribing embassy staff," he told Radio Azadi on condition of anonymity.



A senior official at the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul acknowledged the problem. He told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that graft allegations have led to the dismissal of several embassy staffers this year.



"Due to complaints of bribes during the past three months, we fired 12 embassy staff," he said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with the media.



He said a "thorough investigation" targeted employees who were "minting money from Afghans" who sought Pakistani visas.

Getting out of Afghanistan can be difficult even for those Afghans who have contacts who can help them settle abroad. Even getting an Afghan passport can be difficult, with the Taliban frequently closing the country's lone passport office, and countries like the United States requiring face-to-face interviews for certain visas -- an impossibility unless they can reach diplomatic offices in a third country.



In a June 6 statement, the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul said that most Afghans who are denied visas had failed to fill out their applications correctly.

"Invitation letters and other details including details of their stay in Pakistan are not properly filled out," the letter said. "This is resulting in most applications being sent back for review."



On June 12, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that under a new visa policy for Afghans, Islamabad would issue transit visas that would allow them to enter the country legally to complete the paperwork for further international travel.



Sharif said the move was "part of our efforts to continue helping our Afghan brothers and sisters in their hour of need." He called on the international community to "also lend a helping hand to the people of Afghanistan."



Salman Sufi, an adviser to Sharif, said the transit visas would be limited to Afghans who have already been accepted for immigration elsewhere.

"Shehbaz has approved on-arrival visas for Afghan refugees who need to pass through Pakistan to reach their destination, which has approved their immigration," he tweeted.



Under the new visa policy, Islamabad will issue a 30-day transit visa within 24 hours to Afghan nationals seeking to travel to a third country after their immigration is approved.

More than 100,000 Afghans have entered Pakistan on visas obtained after the Taliban takeover 10 months ago. They are mostly educated professionals looking to resettle in another country.

Before their arrival, Islamabad was already hosting an estimated 1.3 million documented refugees. Several hundred thousand more Afghans live in the country undocumented. So far this year, the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) has recorded the return of some 34,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan to Afghanistan.



Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Islamabad has become home to several million Afghan refugees, one of the world's largest refugee populations. After the demise of the previous Taliban regime, which ruled from 1996 to 2001, more than 5 million Afghans voluntarily returned to their country from Pakistan over the course of nearly two decades, according to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.



Islamabad is not a signatory to international conventions on the rights of refugees. Its treatment of Afghan refugees during the past three decades has swung between generosity and discrimination, and Pakistan has faced widespread accusations by Afghan refugees of harassment, ill-treatment, arbitrary detentions, and forced returns to Afghanistan.
The Gazette won 13 awards in the 2022 Society for Features Journalism Excellence-in-Features contest, including best special section for Exposure magazine; best niche product for OutThere Colorado Summer and Winter Guides; first, second and third places in video storytelling; five awards for features writer Seth Boster; and runner-up for best section.
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

As Azerbaijan and Hungary are marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations, it is the right moment to look back at various stages of long-term friendship, cemented through high-level and multifaceted ties of partnership.

While the formal 30-year-long history of diplomatic relations is more about statistics, the actual history of relations between the two nations goes beyond this mere 30-year-long period.

Founded on the centuries-old common historical roots, the Azerbaijani-Hungarian ties have made rapid strides towards progress and have been heralded as exemplary. The two nations have succeeded in building a strong partnership in many sectors, including political, economic, cultural, and education.

Azernews - the nation's first English language newspaper, invites its most avid readers to explore bullet point moments of the multifaceted development of the long-standing and time-tested friendship.

Q: When did Baku and Budapest establish diplomatic relations?

A: Although the factual Azerbaijani-Hungarian relations are 30 years old, the two countries share a number of common historical, linguistic and cultural features.

It is believed that three of ten tribes that formed the Hungarian nation are of Turkic origin.

Hungary recognized Azerbaijan's independence on December 26, 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on April 27, 1992.

Since the opening of the embassies, the Azerbaijani-Hungarian relations have progressed and been boosted by mutually beneficial steps.

Around 50 documents have been signed between the two countries. Azerbaijan and Hungary have also had fruitful cooperation within international and regional organizations, especially within the Organization of Turkic States.

Hungary signed a strategic partnership agreement with Azerbaijan on November 11, 2014.

Besides the main agreement, the parties signed a cooperation agreement in the aviation sphere that envisaged restarting direct flights between Budapest and Baku, a scholarship agreement for Azerbaijani students, and agreements on sports, youth, and tourism.

During the meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the sides pointed to Hungary's support for the expansion of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union and exchanged views on the issues of cooperation in the economic, trade, energy, and other spheres.

Q: What is the Hungarian approach to Azerbaijan's territorial integrity?

A: Hungary has always backed Azerbaijan's fair position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In the post-conflict period, the Hungarian companies are ready to participate in the restoration of Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.

"After the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, we have now discussed how Hungarian companies can participate in the reconstruction of areas previously affected by the war," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a Facebook post after speaking with Azerbaijani Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Population Sahil Babayev.

In 2021, Azerbaijan and Hungary discussed Hungarian companies' participation in the restoration of Azerbaijans liberated territories. The discussion took place during the meeting of Azerbaijan Labor and Social Protection Minister Sahil Babayev and Hungarian Ambassador to Viktor Szederkenyi on February 23.

Hungarys Exim Bank opened a $100 million credit line for companies who want to be part of the reconstruction program. The Hungarian government offered a 25,000 ($30,380) grant for demining the region.

Q: What is the current level of economic relations between the parties?

A: Over the past years, Azerbaijan and Hungary have significantly enhanced economic ties. Baku and Budapest co-hosted over 10 business forums and meetings including the Azerbaijani-Hungarian business forum and the 8th meeting of the Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation.

The Azerbaijani-Hungarian business forum is part of the two sides' efforts to explore the prospects for cooperation in expanding bilateral trade and business networks. The forum created important conditions for both countries to share best practices in agriculture.

Speaking at the business forum, Azerbaijani Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov stressed that the tax exemption of the country's agricultural activities, the liberalization of the market for the sale of agricultural machinery, and pedigree animals provide broad investment opportunities for foreign companies, including Hungarian companies specializing in agriculture.

The minister also drew attention to the policy of agricultural development in Azerbaijan's territories liberated from the Armenian occupation.

"These areas have great agricultural potential, and liberated lands have been declared as green energy zones. The development of villages and cities in these areas will be based on the concept of Smart City and Smart Village. With this in mind, Hungarian companies can share their best technology and experience with Azerbaijan," he said.

During the 8th meeting of the Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation, Azerbaijan and Hungary also signed a number of bilateral cooperation agreements. The opening of the Hungarian Trade House in Baku in 2012 is another key event that can have a significant impact on the expansion of mutual trade.

The trade house focuses on the development of current economic relations and contributes to the expansion of relations among the countries' businessmen. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani-Hungarian trade turnover totaled $35.1 million in 2021, with exports amounting to $1.7 million and imports to $33.3 million.

In 2021, Hungary mainly exported beverages, livestock, and medicines to Azerbaijan.

Q: What is the role of energy in relations between Baku and Budapest?

A: Several agreements have been reached for the realization of energy projects. The second meeting of the Working Group on Energy highlighted the current state of energy cooperation between the two countries.

The meeting covered a wide range of issues such as the Azerbaijani-Hungarian cooperation in the field of renewable energy, the partnership within the Southern Gas Corridor, natural gas transportation opportunities for Hungary, including cooperation in the transportation and distribution of LNG and CNG, and the activities of Hungarian group MOL in Azerbaijan, etc.

Following the meeting, a protocol on the results of the second meeting of the Working Group on Energy was signed between the two countries.

Q: What do we know about cultural ties between the two nations?

A: Azerbaijan and Hungary enjoy a long and rich history of cultural ties. The bilateral relationship has continued to strengthen and cover a broad range of spheres, especially culture and education.

In 2019, the House of Azerbaijan opened in the Hungarian capital of Budapest through the support of Azerbaijan's State Committee on Diaspora Affairs.

Azerbaijan's then Ambassador to Hungary Vilayat Guliyev described the opening of the House of Azerbaijan on the eve of the World Azerbaijanis Solidarity Day as a milestone event and a great gift for Azerbaijanis living in Hungary.

The countries also expressed their desire to open the Culture Centers in Baku and Budapest. It is also planned to open a center of the Azerbaijani culture in Budapest. A project "Parallel Worlds" has been launched this year at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture. The first event within the project was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Azerbaijan and Hungary.

The event started with a lecture by the Counselor for Education and Culture of the Hungarian Embassy in Azerbaijan Mihaly Gruber. The lecture "Legends of Hungary" explains the mythological aspect of Budapest's famous and interesting monuments, while the photo exhibition presented by photographer, art curator, and traveler Aydin Sadikhov demonstrated the images of monuments from unique angles.

The Hungarian government highly appreciated the role of the Azerbaijani public and cultural figures in strengthening the Hungarian-Azerbaijani cultural ties. In 2020, the photographer was awarded the Hungarian Bronze Cross of Merit for strengthening the Hungarian-Azerbaijani cultural ties.

The resolution on the decoration was signed by Hungarian President Janos Ader. The principal conductor of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater was also awarded the Golden Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit for special services in the field of culture and contribution to Baku-Budapest ties.

Hungary takes a special place in the life of Ayyub Guliyev. Over the past years, the national conductor has successfully cooperated with multiple Hungarian cultural figures. Many Hungarian musicians are frequent guests in Baku.

In 2019, the Hungarian pianist Tamas Erdi performed at a charity concert co-organized by the Hungarian embassy in Baku and Nargis Fund. Peter Bence, an incredible Guinness World Record-breaking pianist with the fastest fingers on the planet, continues to fascinate the Baku audience.

The pianist that achieved sensational success with his edgy, percussive, and expressive playing style, performed in Baku for the third time. All these factors prove that Azerbaijan and Hungary are committed to further strengthening bilateral ties.
MONUMENT  Marching toward its goal of becoming the preeminent go-to organization for senior citizens in the Pikes Peak region, Silver Key Senior Services has acquired a smaller, related nonprofit in Monument.

Silver Key has merged legally with the Tri-Lakes Silver Alliance, said Derek Wilson, chief strategy officer for Silver Key.

The alliance will continue operations under its new name, Silver Key at Tri-Lakes Senior Center, and is preparing to move to a larger building across town.

I think we can be stronger together, Wilson said.

The idea of a merger came up last year by happenstance, when Wilson heard Tri-Lakes Silver Alliance had started fundraising for a new building.

Leaders of the two senior organizations discussed goals, wants and needs in examining what combining efforts could look like, he said, and decided it was something to pursue.

Silver Key is looking to cement ourselves as the one-stop shop for all things for seniors across all neighborhoods in the region, Wilson said. This strengthens our position in providing much needed services throughout the area.

Tri-Lakes Silver Alliance has been struggling with cramped quarters in a modular building in the Lewis-Palmer High School parking lot, said Penny Hauser, vice president of the organizations board.

Were all excited because were getting a bigger space, which means more services, more activities, more classes, she said Monday. Silver Key doesnt want to change anything; they just want to help us.

Hundreds of seniors from Monument, Palmer Lake, Woodmoor, Gleneagle and other northern parts of the county use the senior center in Monument and its programs monthly, Wilson said.

Those will remain and expand, he said.

Pre-pandemic, in November 2019, the center was over capacity at 300 unique visitors and 450 total visitors per month, officials told the Monument Board of Trustees, which has funded 17% of the organizations budget. Monthly unique visitors were projected to double by 2025.

The organization is financially strong, Wilson said.

The alliances board of directors that oversees the organization will become an advisory board to the Silver Key board of directors, as the merger is completed.

The merger will be a topic of discussion at Wednesdays Senior Expo that Silver Key is presenting.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday at The Antlers hotel, 4 S. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, in the Summit Ballroom.

It is free and open to all. Registration is requested at silverkey.org.

More than 80 vendors will have booths, and seniors can participate in health screenings, speaker sessions, raffles, giveaways, refreshments and information throughout the day.

Tri-Lakes Silver Alliance was established in 1996 as the Tri-Lakes Health Advocacy Partnership and became the alliance in 2002. Volunteers primarily run the organization, which also provides meals for seniors.

About 25 seniors were at the senior center Monday afternoon. Some concentrated on chess games, others played cards. Several people participated in an exercise class, and one group was in a meeting. Theres a clothing bank, a free food cupboard, a lending library, potlucks, food pickup and other programs.

Some items, including shelves of puzzles, are being packed for the move across town to the Grace Best Education Center, a former school building that Lewis-Palmer School District 38 also owns and now accommodates a homeschool group, the district science center and a special needs program.

Renovations tailored to the senior center are underway, Wilson said.

Silver Key will add to the table 52 years of experience working with seniors in El Paso County on a larger scale and bring fundraising, grant writing, management, technology and other tools to help the program in Monument grow, Wilson said.

Theres so much that can be capitalized on, he said. Its a true win-win-win.
A Gazette investigation shows an increasing number of soldiers, including wounded combat veterans, are being kicked out of the service for misconduct, often with no benefits, as the Army downsizes after a decade of war.
The list of high priority road projects voters could fund in November is getting whittled down and some controversial ideas are getting sidelined.

The Colorado Springs City Council reviewed some of the highest priority and most questioned projects Monday. The discussion was held ahead of a vote likely in July to formally endorse an extension of a portion of the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority 1% sales tax.

The extension would allow major projects like the expansion of Marksheffel Road and the extension of Powers Boulevard from Colorado 83 to Voyager Parkway to be built. Each project will be listed as part of the ballot question to show voters what they can expect.

Councilman Wayne Williams said extension of the tax is critical for regional roads and bridges and has been popular with voters in prior elections.

"It is something that has actually done what its promised," he said.

As elected officials prepare for the November vote, some of the more contentious transportation items may not make an appearance.

The proposal to transform east Platte Avenue and east Boulder Street to carry more traffic between Wahsatch Avenue and Circle Drive, by potentially turning them into one-way streets, is headed back for more study and will not appear on the ballot, said Gayle Sturdivant, city engineer. The proposal triggered strong pushback from Middle Shooks Run residents, and recently signs opposing the one-way proposal have gone up in front of homes.

A Platte Avenue project will appear on the ballot but it will be focused on fixing the aging bridges and retaining walls where El Paso Street crosses East Platte Avenue and improving the Platte Avenue and Circle Drive intersection, she said.

As Banning Lewis Ranch is built out and congestion on Platte Avenue worsens, the city might need to look to other transportation funding sources to make changes to the corridor, since a large project for Platte will not be included in the ballot question, she said.

An extension of Constitution Avenue to Interstate 25 could offer another east-west corridor option for the community. But it will only be studied as part of the ballot question.

"The right of way is there but there are some technical challenges out there that really need to be looked at," Sturdivant said.

Once the Centennial Boulevard extension is complete to the Fontanero interchange, Constitution could connect at the same place, offering a path east and west.

Another highly controversial project, bus rapid transit along Nevada Avenue, will not be in on the list  although enhanced transit along Nevada Avenue, Academy Boulevard, Platte Avenue and other corridors is listed. Residents in the Old North End opposed bus rapid transit in part because it could include loading platforms in front of homes and the buses could be passing by every 15 minutes.

Enhanced transit could also include greater bus service frequency and more built out bus stops, Sturdivant said.

At the same time, the Old North End's call for safety improvement along Nevada Avenue is proposed to be slated as a "B list" project. The neighbors would like to see one lane in each direction on Nevada because of the speeding and car crashes.

The traffic volume does not allow for a lane reduction along Nevada, she said.

Residents are expected to weigh in on the changes to the transportation list at city council meetings later this month.
Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country

Sign Up View all of our newsletters.
Colorados Office of the State Auditor issued a scathing audit Monday of how the Division of Gaming has regulated the first full year of legal sports betting in the state, alleging the division hands out far too many temporary licenses and that it could be losing tax revenue by not requiring more documentation.
By Trend

Armenia, artificially preventing the signing of a peace treaty [with Azerbaijan], has no other choice but to abandon unfounded claims and start regional cooperation, Secretary of the Azerbaijani Security Council, Colonel-General Ramil Usubov said in an interview with the Azerbaijan newspaper, Trend reports.

According to Usubov, after a crushing defeat of Armenia in the 2020 Second Karabakh War, its economy has faced a deep crisis, and the internal political situation has almost reached the state of civil war.

On the other hand, when it becomes clear that the opposition in Armenia, organizing protests against the peace talks, wont achieve its goal, the number of its supporters will drop. Besides, most of the participants of these rallies are protesting namely against the deplorable social situation in the country, he said.

Its obvious that there is strive and support for peace negotiations in the Armenian society. It shouldnt be forgotten that in last year's election the Armenian people expressed their confidence not to the opposition, representing the party of war - the military junta, but to the ruling party, which announced the start of negotiations with Azerbaijan. The Armenian people mandated Pashinyan [prime minister of Armenia] namely to conclude a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, which means that the people are tired of enmity, and want stability and prosperity," added Usubov.
People carry signs and show their support of the March For Our Lives event on Saturday March 24, 2018.
The Colorado Springs Charter Academys board conducted itself inappropriately in a number of ways, including showing poor governance and transparency, but is not guilty of criminal behavior, according to the state agency that governs charter schools.

In a letter on Monday, Anastasia Hawkins, director of governance for the Colorado Charter School Institute, informed the school that the agency has completed its investigation.

The comprehensive probe included interviews of school staff by Assistant Attorney General Joe Peters as well as a review of school records, financial reports and a defiant response letter from the school expressing outrage and requesting an apology from CSI.

The cease-and-desist letter, written by Peters on CSI's behalf in April, outlined areas in which the school has been considered in breach of its charter contract: financial improprieties, governance issues and a failure to finalize an operating budget for the 2022-2023 school year.

State Education Commissioner Katy Anthes found sufficient grounds last week to order a third party to take over management of the school. Former Jefferson County Public School Superintendent Daniel McMinimee was tapped as the K-8 schools primary administrative decision maker for 120 days, with the option to extend for an additional 120 days, according to Anthes order.

The letter on Monday addressed each of the grounds for breach, outlined the steps CSCA took (or failed to take) in correcting the deficiency, and made recommendations for future action.

Peters notice, dated April 22, said the school had failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management by, among other things, allowing board treasurer Summer Groubert to be an authorized signer on the schools bank account, have edit access to the schools accounting system, and possess a purchase card with a $50,000 limit, all at the same time.

Dustin Sparks, counsel for the Charter School Law Group, acknowledged that Groubert did have financial access at an unusual level for a board member, but there is no evidence that she mismanaged funds.

The letter also mentions allegations that the school had been spending money inappropriately. If proved true, those allegations would have been grounds for a criminal investigation, but they were not substantiated.

A May 16 response from the Charter School Law Group, which represents CSCA, contended that Groubert had been granted authority by the board to make financial decisions on the schools behalf after the departure in December of several top administrators, including Head of School Dan Ajamian.

The schools response letter also expressed the boards belief that the allegations were unsubstantiated, slanderous, and based on false information from limited sources. According to the letter, Grouberts fiduciary authority has been revoked and the board expected to be cleared of any wrongdoing, but the investigation would be damaging to their reputations.

The CSCA Board further requests that CSI apologize for the manner in which it handled this matter and for the damage it needlessly caused to the accused Board members reputations, the letter read.

Hawkins response did not include an apology, but it did clearly state that the investigation found no evidence of criminal conduct. There was evidence that suggested inappropriate financial conduct, including that specific individuals with personal relationships with specific board members received substantially larger mid-year raises than did other staff. Hawkins acknowledged that most of those raises could be explained as commensurate with additional duties.

The investigation found that while Grouberts edit access and purchasing card had been canceled, she still had access to the schools bank accounts  contrary to the schools assertion in its May 16 letter. Still, CSI declared the financial breach to be cured and rescinded its demand that the school delay any facilities-related spending.

In April, the state charter agency alleged that the school had failed to run its board in a manner consistent with State Board of Education standards governing voting methods and board conduct.

In response, the school provided emails and records tending to support CSCAs statements, according to Hawkins. While the agency believes the board could operate with more transparency  and suggested the school consider bringing in an outside adviser  CSI withdrew its second claim, thanking the school for its diligent response.

The state charter agency noted that the school has not yet provided an amended budget for the coming school year, a primary reason for Anthes decision to transfer governance to an outside entity.

Without a finished budget or finalized teacher contracts, and with only one senior-level administrator in place, Head of School Zoe Ann Holmes, Anthes felt external management was necessary for the school to be ready to open its doors on the first day of school, which is less than 90 days away.

CSI asked for a further report on the status of the amended budget by July 15.

Hawkins letter concluded by lifting its cease-and-desist order on appointing new board members, with the caveat that individual board members abstain from voting on any appointment that might give the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Last week, Terry Croy Lewis, CSIs executive director, sent a letter to the charter schools staff and family members informing them of the states decision to appoint "an external expert to take on the role and responsibilities of the CSCA board. Lewis said McMinimee will work with staff and school leadership to resolve all the issues the state agency identified.

We anticipate that when you return from summer break, we will be able to share that CSCA is on track to resolve all outstanding issues, the letter concluded.
The Colorado Judicial Department  and by extension its Supreme Court  has refused to comply with a subpoena issued five months ago by the state's Commission on Judicial Discipline in its effort to force the high court's cooperation with its inquiry into the alleged coverup of misconduct by judges, the commission revealed Tuesday.

In a far-reaching 24-page report released at the first meeting of a legislative committee studying whether Colorado's method of investigating and disciplining judges needs reform, the normally secretive commission said the Judicial Department has scoffed at the subpoena issued in late January, saying the body had no authority to compel the production of any evidence.

The discipline commission said curtailing its ability to investigate misconduct properly is a critical flaw in its process.

"This inconsistency of information access itself illustrates a critical problem in the structure of judicial discipline," according to its report. "If information access is not reliable and predictable but, instead, is subject to subjective standards and decision-making involving those whose conduct is at issue, the investigatory system is neither effective nor credible."

The commission reported that the Judicial Department on its own only recently decided whether the commission could even issue a subpoena.

"The Colorado Judiciary has recently taken the position that the Discipline Commission does not hold subpoena power or any other fact gathering authority" in its investigative process and that it can only begin formal proceedings against a judge when "the available evidence proves the misconduct by a 'preponderance of the evidence," according to the commission's report.

Additionally, the commission said the Supreme Court told the body to file any objection it had to the high court, "the ultimate administrative decision-makers that originally invited, and later objected to, the subpoena that would be at issue."

The commission recommended nine separate changes to the discipline process including firming up its right to subpoena evidence. Several of the recommendations would require a change to the Colorado Constitution, which established the commission. Those changes could only occur by a statewide referendum passed by voters.

Minus the changes, the Supreme Court ultimately determines how the commission operates.

The 8-member legislative committee was formed with the recent passage of Senate Bill 22-201, which also created an independent funding source for the discipline commission. The commission had said  and reiterated in its report to the committee  how it was thwarted in beginning its own investigation into the scandal when the Supreme Court refused to issue the funding the commission needed to pay investigators it hired.

The subpoena revelation is the latest in a string of disagreements between the judiciary and commission over the scope of the commission's ability to investigate alleged misconduct. The dustup began in February 2021, when it was revealed the court's then-chief justice allegedly approved a multimillion-dollar contract for a high-level employee who faced firing and had threatened a tell-all sex-discrimination lawsuit. That lawsuit would allegedly reveal years of judicial misconduct that went unpunished or was intentionally covered up.

The Supreme Court has publicly said it was cooperating with all investigations.

The scandal resulted in at least six separate investigations  two of them by the Judicial Department itself. One of the inquiries, by the state auditor, referred four people to the Denver district attorney for criminal investigation. That matter was closed because prosecutors didn't have enough time to look into the matter before the statute of limitations to file charges expired, a delay that was largely caused by attorneys at the Judicial Department and the Attorney General's Office, people familiar with the issue previously told The Denver Gazette.

Prosecutors also said they were given "highly redacted" copies of the report.

Two investigations conducted by companies hired by the Judicial Department are ongoing. The first, looking into the contract-for-silence allegation, is expected to be concluded in the next 10 days. The inquiry looking into the culture within the Judicial Department is expected to be finished and made public shortly thereafter, State Court Administrator Steve Vasconcellos told the committee.

Vasconcellos said several extensions were given to the investigating companies.

"This is the most important moment in the department's history," Vasconcellos said, noting he is closely involved in the process. "This needs to be done right."

Vasconcellos added that his office had no role in the fraud audit being referred late to prosecutors.

"We neither had nor sought input on the timing of the referral to law enforcement," he said. "We never had any control of that timing and that would have been highly inappropriate for us to do so."

At least one committee member said they were "dismayed" that the inquiries have dragged on for months.

Committee chairman Sen. Pete Lee, D-Colorado Springs, said the hearings are designed to determine if the discipline system works.

"If judges who control the budget, the rules, the appeals and the outcomes, is that a system that inspires public confidence?" Lee said in opening the committee's opening hearing.

The scandal laid bare a number of alleged shortcomings with the judicial discipline process. The commission noted how the Supreme Court chooses the judges for any formal discipline proceeding, known as special masters, whose job is not much different than a grand jury. The commission recommends the creation of a pool of judges who could be chosen to be special masters rather than the arbitrary process now in place.

"It does seem to me the process of special masters is one where we have all judges doing the judging," committee member Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, noted.

Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Ted Tow, a former member of the discipline commission when he was a district judge in Adams County, said judges serving as special masters is a good idea, largely because they understand the process best.

"They are bound by the same code of conduct and ethics as the very judges facing the charges," Tow said. "They are experts."

Rep. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, was quick to point out that citizens make up regulatory bodies in state government, such as those who oversee doctors and plumbers.

"I don't think there's a fair analogy that other professions oversee their regulation, but we cannot miss this very very big difference: Doctors are not one-third of constitutional government, likewise plumbers, electricians and anyone else," Weissman said.

Additionally, the commission noted how allowing the Supreme Court to be the ultimate decider of any public discipline the commission might recommend has problems, particularly when the commission's inquiry takes it to the justices themselves.

"As the public statements of the Supreme Court raise disqualification issues for the justices as a whole and the current system makes no provision for functioning when the final discipline decision-maker has conflicts, the ability of the current system design to function on the conflict matters is in doubt," according to the commission's report. "More importantly, the system lacks credibility with the public."

When it happens, most of the commission's punishment is private and not public, ranging from a letter of admonition or sanction.

The commission recommended a broader decision-making body than just the Supreme Court, one that would include citizens and others outside the judiciary.

Vasconcellos said the justices have expressed to him concerns the state constitution never anticipated conflicts of interest by the high court.

"The current constitution is not constructed with Supreme Court recusal in mind," Vasconcellos said. "Its a flaw (the justices are) concerned about and one they very much want addressed. No member of the Supreme Court wants to be in a situation where there is clearly a conflict and unclear guidance in the law in how to address it."

The committee is to meet several more times, all of it public, before it makes any recommendations about potential changes to the Legislature. Its deadline is Aug. 19.
Colorado's COVID-19 situation has continued to worsen through early June, with positivity rates reaching some of the highest levels of the pandemic and a new subvariant of the virus achieving dominance here.

But fewer residents are ending up hospitalized with the disease, and decreasing cases elsewhere in the United States may signal that a downturn is on the horizon.

More than 12.5% of COVID-19 tests reported to the state have been positive on average over the past week, the highest percentage since early February. More than 2,200 new cases have been reported on average each day over that same period, among the highest levels of the pandemic outside of the major surges of late 2020 and 2021.

The surge is being driven by a shifting array of omicron subvariants, offshoots of the strain of the virus that drove record COVID-19 transmission in December and January. Three different strains of omicron have been dominant in the past six months. The latest, dubbed BA.2.12.1, officially accounted for the majority of new cases in late May, according to the most recent state data. Two more subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, have slowly begun to make their presence known, as well.

Still, the state is in a different place now compared to previous peaks. Population-level immunity is decreasing but still high, thanks to vaccinations and the mass infections that came with the initial omicron wave six months ago. That, coupled with the latest viral strains' relatively mild presentation, has kept hospitalizations at levels comparable to previous pandemic lulls, despite the case surge. Hospital demand is below projections released by state health experts last month.

If Colorado follows the trajectory of East Coast states, which have seen recent downturns, then the situation should peak "within a few weeks," said Jon Samet, the dean of the Colorado School of Public Health.

What those next few weeks hold remains to be seen, Samet said. His team, which provides modeling projections to the state, is working on updating its most recent analysis from last month.

As of right now, 14 Colorado counties  including the entire Denver metro area  are rated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as having high levels of COVID spread. As a result, the CDC recommends that residents of those counties wear masks. Another 28 counties are rated as having medium levels.

As of Tuesday afternoon, El Paso County was still rated as in the medium category, meaning the CDC recommends at-risk residents wear masks and take extra precautions against infection.

There have been no countywide mask mandates in Colorado for months, since officials in the metro and in some resort communities unwound their mandates once the initial omicron wave subsided. State officials have shown no appetite for instituting top-down orders.

Despite CDC's recommendations, Samet suspected that, at this point in the pandemic, "there is neither political nor public appetite" for mandates. When they rolled out mask mandates in late November, metro-area health officials said they did so to protect hospital capacity. While hospitalizations have increased, no significant threat to capacity exists now. Deaths have plummeted to fewer than 50 a week  and often well below that  for the past three months.

Samet said it's difficult to compare Colorado's current moment to previous phases in the pandemic, and not just because of the current levels of immunity. While the positivity rate is high, it's amid a relative lull in testing. While previous peaks featured tens of thousands of daily tests, this surge has typically hovered below 25,000 per day. When fewer people test, the positivity rate shifts more easily.

The improved availability of at-home tests  which the federal government has now shipped directly in multiple phases  is likely playing a role in that trend. It may be affecting both the positivity rate and the total case count reported by the state.

"There are problems with interpreting case and testing data because of in-home testing and other changes in our approach to the pandemic," Samet said in an email. "The upward trend in test positivity is concerning although, as mentioned, comparability with prior data is now uncertain."

Meanwhile, the state is continuing to unwind its public response to the pandemic. After closing 80 community testing sites earlier this spring, the state Department of Public Health and Environment announced Tuesday that another 48 would be closed by June 30. Despite the current surge, state officials said in a statement that they're confident they will continue to have capacity to meet testing demand and that they can scale upward if needed.

"Currently, the state is processing approximately 2,200 tests per day," Scott Bookman, the state's COVID-19 incident commander, said in a statement. "Under the operational plan beginning July 1, this would represent a little more than 25% of the 8,000 tests per day planned capacity. We feel confident in this transition, especially with the ability to surge to 17,000 tests per day should we need to."
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

President of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Abdulla Shahid has said that Azerbaijan demonstrated a high degree of readiness during the COVID-19 pandemic, Azernews reports.

Shahid made the remark on the sidelines of a meeting, which was held at the ADA University on June 13 with representatives of the youth network of the Non-Aligned Movement.

"Azerbaijan has shown a high level of preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic. President Ilham Aliyev's timely initiative to ensure equal access to vaccines has been very effective in the fight against coronavirus. Azerbaijan has made significant progress within the UN Assembly and Security Council over the past 30 years," Shahid stressed.

Addressing the event, the president thanked Azerbaijan for its contribution to peace and security for the benefit of the world community.

He also praised the productive meeting with Non-Aligned Movement young people and emphasized the need for such gatherings to involve young people in solving global concerns.

The UN is ready to collaborate with youth from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Shahid, stated during an interactive conversation with NAM Youth Network members at ADA University.

"The UN is always ready to cooperate with youth within the NAM, listen to their proposals and support them in all endeavors," he stressed.

The UN top official underlined that young people bear a unique responsibility in addressing global issues such as climate change and gender equality.

"The Hope Fellowship Program founded by me is designed to support young diplomats and activists. Increasing global issues awareness is quite important, and the voices of young people need to be heard," he added.

Underlining the extraordinary role of young people in sustainable development, he emphasized the need of supporting youth as one of the critical steps to maintaining world peace, security, development, and multilateralism.

Moreover, recalling his previous visit to Azerbaijan as foreign minister, Shahid expressed his delight about being back in the country.

In his introductory statement, Hafiz Pashayev, Rector of ADA University, welcomed Shahid, saying that he was the third President of the General Assembly to speak at ADA University. He confidently stated that Abdullah Shahid's meeting with the youth will be productive.

Then, Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov spoke about Azerbaijan's youth initiatives, both at the national level and as the current chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, emphasizing that the Non-Aligned Movement Youth Network was established at Azerbaijan's initiative in October last year and that the first NAM Youth Summit will be held in Baku in July 2022.

Azerbaijan seeks to extend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Youth Network to a global scale, Mammadov said.

"Azerbaijan strives to boost the NAM Youth Network to the global scale. The NAM Youth Network issued a written statement to the 49th Session and will soon present it to the 50th Session of the UN General Assembly. We invite the president of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, to address the Youth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Baku in July 2022. On this day, the Youth Network will become an organization, which will serve as a key step in its global development," he stressed.

The deputy minister stressed the critical importance of youth in meeting global development goals. The Non-Aligned Movement Youth Network attempts to exchange ideas in order to identify issues and develop solutions.

"Azerbaijan shares the UN's priorities and will further continue to support development in the framework of the NAM among youth," he stated.

Ordukhan Mammadzadeh, the chairman of the Azerbaijani branch of the Non-Aligned Movement Youth Network, provided information on the Network's establishment and worldwide activities at the event.

The meeting, co-organized by ADA University and the Non-Aligned Movement Youth Network, focused on the role of youth in sustainable development in the post-pandemic period of Covid-19. The program was followed by a Q&A session.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

The Azerbaijani State Border Service has prevented the smuggling of over 11.4 kg of drugs, as well as 3,956 psychotropic pills from Iran from late May to early June, Azernews reports per the agency.

At 2310, on June 1, a border guard operating in the Goytapa border detachment near Imishli region's Aranli village detected traces of a state border breach from Iran to Azerbaijan. The area was immediately cordoned off.

As a result of a border search and operational measures, a suspect - Jalilabad resident Abbaszada Faraj (20), hiding in the bushes along the border, was detained. During the inspection of the package taken from him, 3,348 grams of drugs (2,800 grams of heroin, 520 grams of methamphetamine, and 28 grams of marijuana) were seized.

In the same vein, information was received about the state border violation in the Lankaran border detachments service area near Astaras Zungulash village at about 2300 on May 31.

The area was blocked, the border strip and control devices were inspected, and footprints belonging to one individual were discovered; local law enforcement agencies were notified, and a border search was initiated.

As a result of search measures, Astara resident Imamaliyev Gunduz (29) was detained in the forest. During the investigation, it was established that Imamaliyev, who had been convicted several times before, violated the state border in order to smuggle drugs from Iran into Azerbaijan.

During the search of the area, where Imamaliyev was detained with the involvement of service dogs, one bag hidden by him in the bushes was discovered. During the inspection overall 7,7 kg of drugs (2,149 grams heroin, 2,265 grams marijuana, 2,039 grams opium, 1,295 grams methamphetamine), as well as 976 psychotropic methadone-40 pills, and a hunting knife were confiscated.

Furthermore, on June 8, around 0010, a border guard in the service area of the Lankaran border detachment's border post near Astara's Alasha village spotted an unknown individual, who approached the engineering barrier and immediately retreated to the Iran-Azerbaijan border.

The area was closed and taken under control. As a result of operational measures, at 0050, near the 13th kilometer of the Alat-Astara highway, in the border region, the suspicious actions of a person, who got out of a car and grabbed an unknown object beneath a road sign attracted the attention of border guards.

The suspect was apprehended while attempting to flee the scene after failing to heed the border guard's "stop" instruction.

During the search, 403 grams of heroin and 2,980 psychotropic methadone-40 pills were seized from Lankaran resident Aghayev Kanan (40).

Investigative measures are underway, the state agency said.
Four Democratic lawmakers are asking federal regulators to investigate Apple and Google for allegedly deceiving mobile phone users by enabling the collection and sale of their personal data. Their call comes as the Supreme Court ended the constitutional protections for abortion Friday. The court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is expected to lead to abortion bans in about half the states. And privacy experts say that could make women vulnerable as their personal data could be used to surveil pregnancies and shared with police or sold to vigilantes. The request for an investigation of the two California-based tech giants came in a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan.
A suspect wanted in an early Sunday morning shooting in Danville was arrested Monday night in North Carolina.

At about 5:30 a.m. Sunday, Danville officers were called to Woodside Village Apartments at 1321 Piney Forest Road for the report of a shooting, a Tuesday afternoon news release stated.

Police found a 23-year-old Danville man with a gunshot wound. The victim was taken to an unidentified hospital for treatment and listed in stable condition.

Authorities identified Joshua Emmanuel Singletary, 20, as the suspect. He was charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and reckless handling of a firearm, the news release stated.

Officials believed Singletary fled from the Danville area. Working with other law enforcement partners, the suspect was found Monday evening in Conover, North Carolina.

Singletary surrendered to members of the Catawba County Sheriffs Office Special Tactics and Response team after they converged on the Lyle Haven Mobile Home Park off County Home Road shortly after 7 p.m., Capt. Aaron Turk told the Hickory (North Carolina) Daily Record.

The suspect surrendered as soon as the STAR team contacted him, Turk said. Turk said no one was harmed during the encounter.

The Danville Police Department would like to thank the law enforcement partners who moved quickly to apprehend Mr. Singletary, the Danville news release stated.

Singletary will be extradited to Danville to stand trial pending legal matters in North Carolina.

The Hickory (North Carolina) Daily Record contributed to this report.
ARLINGTON  One of Virginias newest  and largest  corporate citizens is making a good first impression with a commitment to opening a center to help military veterans transition to civilian life, including possible high-tech jobs in a region that is becoming a hotbed for highly skilled employees.

Five weeks after announcing that it is moving its global headquarters to a building it already owns here in Crystal City, Boeing said Monday that it will open The Boeing Center for Veteran Transition & Military Families in a building already under construction in Virginia Techs Innovation Campus next door in Alexandria.

The center is part of a $50 million grant to Virginia Tech that Boeing announced last year to boost academic recruitment to the universitys $1 billion campus in Potomac Yard, the anchor of a state-supported innovation corridor for undergraduate and graduate education in high-tech fields.

Were going to take advantage of that corridor and attract as many young people as we can, Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun said in an announcement that featured three Virginia governors, two of them now U.S. senators, and Rep. Don Beyer, D-8th, who was once a gubernatorial nominee.

The announcement at Boeings office here also was a celebration of the companys decision to move its global headquarters from Chicago to the Washington, D.C., area, which will become home to the five biggest aerospace firms in the world once Raytheon Technologies completes its recently announced move of its global headquarters from the Boston suburbs to Rosslyn, another Arlington neighborhood.

On behalf of the commonwealth of Virginia, I want to welcome Boeing to Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin told Calhoun.

Youngkin was joined by Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Virginia Democrats, and Beyer, whose congressional district includes the Boeing headquarters and Virginia Tech campus.

Boeing coming here with your headquarters really cements Virginias place, Kaine said of the aerospace industrys presence in the region.

Warner, who serves with Youngkin and Calhoun on an advisory board for Virginia Techs Innovation Campus, was hoping the company might be ready to announce plans for a research and development center in the region.

What Boeing has not really done yet is theyve not really explained what theyre going to do with the tech center theyre going to build in Virginia, Warner said in an interview on Monday.

Similarly, Raytheon hasnt said how many jobs it plans to move to its new corporate headquarters in existing offices here, or what that will mean to its current headquarters in Waltham, Mass.

The lure for all of the aerospace companies is the U.S. defense industry, represented by the Pentagon here and what Calhoun called the policy-making capital of the world across the Potomac River in the seat of federal government.

Warner said Boeing made its decision to move to Virginia in December, the month before Youngkin was inaugurated. But the freshman governor was jubilant over the companys embrace of the innovation corridor that Virginia seeded with an education-driven incentive package that landed Amazons $2.5 billion East Coast headquarters here in 2018.

Its about to become an innovation region, Youngkin said.

The Amazon package included $250 million in state money that Virginia Tech would have to match to build its innovation campus in National Landing, as state and local officials have sought to rebrand the adjoining neighborhoods of Crystal City and Potomac Yard.

The package also included $125 million in state funds to help George Mason University create the Institute for Digital Innovation on its Arlington campus between Rosslyn and Ballston, as well as a commitment of more than $700 million over 20 years to a tech talent pipeline to Virginia colleges and universities to award an additional 25,000 to 35,000 degrees in computer sciences and related fields.

Military veterans represent another important source of skilled employees for high-tech jobs. Virginia is home to about 725,000, including 155,000 active duty service members, reservists and National Guard.

Im biased  I want them to stay in Virginia, Youngkin said.

The governor said the new center will work with his administration to develop a statewide support network for veterans and their families, including the creation of a digital hub to connect them to state services and benefits.

Virginia Tech also embraced its role in the new center, which President Tim Sands said is a natural fit because of the universitys Corps of Cadets and its long history of preparing students for potential careers in the military.

We know veterans bring unique talents and abilities to our campus and the commonwealths workforce, Sands said.

Ultimately, Boeings partnership with Virginia Tech is about cultivating talent for high-demand jobs in technology driven industries.

Talent is the most precious thing in the world, Kaine said, more precious than oil, even at $5 a gallon.
Students majoring in philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University pay nearly $15,000 annually in tuition bills. But according to a recent analysis, the average graduate still earned minimum wage five years after graduation.

The analysis, which estimated the earnings for 750 school-specific majors in Virginia, found that VCU philosophy majors earned the least in the state. Other programs at the bottom include Regent Universitys drama department and Mary Baldwins arts program.

Meanwhile, graduates of the University of Virginias computer science program made $110,000 annually five years after graduation, the most in the state. They were closely followed by Washington and Lee Universitys computer science grads and UVa computer engineering alumni.

Together, the data indicates that whether college provides a positive financial return on investment depends mostly on the field of study and somewhat on the college the student attended.

Colleges in Virginia have long debated how to weigh the intrinsic value of certain majors versus their pecuniary value. At a time when tuition costs are rising, student debt remains high and jobs are unfilled, many students in the state are choosing majors that are more likely to provide a good paycheck.

Peter Blake, the head of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, said colleges have a responsibility to make sure programs are aligned to meet employment demands as closely as possible, especially now.

A programs return on investment, he said, is particularly important.

The study, which estimates earnings for bachelors degree programs nationwide, was published last fall by the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, a think tank described as right-of-center.

Researchers used 2017 and 2018 earnings reported to the College Scorecard, a government database that compiles wage values shortly after graduation, and Census Bureau data to project future income. The study does not address students with graduate and professional degrees.

Some majors never provide a financial return on investment. Those students would have earned more money across their lifetimes had they saved the $100,000 or so in tuition costs, started earning a paycheck four years earlier and begun climbing the wage ladder sooner.

Nearly one in four college majors in Virginia fails to provide a lifetime return on investment, according to the study. The majors least likely to provide a financial windfall are psychology, biology, fine arts, drama, English and social work. The schools that house the highest number of negative-ROI majors are Liberty University, VCU, University of Mary Washington and Radford University.

The majors that provide the highest ROI tend to focus on science, technology, engineering, math and business. Several nursing programs are near the top of the list, too.

You dont have to go to a prestigious school or an expensive school to get a good-paying job. High-earning majors are found at VCU, Old Dominion University and for-profit schools such as ECPI University.

Some perhaps unexpected majors landed in top 100: romance languages at Washington and Lee, politics at UVA and interdisciplinary studies at UVA, indicating that graduates of the most prestigious schools are more likely to earn high-paying jobs even if they are not enrolled in a high-value major.

A civilized world needs philosophy

Though they arent rich, philosophy grads earned a wide range of estimated salaries five years after graduation, from $44,000 at the College of William & Mary to $17,000 at VCU.

VCUs figure, which comes from 2017 and 2018 data, is close to minimum wage at the time.

Donald Smith, department chair for VCU philosophy, said the results do not fit with his analysis of the jobs VCU philosophy graduates earn.

I was in disbelief, he said.

In recent years, VCU philosophy grads have become a research analyst at OrthoVirginia, a researcher at the Economic Policy Institute and a senior analyst at Lumber Liquidators. About half of the graduates go to law school or some other postgraduate degree, he estimated.

The median estimated wage for philosophy grads nationwide is $37,000 in this study, which is a lower figure than some other studies cite. For instance, a 2021 New York Fed study on the labor market for recent college graduates found that philosophy graduates have a median wage of $39,000 early in their careers, but that it rises to a mid-career median wage of $62,000.

Because of the specificity of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity report, its sample sizes are small.

I have no reason for thinking that VCU philosophy majors fare significantly worse with respect to ROI than what these other studies indicate, Smith said.

Just because a major doesnt pay well doesnt mean it has no value, said Blake, head of the State Council of Higher Education. Return on investment is an important measure of a programs success  average debt for a Virginia college graduate is $30,000. But its not the only measure.

A civilized world needs people who are trained and educated in English, history, social work, early childhood education, art, anthropology, et cetera, he added.

Philosophy improves reasoning skills, the ability to be open to criticism and the ability to disagree in a rational manner, Smith added. All of those skills are relevant to any career a student might pursue.

Josh Hartt, 21, graduated from VCU last month after double majoring in political science and philosophy. Philosophy hasnt helped his job search much, but if he could do college over again, he wouldnt change a thing.

It taught me to think in a way most people dont, and that was worth every single penny, Hartt said.

Hartt doesnt have a job yet, but he has enough money saved up to get an apartment in Richmond while he applies. He plans to apply to law school next year.

Whats helped him the most with his career are the job prospects working on political campaigns. He says the teachers and students he met in philosophy classes were some of the best at VCU.

If youre interested in philosophy, dont let job prospects deter you from it, he added.

Hartts sentiments match those of most students, who are largely happy with their decision to attend college. In a poll of 15,000 Virginia college graduates from the past 15 years, 88% reported feeling satisfied or very satisfied with their undergraduate experience.

A majority, 70%, say their time in college prepared them for the workplace. But only 56% said their education was worth the cost.

Ethan Hamilton broke the mold. Days after he graduated from VCU philosophy last year, he got a job offer as an ontology analyst for a consulting firm in Arlington County, building data models for computers and earning about $70,000, far more than the national average.

His employer was interested in applicants who understand logic and rules  exactly what he had learned in philosophy.

For this field, its a perfect fit, he said.

A $2 million ROI

Students in the top-paying majors typically earn six-figure salaries by age 27. Of the 25 best-paying degree programs, 17 are engineering or computer science.

Joshua Sahaya Arul, 21, took computer science as a high school class at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria and got hooked. At UVA, he chose it as his major primarily because he enjoyed the subject.

A summer internship at Capital One turned into a job offer months before he graduated from UVA. By age 21  he finished college in three years  he was earning close to $110,000, the estimated salary for his major for graduates five to seven years older than him. He recently accepted a job at Google.

According to the study, he and other UVA computer science grads will receive a return on their college education of more than $2 million.

The State Council of Higher Education does not shut down programs that fail to deliver good jobs. Instead, it pays attention to a programs popularity. If students stop enrolling, the program can get shut down. In essence, the state council lets the market decide.

If majors have high demand, there must be some value students see in them, Blake said.

For years, students have chosen majors that do not guarantee a big paycheck. Psychology is the states most popular major, with 5% of students enrolled, and its been among the most popular majors for at least 30 years.

The highest-paying psychology program is at Virginia Military Institute, where graduates earn an estimated $47,000 five years after graduation.

Everyone has their own price point when it comes to return on investment, Blake said.

In the survey of college graduates from the past 15 years, about one in three graduates said they went to college for reasons other than preparing for a specific job  either because they felt they were expected to, they wanted a well-rounded education, or they were trying to figure out what they wanted to do.

But not all majors have sustained the popularity of psychology. In 2010, there were 1,500 college students in Virginia studying English. By 2020, that number had cratered by 40%.

VCU has seen that trend with its new students. In the past four years, fewer incoming freshmen have chosen the College of Humanities and Sciences, which is home to such departments as biology, English and philosophy.

Whats growing are engineering, business, education and health  programs with clear job destinations, said Tomikia LeGrande, VCUs vice president for enrollment.

The universitys goal, she said, is to make sure students can envision a career  no matter what major they choose.
RALEIGH  Just east of Interstate 95, less than 35 miles from downtown Raleigh, is an area of cypress and lowland hardwood forests so vast that its visible from space.

These swampy woods along the winding Neuse River were thought to be so full of venomous snakes and moonshine stills that they became known as the LetLones  as in better just leave that place alone. Biologists and conservationists have had their eye on them for decades, in hopes of preserving one of the largest remaining undeveloped areas of the Triangle.

Now, the state has bought 1,127 acres in the LetLones, along a potential corridor of The Mountains-to-Sea Trail. The seller was the Triangle Land Conservancy, a nonprofit group that purchased the land in 2019.

Johnston County already was transitioning from farmland to suburban subdivisions 30 years ago when the land conservancy first identified the LetLones, or Neuse Lowgrounds, as an important natural area worth protecting. Over the last decade, the county grew faster than any other in the state, and developers are starting to look to rural areas east of I-95.

This was always kind of one of the last vast wilderness areas of the Triangle, said Leigh Ann Hammerbacher, a director of land protection and stewardship for the conservancy. With that said, theres now water and sewer lines in the area. It is very close to the 70 Bypass. So weve seen a lot more growth and development than we ever anticipated with Johnson County being the fastest-growing county in the state right now.

The conservancy bought the 1,127 acres from the children of Goldsboro physician Joseph Hester for $2.9 million  the same amount it will receive from the state in a deal approved last week. The state is drawing from four conservation funds to pay for the land, with the largest share coming from the N.C. Land and Water Fund.

The property includes 650 acres of floodplain and 70 acres of farmland transitioning to meadow and oxbow lakes where the twisting Neuse River has been cut off from itself.

The Neuse goes from having a floodplain of a couple hundred feet north of Smithfield to having a floodplain thats almost 4 miles wide at the base of the lowgrounds, Hammerbacher said.

In addition to snakes, the land provides habitat for migrating birds and waterfowl as well as fox squirrels, black bears and bobcats.

As of now, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation has no firm plans for the Hester land, other than to make it available for The Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

The trail extends 1,175 miles, mostly over land, from Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Jockeys Ridge State Park in Nags Head. At Smithfield, the plan was for the trail to follow the Neuse through the LetLones to Goldsboro, but the area is quick to flood and slow to drain.

Its a really challenging place to build a trail for the long term, said Betsy Brown, outreach manager for Friends of The Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

So trail planners proposed a new route heading south from Smithfield toward Bentonville Battlefield and other public lands and up through Jacksonville to the Outer Banks. The northern route along the Neuse is still a possibility, Brown said, but not in the near future.

The land conservancy refers to the Hester land as the Brogden Bottomlands, a reference to the topography and a small community nearby. Movie star and Johnston County native Ava Gardner grew up in Brogden.

The house she was born in is actually across the road from this property, Hammerbacher said. We imagine that she probably tromped around the woods that are now part of this acquisition.
Republican Dennison Rivera announced Monday that he is dropping out of the race for Montana House District 79 in Helena, citing hypocrisy in the Republican party and his faith as the reasons.

Rivera ran unopposed in the Republican primary election on June 7, and earned 98% of the vote, according to the secretary of state's website.

According to Riveras public resignation letter, he also resigned from his position as the chair of Montana Young Republicans and severed all ties with the Montana Republican Party.

If you all want to continue to pretend to do what is right, then have at it, Rivera wrote in the resignation letter. Go ahead and pretend to be friends and destroy one another for the sake of your corrupted motives. Just know that the Lord will hold you accountable. As for Me and My House, We will vote for the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lewis and Clark County Republican Central Committee can now bring forward a candidate to replace Rivera. Attempts to reach the committee Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Rivera criticized the Democratic party along with the Republican party in his resignation letter.

The Democrat establishment has no shame and unifies behind their destructive agendas, while I find that the Republican establishment only appears to be fighting for integrity while tolerating corruption, Rivera wrote. They both hide behind concepts of morality while doing whatever it takes to gain power and control.

Laura Smith is the Democratic candidate for HD 79.

"Our campaign saw the news that he resigned from the race. We wish him luck in future endeavors," Smith said. "I look forward to talking with voters this summer and fall to ensure the district has a seat and voice at the table on issues that are important to our neighbors."

Love 5 Funny 6 Wow 7 Sad 4 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
By Trend

Britain will propose overriding the rules that govern post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland on Monday in a move that will inflame tensions with the European Union that have simmered since the protocol came into force in 2021, Trend reports citing Reuters.

When Britain left the EU, Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed a deal that effectively kept Northern Ireland in the EU single market and customs union to preserve the open border with Ireland specified in the Good Friday peace agreement.

It imposes customs checks between the province and the rest of the United Kingdom, which pro-British communities in Northern Ireland say erodes their place within the UK.

Johnson has said the protocol's implementation has damaged trade within the United Kingdom and has threatened political stability in Northern Ireland.

The legislation will be presented to parliament by British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

Brussels believes any unilateral change could breach international law. It could respond by launching legal action and by imposing countermeasures, such as tariffs.

Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis insisted on Sunday that the legislation complied with the law.

He declined to say how the protocol would be changed, but said the government would set out the legal basis for the bill.

It is expected to propose a "green channel" for goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland, as well as scrapping rules that prevent the province from benefiting from tax assistance and ending the role of the European Court of Justice as sole arbiter, according to reports.

The plan will be a test of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's authority after he was almost removed from office last week when four in ten of his lawmakers opposed him in a confidence vote.

However, it will be seen by the EU as an inflammatory move that violates an international treaty.

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said in May that Brussels would respond with all measures at its disposal.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said there will be no U.S.-UK trade deal if London scraps the protocol.

Ireland's Sinn Fein, the nationalist party that won a historic victory in an election in Northern Ireland last month, said Britain would "undoubtedly" break the law by imposing unilateral changes to the protocol.

"(Britain) has sought a destructive path, and is now proposing to introduce legislation that will undoubtedly breach international law," Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald told Sky News.
An Oct. 31 trial date was set Tuesday for a Helena man accused of making threats to attack Helena High School. Police later found several weapons and explosives in his possession.

Logan Pallister appeared in court for his arraignment before Special Master John Bacino, who entered a not guilty plea on Pallisters behalf and set the trial date, which will be on Halloween. He will appear before 1st Judicial District Court Judge Chris Abbott.

Pallister, 23, appeared in court from the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center on a television screen via Zoom. The courtroom overlooks Broadway Street and the multiplex building where Pallister lived, which police searched for explosives on May 31.

The courthouse was not evacuated during the search of Pallisters home.

He faces six charges, including two felony counts of intimidation, felony possession of explosives, felony possession of a silencer, misdemeanor assault and misdemeanor sexual assault. His bond was set earlier at $750,000.

Pallister kept his answers to Bacino mostly to one-word replies, saying that he understood the charges and received a copy of his rights.

According to police, Pallister told witnesses he idolized and would reenact the April 20, 1999, Columbine High School shooting in Colorado in which two teen gunmen killed 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves, according to a document filed in Justice Court. He allegedly talked of carrying out a mass shooting at Helena High School. His arrest came a week after a teen gunman entered a school in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 19 children and two teachers.

It was not known if Pallister had a connection to Helena High School. On his Facebook page he states he attended Jefferson High School in Boulder and lists Jefferson City as where he lives.

Pallister was arrested May 31 in front of his residence. Helena police said he had eight firearms, including three semi-automatic rifles and five handguns.

Pallister told a witness he was going to make bombs to use in a school and showed her the bombs on May 30. The witness said the bombs looked similar to mini-propane bottles, but all silver and with a fuse about 4-6 inches long.

He threatened to kill her if she told anyone, police said.

Officers said they found what they thought were homemade explosive devices and materials to make such devices in his vehicle. Some of the firearms found had threaded barrels capable of being used for a silencer.

Officers said they found photos posted on websites of Pallister holding weapons. In one of the photos he was wearing a black trench coat. Officers said this backed up the statement by the witness that Pallister was mimicking the Columbine shooters who were sometimes known as the Trench Coat Mafia.

Helena Public Schools was notified of the investigation and the arrest early May 31. The school district did not lock down any buildings, as law enforcement said there was no threat to the community at that time, school officials said.

East Helena Public Schools were temporarily placed on "secure" status early May 31 as part of the school district's standard response protocol. All students and staff were kept inside secure buildings until the secure order was lifted around 9:10 a.m.

Police said they had dealt with Pallister in 2020, when he was carrying several firearms and had guns in a duffel bag in his vehicle. They said that in 2019 he pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon in a local grocery store and openly carrying a TEC-9-style weapon while concealing a semi-automatic pistol beneath his coat.

Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Editor's note: this story will be updated throughout the day as reporters and editors learn more about the developing flood situation.

Federal disaster declaration announced for Montana

Update 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 16

President Joe Biden has announced a major disaster declaration for Montana in response to the flooding activities.

Part of the release states:

The acute damage to infrastructure, particularly in and around Yellowstone National Park, will impact communities that rely on tourism and recreation for livelihoods, jobs, and revenue. Park County benefits from more than $200 million annually in tourism, and Carbon County brings in $68 million annually from tourism.

Morning round up

Update 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, June 16

Initial damage estimates due to flood activity in the greater Yellowstone region are starting to roll in. A request to the Biden administration to issue a presidential major disaster declaration, the state estimated the damage to transportation infrastructure alone is $29 million. Among other things, the request points out that Carbon County relies on $68 million from tourism each year, and Park County sees $200 million injected into its local economy. It is very unlikely communities will see those dollars this year.

The flow of the Yellowstone River around Billings receded several feet overnight and city residents were able to resume normal water use as of Thursday morning. The surge along the Yellowstone had caused crews to temporarily shut down the Billings water treatment plant on Wednesday.

During a call with residents and tourists in Cody, Wyoming the Yellowstone National park superintendent said the entire park will remain closed through the weekend. The less-damaged southern loop of the park is now expected to open Monday at the earliest. Park officials continue to assess the damage.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is set to declare an emergency in response to historic flooding in the park. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a disaster for flooding on Tuesday.

Flathead County declares a state of emergency for anticipated flooding

Update 4:43 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Flathead County declared a state of emergency in response to anticipated flooding and current flooding.

To date, there is a pre-evacuation notice in place for low-lying areas across Flathead County. Official evacuation notices have been issued for Leisure Road in Kalispell and Blankenship Road from Blankenship Bridge to the North Fork Road.

Road closures in effect:

North Hill Top Road in Columbia Falls.

From Steel Bridge Road to Muddy Drive in Kalispell.

West Side Hungry Horse Reservoir Road between Mazie Creek and Graves Creek Road.

7-mile Upper Whitefish/Stryker Road in the Stillwater State Forest.

Evacuations have been lifted and roads open to resident traffic only are Rabe Road in Columbia Falls and Lake Drive and Bailey Lake Area in Columbia Falls.

The Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter at Columbia Falls High School for individuals affected by the evacuation orders. The Sheriff's Office has established an information line at 406-758-2111.

For current information, follow the Flathead County Sheriff's Office Facebook Page.

Custer-Gallatin and Shoshone National Forests announce closures

Update 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

The Custer Gallatin National Forest has posted an area closure on its website, shutting down all lands, roads and trails in Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park and Gallatin counties.

The exception is the Pryor Mountain portion of the forest, which remains open.

The purpose of this order is to protect emergency personnel, public health and imminent life safety due to widespread flooding events, roads and facility damage in Carbon, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, the posting said.

The closure is in effect from Tuesday through June 24, or until it is rescinded. Violations of the closure can result in a $5,000 fine or six months in jail.

For more details, contact the forest office at 406-587-6701.

Closures are also impacting the Beartooth, Gardiner and Yellowstone Ranger Districts and includes all National Forest system lands within those districts as crews get out to assess damage, the stability of bridges and facilities.

Many of our trailheads in the Paradise Valley and (Absaroka-Beartooth) arent able to be accessed regardless, said forest spokesperson Mariah Leuschen-Lonergan. As waters recede engineers and recreation staff are getting in and determining the safety and stability of infrastructure. We are aware of some washed out roads and bridges and need to assess conditions.

In Cody, the Forest Service announced the snowmelt impacts were having impacts on the areas recreation sites. They urged patience from travelers.

Some campgrounds, roads, and trails may need to be closed for resource protection as well as public safety. Visitors should plan ahead and visit the Shoshone National Forest website (http://www.fs.usda.gov/shoshone) and Facebook page (US Forest Service  Shoshone National Forest) for updates on any areas that may be closed or impacted.

We know that there are a lot of people who had planned trips to the Greater Yellowstone area and are now having to adjust itineraries because of closures, said Wapiti, Clarks Fork, and Greybull District Ranger Casey McQuiston. The Shoshone National Forest remains open to visitors and recreationists. Additionally, the Washakie and Wind River Ranger districts of the Shoshone National Forest have not been as impacted as the northern portion of the Shoshone, and there are wonderful recreational opportunities on that end of the Shoshone as well.

As daily high temperatures continue to increase throughout the week, with predicted temperatures above 90 by Friday, snowmelt and subsequent runoff could prolong and even potentially exacerbate some of these conditions. The Shoshone National Forest will continue to evaluate the situation and will respond to changing conditions, getting associated information out to the public as soon as possible Wapiti, Clarks Fork, and Greybull Ranger districts Office at 307.527.6921.

Yellowstone River at Billings begins to recede, downstream flooding still occurring

Update 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Water levels along the Yellowstone River at Billings appear to have peaked late Wednesday morning and may now be incrementally dropping.

vernight, the river rose to 16 feet, a full foot higher than its record crest of 15 feet in 1997 and a foot and a half higher than what was initially forecast for the city earlier this week.

By 9 a.m. on Wednesday the Yellowstone had climbed to 16.4 feet and then appeared to jump to 17.52 feet at 11 .a.m., according to data from the National Weather Service. By 12:45 p.m. levels had dropped to 16.3 feet.

Ranches and farmsteads south of Billings stretching to Edgar have been inundated. Yellowstone County officials closed half a dozen roads and are monitoring four bridges.

The area south of Billings at River Road and Duck Creek was nearly all under water, flooding a number of farms and ranches. Water from the Clarks Fork had flooded land and ranch houses around Byam Road at the Yellowstone/Carbon County line as well as the Pryor Edgar Road near Edgar.

Cities in eastern Montana along the Yellowstone River's path are forecast to see higher levels of water but so far not enough to push them into a major flood stage, according to the weather service.

The Yellowstone at Forsyth is predicted to crest at 12.7 feet on Friday morning; flood stage there is 14 feet.

Miles City could see some flooding. The river is expected to crest there at 14.8 feet on Friday afternoon; minor flood stage at Miles City is 14 feet.

Further down the line, the Yellowstone at Glendive is forecast to crest sometime Saturday morning, reaching 53.2 feet. The minor flood stage there is 53.5 feet.

In Sidney, the river is forecast to crest at 17.8 feet on Saturday afternoon. Minor flood stage there is 19 feet.

Carbon County updated flooding situation

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Unsafe conditions remain in the flooded area; the public is urged to stay away from closed areas. Reports of the public accessing unsafe areas continue to be a concern for law enforcement. Many roads, streets and sidewalks are unstable and could give way. Please avoid the area.

The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River near Fromberg and Edgar are experiencing significant flood impacts as well as Rock Creek in Red Lodge. It is expected that water will continue to recede today.

A significant warming trend is expected this Friday/Saturday and the public is urged to stay alert of changing water conditions. Public Works staff along with Montana Department of Transportation are assessing the damage due to the floods. The public is urged to stay away from the flooded and closed areas for their own safety. A boil order is still in effect for Red Lodge, Fromberg and Edgar.

Current evacuation orders in effect:

Red Lodge: Evacuation orders in Red Lodge have been lifted.

Belfry: Lovers Lane.

Fromberg: All areas east of Highway 310, south of East River Road west of the river.

Joliet: No evacuation orders are in effect at this time.

Bridger: No evacuation orders in effect at this time.

All drinking water from the tap should be boiled before use in Red Lodge, Fromberg and Edgar. Public Works has reestablished water service to parts of Red Lodge but significant damage to the infrastructure has occurred and parts of Red Lodge remain without water. Water is out in Fromberg as water pumps supplying the town were underwater.

Planned Actions:

As water recedes, ongoing assessments of area roads/bridges will continue today. Crews are working to restore 19th Street bridge in Red Lodge; however, this road remains closed to the public. Highway 308 bridge is comprised, remains closed to the public and crews are working to restore the Highway 308 bridge. Crews will also be working on Meteetsee bridge; however, this road remains closed to the public. Crews are working to reestablish access to the water plant today and clearing debris out of roadway in Red Lodge. Crews will be in Fromberg and Belfry today working on road access. Lovers Lane in Belfry remains closed. Northwestern Energy will be working in the area fixing gas lines and working on restoring electric poles. Bridge engineers arrived today and will be working with county road departments on assessing damage.

Evacuation Shelters:

The American Red Cross has setup evacuation shelters located at the following locations:

 Fromberg School

 Red Lodge Fairgrounds

Public Meeting:

A public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 16th at Fromberg School at 6:00 PM at 319 School St, Fromberg, MT 59029. The meeting will also be lived stream to Facebook Live at the Carbon Alerts Facebook page.

Sandbags:

The public can get sandbags at the following locations, volunteers have been assisting with filling bags:

 Fromberg School

 Joliet Road Shop, 202 State Street

 Bridger Road Shop, 22 Old Mine

Weather: Seasonally cooler weather remains today with temperatures in the 60s in the lower elevations with upper elevations in 40s- 50s. No significant rain is expected over the next 24-48 hours. Warmer weather is expected to arrive tomorrow and into Friday and Saturday. Water levels will potentially rise with the warmer weather moving in the region later in the week. The public is urged to remain cautious, stay alert of changing water conditions and stay clear of flooded areas.

Resources Assigned:

The Western Montana Type III Incident Management Team continues to assist local flood relief efforts. Numerous agencies are on scene including: Carbon County DES, Carbon County Sheriffs Office, Red Lodge Police Department, Red Lodge Fire & Rescue, Montana Highway Patrol, Fromberg Volunteer Fire Department, Bridger EMS, Bridger Volunteer Fire, American Red Cross, City of Red Lodge, Public Works, Forest Service, Beartooth Billings Clinic, Carbon County Public Health Department, Montana Department of Transportation, Montana FWP Game Wardens, Two Bear Air, and Montana National Guard.

For current information follow the Carbon Alert Facebook page or call 406-426-2425.

Stillwater County updated flooding situation

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Stillwater County  Flooding has impacted the entire Stillwater River, parts of the Yellowstone River, Itch-Kep-Pe Camping Area and Reed Point.

 Damage assessments and resource allocations were ongoing.

 Roads and bridges in the area remained impassable.

 Sandbagging operations were continuing. Sand bags are available at Absarokee Fire Hall and in Reed Point.

 Air rescues from West Rosebud and Emerald Lakes were successfully completed.

 Evacuations were lifted but only residents should return to the area.

 Road and Bridge Department are assessing and opening roads as they are deemed safe to traffic.

The following roads were closed:

 Road and Bridge Department are assessing and opening roads as they are deemed safe to traffic

 DES reported to MT DES Duty Officer and NWS

Road Closures by Stillwater Road and Bridge

 West Rosebud to Mystic Lake

 Fiddler Creek Rd to Hwy 419

 Nye Rd at Carters Camp going South

 S. Stillwater River Road is open from Nye to Beehive. Closed at Beehive

 Stillwater River Road Bridge compromised/not passable at Riddles Cliff

 Johnson Ln Road towards North Stillwater River

 Miller Rd at North Stillwater River Rd

 E Jack Stone Rd to North Stillwater River Rd

 Lower Flat Rd off of Joliet Rd. Closed to all but residential traffic

 Yellowstone Bridge in Reed Point

 Miller Bridge on N Stillwater River

 Hwy 419 Going West (Bridge Completely Gone)

 Ingersoll Rd off Hwy 78

 Nye Rd to the Sibanye/Stillwater Mine going south (Road is Gone)

 All Campgrounds and Fishing Accesses in the county are closed until further notice. Per Montana Fish & Game and The United States Forest Service

Red Lodge community meeting: "Red Lodge should not be open for business"

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

During a recent meeting, Red Lodge fire chief and emergency commander Tom Kuntz told residents that every bridge south of Red Lodge is "compromised."

Residents also expressed concerns over the future. The flood has displaced residents from their homes and shuttered businesses that depend on the busy summer months.

"As a community leader, I think I always want to say Red Lodge is open for business," Kuntz told the crowd. "Right now, Red Lodge should not be open for business."

A sign on alongside the highway in Rockvale warns travelers to stay away. It reads: "Red Lodge is evacuated. Please do not come."

Billings braces itself as Yellowstone River rises, smaller communities swamped

Update 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15

The Yellowstone River crested above 16 feet overnight, a foot above the previous record. It was so high, the river gauge was overwhelmed and stopped measuring at 15-feet, 4-inches.

Billings Public Works officials warned city leaders Monday night that if the river rose to 15 feet it would put the water and wastewater treatment plants in jeopardy. A levy has been built around the plants and water pumps have so far been keeping up with whatever river water is coming over the levy.

In the small town of Edgar, flooding from the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River swamped all the septic tanks. Residents cant use their toilets and porta-potties have been set up on every street corner.

Downriver, small farm towns like Huntley Project, Worden, and Ballantine are swamped, but no reports yet of lost roads or bridges. Further downriver, cities like Forsyth and Miles City are bracing for the surge with voluntary evacuation orders in the low country along the river.

As temperatures rise this weekend and more rain is in the forecast, there could be a second surge.

Yellowstone National Park evening presser highlights - northern entrance to remain closed

Update 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The flood damage will keep the northern half of Yellowstone National Park closed to tourists for the rest of the summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly told reporters Tuesday evening. The area includes the iconic Lamar Valley, Tower Falls and Mammoth Hot Springs.

The southern loop of Yellowstone National Park may reopen to visitors in a week or less, he added, using some type of reservation system or timed entry to control entry. Travel from Jackson, Wyoming, was already going to be hampered by road construction. Entrances that would be reopened for the southern loop include the East, South and West gates near Cody, Jackson and West Yellowstone, respectively.

Park County authorities focus on helping residents, look to start assessing damage

Update 4:10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The water is receding north of Yellowstone National Park.

Park County Sheriff Brad Bichler said during a press conference Tuesday that crews have been able to start looking at just how much damage was done since flooding began. The sheriffs office has completed at least a dozen rescues, he said.

In Gardiner, several homes along the Yellowstone River have been lost, Bichler said. Whispering Pines, Cooke City and Silvergate have also sustained extensive damage. Lisa Lowy, interim Livingston city manager, said the citys southeast areas saw homes flooding and street damage that remains to be totally assessed.

Now, Bichler said, officers are focused on moving non-local traffic out of Gardiner. Highway 89 opened between Gardiner and Livingston on Tuesday, which he said should help get essential goods into town.

The eight patients housed at Livingston HealthCare on Monday remain at Pioneer Medical Center in Big Timber, hospital CEO Deb Anczak said during Tuesdays press conference. The main campus phone system is still down, Anczak said, but an inspection found no water penetrated the facility.

That means that depending on when roads open in the area, the hospital is looking to reopen its emergency department as soon as possible and return to inpatient care. For now, the hospitals urgent care center on Highway 89 is operational and its Shields Valley Clinic in Wilsall has extra staff on hand to handle walk-ins.

Those who need help or are looking for information in the area, Park County Emergency Manager Greg Coleman said, should call the hotline at (406) 222-4131.

You can also text your zip code to Nixle at 888777 to receive updates by text.

Only call 911 if you have an emergency, Coleman reiterated.

Theyre very busy right now, he said.

The HRDC in Livingston set up an emergency shelter at its warming center on South Second Street Monday night, and may stay open Tuesday depending on how many people need it. Coleman said to call the hotline if youre looking for a place to stay.

Offers of help in any form can be directed to 211.

Were in for the long haul, Park County Commissioner Steve Caldwell said. Its going to be a long exercise, but I think were up to it.

Cody resort shutters temporarily amid flood

Update 2:40 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Pahaska Tepee Resort  located outside Cody, just two miles from Yellowstones east entrance  is shuttered through at least Thursday.

The resort boasts cabins, a restaurant, gift shop and outdoor activities. Its oldest lodge was built by U.S. Colonel William Cody (a.k.a. Buffalo Bill) himself.

Pahaska was booked at about 90% capacity at the beginning of the week, said Angela Coe, who runs the resort. But rainfall over the weekend caused the North Fork Shoshone River to swell so much, it got into the lodges water system, Coe said. Staff shut off the system Monday to prevent it from getting into the resorts tap, and sent all guests home.

The rivers since receded. Coe said Pahaska Tepee is currently sending water samples to the Wyoming Department of Health in Cheyenne. The water needs to test as safe two days in a row before the lodge can open up again.

If all goes well, the resort will reopen Friday.

But Pahaska Tepees guests often come for Yellowstone, Coe said. She doesn't expect Codys tourism business to recover until the parks southern region reopens, too.

Prospective vacationers arent waiting for answers, Coe said. The phones at Pahaska Tepee have been ringing nonstop with cancellations. She emphasized that people are wanting to cancel their July and August reservations.

Officials to release water from Mystic Lake dam

Update 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Mystic Dam will be releasing water from Mystic Lake to maintain safe water levels within the reservoir, Stillwater County officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

"This action is necessary to maintain safe water levels behind the dam," a statement from a Stillwater County spokesperson said. "Since the Stillwater and Rosebud River levels have dropped we anticipate little to no impact on the current flooding situation."

Yellowstone to remain closed at least five more days

Update 1:56 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a release the park will remain closed at least five more days.

In a release, Sholly said Xanterra's seasonal employees will be moved from Mammoth and that concession facilities in the northern part of the park at Mammoth and Roosevelt "will not reopen likely the rest of the year."

The park also will:

 Implement full visitor closure of the backcountry.

 Evaluate needs for backcountry evacuations.

 Improve Old Gardiner Road from Mammoth to the North Entrance and use the road for administrative travel and evacuate visitors.

 Restore power to northern Yellowstone sites and Canyon, Lake and Norris.

 Evacuate Gardiner visitors via the Old Gardiner Road.

 Support Gardiner residents with a resupply of food, water and medicine.

 Support isolated NPS residents at the NE Entrance via aircraft if necessary.

 Support Cooke City residents as needed.

 Mitigate wastewater impacts of destroyed sewer lines in Gardiner and Mammoth.

 Relocate all Mammoth-based concessions employees to properties on the southern loop.

 Halt and redirect any inbound employees hired to work in Mammoth or Tower who haven't arrived yet.

 Support employees who lost housing in Gardiner.

 Prepare for outside teams to help assess damage.

 Prepare reservation system strategy for southern loop for remainder of the year.

Jackson works to accommodate Yellowstone-bound tourists

Update 12:39 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Teton County Fairgrounds was a landing site for a few dozen displaced Yellowstone campers Monday.

About 38 RVs parked there overnight, according to Trista Hiltbrunner, a staff member at the fairgrounds. Some of them came from inside the park, she said. By noon Tuesday, just a couple remained.

Cities and towns located just outside of Yellowstone were busy Tuesday connecting displaced visitors with lodging, and helping them figure out next steps.

We really do operate as one, Rick Howe, vice president of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, said of Yellowstones gateway communities.

At this point, the chambers mostly getting calls from people who were planning to visit the park this week, and suddenly had nowhere to go, he said.

The chamber extended its phone services by three hours so it could accommodate the rush of calls. Its now live from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Howe said Jackson is preparing to accept more displaced travelers and evacuees, but is waiting to hear more from park officials.

Yellowstone provides update on conditions, evacuations - no deaths or injuries reported

Update 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

During a conditions call, Yellowstone National Park officials said the Montana Department of Transportation and the Park County Sheriffs Office opened U.S. Hwy 89 at Yankee Jim Canyon through Bozeman at 35 mph to locals, delivery and service vehicles and outbound visitors, including trailers, at about 11:35 Tuesday morning.

"We cleared visitors from the entire northern end of the park," said Park Superintendent Cameron Sholly. "There are no visitors in the northern end, currently."

No injuries or deaths have been recorded from the flooding, Sholly said. The extent of the damage is still unclear. "We've kept our teams out of harm's way," he said. "We won't know exactly what the damage looks like until the water goes down."

The Park Service is still working on evacuating the southern part of the park and making contact with backcountry hikers.

The southern loop, which suffered significantly less damage than the northern loop, can't handle the full visitation Yellowstone receives, Sholly said. The park is still figuring out when and how the southern entrances will reopen. "That's still probably a little ways out, and it'll be some sort of reservation system, likely  a temporary reservation system," Sholly said.

Park officials said Mammoth and Roosevelt will likely remain closed to visitors for the rest of this year. The Park Service plans to move affected seasonal employees to positions in the southern part of the park.

Do not drink order issued in Gardiner

Update 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has issued a "Do Not Consume" order in Gardiner.

This means that water is not safe to drink or cook with. It is safe for washing hands and showering.

Outside of Gardiner residents in Park County are encouraged to contact the Park County health department with questions about wells that maybe compromised or submerged by flooding. Their number is 406-222-4131.

"If you have a well, and it is submerged by flood water or the water appears to be compromised, the water may not be safe to consume," Park County officials said in a statement Tuesday. "This is especially true for people who are immunocompromised or an infant."

No access to Gardiner available, supplies being shipped

Update 11:58 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

According to a Park County press release, "Attempts are currently ongoing to establish one-way traffic in the Valley [to Gardiner]. As yet, there is still no access. Attempts to establish drop points for supply drops in the Valley and in Gardiner and Cooke City are ongoing."

The press release also stated that, as waters recede, officials will be assessing the damages made to roads and bridges to determine if they are "structurally sound."

Montana National Guard performing evacuations

Update 11:08 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Montana National Guard evacuated 12 people from the communities of Roscoe and Cooke City on Monday as the flooding cut off vehicle access to the towns. Aircrews from the 1-189th General Support Aviation Battalion deployed a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to assist in search and rescue efforts at the request of local law enforcement.

As of Tuesday morning, the Guard unit is conducting a third evacuation operation for recreationalists around East Rosebud Lake.

We are standing by for additional requests for support, Maj. Ryan Finnegan, Montana National Guard Public Affairs Officer said. As local law enforcement requests assistance, we will continue to provide what resources are available.

A Florida family of eight were plucked by a helicopter from a flooded rental outside Cooke City, at the parks Northeast Entrance, on Monday after high waters stranded them.

A Cooke City man was air lifted by the National Guard after he suffered hypothermia from cold waters as he self-rescued.

Gov. Greg Gianforte announces "statewide disaster"

Update 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

In a Tweet on Monday, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a "statewide disaster."

In a separate post released just before to the disaster Tweet Gianforte stated, "For the last 24 hours, the State Emergency Coordination Center has been working with partners in Carbon, Stillwater, and Park counties to evacuate, ensure shelter, and safely restore power and water in areas impacted by severe flooding."

Power returns to Red Lodge, flood levels drop

10:02 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

Power in Red Lodge was restored and flood levels were declining slightly. Rock Creek was forecast to crest Monday afternoon around 1 p.m., but 80-degree temperatures predicted for later in the week are raising concerns that the tragedy is not yet over.

"It's still a river flowing" down the streets, said resident John Clayton whose house was flooded. "But it's an almost fordable river now."

Morning update for greater Yellowstone area

9:05 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

One day after milk-chocolate flood waters surged through Yellowstone National Park and nearby communities, officials and residents were working to assess the damages as others downstream braced for historically high rivers expected to come Tuesday.

Just after 10 p.m. Monday, people living in a sizable portion of southeast Livingston were required to evacuate due to the rising Yellowstone River, though the order was lifted just before 9 a.m. Tuesday. About a half-hour after the evacuation notice Monday night, the city's hospital, Livingston HealthCare, closed as the river's record-high waters crept into its parking lot.

By 1 a.m. Tuesday, the Yellowstone had reached flood stage at Billings, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS forecast the river to crest Tuesday afternoon at 14.7 feet, just three-tenths of a foot shy of the record established in 1997.

Meanwhile, the world's first national park and the south-central Montana communities of Red Lodge, Gardiner and Fishtail began to further assess damage from unprecedented flooding on the Yellowstone and Stillwater rivers as well as Rock Creek.

Images of damage from the frothing streams continued to emerge Tuesday morning. Celebrating its 150th anniversary during prime tourist season, Yellowstone remained indefinitely closed at all five entrances Tuesday for only the third time in 34 years  most recently in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also for the infamous 1988 fires.

Residents and tourists in Gardiner at Yellowstone's North Entrance and Silver Gate and Cooke City just outside the Northeast Entrance were stranded due to roads made impassable by high water and damage that could take weeks or even months to repair, park officials said.

Officials on Monday were evacuating those still inside the park, beginning in its northernmost reaches, where the impacts  including road washouts, bridge failures, rockslides and mudslides  were most severe.

YNP employees at park headquarters in Mammoth, who remained without power Tuesday morning, planned to buy groceries and other essentials in West Yellowstone, which announced late Monday that it would permit temporary camping in town for people impacted by the closure. A generator was providing power to Mammoth's cell tower, enabling communication to the outside world.

Park employees were to convene at 11 a.m. to assess next steps.

The serpentine road from Mammoth to Gardiner in the Gardner River Canyon was badly damaged, as was the road between Tower Junction and the Northeast Entrance where the Lamar River surged well beyond its record flood level.

As of approximately 9 a.m. Tuesday, the park had not provided an update of the situation on its website or social media pages. At this time, the extent of the damage, as well as how many people may be stranded inside the park, is unclear.

The Yellowstone River crested at just over 49,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) at Corwin Springs in the upper Paradise Valley on Monday, shattering its previous records of 32,200 set in June 1996 and matched a year later. The Lamar peaked at 16.7 feet Monday, breaking its 1996 record by more than four feet and rising two feet above the gauge's upper reach.

Near Corwin Springs, a house for Park Service employees was pried loose from its foundation by the raging waters and spun downstream. U.S. Highway 89 was closed just south of Emigrant, not far from where the iconic Carbella bridge leading to Tom Miner Basin was swept away early Monday in the first sign the Yellowstone meant business.

On the flanks of the Beartooth Mountains to the east, residents of Red Lodge, Fishtail and Nye waited for floodwaters to abate.

Meteorologists said the unprecedented flooding was caused by a convergence of an unseasonably cool spring that retained snowpack, late-spring snowstorms and multiple days of considerable rainfall at high elevations. Parts of the park received more than an inch of rain over 24 hours Monday, more than tripling the previous single-day mark.

Most of the flood damage was centered on YNP and the streams flowing north from the Yellowstone Plateau, including the Gallatin River, which was expected to reach flood stage at Logan about 25 miles of Bozeman in the wee hours Tuesday. On Monday, the Gallatin County Sheriff's office cautioned residents along low-lying stretches of the West Gallatin to be prepared to evacuate.

Also Monday, the Flathead River at Columbia Falls in northwest Montana surpassed flood stage by a half-foot and was expected to rise another two feet Tuesday.

Yellowstone's peak flooding was to push downstream to Big Timber, Columbus, Laurel, Billings and eastern Montana by Tuesday afternoon.

A flood warning for the Boulder River south of Big Timber was lifted Tuesday morning.

The Custer Gallatin National Forest has posted an area closure on its website, shutting down all lands, roads and trails in Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park and Gallatin counties.

The exception is the Pryor Mountain portion of the forest, which remains open.

The purpose of this order is to protect emergency personnel, public health and imminent life safety due to widespread flooding events, roads and facility damage in Carbon, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, the posting said.

The closure is in effect from Tuesday through June 24, or until it is rescinded. Violations of the closure can result in a $5,000 fine or six months in jail.

For more details, contact the forest office at 406-587-6701.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 2 Sad 6 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
MATTOON  A Charleston juvenile has been arrested for brandishing a firearm on social media, the Mattoon Police Department reported late Monday afternoon.

A press release from the department reported that Mattoon officers arrested the Charleston juvenile on a preliminary charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. The arrest occurred at approximately 1:23 p.m. Monday in Charleston.

The department reported that it was advised on Sunday of a complaint about a juvenile brandishing a firearm on social media and about threats being made from the suspect to another group of juveniles. Police said detectives began investigating the incident and discovered that the videos/pictures that were shared on social media were created several months ago.

Police said the juvenile is no longer in possession of the firearm, and that the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are expected. Charleston Police Department is assisting with the investigation.

Contact Rob Stroud at (217) 238-6861. Follow him on Twitter: @TheRobStroud

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
MATTOON  The Lake Land College Board of Trustees may take action toward issuing up to $17 million in bonds for upgrades to the Kluthe Center in Effingham and other capital improvement projects.

The board is scheduled during its meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, June 13, in the Board and Administration Center to vote on a resolution setting out its plans for the bond issue. The board also will vote on slating a public hearing on the bond issue for its meeting at 6 p.m. July 11.

Lake Land President Josh Bullock has said the bond issue will finance renovating Kluthe, which was constructed in the mid 1990s, and constructing an adjacent Rural Development Technology Center workforce training facility. The new building will house the Effingham Regional Career Academy high school vocational program, as well.

Bullock also has said the financing will cover landscaping improvements to the main campus in Mattoon and modifications to the Field House there. He has said the college plans to pay back this bond issue in installments during the course of four years using existing revenue sources and without increasing its property tax level.

Regarding Kluthe, the renovation project for this facility is part of the annual Resource Allocation Management Program (RAMP) Projects request for funding that the board will consider submitting to the Illinois Community College Board.

Lake Land has estimated that the Kluthe renovations would total $5.45 million, with $4.09 million being requested from the state and $1.36 million being provided by the college.

"A comprehensive renovation project would allow the college the opportunity to better configure the designs of our classrooms to accommodate the changes in the learning process that have occurred from the early 1970s to today," the RAMP request states.

The RAMP document also includes funding requests for renovations to the Northwest, Northeast and West classroom buildings on campus. This document is only a request and does not guarantee that state funding will be allocated.

Also regarding Kluthe Center, the board will consider amending its existing master performance contract with the CTS Group to include the installation of a new roof there for $340,879. Greg Nuxoll, vice president for business services, said this work will be done after the ongoing installation of smaller, energy efficient air conditioning units on the roof.

"The renovation of the Kluthe Building in Effingham was one of the projects to be completed with the new bond funds," Nuxoll said. "Rather than wait as much as a few years to put on a new roof as part of the entire building renovation, the college would use a portion of the new bonds to fund the new roof."

In other matters, the board will consider purchasing 30.1 acres of farmland adjacent to the north side of campus for $620,000 from Reggie and Martha Phillips of Charleston.

Bullock has said Lake Land already farms this land as part of its agriculture education program. If purchased, he has said the land will continue to be farmed and will be available in decades to come if the college needs to expand.

Contact Rob Stroud at (217) 238-6861. Follow him on Twitter: @TheRobStroud

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
DECATUR  Jacob H. Klaus is denying charges he attacked and injured a woman outside the Decatur Public Library after she had refused to be his girlfriend, and he also denies fighting with police when they arrived to arrest him.

A sworn affidavit from Decatur police said officers had been flagged down by library staff on the afternoon of May 21 and told he had beat the woman."

Officer Austin Clark, who signed the affidavit, said police found the 25-year-old woman crying and disheveled seated on a bench outside the library and bleeding from the corner of her mouth. She also appeared to have vomited.

Clark said she told police that Klaus had reacted badly when she told him she did not want to date him. She said she was punched twice in the face and knocked to the ground, leaving her feeling dazed.

Witnesses who saw the attack on the woman described her as flying through the air several times while she was being assaulted by the 33-year-old Klaus.

Clark said police had caught up with Klaus as he tried to board a city bus in the neighboring Decatur Public Transit station and a struggle ensued when he refused the officers demands to stop walking away.

Clark said Klaus resisted police who ended up wrestling with him on the ground as they fought to place him in handcuffs and one officer suffered a bleeding wound to his right forearm.

Klaus appeared June 8 in Macon County Circuit Court and pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated battery and a charge of resisting police. He is due back in court for a pretrial hearing Aug. 2 and remained in the Macon County Jail on Monday with bail set at $20,000, requiring him to post a bond of $2,000 to be released.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Worries continue over high interest rates and inflation. Wall Street opened the week with heavy losses that put the benchmark S&P 500 at a level considered to be a so-called bear market.

Rising interest rates, the war in Ukraine and Chinas economic slowdown are leading investors to reconsider what theyre willing to pay for a wide range of stocks, from high-flying tech companies to industrial conglomerates.

Big swings have become commonplace and Monday was no exception, with the S&P 500 falling 3.9%. Its 21.8% below its record set early this year and so now is in a bear market. The Dow industrials sank 2.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite tumbled 4.7%.

Donald Trumps closest campaign advisers, top government officials and even his family were systematically dismantling his false claims of 2020 election fraud ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

But the defeated president was becoming detached from reality clinging to outlandish theories to stay in power. That's the assessment from former Attorney General Bill Barr testifying at Monday's House hearing investigating the insurrection.

The panel is delving deeper into what it calls the big lie, the defeated Republican presidents false claims of voter fraud. The panel says Trump's falsehoods provoked a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol.

Extreme heat is moving across the country with nearly a third of the country under an advisory. Meanwhile, major flooding swept away at least one bridge, washed away roads and set off mudslides in Yellowstone National Park on Monday. Officials closed all five entrances and began evacuating visitors from the northern part of the park.

Former first lady Michelle Obama is urging Americans not to tune out a gridlocked political system but realize that voting and enlisting millions of new voters is a pathway to eventual change. Speaking near downtown Los Angeles on Monday, Obama said protecting and expanding democracy is the best way to take on the nations challenges.

Ukraine's national police chief says authorities are investigating the killings of more than 12,000 Ukrainians nationwide in the war since the Russian invasion in February. Authorities in the Kyiv region near Bucha on Monday showed reporters several victims whose hands had been tied behind their backs.

Some of the victims were found in a lush green Ukrainian forest, where birds were singing. Workers in white hazmat suits conducted an exhumation in a mass grave behind a trench for a military vehicle.

The Golden State Warriors pull ahead in the NBA Finals, the Atlanta Braves win their 12th straight game, and a tie-breaking homer gives the Cardinals a boost against the Pirates.

Coca-Cola Co. said Monday its partnering with Brown-Forman Corp., the maker of Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey, to sell premixed cocktails. Canned Jack and Coke will be sold globally after a launch in Mexico late this year.

The outline of a bipartisan Senate agreement on reining in gun violence has no game-changing steps banning the deadliest firearms. But it does propose measured provisions that could make it harder for some young gun buyers, or people considered threatening, to have weapons.

And there are meaningful efforts to address mental health and school safety concerns. There's pressure on both parties to act after last month's mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.

Authorities say gunmen have killed at least 55 people in northern Burkina Faso, the latest attack amid mounting violence blamed on Islamic extremists. Government spokesman Wendkouni Joel Lionel Bilgo said the suspected militants targeted civilians over the weekend in the Sahel regions Seno province.

New York has expanded legal protections for people seeking and providing abortions in the state. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation Monday in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court potentially overruling its 1973 Roe v. Wades decision, which established a constitutional right to abortion.

The new laws follow the Democratic governors plans to give abortion providers $35 million to expand services and boost security in anticipation of an influx of out-of-state people seeking abortions in New York if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Native Americans prosecuted in certain tribal courts can also be prosecuted based on the same incident in federal court. That can result in longer sentences.

The 6-3 ruling is in keeping with an earlier ruling from the 1970s that said the same about a more widely used type of tribal court. The case before the justices involved a Navajo Nation member accused of rape. He served nearly five months in jail after being charged with assault and battery in what is called a Court of Indian Offenses.

The man was later prosecuted in federal court and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He said the Constitutions Double Jeopardy clause should have barred the second prosecution.

Amber Heard says she doesnt blame the jury that awarded Johnny Depp more than $10 million after a contentious six-week libel trial in her first post-verdict interview.

She told Savannah Guthrie of NBC's Today in a clip aired Monday that she understood how the jury reached its conclusion and said Depp is a beloved character and people feel they know him.

She called her ex-husband a fantastic actor and decried social media, calling her treatment online unfair. Today plans to air more of its interview with Heard on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Depp sued Heard for libel in Virginia over a December 2018 Washington Post piece in which she described herself as a public figure representing domestic abuse.

The Associated Press

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
DEERFIELD  Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar said Tuesday it is packing up its headquarters from its longtime home state of Illinois and moving to Texas.

Caterpillar Inc. said that it's transferring its global base to the Dallas suburb of Irving, from Deerfield, outside Chicago. The move is expected to affect about 230 employees in the Deerfield office, the majority of whom will be relocated to Texas over time, spokeswoman Kate Kenny said. The transition is expected to begin later this year.

The company was based in Peoria for over 90 years before announcing a move to Deerfield in 2017. At the time, it touted Deerfield as meeting its goal of being more accessible to its global customers, dealers and employees.

Caterpillar already has an office in Irving and has been in the state since the 1960s.

"We believe it's in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move," CEO Jim Umpleby said.

Caterpillar has offices and manufacturing locations throughout Illinois, including Decatur and Pontiac. The state is expected to remain the largest concentration of Caterpillar employees in the world, with more than 17,000 employees, most of them near Peoria.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, responding to the news, downplayed the significance of losing the iconic Illinois company, claiming that the state remains "a leader in attracting large and midsize corporate relocations."

"It's disappointing to see Caterpillar move their 240 headquarters employees out of Deerfield over the next several years when so many companies are coming in," Pritzker said in a statement. "We will continue to support the 17,400 Illinoisans who work for the company in East Peoria, Mapleton, Mossville, Pontiac and Decatur  which remains Caterpillar's largest manufacturing plant in North America after the company's recent expansion."

Still, Illinois' loss of the company's C-suite is another high-profile blow. CAT has Illinois roots that date back nearly a century, first in Peoria and later in Deerfield.

It also comes just over one month after Boeing announced it was moving its corporate headquarters from Chicago to Washington, D.C. after nearly two decades calling The Windy City home.

"The reasons for this decision could not have been more clear  Illinois business climate no longer works for this company," said Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs. "Governor J.B. Pritzker has failed to bolster our states economy for job-creators, and companies like CAT leaving is the consequence.

Still, even after the high-profile departures, Illinois is home to the fourth-most Fortune 500 companies in the United States, including Archer-Daniels-Midland, John Deere, McDonald's, State Farm, United and Walgreens.

A handful of technology companies have also recently shifted their headquarters from California's Silicon Valley to Texas. Tesla and Oracle have moved to Austin, while Hewlett-Packard Packard Enterprises is now in Spring, Texas, outside Houston.

Brenden Moore and Tribune News Service contributed reporting.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
For the first time in 25 years, a new building is under construction at the Decatur Caterpillar Inc. facility.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Thunderstorms, accompanied by locally heavy rainfall at times. High 98F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low 73F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
By Trend

Griteka Logistics, one of the largest asset-based logistics companies in Europe, is opening an office in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi, where the newly-established Girteka Global Business Services will begin operations in 2022, Enterprise Georgia announced on Thursday, Trend reports citing Agenda.ge.

Creating over 300 jobs over the next two years, the company plans to expand its operations in the country to recruit more talent and satisfy its growth needs and strengthen its position in the logistics market, says the agency.

The new services company will look to employ about 50 people this year, doubling in size in various departments including IT, human resources and other areas in 2023.

The decision to grow in an additional international market will strengthen the companys bid to be amongst the top 10 logistics companies in Europe by 2026, as an expanded talent pool will allow Girteka to increase its operational capabilities in Europe and Nordics", the company has said.

Martynas Sarapinas, the companys Chief Information Officer, said it had chosen Georgia out of a shortlist of six countries, all of which went through "a very deep due diligence process by us, where we looked at several factors, including the talent pool, education and competence level, business climate, and the cost of doing business in the country over the following years".

Based in Lithuania, Girteka Logistics transports more than 880,000 full truckloads every year with over 9,000 trucks operating in Europe, Scandinavia, and CIS countries. The company employs over 21,000 people.
The Ballad Health Niswonger Childrens Network kicked off the first phase of a construction project at the regional childrens hospital Monday.

Ballad Health made a promise to invest in our regions children  our regions future  through the creation of the Niswonger Childrens Network, Ballad Health Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alan Levine said. Already, the services this network is providing are changing lives.

With this expansion, were adding new services and capacity, with a goal of improving health outcomes and well-being for children and families. Furthermore, this investment in our childrens hospital demonstrates that our region is the right place for families and businesses to thrive, according to a written statement.

The first phase of construction consists of the conversion of an attached medical office building to a new institute  the J.D. Nicewonder Family Perinatal and Pediatric Institute. Similar to the establishment of the Ballad Health CVA Heart Institute  which integrates world-class cardiology clinical services, research and training  the newly established J.D. Nicewonder Family Perinatal and Pediatric Institute will create a regionwide opportunity to serve children with complex medical needs through more coordinated care between multiple specialists, while also creating a clearinghouse for public educational service and participation in research and training.

Children need healthy starts to grow into healthy adults, and offering more resources for high-quality health care services gives them an enormous leap forward, Lisa Carter, president of Ballad Healths Southern Region and chief executive officer of the network, said.

Following the initial phase of construction, the next renovation phase will create a new, two-floor vertical expansion, stacked atop the existing hospital. The additional floors will house another element of the J.D. Nicewonder Family Perinatal and Pediatric Institute: a state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit.

With that renovation, Niswonger Childrens Hospital will host the newest NICU in both Tennessee and Virginia. With a family-friendly approach, the new NICU will offer private spaces for parents and siblings and give parents the ability to stay continuously with their babies.

Construction and expansion of Niswonger Childrens Hospital is largely funded by the Hope Rising philanthropy campaign, which is raising $30 million, anchored by a pace-setting gift of $7 million from the J.D. Nicewonder family. The Nicewonder family, from Bristol, Virginia, has provided the second-largest single investment into the childrens hospital since its inception in 2009.

The J.D. Nicewonder family has for many years supported Ballad Health Foundation initiatives because we so highly value the efforts to improve health care in this area that we call home, the family said. We were immediately impressed with the ambitious plans to expand Niswonger Childrens Hospital and are very excited to be able to contribute to this project.

The gift was first announced in March 2021 and is the first major gift theyve made in the health system outside of Bristol.

The Nicewonder family has stepped forward in a truly inspiring way to benefit children and families throughout the region. Their generosity will reverberate for generations to come  truly effecting a lasting change, said Jack Simpson, president of Ballad Health Foundation.

The Niswonger Childrens Network represents 21 counties across Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, with a secondary service area encompassing an additional six counties in western North Carolina and two counties in southeastern Kentucky. In 2021 alone, Niswonger Childrens Hospital served children from 32 states and 174 counties.
BRISTOL, Va. - Bristol Tennessee and Bristol Virginia have reached an agreement designed to resolve emission and odor issues and ultimately close the latters embattled solid waste landfill.

Attorneys for Bristol Tennessee filed a 56-page stipulation document in U.S. District Court in Abingdon Tuesday morning stating that Bristol Virginia agreed to the court granting "preliminary injunctive relief" to Bristol Tennessee, as sought in a May 26 filing.

Bristol Tennessee accepts the terms spelled out in a proposed settlement that came from Bristol Virginia, including a $250,000 payment to offset the Tennessee sides expenses for legal counsel and expert consultants.

The difference is this latest proposed settlement spells out specific timelines for certain actions to occur and there is no language regarding the availability of funds.

Today, a significant victory has been won for the people of Bristol. Bristol, Tennessee has obtained an agreement from Bristol, Virginia to close the landfill and to immediately take actions to address the ongoing impacts on our community, according to a written statement from Bristol Tennessee.

Bristol Virginia City Manager/City Attorney Randy Eads also released a statement, noting the city received a letter from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality advising they implement all of the recommendations made by its expert panel in its April report.

This is timely because the city of Bristol, Virginia, received a counter proposal from the city of Bristol, Tennessee, related to the landfill lawsuit settlement offered by Bristol, Virginia, on May 27. Following several rounds of proposals and negotiations, Bristol, Tennessee, agreed to accept the terms of Bristol, Virginias first proposal with some minor changes, Eads said.

During the negotiations, Bristol Tennessee advanced specific time frames, suggested by its engineering consultants, ranging from 90 days to 365 days to complete certain tasks, according to its statement.

Implementing VDEQs recommendations in the report will satisfy Bristol, Tennessees chief concerns laid out in their suit and proposals. Because of this, and in hopes of avoiding additional, unnecessary litigation, Bristol, Virginia, agrees to Bristol, Tennessees proposal. As part of this agreement, Bristol, Virginia, has offered Bristol, Tennessee, $250,000 in the good faith that additional legal expenses can be avoided, and that both Bristols can work together to solve the issues at the landfill that have impacted so many Bristolians over the past 18 months. We remain hopeful that our sister city will join us to address this matter in a collaborative fashion, Eads said in the statement.

In its initial complaint Bristol Tennessee alleged the city of Bristol Virginia had violated the federal Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and failed to take the proper steps to resolve emission and odor issues with its landfill.

It also filed a request for a preliminary injunction, asking the court to direct Bristol Virginia to immediately take specific steps to address problems with the landfill.

Under terms of the stipulation, Bristol Virginia agrees to abide by an expert panel report filed in April, take steps to address issues with the landfill as recommended by that panel and work toward closing the landfill, which has sparked widespread public concern for the past 18 months.

The action is pending approval by a judge, but the lawsuit will remain in place, according to the statement.

We are optimistic that the judge will enter the order. Once entered by the judge, this order will provide a clear set of actions and enforceable timeline, starting from the date of entry of the order, for addressing issues at the landfill. While this order resolves Bristol, Tennessees motion for preliminary injunction, the lawsuit against Bristol, Virginia remains open, giving Bristol, Tennessee the ability to seek further enforcement action and damages if necessary. Bristol, Tennessee will closely monitor Bristol, Virginias compliance with this order, according to the Bristol Tennessee statement.

The proposed order requires Bristol Virginia to take six specific steps in regards to the landfill.

1. Install a sidewall odor mitigation system around the perimeter of the landfill in accordance with the expert panel report within 365 days of entry of this order.

2. Install a dedicated system of thermocouples in the waste mass to monitor landfill temperatures in accordance with the expert report within 90 days of entry of this order and conduct monitoring until the landfill is permanently closed.

3. Cease the acceptance of all waste at the landfill within 90 days of entry of this order.

4. Install cover sufficient to meet the intermediate cover requirements of the Virginia Solid Waste Management regulations within 90 days of entry of the order.

5. Submit a report to Bristol Tennessee setting forth how Bristol Virginia will accomplish implementation of all other recommendations of the expert report within 60 days of entry of the order. That includes a timeline for the permanent closure of the landfill,

6. Allow Bristol Tennessee and its agents access to the landfill to confirm compliance with the above actions, upon reasonable notice and during regular business hours.

Negotiations have been ongoing between the two sides since May.

Last Wednesday, Bristol Virginia Mayor Anthony Farnum announced the city had begun notifying its solid waste customers the city would stop accepting waste at some undetermined time.

Also last week, Bristol Virginia entered into a consent order with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to take steps to resolve landfill issues. In a June 8 letter to city leaders, Southwest Virginia DEQ Director Jeffrey Hurst outlined his agencys discussions with city staff and consultants SCS Engineers. In it Bristol Virginia agreed to take actions 1-4 listed above within the associated timelines, as proposed in Bristol Tennessees complaint.

Bristol Virginia is to provide a plan to action to DEQ by July 6. The department anticipates having a fully executed enforcement action by August.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn.  The murder trial for Megan Boswell has been postponed until early next year.

During a brief hearing Monday, Sullivan County Criminal Court Judge James Goodwin granted defense attorney Brad Sproles motion to reset the trial date. Sproles basis for the request was a delay in evidence testing from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation lab.

The trial, which was scheduled for September, is now set to begin on Feb. 6, 2023.

The last TBI lab test that we got back requires us to ask for our own expert, Sproles told the judge. We will need time to get that done and have the expert take a look at that evidence.

The defense is seeking expert review of a piece of evidence with fingerprint analysis. Sproles described the evidence as being crucial to the case.

There are no more pending tests at the TBI lab related to the case, the prosecution said Monday.

Boswell will be back in court on Sept. 23 when more motions will be taken up, including one to determine what photographs will be permissible for use during trial. The defenses request for a change of venue will be heard on Dec. 16.

Boswell is accused of murdering her 15-month-old child Evelyn, who was reported missing in February 2020. One week after Evelyn was reported missing, Boswell was charged with false reporting.

On March 6, 2020, Evelyns remains were found in a building on Boswells fathers property in Blountville. In May 2020, Boswell was charged with 11 counts of false reporting and was indicted on additional charges, including murder, in August 2020.

Boswell faces 19 charges including murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect and abuse of a corpse. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

TBI Special Agent David Gratz testified in April that Boswell had communicated false information since early December 2019, the time when he believes Evelyn was killed.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Bristol Tennessee and Bristol Virginia today reached a legal agreement regarding the former's request for a a preliminary injunction filed against the latter's problem-plagued landfill.

Bristol Tennessee filed a 56-page stipulation in U.S. District Court in Abingdon this morning stating that Bristol Virginia agreed to the court granting "preliminary injunctive relief" to Bristol Tennessee.

Bristol Virginia has agreed to abide by the expert panel report filed in April, take steps to address issues with the landfill as recommended by the panel and work toward closing the landfill, which has sparked widespread public concern for about the past 16-18 months.

"Today, a significant victory has been won for the people of Bristol. Bristol, Tennessee has obtained an agreement from Bristol, Virginia to close the landfill and to immediately take actions to address the ongoing impacts on our community," according to a written statement from Bristol Tennessee.

The action is pending the court, but the lawsuit will remain in place, according to the statement.

"We are optimistic that the judge will enter the order. Once entered by the judge, this order will provide a clear set of actions and enforceable timeline, starting from the date of entry of the order, for addressing issues at the landfill. While this order resolves Bristol, Tennessees motion for preliminary injunction, the lawsuit against Bristol, Virginia remains open, giving Bristol, Tennessee the ability to seek further enforcement action and damages if necessary. Bristol, Tennessee will closely monitor Bristol, Virginias compliance with this order," according to the statement.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
On Sunday afternoon, a mother rushed to the back of a Target store in Eastern Henrico County. As she entered the baby supplies area, she saw an all-too-familiar scene: bare shelves that normally would be stocked with formula.

She lucked out, spotting a handful of packages of Enfamil NeuroPro ready-to-feed bottles and snagging the store limit of four per customer. Other caregivers across the commonwealth have been less fortunate, spending hours combing through grocery stores, pharmacies, social media groups and more.

How did this nation get to a place where acquiring baby formula became an arms race? The shortage is nothing less than a top-level crisis, and it has to be met with more urgency.

In recent days, progress has been elevated by government officials and manufacturers. Abbott Nutritions facility in Michigan, which closed in February due to contamination concerns and other violations, has resumed production of some formulas. Through the Biden administrations Operation Fly Formula missions, several flights of imported supplies also have arrived from Europe.

One batch came Thursday to Dulles International Airport: Kendamil formula from the United Kingdom, which was donated by United Airlines. Per the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, United will deliver roughly 300,000 pounds of the British companys product over the next 10 days.

But on the morning of this scheduled delivery, a concerning detail emerged about the federal governments initial response. A Politico report documented some of the decision-making inside the Biden administration.

The February shutdown of the Abbott plant took place right as the Russia-Ukraine war was escalating. While the White House had been monitoring formula supply-chain concerns, the issue was not elevated to high-level staff members.

There were a million crises going on, one Domestic Policy Council official told Politico. That doesnt mean that this wasnt also a crisis, it just wasnt elevated to a top level crisis.

As true as that might be, imagine how exasperated parents feel as they now pay around $5 per gallon for fuel and scour several stores, only to come up empty. The online guidelines at hhs.gov/formula also fail to capture the severity of the situation. They point parents toward how to find safe substitutes, try a new brand or talk to a health care provider. But families also have a million crises going on, and better leadership has to rule the day going forward.

Toward the bottom of the HHS webpage is another factor that must be addressed. Roughly 43% of babies in America receive assistance from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, otherwise known as WIC.

As a May Politico report explained, WIC is the largest purchaser of formula in the country, but for 30 years, it has operated under sole-source contracting. WIC saves money through these state contracts, but Abbott was one of only three approved providers, and it serves almost 90% of WIC families, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Congress recently had to address this bottleneck by passing the Access to Baby Formula Act, which added flexibility and expanded formula options for WIC recipients. Moreover, regardless of program eligibility, any mother who gives birth and requests formula in a hospital is going to get the formula that is whoever has the WIC contract, a former Senate aide told Politico.

WIC policy is part of the federal Child Nutrition Reauthorization, which is supposed to be reassessed every five years. But per the Food Research & Action Center, a Washington-based nonprofit, the CNR has not been updated since its expiration in 2015.

This is the kind of federal inaction that leaves Virginia localities scrambling to provide help on the front lines. For example, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and City Council worked with a series of philanthropic partners to fund $180,000 worth of prepaid $125 debit cards for WIC families in need of formula. While the gesture might ease some of the financial strain, what about the access issue?

Elected officials at all levels need to show more urgency. Implement solutions that restore reliability and create systems that prevent these failures from ever being repeated. The struggle wont be over until parents and guardians can easily acquire what their children need, without such incredible anxiety.
A Morganton was killed in a shootout with a state trooper and a Caldwell County deputy on U.S. 321 in Hudson on Sunday.

Jerome Lavon Connelly, 35, is the man who died after the shooting, the N.C. Highway Patrol said in a news release.

The Caldwell County Communications Center received multiple calls of a traffic collision involving an overturned black Honda four-door on U.S. 321 near Mission Road in Hudson on Sunday afternoon, the Caldwell County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.

The callers said that a subject with the vehicle was in possession of an assault rifle and a pistol, the sheriffs office said.

A deputy with the sheriffs office arrived on the scene and an N.C. Highway Patrolman arrived shortly after. The deputy and Trooper Bryson G. Bowman exchanged gunfire with Connelly who fled to a wooded area after the shots were fired, the sheriffs office said. The highway patrol release said Connelly fired first.

Additional officers arrived at the scene and found Connelly in the wooded area with a gunshot wound.

Emergency Medical Services transported Connelly to Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory. Connelly was pronounced dead at the hospital, the sheriffs office said. The trooper and deputy involved in the shootout were not injured, highway patrol said.

Connelly had multiple firearms, the sheriffs office said. This case has been turned over to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, including body cam footage from the deputy, the sheriffs office said.

A search of the overturned vehicle produced a significant quantity of suspected illegal narcotics, the sheriffs office said.

Bowman will be placed on administrative duty pending an internal investigation which is agency protocol in any trooper-involved shooting, the highway patrol said. Capt. Aaron Barlowe, with the Caldwell County Sheriffs Office, said the deputy will not be identified at this time. Barlowe said the deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave pending review by the District Attorney Scott Reillys office.
Officers with the Catawba County Sheriffs Office took a Virginia man into custody Monday evening in Conover. The man is wanted on charges of malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and reckless handling of a firearm, according to a release from the City of Danville.

Joshua Emmanuel Singletary, 20, of Danville, Virginia, surrendered to members of the Special Tactics and Response (STAR) team after they converged on the Lyle Haven Mobile Home Park off County Home Road shortly after 7 p.m., Sheriffs Capt. Aaron Turk said.

The suspect surrendered as soon as the STAR team contacted him, Turk said. Turk said no one was harmed during the encounter.

Singletary was in the Catawba County jail awaiting extradition to Virginia as of Tuesday morning.

Kevin Griffin is the City of Hickory reporter at the Hickory Daily Record.

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
10 ways to help schools, preserve a cornerstone of our democracy

Our children and young people are our future and our greatest resource. Teaching is a wonderful profession. If this is true, and it is, why are teachers and staff overwhelmed and why do people complain about public schools? Public schools are a cornerstone of democracy. Through the years, they have adjusted to tremendous changes and student needs created by problems in our society.

I am concerned about the best ways North Carolina can meet the many needs of public school students while providing them with a sound basic education and retaining qualified and caring staff.

The Leandro case was filed in 1994. It has been dragging through the court system for almost 30 years. Millions of students have gone through the education system. The state Supreme Court had ruled that according to the North Carolina constitution, a sound basic education should be provided for all public school students. This would include well-trained teachers and principals and sufficient resources. Time marched on.

In 2018, Judge David Lee ordered an independent consultant to recommend ways for the state to comply with Leandro rulings. Findings were released along with a sequenced action plan for the state to use to meet its constitutional obligation. Time marched on.

In 2021, Judge Lee ordered action be taken to implement the plan. Judge Lee later ordered funds be moved to implement the plan. Powers that be did not agree that the judge had power to have funds moved. Back to court again, this time with Judge Robinson and on it goes.

We should expect more from our governing bodies! As you know, the first N.C. budget in three years was signed in November 2021.

Weve gone through a pandemic. It wasnt the fault of students or teachers. For parts of three years, education of our students was affected in disturbing ways. I didnt need a big, expensive study to tell me how education was affected. I didnt need students and teachers to go through the expensive testing process. Teachers have assessments available and Im sure they could have determined and recorded student progress on standards for their grade or subject.

These are things that have already passed.

How should we do better? How can we better meet student needs?

Provide N.C. pre-K for all 4-year-olds  not just at-risk students.

This program was started several years ago. It has been expanded at times, but not enough. Students of all races and economic levels need this program. (Knowing how important N.C. Pre-K is for children as a foundational year, I and many other people felt terrible when there was no space for our children and grandchildren.)

Provide instructional assistants for kindergarten through grade three

The first years are foundational for future learning and success. Reading and math must get off to a good start. Students learn at different rates. Adults do, too. Where is common sense? Teachers are taking care of a multitude of tasks. They need assistants so students have vital individual and small group instruction.

Provide additional support in grades four to eight for students who need it

In the past, the Title I program provided this support. (Many students continue to need academic or emotional support throughout school years. There is nothing wrong with learning at a different rate.)

Allow students grades in grades six to 12 to explore careers

Everyone doesnt choose college. Certifications and Early College are great programs. Continue them.

Music, art and physical education are important

These are areas that allow students to express themselves. They help to develop kind, caring humans. They touch the heart. I could say so much more about each of these programs and what I have witnessed them do for a great number of students through the years. Student surveys through the years proved to me these were some of the most liked times during the school day. Its such a crying shame to remove the very programs most students love.

Provide programs such as Paideia seminar

All students learn to set communication goals, discuss in a group, respectfully listen to varied opinions, build critical thinking skills, and have opportunity to grow and shine.

Too many programs come and go.

They are expensive. They are updated, renovated and renamed, and teachers must be trained. It takes three to five years to evaluate success of students with a new program. Just when teachers become proficient, here comes a better program. Not. Even though, it is good to have a variety of tools to meet varied student needs, enough is enough. Stop overloading teachers and other staff! Give them time to do their job.

Three more

Listen to teachers; they know their students

Provide teacher salaries and support so they want to stay in the classroom.

Include parents in schools at every opportunity.

Teachers havent been waiting for 30 years for the better salaries and resources. Theyve been teaching! Some things could be so simple!! Do whats right for our children and young people. Why, do we, the citizens of N.C. sit back and tolerate state budgets that are not on time, a court case dragging for 30-plus years that affects millions of students and staff and complain about things in our education system? Be part of the solution!

Joyce Poplin

Nebo
In your June 2022 issue . . .



APRILS $27.10 ALL-MILK PRICE SHATTERED the previous record by $1.20 per hundredweight (cwt). The prior record stood for one short month as the March 2022 All-Milk price netted $25.90. Prior to this time period, the all-time best was $25.70 posted in September 2014.

WHILE MILK PRICES WERE UP, SO WERE COSTS this April. When compared to September 2014, alfalfa hay climbed 25% to reach $243 per ton, soybeans jumped 56% and sold for $15.08 per bushel, and corn shot skyward by 116% to reach $7.08 per bushel. Both fuel and fertilizer are up substantially since 2014, too. Only replacements showed lower values, moving from $2,140 in 2014 to $1,570 in the eight-year comparison.

MAY MILK CHECKS WILL BE EVEN HIGHER than April as the four Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) price benchmarks fell one penny short of achieving the first ever $25-plus-across-the-board milk price in U.S. history. Class IV was the lone holdout at $24.99 per cwt.



AT $25.21, MAYS CLASS III BROKE the $24.60 record set eight years ago in September 2014. Class II fell short of breaking the $26.11 high mark set in the same month of 2014 as the FMMO announced a $25.87 Class II this May. The Class I milk price matched Class II at $25.87.

FUTURES CONTRACTS MOVED THROUGHOUT MAY, yet ended early June higher. On May 2, June-to-December Class III contracts traded at a $23.35 average and closed at a $24.20 average on June 2. Class IV showed more upward movement, beginning May at $23.80 and finishing at $25.40 per cwt. in early June trading on the CME.

CONCERN IS MOUNTING WHETHER OR NOT milk prices can hold. There are signs that some consumers cannot afford the higher dairy product prices. On the flip side, dairy does remain a relatively affordable source of protein, fat, and other nutrients when compared to alternatives.



GLOBALLY, MILK PRICES FELL IN MAY with milk powders sliding the most. This trend was underpinned by lower buying interest from China.

U.S. MILK PRODUCTION ONCE AGAIN SPUTTERED as April milk fell 1% nationally when compared to the same time last year. Year-to-date, milk production has fallen every month since the start of 2022.

FOR THE SECOND TIME, THE U.S. is requesting a dispute settlement with Canada under the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement. Specifically, the U.S. is challenging Canadas dairy tariff-rate quota (TRQ) allocation measures that deny access to eligible applicants.



DESPITE ISSUES WITH CANADA, USDA raised its forecast for U.S. dairy exports to a projected $8.4 billion in 2022. This was $600 million higher than its February prediction. If achieved, international dairy product shipments would climb 15% over the 2021 record of $7.3 billion.

BUTTERFAT BROKE A 76-YEAR-OLD RECORD. The 4.01% butterfat level posted in 2021 moved past the previous 3.98% butterfat record set both in 1944 and 1945. This market data comes from USDA, and its the most accurate measure for butterfat levels of U.S. milk. To learn more about this seismic shift, turn to pages 312 and 313.

WITH WHEAT, CORN, BARLEY, AND OILSEEDS in short supply due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House and USDA will release some 4 million acres from the final year of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts. The early release will allow farmers to plant a fall-seeded crop prior to the traditional October 1 deadline.



INVESTMENT IN MEAT PROCESSING CAPACITY has become a USDA priority. The federal agency pledged $325 million to build new or expand existing independent meat and poultry processing capacity. The department has since received $900 million in grant requests.
A hacking group associated with China has been caught spying on organisations in Australia and throughout Southeast Asia in a decade-long espionage campaign that used pornography to lure people into opening malicious email attachments.

In a recent blog post, cyber security firm Sentinel One dubs the group 'Aoqin Dragon' and says it has been operating since at least 2013.

Aoqin Dragon operates in a way that closely aligns with the Chinese governments political interests, Sentinel One threat intelligence researcher Joey Chen said.

We primarily observed Aoqin Dragon targeting government, education, and telecommunication organisations in Southeast Asia and Australia, he wrote.

Considering this long-term effort and continuous targeted attacks for the past few years, we assess the threat actors motives are espionage-oriented.

Over the years, Aoqin Dragon has developed different techniques for installing backdoors on target systems.

Previously it used old Microsoft Office vulnerabilities hidden in malicious Word documents that were delivered in phishing campaigns.

The decoy content, designed to entice victims into opening the documents, included references to Asia-Pacific political affairs like the minutes of international organisations and committees.

It also tricked used pornographically themed documents, like one titled Canbodian [sic] Sex Weekly, to entice victims.

More recently, Aoqin Dragon has been tricking users into clicking on a shortcut to a removable device, such as a USB, that triggers an executable for DLL hijacking.

In each instance, the group has compromised machines in order to drop backdoors that let the hackers exfiltrate data about the host system.

Throughout his write-up, Chen made mention of the Chinese language embedded in the code for these exploits and backdoors while command and control servers had been traced back to Beijing.

We fully expect that Aoqin Dragon will continue conducting espionage operations, Chen said.

In addition, we assess it is likely they will also continue to advance their tradecraft, finding new methods of evading detection, and stay longer in their target network.

Previous Australian governments have taken aim at Chinese hackers for alleged cyber espionage as diplomatic relations between the countries soured in recent years.

The new government has initiated a process of diplomatic repair with defence minister Richard Marles meeting face-to-face with his Chinese counterpart in Singapore over the weekend.

It was the first time in nearly three years that Australian and Chinese ministers have spoken which Marles said was a critical first step in improving relations.

We want to take this in a very sober and deliberate manner. We dont underestimate the difficulties weve had in our bilateral relationship, he said.

The fact this is the first meeting at a ministerial level in almost three years is very significant. We will take this in a step-by-step process.
By Trend

Secretary General of the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission (PS IGC) TRACECA Asset Assavbayev and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkiye Adil Karaismailoglu discussed the country's critical role and capacity for enhancing the sustainability of road, rail and ferry transport, TRACECA told Trend.

The sides addressed transport dialogue issues for upgrading national and regional projects, programs, and future prospects. They also exchanged views on initiatives, approved TRACECA projects, as well as the agreement on a single transit permit and approach of Turkiye to this issue.

Moreover, the meeting explored ways of increasing the quota of the TRACECA multilateral permit system, organization of ferry traffic with Georgian ports, Ro-Ro connection in Turkiye-Romania direction, as well as simplification of border crossing procedures at checkpoints.

The secretary general outlined the significance of maritime transport in the Black and Caspian Seas, including the conceptual design of the ships construction, as well as defining the best ferry parameters.

"Conducting an analysis of the current fleet of TRACECA countries and identifying bottlenecks and factors hindering the development of maritime transport are the tasks that are being worked on by PS consultants. We're planning to present their work to the countries before endorsing the result," Assavbayev said.

Furthermore, Turkish TRACECA National Secretary Burak Aykan pointed out the readiness to share experience and contribute to deepening cooperation, promising TRACECA-EU dialogue, and initiatives of the ITC TRACECA.
MATTOON  Three men have been charged with mob action and aggravated battery after police say they jumped a co-worker at Lawson Park.

According to a court affidavit, Mattoon police said officers were called to the park on June 11 to reports of three men attacking another man by punching and kicking him while he was on the ground.

Police said the victim was treated at a hospital for several cuts and scrapes on his hands and arms and bruises and swelling on his face, neck and lips.

Officers arrived to see three men leaving the area in a vehicle and activated their emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop. When the vehicle did not stop they gave pursuit until the vehicle stopped at a residence.

Taken into custody were Julio A. Sanchez Davila, 25, Dereck J. Fuentes, 21, and Ishmael Ortiz-Rodriguez, 27. All three are charged in Coles County Circuit Court with mob action and aggravated battery.

Ortiz-Rodriguez also has been charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding police. The affidavit said Ortiz-Rodriguez told police that he saw the the pursuing car but wanted to drive to a friends house who was a witness to an earlier fight and who would be able to serve as a translator for the three men and police.

According to the affidavit, the victim told police he had been having issues with the three men at their place of employment, saying they took his money, bullied him and purposefully didn't taking him to work so he would get in trouble.

Police said the victim confronted them at their residence. After being struck in the face by Sanchez Davila, the victim said he fled to the park for safety. The victim told police the men followed him to the park in a vehicle where he told them he would not fight them and sat on the ground. He said the men began attacking him and left when police arrived at the park.

Police say Sanchez Davila confirmed the events with officers, saying he felt he was going to be attacked at his residence. Ortiz-Rodriguez also confirmed the events with officers but said he did not know who hit who first. Police said he also told them he knew it was wrong but they are all from Puerto Rico and that was how they handle things there.

Bond was set for Fuentes and Sanchez Davila at $2,000, requiring $200 to be released; and at $5,000 for Ortiz-Rodriguez, requiring $500 to be released. A check of Coles County Jail records Monday showed all three remained in custody.

Contact Corryn Brock at 217-238-6858. Follow her on Twitter at @corryn_brock.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
MATTOON  A total of $33,000 has been awarded to graduates of Mattoon High School from the Lebovitz Lively Arts Scholarship Fund.

Mack Graham is a 2020 graduate and attends Eastern Illinois University studying visual and performing arts.

Abigail Carter is a 2021 graduate and attendsNorthern Illinois University studying visual arts.

Zachary Smith is a 2019 graduate and attends Millikin University studying music education.

Katherine Shamdin is a 2019 graduate and attends University of Iowa studying dance and enterprise leadership.

Jolie Osborn is a 2019 graduate and attends Eastern Illinois University studying graphic design.

Maia Huddleston is a 2019 graduate and attends Illinois State University studying mass media.

Andrew Coffey is a 2021 graduate and attends Eastern Illinois University studying video production.

The Lebovitz Lively Arts Scholarship was created to provide college scholarships to one or more Mattoon graduates who major or will major in visual or performing arts. The scholarship was named in honor of Carl Lebovitz and James K. Lively, formerly of Mattoon.

Lively worked as a freelance translator of many Slavic languages and was a patron of the arts during all of his adult life. He died in 1998.

Lebovitz, also a language translator, was a founding member of the Mattoon Arts Council and a patron of the arts throughout his life. He participated in local theatrical productions over the years, and was the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier's arts reviewer-at-large for 30 years. Lebovitz died in 2009.

For more information, contact Alex Pleasant, president/CEO of Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation, at 217-342-4988 or alex@enrichingourcommunity.org.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
On the eve of the state GOP convention, former President Donald Trump is slamming Wisconsin Republicans for not doing enough to investigate the 2020 presidential election. "Don't fall for their lies!" Trump said.
Lucha Libre Ice Cream & Churros has brought its fun and festive approach to ice cream to Winston-Salem.

The store, the companys second location, opened June 12 at 2021 Griffith Road, just off Hanes Mall Boulevard. Dozens of customers were lined up on the sidewalk in the afternoon heat, waiting to get in, and the store was packed.

Lucha Libre, founded by Mexican American Martin Ortega, is described as an ice-cream shop that sells artisan ice cream plus churros and other Mexican treats, including mangonadas (a frozen mango dessert).

The original store has been in business at 4925 West Market St. in Greensboro since 2019.

As the name implies, the shop gets inspiration from the Mexican tradition of lucha libre professional wrestling, easily identified by the colorful masks that the wrestlers wear.

My brother, going back to his teen years, always loved lucha libre, and he used to work as a promoter for lucha libre back in Mexico, said Martin Ortegas sister Carolina Ortega. Ortega spent five years researching the concept for his shop before he ever opened the doors.

Lucha Libre Ice Cream & Churros Address: 2021 Griffith Road, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27103 Phone: 336-893-7428 Hours: Noon to 9 p.m. daily. Website: luchaicecreamchurros.com Facebook: @LuchaLibreIceCream

I traveled all over the United States  California, Las Vegas, Miami  looking for the best ice cream places, Martin Ortega said with the help of his son Christopher as translator. Then I combined them with all these things from Mexican culture.

He wanted to bring something from the Mexican culture here to this Greensboro-born company, Carolina Ortega said. And he wanted something family-oriented  something kids can enjoy as well as adults.

Ortega, a native of Loma Bonita in Oaxaca, Mexico, previously had run a combination Hispanic grocery store and restaurant called Barrio Latino. When he opened it in 1996, he said it was one of the first Hispanic businesses in Greensboro. Later, he went into advertising and digital marketing to help other Hispanic businesses.

When he started thinking of his next venture, he said he wanted a family business. Ice cream is for the kids, but the adults love to come here, too. And lucha libre (wrestling) is the same way. This business is all about family.

In addition to son Christopher, and sister Carolina, two other sons  Anthony and Jhoan  also work in the business.

Lucha Libre has a sprawling menu that includes ice cream in cones and cups, paletas, churros, milkshakes, fruit treats, coffee drinks and more.

Many of the offerings veer on over-the-top concoctions that combine churros, ice cream and a variety of toppings.

Lucha Libre makes all of its own ice cream. Right now, the ice cream is made at the Greensboro stores. The churros are also homemade, and they are cooked to order in each store and served warm.

Lucha Libre has 20 flavors of ice cream ($6.49 for small cup, $6.99 for a large). And Ortega has plans for more, including ones with mole and avocado that may be offered as monthly specials in the near future.

Flavors include dulce de leche, Mexican hot chocolate, grand coffee, limon and strawberry. Some flavors are dairy-free. For example, the paletas (popsicles, $4.99) come in such dairy versions as coconut, Oreo, and strawberry & cream, as well as such dairy-free pops as pineapple, kiwi, lime, tamarind, and mango & chile.

Both the ice cream and paletas can be ordered plain or with a dip or topping for an extra charge.

Churros come plain or with cinnamon sugar, or with additional toppings, or filled  with toppings stuffed inside. There also are boxes of mini churro loops with a variety of toppings.

But the ice cream, paletas and churros are just the beginning at Lucha Libre. Customers are more likely to order one of the unusual (and large) desserts that combine ice cream and churros, maybe with fruit, coffee, candy or other items.

Smackdowns ($12.99 to $13.99) are milkshakes with churros stuck in them and can include a variety of toppings and different flavors. A top seller is the Nutella the Giant smackdown, named after wrestler Andre the Giant. Its just one of many menu titles linked to the world of wrestling.

Similarly, a line of Dynamic Duos ($10.99 TO $11.99) combine ice cream with churros. The Oreo Dynamic Duo combines Oreo ice cream with a large Oreo wafer and a chocolate-dipped churro coated in Oreo crumbs. The Mazapan Destroyer/Pecan Candy Dynamic Duo combines ice cream made with Mexican peanut candy and a churro covered in dulce de leche cream and pecans.

Lucha Mania treats ($10.99 to $11.99) mix shots of espresso with ice cream. The Eso de Angel Strawberry-cheese Lucha Mania includes espresso with strawberry-cheese ice cream, whipped cream, churro bites, rainbow sprinkles and a lollipop stuck in the top.

More than a dozen Legend treats ($10.99 to $11.99) combine ice cream and paletas. I describe it as all ice cream, Carolina Ortega said. You can choose any different paleta with your ice cream, creating lots of different combinations.

The Mango Mistico Legend has mango ice cream with a popsicle of your choice plus whipped cream, Fruity Pebbles cereal, condensed milk and a Paleton (chocolate-covered marshmallow candy).

Then theres the Mangonada Titan ($10.99), a best-seller, made with mango, tamarind or chamoy sorbet (dairy-free) and topped with diced mango, tamarind bites, chamoy sauce, Tajin (chili and lime seasoning), plus a fruit-based paleta of your choice and tamarind stick candy.

Theres also the Mango King ($6.99), which is how they eat mango in Colombia, Martin Ortega said. The Mango King is mango cut into thin strings and seasoned with Tajin, lime and chamoy (the latter a fruit-based condiment that is a bit salty, sweet, sour and spicy).

The menu also includes a couple of savory items: the Esquite Danger ($7.99) and Esquite Monster ($9.99) with mayo, cheese, lime and chili powder.

Lucha Libre also has frappes, cappuccinos, hot chocolate, aguas frescas and more.

If you include the different flavors of ice cream and paletas, the menu easily runs to more than 100 items.

For most people, one of the mango treats and either a Smackdown or Dynamic Duo  with maybe a box of extra churros on the side  is a good place to start.

The store itself is as colorful as some of the sweet treats, with purple walls, jars of candy at every turn and dozens of photos of luchadores, including a life-size one of Chocolate Azteca, who came up from Mexico for the grand opening June 12.

Martin Ortega said he worked hard to come up with a concept that combined the Mexican culture of his youth but that was distinctive to his adopted home of North Carolina.

Ortega is proud of the fact that he created something that combines some of the best elements of his native country and his adopted home. This company is proudly a Mexican American North Carolina company, he said.

He also is proud that he has created a family-friendly place that brings joy to people. I like to sit and observe the grandparents who bring their grandkids, the parents who bring their kids, he said. With all the stress we have in the world, its nice to have a few minutes when we can just laugh and enjoy ice cream.

336-727-7394 @mhastingswsj

Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A trio of Davidson County-focused bills cleared their first N.C. Senate committee step Tuesday.

The most noteworthy of the three local bills is Senate Bill 908, which would remove Davidson County Airport from the corporate limits of Lexington.

The 330-acre, one-runway airport is at 1673 Aviation Way and is owned by the county Airport Authority.

Senate Bill 907 would require municipalities within Davidson to gain county approval from the Davidson County Board of Commissioners to annex any area where the board has jurisdiction. The bill would apply to properties wholly or partially in the county.

Senate Bill 909 would exempt any county-owned property from county zoning and planning ordinances.

All three bills were filed by Sen. Steve Jarvis, R-Davidson. SB909 was sent to Senate Rules and Operations committee, while SB907 and SB098 were recommended to Senate Finance committee.

Jarvis said the impetus behind the airport de-annexation bill is economic development.

I have been in contact with different companies that are looking to move to our area, as well as considering surrounding areas, Jarvis said.

They can go one county south, to Greensboro, in other directions, and not have double taxation, Jarvis said.

Jarvis said the airport authority supports the de-annexation.

They understand the issue at hand and were working through some of the details at this point, Jarvis said.

For SB907, Jarvis said it does not apply to any single- or multi-family residential property or dwellings.

This allows Davidson County and the municipality to be at the table together to understand better growth of how they are moving forward with sewer and water, Jarvis said.

When asked about whether municipalities requested SB907, Jarvis said he attended Monday a quarterly event involving mayors and managers.

I had one question from one municipality about SB907 and the rest had nothing to say on the matter.

We had considerable discussion on the matter and believe we are moving in the right direction.

For SB909, Jarvis said the purpose is to allow for a jail to be built within a municipality on county-owned property.

This will correct that (zoning and planning ordinance) problem for the property at hand, Jarvis said. He said the bill could be amended later.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The N.C. House will discuss two bills this week to allow two cities to hire civilians to investigate traffic accidents.

But the N.C. Senate is not expected to discuss a bill that would allow Winston-Salem to do the same. Senate Bill 809 was filed May 27 by Sen. Paul Lowe, D-Forsyth, at the request of Winston-Salem city officials.

The city has a shortage of law-enforcement officers and moving routine traffic accidents to civilians would allow sworn officers to handle more serious crimes.

The civilian investigators would be limited to evaluating accidents with property damages, but would be able to issue citations.

The Wilmington Police Department began using two civilian traffic investigators in 2008, according to a 2018 Spectrum News report. The report said the two investigators had averaged more than 1,000 accidents every year through at least 2017.

A bipartisan House Bill 1011 was filed May 19 that would expand those civilian investigators authority to include issuing citations for infractions as well as authorizing Greenville to hire civilian traffic investigators. A parallel Senate Bill, SB282, was filed in March 2021 by Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, that has not been acted upon.

HB1011 cleared the House Local Government committee on June 7. It is on the Wednesday agenda for House Judiciary 2 committee.

Durham has Democratic-sponsored bills in House Bill 1024 and Senate Bill 892, introduced on May 24 and May 26, respectively.

HB1024 was placed on the same committee pathway as HB1011, being placed on Tuesdays Local Government agenda, while SB892 was sent directly to Senate Rules and Operations.

Winston-Salem bill

Winston-Salems bill was placed directly in Senate Rules and Operations committee, which can either be a holding place for a 2022 session projected to end in early July, or the equivalent of being shelved by Senate Republican leadership.

Lowe said he and Sen. Joyce Krawiec, R-Forsyth, were asked by police Chief Catrina Thompson about submitting SB809 to help with addressing the obvious shortage of law enforcement officers in the city.

We met with our local delegation from Raleigh and asked them to sponsor that legislation, Lee Garrity, Winston-Salems city manager, said June 4. We have such a shortage of police officers.

We are looking for alternatives for providing some services where you would not need necessarily a sworn officer.

Democratic-sponsored Senate Bill 903, filed May 26, contains similar language to authorize civilian traffic investigators in Asheville and Raleigh. It was placed directly into Senate Rules and Operations.

State law background

According to state statute 20-166.1, if a motor vehicle accident happens in a city or town, drivers are required to call the local police department.

If the accident occurs outside a city or town, drivers must call the N.C. Highway Patrol or county sheriffs office.

SB809 would allow Winston-Salem officials to hire civilian personnel to investigate traffic crashes and issue citations under state statute 20-166.1. There was no mention of pay or reimbursement in the bill.

A report completed by a civilian traffic investigator shall be treated the same as if it were completed by a law enforcement officer. The investigator could authorize the use of a tow vehicle to remove a vehicle that is obstructing a public street or highway.

However, only law enforcement would be able to investigate a crash involving personal injury or a fatality.

The city shall establish the minimum standards for employment as an investigator, with each investigator required to attend a training program designed by the city in consultation with the N.C. Justice Academy.

Upon completion of the training program, each investigator shall spend not less than four weeks of field training with a law enforcement officer who has experience conducting traffic crash investigations, according to the bill.

Civilian traffic investigators would be issued credentials, but no badges or weapons, by the city. They would not be authorized to arrest or issue criminal processes.

They would wear a uniform color substantially different in color and style from a local police officer.

The civilian traffic investigator would be required to produce those credentials when requested by a member of the public involved in or a witness to a crash.

Their vehicle may have emergency equipment and lights installed, but shall not use blue lights in any manner or form. Red and amber lights are permissible.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Brandon Lopez-Pereira was struggling with remote learning last year. The Norris High School junior felt disconnected from his fellow students. I was kind of in, I want to say, a dark place, Lopez-Pereira said.

The director of an after-school program suggested Project Harmonys Connections program might be able to help. After a referral, Lopez-Pereira signed up for an eight-week group therapy session focused on expressive art, where he quickly found a sense of community.

I felt very confident and comfortable with everybody, he said. We all know this is a safe space and we can trust each other.

Project Harmony is known for its efforts to end the cycle of child abuse and neglect. But the nonprofit is also working proactively to address the mental health needs of young people through its Connections program.

We link children and families with appropriate mental health services, said Jordan Grieser, director of Connections. We contract with therapists in the Omaha area who have evidenced-based practices and experience working with kids and families.

Brandons sessions were facilitated by Betsy Funk, a registered expressive arts therapist. Funk said using art can reduce the stigma of therapy and make students excited for the experience.

Art is a good connector, Funk said. Its sort of a natural language for people.

It came naturally for Brandon, who graduates this month and plans to study acting at Columbia College in Chicago.

Its really cool to see other peoples creative side, he said of the Connections program. It made me feel like I can be myself.

Connections is open to children who have been through a recent stressful event and could use extra support to navigate their feelings  regardless of how they are reacting.

We're much more likely to reach out for help with our kids when we're seeing real behavior concerns for kids  both internal and external, Grieser said. But the internal can be just as concerning. You can have a straight-A student who's not causing any problems in class whos really struggling.

By working in groups, students learn how to forge connections with their peers and they can take those friendships with them after the sessions conclude.

Theyve created this support relationship already, Grieser said. The kids learn to trust each other and to share with each other.

In Brandons case, the students formed a group chat to keep in touch.

We would, of course, text each other all the time, and it was really nice, he said. It made the experience more comforting because I felt, during that time, we were always so vulnerable.

Referrals to Connections were up nearly 66% through March, and Project Harmony has more than doubled the use of groups. Grieser said she expects to finish the school year with close to 2,000 referrals, a couple hundred more than before COVID-19.

When the program started in 2015, a major challenge was addressing the stigma associated with mental health treatments. But thats changed since the pandemic began.

We all got much more comfortable talking about our physical health during COVID, and we also got more comfortable talking about mental health, Grieser said. So, I dont expect our referrals to go down in the next year or two.

Connections will continue to emphasize the use of groups, while also adding more providers. The program has about 40 groups meeting in schools, and work continues during the summer months, including training in a new therapeutic model.

We see group models as being a great way to address the need that were seeing, Grieser said.

Anxiety and difficulty with social interactions are the primary issues seen among young people right now, Funk said, which comes as no surprise amid the pandemic.

Navigating family difficulties is also prevalent.

There's a lot of turmoil going on at home with each of the children in their own separate families, Funk said. The group offers an opportunity for them to have a safe place to talk about some of these things.

The program spans elementary through high school students and serves all members of the childs family. Financial assistance is offered to those without insurance. Connections currently operates in Omaha, Millard, Bellevue and Papillion La Vista schools.

Families interested in learning more about Connections can visit projectharmony.com or talk to their childs school about a referral.

This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The main runway at the Lincoln Airport is almost 13,000 feet long, making it one of the longest runways at any commercial airport in the U.S.

The nearly 2-mile-long strip of concrete and asphalt is a relic from the airport's past as an Air Force base that was home to B-47 bombers in the 1950s and '60s.

While commercial airlines and private planes don't need a runway anywhere near that long, its length has always been a feather in the cap of the airport and, by extension, the city itself.

The long runway gave Lincoln status at one time as an emergency landing site for the space shuttle. It also can handle jumbo jets that need to be diverted because of weather or in-flight emergencies.

And it occasionally plays host to giant cargo planes, such as the Russian Antonov AH-124 that landed here last fall to deliver a 220,000-pound boiler to a plant near Sioux City, Iowa.

The runway length also has allowed Offutt Air Force Base to station planes at the airport several times over the years during projects, including the current $150 million reconstruction of its runway.

But days could be numbered for Lincoln's ultra-long runway.

As part of a 10-year master planning process, airport officials have determined that the runway, which has been rehabbed several times but never reconstructed, needs to be completely rebuilt.

And that potentially presents a problem. The Federal Aviation Administration, which pays for 90% of most airport-related capital projects, will only pay to reconstruct a runway long enough and wide enough to accommodate so-called "critical" aircraft  defined as those that have a minimum of 500 operations annually. And it only includes civilian flights in those calculations.

"The best way to look at it is the FAA is a civilian agency, and so when they look at it, they want to see what is the civilian usage of your airport," said Chad Lay, the airport's director of planning and development.

At the Lincoln Airport, the largest civilian planes that fly on a regular basis are the regional jets that United Airlines uses for flights to Chicago, Denver and  starting in September  Houston.

Lay said that under those parameters, his best guess is that the FAA would be willing to pay for a runway that's somewhere between 60% and 80% of its current length, which would put it in the range of 8,000-10,000 feet.

That would be plenty long enough for the United planes that fly out of the airport daily, but it's unclear whether it would suffice for some other flights.

Larger planes occasionally use the airport, including charter flights that take University of Nebraska athletes to competitions and bring their competitors to Lincoln. A 10,000-foot runway would likely accommodate those flights. An 8,000-foot runway might not, depending on the size of the planes.

What might help save the long runway is the fact the airport is home to the Nebraska Air National Guard's 155th Air Refueling Wing, with its fleet of eight Boeing KC-135R Stratotankers, which are very large planes that need a longer-than-normal runway.

The Air National Guard said the runway's current dimensions are vital and the Guard's commander said he thinks it's highly unlikely it will be shortened due to its strategic value.

Col. John D. Williams, commander of the 155th Air Refueling Wing, said program managers from the National Guard Bureau have tentatively reached an agreement to fund the planning process to cover the militarys share of the runway project.

He said the discussion hasn't been about shortening the runway, but rather determining the appropriate cost share between the military and the FAA.

David Haring, the airport's executive director, acknowledged that because it's still so early in the planning process, "there's sort of a lot of question marks going forward on this."

One is the cost. Depending on a number of factors, including how long the runway ultimately is and what construction costs do over the next couple of years, the airport has estimated the reconstruction project would cost anywhere from $30 million-$80 million. For whatever portion the FAA decides to pay for, the airport's cost would be 10% of the total amount.

Another question mark is timing. Lay estimated that a runway reconstruction project wouldn't occur for at least a couple of years, and it's possible the airport could attract more commercial flights on larger airplanes, which could spur the FAA to pay for a longer runway.

The FAA said in a statement that it is working with the airport to analyze what its critical aircraft are to determine what it would be willing to pay for.

If the FAA won't pay for a runway long enough for the National Guard planes, there is precedent for the military to step in and provide funds.

Last fall, the Department of Defense gave a $5.9 million grant to the Manhattan Regional Airport in Manhattan, Kansas, to ensure the 7,000-foot runway keeps its 150-foot width after the FAA said it would only pay for a 100-foot-wide runway as part of a reconstruction project set to start next year.

The 150-foot width was deemed necessary for military charter flights that ferry soldiers to and from the nearby Fort Riley Army base.

Also in Kansas, the National Guard Bureau a few years ago paid to reconstruct 5,500 feet of the 12,800-foot main runway at Topeka Regional Airport, after the FAA agreed to pay for only 7,300 feet. However, the runway in Topeka was narrowed from 200 feet to 150 feet.

The runway in Lincoln also is 200 feet wide, so it's possible, even likely, it will be narrowed.

In a statement, Sen. Deb Fischer said she and her staff have been "coordinating" with the airport, the FAA, the National Guard and the Department of Defense to examine all potential funding sources for the runway in Lincoln.

"The airport is in the early stages of this multi-year process, but we will continue to work together to ensure the best path forward, Fischer said.

Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
By Trend

Turkiye stands to reap $146 billion (TL 2.52 trillion) in savings over the next 20 years if it takes effective and appropriate actions to boost resilience and adaptation against the impact of climate change and to mitigate economy-wide emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, a pioneering World Bank report said Monday, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

The benefits would come largely from reductions in fuel imports and health benefits from reduced air pollution, and contribute to energy security and lower energy expenditures, it was said in a report titled Turkiye Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR).

The report called for deep decarbonization of the power sector, energy efficiency and electrification in buildings and transportation, as well as reduction of carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions in industry and agriculture.

Regarding the major changes, the report also says Turkiye needs to reverse course as the worlds 17th largest carbon emitter and to achieve its pledge of carbon neutrality by 2053.

The CCDR, dubbed a new series of country diagnostic reports from the World Bank Group, explores the linkages between climate and development to identify priority actions to reduce carbon emissions and build resilience, while supporting economic growth and poverty reduction, the statement released on the banks website read.

The Turkiye CCDR, meanwhile, is the first to be issued in the new report series.

Anna Bjerde, World Bank vice president for the Europe and Central Asia region, said like so many countries around the world, Turkiye is experiencing extreme weather events brought on by climate change.

With the ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change last year, Turkiye joins the global community to tackle this crisis, Bjerde said.

The CCDR will allow the World Bank to expand our successful partnership with Turkiye to deliver more transformative action to protect lives and livelihoods, she added.

The World Bank report sets out an illustrative strategy for a resilient and net zero development pathway (RNZP) that combines adaptation and mitigation actions while exploring the costs and benefits of reaching Turkiyes pledge to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2053.

The strategy focuses on sectors that are key to the countrys efforts to reduce carbon emissions, such as power, transportation, industry and forestry.

The report said that electricity is the largest contributor to emissions and a clean electricity grid is needed to drive emissions reductions through the electrification of buildings, transport and industry.

Deep decarbonization of the power sector requires a sustained transition from coal, expansion and integration of renewable energy, and decisive actions to boost energy efficiency. This will help Turkiye achieve energy security, reduce energy costs and meet burgeoning demand, it said.
The Parthenon will no longer be serving up gyros or baklava at the southeast Lincoln location the Greek restaurant has called home for nearly 20 years.

Instead, the restaurant in the Edgewood Shopping Center near 56th and Nebraska 2 will transition to strictly catering and running its Kouzina food truck, the restaurant announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Sunday will be the restaurant's final day.

Owner George Kazas  who runs the restaurant with his brother Mike Kazas  said that while they've enjoyed serving their authentic cuisine to Lincolnites for two decades, staffing has been an issue.

"There's just not a single person walking in the door looking for work," George Kazas said.

Catering allows for more flexibility and requires fewer staffers, and 60% of the restaurant's income already comes from events.

"We are anticipating our catering business doubling, just because we can focus more on catering," George Kazas said. "We are tickled to death that our catering has been super good to us."

Lauren Bonk, social media manager for the business, said she believes the community will sorely miss the restaurant's brick-and-mortar presence. After she posted the announcement of the restaurant's exit Tuesday morning, the response has been heartwarming, she said.

"It's just been message after message of lament at the loss of the storefront," Bonk said. "But also everybody's just so excited that Mike and George are still going to be around still making awesome food."

Bonk said she's glad the Parthenon is continuing to bring its food truck to Lincoln's most frequented events. Kouzina's social media pages will be updated regularly to let the public know where to find the brothers' most loved dishes.

The Mettle Grill, a bar and grill in Hickman, will move to the space at the end of July.

Mettle Grill owner Susantha Weerasinghe said in a separate post that he had been working with the Kazases over the past few months to take over the space.

"We have big shoes to fill and we will work hard for the opportunity to earn the business of this community. I see this as a passing of the torch and not as a restaurant trying to replace the Parthenon," Weerasinghe wrote.

The Mettle Grill opened in Hickman in 2019, "specializing in homemade American food serving beer from local Nebraska breweries," according to its website.

Throughout their journey as restaurant owners, the Kazases have built a faithful following of foodies. Even though George Kazas is excited about the new adventures his catering and food truck endeavors will bring, he'll miss his loyal patrons.

Thankfully, the pair isn't saying goodbye  they're simply switching gears.

"That's probably the hardest thing: not seeing our regulars on a daily basis," he said. "It is kind of bittersweet at the same time, because I know my true regulars will keep supporting us as they have for many years."

Reach the writer at 402-473-7241 or jthompson@journalstar.com

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 0

Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.

Zach Hammack K-12 education reporter Zach Hammack, a 2018 UNL graduate, has always called Lincoln home. He previously worked as a copy editor at the Journal Star and was a reporting intern in 2017. Now, he covers students, teachers and schools as the newspapers K-12 reporter. Follow Zach Hammack Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
A 34-year-old Lincoln man was arrested last week after police say he sold oxycodone pills to a 30-year-old man who was later found dead of an overdose, investigators said in court records.

Ronald Mach was charged Friday with possession of and delivery of a controlled substance after Lincoln Police found a used syringe, a spoon with blue residue and seven blue oxycodone pills near the victim, who died June 4, investigator Xavier Schwerdtfeger said in the affidavit for Mach's arrest.

Text conversations between the victim and Mach led police to the 34-year-old, who investigators believe exchanged the pills for Naloxone tabs from the 30-year-old on June 3, the day before his death, Schwerdtfeger said.

Police on Thursday served a search warrant on Mach's house, near 32nd and R streets, and arrested him there. He was taken to the Lancaster County jail, where he is being held on a $25,000 percentage bond.

Mach must pay $2,500 to be released.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Police Department arrested a "dangerous subject" on the school's downtown campus Tuesday afternoon after urging students and residents to avoid the area.

Four minutes after warning residents to stay away from the area, the department announced on Twitter they had arrested the subject at around 1:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Lincoln Police Capt. Todd Kocian said Tuesday afternoon that city's police department took two juveniles into custody on UNL's campus in connection to a stolen car.

On Wednesday morning, LPD Sgt. Chris Vollmer said two boys, 14 and 16, were referred to the Lancaster County Attorney's Office on suspicion of theft by receiving after officers tracked a stolen 2022 Jeep Wrangler to the 800 block of 14th Street, near UNL's rec center.

Vollmer said one of the boys was apprehended at 12:50 p.m. Tuesday, but the other wasn't arrested until 1:12 p.m., a minute before the university's police department announced it had taken the "dangerous subject" into custody.

It's unclear why the university's police department considered the teenager dangerous.

Assistant University Police Chief Marty Fehringer did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The research team investigating the human health and environmental impacts of the AltEn ethanol plant near Mead will share an update of their ongoing study on Thursday evening.

The presentation featuring researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, will be at the Mead Fire Hall at 7 p.m.

The meeting is open to the public and will include a question-and-answer session and general discussion of the 2021 sampling.

AltEn, which used pesticide-treated seeds to produce ethanol, creating toxic solid and liquid waste products along the way, was ordered to shut down in February 2021 for violating numerous state environmental regulations.

Faculty from UNL, UNMC and Creighton University then launched a wide-ranging research project to study the movement of pesticides through the environment, as well as the chemicals' effects on humans, animals and pollinators.

Environmental sampling started in the spring of 2021, while a survey of perceived health effects from 1,000 individuals living near the defunct plant was closed in May.

Dr. Eleanor Rogan, interim chair of the Department of Health Promotion in UNMC's College of Public Health, said the research team is still analyzing the results of the survey.

UNMC will also look for the presence of pesticides and toxic compounds in the blood or urine of individuals who wish to provide samples.

The study got a boost from the Legislature in April when it approved an amendment from Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue appropriating $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to continue the study through 2022.

Members of the research team who will present their findings and lead a discussion about their results include Rogan; Ali Khan, dean of UNMC's College of Public Health; Jesse Bell, director of the Water, Climate and Health Program; Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, department chair of civil and environmental engineering at UNL; Liz Van Wormer, coordinator of the One Health program at UNL; and Judy Wu-Smart, extension and research entomologist at UNL.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Developers want to turn the old Shopko that anchored the Bishop Heights shopping center at 27th Street and Nebraska 2 for years into new commercial space, possibly with a 150-room hotel.

Thats part of the redevelopment plans for the now nearly vacant center that will ultimately include 230 luxury apartments, new office space and some significant trail enhancements along bike trails that run along the east and north portions of the property.

The vision for the site is to create a revitalized pedestrian-oriented neighborhood destination providing a mix of amenities for nearby residents, DaNay Kalkowski, the attorney representing three developers involved in the project, told the City Council Monday.

The council is considering zoning changes and whether the redevelopment plan conforms to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Comprehensive Plan. They will vote at the June 20 meeting.

The shopping center has remained nearly vacant since Shopko closed in 2019 and the retailer declared bankruptcy. A Wells Fargo bank branch and an Arbys remain there, and the fast-food restaurant is interested in updating the building.

RED Development, which owns the building that used to house Shopko and other businesses, plans to demolish it and develop either 70,000 square feet of commercial space with retail shops, restaurants and offices, or 50,000 square feet of commercial space and a hotel.

EPC Real Estate Group, an Overland Park, Kansas-based company plans to build a five-story, 230-unit luxury apartment complex.

White Development Co. owns the former U.S. Bank branch building on the northwest part of the site, which it plans to demolish and develop into one larger office building or two smaller ones, with a maximum of 45,000 square feet of space.

Two bike trails run adjacent to the land, and Kalkowski told the council developers have plans to make significant trail upgrades.

Kalkowski said because the development has 1,474 lineal feet along the trails, there will be some parking lots abutting those trails, but the developer will include berms as barriers. Developers also will encourage tenants to add patios and decks.

Trail improvements include adding three new sidewalk connections to both the Helen Boosalis and Rock Island trails from the apartments and commercial areas, additional landscaping and building shared trailhead parking stalls and installing bike racks along the south side of the property, where the Rock Island trail runs along Nebraska 2.

Some neighbors have expressed concerns about the potential for increased traffic, but a traffic study submitted with the plans shows that while traffic would increase in the morning, it would drop by 28% in the evening and by 18% overall.

Developers also hope when the South Beltway opens it will reduce truck traffic along Nebraska 2, Kalkowski said. The existing 27th Street -- which has never been widened -- creates a situation the developer must work around.

"I think were just dealing with an existing situation and theres not a lot that can be done at this stage to make it better," she said. "Were working within a built environment and community decisions made to keep it that way."

The cost of the development is estimated at nearly $90 million, with nearly $78 million coming from the developers and anywhere from $9 million to $11 million coming from the city in the form of tax-increment financing, which allows developers to use future property taxes generated by projects to pay for certain upfront costs.

The City Council previously approved a blight designation for the center, which makes it eligible for TIF, and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission voted unanimously to find the plan in conformance with the city-county Comprehensive Plan.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSreist

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The city no longer has a fairness ordinance that extends protections in city code to include gender expression and sexual orientation, following a narrow vote Monday by a City Council divided about how best to proceed on an issue they all said they support.

Bennie Shobe, the only council member not to say publicly how he would vote, ultimately sided with Richard Meginnis, Tom Beckius and James Michael Bowers in voting to rescind the ordinance the council passed on a 5-0 vote in February.

Sandra Washington, who introduced the ordinance, Jane Raybould and Tammy Ward all voted against rescinding it.

Meginnis made the motion to reconsider nearly four months after opponents launched a successful referendum, which means the council either had to put the ordinance to a vote or rescind it. He said now isnt the right time to take it to a vote because its become too divisive.

Shobe, who is Black, said he believes it is wrong to allow one group to vote on the civil rights of another  putting him in the position of making a horrible choice.

He talked about growing up in Kentucky, where his parents went to segregated schools and lived as second-class citizens until the Supreme Court and the Civil Rights Act guaranteed their rights under the law.

However, if the civil rights of my parents had been put to a vote of the people I am confident they would have been denied, he said.

The vote to rescind is a do-over, he said, and hell work to educate people about the legal rights the federal government granted to LGBTQ residents.

The vote illustrated the division thats arisen among supporters.

From early on, some members of the transgender community have said they were concerned they would be targeted by the opposition and that supporters were unprepared to launch a successful campaign to win at the ballot box.

Others, including those who have worked for decades to have such rights made a part of city code, were convinced voters who elected a Democratic mayor and three openly gay council members would uphold the ordinance.

Washington, who is Black and openly gay, spoke to that division Monday, saying as maddening as opponents claims were, it was the opposition from the left that disappointed her.

She talked about the civil rights struggle, and how those Martin Luther King Jr. considered allies tried to convince him to wait.

The journey toward the promise (of equality) was never guaranteed to be easy or short or convenient, she said. To the upcoming generations  to the youth of our city  I want you to know I see you. I have been where you stand now and I promise you it will get better.

Beckius and Bowers, the other two openly gay council members, both said they voted to rescind because they didnt feel supporters were prepared to effectively win at the ballot box.

But Beckius noted that although protections are not specifically included in city code after Mondays vote, those protections exist because of a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that said the definition of sex in the Civil Rights Act includes sexual orientation and gender identity.

Based on that ruling, Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird signed an executive order last year saying the Lincoln Commission on Human Rights would investigate and enforce protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Initially, after the ordinance passed, it appeared there was enough support on the council to take it to a vote, but the death by suicide of a transgender advocate brought momentum to a halt.

Bowers also said, moving forward, it is important to put transgender voices at the center of the discussion.

We will win when we have the ability and resources to counteract the lies and scare tactics from those whose actions intentionally or unintentionally create lifelong harm, Bowers said. We will continue to push forward while shielding our community from ongoing attacks on our freedom.

Raybould appealed to her colleagues to vote against rescinding the ordinance because it negated years of effort by many.

Ward said she rejects the argument that fear of losing means the ordinance shouldnt proceed to a vote. She noted that Omaha passed a fairness ordinance 10 years ago with no defeatism getting in their way" and no tragedies have followed there.

None. Yet here we are.

The council also voted to rescind a fairness ordinance thats been on the books since 2012, when a different council passed a more narrow ordinance extending the same protections to gay and transgender residents. That vote passed 5-2, with Tammy Ward joining the majority as a way to clean up the old legislation.

The Nebraska Family Alliance, which led the referendum petition drive, said the City Council did the right thing, and that the ordinance some opponents dubbed the "transgender bathroom ordinance" was needlessly divisive and undermined both fairness and freedom.

But those who have been working for decades to see such protections made a part of city code said they were devastated by Mondays vote.

I just feel despair, said Kay Siebler. I hear Sandra (Washington) saying hope but how can you hope when the very people that you put into office to advocate for you betray you in this way.

Council members vowed to keep working to codify such rights.

I will continue to advocate for the full inclusion of all, Washington said. Our work is not yet done and I have not lost hope.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSreist

Love 2 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 0

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A 34-year-old man who was killed by Cass County Sheriff's deputies in February was shot in the back, according to his death certificate obtained by the Journal Star.

Andrew Stratton, who was killed Feb. 13 after deputies responding to a report of an assault shot him in his father's home near Alvo, died of gunshot wounds to his back and left arm, according to the death certificate.

"I was absolutely disgusted," said Wendy Guida, Stratton's mother who learned of the medical examiner's findings this week. "I don't know a better word to use."

Guida, who has dealt frequently with the Cass County Sheriff's Office over the past four years as the agency investigates the disappearance of her other son, said she has largely been left in the dark about the agency's internal investigation, leaving her to fill in the gaps herself as she tries to make sense of Stratton's injuries.

Cass County Attorney S. Colin Palm, who signed Stratton's death certificate, wrote on the document that the 34-year-old "was shot during a standoff with law enforcement officers," but it remains unclear if Stratton was armed when a deputy fired toward him.

In a February news release, the Nebraska State Patrol said Stratton "was believed to be in the basement of the residence and possibly armed" when deputies entered his father's home at 23418 Alvo Road around 11 p.m. Feb. 13.

"During the course of negotiations, a deputy fired his weapon, striking Stratton," the agency said in the news release.

A State Patrol trooper who was dispatched to the assault arrived to the sound of gunshots coming from inside the home, according to the news release. The trooper went into the home and joined deputies in attempting life-saving measures on Stratton.

He was officially pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m., according to his death certificate, which lists his exact time of death as "unknown." He was shot at 11:08 p.m., according to the document.

Stratton, who Guida described as mentally ill, was unmedicated at the time of the shooting, his mother said. She said she thinks he had fled to the basement of his father's home to hide.

"I think they just ... forgot their mission, that they were supposed to be going over there to talk to him, not shoot him," Guida told the Journal Star. "And they shot him."

Investigators found a bow and arrow and long knife in the house. A patrol spokesman in February said the weapons were found nearby, but said the agency hadn't yet determined whether Stratton was armed when he was shot.

The State Patrol Special Investigations unit investigated the incident. The unit's findings will be examined by a grand jury in Cass County, as is the case with all police killings and in-custody deaths in Nebraska.

A patrol spokesman referred questions about the agency's findings to Palm's office, which will present the patrol's evidence to a grand jury sometime this year, though a jury hasn't yet been convened.

In an email, Palm said the agency hadn't yet provided its findings to his office.

Cass County Sheriff Bill Brueggemann did not return a phone call seeking comment.

For Guida, who expressed frustrations about the limited information available even before she received Stratton's death certificate, the medical examiner's findings raise further questions surrounding her son's death  questions that have been hanging in the air for months, as the reality of Stratton's death hasn't yet settled.

"I just  I can't even believe it," Guida said.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A Peacock Lounge employee was injured Monday when Miguel Villatoro of Grand Island drove into him deliberately in the parking lot of the business, police said.

Villatoro, 26, was identified as the driver of a blue Jeep Grand Cherokee that ran into Jason Bockman, resulting in serious bodily injury, at about 1:20 a.m.

Police believe that Villatoro struck Bockman with his vehicle purposefully following an argument, Grand Island Police Department Capt. Jim Duering said.

Bockman, 41, works as a bouncer at the Peacock Lounge.

The bar was having difficulties getting him to leave, and an argument ensued, Duering said.

Villatoros reaction as far as we could tell was to jump into his car and purposefully strike the bouncer, Duering said.

Duering doesnt know the details of Bockmans injuries. But I know at the very least he has a broken femur and a collapsed lung, Duering said. Yeah, he was struck hard.

Bockman was listed in fair condition Monday at CHI Health St. Francis.

Villatoro allegedly left the scene and drove down an alley to the north, crashing his vehicle into the Capital Car Wash, police said.

He then left the scene of that accident, they said.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee was later located at 518 E. Capital Ave. The suspect was located at the nearby residence. And he was equally uncooperative there, Duering said.

He resisted officers by constantly pulling away, according to the GIPD. At one point, Villatoro allegedly spit in the face of Officer Corbin DeMay, police said.

According to the media report, he smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech, troubles with balance and bloodshot eyes. Villatoro refused to submit to both a preliminary breath test and a post-arrest blood and breath check. A warrant was drafted for a blood draw, and his blood was collected.

A record check showed that Villatoro had two active Hall County arrest warrants.

In addition to the warrants, he was arrested for DUI causing serious bodily injury, first-degree assault, use of a weapon to commit a felony, resisting arrest, assault on an officer with bodily fluid, refusal to submit to a preliminary breath test and refusal to be tested post-arrest.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
WTO holds high banner, and multilateralism will eventually triumph

By Global Times editorial (Global Times) 08:17, June 14, 2022

The World Trade Organization's (WTO) 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) is being held at its headquarters in Geneva. This is the first WTO ministerial conference in four and a half years, during which important and urgent issues such as pandemic response, fishery subsidies, agricultural reform and WTO reform will be discussed.

China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao led a delegation to participate in the opening ceremony and delivered a speech at the plenary session, saying China firmly upholds the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. When China "joined the WTO" in 2001, it was difficult for everyone to imagine that this "newcomer" would provide the WTO with precious support 20 years later.

The WTO is not only a fundamental platform for multilateralism, but also a banner. It has played a huge positive role in promoting globalization and realizing trade prosperity. To this day, the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core is still the cornerstone of international trade. But it is now encountering some difficulties. Some Western media said that it is "facing one of its most dire moments," and some even warned that the organization is facing disintegration, and this mechanism is in "serious jeopardy."

It should be pointed out that the current difficulties encountered by the WTO are closely related to the increasingly out-of-control tendencies of protectionism and unilateralism in Washington in recent years. Under the extremely selfish "America First" policy, Washington has repeatedly discarded WTO rules, ignored and resisted relevant rulings unfavorable to it, and even bypassed the arbitration mechanism to impose unilateral sanctions, which seriously undermined the authority of the WTO. Just before the ongoing ministerial conference, the US rejected for the 54th time the relevant proposal to restart the selection process of the judges of the Appellate Body, which directly caused the Appellate Body, known as the "Supreme Court" of the WTO, to remain suspended. The paralysis of the dispute settlement mechanism, one of the three main functions of the WTO, is the most serious crisis since its establishment.

Washington has also publicly expressed its dissatisfaction with the WTO's existing mechanism on many occasions, claiming that this mechanism allows China to exploit benefits and take advantage of developed countries. It believes that China has become the world's second largest economy after its entry into the WTO largely because China "unfairly" sold a lot of things to the US and made use of the WTO mechanism. Some US media even claimed that China "brought down" the WTO. But in fact, in the 21 years since China's accession to the WTO, China's contribution to world economic growth is close to 30 percent on average, which is a typical win-win situation, and most countries are happy to see this.

The WTO, the most important multilateral trading mechanism in the world, was initially established under the leadership of the US. However, when the US discovered that the WTO had gradually got rid of Washington's control and could not provide "green path" for its hegemony, its attitude took a U-turn. Not only did it act in complete disregard of the WTO's rules and principles, but it also strangled the Appellate Body, which upholds the rule of law in international trade. According to statistics, the total amount of trade protectionist measures implemented by the US in recent years ranks first in the world, reaching more than 1,000. The US only adheres to international rules that serve its interests, and discards those that don't. Washington's hypocrisy, arrogance and selfishness are most vividly reflected in the WTO.

However, multilateralism is the general trend, which even the US, as a superpower, cannot go against. Just as WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in her opening remarks, the multilateral instrument represented by WTO is the best. The effective operation of the WTO is essential to safeguard global trade prosperity, and maintaining the multilateral trading system with WTO at the core should be the premise of reforming WTO, which must be reaffirmed. In addition, we believe that the most urgent task is to restore the operation of the WTO Appellate Body and uphold the authority of WTO, resisting unilateralism and trade protectionism to continue harming globalization.

The WTO has come a long way with 164 members today, and it has formed a set of mechanism to promote free trade and settle differences through countless arduous negotiations, which is not easy. Although the US is not satisfied to be only 1/164 part of it, the WTO will not be dominated by the US. Multilateralism may encounter some setbacks, but it won't stop its steps forward. Not matter what achievements this conference will reach, the fact that 164 members can gather together has already demonstrated the popular will of the international community.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
By Trend

There was an exchange of fire on Tuesday between the border guards of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan at the Kyrgyz-Tajik section of the state border, the press service of the Border Service of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Kyrgyzstan said, Trend reports citing Kabar.

Shots were fired at around 6:50-7:00 a.m. in the area of Bulak-Bashy, Batken Oblast from the direction of the Keh border checkpoint of the Tajik State Committee for National Security towards Bulak-Bashyborder checkpoint of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan. In response, the Kyrgyz side also fired in the direction of the Tajik post.

"Border guards of the two sides immediately took up combat positions. Border representative of Kyrgyzstan for Batken Oblast and border representative of Tajikistans Sughd Region held telephone conversations. Heads of the border detachments of the sides went to the site of the incident," the report said.

However, at 7:50 a.m. Tajikistan again began an exchange of fire with rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. At 8:10 a.m., the exchange of fire ceased.
DAKOTA CITY -- The owners of a South Sioux City RV sales company face dozens of new charges as an investigation into alleged fraudulent sales practices continues.

Douglas and Shara Bras, who operate Fremont RV Center, 2405 Cornhusker Drive, now face 44 and 50 charges, respectively, for an alleged pattern a defrauding customers by selling their campers on consignment and not telling them, using sales proceeds to pay their own bills rather than the camper owners and not issuing vehicle titles.

A complaint filed Thursday in Dakota County Court contains 37 charges against Douglas Bras: 18 counts of theft by deception, 10 counts of selling or disposing of a motor vehicle without delivering a title or VIN number, three counts of knowing and intentional abuse of a senior adult, two counts of issuing a bad check and single counts of conspiracy, theft by unlawful taking, aiding consummation of a felony and second-degree forgery.

He has yet to be arrested on those charges.

An amended complaint filed Thursday against Shara Bras added 35 charges: 18 counts of theft by deception, 10 counts of selling or disposing of a motor vehicle without delivering a title or VIN number, three counts each of intentional abuse of a senior adult and issuing a bad check and one count of theft by unlawful taking.

Shara Bras, 56, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Tuesday. She was previously charged with five counts of theft by deception, five counts of selling or disposing of a motor vehicle without delivering a title or VIN number, three counts of violation of the motor vehicle certificate of title act and single counts of conspiracy and aiding consummation of a felony.

Douglas Bras, 61, was bound over to district court last month to face five counts of theft by deception and single counts of conspiracy and aiding the consummation of a felony. He is scheduled to be arraigned on June 21.

The two, who live in rural Hinton, Iowa, were arrested in April and charged with selling at least four campers ranging in price from $12,000-$18,500 on consignment. In each case, according to court documents, they did not pay the owner or the owner's bank and never informed the owners the campers had been sold. The owners did not learn of the sales until a police investigator contacted them. Fremont RV Center also failed to produce a title to the campers to the buyers, who were then unable to register and title the campers.

An affidavit for an arrest warrant filed Thursday said that since the Bras' arrest, the South Sioux City Police Department has received more than 50 calls from other customers who say they were defrauded by Douglas and/or Shara Bras.

Callers were either buyers or sellers of more than a dozen campers or RVs who said they either did not receive a title, received a check for insufficient funds or had not been told their RV had been sold. Some said they finally received their title or payment several weeks or months after the purchase was made. In some situations, customers did not receive payment or titles until after a lawyer or law enforcement became involved. Customers also reported paying Fremont RV for items that were never ordered and received.

South Sioux City police Investigator Joaquin Orduno said the investigation into the Bras' business continues and more charges are possible.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
A federal judge has entered a preliminary injunction barring the state's top election official from rejecting proposed ballot initiatives for failing to gather support from 5% of voters in 38 of Nebraskas 93 counties, which has been required for more than 100 years.

The decision came less than a month before the July 7 deadline for submitting petition signatures to Secretary of State Bob Evnen's office to appear on the ballot in November.

Crista Eggers, campaign coordinator for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, sued Evnen last month, arguing the requirement was unconstitutional because it diluted the votes of residents who live in the states more populated urban areas.

In a 46-page decision Monday, U.S. District Judge John Gerrard agreed.

"The plaintiffs in this case argue, among other things, that the 38-county rule violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, because it gives more power to voters in rural counties than in urban counties. And it does," he said.

The Fourteenth Amendment requires states to treat individuals the same way as others in similar conditions and circumstances.

Gerrard said Eggers and Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana are "more likely than not to succeed" on their equal protection claim and will be irreparably harmed by continued enforcement of the 38-county rule.

"The state's interest in enforcing its election laws is outweighed by the ongoing injury to constitutional rights," Gerrard said.

The judge blocked the state from taking any action to enforce its county distribution requirement for the qualification of proposed ballot initiatives.

The Nebraska Attorney Generals Office, which is representing Evnen, had taken the position that requiring a petition be signed by 10% of legal voters, including 5% in two-fifths of the states 93 counties, could not be severed from the right to initiative granted in the state constitution because they have been linked since the 1912 origin.

In other words, if the 38-county rule treats voters differently, then Nebraska's entire initiative and referendum process should be struck down.

Gerrard called the argument that the baby must go with the bathwater "eyebrow-raising" and said the right of initiative is a "fundamental right" that the citizens of Nebraska possess.

"So the state may not discriminate against them in their exercise of that right," he said. "And, the court finds, the power of initiative can be effectively exercised without discrimination."

He said Nebraska is free to require a showing of statewide support for a ballot initiative, but it cannot do so based on units of dramatically differing population, "resulting in discrimination among voters."

Under the state's constitution, a petition to enact a law needs signatures from 7% of Nebraska's registered voters, and a petition to amend the state constitution requires signatures from 10% of registered voters.

In addition to gathering signatures of roughly 87,000 registered voters, proponents of an initiative also have been required to gather signatures from at least 5% of the registered voters in at least 38 of the 93 counties in Nebraska.

Eggers' attorney, Daniel Gutman and the ACLU of Nebraska, argued that the 38-county rule violates the U.S. Constitution by making the signature and vote of a registered voter in a more populous county "less meaningful than the signature and vote of other Nebraska residents in more sparsely populated counties."

And, they argued, it forces petition circulators to curtail their efforts in more populous counties in order to get signatures from other counties, limiting the number of people they can reach and making it more difficult to get their proposals on the ballot.

Solicitor General James Campbell argued that before doing anything, the federal judge should ask the Nebraska Supreme Court to weigh in on whether the 38-county rule could be severed from the rest of Article III, Section 2 and what would happen if that part were ultimately stricken.

But Gerrard said given the preliminary nature of the case, the only conclusion he could draw at this point "is that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on that claim  not that they have."

So it wasn't an appropriate question to certify, "and the court seriously doubts that the Nebraska Supreme Court would entertain it."

In response to Monday's decision, Attorney General Doug Peterson said in an email: This case raises important legal questions concerning the initiative process in Nebraska. Therefore we will take the steps necessary to get the matter before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals as soon as possible.

On the other side, Jane Seu, an ACLU of Nebraska attorney, said it will help protect democracy in Nebraska.

Whether you live in Hall County, Sarpy County, Lancaster County or Scotts Bluff County, your signature on a petition ought to have just as much power as a signature in some of our states least populated counties," she said. "Were proud of our progress in safeguarding Nebraskans rights to petition our government for change and we believe we are on track to earn a permanent victory in this case. The bottom line is that Nebraskans have equal rights to constitutional processes.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSpilger

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A day after the requirement for ballot initiatives to gather signatures from 5% of voters in 38 of Nebraska's 93 counties was deemed unconstitutional, a federal judge denied a motion to keep the requirement in place until an appeals court can take up the matter.

U.S. District Court John Gerrard denied the Nebraska Attorney General's request for a stay on a preliminary injunction against Secretary of State Bob Evnen on Tuesday, saying the state failed to meet the standard to grant one.

The ruling follows a 46-page decision on Monday, also from Gerrard, siding with Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, who asked for the court to stop Evnen from enforcing the multicounty requirement ahead of the July 7 deadline for submitting signatures.

Crista Eggers, a campaign coordinator for the ballot initiatives seeking to allow doctors to recommend cannabis to their patients, and providing patients access to cannabis, said the multicounty requirement diluted the voting power of individuals in the state's most populous counties.

That, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana and the ACLU of Nebraska argued, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

On Tuesday morning, the attorney general's office, which is representing Evnen as the state's chief election officer, asked Gerrard for a stay while an appeal of the decision can be decided by the Eighth Circuit Court. Later in the day, Gerrard denied it.

Solicitor General James Campbell, writing to the court in support of the motion to stay the preliminary injunction, said the attorney general's office believes it will succeed on the merits of the constitutional claims during the appeal.

"Just last year, a judge on this court granted a stay pending appeal even though it did not think that the appellants were likely to prevail," Campbell wrote.

Without an appeal, the state would be irreparably harmed by being prevented from performing its duty under the current law, the attorney generals office added, and Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana would not be harmed.

In the brief, the state says it is quite possible Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana will qualify for the 2022 ballot under the current multicounty requirement.

Eggers, in a phone interview Tuesday, said Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana is pleased with the injunction even as the campaign continues to gather signatures as if it would need to qualify 38 counties.

To date, the pair of petitions being circulated by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana have been signed by more than 100,000 registered voters in the state, Eggers said, and the campaign has qualified 22 counties with 23 days remaining before the deadline.

Yesterday was a big day for us, but we still have a long road ahead of us, Eggers said. We will continue to do what we have been doing.

Lincoln Sen. Anna Wishart, who is co-sponsoring the pair of petitions to legalize medical marijuana, said the campaign has built a large infrastructure of grassroots supporters across the state, and will continue to rely upon the efforts of its volunteers.

We do recognize the goal is we need to collect enough statewide to get across the finish line, and were focused on doing that, Wishart said.

Leaders of Voter ID petition say strategy unchanged

Another campaign will also continue its effort to pass the multicounty requirement that was amended into the state constitution in 1912.

Citizens for Voter ID, which is seeking to enact a constitutional amendment requiring voters to show a photographic identification before they cast their ballot, will continue on as planned, said co-sponsor state Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar.

Yesterdays ruling does not change our strategy, as were on track to exceed the threshold number of counties already, Slama said in a text message. Voter ID has the support of both rural and urban Nebraska, so weve had no trouble in achieving the county threshold.

Slama said Citizens for Voter ID, which needs roughly 124,000 signatures, would not disclose how many it has collected before the July 7 deadline for submitting them to Evnens office, however.

In recent weeks, circulators of the voter ID petition have been accused of misleading potential signers about its intent or telling voters they are employed by the state; Slama has dismissed the complaints as coming from Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue, the Democratic nominee for governor, and other liberal operatives who oppose the initiative.

Campbell, in his brief supporting a motion to stay the injunction ordered by Gerrard, said without the multicounty rules, as many as 16 total initiatives or referendum measures could be put before voters in November.

If those petitions qualify for the November ballot and the preliminary injunction is later overturned, those measures could be invalidated, Campbell wrote.

This harms not only initiative petitions but also the voters presented with initiatives that might be erased," he wrote. Asking Nebraskans to vote on a full slate of initiatives with a cloud of uncertainty surrounding them is not in the public interest. That undermines voter trust in the process.

Of the 13 remaining petitions (excluding the pair of medical marijuana petitions as well as the voter ID petition), at least two are defunct, including a previous medical marijuana petition sponsored by Wishart and Sen. Adam Morfeld, also of Lincoln.

Other petitions see mixed success

Bill Hawkins of the Nebraska Hemp Company said he had taken a step back from pushing a proposed constitutional amendment granting all persons the right to use all plants in the genus cannabis.

The proponent of full legalization said he agreed with the rule that petitions be signed by 5% of voters in two-fifths of Nebraskas counties, however, even if it makes it more difficult for grassroots campaigns to find support for their issue.

I believe central and western Nebraska count as much or more than urban Lincoln and Omaha, Hawkins said. We are a rural state. It needs some geographic distribution.

The people reserve the right to the petition, not just the people of Douglas, Sarpy and Lancaster, he added.

Other initiative and constitutional amendment petitions are also in circulation at events across the state, but its unlikely they will reach the signature threshold ahead of the deadline.

Robert Rhodes, of Elkhorn, the sponsor of an initiative to repeal Nebraskas motorcycle helmet laws, said the campaign wasnt doing very well, but is still alive, having been handed off to several motorcycle clubs to gather signatures.

A slew of proposed constitutional amendments from Michael Connely of York, including creating rights to so-called constitutional carry of firearms and eliminating the Nebraska Department of Education, have also been registered with the secretary of states office.

Connely did not return an email seeking comment.

On Tuesday afternoon, however, Gerrard denied the states motion to stay the injunction, writing in a three-page order Evnen's attorneys did not provide any additional arguments to change his mind.

"(T)he court finds nothing here to change its mind about its findings, yesterday, that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed and that any harm to the defendant and the public interest is outweighed by the harm to the plaintiffs," he wrote.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
This month marks a year of partnership between the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department and Lincoln Transportation and Utilities Department to help track the transmission of COVID-19 locally.

When the pandemic began more than two years ago, local agencies began tracking the number of cases through tests that took days to produce a result.

Testing is much faster today, and it also takes less time to track the transmission of the virus in communities thanks to wastewater testing.

The idea to use wastewater as an indicator of transmission of COVID-19 came from its use in tracking cases of viral diseases in prior years, such as the flu.

Lincoln's Wastewater Treatment Facility at 2400 Theresa St. has been using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing to help indicate where the community's risk dial will be for the following week.

PCR is a rapid test to detect genetic material from a specific organism, such as a virus.

As individuals with COVID-19 shed particles from the virus in their feces, these virus particles can be detected in the water.

Since June 2021, the wastewater treatment facility has been collecting 48 samples each day for testing.

Those samples, collected from a pipe at their Grit Collection Center, are taken into their lab for wastewater analysis. Smaller samples are placed in a bag, frozen and sent to Biobot Analytics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

While each sample costs $350 for analysis, the testing is funded through federal COVID-19 relief.

Within two to three days, results are sent back and the data is sent to the Health Department and LTU.

Though not 100% accurate, wastewater testing through Biobot is still proven to be quite a good correlation with our human testing results," said Scott Holmes, manager of the Health Department's environmental public health division.

The Health Department is able to examine the wastewater data alongside lab and hospitalization data to provide insight into transmission in Lincoln and Lancaster County. It's one of several parameters the Health Department uses to review the transmission of COVID-19, and is generally an early indicator of larger trends in the community.

What we have found over the past year of COVID-19 testing is that wastewater testing has somewhat preceded the changes in numbers in our human testing sites," said Todd Boling, superintendent of water resource recovery facilities for LTU.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7228 or emejia@journalstar.com

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Local, Nebraska Food at the Heart of Russs Market Stores

Russs Market is Real. Local. The grocery chain got its start in 1964 when Russ Raybould and Clayton Burnett acquired a small neighborhood grocery store at 17th and Washington Streets in south Lincoln, Nebraska. Almost 60 years later, the grocer has grown into a small chain of nine family-owned, stores, with each location a bit different to focus on the neighborhood it serves. Their commitment to being an active partner with each of the communities they service is what sets Russs Market apart from the slew of other, larger grocery corporations.

As a Nebraska-owned business, Russs Market places the utmost importance on supporting other businesses based throughout the state. The Lincoln grocery store chain proudly partners with local farmers and suppliers to provide customers with the best Nebraska has to offer. From sauces and salad dressings to poultry and produce, Russs Market is shortening the distance from the farm to your dinner table and simultaneously strengthening the local economy.

Take a trip to any one of the nine Russs Market locations and youll find that the aisles are stocked with products from a wide selection from Nebraska producers. You may even meet the grower that grew your food or the beekeeper that made your honey shopping in the aisles of your neighborhood Russs Market.

Learn more about a few of the local vendors and products available in Russs Market stores.

Featured Vendors

Valentinos

In 1957, Val and Zena Weiler transitioned their small fruit market into the now infamous Valentinos Italian restaurant. They took in $60 their first day, and as the restaurants reputation grew, patrons began to gather and watch through the window as the pizzas were made. They would stand in line for an hour or more to sample the pizza and pasta specialties created in the original restaurant. Since then, the beloved Lincoln-based pizza restaurant has expanded to 35 locations in 4 different states.

Valentinos success began with the wonderful family recipes that were passed on when the business changed hands in 1971. Specifically, their traditional Sicilian spaghetti sauce has been a staple of the world famous Valentinos Italian restaurants. This thick, slightly sweet Valentinos Own Spaghetti Sauce is steeped in tradition and is of the highest quality. Valentinos lovers can now find the pizza and homemade sauces theyve been savoring since 1957 in the aisles of Russs Market.

Glenn Valley Foods

Glenn Valley Foods is a family owned and operated meat producer located in Omaha, Nebraska. When owner and restaurant industry veteran, Gary Rohwer, recognized a need for quicker cooking, high quality steak for his Philly cheesesteak restaurant chain in Lincoln, he created a product that turned out to be incredible.

The meat producer might be best-recognized by its top-selling product, Garys QuickSteak. Awarded 2021 Best Local Product by Russs Market, Garys QuickSteak offers a variety of beef and chicken products that can be cooked from frozen in just minutes without sacrificing flavor or quality. You can find this product in the frozen meat aisle at your local Russs Market.

Daniels Produce

Fresh from their farm in Platte County, Daniels Produce has been delivering produce to retailers across the country for over 40 years. Over the years, the Daniels family has expanded their operation, but stayed small enough to continually maintain the quality of their product. At Daniels Produce, getting better at what they do will always come before getting bigger.

Today, the family owned and operated farm proudly raises over 600 acres of sweet corn, bell peppers, hot peppers, zucchini, eggplant and cabbage each year. Their bi-colored sweet corn is hand-picked, hydro-cooled to preserve the natural sugars, and then sold in the Russs Market stores in Nebraska.

The Village PieMaker

Judith Ogden Larsen learned to make pies from her grandmother at age 10. She eventually turned that hobby into a business when she began loading up her pickup truck and selling her handmade pies along Interstate 80. Many people stopped to buy them, and she regularly sold out of as many pies as her pickup would carry. Customers, grocery stores, and coffee shops began calling from all over the country to ask if she would send her pies to them, and The Village PieMaker was born.

The business rapidly grew out of the spare bedroom in her house and was soon moved into a quaint brick creamery in Eustis, Nebraska. Over the years, the business changed hands and continued to grow, but one thing never changedthe commitment and dedication to hand-make each pie with the best quality ingredients.

Today, Village PieMaker's delicious take and bake frozen fruit pies can be found nationwide in many of your favorite local grocery stores, including Russs Market. After all these years, they are still sharing happinessone slice at a time.

Mystic Rhoads Productions

In 2003, Mystic Rhoads Productions came to life through the efforts of two United States Peace Corps volunteers serving rural communities in Jamaica. Their love for the area and desire to see it flourish was the motivation behind the non-profits creation. Now based in Lincoln, Nebraska, Mystic Rhoads works to provide positive educational opportunities, healthy lifestyles, and an appreciation of the natural environment to the communities it serves.

Mystic Rhoads Productions is no ordinary charitable organization. They rely on donations, grants and community support, but also like to make things happen on their own. The founders created a line of Jamaican-inspired products that funnel profits back to charitable causes. These small batch, Nebraska-made sauce and seasonings feature authentic Jamaican spices combined with fiery habanero peppers for a taste unique from the endless rows of condiments at your local grocery.

Sales from the line of Jamaican-inspired spicy foods help support the cause and also won the organization the Nebraska Best Local Product award in 2019. Available at Russ's Market, when you buy, they give. 100%.

Stop by your local Russs Market to buy local products from your local grocer.
YORKVILLE  Flight For Life was required after a pickup truck crashed into a motorcycle on Highway 20 and Highway U on Saturday.

Joseph E. Ziegler, 31, from Cudahy, was charged with a felony count of intoxicated use of a vehicle causing great bodily harm in addition to misdemeanor counts of operating while intoxicated causing injury (as a first offense) and possession of a firearm while intoxicated.

According to a criminal complaint:

At 5:26 p.m. on Saturday, a deputy with the Racine County Sheriffs Office was sent to a truck vs. motorcycle accident where Highway 20 is intersected by Highway U (Raymond Avenue).

Upon arrival, the deputy spoke with a woman who was the passenger on the motorcycle. She was in severe pain in her left leg and hip, and she said that she couldnt move her leg.

She was transported to the hospital via Flight For Life due to the extent of her injuries. The driver of the motorcycle had a laceration on top of his head that was actively bleeding, a laceration to his right wrist/forearm, and was complaining of lip and jaw pain.

He said he was traveling eastbound on Highway 20 when a pickup truck pulled out from Highway U, where there is a stop sign just for Highway U while traffic on Highway 20 does not stop, and collided with him. The motorcycle was found around 50 feet from the road where it was traveling.

Deputies made contact with the driver of the truck, Ziegler, who at first said he was involved in the crash, saying he was turning and suddenly felt like he was going to puke. But later he said a different car hit the motorcycle and he just witnessed it.

His truck had visible damage to it which he said was from another accident in another county weeks ago. He did not have any documentation of said crash.

A search of the vehicle found a shotgun in the rear seat near the center console. The gun was not in a case and Ziegler said he had just come back from trap shooting. He performed a preliminary breath test that yielded a result of 0.214, more than 2 times the legal limit.

Ziegler was given a $1,000 cash bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Monday. A preliminary hearing is on June 22 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 1
RACINE  A Racine man allegedly fired a gun into the air to break up a water fight between children.

Now, Noel Talavera, 45, of the 1200 block of 11th Street, has been charged with misdemeanor counts of negligent handling of a weapon and disorderly conduct.

According to a criminal complaint:

On Saturday, officers were sent to the intersection of 11th and Pearl streets for reports of a shot fired.

Upon arrival, officers spoke with two witnesses who said that children were on the street having a water fight.

Talavera came out of his house, fired a single shot in the air, put the gun in his vehicle and then went back inside.

Officers then spoke with Talavera who appeared to be heavily intoxicated.

He said there was a large group of adults gathered at the opposite house on the corner and that they are always causing a disturbance. He said he then took out his gun, fired a single shot to scare them away, and returned his gun to his vehicle.

He said the group had done nothing to threaten or scare him; he just wanted to scare them.

Officers located a shotgun on the floor of Talaveras vehicle.

Talavera was given a $500 cash bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Monday. A status conference is on Aug. 29 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0
YORKVILLE  Two people died in a crash involving a tanker truck hauling corn starch and a semi-truck hauling plastic drain tile Tuesday morning on Highway 11 east of Union Grove.

Union Grove-Yorkville Fire Department Chief Tim Allen said the two drivers died. No other injuries were reported.

The crash sent black smoke billowing into the sky, visible from miles around.

We had two semis that collided, Allen said. Why they collided were not sure yet  We have no details on what the possible cause is.

The Racine County Sheriffs Office and Wisconsin State Patrol are investigating the cause of the crash.

Photos and video from the scene shows a semi-truck with a flatbed trailer completely engulfed and destroyed by flames in a farm field to the south side of Highway 11, with a tanker truck on its side about 100 feet away from the semi, also on the south side of the highway in front of a home.

Allen said his department received a call about the crash at 10:37 a.m. According to Allen, one vehicle was a dry goods tanker that was hauling corn starch, and the other was a semi hauling material that seemed to be large plastic drain tile.

Responding agencies to the crash included the Union Grove Fire Department, South Shore Fire Department, Racine County Sheriff, State Patrol, Racine County Highway Department, Department of Natural Resources and a towing company.

Allen said South Shore Fire Department workers identified the corn starch, some of which came off the truck because of the crash.

The Racine County Sheriffs Office is asking the public to please avoid the area. Highway 11 is expected to be shut down east of Union Grove and west of the interstate for an extended period of time, the Sheriffs Office said.

As of 2:10 p.m. Tuesday, roads near the scene of the crash were still closed. Allen did not give a timeline for when they will open.

Debris is still being picked up, and the fuel and oil that had leaked out of both vehicles still need to be cleaned up, Allen said.

Explosions heard

Marlane Billings lives in the area and said she heard several booms. After hearing those, Billings walked out of her home and said she saw solid black smoke billowing in the sky.

A short time later, Billings heard sirens from firetrucks and ambulances, and then it got quiet, she said.

Billings said she has lived in the area for over 30 years and didnt remember seeing anything similar to the crash before.

Brittany Grimm, who lives in the area, said in a message to a reporter that she heard one huge explosion, then seven or eight smaller ones at around 10:45 a.m.

Adam Rogan of The Journal Times contributed to this report.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 4 Sad 6 Angry 1

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
1. Yes. Roe was bad law and never should have been enacted. Last weeks ruling was just.

2. Yes. The court ruling correctly leaves the question of reproductive rights to the states.

3. No. Roe v. Wade was established law. The ruling will cause a womens health crisis.

4. No. The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was more about politics than the law.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether it was the right ruling; it depends on your perspective.

Vote

View Results
By Trend

Sweden has confirmed its readiness and is taking important steps to meet Turkiyes demands for approving Stockholms NATO membership application, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

After decades of military nonalignment, situation in Ukraine pushed Sweden and Finland to apply to join the Western defense alliance in May. But they have faced resistance from Turkiye, which has vetoed their entry into the alliance, citing their support to terrorist groups, including the PKK and its Syrian wing, the YPG.

Addressing a press conference alongside Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Stoltenberg said he was glad that the Swedish government has confirmed its readiness to address Turkiyes concerns as part of assuming the obligations of future NATO membership.

He suggested there has been progress in the spat, stressing that NATO was working hard and actively together with Stockholm and Ankara to resolve Turkeys concerns as soon as possible.

Stoltenberg said Sweden was showing compromise on two points.

I welcome that Sweden has already started to change its counter-terrorism legislation and that Sweden will ensure that the legal framework for arms export will reflect the future status as a NATO member with new commitments to allies, he said during a press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.

These are two important steps to address concerns that Turkey has raised.

While the two Nordic countries have said talks would continue to resolve the dispute, Ankara said it had not received any responses to its demands, including stopping support for groups Turkiye considers terrorists, lifting arms embargoes on Ankara and extraditing suspects it seeks.

Any bid to join NATO requires backing from each of its 30 members. Turkiye, which has been a NATO ally for over 70 years, has said it will not change its view unless the Nordic countries take concrete steps about its concerns.

For her part, Andersson said Sweden was taking Turkish concerns very seriously, not least the security concerns when it comes to the fight against terrorism.

She said Sweden had changed its terrorism laws in the last couple of years and was in the process of further tightening.

From July 1, we will also have even stronger legislation when it comes to the fight against terrorism. So here there are no questions about how strongly Sweden sees (on) terrorism and that we are willing to contribute to the fight against terrorism, Andersson said.
Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Variable clouds with thunderstorms, especially during the afternoon hours. High 97F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, with mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 74F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
The Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC) received eight foreign delegations from various countries, totalling around 200 delegates during the first quarter (Q1) of the year.



Such visits contributed in the growth of its international relations networks, the formation of new successful cooperative partnerships, and the exchange of experiences.



Dr Raja Easa Al Gurg, President of the Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC), stated that the council is a strategic link between womens business communities around the world and the representative of the Emirate of Dubai and its vital, diverse, and balanced business environment. She added that Dubai is considered a global model for empowering women in the workplace and strengthening their competitive roles in both the business and economic realms.



Al Gurg further highlighted that DBWC has had numerous strong international relations networks with many global marketplaces for over 20 years. Such relationships are used to form future partnerships as well as unlimited initiatives and programs.



Foreign delegations



The visiting delegates represented a diverse range of ethnicities and cultures, with the majority hailing from Turkey, France, Mexico, Estonia, Serbia, Canada, and Brazil.



Nezaket Emine Atasoy, President of the International Investment and Business Confederation (Uluskon), which consists of 18 Federations of Businesswomen and 24 Federations of Businessmen, was one of the most significant delegates. Uluskon is a non-governmental organization with representatives in all 81 cities of Turkey and in 100 countries all over the world. The business landscape in the UAE and Turkey as well as collaboration opportunities were discussed during the meeting.



DBWC received a delegation of Brazilian women from the "Virada Feminina" Foundation, a Brazilian organization dedicated to women's empowerment and community betterment, and an Estonian delegation representing the "AND" Foundation, which promotes and brings together women and entrepreneurs from many industries.



The Council also hosted a high-level Canadian tech delegation of businesswomen and entrepreneurs led by HE Marcy Grossman, Ambassador of Canada to the UAE. The visiting delegation included six Canadian companies specializing in modern and digital technologies and was headed by official women and entrepreneurs. The visiting delegates and the members of the DBWC discussed opportunities for joint cooperation and partnerships.



DBWC received a multi-sectoral delegation of more than 22 companies from Guadalajara, Mexico headed by HE Laura Romero, Vice President of International Business of the Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce from Mexico. The visit was part of their 7-day Study Mission to Dubai as their first approach to the market and learn about the business environment and opportunities for their companies. During the meeting, many futures and possible cooperation opportunities were discussed in the areas of entrepreneurship, women's empowerment and economic partnerships.



Another important delegation was the G100 Club whose main aim was to expand its network of relationships and provide enhanced policies and practices. During its visit to the DBWC, it discussed the good governance and best practices implemented in the city of Dubai.



The delegations visit was part of its 100 meetings and consultations with stakeholders in multilateral institutions such as the UN, EU, GCC as well as Corporates, Business Leaders, Universities and Civil Society. The delegation was headed by its Founder and President, Dr. Harbeen Arora and was attended by six other eminent global businesswomen who are all part of the club. The G100 Club has a huge empowered network of 250,000 women entrepreneurs across 150 countries, fostering community networks for policy recommendations, advocacy, influence and actions toward a gender-equal future in this decade.



Furthermore, as part of the its 6-day visit to Expo 2020, DBWC welcomed the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry delegation, led by Branislava Simani, Director of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Entrepreneurship Sector, and 5 other entrepreneur women who also sought possible cooperation and partnership opportunities.



Finally, the expertise of Dubai's entrepreneurs and business women was shared with EMBA delegates from France. The meeting was about the delegations interest in learning more about the work of the DBWC, and the Boards overall perspective on the progression of the business women landscape in Dubai.



All of these relationships and networks were employed to benefit Council members, increase their competitiveness in their respective industries, and open up extensive partnership prospects with other visiting delegations.  TradeArabia News Service
KEARNEY  Nobody can foretell the future, but Buffalo County officials are doing their best to shape it.

Zoning is an attempt to manage growth so it can be beneficial and you get the right kinds of growth in the right areas. Were definitely a growth county, said Scott Brady, chairman of the Buffalo County Zoning and Planning Commission.

A retiree Kearney, Brady is among the courthouse officials and outside consultants who have begun a 10-year revision of Buffalo Countys Comprehensive Plan. Its a road map that will help the county grow in an orderly and beneficial manner.

County residents have been invited to public meetings on June 22 to learn more about the planning process and offer comments.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN The Comprehensive Plan helps county officials review and allocate public resources, but it also has several other elements to guide growth in Buffalo County such as: 1) Planning goals and policies 2) Population, income, economic and housing profiles 3) Land use profiles and plans 4) Energy elements The Comprehensive Plan is prepared to direct future growth and development opportunities in Buffalo County, while preserving agricultural uses, said Zoning Administrator Dennise Daniels.

The June 22 meetings are planned in Elm Creek, Ravenna and Gibbon, and theyre a continuation of the Planning and Zoning Commissions efforts to learn what issues are on the minds of Buffalo Countys 50,000 residents.

As the number of rural homes and subdivisions continues to increase, the planners have reached out to school and village officials in rural Buffalo County. Brady said the growth in rural housing affects schools, emergency services, road maintenance and governmental budgets, so its important that the countys comprehensive plan acknowledges the evolving landscape.

Thats why the Zoning and Planning Commission invited all residents to answer a survey to aid the comprehensive plan revision.

Goals of the comprehensive plan, Brady said, are to account for rural residential growth, but identify areas that are favorable to agriculture as well as areas that are good for industrial development.

A growing number of people are moving to the countryside, said Brady, whose home is on a hillside about five miles northeast of Kearney. He said a number of factors attract people to rural homes, and the average cost on the building permits is more than $300,000. Those people arent going away when they spend that kind of money on their homes.

Buffalo Countys Comprehensive Plan is based on factors that include existing land use and what kinds of growth will be beneficial in the future. The plan will help elected leaders decide where to focus public resources to provide facilities and infrastructure to accommodate growth, Brady said.

Buffalo County Zoning Administrator Dennise Daniels has been working on the plan revision with Bradys commission and the consulting firm Hanna:Keelan Associates, P.C.

Hanna:Keelan specializes in helping Nebraska counties and communities prepare comprehensive plans, zoning regulations, housing studies and redevelopment plans. The firm also assists communities in building housing for income-eligible families and the elderly.

In the decade since the current comprehensive plan was revised, Buffalo Countys total population has grown from 46,102 to 50,084, according to the 2010 census.

Reflecting some of the countys population growth is the housing being built in the countys rural areas.

Daniels said in 2020 Buffalo County issued 23 residential building permits. That number grew to 33 in 2021.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN MEETINGS Zoning Administrator Dennise Daniels said officials are hoping to gather additional public comment for Buffalo Countys comprehensive plan during the June 22 meetings. The gatherings will be conducted in person and the public is welcome to attend. Meeting times and locations are: - 3 p.m., Elm Creek Village/Fire Hall, 535 W. Boyd St.. - 5 p.m., Ravenna City Auditorium, 112 W. Genoa St. - 7 p.m., Gibbon City Library Community Room, 116 La Barre St. Questions or comments regarding the Buffalo County comprehensive planning program can be directed to Daniels at 308-236-1998, or ddaniels@buffalocounty.ne.gov.

The addition of 25 to 35 homes per year may not seem like a lot, but over a decade the numbers begin having a more noticeable effect. Daniels said an important part of the comprehensive planning process has been surveying residents for their views on zoning, planning and development issues.

Citizens responses to the survey will be reviewed during the three public sessions on June 22 in Elm Creek, Ravenna and Gibbon. The survey was available online and in paper copies at the courthouse.

In addition to reviewing survey responses, the three sessions will be an opportunity for residents to share questions and comments about the comprehensive plan.

The survey identified the most critical issues among the local citizenry, including land development and preservation efforts that should be implemented during the next 10 years, Daniels said.
Chippewa Falls will host a lunch stop on the 2022 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty Drivers Club on Friday, June 24.

The Great Race, the worlds premiere old car rally, will bring 120 of the worlds finest antique automobiles to town, with the first car rolling onto Bridge Street starting at noon.

We are excited to bring this unique event to Chippewa Falls for the first time, race director Jeff Stumb said.

The 9-day, 2,300-mile adventure will travel to 19 cities in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota.

The event begins in Warwick, R.I., on June 18, and ends in Fargo, N.D., on June 26.

We are thrilled to be welcoming and providing our Midwest hospitality to hundreds of people and promoting the amazing community we have, Tourism Director at the Chippewa Falls Chamber, Jackie Boos said. We hope that we provide an experience while they are here that encourages a return to our community as a leisure trip down the line.

Teams and cars from Japan, England, Australia, Germany, Canada, and every corner of the United States will converge in Rhode Island in mid-June with vintage automobiles dating back as far as 1916.

We are excited to have created an event that will showcase our beautiful downtown and businesses while providing a great backdrop to our visitors, Executive Director of Chippewa Falls Main Street, Teri Ouimette said.

We have been doing amazing car shows for a handful of years and this will bring that exposure to the next level.

The local community is invited to line the streets downtown and take in the sites of this one-of-kind race on June 24th from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The closure for the event will be on Bridge Street from Spring Street to Grand Avenue.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Chaseburg will celebrate its centennial in the village park on Friday and Saturday.

The celebration, which is being organized by Friends of Chaseburg, kicks off Friday with a fish fry starting at 5 p.m. and ending when all of the food is served. In addition, there is registration and packet pickup for the 10th annual and final Kys 3.1 Run  Remembering Kylie  A 5K Scholarship Run/Walk at the Chaseburg Village Hall from 5 to 7 p.m.

Live music on Friday includes Juice Neck at 5:30 p.m. and Craig Olson Project at 8 p.m.

Saturdays festivities begin with Kys Run/Walk at 9 a.m.; day-of registration is from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m.

The Chaseburg Centennial Bags Tourney is also planned for Saturday. Signup starts at noon, and the bags fly at 1 p.m. The tournament will feature two-person teams; bring your own partner. There is a $10 per person entry fee. There is $1,000 purse.

A program will begin at 12:30 p.m. and feature a presentation of more than 100 photos, said Eric Ostrem, one of the centennial celebration organizers.

Thats going to be neat, Ostrem said. It will be put on a zip drive and will be for sale during the celebration. He said if the zip drives sell out, names will be taken and more will be ordered.

There will also be an open house at the old schoolhouse, 102 Swain St., from 1 to 4 p.m. The public is invited to view a piece of Chaseburgs history, then and now. People are welcome to share remembrances, photos and memorabilia from their school days. Light refreshments will be served in the yard, weather permitting.

If anyone has photos, school items or memories to display, they may contact Laura Johnson at lgjson@mwt.net, 608-792-6481 or Kathy Trussoni at kathytrussoni@gmail.com, 608-483-2144.

Saturdays live music includes Tom Conrad from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Moniker from 1 to 3 p.m., Ontourage from 4 to 6:30 p.m. and the Corey Wise Band at 7:30 p.m. Admission entry wristband for the music is $5.

Food trucks, refreshments and raffles will be on the grounds all day. Fireworks will launch at dusk. Absolutely no pets or carry-ins allowed.

We want to celebrate Chaseburg and its incorporation as a village 100 year ago, and the fact we are still here, Ostrem said.

A bit of history

According to the book, History of Vernon County, Wisconsin, 1884, Chaseburg is located on section 28, on the east side of Coon river.

It was laid out and platted by George Swain and George Lyttle on June 4, 1866, and was named in honor of Henry Chase, who had been instrumental in founding the village. The original plat comprised twelve blocks or squares, and the first dwelling home was erected by George Swain.

History of Vernon County notes: The first saw mill was built and put in running order by Henry Chase, in 1862.

Mr. Chase and George Little [sic] erected the first flouring mill, in 1863.

The first store was opened, in 1863, by Hon. J.W. Hoyt, and he now enjoys the largest trade in the village. Joseph W. Hoyt is also postmaster of Chaseburg, and owns 190 acres of land in this town. He was chairman of the board of Hamburg town for five years, also chairman of the county board for two years. In 1870-71, he represented the county of Vernon in the State Legislature

History of Vernon County, Wisconsin also notes: A prominent man of this village was Henry Chase, who came from Vermont in 1862, and after a short stay in Dane county, came to this place, and was instrumental in building up the village which bears his name. He was elected a member of the State Assembly in 1868. He, in company with George A. Lyttle, owned the Coon River Mills at this point. Mr. Chase died in March 1872, leaving a wife and three children. After his death, Mr. Lyttle took Mr. Chases interest in the mill.

Chaseburg was officially incorporated in 1922. According to the Vernon County Censor dated June 14, 1922, The matter of incorporation of the Village of Chaseburg was heard before the court today, and a court order signed legalizing the move providing that the action is ratified by the vote of the people of the village. No one appeared in opposition.

Village firsts

History of Vernon County, Wisconsin notes the following firsts in the village:

The first sermon was preached in 1863 by the Rev. H.A. Stub in Henry Chases house.

The first blacksmith shop was built in 1864 by Mr. Cogswell.

The first school was taught in the village schoolhouse by Miss Spence in 1865.

The first birth was Nellie, the daughter of George Swain and his wife.

The first hotel was built by George W. Swain.

The first shoemaker was Mathias Peterson.

The first physician was Dr. Rusk.

Angela Cina can be reached at angie.cina@lee.net.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Soldiers with the 1st Brigade Support Battalion, 291st Infantry Regiment (1-291) assembled near Sparta on May 26 to support the start of their units commitment to support Wisconsin Department of Transportations Adopt-A-Highway Program.

The Fort McCoy-based unit, which is part of the 181st Multi-Functional Training Brigade, adopted a 2.3-mile segment of Highway 21 near Sparta.

While out cleaning their section of highway, the soldiers watched as a sign was placed alongside the highway.

Command Sgt. Maj. Latisha Turner, the battalions command sergeant major, said supporting the program is a great teamwork initiative for the 1-291.

Serving the local community is something that we take pride in, Turner said. Our Soldiers are able to use their time towards making a positive impact in the local area. Efforts like this also boosts unit morale and team-building, which is important to us.

The Adopt-A-Highway Program is meant for organizations to take ownership of their local highways in order to keep the community clean and beautiful, Turner said.

The 1-291 Commander Lt. Col. Kevin Mercer also said that the units intent behind adopting the highway is clearly to give back to the local community. The battalion will clean the highway section three times a year.

Wisconsins Department of Transportations Adopt-A-Highway Program is the official coordination system for the generous volunteer efforts to remove trash, recyclables, and litter from Wisconsins roadsides, states the program description at https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/doing-bus/real-estate/roadsides/adopt-hwy/default.aspx.

There are roughly 11,800 miles of state, federal and interstate highways in Wisconsin, and a large portion of the roadside areas are kept beautiful by Adopt-a-Highway volunteers., the website states.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching ftmccoy, and on Twitter by searching usagmccoy.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Some members of the La Crosse community are asking Mayor Mitch Reynolds to veto the recent ban on conversion therapy approved by the La Crosse Common Council last week.

The group, led by former Common Council members Tom Sweeney and Lorraine Decker, sent a veto request to Reynolds on Monday, saying the conversion therapy ban "would outlaw La Crosse parents and legal guardians from choosing how to counsel their own children in personal private matters regarding sexuality."

The coalition is also hosting a rally Tuesday afternoon outside of City Hall to further communicate their request that the ban be vetoed. Reynolds has until 5 p.m. Tuesday to veto the ordinance.

The veto request says the ban is in violation of the rights to freedom of religion, freedom of speech and the freedom to assemble and associate amongst persons outlined in the United States Constitution.

"We believe this ordinance makes illegal constitutionally protected functions of religious entities and the practices of other counselors and therapists," the letter reads. "It essentially targets persons for their ideology and personal beliefs, and would certainly be challenged in court at the expense of La Crosse taxpayers."

The current ordinance, passed in a 6-4 vote, bans conversion therapy, a practice that attempts to change a persons sexual orientation or gender identity.

The purpose of the ban, according to the ordinance, is to protect people in La Crosse, "especially the physical and psychological well-being of minors, including non-binary, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, and to protect them against the exposure to serious harms caused by conversion therapy.

As the ban was being considered by La Crosse officials, many people spoke out in support of and in opposition of the ban.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds said he will uphold the citys recently passed ban on conversion therapy in response to requests from a local coalition group to veto the ordinance.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Reynolds said a veto of the legislation was not a consideration. A highly debated practice, conversion therapy often impacts LGBTQ youth by aiming to change a persons sexual orientation or gender identity.

The coalition, led by former Common Council members Tom Sweeney and Lorraine Decker, rallied Tuesday afternoon outside of City Hall to further communicate their request. More than 25 people attended from various religious and community groups.

With the veto request denied, the group said they will now focus on getting a current council member who voted to ban conversion therapy to reconsider, with the hope that the legislation could be brought before the council again in the future.

We will continue to work to rectify this egregious ordinance by the La Crosse city government. The six council members and mayor are grossly out of touch with the heart and soul of La Crosse, reads a statement released by the coalition group Wednesday.

Sweeney said the group has not yet identified specific council members who would potentially vote against a ban.

The coalition said the ban violated the freedom of speech and religion outlined in the United States Constitution. A ban on conversion therapy prevents parents or advisors from counseling minors in most instances, according to Shannon McKinney, a coalition organizer.

The city of La Crosse is trying to create an authority where they can go into private conversations and tell people what they can and cant say, she said.

Conversion therapy has been discredited by major medical and psychological groups around the world, with studies and evidence showing the practice operates under the falsehood that a persons sexual orientation or gender identity can be changed.

Some people in attendance at the rally said they disagreed with these findings, saying they wanted to preserve the ability to freely counsel people on their sexuality and gender identity.

That is a fallacy. Its really from my perspective a total lie and something that certain people want to say to push their agenda, said Ty Cooper, senior pastor at Crossway Church in La Crosse, which is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention.

McKinney said the group also desired more consideration and conversation about the ban from the council and mayor before passing the legislation.

With more time to consider the ban before it was passed, additional information may have come forward that may have swayed the councils decision, she said.

I think theres a huge lack of interaction between the public and the council members when theyre going to pass a law where literally people are going to be cited, McKinney said.

La Crosse is the 14th city in Wisconsin to ban conversion therapy. The ban has gained the support of the School District of La Crosse, the YWCA of La Crosse, health professionals and other community members, according to previous reporting from the La Crosse Tribune.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  The leaders of seven NATO nations from across Europe pledged their support Tuesday for Sweden and Finland's bids to join the alliance and for providing more heavy weapons to help Ukraine battle Russia.

The support was voiced after an informal gathering at Dutch Prime Minister Mark Ruttes official residence in The Hague co-hosted by his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen. The other leaders attending were Romanias president and the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland, Portugal and Latvia.

My message on Swedish and Finnish membership is that I strongly welcome that," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who also attended. Its an historic decision. It will strengthen them, it will strengthen us.

But he said the alliance also has to take seriously concerns raised by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has vetoed membership for the two countries until they change their policies on supporting Kurdish militants deemed by Ankara to be terrorists.

"There is no other NATO ally that has suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkey, Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg said Monday that he was glad the Swedish government had confirmed its readiness to address Turkeys concerns as part of assuming the obligations of future NATO membership.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, meanwhile, criticized the support so far for Ukraine, which has time and again called for more and heavier weapons.

We have not done enough defend Ukraine, to support Ukrainian people to defend their freedom and sovereignty. And this is why I urge you, I asked you to do much more to deliver weapon, artillery to Ukraine, Morawiecki said.

Where is our credibility if Ukraine fails? Can we imagine that Ukraine fails and we revert back to business as usual? I hope not, he added.

The meeting came ahead of a June 29-30 NATO summit in Madrid that will seek to set a tough course for the alliance in coming years.

Stoltenberg said the alliance has beefed up its defenses following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, reinforcing our ability to protect and defend every inch of NATO allied territory.

He said that in Madrid, we will take the next steps and agree a major strengthening of our posture. Tonight we discussed the need for more robust and combat ready forward presence, even higher readiness and more pre-positioned equipment and supplies.

He also said that "Ukraine should have more heavy weapons, and NATO allies and partners have provided the heavy weapons now for actually a long time. But they are also stepping up.

The meeting followed a gathering Friday in Bucharest of nine NATO nations on the alliances eastern flank where some leaders urged NATO to step up protection in light of Russias protracted war against Ukraine.

We need to make sure that NATO is able and prepared to respond effectively and calibrated to the threats it faces, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told reporters after Fridays meeting. The alliance needs to be able to defend every inch of its territory.

Three NATO members  Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey  border the Black Sea, which has turned into a key battleground in the war in Ukraine.

Associated Press writers Jari Tanner in Helsinki, and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.

Follow APs coverage of the Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Poland has replaced a controversial body that disciplined judges with a new accountability panel  the latest twist in a long-running dispute with the European Union over the country's judicial independence  and Poland's leading politician said Tuesday he hoped the EU would have a proper reaction to the move.

The EU has frozen billions of euros of pandemic funds for Poland over criticism of its rule of law record.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski insisted that Poland has met the EU's demands for changes to the regulations on the judiciary.

I hope the reaction will be proper and in line with the (EU) treaties, Kaczynski said, reiterating his long-term view that EU bodies have been violating the bloc's treaties in their approach to Poland.

President Andrzej Duda signed the changes to the disciplinary regulations into law late Monday.

Kaczynski, the main leader of the ruling party, also said the war in Ukraine, Polands neighbour, has recently changed the EUs approach to the government in Warsaw for better and there are some elements of goodwill to be seen. Poland is supporting Ukraine's struggle against the Russian invasion and has taken in millions of Ukrainian refugees.

However, the changes signed by Duda are largely seen as superficial and continuing political control over judges, which is a major sticking point between Warsaw and Brussels.

The EUs chief executive, Ursula von der Leyen, has warned that no money will be disbursed if Poland fails to reach the milestones in granting judicial independence: abolishing the disciplinary chamber, rewriting its rules and allowing judges sanctioned or suspended by the chamber to have their cases reviewed.

The changes authored by Duda remove the Supreme Courts Disciplinary Chamber, which has been used to sanction outspoken judges. It will be replaced by a new accountability body appointed by the president.

Only one of the many judges disciplined for being critical of the government's actions has been reinstated, but was appointed to a different section of the court and sent on leave.

Von der Leyen has faced criticism last week from centrist lawmakers in the European Parliament after the European Commission, the EU's executive body. conditionally accepted Poland's pandemic recovery plan, opening the possibility of disbursement of funds totaling about 36 billion euros ($39 billion). The lawmakers argued the decision was premature, as Poland has failed to address EU's conditions.

The Disciplinary Chamber has cost Poland dearly. The European Court of Justice fined Poland a record 1 million euros per day for failing to dismantle it.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Law enforcement in Winona County found a missing 11-year-old unharmed after an early Tuesday morning search in Wilson Township.

According to the Winona County Sheriffs Office, police were alerted to the missing youngster and summoned multiple law enforcement resources, including Winona County Emergency Management, Wilson Fire Department and First Responders, Minnesota State Patrol and a city of Winona Police Department K9 unit. Drones were also deployed.

Forty people were involved in the search, which included several volunteers.

Winona County Chief Sheriffs Deputy Jeff Mueller said the search team found the child safe and unharmed in the area near Interstate 90 and Hwy. 43 around 12:30 a.m. The child was then reunited with loved ones.

Mueller said its possible the child wouldnt have been found without the intensive search.

It was a good effort by everybody, Mueller said.

La Crosse Tribune reporter Steve Rundio can be reached at steve.rundio@lee.net.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
HealthTech Training Centre a subsidiary of Response Plus Holding PJSC, one of the leading healthcare service providers in the UAE, has signed an MoU with the Asia School of Business (ASB).

This collaboration is an important step for the healthcare industry, as, for the first time, it will allow the exchange of knowledge and expertise between two highly prestigious institutions.

The official signing ceremony of the MoU held at the RPM HQ, and Major Tom Louis, CEO of Response Plus Holding PJSC, and Professor Charles H Fine, the founding President, CEO and Dean of ASB, exchanging signatures and documents.

Exchanging knowledge

The MoU aims to create a collaboration between the two entities for the exchange of knowledge and expertise, in an effort to enhance the healthcare industry, and beyond. The agreement defines the scope and obligations for both parties, which will include maintaining a dialogue with each other to facilitate the implementation of the MoU, conduct monthly work group meetings, and collaborate on organising conferences and events to fulfil the larger objectives of both parties.

This MoU is highly significant because this is the first collaboration of its kind for ASB, established in collaboration with MIT Sloan School of Management and Bank Negara Malaysia, with a Middle East-based entity. Major Tom Louis, CEO of Response Plus Holding, said, With this MoU, RPM is strengthening its position as a global player, and showing the world that we will go above and beyond to enhance and improve the industry in which we operate.

"ASB is honoured to partner with HealthTech and the RPM group to share our knowledge and insights on professional talent development with regards to the Asian Business context. This partnership is the first we have in the region, and we are hopeful that it will grow to become one of high value for all involved," said Professor Charles Fine.-- TradeArabia News Service
After surgery, some cancer patients can safely avoid treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy, say two recent studies that explore shorter, gentler cancer care.

Researchers are looking for ways to predict which cancer patients can avoid unneeded treatment to cut down on costs and bad side effects.

One new study used a blood test to study which colon cancer patients could skip, or not have, chemotherapy after surgery. Another study suggests some low-risk breast cancer patients might not need radiation after the surgical removal of a mass or lump, a surgery known as a lumpectomy.

The research was discussed recently at the yearly meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The colon cancer study, financed by the Australian and U.S. governments and nonprofit groups, was recently published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

The findings let doctors pay careful attention to the patients we think would truly benefit from chemotherapy and avoid the side effects for patients for whom its likely unnecessary, said Dr. Stacey Cohen of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Cohen reviewed the colon cancer findings and was not involved in the research.

Colon cancer study

Many colon cancer patients are given chemotherapy after surgery, even though they may be cured. The drugs can come with bad side effects such as nausea, anemia and memory problems.

But deciding which patients might not need further treatment has been difficult. So, the scientists studied whether a blood test could help doctors make the decision.

The study involved 455 patients who had surgery because cancer had spread into the colon wall. After surgery, one group received a blood test specially made for the tumors genetic information to find any remaining bits of cancer DNA.

Their care was guided by the blood test. If the test showed no signs of remaining cancer, the patients did not get chemotherapy. Meanwhile, doctors made chemotherapy decisions for the rest of the patients in the usual way, guided by careful study of the tumor and nearby tissue.

Fewer patients in the blood test group got chemotherapy  15 percent in comparison to 28 percent. But about 93 percent of both groups were still free of cancer after two years. In other words, the blood test group did equally well with less chemotherapy.

Dr. Jeanne Tie of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center in Melbourne, Australia, led the research. Tie described the findings in terms of cancer relapse - the return of a cancer after a period of improvement.

In patients where cancer DNA is not detected after surgery, the chance of cancer relapse is very low, suggesting that chemotherapy is very unlikely to benefit these patients, Tie said.

ASCO president Dr. Everett Vokes said that not having chemo makes a big difference in a persons quality of life if that can be done without having to put them at risk of the disease coming back.

Breast cancer

The other study followed 500 older women with a common form of early-stage breast cancer and low levels of a protein known as Ki67, a marker for fast-growing cancer.

After surgery, the women took hormone-blocking pills, a common treatment for this type of cancer. But the women did not get radiation treatment.

After five years, 10 of the women saw cancer return in the same breast, and there was one breast cancer death. The study had no comparison group, but researchers said the results compare well to historical data for similar patients who had radiation.

Dr. Timothy Whelan of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, led the study.

We estimate the benefits of radiation would be very small in this population compared to the side effects, Whelan said.

Radiation can cause skin problems, tiredness and, less commonly, long-term heart problems and second cancers.

Dr. Deborah Axelrod of NYU Langone Health was not involved in the research.

Axelrod described the study as a feel-good message for patients with low-risk tumors. Axelrod added that the data will help doctors understand which of their patients they can comfortably, with confidence not give radiation to.

Im John Russell.

Carla K. Johnson reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.

Studies: Some Cancer Patients May Not Need Treatments after Surgery Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

___________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

chemotherapy  n. medical: the use of chemicals to treat or control a disease (such as cancer)

benefitv. to be useful or helpful to (someone or something)

nausea  n. the feeling you have in your stomach when you think you are going to vomit

anemia  n. medical: a condition in which a person has fewer red blood cells than normal and feels very weak and tired

tumor  n. a mass of tissue found in or on the body that is made up of abnormal cells

hormone  n. a natural substance that is produced in the body and that influences the way the body grows or develops

detect -- v. to discover or notice the presence of (something that is hidden or hard to see, hear, taste, etc.)
They were not soldiers. But a 15-year-old Ukrainian boy and his father from a village outside of Kyiv won praise for their work to help the military.

In the early days of Russias invasion of Ukraine, Andriy Pokrasa and his father, Stanislav, used a drone to take photos of a long line of Russian tanks moving to Kyiv.

The father and son then sent the photos and the location of the tanks to Ukraines army. Within minutes, they told the Associated Press, Ukrainian artillery shells hit and destroyed the invading forces.

They said during the week of February 24, they repeatedly sent the drone up to take photos and send information to the Ukrainian military. Stanislav said he knows how to fly the drone, but Andriy is the better pilot. They knew they could have been captured or killed if Russian soldiers found out.

These were some of the scariest moments of my life, Andriy said.

The Pokrasas did not know how many targets were hit based on their information. But the father said, There were more than 20 Russian military vehicles destroyed, among them fuel trucks and tanks.

As the battle for control outside of Kyiv increased, Ukrainian soldiers urged the Pokrasa family to leave their village, which Russian troops eventually occupied.

Stanislav, like all adult men under 60, had to stay in Ukraine. Andriy left the country with his mother to finish school in Poland. But now they are back as the fighting is centered in Ukraines east.

I was happy that we destroyed someone, Andriy said. I was happy that I contributed, that I was able to do something. Not sitting and waiting.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press.

Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page.

Words in This Story

drone n. a small type of aircraft that can fly without a pilot

scary adj. causing fear

contribute v. to help with something
American health officials said Sunday that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine appears to be safe and effective for children under 5. Children under 5 is the only group not yet able to be vaccinated for the coronavirus in the United States.

The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, shared its findings of the Pfizer shot ahead of a meeting this coming Wednesday. There, outside experts will vote on whether the shots are ready for the nations 18 million babies and young children.

Late last week, the FDA published a similar study of Modernas shots for children under 6. If health officials approve the shots by one or both companies, vaccinations could begin as soon as next week.

Some parents have been pressing U.S. officials for months for the chance to protect their smallest children. The pressure has increased as fewer adults are now wearing face coverings or following other public health measures.

In the U.S., only about 3 percent of COVID cases are in the age group of 6 months to 4 years. But the FDA found hospitalization and death rates in that group are higher than those for older children.

The FDA said children who received Pfizers shots during testing developed high levels of virus-fighting antibodies expected to protect them against the coronavirus. But additional testing showed important differences, with stronger results for Pfizer.

Pfizers vaccine is given as a three-shot treatment. It appeared 80 percent effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, although that was based on just 10 cases found among study participants. The number could change as Pfizers study continues.

Modernas two-shot treatment was only about 40 percent to 50 percent effective at preventing milder infections. But the two companies' shots were tested at different times during the pandemic, when different variants were spreading. Moderna has begun testing a third shot for young children.

On Wednesday, the FDA will ask an independent group of vaccine experts to debate both companies data before voting. The FDA is not required to follow the groups recommendations. But the process is seen as an important step in judging the vaccines.

The FDA is expected to make its official decision shortly after Wednesdays all-day meeting. The next step: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends how to use vaccines, will have its own group of experts to debate which children need vaccinations.

It is not clear how much demand there will be for the shots. A recent study suggests only 1 in 5 parents of young children would get their kids vaccinated right away. And less than a third of those ages 6 to 11 have gotten the two recommended shots, official data says.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech plan to offer two shots three weeks apart. That would be followed by a third at least two months later. The childrens dose is one-tenth the amount given to adults. Pfizer is currently the only company with an approved COVID-19 vaccine for older U.S. children.

Moderna is seeking FDA approval for two shots, each one-fourth of its adult dose. They are given about four weeks apart.

The FDA currently only permits Modernas vaccine for use in adults. But some countries permit full-size doses for teenagers and half-size shots for kids ages 6 to 11. That is a step the FDA also is considering.

More than 30,000 U.S. children younger than 5 have been hospitalized with COVID-19. There have also been nearly 500 coronavirus deaths in that age group, U.S. health officials say.

I'm Dan Novak.

Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting from The Associated Press.

___________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

symptomatic  adj. relating to or showing symptoms of a disease

participant  n. a person who is involved in an activity or event : a person who participates in an activity or event

mild  adj. gentle in nature or behavior

recommend  v. to suggest that someone do something

dose  n. the amount of a medicine, drug, or vitamin that is taken at one time

teenager  n. someone who is between 13 and 19 years old
OVERTON  A westbound lane of I-80 east of Overton was closed for around two hours as the result of one semi sideswiping another on the shoulder during the morning of Sunday, June 12.

The incident took place around 10:40 a.m., a semi-trailer with a flat tire had parked on the shoulder, with caution triangles posted near mile marker 252, east of Overton, according to Nebraska State Patrol Public Relations Director Cody Thomas

The parked semi was then struck by a passing semi, ripping open the trailers and causing debris to be strewn all over the roadway, Thomas said.

Both westbound lanes were closed for 30 minutes until one lane could be cleaned up enough to be re-opened.

Motorists reported being stuck in stopped or slow moving traffic for 30 to 40 minutes, stretching all the way back to the Odessa exit.

The other lane was re-opened after around two hours, Thomas said.

The driver of the second semi was cited for several violations, including careless driving, using an electronic device in a commercial motor vehicle, driving while suspended, failure to maintain lane, and no CDL. There were no injuries, said Thomas.

The Nebraska State Patrol was assisted on scene by the Dawson County Sheriffs Office and the Nebraska Department of Transportation.
FARNAM  Residents have a chance to purchase raffle tickets that will benefit a volunteer fire department of their choice, the main prize is a 2022 Polaris Ranger.

The raffle is being hosted by First State Bank and Community Bank in partnership with the Farnam Economic Development Corporation.

Karen Widick, with First State Bank in Farnam, said raffle tickets cost $10 and the proceeds will go to benefit a volunteer fire department of the buyers choice.

The main prize to win is a 2022 Polaris Ranger SP570 North Star edition, featuring a crew cab; it produces 44 horsepower, has a box capacity of 500 pounds and has a 9.5 gallon fuel tank. There will be other prizes chosen by the bank this summer.

Tickets can be purchased at First State Bank and Community Bank locations in Farnam, Holbrook, Cambridge, Alma and Stamford.

The raffle drawing will be held on Friday, Oct. 14.

Bank employees are also traveling to different community events throughout the summer with tickets. They sold 250 tickets at the Holbrook Lions Sale on June 4 and 20 different fire departments were chosen by buyers.

Employees stopped by Wurst Tag in Eustis and the Stamford Fire and Rescue Bull Fry on June 11. Follow the First State Banks Facebook page to learn which area events they will be at.

Tickets can also be purchased from the Clipper-Heralds Pat Tysdal, she can be reached at 308-217-7035.

Widick said the bank wanted to do something to honor the volunteer fire departments for all the work they do, especially noting their efforts this past April.

During the afternoon of April 7, a wildfire burned around 35,000 acres in Gosper and Furnas counties. Over 40 area fire departments responded to the fire in the multi-day effort to contain it.

While responding to the fire, Elwood Volunteer Fire Chief Darren Krull was killed and Phelps County Emergency Manager Justin Norris was critically injured in a collision between their vehicle and a water truck on U.S. Highway 283 about eight miles north of Arapahoe.

During the response, a Farnam fire unit rolled due to a hole in the ground, firefighter Travis Metzler sustained several broken bones which required multiple surgeries.

Fifteen days after the April 7 wildfire, another wildfire broke out that forced the evacuation of several southwestern communities and burned over 40,000 acres.

Cambridge, Bartley, Indianola and Wilsonville, communities in Furnas and Red Willow counties, were given evacuation orders Friday evening after a fire began to spread north and eventually west as strong winds gusting over 70 mph fueled the flames.

A retired Cambridge fire chief was killed as a result of the fire.

John P. Trumble, 66, Arapahoe, was overcome by smoke and fire after his vehicle left the road Friday because of poor visibility from smoke and dust.

At least 15 firefighters have been injured battling the blazes, including five who were hurt in the fire that killed Trumble.

The fire had burned more than 78 square miles in Red Willow, Furnas and Frontier counties.

Widick said the fires in April brought attention to the work the volunteer fire fighters perform and First State Bank wanted to find a way to thank and support the volunteers.

Every Nebraska resident can rest easy knowing that, despite the tragedies of this fire, next time the pager goes off, our volunteers will stop what they are doing, put their personal lives on hold and answer the call, the Shelton Fire Department wrote.
Saudi Arabia has provided lessons for the whole world in dealing with pandemics with its prompt measures during the Covid-19 crisis, said the Kingdom's Health Minister.

Commenting on the decision to lift all covid preventive measures, Fahd Al-Jalajel said the main message was its people first policy that was evident when King Salman directed to provide free treatment for all Covid patients without differentiating between citizens, residents, or illegal migrants.

Al-Jalajel stressed that the high rates of vaccination, which exceeded 95% of the total population, contributed to reducing the number of infections by 87% and critical cases by 96%.

At a time when several countries witnessed the third wave, the Kingdom had overcome this wave without any effective economic repercussions or the closure of vital activities, he said.

Al-Jalajel indicated that reaching this stage, including the decision to lift all precautionary measures, despite the continuation of the pandemic globally, demonstrates the experience of the Saudi health sector in dealing with global emergencies, hailing the cooperation between government and private healthcare providers. - TradeArabia News Service
Taqa Arabia, the leader in utility and energy distribution in Egypt, and Kyndryl, the world's largest IT infrastructure services provider, have teamed up to better serve the energy needs of more than 1.7 million customers across Egypt.

Kyndryl will now provide Taqa Arabia with cloud hosting and cloud managed application services for its enterprise resource planning (ERP) environment, SAP S/4HANA.

Through its four main platforms and different subsidiary companies, Taqa Arabia delivers more than 7.3 billion cubic metres of natural gas and more than 1350 megawatt of electrical capacities and serves customers across Egypt through a network of 110 retail oil and compressed natural gas (CNG) stations.

Pivotal role

SAP S/4HANA plays a pivotal role in enabling these operations, including support for plant maintenance activities, production planning, project management and sales and distribution in addition to company-wide human resources and financial accounting.

Due to the mission-critical nature of these workloads, Taqa began its work with Kyndryl in 2017 to help ensure secure, uninterrupted operations and real-time business intelligence from its SAP S/4HANA software environment.

As part of this latest renewal of work, Taqa Arabia will rely on Kyndryl, an SAP partner, to host its data-intensive SAP solutions on a hyperscale cloud infrastructure to help ensure high levels of security and availability, enhanced application performance and the flexibility to meet evolving business needs.

Emerging technologies

With Kyndryl hosting its ERP environment in the cloud, Taqa Arabia has the option of integrating emerging technologies, such as AI and Internet of Things (IoT), at any time.

Through its unmatched skills and global resources, Kyndryl also provides Taqa Arabia with end-to-end management of its SAP software environment in the cloud and round-the-clock support to address data backup, recovery, security, performance and more.

Consequently, the companys employees are freed up to focus on more strategic initiatives and deliver more value to customers.

Long-term goals

Trust is fundamental to initiate and maintain relationships. Over the years, the Kyndryl team has proved to us that they are an extended part of the Taqa Arabia family, with our success at the forefront of everything that they do for us, said Hazem El Gaishy, Taqa Arabias Chief Information Officer. We are pleased to renew our collaboration with Kyndryl to drive forward our longer-term transformation goals.

As Taqa Arabia continues to evolve its business, were working hand in hand to support its digital transformation strategy and help the company better serve the needs of its customers, said Mahmoud Badawi, Managing Director of Kyndryl Egypt. Together, we have overcome challenges and celebrated many milestones over the years, and we are proud to continue our strong collaboration as we build on the progress achieved together thus far.

Taqa Arabia chose to continue it collaboration with Kyndryl because of its expertise in applications, data and AI. Kyndryl has deep experience in helping companies as they adopt and deploy adaptive digital tools to modernise and power their operations.

Additionally, Kyndryl is SAP certificated in cloud and infrastructure operations that further strengthens its capabilities and portfolio. Today Kyndryl manages hundreds of businesses that use SAP solutions on various public cloud platforms as well as on premise.-- TradeArabia News Service
Russell M. Gold (University of Alabama School of Law) has posted Volunteer Prosecutors (American Criminal Law Review, Vol. 59, 2022) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

As support has grown to reduce the footprint of criminal law by defunding the police, volunteer prosecutiona practice that has garnered little attentioncontinues to expand criminal laws footprint. Volunteer prosecutors come in many different forms, but their core similarity is that they all prosecute crime without getting paid. Some are entry-level lawyers seeking to gain a foothold in the legal profession, while others are retirees seeking to contribute to their communities. Others work full-time paid jobs in civil practice but volunteer to prosecute some criminal cases too. Many volunteers bring only misdemeanors or petty offensesprosecutions that disproportionately burden people of color. The racial disparity of those prosecutions prompted a large Minnesota law firm to cancel its volunteer prosecutor program after police killed George Floyd.

This Article provides the first scholarly treatment of volunteer prosecutors. It aims to understand the nature and motivations of this practice by conducting a content analysis of news stories and interviewing law school career services employees. It then examines those findings through the theoretical lens of the sociology of volunteer work. It relies on these sources to build a taxonomy of the various forms of volunteer prosecution and catalog some places where it occurs.

Volunteer prosecution may offer substantial benefits, particularly to recent law school graduates trying to gain paid work as prosecutors in an office that does not have an opening. But volunteer prosecution raises systemic normative concerns. This Article focuses on one particularly salient concern: volunteer prosecution allows the government to cast a wider net in criminal law than the one that the legislature afforded. That net disproportionately ensnares people of color. Stepping back a bit, the most meaningful constraint on prosecutors authority is their limited budgets, but volunteer prosecution allows prosecutors offices to evade budget constraints and bring low-level misdemeanor or petty offense cases even when elected officials have not appropriated sufficient funds to bring those cases. Low-level prosecutions disproportionately target poor people of color. Compounding the net-widening problem, volunteer prosecution may skew toward individuals with intergenerational wealtha group that will be less able to identify with and therefore likely will treat more harshly the largely poor defendants who disproportionately populate our criminal legal systems.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  An Israeli legislator came under fire on Tuesday for saying that if he could push a button to make all Palestinians disappear, he would.

Deputy Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana made the remarks to high school students in a West Bank settlement. In his comments, which were caught on video, he was explaining his view that clashing narratives between Israelis and Palestinians were a major obstacle to peace. He appeared to be making the point that Israelis and Palestinians had no choice but to find a way to live together.

If there was a sort of button you could push that would make all the Arabs disappear, send them on an express train to Switzerland, he said, I would press that button."

But what can you do? There is no such button, he added, in the video brought to light by Israeli public broadcaster Kan. Therefore it seems we were meant to exist (together) on this land in some way."

Kahana is part of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's nationalist Yamina party which anchors a coalition of eight ideologically diverse parties, including for the first time in Israeli history an Arab Islamist faction.

While it has stumbled during its year in power and is teetering after a series of defections, the coalition has styled itself as a symbol of Jewish-Arab cooperation in a society where Israeli Jews and Palestinians often live separately and seldom interact.

The threat of forcible displacement is a sensitive subject for Palestinians, who in the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948 fled or were forced to flee their homes. A second uprooting occurred during the 1967 Mideast war.

Since then, some nationalist politicians in Israel have used the threat of forced transfer against Palestinian citizens of Israel, who under law are equal to Jewish Israelis but who face discrimination and who are seen by some as a fifth column because of their solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Kahana's remarks drew condemnation from Palestinian Israeli lawmakers and from his own coalition members. Opposition lawmaker Ahmad Tibi tweeted in response that he would make Kahana disappear from the government and the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Michal Rozin, a lawmaker in the coalition with the dovish Meretz party, said the remarks were more than intolerable.

After the uproar, Kahana posted on Twitter that some of the remarks within his speech were worded poorly."

I referenced that both Jewish and Arab populations arent going anywhere. As such, we must work to live in coexistence. Our coalition is a courageous step towards this goal.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
TUESDAY, June 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The first reported case of a cat giving COVID-19 to a person shouldn't alarm pet owners, but a Canadian expert says it's a reminder to take precautions.

"I think it's important for us to recognize this virus still can move between species," veterinary specialist Dr. Scott Weese recently told the New York Times.

The case involving spread of SARS-CoV-2 from a cat to a veterinarian in Thailand didn't come as surprise because pet-to-human transmission has long seemed possible, according to Weese, a professor at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College. He is also director of the university's Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses.

For the last two years, Weese and his colleagues have done extensive research on transmission of COVID between humans and animals. They have focused on cats because they're at higher risk for respiratory infections.

And other studies have shown that pet owners can infect their cats and that cats can sometimes infect each other.

In a recent post on his Worms & Germs blog, Weese noted that he's been warning that people who interact with animals should take precautions to avoid infection with the coronavirus.

"I've been pretty confident it was possible, which is why we've done animal surveillance and spent a lot of time developing and communicating practical but proactive guidance to veterinarians to reduce the risk of just such an event," he wrote.

Even so, Weese said most "cat owners shouldnt have much to worry about," because it's most likely that infected cats get the virus from their infected owners.

That was apparently what happened in the first confirmed case of cat-to-human transmission. The case, reported in the July edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases, involved a couple in Thailand, their cat and a veterinarian.

The man and his wife both got COVID, and were hospitalized. Their cat was taken to animal hospital, where it sneezed in the vet's face during an examination. The vet was masked but her eyes were unprotected. Three days later, she got sick. Both the vet and the cat later tested positive, according to the case study.

Though an infected cat could spread the disease, Weese wrote on his blog, the odds of a cat bringing SARS-CoV-2 into a household are "really low."

But cat owners need to take precautions if someone in the home gets COVID, because cats could get infected and spread it to other people and pets in the household, according to Weese.

If I have COVID-19 and move to the basement to stay away from everyone, I should keep my cat away from me too [or keep it with me and away from everyone else]," he wrote.

Weese offered similar advice in the Times.

"If you're trying to stay away from people because you're potentially infectious, just try to stay away from animals at the same time," he said.

More information

For more on pets and COVID-19, see the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCES: University of Guelph, news release, June 13, 2022; Emerging Infectious Disease, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 6, 2022; Worms & Germs blog, June 9, 2022; New York Times, June 10, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP)  With jokes, upbeat Caribbean music and vacation scenes of sun-kissed beaches and palm trees, Haitian influencers on YouTube and TikTok advertise charter flights to South America.

But they are not targeting tourists.

Instead, they are touts for a thriving, little-known shadow industry that is profiting from the U.S. government sending people back to Haiti, a country besieged by gang violence.

More than a dozen South American travel agencies have rented planes from low-budget Latin American airlines  some of them as large as 238-seat Airbuses  and then sold tickets at premium prices. Many of the customers are Haitians who had been living in Chile and Brazil before they made their way to the Texas border in September, only to be expelled by the Biden administration and prevented from seeking asylum. They are using the charter flights to flee Haiti again and return to South America.

Some, clearly, plan to make another try to enter the United States.

Rodolfo Noriega of the National Coordinator of Immigrants in Chile said Haitians are being exploited by businesses taking advantage of their desperation. They are at the end of a chain of powerful businesses making money from this circuit of Haitian migration, he said.

The airlines and travel agencies say they work within the legal norms of the countries where they are operating from and are simply providing a service to the Haitian diaspora in South America.

The thriving business model was revealed in an eight-month investigation by The Associated Press in partnership with the University of California, Berkeleys Human Rights Center and its Investigative Reporting Program.

This story is part of an ongoing Associated Press series, Migration Inc, which investigates individuals and companies that profit from the movement of people who flee violence and civil strife in their homelands.

Haitians sick of the deprivations of their island home resettled in Chile or Brazil, many after Haitis catastrophic 2010 earthquake. Then, last fall, struggling as the pandemic hit local economies and beset by racism, thousands decided to make their way to the Texas border town of Del Rio. There, they ran afoul of a public health order, invoked by the Trump administration and continued under the Biden administration, that blocks migrants from requesting asylum.

Authorities returned them not to South America, where some of their children were born, but to their original homeland  Haiti.

Some interviewed by the AP said they feared for their lives there and wanted to return to South America. But airlines had stopped direct commercial flights from Haiti to Chile and Brazil during the pandemic; their remaining option was the charters.

The flights from Haiti became a lucrative business as restrictions aimed at controlling the spread of the coronavirus decimated tourism, according to the travel agents. Planes arrive empty to Haiti but return to South America full.

From November 2020 until this May, at least 128 charters were rented by travel agencies in Chile and Brazil for flights from Haiti, according to flight tracking information, online advertisements matching the flights to agencies and other independent verification by the AP and Berkeley.

Since taking office in January 2021, the Biden administration has sent more than 25,000 Haitians back to Haiti despite warnings from human rights groups that the expulsions would only contribute to Haitis travails and feed more Haitian migration to Latin America and the U.S.

Not all of the passengers on the charters had tried to immigrate to the U.S., but based on interviews with dozens of travel agents, Haitian migrants and advocates, and an analysis of flight data using the Swedish service Flightradar24, it is clear that the charters have become a major means to flee Haiti.

Some who took charter flights back to South America have headed north again on the network of underground routes that wind through Central America and Mexico and that ultimately lead to the United States, according to immigration attorneys, advocates and interviews with dozens of Haitians.

Many of the Haitians go back to Chile and Brazil, rather than places close to the U.S. like Mexico, because they have visas and other legal paperwork to get into those countries. And having lived there, they can find jobs quickly to make money for the trip north.

Some, like Amstrong Jean-Baptiste, also have children who were born in South America. The 33-year-old father of two said he spent $6,000 on a harrowing trip from Chile to Texas, only to be sent back to Haiti.

He said he had knives pulled on him, forged rivers that carried others away to their deaths and encountered highway robbers. In the end, he said the Haitians were handcuffed and treated like animals by U.S. immigration authorities. He said his son caught pneumonia in the immigration detention center.

As he waited in Port-au-Prince for a charter flight back to Santiago, news from northern Chile underscored why he wanted to go to the United States in the first place: A demonstration against immigrants drew thousands of protesters who turned violent and destroyed the belongings of migrants living in a camp.

Would he try to go to the U.S. again? He did not rule it out.

The risks are so numerous that this shouldnt be an experience to repeat, he said. However, one should never say never.

___

Ana Darcelin, a travel agent with Travel VIP, a Santiago-based agency that rents planes for flights from Haiti to Chile, said Haitians who migrated north from the South American country, only to be sent back to Haiti, are scrambling to leave Haiti and get back to Chile again.

Everyone is offering charter flights. There is a lot of demand, she said.

Travel agencies in Brazil and Chile said in interviews that they pay anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000 to rent an aircraft. At that rate, the three airlines that rented planes for 128 charter flights between Haiti and either Brazil or Chile would have been paid a total of anywhere from $12 million to $25 million. Meanwhile, some prices for one-way tickets from Haiti to Chile have more than doubled in eight months, from $625 to more than $1,600.

In Brazil, many agencies offering flights from Haiti rented from the low-cost Azul S.A. airlines, which was started by JetBlue founder David Neeleman.

Most of the charters to Chile are on planes rented from SKY Airline, owned by the Chilean Paulmann family, which is worth billions.

Neither Neeleman nor Holger Paulmann, chairman of SKY, responded to emails and LinkedIn messages requesting comment.

SKY also signed a $1.8 million contract in April with the previous administration of Chilean President Sebastian Pinera to fly Latin American immigrants, mostly Venezuelans and Colombians expelled from Chile, back to their homelands. SKY earned about $670 for each expelled immigrant it flies to Central and South America. Under the contract obtained by the AP and Berkeley, the carrier must complete at least 15 flights carrying 180 passengers each.

John Paul Spode, who has worked 35 years in the travel industry and manages NewStilo, which rents planes from SKY for the flights, said Haiti is not the only place in crisis that offers an attractive market for the charter flight business.

His agency also offers charter flights between Venezuela and Chile. But there are few places with the demand for charter flights like Haiti, though he said its not an easy place to do business. In March, protesters stormed the tarmac at an airport in the countryside and set a small plane on fire. Gangs also operate in and around the airport, he said.

Unfortunately, we have had many passengers who have not been able to board because there are people who stand outside (the airport) with some kind of a list and some kind of uniform and they started charging, saying You are not on the list, sir, but for $250 you can be added, and then they let them enter the airport, Spode said.

Some passengers said once inside the airport they were blocked again by so-called airport business employees and told that their names were still not on the list, and they must pay again, Spode said. Many do before they reach the ticket counter where they finally are checked in by a legitimate employee with the flight.

But would-be passengers brave all that. Its tough to sell tickets from Santiago to Port-au-Prince. The plane leaves usually almost empty, Spode said. But we know that on the return trip its going to be full, literally, like people practically hanging from the plane, so to speak.

The demand has been so great that a second low-cost airline based in Ecuador, Aeroregional, entered the Chilean market for the first time and started offering charter flights from Haiti to Chile. At least 11 Aeroregional charters have arrived from Haiti to Chile since December.

Dan Foote, a former U.S. envoy to Haiti who resigned over the Biden administrations handling of Haitians at the Texas border, said he is not surprised to hear Haitians expelled from the U.S. are making their way back to South America, and that businesses are lining up to help them.

Until the root causes of instability are truly attacked in a patient, systematic, holistic way, its going to keep going, Foote said.

The travel agencies and airlines denied they are facilitating Haitian migration.

Aeroregionals managing director, Luis Manuel Rodriguez, said in a statement via LinkedIn that the airlines role is simply to transport people. He said that the immigration status of its passengers is checked by immigration authorities of the countries involved.

Azul confirmed by email that it has provided charter flights between Haiti and Brazil, but said those contracts have confidentiality clauses. The company did not respond to a follow-up request for more information.

Carmen Gloria Serrat, the business manager of SKY, said in a statement that the company offers safe, legal transportation for whoever wants it and needs it. She said airlines are responsible for validating the paperwork of passengers and must eat the costs of returning anyone who is denied entry to a country.

She said the flights run four times monthly on average and represent a minuscule part of SKYs business.

The act of providing safe and legal transportation is a guarantee to avoid the possibility of abuses, Serrat said. Its important to point out that in SKY we operate within the established norms for entering a country and always in coordination and under the supervision of immigration authorities.

At least one travel agency is open about offering to help those who hope to reach the United States.

Alta Tour Turismo Travel Agency rents planes for charter flights between Haiti and Chile.

A TikTok account with the handle @altatourtravelagency posted a video on June 14, 2021, discussing how to avoid the Darien Gap, a treacherous, roadless area of thick jungle between Colombia and Panama traversed by migrants from South America heading north.

In the video, two men are talking about different routes north as they show a big boat at sea.

Considering the level of mistreatment Haitians endured from the Colombians in the jungle, I will never go through the jungle, says one as the camera zooms in on the boat on the horizon.

It was unclear if the video was meant to connect people to boats or was a marketing tool to attract customers in need of flights to South America who intended to then take the migrant route north.

Alta Tour Turismo started with a video on Facebook at the start of 2021 that informed viewers that Bolivia was not deporting people. The agency incorporated a month later.

The slogan of the Santiago-based agency is travel with joy. Reservations for flights are largely done through WhatsApp. The agencys social media accounts have nearly 40,000 followers; they promote travel from Haiti to such countries as Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Chile and Mexico.

Ezechias Revanget said he started the agency with three other Haitian immigrants in Chile to rent planes so fellow Haitians in Chile could go back home to see family. His agency has leased 186-seat Airbus planes from SKY airlines.

Our objective is to work with our compatriots, and there are also other people  such as Chileans, Bolivians, Dominicans, anyone, any nationality can buy tickets at our agency, he said.

Alta Tour Turismo also advertised flights to Suriname. In an April 2021 post, the agency posted on its Facebook page that Haitians who had only a passport and wanted to leave Haiti should not miss this opportunity, asserting: you know if you arrive in Suriname you can go to other places too, followed by three smiling emoji and the agencys numbers.

Revanget, who also uses the name Dave Elmyr, refused to answer more questions.

They should be investigating these flights  they should, said Carolina Rudnick Vizcarra, an attorney and director of LIBERA, a Santiago-based nonprofit combatting human trafficking. And by now, everyone knows that Haitians are vulnerable  they dont have the money" or places to stay.

U.S. officials told the AP they were unaware of the charter flights from Haiti. Some South American nations have taken action to prevent their use by migrants and smugglers. Last year, Suriname stopped charter flights from Haiti and issuing visas to Haitians, according to Suriname's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

That same year, neighboring French Guiana complained about Haitians coming across its border.

What was strange was that in the middle of a pandemic, so many flights were arriving from Haiti ... there were unaccompanied minors on the flight, as well as several Haitians without visas, Antoine Joly, the former French ambassador in Suriname told the French Guiana TV station, Guyane la 1ere in a video posted May 4.

Shortly after that, Guyana, which also borders Suriname, canceled an earlier order allowing Haitians in without a visa, contending the country was being used as a destination for human smugglers who were taking migrants into neighboring Brazil where they would stay briefly before heading north to Mexico and the U.S.

Giuseppe Loprete, chief of mission in Haiti of the International Organization of Migration, said the United Nations agency learned about charter flights from Haiti to Chile in interviews with migrants who had been sent back from the United States and Mexico.

We tried to find out more, but we dont have the means to investigate these flights, he wrote in an email to the AP on April 22. Our assumption was that from Chile they move on to other countries heading (to) the Mexican-USA border, if not right away, after some time. Probably when they have collected enough money and information to move forward.

___

The Azul charter flights started on Nov. 14, 2020, from Port-au-Prince to Manaus, Brazil. The city of 2.2 million boasts one of Brazils biggest airports, is the capital of the Amazon region with a Haitian immigrant population and is also a well-known jumping-off point for Haitian migrants who travel by boats from there along a river connecting the Colombian, Peruvian and Guyanese borders before continuing north.

Flight data showed that 54 Azul planes flew charter flights from Port-au-Prince to Manaus. The flights stopped in October. That same month, the Brazilian embassy in Haiti stopped issuing all visas to Haitians, according to a document from the Brazilian ambassador in Haiti obtained by AP and Berkeley.

Jean Robert Jean Baptiste, 49, said he bought a $1,400 ticket for an Azul flight in December 2020 to Brazil. He spent a month in Haiti after he was deported from Louisiana, where he was held at an immigration detention center following his arrest on a DUI charge. Back in Haiti, he said an enemy threatened to kill him and had the backing of the police.

He said he decided to fly to Brazil because he had a visa to get into the country after living there from 2011 to 2012 before making his way to the United States in 2016 and settled in Alabama.

In 2021, he made his way from Brazil by bus and on foot. He walked for a week, most of it in the rain, through the Darien Gap, where he said he saw dead bodies of those who didnt make it. He said he had to pay bandits who blocked his path; robbers stole his phone and $500 from him.

All told, he said it cost him about $7,000 to return to Tijuana, where he was trying to find a way back to the U.S. Hes driven, he said, by a determination to have a good life for his children.

The Paulmann family's SKY, meanwhile, is the charter of choice between Haiti and Chile; of 71 such flights since 2020 that AP and Berkeley tracked, 60 were on SKY. The Paulmanns run one of Latin Americas biggest retail companies, Cencosud, and have a net worth of $3.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine. SKY charter planes also flew three flights between Haiti and Brazil in 2021.

Etienne Ilienses said she was sent back to Haiti from Texas on Dec. 14. She talked to the AP before flying to Santiago with her three children on a Jan. 30 charter flight on SKY. To get to the USA, I braved hell, she said. Still, she did not dismiss the possibility of doing it again because Haiti offers nothing to its children. We are forced to suffer humiliations, affronts everywhere."

But just because Haitians fly to Chile, it doesnt mean they can stay. Dozens have been held by immigration officials after arriving in Santiago in recent months. One group spent weeks sleeping at the airport before Chiles Supreme Court on Jan. 31 ordered police to release them and allow them to request asylum.

Others were sent back to Haiti within hours of landing.

SKYs Serrat said the airline works closely with immigration officials to avoid that situation, while the marketing aimed at passengers is the responsibility of the travel operators. (Aeroregionals manager did not respond to questions about flying in Haitians who were later expelled.)

Theleon Marckenson, 31, was sent back to Haiti from Texas last fall. He said he spent $1,650 for a charter flight on Aeroregional to return to Chile, where he had lived since 2017.

After Marckenson landed in Santiago, Chilean authorities told him the application he had submitted for permanent residency before he left for the U.S. border had expired. Hours later he was put on another Aeroregional flight to Haiti with six others.

I dont have any more money, Marckenson said by phone after landing back in Port-au-Prince. I dont know what I am going to do. But I cant stay here. There is only hunger. There is no life.



Gisela Perez de Acha is a supervisory reporter for Berkeleys Human Rights Center and its Investigative Reporting Program. Katie Licari is a recent Berkeley graduate journalism alum.



Watson reported from San Diego, Daniel from New York. Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego; Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Adriana Gomez Licon in Miami; and Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador; also contributed to this report. University of California students Zhe Wu, Mar Segura, Grace Luo, Gergana Georgieva, Jose Fernando Rengifo, Pamela Estrada, Freddy Brewster, Sabrina Kharrazi, Jocelyn Tabancay, Imran Ali Malik reported from Berkeley, along with Human Rights Center Investigations Lab director Stephanie Croft.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
NEW YORK (AP)  A former CIA software engineer charged with causing the biggest theft of classified information in CIA history defended himself at the start of his trial Tuesday, telling jurors he was falsely accused and the victim of a political witch hunt.

Joshua Schulte, 33, said he was singled out for investigation and arrested on espionage charges because of his clashes with CIA management before the 2017 public release of a trove of CIA secrets by WikiLeaks. At a previous trial, a jury deadlocked on espionage charges but convicted him of lesser contempt and false statement charges.

He said the government had built a case that was literally forensically impossible after singling him out for prosecution as the guilty party during a political witch hunt and then working backward to present jurors with an alternative reality, an upside-down world, a government twilight zone.

The trial evidence will absolutely prove my innocence, Schulte told jurors in Manhattan federal court. Because I am in fact innocent.

Schulte made his opening statement after Assistant U.S. Attorney David Denton told the jury that the evidence would prove that Schulte was responsible for an unprecedented leak that brought critical intelligence gathering around the world to a crashing halt.

He said years of work and millions of dollars spent to develop tools that enabled the CIA's digital sleuths to spy on foreign adversaries went up in smoke as Schulte gave precious secrets of America's national defense to the world.

The so-called Vault 7 leak revealed how the CIA hacked Apple and Android smartphones in overseas spying operations and efforts to turn internet-connected televisions into listening devices.

Prior to his arrest, Schulte worked as a coder at the agencys headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Denton portrayed the government's case against Schulte as airtight, saying there was devastating proof of this man's crimes.

He said Schulte was motivated to leak the materials because he believed the CIA had disrespected him. So he tried to burn to the ground the very work he had helped the agency to create, the prosecutor said.

Denton said Schulte, after his arrest, continued his crimes by trying to leak additional classified materials from prison as he carried on an information war against the government.

But Schulte contested the portrayal, saying he was inspired to serve his country ever since the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks, when as a 12-year-old boy in the 7th grade, he vowed to do whatever he could to prevent another day like that.

Hired by the CIA in 2010, Schulte said he worked on a team that helped verify the location of Osama bin Laden before the al-Qaida leader was killed in a U.S. overnight raid in Pakistan.

No one has ever questioned my loyalty or patriotism, he said, adding That is until now.

Clad in a coat and tie, he also decried his treatment for the last five years in federal jails, telling jurors: My very life is in our hands. Put yourself in my shoes.

After the jury was sent home for the day, Judge Jesse M. Furman told Schulte he had at times crossed the line between testifying and presenting an opening statement and warned him to be more careful going forward.

Associated Press writer Tom Hays contributed to this story.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Romania on Tuesday to hold bilateral talks and meet with French troops stationed there who are part of NATOs response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Macrons visit to Romania, a European Union member since 2007 and a NATO member since 2004, marked the beginning of a regional tour that includes a visit Wednesday to non-NATO Moldova. Both countries share long borders with embattled Ukraine.

Nobody knows what is in store for us in the coming weeks and months, but we will do all we can to put an end to the Russian invasion, to help Ukrainians and continue with negotiations, Macron said at the eastern Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, where he was greeted by Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.

In a brief address to French soldiers deployed at the NATO base, Macron praised them for honoring our commitment to defend Europe as war is being waged again.

France has around 500 soldiers deployed in Romania and has been a key player in NATOs bolstering of forces on the alliances eastern flank following Russias invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. In May, France deployed an air defense system to Romania that NATO said can ensure protection to the forces operating within the area.

In the long term, Macron said we need to be able to protect ourselves and went on to say NATO's multinational battlegroup in Romania  which includes French, Belgian and American military personnel  will serve as a powerful deterrent on Europes eastern flank.

On Wednesday, Macron will meet with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at the air base for official talks in preparation for a European Council meeting in Brussels, as well as a key NATO Strategic Concept summit in Madrid later this month.

French spokesperson Olivia Gregoire said Macron is expected to address the consequences of the war in Ukraine, from a surge of Ukrainian refugees to the spike in energy prices and the disruptions to global grain markets.

He will also discuss Ukraines and Moldovas demands to join the EU ahead of a European summit next week, she said. France currently holds the presidency of the EU Council.

Macron will underline the importance of the strength of the European project in these troubled moments, she said.

After Romania, Macron will head to Chisinau, Moldovas capital, where he will meet with President Maia Sandu.



Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Barbara Surk in Nice, France, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Madison police say a 23-year-old man found fatally injured Sunday morning was in a relationship with a woman theyve taken into custody in connection with his death, and that the couples child was at the location where the man was found but was not injured in the incident.

The Dane County Medical Examiners Office will release the mans name and a cause of death once an autopsy, scheduled for Tuesday, has been completed, police said. The man suffered a chest wound, police said Sunday, but have declined to say from what.

Police have also not released the name of the woman they took into custody and are holding on a probation violation. Jail records show a woman whose case number matches that of the homicides was booked into the jail Sunday night. The Wisconsin State Journal is also not naming her because she has not been charged with a crime.

Officers were called to an apartment complex in the 5600 block of Black Onyx Drive on the citys Far East Side just before 5:30 a.m. Sunday about a disturbance and arrived to find a neighbor providing lifesaving measures to the victim. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The woman police are calling a person of interest was not at the scene at the time. Police said the couples child was at the residence at the time of Sundays incident and has been referred to Dane County child protective services.

The Madison Police Departments Violent Crimes Unit is investigating the death, and investigators are asking anyone with information about the case to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Soaring opioid overdose deaths in Wisconsin are increasingly fueled by fentanyl, a state official said Tuesday, and curbing use of the dangerous drug is a key goal as the state prepares to receive the first payment of at least $420 million in expected opioid settlement funds.

Fentanyl is where we need to really focus a lot of our efforts specifically, Paul Krupski, opioid initiatives director for the state Department of Health Services, said at a Wisconsin Health News event.

Speakers also stressed the importance of educating students about the risks of counterfeit pills and the danger of even small amounts of fentanyl found in other drugs, including heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and other types of opioid pills.

Im not sure we can start too young, said Mark OConnell, CEO of the Wisconsin Counties Association, which is helping local governments allocate 70% of the settlement funds, with 30% going to the state health department. An initial payment is expected by this fall.

We will partner with our educational facilities to try to increase awareness and education so we dont have the problem and play catch up when someone needs (the overdose reversal drug) Narcan or were arranging a funeral, OConnell said.

Wisconsin had 1,387 opioid overdose deaths last year, according to a preliminary total as of Monday that likely will increase before the tally is finalized in September, health department spokesperson Jennifer Miller said. Thats up from the previous record of 1,227 deaths in 2020, which was 32% more than any previous year.

Dane County had a preliminary total of 133 opioid fatalities last year, up from its previous record of 123 in 2020.

The increasing prevalence of fentanyl and stress from the COVID-19 pandemic have largely driven the surge, as seen nationwide, Krupski said.

Doctors are prescribing addiction treatment medications such as buprenorphine, or Suboxone, but have little control over social challenges patients face at home, said Dr. Ritu Bhatnagar, co-medical director of NewStart, UnityPoint Health-Meriters addiction treatment program in Madison.

Its what happens when that person takes the medicine and goes back to their community, she said. When people are in recovery, that is really hard work. ... Im asking them to change everything about their lives.

Krupski said some settlement funds might be used to support housing, transportation, child care and other solutions to root causes of substance abuse. A state plan in April also called for beefing up substance abuse education in schools, improving overdose activity alerts to warn the public of increased risk and making Narcan, or naloxone, more widely available. The state also plans to boost distribution of newly legalized fentanyl test strips to help users identify the deadly opioid in other drugs.

Rep. Jesse James, R-Altoona, chair of the Assembly Committee on Substance Abuse and Prevention, sponsored the fentanyl test strip bill. He called for a Good Samaritan law, which would provide limited immunity to people who call 911 for overdoses and those who overdose. A 2014 state law covering 911 callers expired, by design, in 2020. A 2019 bill to extend it didnt pass.

Without such a law, people on probation or parole who use substances are scared to help others, James said.

Theyre not taking necessary actions because theyre afraid of getting in trouble, he said.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Bahrain's Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) has announced that procurement requests by government entities valued at BD1.7 million ($4.5 million) were discussed at the second meeting of the Information and Communication Technology Governance Committee (ICTGC) held via videoconference.

The meeting, chaired by iGA Chief Executive Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, covered a wide range of topics, including several strategic government projects and procurement requests.

It also included a discussion on ways to make taxi services more accessible to citizens, residents and visitors and help improve customer satisfaction.

This will contribute to stronger transportation and tourism services nationwide, the members said.

The meeting was attended by ICTGC Vice Chairman and iGA Deputy CE of Electronic Transformation Dr Zakareya Ahmed AlKhajah; Ministry of Education Undersecretary for Policies, Strategies and Performance, Nawal Al Khater; Deputy CE, Operations and Governance Dr. Khalid Ahmed Almutawa; Ministry of Finance and National Economy Director of Financial Systems Development, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah Dhaif; Director of Services and Information Technology at the Prime Ministers Office, Ahmed Al Qayem; University of Bahrain Dean of the College of Information Technology, Dr. Hessa Jassim Al Junaid; and Information Technology Project Management Consultant, Ali AlSoufi.

The committee later reviewed an Information Management System (IMS) project for the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs & Urban Planning, which will streamline the updating and management of data at testing laboratories and improve their output, in line with the requirements of the testing and calibration laboratories (ISO 17025).

In addition, the Committee covered other projects, policies, strategies, and their performance. It also reviewed implemented decisions from previous meetings.-TradeArabia News Service
At least 45 residents of an apartment complex on Madisons North Side were temporarily displaced Monday afternoon after a powerful storm tore the roof off a building and caused power outages and other damage throughout the area.

No injuries had been reported from the storm as of Tuesday morning, but Madison public safety officials had responded to more than 50 electrical emergency calls from the storm that moved east across the area with gusts up to 70 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Others weren't so lucky, as a child and two adults were missing after they were swept away in a drainage ditch in Milwaukee.

Power outages were concentrated in Madison, Middleton and Monona, according to the Dane County Department of Emergency Management.

Madison Fire Department spokesperson Cynthia Schuster said firefighters were sent to the Truax Park Apartments in the 1500 block of Wright Street just after 3 p.m., when they found the roof torn off one building and three adjacent buildings with significant roof damage.

We discovered that (the roofless building) had a false roof, she said. Underneath was another roof that was still intact.

Debris from the roof landed on and caused significant damage to an unoccupied car.

All residents of the 12 units at 1501 and 1503 Wright Street were displaced. Several found other places to stay, and the Red Cross was assisting the others at a temporary shelter at 1701 Wright Street opened in partnership with Madison Area Technical College and Dane County.

The city of Madison said the building was constructed with a concrete roof, and a wooden gable roof was installed to help with drainage a few years ago. The building was inspected by the city and an electrician will return Tuesday morning with a crew to assess and isolate electrical concerns. The building may be occupied when any issues are resolved.

As many as 21,500 Madison Gas and Electric customers were without power Monday, and 4,700 still were without power as of about 11 a.m., MGE spokesman Steve Schultz said in a statement.

Crews from other utility companies were helping MGE's restoration efforts starting at daybreak, Schultz said.

However, due to the large number of separate incidents, MGE temporarily suspended its estimated time of restoration feature on its outage map.

"We expect to restore service to many customers Tuesday," Schultz said. "However, we do expect to have some customers still without service into tonight due to the high number of outage incidents."

"Our focus throughout the overnight hours has been cutting and clearing downed lines," Schultz said. "We remind everyone to stay clear of damaged areas and never approach a downed power line or anything that comes in contact with it."

Downed lines can be reported by calling MGE at 608-252-7111.

Street lights in various parts of Madison also were knocked out, slowing traffic to a crawl in some areas.

Middletons Willy Street Co-op was among the businesses that lost power. Employees had to move food into mobile coolers, but the co-op said it was expected to reopen Tuesday morning. The Monroe Street branch of the Madison Public Library and the Madison Chocolate Co. on Glenway Street also closed Monday due to outages.

Schuster said the fire department received reports about outdoor fires likely sparked by downed power lines. She did not release the locations of the fires.

The city said crews would work through the overnight into Tuesday to clear downed trees from streets and vehicles, among other cleanup efforts. More details are available at the city website.

The shelter at 1701 Wright Street also will be for those escaping a short heat wave forecast to start Tuesday, with temperatures expected in the mid-90s and heat index values of up to 105.

Dane County also will be opening the Coliseum as a cooling center during the day Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Madison Metro Transit will provide free rides to the cooling centers.

Like a blizzard

Truax Apartment Park resident Lana Isbell said shes been living in the complex for about a year and a half. The retired paralegal moved to Wisconsin from Texas after her husband died.

I was in my room and heard a lot of noise, Isbell said. I heard pounding on the walls. I looked out the window, and it looked like a blizzard. I went to the other window, and saw all this wood that was in front of the building.

Isbell said she would be staying at a hotel for the night.

Whitney Mckennie, another Truax resident and small business owner, said she was shopping at Walgreens when the storm came through.

The next thing I knew, the wind was crazy, she said.

The sky was bright one minute, then black the next, she said. Garbage cans were sent flying, and the power went out at Walgreens, she said.

Downed trees

Reports of trees knocked down by the storm were common across the Madison area, including one that fell across East Johnson Street just east of North Ingersoll Street and downed power lines that sent sparks into the area and forced drivers to turn around on the one-way street.

Minutes after the tree came down, a man in a Metro Transit shirt began directing drivers off East Johnson and onto Ingersoll. Madison firefighters and police arrived just before 3:05 p.m., and East Johnson remained closed more than an hour later.

A few miles away, a car Bob Gee was borrowing from a friend had its back window smashed in by a tree limb blown down along Milwaukee Street.

Gee, 40, said he pulled into the parking lot at 2717 Milwaukee just as the skies were at their blackest, went inside and then minutes later heard a big kaboom.

I decided to look out the window  and all I could see was green from the fallen tree, he said.

The tree also broke out a window in the apartment building and dislodged a downspout.

State Journal reporters Barry Adams, Elizabeth Beyer, Chris Rickert, Alexander Shur, Logan Wroge and Jeff Richgels contributed to this report.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
LONDON (AP)  Britain canceled a flight that was scheduled to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda late Tuesday after the European Court of Human Rights intervened, saying the plan carried a real risk of irreversible harm."

The decision to scrap the flight capped three days of frantic court challenges from immigrant rights lawyers who launched a flurry of case-by-case appeals seeking to block the deportation of everyone on the governments list.

British government officials had said earlier in the day that the plane would take off no matter how many people were on board. But after the appeals, no one remained. British media reported that the number of potential deportees had been more than 30 on Friday.

After the flight was canceled, Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was disappointed but would not be deterred from doing the right thing. She added: Our legal team are reviewing every decision made on this flight and preparation for the next flight begins now.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had emphatically defended Britains plan, arguing that it is a legitimate way to protect lives and thwart the criminal gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel in small boats. Britain in recent years has seen an illegal influx of migrants from such places as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Iraq and Yemen.

Johnson announced an agreement with Rwanda in April in which people who enter Britain illegally will be deported to the East African country. In exchange for accepting them, Rwanda will receive millions of pounds (dollars) in development aid. The deportees will be allowed to apply for asylum in Rwanda, not Britain.

Opponents have argued that it is illegal and inhumane to send people thousands of miles to a country they dont want to live in. The leaders of the Church of England joined the opposition, calling the governments policy immoral. Prince Charles was among those opposed, according to British news reports.

Activists have denounced the policy as an attack on the rights of refugees that most countries have recognized since the end of World War II.

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said the British government's deportation threat would not serve as a deterrent to those seeking safety in the U.K.

The government must immediately rethink by having a grown-up conversation with France and the (European Union) about sharing responsibility and look to operating an orderly, humane, and fair asylum system, Solomon said.

The U.N. refugee agency condemned the plan out of concern that other countries will follow suit as war, repression and natural disasters force a growing number of people from their homes.

Politicians in Denmark and Austria are considering similar proposals. Australia has operated an asylum-processing center in the Pacific island nation of Nauru since 2012.

At a global level, this unapologetically punitive deal further condones the evisceration of the right to seek asylum in wealthy countries, said Maurizio Albahari, a migration expert at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana as he described the UK policy.

Many millions of people around the globe have been displaced over the past two decades, putting the international consensus on refugees under strain. The world had more than 26 million refugees in the middle of last year, more that double the number two decades ago, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Millions more have left their homes voluntarily, seeking economic opportunities in developed nations.

In Britain, those pressures have led to a surge in the number of people crossing the English Channel in leaky inflatable boats, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Last November, 27 people died when their boat sank in the waters between France and England.

Johnson, fighting for his political life amid concerns about his leadership and ethics, responded by promising to stop such risky journeys.

While Rwanda was the site of a genocide that killed hundreds of thousands of people in 1994, the country has built a reputation for stability and economic progress since then, the British government argues. Critics say that stability comes at the cost of political repression.

Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, attacked the policy as all wrong.

If the British government is truly interested in protecting lives, it should work with other countries to target the smugglers and provide safe routes for asylum-seekers, not simply shunt migrants to other countries, Grandi said.

The precedent that this creates is catastrophic for a concept that needs to be shared, like asylum, Grandi said Monday.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and 24 other bishops from the Church of England joined the chorus of voices asking the government to reconsider an immoral policy that shames Britain.

Our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum-seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries, the bishops wrote in a letter to the Times of London.

Britains Supreme Court refused to hear one last-ditch appeal Tuesday, a day after two lower courts refused to block the deportations. Legal challenges continued, however, as lawyers filed case-by-case appeals on behalf of individual migrants.

Many migrants favor Britain as a destination for reasons of language or family ties, or because it is seen as an open economy with more opportunities than other European nations.

When Britain was a member of the European Union, it was part of a system that required refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country they entered. Those who reached Britain could be sent back to the EU countries they traveled from. Britain lost that option when it withdrew from the EU two years ago.

Since then, the British and French governments have worked to stop the journeys, with a great deal of bickering and not much success. More than 28,000 migrants entered Britain in small boats last year, up from 8,500 in 2020.

Nando Sigona, a migration expert at the University of Birmingham, said large principles are at stake if the Rwanda policy stands.

How can we establish any kind of moral high ground where we intervene in other countries if we are not signatory to providing protection to those fleeing war and persecution? Sigona asked.

Follow APs coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  A federal judge on Tuesday declined to order a meeting of the Tennessee Judicial Conference to be opened to the public, ruling after an attorney for the state testified the group would only engage in continuing legal education and make no policy decisions.

The decision came during an emergency hearing after the editor of a national news website filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking access to Wednesday's Judical Conference meeting.

The lawsuit by The Center Square Executive Editor Dan McCaleb names Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts Director Michelle Long as the defendant. She promulgated a policy in February declaring the meetings closed to the public. That step came in response to a concerning disruption by several individuals at a conference in late 2021, and also, in part, to the increase in threats of violence and acts of violence directed toward judges, according to court filings.

At Tuesday's hearing, McCaleb's attorney, Buck Dougherty, argued that meetings of the Tennessee Judicial Conference are similar to the United States Judicial Conference meetings, which have been open to the public for more than 30 years.

By statute, Tennessee Judicial Conference is made up of the state's trial court and appellate court judges, including retired judges. The group is required to meet annually to consider laws and rules that promote peace and good order in the state and to draft legislation and submit recommendations to the General Assembly. The statute makes no mention of whether those meetings are open or closed to the public.

Tennessee Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter argued that, despite the statuatory language, in practice the conference meetings are confined to educational sessions. Many of the policy decisions have been assigned to the courts administrator. Specifically, Kleinfelter testified that the Wednesday meeting will be entirely educational with the exception of resolutions honoring deceased judges and the election of officers. Kleinfelter agreed to file the meeting agenda with the court.

It will be filed under seal because the policy closing the meeting to the public also makes private the meeting dates and locations, speaker documents and conference materials, and any link to virtual meeting access. The policy states that these steps are necessary to ensure the safety and security of attendees.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw seemed skeptical of the security argument, noting that a recent meeting of federal judges was open to the public.

I'm just pointing out that federal judges have done it without a problem, he said.

Although Crenshaw did not issue an emergency order granting access to the Wednesday meeting, the lawsuit will continue and McCaleb will have a chance to make the argument that future meetings should be open if the conference discusses public policy.

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Director Deborah Fisher said there is a legitimate public interest in what happens at the meetings.

It seems like an overreach to close the whole thing and not let the press attend, at least, the parts where they discuss rules and what legislation they are going to send to the General Assembly," she said. Fisher added that allowing the public to watch meetings via livestream would likely address the safety concerns.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Michael Gableman, the former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice leading the taxpayer-funded Republican probe into the 2020 election, will address a poll watcher training event next weekend organized by a Republican lawyer who played a key role in former President Donald Trumps unsuccessful legal effort to overturn the election.

Branded an election integrity summit by lead organizer the Conservative Partnership Institute, the event at a Wauwatosa hotel will include sessions on recruiting, training and deploying poll watchers, according to the events website.

The Wauwatosa meeting is the latest in a nationwide effort by longtime GOP lawyer Cleta Mitchell to encourage more conservative activists to serve as poll watchers ahead of the 2022 election. Mitchell, a senior legal fellow for the conservative group, advised Trump during his failed attempt to stay in power.

Other leaders of the group include Mark Meadows, Trumps former chief of staff, and former Republican Sen. Jim DeMint.

With previous events in recent months across battleground states like Georgia, Arizona and Michigan, Mitchells arrival in Wisconsin comes as the Republican Party embarks on its own election integrity tour throughout the state in a push to recruit poll workers, observers and voting deputies.

Rachel Reisner, the Wisconsin spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the national party is affiliated with Mitchells event.

CPI spokesperson Kerri Toloczko declined to comment on the events itinerary, saying the organization does not give media interviews.

Our Summits are solely to provide information and supplemental training for Wisconsin citizens who work to ensure safe and secure voting for all Wisconsinites, Toloczko said.

Because CPI is a registered 501(3) nonprofit, it is prohibited from political campaign activity, though it can organize nonpartisan public and voter education guides, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Both the RNC events and CPI summit are closed to the press.

Partisan election observers at the polls are nothing new, but recent Republican efforts to create a team of party-affiliated observers and poll workers has little precedent, said Debra Cronmiller, the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.

While poll workers greet voters, check them in and track ballots, observers typically monitor the operations to make sure they comply with regulations and that the law is followed.

They will have no more or less authority at the polling places than other poll workers, Cronmiller said of Republican trainees. Its just new to me and others that they would be organizing themselves as a party initiative, rather than an individual in a community just wanting to work at the polls.

Cronmiller said she and her colleagues are going into Novembers election with eyes wide open. The democratic process in recent years has seen increased incidents of voter intimidation, she said.

Some of the off-the-wall stuff is happening, where you have literally militia intimidating voters, preventing them from entering a polling place, Cronmiller said. I honestly believe that if we are well prepared and everybody knows were well prepared, that in and of itself is a preemptive act to prevent any issues.

CPIs Wauwatosa event will feature speeches from Gableman and Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, the chair of the state Assemblys elections committee.

Other sessions have been dubbed a Citizens Guide to Cleaning Voter Rolls, The Lefts Secret Plan to spend your tax dollars to win in 2022 and Building the Wisconsin Election Integrity Infrastructure.

The event will be held at the Renaissance Milwaukee West Hotel in Wauwatosa on June 24 and 25.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A retiring Badger High School agriculture instructor and FFA adviser recently received a pleasant surprise from his students.

Larry Plapps students recently restored a 1954 model tractor for him as part of his retirement present.

The students presented the restored tractor to Plapp during Badger High Schools FFA award ceremony, May 26.

The tractor was familiar to Plapp because it is the tractor he and his brother, Richard Plapp, used while growing up on the family farm in Malta, Illinois. Plapp said his father purchased the tractor when he began farming in 1958.

It was his first tractor, Plapp said. My brother and I complained about driving that tractor so much that he actually put power steering on it, Plapp said. We both learned how to drive it, and we both had chores around the farm that we did with it.

Plapp said he was dumbfounded and speechless when the students presented him with the tractor. He said he took a lap around the Badger High School parking with the tractor after receiving it.

It was very profound, he said.

Gwynn Braden, one of Plapps students, said she and the other students obtained the idea for the project while Plapp was reading an article about another teaching receiving a restored tractor from his students and jokingly said none of his students would do that for him.

Initially, we were going to get him a little toy tractor, but I talked to another student, and they said we should do it, then it got rolling from there, Braden said.

The students contacted Plapps brother about obtaining the tractor from the family farm. After several receiving the tractor, the students and their parents spent several months restoring it. Several area businesses assisted with the project.

Candice Franks, Badger High School agriculture instructor, said the students took turns keeping the tractor at their homes. She said she is pleased with the work that the students put into restoring the tractor.

It needed a little remodeling and refurbishing, which a lot of people in the community came together and helped with, Franks said. We worked with local businesses and sponsors to make it all happen.

Franks said keeping the tractor a secret from Plapp was difficult at times.

We worked with our school to make sure that we were trying to keep it as quiet as possible, even though we had a lot of different things going on, Franks said. There were a couple of hiccups, but he didnt catch us which was good. I thought we were busted one time.

Carter Volck, student, said he was excited to be involved with the project and to help restore the tractor for Plapp.

I cant stop talking about the tractor, Volck said. He just deserves it so much.

The tractor currently is being stored in a location in the Lake Geneva area. Plapp said he plans to showcase the tractor at the state FFA conference, which will be held in June in Madison.

I believe its going to get there from what my sources tell me, Plapp said. So were going to get the tractor up there, so 3,000 other students get to see it.

After the FFA conference, Plapp plans to have the tractor transported back to the family farm in Malta. He said his family members will be able to see the tractor during a family reunion that is scheduled to be held during Fourth of July weekend.

So the family will be able to see the tractor that theyve heard about and seen on Facebook, he said.

Plapp said the tractor is in working condition now that it has been restored.

Its in tip-top shape again, Plapp said. So its been repainted. They fixed the carburetor, which was the big issue with it and it runs like a top now.

Retiring after 37 years

Plapp is retiring after working in the education field for about 37 years. He has worked at Badger High School for about 30 years and previously worked at Belvidere High School in Belvidere, Illinois for seven years.

He spent his entire career working as an agriculture instructor and FFA advisor.

Plapp said he feels now is an appropriate time for him to retire.

I thought 30 years here was going to be the point, Plapp said. At the beginning of the year, I was 95% sure and it solidified quickly as I fell into the groove thinking this should be it.

Plapp said he mostly is going to miss interacting with the students and helping them learn about agriculture. He said the school district has always been supportive Badgers agricultural program.

If its good for the kids, they want to support it, Plapp said. That was a refreshing way to look at things. Throughout my time here, that has always been the case.

Braden said she has enjoyed having Plapp as a teacher and FFA advisor. She said Plapp has helped her pursue a career in agriculture.

I dont think I would be where I am without Mr. Plapp as a teacher, especially on the ag side of things, Braden said. I started crying giving my retiring address at the awards ceremony.

Volck said Plapp is able to connect with students and help them learn.

Hes a teacher you wish every student had, Volck said. He can connect to almost every basic student. When he connects to them, their lives are probably changed forever.

Plapp said he is going miss working with Franks and the other Badger High School instructors. He said he and Franks often learn from each other and share ideas with each other.

I credit her with giving me longevity in this profession, Plapp said. Its easier to share ideas when were in such a small department like this.

Franks considers Plapp a mentor and said she has enjoyed working with him during her 14 years at Badger High School.

Weve grown together in this department, and weve done some pretty amazing things together, Franks said. He reads my mind, and I read his mind half the time. Weve learned each others quirks and the opposites of each other over the years.

Plapp said he also is going to miss working as an FFA advisor and attending the FFA conferences.

Youre outside the classroom, and you see the kids in a different form. The FFA has always been the icing on the cake, Plapp said. It kind of keeps everything together, and it allows so many cool opportunities for the kids to do.

Braden said she has enjoyed attending the FFA conferences with Plapp, comparing the FFA conferences to a family trip.

The conventions have been a favorite thing, Braden said. He makes those very memorable. We joke that we go out to family dinners with our FFA family.

Changes to ag program

Plapp said some of the changes he has noticed to Badgers agriculture program is the use of technology and more of a focus on agri-science.

Were not teaching an entire class on how to raise pigs. Back in the day, we use to have dairy production class, swine production and livestock, Plapp said. We focus more on the elements of the scientific process, the feeding principles. The science of how the animal grows, the illnesses and veterinary care.

Plapp said more students have become interested in agriculture. He said Badgers agriculture program currently has an enrollment of about 260 students and the FFA program has about a hundred members.

He said the program will have three instructors during the next school year, as the district plans to hire additional teachers because of increased interest in the program.

Were seeing a definite interest specifically in the animal science class, and our botany numbers have come up too, Plapp said. As I told people during the awards night, I got two of my favorite things I do on a daily basis and thats working with plants and working with food.

Volck said Plapp helped spark his interest in the agriculture field.

I before I came in FFA and stuff like that, I had a different career that I wanted to get into but he changed my direction more toward agriculture and agri-science, which I truly enjoy now, Volck said. Once I get interested in something like that, I keep at it.

Life after retirement

As part of his retirement, Plapp plans to apply to be a fair judge in the State of Wisconsin.

I would be a fair judge throughout Wisconsin if a county fair would need a judge for the foods part of their show or for the flower arranging or for anything like that, Plapp said. It might be as close as Rock County or it might be up all the way to the edge of the state. I filled out the paperwork, but I havent submitted it yet.

Plapp plans to visit his daughter, Megan, in Rochester, Minnesota more often, as well as visit with past co-workers.

I wont have to leave so early on Sunday to get back because I have school the next day, Plapp said. I look forward to going at my own pace and catch up with people who I worked with at Belvidere who retired ahead of me.

Plapp also plans to revisit his Lionel train collection that he enjoyed as a child.

My brother has showed me eBay, and that has not been a bad thing, Plapp said. My wife is noticing packages that show up at the door now. I can scale model some of that stuff and set up a model train set in the basement.
YORKVILLE  Two people died in a crash involving a tanker truck and semi-truck Tuesday morning on Highway 11 east of Union Grove.

Union Grove Fire Department Chief Tim Allen said the two drivers died. No other injuries were reported.

The crash sent black smoke billowing into the sky, visible from miles around.

We had two semis that collided, Allen said. Why they collided were not sure yet  We have no details on what the possible cause is.

The Racine County Sheriffs Office and Wisconsin State Patrol are investigating the cause of the crash.

Allen said his department received a call about the crash at 10:37 a.m. According to Allen, one vehicle was a dry goods tanker that was hauling corn starch, and the other was a semi hauling material that seemed to be large plastic drain tile.

Responding agencies to the crash included the Union Grove Fire Department, South Shore Fire Department, Racine County Sheriff, State Patrol, Racine County Highway Department, Department of Natural Resources and a towing company.

Allen said South Shore Fire Department workers identified the corn starch, some of which came off the truck because of the crash.

The Racine County Sheriff's Office is asking the public to "please avoid the area." Highway 11 is expected to be shut down east of Union Grove and west of the interstate "for an extended period of time," the Sheriff's Office said.

As of 2:10 p.m. Tuesday, roads near the scene of the crash were still closed. Allen did not give a timeline for when they will open.

Debris is still being picked up, and the fuel and oil that had leaked out of both vehicles still need to be cleaned up, Allen said.

Brittany Grimm, who lives in the area, said she heard "one huge explosion, then seven or eight smaller ones" at around 10:45 a.m.

Photos and video from the scene shows a semi-truck with a flatbed trailer completely engulfed and destroyed by flames in a farm field to the south side of Highway 11, with a tanker truck on its side about 100 feet away from the semi, also on the south side of the highway in front of a home.
MILWAUKEE  Searchers on Tuesday found the body of a 10-year-old boy who was swept away in a Milwaukee drainage ditch following severe thunderstorms that brought heavy rain and damaging winds to a wide swath of the Midwest and parts of the South.

The boys body was found during a search of the citys drainage tunnels, WITI-TV reported. Two adults in their 30s who entered the water in an attempt to rescue the child Monday evening were still missing, according to Milwaukee fire and police officials.

Firefighters focused their search Tuesday on three connected tunnels that carry water to the Kinnickinnic River. Search crews did not enter the tunnels Monday night because of dangerous conditions and instead sent a drone inside in an attempt to locate the three, officials said. Police said all three knew each other, but didnt elaborate.

The water was deep and fast-flowing following the severe storms, which also caused damage in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. And the storms also packed a punch early Tuesday as they rolled into West Virginia, where numerous roads were closed by downed trees and power lines.

In the Madison area on Tuesday, thousands remained without electricity by midafternoon as dangerously hot temperatures had nearly all of Wisconsin under a heat advisory. Some Madison Gas and Electric customers werent expected to have power restored until Wednesday, the utility said.

Temperatures in Madison peaked at 96 degrees just before 5 p.m., while the heat index peaked at 102 degrees around 4 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

Crews also kept busy on Tuesday clearing uprooted trees and large branches, along with other debris knocked around by the strong winds.

Madisons Urban Forestry Division received more than 300 calls by Monday night about tree damage throughout the city. By Tuesday afternoon, Forestry crews had cleared the highest-priority calls, said Bryan Johnson, spokesperson for the citys Streets Division.

He said tree-clearing work was expected to continue into Wednesday before the city would pivot and focus on brush collection.

Much of Monona also experienced significant tree damage, said Public Works Director Dan Stephany, with trees blocking roads in about 20 places.

City staff worked into Monday night cutting up and moving the obstructions from streets and sidewalks, but Stephany estimated it will be a couple of weeks until all the timber from fallen trees and limbs is collected.

Get out, get out

Elsewhere, more than 400,000 electric customers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia were without service Tuesday afternoon, according to the website PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.

The storms came as high temperatures and humidity settled in over states stretching from parts of the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and eastward to the Carolinas. More than 100 million people were facing a combination of heat advisories, excessive heat warnings and excessive heat watches through Wednesday following record weekend temperatures in parts of the West and the Southwest.

In Illinois, a supercell thunderstorm with winds in excess of 80 mph toppled trees and damaged power lines Monday evening as it left a trail of damage across the Chicago area and into northwestern Indiana, the National Weather Service said.

Numerous reports of wind damage were reported along the storms path, with Chicagos OHare International Airport recording an 84 mph wind gust, the weather service said. Tornado sirens sounded in Chicago as the storm rumbled in, and crews were assessing the damage Tuesday to determine if any twisters touched down.

In Bellwood in Chicagos west suburbs, village officials said winds stripped the roof off an apartment building, injuring a young woman who was hospitalized after being hit by falling debris but was expected to be fine.

We just heard people screaming that the roof was off, get out, get out, resident Larhonda Neal told WLS-TV.

Elsewhere

In northwestern Indiana, the weather service reported storm damage in Ogden Dunes and said hail 1 inches in diameter pummeled the Lake County town of New Chicago on Monday night.

In northeastern Indiana, the weather service said a 98 mph wind gust was recorded at Fort Wayne International Airport, the strongest wind the airport has ever recorded, eclipsing the previous record of a 91 mph gust recorded on June 30, 2012. Extensive storm damage and downed trees were reported in Fort Wayne, where winds ripped siding and insulation from the hangar of SkyWest, an aircraft maintenance company southwest of the Fort Wayne airports terminal and runways, exposing the planes inside, WANE-TV reported.

Thunderstorm clusters in the lower Great Lakes region met the criteria to be considered a derecho, the National Weather Service tweeted Tuesday. A derecho is a widespread, straight-line wind storm that is associated with fast-moving severe thunderstorms.

In northern West Virginia, three firefighters were taken to a hospital for evaluation after responding to an electrical fire early Tuesday in Wheeling, about 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. Two firefighters were shocked by a power line that fell on the roof of a building which had caught fire during the storm. The third firefighter was injured in a fall.
Authorities arrested 31 members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho pride event Saturday after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear.

The men were standing inside the truck wearing khakis, navy blue shirts and beige hats with white balaclavas covering their faces when Coeur dAlene police stopped the U-Haul and began arresting them on the side of the road.

They came to riot downtown, Coeur dAlene Police Chief Lee White said at a news conference.

All 31 were charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, White said. The men were going through the booking process Saturday afternoon and are scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, he said.

Based on evidence collected and documents, authorities found that the group was planning to riot in several areas of downtown, not just the park, White said.

Police found riot gear, one smoke grenade, shin guards and shields inside the van, White said. They wore arm patches and logos on their hats that identified them as members of Patriot Front, he said.

Police learned about the U-Haul from a tipster, who reported that it looked like a little army was loading up into the vehicle in the parking lot of a hotel, White said. Officials spotted the truck soon after and pulled it over, he said.

Videos of the arrest posted on social media show the men kneeling on the grass with their hands zip-tied behind their backs.

Reclaim America was written on the back of one shirt.

Police led the men, one by one, to the front of patrol cars, took off their masks and then brought them to a police van.

Those arrested came from at least 11 states, including Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Wyoming, Virginia, and Arkansas, White said.

Only one was from Idaho, he said.

The truck was stopped near where the North Idaho Pride Alliance was holding the Coeur dAlene Pride in the Park event. Police had stepped up their presence in the area during the event.

It appears these people did not come here to engage in peaceful events, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris told a Coeur dAlene Press reporter.

Patriot Front is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist hate group that formed after the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

Patriot Front focuses on theatrical rhetoric and activism that can be easily distributed as propaganda for its chapters across the country, the Southern Poverty Law Center said of the group.

The groups manifesto calls for the formation of a white ethnostate in the United States, the Southern Poverty Law Center said.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Q: The history on Tuttle as I know is vastly different.

A: Tuttle was a fully platted city based around the junction of the railroad between Jerome and Bliss, with the branch line going down into Hagerman and over to Castleford, said Bryan Ravenscroft, who has lived in Tuttle for 71 years. This branch line was never finished, dooming Tuttle.

The town of Tuttle was named after the engineer of the first train coming through the town, said Ravenscroft. My great-grandfather Turner Lee Ravenscroft had the freight contract with the railroad and my great-grandmother Lula Ravenscroft had the mail contract. She was the first postmistress for Tuttle. She would put the mail bag on a hook and if there wasnt any freight that day the train would roll slowly through town without stopping. The train crew would grab the mailbag from the hook and throw out the incoming mail.

The Tuttle Post Office lasted from about 1925 to 1974 when the interstate overpass for I-84 exit 147 was built on top of five out of the six buildings remaining in town. I still have the post office sign saying United States Post Office, Tuttle, Idaho.

In 1905 Oregon Short Line officials visited in Twin Falls to discuss the future of the railroad in this rapidly growing country, said Ilene Rounsefell, president of the Gooding County Historical Society. General Stock Agent for the Oregon Short Line C. Ira Tuttle was among the officials attending.

In March of 1912 the passing tracks and freight tracks were finished and Tuttle became a new station on the O.S.L. cutoff, said Rounsefell.

She said C. Ira Tuttle spent most of his life in the west and held the following positions: in 1898, O.S.L. Traffic Department; in 1905 General Livestock Agent of the Oregon Short Line and Union Pacific; in 1913 General Freight Agent of Salt Lake; and in 1915 became Assistant General Freight Agent of the O.S.L. Company, a position he held until his death in 1916.

C. Ira Tuttle was one of the best-known railroad men in the west, said Rounsefell. Throughout the intermountain country he was known to all livestock men and woolgrowers, as he had handled this department of the traffic of the Union Pacific system for more than 20 years. In Idaho, Montana, Utah, Nevada and western Colorado he was a familiar figure at gatherings of livestock men, and largely due to his efforts the western railroads began an active campaign for taking a census of the livestock in their respective territory, that the owners might keep in touch with the packers and wool buyers. He also instituted the system of having the livestock and wool market quotations furnished daily to owners on the line of the Union Pacific system.

On May 1, 1919, the Wendell Irrigationist reported that Tuttle is the name of the new post office on the Bliss cutoff of the O.S.L. between Wendell and Bliss, and Mr. D.B. Eakin was appointed postmaster, said Rounsefell.

She said My conclusions from my research and my opinion is that the community of Tuttle was named after the railroad man, Mr. C. Ira Tuttle, who contributed much to the development of the ranches, livestock raising and marketing for our area, not the Reverend Daniel S. Tuttle as has been previously reported.

The Reverend Tuttles time in Idaho was much earlier in the history of settling our area [1866  1886] and in his publication Missionary to the Mountain West, the chapter where he writes about Idaho, has no mention of him ever visiting southern Idaho. His work was mainly in Boise City, Silver City, and Idaho City with journeys from Boise to Salt Lake where during this time he served 50 churches, said Rounsefell.

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.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Petrofac, a leading services company in the energy sector, has been awarded an Integrated Services Provider (ISP) contract by Anasuria Operating Company (AOC) to provide onshore and offshore personnel and a range of technical support services.



The five-year contract, which has an option to extend, starts in June.



The new contract follows a long history of providing outsourced support for the Anasuria FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading). Petrofac has been duty holder for AOC since 2016 when the asset was divested from Shell.



As part of the transition, the Duty Holder role will transfer to AOC, while the majority of the offshore workforce will continue to be provided by Petrofac.



Nick Shorten, Chief Operating Officer for Petrofacs Asset Solutions business said: Im proud that we are supporting our long-term client AOC in their ambitions to maximise value in the North Sea. In 2016 we helped AOC take on ownership of the mature assets, and today we see AOC take on the operatorship of a successful and long-term business. This is an important milestone for them, while cementing our long partnership, and our continued provision of safe, efficient, integrated services in our core UK market.  TradeArabia News Service
BURLEY  Mini-Cassia is seeing a rally of the food trucks at two locations  making it easy for people to grab their favorite meal or sample dishes carnival style from an array of vendors.

D.L. Evans has developed a food truck pod at the northeast corner of Overland Avenue and 11th Street in Burley and Cozy Coffee owner Tayller Garcia is developing Cozy Corner, another food truck court at her Cozy Coffee location at 520 S. Oneida St. in Rupert.

These food courts are awesome, Dar Jones, of Jerome, said as he munched on a Pepper Jack Cheese Bomb from The Corndog Co. and waited for his Mexican dinner from the El Jefazo Mexican Grill bus on Wednesday.

For Jones, who was in town working on a job, it was his first time at the court  but he said he planned to return for lunch the next day.

At a food court like this you can just get what you want and have options from different places, Jones said.

Danette Freeman of Rupert said she had been to a Mexican-style food truck at the Rupert location, but it was her first time visiting the food trucks in Burley.

They have really good street tacos, Freeman said. I think the food courts are really cool, especially for little towns like Rupert because we dont have a lot of options. Its also a lot faster meal on your lunch break.

Garcia said when she opened Rupert Cozy Coffee, she noted the power poles on the property and thought it would be nice to add spaces for food trucks.

Garcia said the pod will have five spots, four that are permanent and one pop-up spot, designed for a short term.

Taco truck La Guarecita Taqueria, snow cone shack Snow & Stuff, and Robins Roost will be there over the summer. A new truck will join the group in July offering a variety of foods and sweets, Garcia said.

Garcia intends to put in a portable restroom and some seating.

I really want to amp it up and make it inviting so people can come and grab a quick bit and be on with their day, she said.

Jaxon Harris of Malta owns The Corndog Co. food truck, said he got his food trailer, currently parked at the Burley lot, last June.

Before settling at its current location, it was parked in Rupert for a while, he said, then moved to Smiths Food & Drug parking lot and then to Quality Tires.

If customers were unlucky, they may have gone to get their favorite fried dog only to find the truck gone, although loyal customers can track the corndog companys schedule of location on its Facebook page.

The truck offers three varieties of corn dogs, the Epic, the Smokey and the Mini, along with kettle chips or deep-fried cheese.

People wanting to sweeten the deal can add a drizzle of honey to their breaded meat on a stick.

Harris said they are also taking the portable business to as many events as possible, but when it is in town it will be at the Overland Avenue location from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

Harris said he called D.L. Evans to inquire about the availability of the then-vacant lot but was told he would have to put in power and organize it.

At the time we turned that down because we didnt have the time to do it, Harris said.

A few months later, someone from D.L. Evans called them back and said they were on the list for the food truck court, he said.

Its really great to have a permanent spot, Harris said.

David Fillmore, who works for D.L. Evans, said they were getting calls from people inquiring about the vacant lot.

We thought why not see if we can get a group of truck owners together who are interested in it, Fillmore said. We dont have plans for the property right now and thought it would be a great thing for the community.

The Burley food truck park has six stations and is currently full.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
SHOSHONE  The Idaho Transportation Department will hold an in-person meeting Tuesday to share plans for widening Interstate 84 from the South Jerome Interchange to the Twin Falls Interchange. The meeting will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Con Paulos Chevrolet in Jerome.

The meeting will provide members of the public an opportunity to review design plans and provide input. If individuals are unable to participate in the meeting, a self-guided online meeting option will be available from June 14 until June 28 at itdprojects.org/84jerometotwin.

The interstate serves as a major corridor through south-central Idaho and beyond, with traffic counts expected to double over the next 20 years. The purpose of this project is to increase capacity and improve safety. Once funding has been confirmed, construction may start as early as 2023.

Widening this section of I-84 will allow us to proactively address capacity and safety needs between Jerome and Twin Falls, ITD Engineering Manager Crystal Craig said. We are advancing this project to construction as soon as possible and plan to keep the public involved through each phase.

This design project is funded with Transportation Expansion and Congestion Mitigation funds as part of Gov. Brad Littles Leading Idaho initiative. The program allows ITD to accelerate project timelines to address rapid growth and build critical infrastructure today that would otherwise take many years to fund and build. Construction funding will be identified at the time that the project is ready to advertise for construction bids.

For more information on the project or to request updates, visit the project website at itdprojects.org/84jerometotwin or text 84JTF to 866-483-8422.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Abu Dhabis ADQ has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Turkish pharmaceutical company Birgi Mefar Group (BMG), Zawya reports.

The Abu Dhabi Media Office broke the news on Monday but did not disclose details on the potential acquisition.

The deal will be a strategic addition to the UAE sovereign wealth funds healthcare & life sciences platform, the office said in a statement. The Turkish company makes sterile injectable products, namely vials and pre-filled syringes used for vaccines. It exports to more than 30 countries, including markets across Europe and Asia.

ADQ, Abu Dhabis third-largest sovereign wealth fund, early this month acquired Acino, a Swiss-based pharmaceutical manufacturer. The fund also in 2021 landed Pharmax, a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer in the UAE, and Amount in Egypt. ADQ also retains a minority stake in Biocon Biologics Limited, Indias largest bio-pharmaceutical company.
Guatemalan Foreign Minister Mario Adolfo Bucaro Flores reiterated, Monday before the members of the UN Committee of 24, the support of his country to the Moroccan Autonomy Plan as a realistic, credible and serious basis to achieve a solution to the Sahara issue within the framework of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom.

Guatemala takes this opportunity to reiterate its support for the efforts of the Kingdom of Morocco to achieve a just and lasting political solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara, said the Guatemalan top official at a meeting of C24 in New York.

Bucaro Flores also noted that his country considers that the autonomy initiative presented by Morocco in 2007, is a realistic, credible and serious basis for achieving a negotiated solution between the parties, within the framework of respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom and its national sovereignty.

He also considered that the settlement of this regional dispute is necessary both for the population of the Moroccan Sahara and for the stability, security and integration of the Maghreb region.
The police dispersed on Monday with batons a demonstration of teachers in Bissau demanding from the government the payment of nine months of salary arrears.

Several hundred teachers had gathered in front of the Government Palace, headquarters of several ministries on the airport road in Bissau, before the police intervention, according to the same source.

The rally was organized by two of the countrys most representative teachers unions.

The state owes primary and secondary school teachers recruited in 2021 and 2022 nine months of salary arrears, said Seny Djassy, a spokesman for the protesters. We deplore police violence. The government of Prime Minister (Nuno Gomes) Nabiam had promised to give us an advance on (Friday) June 10. For what reason does he not respect his commitments to the teaching profession?

A dozen injured were counted in the ranks of the demonstrators, continued Mr. Djassy. When contacted, the police and the government did not react. A primary and secondary school teacher in the public sector has a monthly salary of about 50,000 CFA francs (76.2 euros) in Guinea-Bissau.

In addition to low salaries and a lack of infrastructure in the education sector, there are numerous teacher strikes, which are the cause of the low level of students who are struggling to receive proper training abroad, according to national education specialists.
At least 50 civilians have died in an attack by suspected jihadists on the village of Seytenga in northern Burkina Faso, one of the highest death tolls since the military junta took power in January.

The army has gone through all the houses and so far 50 bodies have been found, said government spokesman Lionel Bilgo, fearing a heavier toll.

Relatives have returned to Seytenga, and may have taken bodies with them, he said at a press conference on Monday. The attack took place on Saturday night, the government spokesman said.

Seytenga had already been hit on Thursday by a jihadist attack that killed 11 gendarmes. The Burkinabe army announced that it had killed about 40 jihadists following that attack. The week-end killings are retaliation for the actions of the army, which have bled the jihadist groups, said Bilgo. The army is at work, he said.

According to humanitarian organizations in the north of the country, 3,000 people have been collected in nearby towns since Sunday after fleeing Seytenga. This was one of the deadliest jihadist attacks since Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba took power in a coup in late January.

He overthrew President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who had become widely unpopular and was accused of ineffectiveness against insecurity.
Kigali said Monday that the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monusco) is taking sides with Kinshasa, as tensions grow between the two countries, which accuse each other of cross-border attacks and supporting armed groups.

In a statement Saturday calling on all armed groups to immediately cease all forms of violence in eastern DRC, the UN reaffirmed its firm commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the DRC and condemned the use of armed groups acting by proxy.

Responding to a tweet by UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric echoing these statements, Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said Monday that the sovereignty of all countries is equal, whether Rwanda or the DRC.

When the DRC bombs Rwandan territory without provocation, it is a serious matter that has consequences, and this must stop, she continued, before attacking the UN mission in the DRC, which includes 14,100 peacekeepers.

The UN force, Monusco, cannot be part of this aggression or stand idly by as has been the case, otherwise it becomes an accomplice. () By taking sides in this conflict, Monusco has contributed significantly to the intransigence of the DRC government in the cross-border bombardment of Rwandan territory, she added.

Since late May, eastern DRC has been the scene of heavy fighting between the Congolese army (FARDC) and the M23 rebel group. The Kinshasa government accuses its Rwandan neighbor of supporting this group, mainly composed of Congolese Tutsis, and of having deployed 500 soldiers on its soil.
The observation and monitoring of elections should be an integral part of democratic and electoral processes in Africa, stressed Monday, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

In an address at the opening of a specialized training cycle for African electoral observers, Bourita noted that, over the years, Morocco has developed a world-recognized experience in electoral democracy and political governance. Thanks to the tireless efforts made under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, the Kingdom is considered a pioneering model in this field, he said.

The Kingdom stands out proudly as a haven of peace and stability and as a rule-of-law state with a strong democratic foundation, said the minister who opened this first-ever training course dedicated to African election observers, along with African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Bankole Adeoye.

The particularity of Moroccos experience, which is unique at the regional level, has been and continues to be an inspiration at the continental and international levels, said Bourita, recalling that the Kingdom has organized more than forty electoral consultations and referendums.

The Sovereign is committed to promoting human rights and respect for humanitarian values as a means to achieve this goal, through a wide range of actions and measures, initiatives, and projects aimed at laying the foundations of the rule of law, Moroccos top diplomat added.

In this regard, he recalled the speech delivered by the King in 2014 in which he stressed that Africa must trust Africa.

Under this Royal vision, Morocco has offered to provide special assistance to the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the AU to strengthen its functional and operational capacities, and ensure more efficient and effective coordination of elections, Bourita explained.

This training, initiated and organized, for the first time, by a Member State of the AU, is, indeed, the perfect illustration of the firm commitment of Morocco to effectively contribute to the strengthening of the capacities of the AU Commission, especially in the area of political governance and electoral democracy. This is a core mission of our Pan-African Organization and one of the strategic objectives of Agenda 2063, the minister stated.

Africa can, therefore rely on one of its sons to help develop its capabilities and build together another image of the continent and look at its future, he noted.

The observation of elections is not a trivial task. It is the very heart of elections. Election observation is an indispensable tool for improving the quality of elections. It is not just about fighting fraud and correcting mistakes. It is about building confidence, legitimacy and credibility of an electoral process, he said. The role of observation is to make recommendations to improve the electoral system in the future, Bourita argued.
Insurance enrollment, excess deaths, and years of life lost during the pandemic year 2020: (A) Monthly estimated enrollment in employer-sponsored insurance (green) and reported enrollment in Medicaid/CHIP (orange). (B) Monthly total enrollment in all insurance types (blue) compared with total enrollment in any insurance type in December 2019 (black). (C) Monthly excess deaths among those below age 65 due to pandemic-driven insurance loss between March and August 2020. (D) Years of life lost in each month between March and August 2020 due to pandemic-driven insurance loss. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2200536119

A team of researchers at the Yale School of Public Health, working with colleagues from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Florida, has found evidence that suggests hundreds of thousands of lives could have been saved during the pandemic if people in the U.S. had been covered by a universal health care system. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group outlines their estimates of deaths that could have been prevented during the pandemic and the possible cost savings if the U.S. had a universal health care system.

Prior research has shown that the American system of providing medical insurance to its populace leads to many preventable deaths. Most health insurance in the U.S. is employer-providedthose who are unemployed or who work for entities that do not offer health insurance have a higher likelihood of illness and death than do those who have insurance. In this new effort, the researchers analyzed the number of people who died in the U.S. of COVID-19 due to a lack of insurance during the pandemic.

The researchers used existing data to compare the mortality risk for people with or without insuranceand also their risk of dying from anything else. They then used population characteristics of people in general who had no insurance to determine their likelihood of dying compared to people who did have insurance. Next, they used the data they had compiled to estimate how many people died of COVID-19 through March 2022 because they had no insurance. They found that approximately 338,000 people could have been saved during the pandemic if they had had access to insurance through a universal health care system.

The researchers also analyzed other data sources to calculate the cost of implementing a universal health care system in the U.S. and the savings it could provide. They found that the savings would come to approximately $438 billion a year in non-pandemic years and would have been $459 billion in 2020.

The researchers conclude that investing in a universal health care system would save many lives each year and would also cost far less. They note that it would also provide a much-needed safety net for the next pandemic.

More information: Alison P. Galvani et al, Universal healthcare as pandemic preparedness: The lives and costs that could have been saved during the COVID-19 pandemic, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Alison P. Galvani et al, Universal healthcare as pandemic preparedness: The lives and costs that could have been saved during the COVID-19 pandemic,(2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2200536119

 2022 Science X Network
Across regions, a large proportion of people facing water insecurity also reported food insecurity. The overall prevalence of water insecurity ranged from just below 15% in Asia to over 34% in sub-Saharan Africa. Credit: Hilary Bethancourt and Sera Young, Northwestern University; Edward A. Frongillo, University of South Carolina; and Sara Viviani and Carlo Cafiero, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

About one-tenth of the world's population suffers from hunger and nearly one in three people face food insecurity, according to recent estimates. Yet behind those stark figures lurks another, closely related threat: water insecurity.

In a new 25-country study, researchers report a strong link between water insecuritya lack of reliable access to sufficient waterand food insecurity. The findings, based on data collected for the first time in 2020 by Northwestern University and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) via the Gallup World Poll, suggest that improving access to water could be key to sustainably and effectively addressing food insecurity in many places.

The study found that people who frequently had trouble with water access and use were nearly three times as likely to face food insecurity compared with those who did not. Further, more than two-thirds of people who were water insecure in 2020 were concurrently experiencing food insecurity. Reliable access to water is important not only to maintain proper hydration but also to support cooking, hygiene and farming.

"Water insecurity is a major global health issue and its impact on biological and social well-being is only likely to grow with climate change," said Hilary Bethancourt, Ph.D., MPH, research associate at Northwestern University, a member of the research team. "These data suggest that we have seen just the tip of the iceberg of understanding the role that water insecurity plays in food, nutrition and well-being in general."

Bethancourt will present the findings online at Nutrition 2022 Live Online, the flagship annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held June 14-16. Bethancourt conducted the study with Sera Young, Ph.D., at Northwestern University, Edward A. Frongillo, Ph.D., at the University of South Carolina, and Sara Viviani and Carlo Cafiero at FAO.

The researchers analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of over 31,000 people ages 15 and older in 25 low and middle-income countries across Africa, Latin America and Asia. Overall, about 18% of participants were classified as water insecure; this ranged from about 15% in Asia to over 34% in sub-Saharan Africa. Water insecurity was strongly linked with food insecurity overall, though researchers said the relationship varied across regions, likely due to differences in climate, water infrastructure, social services and other factors.

While the study did not assess the causes of food or water insecurity, researchers said several factors could explain the linkage. For those living in poverty, spending money on water can mean less money available for food. For farmers, water insecurity can mean less water available for growing crops and raising livestock. Time is also an issue: traveling far from home to collect water detracts from the time available to generate income or prepare food. Water insecurity could also affect nutritional qualitya subcategory of food insecuritysince lacking the water to cook healthier foods like grains and beans may lead to a greater reliance on ready-to-eat processed foods.

Based on these findings, researchers suggested food insecurity and water insecurity should be measured and addressed in tandem. This would ensure that insufficient water does not pose an additional barrier to food security and in particular to food utilization, for example, by preventing people from using food provided by food assistance programs because there is no water to prepare it. As such, efforts to improve access to water could also bring benefits for food security.

"In some cases, the most sustainable way to improve food security may be through improving water security," said Bethancourt. "For example, providing households with water on premises may free up time to engage in income-generating activities so that they can purchase more or higher quality food. Providing irrigation can improve farmers' ability to grow food, raise livestock and produce cash crops."

Researchers noted that the study methods did not allow them to pinpoint a causal relationship between food insecurity and water insecurity or rule out all other factors that may influence both. Bethancourt said further research is needed to understand the factors that influence the degree to which water insecurity co-exists with or exacerbates food insecurity.

Explore further Researchers identify groups most vulnerable to food insecurity during pandemic
Servomex, a global expert in gas analysis, has appointed two new members to its team as part of its office relocation to Abu Dhabi.

Michel Atallah has been appointed as Customer Support Manager and Hamza Yousaf joins as Field Service Engineer, both reporting to Afzal Khan, General Manager.

A graduate of chemical engineering from Damascus, Syria, Atallah brings with him experience in leadership in the industrial automation business. This includes working across project management, sales and marketing, accounting and product management, focusing on clients within the oil and gas, energy, chemical and petrochemical industries. He will provide a range of technical and commercial support within his new role working alongside field sales in a pre-sales capacity and maximising opportunities within the marketplace.

Handling field service

Yousaf graduated from Mirpur University of Science and Technology, Pakistan, in electronics engineering. With experience in analytical instruments, process gas and liquid analysers, physical properties analysers, CEMS, laboratory analysers and related software he has also worked closely with clients in the oil and gas, energy, chemical and petrochemical industries.

Prior to joining Servomex, he worked as a Field Service Engineer in analytical instrumentation and maintenance systems in the UAE. His new duties include handling field service orders, supporting users to start-up, commissioning and routine service, as well as providing service training and technical support to customers and distributors across the Middle East.

Khan said: We are really looking forward to being able to deliver our expertise more locally to our growing customer base across this region.

Increasing demand

The recent move had been driven by increasing demand for Servomex gas analysis solutions to support continued regional growth in hydrocarbon processing, delivered in partnership with Servomexs specialist Industrial Process and Emissions division.

Key customer requirements include an increasing need for expert solutions for process, combustion and emissions control, with particularly strong demand continuing for both the SERVOTOUGH 2700 combustion analyser and the Laser 3 Plus series of environmental, combustion and process oxygen TDL analysers.-- TradeArabia News Service
Graphical abstract. Credit: Cell Reports Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100652

Recovery from severe COVID-19 is characterized by a reduction of certain white blood cells and changes in the molecular regulation of the immune system. This is the conclusion of an international research team coordinated by DZNE, which reports on this in the journal Cell Reports Medicine. The scientists examined the blood of 139 patients who had received intensive care. Using a novel method of data analysis, they identifieddespite individual differences in the time course of the diseasemechanisms of shared relevance that characterized the recovery process from an immunological perspective. These findings demonstrate a novel approach for assessing disease status, which could contribute to more targeted and thus more effective treatment.

The current study is the result of an international effort in which DZNE collaborated with Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, Technion Institute in Israel and Radbourg University in the Netherlands. The challenge faced by the researchers was to identify commonalities in the data from different patients. This is because in COVID-19, as in many other diseases, the recovery process can vary greatly from person to person, as evidenced, for example, by how symptoms develop over time and how long hospitalization lasts.

"This makes it difficult to identify generalizable cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the disease. However, such insights are relevant for understanding the nature of the disease and the body's responseand thus for deciding on the optimal treatment," says bioinformatician and genome researcher Dr. Amit Frishberg, first author of the current publication. "Therefore, to analyze the data, we used a novel method that we recently developed. Our computational approach is designed to discover common patterns in the variety of findings from different patients that may not be obvious."

Blood analyses

COVID-19 can affect multiple organs. However, the disease is known to be significantly shaped by the immune response. "This response is reflected in the blood because that is where the white blood cells circulate," Frishberg says. "These cells are essential components of the immune system. Therefore, our study focused on the blood of patients."

In total, the researchers studied blood samples from 139 adults, their ages ranged from 21 to 86 years, and most were male. The data came from three different cohorts. All patients had received treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU) including ventilation: 105 recovered to the point that were eventually discharged from the ICU, while 34 died. From most of the individuals studied here, there were multiple blood samples, usually collected during a period of approximately three weeks after admission to the ICU. Also, self-reported health status three months after ICU admission (and subsequent discharge) was available for some patients.

A common thread

The analysis revealed that the recovery process is associated with a gradual reduction in the number of so-called neutrophils. They are the most common white blood cells and within the arsenal of the immune system, they act as one of the first defense lines against pathogens. "We found that patients with severe COVID-19 have a high number of mature, that is, fully developed neutrophils in their blood, whose counts decrease during the recovery process. The readings of other white blood cells also change as they return to normal levels, with some of them falling while others rise. However, these changes are less pronounced than in neutrophils," Frishberg says.

"Also, we see that in ICU patients, an increase in mature neutrophils over a prolonged period of time is very likely to result in a fatal outcome. This is possibly because the steady increase is associated with an overshooting and therefore harmful immune response.The number of these cells in the blood could therefore serve as a biomarker and be more significant for predictions of disease development than other biomarkers currently being discussed."

The researchers detected further changes in the course of recovery that affect molecular signaling pathways and regulatory mechanisms of the immune system. "What is remarkable about our findings is that recovery followed the same biological pattern in all patients, despite individual differences in the time course of the disease. There is, so to speak, a common thread. In our data, we have found no evidence that the recovery process after severe COVID-19 may follow different trajectories," Frishberg says.

Aligning transcriptomes

For their analysis, the scientists relied primarily on blood transcriptomes. These data sets reflect gene activity of all blood cells at a given time. Typically, more than 10,000 different genes are registered. "Blood transcriptomes provide a very detailed picture of what's happing immunologically," says Prof. Joachim Schultze, Director of Systems Medicine at DZNE and a professor at the University of Bonn, who was also involved in the current study. "The analysis of this very complex data requires computational techniques. This is where our new approach came in."

The method applied by the researchers relies on a computational algorithm that arranges all transcriptomes from different patients in a shared sequence. "This is based on similarities and on the assumption that all recovered patients ultimately follow the same recovery trajectory. The idea is that each transcriptome is a snapshot of the disease state that evolves into to the next snapshot. Similar to how many individual frames ultimately make up a movie," Schultze says.

From this ranking of individual, experimentally acquired transcriptomes, a model is computed that reflects the continuous course of the recovery process. In this, the biological dynamics over time are characterized by a parameter calculated by the algorithm. "Since the recovery process can vary individually, the same immunological situation may occur at different times in different patients, for example, with respect to symptoms onset. Chronological time is therefore not an appropriate measure to capture the development of the recovery process on a biological scale," Schultze explains. "Thus, our approach is based on computing a parameter, which is called pseudotime and which is assigned to each patient sample. In this, low pseudotime represents a severe disease state or an initial state of recovery, while high pseudotime indicates an advanced state of recovery."

An approach for better treatment

From this model, the researchers were able to derive their findings on the decrease in neutrophils and changes in regulatory mechanisms, all of which were not evident from the raw data. In addition, having access to data from different cohorts allowed them to validate their findings and check whether the assumptions their model was based on, were in fact consistent with the experimental findings.

"Our study shows how to extract insights from complex data by using algorithms and modeling. We believe that it is a powerful approach with a potential for broad applications. Many diseases are characterized by heterogeneous and patient-specific recovery trajectories. In light of this, our analysis method may also be useful for research on diseases other than COVID-19," Schultze notes.

"The bottom line is that our study presents a novel approach to assess disease recovery status in ICU patients based on blood transcriptomes. In practice, this may contribute to more targeted and thus more effective treatment of COVID-19. Considering this, it might be worthwhile to evaluate to what extent such examinations can be implemented in clinical routine."

More information: Amit Frishberg et al, Mature neutrophils and a NF-B-to-IFN transition determine the unifying disease recovery dynamics in COVID-19, Cell Reports Medicine (2022). Journal information: Cell Reports Medicine Amit Frishberg et al, Mature neutrophils and a NF-B-to-IFN transition determine the unifying disease recovery dynamics in COVID-19,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100652
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

More than 21 million people provide unpaid care for millions of people living with dementia in the U.S. With input from caregivers, researchers from Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University, the University of Wisconsin and Purdue University are developing and testing Helping the Helpers, a user-centered, evidence-based app to support dementia caregivers as they help manage medicationsvery often multiple drugs for various conditionsof individuals who cannot do so independently.

In one of the first studies leveraging app-based information technology to help caregivers with medication management for individuals living with dementia, and with the goal of sharing their research with others who are developing or adapting technology to help caregivers, the Regenstrief, IU, Wisconsin and Purdue research scientists have published their gold standard methodology related to:

Remote assessment of the needs of caregivers who manage medications for people with dementia.

Co-design, including input from caregivers, of a protype app to support caregiver-assisted medication.

Feasibility testing of the prototype app.

Among other innovations, the researchers added a virtual component to contextual inquiry to learn what caregivers go through during the day as they tackle medication management.

"We want to know what's going on," said study corresponding author Richard Holden, Ph.D., M.S., human factors engineer, social cognitive psychologist and implementation scientist. "So we ask participants to record what they are going through during the day related to medication management and send something to us twice a day. It can be a photo, a video, an audio file or a written memo. It might be a photo of the large number of medications that have to be managed. It might be a video of a patient refusing to take medications. We analyze this input and its an important component of our participatory co-design with caregivers' innovation."

Managing the medications for individuals with dementia is often confusing, time consuming and difficult, especially if the cognitively impaired patient is resistant, belligerent or both. Caregivers, many of whom have other responsibilities inside or outside the home, are typically under-trained, under-resourced and under-supported in their role as medication manager. This can lead to significant caregiver burden, stress and potentially mistakes which might be life threatening to the individual with Alzheimer's or related dementia.

"My family and I understand the daunting challenges of caring for someone with dementia. My mother and brother are the primary caregivers for my father, and I am a remote 'tele-caregiver.' We know that caregivers need support," said Dr. Holden. "As the U.S. population ages, the need for user-centered support for caregivers, like our Helping the Helpers app, becomes even more necessary. My colleagues and I are presenting the methodology of our study in this paper so other researchers and developers will have access to the innovative methods framework we devised to produce technology meeting the needs of the intended end usersactual caregivers."

According to the Alzheimer's Association, an estimated 6.5 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's dementia in 2022. That number is predicted to rise to an estimated 7.2 million in 2025 and is projected to reach 13.8 million in 2060, barring the development of any medical breakthroughs to prevent, slow or cure Alzheimer's.

"There are countless numbers of medication management apps currently available that support a variety of tasks, but very few are developed and designed for caregivers with specific attention to caregiver needs," said Noll Campbell, PharmD, M.S., of Regenstrief Institute and Purdue University College of Pharmacy.

The Helping the Helpers paper concludes that "ultimately, if successful, our IT (information technology) intervention should be useable and acceptable to a range of users across the U.S, who could benefit immediately from IT without directly or indirectly incurring the costs associated with clinician-intensive treatments."

The research is published in Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy.

Explore further Using technology to help informal caregivers manage medication for patients with dementia

More information: Nicole E. Werner et al, Helping the HelpersA research protocol for user-centered technology to aid caregiver management of medications for people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy (2022). Nicole E. Werner et al, Helping the HelpersA research protocol for user-centered technology to aid caregiver management of medications for people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2022.03.014
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, there have been significant shortages of infant formulas in some stores, largely caused by supply chain issues, as well as a recent recall of several contaminated baby formula products.

While this unfortunate crisis continues to impact thousands of caregivers needing to feed their babies, Mayo Clinic continues to offer advice on safe alternatives in the short term to patients.

Alternative formula options

For most infants, it is OK to switch to any available formula, including store brands, unless the infant is on a specific extensively hydrolyzed or amino acid-based formula, such as Elecareno generic brands currently exist for this formula. If the infant needs specialized formula, the caregiver should contact the infant's provider.

If caregivers cannot find infant formula near them, temporary alternatives include:

If the caregiver can afford it, they can purchase formula online until store shortages ease. See the approved list of infant formula manufacturers from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is recommended to purchase from well-recognized distributors and pharmacies rather than individually sold or auction sites.

Checking reputable social media groups, such as 'Formula Finder' on Facebook, as these groups are dedicated to infant feeding and formula, and members may have ideas for where to find formula, including donor breast milk. Use caution and be careful about sharing personal or financial information.

Using informal community milk-sharing from someone they know and trust. This is different from donor breast milk, in that the milk is not regulated or pasteurized.

Using whole cow's milk for infants 6 months and older for a limited time onlyapproximately one to two weeks.

Using formula past the 'use by' date as a short-term solution only, approximately one to two weeks maximum. This option is better than not having any other alternative options available in the short term. If the formula is over six months past its 'use by' date, it should not be used because it may have lost some of its nutrients. Caregivers are asked to contact their infant's health care team to discuss this as an option.

Caregivers and infants who are being discharged from Mayo Clinic following birth will be provided with resources and options for alternative infant formula.

Help is on its way

There are several federal government actions currently taking place to help with the baby formula shortage in the U.S. including:

Easing import rules for foreign baby formula manufacturers.

Airlifting European formula to the U.S.

Invoking federal emergency authorization to prioritize U.S. production.

Abbott Nutrition has restarted production at the Michigan baby formula location that has been closed since February due to contamination, focusing on specialty formula firstwhich is expected to be released by June 20as well as restarting Similac production thereafterthe company indicates it will likely take six to eight weeks before they will be at full production capacity.

2022 Mayo Clinic News Network.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Nanostructured lipid carriers containing docetaxel and functionalized with bevacizumab magnified 100,000 times. Credit: Leonardo Di Filippo/UNESP

A drug carrier able to reach the brain, bind to an aggressive type of tumor called glioblastoma multiforme, and release a chemotherapeutic agent has been tested for the first time by Brazilian researchers. According to an article published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics, the potential treatment was shown to be effective in isolated cells and animal models thanks to a combination of nanotechnology, chemotherapy and a monoclonal antibody.

Glioblastoma multiforme accounts for 60% of all brain tumors in adults and is also the most aggressive type of brain cancer. Even after surgery, radiation therapy and conventional chemotherapy, patient survival averages about 14 months. One of the reasons is angiogenesis, a process whereby the tumor quickly creates its own blood vessels in order to develop.

"Another difficulty is the blood-brain barrier, which prevents drugs from reaching the tumor," said Leonardo Di Filippo, a doctoral candidate and researcher at Sao Paulo State University's School of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Araraquara (FCFAr-UNESP).

To address these challenges, Di Filippo worked with fellow researchers at UNESP and two other Brazilian institutions, the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and the University of Sao Paulo (USP) at Ribeirao Preto, to combine docetaxel, a powerful chemotherapy drug, with a nanostructured lipid carrier designed to cross the blood-brain barrier. "We developed a formulation in which the substances were combined in a stable manner," he said.

The researchers also coupled the carrier to bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody developed against vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and approved for other uses. "VEGF is the cancer protein that stimulates angiogenesis and tends to be overexpressed in glioblastoma multiforme," Di Filippo explained. The goal was to create a formulation capable of penetrating the brain and releasing a chemotherapy drug to destroy the tumor.

"Development of this system with this application is an innovation," said Marlus Chorili, a professor at UNESP and principal investigator for the project, which was supported by FAPESP.

Quality testing

Having created the nanostructured lipid carrier with docetaxel and bevacizumab, the researchers set out to make sure it met certain basic criteria. Laboratory tests showed its size to be 128 nanometers, small enough to overcome the blood-brain barrier. In addition, docetaxel entrapment was 90% and bevacizumab coupling efficiency was 62%. "Those are positive numbers, sufficient to guarantee adequate therapeutic concentrations," Di Filippo said.

The next step was an assessment of the compound's effects on two glioblastoma cell lines and healthy cells. The nanocarrier eliminated five times more cancer cells than docetaxel on its own without affecting healthy cells. It was particularly effective against U87MG, a glioblastoma cell that overexpresses VEGF, but less so against A172, which expresses relatively little VEGF. "These findings show that our nanocarrier selectively attacks cells that express a lot of VEGF," Di Filippo said.

The researchers also found that the potential medication was able to enter cancer cells and release docetaxel continuously for about 84 hours, suggesting prolonged availability of the chemotherapy drug in the organism.

Good results in animals

Using techniques developed by the UNICAMP team, rats were inoculated with glioma cells (glioma is a type of cancer similar to glioblastoma). Five days later they were divided into six groups: treatment with placebo; docetaxel alone; nanocarrier alone, without bevacizumab or docetaxel; nanocarrier and bevacizumab, without docetaxel; nanocarrier and docetaxel, without bevacizumab; nanocarrier with docetaxel and bevacizumab.

After 15 days, the first four groups were found not to have benefited from the treatment. In the fifth group (nanocarrier with docetaxel) and sixth group (nanocarrier with docetaxel and bevacizumab), tumor volume was reduced by 40% and 70% respectively. "These are significant numbers for trials of this kind," Chorilli said.

The researchers also found that the formulation did not cause any deterioration in levels of biomarkers such as albumin and creatinine compared with the use of docetaxel on its own. "This shows that toxicity was not intensified," Di Filippo explained.

Next steps

According to Chorilli, the results were positive but these were the first experiments with the nanostructured lipid carrier for this specific application. "We need to conduct more studies using isolated cells and animals. If the results against glioblastoma multiforme remain good, we could try to find partners for clinical trials with human volunteers," he said.

The study reported in the article highlighted the potential of lipid nanocarriers in treating brain cancer, he added: "We can use different combinations with other monoclonal antibodies and chemotherapy drugs against other types of cancer. Many more years will undoubtedly be required to complete this research."

Explore further Bevacizumab may cause cognitive impairment

More information: Leonardo Delello Di Filippo et al, Glioblastoma multiforme targeted delivery of docetaxel using bevacizumab-modified nanostructured lipid carriers impair in vitro cell growth and in vivo tumor progression, International Journal of Pharmaceutics (2022). Leonardo Delello Di Filippo et al, Glioblastoma multiforme targeted delivery of docetaxel using bevacizumab-modified nanostructured lipid carriers impair in vitro cell growth and in vivo tumor progression,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2022.121682
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The World Health Organization said Tuesday it would hold an emergency meeting next week to determine whether to classify the global monkeypox outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern.

The UN agency is also working to change the name of the disease, which was long confined to Western and Central Africa until more than 1,000 cases were detected in dozens of countries across the world over the last two months.

"The outbreak of monkeypox is unusual and concerning," World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists.

"For that reason I have decided to convene the Emergency Committee under the international health regulations next week, to assess whether this outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern".

The emergency committee will meet on June 23 to discuss the designation, which is the highest alarm the UN agency can sound.

New name

Tedros added that the "WHO is also working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus... and the disease it causes."

"We will make announcements about the new names as soon as possible."

The announcement comes after more than 30 scientists wrote last week that there was an "urgent need for a non-discriminatory and non-stigmatising nomenclature for monkeypox".

"In the context of the current global outbreak, continued reference to, and nomenclature of this virus being African is not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatising," they wrote.

While monkeypox was first discovered in macaques, many cases are believed to be transmitted to humans by rodents.

The normal initial symptoms of monkeypox include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes and a blistery chickenpox-like rash.

However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that current cases do not always present flu-like symptoms, and rashes are sometimes limited to certain areas.

Tedros said that 1,600 confirmed monkeypox cases and 1,500 suspected cases have been reported to the WHO this year from 39 countries, 32 of which have been recently hit by the virus.

While 72 deaths have been reported in countries where monkeypox was already endemic, none have been seen in the newly affected countries, Tedros said.

"Although WHO is seeking to verify news reports from Brazil of a monkeypox-related death there," he added.

No mass vaccination

To fight the global spread, the WHO aims to recommend "tried-and-tested public health tools including surveillance, contact-tracing and isolation of infected patients".

However, the WHO does not recommend mass vaccination against monkeypox, he said, after the European Union said Tuesday it had purchased almost 110,000 vaccine doses.

"While smallpox vaccines are expected to provide some protection against monkeypox, there is limited clinical data, and limited supply," Tedros told journalists.

"Any decision about whether to use vaccines should be made jointly by individuals who may be at risk and their health care provider, based on an assessment of risks and benefits, on a case-by-case basis."

Rosamund Lewis, WHO's technical lead for monkeypox, told journalists that there are a few smallpox vaccines that may be protective against monkeypox.

But "much of the data that we have is from years gone by, and/or from clinical studiesthere is not a lot of clinical data," she said.

She called on countries that are vaccinating to share their research and pointed to a set of interim guidance documents released by the WHO.

Tedros also emphasised that vaccines must be "available equitably wherever needed," adding that the WHO is working with its member states "to develop a mechanism for fair access to vaccines and treatments".

Explore further EU buys 110,000 vaccine doses against monkeypox

 2022 AFP
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Have you recently contracted COVID-19 for the first time during the pandemic? Those who have avoided the virus for more than two years may be disappointed to catch it during the current, relatively mild wave. But there are a variety of factors contributing to this unofficial, anecdotal trend.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease specialist at The University of Kansas Health System, spoke with The Star about these so-called COVID "first-timers" and what we can all do to stay safe.

"I've heard more and more anecdotes of people who survived two years without having been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and now they are getting infected," he said in a news briefing.

How many current COVID-19 patients have the disease for the first time?

We don't know. The popularity of home testing and a patchwork system of ways to report positive test results have made case numbers in general extremely difficult to track, while tracking "first-timers" is even harder.

"I don't believe there's any prospective data on who gets it who has not had it before," said Hawkinson. "That would be very difficult to [determine], number one, because we don't even have an accurate count of the total cases."

That's because more people are testing at home, and mass testing events and lab-based COVID testing have declined significantly since the original omicron variant surge, leaving state and CDC officials in the dark about how many positive cases are really out there.

Hawkinson added that while retrospective data about "first-timers" may be available in the future, it would likely take a year or more to gather and report.

"Even that is going to be difficult because you're going to have [to] identify and know for certain that that person did not have [COVID] before," he said.

If you develop symptoms of COVID-19, testing for it as soon as possible is very important, he added. A positive test result will get you access to new antiviral treatments like the highly effective Paxlovid pill, reducing your risk of getting severely ill.

Why are some people catching COVID-19 now after avoiding it for over two years?

Since most knowledge about recent first-time cases is anecdotal, it's difficult to tell how widespread this phenomenon is and what causes it. Dr. Hawkinson said that there is likely a combination of factors to blame. Here are a few he listed:

Many people are relaxing their mask-wearing and social distancing habits.

Vaccinated or previously infected people may have the virus but be asymptomatic, causing them to spread it to others without knowing.

Recent subvariants of the omicron strain, including BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5, may be better at evading the immune system's antibodies than previous variants.

The arrival of summer has led to more travel and social gatherings where the virus can be spread.

The CDC lists the counties that make up the Kansas City metro area in the "high" risk category for community transmission of COVID-19. They are part of the nearly 79% of U.S. counties with this rating.

If I got vaccinated, why did I still catch COVID? Does this mean vaccines don't work?

No. The existing COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective against the worst effects of the virus, and are working just as they were intended to.

"The vaccines were never meant to prevent infection," Hawkinson told The Star. "It does have some mild protection against infection, especially in that short time, say four to six weeks after your vaccine dose. But for six months or more we see that you have continued good immunity and good protection against hospitalization, severe disease and death."

Hawkinson added that new formulations of the vaccine are already in development and are going through trials right now. These new vaccines may include increased protection against omicron and its subvariants. News about these new vaccines could be released as soon as the next month or two.

If you're wondering how long your booster shot will last, we wrote this guide.

What can I do to prevent catching COVID-19 for the first time?

The guidance on avoiding COVID-19 hasn't changed: Hawkinson advised practicing social distancing, wearing a mask indoors and avoiding large gatherings. It's also important to get vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) if you haven't already.

Booster shots are also extremely important to reinforce your body's defenses against the virus. You can get a booster shot as soon as four months after you complete your initial round of vaccination, and some people are also eligible for a second booster after that.

2022 The Kansas City Star.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Successful peer play builds underlying cognitive skills in social and self-regulatory domains, which in turn help children to form high-quality peer relational networks. Credit: PEDAL Research Centre, University of Cambridge.

Children who learn to play well with others at pre-school age tend to enjoy better mental health as they get older, new research shows. The findings provide the first clear evidence that 'peer play ability', the capacity to play successfully with other children, has a protective effect on mental health.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge analyzed data from almost 1,700 children, collected when they were aged three and seven. Those with better peer play ability at age three consistently showed fewer signs of poor mental health four years later. They tended to have lower hyperactivity, parents and teachers reported fewer conduct and emotional problems, and they were less likely to get into fights or disagreements with other children.

Importantly, this connection generally held true even when the researchers focused on sub-groups of children who were particularly at risk of mental health problems. It also applied when they considered other risk factors for mental healthsuch as poverty levels, or cases in which the mother had experienced serious psychological distress during or immediately after pregnancy.

The findings suggest that giving young children who might be vulnerable to mental health issues access to well-supported opportunities to play with peersfor example, at playgroups run by early years specialistscould be a way to significantly benefit their long-term mental health.

Dr. Jenny Gibson, from the Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL) Center at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, said: "We think this connection exists because through playing with others, children acquire the skills to build strong friendships as they get older and start school. Even if they are at risk of poor mental health, those friendship networks will often get them through."

Vicky Yiran Zhao, a Ph.D. Student in PEDAL and first author on the study added: "What matters is the quality, rather than the quantity, of peer play. Games with peers that encourage children to collaborate, for example, or activities that promote sharing, will have positive knock-on benefits."

The researchers used data from 1,676 children in the Growing up in Australia study, which is tracking the development of children born in Australia between March 2003 and February 2004. It includes a record, provided by parents and caregivers, of how well the children played in different situations at age three. This covered different types of peer play, including simple games; imaginative pretend play; goal-directed activities (such as building a tower from blocks); and collaborative games like hide-and-seek.

These four peer play indicators were used to create a measure of 'peer play ability'the underlying ability of a child to engage with peers in a playful way. The researchers calculated the strength of the relationship between that measure and reported symptoms of possible mental health problemshyperactivity, and conduct, emotional and peer problemsat age seven.

The study then analyzed two sub-groups of children within the overall cohort. These were children with high 'reactivity' (children who were very easily upset and difficult to soothe in infancy), and those with low 'persistence' (children who struggled to persevere when encountering a challenging task). Both these traits are linked to poor mental health outcomes.

Across the entire dataset, children with a higher peer play ability score at age three consistently showed fewer signs of mental health difficulties at age seven. For every unit increase in peer play ability at age three, children's measured score for hyperactivity problems at age seven fell by 8.4%, conduct problems by 8%, emotional problems by 9.8% and peer problems by 14%. This applied regardless of potential confounding factors such as poverty levels and maternal distress, and whether or not they had plentiful opportunities to play with siblings and parents.

The effect was evident even among the at-risk groups. In particular, among the 270 children in the 'low persistence' category, those who were better at playing with peers at age three consistently had lower hyperactivity, and fewer emotional and peer problems, at age seven. This may be because peer play often forces children to problem-solve and confront unexpected challenges, and therefore directly addresses low persistence.

The benefits of peer play were weaker for the high reactivity sub-group, possibly because such children are often anxious and withdrawn, and less inclined to play with others. Even among this group, however, better peer play at age three was linked to lower hyperactivity at age seven.

The consistent link between peer play and mental health probably exists because playing with others supports the development of emotional self-control and socio-cognitive skills, such as the ability to understand and respond to other people's feelings. These are fundamental to building stable, reciprocal friendships. There is already good evidence that the better a person's social connections, the better their mental health tends to be. For children, more social connections also create a virtuous cycle, as they usually lead to more opportunities for peer play.

The researchers suggest that assessing children's access to peer play at an early age could be used to screen for those potentially at risk of future mental health problems. They also argue that giving the families of at-risk children access to environments which promote high-quality peer play, such as playgroups or small-group care with professional child minders, could be an easily deliverable and low-cost way to reduce the chances of mental health problems later.

"The standard offer at the moment is to put the parents on a parenting course," Gibson said. "We could be focusing much more on giving children better opportunities to meet and play with their peers. There are already fantastic initiatives up and down the country, run by professionals who provide exactly that service to a very high standard. Our findings show how crucial their work is, especially given that the other risk factors jeopardizing children's mental health could often be down to circumstances beyond their parents' control."

The study is published in Child Psychiatry & Human Development.

Explore further Children who play adventurously have better mental health, research finds

More information: Evidence for Protective Efects of Peer Play in the Early Years: Better Peer Play Ability at Age 3 Years Predicts Lower Risks of Externalising and Internalising Problems at Age 7 Years in a Longitudinal Cohort Analysis, Child Psychiatry & Human Development (2022). Journal information: Child Psychiatry & Human Development Evidence for Protective Efects of Peer Play in the Early Years: Better Peer Play Ability at Age 3 Years Predicts Lower Risks of Externalising and Internalising Problems at Age 7 Years in a Longitudinal Cohort Analysis,(2022). DOI: 10.1007/s10578-022-01368-x
The differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into retinal pigment epithelium for therapeutic use to treat acute macular degeneration. The spotlights represent the use of single-cell RNA sequencing to reveal the gene expression state of cells at early, mid, and late time points of retinal pigment epithelium differentiation. Credit: Ella Maru Studio.

As we age, so do our eyes; most commonly, this involves changes to our vision and new glasses, but there are more severe forms of age-related eye problems. One of these is age-related macular degeneration, which affects the maculathe back part of the eye that gives us sharp vision and the ability to distinguish details. The result is a blurriness in the central part of our visual field.

The macula is part of the eye's retina, which is the light-sensitive tissue mostly composed of the eye's visual cells: cone and rod photoreceptor cells. The retina also contains a layer called the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which has several important functions, including light absorption, cleaning up cellular waste, and keeping the other cells of the eye healthy.

The cells of the RPE also nourish and maintain the eye's photoreceptor cells, which is why one of the most promising treatment strategies for age-related macular degeneration is to replace aging, degenerating RPE cells with new ones grown from human embryonic stem cells.

Scientist have proposed several methods for converting stem cells into RPE, but there is still a gap in our knowledge of how cells respond to these stimuli over time. For example, some protocols take a few months while others can take up to a year. And yet, scientists are not clear as to what exactly happens over that period of time.

Mixed cell populations

"None of the differentiation protocols proposed for clinical trials have been scrutinized over time at the single-cell levelwe know they can make retinal pigment cells, but how cells evolve to that state remains a mystery," says Dr. Gioele La Manno, a researcher with EPFL's Life Sciences Independent Research (ELISIR) program.

"Overall, the field has been so focused on the product of differentiation, that the path undertaken has been sometimes overlooked," he adds. "For the field to move forward, it is important to understand aspects of the dynamics of what happens in these protocols. The path to maturity could be as important as the end state, for example for the safety of treatment or for improving cell purity and reducing production time."

Tracking stem cells as they grow into RPE cells

La Manno has now led a study with Professor Fredrik Lanner at the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) profiling a protocol for differentiating human embryonic stem cells into RPE cells that is actually intended for clinical use. Their work shows that the protocol can develop safe and efficient pluripotent stem cell-based therapies for age-related macular degeneration. The study is published and featured on this month's cover of the journal Stem Cell Reports.

"Standard methods such as quantitative PCR and bulk RNA-seq capture the average expression of RNAs from large populations of cells," says Alex Lederer, a doctoral student at EPFL and one of the study's lead authors. "In mixed-cell populations, these measurements may obscure critical differences between individual cells that are important for knowing if the process is unfolding correctly." Instead, the researchers used a technique called single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), which can detect all the active genes in an individual cell at a given time.

Looking at intermediate states

Using scRNA-seq, the researchers were able to study the entire gene expression profile of individual human embryonic stem cells throughout the differentiation protocol, which takes a total of sixty days. This allowed them to map out all the transient states within a population as they grew into retinal pigment cells, but also to optimize the protocol and suppress the growth of non-RPE cells, thus preventing the formation of contaminant cell populations. "The aim is to prevent mixed cell populations at the time of transplantation, and to make sure the cells at the endpoint are similar to original RPE cells from a patient's eye," says Lederer.

What they found was that on the way to becoming RPE cells, stem cells go through a process very similar to early embryonic development. During this, the cell culture took up a "rostral embryo patterning", the process that develops the embryo's neural tube, which will go on to become its brain and sensory systems for vision, hearing, and taste. After this patterning, the stem cells began to mature into RPE cells.

Eye-to-eye: Transplanting RPE cells in an animal model

But the point of the differentiation protocol is to generate a pure population of RPE cells that can be implanted in patients' retinas to slow down macular degeneration. So the team transplanted their population of cells that had been monitored with scRNA-seq into the subretinal space of two female New Zealand white albino rabbits, which are what scientists in the field refer to as a "large-eyed animal model". The operation was carried out following approval by the Northern Stockholm Animal Experimental Ethics Committee.

The work showed that the protocol not only produces a pure RPE cell population but that those cells can continue maturing even after they have been transplanted in the subretinal space. "Our work shows that the differentiation protocol can develop safe and efficient pluripotent stem cell-based therapies for age-related macular degeneration," says Dr. Fredrik Lanner, who is currently making sure the protocol can be soon used in clinics.

Explore further Study suggests stem cells may repair dying retinal cells

More information: Fredrik Lanner, Molecular profiling of stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial cell differentiation established for clinical translation, Stem Cell Reports (2022). Journal information: Stem Cell Reports Fredrik Lanner, Molecular profiling of stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial cell differentiation established for clinical translation,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.05.005
Population structure and admixture analyses of the TANGL cohort. A PC1 vs PC2 of the PCA of the TANGL cohort (purple) with the European (blue) and African (orange) individuals from the 1000GP and 43 Native American genomes (green). B Ternary plot representing the global ancestry of each of the individuals in the TANGL cohort values according to sum of local ancestries calculated by RFMix. C Q plot of ADMIXTURE results assuming 3 and 6 ancestral populations (K). ESN: Esan in Nigeria. GWD: Gambian in Western Divisions in the Gambia. LWK: Luhya in Webuye, Kenya. MSL: Mende in Sierra Leone. YRI: Yoruba in Ibadan, Nigeria. CEU: Utah Residents (CEPH) with Northern and Western European Ancestry. FIN: Finnish in Finland. GBR: British in England and Scotland. IBS: Iberian Population in Spain. TSI: Toscani in Italia. AYM: Aymara. MAY: Mayan, NAH: Nahuatl. QUE: Quechua. NAT: Native American. Credit: Genome Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1186/s13073-022-01035-9

Three decades ago, UC Santa Barbara neuroscientist Kenneth S. Kosik first started studying a Colombian family afflicted with a genetic form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. He and fellow researchers realized that they were only scratching the surface of largely invisible, yet profound, consequences of the colonization carried out by the Spanish almost five centuries in the past.

"When my colleagues were conducting this clinical trial on the individuals in this very large rural family that carried this mutation, they needed as many participants as possible," Kosik said, recalling efforts to recruit people for the study. The family in question, which comprises several thousand people, was unique. Members that carried the so-called Paisa mutation would, like clockwork, begin to develop the hallmark forgetfulness of Alzheimer'swhat they called la boberain their 40s.

Working with Colombian neuroscientist Francisco Lopera, the researchers tried to cast as wide a net as they could to find even those in remote parts of the country with early-onset dementia that caused so much undue suffering in Colombia.

The extent of the condition was far more than they anticipatedtheir investigation yielded genetic results that reach back millennia and span several continents. The researchers' work is published in the journal Genome Medicine.

Far-flung origins

Juliana Acosta-Uribe remembers the early days of that study. Then a medical student, she was wrapping up her studies en route to becoming a physician scientist with a year devoted to social service.

"We were getting over a thousand phone calls from people with early-onset dementia in their families," said Acosta-Uribe, now a project scientist in the Kosik Lab and lead author of the paper. "And we were testing them to see if they were part of family with the Paisa mutation."

But as they tested these people for the PSEN1 E280 mutation, as it is formally known, the researchers' assumptions that their new patients were somehow a subset of the original family evaporated. The vast majority of tests came back negative. Further testing revealed that the researchers had a concentration of unrelated families with different mutations that resulted in the same observable characteristics.

"We've gotten pretty good at identifying different mutations that lead to neurodegenerative diseases their genotype," Kosik said. "But we don't really understand the relationship between the genotype and their phenotypethat is, what they look like clinically, what type of dementia they get, how it comes on, what mechanisms are affected."

A circa 16th-century map of present-day Colombia and Venezuela. Credit: Public Domain

Genomic testing yielded only part of the story, with information that seemed at first to only deepen the mystery. The famous Paisa mutation, for instance, had been traced back to a single founder from early Habsburg Spain, while another mutation was traced back to West Africa. Yet another was identified with Native American roots. How had they all emerged in the rural countryside of Colombia?

Clues to this phenomenon may be found in Colombia's history and the movement of people across the globe.

"So many different factors of the demography and the history of the population and its movement shaped the current risk burden of Alzheimers disease," said Acosta-Uribe. During the time of Spain's conquest of the Americas, Europeans first showed up on the northern shores of what would become Colombia in the early 16th century, making efforts to settle and colonize the area. Later that century, West Africans would be added into the mix as enslaved labor.

People weren't the only ones mixing in Colombia at that time, however.

"People do not travel alone," Acosta-Uribe said. "People travel with their bugs." According to the researchers, the people traded their bugs with others who had never encountered them before and the population "suffered massive mortality from numerous infectious diseases, including smallpox, influenza, syphilis, hepatitis, measles, encephalitis, tuberculosis, diphtheria, cholera, typhus, scarlet fever and meningitis."

The collapse of the population caused a narrowing of the gene poola genetic bottleneck in which the few remaining survivors, who also happened to possess these rare mutations, became the founders of subsequent populations, passing their mutations to their offspring. A long period of colonization followed in which migration slowed and people mostly stayed put. The lack of new genes, isolated pockets of people and large families helped establish the mutations within the population.

"If they have several generations of large families, those mutations get amplified, and they get amplified locally, because the people are not moving around," Kosik explained. "And what we begin to see in Colombia is that the genetic map overlaps with the geographic map, because you can actually match people with a mutation to a certain region."

This mechanism explains how the mutations were able to proliferate in the population over generations. But the researchers' investigations sparked another question, one that was difficult to ignore.

"When you put a selective pressure, such as pathogens, into a population, the question that arises is, do the survivors have any benefit over the ones who died?" Acosta-Uribe said. Could having these mutationsin particular variants of the PSEN1 (presenilin) genehave conferred some sort of protection to their carriers against the onslaught of infectious disease in the early days of colonization, thereby ensuring their survival?

This would not be an unusual situation, according to Acosta-Uribe.

"There are many examples of selection for people who have a genetic variant that in other conditions could be detrimental," she said. For example, she pointed out, people who are heterozygous (one copy of a mutated gene from one parent and one normal copy from the other) for sickle cell anemia are resistant to severe malaria. The mutation that leads to the sickle-shaped cells also "interferes with the reproductive cycle of the malaria parasite."

Unfortunately, the notion that having these PSEN1 mutations helped their carriers fend off deadly infectious diseases might forever be in the realm of speculation, Kosik said.

"We can't replay the tape of life," he said. "We can't replay everything that happened there to prove it, but it's fairly credible." Two tantalizing bits of circumstantial evidence in this mystery: a total of 13 mutations to the PSEN1 gene found in the Colombian cohort alone (a "statistically unusual" concentration of these rare mutations for a country of Colombia's size and population), and antimicrobial properties of the peptides that cause the sticky insoluble plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.

"It turns out that the amyloid beta peptide may have an antimicrobial function; there's this very ancient system of protection against invading organisms in which an antimicrobial peptide gloms onto the invading organism and walls it off from the rest of the body," Kosik said. The speculation is that this particular mutation may have been positively selected perhaps because it protected people from disease. His lab is investigating this effect with an even deeper look at the genomes in their cohort, but at best it may remain a statistical argument, Kosik added.

As the Kosik Lab continues its work, with the results of a major clinical trial just around the corner, it's clear that the huge genomic dataset they've generated is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the genetics of illnesses in the global population.

"We've generated a unique dataset that can help us understand the genetics of illnesses in non-white populations," Acosta-Uribe said. The majority of genomic data concentrates on European genomes, which can obscure much of the picture when it comes to gene-related diseases in the human population, she added. This is especially true of the connections between mutations and their physical outcomes.

For instance, in her survey of the genomes for this project, Acosta-Uribe found that the same mutations and pathologies that present themselves in the European context as ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) present in the Native American lineage as frontotemporal dementia. Additionally, tracing the Native American mutation backward through time, she found that it originated with the first population of the Americas.

"We compared the Colombian carriers of these variants with the Asian carriers of this variant," Acosta-Uribe said, "and we identified that indeed Colombians had gotten it back from their ancestors who migrated through the Bering Strait and populated the Americas more than 30,000 years ago."

Back in the present, this new knowledge can provide some clues to members of the Colombian cohort as to why the genetic form of Alzheimer's disease is so prevalent in their families. It also underscores the value of collaboration in the effort to understand and potentially treat this as-yet-incurable disease. One bright spot: One woman in the family with the Paisa mutation lived her entire life without developing Alzheimer's, possibly because a second copy of the rare genetic mutation decoupled the two hallmark signs of the disease: amyloid beta plaques (which were found in her brain after her death), and tau tangles (which were not found).

"This paper led us to develop tight bonds with the scientific community and with the families in Colombia," Acosta-Uribe said. "We were able to explain to the families why this was happening to them and tell them that while we may not yet be able to cure them, we will be there with them."

More information: Juliana Acosta-Uribe et al, A neurodegenerative disease landscape of rare mutations in Colombia due to founder effects, Genome Medicine (2022). Journal information: Genome Medicine Juliana Acosta-Uribe et al, A neurodegenerative disease landscape of rare mutations in Colombia due to founder effects,(2022). DOI: 10.1186/s13073-022-01035-9
Weeks gestation at time of inactivated influenza (IIV) administration in pre- and post-pertussis-containing vaccines (dTpa) implementation periods (N = 76 571). Credit: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (2022). DOI: 10.1111/ajo.13548

University of Queensland researchers are calling for an urgent review of low influenza vaccination rates for pregnant women and whooping cough vaccinations for young and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander mothers-to-be.

The figures were revealed by researchers from the multi-jurisdictional Links2HealthierBubs study, who analyzed the largest observational cohort of mothers with babies born in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory from 2012 to 2017.

Lead UQ School of Public Health investigator Dr. Lisa McHugh said researchers looked at vaccination rates for almost 600,000 pregnant women.

"Only 15% of the group received the influenza vaccine overall, while 27% were vaccinated against whooping cough," Dr. McHugh said.

"And just 12% received both."

Whooping cough vaccinations in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander pregnancies were 20% lower than non-Indigenous pregnancies, with a similarly lower uptake of the flu vaccine.

"We also found pregnant women younger than 20 years of age were less likely to receive vaccines," Dr. McHugh said.

"These results are concerning, especially since we have a potentially bad influenza season this year."

Influenza vaccines have been recommended, and free, for pregnant women in Australia for decades, as they protect both mothers and newborn babies from severe infection, and whooping cough vaccines were introduced in 2015 to protect babies under 6 months of age.

Dr. McHugh said the likelihood of women receiving both vaccines during pregnancy increased if they attended antenatal care in the first trimester.

"Australia's whooping cough vaccine in pregnancy program has been a key driver of influenza vaccine uptake in pregnancyexcept among First Nations women," she said. "First Nations mothers were more likely to have had an influenza vaccine in pregnancy before the antenatal whooping cough vaccine program, but showed a declining trend following the introduction of whooping cough vaccine.

"Women who are less likely to be receiving the flu vaccine in pregnancy need information about its importance early in pregnancy, so they are equipped with the knowledge to make that choice. Offering the flu vaccine from a trusted health care provider is a key factor to increasing that uptake.

"An urgent updated review of these data and vaccination strategies is needed before the next influenza pandemic or whooping cough outbreak occurs."

This paper is published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Journal.

Explore further Study recognizes best way to communicate the importance of vaccinations during pregnancy

More information: Lisa Mchugh et al, Timing and temporal trends of influenza and pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy in three Australian jurisdictions: The Links2HealthierBubs populationbased linked cohort study, 20122017, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (2022). Lisa Mchugh et al, Timing and temporal trends of influenza and pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy in three Australian jurisdictions: The Links2HealthierBubs populationbased linked cohort study, 20122017,(2022). DOI: 10.1111/ajo.13548
Google Cloud has announced a collaboration with Nana Direct, a pioneering online grocery shopping and delivery startup, which provides Saudi households with a convenient online grocery shopping experience.

Through the collaboration, Google Cloud and Nana Direct have been transforming the on-line grocery shopping experience in the kingdom, connecting households with local grocery stores and supermarkets, and ensuring the delivery of handpicked and packaged fresh fruits, vegetables and groceries right to their doorstep within a 15-minute window.

Nanas on-line grocery shopping experience available through the App or on the website, is completely powered by Google Cloud. Running the entire IT backend on Google Cloud enables Nana to grow and scale their business as they continue to expand in the Kingdom. It also provides the capabilities necessary to deploy features quickly, all while running on Google Clouds highly safe, secure and reliable global infrastructure.

Unique AI and data warehousing solutions

Working with Google Clouds unique AI and data warehousing solutions like BigQuery has transformed how the team at Nana analyse data and make well informed business decisions accordingly.

Through the use of BigQuery, Nana implemented AI modules that helped enhance business forecasting, understand consumer behavior at a much deeper level and increase efficiency levels to 69% in 2021.

With on-time delivery being a unique differentiator of Nana, the team relied on Google Clouds Fleet Routing tool as the solution to help enhance fleet utilisation. The solution also helped in dispatching trucks for deliveries using Google Maps to identify the most efficient routes in the kingdom, which ended up optimising fleet utilisation with better on-time delivery by 40%.

Innovative e-commerce solutions

Ziad Jammal, Digital Natives Lead, Mena at Google Cloud said: The collaboration with Nana Direct is an exciting opportunity for Google Cloud to bring innovative e-commerce solutions to life in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and share decades worth of expertise in establishing digital natives. Working hand in hand with Nana Direct on their set up from day one, has most definitely helped establish them for success as they became a household name across the country.

We are delighted that our work with Nana Direct continues to support in elevating the consumers experience for seamless grocery shopping and delivery, as the market continues to demonstrate the rise in demand for such services even as Coronavirus restrictions are being lifted in KSA.

Sami Al Helwah, Founder and CEO of Nana Direct added: From day one at Nana Direct, a strategic decision was made to build our entire back-end from the ground up on Google Cloud. This is due to the innovative technological capabilities that Google Cloud provides, combined with the unique expertise in the digital natives and retail space which was shared with us from the onset. The level of support we received and continue to receive everyday from the team is unprecedented, and having this type of support has enabled us to develop a clear digital roadmap for the business, with growth and development at the heart of it.

Continued expansion

As Saudi Arabia moves into a post - pandemic world, Nana continues its expansion and growth with the introduction of Nana Express and Nana Hyper, adding pharmacies, supermarket chains and specialty stores to its portfolio of on-line services.

With the support of Google Clouds reliable infrastructure, Nana was able to scale operations at speed and accommodate the surge in orders following a recent 360 marketing campaign that introduced Nana Express and Nana Hyper to the market. As a result, the campaign successfully yielded 50% (month on month) growth in orders for the months of December (2021) and January this year.-- TradeArabia News Service
TUESDAY, June 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Sodas and other sugar-sweetened drinks may raise a woman's odds of developing liver cancer, new research suggests.

A study of more than 90,000 postmenopausal women found that those who drank at least one sugar-sweetened beverage a day had a 78% higher risk, compared with those who drank fewer than three a month.

"Our findings suggest sugar-sweetened beverages are a potentially modifiable risk factor for liver cancer," said senior author Dr. Xuehong Zhang, an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

"If our findings are confirmed, reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption might serve as a public health strategy to reduce liver cancer burden," he said.

Even though consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks declined steadily in the United States between 2003 and 2018, overall intake remains high. Sixty-five percent of white adults reported consuming at least some sweetened drinks on any given day in 2017-2018, Zhang noted.

The researchers emphasized that this study can't prove sugary drinks cause liver cancer, only that there appears to be a link between the two.

The findings are slated for presentation Tuesday at an online meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

For the study, Zhang's team collected data on 90,504 postmenopausal women between 50 and 79 years of age who took part in a landmark study called the Women's Health Initiative. Participants completed questionnaires in the mid-1990s and were tracked for a median 18 years -- meaning half were followed longer, half for less time.

In all, 205 women developed liver cancer during the follow-up.

About 7% of participants reported drinking one or more 12-ounce servings of sugar-sweetened drinks per day, the study found. And those who did so were 78% more likely to develop liver cancer. Women who drank at least one soft drink per day had a 73% higher risk, compared with those who never consumed these beverages or drank fewer than three per month, the study found.

The researchers noted that sugar-sweetened drinks may lead to an increased risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes, which are both risk factors for liver cancer. These drinks also contribute to an impaired response to insulin and to a buildup of fat in the liver. Both are factors in liver health.

Zhang pointed out that the study had limitations.

"This type of design limits our ability to determine if sugar-sweetened beverages are a primary driver of increased liver cancer incidence, or if sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is only an indicator of unhealthy lifestyles," Zhang said. "Our findings should be interpreted with caution and replicated in future studies."

In addition, this study doesn't speak to the risk for liver cancer among men or younger people who consume these beverages.

Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer at the American Cancer Society, reacted to the findings, which are the latest in a string of studies examining the health impacts of sugary beverages.

"These data regarding a potential relationship with sugar-sweetened beverages and liver cancer is intriguing," Kamal said. "Further research is needed to understand whether any cancer relationship is mediated by resultant changes in the liver from obesity or whether this effect is independent of body mass index."

Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Health in New York City, said it's hard to tell from the study if the relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and liver cancer isn't just one marker of an unhealthy lifestyle.

"The question is: What are the lifestyles of the people who consume at least one 12-ounce sugar-sweetened beverage a day?" she noted. "Is this population more likely to consume less fiber, fewer fruits and vegetables, and more likely to eat more red and processed meat, junk and fast food, and less likely to exercise?"

Also, Heller said, there is a large gap between consuming one or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day, compared with three servings a month.

"All of this said, sodas, fruit drinks, and other sugar-sweetened beverages have no nutritional value, contribute to overweight and obesity and several associated chronic diseases," Heller said.

"There is no reason to be drinking them other than we have become used to doing so, and are encouraged to continue drinking them by media and advertising campaigns," she said.

Water, seltzer, teas, herbal teas and even a splash of 100% fruit juice with water or seltzer are healthier choices, Heller said.

More information

Learn more about liver cancer from the American Cancer Society.

SOURCES: Xuehong Zhang, MD, ScD, assistant professor, Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston; Arif Kamal, MD, MBA, MHS, chief patient officer, American Cancer Society; Samantha Heller, MS, RD, CDN, senior clinical nutritionist, NYU Langone Health, New York City; American Society for Nutrition, annual meeting, June 14-16, 2022

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
TUESDAY, June 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The first reported case of a cat giving COVID-19 to a person shouldn't alarm pet owners, but a Canadian expert says it's a reminder to take precautions.

"I think it's important for us to recognize this virus still can move between species," veterinary specialist Dr. Scott Weese recently told the New York Times.

The case involving spread of SARS-CoV-2 from a cat to a veterinarian in Thailand didn't come as surprise because pet-to-human transmission has long seemed possible, according to Weese, a professor at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College. He is also director of the university's Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses.

For the last two years, Weese and his colleagues have done extensive research on transmission of COVID between humans and animals. They have focused on cats because they're at higher risk for respiratory infections.

And other studies have shown that pet owners can infect their cats and that cats can sometimes infect each other.

In a recent post on his Worms & Germs blog, Weese noted that he's been warning that people who interact with animals should take precautions to avoid infection with the coronavirus.

"I've been pretty confident it was possible, which is why we've done animal surveillance and spent a lot of time developing and communicating practical but proactive guidance to veterinarians to reduce the risk of just such an event," he wrote.

Even so, Weese said most "cat owners shouldnt have much to worry about," because it's most likely that infected cats get the virus from their infected owners.

That was apparently what happened in the first confirmed case of cat-to-human transmission. The case, reported in the July edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases, involved a couple in Thailand, their cat and a veterinarian.

The man and his wife both got COVID, and were hospitalized. Their cat was taken to animal hospital, where it sneezed in the vet's face during an examination. The vet was masked but her eyes were unprotected. Three days later, she got sick. Both the vet and the cat later tested positive, according to the case study.

Though an infected cat could spread the disease, Weese wrote on his blog, the odds of a cat bringing SARS-CoV-2 into a household are "really low."

But cat owners need to take precautions if someone in the home gets COVID, because cats could get infected and spread it to other people and pets in the household, according to Weese.

If I have COVID-19 and move to the basement to stay away from everyone, I should keep my cat away from me too [or keep it with me and away from everyone else]," he wrote.

Weese offered similar advice in the Times.

"If you're trying to stay away from people because you're potentially infectious, just try to stay away from animals at the same time," he said.

More information

For more on pets and COVID-19, see the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCES: University of Guelph, news release, June 13, 2022; Emerging Infectious Disease, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 6, 2022; Worms & Germs blog, June 9, 2022; New York Times, June 10, 2022

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
TUESDAY, June 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- In yet another sign that the pandemic has exacerbated disparities in health care, researchers report that the life expectancy of Native Americans plummeted by nearly five years as the new coronavirus raged across the country.

The loss in longevity was far greater than any other ethnic group and about three times higher than whites.

The investigators also found that while comparable countries worldwide rebounded in 2021 from historic life expectancy declines in 2020, the overall U.S. death rate rose even higher.

"With the wide availability of vaccines in the United States, there was a lot of optimism that 2021 would look better than 2020," said study co-author Ryan Masters, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

"That did not happen," he noted in a university news release. "The U.S. didn't take COVID seriously to the extent that other countries did, and we paid a horrific price for it, with Black and brown people suffering the most."

Masters and his colleagues analyzed U.S. death data from 2019 and 2020, along with preliminary data for 2021.

In 2019, the life expectancy of Native Americans was already the lowest of any racial/ethnic group -- 75 years for women and 68.6 years for men. In 2021, those numbers fell to 70.4 for women and just under 64 for men.

"Native American populations have been ostracized and pushed to the margins to the most extreme extent in this country's history, so we expected to see a decline in life expectancy," Masters said.

Native Americans often lack access to vaccines, quality health care and transportation, he noted.

"But the magnitude [of the decrease in life expectancy] was shocking," Masters added. "You just don't see numbers like this in advanced countries in the modern day."

The researchers also found that overall U.S. life expectancy shortened from 78.85 years in 2019 to 76.98 years in 2020 and 76.44 years in 2021, a loss of 2.41 years.

In contrast, comparable countries lost 0.55 years of life expectancy between 2019 and 2020 and had a 0.26 increase between 2020 and 2021.

Social inequities, systemic racism and health disparities, such as high rates of obesity and heart disease, which existed before the pandemic, are to blame for the dismal U.S. trends, according to Masters.

When they focused only on 2021, the researchers found that white Americans had the largest decline in life expectancy among all the U.S. racial groups, possibly due to high rates of vaccine hesitancy and resistance to prevention measures.

The study was published on the preprint server MedRxiv and has not yet been peer-reviewed.

In a previous study, the same team found that overall U.S. life expectancy fell by nearly two years between 2019 and 2020, the largest decline since World War II. The largest declines were among Hispanic people (nearly four years) and Black people (3.25 years), compared with 1.36 years among white people.

More information

For more on U.S. life expectancy, go to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics.

SOURCE: University of Colorado at Boulder, news release, June 9, 2022

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
GREAT FALLS  Attorneys sparred in federal court on Monday over a sex-based discrimination lawsuit against the University of Montana involving more than 70 current and former employees alleging the university fostered a hostile workplace environment for women.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris has not yet decided if the plaintiffs will be granted class-action status in their suit against UM and the Montana University System, the focus of Mondays hearing.

We just hope for the opportunity to advocate for as many women as possible, said Hillary Carls, of Blackford Carls P.C. of Bozeman, after Mondays hearing.

Catherine Cole, Barbara Koostra, Mary-Ann Sontag Bowman and Rhondie Voorhees filed the federal lawsuit last August describing treatment from the university they say is part of a good ol' boys club. They specifically claimed UM President Seth Bodnar created a campus environment adverse to women.

The plaintiffs' legal team requested class certification after 18 more women came forward with similar allegations of gender discrimination and harassment. Carls said attorneys identified more than 70 other current or former female UM employees as eligible class-action members.

Morris asked Carls what factual evidence their team has to establish a culture of discrimination on the basis of sex at the university.

Culture is habits and routines, Carls replied.

In March, lawyers representing the MUS and UM moved to deny the class-action request. On Monday, attorney Susan Miltko argued that the claims brought by the plaintiffs are separate, unique allegations not eligible for class-action status.

Theory of culture is not enough, Miltko said, noting that the plaintiffs hadnt identified specific discriminatory university policies or expert testimony to assert their claims.

Miltko and her team offered a slideshow of their arguments identifying wide-ranging claims of discrimination asserted by each of the four original plaintiffs.

Miltko also claimed that there are conflicts between the named plaintiffs and who might be possible class-action members, namely Lucy France, UMs General Counsel. Miltko questioned how people identified as possible perpetrators of discrimination against female employees could be class-action members seeking damages.

Chief Judge Morris did not agree that the conflicts identified by Miltko in court were justified and argued that they could be going along with the discriminatory culture argued by the plaintiffs.

Carls noted during her rebuttal that France is not a defendant in the case, but is considered a witness.

The University of Montana has presented evidence to the court showing these accusations are not based in fact, said Dave Kuntz, UMs director of strategic communications. "In regard to todays arguments, we strongly believe these false and inflammatory allegations fail to meet the requisite requirements necessary to secure class status."

Morris is expected to rule regarding the class action status request before the cases amendment deadline on July 30.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 3 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The question of how best to address delinquent utility bills divided the Missoula City Council Monday night.

Council voted 8-3 to make landlords responsible for past-due utility bills.

Proponents of the approach taken Tuesday thought it would be a good way to encourage water customers to pay their bills, since the city stopped shutting off water during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Deputy Public Works Director Logan McInnis explained that shutting off water is a challenging process for the city because many curb boxes are inaccessible or nonfunctioning.

Certainly there are challenges with the process of shutting off water, said McInnis. Weve got hundreds if not thousands of curb boxes in town that dont work.

Opponents of councils decision, however, werent comfortable making landlords foot the bill for their tenants.

After looking at this, I feel like there needs to be some other options rather than putting this back on the homeowner, said Ward 5 Council Member John Contos.

If you use water you should pay for it, he continued. If you cant pay for it, it probably needs to be turned off.

Contos added he doesnt think the move to make landlords pay for their tenants represents a Montana value.

This is a hardworking state, he said. We work hard for what we get. To pass this on to the homeowner, its not fair.

Ward 6 Councilors Sandra Vasecka and Kristen Jordan echoed Contos opposition.

Im really uncomfortable with this, Vasecka said.

Jordan disagreed with the approach from an affordable housing standpoint.

Drinking water is a human right, she said. There are other ways, I think, that we can find in our budget to help folks with these water bills and perpetuate an affordable housing concept. I want us to think outside of the box when it comes to affordable housing and make sure folks can afford their bills once they actually are able to afford their home.

But the prevailing sentiment among council members was supportive of putting the responsibility on homeowners.

I believe that this is a fair alternative to that way of recuperating costs, said Ward 2 Council Member Mirtha Becerra.

Ward 1 Council Member Heidi West pointed out that three-quarters of properties with delinquent water bills are owner-occupied, and only one quarter of unpaid bills falls to tenants.

I think that this allows folks to set up payment plans and be proactive to avoid that worst-case scenario at a time that it hasnt become an insurmountable problem, West said. I am in support of this and I think its a very reasonable process.

Ward 2 Council Member Jordan Hess hoped the city would continue to explore assistance programs to help residents pay for their water.

We need to fully understand why it is that theres delinquency and we need to tailor assistance so that people who need assistance are receiving assistance, he said.

In the end, Contos, Vasecka and Jordan voted against the ordinance. Hess, West, Becerra, Gwen Jones, Jennifer Savage, Amber Sherrill, Stacie Anderson and Daniel Carlino voted in favor. Ward 4 Council Member Mike Nugent was absent.

Council unanimously approved three other ordinances Monday: budget amendments, an update to the Missoula Valley Water Quality District and rule changes for the Missoula City-County Air Pollution Control Program.

The city also set a public hearing for June 27 to go over an application from Missoula County to replace existing signs with heritage signs at the Missoula County Fairgrounds. The Land Use and Planning Committee will take up the application on June 22.

At the end of the Monday meeting, Contos implored landlords not to raise rents drastically on their tenants.

I think a lot of us could do something about that, especially as people that do have house rentals that this really isnt a time for greed or to take advantage of the situation but to act as a normal human being and have some kind of consideration to their situation, Contos urged.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 4 Sad 2 Angry 10

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Racism has no place in Montana, according to Missoula mayor John Engen, commissioner Josh Slotnick and local rabbi Laurie Franklin. All three released statements condemning plans for a white supremacist neo-Nazi rally that's apparently planned for Saturday in Missoula.

"The City of Missoula will once again go on record in denouncing bigotry, hate and violence as a fresh crop of protesters and propagandists attempt to drive more wedges in our cracked republic," Mayor Engen said. "We continue to monitor groups traveling the country and will respond appropriately to all credible threats."

Engen is asking residents to be wary and report incidents that cause alarm.

"And, because weve dealt with these threats before, Im confident that our teams are prepared to serve, protect and defend the Constitution of our state and nation," he said.

Commissioner Slotnick said he recently heard about neo-Nazis planning to come here.

"This could just be an unfounded rumor," he said. "Regardless, imagining such a thing brings a whole array of passionate negative emotions to a boiling point. We can take heart in knowing these dangerous misguided ideas have no place in Missoula County, thats clear and easy."

Slotnick said there are underlying issues that need to be addressed.

"Far more challenging is for us to acknowledge that we all need community and purpose, and for some lost souls, neo-Nazis are it," he said. "The ideas are unacceptable, but the motivation to belong and have meaning are universal. In this moment, we too must exercise our right to free speech.

"Let us belong to each other and to this place, with love and strength, and actively celebrate the best of who we are."

Rabbi Laurie Franklin of the Har Shalom Jewish congregation in Missoula also sent an email to the Missoulian and other city leaders praising Engen for his "principled, consistent stand against hate."

"The events of the past weekend in Idaho, with the arrest of 30-plus Patriot Front would-be rioters, is a sobering reminder that we cannot dismiss even the smallest apparent threat," she said. "The Nazi-affiliated group that is supposed to appear somewhere in Missoula on 6/18 may just be looking for publicity and a recruitment advantage or they may also be motivated toward violence. We have no way to know for sure."

But, she said, it's an issue that should concern everyone.

"The rise of Nazi/white nationalist groups in Montana and across the country is a chilling threat to society," Franklin concluded.

The Pacific Northwest chapter of the Anti-Defamation League and the Montana Human Rights Network became aware in recent weeks of a rally planned by a group called the National Socialist Movement. Both organizations are cautioning Missoulians to avoid interacting with the group.

The National Socialist Movement has been designated as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which describes them as an organization that specializes in theatrical and provocative protests.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 6

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A white supremacist neo-Nazi gathering is apparently planned in Missoula this Saturday, according to posts on right-wing social media platforms, and it's caught the attention of elected officials, law enforcement and anti-hate organizations.

Local Jewish leaders are also urging people not to engage with the white supremacists in order to deprive them of the attention they seek.

Miri Cypers, the regional director for the Anti-Defamation Leagues Pacific Northwest office, said the organization has been tracking National Socialist Movement posts and became aware a few weeks ago about some sort of gathering planned in Missoula for June 18.

The ADLs Center on Extremism is a group of experts that tracks and investigates extremist activities on certain platforms, Cypers explained. They found out that the National Socialist Movement is planning a specific event in Missoula on June 18, which is coinciding with a white lives matter June day of activism.

The Missoula County commissioners, the office of Missoula mayor John Engen, the Montana Human Rights Network, the Missoula Har Shalom Jewish congregation and the Missoula Police Department are all tracking rumors of the gathering.

Were very aware of it, said Missoula police spokesperson Lydia Arnold. Were monitoring it and paying attention to it.

She said she couldnt comment on whether the department had any specific plans in relation to the event.

Cypers said that the National Socialist Movement is a neo-Nazi group with membership scattered around the country.

Its one of the most prominent neo-Nazi groups as well, although their membership has been declining, she said. They have particular activists and groups and leaders in Montana. The groups and individuals have been associated with demonstrations spreading different flyers with white supremacist propaganda.

Her organization notified law enforcement about the event back on May 25, she said.

Were definitely concerned about the continued growth of extremism and hate in any community, Cypers said. We encourage people to be aware and educated about the issue and about any rally or demonstration. At the same time, we encourage people to funnel their concern not into counter-protesting but into the efforts of local community members who are trying to address intolerance and bigotry.

Cherilyn DeVries of the Montana Human Rights Network said that, through their research, theyve also found posts and comments about the National Socialist Movement coming to Missoula. DeVries said she hopes nobody in Missoula succumbs to the impulse to try to counter-protest the neo-Nazi group.

These person-to-person conflicts are what white nationalists are trying to incite, she said. That gets them news coverage and gives them more attention.

DeVries said she understands the media's role in making the community aware about an event planned by white nationalists, but she cautions that those groups try to raise their own profile by getting into conflicts in communities.

Then they brag about it later if they get news coverage, she said. They are intentionally looking to incite and provoke the community.

Both DeVries and Cypers encouraged people to seek out an exhibit at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, about the history of Jewish settlers trading with the Bitterroot Salish, at the University of Montana instead of counter-protesting. Local historian Bert Chessin, a member of the Har Shalom congregation, also encouraged people to seek out the exhibit instead of interacting with neo-Nazis. Chessin said that Har Shalom's official stance is also to encourage people to visit the exhibit rather than interacting with the rally.

Missoula mayor John Engens office received an email from a concerned citizen on Monday morning urging Engen to condemn the arrival of a white supremacist group. The person who emailed the office said the news of white supremacist groups convening in Missoula this Saturday, 6/18, is incredibly alarming and threatens the integrity and safety of our townMissoula should not and will not stand for hate groups taking hold.

City public information and communications director Ginny Merriam said the city didnt have any additional details on the rally. Anne Hughes, a spokesperson for Missoula County, said the county commissioners are aware of rumors of the gathering as well. Hughes also said the county does not have any additional details or information.

The nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, says that the National Socialist Movement is an organization that specializes in theatrical and provocative protests.

The group is notable for its violent anti-Semitic rhetoric, its racist views and its policy allowing members of other racist groups to join while remaining members of other groups, The SPLCs website states. National Socialist Movement became the largest membership-based neo-Nazi group in this country through the 2000s and into the following decade. The groups brand and tactics of demonstrating in quasi-Nazi uniforms stalled, and its membership tally subsequently dipped.

Since 2015, the group has sought to reinvigorate itself by forming coalitions with other white power groups but still seen its membership dwindle, the SPLC website says.

On Sunday, 31 men with ties to a white supremacist group called "Patriot Front" were arrested in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. According to local law enforcement, they were apparently planning to disrupt a Pride event in Coeur d'Alene.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 2 Wow 3 Sad 2 Angry 18

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A historic former church building in downtown Missoula has recently been renovated into a hub of business activity, with an eclectic array of entrepreneurs moving in and more on the way.

Kiah Hochstetler and an investor business partner bought the former First Baptist Church building at 308 W. Pine St. in 2019 and have been busy attracting tenants ever since. Its now called The Revelry Missoula.

Their anchor tenant and the first to move in was Revo, a fitness training center. Under the high arched-ceilings, members are busy pushing weights and riding exercise bikes next to giant stained glass artwork.

Hochstetler said he was a member of Revo when it was located near Trempers Plaza shopping center.

So we knew that they were looking for space, and that was the whole reason, Hochstetler recalled when asked why hes converted the old church into a business center.

This building was on the market and we thought this offering and what (Revo owner Mike Savasuk) was doing was pretty cool, Hochstetler recalled. And you know, we thought wed put something together here. Its exciting to see what this old building can become.

The original part of the church was built in 1910 and a large addition, which houses Revo, was built in 1960. Hochstetler and his team have had to put lots of time and effort into remodeling and repairing the structure, but theyve restored much of the former glory by getting rid of a dropped ceiling and exposing the original brick and wood. Theyre in the midst of adding nearly a dozen office spaces in the basement, and Hochstetler said hes gotten quite a bit of interest from potential tenants.

Revo moved into the space in early 2020 after some remodeling and, of course, then the pandemic hit. So they had to make masks mandatory for their first year in business and were able to avoid closing.

I think the state of Montana actually did a pretty good job with grants for small business and stuff, Savasuk said. Our class sizes are limited and my wife actually studies viruses."

After the success of Revo, Hochstetler began attracting more businesses to the church. Jessi Brock, the owner and founder of Good Medicine Acupuncture and Massage, recently remodeled a portion of the older wing of the church

We just moved in here in like the second week of December, Brock said. We had been down on Third Street by Bernices for five years. We had a good problem, which was growing and needing more space."

They had been bursting at the seams.

"At Third Street we were seeing about 700 patients a month and there was just stuff in every nook and cranny because we were like out of storage," Brock said.

They were booking appointments out 16 weeks and needed to expand, and Hochstetler just happened to drop by one day and they got to chatting. Now, Brock has about 2,200 square feet of space, which has allowed the business to add a massage room, an infrared sauna and expand the acupuncture treatment area.

We do community acupuncture, which allows us to offer it on a sliding scale, Brock explained. So treatment starts at $40, and no proof of income is required.

They also separate themselves by being open on Saturday and Sunday, when a lot of similar businesses are closed.

Hochstetler also was able to attract local photographer Rio Chantel, who opened a studio in the top floor of the church. She rents out the space to other photographers in town who cant afford their own space.

I love the light up here, Chantel explained, pointing to windows that overlook the downtown area.

Hochstetler said hes proud of the diversity of businesses that have been moving in. Hes got several tech-related entrepreneurs in smaller offices, and a hops distributing business recently moved in as well. There are even more exciting plans moving forward that locals will be interested to hear.

Wed love to be able to get some food trucks out here in the summer, he said. Its definitely been more than I intended to take on but its super cool where its at.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 13 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Editor's note: this story will be updated throughout the day as reporters and editors learn more about the developing flood situation.

Federal disaster declaration announced for Montana

Update 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 16

President Joe Biden has announced a major disaster declaration for Montana in response to the flooding activities.

Part of the release states:

The acute damage to infrastructure, particularly in and around Yellowstone National Park, will impact communities that rely on tourism and recreation for livelihoods, jobs, and revenue. Park County benefits from more than $200 million annually in tourism, and Carbon County brings in $68 million annually from tourism.

Morning round up

Update 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, June 16

Initial damage estimates due to flood activity in the greater Yellowstone region are starting to roll in. A request to the Biden administration to issue a presidential major disaster declaration, the state estimated the damage to transportation infrastructure alone is $29 million. Among other things, the request points out that Carbon County relies on $68 million from tourism each year, and Park County sees $200 million injected into its local economy. It is very unlikely communities will see those dollars this year.

The flow of the Yellowstone River around Billings receded several feet overnight and city residents were able to resume normal water use as of Thursday morning. The surge along the Yellowstone had caused crews to temporarily shut down the Billings water treatment plant on Wednesday.

During a call with residents and tourists in Cody, Wyoming the Yellowstone National park superintendent said the entire park will remain closed through the weekend. The less-damaged southern loop of the park is now expected to open Monday at the earliest. Park officials continue to assess the damage.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is set to declare an emergency in response to historic flooding in the park. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a disaster for flooding on Tuesday.

Flathead County declares a state of emergency for anticipated flooding

Update 4:43 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Flathead County declared a state of emergency in response to anticipated flooding and current flooding.

To date, there is a pre-evacuation notice in place for low-lying areas across Flathead County. Official evacuation notices have been issued for Leisure Road in Kalispell and Blankenship Road from Blankenship Bridge to the North Fork Road.

Road closures in effect:

North Hill Top Road in Columbia Falls.

From Steel Bridge Road to Muddy Drive in Kalispell.

West Side Hungry Horse Reservoir Road between Mazie Creek and Graves Creek Road.

7-mile Upper Whitefish/Stryker Road in the Stillwater State Forest.

Evacuations have been lifted and roads open to resident traffic only are Rabe Road in Columbia Falls and Lake Drive and Bailey Lake Area in Columbia Falls.

The Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter at Columbia Falls High School for individuals affected by the evacuation orders. The Sheriff's Office has established an information line at 406-758-2111.

For current information, follow the Flathead County Sheriff's Office Facebook Page.

Custer-Gallatin and Shoshone National Forests announce closures

Update 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

The Custer Gallatin National Forest has posted an area closure on its website, shutting down all lands, roads and trails in Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park and Gallatin counties.

The exception is the Pryor Mountain portion of the forest, which remains open.

The purpose of this order is to protect emergency personnel, public health and imminent life safety due to widespread flooding events, roads and facility damage in Carbon, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, the posting said.

The closure is in effect from Tuesday through June 24, or until it is rescinded. Violations of the closure can result in a $5,000 fine or six months in jail.

For more details, contact the forest office at 406-587-6701.

Closures are also impacting the Beartooth, Gardiner and Yellowstone Ranger Districts and includes all National Forest system lands within those districts as crews get out to assess damage, the stability of bridges and facilities.

Many of our trailheads in the Paradise Valley and (Absaroka-Beartooth) arent able to be accessed regardless, said forest spokesperson Mariah Leuschen-Lonergan. As waters recede engineers and recreation staff are getting in and determining the safety and stability of infrastructure. We are aware of some washed out roads and bridges and need to assess conditions.

In Cody, the Forest Service announced the snowmelt impacts were having impacts on the areas recreation sites. They urged patience from travelers.

Some campgrounds, roads, and trails may need to be closed for resource protection as well as public safety. Visitors should plan ahead and visit the Shoshone National Forest website (http://www.fs.usda.gov/shoshone) and Facebook page (US Forest Service  Shoshone National Forest) for updates on any areas that may be closed or impacted.

We know that there are a lot of people who had planned trips to the Greater Yellowstone area and are now having to adjust itineraries because of closures, said Wapiti, Clarks Fork, and Greybull District Ranger Casey McQuiston. The Shoshone National Forest remains open to visitors and recreationists. Additionally, the Washakie and Wind River Ranger districts of the Shoshone National Forest have not been as impacted as the northern portion of the Shoshone, and there are wonderful recreational opportunities on that end of the Shoshone as well.

As daily high temperatures continue to increase throughout the week, with predicted temperatures above 90 by Friday, snowmelt and subsequent runoff could prolong and even potentially exacerbate some of these conditions. The Shoshone National Forest will continue to evaluate the situation and will respond to changing conditions, getting associated information out to the public as soon as possible Wapiti, Clarks Fork, and Greybull Ranger districts Office at 307.527.6921.

Yellowstone River at Billings begins to recede, downstream flooding still occurring

Update 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Water levels along the Yellowstone River at Billings appear to have peaked late Wednesday morning and may now be incrementally dropping.

vernight, the river rose to 16 feet, a full foot higher than its record crest of 15 feet in 1997 and a foot and a half higher than what was initially forecast for the city earlier this week.

By 9 a.m. on Wednesday the Yellowstone had climbed to 16.4 feet and then appeared to jump to 17.52 feet at 11 .a.m., according to data from the National Weather Service. By 12:45 p.m. levels had dropped to 16.3 feet.

Ranches and farmsteads south of Billings stretching to Edgar have been inundated. Yellowstone County officials closed half a dozen roads and are monitoring four bridges.

The area south of Billings at River Road and Duck Creek was nearly all under water, flooding a number of farms and ranches. Water from the Clarks Fork had flooded land and ranch houses around Byam Road at the Yellowstone/Carbon County line as well as the Pryor Edgar Road near Edgar.

Cities in eastern Montana along the Yellowstone River's path are forecast to see higher levels of water but so far not enough to push them into a major flood stage, according to the weather service.

The Yellowstone at Forsyth is predicted to crest at 12.7 feet on Friday morning; flood stage there is 14 feet.

Miles City could see some flooding. The river is expected to crest there at 14.8 feet on Friday afternoon; minor flood stage at Miles City is 14 feet.

Further down the line, the Yellowstone at Glendive is forecast to crest sometime Saturday morning, reaching 53.2 feet. The minor flood stage there is 53.5 feet.

In Sidney, the river is forecast to crest at 17.8 feet on Saturday afternoon. Minor flood stage there is 19 feet.

Carbon County updated flooding situation

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Unsafe conditions remain in the flooded area; the public is urged to stay away from closed areas. Reports of the public accessing unsafe areas continue to be a concern for law enforcement. Many roads, streets and sidewalks are unstable and could give way. Please avoid the area.

The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River near Fromberg and Edgar are experiencing significant flood impacts as well as Rock Creek in Red Lodge. It is expected that water will continue to recede today.

A significant warming trend is expected this Friday/Saturday and the public is urged to stay alert of changing water conditions. Public Works staff along with Montana Department of Transportation are assessing the damage due to the floods. The public is urged to stay away from the flooded and closed areas for their own safety. A boil order is still in effect for Red Lodge, Fromberg and Edgar.

Current evacuation orders in effect:

Red Lodge: Evacuation orders in Red Lodge have been lifted.

Belfry: Lovers Lane.

Fromberg: All areas east of Highway 310, south of East River Road west of the river.

Joliet: No evacuation orders are in effect at this time.

Bridger: No evacuation orders in effect at this time.

All drinking water from the tap should be boiled before use in Red Lodge, Fromberg and Edgar. Public Works has reestablished water service to parts of Red Lodge but significant damage to the infrastructure has occurred and parts of Red Lodge remain without water. Water is out in Fromberg as water pumps supplying the town were underwater.

Planned Actions:

As water recedes, ongoing assessments of area roads/bridges will continue today. Crews are working to restore 19th Street bridge in Red Lodge; however, this road remains closed to the public. Highway 308 bridge is comprised, remains closed to the public and crews are working to restore the Highway 308 bridge. Crews will also be working on Meteetsee bridge; however, this road remains closed to the public. Crews are working to reestablish access to the water plant today and clearing debris out of roadway in Red Lodge. Crews will be in Fromberg and Belfry today working on road access. Lovers Lane in Belfry remains closed. Northwestern Energy will be working in the area fixing gas lines and working on restoring electric poles. Bridge engineers arrived today and will be working with county road departments on assessing damage.

Evacuation Shelters:

The American Red Cross has setup evacuation shelters located at the following locations:

 Fromberg School

 Red Lodge Fairgrounds

Public Meeting:

A public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 16th at Fromberg School at 6:00 PM at 319 School St, Fromberg, MT 59029. The meeting will also be lived stream to Facebook Live at the Carbon Alerts Facebook page.

Sandbags:

The public can get sandbags at the following locations, volunteers have been assisting with filling bags:

 Fromberg School

 Joliet Road Shop, 202 State Street

 Bridger Road Shop, 22 Old Mine

Weather: Seasonally cooler weather remains today with temperatures in the 60s in the lower elevations with upper elevations in 40s- 50s. No significant rain is expected over the next 24-48 hours. Warmer weather is expected to arrive tomorrow and into Friday and Saturday. Water levels will potentially rise with the warmer weather moving in the region later in the week. The public is urged to remain cautious, stay alert of changing water conditions and stay clear of flooded areas.

Resources Assigned:

The Western Montana Type III Incident Management Team continues to assist local flood relief efforts. Numerous agencies are on scene including: Carbon County DES, Carbon County Sheriffs Office, Red Lodge Police Department, Red Lodge Fire & Rescue, Montana Highway Patrol, Fromberg Volunteer Fire Department, Bridger EMS, Bridger Volunteer Fire, American Red Cross, City of Red Lodge, Public Works, Forest Service, Beartooth Billings Clinic, Carbon County Public Health Department, Montana Department of Transportation, Montana FWP Game Wardens, Two Bear Air, and Montana National Guard.

For current information follow the Carbon Alert Facebook page or call 406-426-2425.

Stillwater County updated flooding situation

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Stillwater County  Flooding has impacted the entire Stillwater River, parts of the Yellowstone River, Itch-Kep-Pe Camping Area and Reed Point.

 Damage assessments and resource allocations were ongoing.

 Roads and bridges in the area remained impassable.

 Sandbagging operations were continuing. Sand bags are available at Absarokee Fire Hall and in Reed Point.

 Air rescues from West Rosebud and Emerald Lakes were successfully completed.

 Evacuations were lifted but only residents should return to the area.

 Road and Bridge Department are assessing and opening roads as they are deemed safe to traffic.

The following roads were closed:

 Road and Bridge Department are assessing and opening roads as they are deemed safe to traffic

 DES reported to MT DES Duty Officer and NWS

Road Closures by Stillwater Road and Bridge

 West Rosebud to Mystic Lake

 Fiddler Creek Rd to Hwy 419

 Nye Rd at Carters Camp going South

 S. Stillwater River Road is open from Nye to Beehive. Closed at Beehive

 Stillwater River Road Bridge compromised/not passable at Riddles Cliff

 Johnson Ln Road towards North Stillwater River

 Miller Rd at North Stillwater River Rd

 E Jack Stone Rd to North Stillwater River Rd

 Lower Flat Rd off of Joliet Rd. Closed to all but residential traffic

 Yellowstone Bridge in Reed Point

 Miller Bridge on N Stillwater River

 Hwy 419 Going West (Bridge Completely Gone)

 Ingersoll Rd off Hwy 78

 Nye Rd to the Sibanye/Stillwater Mine going south (Road is Gone)

 All Campgrounds and Fishing Accesses in the county are closed until further notice. Per Montana Fish & Game and The United States Forest Service

Red Lodge community meeting: "Red Lodge should not be open for business"

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

During a recent meeting, Red Lodge fire chief and emergency commander Tom Kuntz told residents that every bridge south of Red Lodge is "compromised."

Residents also expressed concerns over the future. The flood has displaced residents from their homes and shuttered businesses that depend on the busy summer months.

"As a community leader, I think I always want to say Red Lodge is open for business," Kuntz told the crowd. "Right now, Red Lodge should not be open for business."

A sign on alongside the highway in Rockvale warns travelers to stay away. It reads: "Red Lodge is evacuated. Please do not come."

Billings braces itself as Yellowstone River rises, smaller communities swamped

Update 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15

The Yellowstone River crested above 16 feet overnight, a foot above the previous record. It was so high, the river gauge was overwhelmed and stopped measuring at 15-feet, 4-inches.

Billings Public Works officials warned city leaders Monday night that if the river rose to 15 feet it would put the water and wastewater treatment plants in jeopardy. A levy has been built around the plants and water pumps have so far been keeping up with whatever river water is coming over the levy.

In the small town of Edgar, flooding from the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River swamped all the septic tanks. Residents cant use their toilets and porta-potties have been set up on every street corner.

Downriver, small farm towns like Huntley Project, Worden, and Ballantine are swamped, but no reports yet of lost roads or bridges. Further downriver, cities like Forsyth and Miles City are bracing for the surge with voluntary evacuation orders in the low country along the river.

As temperatures rise this weekend and more rain is in the forecast, there could be a second surge.

Yellowstone National Park evening presser highlights - northern entrance to remain closed

Update 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The flood damage will keep the northern half of Yellowstone National Park closed to tourists for the rest of the summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly told reporters Tuesday evening. The area includes the iconic Lamar Valley, Tower Falls and Mammoth Hot Springs.

The southern loop of Yellowstone National Park may reopen to visitors in a week or less, he added, using some type of reservation system or timed entry to control entry. Travel from Jackson, Wyoming, was already going to be hampered by road construction. Entrances that would be reopened for the southern loop include the East, South and West gates near Cody, Jackson and West Yellowstone, respectively.

Park County authorities focus on helping residents, look to start assessing damage

Update 4:10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The water is receding north of Yellowstone National Park.

Park County Sheriff Brad Bichler said during a press conference Tuesday that crews have been able to start looking at just how much damage was done since flooding began. The sheriffs office has completed at least a dozen rescues, he said.

In Gardiner, several homes along the Yellowstone River have been lost, Bichler said. Whispering Pines, Cooke City and Silvergate have also sustained extensive damage. Lisa Lowy, interim Livingston city manager, said the citys southeast areas saw homes flooding and street damage that remains to be totally assessed.

Now, Bichler said, officers are focused on moving non-local traffic out of Gardiner. Highway 89 opened between Gardiner and Livingston on Tuesday, which he said should help get essential goods into town.

The eight patients housed at Livingston HealthCare on Monday remain at Pioneer Medical Center in Big Timber, hospital CEO Deb Anczak said during Tuesdays press conference. The main campus phone system is still down, Anczak said, but an inspection found no water penetrated the facility.

That means that depending on when roads open in the area, the hospital is looking to reopen its emergency department as soon as possible and return to inpatient care. For now, the hospitals urgent care center on Highway 89 is operational and its Shields Valley Clinic in Wilsall has extra staff on hand to handle walk-ins.

Those who need help or are looking for information in the area, Park County Emergency Manager Greg Coleman said, should call the hotline at (406) 222-4131.

You can also text your zip code to Nixle at 888777 to receive updates by text.

Only call 911 if you have an emergency, Coleman reiterated.

Theyre very busy right now, he said.

The HRDC in Livingston set up an emergency shelter at its warming center on South Second Street Monday night, and may stay open Tuesday depending on how many people need it. Coleman said to call the hotline if youre looking for a place to stay.

Offers of help in any form can be directed to 211.

Were in for the long haul, Park County Commissioner Steve Caldwell said. Its going to be a long exercise, but I think were up to it.

Cody resort shutters temporarily amid flood

Update 2:40 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Pahaska Tepee Resort  located outside Cody, just two miles from Yellowstones east entrance  is shuttered through at least Thursday.

The resort boasts cabins, a restaurant, gift shop and outdoor activities. Its oldest lodge was built by U.S. Colonel William Cody (a.k.a. Buffalo Bill) himself.

Pahaska was booked at about 90% capacity at the beginning of the week, said Angela Coe, who runs the resort. But rainfall over the weekend caused the North Fork Shoshone River to swell so much, it got into the lodges water system, Coe said. Staff shut off the system Monday to prevent it from getting into the resorts tap, and sent all guests home.

The rivers since receded. Coe said Pahaska Tepee is currently sending water samples to the Wyoming Department of Health in Cheyenne. The water needs to test as safe two days in a row before the lodge can open up again.

If all goes well, the resort will reopen Friday.

But Pahaska Tepees guests often come for Yellowstone, Coe said. She doesn't expect Codys tourism business to recover until the parks southern region reopens, too.

Prospective vacationers arent waiting for answers, Coe said. The phones at Pahaska Tepee have been ringing nonstop with cancellations. She emphasized that people are wanting to cancel their July and August reservations.

Officials to release water from Mystic Lake dam

Update 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Mystic Dam will be releasing water from Mystic Lake to maintain safe water levels within the reservoir, Stillwater County officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

"This action is necessary to maintain safe water levels behind the dam," a statement from a Stillwater County spokesperson said. "Since the Stillwater and Rosebud River levels have dropped we anticipate little to no impact on the current flooding situation."

Yellowstone to remain closed at least five more days

Update 1:56 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a release the park will remain closed at least five more days.

In a release, Sholly said Xanterra's seasonal employees will be moved from Mammoth and that concession facilities in the northern part of the park at Mammoth and Roosevelt "will not reopen likely the rest of the year."

The park also will:

 Implement full visitor closure of the backcountry.

 Evaluate needs for backcountry evacuations.

 Improve Old Gardiner Road from Mammoth to the North Entrance and use the road for administrative travel and evacuate visitors.

 Restore power to northern Yellowstone sites and Canyon, Lake and Norris.

 Evacuate Gardiner visitors via the Old Gardiner Road.

 Support Gardiner residents with a resupply of food, water and medicine.

 Support isolated NPS residents at the NE Entrance via aircraft if necessary.

 Support Cooke City residents as needed.

 Mitigate wastewater impacts of destroyed sewer lines in Gardiner and Mammoth.

 Relocate all Mammoth-based concessions employees to properties on the southern loop.

 Halt and redirect any inbound employees hired to work in Mammoth or Tower who haven't arrived yet.

 Support employees who lost housing in Gardiner.

 Prepare for outside teams to help assess damage.

 Prepare reservation system strategy for southern loop for remainder of the year.

Jackson works to accommodate Yellowstone-bound tourists

Update 12:39 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Teton County Fairgrounds was a landing site for a few dozen displaced Yellowstone campers Monday.

About 38 RVs parked there overnight, according to Trista Hiltbrunner, a staff member at the fairgrounds. Some of them came from inside the park, she said. By noon Tuesday, just a couple remained.

Cities and towns located just outside of Yellowstone were busy Tuesday connecting displaced visitors with lodging, and helping them figure out next steps.

We really do operate as one, Rick Howe, vice president of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, said of Yellowstones gateway communities.

At this point, the chambers mostly getting calls from people who were planning to visit the park this week, and suddenly had nowhere to go, he said.

The chamber extended its phone services by three hours so it could accommodate the rush of calls. Its now live from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Howe said Jackson is preparing to accept more displaced travelers and evacuees, but is waiting to hear more from park officials.

Yellowstone provides update on conditions, evacuations - no deaths or injuries reported

Update 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

During a conditions call, Yellowstone National Park officials said the Montana Department of Transportation and the Park County Sheriffs Office opened U.S. Hwy 89 at Yankee Jim Canyon through Bozeman at 35 mph to locals, delivery and service vehicles and outbound visitors, including trailers, at about 11:35 Tuesday morning.

"We cleared visitors from the entire northern end of the park," said Park Superintendent Cameron Sholly. "There are no visitors in the northern end, currently."

No injuries or deaths have been recorded from the flooding, Sholly said. The extent of the damage is still unclear. "We've kept our teams out of harm's way," he said. "We won't know exactly what the damage looks like until the water goes down."

The Park Service is still working on evacuating the southern part of the park and making contact with backcountry hikers.

The southern loop, which suffered significantly less damage than the northern loop, can't handle the full visitation Yellowstone receives, Sholly said. The park is still figuring out when and how the southern entrances will reopen. "That's still probably a little ways out, and it'll be some sort of reservation system, likely  a temporary reservation system," Sholly said.

Park officials said Mammoth and Roosevelt will likely remain closed to visitors for the rest of this year. The Park Service plans to move affected seasonal employees to positions in the southern part of the park.

Do not drink order issued in Gardiner

Update 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has issued a "Do Not Consume" order in Gardiner.

This means that water is not safe to drink or cook with. It is safe for washing hands and showering.

Outside of Gardiner residents in Park County are encouraged to contact the Park County health department with questions about wells that maybe compromised or submerged by flooding. Their number is 406-222-4131.

"If you have a well, and it is submerged by flood water or the water appears to be compromised, the water may not be safe to consume," Park County officials said in a statement Tuesday. "This is especially true for people who are immunocompromised or an infant."

No access to Gardiner available, supplies being shipped

Update 11:58 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

According to a Park County press release, "Attempts are currently ongoing to establish one-way traffic in the Valley [to Gardiner]. As yet, there is still no access. Attempts to establish drop points for supply drops in the Valley and in Gardiner and Cooke City are ongoing."

The press release also stated that, as waters recede, officials will be assessing the damages made to roads and bridges to determine if they are "structurally sound."

Montana National Guard performing evacuations

Update 11:08 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Montana National Guard evacuated 12 people from the communities of Roscoe and Cooke City on Monday as the flooding cut off vehicle access to the towns. Aircrews from the 1-189th General Support Aviation Battalion deployed a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to assist in search and rescue efforts at the request of local law enforcement.

As of Tuesday morning, the Guard unit is conducting a third evacuation operation for recreationalists around East Rosebud Lake.

We are standing by for additional requests for support, Maj. Ryan Finnegan, Montana National Guard Public Affairs Officer said. As local law enforcement requests assistance, we will continue to provide what resources are available.

A Florida family of eight were plucked by a helicopter from a flooded rental outside Cooke City, at the parks Northeast Entrance, on Monday after high waters stranded them.

A Cooke City man was air lifted by the National Guard after he suffered hypothermia from cold waters as he self-rescued.

Gov. Greg Gianforte announces "statewide disaster"

Update 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

In a Tweet on Monday, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a "statewide disaster."

In a separate post released just before to the disaster Tweet Gianforte stated, "For the last 24 hours, the State Emergency Coordination Center has been working with partners in Carbon, Stillwater, and Park counties to evacuate, ensure shelter, and safely restore power and water in areas impacted by severe flooding."

Power returns to Red Lodge, flood levels drop

10:02 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

Power in Red Lodge was restored and flood levels were declining slightly. Rock Creek was forecast to crest Monday afternoon around 1 p.m., but 80-degree temperatures predicted for later in the week are raising concerns that the tragedy is not yet over.

"It's still a river flowing" down the streets, said resident John Clayton whose house was flooded. "But it's an almost fordable river now."

Morning update for greater Yellowstone area

9:05 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

One day after milk-chocolate flood waters surged through Yellowstone National Park and nearby communities, officials and residents were working to assess the damages as others downstream braced for historically high rivers expected to come Tuesday.

Just after 10 p.m. Monday, people living in a sizable portion of southeast Livingston were required to evacuate due to the rising Yellowstone River, though the order was lifted just before 9 a.m. Tuesday. About a half-hour after the evacuation notice Monday night, the city's hospital, Livingston HealthCare, closed as the river's record-high waters crept into its parking lot.

By 1 a.m. Tuesday, the Yellowstone had reached flood stage at Billings, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS forecast the river to crest Tuesday afternoon at 14.7 feet, just three-tenths of a foot shy of the record established in 1997.

Meanwhile, the world's first national park and the south-central Montana communities of Red Lodge, Gardiner and Fishtail began to further assess damage from unprecedented flooding on the Yellowstone and Stillwater rivers as well as Rock Creek.

Images of damage from the frothing streams continued to emerge Tuesday morning. Celebrating its 150th anniversary during prime tourist season, Yellowstone remained indefinitely closed at all five entrances Tuesday for only the third time in 34 years  most recently in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also for the infamous 1988 fires.

Residents and tourists in Gardiner at Yellowstone's North Entrance and Silver Gate and Cooke City just outside the Northeast Entrance were stranded due to roads made impassable by high water and damage that could take weeks or even months to repair, park officials said.

Officials on Monday were evacuating those still inside the park, beginning in its northernmost reaches, where the impacts  including road washouts, bridge failures, rockslides and mudslides  were most severe.

YNP employees at park headquarters in Mammoth, who remained without power Tuesday morning, planned to buy groceries and other essentials in West Yellowstone, which announced late Monday that it would permit temporary camping in town for people impacted by the closure. A generator was providing power to Mammoth's cell tower, enabling communication to the outside world.

Park employees were to convene at 11 a.m. to assess next steps.

The serpentine road from Mammoth to Gardiner in the Gardner River Canyon was badly damaged, as was the road between Tower Junction and the Northeast Entrance where the Lamar River surged well beyond its record flood level.

As of approximately 9 a.m. Tuesday, the park had not provided an update of the situation on its website or social media pages. At this time, the extent of the damage, as well as how many people may be stranded inside the park, is unclear.

The Yellowstone River crested at just over 49,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) at Corwin Springs in the upper Paradise Valley on Monday, shattering its previous records of 32,200 set in June 1996 and matched a year later. The Lamar peaked at 16.7 feet Monday, breaking its 1996 record by more than four feet and rising two feet above the gauge's upper reach.

Near Corwin Springs, a house for Park Service employees was pried loose from its foundation by the raging waters and spun downstream. U.S. Highway 89 was closed just south of Emigrant, not far from where the iconic Carbella bridge leading to Tom Miner Basin was swept away early Monday in the first sign the Yellowstone meant business.

On the flanks of the Beartooth Mountains to the east, residents of Red Lodge, Fishtail and Nye waited for floodwaters to abate.

Meteorologists said the unprecedented flooding was caused by a convergence of an unseasonably cool spring that retained snowpack, late-spring snowstorms and multiple days of considerable rainfall at high elevations. Parts of the park received more than an inch of rain over 24 hours Monday, more than tripling the previous single-day mark.

Most of the flood damage was centered on YNP and the streams flowing north from the Yellowstone Plateau, including the Gallatin River, which was expected to reach flood stage at Logan about 25 miles of Bozeman in the wee hours Tuesday. On Monday, the Gallatin County Sheriff's office cautioned residents along low-lying stretches of the West Gallatin to be prepared to evacuate.

Also Monday, the Flathead River at Columbia Falls in northwest Montana surpassed flood stage by a half-foot and was expected to rise another two feet Tuesday.

Yellowstone's peak flooding was to push downstream to Big Timber, Columbus, Laurel, Billings and eastern Montana by Tuesday afternoon.

A flood warning for the Boulder River south of Big Timber was lifted Tuesday morning.

The Custer Gallatin National Forest has posted an area closure on its website, shutting down all lands, roads and trails in Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park and Gallatin counties.

The exception is the Pryor Mountain portion of the forest, which remains open.

The purpose of this order is to protect emergency personnel, public health and imminent life safety due to widespread flooding events, roads and facility damage in Carbon, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, the posting said.

The closure is in effect from Tuesday through June 24, or until it is rescinded. Violations of the closure can result in a $5,000 fine or six months in jail.

For more details, contact the forest office at 406-587-6701.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Senior Chinese diplomat meets U.S. national security advisor

Xinhua) 08:31, June 14, 2022

Yang Jiechi (1st R), a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, meets with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (1st L) in Luxembourg, on June 13, 2022. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

LUXEMBOURG, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan here on Monday.

The two sides conducted candid, in-depth, and constructive communication on China-U.S. relations, as well as other issues of common concern.

The two sides agreed to follow the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, step up contact and dialogue, reduce misunderstanding and miscalculation, and properly manage differences. Both sides agreed that maintaining unimpeded channels for communication is necessary and beneficial.

Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, noted that U.S. President Joe Biden has repeatedly told Chinese President Xi Jinping that the United States does not seek a new Cold War or aim to change China's system, nor will it oppose China through strengthening alliances, support "Taiwan independence," or intend to seek a conflict with China. The Chinese side attaches high importance to these statements, he said.

For some time, however, the U.S. side has been insisting on further containing and suppressing China in an all-round way. Such acts, instead of helping the United States solve its own problems, have plunged China-U.S. relations into a very difficult situation and severely damaged the exchanges and cooperation in bilateral areas, Yang said, stressing that such a situation conforms neither to the interests of the two sides nor other countries of the world.

China-U.S. relations are at a critical crossroads, noted Yang, saying that the three principles proposed by President Xi -- mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation -- are the correct approaches for China and the United States in getting along with each other, as the principles conform not only to the fundamental interests of the Chinese and the Americans, but also to the common aspiration of the international community. They ought to be fundamental rules for developing China-U.S. relations.

The Chinese side is ready to work together with the U.S. side to explore ways and methods to realize this vision, yet China firmly opposes using competition to define bilateral ties, Yang said.

He said the U.S. side should correct its strategic perceptions of China, make the right choices, and translate President Biden's commitments into concrete actions, working together with the Chinese side in the same direction and concretely implementing the important consensus reached by the two heads of state.

Yang stressed that China takes an unambiguous and steadfast stand in safeguarding its national sovereignty and territorial integrity. China's internal affairs brook no interference by other countries, and any attempts to thwart or undermine China's national unity are doomed to fail, he said.

The Taiwan question concerns the political foundation of China-U.S. relations which, unless handled properly, will have a subversive impact, said the senior Chinese diplomat. The risk does not only exist but will escalate as the United States attempts to contain China with the Taiwan question, and as the Taiwan authorities rely on the United States to seek its "independence," he added.

The U.S. side should not have any misjudgments or illusions, Yang said, adding that it must abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations in the three China-U.S. joint communiques and handle the Taiwan question in a prudent and proper way.

Yang also stated China's solemn position on issues concerning Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Tibet, the South China Sea, as well as human rights and religion.

He stressed that the U.S. side ought to have benign interactions with the Chinese side and make concerted efforts in promoting prosperity, stability, and development in the Asia-Pacific region.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues such as Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Saudi Arabias Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has received 955 pilgrims from Indonesia and Bangladesh, representing the first batch of pilgrims arriving in Jeddah and Madinah from outside the Kingdom.



The pilgrims arrived through the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, amidst comprehensive preparations from all public and private institutions to serve them, reported Saudi Press Agency (SPA).



Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Abdelfattah bin Suleiman noted that the government has worked for months to mobilize all humanitarian and material efforts and capabilities to provide the best services to pilgrims.



He underlined the preparedness of the ministry to finish all pilgrims' procedures easily, starting from issuing visas, ensuring biological characteristics and health conditions, and arranging transfer and accommodation operations in partnership with all institutions working in Hajj until their departure of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after performing their rituals.



He also welcomed the delegates of 405 pilgrims from Bangladesh after a two-year interruption due to the circumstances imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, reiterating the ministry's keenness to meet pilgrims' demands and aspirations and facilitating procedures for performing their rituals.



The first batch of this year's Hajj season arrived on Saturday through Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah from Jakarta, comprising 450 pilgrims.
Rock Creek has crested and flood levels have declined slightly in Red Lodge a day after water tore through the southeast side of town following the 19th Street Bridge's collapse.

"It's still a river flowing" down the streets, said resident John Clayton whose house was flooded. "But it's an almost fordable river now."

The creek was forecast to crest Monday afternoon around 1 p.m., but 80-degree temperatures are predicted for later in the week raising concerns that the tragedy is not yet over.

"I'm not sure we're out of the woods yet," Clayton said.

Although power was out from around 2 p.m. to 11:35 p.m., NorthWestern Energy crews had electricity restored for customers by the time they awoke. A powerline to the town was compromised by the flooding taking out power to about 2,441 customers. Power remained out to isolated residences and for about 108 customers in the Luther and Roscoe area, according to a NorthWestern spokesperson. On Tuesday, crews were working on a permanent fix.

"The power came back on amazingly," Clayton said, so he could charge his phone and keep updated on the emergency situation.

Red Lodge's water service was also restored on Monday after initially being shut down, but a boil order remained in place.

"To be able to have power and water is amazing," Clayton said.

Any effort to remove the 19th Street Bridge is going to have to wait until water recedes so that heavy equipment can be brought in. The bridge is county owned.

Red Lodge resident Lee Cooper said she heard from neighbors on both sides that they had 3 feet of water in their basements and that the water rose to their back door, but she was still holding out hope the main floor of the house may have been spared.

On the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River flooding closed the Lower River Road to the south from East River Road. A Red Cross evacuation shelter was set up in the Bridger High School gym, according to the carbonalert.org website.

A shelter has been set up in the Gruell Building at the Carbon County Fairgrounds in Red Lodge offering meals, drinks and cots. The hotline for information is 406-426-2425.

Several secondary highways in the region were closed including the Beartooth Scenic Byway, Highway 308 between Belfry and Red Lodge, Highway 78 between Red Lodge and the junction with Highway 419 south of Absarokee, Highway 419 from that junction past Nye and Highway 420 from Absarokee west along the Stillwater River.

Elsewhere, Highway 191 between Big Timber and Harlowton is closed; highways 89 and 540 south out of Livingston was closed to Gardiner; and all entrances to Yellowstone National Park were closed on Monday.

Adam Kaylor, owner of the Red Box Car restaurant said his business is doing its best to support Red Lodge from down the road while it works to recover.

The Red Box Car usually serves up burgers and fries to passing drivers from the edge of Rock Creek, but after recent floods destroyed the road leading up to his shop, hes been trying to deliver goods to Red Lodge neighbors from his food truck.

The food truck, which normally only works on weekends, has been hauling pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad and beans into town to hand out, free of charge. With hundreds of pounds of pork cooking in his BBQ, Kaylor said his first priority is helping everyone stay safe and healthy during the disaster.

Kaylor remembers driving some of his college-aged employees to their homes around 1 a.m. Tuesday and seeing a police officer. The officer had lost his entire house to the floods the day before but was still doing his patrols and keeping people safe. That sight convinced Kaylor that Red Lodge would survive the floods, no matter how hard they became, he said.

Its a tough town, Kaylor said. I think everyone will be fine.

Kaylor said he feels the same way towards his own restaurant. The Red Box Car depends on summer sales to keep itself running throughout the year. With the road to the restaurant destroyed, the food stops future is a mystery to even Kaylor. That being said, Kaylor doesnt doubt the Red Box Car will survive  even if its a rough summer.

Were just trying to cook, Kaylor said. Thats our happy place.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
German playwright Bertolt Brecht ("Threepenny Opera," "Mother Courage," "The Caucasian Chalk Circle") fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s to escape Hitlers carnage, but continued writing to disparage the Nazi leader. In 1941 he wrote the play "The Resistible Rise" of Arturo Ui, a parody of Adolph Hitler as a Chicago gangster. At the end of the play after Ui is vanquished, the lead actor addresses the audience with a warning, saying, in essence: Do not rejoice yet in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped this tyrant, the dog who bore him is in heat again  meaning the conditions that enabled him still prevail. This warning is remarkably prescient as a comment on our current political situation in the United States. Simply substitute the name Trump for Brechts word tyrant, and you see the clear parallels of prevailing conditions, Trumps behavior, and the alarming danger that Brecht warns about.

What dog bore him, encouraged and enabled him? The Republican Party. And although our nation stood up and stopped him in the 2020 election, Trump and his Republican confederates have deployed lie after lie to challenge the results of that fair and honest national election. Indeed, Trump and his accomplices have gone so far as to incite violent insurrection in the storming of our nations Capitol, attempting to stop the congressional certification of the electoral vote that proved Joe Biden president by a wide margin. In several states, they even conspired with election officials to prepare counterfeit lists of their states electors, to be introduced to Congress if they could create any possible ploy to nullify the election results. But despite numerous overruled court challenges and false claims of election fraud, they couldnt circumvent the Constitutional procedures of seating the newly elected president.

Still, they continue their efforts to undermine our Constitution and the principles of democracy. When Congress deemed it necessary to investigate the insurrection, Republicans fought diligently against any investigation. Although they prevented the Senate from establishing an investigative committee, the House did establish its select committee, which includes two willing Republican members, to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attempted coup. Hundreds of witness interviews and thousands of documents combine to reveal the actual facts of the attempted government overthrow by Trump, his staff, his lawyers, some states officials, and some congressional henchmen. Yes, it does appear that several current Republican Congressmen were complicit in enabling the seditious conspiracy. Public televised sessions of the Jan. 6 House committee hearings will continue to display the depth and breadth of corruption that the Republicans engineered: the greatest threat in history to our democracy by an internal, domestic cabal.

The GOP and many of its members continue to demonstrate the principles and conditions that enabled the malfeasance of Trump. With their perpetuation of the big lie that the election was stolen from Trump, Republicans have enacted draconian election laws, and manufactured distrust which they claim requires close policing by their watchers, and placement of their members as election officials and vote counters.

Whether or not Trump runs for office again, his disgraced party remains in thrall to him, his dishonesty, and his candidate endorsements. The Republican Party has no policy platform since its 2020 convention, when it determined only to maintain the status quo of pandering to Trump. Now the analogy of Brechts dog in heat again warns of likely future dangers. Whether the party proffers a new slate of corrupt gangsters or simply retreads existing operatives, the GOP and its practitioners remain the greatest ongoing threat to American democracy today. Its urgent that voters respond accordingly.

Bill Boughton is a veteran small business owner who lives in Missoula.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 17 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2
With a new fire season approaching, it is more important than ever that we protect our first responders. Unfortunately, a dangerous petition is currently circulating in our communities that puts the resources we need to do our jobs and protect our communities at risk.

As the president of the Montana Professional Firefighters and a working firefighter myself, I know first-hand that a single spark can have far-reaching consequences. Allowing CI-121 to make it on the November ballot will simply make it harder for first responders to do their jobs and keep our communities safe.

CI-121 is a proposed amendment to our Montana Constitution that is modeled off a California initiative. If placed on the November ballot and passed it would embed disastrous tax policy into the Montana Constitution. Once placed in the Constitution, it would be nearly impossible to remove, despite the negative impacts these policies have had across the country.

CI-121 has been billed as providing property tax relief for working people and families, but the impacts of this measure would be devastating for the middle class, while placing a higher tax burden on farmers, new homeowners and seniors. Californias Prop 13 disproportionately provided tax relief to already wealthy households, and resulted in disastrous cuts to public education, police departments and local fire departments.

Any tax relief promised to homeowners will be quickly off-set by the blow to public services, including the ability for law enforcement, firefighters, and other first responders to respond to crises and keep our communities safe. The cuts to Californias public education system alone resulted in that state providing 20% fewer services per pupil than the national average and have resulted in critical resources being unavailable for firefighters, especially in rural areas. Montana does not need to join California in a race to the bottom.

CI-121 would also result in reduced incentives for the building of new homes, particularly affordable worker housing. Currently, firefighters in Miles City are living in man camps as their workforce is unable to obtain affordable housing in the area. Montana should be finding more ways to incentivize the building of affordable housing, not further decreasing its availability.

CI-121 will have dangerous consequences for Montana. If asked, please decline to sign CI-121.

George Richards is the president of the Montana State Council of Professional Firefighters.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
In my previous column, I explained the benefits of the Tax Credit Scholarship program, already in effect in our state. While Id love to say Montanas government has made strides in promoting the Montana TCS program since my last article that, unfortunately, hasnt been the case. Democratic legislators have created yet another roadblock to restrict school choice and disincentivize the TCS program.

The Revenue Interim Committee will meet on June 17 to again discuss the Tax Credit Scholarship program. Democratic members on the Committee, prompted by the Department of Revenue, will seek to slash the tax credit afforded to those contributing to the scholarship in half. That means Montana taxpayers who award a portion of their tax dollars to a student scholarship nonprofit would no longer be eligible for a 100% tax credit on the money they contributed. Instead, taxpayers would only receive a 50-cent tax credit for every $1 contributed.

This attempt to disincentivize Montanans from funding student scholarships is just the latest effort in a series of losing attempts for politicians and bureaucrats to limit school choice. Montana politicians have been putting up roadblocks to regain the power they lost over controlling our children's education ever since the Legislature passed Montanas TCS program in 2015.

In fact, the Montana Department of Revenue claimed shortly after the passage of TCS that it violated Montanas Blaine Amendment. The Blaine Amendment prohibits state aid to any religious institution or school. However, TCS funds arent state aid. They are private dollars from taxpayers. Claiming that these private dollars belong to the state, when the state chooses not to tax them, was a dangerous precedent to set.

Nevertheless, the Montana Supreme Court seemed to take no issue with setting a dangerous precedent that private money belongs to the government. Relevant to this years Supreme Court election is the decision from Supreme Court Justice Ingrid Gustafson, joining the majority ruling in finding that because the government could have taxed the money used to fund TCS, it was an indirect payment from the government to the scholarship fund. Effectively this argument means anything the government decided not to tax was an indirect appropriation, thereby claiming there was no limitation on the taxation and appropriation power of government.

Luckily, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed this decision and threw out the Blaine Amendment as unconstitutional. As the U.S Supreme Court stated in its decision, the Constitution condemns discrimination against religious schools and the families whose children attend them. They are members of the community too, and their exclusion from (programs like Montanas) scholarship program...is odious to our Constitution and cannot stand.

If Montanas Supreme Court justices were willing to ignore the First Amendment rights of parents and children and upend our states entire system of tax benefits just to oppose school choice, I suppose the latest move from some legislators to disincentivize Montanans from funding TCS should come as no surprise.

This is yet another attempt to limit the constitutional rights of Montana parents under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. It is another tactic to limit school choice for Montana parents and their children. It is yet another attempted power grab by Montana politicians to control what, where, and how our children learn.

These politicians want us to look away and grow tired of fighting for educational freedom as more and more roadblocks are put in the way. This is why we must continue to passionately fight for educational choice in Montana. This is why we must continue to fight for Montanas Tax Credit Scholarships and the school choice movement.

Jesse Ramos writes from a liberty-conservative point of view and is the community engagement director at Americans for Prosperity-Montana and a former Missoula city council member representing Ward 4 from 2018 to 2022.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1
The American Forest Resource Councils Tom Partin let the cat out of the bag in his June 5 op-ed in the Missoulian newspaper. As Will Rogers said, its easier to let the cat out of the bag than it is to put it back in. Partin reveals the classic bait and switch. He starts with the fire threat and then moves on to say the Bitterroot Front Project is needed to conduct commercial timber harvest on more than 55,000 acres and will greatly help sustain the existing milling infrastructure. Without the raw material sold by the Forest Servicethe industry would not be able to run their mills at capacities.

Advocates of commercial logging like to say that all of our forests are overgrown. However, the historic baseline condition in the Bitterroot Mountains was documented in the Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition more than 200 years ago before any European settlement had occurred. When crossing the Bitterroots they complained of dog-hair forest that prevented the harvest of deer and elk and they nearly starved. An anomaly? A team of scientists concluded that areas of thick forest have always been part of the normal landscape condition (Odion et al. 2014. Examining Historical and Current Mixed-Severity Fire Regimes in Ponderosa Pine and Mixed-Conifer Forests of Western North America).

The Stevensville District Ranger disparages opponents of this boondoggle by saying they dont want to work with the communities. Or is it they are unwilling to trick the communities into thinking commercial logging right to the border of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness will increase the protection of privately owned structures? It wont.

The Forest Service routinely cherry-picks the scientific literature, conveniently ignoring science that doesnt promote its commercial logging-heavy agenda. Most fires start on private lands and then move onto Forest Service land (Downing et al. 2022. Human Ignitions on Private Lands Drive USFS Cross-boundary Transmission and Community Impacts in the Western US). The most deadly and destructive fire in recent years in Paradise, California was an urban fire started by PG&Es powerlines. Burned down houses were the understory fuel and were surrounded by unburned trees. The destructive fire in Denton, Montana was a grass fire. The Missoula County Commission explains this situation well in their letter to the Lolo National Forest (Missoula Current 6/10/22).

Scientists from the Forest Service Fire Lab, including retired fire scientist Dr. Jack Cohen have shown for years that thinning beyond the Home Ignition Zone (HIZ), or about 100 feet from structures is not effective in protecting structures. Like the Bitterroot, the Lolo National Forest declares the Wildland-Urban Interface extends miles from the nearest structures into non-urban areas. They even buffer single isolated structures to a two-and-a half-mile distance to open more areas to commercial logging.

Thinning and controlled burning to some distance adjacent to communities and critical infrastructure is reasonable but the Forest Service has twisted the science to fit their own objectives. They dont want commercial timber sale plans to rise or fall on their own merits so they use an excuse to get around environmental and wildlife protection laws. The bait and switch from Forest Service line officers is unacceptable. Its the cat that was let out of the timber industrys bag. If the goal is old-fashioned commercial timber harvest then have the integrity to say so.

Mike Bader is an independent consultant in Missoula, Montana. He is a veteran of the Yellowstone Fires of 1988 and supervised fuel reduction operations that saved five different structures on the National Historic Register and served as a resource advisor to two Class I Overhead Teams.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Bobby and Amy McBride were selected as the 67th Krewe of Bowlegs First Mate and First Mistress.

The traditional role of the First Mate and First Mistress is to serve the Captain and Krewe, and to lead the Honor Guard as the Krewe parades and travels throughout the year. The First Mate is the Captains right hand, and the couple will have many duties throughout the year.

First Mate and First Mistress LXVII are Bobby and Amy McBride.

Clues on Capt. Bowlegs: Who Is Captain Billy Bowlegs 67? Here are some clues.

Earlier event: Billy Bowlegs 66 Invasion

Bobby is currently serving as first vice president of the Krewe of Bowlegs. He is originally from Mobile, Alabama, but grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

He met Amy at Eglin Air Force Base at the Eglin pool, where she was a lifeguard and he was active duty. He followed her to the University of South Alabama and later graduated from the University of West Florida. He is currently an Air Reserve Technician Avionics Supervisor with the 919th SOAMXS at Duke Field, serving as a civil servant and an Air Force Reservist.

Amy McBride is a native of Fort Walton Beach and graduated from Choctawhatchee High School. She later received her bachelor of arts degree from the University of South Alabama, an M.B.A. from the University of West Florida, and a J.D. from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. She is an attorney and the director at the Office of Criminal Counsel and Civil Regional Counsel 1, First Judicial Circuit in Fort Walton Beach.

In their spare time, they love to dance and spend time with family. They have two children, Katie McBride, who works for Tammy's Journeys as a travel agent, and Collier McBride, who attends Florida State University and is a Marching Chief.

They joined the Krewe in 2010 under Captain Billy LV, Bruce Marshall, and served on the Honor Guard under Captain Billy LVII, Mark Siner.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival: First Mate, First Mistress named
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is projected to be the Democratic nominee in the Senate race this November barely an hour after polls closed Tuesday night.

Fetterman easily secured his partys nomination for an open Senate seat, despite being forced off the campaign trail by a stroke. The 52-year-old cast an emergency absentee ballot from the hospital and later tweeted that hed successfully undergone surgery to install a pacemaker and was on track for a full recovery.

Fetterman managed to take about 54% of the 277,828 votes in the Democratic race counted by about 9 p.m., when the Associated Press called the race.

U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb at about 31%, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta at 10% and Jenkintown council member Alexandria Khalil at 4%.

More:Live updates: PA 2022 primary coverage - Mastriano takes the lead in GOP governor's race

Outside money: Pennsylvania donors make up only 38% of campaign donations in US Senate race

The former Braddock mayor posted an excited thank you message to voters minutes later on his Twitter account, a social media platform Fetterman used often throughout his campaign.

PA  THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING ME AS YOUR DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR U.S. SENATE IN PENNSYLVANIA!!!!!!!! 



Im *so* deeply honored. pic.twitter.com/6sa7bC5Vrw  John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) May 18, 2022

Fetterman underwent pacemaker surgery earlier Tuesday evening to alleviate an issue with his heart that led to the stroke he suffered late last week. Fetterman was out of surgery before 7:20 Tuesday night.

Gisele Barreto Fetterman, the wife of Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman, who is the projected Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate for Pennsylvania, right, greets supporters at a hotel in Imperial, Pa., to watch election returns Tuesday, May 17, 2022.

The fact that so many of you entrusted me with your vote means the world to me, and its something Ill never take for granted. Im feeling better every day, and Im going to be back on the campaign trail to thank you all in person soon, Fetterman said in a statement released late Tuesday night.

Story continues

"Control of the Senate is going to come down to Pennsylvania, and we have to flip this seat. We have a hard fight ahead of us  but Pennsylvania is worth fighting for," Fetterman added.

One of the biggest questions of the night is who will compete against Fetterman in the fall. Trumps preferred candidate, Mehmet Oz, has divided conservatives and faces what looks like a far tougher race. Some are suspicious of the ideological leanings of the celebrity heart surgeon who gained fame as a frequent guest on Oprah Winfreys talk show. Oz has spent much of the campaign in a heated fight with former hedge fund CEO David McCormick.

On PA campaign trail: GOP Senate candidates get nasty, Fetterman a solid frontrunner

Thats allowed commentator Kathy Barnette to emerge in the final days of the primary as a conservative alternative to both Oz and McCormick. Should she win the primary and general election, Barnette would be the first Black Republican woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

Denise Seiffer, middle, and her husband, John, talk with Gisele Barreto Fetterman, left, the wife of Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman, who is the projected Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate for Pennsylvania, at a hotel in Imperial, Pa., to watch election returns Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Trump, who has held campaign-style rallies with Oz, insists he is the best candidate to keep the Senate seat in Republican hands in the fall. Given his level of involvement in the race, a loss would be a notable setback for the former president, who is wielding endorsements as a way to prove his dominance over the GOP ahead of a potential 2024 presidential run.

The years midterm primary season is entering its busiest stretch with races also unfolding in Kentucky, Oregon and Idaho.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: John Fetterman wins US Senate Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania
On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: 'Replacement theory' fuels extremists and shooters

National correspondent on extremism Will Carless reports. Plus, the latest on the Buffalo shooting, there was another shooting in California, an independent probe finds Israel shot journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the European Union scraps airplane mask requirements.

Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Monday, the 16th of May, 2022. Today, "replacement theory" and its role in mass shootings. Plus the latest from a journalist-killing in the West Bank and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

Two people are dead and three others injured after a Houston flea market shooting yesterday. Officials said the shooting came out of an altercation. NATO officials say that Russia's invasion in Ukraine is losing momentum. The comments came as top NATO diplomats, including US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, met yesterday to discuss more aid for Ukraine. And most of Shanghai is now out of its strict weeks-long lockdown. Officials say 15 of the Chinese city's 16 districts, have eliminated COVID-19 virus transmission.



A conspiracy theory called "replacement theory" is fueling extremism and mass shootings, according to experts. National Correspondent Will Carless, covers extremism for USA TODAY. He talked with 5 Things producer PJ Elliott about the theory and its connection to mass shootings in the United States.

Will Carless:

There are various grades of replacement theory, but essentially what it means is that it's the idea that white people, essentially the white population in the United States and Europe, are being somehow replaced by people of color. And real true replacement theory goes a step further. It says not only that this sort of replacement is going on, but that it is being orchestrated by a sort of a shadowy cabal. Usually, there's a sort of an antisemitic idea that there are Jewish people involved somehow in sort of orchestrating this change. But that's the idea, that white people are being replaced by people of color and that that's being systematically and purposefully done.

Story continues

Will Carless:

If you look at the worst domestic terrorism attacks over the last few years, with the exception of the attack in Las Vegas that was motivated by something else, most of them have been committed by people who were involved and are concerned about replacement theory. So, for example, Patrick Crusius, who killed 23 people in El Paso a couple of years ago, had made a manifesto that he called the great replacement. When Robert Bowers shot 11 people in 2018, he had talked about replacement theory in the hours leading up to the attack.

Will Carless:

And now we see this young man, again, basically spewing the same nonsense, the same conspiracy theories, and going out and committing mass murder. I mean, this is, without a doubt, the number one driving force sort of philosophy, conspiracy theory, that's leading people to go out and kill people in this country.

PJ Elliott:

Is it gaining more momentum, becoming more popular in kind of seeping into the mainstream, or is it still like an underground type thing?

Will Carless:

No, it's very much in the mainstream. So this used to be a theory that was relegated to sort of the far right wing, to the extreme right wing, to sort of white supremacist message boards. And what we've seen over the last five or six years, I'd say, is an absolute mainstreaming of replacement theory rhetoric. You see Fox News commentators like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham going back and repeating this trope again and again. You see politicians on the far right, and even mainstream politicians, who make these claims and sort of echo these theories. It's really everywhere. I mean, it's become a sort of a mainstay of the conservative end of the GOP. It's become a mainstay talking point that white people are being purposefully replaced in this country. And that's a particularly noxious thing, because that makes people who are on the extreme, it gives them legitimacy. They look, and they see the number one anchor, in terms of popularity in this country, repeating these lies, this nonsense, and they believe it to be true. So yeah, very much becoming more and more mainstream and more concernedly so.

Taylor Wilson:

Check out Will's full story in today's episode description.



The FBI today will continue investigating the Buffalo, New York supermarket shooting that killed 10 people and injured three. And federal officials are investigating the incident as a hate crime and racially motivated violent extremism. Buffalo police said that 11 of the 13 people who were shot at the Tops Friendly Markets were Black. And the suspect who was taken into custody at the scene is white. 18 year old Payton Gendron has been charged with murder and officials say they will consider additional charges in the coming days. The suspect appeared in court later on Saturday.

Judge:

Should be a copy of the charges in front of you. Do you understand that, sir?

Payton Gendron:

Yes, sir. I understand the charges.

Judge:

Okay. And can you afford an attorney?

Payton Gendron:

No.

Prosecutor:

We would respectfully request that the defendant be remanded without bail.

Taylor Wilson:

One of those killed was 72-year-old Katherine Massey. Her friend, Steve Carolson struggled to make sense of it.

Steve Carolson:

I mean, she was sweet. Kat bought me presents on my birthday on Christmas. She always came here and checked up on us. I would do lawn work for her. She'd give me money for it. She was the last person that deserved something like this. I definitely feel like people all over should have open eyes and ears to something like this, because it could happen to anybody, anywhere, at anytime. These people were just shopping. They went to go get food to feed their families.

Taylor Wilson:

Yesterday morning, Voice Buffalo and other equity advocacy groups held a vigil near the shooting scene. Reverend Mark Blue, head of the Buffalo NAACP, called for unity among residents of all races and said everyone must continue to support victims of what he called, "a heinous act of racism."



Another shooting came yesterday at a Southern California church. Police said a gunman entered the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods around 1:30 local time, and opened fire, killing one person and injuring five more. But a group of churchgoers managed to pin the gunman to the ground and tie his legs with an extension cord. Orange County Undersheriff Jeff Hallock.

Undersheriff Jeff Hallock:

One person is confirmed deceased at the scene. Four others are critical and one other victim sustained minor injuries. The injured victims were taken to local hospitals. We currently do not have a status of the injured four that are in critical condition. The incident happened at lunch, at a lunch banquet following the morning service. And again, to remind you, this is all very preliminary information. We believe a group of churchgoers detained him and hog-tied his legs with an extension cord and confiscated at least two weapons from him. He was detained when the deputies arrived. That group of churchgoers displayed what we believe is exceptional heroism and bravery in intervening to stop the suspect. They undoubtedly prevented additional injuries and fatalities.

Taylor Wilson:

The suspect is an Asian man in his 60s. Authorities are investigating why the attacker targeted the church. It had about 30 to 40 people inside at the time, most of whom were Taiwanese. It's not clear whether the incident might be considered a hate crime.



Several research and human rights groups have launched their own investigations into Al Jazeera journalist, Shareen Abu Aqleh's death. She was killed last week while covering an Israeli military raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian American had long reported on hardships of Palestinian life under Israeli rule, now in its sixth decade. Palestinian officials and witnesses, including journalists who were with her, say she was killed by Israeli army fire. The military initially said that Palestinian gunmen may have been responsible, but they've since backtracked and say she may have been hit by errant Israeli fire.

Israel has called for a joint investigation with Palestinians, though Palestinian officials have refused, saying they don't trust Israel. Human rights groups say Israel has a poor record of investigating wrongdoing by its security forces.

Meanwhile, Bellingcat, a Dutch-based international consortium of researchers, published an analysis over the weekend of video and audio evidence gathered on social media. Material came from both Israeli and Palestinian sources. And the group found that while gunman and Israeli soldiers were both in the area at the time, evidence supported witness accounts that Abu Aqleh was killed by Israeli fire. But the lead researcher of the analysis said it cannot be 100% certain without evidence like the bullet used, weapons used by the army, and GPS locations of Israeli forces.



The European Union will no longer require masks on planes and in airports beginning today. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the European Center for Disease Control said they hoped the joint decision would help normalize air travel for passengers and crew. But the two agencies did recommend that airlines keep systems for passenger locator information on standby, in case there are new health crises in the future. Rules for masks still do vary by airline, if they fly to or from destinations with different guidelines. The requirement for masks on planes had been in place for about two years. Flight attendants and other employees have been the ones to enforce the rules, creating tension at times. And just this month, German airline Lufthansa did not allow a large group of Jewish travelers to board a plane because other travelers, who were Jewish, refused to wear masks.

Meanwhile, a decline in COVID-19 cases is leading to countries across Europe to roll back pandemic restrictions of all kinds. Germany said last week it was disbanding a crisis task force appointed to lead the official response, and the French government announced that people will no longer have to wear face masks in any form of public transport, beginning this week.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us seven mornings a week on whatever your favorite podcast app is. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show. And I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Extremists push 'replacement theory', Buffalo shooting update: 5 Things podcast
Traffic cops who arrest drivers for flipping the bird, municipal paper pushers who deny protest permits and scheming state lawmakers who misuse their laboratories of democracy to concoct a witches brew of suppressive statutes could use a support group right about now.

The odds that they can continue quietly micromanaging public discourse took a nosedive on June 6.

FIRE, the nations premier nonpartisan defender of First Amendment rights on college and university campuses, has widened its scope from the student union to the town square. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education rechristened itself the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and took on the mantle of a national free speech advocacy group no longer limited to weighing in on campus controversies. Its a holistic approach, President and CEO Greg Lukianoff explained, as much of American life is downstream from the ivory tower. Todays censorious students are tomorrows white-collar workforce, and the attitudes they bring with them can gradually remake mainstream culture in their image.

Our defense of freedom of speech and inquiry on campus will remain core to what we do and will grow in the coming years, Lukianoff said in a June 6 news release. But we have come to realize that defending the First Amendment and a culture of free speech off-campus is essential to protecting those values on-campus, just as much as fighting for those values on-campus is essential for preserving them off-campus.

FIRE has cultivated a fearsome reputation for its work in the academic sphere. In its 23 years of existence, the Philadelphia-based nonprofit has chalked up 500-plus direct advocacy victories  lawsuits won, settlements secured and satisfactory outcomes achieved through persuasion alone  changed 425 problematic college policies, and helped pass free speech-friendly laws in 20 states.

Deans, provosts and chancellors tremble to find themselves on the receiving end of a FIRE letter festooned with footnotes and case law citations  and those are the smart ones. Recalcitrant campus censors who shrug off the groups warnings get their comeuppance in court.

FIRE is now accepting case submissions from the general public. Anyone in the United States with a claimed First Amendment violation can visit thefire.org/alarm and complete a form to request assistance. Depending on the facts, foundation staffers might offer legal representation, public advocacy, publicity or all of the above.

The service fills a gap left by the American Civil Liberties Union, a storied champion for the First Amendment that has drifted away from free speech work in its embrace of progressive politics. Todays ACLU is loath to represent unsympathetic speakers like neo-Nazis asserting the right to march through Skokie, Illinois, or Westboro Baptist Church members who picket military funerals with homophobic signs. Representing such contemptible clients is the price of preserving free expression for all Americans. It requires a strong stomach, and FIRE reliably rises to the defense of those with whom it disagrees.

Fueling FIREs ambitious expansion is a three-year, $75 million campaign. The group already has collected $28.5 million in contributions, Politico reports, and its working to sign up new members with a $25 minimum donation.

In addition to research and litigation, FIRE is focusing on public education in hopes of correcting misconceptions, molding minds and instilling a fondness for first principles in popular culture. Its poured $10 million into advertising and is renting billboards in 15 major cities.

Messages include, Free speech makes free people and, Speech you hate is still free speech with hate and speech highlighted in red to emphasize that  much to the surprise of those who conflate social media policies with constitutional law  theres no hate speech exception to the First Amendment.

Almost two decades ago, FIRE answered my call for help when administrators tried to censor a community college student newspaper in small-town North Carolina. With its staffs expert guidance, my fellow student journalists and I successfully asserted our editorial independence from the school.

The organization has since helped thousands of students and professors who faced unlawful consequences for exercising their First Amendment rights  a phenomenon that happens far too often. With a broader mission and a new name, FIRE will provide the same zealous and effective advocacy for Americans outside the college bubble.

Corey Friedman writes on political conflicts from an independent perspective. Follow him at twitter.com/coreywrites .
The Big Hole and Jefferson rivers are in action stages with water coming right up to the edge of the river bank in some areas. According to National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Ludwig, those two rivers were expected to peak Monday and are not expected to flood.

"(The Big Hole) is about where we expect it to crest," Ludwig said. "Maybe some minor fluctuations, but it will probably crest today; gradually lower a little bit through the day tomorrow and Wednesday; and as we get warmer this weekend the river may come back up."

Those recreating on nearby rivers should be aware of flows, debris and any other safety hazards.

"(The rivers) are running a little bit higher and faster than normal for this time of year," said Jim Brusda, lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Great Falls. "So small trees can be floating down, and that's just a natural process because trees fall over along the riverbanks. With the river being up a little bit higher, it washes those downstream."

An action stage is one step away from flood stage. Even with the extra runoff expected later in the week as temperatures climb, the Big Hole and Jefferson are not expected to surpass action stage.

Jim Merrifield, Butte-Silver Bows director of emergency management, said Monday he has received no reports of flooding in the county and so far, nobody has raised red flags about flooding threats.

Still, he said, people can pick up and bag sand for no cost at the county complex off of Beef Trail Road on the west side of Butte and at the Fire Department in Melrose.

Erick Brittain, fire chief in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, said early Monday afternoon that flooding of Warm Springs Creek was not yet an issue.

So far, so good, he said. Were good for now.

Ruth Koehler, coordinator of Powell Countys Department of Emergency Management, said Monday afternoon that significant creeks and rivers in Powell County were not causing flooding problems. The rivers included portions of the upper Clark Fork and the Little Blackfoot. Cottonwood Creek, which has flooded in years past, seemed OK, she said.

Everything seems to be fine here, so far, Koehler said.

The Montana Standard's Duncan Adams, Mike Smith and Matthew Kiewiet contributed to this report

Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1
Butte police reports

Off to jail

At around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, a trooper with the Montana Highway Patrol arrested Nina Reynolds, 35, of Bigfork for felony probation violation and the misdemeanor offenses of no seat belt, speeding and no liability insurance in effect. She was taken to the Butte jail.

Early Friday night Manda Kay Sieminski, 45, of Butte was in a minor accident in the parking lot of the Ramada at 2100 Cornell Ave, Turns out she had two felony out-of-jurisdiction warrants minor accident in parking lot Ramada 2100 Cornell

Talia Morning Star Oulman, 23, of Great Falls was taken to jail around 3:30 p.m. Friday. She had a $35,000 warrant out for her arrest for felony probation violation.

Arrest warrants

On Friday afternoon, Kari Elizabeth Hand, 58, of Melrose was taken to jail on a felony assault on a minor warrant out of Butte Justice Court.

James Daniel Howe, 32, of Butte was brought in from Jefferson County Friday morning on a misdemeanor criminal contempt warrant out of Butte City Court

While investigating a disturbance on the 10 block of Park Street, an officer learned that Jimmy Edwards, 44, of Butte had a warrant out for his arrest for misdemeanor criminal contempt. Another man questioned, Stephen James Scott II, 36, of Butte had two misdemeanor Montana Highway Patrol warrants

Simple assault

At around 4 p.m. Friday, two juvenile males were cited for simple assault for using airsoft guns to shoot other kids at Ridge Waters, 3150 S. Utah Ave. These guns fire plastic projectiles.

Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 3

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Butte police reports

In the area

At around 2:15 a.m. Tuesday, officers were called to a disturbance in the 1200 block of Farrell.

In the area was Michael Joseph Paul Morgan, 31, of Butte, who was arrested on two counts of misdemeanor criminal contempt.

Groceries taken

A man and a woman reportedly helped themselves to an abundance of groceries Monday night at Safeway, 310 W. Front St. Witnesses said the two then drove off in a tan Buick Regal.

The suspected car was seen not long later parked in the Flying J parking lot. When the officer approached the vehicle, Raven Duncan Roberts, 23, of Salida, Colorado was at the wheel, and his passenger was Shianne Dawn Cook, 23, of Butte.

With permission to search the trunk, the officer found all kinds of groceries, including prime rib and pork chops. The items totaled $587.37.

Roberts was jailed for the misdemeanor offenses of theft by accountability and obstructing a peace officer by providing a false name. Cook was booked for felony probation violation and the misdemeanor offenses of criminal trespass to property and obstructing a peace officer. She also had criminal contempt warrant out for her arrest.

Turn that down!

Neighbors called to complain about loud music being played at a home in the 1400 block of Browning Street just after 3 a.m. Sunday. The police came and the residents turned it down.

An hour later, the people living next door decided to pick up where their neighbors left off and turned up the volume at their house. Officers had to return to the neighborhood once again to tell them to turn the volume down  way down.

More reports

A winch was stolen just after 4 p.m. Friday in the 900 block of South Dakota Street.

It was discovered early Friday night that an Odyssey raft and a black utility trailer were taken from a storage unit at Great Western Storage, 6100 Highway 10.

Just after 2 a.m. Saturday, a man was found passed out on the sidewalk near the intersection of Main and Quartz Streets. An officer woke him up and gave him a ride home.

On Saturday morning, a woman was reportedly screaming and yelling in the 1700 block of Lowell Avenue. The upset individual told an officer she decided to go to her mothers house to cool off.

At about 6 p.m. Saturday, a man in a Jeep was outside a residence yelling at his relatives. He was told to move on and he did.

It was discovered Sunday morning that a mountain bike was taken from the back of a car parked at the Holiday Inn Express, 2609 Harrison Ave.

Also discovered Sunday morning, someone scratched the door of a 2012 Dodge Ram while parked at the Best Western Plus, 2900 Harrison Ave.

Just before noon Sunday, it was reported that someone struck the signal lamp at the railroad crossing near the intersection of 4 Mile Road and Warren.

A 16-year-old girl was cited early Monday morning for curfew violation near the intersection of North Henry and Caledonia.

At around 2 a.m. Monday, a baggie of suspected methamphetamine was found at St. James Healthcare.

Mid-morning Monday, a man at St. James Healthcare was refusing to wear a mask and putting up a fuss. When officers arrived, he told them he would just go wait out in his car.

Two motorcycles, a 2021 Kayo and a 2022 Kayo, were taken from a residence in the 1000 block of West Park Street.

At around 8 p.m. Monday, a clerk found a baggie of suspected methamphetamine at the Town Pump, 2305 Continental Drive.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 8

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Ramsay residents who have been fighting a proposed Loves truck stop since 2017 with little success will get an 11th-hour chance this week to derail the project or delay it a little longer so they can make a final stand in the courts.

Their primary opponent this round is Butte-Silver Bow government, not the Oklahoma-City based trucking giant that has fended off all challenges, met all procedural and regulatory requirements to date and began excavation work last month.

A state judge in Butte ordered all construction work stopped on June 2 until residents had an appeal heard by the Butte-Silver Bow Zoning Board, and that is now set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday in council chambers of the courthouse at 155 W. Granite St.

Residents say the truck stop off of I-90 is prohibited under zoning laws the county approved in 1993 for Ramsay and surrounding land. The tiny community of 40 houses sits almost isolated about 7 miles west of Butte.

Ramsay is one of the only rural areas of Butte-Silver Bow County that has been zoned, a group of Ramsay citizens says in the appeal. The zoning was put in place to protect the communitys health, safety and quality of life from the type of development being proposed by Loves.

Residents wanted to detail their arguments during a Zoning Board meeting nearly two years ago but the board and county officials said site plans werent final and a location permit had not been issued, so there was nothing yet to appeal.

County officials contend now that most of the sprawling truck stop complex will be in an unzoned area and the parts that are in Ramsay zones  mainly truck parking spaces and underground storage tanks  are permitted in those zones.

Loves has also met all other state and local regulatory requirements, county officials say, so they issued building permits and an excavation permit on April 29. Those are what Ramsay residents are now appealing based on zoning arguments.

If the Zoning Board rules against them Thursday night, residents could appeal the decision to state District Court in Butte and seek an injunction to keep construction halted until a judge has ruled. But courts in Montana generally give deference to zoning boards.

That means Thursdays meeting could be residents last, best chance to derail the project. Attorneys for the residents, the county and Loves are expected to be at Thursdays meeting, with the Zoning Board in essence acting as judge.

Loves Travel Stops & Country Stores announced plans to locate a truck stop next to Ramsay in January 2017. It had 410 locations across the U.S. then and now has more than 530 in 41 states, including in Missoula and Hardin in Montana.

The one at Ramsay would include a large convenience store, an Arbys restaurant, a casino, a tire shop and parking for 111 semis. Loves says it will bring jobs and commercial activity and its truck stops provide truckers and motorists with 24-hour access to products at clean and safe places.

Numerous Ramsay residents have opposed the project from the start, saying the truck stop will bring traffic, noise, pollution, transients and crime to their quiet community. But their attempts to thwart the project have failed so far.

In their appeal, residents say the county is basing its Ramsay zones on a crayon map drawn in 1972 instead of one the county mailed to residents in 1998. Had it relied on the correct map, residents say, everything except sewage lagoons would fall in Ramsay zones that prohibit them.

But even if the countys contended boundaries are correct, the appeal says, underground storage tanks, truck spaces and other features fall within a zone that doesnt allow them. And that zone, according to a 1993 ordinance, only allows local retail businesses.

County officials says Loves has met all zoning, regulatory and building requirements and standards, including those overseen by fire and health officials, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Montana Department of Transportation.

The Zoning Board meets at 5:30 Thursday but there is also another project on the agenda so its not certain when the Loves matter will be taken up.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 4 Angry 1

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Editor's note: this story will be updated throughout the day as reporters and editors learn more about the developing flood situation.

Federal disaster declaration announced for Montana

Update 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 16

President Joe Biden has announced a major disaster declaration for Montana in response to the flooding activities.

Part of the release states:

The acute damage to infrastructure, particularly in and around Yellowstone National Park, will impact communities that rely on tourism and recreation for livelihoods, jobs, and revenue. Park County benefits from more than $200 million annually in tourism, and Carbon County brings in $68 million annually from tourism.

Morning round up

Update 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, June 16

Initial damage estimates due to flood activity in the greater Yellowstone region are starting to roll in. A request to the Biden administration to issue a presidential major disaster declaration, the state estimated the damage to transportation infrastructure alone is $29 million. Among other things, the request points out that Carbon County relies on $68 million from tourism each year, and Park County sees $200 million injected into its local economy. It is very unlikely communities will see those dollars this year.

The flow of the Yellowstone River around Billings receded several feet overnight and city residents were able to resume normal water use as of Thursday morning. The surge along the Yellowstone had caused crews to temporarily shut down the Billings water treatment plant on Wednesday.

During a call with residents and tourists in Cody, Wyoming the Yellowstone National park superintendent said the entire park will remain closed through the weekend. The less-damaged southern loop of the park is now expected to open Monday at the earliest. Park officials continue to assess the damage.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is set to declare an emergency in response to historic flooding in the park. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a disaster for flooding on Tuesday.

Flathead County declares a state of emergency for anticipated flooding

Update 4:43 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Flathead County declared a state of emergency in response to anticipated flooding and current flooding.

To date, there is a pre-evacuation notice in place for low-lying areas across Flathead County. Official evacuation notices have been issued for Leisure Road in Kalispell and Blankenship Road from Blankenship Bridge to the North Fork Road.

Road closures in effect:

North Hill Top Road in Columbia Falls.

From Steel Bridge Road to Muddy Drive in Kalispell.

West Side Hungry Horse Reservoir Road between Mazie Creek and Graves Creek Road.

7-mile Upper Whitefish/Stryker Road in the Stillwater State Forest.

Evacuations have been lifted and roads open to resident traffic only are Rabe Road in Columbia Falls and Lake Drive and Bailey Lake Area in Columbia Falls.

The Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter at Columbia Falls High School for individuals affected by the evacuation orders. The Sheriff's Office has established an information line at 406-758-2111.

For current information, follow the Flathead County Sheriff's Office Facebook Page.

Custer-Gallatin and Shoshone National Forests announce closures

Update 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

The Custer Gallatin National Forest has posted an area closure on its website, shutting down all lands, roads and trails in Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park and Gallatin counties.

The exception is the Pryor Mountain portion of the forest, which remains open.

The purpose of this order is to protect emergency personnel, public health and imminent life safety due to widespread flooding events, roads and facility damage in Carbon, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, the posting said.

The closure is in effect from Tuesday through June 24, or until it is rescinded. Violations of the closure can result in a $5,000 fine or six months in jail.

For more details, contact the forest office at 406-587-6701.

Closures are also impacting the Beartooth, Gardiner and Yellowstone Ranger Districts and includes all National Forest system lands within those districts as crews get out to assess damage, the stability of bridges and facilities.

Many of our trailheads in the Paradise Valley and (Absaroka-Beartooth) arent able to be accessed regardless, said forest spokesperson Mariah Leuschen-Lonergan. As waters recede engineers and recreation staff are getting in and determining the safety and stability of infrastructure. We are aware of some washed out roads and bridges and need to assess conditions.

In Cody, the Forest Service announced the snowmelt impacts were having impacts on the areas recreation sites. They urged patience from travelers.

Some campgrounds, roads, and trails may need to be closed for resource protection as well as public safety. Visitors should plan ahead and visit the Shoshone National Forest website (http://www.fs.usda.gov/shoshone) and Facebook page (US Forest Service  Shoshone National Forest) for updates on any areas that may be closed or impacted.

We know that there are a lot of people who had planned trips to the Greater Yellowstone area and are now having to adjust itineraries because of closures, said Wapiti, Clarks Fork, and Greybull District Ranger Casey McQuiston. The Shoshone National Forest remains open to visitors and recreationists. Additionally, the Washakie and Wind River Ranger districts of the Shoshone National Forest have not been as impacted as the northern portion of the Shoshone, and there are wonderful recreational opportunities on that end of the Shoshone as well.

As daily high temperatures continue to increase throughout the week, with predicted temperatures above 90 by Friday, snowmelt and subsequent runoff could prolong and even potentially exacerbate some of these conditions. The Shoshone National Forest will continue to evaluate the situation and will respond to changing conditions, getting associated information out to the public as soon as possible Wapiti, Clarks Fork, and Greybull Ranger districts Office at 307.527.6921.

Yellowstone River at Billings begins to recede, downstream flooding still occurring

Update 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Water levels along the Yellowstone River at Billings appear to have peaked late Wednesday morning and may now be incrementally dropping.

vernight, the river rose to 16 feet, a full foot higher than its record crest of 15 feet in 1997 and a foot and a half higher than what was initially forecast for the city earlier this week.

By 9 a.m. on Wednesday the Yellowstone had climbed to 16.4 feet and then appeared to jump to 17.52 feet at 11 .a.m., according to data from the National Weather Service. By 12:45 p.m. levels had dropped to 16.3 feet.

Ranches and farmsteads south of Billings stretching to Edgar have been inundated. Yellowstone County officials closed half a dozen roads and are monitoring four bridges.

The area south of Billings at River Road and Duck Creek was nearly all under water, flooding a number of farms and ranches. Water from the Clarks Fork had flooded land and ranch houses around Byam Road at the Yellowstone/Carbon County line as well as the Pryor Edgar Road near Edgar.

Cities in eastern Montana along the Yellowstone River's path are forecast to see higher levels of water but so far not enough to push them into a major flood stage, according to the weather service.

The Yellowstone at Forsyth is predicted to crest at 12.7 feet on Friday morning; flood stage there is 14 feet.

Miles City could see some flooding. The river is expected to crest there at 14.8 feet on Friday afternoon; minor flood stage at Miles City is 14 feet.

Further down the line, the Yellowstone at Glendive is forecast to crest sometime Saturday morning, reaching 53.2 feet. The minor flood stage there is 53.5 feet.

In Sidney, the river is forecast to crest at 17.8 feet on Saturday afternoon. Minor flood stage there is 19 feet.

Carbon County updated flooding situation

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Unsafe conditions remain in the flooded area; the public is urged to stay away from closed areas. Reports of the public accessing unsafe areas continue to be a concern for law enforcement. Many roads, streets and sidewalks are unstable and could give way. Please avoid the area.

The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River near Fromberg and Edgar are experiencing significant flood impacts as well as Rock Creek in Red Lodge. It is expected that water will continue to recede today.

A significant warming trend is expected this Friday/Saturday and the public is urged to stay alert of changing water conditions. Public Works staff along with Montana Department of Transportation are assessing the damage due to the floods. The public is urged to stay away from the flooded and closed areas for their own safety. A boil order is still in effect for Red Lodge, Fromberg and Edgar.

Current evacuation orders in effect:

Red Lodge: Evacuation orders in Red Lodge have been lifted.

Belfry: Lovers Lane.

Fromberg: All areas east of Highway 310, south of East River Road west of the river.

Joliet: No evacuation orders are in effect at this time.

Bridger: No evacuation orders in effect at this time.

All drinking water from the tap should be boiled before use in Red Lodge, Fromberg and Edgar. Public Works has reestablished water service to parts of Red Lodge but significant damage to the infrastructure has occurred and parts of Red Lodge remain without water. Water is out in Fromberg as water pumps supplying the town were underwater.

Planned Actions:

As water recedes, ongoing assessments of area roads/bridges will continue today. Crews are working to restore 19th Street bridge in Red Lodge; however, this road remains closed to the public. Highway 308 bridge is comprised, remains closed to the public and crews are working to restore the Highway 308 bridge. Crews will also be working on Meteetsee bridge; however, this road remains closed to the public. Crews are working to reestablish access to the water plant today and clearing debris out of roadway in Red Lodge. Crews will be in Fromberg and Belfry today working on road access. Lovers Lane in Belfry remains closed. Northwestern Energy will be working in the area fixing gas lines and working on restoring electric poles. Bridge engineers arrived today and will be working with county road departments on assessing damage.

Evacuation Shelters:

The American Red Cross has setup evacuation shelters located at the following locations:

 Fromberg School

 Red Lodge Fairgrounds

Public Meeting:

A public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 16th at Fromberg School at 6:00 PM at 319 School St, Fromberg, MT 59029. The meeting will also be lived stream to Facebook Live at the Carbon Alerts Facebook page.

Sandbags:

The public can get sandbags at the following locations, volunteers have been assisting with filling bags:

 Fromberg School

 Joliet Road Shop, 202 State Street

 Bridger Road Shop, 22 Old Mine

Weather: Seasonally cooler weather remains today with temperatures in the 60s in the lower elevations with upper elevations in 40s- 50s. No significant rain is expected over the next 24-48 hours. Warmer weather is expected to arrive tomorrow and into Friday and Saturday. Water levels will potentially rise with the warmer weather moving in the region later in the week. The public is urged to remain cautious, stay alert of changing water conditions and stay clear of flooded areas.

Resources Assigned:

The Western Montana Type III Incident Management Team continues to assist local flood relief efforts. Numerous agencies are on scene including: Carbon County DES, Carbon County Sheriffs Office, Red Lodge Police Department, Red Lodge Fire & Rescue, Montana Highway Patrol, Fromberg Volunteer Fire Department, Bridger EMS, Bridger Volunteer Fire, American Red Cross, City of Red Lodge, Public Works, Forest Service, Beartooth Billings Clinic, Carbon County Public Health Department, Montana Department of Transportation, Montana FWP Game Wardens, Two Bear Air, and Montana National Guard.

For current information follow the Carbon Alert Facebook page or call 406-426-2425.

Stillwater County updated flooding situation

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

Stillwater County  Flooding has impacted the entire Stillwater River, parts of the Yellowstone River, Itch-Kep-Pe Camping Area and Reed Point.

 Damage assessments and resource allocations were ongoing.

 Roads and bridges in the area remained impassable.

 Sandbagging operations were continuing. Sand bags are available at Absarokee Fire Hall and in Reed Point.

 Air rescues from West Rosebud and Emerald Lakes were successfully completed.

 Evacuations were lifted but only residents should return to the area.

 Road and Bridge Department are assessing and opening roads as they are deemed safe to traffic.

The following roads were closed:

 Road and Bridge Department are assessing and opening roads as they are deemed safe to traffic

 DES reported to MT DES Duty Officer and NWS

Road Closures by Stillwater Road and Bridge

 West Rosebud to Mystic Lake

 Fiddler Creek Rd to Hwy 419

 Nye Rd at Carters Camp going South

 S. Stillwater River Road is open from Nye to Beehive. Closed at Beehive

 Stillwater River Road Bridge compromised/not passable at Riddles Cliff

 Johnson Ln Road towards North Stillwater River

 Miller Rd at North Stillwater River Rd

 E Jack Stone Rd to North Stillwater River Rd

 Lower Flat Rd off of Joliet Rd. Closed to all but residential traffic

 Yellowstone Bridge in Reed Point

 Miller Bridge on N Stillwater River

 Hwy 419 Going West (Bridge Completely Gone)

 Ingersoll Rd off Hwy 78

 Nye Rd to the Sibanye/Stillwater Mine going south (Road is Gone)

 All Campgrounds and Fishing Accesses in the county are closed until further notice. Per Montana Fish & Game and The United States Forest Service

Red Lodge community meeting: "Red Lodge should not be open for business"

Update 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15

During a recent meeting, Red Lodge fire chief and emergency commander Tom Kuntz told residents that every bridge south of Red Lodge is "compromised."

Residents also expressed concerns over the future. The flood has displaced residents from their homes and shuttered businesses that depend on the busy summer months.

"As a community leader, I think I always want to say Red Lodge is open for business," Kuntz told the crowd. "Right now, Red Lodge should not be open for business."

A sign on alongside the highway in Rockvale warns travelers to stay away. It reads: "Red Lodge is evacuated. Please do not come."

Billings braces itself as Yellowstone River rises, smaller communities swamped

Update 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15

The Yellowstone River crested above 16 feet overnight, a foot above the previous record. It was so high, the river gauge was overwhelmed and stopped measuring at 15-feet, 4-inches.

Billings Public Works officials warned city leaders Monday night that if the river rose to 15 feet it would put the water and wastewater treatment plants in jeopardy. A levy has been built around the plants and water pumps have so far been keeping up with whatever river water is coming over the levy.

In the small town of Edgar, flooding from the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River swamped all the septic tanks. Residents cant use their toilets and porta-potties have been set up on every street corner.

Downriver, small farm towns like Huntley Project, Worden, and Ballantine are swamped, but no reports yet of lost roads or bridges. Further downriver, cities like Forsyth and Miles City are bracing for the surge with voluntary evacuation orders in the low country along the river.

As temperatures rise this weekend and more rain is in the forecast, there could be a second surge.

Yellowstone National Park evening presser highlights - northern entrance to remain closed

Update 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The flood damage will keep the northern half of Yellowstone National Park closed to tourists for the rest of the summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly told reporters Tuesday evening. The area includes the iconic Lamar Valley, Tower Falls and Mammoth Hot Springs.

The southern loop of Yellowstone National Park may reopen to visitors in a week or less, he added, using some type of reservation system or timed entry to control entry. Travel from Jackson, Wyoming, was already going to be hampered by road construction. Entrances that would be reopened for the southern loop include the East, South and West gates near Cody, Jackson and West Yellowstone, respectively.

Park County authorities focus on helping residents, look to start assessing damage

Update 4:10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The water is receding north of Yellowstone National Park.

Park County Sheriff Brad Bichler said during a press conference Tuesday that crews have been able to start looking at just how much damage was done since flooding began. The sheriffs office has completed at least a dozen rescues, he said.

In Gardiner, several homes along the Yellowstone River have been lost, Bichler said. Whispering Pines, Cooke City and Silvergate have also sustained extensive damage. Lisa Lowy, interim Livingston city manager, said the citys southeast areas saw homes flooding and street damage that remains to be totally assessed.

Now, Bichler said, officers are focused on moving non-local traffic out of Gardiner. Highway 89 opened between Gardiner and Livingston on Tuesday, which he said should help get essential goods into town.

The eight patients housed at Livingston HealthCare on Monday remain at Pioneer Medical Center in Big Timber, hospital CEO Deb Anczak said during Tuesdays press conference. The main campus phone system is still down, Anczak said, but an inspection found no water penetrated the facility.

That means that depending on when roads open in the area, the hospital is looking to reopen its emergency department as soon as possible and return to inpatient care. For now, the hospitals urgent care center on Highway 89 is operational and its Shields Valley Clinic in Wilsall has extra staff on hand to handle walk-ins.

Those who need help or are looking for information in the area, Park County Emergency Manager Greg Coleman said, should call the hotline at (406) 222-4131.

You can also text your zip code to Nixle at 888777 to receive updates by text.

Only call 911 if you have an emergency, Coleman reiterated.

Theyre very busy right now, he said.

The HRDC in Livingston set up an emergency shelter at its warming center on South Second Street Monday night, and may stay open Tuesday depending on how many people need it. Coleman said to call the hotline if youre looking for a place to stay.

Offers of help in any form can be directed to 211.

Were in for the long haul, Park County Commissioner Steve Caldwell said. Its going to be a long exercise, but I think were up to it.

Cody resort shutters temporarily amid flood

Update 2:40 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Pahaska Tepee Resort  located outside Cody, just two miles from Yellowstones east entrance  is shuttered through at least Thursday.

The resort boasts cabins, a restaurant, gift shop and outdoor activities. Its oldest lodge was built by U.S. Colonel William Cody (a.k.a. Buffalo Bill) himself.

Pahaska was booked at about 90% capacity at the beginning of the week, said Angela Coe, who runs the resort. But rainfall over the weekend caused the North Fork Shoshone River to swell so much, it got into the lodges water system, Coe said. Staff shut off the system Monday to prevent it from getting into the resorts tap, and sent all guests home.

The rivers since receded. Coe said Pahaska Tepee is currently sending water samples to the Wyoming Department of Health in Cheyenne. The water needs to test as safe two days in a row before the lodge can open up again.

If all goes well, the resort will reopen Friday.

But Pahaska Tepees guests often come for Yellowstone, Coe said. She doesn't expect Codys tourism business to recover until the parks southern region reopens, too.

Prospective vacationers arent waiting for answers, Coe said. The phones at Pahaska Tepee have been ringing nonstop with cancellations. She emphasized that people are wanting to cancel their July and August reservations.

Officials to release water from Mystic Lake dam

Update 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Mystic Dam will be releasing water from Mystic Lake to maintain safe water levels within the reservoir, Stillwater County officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

"This action is necessary to maintain safe water levels behind the dam," a statement from a Stillwater County spokesperson said. "Since the Stillwater and Rosebud River levels have dropped we anticipate little to no impact on the current flooding situation."

Yellowstone to remain closed at least five more days

Update 1:56 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a release the park will remain closed at least five more days.

In a release, Sholly said Xanterra's seasonal employees will be moved from Mammoth and that concession facilities in the northern part of the park at Mammoth and Roosevelt "will not reopen likely the rest of the year."

The park also will:

 Implement full visitor closure of the backcountry.

 Evaluate needs for backcountry evacuations.

 Improve Old Gardiner Road from Mammoth to the North Entrance and use the road for administrative travel and evacuate visitors.

 Restore power to northern Yellowstone sites and Canyon, Lake and Norris.

 Evacuate Gardiner visitors via the Old Gardiner Road.

 Support Gardiner residents with a resupply of food, water and medicine.

 Support isolated NPS residents at the NE Entrance via aircraft if necessary.

 Support Cooke City residents as needed.

 Mitigate wastewater impacts of destroyed sewer lines in Gardiner and Mammoth.

 Relocate all Mammoth-based concessions employees to properties on the southern loop.

 Halt and redirect any inbound employees hired to work in Mammoth or Tower who haven't arrived yet.

 Support employees who lost housing in Gardiner.

 Prepare for outside teams to help assess damage.

 Prepare reservation system strategy for southern loop for remainder of the year.

Jackson works to accommodate Yellowstone-bound tourists

Update 12:39 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Teton County Fairgrounds was a landing site for a few dozen displaced Yellowstone campers Monday.

About 38 RVs parked there overnight, according to Trista Hiltbrunner, a staff member at the fairgrounds. Some of them came from inside the park, she said. By noon Tuesday, just a couple remained.

Cities and towns located just outside of Yellowstone were busy Tuesday connecting displaced visitors with lodging, and helping them figure out next steps.

We really do operate as one, Rick Howe, vice president of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, said of Yellowstones gateway communities.

At this point, the chambers mostly getting calls from people who were planning to visit the park this week, and suddenly had nowhere to go, he said.

The chamber extended its phone services by three hours so it could accommodate the rush of calls. Its now live from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Howe said Jackson is preparing to accept more displaced travelers and evacuees, but is waiting to hear more from park officials.

Yellowstone provides update on conditions, evacuations - no deaths or injuries reported

Update 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

During a conditions call, Yellowstone National Park officials said the Montana Department of Transportation and the Park County Sheriffs Office opened U.S. Hwy 89 at Yankee Jim Canyon through Bozeman at 35 mph to locals, delivery and service vehicles and outbound visitors, including trailers, at about 11:35 Tuesday morning.

"We cleared visitors from the entire northern end of the park," said Park Superintendent Cameron Sholly. "There are no visitors in the northern end, currently."

No injuries or deaths have been recorded from the flooding, Sholly said. The extent of the damage is still unclear. "We've kept our teams out of harm's way," he said. "We won't know exactly what the damage looks like until the water goes down."

The Park Service is still working on evacuating the southern part of the park and making contact with backcountry hikers.

The southern loop, which suffered significantly less damage than the northern loop, can't handle the full visitation Yellowstone receives, Sholly said. The park is still figuring out when and how the southern entrances will reopen. "That's still probably a little ways out, and it'll be some sort of reservation system, likely  a temporary reservation system," Sholly said.

Park officials said Mammoth and Roosevelt will likely remain closed to visitors for the rest of this year. The Park Service plans to move affected seasonal employees to positions in the southern part of the park.

Do not drink order issued in Gardiner

Update 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has issued a "Do Not Consume" order in Gardiner.

This means that water is not safe to drink or cook with. It is safe for washing hands and showering.

Outside of Gardiner residents in Park County are encouraged to contact the Park County health department with questions about wells that maybe compromised or submerged by flooding. Their number is 406-222-4131.

"If you have a well, and it is submerged by flood water or the water appears to be compromised, the water may not be safe to consume," Park County officials said in a statement Tuesday. "This is especially true for people who are immunocompromised or an infant."

No access to Gardiner available, supplies being shipped

Update 11:58 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

According to a Park County press release, "Attempts are currently ongoing to establish one-way traffic in the Valley [to Gardiner]. As yet, there is still no access. Attempts to establish drop points for supply drops in the Valley and in Gardiner and Cooke City are ongoing."

The press release also stated that, as waters recede, officials will be assessing the damages made to roads and bridges to determine if they are "structurally sound."

Montana National Guard performing evacuations

Update 11:08 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

The Montana National Guard evacuated 12 people from the communities of Roscoe and Cooke City on Monday as the flooding cut off vehicle access to the towns. Aircrews from the 1-189th General Support Aviation Battalion deployed a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to assist in search and rescue efforts at the request of local law enforcement.

As of Tuesday morning, the Guard unit is conducting a third evacuation operation for recreationalists around East Rosebud Lake.

We are standing by for additional requests for support, Maj. Ryan Finnegan, Montana National Guard Public Affairs Officer said. As local law enforcement requests assistance, we will continue to provide what resources are available.

A Florida family of eight were plucked by a helicopter from a flooded rental outside Cooke City, at the parks Northeast Entrance, on Monday after high waters stranded them.

A Cooke City man was air lifted by the National Guard after he suffered hypothermia from cold waters as he self-rescued.

Gov. Greg Gianforte announces "statewide disaster"

Update 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

In a Tweet on Monday, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a "statewide disaster."

In a separate post released just before to the disaster Tweet Gianforte stated, "For the last 24 hours, the State Emergency Coordination Center has been working with partners in Carbon, Stillwater, and Park counties to evacuate, ensure shelter, and safely restore power and water in areas impacted by severe flooding."

Power returns to Red Lodge, flood levels drop

10:02 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

Power in Red Lodge was restored and flood levels were declining slightly. Rock Creek was forecast to crest Monday afternoon around 1 p.m., but 80-degree temperatures predicted for later in the week are raising concerns that the tragedy is not yet over.

"It's still a river flowing" down the streets, said resident John Clayton whose house was flooded. "But it's an almost fordable river now."

Morning update for greater Yellowstone area

9:05 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14

One day after milk-chocolate flood waters surged through Yellowstone National Park and nearby communities, officials and residents were working to assess the damages as others downstream braced for historically high rivers expected to come Tuesday.

Just after 10 p.m. Monday, people living in a sizable portion of southeast Livingston were required to evacuate due to the rising Yellowstone River, though the order was lifted just before 9 a.m. Tuesday. About a half-hour after the evacuation notice Monday night, the city's hospital, Livingston HealthCare, closed as the river's record-high waters crept into its parking lot.

By 1 a.m. Tuesday, the Yellowstone had reached flood stage at Billings, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS forecast the river to crest Tuesday afternoon at 14.7 feet, just three-tenths of a foot shy of the record established in 1997.

Meanwhile, the world's first national park and the south-central Montana communities of Red Lodge, Gardiner and Fishtail began to further assess damage from unprecedented flooding on the Yellowstone and Stillwater rivers as well as Rock Creek.

Images of damage from the frothing streams continued to emerge Tuesday morning. Celebrating its 150th anniversary during prime tourist season, Yellowstone remained indefinitely closed at all five entrances Tuesday for only the third time in 34 years  most recently in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also for the infamous 1988 fires.

Residents and tourists in Gardiner at Yellowstone's North Entrance and Silver Gate and Cooke City just outside the Northeast Entrance were stranded due to roads made impassable by high water and damage that could take weeks or even months to repair, park officials said.

Officials on Monday were evacuating those still inside the park, beginning in its northernmost reaches, where the impacts  including road washouts, bridge failures, rockslides and mudslides  were most severe.

YNP employees at park headquarters in Mammoth, who remained without power Tuesday morning, planned to buy groceries and other essentials in West Yellowstone, which announced late Monday that it would permit temporary camping in town for people impacted by the closure. A generator was providing power to Mammoth's cell tower, enabling communication to the outside world.

Park employees were to convene at 11 a.m. to assess next steps.

The serpentine road from Mammoth to Gardiner in the Gardner River Canyon was badly damaged, as was the road between Tower Junction and the Northeast Entrance where the Lamar River surged well beyond its record flood level.

As of approximately 9 a.m. Tuesday, the park had not provided an update of the situation on its website or social media pages. At this time, the extent of the damage, as well as how many people may be stranded inside the park, is unclear.

The Yellowstone River crested at just over 49,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) at Corwin Springs in the upper Paradise Valley on Monday, shattering its previous records of 32,200 set in June 1996 and matched a year later. The Lamar peaked at 16.7 feet Monday, breaking its 1996 record by more than four feet and rising two feet above the gauge's upper reach.

Near Corwin Springs, a house for Park Service employees was pried loose from its foundation by the raging waters and spun downstream. U.S. Highway 89 was closed just south of Emigrant, not far from where the iconic Carbella bridge leading to Tom Miner Basin was swept away early Monday in the first sign the Yellowstone meant business.

On the flanks of the Beartooth Mountains to the east, residents of Red Lodge, Fishtail and Nye waited for floodwaters to abate.

Meteorologists said the unprecedented flooding was caused by a convergence of an unseasonably cool spring that retained snowpack, late-spring snowstorms and multiple days of considerable rainfall at high elevations. Parts of the park received more than an inch of rain over 24 hours Monday, more than tripling the previous single-day mark.

Most of the flood damage was centered on YNP and the streams flowing north from the Yellowstone Plateau, including the Gallatin River, which was expected to reach flood stage at Logan about 25 miles of Bozeman in the wee hours Tuesday. On Monday, the Gallatin County Sheriff's office cautioned residents along low-lying stretches of the West Gallatin to be prepared to evacuate.

Also Monday, the Flathead River at Columbia Falls in northwest Montana surpassed flood stage by a half-foot and was expected to rise another two feet Tuesday.

Yellowstone's peak flooding was to push downstream to Big Timber, Columbus, Laurel, Billings and eastern Montana by Tuesday afternoon.

A flood warning for the Boulder River south of Big Timber was lifted Tuesday morning.

The Custer Gallatin National Forest has posted an area closure on its website, shutting down all lands, roads and trails in Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park and Gallatin counties.

The exception is the Pryor Mountain portion of the forest, which remains open.

The purpose of this order is to protect emergency personnel, public health and imminent life safety due to widespread flooding events, roads and facility damage in Carbon, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, the posting said.

The closure is in effect from Tuesday through June 24, or until it is rescinded. Violations of the closure can result in a $5,000 fine or six months in jail.

For more details, contact the forest office at 406-587-6701.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 3 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Meteorologists on Monday said a series of significant weather events during an unusual spring season created water levels "never ... observed before" in high mountain areas that translated to destructive flooding around Montana.

As officials evacuated Red Lodge residents and Yellowstone National Park closed its entrances due to extreme flooding, forecasters with the National Weather Service said larger towns downriver were set to see peak river flows starting Monday evening.

In neighboring southwest Montana, Jim Brusda, lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Great Falls, says three contributing factors lead to rivers rapidly rising.

First, the unseasonably cool April and May held mountain snowpack up high and late spring snowstorms considerably added to the snowpack.

Second, the temperature of the existing snowpack, measured by satellite, sat right at 32 degrees due to the sun angle this late in the year.

Third, Montana saw multiple days of considerable rainfall at higher elevations.

The three factors combining, Brusda said, caused the snowpack to wash out rapidly versus melting out more gradually.

This is causing the Gallatin River to go above (minor) flood stage as we speak near the city of Logan, Brusda said Monday afternoon. But we are not expecting major flooding on the Gallatin.

Brusda forecasted the Gallatin River flooding to last a couple days with the situation starting to improve on Thursday.

Dan Borsum, senior forecaster with the Billings National Weather Service office, similarly described "really significant" events that touched off the flooding in south-central Montana drainages: a snowstorm over Memorial Day that deposited moisture in the mountains and the recent series of rain episodes that dropped 2 to 3 inches in some areas.

Much of the heavy rain and snow fell on the southside of the Absaroka-Beartooth area, Borsum said, but that moisture drains to the north and into drainages like the Paradise Valley and Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River. Soda Butte Creek near Cooke City and Silvergate have reported water levels 4 feet over the bridges there, Borsum said.

"You don't normally think of flooding that high up in the mountains," Borsum said. " The levels that have been observed at these upstream locations have never been observed before."

Forecasts

South-central Montana:

Water levels were cresting Monday afternoon in the upper regions of rivers in that part of the state, Borsum said. The next question is what happens with downriver towns including Livingston, Laurel, Columbus and Billings. According to Borsum, the river levels are expected to peak in:

Livingston by Monday evening;

Columbus between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. Tuesday;

Laurel around noon on Tuesday; and

Billings between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday.

"Laurel and Billings, in particular, may see their high water sustained for longer periods of time," Borsum said. "We're still trying to get a feel for that."

Looking ahead, temperatures in south-central Montana are expected to reach the 90-100 degree range in the coming days, with temperatures in the mountains holding in the 70s, Borsum said. Temperatures Monday had cooled enough to adequately slow the snow melt, he said, but when those highs come later this week the melting will accelerate once again.

"It should not be as high as it has been," Borsum said. "But with any efforts to repair infrastructure, people need to know that a ton of water is still yet poised to come down in the area."

Southwest Montana:

Excess water in the Gallatin and the emergency release of water from Hebgen Dam into the Madison River have put the Missouri River near Toston in a flood watch.

Operators of Hebgen Dam are releasing more water than usual as they try to limit the amount of pressure on the dam as crews work to repair parts of the dam that failed in November 2021. This water is headed for Ennis, which is also in a flood watch, before it reaches the Missouri River.

The Toston area should just see minor flooding for about the next day or two, Brusda said. The flooding should be confined to the edges of the Missouri River in that area.

No flooding is expected any further downstream as Canyon Ferry Reservoir collects all the runoff.

North-central Montana:

The National Weather Service in Great Falls is watching the Glacier area and Rocky Mountain Front as up to 2 inches of rain is forecast to fall below 5,000 feet and 3-4 inches of snow above 6,000 feet over the next day or two.

As long as the higher-elevation precipitation falls as snow, as forecasted, flooding should remain minor along the eastern front of the Northern Rockies. But if the precipitation falls as rain it could mean more significant flooding in that area.

Brusda urged people not to recreate on rivers right now as the rivers "flush out" debris remaining from last year's low water.

"Anybody recreating on the river right now should know it's not a good situation," Brusda said. "Theres a lot of debris in the river and they are running too high and very fast."

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.

Seaborn Larson State Reporter Capitol bureau reporter Seaborn Larson covers justice-related areas of state government and organizations that wield power. Follow Seaborn Larson 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
We are witnessing an all-out war on wolves in Montana as Governor Gianforte continues to grant the wishes of his most radical supporters. His actions make it clear he cares more about the views of his wealthy donors than the common-sense values of everyday Montanans.

Since wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains were removed from the endangered species list in 2020, Gianforte has furiously changed Montanas laws to maximize the number of wolves killed by any means necessary. He signed laws allowing an extended hunting season, hunting at night, and tactics including the use of strangle-hold neck snaring, baiting, and thermal imaging technology.

In addition to these inhumane methods, Gianforte has called for hunters to kill as many wolves as possible by increasing the kill limit to 20 per hunter and allowing the use of private money for wolf bounties (presumably from similar donors who put Gianforte into office). As Gianforte proclaimed this past year, make no mistake, the effort to stop trapping in Montana is an attack on our heritage.

The implicit heritage hes referring to is one of unlimited wolf slaughter, and Helenas rabid rush towards eradication harkens back to a darker period in our states history. Montanas past is marked by the mass-killing of wolves achieved through hunting bounties and poisoning that unraveled entire ecosystems. While Gianforte has already brought bounties back, wolf hunters like Bill Hoppe, a proud descendant of Yellowstone wolf bounty hunters, has publicly encouraged wolf poisoning in the face of increased federal protections. These threats from anti-wolf radicals are not just hollow words, as 8 wolves were found poisoned to death just a few months earlier in Oregon.

None of this brazen behavior should be a surprise. Gianforte encourages reckless actions alongside the wolf-hating special interest groups who fund his campaigns. Just this last year Gianforte failed to follow his own laws when he killed a Yellowstone wolf without proper certification. This happened on the private ranch of Robert Smith, a major Republican donor, 10 miles from Yellowstone park. Gianforte later described the kill as, a tremendous honor. Nearby hunters have followed the governors example and now one-third of Yellowstone's wolves are dead.

Montanas radical laws go far beyond what reasonable hunters and conservationists support. A letter from Montanans with nearly 1,500 years of combined experience in wildlife management, including three former Montana Fish and Wildlife Commissioners, called Gianfortes wolf hunting laws, anti-predator, anti-hunter access, and anti-habitat preservation, and completely contrary to the accepted principles of fair chase hunting and hunter ethics. The letter goes on to affirm Gianfortes laws are aligned with an extremist minority of landowners and wolf haters with insider access in Helena.

We need state laws to be based on scientific evidence, not the views of the political donor class or fear-mongering from extremist groups. For example, while anti-wolf advocates claim wolves are wiping out ranchers herds, government data shows wolves are responsible for just 1% of livestock deaths in Northern Rocky states like Montana.

Montanas natural ecosystem is our greatest asset, and the vast majority of Montanans want to see it protected. We can not afford to let Gianforte sacrifice our resources at the bidding of wealthy landowners and extremists like hes currently doing with wolves. Montanans, both those alive today and future generations, deserve better.

Marc Cooke is president of Wolves of the Rockies, and writes from Stevensville.

Love 4 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
How to avoid holiday rental scams this summer in Spain



Internet apartment rental scams skyrocket in the summer months in Spain

Its a scam which has been doing the rounds for quite a few years now, but each and every summer countless tourists hoping for a break in sunny Spain get swindled out of hundreds of euros, booking a villa or apartment that simply doesnt exist. Never a pleasant experience, but after two hard years of a pandemic , having your holiday spoiled this summer by scam artists would be a very bitter pill to swallow.

Rosa knows all too well the damage these fraudsters can cause after paying a deposit of 800 euros to reserve an apartment in the San Juan area of Alicante. As her holiday inched closer, she received nothing but radio silence from the landlord, and hundreds of unanswered calls and texts later, she realised she had been scammed.

"We weren't able to get in touch with him. We called him a bunch of times and he didn't answer any of them," she said.

Another victim planned to holiday in Conil de la Frontera in Cadiz : "Everything seemed perfect, but he did not send me any contract, or any reservation. In the end it turned out that there was nothing," he explained.

The scam is genius in its simplicity: fraudsters simply filch some photos and details of a real property and advertise it online for rent; once they receive some money as a deposit, or even payment in full, they disappear, along with the dream holiday.

Too good to be true

The old adage is best applied here and the Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU) advises that if a holiday home seems like too much of a bargain, its probably not legitimate. So shop around, and compare the price of your chosen property to others in the area.

According to the experts, the scam of advertising apartments that arent really for rent exploded in 2019, when travellers began favouring the space and distance of villas and houses rather than cramped hotels as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The con always takes the same form: payment in advance, a phoney landlord and the classic bargain price. To protect yourself from getting swindled, as well as comparing prices, the OCU recommends communicating with the landlord through the rental platform and not via private email or phone and not transferring money outside of the official website.

Customers should always keep a copy of their reservation and be sure to get in contact with the owner or agent of the property well in advance of travel. And above all, be extremely wary of a bargain. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Image: Pixabay
Juneteenth is an easy holiday to miss if you arent watching for it. Still, we Iowans pride ourselves on being out in front on justice and equality, so this is for us.

You probably know its about the Emancipation Proclamation and the outpouring of jubilation when the long-delayed news finally reached Texas.

Did you know Gov. Tom Vilsack signed a bill in 2002 declaring the third Saturday in June as Juneteenth National Freedom Day in Iowa? Then last year, amid a season of racial reckoning, President Biden signed the bill designating Juneteenth a federal holiday.

The historic pages of the Muscatine Journal yield few mentions of the word. The first I find is a 1985 column by Aldeen Davis, titled Texas has its own holiday.

In 2004, Mayor Dick OBrien declared June 19 as Juneteenth in Muscatine, and the Journal announced Muscatines first Juneteenth Celebration. In 2006 Alfred and Retha Monroe were honored as Juneteenth king and queen. In 2019, Muscatine Art Center hosted a Juneteenth event featuring presentations by pastors Jacque McCoy and Annabel Williams-Blegen.

Thats all I could find for Juneteenth, in searching back to 1840. However, looking up emancipation uncovers a different story. At least as far back as 1856, African American residents celebrated freedom anniversaries.

The colored citizens of Muscatine will hold a Celebration, to-morrow (1st of August,) in commemoration of the Emancipation of the West Indies. The citizens of Muscatine who feel desirous of witnessing the celebration are invited as spectators. The ceremonies will take place in the grove near J.J. Hoopes. A dinner and several speeches will be given on the occasion.

Aug. 3, 1857. The Journal reported a procession in commemoration of abolishment of slavery in Jamaica starting at Bethel A.M.E. church and ending at Hoops Grove with food and music and an oration by Pastor Cain and address by Alexander Clark.

Intriguingly, that article says the participants were the colored citizens of Muscatine, with a number from other parts of the Statecitizensat the very moment when Negro suffrage was on a state referendum ballot, along with ratification of an amended constitution. (Iowas voters would adopt the constitution and reject racial equality, both by large majorities.)

The August holiday marked Britains passage of the Slavery Abolition Act on Aug. 1, 1834, proclaiming liberty for 800,000 people enslaved in its colonies.

So, before they were recognized as citizensor even as persons with human rights which the white man was bound to respectMuscatines Black community was holding freedom marches.

I find local celebrations throughout the rest of the 19th century. Sometimes they recalled President Lincolns preliminary proclamation, Sept. 22, 1862, giving three months warning to the rebel slave states. Mostly they were held on or near January 1, the day in 1863 when the limited emancipation took effect.

Often the events were carried out by our colored people, but again and again I see reports of participation by a wider community. Sometimes its said many white people attended. Almost always with meals, often fundraisers, sometimes processions with brass bands, usually music and drama.

And always readings of the Emancipation Proclamation and Declaration of Independence. The 1877 proclamation reader was Miss Susie Clark, daughter of Alexander Clark. In 1890 and 1892, his granddaughter Clara Appleton read the proclamation.

Not surprisingly, Clark himself often took a main role. His absence might be noted if he was not present in Muscatine; speaking elsewhere, the orator always in demand.

Sometimes white speakers and performers are mentioned. Clarks friend Henry OConnor was a favorite; Pastor A.B. Robbins another.

January 1880: The speaking was shortA. Clark occupying only about ten minutes time and G.W. Van Horne less time.

In September 1889, Clark addressed fully 1,000 people at Ottumwa [F]rom the 22d of September, 62, to the first of January, 63, five million of bondsmen made free by this proclamation, and we rejoice to-day, this proclamation of the martyred and sainted Lincoln, and the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the federal constitution have become a part of the fundamental laws of the land; the proclamation declaring their ratification has been promulgated to the world.

Journal editorial, Jan. 2, 1863: So magnificent a New Years gift has never till now been heard of. An act of single man more just, more right, more sublime, we will search for in vain among all the records of history.  Emancipation has been declared. The year comes upon us to commence the cycle of a better, nobler eraan epoch which we may be proud of having witnessed, and to which the coming generations will look back as we do upon the 4th of July, 1776.

This year, more than ever before, I am seeing publicity for Juneteenth events and exhibits in our area. I didnt attend any, but I resolve to do better next year.

Next time: Alecks prize squash

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
MUSCATINE  The Salvation Army of Muscatine County announced this week that newly commissioned Corps Officers Lts. Lucas and Macy Gantner had been given Muscatine County as their new appointment.

The Gantners will take command on June 29 from current Lts. Greg and Liz Bock, who will move to Michigan and serve with its Salvation Army.

The Bocks served as Muscatine County lieutenants for three years, and in that time not only formed many strong relationships with people throughout Muscatine but also did plenty for the community as a whole. This has included everything from being there at fires, crash sights and natural disasters offering aid to sleeping in a giant red kettle on cold winter nights to raise money.

When asked about the Gantners, Greg Bock gave both his support and his approval, wishing them the best of luck in their new positions and being confident in their capacities to serve the community that the Bocks had grown to know and love.

Lt. Liz, our entire staff and the entire advisory board are excited to welcome Lts. Gantner to Muscatine, Bock said. In the Salvation Army world, everyone seems to know everyone, and we have already heard awesome things about them. Lt. Macy has a remarkable story and has been through a lot in her life, so I know that she will be able to relate to so many people across Muscatine County.

Having already heard of both Lt. Lucas and Lt. Macy from their time in Evanston, Ill., Bock shared that, based on what mutual friends have told him, he and Lucas Gantner are equal in their energy when it comes to helping others and serving their community. Bock has also been able to experience the Gantners genuine excitement for their new assignment firsthand.

I may have mentioned to Lt. Lucas that we have a giant red kettle that I slept in, and without hesitation he said, Count me in! Bock continued. They understand the ministry of the Salvation Army and took on the same covenant of service that Lt. Liz and I did when we were appointed here.  but they will bring their own set of vision, dreams, experiences and expectations that we are certain will take the Salvation Army of Muscatine County to the next level. We are excited to pass the torch of ministry along to them to carry it as far as God would allow them to do so.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
MUSCATINE  The League of Women Voters will hold a public meeting to discuss the recent discoveries made regarding the countys water quality.

It starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 28, in the Musser Public Librarys third-floor meeting room,

The League of Women Voters has had a long history of looking at water quality," meeting coordinator Sue Johannsen said. "Recently, we were reading about how the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had been doing some testing in the area as well as the results that came from that testing.

The results havent raised any serious concerns, but Johannsen and other league members said they raised awareness and should be discussed with the public.

The meeting will also offer an in-depth look at the polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) found in Muscatine Countys waters, the risks that come with PFAS, how to reduce exposure and possible solutions to reduce the amount of PFAS in the area.

Were learning more about water quality all the time, and as new tests are added, were finding out more about whats in our water, Johannsen said. Just to know how our water quality is changing is something that I think some people are going to be real interested in.

Guest speakers will include DNR Supply Operations Supervisor Corey McCoid and Muscatine County Zoning administrator Eric Furnas. A representative from Muscatine Power and Waters water division will also be in attendance.

(McCoid) will talk about the testing that the DNR is doing while (Furnas) is going to talk a little about permitting wells and waste/septic systems, and how theres grant money available to cap wells that exist but are no longer used, Johannsen said. Those are potentially dangerous because they are a direct path to the water table.

For those you can't attend in person, the meeting will be broadcast on Channel 5. For more information, go to lwvmcss.squarespace.com/.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
COLUMBUS JUNCTION  As the first vintage and antique tractors began arriving Monday morning at the Louisa County Fairgrounds, the cloud cover broke and the temperature began to climb.

Lining up along the road leading into the fairgrounds from the highway, many of the tractor drivers dismounted for their lunch. Realizing the afternoon leg of their trip through Louisa County was going to be a hot one, several began coating themselves with sunscreen. Daniel Keegan is used to the warmer weather in his home in West Palm Beach, Fla. And he paid the temperature little mind as he got a hot dog from the tray attached to the engine of the tractor that warmed the dogs during the trip.

We do this every year, he said, remembering his father Darwin Keegan. Its a family event. We enjoy doing it.

He explained that his father, a native of Iowa, had left the state to pursue a business career. After hearing about the Tractorcade, he wanted to return to his roots and drive in the event. About 10 years ago, his children surprised him with two tractors and a promise to go to Iowa that year. Since Darwins passing, his children have continued the legacy.

As the temperature was rising to about 85, Keegan said the weather had been cold but now was perfect.

The Tractorcade is a WMT radio station yearly event in which people bring their vintage tractors to ride throughout whatever countys fairground is chosen to serve as home base. For three days, over 400 tractors explore the sights. On Tuesday, the Tractorcade will visit Wilton and Durant. On Wednesday, the group will visit West Branch and Cedar Bluff before heading for home.

With gas prices climbing, most of the riders simply bite the bullet and pay extra, as the event happens only once a year.

It is definitely more money to do what you need to do here, Keegan said. I dont think anybody enjoys it, but we all put up with it because we want to carry on with our traditions.

Jane Picray of Monticello rode on the 1948 Farmall M that followed Keegans family. She said her husband Ron bought the tractor because it rolled off the assembly line on the day he was born  May 5, 1948  she said they had joined the Tractorade in 2011. This year the Tractorcade is celebrating its 23rd year. The tractor had over 10,000 miles on it and had been to several locations.

We love the people, she said. Everybody is just so friendly and so helpful. If anybody needs anything someone is right there with five screwdrivers.

She said she and her husband had ridden in several neighboring states but none compared to the Iowa Tractorcade.

David Meyer of Cedar Rapids rode his Oliver Super 55 in the Tractorcade. A retired engineer, Meyer has a love of all things motorized. In addition to the tractor, he also enjoys driving Ford Model As.

One of my friends was in this and said I should try it, he said. I did and I got hooked, and I think this is my ninth one.

The Muscatine County Sheriffs Office asks motorists wishing to avoid the tractors to take alternate routes through Wednesday.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
WAPELLO  Two Louisa County men have been arrested in connection with an investigation into the illegal sale of THC vapor cartridges to Wapello High School students.

According to a press release from the Louisa County Sheriffs Office, Mason Beik, 24, of Wapello, faces charged of felony possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, a Class B felony; felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, a Class C felony; two counts of felony possession with intent to deliver, a Class D felony; and two counts of drug tax stamp violations, a Class D felony. He has bonded out of jail.

Also arrested was Levi Leibli, 20, of Morning Sun. He is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, a Class D felony. He has also bonded out of jail.

On May 7, a residential search warrant was executed at 11473 County Road G56 in Wapello. As a result two pounds of marijuana, 0.5 pound of psychedelic mushrooms and THC cartridges/vaping devices were seized. A subsequent traffic stop on Beik was conducted near the residence on Highway X61. An additional one ounce of menthamphetamine/opium mix, half a pound of marijuana, 0.75 pound of THC wax, THC edibles, packaging material, U.S. currency and a Glock 19 handgun were seized.

The arrest report also said a search warrant had been granted for Beiks Facebook account. Officers observed several Messenger conversations showing Beik to be supplying narcotics to the other individual.

Earlier in the day another residential search warrant was conducted at 5672 County Road X37 in Morning Sun. As a result packaged marijuana, THC wax and substances were seized. Leibli, of the same address, was charged.

The Louisa County Sheriffs office was assisted by the Wapello Ambulance Service, Louisa County Attorneys Office, Columbus Junction Police Department, and the Winfield Police Department.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 3
James Thiel Sr. is asking for a new trial in the double-fatal boat crash in LeClaire for which he was convicted.

Thiel, 45, of Pleasant Valley, was found guilty by a jury on April 25 of two aggravated misdemeanor charges of involuntary manslaughter, which carry sentences of up to two years each. He is to be sentenced on Aug. 3.

Thiel was not the operator of his 35-foot Triton but was charged with aiding and abetting the 15-year-old behind the wheel. He was accused of driving recklessly along the LeClaire levee when his Triton crashed into a 19-foot vessel operated by Craig Verbeke, 61. He and his fiancee, Anita Pinc, 52, both of Moline, died.

Leon Spies, the attorney for Thiel, has filed a motion for a new trial, saying the testimony of the dozen-or-so witnesses who described Thiel's boat as racing on the riverfront and operating "recklessly" or "unsafe" should not have been allowed.

"Such testimony constitutes expressions of legal conclusions and were of no assistance in determining factual issues," according to Spies' motion.

The motion also accuses the county attorney of suppressing evidence by failing to supply Thiel's attorney with two documents created by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, DNR, in the months following the crash.

Spies wrote that he was not made aware until after the trial of reconstruction diagrams of the crash scene that were produced in October and December of 2020 by a DNR investigator, Travis Graves. A third diagram was produced as part of Graves' final report and was presented to the jury.

"Moreover, both of the undisclosed diagrams are inconsistent with the diagram in Gravess final investigative report of May 10, 2021, about which he was examined during the course of trial, and about which the defenses expert witness testified as well," Spies wrote.

He also asserts that the judge in the case should have entered a judgement of acquittal before the case went to the jury because the state failed to prove its case and put forth "insufficient evidence."

Thiel was found not guilty on two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, which would have carried sentences of five years.

Evidence taken from the damaged vessels indicated the Thiel boat struck the Bayliner from the rear while traveling more than 55 miles per hour.

The defendant, his friends and a passenger testified that Thiel's boat was not racing with another boat just before the crash. Thirteen independent witnesses said they saw the boats racing and some saw Thiel's boat run over the top of the Bayliner, which was supported by physical evidence.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The head of the United Nations has warned of a dangerous disconnect between what scientists and citizens are demanding to curb climate change, and what governments are actually doing about it. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that global greenhouse gas emissions need to drop by 45% this decade but are currently forecast to increase by 14%. Guterres accused governments of dragging their feet with grave consequences. He said the war in Ukraine risked worsening the crisis, because major economies were doubling down on fossil fuels that are to blame for much of the emissions stoking global warming.
WATERLOO  Police have a tentative identification on a Waterloo man who entered the Cedar River on Friday and was later found dead downstream.

A former landlord came forward after police posted a photo of the shirt the man apparently shed before going into the river.

Investigators were able to match documented tattoos with those on the recovered body. The identity will be confirmed at autopsy.

The body was found about 150 yards downstream from Waterloos wastewater treatment plant. The discovery came Monday afternoon as firefighters were seeking a man who disappeared in the river downtown during the My Waterloo Days Parade on Friday evening.

Residents called 911 Friday night after watching the male enter the river near the Sixth Street Bridge and then float away toward to low-head dam downstream.

Crews with Waterloo Fire Rescue probed the dam Friday, fearing the turbulence was holding him in place.

Firefighters also used sonar to search the length of the dam to no avail, and crews returned Saturday to resume searching.

The missing person appeared to be Hispanic, according to initial reports. Investigators had been in contact with Hispanic community leaders and church officials in hopes of coming up with a name before the landlord came forward.

A team of Waterloo firefighters in a flat bottom boat found the body some distance downstream from the Hawthorne Avenue boat ramp.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Stephen Coull is the Sales Director for Keyrus South Africa, where his leadership skills are helping to accelerate the growth of the technology consultancy.

Coull believes that the most important elements for success are for businesses to have a true understanding of the issues their customers face, and for them to have an intimate knowledge of the technology solutions that can solve these issues.

He has used his 20 years of experience in technology, and his passion for using modern technology to solve customer challenges, to expand Keyruss customer-centric strategy over the past five years.

In this Whats Next interview, Coull meets with Aki Anastasiou to discuss Keyruss growth, its partnership with Tableau, and the evolution of data usage in recent years.

Coull discusses how Keyrus has become a leading technology consultancy in South Africa and explains how it has grown significantly over the past few years.

He highlights Keyruss new partnership with leading analytics platform, Tableau, and talks about how Keyrus new partnership status allows Keyrus to enhance its offerings.

Coull and Anastasiou then discuss business intelligence enablement and why it is so important.

Finally, they talk about the evolution of data usage in recent years and the future of the business intelligence industry.

The full interview with Keyrus South Africas Sales Director, Stephen Coull, is embedded below.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has signed a directive allowing "non-military" use of China's military. The decree comes into force on June 15.

This was reported by Radio Free Asia .

The decision is worrying that Beijing may be preparing for an invasion of Taiwan under the guise of a "special operation," the newspaper said.

The full text of the document is currently unavailable. The Chinese state agency Xinhua reported that the directive systematically regulates the organization and command, types of operations, operational support and political work.

Chinese ATGM HJ-12. Photo: Chinese media

" These plans are aimed at protecting people's lives and property, protecting national sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as protecting world peace and regional stability ," Xinhua said.

It is noted that the document consists of 6 sections, which "serve as a legal basis for military operations other than war."

Radio Free Asia emphasizes that the message came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a diplomatic solution to the threat of military action in the Taiwan Strait.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi speaking at the 19th Asian Security Summit Shangri-La Dialogue Photo: Office of the President

He made the remarks on June 11, speaking at the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue Asian Security Summit, answering questions about what can be done to counter China's campaign of economic and military coercion against Taiwan.

It will be recalled that the day before, China's Defense Minister said that the country did not consider Russia an ally and did not supply it with weapons.

Read also:

Poltava region: as a result of rocket fire, a shopping center in Kremenchuk was occupied

Ukrainian paratroopers from Martlet MANPADS hit an enemy helicopter

PzH 2000 is already at the front - BILD showed the first video with howitzers in Ukraine

Unique footage of UAF strikes on the captured Snake Island has appeared (VIDEO)

During the 124 days of the war, the Armed Forces eliminated 35,000 Russian invaders

The United States plans to purchase air defense systems for Ukraine - CNN

Armed Forces destroyed 2 MT-LB armored personnel carriers and an enemy T-72B tank (VIDEO)
In the wake of recent gun violence around the U.S., the St. Helena United Methodist Church is presenting an evening talk with Liz Burrell Russell at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 23, at 1310 Adams St. in St. Helena.

Liz Burrell Russell, a former manager at The Pathway Home in Yountville, was working on March 9, 2018, when a former program resident killed three staffers and then himself. Russell was allowed to leave by the shooter that day, but her colleagues were not. Since then, she has dedicated herself to helping fix the issue of gun violence in America.

Over the past two years, Russell has shared her story as a Survivor Fellow with Everytown for Gun Safety, helping to humanize the toll of gun violence and push for local, state, and national change. This as well as supporting Rock the Ride, a Benefit Ride and Walk for Gun Violence Prevention. For 2022, Russell and her team are hoping to raise $5,000 at this year's Rock the Ride in Yountville. These funds will support the work of the California Chapter of Moms Demand Action, an organization of mothers and others, gun owners, veterans, health care professionals, law enforcement, grandparents, teachers, and others working to support common-sense changes in laws and regulations to curb gun violence.

Russell will speak at the St. Helena United Methodist Church sharing her survivor's story as well as her many efforts and opportunities for others to address the terrible problem of gun violence. Information and sign-ups for this years Rock the Ride, taking place on Saturday, June 25 in Yountville, can be found at raceroster.com/events/2022/57493/rock-the-ride-napa-ca. Light refreshments will be served. A free-will offering of $15 is suggested, with all funds going to Moms Demand Action in California.

To RSVP or for more information, call the church at 707-963-2839 or email information@sthelenaunitedmethodistchurch.org.
Tuesday, June 7

0701  Police issued a parking citation on College Avenue.

0735  Police were told to be on the lookout for an injured man whod voluntarily left the hospital.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

0752  Report of a possible structure fire on Vallejo Street. It was just food left on a stove, not a fire.

0845  Police received a complaint about an industrial business near Crane Avenue working this morning.

1111  Police took a report on a fraudulent scam.

1252  Report of a suspicious woman taking photos of parked cars in a Hunt Avenue parking lot.

1549  Police were asked to check on panhandlers near Hunt Avenue. The callers were concerned about a child whod been out in the heat all day.

1603  A caller was concerned that people werent seeing the stop sign at Spring/Main.

Wednesday, June 8

0430  Medical aid for a fall victim with a head injury on Hunt Avenue.

0852  Report of a reckless driver speeding on Highway 29.

1055  An officer attended fifth-grade graduation.

1216  Police cited a car parked in a blue zone on Hunt Avenue.

1448  Report of a non-injury hit-and-run involving a car parked near Hunt/Main.

1502  Report of a reckless driver weaving and passing illegally on Main Street.

1812  Report of someone using a leaf blower on Spring Street.

1902  Non-injury lift assist on Mitchell Drive.

2149  Non-injury lift assist on Pope Street.

Thursday, June 9

0349  Non-injury lift assist on Dean York Lane.

0515  Police cited an unlicensed driver on Main Street.

0939  An officer took a report on threats made on Hillview Place.

1051  An officer took a report on a fraud case.

1112  Police cited a car parked in a blue zone on Hunt Avenue.

1243  Report of a reckless driver passing over double yellows on Main Street. Police observed a traffic violation and cited the driver.

1341  A caller said her mothers caregiver abandoned her on June 2. The mother fell and broke her arm and hip. Police took a report.

2307  Following a traffic stop on Main Street, police arrested a 55-year-old Calistoga resident on suspicion of DUI.

Friday, June 10

0748  Police cited a driver for speeding on Spring Mountain Road.

0917  Public Works told police they would be fixing a water leak on Main Street north of the Sulphur Creek Bridge.

0921  Police cited a driver for speeding on Spring Mountain Road.

0950  Police issued a traffic citation near Vintage/Main.

1157  Report of a French bulldog running loose on Hunt Avenue and almost causing two accidents as its owner tried to catch it.

1318  Police issued a traffic citation near Pope/Hollis.

1343  Police issued a traffic citation near Pope/Hollis.

1433  Medical aid for a woman whod passed out in a local tasting room.

1453  A catalytic converter was reported stolen from Oak Avenue.

1537  A silver tabby cat had been missing from Zinfandel Lane since May 13.

1557  An officer cited someone during a traffic stop near Highway 29/Zinfandel.

1627  A group of kids reportedly went into a bathroom at a gas station and urinated everywhere.

1638  Police were asked to check on a man lying on the ground at Lyman Park.

1730  Police attended high school graduation.

2205  A caller smelled a dead animal near Spring Street. An officer checked the area and didnt find any dead animal. The officer noticed the same odor was in other parts of town as well.

2227  An officer was flagged down by a woman who needed help near Spring/Main.

2256  An officer cited someone during a traffic stop on Highway 29.

2354  Report of people talking loudly for about an hour on Hunt Avenue.

Saturday, June 11

0019  Report of two men talking or arguing on Mariposa Lane. Officers determined the men were just visiting a resident.

0715  Report of a business operating before its allowable hours on Crane Avenue.

0931  Lift assist on Pope Street.

0942  Report of someone using a leaf blower on McCorkle Avenue.

1322  Report of a reckless motorcyclist passing in the center lane and speeding on Highway 29.

1338  A bike was found on Spring Street.

1700  Police took a report on a two-car accident on Main Street.

1739  Medical aid on Hunt Avenue.

1844  Police cited a driver for expired registration near Pope/College.

1941  Police assisted a motorist near La Fata/Vintage.

2214  Police cited a driver for expired registration near Spring/Main.

Sunday, June 12

0054  An officer happened upon a verbal disturbance on Main Street.

0106  An officer cited a driver for speeding on Main Street.

0115  Juveniles pounded on the door of a Magnolia Avenue home and then drove away in a white pickup. Police checked the area.

0140  Report of people yelling and playing loud music on Charter Oak Avenue.

0501  An officer cited a driver for speeding on Spring Street.

0707  Report of a man going through garbage cans and throwing trash on the ground near Main Street.

1625  Police arrested a 50-year-old St. Helena man for an outstanding warrant.

1926  Report of a suspicious man looking into parked vehicles in the Oak/Hillview area and into the backyard of a house on St. Andrews Court.

2233  An officer cited a driver for expired registration near Pope/Church.

2250  A juvenile ran away from Lydia Lane.

Monday, June 13

0307  Report of a suspicious van with its door open on Del Rio Court.

0439  Police found three people sleeping in a car at Meily Park.

0506  Police cited an unlicensed driver at Meily Park.

0844  Report of a suspicious man looking into parked cars near Magnolia/Rosebud.

1311  A driver said she and other drivers were being blinded by a highly reflective name plaque on the back of the truck in front of her. The truck was last seen near Highway 29 and Dowdell Lane.

1326  A caller whod been walking on Pinot Way was nipped by two dogs. Police took a report.

1628  Report of five or six juveniles trespassing in a pool on Granada Court.

1717  Report of a possible drunk driver last seen near Main/Hunt.
Californias firefighting agency has been slow to react to a mounting mental health crisis within its ranks as firefighters around the state say Cal Fire has failed to get them what they need  including a sustainable workload, easier access to workers compensation benefits and more counselors.

While climate change is driving enduring drought and ferocious fires ravaging California, nature cant be blamed for all of Cal Fires problems: The states fire service, which prides itself in quickly putting out wildfires, has failed to extinguish a smoldering mental health problem among its ranks.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

Many firefighters told CalMatters they are fatigued and overwhelmed, describing an epidemic of post-traumatic stress in their fire stations. Veterans say they are contemplating leaving the service, which would deplete the agency of their decades of experience. Some opened up about their suicidal thoughts, while others  an unknown number since Cal Fire doesnt track it  already have taken their own lives.

Interviews with Cal Fire firefighters, including many high-ranking battalion chiefs and captains, and mental health experts paint a picture of the state agencys sluggish response to an urgent and growing crisis:

Cal Fire has an unyielding policy of 21-day shifts and forced overtime. Staffing is insufficient as firefighters battle thousands of fires year-round, sometimes for 40 days in a row, year after year. The nonstop work and increasing overtime are contributing to on-the-job injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The workers comp system is difficult to navigate for firefighters suffering from post-traumatic stress, even suicidal thoughts, beginning with skepticism among managers about the legitimacy of their unseen wounds. Some say to get help or be reimbursed for mental health care, they have to hire lawyers, who told CalMatters that claims are routinely denied.

In Californias rural areas, where many Cal Fire employees are based, there are inadequate numbers of qualified mental health care providers. And many wont accept workers compensation cases because of the extensive paperwork and low compensation. As a result, firefighters say they cant find help when they desperately need it.

Work conditions and stress are driving an exodus from the department, which loses invaluable institutional knowledge and field experience. Last year 10% of Cal Fires permanent, non-seasonal workforce quit.

Firefighters say suicidal thoughts and PTSD are rampant. But Cal Fire collects no incidence data on suicides or PTSD. Experts say the agency cant develop an effective program to combat them if they dont understand and monitor their scope.

Cal Fires behavioral health unit ramped up slowly despite the growing problem. Although created in 1999, it had no permanent budget and no permanent employees for 20 years. It began with one staffer  and six years later there were two. Now it has 27 peer-support employees, who assist a permanent and seasonal workforce of more than 9,000.

Cal Fires growing budget reflects the priority California places on fighting wildfires as they intensify and spread. The agencys base budget for wildfires has grown by nearly twothirds over the past five years alone, from $1.3 billion in 201718 to $2.1 billion in 202122. The total budget, which includes resource management and fire prevention, has also increased about 45% in the same period, to $3.7 billion.

Napa County to weigh wildfire prevention without Measure L Napa County claims it doesnt have money to burn, but trying to keep mega-fires from burning the county comes with a price.

The California Legislature has maintained a laser focus on combating wildfires, in part because of the breathtaking cost to suppress them: In the last 10 years, Cal Fire has pulled $7.5 billion from the state emergency fund to fight fires, including about $1.2 billion in the past year.

Despite the large investment, the funds have not kept pace with staffing needs: Days with extreme fire risk have more than doubled in California over the last 40 years. Every year, Cal Fire responds to nearly half a million local emergency calls in addition to thousands of wildfires. Last year alone, almost 9,000 wildfires scorched the state; the millions of acres burned in recent years have set new records.

When asked about the problems facing his crews, Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler, who was appointed in March, acknowledged in an interview with CalMatters that the fatigue and working long hours on large, destructive fires is taking a toll on their health and wellness across the state.

Tyler vowed in the interview to make the mental wellbeing of his employees my number one priority. I recognize that the cumulative toll is taking an effect on our people. To be honest, its taken a toll on me as well, he told Calmatters, adding that he once worked a fire for 56 straight days.

Asked why the agency he oversees is failing to protect its firefighters from PTSD, California Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said theres no absolute, silver-bullet solution.

Weve taken a big step forward, he said, with a proposal in Gov. Gavin Newsoms 2022-23 budget to add $400 million for relief staffing and permanent Cal Fire personnel.

They need to be able to come off the front lines during fire season, and have periods of rest, reconnect with families. Its an incredible strain. In some cases firefighters havent been home for months, Crowfoot said.

This is a complex challenge that requires resources and support in a lot of ways. I would not suggest that if we are able to get funding for staffing, it will solve the problem.

Former Cal Fire Chief Thom Porter, who retired last year after three years as the agencys commander, said more needs to be done to address the agencys staffing problems, long hours and PTSD among firefighters.

Part of what needs to be done is recognition that we dont have enough firefighters in service at any level  state or local, Porter said. We need our elected officials at all levels to increase those numbers. People cant recover from these kinds of stressors without rest away from the job.

Overworked, under stress

An administrative claim notice from Cal Fires firefighters union had a Dickensian tone, like a logbook from a 19th century sweatshop: Forced overtime, punishing working conditions, little sleep, workplace injuries, an inhuman system of indenture.

Employees have been known to work 30 days or more without any time off due to forced overtime, and the most egregious cases include employees on duty for 49 days or more straight without a day off. Overworked beyond the point of exhaustion, says the claim, which union attorneys sent in February to the states Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal OSHA) and the Labor Workforce Development Agency.

CAL FIRE employees have sustained physical injuries and routinely experience fatigue, sleep deprivation, stress, and mental distress, the union wrote, describing the emotional toll, including divorce, alcoholism and substance abuse, of what it called excessive hours.

Other CAL FIRE employees are quitting their job to find relief from the pressure, the union attorneys wrote. Even worse, some employees emotional distress is so severe that they have committed suicide or experienced suicidal ideation.

The document requested that the states workplace regulatory agencies investigate unsafe work conditions at the fire stations, which are staffed by Cal Fire under contracts with cities and counties.

Cal OSHA rejected the request, saying it has no jurisdiction because there are no workplace standards for overtime and it is not illegal for employers to make employees work long hours as long as they are compensated.

The staffing problems stem from Cal Fires contractual obligation with local stations in 36 counties to handle all emergency calls, including structure fires, rescues and medical aid, while also being dispatched to battle wildfires statewide.

Gary Messing, a labor lawyer for Cal Fires union, Local 2881, said California is out of step with the work rotations of other first responders. Cal Fire has shifts of 21 days, while federal firefighters work 14-day shifts. The union is negotiating with Cal Fire over the issue as part of its collective bargaining process.

The solution is easy to articulate and hard to accomplish: Reduce the number of hours, Messing said. Our people work 72 hours a week. The first thing that could be done is to put Cal firefighters on a 56-hour week. Thats a start.

The Legislative Analysts Office noted in a recent analysis that despite bumps in firefighting staffing and budgets, Californias relentless fires can still strain response capacity. In 2020 alone, Cal Fire was unable to dispatch personnel and equipment to thousands of fires: Roughly 7,900 requests for fire engines, 900 requests for dozers, and 600 requests for helicopters could not be filled.

The proposed Fixing the Firefighter Shortage Act of 2022, which has been approved by the Senate but has not yet cleared the Assembly, could address some of Cal Fires staffing problems. The bill would add about 1,300 firefighters to the states ranks at an estimated cost of almost $300 million per year; it would also increase the number of firefighters per engine and attempt to stop forced overtime.

We are at critical mass, guaranteed, right now, said Mike Orton, a Cal Fire captain and former Marine who has undergone counseling for PTSD. These people in fire stations are not going to get relief for years because the state system takes so long to work. The people who are working here are jumping ship like no other. People like me are pulling the ejection handle.

Unlike most workers, when firefighters make a mistake because of stress or fatigue, their actions can endanger the public.

At the end of the day, all of the well-intentions in the world, and the mental health awareness, the opportunity to go to trauma retreats, doesnt help when the bell goes off, Orton said.

How do we face the public and say, We decided to close your station today because these guys are tired. Thats not a decision our managers are going to make.

One of the core problems is the simple, intractable math: As fires are more frequent, burning longer and more difficult to fight, California does not have enough firefighters to perform all the tasks the state asks of them.

If you cant fill all the positions in your battalion, the way the system Is designed, nobody goes home until the positions are filled, said Battalion Chief Jeff Burrow, referring to daily work shifts. If I cant fill those positions, Ive got to reach out to the battalion next to me, and nobody in that battalion gets to go home. It just spreads. We run out of people all the time.

Denial, denial, denial

Californias workplace insurance system instructs stressed workers to follow a prescribed path to get relief: Report the problem to your superior, talk to a peer counselor to get referred to a mental health professional, keep your receipts and apply for workers comp.

Medical help is the endgame. Workers compensation benefits, paid by the state, cover the costs, which average $60,000 for first responders cases, according to a Rand Corp. estimate. But the barriers to firefighters claims are myriad.

Randy Thrash, who manages Cal Fires Occupational Health Program, said finding clinically competent mental health providers outside of large cities is a huge challenge. They are difficult to find in the rural areas where a lot of our staff lives.

Even when mental health clinicians can be located, its another struggle to identify those willing to take workers comp insurance patients, Thrash said. They dont want to deal with the billing and reporting requirements of workers comp. They prefer to deal with private insurance.

That creates another layer of bureaucracy for a firefighter seeking help: If someone receives a PTSD diagnosis from a private insurer, those medical records  which are confidential by law  must be made available to the state. If that doesnt happen, the diagnosis must be verified by a state-qualified medical examiner. The process can take months for a firefighter to be reimbursed for medical care.

A current bill, introduced by three Democratic senators, would cut the time period to investigate PTSD workers comp claims from 90 to 60 days, and states that if the claim is not rejected within that timeframe it would be presumed to be eligible for compensation. The proposal has cleared the Senate and is in the Assembly.

The long wait for workers comp insurance is hugely frustrating, said Gena Mabary, Cal Fires injury and accommodation manager. When you are dealing with psychiatric stress, you are already stressed out. It adds another layer of stress. It means that sometimes people wont go through the process.

Cal Fire workers comp claims for mental health problems are more frequent. I am expecting them to increase still more, Mabary said. No data, however, was available.

Comprehensive national data on first responder mental health do not exist, said a 2020 Congressional Research Service report on federal efforts to address the mental health of first responders. The authors reported that barriers to accessing mental health services are particularly problematic among firefighters, where a culture of not seeking help exists.

Mynda Ohs, a San Bernardino-based counselor specializing in treating first responders, said Cal Fire has no idea how to proceed with a mental health injury versus a physical injury.

One of her Cal Fire patients suffering from PTSD had to hire an attorney to pursue a claim, and even then the case took two years to resolve. They put him through the ringer,  Ohs said. Its more trauma on top of trauma.

In 2020, a state law recognized that all first responders engage in stressful and dangerous occupations, and made PTSD presumptive for workers comp benefits  codifying that a mental injury is a legitimate medical claim, although it must still be proven. That law sunsets at the end of 2024.

Before the law was enacted two years ago, California firefighters PTSD cases were denied workers comp benefits 24% of the time  almost three times more often than their claims for other medical conditions, according to a RAND Corp. report. They were also denied more often than PTSD cases filed by people in other occupations.

Yet the current system is still stacked against those filing claims, according to an attorney representing firefighters who dispute workers comp rejections. He said many are denied.

Denial, denial, denial, said San Diego attorney Scott OMara. Its very, very common. Adjusters training is to contain and control costs. They need to pull back and allow these people to get the care. They delay and deny treatment. Its horrendous.

Workers comp claims begin with an adjuster at the states nonprofit insurance provider, the State Fund. If the claim is denied, challenges can move their way, slowly, to the states Division of Workers Compensation, which is the final arbiter.

Battalion Chief Brad Niven successfully navigated the workers comp insurance system for his mental health claim after he began considering suicide, but not without difficulty. He said he has at least 18 friends and peers who have faced the same problems he did.

Ive heard horror stories from people whose boss has not supported them, who say, You are making this stuff up, you are not sick. You are trying to get out of coming to work. You have to sit down with a psychiatrist and you have to relive those experiences. People who have issues, myself included, dont want to relive them, Niven said.

They are looking at it from a financial standpoint, not wanting to approve the claim, not wanting to pay it out. You are guilty until proven innocent. You have to go above and beyond to prove your case.

Turnover: People are leaving in droves

Far from being walking recruitment posters for Cal Fire, many fire service veterans bluntly said they are ready to leave the organization they love  and they give that unvarnished advice to their colleagues. The agency is losing experienced employees who either accept quieter, better-paid first responder jobs or opt to retire and collect a pension.

Burrow said his Riverside staff is operating at about 50% capacity. Youd be hard-pressed to talk to someone in the department right now that isnt looking for other avenues in their life, he said.

He added, people are leaving in droves.

My entire battalion  we have people leaving all the time or retiring earlier, which is where Im at, said Burrow, 49. For the people that work for me, I advise them to move on. I cant in good conscience tell them to stay. We have people quitting the academy now. That was unheard of 20 years ago. That speaks volumes.

Cal Fire officials initially disputed that people are leaving in large numbers, saying their staffing levels have been fairly consistent.

But data released at CalMatters request shows that about 10% of its workforce quit last year. The number of firefighters and other personnel who left in 2021 was 691, nearly twice the average for the previous four years, according to numbers provided by Cal Fire spokesman Chris Amestoy.

For so long it was in the dark. And often, it still is

There have been few attempts at legislation to address the mental health of the states wildland firefighters.

A 2017 bill would have created a peer-support program for a broad range of first responders that included a strict confidentiality component. It made it through the Legislature and to then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 for his signature.

In the month that the bill sat on the governors desk, two Cal Fire employees committed suicide, according to Assemblymember Tim Grayson, the bills author. Brown ultimately vetoed it, objecting to the scope of the confidentiality, which he said could jeopardize workplace safety.

Grayson, a Democrat from Concord, revived the measure the next legislative session, with a more-narrow focus on creating a pilot program of peer support for local or regional firefighters. The legislation was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Grayson said it took three years to convince colleagues that mental health problems were increasing at Cal Fire, in part because the agency collects little data.

Theres been a shift  people are talking about this. For so long it was in the dark, he said. Were talking about lives here. Not just lives of the firefighters, but their family and children, everybody is impacted by the wellbeing of our first responders. It would behoove us to invest in the mental health and wellbeing of our first responders. They do lay their lives on the lines for us.

Porter, Cal Fires recently retired chief, said firefighters are starting to open up more about their PTSD and share their heart-wrenching stories.

Its been an incredibly moving experience to have people opening their personal lives and talking about things that never would have been talked about before. In my career, up until the last three years, I have never heard some of this. Its alarming, he said.

But getting help is problematic in a service where tough-guy traditions persist. Mike Ming, who oversees Cal Fires employee support program, saw firsthand the walk-it-off mentality as a young firefighter. When he told a supervisor that a traumatic work experience was bothering him, He said, Suck it up, buttercup, and told me to pull up my skirt.

While that attitude is fading, Ming said, there remain some holdovers, some 30-year grumpy captains. We do also have in management some folks who say, I sucked it up, why dont they suck it up? I dont know if we are ever going to get away from having some aspect of that.

Dennis King, 76, who retired as a battalion chief after 22 years with Cal Fire, may be one of those holdovers. He wonders if the pendulum has swung so far.

The state has always had a very liberal policy. The phone rings in the morning at the station and I go, Whos calling in sick today? Everyone says, I think I have the flu. We have people who are serial hypochondriacs. Theres always people who are going to take advantage of this system.

Today, when mental health issues are raised among wildland firefighters, its still in hushed tones. Theres a stubborn stigma attached to discussing PTSD or trauma.

They will always tell you theres no punitive action against anybody who admits to PTSD, said Mike Feyh, a former captain with the Sacramento City Fire Department. But it does affect their career. There were very few times that I saw someone who has struggled with a mental health issue rise to the top of an organization or take a leadership position. They kept it to themselves.

Ernie Marugg, a former Cal Fire battalion chief who is in the process of seeking a medical retirement for PTSD, said the agency culture is, If you need help you are weak and if you are weak I dont want you around me. Its like you are contagious, he said.

A slow reckoning at Cal Fire

Until recently, Cal Fires behavioral health program was bare-bones. The program had only one staffer when it began in 1999 and six years later, there were two. Now Cal Fire has 27 employees in its peer-led program  all of them with their own stories of addiction, suicide attempts and trauma  to help a statewide workforce of 6,500. These peers do not offer formal counseling, they mostly listen, and then, if warranted, send employees to therapists for help.

But Cal Fire still doesnt collect much data on mental health, and what information it does gather is often squirreled away in departments that dont talk to each other. Some Cal Fire staffers bemoan the agencys antiquated and cumbersome data management.

For example, its behavioral health program collects numbers of contacts  calls to a helpline and visits in person from a peer advisor. But, rather than focusing solely on issues such as PTSD, the numbers include those seeking advice about an array of other topics, such as parenting, financial problems and legal issues.

When CalMatters asked Tyler, the Cal Fire head, why his agency doesnt have data on incidence of PTSD and suicides, he said he will soon meet with the behavioral health team to discuss strengths and weaknesses and threats to the program. He said the data related to mental health needs to be improved.

The 2012 Strategic Plan, Cal Fires guiding document updated every seven years, devoted two pages to the value of physical fitness and calisthenics. There was no discussion of PTSD or mental health.

Cal Fire now preaches the importance of mental health awareness and the no-strings approach to asking for help. The latest plan, from 2019, for the first time acknowledges suicide as a problem. Now each station house has pamphlets and fliers tacked onto bulletin boards with information about PTSD and suicide prevention. Classes about PTSD and suicide awareness have recently been added to the Cal Fire academys curriculum.

Behavioral health experts point to the U.S. Armed Forces as a model for integrating mental health programs alongside physical well being.

The Defense Department has studied and reported on the health of American troops for 30 years. In 2021 the military asked the Rand Corporation to perform a similar analysis, considered a critical tool to understanding the impacts of the long deployments and inherent dangers. Exposure to traumatic events, combat in particular, is a well-known hazard of military service. PTSD can contribute to military attrition, absenteeism, and misconduct, the report said.

The U.S. Forest Service, which manages the nations largest wildland firefighting force, says it is focusing on PTSD like never before.

Over the past several years, understanding the mental health impacts on firefighters has become a high priority, said E. Wade Muehlof, a deputy national press officer with the Forest Service in Washington, D.C., citing the length and intensity of the fire season as factors.

The federal agency has an expanded employee assistance program and a new provider with on-call trauma-trained clinicians. In addition, it tasked a new behavioral health steering committee with developing programs.

But even as the need has come into sharper focus, a gap in services for first responders remains.

The nonprofit National Fire Protection Association identified an acute shortage of programs to treat PTSD and trauma among firefighters. Its 2021 national assessment found that nearly three-quarters of fire departments do not have behavioral health programs for their employees. Of those that do, 90% offer help for post-traumatic stress but few other mental health services.

We are really good at preventing fires, why dont we work on preventing this?, said Patrick Walker, a Cal Fire battalion chief. Theres a tendency to kick people when they are down, instead of pulling them up. Thats got to change.

A life saved

Intervention, if it comes in time, can save lives. Niven can attest to that.

In late 2019 the battalion chief, who is based in Sonora, was struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts. They became overwhelming after he drove through an intersection where, five years earlier, he was unable to save the life of a young woman hit by a logging truck.

He couldnt shake the memories. I thought to myself, Is this it? Am I going to commit suicide?, Niven, 47, said in an interview. But he didnt reach out for help, I thought I could fix it.

During a flight to Sacramento, he made a plan: He would kill himself by jumping off the top floor of the airport parking garage.

A flight attendant who saw him crying sat next to him and asked how she could help. She arranged for Niven to text a friend, who put him in touch with a counselor from Cal Fires employee support program, who then stayed with Niven on the phone for two hours after the plane landed.

After that, Niven received counseling and the support of a supervisor, who told him what every employee in pain wants to hear: I got your back.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, you can get help from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Scholz says return to pre-war relations with Russia is impossible

Armenia FM: Azerbaijan continues to hold Armenian POWs and civilians hostage

Israel to work with world powers to influence any deal with Iran

Azerbaijanis moving cross-stone on road of Berdzor

NATO to increase size of its rapid reaction force by almost eight times

'Armenian Genocide: Evidence from the German Foreign Office Archives, 1915-1916' published in Persian

Mohammad Bagheri says Iran will respond to Israeli intervention in region

Representatives of ICRC office in Baku visit Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan

Robert Habeck: Gas shortage this winter could lead to 'serious economic crisis in Europe'

Armenia FM: OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs play key role in Karabakh conflict settlement

US, European officials look forward to NATO summit to make progress on Finnish and Swedish accession

Leaders of NATO, Turkey, Sweden and Finland meet in Madrid

Zelenskyy tells G7 leaders he wants war in Ukraine to end by the end of 2022

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia to hold joint military exercises

G7 leaders to support Ukraine for as long as it takes

EEU to provide duty-free import quotas for cheese, alcohol infusions to Serbia in 2023

Turkey announces creation of grain operations center

Dollar, euro go up after long decline in Armenia

Armenia premier: Reforming education sector is one of governments absolute priorities

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg promises to protect Baltic countries from external threats

Upper Lars checkpoint on Georgia-Russia border to be closed for 1 week?

Armenia ruling force lawmaker submits resignation from parliamentary seat

Artsakh FM pays working visit to Russia

Armenian FM meets Greek President

Azerbaijan-Turkey-Kazakhstan transport working group to be set up

Armenia legislature secret ballot for electing new judges to cassation court to kick off at 3pm

Welt: Putin is preparing a new raw material trap for the West through lithium mining in Bolivia

CNN: US intends to supply Ukraine with medium and long-range missile defense systems

Armenian FM's visit to Greece begins

Armenia economy ministry does not say when Lars motorway will reopen

Birmingham explosion leaves 5 people injured

Armenia Supreme Judicial Council member presents Court of Cassation candidate judges biographies

Israel may allow Iran to export oil under US supervision

Armenia appellate court considering appeal against PM Pashinyan

Ibrahim Kalin says Turkey has no enmity with Armenia

Heavy rain hits northern Turkey

Turkey doesn't impose sanctions on Russia because of its energy dependence

Cavusoglu says they are waiting to open Zangezur corridor as soon as possible

Process kicks off aimed at building new nuclear power unit in Armenia

European Commission head doesn't support G20 summit boycott if Putin attends

139 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia past 1 week

Aliyev: New weapons, most modern equipment have been, are being brought to Azerbaijan

Peskov rules out Russia's disconnection from global Internet

World oil prices dropping

Drug smuggling by Iranians is prevented in Armenia

Armenia parliament to convene special session

Copper rises in price

Armenia finance minister meets with Asian Development Bank representatives

Yerevan mayor to pay 12-day official visit to France

Earthquake hits Armenia-Georgia border zone

At least 4 dead after stand collapses during bullfight in Colombia

Microsoft to end support for Windows 8.1 in January 2023

95% blind Japan skateboarder breaks 2 Guinness World Records

NASA to launch Capstone satellite for future creation of habitats on Moon

US intends to raise $200 billion as part of G7 program, competing with China's Belt and Road project

Egypt signs contract with India to buy 180,000 tons of wheat

US Treasury Secretary discusses sanctions against Russia in Turkey

20 people die in mysterious circumstances in nightclub

Cavusoglu: Turkey is facing serious economic crisis

Armenian PM's spouse to hold official meetings and discussions in Nice, Monaco and Cannes

Media: Ukraine once again purchases weapons in Germany directly from manufacturer

European Council head cautious about G7 plan to ban imports of Russian gold

Iran launches second Zoljanah rocket into space

Britain and France agree to increase support for Ukraine

Armenian FM to leave on working visit to Athens

NATO to discuss largest military deployment since the Cold War

Artsakh Internal Affairs Ministry: Special measures in Stepanakert carried out in intensified mode

Biden thanks Scholz for leadership on Ukraine crisis at G7 summit

Iraqi PM arrives in Tehran

UN fears disease outbreak in Afghanistan due to earthquake

Johnson: Cost of Russian victory in Ukraine is too high

New Colombian president pledges to protect rainforest

Young man throws himself down from territory of Armenian Genocide Museum

G7 countries to impose a ban on imports of Russian gold

SADA CEO: Armenian startups are not yet well known on international market, they need to be strengthened

Turkey FM and Blinken discuss NATO expansion and grain supplies from Ukraine

Shoigu inspects grouping of Russian troops involved in Ukraine

Indonesian President to travel Ukraine, Russia on peace-building mission

Turkey intelligence agency captures alleged Greek spy

Armenia PM to answer questions from media and public organizations tomorrow

Ecuador's president lifts state of emergency declared due to strikes

Concrete placement starts at Unit 2 of Bushehr NPP in Iran

Eight corpses found at famous Mexican resort

US Army private admits plotting attack on military unit

Archaeologists discover remains of ancient tortoise with laid egg in Pompeii

Lithuanian president on sanctions against Kaliningrad transit: concessions to Russia are out of question

Founder of hypercar manufacturer Koenigsegg puts Toyota's GR Yaris up for sale

President Vucic says Serbia will seek replacement for Russia oil

China to provide $7.5M in humanitarian aid to quake-stricken Afghanistan

Chicken meat production drops in Armenia

MFA spokesman: Armenia reaffirms its readiness to establish peace, stability in the region

Putin announces, at meeting with Lukashenko, decision to transfer Iskander-M missile systems to Minsk

Armenian-Italian archeological expedition launches exploration near Dvin (PHOTOS)

Armenia political scientist: OSCE Minsk Group revival not ruled out

Large fire breaks out in Kyiv

Terror alert level raised in Norway after deadly shooting in Oslo

Iran expresses readiness to resume talks in coming days on JCPOA restoration

Armenia, Karabakh ex-presidents, Catholicos of All Armenians do not attend Hayastan All Armenian Fund meeting

Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian teen who army says threw rocks at passing cars

Ex-President Sargsyan turns down offer to be Hayastan All Armenian Fund Board of Trustees member
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who is in Qatar, gave an interview to Al Jazeera Monday, during which he touched upon the processes taking place in the South Caucasus, the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict, Armenian-Turkish relations, and several other topics. Below is the text of an excerpt from this interview.

Let me start with the agreement you signed with Azerbaijan, because of which you were subjected to strong pressures, so that the demonstrators even arrived at your house. How do you evaluate this agreement now?

I think you mean the trilateral statement signed [on November 9, 2020] by me, the President of Russia and the President of Azerbaijan. With that statement, the ceasefire came into force, all military actions ended, I think at that time it was a step aimed at ending the violence in Nagorno-Karabakh. I should mention that this statement does not address the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, but it is necessary to address the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, we hope that in the near future we will be able to address the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

Interrupting the talk about Nagorno-Karabakh, I want to note that this particular issue assumes that there is a border demarcation commission between the two countries that will look into this matter. What is hindering its work so far?

In fact, we have communication with Azerbaijan in several dimensions, You are right, we have recently formed a delimitation commission between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it is very important to continue that work. Only one meeting has taken place, but we already have an agreement that the second meeting will take place in the Russian capital Moscow, and the third meeting in Brussels. We hope that with the support of our international partners, and of course, due to direct work, we will be able to carry out the delimitation of our borders.

What if this committee came to a decision that the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh will belong to Azerbaijan, what would be your position then?

In fact, the Delimitation Commission has nothing to do with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, because, as I said, we have different dimensions of communication with Azerbaijan, one of which is demarcation. Its also very important to mention the issue of border security, which is also under the mandate of this commission, because we must maintain stability and security along the entire border.

The second dimension is the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. There is another dimension, which is about the opening of regional, transport and economic communications. But, of course, the most urgent issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan and for the regional peace is the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Interrupting the talks about peace with Azerbaijan, and this is exactly what angers the opposition. Russia, which is the sponsor of this agreement or the statement as it was called, is considered to be involved in a conspiracy against Armenia, and rather stands by Azerbaijan.

You know that Russia is Armenia's strategic partner and ally, but Russia is also a very close country for Azerbaijan. And in this context, we see the role of Russia as the guarantor of a trilateral statement, which, as I mentioned, was signed between the three parties.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who is in Qatar, gave an interview to Al Jazeera Monday, during which he touched upon the processes taking place in the South Caucasus, the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict, Armenian-Turkish relations, and several other topics. Below is the text of an excerpt from this interview.

If relations are appropriate with your partners, what about relations with Turkey? Armenia and Turkey announced the opening of a new page of relations. Where is the path of normalization between Ankara and Yerevan?

We have started a dialogue through the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey. The dialogue itself is already very positive, but we hope to record tangible results.

Interrupting the conversation, are you talking with Turkey about mutual visits?

I cannot say that we have not registered any results yet, because after the start of the dialogue, we started direct flights between Armenia and Turkey, but this is something that we had before. I hope that we will be able to establish diplomatic relations, open the border between Armenia and Turkey, which has been closed for 30 years.

What is Armenia's approach and stance towards the corridor that is supposed to link Azerbaijan and Ankara through your lands?

You know, the wording, the narrative about the so-called corridor is unacceptable for us, it is a red line for us, because in our region, according to the trilateral statement I mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, we have one corridor, it is the Lachin corridor that connects Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. But we have another provision in our trilateral statement, which is about opening communications. I mean railways, roads, and we are ready, in fact we are already discussing the issue of opening regional communications based on the principle of mutual respect for sovereignty and the inviolability of borders.
At Tuesdays sitting of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, NA deputy speaker Ruben Rubinyan noted that the draft NA statement on Armenian-Azerbaijani and Armenian-Turkish relations, which was tabled by the opposition "Armenia" and "With Honor" Factions of the NA, shall be put to a vote.

"As the Steering Committee did not discuss the matter and did not present a conclusion, this matter must be put to a vote in order to be included in the agenda of the session," he said.

Hayk Konjoryan, the leader of the ruling majority Civil Contract Faction of the NA, said that his faction will not take part in this voting.

As the opposition factions are not in attendance to this sitting, the following voting result was registered: 0 for, 0 against, 0 abstained.

On June 3, the MPs of the opposition "Armenia" and "With Honor" Factions had convened a special sitting of the NA, on the agenda of which was the draft aforesaid statement submitted by them. But the session did not take place due to the lack of a quorum as the lawmakers of the majority faction did not attend this sitting.
Five days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement on the "simplified regime" of the road through the territory of Armenia, which should connect Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan, it is not officially specified what this means.

However, some details about the ongoing negotiations became known. Azatutyun.am reported.

"So, Azerbaijani cargoes and passengers entering the territory of Armenia will first be checked by the Russian border service and then by the Armenian customs service. Then the crossing will be accompanied by an Armenian patrol, which will include at least one Russian officer. Will the same conditions be applied in case of Armenian cargoes and passengers entering the territory of Azerbaijan? According to the same sources the negotiations are still going on. Journalist Tatul Hakobyan wrote about it the other day, according to whose information Baku demanded a Russian patrol.

Official Moscow and Yerevan published different information after the meeting of the three countries' vice-premiers in Moscow about ten days ago. According to the Russian government, the sides have brought their positions closer on border, customs and other controls. Meanwhile, according to the Armenian government, the sides clarified their approaches. The approaches have not been officially clarified yet," the media reported.
Bank Of Hawaii BOH Technical Pivots with Risk Controls

Source: Stock Traders Daily

Longer Term Trading Plans for BOH

NONE. Details

There is no current Support Plan to trigger a buy of this stock at this time. This usually means that there are no clear support levels at this time, so buying the stock as it falls could be considered catching a falling knife. Buy signals only exist if resistance breaks higher.

This often is a signal that the stock you are watching is weak. Waiting for a turn higher may be more intelligent than trying to catch a falling knife. In any case, new support levels are usually revised to the database at the beginning of the next trading session. Short BOH under 75.65, target n/a, stop loss @ 75.87 Details The technical summary data is suggesting a short of BOH as it gets near 75.65, but the downside target is not available from the current data. This tells us to hold that position if it is triggered until a new downside target has been established (updates occur at the beginning of every trading session) or until the position has been stopped. The summary data tells us to have a stop loss in place at 75.87. 75.65 is the first level of resistance above 73.79, and by rule, any test of resistance is a short signal. In this case, if resistance 75.65 is being tested, so a short signal would exist.

Swing Trading Plans for BOH

Buy BOH over 75.69, target 79.26, Stop Loss @ 75.47 Details

If 75.69 begins to break higher, the technical summary data tells us to buy BOH just over 75.69, with an upside target of 79.26. The data also tells us to set a stop loss @ 75.47 in case the stock turns against the trade. 75.69 is the first level of resistance above 73.79, and by rule, any break above resistance is a buy signal. In this case, 75.69, initial resistance, would be breaking higher, so a buy signal would exist. Because this plan is based on a break of resistance, it is referred to as a Long Resistance Plan. Short BOH near 75.69, target n/a, Stop Loss @ 75.91. Details The technical summary data is suggesting a short of BOH if it tests 75.69 with a downside target of n/a. We should have a stop loss in place at 75.91 though in case the stock begins to move against the trade. By rule, any test of resistance is a short signal. In this case, if resistance, 75.69, is being tested a short signal would exist. Because this plan is a short plan based on a test of resistance it is referred to as a Short Resistance Plan.

Day Trading Plans for BOH

Buy BOH over 75.10, target 75.69, Stop Loss @ 74.92 Details

If 75.10 begins to break higher, the technical summary data tells us to buy BOH just over 75.10, with an upside target of 75.69. The data also tells us to set a stop loss @ 74.92 in case the stock turns against the trade. 75.10 is the first level of resistance above 73.79, and by rule, any break above resistance is a buy signal. In this case, 75.10, initial resistance, would be breaking higher, so a buy signal would exist. Because this plan is based on a break of resistance, it is referred to as a Long Resistance Plan. Short BOH near 75.10, target 73.54, Stop Loss @ 75.28. Details The technical summary data is suggesting a short of BOH if it tests 75.10 with a downside target of 73.54. We should have a stop loss in place at 75.28 though in case the stock begins to move against the trade. By rule, any test of resistance is a short signal. In this case, if resistance, 75.10, is being tested a short signal would exist. Because this plan is a short plan based on a test of resistance it is referred to as a Short Resistance Plan.

BOH Technical Summary | Raw Data for the Trading Plans

Term  Near Mid Long Bias Weak Neutral Neutral P1 0 0 75.65 P2 73.54 75.69 80.78 P3 75.10 79.26 85.98

























The technical pivots for Bank Of Hawaii (NYSE: BOH) help you determine how to trade, when to buy, when to sell, and how to control risk.

Warning:

This is a static report, the data below was valid at the time of the publication, but support and resistance levels for BOH change over time, so the report should be updated regularly. Real Time updates are provided to subscribers. Unlimited Real Time Reports.

Subscribers also receive market analysis, stock correlation tools, macroeconomic observations, timing tools, and protection from market crashes using Evitar Corte.

Instructions:

The rules that govern the data in this report are the rules of Technical Analysis. For example, if BOH is testing support buy signals surface, and resistance is the target. Conversely, if resistance is being tested, that is a sign to control risk or short, and support would be the downside target accordingly. In each case, the trigger point is designed to be both an ideal place to enter a position (avoid trading in the middle of a trading channel), and it acts as a level of risk control too.

Swing Trades, Day Trades, and Longer term Trading Plans:

This data is refined to differentiate trading plans for Day Trading, Swing Trading, and Long Term Investing plans for BOH too. All of these are offered below the Summary Table.
The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boichenko, who has left the city, claims "traitors" passed on coordinates to Russian forces early on, BBC reported. "They knew where to shell. There were many traitors who gave coordinates. Everything we had, everything that is considered the critical infrastructure of the city, was destroyed in the first seven days. "There are 15 power supplies in the city. Even the mayor did not know where they all were. And they knew and in a week destroyed all 15. The city was left without light," he said. Water points, communication lines and warehouses storing food and medicine were also targeted, Boichenko said, BBC reported. He accused the "traitors" of being city council deputies from the pro-Russian The Opposition Platform - For Life' party. They now rule the city under the Russian occupation, he said. He said the destruction of the city's critical infrastructure at the beginning of the invasion was well co-ordinated. More than 100,000 people are trapped in occupied Mariupol, Boichenko said. "They don't have clean water. There is no food, no electricity, no medications. Hospitals have been damaged; doctors have been killed. People do not live there, they survive, fighting for food," the mayor said, BBC reported. Russian forces took control of the southern port city in May after months of relentless bombardment. Boichenko, who has left Mariupol, said the bodies of many victims still lie in bombed buildings. "There is a lot of dead in Mariupol. Russians have not cleared the bodies of those they killed in the bombings. Many bodies are still under the ruins According to doctors, this summer in Mariupol will be horrible. And it can take thousands of lives." "There are no hospitals, no doctors. Russians steal equipment from hospitals that weren't damaged in the fighting and take it to Donetsk. "People are waiting for several days in a queue for water and fighting for food. Russians forced people to clean ruins in exchange for water. The city is closed. Nobody is let in or out," he said, BBC reported. --IANS san/arm ( 355 Words) 2022-06-13-21:40:02 (IANS)
CEB Chairman, M.M.C. Ferdinando handed over his resignation and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara, in a Twitter message, said he accepted the resignation.

Last week, Ferdinando had stated to Parliament's Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had told him that Indian Premier Modi had pressured him to award a wind power project to India's Adani Group.

President Rajapaksa was quick to deny Fernando's statement and said that he never gave authorisation to award a wind power project in Mannar to any person or any institution.

Issuing a statement, the President's Media Division said: "Sri Lanka is currently in an acute shortage of power and President desires to expedite implementation of mega power projects as early as possible. However, no undue influence will be used in awarding such projects."

"Project proposals for large-scale renewable energy projects is limited, but special attention will be paid to the selection of institutions for the projects, which will be carried out strictly in accordance with the transparent and accountable system by the government of Sri Lanka," the statement added.

However, the CEB head later retracted what he told the COPE claiming that he made the statement in a moment of exhaustion and poor emotional condition.

The incident created both local and international uproar and opposition politicians charged him with lying to the parliament while others complained he was pressured by the President to withdraw what he said.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa had complained that Ferdinando had violated parliamentary privilege by making false statements to the COPE.

--IANS sfl/vd

( 310 Words)

2022-06-13-22:00:03 (IANS)
One more burned human body was recovered from inside the BM Container Depot in Sitakunda on Monday, ten days after the massive chemical blasts and fire there, officials said. Bones with some flesh was recovered from the depot around 2.30 p.m. while removing the containers, said Sumon Banik, Officer in Charge of Sitakunda Police Station. The body parts were been sent to Chittagong Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for DNA tests and then to the CMCH morgue, Additional Superintendent of Police, Sitakunda Circle, Md Ashraful Karim said. "The human remains were found when a police team and CID were working inside the depot around 12 p.m. on Monday," he said, while Banik said that remains of human hand and toe were found near the east part of the accident site. However, families of missing container operators told IANS that still the number of missing persons is not known. Two more BM Container Depot fire victims, including a firefighter, died on Sunday after nearly seven days of fighting for their lives. Nurul Quader, 22, an employee of the depot in Sitakunda, breathed his last at the Incentive Care Unit of Parkview Hospital in Chattogram city. "Nurul sustained severe burn injuries and he was admitted to the general unit on June 4 night. As his condition deteriorated, he was moved to the ICU and put on life support. He died around 1.30 p.m.," said Humayun Kabir, Deputy General Manager of Parkview Hospital. Investigators said the container depot had stored at least 27 containers full of hydrogen peroxide which led to deadly blasts, and the resulting fire. --IANS sumi/vd ( 280 Words) 2022-06-13-23:26:03 (IANS)
Russia will provide a way out for civilians at the Azot fertiliser factory in the contested city of Severodonetsk, but will use a different plan to that which Kiev requested, the Russian military said on Tuesday. The Ukrainian proposal may have been an attempt to extract its soldiers from the blockaded plant, it claimed, RT reported. The Russian statement said civilians in the Azot plant were being used as a "human shield" by Ukrainian troops who took cover at the facility. Hundreds of non-combatants were allegedly forced to move to the Ukrainian forces' last stronghold in the city as Russian and allied troops captured residential areas in Severodonetsk. The city is claimed by the Russia-allied Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) as part of its territory. "The Ukrainian side considers the position of its military units as hopeless, so we consider the request to save the civilians as an attempt to extract the surviving troops out of the blockade," said Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, RT reported. The Russian military noted the situation is not unlike what happened in the city of Mariupol, where Ukrainian troops remained blockaded at the Azovstal plant for weeks before surrendering to Russian and allied troops. Mizintsev urged Ukrainian officials to order their soldiers in Severodonetsk to lay down their arms and surrender too. In the meantime, Russia is willing to grant civilians safe passage to territory controlled by the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), provided the Ukrainian troops let them go, the statement said. Severodonetsk is one of just a handful of places in LPR-claimed territory where Ukrainian troops are still present. Last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said his country's troops and local militias were in control of 97 per cent of the republic's territory. --IANS san/arm ( 312 Words) 2022-06-14-19:50:08 (IANS)
New Delhi [India], June 14 (ANI/ATK): Chennai-based QSR Chain Oh My Shawarma has recently launched its operations in Bengaluru. Founded in 2017 by Mohan Ram, Gopinath Rangan and Praveen Kumar, the brand specializes in selling different varieties of Shawarma and currently has 15 outlets across Chennai and Bengaluru. Mohan Ram, an IIM Udaipur alumnus was previously associated with startups like Zoomcar, Zomato and Paytm. Gopinath Rangan was previously part of Karvy Logistics and Chai Point. Praveen Kumar was part of Nearbuy and Redbus before turning to entrepreneurship. Global Street Foods with an Indian Touch "Shawarma is a widespread street food with various avatars across the globe. We wanted to give a desi twist to the product. We spent close to 6 months before our launch to come up with a perfect recipe that is a fusion of Indian, Lebanese and Mexican cuisines. We were the first outlet in India to launch 20 different varieties of Shawarma" says Gopinath. Eclectic Foods Pvt Ltd which owns the brand has diversified into verticals like cloud kitchen, Meat retail and FMCG. The Company plans to launch a house of brands targeting mainly street food. " We position ourselves as an organized player in the unorganized street food market which has a huge potential. We will soon be launching global street foods with an Indian touch. We plan to open 50 outlets in the next one year" adds Mohan on the company's future growth plans. It has to be Retail and Cloud Speaking about the developments in the cloud kitchen space, Co-founder of the company Mohan Ram says "We believe in the concept of Hybrid model where both the retail space and cloud kitchen exists. Pure cloud play has its own challenges. Cost saving on rental, service manpower, and other overheads is offset by the higher commission on the aggregator platforms which ranges from 25 per cent to 30 per cent. This commission is bound to increase further when the aggregator feels the margin pressure. The increased dependency on Food aggregators poses a lot of disadvantages for the Cloud kitchen model like unavailability of Customer data, Logistics shutdown, Outlet Listing issues etc. Unlike a physical store, here they are competing with a plethora of outlets that win an order by just offering huge discounts. So you have to keep up with the competitors by offering discounts which puts further pressure on the margin. Also, the brand connection with the customers that we see in a physical outlet is missing in the cloud kitchen model. We take a conscious effort in building relationships with our customers. Currently, we have more than 50 per cent repeat customers across online and offline channels. Future Plans The company clocked revenue of INR 6 crore during FY 22 -23 and targets to double it in FY 23-24. "We want to build a sustainable business model in this space with the right fundamentals. We have a strict policy of achieving operational breakeven in less than 3 months and a payback period of 9 months for each store that we open. We are also building an ecosystem which comprises QSR, mini food street, Cloud Kitchen and Meat Shop. In our model, cloud kitchens help in improving our capacity utilization. Meat shop is our first vertical integration effort which helps us in having complete quality control and also improves our margin. Since we position ourselves as an organized street food player, our pricing is only slightly higher than unorganized street food stalls. So we had to take all efforts to improve our gross margin" adds Mohan. This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
Kanye West took a jibe at Adidas for 'blatant copying' of his Yeezy slides after nearly a decade of collaboration. According to Billboard, Adidas originally showed their new Adilette slides, which will retail for USD 55, earlier this month, and the 45-year-old rapper isn't pleased. On Monday afternoon, West turned to his Instagram handle and shared a post to criticise the shoe manufacturer and its CEO, Kasper Rorsted, for the 'fake Yeezys.' He captioned the post and wrote, "THIS IS YE driving down the same street Kobe passed on Maybe I feel that Mamba spirit right now." West fired a direct shot at Rorsted, stating, "To Kasper I'm not standing for this blatant copying no more." He continued, "To all sneaker culture To every ball player rapper or even if you work at the store This is for everyone who wants to express themselves but feel they can't cause they'll loose their contract or be called crazy". "Bravery is not being afraid Bravery is overcoming your fear for your truth This Ye with the blue paint on my face These shoes represent the disrespect that people in power have to the talent This shoe is a fake Yeezy made by adidas themselves I'm not talking to DC about this either Kasper come talk to me Happy Monday," he added. The apparel and shoe collaboration between West and Adidas was officially announced in December 2013, with the first collection arriving in February 2015, as reported by Billboard. The Yeezy Slide was released in 2019, and thanks to the Eva Foam rubber, the lightweight slip-on style footwear exploded in popularity due to its simple, non-sweaty wear, especially in the summer. In 2020, sales for Yeezy sneakers reached nearly $1.7 billion in annual revenue, netting Yeezy $191 million in royalties, according to Bloomberg. (ANI)
Meanwhile, the Covid positivity rate has jumped up to 7.06 per cent in the city, while the number of active cases has also risen to 2,561.

With 495 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries has gone to 18,84,630. The number of patients being treated in home isolation stands at 1,825.

With new Covid cases, the total caseload of the city has jumped to 19,13,412 while the death toll continues at 26,221.

The number of Covid containment zones stand at 191 in the city.

A total of 8700 new tests -- 7,670 RT-PCR and 1,030 Rapid Antigen - were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 3,87,59,850 while 8,905 vaccines were administered - 764 first doses, 1,872 second doses, and 6,269 precaution doses.

The total number of cumulative beneficiaries vaccinated so far stands at 3,45,04,928, according to the health bulletin.

--IANS avr/vd

( 195 Words)

2022-06-13-22:42:03 (IANS)
Congress workers in Madhya Pradesh staged a protest on Monday as party leader Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi in connection with the National Herald case. To show solidarity with their leader, several Congress workers protested outside the ED office in Indore. Some protesting Congress workers were seen holding parrots in cages, mocking the central agency for its action against the Gandhi family. Meanwhile, politics heated up in Madhya Pradesh as leaders from both the ruling BJP and the opposite Congress got involved in a war of words. While the Congress accused the Narendra Modi-led government of falsely implicating the Gandhi family, the BJP maintained that "why the Gandhi family is worried of questioning if it has not done anything wrong". State Congress President Kamal Nath, who is considered close to the Gandhi family, expressed his anger by accusing PM Modi of making a political attack. Kamal Nath said the Congress always respected the opposition during its decades of rule in the country. He also mentioned how former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had once helped then leader of opposition Atal Bihari Bajpayee. "When Atal Bihari Bajpai was unwell, Rajiv Gandhi used to arrange for his treatment abroad," Kamal Nath said, referring to the health issues of Sonia Gandhi, who will also have to appear before the ED in the National Herald case on June 23. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is in New Delhi to meet Home Minister Amit Shah and some other cabinet ministers, said that the Congress is building pressure on the ED through its protests in several parts of the country. He said the Congress first messes up things and then puts pressure on the investigating agencies. "Why should Rahul Gandhi worry if he has done nothing wrong? He should tell the truth to ED," Chouhan said. --IANS pd/arm ( 327 Words) 2022-06-13-19:46:02 (IANS)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who was detained in Delhi along with other Congress leaders while protesting against the ED summons to the Gandhi family in the National Herald case, on Monday attacked the Centre saying that the country is watching the dictatorship. Targeting the BJP-led central government Gehlot said, "The way the peaceful march of the Congress party is being stopped today, the whole country is watching this dictatorship. The Congress headquarters has been cordoned off, police have been deployed all around. Politicians and activists are being detained. I have also been taken into custody along with my associates while going to the ED office," he said. After being detained by the Delhi Police, Gehlot said "what difference will it make if you let five people go?" He added, "This is absolutely unfair in a democracy. The Congress workers will not tolerate the ED notice that has come to Rahul and Sonia Gandhi. There are agitations in every district and block. They should understand and allow the rule of law to be established." Condemning the BJP government, he asked, "For how long will you mislead by talking about Hindu-Muslim? ED notices are wrong. The workers of the whole country have come here to show what is the mood of the country. These are fascist people (BJP govt). They are killing democracy, voice has to be raised against them in time." Meanwhile, the Delhi Police blocked the roads. Despite the arguments of Gehlot and other Congress leaders, he was not allowed to proceed. Along with Gehlot, many other leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, Mukul Wasnik, Digvijaya Singh, Deepender Hooda, Pawan Khera, PL Poonia, Gaurav Gogoi, Meenakshi Natarajan were detained. --IANS arc/uk/bg ( 296 Words) 2022-06-13-20:20:05 (IANS)
Congress leader Harish Rawat on Monday forayed in to continue the hustle over the Directorate of Enforcement's (ED) summons for Rahul Gandhi and said that the party will continue this fight tomorrow. "We will continue this fight tomorrow as well. The struggle of Congress party will continue until they (Central government) try to suppress the voice of Rahul Gandhi and our party," Rawat told reporters. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been asked to rejoin the investigation again on Tuesday. Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil also said that the party had been fighting for truth. "The country is standing with Rahul Gandhi. We are fighting for the truth. We will sit and discuss with our party chief and take the decision about the further steps to be taken," said Gohil. Earlier, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala along with many other prominent leaders were released on Monday after around 10 hours of detention at Sarojini Nagar Police station.Congress leader Rahul Gandhi left the Enforcement Directorate office in Delhi after 10 hours of questioning in the National Herald case. Several senior leaders of the party including Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry, Shakti Sinh Gohil, Anil Chaudhry, a few MPs and workers were also detained at various Police Stations in Delhi.Congress leaders and workers had staged protests holding placards at AICC headquarters in New Delhi over the summons of Rahul Gandhi. Various leaders including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot took part in the party's Satyagraha march.Addressing the media, Baghel said, "The entire country is witness to the dictatorship of the ruling BJP. Congress workers were being detained from reaching the party headquarters. The entire area has been cordoned off and police have been deployed all around in an attempt to crush democracy. It is the democratic right of the opposition party to protest." Calling the ED action on Rahul Gandhi "malicious", the Chief Minister said that the Centre is using its agencies to "suppress the voice of Opposition". Rahul Gandhi, the 51-year-old politician, who entered the headquarters of the federal probe agency in central Delhi around 11 am after starting from the Congress office on Akbar Road, was accompanied by a large group of party leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, RajasthanChief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel. He is being questioned by an Assistant Director level officer-- the investigating officer of the case--supervised by a Deputy Director and a Joint Director. Another officer is learnt to be typing Rahul Gandhi's statement which is being recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. (ANI)
Gangsters lodged in Jharkhand's Ranchi, Dhanbad, and Hazaribagh jails are still operating with impunity through cellphones, as per a shocking revelation made in a technical inquiry report submitted to the government. The Technical Cell of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has found that more than 150 mobile SIMs are active inside Birsa Munda Central Jail in Hotwar, Ranchi. The police has submitted a detailed report to the state government along with the SIM card numbers, WhatsApp numbers, IEMEI numbers and virtual numbers of the connections which are active inside the jail. Just a month ago, a technical probe had confirmed the constant threat calls being made to doctors and businessmen by notorious gangsters from Mandal Kara jail in Dhanbad. Jailer Amar Tiwari was suspended, while departmental inquiry was initiated against Jail Superintendent Ajay Kumar. Similarly, during an investigation in a criminal case, Delhi Police found that at least six gangsters lodged in JP Central Jail in Hazaribagh were using mobile phones to give instructions to gang members in Delhi. Delhi Police recently wrote to Jharkhand Police asking them to take action. Then, IG, Jails, Manoj Kumar recommended that the state government take action against the Superintendent of JP Central Jail, Hazaribagh, Kumar Chandrashekhar. Out of these three jails, the most shocking case is of Birsa Munda Central Jail. Based on strong evidence about the use of about 200 mobiles inside the jail, Ranchi's Khelgaon police station in-charge, Manoj Kumar Mahato lodged an FIR on March 1, 2022. The FIR said that the history-sheeters -- Aman Sahu, Aman Singh, Sujit Sinha, Sheetal Mahto, Harikishore Prasad alias Kishore, Suraj Kumar Singh, Raju Singh, Hari Tiwari -- who are inside the prison, used mobile phones to demand extortion and send messages to their gang members. The FIR also made jail workers as accused. On the basis of this FIR, the police conducted a technical investigation and submitted a report to the government. According to police sources, the report recommends strict action against the accused as well as the need to upgrade the jammer to block the mobile network inside the prison. At present, 2G jammer is installed in Ranchi Central Jail, but criminals are using 4G network. During several raids in the past, mobile phones have been recovered from the prison. --IANS snc/skp/ ( 390 Words) 2022-06-13-20:32:04 (IANS)
One person was killed and another injured after four unidentified men opened fire on them in Bihar's Bhojpur district on Monday, police said. The deceased was identified as Sonu Kumar, 26. He died on the spot while his friend Rohit Kumar alias Lallu sustained gunshot injuries in hand and is said to be out of danger. Both of them are residents of Narayanpur village. Their third friend Chitranjan Kumar escaped unhurt. Bhojpur SP Sanjay Singh, who visited the crime scene, said that it prima facie looks to be a case of gang war. "We are investigating the case. The statements of the deceased's Sonu Kumar family and injured Rohit's family members are contradictory. We have sent the dead body for post-mortem to find more details." As per the statement of Rohit, he, along with his friends, were returning on one bike from Arrah to Narayanpur. When they reached Chawaria village, which is near Narayanpur, four unidentified assailants on two bikes, opened fire on them. One bullet hit Sonu and he died on the spot. "We have some dispute with another group over an orchestra event. They may be involved in it," Rohit said in a statement to police. --IANS ajk/vd ( 212 Words) 2022-06-13-22:58:04 (IANS)
The rescue operation for Rahul Sahu trapped in a 60-ft deep borewell continues with the administration saying that they will be able to rescue the child. Eleven-year-old Rahul Sahu is trapped in a 60-ft deep borewell in Pihrid village of Malkharoda block. Chattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has been continuously monitoring the situation, said the district administration. "The rescue operation is underway for 80 hours but very soon we will be able to rescue Rahul. His health condition is better now. CM Bhupesh Baghel is continuously monitoring the situation via video cal," said Collector Janjgir, Jitendra Shukla. Around 150 officials have been deployed for the rescue operation. "The rescue operation is very critical. This has become a mission for us now, around 150 officials are deployed here," informed Superintendent of Police (SP) Janjgir, Vijay Agarwal Earlier on Sunday, Baghel had asked the Collector about Rahul's health condition. The Chief Minister also spoke to his family members of Rahul and consoled them, as per an official statement. He asked Rahul's family to hold on to faith, patience, and prayers, as the administration does its best to bring Rahul back home safe and sound. The Chief Minister spoke to Rahul's grandmother Shyam Bai Sahu, in presence of Rahul's uncle Bajrang Sahu. He told her that the administration is equipped with robots and other resources to rescue Rahul. Chief Minister also spoke to the robot operator Mahesh Ahir and Rahul's father. The Chief Minister also observed the ongoing excavation work at the borewell, through the video call. Robot operator Mahesh Ahir, who has come all the way from Amreli, Gujarat, updated Chief Minister about the relief and rescue work in progress. He told Chief Minister that he has conducted many demos and has the experience of three successful rescue operations. Baghel also observed the robot and its operation process, through the video call. Speaker of the Assembly Charandas Mahant and Minister-in-Charge, Jai Singh Agrawal also inquired about the developments in the rescue process underway in Pihrid. (ANI)
The Rajasthan government on Monday suspended internet services in four tehsils of Bharatpur district for 24 hours starting Monday am as the reservation issue has once again rocked the state. This time, Mali, Kushwaha Shakya and Maurya Samaj have raised a demand of 12 per cent reservation. Hundreds of people from the society blocked the National Highway-21 (Agra-Jaipur) in Bharatpur holding sticks in their hands. The highway has been jammed for over 24 hours now. Looking at the gravity of the situation, Bharatpur Divisional Commissioner Sanwarmal Verma shut down internet services in four towns for 24 hours starting 11 am on Monday. The state government has authorised minister Vishvendra Singh and the divisional commissioner to hold talks with the representatives from the agitators. Laxman Singh Kushwaha, patron of Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, said, "The people of the society are demanding reservation under the Constitution. The provision has been given in Article 16(4) of the Constitution. Those castes which are very backward can be given reservation by the state government." Kushwaha added: "Kachi (Mali) society is the most backward class. The population of Kachi community is 12 per cent, so we are asking for reservation on the basis of population. We have met the Chief Minister on this issue and he had assured that it would be considered. But nothing has happened till date. We are being forced to stage a protest." Bharatpur Divisional Commissioner Sanwarmal Verma said that Jaipur-Agra traffic has been disrupted, and internet and broadband services have been suspended to avert any untoward incident. Internet service has been suspended in Nadbai, Vair Bhusawar and Uchhain tehsils. --IANS arc/arm ( 284 Words) 2022-06-13-23:02:02 (IANS)
Microsoft has commenced the beta testing of its new File Explorer tabs for Windows 11. The tabs characteristic for File Explorer is now rolling out to Windows Insiders withinside the Beta Channel, and looks to be very near to its launch for everyone on Windows 11. As per The Verge, the 'tabs' function consists of a refreshed layout that makes it less complicated to get quick access to folders or locate favourite files. The updated File Explorer layout consists of tabs to navigate a couple of folders in a single window and the ability to move tabs around freely. Microsoft, in the beginning, examined the 'tabs' feature in apps on Windows 10, four years ago in a function named 'Sets.' It included support for tabs inside File Explorer. However, Microsoft eventually cancelled the project and by no means shipped it to Windows 10 users. Microsoft, on the other hand, started testing tabs in the Windows 11 File Explorer earlier this year, and a move to the Beta Channel hints at its release in the coming few months, reports from The Verge said. "The Beta Channel will be the place we preview experiences that are closer to what we will ship to our general customers," explains Microsoft. This particular beta build is just an update for Windows 11 22H2 (the next big update) that was recently shipped to Release Preview, hence, it is expected of 'tabs' to appear for Release Preview soon. (ANI)
After a student from Jammu and Kashmir, who met with a car accident in Dhaka, was airlifted to Delhi, his father thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his personal intervention in airlifting the student from the Bangladeshi capital. Shoaib Lone, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri, studies MBBS at Barind Medical College in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He met with a car accident while travelling with four other people. Shoaib was seriously injured and was undergoing treatment at a Bangladesh hospital. The accident in Bangladesh was very serious and two co-passengers of Shoaib had died. Shoaib has been brought to India by an air ambulance on Monday and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre in New Delhi under a team of specialist doctors. Narrating his ordeal after the accident, Shoaib's father Mohammad Aslam Lone said Shoaib was taken to hospital by locals and the family reached Dhaka after some delay due to efforts in arranging visa and other documents. [{6a7e2fcd-5fb2-4c21-9ea7-fa887884c5cc:intradmin/rg2022061313484820220613135738_BRcs29D.jpg}] On reaching Dhaka, the family faced problems including "language barrier" and "high cost of treatment". He said the hospital in Bangladesh incurred expenses of Rs 12 lakh for a 10-day stay in the hospital and "there was not much improvement in condition". "We were in great difficulty," Aslam Lone said. He said that Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Ravinder Raina visited Rajouri and the problem was posed to him by people known to them. The BJP leader promised to apprise the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) of the matter. [{50e980ea-63d5-4e74-8e26-ff156ab3abb8:intradmin/jtyuityuoyuo.jpg}] "I am very grateful to Modiji. It is said that giving thanks lessens the value of the deed done but I do not want to be ungrateful. I salute him by standing on one leg. If a country has a leader like this, like the leader we have in Hindustan, where there are such good (leaders) to take care of, people should not be afraid. I say thanks to PM one crore times. I also thank Rainaji and all those who helped us," Aslam Lone told ANI. He said Shoaib is admitted to AIIMS trauma centre due to "PM's intervention". "It was a quick response from the PMO who helped the common man of the country," he said. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also shared the story of Sohaib. Taking to Twitter, he said, "An emotional father thanks PM Narendra Modi ji, on whose personal intervention, his son who met with an accident in Dhaka was airlifted to Delhi. Saluting the PM, he said that any country which has a PM like Modi Ji should not worry about anything." (ANI)
Faced over 10 hours of questioning a day ago, the Enforcement Directorate started quizzing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for the second consecutive day on Tuesday in connection with an alleged money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper. The 51-year-old senior Congress leader reached ED headquarters around 11.07 am along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi and was deposed before the investigators shortly after his entry into the building. The former Congress president, a Z+ category protectee of the Central Reserve Police Force after the Union government withdrew the Gandhi family's Special Protection Group cover in 2019, was asked again to join the probe as investigators were not satisfied with the answers he gave to them during questioning on Monday, said official sources. As per the sources, the Congress leader will be again questioned about the ownership of Young Indian Private Limited (YIL) by the Gandhi family and its shareholding in Associate Journals Limited (AJL), the company that runs the National Herald newspaper. Investigators will also question about the circumstances under which AJL was acquired by YIL in 2010, making it the owner of all assets owned by the National Herald newspaper. The National Herald, started by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was published by the AJL. In 2010, the AJL, which faced financial difficulties, was taken over by a newly-floated YIL with Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda as directors, both of them Gandhi loyalists. In a complaint in the Delhi High Court, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy accused Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds. Officials familiar with the probe said Rahul Gandhi is being asked questions about the takeover of the AJL by YIL since the Gandhis have stakes in the latter. The central anti-money laundering probe agency is expected to confront the Congress leader with the documents about alleged irregularities later in the day. The Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in Kerala is being questioned under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED is also learnt to record the statement of Rahul Gandhi to know about the incorporation of the YIL, the operations of the National Herald and the fund transfer within the news media establishment. The ED is also investigating the financial transactions as well as the role of party functionaries in the functioning of AJL and YIL. National Herald is published by the Associated AJL and owned by YIL. It is also learnt that the ED will take the written statement of Rahul Gandhi statement under Section 50 of the PMLA. Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal were earlier questioned in the case. Rahul Gandhi's mother Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to appear before the ED on June 23. She was admitted on Sunday to the Ganga Ram Hospital following post-Covid complications. There are allegations that AJL was founded in the 1930s to print National Herald and had 5,000 freedom fighters as shareholders. AJL is now in Gandhi family ownership. AJL declared in 2008 that it won't print newspapers anymore and will enter real estate. In 2010, a new firm called YIL is incorporated with Rs 5 lakh and with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi among other Congress leaders as directors. It pledges to do charity but does none till 2016, as per allegations. It is also alleged that AJL's 9 crore shares (99 pc of all) are transferred to YIL, and that Rahul Gandhi alone holds 75 per cent shares while Sonia and other senior Congress own the rest. There is another set of allegations that Congress gave AJL Rs 90 crore loan which Congress writes off in lieu of alleged ownership of AJL assets worth Rs 2,000 crore. However, Congress claims that the loan was given to pay the salaries of AJL staffers and to save National Herald and that YIL is a not-for-profit company and its ownership still vests with AJL. "YIL can't pay dividends to shareholders and not a penny has moved. How can there be money laundering without any money changing hands." Rahul Gandhi, who appeared before the ED for the first time for questioning, arrived at the ED office at 11.10 am on Monday accompanied by a battery of leaders, including sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and escorted by armed CRPF personnel. He was given an 80-minute break in the afternoon and left the ED office around 11.30 pm after 2nd round of questioning ended. The case to investigate alleged financial irregularities under the PMLA was registered about nine months ago after a trial court took cognisance of an Income Tax Department probe carried out on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013. Swamy had approached the court alleging that the assets of AJL were fraudulently acquired and transferred to YIL, in which Sonia Gandhi and her son owned 38 per cent shares each. The YIL promoters include Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Swamy had alleged that the Gandhis cheated and misappropriated funds, with YIL paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that AJL owed to Congress. Congress argued that YIL was a not-for-profit company under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 that can neither accumulate profits nor pay dividends to its shareholders. Calling it a case of political vendetta, senior Supreme Court advocate and Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi had said, "This is truly a very weird case -- an alleged money laundering case on which summons are issued with no money involved." The federal agency's move followed the questioning of senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Treasurer Pawan Bansal in April this year in New Delhi in connection with its money laundering probe into the National Herald case. The agency then recorded the statements of both the Congress leaders under the PMLA. While Kharge is the CEO of YIL, Bansal is the Managing Director of AJL. Meanwhile, all roads leading to the ED office in central Delhi are still barricaded by the police amid heavy deployment of Rapid Action Force personnel. The Delhi Police has imposed provisions of Section 144 CrPC to prohibit assembly and entry of people on roads leading to the ED headquarters in Pravaratan Bhawan on A P J Abdul Kalam Road where some youth Congress workers protested and manhandled with police while trying to push barricades. The police detained all the protesters and bundled them in separate buses to take them away from Central Delhi. (ANI)
Two alleged drunkards barged into the Indore district collector's office with swords in their hands, informed security personnel adding that the accused will be handed over to police later on. Speaking to ANI, Parasram Chauhan, Security jawan, said, "Both of them were allegedly drunk when they entered the office. We have caught them and will later hand them to the police for further action." More details are awaited. (ANI)
The Rajasthan government on Tuesday extended the Internet suspension in four tehsils of Bharatpur as members of Mali, Saini, Kushwaha Shakya and Maurya Samaj continued blocking the National Highway-21, demanding reservation in government jobs. Eventually, the highway was closed for the third consecutive day on Tuesday. As the commuters faced a lot of hardship on the Jaipur-Agra road, state Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh, authorized by the government for talks with the agitators, appeared angry. "None of the interlocutors came to talk to me, while I waited whole day along with the Divisional Commissioner," he said. Meanwhile, the administration has extended the ongoing net ban in many areas for 24 more hours. The members of Mali, Saini, Kushwaha Shakya, Maurya Samaj on Tuesday put up hundreds of tents on the highway and sat on dharna. Sensing trouble, Divisional Commissioner Sanwar Mal Verma extended the Internet shutdown in four tehsils of Bharatpur for the next 24 hours. Internet services were suspended on Monday in Nadbai, Vair, Bhusawar and Uchhain tehsils of Bharatpur, which has now been extended till June 15. A committee of 31 members has been formed on behalf of the community, but no one has reached for talks. Minister Vishvendra Singh, representing the government, has also sent an invitation for talks, but even after that, no representative reached. Mali, Saini, Kushwaha Shakya, Maurya Samaj demand that they should be given 12 per cent reservation on the basis of their size of population. A memorandum was submitted to the SDM at the Collectorate, Tehsil level in 33 districts. However, when the demands were not paid heed, the people of the community announced a chakka jam on June 12. Earlier, a Mahapanchayat was also held. They said, when no government representative came to talk to them, then at 4 p.m. on Sunday, they sat on the National Highway closing all traffic. --IANS arc/skp/ ( 326 Words) 2022-06-14-19:10:06 (IANS)
Sahu was safely extricated around midnight on Tuesday.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wished for the young boy's recovery.

"With everyone's prayers and the relentless, dedicated efforts of the rescue team, Rahul Sahu has been brought out safely. It is our wish that he recovers completely as soon as possible," tweeted Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel adding the state has created history.

Rahul Sahu was trapped in a 60-ft deep borewell in Pihrid village of Malkharoda block.

Around 150 officials were deployed for the rescue operation. The rescue operation was jointly carried out by the Indian Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and District Administration.

After the operation concluded, Sahu is said to be in a stable condition (ANI)
Blinken spoke with Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and affirmed the US commitment to the Sri Lankan people during this challenging time and the importance of supporting reforms that address the concerns of all Sri Lankans, including on democratic governance and human rights, read US Department of State press release.

The Sri Lankan economy has been facing a crisis owing to a serious Balance of Payments (BoP) problem. Its foreign exchange reserves are depleting rapidly and it is becoming increasingly difficult for the country to import essential consumer goods.

The current Sri Lankan economic crisis is the product of the historical imbalances in the economic structure, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s loan-related conditionalities and the misguided policies of the past governments.

The Easter bomb blasts of April 2019 in churches in Colombo resulted in 253 casualties, consequently, dropping the number of tourists sharply leading to a decline in foreign exchange reserves.

The newly led government by Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019 promised lower tax rates and wide-ranging SoPs for farmers during their campaign.

The quick implementation of these ill-advised promises further exacerbated the problem.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 made the bad situation worse - Exports of tea, rubber, spices and garments suffered; Tourism arrivals and revenues fell further.

Due to a rise in government expenditures, the fiscal deficit exceeded 10 per cent in 2020-21, and the debt to GDP ratio rose from 94 per cent in 2019 to 119 per cent in 2021.

Sri Lanka's fertiliser ban in 2021, all fertiliser imports were completely banned and it was declared that Sri Lanka would become a 100 per cent organic farming nation overnight.

This overnight shift to organic fertilisers heavily impacted food production.

Consequently, the Sri Lankan President declared an economic emergency to contain rising food prices, a depreciating currency, and rapidly depleting forex reserves.

The lack of foreign currency, coupled with the disastrous overnight ban on chemical fertilisers and pesticides, has sent food prices soaring, pushing millions of poorer Sri Lankans to the brink. (ANI)
As the only country that shares a long border with both Bangladesh and Myanmar, India has "high stakes in the resolution of the issue of repatriation of the displaced persons from the Rakhine state of Myanmar". R Madhu Sudan, Counsellor at Permanent Mission of India to the UN, speaking at the informal briefing on Myanmar reiterated that India has been consistently advocating practical, pragmatic and enduring solutions to the issue. "Towards this end, our support has been for the people on the ground at both Cox's Bazar and Rakhine state," he said. Sharing his views on Bangladesh's efforts in the repatriation of the displaced persons from the Rakhine state of Myanmar, he said, "We commend Bangladesh for hosting million displaced persons in its territory. We believe that it is important for the international community to recognize and understand the humanitarian burden that Bangladesh continues to face and the efforts it has undertaken to ensure the well-being of the displaced persons." Madhu Sudan urged the international community to enhance its support financially and otherwise towards the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh and also assist in ensuring that issues related to radicalization in the camps and other security challenges are addressed in an expeditious manner. "A collaborative and consensus-based approach is key to arriving at meaningful and practical outcomes. We must work to address the challenges that the concerned stakeholders continue to face so that this humanitarian problem is resolved in a timely manner," said the Indian diplomat. Talking about the influx of thousands of people from Myanmar across Indian borders, he said, "Any instability in Myanmar impacts India directly. The worsening humanitarian situation and incidence of violence have led to the influx of thousands of people from Myanmar across our borders. Women and children are the worst affected by the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. Restoration of peace, security and stability is, therefore, most important to us." Madhu Sudan further stressed that India has been a long-standing friend of the people of Myanmar, "We have continued our developmental, humanitarian assistance including in Rakhine state. Recently, we provided over 10,000 tonnes of food grains to Myanmar and granted assistance to alleviate the food shortage situation in the country. We have also given vaccines to Myanmar to mitigate the impact of COVID-19," said the Indian envoy. Highlighting the UN's effort in Myanmar, he said, "We express our support to UN to maintain its operational strength in the humanitarian sphere and continue humanitarian assistance keeping in mind the guiding principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence." He further stated that as Myanmar's democratic neighbour, India has been invested in strengthening the democratic process in the country since 2011. "We have worked with several stakeholders in Myanmar in developing capacities in democratic systems and practises including in the areas of constitutionalism and federalism. We are renewing these efforts with the objective of Myanmar emerging as a stable, democratic, federal union," said Sudan. The Indian diplomat further said that the well-being of the people of Myanmar remains India's utmost priority and is the code of all Indian efforts. "We have emphasized India's interest in seeing Myanmar's return to democracy at the earliest, release of detainees and prisoners, complete cessation of all violence and resolution of issues through mutual dialogue among all stakeholders, he added. He further underlined that peaceful dialogue and reconciliation involving all stakeholders is the only way forward. "We have concerns over violence perpetrated by any sides, peaceful dialogue and reconciliation involving all stakeholders is the only way forward. We have also reaffirmed our strong and consistent support to the ASEAN initiative and hope that the progress would be made in a pragmatic and constructive manner based on the five-point consensus," said Sudan. The ASEAN five-point consensus states that there shall be an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar and all parties shall exercise utmost restraint; constructive dialogue among all parties concerned shall commence to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people. (ANI)
They discussed further strengthening India-WHO relations, and working together for global health and well-being, including in Traditional Medicine & Digital Health.

"Secretary(West) @SanjayVermalFS had a warm, fruitful meeting with DG @WHO@DrTedros. They discussed further strengthening India-WHO relations, working together for global health and well-being, including in Traditional Medicine & Digital Health," tweeted Permanent Mission of India, Geneva.

Recently, the ground-breaking ceremony was performed for the first-of-its-kind World Health Organization (WHO) Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

Additionally, the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit was held in Gandhinagar aimed at increasing investments and showcasing innovations in the field of traditional medicine.

It is a unique attempt to foster long-lasting partnerships, boost exports and nurture a sustainable ecosystem.

The purpose for establishing GCTM is the integration of traditional medicines with technological advancements; setting policies and standards; and supporting efforts to implement the WHO strategy.

According to WHO estimates, 80 per cent of the world's population uses traditional medicine.

India has committed an estimated USD 250 million to support the GCTM's establishment, infrastructure and operations.

According to the WHO, traditional medicine is the total sum of the "knowledge, skills and practises indigenous and different cultures have used over time to maintain health and prevent, diagnose and treat physical and mental illness".

Its reach encompasses ancient practices such as acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine and herbal mixtures as well as modern medicines.

In India, it is often defined as including practices and therapies -- such as yoga, Ayurveda, Siddha.

These therapies and practices have been part of Indian tradition historically as well as others -- such as homoeopathy -- that became part of Indian tradition over the years.

Ayurveda and yoga are practised widely across the country. The Siddha system is followed predominantly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala

The Sowa-Rigpa system is practised mainly in Leh-Ladakh and Himalayan regions such as Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling, Lahaul & Spiti. (ANI)
India made a strong pitch for protecting the interests of the developing and under-developed countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal on Monday did some plain speaking at the 12th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Geneva. He raised concerns about the "skewed" WTO reforms proposal, the imperative need to retain the Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT) provisions for the developing world, global inequities in COVID vaccination and Public Stockholding of food grains, read Ministry of Commerce & Industry press statement. "Current proposals for WTO Reform could fundamentally change its institutional architecture, skewing the system against the interests of developing countries," said Goyal. "We need to move ahead preserving the core principles of consensus and ensuring S&DT, with people and development being at the core of WTO's future agenda," he added. "Friends, those who question the need for S&DT provisions are aware that the per capita GDP of the developed countries is 20 to 50 times that of the developing countries. Even India is at the lower end of the per capita GDP supporting 1.4 billion people. I believe the developing world aspires to work for a better future. Is it humane, fair or even equitable that the developing world takes the same obligations as the developed nations?" he added. He also highlighted the COVID-19 pandemic that exposed the inability of the world to promptly respond to any crisis, whether on food security or health, economic well-being or open supply chains. "When the world was desperately looking for relief, the WTO was found wanting. As an example, vaccine inequity persists even two years after COVID. When people in LDCs and several developing countries are yet to be vaccinated, there are some countries who have already administered the 3rd or 4th dose," he said, adding, "This is a collective failure of global governance and we need to introspect. Those responsible need to seriously reflect deep within their hearts, it will help us craft a more equitable, fair and prosperous future for every citizen of the world and finally achieve the Sustainable Development Goals we had all collectively agreed upon," said the release. To rebuild trust and credibility, Goyal said, we must first address mandated issues, like the permanent solution to public stockholding agreed nearly a decade ago, the release added. "The current global food crisis is a reminder to us that we act now! Can we risk the lives of millions of people dependent on food stocks maintained for the poor and vulnerable?" asked Goyal. "During the pandemic, India alone distributed 100 million tonnes of food grain-free of charge to 800 million Indians at a cost of nearly USD 50 billion. This was over and above the food grain distributed as a part of our National Food Security Programme thus ensuring that nobody ever slept hungry," he said. Goyal argued that while negotiating the fisheries subsidies, the livelihood of traditional fishermen cannot be compromised, said the release. "We cannot institutionalize the privileges of a few countries and take away the right to progress for those who are working for the vulnerable marginalized sections of society. Particularly for those countries, that are not engaged in harmful deep sea fishing, we need to have different views. Otherwise, we may have a similar situation like the Agreement on Agriculture, where inequities & asymmetries persist, causing several countries to still depend on food aid," he said. Goyal also proposed adopting environmentally-conscious lifestyles, more sustainable lifestyles, based on the 3Ps of "Pro Planet People" to tackle climate change, said the release. "The WTO needs to rebuild trust. It is time to demonstrate goodness, concern for people, more sensitivity to the poor and vulnerable sections of society in the spirit of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", which we believe in India as "The World is one Family"," he said. (ANI)
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Monday said that Pakistan would default if the government did not abolish subsidies on petroleum products till July. Ismail said that he had told Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take a tough decision in order to avoid becoming another Sri Lanka, which is currently in economic turmoil. He said that there will be no IMF deal if the petrol products subsidy was not abolished. Speaking during Geo News' programme "Capital Talk", the finance minister said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has insisted on abolishing the subsidies on petroleum products. Ismail also blamed the ousted government of Imran Khan for not striking a good deal with the IMF. "The PTI did not strike a good deal with IMF," said the finance minister. In a bid to bring economic stability and revive the stalled multi-billion-dollar IMF programme, the government had increased the price of petrol by a whopping Rs 60 per litre last month. It was also expected that after the budget, some hurdles would be removed in the IMF programme's revival. But the finance minister last week said the IMF "was still unhappy with the government over the budget" mainly because it did not implement the Personal Income Tax (PIT) measures suggested by it, reported Geo News. Miftah had also said last week that there was no financial emergency in Pakistan after the government took steps to rectify the ongoing economic turmoil and increased the price of petrol. But in today's interview, the finance minister said if the government does not increase the prices, the IMF will not strike a deal with Pakistan, and if this happens, then the country will be pushed toward "destruction," reported Geo News. "I have told the prime minister that we have to take tough decisions. The prime minister is unhappy with increasing the prices of petroleum products. Whenever I send a summary in this regard, the ministers curse me," Miftah lamented. The finance minister claimed that the government was still giving Rs 19 subsidy on petrol and Rs 53 subsidy on diesel, adding that Sri Lanka also gave subsidies to its public and it, eventually, defaulted, reported Geo News. "Today, Sri Lanka is purchasing expensive oil and they do not have funds to buy medicines for their people," the finance minister said as he warned of a similar situation in Pakistan. Miftah added that the PTI government did not make the decisions it agreed upon with the IMF. "We are in talks with the IMF; the PTI did not strike a good deal with it." He said that once the agreement with the IMF is reached and Chinese banks extend their loan facility to Pakistan, the market will regain confidence. (ANI)
The House January 6 committee focused its second public hearing on those closest to former President Donald Trump who said they told him it was too premature to declare victory on election night in 2020 and that the former President used his false narrative, only to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden, stating the presidential election was stolen. Monday's hearing used first-hand accounts from Trump's inner circle including his daughter, son-in-law, former campaign manager and former attorney general, to focus on how he pushed the "big lie" of a stolen 2020 race to millions of supporters even though almost all of his advisers - except, Rudy Giuliani -- told him that he had lost to Joe Biden. The committee also showed video testimony from top officials in the Trump administration who said former Vice President Mike Pence and White House were aware there was no evidence to support Trump's claims of voter fraud. Former Attorney General William Barr said in recorded video testimony that he knew early claims that Trump had won the election were "bogus" and "silly." Barr also described his thinking on Trump in the weeks after the election, saying, "Boy, if he really believes this stuff, he has lost contact with, he's become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff.'" Former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien was also slated to speak, but less than an hour before the hearing was set to start at 10 am ET, the committee announced that Stepien would not attend the hearings "due to a family emergency." Stepien, in an excerpt of his interview with the committee, said he felt that it was "far too early" to say Trump had won. He thought ballots would continue to be counted for days. The committee also played video of Ivanka Trump, who did not recall having a "firm" view of what her father should do, but she said she knew the "race would not be called on election night." Jared Kushner said he told the president that Giuliani's election conspiracies were "basically not the approach I would take."According to the select committee, Former President Trump and his allies raised USD 250 million off his claim the 2020 election was stolen, with USD 100 million coming in the first week after Election Day, Senior investigative counsel Amanda Wick said in a video played by the panel that most of the money went toward Trump's newly created Save America PAC rather than "election-related litigation." The committee has two more hearings scheduled this week on Wednesday and Thursday. The committee will hold six hearings in all, where it intends to detail a conspiracy by Donald Trump to overturn the election that ultimately led to a violent insurrection meant to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election results. The hearings could lead to prosecutions and new laws to strengthen election security going forward. January 6 committee also aired violent, previously unseen footage of rioters beating US capitol police and smashing way into the building. (ANI)
A Pakistan journalist Asad Kharal is running fake propaganda and spreading misleading news against India. In a fact check by Digital Forensics, Research and Analysis Center (DFRAC), it was revealed that Kharal is using the digital medium Twitter to fulfil his 'wicked agenda' and defame India. Kharal shared an alleged video of a mob lynching attributed to "Hindu terrorists". Further, he gave the caption to his post, "Another inhumane act of extremist Hindu terrorists in India Extreme criminal silence and hypocrisy of these atrocities by international human rights organizations and so-called human rights activists." His tweet was retweeted more than three thousand times. Likewise, another social media account who have shown its location, Kuwait shared a video with a similar claim. Similarly, many other social media users have shared this video targeting "Hindu terrorists" and trying to give communal colour to the incident to disturb India's internal peace. However, using the InVID tool on different frames of the video, DFRAC found that actually, this is an old video. The incident is of Madhya Pradesh related to the child-lifting rumour in which one person was killed and six were in Dhar. The victims were visiting Borlai village to ask some labourers. The person who was killed in this was identified as Ganesh. And, the incident was nowhere related to any communal issue. It matter was a money dispute. Moreover, Police had investigated the people accused, reported DFRAC. Hence, the fact check proves that no communal angle was involved in the incident. Therefore, the claims of the social media users are fake as well as reprehensible. This comes after Pakistan is once again using social media to defame India after a row over remarks on Prophet Mohammad by suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma during a TV debate. With a lot of baseless and misleading news playing with the minds of people, the digital medium of Pakistan and the users have shared many fake news. Several countries including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar, and Iran have strongly condemned Sharma's remark on Prophet Mohammed while Iran, as well as Qatar, have released statements that they are satisfied with the Indian government's actions against the leader who made the controversial remark about the Prophet Mohammed, DFRAC stated. The remark by Nupur Sharma on a TV debate was criticized all over the country as well as internationally. After the controversy caught fire, BJP suspended the membership of Nupur Sharma and expelled Naveen Jindal. (ANI)
Karachi police on Monday arrested 28 protesters demonstrating outside Sindh Assembly over 'missing' Baloch students. The protestors were manhandled as they were demonstrating against the abduction of two Baloch students of the University of Karachi (KU) by law enforcement agencies, reported Dawn. The two students of KU's Philosophy Department -- Doda Baloch and Ghamshad Baloch -- were taken away from their home near Maskan Chowrangi in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on June 7 and their whereabouts are unknown since then. Their relatives and members of civil society organisations had set up a camp outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) for the last four days. On Sunday night, they managed to reach the Sindh Assembly's main gate where they staged a sit-in for the release of the missing students, reported Dawn. Police and district administration held talks with them, persuading them to vacate the place. The protest organisers accused the police of manhandling women and children. They said the Sindh police had retracted their promise of arranging a meeting of the missing students' relatives with Counter Terrorism Department officials on Monday. Therefore, they said, they again staged a sit-in near the Sindh Assembly building where the police manhandled and arrested protesters, reported Dawn. Earlier, around 120-130 relatives and members of different organisations, including activists Seemi Din Baloch, Abdul Wahab Baloch, Aamna Baloch, Naghma Sheikh and others, had resumed their march around 4:50 pm from the KPC towards the assembly building where the budget session was ongoing. Passing through Sarwar Shaheed Road, they had staged a sit-in at the assembly's gate. Speaking to the protesters there, Seemi said that taking away students was equal to the "character assassination" of the educational institutes. She said Doda and Ghamshad were students but they were taken away because "being Baloch was a crime". If they had not been Baloch, they would not have been taken away, she said. She announced that the protesters would continue their demonstration outside the assembly till the release of the missing students. Meanwhile, Sheikh said that people from the Baloch community were being taken away from Quetta, Panjgur and Karachi. She said if two missing Baloch are released, then in return, "10 others are whisked away," reported Dawn. Meanwhile, footage shared on social media showed the police treating the protesters in a rough manner and dispersing them. Pakistan Peoples Party Secretary General Farhatullah Babar criticised the "use of disproportionate force and arrest of women", adding that such treatment was "highly disturbing". Former human rights minister Shireen Mazari termed the situation as "barbarism at its peak", reported Geo News. MPA Sanaullah Baloch strongly condemned the Sindh police's "heavy-handedness and inhuman act of violence against innocent and peaceful Baloch women and students". He said the Sindh government should investigate the incident. Qaumi Awami Tehreek president Ayaz Latif Palijo said that Sindh's land should not be used for violence against the Baloch community, reported Geo News. (ANI)
Mongolian Member of Parliament (MP) Batshugar Enkhbayar expressed appreciation for India for organising the ceremony where the four Holy Relics of Lord Buddha were publically exhibited at Ganden Tegchenling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar. "I would like to express my deep appreciation for the Indian government that allowed this event to happen," Batshugar Enkhbayar told ANI. He further said that this is the last time, India is sending the Holy Relics outside the country. Referring to the public exposition of the four Holy Relics of Lord Buddha ceremony, Mangolian MP said, "I believe this ceremony is exceptionally significant for Magnolia, for the Mongolian culture and Buddhist community as a whole." He further said that this is the second time that the Holy Relic came to Mongolia. Earlier, it came in 1994. Enkhbayar said that he believed that India played a significant role after the first communism in Mongolia. He also called India a cultural and economic friend and said that India has helped the country with financial assistance. Earlier, on Monday, Buddhist devotees and the people in the Mongolian capital gave a rousing welcome to an Indian delegation led by Union Minister Rijiju as they arrived here with the Holy Relics of Lord Buddha. The four Holy Relics - known as the 'Kapilvastu Relics' were brought in two special bulletproof caskets on board an Indian Air Force aircraft. The Holy Relics will be displayed at the Batsagaan Temple in Gandan Tegchenling Monastery complex in Ulaanbaatar for 11 days. They were under the care of the National Museum in Delhi and during the 11-day visit to Mongolia the relics will be accorded the status of a 'state guest'. The Holy Relics of Lord Buddha which are returning to Mongolia after 29 years are considered one of the most sacred relics of Buddhism. In 2015, the Holy Relics were placed under the 'AA' category of Antiquities and Art Treasures which should not be ordinarily taken out of the country for exhibition, considering their delicate nature. However, upon the request of the Mongolian government, the government made a special exception and permitted the exposition of the Holy Relics in Mongolia. The display of sacred `Kapilavastu relics' at Ganden Tegchenling Monastery is called a historic milestone in India-Mongolia relations and will further boost cultural and spiritual relations between the two countries. Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first-ever Prime Minister of India to visit Mongolia, and taking the relics to Mongolia is an extension of the vision of the PM to revive the relations with the countries with whom India had cultural and spiritual ties centuries ago. (ANI)
During his stay, Pakistan's Foreign Minister will hold talks with the Iranian leadership on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations, ARYNewss reported.

During the delegation-level talks, the two sides will review all facets of bilateral relations, including trade and economic ties, electricity supply from Iran, border sustenance markets, road and rail connectivity, and the facilitation of Zaireen.

They will also review the regional security situation with a particular focus on developments in Afghanistan and South Asia as well as combating Islamophobia.

The last meeting between Zardari and the Iranian Foreign Minister Dr Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos on May 26 2022, Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

"Pakistan and Iran enjoy close cooperative ties, based on shared geography, cultural affinities, and historic people-to-people linkages. These fraternal relations have been further strengthened through frequent high-level exchanges. The two countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2022," it added.

Earlier, the Foreign Minister had visited China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Davos to meet his counterparts and attend global forums to represent Pakistan.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock who arrived in Pakistan on June 7, has to cut short her visit after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Zardari was in self-isolation after his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock tested positive for the coronavirus during her Pakistan visit.

The Foreign Minister went into isolation and performed official duties from his residence. He later got himself tested for Covid-19. (ANI)
Pakistan inducted Chinese multi-role frigates as part of their efforts to strengthen its sea frontiers, however, these frigates are giving jitters to the Pakistani Navy due to the defective critical components and poor service from Chinese manufacturers. Di Valerio Fabbri, writing in Geopolitica.info said that these have forced the Pakistani Navy to operate these frigates with degraded operational capabilities, compromising some of the key mission objectives with which these ships were bought at a high price. At least four Chinese frigates, F-22P were commissioned in July 2009, are giving nightmares to Pakistani Navy officers and men tasked to keep them afloat in the turbulent waters of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. After the commissioning of the frigates, the Pakistani Navy found out that the onboard imaging device of the FM90 (N) missile system was defective because of a faulty indication on display, reported Geopolitica.info. The system was unable to lock on to the target which, in a way, made the missiles ineffective, thereby defeating one of the critical mission objectives. As it turned out, these ships were found to be equipped with a defective infra-red sensor (IR17) system and SR 60 radars, two of the most important sensors on board, which are used for air and surface search. These search and track radars were found to exhibit faults during high-power transmissions, substantially degrading their operational utility. The IR 17 sensors on all the ships were found to be defective and had to be discarded, with the replacement yet to be fitted, reported Geopolitica.info. Another set of common faults in the Chinese-built frigates was found in its main engines. These frigates are powered by four diesel engines. A critical engine defect has been low engine speed caused by high turbocharger exhaust temperatures, especially in engines 3 and 4, on all the frigates, said Fabbri. A high degree of degradation was noticed in the engine crankcase and liner which undermined the coolant chemistry in the ships. Lube oil degradation and deterioration of vibration isolators were some other faults in the engines. There were other specific deficiencies in different ships. PNS Aslat, for instance, exhibited poor radar performance. The ASO-94 Sonar system on Aslat was erratic in its performance and on inspection it was found it was caused by faulty computing units. Likewise, Aslat's SR-47 BG Search Radar was below par in performance and repairs were carried out with cannibalised parts from other F22P ships. The frigate developed a serious snag during an operational deployment in the Gulf of Aden, reported Geopolitica.info. The Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Pakistan Navy, expressed great concern over the issue to the head of the shipping company and asked to be compensated for the loss of operational time. An equally serious deficiency noticed in PNS Zulfiqar, the first Chinese frigate to be commissioned, was the NG 16 single barrel 76mm gun mounted on it. The gun, equipped to engage other ships and aircraft and defend against anti-ship missiles, developed numerous faults in the mechanical and electrical parts, severely limiting its utility. Meanwhile, PNS Saif has been running with a problematic HP5 stabiliser gyro since its commissioning. A gyroscopic fin stabilizer, found on both sides of a ship's hull, prevents excess rolling of a ship, in either direction. The Chinese firm admitted that the fault was caused by defective Gimball Assembly motors. These motors were yet to be repaired or replaced, endangering the ship's berthing operations. (ANI)
Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has proposed to extend the ministerial meeting in Geneva by another day. The WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) started on June 12 and was scheduled to last on June 15 at WTO headquarters in Geneva. However, after the proposal by DG WTO, it may continue till June 16. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the first African official and the first woman to hold the position. Meanwhile, India made a strong pitch for protecting the interests of the developing and under-developed countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal on Monday did some plain speaking at the 12th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Geneva. He raised concerns about the "skewed" WTO reforms proposal, the imperative need to retain the Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT) provisions for the developing world, global inequities in COVID vaccination and Public Stockholding of food grains, read Ministry of Commerce & Industry press statement. He also highlighted the COVID-19 pandemic that exposed the inability of the world to promptly respond to any crisis, whether on food security or health, economic well-being or open supply chains. Goyal argued that while negotiating the fisheries subsidies, the livelihood of traditional fishermen cannot be compromised. Further, a delegation of parliamentarians presented Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala with a statement on Tuesday, expressing strong support for the multilateral trading system and calling for the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) to act as a starting point for modernizing the WTO. The statement was submitted to the DG by MEP Bernd Lange, Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO, who was accompanied by three other members of the Committee. Ministers from across the world use this event to review the functioning of the multilateral trading system, make general statements and to take action on the future work of the WTO. The Conference is co-hosted by Kazakhstan and chaired by Timur Suleimenov, Deputy Chief of Staff of Kazakhstan's President. Kazakhstan was originally scheduled to host MC12 in June 2020 but the conference was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The WTO has 164 members (including European Union) and 23 observer governments (like Iran, Iraq, Bhutan, Libya etc). The structure of the WTO is dominated by its highest authority, the Ministerial Conference, composed of representatives of all WTO members, which is required to meet at least every two years and which can take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements. (ANI)
They were arrested in two operations and are of various African nationalities, the ministry said in a statement, adding that 42 of them were rescued by a Tunisian coastguard unit off the coastal city of Zarzis in northeastern Tunisia.

The arrested migrants admitted they had sailed from the Libyan city of Zuwara a night earlier, according to the statement.

In another operation, the National Guard of Kerkennah Island in Sfax Province arrested 30 illegal immigrants, said the ministry.

Thousands of illegal immigrants attempt to cross the Mediterranean every year as Tunisia is one of the main points of access to Europe through irregular channels. (ANI/Xinhua)